Bing's Bath

So there we were... Jei & I sitting on the couch watching TV when all of a sudden we heard this weird noise we had never heard before coming from the kitchen.  We both looked at each other with puzzled looks on our faces and asked each other, "What the heck is that?" The noise continued so we both finally got up and walked over towards the kitchen to figure out exactly what it was that we were hearing!  All we knew for sure was that the noise had something to do with water... so after seeing that the kitchen faucet was indeed off, we next peered around the wall to where the cats' drinking fountain was on the floor... and immediately found what was making that watery commotion!  

Apparently, according to Bing, not only does the drinking fountain act as an excellent source of water for thirsty Key-Dens... but it also acts as a convenient shower as well!  As we both stared in amazement... and instead of seeing the usual - Bing sticking his head in to get a sip of water, we saw Bing with both his front paws in the water dunking his entire head underneath the flowing water!  

Seeing as how we thought Ming was the one so infatuated with water... we literally couldn't believe what we were seeing!  By the time we realized what was going on and that we should probably be videotaping this (cause no one would believe us!)... Bing had stepped out and was finished with his bath!  Jei & I stood there still in amazement and still giggling about it when I rhetorically asked Jei, "There is no way Bing is ever going to "let" us videotape him doing that again, is he?"  We both shook our heads, laughed about it some more, and then sat back down on the couch and continued to watch TV.  

Little did we know... and much to our surprise, several months later and after many failed recording attempts, Jei somehow managed to get it ALL on videotape one afternoon while I was at work!  Needless to say, we were very excited!          

How Jei managed to stop recording, maneuver to a different position for a better view, and then start back up again... all while Bing continued to play in the water is a total mystery to me! 

And yet another reposition... and Bing still going at it!  This one's definitely my favorite and the funniest!  It really shows just how wet he got... and you'll see Ming looking at him as if to say, "What the...?  Have you lost your mind?  I gotta drink out of that you know!"

So now we all know and have witnessed just how much Bing loves boxes and his drinking/shower fountain!  And to think we actually thought Ming was the eccentric one!? 

Excited Much?

Jeilene had her third doctor's appointment this Monday and all went well.  She got to hear  our little baby's heartbeat again and was eager to wrap up week 11... and happily welcome in week 12!  Unfortunately, the first trimester hormonal crisis (for lack of a better term) is still in full effect!  She's doing a lot better with her cravings, or so I thought anyway... until the other night when she happened to stumble across the "Mac & Cheese" Tree on FarmVille and then instantly began to crave... well, you know what!  Thank the Lord we actually had some leftover from a KFC meal from the other night in the fridge, or else I'm pretty sure the Earth would've stopped spinning!  Anyway... nauseousness, napping, fatigue, headaches and frequent but small meals are still pretty much the norm.  It hasn't really been that bad, so I guess I can't complain too much.  I'm just glad Jei is healthy and that our little baby is developing on schedule... and I'm sure we're both looking forward to having this first trimester behind us!  And even though it just seems so far away still, we're definitely both super excited about introducing the newest member of our family in late September!

But of course I'd be completely out of my mind to think that we're the only ones excited about this baby!!!  For instance... Momma Soch has already finished crocheting our baby's blanket (in green), and is currently working on a smaller white one for the crib!

And then out of nowhere, Moe-Joe completely surprises us with a package in the mail... where we found baby's very first stuffed animal: a little teddy bear with a t-shirt that reads, "I Love Butterbean" ...which just so happens to be Moe-Joe's nickname for baby!

And finally, the ladies in L.A. have all been secretly calling, talking, emailing, skype'ing, and completely planning out exactly how our new bedroom/nursery is eventually going to look like with Jeilene!  Of course I was only brought into the loop when a model/design/color was found that they all liked and wanted to run by me.  It's still pretty early... but I think we're all in agreement that the pic below would be a nice look! (Love the monkeys!!!)     

So... needless to say, 

Jei & I aren't the only ones getting super excited about this baby coming!

Stalagmite or Stalactite?

It's a well known fact that if you happen to find yourself stuck in the middle of southeastern New Mexico for any period of time... there are two places that without a doubt you must go visit!  We got to check one of those places off the list when we drove up to the mountains and visited Ruidoso for the day back in January.  And on Sunday, Jei & I got to check the other one off when we drove down to Carlsbad for the day and visited the Carlsbad Caverns National Park.

What a load off both of our shoulders... now we can finally say that we've done all there is to do in southeastern New Mexico! 

Just like our trip to Ruidoso... I had been to the Caverns once before, but it had been a long time ago and I honestly didn't remember too much about it... just that they were pretty spectacular!  So fully aware of just how amazing the caves are and knowing that Jei was going to think the same, I was totally excited to do it again with with my fellow Park Ranger... Ranger Jei! 

We thought about taking the lazy way down (elevator)... but we were persuaded by a friendly Park Ranger to walk it down instead through the natural entrance.  And boy what a mistake that would have been if we had taken the elevator... for walking down through the natural entrance was absolutely incredible, not to mention the both of us in much need of the exercise!  We thought the theater style seating at the entrance was a bit awkward at first... but then realized that was where all the people sat and watched the daily Bat Flight Program. 

It wasn't until you really got up close to the entrance that the massive dark mouth of the cave really started to creep you out!  

 

It sure didn't look that big from afar...

but once you were in it, it was HUGE!

 

 When they say 750 vertical feet down...

they mean 750 vertical feet down!!!

It felt like it would never end... 

winding back & forth going deeper & deeper!

 

Lucky for us... we had a nice paved walkway all the way down with handrails!  How explorers did it back in the day was hard to imagine! 

Once we were finally inside and all the natural daylight disappeared, we were greeted with a nice fresh 56 degree breeze.  It was a tad bit chilly, but nothing a light coat couldn't fix.

Trust us... it wasn't all big massive openness! There were times where we both felt a little claustrophobic and a tad bit cramped!

But as we dropped deeper & deeper inside the massive cavern, the incredible limestone formations began to showcase the true beauty of the caves!  

  

Not only were the caves & formations amazing to look at... but they really gave you a good perspective of just how incredibly old our planet really is!  

Speaking of planets... walking through each section of the cavern really made you think twice about which one you were really on: Earth or Mars!

I kept giggling to myself as I made my way through each cave... as I half expected to see a ginormous dragon come barreling out of the darkness breathing fire all ticked-off cause we were invading his home!

Exactly two hours later... Preggers & I had just about all the cave spelunking and exercise we could handle for one day!  We both had a great time and loved looking at millions of years old stalagmite & stalactite formations.  It truly was amazing and would highly recommend the trip down under if you ever find yourself... well, you know... in the middle of nowhere!  

Ahead of Schedule

Although it’s a known fact that Mondays do in fact suck… this particular Monday was a rare exception!  Not only did I have the day off and didn’t have to go to my crummy job, but it was our second doctor’s appointment and I was totally anxious to hear what the doctor had to say.  The visit was mainly to get a bunch of blood work done, which I wasn’t too thrilled about… but the doctor was also going to see the results of the ultrasound we had a couple of weeks ago and let us know what he thought.

Alec had class and couldn’t come… so I had to put on my brave face and my big girl pants and deal with the blood drawing needles alone!  For fear I would totally panic and pass out during the blood drawing process… I immediately asked for a lollipop!  It was of course a Vitamin B lollipop to help thwart morning sickness, which I didn’t have at the time… but somehow I just felt like having that lollipop would be worth trying to help calm my nerves.  So there I was trying to be calm and not think about that foot-long needle that I was about to be stabbed with… when suddenly the door opened and in came the doctor.  We chit-chatted for a few and made sure I didn’t have any questions… and then he pulled out the little Doppler machine to see if he (we) could hear the baby’s heartbeat!  It was so unexpected and I was so excited to hear my baby’s little heartbeat that I had totally forgotten about the whole needle & blood thing happening to my arm!  So while the nurse continued to suck the life out of me… the doctor turned on the Doppler and began to listen to the life inside of me!  The doctor easily found the heartbeat and thumping away it was at a very healthy & steady 155 beats per minute… how exciting!    

Once the doctor finished and the nurse got me all bandaged up… the doctor gave me the results of the ultrasound.  Fortunately, everything looks good and little ‘butterbean’ actually measured a little bigger than expected… which means that just three days after being in the ninth week, we are jumping ahead to week 10… which of course means a new due date!

New due date: September 28, 2011!

On a different note, I have learned to categorize my days between good days and bad days.  For a day or two I got overly excited because I thought I was out of the proverbial morning sickness woods… but I got to feeling like crap again the other night (sigh), so I guess I’m still in the forest for now and looking forward to getting out ASAP!  On a positive note, it seems as though the baby no longer demands food every three hours which means I can leave work without looking (and feeling!) like a starving banshee rushing out to the nearest drive-thru!  And you cannot imagine the relief I feel now that baby welcomes fruits and salads!  I was actually getting a little worried there, now that I’m not so bloated… that I could see the results of all of baby's bad food choices in my marshmallow jelly-belly!  My new thing now is eating frozen fruit as an evening treat, so much so that I told Alec it might be worth getting a Sam's Club membership just for that (and possible other cravings).

So after we made a quick stop by the Zen Asian Diner for lunch… where I indulged in a deliciously-scrumptious Asian chicken salad, which I promise you had lettuce underneath all those obvious goodies… we went to Sam's Club and finally got ourselves a membership, only after quickly realizing what a godsend discounted boxes of diapers are going to be in about seven months!  There were so many goodies in there that never had I seen Alec shop without complaining before!  It seemed as though every isle greeted us with imaginary angels playing trumpets and banners held up by flying birds!  Okay, well maybe I went a little too far with the angels & the flying birds… but nonetheless, it was a good feeling to know that we’d now have access to such a wonderful variety of such large quantities of food!  And yes, I got my 5 pound bag of frozen tropical fruit… and a giant $1.16 Slurpee at the food court!  Yum!!!

Bing in a Box

Since being out here in New Mexico, Jei & I have noticed a funny thing about Bing... he LOVES boxes!  He doesn't seem to discriminate either... big boxes, small boxes, cereal boxes... you give him an opened cardboard box and he'll get into it guaranteed!  Not real sure where the infatuation comes from, but the best we can figure is... well, we did bring him home in a box! 

Here he is playing peek-a-boo in a bunch of stacked up moving boxes...

that he pretends is his own personal jungle gym!

How he managed to squeeze into this little box... we'll never know!

You don't have to be a 'Cat Whisperer' to know what Bing's favorite time of year is!  With all the Christmas boxes around the house... Bing was determined to get into each one!

This one might have been his favorite... from Aunt Helen of course.

A kid in a candy store I tell ya!

And then when we started packing our Birthday box to the boys up in Meeker...

guess who wanted to tag along?

 Here are some short videos we got with Bing and his boxes!

 

Imagine the disappointment...

when we got home and instead of a brand new blender... 

we found a cute little Key-Den!

If this is how we treat our cat...

I feel sorry for our child already!

It's a rat... It's a dog... NO, it's Super Bing!!!

I know - I know... you must be thinking,

"Well Ming was brought home in a box too... doesn't she like getting into boxes?" 

Ming likes boxes too... but truth be told,

she'd much rather be in the bathtub, the bathroom sink, or in the kitchen sink!  

(She's absolutely fascinated with running water!)

 

Baby #3!!!

So there I was... hard at work (watching a movie) at the office when out of the blue I get a text from Jei: "Honey, our ultrasound appointment is tomorrow afternoon!  Yippeee!!!  Can you get off of work early?"  I'm sure you can just imagine my surprise when I read that... especially when we both thought it was going to be at least another week or even two weeks until we got to see our baby!  

Wednesday morning flew by and before I knew it, I was anxiously heading north up to Roswell to meet Jei at the hospital.  I think Jei was a little nervous and emotional when we walked into the examining room and saw the ultrasound machine... giving us both very vivid flashbacks from last year!  But anxious, nervous, and emotional quickly turned into relief, happy, and excited!  

Unlike last time... there were no hidden surprises and we could definitively see our tiny little baby!  It was definitely a huge relief, but it was more exciting than anything else... especially when we heard & saw (that was the coolest part!) our baby's incredibly fast heartbeat!  The visit was short and sweet... but just long enough for Jei & I to finally get confirmation that there was in fact a baby growing inside of her (and not a tapeworm!)... and that there was one healthy looking fetus getting ready for it's big debut in early October!  We're sooo excited!!! 

So without further ado, I present to you... Baby #3:   

Valentine's Day Disappointment!

After anxiously waiting for almost a month for our first doctor's appointment since finding out that Jei & I are soon to be parents... Monday's visit to the Ob/Gyn finally arrived!  There was no doubt we were both super excited about getting the ultrasound done and actually confirming that Jei was in fact pregnant... and as far as I was concerned, that's pretty much the only reason why we were there!  With the first doctor's visit last year being so unbelievably magical & surreal... being able to actually see & hear our little babies, Jei & I were really hoping this visit would be and feel just the same. 

A little over an hour later and we walked out of the building feeling nothing but total & complete disappointment... and knew exactly what we did as when we went in; which was absolutely nothing!  Apparently they do things different here... and instead of having an ultrasound machine available for the examining doctor to use there at the offices, a completely separate appointment had to be made with the imaging department of the local hospital in order to get an ultrasound done.  You should have seen our faces when the nurse told us that bit of news!  Needless to say, we were totally bummed out and disappointed.  And besides peeing in a cup and a pelvis exam, I'm not really sure why we even bothered to go!     

With no ultrasound machine... the doctor reluctantly gave the hand-held doppler a shot, hoping to hear a heartbeat other than Jei's.  It was kind of a long shot, but definitely worth the try.  The doc gave a valiant effort, but I guess it just wasn't our day!  

Even though we left extremely disappointed and having to wait another one to two weeks for the ultrasound appointment, the rest of our Valentine's Day actually turned out rather nice!  We had a fantastic Red Lobster dinner, and then when we got home, a lovely & delicious Valentine's Day chocolate cake was waiting for us to pig-out on!

We hope everyone wasn't too disappointed about not hearing anything and won't mind waiting another couple of weeks!  If anything, I guess it gives us something to look forward to now.  Thank you to those of you who sent us Valentine's Day cards... and we hope your Valentine's Day was a little less disappointing than ours!