2011.11.27. - Happy Belated Thanksgiving

It's been too long since I last posted. I was readying our house, my mind, our pantry, our fridge & our energy levels for Thanksgiving entertaining. We hosted my family & hubby's brother. Friends of ours here in Cleveland also stopped in for dessert on Thanksgiving night. They certainly added some great entertainment for Ladybug & for all of us. Lots of belly laughs & holiday cheer all around.

My birthday was the day before Thanksgiving & we took Ladybug to see her 1st movie in a theater. We took her to see newly released "The Muppets". Considering that she's 3.5 years old, it may not have been an ideal movie for her, but she behaved very well (being coerced with buttery popcorn & suckers may have helped). She loved all of the musical numbers & the big theatrics. She clapped very proudly at the end, which made us feel like we did it at the right time & picked the right movie! Within 20 minutes of us getting back to the house, our family had arrived from Virginia. We went out to one of our favorite pubs "The Brew Kettle" (also where we brewed our "Happy New Beer" Vanilla Porter last year). Everyone had a delicious meal & they were very impressed with the variety of local & craft brewed beers TBK had on tap.

It was a bit weird to go out for a birthday dinner & not have anyone sing "Happy Birthday" or have a cake...I blame all of that on Gestational Diabetes. The 3 slivers of pie on Thanksgiving more than made up for that. Hahaha! Screw you diabetes, I won that night.

For my birthday, my folks gave a very generous monetary gift to me, as did my aunt & uncle. So I put that money EXACTLY where I wanted it to go...into a brand spanking new Empire Red KitchenAid Stand Mixer!!! Check out my new home-girl "Empira". She's so hot! I can't wait to put her into high gear this week!!!

Hubby gave me a beautiful skeleton key necklace & a really cool maternity top all of which he found on Etsy (KICKASS). The top will need to be returned, as it is not truly made for a plus sized preggo like me. But the necklace fits & I haven't stopped wearing it yet.

My brother upgraded my music portfolio yet again with some really great new & older CDs. Black Keys, My Morning Jacket, Mastadon, Graveyard to name a few. YAY for new stuff to brainwash the kidlet with & new stuff for Momma's ears.

In a few short weeks, I'm taking a weekend off just for me, as a pre-baby #2 gift from my husband. He's gotten me tickets to go hang out with my friends back home sans hubby, sans kidlet (he's taking care of her for the weekend). It's just me, myself & I. I'm so stoked that it's the same weekend my bro's band is playing, too. Can't wait to go out on the town with my girls & shake my big round preggo butt!!! It's going to be great medicine to get me through the next few months of crazy snow & insanely growing belly & all these absurd hormone induced emotional days I've been having this go round.

I hope each of you had a great Thanksgiving with your family, friends &/or loved ones. I'm so thankful I got to share it with most of our family here in Cleveland.

Cheers!

2011.10.31. Staying busy!

WOW. Time seems to be truly flying by this pregnancy. We're already at 19.5 weeks. WOAH. About halfway there folks. That's bonkers. We found out this past Thursday that they are "pretty sure" it's a GIRL.

We're going with the nickname I gave the baby from the beginning "Peanut". The first time we saw the baby on an ultrasound, she was as big as a peanut...so the name stuck. Ladybug calls her "Little Sister, Baby Peanut" which is just too cute. What's funny is that Scarlett totally called it. When we asked her (a few weeks after we originally told her) what she thought Mommy was having, a little sister or a little brother...her response was immediate, "a little sister". Of course! Should have known then.

To say that this pregnancy is different from Ladybug's, is an understatement. This little peanut sits WAY DOWN LOW, she likes to kick me right in the middle of my crotch, she also likes to find the most uncomfortable positions to sit in for like 20 minutes at a time. At times, it feels like she's stretching out so much that she's moving my organs from one side to the other. It is awkward & at times painful.

Speaking of pain...I felt my first Braxton Hicks contraction yesterday while we were walking around Lowe's preparing for the Winter ahead. That was really fun. All of a sudden, I felt this sharp pain surround my entire gut & just had to stand still & breathe very deeply until it passed. That's going to be SO much fun to deal with for 20 more weeks. YIPPEE!!! I'm not bitching, I promise. This is all part of the miracle.

More parts to the miracle that some unfortunate women have to deal with...Gestational Diabetes. Yep, that's one thing that's definitely the same about both pregnancies. JOY! It's fine, though. I got tested right away it seems. Naturally, my levels were high, so they sent me to a nutritionist & a diabetes nurse educator. Best people ever!!! I didn't have these wonderful people in my life 1st time & I'm very grateful for them this time around. It's been a lot easier knowing the variety of things I can eat, as long as I watch the quantity at each meal. I'm snacking 3 times a day & eating 3 normal meals. My blood sugar levels are pretty stable for now. The doctors are all concerned with 3rd trimester & what my numbers will look like then. Last time around, that's when my morning numbers were elevated & I had to give myself a shot of insulin each night. THAT SUCKED. But we all made it through & Ladybug came out perfect. SO, we're hoping that all goes well, insulin or not, and we can deliver a happy & healthy baby girl this coming March.

Until then, I'll leave you with a very cute picture of our "Little Peanut" from this Thursday's ultrasound.