We will miss you Nana...

Yesterday was a very hard day. We lost our Nana early yesterday morning. She has been sick for a long time, and fought for even longer. It was her time and she was ready to go. I know she is in a much better place, but we will miss her with all of our hearts. I am so glad she is no longer in pain and she is finally at peace. She was a one of a kind lady with such a unique sense of humor. She was silly and sarcastic and she was one of the most thoughtful people I have ever known. I will miss getting her letters in the mail (always addressed to "Mrs. S.P Ziegler" after we were married) and seeing her smiling face every time we go for a visit.

I am just so sad that I never really got to say good bye. Zig and I went to visit her in the hospital a few weeks back and it was one of the hardest visits I have ever had. She was so tiny in that big bed, but she still had her sense of humor. I remember her telling me that she could tell I was getting "fat around the middle" and all I could do was laugh because that was such a funny Nana comment. She always said what was on her mind and would never hold back from telling the truth. We are very happy that we shared our name with her that day and that she approved and said it was a very sweet name. I enjoyed talking with her for the 2 hours that we just sat there joking with her. I will never forget her "list" of things that she wanted before she died and that we never were able to get some of them for her, mostly because some of the things on there were jokes that she knew would make us smile. We left that day telling her that we loved her more than anything in the world and that we would see her again soon. Truth is, I didn't see her again. Zig did, because he is an amazing grandson and was so strong to be able to stand by her side. It was too hard for me and I honestly I didn't want to remember Nana that way, when she was so sick.

So here is to Nana, Thank you for all the laughs. We love you so much and know that you are watching over us still up in Heaven. You were an amazing woman, and you will be missed. Thank you for being you.

2 Weeks of pictures...

Since I sucked last week, I will post last weeks and this weeks pictures together. I gave up on the whole baby vs. fruit thing since last week it said the baby was the size of a banana and the week before it was a cantalope. I have never seen a banana bigger than a cantalope and in all honestly I got kind of bored with those pictures. Its fine because I think in 2 weeks it only updates the pictures monthly.

So there is a reason why I didn't post pictures last week. We had a really busy week! Zig had a big project to do at Kappa that involved hanging drywall and was a flash back to when we re-did our kitchen last year. Drywall is hard work. I did nothing to help, but I did get a lot of quiet time to get some studying in. I am hoping to take the last part (and pass) of the CPA at the end of August. Everyone cross your fingers, say a prayer and light a candle that this is the last time I ever have to take it! So that was great. Saturday we got up early, cleaned up the house a bit and I tackled the baby's room. I packed up all Zig's old gaming systems (he had the original Nintendo, Nintendo 64, Sega, and PS2 all set up in there along with a million games.) We also organized all his hunting stuff and moved it to the guest closet and organized that closet so everything fit nicely and had some order. There was a ton of stuff that we found that we need to take to Goodwill and we will be well on our way. The only thing that is left in that room now if stuff for a garage sale, or stuff that we are giving away. I can't wait till the room is empty and we have a clean slate to work with. On Sunday, Zig went golfing with his dad and I decided to get up early and cross more things off my list. I got up and washed all the sheets in the house, including blankets and comforters, I mowed and hedged the lawn (since I had been keeping Zig so busy with all his honey do's it was the least I could do), and I spot cleaned the carpets all before 9 am. I spent the next few hours studying and then snuck in a little nap before Zig got home. After he was done golfing we had to go to Kappa for a bit to sand the walls. All in all it was very productive.

How far along?: 22 w 4 days.

Total weight gain: -1.5

Maternity clothes?: Still just bottoms. Woot woot! All my tops still fit, which is amazing because my boobs are huge.

Stretch marks?: Nothing new to report.

Sleep?: I find that I don't sleep as deeply as I used to and every little noise wakes me up. Other than that I can't complain. My snoogle rocks.

Best moment this week?: Getting the nursery almost completely cleaned out.

Food cravings?: Sweets, we bought tons of fruit last night so I stay away from candy and cupcakes.

Labor signs?: Nope

Belly button in or out?: In

What I miss: Sushi, it just hit me this week.

What I'm looking forward to: Zig getting to feel our little girl kicking away...same as last week

Milestone: Um....I gained 1.5 pounds?

OK, so here are my pictures. Weeks 21 and 22. Yes I cropped my head out of 22. Since I stayed so busy on Sunday I didn't bother to do much with my hair or makeup and I was looking a little rough by the end of the day and yes my bra strap is showing.

Week 21

Week 22

Dr. Appointment

Well I had a check up this morning and everything looks good. My blood pressure was pretty low today (88/48), but she didn't seem to worried. She said it was probably due to how much I ate for breakfast (normally I have carnation instant breakfast with double the milk and have a yogurt when I get to work). Since my appointment was at 8:30 I hadn't had my yogurt yet. She said that was fine, but to make sure if I start getting light headed to eat more. My blood pressure has always been low, so it's not a huge concern. She said she would be more worried if it was high. As for my weight, I gained 1.5lbs since my last appointment 4 weeks ago, but I am still down 3 lbs. Again, she is not concerned. I eat when I am hungry and I eat till I am full. I have been trying to make healthier choices and honestly I think some of the lack of weight gain is the offsetting calories from before I was pregnant. I was a huge fan of Corona and dirty martini's so I figure giving booze up completely probably has something to do with it.(Not that I was an alcoholic or anything, but there are tons of empty calories in these). She is growing right on track, so everything is looking good! Anyway, I feel really good. I am still a little tired by the end of the day and get short of breath really easily, but overall I feel good.

How far along?: 21 w 5 days. I know I suck and am really late this week.
Total weight gain: Based on the Dr. -3 pounds
Maternity clothes?: Yep, same as last week
Stretch marks?: Just a small family that I mentioned last week. No expansions noted though
Sleep?: Still the same. Not great, but not bad. I still get up at least once or twice to go to the bathroom.
Best moment this week?: Feeling the baby move more and more and it getting a little stronger. I am hoping Zig will be able to feel it soon. Oh, and registering. I feel like we have made good progress.
Food cravings?: Fried Okra, tomorrow is Zig's birthday and we are going to Cracker Barrel. I can't wait!
Labor signs?: Nope
Belly button in or out?: In
What I miss: Dirty martini's and an ice cold beer on a hot day...same as last week
What I'm looking forward to: Zig getting to feel our little girl kicking away and getting the nursery set up...same as last week
Milestone: Nursery furniture ordered!

I will try and post some pictures tonight. We have had a busy week. I signed Zig up for a pretty big project at Kappa and am trying to get some studying in, so I have slacked a bit.

How freaking cute is this!?!

I know I am a little late on my pictures this week, but no worries. We took the picture this weekend, I just need to upload them. I will try and do that tonight.

So, we had a super busy weekend this weekend, but we accomplished a ton. Zig and I went to Babies R Us and put together a tentative registry. I am still going through it and reading reviews on some of the items, but we had a really fun time! We also got the bedroom set all ordered. My mom gave us the whole set as a gift! We are so lucky to have such amazing family and friends and we are so so grateful.

On another note, I was doing some online browsing and I found this...

In this picture it is a wall decal, but we contacted the seller and she is going to put it on a piece of wood and make it look like a shabby vintage wall hanging. We are buying it to go over the babies crib. I think it is adorable! And, at Zig's request, instead of a butterfly at the end, there will be a little ladybug. We are really flowing with the ladybug theme, but we just keep finding a ton of cute things we like. It all seemed to work out perfect. The hard part is going to be limiting ourselves so there is actually room for the baby in her room!

We think we picked a name too...very exciting! It is a very simple classy name that we have liked for a long time. It's one we keep going back too, so we think it's it! Keep checking back!

WTH!

I forgot to mention, I found a small family of strecth marks on my right hip this morning. Are you freaking kidding me? My sweet husband tried to convince me that they were bruises...God I love him. So apparently my right hip is getting huge...Something is wrong here. I have gained no weight, yet I now have what resembles a pretty hefty beer gut. I was assuming that I was losing weight in other areas and equally gaining it in the middle. My skin isn't even stretching yet, at least not on my hips, imagine what happens when it does! Apparently I have a jaded outlook on life.

Bodhi has met his nemesis...

The spray bottle. Let me preface this a bit. I call it a pet peeve, but in reality it is something that annoys the hell out of me. Like extreme pet peeve, that I can't control. It is stupid and I wish I could just get over it but I can't. Since becoming pregnant, the annoyance has escalated. What is this annoyance...Dog's licking and I don't mean dogs licking their crotches, I mean dogs licking any part of their body period. The noise is awful! It makes my skin crawl just talking about it and I have been known to leave a room in someones dog is licking themselves in my presence. That is if I am not comfortable enough with the owners to force their dog to stop. Big dogs, even worse. So, Bodhi lately has developed a very very bad habit of licking his paws. He doesn't lick till he gets a hot spot, thankfully, he just licks out of lack of anything better to do. It has evolved into him nervously biting his nails as well. I used to be able to call his name and he would quit. Then, if I touched him, he would stop. Now I have to violently shake him to make him stop and then we fight about it. He will pretend to bite (obviously non-aggressively, Bodhi is seriously the greatest dog ever) but he thinks he is above me in our family, and at times he probably is. Bodhi has me wrapped around his finger. It has gotten to the point where it wakes me up in the middle of the night and if he is all the way on the other side of the bed I will crawl over Zig to make him stop. This does not make Zig happy. So, enter the water bottle. The glorious thing about it is I don't even have to squirt Bodhi, all I have to do is take it out and set it on the bed and he will stop. If he starts licking, all we have to do is touch the bottle. Bodhi has water bottle radar. It's weird because we have never used this as a training device before, so I have no clue how he knows that if he does something, and gets the squirt, that he is in trouble. Last night he was licking and it woke me up. I merely touched the water bottle and he was up on his feet in seconds. It's funny because he almost apologizes to me when I am forced to touch the bottle. He will come up and snuggle with me as if to say sorry. I love that little guy. Problem is, I wish he would get to the point where he wouldn't lick at night. I hate waking up. He has a good 9 hours to do it while I am gone, I pray he eventually breaks the habit.

Abby on the other time has no clue. She will occasionally lick and I feel that if I make Bodhi stop, it's only fair to make her stop too. I laugh every time I squirt her because she just stares up in the air as if to say "What was that?" She looks around for a bit, and will just continue on. Sometimes I squirt her a couple times in a row and then she just runs up and licks my face. My poor little mama. She is just clueless!

Just some thing funny I thought I would share.

Thump. thump, thump and an emotional breakdown

There is definately a baby in there! I had been feeling, what only I can describe as bubbles popping all weekend long, by yesterday they turned into more of a thumping feeling. As I type this, our little sweetness is thumping away in my tummy. Maybe she is letting me know she really likes that Carnation instant breakfast I drank on my way to work today.


So we had an awesome weekend. My sister came into town on Friday night, and we took her straight from the airport to her high school reunion. Zig and I didn't have plans after we dropped her off, by this time it was almost 7:45, so we decided to order something to go. We ended up ordering Little Anita's. For some reason I was craving sopapillas and a bean burrito. We called in our order and took it home to eat and veg on the couch. By this point I was STARVING! I excitedly cut open my burrito and took a bite. It was on the second bite that I noticed, this was not a bean burrito at all, instead it was shredded beef. I turn to look at Zig's food to make sure ours weren't switched and remembered he ordered a stuffed sopapilla. On his plate was a ground beef burrito. ::Insert emotional breakdown here:: I have no clue why, but this absolutely ruined my night and I just lost it. I called Little Anita's and made Zig go get the right order. Now Zig was starving and for anyone that knows him...he gets a little edgy when he is hungry. At this point I am sobbing, then I have remorse for making Zig go back, when I know he would be perfectly happy eating whatever they gave him at that point. In the midst of this, my mom calls and I yell at her because I am starving. Then I feel bad for yelling at her and start crying even harder. I mean, I have no clue what happened, but for some reason, the whole debacle was worth more tears than I have seen in months! Zig got home to my just sobbing on the couch and all he could do was laugh. In the end, the right food was the solver of all problems and we both agreed it was best that he went back. Neither he or I would have been satisfied any other way.


On Saturday I had my book club meeting at the St. James Tea Room (what a cool place) while Nicole, Chris, Rich and Rebecca went to see Bruno and when I go home we all just hung out and watched the 5th Harry Potter movie. (We are all getting so excited for the movie to open tomorrow. I am pretty jealous because Rich and Rebecca have tickets to the midnight showing). Then we had some friends over to watch the fight. Yesterday, we all went to breakfast with my Mommy and spent the rest of the day lounging, napping and finishing off the Harry Potter weekend marathon on TV. It was so nice to relax with family.


How far along?: 20 weeks!!!
Total weight gain: According to my home scale -3 pounds...hey at least I gained a pound.
Maternity clothes?: Yep, same as last week
Stretch marks?: Nothing new to report, Thankfully!
Sleep?: It has been a lot better. I slept so good Saturday night and even last night. I don't think I moved!
Best moment this week?: Finally feeling the baby move and getting to see my sister
Movement?: I think so! Thump, thump, thump
Food cravings?: I was craving Mexican on Friday, as of right now, I am not craving anything.
Labor signs?: Nope
Belly button in or out?: In, but getting a little shallow.
What I miss: Dirty martini's and an ice cold beer on a hot day.
What I'm looking forward to: Zig getting to feel our little girl kicking away and getting the nursery set up.
Milestone: We are halfway there!


Here is the weekly baby size update and some pictures of my tummy too. I kind of have a hard time believing there is a cantelope in my belly. If there is, things must be a little crammed in there right now and it makes more sense why I get out of breath walking up stairs!





"Baby's digestive system is busy creating meconium (a tarry black substance made of swallowed amniotic fluid, digestive secretion and dead cells), which will fill the first diaper after birth. And, speaking of the diaper situation... baby's genitals are now fully formed! "

She is still sitting really low. I can feel the thumps in my lower abs and my stomach is more round in my lower belly, making it look like more of a beer belly than anything.

As promised!

It's picture time! We got all the ultrasound pictures scanned in. She was only 18 weeks when we got the u/s so a lot of her facial features aren't as developed as they would be if we had it done a little later, but she still looks pretty cute to me. It will be interesting to see whose facial features she gets. Anyway, enjoy!

Here she is all curled up. According to the tech, she is laying sideways and her back is to the front of my stomach. I am sure she has moved since then, but basically she is kicking all my internal organs and could probably explain my lower back pain. :) It's all worth though!

Look at this sweet little baby foot! I love it!

Her she is on the non 3d. Amazing the difference. The first one she is all curled up and the second is of one of her arms and her little legs all stretched out.

Finally, the gender shot. The little arrow does the talking....

On to the weekly update and the belly pics now. I added a little survey thing too that I have seen on other blogs that looked like fun. So, here we are, 19 weeks along!

"Vernix caseosa, a greasy white substance made of lanugo, oil and dead skin cells (yum) now coats baby's skin, shielding it from the amniotic fluid. (Picture yourself after a nine-month bath, and the need for protection makes sense.) You might actually get to see the vernix at birth, especially if baby is premature. "

How far along? 19 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: I am still down 5 lbs. from my pre pregnancy weight, but I think at one point I was down almost 8 or 9 pounds so it is getting better.

Maternity clothes? Pants only. I have been able to get away with some shirts that are just loose in the mid section. Some of my pre pregnancy pants fit, but they are getting a little uncomfortable.

Stretch marks? None on my tummy. I went through a growth spurt after college (I call it that, really I just got pretty chunky) and I had some on my hips. They have since faded and turned white so you can't see them, but the other day, I think I found a new one branching off an old one. I am hoping I was just imagining things because I pray my ass isn't getting any bigger than it already is.

Sleep: Well, ever since my fantastic husband bought me my snoogle it has been better. I mainly get up now because I have to go to the bathroom. Sometimes I wake up and my ear hurts, which could be a good sign because it means I had slept in one position for a while comfortably. Still trying to get used to that. I apparently used to toss and turn a lot.

Best moment this week: Well, it is Monday, but I am going to say that my best moment so far this week was getting to meet Cissy and Brad's son, Austin. He is literally the tiniest baby I have ever seen. It is debatable who is bigger, Abby or Austin. He is so tiny and perfect. I could have held him all day!

Movement: I don't know. Everyone tells me I will know when I feel her, but I have been having a ton of flutters lately. I am not saying I feel it till I really know I have felt it. Sometimes I think I feel her move and I sit really still and then all I feel is my heart, gong gong..gong gong..gong gong in my chest. For some reason, I am in touch with my heart beating more than before.

Food cravings:None-weird I know. I don't crave anything...

Gender: Girl!

Labor Signs: None, thankfully

Belly Button in or out? In. I don't think it will ever pop out. More than anything it will get flat.

What I miss: My sister and not waking up in the middle of the night to go pee.

What I am looking forward to: Feeling the baby!

Milestones: I'm almost half way there!

Sorry for the long post. I am going to try and post more than once a week, so I don't bore you all out of your minds!

Busy weekend and a promise!

We had a very busy 4th of July weekend, but we got a lot accomplished. My mom, Larry, Rebecca and Rich met Zig and I ate Babies 'r Us and we picked out our crib and even possibly some bedding. I didn't want anything to foo foo or way to pink. So here is an OK picture of the crib and dresser pieces. We originally were only going to get the changer/dresser combo unit and the crib, but BRU is having a special and basically we will get the tall dresser for free. It is a great deal and all the furniture seems to be of really good quality and sturdiness for the price. Plus we really don't want to spend an arm and a leg on furniture.


We also found this cute bedding. It is hard to imagine it with the pictures above, mainly because the bedding they have in the picture is kind of boyish, but Rebecca pulled this one off the shelf and we all think it looks pretty good with the cherry wood.


And look how freaking cute the lamp is!

My sister in law, her husband and my precious nephew came into town this weekend and it was really great to get to spend some time with them. We had a relaxing night just talking on Thursday night, Friday we went up to Dad's for a barbecue, Sunday my mom had her annual 4th of July party and yesterday we went and saw a movie with my mom, Rebecca and Rich. It was busy, but relaxing and the best way to spend a long weekend...with family.

So here is my promise, I will have Zig upload the u/s pics tonight and take a belly pic for week 19! Holy moly...19 weeks! In a few short days we are going to be halfway there to meeting our little girl! Anyway, check back for a little update tonight.


Oh and I am so excited, my sister is coming into town for her reunion this weekend. We can't wait to see her!