Birthday Month Gone.

Well, I've been MIA the past week or so. We got all moved in this past weekend. Though we didn't do any of the moving, we're still exhausted. How is that? Most of the stuff is put away with some stuff piled into a room. We'll get to that later.

I'm attaching pictures of the house with a new paint job and our stuff in it. I think they're pretty self explanatory, but the yellow room is the nursery and the blue room is our guest bedroom. We're so excited to actually be in the house.

We just found out that my parents will be flying in for the weekend next weekend. I couldn't be more excited to see them. Though it will be short, I'm looking forward to each moment together.

We will be going to the Doctor on Monday morning for the ultrasound. Though we are not going to find out the sex we're excited to see the thing that keeps moving inside of me. I think it will make it more of a reality for Robert. It's exciting.

Finally, as if we didn't have enough going on, I got a promotion at work. Though my job didn't change, I am now a Team Leader. Which means I supervise the people under me. I'm thrilled with it and as many of you know, I was talking about the possibility a month ago. I am very excited.

I think that is most of our updates as of now. I've finally found our laptop, so I hope to post again soon.

Losing Clearance

As I get further along, I am always impressed by the way my body is changing, how the baby is starting to move and overall what a miracle the baby is. Last night something happened that absolutely amazed me. Something I didn't even think about or considered. This will be added to my list appropriately titled What Someone Should Have Told Me Before.

Robert and I went to mass yesterday for Ash Wednesday. After mass, we went to dinner downtown. As we got our table that was closest to the wall, it was tilted so a corner of the table would be touching the wall (use your imagination here). Robert went on one side of the able (so the corner touching the wall would be on his left) and I went to the other side (so the corner would be to my right). I then realized that I wanted to sit beside him and didn't want the wall in my way. So, I pulled out the table and went to slide between the wall and the corner of the table to another chair (where he was sitting). The corner of the table, which I didn't think about sliding between, caught my big belly and as I moved to the other chair it was stuck to my belly, moving and making a loud noise as it slid across the floor. I looked at Robert with a horrified look and he grabbed the table and pulled it away from my stomach and looked and me with a look I'll never forget and we both started to laugh. So, the answer to your questions, yes, I'm getting bigger and not realizing it.

I'm still here!

Its been a busy weekend and week for Robert and I. We are busy preparing for our move this Friday. We worked on the house and got the guest room painted this weekend. It's a relief to know that we're on the home stretch of getting moved in. We're looking forward to it. I'll post before and after pictures soon.

People have asked me if I've felt the baby move yet. I always shrug my shoulders and say, I don't know. I don't know what it would feel like. Some say it's a flutter feeling or like a goldfish moving around. Robert and I went to Barnes & Noble last night. As we were waiting to pull out of the parking lot, I felt this poke under my belly button. I said, "what the hell is that?" Robert said, "what? what?" (he thought that a creepy crawler was going to come up to the car). Then I felt it again, "Oh! Oh! Wow, that was definitely the baby poking me." Robert of course laughed as he was relieved that nothing was wrong the way I raised my voice. I laughed too and got then got teary. I felt the baby poke me twice. It's just a nice little reminder that it's in there and getting bigger. It's like it was poking me saying, I'm still here!

Paging Nurse Breck

Wow. Please join me as I applaud my dear friend, Breck, who just found out that she passed her boards and is now a Registered Nurse. She's had a challenging few years with moving to Colorado and going through an accelerated nursing program. However, she took the leap of faith, triumphed and reached her goals.

She will be working in the neo-natal intensive care and honestly, I couldn't imagine a better person to do this type of work. Congratulations, Breck. We're so proud of you!

Be Mine

Happy Valentine's Day! Luckily, neither Robert nor I are really big fans of Valentine's Day. Our routine is to get something small and a card and make dinner together. Though this may seem non-romantic, it is quite the opposite. When we make dinner together, we are able to talk and focus on us, just us. It's very nice.

I am lucky to have him as my constant valentine. Having him for a husband had given me so much. He has helped me grow as a person, laugh easier, love more than I thought possible, find my home (the South) and given me the opportunity to be a mother. He is my best friend, my biggest fan and my greatest love. Today, I feel blessed to have such a special valentine in my life. To find someone who 'gets' me and completely understands who I am is a gift from God and I am thankful. I am thankful for our marriage and the solidarity of it. So on this day, I salute my husband, my true valentine and my best friend. Thank you for being the man you are and always making me feel so loved. Most of all, thank you for asking me to be your wife.

Take the time today to salute your valentine for the wonderful person they are. If you don't have a special valentine, salute yourself and keep up the hope that the perfect person is out there.

Movin' On Up

Well, we've scheduled our move. We will be moving next Friday to the new house. The movers are coming first thing in the morning, so hopefully we'll be done early in the afternoon. Quite frankly, Robert and I are ready to just get it over with. It's been a long month and a ton of work (more for Robert than me). I think we're ready to just have some time to lounge around and get back to normal.

Top 5 things I'm looking forward to with the new house:

5. To be able to have extra room in the house
4. Actually have closets
3. A dishwasher, a disposal, a garage and a fenced in back yard for the dog
2. A washer and dryer in the house (I am flipping the bird to the laundromat this weekend)
1. To be settled in a house that is ours, that we picked out together and to bring our baby home to. It's going to be great.

Weekend Update

I think we may be done with our painting of the house, thanks to Robert and his brother, Laddie. They spent the last two weekends getting it all done. I think we're hoping to pack our things this coming weekend and move the weekend of the 24th. We're more than ready to get in there.

The baby seems to be progressing nicely. I am getting bigger and finally told my job that I was expecting. They were excited. Now when I walk by people it appears that they are saying hi to the baby. Now they see me, look at my stomach (to see how fat I've gotten) and then they say hi. It's very funny. A big score with telling them is that I get the pimo parking spot right outside the door, the one that says "Reserved for Expecting Mothers". It's very nice. I still feel guilty for parking in it as if I've parked in the handicapped spot.

We're enjoying a heat wave today in SC. It's supposed to get up in the 70s today. I know those of you who are still wearing winter boots are swearing at me right now. It's very nice.

Movie Review: As many of you know, Robert and I see a lot of movies. Last night we went to see The Pursuit of Happiness with the Fresh Prince. I brought my tissues expecting to cry though the entire thing. What I got was the previews that I've seen on TV, too much Will Smith snuggling with his son and a husband who wished he had his $20 back. I don't recommend it.

Projectile....Laughter

Okay, so my beautiful best friend just sent me the sickest video about babies who projectile uh, yeah.. As I watched it in absolute disbelief and made a mental note, don't jiggle the baby after it's eaten. As I sit here and can't help but think, oh no... I found the following video to counter it. If you haven't already seen this at least a 100 times, please enjoy for a good dose of projectile...laughter. This video makes me okay with dealing with the first baby issue as long as I get this one.

What Superbowl?

My birthday weekend kicked off with a visit to the Doctor on Friday afternoon. I'm at 16 weeks and I heard the heartbeat and got the okay from the Doctor. Everything seems to progressing nicely. She told me to try to eat healthy snacks (yeah, right). We will go next month for our ultrasound where we could find out the sex of the baby. However, we will not be finding out. I know many of you have voiced your complaints, but we're still hoping to have it be a surprise. I am on target with my weight gain. So, we're good to go.

Robert and I took my birthday off from working on the house and spend time together. We went to a romantic dinner and then Robert made me a beautiful and delicious birthday cake with all 30 candles. I'm surprised the smoke alarms didn't go off. I had a great 30th birthday and thanks to all of you for your birthday wishes.

We continued our work on the house yesterday. With the help of Robert's brother, Laddie, they got the master bedroom ceiling painted and the nursery painted. I finally got the wallpaper in the foyer down and it's ready to be painted. We're progressing nicely and hope to be moved in the next few weeks. I hope to post pictures in a few weeks.

Birthday Month

Well, today kicks off my birthday month. It's always nice to see February come back around and greet me by surprise. Two days until the big 3-0. Today at work I spoke with a co-worker. I told him about a California adventure and he asked if I was out there with my husband. I smiled and said, "oh no, this was in my youth." He said, "Youth? How old are you?" I said with pride, "I'll be 30 on Saturday." He said, "NO.. you won't be 30". I laughed and told him to shut up. She said, "No seriously, Molls (why do people shorten my name to Molls?) I would have thought you were 27 at the most." I think he was serious. It's always nice to approach your 30th birthday and smile and think I still could get carded.

What I'm listening to on my iPod: Judy Garland, Bluebird. Shit, everyone needs a big finish now and again.