Lessons Learned….

Danny and I had the fun this weekend of spending time with two couples who both recently had a child. Charlotte is between 3 and 4 months while Annabel is almost 14 months..

Top 5 lessons
5. There is no such thing as a perfect baby product
4. Teaching a baby to sleep through the night requires letting them cry...
3. Breastfeeding is not completely natural and can be quite painful…
2. Learn to take naps whenever you can the first 6 weeks...
1. Our life as we know it is over but it’s all worth it! (Just check out the pictures below!)























Isn't Charlotte the cutest!! Great job - Dave and Jenna!!




Cutest One Year old ever.. our favorite was the Baby Signs...



Please mommy can I stay up just a little bit longer??

















Hopefully we are as good of parents as both of you!! We love ya!

Just checking in..

Just thought I would drop a quick line.. all is well at this point in my world.. Feel good, eat like a horse and besides getting really tired at 8pm and the no alcohol thing.. am starting to enjoy the pregnancy.. Still hard to believe that in about 3 months I will be responsible for baby..

I had the fun of hanging out with Aimee and her little boy, Jake, last night and can't get over how quickly he is growing up.. here are a few of my favorite pics of Jake as he turned one last month..

So nice and clean..

and then the fun begins!!

I WON!!! I BEAT THE CAKE!!

Quick Update: Doc Appt

We had a doctor's appt this morning as a follow up to last week's "fun" visit to the hospital and the doctor said all seems well to her.. the heartbeat is fast and strong at 150 beats per minute (which they say is normal) and she could tell the baby has grown quite a bit since the last appt two weeks ago..
I thought I would include a picture two from our trip to the lakehouse for those few of you who have been asking how big am I - as you can tell from the picture below I am not too big yet but somehow already feel huge :) and here is one of my favorite pictures from the water relay..

Slight Scare...

It seems as though I went from the proud pregnant person to the slightly paranoid pregnant person.. Last Wednesday night/Thursday morning, I awoke with what seemed to be horrible cramps.. but as it did not fade I got up for awhile and did a little interneter research on the internet and convinced myself it was likely just the pain of my uterus stretching and so I tried to force myself back to sleep. However, after a night of tossing and turning the pain did not seem to subside so headed off to work and then called my doctor. He advised I put a heat compress on my stomach, take a Tylenol and drink lots of water. However by 1PM they had not gone away and with the knowledge that I was headed out of town for the weekend and would not be near a doctor I put another call into the doctor to see if I might be able to come in for a quick appt that afternoon. However, much to my surprise they decided that I needed to go straight to the hospital to check if I was actually having contractions. So after 3 hours of being strapped to a machine that checked for contractions and a few calls to the my doctor, they sent me home with little more information then what I walked in with.. as they said I may bed having very mild contractions or it was just an irritation, that I should stick to a bland diet and that I should make an appt with my doctor for early next week.. However, unfortunately I was still in pain (and now with a small idea of how painful labor will be if this was mild) but am happy to report I woke up feeling 100 times better and have had no similar pains..

Woohoo! Watch that baby kick!

I'm afraid I am already turning into one of those parents who thinks their kid is amazing and mine isn't even born yet.... I must say I am amazed at the strength of this little 1+ pound baby to kick/punch or whatever he is doing in there. Danny was able to feel the movements last week and now at night you can actually just sit there and watch my stomach jump..

The 20 week sonogram went great.. according to those measurements they are estimating my due date to be Nov. 6th - a full week ahead of where it was before.. so at least that means the baby is growing quite well. I have only added 5 pounds so far and according to Danny (and a few of this friends) that would be mostly in the chest area.. :)

Well I will have Danny add the sono pics soon..

With love from Singapore

With Love From Singapore
So it looks like my air sickness was just a part of the pregnancy that has luckily seemed to subside.. I made it to Germany and now Singapore with little nausea and the ability to keep food down.. YEAH!!! (ok well I actually wrote this on the plane on the way to Singapore and must have jinxed myself.. since as soon as we landed – I “lost” my breakfast.. definitely something about flying and lack of sleep that just does not do well with me.)

On that note, I must say I am still not sure about the people who say they absolutely loved being pregnant ( I mean not being able to drink alcohol, play contact sports or wear my normal clothes plus these shots I have to take to travel still does not quite strike me as wonderful….however please don’t take this as complaining.. more like if I had a choice in the future I would probably let Danny carry one…) However, I do agree it is absolutely amazing to feel little Junior kicking or punching away…. I actually just wait in the morning for that first little kick (a little more than a flutter at this point) that signals to me he is doing ok (or so I hope)…. The stomach has continued to grow although depending what I wear people still don’t automatically guess that I am pregnant.. I actually can’t wait for the next sonogram (July 3rd for those who want to see the next pic) as I love seeing how much bigger he has gotten…..

Well that is all from this side of the world.. I am currently in Singapore in the midst of the great Shopping sale so I think I will head out and see the “damage” I can do on my Amex..

Hello from Germany!

Hello from Germany..
Here is a pic of some of my favorite ND girls.. what a wedding it was - Carrie was stunning, the event was 3 days of good times and overall a reminder how much good friends mean in life!!! I can honestly say I have been blessed with meeting so many amazing people.. I just wish they all lived in Maryland..

On a another topic.. I thought I would share one of most scary (and embarrassing) travel stories.. So after a 3 hour delay getting out of DC.. I finally made it to London a little after midnight.. and headed straight to get a cab to the hotel.. Well the cabbies wouldn’t take credit cards.. so ran back in to get some “pounds” from the ATM.. well all 3 ATMs were broken.. then luckily changed my only US dollars over at the American Express place (what a ripoff) anyways.. back out to get a cab.. but now of course there is a long line.. but finally get in the cab.. well half way to the hotel I realize I am not sure where I put my passport.. pull everything out of my purse.. my computer bag.. nothing,. Nada.. its gone.. so I tell the cabbie I need to go back to the airport.. however I then realize after I pay him I will no longer have enough cash to get back to the hotel.. amazingly the cabbie feels so bad he does not charge me.. on this drive back I am starting to realize how bad this will be.. I mean I can not take my flight to Germany in the morning.. I can’t go on my trip to Asia as I no longer have the necessary visas.. I mean this would be pure disaster..
So once we get to the airport - I run in like a madwomen.. over to the ATMs to look around.. nothing.. run over to the AMEX guy... and he looks at me with a blank stare as I ask about my passport.. but then says.. what is your name? I said Stephany.. he says oh I just turned it into security.. MIRACLE!!! So yes.. I am now the luckiest person ever!!!