Well, hi!

It's been a while, huh? Busy busy... just work, starting to get ready for little Ariana, a bit of house dressing, and as much sleep as I can possibly manage!

I've been so excited about the gorgeous weather this past week - but oh, boy, the heat got intense quickly! Fortunately, our AC is now FIXED! Our poor puppies (and poor pregnant Momma!) won't have to swelter anymore :-)

Speaking of the puppies, they are getting so big, and love to play - I just watched Kara grab Loki's tail and yank him backwards. They've been doing really well, interacting with other people though - everyone from our 22 month old goddaughter to the strangers (lots of them!) at the soccer fields. I've been very proud of them, and also of their ability to handle quiet time in their kennels! haha, this was quite an accomplishment.

And for our little Ariana... I can't believe how big she is getting!

How far along: 27 weeks today! Happy third trimester :-)

How much weight gain: 19 pounds, according to the scale this morning. This puts me right where I'm supposed to be (thank goodness!) according to my weight gain calculator.

How big is baby: the size of an eggplant! Average size is 13.6 - 14.8 inches, and 1.5 - 2.2 pounds. Wowie.

Maternity clothes: Actually, since the weather has turned, I'm able to wear more of last year's spring clothes! Baby dolls and tee shirts still fit (and make me look more pregnant then maternity clothes!)

Stretch marks: None... but my linea nigra appeared this week. This really concerned Dan: "Ummm... there's a line on your stomach..." Haha poor man.

Sleep: Not so fabulously right now (except for last night! I slept for a long time.) But lately I've been waking up several times (not just to get a drink or go to the bathroom, but also because I'm uncomfortable). Dan has also had to roll me back on to my side a few times, when he wakes up and sees me on my back, ha.

Movement: All the time! I think that almost my entire work staff (well, all the girls, and the boys who care, haha) has felt her kick now. Lately, I've had a great time watching her move my belly. It's unbelievable to think of how much power she's building up in there.

Food cravings/aversions: Umm... I love Subway. That is all.

Belly button: is definitely an outie - and shows through some shirts :-)

Symptoms: Hellooo, swelling! I don't even bother wearing my wedding rings to work anymore, since almost immediately after I walk in my fingers explode. (Fortunately, my claddagh and a wide band I got that is similar to Dan's ring do fit still. Yep, I bought that ring for just this purpose.) Also taking a huge hit are my legs and feet. I'm pretty constantly sore, and very achey after a long night at work, but Dan takes good care of me - and convinced me (it wasn't too much of a challenge) to book a professional massage for this week. Really looking forward to that!

Looking forward to: Well, we're under 100 days, in the third trimester, down to appointments every other week, and lots of baby movement... what else is there? :-) No, I'm really excited to be putting together the nursery... since we *finally* finished registering (which really means we picked out everything that we like/will put in the nursery), I can't wait to get it all set up! I can't wait to have little baby clothes hanging in the closet. :-)

Weekly wisdom: Enjoy it, whatever "it" is.

Weekly joy: Special time with my Dan.

I hope that everyone is enjoying the spring time... I'm going to go join my puppies outside!

I'm back!

WOW! I'm just going to apologize again for never updating... then move on.

Moving on.

So today is day 6 of week 22: which means 23 weeks tomorrow! I'm so excited to be going right along... Ariana has been growing like crazy, and kicking up a storm! A couple of nights ago, after she kicked me about 6 times right in the same place, Dan reached over to feel her, too. Of course, she froze for a few minutes, and right before he was about to give up, there she went again! Daddy's reaction? "Holy crap! She's beating you up! Did you teach her how to throw temper tantrums already?" She's particularly active in the evenings, and I'll catch her still moving if I wake up in the middle of the night - fortunately, she's not waking me up yet!

So our project of the week has been the powder room. Many, many thanks to my gorgeous Momma for coming over to help me paint... she knocked out those high walls and ceilings, and did all of the trim and the door. Now we've just been hanging up hardware and accessories - and in my case, learning how to use a level. (Yep, we have even hangings. I promise. Well... some of them are level.) I'm glad to be completing a project!

Off now to play with some puppies and relax before work tonight... it's been a great week of actually being able to see Dan, cook and eat dinner together, and have a couple of date nights. Lucky us, and we've been loving the weather! Tomorrow, I'll get to hang out with my darling goddaughter, while her parents go check out their new home! Full of adventures lately :-)

Half baked!

Man, I really stink at keeping this updated! I just forget how long it's been since I last wrote, and figure that not much of interest has happened since then. Well, let's see if I can think of all the FUN things that have been going on, to share with you.

Well... Today is 20 weeks! We're half way there! Little Ariana has just twenty more weeks till full term. Oh my! I think it'll probably go by very quickly now...

Thursday afternoon I had the big moment of "Oh crap. Nothing fits." And I mean, really. Nothing fit that I hadn't worn the day before! I did, fortunately have one pair of maternity pants (that I accidentally shrank, so they were a little bit short!) and I found a pre-pregnancy shirt that I could still put on. So I made it to work, after a moment of frustration, and Dan and I decided that I would go get maternity clothes the next day. (Poor Dan - he was so confused by my tears and yelling at the closet.) I felt so conflicted, since I am so proud of my body, and the changes that are happening to it, and happy that I am able to support our little girl - but really, I was sure tired of wearing the same four shirts and one pair of pants. So yesterday, I had a very successful trip to the sales rack at Sears with my best friend (also pregnant!). I am quite pleased, and looking forward to debating what to wear to work tonight :-)

After I got home from that fabulous shopping excursion, I had a victorious round with our bedroom - it is now clean, my non-maternity clothes are all boxed up, bed washed and remade, and laundry completely done and all put away! Hooray, hooray, success!

Since it is such an important day, I figured I'd do the update!

How far along: 20 weeks
Total weight gain: 7.5 pounds
How big is Baby: the size of a cantaloupe! 6.5 inches, 10.6 ounces
Maternity clothes: none of my pre-pregnancy pants button or zip now, and the only non-maternity shirts that fit are baby dolls and a loose sweater.
Stretch marks: Nope! Thanks to my Mom and her fabulous genes :-)
Sleep: For the past two or three nights, it's been really rough. I had to pull my rings off in the middle of the night last night, and the day before I woke up three times with leg cramps, and three more times to go to the bathroom! Oy.
Movement: I'm never sure if it's really her that I'm feeling inside... but last night, I really think I felt my Ari - I was sitting down, leaning back, and felt a bump inside. I put my hand there, and I felt it, against my hand! Then a minute later, again!
Food cravings: No, not really. I just try to eat well rounded snacks and meals through out the day - and have a milkshake for calcium, calories, and yumminess :-)
Food aversions: Again, not really... I just am not seeking out meat. If it's in something (like a steak burrito!) then I do just fine.
Belly button: This makes me laugh - it's slowly moving out! and it's less in on one side.
What I'm looking forward to: Since we've made it to 20 weeks, now looking forward to v-day at 24 weeks, looking for nursery fabric with my Mom on Tuesday, and registering and making nursery choices with Dan.
Weekly wisdom: Enjoy, and don't over do it!
Weekly joy: Date nights and cuddle time :-)

Updates!

Hello, hello!

It's been a crazy, fun, amazing-ly blessed week. Let's see whats happened the past few days...

Snow. Oh yeah. There was a whole bunch of that! If I remember correctly, we had our first snowstorm Friday... ended up closing the restaurant early that night, and not opening at all on Saturday. I think our final inches total was 21! Holy cow... that is way too much snow for me. Poor Dan shoveled for about 6 hours that day... just keeping up with all of it to be able to get out on Sunday! On a positive note, an unexpected day off resulted in an awesome couples game night! Sarah and Tommy left their new puppy at home to walk on over, and Becca and Chris and little Emma braved the roads to come and play, too. We had a fun night :-)

I also felt very victorious and proud - for a few days, I've been letting the puppies have a little more freedom about the house. I took down the gates, so that they were able to follow me around the house. For the most part, they stayed in the lower level, anyway, or where ever I was! They even were very good and didn't jump, or try to eat anything, or cause problems. So when we had everyone over Saturday night, we decided to let them come on up and hang out, too - and woah! I was so proud! Loki and Kara interacted very well, didn't get in the way, just hung out a bit. They didn't try to lick or jump on Emma (hooray! hooray!), they didn't care when she took their toys from them, they let her get in their food bowls (and Emma got a good taste of dog food, lol!), and all three of them behaved very well! In case you can't tell, Dan and I were so excited.

I worked again Sunday night, but the weather was much better - still closed early, thanks to the freezing roads, but at least the snow wasn't falling.

Monday was our big day, when we got to see our little Ariana Elizabeth. Our pretty baby girl cooperated so well, and we were given a ton of great pictures of our little one. Here's some of our favorites!

Sorry for the random spacing of the pictures... but the first one is her profile, the second is of her little foot (see all 5 toes?!) and the other... looks almost like she's sucking her thumb! Aww, Baby Ari :-)

Tuesday, back to work, and snow again that night. Wednesday (yesterday) was an interesting day, in terms of weather - we were under a blizzard warning for most of the day! Ugh, crazy wind gusts, and quite a bit of snow in the morning. We added about 4 more inches to our "February Storm" total. Suffice to say, I am ready for spring.

And back to our furbabies - Kara sliced her tongue open last night! The consensus is that while outside playing in the snow (which our huskies love, by the way! They want to be outside more then in!), she must have bitten or licked a sharp piece of ice, and cut an artery under her tongue. Dan was the hero and took her off to the emergency vet clinic, where they put her under and stitched her up. By the time I made it home from work, she was doped up and feeling a bit unhappy. Poor thing could have bled out if we had tried to hold off till morning. She's doing great this morning, though!

Well, Dan should be home from work soon, and we're going to run a few errands, so I'd best get myself ready for our night. Wishing for warm and sunny weather, for everyone!

A very big day!

It's a GIRL! Ariana Elizabeth.

Dan and I are so excited! We got to bring home several great pictures of our little daughter, who cooperated and provided all of the information the doctor needed. She looks absolutely beautiful, and we are so blessed!

Slacking Ambitions

I've been slacking! How could I have been away from my blog for so long? My goodness... I've really got to get a hold on the days before they speed on by!

Similarly, it seems like everything I plan to do in a day - just doesn't get done! I can't figure out where the days go... granted, I'm sleeping a ton - this baby growing thing really wears me out. I've been sleeping till nearly noon just about every day! This doesn't give me much time to be productive before heading to work... and since I crash right when I get home at night, I don't get anything done then, either! I really have to figure this out... or those big projects (like a nursery!) will never get done!

I think I'm awfully ambitious, too, with the things that I want to do before Baby comes. I'd like to finish the powder room (which is nearly done!), finish the kitchen (not too much left to do), do our bedroom (has nothing! We'll be starting from scratch), and the nursery! Oy. I'd also really like to do a little garden this spring... I'm thinking just some herbs and tomatoes, maybe some peppers. The dogs should have some more training, too, before Baby. I'm thinking that's probably a lot of stuff to get done. Maybe too much!

A little sooner on the schedule: doctor appointment Thursday! I'm looking forward to hearing the heartbeat again, and to setting up the ultrasound appointment - hopefully we'll get in there within the week!

Back so soon?

Every time I come back to write another post, I'm surprised at how many days have gone by since the last one! Really? I haven't written since Sunday? Granted, that's only 3 days, but i feel like I just wrote. Hmm... maybe that's why this pregnancy seems to be flying by!

I haven't been feeling 100% for the past couple of days... just a cold, I think, but I've been super stuffed up and have a yucky cough. I just get to take a box of tissues with me where ever I go! Lots of water, you know, all of that fun stuff.

Other then that, I feel pretty good today! I have off work, and Dan does (for the most part), too, so we'll get to hang out and have a nice day together. I have been looking forward to our once a week hang out days this month, so much. My schedule has been great, in that I only have to work a few days before i have off - the past 4 in a row is the longest stretch I've had to work all month! Since I am so tired all the time, I'm really glad that I don't end up like Dan with a 10 day work week (ugh). He's the one that will end up really exhausted! Poor guy, it's not his fault, and he hates it. Oh, well, he'll get through.

So I thought I'd take a page of someone else's book (or blog) and do a little pregnancy update questionnaire thingy... I haven't been doing a very good job of keeping track of how I feel during the pregnancy, and how things are changing, so maybe this will help. Here goes!

How far along: 15 weeks 4 days
Total weight gain: As of this morning, 3 pounds - down a pound from last week (I blame this cold)
How big is baby: 4 inches, 2.5 ounces - about the size of a naval orange
Maternity clothes: I have one pair of pants, and they are too big! Since my pre-pregnancy pants don't button, I'm loving my BellaBand!
Stretch marks: Nope!
Sleep: I feel great! I slept for about 10 hours last night (interrupted, of course, by bathroom trips for myself and the puppies)
Movement: No... hopefully we should start that this week! Usually between 16 and 20 weeks Mommy is able to feel Baby kicking
Food cravings: Not really... though there have been times when I swear that all this baby wants is pizza and wings!
Food aversions: I'm not a huge fan of meat like steaks and chicken right now... my chicken salad and pepperonis are about as far as I get
Belly button: no change
What I'm looking forward to: hitting 4 months! This seems so much further along then 3 for some reason
Weekly wisdom: Do as much as possible with Daddy, since this is the last time of "just us two"
Weekly joy: No more nausea!

(Thanks, friend, for that pg update!)