Woot woot!

I passed my glucose test! I'm so relieved.

I know people thought i was crazy about worrying - but with pregnancy you never know what's in store, and considering I've developed a mean sweet tooth with this little one i wasn't not at all confident that my diet had contributed to a "pass" on this test.

I LOVE being wrong in this case.

Someone get me a milkshake...STAT!

Oh yeah...finished the trees! Will post the finished products this weekend. Maybe by then the birdies will have arrived as well.

xoxox

My Weekend Project

Well we've been working full speed ahead on the nursery now. My goal is to have it done (for the most part) about a month before I'm due. This way all we have to do is put things away and wait...and wait...and wait.

I've been really struggling with this project. The bedding, as i posted a few weeks ago, is about as gender neutral as i could find without going the route of characters that i just don't like. I just couldn't do a nursery with Pooh or Zoo Animals. I'm not saying there is anything wrong with that decor, but i was hoping for something simple and modern that would suit either gender just fine. It's been easier said then done so far! I had my aunt come over earlier in the week and we chatted about some ideas. Then i got online and started searching for cute nursery items to give me some ideas. That's when i came across this:

http://www.wallcandyarts.com/item/Season/232/c56

I just think it's so cute and perfect to add some neutrality to the walls. I figured i wouldn't add in the butterflies or flowers until after the baby arrived. The only catch is we decided to just paint over the ugly paneling in the nursery, and with these you need a smooth surface. Grrr.

SO after much contemplation i figured to try and give it a go myself with craft paint and a little imagination. These are from yesterday after i had just gotten started on the leaves:

I stopped half way through this one to go watch the football games for the night. I ended up finishing them both this morning, but haven't take more pictures yet.

To go in the trees, and around the room, i ordered cute little birdie decals that work just like that tree decal above does. I can use these on the paneling since they are small enough to fit in between the ridges. I plan to stick some in the two trees, as well as on top of the window and around the room just for some kind of theme - and to tie all of it together.

As you can see we painted the walls with white on top, chocolate in the middle, and the iced sage (to match the bedding) on the bottom. The wall actually imitates the crib skirt with the chocolate stripe going around it. My mom keeps saying it's a little boys room - which i agreed with until i added the trees. Now I'm starting to see the girl potential as well. I'm hoping once i get the birds and other decorative elements that i can really neutralize the whole thing.

We ordered the carpet today which is being installed on Friday (yay!) as well as two new windows to keep the baby warm. Only a couple more things to do before we can put the furniture together and in the room!

I had my doctor's appointment this past Wednesday but won't know my diabetes results until this week i guess ( I forgot to ask how long it takes to get the results). So I'm either going to be really happy or really pissed. Not sure yet. I gained 3 pounds since December 17th and the baby was lying sideways when the doctor went to measure my belly and listen to the hear beat which was 156. My next appointment is February 11th then i start seeing the doctor every two weeks until 36 weeks at which point i go every week.

We also had childbirth classes on Saturday. It was very informative and humorous all at once. There were many things i didn't know and some that i just didn't want to. I also learned how to breath - including the: hee-hee-hee-hooo move. We learned that we have to fill out our admissions papers now so we are prepared when i go into labor, and that we have to have our pediatrician picked out before we get there!!! I have no idea where to start on that one. Most people were around the same time frame as me, being due in late March and early April. We had one couple due in February and one couple having twins. It was, by far, way more enjoyable then our pre-cana experience!!! Even at the end Nathan said "that wasn't that bad at all."

I turned 29 weeks on Friday. I don't have a good picture as it was taken last night before i went to sleep - literally seconds before i crawled into bed. Nonetheless, here it is (bare belly this week):

My eyes are closed - Nathan snapped it when i was mid sentence. Anyway - it was nice to see from class that i was the same size as most everyone else there who was due around my date. It's always nice to be able to compare!

11 more weeks to go!

Hope everyone is well!

xoxox

Do These Stripes Make Me Look Fat?

Kidding, kidding. I already know the answer to that.

This is my 28 week picture. I know it will sound like crap, but i really don't look this big in person. Don't get me wrong, i have really started to feel "pregnant" these past few weeks. I can't lean over to pick up the dog, bending down is impossible and i lose my breath from going up 4 steps. But I'm serious when i say that the camera really makes this belly look bigger.

I went to the hair salon yesterday to get my hair did and every one's guess there is that it's a boy. Mostly because they say my butt hasn't gotten bigger (yet) and that my face looks the same. One girl just kept saying "you're all belly, that's it."

I'll take it, thanks!

I have a 27 week picture but i had been lying on the couch all day being lazy and my face looks disgusting. Therefore, i will not be posting that one. Don't worry - it's just another big belly shot. I do, however, have a picture of Nathan and i from New Year's Eve. He held the noise maker to my belly so that the baby could get in on the action:

We're working on the room full speed ahead now. I'm taking progressive pictures of it but think it will be more fun for everyone if i post them at once so you can see it from start-to-finish all at once. We did add some flavor to the paint this weekend by adding another color around the middle of the room instead of putting up a chair rail. The furniture was delivered too! We just need to get the carpet put in first before we put it together.

All in all it's coming along.

Going back to work this past Monday was hard since having off for almost a full two weeks. It felt like it always did in school coming back from winter break. Things are off and running and i was in New York on Monday to meet with Bank of America people. They were all very nice, and we're hoping that this all turns more into a "partnership" for our group and not a massacre of our jobs. Time will tell.

I'm keeping this one short and sweet tonight. There's only so much time before Desperate Housewives!

My doctor's appointment (and glucose test) is Wednesday. More on that next weekend.

xoxoxo

More fun to blog about

Ok, we've been very busy over the past couple of weeks with my Dad and Lisa here, as well as Natalie and Jason. We've had such a great time finishing out the year that i'm almost a little sad that it will be over soon.

I'm also dreading going back to work to see what my future holds there - I can't lie. It's scary to not know what's going to happen with work, and i can only hope and pray that i at least get to keep my job long enough to go on maternity leave. How about everyone who reads this hopes the same?!?!? Thanks.

Anyway, we had many adventures while Natalie and Jason were here and so little time to squeeze it into to. Friday (after Christmas) we headed into Philly to eat Jim's famous cheesesteaks on South Street. Nathan and I had only been to Pat's, but my cousin's husband Ronnie insisted that we go to Jim's this time...so we did. Here are some shots:

This is Nate and Natalie standing in line. Yes...a line. It wrapped around the side of the building and then wrapped around twice inside. Insanity. It was very much worth it - and Natalie and i were both glad that we decided not to share one - especially since sharing with a pregnant girl would have no doubt resulted in Natalie getting less.

The next day (Saturday) we were off to NYC for some sights. We saw the tree, Central Park, Times Square and much more. There were craploads of people there. At one point Nathan had to walk in front of me with his hand blocking my belly because loads of people just come at you. I hadn't seen it like that in a couple of years - but that's probably because i had learned the last time that it was way too crowded right after Christmas to go and haven't since. We did have a lot of fun, and did a ton of walking.

Right after we were in Rockefeller Center to see the tree we stumbled upon the best discovery ever...they put a Magnolia bakery in!!! There was a line (yes, another line) outside the building to get in, but as soon as Natalie saw what it was we were standing in line with drool coming out of our mouths. Here are some pictures of us enjoying our prizes for waiting in the cold:

(Please note Jason in the background looking at Natalie like's she insane)

The whole time i was eating my cupcake i kept thinking about my upcoming glucose test and how i know i'm going to fail. I guess i should just prepare to take the three hour test that comes after you get the phone call that you suck and failed the first one. Ugh.

Anyway - it was a great few days with Natalie and Jason. Until now Nathan and i hadn't spent much time with Jason, so it was great to get to know him better. We absolutely love him and we're so happy that he's a part of the family. Nathan was so happy to have him around. It was like they were old buddies. The four of us were like old couples who had been hanging out forever. Everytime we went somewhere the men would sit up front and Natalie and i would sit in the back just shaking our heads at the things they would say. I only hope that we didn't scare Jason away to much by having him spend Christmas with my family...which can be a bit overwhelming. His memory was great (far better then Nathan's) since he seemed to remember everyone from the wedding - their names and all! If he learned anything from being here for the holidays it was this: Just drink, and you'll get through it.

This was before the festivties really started on Christmas Eve:

On Christmas Day i wore this red sweater that made me look gigantic (yes, i'm blaming the sweater). Since i matched the chair i was sitting in, Natalie took a picture:

Tonight's New Year's Eve. I have to run to the store so i can make a chocolate cake to bring - and it's snowing outside. Again. Sucks.

Tomorrow we're off to NYC again to meet Quincy and Tierney who are flying in today to spend New Year's Eve in Times Square. We're having dinner at Rosa's tomorrow (yay) and then we're all headed back here where they will be staying for a few days. Something tells me i'll be eating another cheesesteak soon.

Happy New Year! Hope it's a safe and enjoyable one.

As Kerri pointed out in my last blog - we have less than 100 days to go until the baby arrives. I can't believe it. Next week i'll be 7 months pregnant. To that point i almost forgot...i ordered the furniture two days ago. I'm so happy it's done with and i just got an email that it's on it's way! Now Nathan needs to finish painting so we can get the carpeting put in! So much to do in so little time :)

More to come soon!

xoxox

Another Christmas Over...

I know. I'm really bad at this lately. The holidays took over and we've been really busy. It's not an excuse, but just my reason for not updating in a couple of weeks.

First off, we totally forgot to even take my 25 week picture on that Sunday. I remembered the following day, so I'm including a front bare belly shot for you Since Sunday is really three days after i turn another week along, and this was taken on a Monday, this was only 4 days before 26 weeks...so there's a little inconsistency here:

As a little follow up to my last blog, i made monkey bread and the delicious pasta dish that Sue had given me the recipe to. It was DELICIOUS. Of course by that time i was running around like crazy with company so I didn't remember to take a picture (pregnancy takes away your memory, by the way). Here's the monkey bread:

Also, Nathan and my dad got a start on painting the baby's room. Here are some before pics of the room. I'll post more soon. The first coat is on, but with Christmas and the company we've had, Nathan hasn't gotten around to the second one. I can't be around it, or else i would do it:

Lastly (for now), here is a picture from Christmas Eve, one day before i turned 26 weeks pregnant and officially entered my THIRD!!! trimester:

And my normal 26 week picture taken tonight:

Natalie and Jason drove up from North Carolina to spend Christmas with us! We had such a great time. I have so many fun pictures to post from their visit, but will have to do that another time. I'm using Nate's computer (mine appears to have a virus...yay!), and he needs to do some work.

More soon, i swear.

I hope everyone had a great Christmas and has a safe and memorable New Year!!!

xoxoxo

Pictures

Ok, I'm finally posting belly pictures for weeks 23 and 24. I will be 25 weeks on Friday.

23 weeks:

24 weeks:

I had my 24 week check up today. Everything seems to be moving along fine. I heard the heartbeat right away this time. Nice and strong! I got my belly measured for the first time, although i didn't ask what the measurement was. I wouldn't really know what is normal, etc. anyway. The doctor gave me an A+ for this visit.

I've gained 15 pounds so far in almost 25 weeks. When i asked her if that was ok she said "Oh yeah...you can gain lot's more weight!" Ummm...no thanks, but at least i know i have some wiggle room still. It is pretty amazing to think that next week I'll be 2/3 of the way done with this pregnancy.

My next appointment i get to take the glucose test for gestational diabetes. I have a bottle of orange fluids to drink an hour before getting my blood drawn. Yuck. It looks like Traiminic that i used to take when i was sick as a kid. I have a feeling there will be a lot of gagging the morning of January 14th (my next appointment).

I have monkey bread cooking in the oven as i type for my Dad and Lisa's dinner visit tomorrow! They just arrived this morning so Ellie and i are off to see them in a little while. I leave Lou at home because he's grumpy around other dogs. Ellie needs to burn the energy, lord knows, so she'll come along and hopefully refrain from raising hell once we arrive.

I'm using a new recipe i got from Sue Brunton tomorrow. I hope it comes out as good as when she makes it - but it's doubtful. I usually have bad luck with those types of things....but we'll keep our fingers crossed. There's always monkey bread for the main course ;)

Finally...we got snow yesterday. It lasted a while and did stick. There is still some on the ground but it's starting to melt. Good riddens! I don't enjoy the snow unless it's a weekend where we have nothing to do, and need the excuse to stay in. Katie also told me they had snow in Sacramento yesterday. What is going on?!?!

Anyway, that's all for now.

Enjoy the rest of the week!

Ohhhh yeah....i pulled a dumb move on Sunday and fell down our entire flight of basement steps. It does sound funny, i know, but at the time i was scared shitless. I felt so bad for putting the baby in danger. We called the doctor right away but there wasn't much they could do. She just told me to take it easy and feel for kicking, etc. and keep an eye out for bleeding. Thank god I fell on my side and NOT my belly which the doctor said is good. I have a sore hip (nothing new there) and hurt my arm, but was so thankful that the baby seemed to be ok. Apparently pregnancy causes you to lose your sense of gravity as well. I just chalk it up to another one of those things that nobody bothers to tell you about when it comes to being pregnant.

xoxoxo

Updates

Ok, I've been bad again about updating this. We did take a picture last week for 23 weeks, but of course i haven't loaded it yet. I will admit we almost totally forgot to even take one! I'll load it so i can post it next time around with my 24 week picture.

Speaking of, i will be 24 weeks tomorrow...which makes me 6 months pregnant. Where does the time go?!?!? Anyway, there are a few updates worth mentioning...

First of all, i think I've mentioned on here before that all the baby dreams I've had so far, even before i knew i was pregnant, were dreams that involved me having a boy. Well, that went out the window the other night when i had a very vivid dream that we had a baby girl. The dream was very funny and strange but we had a little girl and even named her the name that we have chosen should we have a girl. Apparently, after telling my sister, i come to find out that she had a dream that we had a girl on the same night. Doubt it really means anything but it is fun to see how things can change during your pregnancy - and how your brain will play tricks on you like that.

We did get the baby bedding, which i think is perfect considering we have no clue what we're having and i was trying to avoid any characters, etc.

Here's a link to the bedding:
http://www.rhbabyandchild.com/rhbc/catalog/product/product.jsp?productId=rhbc_prod142239&navCount=1

I will warn you that it tends to look blue on most people's computers for some reason, but the color is a sage and is very pretty. They have it displayed on the site in both a girls room and boys room - so that really sold me. So depending on what we have i can either add blue or pink and i still think it will look good. Most of the accents I'm going to add in the meantime will be white and silver.

I also created a registry on the site since there are some cute things that would be great to add to the nursery.

Now we have to paint the walls, get carpeting put down and then deal with the furniture. Speaking of...I'm hoping to order that in the next week or so. We're going with an espresso color. Something that we can use for any gender and many more babies to come (the word many is up for debate - I'll get back to you once this one arrives).

We also went to Babies R Us this past Saturday and created our main registry! It was fun, but quite overwhelming since you really don't know what you need if you've never done this before. Nathan had a lot of fun scanning everything he saw...i mean everything. I had to regulate a few times, but we managed to get through the store without making a scene. It took us about two hours.

Here's a link to their website. You can look us up by name:

www.babiesrus.com

I have to admit, the things that you really need for a baby are expensive. I felt so bad (and a bit nervous) about choosing certain things, even though i know we need them. BUT i had a few people tell us just to add what we need and want and see what happens. So that's what we did.

I'm a bit annoyed with the Babies R Us site and how they listed our items. There aren't images for everything, which is fine, except that there are some main items at the bottom without a picture and who the heck wants to sort through something that doesn't give you a visual?!?! I, myself, enjoy a visual and will admit that i may not pay attention to something on a long list of items if it doesn't catch my eye. So...our infant car seat is lost in that list without a picture, along with some other necessities, but whatever. I'm over it...kinda.

So at this point in my pregnancy the baby is a little over 11 inches long and weighs one pound. They say that sometimes Daddy can even put his ear to your tummy and hear the heartbeat. I had also just read that at this point the baby's moves are strong enough and the baby is big enough where you will probably see your tummy move when the baby does. We just tested that theory before i logged in to update this - i felt the baby moving pretty good so i lifted my shirt and you could see my belly jumping like crazy. It's so much fun.

Tonight after dinner Nathan put his face on my stomach and started talking to the baby...he kept saying "are you in there?" and all the sudden the baby kicked him right in the face! It was so funny! I have to say, finally feeling the baby move more, and knowing it's not just gas, has made this experience so much more real and fun.

Well i guess that's it for now. My Dad and Lisa arrive on Wednesday for a few days. I can't believe the holidays are upon us, and Christmas will be here in a couple of weeks.

Work has continued to be dreadful, but i have 7 1/2 days of vacation still and those start next week when my Dad and Lisa arrive. Then I'll take off the day after Christmas and the entire following week. When i get back to the office I'll officially be a Bank of America employee. We just got a firm wide email before i left today letting us know that Bank of America will be cutting 30,000 to 35,000 jobs in the future. Nice. Someone forgot to add in "Happy Holidays" at the end of that email. Jerks.

I promise there will be pictures in the next one! We're slackers lately.

Love to all!

xoxoxo

P.S. Happy Birthday Auntie Laura!!!