RAZ-ma-taz

bubbles

i felt the baby move for the first time on friday night, 14 weeks, 1 day.  i wasn't sure at first even though it felt just like what everyone has described early movement to feel like but since it's happened everyday since intermittently when i'm laying down i'm a believer.  our baby has excellent taste, i just ate a blueberry muffin and got a few thank you bubbles ; ). 

our weekend was very relaxing and low key and even though we both work from home, neither of us are ready to start another hectic work week.  aren't there any holidays on the horizon?  oh yeah labor day, but that's way too far away at this point.  time seems to be crawling again as we anticipate the ultrasound that will hopefully reveal the baby's gender.  2 weeks from Thursday!!  though we're pretty indifferent to what we have, we're excited to know.  until Thursday amy thought it was a girl but evidently when she saw me after my business trip i suddenly looked like i was carrying a boy.  unsure what that means but since i've felt it was a boy since the beginning i haven't given it a whole lot of thought.  I did get a call from the OB's office that i'm anemic.  I guess that explains my exhaustion.  I kind of thought I felt more tired than I should after the 1st trimester was over so that news confirmed it.  Honestly, I've been on iron ever since and still feel pretty exhausted.  I guess I'll call the OB back tomorrow to make sure I'm taking enough.

OK, that's it. 

Oh, KJ, I have been posting belly shots since 8 weeks.  We're taking one every 4 weeks so there is an 8 week and 12 week picture posted in the belly and ultrasound pics folder on the left.  We'll add another in 10 days at 16 weeks!

Hope you have a great week!

i made it

i made it through my business trip to chicago.  it was flat out exhausting, but i'm back, and very happy to be home.  wednesday was the worst.  i got up at 5 for a 7am flight.  from there it was all day meetings followed by a white sox game.  the weather was great in chicago, but the baseball game was just too much.  i made it to the end of the 5th inning and then convinced one of my coworkers to leave with me.  by the time i made it back to my hotel i totally puked.  i've been nauseas through the pregnancy so far, but have never actually puked.  until wednesday.  it sucked.  i haven't told anyone at work yet that i'm preggo, so i had to wear baggy clothes to try and cover it up.  hopefully it worked. :o) 

amy and ryan made it through my absence just fine.  ryan totally busted amy for giving her a waffle for dinner as opposed to cooking something.  she told me the minute i got on the phone with her.  they were total bachelorettes while i was gone. :o)

yesterday was 14 weeks.  woo-hoo!  3 more weeks until we find out gender!!

info please

has anyone heard about "hypnobirthing"?  there was a brochure in the packet we got from our OB and it seems interesting.  i have absolutely no interest in going through labor unmedicated, but even so, it seems like the stuff they talk about in hypnobirthing makes sense.

the whole push a baby out of your vagina thing is new for us.  amy had a c-section as did both our moms.  i don't have a burning desire to give birth vaginally, so if i end up with a c-section i'll be totally cool with that, i'm just thinking with a toddler and all the recovery from a vaginal birth would be much more tolerable than having to recover from a c-section.  who knows.  it's an interesting topic and lots of people have lots of strong opinions, so we're interested in yours! :o)

catching up

we are so behind on updating.  i just haven't been in the mood.  this post is mostly a picture update.  ryan and i got hair cuts this weekend.  ryan got 2.5 inches  cut off and they chopped close to 5 off of mine!  i was so over having long obnoxious hair that was always in a ponytail.  i love the new cut and so does amy.  i'm still getting used to the fact that i can't really pull it back.  ryan's hair still fits in a tiny little nub of a ponytail. :o)  we had a nice weekend.  amy and i are total olympics junkies so we spent most of our available time watching it on tv.

here's the link to the pictures.  there are some leftover from our trip to florida.  after miami we stopped over in tampa with my family and got lots of good shots of ryan and my mom playing together.  and here's a link to a picture that we somehow forgot to post of ryan, gigi and papa while we were still in miami spending time with them.

oh, our next u/s is scheduled for 9/4 and that's when we should be able to find out what we're having.  we can't wait!  i have a couple of business trips coming up that i am not looking forward to.  the one this week is just going to be exhausting with two really long days of travel and meetings.  and, as if travel and meetings weren't enough, on the first night i have to go to a white sox game.  ugh!  i'm hoping to get some time to nap in between the meetings and the game.

12w5d ultrasound

we had our 12 week ultrasound today and everything looks great!  the baby was moving around like crazy and appears to have really long legs.  when the picture first came up it's legs were stretched out and it looked like a giant.  looks like we're destined for another tall kid. :o)  we are so ecstatic to be past the ever-so-important 12 week mark and to now have visual confirmation that everything is ok. we have our first appointment with the midwife on thursday.  oh, and the baby was measuring 3 inches and 13 weeks which is a few days ahead of schedule.  it's still feels so unreal that this little munchkin is in my gut.  i keep thinking that every time we go for an ultrasound that it will finally seem real but it honestly hasn't sunk in yet.  crazy.

here are the pics.  i also posted them in the album along with copies that provide a little help to those of you who haven't looked at an u/s pic in a while. :o)

[profile pic]

[waving!!]

 

swimming - the graduation

she did it...she graduated! ;o)

a little background first.  prior to 9 days ago, ryan loved going in the pool but pretty much stayed on the steps and NEVER wanted to dunk her head.  in fact, she hates when water gets in her eyes in the tub.  so, we had only ever dunked her about 4 times.  we finally enrolled her into swimming lessons since we're in florida so much and both of our parents have pools and we wanted to do it for safety reasons.  so, off she went.  every day for 30 minutes for 1-on-1 lessons.  we lucked out and got the BEST instructor ever.  he was so soft spoken and patient.  ryan totally loved him.  anyhoo, the first 4 days where miserable.  she cried hysterically during the lessons and had a meltdown at the beginning of the lesson because she didn't want to go into the pool.  by day 5 she went in willingly and didn't cry at all during the lesson.  she still had anxiety anticipating her lessons and said that she didn't want to go, but once she got there she was fine.

so, our girl that hated having water in her face has now finished her lessons and can totally swim and find the wall when she gets dropped in the pool.  needless-to-say, we're SO proud of her.  we made a big deal of her graduation so gigi, papa and uncle dave came to the pool to share in the moment.

here's a video of her last day.  pictures are posted here.  oh, and my belly shot from last night is in the belly pics folder.

12 weeks!!

we've made it to 12 weeks!!  woo-hoo!!!  in actuality, today is just like every other day and we won't really be breathing a sigh of relief until tuesday which is when we have our next ultrasound, but we're still psyched that this day has finally come!  i'm feeling pretty good.  definitely better than weeks 4-9. :o)  at the moment, i'm still exhausted most of the time and have random nauesa.  most recently i've started having food aversions.  well, really i just don't want to eat anything.  i'm also really craving smoothies and fruit.

we'll update with a belly pic later today.

we're still in florida and are heading back to the ATL this weekend.  ryan graduates from swimming tomorrow so we'll post pictures of that and an update on her fish-like moves then.

oh, and two funny stories...

1. so, amy has taken to calling the babe 'cletus the fetus'.  i know, it drives me crazy. :o)  anyway, ryan apparently picked up on it and started saying over and over again at lunch today.  then she asked what cletus the fetus was, so amy told her that that's what was in my belly, to which ryan replied, "nooooo, mommy has a baby bump".  just goes to show you that they hear EVERYTHING...even when you think they're not paying attention.

2. last night ryan and i were playing on the floor.  she ran over to me and grabbed onto my back and bit down on my shirt.  i quickly stopped her and told her that she may night bite, etc, etc and then i asked her why she did it.  "i was hungry mommy.  i wanted to eat you."

that's it for now...

swimming

ryan has been in the pool every day that she's been in florida.  she loves it.  after procrastinating the last few times we were down here, we've finally put her in swimming lessons.  she's been going every day for the last 4 days for one-on-one lessons.  the main focus is survival.  for a kid that had only ever been dunked about 4 times in her life and hated every minute of it, she's been doing great.  there have been a lot of tears, but each day it gets better.  and...after only 3 lessons, she totally gets dunked and swims to the side unassisted.  once she gets to the side she's able to pull herself up on the edge and hold on.  it's really amazing.  she's going all next week too, so hopefully come next friday she'll be much more comfortable with the idea.  and, no worries, we plan on video taping her "graduation". 

that's the big news for the moment.

oh, and as a follow up to our cruise post and some of the comments that came back...

rosie was on the ship the whole time.  we saw her at night during the shows and we also ran into her while we were on shore in rhode island.  she honestly wasn't very friendly and based on the other people we talked to that ran into her, they had the same experience.  i get that she was there with her family on vacation and all that, but honestly, the cruise should have done a better job of having scheduled times when people could take pictures with her and stuff.  whatever.  and, as for whether we would go again, i think we would, however we will never book early again.  the last two cruises they've offered 2-for-1 specials a few months before the cruise date, so we'd definitely hold out and probably would only go if a 2-for-1 special came up.  they just charge way too much of a premium (we could have gone on the same cruise for 1/3 the price if it hadn't been the "rosie cruise".  actually, i'm not sure that they'll be doing too many more cruises.  they did announce a cruise to alaska next summer, but rosie made it pretty clear on the first night that it was just becoming cost prohibitive and that they will probably start focusing on land-based vacations.  we'll see...

we're back!

we made it back from our cruise in one piece and maybe even a few pounds lighter.  we got in yesterday afternoon after a week at sea with a bunch of amazing folks.  we had a blast.  ryan was a total trooper and LOVED every minute (well, almost every minute) of her vacation.  we went to canada, maine, p-town and rhode island.  all-in-all, we were very happy with the cruise, although the food was HORRIBLE.  we couldn't wait for lunch each day when we could get off of the ship and eat on shore.  we had the world's best lobster roll in bar harbor and the best french onion soup in st. john's new brunswick.  the entertainment on the ship was second to none - especially this new incredible duet that debuted on the last night of the cruise.

is that the cutest thing ever or what?  that's ryan and her new pal cheeky.  they totally got up and did a little karaoke of their own.  the two were inseparable the last few days of the cruise.  our only regret is that we didn't spend more time with cheeky and her moms earlier on in the week.

as for the ship and the people on it, it was a great mix of straight, gay, young, old, families, single folks, etc.  i think the thing we loved best was seeing all the 2 dad families.  in our estimate, there were as many 2 dad families as there were 2 mom families.  we're too exhausted at this point to think about anything more, but as the memories start coming back, we'll write more.  oh, there were a few funny ryan moments. 

before i get into those, i should say that ryan was a total trooper.  she napped every day with no problem and did great at night too, although she woke up every morning between 5:30 and 6:30am.  she had a few meltdowns but all in all was a total superstar. 

ok, now the stories...

on the first night or so that we were there it was around 9pm and we were trying to get ryan to go to sleep.  she kept talking and talking so we were getting a little frustrated.  at one point, after saying "night night" many times, amy said it with a little bit of frustration in her voice.  ryan responded by saying: "mama, don't say night-night like that.  i'm very disappointed."  of course we started cracking up laughing which extended the night time routine by another 15 minutes.

about half way through the cruise we were hanging out in the kid's playroom area.  it was just me, ryan and another kid and their mom.  the other kid walked by me and tripped over my foot.  after that, the kid hugged me, i guess as an "i'm sorry" gesture and ryan yelled from across the room: "don't hug my mommy kid, that's MY mommy!"  we had a repeat a day or so later when another kid tried to play catch with me.  that time, ryan "claimed" me by sitting on my lap and staying there saying "that's my mommy" until the kid finally left the playroom.  we're not sure where this territorial side of her came from.  she was only doing it with me so we're kind of wondering if all the "big sister" talk is starting to sink in. 

ok, that's it for now.  see pictures here.

our roadtrip is over...for now

we are in florida!  we drove down to tampa on wednesday and spent the last 2 days with mimie and tom-tom (my family).  ryan had a blast.  we swam in the pool, hung out with uncle ced, aunt jo and cousin peyton and spent lots of quality time with the grandparents.  ryan was so cute with peyton.  he's 5.5 months old now and she was all over him.  she immediately hugged him and kissed him on the head and wanted to hold him.  at one point she randomly went up to him and kissed him on the head and said "i love you peyton".  she is going to be such a good big sis!  at one point my brother was changing peyton's diaper and he did what boys do...pee'd all over the place. ryan was watching and said "peyton made a waterfall!".  ryan gave us quite a bit of funny memories over the last few days which i'll tell you about in a minute.  ryan had another round of tea parties with mimie and was excited that tom-tom got her another GIANT butterfly sugar cookie AND a cupcake that was the size of her head.  needless-to-say, she ate her weight in sugar in a day and a half.  last night amy and i went out solo for sushi and trip to the mall while ryan hung out with the grandparents and made art projects with mimie.  she had made amy and i each a heart that was decorated with stickers and glitter and stuff.  she was SO excited to give them to us.  it was very cute.

as for the funny stories, here we go:

• yesterday in the car ryan was doing something cute and amy was telling her how cute she was.  ryan out of the blue said "mama, are you gonna eat my face?"  background...amy tells ryan that she's going to eat her face (i.e. kiss it all over) whenever she makes the cute little faces that she's mastered so well).  well, amy said that she absolutely was and that she was going to start with her nose, then her lips, etc.  when amy said she was going to eat ryan's lips she got really upset and said "mama, don't eat my lips.  i need my lips to talk and i love to talk".
• after the pool yesterday ryan and i hopped in the shower together to make things go faster.  in the middle of it, ryan looked at me all concerned and said "mommy, what's that?"  you can guess what she was pointing to...so then she said "mommy, why is there dirt on your tushie?".  i proceeded to tell her that it was hair on my vagina and that was very upsetting to her.  she told me that you're only suppose to have hair on your head.  she was apparently scarred enough that she brought it up with amy this morning and went back over the whole experience.  ha!

i know i'm missing a couple more, but amy's not here right now to remind me so i'll have to update later if we think of anything.

and so, now we are in miami.  ryan is taking a nap in her mcqueen pull-up which is under her mcqueen shorts while she sleeps on the mcqueen sheets that gigi got her.  oh, and she's cuddling with the mcqueen beanbag pillow that gigi also got her.  she's also got a mcqueen hotwheels car, beach towels, wallet and lunch bags.  do you think we've over done the mcqueen infatuation?  i think so.  we have officially put a stop to buying any more mcqueen merchandise.  oy!  tomorrow we'll run our last minute errands and then on sunday we jump on a plane at 8am and head for NYC and our cruise.  we can't wait!

as for me, i'm feeling better these days.  the nausea is definitely better.  i'm still tired and have now started to get headaches which suck.  i'm also having a hard time sleeping.  oh well, it's all par for the course and is certainly all for a good cause so i'm not complaining (well, i'm trying not to complain). :o)