Thursday, 05 November 2009

  • Wife Tipping

    In the last couple weeks, Kiel has found his favorite entertainment in the world, which I labeled "Wife Tipping".  After Kiel comes home from work, we find ourselves chatting about the day...he's usually unwinding from the day and I sit on our bed, talking about key things that have been happening.  There is always a moment, however, when Kiel either gets this devilish look on his face or simply without warning, he will sneak attack me to where I end up flat on my back.  Since I can't simply sit up anymore (because Evie's getting too big), I struggle to roll over, sit back up...only to have the entire ordeal happen over again.  Kiel just cracks himself up!  Honestly, I know I look pretty funny, like a beetle with his scrambling legs flailing in the air.  Everyone should learn to laugh at themselves...it makes life so much more entertaining!
    Currently
    Starfield
    By Starfield
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Saturday, 31 October 2009

  • It's a Girl!!!!

    Evangeline Joy Downey

    When we went to the have our ultrasound, I was sure we were having a boy, seeing as how the Downey clan hasn't produced a girl in 50 years.  I had prayed before I got pregnant that God would bless us with a little girl.  It was pretty funny actually, because the entire time we were driving to the doctor's appt, I kept praying this.  Then I started laughed at myself...honestly, it wasn't like God would change His mind at the last minute on week 20, LOL.  Kiel & I were both surprised when we were told, "It's a girl!"  Actually, they are very certain it's a girl...no maybe's or could be's.  She was pretty cooperative about letting us know.  We decided to name our baby girl Evangeline Joy...Evangeline meaning messenger of good news and Joy because we feel so much more than happiness about the arrival of our Evie.  We are truly so blessed and so thankful that God has protected our little one, knowing that He will continue this work in her life.  Ah, I can't believe we're having a little girl!!!


    Evie's foot...it's actually positioned directly in my belly button and she loves to kick me there.  No wonder I felt like my belly button has taken the occasional beating.

    This was one of the most amazing experiences of my life!


    Last night we had an announcement party for our parents & grandparents.  I made mini cakes for each person and Kayla came over to help me frost and decorate them.  (Thanks Kay!)  The secret was actually in the cakes because I put neon pink food coloring in them.  It was a bit of a task to make sure no pink was showing on the cakes...we used a lot of frosting, LOL.  Once everyone arrived, we passed out the cakes, everyone took a bite and you should've seen the shock on everyone's faces, LOL.  It was classic and even more fun to watch because everyone was expecting a little boy.  Get ready for pink, ribbons & lace!

    I also got a surprise last night...just after everyone had arrived, there was another knock at the door.  Confused, I opened it and Monica was standing there.  She flew down to surprise me at the announcement party and I thought I wouldn't see her until after Christmas...that sneaky girl!  It was super fun! 
    This has been such a great week!

Monday, 26 October 2009

Wednesday, 21 October 2009

  • October Adjustments

    Life has been a whirlwind of adjustments for me this October.  Baby Downey has certainly been growing this month and has no intention of slowing down.  It's been extremely noticeable due to several factors:  1) I am no longer able to simply sit up.  I have to role over on my side to get out of bed and I have a very difficult time standing up if I'm in a seat that's too deep.  Kiel sometimes laughs at me when I can't get off the couch...I never really thought it was deep, but it appears to be now.  2) I've started filling into my maternity clothes.  They don't really make me look like a marshmallow anymore...it's nice to feel/ look pregnant and have other people think I'm pregnant and not just 'husky'.  3) I feel like I'm always hungry and need to eat every hour.  I'm limiting my intake to healthier things, especially when I wake up in the middle of the night starving.  I've only gained 5 lbs in this last month, so I don't feel like I'm out of control, eating everything in sight.

    The other adjustment was I got early maternity leave because I was laid off on Friday.  I had hoped to work up until Baby Downey's arrival, I'm not really sad about having more time to get things ready.  I feel like God has given me more time and I couldn't have asked for a better gift!  I also have more time to make meals (which is so much healthier for us) and take care of Kiel, which is something I really enjoy and haven't had any time for since I got pregnant.  Although it would have been nice to have more income for the time being, life is pretty good!  Kiel and I are very excited about the future and baby!

    Our ultrasound is next Thursday - is Baby Downey a boy or girl?  We only have to wait a week to find out - YAY!

    Currently
    Addison Road
    By Addison Road
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Saturday, 10 October 2009

  • The Empire State Building


    This is the third time I've been in the New York City area and finally, I got to go to the Empire State Building.  Maybe it was all those classics that always romanticized this experience for me, but I wanted to make sure we went to the top this time.


    On the ground floor, before we had purchased tickets.


    Our 10 minute wait (as the sign at the beginning of the line stated) turned over an hour.  We kept thinking we'd finally get to go, but there was always another line.  The only fabulous thing about waiting in line was the fact that we got into an elevator with King Kong (well, a guy in a King Kong suit).  It was AWESOME!  The best part was that people didn't expect King Kong to be in the elevator, so every time some one came in, we they would gasp unexpectedly because they were so shocked to see an ape man.  It was classic!


    The view from the top was completely amazing!  You truly don't realize how huge the city is until you see it from the top of the Empire State Building.  This was the south viewpoint...to the right you can see the Statue of Liberty & Ellis Island.


    The four of us at the northern viewpoint.


    Gazing at the very top of the Empire State Building.


    So, there you have it - our final pre-baby vacation!  We truly enjoyed ourselves and had the most memorable time, but next time we'll know not to do such a long drive from Maine to Newark.

    Finally, the amazing sunset as we flew out of Newark.
    Farewell, East Coast!  Until we meet again...

Friday, 09 October 2009

  • Long Trek to New York City...


    What should have been a 7/8 hour journey from Maine to New York City took 12 hours, mostly due to the outrageous traffic in NYC.  Needless to say, we were all very exhausted and cranky by the time we arrived - all of us were absolutely ready to get out of that car.  Our one fabulous experience about this road trip was stopping at the Rein's New York Style Deli in Vernon, Connecticut.  You couldn't ask for a better meal - we were all impressed with our lunches.  There's nothing like a real deli sandwich!


    When we finally got to Neward, New Jersey we met with Dee, who happened to be in the area and on furlo from Thailand.  I haven't seen her since our wedding, so I was so glad we were able to meet up with her and spend the evening in New York City together.


    Jude Law was playing Hamlet on Broadway...a guy walked in the way as I was taking this picture.


    Time Square at night...

    In Time Square, New York City - the city that never sleeps!

Thursday, 08 October 2009

  • Deer Attack!


    On our way home from Acadia National Park, we were hit by a deer.  Yes, you read that correctly, we were hit by a deer.  We hadn't left the island yet and had just pulled out from the Pirate Cove mini-golf, when we saw a huge buck running along side us.  When Monica noticed it, she slowed down, as not to hit it.  However, the deer had other plans and lowered it's head, running straight into the side of our car.  It quickly ran off into the forest and we have no idea whether or not it was injured.  The deer damaged all three panels on the drivers side and ripped off the mirror (which we ducted taped back on to drive down to Jersey).  We called insurance companies and had the police come out - what a night!  I think we're still all in shock from it because it was such an utterly ridiculous occurrence.  This incident came after a long day of weirdness for me, which may seem fabricated, but believe me, every word is true...

    Here is how my day went...
    I woke up to see a beautiful sunrise...all sorts of gorgeous colors, which I thought would ensure an absolutely fabulous day.  However, on our drive to Acadia, I kept smelling poop.  At first, I thought we were just driving through an area that was overly fertilized, but after an hour of smelling it, I started looking around at everyone to see who was the culprit.  I don't know why it took me so long to look at my own shoe, but once I did, I saw a huge leaf completely squished onto my shoe with foulness.  I instantly screamed, "There's poop on my shoe!"  This, of course, made everyone laugh hysterically.  As soon as we found a pull off with sea access, I got out to clean off my shoe.  There was a problem with this however, because I could not properly bend down to clean poo off my shoe with my growing belly (which had seemed to have a major growth spurt while on the East Coast).  So, poor Kiel took my shoe and cleaned it for me while I sat on a rock watching (what a good husband he is, although I'm sure he didn't think this would be in the husband job description).

    We continued on to Bar Harbor, which was the only tourist place I'd seen anywhere in Maine.  There was a shop that had homemade ice cream, which is wonderful...so obviously, we were not passing the opportunity.  On our way back to the car, I bit into my ice cream cone and suddenly felt something jab into my gum.  I piece of metal was in my ice cream cone...it looked like a staple.  Well, that completely freaked me out and I had to throw away the entire cone after that because what if there something something else, I didn't want to swallow it and hurt the baby, etc.  My gum was sore and bleeding after that, but I kept an eye on it and that all went away after a little while.

    Then we drove up to Cadillac Mountain and when I opened my water bottle, it exploded all over me.  It surely wasn't my day until we went to the Pirate Cove mini-golf and I scored 3 holes in one, which is something I never do!  Kiel is convinced it must be "prego magic" LOL.  But directly after that, we got attacked by the deer, so it was just overall a very strange day!

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    • Name: Niina
    • Birthday: 10/26/1981
    • Gender: Female
    • Member Since: 4/6/2005

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  • Interests: Photography, Thai curry, adventurous tall tales, my ipod, roadtrips, silent laughter, poetry, the Greek Isles, driving on the left
  • Website: http://n-thedeepend.blogspot.com

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