My final tally

Last week I was attention whoring the fact that I hit my annual mileage goal for running this year.  Well, this week I was feeling good so I did a little extra. 

So my final mileage for 2010 is now 612.3 miles in 86:43:56 and my December total ended up being 49.0 miles (so just under the monthly goal). Not too shabby if I do say so myself.

Of course I will not be mentioning this to my parents. When I was up in MB for Christmas last weekend my dad commented "So are you done with all the crazy running crap?".  They all just don't get that I am trying to stay in as good of shape as possible and that I am not stupid and am not doing anything to harm my baby.  I want to be healthy and happy for him, too.  As someone who has always been very weight conscious it has been very hard to see the number on the scale continually climb. This is the heaviest I have ever been in my entire life and it's not easy. 

Don't worry that I am being dumb and trying not to gain any weight. Trust me, it's coming on. And my doctor seems pleased with where I am so I don't question it.  I just want to stay fit so I will hopefully have an easier time with labor and delivery and it won't take forever to drop the baby weight.  I want to be healthy and fit to set a good example for my son.

That being said, this weekend is another weekend travelling out of town so there will be no working out (besides walking around Pittsburgh) and we'll be eating god knows what (Primanti Brothers here we come!).  I'll just have to get back on the horse next week with all of the new years resolution gym goers. Sigh.

Aced that test :)

This morning at 10:50 I had my glucose test to check me for gestational diabetes.  I wasn't allowed to eat in the two hours before so I got up at 7:30, had a light breakfast, and headed to the gym. I am determined to combat my recent cookie binges with some gym time.

As I was getting ready for my appt I took a minute to drink the fruit punch sugar drink the doctor's office gave me. I was expecting it to be much worse - it actually wasn't bad at all. Kinda tasted like gatorade.

I got to my appt and she did the finger stick to run my blood.  The nurse came back and said I passed with flying colors.  Hooray!  So glad I don't have to do the 3 hour test.

My BP was 100/68, I hadn't gained a pound since my last appt (totally shocked considering it's right after Christmas) and my fundal measurement was 26, which she said is slightly large, but she wasn't concerned. Oh, and the little guy's heartbeat was nice and strong right in the 150's. I love hearing that sound!

Next appt is on January 18th (in 3 weeks) and then we switch to every two weeks. Yikes!  That means we're getting close!

Anyway, all in all it was a good appointment and afterward I did a little shopping (still can't find any maternity jeans) and even went and got my flu shot so my sister can stop harassing me about it.

And here is this week's check in:

How far along? 25w2d - and I forgot to ask my doctor for an estimate of how big he is. Probably around 20 oz.

Weight gain/loss: +17 as of this morning. I am amazed it's not higher after all the cookies and other goodies I have been eating!

Maternity Clothes: Still haven't been able to find any maternity jeans so I am making do with what I have. I've worn a couple maternity shirts and some work pants, but that's about it.

Symptoms:  Cement bowel (as always) and an achy  back by the end of the day. It's worse on days I work out - clearly the giant boobs are causing that.

Gender:  It's a boy!!!

Sleep? Sleeping pretty well - I get up once or twice a night to go to the bathroom.

Best moment this week? Seeing my family for Christmas and getting some cute little gifts for our little guy.

Movement: Oh yeah, especially in the evenings. J felt one kick this past weekend. I need to get him to just sit here and be patient at night and he will feel a heckuva lot more!

Food cravings/aversions: None - just ate too many cookies.

Belly button in or out? Still pretty far in. It makes a bit of a crater in my shirts which looks odd.

What I miss? Regularity and feeling cute.  I just feel bulky all the time.

What I am looking forward to? Making any sort of progress on the nursery. Still hasn't happened and we will be out of town again this weekend.

Milestones: Hitting 25 weeks.

What I'm nervous about: At the moment I am nervous about just how big my boobs are going to get. I feel like they are already huge and I know it's gonna get worse. Eeek!

And this week's bump pic - taken before the gym yesterday so please excuse the outfit:

No, I'm not naming my baby that

My sister inexplicably loves Brett Favre.  I personally think he is a diva and after the whole sending naked pictures to a woman who is not his wife thing I pretty much think he is an ass.

Anyway, my sister has convinced my niece that I am naming our baby Brett Favre.  Any time someone asks her "What is K's baby's name?" she smiles and says "Brett Favre!".

Umm, sorry kiddo - but no way in hell am I naming my baby after that jerk.  Not that we've picked a name yet (Andrew and Wesley are in the lead), but he is definitely not going to be baby Brett.  No matter how cute Kayleigh is when she says it.

I guess our New Year's plans have been made for us :)

Yesterday my sister gave us tickets to the Winter Classic - the hockey game being played outdoors at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh between the Penguins and Capitals.  I grew up in Pittsburgh and my whole family is HUGE Pens fans.  So on Friday me, J, my parents, and my sister will head north.  She got us some hotel rooms and we should get up there around 8:00 PM (she works til 7:00 AM and we won't get on the road until 11:00 or so).

So there is no need to come up with NYE plans this year.  Not that I would be partying it up anyway.  Plus at least I know I won't be hungover for the game  :)

So excited for the game!  Now I need to go watch the 24/7: Road to the Winter Classic episodes that we have recorded.  Go Pens!!!

Happy Holidays!!

J and I are about to head up to Myrtle Beach to spend Christmas with my family.  Honestly to me it still doesn't really feel like Christmas and I'm not sure why.  But it will be nice to see everyone and hang out with the kiddos.

J is currently in the back room wrapping all of my presents. Nothing like waiting til the last minute! I still need to figure out how to wrap the gift to my niece - a toy shopping cart with play food. Very odd shape and I don't have a box big enough.

Anyway - I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday and that all of your Christmas wishes come true.  This will be the last Christmas for us as a family of two - soooooo weird to think about!

Cheers!

Met my goal... now can I quit?

34:00 run and 1:00 walk

I'm proud to say that last night at the gym I ran 3.7 miles, and with that mileage I surpassed the goal that I set for myself at the beginning of the year.  And with 10 days to spare.  I wanted to average 50 miles/month for an annual total of 600 miles.  I am now at 601.

600 miles would have been a piece of cake had I not gone and gotten myself knocked up.  My little running partner has made it a little more of a challenge the last few months.  But I say that completely jokingly - I wouldn't trade this little guy for all the easy runs in the world - or anything else for that matter.

Of course now that I reached my goal I keep hearing from everyone that I need to quit running. It's starting to kind of get on my nerves.  I want to say "Quit telling me what to do!", but I don't.  I know they mean well, but I know my body and I will know when it's time to stop doing what I am doing. 

Some of the people that are giving me this "advice" are people who were completely inactive during pregnancy and used being pregnant as an excuse to eat everything in sight.  I am not doing that.  I don't want to be like my friend who has a daughter that will turn 2 next week and is just now getting back into her pre-pregnancy jeans.  No thanks.  Plus, a healthier and more fit me will (hopefully) lead to an easier labor and delivery and recovery.  Fingers crossed.

Here is a breakdown of my annual mileage:

Jan - 38.9 miles in 5:50:38

Feb- 23.6 miles in 3:20:19  (had a stress fracture in my foot and had to take a few weeks off)

March - 60.9 miles in 8:24:28 (to make up for slacking in Feb)

April - 46.9 miles in 6:33:32

May - 57.7 miles in 7:53:23

June - 76.0 miles in 10:23:19  (my most impressive month)

July -  57.0 miles in 7:36:49  (BFP was July 30th)

Aug - 65.2 miles in 9:09:00

Sept - 49.3 miles in 7:14:00

Oct -  45.3 miles in 6:33:00

Nov - 42.5 miles in 6:17:28

Dec - 37.7 miles in 5:44:00

Grand total of 601 miles in 84:59:56  (3 days and 12 hours worth of running).  Yay me!

It's cookie time!

Last night I finally got started on some Christmas baking.  It's just not Christmas without some cookies.  Of course I wasn't about to make a bunch of cookies from scratch being that I am big and puffy and achy and really would have rather have been laying on the couch on my heating pad.

So I hit BiLo on the way home from the gym armed with some coupons and picked up some cookie mix and some break-and-bake cookies (yes, I've gotten THAT lazy).

While dinner was cooking I started on the Peanut Blossoms (peanut butter cookies rolled in sugar and then topped with a Hershey Kiss once they are done baking).  After dinner was the oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, and then I moved on to the easy break and bake ones.  All in all I finished four different kinds of cookies and was able to bring some to work to share with people so I don't pack on even more pounds.

My Peanut Blossoms

Cookie tin for work

Anyway, that was my contribution to the Christmas spirit for the day. Now time for my weekly check-in:

How far along? 24w2d - he's somewhere between 15 and 20 oz I think.

Weight gain/loss: +16 as of this morning. Based on the horrible aching in my back these last few days it seems that the recent weight has settled in my boobs.

Maternity Clothes: I've worn one maternity shirt (because it was cute) and I wear a pair of work pants every so often.  I ordered some jeans from Old Navy and they sucked so I had to send them back. Good thing I still have 3 pairs of normal jeans I can wear.

Symptoms: Cement bowel and excruciating rib pain.  Either a tear in the connective tissue or a hairline fracture.  Awesome.

Gender:  It's a boy!!!

Sleep? Sleeping ok.  The heating pad it helping a bit.

Best moment this week? All the little kicks and punches this little man is dishing out. I love feeling him in there  :)

Movement: Yep - he's an active little bugger in the evenings. Still waiting to be able to get J to feel it. He's never quick enough.

Food cravings/aversions: None.

Belly button in or out? Still nicely in, but the top fold feels weird. I hope that doesn't mean it's making it's way out.

What I miss? Pooping and not being so achy.

What I am looking forward to? Getting started on the nursery - hopefully during our time off for the holidays.

Milestones: Hitting V-Day this past Sunday!

What I'm nervous about: I have my glucose test next Tuesday and I'm afraid that I'll fail it and have to do the 3 hour test.  Ugh.

And this week's bump pic. I had a different one, but I look kind of rough in that one. It's not been a great morning...



Made it past V-Day!

Yesterday I hit the 24 week mark, which people consider 'viability day'.  Meaning if this little guy decided to make an early appearance he would at least now have a chance to make it.  Having a pediatrician in the family I know that 24 weeks is still way too early and I'm praying he stays in much much longer, but at least I know the doctor's would try to save him now.

This past weekend we were up in Charlotte to spend some time with J's family since we will be with my family for Christmas.  It was a pleasant weekend, except after having the dogs in the house and the car the whole time my allergies kicked in to high gear. I am still sneezing and congested. Ugh.

We hung out with his parents, did a little last minute Christmas shopping for ourselves, went to visit some friends, and for the most part just relaxed.  The drive up was kind of uncomfortable (between my ribs, back, and bladder I do not enjoy long car trips at the moment), but it wasn't awful.  We got stuck in traffic for an hour on the way back yesterday, which my pregnant bladder was not amused by.

Oh, and when we got home last night our front door was wide open. Not just unlocked, but open about a foot and a half. And the packages that I had been hoping to get before we left were sitting in the foyer. What the hell?!?  If the UPS guy put them in there, then why the hell didn't he shut the door?  And why would he open the door in the first place?  Nothing was out of place and it didn't appear anyone had been in there, but it is still very unsettling. And since I am the one that locked the door this one is pretty much on me. Oops!

Anyway, here is some of what we bought this weekend:

I thought this pillow was just too cute

Backseat Driver onesie

J picked this one out - we got little brown pants to go with it

This is from Old Navy - kinda small, but it'll fit as a newborn

On clearance at Old Navy

Happy birthday sweetie!

Today is J's 39th birthday.  Not sure he is thrilled with being another year older. I make fun of him all the time since he is 5 years older than me (not that he acts his age!),  but I think it's hitting him that he will be 40 next year.

To make his birthday a little better I made him a cake yesterday. We had some last night since we will be heading out of town after work today.  It wasn't the most beautiful cake in the world, but he seemed to think it was yummy so that's all that mattered.

He calls it his smurf cake

Blowing out the candles and making a wish

Also yesterday when I got home from the doctor (last second appt to try to see if there is anything that can be done about my excruciating rib pain) there was a package from my friend up in Charlotte.  She sent us a Christmas card and the sweetest outfit for our little guy. 

I love the little doggy on the jacket

So sweet!

She got us the 3 month size so it will be perfect for him next summer.  I couldn't stop smiling once I opened it.  Almost took my mind off of the horrible pain in my ribs.

And for the record, there isn't much they can do. I have a prescription for Lortab and I bought an ace bandage to wrap around it to try to put some pressure on it to relieve the pain a little.  Apparently I will be experiencing discomfort due to my ribs spreading to make room for the organs that are shifting.  My horrible coughing fits just aggravated it and made it a lot worse.  And that 'pop' I heard and felt yesterday was most likely the connective tissue. Excellent.  I told J if this last for the rest of this pregnancy I might go insane.  At least the Lortab might take some of the pain out of dealing with his brother this weekend.  (I'm kidding - I will not take a narcotic just to deal with his crazy family. I'm trying to make do with just Tylenol unless the pain just gets too bad. Gotta keep this little guy safe!).

Bath time!

Last night it was time to give the pooches a bath. We'll be heading up to Charlotte this weekend and I didn't want them stinking up my new car.  Plus they were just starting to smell a little ripe - being big dogs I think they get particularly stinky.

First up was Boone, our chocolate lab.  I love Boone, getting him was my idea since I thought Baxter looked lonely.  But I have to admit, this dog is just nuts.  He is a beautiful and he is sweet, but there is just something wrong with that dog!  He reminds me of Marley from Marley & Me.  We met the mom when we picked him out, but not the dad. Something tells me they didn't want us seeing how nuts he was.  Either way, Boone got plopped in the tub and lathered up.

He's a lab so of course he loves water, but he isn't overly fond of having it poured on his head.  And he is incapable of sitting still, so keeping him in the tub is always an interesting feat.

Once Boone was washed and toweled off (with towels fresh from the dryer so they were nice and toasty) we put him in the crate (so he wouldn't get on the furniture all wet) and it was time to get Baxter.

Baxter is our yellow (almost white) lab.  He is 10 years old and quirky as hell. I have never in my life seen any animal so particular about where he poops.  When you aren't in a hurry to go somewhere it can be quite comical, but when the clock is ticking it can be somewhat infuriating.  Regardless of his quirks he is a very sweet and lovable dog.  He's also quite big (pushing 100 lbs) so lifting him into the tub is not easy.

Baxter is much better about sitting still for his baths (I think he mellowed with age), so his bath time isn't as bad.  I think he likes the full body massage.  We had to pay special attention to his ear since he ripped a piece of it off last week.  We didn't know about it until it was too late to do anything about it.  And we couldn't find the chunk of ear so all we could do is make sure it's clean and heals without getting infected.  Needless to say he will not be in any doggy calendars with his war wounds.

After bath time they were content to cuddle up on their dog beds and take a snooze.  And I'm happy that they aren't so pungent and won't totally wipe out my new car smell.

To cut or not to cut?

It's not really the question because there was really never any doubt that this little guy is getting circ'd.  But it was asked yesterday on The Bump and started a nice little debate.

I'll be honest, I was really surprised at the number of moms who say they will not be circumcising their baby boys.  I just thought it was a given - it's what's done in this culture.

Many of them stated that no, now only 50% of baby boys are circumcised.  I wasn't really buying that statistic, so I decided to ask Dr. Nic (my sister the pediatrician).  She has performed hundreds, if not thousands, of circumcisions in her 10+ years of being a pediatrician.  I asked her what percentage of baby boys that she sees being born are not circ'd?  She said it's a small percentage, and that's mostly hispanics and hippies (her words, not mine).  I know she's always excited when a baby boy is born when she is on duty because she gets paid extra for every procedure.  And very few times have I ever heard her complain about someone deciding to not have it done.

I did a little googling and it looks like it really depends on the area of the country and it varies greatly by race.  One study found that non-hispanic white males were circ'd up to 88% of the time.

Oh, and when I brought this up to J on the ride home from work yesterday his reaction was "That's just nasty!" So obviously there is no big debate needed on this subject, which I didn't think there would be.

So yes, our little boy will be having this done while in the hospital.  And for those people who say "God wouldn't give him that foreskin if it was unnecessary."  Well, God gave you an appendix, too, and you don't really need that to live, either. So go chew on that for a while.

I moved south to get away from this crap

Woke up this morning to 23 degree temperatures.  What the hell?!?  This is Charleston. And it's not even officially winter yet. It's NOT supposed to be this cold here!  If I wanted this kind of weather I would've stayed in Pittsburgh.

I think I am just overly cranky because I am still having pain in my ribs from pulling whatever I pulled last week.  And I haven't gone the bathroom in four days which is leading to some discomfort.  And I may have overdone it at the gym last night and I had a little bit of cramping and a teeny tiny bit of spotting which has me freaked the hell out.  And I am tense thinking about having to go to Charlotte this weekend. Really really really am not in the mood to deal with my brother-in-law.  I hope he doesn't think I am wasting my money to buy him a Christmas gift (call me Scrooge, but that waste of space didn't even give us so much as a card to congratulate us on our wedding. He can afford to buy cigarettes but couldn't drop $3 on a card?  Whatever.)

I keep telling myself I just need to get through this week and this weekend and then next week is a three day work week. Then I have a six day weekend and a two day work week the next week. Woo hoo!

Anyway, here is my check in:

How far along? 23w2d - he's a little over a pound and around 11.5 inches I think.

Weight gain/loss: +14.6 as of this morning, but as I said above, I haven't had a bowel movement in four days so my real weight gain could be less.

Maternity Clothes: No maternity shirts yet, but I do wear a pair of pants every so often to work. My normal jeans still fit.  I did wear a pair of maternity yoga capris to run in last night and loved them. Need to get a few more pairs of them.

Symptoms: As mentioned above - cement bowel is back full force  :(

Gender:  It's a boy!!!

Sleep? Sleeping well. I've been sleeping with a heating pad to try to loosen up and soothe my aching ribs.

Best moment this week? Our crib was delivered on Saturday and I bought the stroller yesterday.  Wow - this is really happening!

Movement: Oh yeah - and I even felt him from the outside on Saturday. I was hoping J could feel it, but then the little guy stopped moving.

Food cravings/aversions: None.

Belly button in or out? Still seems pretty far in, not that I'm complaining about that!

What I miss? Pooping  :(

What I am looking forward to? J getting to feel the little guy move.

Milestones: Finally buying some of the big items

What I'm nervous about: I was very nervous last night because I didn't feel good when I got done running and when I went to the bathroom I had a tiny bit of spotting - very very light.  All night I was laying on the couch concentrating on feeling him move so I could know that he was ok in there.  I was talking to him asking him to kick so I knew he was ok and it was bringing me to tears.

And here is this week's bump photo. I got yelled at by a friend on Sunday for not looking pregnant yet, but there is definitely a bump there:

Another decision made

On Friday I went to BRU to test drive some strollers at lunch.  I thought I would like the Graco ones, but it turns out I hated them.  Too bulky, too heavy, car seats that only hold a baby up to 22 lbs, and they didn't feel super stable when you had the car seat on the stroller.  The Chicco ones to me seemed about the same, but were $100 more (at least).

Then I came upon this one:

It's the Baby Trend Freestyle Travel System.  I loved how easy it is to steer, that it's not super heavy, the car seat is very stable when it's locked onto the stroller, it has nice large adjustable sunshades, and the stroller seat lays completely flat to basically turn it into a bassinet.  As an added bonus it has speakers and an mp3 hookup in the parent tray (not a deciding factor, but a nice little surprise).

I got back and did some research on it and saw great reviews. The car seat is good for a baby up to 30 lbs, the stroller is good for a child up to 50 lbs.

I sent the link to J to see his thoughts.  He liked it and told me to go ahead and get it.  So today at lunch I will be going and getting our stroller since I have a 20% off coupon for BRU - meaning I'll save $40 on it.  Plus I think his mom wants to pay for it (as well as the crib) so now we'll be able to tell her how much it was.

So excited to have another decision made.  Now if only we could get started on the nursery...

My husband, the little kid

When J's parents were down here for Thanksgiving his dad gave him this train set. Apparently he had bought it as a little kid and he still had it.  So obviously this thing is pretty old.

This morning J decided to get it out so we could see where to put it and if it would still work.  It's a Lionel Train set - not a very big track so we can't put it around our tree.  Instead we put it in front of the fireplace.  There is an oval track, an engine, three cars and the caboose.

He got it all out of the boxes, blew the dust off of it, and set it up.  It was sparking a bit (had me a little worried!) and making a bit of noise, but eventually it came to life.  He has been messing with it for the last 30 minutes and it cracks me up to see him all excited.  He's such a little kid at heart. Can't wait to see him with our little guy  :)

Here is a little video of him messing with the train:

4 more months

So I came strolling into my office this morning and glanced at the calendar on my wall.  Then it hit me - today is December 10th. Meaning this little guy is due in just four months.  Holy $#@*!

Four months doesn't sound like much to me. Especially when I think about all we have to do.  Maybe I'll feel better if I list out the things we've actually accomplished:

1. Found childcare and reserved a spot
2. Bought the crib (should be here today or tomorrow) and mattress
3. Started the registry

Ok - I was wrong. That made me feel worse.  Seriously, that's all we've accomplished so far?  That can't be right. There has to be more.

I guess to really scare the bejeezus out of me I can list out what we need to do:

1. Nursery (empty room, scrape and paint ceiling, paint walls, refinish dresser, find a glider, assemble crib...)
2. Pick a name - or a couple since I don't want to pick something that just doesn't 'fit' when he makes his appearance
3. Finish the registry (decide on stroller, car seat, high chair, monitors - ugh - so much baby stuff!)
4. Buy this kid some clothes. I don't think one fleece outfit and some NC State onsies are gonna cut it.
5. Register at the hospital (need to wait til after the 1st of the year since my insurance is changing)
6. Pay the maternity pre-payment (after Jan 1 to use flex money)
7. Register for some classes
8. Fill out short term disability paperwork for maternity leave (not til March)
9. Find a pediatrician. I wish my sister was in a practice in Charleston instead of traveling all over the place to work.
10. Get a railing put on the stairs.  We've been sleeping upstairs in the new master suite for 2 years and there is still no railing on the stairs.  Not good if I'll be carrying the baby up and down the steps.

And there are probably a bazillion other things that I'm just not thinking of at the moment because listing out what I already did above is overwhelming enough. 

Oh, and my mom asked me to have the baby early if possible since she has to go to Florida for some work thing on April 14th. Ummm, yeah - I'll get right on that mom.

Ok, now that I am freaked out I need some coffee to relax me.  Hey, at least it's Friday, right?

I should've listened to the warnings

All the people that have been warning me to do my kegels were right. I should have been doing them.  I try, but I forget - I mean, it's not always the first thing on my mind.

Lesson learned.

Last night as I was lounging on the couch resting on my heating pad for my aching ribs I felt a sneeze coming on.  I was more concerned with how much it was going to hurt the pulled muscle than anything else.  Turns out I should have been clenching.  One big sneeze and poof - I pretty much wet my pants.  Excellent.  Pregnancy has regressed me back to being a 3 year old.

So far I have been fine other times.  When I run it feels like this little guy is doing a jig on my bladder, but I haven't had any accidents or anything.  With all my violent coughing fits with this damn cold I'm surprised I haven't needed some Depends, but I've come through all right.  Sneezing, on the other hand, appears to be a force of it's own.

With that in mind I will be doing some exercises at my desk today.  At least my office mate is out so she won't notice if I am making weird faces while I clench. 

Isn't pregnancy fun???

This has to be a record

At least for me it is. Here it is, December 8th, and I am pretty much done with my Christmas shopping. This never happens.  I am normally one of those people hitting the stores for the last minute sales on Dec 24th.

Maybe this will put me more in a Christmas-y mood since now I won't be stressing out about what to get people and what still needs to get done and all that crap.  Plus the fact that it's only going to be 40 degrees here today (what the hell?!? This is Charleston for crying out loud) makes it feel a lot more like the holidays.

Yesterday I was an online shopping machine.  I got J an NC State t-shirt for his birthday (next Friday) and then found these and couldn't resist:

I got the 6-9 month size so our little guy will hopefully fit into them just in time for football season next year.  These will be part of J's Christmas present.  I also bought him some fancy alarm clock/ipod/iPhone docking station/charger thingy that he had been looking at but hadn't bought for himself.  I need to make a trip to Harry & David at lunchtime today to get him some peanut butter stuff (he LOVES peanut butter) and maybe get come stocking stuffers and I'll be done.  We aren't going overboard with the gifts this year since we have some big expenses coming up.

After that I got on Amazon.com and found all the gifts I needed for my dad, sisters, and brother-in-law and I was done.  Mom's gift and my niece's stuff was all bought on my little shopping spree on Sunday.

I was in such a good mood from my accomplishment that it took my mind off of the agonizing pain in my ribs every time I coughed or took a deep breath.  I appear to have pulled a muscle during one of my violent coughing fits so now it feels like I am getting stabbed under my right boob any time I have to cough, sneeze, breathe deeply, or pretty much move.

I burst into tears from the pain on the way home yesterday and J felt so bad for me that he put me on the couch on a heating pad after dinner and let me relax while he was doing laundry.  If only I could take some heavy-duty painkillers...

At least it LOOKS a little more like Christmas

Last night we finally decorated our tree. Yes, the tree that we put up the day after Thanksgiving.  But to be fair, it fell over last week and we were kind of waiting to make sure it wouldn't take another nose dive.

Since J was still suffering the aftereffects of his spectacular hangover we skipped the gym and decided to get to decorating.  Me balancing my pregnant self on a bar stool to help with the lights at the top probably wasn't the best idea in the world, but I didn't fall so it's all good.  Four strands of lights, bows, bulbs, ornaments, and some beaded garland later and we were all done.  Add that to the decorations we got out over the weekend and it's starting to look like Christmas in our house. Too bad I am still not really in the Christmas mood.  Maybe some cookies will help that...

The mantle with our huge stockings

Our tree - hard to get a good shot with my crap camera

Little Santa and Mrs Claus in the foyer - the little guy on the right is a dancing Santa

J's mom got us these snowmen last year. My new favorite Christmas decoration.

Dining room table and the console table behind it with our nutcrackers

Finally made a dent

In my Christmas shopping that is.

Yesterday morning I got up and texted my friend, Colleen, to see if she wanted to do some shopping.  I had been intending on going to the holiday farmer's market with J downtown, but he took it upon himself to drink himself into an oblivion Saturday night so he was in no condition to do anything.

Instead of sitting around stewing - or cleaning up the mess that he made when he stumbled in at 1:30 AM - I decided on some retail therapy.  So I got ready, left some advil and water on his nightstand, and headed out.  It was fun to spend a girls day out and I made a nice dent in my holiday shopping. And I made it through 4 hours of shopping without buying a single thing for myself - well, except for some hangers and I actually needed those.

I did make my first baby clothes purchase. Old Navy had these adorable fleece hoodies on sale for $5 so I bought our little guy a hoodie and the matching fleece cargo pants.  Too adorable:

I was in such a good mood when I got home that I didn't even let it bother me that J was still curled up in a ball on the couch in the fetal position and was incapable of functioning.  I watched some football (I was a perfect 9 for 9 in my early game picks) and continued going through the name book and making my list (Wesley is still in the lead in my mind).

J spent the remainder of the day rotating from couch to chaise and pretty much hating life.  I tried not to take too much satisfaction in his misery and he did apologize for the mess and missing the farmers market.  Something tells me he won't be drinking like that again for a while...

Anyway - here is this week's check in:

How far along? 22w1d - baby is the size of a papaya.  And as of our appt last Tuesday he was 15 oz.

Weight gain/loss: +13.2 lbs.  I'm pretty happy with that at the 22 week mark.

Maternity Clothes: I caved today and wore a pair of pants. All the regular pants I tried on this morning were not comfy.  Of course these ones feel too big.  I can't win.  No maternity shirts yet, though. Getting away with just longer length regular ones.

Symptoms: I feel like he is sitting on my bladder anytime I walk around.

Gender:  It's a boy!!!

Sleep? Sleeping very well so far. Still able to get comfortable with no major issues.

Best moment this week? Seeing our healthy baby boy at the anatomy scan last week.  I love this little guy so much I can't even put it into words.

Movement: Yep - feeling thumps mostly when I am sitting or laying down.  Sometimes after I eat he is particularly active.

Food cravings/aversions: Still nothing - eating lots of fruits and veggies.

Belly button in or out? Still in and keeping my fingers crossed that doesn't change anytime soon.

What I miss? Fitting into clothes and not feeling constricted.

What I am looking forward to? Getting started on the nursery. We have the crib and the bedding picked out, just need to buy them.

Milestones: Finding out the gender and seeing our healthy baby.

What I'm nervous about: How much we still have to get done and having less than 18 weeks to do it. Yikes!

And here is my bump for this week:

This could be dangerous

I need to run to Target today at lunch to get some essentials (shampoo, conditioner, body wash, etc).  Now, I normally have a hard time getting out of Target and spending less than $40.  It's going to be even harder today, since now I know what's baking in my oven.  Something tells me I will be making a beeline to the baby boy clothes.  And baby clothes are just so freaking cute.

To be fair we have not bought a single thing for this little guy yet - except for that jogging stroller and let's be honest, that's more for us.

There is something else baby related that I definitely want to check out while I am there. I found this bedding online the other day and it is so cute that I think I have to have it.

Now by no means are we going to go Snoopy crazy and do the entire room with the wallpaper borders and window valances and throw rugs that they have in some of the pictures. That's just a little too much Snoopy.  But I think the bedding is adorable and will go great with the sage green walls that we plan on doing.  I think the bedding, the mobile, and a cute little lamp will be great and then we can do the rest of the room with the blue and tan accessories to tie it all together.

So this could end up being a somewhat expensive shopping trip today. Good thing it's a payday Friday!

The name game

Now comes the tough part - deciding on a name.

Tuesday night after we found out we're having a boy I started going through the boy names in the book again.  Seems like everything I suggested or mentioned (some jokingly) got shot down.  But of course J offered no suggestions of his own.

Or actually he has one suggestion. Jack or Jackson.  Big thumbs down from me. Not a fan of Jack and I have a cousin with a son named Jackson and I just think it's too trendy.  I kind of don't want a name that's on the list of top names from the past few years.

I hate all the -aden names (Aiden, Brayden, Kaden, Jayden, etc.).  I detest 'unique' spellings (Jaxon). And I can't stand adding a 'Y' in a name or replacing another vowel with it (Jayson).

I want a name that will age well - not something that is a cute little boy name but will sound dumb on a grown man.

I've already asked J if we can use Joseph as the middle name. That's my dad's name and being that he didn't have a son to pass down our last name to I would really love to honor him that way.  Plus he is so excited to be getting a grandson and I think it will be really meaningful.  J is fine with it.

Anyway, out of all the names in the book I keep coming back to two - Wesley and Owen.  I was apprehensive about Wesley because our last name also starts with a 'W', but the more I say it the more I like it.  And I love Owen, but I don't know that I want to give our kid the initials OJ.

I need to run Wesley Joseph past J again and see what his thoughts are. I'll just have to keep putting it out there and hopefully it will grow on him  In the meantime I'll keep saying it out loud and see if I get a reaction out of the little man  :)

Not the best start to the day

This morning as I was finishing up getting ready for work J went downstairs.  After a minute or two he yelled up to me.  "The tree fell over".  Ugh.

I walk downstairs and he already had it upright again, but that whole half of the living room is covered in pine needles. And there is water everywhere.

We went to work sopping up the water with towels and he had the tree kind of leaned in the corner.  Three years ago our tree fell over twice, so he chucked that tree stand and we got a new one the next year.  It has worked fine for the past two years and we didn't have any issues.  I don't know if this year's tree is bigger or what.  It wasn't leaning and it wasn't wobbly.  When we got the tree at Lowes we did see stands for 10 ft trees, but opted against getting it thinking ours would be fine. Obviously a mistake.

I think J is going to get a new stand today for the tree.  I feel bad because he IM'd me earlier saying "    that damn Christmas tree has me pissed off..."

I wanted him to be in a good mood because I planned on us decorating the tree tonight while watching The Grinch and Rudolf that we recorded on tv last night.  Something tells me he won't be in the Christmas spirit tonight.

On the plus side - at least it wasn't already decorated so we didn't break a bunch of stuff.  Oh, the joys of the holidays...

Oh, and I would've snapped a picture of the wreckage, but I didn't want to add any fuel to the fire.