Our very cold adventure!

Mike, the bean and I enjoyed a very cold adventure to beautiful Seattle and Vancouver this week... what a great way to celebrate the bambino's 25 week birthday. We had a ton of fun with grandma and grandpa Hamilton as we braved the 30 degree temperatures mixed with the constant drizzle of Seattle. The bean even got to see two giant grizzly bears! We encountered them in the wilderness up on a snowy mountain in Vancouver, the only thing separating us was a lovely electric fence. The bears slept a majority of the time we were there and did not seem bothered by the children screaming and throwing snowballs (hoodlums). The funniest part was Mike and I trying to hike my pregnant, asthmatic, tired fat butt up the steep incline of the mountain to gaze at such a wonder. We were even graced with the special treat of being blasted by snow-generators, which blew right into my bare face. Let me tell you, I felt like I was as naked as a jaybird climbing that mountain. My few amusing attempts to run away from these monsters was only met with me not being able to breathe and ending up with more snow in my shoes than I care to discuss. Needless to say, it was a lovely sight!

We also went on a SIX HOUR whale watching tour. Now, this sounds like absolute heaven to me... gazing at these amazing creatures for 6 beautiful hours. Well, sorry to disappoint but we only were able to admire 2 killer whale's dorsal fins for about 30 minutes. This lovely sighting occurred 5 and 1/2 hours into the tour, by which time I was pleasantly passed out and showering the other passengers on the boat with a concert of my snores. I woke to the clatter of people screaming "whales, whales, we have whales!" I jumped up an ran into the bow of the boat as I was wiping the drool off of my face. As soon as I opened the cabin door I was blasted with a chilling wind which was about -20 degrees. It was kind of an amusing sight to see 20 people crammed into the front of a boat, all of which looked like frozen popsicles. I literally saw icicles hanging off of a fellow passengers hat. Still, it was lovely indeed.

These are only a few of the stories from our amazing trip, there will be pictures following for you to feast your eyes upon in a later post. Right now, I am exhausted and the bean is punching me trying to get to to go to sleep. Thanks again for the fabulous trip grandma and grandpa Hamilton!

Sorry for the blurry picture, it was our attempt to photograph the bean in the Seattle Space Needle!

How far along? 25 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: Up 12 pounds... make it slow down!

Maternity clothes? Loving them now more than ever!

Sleep: I am surprised my eyes are still open at 10:30pm... I am living the life people!

Best moment this week: Spending some quality time with the grandparents, in 2 beautiful cities none the less!

Movement: Oh yes! She is making a movement that tells me I better close my eyes very soon, or else she will reward me with one of those lovely cervix punches.

Gender: A sweet little miss.

Labor Signs: No thank you!

Belly Button in or out? In... barely. Why is it getting bigger, help me!

What I miss: Some of my favorite winter shirts do not cover my expanding belly... tear!

What I am looking forward to: Thanksgiving next week, I get to stuff my face all in the name of the bean!

Weekly Wisdom: Do not try and run up the steep incline of a mountain when you are pregnant and out of shape, it almost bought me a trip to the hospital!

Milestones: We registered!!! One big item to check off the list!

What the heck is V-day?

This is exactly what I was thinking to myself as I was completing my daily perusing of "The Bump" message boards. For the first time, I noticed several posts titled "Happy V-day to me" and all I could think of was valentines day... but we are a tad early for that people (even though the Christmas decorations hit the stores before we could say trick-or-treat). My curious mind lead me to ask what this suspicious V-day was all about, since everyone else seemed to be in-the-know. Drum roll please... it means day of viability. See, when a fetus reaches their 24 week birthday, they are considered to be viable outside of the womb. Well to me, the bean's viability day is more like 28 weeks, that is what I have been preaching to her anyways. I won't go into all of the statistics and scary things that happen to a precious baby born at a mere 24 weeks, but let's just say it ain't pretty. It is crazy to look at some of the 24 week fetus' in our unit and to know that my girl looks just like them. It is during my encounters with these tiny human beings that I remind my bambino to stay put, for at least 16 more weeks anyways. Who is in a rush to get out into this scary world anyways?

Speaking of entering this scary world, sometimes I think that she is going to just bust right out of my abdomen. Everyday my little miss gets stronger and her punches are becoming not so sweet and tender. Also, my belly growth has become a little out of control (see the above picture), so much so I have nightmares about her being the heavy-weight champion of the world. For those of you I have not told, Mike was an astonishing 12 pounds when he entered this world, one word....YIKES! Let's just hope that my body will not allow such a tragedy to occur. Which leads me to my next reoccurring nightmare: now that she is finally in my uterus, she has to come out somehow. Let the panic attacks ensue.

How far along? 24 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: Up 9 pounds! It's all her... right????

Maternity clothes? Gap and Old Navy maternity are legit!

Sleep: Still one of my favorite hobbies, energy surge my butt.

Best moment this week: Actually seeing her move my belly, that is the strangest but cutest sight of all time.

Movement: Oh yes! There were quite a few "loving" cervix and bladder punches served up this week. How sweet of her!

Gender: A sweet little miss.

Labor Signs: No thank you! Remember our talks this week mamacita.

Belly Button in or out? It is flush with the rest of my body. I thought that this ugliness was supposed to happen later :(

What I miss: Laying on my stomach, this has been one of the hardest things to give up!

What I am looking forward to: Our vacation next week, it will be the bean's first trip out of the country!

Weekly Wisdom: I have probably already said this but enjoy each day, as each moment is truly a milestone.

Milestones: Reaching this so-called viability day. So not get any ideas my love!

Sticker shock!

Sorry for the scarce posts as of lately, Mike, the bean and I have been very busy! We have purchased our nursery furniture and let me just say... I almost had a heart attack right there in the check out line! This is the biggest purchase I have ever made... EVER! The bean will be taking this stuff to college considering how much we paid for the stinking furniture. I am starting to realize the shocking cost of having a darling little one.

We also got to show the bean the sights of beautiful San Francisco. She got to meet her Aunt Debra and Uncle Carlos for the first time and she absolutely loves them, as they loved her! It was really fun to catch up with those two, we really miss them! Good times! Traveling to San Francisco was not as fun, I was one of those crazy people who wore a mask on the plane and lysoled everything in sight. I am sure that I was quite the spectacle. Hey, I will do anything to keep this little one and I healthy, even if it means suffocating on a plane.

In not so fun news, we ripped up all of the flooring in our house this weekend! I will never have carpet ever again, and I mean NEVER. That stuff is absolutely disgusting, especially when you have two little rats living with you (our lovely furbabies). Thank goodness for family and really good friends, and thank goodness for being pregnant, I got out of doing most of the grunt work :) But really, we owe my mom and Ron, Kathy and Jon a milliondy dollars for helping us out. They are lifesavers!

Sorry for missing a couple of weeks and the crappy picture of the bean! I am all alone (boo) so I gotta do what I can.

How far along? 23 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: Up 6 pounds... yikes! I think it is all bean :)

Maternity clothes? I don't think that I will ever go back to regular jeans!

Sleep: Still waiting for the energy surge, well praying for the energy surge really

Best moment this week: My girl dancing to music with me in the car, she is quite the mover.

Movement: Oh yes! I am scared to say that she really likes rap and Latin music. To funny!

Gender: A sweet little miss.

Labor Signs: No thank you!

Belly Button in or out? In... barely. It is getting bigger too, oh no!

What I miss: My sanity! I did not believe the hype about "pregnancy brain", but it is one of the few things I have found to be true about pregnancy.

What I am looking forward to: Getting our nursery furniture, it is too cute!

Weekly Wisdom: Enjoy the sweet and soft movements, they get stronger!

Milestones: I am really starting to see the bean grow, my belly gets bigger everyday!