So here's where we're at: sometime around the New Year, Little Bit decided to be jealous over the attention that the older cousin, Bryan and Linda's due-at-any-minute progeny, was receiving and decided to make his or her presence known to all. Overnight, seemingly, I was transformed into a weeble:

I had to make an emergency run to a very convenient maternity outlet store while at my parents' house; only one of the pairs of pants that I had packed would fit me anymore. Now I'm in maternity wear full-time, and it feels so much more comfortable that I can't believe I put off buying it until the last minute. Still, that outlet, as well as the generosity of my mother, made the monetary outlay much more painless than it would have been had I done it beforehand.

Movement, also, is now a regular event. Even as I type this, Little Bit is kicking away at the inside of my belly button, fluttering tiny heels against my insides. On the way home from our vacation, we stopped at a rest stop and I had a small milkshake; Little Bit partied like mad for the rest of the voyage.

As for the rest of the vacation, everything went smoothly - that is, except for the fact that Eric grossly overestimated my clothing sizes in telling his family, so I was humbled to tears when opening the boxes and boxes of parachute-sized outfits on Christmas. He was wonderful about cleaning up the mess though, apologizing profusely and requesting receipts on my behalf. Both mothers got us Bed-in-a-Bags (Beds-in-a-Bag?) for our new bed, which worked to completely stuff our car to capacity on the return trip.

Oh, and Eric is getting me a digital camera, just as soon as I figure out which one I want. At this point, I'm trying to decide between a Sony Cyber-Shot and an Olympus Camedia. Any input, on these or any other cameras, would be much appreciated.

This vet was much less optimistic than our own. "It could be an ear infection," he said, "or it could be an abscess in her ear. It could be cancer." While we stood there awkwardly, holding our trembling, limp pet, he began to speak of euthanasia. We finally stammered that we preferred to wait until we got home to make that decision; in the meantime, could we please have an antibiotic for her? He agreed, threw in a shot to help a small eye problem, and sent us on our sad way.

But Ori liked the new medicine, swallowing it much more eagerly than she had the first antibiotic. After a few days, she began to look much stronger on her feet, though she still stumbled a bit if anything startled her. By the time we got home last night, we began to feel optimistic about her survival.

Our vet saw us this morning and informed us that Ori had lost weight; compared to the weight at the earlier vet visit, though, she seems to actually be putting some back on. He cautioned us to stay with this medicine for about three weeks and to be cautious of any changes in her appearance or behavior. The poor thing isn't out of the woods yet.

I found some nice candidates in yesterday's paper about which I intend to call. We may not be in so affluent a neighborhood, or in so new a building, but we'll have more space. Maybe we'll even have a yard, or at least a small strip of grass, in which the baby can play. I'm eager to begin, and Eric agrees, especially since some of these houses can be had for less a month than we currently pay in rent.

Wish me luck!