Easter 2011

Every holiday it seems like we're running all over the place to celebrate and this one was no different.  The O'Connors arrived late on Friday so we went to Scott's parents' house to color eggs on Saturday morning.  I'm still a big kid & love to color eggs so I made one for Baby T and it looked like a 2 year old did it.  Where have my artistic skills gone??  (I'm holding it in the picture on the right).  That evening we went back over to Ron & Ann's for burgers and to catch up with our Chicago crew.  All the kids are getting so big and it really sunk in as we celebrated Maille's 13th birthday!  How do we have a niece that's a teenager with a boyfriend?!  Scott & I started dating when Maille was 2 so I've seen her (and obviously the rest of the kiddos) grow up.  They're all awesome kids with big hearts so it's bittersweet to see them get older.  I made a pact with them that they will be the certified diaper changers when baby T arrives & they all agreed!  Can't wait to see if they actually stick to it! haha  

We celebrated Easter on Sunday starting out at the Tucker's for an Easter egg hunt and brunch.  Everyone had to put on comfy clothes since it was sooo muddy out from all the rain we've had.  The kids got lots of candy & even some money and Scott & I got our last Easter basket because it will be all about baby next year!  Buffett and Tiki were even spoiled with treats and toys!  After finding all the eggs, the kids ended the hunt with the tradition of throwing the real eggs at the garden, or the fake owl this year.  We know these kids are all super athletic in soccer, baseball, gymnastics, etc but we recognized that Kylie was blessed with her Aunt Sarah's throwing ability which is not very accurate or hard hahaha.  Here are some pictures of the egg throw & hunt:

Egg toss

Action shot

Did we get them all??

Scott's fashion statement...uumm...??

We then moved on to the Jeffers' house to celebrate Easter with my side of the family.  Unfortunately my camera died so I don't have any pictures from this but since all of us are grown we don't do an egg hunt or anything.  We do a lot of hanging out, eating, catching up, eating, just acting goofy, and eating.  I'm sure Beth, Laura, & Ashley are glad that I don't have any incriminating pictures of them with the easter bunny/cleatus teeth in.  Feel free to send me those pics, girls!  :)  It's usually this time of the day when we are in a food coma & ready for a nap.  

Basket from the Tucker Easter bunny

Our last stop was at my parents' house to get our Easter baskets and baby T had a basket, too!  This is going to be one spoiled child if it's already spoiled & not even here yet!  We got lots of candy & cologne/perfume that we wanted, the puggies got some treats & baby T got toys & a bib that says "Star of Mommy's Blog."  Isn't that the truth :)  We had a great Easter but were exhausted by the end & we still had to stay up to watch the Blackhawks game (they won by the way).  We hope you all had a wonderful Easter!  

Baby T basket

Bump Watch 2011: Week 18

Scott & I decided that we wanted to start looking at furniture for the nursery and other baby accessories for planning purposes so we ventured to Babies R Us on Friday evening.  Luckily we didn't encounter too many screaming babies - that usually ruins the fun for me, haha.  We found cute bedding & furniture but were very overwhelmed by the stroller, car seat, bouncy seat, activity mat and pack-n-play options.  Talk about decisions!  AND $$$, yikes!  We zoomed through the clothing section as we'll hopefully be back to buy either blue or pink next week!!!  (As long as he or she cooperates). 

On Monday my sisters & I went shopping & discovered that Babies R Us has a much better selection of baby stuff than Target <sad face>.  We did some baby "looking" because, believe it or not, we didn't buy anything!  The only thing we spent money on that day was food - Taste of Thai for lunch & Twist N Swirlz frozen yogurt after shopping.  We were being fat kids that day.  We can't wait to go shopping again and actually buy stuff for the prince or princess!!  One last note:  my pants are getting tighter by the day and I think I actually have the first hint of a baby bump finally!!  (I really just feel fat though). 

   

Pregnancy Highlights:

How far along: 18 weeks

Size of baby: 5.5 inches, the size of a sweet potato

Total weight gain/loss: I really didn't want to weigh myself after indulging at Easter but as of Monday I'm still around the same weight.  Definitely haven't gained more than 5 lbs all together.

Maternity clothes: Still held out all week!  I'm not sure if I'm lazy and don't want to make time to shop or if I just realllly don't want to.  I went to Target on Monday to get their Bella Band but they only had nude left & I wanted black or white.  Ok maybe next week! 

Gender: T-minus 8 days and counting!!

Movement: This one has frustrated me b/c I'm still not sure if I'm feeling air bubbles, having small muscle spasms, or baby.  I'm going to go ahead & say its baby :)

Sleep: Woke up about 3 times per night this week, that's no fun!  But I'm not uncomfortable yet, just have to pee a lot! haha

What I miss:  Being able to stay up to watch the Blackhawks games that start at 9pm!  I think I've stayed up until 11:30 for one & that was enough.  I also miss being able to take allergy medicine because mine are really bothering me! 

Cravings:  Centrum Cafe's white chocolate frozen custard, its sooo good!  I buy a concrete every so often and snack on it for a few days - heaven :)

Symptoms: I thought I would for sure have a new symptom this week after I ordered 'medium' spice at Taste of Thai on Monday BUT it still didn't give me heartburn.  I know a lot of women get heartburn pretty bad even without spicy food.  I guess my little nugget liked it because it was HOT!  Other than that I was just really tired this week.

Memorable moment for the week:  Celebrating Easter with the family & realizing that we'll have a munchkin to carry around the egg hunt next year!

Today I'm dreamin' of...

the beach of course!!  I would really like to be here today:

The Windsong Resort on Grace Bay in Turks & Caicos

This was one of our honeymoon options that I used to dream about but it wasn't all inclusive so we passed.  Someday we'll be here...  If you're bored, check out their website & be prepared to drool over the photos.  http://www.windsongresort.com/windsong-resort-turks-caicos-photos.php

(I promise I'll get week 18 & Easter posted in the next day or two but I need to upload pictures first!)

Bump Watch 2011: Week 17

Week 17 has flown by just like all the rest so this will be short & sweet.  The big excitement for the week was the tornado warnings that popped up all evening on Friday and now again on Tuesday!  Spring weather in Illinois is crazy!  Golf ball sized hail and monsoon rains, yuck!  We also got together with some friends on Saturday night and a few unnamed girls begged to get potential baby names out of me & I wouldn't budge - so proud!  :)  We're still holding strong to keeping the name a secret until the big day & no one is very happy about it - we have to have one surprise right?!

Pregnancy Highlights:

How far along: 17 weeks

Size of baby: 5 inches, the size of an onion

Total weight gain/loss: Still holding steady at 3 lbs

Maternity clothes: None yet BUT I did come to the realization that I will probably have a dressing room meltdown when I do start shopping for them.  I looked online to get some ideas & everything is very boring or just plain hideous...unless you want to pay $300 for a dress & I'm definitely NOT!

Gender: We are soooo excited to find out in 2 weeks!!

Movement: Still nothing for sure...  :(

Sleep: I'm sleeping pretty well, thankfully.

What I miss: My diet coke/soda cravings have gone away so I'm wondering if I can possibly give up soda after this pregnancy...Hhmm, we'll see when the little one comes.

Cravings: Nothing out of the ordinary, I'm pretty boring on this one.

Symptoms: Boohoo.... you get the point

Baby dreams:  I've had 2 baby dreams & it was a girl both times.  Scott had a dream last night & we were hanging out at a pool & the baby was a BOY!  Gosh, who knows what we'll have!  :) :) :)

Bump Watch 2011: Week 16

This week was non-stop so we have lots to update!  Scott & I got Blackhawks tickets as a wedding gift back in November for the Blues vs. Hawks game on April 6 - we couldn't wait to get up there!  Our friends Bob & Lanae (Scott's boss & his wife) went up with us Wednesday afternoon and we hung out at the WestEnd Bar before the game.  It's one of our favorites & is always packed before every Hawks game.  We had great tickets & the Hawks pulled out an exciting overtime win - playoffs, here we come again!  We even got to see hockey legend Bobby Hull in his suite right behind us!  All in all, a very fun trip to Chicago BUT no shopping so it wasn't perfect. ; )  (Kidding)

Next up on the agenda was one of my bestest friend's bridal shower & bachelorette party!  It seems that all of my high school girlfriends only get together on special occasions now that we're older so it's that much more fun every time we get together!  It's so hard to find time to get everyone together so when we do, we live it up!  The shower started at 11am so it was a full day of celebrating Katie!  I wasn't feeling too great that day for some reason but I pushed through because I soooo wanted to go out for her bachelorette party!  Scott even called me that afternoon to check on me & said not to push it if I didn't feel good.  Of course, I broke down in tears because I didn't want to miss the once in a lifetime celebration!  It was definitely one of those moments like when you're young & you can't go to a birthday party because you're sick.  I'm such a baby these days!!  hahaha.  I ended up taking some tylenol & I was back in action!  



Katie & I

I made it out until 10:30pm & it was a loooong day!  Katie's party theme was "Katie's last rodeo" & our shirts said "Katie's last ride before she's a bride!"  Everyone at the bars loved us cowgirls!  I'd say my first sober bachelorette party was a success & Baby T got lots of belly rubs & love from my girls.


Katie & I have tons of fun memories from when we were little through high school & LincolnLand (I might not remember all the LLCC memories though, haha!)  Quite the partner in crime during our prime partying years!  I wish you & Joe many years of happiness & I know you'll be together forever!  I might add that I knew you guys were going to get married even when you denied it years ago.  Love youuu!



"The most beautiful discovery true friends make is that they can grow separately without growing apart."   ~Elisabeth Foley

We finally had our 16 week doctor's appointment on Monday April 11!  I count down the days to these appointments because I get to hear baby T's heartbeat - there's nothing like it! This was a boring appointment so no sonogram.  I got to see my doctor one last time before she delivers her 6th baby this Friday!  I was kind of bummed that I wouldn't be seeing her for 3 months but it will be good to meet other doctors in the office in case they end up delivering for me.  Here are the latest & greatest pregnancy stats...  

Pregnancy Highlights:

How far along: 16 weeks

Size of baby: 4.5 inches, about the size of an avocado

Total weight gain/loss: I'm up 3 pounds altogether which seems a little low but I'm pretty sure I'll pack on the lbs at the end so I'm not going crazy yet.

Maternity clothes: I'm still holding out on even shopping for them!  I used the rubber band trick twice at the end of this week so a bella band purchase is a definite for this weekend.

Gender: We find out in 3 weeks!!!  Most people are still telling me boy, we will see :)

Movement: I thought I might have felt something when I was sitting on the couch at work but I'm still not sure & that was the only time.

Sleep: I'm sleeping pretty well, thankfully.

What I miss: Staying out all night & partying it up for bachelorette parties! BUT I definitely don't miss those hangovers! haha

Cravings: Nothing out of the ordinary, I'm pretty boring on this one.

Symptoms: Oh you know, just crying all the time!

Most memorable moment of the week:  Hearing the heartbeat at the doctor - 142!  It makes it all so real.  I'm still not sure it's totally hit me that there's really a baby in there.  Come on baby bump!!

Not the most flattering photo but we forgot to take one so we had to hurry one day before work.

Bump Watch 2011: Week 15

This week has been pretty normal, trying to adjust to work life after doing a lot of nothing in Florida for a week. We had a very relaxing weekend full of laundry & cleaning, woohoo! We've started operation house organization, too, in hopes that we can get all the little clutter totally organized before we start on the baby room in a month or two. We also started looking at furniture for the

nursery - it's all becoming more real now :)

Since this post is pretty boring, I'll share an awesome book that Scott's cousin Lynn sent me a few weeks ago. It's a book about how to be stylish during pregnancy - such a cute idea! I've read the beginning but not the whole thing yet. I've learned that heals will do wonders for your legs, long necklaces elongate your frame, and scarves are great accessories! (Kind of the same advice if you aren't pregnant, lol). It's a really nice change from all of the serious pregnancy books out there. I also borrowed Jenny McCarthy's "Belly Laughs" from a friend at work and would highly recommend it! I share many of her crazy worries about pregnancy and the birth process so it was nice to know that I'm not the only one! I think it would be entertaining for those that aren't pregnant, too.

Pregnancy Highlights:

How far along: 15 weeks

Size of baby: 4 inches, about the size of an apple

Total weight gain/loss: I indulged in Florida so I'm probably up 2 or 3 pounds, I'll wait until my next appointment to know for sure.

Maternity clothes: Haven't even gone to look yet but I've thought about getting a bella band just in case. My pants are feeling tighter at the end of the day but they all still button!

Gender: Hopefully we'll find out in 5 weeks!!

Movement: None, but I'm not really sure what to watch for.

Sleep: Ok, always up at 12:30 & 5:30-ish

What I miss: Still diet coke

Cravings: I did my first "fat preggo girl" thing this week - decided I needed easy mac at 9 o'clock at night. Otherwise, my eating habits are pretty normal.

Symptoms: More pulling & stretching to make room for baby & still really emotional - I probably cry or get teary eyed every couple days :*( lol

I pulled up my cardigan but there's still no legit baby bump! I'm finally to the point where I'm ready to have a little bump - never thought I'd say that. I'm sure one day I'll just blow up & there will be nothing little about it, hahaha.

Bump Watch 2011: Week 14

A few weeks after we found out we were pregnant, my mind fast forwarded to March 19: Spring break in Sanibel. Would I be showing yet, would I be sick, could I lay out, etc? Well all my questions were answered by the time March rolled around: I wasn't showing - just a little bloated, I wasn't sick, and I could lay out as long as I wore sunscreen. I was a happy camper & very excited for a vacation! I decided to wear my bikini since I would probably rock the tankini for most of the summer. While in Florida I tried to decide if I had the beginnings of a baby bump or just a little leftover beer belly, haha. I think the jury's still out on that. I'll make another whole post for Florida so for now, I'll say we had a blast, ate lots of food, and got great tans.

Pregnancy Highlights:

How far along: 14 weeks

Size of baby: 3.5 inches, about the size of a lemon

Total weight gain/loss: Gained 1 lb since last appointment

Maternity clothes: Haven't bought any yet, wore a lot of dresses in Florida.

Gender: We've decided to find out in 6 weeks! Beth & Sue think it's a girl & most others think boy.

Movement: None yet

Sleep: Slept ok, but missed my own bed at home

What I miss: Rum runners, Captain & diets at the pool & beach! (Wow, I sound like an alcoholic!) haha

Cravings: I really wanted fish & shrimp but I had to limit my intake this week so I ate a little bit most days.

Symptoms: Still kind of tired, feeling my uterus & ligaments stretch, very emotional!

 

(Pardon the partial nudity but I wanted to do a bare belly picture while I had a tan)

Beer belly or baby bump? You decide :)

Bump Watch 2011: Week 12

Weeks 8-12 were pretty uneventful as I still didn't have any signs of morning sickness & felt so lucky that the first trimester was going so well. That is, until I caught a 24 hour flu bug on March 7. I won't go into the details but I'll say that it was much more than morning sickness and kept me up all night. Since it's my first pregnancy, I of course got nervous & called my doctor to make sure the baby would be ok. She informed me that the baby will definitely get what it needs, but I'll be the one to go without if anyone - oh goodie :) I felt better after a few days and was right back on track just in time for St. Patrick's day. I offered to be the DD for the day & went downtown to enjoy the festivities. Many people were surprised to see me out but I thought, I'm pregnant, not dying, so I enjoyed the day. I hope to be able to attend many more events throughout my pregnancy including weddings, birthdays, and bachelorette parties because I don't want to miss out on these once in a lifetime events for my friends & families! :)

I forgot to mention in the last post that we told our friends, co-workers, & basically the world about our pregnancy the day after Valentine's day. My co-workers were suuuper excited that we now had 3 pregnant women in my office! There's definitely something in the water! Many of our close friends had suspected this for the past few weeks as I was staying away from the bar and not drinking when I did show up. That's a pretty obvious tip-off but I had some decent excuses to keep them on their toes :) Many of our friends seem to think that baby T is a boy...I guess time will tell.

This week I had my first pregnancy dream & the baby was a ...... girl! Who knows if there's any truth to the theory that whatever you dream it is, it turns out to be. I dreamt that I slept right through my whole labor & woke up when I was delivering so I was bummed that I missed the whole thing. Then, Scott & I couldn't decide on a name for the next 2 days and went home without one. HAHAHA! Can you guess what we did the next day? Gave our baby name list some more attention. :) To explain the next section: I'm going to start a weekly pregnancy highlight update so we can compare pictures, size, etc throughout the rest of the pregnancy.

Pregnancy Highlights:

How far along: 12 weeks

Size of baby: 2 inches, about the size of a plum

Total weight gain/loss: Gained .8 of a lb since last appointment

Maternity clothes: Haven't bought any yet, trying to wait as long as possible on this one!

Gender: We're still deciding if we want to find out...but leaning towards finding out :) I've guessed a boy for the first few weeks.

Movement: None yet

Sleep: Sleeping like a baby, getting up once to pee when I never use to

What I miss: Diet coke!

Cravings: Nothing specific yet

Symptoms: Just tired but that could be from working until 1 am throughout February.

Here's a pre-baby bump photo so we have a basis for comparison.

Bump Watch 2011: Week 8

Finally, after 4 long weeks of waiting, the big day was upon us - February 14 -Valentine's Day - oh yeah, and our first doctors appointment!! This day turned out to be a very eventful & memorable day! We had an appointment at 9am & we drove separately because we had to go to work right after. We "pretty much" knew where the office was so Scott followed me just in case. He got stopped by a train so I drove up a few blocks and found the office & parked, thinking that he would also see the parking lot. Well, as our luck would have it, he thought it was on the other side of the road and turned the other way right before the entrance. I had no idea so I walked up to the door & turned to wait for him before I went in...and I waited...and waited...and waited. I called his cell phone to give him directions but it just rang...and rang...and rang. (You get the idea of how happy I was). I guessed that he had forgotten his phone so I called my sister to pass the time until he got there. I finally saw his car come to the stop sign down the street - pheww!! BUT he decided to turn the other way! OOohhmygoshhh, we're going to be late to our first baby doctor appointment!! I stood outside for what felt like hours trying to figure out if I was going to have to go in without him. :( Luckily, he finally found the building and I was so happy that he actually made it, that I didn't even care about what had just happened.

We got checked in and the nerves began. I still didn't have any symptoms and didn't feel pregnant at all so I just wanted to make sure that there was actually a baby in there somewhere! I prepared myself thinking that we would see the doctor, do blood work & have the sonogram at the end. Boy was I wrong. The sonographer came out & took us back to do the sonogram first - NOW?! I'm not ready! hahaha I didn't know I would be that nervous! Well, wouldn't you guess, up came the mass of cells also known as Baby T. He/she looked like more of a shrimp or a whale than a fetus but I was thrilled to see that there was someone growing in there! The baby measured 8 weeks 5 days, exactly what we had estimated, and had a heartbeat of 174 which is pretty high but normal. The nurse said everything looked great and she sent us on to see Dr. Stone. The appointment went well & we love our new doctor! We got a few doctor recommendations from friends & we're so glad we trusted them :) She's actually pregnant with her 6th baby due in April - she obviously loves babies! The worst part was drawing 5 vials of blood and the nurse was aaaawful! Oh well, I better get use to it, right!? We both went to work and were both questioned about why our "appointment" lasted a few hours...yep, both of our offices were already onto us! We both denied that we were pregnant all day which took forever because we planned to tell our families that night. Since it was valentines day we decided to make valentine's cards to tell our parents. Here are a few photos of the cards we made:

Outside & inside of the card

Our families were both incredibly surprised & excited for us. I think my mom screamed for 10 seconds straight, Ron said he knew that's what our card said, my dad was speechless, and Ann was stunned. Our brothers & sisters were all thrilled to be aunts & uncles to baby T! Overall, Valentine's day 2011 turned out to be one of the most memorable days of our lives - I'm not sure any other Valentine's day will be able to beat the day that we saw our little peanut for the first time :)

Bump Watch 2011: We're Expecting!!

Just 3 months after we said "I do," Scott & I found out that we were expecting our first baby, due September 21, 2011. I took an at-home test Thursday January 13 because "I knew I wasn't pregnant" & I wanted to make sure I could have a few cocktails that weekend. After finishing dinner & a glass of wine I decided to "get it out of the way" and took the test. Much to my surprise it came back positive! I quickly tried to think of a cute way to tell Scott but I was in shock so I just walked out and presented him with the test. Of course I did anothe

r just to double check and it was positive, too. Scott was over-the-moon excited & I was stunned & just couldn't believe it. I don't know if other women do it or it's just me, but I didn't want to get too excited until after I heard the heartbeat & saw the baby - I think I was protecting myself just in case. I think I said "I can't believe it" a million times that night!

I went to work the next day with a huge secret & a big smile on my face! My 1st appointment wasn't for another month (at 8 weeks) and we wanted to wait to see the sonogram to tell anyone, even our families. This was probably the hardest secret we'll ever have to keep! I'm sharing a few pictures that we took that night to document the evening. Notice the dogs in every picture, they have no idea how their lives are about to change :)

First Official Blog Post!

Welcome to our blog! I'm very new to this whole blogging world so bear with me on my first few posts. I love to read other friends & family members blogs so I figured I would start my own to serve as our first family "scrapbook" of memories. I've always loved "blog-stalking" - even people I don't know - but starting my own seems like a much more daunting task than I ever would have thought! Hopefully this can help keep our friends & family (near & far) connected and updated on our lives.

I was going to go into a brief personal history but I'm pretty sure if you're here you know Scott & I, our story, our 2 spoiled puggies, & that we have a bun in the oven! I'll leave it at that & close with our first "family" photo from our engagement pics that we had taken by the amazing Sarah Petty.