It's a Boy!!

Here's my little man! I think he looks like me ;-)

2 weeks ago we found out that we're having a little boy!  I had a feeling it was a boy the couple of weeks leading up to our appointment.  The sono pics turned out great.  He moved around a lot.  He stuck out his tongue, yawned and sucked on his bottom lip.  It was so cute.  A couple of days after that appointment, Bryan was able to feel him move for the first time.  His reaction was pretty cute.  It was a mixture of excitement & weirded-outness (is that a word?).  I can feel it pretty regularly these days, but Bryan can't usually feel it unless I'm laying on my back.  I think I annoy little man when I lay on my back, but it's so fun for me!  

Tomorrow I hit 23 weeks.  I can't believe how quickly the time is going these days.  Maybe it's because my hormones are somewhat in check now, and I'm feeling a lot better.  Or maybe it's because I've been so busy.  Last weekend we got the landscaping done, the vegetable garden planted, and my potted plants planted.  I LOVE my back yard!  It's my zen oasis.  So I've officially given myself a time-out so I can relax & enjoy these days!  Pretty soon I'll be feeling miserable again, so I've heard.  

23 weeks (tomorrow)

Cravings These Days: 

-Peas (Weird, I know).  I'm not kidding, we have peas as a side dish at least every other night with dinner & I eat them at lunch, too. 

-Iced Latte w/ Carmel from Dunkin Donuts (I allow myself one on Fridays).

-Pasta (still).  I think we had a noodle dish at 4  meals last week.  And I ate leftovers at lunches, too! 

-Brownies.  But I haven't been eating these, I just want one every day.  But if you put one in front of my face, I would definitely eat it.  

I must admit I went a little crazy last Friday when Bryan left me home alone for a bit.  I was starting to feel bad that I hadn't bought anything for my baby, so I went to Amazon & purchased 8 of my favorite children's books.  My mom reminded me that I'll probably get some of those as gifts at my showers.  I couldn't help myself.  It was so fun to reminisce!
 
Next up on my list - start researching what I want to register for.  To all my mommy friends - I'll be coming to you to ask what is and isn't necessary to have.

I promise my next post won't be so delayed.  Since I'm on a "time-out", I have no excuses!

Let's Talk About Sex, Baby!

The time has almost come for us to find out the sex of our baby.  We find out on Tuesday!  Well, actually the nurse already knows.  At my Dr. appointment last week (just a quick, routine check), the nurse saw what our little baby was.  That was not the purpose of the visit, and I was caught off guard that she saw.  She asked if I wanted to know, but I said "NO! Bryan's not here!"  Can you believe my will power?!  Bryan told me later that night that he wouldn't have cared if I found out without him.  UMMM, yeah right!  So only God & my nurse know, until Tuesday that is.  I'm leaning more towards boy now.

Bryan & I have decided not to find out at the Dr's office.  More like I've decided, and he's just playing along.  We're going to have the nurse put it in an envelope, and then later that night we're going to go have dinner and open the envelope just the two of us.  Then we'll start letting everyone know.  I thought about coming up with a cute way to announce it, but, let's face it, I'm not much of a trend follower.  I am Mikey B's daughter after all.  And I really don't think I can wait to start telling people after we know.  I might make all my peeps running in the IL Marathon the following weekend wait.  Maybe I'll be cheering for you at mile 3 wearing a pink shirt.  Or maybe I'll be cheering for you at mile 9 wearing a blue shirt.  We shall see :-)

The pregnancy brain drain is in full effect.  I can't remember how to spell words (I hope I used "effect" correctly in the previous sentence).  I misplace things.  I don't know how to use big words in my vernacular any more.  Today I swore the cleaning crew ate the 2 Hershey Kisses I had on my desk.  I was really sad b/c I was looking forward to that snack.  Here is my conversation with a coworker today:

Me:  Joel, I don't like to jump to conclusions, but I think the cleaning crew ate my Hershey Kisses.
Joel:  Are you sure they're not in your cabinet?
Me:  (Looks through cabinet) No, they're not in here.  I swore I left them on my desk right here.
Joel:  (Look of concern b/c he knows how I get when I don't have a snack every 2 hours)
Me:  Oh, I ate them yesterday!

We've made it to the 1/2 way mark, people!  (I said that in my best Oprah voice).  I'm at 20 weeks today.  OHHHHHH, I'm half way there.  Ohhhh, OH, living on....bread & pasta & milk & tea & Mexican food & a PRAYER!
 

Here's a picture from my 19 week photo session.  My friend Laura and I are having a lot of fun with this.  She is pretty awesome! 

More from me after Tuesday!

Happy Easter

Happy Easter, everyone!  Hope you had a wonderful day filled with family, food & eggs.  Mix my food coma with the fact that I'm still recovering from our Vegas trip, and I'm about out for the night.  For those who don't know, I took Bryan to Vegas for his 30th birthday.  He had a blast!  I quickly learned that Vegas is not the place for pregnant people, or small children.  I couldn't get over the number of families that brought their very small children to Vegas with them, and proceeded to take pictures of them with their iPads.  So bizarre.  But it was a nice trip, and we both won some money.  Bryan immediately went out and bought a new iPad upon our return home.  It was his b-day gift to himself.  He was jealous of the tourists and their fancy "cameras" in Vegas.  He took the picture above with the iPad.  I'm totally kidding!  I will never allow that.  

Before I forget, I was informed today that I was spelling the baby's name wrong.  It is Katara, not Katana.  Sorry, Grace.  So from now on "she" shall be called Katara.  At the end of the month we'll find out the sex of the baby.  I can't wait!  I'm dying to know what my little bambino is.  Am I having little Madonna or a little Ralph Lauren baby model?  I've been anxiously waiting to feel those first flutters.  They say sometimes you can feel flutters anywhere between 16-20 weeks.  I don't think I've felt anything different.  Everything feels like a rumbly in my tumbly, but in a bad way :-)

Overall, I'm feeling pretty good, and hungry.  I haven't had to start wearing maternity pants yet, so I'm pretty pumped about that!  Don't get me wrong, most of the time my pants aren't buttoned, but they're still not maternity pants!  But I am looking forward to wearing them because they are comfortable.  I also learned a couple of weeks ago that you should never, EVER, watch My Sister's Keeper while pregnant.  I have seen this movie before, and knew that it was very sad.  OMG!  I was sobbing so hysterically on the couch you would have thought Bryan ate the last of my mayo.  So if you were wondering, emotions can be out of control at times.  Speaking of mayo, I think it's time for another deviled egg.

Basement Renovations

With a baby on the way, I am starting to complete all of my pending "To-Do's".  First on the list, carpet the basement.  Our living room upstairs is very small, and we weren't utilizing the space in the basement as much as we could have been, at least I didn't think we were.  So I took over Bryan's "man-cave" and carpeted it.  Which led to rearranging, which led to WAY more space to use, which led to a happy Lindsey, and one more thing checked off my list!

Here is what the basement looked like shortly after we moved in.

Here is what our new family room looks like!

Much thanks to Bryan, my Dad, my Grandpa, and my Uncle Allen for dry-walling off the stairs last Saturday so we could get the carpet laid.  And much thanks to my Mom & Grandma for moving all of my storage shelves to the utility room.  And much thanks to the nice guys who installed the carpet.  And much thanks to Bryan, his brother & his parents for moving all of the big things back into the basement.  I think I will spend more time down here now.  I wonder if Bryan will like that or not? I wonder what my house will look like when my nesting instinct really kicks in?!  I wonder when my Pillsbury Orange Sweet Rolls will be done?

We also had to get the bar ready for the season premiere of Mad Men tonight, and for when Uncle Riet comes to visit.  Isn't that just a beautiful sight.  My mouth is watering.  I'm going to drink tea out of one of my low ball glasses tonight so I can feel like Don Draper.

Baby Katana update time!  We have made it to 16 weeks & my tummy is starting to itch.  I don't know if it's because I am lathering on the cocoa butter like it's my job, or if my skin is slowly starting to stretch.  In the next couple of weeks, the baby will double in weight and add inches.  Right now we have an avocado (I just love that BabyCenter compares the baby to fruits & veggies), and he/she is about 4.5 inches long and 3.5 ounces.  Things are going well.  I am still tired towards the end of each day, but I can proudly say I made it through The Descendants on Thursday night (over 2 hours!), and it is a great movie by the way. But then last night I fell asleep about 30min into The Muppets.  But I finished it this morning (pretty cute movie).  

Welp, my bulimic cat just christened my carpet (for the 2nd time).  Better wrap this up.  Clearly the fact that she hasn't been fed yet is upsetting her.  

Have a good week everyone!

150

What does 150 mean, you ask?  No, it is not how long I left something in the oven. That was our baby's heartbeat this week! So....is it a girl or boy? My brother, Dr. Adam, who specializes in heart rates, thinks it could go either way. The old wives tale says anything over 140 is a girl.  I think at the end of April we find out for sure. Until then, I'm taking guesses!! 


Speaking of leaving something in the oven. I left these puppies in for only 8 minutes this time! And they were damn good!

I feel just like Sarah!

Another exciting thing that happened this week - we found our daycare provider. She is a very nice woman who has been doing this for 27 years. We got a good gut feeling about her. You can tell she really loves what she does, and loves the kiddos she watches. And the extra bonus, she lives just down the street from us. And the extra, extra bonus, Bryan and I don't have to get second jobs delivering pizzas at night to afford it!!! I am glad to get that task marked off my To Do list. Now I can move on to the other 999,999 things I have left to conquer.  


We've made it to 14 weeks! Sometimes it feels like time is dragging, then I think that I am 3 months pregnant, and I don't know where the time has gone. The baby can now squint, frown, grimace, pee, and possibly suck his/her thumb! Thanks to brain impulses, his/her facial muscles are getting a workout as his/her tiny features form one expression after another. The baby stretches out to about 3.5 inches long, about the size of a lemon, and weighs about 1.5 oz. I can't wait until I start feeling those flutters!  

I came home this weekend to go to the Friday fish fry at St. Thomas. My dad is a member of the Philo Knights of Columbus and helps cook up the fish each Friday night. I told him it was pretty good, but no filet 'o fish ;-).  It was so cool to be back in the school I went to for 8 years. Many good memories came flooding back. I saw my old 3rd/4th grade teacher, the old basketball coach, lots of family members. It was good to be home. I miss that town.


I would just like to note that it is after 10pm on a Friday night, and I am still awake. That is a pretty big accomplishment for me. I feel like I'm in college again!








Until next time, my friends.

12 Weeks

Wrapping up the first trimester!















On Thursday we were officially at 12 weeks!  A friend of mine, and college roommate, is an amazing photographer in Bloomington.  She is going to take my pregnancy progression pictures over the next 6 months (where did 3 months go?) and we're going to make a photo journal.  We'll also include the first newborn pictures.  We had our first session last Thursday night - see above.  That is a sneak peak into what the photo journal will look like.  I am so excited to document this progression, and she is going to do an amazing job!  Thanks again, Laura!  And of course I have to include my chalkboard.

My nausea is way better.  I'm still feeling very tired every day.  I hit a wall about 1pm, and usually go to bed around 8:30pm.  I still have my regular emotional, "ridiculous" moments, but that should get better throughout the 2nd trimester.  I've been assured I am NOT bi-polar, and the emotional roller coaster is very normal.  I can stand smells a little bit more now.  I can't wait for spring.  I have been in desperate need of fresh air.  Sometimes I'll open my back door for just a few minutes to get some fresh air.  It'll be a lot nicer when it's not 30 degrees out.  Lately I've been craving chicken patty sandwiches or chicken breast sandwiches, iced coffees, and nectarines.....oh, man, I am loving me some nectarines right now.  And now that Lent is here, I am really looking forward to multiple Filet 'O Fish Fridays!  I don't understand how someone could not love that tartar sauce sandwich.

I am finding myself having a bad case of pregnancy brain: forgetfulness.  And it only applies to food.  For instance, if there are leftovers after dinner I will put them in tupperware to go into the fridge - I LOVE leftovers.  At least once every week I leave said leftovers out on the counter all night long...all night, all night.  It makes for a very sad morning.  Yesterday I wanted chocolate chip cookies.  I only had enough flour to make a 1/2 batch.  I put them in the oven and set the timer for....wait for it, wait for it,  20 MINUTES!  Who does that?!  I smelled them burning and just thought it was the oven.  Then I went to check on them with 3 minutes left and realized what I had done.  Only 6 are edible.  So depressing.  Everyone knows you bake cookies for 9-11 minutes.  Even I know this.  Why I thought 20 minutes was appropriate, I'll never know.  Actually, I blame the pregnancy brain.

 So what is going on in Katana's world right now?  The most dramatic change this week: reflexes.  The baby is moving now, even though I can't feel it.  But I was lucky enough to see it last Friday at my doctor appointment.  My nurse practitioner was so nice and gave me a free sonogram.  It was amazing.  The baby was moving, and "she" looked like a little person.  The legs were crossed at the ankles, and the hands were moving around.  So cool!  I can't wait until I can feel that.  Katana is just about 2 inches, about the size of a lime.

So I have to tell you all real quick about my dream last night.  I had a dream that I gave birth to a boy, he was 9 lb., 16 oz.  Yes I know that is 10 lb., but it made me feel better in my dream to say 9 lb., 16 oz.  Anyway, he came out walking and shooting hoops.  And I couldn't decide on a name, so I just called him baby.  Weird.

Off to read my new books that my Aunt Donna sent me: "Belly Laughs" and "What To Expect When Your Wife Is Expecting" - well that last one is for Bryan, but we all know I'm going to read it, too.  Have a good week everyone!

-10 Weeks-

I am 10 weeks this week, tomorrow to be exact.  Since they moved my due date back by 1 day my weeks start on Thursdays now.  I wanted to document the belly progression pictures in a fun way.  Alright, let's face it, I got the idea from Pinterest.  My wonderful Mama painted the chalkboard paint on a mirror for me.  Thanks again, Mom!  This is hung in what will be our nursery.  The picture above captures some of what I'm craving, and what I find gross.  The list of gross things is A LOT longer, I just didn't have much room.  You can also see my bloated, preggo belly.  The belly comes and goes.  Today is the first it's really looked like a pregnant belly.  Usually it just looks like I ate a whole pan of Beef House rolls.....and maybe I have!  On a positive note, my nausea has subsided somewhat.  It's not an every day occurrence.  And I only dry heave about once a day!!  Progress, people!  I'm still pretty tired, though.  My DR prescribed an Iron pill for me since I'm anemic.  Hopefully that will help with my fatigue.  I'm looking forward to getting through the next 2 weeks and officially being in the 2nd trimester.  I hear most women start feeling better then.  I am hoping the same happens for me.  


On Friday Grace told me she thinks the baby should be called "Katana" while in utero.  Baby Katana is barely the size of a kumquat - a little over an inch or so long, crown to bottom - and weighs less than a quarter of an ounce.  And what exactly is a kumquat??  Katana is swallowing fluid and kicking up a storm (but I won't feel that for awhile).  The vital organs are in place and starting to function, and will continue to develop throughout the pregnancy.  Tiny nails are forming on fingers and toes (which are un-webbed now), and the baby is starting to get some peach fuzz.  Just some fun facts courtesy of Baby Center.  I have a love/hate relationship with this website.  It has wonderful information, but quite frankly it will scare the sh!t out of you, and you will no longer want to eat or drink anything.

Speaking of eating and drinking (ahhh, wine....oh sorry, just daydreaming).....to all of my family members who are participating in the IL Marathon: please include me in the Friday night carb session.  As you can see, pasta and bread are my best friends these days.  And even though I'm not running this year, I think I still need to carb load - for Katana.

Thanks again to all of you who have sent cards, given well wishes, hugs, and words of encouragement and advice.  It means a lot.

Love you all!