Bump Shot - Week 32

I can't believe that I only have 8 weeks left (give or take)!  It seems like just yesterday I found out I was pregnant.  It's kinda crazy how fast time flies.  Now, maybe other people feel like I've been pregnant for forever, but it doesn't feel that way to me at all.  People keep asking me if I'm ready for the baby to come and I give a forceful, NO!  We are definitely not ready.  We are far from ready!  Of course if Maple Baby came tomorrow I would adjust, but we sure could use the next 8-10 weeks to prepare a bit more.

Moving and having a week long trip to Vegas kind of put a hold on all-things baby.  It was hard to think about baby stuff when I was worried about finding someone to help us move, find time to box our stuff up, move out of the apartment, unpack the new place, plan for a huge work event, get everything ready for a week-long work trip, etc.  And we sure didn't want to buy a bunch of stuff that we then had to move from one place to another.  So we put it off.

And now we are in crunch time.  And not just for buying baby things - because I realize that babies don't need that many things to survive.  We have a car seat, a diaper, and a onesie so Maple Baby should make it home safely from the birthing center.  However, we still have lots to do.  We are required to take a Dress Rehersal class that the birthing center offers that gives information on when to call the midwife, when to drive to the birthing center, etc. and we never signed up for it.  I thought about it in April but it seemed too early.  So, the only option was August (they only offer it once a month and July's class was already filled).  Yikes - talk about last minute.  We are signed-up for the last possible class before Maple Baby comes!

I also need to sign up for a Breastfeeding class that they offer at the Birthing Center too.  I know from lots of people that breastfeeding isn't quite as easy as it sounds and I want to make sure I am prepared so I don't get super frustrated and upset when it doesn't go easily.  And I'd like to avoid the cracked/bleeding nipples as much as possible.  I'll probably take that class in August too!

And I really wanted to take a Cloth Diapering 101 class so that I could feel prepared to cloth diaper, but the July one was full.  Luckily the woman at the baby consignment store was more than willing to meet with me one-on-one to answer all my questions and go over basics and stuff like that.  I was so happy she offered to do that.  I am sometimes overwhelmed with all the different types of diapers, the washing process, the storing process, the diaper pail process, etc. and am relieved that she's willing to review everything with me.  For free.  I'm telling you, this store is the BEST!

So, those are a few of the things left on our to-do list.  We also still have a few more birthing classes to go to and I have a few more books I want to read.  Oh, and there is a Caring for Baby class I'd like to attend with hubsters, just to make sure we know what we are doing.  I feel pretty confident about caring for a newborn, since I have helped my sister out with her two; howerver, I know it's a lot different when its your baby and no someone elses.  Plus, it might be useful to hubsters to learn a few tricks that don't come from me (i.e. me telling him what to do).

We'll see if we have time for that!

I should also get my maternity plan ready for work.  And decide on my maternity leave and all that jazz.  So much to do!  Please Maple Baby, stay in the belly for a bit longer!!!

Golf and Thundershirts

These days the weekend routine is pretty much the same.  I do a morning walk on Saturday, run errands Saturday afternoon, grocery shop Saturday evening, coach golf classes on Sunday morning, and then play golf Sunday afternoon.  It is rare for these plans to change too much.  This weekend was pretty much the same.

However, I do have a few interesting things to report.

First, hubs took his driver's permit test and passed!!!  I know - unbelievable.  Just a few short weeks ago I was in a battle with MVA/DMV about whether he was eligible and I finally won the battle - and then he passed the test on the first try.  You may not think this is amazing but it took him six tries to pass it last time.  I think he finally got the computer system down.  It was a very long afternoon though.  We got to MVA/DMV at 10:30am (hubs had to work in the morning and I had to walk) and didn't leave until 3pm.  Can you believe that???  Seriously, they give you a number for every little thing and make you wait in line forever.  It was crazy, but we made it out with smiles on our faces.

Since we had spent so much time there, we missed our normal errands because the stores were already closed.  However, I convinced hubs to go to my favorite dog store, since we are now doggie owners.  What did I find there to buy?  Some natural dog treats - pumpkin flavor - and a Thundershirt!  I have been researching the Thundershirt for some time now, wondering if it was something that might help Dolce out.  I have never been sure if his craziness might be due to some dog anxiety as opposed to just bad behavior.  I've read about Thundershirt and asked the vet about its effectiveness and so decided to purchase one and see what happened.  I think that Dolce gets a little anxiety in the car and sometimes on walks to new places.  He isn't the best walker to begin with and pulls like there is no tomorrow, which is why we use the gentle lead harness on his little nose (it looks kinda like this, but not exactly the same).  It keeps him from pulling but doesn't hurt him in any way.  It has worked wonders but since he's now walking in a new neighborhood, he's very skittish and pulls on the leash all the time.  I decided (with my degree in pet psychology, obviously) that maybe he got a little bit of anxiety in new places.  Hence, the decision to buy the Thundershirt. 

I thought he would hate wearing it, but he didn't seem to mind.  He didn't try to take it off or anything.  I'm not sure the shirt is made for super fluffy dogs, but it still worked.  I took him for a walk with it on and he was SOOOOO much calmer.  It was amazing.  Next trial will be putting it on him for a car ride.  Or at the vet.  I feel like it might be a bit too hot for him to wear on our walks all the time though, so I might have to break it out in the fall/winter.  I felt like it was kinda mean to make him wear it when he was 95* outside and he's already wearing a fur sweater.  The only thing was he wouldn't lay down with it on.  He just sat like this the entire time.  It said to leave it on for 8-10 minutes so he could adjust but after that I took it off - I felt bad that he was sitting.  The second it was off he lay down (umm, it seriously took me five minutes to research whether I should say lay, lied, laid, or layed...)!  Thundershirt = success so far!

On Sunday hubs and I played golf.  That, as noted above, isn't anything unusual; however, Sunday was the one year anniversary of my Uncle's death.  I can't believe an entire year has passed - it really feels like it was just a few days ago.  I guess his memory lives strong in my heart.  I am still involved with the Team in Training (the group I trained with to run Marine Corps Marathon in his memory) and usually walk with them on Saturdays, but I wanted to make sure I did something on Sunday too.  So, hubs and I dedicated our golf game to my Uncle.  My Uncle loved golf and we even had the opportunity to play together at my sister's wedding back in 2008.  I can't say that my golf score was worth much, but I did par on two holes (and one of those holes is really hard - so I have a feeling Uncle Dave was trying to help me out a bit).

I have still not encountered any problems golfing while pregnant - minus the fact that there are no maternity golf clothes.  Luckily that skirt still fits (below my belly, of course) and my sister found this golf shirt in Cabo San Lucus that has an empire waste with elastic feature.  It still seems to fit ok.  And no, hubs and I don't normally coordinate our golfing attire - we are matchy-matchy by accident!  We decided to ride in a cart today instead of walking because I was a bit tired when we started and it was 92* out with something like 95% humidity.  Miserable weather but worth it. 

And Uncle Dave - I still miss you and think of you all the time.

So, that was pretty much our weekend.  We were supposed to buy curtains for our bedroom but there just wasn't time.  Maybe today or tomorrow?

What did you do this weekend?

Spots of Happiness v.1

 I really liked the Spots of Happiness aspect of my other blog and since I am trying to stick to just one blog, I thought I'd take it with me.  I can have Spots of Happiness on this blog too, right? 

So, without further ado, here are my spots for the week!

* Seeing my hubby after being apart for a week.
* Adopting Dolce from my sister.
* Getting a pedometer and finding out that I walk 10,000 steps a day without even trying.  Even though I have a desk job.
* Eating yummy Pad Thai.
* Exploring my new neighborhood.
* Realizing that the blinds in our bedroom don't block out any views - after walking around naked for many days (ok, this isn't really a good thing but it sure made me laugh!).
* Lots of reading time on planes and in hotel rooms.
* Lovely baths in an amazing bathtub at Mandalay Bay hotel.
* The Pinapple Aloe drink my hubsters picked up for me, without me even asking him for it!

What spots of happiness have you had this week???

Las Vegas!!!

First, I'd like to point out that I had to go to Vegas for work.  Not pleasure.  And it's a good thing because pregnant women and Vegas to not mix.  Funnily enough , when I walked down the Strip people were handing out cards for strip clubs.  As I passed, they actually pulled their hands back.  I guess they didn't want pregnant women at their strip clubs? 

And drunk people are extra annoying when you can't even have a glass of wine.  And skinny, sexy girls all decked out for a night of debauchery are annoying too.  No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't master the sexy waddle.

Where I Stayed

I stayed at the Mandalay Bay Hotel - which was quite nice actually. 

I'm not sure if it's as fancy as the Bellagio, but it was fancy enough for me.  And it was huge.  On Saturday I didn't even leave the hotel - I worked all day and then ate in the hotel buffet for breakfast and dinner.  Then I crashed - ten hour days on my feet is no joke.   Before crashing I took a bath though - the bathtub was amazing.  Actually the bathroom was amazing.

I enjoyed a bath every night.  It was fabulous!  The room was quite nice too.

The only thing that was annoying was the mini bar.  Normally mini bars are inside a nice little fridge.  Hidden out of site.  Not here!  Nope.  Right on top of the dress, strategically placed in front of the television was this nice little mini bar.

Doesn't that look tempting!  It was - especially those gummy bears on the right.  The Love Box wasn't so tempting to me at that moment, but everything else was.  And those gummy bears - $13!  Unbelievable!  And just in case you wanted to pick something up and smell it, they were all weight-sensored so if you picked it up for more than 30 seconds you were automatically charged.  It was hard to stay away, but my per diem did NOT take into accound $13 gummy bears.  So I left it all there and just drooled.

The Mandalay Bay also has a great pool area.  Supposedly 11+ acres of pool.  Even a part called the beach that had sand and waves.  Of course for the poor, un-VIP people there was no shade.  Lots and lots of chairs but not a single unbrella or palm tree to protect your skin from the 115* heat.  Now, if you were rich and special they had some private cabanas you could rent.  Some of the higher priced cabanas surrounded private pools with lots of shade.  Nice.  Too bad the pool closed at 7pm (or 6pm on the weekends) so I never had a chance to check it out.  My window faced the pool area though, so I snapped this shot.  It looks like there is a lot of trees and shade, but they were all around the cabanas and private pools.  And in reality, a palm tree doesn't actually provide much shade.

 

Where I Went

Although I was working long hours every day I was in Vegas, I put on my big girl shoes and headed out of the hotel every once in a while.  Not often (the bathtub was so tempting), but enough to see a few sites.  On Friday, when I didn't have to stand for 10 hours, I actually managed to walk 2.5 miles from the Mandalay Bay hotel to the Venetian.  It was a bit complicated and crowded (and hot), but I survived.  And miraculously, I arrived without even sweating.  Dry heat is AMAZING.  In DC I can sweat buckets at 80* because it is sooooooooooooo humid, but in Vegas it was well over 100* and after walking for a long time I didn't break a sweat at all.  Unheard of!  Here are some pics I snapped of my walk.

Ok, I thought I had more but apparently I didn't snap anything between New York, New York and the Venetian.  Whoops.

And on the last night I was in town, my coworker and I were walking around the casino on our way to the Bellagio for dinner (we ended up at Noodles - best Pad Thai ever!!!) and some guy approached us and invited us up to the Foundation Room for a few drinks.  The Foundation Room is by invitation only and it was quite interesting.  There were a bunch of little rooms that were decorated Asian/Buddha style. 

We had a few drinks (I had a few mock-tails) and we pretended we were rich and famous.  And then we left.  It was fun while it lasted.

What We Ate

I would write up a review of the food places we ate at, but nothing was that good.  Everything was a fortune but I can't say I was all that impressed with quality.  So here's a quick run-down.

• We ate at Burger Bar, which was supposed to have amazing burgers, but they were just ok.  I had a veggie burger and it was good, but nothing spectacular.  
• We also ate at Border Grill for lunch one day and it wasn't too bad.  We just had appetizers though (which were like $9 a piece), so it's hard to screw up appetizers.  We had some kind of bean filled empanada and quinoa fritters.  Tasty but expensive.
• We ate at the Bayside Buffet for breakfast a few times and once for dinner.  I was not that impressed.  Breakfast was decent because you got a lot of options plus coffee and orange juice, so it wasn't too bad of a deal.  Dinner at the buffet was horrible though.  I didn't find much that I wanted and the few things I put on my plate were a huge disappointment.  My coworker ate a bunch of snow crap claws though so she was happy!
• The best meal I probably had was at the chain Ri Ra - an Irish pub.  There is actually one in DC, so kinda funny I went all the way to Vegas to eat at a restaurant I could eat at every day.  They had this amazing mac and cheese though and I was thoroughly satisfied.  I love mac and cheese. 
• We also headed to the Venetian for some delicious Italian, but I didn't really get anything delicious.  A golf friend had recommended some place in the Venetian and said it was on the square.  Well, there were three restaurants on the square and I have a feeling we chose the wrong one (we also chose the cheapest one, but entrees were still $20 a piece).  We ate at OTTO, which is owned by Mario Batali.  It should have been good but it was not.  I must have ordered the wrong thing.  I was quite disappointed.  I like my little Italian restaurant down the street from my office, Famous Luigi's Pizza.  Now, they have super yummy Italian for half the price.
• And as mentioned above, we also ate at Noodles in the Bellagio.  It was good and my Pad Thai was very yummy but my coworker was less than impressed with her meal.  So, it wasn't a win-win, it was more like a win-lose.  If you find yourself there, I'd stick with the Pad Thai.

Ok, that's pretty much my trip in a nutshell.  A big nutshell.  Ok, so it was a pretty long description and I doubt anyone will read the entire thing.  However, I wanted to make sure I posted something since I was there for so long.  I didn't really talk much about my work there but I don't like to go too much into details about my work.  So it will remain a mystery.

I will say that there was a huge UFC conference happening at the same time - and I was not there for that.  It made for interesting hotel companions though!

*******************************

Have you ever been to Vegas?

Where did you eat/what did you do?

What trips are on your agenda for the summer?

 - That was my last trip until December - yay!!!  I had three trips in three months so I am happy to be home for a while - and maybe I'll get some unpacking done.

Baby Bumps and Hiccups!

I'm a little behind on the bump shots.  I was doing so well, but it seems that I got a little lost.  Oh well, I'm not sure that everyone is overly interested in seeing my weekly bump shots.  I am currently 31 weeks, but I don't have photos from that yet (I have some photos from Vegas but I haven't loaded them up on my computer yet).  So, instead you can see weeks 29 and 30.

That's good enough, right?

Another lovely bathroom shot!

and

I apparently wear the same jeans every Friday to work!

I feel like I got a lot bigger between week 29 and 30.  It's hard to tell from the photos because the angle and shirt I'm wearing always makes a huge difference.  But I definitely felt bigger.

My little bellybutton still hasn't popped.  I'm wondering if it will.  I'm kind of liking it staying in (which probably means it'll pop tomorrow).  I still have a ways to go though, so who knows what will happen.

Here are some of my goods and bads of pregnancy:

Goods!

* Still sleeping fine.
* No strange cravings or huge hunger attacks.
* No heartburn or other uncomfortable digestion problems.
* Strangers are so nice to me and feel free to just chat with me all the time.  And smile at me.  I think pregnant women make people happy.
* Back still doesn't hurt too much, just after a long walk.
* Baby is kicking up a STORM.  I sometimes think he is trying to get out through my stomach.  He pushes so hard sometimes it's unbelievable!
* Baby hiccups - he has the hiccups all the time and it feels so WEIRD!  It's like an eye-twitch, you can feel it but can't do anything to stop it.  My belly kind of vibrates from inside and it is such a weird sensation.  So funny!

Bads!

* A bit emotional sometimes - I am hoping this doesn't mean I'm going to suffer from postpartum depression.  I get sad super easily and for no reason.  I'm thinking it's hormones and the stress of moving and work and all the other fun things I've been trying to deal with - like adopting a doggie (I hope he's not crying/barking all day long while hubs and I are at work).
* Not hungry very often.  It's nice that I'm not starving, but I'm often not hungry so it's a chore to get in all my Bradley Method foods.  I wish I were a tad bit hungrier so I felt inspired to cook.
* I miss sleeping on my back and stomach.  Although I've been able to get to sleep just fine (except for these last couple of days trying to adjust from Vegas time to DC time), I would be much more comfortable on my belly.  Or snuggled up with hubs.  It's hard to snuggle with a huge basketball between us!
* Trying to organize maternity leave and juggle my current work load with preparing to be gone for three months.  Ugg, not fun at all. 

I think that's about it.  Honestly I don't have too much to complain about yet.  I'm still waiting - people say week 34 starts the downhill trek.  The baby gets a bit crowded in the belly and starts kicking ribs and stuff.  We'll see! 

I am nervous about having a breech baby, but hopefully he'll turn (if he hasn't already).  I'm also worried about going into labor early.  But I guess these are all natural worries - nothing too out of the ordinary.

And although I said I wasn't hungry, a coworker brought in supplies to make microwaved s'mores and I grabbed two for myself.  How could you say no to this lovely creation!!!

Seriously yummy!

What are you craving right now?

Have you ever tried microwaved s'mores?

What are the goods and bads of your past week?

A New Addition to the Family

No, the baby did not come early!!!!

But we have adopted a doggie.  My sister’s doggie to be exact.

If you’ve been around for a while you know that he’s not the best behaved doggie on the planet.  He likes to eat baby toys and pacifiers and then needs $3000 worth of surgery.  Yikes!  But my sister was going to give him away and I just couldn’t bare to see him go.  So, hubs and I decided to bring him to live with us.

Yes, I know, we are crazy.

I mean, we will have a baby shortly and many toys and pacifiers will be laying around here too.  I am just a sucker when it comes to dogs and we’re keeping our fingers crossed that with some regular exercise and attention he’ll reform.  We may also spring for some additional obedience classes.  You can never have too much training, right?  Currently he knows how to sit.  Alright, so he needs some work.  We’ll do the best we can though and hopefully it will all work out.

Or we’ll cry ourselves to sleep every night.

Today is his first day with us.  I picked him up this morning and brought all his goodies to our house.  He’s a bit confused and wanders around every once in a while.  The real test will be leaving him home alone tomorrow while hubs and I are at work.  We plan to keep him in the kitchen because it’s tiled floor and can easily be gated off.  However, he’s enjoying sleeping in our bedroom right now.

And drooling all over the floor!

 

Do you have any pets?

Have they ever eaten anything and needed surgery?

How have your pets and kids mixed (if you have kids)?

Welcome!!!

Welcome to the new Maple and Mud!!!!  I am so excited to show you this new design and layout.  I love it so much.  Emily White Designs did such an amazing job and I would recommend her services to anyone who wants to give their blog a facelift.  She created such a wonderful blog for me and I love how it turned out.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you love the new and redesigned Maple and Mud as much as I do!  I still have some tweaking to do so you'll see a few additions in the future (new pages, new About Me, etc.) but some new features already available are the RSS feed, the Contact Me button, the Pinterest, and the Twitter.  I admit, I don't Tweet or Pinterest all that much but maybe in the future I will get more into it.

I'm hoping to add pages to incorporate Spots of Happiness, Books, Running, and Pregnancy/Baby stuff.  I'm excited about the new site and hope you are too.  Please let me know what you think!!!!

I am currently in Vegas for work right now and am flying home today, so I haven't had a chance to blog for a bit.  Too many long hours on my feet working conferences.  I'll write about it all as soon as I get a chance!

For now, take a minute and look around the new Maple and Mud and let me know what you think!