23 weeks

23 weeks, November 18. One friend said it looks like I ate a cat, since my stomach just kind of popped out in the last 2 weeks. It's not a cat; it's just a baby. But that baby kicks a lot, and probably has claws like a cat by now. I also started physical therapy last week because of some hip/tailbone pain. Then the pain went away, but I'm still doing therapy. I just can't turn down a nice back massage and pilates training.

San Diego Zoo

We headed to the San Diego Zoo a few weeks ago to celebrate our 2 1/2 year anniversary. I've been bugging Paul for a long time to take me to the zoo. So we spent the night in San Diego, went out to a nice dinner, and spent Saturday walking and talking with the animals. We took tons of pictures of animals, which can be found on our web album link to the left (as soon as I upload them).

Terrible picture of me, but it's pretty much the only picture with both us and some animals. Great-looking giraffes.

I felt like I belonged...
Go Cougars!
Awkward shot, but near our hotel in SD.

There is also a panda in this picture. This exhibit had the longest line. Turns out pandas are cute. Though they do slightly less kung fu than I expected.

IT'S A BOY!!!

Baby Weitzel is a boy! At least that's what the doctor said. I'm not a doctor, but I'm pretty sure what I saw on the ultrasound was a boy (either that or I am very very confused).

As we were doing the ultrasound, the doctor asked me what I thought the baby was and I said, "I really think it's a girl." Just as I said that our little guy flashed his goods up on the screen. The doctor replied, "It looks like you're wrong. It's definitely a boy." (Paul's response: "And what a boy!" ...)

So it's taken me a little while to get used to the idea that we're having a boy, but I am very excited. The only thing is we have no idea what we're going to name it. We can't agree on any boy names, and anything we used to like just doesn't seem cute enough now. So we are wide open to suggestions. We will also accept bribes to name our child after family members and/or friends. Name goes to the highest bidder.

We're still due March 18, and I'm still working my normal job, and Paul is still graduating in May and starting with Davis Polk in September in Menlo Park, CA. Did I miss anything?

Whoa, we're halfway there!!!...and Paul's Birthday

We're over halfway done!!! I'm actually not quite sure if that is a good thing or not. But it's a landmark nonetheless, so worthy of celebration.

Sorry about the sideways video thing. We still haven't figured out how to use our camera (we've had it for two years now). Just turn your screen sideways and you'll be fine.

By the way, that 3D thing on the sidebar is pretty creepy. Let me know if it stops you from viewing our blog (gives you nightmares, etc.) and we'll remove it.





Also, Paul's 27th birthday was on Saturday. We had two of his brothers and their families, plus Aunt Cheryl over for dinner.

The gang, minus Aunt Cheryl and Molly.

Wishes...

My family FINALLY came to Southern California. By "family" I mean four of my eight siblings, which is pretty dang good, and far bigger than most families even in it's half-ness. I like to think that they came to visit me, but the real reason for their visit was Disneyland. I do love Disneyland, so that doesn't really bother me too much. I'm just worried about what will happen next year when we don't live 40 minutes from the world's happiest place. I'll just post a few of the pictures. The rest are located in our web albums if you're interested.

Just a bit of Disney trivia: we counted the number of times they say "wishes" during the fireworks show. It is a 20-minute show, and the word "wishes" appeared 30 times. Amazing? Yes. Surprising? Hardly. Disneyland is, after all, the place where wishes come true.

Hayley, Markie, Layne, James, Paul, Matthew on Grizzly Bear Rapids





Quick story on this picture: I had a great picture of dad actually smiling (he had a good time, I know he did), and I somehow broke the picture. How do you break a picture that's saved on your computer? Step #1: be pregnant, therefore clumsy and absent-minded. Step #2: be impatient, therefore prone to turning off the computer while the picture is loading. Mission accomplished.










Layne's farewell to Disneyland. One final churro.

Worst Blogger?

I've been accused of being the worst blogger. I have to believe that someone out there, somewhere, is worse than me. I just don't know who that could possibly be and how they could possibly be worse. I'll try to do some catch-up work. Meanwhile, here's a video of Layne, Paul and Hayley at the beach near Santa Monica Pier. Now you can all see why I married Paul...for his brute strength and his willingness to push a 15 year-old in the water, then drag him through the sand.



Okay, more pics from October 16, our beach day:




Almost everybody smiling here.



Quite a difference going from Venice Beach that day to the LA temple at night. Paul gave us a great tour of downtown L.A.