thankful

i'm lounging here on my big comfy couch with my stinky little puppy nestled at my feet and my wonderful husband next to me, my tummy full of turkey and mashed potatoes and gravy and stuffing and corn and apple pie crusts (i pass on the actual filling), my belly full of baby, and my heart full of thanks for...
family - my mom and dad, sisters and brothers-in-law, nieces and nephews, aunts, uncles, cousins, all the hawleys-in-law, and my second sets of in-laws (being the walls and slopsemas)
friends - schizz, kal, trish, ash, kerrie anne, the singers, richard wood (and fiancee!), mike lau (and wife!), duford, the dane and danen (to name just a few)
my home
my job (and time off)
good books
warm hugs
sloppy sweet baby kisses (thanks, add and sam and gavin; you are all great surrogates)
roaring fires
delicious gingersnaps (a little more soft than snappy)
baby bumps and baby boys
the gospel, my faith, my savior
and that's just what my tryptophan-ified mind is capable of coming up with right now.
i hope your thanksgiving was as low-key and low-carb (ha!) as mine.

worser than the worst

(is there a word for that? for being even more horrible than the worst? worser works for me.) i am talking about the new "improved" flavor of pepto: cherry. blech! i really do wish there is a way to improve upon something that tastes like bubble gummy chalk that can be used to soothe an achy tummy. trust me, i've had more than my fair share of achy tummy times and nothing doesn't do the trick like "trusty" pepto. mostly because simply the THOUGHT of the flavor alone makes me want to hurl, let alone the actual taste. urgh...i just threw up a little bit in my mouth. so now there's cherry flavored bubble gummy chalk to ease my tummy troubles? a big NO THANK YOU. i'd rather munch on my own vomit than attempt downing even a thimble-full of cherry pepto. back to the old grindstone, pepto makers. sucks for you.
and for all of us tummyache sufferers.
ugh.
and blech.

snakes and snails and puppy dog tails

do you remember a couple weeks ago when the drs at my office wanted to see what our baby is but didn't have the right us wand? yeah, remember that? well, they found the right wand today. and guess what...
IT'S A BOY!!!
yea and hooray for little boys!
now, let's get shopping!

16 down, 24 to go

not to trump the cuteness of my new nephew (see above), but this is a big day for the three of us: we're almost halfway there! two weeks closer to finding out if we need to shop for blue or purple; i'm anti-pink right now. two weeks closer to may 09. two weeks closer to no more 1am/3am/6am trips to the loo. two weeks closer to a bebe, OUR bebe.
now, scroll up and enjoy the cuteness.

i love him

and that's all i have to say about that

thank heaven for little boys

e and matty welcomed baby #4 today, their third little boy. all 7lbs 4oz of him. i cried last night after getting off the phone with her, so excited for a new nephew and so homesick for my entire family. we both want to be there to smooch his bruised little blue-eyed face and smooth his blonde curly hair and smell that wonderful new-baby smell. i'm wishing away the next six weeks so we can do just that: smooch and schmuggle and sniff.
welcome to the family, grady. your uncle mor and aunt v cannot wait to meet you!
see here for pictures

5 fingers!

now that i'm officially in the "what are you having" phase (aka 2nd trimester) of this old show, the drs at my office decided to do an ultrasound to find out the sex of the baby. i don't work in an obgyn office, so the us machine in our place is mainly used to diagnose hematomas and just-under-the-skin sorts of things; not really for rendering a verdict on boy v girl since your uterus is like all the way to china deep in your body. the higher the frequency was set, the smaller and smaller the viewfield became, thus making it impossible to see any of our bebe...EXCEPT his/her left hand! i know, i know, you've never heard more exciting news. who cares that we (read: those who actually voted, not including m'self) just elected the first black president? our wee one has all his/her fingers!!! at least on the left hand anyway. you'd think we haven't had an us yet with how excited i got over these little moving phalanges: wrong; complicatons and whatnot at the beginning made for 2 us in less than 3 days. i just hadn't seen any part of the baby so magnified that you could really tell what it was. and they were moving! his/her fingers were moving, bending, flexing. it was...amazing.

w

the colts needed this w. we, the fans, needed this w. i've been waiting and wishing and hoping this day would come. thank you, horse, for finally delivering.
in other football news, herm edwards is a moron. going for the win with a (failed) 2pt conversion instead of for the tie and overtime in an on-the-road conference game...bad call. i'll console you, tony g. come cry on my shoulder.
in STILL other football news, i absolutely hate when that one guy from special teams (be it punt return, field goal, kickoff) stays on the field well after the play is dead because he knows he won't be getting back out on the field anytime soon. get to the sideline, chachi. and don't you dare jump around in celebration on your way there. just get. off. the. field.
in unrelated news, buying things for an as-of-now ambiguously-sexed baby is hard. i don't want our kid wearing green and yellow until their first birthday. so, how soon can we find out if it's a boy or girl again? and please don't say 20wks. i might cry.
tony g, will YOU console ME if that happens?

14 down, 26 to go

if i'd known how sick and uncomfortable i was going to be throughout this whole thing, i don't know if i would have signed up for the ride. okay, that's not true. i don't think anyone really understands what the phrase "i'm pregnant" really entails until THEY are the ones saying it. i always thought of cute chubby babies you get to schmuggle all day and night, the new baby smell that comes built-in with each and every little one, diapers and bottles and blankies and binkies; i never thought of the hours i'd spend hunched over the toilet (at home, at work, at cafe rio), the back pains that began before the belly was showing, the maternity leave i'd have to arrange in order to get paid and not lose my job. i know all the things i used to think still apply (i'm especially hopeful of the cute chubby baby part), but i know now that without all the others, the end result wouldn't be as amazing.
so, keep your fingers crossed for us that come may 09, we'll have one of those delicious smelling cute chubby babies of our own.

is it bedtime yet?

ever since daylight savings kicked in (all of yesterday), i feel like i should be heading to bed at 6p. probably because it has been raining, nay storming since saturday night thus making it dark outside from about 4p until about noon. that leaves approximately 4hrs of daylight. do you see why i'm throwing on my jimjams and having mor tuck me in before 8p? don't get me wrong, i in no way dislike or wish the rain and wintry weather away; i'm merely saying that it's hard enough to get up for work without having to convince myself that my alarm clock isn't five hours fast.

happy birthday, little monkey

a day late, a few dollars short (your birthday gift is on its way with gma connie though)...what's an aunt and uncle to say? we wish we were there to smooch your adorable excema-ed face and squeeze your skinny little 2yr old body. know that we love love LOVE you more than any other newly 2yr old, becks!