And My Day Was Going So Well...

It goes without mentioning that it's Friday - so 100 bonus points for that.

Second, I went to bed before 10 last night so i could wake up a few minutes early to eat breakfast. I actually did get up early and got ready quickly enough to make myself a YUMMY Egg & Cheddar grilled sammie for breakfast. and I still got to work on time!

Third, we got our first Virtual Branch customer! As most of you know, I am the Virtual Branch Office Manager at my bank, among other things. And since going live on August 8th, every application has failed (rightly so, but still). Then, as I was checking my reports this morning, I didn't see my typical 'denied'. It says "In Progress" Wha-what?! YESSS!!! So what if it's our CFO's father. He's 4 hours away, and if a 94 year old man can open an account online - anyone can do it!

Also, I've got awesome leftovers from barry's yummy porkchop dinner last night. As soon as I'm done w/ this post i'm gonna chow down.

Then why, oh why, after having such a great morning, must I get this:

This makes me so sad. Now I can only enjoy people of walmart at home. *sigh*

Blip! Blip! Bop!

Last night while watching TV and futzing around with FarmVille on FaceBook, I felt a little Blip!Blip! in my lower abdomen. I told Barry that I thought I just felt the baby and he says, "Shouldn't you know when you feel the baby?" That made me second guess myself. (Jerk.) But this morning, while sitting here at work, I felt it again. So I went downstairs to the branch, where one of my co-workers is due in November. I explained what i felt and she said "YEP!"

WOOT!!! Yay, Baby Girl!

What I thought was interesting was that for the last 3 weeks, I was trying what everyone told me to try: To lie in bed or on the couch and just relax. So there I've been, concentrating on my baby bump hoping that I could will her to kick me. It never worked. When I did feel her, I was sitting up on the couch, kind of hunched over the laptop that sits on our coffee table. Same with today - sitting up at my desk at work. It's never really in the same exact place twice, so she's a little swimmer. OMG, I just love her so much. Its rediculous! I've never even met her yet!

Just another step that makes her and this all the more real - and just another level of excitement for me - I can't wait to meet her!!!!

Update: I'm just so excited i can't concentrate on the procedures i should be writing right now at work. I never wanted to be kicked in the gut so badly in my life!! HA! Oh, Baby Girl. You just make me want to dance a jig I'm so excited for you!

Gesundheit!

I have been sneezing every day since being pregnant. I learned through the miracle of the Internet that it's a very common 'symptom' of pregnancy called Pregnancy Rhinitis. Who-da-thunk?

Well, last night Barry and I are laying on the couch (foot-to-foot, to give you a picture ;))watching TV when I feel a sneeze coming on. I do a sit-up (to avoid the obligatory piddle otherwise), cover my mouth and sneeze. Barry goes "EWWWWW!!!" Thinking I sneezed on him, i say "SORRY... I covered my mouth!" He said, "It wasn't the sneeze - your belly was against my leg!"

Seriously??!?

He was creeped out because 'it was all hard and stuff'. What a freakin' wuss. He has yet to touch my tummy. Just wait till this kid starts kicking. He better touch my belly then!

People of Wal-Mart

I can tell this is going to be the cause of aLOT of workplace slacking in my future.

http://peopleofwalmart.com/

I'd say this is the best website I've come across in quite a long time. Please, click the link. I want to share the enjoyment with you. Come back after and tell me your favorite.

PS, here's a sneak peak:

Growth Spurt?

This morning I woke up to start my morning ritual: Turn off the alarm, roll out of bed, walk the 4-5 steps to the toilet, pee, turn on the shower, wake up gradually under a hot stream of water. This morning I woke up fairly quicker when I noticed some pink on my TP. AH! It wasn't a lot, so I didn't freak out. I pulled out my "What to Expect" Book, and didn't feel too worried when I didn't have any pain associated with it. So I took my shower as usual and called the Doctor when I got out. (Its so nice when he answers the phone.) He said just to keep an eye on it and to not have sex for a few days, then give him a call. Then he said "I'll feel better when you feel the baby move." UGH. Great. NOW I'm worrying! Sure, I've been anxious to feel her, but I saw her moving on the ultrasound just last Tuesday, and heard her heartbeat at a strong 153 on Friday, so I've been OK with it. I am a little overweight, so according to my books and websites, it's usual to not feel fetal movement right now, sometimes until 26 weeks. (I'm at 19.) But when the Doctor says he's worried, shouldn't I worry too? And now, of course, I'm wondering if every little twinge is more than it is. Meh. I'm going to do my best to not be stressed about it, since he didn't make me come in, or even tell me to lay down for the day or anything. Stress is not good for a baby. This is me, not stressed.

One thing I've felt the last 3 days now, is that even if I eat or drink the smallest meal, I feel like I just ate Thanksgiving Dinner. All of it. My stomach and sides are super tight (above my ute) and all I want to do is lay down. Saturday I mentioned to Barry that I thought she must have had a huge growth spurt or something because I felt SO tight (but again, not at my uterus, but above and around it). Its like she's growing faster than my body can compensate. To all my other mothers out there: is this normal, too? I did mention this to Dr. Raspa, too, and he didn't seem to make a deal out of it.

The Registry

On Saturday Barry spent the rainy afternoon in Babies R Us with a gun. A scanning gun that is. We picked out everything from my breast pump to our stroller system to our bedding to Every. Little. Thing. In between. By the time we got home, 4 plus hours later, saying we were exhausted was an understatement. We heated up some left overs and vegged in front of the TV. By 10:00, I woke up from the couch and migrated to the bed, not bothering to even take my hair out of my ponytail. I woke up again at about 1:15 (to pee of course) and noticed that Barry was still in the living room. I yelled to him "I can't believe you're still awake!" Not a minute later he was next to me. Apparently he fell asleep on the couch too (TV, computer and lights still on). We both woke up the next day about 9:00. I slept for 11 hours!! I haven't done that in I don't know how long. Goes to show that making decisions really is tiring. That plus growing a baby can really wear you out I guess. ;)

On a side note, a few of my friends/family had taken notice to our Registry and made some comments on our 'over-abundance' of scanned items. In my defense, Barry held the gun the whole time and he even admitted that if it said "A Must Have for Parents!" on the label, he scanned it. (Hence the baby timer thingy on the registry - what does it do that a normal timer doesn't? We have no idea.) Also, we fell prey to the New Parent Syndrome that Babies R Us love to spread by giving you a checklist that has everything under the sun on it. Luckily, Angelle set me straight on a few things, and as the weeks and months pass, I'm sure I'll be updating it with more or less of the necessities and less of the thermometers (Apparently we had at least 5 different ones scanned. OOPS.)

My Front Porch Looking In

My radio at work was tuned to the country station today. I typically listen to "lite work favorites" but for whatever reason it didn't want to come in. I love most country music and although many lesser fans think it's all shotguns and dead dogs, the majority of the songs are full of beautiful lyrics about love. Not just romantic love, but songs about family, patriotism, and the love for the finer things in life. I just finished listening to "Front Porch Looking In" by Lonestar. From Wikipedia: The song describes how the sight of his beautiful wife and two adorable children is far better than anything including his "panoramic view" of his estate or "the paintings from the air, brushed by the hand of God." He also describes that after seeing the whole world, he "can't wait to get back home to the one He made for me."

As the song ended, I realized that I'm going to be a part of this privileged club all too soon. I've watched from the outside for so long and it wasn't until just now that I realized how much I was missing. She's not even born yet and I already understand why it's worth writing a song about. I am so overwhelmed with joy that I will experience that love. Not just imagine it, but truly feel it and experience it. Its more anticipation than high school prom, that first roller coaster, or my first kiss put together, yet its so calming. I know now that I was born to be in this club. To be a parent. My wallet may not be ready, but my heart sure as hell is. Bring it on.

Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice...

...that's what little GIRLS are made of!!

That's right, She's a SHE! I can't say I was super surprised, since I've had the feeling of a girl the whole time.

A common question everyone asked me was "What do you want it to be?" I always gave the PC answer of "As long as its healthy, i don't care" and I was pretty sure I meant it. After seeing her on the ultrasound and realizing that all her parts were in the right place and growing at the right place, it really confirmed what I had been saying the whole time. I am just SOOO grateful that I could see each individual bone in her fingers, all in the right places. Everything looked perfect and she even gave us a big "thumbs up" at one point. :) I'll post the picture when I remember to scan them. :)

So, thank you to everyone for their well wishes. Now that i know she's a she, it's all the more real. Now I keep picturing the 3 year old version of her. I can see her long flowing black/brown hair and beautiful blue eyes. I'm praying for her daddy's complexion... and if she's lucky, she'll have the mailman's nose. :)

Baby Girl, I can't wait to meet you!!

Sugar 'n' Spice or Snakes 'n' Snails?

If all goes well, we will know the sex of Little Cashew today!!! Our appointment is at 2:45. It's my first major ultrasound (the only other one was a quick 'hi' as a favor from my Doctor) so i don't know quite what to expect. I'm utterly excited, though. It's 12:06 according to my clock on my computer at work. I'm doing my best to get what I can done between moments of just wishing and praying that 2:15 would come quickly so i can head out and SEE my BABY! And HOPEFULLY see his or her little wang (or lack there of).

I was reading about Old Wives Tales yesterday to figure out what they would say the sex would be. According to a quiz collaborating many famous OWTs, we've got a 74% chance of a girl. One OWT made me chuckle, though... a grandmother was talking to her pregnant granddaughter. She said if you're crabby during your pregnancy, its a girl because all girls are crabby and if you have a girl you're twice as so. If you're happy during your pregnancy, it's a boy because you have a 'peter' in you for 9 months! LOL! Gotta love spunky Grandmas. *sigh* I miss mine... I wish she could meet her newest Great Grand baby. But that's another blog...

12:14... SO CLOSE!

Grandpa's 80th Birthday Party

I haven't made that much time on blogger as I used to, which has caused me to slack on my 'everyday posts'. Things like what i do over the weekend or a funny thing my nephew says always seem to be forgotten by the time i finish reading all the blogs I keep up with. SO, before I let life get in the way again, I just have to tell you what I got to do last weekend. :)

About 2 or 3 weeks ago Barry's Dad offered us (out of the blue) some money for a vacation. I was so grateful, but said I'd rather take the money and pay down some bills. Then I remembered that my Grandpa's 80th birthday party was right around the corner, and that I REALLY wanted to go, so we told Barry's Dad that we would take him up on his offer if he enjoyed the time with us. He agreed and the quick planning went underway. In a few days, I had to shop for the best deals, and then get 3 airline tickets, a rental car, and sleeping accommodations squared up. (I not so secretly love doing that stuff.) So a week before our trip we were settled to go.

We flew from Jax to Chicago's Midway airport and arrived about 9am Thursday morning. We decided to spend the day in Chicago, since, in the 76 years of Morty's (Barry's Dad) life, he's never been to Chicago. Our first stop, of course, was Chinatown for a yummy dim sum breakfast. Then we decided to drive around downtown a bit and check out "the Bean" (one of my favorite spots in Chi-town), then go down Lake Shore Drive to the Field Museum (Chicago's Natural History Museum). We were there from about 11-5 and only got through the top floor of the Field's 3 floors of exhibits. They had an AMAZING exhibit on the history of the earth (from 4.5 BILLION years ago to today) that took up most of the day, but that's because Barry's a earth-science freak and had to read EVERY. SINGLE. THING. I walked ahead and sat a lot. ;) From there it was rush hour and I didn't feel like driving in Chicago's traffic, so we headed BACK to Chinatown for a YUMMY dinner at our favorite noodle house.

Some pics from the museum:

The Field Museum

Mandi Pirate. ARRRRR!

Me, Capt PegLeg, and Barry

Nice Bone!

We got to my Grandpa's about 7 or 8 and got to spend some time with family before it was bedtime for them. For some reason, Barry, Morty, and I stayed up until midnight playing Thirteen Wild, which is the resident card game in the Hart Family (kind of like rummy). We had to teach Morty if he was going to be able to hang. :) By 11:30, we had been up for WAY too long (about 20 hours) so we started to get the sillies and knew it was time for bed.

Before I go on, most people who read this blog know how much I LOVE my Grandpa. My Grandpa is probably my favorite person on this planet. (and yes, I'm including Barry). He's the kindest, gentlest man in the world who has more love in his heart for family than anyone I've ever met. Anyone that's met him can attest to this as well. :) If I could, I'd make sure that everyone I loved had the chance to meet him and experience his huge leprechaun smile.

Back to the weekend: Friday we had to get everything ready for the party. My Aunt was expecting about 100 people, both friends and family, from across the country, so there was a lot to be done. (there was even a port-a-potty delivered!) The tents were set up, the Cornhole games set out (and what my Uncle Buzz calls Testicle Toss), and the beer and liquor were put out and on ice. The morning went by way too fast, and it was time to drive to Milwaukee to pick up my Dad from the airport. Before doing that, we stopped by the Milwaukee Museum of Art and got some cool pictures of my favorite building in Milwaukee:

My attempt at an 'artsy' shot. :)

Across the bridge, looking back

Inside, looking up.

Everyday, at noon and 5:00pm, the "sails" of the museum open and close. This is a mid-way shot.

After the museum closed, we had dinner at a great German place called Maders, and then picked up my dad and headed back to my Grandpa's house.

On to the Big Day! Grandpa's ACTUAL birthday was Monday, the 31st, but we celebrated on Saturday. People started trickling in about 10:45am and staying until about midnight. There was fun, games, lots of laughter, and LOTS of beer. It also ended up being one of the coldest days in the month of August for the area. I don't think it hit close to 70 the whole day. So, by 5 or so, the bonfire was lit and the bags of marshmallows were ravaged. :) I didn't get as many pictures as I probably should have, but here's a few:

The Cake (Courtesy of Lovin' Oven Cakery)

The Backyard (AKA Party Central)

The Booze (no, I did not partake)

My Dad, Cousin Stephanie ("Stevie") and Father In Law, Morty

The Bonfire (after it's died down quite a bit)

Mama Irene and Dad (Mama was my Grandma's best friend since like the '40s)

Aunt Karene (Grandpa's youngest) and The Man Himself

Cousin Robbie and his niece Neveah (and she's a DOLL!)

Uncle Harry, making his grand entrance, riding an Ice Cream truck down the driveway. It's becoming a tradition for him to hi-jack one each year :)

It was a great trip that went by way too quickly. Happy Birthday, Grandpa!

17 Week Randomness

Apparently, Cashew is starting to hear now. I wonder what that's like. I mean your whole world is quiet, then all of a sudden there's a whole new sense to explore. I know that it's gotta be scary. From that, I wonder what his/her first sounds were. Was it my voice? a burp? a fart? I wish it was something we could document, like their first words. Its interesting, when I first learned about him/her, I talked to my belly and I knew he/she couldn't hear anything. Now that i know that he/she can, i haven't found myself able to say something. I'm hoping its because I haven't been alone with my belly yet, and I don't want to appear crazy talking to myself.

A week from today, at 2:45, is our ultrasound appointment. HOPEFULLY, if Cashew cooperates, he or she will show us their junk and I won't have to say "he/she" anymore! I really think she's a girl, which is why he's probably a boy. If we do have a girl, the poor thing may end up just being named "Baby Girl Swedlow" because her parents couldn't decide on a name. Barry will not listen to anything except Iylana ("ill-ana"). I thought it was pretty our first night we found out we were pregnant and he's taking that as law that I liked the name, so he doesn't see why I don't want it now. I really like Ella, especially thinking that was a compromise for Iylana, but he thinks it sounds like an old person name. Grrr.... Maybe we'll just let her name herself, like Picabo Street. (OK, as i posted the link, i learned that she didn't name herself, but was named after a small Idaho town. Geez)

According to a book or 2, i should be 5-10 pounds heavier by now. Although I look like I've gained 15 pounds, I don't think i've gained more than 1 or 2 pounds, if any. Hopefully I'm not starving the kid.

Barry continues to be sweet as can be. In fact, I make more fat jokes than he does. I'm surprisingly less sensitive about it, and he's surprisingly more sensitive about it. Once he called me "Hot Mama" and i thought he said "Fat Mama". I thought it was funny, but he was appalled that I even thought he would say something like that. My hubby never ceases to surprise me. :)