Here's looking at you, kid!

A new poll is up! Who will our baby girl look like when she's born? Will she have dark, curly hair like her mom? Blue eyes like her dad? Will she be bald like her Grandpa Frank? Or will she, like all babies, look like Winston Churchill? Vote now!

'Tis the Season

Can you believe we're already halfway through December? How did this happen?! Maybe it's because I'm not putting up decorations this year, but I'm having a hard time getting into the holly-jolly spirit. The only signs of the holiday around our apartment are the foot-tall tree on the end table, a handful of cards and a cup with candy canes. Oh well. It will make next year all that more spectacular!

So we finally made our baby registry. My friend and mom extraordinaire Heather walked me through Babies R Us and pointed to everything we could possibly need. And babies need a lot. I had no idea pacifiers come in different sizes, or that babies don't always like every brand. Same for bottles. We debated the pros and cons of washcloth thickness and types of bath toys. It's nuts to think that within the first year, babies go from helpless infants to crawling, walking, grabbing machines. Apparently I can kiss my earrings goodbye for quite a while. But Heather's advice was excellent and I know I'll be putting her on speed dial once this baby shows up and I have no idea what to do with her!

It is slowly starting to dawn on me that in 11 short weeks, I'll go from being pregnant to being a mom. With a child. Who will be mine forever. I've gotten used to being pregnant. I mean, after 29 weeks, you will get used to anything. But soon she'll be here, filling my arms. And the thought simultaneously thrills and terrifies me!

So to lighten things up a bit, here is one of my all-time favorite baby products, modeled by my sweet Teddy. A little background on Teddy. I got her for my second birthday, when my family lived on the O.M. ship Logos. I think my birthday party was held in a lifeboat and we had Coke out of glass bottles. Teddy (such an original name, I know) used to have a little red felt tongue, but in a fit of jealous rage, one of my childhood playmates ripped it off. And she used to be much plumper, but years of love have worn her down better than a Weight Watchers diet. But she's stuck with me through it all and looks just charming in her new outfit:

A baby bathrobe!! I can't help it, I love them. Everyone tells me I'll never use them. In fact, this one came from Heather. Her daughter Lucy, you guessed it, never used it. But I don't care. I think they are so cute.

And here's something else that might become a new favorite item. It's the Fisher-Price Ocean Wonders Soothe and Glow Seahorse and apparently it will change our lives. Here's the story. Matt and I were registering at Target. Seeing us with the registry gun and looks of complete bewilderment, a random woman felt compelled to walk up to us and recommend the Seahorse. Apparently it has magical powers that will send babies straight into a blissful sleep. She talked about it with the reverence generally reserved for national treasures or priceless artifacts. Hearing our conversation, another random woman stopped by and corroborated the story, again with the slightly glazed look of a devoted follower. I practically heard angels singing when she talked. So naturally we had to add this Holy Grail to the registry. Although for some reason, it never made it on there. And Target online wasn't even showing it. And Babies R Us showed it out of stock. Hot items, I guess. Finally I found one on Amazon and stuck in on my wish list, which is when I discovered something very suspicious:


Pink things cost more than blue things! What the heck?! Blue seahorse: $9.99. The pink version? More than $25! I call it the Pink Privilege. It's insane! And this isn't the first time I've noticed. I saw some closet organizers - the pink version was at least five bucks more than the blue version. Why?! I, for one, will not be playing that game. Baby Girl will just have to be happy with blue. And to be perfectly honest, too much pink is going to get a bit nauseating. I'm more irritated than anything. What a scam! I am NOT paying more for something just for the privilege of getting it in pink.Anyway, that's my soapbox and I'm stepping down now.

UPDATE: Bah humbug on Target for not letting me add the Seahorse to our baby registry. Bah humbug on Babies R Us for not having the Seahorse in stock. And the biggest bah humbug of all on Amazon, for wanting to charge 15 bucks more for the pink version of the Seahorse! A big Merry Christmas goes out instead to Walmart, for stocking both colors of the little Seahorse, for the same price. Matt and I have officially bought our first baby gift... Baby Girl will be getting not one but BOTH Seahorses, the blue and the pink.

It's almost Christmas! Let the eggnog flow! We're looking forward to seeing lots of family and friends this holiday season. Everyone stay safe! More to come...

Home Sweet Home!

We are officially under contract on a house! I'm so excited! We spotted this house months ago, before we were even formally house-hunting. We adored the neighborhood... when we drove by one Saturday, everyone waved at us! It's like they already wanted us to move in. So when it was still on the market as our home search got underway, we decided to take a look. And when they dropped the price, we decided to make an offer. After making a bid, we drove back by and the neighbors were out in the yard with their two little kids and they waved at us too! I took it as a good sign. And after a lightening quick negotiation, it was ours! It is the perfect starter home for us - four bedrooms, a great sunroom, screened-in porch and deck, right on the golf course (!) Okay, so it's way better than we ever imagined for our starter home. I even have the nursery all picked out and I already love the color - no paint needed! We hope to close by the end of December, giving us two months to get everything settled before Baby Girl makes her appearance.

It is a huge relief to have a house, I'm not going to lie. Already walking up our apartment stairs is starting to get to me... I can't imagine doing it while lugging a baby carrier and diaper bag and purse and groceries. But people aren't kidding when they say house buying is one of the more stressful things to do in your life. There is so much second guessing. For me, the most important factor was always the neighborhood. The house I can live with or fix up or change. But you can't change a neighborhood. I found myself critically examining the other homes... why was the lawn not cut over there? Why did those people have eight cars parked in the driveway? Why were there so many Michigan fans on that street? It felt snobby, but I couldn't help it. I wanted to find a place where I would feel safe taking the baby on a walk, or wouldn't worry that five years down the road everything is foreclosed on. Fortunately, we found a house in one of our favorite neighborhoods where I have zero worries about any of the above concerns. And as a bonus, we love the house! Win-win!

I'm continually amazed by Matt's confidence and assurance going through this process. From planning our budget to researching various loans and closing attorneys, he has been a rock. He has thought of details that would never have crossed my mind. I'm too busy trying to pick fabric for the nursery and worrying about a few leftover nail holes that need to be patched! The more stressed I've gotten, the more calm he's been. (Aren't we the perfect pair?) And soon all the hard work will pay off. Now I just have to pack up our apartment - a tricky feat since I'm not supposed to be lifting anything heavy. But with a little holiday music and some hot chocolate for energy, I'm all set to go.

Next up: I have a doctor's appointment this Thursday, including my glucose test. Fun, fun! I also expect a frightening report from the scale. Over the last month, I have gone from "I'm pregnant!" to "I'm PREGNANT." It will be interesting/horrifying to see how much weight I've packed on. In the meantime, Baby Girl continues to perfect her Dancing with the Stars routine, getting so worked up at times that Matt has actually pulled his hand off my belly with a horrified "how do you stand that?!" But in all seriousness, I have been blessed with an incredibly easy pregnancy thus far, and here's hoping it stays that way for the next 12 weeks. (I know, 12 weeks. That's really not that much time. I try not to think about it or my hands start sweating.) More updates to come!

Anyone want some cereal?

I'm about to fly my nerd flag, but I don't care. I just had the best shopping experience at Publix. I generally only shop Publix for their buy one get one free deals, and in the cereal aisle, I found something even better. Four boxes of Fiber One cereal for 10 bucks. Now I have never eaten Fiber One cereal. It sounds overly healthy and possibly gross, although the pictures on the box look okay. But more importantly, a box normally costs 4.49 or something obscene like that. And here I was, getting it for 2.50. Can't pass up that deal! (I can rarely pass up anything on sale.)

But it gets better! In the Publix sales flyer, there was a coupon for 4 dollars off the purchase of four boxes of Fiber One cereal. So now, instead of four boxes for 10 bucks, I was getting four boxes for 6 bucks! THEN I realized I had another coupon for an additional dollar off! Stay with me, folks... I just bought four boxes of cereal, regularly prices at 4.49 a box, for a grand total of 5 bucks. I win!

And who cares that there are now 14 unopened boxes of cereal in my pantry (we stocked up on Quaker Oat Squares while they were bogo; it is our absolute favorite cereal). We'll eat it eventually!

Post-Thanksgiving Wrap-Up, Plus Some Nursery Ideas

So it's been a while... I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. We spent it with my parents and Matt's parents. Finally after nine years of togetherness, we've finally managed to convince our families that it makes more sense to share Thanksgiving. That way we only have to eat one turkey meal instead of stuffing ourselves twice! So they have obliged and this was our second annual Fortunato-Loughman gathering. It was nice. Much thanks was given. Much food was eaten. (Check out that belly, huh?! Now if that doesn't impress, I don't know what will.)

But now that Thanksgiving is done, we can move on to more important things - Christmas! (Poor Thanksgiving... ever feel like it just gets forgotten, sandwiched in between the more fun holidays of Halloween and Christmas? I mean, they were playing Christmas music on the radio before the turkey was even in the oven!) Did anyone heed the siren's call of 5 a.m. doorbusters on Black Friday? I've been in the past. But truthfully, I always buy more for myself on that day than I do for anyone else. And since Matt and I are in serious money saving mode, shopping for myself just hasn't had the same allure it normally does. I'm a coupon clipping queen these days, not a self-spender. So I opted to stay home, snug in bed, and hit up Amazon for some good deals plus free shipping. (Gotta have the free shipping or what's the point?)

And while I'm at it, let me pause for a moment and pay homage to the Amazon Wish List. Do you have one? Because you should. When it comes to Christmas presents, I'm a firm believer in getting people what they want. That way you're happy and I'm happy (plus I don't have to wrack my brain trying to think of the perfect gift for you). Otherwise I'm just buying you something for the sake of having a present to give, hoping you like it and we that haven't both just wasted our time and money. Anyway, back to the Amazon wish list. First off, Amazon sells everything. Secondly, even if they don't, they have the Universal Wish List button that allows you to add anything from any other site to your list. And finally, Amazon read my mind and added the "buying it somewhere else?" button. So if you see something on a person's list, but you know you can get a better deal at your local Wal-mart, you just tell Amazon that you're buying it elsewhere and they go ahead and remove it from the wish list, eliminating the dread that someone else will also buy it and the poor receiver will get two of the same thing. So smart. Thanks, Amazon!

So while I didn't score on Black Friday, the following day the grandmas and I went to Joann's Fabric to see about finally getting some nursery decorating ideas. I have scoured the internet looking for crib bedding that I like, but to no avail. Everything seemed far too pink and babyish and cutesy and fluffy. Just not me. I wanted the nursery to look like a room I'd actually want to spend time in. Bright and colorful and modern and fun. Which you can only attain if you're willing to drop 400 bucks on a crib bedding set. And since they don't have coupons for those, it wasn't likely to happen. Enter the generous offer from my mom and mother-in-law to make the crib bedding themselves! Ah, to be related to someone with a sewing machine! We spent an awesome two hours taking over the fabric department, matching patterns and debating colors, getting excited about all the potential. I felt like I was on some HGTV design show! I have two very creative, crafty ladies in my life. I am thrilled at the results.Isn't it pretty? We have stripes! And circles! Polka dots! Hot pink! Lime green! It's bright and colorful! I love it! Lee Anne is making a quilt featuring all the patterns seen here, plus some coordinating pillows. My mom is making the crib skirt and bumper, and perhaps some curtains. There is plenty of fabric left over so I can make some wall decorations or picture frames. Everything is going to look awesome in the nursery, which will be painted bright green to match. I really wanted something with a lot of different colors that I could pull out as accents, and this fabric definitely accomplishes that. I finally have a vision of it in my mind; I can finally start picturing what it will be like to sit in the rocking chair, holding Baby Girl, humming a lullaby...

We're getting closer! We're into week 27 now. The baby weighs around two pounds, or about as much as a head of cauliflower, according to the produce scale. I've officially outgrown anything that doesn't have "maternity" on the label or come from Matt's closet. Total strangers are starting to comment (such as the waiter at Mellow Mushroom who urged me to eat another pretzel because I am "eating for two"). Although I have to say, most people have asked before touching the belly. (The exception is my brother, but since he's the newly appointed god father/guardian, I figure he's allowed to pat his neice whenever he wants.)

House hunting update coming soon... Stay tuned!

Tales from the Treadmill

Ah, the treadmill, my old nemesis. I finally went back to the gym this week, for the first time since running the Peachtree and finding out I was pregnant. Back in the day, I was a regular, hitting the machine at least three times a week in preparation for the 10K. It was awful. I'm just not a runner. The only time I can honestly say I enjoyed running was when Matt, my dad and I took a practice run around Lake Peachtree about a week before the real race. Now that wasn't bad. Pretty flat, nice scenery, encouraging company, plenty of friendly PTC people waving good morning. But around my lovely L-ville apartment, there just aren't many places to take a jog, so I resorted to the treadmill in the clubhouse gym. Most days, catching reruns of Fraiser were enough to keep me going until I collapsed, gasping, at the four mile mark.

Anyway, like I said, I was a regular this past spring and summer. Most mornings I would have the place to myself, save for the sweet cleaning woman who would pop in to wash the windows or tidy up. Over time, we developed a bit of a friendship. She'd come in, watch me pounding along with my red, sweat-drenched face, grin and say hi. I'd gasp out a hello in return. Eventually she asked me if I was training for something and I told her the Peachtree Road Race resolution. It wasn't much, but she always had a smile and greeting for me. When I returned to the gym after our trip to Texas and Yellowstone, she remarked that I had been gone and asked how my running was going. It was nice.

Then, the day after the Peachtree, I found out I was pregnant. I hadn't stepped foot back inside that gym until this week, when I finally realized that not having a job or school anymore pretty much left me out of excuses. So I hopped back on the dreaded treadmill, this time for a leisurely stroll rather than a heart-pounding run. And just like old times, the cleaning lady popped in as I was exercising. She seemed happy to see me, greeted me like an old pal just back from a long absence. And then "Oh my gosh, you're pregnant!" She grinned. I grinned. She peppered me with questions. "So were you pregnant back then while you were training for your race?" I admitted that I had been, unknowingly. She seemed genuinely pleased for me, this woman who I barely know, can't even tell you her name. It's funny, the people you brush by in life, the little bonds you can form without even meaning to. My family and friends, I know you all are happy for me, I know you mean it when you tell me. But this woman, practically a stranger, made my day with her warm, heart-felt congrats. Needless to say, heading back to the treadmill just got a little easier.

And 11 pounds later...

So I've finally recovered from the world's worst cold. I eventually broke down and saw the doctor about it, and even though I'm pretty sure he knew it was just a cold and there wasn't anything to be done, he took sympathy on my pathetic self and gave me some antibiotics. I doubt they helped (except mentally, perhaps) but regardless, I am back to my normal self. The whole time I was sick I was bummed because I had a list of things to do come November, and there I was, stuck on the couch with a tissue stuffed up my nose, accomplishing nothing. And as many of my friends know, there is nothing I love more than crossing off my to-do list. So I'm doing my best to make up for it now. Here are some of the things that have been keeping me busy:

1. Getting My Teaching Certificate!
With student teaching done, the only thing standing in the way of my teaching certificate was my certification portfolio. Basically, it was a 20 page paper describing my teaching philosophy, what I've learned, what I still want to learn, etc. Plus I had to pull one work sample from every grad class I've taken and explain why it represented my understanding of teaching. Even through my cold-induced haze I pressed on and I'm glad to say the portfolio was signed, sealed and delivered to my advisor last week. Now I just have to wait for grades to be posted, paperwork to be signed and I will officially be able to mold young minds. This was the last step in a process that started two years ago when Matt pointed out that maybe what I really wanted to be doing in life was teaching. I told him to shut up, thought about it, and admitted he was right. I took the GRE, quit my job, commuted four nights a week to Athens, and finally find myself here. It's been quite a road.

2. Discovering the Clearance Bin
Ever since this pregnancy become noticeable to the naked eye, I knew maternity clothes were inevitable. But I wanted to make it through student teaching without having to buy any, if possible. I knew that once I was done, I could live in sweatpants and Matt's t-shirts if I had to. But finally even I had to admit that some new clothes were needed. And here's the thing. I wasn't opposed to buying maternity clothes. But they are so expensive! I mean, you have to buy them and they know it. And I'm a clearance rack girl. I can't tell you the last time I paid full price for anything in my closet. So I was already dreading the sticker shock I was about to endure. I almost threw up when my $100 tab at the local maternity store netted me only a pair of jeans, a pair of leggings, and two long sleeved shirts. My five dollar sweatpants were looking better and better. But then a wonderous thing happened. Old Navy emailed me a "30 percent off your entire purchase" coupon. A quick search revealed a maternity section in the Mall of Georgia store. So off I went. Now the maternity section was a mere two racks, one shelf and half a wall of clothes. But, holy grail! There was a clearance section! This time, I proudly walked away with three dresses, two sweaters, two long sleeved shirts, a pair of jeans, a cami, pj's and a WINTER COAT, all for $175. I can't tell you how nice it feels to be able to say "hmm, what shall I wear today?" instead of "I guess I'll have to wear that shirt again". How I love those orange clearance stickers. I'd say I'm set for quite a while now.

3. Blaming it on the Boots
So I had another doctor's appointment last week. I scored the H1N1 flu shot and suffered the obligatory weigh-in. Now up until this point, there hasn't been much action on the scale. A pound here, two pounds there, this is what I've been seeing each month. At my last appointment, I had gained a grand total of 4.5 pounds. So imagine my shock when the doctor cheerfully announced my total weight gain this time was a stunning 11 pounds! Um, what? (I swear when I went to my regular doc about my cold, his scale had me at a much more acceptable eight pounds.) So I promptly blamed the extra numbers on the fact that I was wearing boots. That's fair, right? RIGHT? Yeah, that's what I thought. It's definitely not the peanut butter and banana sandwiches I've been eating every day. Or the chocolate chip oatmeal cookies. Next month I take the glucose test to determine if I've developed gestational diabetes, and after that the visits will start happening a little more frequently. I guess that means we're in the home stretch! (Also, the baby weighs about the same as a rutabaga this week. Yeah, I don't know what that is either. But it's 1.5 pounds and kicking!)

4. On the Hunt!
And in the biggest news, Matt and I started house hunting last weekend! That's right, it's time to find ourselves a little nest for this baby girl. I thought we were in a pretty good position, with zero debt and a plump down payment saved up. But there's nothing like house hunting to make you feel poor. The houses we really like are just a bit out of our price range, and the houses we can afford are older or in neighborhoods we don't love. (At this point Matt would probably want me to point out that we've only been looking for two days and it's much too early to be freaking out and getting discouraged.) The good news is that we have a wonderful agent and I plan to make house hunting my full-time job until we find the perfect place. I'm going out again tomorrow, in fact. (I'm also seriously considering applying to be on HGTV's House Hunters!) But in the meantime, if anyone wants to buy me a lottery ticket, I wouldn't turn it down.

And there you have it. Sorry this post doesn't have any pictures... they are all on the other computer and the cat has firmly taken over my lap, making it a little difficult to get at them. Besides, I'm not sure anyone really wants to keep looking at my belly. I really should take some more interesting photos - I'll work on that. Until then...