Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice!

That’s right, folks – we are having a girl!  A beautiful little girl!   A daughter!   And we are just over the moon with excitement and joy!

We had our 19 week ultrascan today where we had a very detailed ultrasound and took a look at all of our little baby’s vital organs, growing limbs, and beautiful beating heart!   My, how our baby has grown – despite our technician saying that I’m “tiny” to be where we are in our pregnancy!   (For the record, I don’t feel tiny, but bless your heart for making a pregnant any woman feel good!)   Our little girl’s growth is progressing perfectly!   We were told that she weighs approximately 11 ounces at this point, which is a tad on the large side, but nothing to be worried about.   Her heart was steadily beating at 143 beats per minute and we saw the lovely little outline of her nose and lips.   Both of which are perfect!  (Can you tell we are a bit biased?!)   We also saw perfect little kissable fingers and toes, and when we first started our ultrasound she was laying on her side with her arms folded up by her head – sleeping just like her Mommy!

We got to see her big, beautiful, four chambered heart beating fast and full of love, of course!   And we saw her stomach, kidneys and brain and got the ‘everything looks wonderful’ approval on all.   I told you our child is perfect! (At what point in our pregnancy can I start the Mommy gloating?!   Um, perhaps NOW!)   We saw her four limbs stretched out and made sure that she was receiving enough nutrients through her umbilical cord.   Everything is progressing wonderfully!

There is one little issue with my dear placenta.   Apparently my placenta is low lying right now.  (I like to say “lying low”.)   Perhaps this explains the small bump, or lack thereof - everything could just be stacking up in there instead of expanding out!   This can lead to placenta previa which is where the placenta remains at the bottom of the womb and completely blocks the cervix.   We would have no option other than having a C-section if that is the case; however, our doctor told us that it appears that my placenta is thinning out and she expects it to fully make the move to the top of my womb.  (I’ve heard of rain dances. Are there placenta push dances?!)   Neither Brian nor I are that worried about this.   Like I said, the very worst case is that my placenta decides it would not like to make room for baby, stays put, and requires us to have a C-section.   There is no harm done to Daddy, Mommy, or Baby (or Jack or Bun)!   We have another appointment at week 28 to see if we have made any sort of progress on the placenta front, so, until then, we will all continue to lay low!

In other baby news, as of today, I have 100% confirmed that I can feel our little girl move!   She is tumbling, twisting, and turning in there, and I love the special moments that we have together!  I can hear her now, “MOMMY!  I finally got your attention!  I’ve been trying for 4.5 months now!”   (I promise you will never have to work hard to keep my attention, my sweet girl!)   Brian actually got to feel his little girl move too!  We were laying in bed and he had his hand on my stomach. I was nearly asleep when I even felt a strong kick.  Brian immediately popped his head up and exclaimed, quite matter of factly, “That definitely wasn’t you!”  I could see the joy and excitement in his eyes in that moment and thinking back on it makes me smile!  You make your Daddy and I so proud already, Baby!

So, we are nearly half way through our pregnancy!  We have felt the amazing movements of our little bambino!  And we are having a sweet little girl!

It's a ... GIRL!!!  Click here to see many more photos!

We are on a very special, very exciting, very amazing journey!

Team Pink or Team Blue

The results are in, Ladies and Gentlemen!  Of the 31 votes that we had on our poll, 18 voted team blue and 13 voted team pink.  That means that 58% of you out there think we will be having a bouncing baby boy and 42% of you think we will be having a beautiful baby girl!  Tomorrow, provided that our little bambino is cooperating, of course, we will have the official results!

Brian and I are both very excited to find out if we are having a little girl or a little boy.  When we booked this appointment, it seemed so far away.  Now it is here.  We know that October will come upon us just as fast, but until then, we will cherish the moments that we have together with our growing bump.

We've taken a creative approach to our reveal also.  (Would you think anything less at this point!?  Seriously.)  We bought one pink and one blue puppy dog and we put them in two separate boxes that are exactly the same.  We have 'Girl' written on a post-it on one and 'Boy' written on a post-it on another.  Our plan is to walk out of our appointment with two new post-its: one that will say 'YES!' and one that will say 'NO'.  Then we will wrap our special gift, meet up with some of Brian's family, get some of my family on Skypey Skype, and open it together.  It makes me smile knowing that we will all be able to share this incredible moment.

Team Blue and Team Pink

Stay tuned!  More baby news to follow...very, very soon!

Punk'd

We took a home pregnancy test, and it came back positive.  We've been to the doctor and confirmed our pregnancy.  I've been nauseous and exhausted and have had more headaches in the last 4.5 months than I can remember in my life.  We've had two ultrasounds where we saw a baby wriggling in my someone's stomach, AND we've heard a heart beat while a doppler system was pressed against my tummy, or so it seemed.  But...I think I've lost the little bump that I had...

So I'm beginning to wonder: am I getting Punk'd?

This thought dawned on me this morning.  If Brian is pulling a nine month Punk'd prank on me, my family, his family, and all of our friends, I would be incredibly impressed with his skills and I would forever bow to the Prank King.  I'm not sure how this could actually be pulled off, and it would make more sense if I was punking him, in this situation at least, but I am really starting to question if we are really having a baby...

I mean, Brian could have planted a positive pregnancy test in our bathroom...(I'm not sure where he would've gotten this from, but he has a million friends - surely one of them is expecting.)  And he could have called up the doctor and told them to play along.  (I don't think I'd have any more faith in the practice I attend if they actually agreed to this.)  And the nausea, exhaustion, and headaches (and lack of period) could be blamed on stress... (I have been quite very stressed over the last few months.)  The ultrasounds could have been pre-recorded, as well as the heartbeat on the doppler, and the semi-bump that I was sporting could have been blamed on my bowels.  (That wouldn't be the first time.)  I haven't felt any sort of movement that I am aware of, and we are supposedly 4.5 MONTHS PREGNANT - yet, even I, the one that has thought all along that she was pregnant, am having a hard time believing it.  (Brian, do you have something to confess to?) 

(By the way, 4.5 months is nearly half way there.  So, technically, if Baby #2 comes along, we could hold off on telling anyone until we are at 20 weeks.  It's not like anyone is going to suspect anything other than the fact that I'm normally a lush and I would be passing on all alcoholic drinks, right?!)

Folks, I am confused six ways to Sunday, and I have no explanation as to what is going on here.  I thought we were having a baby, now I think I'm experiencing a combination of stress, slight weight gain, and constipation.  And if I am in fact pregnant, where the heck is this kid hiding?!  (Baby, don't make me come in there.)

I'll keep you posted, and if you happen to hear anything that may seem slightly out of the ordinary in regards to this situation, I would be forever grateful if you passed the word along to me.  Perhaps we should change our baby girl/baby boy poll to do you think Erin's pregnant - yes or no - poll...

Even Jack is skeptical at this point.

This would be the best Punk'd prank ever...

...And I'd be the one getting Punk'd.

Sincerely,
[Extremely] Confused in Columbus

Where National Champions Are Made

This weekend I had the opportunity to hang with one of my best friends from college, Jenny, at the Buckeye Sweepstakes Horse Show.  She and her trainers were entered into a few classes to show her horse - Metrik.  And he did not let anyone down!

For the third year in a row, Metrik took home the blue ribbon and it was so neat to see my friend showing/riding him when he did!  Of the four classes that Metrik participated in, he won first in all of them!  One was even a unanimous decision, meaning all of the judges agreed that he was the top horse!

It has been so much fun to hang out with Jenny and witness history in the making with Metrik.  He is a beautiful horse and so sweet.  We gave him peppermints as he was resting between classes and he simply loved our company!

Jenny and her parents - Ed & Faye.

The champion himself - Metrik.

Enjoying some well deserved peppermints!

Jenny and her very sweet horse.

Just before Metrik took home the blue ribbon!

It was amazing to see you, J-lo.  I miss you so much, but I'm so glad we got to spend some quality time together.  I can't wait until next Memorial Day!  Perhaps Little E will be in tow!  :)

Running Through Sprinklers

Today was exceptionally warm compared to what we've been used to the past couple of weeks, but that didn't prevent Jack and me from heading out on our run.  As a matter of fact, I love running when it's hotter.  It feels so good to sweat the day away!

Anyway, while we were running, we came up on a house that had its sprinkler system running.  I kid you not, Jack ran up to the sprinklers and just stopped!  He stood in front of the cool water, took a few sips, and made a few circles.  (I stopped and watched with envy wanting to do the very same.)  Knowing it was pretty hot out, I figured he could use the extra H20, so I waited until he gave me the clue that he was ready to continue.

After only twenty seconds or so, he picked up his pace and I followed.  (He leads 99.9% of the time.)  He was so cute, and he had me smiling for the rest of the run!  What a life this puppy dog has!  What a sweet, sweet life!

The Power of Grenadine

Shortly before we found out we were actually expecting, we met a friend of mine for dinner in Cincinnati.  We were in fact pregnant at that point, and I should've realized this because of my overwhelming desire for a Shirley Temple.  Not for the Sprite, not for the cherry, but for that grenadine flavor.  Brian was parking the car and I had put our name in for a table while we were waiting for my friend and her family to arrive.

I was very embarrassed to order a Shirley Temple from the waitress who asked me if I wanted a drink while I was waiting.  (I think the last time I had a Shirley Temple was when I was 8, maybe even 7.)  But the desire to have one was stronger than the risk of being embarrassed, so I had one, and it really hit the spot.  I would guesstimate that we were approximately three weeks into our pregnancy at that point, but I didn't even associate the craving to possibly being pregnant.

When we did find out a week or so later, it dawned on me that the Shirley Temple experience could have very well been my first craving, but it seemed to early for this kiddo to be dictating what he/she would like to be drinking at that point.  So, I kind of disregarded it.

Since then, I've realized that it wasn't just me that night that wanted a Shirley Temple.  A few weeks ago, I, once again, was overcome with a strong desire for a cherry coke.  I'm not a huge soda drinker, but that cherry coke sounded so refreshing.  AND, for my actual birthday dinner on Monday, Brian and I went to Dirty Frank's for some good ole hot dogs.  Again, I just had to have a Cowboy Curtis - a drink consisting of cherry slush and cola.  I could've had that drink for dinner and nothing else, but I'm sure our Baby would not have appreciated a drink for dinner...so I ate my real dinner too.

Our little bambino has a love of cherry flavored everything.  Thank goodness I get to enjoy it along the way too because once the grenadine crave appears there is no stopping it.  And since I haven't had too many cravings, I suppose it could be worse!

Come to think of it, I think it's a perfect day for a cherry slushie!  Hmmm....

The Big 3-0!

I was born on May 21st, 1982 at 6:34 in the morning.  That was thirty years ago!  And this weekend I was fortunate enough to celebrate my thirtieth birthday in Maryland at Harris Crab House surrounded by my family and friends.  We feasted on all sorts of creatures from the sea, watched the sunset on the bay, hosted a Preakness Pool, and celebrated my first 30 years of life!  It was so nice to celebrate with everyone!

I still don't feel 30, and you're only as old as you feel, right?!  If my age reflected how I felt, I would place myself somewhere in my early twenties.  I mean, I have to at least be old enough to drink legally!  But the numbers don't lie - and 30 it is.  I enjoy the fact that I don't fear being 30 or getting older.  After all, you are what you make of it, and I know this 30th year will be full of plenty exciting things!  (Reminder: We are having our first baby sometime in the fall!)

I know that there will be challenges that lie ahead but whatever is thrown my way will only make me a stronger, more balanced person.  I enjoy who I am still becoming, and, just as I welcomed my last year in my twenties, I welcome my 30th year with open arms.

The Big 3-0!

Heartbeat Hotel

We had another appointment with our doctor today to check up on our pregnancy.  We got to hear the perfect little sound of our baby's heartbeat again, which was steadily beating at 140 bpm!  Our doc said that it sounded wonderful.  We were thinking it sounded more like music to our ears, but I suppose we may be a bit partial!  We took this little viddie so that you could hear our wonderful music as well:

I've gained a total of two pounds since our last check up which technically still puts us in the negative because I had lost four at our previous check up, but, once again, our doctor is happy with how everything is progressing and she's not worried about a thing!  (Which is definitely relieving to us as well!)

Other than that, we don't have much news to report!  We are still smiling from hearing the heartbeat of our little baby AND we get to go back in two weeks for our nineteen week ultrascan where we will have a detailed ultrasound done and (hopefully) multiple images  of our little bambino to share!  That will also be the time where we hope that we will be able to find out if we will be on team pink or team blue - it will really all depend on how cooperative our wee one is being - so that means there are only thirteen days left to vote in our baby girl/baby boy poll!  :)  When we first scheduled this appointment it seemed so far away!  Now, it is nearly here!  My, how time flies!

We hope you enjoy hearing our little baby's heartbeat as much as we do.  In due time (no pun intended), we will all be able to put an adorable little face with that perfectly beating heart!

We ♥ you, Baby!

Sammie For Our Mammie

For Mother's Day this year we had Brian's Mom, Mary, over for a late lunch with Tom.  We made these little menu cards and catered to her every sammich desire:

Even equipped with 'Special Instructions'!

We had a great time gobbling down our sandwiches which I was told were akin to "Dagwood Sandwiches" because they were chock full of toppings and delish!  (I wasn't quite sure who Dagwood was, but thank goodness for Google because I found a whole slew of information and even some images!  Dagwood Bumstead was a character in the Blondie comic strip known for his enormous sandwiches.  My brother, Travis, would so love this guy!)

Dagwood himself with [one of] his infamous sammies!
I do see the resemblance of me in his appearance.
My hair gets frizzy exactly in those areas.

Either way, we had a wonderful time chowing down and celebrating Mother's Day together!

This is a Mama Sandwich!

In other non-Mother's Day news, we received an awesome hummingbird feeder for Christmas from Brian's stepbrother, Kevin, his wife, Brooke, and our nephew and niece, John and Leah.  We set it up on Friday and filled it with the secret hummingbird potion. 

Our hummingbird feeder!
Strategically placed right outside of our window!

Today we saw our very first hummingbird!!  We are amazed that these little guys found our food so quickly and we are really looking forward to doing some more bird watching!  Thank you, Kevin, Brooke, John, and Leah!

And Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful Mamas out there!

Motion Detector

Today marks the sixteen week birthday of our little bump!  Every night, right before I go to sleep, I lay in bed very calm and very still to see if I can sense any sort of movement.  I don't have any background noise, unless Jack is snoring next to me, and I lay completely still trying to detect anything.  From what I understand it is still a tad early to actually be feeling movement, especially when you don't really know what you are looking for, but it is still possible.  I wait for any sensation that may indicate our little bambino is up and playing instead of lounging and sleeping.  (I would just like to state for the record that lounging and sleeping is also ok!  Hint, hint, Baby!)

So far, I don't think I have any news to report on the motion front.  There have been two times that I've felt two distinct, short-lived feelings in my lower abdomen that made me wonder if that was our bambino.  But both times felt different, and I haven't since felt anything that I could point either feeling to.  I know the time will come when it's supposed to.

Until then, I will continue to take my five to ten minutes right before I go to sleep and perform my version of meditating to become more in tune with what is going on inside my body!

Breaking the News

When we found out we were expecting, we immediately started thinking of creative ways to tell our families and friends.  We thought of many different scenarios but ultimately decided on t-shirts!  One said 'Mommy To Be' and the other said 'Daddy To Be'.  It was evident that this was going to be a fun little surprise!

We told my parents when we met them at Niagara Falls for the weekend.  We were only eight weeks along and had wanted to wait a bit longer before we started telling people, but this was not something we wanted to tell them over the phone or over email, and the next time we would be seeing them was mid-May.  How would we explain our baby bump at that point?!  So, Niagara Falls weekend it was!

Brian and I both had hoodies on over our special t-shirts and once we got settled we told my Mom, Scott, and James that we made t-shirts for the weekend and wanted to show them.  (It was St. Patty's day weekend, mind you, so we both figured they would all think we put together some funny t-shirts with a leprechaun doing a little jig at a waterfall or something silly like that!  They had no idea what was in store!)

When we revealed the final product, my Mom said, "WHAT?!!?!?!?", and immediately gave us hugs!  Scott, I think, was a bit speechless but quickly came to and was also very, very excited and gave us our very first tummy rub!  James gave us a hearty, "Congratulations," and topped it off with the best Uncle Jimmy hug ever!  There were tears and smiles and laughs and shock and hugs and happiness, and what made it even more amazing was being able to be together!

A couple of weeks later, we broke the news in the very same fashion to Mary and Tom.  I kid you not, the first words out of Mary's mouth were, "Oh, SHIT!"  Now, I can honestly say that I think this is the first time that I have ever heard Mary use any sort of profanity!  It was hilarious!  (In Mary's defense, she apologized profusely afterwards about using such language!  I don't think she even knew where that came from!  I like to blame that on our inner "bad" girl!)  Tom was just as excited and, again, we all shared tears and smiles and laughs and shock and hugs and happiness!

The reactions from both of our parents, our other family members, and friends have all been priceless in their own ways!  We have enjoyed sharing and spreading our news and are having even more fun keeping everyone in the loop!

The parents to be!

(Yes, Baby, your Mimi used a bad word when she found out we were expecting you! You'll have to ask her why a little later...)

Stacking Up

Remember those shelves that Gangsta Tom built last week?!  Well, this past weekend, in addition to garage sailing, playing with sombreros and fake mustaches, making tacos and guacamole, and attending our Sunday family dinner, we put a little organization to the otherwise chaotic mess in our basement.

You have GOT to see the transformation so far:

Before.  No comment.

After!  Holy organization!

And we still have room to grow organize!  Amaze-balls!  Once again, thank you, Tom, for the splendid shelves!

Today Was The Day

Brian said that between yesterday and today I "popped".  Today makes us officially 15 weeks and 3 days!  He said that he can really tell a difference in my tummy, nearly overnight, and he noticed it most when we hugged tonight.  I guess my little tummy pooch is becoming quite a bit bigger!

I think reality set in for him at that pivotal moment because shortly after he said that to me I went upstairs to get ready for bed.  I was brushing my teeth - Brian was looking at me, and he said quite frankly, "We're having a baby, E."  (News flash, Bri.  I've been trying to tell you this since February...)  The sound and pitch of his voice was a mix between nervous and scared and excited and very excited.  That mixture's kinda been the vibe of our emotions recently.  It was so sincere and so sweet.

We really are having a baby, and now we've got the bump to prove it:

Our little bambino - nearly 16 weeks!

Cinco de Mayo

Happy cinco de mayo from our familia to yours!

Señor y Señora Hendricks.

Jack, aka "Paco", says, "¡Ay, caramba!"

Garage Sailing

Today we went to Mary and [Gangsta] Tom's neighborhood for their community garage sale.  We hopped all around the neighborhood looking for bargains, and bargains we did find!  There were a ton of baby clothes, but since we still don't know if we're on Team Pink or Team Blue we didn't go too crazy in the clothing department - we picked out one outfit for each team.  We did, however, get some great books to add to our growing children's book li-berry (read: library), a couple of cute stroller toys, some adorable shoes, AND a wonderful jogging stroller - of which we paid ten bones for and were pretty excited about!  In addition, we got to practice our math and bargaining skills! 

There was one house in particular that had some Dr. Suess books that we were going to purchase.  They were listed at $1.00 each, so I inquired with the seller if she would like to go to .50 cents each.  (Believe me, I know that Dr. Suess books are not cheap, and $1.00 is already a bargain, but we're at a garage sale and wheelin' and dealin' is the name of the game!)  Anyway, she agreed to .75 cents each.  We had four books.  So I said, "Great!  So, $3.00?"

She said, "$2.25."

(I didn't realize we were still negotiating, and, at first, I thought I had done my math wrong.  I did a quick, slower calculation in my head and determined I was indeed correct.  The total should be $3.00, which I was willing and happy to pay.)

I said, "I have four books."

She said, "Yeah, $2.25 is good."

At that point, Brian and I just paid her what she wanted and headed on out.  We could help but laugh because we weren't sure if she was just doing her math completely wrong or if she renegotiated the per book price to .56 cents each and didn't tell us or what!  Perhaps she had been garage sailing for a bit too long.  Who knows!

Anyway, we found some great deals and even Mary and Tom were able to find a couple of strollers in the mix too, so they are all set when any pint sized humans decide they would like to visit!

Click here for garage sale mania!

In the end, we got some fantastic deals on some fantastic items!  After all, one man's junk is another man's treasure, right?!

Gangsta Tom Up in Da Hizzouse!

Remember Gangsta Tom?!  He was the one that was wearing the hat backwards when we had our hot dog/canoeing/family picnic extravaganza weekend?!

Gangsta Tom.  (We may or may not have
twisted his arm to take this photo.)



He is also the one that built our fabulous cupcake stand, from scratch, AND helped us put up our storm door AND has voluntarily helped us with other multiple handy things around the house and in life.  He is a master carpenter, and, literally, is able to make any idea that you can conceive come to fruition.  He is that amazing!  He gives Geppetto a serious run for his woodworking money, and today we had the pleasure of helping watching Gangsta Tom create some masterpieces around the crib!

First, Tom got started on our storage shelves in the basement, then he swapped our dryer door so it would be more accessible from the washer (I didn’t even know this was possible – I thought you had to completely swap the dryer and the washer), then he built two shelves in our garage, AND, finally, he hung our bikes on four snazzy bike hooks! And this was all done in ONE day! He is a trooper, I tell ya!

We are so thankful that Gangsta Tom stopped by with his bad self and hooked our house up.  We are, once again, amazed at his mad skillz and are very appreciative of all the hard work and effort that he put into helping us make a little more room for baby and organizing our otherwise chaotic basement!

Click here to see more of Gangsta Tom's masterpiece!

Thank you, Tom!  Thank you!  Thank you!  THANK YOU!

(PS: Tom doesn't typically go by 'Gangsta' Tom, but he is referred to as such multiple times in this post.  If you recognize the person you are viewing in the photos, but find that you have never known him as 'Gangsta' Tom, please don't be alarmed.  'Gangsta' Tom also goes by Tom...and will continue to do so.)