29 and 164

Today is my golden week!! For those of you who may not be familiar with this...I am 29 years old and it's 29 weeks today, so that makes this my golden week...pretty big deal, huh? I'll check my mailbox when I get home, but I am not holding my breath :-) Today was just like any other week celebration...my morning donut and checking off one more week until baby arrives. I feel like I should be doing something more special...

Anyway, today also makes another milestone. 164. Some of you may be familiar with this number...it's the most I ever remember weighing (actually seeing on a scale) when I was my fattest back in college. I could've been more at one point- I probably stopped weighing myself! Some of you may think to yourselves, "really, no way!", but there is proof...none that I feel like sharing now, but if you want it, I have it! So this morning when I got on the scale and it said 164 I had to take my picture (Joey is gone by the time I am up, so I had to do it myself again...). So here is me at 29 weeks...equivalent to what I weighed, NOT pregnant, in college:

So there it is, my latest belly shot. Eleven weeks left...whoo hoo!

joey's masterpiece

I mentioned before that Joey spent last weekend doing chores and painting his bathroom (the last room in our house that needed to be painted!). Well, here are the results (it's really hard to take a picture of a small space):

This is probably the best shot of the red border, and I didn't use a flash so the beige looks good...

View from the hallway...it's hard to get a good shot and the flash makes the walls look white...but you can see we got some new towels, rugs and shower curtain.

Originally Joey wanted a blue and silver bathroom, but that just doesn't match the rest of our house. Luckily, it got put off long enough that I could change his mind! We used colors we already had in our house (paint is EXPENSIVE!). I had the idea to put a 6-8" stripe on the top, and Joey executed it perfectly! He painted the beige color first, then taped the line, then painted the red...when he took off the tape, the red had soaked through so he had to go back and re-cut the line with the beige BY HAND. He said he used like 3 bristles from the brush all the way around. I am glad I was not home during this, b/c I am sure some choice words were said pretty loudly, and the baby can hear pretty well now...

Good news is that all of our "big" projects for the house are done, and that was our goal for April. So mission accomplished! Now we just wait for the furniture so we can finish up the nursery! :-)

i hate soccer

When I was little and used the word "hate" my mom told me that I can't hate people, I can only hate things. Well, soccer is a thing and I HATE it! I understand that it's an easy and cheap sport for kids, but I don't care. There are PLENTY of other sports for them to do. I do NOT want to spend my life watching soccer. Joey and I were having a conversation one day about being able to veto one sport/activity. Mine was soccer. Yes, I know it's not about me, it's about the kids and I am all about exposing my kids to all different kinds of things, but there is no rule that I have to expose them to EVERYTHING! My parents didn't have me in soccer and I turned out pretty awesome! Joey also didn't play soccer, and I like him too! So anyway, just don't ever tell me that my kids will be playing soccer :-)

my first shower

On Saturday I had my first shower- yay! Amy (Alex and Mychal's mom, my bosses wife, my mom's friend...whatever you know her as!) threw it for me out at her house. It was a random group of women who are all in my life somehow, but not necessarily each others. I always get nervous when that happens because I want people to be comfortable, and I think that they were. Amy served some awesome apps and organic wine...I am pretty sure I made a meal out of the apps! I did not have the wine, but I did get a pink sparkling lemonade drink and got to drink from a martini glass! Here are some pics from the day:

Amy, Janet, and my mom (in her granny glasses) watching intently as I open a gift...

Opening up some Pampers Swaddlers- the diaper of choice, as recommended by other moms...

CLOTHES!! Not including pj's and basic onesies. Some of these I already had, MANY are from the shower!

I was very lucky at this shower and got some REALLY nice gifts. Not only did Amy throw the shower, but she bought the Pack N Play (which I played with last night!). My mom also surprised me and got us the car seat- which is what Joey wanted, so he was pretty happy!! Everyone else was very generous and thoughtful and I really appreciated them all coming out! Juliette is going to be one spolied child...

babies babies everywhere

I have talked about the baby rush of a few months ago... three of my four bridesmaids had babies. Now the 4th one is pregnant with her second! That means my bridal party and I will all have had/be having babies in 2009- crazy!! (according to the image above, Lindsey should be having a girl). I am feeling pretty good about my personal attendant getting prego in '09, so we'll count her soon too! I am going to have to find a day for a photo shoot of us all :-)

On a totally unrelated note, Joey is awesome! He spent his day off today refinishing the chairs on the porch, doing some touch up painting around the house (you wouldn't have thought it was all that bad, but it looks so much nicer!), and painting his bathroom. He also managed to get to the gym this morning for his workout. I am super proud of him for his workouts- he is doing an AWESOME job! I have the bestest hubby!

Have a great weekend!

three...

So today I am 28 weeks. I have about 3 months left, and I am staring my 3rd trimester. Brent says that I have been pregnant forever, but so far I am ok with the pace (I know my answer will change when I have 3 weeks left!). Here are somethings that have to do with three...

1. Summer Vacation is 3 months long...those always went fast

2. Three months ago was about how long ago Lucy was born...and then the rest of the babies came pouring out! That seemed like it JUST happened!

3. Juliette has kicked my mom 3 times, earning her a total of $30!

Ok, I thought that was going to be easier...oh well. One more fun fact about the baby at 28 weeks, according to the web: She is about 15 inches long, about the length of an amusement park cinnamon-sugar-coated churro (yum!), and weighs 2 to 3 pounds. LOVE the food analogies...

I'll try for a more exciting post tomorrow!

joey's ready

On Sunday we went to the Twins game with my family. Joey does not really care much for baseball, so getting him to one game a year is quite and accomplishment. While we were sitting at the game and talking and I started to tell Joey the story of when Brent (at age 13-ish) caught a ball only to have the moron adult behind him strip it from his hands. Everytime this story is told, Brent recalls the welts that were on his hand as a result of him catching the ball. We still hate whoever that guy is. ANYWAY, within about the next 15 minutes a foul ball was coming our way...and it started to look really close. Being pregnant and all, I ducked. All the people around me were standing. When I heard the cheering I knew the ball had been caught and I was safe. Then I see that Joey is the one who caught the ball! I am kinda bummed that I missed seeing him actually catch it...the kid played baseball for like one year and doesn't even own a glove (note: he is athletic and has some coordination, but still the guy doesn't have a glove!). Then, in a nice act, Joey turned around and gave the ball to the little boy behind us...totally made that kid's day (I assume). The crowd ooohed and ahhhed at his nice gesture, so he stood up and tipped his hat...dork. Anyway, it was nice to see him thinking about little kids and making it special for the little boy behind us. He also commented on a little girl who was about 3 all decked out in her pink Twins gear. I think he's getting ready...

CLUTCH

For the past 11 years I have coached tennis at CDH. I've worked with the varsity, coached the JV, but I'd have to say my favorite experience has been with the C team of the past two years (ok, there was one other group of girls that I really liked...yes Alexis, your group). Two years ago I thought that coaching tennis wasn't going to fit my schedule anymore...if you're not teaching, a coaches schedule is hard to do! I stopped by try-outs and saw the numbers they had. The biggest issue is always court space, so I suggested we run practice from 4:30-5:30 (after the varsity) when there is space. I could be there by 4:30. Long story short, it worked out...we went M, W, F, and Saturday- which was PLENTY for this group.

Last year I had 14 kids...all sophs and juniors (we went with side ponys):This year I had 22 kids...all juniors and seniors (moved up to pigtails):

My kids from last year told Spika that they didn't want to try out, they just wanted to be on my team (usually kids who miss try-outs get put on the C-team), then I had some B-team kids from last year "drop" to be on my team. Also, they had friends who wanted to play, so they'd join. It was really a fun group. They didn't know much at all, and I made handouts every practice for the skill of the day (to prove that we were really learning something). At practice about 10-14 kids would show up, but when we had the scavenger hunt or parties, all 22 were suddenly available!

The title of this post comes from our unofficial team name. Last year we were trying to find out the team we were playing when there were a bunch of teams walking around and my kids asked what team they were and I said, "I dunno, not the varsity." So we started calling ourselves non-varsity (sounded much better than C team). Then this year we got into saying how clutch (using the "C" in c-team!) we were...not even really sure of the origin of this, but it stuck. EVERYTHING we did was clutch. At the end of the season I had shirts made for our yearbook photo (another day with good attendance), seen in the picture above. Out year end party also had a CLUTCH cake, made by the juniors:

There are two more awesome things I want to share about this team.

1. Last year one of the mom's wrote and email to me after the season saying how much she appreciated the chance her daughter got-as a junior- to come out for a sport and have lots of fun, learn new skills, and learn that she likes tennis. When everything is so specialized and intense, this was great experience for her. Her note also referred to the respect, patience, and excellent coaching to make the experience fun and worthwhile (not trying to toot my own horn here too much, but with the way sports are getting to be now, this was so nice to hear!). I have the note printed and up on my bulletin board at work.

2. This team is just a NICE bunch of girls. When I saw them at school or hockey games this year it was like I was a rockstar :-) So now that I am preggo, they are throwing me a shower! How cute is that??? They mentioned it and I wasn't sure if it would really happen, but it's May 2nd at one of the girls house (the girl whose mom wrote me the email!!). I am expecting a CLUTCH onesie :-) It is so nice for them to do this...it's so far out of season and theyre not really around me or anything so it's pretty special!

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!!!

kids say the funniest things...

On Thursdays I go to Como Elementary and do a reading group with eight 4th graders. My old cooperating teacher is the principal there, so that's how I ended up there- it's also an "early" school so I can volunteer at the beginning of the day and still be to work relatively on time. Anyway, it's an enrichment group for these kids (they're the good ones...), so they are all pretty smart and polite and good listeners, etc. I told them quite a while ago that I was pregnant (WAY before any belly bump, etc.). However, I had been able to wear sweaters and hide the "I am pregnant (not fat) bump" until the last few weeks. Well, today I am wearing something pretty tight, making the belly obvious. We're sitting around getting ready to start, and one girl looks at me and says, "I am not sure if this is inappropriate or not, but are you pregnant?" Then the girl next to her says, "Yeah, she told us a long time ago!" So I asked the first girl if she just thought I was getting fat, and she was all flustered and like, "No, but you were always skinny (ahhhh, I love 4th graders), and then you kinda had a belly" So I said, "So you think I am fat?" I loved messing with her because she got all flustered. Is that wrong? Anyway, it was all in good fun and we all had a laugh. Then I came to work and ate my 27 week donut :-)

p.s. When I was student teaching back in '01 I had a student ask me the same question. It was not funny then.

almost 27 week photo shoot

Tomorrow is 27 weeks and since I haven't posted a belly pic in a while I thought I would do it now. Yesterday I was dressed up for a work meeting and my belly looked pretty big, so I thought it would be a good time. Joey likes to laugh at me when we take pictures because I make him take a bunch and I am all concerned about looking "cute"...I have a feeling that is going to change really quickly. I have always know my face would get fat/chubby/full whatever politically correct thing you want to call it b/c that is how I work. I have also gotten what I call "my college boobs" back...sometimes they're just tought to hide. We took the pics against in the nursery so you can see the walls again...we still love them, which is good!

best "normal" belly pic

joey laughed at my face in this one...i was trying to talk to him and hold a pose

making a face and doing the "heart on belly" thing...
what turned out to look like an artsy shot was really joey taking a picture when I wasn't ready...

So there you have it...my belly. More to come as it grows...

busy weekend!

Last Friday I had another ultrasound to make sure that my placenta had moved away from my cervix (which it did, yay!). The nice thing about having to check up on this was that it was another "free" look at the baby. Both my mom and Joey were able to be in there for this one. It confirmed that she is still a girl (good, b/c we already painted), and we think she looks like me...except once her cord was kind of in front of her face, making her look like she had a moustache, in which case she looked Joey. Everything else was looking good and normal! Here is a pic from the day:

juliette at 26 weeks

We also brought pizza and salad to the staff at my doctor's office! I want them all to remember me, so if I don't get MY doctor for the birth, that I can say to whoever the doctor is, "I am the girl who brought pizza" and then they will like me :-) haha!

Friday night we had dinner with Matt & Amber and they bought us some cute little onesies and some pj's for the baby. Saturday we went to do Easter at my parents...Juliette made out pretty nicely with an array of E-bunny gifts- Joey and I did pretty well too! Sunday I FINALLY dyed my Easter eggs (see below), and then we went to Joey's parents for Easter. We were pretty pooped and Joey was actually asleep by 5pm on Sunday!

all the eggs in the little bunny that i got (fyi, they have to sit sideways or they fall through!)

my favorite egg...

Have a great week!

my own mocha

When I went to Chicago, I saw Meghan's espresso maker. She made me a mocha (decaf!). So then I wanted an espresso machine. When I went home on Sunday I told Joey I wanted to stop by Macy's and check out them out. I had seem them before for like $200+, and I didn't want to spend that. HOWEVER, I found this nice little Krups one on sale for $60 (so with my discount it was only about $50). It does all that I need...makes the espresso and steams the milk! Whoo hoo! My only issue so far has been finding the right container to steam the milk in...apparently $60 doesn't get you that little metal pitcher! If you know where to get one- TELL ME!

This morning Joey woke up early to go work out while I got ready for work. When he came home I made us mochas with a shot of irish cream (syrup, not liquor!). It was fun to sit around with our drinks and chat before I went off to work. I felt really old too!

i passed!

Yesterday I had my 26 week appointment and that includes the glucose test. All of you recent moms know what this is. Basically your blood sugar has to be under 140...if you're over you have to take the 3-hour version. I was 135! Whoo hoo! All my other stats are normal too, so that was good...just plugging along! Also, I only gained 2lbs since my last visit (which is GOOD b/c the time before that I had gained 14! I got a bit excited about the opportunity to gain weight!!). So I am up 19 at this point...with 14 weeks to go and averaging a pound a week, that puts me in the "normal" range, but there's still lots of time to mess that up!

Funny story: On Monday night I came home from working at Macy's. Joey was already asleep, but it was still pretty early so he woke up when I came in the bedroom. I was talking to him a bit and getting my pj's on...he looked at me and said, "are you gaining weight?" I looked at him with a "no shit" look and asked why he asked that. He said, "I know you are in your belly because you show me that, but are you gaining it anywhere else because it doesn't look like it." Ahhh... such a weird way to say something nice, but I'll take it!

second post of the day, brought to you by the color purple...

I have tried not to post twice in one day, but this was a very eventful weekend so I am doing another post! Britney on Friday (see below) and then cleaning/organizing/painting on Saturday and Sunday...busy weekend!

On Saturday Joey and I woke up and started cleaning and organizing the nursery. It used to be my craft room (Joey called it the crap room...), but we have slowly been trying to move stuff out of there. I have done some minor re-organizing in the last few months, but this was the BIG one b/c everything had to be out! Joey had built some shelves in the garage a few weekends ago, so we filled those up. We have minimal storage space in the house so it was nice to have these shelves!! We had to take a break for lunch (Joey's dads b-day), but then we came home and started the painting!! I taped and Joey painted! We also put up a border/moulding in the center of the room. I would like to say that I saved the day on this one!! It was about 9pm when we finally were ready to put it up and Joey was getting tired/frustrated. He even called home to ask for help the next day. I wanted to get it done...so it was going to get done :-) The walls weren't exactly 90 degrees, so when he would cut at an angle, there was a gap. We adjusted a degree and were fine. We also have some angles in the room that are- get ready for a 4th grade math terms- acute and obtuse, so I printed a protractor off of the internet and measured and did all the math to figure out how to cut the trim! It was so fun. I even did on corner all by myself (cutting with the angle saw thing and everything)! I feel like I should call my elementary math school teachers and tell them how I used a skill from way back then...so here's my shout out to Mrs. Ford, Mrs. Friedman, Mrs. Ashcraft, Mr. Bryan, Ms. Bell, and Ms. Swanson (yes, I remember who I went to for math every year...). Sunday Joey work on the trim and I did the grocery shopping and some cooking and cleaning. He also put together our chair, but we realized they delivered the wrong one! Oops! The fabric and color were right, but the size and features were wrong. A new chair is on it's way! But for now, here are some of the pics of the room:

Joey making sure the trim is level...

the supplies...

Joey working on the touch ups...

the chair in its corner...the new one is coming!

the corners that I did all by myself...and it's behind the door :-(
So that's the second update for the day! Once we get the furniture and bedding all in there, I'll post some new pics! That's about 4-6 weeks out though...

it's britney, bitch

So I spent my Friday night like most normal moms-to-be...at the Britney concert with my mom! That just sounds wrong. It was really fun though. I am well aware that Britney lip-syncs most everything, but I was genuinely intrigued to see the show. We had awesome seats (thanks to Laura and VK), and luckily were not surrounded by super annoying concert-goers. This is the best picture I got of the two of us (not that you can really tell we were at the concert...): Here is a bootlegged portion of the concert, courtesy of my canon power shot (I tried to post the "If You Seek Amy" clip, but it was too long, so I went with some old school):

baby things

This baby is pretty needy even before she is here! Granted, I am a pretty big influence on most of her needs, but still. Registering for a wedding was ten times easier. I knew I needed some china and some kitchen appliances. Registering for a baby, not as easy! You don't know what you need or what they will be like, so you have to register for it all and hope it works out. Then you forget something and have to go get it yourself anyway! Good news is I finally got it all done!! I registered at two places...Baby on Grand and Babies R Us. I LOVE Baby on Grand. I am then that crazy about Babies R Us, but understand the need.
I would like to take some time to rave about Baby on Grand (http://www.babyongrand.com/). First, they are a small business and I like to support that. They have a store on Grand Ave in St. Paul, and for you across the river people, a store in Hopkins. Second, the owners have been MORE than nice with their time and expertise. They are parents of some kids Brent and I went to high school with and they have been very nice in offering their help and discounts to me and my family!! I think that I have spent at least 15 hours with Patty!! She really knows her stuff. When I recently had a furniture issue (wrong color got delivered and the set I had picked was not available in the color I wanted...) she worked with me to find what I wanted and was genuinely excited when we found something to work! She also spent about 3 hours talking bedding with me (I realize there is NO need to spend this amount of time on bedding!! However, I wanted purple and that happens to be the hardest thing to find unless you like it covered in butterflies, flowers, or really lavender...I wanted a pretty specific color!). I am hoping that people choose to shop here (or at least give it a look) to support them. Their prices are competitive with the chain stores (i.e. the Bumbo chair and car seat bases are the same as at Babies R Us), you get a much better experience, and you get to support a local business. Ok, enough on that, but I just wanted to give them a shout out for all of their great work!

The furniture is close enough to what I posted before, but I will try to give you some idea of the bedding. This company has 20 or so fabrics that they put into the same dye and each fabric "takes" it just a bit differently. So you can mix and match fabrics for the bumper, skirt, sheet, etc. and they will be from the same color family (www.bellanottelinens.com). I liked their amethyst collection. It was the purple I wanted. It was also pricy, but I have been saving for a long time for baby, so I splurged. I know it's ridiculous, but at least I know that!

Here is the bumper:

Here is the skirt:
I wasn't going to get a blanket, but Patty really wanted me to have it so I got a GREAT deal on it :-) This picture shows it in yellow, but it will really be in the amethyst. It takes all the 20 or so fabrics and puts them into a quilt. It's actually a pretty cool piece!

Ok, so that is it on bedding. I have spent so much time on baby furniture and bedding, I am pretty sure I could sell it to you- even if you don't have a kid! I am glad it's DONE!

The rest of our weekend will be spent painting and getting a few things in the nursery!! I'll post pics once I have them. Have a great weekend!