Our Little Baby Bronco

Behold:



Yes, friends. That is the FINAL score of the WMU Broncos vs. the Fighting Illini game, which took place on Saturday at Ford Field. I know, right? The running joke of the day was that it was the first time the home team has won there in a loooooong time. :)

It was an awesome game shared with a super fun group of people, albeit a bit...enthusiastic. John Lee, our fearless leader, even managed to swing us FREE tickets...AFTER we paid him for the ones he had already purchased. WIP enjoyed his/her first experience as a Bronco with a delicious, delicious soft pretzel with cheese and some popcorn. Yum-o! Add them to my "good" list!





WIP even let everyone know that (s)he's a future 'lil Bronco:


My shirt says "Baby Bronco on board!" And see the BMB in the background? Oh, how I love them.

And simply because I'm addicited to video blogs now, a Bronco entrance:



A Bronco touchdown:



GO BRONCOS! :)

Michael Phelps Ain't Got Nothin' on WIP!

Today was our 2nd trimester checkup. They ran my thyroid bloodwork again and we got to hear the heartbeat! It's seriously the coolest, best noise on Earth - it's like Christmas every time we hear it. I thought it would be fun to record it so everyone can hear our little WIP's strong heartbeat - in the 150s!! The video is only about 12 seconds long but you can clearly hear the thumping. And if you listen really carefully, every time you hear a "crack" (or a sound like someone's whacking a live microphone) is when WIP is moving! The nurse said we've got a real mover and shaker...oh boy! (or girl!) :)

Note - be sure to hit "pause" on the music player at the bottom of the screen so you can hear the video!

Exciting, right? And special thanks to my ridiculously good looking cameraman, Daddy Joe. :)

The best news EVER is that our next ultrasound is scheduled for Monday, December 8 (day after my birthday - woot!). If WIP is cooperative we will know the sex then, too! I'm debating keeping it a secret until Christmas but I honestly don't think I can last that long.

Let's take a poll - who thinks boy? Who thinks girl? Leave your comments on this post or email me at kveedub@gmail.com.

The Good, the Bad and the Delicious.

A lot of people ask me what I've been craving, avoiding, etc. So, I thought I would dedicate a post to it. Honestly, I could probably type forever on the subject, so to keep me in check I shall do it Dave Letterman style with a Top 10.

The good:

1. Applesauce
2. Peaches (canned, whole, etc.)
3. Mashed potatoes (especially of the cheap, instant variety!)
4. Frosted Mini Wheats
5. Tuna (NOT a fan pre-pregnancy)
6. McDonald's hamburgers
7. Bananas
8. Fruit by the Foot
9. Egg noodles (cooked, obviously)
10. Waffles w/ delicious, delicious syrup

The bad:

1. Subway (hard to even type it without vomming)
2. Cheese, any variety
3. The smell of Joe's body wash (poor guy)
4. Chicken is getting harder to eat. I can still stomach it, though.
5. Salads (I promise that WIP's getting all required nutrients, though!)
6. The smell of re-heated Indian food
7. Scrambled eggs
8. The smelly and gross Thai food Roger sometimes orders for lunch (very different from #6, I assure you)
9. Butternut squash soup
10. Taco bell "meat," any variety

The delicious:

1. My amazing husband, who gives me glorious backrubs and no longer uses his body wash (he's still clean, I promise!)
2. 100.3 FM for playing Christmas music ALREADY!!! Woo hoo!!
3. Maternity pants. I honestly might wear them forevermore.
4. Mid-day naps
5. Ridiculous deals on baby furniture
6. Birthday bootcamp...hinty hintington...we're only 5 weeks away!
7. CHRISTMAS!
8. Hearing WIP's heartbeat
9. Visits to the dentist (I know it might make me sadistic, but I LOVE the dentist)
10. The umbrella excuse for when I don't want to do something - "But I'm pregnant!"

As you can tell, my "good" list resembles the diet of someone in a geriatric facility without teeth or a sense of smell. I'm not too proud - I'm ok with it. :) As a disclaimer, this list is subject to change without notice. Tomorrow I might want a footlong Cold Cut Combo with extra cheese!!

Hump Day, Bump Day!

Greetings, faithful Hump Day readers! WIP's been growing, that's for sure! Some sources say I will start feeling the "flutters" soon, but either I'm not very discerning or WIP's not fluttering yet, because the only thing I'm feeling these days is a full bladder and some killer heartburn. I'm sure my love of Mexican food doesn't really help me in that department, but you can't ask me to give up my fajitas! :)

Fit Pregnancy had this to say about Week 16, which starts today:

"Congratulations, Kristi! You're 16 Weeks Pregnant. Your baby now measures about 4.3 to 4.6 inches from crown to rump and weighs about 2.8 ounces. Fingernails are well-formed and the fine hair, called lanugo, continues to grow on the head. Arms and legs are moving, the nervous system is functioning and muscles are responding to stimulation from your baby's brain. You may be able to hear the baby's heartbeat in the doctor's office. Your uterus has grown significantly by now and weighs about 8.75 ounces. Within the next few weeks you may start to feel your baby move, called "quickening." It's often described as a gas bubble or subtle fluttering movement. As it happens more regularly, you'll know it's your baby. There are other physiological changes happening in your body. Increased blood volume to support your growing fetus may cause nosebleeds, and veins may become more apparent. Because your uterus is shifting, you may not have to urinate as much."

For what it's worth, my uterus isn't "shifting" yet. Or, at least I'm not experiencing the bonus effects of said shift.

Seriously - can you believe that belly button? It's ridic! ...but those pants...those are nice! :)

In related baby news, my friend Jackie had her baby yesterday - Leighton Elise. She's a little peanut - 5 lbs. 4.5 oz. and 19.5" long. She's a cutie and both mom and baby are doing well. I can't wait to hold her!

Bargains and Bargains and Bargains Galore!

I have a confession to make: I love a deal. I seriously cannot resist them. I love, love, love coupons, discounts, sales, clearances...you get the gist. When purchasing things online, I will Google for hours to find checkout codes for free shipping, discounts or extra freebies and usually won't buy something if I can't find a deal on it. It's an addiction, I understand. But it's also an addiction that saves us hundreds and hundreds of dollars a year - so Joe tends to indulge me. :)

Today I am so jazzed to share some of my bargains. Some were blessings and others are plain and simply the result of some serious hunting on my part. Either way, I'm elated.

Item #1: WIP's Halloween custome for next year! :) (S)he's going to be a pea pod! How can you not love it? $14.99 at Target - but I got in on the 50% off Halloween sale. TOTAL: $7.50!!


Item #2: Starbucks tall decaf coffee. Totally free for voting. I'm still sippin' the goodness as I blog. Shoulda set me back $1.40. An extra bonus: I got it in a holiday cup. (Christmas obsession blog coming soon.) TOTAL: FREE!!




Item #3: A glider for WIP! Well, technically it's for anyone holding WIP, but you get my point. It's for the nursery. I about DIED when I went into Babies 'R Us and saw them retailing for $400 or more! So, I started doing some digging on Craigslist and found some really great deals on used ones. Then, lo and behold, I found one NEW in Troy for $100! It was at a place called the Troy Merchandise Mall, a big warehouse where retailers send all their out of stock or last season stuff. Kinda like a Marshalls or T.J. Maxx, only way less organized (if you can believe it). Anyway, we went to check it out and managed to talk the guy down $10! We looked online and the same rocker retails for around $200 and got great reviews (which you all know Joe loves). TOTAL: $90!!

Item #4: Delicious doughnut/donut from Krispy Kreme. Again, an "I Voted!" freebie. Would have cost $2.95 on any other day. Suckers! TOTAL: FREE!!

Items #5 & #6: This is the "blessing" part of the post. I didn't do any googling or sleuthing to get this deal - it just fell into our laps and we are so, so thankful. A wonderful friend and coworker of ours is ready to put his youngest into his "big boy" bed and offered us their crib AND changing table...as a gift! Needless to say, we are elated. They will be perfect for WIP's room - and unlike the IKEA set we were originally going to get, they won't cost a dime! More money for the college fund! Plus, they (intentionally) match the glider we got today. (Note: the pics are of the crib still set up in their house.)

All in all, I'm super pleased with our bargains. I'm still on the hunt for an armoire and dresser - so stay tuned for more bargains - KVW style! :)

And, if you haven't yet - GO VOTE!

2 Brains ARE Better Than One!

Woo hoo!

I totally figured out how to get some tunes on the blog! It's on random/shuffle, so you should get a new song every time you log in. Ooooh I'm loving it!

For what it's worth, "I Loved You Then" (the song I blogged about a week or so ago) is on the playlist - have a listen! Just scroll to the bottom of the blog to see the playlist and pick it to play. It should be the very first song on the list.

I love having 2 brains. :)

The Adventures of WIP

Little WIP had quite the weekend! It started on Thursday night with a long overdue visit from Jamie and continued into Friday evening with quite the social gathering at the VeeDub household. We had about 20 or so people over to celebrate Halloween and Kelli's birthday, and it was probably the most excitement WIP has experienced in the last 3 or so months! Thanks to some unseasonably awesome weather, we had a fire in the backyard (or a "driveway" fire, as some city-slickers called it) had some of about.com's "famous chili," roasted some s'mores and ransacked the sweets the kiddos didn't take.

Sidebar: We had about 30 trick-or-treaters on Halloween. A few times, I put the bowl at their level and told the kids "you can pick one treat." And wouldn't you know, some of the little greedy monsters took HANDFULS! A note on my anticipated parenting style: when an adult tells WIP that (s)he can take one of something, you best believe that grubby little hand will be taking ONE candy from the bowl. I'm just sayin'...

Anyway, back to the adventures of the weekend. On Saturday morning, Joe, Kelli, Dave and I drove to Auburn to celebrate Kelli's birth with the fam: Mom, Dad, Kyle, Jill, G-ma T, G-pa N and Aunt Theresa. Mom made a deeee-licious dinner and some of her best ice cream cake, ever. (WIP's a BIG, BIG fan of the ice cream cake.) It's also worth mentioning that it took Kelli FOUR breaths to blow out all her candles.

Kelli opened presents and we just chilled for awhile...and then the adventure began. We hopped in the car and headed to a restaurant we were falsely led to believe was a mere hour away. 67,492 miles and 7 panic attacks later, we arrived at "The Bank" in Shanghai, er, Port Austin. I attempted to jump out the window of the Buick at least a half dozen times on the neverending journey and managed to keep the others in the car entertained with some Grammy-worthy renditions of the "Song That Never Ends." I honestly thought we would never, ever, ever, ever, ever arrive at our destination. But, we did. And I survived. Barely.

Sunday was a day of (much needed) rest and relaxation. We only ventured out into the great unknown for a mere 45 minutes - to buy a dining room table!

Woooot! One more room almost complete in the house, then onto WIP's nursery. Oy.

Remember to vote tomorrow! (And because I"m the queen of "free," don't forget that you can get a free doughnut at Krispy Kreme, a free tall coffee at Starbucks and a free cone at Ben and Jerry's just for showing your "I voted!" sticker. If that's not incentive, I don't know what is!!)