As requested...

I've had a few requests to put up "belly shots" and I have to admit, I hadn't taken any specific ones until the other night. So I thought I'd put this up now since I'm not sure how much blogging is going to happen while I'm in VA (we leave tomorrow!!!)

So here you go:

Feb. 18, 2009: 18 weeks

It was only fitting...

...that D and I should have a memorable Anniversary.

The day, itself was pretty normal and nothing out of the ordinary happened. D went off to work, I slept in, then went over to my neighbor's to visit for a bit, came home and ate lunch and then settled into my project of making D a super awesome Anniversary card. (He is not a fan of commercial cards, he'd rather make one or buy a blank one and write his own sentiments. After the sweet card I received on Valentine's Day, I decided to put a little more creativity into his Anniversary card.)

It took me 2.5 hours and I was almost finished when he got home. This made me a little sad since I had to ruin the total surprise so he wouldn't try to enter the room I was working in. But it was still worth it when I gave him the card and he was impressed with how much effort I put in to it. :-)

Now I thought we had decided on Sushi for dinner. I was wrong. He wanted Mexican food. Neither of us wanted to spend a lot of money. Fine. So we try to call up our favorite Mexican place (since we tried to go there on V-day and they were randomly closed) found the number had been disconnected. I search online and discover they have been shut down: because of health code violations. We're both saddned and a little grossed out.

I hand the task of finding a restaurant over to D and go get ready. He finds this restaurant called Savory down in Encinitas. Neither sushi or Mexican, so totally fair. Great, we head out. We couldn't find it at first but decide that we'll try a place called Firefly that we passed if we can't find Savory, since it looked like a nice, well populated establishment. Turns out Savory is in the same shopping center. So we go to Savory since that was the "original" plan.

Savory: casual dining and fare (that's what their sign says.)

Savory: expensive, small portions and .... AWFUL!!

D had some mac-n-cheese dish that had no taste. They somehow managed to screw up one of the easiest dishes ever. You couldn't even taste the pasta!! I had duck leg with some sausage and lentils...D said, "Fast food, Chineese duck tastes better than this duck!"

We had a good laugh, because honestly, what else could you do? Say you don't like your meal and have to deal with the manager and possibly chef coming out to see what they can do to make your meal better? There wasn't anything else on the menu that we could translate (I believe it was all in French) and/or that we wanted. So instead I lied and said everything was "good" when the waitress asked.

We leave and immediately start laughing at the bust that our Anniversary dinner was. D mentions what we can pick up for dessert. I ask if we can stop by In-And-Out so I can get a burger and fries. Having tasted the duck, he agrees that I'm probably pretty hungry. He got some fried ice cream flavored ice cream from the store for himself. We were both pretty tired from the day, so much so that this is what our 3 Year Anniversary picture will forever be:

:-)

Next time, we'll try Firefly. Their sign said "Grill and wine bar" - that can't ever be bad, right?

Oh the food!

I can't seem to crave healthy things...I wonder if, in the history of woman, has any pregnant woman ever craved something that was actually healthy for her body??

First it was these:

Last night it was this:

D refused to take me to KFC or Popeyes or let me fry the "healthy" skinless, boneless chicken breasts I had in the fridge. So I made a healthy meal of baked chicken and lots of veggies. And I was bitter. I wanted fried chicken.

D then wondered what was in the house that could be dessert. We don't really have many snacky things (for good reason) but I suddenly got the urge to make some good ol' Jello brand pudding and some regular Rasberry flavored Jello. This was fine, however neither would be ready for at least an hour or for the Jello, overnight. D suggested going to Chili's to get dessert. I suddenly found my way out of the pajamas I'd been in ALL day.

We arrive at Chili's and grab a table in the bar area (you get served quicker there, if you didn't know). Waiter arrives and I order water and their new Chocolate chip version of this:

But I can't stop looking at these:

So I sweetly suggest to D that we share the Lava Cake (yes, I was going to eat it all by myself) and get some Burger Bites as well. PLEEAASSEE!!! I got the look of complete disbelief but the okay to order them. Our waiter returns and after a little confusion on the order in which to bring the Burger Bites and Lava Cake, he goes to put in our food order.

This would have been the end of it, but no. The Burger Bites came and I ate one and then realized if I ate my second I would be a little more full than I wanted to be to enjoy my portion of the Lava Cake to the fullest. So I again, sweetly, look at D and offer him a third Burger Bite. Again the look of disbelief. I explain my dilema and stress how delicious that one Burger Bite was...he's going to be a great parent because I got the age old "Take one bite of the your second one and then I'll eat it." So I did and the Lava Cake came and I was in heaven. 0:-)

Now I could end my junk food confessional here but I think I should finish off with today...

After enjoying a bowl of Jello vanilla pudding for breakfast and thinking that nothing tasted better for breakfast, my friend and neighbor called me to see if I'd like a fresh blueberry muffin. How could I turn her down? Then I scooted over to another friend's house to watch her little girl for a bit.

While babysitting I decided that I wanted steak for dinner. Steak and potatoes. Not so bad. We needed the steak so I head off to the grocery store and on the way I knew I'd be passing Popeyes. I promised myself I'd fight all temptation and not stop. I did well on the way to the grocery store. I ended up spending a lot more than I planned but I was hungry and that's what happens. On the way home from the grocery store I started to get very, very hungry and what I wanted was that fried chicken I didn't get last night. With no one to stop me, I drove into the drive thru and ordered. I couldn't even wait to get home. Literally. The smell was too much and I dug right in. I stopped long enough to drive through the gate so the guards didn't think I was a complete pig (I'm sure they've seen worse) but made it 6 ft and I was eating up fries and the biscuit. It was delicious, I don't care what anyone else thinks.

My plan was to destroy the evidence and the trash aided in the fact that it was full and needed to go out anyway. I, however, continued drinking my Sprite knowing I had a couple more hours before D came home. I forgot about that Sprite in the clearly labeled Popeyes cup when I decided to be social with my neighbors and D came home before I was back home. It took less than a minute of being in the house together for him to say something about me getting my fried chicken after all.

He just doesn't understand.

It's a ...

Ok so I know it's hard to tell and it took the technician a few minutes to get D and I to see what she wanted us to see... even looking at the images now and the video we got of our whole session we're still straining our eyes to see the little "p"! But she was 90% sure and there were a couple images throughout the whole session that were pretty telling enough to convince D and I that we are in fact having a BOY!!

I think this was one of the most convincing ones for me because I see the umbilical cord and then this little thing in between his legs...

I loved this image because he just looks so comfy trying to curl up. I have to admit I ate a fair amount of chocolate before going and the technician was really poking my belly to get him to cooperate and move into a position that allowed us to see between his legs - the "money shot" as she called it. I felt mildly guilty that I was probably disturbing sleep time for him and maybe all the kicking we saw was from an annoyed little guy! (Which would be pretty on par with being the mixture of D and I and how we both react when our precious sleep is disturbed!!)

It truly was one of the most amazing experiences and worth every penny. I discovered that all the little feelings I've been having are in fact baby movements since during the session he was kicking like crazy and I could feel little flutters that matched what we were seeing on the screen. At one point D even turned and said "Can't you feel all that??" And it felt wonderful to be able to say - "I can!"

I know we have another 3D ultrasound planned for a couple weeks while we're back in VA and by then Baby T will look less skeletal so it'll be more fun to share with family and friends; but I'm really glad that D and I were able to find out the sex and have this moment to ourselves.

We were getting into the car leaving Wal-Mart after stopping on the way home to pick something up and he looked at me and said "I don't think I've ever loved you more than I do right now...gees I'm getting teary!" and then he laughed at himself.

:-) I can't think of a day that I was ever happier than I am tonight.

I almost forgot...I got a blog award! :-)

While I was out of town, my good friend Megan over at Magnolias and Mimosas surprised me with my first blog award: the "Friendship Award!" Getting this award means the following:

"These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find friends and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships will be propagated. Please give more attention to these writers."

Deliver this award to four bloggers who must choose four more and include this cleverly- written text into the body of their award.

I'm sending this award to the following:

Back to Megan because she's been such a good friend and has been encouraging me to get a blog for a while now! And D thinks she's a pretty awesome friend as well...she did introduce us!

Steph because she's become such a good friend out here in California and was the first person to show excitement about Baby T (not to mention now she gets to share the knowledge she's gained over the last 4 1/2 months!)

Team Holt because we will always have a connection because they refer to themselves as a Team just like we do (okay, they did it before us since they've been married longer but we didn't steal it from them, I promise!) and their son is super cute!

Yvonne LeBrun because I love, love, love her photography! And she's a pretty cool person too! I can't wait to set up a session for D, me and my belly!

I gained another pound! (And other exciting happenings...)

So I weighed myself today before getting into the shower and discovered that I've gained another pound. Before you get it in your head that I've been obsessing about getting bigger, I haven't. I've actually been surprised that I've only teeter-tottered between the same 3lbs from my weight at the point of discovering I was pregnant. I guess I always expected that you immediately started gaining weight right from the beginnng. I haven't, and I won't complain. (But I will continue to eat pretty much what I want, when I want because I haven't been able to do that in a really long time! :-)

Now on to the more exciting happenings of the last few weeks:

As you all know from my last post, I was in Virginia visiting D's family and getting ready for C&G's wedding. C and I took a break from wedding stuff to go meet their new family addition, Maggie...
Big surprise, D received a text after this visit asking if I could bring a Dalmation puppy home with us...response = "No." It was a joke, honest! Aside from getting kicked out of base housing, I think I'll have my hands full with Luna, Boo and a new baby.

Then G invited me to come visit his firehouse and I got to have fun (like a kindergartner!) with some fireperson equipment:

After a busy week running errands and getting the small details taken care of, C and her wedding party had a much needed spa day at Elizabeth Arden the day before the wedding. Because I'm preggers they wouldn't give me the leg massage that came with my pedicure package but instead gave me a complimentary parafam treatment...I think it's some kind of hot wax type thing. Whatever it is, it felt wonderful and I could have easily fallen asleep during my manicure and pedicure.

Another big surprise, I got emotional during C & G's thanks you at the rehearsal dinner. And as you can see D made it just in time for the big day! :-) Thank goodness for red-eye flights!

Wedding day!! Off to Elizabeth Arden again for hair and make-up....this is the before picture...

And the after! There were no hiccups with the day, everything went according to plan (from what I remember!) and everyone looked beautiful! It was frigid outside but I'm pretty sure our excitement kept us just warm enough during the brief outside periods. The ceremony was lovely, I don't think anyone will ever forget the organist who was oblivious to her surroundings and played the wedding march at least 3 times (would have been great except the aisle wasn't a mile long!)

Despite a few directional issues between the church and the reception and the reception and back to Springfield, the day itself was as perfect as could be for G & C and we were so happy to be a part of their very special day!

We left Virginia the next evening and got super lucky that G&C were seated in the row directly behind us for the first flight! That was great considering the second flight I think G, C and I all slept and D stayed awake since his "awesome first row seating" was actually not that awesome in that the arm rests didn't come up. He was happy with the extra leg room though.

Before they took off for their Temecula vineyard/resort getaway, D took them to the squadron and showed them around a couple CH-46s:

We took a day trip to Sea World sans D who had to work, but still had a blast in an almost empty park. Note: best time to go to Sea World and not deal with crowds? January during the week.

Kids' meals and Beer...what do you mean that doesn't go together?? C and I were nice enough to help G out and get him 4 more free beer samples than the two he was allowed. We also went to the Beer Tasting after this where G score even more free beer (albeit 4ounces at a time) since C doesn't drink any and I obviously could do little more than sip politely as the person bringing us the beer commented on what each sample was. G was a very happy camper for the rest of our time at Sea World!

Icy, icy cold water!! Sadly there was a family across the pond lifting the star fish out of the water :-( which we were specifically told not to do.

C and I getting ready for the Shark Encounter...gotta love the Jaws-like music throughout the exhibit!

Let's see, next came the 80's themed squadron hosted party. I was supposed to be decked out in a flight suit styled for the 80's but with being out of town and not getting the flight suit at the begining of the week, C and I did our own thing:

A day to the outlets for C and I produced quite a shocking picture for G...


He gave us exactly the reaction we were hoping for! :-) Just a little view into the future, that's all! Thank you Motherhood Maternity for the fun little pregnancy pillow you offer in every dressing room.

D needed to go talk to a guy downtown San Diego about a tall ship as a possible location for a squadron event...we got to tag along and check out the tall ships!

Overal it was so much fun having them come visit after the wedding and getting to spend some time with them without all the demands of being at Place A at such and such time. :-) We're excited about our upcoming trip back to VA next month for a longer stay than this time around. It's been a busy few weeks and I think after a day and a half of almost pure resting, my body is finally recovering. (Though, I'm sure I'm not feeling half as bad as C and G who had to be at work today after traveling all day! Ouch!)

On a completely side note from our adventures the last few weeks: it's always interesting to be at or a part of a wedding ever since getting married. I always take a few minutes to look at and reflect on my marriage and relationship with D. We're not perfect, but no one is. We both make mistakes on occassion, but these last few months especially, after discovering I was pregnant, I've learned that despite all his flaws, he's always there when I need him. Whether it's standing outside the bathroom with a glass of water waiting for me to finish vomitting, patting my back for an hour before bed while I belch uncontrolably (that was quite the romantic night, let me tell ya!) or just knowing when to take the baby book away from me when I've read too much for my own peace of mind. I can't imagine spending my life or starting a family with anyone else. We won't be perfect parents, and we're both (okay, maybe more him) have a lot of growing up to do in the process, but we'll get through it all - together.

Whew! Ok so this was a long post...I thank anyone who actually took the time to read it all!

Sleepy in Virginia

Ok so I'm not so great at the posting on a regular basis...I'll work on it.

I'm in Virginia visiting D's family and getting ready for our close friends G&C's wedding. D's best man, I'm maid of honor and I'm so incredibly excited the wedding is finally here!!! The second half of this week will be full of tons of errands run with C and finally getting to really fill my MOH duties...but this leads me to the title of the post...

I'm so sleepy! My internal clock won't adjust to East Coast time so I'm sleepy at "normal" times, however, my body thinks it's just nap time and therefore I wake up 3 hours after falling asleep and I'm wide awake. Then I'll get tired again at oh 2 a.m. when my body thinks it's 11 p.m. which leads to the "wake up and start my day" at 10 a.m. Eastern time and I'm ready to go by noon....blech!! Half the day is over!!

Today's nap, that I was going to try and avoid but simply couldn't, was timed earlier so maybe tonight I'll get more "normal" sleep. Otherwise I'm going to be the one person of the wedding party begging someone to find a cot so I can just get 30 minutes of sleep to make it through the reception! :-(

There is the other alternative...forgo the no caffiene rule for 24 hours and make the most of it. Of course that could lead to twice the number of bathroom runs.

What did C tell me after I went through the list of fabulous body changes going on - "It's a magical time, Jess, magical!"