I know, I have been HORRIBLE!

Sorry for the long lapse in between posts, our house and lives have been totally crazy for the past three weeks! So here is a 2 for 1 deal! I really did not realize quite the following of people the bean and I have conjured up over the past 7 months, and how much these people look forward to blog updates! I am so happy and thankful to all of you who read my ramblings, it makes me and the bean feel very loved! So, I am going to take a step back in time and pretend that I am 26 weeks pregnant. Now, this will never happen again since I am so thankful to be 29+ weeks, but lets use our imaginations!

So, cue the on slot of ciaos about this time. My mom, Ron, Kathy and Jon so graciously tore up our house for us and left us with quite a disaster to deal with :) We had no flooring, for a whole three weeks people, and let me tell you that is not the best scenario for a fat pregnant woman with swollen ankles. Needless to say, I was getting a little restless and cranky, poor Mikey! Also, the poor flooring guy at Lowe's felt my hormonal wrath a time or two! It did not really help that I was sleeping on our guest bedroom bed, that thing is as hard as a rock, and let me tell you that is not the best thing for the princess and the pea. Every morning I would awake to feeling like an 80 year-old arthritic woman. Not to mention, the bean and I need about 4 feet to spread out and get comfy, and this scenario does not bode well for Mikey on a full size mattress. I am forgetting to mention our 2 little furbabies, poor kids! They were banned from the bed, which they are definitely not used to, but I guess it is better than being kicked around as they sleep at my feet. But fear not, the flooring is done and it looks absolutely gorgeous! Most importantly, I am back in my bed!!! The world is looking a little brighter for everyone! Now, to starting putting this place back together, yikes!

How far along? 26 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: Up 13 pounds, only one pound this past week and a half! My prayers have been answered!

Maternity clothes? Love, love, love them!

Sleep: Lets not relive this topic, see above if you are interested :)

Best moment this week: The bean has started to get the hiccups, what a crazy, sweet feeling!

Movement: Oh yes! She does not like this bed situation either, which makes it all that much worse for me!

Gender: A sweet little miss.

Labor Signs: No thank you!

Belly Button in or out? Flush with my belly, the tears are about to roll people.

What I miss: Wine, especially in these times of complete stress.

What I am looking forward to: Getting my house back in order!

Weekly Wisdom: Do not try and renovate your house when you are 7 months pregnant, BAD IDEA!

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!

At least it is NOT the cervix!

I feel as though my little girl enjoys using my bladder as a punching bag as of recently. Let me just tell you, it is not the most comfortable sensation in the world! Don't get me wrong, I LOVE LOVE LOVE feeling her tiny little movements, but they are starting to feel not so tiny anymore. Some of my favorite 'movement moments' are when she is dancing along as I sing to her in the car, when she tries to hide from Mike as he is trying to feel her move, and when she starts to kick back as I try and poke her. She is super playful and energetic, but I am starting to feel as though Mike and I are really going to have our work cut out for us. I can barely keep up with the dogs... I do not know how I am going to keep up with a mobile, energetic child. Also, she really likes to play at night, scary I know! We need to get this night and day thing straightened out ASAP!

Now to address the question of the hour....a name!!! We have a couple of prospects in mind and we are trying a new one on for size weekly. I definitely have my favorites, but a name is one of the biggest decisions we will make for our adorable little mamacita. Another thing we are considering is a match for our future boy's name (hopefully)! Since we swore the little miss was a boy we had a boy name all picked out and ready to pin on! To tell you the truth, I am kind of having a hard time getting over my boy name, because I love it so much, which makes it hard to focus on girl's names. So since I cannot debut the bean's name, I will debut our future boy's name, that should tide you over right?

Grayson Michael Hamilton

How far along? 20 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: Not so even anymore... up three pounds! I guess all of those tator tots are finally starting to catch up with me!

Maternity clothes? Why didn't I cave and buy maternity jeans before now... I LOVE THEM!

Sleep: Where is this energy kick everyone swears happens in the second trimester... all lies!

Best moment this week: SHE'S A GIRL!!!!! YAY!!!

Movement: Oh yes! Please stay away from the bladder, thank you!

Gender: GIRL!

Labor Signs: No thank you!

Belly Button in or out? In... barely. I am embarrassed to talk about it.

What I miss: Starting to really miss goat cheese... weird!

What I am looking forward to: More shopping, girl's items are totally irresistible.

Weekly Wisdom: Find out the gender, it is still an incredible surprise! I do not know how people wait 40 weeks!

Milestones: Finding out we are having a happy, healthy little girl!

Celebrate good times!

So, Mike and I were blessed to share our excitement with two special people in our lives... my mom and my best friend! We wish that Glenda was here for the celebration too, we love you grandma! My mom was there to witness one of the most special moments in Mike and I's life, the realization that we will be fighting boys off of our porch for the rest of our lives! She was kind of relieved that the bean was a girl too, seeing as though her main experience with babies and kiddos has revolved around me. After the ultrasound we arrived home to find that Kathy (my best friend) had decorated my house with pink balloons and ribbons! This gesture was absolutely precious and perfectly fitting for our little girl. An even bigger gesture was the fact that she had scoured the earth and finally found some non-alcoholic champagne and wine, a feat that I have fruitlessly tried to accomplish for the past 20 weeks! You would have thought that someone had handed me a check for a million dollars. My adorable husband also surprised me with the most gorgeous arrangement of pink flowers! A celebration dinner then ensued at one of Mike and I's favorite dining haunts... Benihana! Yum, yum, yum!!! I finally have an excuse to stuff my face, and that my friends is really exciting!

Our sweet baby girl!

I cannot believe how much my love for our bean as grown over the past 20 weeks! I never fathomed how much you can love someone before you have even met them. Mike and I are incredibly blessed to have a happy, active, healthy baby girl. The 20 week anatomy ultrasound is simply amazing, the bean actually looked like a little human (with the help of the ultrasound tech's interpretation). She actually waved!! Her hand looked enormous as she outstretched it towards us, but there they were... 5 tiny little fingers! Now don't get me wrong, I think that our girl needs to have alot of Mike's features (as he is a really handsome man) but the ONE thing that I really wanted for her was that she have my feet. Now, if you have seen both Mike and I's feet, there is no contest really! Unfortunately, she has the Hamilton feet....boo! This phenomenon leads Mike to try and convince me that they are feet of royalty, please!

She is also quite the drama queen... already! Towards the end of the ultrasound it was as if she was growing weary of us invading her privacy, which is not completely shocking since she is usually stubborn during our meetings. She looked over towards us, raised her little fist in the air and after moving it around quite feverishly, she rested her hand on her brow as if to say she was incredibly tired of being poked with an ultrasound probe. It was the cutest thing! Also, she already has Mike wrapped around her little finger. After he was done feeling as though he was going to throw up and the color returned to his face, he finally looked relieved and he was so incredibly happy and excited! That night as he talked to our little girl he finally shed his first tears during this incredible journey, and it absolutely melted my heart! We both were a crying mess on the couch, what a site that was! I am sure it will not be the last of those happy tears!

The aftermath!

One can only imagine my excitement when I found out that Mike and I were expecting a little GIRL! And let me tell you... it's a good thing the bean is indeed a girl, because as my mom pointed out, I really do not know what to do with boys! Oh, and one of the many great things about having a girl is all of the adorable little girl clothes, ribbons and bows! So exciting!!! Not as exciting for my pocketbook none the less. Since I had not purchased anything (besides a blue diaper bag... any takers?) for a whole 20 weeks I might have gone a little crazy! Thank goodness my mom was there not only to be my voice of reason, but also to purchase some of these adorable baby items! Thank you so much mom, you are a Godsend and this baby is incredibly lucky to have you as a GiGi :)

So, the pictures say it all! Mike was a little shocked, as was I when I finally saw all of the packages grouped together. Luckily, his unhappy grin quickly faded as I pulled out the first little sundress with bloomers. He said that these little outfits are one of the reasons he is so excited to be having a girl!

We are having a...

GIRL!!!!!!!!

And Team Pink for the win! Mike and I could not believe the fact that our bean was indeed a girl, all of the signs in the universe pointed to blue! I doubt it will be the last surprise she has in store for us! As soon as the sweet words "It's a girl" came out of the doctor's mouth Mike suddenly became sweaty and flushed and as he quickly bolted to the nearest chair he exclaimed "I think I need to sit down!" Words cannot begin to explain how delighted and thankful we are to be expecting a happy, healthy little girl! Let's all pray that this is the last time she shows her goods to anyone...EVER!

More to come from the ultrasound and shopping sprees later... mom and daughter are super tired from all of the exciting activities!

YAY!!!!!!

Blue or pink... what do you think?

This is the question that has been on my mind for the past 16 weeks! The answer is just around the corner, as long as the bean cooperates with the plan. Now, we have had many talks with the bean about giving up the goods so Operation Pink or Blue should be in full effect.

Some other really fun news... my mom will be here for a whole 4 days! It has been way too long and the bean and I have done a lot of growing! I can't wait for the fun week ahead.

Here is your last chance to guess the bean's gender... ready, set, go!

How far along? 19 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: Still even....sweeeet!

Maternity clothes? I have finally found some cute maternity jeans... hallelujah!

Sleep: Yes please, work has been kicking my booty!

Best moment this week: Precious moments with my sweet baby bean... lots of talks and belly rubbing!

Movement: Oh yes! Mike calls him a our little soccer player.

Gender: 3 more days until the reveal. Remember our chats bean!

Labor Signs: No thank you!

Belly Button in or out? In, no progress... but I can still see the ugly part.

What I miss: My super cute dark express jeans, tear!

What I am looking forward to: Finding out the gender, can you tell I am excited? I do not know how people wait the entire 40 weeks.

Weekly Wisdom: Give into the maternity jeans/clothes, they really are comfortable!

Milestones: One week closer... everyday is a blessing!