.so this is the new year.

and BOY do i feel different! (my boy, to be exact. and he is making me feel all sorts of different!)

before i get onto any pregnancy updates, let me talk about changes in our new years, and what we expect for 2013!

first of all, we have a new roomate! sara naiman (also referred to as "ed's girlfriend") has moved into our rather large attic bedroom. she just moved back to Canada after spending a year in Isreal. it is pretty fun listening to what life is life in Isreal. she mentioned the thing that surprised her most about coming back to Canada is the GREAT service we get here. i'll have to remember that the next time the mcdonalds intercom lady messes up my order or forgets to put the right sauces for my nuggest in the bag. we truely are blessed here.
the only problem that has arisen thus far with our roomate, can all be blamed on sofie the demon cat. she spilt an ENTIRE glass of water on top of sara's apple computer. *gah. hopefully it dries out and this ends in a silly story of a demented feline, but all ended well. we are still waiting for the verdict on if her laptop will survive the cup and a half of water dumped inside it.

another great thing about this year, is it will be a year of projects! we plan to reinforce the cracking basement foundation walls, and then we will make a tv room down there. (if you come over to our house this fall, and notice a crappy mudding/taping job, you can likely attribute it to myself! we are going to do the renos ourselves, but hey, we are learning. mistakes can be made)
i also have plans in motion to spruce up our fantastic flower beds that we already have here thanks to the former house owner, and also i have plans to cut down and remove some bushes this spring to make way for a small garden! no more 5 gallon buckets for me! these plants are going in the GROUND! i am especially excited to have corn and beans to freeze for the upcoming winter. i just hope this baby comes in good timing, so i don't miss the timing to plant the garden.

okay, now on to pregnancy!

i suppose this is my most recent baby belly photo. unlike the other photo which makes me look HUGE, this photo makes me look so so small compared. i guess wearing so many layers isn't helping.
yesterday we went to finish up our ultrasound so the doctor could make sure our baby has a nose (apparently children with down syndrome typically have very short noses, or no nose yet) since we opted out of the early ultrasounds and tests for spina bifida and down syndrom, they wanted to make sure at this ultrasound that everything looked normal. and it does! hurray. baby is measuring "smaller than average" but i don't take much stock in "percentiles" and what "normal" is. our baby looks healthy and active so far, so i'd say he is in tip-top condition.
speaking of active, HOLY butts! (almost literally). he has been getting into some punching matches lately. baby vs. crotch and baby is winning by a landslide.
aside from all the discomfort, and pain, and cramps, and kicks- i am always pleased to feel him. "hey little guy, still swimming along in there?" i ran into an older polish lady at the clinic yesterday who told me in her thick accent, "babies, they are so wonderful. how they grow in small small bedroom? i do not know". i love it. from now on, all uteri will be known as "little bedrooms".
now. some people have been asking me the name of baby. yes, it does have a name. and no, it is not a secret. however, we are not going to be calling it by the name we have chosen while it is chillin' in the little bedroom. but don't take to calling him by his likely name, because who knows? it might change. we have 4 months to change our minds and since i change my mind, and my clothes several times a day, then maybe this baby name won't stick. for the time being though, we are going to be naming the baby Elliot.