Fun Thursday with the Spouse!

1) We went to our second prenatal appointment at 10:30. I forgot that they would need to take a urine sample, so I went right before we left the house. They only got about two drops but they said it was enough (sigh of relief). Our midwife Beverly is awesome! I was really nervous about her finding the heartbeat at this appointment. She found it within about five seconds at said everything sounded great. The heart rate was 145 bpm, done from 176 bpm at our last appointment. I'm still immune to chicken pox and German measles (good to know since I am surrounded by children all day at work), and I also got to find out my blood type. All seems well except for my iron being a little low. She suggested lots of red meat and green leafy vegetables. That won't be a problem because you certainly do not have to twist my husband's arm when it comes to steak - he always finds the best cuts and grills them better than I have ever had in any restaurant. Oh, I also might have to do the 24 hour urine collection test (boo) but I'm not going to worry about that until it gets here.

I really don't want to tote one of these around for 24 hours. We'll see what happens.

2) Nick and I ventured to downtown Charlotte to run an errand...but first we stopped at Hasaki Grill and Sushi for lunch. We both had hibachi steak with mushrooms, rice, and glazed carrots - divine! Nick was really excited to take me to Hasaki because he helped plumb this restaurant. While we were eating he showed me some pictures on his phone of what the property looked like while it was being remodeled...what a difference! I am so proud of my husband and I'm glad that he finds satisfaction in his work. We enjoy visiting restaurants that he has worked on once they are finished, and this is definitely one of my favorites so far. He's currently helping add a wing onto a hospital...doubt we'll eat there when the project is complete, haha.

Hasaki Grill and Sushi - Corner of South Church Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd, go get you some!

3) Now for the all-important errand...we picked up our car seat and stroller today! We pre-ordered them from Babies R Us this weekend. We decided the Baby Trend Expedition ELX Travel System in Everglade. I have been searching for car seats with extra neck support to protect from side impact collisions, and we also knew we wanted something neutral that we can hopefully reuse with younger siblings down the road. I have had my eye on this set for a while but Nick was not on board - he thought three wheel strollers looked weird. Our friend Tara at Sweet Pea & Chocolate recently purchased this stroller in black and took it to the park this weekend. When Nick saw how much easier it was to maneuver than a traditional four wheel stroller (we were playing frisbee golf along a trail in the woods - think roots, stumps, and lots of hills) he was sold!

I think this will be just right!

Once we got home I inhaled half a cantaloupe...love warm weather and fresh produce! All in all we had a great day :)

Hello world...it's been far too long!

I'm so sorry I haven't posted in almost two months! No, I didn't die, it's actually been very lively around the Byler household. A lot has changed since my last post...

Shrimpy the Yolk Sac Man!

That's right, we are expecting!!!

I am currently at 12 weeks and 3 days! Our family and friends have known for about 3-4 weeks, but I've been waiting to share this news with the blog world at large. Also, hugging the toilet and hibernating like a grizzly bear have consumed a lot of my time lately, so blogging hasn't been a major priority. My due date is September 23rd, which means it is going to be a long, hot summer. Oh well, I'm pretty sure I'll just be so ecstatic to be out of school that I won't be concerned with the heat (for a little while, at least).

Anywho...as for the nickname "Shrimpy the Yolk Sac Man", I have a funny (well, I think it's funny) story to share with you. When we went to my first appointment and saw the ultrasound, the midwife said the baby was "curled up like a shrimp" (see picture above). During the car ride home we started referring to the baby as "Shrimpy". Later on in the day, my husband and I discussed how babies are able to recognize voices while in the womb (obviously not this early on). We talked about how we plan to sing and read for the baby before he or she is born. Nick proceeded to create his own little song on the spot, to the tune of Billy Joel's "Piano Man". He started saying, "I'll sing you a song, little yolk sac man..." (he is positive that we are having a boy - typical man). We both cracked up, and the nickname "Shrimpy the Yolk Sac Man" was born.

We are heading back to the doctor for our second prenatal visit tomorrow! I thought about waiting until after then to break the news, but I'm so excited right now that I just had to let it all out.

There are so many things I want to talk about right now, but I don't have the energy or finger muscles required to type a novel at this moment, so I'm going to make a list of topics while they are on my mind, and I will get around to writing a post on each of them eventually.

1) Pregnancy After a Loss (x2)...My Thoughts

2) Reactions to Our Announcement

3) Are We Having a Miss or a Mister? Our Opinions

4) Prenatal Visit #2

5) Hunger Games book vs. movie review (obviously not until after 3/23 - box office day)

6)What I'm Reading

There will definitely be tons of posts that are not pregnancy related, but this is mainly what's on my mind at the moment. I don't plan for this to become strictly a "baby blog", as some folks I follow have mentioned... however, this blog is about my life and my family, and this is the biggest thing going on for us right now. That being said, I don't feel a need to justify venting and sharing about this 9 month miracle rollercoaster. I will probably be asking lots of questions and listening for advice from you, so help me out! Once I finish discussing the topics listed above, I plan on doing a weekly pregnancy update post, as well as writing about most other happenings day to day.

Just to prove I have not been hiding under a rock for the past two months, here are some pics of what else has been going on. Oh, I'm going to go ahead and apologize for the poor picture quality. My camera is almost six years old, but we are saving up for the baby, so for now I'm just going to work with what I have.

The birthday boy with his cake. Funfetti, of course!

Loving on a sick, sad puppy...

...Same dog, loving life after a trip to the park :)

   

    

Warm weather brings out the grill master in my husband...yum! (We've grilled out several times recently but my other pics don't want to post.)

Okay, I'm off to fold laundry...fun fun - NOT- and then I think I'm going to hit the sack. 

This momma is tired!