Damn, it was a good day

It's Sunday and the weekend is almost over, but it was a good one.  Amanda probably won't like me blogging about this, but it really had nothing to do with her being out of town.  Really.  There is no one I would rather spend time with.  So what did I do all weekend?  Nothing.  No commitments, except tennis on Saturday morning which I would like to forget about.  I sat outside the rest of the day on Saturday with my dog, smoking some ribs and brisket, listening to music and drinking cold beer in the shade.  It doesn't get any better than that.  I realize this may be the last weekend I ever have to do this before we have the baby.  I have to enjoy the free time while I can.  It's a small sacrifice in the long run, or so I've been told.  But for one weekend and to quote my boy Ice Cube, "Damn it was a good day."

What will it look like?

Jay and I have been doing a lot of talking about what this baby may look like.  We agree on a few things and disagree on others.  One thing we both agree on is that this baby will not have hair.  At least for a while.  Anyone who has seen Jay or who has seen my baby pictures knows that hair is not something we have an abundance of.  We think the baby will have very fair skin and probably won't be too big.  Jay hopes the baby has my eyes and I hope that the baby has his eyes. 

In the end, I think I know what it will look like.  It will look like a wrinkly little man (regardless of if it's a boy or girl) - who most closely resembles Jay.  All newborn babies seem to look like their dad and to be perfectly honest, most of them aren't very cute (no offense to the dads).  You know the saying, only a face a mother could love?  I'm pretty sure that is a result of seeing newborn babies.  I'm sure anyone reading this is thinking that I'm going to be a brutal mother.  And who knows, I very well may be.  But I will love my baby - even if it looks like a hairless, wrinkly, old man.

-AS

Fripp Island 2010

This was our first trip to Fripp Island and we had a great time. Not only did we get to see a bunch of Starr family, but the island was beautiful and our house was awesome - right on the beach. Thanks, Joe!

A little bump

And so it begins.  I'm getting a belly.  However, Jay and I are the only people that seem to notice it.  Everyone else keeps asking me where I'm hiding the baby.  It's in there, I promise.  I'm just in the awkward stage where people look at me and think I've downed a keg of beer and I'm bloated as opposed to having a baby in my belly.  I'm also in an awkward stage of clothing.  My pants are barely fastening and those belly bands don't really work on my work pants.  Oh well, if I stretch out my work pants I don't really care.  I've had most of them for at least 6 years and I bought them on sale so they've done their job and then some. 

We'll do our best to document the expanding belly over the next 5-6 months.  I wonder how big it will get?  I was 5.5 pounds when I was born and Jay was 7.  Maybe we'll land in the middle.  Six pounds sounds good to me!
-AS

Beach Bummed

It's never fun to leave the beach.  I always get that sinking feeling in my chest as soon as I wake up the morning of the last day.  The worst thing about this past trip to Fripp Island is that this could be our last trip to the beach for a long time.  If we have our baby in December, will we be comfortable taking the baby on a vacation by the end of the summer?  I sure hope so, but I don't know what's typical for families and babies.  I do love the ocean and we've been pretty fortunate in the places we get to stay in (see below).  Is this the beginning of the end of my "Jay Time" (I'll have to explain that term in another blog)?  No more trips to Napa, skiing or anywhere else for that matter - at least for a while.  I sound like a spoiled brat and maybe I am, but once you get used to something good it's hard to settle for less.  I hope that our kid(s) is able to travel like we've been able to do.  I've been lucky to see as my places as I have.  Maybe we'll make enough money to take some family trips and discover the finer things in life together...like the beach.

Pregnancy or Cold?

The funny and sometimes convenient thing about being pregnant is that everything is blamed on the pregnancy.  Bad skin - must be the pregnancy.  Tired - must be the pregnancy.  Can't swallow spinach without gagging - must be the pregnancy.  (I actually do like spinach so the last one isn't an excuse, I promise).  Stuffy nose - must be the pregnancy.  The difficult part about this is tyring to understand when the symptoms are due to pregnancy and when it's because you have the crappy summer cold.  Right now, I think I have the cold.  Don't get me wrong, I still have bad skin, I'm tired, and spinach is not at the top of my list but I really think I have a cold.  And it sucks. 

We are supposed to leave for the beach in less than 36 hours.  I have to get better.  I don't want to be sick.  I'm sick of being sick.  I also think the baby is sick of my sneezing, sniffling and coughing.  To sum it up, WE are sick of being sick. 

Our chat

I love gmail chat.  It's a great way to ask little questions throughout the day without having to pick up the phone.  No it's not laziness.  It's called my husband despises being on the phone and would go nuts if I called him every time I had a question or thought of something I wanted to share.  So there.  Case in point, he sent me a note saying that he changed the blog.  We had a perfectly lovely chat about the update that didn't involve the phone.  Here it is:

me: just saw it.  looks good, does this mean we're sharing?

mofostarr@gmail.com: think i'm going to change the pic on front

me: to what?  Lady?
 
mofostarr@gmail.com: need your help. had a pic of lady and changed it - but that sounds good
yes it's public - actually think it always was

me: too funny.  i'm not ready to send the link out yet

mofostarr@gmail.com: me neither

12 weeks and counting

Three months.  Crazy to think about.  We just got the results back from our latest tests and ultrasound and so far everything looks great.  It was amazing to see the baby move around on the monitor like a fully developed child.  Right now the baby is only 2.5 inches long.  I didn't expect it, but we also got an idea of what we're going to have - the technician said 75% boy.  I found myself excited by the prospects.  Looking back, I honestly don't care what I have.  I could see myself being a real pushover if we have a girl and although it's set in stone, we don't know for sure yet.  We'll know in a few weeks.  That being said, I'll be glad if we have a boy first in case we have a girl next.  The thinking is so that the boy can look out for little sis.  Again, I'm getting way ahead of myself, but it's hard not to think of these things.  Names, schools, sports, church...the list goes on.  We want to be good parents, but not crazy-over-the-top parents.  We know a few of those and we also know the parents where we would like to model our family after.  It really just comes down to what we're comfortable with, so we'll see.  So far so good