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.

long sunny weekend!

I've been counting down the hours until this weekend since Monday morning, folks. After spending three long excruciating days in training run by the National Finance Center with Department of Agriculture (how's that for dry?) it is finally finally finally Thursday. I look forward to Thursdays because I only work until noon on Fridays (love the modified work week schedule!) so Thursdays are wonderful.

This weekend is supposed to be gorgeous! 75-80 degrees and sunny every single day. Pool party on Saturday... beautiful wedding in Georgetown on Saturday night... fun trip to Richmond on Sunday... no work on Monday!! We're even getting a new computer this weekend (laptop this time). Although we definitely just bought a computer in December, it makes more sense for us to have a laptop and save some space in the condo once the baby takes over. Speaking of the baby, the fact that she's nearly a foot long must contribute to the fact that I am feeling gigantic kicks throughout the day. She's most active at night, when I wake up and later in the morning after I've had breakfast... but the kicks are enormous compared to the small kicks of seventeen weeks. She's growing fast!

Time to sneak out of work - it's perfect dog walking weather! Here's a joke, courtesy of my pal Kate (she thinks it's extremely clever):

What did the brown chicken say to the brown cow?
Brown chicken brown cow.... (bow-chicka-bow-wow)

holy banana bread!

"Coated in milky, oily, creamy vernix and fine, downy lanugo … She’s the size of a banana! Baby gulps down several ounces of amniotic fluid every day, both for hydration and nutrition and to practice swallowing and digesting. And, these days, those taste buds actually work! Studies show that after birth, babies are most interested in tastes they've already experienced through amniotic fluid. Meaning, think about what you want your future child to eat as you prepare your own lunch." I think the banana is a much better representation than the canteloupe or other round/oddly shaped fruits and veggies... these fruit comparisons are just to give a visualization of how long she is (10.5 inches from head to toe, in this case). Baby Ryan still spends most of her day flipping around in there and kicking me nonstop... she kicks a lot at night and in the morning when I wake up, but she has periods throughout the day where she is very active. Last Friday I spent an hour sitting in a meeting (a booooooooring one at that) and was distracted by the kicking for most of it.

An older woman here at work told me this morning how lucky I've been, having avoided morning sickness up until this point. I think I've had a relatively easy pregnancy thus far (knock on wood) and even when I do feel like poo I know it could be much worse. My best friend has been super nauseous throughout the first 10 weeks of her pregnancy so I can't really complain. On a side note, isn't that the craziest thing ever? Who would have ever guessed in a million years that my bfffffffff and I would be pregnant together!?! I love it.

We finally cleared out the furniture from the room that is no longer the guest room but not yet a nursery. We measured for the chair rail and shadow boxes and spent awhile at Home Depot where we learned that we know nothing about wood but can stare at the paint selection for hours. I can't wait until July or August when the room is completely finished - paint, molding, furniture... it's going to be freaking adorable.

I just looked at my calendar and realized that I have three three-day weekends in a row... awesome. This weekend we have a wedding to go to in Georgetown on Saturday, Richmond on Sunday to finish Steve's arm and then a whole free day off on Monday. I have off the following Friday so our builder can come do some warranty work on the condo and then the next weekend we'll be at the beach with a bunch of people... I can't wait. I hope it's sunny and warm!

One of our bosses is taking the department to Clyde's for lunch today - I have to go select my meal... is it too much to order an appetizer, entree and a dessert? Hmmm... I think I deserve it.