let it snow! let it snow! let it snow!

yes! let it snow! it's so beautiful and i've been dreaming of a white christmas! ok, ok. so i wouldn't be nearly as excited about all this white stuff if i had to, say, drive to work or go christmas shopping. but lucky for me, i've got the weekend off and thanks to the internet, a visit to the mall is not in my future (which makes me happy no matter what the weather is)!

sitting here in my warm and cozy home i am so content with cats meowing at my feet, tea on the stove and a dateline murder mystery on the television. ahhh, tis the season. can't wait to see all the members of both sides of our family over the holidays; lot's of laughing and happiness, home cooking and relaxing. have i mentioned that i love this season?

riding my winter sleigh into the third trimester of my pregnancy (officially in my 28th week now and starting the home stretch), i have had no time to do any decorating around here. i've barely had time even to keep up on the dishes! tony and i do what we can, but with times being tight we've been trying to work a little extra here and there. i still feel great (except for the heartburn!!! this kid better be a hairy ape for all the suffering i'm doing!) and am almost feeling a little sad about having to share her with other people in a few months. but all the happiness she will bring is worth it and though i'll miss feeling all these kicks in belly, by week 38 i'll probably be begging for an induction.

the latest picture of pregnancy...

24 weeks.

ok. at this point, my husband should really know that food is an integral part of my day. as in, if i don't have breakfast within a half hour of waking up i'll either a) barf, b) tear into him like an angry ferret or c) both. luckily (for me anyway) i chose b today. too bad for him. but that's what he gets for talking on the phone 22 out of 24 hours a day. ok, so it's not totally his fault. first, if my friends called me as often as his do, i might think they were stalking me. also, his shut off valve for ending conversations has a leak (and he looooves to claim that everyone else gabs too much; please). also, i suppose it would be just as easy to take the breakfast reigns myself, but some mornings the idea of making an eggo waffle sounds resembles the building of the pyramids. besides, if i can't use this pregnancy to demand breakfast service, well what good is it? long story short, i did finally get to eat, but only after getting crabby enough to make eggs myself (did not go well). much better now. and tony's over the tongue lashing i gave him. his injuries will heal...eventually.

in my 24th week at this point. feeling big as a house and i know, i know...it's only going to get worse. i hope i don't have to listen to one more person tell me that, because I KNOW. but sometimes i just feel like commenting on my current girth, ok? without people telling me that i'm only going to get bigger. oh really? you mean the my baby won't weigh 1.5 pounds when she's born? and will be longer than a standard envelope? wow. maybe i should buy a book or something. thanks for the heads up.

we have another level II ultrasound on monday. yay! i can't wait because the last one was so awesome and cool and fun to watch. now, six weeks later, i can't imagine all the changes! i think i have been feeling her move around, especially mid-morning. crazy little kid. maybe she'll have tony's energy. heaven help me. maybe she'll have his energy level and my stubborn side. heaven help us all if that's the case...

23 weeks.

currently 23 weeks (until wednesday) and feeling great! tired though i may be, i'm totally enjoying being pregnant; i think it suits me. it's the labor i'm not too excited about! today tony and i went to my ob appointment and all the news was good, of course. my ob doctor (she rocks!) always makes me feel at ease. she met tony for the first time today and was surprised to find that he really does exist! my weight is right on track (hallelujah, because losing it when all is said and done will be hard enough), and my uterus is, well, big. i love hearing that heartbeat; sounds so strong!

coffee and scones after the appointment with my hubby (yes! you can drink coffee while your pregnant, now leave me alone!). it was fun going out with him, even if it was only for a half hour; we get so busy and stuck in our schedules that we forget what it was like to be "dating". why do i feel like that's going to become an even more distant memory in the not too far away future?

it's good to have tony back; he had gone hunting up north for a few days and it's always a little too quiet around here without him. he brought back no venison this time, which is probably a good thing since we are still eating last year's deer. tony was hoping to get one though with the economy being like it is; i think he was hoping to live off a deer carcass for many months. his loss is my gain!

maybe they're better at photography than they are at hunting!

watch out defenseless forest creatures! this bunch is not one to mess with!

stylish in camo!

22 weeks.

ok, so i'm not the best at keeping up on this blog. but really, only about 2 people (hi mom and dad!) check it anyway, so...

however, being that i'm pregnant (yay!) i should probably be a little more diligent at jotting down my thoughts and observations. someday, when paper no longer exists and we all have a microchip in the back of our necks, i'll be able to access my thoughts via the world wide web. scary.

currently i'm 22 weeks into gestation. at least that's what the perinatologist said, though i think she's wrong (what does she know anyway!). when we went in for my level 2 ultrasound, they thought the size of the baby was more befitting of that due date than of my previous one. so, easy as that, they pushed my progress back a week. i'm not complaining though; the more mommy and me time i get (before i have share this little sea monkey with the rest of the world) the better! yep, i'm kind of selfish like that.

otherwise, it seems that everything is moving along as planned. did i mention? it's a girl. A GIRL! needless to say, there were tears in my husband's eyes when he first found out, and not the tears of joy one might expect. it took him about a day to get over the news that the skeletal image on the screen had labia (the tech actually said "see these three lines? this one's the labia!" with real enthusiasm, just to add insult to injury).

now, though, he's happy, excited, and oh so cute when he talks to her through my ever expanding belly. he calls her by name (nope, not mentioning that here yet) and sings to to her too. he acts like a total goofball and i'm loving it.

our little girl is healthy and growing normally, based on the ultrasound results, and we have a follow-up u/s the week of thanksgiving just to make sure the little bipper stays on track. because i'm a type 1 diabetic, there's a very good chance that she's growing a little faster and bigger than your average baby, so we'll probably be meeting her in person a couple weeks earlier than expected. who needs a due date anyway!

the training was worth it...

thank god for labor marathons. i mean, it's not like i have anything else to do. you know, like unpack the hundreds of boxes still leftover from moving, no need to do the dishes, wash the car, water the garden. no need to clean the litter boxes, vacuum the carpets, do the laundry, exercise, go outside, get groceries, eat, go to the bathroom, blink...no need for any of that when i've got, like, 18 hours of crime scene investigating to do. it's a dirty job, but some one's gotta do it.

13 weeks

just finishing up my 1st trimester and here's what's developed...

okay, okay, i know i need a tan. but i'm trying to preserve my youthful skin tone so that i can be one hot mama.

holy crap, i'm going to be a mom. a mother. how did this happen?

oh ya, that's right.

yep, i'm nervous. you betcha. but do i doubt our decision to make a little tony jr. or mini me? not a chance. this is, by far, the best thing either of us has ever done. period.

grow baby grow!