An Eventful Thanksgiving Week

We hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving this past weekend!

At the start of the week, we had a great visit from one of our very favorite people! One of Jenn's (and at this point, Joel's) best friends, Corie, came up to take full advantage of our teacher schedules (we both had the week off - alleluia!). We watched Cal beat Stanford (Go Bears!), enjoyed a drizzly morning at Apple Hill, cooked, shopped, and watched some movies. Corie is like family and we loved having her up for a visit again. Thanks for coming Cor!

On Thursday, we headed down to the Driscoll's house in Scotts Valley (Santa Cruz) to celebrate with the rest of the Aymeric family (Joel's mom's side). As usual, it was a wonderful weekend filled with lots of food and laughs. Of course, with 26 people in the house, there is never a dull moment! Between the Rock Band competitions downstairs, the drummers in the living room, the "Second Life" demos from Kevin, and the endless Uno games with Sarah, Riley, & Allison, the baby got a (surely muffled and quieter) taste of life in with the Aymeric clan. :-) Thanks again to Kevin & Andrea for hosting, and to everyone for the delicious Thanksgiving dinners (yes, plural)!

On Saturday, the pups headed back to Grandma Emilie & Grandpa Ken's house for the night so that we could attend Joel's 10 year high school reunion (from Lafayette's Acalanes) in San Francisco. We met up with a few of Joel's closest friends and headed to the party at Sinbad's on the Embarcadero. They had a pretty good turn out and it turned out to be a lot of fun after all! After a restful night at Casa de Barbera in Lafayette (Thanks for the pancakes Diane!), we finally headed home.

Yesterday, we went to see the Nutcracker with Riley, Allison, Kelly, Ken, & Emilie, and then to dinner to celebrate Joel's birthday a day early. #29!!! Happy Birthday Joel!!!

Here are a couple of pictures from our week of fun....

Speaking of pictures... Joel has made some updates on his blog. Be sure to become a follower over there, too!

23 Week Update

Here is the latest at 23 weeks:

How far along? 23 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: After 2 Thanksgiving dinners??? You're kidding right? ;-)
Maternity clothes? Yes, and constantly feeling like I need to get more to accommodate the growing belly and dropping temperatures. Sorry Joel.
Stretch marks? Nope.
Sleep: Yes! I've been sleeping much better, even though the middle of the night bathroom breaks are back in full swing.
Best moment this week: Too many to choose from! Between having Corie in town, enjoying the holiday, and visiting with the "Spice Girls" - there is no way to pick a 'best' moment. :-) (See the next post for details on our fun week!)
Movement: Oh yes - Baby Corcoran seems to either be having a dance party or thinks that he or she is in a bounce house!
Food cravings: Loving big glasses of milk these days. Yum!
Gender: Pick a team or place your bets! We've heard that the Waltons all think it's a girl while some friends and co-workers are sure it's a boy. Everyone has a 50-50 chance of being right!
Labor Signs: No, March will come soon enough!
Belly Button in or out? In....still in.....barely.
What I miss: Well, I haven't had much drinking around me in the past couple months, but with the holiday and party season in full swing, I am missing a good glass of wine or champagne from time to time!
What I am looking forward to: Nesting.... I've been cooking a lot, but the organizing and cleaning bugs have yet to take over. But, I do love to organize and clean (when motivated) so I am actually excited to get going on some projects around the house.
Weekly Wisdom: Make sure you have a pregnant friend or wife around for your high school reunion. I hear they make great designated drivers. :-)
Milestones: According to our weekly Pregnancy email updates, we have graduated from the size of a large mango to an ear of corn. Oh, and the lungs have developed, too. Pretty crazy!

22 Weeks

This whole trimester has been flying by! We can't believe how quickly the 2nd Trimester is moving along. Thankfully, I've been fairly comfortable and feeling great. Joel and I are working on eating healthily and making our meals at home. Our Bradley instructor gave us some homework to pay closer attention to what we are eating. In doing so, we really noticed how much sodium is in everything - yikes! So, we've been spending more time planning and making meals ourselves. It's been great and we are enjoying the added benefit of saving some money in the process!

Here is the obligatory belly picture for the week. Enjoy! :-)

Here's the latest:

How far along? 22 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: Again...not keeping track. I'll update at my next appointment in December!
Maternity clothes? Of course. With Parent-Teacher conferences this week, I had to scramble to find some nicer dress pants to wear. Thankfully, the Gap carries some of their maternity pants in "long" in the stores, saving me the trouble of having to order online and rush shipping!
Stretch marks? None that I have noticed still.
Sleep: Getting a little better. Once I quit trying to use all of the pillows everyone says I should be using for support, it freed up the space in the bed for me to get comfortable and actually sleep. Now if I could just get myself to GO to bed sooner.... :-(
Best moment this week: The other night, the little one was being rather active. Joel had tried to feel the baby moving around a few times but usually - any time he does, the baby stops moving! (I hope he has that kind of effect on the munchkin when he/she is OUT of the womb, too!) Anyhow, I told him to try again as we were falling asleep and the baby did not disappoint! It was really cool to be able to share that with him!
Movement: Yes! We have a gymnast/soccer player/diver/circus performer in the making. The other night I swear this kid was turning somersaults in there. These days, I feel movement throughout the day. Baby Corcoran is most active in the evenings when I'm settling down for the night. Figures. ;-)
Food cravings: Well...I did go to In-n-Out today...you know, "for the baby". At least I tell myself that. I have however been cramming in the protein this past week - it's not easy to get 80-100mg of protein every single day!
Gender: Still no results there. I did try the "kick once if you're a boy, twice if you're a girl" suggestion, but apparently he or she was not interested in participating in my game. Oh well.
Labor Signs: Still none of those - let's keep it that way for awhile please!
Belly Button in or out? Still in!!! Flattening out...but in!
What I miss: I miss being able to lean forward and do things easily. Sometimes I go to do something and my big belly gets in the way and foils my plan. It will also be nice to sleep however I wish someday. Someday....many days away I'm sure. Like when the kids are in college, right? *sigh*
What I am looking forward to: Our friend Corie is visiting this coming weekend and I can't wait for that. I'm also really excited for the holiday season. It's my favorite time of year!
Weekly Wisdom: Take "the rules" with a grain of salt. Last week for example, I heard another "no-no" that was pretty over the top: No Cheerios!!! (Apparently, there is a concern over TSP?!) Well...since every woman I know has reacted the same way, I'm not going to worry about it. I mean really...Cheerios??? Everything in moderation....
Milestones: I am actually fitting into some of the larger sized maternity clothes I have been fortunate enough to borrow from some friends/family. Up until recently, I looked like I was wearing a tent - now things fit more comfortably.

Pssssst....

Be sure to check out the new link at the top of the Links I Love list on the right side of the page below. I'm not the only one with a blog in this family now! Joel is really developing his photography skills and already has a a few more photo shoots in the works. I'm so proud of him!

Today is also our old "dating anniversary". Hard to believe we've officially been together for 8 years. :-) Happy Anniversary Turbo - I Love You!

21 Weeks

Oops.... I guess it's been quite awhile since I have been able to update the blog! It's a busy time of the year with work so I'm a little behind with everything at home. Shocking, I know. :-) Here is a picture from last week. I will add some more soon to cover the missed weeks as well as the ultrasound pictures from Week 20!

How far along? 21 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: Probably about 10-12 pounds total. I really am not keeping good track.
Maternity clothes? Absolutely. I heart expandable waistlines.
Stretch marks? None yet...I'm making cocoa butter my new best friend and hoping for the best!
Sleep: Boo. I don't sleep through the night and whenever I do wake up, I'm usually quite uncomfortable. I hear that I ought to get used to it. Awesome. On weekends I can't get through a full day without a solid hour long nap.
Best moment this week: Last Thursday we had a follow up with the doctor about the 20 week ultrasound the week before. She said that everything looks normal! YEAH for being normal finally! :-)
Movement: Yes! I felt a flutter around week 18 or so that felt like my phone vibrating - until I realized the phone was across the desk from me. Now I feel little nudges and pokes throughout the day. It's pretty weird I must say.
Food cravings: I love milk. I drink at least a glass or two a day. Making quiche for breakfast has been my latest "must have". It's quick and gives me a better start than a bagel from Starbucks. :-)
Gender: It's a....... baby! We actually decided NOT to find out what the gender is. We are really looking forward to the delivery room surprise - we didn't want to miss out on that!
Labor Signs: Negative
Belly Button in or out? Hmpf... it's getting very flat. :-( I actually had a "pregnancy hormone" moment a week or so ago and cried because it looks all stretched out. Joel laughed. I cried more. He laughed more. Then I laughed, too.
What I miss: Being able to get off the couch/bed/chair/floor easily
What I am looking forward to: We started taking Bradley Method classes last week. The couples in the class seem really nice and we are looking forward to getting to know them.
Weekly Wisdom: When pregnant, sit down before trying to put on shoes! I learned this when I was unable to actually reach my foot like usual.
Milestones: We've passed the halfway point. How did that happen? I also had three different strangers comment on my expectant status on Sunday. Apparently it is officially obvious!

Apple Hill 19 Weeks

A few weeks ago, we made our first visit to Apple Hill. Joel took some great pics with his new camera and we had a great time checking out the various orchards and farms. Here are some highlights: