Can we keep this weather?!

So today it was freaking beautiful out (finally!) and HOT! Of course we decided that the only thing to do was try Kool Kreme - Krispy Kreme's new ice cream.

Doug HAD to try the signature donut sundae - vanilla custard, hot fudge, and glazed donuts!
Then we went over to Lake Sammamish, which I didn't even know existed! Its huge with picnic areas, swimming and boating beaches, and sporting areas.

Oh, and this is what the thermometer read as we left - yep that says it was 100 degrees out there - at 4:30 in the afternoon!

Does it get any cuter than this?

The answer is no, this IS as cute as it gets.

16 Weeks

So today, at 16 weeks on the nose was a little milestone for me. The first person asked me if I was pregnant - although it was probably just the shirt! A woman at work called and said "Can I ask you... are you having a baby?" It was very cute. Quite a bold question though, no? Oh, and 2 weeks and 2 days until the big ultrasound, where we will be finding out the sex!

So here is the belly, but no face today. I managed to develop a ridiculous cold that has me looking not so hot!

According to Babycenter: Get ready for a growth spurt. In the next few weeks, your baby will double his weight and add inches to his length. Right now, he's about the size of an avocado: 4 1/2 inches long (head to rump) and 3 1/2 ounces. His legs are much more developed, his head is more erect than it has been, and his eyes have moved closer to the front of his head. His ears are close to their final position, too. The patterning of his scalp has begun, though his locks aren't recognizable yet. He's even started growing toenails. And there's a lot happening inside as well. For example, his heart is now pumping about 25 quarts of blood each day, and this amount will continue to increase as your baby continues to develop.

The top of your uterus is about halfway between your pubic bone and your navel, and the round ligaments that support it are thickening and stretching as it grows. You're probably feeling a whole lot better as you settle into pregnancy, too. Less nausea, fewer mood swings, and "glowing" skin contribute to an overall sense of well-being.Mmmm... guacamole! I mean, here is an avocado. Mmm.

They sure know how to party in Long Island!

So the entire weekend was very tear filled - starting here with Nate and Kristen at the rehearsal, and then at the wedding, and then everyone who spoke at the wedding. It was very sweet and emotional!

Here is Doug getting dressed... with his suspenders! I never thought I'd see those on him!

Doug walking down the aisle with his bridesmaid counterpart.

Kristen with her dad looking gorgeous! Honestly, she was stunning!

And some ceremony goodness.

I will say I was suprised at how amazing the reception was, and I mean that in the best way. I mean, in my defense the venue was called "Captain Bills" - who would picture that being so beautiful and fancy!

So this cocktail hour was crazy! There was a Carribean steel drum band playing and so much food I (almost) coulnd't eat my dinner! There was the standard veggies/cheese thing, about maybe 6 hot hand passed appetizers, including my favorite - the bacon and bleu cheese stuffed salt potatoes, and then 3 stations around. One had 2 pastas, one had clams or oysters or something and then other had shrimp and chicken scampi. Look how much fun I'm having with my Sprite.

The recpetion was just as great as the cocktail hour. There was a live band playing all night that were so good if you weren't looking you would think it was a DJ! Dinner was crab cakes, cesear salad, and your choice of tenderloin, chicken, or mako. There there were cookies. Then an ICE CREAM SUNDAE BAR (the new gold standard for receptions as far as I'm concerned). Then this beautiful cake that was so good - moist chocolate with chocolate mousse filling. I'm full again just thinking about it.

So, congratulations to Nate and Kristen. It was an amazing start to your new life together!

NY Recap

Seriously, after that vacation I feel like I need a vacation to recover. I promise you that the next time I take off for over a week it better be to lay on a beach somewhere. So, heres what we did:

Friday night:
Leave work at 2pm to go home and pic up Bella and our luggage. Since its early we decide to take the Ferry over to Nick and Stef's to drop off Bella instead of driving around the sound. Personally, I hate HATE ferries (ooh slow, expensive and inconvenient? perfect!) and the in car time is the same either way but Doug thinks its nice to not have to be driving the whole way. So we get the to terminal as a Ferry is leaving and think that we will DEFINITELY make it on the next one that leaves in 50 minutes. Wait in car and they start loading the next one - lo and behold - the car in front of us is the LAST CAR ON. #%$@*!& So we have to wait for the next one and make it to Nick and Stef's just in time to drop off Bella, give instructions, and drive back to, what I like to call, "the good side" of the sound for the airport. Red eye flight departs at 11:30pm.

Saturday - Monday:
Hang out in Buffalo with my family and eat ourselves silly.

• Chicken Finger Subs
• Pizza and Wings
• Steak, Ribs and Crab Cakes for Father's Day
• Ihop
• Tina's Italian Kitchen

Monday night - Thursday
Hang out in Rochester with Doug's family and eat ourselves silly.

• Henrietta Hots
• Dinosaur BBQ
• Friday's
• Chinese Place

Thursday Afternoon:
Fly to NYC, rent a car, and drive to the Bronx to meet D. Go downtown and buy my fabulous new diaper bag and then eat our faces off at Patsy's.

So here it is... THE diaper bag:And yes I realize there is a 50/50 chance that there is a boy in my gut, but I still went with pink... after all, I'M the one lugging it around, not the kiddo!

Friday - Saturday:
Drive to Long Island for Nate and Kristen's rehearsal and wedding (where we ate ourselves into a food coma - surprise, surprise). (More to come on this in a later post!)

Sunday:
12 hours of traveling back to Seattle, starting in JFK - the worst airport ever. Turns out VA flys out of the international terminal, where no one in the security line speaks English and there is no food. Sweet.Punch me next time I try to fit all that in during just a week please. I mean it!

15 Weeks

According to Babycenter: Your growing baby now measures about 4 inches long, crown to rump, and weighs in at about 2 1/2 ounces (about the size of an apple). She's busy moving amniotic fluid through her nose and upper respiratory tract, which helps the primitive air sacs in her lungs begin to develop. Her legs are growing longer than her arms now, and she can move all of her joints and limbs. Although her eyelids are still fused shut, she can sense light. If you shine a flashlight at your tummy, for instance, she's likely to move away from the beam. There's not much for your baby to taste at this point, but she is forming taste buds. Finally, if you have an ultrasound this week, you may be able to find out whether your baby's a boy or a girl! (Don't be too disappointed if it remains a mystery, though. Nailing down your baby's sex depends on the clarity of the picture and on your baby's position. He or she may be modestly curled up or turned in such a way as to "hide the goods.")Apple-tastic

14 Weeks

I am officially into the second trimester at this point. (Yay!) My fingers are so swollen (already?!) that I had to get the cheap fake ones in 2 sizes larger! Nice, huh? Yesterday we had our 14 week appointment and heard the heartbeat on the doppler, which was 145 beats per minutes. Thats "perfect" so I'm told... (Let the spoiling begin already!) We also got a referral to schedule our big ultrasound where we will be able to find out the sex. (July 11!) I do have slightly low iron so I have to take some pills for that. Also, she insisted on taking more blood because of this and I officially look like a human pin cushion.. or a junkie. The girl tried in 4 different places before she got a vein that wouldn't wiggle around and collapse, so I have lovely bruises on the inside of both of my elbows and on the tops of both my hands. At least when I came out of the lab with all those bandages on I scared the bajeezus out of the lady waiting to go next!

So here is my 14 week gut...

According to Babycenter: This week's big developments: Your baby can now squint, frown, grimace, pee, and possibly suck his thumb! Thanks to brain impulses, his facial muscles are getting a workout as his tiny features form one expression after another. His kidneys are producing urine, which he releases into the amniotic fluid around him — a process he'll keep up until birth. He can grasp, too, and if you're having an ultrasound now, you may even catch him sucking his thumb.

In other news: Your baby's stretching out. From head to bottom, he measures 3 1/2 inches - about the size of a lemon - and he weighs 1 1/2 ounces. His body's growing faster than his head, which now sits upon a more distinct neck. By the end of this week, his arms will have grown to a length that's in proportion to the rest of his body. (His legs still have some lengthening to do.) He's starting to develop an ultra-fine, downy covering of hair, called lanugo, all over his body. Your baby's liver starts making bile this week — a sign that it's doing its job right — and his spleen starts helping in the production of red blood cells. Though you can't feel his tiny punches and kicks yet, your little pugilist's hands and feet (which now measure about 1/2 inch long) are more flexible and active.And because I love the fruit comparison pictures:
This weeks fruit picture courtesy of my favorite comic: Natalie Dee.

13 Weeks

According to Babycenter: Fingerprints have formed on your baby's tiny fingertips, her veins and organs are clearly visible through her still-thin skin, and her body is starting to catch up with her head — which makes up just a third of her body size now. If you're having a girl, she now has more than 2 million eggs in her ovaries. Your baby is almost 3 inches long the size of a medium shrimp and weighs nearly an ounce.

This is the last week of your first trimester, and your risk of miscarriage is now much lower than earlier in pregnancy. Next week marks the beginning of your second trimester, a time of relative comfort for many women who see early pregnancy symptoms such as morning sickness and fatigue subside. More good news: Many couples also notice a distinct libido lift around this time. Birth is still months away, but your breasts may have already started making colostrum, the nutrient-rich fluid that feeds your baby for the first few days after birth, before your milk starts to flow. (How's that paragraph for a little TMI!)

Mmmm... shrimp tacos! Incidentally, how this is bigger then a lime I can not figure out for the life of me! Longer maybe?! I don't know, maybe this week the baby should be the size of a half eaten shrimp taco, what do you think?

Isn't it a little early for these...

my super fat fingers that is. I had to take my rings off at work the other day because they were so tight my whole freaking hand was hurting. It only took about 13 gallons of lotion, but I got them off.. and haven't been able to get them on since.

I guess its time to go buy some cheap fakies so I don't start to look like some sort of un-wed teenage mother or something. Lame.