This is just how it is...

That is what I have to say to myself when I look at these pictures... this is just how you look when you are pregnant. I am now 31 weeks and there is no denying the belly. It has been strange having to get used to people offer me their seats on the subway, doubting my abilities to carry things and giving me skeptical glares and I try to run a little in Central Park. The other day, I was doing laundry and this woman who had just moved here from Africa asked when I was expecting. I told her in 2 months and she siad ", Oh, it's going to be a BIG baby." Thanks, lady... I should have said, " Do you have any kids... well, then, they must be HUGE!" :) Just joking! Again, I go back to my first statement - this is just how it is!

Baltimore, Boston and Back

What a crazy week we had last week! Last Friday, Brett and I got on a bus and went down to Baltimore to visit our great friends Rachel and Danny Devine. They had a baby 2 months ago, so it was fun to meet him and see their 2 year old daughter. We also got to see Millie while we were out there, which was great, too! We got back from Baltimore on Monday and then on Tuesday, Misty and Dave Quinn picked us up and we drove out to Boston. We planned the trip the Friday before, so I was proud of myself for being spontaneous! Since Dave flies so much, he had a lot of hotel points, so we were able to stay in a great hotel - thanks Misty and Dave! We spent the whole day Wednesday touring around Boston! I loved that city! I am definitely a west coast girl, but if we had to move back east again, I wouldn't mind Boston. We went on a "Duck Tour", which was tons of fun and we saw a lot of the city that way without walking forever. Then, we drove over to Harvard where we found this great burger place. Check out some of the names of the burgers, they are hilarious: http://www.mrbartley.com/mrbartleys-menu.html. Brett got the Viagra burger... it is a little embarrassing to order that one, but he really like it! We then drove to north Boston where we went in search of the Old North Church. Along the way we stumbled upon the "little Italy" of Boston. It is such a cute little place. We pretty much stopped in every pastry and gelato shop to try things out. Gotta love local food :). I loved seeing the Old North Church - I have always had a soft spot in my heart for Paul Revere and his "midnight ride". I still remember the beginning of the famous poem that I memorized in third grade " 'Twas the eighteenth of April in '75, hardly a man is still alive, that remembers that famous day and year of the midnight ride of Paul Revere..." I could go on, but I won't. The things I remember! If only I could remember where I put my keys! On the way back from Boston, we stopped at an orchard in Hartford and picked some raspberries. It was a great trip! So now, after 3 weeks, we can finally settle in and get our life going again! Oh, and about the pictures, I think that I am venturing out of the cute stage of pregnancy and into the fat stage... I'd like to blame it on the pants I was wearing, but... OK, I will do that!

Start Spreading the News...

We are back in NYC! After a crazy and exahusting week of moving to our new apartment (student housing) we can take a deep breath and enjoy being back in the city for our last few months! Well, after we get back from Baltimore on Monday - we have to get these trips in while we can. Just two picture to post - the first one is really gross, I know, but I could not believe the size of this cockroach that we found in our bathroom in our old apartment. This must have been the mother of all the little cockroaches we had in out kitchen. Gotta love NYC.

Brett and I went to see Spamalot as a welcome back date. It was a lot of fun! It is really cool to be able to live so close to all of this! It is amazing how the light at the end of the tunnel can really help me to appreciate all the cool things in the city.

Bring on the Sugar!

So, I got the word... I don't have gestational diabetes! I was very relieved! So, does anyone want to go out for dessert?

A Rant and Rave

I got to bring home the car of the people I babysit for last night and so Brett and I took advantage and went out to dinner. We went to this great place called Mac's "BBQ, Beer + Bikes". And it was was just that... there was lots of beer(that we didn't drink), an amazing amount people on Harley's and really, really good BBQ. If you have never tried hush puppies - you should! They are like corn dogs, without the dogs and the stick - my favorite southern treat. Because there were so many bikes around, there was no where for anyone else to park. So, we finally settled on parking on the outskirts of the Taco Bell parking lot, even though there were signs that said "Customer Parking Only:, Violate rs may be booted or towed at their own expense". We briefly discussed the sign and determined that we should be fine and we could just buy something from taco bell on the way out... yeah, I am sure you know how this is going to end. So, after a delightful dinner we returned to find our car booted and just as we were about to head to Taco Bell to make our purchase and justify our customer status, a man stepped out of his car and informed us that we were lucky that we finished dinner before the tow truck arrived and that we had to pay him $50 cash to get the boot off... thanks, dude. So, this was problematic for many reasons:
1. It wasn't our car
2. We didn't have $50 on us
3. We haven't received out atm cards from BofA yet
4. We don't know anyone in Charlotte to come help us

Luckily for us, a waitress took pity on us and gave us $50 cash and we then used our credit card to give her a $50 tip. We then proceeded into taco bell where we purchased some items so we were customers and tried to convince the guy that we were technically "customers" and he should take the boot off. We even had 2 taco bell employees out there, but they didn't help us out that much. The guy claimed he and the manager had a contract stating that you had to go to Taco Bell first not after going somewhere else(sounds made up to me). Brett then demanded to see the contract, but that ended up infuriating the guy even more(he said we couldn't see it) and he called to get the tow truck - then prompting us just to give him the money. We drove away certain that the whole thing was a scam and wrote down phone numbers and his licence plate number - determined to get to the bottom of this scandal. But... our phone calls didn't lead us anywhere, we took a deep breath and let it go... but Brett still wants to start an anti-tow truck companies website ( maybe we haven't let go all the way). So, the moral of the story is always go to Taco Bell first. OK, really maybe it is that we really should pay attention to those posted signs...

You might have diabetes if...

...you are me! It is funny that I am typing this as I am eating my choco-nilla rice crispies :). I went to my doctor appointment last week and I failed my initial glucose test, so yesterday I had to take the 3 hour glucose test. For those of you who haven't had the pleasure - you get to have your blood taken right when you get there, then you drink the sugary stuff, then they take your blood again every hour for the next 3 hours. My poor veins are a little sore today, but the lady who did it was actually quite good. So, it was a long morning. Brett was so nice and came with me to keep me company, so it was fun to spend the morning with him. So... in 3-5 days we will know if I have gestational diabetes. If I do... that will be a bummer, but I can handle it - it will probably be good for me so I don't gain 50 pounds when we go back to NYC and can eat at all of the good dessert places again. But, the thing that bugs me about it all is that I looked up gestational diabetes on the Internet and it said to prevent it you should eat well and exercise... which I have been doing! I probably eat healthier pregnant than not pregnant and I exercise 4-5 days a week. ( Side note... Brett has been exercising 4-5 days a week, too! For those of you who have heard my frustration with his exercise habits you will understand how proud I am of him! He is doing awesome and looking great!) So... if I still have gestational diabetes, I could have been sitting on my bum and eating anything I wanted for the last 26 weeks! Just joking... that would have just made things worse I am sure!

I have also posted a few pics from my b-day. I have transitioned from "early twenties" to "mid-twenties". It just seems so much more grown up - it is weird. We rented a car for the day so we could do stuff. We went shopping, to the movies and ate at Cheesecake Factory where we got a slice of Linda's Fudge cake - my favorite!! Then Sunday, my actual b-day, we had a good breakfast of fruit and homemade granola and Brett made me dinner!! That is also as an amazing of a feat as him getting on an exercise schedule! Brett says that he likes to cook, but he 'says' I do it so much better :). So that was really nice of him and it was really good, too!












So, there are pictures of that, too. You will notice my belly is looking quite out there these days... I can't believe that I still have 14 more weeks of growing to do!

Not much going on...

It has been a few weeks since I've posted and I always look forward to other people's new posts... so I am going to post despite the title I have chosen. We have three more weeks here in Charlotte. It has been good to be here, but it has also been kind of a weird time. It kind of feels like Groundhog's Day (the movie) but instead of just a day - we just do the same week over and over. We don't have a car - so we are limited to a few select activities: grocery store, working out and hanging out in our apartment. It is quite a contrast from the busy NYC lifestyle - so I should appreciate it while I can. I am suprisingly slightly looking forward to going back to New York. We only have a few more months there, so it will be fun to see our friends there and eat and all the yummy places again before we go for good.

We did change things up a bit this weekend, though! We rented a car and drove to Raleigh, NC to visit one of Brett's friends and his wife: Decker and Christine Smith. It was great to get out of town and to visit them. So, thanks to them for a great weekend!

This week there is another change in the line-up: I get my glucose test! Yay - I have heard great things about the orange stuff you get to drink and I always love getting my blood taken :) Not really... I am kind of like a little kid and make the nurse say comforting things to me before sticking the needle in my arm. It is all for a good cause though!

I will wrap it up now, even though I am sure you are all rivited by the goings on in Charlotte, NC. Monotony aside, we are grateful to be here and are very glad to have had this experience!

The Belly has Arrived!

So my belly has popped, my friends... and I don't know how I feel about it. I am very glad that I look more on the prego side then on the "is she?" side, but it is so strange to have your body change so fast. I hardly recognize myself. I had Brett retake this about 3 times and finally just decided to post this one after he told me to stop over-analyzing :). So, this is me now at 23 weeks along! I just have to accept it and get ready to continue to grow! Pregnancy is quite an adventure that's for sure. I think that I am finally starting to feel like I am pregnant. Up to this point, I have been able to exercise with no problem. Now, I am having to walk-run more than run and am having a little trouble sleeping. I think that the uncomfortable sleeping is just nature's way of preparing mommy to be for all of the sleepless nights ahead. I can't wait :)!

Happy Birthday to Brett!

So, I am married to a 28 year old man now... weird! Brett's birthday was yesterday and unfotunatley it was probably one of the more boring birthdays he has had... except for the time when his mom and dad forgot that it was his birthday when he was 15 :)... poor kid - I guess that's what happens when you are the youngest! I actually was in CA for that last week baby shopping with my mom! We got lots and lots of blue stuff! I think that I am going to start a new business making baby boy clothes - why do they all have to have dogs and reptiles and tools all over them? Can't we get just some basic colors or stipes? It is probably good we are having a boy first when we are poor graduate students... I am not as tempted to buy clothes. Anyway... back to the man of the hour. I got back the night before the big b-day, so it was a fun reunion. Brett had to go to work early, so he worked then we went to dinner and came home and watched a movie. I did make a chocolate cake that was supposed to be like Linda's Fudge cake from Cheesecake Factory...supposed to being the key phrase. It was acutally pretty good, though. We have A lOT of cake as a result of being in a place where we have not many friends to come help us eat it... we'd better make some in the next few days before the cake goes bad! So, that was it for the celebration. It was great to be together again after being apart for almost a week and I must say I am very happy that Brett was born! He is such a great husband and friend to me. So happy birthday to him!

Yes, that is a grocery cart in our apartment!

So, funny story - to us at least. We live about a block from a grocery store called Harris Teeter, which we like to call Harris "Tweeter". We went to the store on Saturday and realized we bought too much to carry it all home (we are carless). So we just snuck out with the cart and walked home. We took it up the elevator and into our apartment - unloaded and then took it back later. We were laughing the whole time because we felt a little white trash and we got some funny looks from people. But it was quite nice actually. I think it might become a weekly thing if we can get away with it. Sometimes they have security guards by the doors, and I don't know how they would feel about us walking off with one of their carts...