Polenta

So the other day we came to the realization that if we found out we were having a baby girl, we could no longer refer to the baby as "Stinklebert" (mostly this was at my insistence as well as the protest of grandmothers who did not entirely approved of the placeholder name to begin with). Brady offered up the option of “Stinklebertha.” We were making polenta for dinner and agreed on that as the new placeholder name if we found out we were having a girl. Well, we are happy to announce that “Polenta” is on her way (don’t worry, we do have some real, grandmother-approved names in mind, but until we decide, she’s Polenta). The technician said he was sure. We could even tell at certain points during the ultrasound before he told us. We are very excited to meet her in November! (So far the due date is still set for the 9^th)



Here's the best profile shot. We actully didn't get any pictures printed out, but a DVD of the whole thing. So I tried to get some good screen shots to include.

We have a thumbsucker. The technician said sometimes it just looks like babies are sucking their thumbs in the pictures, but he said she was really going at it. When we watch parts of the DVD, we can actually see the sucking motion. We can also see lots of wiggles. She does not like to hold still to get her picture taken. The technician had to come back for several shots of her face because she was squirming so much.

This is my favorite one. We didn't expect anything like this at all, but right at the end the technician said he wanted to try something. He got out a different attachment for the ultrasound and took a few shots. They just looked like blobs at first, and then he started to pull away layers of the picture and we could see her little face. She was facing the placenta, so he couldn't get a shot from the front, but this was pretty great.

We are going to see if we can get any of the video clipped (don't worry, we wouldn't post 30 min. of ultrasound). So if we can, we'll put a good 20-30 sec. segment of thumb-sucking for you all.

Does this thing run?

So, for the past few weeks I've been toying with the idea of a marathon.  I wanted something to really challenge myself and I've really enjoyed running lately.  Then the New York Times's health blog took on marathon training in preparation for the New York Marathon.  Then I started hearing people talk about running marathons.  So the idea's been working on me for a while.  I started combing the internet and reading all about marathons.  It turns out there is a lot of advice out there.

Long story short, from everything I read I was persuaded that given enough time I could actually work up to a marathon.   After searching out just about every marathon that wasn't on Sunday within a 6 hour drive of Knoxville and found myself two options.  If I can be ready within about 6 months I can run the St. Jude's Marathon in Memphis on December 5, or if I need more time I can do the Nashville Country Music Marathon (yeah, I know) on April 24.

So . . . I'm gonna do it.  I'm officially declaring my marathon candidacy right here on this blog today.  I think I'll decide which marathon to run by about August.  I want to give myself plenty of time to get ready without injuring myself.

Since I decided to do a marathon I went to Barnes & Noble and thumbed through the books on running/marathoning.  I found a book called ChiRunning that has really surprised me.  The author has devised an approach to running that is based on principles of Tai Chi.  The focus is on good running form that engages core muscles while relaxing the legs and arms.  You get momentum by leaning and letting gravity pull you forward while lifting up your legs to catch you from falling and perpetuate the forward momentum.  The technique is a lot easier on your body than normal running and is quite energizing.  If you're a runner or you're thinking about taking up running I highly recommend it (send me an email and I can forward you some info if you want to try it).

My first milestone will be a race some of us are doing on the 4th of July up in Boise.  It's a 6-miler which will be a first for me.  We'll see how it goes.