Weekend Fun

This weekend, my hubby and I had our first guest stay with us!  Justine, my friend from work, came up from Texas to see the new house!  It was her first trip to Chicago, so hubby and I had to make sure it was a good time.  After all, she was giving up a weekend with her own hubby and adorable son to spend some time in the Chicago cold!

Friday night, we decided to go out for some Chicago deep dish pizza, and the only acceptable place to go is Lou Malnati's!  After picking her up from the airport, we headed to downtown Naperville for some pizza. 

Saturday, we started off with some bagels for breakfast at Big Apple Bagels (best bagels ever!) and planned our day in the city.  We drove up and started out on Michigan Ave., on our way to see the Bean.  On the way, we ran into some lions:

Art Institute of Chicago

   We made our way down the road to the Bean:

Justine is also pregnant, so after the Bean, the two preggos needed food.  We stopped at Panera for lunch, and then headed on to our second destination, the Willis Tower SkyDeck (formerly Sears Tower).

Looking out to Soldier Field, hiding behind some buildings.

Beautiful city and lake!

Standing out on the 'Ledge'.  I chickened out.

So scary!!!

We headed to Navy Pier after the SkyDeck.  It was a great afternoon!  Since it was so cold, we didn't get to walk around as much as we would have liked, but it was still great.  Spending time with Justine is always so much fun, and I'm so glad she made the trip up to see us!  The weekend was short, but we really enjoyed her visit, and having company.  Hubby and I are looking forward to doing it again sometime!!

18 Weeks

Baby T is 5 1/2 inches long and weighs 7 ounces, and is about the size of a sweet potato!

How far along? 18w, 1d
Total weight gain: +1
Maternity clothes? Leggings.  Working from home is great!
Stretch marks? None so far. 

Sleep: Sleeping pretty good.
Best moment this week: Seeing my other preggo friend, Justine!  We had a great weekend together!
Miss Anything? Sleeping through the night.  Sandwiches.  Booze (I know I will really miss that when the holidays roll around).  Fitting into my clothes.
Movement: Little flutters every few days!
Food cravings: Spaghetti and meat sauce.  Gingerbread cookies.  Last week, I had a very strong, quick craving for a hotdog, but there is no way I will eat one of those.
Anything making you queasy or sick: Meat

Have you started to show yet? Yes

Gender prediction: Mark is convinced it's a girl, so naturally, I think it's a boy.
Symptoms: Back aches.  Last Saturday I threw up for the first time, but I'm pretty sure it was because I got too hungry.

Belly Button in or out? In
Wedding rings on or off? On
Happy or Moody most of the time: Very happy.
Looking forward to: Feeling Baby T move on the outside so hubby can feel it too.  Our next ultrasound (only 15 days)!  Thanksgiving and Christmas!!

Hormones

Wow... what a weekend.  I can honestly say it was a roller coaster!  At this point, I would say that I've been pretty lucky as far as symptoms go.  I didn't really have a lot of morning sickness, just nausea, and got off pretty easy in the craving department.  I think I've been pretty close to my normal self, and Mark actually agrees!

Until this weekend.  I don't know what happened.  It started on Friday night.  I'm sure it's hormones, but I feel like hubby just doesn't listen to me when I talk to him.  And when I tell him important details about our weekend plans, and he doesn't listen and schedules something else, I get mad.  Even when I'm not a hormonal, crazy pregnant woman, it irritates me because it makes me feel like what I have to say is not important enough for him to pay attention to.  And since I AM a hormonal, crazy pregnant woman, it was 1,000 times worse!  Not a great way to start the weekend, huh?

I was really looking forward to Saturday, because we had a really nice day planned, and the weather seemed to be cooperating.  We were heading down to Dollinger's Pumpkin Farm in Channahon for Civil War Days.  We needed to pick out a pumpkin for Baby T.  I was excited because I love Dollinger's.  We also had scheduled some outdoor family pics with all my siblings for our mom's birthday.  I was about to make my breakfast, when the feeling that I was going to be sick hit me out of nowhere.  I literally had to run to the bathroom.  I hadn't eaten anything, just had a glass of water and my prenatal pill, but it still is no fun to be sick.  After going 17 weeks without getting sick once, I'm really hoping that it was a fluke, and not the start of a new trend!

Our fall decorations.  Three little pumpkins, and one for Dash!

We've also been working a lot on the house lately, trying to get furniture bought and little things accomplished so when it's time for Baby T to arrive, there isn't anything to do.  So we went shopping this weekend, but didn't find much.  Sunday, we spent hanging things around the house, photos, decorations, etc.  Mark tried to install the closet doors in the nursery, but they were too short and too wide.  Ugh!  We had measured and everything, but apparently our house just isn't normal.

Needless to say, I was pretty stressed this weekend.  I bought some baby books last week, and they arrived on Saturday.  I read Belly Laughs by Jenny McCarthy, and started reading Baby Proofing Your Marriage.  I've been feeling a little overwhelmed, and let me tell you, these books did not help.  Sunday, hubby and I were laying around talking and laughing, and all of a sudden I just started crying.  He thought I was just laughing, and when he finally realized I was crying, he asked what was wrong... in between sobs, I told him "I don't know!!"  I'm sure he thought I was crazy.  
 
It didn't get much better on Sunday night.  We were talking about putting shelves in the basement, and I got mad because, again, I felt like he wasn't listening to me.  All of a sudden I was crying; not just crying, I was hysterical.  I kept talking about how overwhelmed I was, and how it was only gonna get worse after the baby.  Our marriage was going to fall apart and we were gonna have a dirty house, and I don't like dirty houses.  Yes, that's what I was most concerned about in that moment: having a dirty house.  I think hubby deserves a medal for: A. not laughing at me and making it worse, and B. not running screaming from the house.  Instead, he stayed and comforted me, and tried to make me feel a lot less crazy.   I think we're both hoping that Crazy Pregnant Woman doesn't make a re-appearance anytime soon.  I know that it's (mostly) hormones, but I hate the feeling of having no control over my emotions.  

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend, and has a great week ahead of them!  

Here's a little cutie to get you through your Monday!

    

17 Weeks

17 Weeks and baby is the size of my palm and 5 inches long!

How far along? 17 weeks
Total weight gain: down 1 lb from my last appointment, so I guess down 2 total
Maternity clothes? just leggings so far.  I haven't caved and bought maternity jeans yet.  I'm trying to hold off until 20 weeks.
Stretch marks? none so far. I've been using Palmer's, but I also bought some Mama Bee Belly Butter I'm going to try when the Palmer's is gone.
Sleep: sleeping pretty good.
Best moment this week: hearing Baby T's heartbeat!
Miss Anything? sushi! and sleeping through the night.
Movement: I swear I felt something last weekend, and again last night.  The first time, it felt like popcorn popping, and yesterday, a little jab, followed by what I'm guessing was some tumbling.
Food cravings: peppermint hot chocolate and pickles.  Not together though!
Anything making you queasy or sick: meat.
Have you started to show yet? Yeah, I would say so.  Still, I'm not sure a stranger would guess it's a baby belly though.
Gender prediction:   One day I think it's a girl, the next I think it's a boy.
Symptoms: Nothing too bad lately.  My headaches have started to get better, so that's been great!

Belly Button in or out? in
Wedding rings on or off? on
Happy or Moody most of the time: Very happy.
Looking forward to: Feeling more and more movement from Baby T.  Picking out paint and painting next month.  Hubby's 30th birthday and the Bear's game.  Plus... THE HOLIDAYS!  I love Thanksgiving and Christmas!

Traditions

I've been thinking a lot lately about what kind of traditions I want to start with Baby T.  I had a pretty great childhood, and I want to make sure Baby T's is just as awesome, and see if we can make it even more awesome!

When I was younger, probably middle school, my aunt took me and my cousins blueberry picking, which was so much fun.  At the farm we went to, you get a bucket, and are driven out to the bushes and set free.  You can pick as many as your bucket can hold and are free to eat as many as you want too.  I loved it.  Mark and I went last summer, and he had a blast.  We didn't get to go this year, since the early warm weather and then frost killed most of the buds.  It was a pretty bad season for them I guess.  This is definitely something that I want to continue with our kids.

Every summer growing up, my parents tried to take us to the water park (Magic Waters) and to the amusement park (Six Flags Great America).  We'd pack a bunch of sandwiches and food and have picnic lunches at the tables in the water park or at the car at Six Flags.  At the water park, we'd get to run around to all the rides, and meet back at the tables whenever we were hungry.  At Six Flags, we always stuck together, but it was fun anyway!  I think once our kids are a little older, I'd like to take them to Fright Fest too, which is something hubby and I did for the first time last year.

Last year, my hubby and I found a great pick-your-own-apple farm out in Maple Park.  We love apples, and I love homemade applesauce, so we went and had tons of fun.  You get a ride out to the trees, and a bag for your apples.  We went again this year, and I know we'll be back next year and for many years to come!

Every fall, my parents took me and my brother and sisters to the pumpkin farm in Channahon.  It's grown a lot over the years, but when we were kids, they had a petting zoo, a hay ride, and a corn maze.  It was always so much fun to go and pick out our pumpkins, and then carve them all together.  We've tried to keep this tradition alive, despite living a little farther away.

 Another new tradition we started last year that I will definitely continue with Baby T is picking out and cutting down our own Christmas tree.  I had never done that before, and I was giddy with excitement.  I'm hoping that it's snowy this year when we go... perfect weather for picking out a tree, right?

What kind of traditions does your family have? 

Nursery Ideas & Other Thoughts

It's still pretty early for us to really do anything with the nursery, but I just can't wait!  I have so many ideas bouncing around in my head, I thought it might be a good idea to put some of them in writing, so I don't forget, which is becoming a pretty common thing for me.

Since we aren't finding out the gender, we are kind of limited as far as what we can do.  I know I want something very natural and calm, nothing super bright or busy.  I don't want to force anything on the little bug either, like decorate in all pink and ruffles, and have a girl that hates all that.  Right now, my thoughts are to do cream walls with a sage green accent wall.  We are going with the very predictable Winnie the Pooh theme, but not the regular version, the Classic version from the 30s.  Here's the bedding we have picked out:

Since the blanket trim is brown, we picked out some dark brown furniture, which I think will look nice against the lighter walls.  I would like to get the painting done pretty soon, and also paint the guest room at the same time, so they're done.  Hopefully by the end of November we'll have both rooms painted, since December will be so busy!  

Speaking of December... I'm so excited for the holiday season, I can hardly stand it!  It's really exciting this year, since it's our first year in our own home.  I'm looking forward to decorating the outside and the inside to the max!  Christmas is my favorite holiday... I always like to start listening to music early, though I try to hold out on decorating, at least until after Thanksgiving.

Last year, hubby and I went to a tree farm and picked out and cut down our own tree.  It was so much fun!  It was the first time I've ever done that, and I'm so excited to continue the tradition this year.  Last year, our tree was on the small side, but this year I'm hoping to get at least a 7 - 7 1/2 foot one.  Plus we have a fake tree to put up too! :)  

2011 Christmas tree

Now that we have a nice fireplace and hearth, I'm looking for some ideas to decorate that too!  I think I found exactly what I'm looking for at Target too.  

We had our 16-17 week checkup last night.  It was great; we got to hear Baby T's heartbeat, which I love.  I wish I could hear it everyday!  The heart rate was in the 150s, which was good.  Hubby had to have some blood work done too, but more on that in a later post.  

Well I hope you all have been having a great week.  I know I have!  I'm off tonight to get my hair done.  Looking forward to the weekend!  I'm hoping to get a lot done around the house, because we're having a visitor next weekend!!  I want our house to look it's best for her.  

Have a great night!

Projects

This weekend was a busy one in the Tucci household!  I have a ton of things that I want to accomplish around the house before the baby arrives.  I've definitely put hubby to work this month so far!  

Our three bedroom house is perfect for us... but we just didn't really think much about how it would work out for us once we had a baby.  Our little surprise has forced us to come up with some creative things in order to set up a nursery, keep our guest room, and still give me a functional office.  We assumed we would eventually finish our basement, but with the baby coming in 6 (only six?!) short months, we have to adapt quickly and put that on the back burner.  

The seller had completely flipped the house before we bought it, and unfortunately, he used flat paint throughout the entire house.  We painted the bathroom the first week we lived here, and hope to have the rest of the house painted by the time Baby T is one.  Last weekend, we painted our master bedroom. Here's a before:

Master bedroom on closing day.

 We still have some things to do in the bedroom, but here's an after shot:

Can you spot the Dash?

The green is really bright in this pic, but it's not that bright normally.  Once we're finished, I'll post some more.  You can't really tell, but the other walls are a creamy white.

So this weekend, I put hubby to work moving my office into what was our dining room, now the den, and moving the dining room into the room off the kitchen.  We hadn't really done anything with it anyway, so it was perfect.  He had to change the light fixtures, and put in a cable outlet in the den.  In the process, we discovered that what we thought was a small mouse problem was much bigger than we would have liked.  He ended up having to tear out drywall in the garage and put a new sheet in so we can hopefully eliminate the mice.  Here are before pics:

Former dining room

I guess you could call this the former sitting room.

And here are the after pics:

Nice little den off the entry way

Much larger dining room for a bigger table!

We still need some furniture for the den.  I'm thinking two slipper chairs, and a little side table.  And our new, larger dining room table will be delivered on 11/3!  I can't wait!  Since we finally have a house, I'm looking forward to hosting holidays, and to do that, we needed a larger table than our little 4-top.  So we sprung for a pub table that can seat 8!  We only bought 6 chairs though, and I'm looking for some saddle stools for the breakfast bar area in the kitchen that we can use if we need to seat 8.

Next weekend, hubby is putting in new closet doors in the nursery.  We have a busy week ahead: 15-17 week appointment (so excited!!), a hair appointment, and we're meeting hubby's sister on Friday.  Saturday, we're going to the pumpkin farm!! :) 

I hope everyone had a great weekend!!  I know I did!

16 Weeks

16 Weeks today... photo for Baby T's baby bump pic on Facebook.

How far along? 16 weeks
Total weight gain: up 1.5 lbs
Maternity clothes? I just bought my first pair of maternity leggings, but they haven't arrived yet!
Stretch marks? none so far.
Sleep: sleeping pretty good, though having to get up to pee is getting old. It's a good night if I make it through without having to get up.
Best moment this week: not really sure... still haven't felt any movements, and haven't had any ultrasounds lately either.
Miss Anything? sometimes I miss my wine, but it's not too bad.
Movement : none yet. :( hopefully soon though!
Food cravings: blueberry muffins!
Anything making you queasy or sick: chicken, pork chops, eggs...
Have you started to show yet? There's a tiny bump there... but nothing that would make a stranger notice, other than to think I had an extra large lunch.
Gender prediction:  I don't really know what I think it is... I go back and forth a lot!  But, we aren't planning to find out, so we won't know till Baby T makes his or her debut!
Symptoms: overall, not too many! Just the occasional headache, and this week started some back pain. It hasn't gone away at all, so I'm hoping it's not here to stay.
Belly Button in or out? in
Wedding rings on or off? on
Happy or Moody most of the time: ugh... I've been pretty happy, but this week threw some curve balls at me.
Looking forward to: our next appointment on Wednesday Also, getting the nursery ready. We're slowly starting to get other projects done around the house so we're ready for the nursery! I think we might start it by the end of the year, early January.

Weeks 5 - 15

So... we're having a baby.  I know for me, it didn't really sink in until we had our first appointment.  We had to wait until I was just over 9 weeks along to see the OB for the first time.  Hubby didn't want to tell anyone until we were past 12 weeks, just to be safe, and although I knew it would be hard, I agreed.  I'm kind of a lush, so it was super hard to act normal.  We had a few parties between the first test and when we would tell everyone, so I thought for sure everyone knew I was pregnant!  I think the hardest part was not telling my mom right away.  

I had a work trip scheduled for the middle of August, the week before our first appointment, and I knew the best thing for me would be to tell my boss while I was in the office.  Since I work from home, I go in about once every three months.  By the time my next visit rolled around, I would probably be 5 or 6 months along, and I knew I couldn't wait until then to tell her.  Of course, I wanted to tell my mom first, so the day before my trip, she came over for lunch and we gave her a present: a baby picture frame and a onesie outfit that said "Going to Grandma's".  She was surprised, but very happy!  

My work trip was the longest week of my life!  I was so excited to go to our first appointment, I couldn't wait to see our little bug and make sure everything was OK!  We had our appointment on 8/27 and I wasn't sure if they would do an ultrasound or if they would just listen for the heartbeat.  I was really hoping for an ultrasound!  After getting the third degree from our nurse about our family histories, it was time for Baby T's closeup!

Little Baby T's first picture!

At first, she couldn't get a good picture because, surprise surprise, I had to pee!  After a quick trip to the ladies room, we were good to go.  We heard the heartbeat for the first time, and I cried, I was so happy.  Then came the picture, our little blob!  It was so hard to make anything out, but I was so happy, I didn't care!  Plus, we were thrilled to find out there was only one bug in there!

Our next appointment wasn't until September 18th, at 12 weeks.  Since we had decided to wait until we were 12 weeks to tell, we started talking about different ways to tell our families.  We had so many different ideas, but eventually settled on an idea.  We wanted to have everyone over for lunch or dinner, and then take a picture.  Hubby would take the picture, and instead of "Say cheese!" he would say "Everyone say Jessica's pregnant!"  I thought it would be cute to get everyone's reactions to the news!

Our appointment went great!  We had our 2nd ultrasound, and got to see Baby T moving around and hear the heartbeat again.

Profile of Baby T

Since our families are usually pretty busy in the fall, we ended up having to meet each of them separately for ice cream.  When we told them all, my sister claimed she knew it, and so did my FIL.  I guess hindsight is 20/20!  We showed them all the pictures, and everyone was so excited!  It's the first grandchild in my family, so I know my mom and dad are thrilled!

When it came time to let the rest of the world know, I knew exactly how I wanted to tell everyone.  I am addicted to Pinterest, and I found the funniest announcement I've ever seen.  Mark loved it too, so I was convinced!  The only thing that worried me was I thought some people wouldn't think it was funny... but I don't really care what others think, so we went for it.  The morning after we told hubby's family, I posted this:

 It was a hit!  Plus, it's actually how we both felt once we realized my eggo was preggo.  

Now let's talk how I've felt the since we found out.  I actually had no idea I was pregnant, until I peed on the stick.  Aunt Flo wasn't late; she was actually due to arrive the day I took my at home test.  I had been feeling kind of crampy and irritable, so I thought for sure she was coming that weekend.  The one thing that threw me off, and looking back, I should have known, was that I constantly had to pee.  Now, I normally pee a lot, because I drink a LOT of coffee and I also drink a lot of water.  But this was different.  I would have to pee after I had just peed, not more than 15 minutes later!  Another thing looking back was that I wasn't that interested in coffee.  At the time, I chalked it up to the fact that our BUNN was out for service, and I was using the Keurig, which is nice, but it's no BUNN.  After I took the test, I started to realize how exhausted I was all the time.  I would go to bed at 8:30 or 9 at night, which is so unusual for me!  I'm a night owl!  Other than that, I was feeling fine.  

Eventually though, I started to have a little mild morning sickness.  I didn't throw up at all, but was so sick to my stomach, and didn't really feel like eating at all.  For one week, the only thing that was appetizing was Lucky Charms.  Then, one day, it was disgusting.  The same with eggs, coffee, chicken, pork chops... pretty much everything.  I could eat something one day and it was the most delicious thing ever, and the next?  No way.  Then came the headaches.  Ugh they stuck around for a while!  Luckily they've been much better lately!  All in all, I would say I had a great first trimester!  

12 weeks

14 weeks

Two Pink Lines

So... I think I should start out with a story.  We'll start with how I ended up knocked up.  

My hubby and I had been married about 10 months when we started talking about buying a house.  It was a big deal for both of us, since we've been serial renters since we moved in together.  I think we've lived in 5 different places in 5 years!  Anyway, I never thought that we'd be able to save up enough money to buy a house the traditional way... 20% down payment and all that jazz.  We thought it would be at least a few more years until we had enough saved.

Around our 1st anniversary, we started seriously discussing ways we could buy a house.  I had started to get baby fever, and raising a baby in an apartment just wasn't an option for us.  We did our research and figured out that since my hubby is a former Marine, we could take advantage of the amazing VA loan option.  This gave us the ability to buy our first home with no money down, no PMI and at a very low interest rate!  We were thrilled!  We started the house hunt in January 2012, and by the end of March had found our dream home.  Just one problem... our lease wasn't up until August 31st!  

Lucky for us the seller was pretty flexible and was willing to give us a credit for two months of our rent.  We were scheduled to close on May 15th... until we had some issues with the lender.  We ended up changing lenders, and closed on our first home on June 15th, 2012.

Welcome Home!

During our house hunting, we kept talking about kids, and knew that once we had a house, we would be in a position to start our family.  About three weeks before we closed, hubby turned to me and said "Ok.  You can pull the goalie when we close."  We weren't gonna try, but we weren't going to try not to anymore either and just see what happened. 

Fast forward to July 26th... we were having a blast in our new house, fixing what little needed to be fixed up, just enjoying being homeowners.  I had a doctor appointment to get some results on my thyroid ultrasound, and since they had found a nodule, she needed to order a CT scan.  Since you can't have one if you're preggo, and I wasn't sure, they did a blood test.  The next day, I still hadn't gotten the results, so I called.  They didn't have them either.  We were eating dinner, watching the Olympics opening ceremony, and I just thought, "What the hell... I'll take a test."  I couldn't go the entire weekend not knowing.  Without telling hubby, I got up and peed on the stick.  After three minutes (it seemed like probably 45 seconds), I saw those two pink lines... we officially had a bun in the oven!  Mark freaked out, as did I, and he ran out to get more tests, just to be sure. 

It's official!  Pregnant!

 Four positive tests later... that's how I ended up knocked up!  Although it's so scary to think that we're going to be parents in a few short months, it's also exciting too.  There's no one else I would rather start a family with.  He's gonna be a great daddy, and I can't wait to be a momma!