fenton's

we went to fenton's on thursday... for those of you not familiar with fenton's - think the most scrumptious, creamy ice cream you can imagine and then multiply that by 100. fenton's a classic establishment... and i remember going when i was very young, ordering bubble gum ice cream (back when it was still that weird blue color), and asking for a separate cup so i could save the bubble gums until the very end and count them. it was a game between s and i to see who among us could get the most gum balls in a scoop!

well, that was then... this is now. and now that i'm back to wanting sweets (during the first 5 months or so this was not the case), all i want is the most gigantic sundae ever. my eyes are bigger than my somewhat compressed stomach these days, but we went for the black and tan... all toasted almond ice cream and the more caramel sauce the better. and instead of a side of gum balls, this time around... someone (you know who you are) ordered me up a side of pickles...

YUM!!

(ok maybe not so much... but we had to take a pic!)

shout out to p!

so... as parenthood is fast approaching, with just three more months to go - i have to share a little bit about how my husband is approaching his role as a husband and a father. i have to say, it's pretty incredible. i bet some of you wouldn't even recognize him!

laundry - check! dishes - check! bed made every day - check! he even made the comment to me the other day that there wasn't enough laundry for him to do a load of laundry that day. he cleaned out the refrigerator, went out and bought some WD-40 for our "darth vadar" garbage can, and organized the kitchen.

now i know what you must be thinking... this doesn't exactly sound like the same p that you remember, but i have to say that he really is taking on this new chapter of life with a tremendous amount of GUSTO!

oh, and in addition to "chores" he's also taken on a few little projects around the home. i was more than impressed by this one... he had a little help from a very handy friend - but check out the rail in the garage for our stairs! VERY STURDY. this was to prevent the clumsy pregnant lady from stumbling out the door, and off the ledge onto the garage floor.


ok - i have to share this too. so, my parents gave us a clock that chimes and plays music on the hour for christmas. you know, one of those clocks that every house needs. so one weekend morning i pulled it out, put it all together, we talked about where we thought of hanging it and i left it at the bottom of our stairs because i wasn't quite ready to get to hanging it. that same week, i came home from work and my husband had hung the clock. he did the manual "stud test" and determined that the stud was actually a bit off center on the wall we wanted to hang the clock. but he went ahead and hung the clock, showed it to me when i got home, and checked for the reaction on my face (dramatic pause). well, for those of you who know me... lack of symmetry is a serious issue. i'm linear, orderly... etc, etc. i did the eyebrow thing a little (just couldn't help it) and really, really tried to rationalize it. he said "why don't we just leave it up for a while, and see how you feel with it?". by this time in my day... im usually getting pretty HUNGRY again, so i agreed and it was over to the kitchen to start dinner.

the next day - off to work, same routine, come home, walk through the front door, check out the wall with the clock... and this is what i see...

so... first impressions of "the clock wall"?

ok, here was mine... more eyebrows... but then i couldn't help but bust out laughing - hysterically no less. oh and i love my husband and his quirkiness and his perspective and his way of doing things. at least, i am learning to really embrace all of these things :)! and after about 5 minutes of laughing, i pause and wait for him to respond. and this is the part that i can't help but love, because... perspective is such an individual thing some times. he has a unique way of finding symmetry in ways, that just wouldn't be intuitive to me. do you see the symmetry? i'll leave you with this... check out the light switches and the heating control. then go back up and check out the clock and the picture frame.

get it?

i love you p... so much more, every single day.

week 26 and a visit to the doctor

this is me... week 26

we had a good dr's visit today... aside from the wait (my ob had to perform an emergency procedure just before we got there). oh and the fact that i thought my appointment was at 3:45p when it was actually for 3:15pm (they chalked it up to mommy brain) which should have made the wait shorter but instead extended it because i was bumped to the back of the line... it was a healthy report for both mom and baby b: bp 117/74; healthy amount of weight gained so far 16 pounds; baby b's heart rate 150-158 bpm; measuring right on track and the ultrasound readings all read normally. it's time for the third trimester blood work to test for gestational diabetes and the next appointment is feb. 20th.

i have now pre-registered at the hospital, and i'm going to enroll us in a couple of classes this week. we've picked a theme for the baby's room, colors, and done a bit of shopping to get ready for him. just a few more weeks, a little bit more planning and preparing, and life as we know it will change completely - in the BEST possible way. i can't wait - and p is going to be an incredible dad. and he's going to be terribly spoiled by his grandparents!!!

week 26 in review

have you ever played canasta? i got schooled by my mom and her friends - the same friends that were my "second moms" during my elementary years and threw my wedding shower before i got married. it was quite a grown up experience to be "one of them" for the day. we laughed a lot, there was even some "trash" talking (all g rated), and i really enjoyed it. p was home but had some work to do, so it gave us some space to be girls. he was really cute about it.

in the last 26 weeks i have also made much deeper connections with other moms. these are the same women i've been friends with for a few years now, but our interactions have just been different. it's like i'm being inducted into the motherhood club, and it's quite a cool experience. maybe it's the hormones making me more emotional and feel things deeper, but whatever it is i am savoring and soaking up every moment.

it was a long work week - long days, even longer commutes. today, the bart ride into work took over an hour and door to door the time spaned an hour and forty-five minutes. yep, really. thank goodness people get up and give me a seat these days.

i'm also back to wanting ice cream. i haven't really experienced cravings so much, but i was avoiding sweets and especially chocolate up until now. strange i know. but i'm back to my old self... next stop: the gym. i need to really get back into a more regular excercise program to stay strong through my third trimester (which i think is about a week away) and get my body ready to have this baby!

lots of words, time to bring this one to a close. more soon.

it was p's birthday too!

we had a nice long weekend... i love the extra day. we had some good time together, and it's amazing how this whole experience has just brought our relationship to another level of everything. he is QUITE amazing, and i thank God every day for him...

tuesday the 20th was the actual day. i had to go to work (really busy work week), but we made plans to go to dinner at tres agaves - on the earlier side of course. the meal was great, the company better, and it's hard for me to admit this outloud... but we were actually even home by 9pm. that's kind of how things go these days. and p has completely adjusted and adapted so seemlessly to me, to the changes, to my schedule. i love coming home to/with him.

this picture kind of looks pretty familiar, like we've done this before (recently). and yes... we have!

happy birthday p. i love you.

week 25... i missed the post, but took the photo.

a curious visitor

i absolutely love the curious expression on her face...

as you can see, we're "baby ready-ing" the place already! bring your little ones and come try stuff out!

a happy birthday.

so, here's the thing about birthdays... i feel so fortunate every other day of the year, that it's not a huge deal to me to have a lot of hoopla and fan fare on the actual day (i may be singing a different tune at a milestone birthday again... so don't quote me on it). but i wanted to share a really enjoyable birthday weekend with you...

i was feeling under the weather on thursday and friday, so saturday was more of a rest and recovery day than a day to party. but p and i had such a good day together just to two (three) of us, hanging out and spending some time together. i was in my sweats most of the day... and p took the day off work, so there was no pressure or anywhere for us to be (thanks nk!). we relaxed, spent time, watched football and just enjoyed the company. it was really, really nice.

sunday afternoon grandmama fongo prepared a feast of food - lasagna, salad, toasty bread, and MILLION dollar cake (i'll have to get the recipe from her so i can post it up here. it's delicious). and d put together the cute, but MANLY, workbench for baby that received for christmas from grandmama and grandpapa fongo. it's adorable... it's got a working vice, a drill, a saw, and even a phone! come over and try it out some time...

here's that millon dollar cake...

and the best part about it all, is that p's birthday is just 10 days after mine! so we get a full 10 days of birthday hanging out every year.

a blessed start to 2009

as many of you know, we've been looking for a tenant for our condo for a few months now... we've been praying diligently and managing all of our responsiblities carefully.

i'm happy to report that we've found a really nice, young couple who will be our new tenants for 2009. and we really think that they will love the condo, just as much as we did. it will be empty no more!

thanks to those who spread the word, shared our prayers, and have always supported us. it's time to focus on the arrival of baby b :)!

week 24 - our growing baby

has it really been that long since i've posted?! wow... it's been over a week. here you can see my growing soccer ball. that's about the size of my belly right now if you can believe it. baby b continues to be quite active. i am still encouraging him to stick to the 7/10/1/4 schedule. strangely enough he does actually seem to cooperate around 10 and 1, both AM and PM :). he is about a foot long (more than half way there in length!) and weighs over a pound - which means there's about 6 pounds to go, right?

every day, God shows us what a miracle this journey is. and, every day it becomes more real. my clothes don't feel comfortable anymore, even with a rubber band. so i've graduated to stretchy pants AND stretchy tops now. i am still trying to sneak in a pair of heels every now and again, but i'm mostly on flats these days. people on BART tend to be more open to letting me sit down if i'm not sportin' 3.5 in. heels. and in fact - a woman on BART gave up her seat for me. IT'S THE REAL DEAL!!!

a nye celebration to remember - goodbye 08, hello 09!

perfect party p planned a really fun night out for a bunch of us on nye's. we had hotel rooms in sf, a limo to whisk us from one destination to the next (no driving, no hailing cabs, and NO walking!), a yummy dinner spread at asia sf - inclusive of soba noodles with shitake mushrooms, orange lamb, baby back ribs, tofu salad, ahi tuna sashimi, the asia-dilla with cheese and duck, baby bok choy and a dessert trio... followed by a night of dancing and hanging out at MIST. p3sf threw a really great party - shout out to nk for all of his help and for treating us like vips all night long.

p - you always pull it off and come through with flying colors. i know i asked a million questions leading up to the night, but i have much respect and give you lots of credit for being the ultimate host. thank you for making this such a special celebration for us, our family and so many of our friends.

baby b also came through the evening in impressive style. he kicked to the beat of the music, stayed up with us all night, and got his first taste of celebrating with all of his aunties and uncles :)!

happy new year!

p.s. for those of you who i didn't have photos of that night... please send me your nye celebration photos so that i can share them with baby b when he's old enough to understand that this was his "first" nye celebration! we missed those of you who weren't with us!

week 23

so... for those of you who have seen me recently, and have also been tracking my "growth" - check this out:


i've had several people tell me that i "still don't look pregnant". so this picture leads me to believe that either 1) they forgot what i looked like before OR 2) i'm hiding it well underneath the flowy clothes. i do have to say that i kind of forget what i looked like before too. but either way, i feel much larger than i did just a few months ago and it's strange but exciting all at the same time. baby b is quite active these days, especially around 10pm and 1am. i've heard that whatever he's doing on the inside right now... is exactly what he's going to do on the outside when he comes out. which, i have to say isn't such a bad thing. i came up with this theory, or more like a mock schedule, in one of my middle of the night epiphanies - 7/10/1/4. i know what you're thinking... like i can really dictate the feeding schedule. (stop laughing moms :)!). ok, ok... so we'll just have to wait and see. it's just 17 +/- weeks away!!!