Get out your Depends!

Camino del Rey

I found this video on one of my fav. blogs Neatorama and it totally gave me the willies. at first you are like, "okay it's a mountain path, not too bad...what't the big deal?" then like a minute later you are like "Ohhhh myyyy godddddd I just pooped my pants!!!" lol. :D Watch the whole thing for maximum use of your adult diaper.

http://www.brightcove.tv/title.jsp?title=1438490562

Ma Bell Bell

My belly was looking pleasingly pregnant this morning, so I took advantage of Chuck & Sandy's sparkling bathroom and giant mirror to take this fetching self-portrait.

Originally I was just going to use it for my message board "fluffy mamas belly shots" thread, but I hoped that maybe my loyal readers wouldn't totally barf if I posted it here as well. :D

21 weeks & 2 days

Week 22

See the big picture

How your baby's growing:

Your baby now looks like a miniature newborn, checking in at 10.9 inches (the length of a spaghetti squash) and almost 1 pound. Her skin will continue to appear wrinkled until she gains enough weight to fill it out, and the fine hair (lanugo) that covers her head and body is now visible. Her lips are becoming more distinct, and the first signs of teeth are appearing as buds beneath her gum line. Her eyes are developed, though the iris (the colored part of the eye) still lacks pigment. Eyelids and eyebrows are in place, and her pancreas, essential for hormone production, is developing steadily.

We went shopppppiiinnngggg!

I might be over-documenting this whole thing, but it's our first baby, so I'm just going with it. :D

Saoirse's first two girly outfits:

Daddy's choice (says "Daddy's Girl")

Mommy's choice

Baby Name

We've named our baby girl Saoirse Royse Tooley.

Saoirse is Irish Gaelic for "freedom" and is pronounced "sear-sha." Royse is a combo of my grandparents names Roy & Sue.

We wanted to tell everyone now so that you can get used to the pronunciation being completely different from the spelling. lol. Have fun with that! :D

It's a GIRL!

Viernes Gigante!

Tomorrow is the BIG DAY!!! I'm giddy with anticipation, and so is baby! I've gotten at least two pretty substantial "thumps" from Little Hoot today. It's a pretty weird sensation, and awesome, really really awesome.

Anyhoot, we're making a whole day of it tomorrow. The sonogram is at 10:30 at the hospital, then Mark promised me Jimmy John's (a JJ veggie sub has been one of my top cravings) for lunch and then on to the doctor's office at 1pm. I've scheduled some time in the afternoon for us to spend excitedly freaking out and calling people and maybe stopping by BabiesRUs and buying something super gender specific. Then we're celebrating with a juicy steak dinner with Becky & Cyndie which I'm been looking forward to for a month now. *salivating* mmmmm! red meat, much less steak, is not something I normally eat alot of, maybe I need iron. lol.

Everything is going so fast all of a sudden! My belly popped out, baby is moving, the whole big sonogram thing tomorrow, and in a week we'll be 5 months along already! wow! This whole process is really amazing.

My day in pictures

She smooshed so much banana and mashed potatos into her hair that I had to give her head a sponge bath

Make a wish...and blow!

Helping Ilena overcome her dandelion phobia. :D

As I Suspected...

Shoes are evil!

http://nymag.com/health/features/46213/

Pretty sure that wasn't gas....

Baby kicked me! and it's doing somersaults or something! whoa!

ZOMG!

I think someone needs to compose an interpretative dance in honor of my awesomeness, RIGHT NOW! We just went and picked up a dresser for baby's room that will double as a changing table for 35 bones! holla! I heart Craigslist so much right now. :D

We are off to the Pet Expo now. I hear they have llamas. I don't think this day could get any better. fo' real.

I Love the Whole World!

I am Splendiferious

I just found a Rocker/Glider w/ottoman on Craigslist for 30 bucks! We're going to pick it up this evening. I RAWK!

In comparison, the cheapest gliders at the store are like 200 for both pieces. Most kinds are around 300 for the glider, and another 200 for the ottoman.

All I need now is a long dresser, a bookshelf, and a rug. I was watching HGTV "Design on a Dime" during Ilena's nap the other day and got an interesting idea for the rug. You can stitch together shag bathmats to make a bigger rug. So I'll have to check that out and see if it would be cheaper.

I'm excited for garage sale season to start. Last year I totally ruled the land by finding a dresser for our bedroom for a freaking DOLLAR! I used black spray paint we already had, and the old glass hardware from our kitchen cabinets and Ouila! Fancy dresser that looks like it's from Ethan Allen.

I'm done tooting my own horn now. Thanks for reading.

20/20

We are officially half way there! Yay! 20 weeks down, 20 to go!

And one week till the big ultrasound! (boy or girl)

P.s. I don't think I've felt the baby move which I'm bummed about. But maybe I have and I just don't know it. I'm not really sure how you are supposed to tell the diff. between tummy rumblings and baby's "butterfly fluttering." Seems pretty impossible at this point.

Week 21

See the big picture

How your baby's growing:

Your baby now weighs about three-quarters of a pound and is approximately 10 1/2 inches long — the length of a carrot. His eyebrows and eyelids are fully developed. And you can certainly feel him move. He's oblivious to your schedule, though, so don't be surprised if he starts working out just when you're settling down for the night. If you're having a girl, her vagina is formed now, though it will continue to develop until birth.

Frannie Gets His Fix

Holy Hail!

This is from today. The biggest hail I've ever seen.

Pregnancy Brain

Ya, I actually went out in public with two different shoes on. I'm a GENIUS!

Me & Mooty

@ US Central Party in March

More Books for Little Hoot

I love children's books, so even before we started trying for a baby we had quite a collection. Since we found out we were expecting, I've purchased a few more that I think are pretty darn awesome. I put links to the descriptions above each cover.

Himalaya is based on a wonderful film by the same name. Check it out!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Himalaya_(film)

Himalaya

On the Day You Were Born

Zen Ties

Zen Shorts

Little Hoot

We have a new name for baby! I love owls, and lately my fav. word has been "hoot." so when we saw this book at Borders, we almost died from the intense cuteness. We bought it of course and immediately read it to my tummy. :)

Little Hoot

Bebe Mark

Unfortunately, most of Mark's baby pics are in storage, but I happen to still have a few from when I put together our wedding slide show thingie. Enjoy!

Bonus Pic: ahh, now that's the Mark I recognize!

Week 20

See the big picture

How your baby's growing:

Your baby weighs about 10 1/2 ounces now. She's also around 6 1/2 inches long from head to bottom, and about 10 inches from head to heel — the length of a banana. (For the first 20 weeks, we use measurements taken from the top of the baby's head to her bottom — known as the "crown to rump" measurement. After that, we use measurements from head to toe. This is because a baby's legs are curled up against her torso during the first half of pregnancy and are very hard to measure.)

A greasy white substance called vernix caseosa coats her entire body to protect her skin during its long submersion in amniotic fluid. (This slick coating also eases the journey down the birth canal.)

Your baby is swallowing more, which is good practice for her digestive system. She's also producing meconium, a black, sticky substance that's the result of cell loss, digestive secretion, and swallowed amniotic fluid. This meconium will accumulate in her bowels, and you'll see it in her first messy diaper (although a few babies pass it in utero or during delivery).

New Scanner

So we finally got a new scanner. well it's actually pretty old, but we got it cheap from some guy mark works with. anyway, i've been wanting to scan some old pics to post just for fun so here is part one! i've got to dig through and see if I have some of Mark's baby pics too.

Disclaimer: Do not let yourself be sucked into the vortex of my chubbulescent awesomeness. your brain will explode from the rediculously high levels of cuteness.

Top Row: Grandma, Gaga(Great-Gma)
Bottom Row: Aunt Julia, Mama & Me

My Beloved Grandma Sue & Me

Naked Baby!

Mama & Me

Papa & Me

I think everyone who was alive in the late 70's/early 80's probably has one of these where there is a log involved for some crazy reason. LOG! LOG! LOG! lol. (rin & stimpy reference)

Bonus Pic #1: I LOVE CATS!

Bonus Pic #2: I LOVE COMPUTERS!

Week 19

See the big picture

How your baby's growing:

Your baby weighs about 8 1/2 ounces, and he measures 6 inches, head to bottom — about the size of a large heirloom tomato. His arms and legs are in the right proportions to each other and the rest of his body now. His kidneys continue to make urine, and the hair on his scalp is sprouting. This is a crucial time for sensory development: Your baby's brain is designating specialized areas for smell, taste, hearing, vision, and touch. If your baby is a girl, she has an astonishing 6 million eggs in her ovaries. They'll dwindle to fewer than two million by the time she's born.

Weight-ism

So issues of weight have always been important to me for obvious reasons. I get sort of tired of trying to explain to people how it feels to be treated differently because of your size, and most people, especially people who have never had a weight problem, refuse to acknowledge that this is a problem. Some well meaning friends and family even go so far to tell me that i'm not fat. HA! well, now i KNOW you are lying. I AM fat, I'm fat, not retarded... I can look in the mirror.

i've been getting especially irritated at some of the threads in my pregnancy message boards on iVillage because of the totally insensitive way women talk about weight. Slender women are SO terrified of getting fat because subconsciously they know it will change the way they are treated, but yet they refuse to acknowledge that it happens to me and other plus-size women.

And just a month ago at Mark's work party, some women were talking to me about how "horribly fat and gross" they got when pregnant, i mean...like 200 pounds, seriously. being OVER 200 to start with, i stood there stonefaced and completely ignored that part of the conversation. do people even THINK when they talk?

I talk about this stuff alot with Cyndie and I'm so thankful to have her as a Sister in Law and a friend. I feel like we really bond on this issue and she totally knows where i'm coming from. we were even talking last nite about this.

anyway, now it's not just me yapping on and on about it to Cyndie. I feel totally validated at this moment.

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=4568813&page=1

test results + weird dream

glucose challenge screening test came back fine. i think we still have to take it again at the recommended 28 weeks though. midwife told me not to eat a donut and OJ next time. lol.

had a weird birth dream the other nite. we were at home getting ready for bed when all of a sudden i felt strange and reached down and had the baby right there. it didn't hurt at all! lol. i was like "wow, that was sooo EASY!" :D then the newborn turned into a baby bear which later developed magic powers and could change into a large Scandinavian man. neat!