29 weeks

I went to the doctor the other day and found out that I gained 8 pounds in 4 weeks and am measuring 4 cm bigger than I should at 29 weeks.  The doctor said I should be exercising more and scheduled another ultrasound to see if I have extra fluid, the baby is just really big, or if he was positioned weird.  It made me a little nervous and explained why I have been so uncomfortable, but I'm excited to be able to see the baby again.  I may get some really cool pictures since he's so much bigger now.  And since the appointment, I have been making sure I'm not eating a ton of fatty or sugary foods and have been doing my prenatal yoga/walking everyday.  Hopefully it was just a growth spurt.

Valentine Babymoon

Luke planned a trip for our Valentine's Day weekend.  We went down to St. Augustine, FL (about an hour away) on Friday and spent the night there.  Saturday, we did all kinds of fun touristy things in St. Augustine.

We stayed in a cabin at the KOA campground on Anastasia Island.  The cabins were SO cute and cozy (and they had heat, which is all I really needed).  We made hamburgers, green beans, and S'mores for dinner Friday night over the campfire and then snuggled up in the cabin to play games.

Oldest Resident of St. Augustine - "Old Senator" 600+ year old Live Oak

Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind

This is the school for the deaf and blind that
Ray Charles attended as a young man.

Me and Lucy stuffing our faces with chocolate

Sarah "Fig Leaf" Scripture

On Saturday, we started out the day with breakfast at The Oasis and then headed over to the Ripley's Believe It or Not museum.  We spent hours in there taking in all the weird stuff.  By the time we got out of the museum, my feet were killing me, so we decided to hop on the tour train.  We took in lots of St. Augustine history while seated on the train.  That is, until we arrived at the Whetstone Chocolate Factory.  We just couldn't resist.  I mean, it's Valentine's day weekend....gotta have chocolate.  We took a tour of the factory and ate plenty of chocolate.  By the time we got out of the shop with our chocolate raspberry gelatto and chocolate peanut butter fudge in hand, the day was almost gone. There is still lots to see in St. Augustine, so I guess we'll have to go back again sometime soon.

Hook 'Em Up

On Tuesday, I was scheduled to fly my "UTIL" flight. It's a flight to practice flying with a load of cargo suspended underneath the aircraft. One of the things Navy helicopters do is "vertical replenishment" (VERTREP). When the ship needs to be re-supplied, and they don't want to pull into port, a Supply ship will pull up close and the helicopter(s) will go back and forth carrying pallets of whatever from ship to ship until everything is where it needs to be.

So when I came into work, I was ready to get in the air and move an 800lb barrel of concrete around the airfield. But I wasn't expecting to also do this...

 There were 3 of us flying the same event with the same instructor, but since only one of us could actually fly at once, the instructor had the other two take turns learning how to be the "hookup man."
This job consists of:

• waiting until the ~19,000lb comes into a 10' hover over the load
• running through the downwash from the rotor to stand directly underneath the helicopter
• hooking the load to the cargo hook on the belly of the bird
• checking that the cable is securely connected to load
• then running back out from under the helicopter
• don't forget to keep an eye on the helo in case it starts falling on you.

Definitely a little nerve-wracking the first time you're standing looking up at a hovering helicopter (being controlled by someone with no more flight experience than you). Not to mention everyone (2 pilots, one crewman, one LSE, and one hovering aircraft) are waiting on you to attach a rubber loop at the end of a 8' pole onto a 2" wide moving target. No pressure.

I definitely love my job. But getting to do something else for a day, with the added bonus of a little adrenaline rush, was pretty cool.

Nursery Projects #1

Nursery before

 

Nursery after cleanup

Luke made me some shelves.

We bought a dresser on Craig's List to also use as a changing table.  It needs a little cleaning up, but it is really solid and nice.

Step #1:  Clean out room and put up shelves.  Check.

Next step:  Steam clean carpet and clean up dresser.

Baby Worries

The last couple of weeks we enjoyed feeling Baby Scripture moving and kicking and punching...a ton.  He seems to be an active little boy, and it has been really fun to feel little legs and his head through my skin.  Yesterday I was a little worried because I didn't feel him move very much at all...just a couple of flutters.  I took it easy the whole day because I was very tired, but also because I was worried there was something wrong.  This morning I was talking to Luke about it, and he started talking to the baby.  He put his face against my belly and the baby kicked him.  As long as Luke was talking to him, he was kicking away.  We realized that Luke and I weren't around each other most of the day yesterday.  I really think the baby responds to the sound of his dad's voice.