Another Wonderful Baby Shower

Lucy is going to be one lucky baby. She's going to born into a plethora of wonderful aunties, great-aunties, grandmas and more! 

My sister in law planned a shower for Saturday. It was a nice brunch with some of my favorite people. She had everyone write down a favorite memory that they had with their mom and put all the memories in a flip-photo book. I got chills while reading through them! I can't wait for Lucy and I to create such sentimental memories of our own! 

The shower was at Creation Cafe and overlooked the canal in downtown Indianapolis. Here are some pictures from the shower:

 

  

We received such nice gifts. I think we're all ready for Lucy. Her once-empty nursery feels full of everything she's going to need. I can't wait to dress her in the wardrobe of clothes from my ever so fashionable friend Hannah :) 

Thank you to everyone who came into town for the shower! And thanks Kels for all the planning! Mwah!

34 weeks

Little Lucy is now 34 weeks. Yep, the size of a durian. I won't even comment about this weeks fruit/veggie obscureness. All I know is that I'm thankful that she's a lot smoother than that prickly kooshball!

My bump keeps growing. Every morning I wake up and my belly feels harder, and every night it becomes harder to get any sleep. That's probably because I've got almost a 5 pounds real moving person in there.

Lucy is a super super super active baby.  The doctor warned me, to let him know if there's any decrease in her movement, or if I don't feel her move for a long period of time. I had to ask, "is there such thing as too much movement?" because I don't think she ever stops moving!

And here's yesterday's photo of my bump (or bulge)...

Only about 6 weeks left...

33 Weeks

Lucy and I are at 33 weeks. That means we've reached the 50 day countdown.

The bump has her at the size of a honeydew. 

Not sure why I've gained 35 pounds, when she only accounts for about 5 pounds... oh well. 

We had our 33 week check up this morning. Nothing new. Lucy has flipped into the head down position (this is a good thing). I go back in 2 weeks.

I'll end this with a joke that I heard yesterday: Why doesn't anyone play poker in Africa??

Because there are too many cheetahs.

A Nice Relaxing Weekend

Our babies on four legs...

 Our new baby on four wheels...

Sorry, it was dark when I took the picture

We went to see Fiddler on the Roof at the Murat with Kyle's parents on Friday. It was a great performance. It's an excellent musical if you haven't ever seen it. And I didn't fall asleep during it (like I do when watching the movie).

The rest of the weekend we spent hanging out with Steve and Susan (Kyle's parents). We checked out their new house. Picked out an outfit for Lucy to wear home from the hospital. Picked up our new car. Watched college basketball. 

It seems like we usually see Steve and Susan for a few hours and then head back home. It was nice spending a longer time with them.

Our Poor Man's March Totals:

Dog Food: $10.30 (I had some coupons and a left over gift card)

Popcorn and Soda - $2

Soda and Water - $6

Gift - $12

Contact Solution - $13

Red Box - $1.28

Grocery Store - $6.48

Fast Food Totals: Michelle - 2, Kyle - 2

I checked our credit card bill this morning. Holy moly, it was low :) I actually don't remember it ever being so low. The only other things on it was our phone bill and gas for our cars (which wasn't very high, since we haven't been traveling much).

This week I may get to sneak in a few extra "free" Starbucks trips too (Thank you, Christine Lynn!)

P.S. for the last few days, I haven't been able to get this out of my head:

"If I were a rich man,
Yubby dibby dibby dibby dibby dibby dibby dum."  

Hopefully Lucy enjoys that song, since I'm constantly singing it, and she has no choice but to listen. I should probably learn a few more lines to make it more interesting for her...

P.S.S.  We decided that maybe Kyle will drive the new car and I'll drive the mazda3. Parking the Xterra in a busy parking lot was quite humorous. Though, I think the cars around me were getting quite annoyed. I felt like I kept backing up and doing the same thing over and over again. I felt like I was parking a school bus... or at least a minivan! Now I know why they have you just leave the vehicle out front after the test drive, instead of having you try to maneuver it into a tiny parking spot. Sheesh!

Poor Man's March = Epic Fail and 32 week milestone

Well... we decided that we’re not going to buy an ipad 2. That’s because we bought a Nissan Xterra instead.

It doesn’t have all the bells and whistles as the Xterra we were originally looking at, but this one was much closer to our budget. We pick it up on Saturday (we'll post pictures this weekend). After months of looking, we can finally check “buy a new car” off our to-do list. We’ll add “make car payment” to the list in its place. Those few months of driving free were fun.

 

In other news, Lucy is the size of another type of squash, weighing in at 3 pounds. My sister has been waiting for today. Some days she works in the NICU and terms babies "feeder babies" once they make it to 32 weeks. Meaning that even if Lucy were born now, she'd most likely only need to be fed to build up body mass, and probably wouldn't need major surgeries to be kept alive.

Super excited to pick up our new ride this weekend.

We'll continue to practice Poor Mans March, despite this one minor setback...

Day 222

Either I've got it good or some pregnant women complain... A LOT. 

Kyle and I attended our first childbirth class at Union Hospital last night. The instructor started by having the women list their symptoms, and the list went on, and on, and on...
and on...
and on. Luckily Lucy hasn't been giving me too much trouble. The class was informative and goes on for 6 more Tuesdays (only 5 more for Kyle, since he will probably skip the breast feeding class). The instructor had a fake baby that was the size of a baby born at 28-30 weeks, he was way too tiny. We decided that Lucy needs to cook for at least another 7 or 8 weeks. I telepathically sent her the memo.

I've been feeling much better and am finally over whatever it was that I had the last few weeks.

Poor Man's March has been... trying. I've used up one fast food credit. I also cheated this morning and stopped at Starbucks. Then I convinced Kyle to stop too, so I didn't feel so bad. We had to buy the dogs food (I think they might be our  largest expense after restaurants!) We've done well at cooking at home, using up items in our pantry/freezer and eating left overs. I've been tempted to buy some things, but I've banked them in the back of my head as "things to buy on April 1st". Hopefully by April 1st I'll have either forgotten about them or realized that we don't really need them.

Tonight we're going to go to Indy to look at a few Nissan Xterras. Every time we find a car we like, it sells before we can even go look at it. This time we're not dilly dallying around. Hopefully we find something we like at a reasonable price.

31 weeks

Today we kick off Poor Man's March.

Today little Lucy is also the size of a pineapple... yikes!

 

Today's unnecessary comment from a guy at work "Wow, you sure you don't have twins or triplets in there?"

Today's other unnecessary comment from a guy at work "How much have you gained? 30 pounds? It looks like a lot more than that"

Today Lucy and I have to go to the doctor again. That means 90 minutes of waiting and 5 minutes of actually seeing the doctor. I'll be sure to bring my kindle!

Poor Man's March

No, we're not striking, or joining any occupy movement.

On Thursday March 1st, Kyle and I will begin what we've termed: “Poor Man’s March”. We are going to see how little we can spend throughout the month of March.

That is why before Thursday, I plan to do a whole lotta shopping and rack up a whole lotta credit card debt (just kidding). *Side note: One of Kyle’s pet peeves is when people eat horribly the week before they start a diet. Similarly, spending a lot of money before a spending-fast

Instead of calling it "saving money" we're opting for the term "not spending money"

Here are some ways that we’re planning on not spending money this month:

1. When analyzing our credit card bills, the majority of our money goes towards food. So we’re starting with this rule: No sit down restaurants for the whole month (unless of course someone else is buying)

2. Fast food only four times throughout the entire month.

3. Use our gift cards. We still have a Q’doba gift card and 2 subs worth of a Jimmy John’s gift card. That’s two extra meals this month that won’t show up on our credit card.

4. Starbucks on Saturdays only. This is actually very cheap entertainment for us. We each get a coffee, and I print out a USA Today crossword online, and we spend an hour or two sipping our coffee, chatting, and completing a crossword together. This is one activity we hope to someday enjoy when we're retired (but on a daily basis).

5. Eating freezer and pantry food – You’d be amazed how much food we have stocked away that we just haven’t eaten yet

6. Eat leftovers. How many times have we thrown out an entire meal of good food?!? Not happening this March!

7. Set a menu. We do better when we set a menu. It prevents us from stopping at Subway or BWW. We're thinking a healthy menu too.

8. Go in to work one hour earlier. If I go into work an hour earlier, I leave an hour earlier. This gives me more time to start on cooking those delicious home-cooked dinners.

9. No alcohol. This has obviously been a given for me. I haven’t had a drink since Ireland. However, this means no beer purchases for Kyle too. Let’s just call it a 31 day sympathy detox. Though, he is allowed to finish the 3 beers left in the fridge.

10. DIY haircut. We do this anyways. I enjoy cutting Kyle’s hair, and I’ve gotten better and quicker at it. An added plus: he doesn’t have to schedule an appointment or spend the time to go to the barber.

11. Cheap and productive entertainment. Like fertilizing our lawn, bathing the dogs, fixing up things that we already have the supplies to fix.

12. No shopping (in stores or online). Yep, I won’t be buying a thing. No matter how cute or what a great deal it is.

*One exception: If the i pad 3 comes out in March and they drop the price on the i pad 2, we may be purchasing an i pad 2 for Kyle

30 weeks

Last weekend was awesome. My sister threw a coed baby shower for us at the abode of my cousin Lisa and Doug in Chicago. There was a great turn out, and it was so nice to see everyone. We played a fun game, and ate some great food. Instead of a card my sister had requested that people bring a book and sign their names on the inside. I LOVED THIS! Kyle and I love reading through the books that everyone had picked. Some had picked their childhood favorite, and others picked a book that they enjoy reading to their young loved ones. 

On Sunday, we went on two brewery tours. It was a great way to spend a beautiful Sunday in Chicago. Like a good attendee I drank all my samples :)

 OK, well maybe I got a little bit of help.

Lucy is at 30 weeks. So only 10 weeks left to go. I'm really getting excited to meet her. She is now the size of an English cucumber. I can constantly feel her kicks and movements. I haven't been feeling well... at all. The doctor thinks it's because of my low blood sugar and super low blood pressure. Add that to a cold and sore throat. I hate to complain, since I had it so easy the first 6 months. The doctor wants to see me weekly and run blood work until I start to feel better, and at least until the chest pains and nausea/vomiting goes away. Until then, Kyle will have to stay on pregnant wife duty :)

29 weeks

Lucy and I are at 29 out of 40 weeks. With how crummy I've been feeling, I'm glad that we're about 75% of the way done. 

And the obscure veggie of the week is...

The ever so well known acorn squash. I cooked with acorn squash once, it was terrible. But that probably had something to do with my lack of cooking talent, and my need to make substitutions and estimations on the fly.

Today I'm going to go down to Bloomington to look at a Jeep Liberty. After that I'll be hanging out with Miss Franny. She's going to stay over at Auntie Chel and Kyle's house tonight. It's a good thing too, since we have a bear on the loose in our home, and we will need someone to assist us on a good bear hunt :) I'll keep you posted on whether or not we catch him.

Chicago this weekend with some awesome friends and family. Super excited!

Waiting for Lucy

Remember this post?

What's in a name...

Well, I think we're ready to handle a few vomity faces (at least we keep telling ourselves that we're prepared to). We've chosen a name for little Ringlet... 

Lucy Ring. (I know, I know, "it has a nice 'ring' to it"). We had a few other names picked out, and one morning, out of the middle of nowhere, I told Kyle "I think she feels like a Lucy", and it stuck. Surprisingly, we randomly found a name that we both love.

Kyle painted purple letters, wrapped them with green yarn and hung them over her crib. So it's official. No changing it now. So don't ask. Those letters were too hard get hung up. (My slightly OCD husband had to make sure that they were perfectly centered and spaced above the crib).

**For those who are curious, yes, we finally agreed on a middle name too. But we're keeping that one a secret until her arrival**

Here are some more pictures of our just about finished nursery. I doubt her closet will always stay this neat and organized.

 

My mom refinished my grandmothers baby dresser and finished it off with some baby animal knobs. It looks a-maz-ing!

Kyle and I enjoy sitting in this rocking chair and admiring our work.

28 weeks

Little Ringlet is 28 weeks. Measuring in at roughly the size of a Chinese Cabbage (about 14 inches from head to toe).

It looks like from here on out, we'll be learning more about obscure fruits and vegetables than Ringlet's actual measurements.

Thank you for everyone's wonderful comments on my last post. Glad to know that someone is actually reading this :)

27w4d check-up

Little Ringlet is almost 28 weeks.

Her doctor’s appt yesterday went ok. She’s in the breach position, so they were able to get some nice photos of her teenie tiny face. Hopefully she’ll move out of that position in the next couple of weeks.

She weighs over 2 pounds and is in the 45-50 percentile. Her length measured in at 28 weeks. The ultrasound tech called her our little “over-achiever”. You could see her little diaphragm moving up and down, meaning that she’s already practicing her breathing.

I found out that I anti-failed the Glucose Challenge Test.

How the test works: A nurse checks your blood sugar, then you drink a whole bunch of sugary orange drink, wait an hour, and the nurse checks your blood sugar again.

The range is for the second test should be between 80-130, with anything over 130 being an F. Well, mine came back in the 60’s which means that my blood sugar level actually dropped. I figured that was an “A+” but the dr. started using big words like “hypoglycemia” and some other acronyms that I can’t remember; then he said, “eat more small meals”. I understood that part, and am starting today.

He gave me a prescription for my heartburn. However if my chest pains don’t go away we’ll have to do an “EKG” (what is with these doctors and their acronyms, they’re worse than a 14 year old girls text message).

He wasn’t sure why my left eye keeps twitching, but I googled it, and it means good fortune is on it’s way. So I’m going to just stick with that.

Here are a few photos of little Ringlet:

Happy Monday!

Happy Monday from me and my ever-growing, 27 weeks and 3 days belly.

Only 87 more days to go!

27 weeks and feeling fine... (for the most part)

Little Ringlet is at 27 weeks. We have an appointment on Tuesday, which should include an ultrasound to make sure she's growing. That's good, because I feel like it's been FOREVER since I last saw her.

The bump has her at the size of a cauliflower. 

 

I love baby hiccups. It's our little bonding moment that tells me she's in there trying to learn how to breathe. I think that pregnancy has gotten easier now that I can feel her move around. It's been a little reassurance that things are still progressing like they should.

I've been having a few chest pains and periodically a shortness of breath. A tad bit of heartburn. But otherwise we're still just trekking along.

A "Super" Weekend

Since little Ringlet's nursery is just about complete, Kyle and I enjoyed a nice relaxing weekend. We went to the coffee shop and worked on a crossword on Saturday morning. We watched a lot of Big Ten basketball throughout the weekend.

 

On Sunday morning we went to downtown Indy to check out all of the Superbowl festivities. It wasn't nearly as crowded as I had expected. We each kicked a field goal. It was a neat set up, you get one try with a huge crowd watching you. Quite the pressure. Though Kyle missed right and mine was just a tad short, we were both satisfied with our performances.

 

Downtown was really nicely set up. There were people ziplining over our heads. Football fields setup in the street, and an Indy car for every NFL team at the circle (the center of Indianapolis, for those out-of-towners).

Overall, a great weekend!

Too Much Good Ice?

Kyle is a self-proclaimed expert on "good ice". He rates Pizza Hut as having the best ice. Round fountain drink ice is also at the top, followed by cubed fountain drink ice. Towards the bottom of the list is bagged purchased ice that started as a chunk of that's been broken down to pieces. At at the very bottom of the list is the dreaded... Non-filtered, homemade freezer ice. 

Kyle and his brother have an extensive critiquing procedure and rating system for all ice. So at lunch today, I was worried when my ice-ing skills came into question. He stated that my ice to soda ratio is far too high. Too much ice? Is there such a thing? 

He admits that good ice will make any drink taste better. However, he was concerned that I need to refill my soda too often due to the amount of space that the ice takes up. This then takes away from the satisfaction that the ice is providing. He stated that there just might be a preferred soda to ice ratio that will minimize your trips to the refill station while providing enough good ice to maximize your taste buds.

So, is there such thing as too much good ice? He said that we will need to wait for the other "ice-expert" (his brother) to shed some light on the dilemma...

100 days left…

100 days until the estimated arrival of Ringlet. What? Did I calculate this out of frustration at work, because I'm looking forward to a few weeks away from this awful place?  Psh... Ok, well, maybe, but I promise that I'm even more excited to be a mother for the rest of my life than just a few weeks of sanity. And yes, going through delivery and caring for a newborn baby will be less chaotic and less hostile than my current work place.

We're coming up on week 26. This marks the start of  the third trimester. Little Ringlet is kind of a night owl and likes to jump and kick at all hours of the night. Besides a growing belly, we haven't been getting any of the other symptoms other pregnant women are experiencing. No sickness or cravings, aches or pains. Hopefully she stays this well behaved and easy for the next 18 years :)

Two Years and Counting...

Kyle and I celebrated our two year anniversary today.

I'm almost 25 pounds heavier, and he loves me at least 25% more.

I got him an anniversary present, but she won't be here until May (or maybe late April)

Thank the Lord for Starbucks, Jimmy Johns and Mother-In-Laws

I went back to work today. I was out of the office for 3 days visiting a customer and then was in Alabama for an AFS-4M committee meeting. I went back to work, and was instantly frustrated with my job and the people there who constantly make me miserable. Luckily, my mother-in-law had sent me a Jimmy John's and Starbucks giftcard for my birthday. 

My day went from this:

to this:

The big stack of papers, 108 emails, and those not very nice people may just have to wait until Monday...

So this is Thirty

I'm officially out of my twenties. When I look back at where I thought I'd be at thirty, this isn't exactly what I predicted, but it's pretty darn close. Great family. Wonderful husband. Nice house. Stable career. And a little baby on the way... Not too bad for 30. This weekend, Kyle and I celebrated with plenty of Kyle and Michelle time.

It was a cell phone and computer-free weekend (Sorry if I missed your call). From morning tea and crosswords to a little bit of NFL playoffs, to an amazing dinner at J.Fords. We had pork belly for the first time. No wonder why they always cook pork belly on top chef, it's delicious! Kyle had made reservations and when I opened my menu it said "Happy Birthday Michelle!" at the top. We followed up dinner with some friendly Mario-Sonic wii.

We worked on Ringlets nursery this weekend. It went from this:

To this:

Here are a few more pictures of our progress:

On Sunday night we went to the Indiana State game with some of Kyle's friends. A great weekend. I'm looking forward to the next 30 years!

Happy Birthday Michelle!

Happy 30th Birthday to my beautiful bride and favorite blogger.  Even as gorgeous as you are, you are even more beautiful on the inside.  You are very loved.