I Love October!!!!

Taking a little break from baby mania for a minute to talk about how much I love the autumn season!  I really think that October is my favorite month of the year.  I know that I may have said that about May a few months back, but May comes in a close second to October.


I just got back from a nice little walk with my Daisy dog and it is just such perfect weather right now!  It just lifts your spirits no matter what kind of mood you are in.  I am in the mood to make a list, so here are all of the reasons that I love October!  And I made this post in a nice burnt orange color in celebration of the season!


-The weather!!  Finally not so ridiculously hot and you can be outside and thoroughly enjoy it!  Warm (but   not hot) during the day and a slight chill to the air at night....I love it!  Yes, it means that winter is just around the corner, but that is the only drawback of this season!


- The changing leaves


- Pumpkins


- Mums


- Hayrides


- My favorite burnt orange blanket that makes it's appearance on my couch for this season!  It's sooooo soft!


- Screens in the windows for some fresh air


- The first fire in the fireplace of the season!  We lit one the other night and snuggled together on the loveseat and I was in heaven!  There is nothing better than a real fire in a wood burning fireplace on a chilly evening.


- Apple crisp, apple cider, apple pie.....all things "apple"!

- Pumpkin Spice Latte from Starbucks.  I get a one every night shift that I work and I sooo look forward to them!  P.S. There are only 75 mg of caffeine in a tall, so it's fine to drink one a day during pregnancy.


- Warm comfort foods on a chilly evening, like a nice bowl of chili...yum!


- Halloween, which means adorable little trick or treaters, and ....candy, with a great excuse to eat lots of it!!


- Autumn scented candles like Autumn Wreath and Autumn Harvest.  There is something about those scents that is so warm and inviting and homey.  Reminds me of my grandparents house, which is a place I love!


- Christmas is right around the corner!  I know that ties in with the whole winter thing, but I do love Christmas, and it'll be here before we know it!


So there it is.  My reasons for loving this season, and especially this month.  Mike and I were taking Daisy for a walk last night and we were both marveling at how perfect the weather has been down here lately.  Low 70's during the day and low 50's at night.  We both asked outloud "Why would we ever want to leave North Carolina?"  We both really, really love it here.

Baby Registry Mania!

Ok, so I figured that registering for our baby gear would be slightly overwhelming, but I had NO IDEA what I was in for!  I've been inside a Babies R Us less than a handful of times in my life, and of course, it was never to look at anything for me.  So when I set foot in there last week all excited to register, I was hit with this paralyzing overwhelmed feeling that left me wandering aimlessly around until my friend (who already has 2 children) showed up to help me.  I mean, I had no idea how much stuff you need for a baby!  And the options seem endless!  A whole aisle of different types of bottles?  How do you know which is the best??

My friend prefaced the whole trip by telling me that there is no right or wrong when it comes to all of the baby gear.  It's really all about personal preference.  Well, that's all well and good, but how am I supposed to know what my personal preference is when I haven't had a baby yet??  Therefore, I essentially took her personal preference and ran with it.  She was a huge help and gave me lots of good tips.  So, for anyone registering for a baby shower for the first time, I'd definitely recommend bringing along a friend who's been there to help you. 

I decided that I was going to register at Babies R Us and JCPenney.  Well, my first mistake was not researching that well enough, because JCPenney doesn't have baby gear in the stores (at least not the ones near me).  It's all online, and I am not a huge fan of shopping online.  I like to physically see what I'm picking.  But the invites are printed, so Babies R Us and JCPenny it is. 

We started off the day at 9:45 AM at Babies R Us, and finished up there around 12:45.  Yes, 3 hours!  And I'm not even close to being done!  I saved all of the bigger items for when Mike can come with me.  I was about over it by that point anyway (and so was my friend's 2 year old daughter), so I profusely thanked my friend and we said our goodbyes. 

I took a nice little lunch break with another friend at Firebirds and then decided to hit up Target to grab a gift card for someone real quick..... yeah.  Soooo, that turned into me deciding it would be a good idea to register at Target too, since they have a fair amount of stuff in the store.  I thought it would be a good idea to list Babies R Us and Target on the invites for my work baby shower and Babies R Us and JCPenney on my invites for my PA baby shower.  Seemed like a good idea at the time, but in hindsight, not so much.  I should've stuck with one place.  Maybe two.  But not three.  Now I have no idea how to split up what I'm registering for where.  If there is something that I really want should I register for it at multiple places to increase the chance that I'll get it?  Or is that weird?  I don't know the answer.  Then I forget what I registered for where, so I need to go through and make some sort of system so that I can see and delete some items that I probably over registered for.

Some friends told me not to register for too much cutesy stuff, just the practical things that I really need.  I tried to do that, but I think I failed, so now I am fearing that I'm gonna get too much stuff that I want, and not enough stuff that I need.  So my goal over the next few days is to go over my 3 registries and condense down to things I really need. 

Then Mike and I are heading to Babies R Us on Wednesday to tackle the big things like stroller, car seat, swing, play pen, etc.  I'll let you know how that goes.  Mike is not known for being the most patient shopper on the planet, so I could see it leading to some tension.  But maybe not.  Wish me luck!

Wedding Weekend!

This past weekend Mike and I were up in Philly for my sister's wedding!  I can't believe the time has finally come, and now it's over!  It was such a fun weekend and the wedding was gorgeous!  It was at the Top of the Tower in Center City Philly and the views were amazing.  Floor to ceiling windows overlooking the whole city!  Let's get to some pics from the weekend!

The Girls getting our nails done!  This was the greatest place for a mani/pedi because they also did a hot stone massage on your legs and shoulders, and it wasn't very expensive! $50 total!

The happy couple before the rehearsal!

Tina with her bow bouquet

The bridesmaids with the bride on wedding rehearsal night

Hair before

Hair getting set

Hair after!!

Getting the dress on!

View of the back!

How beautiful is my little sister!

Full view of the back...that dress looked gorgeous on her!

Veil is on and we're ready to go!  That veil was 9 feet long, although you can't tell in this picture.  A windy day and a 9 foot veil?....I'm pretty sure the photographer got some hilarious pics of all of us wrapped up in it!

I went along with my sister, Jeremy, and the photographers to get some pics around the city before the wedding and was able to capture a few pics of my own.

Just chillin in the middle of Broad Street

Yup, just another paparazzi day.  Tina and J were like celebrities down there!  People were talking about it to each other, on the phone....some even took pics of their own!

Had to get one of these in the car.  How pretty are my sister's earrings by the way?  It's a little blurry and I'm sure she is cringing at the horrible quality of the pic, but we were in a moving car and I was using a "point and shoot" (as she calls the little digital cameras).

The girls before the wedding.  Don't ask why I'm standing with my legs like that when everyone else looks so ladylike.

Newlyweds!!!

I love this picture (although the horrible quality came back to haunt me again...damn those point and shoots!)

But, honestly, how happy do they look?  I LOVE it!!!

At this point my camera battery died.  Don't you love how that always happens at the wrong times?  But Tina will have more than her fair share of pictures.  Her photographer brought not one, but 2 second shooters.  And my wedding photographer was there as a guest with her husband (who is her second shooter sometimes), so they were taking all kinds of pics too.  During their first dance Tina and J literally had five professional photographers taking pictures of them! 

The whole weekend was such a blast, and the wedding and reception were gorgeous and went off without a hitch.  Everyone had so much fun and I am so happy for my sister.  There is nothing better than sharing the best day of your life with all of your favorite people in the world.  Everyone together in one place....nothing can ever compare. 

I have to give a lot of credit to my amazing husband this past weekend too.  He went above and beyond to make sure that everything went smoothly for Tina and J. 

From transporting alcohol,

to folding napkins,

to buying a gift basket,

to buying and delivering the bridesmaids lunch on wedding day,

to driving Tina and J around for their photos before the wedding,

to doing a reading at the wedding,

to secretly transporting the gift basket to the bridal suite after the wedding, 

to making 2 trips into and out of the city the day after the wedding to transport wedding paraphernalia and friends,... which came dangerously close to Steelers kickoff time,

and finally to driving the newlyweds to the airport at 4:30 AM on Monday morning. 

Mike did all of that.....and he never complained.  And that means the world to me.  It's things like that that remind me of what wonderful guy I'm married to.  I love you Mike.

Tina and J are currently having the time of their lives on their honeymoon in Hawaii!  They are now in Kauai, then to Maui, then to the Big Island.  They are loving every minute of it I'm sure.  It's the most beautiful place in the world and it revolves around happiness and love.  I haven't met two harder working people than my sister and J, so a relaxing 2 weeks in paradise....they both deserve every minute of it!!

Next blog post will be all about my baby registry experience, which took all day today!  Talk about overwhelming!  Until then...



5 Month Photos!

I can't believe that I'm almost 24 weeks pregnant already!  24 weeks....  Being a PICU nurse, that number is super scary.   I don't even want to think about all of the "ex 24 weekers" that roll into our unit on a lifelong basis.  I just want to be out of the 20's and into the 30's. 

But on a positive note, I've been feeling pretty good lately.  I went to the doctor after the few days of cramping I had a week and a half ago and luckily everything was fine.  She checked  my cervix and Baby Girl's heart beat and everything checked out normally.  She said that I probably just overdid it and I need to make sure to stay hydrated.  Phew, sigh of relief!

The one weird thing is that I've been getting a lot of nosebleeds lately (about 4 in the past 3 weeks), which I've read can be a side effect of pregnancy.  My belly also seemed to really pop over the past month (especially from weeks 20 to 22).  I went from gaining 6-7 pounds in the whole first half of my pregnancy, to 5 pounds in the 2 weeks between weeks 20 and 22!  My belly button officially popped out at about week 22 as well.

Another exciting thing is that I have been feeling Baby Girl moving a lot more in the past few weeks and Mike was able to feel her move for the first time when I was exactly 22 weeks along.  We were laying in bed that night (same night as the doctor's appointment) and she was kicking harder than normal so I told Mike to try to feel it and he could!  Maybe it was her way of telling me that she is fine :)  Mike was really excited to feel her move even though it was very slight.  As the weeks go on it'll get stronger and stronger, and easier for him to feel.  Today at work while I was at lunch I actually watched my belly and could see her move!  It was very slight, but I could see it!  This is getting really fun!  Sometimes I feel like I feel her kicking my insides (if that makes any sense).  It almost feels like she is kicking downward into my cervix.  I've been wondering if maybe that was what I was feeling when I thought I was cramping.  Her kicks are still so slight that they are hard to discern.  I can already tell that they are getting stronger though!  Baby Girl is gonna be one tough cookie!

Now onto my 5 month pics!

                                 And there is my new "outie" belly button, up close and personal!

It's fun to see the progression of the monthly pics.  I'm glad my sister suggested I do them!

Here are my 5 month stats:  September 15th, 2010
                                                    
Starting weight: 127.8 lbs             Current Weight: 140.4 lbs
Starting breast: 34 inches              Current Breast: 35 1/4 inches
Starting waist: 29 1/2 inches          Current Waist: 33 3/4 inches

Moving right along... Mike and I got a package in the mail the other day from my dad and step mom with these adorable outfits!  Check it out...

I love it all!  It's My First Penn State Tee with little pink paw print socks, a cute hat and mittens, a Steelers cheerleader outfit with white socks and black patent leather shoes, and a ballerina onsie with pink ruffle flare pants and pink ballet slippers!  Too cute!!!  I can't wait to see her in them!

So speaking of babies and baby paraphernalia, Mike and I had our Ohio State friends visit this past weekend with their 6 month old baby boy and it was so much fun!  I loved spending some quality time with an infant to see what's in store for us!  And probably my favorite thing about having them visit was seeing Mike interact with the baby.  It was too cute for words.  Mike adored their little guy and he loved Mike too.  Mike even commented that he missed the baby when they left!  He'll be such a great daddy.  One of the things I look forward to most is seeing Mike with his baby girl!  Daisy even did much better than expected which was a huge sigh of relief.  She was a little sketched out by him, but she warmed up and even licked him several times (especially when there were leftover green beans on his hands!). 

Spending time with our friends and their baby for those two days gave me such peace of mind about having one of our own.  A lot of work?  Yes.  A lot of fun too?  Absolutely!

Beach Vacation and Bachelorette Recaps

It was a busy, but definitely FUN week!  Mike and I headed up to OC MD with my fam for an entire weekover Labor Day and then we topped off the week with a bachelorette party for Tina and a bachelor party for J!

We had great weather at the beach, which was awesome considering that we're had some bad luck the past few years with rain while at the beach.  Especially last year, when it rained EVERY day but one!  That's right, EVERY day but one.  As in, no beach time whatsoever on those days.  But this year we lucked out, so we were able to spend our days lounged out on the beach and our nights lounged out in the condo.  Ahhhh, the relaxation!

Not to mention that we stayed in the nicest condo that we've ever stayed in this year.  Marble counter tops, stainless steel appliances, tile floors, tile showers, wall mounted flat screen TVs in every room.... I could go on and on.  Here is a pic of our place from the beach.  We are on the 2nd floor (but it's the first floor that you can see from this pic), all the way to the right.

Some other beach pics...

Baby bump in full view!

The fam getting ready for dinner....

It was a great week, and I look forward to our family beach vacations all year.  So much so that I'm already planning for next year.  Although next year will be slightly different.  We'll have an infant and possibly a dog in tow.....Yeah, just slightly different, right?  I'll look back and smile at these pics of our relaxing days on the beach.

So, Tina and I left OC on Friday evening and headed back to her place in Philly so that we could get an early start on Saturday morning to PSU for her big bachelorette party!  It was such a blast and my sister has some really great friends.  Everyone made the day so special for her!

It started with the matching T-shirts (that were obviously a surprise to her!)

Then we opened some presents...

And we all got ready to head out!

Had to get some pics on the Nittany Lion!

This was hilarious....note Sam and Lib hanging on for dear life!  It is not as easy to climb on that Lion (and stay on!) as it looks!

We finally all pulled ourselves together...

Queen Tean!

From here we headed to dinner at the Allen Street Grill and then we hit up the bars.  It was really fun (even sober!) and we all had a blast dancing the night away!  It was by far the cheapest bar night I've ever had, ha ha!  "I'll have a water please...yup another water."

The start of the night...

And the end of the night...

Ha ha, I love Tina's face in this picture!  Poor Sam, those Monkey Boys at the Saloon were the death of her that night!  It was a long and vomitous (is that a word??) night for our pal Sam.

I was carrying Tina's camera and my own while we were out, so I took most of the pics with her camera.  But I did manage to get a few!  Then on Sunday morning we had the obligatory Waffle Shop (not to be confused with the Waffle House, ewww) breakfast and headed to Hollidaysburg to pick up Daisy dog and then back to Philly to re coop.  We met the boys back in Philly after their bachelor party weekend in Dewey Beach.  From the way it sounds, they managed to have fun without us :)

A busy week, yes, but a great week spent with my favorite people!

Today is my sister's church wedding day and I've been thinking about her and wishing I was there all day.  So, their real wedding is next weekend, and it will take place at the Top of the Tower in Philly, but J really wanted to get married in a church, so they had another ceremony today in a church in his hometown.  Tina sent me a pic and they look soooo happy; I wanted to cry I wish I was there so bad!  But I have to work the next few days so that I can be up there in plenty of time for the real wedding and reception next weekend.  I'm so excited (albeit nervous about my maid, ahem, matron of honor speech), and I can't believe it's already here!!!  Woo hoo!

My next post (which I'm hoping to write later tonight) will have my 5 month pregnancy pics and I'll talk about my pregnancy related feelings lately.  I can't believe I'm at almost 24 weeks already!!

It's a.......

                                  Girl!                                      

We found out last Friday (September 3rd) at our ultrasound appointment and we couldn't be more excited!  The ultrasound went really well and everything measured as it should.  4 heart chambers...check, spinal column closed....check, brain size correct....check.  Phew!  Those were the big ones, but they also measured things like the bladder, and the feet, and multiple other things.  Everything is normal and our little girl is growing as she should!  What a relief!

We have several ultrasound pics as mementos of the occasion, and I think my favorite is the one of her foot.  It's soo little and cute!

Then there is the full body view...

And, this one I think is hilarious.  You can't really make out what anything is, but read the fine print and note the arrow....

Yup, it says "girl parts" and there is an arrow pointing to them.  Gotta love it!

We got 8 pictures in total.  One of the arm, body, foot, 2 girl parts, heart, and 2 face.  The face pics are also hard to discern and look slightly scary, so I didn't include them.  We are thinking of possibly getting the 3D/4D ultrasound that they offer because our neighbor got one and said it was really neat.  It costs an extra $200 though.  But Mike said "How often do you get pregnant in your life?  Let's do it."  So cute!

On other pregnancy news, I have been having some mild cramping over the past 2 days that has me slightly worried.  Over vacation I had intermittent cramping on the sides of my abdomen, which I know is uterine stretching, so I wasn't worried about that.  But starting about 2 days ago I started having vaginal cramping that is pretty persistent.  I haven't had any bleeding, but I am still concerned, so I called my Ob this AM and I have an appointment at 11:30 just to get checked out.  While I was at work yesterday I thought I may have had some slight contraction type things too, which also made me nervous.  I'm sure it's nothing, but I'll feel better after being checked out. 

Otherwise I have gained a ton of weight in the past 2 weeks.  5 lbs!  As of this morning I am 140.4 lbs.  My belly is definitely showing now and I wore my first maternity shirt to work yesterday.  Still don't have any major cravings that I can think of, I just eat A LOT!  It's also getting more difficult to get comfortable in bed, but not too bad yet.  Just wait, right?

Today when Mike gets home from work we will take my 5 month pics!  So I will post those ASAP.  I will also post some pics from vacation and from my sister's bachelorette party this past weekend.  Yup, me and baby girl were rocking out at PSU for Tina's big party! 

I am thinking that maybe some of the reason for my cramping might be that I went a little overboard in the last few weeks.  I power walked every day on vacation, then drove up to PSU and partied (water in hand) until 1:30 AM at the bachelorette party, then drove back to NC and unpacked the car for the third or fourth time in a week.  I may or may not have carried in the cooler from the car and noticed the cramping after that.  Lesson learned.  No more heavy lifting for me.  So my plan for today is to take it easy and see what the doc says and go from there.

To end this post I want to say that I am so excited that we are having a girl!  I can't wait to see Mike with a little girl, because I know he'll be just great with her, and I'm sure it will melt my heart.  I told him to get excited for ribbons, and bows, and barrettes, and braids, and dresses, and tutu's....  This will be so fun!

Halfway!!

So today Mike and I have the 20 week appointment where (hopefully!) we will be able to find out our baby's gender!!!  I am sooo pumped. 

When they called to confirm my appointment two days ago I asked if I needed to arrive with a full bladder for my ultrasound.  The woman replied "We don't have you down for an ultrasound, where did you hear that?".

Ummmmm, whaaattttt????

I calmly replied that they told me my 20 week appointment would include an ultrasound. 

"Hmmmm," she states, "that's true, but they never slotted you for an ultrasound appointment."

Now I'm borderline freaking out, because I have been looking forward to this!  Don't tell me you can't do it!  I'm going on vacation with my family tomorrow and I wanted to be able to tell them in person!  Now I didn't actually say any of this, but I did tell her that my husband rearranged his work schedule to come to this appointment and we need to have it done at that time.  No exceptions. 

"Oh good, it looks like we can fit you in at 2:30 for an ultrasound!"

Thank goodness.  So that was a slight scare, and I'm just glad that I asked the initial question that I did, or we would have shown up at 3:30 (as originally scheduled) and not been able to have our ultrasound before vacation!  Whew!

So anyway, I am officially halfway through my pregnancy!  I feel pretty good these days.  I have been feeling little flutters more and more often, which is cool.  Its interesting to see my body changing at such a rapid pace.  I definitely look different, clothes don't fit right, my belly button is popping out, and I can feel my abdomen stretching.  It's weird, but cool, because I know that my body is making room for our little one!

I've been a baking fool this morning making food to bring on vacation!  Yum!  All sweets of course, nothing good for you.  But it's vacation right??

Ok, time to start packing, and my appointment is in T-minus 3 hours!!  I'll keep you posted!

(Sorry for all of these random thoughts thrown together, but I am in a rush today.  It's beach time folks!)