Week 19 (10/19 to 10/25)

How big is baby?  Mango

Weight gain/loss:  To date:  +8

Maternity clothes?  Yep.  No going back now!

Stretch marks?  Same

Sleep?  Some nights are better than others but for the most part doing remarkably well!

Best moment this week?  Having Mom & Dad over to get the leaves raked up in our yard!

Worst moment this week?  Shaun's insane work/school schedule.  I'm so over it!

Food cravings?  Still nothing.  I actually can't decide what I'm hungry for!

Gender?  Unknown..find out in a few days!  YAY!

Belly button in or out? In.

Movement: The kicks are starting!  Hopefully Shaun will be able to feel them soon!

What I miss:  Not sure...

What I'm looking forward to:  Our anatomy scan on Thursday (10/27)

Weekly wisdom:  From Shaun (again):  "At least you have your own personal space heater and can float in water"

Milestones:  Baby's sensory is exploding:  brain is designating specialized areas for smell, taste, hearing, vision, touch.  Baby might be able to hear our voices now!  Arms and legs are in the right proportions to each and the rest of body.  Kidneys continue to make urine and hair on scalp is sprouting!  A waxy protective coating is forming on skin to prevent baby from "pickling" in amniotic fluid.

Week 18 (10/12 to 10/18)

How big is baby?  Sweet Potato (num! can't wait for Thanksgiving!)

Weight gain/loss:  To date:  +8

Maternity clothes?  Same as last week....my shirts are starting to look a little to small though :(

Stretch marks? Same as week 5

Sleep?   Pretty good. The dreams are getting weird though!

Best moment this week?  My parents 40th anniversary celebration!

Worst moment this week?  Starting to get sick. .. 

Food cravings?  Still nothing really.

Gender?  Unknown..find out next week!  YAY!

Belly button in or out? In.

Movement:  Still not feeling much.  Shaun and I were "trying" to push baby around the other night...yeah we're mean like that!

What I miss:  Daylight...it gets dark too early!

What I'm looking forward to:  Appointment next week!

Weekly wisdom:  All you need is love!

Milestones:  Baby is busy flexing arms and legs - movements that you may notice.  Baby is also yawning, hiccuping, and sucking!  Blood vessels are visible through skin and ears are now in final position!  A protective covering of myelin is beginning to form around nerves (will continue for a year after baby is born).  Reproductive organs are now formed and in place.

Call us Crazy!

So with the weather getting cooler and me being pregnant and not being able to entertain Sadie as much, we decided we would do some fostering again for BBR.  Most of our family and close friends look at us weird when we tell them we are doing it now.  But usually two dogs is easier to take care of than one because then can  play with each other.  Hopefully, our new foster proves my theory right!

So foster #3 is a Bagel (basset-beagle mix).  His name is Snoopy and he is 6 years old.  His previous owners decided that they didn't have time for him anymore, such a shame, and he was starting to get aggressive.  Apparently when the relinquished him they didn't seem to care at all, actually happy to be rid of him.  So sad!

We picked up Snoopy on Sunday (10/2).  He is a very lovable guy that is in need of some training and LOTS of walking to tone him up!

Well after I wrote the above, Snoopy managed to STRESS me out to the max.  Apparently, I don't have as much patience as I'm used to.

We had been letting him have free run of the house because his previous owners used the crate as a form of punishment so I didn't want him to think that us leaving and putting him in the crate was punishment.

Incident #1:  he knocked the gate down at the top of the steps and went downstairs and peed on the floor.  To his defense, he'd been left alone for 8 hours and it was only the second day.

Incident #2:  since he was knocking the gate down we tied him up to the table next to the window so he could see out and have access to water.  Well he chewed threw his harness and was running around when I came home at lunch.

Incident #3:  Same day as incident #2

I left him out because I didn't know how he would do if I tried to put him in the crate.  We don't know if he's had his rabies vaccine and I wasn't going to chance him snapping at me and biting me!  Lesson learned!

So a day after Incident #2 and #3, I left to go run some errands and Shaun put him in his crate without incident. When I got home he was still in there and as quiet as a mouse!  THANK GOD!  He's been in his crate most of this week and has been doing great!  He actually runs down into it when we tell him we have to go bye-bye!

Wish us luck that he continues to do well!

A little slice of vacation . . .

So Shaun decided to skip town without me!  Okay not really.  But his company paid for him to travel to an all inclusive in Cancun, Mexico for a "work trip" for a couple days.  He was nice enough and only took a few pictures so I wouldn't get too bummed.  Apparently, I could have gone but by the time we found out it was too late :(

I know nothing about these pictures so feel free to make up your own stories...

Part of the margarita gang!

All together now:  JEALOUS!

Week 17 (10/5 to 10/11)

How big is baby?  An onion!

Weight gain/loss:  To date:  +8

Maternity clothes?  Still hanging on to normal clothes with the exception that I can't button nor zip them up.

Stretch marks? Same as week 5

Sleep?   Remarkably well!

Best moment this week?  Feeling rather chipper!

Worst moment this week?  Shaun being away and trying to take care of two dogs (update to come on #2)!

Food cravings?  Surprisingly nothing really.

Gender?  Unknown

Belly button in or out? In.

Movement:  Haven't felt a whole lot this week!

What I miss:  Nice calm walks!

What I'm looking forward to:  The upcoming weekend! 

Weekly wisdom: Another week with nada :(

Milestones:  Baby's skeleton is changing from cartilage to bone; umbilical cord is growing stronger and thicker; baby can move joints and sweat glands are starting to develop.

Week 16 (9/28 to 10/4)

How big is baby?  Avocado!

Weight gain/loss:  Well the doctor's office scale said +13 BUT I had on my jacket (with keys in), an extra layer of clothing from what I had on last time, and I had just had lunch at Qdoba (read inhaled 5 pound burrito).  I weighed myself on 10/3 and it said +8.  Still amazed at how fast this added up.  I'm hoping it's mostly baby and all that comes with it!

Maternity clothes?  So close.  I have a pair of maternity dress pants I started wearing.  Otherwise I'm living in yoga pants! 

Stretch marks? Same as week 5

Sleep?   Doing good!

Best moment this week?  Spending time with Shaun and seeing the baby!

Worst moment this week?  Having to pee and not being able to!  Whose brilliant idea was it for a pregnant woman to drink LOADS of water and then have her hold it?

Food cravings?  Nothing really....

Gender?  Well the ultrasound tech was super nice and took a peak for us.....she told us what she thought it was but couldn't say for sure.

Belly button in or out? In.

Movement:  I feel like I'm feeling baby but doctor said it's too early :(

What I miss:  Working out.  My ginormous weight gain means I really need to get back to it!

What I'm looking forward to:   Decorating the nursery!  We found some awesome decor items at Goodwill!

Weekly wisdom:  I'm fresh out of wisdom for this week.  I feel like I'm in a daze!

Milestones:  Legs are much more developed; head is erect, eyes have moved closer to front of head, ears are closer to final position; heart is now pumping about 25 quarts of blood each day; Baby is starting to listen to voices, thanks to tiny bones forming in ears; starting to grown hair (Grandma D. thinks it's red hair!), lashes, and eyebrows; forming taste buds.




My 16 week profile pics:

And pictures of baby from our ultrasound on 9/30!

So exciting to see baby grow!

Really Minnie?

Minnie apparently has a new thing for our bathroom sink

I don't understand how this is comfortable at all!  Can someone please fill me in?

NYC Weekend Trip

So I'm really far behind in updating on my everyday non-baby stuff :(  But to my defense I've been busy.  I haven't spent a weekend at my own home in almost a month!  Yes my house looks like I haven't cleaned it in that long too!

Now onto the real reason for this post!

I took a weekend trip to meet up with some FABULOUS ladies from a little old message board called The Nest.  My "nest" family was all married in April 2010 so we have this special connection.  This was the first ever major get together so we all didn't know what to expect.

I arrived in NYC on Saturday afternoon (9/17) by my lonesome (and scared out of my mind)!  I traveled to the middle of the city via public transportation...eek!  I somehow managed to make it despite make a fool of myself on one of the city buses...

When I arrived to our meeting place, I ended up having to wait for over an hour since the other girls had some delays in their travels :(  Thankfully the restaurant was nice enough to let me squat there until they arrived!

After they arrived we ate an awesome lunch and headed our separate ways to our hotels.  Unfortunately, the hotel I was staying in took forever to check us in so we didn't get out to meet up with the girls who went to look at the 9/11 Memorial :(  They said you couldn't see much but I still would have liked to make it down there.  At least I got a plane's eye view of it when my plane was coming in to NYC.

After we got settled into the hotel, we traveled to meet up for supper and meet some more "nesties".  We ate at Don Giovanni.  We ordered 4 pizzas!  Yes 4!!

After dinner, we went to Times Square and checked out all the lights (and crazy people)!  What a sight!

Sunday was the BIG day!  16 of us were meeting for brunch!!  I'm still trying to wrap my mind around that!  But before that, we headed to Central Park to see what all the hype was about!

Part of Columbus Park (which is just "outside" of Central Park)

Do we look lost?

Who knew Central Park was so rocky?

On to brunch!

Oh I forgot to mention that it was 16 1/2!  Little Man came with his mom!

Here's some pics from our resident professional photographer:

All of us after brunch (sans Holly who was taking the picture):

After brunch, we walked to the High Line park and enjoyed each other's company, ice cream sandwiches, and the weather!

On Monday morning I was walking to the subway to head back to the airport.  The hotel was near Wall Street so I snapped a few shots:

Trump Building!

I've never seen so many police in one area (yeah I live in a small rinky dink town)!  You may have heard about the Wall Street protests, well it started that weekend I was there.

And surprisingly I made it back to the airport without any problems!  Phew!  It was a crazy-long weekend but one that I will never forget!!  Thanks to my Nesties who made it spectacular!