24 weeks.

the time is flying by.
you kids will have to bear with the photogenic picture this time. i haven't been sleeping despite the fact that i'm soo bleeping tired. wish you could see the super cute haircut i got this week. i just didn't have the energy to do it this morning. my hairdresser is exactly as far along in her pregnancy as i am, but she's having twins. a boy and a girl. she is tiny! so cute. anywho.



have my appointment on tuesday. anxious to hear that heartbeat again and go over the results of the ultrasound. just wanting some reassurance today. not sure why... maybe because i've been thinking a lot about my mom. she delivered my brother at 27/28 weeks. cannot imagine delivering in 4 weeks. nope. not gonna think about it. just weird to think about and compare.

the kidlet is about the size of an ear of corn. still not 100% positive on the kicks/movements. i do get some rather strange sensations below my belly button. tends to get really hard too. and i'm thinking these crazy urges to pee are from the kidlet using my bladder as a trampoline. but i couldn't tell ya for sure. i could just be going crazy.

feeling like my appetite is slowing down. haven't been as ravenous as i have in the previous weeks. i'm still seriously hungry in the morning. it's crazy until after lunch. then it mellows out.

no new cravings. just my smoothie kick every single morning. still want nothing to do with potato chips. craving more fruits. which i guess is a good thing! even made a second smoothie today to quench that craving!

most people are guessing it's a girl. nick's family has said that from day one. his aunt especially. they were still adamant about it on thanksgiving. i know nick's cousin is also thinking it's a girl. no one is really fessing up to thinking it's a boy. however, it's funny to hear people try and talk about baby. it/he/she. then they try to correct themselves if they refer to it in one gender or the other.

ooh, have been able to sleep through the night! no more pee breaks at 3 am. so exciting. now if only i could sleep again. i know these past two days have been an exception, but still. i want to stockpile those sleep hours now!

have a super busy week. will try to keep with frequent updates. most definitely will update on tuesday with baby news after the appointment. hmmm, and maybe tomorrow for some randomness.

exhausted.

yesterday kicked my ass more than i realized.
tried to go to joann's. walked in the door and turned around and walked right back out. the line was wrapped around the building. craziness.
so i stopped at the bank, hello christmas bonus! came home and ordered what i wanted from joann's online. just getting some storage solutions for the new room. so close to being done. i did leave a few things off the order. figured i could get them cheaper after accumulating some 40% off coupons!
laid around like a bunch of slugs. okay, nick did rip up the carpet upstairs and pull the pad out. then it was pure laziness. bunch of mythbusters and get smart.
made this for dinner. twas okay. not sure if it hit the spot.
these however, were a bright spot in the long day that was yesterday. that and the dinner we had at cappos with nick's mom afterwards. yumminess.
lesse. since i've been a complainer the last few posts... what else have we done.
mantle is up. looks great. now just have to find stuff to put on it. pictures soon. have to take some 24 week shots tomorrow too... so maybe it will be one ginormo picture post. going out with a bang for the last of the 30 posts in 30 days...
watched run fatboy run. so much funnier than anticipated.
not much else. looking forward to the rest of the lazy day.

black friday.

and i didn't get to do a bit of shopping. the trip to sears on the way to nick's work for a shop vac doesn't count. nor does the coach purse i'm receiving from a girlfriend who braved the outlet mall without me this year.
instead we did lots and lots of moving. i'm exhausted. nick is too. he should be. he did more. but dude, i'm almost 6 mos pregnant and spent the day moving boxes, so i don't feel like too big of dork by admitting that i'm on my way to bed when it's only 930...

turkey fun.

hope everyone has a great turkey day!
nick and i were able to sleep in. we're now just putzing around with some projects before we meet everyone for dinner. the families are going out this year. no cooking! no cleanup! but it does mean dressing a bit nicer. oh well, the sacrifices we make. ;o)
and a fun turkey quiz i stumbled upon. i didn't do so hot. maybe 9 right! oy. better study up on turkeys!
and then some cute cartoons...


happy thanksgiving!

curling up...

with my hubby on the couch, eating some leftovers, watching some movies and maybe even top chef.
perfect evening after a crazy three day work week!
what makes it even beter? not waking to an alarm clock tomorrow. of course, i'm sure this means i'll be wide awake at like 730!

oh cooking light....

i applauded you and your recipes just yesterday. however, i just received and had a chance to look through my current issue and what do i see but chocolate hazelnut meringue kisses...


someone in your company should have warned you that it looks like poop in a bowl. seriously, not appetizing. and it wasn't just me. i showed everyone in my office. all 10 of us agreed... totally looks like something you wouldn't necessarily want to eat.

but then, i turn the page and see these beauties. oatmeal toffee cookies.

i am so making them for my cookie exchange at work. so i guess you are forgiven for the poop pictures. just don't let it happen again. ;o)

a quick and tasty dinner.

yum.
nick's comment... i would be happy if they served this to me in a restaurant. i guess i did good.
was dying for feta. whenever i thought about it, we would be out to dinner and the places wouldn't know if it was pasteurized. and being the good mom i am, i just couldn't eat it. so i was on a feta recipe hunt.
this is what i found...

thank you cooking light. you made our bellies happy!

23 weeks.

so crazy.
feeling good. feeling fat. ;o) all the comments from friends, family, and patients help with that! makes me laugh. that they are comfortable enough to joke with me.
still napping consistently throughout the week.
have been less hungry. which i guess is a good thing considering i'm feeling so fat. still eating plenty. just not as much. still fast. but smaller quantities.
no weird cravings. okay, i lied. friday night we were going to have pasta. on a whim, i decided that a cheeseburger and fries would be much, much better!
made my first purchase at motherhood this week. my girlfriend, shela, convinced me i need their pants. i do. they are comfy! however, they need to work on their sizing. medium is too small and large is too big. where is lardium? i kid. but they need some inbetween sizes....
trying to figure out what to wear to all these holiday festivities. wishing there were more cute maternity stores nearby. oh well.
been wearing nick's scrubs to work with some tees. been comfy, cozy. hope this solution works the next few months! i do not want to buy more scrubs!
have lots to get done with the shower this week... fingers crossed i can complete my to do list!

i finally...

made a pioneer woman recipe!
her blueberry smoothie.
kinda funny that i drool over her website multiple times a week and the first thing i make requires no cooking!
was pretty tasty. wish my frozen blueberries were sweetened. added a boatload of honey and sugar which probably countered the whole nutritious breakfast idea i was going for!

magic bullet.

get your minds out of the gutter.
this magic bullet.
bought it a while back. used it for the first time yesterday. it it my favorite infomercial buy ever! okay, we bought it at costco. but still.
all three concoctions have been uber delicious. nick was a little carried away with the chocolate syrup for his banana creation but mine have been great.
anyone have any favorite smoothie recipes? picked up some frozen fruit today at the store. am anxious to try some new recipes!

it pains me to say...

i purchased a martha stewart craft product.
gasp. shock.
but it's cute.
and i really was smitten with her little glitter packs. but i said no. maybe because nick was standing next to me and we're trying our darndest to stick to our budgets...
meet the postage stamp punch.
isn't it pretty?
i'm really excited to use it. totally thought of liz when i had it in my hands. a while back she had little postage stamp things on a bunch of her projects. i think it was these. or something similar. i was jealous. now i'm a little less jealous. ;o)

oh and...crowdSPRING, hire Kelly Purkey for your new Community Marketing Manager!
nope. never met kelly, but she seems pretty cool. and i just love her style. and it's a scrappy post, so why not!

photogenic.

just like its mommy....
did you notice the sarcasm? the baby was a side laying mover. don't think we could have found out the sex if we wanted too! couldn't even get a decent face shot.
have NEVER had to pee so badly in my entire life. the prep of lots of h20, the long car ride, the cold, and the moving kid were such a joy! the ultrasound tech was super nice and told me she would try to go as fast as she could. so sweet of her. also think she really wanted me to go because the kidlet wasn't cooperating. said it was up under my ribs for a while and wanted to see if she could get cooperation from the baby. no such luck! and honestly, i wouldn't expect our child to be the cooperative type! ;-P
here are the individual shots if you like.....
psst. for you non ultrasound readers, the head is to the right.

103 pairs of socks.

no, i don't own that many pairs.... i don't think.
however, nick just got a phone call that our friend does have 103 pairs. so the boys are discussing who has more. there is NO way i have that many! so nick now wants to count them.
i do love socks. the cuter the better. and the warmer the better. but considering i really only wear them in winter and to work, there isn't even a possibility that i have more than that. christy so has me beat.
i'm sure there will be an update at some point on this blog when my silly husband decides he has to count my socks. ;o)

smiles.

ah, mr. timberlake. he makes me laugh. {side note: he was the best part of love guru...}
tried to embed this and couldn't. that and half the ones i found, were gone moments after finding them. darn nbc.
it's mr. jt on snl again. dancing with beyonce. and this one is different than the original i saw. just as funny. single lady skit.
oh and i do love paul rudd. he was the best in clueless. i think that's where the crush began. and i cannot wait to see him in role models!

and another thing that makes me smile today.
meh is now in the dictionary!

i bought this shirt for my brother last year at thinkgeek! i swear the boy answers every question he can with meh!

fun with scrap supplies.

us laying out the study furniture in its new home. how bad would it have sucked if it didn't fit!!??
thankfully, we measured and remeasured. the only thing we didn't take into consideration was the thickness of the wall. we have a few inches of breathing room... phew!

i'm really loving how it looks. cannot wait for the wall to be completed. hopefully, soon! like end of month. but i'll be okay with it by christmas.

now i have the fun job of unpacking and reorganizing all my scrap supplies. have lots to donate. have to think of new, creative ways to store some stuff. i'm giving up the closet upstairs and need to figure out where to cram all that stuff too! eek. any favorite storage tips/ideas/webpages are welcome.

off to make my house less of a disaster!

halfway!

yay! who knew i could do 15 in a row? fingers crossed i make it to 30!



kinda nice having daily tidbits to look back upon. makes it easier to recap too. must try harder to update more after november! ;o)

tgi fridays.

went here for dinner. was a bit of a splurge for us. but we used a coupon from our free entertainment coupon book... thanks dad! ;o)
had a heck of a time deciding on what i wanted to eat. nothing sounds better than a medium steak right now. with some blue cheese on top. but since that ain't happening. i settled on some pasta dish. which was no longer availabe. settled for some stinky sandwich. so not what i was hoping for. nick got a ribeye. his usual. it was off their bbq menu. that is some good sauce. had some pork raviolis that were tasty too.
now we're hunkered down and packing away. seriously, how did i get so much shit in this scraproom? the amount of supplies is sickening....

pretty high def.

finally got our new directv high def receiver/recorder straightened out. hadn't even had it a day and were having troubles. so frustrating. made like 8 phone calls and had a service call on halloween. still broken.
yesterday we got a new box. having a working high def receiver/recorder makes me sooo happy. i was so fine with tivo upstairs, but now i'm getting spoiled. i mean food network in hd? makes me drool just thinking about it.
and sports in hd? there is just nothing like it.
oh and recording two things at once. or recording something while watching something else. so spoiled. and so necessary now that there is thursday night football and grey's. ;o)

a night on the town...

nick and i are headed downtown for a dinner meeting. one of the nice thing about both of us being health professionals is we can tag along to each others meetings. this will be the first.
hopefully, the food is yummy.
will give you a review on gioco tomorrow!

blech.

i dislike daylight saving time.
it was pitch black at 5pm today. i don't like it.
and i like it less when it's pitch black when i get up too...
sigh. i should carry a pocket sunlight lamp with me or something, winter just makes me tired!

plugging away...

at the to do list i posted friday. got lots done including lots that hadn't made the list. like donating almost 50 books to the library. yay books! boo spending on books i only read once...

my stuff is mostly done. still currently working on packing the study. still need to compile the list of addresses. which i guess i have some time considering the invitations could take 3 weeks to arrive?! wha? didn't wrap gifts or order christmas cards. but i did look at a lot. there are sooo many choices!
even made nick dinner... gourmet of course. ;o) recipe can be found here.

my mom always made me the mini verson for my birthday. minus the cheese. was feeling a bit nostalgic and wanted some for dinner. nick loved em. the cheese was a pretty tasty addition! the left overs even reheated well. double bonus!

nick had a few snafu's with some of his projects. he gave up and started crocheting again! maybe i'll, ahem, our kid, will get a blanket out of it! wanted this one. not sure if that'll happen. have to stop at j's to thumb through some books and give him a want list.
if anyone is a crochet-er and have a fav, fun blanket... please share!

20 week review.

so i'm a little behind since technically i'm now 21 weeks. but it'll do.
and depending on what website you go to it varies a few weeks anyway...

picture taken 11.2.08. not the greatest. but is keeping with our monthy tradition. tank and that same ole trusty wall. not that you readers would know, since i haven't really shared those sexy pics!


had a check up with my ob's np 10.29.08. {during week 18, according to her - the nurse practitioner} {again with the differences in time...} doing good. gaining weight. think i'm up 12-ish pounds so far. could be worse! baby bean's heartbeat was 150. so she, the np, thinks it is a boy. my ob thinks it is a girl. his rationale was that the heartrate was easy to find at the check up in september and the rate was 170 then. kinda funny that they both guessed differently.
ultrasound is scheduled for 11.19. could have been sooner but those crazy floods i mentioned a while back are really messing with my plans. they had to close their main campus due to flooding and are trying to accomodate lots and lots of patients with the smaller site.

after all of the craziness the first trimester brought, the second has been a breeze. yes, i have fatigue. and back pain. but all in all, i think i'm doing pretty darn good. not much nausea. it's hit or miss. dependent upon smells i encounter through out the day. i can't imagine having constant nausea and trying to do my job. that would be so not fun.

the napping is on the decline. usually just a really big one sometime mid week. otherswise, most nights i can stay awake until bedtime. crazy to think that something like not napping is a huge feat!

i'm really glad to be working so much. i think it's helping keeping me in check with food and exercise. and it gives me something to do other than worry! which is on the decline. i mean what can i do now? been focusing on all the remodeling and organization going on in the house. but dreading having to buy new scrubs. it's getting close. maybe i'll just nab nick's. would be so much cheaper!

no new, crazy cravings. haven't really had a desire to eat potato chips. totally odd for me. have had a hankering for fruit. all kinds. again, totally odd for me. nothing like the crazy chicken nugget cravings that were going on the first few weeks. that was just silly!

have felt flutters for a while now. not sure about definite kicks. however, today i think i might have felt the bean doing some flips. who knows! and i'm sure once the big ones start, i will wish for the days when the were less painful and more flutters. ;o) i know nick is dying to feel a kick.

he's still the cutest throughout this whole thing. i get yelled at a lot for trying to do too much. ahem, climbing on counters and carrying certain items. he's a hoot. it's funny to see the annoyance when i'm like, 'babe...' and then when i explain what i need, he's eager to help. honestly, i'm not milking it too much. really not at all. i try to steer clear of the dishwasher and cat vomit. just afraid it would push me over the edge and i really don't want that!

have two front runners for names picked out. kinda leery on one since it's becoming more and more common. sad, since it's been one of our names forever. might still be. who knows. also stumbled across a variation of another increasingly common name that we kind of like. if you guys have any suggestions, we're totally open. so bombard us. i think that we're sticking with our middle names for the kid... so ryan for a boy and marie for a girl.

the baby banana {that's the size at 21 weeks} almost has a room. the closet is done. nick did a great job. and for cheap. thank you lowes. really like how it turned out. just found out the crib will be delivered in a few weeks. the room will be emptied out next weekend and the painting will begin. fun!

i have caved a bought a few clothes. i think two outfits. darn kohls and their half off sale a few weeks ago...

could not help myself with this cow one. i saw it online and had to have it. soooo cute! i even bought it a for like 6 mos i think. figured i would get tons of newbie stuff at the shower and if not, i can go on a shopping spree! really liked that it was unisex and not green, yellow, or orange!

then i found this one while i was in the store. so much for avoiding the yellow, green, and orange! the feet were just too cute! so i came home with these two outfits for like $15. go me!

k. enough. baby bean overload. and if you read the whole thing, i'm so proud!! ;o)

november byom.

design team stuff made with this month's bring your own memories kit. i believe there are a few left, so grab one while you can. honestly, the pictures don't do the kit justice!


quick page for my daily guru book:



page for my book of me. after creating the layout, i found out the picture was chosen to be published... so yay!



another for bom. i honestly have a serious hoodie obsession/addiction.



quick card. wanted to use my punch to make the scenic route chipboard. could be my favoritest quick card ever. ;o)



all scraps with this one.



really wanted to use the triangle piece. was harder than i expected. turned out alright tho....

off and running.

huge to do list for this weekend.
like i'm exhausted thinking about it.
and right now, i'm on break. i just cleaned the family room! have lots more little rooms and projects to tackle. hoping to pace myself and not overwhelm myself.
this christmas shopping has me thinking christmas cards... should put that on my list too.
-clean, clean, clean
-patch carpet {nick}
-pack scraproom {hoping nick helps}
-wrap gifts - maybe
-order baby shower invites
-get list of addresses for all invitees compiled
-christmas cards
-wrap christmas gifts
-get to good will to drop off bags from purged closet
-pipe insulation {nick}
-laundry {nick}, folding {shan}
-grocery shopping?
-cable jack into new study {nick}
-dinner or movies with the fam on saturday
-maybe rock band with lil bro. tonight
- bears vs. titans on sunday. hopefully, the bears don't lose too terribly.
hmmm, i think that's it. well, it's plenty regardless. oh and it didn't include blog updates, which i fully intend to do too!

christmas shopping....

can you believe christmas is only 48 days away?
i can't believe it.
nick and i started today and crossed three people off our list. woohoo!
now i have this insane urge to wrap them...
and yes, i'm crazy. i don't think i've ever started this early. well, maybe. but never had people completely done. kinda nice. maybe this should become a routine thing. i am so not a fan of crowds. however, i am a fan of procrastinating! ;o)

le tired.

yesterday kicked my bootay. getting up early to vote, staying up late to find out the results, two busy days at work. made for one tired shannon.
came home and napped since about 7. almost forgot to post. real good only five days into nablopomo!
the title is a flashback to this old cartoon. makes me laugh every time.

we did it.

here we are. at the butt crack of dawn. it's probably not that early now. maybe 7ish. us being dutiful citizens and voting. look at our red and blue scrubs. we're dorks. and no, they don't represent how we voted! and yes, people looked at us like we were crazy when i made nick take this picture!
waited a while. was way late to work. oh well.
can't wait to see how it turns out. either way. should be quite an interesting evening.
oh and my county/polling place was lame. no stickers or notes.
this is what i ended up with...
on the left you'll see the 'note' from my polling place. doubt i'll need it for work but hey, why not? the buttons were made at work. one of our receptionists heard i was angry that i didn't get a sticker so she wanted to make me one. the top right is her original verson. we then decided to look for a 'real' one online and then printed it on the color printer. we were even smart enough to laminate them. and by laminate them, i mean cover them in packing tape for protection. ;o)

happy election day!
oh and hopefully a non political post tomorrow....

must get up...

early tomorrow!!!
i start work at 730am. have to figure out if the lines for voting are going to be ridiculous. planning on getting there for 630ish and crossing my fingers that all goes quickly. thinking my breakfast will be mcdonalds. oh so healthy!
am all researched and ready. if you still need help on finding out who to vote for check out this site...
and who knew?! wishing our krispy kreme hadn't closed.

nablopomo.

who knew?
gonna try. good thing i posted something yesterday. and since i'm posting this today, i'm going to postpone my first twenty weeks of pregnancy post. or maybe even break them up a bit to recap. crazy to think i'm halfway there.
anywho.
anyone else gonna join in this challenge?

traffic was a nightmare.

so senator obama was in my area last night. pretty cool. pretty darn crowded. you can read about it here.
i got off of work around 3 and had to drive past the park. took me 15 minutes. normally would be a breeze. less than a minute. stoplights were shut down. lanes were blocked off. news trucks everywhere.
i cannot imagine cramming 40000 people to that park. and the parking. oy. the article comments on all of that.
cool nonetheless.
also cool to think that our county could be the swing factor in going red or blue. might be the first time since indiana votes democrat since lyndon johnson.
planning on leaving super early to vote tuesday. have already heard about ridiculous lines to vote early... hoping the day of goes a bit more quickly!