A-HA!!

The paint color saga continues... I wasn't hallucinating! I just called my mom, and when I mentioned the paint, the first thing out of her mouth was, "You know, I was looking at it again today, and it's got a lot of purple in it... are you sure you want to use that in his room??" So it's not just me! Anyway, I think I have decided to go with more of a cobalt/French blue color... more like this. I think it'll be much bolder and crisper, anyway, especially with all the white furniture and the vibrant colors in the bedding. :P

Lively Tune

So, I am having Lively Tune flashbacks today... What's that, you say?? Well, when we first moved into the house, I went on a mad painting rampage and painted pretty much every room (except the room that would ultimately become the nursery... see how I was thinking ahead?). Anyway, Gus really wanted our home office to be a light blue color. We went to Home Depot and picked out a shade called "Lively Tune." Sounds nice and happy, right? Well, once it was up on the wall, it looked very... off. It was more of a periwinkle than an actual blue-- it had too much purple in it. When people would come visit, I'd ask them what color they thought it was, and the results were split between "light blue" and "lavendar." After a month or two of living with it (and growing to hate it more and more each day), I finally repainted the room "Faded Denim," which was much better.

So fast-forward to this week... On Wednesday, I drove up to my parents' house to visit for the day. They happen to have the set of ALL the Sherwin-Williams paint chips, so I brought along the crib bumper to do come color-matching. I actually found matches for ALL the colors in the bedding, since my mom is working on some sort of Top Secret project, and she needed to know the colors. Anyway, the light blue in the bedding matched a color called "Cosmos." I picked up a sample of it today, and convinced the Frenchman to let me slather some on a wall in his room (hehe! part of my passive-aggressive "get out of my house" campaign). And sadly, I am reminded of Lively Tune... it has just a *hint* of purple in it, and I'm not sure whether or not I like it. Gus, on the other hand, thinks it's perfect. Then again, he picked Lively Tune in the first place! Plus, I think he might be a little bit color blind. But who knows... It's growing on me a little. All I can say is that I love Sherwin Williams-- not only do they have the BEST paint (seriously.. coming from someone who has painted a LOT), but they will also mix up a sample quart of any color for only $4.99. I ♥ them!

P.S. I should add that I have nothing against the color purple. What I don't like is when a color can't make up its mind! :P

Second Thoughts...

So I'm already having second thoughts... about the paint! I thought I was sold on the yellow, but the more I look at it, the more washed-out it seems. The baby's room gets a lot of sunlight, too, so I'm afraid it might be blinding!! Anyway, I am now leaning toward blue or green. I found a perfect match for the green in the bedding, but I'm still looking for just the right blue. Either way, what do you think about how these colors look (as opposed to the yellow)?
Blue Walls
Green Walls

Choosing Paint...

I am jumping the gun on getting the nursery started, since that room is currently under French occupation, but I can daydream, right?? Our very first piece of baby bedding arrived the other day, and Gus and I started talking about what colors to paint the walls of the room. All our furniture is white, and the bedding is pretty vibrant: red, green, yellow, white, and several shades of blue. At first, I thought we should paint the room blue (maybe two shades, even), but now I'm thinking it would make the bedding "disappear" into the walls. So, when I went to visit my parents yesterday, I brought the bumper with me and went through all their Sherwin-Williams paint chips (they bought the whole set-- very handy!). I am thinking now that we might go with yellow, since it's a nice bright color and not one that's too dominant in the bedding. I found a perfect match called "Daffodil," which also happens to be my favorite flower. Is it paint destiny??? Who knows! :P Anyway, I was playing around in Photoshop to see what it would look like... The color didn't come out as an exact match to the bedding, but it is in real life. What do you think??

Now, if only I could get my hands on that room... sigh... Long story...

Sugar Sugar

So I just got back from this month's doctor's appointment, which was pretty routine. The only differences were that the doc measured my belly for the first time, and that I had to take my 1-hour glucose test. Basically, I checked in for my appointment, did the usual pee-in-a-cup thing, then went downstairs to the lab to chug a pint or so of wonderful glucose drink (yuck!). It tasted like non-carbonated orange soda. It wasn't the worst thing I've ever tasted, but it wouldn't be my drink of choice! I actually drank it so quickly that I had a serious burping problem for about 30 minutes afterward. Anyway... I needed to kill an hour before they could draw my blood, so I went back up and had my appointment. I got to hear the heartbeat again, which is always awesome! It was strong and steady at 154 beats per minute. Then the doc measured my belly, which was new and exciting... He used a little tape measure to determine the distance between the top of my pubic bone and the top of my uterus-- 24.5 centimeters. He said that the measurement corresponds with how many weeks big I am measuring-- so 24.5 weeks. Right on target! The doc also said that my weight gain so far has been "excellent," so that made me feel good (since I've been feeling like a cow lately!!).

After the appointment, I went to schedule another... My doctor's office always likes to schedule two appointments into the future, so I already had one scheduled for the end of July. But the one I was scheduling today will be my first two-week appointment!! Up until now, my appointments have been every four weeks. In the third trimester, they switch to every two weeks. And, in the final month, they are every week (sometimes even twice a week). I just couldn't believe I was scheduling my first two-week appointment already... Time is seriously flying!

Anyway, after that was all taken care of, I had to go back down to the lab and get my blood drawn. (well, first I had to kill another 20 minutes... Luckily, I brought a good book to read!) Basically, they wanted to see how my body responded to sugar-- to see if I might have gestational diabetes. Considering that my mom had G.D. when she was pregnant with both me and my brother, I can't help but feel a little doomed. sigh... At any rate, they won't know the results for a few days (and even then, they operate under a "no news is good news" policy, which means I might not hear from them at all). In the meantime, I plan to eat lots of delightful, sugary treats in case they tell me I have to modify my diet for the rest of the pregnancy. Hot fudge sundaes, anyone? :P

P.S. While I was typing this blog entry, the crib bumper was delivered!! We did decide to go with the "Baby Boats" bedding from Pottery Barn Kids, and it is SO CUTE!!! I only ordered the bumper so that we could start figuring out paint colors for the room. I am so happy! :)

Two Years

Today is our two-year wedding anniversary, which I find hard to believe! Where did the time go? I still remember everything so vividly, and yet two years has somehow flown by. Anyway, a lot has changed since then (like my waistline, for one!). :P

Anyway... Where was I exactly two years ago at this time? I think I was still at the house, getting ready for all my hair appointments and whatnot. Ikuyo was here (she stayed at the house that weekend), and we were waiting for my mom so we could all eat breakfast before getting our hair and makeup done. By this time the following day, Gus and I were married and at the airport, getting ready to board our flight to Maui. sigh... And what will I be doing tomorrow? Not going to Maui, that's for sure! Instead, I get to take my 1-hour glucose test at the doctor's office. Hooray! :P

P.S. Check this out! Behold my growing belly!

What a Difference a Month Makes...

Holy moly... I decided to take a belly pic tonight as we were getting ready to go out to dinner (our second anniversary is on Monday... yippee!). When I looked at it on the computer, I was shocked. I mean, I know I'm getting bigger... But I have grown a LOT in the past month! And I still have three-and-a-half more months to go! YIKES!

Almost 24 Weeks
P.S. Try to ignore my nice farmer's tan... :P

WHOA!!!

WE SAW MY BELLY MOVE LAST NIGHT!! It was so weird. We were watching tv in bed, and Gus had his hand on my belly to feel the baby kicking. Well, he wasn't cooperating... it seemed like whenever Gus put his hand there, he'd stop moving altogether! (I told Gus he must be some sort of Baby Whisperer) Anyway, he pulled his hand away one time just seconds before a particularly powerful kick. I wasn't even paying that much attention, but my bouncing belly caught my attention!!! I don't know what body part it was, but something was definitely sticking out! A minute later, the baby did it again-- and this time, Gus got to see it. I am still so weirded out by it, but at the same time it was AWESOME! He really is in there! :)

Things I Crave

We had our end-of-the-year luncheon the other day, on the last day of school, and a few of my coworkers were saying to me how I've been pretty even-tempered and not a "crazy hormonal pregnant woman." To be honest, I think they're right, and that I've been really lucky (*knock on wood!*). I've felt pretty much the same as I always have, with the exception of my "evening sickness" early on. I mentioned it to Gus, and he said pretty much the same thing. Maybe it's because I'm having a boy, so I don't have that monster surge of estrogen flooding my system?? Who knows!

That being said, I have come to realize that I do, in fact, have food cravings. For a while, it was hard to say whether or not these were cravings, because the things I want have been things I have ALWAYS liked (pregnant or not). But I realized I had a craving this afternoon when, after finishing off my second bacon cheeseburger of the week, I suddenly wanted ANOTHER one. I still want it, actually. Bacon cheeseburgers are soooooooo goooooood!!! :) Anyway, I thought I'd make a list of the foods I am craving (take notes if you plan to visit... bring a food offering and you'll be set!):

• TACO BELL- this has been the biggest craving by far! I want it every day and, sadly, have been getting it two or three times a week. I am worried that the baby might come out looking like a Burrito Supreme (mmm... burrito supreme!)
• Bacon Cheeseburgers (see above)
• Homemade Biscuits, but only the kind made with Bisquick (I just about cried when I realized we were out of Bisquick, and I made a special trip to go get some.)
• Steak. And I've never been a huge red-meat-eater!
• Hot Fudge Sundaes

I think that's pretty much it, for the moment. Which reminds me... time to go eat dinner! Too bad I don't have any of these things right now! *sigh*

A Baby Baby!

Here is little Owen, at just 26 hours old... It was so hard to put him down! I can't wait for our little guy to get here! The two of them are going to be buddies! :)

New News!

So Kori actually had her baby right before I posted that last blog entry!!! She named him Owen Thomas, and he was born at 4:08pm. HOORAY! I'm still waiting for the stats, but I'm guessing everyone is pretty tired right now. Still- YAY!

And in other very exciting news, Gus finally felt the baby kick!! I've been feeling the kicks get progressively stronger lately, and the little guy was doing quite a tap dance in there after I finished a bowl of ice cream tonight. Gus felt him a whole bunch of times! I didn't even say anything-- I just let him tell me when he felt them (and yup, he was right). Happy, happy day!! :) :) :)

**UPDATE: 7 lbs., 14 oz. and 21 inches long... The doctors were predicting that he'd be at least 9 pounds, so that's kind of a surprise! And she had to have a C-section. I can't wait to go see them!

The Waiting

...is the hardest part! Ok, so I have that Tom Petty song seriously stuck in my head now... Oh well! Today was the second-to-last day of school, and we had our big Promotion ceremony for the 5th graders (who are going on to middle school next year). Promotion is sort of my "thing." It's basically a graduation ceremony, only we don't use that specific word (since they're not technically done with school yet, and we don't want to give them the impression that they are!). I've been leading practices for the past few weeks, and making sure that all the little details were taken care of (the room arrangement, slideshow, all the awards, etc.). Luckily, I've had a really superstar team of volunteer parents this year, and everything went off without a hitch! This was especially relieving because, as of 6 pm last night, we were still having technical difficulties with the slideshow. I had to leave to go home, and one of the parents involved finally figured out a way to fix it at around 7:30. Long story short, they had used some songs they'd purchased off the internet which were, of course, licensed to be used only on their home computer and not the one at school. It's a little more complicated than that, but it ended up working out just fine in the end!

So Promotion went really well, except for the fact that I was on pins and needles the entire time, waiting to hear from Kori! Yup, my pregnant friend/coworker was induced yesterday, and I thought that for sure she would have the baby overnight. She said that she and her husband would send out a mass text message when the baby was born, and that I was definitely on the distribution list. I was checking my cell phone obsessively all morning! Finally, right after Promotion, I saw that I had a new *voice* message from her (I was so excited!!). I had been up on the stage presenting awards, and had missed the call. She said that she was 4 cm dilated, 90% effaced, they had just given her an epidural (which she was loving) and the nurses predicted that she was about to enter the "active labor" phase. I couldn't believe that she hadn't had the baby yet!! She sounded completely exhausted. So then I was waiting... and waiting... and waiting for an update. At 1:00 this afternoon, I got the following text message:

No baby yet- tonight most likely
So, that's where we're at now. I'm hoping that she has the baby fairly early tonight, and then I can go and visit her tomorrow. It's really weird-- I have totally been living vicariously through her this entire pregnancy. She told me the same day that she got the positive pregnancy test- I'm pretty sure I was the first person (after her husband) to find out. For months before that, we were both charting our periods and would consult each other daily to compare charts. So I feel really emotionally invested in this whole thing, and I hope she has the baby really, really soon! I am DYING to see what her little guy looks like! And I am really curious about which name she'll pick (she had settled on one along time ago, but was having second thoughts when I talked with her last week). Ooooh, I can't wait for him to get here!!!!

(On a side note... the day she told me she was pregnant, we figured out when her due date would be-- July 3rd. I said, "You know what? I bet you're going to have the baby on the day of Promotion!!" I was joking, but now I wish I had put some money on it... Who'd a thunk it??)

Viability!

Now that I have reached 22 weeks, the baby officially stands a chance (although a very, very small one) of surviving if it were born! That being said... this baby is definitely not done cooking, and needs to stay in there until at LEAST mid-September (you hear that, baby? I'm talking to you!). Still, this is sort of an exciting milestone. And, I'm also at the 5-month point now! More than halfway! Hooray! :)

An End in Sight!

I've mentioned here before that we have a Frenchman occupying what will eventually become the nursery, right? It's a long story (sigh...). BUT... Gus tells me that it looks like he'll probably be leaving us by mid-July! HOORAY! I am so excited to get that room back! Merci beaucoup!

Holy Heartburn, Batman!

So far in this pregnancy, I've been counting my blessings... I have read about all the horrible ailments and conditions that can affect pregnant women, and have considered myself one of the lucky ones. After all, I never had morning sickness so bad that I was throwing up all the time (though I did feel nauseous in the evenings). And since I safely made it out of the first trimester, I have really not had any major problems besides some ongoing back pain. I haven't even had constipation, like everyone told me I would (*knock on wood!*). Really, things have been pretty good... until this week! I have now discovered the joys of heartburn! I never really had heartburn before, or at least not very frequently. I am now living in a state where I feel perpetually "on the edge" of some serious burn. I did myself in yesterday, too... We went to the Greek Festival, and I ate all sorts of fun things (feta fries, loukomathes, souvlaki, frappe, banana soda...). Then, after that, our koumbari (sponsors) took us all out to dinner at a great restaurant, where I managed to find enough room to eat some delicious gnocchi with a creamy tomato and mushroom sauce. It was so good!! By the time I finished eating, the heartburn had already begun... And by the time I went to bed, it was so bad that I couldn't sleep. I propped my head up with a bunch of pillows and took some Tums. It seemed to help a little bit, but I was still miserable. Anyway, what's my point? Never count your chickens before they hatch. (I will keep my fingers crossed on the whole constipation-thing, though... yuck!!)

P.S. I am very glad I passed on the fried cheese yesterday... I can only imagine what that would have done to me!!

Equilibrium

Today, we went on the greatest field trip I have ever had the chance to participate in! It's strange enough that we had two field trips scheduled in the same week, but it's even more odd that they would end up being two totally opposite experiences. I guess this was the universe's way of making up for the living hell we experienced on Tuesday?? Anyhow, our kids got to run a mock town for the day, and it was such an incredible thing to watch. For the past month and a half, we (all the 5th grade teachers) taught the kids lessons on business and money management, and they all applied and interviewed for various jobs within the town. It was a tremendous amount of work for us, and there were a lot of kinks to work out (it's a brand-new program-- the place has only been open a week!), but it was all worth it! Here are a few pics of our fabulous experience (I blurred out all the kids' faces, just to be safe):

• Picture #1: View from the second story of the "mall"... you can see a Public Works project underway!
  
• Picture #2: Some of our distinguished lawyers hard at work
  
• Picture #3: The staff at Jack-in-the-Box prepares for a busy day

The place, which is run by our regional Junior Achievement program, has already been getting a lot of local press coverage. There were even more members of the press there today (I got interviewed for our local newspaper, hooray!). Our school was one of only a handful of pilot schools, which meant that we got to go for free (the actual value of the experience is about $50 per kid-- but they plan to subsidize a lot of the costs through donations. Next year, they will charge $18 per student).

Anyway, I guess I am just syaing that this field trip kicked butt. I am completely exhausted, but it definitely made up for the horror that was Tuesday's trip (*cringe*). :)

Worst. Field trip. Ever.

Subtitled: Why I dislike hate my school district's transportation department

I am so exhausted right now, and it's largely because I am still worn down from our big field trip yesterday. I was just thinking last week about how something might go wrong, when I read in Alayna and Sacha's blog about Sacha's recent field trip transportation woes. I have never had good luck with my district's transportation department, since they are really bad at following instructions and giving out information (they actually get kind of secretive when you ask if buses have been confirmed for a trip... they don't exactly give me a lot of confidence in their abilities!). Two years ago, I actually had it out with the woman in charge of the department... I was so fed up with them after that whole experience that now our school secretary always deals with them. (strangely enough, the woman I was so annoyed with has a kid at my school, and he's going to be in my class next year. yippee...) Anyway, if you want to read the long version of the story (which I had to write up for my principal today), click here. But to summarize: A trip that should have taken two hours ended up taking four-and-a-half when our bus was stopped at a highway patrol checkpoint and found to be unsafe to drive (a tire was so bald that the steel treads were visible-- the driver received not one, but FOUR tickets for four different violations). By the time we got to our destination, it was just about time to turn around... And going both directions, the driver had no idea where he was going or how to get there, and spent 90% of the time talking on his cell phone while going a million miles an hour. To top it all off, I had a student start throwing up repeatedly on the ride home, causing me to gag and nearly start vomiting myself. Then I had to get her cleaned up, which was not at all enjoyable. Oh, such a fun day! The part that stinks the most is that I planned the entire field trip, MY class has done the bulk of the fundraising (as usual), and MY students' parents have put in the majority of the man hours to make all our fundraisers successful. And my students (and their parents, and me) were the ones on the messed up bus who suffered the most, while the other kids from other classes had a slightly-less-crappy experience. Sometimes, I guess, life really isn't fair. My kids learned that lesson the hard way yesterday. I have to give them credit, though, for really being troopers throughout the whole ordeal. They were so quiet and well-behaved while sitting at the highway patrol checkpoint for nearly three hours. Gotta love them for that!

Nursery-in-progress!

Ok, so we can't exactly make progress on the actual nursery, since there's a Frenchman living in there and all (sigh... another story for another day). But I think I have finally made some decisions! I was going back and forth on whether or not I wanted to do a rainforest-themed room, and I have decided not to. But I have picked out some really cute bedding from Pottery Barn Kids that both Gus and I love! We also received our changing table the other night (a gift from my parents), which I assembled in about 2 hours. It was such a pain! But it looks great, and I can't wait until the aforementioned Frenchman leaves so I can move it into the room (and when will that be? who knows?!?). The crib (another gift from my parents) is scheduled to arrive on Tuesday. I'm so excited!! I think we'll probably paint the nursery in two different shades (of blue? not sure yet) with a white chair rail in the middle and a white valance over the window. So cute! I can't wait to get my paws on that room! :)

Added on 6/6: Well, I think we've changed our minds again... Don't count on that PBK bedding! But we at least have the crib and changing table set to go! :)