Georgie's first Christmas

We woke up... to a winter wonderland Christmas! :)

Me & Georgie woke up at 7:00 a.m. and tidy'ed up the downstairs in preperation for the camcorder :). I did the dishes. I did a load of laundry and cleared off the coffee tables. I then did the most important thing of the day, I snuck out to my trunk, got the 6 pack of Smirnoff Ice.. and prepared Dave's stocking. :) :) I iced my husband on Christmas Day in his stocking. I've been thinking of this since this summer! :) :) Finally the day arrived.  So Dave came downstairs aroun 8:00ish with the dogs. We fed them and walked them! Then, we did the traditional Nash Christmas  and opend up stockings first! Muhauauau!

Dave and I walked Bert Christmas morning and made tea & hot chocolate

Santa came

Christmas Story on!

Bert & Ernie all bundled up from their snowy walk this morning

Bert, Ernie, and me :)

Dave said he couldn't have alcohol on Christmas morning so he wouldn't complete the ICING ritual. So he didn't 'take it down'... instead he said "let's ICE Brandon (his brother)". I wasn't about to ruin Christmas morning my making Dave, man up, but it was hilarious nonetheless.

So we opened our presents... Dave and I had a lovely Christmas morning with the dogs and videotaped the whole thing to show Georgie down the road. :) Our lil babe got some goodies too! Georgie got, from us, a winter coat(size 9-12 mo), a 3-pk Dwell Studio flannel receiving blanket set, a Sassy teething ring, a Thanksgiving outfit (6-9mo), 2 fleece throws for the stroller, 2 thanksgiving bibs, 1 halloween bib, and some DVDs from us (Beauty & the Beast, UP!, Wall-E,... and the Hangover! LOL). Georgie also got a Santa-style winter hat! So soft. I bought Dave and Georgie matching Bears tee shirts! I also bought Georgie a blackhawks tee shirt!  Georgie also got a 3 piece lattice set as well.. probably going to be his/her going home outfit. We'll see! :)

Here's Georgie's  spread of presents from the whole holiday! Spoiled. Rotten. LOL.

• My cousin, Monika's son, Ryan got Georgie 2 outfits (0-3 months, and 3-6 months). :)
• Grandma & Grandpa Nash got Georgie a stuffed kitty with a $25 gift card to Babies'R'Us, $25 gc to Toys'R'Us, $25 gc to Build-a-Bear, and $25 gc to Pottery Barn Kids! 
• Stacy/Jerry/Mason got me and Georgie a $75 gc to BabiesRUs.
• Brandon got us a $50 gc to Kohl's.. we'll def buy Georgie stuff with it as he/she needs it!
• My goddaughter, Emalee got me and Georgie a $50 gc to BabiesRUs...
• and my boss got me a $50AMEX gc.. so that goes into Georgie's piggy bank as well for future diapers/nursery bedroom needs!
• In Dave's Santa-grab-bag at Outback someone got us a $10gc to Jewel and Baby's First christmas bib!
• Dave's uncle got him a fatherhood/caveman 1st year of fatherhood book to read!

We wento Dave's parents house for their traditional Christmas morning. Eggs Benedict and exchanging of gifts. It was nice! I brought waffles and sausage links to mix it up for the first time in 5 years... I don't like Eggs Benedict but I also have the taste buds of a 5 yr old. We were at their house from 9:15-12:15 then we had to go home and get ready for round 3 of Christmas. Great Uncle Jim's house at 2:00 for prime rib!

Nash Christmas Tree

Dave and our dogs in his dad's green chair

Me in front of the tree! 21 weeks on Christmas!

Me & my boys

Brandon & dave... after Brandon got ICED

Dave's family does Prime Rib, twice baked potato shells, a side salad, & dinner rolls. It's their tradition. I ate like almost all rolls.. lol. I like Prime Rib but I'm not much of a meat eater so I had a few bites. LOL.  Dave had plenty ate mine and his huge piece too. :) :) We then played a game with Claire & Emily & Bradley.. LIFE! That last liked over an hour!  Then, we opened presents. The funniest thing was that Bert and Ernie came with... and Bert brought along his GAS PROBLEM! lol. I think it was from the Snausages treat he got from Grandma Nash! :P It was soooooooo stinky all day long at Great Uncle Jim's house. Next year, we'll leave Bert behind... and probably Ernie too since we'll have Georgie! lol. Here are some pix from Christmas at the Nash's!

Dave & Bert in front of the Hamilton Christmas tree

Ernie & Linda

Dave, Brad, Emily, and Claire playing THE GAME OF LIFE

Bert looking to me before opening up presents

Linda, Zoey, and Aunt Janice

Ted

Kirk, Dee, and Theresa... with the 2011 Family Calendar

Emily and her mom, Lynn

Brad

Ernie, Bert, and Zoey the mini schnauzers

Bert & Ernie loving their new milkbone toys

So I spent all day Sunday getting things organized and tidying up the boxes/tissue paper/gift bags from the Christmas holiday... I went to Nordstrom Rack as I had a $50 GROUPON that had to be used by December 31st 2010. Nothing I looked at fit and I didn't know Dave's shirt size! :( I could have bought some shoes or jewelry but I didn't really need anything. So I bought Georgie some things. I bought Georgie a pj set, and then (2) 4 piece (bib, pants, onesie, hat) sets! I also bought Georgie some Sassy stuff like a 4pk of books for 0-3 months, 1 vibrating car seat clip toy, and another cute toy! :) I was in the shopping mode! So Georgie's closet is getting full already!

On a side note, I boxed up all my clothes so my bedroom is now decluttered. I have to sell our current office/spare bedroom set now on Craigslist as the crib & dresser should be coming in the next couple of months. We're getting there!!

Georgie's first Christmas Eve

So today Georgie and I woke up and started to pack up for Christmas Eve. First off... it was snowing! Second off, I felt very rested and did not want to wake up this morning! Yesterday evening, I went to my chiropractor appointment at 5:15 p.m. I got adjusted, had the traction table therapy.. AND GOT A MASSAGE! 30 minutes! My back was really really sore all day yesterday so it was EXACTLY WHAT THE DR. ORDERED! The massage was very very painful but after she worked my right side enough it loosened up. Same thing happened on my left side, of my back! It was tight and hurt to massage but then loosened up. I feel so much better! Thank GOD for Dr. Barbian and loosening me up JUST IN TIME for the Christmas weekend!

I made sure to grab my camera and camcorder, a last minute gift for the Reids, some spreads for tonight, and a pair of pants to change into after I got through with work. We headed to work! Everyone at work was very chit-chatty and excited about Christmas Eve day. We talked about the weekend, holiday plans. :) Here are some pix of the snow coming down from work... looks like it'll be a white Christmas... for Georgie and the rest of his baby/toddler friends out there! :) :) My boss got me a card and a $50 AMEX gift card. :) woo hoo!

Snowing on Christmas Eve 2010, at work.. looks like it'll be a white Christmas after all

Georgie and I went to Inverness, to visit Elizabeth & pick up Christmas Cookies, for The Nash celebration tomorrow at Great Uncle Jim's house. Here's what they look like. Elizabeth does a fantastic job with cookies! I recommend her for any and all occasions :) Here are her cookies:

Dave had to work at Outback on Christmas Eve since he is taking NYE and New Year's off since we are going to Orlando to visit Josh/Stacie and lil Zack for a babymoon/celebration so he had to work. So I left immediately from work and picked up the cookies, ran to the store real quick, and made it over to my parents' house to help organize and get ready for the evening which starts at 5:00 p.m. My brother came around 3:15 p.m... alone :( my nephew, Mason was sick with a temperature so Stacy stayed home to take care of him. So the Reid Christmas Eve was 2 1/2 people down.  :( Oh well. So we had the usual Polish Catholic christmas... 

bread basket, gefelta-fish (sp?), shrimp, potato salad, herring as our cold course... then for our hot course it was bortsch(sp?), with hot salmon, mushroom pastachicki(sp?), and my mom made me meat pastachiki(sp?), and she made mushroom/saurkraut pieroggi, and my mom made me meat pieroggi! yum! I was really hungry. LOL. My mom made cheese cake for dessert and she also picked up some poppy seed cake and other patries from the bakery. It was very yummy. I made sure to take lots of video. After dinner, we opened some presents. Jerry/Stacy got 5 yr old Ryan some legos! He loved them and was busy building away and being creative. Then, he opened up the present we got him... a bath-time hot wheels tower/race set. He had the cutest reaction ever! I'm going to try and upload some videos of Ryan opening up presents! He's a cutie pie.

Ryan opening up a gift from Jerry/Stacy

"Legos!!!" ~Ryan

He loved it!

Ryan helped open up one of Mason's gift, in Mason's absence.

Ryan opening up a gift from me & Dave!

Ryan was so excited to get the Hot Wheels tub toy/ race track!

My brother opened up the quilt for Mason (in his absence). I hope they liked it. It turned out great! :) :) No one in the Reid family quilts, and I think it's a really special heirloom to have. i don't know about Mason's maternal side and if they have quilters... so I had to make him a quilt. I paid someone to do the quilting part and the binding part as I'm still getting used to quilting. I also paid someone ot do the embroider of Mason's name and his birth stats. I don't know how to do those. So the crib quilt looked really quite professional! lol! My grandma, Frances used to crochet so I think it'd be nice to have some sort of family heirloom in the family. :) I'll make my kids quilts as well. :) :)

Here are some pix of Mason's quilt and other pix from our Christmas Eve!

Back of Mason's water quilt

Waves quilting

Front of quilt

Front of quilt closeup

Quilt!

Quilt I made for Mason (I paid someone to do the quilting and embroidery)

Chewy opening up his gifts!

My Dad & Mom opening up their gifts

R&R and our babymoon

On Wednesday, I had my chiropractor appointment at 5:15 p.m.. Dr. B is fantastic at adjustments.. and I love the traction table. It really does help loosen up the stress in my back. I then had a massage. :) A girl can get used to this. Amen. Thank god for week 5 of my maternity chiropractic therapy.

Dave left on Wednesday for Orlando to have some fun with Josh! They're going to probably watch some bowl games and go golfing! I'm joining in the fun late on Thursday, when I fly, solo, mind you.. to Orlando. I'm bringing Josh & Stacie Lou Malnati's pizza which I'm picking up on my lunch break before I head to Midway after work. I love my dad! He's dropping me off and picking me up at Midway. This should be interesting though.. flying solo... pregnant. I'm bringing a backpack and my rolling luggage! I'll make sure to drink lots of water & blog about it upon my return.

Where are we babymooning, you ask?!                        We are going to Epcot for NYE! Something we planned & booked before we got preggers. Good thing I'm in my 2nd trimester and everything suggests it is safe to fly. I feel 100%, am not sick, my back is all relaxed and I'm ready to go! I'll make sure to drink extra fluids and walk around the airport until I have to board! :) No worries!

I CANNOT wait for fireworks at Epcot. We are getting there first thing in the morning, Friday, and hopefully, are the last ones to leave. LOL. As Stacie told us this summer when we visited them,"you think these are good fireworks? You should see the fireworks on NYE; they make the ground shake".. I was sold. Had to book it and come. So, I'm very excited. I wish we were at Magic Kingdom as I love that castle but I'm sure Epcot will be just as fun..... and, more enjoyable for our 11 person, adult crowd; as there is booze allowed at that park! LOL! I'm wearing gym shoes and am ready for the sunshine and 76 degree weather that the weatherman has predicted :) :) I'm excited to see lil Zack too.. he's probably a whole new kid. We saw him when he was like 10 weeks or so.. and now he's probably nearly 10 months old!!

So... I googled images... for NYE & Epcot... and I'm sooooo excited now more than ever.

If you know me.. you know a.) 4th of July is my favorite holiday for one reason and one reason alone... FIREWORKS and BOOMS! I love fireworks, everything about it. I think I was a pyrotech in a former life. LOL. I love summertime, heat, picnics, and booms. I'm looking forward to migrating south and leaving IL one day.. but for now.. NYE in Orlando will do. Check out these pics from Epcot...

And, I cannot wait to kiss my honey & I wouldn't want to be anywhere else at the stroke of midnight.

p.s. I'll be 22 weeks on New Year's Day! :)




p.s.s. I'm lagging in my Christmas blog/ post so I'll prob post that blog later!... in 2011. Holy cow!

Happy New Year, everyone!!

Feeling the baby kick!

On Sunday, I felt the baby kick at around 10:55 a.m.. For sure! Without a doubt! I keep reading about 'bubbles' and 'flutters'.. but to be quite honest, no word can describe the feeling of something in you. I'm no poet or writer but all I can say is that it's really surreal. It wasn't anything but the baby. It was short and quick and if I wasn't laying down.. I would not have felt it! The baby is doing great and right on track with what the book says.

On Monday morning, I felt the baby kick again! This time, sitting at work :) 2 for 2. I'm excited. Finally movement. I'm beginning to feel more like a mom now.

On Monday afternoon, we had our 2nd and last ultrasound appointment. We may opt to get a 3D or 4D picture at or around week 26-30. We'll see.. TBD. If you experience a healthy/non-risk pregnancy you only get 2 ultrasounds with your OB/GYN office. One to confirm pregnancy around 8-10 weeks.. and another one at or around 20 week marker. :) So my appointment was at the Wheaton Danada location at 1:00 p.m.  I drank a lot so my bladder was full and I was a little uncomfortable. We got to the office, and I got goo'ed up. We weren't allowed to take any video or pictures :( Nuts! We saw the heart beat on the screen, we saw the baby, and saw all of its arms/legs!  The ultrasound technician is quoting the baby at 14 oz which is average & on track. The baby will be here probably on/around May 7th-10th. Mother's Day is 5/8/11 so we'll see! The baby wouldn't give us a good profile, ultrasound picture like so many mothers out there have/post. I call it my 'alien baby' as the baby was looking head on at us. LOL. I tried repositioning my body, at the Dr office per the ultrasound technician. To no avail, the baby moved in the wrong direction. Stubborn Nash! OH well! Here are some pix of baby at week 21.  Keep in mind, Georgie is facing you when looking at the picture.

I added labels as if you are anything like me, it is impossible for me to visualize what is what in an ultrasound picture!

After the appointment, Dave and I were in the car and I was very happy and giggly! I'm very excited to meet Georgie. But, I'll keep him/her cooking as there's TONS to be done at our house before his/her arrival.

We are in the process of doing some little upgrades to the kitchen to a.) increase resale of our townhouse, b.) enjoy our investment while we live here and c.) make bathing Georgie, Bert, & Ernie easier on me and my back! We've received 1 quote so far on Tuesday evening.. and have 2 more on the books. 

Next month, I'm planning on just organizing the house some more, taking down Christmas decorations, buying more storage boxes and labels, and getting things decided for the kitchen re-model. (i.e. purchase the granite, purchase the new sink, purchase the new faucet and hire the contractors necessary for installation).

February will be HOUSE preperation month... and put things into storage piles, donation piles, and garage-sale piles. We'll make sure everything is up to code in the house and all renovations are complete. :)

March will be painting-the-nursery month, baby class month, and maternity photographer session month! We'll probably have a garage sale when Dave is on spring break to get rid of everything we won't put into storage.. and everything else gets donated to Good Will!

April will be staging month and getting everything ready! Hopefully, this timeline works out :) This will be the fun month!

May the baby will be here so all hell will break loose. LOL! j/k the fun will begin!

Jim Breuer on "Why Mothers Need Their Sleep"

I'm going to sleep 8 hours when I'm a mom or so help me, God.

So I have my biggest regret ever at this point in my pregnancy. It's when I told my husband that "I need my sleep, I need a good 8 hours or I can't function". Dave has been bringing up this quote a lot throughout my pregnancy. He feels its unrealistic and he says he brings up this quote with friends/coworkers/family and they all agree with Dave that "just wait, just wait! she'll never get 8 hours again!"

The sad thing is, I mean it. I really do love my good night's sleep and I need 8 hours. I'm a bitch on wheels if I don't get my sleep. Pardon my french. I typically go to bed around 9:30-11:30 and wake up at 7:00 a.m. and head on over to work in Naperville for my 8 am start. So I don't see why 8 am is not do-able? I don't see why I can't get 8 hours of sleep when I have my husband to help share in the duties of nightly feedings, right?

And here is where I remembered a classic Jim Breuer stand up routine, do yourself a favor, and watch this clip. It's worth the 3 minutes 41 seconds. Thank God Jim Breuer can hopefully, hopefully put into words what will happen to me if I get sleep deprived and Dave decides NOT TO HELP ME OUT WITH NIGHTLY FEEDINGS! I'll become the devil. LOL.


Here's to me and my 8 hours of sleep! Cheers!

20 weeks

• Georgie is a banana! Next time you look at one you'll think of Georgie, right? haha!
• 6.5 inches long
• 10.6 oz or as my doctor says just under a pound!
• My doctor said the uterus has reached the top of my belly button! it's true! I can feel it the hard uterus underneath my skin!
• Increased blood flow is going on allegedly.. but I'm proud to announce, no new stretch marks!
• Georgie is gulping down several ounces of amniotic fluid every day, both for nutrition and to practice swallowing and digesting. I love learning this stuff. Meaning, these days, Georgie's taste buds actually work!
• Georgie is producing meconium, a black, sticky by-product of digestion. This gooey substance will accumulate in his/her bowels, and I'll see it in his/her first soiled diaper (although some babies pass meconium in the womb or during delivery).
• I think I need to eat more iron as my babycenter.com announcement said as that mineral is used primarily to make hemoglobin (the part of your red blood cells that carries oxygen) My body needs more iron  to keep up with the expanding blood volume, as well as for your growing baby and the placenta.
• Spinach, raisins, red meat, and poultry (especially the dark meat).

On Monday, at 11:50 a.m., we had the 20 week appointment for Georgie at Edwards Hospital. My blood pressure and weight are good. I'm up +2.9 pounds from last visit. Phew.. Thanksgiving didn't do as much damage as I thought it would. :) My urine analysis came back negative. And, Georgie's heartrate is 156! This time, Georgie was active (again!) and the heart rate was hard to find. But, we got it! 156 bpm!

On Saturday, I ordered the furniture. Crib, crib railing, and extension for full size bed, and 5 chest drawer ordered! The crib will be here in January and the chest and maybe other crib accessories will show up in February or March.

On Saturday, after I went to Cribs to College I then went to the Chevy dealership. I've been eyeing getting a new SUV. Nothing is set in stone and I highly doubt we'll be buying one before Georgie arrives in May 2011. We have to see how the Honda Accord, we own, will handle Bert, Ernie, Georgie, mom, dad, a stroller, diaper bag.. and say some other stuff if we are out and about running errands or going up north to Grandma's in Rolling Meadows. We don't have a lot of car space so if we need to constantly bring a 'pack&play' for example, may be challenging the cubic feet of my accord. We'll see.

Here's the Traverse we like. My friends Amanda and Caitlin drive one! Some coworkers wives, Micki and Kathy, also drive a traverse and only have the best to say. I've only owned an Accord or Camry so this will be my first DOMESTIC! SUV. Yikes! I'm really going to research before I leave the thought of Honda Pilot for Traverse.  2011, new models, baseline trim of LT start at $26,995+! Here's the catch, I want a rear entertainment package/videos and a navigation system.. so we need to up the trim to LTZ trim.. so we probably will haggle with certified/pre-owned. I want a payment of $250 and I'm not planning on dropping a lot of mula down on a down payment as my Honda Accord is only 5 years old with 72k miles and it holds its value well.

3 rows. I like the 2 bucket seats instead of a bench in the middle.

Interior.

Movies for the kid(s) for road trips!

In other news, we installed 2 ceiling fans today! One in the nursery, and one in our downstairs living room/dining room! :) So that's our big 'home improvement' for 2010! Here are some pix of the nursery...

new fan in the living room!

no flash perspective of our living room :)

closeup of the fan!

nursery as it is today (aka wrapping central) with NEW FAN! and dimmer switch on wall!

lots to do still... painting and putting everything into storage before the baby stuff comes!

t-3 days until Christmas!