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!

-------

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!