JUST SOME HAPPENINGS

Road Trip. We are headed to Naperville this weekend so Brad can attend a Dental Conference – so if you’re in Chicago this weekend this explains the large concentration of people with inexplicably white teeth. It will be nice to get in these last trips before La Burrito arrives and we don’t have to pack as much stuff or people into our tiny car. So let’s be honest Brad drives the entire time (I commute ten hours a week and he claims he gets sick unless he’s driving – fine by me!) so we always listened to books on tape during road trips. Since we’ve lived here we’ve gone through all the Harry Potters and now I’ve got him hooked on the Hunger Games trilogy. We will be listening to Catching Fire this weekend, which I’m very excited about (side note – Did you hear? The third book comes out in August and it's called The Victors. I’m intrigued. EDIT - actually it's going to be called Mockingjay ... I knew that... The Victors was the old title and I mixed them up! Thanks Ash.). Plus Brad is one of those people that gets really in to a story line and wants to know how everything unfolds before it actually happens. Perfect example: I’ve been watching all the seasons of Felicity on DVD lately and Brad will come in demanding if Felicity and Ben are getting back together for the 5^th time or if their broken up for good. Needless to say it’s fun to torture him by withholding information.

American Idol. We’re watching it, and we’ve come up with nicknames for everyone because who bothers to learn names at this point? And our favorite right now is Neck Tattoo… who we actually call Javier… yes, after the most famous Dean and Deluca manager.

I told you we’ve been watching a lot of Felicity. He’s our favorite guy because he’s the only one who doesn’t give us second hand embarrassment so far this season. Also, “fun” game: can you name all the American Idol winners in order? I could not. I don’t know which is sadder, that I forgot two or that I knew six. Don’t answer that.

Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show. Don’t worry I didn’t miss it – how could I when I wrote it in my planner 4 months ago? I don’t know why it took me more than a week to blog about it. Here are my two thoughts:

- I’m so glad the Whippet didn’t win. I had a friend in High School with one of those. CRAZIEST DOG EVER. She would run laps in their living room for hours. And what’s the point of a dog that doesn’t snuggle?

- I was of course rooting for the French Bulldog but I was happy with the Scotty winning. I love a dog that talks like Sean Connery and wears a jaunty plaid hat. Admit it – you think it too!

True story: To go in person is on my list things I want to do before I die. Word on the street is that you have to get tickets years in advance.

LA BURRITO. This wouldn’t be a post without a mention of the baby. Not much to report, she’s still in there growing and kicking. But PS - About 100 days until my due date. That’s insanity. If you're looking to waste some time, there is this sweet baby name website where you can find the most popular names for your state, city, even down to the hospital. The #1 boy’s name at the OTHER hospital in our city? Praize. Aaaaand that’s why I chose to deliver elsewhere. Although Praize Carn does have a nice sound to it, I sure am a fan of the Z. (Actually both are great hospitals, the only reason I chose the hospital I did is I have a much higher chance of having a single room. I saw that episode where Rachel waits around forever while 20 other women deliver before her, no thankyouverymuch.)

TWENTY FOUR WEEKS

For those of you that thought this wasn’t going to turn in to a pregnancy/baby blog… you were dead wrong. Sorry. It’s kind of funny how much of your focus turns to all things belly and baby before the child is even born. So here is a Week 24 update on the progress of The Burrito: (Side note – we are considering changing her name to La Burrito to make it both multicultural and more gender accurate. We’ll keep you posted).

- STATS: Supposedly she’s about 1.5 lbs now and about the size of an ear of corn. I can’t believe babies have survived outside the womb at this stage. SO tiny. I’d prefer her to gain 6 or 7 more pounds first.

- Lessons Learned: After this pregnancy I will never take for granted the simple task of putting on socks. It’s one of the “chores” that has become a ten minute ordeal – complete with short breaths and an elevated heart rate.

- El Food: The vegetable aversion is still going strong. I’ve resolved to eating sandwiches stuffed with raw spinach to get any sort of green into my diet. I don’t want this kid to be dumb.

- What’s New: I bought fabric to start on La Burrito’s baby quilt, but it’s so pretty I’m too afraid to start cutting it. I’m thinking she won’t mind a pile of raw scraps as her first blanket. Seriously though, quilting fabric has come up in the world.

- Something That’s Getting Old: Between me, the belly, the necessary body pillow, and Brad’s requirement to sleep diagonally sprawled out - we pretty much need four California kings to contain everyone. The queen is just not cutting it. It's a fun game of geometry until SOMEONE loses a limb for smacking HIS arm on my head for the fifteenth time. I love marriage.

- Movin’ and shakin’: She still reacts the most after I drink orange juice – which is usually in the mornings. But I feel her squirming constantly throughout the day. So either she sleeps restlessly (like her dad) or she just doesn’t sleep. Joy.

- Names: We have opened the flood gates to baby names again, so we are really undecided on that front. We won’t make a final decision until La Burrito makes her first appearance anyway, but hopefully we’ll have it widdled down to 2 or 3. What is your opinion on a name starting with “B,” is that too much alliteration for one family to handle?

- Comfort: Besides bedtime, this is the best I’ve felt my entire pregnancy. The only other losses in comfort I’ve noticed are an achy back, and all of a sudden I can’t scoot my chair to my desk so the keyboard seems miles away. Otherwise I have tons more energy and thankfully I fit into maternity clothes now.

- Non-Pregnancy Happenings: Brad and I finally saw Avatar. The 3D was incredible; I don’t think that could be oversold. It was honestly jaw dropping sometimes. But the story line? Meh. If I wanted to be beaten over the head with James Cameron’s political views I wish it would have been written better and didn’t cost us $25. And PS – it’s LONG. My back started killing me after 5 mins, so yeah.

I hope your Valentines weekend was wonderful!

AND BRAD IS OFFICIALLY OUTNUMBERED

SUPA-BOWL

I must confess I don't watch the Superbowl for the commercials. In fact, each football season Brad counts his lucky stars that sometimes I get more excited for the games than he does. I think I owe that to my mom for raising me with Steve Young, first downs, and onside kicks. Although I cheered for the 9ers growing up, marrying a Chicago man came with the conversion to Da Bears, which was easily done. So these days, unless Da Bears are in the Superbowl or I'm with a group of people, Brad and I usually just watch the game.

Anyway, I was checking my email during the third quarter tonight when the game went to the commercials so I just let it run through and this ad came on...

...did I miss out on other adorable ads from google? It's been a LONG time since I've seen a commercial that I immediately wanted to watch again. It reminds me of that part in Sleepless in Seattle when Rosie O'donnell and Meg Ryan talk about crying over the commercial, "where the daughter gives her mom the refrigerator with a red bow." And like Rosie, this one "kills me." I'm just gonna go ahead and blame the overly-emotionalness again on the pregnancy.

HALF WAY-ISH

So I'm 22 weeks and people are finally starting to believe that I'm actually pregnant. Here's an update:

- I'm over the nausea and starting to get the night time leg cramps... it's such a magical time.
- We do have quite a kicker and mover, which is still in that entertaining phase since The Burrito is not big enough to be kicking my ribs or vital organs yet. At my doctor's appointment today they had a hard time hearing the heartbeat because the baby was doing something along the lines of the Single Ladies dance in my stomach.
- I'm still able to work out which has been such a blessing, I don't know how women deal with bed rest.
- At the beginning all I could stand to eat were greasy hamburgers but now that I can eat normal again I am IN LOVE with oranges and orange juice... just typing this is making me hungry.
- We finally go in for the ultrasound next Tuesday and if The Burrito doesn't show us the goods we are giving him or her back. It looks like the poll shows a resounding vote for Pink, which is still mine and Brad's thought as well. Only 4 days to go to know for sure!

FEELING LOST?

... well then use this handy subway map. Isn't it awesome?


I can't believe the last season is starting tonight. There is no possible way they can tie up all the loose ends. Am I right? And PS, if you've never seen Lost, you could start watching tonight's episode and know more about what's going on than someone who has seen every episode five times. It's that crazy.