25 Random Things About Me

So, enough people have tagged me in their notes on Facebook that I feel like I have to do this.

1. I have bought three new winter coats this year. Two of them are white. Yes, I realize that this will be impractical next winter with an baby. They were just such a good deal - no, seriously. They were ridiculously cheap.

2. I love having plants in the house. But, quite honestly, I kill them often. Nina lived for a long time in college, but it's been downhill since then. Well, Babar is going great, but he hardly needs water.

3. I like feeling the baby move. But, if I really think about it, I get creeped out. There is aperson moving inside me. Weird.

4. Tim and I are going to Chicago on the 13th and 14th. I told him we could go to museums one day. It's really to control my spending. And, he has no desire to go to shops for two days in row.

5. I really miss eating turkey lunch meat. Boardwalk Subs will most likely be one of my meals the first week after LuLu meets the outside world.

6. I wish I had more time to cook and try new recipes. I work too much.

7. I have been knitting a scarf for Dillon since before I starting dating Tim. It's still sitting in a bag next to my couch, like I could pick it up any time. I haven't worked on it in at least a year.

8. I'd like to rearrange my living room. But, I don't really have any options because of the furniture that I have.

9. When people tell me that "I'm glowing" I want to direct them to the nearest Benefit Cosmetic counter. Instead, I say thanks.

10. My dryer is making a lot more noise than it's suppose too. It kind of freaks me out.

11. On my days off, I generally get ready really leisurely. After I run errands I usually get home around 1pm. This is so annoying because the only thing on TV then is Days of Our Lives. (We don't have cable, yet.) I generally don't just sit and watch TV during the day, but I like it as background noise.

12. My laptop got a crazy virus and Tim ended up needing to reformat it. Tim let's me use his laptop whenever I want, and I have all my bookmarks and everything, but I miss my crappy old laptop. He'll be finished fixing it soon.

13. I adore my fiestaware dishes, I just got the turquoise color place settings and I'm in love.

14. My new favorite snack is almonds and dried cherries. It's the perfect mix of salty and sweet, chewy and crunchy.

15. I basically redecorate my house with every holiday/season. I really need to revamp the Valentine's Day decor.

16. I always know the name of the nail polish I'm wearing. I have Koala Berry on my toes right now and my fingers are Strawberry Margarita.

17. I'm most excited about the stroller I'm registered for. Whenever I stop at Babies R Us I make Tim wait while I try it out again.

18. I have an obsession with pajamas. I just love them.

19. I like to go out to movies mostly for the popcorn. It's so good.

20. I have worn size 9.5 shoe since I was in 7th grade. Not too remarkable, but it's true and random.

21. I used to get pedicures more often than I care to admit. I miss them.

22. If libraries had frequent customer cards, I would fill it up every visit. I read ridiculous amounts of books.

23. I listen to Christmas music from November 1 to right after Christmas.

24. Tim's computers are named after the writers of the Heidelberg Catechism. Mine is named SETHCOHEN.

25. I have a button collection. It's very small though, but I love buttons.

24 weeks

Still can wear normal clothes -- the pink t-shirt is size Medium! I'm not saying it's the best fit, but...you know.




I added a few pictures to the sidebar of what the nursery will have. We picked out the paint color last night!

Kizie-Kiz

My parents and Kizie came over today so my dad could help Tim do some mudding in the new office. Kizie couldn't help but wear her new clothes and I couldn't help but take some pictures of her!

She was using our magnet blocks to come up with a name for LuLu. She's a very "creative" namer...

Complete Shock and Surprise

Today I arrived home to a large box from Matilda Jane Clothing on my doorstep. I rushed in as fast as my pregnant self could to open it to see what was inside. There was a card from Denise, the owner/designer, letting me know she read my blog and was sorry about what happened. She remembered she used some size 10s in a photo shoot, so she dug around to find them so the Kiz would have her dress, and some extras.

It felt like Christmas. I called Kizie immediately and my mom didn't even believe Kiz when she told her. As soon as dinner was done, we drove out to Moline to show Kizie her new goods!

(She was having a crazy hair day...and I don't know why it looks like she was wearing lipstick. We'll have a better photo session when the weather, and Kizie, cooperates more!)

In this box of goodness there was the 'fern pink knot' dress(which is what I originally ordered for her!), 'molly the envy' skirt, 'zelda' jacket, long sleeved hooded tee and a long sleeved print button tee. Kizie exclaimed over all the cool buttons.

Dress and Button tee


And, with the dress for LuLu I bought earlier(if she's a she!)


Long sleeved hooded tee and skirt (She had to pose with the goose...)


Track jacket, button tee and skirt, with Track Jacket I bought for LuLu(if he's a he!)


I'm just completely overwhelmed with Denise's generosity!

Matilda Jane clothing is incredible...

details to come, with pictures.

I've had an interesting week.

*Every member of the first family wore at least one J. Crew item on inauguration day. They were items made just for them. My sister called me, "Amber! President Obama's daughter's wore things from your store! She's so excited that she shops from crewcuts just like Malia and Sasha!

*The lady in line in front me at Meijer's stole a winter coat. We were in the U-Scan line and I noticed it was still in her cart. I almost pointed it out to her that she forgot, but then I just figured she wanted to ring it up in a separate transaction. Nope, by the time I realized what she did I noticed it balled up so you couldn't see the tag and she was walking away.

*I got a tracking number from Matilda Jane today. But, I haven't ordered anything more after the first order this year. I'm tres-excited and confused. Update to come -- it's scheduled for delivery on the 23rd.

*Meijer's had Arnie's cupcakes today! They also had strawberries on sale. I just can't get enough strawberries lately. I ate one pack already today.

*I'm getting together with the Lauras for dinner on Sunday night. We haven't hung out together in way to long. GRBC, here we come! Now, if only I could have some wine. Dillon and I used to have the best conversations at GRBC with a glass or two of chardonnay.

*My Benefit counter and Benefitcosmetics.com are out of Some Kind of Gorgeous Original. Within two days, I will be completely out. I thought about ordering from Sephora, but the other item I need is out of stock there, so I wouldn't spend enough to get free shipping. And, I have a gift card to Macy's, so I'd really like to get it there. I hear Ulta has Benefit now, but I really don't want to drive out to Alpine. What's a girl to do...

*I love days off when I have the house to myself. I'd make a great stay at home wife. However, when it get's to be night, I don't like being home alone.

*Random customers talk about my pregnancy all the time now. People always tell with such forceful opinions what the gender of my child is. "It's a girl. You're carrying high." "You were hardly sick? It's a boy." I don't mind at all, I love the guesses. I just find it odd that they state it as fact instead of "I think it's a..."

*Winter, I only need about one more week and I'm done. Thanks! You gave us a wild ride this year! See you next November! No really, I'm done.

Childbirth Class

For the first 5 weeks of 2009, Tim and I are taking a Childbirth Class through Spectrum. I called my sister tonight and was telling her about tomorrow nights class -- infant care. She thinks it's hilarious that someone is going to teach me to change diapers. "You already practiced on me!"

The girl's got a point...

23 weeks

I still can wear regular sweaters!





Last Thursday I decided that an Arnie's cupcake sounded like the best thing ever. I went to D&W at Breton on my lunch break. No cupcakes. I got almonds and dried cherries instead. Much healthier!

Today I decided that I had to have an Arnie's cupcake. I went to the Family Fare on Burlingame. Sold Out. No problem. There's another Family Fare a block away on Michael. No Arnie's at all. I almost started crying. But, I left with the most delicious strawberries. AND!! I even shared them with Tim

Tomorrow, I'm going right to the source. Arnie's on Cylde Park. See you there. I'll be the one eating a cupcake as I drive off.

I make it look good.

Okay, you know you still look good while pregnant when a customer says, "I love your tank top, I'm buying it too!".



I just might buy it in another color.

p.s. Check out Tim's post right before this -- it's hilarious!

He has his mother's eyes . . .

While taking a break from report cards today, I happened to come across makemebabies.com, a site that figures out what your baby will look like based upon a picture of Mom and Dad.

So without further ado, here is exactly what Lulu will look like:


























I'm not quite sure, but I think our baby is African-American. Cute kid.

Tim

Crazy?

I know this is completely unreasonable, but all day long I wanted some ice cream. Yes, I know the wind chill is below 0...

Luckily, after dinner I checked out the garage freezer and found an ice cream cookie sandwich.

It was delicious.




I'm cold...

My brother, the Marine.

Philip is the one pictured in the top right hand side of the photo.
He had his final drill for his reservist duty this past weekend.

note by Philip:
I was recently directed to an article my then XO wrote about the battle of Fallujah, which was the week of Nov 8th 2004. I took part in every convoy/mission that he wrote about in his article, yet if you listened to both of our stories you'd never believe it was for the same event. Not that he made the incidents up per-se, but that in every situation he always describes us as poised whereas I remember watching everything had its fair share of chaos. Such as drivers leaving their truck in the kill zone to render first aid which was supposed to be a task only for the rapid response vehicles. I suppose journalism will always color a story no matter how accurate the portray attempted. Also, he is using two pictures I took myself and has them incorrectly attributed to Sgt Bennets dang it.

This picture is from 2003, when he graduated from boot camp.

Matilda Jane Clothing

So sad... I placed an order from Matilda Jane on January 2 because they were having a 60% off sale. I ordered a dress for Kizie, and a track jacket and dress for LuLu. (One's got to be the right gender!)

The package came today! But, there was no dress for Kizie. Just a box marked "out of stock" with a note about a refund. It's kind of sad. I LOVE the Matilda Jane product, but I've never had good customer service. When we bought a dress for Kiz (full price!) last Feb, they didn't tell us that it would be on back order. We bought it for a wedding and it didn't come until after the wedding. Now this. If I had been sent and e-mail about the out of stock dress, I would have been checking the website for something else to buy her. Now, there's nothing left in her size that would look good on her.

I could cry. (But really, it doesn't take that much lately for that!)

22 weeks

5 months!







Watch what you say -- baby is now able to hear outside noise from down in the womb. Studies show that baby finds gentle music and your own voice most soothing. Nipples are starting to sprout, and that little face is fully formed. And, baby's starting to settle into sleep cycles, snoozing about 12 to 14 hours a day. It shouldn't be hard to figure out when -- just pay attention to those kicks as they start and stop.

Hey! didn't they say about 2 months ago the baby could hear? And I've been watching what I've been saying all this time...

Odd Dreams...

Well, now I can post on this blog, and I chose to write in blue. Adding to the conversation about gender, I had a weird dream last night featuring Lulu. Although I couldn't tell gender, I do know that the baby had a big cheesy smile that looked exactly like this:


















Here's hoping that Lulu takes more after Amber than me.

T

Oops!

I changed my background to a valentine's theme...and totally lost my poll. Vote again! (Remember, I've had two ultrasounds -- there's only one!)

Gender Related Items

We started our registries at Babies R Us and Target this week. I left Babies R Us feeling quite dismayed about the selection they had. I understand bedding and clothing being distinctly boy or girl. (Although, throw me a bone and have some gender neutral bedding that's not in a set! I don't want the bumper or the quilt!) But pacifiers? Bottles? Bibs? Boppy Pillows? It seems kind of outrageous that I can only get these in sets of pink and purple butterflies or green and blue bugs. Oh, yes. There is also the princess or sports theme!

Those of us who don't find out the gender seem to be a dying breed. Everyone at our childbirth class knew what they were having. If more people decide to wait, maybe the stores would have to start stocking neutral items. Heck, even if we did know the gender, I plan on having the next baby or two use some of these items. I know that it really doesn't matter, and Baby Boy would be happy to use Baby Girl's pink bumbo seat. Baby spit-up doesn't care what color an item is...

It all almost made me wish we knew the gender. Okay, I kind of wish I did know. But, I am very excited for it to be a surprise. I spent the first few months thinking one gender, and now I'm thinking the other. I really have no clue.

I've heard that a poll of five year olds you know can be more accurate than adults. Kizie is older, but she's sure it's a girl. Lisa at the nail salon(Shut up, I don't go that often, but they shop in my store too.) says it's a boy. I kind of feel like a Vietnamese grandma might know what she's talking about.

I did get a sweet diaper bag at the Pottery Barn Outlet. When I called and told Tim that I bought one I told him it was pink and floral. He really sounded surprised like he believed me. I don't want to know what this says about the way I've been acting lately... It's this one, but in khaki. Tim says that's good because it will match all his pants.

That's my rant/musing of the week. Also, I've added a poll where you can guess the gender. Nope, I won't be able to see what you guess!

Song Juxtaposition

Today as I was driving to the mall I was singing along with The All American Reject's song "Gives You Hell". It's not a particularly nice song, but it sure is catchy. I find it being sung in my head quite often. It finished right as I was pulling into a parking spot at Macy's. (Sidenote -- I love expectant mother parking.) The next song was Gwen Stefani's song "Cool". I don't know if the DJ did that on purpose. But, here we have two songs that are complete opposites when it comes to the "significant other" after a break up.

It probably just happened, but it sure made me laugh when I heard them together!

21 weeks

Look! No pajama pants! I made sure after I changed out of my dress I still looked presentable for pictures again.



Why yes, I am carrying this baby high.



Today I was listening to the new Fall Out Boy cd on my way to work. It's good. I'm sure I'll grow to like it, but nothing compares to Take This To Your Grave. I'm ridiculously happy at the point I'm at in my life. But, listening to FOB on my way to work today made me wish for a show at the Intersection, dancing with Dillon and an Amaretto Sour. We really did have fun.


Okay, this was at the Orbit Room, but it was a Panic at the Disco/Starting Line/Fall Out Boy show.

Does it mean I'm getting old if I'm reminiscing about the music I used to listen to? I promise, I still listen to new music!