Happy Christmas, Kiddies!

Hey Everyone,

Wishing y'all a happy Christmas. We hope that Santa was good to everyone (and if not, that should teach you to be a better person throughout the year, shouldn't it?). Christmas this year was fairly quiet considering that next year will be a little different. We decided to go green this year, so I bought a little tree in a pot to plant in the yard after the holidays. It was a little lopsided so I had to buy it. I named her Clarissa. She's got character.

We're looking forward to 2009 and hopefully all the good things it will bring. There are three babies on the way in the family: myself, Julie, and Ellen (my sister-in-law who is due in May with her first baby boy). Although it is entirely possible that Julie goes early and has her boy in before 2008 is over.

Winter has officially gripped San Diego and it has been coooooooold out here. Now I know that our version of cold and your version of cold are two separate things but the way I look at it is that ANY version of cold is not good. I say this with a hot water bottle snuggled in my lap.

We've all been good over here although the sleeping issues have finally seemed to have caught up to me. I'm still taking the Unisom but I think my body is adjusting to it because it's taking me forever to get to sleep. This has caused some exhaustion during the day, but I'm glad I've managed to stave off the lack-of-sleep thing for so long. I don't know if I can take a higher dosage of Unisom, so I'll have to ask my doctor on my next visit. Other than that, things have been going fairly well over here. In fact, it's been a little boring but that's most likely due to my high laziness levels. The sofa is still my best friend.

Oddly enough, you would think that my ever-loving sweets diet mingled with my lack of movement would have me weighing ten million pounds but most of the weight has gone directly to the belly. Here's some pics of me looking tired, but nonetheless pregnant. As you can see from the front view, this baby is all sideways for which I'm eternally grateful.

High Fives and Banana Bread

Yesterday, I decided to actually peel myself off of the sofa (after reading a fantastic book entitled Paper Towns) and bake some banana bread. I find it odd that I loved to cook prior to the pregnancy and now, I'm good with some mac n cheese or a microwaveable meal. Thank you, Lean Cuisine, for making life so easy.

The laziness that accompanies pregnancy is slightly off-putting. I really can't find the incentive to get up for anything except peeing nowadays. This, of course, really stinks seeing where there's currently NOTHING on TV and I'll need to do some present-wrapping over the next couple of days. I am hoping that my love of cooking and writing and doing things OTHER than reenacting the daily activities of a sloth will return once I pop this little hobbit out. I also hope that my love of fruits and veggies returns. The kid only wants apples and chocolate. Everything else need not apply.

So today, I brought in some banana nut bread to work. It was a pretty good batch. Very yummy indeed.

Anyway, now onto the fun and exciting things that happened this weekend. On Saturday night, as I was scrolling through the guide to find something on television that didn't have the words "Charlie Brown", "Christmas" or "Grinch" in them, I was rubbing my rounded abdomen absent-mindedly when a hand or foot literally ran the entire length of my belly. Again, I know this is probably boring to you seasoned mommy vets but I've been waiting anxiously for this to happen....there's nothing like a body part protruding from your stomach to simultaneously awe you and creep you out. I can't wait until you can actually make it out so I can chase poor unsuspecting folk around work screaming "It's an alien!"

After some consideration, I decided that it must've been Hobbit's hand and that the kid was trying to high-five me. Either that or it was trying to bitchslap me because fetuses can be cheeky like that, but I'll just chalk it up to a high-five.

For those inquiring minds that want to know: I ended up watching Law and Order Criminal Intent reruns.

Hobbit

I want to know how many of you can figure these out....lol.....have fun!

Trippy Moment for the Day

While we are waiting for the other Hobbit photos, I figured I'd send you an update on my trippy moment for the day. Of course, this pregnancy is completely new to me so every little thing that happens seems astronomical and weird and insane and trippy and fun and NEW. I know for you seasoned veteran mommies out there, my trippy moments will probably cause a yawn but try to bear with me.

This morning, I awoke to some discomfort so I went to move my growing belly out of the way (because it gets itself into interesting positions during the night) and there was a hand or a foot (not sure which yet) protruding from my abdomen. So freaking weird! So of course, I had to try to tickle it....

HOBBIT Makes Its Debut

I have no idea why this pic keeps downloading sideways but here is a pic of Hobbit. I'll post the others once I have them photoshopped at work but this one should quench your thirst.

We have no photos of the nether-regions of the baby because our tech was very cool and did not print off any pics where we could try to guess. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!

Anyway, all looks well and healthy. Hobbit is a good size and weight, all the organs appear to be intact and where they should be. Heartbeat is strong, vertebrae is looking good....and the baby likes to use its tongue. A lot. It was pretty funny to see.

More to come!

Delay

Sorry everyone, you'll have to wait a little longer for Hobbit's close-up. They had to reschedule us for late tomorrow afternoon...hang in there, kiddies. Coming soon to a blog near you: Hobbit up close and personal.

Hobbit Update

Excuse how ragged I look in this photo....we just got back from a trip to the desert for Scott's Man Club Christmas Party. Needless to say, I ate too much. Not to mention I was tired and hadn't showered. I was too zapped to actually beautify myself for a belly photo. But what's an update without a belly photo?

OK, so I'm a day shy of 23 weeks. Hobbit is active as hell and spent most of the day kicking and pushing and nudging all areas of my uterus. It finally settled down about an hour ago.....yowza.

Inquiring minds wanted to know all sorts of things so here are the answers to all of the questions that have been asked over the past two weeks: I went to the doctor on Thursday afternoon. All seems well, uterus is growing appropriately (and I have the hardened, ever-growing tummy to prove it) and the heart rate is now at 156. Yes, I'm sure that will help all of you try to figure out the gender, lol. But before you get carried away with translating the heart rate/gender theory, I asked my doctor about it and she ensured me that it was absolute "buckus". I think that might be her way of saying "bullshit". To each their own, I guess.

Anyway, you might also want to wait on your predictions because we go in for our ultrasound this Thursday afternoon. Of course, I'll post the photo of Hobbit for everyone, which means that you can all ardently search for penises or vaginas. Oh, stop laughing, you know that's what you were waiting for anyway.

Sadly enough, the weight keeps upping. Before pregnancy, I was 128. Now...I'll try not to cry while typing this....I'm at a buxom 142. I don't think I've ever been over 140. Anyway, my goal is to not top 155 so I'm going to be reestablishing my eating habits. No more copious amounts of chocolate.

I've definitely entered an awkward stage. Nothing is really comfortable and the inability to lift my legs past a certain point is bothersome, but everything else is fine. I slept peacefully in a sea of pillows last night and I'm going to look into buying one of those giant pregnancy pillows that fit in between your legs. Kinky.

I'm off to go watch Harry Potter for the zillionth time. Stay tuned for future updates.

The Name Game

I thought it might be fun to include everyone in this fun baby-expecting process and have us all play the name game. Now, seeing where Scott has the rights if it's a boy, this only pertains to the possibility of the little bun in my proverbial oven being a girl.

Send me a comment with your ideas concerning girl names....but there's a CATCH! All names must have a Q, X, Y or Z in it (it doesn't need to start with the letter but has to have it in the name). So any FEMALE name suggestions will be processed and either 1.) recorded as a possible name for the little tyke or 2.) rudely discarded as tart or tacky by future mom-to-be. That being said, do your best!

And Zinnia's already on the list, so don't even try to go there :)