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.

slowly giving in...

I know I swore I wouldn't be going pink crazy once we found out it was a girl, but after buying so much gender-neutral clothing prior to our ultrasound I am having a pretty fun time buying little girl clothes... and they're pink. Pink! But how can you resist these things (especially when they're on sale)?!?!? A little pink windbreaker with a hood... a little pink pea coat... little pink leggings... little pink dresses... I thought I had avoided all pink with the little tiny jeans but they do actually have some pink stitching. There's also a really cute pair of ruffled bloomers in that pile. Ruffles and pink. Who would have thought? I promise baby Ryan will not always be in pink, but I have to even out her closet because there's a lot of green and yellow in there right now. I will, however, never give lose my distaste for the color purple.

love of pie

I am in serious need of a chocolate cream pie from Pie Gourmet in Vienna (only the best pies on the face of this earth). I stopped and got a slice last weekend but Steve ate half of it - then asked, with chocolate still on his face, why I didn't just get a whole pie? Don't mess with me, buddy. I contemplated shelling out $23 for a big 'ole pie... but I'm afraid of how much I might eat. My guess: between the two of us, the pie would have been gone by Sunday evening.

I would have savored every single bite.

we're halfway there!

Well, I am officially halfway through my pregnancy (time sure does fly) and we only have twenty more weeks to go! Up until this point, the baby has been measured from head to bottom but after this week she will be measured from head to toe as she has uncurled in there... she looks like a baby now! "She’s the size of a cantaloupe! Baby's digestive system is busy creating meconium (a tarry black substance made of swallowed amniotic fluid, digestive secretion and dead cells), which will fill the first diaper after birth. And, speaking of the diaper situation... baby's genitals are now fully formed!" I was watching an episode of A Baby Story over the weekend and when the woman's water broke there was meconium in there... once I explained to Steve what was going on, he was sufficiently grossed out. He has a lot to learn before the baby's birthday! Heck, who am I kidding? We both have a lot to learn in the next few months. I just pray he doesn't pass out.

Yesterday was a busy day - it was both Mother's Day and my mom's birthday. We ran around all day meeting Steve's family for breakfast, my family for brunch and my family again for dinner... while squeezing in a little car shopping. Baby wants a gas-friendly SUV (not an oxymoron - the new Nissan Rogue gets pretty decent gas mileage)! Steve and I had been craving sopapillas so our brunch at Rio Grande was deeeeeeelicious. My mom gave me a wonderful Mother's Day gift - it's a crest claddagh ring that she got when she was in Ireland. It has the Kennedy crest in the center and says "to Kennedy, love Dad" on the band inside. My name came from his side of the family, hence the ring being from him. One day I'll be passing it down to our little girl because she's getting Kennedy as a middle name.

If it's at all possible, every single day that goes by we get more excited about our little baby girl... our little Ryan Kennedy Velasco!

cha-ching

I may not completely agree with the whole stimulus package, but it sure was nice seeing $1200 magically appear in our bank account.

fiesty little one

I'm not sure if it was something I ate or just the fact that she's getting bigger (over six inches now!) but that little girl was kicking me non-stop as I tried to fall asleep last night. We're talking kicks that were hard enough that you could see by just watching my stomach... she's a fiesty little one.