36 Weeks...Only 4 more to go! Can you believe it?

Well, it's been entirely too long since I've blogged. I've been really busy getting things together and just trying to prepare as much as possible before this baby comes.

But, the holiday's were wonderful! Jake really loved his surprise Mountain Bike. Now all we have to do is figure out how to strap a baby to the back of it. LOL! I got a ton of new gym clothes. People were so surprised when I told them that's what he got me, but IT'S ALL I ASKED FOR...I want to get back in the gym as soon as the baby is here. Impossible, I know, but as soon as I'm cleared by the doc, I want to start exercising. My body is in desperate need of TLC. Many women don't like to reveal how much weight they've gained, but at this point if you can't tell by looking at me I've gained well over the 30-35 lb limit the Doc recommended. When I found out I was pregnant i weighed 167 lbs. and I just weighed in at the Doc yesterday at 215...that's 48 whole pounds I've gained. So needless to say, as much as I've enjoyed every bite I've taken in the last 9 months, I'm ready to get rid of this fat suit!!!

Just so you have an idea...here's a shot of me at 35 weeks. GROSS!!!

I believe the last time I left off Jake and I did not know the sex of the baby. Well we (I) decided to have a 3D/4D ultrasound done. Jake was a little unsure, cause he thought the images were a little freaky looking. He's so funny! But, we did it and it was unbelievable. We got to see just about every inch of their body...including it's PENIS!!! YEP, IT'S A BOY! We decided to find out the sex...and we can't wait to meet our little Andrew. Andrew is Jake's midddle name and it's really the only male name we ever agreed on.

So cute...YAWNING!

Thumbs up from inside the Womb!

I LOVE HIM!!!

So far I've had two showers in which Jake and I were completely blessed to receive so many gifts!!! We really haven't bought anything for the baby! Whoever came up with the idea of a baby shower is a genius!!! It's saved us so much money. And, I've definitely reaped the benefits of all the showers I've ever been to or will go to in the future! Here are a few pics from my Mom's shower and Jake's mother shower...

Tippin' Scales and Leaking Boobs

Well as of today I'm 27 weeks and 5 days preggo. Not much really going on. I woke up this morning with some killer cramps. For a second I forgot I was pregnant and thought I got my period. Yea, that bad. No spotting though, so I'm assuming they were some good 'ol Braxton Hicks contractions. Gotta love it.

We're a few weeks away from Christmas. I'm excited. It should be a nice Christmas. I got Jake the greatest Christmas present and I really think he will poop himself when he sees it! I will reveal the surprise after the big day.

I've finally hit the big 200 mark on the scale. I've been dreading it my whole pregnancy. I knew it was coming. The scary part now is just trying not to gain to much more. I'm really not worried about it though. I'm just enjoying this pregnancy and eating what I like. I'm planning on dedicating all my left over energy post baby to working out and getting back in shape It's something I'm very excited and anxious about. If you ask Jake, he'll tell you how annoying I've been about the whole getting in shape process.

Here's my belly at 25 weeks. It was much more cute then than now. I'm beginning to get my first stretch marks (beauty marks for those women who prefer a more glamorous term). It's amazing what 2 weeks can really do. March 10 couldn't come any faster!

I will now close with a funny story from last weekend. I know most of you could care less and would not like to know that I've been sleeping naked. But, you must in order to enjoy the story. It's just so much more relaxing and less constrained sleeping naked while pregnant. Anyway, so Jake and I are beginning to wake up Saturday morning. I'm spooning him and seriously thinking when I'm going to wake up. I finally roll over and decide it's time to get up. When before I completely turn over I noticed a stream of "something" rolling down his back. At first I'm like that's the nastiest pimple I've ever seen oozing down your back. GROSS! Then I continue to roll over and notice I have the "ooze" on my boob. The thoughts set in and I finally figured it out. It's my milk. LOL! I leaked on his back! HAHAHA! Of course he was disgusted, I actually was too. But, it was still sooooo funny. I'm ready for milking. Eww! At least I know I'm capable.

Beep, Beep, Beep...you have now completed your registry!

Well, the time has come and little Lego's registry is available for you viewing pleasure. From the moment I found out I was pregnant I was so excited about buying stuff for our little one. We started a wish list of things pretty early on. A few things here and there to make that scanning day in the store a little easier. And boy am I thankful that I did that!

I was not looking forward to shopping with Jake at all. For those of you who have never shopped with Jake, this is now easy task. He is like a woman when it comes to browsing aisles. He picks up everything, looks at everything, plays with everything. He's every woman's dream guy I guess...but certainly not every pregnant woman's dream guy. My feet hurt, I'm waddling, and cranky. I want to get in and get out of there as quickly and easily as possible. Meanwhile, we chose to register during the week of Thanksgiving AND Black Friday. *NOTE TO SELF - "You're an idiot!"

Day 1:
So here we are Sunday night at the Greenbelt Target. We arrived around 8 pm thinking we would miss all the people and it would be quiet. We certainly missed everyone but one thing we didn't think about was if Target themselves would be prepared for us. We go to guest services and get our scanny thing. Of course my child boyfriend wants to scan everything because the light and sound just amazes him. Yea, I was jealous cause he got to scan and my inner child wanted to scan too. But, in the end I was proud because my Momma taught me how to SHARE. So anyway, we get to scanning and all of a sudden the stupid scanner blacks out. We walk back to guest services and we're waiting, and waiting in line. I look over and notice the scanner is lit up again. So we get out of line and head back down our beeping journey. Damn thing goes black again. We head back to guest services where we're finally told that our scanny thing is dead and that was the last one with life. At this point I was pissed! My feet we killing me from walking from one end of the store to the other 3 times. We scanned maybe 4 things and they hardly had anything on the shelves. Lesson learned on this day: it's great avoiding the crowds, but by going late you get what's left over at the end of the day. Oh, and don't register in the ghetto!

Day 2:
We arrive at the Bowie Target. Oh how I miss the Bowie Target! First things first...we get in line at good 'ol guest services. SHOCKER...they have no scanners available. They're all being used. The lady behind the counter explains, "it's that time of year...kids are making their wish lists". ARE YOU FOR REAL??? Are parents really doing that? Now I really can't believe that the economy is struggling if kids are scanning wish lists for XMAS before Thanksgiving is even here. And seriously, what happened to a good old sheet of paper and pencil and writing a letter to Santa? WOW! So now I'm shopping for my kid and I'm beginning to hate kids. IRONIC! Anyway, we give the girl behind the counter my name and we just walk around and wait to be called. About 45 minutes later I hear my name on the loud speaker...seriously, kids have been scanning their wish list for 45 minutes. UGH, after my preggo hormones have calmed, we have a working scanner and it still has life. We're browsing, browsing and Jake's beeping and beeping. All of a sudden I'm feeling horrible. Our list was practically finished before we even got to the store and here we are being greedy and adding more shit to it. People are going to think we're crazy! As my eyes are filling up with water, Jake's like "what did I do?". YEP, damn emotions got me... After I explained to him how guilty I was feeling and horrible for making a registry he explained everything to me. I'm having 3 baby showers (thanks to some really great people). We need to have enough stuff on there. Plus, it's better to have too much than too little. I still feel a little weird about the whole registry thing, but I'm trying to just let it be and be thankful for everything we get. Meanwhile, my mother is calling me every 20 minutes, just to chat, and I've got Jake running around w/ the scanner just scanning random shit! THANK YOU CELESTE for giving him that idea. Anyway, aisle after aisle we worked our way through and our registry got finished. We ended up having a lot of fun even though we encountered a lot of bumps in the road.

We get home and I bring our list up online...at first I'm like wait a second...this is not our list there's stuff on here that we didn't scan. Bra's, panties, Coffe Maker, and then I came upon 4 Lego sets. Of course, my second child thought it funny to scan random things while I was not paying attention. I think I deleted all the extra stuff Jake put on there, except one Lego set. I thought it would be funny seeing peoples reaction especially since it's our little one's nickname. Keep an eye out for it!

I had another appt. this morning. Lego is measuring out perfectly. I was told to start eating healthier and start exercising more. I've gained 21 lbs. total, which is not bad, but if I gain a pound a week from here on out I will end up at about 35-40 pounds come push time. UGH! I can't imagine gaining 3 more pounds. The doc went to listen for the heartbeat and little Lego kicked her hand right off my belly. I thought it was so funny.

Even though I'm the size of a cow, I still feel good. I'm a little tired, but I'm chugging along. I have 2 stretch marks. One right above each hip. Nothing horrible and I will be so thankful if those are the only ones I get. I lotion and oil myself up religiously. Seriously, I'm never going to think lotions and oils are sexy anymore. I had to have Jake lather me up last night. It wasn't pretty and he is a good man for helping me out. I hadn't shaved in...well I can't remember the last time. So I finally did it and he offered to rub my legs down since I can barely reach past my knees. It was so nice. I thought it would be romantic but as soon as I lifted my leg in the air I farted on him. Poor guy! He was obviously pissed, but took it like a champ and kept on rubbing. And if farting on him wasn't bad enough I then fell asleep.

I find it extremely funny that all of this weird stuff has all happened during the week of Thanksgiving. I'm really, truly thankful for everything and everyone in my life this year. I've been given the best gift in the world and I couldn't think of anyone better to share it with than Jake.

I'll keep you posted and hopefully get some holiday pics up.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

23 Weeks Down 17 to go!

Well I'm officially 23 weeks today. My silly baby book says that the baby is the size of a Barbie or Ken Doll. LOL! I about cracked up when I read that cause I think my child has probably surpassed Barbie.

We've picked up some of Lego's furniture and put it together. I wasn't to sure about the color we chose until I saw it in person. I love it!!! It really seems like great furniture and a nice quality! We started putting the pieces together around 8:30 Thursday night and we didn't finish until about 3 hours later. By the time we were finished putting everything together I didn't even really want to look at our finished product because I was so exhausted. But, the next morning we both woke up and went and just stood in there. It was kinda cute. Jake was in his boxers opening the blinds to let light in and I was standing in the doorway (practically naked cause none of my night clothes fit really). We looked at each other and around the room and just agreed that it was perfect! Perfect light, perfect space, perfect colors...AMAZING! It's weird how everything just falls into place. But, here are some pics of the room so far. We are still waiting for our other dresser to come in, but once it does I will add the pics.

We had the Marine Corp Birthday Ball this weekend. It was a lot of fun and unfortunately it was our last Ball since Jake's contract is up next summer. We always have a great time with all of those guys and their dates. We've all kind of become a second family to one another. It will be sad next year when they're all out of the Corp. But, as fun as it was, we also got some sad news. His unit will be deploying again come spring. It will be a small group of about 75 guys to Afghanistan for a 6 month tour. It will really be about 7-8 months since they leave early for training, but they are saying that this group will be activated in early March. SURPRISE!!! That is when I'm due. This tour is all volunteer, however (there's always a catcher), if they do not volunteer for this tour, they will be forced to go in the next one and all the other deployments are for a year. So, needless to say we have a lot to discuss! Choosing to go when Lego is first born or waiting a couple months for a longer sentence. UGH!! Wish us luck!

It seems as though my shower dates are set. My Mother's is January 10th and Jake's Mother's is the 17th. They should both be a lot of fun! It's sucks because we are doing them pretty much right after the holidays, but we are left with no choice since Jake's parents will be out of town for most of February and I don't want to wait until the last minute to get the room set up. We are anxious to see what kind of cool things we will get for Lego, but honestly we would be happy if all we got were diapers and wipes! LOL!

Oh and one last thing...I have a new tummy pic. I was 22 Weeks and 5 days in this pic. I feel so disgusting now. I'm definitely ready to have my body back! If it weren't for those little kicks from inside and tummy rubs from Jake, I would definitely be thinking this is not worth it.

Furniture Frenzy!

After a long day yesterday I thought it necessary to leave a little update. We have ordered little Lego's bedroom furniture. After about 20 phones calls between my mother, Jake's mother, Jake and myself...we've picked out the furniture and agreed on the price. Let me just tell you ALL right now, that this is no easy task. Of course we are blessed to have our parents want to pay for a piece of furniture each. Furniture costs A LOT! And, the shipping is just as bad! So expect to spend a pretty penny when buying descent furniture that you want to last a while!

This is our crib:



Dresser:



Dresser/Changing Table Combo:



I can't wait to get the furniture set up and start decorating. All of it should be here by Nov 17. Just a few weeks away and I'm so excited! I have a few ideas, but it will be nice to finally see everything coming together.

I also had a doctors appointment yesterday. It was pretty boring. Walked in, got weighed and measured, then left. I had to schedule the rest of my appointments up to January and thats when this whole thing started to feel a little more real and that it's coming closer to an end. My appointments were being scheduled every 4 weeks and by January I will be down to once ever 2 weeks. YIKES!

I can feel Lego kick on a regular basis now. It's crazy! I'm starting to notice a schedule/pattern. A little in the morning when I wake up, crazy kicking while I'm eaating lunch, and then more crazy kicking when I'm laying in bed at night. He kicked me so hard yesterday I thought I was going to pee myself. LOL! It's the strangest feeling! I can see it when I lay down and if I put my hand there I can feel it. I tried to get Jake to feel it, but he's too impatient.

I'm getting pretty round. Two pairs of my maternity jeans are already getting tight. Not the pants themselves, just the elastic at the top and it's rather annoying! I found the most fabulous pair of jeans yesterday though. At Motherhood Maternity. They are having a big fall sale and I got them for $25. They are so comfortable and stretchy!

My Birthday is tomorrow. I'm not really excited about it cause I can't really celebrate it. Everyone keeps asking me what I want and usually I ask for clothes, but I don't want anything that I can't wear or won't be able to wear in 4 months. Whatever! But, one thing I do find exciting and never really thought about until now is that it's my BIRTHDAY! The day I blessed my Mom 23 years ago. It's crazy, but over the years it seems Birthdays are less celebrated every year as you get older. You begin to forget about it and so do most of the people around you. I know when Lego joins us in March that day will be HUGE, and I don't ever want to forget it! There will be tons of people coming to see/greet him. I want Lego to know how special and important he was on that day and every year when his birthday comes around again. To really celebrate his life and that he's here with us. It truly is a special day and just because it's one year later/older doesn't mean it isn't just as special!

So Happy early Birthday to me, and a Happy early Halloween to all of you!

19 Weeks

Well I'm officially 19 weeks today! Time seems to be flying by! We went for our Level II Sonogram last friday. It was so cool! My due date has been moved up to March 7th from March 10th, which I'm sure I'll appreciate much later in my pregnancy. But, all is well with Lego. Lego has all 10 fingers and toes and is apparently a thumb sucker. He was being so stubborn during the sonogram cause he wouldn't let go of his darn finger. Mommy will have to change that...it's so bad for their teeth (when they come in).


I'm still feeling really well and have as much energy as to be expected. Jake and I are still getting things together around the house. We've finally finished out Kitchen and our new island. The washer and dryer are stacked and I've got an all new pantry! All we need is new doors to that closet and that project will be finished. We added some shelves to our closet and I'm really happy with that! We only have one more adjustment to the house before Lego joins us and that's our bathroom. I'm praying that we can get the glass doors and nasty bath fitter inside taken down and retiled. Oh, I hope we can get that done! I don't want to be fiddling w/ glass doors while bathing a child!


My Mom and I are ordering the babies furniture the first weekend in Nov. It takes about 4-6 weeks to ship and I want to get the major stuff set up in the room while I'm still in second trimester! I want to be able to help Jake put it together and set it up! So we're hoping it will be here before Christmas. Right now, we're busy decorating for Halloween (my birthday) and trying to get our costumes together. We've decided to be Juno and Bleeker. My office is holding a Costume Party and whoever has the most creative costume gets $150. So, I'm hoping to win cause we could really use the extra money!


I can't wait for the holiday season! I love Thanksgiving and Christmas and I'm even more excited that I don't have to care to much about what or how much I'm eating this year! HAHA! The Marine Corp Ball is coming up the 8th of November. I'm usually always thrilled about it...who doesn't like dressing up for a ball? But, this year I'm not so happy about it. I had absolutely no idea how hard it would be to find a dress (especially an inexpensive one). Plus I need a dress for my office xmas party and I'm trying to find something that is suitable for both venues so I can save money. Phhhf! A lot of fun that has been!


Other than that, not much has been going on! I'm happy fall is here, I'm just two more seasons away from being a Mommy! :)

Here's my belly at 18 Weeks:



Here's Lego's Arms:



Lego's Butt and Legs:



Lego's Halloween Face:



Lego's Hand:



Lego's Side Profile:



Lego Sucking it's thumb:


Oh, and just because everyone keeps asking us...

We chose Lego as a nickname because we didn't want the same little names that every other expecting couple uses (peanut, bean, etc.). So Jake said to me one day...why don't we call it Lego. Mind you, Jake is obsessed with Lego's and that's pretty much all he wants for Xmas and his birthday every year. So when he first said I thought to myself, NO! Then he says, "It will be cool cause the baby really is piecing itself together like a Lego does." *INSERT TEAR HERE* I thought it was the cutest thing and agreed immediately! So there you have it! LEGO is the name (temporarily that is). Oh, and P.S. when I go into Labor the signal will be LEGO MY EGO! HA!

13 Weeks

Well, I'm finally out of 1st Trimester! Thank god! I'm kind of disappointed because everyone kept telling me that 2nd Tri was the best and I would feel like new woman. Balogne!!!! I still feel incredibly tired (ALL THE TIME), and I'm still getting an occassional headache. I have more energy, but it doesn't last very long. I just can't wait until the baby is here and I can have my body back!

So, I went to the doctors for a checkup last week. I was soooo boosted because I thought we were going to see Lego. BIG LET DOWN!! I thought they were going to do all the testing this visit to make sure they were growing at the right pace, and make sure that my due date is still correct. All we got was the heartbeat. Don't get me wrong, that was amazing in itself to hear and I'm thankful, but I was REALLY looking forward to seeing Lego. I'm so jealous because I know many women have had several ultra sounds at this point and they have double reassurance that their baby is ok. But, I've only had 1 ultra sound so far and it was when I was 6 weeks. There was just a little blob on the screen with a little flashing heartbeat. I want to see my baby NOW!!

But, on with hearing the heartbeat...it was so wonderful! Bernie, my doc, says "ok, now it's going to sound like a choo choo train". And she's rolling the thing around on my tummy, rolling, rolling. Nothing. I immediately started panicing!!! Then all of a sudden there it was strong and loud, just like a choo choo. It was music to my ears and I can never explain how amazing it was to hear that little heartbeat. It was so fast, about 155 bpm. Jake was amazed that their little hearts could beat that fast. It was so nice having him there with me. Oh, and another bit of good news...I've only gained 6 pounds total so far. I was a little worried that I had gained more, but Bernie says I'm in great shape! Can't wait until Oct. 3 to see our LEGO!!!!

10 Weeks!

OK, so I'm officially 10 weeks now. It seems to be going by so quickly (even though I've been miserable). Actually, I haven't been to bad. Just really tired, and the headaches and dizzyness came this week. It's horrible. I feel like my forehead is going to explode and my eyes are crossed. I just have to lay down and go to sleep because obviously I can't take anything for it.

Jake and I have decided to do a few changes to the house. Our kitchen is currently undergoing construction. It was so small before, and we couldn't see out into our living room. We thought it necessary to see out there once the baby is here so we could always have our eye on them. Our next project is working on our laundry room. We recently got a new Washer and Dryer so we are fortunate enough to have the luxury of stacking our Washer and Dryer. It's not necessary, but it's a huge space saver for us, and for those of you who have seen our tiny home it is definitely useful to have more closet space. After we stack we are going to put all our winter coats and shoes in there. I can't wait!!! This is going to give us so much more space in our bedroom closet!! And for our last project...the BATHROOM. Not much needs to be done here. but it's still going to be time consuming and exhausting for my man. We currently have glass doors on our shower. We both agreed that this would just be a hassle once Lego is here. Plus our shower currently has an ugly yellow bath fitter around the walls and we both hate it!! So we figured that when we take out the doors we would redo the walls with tile. Shouldn't be to expensive since he tiles on the side with his Uncle (It's amazing what some people will get rid of!!!).

Once all that stuff is out of the way then we can focus on Lego's room. All we should have to do is paint and arrange furniture. It's going to be so much fun. Jake already bought something for Lego...a little USMC teddy bear we saw on base. It's really soft and is wearing a really cute Camo sweater that reads USMC. He bought it 3 days after we found out and I was really hesitant on him getting it but now that everything seems to be going well, I like the stuffed bear. And, I can't wait to find it a place in Lego's room.

It's weird how much I can feel myself changing...physically and mentally. I've been reading A LOT!!! If anyone knows me well I hate to read, but I'm actually starting to find it quite relaxing and enjoyable. Nothing really fits me anymore. I have one pair of jeans that fit me, and thankfully the BABYDOLL shirts are in style these days so I've been stocking up. I just wish I could get through this fat looking stage and people could look at me and think, "Oh, she's just pregnant...NOT FAT!" Emotionally I'm a fricken mess...happy one second, wheepy the next. Doesn't take much to set me off, and poor Jake is going along with everything so well. SERIOUSLY, he is just wonderful for putting up with me. But, something that is really bothering me is the fact that I still have not told my biological father that he's going to be a GRANDFATHER for the first time. I would like to tell him, but I'm afraid he won't care. I feel like, "Well, he didn't care about me when I came along, why would he care about my child." Plus everyday that goes by I'm starting to get more and more pissed that he wasn't involved and he WASN'T supportive to my mother. Everything that I go through I'm so thankful that Jake is there with me to experience it, and I hate my father for not being there for her. It's just a battle that I'm going through and I can't figure out what to do.

On a more upbeat note...I have another ultrasound on Sept. 4. I can't wait to see how much the baby has grown. Last time I saw Lego, 6 1/2 weeks, he was just a little dot. I'm just so excited and I think this time I get to hear the heartbeat...last time I only got to look at it beating on the screen. That moment was so surreal and kinda slapped me into reality. I can only imagine how my next visit will be. I'll keep you posted.

So, I'm knocked up...

Well, the joyous news came to us on July 15, 2008. I was then 12 days late and decided to take a test. I had taken one exactly one week earlier and it came out negative, but I talked to a few people about it and everyone kept advising that I retake it and in the morning. So I did. I think I chose to do it on the WORST morning ever. I sleepily crept out of bed and sat on the toilet. Pulled out the test, peed and waited. One line came out and I thought to myself...good, good. Then another one started to appear...bad, bad. It never got as dark as the first line, but it was definitely there.

I quickly got dressed because this was no ordinary day...JURY DUTY! I drove to the court house thinking about that stupid stick and how I wanted it to break it in half! Then I realized I rushed out the door without my summons to appear for Jury duty and I distinctly remember that I could not enter the building without it. So, I sped back to my house grabbed the stupid summons, and the stupid stick, and rushed back to the courthouse. Yea, I had a fricken stick I just peed on in a sandwhich bag in my purse all during Jury Duty. GROSS! It just so happens that I had Jury Duty with my friend Laura that morning. Thank God she was there because the time might have gone by even slower without her. We were finally released at 12, I went home ate some Ramen noodles and waited for my OBGYN to reopen after lunch.

I finally got through on the phone and I explained to the nurse that I had one neg. test and one pos. She says..."You're pregnant". I thought to myself, "Who are you??? GOD?" I don't think so...I want more proof. So, she sent me to have blood work done and SUPRISE...the next day Jake and I found out, we are brewing a baby.

Once I got off the phone with the nurse Jake walked into the house. I had sent him a text earlier in the day to let him know that we needed to "talk". Every guy, I'm sure, hates hearing those words! So as soon as he gets in the house he says, "so, what do we need to talk about?". I brought up the last test and reminded him how it was neg. and then told him I tested again and it was positve. His face lit up like a Christmas tree. I got a smile from ear to ear, eyes like a deer in head lights, and a weird head shake. I was totally surprised. I thought I would get a totally different reaction. NO, he's totally happy and excited! Now, I could be too!