How I’m Feeling: The beginning of the week was rough, I caught the cold that everyone has been getting lately. It’s hard getting sick when you’re pregnant because there isn’t much medicine you’re allowed to take. None of the good stuff anyways. I took a day off of work and relaxed as best I could. Luckily some non-drowsy Benedryl did the trick and I bounced back quicker than I thought I would.

Weeks along: 23 Weeks

Pounds Gained:  13.1 lbs Total
 

Pregnancy Woes:

• Heartburn
• Round Ligament Pain
• Not being able to take cold medicine
• Skipping yoga so I don’t get other mamas sick =( I was so sad!

Pregnancy Loves:

• Red Grapefruit Cups. Remember when I ran out of grapefruit cups? Irving got another case from Costco last week…. and now that box is empty too. Need. More. Grapefruit. Two cases this time. (There could be worse things to eat, right?)
  

Items we got for the baby:

• Aunt Janie and Uncle Jake got us this hilarious onsie from Hawaii! I love it!
  

Goal for this week:

• Order the Baby Closet organizer
• Sell some extra furniture items on craigslist
• Walk, Walk, Walk!

Next Appointment: Next Week!

Highlights of the Week:

• Attending a Pregnancy Social at a local baby center. The store had a lactation consultant and two doulas on hand to answer any questions we had and do a mini-panel on things we might not know. It was so great to chat for two hours with other mama-to-be’s. I learned a few things and have a list of things to research.
• Crib and Dresser have arrived! They are currently sitting in my dining room, but still super exciting!
  
• Finishing my wedding scrapbook and a few pages of my travel one too!
  
• And in case you missed it, my grilled cheese sandwich was pretty epic too. (A highlight for sure!)

Previous Baby Updates:
17.5 Weeks
19 Weeks
20 Weeks
21 Weeks
22 Weeks

Well, maybe if you paired it with some potatoes and ketchup.

That was delicious.

The Rules:

-Post these rules
-You must post 11 random things about yourself
-Answer the questions set for you in their post
-Create 11 new questions for the people you tag to answer
-Go to their blog and tell them you’ve tagged them

11 Things About Me:

1. In 5th & 6th grade, I wanted to be a Paleontologist. I even had a subscription to ‘Archaeology Magazine’.
2. Despite all the tree climbing I used to do, I have never broken a bone.
3. I prefer Vanilla over Chocolate when it comes to cupcakes.
4. I use Irving’s face cream when he’s not looking because it smells better than mine. (He buys the good stuff).
5. My first car was a 1989 Honda Accord (with a sunroof). Irving had a Fiero and then a 1983 VW Vanagan. HAHA
6. I came in 4th Place in my Sophomore Year Science Fair for doing a project about highway pollution.
7. The first R-Rated movie I ever saw was Pretty Woman. My babysitter let me watch it if I promised not to tell my parents. LOL
8. I didn’t have an avocado til I was 22ish years old. Irving begged me to try it and now I eat them with a spoon. Mmmm!
9. My mom and I were both in the ‘Chess Club’ in school. Nerds.
10. Irving and I love to eat at restaurants where we bring down the average age of patrons to 65 years old. Those places are the best!
11. I’m only 5’1” and I do a happy dance when I find jeans that come in short.

It is really hard to think of 11 facts about yourself on the fly.

—————————————–

Questions from Run|Bake|Race:

1. What song on your iPod are you most embarrassed by?

I LOVE techno/trance/house music. I’ve loved it since high school and people used to make fun of me, but now it’s all the rage. Irving and I recently combined our music collections and when we set it on ‘random’ and some wierd techno song comes on, he just rolls his eyes.

Other favorite bands: Blink 182, Coldplay Green Day, Less Than Jake, Aqua, old-school Offspring. It’s a good balance. =)

2. What was your first concert?

I believe it was Blink 182 in High School. We got press passes and got to meet the band before the show too!

3. If you could live anywhere, where would it be?

Honestly, I wouldn’t trade anything. I love Los Angeles. I’ve lived here for 7.5 years and it really feels like home now. Second choice: Boston (closer to family). Internationally: Somewhere in Europe, just for a year. That would be awesome.

4. What would your last meal be?

Grilled Cheese w/Tomatoes, extra pickles on the side. Pazooki for dessert. I’m a simple girl.

5. What’s your favorite flavor of ice cream?

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough.

6. Do you still have a t-shirt from high school or college?

I actually have a shirt from 4th grade (all my classmates signed it), a shirt from Junior year of High school and a handful of shirts from College.

7. Is your computer a laptop or a desktop?

I have a desktop computer that my husband and I built from scratch! We also have a netbook for traveling.

8. What would your dream job be?

Professional home organizer. We love to organize and declutter. It’s turned into an obsession lately. I’m sure our enthusiasm will die down once the nursery is put together and we can enjoy our family of three!

I also would love to run an ebay store so I can have an excuse to go to the post office everyday. I LOVE shipping things.

9. What is your favorite holiday?

I used to think Christmas was my favorite, but the older I get, the more I like Thanskgiving. It’s so nice to relax, enjoy family and unplug for a few days without the chaos and hubbub of gift giving and the new year.

10. Did you go to college in a different state than where you grew up?

My dream school was Emerson College. I wanted to go there since I first heard about it in 7th grade. I was lucky that it was in Boston, just 30 minutes from where I grew up. I wouldn’t have changed any of it, it was awesome.

11. Do you dread going to the doctor?

Not really. In high school, when I had cancer, I was going to the hospital a few times a week, so you get used to it. Now, I look forward to it for peace of mind and to ask all my questions. I like the doctor even more now because I get to see how my baby is developing and that’s always exciting. =)

——————-

I’m tagging Restless Ruminations,  Kaitlin with Honey, The Gaga Diaries and Left Coast Contessa. Let’s hear it girls!

My Questions for them:

1. Would you change anything about your high school experience?
2. What was your first car?
3. Did you have a secret hiding place when you were a kid?
4. Do you know any other languages? Do you wish you could speak any others?
5. Name the top five things on your bucket list.
6. Ever have 15 minutes of fame?
7. If you could excel at something you currently don’t, what would it be?
8. Would you ever want to write a book? What would it be about?
9. What’s your greatest fear?
10. What was your favorite grade in school and why?
11. Twilight or Hunger Games?

Feel free to leave a comment with some of your answers too!

There were lots of photos taken like this. =)

But we didn’t want Irving to feel left out of the photoshoot fun. He’s going to be an AWESOME dad, I just know it. He’s the best.

Our friend, Erica, came with us too! She spent some quality time in the city taking amazing pictures. And she brought chocolate for the road trip, which is why we are friends. I’m sad we don’t have a photo together, but we had an awesome time. Made the drive go by super fast.

She and Irving took pictures from the Berkeley hills overlooking Oakland and the City on Saturday night. They came out awesome!

This morning, I woke up with a full blown cold. I felt it coming on for a few days and thought that maybe it was just the pregnancy sniffles I’ve heard about… but sadly, that was not the case. I ended up horizontal on the couch for the better part of the morning.

I watched a couple of movies and snuggled up in my new Pea-In-The-Pod socks that my mother-in-law made me! They are SUPER comfy and I think they are SO cute! She hand crocheted the ‘peas’ onto the ‘pod’. How cute are they! Thanks, Julie!

The only upside of being home sick today was being around when the delivery truck showed up with the baby furniture! Our crib and dresser/changing table came today!

I felt bad the poor guy had to lift these by himself (because I sure wasn’t going to try!) These boxes will have to wait patiently for a few more weeks until the baby’s room gets cleaned out and painted.

I think I have this in my future tonight:

How I’m Feeling: Still feeling really great! People keep telling me how lucky I am that pregnancy has been so enjoyable for me. I think I have a pretty calm and chill baby in there who already loves his/her mama.

I definitely felt a bit run down after a  crazy weekend last week though. Nothing bad, but I notice I can’t keep up with my old self any more. I have to start keeping that in mind when planning day-long excursions when I’m on my feet. 

But it was a fantastic weekend! We went to Buy Buy Baby, two Babies-R-Us stores and two targets all in one weekend. It was crazy! I think we’re starting to get all the pieces in order.

It was all baby, all day long. Test driving strollers is hard work!

At the end of the weekend, we even found and ordered the crib we love (it was on sale!!) It should be arriving in a few days! I don’t know what we’re going to do with it yet, but least we have it! So exciting!

Weeks along: 22 Weeks

Pounds Gained: 12ish lbs Total
 

Pregnancy Woes:

• Round Ligament Pain. Can’t move too fast in one direction or my (non-existent) ab muscles will not let me forget it. My yoga teacher told me it was all normal and gave me a few stretches I can do to help. I thought it might have been Braxton Hicks, but I don’t think it is anymore. Just my body growing along with the baby. And anything that reminds me that the baby is growing is exciting regardless.
• Slowing Down. I can’t walk around stores for 8 hours at a time. My dogs are barking by the end of the day and I slept well this week.
• Reading about Delivery. I went to the library to get some books on preparing for labor, but after flipping through and seeing some of the pictures (ewwww!) I put them back on the shelf and walked out. Perhaps it’s better to go in blind. Ladi-ladi-da. Butterflies and rainbows, right?

Pregnancy Loves:

• Yoga. It’s part workout. Part therapy. Part Childbirth Prep. Part “me” time. I always leave feeling strong, empowered, light and happy. It’s a total endorphin booster. This week we did a lot of things that will directly help with giving birth. And um… we did kegals!!? (TMI)  
   
• Red Grapefruit Cups. Irving bought some more this week. The world can turn again.

Items we got for the baby:

• Crib & Dresser (That’s enough for one week!)

Goal for this week:

• Attend a mom-to-be social hour

Next Appointment: Valentine’s Day week. <3

Highlights of the Week:

• Starting to Register
  
• Test Driving the Mazda 5. New baby = new car, right?
• 6-Hour Road trip to San Francisco to visit Irving’s mom and grandmother
• Booking a flight for my Mom to come visit in April

Previous Baby Updates:
17.5 Weeks
19 Weeks
20 Weeks
21 Weeks