Best Toy you will ever Have

I shared the good news with Michele, Marc and Natalia today. Michele and Natalia were very excited. Marc said that having a kid "is the best toy you will ever have." I've never heard that one before, but it made me smile.

Our next major appointment is at 19 weeks where we get to WIP again via ultrasound. I’m so excited to have Paul at the next ultrasound with me to see the wild WIP he helped create.
It’s amazing!

I love advertising

Ash and Mark met Kim at the mall today and I had to go check it out since I’ve not been to the Short Hills Mall in many years. I was not impressed, but found that it was a lot like Phipps – Dolce and Gabbaa, Chanel, Tiffany’s, etc.

Nonetheless, I couldn’t help but giggle when I saw this window at Diesel.

Kelly and Scott’s Wedding – Princeton, NJ

I had a great time reminiscing with Kelly’s brother Brian who is now the Chief Strategy Officer for the Gov. of Delaware.  I also had a chance to catch up with Jon Platt, Kelly’s cousin – who graduated from N. Plainfield HS and knew many of the people I was in Stony Brook elementary school with. It’s a small world. Monique, Jon’s wife and I had fun storming the Venetian table once the cake was cut.  Brian reminded me that his roommate, Dave, Kelly and I went to the Paladium, a club in NY a couple of years before it was converted to a NY dorm where we saw a hot muscular guy in carpenter boots, white Calvin Klein boxers and red suspenders. I remembered Kelly getting up on stage and dancing with him. She’s my dancing queen. Always had me beat on the dance floor! I was so happy to be able to share the moment with her. She made me laugh when she played Etta James’ “At Last” as she walked down the aisle. You go girl!

This is Sarah chair dancing at the table.

A had to catch the couple real quick before Kelly ran back out to the dance floor. 

Ashley + Mark + NYC Subway

I spent the night with Karen and Mitch Thursday upon arriving in NJ and tried my best not to get mauled by their Bonnie and Clyde schnauzers. All kidding aside, they are cute pups and surely love their Daddy!  Friday morning we caught up with Ash and Mark for breakfast at Country Squire and happened to have the same table as when we were there with Tom Severini and his family!

We stopped at Irene and Rich’s to drop off my bags for the remainder of the weekend and we’re off to NYC for the day.

After we gorged on Hot Dogs and Bagels in Times Square, we learned that heading from Times Square to another part of Manhattan is quite a challenge, especially for us today.

What do you get when you mix Ashley, Mark and a NYC subway? We were trying to confirm which train to take back to Chinatown from Times Square and Mark stepped on the train to check the map…only to be whisked away to the next stop. Here’s Ash waving bye to Mark.  We ventured into the City in early afternoon and walked a bit of the park, Times Square for a hot dog and fresh bagel while trying desperately NOT to look at the naked singing cowgirl who did not compliment the well know naked cowboy.

 

Ashley waving goodbye to Mark.

I have never said yes to the little Chinese ladies asking if we want Chanel, Gucci or Prada bags while walking the streets of Chinatown, so I let Ashley say yes and we were led, via 3 different people to an apartment building to a “warehouse” where a small room housed knock off Chanel, Prada, Dolce and Gabbana purses. I gotta give props to my sis, she attempted to leave which only made the little Chinese lady negotiate with us. Ash got a D&G bag for $30 and I picked up a Chanel bag for $50, which she initially was asking $75 for.

Since the hot dogs weren’t quite enough to hold the Young’s over, we stopped at our favorite Chinese restaurant and had some Wonton soup.

 

And of course, ice cream at at our favorite spot in Chinatown. Yes, it’s a must see!

It’s a real baby!

Can you believe it? It really looks like a baby now. 13wks, 5 days today according to baby’s measurements. I had to remind the doctor not to sneak a peak between the legs, although I’m convinced it’s a boy. The lower photo shows the itty bitty little hands. Little WIP did not want to sit still for the doctor nor the tech and was squirming quite a bit and actually put his butt towards the screen. Gotta love it! Our lil dancing machine! Heartbeat and features all look good. Today was the test for Down Syndrome and with the nasal bone in place and all the correct measurements to rule it out. Bloodwork confirms the visuals, but it looks good that our baby is going to be nice and healthy.

Atlanta Flood of 2009

What does Pablo miss by being in Kansas vs. Atlanta? The Flood of 2009.  The Chattahoochee River overflowed and closed down 285, 75 and much of the connections between Atlanta and the westside of Atlanta.  Normal flood stage is 14 ft for the Hooch, but over the past couple of days it’s level rose to it’s crest at 31.5 feet Tuesday afternoon. The last time it was near this level was in 1919.  The unforgiving power of water has, as evidenced below, trapped many from their homes, most being uninsured because they were not in a flood plain.  Schools were closed the last day and a half and some schools are completely under water. The death toll is now 9. Two of which were killed when a driver drove into water and their car was swept away by the current.  The damage estimated is at $250M and Gov. Sonny Perdue has asked for federal assistance.  Then again, I think Pablo has plenty of excitement this week in Kansas.

285 and Bolton Road

School in Austell completely flooded

Not Six Flags over Georgia, Six Flags UNDER water.

Baby’s Growing!

Here’s our lil Alien. Friday is our 12 week appointment and we get to hear the heart beat! That will probably make it seem more real than it is right now. I should be thankful, I’m still not showing, but my hip cool 7 jeans are starting to get tight when I go to button them.

Ah the joys of pregnancy

Upon returning from Florida Sunday night I found myself ill: congestion, stuffed ears, itchy and dry throat. My nose didn’t start to run until Monday evening. Did you know that there are truly no drugs that are approved for you to take during pregnancy? The doctor sent me a letter saying that Sudafed and Benadryl are ok, however there’s been no research done on pregnant women – these test were done on animals.  So I found it fit not to take anything myself, but just to rest and eat lots of soup and drink many cups of tea. Now, three days later, I’m still a little congested with an itchy throat, but I’m doing much better.

I saw the endocrinologist today, everything is looking good physically and I feel well energized. He should have my lab results back this afternoon to determine if I need to up my Synthroid dosage to compensate for the pregnancy hormones.  I also had a 2nd ultrasound done this morning to compare the the last one and ensure there has been no changes. Exciting stuff!  Oh, yes and I’m 138 lbs. Gained 10 lbs so far and I really hope to keep that down.
On the pregnancy home front, it’s hard to fall asleep. I was hoping that with the walk I took at Chastain last night, it would help, but it took a while to actually fall asleep. I need to go back to no TV in the bedroom and a guided mediation before sleep. That helped significantly a couple of months ago. I talk to WIP every night and tell him that we’re going to sleep well and have good dreams. I don’t quite have a pooch, but I realize that my clothes are started to get a bit snug, especially my favorite 7 jeans.

Today is officially the start of the 11th week and next Friday Pablo and I get to hear the heartbeat. I can’t wait!

WIP post yoga

I bet WIP is as tired as I am from Yoga yesterday. It wasn’t too intense, but I’m awfully sore today. Looks like WIP has little hands and feet now, webbed, but they’re there!
WIP is 5/8 of an inch long, about the size of a kidney bean. New this week: Webbed fingers and toes are poking out from your baby's hands and feet, his eyelids practically cover his eyes, breathing tubes extend from his throat to the branches of his developing lungs, and his "tail" is just about gone. His arms have lengthened, too, and his hands are now flexed at the wrist and meet over his heart. His knee joints have formed, and his feet may be long enough to meet in front of his body. In his brain, nerve cells are branching out to connect with one another, forming primitive neural pathways.  Cute!

I’m off to see Dr. Chen today so she can see if my vocal chords have healed from surgery. Last time I was in the office, the left side was a little off.