tomorrow's the BIG DAY

Tomorrow is a big day for Little bean, mom and dad. Little bean will become a he or a she (or at least we'll start thinking of her as little beanette if it's a girl). Scott and I have an ultrasound appointment at 1p, and this is the gender ultrasound. WOOO HOOOO! I haven't had any "dreams" to reveal the sex, and I'm thinkin' this could go either way. That makes it so much more fun for me, I truly don't know!

Last night was a big night too. I DEFINITELY felt Little Bean squirming around in there as I was going to bed. We've got a kicker for sure. Scott even got to feel it. Very special moment!!!

Can't wait for tomorrow. The appointment is at 1p, but we are having a little gender reveal happy hour Friday after work. We'll be keeping this secret until then =) Can't wait to post the news and tell everyone about "the reveal"! I'll try to take video of it.

Oops I Did it Again

What was I saying last week about no appetite? I guess when it comes on, it comes on STRONG. For the second time in 3 days, I had to open a food item to eat it while shopping. This time it was at Target and I was shopping for treats for our ad agency team. I guess all the food made Little Bean jealous b/c I basically got slapped in the head by a "MUST EAT NOW" message. A mini-trail mix bag hit the spot.

I still don't have a huge appetite, I just need to be better about eating a little something every 3-4 hours to avoid these hunger spells.

Looking forward to a nice walk in the 'hood tonight. BEAUTIFUL WEATHER!!! It'll be here all week too. Bring it on!

3 days until the gender reveal!

Great Weekend

Scott won his first ever ALTA tennis match. WAY TO GO SCOTT! I went down to watch and boy was it chilly! The guys on his team are great, and both of us playing tennis has allowed us to meet lots of new folks in the new 'hood.

My planned match was Sunday, but forecast was 80% chance of rain. We played Saturday. It was GREAT weather, so that was nice. We lost the first set, but battled back and won in three sets. I played really sucky the first set and a few games into the second set. Holly came with the boys to cheer me on. It was like a switch went off and I was a new tennis player. Thanks for cheering on "ashy" max and Alex! You were my lucky charms! We ended up winning 4-6, 7-5, 6-2.

Then we had a FABULOUS dinner and date night at Bluepointe. It was fabulous although I ate way too much. The company was great too. Thanks for joining us Tripper and Holly.

Sunday was a good errands, clean up and lounging day. I watched Kung Fu Panda which was cute. I made one huge mistake on Sunday: I went to the store before eating and turned ravenous while shopping. It turned into another random grocery shopping experience where I bought WAY too much food. I haven't had a crunch ice cream bar since the 5th grade, so of course I needed those. Fruity deserts sounded good too, and I couldn't decide so I threw in some juice pops. Iced animal crackers also sounded yummy so those were a winner too. Doing aisle-by-aisle shopping is always a bad idea, but add in a starving pregnant lady and you've got trouble. I even had to open the pretzels and start munching. Ugh!

Scott helped me unload the groceries and kept opening the bags and laughing. There are too many random things to mention, but hey...that's what little bean wanted =)

Scott had a soccer game late Sunday afternoon and although I didn't get to see his rock-star playing he was named MVP of the match. Nice job!

Ended up the evening with soft taco night. Yummy.

1st Maternity Outfit- Head to Toe

On Friday, I wore my first ever maternity outfit. Ok, maybe head to ankle. The socks and shoes were not specially made for pregnant women =) I am to the point that even the belly band gets uncomfortable at times. Here's a pic of the cute, casual friday outfit. And BOY WAS I COMFY!



A special shout-out to Holly my sister-in-law who gave me the jeans. I'm so surprised they fit! She is shorter than me by more than a few inches, but the length actually worked =) The tops were winners from my maternity shopping spree with my mom and sis. Thanks mom for these tops!!! I love the cardigan and got 3-4 of these great t-shirts from GAP. Tiff and Stace were great to shop with. I have lots of good outfits for the coming weeks. I'll probably try to get away with the belly band and regular pants for a little while longer to give the work outfits options a little more variety. At this point the tops are more of an issue than the bottoms.

Oh, and for the record...loved motherhood maternity and destination maternity best so far. Izzy Maternity- the higher priced store- goes against everything I stand for. Many friends call me the coupon queen, and I'm a bargain shopper. I'll stay away from there from now on, no $60 camisoles for me =)

Week 19 Baby Bump

Here is the latest baby bump pic. Little bean is showing more and more.



I'm looking forward to the weekend. We've got Scott's first ever men's ALTA match for tennis. I'm sure he'll do great. Then we've got date night with Tripper and Holly. We're going to Bluepoint which is oh, so delicious. Scott has two school free weekends in a row before finals. It's a taste of free scott time to come!!

A mango ate my baby

Welcome to week 19 dear little mango. I don't know why but every time I say Mango I think of (insert australian accent)..."a dingo ate my baby", only I swap out the dingo with a mango.

So yes, we have grown to over 6 inches are are now mango sized. I'm sorry to see dill pickle week go, but I'm very excited about week 19. Number 19 was my soccer number so it's been my lucky number ever since. I have felt a few flutters, but I'm hoping week 19 is the week I start feeling our mango.

Where would you go?

Scott and I are trying to plan a babymoon. He's traveling abroad with school, so our vacation days are limited. This will be more of a long weekend. Current places we are throwing around:

- London
- Vancouver/Montreal
- New York City (piggy back a work trip)
- Maine/New Hampshire
- Carribean Cruise/Alaskan Cruise
- Tropical/Beach somewhere maybe Los Cabos, Caribbean, or Riviera Maya

We'd be going mid-May to end of June (26-32 weeks along). I want to relax, but I'm okay with a little "on the go" fun. I normally love the beach, but I'm thinking I'd get hot pretty quick.

Any suggestions?

Let The Sun Shine In

What a beautiful day. I just ran out for lunch and apparently half of atlanta decided to get out for lunch today. That caused bad traffic.

I'm having a good week and planned Little Bean's gender reveal happy hour for next Friday, April 2nd. We'll find our on the 1st, but are gonna keep it a secret and tell people live. I've got a cute idea on how to tell everyone, so I'm looking forward to the post-reveal blog post. Fun stuff.

In the meantime people at work have been putting their gender/due date guesses on my door. Looks like it's about 50/50.

Video: Coleman's 1st Tee-ball at Bat

Found out how to post video (if there are any other bloggers out there, you have to go into your dashboard and select the "old editor"). Here's the video of Coleman's first at bat!!!

Batters Up! Orioles vs. the Rays

Coleman's first t-ball game was the most fun I've had in a long time.  Coleman and his team did great!  I'm trying to figure out how to post a video of coleman's first at bat.  It's so A-D-O-R-A-B-L-E!  I didn't realize there was such a thing as bumble bee t-ball...but there is.  They can't really throw the ball at that age, so once the ball is hit it's a race to see who gets to the ball first.  Pushing their teammates out of the way was a common theme.  Normally the push would result with the whole group of 3-5 boys falling over.  (If someone can tell me how to post video...let me know in comments or shoot me an email.)

In the meantime here are two pics of our tee-ball superstar.  The first is of the little man getting ready to bat.  He is #4.  Why you ask?  Duh, because he's 4 years old. 

The second does a fairly decent job of summing up the Orioles field innings.  What's wrong with this picture?  Well, this picture was taken right before the batter swings.  That's coleman at first base.  How many little guys do you see standing up and how many do you see sitting down?  Yep, there are three boys who preferred to play in the dirt than watch the actual game they were playing in.  Even the 2nd basemen when there was a guy on second. Ha!  

There were plenty of other funny happenings during the game. 

- Most of the boys would forget to run when they actually hit the ball.

- One little boy decided he wanted to run the bases twice and headed home only to round the bases toward first next

- One little boy refused to run away from first base, so he just stayed there while the rest of the inning played

- whoever on the fielding team got the ball would run it to first base...whether there was someone there or not

Coleman- You did great and we are all so proud of you!!!

Update

Update: I found a website that said we are the size of a large dill pickle this week (Week 18).   Close family and friends know how much I love my dill pickes, so this made me really excited.  Little bean- this will be one of your first food tests to see who you take after more...  Allens and your daddy love olives, prathers and your mommy love pickles =) 

Dill Pickles make mommy-to-be happy. 

YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So I hosted my best friends from high school for a casual dinner Wed. night.  Danielle told us she's expecting baby #2.  Not only is she expecting #2, but she is 4 months along and already has a bump!  How in the heck did she keep that secret?!  She's due beginning of September, so we are about 3 weeks apart.  

I'm so excited we will have kids the same age.  Little bean and Baby Stonecipher will be good friends =) Danielle is convinced they will be the same gender since boys/girls seem to come in waves.  I am hoping for a little girl for Danielle since she already has a little boy.  Of course she'll be happy with either too.  I will also have someone to play with a little on maternity leave.  HOORAY!

One of the goals during the dinner was to do the ring on a string gender reveal tricks on both of us.  We forgot!

Little Bean is a Big Bean

Week 18, nice to meet ya'.  I've been SUPER swamped at work, but wanted to drop a quick fruit size update.  Today is the first day of week 18 and Little Bean is now the size of a sweet potato.  I bet he/she will be a sweet one indeed =)

Bump and a Congrats!!!!

Took a quick bump pic yesterday.  I've definitely "popped" as many folks have said.  I think the bump helps to make Little Bean more real for scott.  (Besides my complaining about back pain and pillow empire in the bed). 

Today is Scott's LAST DAY OF CLASSES!!  He still has a weekend of finals and classes overseas for 10 days.  It's hard to believe he's almost done.  I'm so proud of him!

Appetite- Where are you?

I haven't had much of an appetite these days.  I'll eat when it's time, but I don't get hungry often.  When it comes time to eat, nothing really sounds good.  A lot of my meals are fruit filled.  I've always heard about how hungry pregnant women get, but I'm assuming that's just further down the line.  We're 17.5 weeks and I think the books call for just 200 extra calories a day. 

I would be hungry more often if I needed more calories, right?  I figure the baby will take what it needs...hope I'm right.

(ps.  there are definitely days I eat over my calories allotment.  For example, at the wedding brunch Sunday I was really bad:  2 donuts, 2 servings of berries (straw and blue), half of a blueberry bagel with cream cheese and a large glass of OJ). 

Fruit Overdose

Before pregnancy, I would eat fruit on occasion.  Lately, I can't get enough! I figure my body needs it if I'm craving it so much.  Here's my fruit count for the day:

- Breakfast: Fruit trail mix bar with raisins and cranberries with an orange soda to drink.  I was craving orange gatorade, but I was running late to work and couldn't stop for any.  I try to stay away from sodas, so this was a splurge.
- Mid-morning snack:  granny smith apple
- Lunch:  Peanut butter and grape jelly (lots of jelly), baked chips, lemonade
- Mid-afternoon snack:  Orange, just finished and I could eat 2 more =)

Haven't had dinner yet, but a salad sounds yummy (without any fruit).  Is craving fruit a sign of a certain sex?  I know Holly craved mandarin oranges with my twin nephews.  Is this a sign that we may have a little boy on the way?  Then on the other hand I've heard sweet cravings can mean girl.  I think of fruit as sweet.

Did any of you crave fruit?  What did you end up having?

Wonderful Wedding Weekend

Boy, am I exhausted!  I don't think the loss of an hour helped things.  It was great to spend the weekend with the Allen and Marston clans.  The wedding was fabulous.  The bride and groom looked great and the bridesmaid dresses were super fabulous.  Jake and Erin- Hope you are living it up on your Honeymoon right now!! 

Rain, Rain, Go Away

Scott's cousin Jake is marrying the woman of his dreams tomorrow, Erin.  We love Erin and can't wait to welcome her as an official family member (as the Allens so lovingly did for me 3.5 years ago). 

The wedding festivities start tonight and we are doing rain dances asking the storms to pass through quickly.  I know it will be a fabulous wedding rain or shine =) 

This will be Little bean's first wedding...how exciting!  I bet he or she will be dancing up a storm.  I just hope I can feel it!

Week 17

I'm not lovin' the "fruit" this week.  Little bean is about the size of an onion.  What more lovable fruit is roughly 5.1 inches long?

Update: A friend suggested a grapefruit, let's go with that!

Week 16 Bump Watch

I think the watch is over.  It's definitely there and I'm going to move onto belly bands next week.  Here is a pic from last night. 

16 weeks and 6 days  (very unflattering pic, but hey... I do it for the viewers).

Coleman the grown up conversationalist

My adorable 4 year old nephew that I posted about on Monday is up to his "cute-ness" again.  My dad shared a cute phone call summary from the other day.

Dad's story (remember Coleman is 4 and maggie is 2):  Coleman called earlier saying, “Great News.  We found the remote.  Maggie hid the remote and then she couldn’t remember where she hid it."  Then Coleman said, “Maggie is the silliest thing in my long and difficult life."  

Oh the drama...where do kids hear these things?  too cute!  I can't wait until my other nephews and niece hit the 3/4 year old stage.  It's been so much fun with Coleman.  coleman memorized my parents phone number about 7 or 8 months ago.  He calls them about 6 times a day.  Mommy (my sis) had to put a limit on the number of calls so now he steals the phone and hides under the desk when he calls secretly.  Most of the calls, he hangs up suddenly...that just means mommy busted him and grammy and gramps know he'll call back as soon as he can sneak away with the phone again.

Lunch: Take Two

Started off the day with a yummy bagel and fruit breakfast.  time for lunch comes along so I head to the freezer to look at which kind of frozen meal I want, Lasagna Bolognese or Spinach Portobello Pasta.  I chose the pasta...until I had to pull back the plastic cover and stir after 2 mins. in the microwave.  EEEEEWWWWWWW!  What sounded good in my head smelled like a container full of blue cheese which made me very queasy!  I hate blue cheese and there wasn't even blue cheese in the dish.  Total turnoff and I ended up giving it away.  

Corn pops and an apple didn't settle too well.  I hope I'm not getting sick.  I'm actually craving a chicken noodle cup-of-soup.  I'll have to get a stock of those for work to get me through the "no appetite" days.  When it comes to choosing meals, nothing sounds good.  I think I need to work on my caloric intake for Little Bean.

Scott and I are headed to the Thrasher's game tonight.  Should be fun.

Still anxious to feel Little Bean.  I've have a few "maybe that's the baby" moments, but nothing definite.

What a WONDERFUL weekend!

Scott and I had a fabulous weekend.  The weather was amazing.  Friday night was low key and I grabbed some dinner with my friend Robin who is a kitchen designer.  She has been a HUGE help in the kitchen remodel. 

Saturday I had a great morning with my mom shopping for kitchen items, then we took a walk in the n'hood.  I spent the rest of the afternoon up in Woodstock with my sister's adorable family.  I can't rememember if I've blogged about this before, but my 4 year-old nephew coleman is starting baseball aka tee-ball this month.  My brother Jonathan is his coach, and their team name is the Orioles.  He thinks he is on the Oreos and is very excited about eating his team.  ADORABLE.  We played outside and he was so excited about his new baseball gear.  It was fun playing with Maggie, my neice too.

Saturday night we had a great dinner with Scott's classmates.  Then the BEST NEWS EVER CAME... a co-worker on my team got engaged.  Lauren- Congrats!  Joel is a lucky guy.  I am so excited for wedding planning updates and all the excitement to come! 

Sunday I had my first tennis match with my new neighborhood team.  Moving into a new neighborhood, I was scared the team might be different than what I'm used to...young, casual and fun.  I LOVE THE TEAM.  Mainly girls my age or a tad older, and they are a hoot.  Beer is an assigned item to bring each week.  Most of them have young children so I have lots of new mommy advisors =)  Even better, I won my first match.  It makes me so excited to know there are so many fun couples in our new 'hood.

I was exhausted last night, but the weather made for an amazing weekend!

Pregnancy Partner

I'm very excited.  A good friend at work just told me this week she is pregnant.  She is about 2 1/2 weeks away from me in due date.  Hopefully we can play together a little during maternity leave.

On my door at work I've got the cute annoucement Holly designed, an ultrasound pic, and each week I post a picture of the fruit little bean is the size of.  Our office is about 95% women.  Wonder if I would be doing that if it was the other way around. 

Week 16

Happy Sweet Sixteen Little Bean.  You are the size of an avacodo this week.  Here are BabyCenters baby growth notes.  (and for the record they switch off between calling the baby and he and a she every week)

- He now weighs in at a whopping three to five ounces, and he's four to five inches in length. His tiny muscles, especially the ones in his back, are gaining strength, so he can straighten out a little more. And those eyes are finally working, making small side-to-side movements and perceiving light (although the eyelids are still sealed). Peek-a-boo! 

Week 15 couldn't pass soon enough, but I'm afraid 16 might be just as bad.  Last week I was bloated, had a few really bad nights, and work has been pretty hectic.   Sorry for the lack of posting.  Scott was a trooper helping me through the bad nights.  With school he's already sleep deprived, so I'm a very lucky woman.

This week we are making some final decisions on a kitchen redesign which is stressful, but lots of fun too. We decided the kitchen needs to be redone before kids or it will never get done =)

Week 15: Bump Watch

See it?  There's definitely a little pooch these days.  This picture also prominently displays why I am in "feeling fat" stage.  I found 2 cute maternity dresses this weekend, so that helped.  Highlights of the weekend: fun wedding shower; Lowlights of the weekend: Going to Target to buy 1 thing, a body pillow, and purchasing 5 bags of easter candy (YES, 5...WHAT WAS I THINKING!?!).  I think the rule never go to the grocery when you are hungry needs to be strictly enforced when pregnant. 

One month from today, we will be at the docs office finding out whether it's a boy or a girl!