A year in review

Well if everyone else is doing it, I might as well jump on the bandwagon!

Today is the last day of 2010. To say the year flew by is a complete understatement. Here is a recap of our year and also a list of my New Years Resolutions for your reading pleasure :-)

March: Mark got a huge promotion at work!

April: Officially found out Baby Testa was on his way!

May: Mark & Trevor started renovating the basement. The first of many renovations our house will (hopefully) go through.

June: Took a family vacay to Minnesota.

September: Mark and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary.

October: Basement renovation: Done and done! Minus the finishing touches which we're still working on.

November: I celebrated my birthday on the 23rd then we welcomed Colin Vincent into our arms and hearts on November 25th.

December: Mark celebrated his birthday and we started on the journey of parenthood.

My resolutions:
1. Learn how to properly use my camera and start taking lots more pictures. First I need to learn how to properly use my camera so this is really 3 resolutions in 1.

2. Update this blog more.

3. Keep better records of our family milestones and Colin's developmental milestones. And of course, you can count on many blog posts about how advanced he is. I mean, how many one month olds do you know that can hold their head up for 30 seconds?!

Here's hoping 2011 doesn't have so many life changes in store for us!

Christmas 2010

It's safe to say that we had a fantastic Christmas. 2010 may have topped the previous eight that Mark and I have spent together. Colin contributed a lot to that. Having him made us enjoy the holidays so much more and he made us want to make the time special - even if he is only a month old. The day was super busy because we crammed 4 stops in to one day but we survived. Here is a recap:

We spent Christmas Eve with my dad's side of the family at my Grandma Ann's. It was so nice to get caught up with my Grandma, my Aunt Karen and her family since we don't spend much time with them. The best part of the evening was watching my Grandma hold Colin. She's in her 90's and has Alzheimer's Disease so she may not have realized that she was holding her great grandchild but it was still special to introduce her to him.

Colin with his Great Aunt Karen

Once we got home, we got started with our own Testa family traditions.We all sat next to the Christmas tree and drank homemade hot chocolate while Mark read "T'was The Night Before Christmas" and "How The Grinch Stole Christmas".



Mommy and Colin

Colin and Daddy

We were up at 6AM on Christmas morning for Colin's diaper change and feeding so we decided to just stay up and get started with our family celebration. While breakfast was cooking, we all sat around the tree and opened our presents. Even the dogs and cat were excited to open presents!

Can you find Colin among all his presents?!

 We spent the rest of the morning with Mark's family in Ankeny. We had coffee and juice then opened our stockings and presents. His family has a tradition of watching a movie on Christmas. This year we watched Karate Kid (the new one). After we had lunch, we had a mini-photo shoot with Colin. Mark's Grandma got to hold Colin for the first time. It was such a great moment to witness. It's sad to think that Colin will probably grow up without his Great Grandmothers but it makes the time they spend together that much more special.

Our perfect little family

Colin with Great Grandma Martha Testa

After leaving Mark's parents house, we made a quick stop at Uncle Trevor and Aunt Heather's house where we caught up with Heather's family and opened gifts. After that, it was time for the last stop of the day - Uncle Corey and Aunt Elizabeth's house. We had dinner and opened gifts with my mom's side of the family. Even though we all live so close to each other, we don't get together very often so it was nice to be able to show off Colin to family members that don't see him very much.

Christmas was a crazy, busy time but it was worth it. It's weird to think that next year, Colin will be 13 months old and he'll be able to open his own presents!

Christmas Traditions

I'm not going to lie...Christmas totally snuck up on me this year. Mark and I both love the holiday season and most days I'm amazed that we found the time to put up our tree. But now that I'm cooped up in the house 24/7 with the baby, I've been thinking a lot about Christmas and the traditions Mark & I have. I realized that we have traditions from our respective childhoods but we have no new traditions to start with Colin.

I mentioned to Mark that we should create one or two. I wanted to get Christmas pajamas for everyone to open on Christmas Eve so on Christmas morning, we'd all be decked out. But since we have outrageous hospital bills to pay, that one won't be happening. Instead, we'll be starting small - and cheap - this year. As Colin gets older, we will add more traditions.

Our first tradition as a family will be sitting in front of our tree on Christmas Eve where we will read a story about Christmas & drink hot chocolate (the good homemade kind). I'll also be starting one of my New Year's Resolutions early (to take more pictures) and take a picture of us during our new tradition.

I'm so excited that we have a plan now and we're starting off Colin's first Christmas right. I hope he grows up to love this season as much as Mark and I do.

Birth Story

Colin Vincent Testa was born on Thursday November 25th, 2010 at 2:50 AM. He weighed 5 pounds 3 ounces and was 19.5 inches long. Here is the story about how he made his grand entrance!

On Tuesday November 23rd (my birthday), I had my 37 week check-up. The appointment started out like any other. I peed in a cup and got weighed. I remember thinking to myself that if I didn't gain much weight maybe Mark would take me out for a birthday dinner. He was always telling me I should gain more weight. Little did I know that he would indeed be taking me out for dinner! Anyway, I was seeing a nurse practitioner, Darci, who had a student working with her that day. The student measured my stomach and said to Darci "I got 35". I'm assuming she meant my stomach was 35 inches. Darci measured it again and said "Hmm...I got 34". She then looked at me and said "We're going to do an ultrasound. Baby hasn't grown since last time you were measured". My heart sank. I just knew it wasn't going to turn out well.
I was told to go back to the waiting room and an ultrasound tech would come get me. I quickly called Mark to tell him what was going on. He asked if I was scared. Of course I was. I wanted nothing more than to be told it was a false alarm and I could go home. No such luck. Darci came in to the room and the ultrasound tech said "Good catch, Darce. It's IUGR". Darci kept saying "what the baby has" and I had to interrupt her and ask what exactly it was the he "has". Intra-Uteran Growth Retardation she told me. Long story short, my placenta was aged and had stopped providing the baby with all of the oxygen and nutrients he needed to grow. Hence the whole "bump not growing" dilemma. Darci then proceeded to tell me everything was fine. All it meant was more tests that would be done at my upcoming appointments. But apparently everything was not fine and that beeotch lied to me! All of a sudden I was being led to another room to have a Non-Stress Test. This was all a blur. I'm not sure how it was decided I needed a NST but nonetheless, I found myself in a very large leather chair with monitors on my stomach and water being forced down my throat. It seemed like every nurse in the office came in to check on me and all that commotion made me even more nervous. I finally got one to stay in the room long enough to tell me that the baby wasn't moving or kicking enough and a doctor would be with me shortly. The word "induction" was now ingrained in my mind like a flashing neon sign. I knew what was coming. Dr. Hancock came in and started spouting off about bell curves and where the baby fit on the curve. The ultrasound estimated his weight at 4 pounds 15 ounces. I'm no dummy. Clearly he was on the wrong end of said bell curve. Then he dropped the bomb..."You need to go to the hospital to be induced". To which I said "Tonight?! I need to go get my husband".

Keep in mind that by this time I had been at the doctors office for over an hour and a half and the office was now closed. And because I had to stay in that big comfy chair, I couldn't get to my phone to call Mark. Luckily, his instincts kicked in and he bummed a ride to the doctors office. As I was getting cleaned up and getting all the monitors taken off, in walks my hubbs. I was never more glad to see him but I knew I had to tell him that we were thisclose to meeting our boy. Three. Weeks. Early.  I told him we had to go to the hospital. I cried a bit. He almost did, too. We stood in the lobby for what seemed like an eternity calling work, our parents, our dog sitter. I remember calling my parents house and my mom answered the phone singing Happy Birthday to me. I wanted to burst out in tears and tell her there was nothing happy about it. But I kept my composure and calmly explained what was going on and asked if my dad could go to our house and get my hospital bag.

We checked in to the hospital around 6pm. I was told that I would be given Cervidil at 10PM and then Pitocin would be started the next morning. Then the on-call doctor came in and told me that Cervidil wouldn't work - I don't remember why. Instead they would be starting Pitocin at 1AM and I should get some rest. Fast forward to 10PM. The nurse comes in asking if I'm ready for the Cervidil. I shot her a confused look and said "Dr. D said I'd be getting Pitocin at 1AM instead". She shot me a confused look and said "Nope. I don't know why he said that. We're back to plan A." I was annoyed that no one told me we were back on plan A but whatever. I was given the Cervidil and a sleeping pill. The next morning (Wednesday) I was only dilated to 2 CM. The Cervidil didn't work so Pitocin was started at level 10. I was able to get out of bed, use a birthing ball and practice all the moves I learned in birthing class but nothing was helping my labor progress. The nurse came in and told me she couldn't monitor the baby's heartbeat while I was on the birthing ball and I would need to get back in bed. She kept asking me to rate my pain and was shocked to hear me say "1 or 2". The contractions just weren't bad at all. They felt like mild menstrual cramps.

The baby wasn't handling the Pitocin very well so it was turned down to a 1 and then all day Wednesday it was slowly raised. By about 3PM, we were back at level 10. Luckily the baby was handling it better and the level was slowing raised over the next few hours. I still wasn't feeling the contractions and was only dilated to 3 CM. At some point, I'm not sure when, the doctor came in and broke my water. I asked him if it meant I had only 24 hours to get things going or I'd need a c-section. He said that wasn't necessarily the case and he'd have to see how I progressed from there. I finally started to feel the contractions around 11PM Wednesday night but they were still nothing to write home about. I told the nurse the contractions were getting stronger so she asked if she could check me again. Still only 3 CM. This wasn't looking good. She raised my Pitocin level again and said she'd be back in a few hours. Mark was amazing during this time. He could tell I was in more pain and he was right by my side offering me water and rubbing my back. Around 1 AM on Thursday morning, the nurse came back in with Doctor Fagerland. He spoke to me in a quiet voice and said "I think a c-section is necessary. You're just not progressing. You should be dilated to an 8 or 9 by this point". No one wants to have major abdominal surgery but by this point, I was ready for it to be over. I was just tired. Tired of being in the most uncomfortable bed. Tired of nothing working. So I looked at Mark, he nodded, and I told the doctor to go ahead.

Within an hour I was prepped and ready for surgery. It was freezing in the operating room and I was shivering uncontrollably. I remember thinking to myself "How am I supposed to get through contractions without moving AND not shiver while the anesthesiologist shoves a huge needle in my spine?!" I think the nurse could read my mind because she instantly wrapped me in a warm blanket and told me to squeeze her hand during the contractions. It helped a lot. The epidural was awful. My legs were tingling and felt like they weighed 100 pounds each. After I laid down on the table I started having trouble breathing. The anesthesiologist told me it was because my chest cavity was numb. He put an oxygen mask on me which helped. The next thing I know, Mark is by my side and he's being told that they were in my abdomen and to listen for a suction which was his cue to stand up and start taking pictures. It all happened so fast. We heard what could have been a suction noise and Mark asked if that was what he was supposed to listen for. I had no clue so he stood up and luckily he did because the baby was being pulled out. After the baby was out, I told Mark to go be with him and that I would be fine. As I laid on the table I have never felt more alone in my entire life even though there was a room full of people. Then I heard it. The most amazing sound in the world - Colin's first cry. I sighed loudly and said "Oh!". I was so happy to hear him. His cry was so adorable. Very quiet and small. Just like him.

Mark brought him over to me and I rubbed his head and told him I loved him. I looked at Mark and said "He's so small!". I don't really remember what happened after that but I know Mark went to the nursery with Colin while I was taken back to my room to recover. I didn't get to see Colin again for two hours but that time went by so fast. Around 5 AM he was brought to the room and I got to hold him for the first time. He opened his eyes wide and looked at me. I instantly smothered him in kisses! To say it was love at first sight is an understatement.

The labor and delivery didn't go as we had hoped and planned for but everything that happened was out of our control. We were just happy to have a healthy baby and a healthy mom.

The doctor was right that the baby would thrive better after being born. He gained 10 ounces in his first two weeks!

The art of compromise

It's not a surprise to those who know us personally but my husband and I are vastly different. He's a sports freak, I barely know what a touchdown is. He's tall, I'm short. He's witty, I take hours to figure out a joke.

But a big (OK, HUGE) difference we've been faced with this year is realizing that he's a bit of a hoarder. And I'm a minimalist. For example, his mom says she's bringing over "some books" from his childhood and we end up with almost an entire bookshelf filled with books, many of I've never even heard of but all he "absolutely loved" growing up.

So what's a wife to do with a hoarder on her hands? Immediately say "Get rid of everything!"? Well, that's my initial reaction. Not the best, I'll admit but it's the minimalist in me. He always begrudgingly abides, goes through the piles and gets rid of a lot. Then I end up feeling awful because I know it all has some kind of sentimental meaning to him - even if I don't understand why he kept a teddy bear that folds up in to a football...for over 20 years.

Then this morning it hit me.

I'm a hoarder, too. I just hoard in a different way. I hoard memories and traditions - specifically Thanksgiving and Christmas. I want each holiday to be exactly the same as the previous year. But, as life usually goes, each year is different. And I have to accept that. Just like I have to accept the piles of childhood memories that came with my husband.

That's where compromise comes in. Mark compromises by letting go of his childhood memories and I compromise by letting go of some of my traditions. I've come to realize that the important part of my traditions are that the people stay constant. Why should it matter if I have Thanksgiving lunch or dinner with my family? I'm satisfied just being with them on Thanksgiving.

As Colin grows up, I hope to teach him the art of compromise. He's got two great examples already. Mark will teach him how to take care of his favorite toys so he will have them to hand down to his son one day. And I will teach him how to take care of his favorite memories so he can continue creating those memories with his family through tradition.

Busy, busy, busy!

Uh...so...yeah. There's been alot going on this year. I mean...there was this.

Yep. That was life altering. Oh and then there was this...

And of course, this.

Bear with me...that's the nursery. 

That's a lot of changes crammed in to less than 365 days but we made it! The basement is finished, minus a few finishing touches. And the nursery is finished, minus Baby Colin :-). Our two major goals for 2010 are now finished!

Mark and I are finally finding free time again to do what we enjoy. It's nice to have a minute to sit (or lay) down and think about everything we've accomplished this year.  It feels like we've both been running a marathon since March and we're just now nearing the finish line.  

2011 is going to bring with it lots of new adventures and accomplishments...and I am looking forward to every.single.one!

I already have a New Years Resolution: Update this blog a lot more frequently! 

Things I've done wrong

At my very first OB appointment, the doctor mentioned that he calls the first pregnancy "The Worry Pregnancy". At first I thought I was going to be calm, cool and collected throught this pregnancy. But I have fallen victim to the nickname and have started worrying about every little thing. Lately I've been keeping a mental note of things I've done during this pregnancy that I've heard I shouldn't do. They are:

-Ate lunch meat - a lot.
-Slept/laid on my back past 20 weeks.
-Carried heavy items (laundry, vacuum, dogs, etc.).
-Painted.
-Spray painted.
-Cleaned out the cat's litter box.
-Got a flu shot.
-Drank caffeine - not a lot.
-Drank diet soda - kind of a lot but I've cut it way down.

I'm sure there are more but you know what? I'm still alive and kickin'. So is Colin. I think we're gonna be ok :-)

Nesting

Being that I'm now 31 weeks pregnant, the question I get asked more often than "How are you feeling?" is "Are you nesting?!". My answer is usually "I'm not sure?". See, I keep my house clean. I do my chores on a regular basis. Is that nesting? If so, I've been nesting since the day we bought this house. When I picture a woman "nesting", I see her running around, frantically cleaning every surface of her house within an inch of it's life. I'm not quite that bad...yet. Maybe I don't feel like I'm nesting because I don't have a nursery to prepare yet since it is still full of stuff from the basement renovation...
 
Until tomorrow, that is!
 
Ah, YES! The carpet will FINALLY be installed. The last major step will be complete! After that, all that's left is putting up the trim and painting the doors. Then we can start on the nursery!
 
I'll keep you updated if the nesting bug hits me! 

It's our anniversary!

September 26th marked mine and Mark's 1 year wedding anniversary! We celebrated by taking a day trip to Iowa City to reminisce about our college years. We both absolutely loved living in the I.C./Coralville area and were very excited to be back "home".
The day started off with a bit of chaos when our dog Macy got out the front door and decided she needed to go for a morning run. She didn't go too far but it took us about 20 minutes to find her. After she was home safe, we got on the road.

Our first stop in Iowa City was the downtown area. It was fun to see all the buildings where we had classes, the dorms we lived in and the places we used to hang out. We bought Colin a Hawkeye t-shirt. Hopefully it's the right size so he can wear it next fall during Hawkeye football. We also bought a Hawkeye Christmas ornament for our tree. After leaving downtown, we drove past the new football stadium and took some pictures of it. We then headed to Coralville to have lunch at Red Lobster, where I tried lobster for the first time. I figured since it was on a pizza, it couldn't be too bad ;-).

After lunch, we stopped at the outlet mall in Williamsburg to pick up some items we'd been trying to find here in DM for a reasonable price but couldn't.

All in all, it was a great way to spend our anniversary! Here are some pictures from our trip. I can't figure out how to rotate some of the pictures so you'll just have to turn your head!

Kinnick Stadium entrance.

Statue of Nile Kinnick, Jr.

29 week bump shot. And our first "family" photo!

I'm not sure what to call this one...view from the other side of the Pentacrest, maybe?

View of downtown I.C. from the Pentacrest

The Capitol.

One year ago...

I married my best friend :-). All I can really say is I can't believe it's been an entire year! The time has definitely flown by...but we've been having fun so I guess that's to be expected! We have had an amazing year. There really aren't words for describing how happy I am with our first year of marriage. I hope they are all this easy! Here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure.

The reveal! The first time we saw each other that day!

Walking down the aisle with my dad.

Lighting the Unity candle

Saying our vows

A shot of almost the whole wedding party

Walking down the aisle as husband & wife :-)

 

The cake...so delicious and B-E-A-UTIFUL!

 

 Almost all the girls (sorry Krystal!)

And the guys...

I love looking back at the pictures. It was such an amazing day and everything went so perfectly. I can't say Thank You enough to everyone who helped us make our day so amazing. Honestly, it's the memories of sharing our day with all of our loved ones that make me the happiest. 

Getting this baby out!

I'm not quite ready for him to come out yet (hello, not-even-started nursery!) but I realized last night that in 10 weeks I'll be technically full term. 10 WEEKS! I'm not sure why but that thought scares the hell out of me. But I've been thinking more and more about what I want to happen while I'm in labor. Mark and I decided early on that it would be just me and him in the delivery room. We got into this together and we're getting out of it together! But I've realized that it could be a long process and it might be helpful to have someone else there for both of us to lean on for support. We discussed choosing a friend or family member but we wouldn't even know how to choose one of them. Our birth class instructor gave us the name of a friend of her's who is a student Doula. She has to attend 3 live births as part of her training and we're lucky enough to be one of the 3. We've been e-mailing with her and we're finally meeting her in person on Tuesday evening. Hopefully everything goes well and she'll be at Colin's birth. It will be nice to have an extra support person.

The birth class that we've been taking is The Bradley Method - the "coach centered" method that places a lot of importance on nutrition and exercise during pregnancy ultimately ending with a natural birth. So far it's been awesome. The instructor is all for non-hospital, midwife assisted births so she's been kind of dissing hospitals which scared me a bit since I'm delivering in a hospital. I was pleasantly surprised when I was reading a birth plan checklist from the hospital I'll be delivering in. It has all the options I want - limited monitoring if everything is going ok, being able to walk around, get in the tub, use the birthing ball. I was so surprised! I guess I let the instructor get in my head a little about how hospitals are "bad". I felt relieved knowing that the hospital will allow ME to call the shots.

I was even more relieved after visiting the maternity section of the hospital. It is simply amazing. They have really thought of everything to make the mom's happy! Unfortunatley Mark wasn't able to tour it with me but we're going back soon so he can see everything. So...while neither me or the baby is quite ready for him to come out, I feel extremely confident in the choices Mark and I have made for our path of bringing him in to the world!

When I grow up...

I believe I have figured it out! Yes, I may be pushing 27 years old but I'm just now starting to figure out "what I want to be when I grow up".  And yes...the light bulb may have went off after watching an episode of Teen Mom on MTV - remember the Golden Rule here people! Anyway...there is a couple who gave up their child for adoption and they meet every so often with their adoption agent. She isn't on the show very often but when she is, I find myself oddly intrigued by her line of work. Probably because I've always wanted a career that would allow me to make a difference in another person's life and she has one. I promptly went online and found out that getting a Master's Degree in Social Work is the best way to go about becoming an adoption agent (I'm entirely sure this is the correct title).

I have a degree in Psychology already so this is one logical next step for me. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that the University of Iowa (where I received my Psychology degree) has a Master's of Social Work extension program in Des Moines - and the center is conveniently located about 3 blocks from my work - PERFECT! And there are night classes! With the public library located smack in the middle of the route from my job to the learning center, I would have a place to hang after work while waiting for class to start - DOUBLE PERFECT!

And then the let down....
I got to the portion of the reading that pretty much states "There is no way you can be a part of this program on a part-time basis and still carry a full time job". Crap. I clearly have to work to help support my family - that's what adults do right? Well this adult quickly e-mailed DH & gave him the sob story. To my surprise, his quick response was "if this is what you want, we'll figure it out". Um...wait. Did some nicer, less money conscience other person hack his e-mail? No? Oh. He must mean it. He then proceeded to lay out the tentative plan & told me to go for it.

So here I am. Life plan & DH support in hand, I'M GOING FOR IT! I'll be gathering all the necessary documentation & waiting for my acceptance letter. Wish me luck!

Craziness!

So far August is off to a crazy start for us!

On the baby front, the ultrasound was on July 20th & this baby is definitely not shy! The image of him wasn't on the screen for 30 seconds and we knew it was a....BOY! Yep...I won the bet :-)
His name is Colin Vincent and I can't wait to see him, hold him and kiss him! He will definitely be the best Christmas present I have ever received.

I felt Colin move for the first time at the end of July and Mark got to feel him kick the next week. He cried...it was so sweet! Ever since then he's been kicking and moving up a storm. I've been calling him my little ninja because it feels like he's trying to kick and punch his way out, haha! He kicked so hard yesterday morning the remote that was resting on my stomach popped up! It was pretty hilarious.

I have my next check up tomorrow afternoon. I had only gained 3 pounds total at my last appointment so I'm interested to see how much I have gained. I still weigh myself every day and I think I've gained 4-5 pounds since my last appointment. Right on track for my "one pound a week" goal.  The weight gain may be low but my belly has definitely popped out! I bought some maternity pants...they're too big still but I'm sure my stomach will grow into them.

On the home front...we've been doing a lot of home improvements - some minor, some major. The drywall is up in the basement and the first coat of tape/mud has been put on. Once the second coat is on it will be time to paint! I have been having fun looking at paint samples and figuring out how to decorate down there.

Ever since Mark and I bought the house, the front door has been this ugly, dirty brown color. Today I finally got Mark convinced that it needs to be painted. We went to Home Depot and picked out a nice light grey color. It looks AMAZING! It doesn't exactly "match" the shutters on the front of the house but the colors flow well and it just looks so good. I'm very proud of us :-)

I have been wanting to get some pictures to hang up in the bathroom off the kitchen & I finally bought the ones I've had my eye on. They aren't hung up yet though...Mark did so much this weekend so I feel guilty asking him to do one more thing. Sometime this week I'll get them hung up.

I feel like there's so much more that's happened but I just can't think right now! I'll post pictures of our home improvements later this week.

Second best day of my life!

Dear Baby Testa-

I just want you to know that at approximately 1:40 p.m. on Tuesday July 20th 2010, the image of your sweet little face popped up on the ultrasound screen and changed my life forever.

I love you, baby!

Mommy

Quick Recap

For some reason, this blog has slipped my mind the last month. Maybe because nothing noteworthy has happened (that I can blog about at least). Here is a recap:

- I had my second baby doctor appointment on June 22nd. I learned my blood type, my weight was exactly the same as the first appointment and I have no diseases (thank goodness!). We got to hear the baby's heartbeat again, which always makes me smile! The doctor did I say I could be not as far along as I think I am - he's crazy but we'll figure that out at the next appointment.

-The ultrasound will be on July 20th - right around the corner! Mark and I have a bet - I think it's a boy, he thinks it's a girl. Loser buys lunch. I believe I'll be enjoying a free lunch ;-). Unfortunately, I won't be sharing who the winner is so you'll just have to wait until December, sorry!

- My cousin and her daughters were in town over the 4th and we had the chance to visit with them. We hadn't seen them in 2 years because they live in the Netherlands. It was nice to catch up with them.

- Half of the electric work in the basement is finished. The drywall was delivered yesterday. Hopefully Trevor and Mark can get started on that soon. I already have the paint color picked out!

That's all for now!

Minnesota!

This past weekend, Mark and I headed up to Minnesota for a fun-filled vacation with our family. We had a fantastic time! Here are some highlights from the trip.

We left on Friday and after getting settled at the hotel, we all headed over to Taylor's Falls to take a scenic boat ride and do some hiking. All though it was rainy and cold, the scenery was so amazing! We all really enjoyed hiking on the trails. We went on one called "Pothole Trail". There are literally pot holes everywhere! They are naturally made and some of them are HUGE and so deep. They were very cool.

On Saturday we hung around the hotel for a while in the morning to have some R&R. Then we headed over to the Mall of America. While the parents with kids went to the aquarium, the parents-to-be went to Barnes and Noble. Mark and I had a lot of fun looking at the children's books reminiscing about the books we loved when we were young. We got a book of great children's tales & one about Peter Rabbit. We plan on buying a lot more books for the baby because there are just so many great ones! After the mall, we headed over to Ikea - the best store on earth! We picked up some much needed blinds for the kitchen. We got wood ones which I've been wanting ever since we moved in to the house 2 years ago.

After a day of shopping and dinner at Toby Keith's Bar & Grill, we spent the evening relaxing at the Water Park of America. It was nice to get to hang out and have a good time with everyone.

We headed home on Sunday. It was a long, tiring weekend but totally worth it. It was definitely hard to go back to reality on Monday!

*Blogger isn't letting me upload pictures right now so those will be coming!

A quarter(-ish) finished!

Here are some pictures of the basement with the walls framed...

This will be the living room.

This will be the office/workout room.

And this is the laundry room. No changes here except a door and a sink, which is featured in the picture!

Now we just have to wait for the electrician to come and then we'll be ready for drywall!

Weight a minute...

Over the course of the last two years, I have worked extremely to go from this...

To this...

Not bad, eh?

I'll be the first to admit that I did (and still do) get a bit obsessed with the number on the scale. I've come a long way from my heaviest of 176 so I feel like I deserve to be obsessive over how much I weigh. And now that I'm pregnant, I'm finding it extremely hard to come to terms with the rising number on the scale which fuels my obsession. My second thought after seeing the positive pregnancy test was "There goes all my hard work". Sad but true.

I was extremely relieved to be told by my doctor that I only need an extra 150-300 calories a day which should be from fruits and veggies and that it's ok to continue to workout like I did before. In fact, it's recommended. Hallelujah! I NEED to workout. It helps me sleep better and just makes me feel better about myself in general.

But on the other hand, I have my husband telling me to take it easy and eat whatever I want, when I want. He just doesn't understand. I physically can't "eat for two" - at least not yet! I don't want to gain a lot of weight. That's not healthy for me OR the baby. And I need to workout because there is a very good chance it will help me have an easy delivery which in turn will help HIM. I guess when I think deeper about his feelings, he says what he says because he knows I'll deprive myself of my unhealthy cravings and he just wants me to be happy.

I guess the ol' "moderation is key" phrase is going to have to be instilled in order to make us both happy.

The Big Remodel!

Mark and I have lived in our house for two years and one of the biggest projects we knew we would eventually take on is finishing the basement. That time has finally arrived! With the help of my amazing brother, Mark is currently down in the basement learning how to shoot a nail gun and frame walls. Thankfully I haven't had to do much besides run to the hardware store a few times and supply lunch.

Here are a few before pictures of the basement...

This is where the closet will go...

There will be a wall where those two support posts are that will separate the living room, office & laundry room.

The office is going to be where that stack of wood currently is.

And this is the nursery which is currently being used as storage. I hope they're finished by the time the baby comes!

I will post some in-between pictures after the weekend is over!

The perfect day

Today Mark and I had our very first baby doctor appointment! As we were sitting in the waiting room, we were looking at a brochure for the clinic and reading up on the doctor we were about to see. I told Mark that his name sounded familiar and his picture looked familiar too - like I had seen him before. Mark had a huge smile come across his face and he said "I think he is Paul's dad". Paul being a guy who lived across the hall from Mark in the dorms when he was an R.A. at Iowa. Pretty random, right? We asked if he has a son named Paul and low and behold, he does! It was a pretty funny coincidence.

Anyway, on to the good stuff!

The appointment started out with the normal stuff...asking the doctor questions, getting lectured about proper diet and exercise. Then I had to have the dreaded pelvic exam. My brave husband stayed in the room! He was rewarded though because right after the exam, we got to finally hear the heartbeat! It was amazing. Seriously, you guys. Amazing. Words can't describe it. I never believed anyone who said that to me but it's totally true. The heartbeat was strong - 166 beats per minute. The doctor said "girl range if you believe the old wives tale". Uh...YES I DO! I believe them all! Now the gender will really be a surprise on delivery day!

The doctor told me I am 11 weeks, 2 days along and my due date is December 13th. Only a day before I had been guessing!The only issue he had with my health is that I don't get enough calcium since I'm not a big milk drinker. I have to take a supplement every day plus force a cup of milk down. Maybe I'll just take two pills :-)

We left with an armful of information to read and ended this amazingly perfect afternoon with an ice cream cone at McDonald's. All in all...it was the second best day of my life...thus far.

Baby loot

My husband is the type of guy who likes to plan ahead. Usually it frustrates me but when he told me we are going to buy stuff for the baby throughout the pregnancy instead of near the end, I couldn't say no! We aren't planning to find out the gender of the baby before he/she is born so everything we've gotten is gender neutral and super cute (to my surprise!). The best deal we've gotten so far is the glider chair. Our neighbors sold it to us for $20! Can't beat that! I'm planning to change the cushion as soon as I can figure out how to do it.

I can't wait to buy more stuff and get the nursery all ready for Baby Testa!

 

One rainy Wednesday night...

I'm stealing this idea from a blog I follow (and love!), the O My Family blog. She writes a letter to her son every month. Now I can follow suite and write a letter to my child. I begin on the day I found out he or she exists.

Dear baby Testa,

One rainy Wednesday night (April 7th to be exact) on our way home from work, I said to daddy "We need to stop at the drug store". He knew why. Once we got home, I began to make dinner because I couldn't muster up the courage to take that pregnancy test. I wanted so badly for it to be positive and I could not bare the thought that it could be negative. We had only begun trying to conceive you 3 weeks earlier!

I finally worked up the courage to go to the bathroom and then wait those 3 very long minutes. I made daddy look first. He came out of the bathroom with a half shocked half ecstatic look on his face. And I knew. He told me to look for myself. Then I saw what I have waited 5 years for...two pink lines. I started crying and hugging daddy. All I could say was "Oh, my God!" We have loved you from that very moment.

Daddy wanted me to keep you a secret until it was confirmed by a doctor. Everyone knew the next day. How could I possibly keep you a secret? I want to tell everyone, even strangers, that I'm pregnant. You'll come to learn that mommy can't keep a secret!

This amazing news became official on April 15th when the doctor confirmed that you do, indeed, exist inside of me. Daddy high-fived me so hard I thought the doctor was going to come back in the room and ask if I smacked him!

You are only 6 weeks old but I wish I could look into your eyes and tell you just how much I love you...how much everyone loves you. On or around December 14th, you are going to be welcomed with open arms into two families who already can't imagine the world without you. I promise I will keep you safe and healthy until then. After that, daddy will have to help :)

Love,
Mommy

Workin' Out

Recently I decided to start a workout DVD swap with some friends. It's a great way to get introduced to new workouts without having to shell out any money (holla!). If you're interested in swapping, let me know!

I swapped a few of my videos for Turbo Jam and Core Rhythms. I'm traveling to Mexico in May so I need to get my abs and legs in shape ASAP! Both videos definitely do an awesome job! I have to say that Turbo Jam is my favorite. It is so much fun! The music rocks and I can actually stand to listen to the instructor speak (sorry Jillian). It can be a little hard to follow but once you get the hang of the moves, it's so easy...plus it's the perfect excuse to shake your booty! I just did Turbo Sculpt which is 40 minutes of squats, lunges and upper body work. I believe I'll be saying 'Hello' to sore muscles in the morning! Totally worth it though.

Core Rhythms is good too - more for sculpting. I don't have the best hips so it kind of hurts to do the moves but I made a promise to myself to not give up on it and try it at least 3 more times. It is definitely a fun workout too.

I hope to find more people to join the club to swap videos. If you want to join, let me know!

Go Green!

Ever since Mark and I bought our house, I have been looking for ways to 'Go Green!'. We recycle, use water & vinegar to clean hard surfaces, windows & mirrors, turn the water off when we're not using it. Basically we've changed the easy things.

Two areas I've had trouble 'Going Green' in are cleaning the bathrooms and doing the laundry. I just like to know the bathrooms and our clothes are clean. I won't get started on the bathroom so today I'll talk about laundry.

After throwing away countless dryer sheets & chasing down our Pug a few hundred times after he got a hold of the missed ones, I decided it was time for a change. Enter the Bounce Dryer Bar.

When I saw this thing advertised on T.V. I thought to myself "Self...this could be exactly what we've been dreaming of!" and off I went to buy one.

Not wanting to be wasteful, what with trying to 'Go Green!' and everything, I patiently waited until we used all of the traditional dryer sheets before installing the dryer bar.

I was not impressed after the first load. It collected a lot of lint which turned it from white to black & I could hear the static on the clothes - not very reassuring. I'm not one to be defeated so I am giving it a second chance & the second load (towels) is currently in the dryer. I will let you know how it turns out.

Anyone have suggestions for 'Going Green!' with laundry or cleaning bathrooms?

Date Night

Anyone who knows me and Mark knows we L-O-V-E food. We always eat the same things during the week: Fiber One bar and banana for breakfast, turkey sandwich for lunch, light dinner. The weekends are our time to play and eat good food...which is usually awful for us but still good. Having already agreed (and done a spit-shake) to not eat out, we figured out the steak we set out for dinner still wasn't thawed by 5:30. Naturally the conversation quickly turned to "What's for dinner?".

We headed to the grocery store and left with the fixing's for blue cheese burgers, a salad and ice cream cookie sandwiches.

Our neighbors probably think I should win the "Worst Wife of the Year" award because I made Mark stand outside - in the cold - and cook the burgers on a travel grill which stands less than a foot off the ground (it's all we have people!). They probably also thought "Look at the crazies rushing spring". There has never been a truer statement. We ARE, in fact, rushing spring. As I'm sure everyone living in Iowa is.

The burgers turned out great, the salad could have been better and the ice cream cookies were delish - thanks for the cookies mom!

Oh, and spring is on the way - I can feel it!