Weekend Update

We had a lovely weekend with Jan, Amy, and Eric Scott in Minneapolis. We ordered pizza and had a relaxing evening in on Friday. The guest suite at Grant Park worked out well - it was nice to have everyone in the same building! Brian made a yummy breakfast Saturday morning and then the ladies headed out on a shopping adventure. Amy and Jan took me on an extremely helpful educational tour at Babies R Us - the aisles aren't quite as scary any more! Was able to finish up registering thanks to their help. Brian and Eric Scott headed off to Lifetime Fitness and spent all afternoon running around the gym and playing in the pool - they sure had fun and Brian came home absolutely exhausted. We had dinner at Bucca downtown and then watched the Velveteen Rabbit with Eric Scott. Had my first weepy pregnancy hormone moment - I literally cried through the last 30 minutes of the movie - oh man! Bella sure loved having a little buddy all weekend - every time she saw Eric Scott she'd wag her tail like crazy and give him kisses. He liked to scoop her up and carry her around - her facial expressions in the pictures are pretty priceless ;)

Baby Brian

Brian's mom sent up a couple childhood photos of him so we can compare to our little guy as he grows up - so fun! I have to say he was one cute baby :)



Speaking of Brian - he had a rockstar week at work - Bella, Baby, and I are so proud! He won a big account that he had been working on since last July so we went out to celebrate Monday evening.

We're excited to have visitors from Iowa this weekend! Brian's mom, sister, and nephew will be in town. Eric Scott and I have the same taste in food so grocery shopping was fun - we both love chicken nuggets!

Enjoy the weekend!
:::hugs:::

Kick Kick Kick!

Baby W has been getting more and more active in there and I'm loving it! I can usually feel him the best late in the afternoon and in the evening when I've been sitting or laying down for a little while. I think he's flipped around again - these past few day all the action is on my right side. After 2 weeks of grabbing Brian's hand so he could feel it and missing it baby finally cooperated and Brian got to feel 2 kicks tonight! So happy he can share this with me now.

More Randomness

***KKG Wine Tasting***

Baby and I hosted the annual Kappa Kappa Gamma Twin Cities Alumni Association Wine Tasting event at Grant Park on March 11th. We had a good showing and raised $500 for Reading is Fundamental (RIF). Baby and I had a teeny tiny sip of each kind during the tasting - confirmed that I still love my reds and I think baby was a fan of the bubbles in the prosseco. Looking forward to that first big ole glass of wine this fall. Glad the event went well but after being on my feet all evening they were killing me - got my first foot massage from Brian which was heavenly! Time to lay off the heels. My friend Batch (Amy Batchelder) brought me a fun treat for hosting - this onsie cracks me up! I think it'll be the perfect outfit for baby to wear if he joins me at dinner club with the ladies this fall. Thanks Amy!


***Wedding Workshop***
Last Spring I took baby steps into the wedding industry by starting Bella Day Weddings for wedding day coordination and management. It was a lot of fun getting a website up and got great experience by coordinating 2 weddings last summer. So far it's been a fun little hobby, and I would love to transition it into a part time job after baby arrives. Who knows, maybe someday it can be my career! Since we found out about baby in November I haven't done much with it - between traveling a ton for work and the pregnancy excitement it's had to take a backseat. Ironically I've received several requests from brides to coordinate their June/July/August weddings which definitely isn't an option, but was encouraging. Anyway, Amy Rubins of Fete Perfection is a premier wedding planner in the Twin Cities, and when I found out she was hosting a day long "Weducation" workshop for those interested in a career in the industry I jumped at the opportunity to learn from an expert and signed up. It was last Saturday from 7am-7pm and was packed full of helpful information and guest appearances from top MN wedding vendors. Amy posted some pictures on her blog but preggo meggee avoided the camera so you won't see me in any :) It made me even more excited for the future of Bella Day Weddings but also painted a realistic picture of the field - it's definitely not the glamorous job Hollywood makes it seem like. Have lots of work to do to make the company legit, (Branding, Trademark, Hiring an Attorney to draft Contracts, file to be a LLC, etc)none of which is cheap. So first I need to get the hang of being a mommy and adjust to going back to work, but when the time is right and the investment is feasible I'm excited to move forward!


***St. Paddy's Day***
I wore my one and only green maternity shirt yesterday in an attempt to be festive, and gave going out my best effort. My sister met me downtown after work and we headed over to O'Donnavans Pub for happy hour with a bunch of the girls. I talked the door lady into not having to pay cover because I was pregnant - nice! I lasted about 2 hours and had 3 rounds of ice water before my feet started hurting and I called it a night. Don't have any Irish blood in me but it's still fun to pretend for a day!


***Congratulations Ellen***
My friend Ellen had her beautiful baby girl (Morgan Marie Chestnut) on Tuesday! So excited for her - she'll be a fabulous mommy. Maybe Morgan will be in the KKG pledge class of 2028?!?! We've sure come a long way from college - from sorority girls to motherhood - time sure flies! I was looking back at pictures and found a fun one from La Fuente - cheers to the Chesnut family!

Random Updates

***Registry Fun***
Over the last week we've started the registry process - it's been so fun to start picking out items for baby! Thanks to some great books and helpful recommendations from recent new mamas, family, and nice ladies at the store we've picked out the basics. Decided to go with Restoration Hardware Baby & Child, Babies R Us, and Buy Buy Baby. Brian got to man the scanner at BRU which he found entertaining for about 5 minutes, and then we decided to add most things online. If any moms out there have recommendations for items they could not have lived without I would love your suggestions - leave me a comment!

I'm really excited about the infant carseat and stroller we picked out. Debated on brands and kinds forever. Travel system vs separate is apparently a hot debate in books and chatboards. Figured a "test drive" was in order so we went to Baby USA and tried out the 3 that got the best reviews. It was pretty humerous watching us attempt to take the carseats out of the bases and snap into the strollers etc - we have some practicing to do. Went with the Chicco Keyfit 30 travel system - we liked how it "drove", was "easy" to use, and got great reviews in the books and in Consumer Reports.


Here is another "fun" selection - had to go with the Cadillac version if I'm actually going to stick with it. Hands free, double electric pump...woot woot :)


***Tap Tap Tap***
I think I'm finally starting to feel baby in there! Over the last week I've been feeling a tiny tapping sensation. Starting to be able to pick it out more frequently - it's such a cool feeling. Still can't feel it from the outside yet but it doesn't stop Brian from trying a couple times a day - so cute!


***Dates To Look Forward To***
Family and Friends have been amazingly supportive and I'm blown away by their generosity. I now have a reason to look forward to April, May and June which will help with the countdown to July. Brian's sister Amy and Aunt Sherri are hosting a shower for me in Des Moines April 24th, and it sounds like my Aunts have a Chicago shower in the works for May 22nd. My best friend Amy and my sister Katie have something fun up their sleeve in Minneapolis June 19th with college and MN friends. So excited to spend time with family and friends that I don't get to see nearly enough. You guys are awesome!


***In Memory Of***
Unfortunately this week started out on a tragic note. My good friend Molly's father (Larry Olson) passed away on Wednesday, 3/10 after a courageous battle with cancer. A group of 11 of us have stayed super close since college (The DCrew) and 5 of the girls were able to make the trip to Minneapolis for the funeral yesterday so 7 of us could be together. Made us realize how lucky we are to have such an amazing group of friends. The service was incredibly touching and it was a celebration of the life of a wonderful man. Made me want to drive straight to Burnsville and give my dad a huge hug. Love you daddy!


***ReOrg Ahead***

Oops - they did it again... Yesterday there was a big announcement at work - the SVP of my division is leaving the company and there are no plans to replace his position. The CEO is hosting a divisional meeting next Monday to talk about the future of our area. It's looking like they'll be eliminating our division and breaking apart the departments to be absorbed by other areas of the company. In my year a half here this will be the 2nd major reorg I've been a part of, and is the 3rd in the last 2 years. At this point its almost comical. It could be a great opportunity or a nightmare depending on where my team gets placed and who we report up to. It's kind of like watching a train wreck about to happen... is it July yet?


***Brian***
So I asked Brian if he had any updates or ideas for the Blog, and he says to say "hi" and that's about it ;) He's crazy busy at work and is really liking being at RJF Agencies.


***Condo***
Our Realtor contacted us today to schedule a 2nd showing on Saturday for a potential buyer who came through 2 Sundays ago. Keeping our fingers crossed he falls in love with our place - it's at the top end of his price range so we'll see how it goes.


Random huh??? Life is good - thanking God for the many blessings in our lives. Glad Spring is arriving (yay flip flops!) and so excited for the adventure that lies ahead! xoxo

22 Week Ultrasound

It was so fun to see little man this afternoon! Today was my follow up appointment to get the heart and profile pictures they couldn't get back in February when baby was sleeping. I ate something right before my appointment this time and had a few sips of real Diet Coke *yummy* and sure enough baby cooperated today. He was waving his arms and legs and kept opening and closing his mouth like he was swallowing. Not that we doubted the last ultrasound but it was confirmed again today that it's a boy!

Baby has flipped and his head is now down on my right size with his body going diagonal across me and his feet up by my leftside ribs. His heartrate was 136 and the tech could see the 4 heart chambers and valves opening and closing. When he fell asleep he had his arms wrapped behind his little head like he was lounging, which is exactly how Brian sleeps. He's taking after his daddy already!

The ultrasound got scheduled with only a few days notice and unfortunetly Brian had an important work meeting he couldn't miss. My mom came with me which was really fun - pretty cool for her to see her first grandbaby!

Here are the pictures I was able to take home:







The last one gave us a good laugh. I asked the tech to get a "boy" picture for Brian - thought he would get a kick out of it. When baby finally spread his legs and she got a good view, he promptly moved his little hand down there and wouldn't move it. Boys will be boys...

Future Cyclone...

We got a super fun package in the mail this weekend from our good friends Stef & Troy. Baby Woods now has his first ISU gear and it's adorable - thanks so much guys! Maybe he'll get to wear them tailgating this fall ;)



Made me think of one of my favorite baby pictures of Katie and I:


Let's go Cyclones!!!

Baby Item Research

I've spent the last couple weekends curled up on the couch reading baby books and researching online and am finally feeling a little less clueless about baby items. So much more to learn, but I figure that's what the first year is all about!

A big thanks to my friend Jessica for recommending the book "Baby Bargains" and to my cousin's wife Camilla for sending me her copy. It was full of helpful information and answered a lot of basic questions that I had been wondering about. The safety tips and ways to save $ were great. The best part was all of the product recommendations based on real mom reviews.


Being the organized dork I am I made a pretty color coded spreadsheet for the top recommendations and cross checked them with Consumer Reports and found the items online at Babies R Us and Buy Buy Baby. Narrowed the list down to my favorites and then headed out to baby stores to check them out in person. It's been quite the productive weekend! Feeling really good about the big essentials we've picked out and am excited to start registering!

21 Week Doctor Appointment

Just got back from my monthly appointment and was excited to get a good report! She said I'm measuring 22 cm for fundal height which is right on track. My favorite part is getting to listen to the heartbeat which came in strong at 145. She said she could feel the baby moving, so I think we'll be doing a lot of belly poking in the next week to see if we can feel him. Most likely I just don't know what it's suppose to feel like yet and am not recognizing it. Everything looked normal from the last ultrasound, but since baby was sleeping most of the time and didn't feel like shifting positions they didn't get the profile and heart pictures they needed so I get to go back in next Wednesday for another ultrasound - yay!!! She isn't concerned at this point that baby is breech - plenty of time for him to flip around. At my next appointment in early April they'll be doing the glucose screening for gestational diabetes. She also gave me the # for Labor and Delivery at Methodist Hospital in case anything comes up after hours - made me realize it really is less than 4 months away now - craziness!

Well my baby's daddy was in court this afternoon so he was unable to join me at the appointment. He was able to expertly negotiate his way out of his 2nd traffic ticket in 6 months so his record will remain clean as a whistle - baby and I are so proud! As Aunt Amy pointed out, let's hope he can transfer his smooth talking skills to our son:) My sister Katie came with me and it was super fun for her to get to hear the heartbeat.

We've had a couple condo showings in the last week, have one scheduled for Sunday, and will hopefully get one or two more over the weekend. Bella is not a fan of having her toys and bed constantly put away but is loving her field trips to grandma & grandpa's while the Realtors do the walkthroughs. The poor girl has no idea her life is about to change - can't wait for her to meet baby for the first time - will definitely need to capture this moment on video!