week 25 - lotus roots & bike rides

25 weeks! Whoa!

Hazelnut is ~13.5 inches long and weighs about a pound and a half! Apparently he’s developing a sense of equilibrium and is learning to tell the difference between being right side up and upside down- craziness.

A lotus root?! I was after rutabaga, but there’s NO WAY those things come 13.5 inches long around here. I spotted the lotus root, did a quick little measurement and went with it. Heavens knows WHAT we’re going to do with it now. What does one do with a lotus root after one is finished taking pictures with it? I guess I’ll be consulting my good friend google.

As we were getting this shot, I was smiling all nicely with my lotus root and Lowell said, "Julie. You're on a bike in the house holding a lotus root. You can be silly." Alrighty then.

What’s up with the sporty/biking theme, you ask? Well, this weekend Lowell biked 350km as part of Ride for a Reason (to raise money for Southern Alberta Bible Camp), and Hazelnut and I joined him for the last 90km on my old school 1920s road bike. It was great, and Hazelnut did sooo well (i.e., my lower belly area wasn’t nearly as sore as I was anticipating). It was a BEAUTIFUL day, and I really enjoyed the first 80 km, but I do admit that in the last 10 kms or so I became a bit of a Debbie Downer. All I could think of was how strong the wind was blowing (against us), how much my back, neck, wrists, and crotch hurt, how far we still had to go, and how badly I wanted to get off the bike. However, as soon as we rounded the last corner and spotted landmarks confirming we were nearly finished, my adrenaline surged and all was well again!

Enough about me, let’s talk about Lowell. He did all three days of the grueling trip, and he did AMAZING. He was one of the quick ones, but stayed back with me on the last day because of a knee injury (and because-- let's face it-- he likes to spend time with me). Because of his sore knee, this is how he biked up hills (and also just randomly at other times)… I’m not kidding.

What a trooper!

We enjoyed much road time with our friends Mandy & Graham (go Team Teimer!) We especially took advantage of drafting off of each other during the crazy winds at the end. (photo cred to Mandy & Graham!).

Speaking of exercise… since my impact-type exercise endeavors (i.e., running) are now limited, I took up Deep Water Jogging this week. I was the only one in the class under the age of 75, and the ladies were definitely more interested in socializing than exercising… but goodness knows that I never turn down a good gab session. I think I’ll enjoy getting to know my new friends Martha, Lorraine, Donna, Sheila, Isabelle, Carolyn, Gail, Adele, and Lisa!

Switching gears a little here…

We often receive very welcome comments about how cute our child is going to be. Well, we certainly hope so… but let’s not forget what I looked like as a child okay?

I think we should all prepare ourselves for anything! Also, a little boy this week predicted that we were having a 'half girl half boy'. Uh oh.

We’ve selected various facial features of each of ours that we think would make a cute kid. Not that THIS is cute or anything…



(This little mating machine video was part of our interactive wedding invitation 4 years(ish) ago.)

And I shall close with a 25 week profile shot…