Ice Cream and Cake

Saturday we celebrated Ryan's mom's 65th birthday and had a great time! We went to dinner at Captain George's and went to their house afterward to enjoy some yummy Sugar Plum Bakery cake.

Lace and me at dinner

The Birthday Girl and Haley

Yummy Sugar Plum cake (I messed up the top right corner taking it out of the box :(

Sunday was a relaxation day. I went to Omi's to go in the pool and Ryan went golfing with his dad. He shot five over par and had two birdies and was very proud of himself. He is getting better! We had a great dinner at Omi's--steak and baked potatoes with ratatouille. It was delish!

Today was back to work, of course. This evening, Ryan and I went to Helzberg to pick up my wedding rings. I had them resized (a little bigger), and am SO happy to have them back! After this, we bought a Snoogle, which is a total body pillow for pregnant women (and beyond if I like it enough!:) I have been waking up a lot at night uncomfortable on my stomach. I also read that it's best to sleep on your side, anyway, so I figured the pillow would help me keep the position. I read very good reviews about the pillow online, so I can't wait to try it! Once we came home, I enjoyed some of my yummy ice cream...

Since I last spoke of the ice cream, I have determined that it tastes like a Frosty. Just yum.

.....and loved on our sweet baby Reese!

Okay, I'm off to bed. I'll let you know how things go with the pillow........

Lemon Baby

Here's the information related to our baby at 14 weeks!

This week's big developments: Your baby can now squint, frown, grimace, pee, and possibly suck his thumb! Thanks to brain impulses, his facial muscles are getting a workout as his tiny features form one expression after another. His kidneys are producing urine, which he releases into the amniotic fluid around him — a process he'll keep up until birth. He can grasp, too, and if you're having an ultrasound now, you may even catch him sucking his thumb.In other news: Your baby's stretching out. From head to bottom, he measures 3 1/2 inches — about the size of a lemon — and he weighs 1 1/2 ounces. His body's growing faster than his head, which now sits upon a more distinct neck. By the end of this week, his arms will have grown to a length that's in proportion to the rest of his body. (His legs still have some lengthening to do.) He's starting to develop an ultra-fine, downy covering of hair, called lanugo, all over his body. Your baby's liver starts making bile this week — a sign that it's doing its job right — and his spleen starts helping in the production of red blood cells. Though you can't feel his tiny punches and kicks yet, your little pugilist's hands and feet (which now measure about 1/2 inch long) are more flexible and active.

I think I'm going to take the lemon to the pool! :)

Just Peachy!

Not much has been going on since I returned from GA. I have been working all day both days. We had dinner at home last night and tonight and went on walks both nights. We went to Kohl's tonight because I had to buy maternity pants for work. My regular pants were to the point where, while I could still zip and button them, this did not feel like a "safe" thing to do for the baby due to the tightness. These new pants are sooooooooooooooo comfortable! I can't wait to wear them. The shirts they had, on the other hand, were not so exciting. Ugh..pretty much straight up ugly. I will probably end up ordering some tops online. I love online shopping!

For dessert tonight, I had some Edy's Slow Churned HOT COCOA Ice Cream. Yes--hot cocoa. Basically it's a lightly chocolate flavored ice cream with marshmallows in it. YUMMMM!!! It was so so good. I have my first doctor's appointment with my OB tomorrow. I am looking forward to it. I also feel kind of nervous. You just never know what will happen or what they will say. I do not think they will do an ultrasound tomorrow, so I am not getting my hopes up. If they do, I will be pleasantly surprised! Since I will be 14 weeks tomorrow, I am going to post the 13 weeks info for the baby. I meant to do it yesterday but never turned my laptop on. Here you go!

Fingerprints have formed on your baby's tiny fingertips, her veins and organs are clearly visible through her still-thin skin, and her body is starting to catch up with her head — which makes up just a third of her body size now. If you're having a girl, she now has more than 2 million eggs in her ovaries. Your baby is almost 3 inches long (the size of a medium shrimp) and weighs nearly an ounce.

Atlanta--Third Day

Again, not in the mood to make a long post because my brain has been overworked for the day! It was another really good but exhausting day.

One of our most popular styles--tons of colors!
Inside one of the jewelry stores--again, tons of colors.
Shoes
This is the inside of the building where the market is held. We are on the 10th floor most of the time.
Ashley, Krissy and myself at dinner
The whole group at dinner! We had dinner with the ladies from Pretty Impressions in Hazard, KY. They were SO fun and we cannot wait to see them again!

Tomorrow there is not much going on. Our flight is supposed to leave ATL at 7:21 pm and get back to Newport News at 8:57. It is pretty late. I have had a great, great trip, but of course, I cannot WAIT to go home to see my loveys at home.

Okay I am off to try to read some of my book so I can have sweet dreams...... :)

Atlanta--Day 2

Today was SO fun but truly exhausting. I'm only a little sleepy-tired but I am truly body-tired. Sitting in slightly uncomfortable chairs all day makes the body tired in a weird way. For this reason, it will NOT be a long post. Basically, we watched small fashion shows all day and then watched a big one tonight. The small fashion shows are held in showrooms where individual designers show their stuff.

Sherri Hill is one of our most popular designers. This was in their showroom right before the show. Theirs was the best!
Ashley and I before the big multi-designers show


Ashley, Krissy, and I
A collage from the show. We sat in the front row on the very end--great seats!

We had dinner at a diner tonight that was pretty good. Tomorrow we will see more individual small shows from more of our lines. I am looking forward to it. It's so fun to see all the new stuff before it's even out! I will try to post again tomorrow evening. Have a great Sunday! :)

Hotlanta!

Greetings from Atlanta! I traveled with my boss, Stephen, and a semi-co-worker, Krissy, from VA to GA today for the 2010 Prom Market. The trip was great, and I'm excited to be here! I am pretty tired right now but had to make at least a small post before I called it a night.

Krissy and I at the airport, ready to go!

My "badge" to wear at the market. We are supposed to have them on at all times I think.

Myself, Ashley, and Krissy at dinner. Stephen and Melissa were also there but refused to be photographed :)

I will try to take many more pictures to put up tomorrow evening. I am tired now and am going to read more of my book and then go to sleep!

12 Weeks, Baby

I thought I'd start posting a combination of the information about the baby that I see weekly from thebump.com and babycenter.com. I'm going to do it on a regular basis because I think it's really interesting and I think you all will agree.

The most dramatic development this week: reflexes. Your baby's fingers will soon begin to open and close, his toes will curl, his eye muscles will clench, and his mouth will make sucking movements. In fact, if you prod your abdomen, your baby will squirm in response, although you won't be able to feel it. His intestines, which have grown so fast that they protrude into the umbilical cord, will start to move into his abdominal cavity about now, and his kidneys will begin excreting urine into his bladder.

Meanwhile, nerve cells are multiplying rapidly, and in your baby's brain, synapses are forming furiously. His face looks unquestionably human: His eyes have moved from the sides to the front of his head, and his ears are right where they should be. From crown to rump, your baby-to-be is just over 2 inches long and weighs half an ounce.

How exciting! :)

Vacay OVER :(

As I am writing this, our vacation is pretty much officially over. It is kind of depressing, but it's just reality! I'm going to the Prom Market in Atlanta next weekend, so I feel like it will be a really busy week, weekend, then another busy week again. We both have off the Friday before Labor Day and then the Tuesday after, so I am looking ahead to that. The rest of our vacation was pretty uneventful but very relaxing.

Tuesday night I attended the cake decorating class at Michael's with Amy and her mom, Beth. We had a fun and stressful (for me :) time. I felt like I was in school again for real!

Here's Amy with her perfect practice board, and me with my Wilton rose base. Amy--if your mom asks, I cut her out of the picture for her own sake :)

Wednesday was pretty much a relax and do nothing day. We had dinner at Ryan's parents' house--Chicken and Dumplings. YUM YUM YUM!! It was sooooooooooooo good. Thursday we went to Williamsburg to shop because it was raining almost all day. We shopped at the outlets. Ryan got some golf clothes and a couple of polo shirts from the Gap. I got nothing :*(....haha but it's okay because I ordered some clothes last week to have something to wear to Atlanta that looks fashionable but also belly-friendly. We had lunch at Olive Garden in Williamsburg and dinner at Kobe back in VB. It was a wonderful day of food :)

Friday we had lunch with Chris at Taste Unlimited. I don't think Ry was too crazy about it but, of course, I loved it. It was just sandwiches with chips but it hit the spot. Friday night we had leftover Chicken and Dumplings and then...................

Yeah, that's right. The chocolate covered one at the bottom was my ONLY doughnut. For those of you that don't know--I've been wanting one of these for about a month. It just wasn't working out--either we would have dessert already planned, we had too big of a dinner to "go there," or it just got to be too late to have these. Friday was the night, and I must say, it was glorious! Yummy yum yum it was the best doughnut I've ever had.

The only time I left the house yesterday was to go to the grocery store. I cleaned house and sliced and diced meat and vegetables for the dinner we had tonight. Check this out:

This is the Pampered Chef Pineapple Wedger. OMG--it is amazing. You just cut off the top and bottom of the pineapple, slide this thing down, and voila! It cores the pineapple and takes off the skin. It is $18, but I feel like it is well worth it. We like to eat pineapple, but I don't buy it all the time because it's a pain to slice. Well......no more!

Saturday night, Jamane came over with Jaidyn for dinner. Here's the best picture I could snap of Jaidyn--she does not like to pose for pictures. It's a little blurry because the shutter speed was really low because of the light.

She was telling Ryan a story--that is a wooden toy knife she has in her hand.

Today we had a small cookout at our house to celebrate Omi's birthday. We had chicken and steak kabobs, shrimp, potatoes in the oven, and corn on the cob. I wasn't that into it, but the fam loved it! My favorite part was the grilled pineapple. I had to take a picture of the steak kabobs because they looked SO good.
I know everyone thinks I'm crazy for taking so many pictures but I LOVE to take them and LOVE to put them on here. I think it makes it more interesting!

Again, sorry for the extremely long post. I shouldn't have waited this long--especially with being off. For anyone that wants to keep track, my next doctor's appointment is on 8/27 with my new doctor(s)--you see all doctors in the practice. I am looking forward to it! Have a great week......and stay tuned for a belly pic coming soon!

Vacay Week!

It's soooooo over-the-top exciting to be off for a whole week. We kind of "decided" not to go out of town (really we couldn't compromise or figure out exactly where to go and for how long), so we will have a week of local relaxation. I'm already enjoying it!

Friday we went to the NHC for our last appointment there (*teardrop*). We had an ultrasound and saw the baby again. All I can say is.....amazing. As soon as the ultrasound was started, we saw the baby kicking and punching away. It was moving around like crazy! It's weird to think that there is something alive inside of me that I cannot even feel yet. The baby and the gestational sac both measured at 11 weeks 1 day, which is exactly what it should be based on the date of my last period, 5/21. The ultrasound technician said this does not happen often.
We spoke with the new PA, and she said we were good to move to my regular OBGYN office, which just happens to be right upstairs! I am going to see Dr. Hilton at Virginia Beach OBGYN and have to call to make the appointment tomorrow. The PA at NHC instructed me to make the appointment for the week of 8/17. I don't know if they will be doing another ultrasound or not, but I know they will not be doing them at every appointment like they do at NHC. It will be interesting to find out how often we will be able to see our baby. I will miss the nurses and doctors at the NHC but am also looking forward to meeting my new doctor and getting used to things at this office.

Saturday we did normal housecleaning stuff and then had dinner at Jamane's. Unfortunately, I did not take any pictures! I need to start bringing my camera with me more often when we go anywhere. She made She-Crab Soup from scratch and it was soooooooooooooooo good! We also played Scattergories and really had a good time. I had the Headache from Hell and ended up taking some Tylenol for the first time since being pregnant. I was trying to avoid taking anything other than my prescriptions, but it would not go away and was throbbing and throbbing. About 10 minutes after taking it, I felt SO much better. I haven't had a headache since then, which is good.

Sunday was pretty normal. We went to church, had lunch at home (not normal for a Sunday), and had dinner at Omi's. I also took about a two-hour nap in-between lunch and Omi's while Ryan played golf. I figured that was okay since we have off allllllll week :)

Today we spent the day with Haley. We took her to Potts n' Paints, a "Paint Your own Pottery" studio. Ryan painted a tile, Haley painted a dolphin, and I painted a little frame. We had a good time. I had to really let go of the controlling side of myself to allow Haley to use her "creative side" to paint the dolphin the way she wanted to. :) She definitely made it her own, which I think is great. After the painting, we had lunch at Five Guys. YUM! We stopped at Carvel for some soft-serve on the way home at Haley's request, and then went to Ry's parents' house to swim and relax in the back yard. It's been a great day!

So many choices, so little time...
Hard at work!
Haley and Ry with their creations
Haley's Dolphin :)
My frame for Baby J
Haley, me, and my cleavage at Five Guys

That's it for now. I am off to make grilled cheese for Ry and a chicken breast sandwich for myself. Then we're going to Michael's at Hilltop for me to get an icing tip to prepare my cake for cake decorating class tomorrow, then to Target to return something and maybe look at just a little bit of baby stuff. THEN we are going to come home at watch Waiting. It better be good!

One Week!

We had a great weekend. It was pretty relaxed, which is always nice. Based on the last time the NHC gave me an approx age of the baby, I would have been 10 weeks on Friday. yay! I have been feeling pretty good--still no sickness, and the hand swelling ended. I still have some nausea every now and then throughout the day and definitely have many food aversions, but I am happy with the way things are going.

On Saturday, we did normal Saturday things in the morning--Ryan did outside work, and I did laundry and went grocery shopping. Then on Saturday afternoon, we went golfing again together! I didn't want to go originally because it has been sooo hot outside, but it got really cloudy and felt cooler, so I decided to go with Ry. Once we got on the first tee, the clouds parted and the sun was beaming down on us for almost the entire rest of the nine holes! I was glad I went with him, but it really was very, very hot. I shot 70 again (at least I'm consistent), and Ry shot 53. We didn't take any pictures this time. Thank goodness--I was a hot mess (pun intended :)!

Saturday evening we went with Bryan and Lacy to HOOTERS for dinner. Yum! It was very good. We hardly ever go there, so it was a tasty treat. It was nice to spend some QT with them! Afterwards, we went to the Baby Depot in Burlington to peruse the crib, stroller, etc. selection to get a better idea of about how much it will be. In one word...expensive. I mean, not astronomically expensive, but just a lot. It was fun to look at all of it, but I felt a little overwhelmed by all of the choices for everything. I know we want to get a stroller/car seat that isn't too gender-specific looking so that it can be used for a future child, but in terms of everything else--I'm really looking forward to finding out whether it's a boy or girl!! It will just be nice to know for planning purposes what is growing in there. I will just have to get some options ready and wait til October...... *sigh*

Today, we had church in the morning, and it was pretty entertaining. It was the Vacation Bible School presentation where the VBS leaders re-cap everything that went on. I could see myself being up there leading all those kids in song and dance one day! We had lunch at Olive Garden with Ryan's parents, Bryan, and Lacy. We both had Soup and Salad. It was sooooooo good (and cheap)! After lunch, we came home and vegged all day. We layed on the couch and watched golf and napped a little tiny bit :) . We had dinner at Omi's tonight, which was great, although I wasn't really in the mood to eat much. I love seeing our families all the time. I can't imagine living far away from them. I'm sure other people can't wait to get away from their families when they get to the age where they can, but I have never felt that way. I feel blessed to be around them all the time and am so glad that our baby will grow up close with both of our families!

We are on vacay all of next week and we go to the NHC on Friday for another appointment--these are the thoughts that are getting me through this week of work. Please pray that everything is good on Friday--not that it wouldn't be, but you just never know what they will say! In regards to the vacay, we still haven't decided where, if anywhere, we should go. I want to go somewhere--at least for a couple of nights. I am going to go research this now...we will see what I come up with!