Christmas in EA

What a nice Christmas. My last Christmas child free - wow - that's crazy to think of! I am 33 weeks along. I am needing to get last minute stuff together like wipes etc. that you don't think about til the last minute. Plus we are still organizing the room! I had a nice holiday with the fam though. I had a nice day after Christmas with my cousins Alex and Rachel where we made pottery , as their Christmas gift (it's hard to find something fun and exciting for an 18 and 16 year old!). So, I have attached pictures of the fun time we had (that's the Happy Birthday plate I made for the baby pre-firing). And just for kicks a picture of the snow I drove in to when I arrived in East Aurora! By today it had melted due to the excessive warm weather (it was 63 this morning - and 58 yesterday). So, the 18 + inches had melted by today causing much flooding and distruction. Plus then the wind picked up (75 mph at the airport qualifying as hurricane forces) and caused some more craziness today at the bills game. But, alas no snow is left and I am heading back to LI tomorrow where there is guaranteed to be no snow!

In the 8th Month

Today I am 32 weeks along (which means I have completed 7 mos. of pregnancy and am on the 8 week countdown). This is a picture of the baby belly yesterday at the Cafe. We had quite an eventful weekend. Friday night we got a photosmart copier/printer/scanner all in one and a mino flip video camcorder (both in prep for the bambino). I finally gave in and ordered maternity clothing from Old Navy. It was actually better than I thought. As you can see by the picture the belly was becoming too big to hold in any longer!

Saturday Morning we put the crib together that the Moldenhauer's are loaning us and went through the two boxes of clothing from the boys. Then we organized the room. Saturday I had lunch with Alerie, Jon, Marisa and Moises in Huntington, our once a month SBU lunches. We ate at a nice Mexican place and went to Cocofe across the street for some lovely desserts. The whole time the little bambino was moving around quite a bit! Also, we sold our tredmill on craigslist. Thank God for craigslist, now I am hoping to also get rid of the papasan chair!

To boot on Saturday evening, our friend Lisa sent us a Holiday Package with lots of goodies. First we got the wonderful homemade candies and goodies from Lisa and Tresa. Then Lisa also included a lovely handmade embroidered blanket (which goes back many years) and several baby goodies for the little bambino.

Then came Sunday...I had some last minute things to get together including finishing my goddaughter's 1st year scrap book before I left. I went to CVS to develop the pics - and no such luck - their entire photo area was down. At this I headed out to Walmart (thinking this may be a bad idea on the Sunday before Christmas). Walmart was a disaster as predicted. It took me 2 1/2 hours to get 1 hour film developed. Their machine kept printing my pictures with big red spots all over them (which would not have been pretty in the scrap book). So finally, at 8pm we are packing to go home to EA for the next week with a stop in Syracuse along the way. We will get to visit with Dan and Brian and have a lunch with Tanya and see the boys!

It should be a great Christmas week with a lovely shower to end it all before I head back to LI!

Looking pregnant!

Okay, so I have been looking preggo for a while however, yesterday apparently I looked especially pregnant to Jai. So, he wanted to take some pictures before I left for work. The baby has been moving a lot the last few days. I have been getting a little pain/ pressure in my groin, hips and pelvis. Heather assures me this means the baby has dropped in to position - hmmm. And yesterday I felt a shooting pain down my left side from my hip in to my back - not fun. Hopefully today, that will subside. The name situation has not cleared itself up yet. We are working on it still and have narrowed, but not enough. And our list seems to still be changing - even in it's narrowed state, lol. We are off this weekend to spend time in Baltimore with the Moldenhauers. It is my goddaughters 1st birthday! I can't believe how much this year has flown!

December....WHAT?

Wow, time has really flown. Today I am 30 weeks along, leaving only 10 weeks - which seems like an extremely short period of time! The baby is moving all around, especially when I eat one of my favorite fruits of the winter - clementines! He moves throughout the day but, mostly from after dinner until breakfast time - he sleeps most of the day. One day I even saw my stomach bump up from his foot - it was weird.

We had a great shower in East Aurora with the family. It was really nice to see everyone and catch up with the women in the family, and hear hilarious stories from my cousins! Now we are back and working on where everything is going to go in the apartment. We have moved the bedroom around to make room for his own little corner of the room. This weekend we purchased the rocking chair and ottomon and will set that up this week along with the swing.

With only a short period of time left I think that I am starting to get anxious about the labor. This week I had a dream the baby was born on the 12th of February (my grandmother's birthday) and a colleague of mine had a dream that it was the 19th of February the very next day - which I thought was pretty funny.

Effie is also obviously catching on to the fact that we are having a new arrival as twice on Friday night she climbed up on my stomach while I was sleeping and laid down for a long time on my stomach. For Effie this is strange behavior since she won't even sleep on your lap. After telling Jai this, this morning he says to me after getting out of the shower - I've been thinking. You can't let Effie do that anymore she might think she can do that to the baby. So, we'll see if it happens again - I doubt it but maybe. I think it will be interesting to see how she reacts to the baby - if she even notices his presence :)

Thanksgiving Thanks!

So, here I am in the winterized East Aurora, Toy Town USA. My babies first taste of Thanksgiving dinner cooked by the best, my Mother of course, will be tomorrow! I am giving thanks today that the baby has decided to move off the nerve or organ or whatever he was leaning on near my right hip, that was the first not fun feeling of my pregnancy. Not that it was painful (not like the heartburn) but, more like pressure - and something I just couldn't get rid of at all. I slept the whole night on my left side hoping when I woke up he would have been pulled by gravity off of whatever he was leaning on, well today after two nights that theory finally worked :)

I am happy that I am getting to spend time with the women of my family on Friday for my first baby shower, that I got to visit with my friends from the EA area and that there is 5 inches of snow on the ground to mark the fact that I am actually back in the Buffalo area!

One thing that I am thankful for is that my love Jai is as excited and involved with the choice of the baby's name as I am. We are still working on a name, although Hunter is in the running along with Elijah still and my long shot hope of Jackson (which is as likely as Jai's long shot hope of Cameron or Christian). I really am leaning toward Elijah but, I think that Jai is more excited about Hunter. The middle name will definitley be Henry (that we have agreed on!).

So, this Thanksgiving I am happy to be in good ol' EA, Toy Town USA, enjoying the simplicity of a small town with no job worries to think about, with my parents, awaiting the arrival of Jai and enjoying the alleviation of the pressure from Baby Boy Bennett!

I hope my baby enjoys the dinner as much as I know I will because we have so much to be thanksful for! And I am looking forward to next Thanksgiving and my boy's first enjoyment of the Macy's Day Parade on TV followed by the Dog Show and then Football! What could be better than family, good food and fun!

Back, belly and nesting!

So, this weekend started off with my Jai bringing home a back/ belly support system and me going to the chiropractor. My back was hurting this week but, nothing awful. Enough though that Jai was worried. He had seen this back support at Toys R Us a while back and went to several stores to find one. I put it on and it really is great! It actually works. So, I have attached the picture of the stylish new back/belly support I am wearing (really who wants to admit that). Secondly then my belly popped out. Due to the urging of my friend Lisa I have attached self portrait of the belly. It is big. And I realized it was big when yesterday I was out in Huntington with Alerie, Theresa and Jon and the woman leaving next to us ( who had a small baby with her) points at my belly and says "Good Luck". I did enjoy this weekend though and feel as though the bigger belly may be leading to me nesting more. I have figured out how I want my rooms rearranged in anticipation of the baby and this morning I baked banana bread, ginger snap cookies and chicken teriyaki (from Real Simple) which was so good and so simple! Who doesn't love a great fall weekend!

I love this quote

So, today I got this quote in an email from Kate and I thought it was so nice. Plus it came with a few pictures of the first 120 days of a Panda Bear's life - which was so cute! So, I had to share and a first and last picture of the Panda :)

"Remember Life is too short to wake up in the morning with regrets,
so love the people who treat you right,
Forget about the ones who don't,
And believe that everything happens for a reason. If you get a chance, take it.
If it changes your life, let it.
Nobody said life would be easy,
They just promised it would be worth it."

Oh the Pain!

Okay, so after speaking to my good friend Lisa today she told me I had to blog about our discussion. This weekend - and really all week leading up to this weekend - I have been having horrid heartburn. I have never experienced anything like it. Tums is not working either.

I was in so much pain on Friday night that when I came home from Blockbuster I started crying. My supportive Jai tells me that he "is going to tell my son how much pain he put you through" lol. But, then he made me warm milk (which actually stopped the burning for an hour or so).

I read the baby book and it says that they believe that heartburn has to do with hair production. The more hair the baby has the more heartburn is caused. They say it's an old wives tail that actually seems to be true. So, although last week according to the book the baby has "sprouts of hair, eyebrows and eyelashes (with no pigment, just white)" I think that he actually may be causing me heartburn. So, the last two days I have thought about how to avoid heartburn which, tonight, culminated in me looking up foods to avoid when you have heartburn (which is about every fruit that I enjoy - especially the pomegranate that Jai and I have been eating recently- I also can't have strawberry jam). This site was very helpful - http://www.manageyourheartburn.com/food-acidity.php

I told my Mom today that basically Iwould be avoiding eating after 6:30pm and I would try to walk for 10 - 15 minutes after dinner at least on the tred mill and make sure I don't sit down right after I eat (e.g. do the dishes). This kind of preplanning around my meals is somewhat annoying. My Mother suggested eating my big meal at lunch and breakfast and have something really small like yogurt for dinner. No more chocolate either PS! Well, hopefully this doesn't continue for the next 3 months!

Rocking the Vote

Today my bambino and I voted at 6:15am! My baby's first voting experience :)

He seemed excited - moving all around :)

Maybe he can smell the change!

The Baby Brain Drain

After a long weekend of traveling to Massachusets and having Friday off I decided to be productive today. I woke up about 9am (so really 10am DST) and cleaned the whole apartment then decided to cook lasagna. I met Jon and Dennis for some Paneras, returned a sweater I bought Jai to TJ Maxx and then went grocery shopping. So, usually I would tell you I hate grocery shopping (well, because I do and I feel like I never know where the money goes). However, today, I ended up loving my shopping experience at the Islandia Stop and Shop!

I shopped for about an hour today and then came home got on the computer, chatted with some folks and started making the lasagna I had planned to make for the week. Well, a number called me that I didn't recognize and left a message. Ends up it was the manager from the Stop and Shop telling me they found my purse in a cart in the parking lot. Luckily everything was still in it! They had tried to find a number for me and called several numbers in my purse they found to no avail. Finally they found a piece of paper with a name and number scribbled on it (a vendor from work) who was able to give them my cell phone number (thank God he didn't delete it after the event in September!). I don't know when I would have realized that I was missing my purse (probably Monday morning when I was ready to go to work and I would have had the BIG one!) but, I think it's great that people are still so nice and go out of their way to help someone else. So, thanks to the cashier who found it and Krystal and Ron the managers at the S&S!

Going back to class!

I woke up early this morning (well, 7:30am which lately has been early for me, especially after doing laundry late yesterday). It is a beautiful day out and I am thinking I will go for a walk and then scrap book my god daughter's 1st year book.

But first, I decided I should look through the information I got on Friday from my mid-wife regarding prenatal programs. I threw out a few - the Bradley Method and Hypnobirthing - both of which seemed too difficult for me regarding information, cost and concentration - lol.

So, then I found two places I was interested in, one inparticular. So, I went on line to the Childbearing Family Alliance, Inc. It seems all inclusive, however of course there are no prices on line (never good). But, who knew there were so so many classes to take when pregnant. I just emailed for information about 4 classes at the CFA (http://www.familycfa.com/index.htm) - Childbirthing Preparation Program, Breastfeeding A to Z, Newborn Care Class, and Infant and Child CPR. But, I am thinking that it would be nice to have a one shot deal on these classes. The midwife says that hospital classes are okay but, not really in depth enough (that's probably why they are free). Then I am also hoping that I can meet some people that I can hang out with because what am I going to do for 3 mos. at home - I mean I am sure it will go fast.

So, the bottom line is that I am suprised at the amount of classes that are offered - however, I do have to say that I am excited to do it because I am they type that likes to be prepared ;)

The Almost Apple Picking Day

Today three of my friends and I went apple picking on the North Fork of Long Island. Sadly, there was no apple picking, we were a week late! We went to Lewins Farm and had lots of fun checking out the produce and then looking for other farms that might allow us to apple pick and then eventually coming back to Lewin Farms. We got a ton of apples, veggies etc. After that we went to the famous North Fork Lobster Roll. It was delicious. On the way home I fell asleep of course because - well, because I feel like taking a nap every day :) - then I went home. Two pies and apple sauce later I still have a few great apples left for eating throughout the week.

What fun to have friends that will go apple picking with you and enjoy a great fall day!

The Bambino's Clothing from Daddy

This is what I came home to last night after a long day of work and the Homecoming King and Queen Contest rehearsal. Jai brought home a ridiculous amount of clothing for our son most of it from his sister's son who is a year and a half and has outgrown these. There are a pair of brown shoes that are mocassins with lambs wool inside - SOOOO Cute! And my favorite shirt is lying on top of the middle pile as well - a little Kenneth Cole brown striped button down! Then it took us 30 minutes to go through the clothes and separate them in to age groups. I don't think our child is going to be wanting for clothing that's for sure!

Echo sonogram - 21 weeks 5 days!

Today we had a sonogram for our baby boy. It lasted 45 mintues because he was so "active". After 45 minutes they got a good shot of the heart finally (and after 4 different sonogram techs). He actually did a somersault during the sonogram. There are several pictures one of which is was CLEAR he was a HE!

After the sonogram it was time for the Babies R Us registry run to attempt to decide on some registry items.

The first picture is his demonstration that he is a boy.

The second picture is one where he is turned toward the camera with his fist up in what Anthony noted is the black power fist.

The third picture is a full shot he's a little twisted up in there so his stomach looks bumpy but, it's a good shot of him from the side.

He is 1 pound 1 ounce now they estimated and too large to measure the length all at once any more so, they had to do it in pieces but, they are estimating him to be 10 inches!

Thai food, Fall days, and a Cane!

I have just gotten back from a great Thai lunch in Huntington with my res programs friends and I was remembering a story from this morning. This morning Jai informed me that he thinks he would eventually need to purchase a cane for me in order to get to the second floor - for when I get big...oh Jai! We are no closer today than we were 10 weeks ago on a boy name, although everyone keeps asking. Everyone suggests we chose something "different" which I think we both agree with however, what our "different" names are differ! I have posted a picture of Jai to remind myself that he thinks I need a cane!

Sleep...and emotions.

Well, today I woke up at 5:10am! Sometimes all I do is sleep and others I can't sleep at all. I started doing home work outs with the Gabrielle Reece video - hopefully I can do that every other day. Pre-natal yoga is great! Well, I love yoga period but, my new class is held in this woman's house and she is great and it is really nice to have a chance to hang out with other pregnant people once a week for 90 minutes. I am hoping the working out makes my sleeping more consistent. Last week Jai and I were watching the season premiere of Heroes and then...I fell asleep at about 9:05pm (so, I saw about 5 minutes of the show) - poor Jai.
Then the other random thing that keeps happening is my random tearing/ crying. It started about a week and a half ago when I made breakfast for Jai and I and I sat down to eat it ate one bite and started tearing. When Jai asked me what was wrong I started full crying and laughing at the same time about the fact that I was upset because I wasn't hungry and I made this nice breakfast - WOW! This same sort of scenario has been happening randomly throughout the last week and a half - I guess it comes with the territory, although it's pretty funny. Hopefully, working out more consistently will lead to more sleep consistently which will lead to less tearing :)

It's a boy!

We found out on September 19th that it is a boy! I have attached the pic from our second sonogram. There was some debate between the student technician (who told us she thought it was a girl) and the experienced technician (who was convinced it was a boy)! So, there it is. Now we have to agree on a boys name - which has not been an easy task for us! As of yesterday, optimally we have 21 weeks left to chose a name for a boy.

For those of you who are like me and are wondering what you are looking athte bright white "L" shaped line on the left hand side is the base of the scull. Right above that is a fuzzy oval that is the brain and then from the right side of the skull heading down ins a pretty bright white spot heading down and right that is the spine and the rib cage.

On October 10th I have a another sonogram to look really well at the baby's heart so, if the expert is wrong we will found out then - and believe me I will be asking them to double check!