Peanut Butter Jelly Time... Peanut Butter Jelly Time

Few things bring us back to our childhood the way a good old PB&J sandwich does.  Whether you were a white bread crust free or wheat bread crust on, crunchy or creamy, jelly or jam or whatever the heck your mom could slap together as you were running to catch the bus... peanut butter and jelly sammies = childhood.

I woke up this morning and (thanks to a certain FB post from a certain friend) decided that I was instantly in the mood for a good old fashioned PB&J.  I obsessed over this PB&J so much that I decided to poll my FB friend to see what their favorite PB&_______ sammie was.  Some of the responses...

• Brown Sugar
• Honey
• Marshmallow Fluff (aka FlufferNutter sandwich)
• Karo Syrup
• Bacon
• Pickles (not kidding... two people actually vouched for this... odd)
• Banana
• Banana and Honey
• Banana and Marshmallow Fluff
• Bacon and Honey (aka The Elvis)
• Banana- grilled
• Fluff and Nutella
• Chocolate
• Fig Jelly

Isn't it funny how our tastes change and yet somehow stay very close to what we know and love (minus the pickles thing... that's still weird to me).  I definitely want to give some of these new PB sammie varieties a try.  Makes me hungry just reading the list.

Oh... and what kind of sandwich did I end up with today... well actually I indulged in a White Chocolate Cream Cheese and Strawberry Jam on some whole grain toast.  Nope, not even close to the PB&J that got me started on this blog post... but yes, it was just as decadant and delicious as it sounds.  :)

23 Week Check In

Time is flying... Kevin and his friend will be painting the nursery this weekend (I promise to post pictures of the progress).  It feels so strange to call it a nursery instead of "the spare bedroom"... one step closer.

How Big Is Baby?

• Pomegranate this week!!

Baby’s Development

• Baby can listen to my voice and my heartbeat -- and even to loud sounds like cars honking and dogs barking at this stage.

 
How Big Is Mommy?

•  Starting to "pop" and Lucy is on neighborhood kitty watch.

How Am I feeling?

• Physically:  Good.  Sometimes the evening shifts leave me dragging, and I have been finding it difficult to sleep through the night, but thankfully I am able to relax and sleep in as late as 1pm to try to catch up.  I'm getting spoiled on this evening shift and I think I am going to have a hard time switching back to days after baby arrives.  It's really nice to not wake up to an alarm clock every day.
• Emotionally:  Excited.  I have been picking up little odds and ends to decorate the nursery and I am beyond thrilled to see it all come together. 

Any new developments, milestones?  Anything new?

• Not a whole lot really... except for stronger kicks and punches.

 Love/Hate:

• Love:  Feeling the baby move.  It is just mind blowing.
• Hate:  Baby using my bladder as a punching bag.  Not awesome.
 Any upcoming developments, milestones?  What's next?
• V-Day is next week!!!  Very very very happy about this!  Not much else new... next appointment is in a few weeks for my glucose test.  Bleh!

What's In A Name?

A name... your name... is a very important thing.  It is the essence of your identity and the one word that you will hear more than any other throughout your entire life.

In all honesty, I grew up not particularly liking my name.  In grade school, 3 of my BFFs were named "Katie" (well, Kathleen, Katherine, etc... but all went by Katie).  I was super jealous that I was not a part of the Kool Katie Klub and wanted badly to be a Katie too.  I wanted to fit in with the Kool Krowd.  :)

Now that I am a bit older and feel that I have finally found my own identity, I like my name.  It is not very very common, but also not so unique that people mispronounce it or give me strange looks when I introduce myself.  Aside from a once loved pop singer and a certain disgusting mistress with a thing for cigars (thank you, Monica Lewinski)... my name has pretty much flown under the radar... which is good.  So, I guess you can say it has grown on me.

So now, Kevin and I are blessed (aka cursed) with the task of deciding on a name for our baby-to-be.  Since we have decided to stay "Team Green" (not find out the gender until the baby is born), not only do we have to decide on one name, but now we have to have a name ready for a boy or girl.  This is no small task.  The name we decide to give our son or daughter will be the very beginning buds of their identity as their very own little human being.  And... well... they are going to be stuck with it for the rest of their life.

Last night, as well as a few other nights over the past month or so, Kevin and I sat at Barnes and Noble with our coffees, desserts and a mile high stack of baby names books and scoured over than until we were cross eyed.  We settled on a boys name (nope, not telling, sorry)... but we are so unbelieveably stuck on a girl's name that its crazy.  We found one that we really liked a lot (I'm going to say "X" just in case we end up going with this name later on)... and then of course over the next week or so, we heard of 3 different baby "X" born and saw that it was listed in every Top Ten Girl's Name for this year.  Grr. 

Needless to say, we are still in a deadlock over a baby girl's name, but we did manage to come up with a list of "requirements" for the name...

1. Middle name will most likely be "Ann" so it must work with this name
2. Last name is "Boles" so it must work with this also
3. Prefer relatively traditional (bonus if biblical)
4. Must not be super popular (as in top 20 names this year)
5. Must not be completely unique (not something like Pi or Monica2.0 or something ridiculous)
6. Open to different spellings, but notsomuch trendy spellings (like Monyka or Kevyn)
7. Prefer a name that is nickname-able

We are open to any ideas, suggestions, thoughts and words of wisdom.  :)

Until then... our quest continues.

Spring Has Sprung

Never in my wildest wintry dreams did I think that I would find myself wearing shorts, tanks tops and flip flops in March... in Syracuse... But I kid you not, our high today is 80 degrees... EIGHTY DEGREES people!!!

This is complete and utter craziness, but I am not complaining one little bit.  Every day this week, I have started off my morning with a walk or run with Lucy followed by some lounging around on the back deck (in March?!?!).  On Tuesday we started digging up the soil to start our garden and at night we enjoyed dinner on our back deck for the first time this year (in March!?!?), today Kevin is cutting the grass for the first time this year (in MARCH?!?!)  :)  See how exciting this is for me?

As wonderful and unusual as this beautiful weaher is... for some reason it is gets me thinking about growing up in a place where the weather was like this almost year-round and, to be honest, its making me a little homesick. 

On one hand, actually having seasons (one of them typically being a really realllllly long winter) truly makes you look forward to and appreciate days like today.  On the other hand, getting to enjoy the gorgeous sunshine and warmth makes me long to be in a place where I can feel like this every.single.day.

Since moving back to Florida isn't in our plans any time soon (but hopefully sometime down the road)... I am just going to continue soaking up this sunshine every moment that I can.  :)

22 Week Check In

Cruising right along... We have started reading to baby almost every night (or at some point during the day)... right now the book of choice is "Oh Baby, The Places You'll Go" based off Dr. Seuss' book.

How Big Is Baby?

• Papaya... almost a foot long and crossing the pound mark!

Baby’s Development

• Now I really have to watch what I say -- baby is now able to hear outside noise from down in the womb. Studies show that baby finds gentle music and momma's voice most soothing. Nipples are starting to sprout, and that little face is fully formed. And, baby's starting to settle into sleep cycles, snoozing about 12 to 14 hours a day. It shouldn't be hard to figure out when -- just pay attention to those kicks as they start and stop.

How Big Is Mommy?

• Growing a teeny little bump.  And when I push my belly out like on the right, you can totally see it... lol

How Am I feeling?

• Physically:  Exhausted.  I have discovered a phenomenon known as "Pregsomnia"... it's insane.  Between getting up to pee a dozen times in the middle of the night and waking up starving, ready to eat a full meal... I feel like I am never getting enough sleep.  Then, of course, when I finally start to drift off, baby takes this as a signal that it is time to start his/her nightly dance party in my belly.  Don't get me wrong, I LOVE feeling all of the movement... but if we could time it a little better, that would be awesome!
• Emotionally:  Happy. Sleepy but happy.  Our second anatomy scan to check the heart went well and I was very relieved.  I kind of feel like I am on cruise control now.

Any new developments, milestones?  Anything new?

• Anatomy scan part 2 went great.  It's always wonderful to see our little munchkin bouncing around on the screen.  This time he/she had hiccups and you could see it... it was so neat!

 Love/Hate:

• Love:  These amazingly delicious fruit sorbet things that I found at BJs.  They are 0 fat, all natural and best part is, they come in the shell of whatever flavor they are (ex. the coconut comes in a little coconut shell)... how cute is that?
• 
• Hate:  Pregsomnia.  Seriously.  Let this mama get some sleep!!

Any upcoming developments, milestones?  What's next?

• Nothing really except Viability Day coming up in 2 weeks.  Very excited for that milestone!!

I'm Baaaaack!!!

::dusts off laptop::

Hello...?!?!  Is anybody still out there?!?!

Ok ok ok... I know it's been months since I updated this blog.  Life's been a little crazy around here, but then again, who's life hasn't?  It's really no excuse.  I have been journaling in a book at my bedside (more on that later) and FB stalking like it's my job from my phone... but I have totally and completely neglected my blog.  :(

So... today is going to be a brief update of sorts and then over the next few weeks, I plan to take some of my journal entries and merge them with this blog, back dating them so they match the correct date.  It's cheating, I know, but looking back at 3+ months of dead time on my blog makes me very very sad... and so much has happened.

So in a nutshell.... since Thanksgiving-ish when I really fell off the blogging bandwagon, the following things have happened in the crazy life of this crazy wife...

-  I passed my boards!  Yippee!!!

-  I started my new grown-up RN job.  I work on a rehab floor at the VA Medical Center and I love it!

-  I started my new shift at my new grown-up RN job.  I now work evenings and I am totally digging the new hours.  I have the whole morning to myself, I sleep in, lounge around, run or walk with Lucy and take my time getting to work.  It sure beats the "holy crap is that the alarm clock already? hit the ground running and fight morning rush hour" mornings that I am used to.

-  Oh... and last but not least...

 That's right... we're expecting!!  We are over the moon excited. 
I am actually 22 weeks pregnant today and have been keeping a weekly check-in of all of my pregnancy happenings... I just haven't typed it up or posted it.  Over the next few weeks, I will try to update this also.  But for now, yes pregnant, growing and super happy!

So... that's pretty much the highlights of the past few months.  I am now off to enjoy what is left of this gorgeous March afternoon (65 degrees... in Syracuse... in March... can you believe it?!?!?) then get ready for my work day.

Lots of love...