McNugget & Me at 8 Months

I now have the traditional baby-bump. It seems to have happened during the past week - where my low-riding belly has 'popped' up. At our 8 month appointment yesterday, the doctor confirmed that we had a "smart baby" who is head's down in the ready-for-birth position; something I figured-out over the past several days when I started getting kicked on my right side instead of in my pelvis.

The braxton-hicks are now noticeable everyday - where my belly feels like it is tightening and lifting on its own. The top gets super hard, and I have the strangest feelings in my abs. The baby's heartbeat is now around 145-146 (at the 7 month it was 142). I did unfortunately gain a bit more weight this month than I would have liked, but they said it was probably mostly water weight because of the heat. The baby is "the right size" according to the tape-measure... which means about 32 cms I think. I haven't really worn my wedding rings at all since 6-1/2 months (well on my fingers - I keep them on a necklace so I can still wear them), and my feet are a bit swollen. The plan now is to not snack as much, stay away from salts, and keep everything elevated.

I've had bouts of insomnia for the past week or two - and the baby was sitting on my nerves which made my left-rear side (butt to foot) get annoyingly tingly. For all you un-funny-pun lovers: "That's not going to be the last time they get on my nerves right?" But really, on the whole I'm feeling fine. I can't believe we're 8 months into this process already!

Our to-do list is relatively small. Tonight is our last birthing class - something I'm going to kind of miss! The baby's room is all but done, Bo is just going to touch up the trim around the door frames. We still have to get some more education about what to do with the dogs when we bring home the baby. My baby shower is in two and a half weeks, after which we'll have to have our car-seats installed and pack our bags for the hospital. Time has really flown by fast!

Here's links to the past few months:

7 months

6 months

5 months

4 months

Table for 3?

For our second anniversary, Bo and I decided to treat ourselves to dinner at Roy's Hawaiian Fusion. We had gone to the one in Baltimore when we were celebrating our first anniversary, and absolutely loved it. This time it was even better.

I had booked our reservations online, and had made the note that we were celebrating our anniversary - hoping that, if for some reason the restaurant was packed, they wouldn't seat us next to the restrooms. When we arrived, they seated us right away (and not anywhere near the bathrooms), and the hostess and our waitress both wished us a happy anniversary. Then, when deciding what we wanted, we saw this stuck in the front of both our menus.


The meal was fabulous - we both ate 4 courses, and they brought out our amazing chocolate lava dessert (which was everything I remembered and more) with a candle and had written something to do with "Welcome" or "Congratulations" in Hawaiian. (Of course it could say a lot of other things, but we'll choose to believe they were being nice)


And while our meal was pricey, it was what we thing will be our last dinner as a couple... soon enough we'll be asking for "two plus a high-chair". With stellar service, amazing food, and special treatment to boot, I really, truly want to thank the people at Roy's for helping us enjoy our second wedding anniversary.

Two of the Best Years

Two years ago today, I married my best friend. No really, I am one of the fortunate few to actually have changed a friendship into a life-long romance.

The past two years adventuring together has given us a lot of memories. We've had trips to enjoy (Italy, Baltimore, Las Vegas), celebrations with family and friends (engagements, weddings, graduations, baptisms, and of course world series baseball), and have collaborated on room-upon-room home improvements. We've both fretted and dreamed about the future - work, money and children. We've fought a bit, but enjoyed a lot more. We've been so very lucky that the past two years have been simple and easy for us - allowing us to get to know each other as husband and wife without the setting of any one particular situation directing us as to how to act.

And now, two months from today, we're expecting the blessing of our first-born. How will this shape us, and our roles to each other? What decisions will we make and what adventures will we take on? My hope is that we will find new avenues to learn more of who we want to be as individuals, and therefore create an even better couple than we've been in the past 10 years.

After two years of commitment, I know that there isn't anyone else I want to be my support. I pray that this love is only strengthened with time, that I can continue to see the man beside me as God sees him, and that I can be the air and light to help my husband grow that he has been to me. I hope that we both faithfully work every day to our marital goal, with the words inscribed in our wedding rings "Real Love Has No End".

Anniversary Giftings

I just got the sweetest surprise from my husband - flowers at work! The flowers came with a "Happy Anniversary" balloon and a card that said "Happy 2 Years Sweetie! And Happy 2 Months McNugget!"

Flowers are one of those things that I just adore, but never can justify spending the money on. So when they come as a surprise, they really do light-up my day. He even picked out a bouquet with bright yellow lemons in the vase - in thoughtful throws to our wedding centerpieces. Gah, I do love that man.

Admissions of a Couch Potato

Here’s a question for you - could you live without a TV? Right now, date nights for me and my hubby consist of TV watching for the most part, so maybe it would be healthier for us.

I’ve always been a TV addict – that was my parent’s chosen form of punishment for me – and it was quite effective. With an addictive personality, I have no problems immersing myself into things I enjoy. Whether it be gardening, crafting, tv watching, reading, etc… once I get into something obsessively, I’m good to go for hours. However, I know that’s going to change when McNugget comes along though – and that’s going to be a new experience for me. Let alone that our DVR will no longer be able to be 90% full of sitcoms – we’ll soon have to balance Spongebob and Little Bear with So You Think You Can Dance. Plus these things really aren’t doing me any good though – just filling up my time.

That’s why I’m glad that many of the show’s we’ve watched for the past few years are ending or being cancelled. We’ve decided to follow Lost until its last episode this weekend – although I probably could have stopped watching it two seasons ago. We stopped watching Heros this year – and the TV station agreed with us when they decided to cancel the show outright. After catching up on ever single episode of The Ghost Whisperer this year, I can take it or leave it- and that too was cancelled. Bo and I are also going to stop watching Grey’s Anatomy – something we should have done first thing last season since it hasn’t gotten any better. It makes me think that maybe I could live without a TV.

I know it’s completely doable to live without cable; my sister managed all year at college with just her computer. Our top shows right now are Bones, Fringe, House, Parenthood and the HBO series True Blood –most of which are available on Hulu or we could rent the season on Netflix. Better yet, we could camp out with the neighbors and watch their TV for HBO – a couple’s date night? So, if it wasn’t for the 50+ sporting events Bo watches every week, I don’t think we’d actually need a TV. Otherwise with that saved time we could join a bowling league or take a cooking class – or even (gasp!) exercise together and get our couch-potato butts in shape. Maybe once mcNugget comes along and changes the game we’ll drop down to basic cable… it sounds like an exciting change for me, but probably not a practical one. Ah, a girl could dream, right?

Book Report: The Outlander Series

The best way to find something good to read is by recommendations from friends. One of my friends is a school teacher, and her fellow teachers were obsessively reading the Outlander Series by Diana Gabaldon.

I'm on book 4 of the series, so needless to say I'm enjoying it. To describe it, I'd have to say it is a mixture of historical fiction (one of my favorites), romance (something completely new to me) and fantasy books (understandably junk food, but that's what makes it fun!). The plot line of the series follows a woman named Clare through one of the stone circles (think Stonehenge) back 200 years in time to the Scottish Highlands - where she meets and falls in love with a guy named Jamie. Trouble ensues quite often for Jamie... prisons, war, unseemly advances from admirers - all of which Clare and Jamie have to fight through.

I enjoy the bouts of action for the most part - I find myself turning the pages faster than I've read all of the lines in the book, and they are spaced well enough apart to be enjoyed. The characters have a built history - and the author seems to have developed their emotional sides more than their physical appearances - which I see as a good thing. The romance is quite followable - a little detailed and therefore slightly embarrassing to read - but for the most part you can relate to the love and complexity that the characters go through being together.

The strength of these characters serve as a nice strong contrast to the Twilight characters (who I also love). The man is built and strong and a leader - driven through his responsibilities and simple manliness above all else, complete with stubbornness and frustrations that expose his weaknesses. The woman is strong and determined, and I feel that her commitments to him and her decisions are empowering. She knows herself, is confident in her appearance and abilities - and isn't trying to change who she is to be with him - one of my few complaints about the Twilight series.

The part I thought I'd like the most, the historical fiction, I have a bit of trouble following. It is obviously well researched, but not something I've followed well enough to be able to repeat. The names of battles and the politics behind them are mentioned, but I'd really rather have spent some time brushing up on that particular history before reading it to make it more enjoyable and get a bit more out of the series. I don't know if that's because of the author or me though. I think the best part of the book is the research she's done on how people in the 1700's lived and their cultures. That's probably what I'm taking away from my readings so far.

Anyway, I think the series is definitely summer junk food worthy, and I expect to finish the series in the next month or so.

Whooooo Are You Looking At?

I spent $9 on a chrome owl bank... don't judge me. Seriously - stop looking at me that way. I saw it yesterday at Target and absolutely HAD to have it. I love owls almost as much as I love frogs, so once I spied it on the bottom shelf of a back end-cap, I had to buy this dope piece of home decor. I know it wasn't necessary, and that $9 could have gone to a better home (like donating it) but it makes me seriously happy to look at. Plus its shiny. The husband will just have to get used to it.

I'm thinking of putting it in one of the bedrooms... maybe I can use it as an excuse to do a wilderness theme for mcNugget or the guest room? Are themed rooms odd?

Admired Wedding Gifts

Here's a beautiful wedding gift Bo and I got from our friend Kate... which was two years ago this month (sorry the photo is so crummy)! She quilted the wall hanging in our wedding colors, and gave me photos of my bridal shower and wedding invite in it. After the wedding I replaced those photos with my honeymoon pics (ahhh, Italy, I miss you!) - so that I have something to look at other than my ucky jail-gray wall. Soon I'll be filling it with loving photos of the mcNugget to stare at. It's currently hanging in my office - and gets compliments from EVERYONE who comes in.

This girl has seriously mad skillz, and is just beyond creative. She just made my baby shower invites - I'll post them soon. Gifts of the homemade variety make me so happy to have friends and family like her... and no one has seen anything like it - which makes me feel special and loved. :)

Breakfast Dinners

Let the jealousy ensue. I had homemade waffles with vanilla fudge ice cream for dinner on Monday. It was fantabulous, and as I was eating it I could have sworn it was the best thing I had ever indulged in. Thanks to the husband for preparing this amazing tummy filler. I'm going to try and hold off until next week to ask for it again. :)

Happy Mother's Day!

I'm considering yesterday my official first Mother's Day because I am caring for my child, even though not mcNugget's not in my arms yet but in my belly.

We actually celebrated on Saturday, because the husband had to work on Sunday. So in celebration of my first mother's day as a mother-to-be, Bo treated me and mcNugget to breakfast at IHop, followed by a shopping excursion at the auto parts store and Lowes. I seriously love this man. He installed my PITT vanity license plate and frame put on the car, and fixed my headlight - I know those are small things, and certainly ones I could have done on my own, but there is something so terrifically appealing about a man who can fix things like that without thinking about it. It's just wonderful to be taken care of I guess.

Then we set off to Lowes where we got the parts for my first-ever mother's day project - gardening. I hope that we can turn this into an annual event, the husband, me and McNugget. You may remember how we have a tremendously steep hill on the front of our yard - and my plan to rid us of having to mow it. Well anyway, we've started, and will continue as we get the money / plants in the future. But for now, we cleaned up the front yard, and added a new walkway lining. Bo did nearly all of the back-breaking labor on the windiest day in history - running down the empty plant containers which kept blowing away, but the design was mostly mine. :)

Here's the results, what do you think? We're super pleased with them! The plants (all perennials), a planter, potting soil and mulch cost us a whopping $136. The 4 additional lights were $12 on clearance, and the bricks were from our mini-stash in the backyard. We'll have to find a lot more reclaimed brick to finish the front yard, but I'm totally loving the tie in to our house.

The Countdown: Nearly 7.5 months

For all the belly-watchers, here's a snapshot of me and mcNugget a few days short of 7.5 months. I can't understand where the time has gone, and I'm loving every minute of it... but mostly when I'm not winded or stressed.

The past week was a bit stressful for me, I'm going to call it my "worry week". Every little thing made me react like the hypochondriac I am... swollen feet - is it preeclampsia? Pain when walking - that can't be round ligament pain! How many times has the baby moved today? I called the doctors office 3 times - and they managed to talk me off my emotional ledge every time, which worked especially well on Friday afternoon when they called to check up on how I was feeling. Fortunately, all signs point to okay, and I was able to go into the weekend worry-free and happy as a clam.

To speed up your belly comparison, here are the links to my other mcNugget & me shots:

Month 6

Month 5

Month 4

It's Getting Hot In Here

Every room in our house has a ceiling fan; well, with the exceptions of the dining room, which we removed in favor of a nicer lamp, and of course the two bathrooms. The one we had (seen here) in our family room decided to give up, well in part. It only moved in one direction, which is fine for moving the air, but not necessarily for both summer and winter seasons. And since the hubby has been after me since we moved in to switch it out (he's not one for brass, and I can't disagree), off to Lowes we went to find a new weapon against the heat. Nothing like a hot pregnant girl in an un-airconditioned house I've heard.

So we spent a very sweatering weekend afternoon assembling and installing the fan. Isn't it lovely? Its a little carribean-esque, but we didn't feel our room would settle for ultra-modern (even though they were drool worthy) and we're trying to inch away from traditional. I think my favorite part is the escutcheon. It just adds a little professionalism to the fan, no?

Skirting The Issue

This weekend, I finished one of my to-do-before-mcNugget projects - getting him or her a crib skirt. And by getting I mean making, though it was only out of necessity and boredom.

The bedding set we registered for at Target has been out of stock for ages, and it doesn't look like they'll get it back any time soon. The problem is, that was the only set we liked! We're really not into the whole nursery/baby-print thing, with Noah's arc and wide-eyed jungle animals. But, it may end up being a blessing because the room already had stripes in the new rug and polka dots on the glider, so another pattern (regardless that it has adorable mod hippos on it) may have fuddled up the room... well, that's what I'll tell myself since it doesn't look like we'll get it. And to tie in my un-funny pun of a title, I'm just working around the issue of not having the set that I wanted by making one that I do. :)

So anyway, I spent Saturday sewing away on a crib skirt that matched our glider. The hardest part was figuring out how to put pleats in each side, but after reading some instructions I found online, I figured it out quite quick. Below are the results, which, btw, look better in person. My cell phone camera isn't so hot when there's not a ton of natural lighting in the room!

The center panel (white), hidden by the mattress, is actually from an old sheet that I was going to send to Goodwill. How's that for being green?! Also, I accidentally got a heap of extra fabric - so I may end up making a bumper and blanket for when mcNugget is over the one-year mark.