"Can I touch it?"

Something that people make you well aware of when you're pregnant is that you'll soon be having friends, family and even strangers, reaching to get a touch at your belly.  The baby books are also sure to make you aware of this phenomenon.  The following advice from a Parenting.com book made me giggle quite a bit, particularly the "give them a taste of their own medicine".

To be honest, I was a bit surprised by all the warnings and figured people were just overreacting.  As it turns out, they were not.  I've especially been surprised that the majority of people asking to touch the bump have actually been males.  Good news is that I haven't felt the need to act out any of the tips from the Parenting.com book.  I've found that the hands reaching toward my midsection really don't bother me.  I guess the way I look at it is that they're sharing in our excitement and want to 'hold' BGB in a way.  However, I've never really had a issue with personal space like I know some others do, so it doesn't surprise  me that there are plenty of mom's-to-be out there that feel differently than me. 

I've also noticed how much nicer people are to you when you're pregnant.  As it should be, I know, but I've been pleasantly surprised by the little kind gestures by strangers from offering to carry my groceries, to giving me their number at the meat counter, or even a smile and well wishes.  While I completely appreciate this kindness, my mom caught me as I started to complain a bit about this treatment.  In this particular situation  I had held the door for an older couple and had a bit of an awkward moment as they insisted on taking hold of the door for me, but I insisted back that I could hold the door for them.  "I'm pregnant, not incapable" is what I was thinking.  My mom quickly reminded me to accept the treatment and take advantage of it while it lasts because once BGB is here people will basically "step over your dead body to get to the baby".  I guess that makes sense.  Go ahead,  hold the door for me Mr. Stranger.

And because it's been awhile...here's BGB at 28 and 30 weeks.  I can't believe we're 75% of the way there!!

28 Weeks

30 Weeks

March Madness

March madness is probably what my parents thought of our travel this month.  Four cities in two weeks, all while 6+ months pregnant.  Miami to Orlando, back to St. Louis and then up to Chicago for a few days.  We're just trying to fit it all in while we can and while I'm still feeling great.  Luckily, we had successful trips without being completely exhausted.

At this moment, March Madness makes me think of what is going on outside my window.  A blizzard on March 24th?!?!  This doesn't look like spring to me.  But, dinner is in the in crockpot, the house is clean and laundry is done so I guess it's not all so bad.  Plus, a day at home was just what we needed after all of that travel.

March Madness also probably makes you think of basketball.  Lots and lots of basketball.  It's on non-stop at our home and the DVR is filled with "2013 NCAA tournament...2013 NCAA tournament...2013 NCAA tournament..."  You get the point.  We headed up to Chicago this past Wednesday evening to take part in our annual March Madness kick-off.  Every year, a group of our friends from work all take off the first Thursday of the tournament, set up shop at a bar, and watch basketball, drink, and bet on games for the better part of, oh, 12+ hours.  The group started as a few guys a number of years ago and has morphed into a large group including some who have gone on to work elsewhere in Chicago, us in St. Louis, a buddy who is now in our New York office and even a buddy that is now in our London office but traveled back for the festivities.  We had an awesome time catching up with all of our old colleagues and cheering on a few of our teams (Go Green!) to victory.  I also got to catch up with Katie and Timmy, long time friends who I've known since elementary and middle school as well as Betsy and Stacy,who I've known since we rushed Kappa Delta back in the fall of 2001.

Later in the evening, we headed to our home away from home, Four Farthings, for some karaoke with the one and only, Luis.  

Not only did we spend many of our Thursday and Saturday evenings over the past couple of years at this neighborhood establishment, we also had our engagement party and my bachelorette party there.  It's definitely our 'everybody knows your name' kinda place.  It was awesome getting to share the news of Baby Gal Bruno with our friends there.  We sure felt the love.  BGB had a number of songs dedicated to her and we spent the night singing along and dancing the night (and wee hours of the morning) away.  

We made it back to the hotel for a few hours of sleep before the start of another fun-filled day.  Corey headed back to the bar for basketball with friends but I decided that I needed a change of scenery and a gals day.  Katie and I got manicures, grabbed lunch, and shopped.  I then met my cousin Michael and his wife Gailin for drinks before dinner with Katie and Gina (another high school friend and my college roommate).  

It was another fabulous day in the city that will always hold a special place in my heart.  It's where I grew up into the woman I am today.  It's where Corey and I began our life together.  And, it looks like this (for at least a few months a year!). 

Sweet home Chicago.

  

And, for those of you who have not had the pleasure of experiencing Luis in person, I caught a little bit of his awesomeness on video.  Unfortunately I didn't get any video of his moves as I was clearly too busy dancing with him.  (Note: The iPhone quality recording, as well as the poor acoustics of the bar do not do him justice.)

Shamrocks and corned beef and cabbage, oh my!

Contrary to popular belief, based on my love of St. Patrick's Day, I am not of Irish descent.  However, given that my brother was born on March 17th and my mom's birthday is the day before, we grew up essentially celebrating St. Patrick's Day every year, complete with corned beef, cabbage, jello jigglers and Costco cake, of course.  I then continued onto college where we enjoyed 'celebrating' (I'll just leave it at that) and whose colors were conveniently GREEN and white.  Spending the next 7 years in Chicago, a city with one of the largest St. Paddy's Day celebrations in the U.S., there's no surprise that my love of the holiday only continued. This .GIF that Carly sent me made me literally LOL.  As much as I'd like to think that I had classed up my celebrations over the past few years since college, we all know that wasn't quite the case.  Until recently at least. I think this .GIF is more like it now.

In an effort to celebrate St. Paddy's (and my mom and brother's birthdays, of course!), as well as a desire to take advantage of the time and space we have to throw a party before BGB arrives, Corey and I decided to have some friends and family over for a party, similar to the pre-college parties I was accustomed to.

The menu:
-Corned beef and cabbage, DUH! (There's no link to this recipe because it's just that easy.  I put the meat (already included spices) in a crockpot, covered with water, and set to low for 8 hours.  That's it!)

-Irish Soda Bread

-Potato Salad (compliments of my mother-in-law)
-Broccoli Salad (compliments of my sister-in-law)
-Shamrock Jello jigglers (just follow the directions on the box and cut with a cookie cutter)
-Green veggies, shamrock chips, and spinach dip

These chips were surprisingly delicious and I plan to
make them (in easier to cut shapes, of course!) more often

-Shamrock Green Velvet Whoopie Pies for dessert

-and, of course, beer! (presentation compliments of CB)

We had a great time with our family and friends and hope to do it again in the future.  Corey is already looking forward to his leftover corned beef sandwich and I already enjoyed some Irish soda bread french toast.  Yummmmmmmm.

Until next year.  Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Bienvenido a Miami

                                                                                        BGB at 26 weeks

Baby Gal Bruno (aka BGB) took her first vacation to Florida this past week.  Though she didn't get to soak up the rays, her father and I sure did.  Five glorious days of it.  Yoav, one of Corey's good buddies from Northwestern, got married in Miami so we decided to make a little vacation out of it.  We were in Miami for 4 days staying at the beautiful Palms Hotel right on the beach.  The first couple of days we kept busy with late nights catching up with friends over cocktails (mocktails and faux-jitos for this gal!), lounging in and around the pool, and dancing the night away at the beautiful wedding.

CB and I enjoying Yoav and Lauren's wedding

One of many mocktails that
I enjoyed during our trip

The last day/night included a wonderful pre-natal massage, walks on the boardwalk, and a delicious dinner for two at a farm-to-table restaurant.  We recharged just in time to hit the road to Orrrrrlaaaaaaaaaaaandooooooooo (those of you that have also seen The Book of Mormon will understand) for the last leg of the trip where we met up with Corey's cousin, Michael, his wife Cara and their four kiddos.  They were gracious enough to host us for the night and then we got up bright and early the next day to hit the Magic Kingdom.

Corey and I love Disney and actually went to Disneyland just the two of us during our California adventure back in 2008.  We looked forward to coming back with our kids one day but knew that day was far off so we jumped at the chance of joining the Taylor's for their first experience.  There's something amazing about seeing a child's eyes light up the first time they enter the park, see their first real-life character, or ride "the best ride ever" for the first time.  We had beautiful weather which only enhanced our already wonderful day.  We were sad to say goodbye and head to the airport so soon but are already anticipating experiencing these moments with our own BGB and her brother(s)/sister(s).

Baby gal Bruno update: 25 weeks

I have not been as disciplined at blogging as I had hoped.  I'm hoping for it to become more of a routine such that it continues once little Miss B arrives as that was the main point in the first place.  We're at the 25 week mark (over 60% of the way there!) and I have been feeling great.  My energy level is back to normal and I really just feel like myself, except for maybe the clothes fitting around the tummy region :-)  I've officially 'popped' which I'm not complaining about.  It's fun having people, including strangers, know.

                                                         22 WEEKS                                               24 WEEKS

The little gal seems to be quite the dancer (shocking, I know!) as she's moving often.  At first, the 'butterflies' feeling almost made me nauseous.  It's now a more pronounced movement that is just another amazing feature of this miracle that is pregnancy.  Corey got to experience the movement for the first time last week (24 week mark) as she was kicking around one morning.  I was so excited to be able to share it with him.  Sometimes I feel bad that I kind of get her all to myself during these 9 months.  She's a part of my every movement, my every day and I am reminded of that with every movement she makes :-)

Friends are the family we choose for ourselves

As most of you are probably aware, I come from a small (but wonderful!) family.  I learned from a very young age the meaning of the saying "friends are the family we choose for ourselves".  We were very fortunate to be surrounded by the love and support of good friends that we considered family.  "Aunts", "uncles", "cousins"; just because we weren't blood didn't mean we weren't family.

I was fortunate to marry into a wonderful (and large!) family.  Since we've moved to St. Louis, I'm remembering that saying and what it means to me.  They say that 'distance makes the heart grow fonder' and boy, are they right.  While we dearly miss our best friends that we've left in Chicago, or who have moved to Michigan, or are spread all over the US and even the world, I am reminded often of how lucky we are to have so many amazing friends in our life, and soon in our daughter's life.  Last weekend we were reunited with our 'Chicago family' at a friend's house in Ottawa, Illinois.  We spent most of the weekend just lounging around the house enjoying each others company; sharing stories, playing games, 'jamming', and laughing, a lot.

This weekend, as well as weekends in February, January, December and September, we've enjoyed numerous visits from friends in Michigan and Chicago (I could name all of you but you know who you are and how much we appreciate you).  To have the support of family and friends in this new adventure in our life and to be able to share our new home, neighborhood and city with them has been a joy.  I have realized that, just because we've moved further away, doesn't mean that they will be any less a part of our lives.  I know that our daughter is fortunate to come into a world with the love and support of a  large family and and even larger 'family'.  My wish for her is that she is blessed with amazing friends in her life like Corey and I have.  To wish that she will be blessed with as many amazing friends as we have, frankly, feels greedy. But if she ends up being as lucky as her parents, well that's just fabulous!

A wise woman (or SATC writers) once said, "People come into your life and people go.  But it's comforting to know the ones you love are always in your heart...and if you're very lucky, a plane (or car, in some cases) ride away.

'I've loved you for a thousand years...'

'...I love you for a thousand more.'

I've heard from numerous people throughout my life that you'll never understand the love that you feel for your children until you have some of your own.  While I haven't seen Little Miss B's face (other than via the 3D ultrasound, of course) or held her in my arms, I already find myself at a loss for words when trying to explain how much I love her.  I already worry about her and want nothing but the best for her.  While I wish I could, I realize that I won't be able to protect her from all of life's potential obstacles, disappointments, idiot boys, and mean girls.  I will, however, do whatever I can to raise her into a beautiful, self confident, generous and thoughtful young woman that will be able to conquer it all herself.  I just hope she always sees herself as the amazing young lady I have no doubt she'll be.