Score!

On my way home from the dentist today (no cavities!), I swung into Mimi Maternity to exchange something. As I mentioned, I was going to wait another few weeks to buy a dress for our upcoming events. Well, at Mimi, they had a dress in my size and it was on sale! $55 instead of $150 - woo hoo! I bought it on the spot, so it's a relief to know that I have a dress for our formal affairs. It just needs to be hemmed, but I have plenty of time for that.

Markus is working late again tonight - the guy can't catch a break. He did a phone install and all was going according to plan until he got a call at 5:30 to say that the main office had no power. He got stuck waiting for an electrician to come in and repair the problem, and then see if the power outage caused any problems with their equipment. I tuned into American Idol and started perusing my cookbooks for a brunch we're planning in a couple of weeks. It's so nice to feel like cooking again!

Samba has been sneezing several times an hour for the last two days, so I had to run her to the vet today. Have you ever heard a cat sneeze? It seems like it's a virus, so it should pass soon. Since she apparently carried the scent of other cats home with her, Camper has been growling and hissing at her all day. Poor thing, I've kept her with me to avoid any conflicts. Hopefully she'll feel better soon.

Off to eat the couple of chocolate mint cookies I kept for myself. After I baked them last night, I put them all into a tin and sent them into work with Markus. I had to keep a few for myself, though. :-)

Tea Time

After four months of schedule conflicts and holiday busy-ness, I was able to see my friend Terri for lunch today. She gave me a container of Cranberry-Blood Orange tea as part of my Christmas gift; I'm drinking some now and loving it! I figured I'd post an update while I drink my tea, though there's not much exciting to report.

Markus' job is exciting, I suppose. Not exciting like getting ready for vacation exciting, but busy exciting. He's working late almost every night almost every week; his company is rolling out a new phone system in all of their offices, so he's leading the team that goes to all the satellite offices and sets up the phones, the software for the phones, and makes sure that the new phones work. It requires a lot of time and is challenging, but Markus thrives on challenging projects so while it's tiring I think he's enjoying it.

This has left me with a bit of extra time on my hands so I've been passing the time in a couple of different ways. I got myself hooked on American Idol this season when I started watching the try-outs one night. Markus and I have both said that this season has interested us more than most others because there are several talented people performing. Personally, I like Laquisha (not sure if that's the correct spelling) and am rooting for her. Her performance last week of the Jennifer Hudson song from Dreamgirls was just amazing - and it was only the first real week! I can't wait to see how she does through the rest of the season. I think I have a soft spot for her, too, because she's a single mom working hard to support her daughter, she's articulate, yet somewhat shy about her abilities as a singer. I'd love to see her go all the way and create an amazing career and life for herself and her daughter. She seems really deserving.

When American Idol isn't on, I watch Grey's Anatomy and last night, the Oscars. It was longer than it needed to be, but I'm a sucker for seeing who's wearing what, who gives the best speeches, and any other hits or misses in the show. Personally, I loved seeing Jennifer Hudson's surprise at her victory, thought it was awesome that Martin Scorcese finally (FINALLY!!) won a well-deserved and long overdue Oscar, and was pleased that Al Gore's documentary won for best documentary and Melissa Etheridge won for best song from that documentary. Who would've thought that Al Gore would have a rock-star type of celebrity at this point in his life and career?

Aside from TV, I've finally gotten back to baking. I feel like vacation renewed my energy and my spirit; now that I have more energy, I feel a little more like cooking and baking. Markus has always liked Millet Muffins from the Metropolitan Bakery, so I made some for him last weekend. Millet is a crunchy type of grain; I have a whole bag of it and decided I should use it (or trash it), hence the millet muffins. They're not sweet because they're made with whole wheat flour, honey instead of sugar, and when I ran out of honey I substituted brown rice syrup for the remainder of the honey. If you've ever seen Christina Perillo of Christina Cooks on PBS, she uses brown rice syrup as a sweetener in her recipes (she's very much into whole foods, organic, natural, healthy cooking). So, for the first time using millet and brown rice syrup, it was an experimental attempt that turned out just fine. :-) Tonight, I made chocolate cookies with mint chips (anyone who knows Markus knows the boy loves the chocolate-mint flavor combo). Also tasty, though chocolate has lost a bit of its luster for me throughout the pregnancy. Don't get me wrong, I still eat it, but it's just not as good as it was before.

Finally, I did some shopping over the weekend. Markus and I rarely have the occasion to get really dressed up, and wouldn't you know that this spring, we have not one but two black tie events. Finding a gown is hard enough, let alone finding a maternity dress appropriate for a black tie event. So, I went shopping this weekend to begin my search. Surprisingly, I found a dress that will be fine, I just need to wait until closer to the event date because I'm not sure how much weight I'll gain between now and then, and therefore, what size dress to buy. I also went to Babies R Us, which is becoming a more regular part of our shopping/browsing routine. We registered there last weekend and I needed to update a few things and buy a pillow to help with my back pain. It's called a Snoogle - it's shaped like a G and basically curves around my back and then comes up between my legs (supposed to reduce pressure on the spine). It is quite the pillow...it's helped with my back pain which has been a relief.

While at Babies R Us, I also bought some diapers. Here's why: last week, I had my first baby anxiety dream. I dreamt that the baby arrived early (healthy, just earlier than we expected) and we had no diapers. In my dream, I went to Target 4 times in the same day and they had no diapers so of course I was freaking out in my dream. Since I had a coupon and was there, I figured I'd buy some diapers just to have around. I know we won't need them for a long time, but hey, once the baby's here we'll go through them like there's no tomorrow. Hopefully no more anxiety dreams for a little while!

I've finished my tea and realize that I've written a long post about nothing, essentially. I think I'll call it a night. Hopefully the next update will be a little more exciting! Maybe I'll add an American Idol poll to the blog so all 2 or 3 of our faithful readers can vote for their favorite Idol. :-)

February Belly Shot

Here I am in all my belly-licious glory...started week 25 today. I wore the same clothing that I did for the December shot. The shirt is definitely "fitted" now - it kept riding up and baring my belly at the gym today. And the pants have to be worn below the belly now.

New Addition to the Blog

I did a little format updating today, as you may have noticed. Due to our upcoming addition, I thought it was appropriate to modify the name of the blog. I also added a ticker so you can see how the baby is developing. 1 lb., 7 oz. as of Tuesday, February 13 according to the ultrasound tech! She couldn't measure the length because the baby is too big now, but based on the different information I've read, the baby is probably about 13 inches in length. If it has any of Markus' tall genes, though, the baby might be even longer. Here's hoping!

I finished reading/perusing the 100,000 baby name book that we got for Christmas, so we have compiled our list of baby names. We have a couple of favorite combinations for boys and girls, but still have a list of potential others that we'll review over the coming months. Who knows when we might change our minds! I also believe that we should have a few ideas for both boys and girls, because I think that when you finally do get to see your baby you can tell whether a name fits it. This is based, of course, on my extensive experience with childbirth...ha! Now, after an epidural, who knows what crazy names I might go with. That's why we have to plan now, so I don't subject our child to a life with a silly name!

Back to reality

We returned from our trip on Monday and went through a seemingly unnatural process of lathering ourselves with aloe gel to soothe our sunburn and peeling, and then walked out into a snowstorm on Tuesday morning. That just isn't right...what a rude awakening!

We had a wonderful, relaxing voyage through the Caribbean and enjoyed visiting many different islands. Each island has its own unique history and personality; some were lush and green while other islands we visited were more arid and brown. Overall, the beaches were fabulous, the sun was hot, the breezes were a relief, and we returned refreshed and tan.

Our favorite islands were Curacao and Aruba, both of which have a Dutch influence. Willemstad, the main city in Curacao, has a very European look and feel. There is an approved color palette, and each building in Willemstad must be painted in one of those colors. The city is also a World Heritage site. We spent our day walking around the small streets and sitting in courtyards enjoying the breeze while we did some people watching. Markus enjoyed some cold beer, too, but I decided to pass.

In Aruba, they have a wonderful shopping selection in Oranjestad, where we docked. After looking at far too much jewelry, buying some Aruba Aloe products, and eating lunch, we headed to a beautiful beach. We took the public bus there and Markus enjoyed the bath-like water that was crystal clear. I did my usual - lathered on the sunblock, got comfy in my chair under a shade hut, and fell asleep. That's relaxation! The sand was soft, the waves gentle - what could be better?

Grenada was an interesting island - we booked a tour because I was interested in visiting a spice plantation. Grenada is called the isle of spice because of all the different spices that are harvested on the island, the most popular of which is nutmeg. We learned how nutmeg is grown and then used, how cocoa is fermented and becomes the chocolate we're familiar with, and got to smell the bark of a cinnamon tree. As someone who likes to cook, this was a fascinating tour. I loved smelling everything! We saw cashew trees (I didn't know these nuts grew on trees...), eucalyptus trees, carambola (star fruit) trees, nutmeg and cocoa trees. We also saw poinsettia trees - Home Depot and Lowe's Christmas plants have nothing on the trees we saw in Grenada! Our tour also included an authentic lunch, which was delicious. Everything was homemade, including the nutmeg ice cream we had for dessert. The proprietor's mother made it that very morning, and I now have a new flavor to try here at home in my ice cream maker. Luckily, I bought some nutmeg on the island so I should be able to get the same flavor.

I won't do an island-by-island summary, but overall it was a fun, relaxing, interesting trip. I'll post some pictures in the next few days if I have time.

The day after our return, we had an ultrasound and checkup scheduled. The baby is moving around a lot these days, especially when I fly. It was moving around during the ultrasound, too, which was funny. The best move was the one the tech captured in our picture - the baby's hand is above its head like it's waving. Markus thinks it's blocking its eyes from all the sun exposure of the last week! They told us the baby now weighs 1 lb., 7 oz. I'm 24 weeks along, so we're heading out of the second trimester and into the third (already!).

That's about it from Philly - I'm watching the snow fall outside the office window and longing to see those palm trees and sunny skies again.

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! And a belated 31st birthday to Markus, who celebrated while we were on our cruise (Feb. 6). Happy Birthday!