25 weeks

How far along: 25 weeks

Size of Baby Bug: Baby Bug is the size of a cauliflower; about 13.6 inches to 14.8 inches and weighs about 1.5 to 2.5 pounds

Gender: It’s a boy! 

Movement: I think I have a little ninja in there! He is very active!

Sleep: Pretty good, although some nights I toss and turn and have to get up early to use the restroom

Food cravings: Soup and ice cream

Food aversions: None at the moment 

What I miss: Soft cheeses. They are a staple at holiday parties and I’m so sad that I can’t partake

Pregnancy side effects: Feeling completely overwhelmed with everything, being a little forgetful, having some crazy dreams and I think my hair is getting darker

Best moment this past week: When Dave felt baby move for the first time!  

Looking forward to: Seeing family next week who haven’t yet seen “the belly” in person :-)

Christmas traditions

One of the things that Dave and I love to do every year at Christmas is to buy an ornament that represented something from the past year. When we first got married we didn’t have many ornaments for our tree and we thought this would be a fun and meaningful way to fill our tree in the coming years!

So I thought it would be fun to look back on the past six Christmases we have spent together and do a little review of our ornaments and memories.



2007 - The year we got married and celebrated our first Christmas together
2008 - The year we celebrated our 1st anniversary and went white water rafting for the first time
2009 - The year we went camping every weekend that we could
2010 - The year I had the crazy idea to raise money (for work) by organizing a flamingo flocking fundraiser and we spent every night for a month picking up and dropping off plastic flamingos
2011 - The year we moved to California wine country
2012 - The year we finally found our church home and really felt a part of a community

It’s so fun to look back over the past years and remember many of the fun times we’ve shared since becoming a family. I am so looking forward to adding to our ornament collection in the years to come as our family grows and we make more memories together!

What are some of your favorite holiday traditions?

24 weeks

How far along: 24 weeks

Size of Baby Bug: Baby Bug is the size of a cantaloupe; about 10.5 to 11.8 inches and about 12.7 to 20.8 ounces

Gender: It’s a boy! 

Movement: I think I have a little ninja in there! He is so active that the doctor has a hard time listening to his heartbeat - he keeps moving every time she finds it!

Sleep: Pretty good, although some nights I toss and turn

Food cravings: Soup and ice cream

Food aversions: None at the moment 

What I miss: Wine. It seems to be free-flowing everywhere I go lately

Pregnancy side effects: Feeling completely overwhelmed with everything. If I could take a break from the world and catch up with everything, I would 

Best moment this past week: Feeling baby move more and more and looking obviously pregnant. I also think I felt a little foot at one point!

Looking forward to: Hopefully getting caught up with a few things this weekend so I can feel more at peace before Christmas

23 weeks

How far along: 23 weeks

Size of Baby Bug: Baby Bug is the size of a grapefruit; about 10.5 to 11.8 inches and about 12.7 to 20.8 ounces

Gender: It’s a boy! 

Movement: I think I have a little ninja in there! 

Sleep: Some nights are good others are bad. It is getting harder to get and stay comfortable

Food cravings: Soup and ice cream

Food aversions: Greasy food

What I miss: Wine

Pregnancy side effects: Feeling completely overwhelmed with everything. Maybe it’s just that Christmas is coming, maybe it is that work is super stressful or maybe it’s the realization that Baby Bug is coming soon. At any rate I’m feeling totally overwhelmed! 

Best moment this past week: Feeling baby move more and more and looking obviously pregnant 

Looking forward to: The church Christmas Dinner on Sunday 

22 weeks

 

How far along: 22 weeks

Size of Baby Bug: Baby Bug is the size of a papaya; about 10.5 to 11.8 inches long and weighs about 12.7 to 20.8 ounces

Gender: It’s a boy! 

Movement: I think I have a little ninja in there! 

Sleep: Some nights are good others are bad. It is getting harder to get and stay comfortable

Food cravings: Pumpkin pie, soup and ice cream. So much for my healthy food cravings…

Food aversions: Greasy food

What I miss: Wine, wine and wine

Pregnancy side effects: Tiredness, being clumsy and feeling like I need to clean everything - now!

Best moment this past week: Spending time in Santa Barbara over Thanksgiving with my aunt and uncle and getting to spend a little time on the beach 

Looking forward to: The church Christmas Tea I helped to plan on Saturday!

21 weeks

 

How far along: 21 weeks

Size of Baby Bug: Baby Bug is the size of a pomegranate; about 10.5 inches long and weighs about 12.7 ounces

Gender: It’s a boy! 

Movement: I’m feeling more and more movement every week and I’m looking forwards to when Dave can feel it too

Sleep: Some nights are good others are bad. It is getting harder to get and stay comfortable

Food cravings: Pumpkin pie, soup and ice cream. So much for my healthy food cravings…

Food aversions: Greasy food

What I miss: Coke - it seems to be everywhere and I want one. But I fear if I give in I won’t be able to give it up again…

Pregnancy side effects: Tiredness, being clumsy and feeling like I need to clean everything - now!

Best moment this past week: My first (and hopefully not last!) prenatal massage. So relaxing! 

Looking forward to: Thanksgiving in Santa Barbara!

Touring Dave’s company

Normally the facility where Dave works is not open to the public but a few weeks ago they had a family weekend where us outsiders were invited to take special tours of the facilities. It was a rare opportunity to get to see some places where Dave works!

We weren’t allowed to bring cameras or cell phones onto the grounds so I only have the two pictures taken by the company (and later emailed to us) to show for our day.

Our first tour stop was the world’s most powerful supercomputer. We saw simulations of how the thing works and then we were able to walk into the giant room where rows and rows and rows of processors live. When I saw the station to have your picture taken with the computer I laughed. I mean, who in the world needs their photo taken with a computer? Well, apparently we do. And so did the other hundreds of people visiting that day. So here it is, our photo with the world’s most powerful supercomputer. It’s Christmas card worthy, don’t you think? Ha!

Then we were able to tour the building where the laser Dave works on is housed. We learned all about the laser, saw bits and pieces of different parts that makes the system run and saw the outside of the target chamber. Then we got our picture taken with a blown up photo of part of the laser system. Super neat, huh? ;-)

Even though I thought the photos of us with pieces of equipment were hokey (but at least now I can prove I was at the facility!) it was a lot of fun to finally be able to see where Dave works. I’m glad we got to go together and I can’t wait until they open the facility again so I can see more!

20 weeks

How far along: 20 weeks - half way there!

Size of Baby Bug: Baby Bug is the size of a banana; about 6.5 inches long and weighs about 10.2 ounces

Gender: It’s a boy! 

Movement: I’m feeling more and more movement every week and I’m looking forwards to when Dave can feel it too

Sleep: Some nights are good others are bad. It is getting harder to get and stay comfortable

Food cravings: Pumpkin pie, soup and ice cream. So much for my healthy food cravings…

Food aversions: Greasy food

What I miss: Coke - it seems to be everywhere and I want one. But I fear if I give in I won’t be able to give it up again…

Pregnancy side effects: Tiredness, being clumsy and feeling like I need to clean everything - now!

Best moment this past week: Buying a few outfits for baby because they were cute and I couldn’t help myself 

Looking forward to: Our 20 week ultrasound on Thursday (we’re praying for a healthy baby!) and my first prenatal massage on Saturday

19 weeks

How far along: 19 weeks

Size of Baby Bug: Baby Bug is the size of a mango; about 6.0 inches long and weighs about 8.5 ounces

Gender: It’s a boy! 

Movement: I’m feeling more and more movement

Sleep: Much better this week after buying my new memory foam pillow  

Food cravings: Pizza, soup and ice cream. So much for my healthy food cravings…

Food aversions: Fried food and BBQ sauce

What I miss: Lunch meat (not because I really love sandwiches but I just want what I can’t have), beer and wine

Pregnancy side effects: Tiredness, being clumsy and feeling like I need to clean everything - now!

Best moment this past week: Registering and looking at all of the cute things for baby

Looking forward to: Hitting my 20 week mark next week - half way there!

Halloween 2012

Ok, so I’m a little slow on catching up with posts, but at least I’m trying, right? Hehe!

Halloween was last Wednesday and it was a lot of fun! This year I was co-chair of our church’s Fall Festival along with some of my other good friends. We spent the last few months planning and preparing to invite the church members and community onto our church lawn to play some fun games, win fun prizes, participate in a costume contest, travel through our maze, play in the bouncy houses, go on a hay ride and eat some delicious food.

Our committee dressed up as “busy bees” so that people knew who to come to for questions at the event.

The night was a success! Over 400 people showed up to participate in the event and we also had over 150 volunteers help us to set up, work at games, cook food, build the maze and clean up. It was a great event to be a part of! Of course since I was busy running around at the event I didn’t get any pictures of the actual setup or event (oops!) so you’ll just have to imagine how awesome everything was.

Go ahead and ignore the fact that we were exhausted and all of my makeup had sweated off by the end of the night (when we took these pictures).

Happy (late) Halloween!

18 weeks

How far along: 18 weeks

Size of Baby Bug: Baby Bug is the size of a sweet potato; about 5.6 inches long and weighs about 6.7 ounces

Gender: It’s a boy! 

Movement: I feel little movements a few times a day and I love it!

Sleep: Not so good. I wake up after 3-4 hours of going to bed, can’t get back to sleep for 2-3 hours then only get to sleep for a couple more hours before having to get up for work

Food cravings: Pizza, soup and apples

Food aversions: Fried food and BBQ sauce

What I miss: Coke Zero, blue cheese, lunch meat (not because I really love sandwiches but I just want what I can’t have), beer and wine

Pregnancy side effects: Tiredness, being clumsy and being forgetful

Best moment this past week: Enjoying prenatal yoga… ahhhhhhhh!

Looking forward to: Baby “stuff” shopping this weekend with Dave

17 weeks

How far along: 17 weeks… better late than never, right?

Size of Baby Bug: Baby Bug is the size of an onion; about 5.1 inches long and weighs about 5.9 ounces

Gender: It’s a boy! 

Movement: I have felt little movements a few times

Sleep: Going ok, I toss and turn for most of the night and wake up early to use the bathroom. And I really miss sleeping on my stomach 

Food cravings: Pizza, soup and grapes

Food aversions: Anything with cooked tomatoes including pasta sauce, fried food and BBQ sauce

What I miss: Coke Zero, blue cheese, beer and wine

Pregnancy side effects: Tiredness, being clumsy, being forgetful and having weird dreams

Best moment this past week: Finding out the gender of Baby Bug and sharing it with everyone

Looking forward to: Trying out prenatal yoga

Our little pumpkin is a…

We know the gender of Baby Bug! And we’re ready to share with you! Thanks to everyone who voted in the poll. The final results were Girl: 11 votes, Boy: 9 votes, Velociraptor: 6 votes. We’ll see who was correct.

Since our families live out of town (or rather, we live out of town from where both of our families are) it would have been a little hard to put together a gender reveal party that they all could have participated in, in the same time zone. So we had to get creative and find a way to surprise them with the gender reveal without them having to be here and without having to try to find a time for everyone to be on group chat on Skype or Google+.

So here’s what we came up with:

Dave and I found out the gender of the baby at the ultrasound appointment and then kept our mouths shut. That night we made cake pops with either pink or blue cake mix inside, decorated them like pumpkins (because it’s October) and mailed them off to family members to bite into.

Every family group opened their box at different times and then some groups were even able to Skype with us (one-on-one) as they bit into their cake pops. It was a really fun way to share the news and to watch people’s reactions!

So, I bet you’re wondering what Baby Bug is. Here’s YOUR cake pop…

 

Our little pumpkin is a…

 

BOY!!

What do you think Baby Bug will be?

We found out the gender of Baby Bug this morning... but we're not telling what it is yet!

We have a special plan to tell our families first and we'll be posting about that plan soon. Then once everything is finalized we will share with YOU!

Until then, feel to free to vote on what gender you think Baby Bug is in the poll on the right hand side of my blog. Voting closes Tuesday, October 23rd at 11:59 pm and we'll announce the gender on the 24th.

Have fun!

16 weeks

How far along: 16 weeks

Size of Baby Bug: Baby Bug is the size of an avocado; about 4.6 inches long and weighs about 3.5 ounces

Gender: I can’t decide what I think it is (it changes from day to day) and Dave still thinks boy

Movement: I have felt little movements a few times!

Sleep: It is getting harder and harder to get comfortable at night and all I want to do is sleep on my stomach, which I’m not supposed to do

Food cravings: Pizza, soup and grapes

Food aversions: Anything with cooked tomatoes including pasta sauce, fried food and BBQ sauce

What I miss: Coke Zero, blue cheese, beer and wine

Pregnancy side effects: Tiredness, being clumsy, being forgetful and frequent trips to the bathroom

Best moment this past week: Really feeling like my baby bump popped

Looking forward to: Finding out the gender TOMORROW!

First signs of fall

It’s hard to get in the mood for the fall season when it is 80+ degrees outside and sunny every day. This Colorado girl isn't used to a season change without a drastic weather change ;-)

Luckily the last two days here have been rainy and the temperatures have been in the sixty degree range which makes this gal's heart happy. It finally feels like fall!

I took full advantage of the cooler weather by fully appreciating the smell of the rain, preparing a warm meal, drinking some hot chocolate, snuggling with hubby and puppy and lighting a fire in our fireplace. Ah, fall...


This weather may only last for another day or so but at least I got a little taste of the changing season. I can't wait for some more cooler weather in the next few months!

15 weeks

  
How far along: 15 weeks

Size of Baby Bug: Baby Bug is the size of a naval orange; about 4.0 inches long and weighs about 2.5 ounces

Gender: I can’t decide what I think it is (it changes from day to day) and Dave still thinks boy

Movement: I think I felt a little movement a few times (like popcorn popping in my stomach), but I’m still not sure that it was the baby

Sleep: It is getting harder and harder to get comfortable at night and all I want to do is sleep on my stomach, which I’m not supposed to do

Food cravings: Pizza, peaches and soup

Food aversions: Anything with cooked tomatoes including pasta sauce, fried food and BBQ sauce

What I miss: Coke Zero, blue cheese and wine

Pregnancy side effects: Tiredness, being clumsy, being forgetful and frequent trips to the bathroom

Best moment this past week: Thinking I felt the baby move

Looking forward to: Really feeling the baby move soon and our gender determination appointment next week!

Think Pink!

One of the coolest things about my sorority is our philanthropy - breast cancer education and awareness. And one of the more public things we do to raise awareness is partner with NFL teams across the country to be the official fan outreach partner for the NFL's "A Crucial Catch" campaign. Our collegiate and alumnae members hand out pink ribbons, shower cards and other educational information on early detection of breast cancer.

Yesterday Dave and I went to the San Francisco 49ers game with some of the gals from my alumnae chapter to hand out pink ribbons before the game and we had a great time! Dave was great at getting the guys to wear the pink ribbons - I think I’ll bring him back every year!

After we handed out all of the ribbons we were able to go and enjoy the football game. I was excited to see so many football players wearing pink shoes, gloves, chinstraps and towels. It was interesting to be rooting for a team that was actually winning… by a lot! I will always love my Broncos, but I think I may also become a 49ers fan. Better than being a Raiders fan, right? Ha!

It was a long day, but certainly worth spreading the word about early detection. If you are interested in getting monthly breast health reminders then sign up at TakeChargeThinkPink.com. Happy Breast Cancer Awareness Month!

14 weeks

How far along: 14 weeks

Size of Baby Bug: Baby Bug is the size of a lemon; about 3.4 inches long and weighs about 1.5 ounces

Gender: This week I’m thinking boy and Dave thinks boy as well. The random lady at Walmart thinks girl - not that we asked for her opinion…

Movement: I know there’s movement in there but I can’t feel anything yet

Sleep: It is getting harder and harder to get comfortable at night and I am waking up earlier and earlier to use the restroom in the mornings

Food cravings: Jelly beans, mango and pears 

Food aversions: Anything with cooked tomatoes including pasta sauce, raw meat (just the sight of it makes me gag), fried food and BBQ sauce

What I miss: Coke Zero, blue cheese and wine. Do you know how hard it is to work at a winery and not be able to drink?

Pregnancy side effects: Tiredness, acne and frequent trips to the bathroom

Best moment this past week: Learning that Starbucks can make a DECAF Pumpkin Spice Latte, or whatever drink I want!

Looking forward to: Watching Dave get more and more excited about baby stuff!

13 weeks

How far along: 13 weeks

Size of Baby Bug: Baby Bug is the size of a peach; about 2.9 inches long and weighs about .81 ounces

Gender: I’m thinking girl, Dave thinks boy

Movement: I know there’s movement in there but I can’t feel anything yet

Sleep: I’m occasionally waking up between 3-4 in the morning and not able to go back to sleep. Not sure if that’s pregnancy or stress related…

Food cravings: Peas, soup, cheese and ice cream - but not all together

Food aversions: Anything with cooked tomatoes including pasta sauce, raw meat

What I miss: Coke Zero, blue cheese

Pregnancy side effects: Tiredness and acne

Best moment this past week: Hearing Baby Bug’s heart beat at my 12 week appointment

Looking forward to: Feeling baby move soon!

 

A new favorite photo

A couple of months ago I posted about a cool aspect of my job where I got to meet some famous artists who were scheduled to perform this summer at the winery where I work.

Well, I wasn’t able to get a photo with all of the artists who visited this summer, but Dave and I were able to have our photo taken with…

… wait for it…

STEVE MARTIN! Check out our fun photo:



I’m glad Steve was such a good sport ;-)