I love olives.

" Your little embryo has now officially graduated to fetus-hood. Adding to the excitement, a Doppler ultrasound device might be able to pick up the beating heart. With basic physical structures in place and increasingly distinct facial features, baby is kind of starting to look like... well... a baby!"

First Doctor's Appointment!

Today I had my first Doctor's appointment and it was a loooong one. I first was given both flu shots (regular and swine), then proceeded to pee in a cup and get my blood drawn. Then I get hit with a surprise..."We see you haven't had a pap yet this year, so we'll just give you one today." Oh great-as if I won't be violated enough today! After that was over I was moved to the ultrasound room.

They must have known how excited I was because I sat there, no pants and all, on the bench for damn near 30 minutes before my Dr. came in. I lay back, she gets out the wand and puts on what only can be described as a condom (oh the irony!) on the wand before putting it...well...you know.

And there it was...our cute little Peanut (*tear*)! It's little heartbeat beating strong and I could even see the spiral of the umbilical cord. The only problem was it was upside down and asleep! I like to think it was in an advanced yoga pose and drifted off to sleep. Then, the doctor starts moving my ute trying to get the baby to turn over, but the baby is apparently both stubborn and a very sound sleeper (gets both traits from it's mama). The Dr. insisted everything looked great and right on schedule for a mid-June delivery and the baby was just sleeping away. I didn't get a picture though...BOO! But, in another 4 weeks I'll be back for another ultrasound and hopefully Peanut will be awake.

Wild Friday Night!

The title is meant to be facetious. The Hubs and I always talk about how unexciting we are and if 8-years-ago-us could see what we do now on Friday night, they would be shocked. So, last night we did some exciting stuff and went on an outing to Macaroni Grill for dinner, then to Target to get a present for our Nephew's birthday coming up and then....well...that's it! Hey, that is miles ahead of last Friday where the Hubs and I ordered take-out and waited all night for our favorite Friday night programming--Dateline, where about 5 minutes in, I said to the Hubs. "What are we doing?" And he responds, "You're totally right...let's watch this in bed!" So there we were, two happy DINKS snuggled up in bed Friday night at 9:06pm, gripped by Keith Morrison detailing the mystery of how a wife and her two kids ended up falling down a cliff and dying...duh! Her crazy Husband! But I digress....

Our fearless friends D & G were with us and we were again reminded about how utterly unexciting we are when the young, hip waitress, Kathy, (who was by far the youngest looking "Kathy" I have ever seen) says, "So, what are you guys doing tonight? Maybe catching a movie, or going out?" We all blankly look at her and say, "Nope, this is it!" Screw you Kathy! At least we're not working! ( Oh snap!)

Cutest part of the night was when the Hubs, who decided he wanted to tell D & G the big news, did so right after we sat down this way:

Cute, huh? It was fun to finally tell a couple of friends! It's been hard keeping this secret, especially to them because we hang out every weekend and G is 37 weeks preggo with Claire-bear. We spent the rest of the night talking about baby stuff and getting excited how our kids will be 7 months apart in age and in the same grade at school..yay! But, I don't care what 8-years-ago-us would say....because we aren't the same people anymore...it's us + a peanut ;)

8 Weeks

How far along?: 8 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: +2, and still soooo bloated

Maternity clothes?: Just bought some, you can see them here

Stretch marks?: Can you get stretch marks from excessive bloat? Hopefully not.

Sleep: Getting more and more difficult. I've begun having to get up once in the middle of the night to pee.

Best moment this week: Broke the news to the parents and Sister J...all are very excited.

Movement: Nope.

Food cravings: Fruit

Gender: I have no idea

Labor Signs: No thanks.

Belly Button in or out?: Innie.

What I miss: Sleeping through the night. And not having spontaneous back pains.

What I am looking forward to: Hearing the heartbeat on Monday!

Weekly Wisdom: When something sounds good, eat it! Rarely does anything sound good.

Milestones: This was a bit of a boring week. Sorry to disappoint.

A Raspberry!

"Your baby is growing like mad, putting on about a millimeter every day and continuing to straighten out in the trunk. Though you can't feel it yet, baby is moving those little arms, legs and (now only slightly) webbed fingers and toes like crazy."

Operation New Wardrobe: Phase 1

I decided to order my first round of Maternity clothes well before I wake up and find that nothing fits. True to form, I opt for all comfortable, non-work clothes from Gap and Oldnavy.com:

(ordered this set in my favorite color, black)

I plan on living in hoodies :)

This shirt got the highest reviews on the website for comfort and flattery...I got it in purple.

I didn't go crazy, just some staples... Frankly, I wasn't impressed with the selection and I'm hoping for some of my fabulous girlfriends to lend me some of their cute clothes as well, whenever I decide to tell them. And I'm glad that I *finally* have some good suggestions for Mom when she asks me for Christmas gift ideas. Yes, yours truly, otherwise known as Mrs. Clark Griswold is already thinking about Christmas--my favorite time of year!

What Would Tom Colicchio Do?

Cooking usually is one of my favorite hobbies. After a long day of work, I usually thrill in disappearing into the kitchen to chop, saute and whip up something delicious. It gives me time to think and reflect on my day--it's almost meditative. On the weekends especially, I'll scour my cookbooks to get inspired, hit the market with the Hubs and pick out fresh ingredients to cook up a satisfying meal. On Halloween, we went over to our dear friends D & G's house to stuff our faces with give out candy to the cute trick or treaters, so I decided I would bring a delicious dinner over too. What do I choose? I choose the decadent Crab Mac & Cheese. (Insert oohing and ahhing here) It was rich. I'm talking butter, whole milk, 5 types of cheese and King crab that I shelled myself....sounds good right? Here is how it started:





and here is how it ended:



Ok, not exactly...I didn't puke...but the thought of eating my creation sounded horrible. In my culinary defense, the Hubs and D & G loved my dinner, but Peanut was not impressed. Even seeing the leftovers sit in my fridge remind me of the smells...oy.

So for now, I will stick to eating things I like, including fruit (especially berries), saltines, noodle soup. Oh, and ginger ale.