2012 in a Nutshell

What a year! A year ago today we were celebrating 2012 in Florence, Italy on our honeymoon,

Florence NYE 2011

after 10 years of being a blonde,

                                         

I went back to my natural roots,

we got acclimated to city living,

Spent quite some time with our favorite baseball team!

got pregnant,

Baby Lucas at 12 weeks.

survived our first year of marriage;)

Happy anniversary to us!

I turned 30!,

and purchased a home

Officially homeowners!

which now looks like this.

Just the beginning of what needs to be done before we move in.

We are so excited for what is to come in 2013.  Happy new year to you all!

Baby Bump Update

How far along: 27 weeks! I have started my third trimester! If you divide the 40 weeks by 3.  So technically it would be in 2 more days but you get the idea.

Please disregard my face.  It's been a rough day with no make-up and quite a bit of tears (work related).

Size of baby: A rutabaga. (I had to look up what that was.) He's probably almost 2 pounds.

Movement: Non-stop.  I thought he slept through the night because he never wakes me up but I've been waking up a lot in the night, for various reasons, and then I'll feel him moving too.  Apparently he takes small naps throughout a day.

Sleep: Not great and crazy dreams.

Maternity clothes: 50/50 but 100% with pants. I'll be looking for maternity tights and leggings this coming week. I also think I may need a coat.  They all still fit but they are getting tight around the belly and I won't be putting away my coats anytime soon with this weather.

Symptoms: Since I got pregnant I hiccup and burp all the time. It's so embarrassing but good thing I work from home!  And very random but I sneeze at least once a day.  I've never really been a sneezer but now every day.

What I'm looking forward to: What am I not?! This week has been horrific at work so I'm looking forward to that being over.  Tomorrow we sign our final papers on the house.  Christmas! I haven't seen one of my sisters and one of my cousins since our wedding 14 months ago so I am ready for family time.  And I am so excited to figure out and start using this bad boy we bought ourselves for Christmas.

Canon EOS Rebel T3i, 18MP

What I'm missing: Things I can't have.  We made cookies and I couldn't eat any of the raw cookie dough:( I know you're not supposed to anyway but I love it!

Baby daddy: I cannot say enough how much I love this man.  A few years ago I read that cooking with aluminum foil increases the chance of Alzheimer's and since dementia runs on both sides of my family I use it sparingly.  Kevin was wanting to cook something and didn't know what to do because he wanted to use foil.  I literally told him about this years ago and he was doing everything he could not to use it.  I also am really trying not to eat anything that is microwaved while I'm pregnant.  Kevin has really taken this to heart.  I didn't even have to give him a reason why (I can be an extremist and this one falls into that category) but he does all he can to make sure he doesn't reheat anything I'm going to eat in the microwave or buy anything that has to be microwaved.  It makes me feel good that even though some people think I have crazy ideas about what I want to do with our baby that he will be fully supportive of it, well, unless he completely disagrees with it;)

Weekend Wrap-up

I am still reeling from the Sandy Hook Elementary tragedy.  I don't want to put too much focus on this because, honestly, it stresses me out and that is not good for the little one growing inside me.  I do however want to take a moment to remember the 20 little ones and 6 adults who were taken unnecessarily and too early.  My heart aches for the families and the community.

This weekend was focused on getting our Christmas shopping completed and we pretty much did.  I feel very accomplished.  Saturday we did some local shopping and then went out to one large store that has one present that I need.  We went there for this one present and...they were out! I was so mad.  Kevin and I both got some things that helped with our lists so it wasn't a total loss but it was still annoying.  Last night we went over to some good friends' home for a little holiday party.  It was a great evening filled with dinner, beer tasting (I kept track of what they were drinking) and games (I won $18!).  A couple that went brought their two little ones who Kevin and I couldn't help but notice how wonderful these kids were.   The little boy was able to continue his nap no matter how loud we got and the little girl was not phased by any of us new people.  She played with everyone and was completely fine with whomever wanted to pick her up.  There are a handful of characteristics that the hubby and I hope we can instill in our children and these are two of them.  Kevin and I love spending time with our friends and family so even though we know that having a child will change everything we do hope that  we can bring our son with us sometimes and it be wonderful!

This morning we slept in (so nice!) and then while Kevin surfed I did a little bit more shopping.  I do have a couple Christmas present crafts I am working on and taking pictures of but I'll have to wait until after the holiday to post them.  Just finished watching the Niners win! One more full week of work and then family time!

Baby Bump Update

How far along: 26 weeks!

Size of baby: My food update today was a head of lettuce.

Movement: Constant.  Kevin got home from work on Thursday though and it hit me that I hadn't felt Lucas all afternoon.  Tears were definitely shed.  He moved shortly thereafter so I was relieved.  But then I started to worry that maybe he moves too much, like something is wrong or he doesn't like what I'm doing.  I'm crazy, I know.  So I googled how much a baby is supposed to move.  Overall it said that the more the baby the moves the better you should feel because he is active and strong.  That's not to say that a baby that doesn't move that much is not ok, I just wanted to know that other mommy-to-be's were having the same experience as me.  That has really made me feel better with just about everything.

Sleep: Back to the same ol' not so great and my crazy dreams have returned.  I have always been a vivid dreamer but usually they are things that could really happen.  During this pregnancy they are just   plain out there!

Maternity Clothes: I got some great clothes for my birthday and am so excited to be some sporting some new outfits:) Oh yeah...I keep forgetting that I've had to buy some new bras.  I have always been teeny, tiny in this area so this has been one place where I am excited to grow! I was so excited to go out and buy "pretty" bras.  My size is made up of nudes really so I am taking advantage of this time;) If you haven't figured it out this is also one area that I am not shy about talking about.

Symptoms: Headaches and carpal tunnel symptoms.

Aversions: I keep saying nothing but my husband pointed out that I cannot clean out our sink (we don't have a garbage disposal).  Oh yeah, that's only because I'm pregnant and it makes me gag...wink, wink.

Cravings: None that I can think of this week.  At the Niners game I didn't want any of the food there but Kevin really wanted me to eat something.  I saw someone with a pretzel and decided that's what I needed.  After 25 minutes of walking around we finally found the stand that sold the pretzels.  We get up to order...and they were out! I was not a happy camper.

Best moment this week: Having several of my friends be able to feel Lucas kick.  It was awesome.

Worst moment this week: This morning! I went in for my Glucose test.  I had heard the drink is gross and I am incredibly afraid of needles so I was not looking forward to the three blood tests or sitting at the testing place for three hours.  Well I got through the first blood draw (barely) and then drank the liquid.  It wasn't quite as bad as I had imagined. Don't get me wrong, it's not good but for some reason I thought it would be thick.  Almost an hour after the drink and minutes before my second blood draw I got really faint.  I didn't know what to do.  I've been seriously light-headed a few times during this pregnancy and this was the second time in a public place.  I had to fast before the test and I wasn't allowed to drink any water.  I went to the bathroom to splash water on my face and when I got out they told me to just go in the room.  By the time they were finished setting up my hour would be up.  I was in the room one minute when one of the nurses said I needed to bend over, I did not look good.  They were going to move me to the room where I could lay down while they took my blood but it was occupied at the moment.  I just started feeling worse and I realized I was going to be sick.  They gave me the garbage bin next to me and all of the glucose drink came right up.  I have yet to really throw up while pregnant.  I haven't actually thrown up in at least two years.  It was awful.  And everyone could hear.  They didn't close the door.  THEN a guy comes up to the check-in window who had an appointment.  The lady said they were a backed up so it would be a few minutes.  He was mad and then she explained to him that there had been an emergency (ME!) so they were behind.  She proceeded to tell this to two other people.  It was so embarrassing!

Baby daddy: We will be using reusable diapers with our son. (You will probably see a theme that I am trying to go green in life.) Kevin is not completely on board with this idea for when he has to change the diapers.  He is on board for the financial reasons but then his germaphobia kicks in and he just doesn't know how he would do it.  To be honest I didn't really know logistically how it would work.  So I got to researching.  Wouldn't you know that YouTube has just about everything you would want?  I found a video of how to take care of a poopie diaper with the reusable diaper I plan on using so Kevin and I watched a real life video of a woman taking care of her daughter's diaper.  Kevin still doesn't love the idea but I have agreed to use flushable liners so we are pretty happy.  I need to remember that people make videos for anything you would want to figure out:)

Weekend Wrap-up

What a weekend! Before I get to my birthday celebration on Thursday we had our house inspection.  Everything went great.  Of course there are issues but nothing major that we weren't expecting.  There are termites which was to be expected and I have no problem getting those taken care of before we move in (I once lived in a place where termites dropped on me while I got dressed and slept...real life nightmare!)
Friends came in to town Friday night so a few of us got together before they went out.  I had a very big weekend planned so going out Friday night had to be missed.  On Saturday some of the girls got together for brunch and window shopping.

That night we went on the Hornblower Belle of the Ball dinner cruise.  It was an absolute beautiful night in the city so the views we got were amazing.  The whole experience was perfect.  There were 22 of us and it just worked out fabulously.  We ate, drank (not me!), danced and took lots of pictures.

The whole gang!

On Sunday we got ourselves out of bed and went to my first 49ers game in the city.  I have been a Niners fan my entire life but I have never been to a football game at Candlestick Park. (Note: I now know why they are getting a new stadium.) We had a great time though, the Niners won and we had amazing weather so I could not have asked for a more perfect day.

If there was one downside, which it really wasn't, it was more funny, was that I was in seat 2 and in the aisle seat was one of the largest men I have ever seen.  He took up half my seat!  He was a talker too and found out I was in the playoffs for Fantasy Football.  Apparently that means that I know football because after every play he would ask who ran that? or who caught that?  And then there were the what down is it? how many timeouts do they have left?  Um, I had convinced my husband you were a season ticket holder and came to every game...why are you asking me all these questions?! Boy, did I know what was going on the entire time though because I did not want to feel like I didn't know my team;)

This morning some of the girls were stayed today to be touristy so I met them for brunch.  We were across the street from some well decorated cable cars so we had to take a picture.

I had the most amazing birthday.  My family and friends spoiled me and kept a smile on my face for days.  I will remember this weekend forever and try not to focus on the fact that I am now thirty;) Wow, that is hard to say! But what a year this will be...

Baby Bump Update

How Far Along: 25 weeks!

Size of baby: Each week I get an email saying how big the general baby would be at that week.  I used to believe it until I started to disagree with the order of their foods.  This week they say a cauliflower.  I read he's  between 1.5 - 2.5 lbs and 14 - 16" long.  

Movement: This past week he tap danced on my hand and high-fived the hubby a few times:)  This little guy is always on the move.  I swear I woke up to him playing a double-kick drum and head banging!  Notice how I like to make up what I think he's doing?

Sleep:  I have been absolutely exhausted lately evening taking a couple cat naps while Kevin makes dinner.  The last three nights I have even gotten about 6 hours in a row of sleep.  I am really trying to appreciate this sleep because I hear the lack of sleep starts a couple months before baby comes.

Maternity Clothes: Still the same.  I will be wearing my first maternity dress this weekend for my birthday...Rosie Pope!

Symptoms: Heartburn and numb hands when I sleep.

Aversions: Nothing really.

Cravings: I can't associate any of my cravings to pregnancy yet because I would get these before I was pregnant too but I had to have ice cream this weekend and since I'm pregnant my husband jumps all over the "cravings"so he went out in the rain to get me some:)

What I miss: Sushi, coffee whenever I want it and deli sandwiches.  Really all of the things I'm not supposed to have.

What I'm looking forward to: My birthday weekend! I am so excited to see friends this weekend.  I can't say I'm looking forward to our house inspection tomorrow but I am anxious about it.

Baby Daddy: We got into quite the heated debate about diaper bags.  Yes, diaper bags.  I have been leaning toward wanting a designer bag.  Kevin was fine with it as a push present for me until we went and looked at them and he realized he may have to carry it also.  Since this is our first child we don't actually know how everything is going to work (though I admit I act like I know everything) and he thinks that no one will ever see my bag and I'll always be carrying a purse also.  From what I understand your diaper bag is your purse for the next couple of years.  He then said why wouldn't you just put the diaper in your purse, you have purses big enough to fit a diaper.  Um...one diaper?  He thinks a diaper bag is for one diaper?  I think we're both going to be in for a big surprise when Lucas comes and all the things we really will be using.

Weekend Wrap Up

This weekend is my last in my twenties.  Every year for as long as I can remember my mom would at least once in the week before our birthdays say "happy last 'whatever'day being a blank-year-old."  Well not only is this my last week being a certain age it is my last week being in a decade.  Yesterday when I told my husband this is my last Saturday in my twenties he commented about how well he thought I was doing about my upcoming birthday.  I told him it is crazy that I'm about to me thirty but I am so happy where I am in my life that there's nothing really that I'm going to freak out about.  He's a year and a half older than me so he's already turned the big 3-0.  He goes on to tell me that he kind of freaked out about turning thirty because he realized a third of his life was over.  Hmmm...thanks hon and good morning to you too!  He's normally the level-headed one but sometimes he really makes one of these doozy of a comments:)

Anyway it was pretty relaxing, productive, fun weekend.  Saturday night we went to a friend's house for game night.  I LOVE playing games.  I grew up in a family that always plays games and even though my family is super competitive I still love playing games.  As an adult I realized my competitiveness was a little much so I have tried to tame it down some.  That's not to say I'm not still a major rule follower but I really make an effort to sit back and not nit pick everything.  And sometimes I care about things more than anyone else but Rome wasn't built in a day!  We had a great night.

Game Night!

My friends also had all their Christmas decorations up which looked absolutely amazing.  It gave me the boost I needed to start on our place.  So when Kevin went into work this morning the plan was for me to clean and then decorate.  I got the cleaning part done and pulled the decorations down but got overwhelmed when I started putting them out.  We have a pretty small place and a lot going on so we decided not to get a Christmas tree this year.  I didn't think I cared but boy has this thrown me off.  After a lot of pacing and huffing and not knowing what to do the hubby finally said let's just go get a Christmas tree this week.  We're talking about a 4 foot tree but still, I think I need it.  He then started looking up where we could get a small tree because, frankly, they are a rip off here in the city.  He brought up getting a fake tree.  I guess he didn't realize how passionate I am about real trees.  This past week I heard a conversation about how it is better for the environment to get a fake tree and then today Bethenny Frankel made a comment about how she got a fake tree this year which was great because she didn't cut down a tree.  Wrong!  I'm not going to crucify anyone for assuming that getting a real tree is bad because you are cutting it down.  I had my doubts about which was better but a few years ago I did my research.  Fake trees are bad for the environment.  No matter how long you own it, it will end up in the dump and it was most likely made from materials that cannot be reused and shouldn't have been used in the first place.  Yes, you are cutting down a real tree but there is always at least one planted in its place.  It takes trees years to grow before you ever seen the cut down version and all of those years trees are producing oxygen.  When finished the tree can then be made into fire wood or turned into compost.  Until Christmas trees become an unwanted commodity and there are less trees being planted thn cut then real trees are the way to go. Beside, the smell of a Christmas tree cannot be beat. Ok, sorry for the rant.  Off to watch The Amazing Race! Hope you all had a great first weekend of December!