Lovely Weather

Oh what lovely weather we have for the middle of winter! Shouldn't it be a whole lot colder outside? These last two days have just been wonderful. I wish it was like this all year! It's not too hot and not too cold, it's just perfect. Too bad it's over after today and it'll be coooooooooold again!



So I've had some productive days this week! I have finally started Arabella's baby book and scrapbooked all of her ultrasound pictures thus far. The book turned out so beautiful! I can't wait until I have more to put it in. Perhaps at some point this week I'll take some picture sof the book and postMatthew and I have started working on the room, it's coming along nicely... it should be ready to paint within a few weeks, if not sooner!



The invitations have been designed and are getting ready to go. I've got kids coming over in the next few weeks to help me put them together (along with some other parts of the shower too). I need to pick up some embellishments between now and when the kids come over to help me out. I'm thrilled I have so many younger cousins who want to work with me on the shower, not to mention Matthew's siblings. I'm so lucky to have great people!



I think I found the perfect party favors this morning, they're a little pricy but I fell in love the moment I saw them. I'm hoping I can work something out to get them because it's utterly perfect and most definatly ME! UGH! So many things to do! I'm hoping to get the showe part under wraps here ASAP so I can get the baby room together even quicker.



So has anyone else been watching the new version of American Gladiators because it's awesome! I have my whole house hooked on watching it. I think it's better than the classic version and the Gladiators are much rougher! They have one male Gladiator called Wolf who is absolutly addictive! He is my favorite part of the show!!! If you haven't seen it yet, it's worth the time to watch it!



So I've been waiting to hear the big concert announcement on Y108 all day. They are apparnetly dragging it out until 5pm today with Stony. I already saw that Carrie Underwood is coming, I'm wondering if that's the BIG ANNOUNCEMENT. She's coming next month (which is a little odd to announce so quickly to the date of the show) but who knows.



Matthew laughs at me when I say it, but I think the concert gods hate me. Most know it's unusual for me to go a few months without hitting at least one show of some kind. It seems like ages since I've been to a show. I'm starting to lose it! I miss my concerts! I say the concert gods hate me because within a two month period (Of course my last two months of pregnancy) Everyone I love is coming to the area.... Dolly Parton, Trace Adkins, Bon Jovi and Devildriver.... not to mention Drowning Pool/Saliva and a few other smaller shows I'd really like to go to! It's torture!!!!! Ah well, I've seen everyone minus Dolly on the list before so I will survive until they come back (Oh please let Dolly come back!!!!) but it still sucks!



I will be partaking in concert season though, summer is my time to shine and even though my life will be changing for the better in March, I still want to be the same person. At least I'm lucky and usually accumulate most concert tickets for free.... and pay out the rear for the ones I do buy... so it balances out somewhere along the lines! I learned my lesson last season though! I thought I'd be slick and buy the round up series of country concerts at star lake. Well, I ended up selling more than I used because I ended up with free tickets elsewhere. I won't be doing that again this year! Too much of a hassle to try and sell them at the last minute. Plus there were a few shows I'd have rather bought seats to instead of lawn. Oh well, I had to learn my lesson sometime!



I'm really looking forward to the point when I can start taking Arabella to concerts. Often the country shows at Star Lake offer free tickets to young children when mom/dad buy a ticket. Once she's old enough, I'll take her to every show! Easier than finding a baby sitter, plus it'll be a lot more fun! Once she's older, I'll probably get her seats to a few shows when I can for things she likes. There's nothing like sitting up front for a concert! It's a thrill!!!



Well time to eat and get things done! Enjoy this lovely weather while it lasts!

Whirlwind Weekend

Ah where to begin! Matthew is finally starting to feel better. There's times he's feeling good but it seems he's still a bit run down from being ill.

Yesterday, Shower preparations really got underway as we started making plans for all the things to be done. We're working on favors (I'm taking suggestions if anyone can think of anything good to give as baby shower favors), the invitations, and a few other bits and pieces. Things are really starting to come together and I'm so glad!

My friend Leeanne and I went shopping on Saturday and I bought a ton of stuff for the baby scrapbook. I've been looking for the scrapbook for quite some time and up until this weekend I couldn't find ANYTHING I liked. I hated most of the traditional baby books I found in Walmart/Joanns/Etc because they were either pink, gaudy and ugly or had way too much junk on the front to really customize and make it my own (which I love to do). Finally at Walmart I found the perfect book, though it's pink it's very me and very customizable.

I choose a pink book with butterflies and flowers. It had a lot of room to work with to really make the book stand out as a unique scrapbook so I'm quite thrilled. Over the weekend I bought a ton of paper and embellishments and really am just ready to go with the book. I'm so excited!

I've also been on the hunt for a journal. At the baby shower, I wanted to do the advice jar, which went over as a great idea but upon chatting at the shower meeting on Saturday the idea of doing it as a journal instead was much better. I could easily loose the pieces of paper from the advice jar after the shower, but a journal book would last forever! I was thrilled with the idea. I've already found embellishments for the cover, the book has been a little more difficult to find. Matthew and I went to about six different stores hunting for a book and the best I found was an art sketch book because it was one of the only BLANK covered books I could find (so I could decorate it on my own). If anyone knows a good place to find a nice blank journal, let me know.... I'm sure I'll find one somewhere. I've got time still, but as a last resort... I'll get the sketch book.

Today has been a bit crazy. After shopping for a bit, I started cleaning up the back room. It's really not that there's a LOT I need to do before Matthew can paint... it's just most of what needs done I need him to do because I can't move it! It's mostly a matter of rearranging now. I've already cleaned for the most part.

Well, back to work I go. I'm sure I'll find some more time this weekend to write.

Friday I'm in Love......

Finally, it's Friday! I thought this day would never come. Isn't it funny how the short weeks tend to feel like the longest! UGH!

Matthew is still sick. His fever finally broke but he still feels awful. He did go to work today for the first time since Monday. Not sure if he'll make it through the day. He said he still feels awful. I guess we'll see how things go. My boss was sick the week of Christmas in the same fashion. Gotta love the winter illnesses. I guess it's a really good thing I got a flu shot early in the season. Didn't have much of a choice in the matter. Perhaps I'll get them from now on because I actually enjoy the fact that I'm not sick!

Matthew and I were supposed to go out this evening with his brother and sister-in-law. At this point, I think we're unfortunately going to cancel those plans due to the fact that Matthew's still very sick. The last place he needs to be is a bar, no matter how much I really wanted to go (we were going to Saddle Ridge I think). Oh well, just not meant to be! His health is more important than any night out.

So listening to the Daddy Drag Dash this morning on Y108 was quite a hoot. I really wish I could have been there for it because it was probably hysterical to watch! They made them dress up and put on make up and sing Hannah Montana... Ah the crazy contests people come up with. That concert is tonight, Pittsburgh is going to be a disasterous mess! I can't imagine how completely INSANE it will be at Mellon Arena tonight. Glad I'm not going!

I scheduled my 3D Ultrasound yesterday. I wanted to have it done prior to the baby shower so I'll have all the pictures to display there. It's going to be on February 5th at 11am. I'm so excited! I can't wait!!! It's only a month away. I'm glad I called early, they fill up slots fast. We're going to InSight Imaging. I've heard great things about the place and it seemed to be the best price in the best location. I hope Arabella cooperates with the people and gives us a great view of what we're getting only a few weeks later.

Time sure seems to be flying. I can't believe I'm already into six months. According to my countdown timer on the website, I just crossed over 28 weeks! Can you believe it! It seems like only a month ago I was finally telling people. There's just so many things to do to get ready for Arabella's arrival. I'm hoping to get the baby's room into good shape quickly so Matthew can paint and we can really start to arrange it. I'm sure I'll want to rearrange it at least 20 times between now and then.

Matthew and I watched The Celebrity Apprentice last night on NBC. I was expecting it to be a complete bomb but surprisingly it was a little better than I thought. It started a bit slow but Gene Simmons really made the show with comments and random acts. I hope he stays on, he'll make for great TV. The preview for next week show that he apparently insults Ivaka Trump but no one knows WHAT he said. I can only imagine! Trace didn't really have a big role on the show this week but sometimes that happens. Of course, sometimes it's better to stay out of the spotlight so people don't start wanting you fired! I guess it's just time to wait until next week to see what happens. Hopefully it gets good! Sometimes it takes a week or two to get things rolling!

Well, I have to go do a few things. Happy Friday people!!!

Middle Name Announcement

I just spoke to Matthew, he's still very, very ill! I feel so helpless for him too. He takes care of me so much but I can't do much because he doesn't want me to be around him in case he's contagious! AAAAAHHHHHH! It's driving me crazy. His temperature is still high and he still hasn't ate anything. At least fluids for the most part are sitting. I'm worried about him being dehydrated.

After much deliberation, Matthew and I have decided on Arabella's middle name and that will be Celeste. It was one of the early first names we came up with but I liked it much more as a middle name. Celeste comes from the Latin origin and means Heavenly. So we have a beautiful heavenly lion. Quite perfect! I'm so thrilled!

I've been listening to Y108 all day. Tomorrow should be quite interesting with the Daddy in Drag Dash at the Robinson Mall. I wish I didn't have to work so I could go and watch the fiasco taking place. For those unfamiliar, Y108 is putting fathers in Hannah Montana drag (heels, skirt, wig, etc) to race through an obstacle course at the Robinson Mall for Hannah Montana tickets. Should be quite a sight! People are desperate for the tickets, paying hundreds of dollars for them online. Kiss gave a pair away this morning with a meet and greet with the artists to caller 10,000! I feel sorry for the person sitting in the studio answering the phone all day to get to caller 10,000. They must have done a good job though because they started at 6am and by 10am they were around caller 6,000 and something.

It makes me think of the future Matthew and I will have and the crazy trips I'll be sending him on to find random hot toys for holidays. I remember when my parents went crazy for things like Furbies and the My Little Pony dream house when I was younger. I don't know what kind of toys Arabella will be crazy for, but I'm sure at some point we'll be on the rampage to find some stupid item! At least Matthew and I are fairly resourceful and hopefully won't struggle too much. I've heard the stories from people I work with hunting down things like Transformer Masks and other hot toys from this year. I hope I don't disappoint her ever!

Speaking of Arabella, she must be on a party fix today because she's been overly active. It seems some days she' s more active than others. Today is an over active day as she's been kicking me since 6am! Her kicks are continuing to get more and more powerful. For a while I could only feel them from the inside, but Matthew and Artex have started feeling them more and more. It sometimes scares Artex if he's laying on me and she gives a good, hearty kick. Perhaps they're playing before they even meet.

Well that's about all for the day. Until later.

Friday - I thought you'd never come!

Finally Friday! What a long week, even though it seems like it was a short week.... in my land it was extremely long. Wednesday was my third ultrasound. Everything is going along fine, they just wanted to recheck the spine since Arabella was completely uncooperative on the second one to get the pictures they needed. She's getting so big already. She no longer fits in the screen of the ultrasound in one try, they have to take pictures of different parts. It was kind of neat!

This time we got a video (We didn't know for the two times before). Unfortunately they can only record on VHS so Matthew is going to make a DVD so I can upload it online for all to see. Thursday, I had another check up and the glucose test. Man was that stuff nasty to drink! The check up went fine - everything is looking good.

My next appointment is at the end of January and then they will get more frequent from every three weeks to every two then one. Time's running out! March is quickly approaching.

Work's been relatively quiet (except for yesterday). Most of our office is out for the week so it's been really lonely. I don't mind though, I've gotten a lot of random things done in the process. I had a list of random projects to keep me busy, I got most of them done. I think I'll be knocking the last few off this afternoon after we get our proposal out to Pittsburgh. Hopefully, who knows though!

Preparations are underway for our New Year's Get Together. I don't really want to call it a party because it's just really going to be mostly the same people that hang out at my house on a regular basis. We'll have fun though! The boys will probably all be trashed and I'll take lots of funny photos while they do silly things! I'll be the lonely sober one, oh well though. I never really was a big drinker! I told Matthew to buy me some goodies to make some smoothies so I'll at least having something yummy to drink all night.

I'm hoping I can make it to midnight, but it's debatable! I usually pass out somewhere around 11pm anymore but there are occasions I can make it a little later. I'm going to attempt taking a nap at some point on Monday so I can hopefully stay up for the evening. If not, oh well. I'll be well rested for Tuesday when we start tearing down Christmas decorations!

After my ultrasound on Wednesday, Matthew and I stopped at the mall (Yeah, I'm apparently nuts)! I wanted to get a few games for my DS because as much as I love Brain Age, I wanted more things to play. EB was relatively vacant on DS games. The selection had been completely wiped out but I did manage to find two games to play. I'm big on the puzzles and not so much on the action/adventure kinds of things (though I will play them). I picked up another brain game (I forget the name though) and it's fun but the one i really like is WordJong. It's a combo of Majong and scrabble where all you do is make words. I'm completely addicted! I play it for hours and don't even realize it. The game has daily puzzles and challenge modes and more. I love it!

I think in a few weeks I'll wander back down to EB and see what other games I can pick from. I'll let the stock build up again after being decimated from Christmas. What's really a bummer about going down there before though was they had a sale on used games buy 2 get 1 free. Unfortunately I couldn't find 3 used games that I would even play. Ah well, such is life.

While Matthew and I were at the mall we also stopped to see the castle bank at the ornament kiosk I wanted so badly before Christmas. We saw it a few weeks back where they do the personalized ornaments. It was a pink castle bank and of course I fell in love - unfortunately it was a little expensive so we didn't' get it. Well now that Christmas is over, they cut prices and knocked it down to $20.00. Naturally, it wasn't a hard decision for me to buy it and put Arabella's name on the front. It's simply gorgeous! I can't wait to put it in her room!

Speaking of her room, that's this month's project. I really want to get everything accomplished and ready this month before I get too far along in the 3rd trimester and can't do things. For the most part it's just rearranging. I think Matthew and I are planning on setting aside a weekend to do it together. Perhaps later in this month I'll make a long weekend (Take either Friday or a Monday) and get things underway. Most likely a Friday because at least Matthew is done earlier on Fridays.

Well it's about time to get some things accomplished for the day. If you haven't seen yet, visit Arabella's photos as my third ultrasound pictures have been posted for your viewing. Enjoy! Leave comments!