The Talens' Tales

Summer usually equals lots of books read for me. I will admit, I was running out of good looking books at the local library, so I thought I should get some recommendations or lists going before the summer started. So, I found two lists. One being the books that are most often used on the AP Literature tests, which are books that I feel as and English major/teacher I should read. The second list was the Newbery Medal and Honor winners. So, I started with the AP list. But after about two books, my brain was not into it at all. They are great pieces of literature, but they take a lot of work to read and comprehend. I thought to myself, "This is dumb. I should read stuff I really enjoy reading." So, I have been happily working my way through the Newbery list and loving every minute of it. I like the variety of stories and types of writing included. And since they are young adult books, they go pretty quick. So I have been to the library a lot this summer and that is just fine by ...

Well, I have taken the plunge literally this past week. I have gone to two water aerobic sessions at the local pool and it has been a lot of fun. Everyone says how it is such a great exercise to do while you are pregnant and it has been crazy hot this week, so getting in a pool has been a lot of fun and very refreshing. It doesn't real feel like to are doing any thing that hard or that would work your muscles. But let me tell you, afterwards it is very clear to me that have been working out. Another interesting thing about water aerobics is that we are sharing the pool with a few kids who are having private swimming lessons. So, we have to dodge each other and we get to hear a few fun conversations. Here is my favorite from yesterday, which came in the middle of a lesson on water and pool safety: S(wimming Teacher): Should you run by the pool? C(hild, a boy, probably around age 4): No! S: Can you jump off the diving board any time you want? C: No! You need to have a life jacket on....

When we moved here, we made a list of things that we would like to see and do in the area. Now that we are getting ready to leave, we decided we should maybe do some of those things on the list. I just looked at our list yesterday and was surprised by how many things we actually have done. And I could cross off one more because on Saturday we went to the Jeffers Petroglyphs. These are carvings that the Native Americans made in an out cropping of rock over thousands of years. There are over 2000 carvings. A Thunderbird. They are also restoring the prairie land, so we learned about lots of plants and things. We also visited two county parks and found some beautiful hidden waterfalls on the prairie. You would never expect these to be here as you drive up to the parks. They seem to pop out of no where. We had a lovely day out and enjoyed learning about history and seeing a bit of the beauty of creation.

Today was the big day of the ultra sound. It was so fun! Once I was assured that everything looked normal, I was able to relax and just enjoy seeing our baby. We did not find out the gender because we like surprises and the baby also refused to show its face. But everything looked really good. The measurements showed that it is right on track. The measurements placed our due date back a few days, but still in early November. And the measurements said the baby is right in the middle range for size, so that is good too. Here is the whole baby. You can see the legs, spine and head. It has decided that it likes to hang out upside down, so its head is down by my bladder and its limbs are all on my right side, which confirms the movement I have been feeling. It likes kick me right under my right ribs. Some nice legs and feet. Showing off its arm muscles. It was so wonderful to see our baby today and know that everything is going well. It hard to believe that next week we will be half way the...

Here are some pregnancy pictures showing my growing belly. Notice I did not say "baby bump" or "prego." I think being an English teacher has made me despise those words. I am pregnant and here is how I am changing. A trendy word or phrase does make it cooler or cuter. There. I got that off my chest. Here are the pictures. 14 weeks 16 weeks 18 weeks As you can see I am going for the wear the same shirt/stand in the same place effect to see what happens. I also think this shirt certainly accentuates the fact that I am pregnant. Wilbert also noticed that he keeps getting further away while he takes the picture. When I look at these, I feel like I am huge, but all of my friends say they hardly think I look pregnant yet. So, I think I will keep telling myself that for right now.

We have recently gotten hooked our new pass time - Geo Caching. It is cheap, fun and you can do it almost any where. All you need to do is go on geocaching.com, find a cache you want to find and get the coordinates of where it is. We don't have a GPS yet, so we just use our map skills and Google maps with satellite view to find our caches. A cache can be anything from a pretty large container full of different items to a small micro cache that has a magnet on it and a tiny piece of paper rolled up inside for the log. Once you get stated, it is amazing how many there are all around you. So it is sort of like going on a treasure hunt and after you have looked for a while, it is so rewarding to have found it. Here are some pictures from our latest Geo-caching adventure that we went on yesterday. We had three on our list, but only found two due to time, especially since the second one took us forever to find. Can you spot the cache? You had to pull a long, dead branch that was standing...

A sudden thunderstorm in early afternoon. Hearing from the Canadian Government that your paperwork is in process! "Jet Fuel" (aka beer) as a beverage option at an open house Hearing my baby's heart beat again! Seeing the look on my husband's face as he heard the baby's heart beat. God is good, all the time.