Bedding Basics

Last weekend I registered with my mom for my showers in September. I have everything up except for the stroller (which Target does not have) and infant seat. I guess I will need to get those on my own. I also have not registered for bedding. I am having the hardest time picking what I want. First I wanted polka dots and stripes, then I wanted flowers, then I wanted something super plain. I just don't know what I am doing. What I do know is that I don't want to get tired of some theme I picked out. I want the bedding to be classic and not trendy. The colors I love are, bright pinks, various greens and yellow. But I also love lavender. I have narrowed down my selections below... The first three are from Pottery Barn, the second two are from Target. Any thoughts? I also love to mix and match pieces from different collections.

On another note, I am hoping the in laws volunteer to purchase a big ticket item... however, I don't know if they will, you just never know with them. I don't want to sound greedy or demanding, but with a lot of things needed, I want to make sure they are spending their money wisely and on things we need soon. Would it be appropriate to have them buy our stroller and infant car seat? Or something else big? How do I do this without sounding like a byatch?

Sophie Collection- Love all of various colors

Penelope Collection- Love the use of the hot pink

Pique Collection- I would do the hot pink and mix and match cute sheets... also can be mix and matched with Penelope

Cottage Chic- Again, I like the various colors

MiGi Sweet- very cute too!

Cravings

Today while pretending to work, I went to the Hostess web-site and thought about whether I would rather be nibbling on Ding Dongs, Ho Ho's, or mini Donettes. I went to a junk food website and read about their products like I was researching to buy a new car. I have such a sweet tooth right now. I have limited my sugar intake since my last appt. with Substitute Doc. and have done pretty well... but for some reason I got to thinking about those chocolate, shiny, waxy tasting mini donuts which go so well with a nice glass of milk. I....love.....you....little donuts... we could be such good friends... I could keep a package of you in my desk and I would slowly eat one at a time so that the pack would last through the day. No one would have to know about us.

I was lusting and maybe even starting to drool therefore very embarrassed when a coworker snuck up on me to ask me about a project. I quickly clicked out of my sweet heaven like I was trying to hide something and pulled my head out of my tasty bliss and got back to work.

About Me

Random Things About Me

Favorite Foods:
1) Cheeseburgers
2) Pizza
3) My mom's fried chicken
4) Popcorn
5) Watermelon

Places I Have Traveled to in the past year and a half:
1) New York City
2) Washington, D.C.
3) New Jersey
4) Scottsdale/Phoenix
5) Tucson
6) Sedona
7) Orange County
8) Tampa Bay
9) Dallas
10) Chicago

Favorite Movies:
1) Love Actually
2) Ghostbusters
3) National Lampoon's Vacation
4) Top Gun
5) Working Girl
6) When Harry Met Sally
7) Devil Wear's Prada

What Did I Eat for Breakfast Today:
Real oatmeal (no sugar) with sliced bananas and sprinkled cinnamon

What Did I Wear Today:
Mimi Maternity white and pink striped blouse, GAP maternity jeans and brown Steve Madden round toe pumps topped off with my brownish/burgundy Burberry reading glasses

Things I Rock at Cooking/Baking:
1) Stuffed bell peppers
2) Banana bread
3) Enchiladas
4) Spaghetti (real sauce, not out of a jar)
5) Twice Baked Potatoes

Favorite Books
1) Anything by David Sedaris (Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim, Me Talk Pretty One Day, etc.)
2) The Devil Wear's Prada
3) The Great Gatsby
4) Prep
5) Lonesome Dove

Favorite Time of Year:
Fall

Favorite Holidays:
1) Halloween
2) Christmas
3) Thanksgiving

Favorite T.V. Shows:
1) The Office
2) How I Met Your Mother
3) Tori & Dean: Back to Hollywood
4) Run's House
5) What Not to Wear
6) Anything on Food Network
7) Bringing Home Baby
8) Baby Story
9) John and Kate Plus 8

That's it today!

This Morning in a Nut Shell

4:00 a.m.: Wake up and think how nice it is that its Sunday!!! Go back to sleep
4:15 a.m.: Wake up again and realize that I am a fool, it is freaking Monday!
6:20 a.m.: Alarm goes off
6:21 a.m.: Push snooze button
6:30 a.m.: Alarm goes off again
6:31 a.m.: Push snooze button
Continue cycle until 7:15
7:15 a.m.: Decide it is time to start my day
7:20 a.m.: Get in shower
7:30 a.m.: Figure out what to wear which I think will look cute
7:35 a.m.: Realize that this outfit makes me look like I am wearing a too big of top with a too small of blazer- story of a pregnant lady
7:37 a.m.: F-it, wearing this outfit anyways....
7:45: After hair and makeup are done, saunter downstairs to make breakfast and lunch
7:50: Make oatmeal and bananas
8:00: Eat oatmeal and bananas while sitting at computer in our office
8:02: Prepare pita pocket with hummus for lunch and see that the hummus seal is broken.
8:03: Toss out pita pocket and hummus and make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich
8:04: Finish packing lunch and contemplate eating rest of my peanut butter and chocolate cupcake from Sift (new cupcake place) as an after breakfast dessert.
8:05: Decide against eating cupcake and stick with my limited sugar consumption diet- argh
8:10: Go back upstairs to brush teeth
8:15: Pack work out clothes
8:20: Go back downstairs
8:25: Look for work out bag
8:35: Find work out bag
8:37: Try to find iPod headphones
8:45: Decide the hubb's must of taken them with him on his business trip to Hawaii yesterday.
8:50: Put Lucy in garage
8:55: Decide that tomorrow I will be on time to work
9:00: Back my car out and head to work
9:07: Arrive at work and realize parking lot is super empty and think about how I should of called in sick

Pour Some Sugar on This!

Went to the doctor's yesterday. My regular OB was booked so her midwife saw me instead. She asked if I was sleeping through the night and I replied "like a rock!" and she remarked "you should be getting up to go to the bathroom! You are not drinking enough water!" After arguing reasons why I have not been drinking enough water I realized just to shut up.

Then she made a comment about this past month's weight gain. I chalked it up to being constipated. She did not like that response and said I was eating too much dairy. I then told her I had ..... hemorrhoids!!!! Yes, I do. It is lovely. She then asked if I wanted her to take a look at them (meanwhile the hubbs' is in the room with me with a bewildered look on his face). I said no. They are happy where they are and not in the mood for an audience thank you very much. She told me about some remedies and that was that.

Then I asked her about the indigestion I have been having after dinner sometimes. Her remark:
"Ahhh! 6 small meals a day! No big meals!".....
"but I eat 6 fricking meals a day lady!" I replied. She then recommended TUMS. Sweet.

Last but not least, she said I should start limiting my sugar... no sugary drinks (which I don't even drink....wait does that include my morning tea with two tablespoons of sugar or my coffee with cream and sugar?), cut out sugar.... period.

Let me just say I walked out of there like a dog with it's tail between its legs. I felt lousy. I have been eating very healthy, but have thrown in more sweets into my diet, that is for sure. I have been exercising. I should drink more water and maybe cut out baking cookies... but come on!!! Just because I am going through a growth spurt does not mean I need to feel like I got sent to the Principal's office.

Cookie Complex

Lately I have had the need to bake cookies. For some reason my cookies always look weird. They never look like my mom's perfect cookies. They are either small and thick or super flat. Now I know, the cookbooks say, that too thick = too much flour. Too flat= butter too softened. That may be true for many Betty Crocker's, but for me, I follow the rules/measurements to the tee and they still look goofy. Despite looking lumpy or like pancakes, they taste good.

For instance, yesterday I tried out a new chocolate chip cookie recipe which was supposed to leave the cookies more moist and gooey, just the way I like them. In order to be more healthy I cut out some of the sugar and mixed in a mashed up ripe banana instead. They ended up good size, not too little or flat but the bottoms were darker and they were also darker around the perimeter. The banana made them more cakelike than cookielike, but they were still scrumptious, even if they again looked odd. I am a pretty good cook (okay, a really good cook, but more Better Homes and Gardens than Bon Appetite) so this cookie ordeal is creating a real complex. I find myself paranoid and worried while they are in the oven. Checking in on them as they bake to make sure they do not get all weird looking.

I've got a cookie complex and I need help!

Further Proof I am a Moran

Okay, remember my post my last week about cutting off my eyelashes? Of course you do, because you dream and breath by my nonsense blogs. Anyways, here is a picture below. Yup, nice eyelashes...
Here are some 22 week belly shots (in my prenatal yoga outfit thankyouverymuch). I think I am going through a growth spurt right now because all of sudden my belly just popped out!

Yeah, that skin does not get tan. I can thank my Norwegian grandfather for that! It's okay, I am proud of my fairness!

Sgt. Slack Off

I have been so lazy lately. Our house looks like a disaster area. I have had no energy to clean or straighten things up. Shoes are piling up at the bottom of the stairs, mail is accumulating on the counter, books and magazines are laid out all over our couch. The thought of having a housekeeper is sounding much more appealing right now.

Mission Organization is about to begin in my house. I am determined to tackle one big project each weekend through the summer. Up first is going through our closet and bagging up any clothes that I have not worn within the last year or so. Not only will I be bagging them up, I will actually be driving my ass to Goodwill and unloading them. Yup. I will.

Next up on my organization/get in order list:

1) Organize all closets, including linen closets and purge/donate things I never use
2) Organize cabinets and cupboards
3) Clean out downstairs walk in closet
4) Order photos which are sitting on computer, and put them in catalogues and frames
5) Organize my recipe book (not a big project and can be added to another project's weekend)
6) Clean out office- this one I am not looking forward to
7) Clean out dresser(s)

My new motto is "less is more". We have a pretty big house and we have stuffed every spare closet with stuff. Stuff that should of been tossed when we moved into our house in the first place. We are only going to accumulate more things with the baby and will need that space.

Sniffling Sally

Been sick since Friday. Hubbs got a bug for a day last Thursday. That night I yelled at him in the middle of the night for breathing all over me. The next morning I woke up sick, except it is hanging on way longer than his 24 hour bug.

On Saturday we went mattress shopping which was miserable considering I was almost at the peak of being sick and it was hard not to lay on your back when testing out mattresses. On Sunday I sat on the couch all day, watched E.T. and cut out recipes from old Martha Stewart magazines.

So yesterday and today the bug is mostly in my sinuses and causing serious pressure and pain. And my ear hurts so I keep on having people repeat things because I can not hear. Real classy.

Today I at least decided to look put together. I am wearing a cute black dress from Motherhood Maternity, a black Banana Republic cardigan and leopard print Banana Republic flats.

Watched Definitely, Maybe on Friday night. A cute movie and it stars Ryan Reynolds who is so hhhhhhhhhhhhot!

Rambling Rosie

Aaahhh!!! I did it again! I cut off the eyelashes on my right eye this morning. I only took off the center section leaving both sides still in tact. It was my stupid eyelash curler. I think it might be too old because this happened to me several months ago, same section of my lashes, different eye. Looks like it is time for me to order another Shu Uemura curler from Sephora. So ticked off. I am blessed with long lashes so it is somewhat noticeable.
_______________________________
In case you have not heard, California is covered in forest fires. Something like 800 are plaguing the Golden State. We had the driest winter ever (I like wet winters) so everything turned brown way too early this year. Apparently some lightning storms sparked all of the fires. The skies are so nasty. I mean NASTY! We have been warned by the oh so serious news anchors to keep our asses inside to avoid breathing in the fumes. Duh, who likes breathing in smoke? Oh, wait, I guess smokers. Anyways. It is overcast but it should be sunny. The sky is giving off an orange tint. I just hope all of those firefighters stay safe and are able to extinguish the flames as soon as possible.
______________________________
I ate lunch yesterday at Solage Calistoga. I ordered a beef spare rib open faced sandwich with melted Gruyere. It was kind of gross. The beef was just too beefy tasting, I needed some seasoning, maybe a splash of A1 steak sauce would of helped out a bit. I love A1. I should of just ordered the damn burger like they recommended. On the way back I stopped by Yogurt Time and got me some sugar to make up for the weak lunch. It is low cal so I don't freaking care.
______________________________
I sometimes wonder if chicken and waffles is a good combo. I watched a "Throwdown with Bobby Flay" one time where he challenged some lady who makes great chicken and waffles. That is not a dish that is common to this area and not sure if I would like to combine those two things together. What is wrong with Fried Chicken by itself? Same with waffles? Now fried chicken with mashed potatoes and gravy- that is the Throwdown I want to see!!!!
______________________________
How come clear nail polish chips away so quickly? It is fun to chip away, but at least give me a couple of days of glossy nails first.
______________________________
I love flowers. I judge a wedding by the flowers they have. I have planned many work events in my day and flowers is always my top priority. Nothing brings a bigger smile to my face than flowers. If someone at work gets flowers delivered, you will find me in their cubicles oggling their roses or hydrangeas trying to fight the drool about to escape my mouth. If I get flowers delivered to me at work you will find me giddily prancing by on the way back from the front desk to my desk with delight where I will place them in a spot where people will definitely notice them as they pass by. I have taken a couple of flower arranging classes. I am not that good so I stick to the simple things.
______________________________
Someday I want to have fresh flower arrangements in my corner office delivered weekly, hell, maybe even twice a week. Remember in "Devil Wears Prada", Miranda always has gorgeous white roses or peonies in her posh New York office. I want that office with flowers some day, just without the attitude.

Going Green- Baby Version

I always have thought of myself as environmentally conscious. I shut off the lights when I leave the room, unplug items which don't need to always be plugged in, drive green(er) cars (we even own a hybrid), recycle everything (even Styrofoam), turn off the water when I brush my teeth, buy organic when I can, steer clear of animal tested products, use green cleaning products, etc. In fact, the environment is one of the biggest things I care about when voting on issues, donating money, etc. It is one of my passions (a long with animal rights).


So when thinking about all of the items I will be registering for our little baby girl I figured the going green should not stop. I know that organic/green items are more expensive, but who cares? We all spend loads of money on clothes and entertainment, what about the earth?

Here are a couple of items I plan on registering for. Yes, I even plan on using cloth diapers. They have come along way since I was a baby. Now they have cute little covers and will save me money in the long run.

This diaper bag is made out of recyled bottles (which take years to breakdown in a landfill). It is super cute.




See! Cute stuff! Green things are not ugly! They are cute. This is only a sampling of the organic/green things I have come across so far. I am sure I will find some more things. In the meantime I will continue my quest to add in more green products into my life (energy efficient lightbulbs, green hair and face products, etc.)

Nomad

About a month ago I changed positions within my company. Basically doing the same thing with less stress and much more flexibility while also able to continue moving higher up. I have been sitting in my old cubicle since I made the position move because our office space is so tight. Then this morning I officially got the boot because the replacement for my old position was tired of sitting in the hallway using the printer as a desk, something stupid like that. Anyhoo, my boss said I could move into his office since he is out a lot. Huh? You mean I don't have a place to sit? That's right. Our office is soooo jam packed that literally we are sitting in hallways. Pretty frustrating considering how many vacant and larger office buildings are sitting on our same street that we could move into. So for a day or so I am sitting in my boss's office, then I am moving into a temporary cubicle and then after that will move yet again. The office space situation at my work is literally a game and very political. If only people understood that these are just desks, not American Idol!
s

Home Sweet Home

Back from the O.C. So glad to be home. It was soooooo hot down south, out of control hot. 100 degrees at 7 p.m., that kind of hot. The hubbs' cousin's graduation party was nice. His uncle has a fabulous house in some fancy pants gated area. One of those gated areas where the guy at the gate asks you 4,000 questions about why are are visiting the as he eyes you suspiciously.

My sister-in-law (hubbs' sister) gave me bags of baby girl clothes from her friend. They are all so cute and so tiny. They are mostly for newborn to 6 months. I ate way too much dinner and became cranky because I was so uncomfortable. I even passed on the double chocolate cake!

On Friday we went to the mall to cool off. I bought some maternity clothes and we ate lunch. On Saturday majority of the family had left except for the hubbs and I so we went to Laguna Beach with his brother and girlfriend. It was way too hot to even enjoy the beach. Hubbs bought me a snazzy chair with a built in umbrella. One of the greatest inventions ever. That night we went to dinner with my cousin and her husband who live down there, to the Chart House at Dana Point and sat outside overlooking the beach below. The food was pretty good but the best part was the Moulton Chocolate cake which was covered in Heath Bar. Yes, Heath Bar. For some reason it became really humid outside and my flat iron job went down the drain as you can see in the picture below.

The 7 1/2 hour drive back yesterday was long and grueling. Glad to be back and get back on my normal diet and exercicse schedule.





div>

The O.C.

On Thursday a.m. the hubbs and I drove down to Orange County for the hubb's cousin's graduation party. It has been relaxing but hot and plan to hit up Laguna Beach today. Of course I had to squeeze in some So Cal shopping yesterday. It is nice visiting here, but boy is the smog disgusting, especially when it is hot. We drive home tomorrow, should be about a 7 hour drive or so. Since I have traveled so much for work these past couple of years, I get homesick much quicker than I used to. Will post pictures when I get home.

Let's Get Physical

First session of Prenatal Yoga was last night. I will be going once a week until I decide that the class is worthwhile or worthless. My sister-in-law and a coworker friend Sharon, also attends. Just one more act of physical activity to add to my schedule. I must say I have been quite the active pregnant lady lately. I noticed a difference at my water fitness glass on Saturday. My thighs were much more firm when doing my dog paddling than I remembered. Aside from my water fitness, yoga, regular trips to the elliptical and my free weights, I just need to add in some lap swimming and all will be good.

The class was good and took quite a bit of strength. My feet cramped the entire time and the "relaxation pose" did nothing more than aggravate my sciatica. There were about 7 of us in the class. The most pregnant was a lady who was 31 weeks, I think. She was having a hard time. Actually, we all were having a bit of a hard time. I was just scared I would let out a fart mid "downward dog".

This morning I got a bunch of my mineral makeup (Bare Escentuals) in my eye. Literally, there is powder on my eyeball. I can not get it all out and can feel the grime. Gross.

Monday, Monday

On Saturday I got my first pregnancy massage. It was lovely. I definitely felt relaxed and rejuvenated afterwards and hopefully will make sure to have one once a month here on out.

Saturday night we had dinner at my parents house and ate WAY too much food. Maybe it was the ribs, potato salad, corn on the cob, green beans and two slices of cheese bread which did me in. I have now realized that, although I am hungry all day long, I really can not eat large amounts of food at one sitting because my stomach can not get super full. I was uncomfortable for about three hours afterwards. That cheese bread was so good.

After dinner we went downtown and watched all of these old cars cruise. It was nice but the exhaust fumes were a bit too much for me to handle and ended up hiding in out in Peet's Coffee people watching from afar.

Yesterday, the hubbs and I test drove some strollers at a local baby store. The two I like the best were the Graco Quattro Tour Sport and the Graco Metro Lite. After doing some research online it looks like the Quattro Tour Sport has way better reviews with the one downside being that it is heavier than some. I still want to check out some Chicco strollers at another store because the store's selection we went to did not have much Chicco's.

Yesterday evening, after a nap from the stroller test driving, we went to the in-law's for Father's Day dinner and my parents came over.

After a night of waking up from several leg cramps I am pooped. All I want to do is eat some chocolate chip cookies and milk and go back to bed.

Friday Ramblings

What is up with the price of gas? It is getting way too out of control. I just paid $4.69/gallon for 89 and it cost $63 to fill up my small car! What are people doing who drive around huge SUV's? I don't understand. Someone has got to step in and regulate the price of oil before everyone stops driving, period.

How come Kettle Corn tastes so good? I wish I could make it on my own but I rely on Trader Joe's who do a really good job of it.

Maternity pants seem to fall down in the crotch a lot. Do they stay up better when the belly gets bigger?

I have noticed the utter lack of good t.v. lately. After all of those season finales, all we have left to watch is Food Network and TLC. Fine by me, but I need some sitcoms mixed in. Enough of this repeat crap.

Still have not seen Sex in the City which I am very bummed about. Maybe I can work that into my schedule this weekend.

Someone brought in brownies and they are sitting outside my desk, all I can smell is gooey dark chocolate goodness. I ate one and got heartburn which is not seeming to faze me since I am considering going for another. There goes my healthy salad for lunch.

Our neighbors recently purchased a bug zapper and have it on the outside of their house so the world can hear bugs getting zapped while trying to go to sleep at night. Not sure why they thought they needed a zapper since we don't live in an area where night bugs are very common, or a problem for that matter. Maybe they got a deal on it at Costco. It is annoying.

Where are all of the cute summer sandals/shoes? I have been looking for super cute flats and there is nothing out there in fun colors. I don't want tan or black! Also, where are those cute sandals I keep on seeing in magazines? I don't see you at Macy's where you usually are!!!

Weighing In

Just got back from my appt. with my OB (Dr. W) . Did the regular weigh in and did not like what I saw. I hate getting weighed at the doctor's office. Only because it is always higher than my real weight. Although I always kick off my shoes, my clothes are heavy and add, what....10 lbs.? Okay, maybe 4. Anyways, I prefer to track my pregnancy weight gain by weighing myself right before I get in the shower each morning. According to my home scale I have gained about 10 lbs, which is normal for 20 weeks. Not sure where that 10 lbs. has gone, I am thinking about 2 to my boobs and the rest to my volleyball belly. However, according to my doctor's scale she says I have gained about 12-13 lbs. I quickly protested saying that I am always fully dressed at her office and half the time constipated when I go in, therefore, her scale sucks and adds poundage that really does not exist. She laughed and said that my gain is normal for my body type and that I would be gaining about another 20 lbs. from here to my due date. 20 lbs! Holy crap! Where does that go? Oh, right, to the baby and my boobs.

Ummmm

Since becoming pregnant my hunger has been roaring out of control. My day literally revolves around what I will be eating and where. In the beginning all I wanted was Carl's Jr. but I only caved in once. Then it was ice cream (still is) and then started the cookies and milk before bed. Now I eat cereal at night, non sugary kind of course. I never used to have that much of sweet tooth. I enjoyed cookies and brownies, but did not covet them like I do now. I used to have such strong will power when offered up any plate of sweetness and instead would choose to go after the potato chips.

I feel like I eat pretty healthy (I always have) but allow myself the occasional treats. It is sooooo hard to maintain that eating habit when all healthy food does not seem to fill me up. An hour after I eat lunch, I am hungry. Then I snack and by 3:30 p.m. I am ravenous. Usually I try to distinguish the hunger with an apple, just enough before I go to the gym. By the time I get home I am famished. I must....eat....now..... Being pregnant I get away with eating larger quantities of food which is great by me. I get first dibs on everything and told to dish up my plate before anyone else. That I could get used to.

Most recently I have been dreaming about gourmet cupcakes. I LOVE cupcakes. When I was in NYC last my friend who lives in New York brought me to the famous Magnolia Bakery (as scene on Sex and the City). The cupcake I had was out of control and milk washed it down fabulously. The last couple of nights in bed before falling to sleep I have fantasized about those cupcakes and wish I can make some half as good. It is a co worker's birthday tomorrow and it just might be the right excuse to make me some cupcakes.

Spending Spree

Aside from the items I will register for, here are is the short list of items which need to be purchased prior to the end of October.

1) Baby furniture (crib, changing table, dresser and rocker/glider): This has been very tricky. Our local stores have crappy selections so I have to rely on the internet on what things look like.

2) Digital Camcorder- Hubbs wants one of the fancy HD versions so we can capture the highest resolution when filming our little girl.

3) New camera- We have a point and click Sony Powershot which was a gift a couple years back. It works and all, but sucks at catching good candids because it takes forever to actually take a shot. Not ideal when trying to capture first steps. I want one of those DSLR cameras (Canon Rebel or Nikon D60 or D80) which takes a ton of shots super quick.

4) Stroller- Thinking about not registering for this item and just purchasing on my own, however, I have no idea where to begin with these. I have done some online research and have a couple ideas for my top picks, but not confident that the local stores will even have samples of them.

So the list is short, but all are pricey items and will add up quick. Hoping the grandparents want to help out on the furniture. I know my mom said she would it is just a matter of working on the in-laws now.

Any recommendations on furniture, strollers, cameras? I am one confused mama!

Fartin' Friday

Yes, you read right. This post is about farts. I am a girl who farts and proud of it. Some ladies I know are bashful about farts, but the matter is we all do it, whether they are SBD's or loud cheek flappers. I do not fart in front of anyone except my parents, brother, sister in law or hubbs. I grew up in a house where my dad and brother regularly tried to out do each other. Very classy.

Very early on in our relationship, I squeaked out a fart in front of my hubbs and it was game on from there. He is a farter (although not as bad as other people I know) but farts WAY more than me. I really am not that gassy, compared to some other ladies I know, but since being pregnant I have had the stinkiest farts ever. They are so stinky, they make me have to clear the room. This is quite amazing to me. I do not even try to let the hubbs smell them as they are that horrendous.

Not sure what this little baby is doing in my belly to create this stinky odor which permeates from my tush, all I know is that my new technique is to crop dust. This entails letting out a couple of little spurts while walking so that the odor does not sit in one area. Just looking out for everyone else is all.

Jealous Pickles

Our kitty, Pussy Pickles, has been acting very odd lately. About a month ago my sister-in-law gave me a little yellow "Scorpio" teddy bear since our baby will be a Scorpio. I brought it upstairs and kept it in the guest bedroom on a super old rocking chair from my mother-in-law. A time or two I noticed that the bear had moved to the other side of the room or in the hallway. Within the last week or so little Scorpio bear has shown up in multiple locations, but mostly in our closet or at the bottom of our stairs. Each time I bring it back upstairs to the rocking chair.

Our dog, Lucy, is not as sneaky as our Puss. Therefore, we immediately ruled her out as the criminal in this situation leaving Puss as our primary suspect. This sneakiness is happening all the time now that I literally look for it at as soon as I get up in the a.m. to see if she had moved it again. Not once have I caught her in the act, and sometimes the bear will literally appear right in front of me, like the cat did the military crawl past me, bear stuffed in her mouth, and dropped it off while I was looking the other way. I have tossed the bear to her to see if she pounces on it or does anything weird, but she simply ignores it. My quest to catch her will continue.

Last week the hubbs and I were sitting on our couch. Hubbs was at one end and I was at the other. Puss was walking all over us like she normally does, trying to figure out who she wanted to snuggle with, when hubbs yelped that she had just sprayed him. I looked at him in disbelief because 1) Only boy cats are supposed to spray 2) She was neutered. He was very irritated that I would not believe him.

Then two days ago I was doing my weights when she walked in and I immediately smelled something horrendously gross. I knew right away, she must of just sprayed something. I have no idea why she would it. Hubbs "googled" cat spraying and it does say that female neutered cats can spray, but it is very uncommon. Usually the reason is due to jealousy. Was our Pussy Pickles turning into a Jealous Pickles? What if she knows I am pregnant and jealous about that? Or what if she thinks Scorpio bear is real and she is jealous of it? So puzzled. She is still acting completely snugly and funny as usual except for her Scorpio bear shenanigans.

It's a ................

GIRL!!!!!

Went to the ultrasound today with the hubbs. We sat patiently while the ultrasound lady made all of her measurements while I was trying to get a glimpse of the lower region. From my view, I thought she maybe was a girl, but was not positive so waited until the technician made her guess. She made her guess and the doctor then came in and confirmed, that she was a girl!

Hubbs and I are so excited. I honestly thought I was going to have a boy, but there was also a part of me in my heart that knew I was having a girl.

Bring on the dresses, bows, flowers and butterflies! I can not wait. Hubbs is starting to feel a bit outnumbered, with our female cat and dog. Oh well, I am sure we will have a boy next time.

Now I can figure out how we are going to decorate the nursery. I can not make up my mind if I want light or dark furniture as well as color schemes. There is such cute bedding out there too. I don't want to rush on picking anything out as I am sure that once I see the style, I will know it is the one.

Most importantly, she looks healthy and is perfect!

Nesting Has Begun

We are the worst at taking pictures. There are those people who capture every moment on camera and there are others who routinely forget to bring their camera or if they do forget they brought it with them. We are the latter of the two. We rely on other people taking the shots and forwarding them to us. Granted, we do take our share of pictures, it is just there are other people who are so much better at it than us.

I have tons of pictures on our computer from the past couple of years. They have never been printed and just sit in our folder waiting to be viewed from time to time. Now all of a sudden I want to scour through them and print out all of the ones which are decent and start compiling photo albums. The only photo albums we have is our wedding album and a scrapbook my mom put together for us before we got married. It is pitiful. We have been together for 8 years, therefore, have created many memories and you will walk through our house and find barely an album and some occasional pictures on the wall. In addition to creating the albums, I want to pull out some good pictures and blow them up and put them in larger frames. I need to have our pics together before the baby comes because I know that our picture taking habits are going to change thus creating many more photos to organize.

I guess this means I have entered into nesting mode. I feel I have always been a Nester (or maybe you can just call that a home body).

Back home

Went up to the Mendocino Coast yesterday for the memorial service for my family members who passed away last Friday. It was very hard, but beautiful. There were probably 400+ people, a huge turn out. Got back this afternoon and now watching Look Who's Talking on t.v. Forgot how silly it was.

Meet Antonio

Antonio is tan and built, like my hubbs, he is Italian. Dark and snuggly. He's a bit bigger than I usually prefer, borderline "taking 'roids" big. He is spoonable but not much more than that. He prefers laying on my left side and if he tries to get on my right side, he will likely wake up the hubbs. due to the ruckus it causes in the bed.

Meet Antonio.....

Hubbs purchased him for me this past weekend (when I was feeling blue) at Wal Mart. Hubbs has been concerned that I lay on my back too much (which I do) so went searching for a maternity pillow and ended up with this. He is way too puffy, so hopefully he will flatten out a bit. However, he is great to spoon. We have a queen size bed so things are starting to get a bit cramped. Throw a cat on the bed and mix in a dog sometimes and you have one tight package.

On to more exciting things... here are some pregnancy shots at 17 weeks. Looking quite lovely, that is fo sho. Hoping this awkward "in between phase" will hurry its ass along so I can start looking pregnant, dammit.

Still wearing pre-pregancy pants with the belly band every day, although I did buy one pair of maternity jeans (super fricking cute) and have an order of stuff on it's way. Waiting for the belly to just it get it's bulge on. Let me have it, I am ready for the belly, nice and big.

Hollowness

With my recent tragedy, how are you able to bounce back? I feel like it is so hard to have feelings. I just feel so hollow, like the magnitude of this is so big, that I literally can not digest everything and in turn, just sit around like a bump on a log. I think I literally am in shock mode. The only way I have been able to get my mind off of it, is by cooking and baking. I am obsessed with scouring cookbooks and want to make desserts. I don't even eat many desserts. It must be some sort of way that I keep myself distracted. Some sort of coping method. I went to work today to help get my mind off things, but have not been able to concentrate much.

After all of the news, I remembered that I go in for "THE" ultrasound on June 4th. This ultrasound will not only tell me the important stuff, that everything is developing normally, but also what the sex is! Whoo Hoo! Can't wait to find that out. I have to keep reminding myself that the baby will look/is healthy and there will be nothing to worry about. It is pretty crazy how much we are able to find out nowadays. When my mom was pregnant with my brother and me, she did not get any ultrasounds or any blood tests and her eating restrictions were much less limited. Now with all of these damn tests, I feel like pregnant women nowadays have so much more to worry about. Did you worry about any of the serious things? Or did you say "screw it" everything is fine?

My sister in law is two weeks ahead of me. She is supposed to find out the baby's sex on Thursday. I can not wait. They already have a girl, so we will see what is in store for them!

Upcoming post....belly shots and my new bed mate.

Tragedy

On Friday afternoon I found out my aunt, uncle (my mom's brother), cousin's husband and other cousin's long time girlfriend were killed in a plane crash. My aunt and uncle were on their way to their vacation home for the long holiday and had brought my two cousin's spouses with them. My uncle's plane had some sort of mechanical failure.

This has been the longest weekend of my life. This does not happen in real life, this only happens in movies. My cousin Amy lost her husband and both parents. She has three little kids to raise on her own. My other cousin Bryan, lost his parents and his long time girlfriend. He was heading up later in the day while my cousin Amy was going on a girls vacation which is why she did not go up with her husband.

As each day goes by, it becomes more real. Everyone has been gathered at Amy's house. She told the two older kids who are 5 and 7, I don't think they really understand. The 12 month old has no clue. Amy is such a rock. It is amazing how strong she is right now. This family was so close and for this to happen is so devastating. As I look around the room, I just see blank faces. Everyone is affected. I have not been able to really grieve yet. I keep on trying to ignore it, hoping that I will wake up and it will all be a dream. Can not believe this happened.