Hold Please...

So, my pardon my bloggy-break but:

1) I spent the weekend in Albuquerque for work (but at least my Mom came with). In case you are planning an exclusive Albuquerque vacation, please think again. You need 2 days there max. And if someone tells you to go to "Old Town" think of Branson or the WI Dells and decide if you want to go there and then if you still decided to go to Old Town don't say I didn't warn you.

2) I am in the midst of reading on of the best books I've read in the better part of a year: Room by Emma Donaghue. So Good. It feels so goodt o be totally immersed in a book again after being too tired to read, or too bored by the book I'm reading.

3) I mean...I hate to play this card...but I am buidling a baby.

4) I have been spending a weird amount of time reading articles on the Green Bay Packers, watching Raji videos, tearing up over Donald Driver, etc. It takes a lot of time to be a dedicated packer fan.

5) It's winter, and to be honest I don't have all that much you would really want to be reading about, unless the hibernation of a 5 month pregnant lady is interesting.

But there is lots of REALLY fun stuff coming up in the next 3 months so, there's my teaser. Stick with my please!

The Art of Procrastination

It's always amazing to me that if I have one thing that I really just do NOT want to do, all of the items on my to-do list that are neither urgent or (sometimes) necessary seem to call my name and sound SO much more fun to do.

I'm in that dilemma at work today. I have one huge thing I need to just buckle down and do. But instead I have got my inbox down to a an amazingly low amount, I sorted through a bunch of decks and filed them, I followed up with vendors I have been ignoring for months, and I even clorox wiped my desk.

And yet, 3 glorious hours of no meetings (a rarity) later, I have one sentence of this one huge thing, done. And I have no good reason for not getting it done.
I've always known I work better under pressure, but self-imposed pressure is not something I recommend making a habit.

I mean I just BLOGGED about my procrastination to procrastinate a little longer. And the really sad thing is that I clearly have 100% self-awareness that this happening, and yet here I sit still typing.

So if you try to call me tonight, I might just not answer as I'll be addressing my self-imposed pressure between the hours of 6-10PM. But hey--at least I"ll do it in pajamas.

The Meeting of The Bumps

I feel so lucky to have one of my best friends due just 3 weeks before Nate and I are due. Amy came to visit us this weekend and it was the first official meeting of Baby H (20 weeks) and Baby J (23 Weeks).

We are sure there will be many play dates to come and while the babies themselves were not exactly active, it was a complete chatterfest between Amy and I as we discussed our birth plan (mine is: "Well it has to come out"), nursery design ideas, shop for baby and maternity gear, and talked about all the crazy things we have been going through.

But we also did manage to some non-baby related things too. Like go to a kick-butt Roller Derby bout. My friend, Holly, was in the championship game so we got to cheer her on. Those chicks are pretty hard core. It was fun, and we got ice cream from a guy on a bike, in the middle of winter. Does it get any better?

Even though Amy was cheering for the Bears, it was still really hard to take her to the airport and say goodbye. Seriously, when is someone going to invent some sort warp-speed travel that makes a distance like Milwaukee take only about 10 minutes?

It was a great weekend and clearly all the baby talk made Baby H feel special because I felt it kick tonight! Okay, fine it could have been the Packer win, or the Fun Dip I had just eaten..but whatever the reason it was pretty freakin cool.

Magazine Cuisine: Episode 2

Nothing says comfort food like Chicken Pot Pie. Perhaps the answer to the ridiculously frigid temperatures should not in fact, be food, but the reality is that our trip to Jamaica is still a ways out and there is no possible way we can jump a plane to Mexico this weekend (not that we would, Dad..just saying). And so we cook. And bake. And light lots of candles to give the facade of warmth.

And I can't take ANY credit for this creation. Nate did everything from start to the end (which for the record included the awesome photo). This was a January Cooking Light special, and it was really good for being light. The crust was amazing.

I think its a fair assumption that Nate shouldn't quit his day job to become a food photographer but after tasting this, I think he could quit his day job to just cook all day.

We need to pick our lucky Packer recipe this weekend since the last two weekends have been successful. Anyone have a good recipe for BEAR?

Awkward...

Ahh..the 19 week ultrasound. A thing of anticipation. Joy. Beauty. Awkwardness?!?! (queue the screeching record sound).

Nothing about the ultrasounds should be awkward. You are fully dressed. You just have to lay there. And a wand goes over your stomach.

And perhaps our tech should have kept her hand over her mouth because everythign she said left me with an eyebrow raised and asking myself: "did that just happen?"

Exhibit 1:   
Nate and I tell her that we don't want to know what the sex of our baby is. And she proceeds to drill us on why, and gives us the classic response that everyone tells themselves if they do find out the sex: "It's a pure surprise no matter when you find out."

And so we have to keep defending our decision to NOT find out the sex. Weird. It was like she had some vested interest in the matter.
Maybe she just sucks at keeping secrets.
Someone should alert her friends.

Exhibit 2:
I ask her if the massive thing outside of the baby was a huge roll of fat. She laughs and says no it was my placenta. One would think that this would be the end of the conversation.
Wrong.
She proceeds to tell us that it is 'uncomfortable for everyone' to give ultrasounds to overweight people. And she emphasizes, the pushing into the stomach, the lack of good pictures, etc, etc.
Nate and I just stared ahead at our baby that was moving around and tried not to add any commentary.

It wasn't all awkward. Parts of it were amazing.
Like seeing little Baby H resting its fists on its chin, deep in thought (or arguably pulling the Finn "suck on my shirt right by my neck to fall asleep" move).
Seeing it drape it's head dramatically over its forehead (Nate said it gets this move from me)
Seeing all 4 chambers of the heart--PUMPING blood. Did anyone even know that they can actually show this in color in an ultrasound? I didn't. It blew my mind.

And of course seeing it flip and dance and kick and wave, and not feel a thing yet but knowing it is all taking place inside of me.

While I know we have LOTS to do in the next 4.5 months, I cannot wait for Baby H to get here so we can meet it!!

Autocorrect Hilarity and Horror

If you own a phone that can do anything beyond just dialing out, you know what I am talking about. The auto-correct mechanism that THINKS it is doing you a big favor, but in reality can sometimes really change the meaning of what you are trying to get across.

Take this text exchange between Nick (my brother-in-law) and I after my sister had a car accident. He sends picture of her in neck brace, and I respond with a seemingly very insensitive "Sweeeet!" sentiment...but in reality that was just the iphone's interpretation of "Awwww..."

Nothing is more annoying than the fact that still, 8 months later, my iPad STILL autocorrects "hanson" to "Chanson". I mean, I get "sweet" to "awwww" because one is a sound and one is an actual word. But can anyone tell me what Chanson means? And why Apple keeps trying to screw me over. I can't tell you how many times I've emailed and signed off with my name as Chanson by accident. It can be really confusing for people.

Anyway, one of my new favorite 'pick-me-up' sites that I go to when I need a good chuckle is called: Damn You Auto-Correct.

Check it out here: http://damnyouautocorrect.com/category/best-of-dyac/.

Do you have any good auto-correct stories? I want to hear them!

Listmania: The top 10 things people ask when you tell them your pregnant

Yes, you read it right! Nate and I are expecting and could not be more thrilled to become parents. Now, I told a handful of people early on, a few people trickled in over the last few months and the BIG announcement to everybody (i.e. Facebook) went out yesterday. I have to admit I find it totally awkward to say "i'm pregnant' just in random conversation so thank god for Facebook.

So while my relationship to the people I tell, and when I told them changed, the questions that people tend to ask do not. SO, here is the list, in most popular order of the questions I seem to get asked by most everyone and their respective answers:

1) When are you due?
     This is an easy one. June 15th. Assuming everything goes as it should.


2) How have you been feeling?
     Pretty darn amazing. Sure there was some VERY strong food aversion, especially to anything ethnic, and there was a puke session in my gym's parking lot and NYC hotel bathroom, but other than that I would give this pregnancy an A+.
     
3) Are you going to find out the sex? 
     Nope. Well....no. Maybe....no. I mean we could...nope.

4) Are you going to keep working?
     I always love this question. First of all, isn't it pretty early on to determine this. And second of all that is kind of a personal question---are you my husband? Then I'm probably  not telling you. And finally, do you even know me? As much as work can frustrate me or exhaust me, I do love to work. So.....yes. I am planning still working.

5) Are you excited?
    Now, I assume this wouldn't be that weird if I was say 55 with grown up children announcing a pregnancy, or a 15 years old. But ummmm...yes. Of course we are excited. That doesn't mean that a fraction of fear doesn't exist but the overwhelming emotion is definitely excitement.

6) Do you want to take any of my baby stuff?
     This was a surprising question that came up very early on in many conversations. Moms who want to get rid of baby stuff. And it's awesome! I mean who wants to buy a bouncy chair that your kid may or may not choose to bounce in for the 3 months it fits in it?

7) Where are you going to put the kid while you are working?
    While it would be great to put my kid in a little play pen by my desk like dog beds at places that allow dogs, I don't actually think that would promote a productive work day. But I am doing the next best thing to it: General Mills Day Care. For. The. Win.
    
8) Have you had any food cravings?
     Well Nate would say differently, but I think I've only had one craving in terms of the crazy cravings one associates with pregnancy. And it came in the form of pineapple at the grocery story that I started to eat, in the grocery store because quite frankly I couldn't ingest it quickly enough. And I ate the whole thing.


9) What are you going to do with Lucy?
    Weeelllll....TBD. With a cat that is 22 years old, you just gotta play it day by day. I mean seriously now. But we have been discussing options because right now she is the QUEEN of the would-be nursery.

     
10) What strategies will you employ to ensure you raise a Packer fan in VIking Country?
    Fine, this is not an actual question, but one that Nate and I talk about. Ideas have ranged from negative reinforcement upon purple stimulus, to an over the top Packer Pizza Party every Sunday they play...but I suppose that will only work once they can eat pizza. I am just looking at this as an early opportunity for our child to learn how to avoid peer pressure.


So there is the list. Have other questions? Let me know and I will share the details...so don't ask if you don't want to know :)