Ready for vacation

I leave tomorrow for Seattle and I can't wait! I wish Mike were able to be there for the holiday, but it will be great to be around family and friends. And to make it better, in just over 24 hours I will be eating Black Pearl for the first time since January, and its going to be delicious!

25 Weeks

A picture from this morning's ultrasound. The little guy was VERY active, but we managed to get some very precious pictures.

Thanksgiving Weekend and Baby Shower

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! Mike and I had a very long drive to his parents, about 2 hours longer than normal because of some road construction and bad weather. After 7 hours in the car with 2 cats after working a full day, I was very happy to be there.

On Saturday Mike's mom threw us a baby shower and it was a lot of fun. No silly baby shower games were played (hurray!), instead I got to visit with all of Mike's cousins, aunts, great-aunts and other family friends. We had a very big group, around 30 people there, and we got so many awesome things for the baby - car seat, high chair, bouncy seat, exersaucer - the list goes on and on. We are so blessed to have such an amazing support system, I only wish they were closer!

Here is a picture of Mike and I at the shower - I'm finally posting a picture of the baby bump at 24 1/2 weeks.

An Early Christmas Present

My mom emailed me saying she was sending our Christmas present early and that it should be here next week with instructions to open it when it arrived. Last night I came home to a very large box and Michael and I opened it together and found the very cute crib bedding set we had registered for. I absolutely love it! I didn't want something baby-ish that would look out of place in a year (think bugs or safari animals), instead I was going for something modern and fun. Here is the set including the curtains she bought for us as well.

I can't wait to get everything all set up in the nursery. Little by little its starting to come together. Now I just need to find artwork or some sort of wall decorations (without involving painting the walls) and a little shelving. I like the pictures they used in below, but at $133 each, that is out of the question. I might try my hand at a little artwork of my own and see how well I do.

23 Weeks and Sick

I came down with a sore throat and cold this weekend, and let me tell you, being sick while pregnant is no fun. There are little to no medications that you can take, and certainly none that knock you out and get you through the nigh like Nyquil. So instead, you get to suffer through with some cough drops (but only certain brands, and not those you'd normally buy), and some regular tylenol. I can't wait until this cold is gone!

Luckily the weekend is almost here and I can relax and take lots of naps. I've got a really good head start on my Christmas shopping and hope to get more done this weekend. I like to be done with the majority before Thanksgiving because I just can't deal with all of the crowds afterwards.

First Flakes

Around 10am we got about 20 minutes of a full sky of snowflakes. It was beautiful against the still orange and red trees, but felt a little premature. I can tell Fall is officially here as my skin has started to completely dry out like it does every year.

Holidays are near

I just noticed that Thanksgiving is only 2 1/2 weeks away. Where does all of the time go? I was at the mall this weekend and Macy's was all decked out for Christmas already, which felt too early, but the sight of it did kickstart my holiday shopping.

Thanksgiving weekend Mike's mom is throwing us a baby shower, which should be a lot of fun, and there will be none of those silly baby shower games played. I love being up there and I always feel so lucky to have married into such an amazing family.

I'm really looking forward to Christmas this year too. It will have been a year since I've been home to Seattle and I am missing my family and friends so much lately. I can't wait for them to see my growing belly (and boy, is it growing) and just spend time reconnecting face-to-face. I've got a laundry list of people I want to visit, places I want to see, and restaurants I'm craving to eat at again. Ann Arbor seriously lacks in the good chinese food department, so I'm planning to get my fill of Black Pearl while I'm there.

Fun Stuff

We got the baby's crib together this weekend which we wanted to accomplish before Michael's 8-week surgery rotation that started yesterday which will mean he'll be home very little before Christmas. Also, Ballard has been enjoying the baby swing I picked up...as you can see.

20 Week Update

I am officially past the halfway mark (yesterday) and I can't believe how quickly the time has passed. On Monday I a doctors appointment and had my first non-study ultrasound, which was so much fun as it really focused on the baby. Our sonographer even did a little 3D time, which is amazing - as you can see. This was at the end of the ultrasound and our little boy must have been thinking while throwing his hand over his face "You have enough pictures, I want to go back to sleep now".

The pregnancy has been going really well. I'm starting to show and have moved completely into maternity pants, which are very, very comfortable. I've only gained 3 pounds but its shocking out relatively small amount added to the front of your stomach can do!

Our First Year

Yesterday Mike and I celebrated our one year wedding anniversary. We spent a good majority of the day relaxing around the house and then headed about 30 miles out of town to do a little shopping and have a nice dinner. We had a very yummy dinner at the Melting Pot which left us both very full, or so I thought.

Less than an hour after we got home Mike was already itching to break into our wedding cake that his mom had so nicely stored for us all year. We fed each other a small bite, and it was suprisingly not too bad. Mike must have thought it was even better, because before I knew it, nearly the entire thing was gone. There aren't many foods he likes more than cheese and cake, so I think this anniversary is going to be hard to top for him!

Happy anniversary baby, here's to a very exciting year ahead of us and many more to come. I love you.

Indian Summer

Its going to be 89 degrees in Ann Arbor today. Although its nice to have a long fall season, this isn't fall. It's like the worst days of summer - hot and humid. Where are the nice crisp mornings that beckon for cashmere sweaters to finally be pulled out of the closet? I'm ready for a real fall, but I'm afraid the weather is going to transition from hot to downright cold.

Unexpected greeting

After a lazy Sunday breakfast this morning Mike and I were sitting on the couch when I felt a faint tapping/flipping in my lower stomach. At first I thought nothing of it, and then it happened again. It was the baby moving! I'm so glad Mike and I were sitting right next to each other at that very moment, it was amazing!

It's a BOY!

Yum

It's finally Honeycrisp apple season again! Whereas you can find most apple varieties all year round, Honeycrisp are relatively new to the apple game and aren't produced yet in high enough numbers to get them through the late winter and spring.

If you haven't tried them, you should. They are very firm like a granny smith, and crunchy, but have a great flavor sort of remenicient of a braeburn.

I realize its silly to go on and on about an apple, but truly, they are delicious.

Dollar Theatre

I love going to the dollar theatre. Not only do you get the theatre experience, but hey, it's only a dollar! We saw I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, which was funny. It was full of great one-liners and kept us laughing.

Mike has the entire weekend off between his OBGYN and Psyc rotation which starts next week, so we are going to be running errands. We're driving around to different stores to look at cribs and nursery furniture. It feels so early to be doing it, but I guess it takes anywhere from 12-18 weeks for it to arrive, and I'd like to at least have it set up and ready a few weeks before I'm actually due. The last thing I want to worry about it having to assemble a crib with a huge belly in the way.

About the size of a peach

I've been waiting for weeks and weeks to say it, but I'm pregnant! I actually started the second trimester today and the baby is currently about the size of a peach.

Happy Birthday!

A birthday shout out to Heather who turns the big 3-0 today. She had what looked to be a very fun birthday outing at Emerland Downs this weekend. I wish I could have been there to celebrate your special day (and the cupcakes). And lucky her (and Jay, too), she heads out on her belated honeymoon in just a few short days to Ireland! Have fun!

Superbad

We went to see Superbad this weekend with some friends, and it was by far one of the funniest movies I've seen in so long. We spent the entire ride back home afterwards repeating lines from the movie. I can't wait until it comes out on DVD so I can see the deleted scenes and outakes.

Strange

The last few days I've had this huge longing for Halloween. I don't know if its because I want it to be fall, or what it is exactly. I'm craving fall leaves, pumpkin carving and wool sweaters. I'm trying to satiate it all by eating some pumpkin seeds, but thats only increasing my desire for the spooky holiday to be here!

Baby

Mike is doing his OBGYN rotation for the next 5 weeks and had to work the weekend on the OB floor at the hospital. He got to deliver about 5 babies, and one all by himself because the woman progressed so quickly. Its been fun to hear the stories when he comes home at night, but he did say that they are slimy and gross when they come out!

I'm particularily enjoying this rotation because out of 6 weeks, he only had 3 overnights, which he did all of them this past weekend. I hate when he's gone every 4th or 6th night, so this will be nice. He has psychiatry next which shouldn't include any overnights either, so I'll get spoiled before he hits his surgery rotation, and then I won't see him for weeks it will seem.

Pictures In

I finally ordered and received my wedding pictures. While I don't love 90% of them, this is one that I think is nice. Its also the one I chose for our wall portrait, but in black and white.

Random Picture

This was taken on my last trip to Fargo. A friend and I met up and went to this little town called Osakis. We drove by this house, by chance, and I thought it was adorable. A little Hansel & Gretel and a little Owl-like somehow. Thought I'd share.

In the water?

Everyone around me is pregnant...is it in the water?

Six members of the University of Michigan Survival Flight team died Monday afternoon en route back to Ann Arbor after harvesting an organ in Wisconsin. These men were some of Ann Arbor's finest, and experts in their fields. Even though I didn't know any of them personally, I've already started to hear more about them as some were friends of friends. To all their families, may their memories live on in your hearts forever, and may you someday be able to pick up the pieces and move forward.

It's clear that I'll need more hobbies

Monday was the official start of Mike's 3rd year of medical school and the beginning of his clinical rotations. He has been out of the house long before I'm out of bed (this morning it was 2 full hours before my alarm was even set to go off), and getting home in the late evening, or after I've gone to bed. By the end of today he'll have well over 40 hours worked in just 3 days, and doesn't have a day off until next Tuesday and a 30-hour overnight call day between now and then.

It's become clear in just 2 full days how truly alone I will be over the next year. I don't mean alone in the "I'm lonely" sense, more of how quiet the house is with just me in it. I have a few hobbies that I enjoy doing that I hope to put some more time into now to keep my mind off him being gone so much. I also want to try a few new things to keep everything interesting and fun. I'm not sure what those will be yet, but if you have any ideas, send them my way.

I'm looking forward to going to North Dakota over the long memorial day weekend to get a good dose of family (and shopping) in.

One Word Answers

1. Yourself: Happy
2. Your boyfriend/girlfriend? Married
3. Your hair? Brown
4. Your mother? Talkative
5. Your father? Amazing
6. Your favorite thing? Movies
7. Your dream last night? None
8. Your favorite drink? Water
9. Your dream car? Land Rover (that had to be two words)
10. The room you're in? Office
11 Your fear? Falling
12. What you want to be in 10 years? Retired
13. Muffins? Blueberry
14. Who you hung out with last night? Husband
15. What you're not? Grumpy
16. Time? Noon
17. What you're wearing? Clothes
18. Your favorite weather? Spring
19. Your favorite book? Notebook
20. The last thing you ate? Granola
21. Your worst vice? Shopping
22. Your best friend/s? Incredible
23.What you're thinking about right now? Sleeping
24. Your car? SUV
25. Your life? Normal

Not Nesting

I've been in such a cleaning frenzy lately that if I were pregnant, this would definitely be the "nesting" phase. I'm not sure what has brought it all on, whether it be the nice weather, or knowing we'll be moving in a couple of months, but either way, its good.

I have given away 10 lawn and garbage bags full of clothes, housewares and other miscellanous items to goodwill, thew away all of our dvd cases and organized the discs in an album format, took everything out of our three spare closets (for those of you short on storage space, don't be jelous, ours are full AND we have a storage unit), seperated items by type and put them in small plastic boxes.

Of course, I couldn't stop there, I had to label said boxes with a label from my handy label maker. This list continues, and I have lots more I'm wanting to accomplish this weekend. My obsession rolled over to work today because I spent the last hour and a half scrubbing my desk, throwing out non-essential items and reorganizing it.

We're Moving

The beginning of last week Mike and I signed a lease for a new place starting in the middle of July. Our current place isn't bad, its big and open, but I hate living in an apartment complex, and it was time for a change. We found a townhome that is built into a little hill on the edge of town. The hill is an important feautre because it means that we have the whole top level of the townhouse and you have to drive down and around the little hill to get to the unit downstairs, so it will be like having our own house.

The new place has 3 bedrooms and one bathroom, very large kitchen, fireplace, vaulted ceilings in every room, a huge front patio, a back deck, and a garage which neither of us has had for years. It also has a new front loading washer and dryer, which excited me to no end because our current W/D is old, rusty and hardly works. The only downside is that there is no central air conditioning (and that is a requirement for Michigan summers), but its heavily shaded because it backs up to a little forest, and a guy from my work is giving us an air conditioner. There are also numerous windows on every single wall of the house so cross ventilation is going to be a snap. Best of all, its got character, and you know how much I love that in a living space.

I can't wait to move!

Craigslist

When you're at work a few extra hours longer than scheduled and you are ready to scream, once again, Craigslist to the rescue. This is hilarious.

Random Pic

I don't think I've posted any wedding pictures yet, and since it just passed our six month anniversary I thought I would. I just got this picture from Mike's mom while we were up there for Easter, and I love it, althuogh it does make me look naked from the waist up, which I am not.

Congrats & Cupcakes

Congratulations to my wicked smart husband for finishing your 2nd year (M2) of medical school on Friday. I'm proud of you for putting another year of difficult schoolwork behind you. I'm also thankful for your ability to consume mountains of information in little or no time, because of which I am able to see you and spend time with you on a regular basis. I know a lot of your classmates struggle and spend all day, every day studying, and their spouses spend most of their time alone and I'm thankful I don't have to.

I dropped by a new shop in Ann Arbor called Cake Nouveau on Saturday to pick up some cupcakes to help celebrate the end of Mike M2 year. The shop was adorable and the cake was filled with four flavors of cupcakes, all unique and tempting. I brought them home and suprised Mike with them and later that night we anxiously cut into each one to try a piece. I have one word to describe them...disgusting. The cake flavors, although ambitious (strawberry lemonade, for example) we dense, faintly moist, but unflavorful. They were decorated very cute, but the frosting all tasted the same...like a stick of butter. Now I for one like buttercream frosting, but it literally tasted like a slick of butter, a dash of sugar and food coloring. At $2.50 a piece they should have been edible. The kicker is...the nice woman who owns the shop just won a Food Network Challenge...how? Did the judges actually taste her cake or just look at them...because they are impressive to look at. Needless to say, we ended up throwing them out, and if know my husband at all, you know that there is nothing he loves to eat more in this world than cake...and it was his suggestion to throw them in the trash.

How I LOVE a deal!

It was time for a new spring coat and after my big, fat, yearly bonus finally showed up in my bank account yesterday, I decided to venture out to look for one. After an hour and a half I found two to take home and make my final decision. After trying them on at home, one was a definite no, while the other was very neutral and spring-like. It was $49.99 at T.J. Maxx, not a lot of money, but not an incredible deal either, or at least I thought so until today. I was on Bluefly.com to see what else was out there and low and behold was the exact coat I bought yesterday only listed for $135, originally $225. So now I feel much better knowing that I saved $175 off the original price. Behold..the new spring coat:

Almost Spring

Tomorrow marks the official start of Spring, which I am more than ready for. This morning on my drive into work I saw the first robin of the season, which my grandma Jensen always said was a sure sign that spring had arrived. I remember as a little girl spending lazy Saturday afternoons at her house doing a myriad of fun things while my dad and grandpa fixed t.v.'s in the basement, one of which was peering out the back windows to see if there were any robins yet after a long winter. Seeing that robin this morning made me remember my grandma, who is never far from my thoughts, and all the fun times we spent together.

Happy (Early) Spring everyone!

Jell-O

I found new grown up flavors of Jell-O last night at target. I purchased all there: Strawberry Daquari, Pina Colada and Margharita. Yum.

Ugh

Girl Scout cookies are the devil. Why are they so good, and so addicting? And why is it that everyone buys lots of extra boxes so that there is a continual fresh supply on my desk for everyone to "share". Everyone has had more than enough for this year, its time for the cookie eating to stop. Seriously.

The testicles, they're shrinking

In a city with few female friends, and lots of time on my hands, my husband unfortunately gets to partake in traditionally girly activities. He faces these "challenges" with a smile and puts up with a lot. Below are pictures from last weekends out to go paint pottery, in which Mike hand painted his mother a rather sweet spoon rest, and me, a lightswitch for our master bathroom. You can also get a glimpse of the near Justin Timberlake hairdo Mike is sporting after his over exhuberant hair stylist got a little out of hand last week.

Our new chair ans ottoman we bought and had delivered last week. The chair style is called Julep, and the fabric, Lollypop Stripe. As the furniture store is running my credit card for our big purchase, my leans over and goes "Honestly, a Julep Chair with a Lollypop Stripe, I can feel my testicles shrinking as I speak". Ah honey, yes, but the chair is lovely...and well worth the shrinkage.

And last, but certainly not least, a picture of Ballard getting his grub on. This cat eats anything and everything he can get his hands on. Below he is devouring a pink and white marshmallow from Williams Sonoma (part of my V-day gift from Mike). Strange cat, but I guess it was tasty!

Happy 29+1

Happy birthday Marisa!! By the looks of your Ozzies pictures, your b-day celebration was a huge success. I wish I could have been there to help you celebrate! May your year ahead be filled with everything wonderful. Check your mail in the next couple of days for a fun birthday package. Enjoy your b-day, I miss you!

Time for a change...

Updates

I haven't posted anything in a really long time. I don't feel that I've been up to much at all, but I guess I have to break the non-blogging cycle and post something. Here's whats been going on in my world.

- I filed our taxes. Being married is great, not because I think it helped our taxes be any better than individually, but the return is bigger, and because we "share our money", I therefore HAVE more money...although not really since we are paying off the wedding.

- It has been freezing cold here for most of this week. After having a very warm winter so far with no snow, I'd forgotten what it feels like to be cold, but now I remember, and it doesn't feel so good.

- I'm a present-sending slacker. Heather can attest to this...she just recently got her birthday present...from September. Every night I walk into my house to see a neat stack of Christmas presents for 4 different people that I've been to cold (read above), and lazy, to send out. I'm sure these people (Jane, Jerica, Meliss & kids) understand that I don't love them any less, I'm just lazy.

- I'm sick of cooking. I make dinner every night and its a long ordeal. We have this horribly small kitchen that is poorly designed and by the end of dinner I'm frustrated and strung out. This sucks because I love to cook. So last night, Michael got his very first slacker dinner, made by me...buttered egg noodles.

- I need to get my hair colored, but like every couple of months since I've moved to A2, I'm never sure what to do with my hair. No one here colors it as good as my wonderful colorist in Seattle, and because of this, I'm never fully satisfied with how it looks. I need to make a decision because it desperately need to be colored. I know this, because my husband who has no concept or interest of female grooming schedules or anything remotely related to everyday going-ons, said to me, "you're roots are showing, it's time to get your hair done". I replied "Did you have a stroke, who are you?".

- We recently switched to Comcast digital voice for our phone service. And while this will save us $540 a year, its not very clear and there is a lot of background noise. But, we dont' use the phone that much, and if I perch just so next to the doorframe leading from the hallway to our office, the sound is clear, so I can make due I guess.

Thats all for now, I'm sure theres more to come.

Cold

Winter is finally upon us here in Michigan. The weather has been so mild up until the last few days, I've hardly even noticed it is January. The last few days its turned colder and we've finally gotten some snow to cover up our grass, although I was hoping the mild weather would last through until spring. I could do without snow this year.

On a completely unrelated note I changed my car insurance to be combined with Mike under one policy and let me just say, being married is great!! Together we will now save $800 a year on our car insurance, which is amazing. I'm not sure how being married makes you a better driver, but I don't really care, I'm just happy to have the money in my pocket.

Headed to Seattle

I'm done with work and excited to head to Seattle for Heather and Jay's wedding! I bought a new dress and I walked out of the dressing room to show Michael. I asked him if I looked like a couch (as it's covered with a very vibrant pattern), and he said no. As I walked back to the dressing room a very elderly lady said "my, what a pretty dress". So Heather, I apologize in advance if I look like either a couch or an old lady.

Happy Birthday Jane!!

Happy Birthday wishes go to my Aunt Jane. She is so special to me, and I hate that I live so far away from her. When I am stressed or confused she never fails to say the right thing to put everything into place, and always knows what I need. She helped take care of me growing up and has taught me so many things over the course of my life. I hope you have a wonderful birthday, a fantastic year ahead. I love you and hope to see you soon!

Happy New Year

Well it's a few days delayed, but Happy New Year! I had a wonderful holiday season in Seattle and it was so hard to leave. I got to visit my family and friends, relax, and enjoy being in a big city again...although the traffic was worse than I remembered.

Mike wasn't planning on coming home until the 2nd, and I arrived on the 31st right at midnight. I celebrated my new years countown on the airplane taxing into the gate...it was quite an experience. After taking a car service home I woke up at 6:30 to the phone rining. It was Michael telling me not to be startled because he was about to open the door. He had driven 6 hours through the night to be with me...what a sweetheart. And what a nice way to start off the new year!