He? She? Open to see!

We are so excited to find out boy or girl on January 10th. Only 11 days to wait now. We decided to have a Gender Reveal Party for our family and friends to let them know the sex and name of the baby. I will post picutres after the party. We are thinking of a sports theme and have Team Pink and Team Blue. The guests are supposed to wear pink or blue depending on which "team" they are rooting for. Here are a few wives tales and how they came out. You can decide for yourself what you think...

Old Wives Tale #1:

Heart rate over 140: Girl

Heart rate under 140: Boy

Baby's heart rate: 145-155 depending on the day...Girl

Old Wives Tale #2:

Tie your wedding ring to a string and hold it over your pregnant belly.

If the ring swings back and forth: Girl

If the ring spins in a circle: Boy

My ring swung back and forth: Girl

Old Wives Tale #3

Chinese Gender Chart (Supposedly 90% + accurate)

According to the chart: Girl

Old Wives Tale #4

Dad gaining weight too: Boy

Dad not gaining weight: Girl

Tim has been gaining weight as well: Boy

Old Wives Tale #5

Boy/Girl Gender quiz online answering various questions from

"Are your feet colder in pregnacy?" to "Does the hair on your legs grow faster?"

Answers came out: Girl

Old Wives Tale #6

Growing more hair like your leg hair: Boy

Growing same amount of hair: Girl

I guess my hair is growing a little faster: Boy

Old Wives Tale #7

Craving Sweet: Girl

Craving Sour: Boy

I have been craving toast with cream cheese and peppermint ice cream: Girl

Old Wives Tale #8

Morning sickness in the morning or not at all: Boy

Morning sickness all day or at night: Girl

I was sick (nauseas/car sick feeling) ALL DAY and especially at night: Girl

Old Wives Tale #9:

Acne

If you don't have very much acne or none at all: Boy

If your acne has gotten much worse: Girl

I unfortunately have been breaking out like a teenager in puberty!

I didn't even do that when I actually WAS going through puberty: Girl

Old Wives Tale #10

Sleep more on your left side: Boy

Sleep more on your right side: Girl

I usually sleep on my left side so...Boy

Old Wives Tale #11
Carrrying high: Girl
Carrying low: Boy
I am carrying pretty high: Girl

Those are the results!

You can make your own decision...

17 Weeks!

How Far Along: 17 Weeks
Total Weight Gain: 12lbs or so
Milestones: Baby is moving like crazy and can hear/recognize voices.
Baby Is The Size Of: an onion
Sleep:Still not the best sleep. Tim and I stayed in a hotel last night because I had an ultrasound appointment at 7:30 this morning in Rochester, which is an hour away. I slept better there. I think their bed was harder and it was also a king instead of a queen so the 6 pillows I had (literally) weren't in his way. No leg cramps last night either. That's a plus. Lately I've been having bad leg/hip cramps. Hoping the prenatal yoga/pilates will help. I really need to order an actual pregnancy pillow.
Best Moment This Week: I had an ultrasound to look for kidney or gall stones. Found no stones so that was a plus and convinced the ultrasound tech to print a picture of the baby for us even though that's not why I was there. We find out in 2 weeks if it's a boy or a girl!
Miss Anything?: Coffee and Lunch Meat STILL!! Sleeping on my back! 
Movement?: YES! December 17th I felt the first movement. Or...I knew it really was the baby. I think I had been feeling it before but was so faint that I wasn't sure. Definitely feeling the baby now though and it's amazing!
Food Cravings: Toast with cream cheese, Auntie Anne's pretzels, Coffee, Lunch Meat
Things That Make Me Queasy: Raw onions and red meat, especially meat that is in the fridge and you open the container...basically just the smell of meat!
Gender Prediction: Girl
Labor Signs: No.
Symptoms: Heartburn still and indigestion. I have also been having horrible gallbladder attacks which is why I had the ultrasound today. Didn't find anything so have to watch what I eat and eat small meals more often. Pregnancy wise though...feeling MUCH better. Occassional sinus headaches but Dr. said that was normal too!
Inny or Outy: Belly Button is still in!
Wedding Band On or Off: On
Mood Most Of The Time: HAPPY!
Looking Forward To: Finding out if it's a he or a she!

Happy Christmahannakwanzaakah!

Merry Christmas everyone! (and Happy Hanukkah and Kwanzaa!) AND...Happy 40th birthday to my wonderful husband Tim! He had our traditional Bloody Marys to celebrate. I watched! Our good friend and my "sister from another mister", Karin and her mom joined us along with my mom and dad. Karin is 30 on the 26th. Tim really liked his present. Aside from a baby on the way, I surprised him with cage fighting tickets at Treasure Island Casino. He and his cousin, Chuck can go while Chuck's wife Julie and I do something else. We also had a "surprise" breakfast at school for him yesterday where he was presented with 30 bottles of HOT SAUCE! His favorite condiment! He asks way too many questions so it wasn't a complete surprise! Oh well...it was a fun time anyway!
 I don't have a 16 week picture because this week has been CRAZY! Now that I'm already 16 weeks and 4 days, I'll probably just wait until 17 weeks to post a picture. This week was filled with lots of excitement. I'm feeling the baby kick more and more but...also had 3 horrible gallbladder attacks and have to go in for an ultrasound on Tuesday to look for gall stones or kidney stones. :( The doctor said it could be the baby putting pressure on the tube and twisting it so it catches, but she thinks more towards the area of a stone! Whatever it is...it was the WORST pain I've felt! Knocked me to the ground. Tim almost took me to the ER on Tuesday night. We'll have to wait until Tuesday to see what they find. Won't even get to see the baby at this ultrasound because it's a totally different kind/area.
We do have an ultrasound scheduled for January 10th though. The question will be....He? She? We'll look and see! Can't wait to see if it's a boy or a girl. We are leaning towards girl but who knows. The ultrasound tech will probably get annoyed with me/us because having a degree in early childhood development, I'll want to see the closed spine and palette! It's getting so much more real as my belly gets bigger (looking less and less beer bellyish) and the baby is moving more and more (or I can just feel it more and more). Happy Holidays everyone! I'll be back in a few days with photos.

15 Weeks!

How Far Along: 15 Weeks
Total Weight Gain: 10-11lbs
Milestones: Baby is squirming around and even hiccupping!
Baby Is The Size Of: a navel orange
Sleep:Not going so well. It's ok sleep (besides all the dreaming) until about 4am then I'm up peeing and don't fall back asleep. Hips hurt at night from having to sleep on my side all of the time. I miss sleeping on my stomach/back! I guess I need an actual pregnancy pillow instead of one between my legs, one behind me, one in front etc...
Best Moment This Week: Got Denise Austin's Pregnancy workout along with prenatal pilates. Can't wait to be one hot mamma!! :) I should probably use them...
Miss Anything?: Coffee and Lunch Meat STILL!! Sleeping on my back! 
Movement?: Not yet...though it's apparently happening a lot in there already!
Food Cravings: Toast, peppermint ice cream, cream cheese, a lot of carbs!
Things That Make Me Queasy: Raw onions and red meat, especially meat that is in the fridge and you open the container...basically just the smell of meat!
Gender Prediction: Girl
Labor Signs: No.
Symptoms: Heartburn, Stretching pains & Headaches...they were really bad this week. Had to miss work on Tuesday because of horrible headaches/congestion. The pressue was too much to deal with along with 23 kindergarteners for 8 hours! Stinks when you can't take anything either!
Inny or Outy: Belly Button is still in!
Wedding Band On or Off: On
Mood Most Of The Time: HAPPY!
Looking Forward To: Our next Dr. appointment tomorrow and scheduling our ultrasound!

Daily Pages

http://www.etsy.com/listing/87607106/single-the-laj-daily-page-notepad

  Here is the amazing Daily Pages Notepad that I won from my friend Dani's AWESOME blog http://www.lifes-a-journal.com/! Can't wait to start getting my life organized! Is it possible for a Kindergarten Teacher with ADD to be organized?? We'll find out!!

Crib and Bedding (MAYBE)

http://www.target.com/p/My-Baby-Sam-Paisley-Splash-in-Lime-4pc-Crib-Bedding-Set-Brown-Green/-/A-11574657#?lnk=sc_qi_detailimage

LOVE this bedding. Love the colors, patterns and everything about it. I think it could be used for a boy or a girl. Probably more for a girl, but the colors are gender-neutral and match the rest of our house. I love the retro print in modern colors! 

http://www.target.com/p/Delta-Eclipse-4-in-1-Convertible-Crib-Spiced-Cinnamon/-/A-13266671#?lnk=sc_qi_detailbutton

We decided on this crib because it is a crib, toddler bed, day bed or full sized bed all in one. It also matches the rest of the wood in our house. We like the craftsman/earthy style of it too! A little rustic meets modern. 

Nursery Ideas

These are some options that we are looking at for the nursery. The whole house is brown and green. We are thinking that is pretty gender neutral too. We are going to find out what we are having in a few weeks, but boy or girl, we are planning on doing green and brown. We love earthy/nature-inspried design so trees, leaves etc. are a must. We also want to incorporate owls somewhere into the nursery.The next step is cleaning out the room that will soon become the baby's room! That would be a good Christmas Break project. 

14 weeks!

How Far Along: 14 Weeks
Total Weight Gain: 9-101lbs
Milestones: Baby's sucking toes and fingers and kidneys are functioning.
Baby Is The Size Of: a lemon
Sleep:Still having crazy dreams but not getting up as much to pee. It's around 3:30am now. It's hard trying to find a comfortable position now though. It's hard to stay on your side all night even with a pillow behind you, between your legs....
Best Moment This Week: Continuing to listen to the heartbeat and making it to the 2nd trimester!!
Miss Anything?: Coffee and Lunch Meat STILL!! 
Movement?: Not yet...
Food Cravings: Still not very many cravings. If I do crave anything it's usually carbs like toast with butter.
Things That Make Me Queasy: ONIONS!
Gender Prediction: Girl
Labor Signs: No.
Symptoms: Headaches and heartburn. I'm really stuffed up and have been getting more bloody noses. Dr. says that's part of it. At least I'm not nauseaus ALL DAY LONG!
Inny or Outy: Belly Button is still in!
Wedding Band On or Off: On
Mood Most Of The Time: HAPPY!
Looking Forward To: Our next Dr. appointment on the 16th. I year ago on the 16th Tim proposed and now a year later, we are married and will be at the Dr. listening to our baby's heartbeat! :)