Movin' on up

I went shopping yesterday and it sucked. My cantaloupes have officially become a nuisance. Normally I wear a medium in clothes. Now that I’ve outgrown most of my normal stuff, I took the opportunity to go shopping yesterday. I found some cute stuff, on sale no less, except that the body of the shirts (where Nicole will grow) is plenty big, it’s just the stupid chest area that is already too fitted and requires the larger size. An Extra Large size to be exact. I know that it’s more important to have clothes that fit and look good and size shouldn’t matter, but GEEZ.

The one positive of the whole experience...
When I called Jim on my way home the conversation went like this:
Me: “I’ll be home in 15 minutes. I stopped to buy dress shirts and I’m unhappy with my body.”
Jim: “What’s to be unhappy about? Your body’s great.”

How wonderful is he!?

Eating Habits

A lot of people have “weird” food-isms.

My grandpa Templin would only eat bananas if they were completely brown (therefore sweet and mushy) whereas other people won’t touch a banana with any significant spotting at all.

My brother Greg mixes cottage cheese and applesauce together before he eats it.

Jim likes his cookies undercooked so they’re still semi-doughy in the middle.

I have my own food-isms too that are probably a little neurotic. I think one of the best inventions in serving are the plates with individual sections for food. That way, I can more easily separate every item on my plate so that nothing touches and therefore sauces/flavors don’t intrude on each other.

I also eat in order. That is, I will eat one item on my plate in its entirety and then move on to the next one; of course never mixing the two in the process. I can take this so far as to eat beef stew item by item- all the carrots first, then potatoes, then meat, etc., even if it’s in the same bowl. There are a few exceptions to this- Chinese food and soup come to mind.

I have conflicting views as to the order of eating at a picnic. Inevitably there are a lot of really good items like baked beans, deviled eggs, etc. Most of the time you also get some kind of sweet item like a Waldorf salad or that green pistachio/pineapple fluff stuff. Which to eat first can be hard to choose– do I eat the sweet stuff first so I'm sure I have room and therefore ensure I get to taste it OR do I eat all the other stuff first and save that for the end so I have a good taste in my mouth when I'm done?? Tough one…

Weekend of 2/23/07

I had an appointment in Dayton Friday afternoon so I got to be treated to lunch by Sarah W on my way back into the office. She’s so sweet! We even got milkshakes at Steak N Shake (special treat!), which I’ve not had a full-sized one of ever.

Jim and I left Friday a bit early from work so we could head up to Spencerville (Jim’s hometown) to have dinner with his cousin Derrick and Derrick’s girlfriend. Jim suggested his favorite restaurant, Red Lobster (yeah, I know some of you are cringing that that is his favorite), and Derrick replied “after checking with Jessie, she has some Catholic crap going on so fish works good.” Ha! “Catholic crap”!

Anyway, we got back to Rusty’s (Jim’s uncle) and slept in until 8:30am. That’s when the real work began. Jim’s uncle helped him TREMENDOUSLY when we redid the bathroom and kitchen, so it was time to return the favor and help him with his kitchen/family room remodeling. Not fun work, but it was good to be able to help.

Rich (Jim’s cousin) brought baby Noah over for us to see. He’s a good baby- very pleasant and such soft skin!

We left at 8:45 to beat the winter storm that was predicted to hit and I drove in probably the worst conditions of my life. The sleet was so bad I couldn’t see the road and semis from the other side of the road kept spraying the car with huge amounts of it. The Erdahls were nice enough to offer us a bed for the night, but it slowed down to rain by the time we hit Dayton so we pushed on through.

This afternoon is the monthly Girls’ Lunch. Sarah W is coming down for it!

21 Weeks (a day early, but I'm going out of town!)

How your baby's growing: Your baby now weighs about three-quarters of a pound and is approximately 10 1/2 inches long. His eyebrows and eyelids are fully developed. And you can certainly feel him move. He's oblivious to your schedule, though, so don't be surprised if he starts working out just when you're settling down for the night. If you're having a girl, her vagina is formed now, though it will continue to develop until birth.

My Take: Well, I can feel Nicole moving if I'm being still but it’s definitely “ignorable” if I'm preoccupied with something else. What did make me happy was that during the ultrasound she was VERY active even though I couldn’t feel a thing. It was quite reassuring to know that she’s busy even when I don’t know it.

Other personal progress notes: I’ve gained 9lbs. total (I should be 10-15 according to my books) and they moved my due date up to the Fourth of July.

Nicole’s middle name is currently being debated so any suggestions are welcome! We had initially picked Jeanine which is a combo of my grandmother Jean’s name and Jim’s grandmother’s middle name, Genine. Now Jim’s not so enthused and is leaning towards Elizabeth.

Ultrasound Pictures

Profile

Lookin' Right at You!

and as for what we're having??





** drumroll **







a Nicole.

Unsolicited Opinions

Everyone has an opinion. Everyone’s personal way of thinking about a subject is “right” according to them which means a lot of other people are therefore “wrong” about said issue.

I just got back from my uncle’s office who said “so today’s the big day, huh? You’re still going to find out what it is, right?” in reference to this afternoon’s ultrasound where we’ll hopefully find out the gender of the baby.

Why he, and others, feel the need to blatantly state their opinion of “that’s a mistake” as a follow-up to my “yes we are” answer is beyond me.

Did I ask his/their thoughts on whether or not I should find out my baby’s gender? No, I did not.

Did I ask his/their take on whether or not I was “ruining the surprise?” No, I did not.

So why do people feel they have the right to call out the “mistake” I'm making when their opinion was not requested? I don’t come up to people and say “oh, so you got dressed this morning, huh? Well, what you picked is a total disaster.” Somehow though, this facet of my pregnancy seems to be fair game for unsolicited opinions, often very rudely stated.

Carol’s approach to the matter was right on. When she confirmed that I was going to find out the gender today she said “I wouldn’t want to know if it was my kid”. Great, no problem, I respect that. She also respected the fact that I DO want to know. She was polite and supportive of my decision even though it was different from her own.

I guess the bottom line to this rant is that I’ve been surprised by how many people are really outspoken about this subject when it’s an item I would consider "not your concern". I'm further taken aback by the outright rudeness of the condescending tone that the opinions are given in. It’s definitely made me more aware of keeping my descending opinions to myself, on this and nearly every other subject, until I'm asked.

Weekend of 2/16/07

Some highlights from the weekend:
Friday: Greg and his girlfriend, Holley, came over for dinner. She was very pleasant to have – good conversationalist, got involved in the games, and generally seemed to have a good time! She even admitted she can’t cook at all but offered to help several times!

Saturday: I got an oil change (oh those necessary evils!) and Jim and I ran some errands in preparation for his family to come. When they did we all went to LaRosa’s for dinner and hung out until midnight- way past all our bedtimes!

Sunday: we got up around 8 and I made breakfast for everyone and we got all dolled up for the baby shower. As mentioned, this was the most over-the-top shower ever. Lots of fun though! Here’s the promised video of Jim’s game participation:

20 Weeks - 1/2 Way There!

How your baby's growing: Your baby weighs about 10 1/2 ounces now. She's also around 6 1/2 inches long from head to bottom, and about 10 inches from head to heel. (For the first 20 weeks, we use measurements taken from the top of the baby's head to her bottom — known as the "crown to rump" measurement. After that, we use measurements from head to toe. This is because a baby's legs are curled up against her torso during the first half of pregnancy and are very hard to measure.)

A greasy white substance called vernix caseosa coats her entire body to protect her skin during its long submersion in amniotic fluid. (This slick coating also eases the journey down the birth canal.)Your baby is swallowing more, which is good practice for her digestive system.

She's also producing meconium, a black, sticky substance that's the result of cell loss, digestive secretion, and swallowed amniotic fluid. This meconium will accumulate in her bowels, and you'll see it in her first messy diaper (although a few babies pass it in utero or during delivery).

My Take: There are several people who have anxiety about the world they’re bringing their child into. Watch the news and it’s enough to give a non-pregnant person heartache about the state of humanity and the planet. I have to admit, I never felt this way. There are a lot of bad people in the world – child abusers, warlords who support horrible environments for the citizens of their countries, people who knowingly pollute the Earth and make it unsafe for others, etc. – but there are so many good people that surround me on a regular basis that I'm not very concerned about all that stuff I have little/no control over.

I also had a really fabulous baby shower this weekend, my first! My aunt and uncle rented a country club, catered in lunch for about 45 people, and had some of the funniest games I’ve ever seen. I’ll post a video of Jim eating baby food later this week. I was crying and laughing so hard I couldn't' keep the camera steady!

Ultrasound is on Wednesday at 4!!

What I've Been Up To

What a week- with a snow and ice storm bad enough to cancel ½ a day of work on Tuesday and all of Wednesday, Jim and I had a chance to start Lost Season 1 on DVD (Thank you, Sean!). I see why people get addicted to it- I'm really intrigued by the whole thing! The disappointing aspect of it is that since we’re watching a season from three years ago, I’ve been privy to all the recent complaining about the series going downhill plot/story-line wise. Disappointing to know it’s not going to get better from here or at least stay par…

Class has been going really well. The students have their first exam next week and I'm sure they’ll all do well. So much of sales is common sense.

My sales though, took a turn for the worse yesterday at 4:00 when I lost a deal I assumed I was going to get. The customer really irked me about it too and I had to walk out of my office to not blow a fuse and call her out on the whole thing when I was emotional (read “super pissed off”) about it. Fear not, now that I'm “more rational” after a night’s rest, I will be calling her today to discuss the matter more thoroughly. I do not take to losing well. At board games or my job.

Speaking of board games, G-Scott and his girlfriend are coming over for dinner and games tonight. On his wish-list: mozzarella sticks, pork loin, ranch potatoes, cranberries, pie, ice cream, etc. I did change my plan on a few items I was thinking of preparing to accommodate my youngest brother. He’s too cute not to, what can I say?

5 Random Things About Me

1. I like wet food. Basically, whatever I eat I want it to be moist so I top it with condiments and sauces like sour cream, gravy, etc. whenever possible.
2. If I have to use a laptop, I use two hands to control the mouse, 1 on the mouse pad and the other on the clicking button
3. I always get at least 8 hours of sleep.
4. I’m nervous about moving into my “grown up” house and am glad I have a few months to get used to the idea
5. I like it just as much as Jim when my girl friends fawn all over his toned, muscular physique

Weekend of 2/9/07

OK, I'm losing my mind because I seriously can not remember what I did 60% of this weekend, namely Friday and Saturday afternoon. I'm sure it was fun. *eye roll at myself*

Saturday Jim and I went to PF Changs for dinner with Erin and Scott – had a good time. I tried the Chow Mein for the first time and it was okay but I don’t see myself craving it any time in the future.

Sunday Sarah W came over and we rode to Lindsay’s baby shower together. Lots of presents, lots of cake, lots of people! She made out like a bandit! On the way home I took Sarah by the lot where our new house will be built and promptly got her stuck on a snowy, icy hill. Love-ly. At least we could laugh about it. At one point I was driving and she was pushing. I was in D and I was still going backwards! Anyway, I got my first taste of how convenient it is to have my parents nearby, we called them and they helped dig us out and help us up the hill.

I made it home just in time to go to our bowling league that evening. We only won 2/4 of the games but that was enough to put us in 4th place out of 15 going into next week! I did not do particularly well, however Dave kicked butt by bowling a 729 series with one game being a 269 (his highest game ever!). It was AWESOME. He only had 3 open frames the entire night! Jimmy did great too with 2 games in the 200’s! Definitely made up for me being off.

Anyway, it’s snowing and freezing rain out and our office closes at 2:00 today as a result. Jim’s home cleaning off the driveway for us (he is the best!!) and I'm going to try to con him into coming here for lunch this afternoon. :)

I'm starting to get a little anxious about the ultrasound next week. I’ve been firm on it being a boy but now that we’re so close to finding out I'm starting to doubt my own predictions a bit...

19 Weeks!

How your baby's growing: Your baby weighs about 8 1/2 ounces, and he measures 6 inches, head to bottom — about the length of a small zucchini. His arms and legs are in the right proportions to each other and the rest of his body now. His kidneys continue to make urine, and the hair on his scalp is sprouting. This is a crucial time for sensory development: Your baby's brain is designating specialized areas for smell, taste, hearing, vision, and touch. If your baby is a girl, she has an astonishing six million eggs in her ovaries. They'll dwindle to fewer than two million by the time she's born.

My take: The kid is moving but not as much as before. This had me frustrated for a bit and prompted Jim to ask “do you want it to move like every 10 minutes?” Well, duh, yes! How else do I know it’s doing okay!? I'm happy to report it’s moving right now!

I’ve almost run out of clothes. I bought 2 pairs of jeans and have 2 dress pants from Sarah and that’s it as far as slacks go. It’s time to go shopping!

Who's coming to my home?

I read a lot of blogs. Only one is from someone I’ve never met, Katrin from Austria, and the rest are all friends of mine from grade school, high school, college, and the “real world”. I'm sure I'm not the only person to use their own blog page as the hub to get to everyone else’s (by clicking on my friends’ links off my page), but I wonder if others use my page for that same reason rather than their own?

I am surprised when people drop into conversation something they read on my blog about my life when I didn’t know they were readers (I don’t know they read principally because they don’t comment, which is okay too!). I will say, I also am impressed when people I don’t know, like Jim’s co-worker, read along when they’ve never met me! How flattering!!

Sarah’s counter also intrigued me. Chuck pointed out that I have 850+ views on my page over the last year as stated on my profile page (even I didn’t know that information was there ‘til he told me!) but I wonder how many of those are unique individuals on separate days, or if they're the same people multiple times a day like me racking up the tally because I keep bouncing from my page to everyone else’s.

The Bump

Here's me after a long day of work from the front!

Here's the same me from the side!

Snowed Out, then In

The big snow of ’07 hit yesterday. It took my normal 13 minute commute to 1 hour and 28 minutes. Still, while long, it doesn’t frustrate me because everyone else is just as backed up as I am. Further, when there are so many cars on the road they’re going to be bad because salt trucks can’t get through. So, even though I left work early, I didn’t get home until about 5, so it wasn’t that much extra time than normal.

It did, however, feel like a lot of extra time. Jim finished up our taxes, I finished part of Lindsay’s baby shower gift, we ate dinner and watched After the Sunset. It was a neat movie because the protagonists in the flick are thieves and the cop is the “bad guy”. Salma Hayek was the female lead and I’ll admit that even I was in awe of her figure which she kept scantily clad for most of the show. Final rating: B.

After that Jim conned me into watching a second movie, Just Friends. This was cute though kind of quirky. Several good lines and scenes, but a little too cheesy in other places. I gave it a B, Jim gave it an A-.

The kid is moving again though not near as much as before. Perhaps it’s time to pull out the oranges again. I had SEVERE stomach (not abdomen) cramps last night, dead on to some I had in early December that, while very painful when I was vertical, were tolerable when I laid down.

Other interesting news, I was VERY touched and impressed that my brother Greg’s girlfriend reached out to me this week via email in an effort to get to know me better. She even proposed an evening where the four of us (she and Greg, Jim and I) can hang out. I do feel very protective of my little brothers and I am innately skeptical that anyone they date isn’t good enough for them. Jim says I can be intimidating because of this protectiveness and how dear Mike and Greg are to me. Not that my approval means too much to anyone probably in the big picture, but her friendliness and enthusiasm to reach out to me goes a long way. Not that I didn't like her before, but I like her more already!

Weekend of 2/2/07

This weekend, like all of February will be, was a whirlwind. Some highlights:

1. We went to my parents for dinner, cake, and presents for Mike’s birthday on Friday. You can tell Mike just bought a new house- between Christmas and his birthday he’s gone from like 1 screwdriver set to owning dozens of tools, including power tools and a shop vac! M, L and G left to be social not long after presents so mom, dad, jim and I hung out and played cards where I did TERRIBLY.
2. Saturday we took our *&%@! taxes to a CPA to do because we owe $7000+ to the federal government PLUS penalties. This seemed crazy to us and we (Jim) determined we needed to pay to confirm that we really owe that much. Unfortunately, we do. UGH. The source of the problem is that my OLD payroll company never changed me to married status so when we switched and I did, I had too many deductions/exemptions/whatever and I paid that way too little throughout the year.
3. We picked out all the stuff (carpet, hardwood, brick, cabinets, etc.) for the house in “record time” according to our builder rep! Jim and I have very similar taste and had nothing we didn’t agree on!
4. Saturday night we went to Jamie, Jason and Ryan’s for dinner. Ryan, who turns 2 this week, has grown up so much. I still think of him as a baby and he most certainly is not any more. When everyone sat down to dinner and I was using the bathroom, he actually asked where I was by name!! awwwww! Kids always learn Jim’s name (typically pronounced "Jeeeem") first- I was very excited!
5. Sunday was cleaning day and super bowl day. We had 18 of JIM’s friends over (sans Karen) but that’s the tradition and they're my friends too, right? right? We had a good time and ate nearly all the food. I need my dad to come back next year so we have more appetizers!
6. Because of our company, our fridge has 5X more beer in it than normal (normal = 2-3). Jim drank one last night with dinner, something he has no real desire to do other than to clear out fridge space, and didn’t want to finish it. Jim thought I was kidding when I told him what I was going to do with his last 3 inches of brew; I decided to take Rachel up on our SB conversation and wash my hair with the remainder this morning. She (Rachel) had enthusiastically told me she used to do this and it made her hair soft and shiny. I think my hair is about as soft as it is with conditioner and it’s not any shinier, however, it was a breeze to straighten and that made it worth the effort.
7. Kid hasn’t moved much/at all since Sunday and the car seat catching incident. This of course is probably a fluke but now my mind’s going in directions that make me worry… It’s most likely not that something is wrong but more that I’ve been too busy with my own life to notice the little fluttering that’s happening. Still, I have my classical back on today and am hoping for some activity.

18 Weeks- 3 weeks until the Ultrasound!

How your baby's growing: Head to bottom, your baby is approximately 5 1/2 inches long (about the length of a large sweet potato) and she weighs almost 7 ounces. She's busy flexing her arms and legs — movements that you'll likely start noticing more and more. Her blood vessels are visible through her thin skin and her ears are now in position and stand out from her head. Myelin (a protective covering) is beginning to form around her nerves, a process that will continue for a year after she's born. If you're having a girl, her uterus and Fallopian tubes are formed and in place. If your baby is a boy, his genitals are noticeable, though he may hide them from you during an ultrasound.

My Take: The more people I see whom I’ve never met or don’t see frequently, the more I'm aware that I must have a small tummy. I apparently don’t look pregnant! While this might be disappointing to some, it’s turned into a funny conversation starter more than anything.

Since we bought the house and now know the timing, we’ve (I’ve) decided not to set up any baby thing except the changing table before we move. It’s only 2 months and it seems silly to set up a full crib when the kid will be in a bassinet in our room for a few weeks anyway. If we get tired of a guest in our room we’ll simply move the bassinet to his/her room for the remaining time.

I got yelled at by the Wal-Mart lady yesterday when I caught the car seat that fell out of the stroller that Jim was lifting. It was only about 10lbs. and I caught it mostly with my arm out of general reflexes, but this lady was all concerned about me just letting it fall. “That’s why we have insurance” she kept reminding me. I didn’t think anything of it at the time, but afterwards I realized she was right – I shouldn’t be catching large objects falling 7 feet from the “sky”. Then again, no body probably should...

A little Chopin in the morning... and all day long

First off, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MIKE – he’s 25 today! Engaged, with a new house, and a new baby coming very soon... my little brother’s all grown up! awwwwww!

Tom P was a wonderful guy and gave me 7 CDs of classical piano music to play during work. This is intended to stimulate the baby’s brain development and make it smarter. I'm not sure if it’s all bologna or if there’s merit (and there’s no way to tell what they would have been like without it if you played it), but I figure I'm not taking any chances.

So, for the last 3 days, I’ve been a Classical music junkie. No joke, the kid moves a LOT more than normal when it’s on. I assume it’s because s/he likes it, but I think it was Trey who proposed movement is perhaps a DISlike on the baby’s part… oh well. It's stuck with it since I have no way of knowing!

WE GOT THE HOUSE!!!

Our efforts worked and we spent 4 hours signing our life away on the house last night! We agreed to a close date of September 15, mostly in order to give my dear brother some time to save so he can buy our current house!

Here are some pictures of what you'll get to walk through in September! If you click on them they'll blow up a bit so you can see them more clearly.

We will have a 3 car, side-entry garage instead of this front-facing one but all the windows are the same! We pick out brick and shutter patterns on Saturday! Our house will be flipped (with the garage on the left) because of the lot we picked which is the first on the left once you enter our section of the neighborhood.


This is the upstairs. Only options we took here were the 2 sinks in the "kids' bathroom" and jets in the owners bathtub! Jim claims I won't use them, but I beg to differ!




We upgraded all of the starred items on this diagram including the 3-car garage, morning room, kitchen island, large flat window in the living room, fireplace, and 4' extension to the great room.

This is the basement which we are not finishing. So, what you'll see is all concrete walls, support beams, and plumbing!

So, let the home-building advice start flowing!