It's Pancake Tuesday!

Last night was our Baby Basic I class. There were more people attending than I thought would be. As an intro, we went around the room saying our names, our due date, OB and other stuff. Since we were told to take the class at 20 weeks I figured everyone might be due earlier than us. Was I wrong! Most of the couples were due in March or April! There were only three that were due in June. One at the end of June, us and then the last couple having a boy due the same day as us. That was pretty cool.

This session was two hours long. The first hour was all about breastfeeding vs. bottle. There were pretty good arguments for and against both. I even learned quite a few things. They also went over proper positioning for feeding and burping. And touched on introducting solids and new foods. Next week is the second class. A pediatrician is coming in to talk to the group. I'm glad we took the class. Kevin even wondered if there is something similar for adoptive parents. We would have been lost if not!

A good thing about the class is that Kevin and I talked about if we wanted to breastfeed or do formula. He and his sister were breastfed and cloth diapered. Mum has been very odd whenever we mention formula or disposable diapers or anything that wasn't how she did it. So I figured Kevin would be totally gung ho about breastfeeding. But it turns out that he's not. He wants to do a combination (that would be mainly breastfeeding) that would allow him to feed GV occasionally and give me breaks. Sounds like a plan to me. Also because of Chicken's wedding we would need to figure something out for that evening. Next is the diapers dicussion.

Even though I knew Lent was coming up, I completely forgot about Pancake Tuesday. Ever since Kevin came here we've been celebrating it. Luckily we remembered before we left for our agility class so we were able to get the pancake batter done. Part of the fun of making the pancakes and trying to flip them in the pan. I don't always make it, but I'll get another try tonight!

New Years Day +1

Hope everyone had a great New Year's! We didn't do much of anything. Kevin doesn't really like going out(side) for NYE and we didn't get invited to any parties this year :(. But seeing as I only lasted until 11:15pm it was probably a good thing. Kevin made it all the way to midnight and woke me up to let me know but then I fell straight back asleep.
We did some shopping yesterday and I bought maternity jeans! Can you believe it?! Now I own three pairs! Anyways I tried them on at the store and I was kind of surprised how low the belly band came down. I don't think I'll be able to wear my regular shirts/blouses with them. I saw some cute stuff on sale but pessimistic me didn't want to commit to anything other than the jeans until after Monday's appt. I find right before my appts my doubts and fears get even stronger. Especially since I still have no outward signs that I'm still pregnant. Even the hunger has subsided for the most part even though all the books say it should be growing.
Today I had our first indoor soccer game. We lost 6-3 but I had three different girls scoring so that was nice. Also the girls I had in goal aren't usually goalkeepers, but they both played really well. So did the whole team actually. Next week's game is at 7:00 AM! Yikes!

Vacation Plans

For the past several years Kevin and I have been using our vacations to visit family or go on vacation with family, in fact we haven't even had our honeymoon. Since our wedding was a destination wedding for everyone we didn't think it was right to take off for a honeymoon right away. So the plan was to spend a week here in RVA with everyone and then the following week go on our honeymoon. And then I got a full time job and so there was no way I was going to be able to get 2 1/2 - 3 weeks off within my first 6 months. So we pushed off our honeymoon till March. Kevin's grandfather died in February and so the time off (& money) we were going to use for our trip was instead used for a last minute trip to the UK. So we settled on going away for our 1 year anniversary. Then Kevin's parents decided that they wanted to come visit us over the summer, but wanted to go somewhere else in the States besides coming to RVA. The remainder of our vacation time went to that as well as the 5 days we used for Christmas in England. And then myMom wanted us to go to Colorado (where Wiki lives) for 4th of July. Kevin mentioned the trip to his parents and told them that they could come too.
After thinking about it a while one evening I told Kevin that I would rather the vacation we took in 2009 be just the two of us and somewhere not in the USA. He suggested Egypt as he's always wanted to go there. We decided to do it in the spring as soon as we had the days saved up and so that if for *some* reason we need more time in the fall we would have it available.
Over the holidays Kevin, Mum and I were sitting in the living room when Kevin asks me again, "So you don't want to go the Colorado for 4th of July right?" Immediately Mum pipes up complaining that she thought her and Dad were going to Colorado with us. Then she asks why we're not going and Kevin stops talking. Eventually I get to tell her that we've decided to go to Egypt in the spring. Of course she starts complaining about if we're going away then when are they going to see us and all that. She knows that we trade off Christmas so that we won't be coming over in December 2009. Well apparently every time she calls she complains to Kevin that they're not going to see us this year and such. And now I think Kevin is wavering on our trip. I've told him to tell his parents that they can visit us whenever they want, we'll just not be able to do more than an extended weekend and most likely be working some days that they'll be here. Is this unfair? Does anyone spend all their vacation visiting family (or them visiting you?) I was willing to not go on my family trip this year so that Kevin and I could have our vacation together. I'm going to be really annoyed if Kevin backs out because of Mum.

It's like Christmas day...

but better! And why? Because tonight Kevin and I are exchanging gifts finally. Because we were out of the country for Christmas, it seemed wasteful to carry our unwrapped Christmas presents over, wrap them, unwrap them and bring them back. So Kevin and I decided that we would exchange gifts today on the Feast of the Three Kings. I've got a few last minute gifts to get on my way home and then we'll open all our gifts up and then take down all the Christmas decorations. Also the good thing about waiting till today to exchange gifts is that you can hit all the after Christmas sales so that should mean double the amount of gifts, right? Well maybe. Kevin and I did take one gift each to exchange on Christmas. He got me a Gorillapod.
This truly has to be one of the best Christmas gifts he's ever given me! We've used it tons of times already and if you know a photo fanatic, this is really a gift they're going to LOVE! I got a red one to go with my red camera. Yes, I like the color red.

Happy Happy New Year!

I hope everyone had a great time last night and good day today. Hopefully not a lot of hangovers! Although since most of my readers are TTC, I doubt that's an issue. Kevin and I went on our traditional New Year's Day hike with the dogs. We usually take a photo as well but I left the memory card in my computer at work and so the photo we took this year isn't really that good. Also we went later in the day so Kevin was anxious to get back because the sun was setting.

Great news today! Andrea got a New Year's BFP! I'm so excited for her as she's been waiting a long time for this. Please keep her in your prayers and congratulations again Andrea!

Party Poopers

That's me and Kevin tonight. Ever since we moved to RVA, Kevin and I usually go down to an area called Carytown with our friends and ring in the New Year with a bottle. Tonight however partly due to the new cover charge, the sub-freezing temperatures and the high wind advisory, not to mention my illness, we're catching up on our DVR and splitting screen time between Carson and Dick & Ryan. But for everyone else, I hope you're having the perfect New Year's Eve no matter how you are celebrating it. All the best for 2009!

A Pleasant Surprise

Tonight when Kevin got home from doing the grocery shopping, he asked me why there were flowers on our porch. I went out there to look and I saw this big arrangement of beautiful white flowers sitting next to our door. I brought them inside and opened up the card. It read "Merry Christmas Love From J, L & S." Kevin's uncle, aunt, and cousin. I was kind of distraught to receive this as we had pretty much ignored his aunt and uncle this Christmas season. There's a lot of family drama behind this but long story short, this spring Auntie L decided that she (and her family) wanted nothing more to do with her sister (Mum). Auntie L lives in the same small village. Everyone knows everyone and it just killed Mum that people outside the family would know about the problems between Mum and Auntie L. Anyways a little while later, cousin M and his wife S told Mum that they never wanted to cut off all contact and cousin S said the same. This was back in May/June and true to her word Auntie L hasn't spoken or even seen Mum since then. Needless to say, Kevin is very upset with Auntie L and so this Christmas Kevin specifically told me not to send them a card. While we were in England, he didn't want to go visit with them. When we got the mail yesterday, I found a Christmas card from them. So I know that I'm going to have to write thank you note for the flowers but I'm not really sure what to say. I know I should have sent them a card especially since SIL said that she had received a card from them. Anyways, as Kevin said when we were reading the card, "Well this is a interesting development." Pfft.

Since Christmas

I know that I have been woefully bad at posting on this blog and on leaving comments on other people's blogs and for this I'm really sorry. I wish I could say that it was due to my being extremely busy but sadly this isn't the case. Usually when I'm unable to get on the internet to post, I'll still write a bit and then just post it later or the next day. That was largly what I was doing over the Christmas week so that's why there would be nothing and then 2 or 3 posts in one day. But since Christmas I've just been lazy, so these next few posts are going to be updated as soon as I've written each post - yes I'm going to try to get them all up today.

Happy Crimbo!

Hope you and your families are having a fantastic Christmas with lots of pressies and plenty of good cheer! Every time I visit I tend to pick up a new piece of slang and this year it's "Happy Crimbo!" Kevin's family is located near Liverpool (yes Kev's been accused of sounding like one of the Beatles) and did you know that Liverpudlians have their own accent and dialect? Five points if you can guess the name of it.

In Sunny Florida

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!! Kevin and I are currently in Florida, visiting my parents. We had turkey and ham (cause I don't like turkey), stuffing, gravy, maple carrots, mashed potatoes and cranberry salsa. The salsa that my mom makes is awesome. I'll be sure to post the recipe later. I'm so thankful that Kev and I were able to come down and spend this time with our family (especially after the whole JetBlue fiasco).

Speaking of traveling, I'm kind of excited because Kevin and I might go skiing for New Years! At first we didn't think we'd be able to do anything cause Kevin was going to have to work on New Years Day, but now he's been told that he won't have to. Yay! So now I have to muster up the courage to ask for the day off after I'll have been off the whole week previous. Hmmm.

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween! Halloween is probably one of my favorite holidays - a sentiment shared by my BFF, Chicken. Once I decided to stop Trick or Treating (the last time was when I was a Senior in college), Wiki and I would do elaborate set ups at my parents house complete with scarecrows, fog machines and scary sounds/music. It was great fun. I was looking forward to continuing the tradition once I got to my own house.

However while the neighborhood we live in can get quite festive (you should see #36's house), we don't seem to get that many trick or treaters. The first year I think we had four or five groups of 2-3 kids each. Last year we had more, but still nothing like at my parent's house. This year we only had about 25-30 kids come. Kev and I always do a tally of the costumes and although Darth Vader has always been a strong contender, this year we had only one. We did have 3 Boba Fetts though. I think the winner this year was the 6 witches we had.

All in all, a good night plus a lot of yummy candy left over!