week 31

This past weekend we went to Keene, NH for our babymoon. We went up early Saturday morning and spent the day browsing in the quaint little shoppes downtown. We had lunch at a nice brick oven pizza restaurant, which turned out to be really good. We got a sicilian style pizza that was huge! It was an amazing sight for a pregnant lady. We ended up getting three meals out of it. We had a lot of time to kill before dinner so we spent it at a local coffee shop chatting. It felt really weird to just sit and relax with nothing to do or errands to run. I am glad we had a chance to do so before the baby craziness in a couple of months.

On our way home, we spotted a few covered bridges.  We took many pictures and I also snapped a couple of shots of the belly. It was such a great background for a baby picture. This bridge was built in the 1800's and although it was rebuilt I find it is amazing that most of these are still around. A lot of them have a weight limit so they tend to be one lane. We came across one that could not hold a weight of a school bus. So when the bus got to the bridge, the kids would have to get out and cross on foot and then get back on the bus on the other side.

It was a great weekend. I am glad we got a chance to have a relaxing weekend with just the two of us since things are about to be very different.

week 30

This past week I turned 30 weeks! This means I better get the nursery finished up and soon. My doctor said at the check-up that everything is measuring perfect and I am healthy. His heart beat was 138 and she guided my hand so I could feel the babies head. It was so cool and weird! I look very different from week 10 and week 20. He weights in at around 3 pounds now and is a size of a cabbage. He is a wiggler. He tends to be active during the early morning and evening right after dinner. He is no longer shy and Nick can pretty much feel him anytime he is moving. We are uncertain of a name but Simon is still our favorite. The name Bennett is in close second and we have a long list of others. I have a feeling it will come to us at the hospital.

thanksgiving at the seymours

This past week we had the enormous pleasure to spend four days with the Seymours. We came down the day before Thanksgiving and stayed through Saturday evening. We had so much fun that time and the weekend flew by way too fast. On Wednesday, I turned 29 weeks and the baby is the size of a butternut squash (my favorite vegetable). He is very active and sticks to being active early in the morning and late at night. He sure loves peanut butter sandwiches a lot.

On Thursday, we watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in the morning. I think that was the first time we actually sat and watched the entire parade. We spent the rest of the day cooking the Thanksgiving dinner. We made roasted sweet potatoes, brussel sprouts with bacon, salad, sage sausage and apple stuffing, gravy, green bean casserole and deep fried turkey. It all turned out delicious and at the end of the night we were all stuffed. Especially after the chocolate chip, apple and sweet potato pies we had for dessert. It was a great meal and a great day.

On Friday, Audrey and I went to a tearoom. I didn't know what to expect because it was my first time at a tearoom. I loved it. It was one of the best meals I have had in a long time. We had unlimited tea with 65 different teas to choose from on the menu. Alongside we had butternut squash soup, house salad, 6 different tea sandwiches, a sweet potato scone with apple cinnamon curb, blueberry lemon bread, chocolate covered strawberry and a couple of tiny tarts. We ate and chatted and drank for two full hours. I can not remember the last time I enjoyed a meal so much. I am anxious to go back the next time we are visiting the Seymours. And, how can I forget about the family photo shoot we had earlier that day. The boys and Alice posed as our future children. Don't we make a cute family?

On Saturday, we went and picked out a tree for the Seymours. We went to a farm where you can cut down a tree yourself from multiple fields of hundreds. It took a while to find the perfect tree but in the end we succeeded. We went out for lunch at Mount Airy Inn after we got the tree wrapped up. It was nice to sit down to a hot meal after being out in the cold. We were sad to have to leave later on that night to get home. We had an amazing weekend thanks to the Seymours. 

my boston baby shower

This past weekend was a very exciting one. We were hosting the entire Seymour family, my friend Mary and my mother, whom came up for my baby shower brunch this Sunday. Everyone flew in early Friday morning and after the airport we decided to hang in the city for a few hours to visit the Aquarium. Even though the big tank was under construction the boys still enjoyed the tanks on the outskirts of the room.

Nick and I got to meet Alice for the first time and we had fun showing her around. She is so adorable and the best behaved baby I have ever met.  She made no fuss at the zoo after being at the airports all morning.

One of the coolest things they had on exhibit were these shark eggs. If you looked real close, you could actually see little shark like shapes inside the three sacs on the right. Those eggs were due in January and February, like our baby boy, but the left most sac was not due till mid-April of next year.

Ryan spotted Nemo in one of the tanks. He was very excited to see him and was pointing him out to everyone.

We ended our trip to the Aquarium by visiting the sting ray and shark touch pool. We were encouraged to put our hands in the water while the sting rays swam by so we could touch them. James and Ryan got to touch a few sting rays rushing by... The sharks were all hiding out that day so we didn'd get to touch any of them.

We ended our night at The Castle. It was a really neat place that had a moat at the entryway and was decked out in armor and fancy castle decor. We sat next to one of the biggest fireplaces I have ever seen. The place was not very busy so the boys got to run around and see the decorations in all the rooms. Audrey snagged a few pictures which I will post here when I get them from her. It was a really neat place! 

Saturday we spent prepping for the shower and hanging about the house. My mom came to the house around eleven and we went out to do some grocery shopping and errands. The boys spent the day playing in the snow and we spent the night cooking in our newly renovated kitchen. I really love all of the extra counter space we now have. 

It was a long day and we were all in bed by nine o'clock.

Sunday was my baby shower. I was up early because I was way too excited to sleep and for the shower to start. Audrey did an amazing job with all of the decorations and the food. We had so many choices. There were bagels, muffins, quiche, hashbrown casserole, fruit, donut holes, meatballs and various drinks. I loved drinking my virgin mimosa out of a mason jar. It was such a cute idea. Great job Audrey! My friend, Thuy, made the cake and it looked and tasted amazing. We spent the morning playing all sorts of shower games and pigging out. I really enjoyed spending time with the best people in the world and I am grateful to have such wonderful and giving friends. My baby boy got lots of goodies from clothing to gadgets and I cannot wait for everyone to meet him.

This game was such a hit. I got to pin the egg on a foam uterus and the closest sperm won a prize :)

I think Alice really enjoyed herself as well. She was busy looking around and enjoying the action.

Some of the shower crew. We should have done this before everyone started taking off but it is really nice to have a picture of most everyone.

I was tuckered out after all of the festivities.

Thuy wanted to feel the baby but he slept all of the morning through all the noise and action. I just hope he will be this good when he is actually here.

I will be forever grateful for such an amazing shower to my bbf, Audrey.

week 26

I haven't taken a belly photo in a while so here is one to show my progress. I am a week away from the third trimester and I cannot believe how fast these last two trimesters have flown by. We have done a lot but we still have a lot to do before the baby comes. I am mostly worried about labor and delivery now. I am going to try it the all natural way and I hope I can handle it.

homemade animal shaped rug

This past weekend and week Nick and I have been busy putting the nursery together. My bff and her family are coming up next weekend for my baby shower and I really want to have the room together so they can see it in person. We finally finished painting on Friday! Then we put in the dresser, chairs, bookcase and fan. Tomorrow Nick is going to put together the crib and hopefully we can finish putting all the little accessories into the room as well. All that we will be missing is a glider which we will have to wait until this winter. I think they will get a good picture of the room set-up without it nevertheless.

One of the things I really wanted for the room was a rug and I spent hours online looking for the perfect fit. I got really hooked on the idea of an animal shaped rug in blue for baby boy. I finally found one that I liked just to learn it was designer and comes with a hefty $1,000 price tag. So I looked for alternatives and couldn't find anything cheaper. But, during my search I stumbled onto a website that lets you make your own rug out of felt. It was perfect. I went out and got all the supplies for $50 and couple of nights later I had a custom rug for the baby's room. Check it out. I finished it last night. It's blue on one side and gray on the other. I love being crafty. I am already on the lookout for the next project.

week 23

This Columbus Day weekend we decided to take time off to visit my parents and spend some time exploring Howe Caverns near Albany, NY.  My father's birthday was this weekend as well so it was a wonderful weekend spent celebrating, eating and relaxing.  The baby made an appearance by waking me up with his kicks early Saturday morning.  It was hard enough for Nick to feel as well.  It was really nice to be able to share that moment with Nick.  My co-worker, Linda, and her husband, Jake, joined us this weekend and we headed out with them to Howe Caverns on Sunday.  It was really cool to take the tour of these ancient pathways that took millions of years to form.  It's fascinating that they are 156-feet underground and Lester Howe used to explore them by lowering himself with a rope using just a lantern to light his path.  There was also a very nice hike we did on Monday morning in the area called Vroman's Nose before heading back home to MA. It was such a nice view and day that I wanted to mark the occasion with a belly shot. It was a gorgeous fall day for a hike.  I actually like this picture so that's also something worth marking as well.

week 20

I am not sure why I thought it would be a good idea to take pictures first thing in the morning while I am puffy eyed, mangled haired and worn out.  No wonder I didn't like any of the five pictures Nick took.  I had to pick one for this post though because it marks the half way point.  It's going to get only tougher from here on out from what I hear.  Up to this point it's been a pretty smooth ride so I suppose I am ready for some off-roading.  And, I am excited because I am feeling like this is finally happening.  My belly is showing and I think I am starting to feel the baby moving, or "quickening".  I wish it would quicken and get here already.

week 18

I am sort of fudging my 18 week picture. I didn't actually take a picture when I was 18 weeks but I took one a couple of days before hand and a few days after.  I think seeing the two gives a pretty close picture of what I would have looked like.  It's really all due to the kitchen renovation we started on Labor Day weekend.  It has been so time consuming and draining that I haven't had time for much else.  My parents came up and we worked three hard days in a row to redo the floor and put up the new cabinets.  We got a lot done but we also have much left to do.  Plus, we decided to have a yard sale and that has proven to be a lot of work. It's really time consuming going through a closet and rummaging through 5 years worth of stuff.  I think the lesson I learned from all that yard sale prep is to throw things away!

Anyway, we did manage to get away on Labor Day to the zoo and that's when I took a picture a couple of days short of 18 weeks.

Then two days later we had an ultrasound done to find out what we are having.  It was to our excitement when we saw that it was a boy on the ultrasound :)  We really didn't have a preference and would have been just as excited had it been a girl.  I like the ultrasound pictures we got of our baby boy.  He is going to love that I posted these on the Internet when he is older :)  I guess that's what parents do best is embarrass our kids.

I can't believe that little guy is actually growing inside me.  It's really incredible.  I hope that I am doing a good job making the baby happy.  He sure loves pizza and crepes.  I had my mom teach me how to make crepes when she was here because I crave them once a week!  I make them with a raisin farmer's cheese filling, delicious.

So here we are a couple of days after the ultrasound. The belly is definitely getting bigger and bigger every day.  Good thing I told work last week because I was really not going to be able to hide it much longer.

week 13

I am 13 weeks pregnant. I am finally inching towards the end of the first trimester. I am very excited and particularly exhausted today. I woke up early so I could leave work around two for our camping trip in New Hampshire. I took a picture but I went against using it. We did a hike on Sunday which I loved. We went to the Lone River Gorge and climbed 1,100 stairs around a 11,000 year old gorge created by a glacier. It was amazing. There were even some caves we could climb in and through. We had to literally crawl on our hands and knees through very small openings in the rock around the gorge path. It was a lot of fun and a great way to spend a day. That is why I chose to post my week 13 picture from that day instead of the picture I took on Friday. The little one is a size of a medium shrimp now. Gotta love my iPhone's pregnancy application comparisons of the fetus to food  :)

week 10

Today we took a belly shot at ten weeks. I though this would be an eleven week belly shot because of our ultrasound earlier this week but my obgyn proved me wrong. She told me that the ultrasound determines the age by the size of the baby but that doesn't change my original due date. It just means I am ahead of schedule size wise. I hope this doesn't mean I will have a huge baby to deliver 7 months from now!

I was cranky because I wanted to take the picture in the same spot every time but today was too bright and I kept turning out really dark standing next to the bright window. Darn hormones! Why are you making this a big deal? I finally moved after making Nick take the picture unsuccessfully 30 times but very reluctantly. And, of course I blamed him for the picture not working out. In my defense, he did take it horizontally and not vertically like my first belly shot. I think I like it better but please don't tell Nick I said that. The belly is definitely starting to show here or I am just having the worst case of food baby?

first appointment with my obgyn

We had our first appointment with my obgyn today. Her name is Dr. Hiral Warner and we were looking forward to talking to her about the baby and the long list of things we thought we had to do throughout the pregnancy. We first got an ultrasound and found out the baby is healthy and happens to be ahead of schedule. It is now 10 weeks and 5 days old. That bumps my due date up to February 1st, 2013. We got to hear the heart beating which was very fast at 176 beats per minute. It is strong but within the range that they consider normal. And, we saw the baby wiggle around its little arms and legs. It was so fascinating I couldn't help but get teary eyed. Here is a picture of the little pumpkin, or I should say little lime since that's the size of the baby now according to my pregnancy application. It's quite different from just 3 weeks ago when I had my first ultrasound at 7 weeks and 2 days. The little lime has formed a head, arms and legs which are now easily visible. 

The second half of the appointment we met with the doctor and talked about the tests she wanted us to do. She recommends we do the early assessment pre-screening for down syndrome and a couple of other genetic disorders. Other than that she had no homework. I was shocked! I thought we would get a long list of to dos but all we got was take care to eat healthy and keep exercising. Is this really it? I feel like assigning myself homework. I am going to take advantage of the next week and do nothing. Since, as soon as the first trimester is over I will be bargain shopping for the baby and nursery and that will keep me busy enough. I have no doubts about that!

first belly shot

I am officially 8 weeks and 2 days pregnant this Friday June 29th, 2012 . I decided to take the first belly shot at this point since my belly is tiny right now and it will only grow bigger from now on. I also happened to get a new lens for my camera in the mail this week so the timing was perfect. I love my Canon Rebel SLR and was really anxious to try out the new 50mm lens. I think even with Nick as a photographer the picture turned out great. I am not sure if that's a belly or just fat from eating like a crazy maniac for the last two weeks. Seriously, it's like I haven't eaten in a month and then was allowed to eat again. I will be lucky to get through this without turning into a whale at this rate. 

first ultrasound

We had our first ultrasound sound today. Until this point this pregnancy has been pretty much unbelievable, but now that we could see the baby I am starting to feel like it's really happening. It has already formed a heart and we could see it flickering on the ultrasound, which means it's busy beating. It was 138 beats per minute. The little blueberry still had a yolk sac attached, which we could see, but that apparently goes away soon. It was really exciting to see the baby for the first time even though it didn't have much of a shape yet. So fascinating! Here is a picture of what we saw.

telling my parents

My best friend, Audrey, convinced me to start a new blog. The new blog is going to be about our growing family. I am pregnant and Audrey had a great tip for me. To keep track of the big events in writting and pictures, which she then turns into a photo album, she uses her blog. I really like the idea of having everything in one place and then later the ability to turn it into and album when I am ready. Having one blog will simplify things, as opposed to having an album and then a journal. 


The most news worthy event  for now happened two weeks ago. I was about six weeks and we haven't told my parents about the news yet. I was waiting to tell them in person. We drove down to Spencer, NY for my mother's 50th birthday and father's day. The fact that it was a weekend we were celebrating both my parents was perfect! We decided to tell them on Sunday so Saturday was really tough to get though without letting them in on the big news. I couldn't drink and that invited some questions because I am usually armed with a beer on a weekend like this. Nevertheless, I prevailed and come Sunday we broke the news to them while I took a video. 


For some reason I cannot upload the video! Ugghhh, my iPhone camera broke down on me today too. Is it the heat today or is the world gaining up on me? Anyway, I know it's not the same but I will describe their reaction to the best of my ability. My mom read the card we gave her out loud. She was sitting next to my father. The card wished them well for her birthday and father's day. It also told them we got them the perfect gift to celebrate and called them Grandparents. As soon as my mom read the Grandparents part she started crying! I kid you not. Crying! I didn't expect that at all! I was thinking jumping up and down and all around would be her reaction but she managed to surprise me by crying! My father followed suit. It took about five minutes of crying until the tears turned into joy and they took shots of cognac.  Now, that's an official Russian congratulations!