18 Weeks

Here we are at 18 weeks. Time is seriously flying by. I should have started doing these sooner, but better late than never. Right.

STATS:
Her size: Sweet Potato
How far along: 18 weeks!
Total weight gain: +3.6 pounds since the day the stick had two lines
Sleep: Every morning my back is incredibly sore when I wake up. It's getting old. I certainly haven't been sleeping as soundly as I used to! But as far as waking up to pee, I only wake up to CHRIS peeing. I'm not sure the last time he's slept through the night without using the restroom.
Maternity Clothes: Not quite yet, but I'm most comfortable in maternity tops due to my food babies (see below). Don't need the bottoms yet, but I think that will be coming very soon!
Food cravings: Sour Patch Kids. "Fudge Stick" cookies.
Food aversions: Fat free refried beans. GROSS! I was having aversions to beef but I think that's gone now?
Symptoms I HAVE: I'm not sure if this is a symptom, but I get ridiculously full after I eat. It's really uncomfortable and annoying. It's like I grow a food baby, but then people think it's the real baby. But then it's gone within a few hours. I don't like it! I asked Chris what other symptoms I have and he said "crabyness." I smacked him.
Stretchmarks: None so far.
Doctor’s Appointment: I had one on Monday, the 13th. It was short and sweet. I was told I looked like my sister :) When the doctor went to check the heartbeat with the doppler she said "Wow! Your uterus is already up there? You might have yourself a big girl!" I guess it's her legs? Or the sour patch kids. Or the fudge sticks.
Movement: I'm definitely feeling her! I probably started noticing the flutters about two weeks ago. I always notice it while I'm nannying, and then at night usually. Chris tried to feel her one night last week but he couldn't. Then the next night he was trying again and he certainly felt a big kick! It got him really excited.
Belly Button: The opposite of an outie. Is it spelled inie? Looks weird. I took out my belly button ring a few weeks ago.
Gender: GIRL! I guess we will confirm this on the 1st of March!
Best moment of the week:

• Chris feeling the baby girl move
• Shopping with Debbie and Cindy for clothes -- it got me kind of excited!
• We went to Buy Buy Baby and kind of registered -- we learned a LOT!
• Chris also wants me to add "letting Ari sleep in the bed with us." I let him know that wasn't a pregnancy moment...but I guess that doesn't matter
• In that case, eating at Chevy's after BBB was definitely a good moment of the week!
• Getting hooked up with baby gear hand-me-downs from Amie

What I’m looking forward to: My appointment on the 1st to confirm gender and see little miss for a whole hour or so! Also my baby showers -- I think they will be fun!
What I miss: Being able to eat like I used to and sleeping better. Also I already miss my pre-pregnancy body and the fact that I could diet and exercise like I wanted. Now I have to think about someone else. Totally worth it.

Here are some pictures of our BBB experience.

Chris asked, "You're an expecting mother; right?" I was embarassed he parked there!

Chris and the creepy baby. We tested him out in the bucket and stroller we want/have

Trying out the Moby Wrap. Pleast notice the dislocated shoulder on the poor kid. We also tore his ACL. I'm pretty sure CPS has been notified.

Amie hooked us up!

Our new (to us) bucket!

I was going to put some other pictures on here, but It's not letting me. So that's it!!

Clearance Racks

I love clearance racks. Well, I love the clearance section while shopping online. Actual "racks" are a different story. They stress me out! When my mom used to take me shopping she'd have to rummage through the racks for me because it's something I just do not have the patience for. But I do love the prices!

So if you haven't heard, I'm knocked up. And we're having a girl. And we have no hand-me-down clothes whatsoever. I decided to go shopping this weekend to get started on our baby's wardrobe. And for the record, I'm not used to talking about OUR kid, let alone the fact that she's a girl. Still isn't quite real to me yet. Oh well, I have about five and a half months to get used to the idea (holy crap -- that's it?!)

Anyway, I went to BRU on Friday on the way home from work. Chris and I were just recently there (we both took naps in the gliders -- I find that store massively boring) and noticed all of the clearance racks, but of course couldn't buy anything just yet. So I headed back and only looked for baby girl stuff! Here's what I ended up with:

12 months sleeper, $5.28 , Koala Baby (it's organic!)

6 months, $9.24 per set, Carter's

I couldn't pass this up! 18 months, $4.14, Disney

This is our favorite. 0/3 Months, $10.19 for the dress, $4.79 for the leggings, Koala Baby

0/3 months, $8.52, BRU (sorry can't rotate the image)

Then on Saturday I went to Roseville with my friends Kristen and Kelsey, and we hit up Nordstrom Rack. I'm really glad I asked to make this little pit stop! I feel like I got some great pieces. Here's what I ended up with:

6-12 months, $5.70, Baby Boden

6-12 Months, $7.97, Baby Boden

12 Months, $5.50, So La Vita

24 Months, $5.50, So La Vita

18 Months, $6.00, Sweet Ivy

6-12 Months, $7.97, Pumpkin Patch

I was so excited about the Baby Boden items. There were quite a few pieces by that line, but I refused to pay over $10 per piece. I was driving Kristen and Kelsey crazy! But by sticking to my guns I got two pieces that were within my budget :)

I realize that this post was incredibly boring, but I needed somewhere to share my purchases. I should also add that Chris has cut me off from buying baby girl clothes for a little while, so don't get used to these posts!

Taco Pasta and Halloween Decorations



Well, folks, it's about that time! I love, love, LOVE this time of year. I love the Fall, I love that it starts off the holiday season, I love Hocus Pocus, I love White Christmas, I love stockings, I love wrapping presents and holiday shopping, I love browsing the ads in the Thanksgiving Day paper at my Grandma's house, I love the Thanksgiving Day Parade, I love Apple Hill...the list could go on and on! Needless to say, I'm very excited about this season because it's our first time experiencing these holidays at our new house! Yay!

Paul texted me tonight and asked if I could babysit PJR and Samson while he and Desi went on a bike ride. I was more than happy to have the kiddos over to help me hang up a few halloween decorations! But first, we had to make dinner! Chris and I haven't been able to enjoy a home-cooked meal together in quite some time, and he didn't have to work OT today so I was really excited to have him home for some grub! I decided to make this recipe since my man loves pasta and rarely gets it since it's one of my least favorite foods.

I browned the meat and got the pasta boiling. I actually really liked this kind of pasta, it wasn't too bready!



Once the turkey was cooked, I added some garlic (I don't measure) and a can of diced tomatoes, no salt added. The recipe says to drain these, but I don't follow directions.

I let that mixture simmer for five minutes, and in the meantime the pasta had finished cooking. I didn't reserve the half cup of water like the recipe says to since I didn't drain the tomatoes. I don't follow directions when it comes to cooking, only baking (sometimes).

Next I added the sour cream, pasta and cream cheese. I used the "light" varieties of both. Like I mentioned before, I'm not one for measuring or following directions, so I did a scoop of the sour cream and half a block of cream cheese. Oh, and I also didn't add any seasonings because I used the pre-seasoned ground turkey. Chris is obsessed with the "taco" seasoned ground turkey!

I mixed it all together and just as Chris got home, it was done! It was as if I had perfectly planned it that way, but I totally didn't.

When I served it up, I added some grated parm because one cheese in a single dish just simply isn't enough for us. Pretend that I remembered to make the garlic bread that's in the freezer (TJ's) and that I roasted some broccoli to go with it. There, a well balanced meal!

After we finished our dinner, it was time to decorate! We headed outside to stick these on the garage. Sam got to pick which garage we were going to use, and PJR got to use the stool. Or something like that.

Ah, that's more like it!

Perfect!

What in the world?

After the strange hair-grabbing picture above, I suggested we take a "normal" picture. This is what we got -- she so takes after me!

I put these up a few days ago. They're so cute!

I think we should name these!

Jack, O and Lantern. That's what Chris thinks.

The little tombstone up there was leftover from our pirate party. It blows over every day

We headed back inside to hang our pumpkin garland

It fit perfectly on our mantle

Terrible picture, but you get the idea

How much do you want to bet that Porter will ditch fans for chimneys?

Here are some other decorations that are in our house right now. We're not quite done yet, but we've got a good start.

We need to find baby pumpkins to put in that glass jar. It's actually rather large.

Meet Arthur. He came from the Dollar Store

Alright, I think that's it for now! Chris actually has ALL weekend off and we are so excited! We are trying to set some plans and knock a few things off our to-do list. You can find us at any of these places this weekend: a hardware store, a fabric store, my friend Jenni's new house and Mimi's Cafe. F-U-N!

Bad Dog

Do you get bothered by the cashiers at Target and grocery stores who comment on your purchases? In general, I would say that I do not. If i'm buying spaghetti and pasta sauce, I don't get annoyed when the cashier asks "Spaghetti tonight?" But this biatch at Target the other day almost got kicked in the throat by Chris and I. She was super obnoxious.

Let's back up a second. We went to Target last weekend because we were in EDH and it only seems natural. As I was catching up on Kim Kardashian's stupid wedding (yup, I read magazines while walking through Target and Wal-Mart), Chris lead us to the pet section. We fell in love with a costume for Ari, and it was only $6.99!

Love that his tail sticks out!

Inmate Ari!

As you can see, the costume reads "Bad Dog." Get it? It's a prisoner costume. Chris is a CO. We thought it was cute. Anyway, the stupid cashier goes "Oh, so you have a bad dog?" Um, no. "Well, that's what this says!" STFU. I do not want you to speak anymore. She was confusing us because she was so awkward that we didn't unload our cart completely and had to have another, separate transaction. She made other stupid comments to us and Chris and I rolled our eyes at each other, which she took upon herself to say that I was giving Chris "the look." Um know, you dumb B, I am giving YOU the look but my husband is trying to calm me down so I don't murder you.

So I guess I do have a problem with the cashiers trying to make small talk. Just in case you were wondering.

We do think Ari looks ridiculously cute in his new costume! He didn't hate it all that much, but he definitely didn't love it either.

House Tour #1

Since I needed to clean my house for Bunco, I decided it would be a good time to snap some photos. I didn't get any of the outside or the garage. I know you're all ITCHING to see the garage, so I will try to do that stat ;)

This is from the front door looking left into the living room

This is from the hallway looking into the living room. The bedrooms are behind me and the entryway is to my left. Didn't photograph either because I suck

From hallway

Kitchen table

Kitchen, I stole this from the Bunco post

Guest Bedroom. This is currently the Baseball room. AKA the "blue room." AKA Chris' room. It will eventually (God willing) be a nursery

Do you see the picture of Willie making "The Catch"?

The door to the left of the photo is the closet, which is a jack-and-jill closet with the next bedroom. The door across the hall is a linen closet

Wow those walls are barenaked ladies status. Yikes. Bedskirt looks good, though.

This is the "workout" room/larger guestroom/my room.

Taken from the elliptical. This is the closet door

This room is the second room on the left, after Chris' room

This is the hall bathroom, which is the only full bath in the house

The "love" keychain was on one of our wedding gifts.

I know you've seen this picture before

Yeah, it's a TINY bathroom

Here is the master. The bench won't live there forever.

View from door, looking left

Actually standing in the room, looking left

Standing from the bench. We want to eventually move that dresser to a different wall, put the bench under that window and get curtains. Pretty!

View from the bathroom

View from the bathroom, looking right

Master bathroom, it's only a half. We still need to hang the other shelf!

Note: the door won't close with the rug there. We NEED to shave some doors!

And there it is, a totally and completely incomplete house tour. I mean, I missed a lot of angles. Our house is very tiny, but I still didn't picture everything, read: kitchen and hallways. And you're SOL because there's clean laundry that needs to be put away and the kitchen is a little dirty so I'm staying put. I will take pictures the next time I clean, if I remember. And if I clean again.