Was it always this hot in the summer?!?

As many of you know, Doug and I lived in Phoenix for two years before we moved back to California in 2003. It wasn't strange to hit 100 degrees every day for about three months during the summer in Phoenix. It wasn't the most pleasant thing in the world but whatever...everywhere had great AC and we just dealt with it.

Well, now that we are back in CA...Fresno...it is not nearly as hot as it was in Phoenix and yet the heat has been killing me lately. We had some extremely hot weather last week and while it is not 111 anymore...I am so hot. I cannot go outside without immediately beginning to sweat, it's pretty remarkable. Again, I blame the kid! Pregnant ladies are more susceptible to the heat...thank goodness I am not 7 months pregnant right now.

And being in Las Vegas last week was really tough. It was about Phoenix hot when we were there, around 109 or so. It was the air that I couldn't handle. The dryness really aggravated my already congested and sensitive nasal passages and lungs. I developed a nasty cough while there that is finally beginning to subside. My only relief was when we went to the Shark Reef exhibit at the Mandalay Bay...it was nice and humid in there. Maybe during our next pregnancy we will plan a vacation to New Orleans or Atlanta...where the air is nice and wet!

I'll let Doug report more on our Vegas vacation...he had quite an adventure in search of Tums for his pregnant wife. What a great hubby he is.

We are off to Southern CA tomorrow...to attend Lucas and Cyndie's wedding!! I am very excited to celebrate them and see some friends we haven't seen in quite awhile. We are then heading to Santa Cruz on Sunday to attend Doug's cousin's wedding there..Alison is getting married! It will be crazy...our mad wedding tour of CA. Doug already told me to have the alka selzer ready for him...it's nice that I have an excuse to NOT drink so I can be the designated driver. We are also stopping off in San Juan Capistrano to visit our pals Emily and Greg...it will be a crazy but very fun five days...

And in between all of this fun...it's sometimes really easy to forget that I am pregnant! I tend to push myself pretty hard when it comes to traveling, etc. and because I am feeling pretty good...I simply forget that I have a little bun cooking! On top of this, I still don't think I look pregnant...I have the tiniest of bumps still and while I know he/she is in there, I still haven't felt any kicks or thumps so...it's just a funny stage, I guess. A new phenomenon lately has been lower back pain...especially when I go to bed at night...wow...does my back ache. Weight is definitely being redistributed (thus the back pain) but I honestly thought I'd be huge by now!! I am not necessarily sad about NOT being huge...I was already pretty big to begin with. I guess this pregnancy continues to be something I simply could not anticipate...nothing is really how I expected it to be! And that is not a bad thing. :)

We do have an exciting milestone approaching...our ultrasound! We are scheduled for Thursday, 7/19...in about a week. It's perhaps not as exciting to some because we are not going to find out girl or boy but it is amazingly exciting to us! Of course, the worrier that I am, I am most concerned about defects...will this baby have a healthy spine? No indication of Downs? No third arm or eleventh finger? In my heart I know this baby is just fine but...well...I suppose I have to worry about something. I am also hoping the u/s will help me determine what the baby's movements feel like! I hope when I can see him/her move, I can somehow correlate the movements with sensations in my belly! We will make sure to post photos and whatnot from the u/s...so exciting!

In all, things are great. Hoping all is well with all of you, too!

Peace.