Welcome, Baby Drew!

This is VERY overdue but I just wanted to introduce our son, Andrew William - we call him Drew. He was born via C-section on October 20th at 4:28pm. He weighed 7 lbs, 13oz & was 20" long.



We are thoroughly in love & are so excited to have him in our lives.
Welcome home, baby!

Modern Technology

Technology is amazing. Mark and I got to see our wee one in 3D the other night. Of course, Flash was being a pill and had his hand over his face... and then his hand AND his foot... but the pictures still turned out pretty good. What an experience! He's been a little hyper bean this week so it was fun to get to see him again and actually feel like we saw the real him. He's pretty cute for not being fully developed yet. And we think he has my nose. Lucky for us all the noses in our family are pretty cute so we didn't have to worry too much about that.

So on this lovely summer Friday I leave you with the latest paparazzi shots of our little man.
Happy Weekend!

Nesting, Phase 1

I think it's officially time I started nesting. Or so I'm told. I don't really want to spend my weekends cleaning and painting, etc but I suppose the poor guy deserves his own room and deserves it at least somewhat put together. So, I've started planning.

First we have to get rid of the furniture that is currently occupying Flash's room. Good-bye Craft Room... it was nice to have you for the last year. See you in the garage. Next, we need to paint. When we bought our house last year all the bedrooms were painted in this lovely ace bandage-colored hue. We managed to paint our bedroom but have left the other 3 alone for the time-being. So, Flash's room will get a nice coat of white paint.

White? you say? But that's so boring! Let me explain to you... I've been reading about this & baby's can really only see black, white & red for a while so I'm just being sensitive to that. Plus, I figure he'll have an opinion in a couple years and we can paint his room to his liking then. Until that time, Mama wants a nice clean, white room. There is a lot of natural light in there & white will make it lovely.

As far as "theme" there really isn't one. No zoo animals or baseballs or other weird boy things. Our baby is far beyond that :) Afterall, coming from artsy parents, he'll have much higher design goals than an oversized soccer ball on the wall. Bleh! So, I've been looking for some design inspiration from 2 of my fav blogs: Decor8 and Style Files. Love. And they've been oh-so-gracious with said inspiration. In addition to white walls I am also adding accents of a couple blue tones (one jewel and one a bit more subtle) and greys.

I've found Kat at Hearts and Crafts to make me some custom paper garlands for the walls - I love these. So simple but yet so fun! It's like a party all the time!


And I am eyeballing this paper crane mobile as well as this poster. Cranes are a symbol of loyalty & peace and I think those are perfect themes for our baby's room.


Next on the agenda is finding a dresser and building (or I suppose buying) some bookshelves. I found a picture of some that I like and am trying to commission my husband and father-in-law to build them for me but not sure I'll get them. *sigh* One can always hope.



Happy Friday everyone! Here's to spending a very hot weekend converting a craftroom into Flash's room!

25 weeks

Tomorrow I am 25 weeks into my pregnancy. I realize it's been a while since I uploaded any new pics so here we are.


Also including a picture of the cute onesies I made for Flash & gave to Mark on Father's Day. No, we're not naming the baby Flash.. that is just his nickname for now while we decide on his real name. He will be the most stylish BMX baby ever!

Isn't it a bit early for Karate?

Yesterday I felt our little guy, who has been dubbed "Flash," move for the first time. And right now, I feel him in there kicking away. At first I wasn't sure that was what it was but I am pretty certain that what I am feeling is Flash taking a Tae Bo class. He is definitely an active guy!

As weird as the feeling was initially, I like feeling him move around in there - not only is it reassurance that he is actually in there but it makes me feel like he is comfortable enough to spread out & make himself comfortable. Silly, yes... but true.

Next up... buying headphones for Flash. What is karate if you can't listen to music while you're doing it?!

Introductions

I had a post all ready to go about this crazy braided lemon bread I made last week but instead, I'd rather share these....




And introduce you to our son....

Dizzy

Today I am feeling a bit dizzy... and a little nauseous... and a tad light headed. This picture really does sum it all up.

Maybe I'll go back to sleep.

17 Weeks

Today I am 17 weeks - our bebe is the size of a turnip. For those of you, like both myself & my husband, who have no idea what size a turnip is... allow me to share:



That's pretty big! I think it's hilarious that the photos that are emailed to me every week with my "updates" show this super skinny woman with a baby snug inside... and very little bump. I'm sorry... I have a TURNIP in my uterus... I'd be shocked and appalled if I didn't have much of a bump. So, without further blathering, here is me at 17 weeks.



It does sort of resemble a turnip..

One more week until we find out what flavor baby we're having and we can hardly wait!

Dear Baby,
Please be spread eagle next Tuesday so we can see if you're a girl or boy turnip.
Love, Mom & Dad

Without Further Ado...

.. I bring you, my belly.

Here's the first official picture of me and my growing belly - 15 1/2 weeks. I am pretty sure that, since I am showing this much this early, that I am going to be very large towards the end of my pregnancy. Good thing it'll be the hottest part of the year... oh wait..



I promise more pics to come.. and fingers are crossed - next week we might find out if we're having a mini me or a mini Mark! hmm... Mini Mark... scary. Cute, but scary.

Mother of all Slackers!

I'm not going to get into it because we all know I am slacking big time. I bet you didn't know that I am already almost 4 months along & going strong into my 2nd trimester. Yep, I am! How the time flies.

So, mini recap from First Trimester...

- Nausea was kicking my butt - felt hungover all the time (without the fun drunken escapade from the night before)

- only ate like a teenage boy for about 2 weeks - then got to start eating a bit more normal

- not too many food aversions or cravings. I definitely am wary of ranch dressing and some chicken things... but mostly good to go for most food

- got our first pictures of bebe and got to hear its heartbeat - precious

Now we're into the 2nd Trimester - I'm still waiting for that burst of energy that I hear is supposed to happen. No dice yet. I do feel better - no nausea! Yay! We have our 3rd Dr appointment next week and there is a chance that we might be able to find out the gender of our wee one. That would just be SO great!

I will do my best to keep updates going. I've also promised pictures which I'll get up this week. Why people want to see pics of my ever-expanding waistline is beyond me!

Until then...

First Photos

Today we had our first doctor's appointment and got to check out our little bebe bun. Measuring in at 1.7 cm, our little blueberry is going strong. We even got to see the little flicker of the heart. I teared up of course... I think Mark was trying to figure out what we were looking at. In his defense, it did look like a little blob on a monitor. We could have been looking at a butterfly pupa for all we knew! But, we weren't... we were looking at our future.

There are days when I stop to think about what having a baby means and I get a little overwhelmed. But then I realize that people do this everyday so it must be even better than I can imagine and we will definitely survive. I think I felt this way when we got married, when we got our 2 cats and when we bought our house too... and so far all 3 of those have been great decisions. We will do awesome.

I can hardly wait to meet our little bun... but not yet.. you keep cooking in there & we'll prepare the world for you out here.

Teenage Boy vs Preglet

Who knows what this is:

1 Cup of Nonfat Milk

1 Plain Bagel w/Light Cream Cheese

1 Bottle of Water

1 Fruit Smoothie (Berries, Pineapple, Banana, Orange Juice)

2 Hard Boiled Eggs

3 Graham Crackers

6 oz Vanilla Non Fat Yogurt

1 Peanut Butter & Honey Sandwich on Wheat Bread

10 Apple Slices

4 Marshmallow Bunnies

1 Bottle of Water

4 Slices of Cheddar Cheese

8 Saltine Crackers

1 Bottle of Water

1 Apple Sauce Pack

25 Peanut Butter Pretzels

1 Serving Orange Chicken

1 Serving Brown Rice

1 Cup Nonfat Milk

2 Joe Joe Cookies

To most people they would guess it is the food consumed by an entire family over the course of 1 day... but no, sadly that is what I am consuming on a daily basis. Variances occur... for instance yesterday I ate oatmeal instead of 2 hard boiled eggs but the pure mass quantity of food is comparable. Yes, it is true... I am pregnant with the worlds hungriest blueberry-sized fetus in the world. I have actually gotten to the point where eating is not fun anymore. You know the trick where if you make someone smoke 20 cigarettes in a row they won't ever want to touch them again because it makes them so sick? That is how I feel about many things. I am trying to push through because I know 2 things: 1) it is good for my little blueberry's development and 2) eating makes me feel better.

I am one of the lucky few that does not really have traditional morning sickness. I have not thrown up. But I do experience constant nausea unless I am eating. Thus, I eat constantly. I could put most teenage boys to shame! When your husband looks at you and says "an entire package of top ramen is not a snack" you've crossed over to the other side. You are at a whole new level. I am at that level.

Next post... why tights are no longer a part of my wardrobe.

We did it!

It is true... Mark and I are expecting a baby! My due date is mid-October and we couldn't be more thrilled! We decided that this was news we wanted to share right away instead of waiting until the end of my first trimester to divulge.


So far my only symptoms are fatigue and a cold. Ok, well the cold may not be due to the bun in the oven, but I am still suffering and due to that bun, I can't just pop a couple Dayquils & press on. But it's worth it. I'm on cloud 9! (and my head is a bit cloudy too!)

Let the wild rumpus begin!

Crazy Pills

I officially started taking prenatal vitamins this past weekend & I feel like they’re giving me crazy dreams. I checked with some preggies I know & they all said that pregnancy gave them weird dreams but they don’t remember prenatals giving them weird dreams. Maybe it’s just me. Maybe by body is just so excited to have vitamins in it that it is celebrating by making me have very weird but colorful dreams. Just maybe…

Baby Book Worm

My adventures in future parenting continue...

First, one of my very bestest friends called today to tell me that she is expecting & I couldn't be happier. Congratulations to you!

Ok... so back to me.

I am now reading three books simultaneously.
1. Skinny Bitch with a Bump
2. What to Expect before you're Expecting
3. Healing & Preventing Autism (Jenny McCarthy)

The information is crazy-fascinating and I just can't seem to get enough. I need there to be more hours in the day for me to read!

My last post was the brain child of Skinny Bitch - I have successfully given up soda, anything with aspartame (and trying really hard to give up anything with sugar substitutes but they're EVERYWHERE!), milk on my cereal & yogurt. It may not sound like much but it's alot for me. Soda has been tough but I find myself drinking gallons of water everyday. I also find myself peeing gallons everyday too... I guess that's good practice for when I actually get pregnant! However, with all of the positive changes I am trying to make in my eating habits, I am not seeing myself really becoming a vegan. I am sure that my husband will refuse to live in a world without bacon. *sigh*

I've only read the first 6 pages in What to Expect but it has already prompted me to schedule a dentist appointment & physical with my GP... and to start harassing my husband to do the same. I have to say I was a bit surprised when I emailed my doctor and he said it "wasn't necessary" for me to come in for a physical before trying to conceive. I sort of figured my doctors would always think it was a good idea to get a physical - especially if I am about to attempt to grow another human inside my body. Silly, Dr Chen! I also went and bought some major vitamins today. They'll probably make me nauseated... Boo... but good for my bod so.. Yay!

And finally Jenny McCarthy's book about autism & vaccinations. My manager is pregnant and we've been talking alot about vaccinations lately - we both find it surprising that so many parents are perfectly fine immunizing their kids from things like Hep B... I looked up Hepatitis B on WebMD and this is how they say you contract it:

You may get hepatitis B if you:

• Have sex with an infected person without using a condom.
• Share needles (used for injecting drugs) with an infected person.
• Get a tattoo or piercing with tools that were not cleaned well.
• Share personal items like razors or toothbrushes with an infected person.

Hmm... How many babies do you see out their having illicit affairs while shooting up & getting tattoos and then borrowing some random guy's tooth brush? Not many. But yet, we're vaccinating our babies for it.

Now, don't get me wrong... I am not discounting the importance of vaccinations & immunizations - I think they are very necessary for some things. But I think it is important as parents & future parents to ask questions & research. These are YOUR children.

Anyway - wee tangent there.. sorry... I just think it is really important to read up on everything I can now so I can make real educated decisions for my children. Thus my 3-books-at-a-time club.

I do feel a bit sorry for my husband... as he has to listen to me wax poetic about my new-found knowledge on everything... and now he has to go to the doctor and the dentist. It's all for our future kids, right? Yes.. so it's the most important thing ever.

Have a great weekend!

Misadventures in Eating... trying to be Half a Skinny Bitch

My husband and I are about to celebrate our 1st wedding anniversary & like all couples we are starting to think towards the future & our potential family-to-be. So, in my greatest efforts to be a proactive future-mother I have started to read all about how to be healthy when trying to conceive, etc.

I started reading Skinny Bitch Bun in the Oven & I have to be honest that it is a bit intimidating. It takes the normal "don't drink caffeine, don't eat raw fish" dos & don'ts of pregnancy and straight kicks it in the soft stuff! I am only on chapter 6 but I am already asking myself, "How am I alive?! I've been eating dairy & meat and eating sugar substitutes for years! How do I not have 6 arms coming out of my forehead?!" The Skinny Bitches, if you will, fill their chapters with a barrage of information about not only certain health risks for many of the daily-consumed foods on my menu (and probably 90% of America!) but it also blows the whistle on the FDA & food industry giants for certain less-than-legit test results and statistics. It reminds me alot of the second part of Fast Food Nation - the part that goes in-depth on the meat industry. Eek!

With all of this newly discovered knowledge I have already decided to make a few changes with my eating habits. First and foremost (and probably hardest) was giving up soda & most sugar substitutes. SB goes into detail on some of our most favorite sugar substitutes - worst of all the faves being Aspartame. I think I've known for sometime that aspartame was bad but it wasn't until my dad told me that he had given it up & that action was helping with his arthritis that it really started to make me think that maybe this stuff really was poison! Then, when SB put up a big stink about it & elaborated on the questionable way that it was approved by the FDA I decided that I could probably live without it. So... Buh-Bye Soda.

Next was dairy. I won't go into detail because it is rather high on the "eeeww" factor, but I have decided to try something new on my granola during the morning commute. Today I tried Almond Milk.. and I have to say I was happily surprised. It just sort of tastes like a light-almond flavored liquid (umm.. yeah.. that's because that is what it is!). I enjoyed it very much. So, I'm 1 for 1. Feeling braver & braver, I decide to try Soy Yogurt with my lunch. I cannot say that it leaves me as happy as almond milk, but it is also not the worst thing I've eaten in recent history. It's a bit grainier than dairy yogurt and has sort of a heavier flavor, but all-in-all ok. It will probably not make a headlining appearance in my lunch, but is a good alternate option.

I have to admit that looking so closely at food & health has stressed me out a bit. I realize that so much of the food we consume on a day-to-day basis is just really not good for you. And I am a relatively healthy eater too - not alot of processed foods here. My wise friend, Tina (also a reader of the SB), advised me to find my groove with food. So, that is what I will do. Some of it is just about me asking the question: Why do I eat this? and some of it is making consciously better decisions about my health and my future child's health.

I know this is a completely new avenue for my posts - away from paint & baked goods. But I figured that lots of women go through this when they're trying to make good choices - so, I'm sharing my misadventures. Next... soy butter!