Best of 2008!

Well, here it is people. The top posts of Bio Girl (according to me... from all of 2008) This is a carefully compiled list that required me to read over old titles and be like, "yeah...that was sorta funny...". I know. The things I do for the blog. Anyway, here it is (in totally random order)! Enjoy and I will be back next year with lots of pregnancy updates, and then an actual BABY! Really looking forward to 2009...

• So first, the most important post of 2008 and maybe of my life so far...and then look at that sweet bean of a baby! (New pictures on Tuesday!!)
• One time, I got in a fight with a copy machine...
• And this other time I let some random guy call me Rachel...
• And this totally other time, I nearly fell down the stairs...
• Then we have my 100 Things post...if you haven't read this yet, you might want to check it out. It makes me laugh.
• Ah, remember when I got the Wii Fit....If only I still worked out on it...
• So when you get a flat tire...don't keep driving!
• I did some catching up on my correspondence.
• There was the time I told you all about my favorite shirt...
• Remember when I went to Chicago on that work trip and I packed the big suitcase (plus the small one and the laptop) and the coworker I had never meet brought only the carry on? Yeah. That was awkward.
• I am amazed with the number of posts about the infertility. I am not linking to many (hardly any) because I don't want to remember this year that way, but I thought this one about the blogging support was pretty good.
• Funny that I was talking about all Nick is doing with his week off. I totally forgot that I took a week off to just hang out at the house this year...didn't go as well!
• Then there was that time I went to the grocery and TRIED to have a plan and save money...I have gotten MUCH better at this now!
• Our big score from metal detecting in Florida! (worth millions!)
• OH, remember when I met the American Idols. Yeah, that was awesome.
• And to finish it off, who doesn't like pictures of Ellie in the snow??

Okay, that's it I guess. Have a great night tonight and I will talk to you in 2009!

Out of Control

So did you all notice I was sorta away from the computer during the holidays? No? I seemed to still be posting? Well, I wasn't posting AS MUCH, and I spent little to no time reading blogs (except you girls taking your pregnancy tests. I had to keep up with you!!!). You all may not have noticed I was away, but my Google Reader sure as hell did! It is OUT OF CONTROL. Seriously. I didn't realize how many blogs I read, but apparently if I decide to take a couple days off blog reading my Reader takes on a life of its own. Like 150 posts. ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY. POSTS. That I REALLY do want to read! But like, that is nearly a BOOK worth of posts!

I would sit down and knock out a good 20-30 posts, then I would run out to get stuff done. I would come back...160 posts! How do I catch up??? I don't want to just hit "mark as read" because their might be good stuff in there! I am even worse with my commenting that normal, which is hard to imagine. (Have I ever told you all how much I LOVE your comments?? LOVE LOVE LOVE. And if you are a regular commenter on my blog, I have you on my reader. I am just the absolute worst commenter ever. EVER. Please don't let it hurt your feelings. I would promise to do better, but it would be a lie...) I am trying. I am. Hopefully sometime in January I will be all caught up and actually know what is going on with you all in real time and not still be reading about what you got for Christmas!

Jealous

My work is really great with the holidays. They give us Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and the day after Christmas off every year. They also give us New Years Day, so we get what would be considered a good number of paid days off for the holidays. Of course, life is relative. Since Nick works for the University he gets off from Christmas Eve to the 5th of January. THE FIFTH OF JANUARY! When I got up this morning and he was sleeping away I was filled with jealousy. FILLED. Why do I have to WORK?? I want to spend the day laying around watching TV and eating Christmas candy!

He just picked me up from work. We were suppose to go to the grocery store. I ask if he had the list and he says, "Well, I had it...but I already went to the grocery and put everything away...so we don't really need the list now". My heart almost exploded with love. That's all it takes for me. One trip to the grocery while I am at work. I then got home and he had dinner going. Delicious mushroom and spinach pizza. The house was clean. He built a new work bench for the garage. The litter box was cleaned out....he was productive with this first day he had off that I worked! He has a list for each day....a detailed list. And I would have just eaten candy and laid on the couch watching TV...

Eating for Two...Right??

So in the past few days I have honestly eaten six Christmas Dinners. At each of the three families we did a big Christmas lunch...but then we stayed pretty late. A few hours later I got up and made a FULL second plate of food. Not to bad you say? Well, maybe I should mention that at Nick's mom's only Nick and I made the second plate (everyone else was still full) and at Nick's dad's...well...it was ONLY ME. Yes. I ate a second Christmas dinner all alone. And I loved it.

Besides the full on Christmas feasts, I have managed to put away chocolate chip pancakes (yum), a spinach and feta omelet with hash browns and fruit (healthy, right??) and then a full on country breakfast with biscuits and gravy, eggs, hash browns, bacon...the works. Right. Delicious. I also found time to go out to dinner twice and consume not only a delicious meal, but also an appetizer and a desert each time. Last night the brownie Sunday from Toni Roma's was about the size of my head...but we shared it...that's okay, right??

Anybody want to take a guess at how much weight I will be putting on this month? I am betting it is way more than the tiny two pounds I gained at the last appointment!

Anyway, totally off the subject, but here are a few cute family pic's from Christmas with my parents. As it turns out, we did them Christmas Eve so it was before the eating frenzy began...I will look back at these later and be like, "yep...that's the day it all changed...."

Do you have any idea how hard it is to get a picture of seven adults and four dogs with a camera stacked on top of presents with a timer?? It's tough!Me and Nick with my adorable parents. Yes, I have on the same shirt as the other Christmas pictures I posted. It is not the same day. My sisters and I always buy matching Christmas outfits. Seriously. Still. We match every year. It's awesome.All the kids. This is the first time we have actually taken a picture with the hand on the belly...makes it look a lot bigger!A cute one of the C family!Ellie loves opening presents!But after three days and lots and lots of turkey, she was exhausted! (notice how she is surrounded by her stuffed animals. She did that on her own...)

We somehow didn't manage to take pictures at our other family Christmas's but they were all wonderful! Hope you all had a wonderful year with lots of good food and wonderful time with family!

17 Weeks (and one day) with Belly Pics!

Well I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! We still have one more to go today with Nick's dad, but we have had a wonderful holiday so far. We just love Christmas. This will be our tenth Christmas together, our third married, and our last without a sweet little baby. Next year is going to be fun!

Anyway, to the weekly update! The baby is now starting to put on a little fat. This week marks the start of the growth of adipose tissue, so he/she is going to have lots of time to beef up! They are about four and a half inches long and weigh in at three and a half ounces. I don't remember the exact size from last week, but seems about the same. Still, I am sure now that they have fat cells they will start beefing up in no time!

I still feel wonderful. In a lot of ways I feel better than before I was pregnant. I am no longer dealing with my endo issues, and I honestly just love every second of this pregnancy. I am sure it helps that I have not been sick at all! I am pretty sure I felt the baby move yesterday. What a great Christmas present! I am not totally positive it was the baby seeing as how I have never felt a baby move before, but I am thinking this was it...I guess that's about it for this week. We are loving the holidays and loving the baby! Here are some belly pics from yesterday!

Shirt down...I am thinking my legs look pretty good in this pic!Shirt up. I think I look smaller here, but my guess is it is because I am wearing the sweater... I guess we will see next week!

Merry Christmas!

I hope you are all having a wonderful holiday with your families and loved ones. We are having one of the best Christmas's ever! I will be back to regular posting with a delayed 17 Week update tomorrow or Saturday. Merry Christmas!

So I Never Really Think of Nick as Tall..

But this picture kinda makes him look like a giant! (or as he called himself after seeing it, a sasquatch)

My Pa is a pretty little guy, but still...Here is one of just our family with my grandparents. There is a tree behind Nick...And then one of all the cousins.

We had a perfect family Christmas with everyone. It goes way to long between visits with all my cousins these days, and I am so glad we hold on to the big family Christmas dinner! By next Christmas we will have two great grandchildren there. How exciting!

Things that are NOT the Baby Moving

I so want to feel the baby move. I wouldn't say I am obsessed with it, but I sorta think about it all the time and am officially turning anything that comes in contact with my my abdomen as a possible baby movement. That's not obsessed, right? Anyway, here is a list of things that it turns out are NOT the baby moving...just for you other moms-to-be out there so you don't get confused...

• While sitting at work I felt a very tiny thump. I got so excited! This was IT! BABY MOVING!! I stayed perfectly still and THERE IT WAS AGAIN! ...and again...and again...very regular. Thump, thump, thump, thump...damn. It's my pulse.
• I read that it sorta feels like little bubbles popping. I am watching TV and feel something along those lines. YES. THERE IT IS! BAAAAABY! I sit perfectly still to feel it again and...GRRRROOOOOWWWWWLLLLLL....stomach lets out and unnatural growl. damn. I am just hungry.
• I wake up from a deep sleep in the middle of the night POSITIVE the baby just moved and woke me up! It is a super strong baby and the first move was POWERFUL!! I look down to see my cat laying against my stomach stretching. damn. He seems annoyed as I push him to the ground...

So that's it I think. My educational list of things that are NOT the baby. Apparently you feel the baby between 16-20 weeks, so this might be a LONG wait!

More Random Holiday Events

In the past week I have been to not one, but TWO separate Christmas caroling events. That's right. I am full on into the Christmas spirit. Tuesday night we went downtown to see the Kentucky Christmas Chorus preform. It is a tradition with Nick's family and we always love it! Last night I went to see my sweet little godson preform in his daycare's Christmas pageant. He did great! He might have panicked a little at the end, but whatever, he was a stellar part of the musical ensemble (ps. he is three). They also had the little girls from the daycare do this tap routine...it. was. awesome. If baby C turns out to be a girl she will be in tap FOR SURE! I am sure she will also inherit my rhythm and will be the little girl with glasses who just decided to do her own thing up there...whatever. I thought the little girl with glasses and no rhythm was the STAR!

I did learn from some random pregnancy update that the baby is now sensitive to light, sound and pressure on my abdomen. I thought that was pretty awesome seeing as how it is Christmas (his/her mama and papa's FAVORITE time of year!) and some of the first things they will hear is Christmas music! That and a lot of their mama talking...just talking and talking and talking. Because it's what I do. Oh and the TV. I bet they are hearing a lot of that too...

Anyway, the Christmas spirit is rolling around here. It is pouring down rain and I really wish it was snow, but you can't win them all. I am off work (thank GOD) and am off to finish up Christmas shopping...which means I need to fill Nick stocking and pick him up a couple more small things. I have no idea what they are going to be, but I am sure I can come up with something! Later tonight we have my work Christmas party which includes dinner out at Outback (yum) and then bowling. I gotta tell you that there are six people who work in my lab, and two of them bowl ALL THE TIME. Like they are on leagues and what not. I am totally screwed...

16 Weeks with Belly Pics!

16 Weeks! I had to go back to last weeks post to make SURE I was not jumping a week because I am just a little shocked that it has already been SIXTEEN WEEKS! I am sure time will slow down after the holidays, but this pregnancy thing is just moving right along!

Well, all my pregnancy emails decided to stop giving me examples of what a baby is the size of this week...I am not sure if they are gone forever, but I hope not. What it did give me this week is that the baby is about four and a half inches long (from head to butt) and weighs in at nearly three ounces. Much more impressive than a coffee bean! The big thing all sites talked about today was that I will feel the baby move sometime in the next few weeks. This seems shocking to me, but I can't wait! Besides that, the little guy (or girl) has fingernails now...and that's about it for the baby changes!

As for me, I still great. I am constantly amazed at how well this pregnancy is agreeing with me. I can honestly say that I love being pregnant so far. I am sure it will get annoying when I get huge, but for now, I LOVE it! I am having a little swelling in my hands and feet, so I am trying to drink lots of water. It isn't really that bad, but I can't wear my wedding rings all the time any longer. Now they go on for special occasions!

So, that's about it. 16 weeks...which is sorta four months. But by that math then the 40 week pregnancy lasts 10 months. Whatever, I am TOTALLY four months! Here are the belly pics!

Shirt down. I think I look smaller....

but then shirt up, not so much!

Wait, it's DECEMBER 16TH!?!

Is Christmas sneaking up on anybody else? I know it shouldn't be on me seeing as how I confessed to having my tree up like a week before Thanksgiving, but still...December 16th...DECEMBER 16TH!! I don't have my Christmas cards out, and I honestly haven't found any I like...and even more honestly I have kinda given up the hunt and decided everyone will just get super cute BABY Christmas cards next year so I have earned a year off...lame I know.

I have had one gift to buy for the past three weeks. I still have one gift to buy (actually now I have two because I thought of someone else...). I have no idea why I don't just go get it, but I feel as if I have a world of time on my hands! I was looking at the calender at work and realized this weekend I have family Christmas with my grandparents and I work, and then CHRISTMAS is on Thursday! I have a plan in my head for the holidays, I just can't believe it is already time to put this plan into action!

Hope you all are on top of your holidays a little better than we are. I am now off to work. We got snow and ice last night, which is all sorts of beautiful, but really makes me wish I was a teacher. Then maybe I could spend the day addressing Christmas cards and doing some holiday baking!

Christmas Party!

You know what is awesome at a Christmas party? Christmas Win Lose or Draw. That's right. I bet you never would have guessed it. It. Was. Awesome. So awesome in fact, when we ran out of the Christmas Movies and Carols category, we decided to just go ahead and make up our own things to draw and throw them in the bowl. This will allow the enjoyable game to last from nine thirty to...twelve forty five. THAT'S RIGHT. We seriously played Win Lose or Draw until 12:45. It helps when your sister is a teacher and provides an awesome drawing board like this...

It also doesn't hurt to have a team that realizes THIS is the Christmas movie classic...Gremlins (for the record, it's a Mogwai plus pizza after midnight = GREMLIN) Also...I will no longer be allowing my picture to be taken from below. Not a good angle...

Just so you know, this is how you draw Deck the Halls...

Anyway, the party was awesome. Seriously awesome. The food was great, and we had a wonderful time with everyone. The Christmas gift game was ridiculously fun, and totally free! Nick brought a photo album full of pictures of himself, and I brought the Indiana Jones trilogy in full screen (we want to get it in wide screen...)

We came home with a watch with changeable bands and wine bottle corks. I am not sure Nick was thrilled with the wine bottle stoppers, but I think they are pretty cute! (also will avoid pictures taken from the ground of me sitting...clearly also not flattering...)

Now to random party pics. Here is me and Nick (standing up and looking pretty cute!)

Me and sweet Wesley. He was wonderful all night and had a blast with Nick!

Boo and Chris, who were great hosts!

Missy and Ashley. Missy made the best cupcakes ever!

The Bee family

Ryan and Arielle

Rhi and Andy (who pulled off a Christmas miracle and got off work at the last minute!)

We had Don as well, but I guess he wasn't photographed...oops. We were missing some key people due to illness, but the group that made it had a great time. What a perfect way to kick off the holidays!

Random Bullets

I can't seem to get my mind around any specific topic to post about. As soon as I think I have an idea, I write two sentences and realize that about covers it...I am blaming it on one hell of a work week. Anyway, here are a few points that weren't important enough to be actual posts...

• The Trailblazer is back and good as new! My dad has a guy that does body work, so we got it done really cheap. Can't beat that!
• Nick has today off to get rid of some overtime. I have no idea how he manages to go to work on my Fridays off...I just want to curl back up into bed! It looks so nice...
• I made meatballs the other night, then as soon as I took them out of the oven I had to throw them all away (then get them out of the house because, oh my GAWD the smell...). I am pretty sure the meat was bad, but Nick said they smelled fine to him...but looked a little funny. I am not sure how anybody could miss the nasty nasty smell coming from the kitchen. We had a delicious salad instead.
• I have a Christmas party to go to tomorrow and I need to bring a gift that comes from my house (so I spend no money) that I no longer want, but someone else might enjoy. These are the rules. I think it is awesome, and yet I have NO IDEA what to bring...clock is ticking.
• Nick and I are going to see "The Day the Earth Stood Still" tonight. I am really excited and hope it doesn't suck...
• The new belly pic is up!

Okay, gotta get to work (oh how the bed is calling to me) so that's all for now! Hope you all have a great Friday!

15 Weeks

Fifteen weeks...honestly this last week has flown by. My work is out of control busy, and I was sitting at my desk and realized, "Hey! It's THURSDAY! I am another week pregnant!" So yeah...time is moving. I haven't taken the belly shot for this week yet, but we are going to start taking them weekly (because man, did you SEE my picture last week?? The growth rate is surprising...), so I will add it to the belly shot post either tonight or tomorrow!

So the sweet baby is now four and a half inches from head to butt (they call it crown to rump, but I like head to butt better...) and is the size of a beefsteak tomato. I don't actually know what a beefsteak tomato is, but it is the example given to me by Amalah. The baby is totally practicing breathing these days with the amniotic fluid, and it sensitive to light and pressure on my abdomen. Weighing in at a mighty 1.75 oz, he/she still steadily growing into a person!

As for me, I am great. My only complaint is that I have lower back pain that feels like a pinched nerve. I am thinking it might my sciatic nerve being aggravated. The doc said to just lay on a heating pad and take Tylenol. The Tylenol doesn't do crap, but the heating pad is pure magic. The pain is annoying, but not that big of a deal. All in all I feel wonderful and can't believe I am already 15 weeks!

Bad Dreams

I have been having terrible dreams lately. TERRIBLE DREAMS. Those dreams that you totally think are really happening, and then a police officer knocks on your door and tells you your husband died in a car crash and you FREAK OUT, and then you wake up. OR, those dreams where YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE for leaving the gate open and you come home to find that your sweet little perfect dog has been hit by a car and died and it is ALL YOUR FAULT because you messed up and you FREAK OUT, and then you wake up. Yeah, those kinda bad dreams.

Anybody else had bad dreams like that when they are pregnant? (My best friend Charing said she had them about the war when she was pregnant, which I can also see being terrifying and I hope I don't add that to the list of horror dreams.) I can see why it is happening. My mind is terrified of losing Nick and being alone, or my mind is terrified I will totally screw something up with the baby, and it will, you know, be my fault that something terrible happens. It is my fears manifesting into my dreams, but damn they are horrifying. The wake up shaking kind of terrifying. I am really hoping it isn't something that lasts, but I have had one every couple of nights for the last couple of weeks. They never get better, and I never think while it is happening, "Hey, is this one of those dreams again??" I just FREAK OUT. So yeah, I am having bad dreams.

Bad Start to a Good Morning

Nick and I had no time sensitive commitments this weekend. Actually, I didn't even work Friday (why didn't I post? um...well my DVR was 99% full and I made a serious commitment to myself to take care of that problem. By the end of the day it was 37%! When I commit, I commit!) so we really had no serious early morning time commitments for the past THREE days. So the, it makes the most since that this morning, when we have our doctors appointment and both need to be out the door by 8:30 (we usually leave at 9 and 9:20), that Ellie would think it was a WONDERFUL idea to roll in dog poop in the back yard. She has done this like four times in her life, and she picked TODAY as a good time. I actually saw it before it happened...she was to excited about some smell. I tried to yell for her, but I couldn't get there in time. There was SNOW and I had no shoes on! She was on her back and I knew it was DOOM.

She came in smelling like, well dog crap, so before either Nick or I could shower (we only have one...oh our little house) we had to give her a bath. Then I jumped in the shower while Nick blow dried her hair (she has this really full hair and she gets so cold in the winter if she is wet...and she is really spoiled) and somehow, miracle of all miracles, we still managed to leave the house on time!

So, the doctor! Do you ever really look forward to something, then its like nothing? That was kinda this appointment. We spend a good 40 minutes waiting to see the doc for about two minutes. It was an exciting two minutes I guess... I have gained two pounds which they said "only" about but I thought was pretty good! They said I don't have to sleep on my side like my pregnancy book said, or at least not yet. When he did the exam he said I was really growing, but you all can see that from the 14 week picture. We got to hear the heart beat, which was beautiful. We could also hear the baby moving around in there! He said in the next 3-4 weeks I will start to feel the movement! (creepy and exciting). We also found out that our next appointment (January 6th) we will get the big ultrasound! We aren't finding out what it is, but if we were, this would be that ultrasound. It is really detailed and they said we could bring a DVD to burn it on so we can show everyone! So exciting!

So that's it. A really annoying start to the morning what with the dog crap and everything, but a pretty great end what with the sweet little heart beat and the promise of an ultrasound in four weeks!

Belly Shots

Okay, so here is the promised post of all the belly shots lined up. By the end of the pregnancy this is going to be a seriously long post! I will add a link to the side bar in the about "A Little More About Me" section (titled something catchy like "Belly Shots") and then whenever we take a new picture, I will just add it to this post so you all can see the change!

5 Weeks (turned the wrong way...oh well)6 weeks8 weeks10 Weeks12 Weeks13 Weeks (Thanksgiving Day!)14 Weeks15 weeks16 weeks17 Weeks (Christmas Day!)18 Weeks (New Years Eve!)19 weeks20 weeks21 Weeks22 weeks23 Weeks24 Weeks25 Weeks26 Weeks27 Weeks28 Week

29Weeks

30 Weeks31 Weeks32 Weeks33 Weeks34 Weeks

35 Weeks