Some New Year's news

It's still early, but we had such positive news at the ultrasound, we decided to let everyone know that we're pregnant! (yay!) This has been a very long, up-hill journey and we are not out of the woods yet. But, we have reason to be optimistic this time. The first two (possibly three) miscarriages were diagnosed due to a septate uterus (mine, unfortunately). After having surgery to correct it, I then discovered that I also suffered from PCOS & Glucose intolerance, both of which can cause infertility. So, I went to a specialist to treat the conditions, and voila!

Here are the pictures that everyone has been asking about. The first one is a life-size portrait. You can see the black circle in the upper right of the "white fuzz". That is the sac. The little white dot in the black circle is the fetus (only 5mm long). The doctor was nice enough to zoom in for me.


This is slightly bigger....

And this is all the way zoomed in. It looks so cute!!


I am only 6 weeks, 3 days along, but doctor was able to detect a heart beat, beating at 112 bpm. It was SO LOUD on the ultrasound, it sounded like a big, bass drum.

And, here are the first sets of stats for our little person. Everything appears to be stable and well-attached. (Which is good news since it is most likely that the previous pregnancies were not). My blood levels are good, and fetal developement is right on track.

So, since it appears to be a typical, healthy pregnancy, we decided to let everyone know. Ronna made a good point that either way if I lose this pregnancy, I will be devastated again. So, I may as well enjoy it now so I can appreciate this (possibly short) time together. Wise words, Ronna!

Our next ultrasound will be at 9 weeks (so 2.5 weeks from now). I'll post more pictures if anyone is interested. (I'm sure at least our moms would be..... :)).

"Before you were conceived I wanted you. Before you were born I loved you. Before you were here an hour I would die for you. This is the miracle of Mother's Love."
Maureen Hawkins

Happy New Year!!

Just a quick note to say "Happy New Year" to everyone!

"Youth is when you're allowed to stay up late on New Year's Eve. Middle age is when you're forced to."
~Bill Vaughn

O Christmas Trees! O Christmas Trees! How lovely are your branches.....

We finally got our tree decorated last weekend. Here are some shots of it, especially since the weather is too terrible to travel and no one will get to enjoy it with us. Maybe Aaron and Megan if they're not snowed in... We are getting some crazy weather last week and next week. Today we got ~10" of snow dumped on us, and tomorrow's going to be even worse. It usually doesn't snow in Oregon, so this is really difficult for people to deal with. Portland has all of 2 snow plows in the city... they can't keep up with this.





Adrianne spent most of the day trying to help me lick envelopes for our Christmas cards. The problem was that she would lick all of the sticky off in one location, then nothing on the rest of the envelope. Finally, I had to get Ron to do the job when he was home on one of his breaks.


Ron tried to keep Anna out of trouble, but as you can see, she was trying to eat all of the fake garland and fake poinsettas she could get her mouth on. Luckily they were fake... I don't think she ate very much.



Did I mention the snow here? It never snows! this is crazy weather...
Here are some shots of the front yard and street:








And here are some shots of the back yard. Too much snow!!




I'll probably sign in again before Christmas, but if not, HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE!!!!

"I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all year."
~Charles Dickens

A little bit about what I do...

So, a few months ago (like 6), my brother Wendel asked me to fix his laptop power plug that was flaking out to the point where it wouldn't charge any more. It's kind of like asking a car mechanic to fix your refrigerator, since I design motherboards for desktop and CE devices, not laptops and not chassis', but I thought I'd give it a try. There were a few delays, but I finally took it apart tonight.

First diagnosis, it looks like someone has tried to "fix" this with tape previously... I know Wendel got it for a good deal, so this seems highly likely. Coupled with the fact that you can see the tape on it, and there are three cracks in the plastic housing.



Second diagnosis: Once I pulled the PCB out of the chassis, I could see that the connector was not usable anymore (no more tape!). You can see both halves in the next two pictures.
The half that came off:

The half that stayed on:


Third diagnosis: I can re-solder a new connector on there, if we can find the right one. I'm pretty sure it's the CQ21516 from Laptop Jacks, but we might be able to find it cheaper.... I'd also like to see a data sheet, but I don't think I'll get that lucky. (Side note, I just found it at DCPowerJacks.net as well, much cheaper!)


And, finally, for anyone who wants to know what a laptop looks like if you're trying to fix "one little piece" here it is. Believe me, I couldn't have done it with fewer parts taken out.... These things are like onions and I'm trying to get to the inner-most bulb.... There were a hundred little screws that I didn't have the right driver for, but I found something that worked. also, there are several connectors and ribbons that I *think* I can remember how to plug them in...


Sorry you had to see that, Wendel... But no worries! We'll get it back together. and hopefully I won't have a bucket of parts left over. :)


"All of the biggest technological inventions created by man - the airplane, the automobile, the computer - says little about his intelligence, but speaks volumes about his laziness."
~Mark Kennedy

blurb

Yay! I finally got the book done I was doing for Ashley and Wendel's Christmas present. I think it will turn out really nice. (You can see part of it on Blurb.com). Basically, I took her blog entries and turned them into a hard-bound book so that she can add it to her journal collection. Don't worry, I got her "OK" ahead of time, and she helped me with the final edits. I'm thinking of doing Mamie's blog next year since I have her name for next year's present. (hint, hint, Meagan, if you blog, it will be printed. in two years:)).

We are gearing up for Christmas in a week and a half. We're not quite sure where it will be, but we'll be ready! :) for those not in the Edwards family, we keep playing duck-duck-goose with where Christmas is going to be. Here, California, Malta... I think it's currently tied between Portland and San Fran. If we go to San Fran, I want to get a city go card and see the sights. If it's here, then there's always the summer. :)

Well, I gotta go finish the Christmas tree decorations now. We bought the tree and put it up a week ago. It's been bare for a week, so sad!

"I promise that if you will keep your journals and records, they will indeed be a source of great inspiration to your families, to your children, your grandchildren, and others, on through the generations. Each of us is important to those who are near and dear to us and as our posterity reads of our life's experiences, they, too, will come to know and love us. And in that glorious day when our families are together in the eternities, we will already be acquainted."

Author: Spencer W. Kimball

Thanksgiving!

well, I guess it's time to start posting again. It has been a while so there's a lot to catch up on. We're slowly digging ourselves out of this nightmare of a year, with all the trauma and turmoil. (Losing the kids, tax audit, home break-in, among other things that I choose not to discuss here). I can't wait to start a new year in a few weeks.

On a more positive note, I had half my family in town for Thanksgiving! it was very fun, and hopefully I wasn't too stressed about it. Below is a picture of our fancy feast.



and my turkey turned out so yummy! I had a citrus grill rub on it (Thanks Meag for sending it!), and it was perfectly browned, yet still moist. yum.


Plus, beforehand we had a whole table full of appetizers, including Bethaney's yummy deviled eggs and Ashley's yummy red pepper salsa. (You should definitely find the recipe for that, Ashley!)





Anyway, now we're gearing up for Christmas. We've invited Ron's family to come to Portland. We're not sure if they can come yet, but it would be good to see them again.

"Thanksgiving Day comes, by statute, once a year; to the honest man it comes as frequently as the heart of gratitude will allow."
~Edward Sandford Martin