half way

Today I am officially at the half way point (20 week!) of this pregnancy and can't believe how quickly it is flying by!  It has been so different from my first pregnancy, easier and harder in different ways, but so so joyful. I have gotten much bigger much faster, although my weight gain is right on target. I think after the Little Man (who wasn't actually such a little baby), my abs just said a big "F-you" and they have not attempted to hold back. I haven't started swelling yet (I hope and pray I don't swell like I did the first time!), and I'm overall more relaxed. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I actually forget I'm pregnant sometimes...there is just too much other stuff to get done! LM is also super excited about this baby and keeps asking when his baby will get here. He even transitioned out of the nursery last weekend and into his big boy room with a big boy bed. It has been the easiest transition and he told me that our new baby would sleep in his old crib. I love that he made that connection by himself and he wasn't the least jealous or upset by it. In fact, he loooooves this baby so much already and hugs my belly every chance he gets!

This pregnancy is also different in that Dr. F and I decided not to find out if we're having a boy or girl. It is pretty ridiculous that I, in all my planner-ific glory, agreed to such a crazy idea, but I did. Although I begged him to change his mind when we were at our ultrasound last week. I am secretly glad he stuck to it because now we can have that "its a.... " moment in the hospital and since we're not sharing our names either, it will just be one big surprise. However, every.single.person. has said I'm having a girl. LM cannot be swayed and even the guy who works in the coffee shop at my office said I'm definitely having a girl. I think it might be a girl too because I was so sick in the first trimester this time and I wasn't last time. But, in all reality, I don't care at all either way. Sure, pink bows and dresses would be ah-mazing, but so would being the F boy's mom. If they take after their father and uncle, well I can only imagine the trouble they could get in to together. (pray for me) So, I'll just bring a boy outfit and a girl outfit to the hospital and leave the tags on.  

This last week has also been a really big growth week...and I have the belly to prove it (see below)! The baby has been moving like crazy and I think this is my favorite part of being pregnant. I love feeling all of the little kicks and rolling around, at least until he/she gets some strength behind those movements. I'm even able to feel lots of kicks from the outside too, which means Dr. F and LM can feel the baby! So fun! However, I've also entered the "I have to pee every 15 min" stage. This is very not fun as I can barely make it all the way home on my 45 min commute without peeing my pants. TMI? You're welcome. 

20 weeks.... 

Now I would be remiss if focuses solely on me and my belly.... because in addition to Thanksgiving, which was stressful and I'm happy it is over... we also celebrated both Dr. F and LM's birthdays *on the same day.* Some might say I'm crazy, I just think of it as condensing the pain. We had about 10 3 yr olds and their parents and assorted siblings in the morning and 10 30 somethings and their significant others in the evening. LM had a Phillies themed party, naturally, and Dr. F had the Dirty Thirty Beer Pong Tourney in our basement. Both F men had a blast and I was ready for a nap the next day.  Let's just say I'm thrilled this next kiddo will be a spring baby so we can rent a picnic shelter and let the kids run around outside aka not in my house.

Thank you Oriental Trading Co for your Phillies decor! 

And the winners of the tourney are....

I'm 3!!!!

Finally, there is so much sad news out there and I am already enjoying the heightened preggo emotions...so for today, I'm just going to focus on the happy things like my wonderful family and friends and what promises to be a great Christmas with a little boy who has lots of questions about Santa.

well hello there

Ahhhh, I cant even tell you how much of  a bummer it is to not be able to read or write on ANY social media at work anymore! I still catch up on my reading at night, but lately Dr. F has been hogging the computer at night because he had a presentation at work. But at last I can do a quick update!

Everyone is doing well, Aidan's growing so quickly and so am I! We had a blast trick or treating and Dr. F and actually got away for the first time since our honeymoon without having any obligations. It was AMAZING. We spent the first night in Baltimore and the second in Lancaster County. Now we're getting ready for the boys' birthdays complete with a Phillies themed party for the Little Man and a Beer Pong Tourney for the Big Man.

Dr. F felt the baby move last night for the first time! What a wonderful moment for the two of us. I've also been subjected to some of the wonderful pregnancy verbal diarrhea that people seem to spew, like my neighbor asking me if we were trying and when we thought we conceived. Ummm... how do you politely answer that? Yeah, we were getting it on just a few houses down back in the summer? Riiighht.  Also, this baby is kicking me like crazy! We've also decided not to find out if we're having a boy or girl this time. We knew with LM, but this time, well, we've got all of the big stuff in gender neutral colors/patterns and we have plenty of boy clothes. If this baby is a girl, I have no doubt she'll be one well dressed little lady between my mom, mother in law and sister in law. We have picked out boy and girl names and are keeping those a surprise too :)

I'm hoping I'll be able to update more frequently now that Dr. F's presentation is done, but he is a computer hog.... I mean, why does he need to study anyway? :)

Someone's been watching his daddy!

Halloween Party!

So my office has finally outlawed Facebook and other social media sites...including blogs! I can't even read them at work, forget commenting or posting to my own blog. UGHH. So I have been trying to catch up at night and on the weekend, and it makes me so so sad because I love keeping up with everyone! Oh well, I'd like to keep my job and since we should have no expectation of privacy while on the work network... I'll just have to updated my blog at odd hours.

We've been pretty busy lately, which is nothing new. Dr. F has been on call the last 4 weekends in a row. At least this weekend he's on home call so he can hang out unless he gets a call to go in (like he did at 4am this morning). As much as that stinks, it is WAY better having him home most of the time than at the hospital all of the time.

I've also been dealing with a monster headache for the last 6 weeks. It has been miserable. I asked my endocrinologist, my ob, and my hubby about it, but because I'm preggers, no one really had a good answer what was causing it..hormones, allergies etc. Well, it became unbearable and we all know that Tylenol (the only thing you can take when you're pregnant) does jack sh*t for headaches. Finally I started googleing side effects of thyroid meds(which they put me on when I got pregnant to make sure the baby gets enough thyroid hormones since I'm packing half a thyroid) and low and behold, headache is a common one. So I called my endocrinologist and demanded that I switch brands. I've now been on the brand name drug for 2 days and headache free! I'm hoping this is the permanent solution I've been praying for, but if not, I'm enjoying this pain-free time as much as I can.

This morning we went to a Halloween party at the Little Man's school. It was a great time and we feel so blessed to have such a wonderful neighborhood daycare/school for him. He loves it there and it is a great community. This year, LM is going as a cowboy for Halloween and while I found a sweet costume for only $15 on ebay, I had to hide it because it would get worn every day. The mailman finally delivered it yesterday! Just in time :) Check out the cutest cowboy:

Biggest Phillies Fan

First of all, thank you so much for all of your congratulations! We are so thrilled and feel incredibly blessed, especially after a roller coaster spring of health issues. We've decided not to find out to find out the gender and are throwing around a few names and we've decided on a boy name for sure and have narrowed down a girl name to one or two. I am not sure if my type A personality can handle the wait, but we already have boy stuff and the big things are neutral and between my mom, mother-in-law and sister-in-law, you know we'll have enough girl stuff for a small army :) I truly don't have a preference boy or girl, just a healthy baby, as cliche as that is, of course I hope we have a girl at some point, but in the end I think it would be awesome to have a big family of all boys too.

I've also been preparing by buying some of the big items too...even though Dr. F thinks I'm a little bit of an over-planner... I did a ton of research, including stopping strangers on the street and asking them if they like their strollers. Y'all, double strollers are EXPENSIVE! I feel pretty strongly that even though Aidan will be 3.5 when Bunny F will be born, I'm going to want a stroller to corral both of them, and after a TON of research, I settled on the City Mini Double. BUT it retails for $430. Oh holy stroller! So of course I obsessively stalked Craigslist but those babies go within hours of being listed. After all of my diligent stalking, I found an almost brand new one on eBay. Using my super eBay skills, I won the auction and only paid $335 with shipping! The bad boy should arrive today and I'm stoked! 

And in other non-baby news, the Phillies forced a game 5 against the St. Louis Cardinals tonight and LM got his first Phillies hat...which he has refused to remove. I love that he's got such hometown pride and it is so cute to see him get so into a game. My little boy is not so little and we are enjoying every second of watching his transition to a big boy and seeing his personality come out in full force.  

                                               

We did it!! (Viki T, this one's for you!)

Is that a baby bump or have you just been eating too many cheese steaks?

Yes, this is at another wedding last weekend :) and yes, that is a baby bump!!!! I'm 11 weeks and finally heading out of the exhausted/nausea/feeling gross stage and well into nothing but maternity clothes. 

We haven't told Aidan directly, but the other night at dinner he told me that he was going to be a big brother. I  guess he heard us talking! Then he told me he is going to have a baby sister and he's going to name her Bunny. It was pretty stinking cute...and a reminder that little ears hear EVERYTHING. 

Hooray!!

Muffin top

Did you know that canned pumpkin is not widely available in grocery stores yet? Apparently, Christmas decorations in Macy's in Sept. are fine, but Heaven forbid there be canned pumpkin on the shelves? Pshhh. Never fear, I actually squirreled away a can or two in my basement from last year for this very reason. 

Last night, the Little Man and I got down to it after dinner. I've really started to get him involved in cooking with me because a. I love cooking/baking, b. I don't want to use the TV as a babysitter, c. I am determined to raise a man who knows how to properly feed himself. His future wife will thank me. It has been so much fun letting him smell spices and lick (egg-free) beaters and measure ingredients.

whisking and food processing at the same time! this kid has skills!

ignore the mess in my kitchen...it was spotless before i went to bed!

The result: to be perfectly honest, the results were a little ehh. Sure, they were good and the frosting was delish, but they weren't quite the pumpkin Nirvana I was hoping for. Did I eat two right out of the oven? Um yeah, that goes without saying, but you know... For some reason my muffins were a little dense and I'm going to keep looking for that perfect recipe. I think what I really am looking for is pumpkin roll texture and taste, without it being a pumpkin roll, although I would sooo love a pumpkin roll. I mean, I'd eat that bad boy in one sitting...which is why I haven't attempted to make one yet. Anyway, does anyone have a good recipe for pumpkin muffins/bread they'd like to share? 

Its the most wonderful time of the year!

That's right ladies (and gentlemen...do any gentlemen actually read my blog?), it is is my most favorite time of the year, FALL. Oh sweet baby Jesus, the heat of the summer is subsiding, the nights are cooler, football is back on TV, the Phillies made the playoffs for the 5th yr in a row and I can unabashedly proclaim my love of all things pumpkin. Ok, let's be real, I unabashedly proclaim my love of all things pumpkin year round, but you know... We've also only got 2 more weddings to go and for two glorious months, my electric/gas bill is manageable while we don't need the ac's or the heat quite yet. Ahhh, are you with me?!

So in that spirit, I've done some serious research on pumpkin muffin receipes because I HAVE to have them right about now. Any time the temperature dips below 100, I have to have pumpkin muffins. Now, generally I stay away from the Pioneer Woman because her stuff looks AMAZING to my tongue and about 40 lbs to each hip, however in my quest for awesome pumpkin muffins, I am caving. Tonight I'm going to make these babies, complete with cream cheese frosting, because I don't believe in doing anything half-assed. I will report tomorrow, after I dig my face out of the muffin tin.