Knit Wit Girly aka Ashlyn's Mommy!

i wanna win one!

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 16:23:00 +0000

oooh oh oh please let me win this one!!!
http://mckgiveaways.blogspot.com/2009/12/hp-touchsmart-giveaway.html

H1N1 Prevention Tips

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 12:47:00 +0000

Prevent H1N1 (Swine Flu) - Good Advice

Dr. Vinay Goyal is an MBBS,DRM,DNB (Intensivist and Thyroid specialist)
having clinical experience of over 20 years. He has worked in
institutions like Hinduja Hospital , Bombay Hospital , Saifee Hospital ,
Tata Memorial etc... Presently, he is heading our Nuclear Medicine
Department and Thyroid clinic at Riddhivinayak Cardiac and Critical
Centre, Malad (W).

The following message given by him, I feel makes a lot of sense and is
important for all to know

The only portals of entry are the nostrils and mouth/throat. In a
global epidemic of this nature, it's almost impossible to avoid coming
into contact with H1N1 in spite of all precautions. Contact with H1N1 is
not so much of a problem as proliferation is.

While you are still healthy and not showing any symptoms of H1N1
infection, in order to prevent proliferation, aggravation of symptoms
and development of secondary infections, some very simple steps, not
fully highlighted in most official communications, can be practiced
(instead of focusing on how to stock N95 or Tamiflu):

1. Frequent hand-washing (well highlighted in all official
communications).

2. "Hands-off-the-face" approach. Resist all temptations to touch any
part of face (unless you want to eat, bathe or slap).

3. *Gargle twice a day with warm salt water (use Listerine if you don't
trust salt). *H1N1 takes 2-3 days after initial infection in the throat/
nasal cavity to proliferate and show characteristic symptoms. Simple
gargling prevents proliferation. In a way, gargling with salt water has
the same effect on a healthy individual that Tamiflu has on an infected
o ne. Don't underestimate this simple, inexpensive and powerful
preventative method.

4. Similar to 3 above, *clean your nostrils at least once every day with
warm salt water.. *Not everybody may be good at Jala Neti or Sutra Neti
(very good Yoga asanas to clean nasal cavities), but *blowing the nose
hard once a day and swabbing both nostrils with cotton buds dipped in
warm salt water is very effective in bringing down viral population.*

5. *Boost your natural immunity with foods that are rich in Vitamin C
(Amla and other citrus fruits). *If you have to supplement with Vitamin
C tablets, make sure that it also has Zinc to boost absorption.

6. *Drink as much of warm liquids (tea, coffee, etc) as you can.
*Drinking warm liquids has the same effect as gargling, but in the
reverse direction. They wash off proliferating viruses from the throat
into the stomach where they cannot survive, proliferate or do any harm.

I suggest you pass this on to your entire e-list. You never know who
might pay attention to it - and STAY ALIVE because of it.

Giving the blog another chance...

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 21:05:00 +0000

I've been totally out of the blog world for a verrrrry long time. However, I'm starting a new project and thought that might be a good time to give posting another shot.

Found some yarn that I thought would make a pretty sweater for Ashlyn, so thought I'd give sweater knitting a whirl, too :) (I did start a Wonderful Wallaby for myself years back, but never got past picking up stitches for the pouch in the beginning, so it's still on the needles someone in UFO land, which is a HUGE community, by the way lol.)

Knitted a swatch for "The Twiggy" while watching the Browns get the pulp beat out of them by the Packers this afternoon and am just about the cast on. So excited to start something for my lil girl and really hoping I can stick with it and see it to the end.

Here's a pick of the swatch next to the pattern pic, and then one of Ashlyn looking adorable in one of her new winter coats...

By the way....she turned one last week (unbelieveable, I know!), so if this blogging thing picks back up for me, I'll have to post pics from her party...soooo cute :)

Sleeping Beauty

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 10:43:00 +0000

bonus pic post

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 14:08:00 +0000

forgot to add a few more pics to the post below...

ashlyn n mommy on 2/24/09

ash trying to eat my face yesterday

'yay - i heart my toes!'

4 mo appt

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 12:48:00 +0000

just a quick update, more as a note to self than anything else..

ashlyn had her 4 mo check-up on 2/25, which makes her actually almost 4 1/2 mo, but who's counting, right? anyway, she weighs 14lb 2oz and is 25" long, which puts her in the 50th percentile in both catagories. her head circumference is 16", so she's in the 75th percentile there.

the doctor said that ashlyn is the first ashlyn she's ever met, that she was her favorite patient of the day and was thrilled that she was her last...said she was the best way to end the work day :) she also said that she will be crawling before we know it based on her head and neck control, and the way she handles tummy time (which ash still doesn't love, but is getting better at every time we try it...she started rolling from her belly to back, too, which is super-fun to watch and hopefully i can get it on video one of these days). she said she's developmentally like a six mo old, which is awesome to hear and set my mind at ease about how she measures up to other babies i read about her age.

she said we can start her on cereal around five months if we want, but that exclusively breast-fed babies really don't need the additional iron (or anything else for that matter) until six months. when the time comes, we'll try rice cereal first for a few days, then oatmeal (both single grain). once she's used to both, we might do rice in the morning, oatmeal at night (as rice is a binder and oatmeal should loosen things up - the two will help regulate each other). orange veggies like squash and carrots will be introduced next, one at a time for 3-4 days before a new one is given, then green veggies and finally fruit.

obviously that stuff is for my own records, and what better place to put them, right? the baby book you say? hogwash...who has time to actually write something down these days ;)

in other news, ash used to think her fingers were the coolest thing on her body, then it became obvious that her tongue was waaaay cooler and she stuck it out and showed it off to everyone. now she has moved on to bigger and better things...her toes! she found them yesterday and thinks they are awesome!

and since i've been awful about posting pics, here are some from my cell phone from this month (since i'm not as good about taking them w/ my camera for some reason...shame shame, i know)...

ol' blue eyes

ashlyn's first valentine's day!

four month pics - pic of a pic taken w/ the cell

that warm day we had on feb 10...took a walk in the moby wrap

Baby Chicken Dance

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 23:35:00 +0000

Here's Ashlyn having a lil dance party with her aunties...

She'll be four months old on Friday and getting sooooooo big! I really hope to be able to blog more as time goes on, but things sure are pretty busy these days with baby girl to tend to. We'll see if I can start devoting a little time to it soon....
In knitting news, I finished her blanket FINALLY but of course haven't photographed it yet...soon, though. I think my next project will be a sleeve for my laptop...haven't looked up a pattern yet, though. Maybe I'll just wing it...any suggestions?

Happy Snowdays!

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 05:06:00 +0000

this makes me laugh...

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 18:27:00 +0000

what makes me laugh even more is that my sisters, brother in law and i were going to buy them to be funny until we realized that w/ shipping, they were $18/snuggie. we're dorks. and we know it lol

Happy Holidays!

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 09:44:00 +0000

Better late than never, right? Right.

Here's the birth announcement/holiday card we sent out this year (designed by my fabulous sister Melissa aka Auntie Shops for her obsession with buying Ash anything she wants - not sure if the baby knows what she wants yet, but Auntie Shops sure does lol)...

Hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season!

too busy bein' a momma to blog

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 13:48:00 +0000

ok, so i know everyone is asking for pix and details about ash's birth, but i seriously get online once every couple days and can barely read my emails, let along reply to them, and reading or posting blogs is out of the question lol

however, just to hold you over til i have some more time, here are some cute pics of ash taken w/ my cell phone starting w/ the most recent and working backwards...enjoy!

Our baby girl is here!!

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 13:53:00 +0000

Ok, so I know this post is LONG overdue, but being a new mommy is time consuming and exhausting, so blogging (reading and posting) has been the last thing on my mind.

And yes, I said being a new mommy...as you probably guessed, our lil pumpkin has been born!!! Our beautiful baby girl made her debut on Monday, October 13th at 6:23pm, weighing in at 7lb 13oz and measuring 20.5 inches long. She's the most wonderfully precious thing I've ever laid eyes on and I love her more than I ever thought I could love anything...seriously! We named her Ashlyn Sarah and our last name starts w/ H, so she is often referred to by her initials and planned nickname, Ash :)

I don't have time to post anything in the way of her birth story right now because my lil princess just woke up in her bouncy seat next to me and is going to want to eat any second now, but I didn't want another day to go by without officially announcing her arrival to the blog world!

More posts to come when I get back on the computer for more than two seconds at a time :)

Our first family picture just after Ashlyn was born.

Ashlyn in the hospital w/ her cute lil mohawk hair-do and proud Grandpa B (my dad) in the background.

October 11th - My due date

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 11:59:00 +0000

Me @ 40 weeks on my actual due date, just hours before completing the final touches on the nursery!

Well, I made it to my actual due date...never thought I'd be able to say that. Not that I've had any real reason to think the baby would come early, but you just never know and I guess everyone around me saying that she was going to come early made me think she just might. No such luck! Honestly, I'm ok with it, but now the anticipation is starting to drive me crazy! I mean, all I have to do is think about labor and delivery and new-mommy-hood now and the more I think, the more nervous I get. I'm sure it's completely normal. And although I'm anxious and can't wait to meet her, part of me is fine with her incubating as long as she wants. It's a strange feeling, really. I guess it just goes back to the whole nervous factor.

So anyway, here's a shot of my pregnancy tickers from today that are on my ivillage.com October Expectant Club message board profile (a website I've been completely addicted to since I found out I was preggers back in February - a bunch of mommies-to-be who are due in the same month and going thru the same stages of pregnancy at the same time...very supportive and informative, despite everyone's warnings to stay away from the internet for fear of putting unnecessary fears in your head at a time like this...you just take it all and filter out the stuff you don't need in your head, but otherwise, I love it!). Ignore the one that says I'm one day overdue...not sure why that one was off, but the others are all accurate.

Every week, babycenter.com sent me an email with stats about a typical pregnancy in that week, including a food (usually fruit/vegetable) size comparison to how big a typical baby is during that stage of the pregnancy. Well, since the day we found out we were pregnant (on Groundhog's day) and calculated our due date to be 10/11/08, we've been calling the baby "our lil pumpkin" (we love Halloween and fall and October!), so the fact that the size comparison for week 40 is a small pumpkin was just too cool (and I guess I should've known I'd be hanging in there til at least this week just so I could compare my lil pumpkin to an actual pumpkin). Anywho, every week I would post a pic of the comparison food on my myspace page in the photos section under a folder "How big is our pumpkin this week" so my family and friends could check and see the current size of the baby, or at least the typical size of one that week. Some of the pics I chose were hilarious (wish I could link the folder here, but my profile is private, so it'd be useless to some of you), but this week's is by far the sweetest...

So I cannot believe I'm teetering on the edge of becoming less pregnant and more mommy...this journey has been amazing for me and a dream come true and I feel so blessed already that I cannot imagine how my heart is just going to be bursting when this little girl is finally in my arms. Pregnancy hormones or not, I am a sensitive person who can usually cry at the drop of a hat, so just thinking about how happy I am opens the floodgates. At this point, I better buy some stock in Puffs Plus because I can only imagine how many tears of joy I'm going to shed during my new life as a mommy. It's something I am completely looking forward to and cannot wait to begin!

Dear Pumpkin,
Come when you want, but you can't stay in there forever, so please just know that when you decide to make your big debut, you are going to be making my life whole complete and making so many dreams come true. You are already loved so much and I am so excited to meet you and spend my life making yours as happy and wonderful as you've already made mine.
Love always,
Mommy

3 days and counting...

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 10:23:00 +0000

My estimated due date to Baby H aka Pumpkin is just 3 days away!
A week and a half ago, all I was thinking was "c'mon baby...let's get this birth going!", but then I woke up Sunday morning with a nasty cold and switched gears to "ok baby...a little more baking time would be nice to give mommy a chance to get healthy", so here I sit...waiting for the cold to go away and the baby to come.
I'm fine with the waiting as I'm getting more and more nervous as the days tick on, but I'm so anxious to meet my little girl, so it's a toss-up. Plus, I'm still feeling sicky sick, so the extra incubation time is a good thing.
I'm on maternity leave now, as of this week, so I'm spending my time soaking up all the extra rest and pug-cuddle time as I can before life as we know it turns upside down. Here's a pic of the puglets cuddling w/ my belly aka the baby :)

They are really enjoying the extra lovin' from mommy this week, that's for sure! I've taken lots of cute pics of them cuddling on my belly because basically any time I sit on the couch, they are all over me...I think they can sense that changes are about to occur or something.

Despite spending lots of time on the internet, I just haven't had the energy to blog, but I wanted to share a post from my friend Jeanne with pictures from the AWESOME baby gifts my knitting group made for Pumpkin & I. They all worked on a pillow and blanket set to match the nursery and Jeanne knitted matching booties for baby and socks for mommy!!! They are the best group of girls and have seen me thru this pregnancy since it was just me talking about wanting a baby soon but not yet even trying to get pregnant. I love these girls with all my heart and the fact that they all got together and took the time to knit these items for my little girl just shows what a wonderful group of friends they are! Anyway, thanks for letting me borrow your post, Jeanne! Soon I will take some pictures of the blanket and pillow in the nursery to post, but for now my camera is packed away in the hospital bag, waiting for the big day!

Ok, heading downstairs to make some tea and either cuddle with the puggers or work on some knitting...a blanket for the baby that will obviously not get done before she's born, but will be done someday, I promise!

I also promise to post an update with lots of pics when the lil girl decides to make her debut...and when we can finally share her name with the world instead of always referring to her as "Baby H" or "Pumpkin" :)

9 years!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 09:19:00 +0000

just a quick post to say happy 9 year anniversary to me n my sweepy...can't believe how the time has flown, and yet how it feels like we've been together for a fabulously loving lifetime!

it's 5:20am and i've been up since 4 unable to sleep due to preggo back pain, so this will be a short post cuz i think i might be ready to lay back down (thank goodness i'm on vacation and can play catch up on the sleeping at some point during the morning/day), but i wanted to acknowledge the day before my preggo brain makes me forget my best laid plans today ;)

anyway, happy anniversary to us, and cheers (w/ some n/a juice, of course) to another 9!

love ya, baby! xoxox

Exactly how I'm feeling...

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 08:24:00 +0000

heh.. um, yeah.. at 34 weeks preggo, that about sums it up ;)
lots going on, but just too darn pooped to blog about it lately.
working on the nursery in between holiday get-togethers this weekend, so hopefully i'll have some pictures to post soon...it's turning out better than i imagined so far and we've only just about finished the wall color. sooooo excited to load up the furniture and start organizing some shower gifts. my first of three showers was on august 17 and it was just beautiful and perfect!!! another thing i want to post pics of, but of course the camera isn't at the computer right now and there's NO WAY i'm making the trip downstairs and back to get it. although i might be making the one way trip down to the couch...it's almost 4:30 am and i am up due to uncomfortableness in bed. i wake up a couple times every night w/ excruciating back pain and the only thing that makes it subside is to get up. so i spend an hour at the computer surfing the net and then head back hoping to get a few more hours of sleep before the process starts over again...fun times.
and on that note, this post has come full circle, so i will end it for now and see how the couch feels ;)

happy labor day weekend, everyone - hope you are all having a fabulous holiday!!

ps...went to the dr last week for my 33 week appointment and had an ultrasound...baby h was measuring at 35 weeks in the 77th percentile w/ the extra size in in head...yikes! everything looked great and dr e said the extra size doesn't mean early delivery necessarily, but just bigger baby. instead of being just over 4lbs at that point like my baby.com email said a 33 wk bebe would normally be, our lil pumpkin was about 5 1/2lbs! i can't believe my lil girl is already that big!!! so excited, and nervous, all at the same time ;) i go back on sept 9th to start my one week appointments...can't believe how quickly things are happening now!! here's a pic of our lil girl at 33wks 3days...

i can't believe how much we are in love w/ this lil face already and how excited, scared and anxious we are to meet her!! xoxo to you, lil pumpkin!

10 years ago today...

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 19:06:00 +0000

...my wonderful husband proposed! Wow - I can't believe I got engaged ten years ago already! Seems like just yesterday, and for the record, I'm more in love with him now than ever, so that's gotta count for somethin', right?

Not sure when this was taken, but sometime this summer

Thanks to my Jason for asking me to marry him ten years ago, down on one knee, in that crowded little car on the Sky Ride at Cedar Point! It was so romantic and sweet and I'll never forget it!

Love you so much, Sweepy! xoxox

Us at a Tribe game this summer

Watching our garden grow

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 01:21:00 +0000

So this summer my hubby decided he wanted to grow some pumpkins and I wanted to try to grow some tomatoes. Since we have a small yard and no room for a real garden, we decided to use the front flower bed for the pumpkins (never did any thing with it after we moved in last year and all it needed was stump and weed removal and we were good to go w/ a clean slate).

Jason started some pumpkin seeds in a bowl (sadly I did not get any pics of this stage of the gardening) and then transplanted four of the growing seeds to the front bed. Meanwhile, my dad gave me four roma tomato plans and two cherry tomato plants that he had started from seed in his greenhouse (note to self - must take pics of the greenhouse he built and his magnificent garden that grows more and more each year and is now bigger than my entire back yard). I planted the tiny plants in pots and put them up on our balcony to grow safely away from the squirrels and chipmunks that roam the yard, not to mention from y sweet lil pugs, who I'm sure would find their way to them if allowed.

While the pumpkins were quickly taking over the entire front flower bed, the tomatoes were looking pathetic...hardly growing and one plant even got chewed up by what I assume was a bird. I realized that they weren't getting enough sun on the balcony, so I carried them (with the help of strong, non-preggo hubby) down to the flower bed on the side of the house next to the pumpkin patch growing just in front. Then we decided that we should just plant them there next to the house because they would get plenty of sun and I had no plans for that part of the flower bed anyway. Great idea...kind of. The tomatoes started growing just as fabulously as the pumpkins and pretty soon I saw a few lil green tomatoes - awesome. Then my sister warned me that she heard we shouldn't grow edibles next to the house because it's almost 100 years old and is likely to be covered in lead-based paint, thus causing the soil to be contaminated, thus causing the tomatoes to be lead tomatoes...boo. Anyway, we've still been watching their progress and watering when necessary, but I don't intend on eating them. I think I will try to get a home soil-test at Home Depot if they have them to check the soil to be sure, but I'm guessing it's probably not safe to enjoy my home-grown edibles this year.

I thought I would post some pics we took tonight for everyone's viewing enjoyment :)

Here's one of the first pumpkin we noticed growing, which is now a little smaller than a soccer ball..

And here's the second pumpkin that is more long and skinny, but bigger than the first...

Here's the first lil red cherry tomatoes...

And here are some green romas...

Here's Jason standing proudly by the patch (which appears to be not doing so well at the end near him...the leaves have all of a sudden gotten very dry looking, but someone said that maybe that's what happens to squash-type plants, so who knows what is happening...we'll keep watching and watering when necessary and see how they do.

Here's me next to my unruly tomatoes (dad explained over and over again how to 'sucker' them, or whatever it's called when you remove certain parts to make sure the good stuff gets all the water and nutrients, but they got kinda out of hand before I did anything and now it's too overwhelming, so I'm just letting them do their thing...hope that's not gonna hurt the lead tomatoes too much lol)...

And here I am "growing pumpkins", showing the one in my belly (we've called the baby 'pumpkin' from the beginning since she's due in October) and the one in the patch :o)...

I will try to keep posting pics/news about the garden and if anyone has any advice, feel free to give it as we are totally new to this gardening thing.

Hope everyone has a great week!

PS - Any of you bloggers using Blogger out there want to share how you post w/ several pics? Do you upload all the pics first and then fit in your text, or type first and them upload and move? I did the latter and it seems like such a pain, but I'm not sure if there's an easier method or not. Thx in advance.

I'm baaaack!

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 09:54:00 +0000

So we FINALLY got our computer back up and running, AGAIN (long story, but it's taken three times in the shop...it seems to be ok, although I'm having a panic attack because it seems that an entire folder of pictures and other important things is gone...trying to calm down enough to wait for a decent hour to call the computer guy to inquire. Just keep repeating to myself..."If it's gone, it's gone, and there's nothing that freaking out will do to help." Oh man...I'm freaking out. Deep breaths...), but I don't have time right now for a real post.

Instead, I shall leave you with this, which I found on someone's blog and thought was appropriate...

Tagged - I'm it!

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 11:42:00 +0000

Finally back online after having my pc riddled w/ viruses for months, so I'm doing a little catch-up blogging this morning and found that I'd been tagged by Rosie, so here goes...

Tag… You’re It

1. What were you doing 10 years ago?
June 1998...I was living w/ my bf (now DH of almost 9 years!) and it was just two months before he proposed! The wedding craziness wouldn't ensue for another few months. Can't remember what I was doing, other than working at my new job for the last four months (been there 10 yrs and 4 mo now!) and just enjoying meeting new people there and living life. I can't remember if we were still in our first one bedroom apartment or if we had made the move down the hall one door to the two bedroom yet ;)

2. What 5 things are on you to-do list for today?
-cut up a watermelon
-mop the kitchen floor
-decorate the house/yard
-pray that the rain doesn't spoil all the fun
-hopefully enjoy the rain-free puggy birthday party we're having today! there should be four or five pugs here and about 15 people and we're letting the puggers unwrap their presents and then play in a baby pool and sprinkler while running crazy in the yard. i decided that i wanted to throw a birthday bash for my pugs before the baby comes (since i've always wanted to have a birthday party for them) and invited their puggy friends mookie and mulligan and their puggy friends maggie and iggy. should be craziness, but for now i'm just hoping the 30% chance of rain doesn't spoil it all!

3. List some snacks you enjoy.
right now it's anything fruit related..fresh fruit, canned fruit, frozen fruit bars, fruit candy, fruit snacks, fruit juice...guess that's my one big craving w/ this pregnancy. could be worse i guess.

4. What would you do with a billion dollars?
oh geez - who the heck knows! pay off some bills, i guess buy a new house, altho i do love mine and love where i live, and stay home w/ my bebe!

5. List the places you have lived.
-Bellevue, OH
-Sandusky, OH
-Huron, OH
-N. Olmsted, OH
-Olmsted Twp, OH
-Lakewood, OH

6. List the jobs you have had.
-Babysitter for years
-Groundskeeper at the campground at Cedar Point Amusement Park
-Pantry Chef at Sawmill Creek Restaurant and Resort
-Cashier, Courtesy Desk, Lay-away and Stocker at two different Wal-Marts
-A couple temp jobs in different offices
-Death & Disability Claim Analyst for New York Life Insurance Co

7. List the people you want to know more about.
- Anyone else reading this! I TAG YOU!

Thanks, Rosie, for the tag...good excuse to hop on and update everyone on a few things going on in my world (besides preparing for baby, of course...24 weeks preggo now and the baby is a foot long and weighs just over a pound!

It's a...

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Tue, 13 May 2008 10:31:00 +0000

Girl!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It took 40 minutes to get her to uncross her legs and show us 'the money shot' (as the tech called it) and I really thought we were going to be on the "green team" until delivery, but she was finally able to get her to cooperate. I am THRILLED to be having a little girl and can't wait to see her when she makes her debut (due date is still October 11th as she was measuring right on for 18 weeks 2 days). Dh is a little bummed that he's not going to get a boy (we only want one at this point), but I know he will change his thinking and be excited in no time. I have lots of pics, but I need to get to work and then hope that the internet at home cooperates later so I can upload them to attach. I just didn't want to keep everyone hanging, so I thought I'd post this quick to share the good news.

For now I will leave you with a pic of bedding we bought yesterday for the nursery. It's by Kidsline called "Birdsong" and I'm so in love with it :)

Hotdog or Cheeseburger?

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Mon, 12 May 2008 03:40:00 +0000

This is just a quick post (since the viruses on my pc are FINALLY letting me get online for the first time in weeks) to say that I am so so so so soooooooo excited because tomorrow we are having an ultrasound and will hopefully find out if this bebe is a boy or a girl! Can't wait and really hope the lil pumpkin cooperates and shows off the goods because we are dying to know! Our families and friends are all on pins and needles, so hopefully tomorrow afternoon we will have some definitive news to share. Neither one of us really cares what the sex is (obviously the first thing we care about is a healthy baby), but as far as gut-feelings go, I think it's a boy and Jason thinks it's a girl. Not sure why, exactly, but we both think we are right and I can't wait to see who is. The pregnancy ticker I have on my myspace a couple of weeks ago said that an ultrasound would soon tell whether the baby has a hotdog or a cheeseburger...we thought that was hilarious as did my fam, hence the subject of the post. Hopefully I'll be able to get online soon to share the news, but I'd love to hear some predictions while you wait :)

7 deadly sins--I mean 7 Random Things

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 19:25:00 +0000

Knitterista tagged me, so here goes...

1 - I hate feet, but love love love baby feet. I mean, I wear sandals all summer and love to be barefoot, but I can't really stand to look at adult feet for long...they always just seem yucky to me and I don't really get people who have foot fetishes. However, show me a newborn or any lil one, really, and I can't help but unwrap the swaddle, remove the socks and look at those cute lil toes.

2 - I'm trying to become a self-proclaimed queen of the crock pot. Thinking now that I'm having a baby, I should probably try to become a little more domesticated (just w/ the cooking, not so much the cleaning so far...one step at a time, right?) and cook more meals at home as opposed to eating out most nights. But by the time I get home from work, the last thing I want to do is prepare a big meal from start to finish. Well...I found that it takes very little effort to toss some meat and whatever else into the slow cooker either in the morning or at lunchtime (I live around the corner from my office, so I walk home to visit the puggers on most days). Then, when I get home, not only does the house smell like food (a welcome change), but it takes no time to throw together a side dish and a veggie (I cheat and use alot of prepared or semi-prepared stuff...like I said...one step at a time) and call it a meal. Plus, then hubby is grateful and usually cleans up, which I really don't like doing either.

3 - I have a hard time typing short, to the point emails and posts. I mean, my friends can all send me quick little emails here and there telling me what needs to be said, but for some reason, I tend to be quite long-winded when it comes to my correspondence. Not really sure why, but I've tried to be more to the point, and it just doesn't seem to work.

4 - I can't stand eating at a tv tray (sometimes we eat at the dining room table, and other times we eat in the living room in front of the tube) if the hubby is watching something that I don't care for. I feel like it ruins my meal if I'm not engaged in something on the screen when I'm in front of it. This drives DH crazy cuz that basically means I have control of the tv whenever we are eating in front of it, but I feel like I'm wasting my good meal or something if there's something boring on, like sports that I'm not into, or something on the History Channel (I rarely find something on that channel that engages me, not sure why).

5 - I usually avoid people I know when I'm out shopping. It's not that I don't like talking to acquaintances, but for some reason, just not really while I'm shopping. If I see someone I know (close family and friends excluded), I will generally dodge them at most costs. Sometimes I think it's rude, but I have talked to other friends who do the same thing, so I guess it's just who I am.

6 - I am a girl of MANY collections. I've always been that way...when I was younger, it was seals (like the cute figurines and stuffed animals...I think it's cuz I did an independent study on them in like 4th grade or something, so people just started buying them for me), then it switched to frogs (I still display this collection in my home, although I haven't really added to it in years), then there's the knitting, knitting books, cookbooks (which reminds me - I need to look for the slow cooker one I know I bought years ago and never really used...), socks (I love any kind of cutesy cool socks and wear mostly maryjane shoes so I can show them off)...the list goes on and on.

7 - I have some kind of weird cleaning A.D.D. Like anytime I'm cleaning my house, I get VERY easily distracted. I'll be cleaning away in the kitchen and see something that belongs upstairs, so I'll grab it to take up, abandoning the kitchen, then grab a few more things to take up along the way, and before I know it, I'm upstairs cleaning the bathroom with a pile of stuff in the hallway that belongs in the office, bedroom, etc. Sometimes it takes me awhile to make it back down to the kitchen, so the rooms in the house very often get only halfway done.

Ok, there's my randomness. I won't tag anyone specifically, but would love it if you feel like playing along. Leave me a comment so I know to check yours out. Thanks for tuning in (hope you all don't think I'm a total weirdo now, or any more of one than you already did lol)! :)

Friday Smiles

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 10:49:00 +0000

What is it about these cuties that makes everyone have to smile??

freebies - true lemon, plus an update on the pumpkin

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 12:28:00 +0000

just signed up to get some freebies and found out that if i blog about the deal, i'll get even more. so here goes...

Get your free samples of True Lemon here.

Plus, if you are a blogger, you'll want to take note of this note from Tammy:

I read about this deal in the True Lemon e-newAnyone who blogs about True Lemon free samples and links to their free sample page can get 15 free packets of True Lemon/Lime/Orange for doing so! Just email them with the link to your blog post and give them your name and address. Oh, and you get to choose which flavors you want, too! :)

The free sample page to link to is: http://truelemon.com/gratitude-sample.html

And the email address to contact them is: customercare AT truelemon DOT com.

i got this link from this site and might be posting more of these things in the future. hope they aren't too annoying, but i love me some freebies and am gonna be looking to save money wherever i can (definitely on my mind these days, especially when i stop in the baby sections when i'm shopping and see how much diapers cost - YIKES! ;))

ps - speaking of baby, here's an update: went to the doctor after a spotting/cramping scare at about 10 weeks and had an u/s...all is well and had my next appointment this past wednesday. we got to hear the heartbeat and it was the most amazing thing ever! baby is doing great, i'm at 13 weeks today, and the morning sickness is so far not letting up, but actually getting worse. hopefully it won't be much longer, but i'm hanging in there. like all of my mom friends keep telling me, it'll all be worth it in the end! here's some pics of our lil pumpkin from the 10wk-ish appt...