Goodbye Facebook

For those of you who doubted whether I'd actually do this...it's done! Im going to ring in the new year sans Facebook. I will still be on twitter because that is not being used as a primary means of contact - however if it becomes that then I will delete that too! I am hoping that we can raise our kids to know what human contact is outside of technology :) plus, I want to hold myself accountable for spending time catching up with those in my life instead of stalking on Facebook.

29 Weeks done!!!

Our friends, Brandon and Jess, got us the BEST gift ever this year...a POPCORN MAKER! It's one of those things that I didn't know that I needed until I needed it. My brother introduced me to stove top popped popcorn last October when he was up visiting. I thought I had the best set-up possible being able to pop it on the stove - especially when microwave popcorn has loosely been linked to infertility (and at that point in my journey I was grasping at any flavor of the week reason for our struggle). I rarely have microwave popcorn now that I'm pregnant. I only have it when I have a hankering for Kettle Corn which at some point I will learn how to make myself. 

Anywho - to get back on track... When over at Brandon and Jess's we would often have popcorn at my request made with their popcorn maker. It's so easy and little to no cleanup! Whereas using the pot on the stove ruined the bottom of my large pot with the oil burns. I was thrilled and touched when I unwrapped this gift because it really came from the heart. They remembered something that they knew we loved and that we didn't have and picked it up. We purchased for them a gift card to their very favorite restaurant that we then found out they would be going to for New Year's Eve (and it's a restaurant Jesse has boycotted because we have yet to find a menu item that wets our whistles). 

In other news...I LOVE APPLE! I have been an apple customer since my Gateway stopped working DURING MY THESIS in February of 2007 - that date will stick in my head for forever. Then, Jesse and I got iPhones in November of 2008 which we updated in November of 2010 and then I got a new laptop for my birthday/Christmas/every-holiday-until-Jesse-deems-it-paid-off this past August. A few years ago Jesse's iPod that I had purchased him for Christmas (oh, did I mention we've each had 2 iPods over the years?) started acting funny at about the same time as Jake ate through a USB cord and I wanted to make sure that he didn't damage port or the motherboard. So, we brought the laptop in to the Genius bar to get it looked at and brought his iPod along in the event that could get looked at too. The laptop was fine, and Jesse's iPod got replaced for free even though it was out of the warranty. 

Fast forward to the last few months. Well, let's go back farther to winter 2010. I was out in Boston after recently getting the iPhone 4 for a night out to celebrate a birthday. I went to the bathroom not remembering that my phone was in my back pocket and it went flying into the toilet - pre-pee so it was a "fresh" bowl (as fresh of a bowl as you can get in Boston at a bar). Before I could think I reached it and pulled it out and watched it shut itself down. I was devastated! However, 45 minutes later I attempted to turn it on because I was obsessing over it and it turned on and worked fine! When I got home I put it in rice for about 24 hours just to get the rest of the moisture out. Now fast forward to this summer. The home button (the circle at the bottom) stopped working for a few days here, a few days there. The home button is needed to switch from, say, email to making a phone call. I had to turn my phone off to do something different. But, only for a few days/hours at a time. I put off dealing with it until this week when I realized there was a correlation between dropping it and the home button not working. 

So Jesse and I went to the apple store. I explained the problem. Of course, my phone was 36 days out of service. The man explained I would need to pay for a repair/replacement to the tune of $149. You know that anxiety that creeps up when you get told you have to pay something you weren't planning on? Well, that's how I felt. I got hot, sweaty, probably red in the face, and started rubbing my forehead. However, Jesse and I agreed that it had to be paid for. The man went in to the back to get my replacement phone and when he came out he simply stated "You've bought many apple products in the past. Please enter your information for your replacement phone." to which I obliged. Then when I was done, he handed me the slip to sign and said "We are going to take care of the cost for you today in the hopes you will continue to be a loyal Apple customer." and I started crying because I was so happy! I will, of course, continue to pay slightly more for a better quality product that the company will not only back-up but have shown up more than once will replace without cost regardless if it's within the 1-year warranty or not. 

10 weeks 6 days to go

All I want for Christmas is some TRADER JOE'S! - Well, that's what we got :) Jesse's sister, Samantha, works at Trader Joe's and spent some time collecting items to put into gift boxes for Jesse and I. It ended up being about 4 meals including dessert and snack items! I have been entranced with looking at the labels and seeing items that, not only can I pronounce, but that I can find at a grocery store! This meal was delicious - thick spaghetti with an amazing tomato sauce that had a bit of spice to it and just the right amount of chunk, parmesan cheese (which we were coincidentally out of), and a great balsamic with garlic salad dressing. 

Now that I've been talking about Trader Joe's a bit, my cousin, Ashley, and I now have plans to head to Framingham on Saturday to do a little grocery shopping :) I'm pretty excited, but will definitely need to be put on a budget! It'll be interesting to officially be able to compare the prices between Trader's and Whole Foods. 

The nursery is near completion! We have all the furniture purchased, now we are just researching the wall decor and the window treatments. Pictures will be up soon :) As well, our friends Jim and Stacey gave us our Christmas gift yesterday and it's AMAZING - so that will be posted soon. Now that I'm on vacation I'm focusing on documenting things and getting posts ready - for instance this dinner was from Monday night but I had other things to post first. 

11 weeks, 1 day left

Each year for the holidays, my grandmother makes a MASSIVE batch of pierogi's. Then she mails them out to the family. I receive 8 pierogi's each year and I hoard them and squirrel them away eating them little by little. If anyone were to eat one of my pierogi's I would probably spontaneously combust as I wouldn't know how to react strongly enough. 

The night that the pierogi's arrived I cooked up some chicken pot stickers and then threw the pierogi's in the pan to warm up and brown just a bit. I will say that was a good move. I typically just throw them in the microwave and then eat them before the become post-microwave hard. P.S. why does it do that?! 

Jesse and I actually slept until 8:00 this morning which neither of us could remember the last time we did that! Jake usually doesn't let us sleep past 7:15 so this was blissful! Plus, I was definitely sleeping by 11:00 after watching episode 8 of The Office on the Netflix app on my iPhone. 

11 weeks, 2 days left

This is one of my favorite times of year with the incoming Christmas cards and packages that arrive :) One of the best envelopes that I opened this season was the one that contained my Shower invitation. It was made with such love and thought to who Jesse and I are as a couple. I only had one freak out moment during the planning of the invites where I called up my mom and crazily said "It better NOT say It's a BOY!!!" to which she replied "Can I put the name?" And I said "NO!" - In my defense I was ending a 5 hour drive back from a 24 hour trip to New Jersey where it was an additional 5 hours to get there! So I was a bit frazzled. I want to profusely thank Susan, Julia, Ashleigh, and Kara for working together to create a day for Jesse and I and thank those family and friends who will be taking time out of their day to come celebrate with us! It is just over a month away!!! As well,  another thank you for those that are working behind the scenes with any contributions because I know you are out there!

The Back

The Front

The Middle

28 weeks, 1 day

I did my 3 hour Glucose Tolerance Test today and man am I glad that it's over!

I got together with some family yesterday for a ladies hot beverage night (which had the bonus of dinner and dessert!) and was "out late" - I got home after 9:30!!! Upon arrival home I ate a small bag of Cheerios in an attempt at a last supper to help me out today. I was up a lot last night staring at the ceiling and thinking about eating. Poor Jake got kicked off the bed 3 times last night since he hopped up while I was still awake. The alarm went off this morning and I remained in bed while Jesse got ready for work. Then I was able to sleep for about an hour after he left. At 7:30 I wrote my Sub plans for today, emailed them in, and then went to my appointment.

Here's a fun fact - the drink was literally two times as strong as the one I drank last week. Last week it was a slightly sweeter version of Orange Soda...this week it was so strong that I winced with each sip - but managed to get it down within the 5 minutes. Within about 10 minutes my hands started to shake, so I began knitting. A woman came in who had quite the complicated blood draw orders and we chatted while the phlebotomist worked through the paperwork. She had had a gastric bypass in the spring and had lost 80 pounds. She was a mother of two kids and a tea drinker. I told her she needed to check out teavana and gave some recommendations for tea and products. She told me about the recovery of her procedure and the effect it's had on her life. While she went in to get her blood drawn my head started to spin and my whole body began to sweat. The phlebotomist saw that I was in rough shape and asked me if I wanted to lay down. The nice lady offered to walk me back there!

When I laid down one of the nurses came in and gave me a cold cloth. That was an amazing move on her part. I laid there for a bit taking deep breaths and trying to relax. Once I knew I wasn't going to vomit I took out my iPhone, opened up Netflix, and watched episode 3 of The Office. Then I had the second blood draw (the first was upon arrival to get my baseline). I closed my eyes for a bit after that and then watched episode 4. Then had the third blood draw. At this point, every few minutes I was having reflux (which is a polite version of saying I was vomiting in my mouth). Thankfully I was allowed to drink water, and that helped a LOT! About 30 minutes later (episode 5 plus a few minutes of sitting up and letting my head stop spinning), I was able to walk back out to the waiting area and await my last blood draw.

I rewarded myself with a stop at Shaw's to get Smartfood (and Sparkling Cider so I can feel fancy this weekend as well as some soda that was on sale for our guests) and then went across the street to Subway to get a Chicken Bacon Ranch foot long - which I will proudly say that I ate ALL of. After relaxing at home for a bit I got my clean on and surprised Jesse with a spotless house. Well, almost spotless...I didn't clean the office because I would have had to get on all fours to plug something in under the desk and really didn't want to do that as my back was already hurting.

This is a picture of Kara and I from last month when we were 6 months along. The updated 7 month picture will come after we get reunited (and it feels so good) this weekend!

27 weeks 5 days

Jake got his first experience with grooming this weekend. He got the works! A bath, a brush out, nails did, ears cleaned, paws treated, and teeth cleaned. Apparently, there was a special going on that gave him a free party collar because we scheduled the service between November 25th and December 25th. Not gonna lie, I laughed out loud at hime when he came out of the grooming room. He was also called a girl as we walked out. We made him wear it for a bit when he got home just so we could laugh at him and then put it on again on Sunday for Jesse's birthday celebration. This collar will make repeat appearances for Christmas Eve, Christmas day and New Year's Eve.

We went to our neighbor's house on Saturday for a holiday dinner consisting of a 22 lb turkey and all the "fixings". It was bustling with people and it was great to be part of that experience. We unfortunately had to leave immediately after eating (before the dessert even) to head to the theater and see the new Sherlock Holmes movie. I made it through my second movie without having to leave partway through to use the bathroom. That's because I paced myself and stopped drinking my Root Beer just in time! 

Sunday was Jesse's birthday! We went to his parents and had a delicious dinner and an even more fantastic dessert as well as watched some football. And by some I mean a lot of football. We got home late (for me) and I relaxed for maybe 20 minutes before heading to bed. And bed is not my favorite place surprisingly. I am having a difficult time sleeping comfortably which is unfortunate because I need to sleep. 

Today we got the delivery of christmas gifts from my parents as well as Jesse's birthday gift. Apparently Jake was looking very closely for something for him and put his head in Jesse's gift bag, stole the tissue paper, and took that to his bed to begin eating! He is such a spoiled entitled dog! 

In baby new - Adin got hiccups for the first time today! It was such a fun feeling :)

27 weeks 2 days

Yesterday Jesse and I went in for a super long appointment! We arrived at 3:15 at which point I chugged the sugary drink for my Glucose test to check for Gestational Diabetes. Then I left my urine sample and went in for an ultrasound. My uterus continues to look like it's back in a good shape. The baby is still nice and low and butt down - he's considered breech, but he's been breech since the beginning. Hopefully he explores other parts of his sac... The fluid amount looks good and all the organs are as formed as they should be and in their right place. 

Then, we went out into the waiting room. I was scheduled to do the blood draw for the Glucose test at 4:20 and at 4:00 I started to overheat, have a spinning head, get nauseous. I went to go check in with the phlebotemist and she was busy so I ran outside to get some fresh air. That seemed to help. At 4:15 I went back to the phlebotomist and she let me come sit down while she finished up paperwork. I also had blood drawn for the chicken pox exposure that I had last week. 

Then we got called in to the examination room. There was another student doing rounds so he came in and did the initial exam. As I went to lay down I saw the "alien head" coming out of my stomach and thought to ask about it. He poked at it for a few seconds and said it was worth bringing up to the doctor. He measured my uterus - 27 cm (again, right on track with my due date) and measured the heart beat - 138 beats per minute. The heartbeat sounds so strong and "normal"! When the doctor came in she looked at my "alien head" and confirmed that I have a hernia! She said it was a bit more pronounced than what she typically sees, but it's not uncommon. I just had a muscle poke through my abdominal wall. It doesn't hurt so at this point it's not a worry, just something they'll watch post baby to see if it heals itself . 

The most exciting news was seeing Adin after some baby fat has accumulated - he's a cutie! Of course, I'm biased :) 

Hello 3rd Trimester

I have great neighbors. Really, I do. There is a family next door that has been amazing since the day we moved in! The man who owns the house has lent us tool after tool as we've attempted projects. He is funny and friendly. We've done football dinners where he's brought over his homemade chili as well as beers on the patio during the summer. He has raised three great kids! The youngest was a huge help after we got a dog with toileting him and feeding him on the times we've been in a pinch. 

All of this is to preface the following picture. I am friends with the neighbors on FaceBook and randomly the youngest and middle child will post regarding what's being cooked in the household - which usually prompts a craving for me these days. On Monday, there was a post about making brownies to which I commented that they could feel free to leave me treats anytime! A while later the doorbell rang and it was the delivery of warm, ooey-gooey double fudge brownies with a perfectly crispy crust and powdered sugar! I ate 1 and 1/2 brownie Monday night and the other two Tuesday at work. Saturday we are going over the the neighbors for a 22 lb Turkey dinner and I'm going to get some pointers on making better brownies :)

Tomorrow is the annual holiday breakfast at my school. This is what I made :) It's a recipe that Laura introduced me to many years ago and I forgot about it for a few years. I made it for Anna's annual Holiday Bash last Friday so, with the input of the ladies that work in my classroom, I decided to make it for tomorrow. It's not really a breakfast item - but the breakfast lasts all day so I think it'll work. All it is is crescent rolls unrolled, cream cheese spread, and then veggies of your choice on top. DELICIOUS! Of course I went to the grocery store to pick up the crescent rolls and cream cheese and made some impulse purchases - more turkey bacon, smartfood, cape cod chips, cheese-its, and sierra mist. I really should be banned from grocery shopping for the next three months. 

THAT'S RIGHT! ONLY 3 MORE MONTHS! Or 91 days...but who's counting?!

And, this is a picture of the eggs that I cooked for my rice and eggs yesterday :) I might get that craving again soon since it was so amazing. 

26 weeks, 6 days

Craving today = rice with egg mixed in. So, upon arriving home from work I put some spanish rice on the stove, cracked open two farm raised eggs in a skillet, chopped up some chives and added it to the eggs and waited for the magic to happen. In under 20 minutes I had a large bowl of rice and eggs that were delicious! I literally ate half the box of rice and shared the other half with Jesse, sans egg because he won't eat eggs.

Jesse was down at McDonald's when I got home picking up a treat for me. He had a coupon for a free hot chocolate so he wanted to surprise me. I guess it took a bit for them to fulfill his order so he also got a coupon for a free small fry that will be fulfilled in the very near future :) I will say, the hot chocolate was quite tasty! I haven't gotten one there before and I was impressed!

Tomorrow I will have completed 27 weeks and will start my 3rd trimester. I cannot believe it! Thursday I have an appointment (that I'm half dreading) where I will have my glucose test, get tested for chicken pox (did I ever post my rant on that?!), and get an ultrasound and meet with the doctor. Depending on how the glucose test goes I may or may not post on Thursday...but pictures and stats will be coming soon! I have a feeling that my belly hasn't grown a ton...but who knows. I have put on about 6 lbs in the last 4 weeks I think. It's tough because the doctor's scale never matches up with mine...

I just saw on TV that Jessica Simpson has already signed a deal with Weight Watchers for after her pregnancy. Geesh - I would think it'd be worth seeing how your body naturally deals with the weight prior to doing that. I would give it at least a year before trying a formal diet plan...but that's just me.

26 weeks, 5 days

I'm tired...again. I feel like I have been "sick" with something consistently all for the last month plus so I don't know if it's because of that or because I am creeping up on the 3rd trimester.

During my work day I can't seem to eat enough! I struggle with not liking all the choices that I provide myself and I eye everyone else's food. Or, if it's on Anna's menu I just help myself.

I dream of the days when I can sleep through the night with out having funky dreams or going to the bathroom three times or having to move a ginormous pillow just to turn over. I also get over heated in my sleep and kick off all the blankets and then try to pull the pillow over my body in place of a blanket. It's such weird sleeping patterns!

I'm also a negative Nelly these days - hence why I haven't posted a lot lately. I will hopefully get out of this funk soon so I can have some funny stories to share with you.

I also haven't done anything embarrassing lately which is a feat in and of itself.

26 weeks down 14 to go!

I have been uncomfortable the past few days with a pain in my lower right side by my hip. It's been pretty constant and annoying. Literally I got home from work yesterday and lying on the couch was too much work. I drew myself a hot (nope, warm) bath, put some bubbles in it, and slowly lowered myself down. And there I stayed for about half an hour. I needed help to get out of the tub and my body no longer is as limber as it used to be. As I hobbled around the house I remembered that I had a pregnancy belt downstairs from Jess that I could try. So I made my way down the stairs and fitted the belt just under my bump. I was finally able to stand up straight! It was not a cure-all but it was definitely a huge improvement. I wore it while I prepared dinner and then took it off to crash on the couch for the evening.

After getting dressed today I immediately put the belt back on and wore it all day. It did two great things: 1) kept me comfy throughout the day so I could function at work and arrive home without pain and very minimal discomfort and 2) allowed me to wear a pair of maternity jeans that I thought I wouldn't be able to wear because they not only dragged down themselves causing me to have the oh-so-sexy draggy butt look but took my underwear with them requiring me to reach down into the back of my pants and hike up not only the pants but my undies with it! I had to hike them up approximately zero times today! So, I have a third pair of maternity jeans in my rotation now :)

Jesse approached me about two transgressions this evening. The first I left the TV on this morning. I had watched a DVR-ed episode of Gossip Girl this morning since I'm not going in at the crack of dawn every day anymore. I had hit the power button which typically will turn off the cable box and TV, but sometimes only turns off the cable box. I didn't stick around long enough to see that I left the TV on. The second was that I didn't flush the toilet. Here's my dirty little secret: in an attempt to not fully wake up during my many bathroom trips at night I have trained myself not to flush. And, for the record, I am a great flusher! I even put the seat down every time (because I have a fear of the spray of toilet water from the pressure of flushing). I am typically the first one in the bathroom after we wake up so I have been able to cover this awful behavior. This morning I wasn't the first in the bathroom. However, this was not the instance Jesse approached me about. Nope. It was when I used the bathroom while he was in the shower (I also don't flush when someone is in the shower because I'm convinced that the shower and toilet share the same water line and when you flush you get dirty water on you in the shower). I guess I never realized the issues I have regarding a toilet until now...

Anywho - the point of sharing this is because I was laughing to the point of pain and tears. He has definitely learned how to communicate with me things that he would like for me to do in a way that does not come across as judgmental or angry. His opening line was something like "I found something yellow that had been left to mellow with a half a wad of toilet paper" (did I mention I try to reduce my usage of toilet paper to be kind to the earth?). Usually we begin with "I've got a bone to pick with you" so this approach was amazing. I could barely stop laughing to acknowledge his two points and apologize for my laziness - which is what it was...or forgetfulness. I keep forgetting to pull the pregnesia card.

25 weeks 5 days

Jesse shared his germs with me. Now I'm sick...again. I used to have a great immune system. This baby sucked all the good antibodies for himself. I'm OK with that - but not a fan of the stuffy nose, sore throat, and constant look of just having finished crying after I blow my nose that prompts co-workers to ask "Are you OK?"

A Victoria's Secret commercial is on tv and as much as I don't look like a single one of those models I do have some cleavage sans push-up bra that poses some competition for them :)

This afternoon my lower right side starting pulling. So I went poop. It was a good poop. Then at 3:00 it started hurting again and it pretty much hasn't stopped. The baby is moving and grooving pretty well cause I fed him nuggets and fries but I'm not a comfy mommy right now. Hopefully my uterus finished growing or whatever it is settles down. Maybe it's Adin trying to push his way out, but he's going the wrong direction. 

I was in a Kindergarten classroom this afternoon and they love to ask me about being pregnant. Some questions included "Are you married?" "Did you want a baby?" "Did you go to the doctor's to get an egg?" (my personal favorite) "Did you want a boy?" "Can you name him [insert that child's name here] next time?" and others. All of these questions were sparked by my simply struggling to sit on the carpet with them. I was telling Jesse about it on the way home and he laughed and said I was fairly close to "Ask you mom/dad" as a response since their questions were getting more intrusive. 

25 weeks 4 days

On an impulse, Jesse and I went down to New York this weekend. We were going to go next weekend for a moving party, but got an invite Thursday evening to head down on Friday. So, after work, an oil change, and packing we got in the car and headed down. Jesse and I have experienced some horrific driving situations in Connecticut and New York - but let me tell you...this drive was AMAZING! In 2.5 hours we arrived at the brand new Chasse homestead in New York. We also found a Starbucks enroute that is conveniently located right off the highway.

We got the grand tour and enjoyed each others company that evening before going to bed around midnight. It was an awful night's sleep. Jesse was sick and popping Chloraseptic lozenges like it was candy. Pop, suck, pop, suck. Jake was pacing and unsettled. Then, the wake up time for the boys was 6:15, and consequently we gals were up too. I got some snuggle time with Kara before we finally roused for breakfast.

We were out the door and exploring their new terrain to find adequate shopping bright and early. In fact we were in the Walmart parking lot by 8:30 realizing that other stores we would need to go to wouldn't be open for a bit. The boys were doing the heavy work at Home Depot and packing and moving boxes. By 11:30 all of the shopping was complete and Kara and I had made a bed of pillows and blankets on their family room floor whilst watching Knocked Up (which is fairly appropriate for both of us).

By 4:30, the boys had taken down a dozen or so trees and we had ordered dinner from an amazing local restaurant that served comfort food and whose slogan was "Put some south in your mouth". At some point, we will buy one of the t-shirts with that slogan. By 6:00 Lion King was on TV and the boys were outside shooting cans, tin, and a cat (photo). By  7:45 the movie was over, all the songs were sung by Kara and I, and we were realizing that it would not be OK to go to bed before 9:00...being the adults that we are. So, we toughed it out until 9:20 and then all of us shuffled and fell in to bed.

This morning Kara and Matt cooked up a great breakfast, we snapped a belly photo (to come when internet is added to the new homestead), got a photo of the happy new homeowners outside of their house, and headed back. I'm happy to say we made it home in LESS THAN 2.5 hours (yes, Jesse drove fast, but he kept pace with everyone else). Since getting home, I have done a few loads of laundry, grocery shopping, watched a movie, and snuggled with Jake (who is EXHAUSTED!). We have a fire blazing and both of us are yawning up a storm. Jake is in the midst of a pretty intense dream as I type including noises and full body movement...on the couch between Jesse and I.

In other news - I am officially unable to fit into my own t-shirts and have began wearing Jesse's. Additionally, I have taken all "big kid" poops this week, where as the last 12+ weeks have merely been tiny nuggets that come in 2's and 3's. It's good to get cleaned out!