Big Juicy Jr....

When I went to TX to visit my family back in March I was able to ride around in my cousin's, actually Tristan & Preston's pimped out van. It is a conversion van with all the bells and whistles. They have pimped it out even more by adding a separate DVD player for Preston since he faces the rear still. My new ride cant quite compare but I like to think of it as a version of Big Juicy Jr. Here is a full pic of it in our yard.

Welcome to Suburbia!!!!!!

Taryn and I had a discussion last night concerning where we are in our lives. We came to a realization that we are quickly approaching your typical suburban, middleclass family. We both work in white collar, professional jobs, we live in the cookie cutter suburban neighborhood, we have the picket fence, we have the Labrador Retriever, and now she's got the soccer mom vehicle and soon Emmi will be arriving. Its weird when you come to these realizations.
So the most recent change due to Emmi, has been the vehicle. There was no way that Emmi and Kona were going to be able to ride together in my truck or her car. Visions of her face covered in baby drool and dog hair and Kona's tail with lollipops stuck to it weren't very appealing. So after about 4 hours of haggling at the car dealership we came home with this:






Nissan Pathfinder with all the bells and whistles. Taryn is exited because she'll be able to watch dvd's while we drive home in August. Kona is a little confused and doesn't know quite what to think. Taryn folded down the 2nd and 3rd rows of seats so he has plenty of room but he seems confused.

So what is next on our journey into being suburbanites? I don't know. Maybe I'll sell all my bikes play golf regularly (very doubtful). Maybe Taryn will get a subscription to Oprah's magazine.

19 Weeks....the normal weekly update

I am now 19 weeks or 4 3/4 months. Today I found one pair of pants that I can still button. Everything else I wear with the bella band. I have many colors of Polo shirts which is a staple of my wardrobe right now. Any shirts in cotton are my favs since button ups are not working. Still not maternity stuff yet but that is fast approaching. Feeling great. Although my stomach doesnt do well if I dont eat regularly. I typically eat something every few hours, which I always had done just have added a few extra snacks. But now if I go 3 hours without eating something the next thing I eat feels like a lead brick in my stomach. At breakfast I am fine but during the day I have to make sure to eat something.

Still exercising. Getting out running more than biking but will get out on the bike at least once a week. For those not from the South, typically in the morning it is in the 70's but doesnt get too humid until 10-11am and then it cools down when the sun sets. Not good for a pregnant woman who is trying to exercise. I may start getting up before work since it is too hot to exercise after work. Last week was in the 90's with high humidity and even when waiting until 8pm. I dont monitor my heart rate but I definitely dont want to over heat.

I regularly feel Emerson moving around although it isnt overly predictable when it is going to happen. Seems to be after I eat but that isnt even a guarantee. We have started to see if Jacob can feel her but unfortunately everytime he has his hand on my belly she doesnt move. I think if he can feel it at this point it will be a very light feeling on his hand.

I seem to have the parents who never leave. :^) The visit with my dad was great but unfortunately for him a thunderstorm came through yesterday when he was suppose to leave. His flight got cancelled but he was able to get out on a later flight. But that didnt get him home until way after midnight.

It is official we are on target to join suburban america. More to come....

We're having a girl!!!!

If you haven't read it, we're having a baby girl. No longer an it. I've had to correct Taryn of calling her an it a few times. Her name is going to be Emerson Leigh(sounds like Lee). That way we can call her Emmy Leigh(Lee). I came up with her name years ago while working at Wachusett Mtn. Ski Area. Someone there had a daughter with that name and I thought to myself "One day, when Taryn and I have a girl, that is going to be her name." At the time I think we had been dating(again) for about 2 years. So yes, I will take all the credit for her name.

Now on to the fun stuff. Barbies, Cabbage Kids, my daughter idolizing Linsey Lohan and her knife wielding escapades...............oh God!!! What am I going to do?

Kona is very excited about having a little sister. He's not too excited about being dressed up in girly clothes though. I had a conversation with him the other day about it. He asked if he was going to have bows put on him and dressed up in doll clothes. I informed him that, unfortunately, that would be the case. He said he would humor her but will draw the line at rouge lipstick. I told him that would be fine since I didn't want anyone to think we had a cross dressing dog that may be confused about who he is and we would try to keep embarrassing moments out of the public eye.

18 weeks...

Things are still going great for 18 weeks. We now know it will be a girl, Emerson Leigh. This will be the first girl grandchild for my side of the family and second for Jacob's side. Everyone seems excited and who wouldnt be for a girl. I am now having to wear my bella band pretty much with everything I wear. Jacob has been working on painting the hallway and trailwork while I was being a seamstress. I had gotten some maternity clothes from my step father's, son's wife, Pam. Got that. :^) She is a little bit shorter than me so I let some hems down and made some pants into Capris. I should be pretty set for maternity clothes between what she sent me and what my sister in law will let me borrow, although I did buy some this weekend. My first real purchase, two pairs of pants and two shirts. Super comfy stuff especially the shirts. It is the length that is needed in the shirts to cover the ever expanding chest and soon to be belly. So I am ready for when the bella band wont work with my regular clothes.

My father will be in on friday to come visit for the weekend and see his new grandson. It will be a quick visit but great to see him. If you have not noticed the addition of the links to other blogs, members of my family have loved our blog and have aspired to start their own. So check them out.

Still cast your votes since we still obviously dont know the date the baby will be born or the size.

Dinner.

Our dinner was awesome. It was raining but we still sat in the court yard since it is covered. Jacob wore his pink shirt with jeans and I had on a pink skirt with black shirt... :^) Since you have waited this long to find out I will go into details..... Jacob started with the Shrimp Cocktail. Then had the iceburg salad wedge. I went with the Country Salad. For my meal I had the Honey Mustard Glazed Salmon Fillet with Coconut Basmati Rice Tower and an Asian Mango Salsa. Yummmy. Jacob had the Pan Seared Free Range Chicken with Roasted Garlic Whipped Potatoes and a Natural Pan Sauce. Everything was delicious. We were able to enjoy all that with the box sitting on the table. We decided that we would open the box after we ordered dessert. I was surprised the waitress and no one around us were even interested in the package on our table. After Jacob ordered the worlds best lemon cheesecake and I the apple strawberry cobbler we started to proceed with the box. Jacob pulled the pink bow then the blue bow off. He unwrapped the box and took the envelope out. I was the one to open the envelope. I opened it so we both could see. The tech had put two pics in it for us. One that pointed to confirm and one that just said what it is....................

The majority of the people have voted correctly. (But still cast your votes as there is the date and size to still compete.)

Ultrasound....

Here are the pics from today. I was amazed at the details of the skeletal structure. The baby is 7 ounces and is right on target for November 5th. The Ultrasound Tech was not able to determine the sex at first due to the baby having it's legs crunched up. After she took some pics and measurements, she had me crunch my legs into my chest while sitting so that it would get the baby to move. Sure enough it worked.

The box, which my friend at work Cindy wrapped up so nicely for us -- Thanks Cindy!!!--, is suppose to contain the picture of what we are having. We have decided to go to dinner at Sante here in Matthews tomorrow night. That is when we will open the box to reveal what we are having. Do we open it after we order, after the meal, after dessert, hmm? Check back later this weekend to find out what we will have. And get your vote in if you havent already.

I had done some research on child birthing classes. I thought I liked the Bradley Method and looked at taking a class. After talking to my doctor today that doesn't sound like it will be the best fit so we are not going with that approach anymore. It looks like we will take the normal hospital class but then look into hypnosis a bit more..... The type where if you drive from point a to point b and don't remember how you got there or..... The concept of being able to reach your sub conscious to help with child birthing. If anyone knows of any good books to recommend, please let me know.

I was also quite excited to find out I have only put on 10 pounds. That is in the range of what I should have put on by now. Yeah!!! With the eating I have done lately I was a little worried. Plus with Jacob out of town and then having a dinner of nachos, a baked potato, and a vanilla frosty last night.

Another big event of the day is that Kona turned 6. Happy Birthday Kona!!