week 18... ten weeks to the third trimester

this week we have a baby besmehn bell pepper who weighs nearly half a pound and has the ability to flex its arms and legs. amazing really. and in three weeks, we get to find out if baby b is a boy or a girl!

but as you can see from the photo below... my desire for "streeeetchy pants" has become more of a necessity than a desire. clothes have the ability to hide most of the thickness in the middle, but bring on the rubber bands and bella bands. and the yoga pants aren't far behind.

the party continues...

we had a sleepover after thanksgiving which meant we got to make, share and capture a few more moments and memories for the blog.

we watched a pumpkin chiffon pie come to life

we had show and tell - thanks gma (that's santa perfume for any of you wondering)

we watched mm parade around with the one right shoe...

and we wore ourselves out!

come back for another visit soon!!!

our first thanksgiving

well, it wasn't really our first thanksgiving - but it was the first thanksgiving in our house. we loved having everyone over... it was definitely a house full of love and lots to be thankful for. here are a few of my favorites. but there were so many that you may be seeing them peppered throughout the posts to come.

say cheese! & don't worry mm - i've got ya!

two years goes by fast!

a lot has happened in the past two years - married november 25, 2006, expecting... as of august 25, 2008 (well, that's at least when we figured it out), moved into a new house on november 6, 2008, celebrated two years this week and hosted our first family thanksgiving!

on tuesday of this past week, paul and i revisited some very fond memories and walked up to "rocky mountain" - the place where paul proposed. yes - we climbed that hill...

but check out the view! how could we resist!

then it was off to dinner - acme chophouse for a great flank steak and YUM mac and cheese. paul had the baby back ribs, and they were really tender but i'm not sure either one of use was completely in love with the marinade. but the service was great and so was the company :)

p.s. the donut shop across the street was open, it's actually 24 hours... so we picked up a half dozen. we still have a few left over... eyes were way bigger than our stomachs. but we might have to make that an anniversary tradition.

food, family and... the aquarium

we headed down to carmel this weekend to spend some time with the besmehn side of the family - we enjoyed great company, stayed at the cute "carmel mission inn", and had some fun feeding the ducks...

hanging out...

and spending time at the aquarium, where we even "found nemo"!!!

sunday afternoon we feasted on lasagna, salad, fruit, veggies, rolls and pies. a wonderful meal for baby b and the rest of us! here's a picture i couldn't pass on posting of uncle j. he can't wait for another new baby to arrive in the family.

today's actually our two year anniversary. love you p! we're heading to dinner tonight and then planning for thanksgiving at our house. we'll miss you guys that won't make it up, but we're so blessed and thankful to have you in our lives. we'll have more pictures to share with you soon.

week 17... no doubt

so they still tease me at work... that i've got nothin' to show. but as you can see from this picture, i'm "really starting to pop" in the words of my doctor. we had an appt. last friday with a clean bill of health. woohoo! she said if she had to guess, i looked about 18 weeks (maybe it's all the eating i've been doing). seems like it would weigh more than 4 pounds, but that's my weight gainage so far. we heard the heartbeat again. it was in the 136-140 range, so legend has it that means it's a boy. but, intuition around the fong camp says otherwise. we'll see. the ultrasound is dec. 19th - what a perfect christmas present to look forward to!

what a weekend!

we had a great weekend... our second weekend in the house and it was busy with activity. we had our first overnight guests when t, k, mm and b came to visit for the weekend. the weather was amazing so we went to the park up the hill. it's a great park for little ones and has one of the most incredible views of the bay. paul is going to love going there once baby besmehn is old enough.

we made cupcakes, jelly, ate and snacked, watched movies, and stayed up late - slumber party like. we were treated to sushi dinner, went to church and had some friends and family over for sunday football and brunch (the perfect combo): pancakes, sausage, eggs, oj and mimosas. yum!

oh, and we have an eventful story to tell about the biiiiiiigggg truck that broke down on our street. the next time you see k... maybe you can ask her to tell you the story. she definitely tells it with the most color.

thanks everyone for coming over to visit. we'll have to do it again soon. here are a few of the pictures that we took of our weekend visitors.

arent' they cute?!

our little fashionista - at 3 yrs old!

following in her big sister's fashion footsteps, or a b-ball star in the making?

we've learned that the right shoe thing is very common. she is proficient in most shoe styles, including heels. leave your shoes at the front door, and watch her go!

week 16

ok, so i found the gray tank. but now that i'm looking at this picture, i think i much prefer either the black or the white... so we might be moving to black in the weeks to come. i'm slowly starting to adjust to the fact that my pants are getting tighter and by the end of the day, all i want to do is put on my sweat pants.

i work in a casual work environment, very casual actually. i'm wondering if i could get by in yoga pants for the last couple of months...

commuting... and being pregnant

ok, so we're basically at week 16... baby besmehn is the size of an avocado - something like 4.5 inches long. this also means that the baby besmehn bump is growing... as you've seen in the pictures. don't worry, week 16 pic is right around the corner, so you'll have a great illustration of what i'm about to explain.

so, you know in the morning... everything in your body has had a whole night to rest, it's mostly in the places it should be and gravity and food and all those other factors haven't quite set in yet. and by the end of the day, when all those factors actually do come into play, you are likely to be slight shorter, feet slightly fatter, belly a bit more enlarged. right? now add pregnancy into that equation and what does that mean? that means... if you stand with the right posture, hand on the belly, and stick it out as far as you can - you SCORE a seat on the bart train. and with a longer commute these days, this definitely comes in handy. of course, not recommended for everyone. but i'll work it for all i can right now.

week 16 coming soon!

week 15... catching up

so it's actually week 16, so i need to catch up... this was week 15. we are in transition still, so the clothing that was previously used in other pictures is of course - no where to be found. still unpacking, but getting very close to feeling mostly settled.

baby besmehn's first flight

so baby besmehn won't remember his/her first plane ride, but we will! it was off to phoenix, arizona for a GIRLS TRIP the first weekend of november. we had tons of fun with mamafongo, s, b, a. t, t and the little girls. we ate, hung out, ate, enjoyed and soaked up the sunshine (80s to 90s even)... did i mention we ate? it was the perfect pattern for the pregnant lady.


a couple of really great highlights were... the spa treatment that mamafongo treated all of us to while she watched the little girls; and splashing around in the fountain with k. she was so cute with her water socks.

we also had a chance just to relax, and here are a few photos of us hanging out at the condo. thanks mamafongo... what a treat!

moving on to a new chapter.

so i have to share with you, that as much as i love the new home that paul and i will make together... it was VERY difficult for me to leave the condo. just ask paul!

so, on my last walk to bart from the essex, i looked back just before i crossed the street to the station, and this what i saw...


then we went back on sunday and cleaned the place a bit. still some more to go, but it's just the bones now. it looks almost exactly like it did when i first moved in.

ok - now it's time to create more memories in the new house. more pics of that coming soon... we had an entire army of family helpers this past weekend. it was incredible! thanks gma, ad, uc, ac, uj, mm, lm, am, uj, ek, bk, and lk, and a special shout out to the f family for EVERYTHING. can't even begin to have enough thanks to go around - but i love you lots and lots!

baby besmehn is already so blessed and has a lot to look forward to!

week 14... yeah baby!

so as you can tell from this photo, i have moved away from the slightly concealing gray... to a nice shade of black. it's not really smoke in mirrors, but as we pack up everything... it was really the only thing that i could find that would slightly resemble the same picture quality.


so, here we go... week 14. definitely some signs.

a place to call home

so before i get to week 14, let me share with you why week 13 and 14 have been the most stressful, exciting, sleepless, and blessed weeks of our lives - all at the same time. as many of you know, we've been casually house hunting for the last year or so... maybe longer. we've thought about location, price... size, proximity to our future partner for child care (mama fongo or now "grandmama fongo"), commute, schools, the plan for our condo in oakland, and everything in between. i'll spare you the details of it all and just let you know that God blessed paul and i with the tremendous opportunity to buy our first home together. we had an incredible amount of help along the way (you know who you are :)!!!), and we followed the signs and signals as God opened the doors for us.

we closed in record timing. and we can't wait to open our doors and share our new home with you. of course, we need a few weeks to pack, move, settle in, and get the rest of our lives in order; but the time will come sooner than later and we're very excited. here's a couple of pictures of us, in front of the house... one of us going through the front door for the very first time as the new owners, and the other with the car parked in the garage, and plans for the house in hand (paul's hands).

it's a miracle really, and we look forward to sharing it with you. see you soon!

p.s. we are looking to rent out our condo (we'll miss it terribly), so if you know if anyone who might be interested in a luxury high-rise building on lake merritt... info is posted here: http://www.postlets.com/rts/1449465

week 13... maybe baby?

i'm a little behind but it's been a very busy couple of weeks (more to come on that in future posts). but here's the week 13 pic. since we're already to week 14, i should probably do a side by side comparison :).
in any case, we had our doctor appt. on october 24th. my doctor's office warned us that my ob might have to reschedule our appointments because she had a patient in labor. the first reaction was... hrm, i don't know if i can come back next week. and then the real kicker was the realization that "oh wait, if that's me... i want her to go!!!". so... go, go go!

but we made it through... a few things on the blood test that were "unequivocal" like the fact that i might not have been exposed to the chicken pox virus enough to be immune. i had chicken pox when i was about a year and a half, but apparently i only had about 8 marks... but i didn't get it again when my sisters and brother got it a years later. so my doctor just advised me to stay away from little ones who might have signs of the virus, but that it was probably low risk because kids rarely get chicken pox these days. i also am anemic, but i imagine a lot of pregnant women are or become this way. and my blood type is ab+. but the real magic happened when the doctor used the special stethoscope, and we got to hear "THE THUNDER" for the very first time. very cool.

i'm going to post a poll so you guys can vote... i'm pretty sure i see something in the pic this week. it may be a few more weeks before maternity clothes are required, but week 13 - the end of the first trimester - has certainly brought many changes!