18 weeks & baby Riley is a...

Today we had our second trimester screening and found out that our little nugget is a girl! I am definitely surprised! I went back and forth between what I thought our baby was. Initially I thought boy, probably because I thought that's really what Brett wanted.  Then during the first trimester we had an ultrasound and baby girl was not cooperating, but the doctor guessed girl based on the angle of her perineum. How accurate could that be?! But I rolled with it and thought girl.  Then we saw our obstetrician, who thought maybe he could see something that resembled boy. So like I said, I've been back and forth, and honestly didn't/don't care as long as our little one is healthy! But today it was confirmed that 'it' is indeed a SHE!

We are beyond thrilled! I think Brett might be just a little nervous about the thought of having a little girl! Over lunch I could see his wheels turning! I'm sure having our first born be a boy would be much easier on him, but I'm sure she'll be daddy's girl and have him wrapped around her little finger in no time! 

HOW FAR ALONG?:  18 weeks

TOTAL WEIGHT GAIN?: According to my scale, about 2.5 pounds. According to my clothes... I need some maternity clothing, STAT!

STRETCH MARKS?:  I hope never to see these beautiful things ;)

SLEEP?:  My sleep has still been pretty good. I'm back to working (nights) so I'm getting about 7-8 hours of sleep per night. Sometimes there's on interruption to pee but if I'm really tired, I find myself waking up in the same position I went to bed in.   

BEST MOMENT/S THIS WEEK?:  Getting to see our little peanut on the big screen! It's always so nice and reassuring to see the baby and hear the heartbeat. Also, watching Brett's reaction melts my heart a little bit each time :) He's going to be the best daddy on the planet! 

WORST MOMENT THIS WEEK?:  No real 'worst' moment this week. I was busy as heck on Tuesday at work which made for a very tired prego with hurting feet, but that's the life I live. 

MISS ANYTHING?:  Wine, craft beer and sushi. I have a feeling this answer will never change. 

MOVEMENT?:  Baby is moving, but I'm still not feeling it. I think it will be soon :)

FOOD CRAVINGS?:  Still no cravings. Am I really pregnant? 

LABOR SIGNS?:  No and hopefully not for a very long time. 

SYMPTOMS / MOODS?:  I've been generally happy. I get kind of bored, especially when I'm working night shift and most people are sleeping when I'm awake. I need a new hobby. I'm not sure if this is a symptom, I haven't read that it is, but for some reason my hair has been having issues where it looks greasy all the time. I could have just washed and blow dried it and it still looks greasy. Sexy! I didn't change my shampoo/conditioner recently so I don't know what else to blame it on but I hope it doesn't stay like this too much longer!

BELLY BUTTON IN or OUT?:  In. And I'm happy to report I removed the belly button ring and nothing crazy happened and it doesn't look like a big gaping hole... yet! 

WEDDING RINGS OFF or ON?: On.

LOOKING FORWARD TO...?:  Brett has some new and exciting things going on with his career so I'm happy about that. Just looking forward to the next few months and soaking up the good, the bad and the ugly of pregnancy :) 

PS Our friends Kaitlyn & Eric welcomed a healthy baby boy yesterday! So exciting!!!

And finally, I can't leave Brett out.  I think he might be a little jealous, so here is his pregnancy photo ;) 

16 Weeks going on 17

Oops! Looks like I'm already behind on the weekly posts!  Oh well, I don't feel like that much changes week to week at this point so it's probably going to be quite sporadic. Buckle your seatbelts, this is going to be a crazy ride!

HOW FAR ALONG?:  16 weeks, 6 days

TOTAL WEIGHT GAIN?:  I don't step on the scale unless I have a doctors appointment, which means next week I'll know. If I looked at the scale all the time, nothing good would result from it!  I just know my belly is becoming more and more visible and my pants barely button (I wear a bellyband instead of buttoning them at this point! Think it's time to get some maternity pants. Or convince the world that sweatpants are acceptable!!)

STRETCH MARKS?:  I hope never to see these beautiful things ;)

SLEEP?:  This week my sleep pattern has been really regular. I've been up by 7-8 am and sound asleep by 9-11pm. I haven't been tossing or turning, just getting some magical sleep and the occasional weird dream.  I sometimes think day shift would be a good thing but you just miss so much time away from the kiddos it doesn't seem worth it. At least when I'm at work, baby will be sleeping (eventually) and when baby gets big enough to go to school, I can sleep during those hours vs. working 12 hour days and having kids asleep both before I leave for work and when I get home.   

BEST MOMENT/S THIS WEEK?:  This week was fabulous! My mom was out here visiting! We got A LOT accomplished! We painted the nursery, put together the crib, hung curtains, went to IKEA (bought & assembled the purchases) and cleaned our our extra storage closet (outside of our apt) and hung bike hooks. Our bikes were being held in the nursery. I'd love it if we could put them in the bike rack our apt complex provides for us, but we had two bikes stolen last summer and I'm just not willing to risk it again!

Besides working my mom like a dog, we spent some quality time together and went to the beach for a day, taught her how to golf and pampered ourselves with a mani/pedi. 

WORST MOMENT THIS WEEK?:  Taking my mom back to the airport :(

MISS ANYTHING?:  Wine, craft beer and sushi. I have a feeling this answer will never change. 

MOVEMENT?:  Baby is moving, but too small to feel anything yet! Probably within the next few weeks!

FOOD CRAVINGS?:  No real cravings. A lot of times I feel hungry but nothing really sounds good. I went through a rut for a few weeks where I just didn't want to eat anything I cooked, or cook for that matter, so baby got a lot of take out. I just need more recipes! 

LABOR SIGNS?:  No and hopefully not for a very long time. 

SYMPTOMS / MOODS?:  I poke at B a little too much, but all in fun. I don't think I've been any more snippy than pre-pregnancy. 

BELLY BUTTON IN or OUT?:  In, along with my belly button ring still.... which I need to take out, yesterday. 

WEDDING RINGS OFF or ON?: On.

LOOKING FORWARD TO...?:  Next Thursday (9/6) we have another ultrasound and get to find out the sex of our baby if it cooperates! 

Here is the baby's nursery. The walls are a grey color and yes the curtains are blue. I plan to add all kinds of colors/decorations once we know the sex. 

Big Announcement!

Well, we made it Facebook official, so I guess its real life. Brett & I are expecting our first baby February 7th, or 1st, or 2nd... the doctors seem to be having a difficult time determining the due date.

I'm going to try to post weekly updates to keep the family updated & to keep a little journal for myself during this exciting time! I stole this layout from my friend, Kaitlyn, so here goes the first post:

HOW FAR ALONG?:  12 weeks 5 day, or 13 weeks 5 days (it really depends who you ask!)

TOTAL WEIGHT GAIN?:  Nada, but I'm sure that won't last too long. 

STRETCH MARKS?:  I hope never to see these beautiful things ;)

SLEEP?:  My sleep schedule is all out of whack! It doesn't help that I work nights, I'm sure. I can pretty much sleep anytime, anywhere. Although my complete exhaustion has pretty much resolved, so I'm beginning to feel human again. Or at least I was, until I thought I had enough extra energy to pick up extra shifts at work... 

BEST MOMENT/S THIS WEEK?:  We had our Nuchal Test this week, which involved a really high resolution ultrasound and we received a DVD copy! This was our third ultrasound but the first time we got to HEAR baby's heartbeat! He/She was doing all kinds of flips and showing off, wonder where that came from ;) The baby was showing all of it's parts, except the private parts, modest little thing! We'll have to wait until September 6th to find out the sex. 

WORST MOMENT THIS WEEK?:  My golf game today ;) 

MISS ANYTHING?:  Wine, craft beer and sushi. I have a feeling this answer will never change. 

MOVEMENT?:  Baby is moving, but too small to feel anything yet!

FOOD CRAVINGS?:  No real cravings. 

LABOR SIGNS?:  No and hopefully not for a very long time. 

SYMPTOMS / MOODS?:  I have a super sense of smell and occasionally gag, but no nausea (Thank God!). I don't think I've been moody, but maybe that's a question for B.

BELLY BUTTON IN or OUT?:  In, along with my belly button ring, which I really need to take out since I'm not 16 anymore!

WEDDING RINGS OFF or ON?: On.

LOOKING FORWARD TO...?:  The month of August! We are going to San Diego next weekend, Brett's performing all weekend at the Comedy Palace and we will get to spend some time with my college friend, Alisa. And my mom is coming to visit at the end of August, so I'm already working on my to-do list for her to do while she's on "vacation." 

Well three months ago I vowed I would start working out again, I did work out today. And very few others between then & now. I've lost 75 lbs!!! Totally kidding, that would be gross anyway :) What have I been doing the last three months? Clearly I've been way too busy to blog to the universe...

I honestly don't know what I've been doing. Work, sleep, repeat. The American Dream! Brett has been all over the country doing stand-up and I've been doing my best to schedule myself the days he's gone so we can hang out when he is in town, but this fall a lot of the gigs were last minute.

I ended up going home in November, unexpectedly. One of my BFF's from a million years ago, lost her mom to cancer. It was a short trip, and not for a fun reason, but I did get to see quite a few people and catch up. I saw all three of my brothers, my sister-in-law, my three nephews, one of my nieces, my grandma and my aunt and a few friends. My oldest brother decided it was his duty to make me a bottomless vodka + something else that must have been alcohol filled because this girl was (a) DRUNK & (b) so hungover on my flight home. Thanks, bro.

I was seriously so hungover, even though I vomited an insane amount the night before. My flight was direct, and for that I was thankful. I flew Allegiant Air, which is so cheap & always direct, which I love! But you know, as a typical American business they try to add on costs to everything... priority boarding (who wants to be the first person on the plane?) ... seating... baggage... etc. So anyway, I was the person with a carry on, no specific seat and one of the last on the plane. I found an empty aisle and parked myself next to the window to nap off the hangover. Until a larger lady, who required a seatbelt extender, decided to sit in MY aisle. Still, there was a seat between us, so I figured it couldn't be too bad.

I dove into my Oprah magazine to learn all about everyone's favorite things when the beverage cart came around. I desperately needed that $2 Sprite so I wouldn't vomit all over this woman. Then she says to me, "When did they start charging for drinks?!" Now, I could have taken the easy way out and said, "I don't know?" The end. But instead I said something about how it probably started around the same time they started charging for bags and isn't it ridiculous and whatever else my numb brain said. This statement seemed to open the flood gates, I learned way too much about every single person in her family and their problems. No nap for me. Pounding headache upon landing. Empty gas tank when arrived to car. All of this = sick call to work. I still feel hungover almost 3 weeks later. Blah...

Anyway, then I worked a whole bunch more and then my mom came to visit me!! She happened to have a terrible flight experience in June when she last visited and received a $200 voucher from a certain airline. We had such a great time. We shopped til I dropped, I don't really care if I don't shop for 6 months. We had a girls day (which was her Christmas gift) that started with a trip to the Farmer's Market, then had a fantastic brunch followed by a spa day. Mani, Pedi, Facial and hot stone massage, all of which she's never had! She deserves a day or 30 of pampering :) We spent an entire day at the beach, and did a lot of lounging/relaxing. It was great! It was sunny and 70-80* here and she missed the Midwest's first blizzard!

Now we're just a few days away from Christmas. I can't believe it. Time is flying! Brett and I are spending another Christmas together in LA. Last year was so nice. It's nice seeing LA as a ghost town, it doesn't happen often.

Tomorrow I'm back to work, then we're having what should be a super fun Christmas party through my work that Brett is performing at, and then I'm working for a few more days. Looking forward to my stretch off around Christmas! I know one gift I'm getting, a much needed camera! Soon I'll be able to post photos again!! I think I might superglue this one to my hand so I don't drop it in the ocean or get it stolen!

Happy Holidays!!

Here I Go Again

Alright, I'm getting on the exercising/eating right wagon again. Oh Joy! So I weighed myself today, Tuesdays will be "the day."

Official weight: Overweight.5 lbs. (You didn't actually think I'd reveal that number, did you?)

So I guess maybe I'll just be posting my progress, my diet and exercise plan. Possibly photos. Someone has to hold me accountable!

On (what I think is) a HILARIOUS note, last night I was digging around under my bathroom cabinet and found a pregnancy test... I'm sure it was expired, but I took it anyway because, really, how have I gotten this fat? Well it's negative. Big shocker, I mean I use the Nuva Ring. It's pretty idiot proof, unless of course I happened to put it in my butt, but I think I'd notice that:)

fall 2010

So far it's September 13th & I have yet to get homesick! This time of year is always so difficult for me. I miss the colors of the leaves changing, the brisk fall air, the bonfires, etc. SoCal has had a strange summer this year though, and we're already down to the 70s, which actually is feeling a lot like the Midwestern fall. Now, I'm not an idiot, I know it'll likely reach 100* again before October is over, but for now I'm taking it all in! PS This morning I'm sipping on Starbucks coffee with Vanilla Chai Spice creamer that is absolutely delish! Try it!

Unfortunately for me, I stepped on the scale today and now can't help but notice it has 35 calories/tablespoon. It's time to get back on the diet train. OMG I disgust myself. You all know I lost 15ish pounds earlier this year. I'm sad to say, I've found it again. Boo! And my friend Dave just reminded me this is "Weight Gaining Season." AKA Football Season, AKA Way Too Many Beers in my Belly Season. Hmf... be happy and chubby or skinny and hungry, but also happy and in cute jeans.

I'm feeling like I'm going to start my eating right again and *maybe* keep track here. Yikes! Online for all to see. I'm still pretty squeamish about this idea.

That's it for now, I have butterflies in my belly and really need to consider & reconsider this.

& PPS, THE CHIEFS WON TONIGHT!

... The Cleanse ...

Oh boy. So many, many months ago Brett & I were in GNC and decided to buy a body cleanse. The guy at GNC explained to us that this one was wonderful, we should follow a pretty strict diet, don't drink, etc and we'd would feel SO MUCH better and probably lose 5-10 pounds. Sweet deal right?

Well, the boxes were neatly tucked beneath our bathroom sink for many months. Then they were moved to the bathroom organizer thingy, where they collected mountains of dust. I looked at them every day, but just wasn't ready. We almost did it before Brett's sister's wedding, but then decided we would be having a "lot of fun" in Milwaukee (aka drinking our faces off) so we might as well wait.

Not wanting them to expire, we finally started the cleanse about two weeks ago. I told Brett I would do the best I could to make him compliant since he's a very picky eater. I decided not to strictly follow the diet because I eat pretty healthy anyway. The first day, breakfast called for the following:

Rice cakes

2 tbsp yogurt

1 c. raspberries

8 0z. water

Probiotic Formula

Sounds simple enough, but I knew Brett would not eat raspberries if I just handed them to him (the man hates fruit, what the hell? Even raspberries? The best fruit on the planet? YUP.) So I piled some yogurt on a rice cake, smashed up the raspberries (even added a packet of splenda) and topped off the rice cake. OMG. You should have seen his face. He was doing that weird swallowing thing, like before you vomit, before even tasting it. He said "It's just seeds! I don't eat this sh*t! I thought you were going to make this food that I liked."

ME: C'mon, quit bein' a baby. Just try it. Jesus, it's delish!

Brett: Ugh. (Eats one bite, gets up from chair, runs to bathroom, and "throws up")

Whatever. Baby. So there goes Brett's diet, however he will still participate as long as he can eat what he wants. I'm not really sure how that works, but whatev.

The first night was absolute hell. Not because I was shitting my pants, but because I had the.worst.headache.ever. Yeah, this body went through caffeine withdrawal, bad. So bad that I took Excedrin (which I HATE taking meds) and texted Brett, who promptly left what he was doing to comfort me (what a sweetheart!).

The whole week, we had planned to be feeling great, eating well, hiking, spending time together in the sun and just loving life. Not the case. We were SO exhausted. Sleeping every chance we got. Honestly, I would have quit after two days, but I was so proud of Brett for not smoking, that I stuck it out.

I don't know that I lost any weight. I certainly didn't feel amazing like I thought I would. I definitely enjoyed my first margarita, followed by a Skinny Vanilla Latte the next morning. Moral of the story: Don't do cleanse(s). Waste of time. No real benefit. Just try to be healthy every day. :)