Feliz Año!

2009 is coming to a close - and we've got a pretty exciting year ahead of us! Time for the annual year in review post. (You can also check out the 2007 and 2008 posts.)

• Visited Muffy and N8 in Korea for a full 10 days!
  
• The G20 was in town - which was the inspiration for the best party we've ever attended!
• I returned to Sonoma, CA for the final installment of the the Rockwood Fellowship.
• My job tried to get me to quit by saying the only way they could afford to keep me was if I took a 30% paycut, title demotion and moved back to DC - in two weeks. I called my union rep who gave them hell - then they laid me off with three months notice, but the terms of my layoff were that I had to serve out my last three months in the DC office, but they would not provide a hotel or cover expenses for travel (again I believe this was so that I quit and they wouldn't have to pay my severance). I did it - back and forth between pgh and DC for three months on the couches of very gernerous friends. Ha. I'd almost forgotton how thoroughly that sucked.
  
• Completed training to become a Doula
• Went on my last official work trip (a UCP in Rochester, NY)
• Visited my family in Mexico for two weeks!
  
• jb and I thoroughly enjoy the summer weather - Farm tours, outdoor concernts, movies in the park, soccer games, farmers markets etc.
• I attend my first birth as a doula
• The three musketeers (jb, daniel and myself) have a "last hurrah!" birthday blow-out at the Andy Warhol museum on my birthday - Open bar!!
• I make some (not-so) extra cash giving Spanish lessons and picking up some babysitting gigs
• WE FIND OUT WE ARE PREGNANT!!!
• My former job has their convention in Pittsburgh - it's really nice to see former co-workers, board members and chapter leaders (at least the ones that didn't have a part in making my life miserable for several months) and we cater a big event for the convention
• Hoi Polloi starts to pick up catering business more and more
  
• We finally get the living room into livable condition
  
• My family is all living in the same city for the first time in two years! We are all able to go to Cincinatti for Thanksgiving and spend Christmas together!

*Note: The pictures in this post make it seem like all I did was drink until the positive pregnancy test. I switched out the Korea picture so I wasn't holding a bottle of soju, the Mexico picture is me hitting the mezcal, wine in wine country, the music festival picture was taken after a good liter of white sangria (I'm pretty sure I'm clutching the cup below the frame), and then well, the warhol party - at least I'm not holding two drinks like Daniel is.

On The Mend

I've been sick for two weeks now, and only in the last day or two have I begun to feel human again. Usually I tend to bounce back pretty quick from illness, but I guess this compromised immune system during pregnancy thing is no joke. The doctor basically said, "Yep, you have a cough. As long as you don't have a fever I'm not too worried. Too bad there's not much you can take for it when you are pregnant. Bye."

The lack of sleep took the biggest toll on me - the days started running together at some point - but now I'm able to sleep the through the night with minimal coughing. I still wake up with some pretty intense congestion, but it usually clears up by midday. There certainly seems to be an end in sight, which I'm grateful for.

Now that I'm back, it seems like shockingly the world has continued to turn while I was sick. We totally missed our 20-week belly pictures - which is too bad because I feel like my belly is growing daily these days - but we'll pick up this week. Christmas was a (wonderful) blur.

Speaking of Christmas, it was really lovely. On Christmas Eve jb and I went to my family's home and my mom did her own version of the Italian seven fishes tradition. She made bacalao (a traditional Mexican christmas fish dish), ceviche (with TVP, rather than fish), crab-stuffed mushrooms, scallops, shrimp scampi, a smoked oyster roll (well actually, Nick made this :)), and clam dip. jb made a chocolate-chip-pecan pie for dessert (but was too embarassed to admit she made it, so I got all the glory).

After dinner we exchanged gifts. My family was insanely generous with us. I felt a little bad since we had a very tight budget for christmas this year - but felt so loved and cared for. The gifts we received were very thoughtful and kind. I got a glider chair for when the baby comes, the coziest slippers ever, a beautiful orchid, and a big box of vitamin water (which I drink at lightning speed these days). Jb got chocolate covered pretzels (her favorite) and two books she's been coveting for some time now: How to Cook Everything Vegetarian and Home Depot 1-2-3 Home Improvement along with a Home Depot gift card - which is very timely since the ceiling in our back room seems to be caving in. We also got joint gifts which include a DATE (gift certificates to our favorite date restaurant and the nearby movie theater), a king size extra-warm down comforter (so we don't have to huddle in the middle of the bed under the full size one we currently have), and our absolute favorite gift: the cutest outfit for the monkey ever. We plan to bring it to the birth center with us as the official "go-home" outfit. The picture is a little grainy - but you get the idea. (the pants are backwards - the monkey face goes on the bum - but that's the best part!)
On Christmas Day we again went to my family's house and jb's family joined us for dinner, dessert and games. There was a ton of food at dinner - turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, roast with potatoes and carrots - but I think the biggest hits were the dishes that jb made (sweet potato casserole and creamed corn - from a recipe in her new cookbook!). After dinner we played Taboo - which is always a blast, but this time was more fun that usual thanks to my dad's colorful addition. The poor man got "bromance" and "thong" (which he thought was "throng" and gave very misleading clues for) as two of his words.

I'm so so so grateful that jb and I both have our families nearby these days.

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.