A Whole New Experience.....

Well it's hard to believe that our daughter is one month old today! It has probably been one of the hardest months of my life but it has also been the most incredible!! We have learned so much and I just couldn't imagine our life without her anymore!
Some of the things I have learned...
1. There are actually good shows on tv at all hours of the night.
2. The couch in the basement isn't a bad place to sleep.
3. Days fly by when they are sectioned off in 2 hour increments.
4. I have an amazing husband (this part I already knew), but I didn't know he would be the one to keep me sane through a never ending night of feeding and crying!

This is a big week for Hannah.
-Today was her 1 month doctors appointment. The doctor says she looks great. The day she was born she was 7lbs 5 oz., and 20 inches long, today she was 9 lbs 4 oz. and 21 inches long.
-Hannah got to try her first bottle yesterday, I finally got my breastpump so we decided to give the bottle thing a try. Some babies struggle with the bottle if they have been breast fed so I wanted to start this early so it was one less thing I had to stress about when I start worrying about going back to work.
-Hannah's first Christmas!! Now I know she isn't really going to care much about Christmas but it is going to make Christmas so much more fun with her around!

So I know I have been a serious blogging slacker, its funny cause I haven't really even left this house for 3 weeks, I am sitting here jealous of Chuck today because he is at the Colts game and I haven't gotten to do anything like that since little Hannah arrived. I am not complaining, it is just tough to get used to sometimes, plus I get stir crazy!!
I need to catch you up, a ton has been going on, Hannah was 3 weeks old this past Saturday! Its amazing how attached you can become in such a short period of time. We have been to the doctor twice. Week 1 she still wasn't up to her birth weight of 7.5 lbs but the doctor said that was normal and she was looking good. That first week is kind of a blurr plus it was Thanksgiving so there were a ton of people around. At week 2 Hannah was 7 lbs 13 oz. which means she is eating good. That made me feel a ton better. Breastfeeding is very difficult at times and the night before the second doctors appointment Hannah was up all night long and it seemed like all she wanted to do is eat and I felt like I couldn't feed her enough.
There have been 3 miserable nights since she has arrived, one night I didn't get to bed until 6 am, it was horrible, the next night I didn't get to sleep until after 2 and it was sleeping on the couch. Chuck and I have tried a few different things and the past 2 nights have been better, hopefully we can keep that up. I still haven't slept more then 3 hours straight since she arrived but that is my choice since we are breastfeeding. It is amazing how quickly days go when they are in 2 hour increments!
Hopefully we are settling into some kind of routine, or at least getting used to things so I can keep this blog updated. Here are more pics...

We got to leave the hospital yesterday about 5:00 pm, probably one of the most terrifying things we have ever done. The first night home actually went pretty well, still a very long night but at least we were in out own bed. Hannah is sleeping in our room, probably until I go back to work. She was not a big fan of the pack n play last night which wasn't shocking to us since she wasn't a fan of the bassinet we had her in at the hospital but at about 6 am this morning when we still hadn't slept for more then an hour we put her in her car seat and she slept for over 2 hours, the most sleep I have had since I went into labor!
Here are some pictures of leaving the hospital....



And some of the grandparents....

Ha, I can't believe it!! Hannah arrived 9 days early. At my last doctors appointment I was only dialated to 2 cm, the doctor did a few things to maybe help move things along but you never know if that kind of stuff will work or not. Friday night we also went for Mexican so that might have had something to do with the contractions that started at 2 am. I was up all night timing them, they weren't bad and they were anywhere between 7 and 10 minutes apart so I just stayed in bed, watched movies and the clock. At about 8:30 am my water broke and the contractions got a ton worse so we headed to the hospital.
Hannah was born on 11/22 around 4:00 pm, she weighs 7lbs 5oz and she is perfect! I'll write more later but I wanted to get some pictures posted of our beautiful little girl.

Hard to believe that 3 weeks from this past Monday is my actual due date!! Scary!
Here is the 37 Week update I received...
Congratulations — your baby is full term! This means that if your baby arrives now, his lungs should be fully mature and ready to adjust to life outside the womb, even though your due date is still three weeks away.

Your baby weighs 6 1/3 pounds and measures a bit over 19 inches, head to heel (like a stalk of Swiss chard). Many babies have a full head of hair at birth, with locks from 1/2 inch to 1 1/2 inches long. But don't be surprised if your baby's hair isn't the same color as yours. Dark-haired couples are sometimes thrown for a loop when their children come out as blonds or redheads, and fair-haired couples have been surprised by Elvis look-alikes. And then, of course, some babies sport only peach fuzz.

At my last appointment we found out that our doctor is going out of town on December 6th. She is the only doctor in her practice which means I will be having this baby sometime before that!! There are two ways to look at this, 1) thank goodness there is an end in sight, I am tired of being pregnant and I can't wait to finally see what she looks like or 2) Holy Crap!

Well we can't completely finish our nursery since we don't have the crib we ordered 17 weeks ago!!! (I am not bitter at all) But this weekend Chuck and I came as close to completing it as possible!! I love it, took a little work to figure out how we actually wanted the room set up but I think it turned out cozy.
I took some pics!

Tonight we have a newborn class, this will teach us the basics such as diapering, burping, bathing and all that fun stuff. Neither Chuck or I have really had the opportunity to be around newborns so this will be a really good class for us.

My weekly update...
Your baby is still packing on the pounds — at the rate of about an ounce a day. She now weighs almost 6 pounds (like a crenshaw melon) and is more than 18 1/2 inches long. She's shedding most of the downy covering of hair that covered her body as well as the vernix caseosa, the waxy substance that covered and protected her skin during her nine-month amniotic bath. Your baby swallows both of these substances, along with other secretions, resulting in a blackish mixture, called meconium, will form the contents of her first bowel movement.

At the end of this week, your baby will be considered full-term. (Full-term is 37 to 42 weeks; babies born before 37 weeks are pre-term and those born after 42 are post-term.) Most likely she's in a head-down position. But if she isn't, your practitioner may suggest scheduling an "external cephalic version," which is a fancy way of saying she'll try to coax your baby into a head-down position by manipulating her from the outside of your belly.

The fun thing that I have had to deal with this week is our crib! We ordered our crib on July 16th and we were quoted a 12-16 week lead time. I have been calling since 12 weeks and each time they have told me it would be in the first week in November. So I call on Monday and they tell me it will be another 3 weeks, but can't even promise that. Well that puts us at my due date and that just made me mad. I know she won't be sleeping in this crib when we first bring her home but I want the nursery to be done, I want to hang things on the walls but I can't do that until the crib gets here and we know it fits where we think it should fit! Due to the issues we have had USA Baby is providing a "loaner" crib, which I think is totally stupid but at the same time it will give me an idea of how the nursery can look and I can get everything put together and hung on the walls. The one nice thing about all of this hassle is now USA Baby will also be bringing us our crib whenever it decides to come in and putting it together for us! The loaner crib is scheduled to be delivered to us on Friday so hopefully I can take pictures this weekend!

October 31st has always been one of my favorite days! I love Halloween, I love the time of year, I love dressing up and I love candy!! This year was a little different, Chuck and I didn't get dressed up and didn't go to any Halloween parties but my work did throw me a baby shower. My boss thought it was cute to have it on Halloween, since "being a mom is scary!". The party was amazing and I just couldn't believe how generous everyone was! We got so many items that we really needed, it is so great to just be able to cross all that stuff off our list! Here are some pics of the fun party at FHLBI....


My department got Chuck and I our Pack n play!!! Something we really needed since our crib has not arrived!! Chuck put it together on Saturday and we set it up in our room so its official we can bring her home and she will have a place to sleep! I love it!

Tuesday started my weekly doctors appointments, I keep thinking that means I am going to be going to the doctor alot but I guess technically if she comes on or around December 1st like she is supposed to that is really only 4 more visits to the doctor. CRAZY!!

Here is my update for this week...

Your pregnancy: 35 weeks

Your baby doesn't have much room to maneuver now that he's over 18 inches long and tips the scales at 5 1/4 pounds (pick up a honeydew melon). Because it's so snug in your womb, he isn't likely to be doing somersaults anymore, but the number of times he kicks should remain about the same. His kidneys are fully developed now, and his liver can process some waste products. Most of his basic physical development is now complete — he'll spend the next few weeks putting on weight.

Things haven't changed to much for us yet. The one thing that is strange is I have absolutly nothing planned, normally we have weekends booked up, but not this year. Other than a Colts game on Sunday and work Monday through Friday I am home. I plan on cleaning and hopefully relaxing until our little girl arrives.

So I am over 34 weeks pregnant, my little ticker says we have 40 days left until this little girl is supposed to arrive. Very hard to believe. I am actually feeling really good, large but good. Trying to get things done after work around the house is proving to be a little more difficult but other then that I still feel like I have been very lucky and have had a very easy pregnancy!

The update for this week
Your pregnancy: 34 weeks
Your baby now weighs about 4 3/4 pounds (like your average cantaloupe) and is almost 18 inches long. Her fat layers — which will help regulate her body temperature once she's born — are filling her out, making her rounder. Her skin is also smoother than ever. Her central nervous system is maturing and her lungs are continuing to mature as well. If you've been nervous about preterm labor, you'll be happy to know that babies born between 34 and 37 weeks who have no other health problems generally do fine. They may need a short stay in the neonatal nursery and may have a few short-term health issues, but in the long run, they usually do as well as full-term babies.

Other news....I chopped my hair!! You can see it in my 34 week picture to the right...I have had the appointment to do it for about 3 months now and I am very happy to finally have it done. My mom says she can't remember me ever having hair this short. I only trusted Kim (someone I have been going to since junior high) to do it. I needed 8 inches cut off so I could donate it to BeautifuLengths. Not going to lie I thought it was really creepy when she handed me this pony tail and I had to walk out of the salon with it in a plastic zip lock bag, but hopefully BeautifuLengths will be able to use it and make someone a beautiful hairpiece!

This past weekend was the last weekend for me to do any traveling, I am staying here in Indy on the weekends until this little girl arrives. Probably a good thing cause all I feel like doing these days is getting things ready and set up for her!

So after my fun filled weekend of little girl shopping sprees and working on nursery stuff I get an email reminder that I am 33 weeks pregnant. Now when I tell people how far along I am instead of saying that I have plenty of time they say "she will be here before you know it!!"

So here is what my update said...

Your pregnancy: 33 weeks
This week your baby weighs a little over 4 pounds (heft a pineapple) and has passed the 17-inch mark. He's rapidly losing that wrinkled, alien look and his skeleton is hardening. The bones in his skull aren't fused together, which allows them to move and slightly overlap, thus making it easier for him to fit through the birth canal. (The pressure on the head during birth is so intense that many babies are born with a conehead-like appearance.) These bones don't entirely fuse until early adulthood, so they can grow as his brain and other tissue expands during infancy and childhood.

All of that being said I am starting to get so excited to meet our little girl. I want to see her and put all the soft, pretty clothes that I bought on her and after my productive weekend I actually feel like we are ready for her (well as soon as we at least get a pack n play) for her to sleep in!
Tonight we head to our second child preparation class, the first one was a couple weeks ago and that was infant CPR, tonights is "Childbirth Express". I am assuming after tonights class we will have some idea of the adventure we are about to have. I'll let you know how it goes.....

Since Chuck and I found out I was pregnant we have been trying to be very conservative in what we do and in what we spend. Which is very difficult because not only is there a lot of fun baby stuff to buy but it is also the time for Chuck and I to do things together the two of us that we might not be able to do as easily once our little girl arrives. So besides baby furniture I have not really bought our little girl anything!
Well, Babies R Us (BRU) was having a big sale this weekend on clothes! I couldn't resist. Mom's really good friend Donna sent us a very nice BRU gift card that has been burning a whole in my wallet for 2 weeks now. Of course there are tons of things that we need (not clothing) but I wanted to pick out some items for our little girl. It was so much fun and everything is so adorable, my question now is, did I buy items that I will actually use?? I mean I will love putting her in all these things and I know she needs clothes to wear but did I buy the right stuff???
Well, below is a pic of all the fun stuff I bought, even if I am confused if these items are actually useful or not it was still a ton of fun!!

I was a blogging slacker last week so I've got a few things to share...
Last weekend we went up to Notre Dame. We had a great weekend, the weather was fantastic, the game was great and we got to see a lot of the Dodge/MacCourtney family that we don't ever get to see, ha and they got to see me nice and large!
Here are some pics...





The other exciting thing that has happened recently is we got our glider!! Our nursery is actually starting to come together. We don't have a crib, and we won't have a crib apparently until at least the first week in November but that is a whole other story. Everyone told me to get a comfy glider, that I would use it a ton, I was also concerned about it being comfortable for Chuck. Well, I found one that was perfect for the room, but also very comfy for both Chuck and I and Mom got it for us!! When I got home from work yesterday we had a call from Babies R Us yesterday that it was ready to be picked up! It is such a wonderful gift and I love it, its so comfy, which is good because I have a feeling I will be spending many long nights in this. Thanks Mom!! I am posting some pics of what the room looks like so far!

Wow, every time I get my weekly update from babycenter.com I am just amazed at how time has flown by. 8 more weeks left, give or take until we get to meet our little girl!

I did get my update today, this is what it says...
By now, your baby weighs 3.75 pounds (pick up a large jicama) and is about 16.7 inches long, taking up a lot of space in your uterus. You're gaining about a pound a week and roughly half of that goes right to your baby. In fact, she'll gain a third to half of her birth weight during the next 7 weeks as she fattens up for survival outside the womb. She now has toenails, fingernails, and real hair (or at least respectable peach fuzz). Her skin is becoming soft and smooth as she plumps up in preparation for birth.

I went to the doctor on Friday and everything is looking just perfect, I am the "model pregnant patient" which is good to hear, I am just really crossing my fingers that I stay that way. I am still feeling really pretty good, just everything that has gotten a little more difficult during this pregnancy has seem to just get REALLY difficult, like flipping over in bed!

Today is October 1st, that means if our little girl decides to come on her due date of December 1st she will be here in exactly 2 months!!! In 2 months Chuck and I could be parents, now that is a scary thought!

A lot has happened in the last week. Chuck and I spent two nights last week putting together a dresser for the nursery. HUGE pain in the butt, regardless, it is done and I love it (so does my mom's cat!). Now all we need is a glider, crib and baby and the nursery could be complete!
My mom came on Thursday, she worked so hard and made our house look awesome, inside and out! Then on Saturday she hosted an amazing baby shower where I got to wear a fun hat and we received tons of awesome gifts including lots of fun little pink clothes!! It was so great that so many of our friends and family could actually make it!

With the calendar already reading October and after having the baby shower we now realize that it is beginning to be cruch time on getting everything prepared. Monday night Chuck and I took our first baby class, it was infant CPR, both of us left the hospital hoping we never have to use it but very glad that we took the time to take the course. Our goal is to have the nursery complete and everything we need by November 1st!

I am posting more fun baby shower pics! Enjoy!

Its official, the countdown has begun, only 10 more weeks of being pregnant if our little girl decides to arrive on time. I received my update for week 30 and this is what it says..

Your pregnancy: 30 weeks
Your baby's about 15.7 inches long now, and she weighs almost 3 pounds (like a head of cabbage). A pint and a half of amniotic fluid surrounds her, but that volume will decrease as she gets bigger and takes up more room in your uterus. Her eyesight continues to develop, though it's not very keen; even after she's born, she'll keep her eyes closed for a good part of the day. When she does open them, she'll respond to changes in light but will have 20/400 vision — which means she can only make out objects a few inches from her face.

We picked up the dresser on Friday night. Chuck was going to put it together last night but when he pulled everything out of the box he realized that they forgot to include directions. I managed to find directions online so hopefully he can get it put together tonight. I am anxious to see it.

I am feeling pretty good, I need to post some pics, over the past 2 weeks I feel like I have gotten HUGE!! I am wearing black today at work and that doesn't even do anything to hide it anymore!! Other then that, not to much is going on. Since there is only 10 weeks left I am just trying to get all my ducks in a row at work and at home so if she does come early we will be as prepared as you can be for a new human being in your life to take care of.

I know I have been a huge blogging slacker, just seems like there is always something more important to do.

Here is the update on the baby...although I am almost to week 30 so this update is a little off but..

Week 29 (compliments of babycenter.com)
Your baby now weighs about 2 1/2 pounds (like a butternut squash) and is a tad over 15 inches long from head to heel. Her muscles and lungs are continuing to mature, and his head is growing bigger to make room for his developing brain. To meet her increasing nutritional demands, you'll need plenty of protein, vitamins C, folic acid, and iron. And because her bones are soaking up lots of calcium, be sure to drink your milk (or find another good source of calcium, such as cheese, yogurt, or enriched orange juice). This trimester, about 250 milligrams of calcium are deposited in your baby's hardening skeleton each day.

As far as preparing for the baby...
This past weekend we moved all the furniture from the guest room to the basement. I actually think the guest room looks super cute in the basement and it was fun to see Chuck moving everything down there! The biggest set back was the queen bed box spring did not fit down our ghetto stairs so I am still working on that issue! Moving all that furniture out of our actual guest room left a big empty green room that will be perfect for the nursery! I am so excited! The dresser came in this week so Chuck and I will hopefully go pick it up Friday after work to hopefully be put together sometime this weekend or early next week. Since we live in a really old house we have plaster walls, hanging things on these plaster walls is never easy and who knows if it will actually stay so I found something to put on the walls that would actually be safe to hang above a crib, we ordered that last night and I cannot wait to see it.

Hard to believe that I have been pregnant for 28 almost 29 weeks!! Most of this pregnancy has just flown by, it is getting to the point where I am very anxious to meet our little girl but at the same time I am very scared of the responsibility of caring for another person.

The weekly update this week informed us that our little girl weighs about 2 1/4 pounds and is now the size of a chinese cabbage. (photo to the right) She can blink her eyes, has eye lashes and might be able to see light!!

I am doing good, love the cooler weather. Rudy and I are doing a lot of walking! This weekend we are moving everything out of what will soon be the nursery, and getting it ready for a crib and a dresser which will all hopefully be here shortly. I am also on the hunt for a dress, we are going to a wedding next weekend and I shockingly have nothing to wear, but I also don't want to spend lots of money on a dress I am going to wear once! This should be interesting considering trying on clothes is one of my least favorite things to do right now. Wish me luck...

So I had my 28 week check up this morning, everything looks great and is right on track which is fantastic to hear! I also got to do the fun glucose test, it really wasn't all that bad but I would be very happy if I passed it so I don't have to do it again! Also, if I didn't pass it that would mean I might have gestetional diabetes and would have to watch very carefully what I eat. I do that now but I don't have to limit myself to a south beach like diet. I just can't imagine being pregnant and not being able to eat a cookie if I wanted to!! We find out Tuesday.
So as I was leaving my doctor was telling me that I now need to come see her every two weeks and that its hard to believe that there are only 12 weeks left! My jaw about dropped, I have been counting the weeks but when you say it like she did it just seems crazy!
So this weekend, I am going to be doing a bunch of fun filled sober tailgaiting! We are heading to Notre Dame bright and early tomorrow morning then the Home Opener for the colts on Sunday!! The weather is supposed to be perfect for tailgaiting and I still (at least as of last week) fit into my Peyton jersey, so even though I will be completely sober I am really looking forward to it!

Chuck and I just got back from visiting my dad in California. Despite a few airline mishaps we were able to do a lot of much needed resting and relaxing!! Dad hadn't seen me since the news of me being pregnant so he was definitely in for a surprise. We were there for 3 full days and I am pretty sure it took him all of the 72 hours to get used to seeing me like this!!
Now that we are back from this mini vacation we have 89 days (give or take) to get ready for this baby! First thing on the list is to move everything out of her room and get a nice guest room set up in the basement. This is probably Chuck's least favorite thing on the list since it means a lot of heavy lifting that I cannot help with!
I am officially 27 weeks pregnant! This puts me in the third trimester. The baby now weighs about 2 pounds and is 14 1/2 inches long. Friday I go for my monthly doctors appointment which apparently after this one turns into twice a month and I have to take the gestetional diabetes test which apparently isn't bad but you have to drink something some people have told me isn't very good!! Hopefully all turns out well, I'll keep you posted...

I have been a serious blogging slacker lately but it just seems like everything has just been super busy and blogging keeps falling to the bottom of the list.

To get up to date...
I am doing great and feeling great, I am now 26 weeks pregnant which means this week I will enter my third trimester and if you look at the countdown ticker I will be in the double digits as to the amount of days left in this pregnancy. Chuck took pics of me at 25 weeks and I will try to get them posted this weekend, but I know that I have grown considerably because 2 weeks ago when I took Rudy to the vet I had to ask if it was alright for me to give Rudy his meds for his ear infection since I was pregnant and the vet said she could barely tell that I was pregnant. Well when I took Rudy for his follow up visit yesterday we saw the same vet and she told me she could really tell now!!! So I am officially large! I can also tell that I get tired quicker now, I am guessing this is due to the size of my large belly!
This weekend Chuck is going to a bachelor party in Chicago. My mom is coming to visit (YEAH!) and we are having a garage sale. Hopefully we will make a lot of money, it doesn't rain and it really doesn't end up being 90 degrees but we are doing it all so we have room for a nursery so that will get me through it!! As soon as this weekend is over I am ordering my dresser and making Chuck move the guest room furniture to its new home in the basement. So thats about it on the baby front!

On a side note we got to go to the new Lucas Oil Stadium this past weekend (I will post pics)! Its awesome, our seats are a bit high and I may have a little trouble making the climb at 8 months pregnant but I will find a way!! This Sunday is the first pre-season home game, can't wait...GO COLTS!!

So since I have been pregnant I realized that there were a lot of things that I did, ate or wore everyday that I didn't even think twice about. Being pregnant makes a lot of the things you do every day just a little bit harder, I am not complaining but it does make you think....

To begin with, just rolling over to get out of bed is a challenge. I am guessing it will just get worse and I don't know if it is because my center of gravity has changed or what but this has become much much harder, which also makes getting motivated for work in the morning a major struggle!

Another thing that you think would be pretty simple when pregnant is trying to eat enough but not to much and to make sure you are eatting all of the right things. Jeeze, this is complicated....I think it is one of the most challenging things of pregnancy. Breakfast and lunch are hard because they are almost always on the go, but easy to pack items such as lunch meat sandwiches, which can include protein, veggies and fiber, are on the big no no list because lunchmeat is on the no no list! By the time dinner rolls around I am just over it and I don't care!

No caffeine, no aspartane, no alochol, you would be amazed at how many fewer choices you have on beverages when you take these out of the picture. I really really miss diet coke!

Getting dressed in the morning, I kind of think this has gotten a little easier since now I just can't fit into any of my pre-pregnancy clothes. The in-between phase when you don't need maternity clothes but your other ones just don't look flattering, that was the worst. Now, I just don't have that many options so its not all that hard!!

Which brings me to what made me think of this whole taking things for granted in the first place. A nice comfy pair of jeans that you just feel good in when you put them on. My pre-pregnancy ones were a pair of sevens, love them and was always happy when I was wearing them. Now, I am sure this is not the case for everyone but for me, I have not felt pretty since I became pregnant. I have also not wanted to spend lots of money on clothes because you only need them for a short amount of time and I never have any idea what size to buy. Well, I splurged, on a $68 pair of maternity jeans from the gap (although I did have a 25% off coupon so I felt a little bit better about it)! I got them in the mail yesterday (none of the Indianapolis gaps carry maternity clothes and I didn't want to wait until the next time I got to Cincy). I have to tell you when I put them on I almost felt normal again!

All that being said, I love being pregnant and I know that all these very miniature (yet sometimes seemingly gigantic) sacrifices are well worth it, hopefully I will just appreciate everything a little bit more when these 9 months are up!

Its hard to believe that I am already 23 weeks pregnant! I had a doctors appointment this morning and everything is great, which is always good to hear!! Apparently our little girl already has a bit of an attitude because when we were listening to the heartbeat she kicked the doctor, I guess she didn't like being intruded on!
I also got my weekly update today from babycenter.com. She weighs over a pound and is about the size of a Papaya. She can hear us so we should talk to her. She can feel all my movements, like the bouncing up and down when I run, and we will start seeing hers which will seem really weird.
I am doing really good, I am starting to feel an urgency to get things done around the house, so I think that I have already hit that nesting phase I have read about, which Chuck is going to love! But it is probably a good thing since most of the things needed done even if we weren't expecting a baby!

So my sisters were in Indianapolis for the first time ever this past week and we decided to take them to the Brickyard. They said they wanted to go and they had never been to anything like it before so on Saturday we made them sit down, do some research and each pick a driver to root for. Nicki picked 00 Michal McDowell and Julianne picked 41 Reed Sorenson. On Sunday when we got to the track the three of us walked over to the row of trailers and found t-shirts for their drivers, Nicki found out that there is only one shirt currently made for her driver, it was classic!To the righ is a picture of Julianne and Nicki in their new attire!
All in all the race was pretty boring but it was great to be there with my sisters, and they said they enjoyed themselves. Chuck rented one of those scanners so we did get to listen to the drivers on their radios. Since Nicki was the only Michael McDowell fan (even his pit crew was surpirsed to see a Michael McDowell T-shirt walking around) she got a glove from one of the members of the pit crew and a washer from one of the tires, pretty exciting!

So I am officially 22 weeks pregnant! I cannot believe it. Time is flying by. The baby is about 11 inches long, the size of a summer squash and is almost a pound! Although by looking at me, you would think it should be much more then a pound! I am looking at 2 daycares this week and dreading both of them but that needs done. Once Chuck and I make this decision we only have fun stuff to work on, like the nursery and names.

As for me, I signed up for the mini!! This means by May 2nd, in about 9 months I need to be able to run, not walk, 13 miles again. (I didn't walk it when I was 10 weeks pregnant so I am not going to walk it this year!) Yesterday, Rudy and I ran 2 miles, its a slower 2 miles but besides the heat it wasn't bad and I maybe could have gone farther. Not being able to continue running with Chuck has been pretty difficult. Since Chuck and I have begun running mini marathons we have had a pretty good routine and almost always run togehter and kept each other motivated. Signing up for the mini gives me hope that things will return to some kind of normalacy when our little girl arrives. Its hard for the guy to understand, he has 9 months to prepare for this life changing event, but for me, my life began changing as soon as I got pregnant. So I am excited for th 2009 mini marathon like I was excited for the first mini we ever ran!

On a side note, some people have requested pictures of what I am looking like these days so I am going to work on that!

Yesterday when Chuck got home from work he came with 2 very awesome surprises. My sisters, Julianne and Nicki are here to celebrate my birthday! I had no idea they were coming but I am very happy they are here. They have never been to Indianapolis before and since I didn't know they were coming I don't have anything planned. The brickyard 400 is this weekend but I am not sure about that one! Other then that we are having a cookout at our place tomorrow night and alot of just relaxing hanging out time which I think we all need.
Have a good weekend!

We bought a crib!! I am so excited! Seemed like a big step but I love the crib. The lead time on this thing was 12-16 weeks, lets just hope it doesn't take much longer then that.
I have been super busy at work which is making the days go by really fast but then we have been really busy at home too. Chuck and I finally have gotten around to fixing the wall in the basement. Sunday we painted it, what we thought was the same color that was down there but apparently we were wrong! So last night we were painting again but again the wrong color! So annoying and exhausting. Today I am heading to Sherwin Williams at lunch with a piece of the paint that is the color we want, in hopes they can match it, if not we will be painting the entire room! Which I guess by now we already could have!
I made an appointment to go check out another daycare on Thursday. A couple people here at work take their children to the same daycare but a different location and love it. I'll keep you posted on how that goes....

So, I feel like I had a semi-productive weekend. We went to Cincinnati, Chuck has to see the Mets play every summer and this year since we are trying to conserve a bit we went to see the Mets in Cincinnati.
I talked my mom into playing hookie for a while on Saturday and we ran a few errands. I found a stroller online that I thought would be great for Chuck and I, its a running stroller but also something we can use all the time but they don't have them anywhere here in Indy and I just hate buying important stuff like that without being able to touch it and check it out first. Well Mom and I loved it! The stroller is awesome and hopefully exactly what Chuck and I need. Its called the Bob, it has a front wheel that you can lock or let pivot depending on how you want to use it. I never thought I would get so excited about finding a stroller but it is something I can cross off my list of things to do research on and that is a great feeling.

Wow, I can't believe it! I received my weekly update email from babycenter.com today and I am halfway done with this pregnancy. That is just crazy to me, and really scary!
Chuck and I have been looking at furniture and bedding which apparently is a good thing because I believe the crib that we want takes 12 weeks to get in! That means if it really takes 12 weeks we won't have it until like November 1st! I am having trouble deciding on the bedding I like. We picked out a really cute lady bug pattern but now I can't decide if I want lady bugs or if I want to do something a little more modern.
I have been feeling really good, according to my update the baby is as long as a banana now is a little over half a pound!
This week is crazy busy at work but it is making it go real fast. Chuck and I are heading to Cincinnati this weekend, we are going to 2 baseball games, it is also supposed to be 90 degrees which should be interesting for me. The one really fun thing I am going to do is go to a store called Fleet Feet and check out the stroller I think I want. I can't find anywhere here in Indy that carries these strollers but I have heard great things about them. I want a solid running stroller but one that I can use for all the time use as well and I am hoping this one will work. I'll let you know what I find...

Ha, its a girl! I shouldn't be surprised because that seems to be the trend in our families but I seriously thought we were going to have a boy. I even had frog prince bedding picked out that I liked. The ultrasound was amazing, everything measured perfectly and she was very open to having her picture taken. She was moving around all over the place and we got to see it all on the screen, I had no idea. I can feel her now, not all the time and its not like she is kicking me or anything but she is moving around and I love it!
Well, we had the ultrasound on Thursday, and I am just blogging today because everything just seems like it is super busy. Work is driving me crazy, not sure if it is because I have a ton of extra work now or because I am pregnant and things get to me more so I am keeping my mouth shut on that front.
Chuck and I went to Babies r Us this weekend and started our registry, it wasn't as bad as we thought it would be but everything is foreign to us so we only did some of it. Thankgoodness we have time!
Now that we know its a girl, and we have seen her picture she seems like a real person so I am anxious to pick a name! This is such a hard decision, I bought a book, 60,000 Baby Names! Not sure if this was a good idea or not, if anyone has suggestions let us know!

This week has started out a little better then last which I am very thankful for! It is also a very big week for Chuck and I. Thursday morning we get to go in for our ultrasound and we are going to find out if we are having a boy or a girl. Chuck and I have gone back and forth on this but we figure having the baby will be such a great surprise that it will be just as exciting knowing what we are in store for. I don't really have a gut feeling either way but I have been looking at boy stuff more then girl stuff so maybe thats a sign. I am just crossing my fingers that the baby is healthy and we can see all 10 fingers and all 10 toes! I do thouroughly intend on going to buy something pink or blue before I have to go back to work afterwards!!
I went to Babies R Us for the first time this weekend and that was extremly overwhelming. I am hoping to be able to send the list of items I pick out to the verteran moms I know and they can help me out a bit. So many choices and I am sure so many things that you just don't need, but its just all so cute!!
As for me, I am feeling good. I offically cannot fit in to any of my pants anymore so I spent the weekend packing away all my clothes, crossing my fingers that I will be able to fit back into them next summer! I also ordered a maternity bathing suit for the fun Cali trip that we have planned over Labor day, now that is going to be interesting!!

Well, wish us luck on Thursday for a healthy baby!!

It is only Tuesday and this week has already been crazy. I had every intention of running last night but then stuff got in the way. I have a feeling once the baby comes more stuff will be in the way, I just hope by then I have a little more energy so I can do the stuff and the run.
Not much is going on this week, I got an update from Babycenter.com today, always a fun way to start out my day. It says the baby is the size of a turnip, now that meant nothing to me because I had no idea what a turnip looked like but here is a picture if you would like to see.