insanely busy weekend!!

wow! i must say i'm still amazed at all the stuff i (we) have done this weekend!

friday night, lee and i went to rocky mount for a fun-filled night with mary-kathryn & lucy (oh yeah, and steph & kevin!)... we were sorta celebrating thanksgiving with them... since stephanie's baby is due sometime not-so-long after thanksgiving, we took this opportunity to spend time with them...because we won't actually see them on THE turkey day! :)

...did i mention that we played with the girls AFTER my long, crazy, busy day at work? ...mmm yeah... so when i got home i was EXHAUSTED... and went straight to bed

only to be woken up (well, on my own) at 6:30am saturday with the worst headache i've ever had... followed by morning sickness...REALLY?! 17-almost-18 weeks and i am STILL having intermittent morning sickness... no thanks.

so, saturday it took me until about lunch to feel semi-normal (headache wise... the morning sickness was long gone)... after work, i had to run a few errands, then drove to middlesex to celebrate lee's uncle greg's SUPRISE 50th birthday party! what fun!! i just LOVE suprise parties!!

it was so nice to see everyone there... even though lee had to work, i just love hanging out with his family! :) good folks! and of course, mary kathryn & lucy were ready for "round 2" with aunt hannah! :-D [sigh...] yeah, they REALLY had to twist my arm to play!! hehe

and after i left there, i came home to clean out my closet!! wow.... haha... i'd been attempting to do this for a few weeks...

1-because it was just time to do it anyway (changing of the seasons--i try to do it then!)

2-because i would get so frustrated in the morning looking at a closet full of clothes that don't fit*...mainly the pants, etc... so, i'd been wanting to put them in storage containers & store them upstairs

*...hopefully, once babyhop has arrived, i can somehow get to pre-preggo weight and then go upstairs and go "shopping" with clothes i already own! woo hoo... well, that's the plan anyway!

so, its nice and tidy now, full of clothes that i can wear & are in-season... and i even have a spot for my maternity clothes now! :)

and today (sunday), i went to church and was a greeter! how fun! i got to speak to everyone as they came in and hand them a bulletin! then i headed off (ahem... i took the scenic route :) courtesy of baby-brain...yeah, i got lost! lol... i brushed it off, you know, i'm new here...i've only lived here for 23 years!) for a last minute brunch at winston's with dad, herman, tori & her son ashton, darien & her daughter sienna... it was DE-LISH! i enjoyed some of their made-from-scratch blueberry muffins... and a pizza with roma tomatoes and fresh basil... ahhh!!! and we all split a few scoops of their made-from-scratch ice cream!! wow!

...so, i came by the house for a lickety-split minute, to get the gift i left at home & re-read the invitation to make sure i was going to the right church (yeah, baby brain! a-GAIN!) for my cousin, meredith's baby shower! (you saw a picture of her here, in my 50th anniversary party post)... she's got a little girl (gracyn) due january 20th!

then home to clean up (err... ok, just vacuum!) before daniel & sarah come over tonite!...

shew! one thing's for sure... i've been sleepin' like a LOG at night!! its good to stay busy! :) ...i guess i'm just gettin' ready for the HOLIDAY SEASON!!!! aahhhhh!!

a house not-so-divided

i was born a wolfpack fan... literally. however, words cannot express my disappointment in the boys in red over the past few years. i decided to take the opportunity to join my husband in cheering for the boys in blue... ONLY when they are NOT playing nc state... so, this means when wolfpack plays unc, you WILL see my little "house divided" flag out front, and i WILL be wearing RED!

i'm a firm believer in rooting for your alma mater... and nc state is just that... my alma mater...

i will always pull for nc state...ahem, no matter if they somehow find ways to lose games they're not even playing...

don't get me wrong, i'm not a huge sports fan to begin with, but its nice to pull for a winning* team! ...and its been out in the open for a few years now what a crush i have on roy williams :) (yes, my husband is PERFECTLY ok with this!)

*a team that has won a national title within the last THIRTY years.

slappin' da bass

two of lee's favorite things... the "i love you, man" movie... and umphrey's mcgee.

another babyhopdoc appointment...

today was yet another prenatal appointment...

this one for a "penta screen" where they see if the baby has a higher risk for chromosomal abnormalities... test to be done with my drawn blood...

the usual occurred...

blood pressure...

finger prick...

weight check... (STILL 1/2 pound UNDER pre-preggo weight...whew!)

asked a boatload of questions... and the nurse was "shocked" to know that i'd not had "fetal movement" yet... hmph... "are you SUUUUURE you haven't felt the baby move?" [as she described to me what it would've/will felt/feel like]...

...i panicked for a minute... the nurse escorted me to my room... and i wondered and questioned and pondered...

until the doctor came in and asked me the same fetal movement question...to which i replied with another "no..."

she said "good!... you shouldn't feel it by now... since its your first baby, when a woman says she felt it REALLY early on her first baby we just smile and nod & mark "no" on her chart"...BAHAHAHA!! i thought it was funny...and it IMMEDIATELY made me feel better...

so, she whipped out the heartbeat monitort... this is ALWAYS exciting! :) babyhop is still 150 on the dot!...but it was "interrupted" by a different loud sound in the fetal heart rate monitor-thingy!...

the doctor said "do you hear that?"

of course i did!!

she said "that's the baby kicking!" ...and no sooner than she said that babyhop did it again!

...and again

...and again!!

she said "this is a very active baby!"

HOW EXCITING! :-D i was grinnin' like a possum!

she finished up, and wanted to make my "anatomy screening" for 3 weeks...and i nicely reminded her that my birthday was in 2 weeks....[smiling, and girlishly blinking my eyes, silently BEGGING her to make my appointment for then]

...she flipped through my chart (i'm assuming to see if i was lying! haha) and said... "hmm, ok, 2 weeks it is!"

so, november 18th we FINALLY find out if we have a babyhop or a babyhop

don't forget to cast your vote... because it won't be long now!! :-D

thanks, aunt jasmine!

a sweet friend, jasmine who moved to georgia earlier this year (i miss her terribly, by the way) sent me the sweetest gift... it's a mom-to-be christmas ornament!

jasmine is a christmas decoration fanatic... and i give her that title since she had a christmas tree up BEFORE halloween was over! haha

but this thoughtful ornament will properly document my "pregnant christmas"...since next year will be BABY'S FIRST CHRISTMAS! (oh my word!)

this little ornament is a pregnant lady with a jar of pickles in her left hand, and a bucket of ice cream in her right hand!
the charm above her head says "mom-to-be angel" on one side...

and "heavenly license to crave" on the other! :) (with the year on the bottom--duh!)

i am sooo excited about this gift! after a recent trip to a christmas show, i kept seeing all of the "baby's first christmas stuff" but had tried to figure out how to properly document THIS christmas... but, "hannah & lee's last christmas" didn't seem quite right (for obvious reasons... and "pregnant christmas" didn't either... but who knew! jasmine hit the nail on the head!!

thank you sooooo much "soon-to-be AUNT" jasmine! :) you just might motivate mamahop to get her christmas tree up a little early this year...ha ha!! we miss you!!

me & babyhop can't wait to see you...and yes, of course you have permission to rub the bump...ahem*

*beware--bump rubbing is CONTAGIOUS...COUGH COUGH

love.

i love them. i love this picture. and i love that nershi is laying with his head on a pillow! :) and that's all i have to say.

cravings!

lately mamahop has been hungry!!!

some of the cravings have changed... some of the have morphed!

still craving chili...

just this week i had the urge for bbq... and i got THE WORKS!! lol... a sandwich w/ slaw, beans, brunswick stew (loaded up with texas pete!*), & hushpuppies!

...don't worry, i didn't eat ALL of that... i wanted a few bites of everything and lee finished it up for me :)

*still diggin' the spicy stuff... texas pete, wasabi, peppers... you name it! i went with dad today to trader joe's (a new one just opened up in the big city!) and found a california sushi roll (cooked!) and had that for supper tonite and used almost the WHOLE pack of wasabi! (i usually use about a pea-sized spot!)

the new craving?? i've had the urge for caramel sauce on top of vanilla ice cream!! (this one is definitely a pregnancy thing... i'm not normally a caramel topping fan...). my sweet husband has made a trip or two to mcdonald's to get me a sundae w/ caramel... but i got some GOOD* vanilla ice cream & smuckers caramel at the grocery store this week... ahhhhh! pure bliss!

*that's correct--mcdonalds doesn't qualify as GOOD vanilla ice cream...in fact, its not even ice cream.

and today... ONLY today... i had a moment of weakness... after dad and i left trader joe's and i could NOT resist the urge for a jersey mike's sub... in fact, it was all i could do to NOT order the "party sized" one... you know the SIX FOOT! hahah

...i asked them to heat the meat, since deli meat is on my list of no-no's... but lemme tell ya, it was the BEST sandwich i have EVER eaten! i devoured it in 4.3 seconds... dad sat down and started eating his sandwich and said "wow, that was quick!"

so here's my shout-out to the jersey mike's #8 on wheat... it will be an honorary member of my christmas list this year...

halloween!!!

last night, our neighborhood threw a block party/covered dish thing-a-ma-bob for the residents and their friends and family...

lee joined us when he got off work, but michael & kimberlee were there with his kids, dylan & haley. michael's sisters laura and sarah joined us sorta last minute--the more the merrier!!

tons of people, LOADS of food, cute little costumes, and meeting some neighbors i hadn't met yet...

in a nutshell? FUN!!

they started at 2pm, but we weren't able to join in until 4 or so... then we all picked up our dishes we brought and headed back to the house for the trick or treaters!!!

i lost count, but i think we had about a billion of them... haha

it was a BEAUTIFUL night, weather-wise, so we all just hung out on the front porch and enjoyed all of our trick-or-treaters...

...and we took a few silly pictures...

...clearly, you can see here that we are deeply in love. ;)

our friends, nate & erin took their little boy trick or treating...i was particularly excited when they came by, becuase their baby was due in april of LAST year, which means, their sweet little boy, jonah is EXACTLY the same age that babyhop will be NEXT halloween...WOW!!

(please ignore the terrible pic of me & just look at cute little jonah & how excited lee is about NEXT halloween!)

before michael & kimberlee left, we had to get a "bump" group shot!!

once i gave out of candy, i cut the lights off and lee and i hopped over to our neighbors house (wes & pj)... we enjoyed seeing everyone over there & they still had some candy left for a few more trick or treaters! :)

wes's mom made hot dogs & hamburgers and there was lots of stuff to munch on over there (and candy!)

nershi hung out at grandpa's and he (grandpa) filled me in on all the fun they had last night, just running around in the yard, chewing on a bone, treats galore, & playtime! ...when nershi got home, he was almost as zonked out as we were!!

it was a near-perfect halloween... gorgeous weather, fun party, loads of trick or treaters, hanging out with family & friends.... AND AN EXTRA HOUR OF SLEEP THE NEXT DAY?!! whaaaaat?!

ps... thanks, michael for letting me steal your pictures off of facebook :)

my poor sofa cushions...

so i know i've mentioned to you before nershi's sometimes cat-like personality...

but, in an effort to conserve my sofa (if there is such a thing), i put the back cushions upstairs in a closet so they could "rest" from my perching dog.

i got nice decorative pillows that i can fluff up, but aren't sturdy enough to "hold up" king nershi...

but when all the girls were coming over yesterday, i decided to pull the cushions out & use them again, since the other pillows might be for some of the girls sitting on the floor...

well, its now friday, the girls are gone... the cushions are still on the sofa... and king nershi has resumed his throne... with the bone leftover from last night...

please notice how the cushion on the left (in the side of the picture) hasn't been perched upon yet... and how nice and straight it is! haha

dear kiekie,

thank you so much for the beautiful car seat blanket that you made me!

i can't wait to use it... its so soft & snuggly! maybe it will still be like that when i'm born--since mommy is constantly rubbing it on her face and hands...

and wouldn't you know it, its the perfect size for... well, a CAR SEAT!

my brother, nershi wanted to show mommy how cute i would be all bundled up inside of it...

then mommy said, "no, silly! babyhop will be on his back when he's in the car seat... you gotta roll over!"

there we go! that's more like it!! i sure do hope i'm as cute as my fur-brother when i get to use my car seat blanket.

thanks again! i love you.

love,

babyhop