24 weeks

how far along? 24 weeks 1 day

total weight gain: i havent stepped on the scale in like 3 weeks. 
babys size/development this week: over a foot long (craaaazy), over a pound (almost a pound and a half), says its the size of an ear of corn
maternity clothes: got new jeans at gap... didnt care that the price tag read $69.95 (although really? that seems pricey) was going to buy them anyway cuz i liked the way they felt and looked... rang up at $35. win.
sleep: ive slept great this week, minus ty stealing all the covers. and ive been watching waaaay too much sons of anarchy... such.weird.dreams!
miss anything? not really anything new
movement? all the time, love it.
food cravings? ive been having a bowl of cracklin oat bran every day. that stuffs expensive but ill buy it, i love it.
daddy is feeling: (love adding this... from tiffany) daddy LOVES my irritability and my ability to cry over nothing. hes learned that i need the kitchen towels to be folded and put back after use, he really enjoys being reminded to clean the cat box... hehe. hes still unsure whether he thinks its a boy or girl, but is enjoying feeling the kicks every night.
anything making you queasy or sick? nope
best moment of the week: my dad came to visit, got to see my brothers directing debut, visited with my favorite nephew (who showed me all about how to use the becco baby carrier!), and who doesnt love jalapenos and cream cheese on pizza!

name ideas: i love the names we've picked out. so far no one else has told us thats what they are naming their new arrival. they are not names on the top whatever list of 2012. its not facebook or hashtag or apple or anything. im excited for the baby to get here so i know which one its going to be!
wedding rings on or off? on
mood: im overall pretty happy. i had good workouts this week, great time spent with my running BFF, quality time spent at home watching SOA & always sunny in philadelphia with ty 
nursery: got the rocker all set up... read about that in my last post, the great target chair debacle 
workouts for the week: 8 miles running, 10.3 miles walking, 1 mile elliptical, 8 miles biking 

the great target chair debacle

so theres this place i go pretty much any day that i can. one might say im addicted, but i have a feeling im not the only person out there in this world that feels this way. i love it. my checkbook hates it. my husband doesnt understand the obsession (but usually knows where to find me when ive been gone for awhile). i think you may have heard of it before...

now, i am not totally against walmart (although it is 2 miles further down the street), but i feel like there are things at target that walmart doesnt have (ill admit i havent taken the time to really check the differences). target has almost everything i need, and now that our local store has groceries its like your one stop store for ALL THE THINGS (which of course i buy)! and then they added this:

why would one ever leave?!

so like i said, i go there a lot. id be surprised if my store didnt have me on some top shopper of the year calendar or something (if that happens ill need to start shopping in some better clothes than my sweatpants...). im still waiting for the call to model their athletic clothing in the fliers.

m sure youll agree that the store is laid out pretty perfectly. i usually go in for toilet paper or cat/dog food... but those things are at the end right near the registers (when you walk in on the left), and it feels weird to walk in and go left (we do live in a right minded world...) so whats on the right when i walk in? clothes! and i love targets clothes! right now there are specifically bathing suits directly as you enter, which i am in NO shape or color to try on at this time, but i do like to look. sadly i have to skip over the cute clothes and go to maternity but how convenient, they are next in line! and across from that.... athletic wear. genius. i pretty much own every color in these fabulous wonders:

and ill buy two when they go on sale for $12.99

what comes next... baby section. its no wonder we already have so much stuff....

my cart is usually pretty well stocked at this point and remember? i only came here for toilet paper and cat/dog food. this happens every damn time! halfway through the store i might realize i dont need a new laundry basket and track back through the store to return it (yes, i am one who brings the things back to their rightful place. i know people have jobs to do this sort of thing but it bugs me to find things out of place. carts outside that arent in the little corrals too... dont get me started). anyway, on my trip back to bring the unneeded laundry basket back ill be sure to find some throw pillow that would look great on the bed that i missed the first time through... its truly a vicious cycle.

walking through the food secion is terrible when/if im hungry (when am i not?) then onto beauty supplies (ha, skip), candles and house cleaning items that we already have a zillion of but sure, we can always use more! i get stuck in the card section for a while, finding the perfect card to send someone "just because". and finally onto the registers, where i check out, take everything i didnt come for out to the car, drive home, unpack, and realize i didnt get toilet paper or cat/dog food. every. damn. time. so that means i get to go back! and on the off chance that i did remember to buy what i actually went to target for, i still end up with about $50 worth of things that i didnt go there for, and inevitably i later find the coupons that i had in my jacket pocket to use on the things i went there for that i forgot to give to the cashier.

alright, so anyway... i love target. we know this. but last week had to be the most ridiculous chain of events i have ever had there. my mom and i have been eyeing a rocker/glider for the nursery for about a month or two now. we had painted the nursery gray last summer and we have all white furniture so i knew i wanted something to match along with those colors. and when we saw this rocker, i instantly fell in love.

must be mine.

priced at $199.99 i felt that was fairly reasonable, i sat in it and it felt comfortable, but when we saw it that first day we didnt buy it and decided to shop around a little more. babies r us has one that was similar but cost more and wasnt any more comfortable. my mom went back to target one day after we had seen the chair and it was marked on sale for $179.99 so she decided she would take it. she got someone to come over and help her, and they told her that the chair was no longer on sale and she would have to buy it at its original price. annoying... take the sale price off the chair then, thanks. they did tell her to keep checking back though since the chair would most likely go on sale again. yeah, cuz we have the time to just keep checking back (hehe, fine, we come here every day. no big deal).

the chair continued to be its original price for weeks and we eventually started thinking we would just buy the damn thing and stop obsessing over $20 savings. fast forward to last saturday when mom and i went out shopping. i dont think we even needed to go to target for anything but alas, there we were walking through the door. "lets just go buy the chair since were here". ok!

and this is what we found:

$139.99. boom.

so we called the sales associate over, he took off for the back stockroom to get our chair and about a half hour later came back with the most mangled looking box you have ever seen. he brought it up to customer service with us, where the chair rang up at $199.99. after some research and a manager going back to see the clearance sticker, we got the chair for the sale price. miraculously this mangled box the size of a house fit in the back of my moms new car perfectly, ty brought the box up to the nursery, and all was grand.

until i went to set it up. i opened the mangled box and it was the wrong damn chair. brown wood, brown cushion. ugh. (im sure if i did futher looking the chair was probably broken too)

$160.98... not sure why the color difference makes it more expensive on clearance

ty loaded up the box into the truck and we headed back to target, a sales associate came out and got the box, brought it back inside and went to search for the right chair. which they of course didnt have. my mom had taken the receipt with her so i couldnt return the chair... we loaded it back up into the truck and took it home. i called four stores to try to find the right chair, finally finding it in salem, new hampshire which is an hour and a half away. they told me it was on clearance so they couldnt hold it, nor would they let my mom buy it over the phone (which i still think is weird...). did we really want to take the chance of driving all that way to find that its the wrong chair or that they didnt have any more? (and they also wouldnt ship it to my store). we then remembered a friend of ours lives right near that store and called to see if he would mind going to pick it up... luckily we have nice friends and he didnt mind. thanks brett!

the next day ty got the chair back into the truck and my mom came to meet me at target and we returned it (and then walked around the store and bought more things, shocking). later that morning brett called: "so i went to target this am... they had the chair. on sale. no sales tax. $99."

seriously? get your shit together target! but haha! win.

brett brought the chair up to maine and dropped it off to ty this week. ill say i was a little nervous to open the box, thinking it was probably a hot pink bean bag chair or something (which i may have been ok with), but alas, the chair was ours.

love. 

23 weeks

how far along? 23 weeks
total weight gain: actually stayed the same this week, thanks to actually getting off my ass and going to the gym/actually running again
babys size/development this week: measuring around 1 foot in length and about 1lb 5oz. its lungs are preparing to take in oxygen on their own.
maternity clothes: bought a new tshirt and a larger sports bra. lovely. (of course its electric hot pink!)
sleep: i got so much sleep this week, including two afternoon 3 hour naps haha
miss anything? being able to walk up a flight of stairs without getting winded
movement? backflips and hiccups this week i think
food cravings? hot fudge sundaes mmmmmm
anything making you queasy or sick? nooooope. well, this article that michelle posted on her blog didnt sit very well haha. gross.
best moment of the week: really felt good getting back into working out every day and not feeling so damn lazy (pregnant) all the time.
name ideas: chips for a girl, duke for a boy. oh wait... we already used those... damn it. back to the drawing board.
wedding rings on or off? back on! picked them up today... well actually they are off at the moment because i used bleach to clean the bathroom and now forgot to put them back on. oops.
mood: excited for the pats game today! 
nursery: oh man this is going to be a whole blog post in itself... the past two days ive been to target 4 times to deal with this rocker/glider i wanted... what a shit show. (all in all we finally got it... in new hampshire... for $100 off what we were originally going to pay. and no sales tax!) 
miles run this week: 15! woo hoo! and thats if i dont go again this afternoon, which im still debating. shocking. * update * i ran another 3.6 miles, such a beautiful day! 18.6 total running miles for the week, 5 miles walking, 4 miles on the elliptical, 6 miles biking. 3 hot fudge sundaes, 2 BLTs. this was a good week.
quotes of the week: "the baby is a foot in length? how is that possible? and where is it?", "um whoa, youre pregnant", "im not yelling. he would know if i was yelling. i yell in ALL CAPS!" 

** baby pool **

gonna keep putting this up there to remind ya.... anyone want in on the baby pool that we started? $1 per guess (limit of 5 guesses)... winner gets half, baby gets half! you guess the sex, the delivery date (due date is may 19th), and the weight (extra info: i was born a month early and weighed 5 pounds 13 oz, ty... although extremely tall now, weighed in at 8 pounds 1 oz). leave a comment below with your guesses, ill figure out how to do the money later.

winter running style

as much as i would love to deny it, winter in maine is here in full effect. and that means winter running. sure, there are days when the roads are too slippery and the wind chill below zero is just too damn cold for even hardcore me (haha, right) to run outside, in which case ill either sleep in, skip my run, or complain for a few miles on the dumb treadmill (see, so hardcore). but most often ill brave the weather, bundle up, and head out on the road to get some miles in. 

fact. unless youre pregnant. then you should just stay inside and nest all winter, right?

this past friday i met up with michelle to run a few miles around portland before an appointment she had down this way (all in favor of her moving down here.... yes please!) upon waking up that morning the temperature read 7 degrees and with the wind chill "feels like -2". awesome. 

i love trying to con people OUT of running...

but like the badass hardcore chicks we are, off we went. we started out on the back cove path, but quickly made our way onto the road since the path was full of snow/ice/slush. my face was freezing for the first mile or so but after we started sweating i actually felt like i was way overdressed and started peeling off layers.

apaprently the right way to run in the winter...
(please note the hat and gloves match)

sports bra, sweatshirt, hat, top layer, bottom layer, neck warmer, two pairs of gloves, running tights, sweatpants... i think i got that whole layers thing covered...

and i look like a fool about to rob a bank. but i was warm! 

and my hat/gloves match, style win.

1. check (x a lot)! 2. check! 3. check! 4 check! 5. check!

win!

overall we had a great run, despite the cold and wind. michelle was waaaaay more stylish than i was (not surprising... a lot of my clothes dont fit anymore... yeah thats my excuse). we had some great conversations about pneumonia and the lovely act of giving birth (barf). got in 5 miles and really felt great.

a little but more stylish here...

(i know im not running but snowshoeing is a great winter exercise!)

a chilly winter run last year... and we matched!

smartly dressed winter runners... and very bright!

luckily my next race is in sunny tampa florida at the end of february... http://www.tampabayrun.com/ where ill be sporting my new tank top and capris!

22 weeks and baby pool!

how far along? 22 weeks, 2 days
total weight gain: 17 pounds. seriously, this is starting to bug me... i know it shouldnt but...
babys size/development this week: this week the baby is the size of a spaghetti squash (which reminds me of katie and all her experiments with squash recipes last year haha). lips, eyelids, and eyebrows are becoming more distinct, and tiny tooth buds are developing beneath the gums. approximate length 11 inches and 1lb in weight. 
maternity clothes: i think im going to need new jeans... or just continue living in my sweatpants. sexy. 
sleep: slowly getting better, im not getting up at all hours of the night to pee which is nice (im sure thats still coming)
miss anything? long distance running
movement? all. the. TIME! and i love it now. well minus when im trying to fall asleep, but ill take it over no movement at all.
food cravings? currently wanting BLTs all the time.
anything making you queasy or sick? nope
best moment of the week: finally feeling better, getting 10 hours of sleep sat night, pats win, and seeing family/friends last weekend!
name ideas: were back to the original picks we came up with... but our list still has 6 girls names and 9 boys names, just incase haha (not incase we have more than one baby in there, i promise its only one...)
wedding rings on or off? still off... im looking forward to having them back in my possession in 2 weeks
mood: ive felt better. 22 is my favorite number and i was really hoping to have a great week this week... so im trying to change my attitude. work has been crazy hectic with everyone having the flu but that has settled down. im not as tired and am trying not to get so down about the weight gain and lack of running... its just very different for me.

nursery: nothing new but got a few clothes hangers so i could get the clothes in the closet. mom and i are going shopping this weekend to get a mattress for the crib. and we started our registry (holy overwhelming!)

miles run this week: 3. another fail. this week will be more... starting today, and then looking forward to a few miles friday with michelle!

** baby pool **

would anyone like in on the baby pool that we started? its $1 per guess (limit of 5 guesses)... winner gets half, baby gets half! you guess the sex, the delivery date (my due date is may 19th), and the weight (extra info: i was born a month early and weighed 5 pounds 13 oz, ty... although extremely tall now, weighed in at 8 pounds 1 oz). just leave a comment below with your guesses, ill figure out how to do the money later.

21 weeks

how far along? 21 weeks
total weight gain: more than i would like... back to the gym asap
babys size/development this week: baby has gone from banana (last week... mmmm bananas) to a carrot this this week. our last ultrasound had it measuring at 14oz and 55th percentile for size. i guess thats good?
maternity clothes: got a few pairs of pants from my friend amy (thanks!) and ive prety much been living in my new sweatpants (victorias secret, not maternity) that i got for xmas since i was sick all week
sleep: i have slept SO MUCH this week. getting over 8 hour each night, a 2.5 hour nap during the day... this cold has wiped me out. sleeping on my side has become more comfortable
miss anything? ham and cheese sandwich cravings are back. one wont hurt me, right?
movement? all the time! mostly when i lie down to go to sleep. ty felt it kick for the first time the day after christmas, and its getting so strong now. very cool, and weird. and awesome.
food cravings? cocoa puffs. seriously, what is it with this whole chocolate thing? ive never really been a chocolate person!
anything making you queasy or sick? nope
best moment of the week: seeing the baby again on the ultrasound and hearing the heartbeat
name ideas: went back and forth on the girls name... changed it to something else, then went back to the original name. boys name hasnt changed.
nursery: put the crib together today! and we braved babies r us (that place overwhelms me!) and added a few things to our registry today.

miles run this week: 3. big fat stupid fail. and i really struggled on those three miles. but i was sick, and still got in like 3 walking miles and 9 miles on the eliptical so theres that.
wedding rings on or off? still no ring (getting fixed), should be back jan 29th.
mood: other than being sick im in a pretty good mood.

what does the future hold?

since everyone else is writing their upcoming 2013 epic year race plans and im all "yeah my marathon this year will be pushing a bowling ball out of a..." (well you get the idea...) im just slightly jealous of it all. but ill be back. oh, i will be back. i am not running a lot these days but im happy i still can run. and im trying to maintain some level of fitness so that i dont have to take months getting myself back in shape after the baby arrives. i know i wont be as fast as i was this year, but i would like to stay strong. i really love running, and this year has taught me a lot about myself and my running, and i am definitely missing that time out on the road now more than ever.

current plans for this year include:

beach 2 beacon 10k august 3rd (well, if i can get in... registration last year closed in like 6 minutes. not kidding)
maine half marathon or smuttynose half marathon october 6th
mdi marathon october 20th (just running for fun. and going to convince michelle to do it with me. go bug her about it)

races i would love to do someday (so i guess its like my race bucket list)

-goofys challenge
  ive said i have wanted to do this for many years. i remember standing amongst the crowd of 18,000 other runners before the disney half marathon in 2007, and i asked a guy what his race bib meant that said "goofys challenge" on it. i thought he was insane. i had never run a marathon at this time (disney was actually only my 4th half), and after each one of those halfs i could barely walk, let alone fathom running a marathon the next day. now im crazy enough to think i could do it. and actually enjoy it. i still think its stupid they dont give you access to the park afterwards though, and you have to be there at like 330am... and its still hot in january in florida... and its a lot of highway running... why is this on my list again?

-bermuda triangle challenge
  sarah and i are going to take a vacation together. anyone else coming for girls weekend?

-chicago marathon
  still trying to convince jeri and sam for some year... and i know ill stay with meg. right?

-rev 3 oob 70.3
  this is one of two 2014 goals. i was able to volunteer at the finish line of this race this past summer, and what a great time i had! i am looking forward to doing that again this year.

-great cranberry island 50k
  this is also a for sure 2014 goal

-operation jack marathon
  and then head to the rose bowl parade with jeri

-and, as crazy as it may sound after last years distaster/puke fest, id like to try around the lake marathon once more. thats probably a really stupid idea, but ive never been one to make the smartest of decisions. sara, youre in again too right?

its not a huge list, and im ok with that (these races are getting awfully pricey!) nyc is no longer on that list. san francisco nike womens marathon sounds fun but again, i have to think about my family and sadly about money. and boston... who doesnt love running boston. as much as i would enjoy the experience, i just dont know if its do-able. i love the races around here and will stick to doing many of those, as well as ones for charities that mean something to me vs traveling far away just to run a marathon. but of course if i happen to be on a vacation with ty in a place that just so happens to have a marathon... well that might just be ok.

what are some of your bucket list races? any that i should consider adding? :)

remembering 1/1/11

a perfect rehearsal dinner shirt

trying to play it off cool but really was scoping out the nearest
exit (flower pot) incase i was going to be sick...

felt sick at rehearsal dinner due to the previous nights bachelorette party
(pretty sure i drank that entire pitcher)

and took many shots

that i clearly loved

we had sweet transportation (who needs a limo?!)

and i somehow managed to stay sober for new years eve

so stylish (and tired)

the boys took a plunge new years day to support a great cause

my girls

the boys

mmmm
maple cake on the bottom, carrot cake on the top

ty found the dj passed out in his car
so we took over

view #1

view #2

/
view #1

view #2
(this pic cracks me up)

things like * this * happened...

because of things like this

classssssy
side note: i do miss bud light...

love all these memories