Merry Midway!

Just checking in, with a longer post to come.

1. Christmas was lovely - and we got totally spoiled!

2. We are at the halfway point in the pregnancy!

3. I am so over this cough/sore throat/congestion.

*cough*cough*cough*

I've been sick. It started out as just an annoying cough - which soon became severe enough to keep me from sleeping (or even laying down) at night. Now I'm feeling stuffy and have a sore throat. I don't have a fever, which is good so I've been sticking to the pregnancy-safe treatments. Tea, chicken noodle soup, OJ, vitamins, sinus rinse, herbal cough drops, and some robitussen DM when things get dire. What I really wish is that I could medicate this cold with impunity - but of course, the safety of the monkey comes first, so I'm suffering through the symptoms I'd normally dull with drugs. Now, that it's been about a week without improvement I have a doctor's appointment scheduled for tomorrow. Hopefully I'll be better in time for Christmas!

It's a....

Baby! We did have our big anatomy fetal scan ultrasound today, but we are waiting to find out the sex of the baby until birth - so we don't have any updates on that front. That didn't make getting a sneak peek at the monkey any less thrilling, though! jb and I were both pretty mesmerized by the fuzzy black and white blob wiggling around on the screen. We were even lucky enough to get a few minutes of video - see the three minute clip below! I tried to add some subtitles to point out the more amazing moments (like a long adorable yawn!) since ultrasounds can be pretty hard to make out - especially if you aren't quite as invested as the parents to be. I've watched the clip about a dozen times and there are still some parts where I have no idea what I'm looking at, yet somehow I'm still in awe.

Belly

Until now, I haven't really shared any pregnancy belly pictures - because, well, the "before" pictures look a little more "after" than I appreciate. But now, while, I'm basically the same size as before pregnancy, my body has really begun to change. So I gave in, and jb and I had a photo shoot.

All of these are taken at 18 weeks. Man, do I look tired! I promise I'm getting enough rest. Standing up I may look more or less the same to the untrained eye - but I promise my belly is a little rounder and a little lower.



Of course, if I lay down and suck in my stomach most of the chub is absorbed and what's left is most definitely baby.


The top of my uterus (fundus) is just below my belly button at this point in pregnancy which creates a sort of "ski-slope belly button" - which I find hilarious.


It's hard not to look lovingly at a photographer that thinks every picture turned out beautifully - even the ones with twelve chins.

veggie lover

I'm currently 17 and a half weeks pregnant and our monkey is about the size of a turnip. Lots of exciting things are happening in there, but the most amazing development in my opinion is that the monkey can hear what's going on out here. I love that the baby is hearing my and jb's voices and getting a glimpse of the world s/he will be born into. (I'm doing my best to ensure monkey is born a Beatles fan' - no way jb is getting the edge on this issue.)

As for me, I'm feeling great, like really great. I'm not sure if I just have a whole new appreciation for feeling good or if I'm really feeling better than I ever have before. I'm trying to get back to the gym regularly now that I don't have constant nausea and exhaustion as an excuse. This also means that I need to get in gear around the house. I've never been a meticulous housekeeper, but over the last few months I've let even the most basic upkeep slide. The cold is getting me down a little, but the combination of hot cocoa, jb cuddles, and Talula snuggling up right next to me under the blanket on the couch make it bearable.

The money situation is still pretty bleak, but we're keepin' on keepin' on. I've been doing a lot of babysitting - which certainly isn't a windfall, but helps a little and keeps me busy. There's really not that much more to say about it, I suppose. It sucks. But really, that's my only complaint these days, so I guess we're pretty lucky.

Thankful

Thanks to the demands of the cafe, jb hasn't had a vacation in over two years. It's pretty hard to get away, and when we do it's usually for family get togethers.

jb and I were planning to spend a couple of days joining my family at my Aunt Karen and Uncle Dave's home in Cincinatti (the first time in three years that my whole family would be there!). My family usually drives out on Thanksgiving day arriving just in time for an early dinner - so jb and I thought we could leave on the day before and get in our long overdue (if abbreviated) vacation. We found a great rate on a Hyatt Place room (probably because it was in the middle of nowhere) and knocked it down a few extra dollars with our Costco discount.

Granted, in an ideal world our vacation would last longer than 19 hours, but somehow it seemed just right. The two main things we wanted out of this mini-vacation were uninterrupted time together and rest - and I think we succeeded.

We arrived at the hotel at about 7 pm, checked in, got into pajamas, ordered room service, and settled onto the couch to watch TV (great episode of Criminal Minds!). It might seem lame, but honestly, it couldn't have been nicer.

We slept in the next morning (well, sleeping in for jb is anything past 6 am) and took advantage of the continental breakfast offered. Then jb drew me a bath and we took our time getting ready for Thanksgiving dinner. Once we were ready we called my family and they were still several hours away, so we called the front desk to request a late check-out and snuggled on the couch and read the paper.


Finally at two pm we had to call an end to our luxurious vacation. The good news is that we had Thanksgiving dinner and family time to look forward to. It was so nice to have the whole family together for Thanksgiving after my parents and the kids being in Mexico and Stephanie being in Korea for so long.


Dinner was amazing - of course there was turkey, corn, gravy, vegetables, and cranberry sauce - but the stand out every Thanksgiving is my Aunt Karen's filling. It's a Pennsyvania Dutch recipe handed down in her family that is a mixture of stuffing and mashed potatoes.



After dinner we settled in for a weekend of left-overs, pajamas, and general couch-potato-ing. jb had to head back on Friday night so she could be home to open the store on Saturday morning - but I think she got her fill of my family - ha.


Perhaps the most notable part of the holiday weekend is that jb and I annouced to the extended family that we are expecting to be parents in May. I'm 16.5 weeks pregnant and feeling great. The first few months were a little rough, but the nausea and exhaustion are quickly turning into a distant memory. jb and I are just thrilled - we've been wanting this for so long and can't wait to meet the little monkey. Of course right now we are just trying to enjoy each phase of pregnancy (even the less enjoyable ones) and make the most of our last few months as a couple (and puppy) only family.

Warm Spell

Last weekend we had a house guest, Baxter (our friend's pug). I was super excited to dog-sit thinking that Talula would be thrilled to have a puppy friend around for four whole days, but she didn't seem that into it. They co-existed peacefully, but a few times I think Talula was wondering when he was going to go home. I had forgotten how hard it is to have a new dog around, and I think jb is very grateful that Baxter's visit made me re-think my constant "I think we should get a puppy" lobby. And while I think Baxter had a good weekend with us, he was soooooooo excited to be reunited with his owner.


Well, with Talula back to being an only puppy, and our household returning to it's usual rhthym jb has continued to make an extra effort to make time for us. The last date she planned was especially sweet. Acousticafe hosted a fundraiser at the Hard Rock Cafe with a bunch of local artists all doing covers of Beatles songs. This is especially thoughtful because while I absolutely adore the Beatles, jb is not their biggest fan. It was really a great date, we enjoyed the show, I got a burger and a chocolate shake, and we held hands and were generally lovey-dovey.

As an added bonus, this weekend's weather was perfect. The sun was shining and there were leaves on the ground. Mid-November and we spent Sunday in the park with short sleeves and shorts - it was in the 70s!


Larissa had spent the last few hours putting a shift in at the cafe and Nicholas and I had gone out for breakfast with my dad. Afterwards, we had a few hours to enjoy the day, so Larissa, Nick and I headed to the park with Talula and just layed out on a blanket basking in the weather.


After a little bit jb joined us and we played a few rounds of Apples to Apples (one of our favorite games). I don't think this warm spell will last much longer, but I'm so glad we were able to take advantage of it.

Fall in Love

On Friday Hoi Polloi hosted a guest chef - my mom! She offered to make a Mexican dinner to mark our new evening hours - and it was a huge hit! We got a big (for us) crowd for dinner and the reviews of the food were raving. It was a little stressful in the kitchen (now we know where the saying "Too many cooks in the kitchen" comes from), but once we got our system down things were running smoothly. The menu included cheese stuffed broccoli and cauliflower patties, chiles rellenos, and taquitos de papa. Each dinner came with a vegetable soup, rice, beans and dessert (baked plantains or bananas and cream). It was delicious. She may even come back to cook regularly!


So the new hours at the cafe are going well - except that it has really cut into our time together as a couple. It didn't sound like too drastic of a change initially - one more day and couple hours at the end of each day - but that all adds up to another 27 and a half hours per week of open time. Add on top of that my family being back in town and it's meant less time for jb and I to spend together.

Well, today jb woke me up and asked if I wanted to join her for a drive. I assumed it would be one of our usual drives - aka running errands - but jb had a very special day in store for us. We collected Talula and the picnic that jb packed and piled into the car and we were off. Apparently Lu really wanted to be in this first picture:


For our first stop - Talula wasn't invited.


I've been craving donuts like crazy lately, so jb did some research about where to find the best donuts in the tri-state area :) And they are AMAZING.


We drove to Brady's Run County Park to enjoy the leaves, but started by enjoying the donuts. jb's not usually much of a sweets person, but I think she enjoyed them, too. Here she is double fisting.


After donuts we set off for a walk through the leaves. It was perfect. The sun was warm, the shade was cool, the leaves were gorgeous colors and falling magically all around us. We held hands and watched Talula having the time of her life.


As thrilled as we were with the day - I think Talula was on the verge of exploding with puppy happiness. She ran ahead of us with such a bounce in her step and her ears flopping we couldn't help but laugh.




To top it all off, on our way home we stopped at a farmer's market by the side of the road and picked out a few pumpkins. By the end of the day we had a pooped puppy. (And I was pretty tuckered out myself.) It was such a great day - and so appreciated since it's felt like we've had to steal moments together lately.

One Wild Place

There are two main reasons the blog has been unattended:

1. My family is home, so there's really no need to keep them apprised of what's happening back home - since they are back home.

2. My family is home, and they have been keeping me very busy. Family is a big, wonderful time-suck.

Basically, any way you slice it, it's their fault. Not mine.

What have we been up to? Well, we've been taking advantage of the RADical days - which is a month-long celebration of Pittsburgh attractions when admission is either free or discounted. We went to Phipps, the Aviary, and to round out the month we went to the Zoo and Aquarium for my mom's birthday and parents' anniversary.

The zoo day was one of the last sunny moderately warm days of the season making it extra special. The animals were out and active (if confined to "habitats" smaller than our living room) and it was warm enough to walk outside comfortably, but cool enough to keep the zoo smells to a minimum. We also packed a picnic (complete with jb's famous chicken salad), so after walking around for a few hours we had lunch at one of the picnic tables in the park. A great way to enjoy the last of the nice weather.


Now that the weather has gotten colder and the days greyer; I've been doing a lot of cooking in the slow cooker. Stews, chili, and tonight: beef stroganoff. Usually as soon as cold weather hits I'm wishing for spring - so I'm trying to concentrate on the things I like about this season. Comfort food, sweaters, space heaters, changing leaves, the perfect under-the-covers nest, sweatpants, and of course - Thanksgiving!! Just over a month away!

Partly Cloudy

All the Telep's are officially home. My parents and youngest siblings returned from Mexico in August and Muffy returned from Korea earlier this month. It has been a whirlwind of family-time, which has been great. Now the only hold-out in the Burgan-Telep master plan is Jared who is still in Delaware for school.

The days are starting to get cooler and shorter. We had such an amazing summer despite the layoff. It never got brutally hot and we made the most of our time outdoors. Now as we enter the Fall I'm hoping it's a prolonged and mild season change. I'm still jobless, and we've burnt through our savings, so we are at a cross-roads. I just don't know what the right answer is. Aside from a last minute miracle (lottery or great job offer) none of our options are very tempting.

Funnily enough, we are extending the cafe hours. At least temporarily, we will be open seven days a week and stay open until seven thirty in the evenings. This may seem counter-intuitive since the business is more of a liability than an asset in our current economic situation, but independent of our family finances, the cafe has been steadily improving. We don't want to miss an opportunity for it to continue to grow.

Except for not having any income things are really good. The cafe is right where we were hoping it would be at this point in time, our families are nearby, our home improvement is making baby steps in the right direction, we are crazy in love, we have the cutest puppy that ever graced this planet, and the weather is gorgeous. It's a damn shame that something as foolish as a salary can cast a shadow over so much good.