Christmas Presents!

So above we have the famous "Skookie" pans! A gift from my grandpa and grandma. Alex and I tried them out for our Christmas Eve meal with goodies and I added candy cane to the chocolate chip cookie recipe for good peppermint flavor! mm MMMM!
And this is the little red fire truck from Aunt Nat to our little guy. I'm about 31 weeks ripe here. :-)
And these cute items are from the Aunt factor as well! They do a good job! Our little one, (and thus his parents,) were on the receiving end of many generous gifts this year! Included were a new car seat with stroller from my parents, the baby bassinet passed down in my family, (my grandpa slept in it!) and numerous fun books and cute and studly clothes...fun stuff!

A White Christmas!

My first realy white christmas! How fun! Despite me having to work, it is so amazing to actually see snow flakes falling on Christmas Day. At the moment I am in Eureka, though I was lucky enough to spend the morning at home and enjoy the white stuff. Even the drive was fun! (Thanks to my trusty green machine!)
And, thank goodness, the health care climate today has been peaceful as well...giving me some free time. Out little boy in my tummy is a mover! Practicing his powerful punches as I write this. And he feels like he is getting bigger by the second. Alex does say that he can notice a day by day difference in my size...pretty amazing.
It's so nice to think of next year when we'll have a little person staring at our Christmas tree, scooting around on our floor, and perhaps raising havoc? Sounds fun!

Rogue River, OR. Thanksgiving Weekend

Finally, pictures from our mini Honeymoon...or babymoon? to Paradise Lodge on the Rogue River. The Lodge is in a remote location that you can only hike too, or boat or jetboat too. We choose the later and it was a blast! Alex showed off his mad skills....with only a few bumps in the road...give him a beer or two and he'll tell you all about it! The picture above is from Zeike's Peak above the Lodge, just a little jaunt STRAIGHT UP!!! And I'm glad to say Katie and Fulton Jr. made it up like champs, though Katie was blowing some wind a bit more than usual! Over all a beautiful weekend with great weather. The Lodge actually reminded us a lot of our property which made it nice to come home as well...:-)

Back to the land of blue

Yep, back to work. "Blue" meaning the OR. Not something beautiful like the blue ocean, blue sky, or the blue of someones eyes. Everything blue in the operating room is sterile, and assisting I am too. I guess it is a calming color for me. It means everything is prepped, ready to go, and puts an action such cutting a person's body in a very controlled environment, or about as controlled as it can be. I think that is why I like it so much. The more I am in surgery, the more I know and the more controlled it is. Never routine, at least not yet, except maybe the very straightforward cases. My boss and teacher in all of this told me early on that surgery is very deliberate. Of course at the time I didn't know what the hell he was talking about because it was so new. But now I see what he means. If you are deliberate, but speedy, you are a great surgeon. And being deliberate takes thousands and thousands of hours in the operating room.
I am trying to be deliberate, but doubt it will come some time soon. I actually doubt you can even "Try" to do such a thing. I think it just happens..
So my first day out of the blue Rogue River, (pictures to come later!) and into the blue of my work place was pretty good. Actually included a half day of office which always breaks things up, as you can look into the blue, or brown, or green of your patient's and new aquaintance's eyes and gain perspective....

Friday is Finally Here!

It has been such a long week! Muscles are sore that I didn't even know existed, and all just from standing and being on my feet a lot. My lower abdominal muscles seem to be tender to the touch. A friend of mine said that this was round and broad ligament pain from the baby growing. Man, Owww! And it is only when I am on my feet for a long time. So needless to say I am glad for two days off. We are going to a friends house for a Thanksgiving meal tomorrow which I know will be awesome, and later next week Alex and I are off to the Oregon Coast for a mini honeymoon! I can't wait. We are still planning on going to Costa Rica, though that obviously will be put on hold until our newest member of the family joins us and grows a bit.
So needless to say, there is much to look forward to this coming week and very few work days which makes all the difference! Hopefully beautiful Oregon pictures to come!

LIttle Fultmeyer's first Halloween costume!

This was a gift from Alex's mom Gloria, a little green dragon! With little wings, a tail, and "ROARING" sound effects to boot, (As if the kid will need that, will probably drive us crazy!) He should start to fit in it just in time for Haloween 2009!

25 weeks Along! The little guy is a wiggler, and in general likes to sit up very high!

For lack of a current picture of me...

This is what's on my mind lately!

Pregnancy Update:
Baby is 23 weeks along. No name yet but Alex and I are letting the creative juices flow. I'm feeling GREAT!!! Or great at least in comparison to earlier in the pregnancy. Lots of energy, but growing bigger every day. Everyone is telling me that I'm carrying very high, and I feel our Fultmeyer baby wiggling almost up near my ribs already. He's making use of all the space he has. Alex and I are trying to enjoy the time outside while I'm still feeling well.

The Fall Chill is here and the belly is growing. A little baby boy is kicking all my insides and letting himself be known.