Drumroll Please!

Well I feel horrible that I have not posted in 17 days!  Especially when such big things have been happening!  3 December 2011 we held our Gender Reveal Party.  We estimate that over 60 people were in attendance as my mother cut the cake at promptly 7:00 p.m.  Look what we found!

IT'S A GIRL!!

That pink layer of icing in the middle revealed to everyone (including Ron and I), that baby Al is indeed a girl!!  Here was our reaction as well as a couple of other photos from the night.  (I hope to steal some additional photos from my mother soon.  Thanks to Lisa for these wonderful memories!)

Surprise!

Kyle - Team Blue - 0
Erin - Team Pink - 1!
(I never beat my brother at anything!)

Baby Mama & Daddy!  We are so excited!

Some of the highlights of my night (other than the cake cutting, of course) were Kyle's polyester blue sport coat catching on fire from the heat of the gas fireplace and Javier's multiple plate cleaning incidences.  Javy wagged his poor tail so much that night that by midnight it looked like someone had slammed it in a door!  Thank goodness he has fully recovered.  He looked so dapper in his seersucker tie... I will provide a photo of him soon!

The party was a blast and we thank everyone who took time, especially during this very busy season, to join us!  A special thanks to mom, dad, Townsend, and Kyle for helping get the decorating done as well as chipping in with some crucial items... like utensils and HErSHEy bars (see what she did there?)!  We could not have pulled it off without you all!  I love you!

Now onto the fun stuff like picking out names, decorating the nursery, and OF COURSE more shopping for cute clothes :)

Since the party, Ron and I have enjoyed a couple of weekends just getting our house in line, Christmas shopping and enjoying each other's company.  Last week I wrapped up my second class of my Graduate Business Administration program (thank goodness!)  I have decided to take next semester off and hope to return in the Fall if all goes well with baby Al entering the world. 

Al is growing like a weed... 

Baby Al - 24 Weeks

In fact, I gained 7 lbs over the past month, and the Doc gave me a little slap on the wrist :)  Thank you Thanksgiving and all the leftover gender reveal cake!

Ron and I have been able to see her kick recently and enjoy that she is now a very visible part of our family. I think that I have started to enter the stage of the pregnancy where I am now worried about both the birthing process as well as hoping that she is perfectly healthy and normal.  I am reminded by my great down to earth friends, that we will cross those bridges when we get there, and in the meantime we should enjoy the ride.  So, baby Al, keep kickin' and wigglin' and we will continue to be completely and utterly fascinated by you :)  We love you so much!

10 Fingers and 10 Toes

As exciting as yesterday's 22 week ultrasound was, the thoughts of course are in the back of your mind... what if?  What if the baby's heart isn't normal?  What if it is missing something?  What if something I did has had an effect on its development?  You pretty much hold your breath as the tech pulls the want around examining and measuring every detail of your baby.  As beautiful as it was, we didn't breathe easy until the Doctor came in and said "your baby is perfectly symmetrical!"  Before the Dr. came in (about 20 minutes of just Ron and I with the ultrasound pictures and random numbers that we could only guess the meaning of alone in the waiting room), Ron and I had assessed that the baby's femur was in the 19th percentile and its head was in the 89th percentile, and it MUST be a dwarf!!  I'm telling you... this motherhood thing brings hypochondria to a WHOLE NEW LEVEL!  But whew! Symmetrical is good... and it is in the 53rd percentile size wise, which was also fantastic news to me... even though Ron for some reason wants me to birth a small calf... he's hoping for a 10+ pounder (I am still hoping that he is joking).

So for comparison... check out what just 12 weeks in the womb does for development!

Al at 10 Weeks

Al's Profile at 22 Weeks (Still has Daddy's dome)

Now I completely understand why mom's won't stop talking about their kids... I have worn the ultrasound picture pages out looking at them over and over again!

Tomorrow we will have the gender reveal party... starts at 5 pm and cake cutting at 7pm!  Stay tuned for the results!

Enough about my baby!  We celebrated Thanksgiving last weekend at our new house with my mother and father.  They were SUCH a big help and the house ALMOST looked like a home by the time they left.  I cannot thank them enough for taking their hard earned vacation time and spending it working on our house.  It was a perfect Thanksgiving.... full of food and laughs!

Saturday mom and dad left :( (only knowing that they were coming back this weekend made that tolerable) and my bestie from college, Kelly Klare and her sister came down to visit and Kristy attended the UVA/Tech football game (that's the last I will mention of said game).  Kelly and I drove out to see Erica, Madison and new (still not yet supposed to be born) Meghan.  It was so great to catch up and everyone in Erica's household looked great!  Meghan is the TEENSIEST thing that I have ever seen, yet I still cannot imagine her being INSIDE Erica's belly at this point... and Erica informed me that she would be even larger if she were still in the womb!  Check out the photos of Kelly and baby! :)

Kelly and -3 Week Old Meghan (yes negative 3!)

Meghan's Very Tiny Hand

I think that is all that I have for today!  Time for me to go wrap up my last day at my job of 3 years!  Monday will entail new diggs and new challenges!  Have an AMAZING weekend!

It's Baby Day!

Well, I don't have too much to write right now, but I am just beaming with excitement, so had to have an outlet, and what better outlet than writing!?  In 2 hours and 15 minutes Ron is picking me up for our 2nd and final (if all is well) ultrasound!  This means that we will get to see that precious little one's tiny face and count its fingers and toes, and know that all of that moving around in my belly is coming from 2 arms and 2 legs and not just one very strong leg :)

With all of the excitement, there is also an incredible amount of anxiety, as Ron and I chose to not have any of the testing done for genetic or chromosomal defects.  Of course the thoughts go through your head that something might not be perfect.

One little aside... Monday night Al was moving like a champ while I was listening to my Step music.  Ron determined that the baby probably already associates that music with jumping around since usually when it hears it I am teaching my classes.  We did a little experiment and started playing music against my belly, and sure enough there was a storm of movement!  BABY DANCE PARTY! :)  So much fun to interact already! And perfect or not perfect, we love this little booger and cannot wait to see it!


When the Dr. examines the boy or girl regions Ron and I will have to turn our heads since we have pledged to wait to find out the gender until our Gender Reveal Party this weekend!  So many of our close friends will be coming to join in this events and I just cannot wait!  BBQ, beer, friends, cake and baby gender!  What more could a girl ask for?

Stay tuned for the post ultrasound update!

Being Thankful

I think that the pure fact that I have no idea how to begin this post signifies that I have so much to be thankful for that there is no start and no finish.  Of course there are always those days where you have to remind yourself that you are blessed, but those days are few and far between and honestly I deserve a kick in the seat to ever not remember how lucky I am.  

As we get to an age where our parents and families are getting older, I am most thankful that my immediate family is happy, healthy, and above all loving, supportive and close. Though if you ask me this same question after Christmas break, I may have a different reaction, I love my family and am so blessed to have them in my life.  I don't know who or where I would be without my mother and father, and every day that I come closer to having my own family, I just hope and pray that I can do half the job that my parents did with Kyle and me.  Speaking if Kyle and not realizing that everything works out for the best at the time... brother, I am happy that I got you instead of a puppy when I was 5 years old :)  You have brought me more joy and laughs and pride than I ever knew was possible!  

In addition to my immediate family, I am now blessed to be starting my own family.  One year ago I never would have dreamed that my life would take a turn to put me in the position that I am in today, but boy am I happy and grateful that it did.  I never knew that a man as patient and loving and thoughtful as Ron existed, and that on top of that our lives would so flawlessly come together to start our own journey!  I am thankful for Ron every minute of every day, and I am thankful that God has given us little Al!  SO LUCKY!

I am thankful that in a week and a half we have over 50 friends coming to celebrate the revealing of baby Al's gender with us.  I am not one to keep friends around just for the sake of accumulating acquaintances, and Ron is not either, so all of those coming are dear friends to us, and we could not be more thankful to have the love and support that you all have provided us over the years and especially over the past several months.  THANK YOU!  

Any hardships that have occurred in my life have been brought about because of decisions that I have made or paths that I have chosen to take.  I don't think that many people can say that, and I recognize how fortunate that makes me.  With that being said, I am so thankful for the hard times, because they have made me a much more understanding, empathetic person, as well as taught me to appreciate the smaller things in life.  

When it comes down to it, I would be thankful for the bare basics that I have this holiday season, a loving family, food on the table, and a roof over my head; but I have so, so much more!  Thank you everyone, for being part of my life, and know that you are my biggest blessing in life and my family will ALWAYS be here for you .... to be thankful with you, and to remind each other of our blessings when times get tough.  Happy Thanksgiving!

New Beginnings!

This is going to be a long post... I warn you in advance! :)

At the start of this year I set out with three goals:

1. Get Body Pump Certified
2. Get accepted to the Graduate Business Certificate program at VCU
3. Advance in my career

This week I completed 3 of 3!!  

Let me precede the rest of this post with the obvious... get pregnant and buy a house were NOT on this list :)  Just little bonuses that God thew in there to keep things interesting and challenging (apparently my goals were not lofty enough for his liking lol).

Getting Pump Certified proved to be more of a challenge than I expected.  As a current instructor of Body Step, I thought that Pump would be an easy certification... NOT QUITE!  My first certification attempt miserably failed.  I was heart broken.  With that being said, with the help of some great friends at ACAC, by second submission came back with rave reviews, and I actually was on the schedule part time this schedule and will be on full time for the winter schedule!  Very exciting!

Getting into school was a big accomplishment, but I had no idea how challenging it would be to juggle class and the rest of my life.  Marketing this summer was an online course, and I LOVED IT!  Currently I am taking Accounting, and it KICKS MY TOOSHIE!!  I always thought that my challenges in undergrad were due to too much partying and not enough work ethic; though that was part of it, this class has proven that you can still be challenged even if you attend every single class and do every single assignment.  In addition to the workload, this class requires an hour and 15 minute drive once a week, which means one whole evening is taken up just with class attendance.  I am a little sad to lose momentum, but I have decided that since Al will be born in the midst of Finals of the Spring semester, that I will take a break and resume classes in the Fall.  

Finally, Goal 3!  I have been an Administrative Assistant now for three years.  I cannot say that my duties have been truly admin-like, however.  I have been very challenged in this role, and it is forever changing, which is good for someone who is mother-diagnosed ADD.  I have gotten to take some amazing trips and work with amazing people, but rolling into my late twenties and still carrying the title of admin, as well as knowing that the work you are doing is well beyond the scope of your title leaves you wondering what more you could accomplish during those 40+ hours you put in a week.  After taking Marketing this summer, I fell in love with the combination of psychology and creativity that is involved in the industry.  This is why when I saw the Advertising Coordinator Role post on my company's internal job opportunity page, I knew I had to jump on it!  Yes, this is not the most convenient time to change the ONE constant that has been in my life, but HECK, if not now, then WHEN?  So I applied!  Three weeks later and six interviews later, I received the best news.... I got the job!  I start on 5 December (right after the gender reveal) and I cannot wait for this new journey to begin!  I will explain more about what this role will entail in a later post! 

So now on to those bonus items:

Pregnancy   

Week 20 - Our Front Door and Pretty Christmas Bow - Thanks GiGi!

I have been feeling fantastic, but also growing like crazy!  At week 19 I had people that I didn't know well at the gym asking if I had news to share :)  This made me happy, because at least they had ruled out excessive weight gain as an option for my protruding gut and less than stellar jumping jacks.  At our last Dr. appointment I weighed in at a whopping 112.  I know this doesn't seem huge to anyone else, but for someone who at their heaviest has weighed 108 (thank you college beer), this is a SHOCKER.  For the most part I can still wear all of my clothing, but have to use a belly band for some of my higher waisted work pants.

I have to figure out how to post Al's heartbeat that we recorded at the last appointment!  145 bpm :)  The Dr. said that was perfect!  I like these report cards.  Not too much new besides that!  In 2 weeks, on 1 December, the Doc will put the gender of Al in an envelope, and we will take it to Chandler's Bakery to prepare for our Gender Reveal (or Gender Bender as Ron calls it).  We cannot wait!

House

15 November 2011 - The Shiney Keys to Our Brand New Home :)

A Place to Hang Our Hats

On Tuesday of this week, we FINALLY closed on our new house!  It was such a fun day!  The closing only took about two hours, and we used the rest of the day to start shopping for what we felt was a very important piece of family furniture: the kitchen table!

We had found several that we liked online, but not a single one in an actual store.  I still cannot decide whether it was a good or bad thing that we happened upon Classic Furniture that fine, Tuesday, but what I can say is that we found the PERFECT table and chairs (minus the $$).  It will not be ready until January... but hey!  Ron and I are finally getting a little bit better at this delayed gratification thing... something about waiting 9 months for your little bundle will do that to ya'!  

Ron Table Shopping (This is the runner up table)

The table pretty much took the wind out of our shopping sails, but we are happy with our purchase and know that the table will be the center piece for many wonderful memories going forward!  WE CAN'T WAIT!  

The next day was my move out/in day, and of course the rain was POURING!  It took about 4 hours to complete the move and another 4 to finish cleaning the old place.  After that I had to go to class.  Very stressful day, but accomplished quite a bit including changing over all of the utilities, getting a trash can and getting the internet setup (which has been a God send!).  

Ron's move happened this Friday, and went as well as could possibly be expected as well.  This weekend was spend finding a home for the things that we wanted to keep and throwing away/ taking to Good Will those things that we didn't.  Luckily Ron has some awesome furniture and between the two of us we have all of the items we need to get by!  This is good because Mom and Dad are going to join us on Wednesday for Thanksgiving and in two weeks the Gender Reveal will happen at our home!  Please keep your fingers crossed that we can get everything in order by then! 

WHEW!  I will give you a break and stop this post here!  As always, more to come soon!

The Smarts

Baby Al's First Book

Though all a couple of my purchases for Baby Al have been clothing, I have thought a lot about what Ron and I can do as parents to start him/her off on the right foot in regard to their education.  I love reading, but really hated it as a kid, so I want to do whatever possible to pass the love for literature on to my kiddo.  This morning, my co-worker, Jenny brought me the cutest jungle paper wrapped present and beneath that paper was Baby Al's very first shiny book :)  I LOVE IT!!  Thank you, Jenny!  I absolutely cannot wait to look at the pictures read this with the little one!

My immediate reaction:  "I need a basket for this!"

On that same note, does anyone have great ideas for teaching children second languages if you, as the parent, are uni lingual?

Have a wonderful day, everyone!

The Waiting Game

Life is very, very good!  I have to keep reminding myself of that!  If our biggest beef with life is the fact that our closing is being pushed back (AGAIN), then we really aren't doing too badly!  That's right, closing is probably not happening on Thursday as scheduled.  I guess this is typical in the world of home purchases, but I never thought that it would be pushed back THIS far!  The main issue is only that we (Ron and I) are supposed to move out of my old house by 15 November, and if you have been involved in my life at all in the past year and a half, you know why it would not be pleasant to have to stay longer than our move out date.  On top of that, I have NO desire to pack my house and move it to storage for 1 week... it makes no sense.  ANYWAY, on the bright side, we had our final walk through and inspection yesterday, and the boys (Ron and the site manager, Brandon) blue taped EVERY little flaw that needs to be fixed.  We are still waiting for blinds and backsplash in the kitchen, but other than that and some cleaning, the place looks amazing and we cannot wait to move in.

In other news, I have been anxiously awaiting the first movements of little Al, and this weekend he finally let us know he was there!  Ron even got to feel one swift kick! :)  Soccer player? Kicker? Swimmer?  Yes indeedy! It is just so fascinating!  What is also fascinating is the speed at which my belly is growing...I promise a picture soon!  I went from people I knew telling me that they still couldn't see it to people at the gym asking me if "I had news to share" within the span of a week!  I cannot stop staring at my new addition.  I am trying to stay in the gym as much as possible to make sure that this epidemic in my tummy region doesn't spread to the rest of my short body.  Now if I could convince myself that water is yummy!

This weekend we had a date night which included Sushi (only Cali Rolls for me... calm down) and Moneyball!! The movie was fantastic!  I was very skeptical of seeing Brad Pitt as the lead in a sports movie (and was wishing it was Kevin Costner early on), but he was fantastic and we had a few really great laughs.  On Sunday we spent the morning getting our pumpkin bake on... pumpkin cheesecake from my Cooking Light magazine and chocolate chip pumpkin muffins from a blog that I have been stalking.  The muffins were amazing and the cheesecake wasn't so bad either, despite leaving out the tablespoon of rum that I couldn't buy on a Sunday morning ;) We are looking forward to whipping these up again for Thanksgiving.  We went to watch some football (eat lots of cheese and crackers) at the Puchalski's after that, which was a fun time, despite the losses of the favored teams.  Finally we spent a lovely evening at the Galie household with both the Galies and the Parkers.  The food was amazing and the company was even better :)  THANK YOU GUYS!    And that was the end to our weekend.

More pics to come soon!

SOOOO CLOSE!

Not too much to post today, but I had to share some updated pics of the house!  Ron has been in Georgia for his brother's graduation, so I have been by the house (all alone ...[wah wahhh]) to check it out and send him pictures.  Check 'em out!

Welcome to Our Home!

Maybe I will actually learn to cook now! :)

Appraiser came yesterday, so fingers crossed that went well!  Inspection Monday, final walk through Tuesday, hopeful closing Thursday!! EEEEEEEEK!!!! :)  Cannot wait to have you all over!!

10 Day Countdown!

Before I begin today's blog, I must update you on my McDonald's play if forward!   Last weekend before class I made my weekly trek to Mickey D's and got my Diet Coke.  In case you didn't read my earlier blog, a very kind woman in the drive through in front of me paid for my coke one week earlier, and I had pledged to play it forward the next week.  SO!  I pull into the drive through, and no one is behind me for the longest time!  Finally, who pulls in, but a HUGE Range Rover... yep... they need my charity!  Not only that, but they took about 10 minutes to order... "C'MON people!  I am trying to pay for your meal!  HURRY IT UP!"  I paid for my soda $1.57, and then their meal $12!!!!  I thought only Ron could wrack up that kind of bill at McDonald's.  I tried to watch their reaction, and they didn't seem to understand at all.... silly rich people :)  Anyway, it was all very much a fun social experiment and I am so excited to start it up again one day.  You should try it too!

For the first weekend since I can remember Ron and I had a quiet weekend at home!  Other than teaching a class Saturday at the gym we had ZERO plans, and it was everything that we could have hoped for!

So what did we do to fill our time?  Stalked our house, of course!  They are seriously rockin' and rollin', which I guess they should be since we are scheduled to close in 10 days.

Rec Room Bath

My Favorite Room - The master bath

Ron in the kitchen -- there is the other side of the fireplace!

Kitchen

What you don't see in the pictures are the beautiful floors that have been put in as well!  So pretty!  This weekend they stained the stairs as well, and when we went to visit yesterday, the plumber was there installing the fixtures.  What is left to do (that we know about)?  Carpeting and major paint work and cleaning!  Seems very doable!! Now we just have to deal with the mortgage/assessment/etc.  Won't life be boring in 2 weeks?  We can only hope. 

We also finally got over to see my friend (dating back to 4th grade) Erica Stallard.  Just 2 weeks ago Erica and I met at Bodos to grab lunch and do a little shopping at Babies'R'Us.  She was due 13 December and looked amazing (which was to be expected, as this was her second kid, and with Madison she looked like she had stuffed a basketball in her shirts, and lost the weight immediately after Madison was born).  Fast forward two weeks, and little (in every sense of the word) Meghan has arrived.  Though Meghan came over 8 weeks early, she is breathing completely on her own (strong like mama) and is doing well so far with her feeding tube.  Erica looks amazing as well, even though she is ready to be home and with Madison again.  It was great seeing her, and I am so blown away by how strong she has been through this!  LOVE YOU ERICA!!  See the Meghan sized diaper below... Ron and I had never seen anything so small!

Premie diaper - Doesn't even cover the width of my knee cap!!

Last night we had dinner with Hunter, Lisa and Lisa's sister, Lauren who was in town visiting. Javier also got to join and started the night out by clearing off the coffee table with his tail, including a large glass of red wine!  Two lessons learned here: 1.) We probably shouldn't have a coffee table and 2.) Lisa and Hunter are true dog people, as they didn't bat an eye.  The pups all got along great and also enjoyed the evening, which was so great because poor Javy spends way too much time by his lonesome!  Had venison for the first time ever as a meal, and it was pretty darn good!  A delicious dinner prepared by Lisa and some great dessert (s'mores and pumpkin cheesecake) followed by a solid game of CatchPhrase.  Not a bad end to a great weekend!

Finally, here is a belly update.  I am staying away from scales for a bit, so no numbers for ya'!

17 Weeks and 5 days

Oops! I did it again...

Yep!  Zulily strikes again! :)  And for a girl.  But you do agree that they are too cute to resist, no?  I also shopped one more time this weekend and got some super cute BOY onesies.  I am done... really I am.  

In addition to this news, we will be sending out invites very soon for our Gender Bender!  If you haven't heard of this before (I had not either until Kyle's girlfriend, Townsend informed me), it is a party where everyone finds out the gender of your baby for the first time by CUTTING A CAKE!  That's right, blue cake = boy and pink cake = girl!  It took some convincing to get Ron to agree to wait until the party, but he finally gave in!  So, the party will be held in our new home on 3 December 2011!  BE THERE!  

Speaking of our home, they are really on a roll this week!  We have gotten lighting, cabinets, flooring, and Ron's personal favorite (see below for evidence) our indoor/outdoor fireplace!  Sure to be great for those cool evening cookouts!  In anycase, if all goes well, we are feeling pretty good about our 10 November close date!  Please keep your fingers crossed!

This is on our DECK!!  Also on the inside in our kitchen! Come check it out! :)

C-A-P-S, CAPS! CAPS! CAPS!

We just had the most amazing weekend!  Ron's company sponsored an outing to a Washington Capitals game!  You know, the team in Washington the WINS!  Not only did we get to watch from box seats, not only did we get to eat unlimited popcorn, not only did the Caps win, BUT we got to meet the owner of the Caps (also owner or the Nationals and the Wizards) AND NHL hall of famer, Ron Langway (see photo below... I MET HIM!!)!  On top of that it was wonderful to spend some time with Ron, his friends, and Townsend and Kyle also made an appearance!

Baby is 16 weeks and 6 days old today.  The "bump" is now starting to make its appearance (see photo); hopefully it will take it slowly for the next couple of weeks until I can find some suitable clothing! :)  Ron and I are anxiously awaiting that first feeling of movement, but so far I am pretty sure it is just tummy grumbles.  Hopefully it is a sign that Baby Al is going to be a low key kid.

Rod Langway - NHL Hall of Fame Player

Baby's First Caps Game (Sorry Sabres friends, gotta support that red, white and blue!)

 On top of getting to see this amazing game (pulled off a 7-1 W over the Redwings; both undefeated going in), Piedmont has really made some headway on our home!  We have siding all the way around, stone work, and landscaping!  Inside, we have tiling, bathtubs and crown molding!  Countdown is on 'til scheduled closing!  17 DAYS!!

I guess the only other fun share right now is that all of my Zulily impulse buys have started to come in the mail :)  WHOOPS!  They were too cute to resist!  I have promised to be better... but really!  I would be so disappointed if I didn't buy these and couldn't find them down the road.

Oh yeah!  And one final note, CHARLY AND BRANDON ARE HAVING A GIRL! :)  Now I feel completely justified in the girl clothes that I have bought, because they will definitely get put to good use!

'Til next time.... signing out!  xoxo

Fall is Here!

Our weekend began with taking Mr. Lopez (Javier) out to the new house.  The Rivanna Trail is literally right out the front door, so we walked him through the trail, which was GORGEOUS, and Ron played a little football with him in the courtyard (see pic below).  The house is coming along, it's the yellow one in the background of the photo.  We have siding, a roof, a deck and drywall :)  

After our walk we decided it was only natural to want to eat a really greasy pizza from Pizza Hut.  This might have started as a preggo craving, but Ron backed it up, so I cannot be wholly responsible.  IT WAS HORRIBLE!  That place was the furthest thing from clean, and it took us over an hour and a half to get WATER!!  Needless to say, when you have your heart set on something, you are willing to wait for it.  It was pretty delicious, but we both had tummy aches afterward.  WHOOPSIE!

Saturday I taught BodyStep/BodyPump Interval, which has been even more challenging than usual with my lack of energy from little Al.  My ritual (though I am sure many will scoff) is to go through McDonald's for a Diet Coke beforehand (tiny reward).  This time was different though, I ordered, pulled through to the window to pay, and the cashier said "No need to pay, the woman in front of you took care of it."  The lady in the car ahead of me paid for my order!!!  I was so happy!  She made my day.  Next Saturday I plan to pay it forward.  Yes, I will be going to McDonald's again this Saturday :)  

After class Ron and I ran some errands which included picking up some Starr Hill Pumpkin Ale (Boxcar), some Pumpkins, and getting gasoline.  We were headed to Alexandria for his friend and co-worker Don, and his wife Lisa's annual pumpkin carving party!  This trip that would normally take about two hours took three and a half.  ARGH traffic!  But we finally made it, and the results were fantastic (see Ron's first Jack'o'lantern below).  We had an amazing time and a ton of laughs, but we weren't laughing when I drove us back to Ashburn that night.  We were stuck on 495 for TWO AND A HALF HOURS!  That's right... midnight to 2:30 a.m., preggy bladder, and Ron bladder after a brew or two... stuck!  It was NOT FUN! It made us both appreciative of the fact that we live in Charlottesville, where even the worst traffic jams are not THAT bad.  

OH!  And on top of all of the great things that happened this weekend, how 'bout them Hoos!?  WAHOO WAH!  There is no way Ron won't let me hang the UVA flag outside our house if we win big like we did last weekend! 

Finally, we had our monthly appointment at the OB yesterday, and I have gained a whopping 9 pounds!  That nurse just wouldn't quit sliding the little weighty thingy up the scale!  They say it's a good thing, but Ron and I have pledged to stay away from Pizza Hut for a while.  Baby Al's heartbeat is strong.  Our next appointment will be 14 November, and our BIG ultrasound will be on 1 December.  We cannot wait to find out what gender you are, Little Al!

Our Very Very Fine House, with a Javy and a Ron in the Yard

Ron's Very First Jack'o'lantern!

What Hurts the Most

I am sure that when anyone gets pregnant, they go through certain withdrawals when they remove things from their diets and routines.  Since Baby Al was a surprise, it was like waking up one morning and having a handful of your favorite things disappear.... SHOCKER!

After talking to my mom and some other friends, I know that some of these "no-no's" are new since she was pregnant with her beautiful daughter (that's me!) and charming son (that's Kyle), and we turned out just fine (didn't we, mom!?); but for Ron and my sanity, we will follow doctor's orders (as closely as possible).

So the things that have been most hard to give up (in no particular order):

• Pumpkin Ale
• Pumpkin Ale
• Pumpkin Ale

Just kidding, mom!  

• Diet Coke (caffeine is not good for, Al)
• Deli meat if not heated (Bodos is NOT the same post microwave, ewa!)
• Sushi [sobbing]
• Any meat not well done [Sniffling]
• Pumpkin Ale [FULL BLOWN HYSTERICS]
• Hot tubs and heating pads (horrible timing for the fall and winter for someone who is eternally cold)
• Excederin (the only drug that alleviates my headaches)
• Horseback riding 

I think that maybe God decided that we shouldn't have these things so that they can be our consolation once the baby comes and we need something (other than that precious little one) to cheer us up after a sleepless night. Maybe?!

Really it has been less difficult than I felt it would be when the nurse broke the news, but nonetheless is a change in lifestyle! 

Building & Growing

There was very little time for us to sit around and thing about all of the changes that were taking place in our lives.  The fight or flight kicked in and we decided to fight.  We fell head over heels for both the builder, Piedmont, and the neighborhood, Belvedere, and quickly signed a contract for the "Ja-ja-ja-ja-G-Unit." What! What!? (See Pic #1 & Pic #2 below).  

This house has been so much fun!  We have picked out everything from the crevices in the doors, to the placement of the lights, to the cabinetry.  We really hope that all of our selections don't clash once they are in place :)  We go by the house almost daily now, because it is so exciting to see the little or big progress that has been made each time.  We will continue to post our photos as it comes along!  Expected close date of 10 November.  With any luck at all, we will host our first Thanksgiving here! 

                                                                        House Pic #1

House Pic #2

While the builders were fast and furiously pouring cement and putting up 2x4's, my body was busy pumping twice as much blood as usual through my body (causing bathroom breaks to become MUCH more frequent) and creating thousands of cells which would become Baby Al (see Baby Al photo below).  We had our first ultrasound on 12 September, and that made everything a little more real for us!  The ultrasound put us at 10 weeks and 6 days. Al is quite the good dancer!  His favorite move that day was the break dancer arm roll (picture the wave starting at one hand and progressing through your right arm, into your left arm and ending at your left fingers). The Doc said all was well and as it should be, and we left feeling a little more like parents than we were before we went in.  

Baby Al (Short for Alien) at 10 wks 6 days

It wasn't until about the millionth look at the ultrasound, 4 hours after our appointment) that I decided Al's head protruded a little too much for my liking and decided to freak out, which I think actually might have had a small affect on Ron as well.  We decided not to have any testing done for Downs, etc. and now I was rethinking that decision.  As we showed more friends, and after my second follow-up appointment (when the Doctor all but laughed at my concern), we decided to calm down a bit, and just chalk it up to genetics (Ron's large bald head and my side of the family's neanderthal foreheads.  I say both with the utmost affection!  MUAH!!). 

So there ya' have it!  Our whole life in progress as of mid-September!

How this blog got its name

A couple of weeks into the pregnancy, all was going well.  I felt great, other than being a little tired, and everything seemed to be progressing.  We had picked out where we wanted to live, Ron had started the loan process, and he had told the appropriate people at work the situation at hand so that we could start the wheels in motion to hopefully get him moved back down to C'ville.

This is a huge secret to keep, so we each had our confidants... mine was Mary Goodhall, long time friend and co-worker who could keep a good secret and as a mother of two beautiful girls, a great person to seek advice.  Ron confided in Tom, the man who so graciously allowed him to squat in his home for 9 months in D.C.  (thank you, Tom!).  Needless to say, this small circle increased pretty quickly.... I HAD to tell Kate G., because she recently gave birth to my lovely adopted niece, Grace!  Kate and I met for lunch one day, and I invited Amanda Browning to join.... I didn't have to say a word to Amanda... it went a little something like this:

Amanda:  Your boobs are HUGE!  Is there something that you need to tell me!?
Me: [three shades of pink] YES!  Ron and I are having a baby!

B-U-S-T-E-D!!

Ron also told a couple of friends from work.  At this point I felt like I was really not able to enjoy the beginning of this magical time, because the weight of telling Kathy and Guy (my parents) was baring on me.  Plus, who better to discuss all of the "beautiful" changes that occur during pregnancy with than your mother!?!?  Ron and I had decided early on that we would wait to tell family and friends until after the first trimester; being that our pregnancy was not planned, we figured there was no sense in raising a ruckus when there was still a high percentage chance for miscarriage. That being said, Kathy and Guy were making the annual journey back to Danville from their summer in NY and were stopping through C'ville for the night.  As their arrival approached I called Ron to tell him that if the opportunity presented itself, I wanted to spill the beans.  He agreed.

Mom and Dad arrived and went to dinner with Donny and Teresa while Ron and I attended Lisa and Hunter's ENGAGEMENT PARTY!!  (So much fun!)  We joined them for their dinner afterwards and got a kick out of Teresa's subtle comments about wanting to be a grandmother :)  Ron ordered a beer that didn't arrive until right as everyone was leaving.  I gave him a dirty look and told him we were missing our opportunity, so he ditched the brewski (he doesn't really like South Street anyway) and we headed home in nervous silence.  We walked into the house and the parentals were in the living room watching baseball.  PERFECT!!!!!!

My thoughts: "I must tell them now before I throw up and before Dad decides he needs to go to bed (it was wayyyy past his bedtime!)."

Ron's thoughts:  CLUELESS

"Mom... Dad.... We have some exciting news!  You're going to be Grandparents"  [CRICKETS]

Mom:  "You're getting another puppy!?"

Ron: Nervously  "Erin and I are having a baby."

Apparently Ron didn't realize that I was going to tell them so quickly and was taken completely off guard.  Whoopsie!  Mom and Dad handled it in the best way that we could have hoped for. And after several very legit questions and concerns, I think that they might have even been a little bit excited!

And so our blog got its title :)

What now!?

It was determined after that early morning call, that we were having a baby!! (Saying/typing it now makes my heart skip a beat (from joy); saying it then made my heart skip a beat (in trepidation).

Ron, being the amazing man that he is, drove down to Charlottesville that night, but I had a prior engagement,... my friend and co-worker, Lauren's baby shower!  Talk about a timely preview of what was to come!  It was a great time, but my head was filled with a million questions.  For those of you who don't know me, I like to be in control.... that morning blew my control factor to smithereens!  After the lovely shower, I went home to find Ron there.

He informed me that he was going to try to get his job back in Charlottesville.  No words have ever sounded so sweet.

When Ron left Thursday morning at 4 a.m. we had a solid gameplan.... he was going to try to move back, we were going to buy a house, and we were excited about the new journey that we were embarking on. [Screeching halt sound]  WHAT THE HELL ARE WE DOING!?!?!?!?

Only a few small obstacles stood in the way:

• Telling our families (especially my folks)
• Ron getting his job
• Actually buying a house
• NOT telling everyone else in our worlds, then
• Telling everyone else in our worlds
• Getting through the first trimester 

And these obstacles, my friends, will make up the next few blogs to get ya' up to date!

The Beginning!

Well it has been one whirlwind of a three months here in little ole' Charlottesville Virginia.  Where to even begin, I don't know!?!

I guess we can start from the very beginning!  Ron and I met in August of 2010 at Live Band Kareoke at Felinis!  He was bald, big, and totally my type :)  We got off to a slow start, but began seriously dating in December, right when.....he moved to Washington, D.C.  O.K., Washington is only about 2 hours from Charlottesville, why not give it a whirl!  So we did!

Fast forward 9 months [fastforward sound]....

The setting: 6:00 a.m. on a Wednesday morning. Ron is fast asleep.  Erin calls and wakes Ron from a dead sleep -- "Ron" a groggy response of "hey." "Call me back when you wake up." "No.  I'm up.  What's up." "I'm pregnant." "WHAT?"..... SILENCE, for what seemed like an eternity.  Finally Ron says "I'm kind of excited."

And so begins our story :)

                                                           And he wrastles gators :)