i'm out

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a case of the mondays?

I have the ultimate case of the Mondays this morning... unlike any normal Monday morning. Today is my first day back at work, my first day apart from my baby girl and my first day in the real world. It is a little surreal - as though it is only temporary. I don't get sad until I think to myself, "It's not temporary... I'll be at work and away from Ryan every single weekday from now on"... such a bummer. Luckily, our moms are our angels/saviors/best grandmas ever because they will be watching her for us while we're at work. I feel like it's going to be such a burden for them, but they both insist they want nothing more than to be with the baby whenever they have the opportunity - so I dropped Ryan off with my mom this morning. The routine was much more hectic than it used to be before work... with her and the dogs and making sure we have our lunches and her hat and the dogs have been fed and walked... it makes for a long morning before we've even left the house. It was so rushed I didn't have much of a chance to be sad when I left her -although I definitely am now! I brought a cute picture of her for my desk... not quite the same, but it's nice to look at those chubby cheeks while I'm working. :)

Back to work... ugh.

polaroid post

my favorite little baby

there's five of us now!

finally...

The day after Thanksgiving is the unofficial beginning of the Christmas season. Normally, we would have completely decorated the house by Friday night but the baby slows things down a bit... we finished last night, though. Our tree is up - with ornaments and new LED lights to satisfy Steve - with our brand new Crate and Barrel tree skirt to satisfy me - and most importantly, with a few presents underneath it! It's so cute to see little gifts with tags "To: Ryan... From: Mommy and Daddy" sitting under the tree. Last year at Christmas we were hoping for this miracle (who is sleeping next to me on the couch) and a few weeks later we found out she was on her way... and now here she is. Pretty crazy.


She had her two month appointment (ugh - shots) last week and was 11 lbs. 7 oz. - growing pretty fast! It's so sad - she's outgrown all of her newborn clothes and a lot of her 0-3 clothes! At BabyGap, which is her favorite store (of course), she's in 3-6 months! Where does the time go? Seriously. Where does it go? My maternity leave is almost over. I only have one more week home with her and I am heartbroken. My favorite time of the day is cuddling on the couch with her while we watch the Today show... she really loves the lights and colors of the TV... and I eat my breakfast while she laughs and coos next to me. It's so much fun and I'm going to miss it!

Ugh. Back to work already??? What a bummer.

Thanksgiving was delicious, as usual. We had a difficult time fitting in two Thanksgiving dinners, which is beyond me. We live in the same town as both sets of parents yet it never ceases to be problematic. Can't wait until Christmas! Regardless, we all got to talk to my dad on the phone after dinner and I went home feeling sufficiently stuffed full of casseroles and potatoes and corn pudding and turkey... just enough to ruin my post-partum skinny diet. Oh well. It's the holiday season, right?

Last but not least, we booked our trip to NYC for Valentine's Day (cannot wait!) and I bought my plane ticket to go see my best friend in the whole wide world (and her new little man, Sawyer!) a few weeks before that... our babies will finally get to have a playdate! He's going to be born any day now and Ryan and I are eagerly awaiting our trip to visit. :) I haven't seen Sara since my birthday last year so our short little trip will be full of best friend talk, babies and good old Kansas City BBQ. Yum.

happy two months, baby

She's two months old. Wow.

I don't think I'm being hormonal - this is just a touching song! It's a wonderful thing to hear on a day when I'm super tired from being up with little miss Ryan last night. How can the song not bring tears to your eyes??? It's perfect for her two month birthday.







On another topic - look at me, learning how to post videos. :)

i could eat her

My kid is so cute.

sleepy sunday

This entire weekend was a blur - we spent the past two days redecorating/rearranging a few rooms in the house. We realized that we had never really used our dining room since we moved in - whenever we needed a table to eat at, we used the one in the kitchen (which we hated - the table, not the kitchen). Basically, our large dining room was a huge waste of space. To make more functional use of the space, we sold our kitchen table (love Craig's List!) and moved our dining room table into the kitchen... and bought furniture for our "new" living room! It's not quite finished but it's already my new favorite room in the house. We were worried we would have to repaint (therefore removing my pretty orange paint) but Steve likes it with the orange - phew. Finally, we painted part of the kitchen "toasty gray" to compliment the table. It was a busy Saturday afternoon/Sunday morning.

Ryan is almost two months old and I can't believe it. She smiles a lot now and has recently discovered her fists - which she likes to put in her mouth. She loves bathtime and spends a lot more time awake and happy during the day - a lot of the time she is just wide awake and looking around... taking in her surroundings... which is so cute. She has outgrown a lot of her newborn clothes (so sad!) and was 10lbs. 12oz. at her doctor's appointment last week - she will surely be 11lbs. by her two month appointment. Eleven pounds! Such a big girl. Finally, she has started sleeping longer stretches at night - usually 4-5 hours for the first stretch (although we had a six hour night last week!) and 2-3 hours for her second stretch. She's a pretty good sleeper, thank goodness. Her tummy troubles are over and she is on a new fancy formula and she feels so much better. :)

My best friend is due in ONE MONTH! I can't wait! Between now and next May, Ryan will be gaining seven new baby friends... something was definitely in the water this year.

i can see russia from my house

Since I am not the greatest at figuring out this whole blog thing... I'll just post the link rather than waste my time trying to post the video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZfM5LluYqw

Seriously?

Happy six week birthday, baby Ryan! :)

thank you, god!

fingers crossed...

Sitting here... waiting for history to take place... change is coming!

eight+ inches... gone!

gone til november

• Ryan is going to be a banana for Halloween!
• I have an appointment tomorrow for my first haircut in ohhhhhh, seven months... I have decided to officially do a major chop. It's way way too long.
• Steve and I are doing the HeartWalk in DC this Saturday - and bringing Luke! He's going to have a ball...
• It's hard to keep your house clean with a new baby at home.
• The Indonesian Peanut Saute at Noodle & Co. is a new fave.
• Last Friday was our first night "out" - drinks and schmoozing at some bars in Fairfax... never would have imagined, but after so long without alcohol, I actually don't miss it that much.
• Eight more days until the election - cannot wait.
• Babies poo a lot.

sleeping beauty

Little miss Ryan had her portraits taken at our house on Sunday... she slept through the majority of them until we tried to have some taken with Daddy. Otherwise, she was the perfect little model! I can see her getting bigger now that she's almost a month old... it's so sad! Of course, I was already dreading her getting any bigger when she was a few days old... but what can you do. She's asleep in her swing right now - word of advice to the eight (yes, EIGHT) pregnant people in my life: buy the swing. It will save your sanity. She has been napping for about two hours now, allowing me to shower in peace, get dressed, clean bottles (fun!) and get on the computer for a few quiet minutes... swings are great. D batteries are your friend.

bagh-daddy-o

My dad has been visiting since October 4th (pretty funny that I actually thought the baby would wait until after his arrival to join us)... and he's leaving on Saturday. So sad. Two weeks went by way too fast. Luckily, we're meeting up in January to go skiing in Canada... so we don't have to wait another six months to see him. Ryan will be so big by January - hard to believe.

Speaking of Ryan, she's wearing little blue jeans (babyGap!) for the first time today. She's asleep next to me on the couch while I watch the debate on Tivo

life gets in the way

I don't have much time to blog anymore (big surprise)... but even less so this week. We were in the hospital the majority of the week - Ryan's umbilical stump fell off and we were greeted with a nasty infection underneath. After taking her to the doctor Monday afternoon, we were sent straight to the children's hospital at Fairfax Inova. We had no idea we would be admitted that night and stuck there until Thursday afternoon... but we were! Ryan was a great little patient - she had the tiniest IV ever and a newborn-sized hospital gown and she was such a trooper. The doctors were concerned that she had a urachal remnant, which would have meant the infection spread to her bladder. Luckily, it was just a local infection inside her bellybutton and it looks much better today!

She still has just as much hair as she did two weeks ago... and we're still just as tired.

one crazy week

Ryan is one week old! I have been a mommy for one whole week and what a crazy and unbelievable week it has been... she is amazing and wonderful and so adorable - I could go on forever. Steve went back to work today so this was my first day at home alone with her and the dogs... it's a lot of work - but definitely worth every tiring minute. :)

P.S. I've lost 30 pounds in one week!

Childbirth is the ultimate weight loss tool.

i'm in love

Ryan Kennedy Velasco

September 25, 2008

10:16am 8lbs. 4oz. 21 inches

big old belly!

Stick a fork in me, I'm done...

suburban rhythm

We are officially a two adult, one child, two dog, homeowning, SUV driving family... who knew? As much as I was in love with my cute car, we chose to give up the 4dr sedan lifestyle and become a member of the SUV club. Don't get the wrong idea... we didn't buy a gas guzzler. Of course, anything we could have bought would get less mpg than the other car, but we were mindful of the mpg when we were car shopping. So, we are now the owners of an brand new awesome CRV in taffeta white (searched high and low for that color!)... had to stay in the Honda family, of course... now we have enough room for us, the baby and the dogs - comfortably!

I am really enjoying my time off, too. ;)

i take that back

So, my last day ended up being yesterday... not next Friday! The swelling isn't cute anymore - the sausages kept growing and spread to my ankles and legs and I was barely hobbling around by the time I got home from work last night. Luckily my doctor took pity on me when I went to see him this morning - he provided me with two interesting nuggets: a doctor's note saying that I shouldn't be at work anymore (hallelujah! - it's great being paid to be at home) and I am officially one centimeter dialated and "thinning". I think 1cm is a good number - any less than that and I would have probably been disappointed... any more than that and I would be nervous that I would go early.

1cm is perfect. Good progress!

puff the magic...

Without a doubt, my favorite side effect of pregnancy thus far has got to be my puffy feet. I just noticed the puffiness last Thursday (pretty certain it didn't exist for long before that) and when I discovered it at work and pointed it out to a coworker... she laughed and said they looked like Fred Flintstone feet. They do! I wasn't even offended! They're getting puffier and puffier as each day goes on (and generally start off less puffy at the beginning of the day and the funniness progresses as the day goes on)... and now they are even more interesting. If you press on the top of my foot - it leaves an indentation! Amazing. They're only just now starting to get uncomfortable, so I may not find them funny for long... but for now, favorite side effect of my pregnant body... hands down. Errr, feet.

My due date is two weeks away! My last day of work is next Friday!

worky work

My coworkers are awesome – they threw me a surprise baby shower yesterday afternoon… lots of good food, fun baby shower games, cute outfits and an outrageously generous $250 gift card to Babies R Us. Steve and I were blown away – it was so unbelievably nice of them! I’m going to miss some of these people (some… not all) when I go out on leave in a couple of weeks. It’s bittersweet because I know that a lot of people will be leaving our contract while I’m out and we may not be able to stay in touch! Speaking of our contract, the company that won our contract over us has been slowly contacting employees and trying to snag us – why they’re doing it this early, I’m not sure… considering we have a few more months left… but regardless, they offered me a position this morning. It was more money than I’m currently making, plus a signing bonus, but I have no desire to be working for them while they’re in transition. Perhaps once they have completely taken over the contract (and seem to have some semblance of what the roles they’re offering may entail), I would consider making the move… but not anytime soon. Plus, it’s a farther commute! Yuck.

My friend Jen found out today that she’s having a GIRL! :) So excited for our little Ryan to have a playmate… and they’ll only be four months apart! There must be something in the water – I know six pregnant people right now… wow.

dates

December 1, 1979 - my parents got married
September 8, 1982 - my birthdate
December 30, 1982 - my love was born :)
April 1, 1985 - my little brother was born
July 12, 1993 - my little sister was born
June 12, 1998 - our first kiss!
January 5, 2005 - engaged in Central Park
February 22, 2005 - Lila was born
May 7, 2005 - Graduated from college
May 27, 2006 - MARRIED to my love :)
August 12, 2006 - Luke was born
March 16, 2007 - became homeowners
January 20, 2008 - found out I was pregnant
…September 29, 2008? October 1, 2008? October 5, 2008? ...sometime soon, our daughter will be born and it will be the most important date yet.

last fruit update EVER!

This is it! The last time I'll ever give a fruit update! "Practice makes perfect! Refining the blink, suck, inhale and exhale … She’s the size of a watermelon!… At week 37, your pregnancy is considered full term, meaning baby is likely to thrive after birth. Baby spends these last weeks in preparation for the outside world… meaning careful refinement of the blink, suck, inhale and exhale. Meconium, which you’ll probably find in the first diaper, is accumulating in the intestines. If (okay, as) you worry about giving birth, consider what it’s like for the little one. During the journey out of your womb, baby will produce more stress hormones than any other time in life."

Crazy! I don't think I look like I have a watermelon in there, but I am definitely large and ready to go... and it's pretty strange that she's fully grown in there with the exception of an additional pound or two that she'll gain in the next couple of weeks. She's ready - we're ready - I just want her to hold out until she's due so that my dad can make it back for her birthday!

I am about to fall asleep, but I also thought I would throw in a funny picture of Luke that I took today... we took him to 'dog days' at Bull Run Park and he got to swim and run around as much as his little heart desired... and they had free Frosty Paws - he was stoked.

my newer obsession

Happy birthday to me...

It's been a good week on the technology front.

my newest obsession

Coolest phone ever.

september!

My favorite month is here! Not only is my birthday next week (on a Monday… how crappy) but my due date is at the end of the month! Fall starts this month! I’m so ready for the weather to start cooling off (although it seems like that happens more in October now rather than September), the leaves to start changing, the pumpkin patches to open… I’m ready for jeans and sweaters (even if I have to buy some new jeans temporarily). I don't even care what size I have to buy as long as I get to wear jeans and my Chucks and any non-maternity shirt/hoodie/etc.

We had the most relaxing long weekend ever – we literally did nothing except lounge around the house and go out to eat. We went out with our friend Jen and her husband which was great because Jen’s five months pregnant and she wanted me to fill her in… there’s a lot of information that isn’t in any of those pregnancy books. Hopefully I didn't scare her when I talked about labor and delivery, but that's where my mind's at! Our nephew turned one so we of course went to his birthday party… we packed our hospital bag (!) and learned how to install the car seat (!!)… and we took the dogs on an adventure in the woods yesterday afternoon. We’re trying to spoil them rotten before the baby is born because there won’t be many day trips (if any) revolving around keeping the dogs entertained (the dog beach, for example) once Ryan joins us. Luke saw his first real life deer (up close and personal) and I don’t even think he could comprehend that it was an animal – it was too much for his little head. He’s still acting super clingy and thinks it’s his duty to escort me wherever I go… really cute.

I ordered the new titanium Voyager – so excited. It was time for an upgrade so I’m treating myself to a cool new cell phone as an early birthday present to myself. Steve is also really awesome and is treating me to the digital SLR I’ve been wanting to get for months… and just in time for baby photos. :) Yay, birthdays!

Political news is overwhelming. Although I truly believe that children (and other family issues, for the most part) shouldn't be a part of the election discussion, the news of Sarah Palin's pregnant daughter is everywhere... and it is really making a mockery of the abstinence-only approach to sex education that her mother is so supportive of. Honestly, I don't care that her daughter is a pregnant teen... but when you preach abstinence-only and can't even implement it in your own home, how can you expect to implement it in the U.S.? How would teaching abstinence-only in public schools do anything except raise a generation of kids who are ignorant of birth control (and in the same boat as her daughter)? All politics aside, I think it's kind of a shame that she took the nomination at all - she knowingly allowed her daughter to be subjected to such press and scrutiny. Clearly she (and McCain) knew this would become such a hot issue... assuming he did his research on her at all.

post #100

I am officially in countdown mode. As much as I do enjoy being pregnant and having this baby all to myself… and as much as labor and delivery still scare the crap out of me… I am at the point where I am counting down the days (32!) until my due date. My back hurts all day every day. I wake up several times during the night either out of discomfort or the constant need to pee. My maternity clothes, which were literally tents when I purchased some of them in March, are starting to feel too small. I was in so much pain on Tuesday that I actually considered that I might have been going into labor – which freaked me out. Due to this minor freak out (oh, and nothing was even wrong!) we decided we need to pack our hospital bag this weekend just in case. We’re also going to the police station so they can install our car seat base and explain the gibberish instructions to us… we’re not stupid, we just prefer to have it done right, the first time, by a professional… and the hospital recommends it.

Speaking of the hospital, we went on our tour of the maternity ward last night after work. First of all, the labor and delivery rooms are much larger than the rooms in the family care center (post-partum)… which was weird because you would think the post-partum rooms would be more accommodating to visitors. On the plus side, the labor and delivery rooms are really nice and large and have windows and are all private. Can you imagine going through labor with another patient sharing your room? Not happening. One of the nurses in the maternity ward ended up being a girl we went to high school (and me, to college) with. Not sure how I feel about that. Steve is comfortable with it and said he actually prefers having a nurse that we know… but he did acknowledge the fact that he isn't the one pushing a watermelon out of his body so he probably doesn’t understand where I’m coming from. Other than that, we learned a good amount of information about what our stay will be like and how to order food and where our family will wait for the news… now baby Ryan just needs to keep cooking a little while longer.

Earlier in my pregnancy I had read about how dogs can sense that you're pregnant and their behavior towards you may start to change (ie. being overprotective, etc)... we laughed that off because there was no way our dogs were sensing anything. Until now. Luke is literally attached to me at the hip (more like my knee or thigh, I guess) and follows me around from room to room every waking moment. He lays his head across my belly when we're on the couch and he snuggles up to me with these eyes that can only read: "please don't forget about me"... it's so sad. I've tried to give him extra cuddles lately because he seems a little distraught.

My dad is coming back October 3rd – I’m hoping she can hold on that long! I think she can do it. I predict an October 6th birthday (one week past my due date).

Watch me be WAY off.

birdie nursery!

With the exception of a few little details here and there... we are finally finished with the baby's nursery (and at exactly 35 weeks)!

http://picasaweb.google.com/kennedyrosey/NurseryPhotos

...beautiful

We have booked an amazing photographer to take portraits of the baby after she is born... we're [tentatively] scheduled for Friday, October 10th. If she decides to make an appearance significantly before her due date (lets hope not!) then we'll reschedule because the photographer prefers to shoot about 10-14 days after the birth. I can't wait - they're going to be adorable! Some of my favorites from her portfolio:

So cute!

my little olympian

I am obsessed with the Olympics. I'm like this every two years and I've been waiting for this all summer - I'll be so sad when it's over on the 24th. We stay up way past our bedtime every night to watch Michael Phelps and cross our fingers that baby Ryan loves something enough to go to the Olympics for it (preferably a winter sport - my vote is for skeleton racing)... or at least get a scholarship for college (for which skeleton racing would be too unique so I vote softball).

“Here's a good trick: Get a job as a judge at the Olympics. Then, if some guy sets a world record, pretend that you didn't see it and go, "Okay, is everybody ready to start now?".”

- Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey

two whole years!

Happy second birthday to my little furry boy, Lukey Skywalker! When we adopted Lucas we had no idea what we were in for… we found him through a rescue league’s website when we were searching for boxer mix puppies and fell in love with his cute little face and brindle coloring. Turns out, he’s the most loving, passive, cuddly beast on Earth. With a sincere fondness for birds, bugs, baths, cereal and sleeping between us at night… he has without a doubt been a perfect addition to our little family. He’ll be around for years to come – even throughout Ryan’s childhood. Happy birthday, boy! Sorry you have an ear infection on your birthday – our birthday gift to you is the $123 in medication and ear cleaner that we paid for last night... so hows about a peanut butter-filled Kong?

P.S. My pregnancy brain caused us to miss our deluxe tour at the maternity ward on Sunday evening… stupid me – 6:15 not 6:45… but at least we got to spend a little while at Expo Design Center checking out the tiles for our backsplash. Very exciting – felt like I was on Spice Up My Kitchen.

honeydew!

Holy cow, I’m eight months pregnant. "Thirsty 33! She's guzzling about a pint of amniotic fluid a day… She’s the size of a honeydew! Baby’s senses are continuing to improve -- when light peeks in through your (extremely) stretched belly, those tiny eyelids and irises blink and dilate. And, baby can now recognize and react to simple songs… time to start practicing your lullabies! Growth (at least inside your womb) is starting to slow, and you may notice baby descend into your pelvis at the end of this month." Cross your fingers that baby Ryan does just that – at my 32 week appointment the other day, the baby was still in a breech position. It’s nothing to worry about just yet, but if she is still breech at my 36 week appointment we’ll schedule another sonogram (to double check) and then an ECV (external cephalic version)… which means they will attempt to manually turn her by basically pushing and prodding her as hard as they can from the outside. Super uncomfortable but it has about a 50% success rate which would therefore (hopefully) eliminate the need for a c-section!

I am sitting out on our balcony and enjoying the beautiful weather right now. We’re waiting for the baby’s glider to be delivered and then we’re heading off to the pool! Later this afternoon, we’re picking up her crib and changing table and we will finally have everything for the nursery… finally. I need to spend some serious time organizing her clothes once I finish writing thank you notes for the shower.

Lockheed held a bizarre job fair at the Hyatt near our office this week – it was obviously specifically held so that people from our project could bring their resumes over there… but when you got there, a number of different contracting companies were conducting the interviews and collecting the resumes for Lockheed and they seemed to know very little about the project or federal HR in general. Every person I talked to walked away with a different experience but at least they have my resume. I would prefer to stay with my current company but we’ll have to see how things pan out after the baby is born. Besides, they still haven’t been able to give us a transition plan or end date yet – we could still be there for awhile.

Did I mention I love watching the Olympics??? Because I do. There’s a 14 year old on Great Britain’s platform diving team! 14! Ridiculous. I plan on catching some diving, swimming, gymnastics and what has been dubbed the ‘fastest man in the world’ in track and field.

work/life balance

The week is halfway over! In the middle of a week full of transition meetings, being swamped with work and working on my resume... we went out for a farewell lunch for Marie, the first of all of us to move on to bigger and much much better things. It makes me sad to think that in the next few months it's certain that we won't all be working together anymore... I don't like it! Not one bit. :(

P.S. Iceberry is my new addiction!
P.P.S. Ryan's glider is being delivered Saturday!

it's raining baby clothes

My shower was on Saturday and it was wonderful! I wasn't expecting it to be as great as it was but it was absolutely perfect - tons of friends and family in one place, tons of delicious food, adorable decorations, perfect weather and our baby girl will have enough clothes to last her for the next few years. People bought the most adorable outfits for her - I can't wait to dress her! I was just so happy that so many people were able to make it during the summer when everyone is on vacation... especially those that drove far (I love you, Taryn and Ashley!!) and all of my relatives and even friends from work. It was awesome. I was too busy to take photos but I am collecting some from my sister and others and will put them in my photo album - link to the right.

Right now, it looks like a bomb went off in the nursery. It's organized chaos - clothing made into piles according to size, a toiletries section, stuffed animals, blankets... I haven't had the energy to start putting things away in her dresser and closet just yet. First, I'll need to get some more hangers and then I'll need some more energy. Then, project organize the nursery can begin.

I am now 32 weeks (!) and my back hurts all the time and my feet hurt if I walk for too long (anything longer than 10 minutes is too long nowadays) and sleeping is a b-i-t-c-h. Once I fall asleep I'm fine (until the urge to pee wakes me up) but falling asleep is a task when there's a giant (I swear, she's huge) creature in your belly rolling around. She'll even wake Luke up if his head is resting near my midsection. Steve has to yank me out of the car and I must move so slowly and look so achy that he feels the need to hold my hand 24/7... which is cute. Still, I have to admit that I'm feeling pretty good this late in the game. Our tri-weekly visits to the pool help, too. It's a scary thought to think that she's due next month but we're getting used to the idea. Steve can't wait to walk her in her stroller (and what an awesome stroller it is) and have Christmas with her and dress her in her new Redskins cheerleader outfit and plop her on the couch next to him on Sunday afternoons... unfortunately, my daughter has already been dubbed a Redskins fan. This certainly wasn't my first choice (although it's hard being a Chiefs fan on the East Coast - hell, it's hard being a Chiefs fan period) but she is being born here... and it could have been worse. What if we lived in Dallas? I shudder at the thought.

so adorable!

My best friend in the whole wide world just finished her 18-20 week ultrasound... and she is having a little BOY! In a family full of girls! I had a gut feeling she was having a boy and now I can't wait for our babies to meet and play together and grow up flying to visit each other... and one day they'll get married, of course. :)

Now I can buy all those cute boy clothes I'd fallen in love with!

retourner

We are back and we are tan. Mission accomplished. The return to northern Virginia was so depressing that we went straight to our HOA office after unpacking and picked up our pool passes (about two months later than we were supposed to). We spent a few hours each day at the pool on Friday, Saturday and Sunday (until we were rained out) but it wasn’t quite the same without the palm trees and fruity drinks in coconuts. The Russian lifeguards smoking Parliaments also gave it away. Still, it was nice to have a few days off after we came back even if it made getting up for work this morning even more difficult. The weekend just flew by… We celebrated Morgan’s birthday on Saturday night and picked up the baby’s dresser yesterday. It’s actually starting to feel like a room now that there is a piece of furniture in there… and it looks so good! I’m cutting this update short because I’m a little backed up at work… but here’s to this week going by quickly! Baby shower on Saturday - can't wait to see all of my friends and family in one place. :)

m.i.a.

If you need me, I'll be here all week. :)

seven months!

I was thinking about how crazy it is that I'm seven months along, when I realized I missed a baby update! Now that they’re monthly I have started to lose track… there’s only two more fruits/veggies left after this! “This week the baby is getting a workout! How 'bout those jabs in the ribs? … She’s the size of a squash! Baby’s energy is surging, thanks to the formation of white fat deposits beneath the skin. (Have those kicks and jabs to the ribs tipped you off yet?) Baby is also settling into sleep and waking cycles, though -- as you’ve also probably noticed -- they don’t necessarily coincide with your own. Also this month, all five senses are finally functional, and the brain and nervous system are going through major developments.” As I’m writing this, she is literally balled up and rolling around on my right side and has been for the entire day. She is EXTREMELY active when she’s awake – perhaps a sign of things to come! I don’t even think you could call these kicks anymore… they’re MUCH bigger than kicks. I also feel what one can only describe as "baby quakes" because the whole side of my belly shakes like she's dancing inside... from what I've read, it's completely normal, but we may have a huge ball of energy on our hands once she's born.

Steve is beginning to get frustrated because he thinks it's taking too long. I know he just wants to meet her but lets get real here - who is the one dealing with the heartburn, back pain and crazy weight gain? That's me. Right here. Want to switch places? I'm kidding - he has been absolutely wonderful and is catering to my every whim and I appreciate it all... and I'm anxious to meet her, too. I could just do without the whole labor and delivery aspect, though.

We’re leaving in a couple of days to go to Florida for an entire week. I hope I can last until then. Steve can already taste the all-you-can-eat crab legs so I hope he can make it until then, too. Oh yeah, check out the finished walls of the most adorable nursery ever! I had to make sure Lukey was in the photo, of course. We're ordering the furniture on Friday so hopefully the next time we take a photo of the nursery it'll be filled. :)

3rd dimension

Last night was pretty much all about the baby! Steve, myself, my mom, his mom, my grandma and my sister went to my 3d ultrasound (and they all got to sit on a huge leather couch and watch on a big screen - this place has a great setup!) to watch baby Ryan in action. She was adorable (of course) and kept opening her mouth and covering her face... she even sucked on her umbilical cord (practicing, I suppose) for a little bit. I finally discovered why I feel so lopsided and why she kicks me like crazy on my right side more than my left... her head is stuck up under my right ribcage with her butt down to the bottom left of my abdomen -- but her feet are back up above her head! She is breech and jacknifed in there... pretty squished! Hopefully she'll figure out a new position sometime soon and make a lot more room for herself (and less discomfort for me). The craziest part was that in some of the photos you can absolutely see Steve's mouth and chin. There is no denying that! Her feet are in a lot of the photos, too. You can see the rest of the photos in my Picasa album - the link is to the right. Pretty amazing stuff.

Afterwards, we went with Steve's mom to Cradle and Crayon in Reston to order the glider/recliner for the nursery. We picked out the most comfortable chair you could ever imagine and ordered it in the absolute most comfortable fabric ever... unfortunately it won't be here for another ten weeks (literally just in the nick of time) but I can't wait for it to be delivered. It reclines completely flat and is long enough for Steve to fall asleep in during those nights he's on baby duty and mommy is catching up on her sleep. :) We're going to finish painting the nursery tomorrow (finally!) so then it just becomes a matter of filling it up with furniture and cute baby stuff!

We spent today celebrating my wonderful little sister's 15th birthday! We went downtown to see the Newseum at their new location at 6th and Penn. (even cooler than when it was in Arlington) and had lunch in Georgetown... then did cake and presents at their house with the rest of the family. Little Ethan came and he's getting so big now - it's fun to watch him wander around on his own and interact with people... it feels like yesterday that he was helpless in my arms as a newborn so I'm sure time will fly once Ryan is born, too.

In non-baby news (doesn't involve all that much anymore - most everything in our lives is baby-related at this point... sorry!), work is crazy. I spoke with HR and they couldn't give me a clear answer regarding my maternity leave. At first they said that my leave would end as soon as our contract ends, which would cut my leave about in half. If I don't take another job within the company, I'll receive a severance package which would at least make up for my missed leave. Then, they weren't sure if they were right. Then they had to get back to me. Then rumors started flying that we were protesting the results of the bid. So... we know nothing. We hear a hundred different stories a day, but we have no idea which ones are right so I am trying to stay calm until I hear actual news from HR or management.

We're leaving for Florida on Saturday and I'm ready for a week away from the office... I'll be relaxing by the pool with an umbrella drink even if it doesn't have any liquor in it.

negative nancy

There was way too much going on here at work yesterday (mostly non-work-related conversations about severance packages and where Lockheed’s offices are located) to write a decent post about our 4th of July beach trip… so here it is, albeit a day or two late.

We had a great time down in Holden Beach (again! – second time in a month). I didn't get scorched like I did on our last trip down there… in fact, Peter and Steve were more burnt than me! Since we didn’t have any sunscreen mishaps the first day, we were able to have two full days on the beach and we also made it up to Wilmington again for a little bit of shopping… and to the movies to see Hancock. Sunday’s drive home took forever because of the holiday traffic and a thunderstorm, but it was nice to get away. We missed the dogs a ton... although Luke is going through grandma-withdrawal right now because he has such a fun time playing outside all weekend long at Steve’s parent’s house. He’s usually so exhausted that he sleeps for a day or two and putts around the house being grumpy. This morning he was dragging Lila around the living room by her tail so I think it's safe to say he’s back to normal.

Work is soooo weird now. We definitely have jobs through the end of October… but possibly longer. I’ve heard rumblings that we could be here through the end of the year… or not. It’s all very up-in-the-air… and frustrating. We’ve been told they’ll help all of us (300+ employees? Really?) find new jobs either internally or with the new contract or elsewhere, but I’m in a unique situation as I won’t even be here during that transitional period. My main concern is getting my full maternity leave. When I was job-hunting last fall I decided to stick it out here because I’d been here awhile and, if we did get pregnant (surprise! It can happen quicker than you think!), I would have a good amount of maternity leave. Here we are now, uncertain about our future within this company and the tentative end of our contract is smack in the middle of my leave… just weeks after the baby is born. Perfect. Secondary on my mind is the fact that I might not have this flexible working mother-friendly atmosphere to come back to… and with that, the possibility of working part-time may go right out the window. I guess at this point my plan of action is to just wait until our HR person comes back from vacation this week so I can hear her opinion on the maternity leave situation… and keep my eyes and ears peeled for possible opportunities elsewhere. Try and stay positive, right? Positive positive positive...

Oh, we watched Knocked Up on the way back from the beach. The movie is still hilarious but it is entirely different to watch it now - Steve is officially freaked out by labor and delivery.

happy monday

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080707/lockheed_martin_contract.html

First thing I hear as I get off the elevator this morning - we lost the rebid for our contract. Today is going to be really weird...

six hour drive

This is my first week in my “new job” at work and it has been wonderful. My new team isn’t micromanaged and miserable like my old team so it has been a welcome change. I’m unfortunately still sitting at my old desk until program management can figure out where our new team will be, but at least I get to do my work and be left alone! It’s great. I’m leaving work around 3 or 4 today so I can get home and make sure we have everything packed… because we’re leaving for the beach tonight! It’s a long six hour drive but it’s worth doing it tonight so we can wake up and head straight out for some breakfast and the beach tomorrow morning. I will not get burned like I did last time. I did some research (after I got sunburned, of course) and discovered that, among everything else that changes during pregnancy, your skin is more susceptible to sunburn when you’re pregnant. Especially your tummy. Good to know. My stomach usually tans more than the rest of me so I was pretty surprised when it turned bright red last time. Suffice it to say, my sunscreen is already packed.

Ryan is a little ball of [constant] energy. Last night Steve and I were trying to imagine what she’ll look like and there really is no good way to know until her birthday… but I’m so excited to see her. I bet she’ll be as cute as a button (babies always are) with dark, dark hair. Our 3d/4d ultrasound is next Friday – hopefully she’ll cooperate and let us see those cute chubby cheeks!

I had two gigantic bowls of Cap'n Crunch (crunch berries) last night for dinner... and the roof of my mouth is sore. I shoveled them into my mouth pretty quickly but did I really have a cereal-induced injury? They're pretty crunchy until they soak up some milk and I'm not sure I really allowed them the time to soak since I was pretty hungry. Rather than inhale giant spoonfuls of basically dry cereal and scratch up my mouth, I might want to slow down... it just tasted so good.

...Be back on Sunday night! :)

oh em gee

I am so sleepy! Guess the third trimester sleepiness is kicking in... I was hoping to have left that behind in the first trimester but apparently I'm not so lucky. Steve and my grandfather have been working hard all day putting up the chair rail and shadow boxes in the nursery. It looks amazing. Funny how such small details change a space entirely (I learned that from HGTV, but it's fun to see it in person). What a handy husband I have!

I made myself useful by occasionally using the level and the studfinder... but eventually gave up and cleaned the house instead. I was far more useful picking up meatball marinaras from Subway and baking cookies. Since I've had my Kitchenaid I've been annoyed by the fact that I only had the wire wisk attachment to mix dough... all along I could have sworn it came with the flat beater attachment. I've had that thing for two years and only today did it magically appear in one of the kitchen drawers... but it sure made baking cookies a whole lot easier.

The dogs didn't contribute at all today. Luke licked up a lot of sawdust (followed by a lot of hacking and coughing) and ran out of the nursery every time they started up the saw. Lila licked a lot of toes and just sat around looking cute since she was just groomed yesterday. Then they slept... all day long. I'm pretty jealous. Stinkers.

junebug.

My boss was in Hershey, PA last week for vacation (what you would do there for an entire week, I’ll never know) and brought back pretty much every size and type of candy bar that Hershey has ever manufactured… I’ve already stashed a Hershey bar with almonds at my desk. On my last pass, I swiped a Nutrageous. Hopefully the candy buffet will be gone by the next time I go near her office… thank goodness I went for my glucose test a week early!

I got to spend an afternoon with Ashley and Kara on Saturday – sitting outside of the Starbucks in Clifton reminded me why I need to get out of northern Virginia. I don’t think I’ve seen so many people from high school since graduation. Not fun people, either. They fell into one of two categories – those you completely avoid eye contact with so you can avoid any interaction at all or those you are forced to have awkward “wow, it’s been soooo long” conversations with. How uncomfortable. Makes me question whether or not we'll actually ever go to a high school reunion. Other than that, I had a great day with them and a great time with Morgan earlier in the day… and yesterday, Steve and I finally went to Home Depot and bought all of the wood for the chair rail and shadow boxes in the nursery. Who knew wood could cost so much? I was naïve prior to this home improvement trip. I just can’t wait for Ryan’s nursery to start taking shape – right now it’s just a halfway painted room with two dog cages in the middle.

I cannot believe it’s almost July. I’m looking forward to it because it’s going to be a great month – I start my new job… we’re going back down to the beach in NC for a few days… we’ll be in Florida for an entire week… we get to see Ryan in 3d (and 4d!) at our next ultrasound… but I have a feeling that with being so busy, it will be August before we know it. The baby will be here before we know it. Speaking of babies, my friend Jenny had her little boy Logan on July 18th! Congratulations, girl. :) Babies everywhere!

P.S. Next weekend I’ll officially be in my third trimester!

P.P.S. Looks like sending your comments several times works!

husband-less for the day!

Well, I am without the husband for the entire day today! Plan of attack: slept in (Steve wakes up at the butt crack of dawn on the weekends), make pancakes (the boy hates pancakes, how strange is that), shower, manicure/pedicure with Morgan, lunch with Smashley... then perhaps a little shopping (if I really want to stick to the whole theme of doing everything I possibly can that Steve doesn't enjoy, I should make it baby clothes shopping).

I had to go for my glucose tolerance test yesterday, which checks for signs of gestational diabetes. You basically have to drink a water bottle-sized amount of orange liquid and sit for an hour until they take your blood. Gross. If I fail, I have to go back for the three hour test. I had better pass.

P.S. I know my blog is screwy and rarely posts comments... but I can't seem to fix it. So if you're posting comments (sorry, Lauren, Taryn and Bails!) and they never show up, I promise I didn't reject your comment. Try try again!

happy father's day...

...to my dad, your dad, dads-to-be! Steve spent some of Father’s Day helping his dad work on his car… we also went out to breakfast with his family. I got to talk to my dad this morning (all the way in Kuwait!) to wish him a happy Father’s Day, as well. I'm not sure if they celebrate Father's Day in the Middle East - he couldn't say for sure but he had forgotten it was today so it must not be all over the place like it is here. There are Father's Day sales everywhere! This is also the last year Steve will ever have where he’s only celebrating his own father… next year we’ll be celebrating him, too!

The baby is growing like crazy and I'm six months pregnant now. It was pretty scary when we realized she would be here in three short months. We haven't even ordered her bedroom furniture yet! Need to get on that. The baby is "sporting a fresh pink glow, thanks to tiny new capillaries … She’s the size of an eggplant! Let your spouse put an ear to your belly -- he might be able to pick up baby's heartbeat (no stethoscope required). Baby's also soaking up your antibodies, getting the immune system ready for life outside the womb. Eyes are forming, and baby will soon perfect the blink -- perfect for batting those freshly grown lashes." Mmmm, I do love eggplant! Especially when it’s tempura-style at a Japanese restaurant or grilled in my pasta. Ryan is all over my belly now – even though she prefers my right side. If I lay down she goes all over the place from left to right and sometimes just underneath my bellybutton. If I push in around my belly button I can actually FEEL her underneath my fingertips moving around… it’s pretty crazy. I haven’t taken a new belly photo since I was about 18-20 weeks so once I stop peeling (gross) I’ll put one up here because I'm so much bigger than I was.

P.S. Not sure if I mentioned that I had put in for a promotion at work, but I did. And I got it. I am so excited to be on a new team that I can’t even explain it. It makes my summer. My last few months of pregnancy will be a little less stressful on my new team and I get the promotion increase and my annual raise just in time for my maternity leave. Score! :)

ten years...

Ten years ago the date was June 12, 1998. I was fifteen years old, hanging out at my friend Peter’s house, in love with a boy who was so shy that all we had shared up until this day was a number of extremely awkward moments. For some reason, that night was different. We talked for hours and by the end of the night, everything I had hoped for from the moment I laid eyes on him had happened – he asked me to be his girlfriend (me!) and we had our first kiss. Ten years later, we somehow made it through all of those meaningless high school fights, we survived the long-distance relationship during college, we are happily married (what I’d always dreamed about) and in three short months our daughter will be born. It’s amazing how things turned out and I wouldn’t have it any other way. My husband is the most genuinely nice and caring person I know… handsome, hardworking, thoughtful, funny as hell, dedicated… and he tells me each and every day how much he loves me. I can only count my lucky stars that he’s mine forever!!

Our first photo, summer 1998

Sophomore Homecoming

Junior year of high school

Ocean City, 2000

Sophomore year of college

MARRIED!!

Pretty wild.

aquabats and sunburn

We had a woooooonderful wonderful few days at the beach (thank you to Peter and Morgan for inviting all of us!). Everyone had their fill of seafood (except for me, of course - I stuck to salads and land animals), sun and scorching hot weather. By Friday evening I looked like a lobster thanks to a super long day lounging on the sand and at the beach house pool - and I still look like a lobster. Saturday we played some mini-golf in nearby Myrtle Beach and I have concluded that baby Ryan will make for one mean mini-golfer as Steve and I got first and second place in that round of betting. We used our winnings to buy the cutest t-shirts for the baby at the cutest store in Wilmington (http://www.edgeofurge.com/). Everyone got to feel the baby kick although I still think she's reserving the gigantic shoves and pokes for me... she never kicks hard like that when other people are trying to cop a feel! We had delicious breakfast every morning at a diner near the house and apparently even drunken Olympics took place one night. I was asleep (shocker!) but I'm pregnant, sunburned and always sleepy... cut me some slack. To top it all off, we made it home in a record six hours this afternoon (while getting our old school music fill).

I have found a new home for my photos online. I used to religiously upload every photo I took to Webshots and haven't done it in over a year. I found Picasa through Google and Blogger and like the format much better. I uploaded some photos from our beach trip - maybe I'll keep it up. The link is to the right just in case some of you (Morgan!) were wondering.


P.S. I am six months pregnant today! Time is flying!

sand in my swimsuit

Je dois faire un régime avant de partir en vacances.
“I have to go on a diet before we leave for vacation.”

Hah. This gem was the phrase of the day on my French calendar and it couldn’t be further from the truth. In fact, I attempted to squeeze into five bathing suits last night before I found one in my closet that fit me. I’ve never even worn this bathing suit before but I sure am glad I bought it a few years ago. We’ll see if I actually wear just the bathing suit and nothing else while we’re at the beach.

Yes! The beach! We’re leaving tomorrow for a hot and sunny (literally – 95 degrees and no clouds forecasted the entire time we’re there) few days on the coast of North Carolina… looking forward to not being at work and getting a little color on my pale tummy. Ryan likes laying out in the sunshine. The few times we’ve been laying out lately waiting for lacrosse games to start, she’s been kicking up a storm… so she’s either burning up or she loves it. She also loves barbecue – specifically pulled pork sandwiches. I could be mistaking her ferocious kicks for love when, in fact, she is just ticked off because I inhaled so much barbecue-y goodness that I’m cramping her space. I’ll stick with love since it makes for a better story. :)

Last week’s doctor’s appointment was… eh. I’m always excited to hear her heartbeat… and I’ve taken to keeping a notepad in my purse to write down questions that pop into my head (and it’s a cute notepad with a fashionable little pregnant girl at the top – thanks, Mom!), so I appreciate the chance to ask my awesome doctor a thousand and one questions. Unfortunately, the minimal amount of weight gain that I saw at my last appointment was no more. Nope, I am officially on the boat now… I am gaining away. My doctor didn’t seem to care (not as much as the nosy nurse did) and through a lot of research yesterday I discovered that I am well within the normal range at this point in my pregnancy. Still, I’ve found myself scrutinizing every morsel of food that I eat and last night I decided that I’d had enough. I’m pregnant. I’m hungry (all the time). The baby wants food. I want food. I don’t look like I’ve even gained a pound aside from the baby belly… so I don’t care. So there. Aside from the news from the scale, we did get to take a cute video of the doctor checking the heartbeat with the doppler. I sent it to my dad right away (in Kuwait… thousands of miles away!) and it was like he was there! Technology is crazy.

We also painted the nursery last weekend (when I say we, I really mean the best husband ever painted the nursery while I did some touch up painting aroud the condo). It’s called Zen Garden, which truly doesn’t suit the shade well at all. There’s an employee at Glidden that really needs to be replaced. It’s a not-so-bright apple green and if it looks as though we forgot to paint the bottom 31 inches, fear not – we are putting up a chair rail and shadow boxes (all white) soon. Her room is going to be adorable! Look at all the little clothes! See if you can spot the furball in the photo (where’s Lila???)… she is so nosy.

I was nice enough to bake cookies for my coworkers and they’re almost gone – I need to go snag a few. Next blog entry will be from a slightly tanned and more relaxed me!

A+ day

Today was good. All around, today was a pretty fabulous day. I interviewed for a new position (and found a blazer in my closet that actually looked as though it fit, even if I couldn't actually button it) and that went well. I finished my portion of an operational excellence project that has to be in by tomorrow. The Starbucks downstairs now sells banana nut bread (I had two slices this morning, delicious). This was also the last day of my workweek, as I'm off tomorrow so helloooooooooo three-day weekend! Must leave now. Sister has lax game in 35 minutes. Good day. A+ day.

long sunny weekend... part deux

If I am sore, sleepy and have a little bit of a sunburn... I know we had a good weekend. Full of cookouts, dog park visits, sunshine, shopping in Richmond and a fancy wedding downtown, we had a long and eventful weekend. I am even writing this blog entry from our new laptop - in bed! Although I used to occasionally bring my laptop home from work and I enjoyed lounging around the condo with it rather than sitting at our desk... I could definitely get used to this. Blogging and online shopping (albeit for my last purchase of maternity wear) from the comfort of my own bed? Nice.

The little baby is tossing and turning in my belly as I type this... she is now the size of a papaya and the updates are grouped together so there won't be anymore weekly fruit/veggie updates. It looks like I'll be able to update with new fruits and veggies every three to four weeks... for now, "Watch what you say -- baby is now able to hear outside noise from down in the womb. Studies show that baby finds gentle music and your own voice most soothing. Nipples are starting to sprout, and that little face is fully formed. And, baby's starting to settle into sleep cycles, snoozing about 12 to 14 hours a day. It shouldn't be hard to figure out when -- just pay attention to those kicks as they start and stop." I've finally received all of the bedding for her room and it's freaking adorable. If I've piqued your interest, it's the Penelope bedding at Pottery Barn Kids although I wouldn't be surprised if it has disappeared from their website by now.

So the wedding was beautiful. It was at the Halcyon House in Georgetown, which is a gorgeous colonial rowhouse off of Prospect overlooking the river, Key Bridge, etc... The upstairs is entirely colonial and the ceremony was held on the back lawn - great views. Cocktail hour was upstairs and then we were told to head downstairs. I already had an idea of what the space was like beforehand, but it was amazing to finally see it. The reception looked like it was straight out of a wedding magazine. You had to walk down several flights of stairs before you got to the basement (which was actually on the ground floor, the house was built into a hill) and it was just a huge open modern space generally reserved as an artists' gallery - completely cement and contemporary and beautifully decorated... plus the food was delicious. Weddings are so much fun because every single one is so completely different from the others we've been to - it's so interesting to see how people's tastes will be reflected. Congratulations to Karli and Kevin!

P.S. Happy second wedding anniversary to us! We took this photo of ourselves after the wedding when we got back to our beach house... We were most likely sweaty, tired and hungry but I still think this silly photo pretty much captured us at one of the happiest times in our lives. Next up: late September when our mini-me arrives! Even better... Steve just texted me to let me know he does in fact have paternity leave! Awesome.