A New Appreciation for the Christmas Story

We've all heard the Christmas story (I'm talking about the birth of Jesus, not Santa Claus) numerous times. Us Catholics are also pretty familiar with the whole "Mary being born without original sin/Immaculate Conception" bit, as well.

Every December, I read the Bible passages and teach the true meaning of the holiday to my students, and I'll admit that I don't usually pay attention to all of those little, yet important, details.

Until this year.

Cases in point:

* So, God really had a plan for Mary her whole life if SHE was born without the stain of original sin. That must also mean that God has a plan for me - and Baby Girl Yasay, and she's not even born yet! (The whole "Before I formed you, I knew you. And before you were born, I consecrated you...(Jeremiah 1:5) still makes me teary-eyed.)

* Mary was pretty amazing. I mean, she was YOUNG (early teens) and here she was blindly saying "yes" to this angel that she was okay with miraculously conceiving a little Son who would become the Savior of the World - and she wasn't even married yet! I'd like to think that I'd do the same thing, but that's got to be more than just a little terrifying - a 13 (or so) year old girl who was told that she'd be pregnant, even though she wasn't married or even had "relations with a man", and this kid was going to be a King over all the earth? That's a lot of pressure on a woman!

* Not to mention Joseph. He was really okay with the fact that he was marrying this girl who was "with child" and believing that this was, indeed, a miracle and not some crazy scam that a wacky girl made up? I'm thinking about Justin - and don't get me wrong, he's a good (GREAT!) guy and everything, but if I had told him that I was miraculously pregnant before we were married and all, I kinda think that he'd ditch me in a heartbeat. (I may be wrong...)

* And then this whole donkey ride when being about ready to give birth. Did you know that the route to Nazareth to Bethlehem is 80 miles? And it's not like there were paved roads that would give them a straight shot to the town. Since Mary was greatly pregnant by this point, it probably took the two (well, three) of them a week (give or take) to make it from Nazareth to Bethlehem through scorching deserts and frigid nights. A WHOLE WEEK. ON A DONKEY. WITH LITTLE FOOD OR WATER. BEING SO PREGNANT THAT YOU COULD GIVE BIRTH AT ANY MOMENT. If it were me, I would have probably been a little angry with God. I mean, seriously - you're making me do what? Isn't this kid supposed to be the Savior? Can't you help a girl out?!? I'm not nearly as pregnant as Mary was (I still have less than 3 months to go!), but whoa - I'm feeling pretty huge these days, so Mary must've been GINORMOUS! And to think that she did it without fear and just trusted in God. Again, she's pretty darn awesome.

* Finally they get to Bethlehem and there's no room for them at the inn. Oh, I would've been so mad at my husband - I would've been on his case for not getting there fast enough or not leaving early enough or not making a reservation at a posh hotel. But, nope, not Mary and Joseph. They were totally okay with a BARN to sleep in. With SMELLY, FILTHY ANIMALS. And nothing but a FEEDING TROUGH to use as a crib. It kind of makes me feel okay that our nursery isn't quite ready yet.

* But here's the kicker - she gives birth to this Son, and all of a sudden all of these people come to pay homage and worship Him. Three Wise Men come from afar bearing the most precious gifts that were around back then. Lowly shepherds came to greet this newborn king. And Mary and Joseph know...they KNOW...that this baby laying there in that gross, disgusting manger is, indeed, the Son of God, Emmanuel. And how amazing is that? It definitely made everything worth it, in the end. God really does know what he's doing, huh?

Merry Christmas!!!!

A bit of a scare...

Disclaimer: Sorry if this is too much info for you...I wasn't even going to include it in the blog, but what the heck - we're friends and family :-)

So I was expecting yesterday to be a typical Friday - nothing special. HA!

The morning started off as usual - got up, got dressed, went to work. The kids took their usual Friday morning spelling and math tests and had snack before their handwriting teacher came in to relieve me and give me a planning period.

Being six months pregnant and always having the need to pee, the first thing I did as soon as I handed the kids off to Mrs. S. was to take a trip to the bathroom. Whatever - no biggie. I got back to my classroom to grab some papers to grade, and all of a sudden I felt a weird sensation and fluid dribbling down between my legs (again, my apologies if this is too much info). It definitely didn't feel like I was peeing (I mean, I had JUST used the bathroom - it's not like I was holding it in), but it was a significant amount of fluid that when I looked down it totally looked like I wet my pants.

I ran out of the classroom and back to the bathroom, hoping no one would say anything or notice (I don't think anyone did). Yep - it most definitely was SOMETHING all right, but I didn't know what it was. It didn't smell like anything, and it was clear.

So, naturally, I freaked out. Did my water just break? Am I leaking amniotic fluid? Did I really just pee in my pants?

I wanted to run home as fast as possible to change my clothes (I had an hour planning period and I live just 10 minutes away), but I first made a quick call to mom who urged me to call my doctor. Unfortunately, the Good Doc isn't in on Fridays, but I left a message with the nurse.

I got in the car, started driving home, and called Justin (who had just started a crazy 10 day stretch of being the only pharmacist at his store, which means he is there from open to close without a break...meaning he's stressed enough as it is). By this point, I was close to hysterics because I thought something was totally wrong.

He calmed me down, saying that Baby Yasette probably was resting on just the right spot on my bladder and it caused extra urine to come out. He tried to convince me that it was normal in pregnancy (even though he had no clue), just to get me to stay calm. We ended the conversation laughing about the absurdity of a 30 year old woman peeing her pants, and blamed it on the good 'ole pregnancy.

I changed, came back to school, avoided my astute students' stares at my change of pants, and was ready to continue on with my Friday. Lunch came and went, and I took the kids on to music class.

While they were in music, the nurse returned my call. She heard my story and told me that I needed to go to the hospital IMMEDIATELY. Apparently it's not as normal as I had myself believe, and she wanted me - not to go into the doctor's office - but to be admitted into the hospital Maternity Triage Unit.

Who WOULDN'T freak out at this point? I was terrified. I ran upstairs, half crying, to tell my principal that I needed to leave right away (luckily Fridays I only see my kids for an hour in the afternoons, so it wasn't hard to get my class covered). But even luckier, one of my good friends who used to teach at my school was visiting, and she offered to drive me down the road to Baptist herself since, obviously, I was not in any position to drive myself.

Naturally, I called my mom and Justin absolutely hysterical. And, they, in turn, were trying to stay strong and positive so as to not worry me or stress out Baby Girl.

We arrived at the hospital, valet parked, and tried to make sense of where exactly I am supposed to go. We found the Triage unit, I explained the situation thinking that I'll just see a doctor and be on my merry way, but nope - they actually ADMITTED me and gave me a real ROOM. I looked at my friend Mandie, and we were both wondering what was going on. It seemed pretty darn serious.

We were there for about 3 hours total, during which time they did several tests and exams, but mostly just waited. The best part, though, was that they hooked me up to a machine that allows you to hear your baby's heartbeat - and I spent those three hours just listening and being completely reassured that Baby Girl Y was still there and was doing just fine.

In the end, it turned out to be a bladder infection (UTI) which is pretty common in pregnancy (as I learned from later research) but needs to be treated early before it reaches the kidneys and causes all sorts of crazy problems. Baby Girl and I were free to go with a few antibiotics, which were approved by my pharmacist husband. PHEW.

I can't thank my friend Mandie enough for being willing to alter her Friday and hang out with me at the hospital. Life is so much better when shared with good friends!


I suppose I can no longer consider my pregnancy as being "boring" (see previous post), as I think I've had enough excitement to last the remaining three months. Here's hoping for that boring pregnancy to come back :-)

Glider - 1 + 2 - 1

One of the much recommend items from our friends with young children is a glider/ottoman set.

So Justin and I splurged and got us one of our own.

We were super excited to set it up before the Titans game last Sunday only to find out that the ottoman had broken during shipping. We sadly shipped it back to Amazon (which, by the way, is AMAZING with their returns!) and received a replacement just a couple of days later.

This one was fine, and Justin set it up without a problem. It's super comfortable, and I can already see us fighting over who gets to sit in it (naturally, though, don't you think I'll always win since we got it for me?!?)

Anyway, we came home from a date night to Olive Garden (I was craving their salad and breadsticks...haha) only to find a package waiting for us at our front door. At closer inspection, it turns out to be....another glider!?!

Apparently, Amazon somehow made a blunder and sent us two when they processed our return. And, oh how we wished we weren't honest people and could keep the second glider!

Alas, my conscience got the best of me, and UPS is en route to pick up the extra glider as we speak.

Here's a pic of our fabulous glider:

Maternity Pants....

...are the BEST invention EVER. Just saying.

Making Progress with the Nursery!

We've finally started to get our act together with this whole nursery thing.

The first step - clean out the spare bedroom...including clearing out the boxes in the closets, condensing all of the things that we need to save, and getting rid of all of the furniture that we don't need anymore. Who knew that after just a year and a half in this house, we'd have all sorts of....JUNK. Granted, a lot of it was stuff that we had from before we were married that we thought we needed but didn't - so it wasn't so tough to get a humongous Goodwill pile going.

The second step - go to Goodwill to donate boxes and boxes and garbage bags full of clothes and shoes and other nonessential items, as well as loads of furniture that we didn't need. It took four guys (my dad, Justin, my cousin Tim, and his friend Steve) and two cars taking two separate trips to donate everything. And what a relief it was to say goodbye to it all!

The third step - take a break from the cleaning and enjoy Thanksgiving! We had a fun low-key Thanksgiving with my cousin Tim and his friend who visited from Louisville. We ate a lot (ah, one of the perks of being pregnant is not being so guilty about eating...haha), watched the latest Harry Potter, and just hung out. It was FABULOUS.

The fourth step - start building! We're doing things slowly, but we've already built the crib and changing table/dresser as well as assembled the stroller. Okay, well Justin did it all while I napped.



The nursery before the building process (and after the massive cleanout)



Justin and Rupert taking a break from taking the crib parts out of the box.



Zoe telling Justin to GET A MOVE ON!!!



Seriously, get to work!



Ah, finally!



Whew - worn out!



It exhausted Zoe, too!



And just watching all of the action exhausted me!


We're not quite finished yet, but we're getting there!!!

Having Fun With Baby Yasette

We've reached the stage where Baby Yasette (by the way, thanks Ann for coining that term!) enjoys kicking and moving and having fun in such a way that not only I can notice it, but anyone who desires to put their hands on my tummy can also feel it.

Finally. Poor Justin has had to endure my own recounts of how it feels for weeks before he could finally feel it himself. And I know he was feeling a little sad that Baby Girl Y didn't want to say hi to Daddy, but he got over it real quick once he felt her for real.

Our latest form of entertainment is to grab the stethoscope and try and hear her heartbeat or at least her moving around. So far, we haven't heard much besides a little movement and my own digestion, but it's been fun to try.

We also enjoy putting a flashlight on my stomach to see if she'll react to it. She'll sometimes play along, but she's a little finicky about it.

I used to flick my stomach with my fingers to get her to move, but Justin is afraid that I'm hurting her ears, so I had to promise not to do that anymore.

Anyway, who knew how fun it is to play with an unborn baby! Can't wait til she makes her appearance for even more family fun :-)

Boring Pregnancy

Everyone loves to ask me how I'm feeling and if I've had any nausea or morning sickness or other common pregnancy difficulty.

My response is always that I'm feeling great, and that I've not felt any sorts of sickness (other than a regular cold/allergies, unrelated to pregnancy).

And the more I say it, the more I feel so....BORING.

I know, I know, I should relish in this boringness (I know, it's not a real word) and count my blessings (believe me - I've seen gals with way worse pregnancies than me...in fact, so much so that I almost never wanted to get pregnant myself).

But I sometimes can't help but feel that since I'm so boring that something's bound to be wrong.

Or worse - I'll get my payback once Baby Girl Yasay makes her appearance. I sometimes stay up at night thinking about how wonderful she's being in utero, that I end up worrying that she's just saving all of the drama for later.

So, please Baby Yasette, I'm begging you to be just as perfectly calm and healthy as you are now for the rest of your life. You would make your mommy and daddy the happiest parents EVER.

Heeding your requests....

A common trend in pregnancies is to take weekly/monthly/regular belly pics to chart the growth of the baby. It's a cute idea, and I was initially all for it and planned on having Justin take weekly pictures of me and my belly...but it just felt really weird to me.

In the beginning, I was self conscious simply because I felt that it was boring and there was nothing to see. And then there was the period where it was downright embarrassing - you know, the whole "Is she pregnant or just gaining weight?" time frame. Now (at 5.5 months) that there's no doubt that I am indeed pregnant, it seems a little funny to post the pictures since there's nothing really to compare it to.

I've never really been weight conscious (thanks to the intrinsic motivation I have of running long distances - which, sadly, has been quite nonexistent these days), but it's sort of been rough seeing that scale start to creep its way forward. It's all been in the healthy range, according to the Good Doc, but it's still slightly terrifying nonetheless.

But, due to your requests, here are a few of the latest belly shots:


21 Weeks


22 Weeks


22 Weeks, with Rupert

Officially a SAHM....eek!

Even though I knew in my heart of hearts what I was going to do after Baby Girl Y arrives, I didn't want to make it official. Not just yet. I. Love. My. Job. I love where I work, and I love what I do. I didn't want to have to choose between work or Baby Girl Y. I want BOTH.

Oh, but, the case for staying at home with Baby Girl Y ultimately won me over, as I always knew it inevitably would...I just didn't want to say it out loud. Because when I did, I knew that work would never be the same again.

What do I mean? My boss is fabulous, yet he is also very practical. Last year, when a fellow teacher announced she intended to stay at home, he very quickly turned things around and started the interview process for her replacement.

I knew, though, that it was only fair to tell him sooner rather than later of my decision. I wanted to do it before the craziness of the holidays came up because I didn't want to put additional pressure during that time....and if I waited until afterwards, well, that's a little too late. I kept putting it off, though, wanting to wait until another doctor's appointment to confirm that all was healthy with My Baby Girl. Well, that appointment happened earlier this week...

So I did it. Yesterday. And it was difficult. I cried (see previous post about me being an emotional wreck anyway). But, in the end, though, I'm relieved. I know that I'm doing what's best for me and my brand-new family. It'll be an adjustment, but I think it'll be all right. Will prayers be needed? Absolutely. But I have faith that I'm doing what's meant to be done.

So, assuming that the tentative date of our scheduled c-section remains March 9th, 2011, I'll be a Stay At Home Mom (SAHM) starting March 7th!

Actually, it's a girl!

So, we all thought that Justin & I have got ourselves a boy-in-the-oven. I did, Justin did, my parents did (see previous post). And the day before my ultrasound, my class did an informal poll and "Boy" won by a landslide (12 to 6, with 3 abstentions). Not to mention that the day of the ultrasound, I polled my fellow teachers, and they all picked "Boy" with the exception of one.

The gender was the last thing that the ultrasound technician checked. Which was fine by me because it was definitely way more important (and completely amazing) to watch the screen as she checked in on our baby's healthy heart and body. I had never felt closer to witnessing the miracle of God's incredible love and goodness than at that ultrasound...and it still boggles my mind that all that beauty is going on inside me as we speak. Every time our technician gave us the "all clear" that baby's completely "boringly normal", I couldn't help but think - How in the world is that possible when I feel like I have absolutely no idea what the heck I'm doing?

Anyway, so at the very end of the ultrasound, she shows us that, without a doubt, we've got ourselves a beautiful, healthy baby girl on the way. And she'll probably kill me one day for making this picture public, but here's the picture to prove it:



See the crosshairs? Above it is a leg, below it is a leg, and to the right of it you can see that she's all girl...

Oh, and here are some other ultrasound pics:



Baby Girl Yasay's Feet



And a profile shot.

Isn't the Miracle of Life the best thing EVER?

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My reaction when I found out we were having a girl? A little confusion. I hadn't pictured it at all, since I had already envisioned a Baby Boy Yasay all along. Naturally, though, that immediately went away, and I started thinking about all the fun I would have with Baby Girl Yasay, in a way that only mothers and daughters can do.

Justin's reaction was two-fold. We walked out of the ultrasound and into the parking lot, and he immediately tells me 1) He's going to buy a shotgun to ward off any potential suitors, and 2) if our next one's a girl, we're going for #3. YIKES. (Of course, he's just as excited as anyone - in fact, I think he's even more excited about the prospect of a girl...and, honestly, can't we all already picture him wrapped around her little finger?!?)

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So that night, we invited our folks over to announce the good news.

From the moment they walked in the door, they were making their guesses. They continued to make their suppositions, and Justin and I weren't saying anything. Finally, as soon as we started digging in to dinner, my mom couldn't take it anymore and she asked, "Well? When are you going to tell us?!" I just said that we've given them a few hints, and that they needed to figure it out.

So, here were some of their guesses:

"You're baby's Italian!" (We were eating lasagna.)
"It's a boy because of the scarecrow outside!" (That was purely a fall decoration on the porch.)

Eventually, they noticed that Justin had changed his shirt right before dinner to a pink one that matched the one I was already wearing.

And there reaction was pretty similar to ours...a little shock (since, again, we all thought "Boy") before the excitement kicked in.

Of course, in typical motherly excitement, my mom and I (and Justin tagged along, too) decided to go shopping the very next day. And, yes, as you might have guessed, we shopped 'til we dropped for all things Baby Girl.

It's a.....boy?

So the date's set for October 29th, 2010 at 1:30pm. It is at that time that we should be able to find out if Baby Y is a Baby Girl or a Baby Boy!

If you haven't already voted in our "Is it a Boy or a Girl?" poll in the top left corner of the blog, please do so! We're curious to know what you think!

Apparently, there are quite a few people who are banking on Baby Y being a boy. My folks were in Germany last month and came back with boy laderhosen! Yes, seriously...these:



They're super cute, and you can bet that even if Baby Y is a girl, we're going to sport her in them every once in a while, but how funny...

Even Justin himself, who all along has been saying that he needs a little boy to carry on the Y last name, is jinxing it when he purchased blue baby boy onesies from Ralph Lauren.

We'll find out soon enough, though, and I can't wait to do so.

In the meantime the old wives tales are cracking me up. Here are a few:

* My dad says that if the woman gets uglier during the pregnancy, it's a boy. If the woman is prettier, it's a girl. Umm, my dad thinks the baby is a boy...so what does that say about me?!?

* If you don't have morning sickness, it's a boy. I didn't have morning sickness at all, but I know of people who didn't either, and they had beautiful, healthy, girls.

* If the baby's heart rate is above 140 bpm it's a girl. Hmm....last checkup mine was 150 bpm....

* If you crave salty foods, it's a boy, Sweet foods, it's a girl. I haven't had many cravings, but if I were to want salty vs. sweet, I'd more often go for salty these days.

* History of your parents kids. Since I'm their first born and I'm a girl, my first born should therefore also be a girl.

And those are just a few. We've heard countless. It'll be interesting to find out what the truth will be. Since March can't come fast enough, let's hurry it up to October 29th!

Emotional Me

Ask anyone who knew me growing up, and they would agree with the statement that I don't cry. In fact, in high school, my friends would tell me sob stories or make me watch sentimental, sappy movies (i.e. seeing Titanic in the theater four times...but, then again, that one I didn't mind since I had eye candy to pay attention to) in an attempt to make me cry. And it would never work.

Some time in college, though, I turned into "that girl." You know, the girl that cries at EVERYTHING. I don't know what changed me, but all of a sudden, I could cry at the drop of a hat. Cheesy commercials, a touching e-mail forward, or saying goodbye to that exchange student that I knew for four days on Semester at Sea, would all send me in a crazy crying tizzy.

Add being pregnant to that mix, and WHOA...

Here are a few examples of things that have made me cry these past four and a half months:

* Baby Halloween costumes. I was at Costco and just happened to see all of the cute little Halloween costumes and could just picture Baby Y all dressed up as a Pooh Bear or a hamburger or something equally precious. And I cried with anticipation.

* Dalmatian Baby Halloween Costumes. I was at Old Navy, and they also had baby Halloween costumes. And, OMG, they had the cutest dalmation costume. I could totally see Baby Y dressed up as a dalmatian and going door-to-door trick-or-treating with Rupert, my white Beagle mix with a black eye. How cute is that? Yep, made me cry.


* The Sign of Peace at Mass. Okay, it wasn't the Peace that made me cry. It was seeing the dad in the pew in front of me lean over to kiss his child during the sign of peace. Can't you see Justin doing that one day soon? Oh, yeah, got a little teary-eyed.

* Receiving the Eucharist. Now, being a second grade teacher who prepares students for their First Communion, this part of Mass always is special to me. But now that I can picture that each time I receive Jesus in my soul, that little Baby Y is also getting a piece of Jesus in his/her soul...WOW. Yeah, you bet that makes me tear up.

* Running out of dog food. Yes, you read that right. I cried because we ran out of dog food. No, rather, I cried because Justin was the last one to feed the dogs and used up all of the dog food and did not refill the dog food container when there was a perfectly good bag of dog food in the garage that he could have taken upstairs. Ah, but, my crying got me flowers this time. So all is good :-)

So, yeah, it's pretty clear that I'm obviously hormonal these days. Gotta love pregnant, more-emotional-than-usual me. :-)

Baby's Birthday Present...and Amanda's Wedding Weekend

One of the perks at my work is that on your birthday you get to wear jeans. So, on the morning of Wednesday, September 22nd, I happily put on a pair of jeans...mind you the same pair that I wore over the weekend, so they were bound to fit.

Except they didn't.

I could not button them up for the life of me. I even weighed myself and didn't see any change in the scale, so I kept trying.

Alas, I had no choice but to do the inevitable.

I had to whip out the BeBand (a subtle-looking maternity band that you can put over your unbuttoned pants that helps keep them up) for the first time...ironically, of all days, on my 30th birthday.

And, I was okay with that. I like to think that little Baby Y just wanted to wish me a happy birthday in a way only Baby Y can :-)

But as the day wore on, I thought - hmm, if my jeans didn't fit, I wonder if that bridesmaid's dress that I just got altered a few weeks ago for Amanda's wedding THIS WEEKEND will fit?

And, luckily, I tried it on because an emergency alteration was needed...and I was good to go for Saturday!

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So, yes, my best friend got married on September 25th, and I was blessed with the honor of being her Matron of Honor.

Her wedding weekend was such a blast, especially since my dress actually fit! Baby Y and I happily stood by her side as she said her vows to Matt and partied with her at the reception (we even survived Justin dropping us as we tried to do a dip on the dance floor) until Baby Y got worn out from a busy day of wedding festivities!







Congratulations, Amanda & Matt!!!

30

Ah, 30. It's one of those milestones birthdays that you know is inevitable, but yet somehow you think it'll never happen to you.

But on September 22, 2010, it did.

And in good 'ole Noreen Birthday Style, the celebration somehow managed to last more than just the one day :-)

The few people (Justin, my parents, my students) who still ask me what I want for my birthday were probably disappointed when I said, in all honesty, that I didn't want anything. I'm totally content with the way things are going in my life right now - happy marriage, Baby Y on the way, and the best job ever - that there was seriously nothing that I could think of that I wanted except to just spend time with the people I love the most.

And the wish was granted.

Justin booked a mini "baby-moon" and birthday weekend getaway at a bed and breakfast in the Smokies for the weekend before my birthday. And it was amazing! The food was spectacular, the mountain views were breathtaking, and we just spent the weekend relaxing without a care in the world.


This is Christopher's Place. The best B&B in the Smokies.


This is the delightful picnic lunch they gave us as we set off on a hike. A hike that was cut short due to Justin's paranoia that I would get poison ivy. Apparently poison ivy and pregnancy don't mix well and Mr. Pharmacist was not about to risk any of that. Oh, well - the picnic was still delicious :-)


A sunrise view of the Smokies from the verandah.


A surprise birthday treat from my bestest friend, Amanda. This was given to us while we were lounging by the pool. Yum!

But, of course, that wasn't the end of the birthday celebrating. The night before the anniversary of my debut in the world we had dinner at Basil with my family. If you've never been to Basil, you've got to check it out. Be sure to start with their house salad because, seriously, it's the best I've ever had.


Doesn't it look scrumptious?

We ended the evening with a birthday tradition: ICE CREAM CAKE!




And that leads us to Wednesday - my actual birthday.

Among other niceties (birthday flowers from the folks, small gifts from my students, phone calls and facebook messages from friends and family, etc.), the highlight of the day was dinner at Fleming's Steakhouse. Even though my allergies were starting to flare up and my tastebuds were not working right, the food was better than anything imaginable.

Oh, and to top it off, JORDAN TOOTOO from the Nashville Predators was there, too! He's one of my absolute favorite players, so I was pretty psyched about that little birthday gift. Justin likes to think that he planned it that way - haha. Anyway, I was too embarrassed to get a photo with him, but the moment will forever live on in my memory.


The fancy free birthday dessert!

So, yeah, 30's gonna be okay. Even with a rough beginning (those allergies are something else - especially when you try and be brave and not take anything!), I'm still thinking that my 30s are gonna be pretty good decade. Who'd a thought that I'd be ready to be all grown up?


Cheers to being 30!

An Early Birthday Gift

Next month, I turn 30. And I'm okay with that. Mostly because most of my friends have already reached this milestone, so it doesn't seem so scary. But also because 30 is bound to be a good year for me, with little Baby Yasay making an appearance in March!

As such, Justin has always known that I wanted a really nice diaper bag. It was the one thing that was a "must-have" for me. I've had my eyes set on a Coach one, but the one I like no longer exists...and the current ones don't thrill me enough to spend the money on.

BUT, I did recently spot a beautiful Kate Spade one that I knew I absolutely had to have. The problem? I fell in love with the pink one - and I knew that if I had a boy, that it just wouldn't be right. I did, though, like the turquoise one almost as much...and I thought that it was girly enough to be girl-ish, yet I could make the turquoise work for a boy, as well. (Or maybe I just want it so much that I'm making up excuses to have it...)

Guess who did his research and found it on sale and with free shipping and who jumped on it and bought it for me early? (I opened it already because Justin feared it would get smushed if we kept it in the box - and I happily obliged!)

The card read: To Nori, From Justin. I love you and our future progeny.

Haha - I love it!

And for your pleasure, here are pictures of my beautiful new turquoise Barrow Street Anabel Baby Bag from Kate Spade. I CAN'T WAIT TO START USING IT!!!

Dinner with the Pros

Justin and I are rapidly realizing that we are absolutely clueless about the logistics in raising a baby! Sure, we can do internet research and buy all the baby books...and yes, we can ask our folks for advice, but who better to turn to then two of our good friends who are going through this process as we speak?

So, yesterday, we had dinner with Matt, Laura, and Baby Lily (who was born just over two months ago).

And, boy, was it productive!

We got lots of good advice about strollers (who needs two when you can get one really nice jogging one?) to cloth diapers (environmentally friendly and easy...if we do a diaper service) to the ins and outs of being first time parents (it is apparently possible to spend several hours doing nothing else but staring at your baby).

I feel much more confident about being able to handle this whole parenting thing. It will be a learning process, to be sure, but I think Justin and I have it in us to do a pretty decent job. (Of course, saying my prayers and crossing my fingers can't hurt, either.)

Oh, and just for fun, here's a picture of Lily's outfit:



Well, sort of - hers is purple. But the reason why I am showing it is because it is super cute and from Alaska. Hmm...I wonder where she got it? :-)

Thanks, Matt, Laura, and Lily! I have a feeling we'll be getting together again soon for more advice :-)

A Quarter Done!

Today I start Week 10 out of the (typically) 40 week pregnancy. I'm not a math whiz, but I do know that that's 25%....we're a quarter of the way there!

And, according to my countdown ticker, the Baby is the size of a prune (or as another site said, a garden beetle)!

Time has gone by soooooooo sloooooooowly, and the fact that I still have 30 more weeks of waiting to officially meet Baby Y is almost unbearable.

Luckily, the pregnancy has been pretty mild so far (where's the wood to knock?). No morning sickness or nausea (except for the time that Justin insisted on eating black beans in the bedroom and I yelled at him...a lot). No complications or problems.

The only complaint is this gosh darn fatigue. I had gotten so used to the summer naps (which, by the way, I never took pre-pregnancy), that I thought going back to school would be pure torture. It hasn't been too terribly bad, but with newly-added responsibilities on my plate this year, it's not been a total piece of cake, either. I'm able to tolerate it, though, except for the fact that hitting the gym before/after work has been pretty non-existent since I'm too tired to make it there. I haven't gained weight yet (thank goodness), and hopefully in a few weeks after I officially get out of the first tri, I'll be back to my normal self again.

Hopefully the next 30 weeks will start to pick up speed, and March will get here sooner rather than later!

Start Spreadin' the News!

So today's the day we decided to make our excitement fully public. We've spent all morning calling our family and closest friends and e-mailing everyone we thought might care even just a little bit about our big news.

As you can see, the blog's finally up and running, and we hope you guys come back to check out updates!

Nervous....Anxious.....Relieved beyond belief

In the days leading up to our first prenatal doctor's visit, I spent a lot of time online doing research and reading different pregnancy blogs and message boards. It seemed that a lot of people who were posting on the boards were going through early pregnancy complications and some had already had miscarriages and blighted ovums (ova?) - something I had never heard of before, but still sounds very scary.

Of course, I started to really freak out and get nervous about our own eight week ultrasound....even though we had seen the baby just a week and a half ago (see here). Sadly, I even took it out on Justin a few times getting easily upset with him and frustrated that he wasn't sharing my anxiety. To me, that made it seem like he didn't care if something was wrong...even though I know he was just trying to make me feel better.

Finally, the day of the appointment arrives. I was already bracing myself for the worst. I didn't allow myself to get too excited about it...in fact, quite the opposite. I was actually envisioning myself calling in sick to work the next day (which just happened to be the first day back at school) since I knew that I would be too sad to go to work if I got bad news.

Justin and I go in...and right away, the Amazing Doctor finds the baby and sees the flicker of the heartbeat. She said that everything looked perfect, and she said that because of this visit...our chances of miscarriage went from 30% to a mere 5%! She was very insistent that we could share the news with the world right away! I was so shocked and surprised because the thought of telling people never even crossed my mind...I had just assumed we would wait until the end of the first trimester to say anything (to anyone other than our parents and Amanda - see here and here).

Of course, Justin was all for telling the world. He had been dying to tell people from the beginning. [From Justin: I absolutely wanted to tell people, especially since Noreen had forbade me from saying anything while she had already let some people know! (See here)] I, of course, still wanted to wait a little longer....but after telling my mom the news and finding out that she and my father had both started telling people....why wait?

So, the next day (yep, the first day back at school), I made the announcement to my co-workers and Justin did the same. We're slowly starting to tell our close friends and family....and probably by the end of the week, the cat will most definitely be out of the bag. And I can finally make this blog public :-)

WHAT A RELIEF!!!

P.S. The Amazing Doctor gave us an estimated due date of March 16, 2011....but I'm sticking with the 17th. I'm all about a St. Patty's Day Baby Y!

Almost Outed at Dinner

To preface this post, for the past few years there have been a "core" group of my co-workers who'd get together on the occasion with spouses for dinner and drinks. Well, we're all growing up and some are now with babies, one is moving to a new school, and one is moving to a new school and state (well, District). So the other day we had a going away dinner to say our goodbyes to Gary, Anna, and little Ella Grace as they move on to a new chapter in their lives in Washington, DC (yeah, I'm jealous - I miss it up there....)

Gary, Anna, and little Ella Grace were already at McCreary's Irish Pub when Justin and I arrived. After I ordered a lemonade, Gary very bluntly said, "Not to be rude, but are you pregnant? Anna used to order lemonades when she was pregnant." I kind of expected people to wonder, but I was not anticipating a straight-up question (I mean, people do order lemonades when they aren't pregnant, right?), so I avoided it as best as I could with the old "Nah, I just don't like beer" falsehood (what I'd have given for a Harpoon of my own...). He went on to say how a friend of his didn't tell them, only to have them find out later after the friend had moved....making me feel totally guilty for lying, but I just had to maintain the lie. So, Gary, here's my apology to you. I'm sorry for lying. Forgive me?

You'd think that'd be it, right? Nope. I could see people looking at my humongo boobs and checking out my tummy (okay, this might not have been true, but I felt like it was) for hints. I really wished that we hadn't openly talked about wanting to have kids as a group because it made it all the harder to lie about it. I felt like the worst person when Amanda whispered to me, "So you're not drinking tonight, huh?" and I pretended I didn't hear her because I didn't want her to see it on my face. She was, after all, the drama teacher - how can I hide things from her???

After the yummy meal, a few of us went on to Sweet Cece's for delicious froyo. While the boys were talking, Amanda managed to bring up the subject again. Yikes. I did my best to be vague and make it seem like Justin and I are still trying but not quite there, but she kept asking questions about my next running race and coaching cross country and whether I was charting my temperature, that I just KNOW that she's on to me. So, Amanda, this is my apology to you, too. Sorry for lying to you...hope you forgive me, as well.

Man, I can't wait for September to roll around....this secrecy nonsense is driving me bonkers!

Telling the Parents over Baby Back Ribs...Get It?

The original plan was to have Baby Y a secret between me and Justin (and Amanda - See here) until we move on in to the safety of the Second Trimester. Yes, that meant keeping it a secret from my parents....including MY MOM.

After just a few weeks of keeping mum from Mom (ha!), I already had to avoid a straight "Are you pregnant?" question...not to mention the feeling of guilt of not telling her the good news.

Our original rationale was that our parents would be so super excited that they wouldn't be able to keep it a secret. Plus my mom has been hinting for grandchildren since even before we got married. You don't believe me? Here are a few examples: on my 29th birthday, her card said something about how I'm getting old and need to make babies. Oh, and not to mention the e-mail forward I received about how a woman's eggs go bad after they turn 30. Yikes.

But after seeing the first ultrasound, we figured - eh, why not? They'd get a kick out of it, and I can finally talk to them about all of the questions about pregnancy and child-rearing that I have no clue about.

So we invited the 'rents over for Sunday dinner of Baby Back Ribs (haha...I didn't even realize the pun until after I made my menu) and other Summer Goodies. As we sat down at the table, Justin took a picture of everyone and said those magic words: "Smile and say.....she's pregnant!" and the pictures were priceless.





Apparently, my parents already had an inkling that we were announcing something...but as you can see, they were all quite pleased with the news.

After our meal, Justin and I presented them with picture frames that said "Grandpa & Me" and Grandma & Me" with the inside saying "Picture to Come Around March 17, 2011." They were thrilled.







It is now slightly more tolerable to wait until September to tell everyone else the good news.

First Ultrasound

A few months ago, I was in the women's restroom at some random bar downtown and saw an ad wanting participants in an early pregnancy study sponsored by Vanderbilt Medical Center. By simply submitting daily online entries about exercise and possible pregnancy symptoms, participants receive Target gift cards, free pregnancy tests, and an early ultrasound at no extra cost. Knowing that this would be an easy way to score some sweet stuff, I took down the number and called right away.

Fast forward to two months later. After taking all of the free pregnancy tests that they offered me (plus several purchased ones - refer back to here), it was time for me to call them to schedule the ultrasound.

On Friday, July 23rd, Justin and I were able to see Baby Y for the first time and see the little heartbeat flicker furiously. Okay, I lied. I could barely see the Baby (come on, I was only apparently 6 weeks at the time) and I missed the flicker...but Justin saw it, and Baby seems healthy, and that's all that matters.



Note that Baby is apparently between the two Xes.

The ultrasound confirmed a due date of March 17, 2011. St. Patrick's Day! I love it :-)

Now we're in the middle of a waiting game for the "real" ultrasound and first doctor's visit since being pregnant. Come on August 3rd, we're waiting for you!

First Person to Know / Chicago Girl's Trip

One of my good friends from high school is doing her law school internship in Chicago. What better excuse for me and my bestest friend ever (also from high school) to go up to visit for a girl's weekend!

I wondered how I was going to pretend that I wasn't pregnant in front of my two best friends, and Justin the Pharmacist gave me a wonderful alibi: antibiotics. He even gave me specific dosage info and quizzed me on it. The problem was that I knew that Amanda knows me too well and wouldn't buy into the alibi. Result? We decided that she would be the first person (outside of the two of us) to find out.

[You may be wondering why Amanda is the first person to know and not either of our parents. The reason is that my mother is wayyyy too excited for grandchildren (that's a separate post in and of itself) and we knew she wouldn't be able to keep it a secret....and we don't want to spill the beans until after the first trimester. Besides, Amanda was also the first person to know that I was engaged (another story, as well), so why break tradition now?]

I planned on telling Amanda at lunch, but the girl knows me way too well and stops me IN THE MIDDLE OF THE STREET to ask me if I was pregnant. Flustered because this was not the way I wanted the news to come out, I said "let's just talk about it at lunch." But being smart and stubborn (sorry, Amanda), she refused to move and asked the question again. I obviously had no choice but to say....YES. This caused quite the commotion as she squealed and jumped and hugged me (IN THE MIDDLE OF THE STREET), but I was very relieved to have it out in the open...and, especially, to have someone to talk to about it since I've been keeping all of my emotions and concerns and questions all to myself.



Girls' weekend was a blast. We caught up, planned weddings (both Amy and Amanda are in wedding-mode....so exciting!), ate well, shopped well, and took in the sights. It was Baby's first (in utero) plane ride and weekend getaway. It was also a huge success!

Ten Tests Later...

I've been feeling a little off lately - very tired (I walked out of the movie theater for the first time ever due to sheer exhaustion!), achy, having vivid dreams, etc. After researching pregnancy symptoms, I was convinced that I was pregnant. I took a few tests and got negative results, but I just KNEW I was pregnant and was convinced I just needed to wait it out a little longer.

In comes July 6, 2010. I took another test and noticed a very faint double pink line. By very faint, I mean, I was squinting and holding it up to the light and could just barely see something. Excited, I took another one that evening...but nada. I figured that maybe I drank too much water and the hcg hormone couldn't be detected.

So I tried again on July 7th. Two morning tests later, I got another two very faint positives. Justin wasn't convinced, though, so I bought a digital test which very specifically spelled out PREGNANT.
Things are now getting exciting, but to be sure, I waited until the morning of July 8th to be doubly sure. FOUR POSITIVE TESTS LATER, I think we're both convinced that a little Baby Y is on its way!

I called my doctor, and the ultrasound date is set for August 3rd, an estimated 8 weeks into pregnancy. I CAN'T WAIT!!! In the meantime, I'm spending way too much time doing internet research and reading up on everything I can to learn about being pregnant and having a baby. Our Family Tree is Growing! P.S. I know I'm a little obsessive about testing. Sorry.