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28 WEEKS - A MISH MASH

Angie and Chris were kind enough to fly me out to Utah a few weeks ago and then Angie and Brooke threw a baby shower for me. Do I have extremely awesome in-laws or what? I got to stay with my mom and see tons of family and friends at the shower (I think the promise of Brooke’s cooking had something to do with the incredible turnout). After opening a sinful amount of gifts all I can say is that this baby - whether sleeping , swimming, or bathing - will be dressed in pink for her first 99 days of life at least... and I’m surprisingly okay with that.

One of the bonus parts of the trip was getting to meet Ashley's new little man Lincoln, all three weeks of him. ADORABLE. Sam and Ashley came all the way from California so Ash could go to my shower - yes I have pretty great friends. We got to hang out at K and Adam's house and since Jenny was in town waiting for her new job to start (congrats!) we had a little reunion of awesomeness. We had so much fun.

As far as a pregnancy update... I’ve had a couple of firsts lately:

***3/4/2010 was the 1st time someone other than Brad or a doctor touched my belly. Granted it was by my sister-in-law Angie but it wasn't as intrusive as I thought, I actually kind of liked it, although I haven’t had the uninvited stranger hands yet.

***3/13/2010 was the 1st time a stranger asked me when I was due. I was almost 28 weeks grocery shopping. And even though I am obviously pregnant I still say that man was very brave.

***Last Friday was the 1st time I went to bed before 7:30pm (in a long time). Brad pulled all nighters all last week and I’m, well, pregnant so we decided to forgo date night and have sleep night. You might think we’re crazy for wasting one of our last Friday nights together as a childless couple. But OH contraire my friend. I ask you - when will we be able to have uninterrupted sleep again after June? Judges rule? Best 12 hours I’ve spent in a long time.

PS - Sheesh. We need to get some pictures of other people up in this mug.

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.

I WANT TO BE A MEMPHIS HOUSE WIFE

Brad and I saw The Blind Side last weekend (we are behind the times… or more accurately we are cheap. If you wait a couple weeks after a movie comes out you can see new releases for $5 at our theater). First, I blame the embarrassing amount of crying I did on the pregnancy hormones. Second, I thought I would be rolling my eyes at all the cheesiness (a la, every family sports movie ever made) but they somehow managed to make a decent clean family movie that didn’t make me want to kick someone. Good job hollywood. And third, what does it say about me that I liked some of Sandra Bullock’s outfits in that movie?

Am I crazy or is this snake skin pattern top seriously awesome?

SNOW SNOW SNOW

We had some wicked snow fall this past week... 4 whole inches. I know our friends in colder climates are rolling their eyes but people in St. Louis acted like FEMA should have been on their way. I think I even heard someone say, "Bush hates St. Louis people." In all seriousness it has been a frickin -5 degrees for the past week which IS mighty cold.

Here is proof of both the snow and the growing punkin.

2009 WRAP-UP

Brad and I were able to spend a week and half in Naperville for Christmas. And despite my continued (but much tapered) nausea coupled now with daily headaches I had a great and relaxing time. Lots of card playing, movie watching, and eating. Per the usual Carn family fun. At the highpoint on New Years Eve we had 9 adults, 11 kids, 2 unborn babies, and one melt-your-heart puppy. Did I mention that the puppy was ADORABLE? I didn’t have to sleep in the laundry room next to his crate (like his 8-year old owner did) so he was especially ADORABLE. Brad and I could have taken him home in a second. But we kept telling ourselves – human baby on the way, human baby on the way. Anyway, we had fun spending time with family and even went to dinner with our friends Nick and Christina (who we bored with 2 hours of pregnancy talk! sorry!). It was one of the first times Brad and I felt like we had a good long vacation. I honestly think the shorter vacations are harder to come back from.

With all the chaos around I felt like we didn’t take a lot of pictures but we did catch a few, here are some of the highlights:


We got to see the oldest Carn grandchild, McKenzie, on Christmas Day which was lovely because we haven't seen her in a year.

Here is the traditional Christmas morning picture, youngest to oldest.

Grace and Cassidy playing in the snow.

The snow fort! Ken is the one in the scary mask with Spencer. Bryn is on the right and I believe that is Carson's fanny trying to crawl out of the fort. Ken, Brad, and Spencer plowed and shoveled snow for about an hour to get this sucker big enough to hollow out... it will probably be melting until May.

Me and Chewbacca (they call him Chewy).

Spencer, Samuel, Charlie, and Abby. Charlie was doing his Zoolander face, I'm not sure the kids knew what that meant.

Abby exploring the fort.

Cutting Spencers hair - it was unruly! He didn't want to get his hair cut and kept avoiding the issue until I told him I could cut his hair to look like Brad's, then he was suddenly willing. Isn't that cute?

Brad got sick and slept in the recliner one night. Have I explained the cuteness of Chewy yet?

The one event I'm especially sad we didn't get pictures from was New Year's Eve. The whole Carn gang went to the church building and we played reverse hide and go seek and kickball. We had a blast... Brook put some pictures from the event up on her Christmas post. The one picture missing is from when we hid in the women's bathroom stall - that was the best spot.

THE LITTLE CHICKADEE

So here is the little one relaxing and not giving us the money shot. Doesn't it kind of look like the hand is behind the head and the baby is saying, "Stop bothering me, oh and bring me more grapes." You can kind of see the leg and the other fist, but the arm was moving around so it looks more blurry.



Here are the cute little feet and toes.



And there are the legs curled up and shut, you can see the feet tucked up together... the rascal.

MODEST IS HOTTEST

So our little guy/gal has learned some early modesty and wouldn't uncross the legs to show us the goods. He/she was curled up in a ball just relaxing - no poking or shaking from the technician was going to uncurl him/her. I was also measuring at 17 weeks which is a week earlier than you can normally tell the gender. They are going to have my doctor take a look at all the pictures and then schedule me for another ultrasound in a few weeks. Sorry to get everyone worked up! But I'll open up poll again until we know for sure.

We did get some pictures of arms and legs and head and toes. We asked if the head was measuring particularly large and she said it looked normal sized so far - I'm just worried about delivering the compounded genetic result of mine and Brad's large noggins.

Brad promised to scan the pictures tonight so look for them in a few hours.

Thanks for all the well wishes and congrats - I didn't think anyone checked our blog anymore since I've been seriously negligent.

TOMORROW'S THE DAY

...that we find out the gender of the baby.

So for the next 20ish hours have fun guessing in the poll to the right.

SOMETHING HAD TO GIVE

Outside of work, church obligations, and having family in town I've had a very busy schedule of eating, sleeping, and throwing up. So you know... something had to give. And that ended being this blog. Sorry blog. I hope you missed me, because I missed you. I'll try to be a better blog mom.

This hiatus sadly coincided with So Can Dance. But instead of playing catch up I'll give you an Awesomeness Ranking and we'll move on from there.

1. Neo 2.0
3. Ryan (tie)
3. Doug E. Doug (tie)
4. Anti - Legacy (and Independence, for those Plano-ites out there)

1. Faceless
2. Ashleigh
3. Testimony Meeting
4. Lolita


By way of catch up here are a few orders of business from the past month:

Brad suprised me with tickets to see In The Heights. I told him in July how much I wanted to see it when it came to St. Louis in November and he actually remembered! I guess carrying ones child does have its perks. It was excellent. I had only heard a little of the music before and I didn't know the story line at all. The sound of the production was a little off so we had a hard time hearing what they were saying, especially since they sing their dialogue a mile a minute. But Brad and I were humming the tunes the rest of the week. We even liked our lead better than the one on the broadway cast soundtrack.

We also had my brother's family and my mom come to Alton for Thanksgiving this year. We had a great time eating, shopping and going to the St. Louis zoo. And Ryan and Iain could not possible be any sweeter. Especially Iain, the first moment he walked in our house he gave Brad a big hug and then told me how much he loved me. Adorable. Kids are alright.



And for those perceptive readers who weren't previously informed. We have an additional family member arriving early next June. I'm pretty sure he or she will be made entirely of hamburgers because that's all I can keep down right now. Let's just say my doctor was not pleased with the amount of weight I've gained so far, I'll probably need a triple bypass sometime next July. We'll find out the gender January 5th... let the guessing games begin.