Holy Guacamole!

Holy guacamole Batman! My baby is the size of an avocado!

16 weeks down, 24 to go (hypothetically). Baby is the size of an avocado. That means 4.5 inches from head to tush and 3.5 ounces roughly.

As if that wasn't enough to rock your world listen to this: Baby's heart is pumping about 25 quarts of blood each day. Each day! Wowzas.

My Husband, I love him

The following is an actual conversation we had Saturday while getting ready to go to dinner.

Me: Does this top look OK? Can I wear it still? [gestures to belly]
Ross: Yeah it looks fine. Well hold on, are you sucking in?
Me: No...honey, it's a baby. I can't just suck it in.

Doesn't it make you smile?

Also, that guy is planning a romantic overnight for our anniversary out in the Hill Country.

That too makes me smile.

Drywall - Check!

You can check drywall off the list of things our new house needs.

Having the drywall in place helped me see a few things more clearly. Like...

• Ceiling in the master bedroom really is nice and high.
• Yes, that is in fact a linen closet in the second floor hallway.
• What nice archways we have throughout!

Foyer looking into living room

Foyer looking up to second floor

Things That Go Bump in the Night

Things that go bump in the night...like my belly.

I'm at that stage where I wake up skinny and I go to bed pregnant. By dinner time, there is no denying who has a baby hanging out in their belly.

In photos, here's the progression of the bump so far.

8 weeks...no baby bump, the bump's ground 0 if you will

15 weeks...legit bump in the night

Apple of my eye

15 weeks pregnant and I've now got an apple-sized baby.

A lemon to an apple is quite the jump in size. I'm assuming it is a medium sized apple, as opposed to one of those crazy big apples. So perhaps if we were looking at non-food options for our weekly comparisons we might say a baseball. Maybe?

Either way, 15 weeks along and apple sized. This also means 4 inches head to cute little baby bottom and about 2.5 ounces. Other notable developments are a little bit of light sensitivity (though I don't think I'll be shining any flashlights on my belly any time soon) and the very beginning of lung development. I'm a big fan of lungs and breathing so I think that is pretty exciting.

Finally I think I am legitimately starting to round. I'll work on getting a belly picture before my DC trip next week. Because what fun is a pregnant lady without a round belly to show for it?

Things I love: Delta Trips

Just look at them. How could you not love vacationing with them?

I really love our annual Delta trips.

So far they have all been wedding related. As such we've spent QT in Boston, came here to Austin and frolicked through Charleston.

Next year we're going crazy and taking a trip just to take a trip. We're also venturing out west for the first time. Las Vegas here we come!

I know it is about 11 months away still but my gosh, I just LOVE a good Delta trip. I am so so so looking forward to it.

Added bonus: Ross was already able to get the necessary days off so he is coming too! Yay!

In the meantime though I am also really excited about my mini-Delta reunion in DC in a mere 10 days. Hurray!

PS Update 7:24 p.m. - my God that glass of wine looks delicious. I'll see you in 6 or so months wine.

1st Pumpkin Bread

I know how to bake one thing and one thing only: Grandma Betsy's Pumpkin Bread.

With our new-found cool weather this week (ie below 95), it has been calling to me. So finally this morning, I woke up and started baking the First Pumpkin Bread of 2012.

Did you really think I'd show all the ingredients and give away the secret? No way! This pumpkin bread is my
only guaranteed ticket into Thanksgiving dinner, the only thing Mom and I can make that others cannot.

Now it is hard to improve upon perfection but I dare say I've found one improvement to this recipe in the past year or so. Organic pumpkin. Used to be I just bought whatever pumpkin, more often than not Libby's. But last fall I bought some organic pumpkin because that was all they had in stock at the time and it turned out to be a grand change.

We're not purposeful or dedicated organic food eaters. But there are a few items that we've discovered taste significantly better when organic and ladies and gentlemen, canned pumpkin is one of them. Do your self a favor and spend the extra 50 cents on this one.

Also - I say an "improvement" on the recipe but perhaps when my Grandma Betsy and her mom were making pumpkin bread it was all organic. In which case, I'm just taking it back to its roots. This is probably more likely than the notion that I improved it.

Either way, it is some damn good bread.

House of Pink Panther

Our new home has moved into the phase where you can't tell much is happening from the front. And honestly there were a few days that even walking inside I couldn't tell much has happened. I assume they were adding more pipes, wires and such. Important this certainly but not things my untrained eye could really observe.

Now though we're up to insulation and it has a bit of a pink panther feel to it.

Upstairs, from hallway looking into the nursery

Downstairs, from kitchen looking into dining and living rooms

Non-Planning

To most of you who know me, this will come as a bit of a surprise. Heck, it surprises me.

For the first time ever, I've got something on the horizon (ie Baby) and I am not feeling plan-y at all.

Case in point: I don't have a single book on infants. I don't think I read the whole section in my pregnancy book on first trimesters. I have not begun the section on second trimesters. When I bought a pregnancy journal, I wanted (and got) a more reflective one, not a planning one. I don't have a single "before baby" check list.

Caveat to that last point: I have a few big things on my mental "before baby" check list. But that is limited to what feels pretty obvious like pick a name, have a nursery, let the boss know and the most plan-y of all, have some immediate childcare in queue.

(This last one is more important than you may know as infant childcare often requires getting on waiting lists as early as the second trimester. Fortunately since Nancy is a teacher, we're all in agreement that she will step in during the summer to help which means we are all squared away until August 2013. I have no idea what my plan beyond that is but I'm comfortable with that.)

I think given all the things I could have on a checklist, having it limited to a simple four is pretty impressive. Especially for me.

I'm really hoping this is a sign of my mothering style. I'm hoping that somewhere in my core and instincts I know that babies and plans aren't exactly peanut butter and jelly. That I'll just have to roll with the punches. I also hope this means that mothering will be natural to me because I also don't feel freaked out by the idea of having a little tiny person to care for.*

Of course, I reserve the right to start freaking out and/or planning at any juncture. But for now, I'm pretty pleased with this surprising dose of go with the flow.

*I do however have a healthy amount of freaked outed-ness about the actual labor and delivery (not that the baby will be OK, that I'm sure will be fine. More about my pain tolerance). I'm not the first woman to have a baby so I'm sure it will all be fine but come on, you can't tell me that looks like fun.

When life gives you a lemon

When life gives you a lemon and that lemon is your 14 weeks along baby-in-the-belly, it ain't so bad.

That's right, ladies and gents, Baby is officially lemon-sized today. Other Baby related updates include the new-found ability to squint, grimace and frown. (Buck up Baby, there's nothing to grimace or frown about.)

Today also marks the beginning of my second trimester. One down and only two go!

Hello Mood Swings

Hello Mood Swings, so nice to meet you.

In an attempt at honesty, let me tell you about this recent pregnancy development. Mood swings. Dear God, hold on tight. They are intense!

I guess this is what I get for recently saying "I don't really feel pregnant. I'd almost like some proof that my body is actually undertaking one of the biggest feats possible. I should feel different somehow." Careful what you wish for right? Trust me, Body, I believe that you are growing a baby now.

Up, down, up, down, up, down. So much so that Ross very sweetly told me the other night we'd only be having this one baby. And I can't say I blame him. I'm worn out! I can only imagine how he feels (helpless, under attack and scared are all words that come to mind).

If you have a little one, odds are this sounds familiar...or you've just been very sweetly telling me it is entirely normal, in which case I really appreciate your little white lie. If you are little one free thus far, I'm telling you. Get ready. While I can't say I was never moody before, I can confidently tell you this is like no other.

Hey DC gang - looking forward to some QT later this month? I mean with a description like that, how can you not be eager to hang out with pregnant-off-her-rocker me?? Words of advice: yoga, chocolate and ice cream all prove helpful when the crazy strikes. Please have them on hand to talk me off the ledge.

PS I was almost uncomfortably full when I started writing this 10 minutes ago and now I am starving. Where is that ice cream??

The Weekend

As you may know, Ross has to put in vacation requests in September each year for entire next year, Oct 1-Sept 30. So a full year ago he requested today off in anticipation of our friend Jon's 30th birthday.

Well in the interim, Jon and his lovely wife, Erin, got to baby-making and are now just mere days away from becoming parents. This didn't stop the birthday festivities though (go ahead, say it, Erin is the best 9 month pregnant wife EVER), it just adjusted them.

Like I hear children do, the party required a village. Ryan and Cason hosted the party, Jon's parents provided much chow and I signed on to be the in-case-baby-comes-now designated driver. (Side story: during party planning Erin is chatting with Ryan and the conversation jumps between baby and party. At the end of the conversation Erin says "thanks again for having it" and Ryan responds, frightened as hell, with "what? The baby!?" Dear God. Erin just told him "Yes Ryan, the baby. Cason and Ross are going to use their EMT skills to deliver her in the spare bedroom during the party." Oh Ryan.) I'm happy to say my role was not needed and little baby is still safely in her mama's belly.

So our Saturday started with awesomely beautiful fall-like weather, a puppy walk and gardening (I'd been procrastinating dealing with my 75% dead cactus out front [how I kill cactuses I know not] but since the weather was so nice decided to tackle it. Turns out it was so dead I literally pulled the 3 foot tall cactus out of the ground by one hand. Weeks of procrastination for 7 minutes of work), and then ended with a backyard BBQ shindig. Which made today a day of yoga, Texans football (victory!) and lots more football/couch napping.

Also my claim to "not be showing" apparently is somewhat debatable. I thought it was just normal Cheryl belly fat but my sister-in-law Meg swears up and down that I am normally skinnier and that this is a baby bump starting to show.

Prego Qs

When I tell people I have a bun in the oven, they ask a lot of (caring and interested) questions. The funny thing is it is more or less the same questions from everyone. So blog readers, I safely feel I can anticipate your most burning prego questions.

Q. How are you feeling?

A. Pretty good actually. I had a couple weeks, around weeks 8-10, where I felt pretty crummy. Specifically I had two days where I felt like I had been run over by a freight train. I am told this is par for the course.

Q. Mmm, so morning sickness?

A. So far so good! (Knock on wood!) Those two run-over-by-a-freight-train days I thought I might be sick but I came up on top. Make note, chicken noodle soup is good for all sick feelings, be it legit sick or just a baby kickin' your butt.

Q. Have you craved anything?

A. Nothing that I don't normally eat yet. It's more that I'm extra motivated to get whatever the thing is. For example really early on I was driving home from work and thought "queso would be really good" and I wanted it so much I fought the 5:30p grocery store crowd to get it. I really like ice cream and have been eating tons of it (Ben & Jerry's Chocolate Fudge Brownie Fro Yo is the selection of choice).

Q. What can't you eat?

A. Well according to the doc, no booze (duh), no raw meats, no undercooked meats or proteins (like eggs...which means no eggs benedict, not that I had that often beforehand but now I really want it, almost certainly just because I know I can't have it) and possibly the toughest no cold deli meat. If I want a sandwich the meat has to be heated up first. Now I'm medically OK to eat fish but a few weeks back I had some on two separate nights and it grossed me out so much I couldn't finish my dinner. I'm hoping this might pass soon though because I really love fish. The tricky thing is it will sound great on the menu but then I discover mid-meal that I'm over it...and now without dinner.

Q. Is it really hard not to drink?

A. Not really. I don't have any interest in getting schnockered. For the most part I've found that I really just like fun drinks in pretty glasses. Apple martini flavored Crystal Light in a fancy wine glass keeps me pretty happy. There's of course a couple days when I come home thinking "a glass of chardonnay would be really awesome" and juice in a wine glass...well I guess it has to do. :)

Q. What was Ross' reaction?

A. He was perfect! I found out before he got home from his shift and he knew I was going to take a test so he rushed home. I greeted him at the door and he said "ready to pee on a stick baby??" I gave him an ear-to-ear grin and said "Already did!". He had a quick look of shock and then busted out into a big smile asking "Really?" and when I nodded he picked me up, swung me around, kissed me and just started laughing. Needless to say, he was thrilled. 

Q. When did you start telling people?

A. That same day. We told our immediate families first. Later that night we told a few close friends who knew we were trying and would have picked up on it immediately since we were at an all-night nobody-has-to-drive-so-we're-all-getting-lit party and I clearly was not going to be drinking.

Q. Are you showing?
A. Fortunately only friends who are far away ask this because those who are here either agree with me that no I am not or are too smart to tell me I'm starting to look chubby. I actually lost about 4 pounds during those crummy weeks early on and have yet to put it all back on. Who knew that the key to taking off those last few pounds was getting pregnant??

Q. Are you going to find out what you are having?
A. Yes; we're way too impatient to wait until March. I think we'll know at the end of next month.

Shrimp Baby

Every week babycenter.com gives me an update on how Baby is developing, including a food-based size comparison. Usually it is produce. Last week for example Baby was lime-sized.

This week...a medium shrimp!

Now having grown up on the Gulf Coast, I know shrimp well and I tend to think of limes as bigger than shrimp. But perhaps we're not really talking about the fatness of a lime and maybe just the length in which case I guess a shrimp might be longer.

Either way, this means Baby is about 3 inches long and weighs almost an ounce.

Stay tuned for next week's Baby-as-a-food announcement!

Beyonce & Me

Here's one of the ways we announced Baby's pending arrival.

I figured I could never top Beyonce's VMA announcement (who among us could??) so the next best thing was to hijack it.

I seriously had the idea for this in July and had to sit on it for WEEKS until we were ready to announce. It almost killed me not to share this awesome piece of graphic design sooner.

If you were ever considering hiring me for my design talents, now you know better. :)

We're growing!

Ross and I are pleased to announce that our little family is growing!

(And I'm sure my belly is about to follow suit.)

We're expecting our first little person baby this spring on March 14.

That means I'm just shy of 13 weeks along right now. We've had two ultrasounds and everything looks perfect as can be. We're expecting a very healthy baby and could not be happier!

Baby's 1st beach trip and 2 very happy parents-to-be

Lexi's Life Is So Rough

After a day of playing with her puppy cousin Sweetie, eating people food snacks from my dad, eye-spying ducks, Lexi was just plum tuckered.

As her puppy expression clearly says "Oh my life is so rough. I can't find where to put my head while I sleep in the car and sit on your suitcase (even though there is tons of empty backseat available) so the back of your seat will have to do."