31 Weeks & In Keeping With the Olympic Theme...

Like my previous post suggests, we've really enjoyed watching the Olympics in our household.

We even planned a trip up to Vancouver this weekend, until we realized Sam's passport had expired at the beginning of THIS MONTH. Fail. Yeah, a passport that is issued for 10 years goes and expires on the month we need to leave the country for a once in a lifetime opportunity.

Oh well, maybe that just means we need to go to London for the 2012's.

So, in keeping with the Olympic theme, I gotta make a movie recommendation: Miracle.

If you haven't seen this, it's definitely worth renting. Just don't expect something unpredictable. I mean, we all know how this ends right? It's no big secret.

But what makes this movie amazing is how accurate it is to the true events. It is an AMAZING story and it's told really well in this movie.

Feel free to shout out some other good flicks worth watching. I'm always open to suggestions.

31 Week Update

31 weeks. 9 weeks left. NINE SINGLE DIGIT weeks!!

I read the other day that Baby's activity in the womb peaks right about now. After this he starts getting too squished in there to really do his moves.

He's definitely getting more and more active everyday as last night I couldn't even imagine what was going on in there. Like, spastic breakdancing aerobatics! I had to laugh as these jerky, rapid, repetitive kicks and rolls went on for dang near an hour. Maybe I should make myself a pre-bed chocolate strawberry smoothie every night! He sure liked it.

babycenter.com says 31 week old Baby N. is about the size of 4 navel oranges. I think the picture this week is a little bit lame, but you get the idea. Imagine swallowing 4 of these. Whole. Yup, that's what I feel like.
This was another week of feeling pretty good. Or maybe I'm just getting used to the constant discomfort? If I can still manage to make it to the gym a few times a week, get out of bed for work each day, and find clothes that fit each morning, then I consider it a good week. Wait, these things are getting kinda hard... ah well. There's light at the end of the tunnel! And we are getting SO excited.


Did I mention we're down to SINGLE digit weeks left?? Hip hip hooray!!

GO USA!

We've been watching a LOT of Olympics around our house. I'm going to be so sad when they're over and I can no longer stay up an hour later than I should watching ice skating, curling, or downhill skiing. I'm LOVING the Olympics and the Patriotic-ness that comes with it.

It's also now Sam's goal in life to become a competitor in the Skeleton event. Why wouldn't you want to go downhill in an ice chute, head first, at 90 mph on a 1 'x 3' sled?

Don't worry. He will NEVER do this. Not while I'm alive.

So, in honor of the 2010 Winter Olympics, I want to post this video. It was too awesome to keep to myself. And for anyone who has seen the movie "Miracle" you will enjoy it too. Go USA!




(A little background for anyone who hasn't seen the movie "Miracle" or is not familiar with who Herb Brooks is and the Miracle on Ice: This 4-year-old flawlessly recites the 1980's USA Hockey team coach's pep talk before Team USA went on to beat the Soviet team, who was thought to be totally unbeatable. Amazing. Watch the movie today if you haven't seen it. Seriously.)

30 Weeks & Valentine's Day in Little Germany

Leavenworth, WA


Last weekend Sam and I headed to the other side of the mountains to visit Ben and Kim and to meet up with Ryan and Christie as well. What better way to spend a holiday of romance and love than with your BFFs?

We had to check out Ben and Kim's new place, and be shown a good time in what we so affectionately call "WeSnatchee". After a day o' fun there, we headed over to little Germany, aka: Leavenworth.

(Ben & Kim)

(Ryan & Christie - don't bother clicking their blog link. They never update it. Christie!! :P)

I remember this place being much larger when I went here as a kid. Maybe cuz I was much smaller. It essentially just consists of a couple streets and a whole bunch of shops that start to look the same after you go in 4 or 5. But, don't get me wrong. The little town showed us a really good time. Minus dinner.

We hit up a true Bavarian-style restaurant for dinner and were completely grossed out. NOT impressed by German food. Red cabbage, weinkraut, bratwurst, something-else-kraut, cold mushy potato slush, and slimy tasteless hot dog sausage didn't quite do it for us. Any of us. There were 8 of us and we all left feeling a little bit nauseous. (Clearly Ben feels nauseous... I don't know what else could explain that face).

To wash down the sausage-y, kraut-y nastiness, we hit up some gelato. Nothing like helping you forget about nasty food like... more food.

Good times in the gelato shop.


Wait. Can we look at that picture of Ryan and Christie again? Yeah, what is the weirdness in the background...


Why do I get the feeling I'm gonna see that girl's face on the back of a milk carton some day as someone who has been missing since the 80's? Apparently she haunts the gelato shop in Leavenworth. Totally normal.

Leavenworth Day 2 was spent giving the food a second chance and exploring what we didn't get to the first day. FYI: cold Bavarian-style pretzels have NOTHING on a delicious salty Auntie Anne's pretzel. Trust me. I know my pretzels.



Thanks Ben & Kim for having us and for all the good times this weekend. Until next time little Germany!!

30 Week Update

And then there were 10. TEN WEEKS LEFT. Gulp. Baby N. is now almost 16" long from head to toe and weighs around 3 pounds. From here on out he'll gain an average of 1/2 a pound a week, and he might triple in weight by the time he's born.

Please. No.

My mom had all 8-10 pound babies, but my money is on a 7 pounder. Please. (*crosses fingers*)


I felt great this week! Some of the day to day soreness associated with just walking around has actually gone away and the energy hasn't been sucked out of me. Yet. I hear that comes soon.

Sleeping has even gotten a little bit better, now that I've perfected the art of pregnancy sleeping by strategically surrounding myself by a barricade of 4-5 pillows. Pillows b/w the legs, under the belly, by the head, up against my back (to support the belly when I flip sides). Who needs husband-snuggling, anyway? Those sorts of shenanigans are what got us into this mess. This wonderful, wonderful, mess.

69 more days of this.

One more noteworthy item. I seemed to have found something that makes Baby N. jump. Apparently he is scared of the noise of my back popping. My lower back pops really loud and has ever since I was a midget. I can just flex my pelvis and it pops really loud in my tailbone. Well, Baby Boy's head must not be too far away from the fireworks because whenever the pop goes off, he totally JUMPS. Like, unmistakeably kicks and startles.

Anyone else remember something that made their bun in the oven freak out?

29 Weeks & I'm a Super Fan

Every now and then I have to remind the world what a huge Cougar I am (and no, not the kind that likes younger men). And when times are tough (can you say Football season 2009? *tear*) I even occasionally have to remind myself. But I have a feeling the winds are a-changin. Yup, you can expect some pretty good things out of WSU B-ball these next few years. Mark my words.

So I was just thinking about two years ago this weekend Sam and I embarked on one of our Top 10 funnest road trips. We spent Valentine's Weekend 2008 as WSU Cougar Basketball groupies.

The Cougs were playing the Oregon schools and we decided to hit up both games and visit the coast, too. It was a blast. And WSU won both games... so worth it. This was also the year we made it into the Sweet 16. Man, those were the days.

I love me some Cougar Basketball. And this proves it:

Yup. We waited outside WSU's locker room for a good hour or so waiting for the guys to come out so I can have my obligatory groupie moment. It was amazing. And Sam was so proud. (Or maybe just extremely embarrassed... yeah, that's probably closer).

Go Cougs.

And, one last picture for good measure:

We had Dominoe boarded that weekend at a kennel where he came home all stinky and dirty. He was thrown into the bath and came out looking like this:

Ahh, I miss that little guy.

29 Weeks

So I've been pregnant for a few weeks OVER half a year now!! I'm getting big and pregnancy is getting painful. My body apparently doesn't handle all these changes too well, and most days I feel like an 80 year old woman, but it's still been a blast.

The baby things are starting to pile up around here and the heap of baby boy clothes is growing. And as much as I promised myself I would stop, I just can't help but buy the occasional pair of baby boy board shorts or little itty bitty miniature polo shirts for Sundays. Watch out ladies, this boy's gonna be a heartbreaker!

Until then, he's just making his momma grow... and I still have 11 more weeks. These pictures are getting more and more painful to put up! Hello not-so-cute-stage of pregnancy, my name is Amy. We'll be getting to know each other well.

28 Weeks & Keeping My Identity

Ok, I will start this off with the obvious disclaimer. I can't wait to be a mom and I am BEYOND excited for this baby boy. Like, beyond excited, anxious, ecstatic, yadda yadda yadda. Really!

That being said, I have some fears about becoming a "mommy", and I would love feedback from all the other moms out there.

I am afraid of losing my identity. I'm afraid of becoming so engrossed in my child that I forget about the person I spent the last 27 years becoming... because I like that person.

Now, I know what everyone says: your life changes in ways you never imagined were possible and it's all amazing and for the best. Priorities change. Budgets change. Husband-wife dynamics change. Yeah, this is what I'm nervous about.

How will I adjust?

Will I miss working 40 hours a week and meeting with government officials and attorneys on a daily basis?

Will I still browse through the proposed Environmental Bills being discussed in the legislative session that year?

Will I mind trading in my high heels and dressy work clothes for slippers and anything comfy that I don't mind getting poop or throw up on?

These are the things I think about. I don't think anyone knows exactly what it'll be like until it happens. But I think it's already happening... I mean, I already have to wrack my brain about things to blog about other than Baby, and it's gonna get even harder after he comes, right??

Anyone else out there make the switch from 3-4 years of building a career to becoming a mom?

I'd be interested in some thoughts.

28 Weeks

The weeks are flying by. Except for when I think about how much time is left... then things feel like a snail's pace. But seriously, I feel like it was yesterday that I was posting about V-Day and that was a MONTH ago. Crazy!

Baby N. is over 15" long from head to toe and weighs over 2 pounds, like a big head of Chinese Cabbage.

We had our 28 week appointment this morning and all looks well. We start going every 2 weeks now, which is super exciting. I'm growing, the Baby's growing, so far nothing out of the ordinary has come up. Knock on wood.

We started our childbirth classes this week and it was SUPER interesting. Even Sam was totally engrossed in everything the instructor was saying and it was all super useful. Although, when it came time to watch the video of the delivery I understood why it's not quite time for me to give birth yet... I'm not totally pushed to the limit of this pregnancy where I'm willing to do... ummm, what I saw on the video.

OUCH.