Almost Finished!!

No not with pregnancy - well at least no signs of that yet.  Although I feel like the unofficial countdown has started in my head.  Most likely in less than a month we'll be parents!  Okay I know technically we're already parents, but we'll be parents of a baby that actually needs something from us - other than a nice cozy spot to punch me from haha.

Spencer, however, is almost finished with the fence!  Right now he's putting the finising touches on the side gate (the people gate as we're calling it as opposed to the car gate) and it's awesome.  Not only because it means the end of taking Blitzy out on a leash every time she has to go to the bathroom, but also because it is so pretty!!  And it totally makes it feel like we actually have a backyard space.  And it's not chain link.  And it still let's people see in so we don't look like we hate our neighbors.  And hopefully Blitz will not try to jump it.  And somewhere down the road, when we figure out what gate opener to get, it'll open automatically and we can drive our cars inside the gate and hopefully the neighbor kids won't shoot any more side mirrors with their bb guns.

Check it out!!

 Complete with the fancy gate for our cars to go through!

 

And I wish my iphone took better pictures. Or that I had a digital camera that could adjust for sunlight, oh wait that's right I do, but taking pictures with my iphone is so much easier and I am lazy right now :).  There's the handsome handy man himself putting his finishing touches on the people gate.  Oh and our garden!  Which we had to cover last night because yes up until May 1st frosts really can happen in Oklahoma.  Only problem is I think we smashed one of the tomatos with the freeze protection, go figure haha.  Good thing the farmer's market is all summer and tomato plants are 2 bucks (I know, I know seeds are so much cheaper, but I tried that and then one day in the Oklahoma wind and they were dead!!)

 



 

So while Spencer's been working like crazy to get the fence done I've pretty much been laying on the couch trying to get rid of a really nasty cold/allergy attack/something that doesn't let me breathe out of my nose which is more than a little terrifying when I'm hearing the unofficial countdown in my head till Noah needs to come out and most of the pain coping techniques I've learned for natural childbirth have all revolved around some type of breathing.  Which again, I can't do very well right now. 

 

So Spencer told me to take today off to recover, okay he didn't make me but he suggested it and I responded but I don't want to be high maintanence while pregnant and he responded babies take maintanence haha well played.  So I stayed home and slept till nine and then moved to the couch and read and journaled.  I got up just long enough to heat up some leftovers and then it was back to the couch for a movie.  Then off the couch back to bed for a nap.  More reading.  More sitting.  More relaxing.  Oh I did manage to make breakfast for dinner for the fence maker and now I'm thinking I might have enough energy to go get ice cream :).  People keep asking me if I've had any cravings and I really haven't.  I just give in to the normal ice cream cravings way more than I would when I wasn't pregnant :).  Okay enough talking about ice cream, time to actually eat some!

So. So. Weird.

Guys, last night I washed and folded Noah's baby clothes.

It is so tiny!!! 

I know, I know I'm going to be glad it's so tiny in a few weeks, but still it's sort of freaky.

Some things to add to my pregnancy list:

- I can't reach my toes any more in yoga.  Okay actually I can barely reach my knees, but the teachers yesterday asked me how far along I was and when I said I only had 5 or 6 weeks to go they were shocked!  They thought I was only half way done, so I count that as pretty good :).

- Rolling over in bed is becoming way too hard.

- I'm finally mostly only fitting in maternity clothes.  I know hate me haha.  But actually I had this weird realization yesterday, somedays I don't feel very womanly.  Like I work as an engineer with all men, empathizing isn't my strong point, I'm not super fashion crazy, I don't wear makeup unless I'm going to a wedding or a board meeting and only recently have I seen the appeal of coach purses (look they cost 4 times as much but they also last 4 times as long, I can do the math on that one haha).  However I think I'm pretty good at carrying around a baby and I mean, what is more womanly than that?!!  So yes for once I feel "girly" haha.

Yes, yes I'm working on the nursery, but it's still unorganized so no pictures yet.  My goal is to have everything that isn't organized in the closet by this weekend :).

All By Myself

It's one of those rare days when I have nothing to do during my lunch break - everyone I normally eat lunch with is on a spring break trip, or at a dr. appointment getting their baby checked on, or at home with their new baby (yes I know there are alot of babies happening around here!).  I do have some errands I'd love to be running, but they are on the other side of town and would take way longer than even a stretched out hour and half long lunch, so I'm saving them for tomorrow afternoon if I decide I'm tired of being in the empty office and "need" the afternoon off :).  Apparently even grown ups all go on spring break around here but I missed the memo.  Oh wait no that's right I'm not allowed to get on airplanes without a Dr.'s note and where I'd love to be is hiking northern Ireland. I guess that trip will have to wait!  So instead I'm sitting at my desk, eating delicious gyros and tabouli and looking for maternity clothes that isn't hideous online.

Seriously - this is my biggest complaint so far about being pregnant (I know, I know I'm ridiculous).  Finding cute clothes to wear is really hard!  And not because they don't make maternity clothes.  Mostly because they don't make business casual maternity clothes.  Maybe because everyone knows black pants and a blazer and button down aren't that comfortable while carrying around a honeydew melon sized baby inside you (that's how big Noah is today!! still so odd to me).  Here's the problem though: I can't wear yoga pants to work!! And oversized tshirts or bag lady shirts really don't help make you feel any less awkward, it's almost like they are saying just give up, you are huge, get over it haha.  However I would prefer to be huge and still look like I didn't just come from the gym!  Okay mini rant over haha.  Other than figuring out how to stretch (literally) my current wardrobe another two months this is my new drink of choice:

 

 

Juiced cucumbers. I saw my midwife Tuesday for my 32 week appointment and I have okay but borderline high blood pressure for a prego.  Which right now isn't a big deal since I'm still in the safe range, it just means I don't have much room for it to go up at the end of the pregnancy, which I'm told is a pretty normal occurrence (go figure carrying around an extra 30 pounds stresses out your heart some).  I'm convinced it's the drive down Yale in 4:30 pm traffic that makes it high considering I've been taking it at home and it's way lower there.  Just to be safe though, I'm supposed to write down what it is when I take it at home, so she can know I'm not making it up, and I'm supposed to juice a cucumber a day and drink it.  It's supposed to be a natural remedy for high blood pressure.  Actually it's pretty delicious I think.  So far I've mixed it with an apple or a grapefruit and orange and it's so refreshing - good thing considering I might have to juice 50 or so cucumbers between now and the time I give birth (OMG so not ready).   Other than that though, I've felt great!  Still going to yoga (I'm pretty sure I'm starting to freak out my teacher haha), still working out at the gym, still sleeping pretty well (other than crazy dreams!!), still not too uncomfortable, and still able to put on my own shoes, although that is getting pretty challenging :).

 

Alrighty I better finish my lunch and get back to work!

 

 

Getting Ready To Relive Finals Week

Okay that is probably a little misleading, but we are going to make pizza and watch as many episodes of Arrested Development as we feel like.  Maybe not the best idea for the night before daylight savings but it sounds like a pretty perfect plan to me for a rainy night in March.  Spencer even gave Blitz a bath, so we won't mind her sitting on the couch by us.  Everyone's bringing their favorite toppings, so we'll see what kind of crazy pizzas we end up with.

Whew this was a long week.  Lots of draining days at work for both Spencer and I.  Lots of waking up in the middle of the night to Blitz scratching the floor and moving around on her dog bed in our room (solution: we moved her back to her crate, sorry Blitz but sleep is more important).  Lots of me waking up to charlie horses - apparently this is the new random side effect of pregnancy I get to experience.  I did ask the lady at yoga about it and she said the old wives tale is to put a bar of ivory soap at the bottom of the bed?!  I might just try it considering in the last week I've woken up three nights barely able to move my leg and then the next morning I get out of bed limping.  Then again I might try eating lots of bananas :).  Also I've started to have crazy pregnancy dreams.  First I dreamed I had a tiny baby (like think the size of a large potato), and I was back at work two days after giving birth trying to figure out breast feeding in my office.  And I was exploding milk everywhere.  Yeah I know freaky.  Then another night I dreamed it was a few days after giving birth and I couldn't remember if I had fed the baby or not and not just forgot one time, I couldn't remember if I had fed him at all since he had been born.  So weird how your brain chooses to process things you are worried about.   So yes, in between all of that, plus Spencer waking up thinking about work and me waking up worrying about my little it's been a bunch of not so restful nights.

Wow I didn't mean for this to be depressing. 

I've got a bunch of funny pictures from my work shower I keep meaning to put on here.  Seriously, I work with some of the most kind and humorous people ever.  They are really generous and really thoughtful, and I really do think I'm going to miss them while I'm on maternity leave.  I'll at least miss all the practical joking and instant messaging about the ridiculousness of office life.  In the mean time these are some of my favorite ladies there.  And just in case you can't tell three of us are pregnant.  One due next week, me due in May, one due in October and one has decided her current goal is to finish her MBA and then go on sweet Jenny and Spencer vacations as she's affectionately dubbed them which is totally fine by me. 

Okay I'm off to start the bacon for the pizza . . .

Texas Photo Montage



We're back!  Our two little mini vacations were wonderful and restful.  Now we are trying to get our motivation back to work on our pre-baby to do list, granted it's mostly self imposed, but some of it - like move our bedroom furniture out of the nursery and then move Noah's furniture into the nursery - should probably happen sometime soon!

 

Apparently it was too cold on our first mini vacation for me to take my hands, let alone my iphone out of my pocket much, so I have no pictures.  Plus, I was having to pause and catch my breath all the time, so I was slightly distracted by the slight suffication feeling at all times.  Thankfully, it must have just been the altitude since now that I'm back in Tulsa I'm having no trouble breathing, just trouble fitting in my clothes!  Other than the lack of air though, the trip was really relaxing.  Spencer skied two days while I had basically no agenda other than getting a prenatal massage and doing some window shopping with the girls.  Okay not entirely window shopping, I did get some cute jewelry at the outlet malls and a finally a chambray shirt!  Just in a size larger than I would normally need, oh the joys of figuring out what to wear while prego :).  We ate delicious food, heard Brent preach on the parables in a squeeky teenage girl voice thanks to a cold (which managed to be encouraging and entertaining at the same time), and had lots of fun just hanging out with our friends minus their cute, but distracting to serious conversation, kiddos.

 

Fast forward a few days and we headed south to warmer and sunnier climates in Texas for some R&R with just the two of us, our babymoon if you are into that kind of lingo.  We had pretty much no agenda other than getting massages and enjoying the sunshine, oh and seeing Spencer's brother play in a concert Friday night.  And no in case you are wondering I do not get massages all the time, it just seemed like an appropriate thing to do on a babymoon and well in Colorado I didn't have to buy lift tickets so it cancelled out ;).  Okay I'm done justifying my actions haha.

 

San Antonio was absolutely beautiful.  Other than the fact that our resort was under a renovation which included guys with chainsaws starting up right at 8 am right outside our window, it was really peaceful and relaxing.  We walked around the golf course path on the resort under huge old trees, ate delicious mexican breakfast tacos, worked out a little in the resort gym,  and then headed to the day spa for our massages.  This place was so relaxing it was ridiculous.  After the massage (complete with hot towels on my feet and a pillow with room for my prego belly) we had access to the facility for the whole day, which included saunas, hot tubs, steam rooms, giant showers, jars full of chocolate chips and craisins and biscotti, cucumber water, and an outdoor heated pool with chaises in the sun.  Yes please.   

 

 

And did I mention we were pretty much the only people there?  We laid out in the sun and read our books and felt completely spoiled.  Oh yeah so small back story, this is the resort I stayed at last year on valentine's day.  For a work conference.  By myself.  So we redeemed valentine's day in San Antonio this go around :).  We headed down to the riverwalk area for dinner.  Here's us taking a picture of ourselves.

 



 

Then this lady sitting on a bench by us offered to take a picture for us.  Zoom out - there you go, my prego belly at 28 weeks!  So far it hasn't gotten too huge and uncomfortable, but people are finally getting the guts to ask me if I'm pregnant or just going ahead and asking me when my due date is.  I guess the start of the third trimester is a legitimate time to actually look pregnant ;).

 

 



 



After walking around for awhile we managed to find the fresh mex place I ate at last vday (by myself, I know I'm weird, but I didn't want fast food when I could expense it!).  Other than the fact that I could only try the delicious margarita instead of getting one myself it was delicious!!  I mean how can baked cheese dip with chorizo be bad? :)  Oh also, we had the Mariachi band sing for us!

 

 

 

After stuffing our faces, we started walking back to our car and came across an outdoor ampitheater with an outdoor screen playing When Harry Met Sally which we both realized we had never seen.  So we sat in the breezy 70 degree weather and watched.  I couldn't help thinking it was one of the most peaceful days we've had in a long time.

Oh and how could I forget, we also had yummy coffee and pastries at a local, hipster coffee shop we read about in the hotel magazine.  Yep pretty much a perfect day.

The next day we went back to the hipster coffee shop, read for awhile (this trip it was the Girl Who Played With Fire) and then headed to the zoo!  Again the weather was AMAZING.  And the zoo was really well laid out and beautiful.  We saw hippos up close in a giant water tank (so ridiculously huge!!), we saw monkeys taunting eachother, we saw zebras and a wild dog that looked kind of disturbing.  On our third try we finally saw the lazy old lioness move from behind her rock hiding place to out in the sun where she promptly laid back down and went to sleep.  And we saw these weird giant anteaters!  So cool.  And it made me want to have a little kid (I know good thing right?).  We heard one little kid say, "mom, it's a good thing you have a phone because if that lion gets out you can call animal control."  We saw another little girl with one of those leash backpacks literally pulling her dad in the direction she wanted to go.  Just remember that when you decide to buy my kid a leash backpack ;). 

 

Wow I should write blog posts more often, or somehow break them up, this is ridiculosu!!  After the zoo it was off to Austin, and I think I will do the second half of the trip another night.  Spencer's been reading to me from the book his grandpa's friend wrote about WWII and I have no idea what's happening.  I better focus!  Plus I need to put in another load of laundry.  And maybe make some hot chocolate considering it is NOT 70 degrees and sunny here today, it's cold and rainy and dreary. And on that note, I'm out.

Mom Car?

Okay so a little while after we found out we were having a mini Hellman we started talking about whether or not we would need to get a different car.  My current car is only two doors and it's a manual.  Two strikes against it in the mom car category.  However it's awesome.  And I'd be lying if I said I was having an easy time imaging myself giving it up for a spacious SUV (not to mention a minivan, goodness the thought of that made me want to cry or at least run away to Europe for awhile where I could happily drive a small car in peace).  I think also that thinking about having an SUV made me feel like I was officially giving up my carefreeness (I know, not a word) and resigning myself to true adulthood. Maybe that only makes sense to me, but anyway I felt like I was constantly feeling like I was willingly giving away my freedom ever time I even thought about test driving an SUV.  Okay ridiculous back story done! 

 

 

So we slowly started test driving when we felt like it, and we spent some nights browsing the internet and of course I asked everyone I talked to what they thought I should get.  I got everything from a porsche cayenne (umm I'm looking for something that cost less than my house thank you very much) to a honda accord (okay these are fine but I kind of like cars that are fun to drive not just reliable, again not ready to be a grownup yet) to a dodge caravan with a BMW logo stuck on the front (thank you engineers I work with that do actually have a sense of humor).

In response to that we test drove none of those of course.  Warning: before you keep reading you're forewarned I might bash your favorite car.  I figure differing opinions are why Honda isn't the only car company in the world :).  We did test drive a jeep patriot which we pretty much hated.  I'm sorry but being able to reach 45 before hitting the end of the highway ramp is kind of important to me.  Next it was the grand cherokee, which the sales guy assured us would be more powerful.  Yes more powerful and also HUGE.  No thanks.  Pause for christmas vacation and some cold dark nights we didn't want to venture out on to test drive cars when we couldn't feel our fingers.  Then it was on to the VW dealership, which was really more by chance.  We'd been scouting around online and found this car that would be AMAZING to own.  The Golf R.  Yes the R stands for racing.  We went to get my car serviced and low and behold they had jsut gotten one on the lot that morning complete with red paint and four doors!  Fast forward a day or two to when we actually had time to go back to check it out - it was sweet.  A six speed manual that was ridiculously fast.  Also expensive, as expensive as some smaller SUV's Spencer had been looking at sneakily in his spare time while I freaked out about having a mom car.  So we told the sales guy we'd think about it and went on our way.  For the record he did say he thought a car seat would fit in the back, although he said we were the first people to ask about that feature!

So Spencer kept researching things online.  I kept having mini freakouts about being a soccer mom.  People at work kept telling me you are really going to want an SUV, you're not going to want to be bending down all the time, hitting your head to get baby Noah out of the back seat, plus you're not going to want to have no leg room for whoever gets stuck sitting in front of baby.  Goodness! Who know there were so many things to consider.  Enter the possibility of the BMW X3.  Sneaky hubby knows I love BMW's.  He also did his research and found their smaller SUV and found that it costs around the same as a new Golf R, with way more room for car seats and all the other stuff you apparently need to have with you at all times when you have a baby!

In a moment of weakness, okay more like a moment of needing a break from spreadsheet analysis at work, I thought okay I'll go online and see what the dealership in town has in stock in the way of X3's.  I found one that said it was a 2011 and suddenly was more intrigued by the thought of not having to pay the new car price tage.  Okay this is getting long winded!  Long story shortish, I emailed the dealership and a sales guy I had met before when my friend at work was buying a BMW remembered me and emailed me back lickety split saying the car had just come on the lot and had low mileage and we should come drive it!  So Saturday afternoon we headed over to check it out and go figure it was fully loaded, complete with a giant moon roof, turbo charged engine, paddle shifters, sport mode, back up camera, built in window shades in the back to keep the sun out of baby's (or grandma's) eyes and oh yeah heated seats in the front and back!!  And did I mention it was fast?  Like really fast? Put it in sport mode and pretty soon you are flying past everyone else on the highway before you even realize you are going 20 over, but wait!  It also projects your speed onto the front windshield so you don't have to even look down to know you are in danger of a speeding ticket, perfect!  But being the rule follower I am, plus the fact that it was still a big price tag in comparison to my little rabbit, we told the sales guy we needed to think on it for the weekend and take the chance that the three other people who had already test driven it that day wouldn't decide on it faster than us.  We talked about it.  Slept on it.  Talked about it some more.  I decided I could live with a super sporty, super fast BMW SUV.  Spencer convinced me we should get a nice car so we weren't always wishing we could drive his car everywhere.  Plus, it was like the best of both worlds combined, letting me still be carefree while also having room for a baby and a pack n play and a stroller and a baby bag and umm a case of beer haha.

Ta da!!! My new mom car.  I love it.

 

I will love it even more when I've figured out how to park it without being completely paranoid about how big it is.

Spencer is a little jealous that my car is now nicer than his.  We now have the ying and yang of BMW's as David affectionately calls our black and white vehicles.  I feel a bit like a tool, but as a coworker said, a fast, stylish tool.  Mission accomplished ;).
   

Just A Few Happenings

Life is happening around here, nothing too exciting.  Okay well that's a lie we actually just bought a new (used) car tonight!! However it is getting outfitted with new tires, so I didn't get to drive it away quite yet.  Looks like I get a few more days of blissful denial with my lovely VW 2 door rabbit and then it's on to four door SUV's, car seats, and parenthood.  Sheesh that sounds so overwhelming.  I think I will acclerate in third gear and drive like a maniac for the next couple of days and maybe add in a few good peel outs just for fun.  Sorry, you're just going to have to be in suspense about what we purchased till I actually have it and can take pretty pictures of it.  All I'll say is it has a giant moonroof and a turbocharger, so I was sold :).

Okay so up through today's purchase life had been happening as usual.  We've had a little bit of the January blues, like the wow I have to be a grownup and go to work everyday even when work is stressful and tiring and makes me want to just watch Top Gear all night long, kind of blues.  Nothing too extreme, just not our most cheery days.  Libby was reminding me it is winter after all and things are just kind of slow and dreary and not too worry too much about the funk.  I think I'll take that advice! 

I've decided this may be my guilty pleasure during pregnancy:

A delicious latte and a cookie at the same time.  Normally I would only do one or the other, or do black coffee and a cookie to avoid having a million calorie snack in the afternoon when I really just need a stretch break from my computer, but for some reason lately my willpower has been a little lower ;).  Sometimes it's just a cookie and a latte kind of day.  So far I haven't had any weird cravings, so for now this will have to suffice!

Spencer's been taking good care of me during this whole pregnancy thing.  It really hasn't been too bad yet, but some days vacuuming the whole house and cleaning the bathroom on top of laundry sounds so overwhelming, and then he'll offer to scrub the toilet and sweep half the rooms for dog hair and it doesn't seem quite so bad anymore.  He also made me this awesome dinner one night for date night after my midwife office called to tell me I had missed my appointment because both Spencer and I had written it down for the following week.  I drove across town in rush hour traffic while he whipped up this deliciousness!! I think I should let him cook more often ;).

Steak and garlic mashed potatoes and asparagus and peanut thai chicken all in one meal?!  Not too mention lovely virgin lemon drop martinis!  Who knew ginger beer and fresh squeezed lemon juice could taste so close to the real thing?  Without, of course, causing any harm to little Noah other than a sugar rush ;).

Okay here's my 25 week shot.  Maybe someday I will have an actual bump - not that I am wishing to be huge any time soon!!!

Pictures on the new mom ride to come shortly . . .