Baby's First USMC Event

This weekend Tom and I (and Baby) showered and shaved and polished up well enough to attend the Marine Corps University Foundation Dinner in D.C. We went down Saturday just for the event and returned early Sunday, but it was still nice to give the sweat pants a break for a day. I ordered a dress online and it did the job. I even squeezed into heels, although I paid for that later. I was in fact, the only obviously pregnant woman in attendance. Former VP Dick Cheney sat a table just across the dance floor from us-Baby was in some pretty high ranking company!

Tom and his former USMC roommate.

And since I was already showered and wearing make-up, here is the 33 week belly photo. I am hitting the point where it would be okay if Baby wanted to come a week or two early. Really.

Shower to Showers

There are some people in this world you would do just about anything for, and for me one of those people is my friend Elizabeth in Charlotte, NC. She is continuously doing for others, so when it came time for her baby shower, I boarded a plane and headed south for a short weekend trip. Couldn't miss this for anything because this baby was a long time coming for she and her husband.

E (middle) is due just a little over one week before me and looks AMAZING. In fact, on the way back from the shower location, we were discussing that each of her neighbors (who have anywhere from 1-3 kids) all also look model thin amazing-what is it about southern moms? How do you do it??

Sorry to offend anyone should I have attended your baby shower, but this was hands down the best shower I have been to- there was laughing and some crying, and tons of good food. Or maybe it was just the best because she so deserved this day.

Elizabeth's mom and neighbor threw her the shower, and her mom sewed this family tree quilt to hang on the nursery wall using fabrics from the nursery. Oh, how I wish I could sew.

And at the end of my trip, I had these two handsome guys to greet me at baggage claim. Sadly, Patrick was more interested in playing with my bag than dishing out hugs. I do have it under good authority that he did miss me though. Thanks to my husband who watched P solo for the weekend so I could have my girl time (and he did an awesome job, complete with a gourmet dinner waiting). And so Sunday evening, I left behind one great shower in North Carolina to return home to snow showers in the Burgh. Uggh.

P.S. This was strange enough that I have to comment: On my 7AM flight to North Carolina, I reclined my seat once we were in the air, only to be berated by the 5'7 (I only know his height because he told me for some unexplainable reason) man seated behind me because apparently my reclined seat was hitting him in the knees. He and his wife were so incredibly rude about the whole thing. After explaining that I was 7 1/2 months pregnant and just wanted to sleep, I tried to resume my shut-eye, but this 50 something guy began kicking the back of my seat and snapping his newspaper pages to irritate me-can you believe this? Finally, the two women in my row rearranged their seats with me so that I wasn't sitting in front of either Mr. Satan or Mrs. Satan. One of them audibly called him a jerk. Who does that to a pregnant woman, or any woman for that matter? I thought of tons of wicked things to say to him as we deboarded, but my maturity held out and simply told him that in all my years of air travel, I had never been treated so rudely by a passenger. He just glared.

Mommy Style

Nothing makes one feel like an old bag than, well, carrying around an old bag. So I am saying farewell to this dull diaper bag that is slowly falling apart and saying hello to...

.... this lovely girl. Thanks to a birthday present from T's mom, I was able to upgrade my style to something a little more springish and girly.

I love that it has three pockets-a big center one for all the necessities, but then two side pockets: one for baby and one for Patrick. Could it be that I might possibly be able to keep this diaper bag organized? Probably not, but at least it looks better from the outside.

One happy mom (I had been wanting to upgrade for a LONG while).

Week 31 Belly Photo

Curse you, double chin.
Love you, Baby Pohl

The doctor ordered me off carbohydrates to see if that might be the culprit responsible for my huge gains. Three days of restricted carb eating and I was 3.5 pounds heavier and a lot hungrier. I love carbs. I started at 156 and was 188 at my last visit. 32 pounds gained and two months to go...

Don't Drink the Bubbles

Apologies for my blogging absence- I have been choosing a nap over a new blog post these days. Time has been flying and I feel like the 20 pre-baby projects on my list aren't getting accomplished in a timely enough manner. Still, we found time yesterday to quietly celebrate my 34th birthday. Lunch with my mom, dinner at PF Changs with my husband, and lots of well wishes. Tomorrow I hit the friendly skies for a quick trip to Charlotte. Have I packed or finished laundry yet? Hah! Have we been enjoying the spring like weather at our door? YES!

In our everyday life, not a lot that is newsworthy. More and more I find myself telling Patrick not to drink the bubbles in his bath. My nursery rug came in and turned out to be more controversial than I had anticipated (apparently Tom and I have differences in opinion about this one, but luckily the pregnant woman always wins out when it comes to nursery decor. I think because men are a little afraid of us in the third trimester). I scheduled my living room furniture for delivery this coming Wednesday-hip hip hooray. The search for the perfect new diaper bag continues. Hunting for new shoes to go with the formal dress/tent I had to order online for a black-tie affair next weekend. Laughing at a friend's blog post about finding her toddler curled up asleep on the floor behind a chair in his room . Stockpiling diapers.

And you all were worried you were missing some major milestones in our home...


Birthday cake: thanks to my husband for not trying to squeeze on all 34 candles.

Moving on Up

Saturday was a busy day in our house. Just when we think we are safe from threat of more moving, something requires moving. Luckily Uncle Mike came to lend a hand and he and Tom got most of the furniture from Patrick's room relocated to the new nursery. This made room for Patrick's big boy bed (which is just for show right now) and new dresser, both of which were Tom's when he was little (and Grampy's when he was little)! We left the crib in place because I have no plans of sacrificing my last little bit of good sleep before Baby Pohl comes by trying to get Patrick to stay in bed.

I know, I know- the rug has got to go.

As for nursery pictures? No more photos until it is all complete!

The Not-So-Super Bowl

Ahh, where to start. It was a busy weekend-maybe I over did it? We decided to watch the game at home by ourselves since P would be ready for bed by 7:30ish. By the time the Super Bowl began at 6:30, I was already beat. But because this day is close to a holy day for my husband, I sucked it up and began cooking his Super Bowl dinner: southern fried chicken (from scratch) and corn casserole.

Keep three things in mind:

1. I am HUGE and back into the tired phase of my pregnancy.

2. I don't eat chicken.

3. I have a small cast iron skillet so I have to cook the chicken in batches, which takes forever.

Nearly two hours after I began, the first batch of chicken was done along with the corn casserole.

I inform Tom who in turn informs me he is NOT hungry anymore and doesn't want anything. Nothing. Not a leg, not a kernal of corn.

I think I cried for the next hour. Then I went to bed. I didn't care who won. I hated football. And I hated fried chicken. Sorry Steelers, but at least you weren't scrubbing grease off your kitchen countertops this morning.

But for your viewing pleasure, here are some photos of the boys before things went downhill:

A Chilly (but yummy) Housewarming

A dear friend, who is going through so much herself right now, surprised me with this belated housewarming gift:

I had seen it in catalogues and coveted it like I do so many kitchen gadgets and was so excited to try it out. The premise is that you can have a popsicle in 9 minutes.

I lined the popsicle reservoir with sliced bananas and used our favorite OJ blend. true to form, 9 minutes later, we had a tasty treat.

Patrick was a BIG fan.

yum, yum, yum

29 Week Belly

Are we really almost at the 30 week mark? I just scheduled a tour of the hospital we plan to deliver at, and bought some longer shirts-what I had just wasn't covering this little boy. I feel for a friend who is having a lot of foot swelling with her first pregnancy-she still looks AMAZING though and I can't wait for her shower in a few weeks! I'll be flying solo to North Carolina to attend (thanks to Tom who has agreed to a boys weekend at home while I sneak away).

Our Newest Addition

We are about to enter the grown-up world of a real, furnished living room. Goodbye, old burgundy chairs and chair leg that keeps falling off. Goodbye, fabric that clashes with every other color on the planet (say hello to the man cave/basement).

Hello, leather sofa and chairs and ottoman. Hello, adult room where toys are banned and toddlers are closely monitored. Coming soon in mid-February...

Beginnings

Way, way, way back in my single days, I would be known to occasionally frequent a bar or two- until one day back in Feb 2001 when I happened to run into some handsome Marines at a Georgetown hot spot. Fast forward ten years, and here Tom and I are. One of Tom's fellow Marines who was also present the night we met was his friend Mark. Mark is also now married and has two kids, and we were finally able to meet up with them at Seven Springs for the weekend. The guys were able to get some skiing in, and the moms swapped mom talk. It is funny to think that Mark was there at the very earliest beginning of my relationship with Tom, and now here we all were hanging out as parents.

Cheers to good friends.