@ No Doubt

Therese, LeeAnn, Kat & I (& Izzy).

Can you hear me now?

I just read that the baby can now hear outside the womb, and noises such as the dog barking or the vacuum blaring won't phase her outside of the womb because she'll be use to it. 

Version 23: OH Ship!!!

This morning I got ready for my Pilates class, which I haven't been to in about two weeks. This also means that I haven't worn stretchy pants/clothes in the same amount of time. When I walked by a mirror, I thought, "Oh ship!" I haven't had a chance to really look at my growth. There must be something in there. I'm seeing the term "love handles" in a new light.

Version 21.6: New York City

I'm just starting to catch up after returning from a long-weekend trip to New York. Here are some highlights...

The girls at Central Park. From left to right: me, Emilie, Suzanne, Camille (at the bottom).

Photo by Suzanne Fernandez.

Here I am at 21.6 weeks. Izzy's first outdoor concert at Central Park. 

Photo by Suzanne Fernandez

Here I am with Jay, Emilie's boyfriend, out celebrating my friend Suzanne's 30th birthday. Don't worry folks, I'm drinking sparkling water.

Photo by Suzanne Fernandez

Of course I had to buy cute stuff for Iz.  Here are a few of my favorite things...

From left to right: Golf socks--a gift from Auntie Emilie; Robot onesie purchased at Exit 9 in Brooklyn, made by Intl. Robot; the softest stuffed animal blanket ever, purchased at FAO Schwartz; and finally, a couture cootie cloth by Anna Sui because if you're going to spit up, you might as well be cleaned off in style.    

  

  

Mini Monkey

Is this hat cute er what? I like the Princess Lea-like ears. It's made by Citefuzz on Etsy.

A Couple of Cool Baby Videos

Four-Hours of Play in Two Minutes




How to Make a Baby:

Version 18.0: Sweet Potato

According to The Bump, Peanut is now the size of a sweet potato. Coincidentally, last night we had sweet potato fries for dinner.

Pregnant Cheese Lovers...

I've figured out a way around not being able to eat soft cheese while pregs.  My doc said it was perfectly okay for me to eat pasteurized soft cheese (soft cheeses typically are not pasteurized, which is the root of the problem for pregnant women).  I picked up French brie and goat cheese while I was at the store and read the label to make sure each were pasteurized.  I also picked up some French bread, dried fruit and pre-cooked turkey slices.

The trouble with cheese while pregs is contracting a disease called Listeria.  To take the safe cheese measure one step beyond just making sure the cheeses were pasteurized, I decided to bake them too.  Baking the cheese at high temperatures help to kill any bacteria that may be harmful.  

I sliced up pieces of French bread and topped each with the brie and goat cheese.  I topped a few pieces with brie cheese and the turkey slices, then I baked all of them for about 10-15 minutes (until the cheese bubbled) at about 375 degrees in the toaster over.  Once they were done, I topped the goat cheese bites with homemade freezer raspberry jam my girlfriends and I made over the weekend, and the brie bites with dried pomegranate and cranberries.  The result: a deliciously sweet and savory afternoon snack. Too bad I haven't braved sipping wine yet.  Grape juice anyone?

Version 16.6

Version 16.4: Mrs. Grubsalot

In order to maintain my sanity and discourage any headaches from coming on, I eat pretty much every two hours.  Here's a list of some of the things I've been grubbing per meal...

Breakfast:

Round 1 (one of these items):

• Maple Brown Sugar Oatmeal with dried blueberries, sliced almonds and milk
  
• A bowl of cereal
  
• Noah's blueberry bagel with light cream cheese
  
• Two pieces of buttermilk toast with I Can't Believe It's Butter and strawberry jam
  
• Or very rare occasion, a donut
• Also on rare occasion, a couple of slices of bacon or turkey sausage with the toast
  
• Sunday mornings: pancakes or French toast with scrambled eggs, bacon or chicken apple sausage
  
• A small cup of java

Round 2 (sometimes a few of these items):

• Low-fat cottage cheese, topped with berries and/or sliced bananas and wheat germ grounds
  
• Sliced apples
  
• A handful of grapes
• Low-fat string cheese
  
• Low-fat yogurt
  
• Jamba Juice Strawberries Whirl smoothie
  

Lunch (one of these items):

• Small can of tuna with sliced avocados sprinkled with lots of lemon on top of water crackers (mmm, yummy!)
• A tuna sandwich on olive bread from Euro Pane in Pasadena
• A chicken sandwich on rosemary bread from Euro Pane in Pasadena
• A chicken and smoked mozzarella tartine from Le Pain Quotidien
• Taco Bell!
• In n' Out cheeseburger with fries
• A salad with a cup of soup
• California Rolls and edamame
• Avocado and cucumber rolls and edamame
• Pizza and a small salad

Afternoon Snack (just one of these items):

• Grilled artichokes from Stanley's in Sherman Oaks
• Sliced apples
• A bowl of cereal
• A handful of plain almonds
• Jamba Juice Strawberries Whirl smoothie

Dinner (just one of these items):

• Beef Shabu-Shabu dinner
• Small bowl of Pho
• Chicken adobo and brown rice
• Thai food 
• FatBurger
• Baked salmon and spring greens salad
• Grilled steak with arugula salad
• Sweet and hot turkey sausage with diced tomatoes, basil and penne pasta; and a salad
• Sinigang
• Pizza and a salad
• Furaibo chicken wings, rice ball, yakitori chicken hearts, yakitori okra, soft shell crab, butter asparagus, and deep fried baby halibut!!!!
• Ramen noodles
• Curry House beef patty or chicken katsu curry over spaghetti noodles

Evening Snack (just one of these items):

• A bowl of cereal
• Ice cream

Beverages throughout the day:

• H2o (daily) - glasses of filtered tap, and one bottle with electrolytes (helps with any amount of dehydration, and tastes way better than Gatorade or Powerade) 
• Apple juice
• Iced green or jasmine tea
• Lemonade
• Arnie Palmer
• On rare occasion, a Coke or Sprite
• Hot green tea

So what does this all amount to? I was surprised to be awarded by my doctor "5 (out of 5) gold stars" for what she called "the perfect weight gain amount" when I weighed in at this week's appointment. Doc is still encouraging me to do my Pilates, which I do once a week with a trainer who has me focusing on maintaining my balance as I grow bigger, strengthening my back and arms in preparation to carry the tot around for its first couple of years, and lifting my pelvic something or other off the floor.

Peanut is also doing well. The doc had to chase Peanut around my belly to listen to its heart beat. Peanut is one squirmy kid.  In four weeks we find out if its shell is blue or pink. 

Have a great weekend!

Rock the Cradle of Love

Just some nursery room ideas. We still don't know if it's a boy or a girl, so I played with both options.  

Nursery #1 by lizadooolittle on Polyvore.com

Items include (Starting from top left, clockwise): Clothes Tree (Giggle.com), Oeuf Sparrow Crib in Gray, Luca Glider (Giggle.com), FLOR Shaggy Sheep Rug,DwellStudio Crib Set in Gio Lemon, perch! design mini chandelier in yellow, Tandem Quilt from Ciuccio, perch! design triangle bird light, Noguchi Table Lamp, DwellStudio Crib set in Transportation, mid-century walnut drawers (we actually have a credenza we plan to use).

Be Like Water...

My first baby item purchase. I couldn't resist. If it's a girl, she's rockin' this onesie with red leg warmers.  

The real "Peanut": version 15.2

Finally, I'm back to this blog. I've been meaning to catch up, especially now that I have news to report: We're expecting a Peanut in November. Our first kidlet. I'm now 15.2 weeks.

Here's a recap of what's been going down:

5 weeks - In denial, but decided to get the confirmation from the doctor. I took you snowboarding and I think you had too much fun because by Monday (week 6) you made me feel sick.

6 weeks - "Evening" sickness kicked in.

8 weeks - We saw your little heart beat, and the doctor said she saw your Peanut shell wiggle. You also went to the Lily Allen concert with Auntie Lea and Auntie Maite. Auntie Lea bought us a Sprite, but accidentally handed me her vodka drink, so you got a little taste of what you're not suppose to have for another 21 years.



10 weeks - We went to the first night of Coachella out in Indio. You've been a little rocker lately.



11 weeks - We went to see The Black Kids perform, and also saw a surprise performance of Depeche Mode for the Jimmy Kimmel show.

Here's a picture I took of the lead singer of the Black Kid's head as he also watched DM perform.


This is a clip of the new song DM was promoting called "Wrong."


12 weeks - We saw your head, hands and little feet. The docs say you're looking healthy.


13 weeks - Man, you're already giving me a headache. Daily, actually. You better be behaving in there!



15 weeks - You're driving me Nuts with the headaches. Quit it already, would ya!




Other observations: I forget a lot, a eat a lot and I have an unsatiable thirst that can't be quenched.

Satellite Dishes

Juno got spayed yesterday and came home straight-tailed, long-faced and with a new party (pooper) hat.  

Today, she was feeling much better. We decided to style up her new dish. Medical bandage bows are all the rage.

Side view.

Over-the-shoulder pose.

The end.

Pugging Out

Back in June, Ritche's co-worker brought to work a little Pug named "Bubbles." Ritche was immediately enamored with it, and two days later I found myself in a car with Ritche driving almost 2 hours to "look" at Bubbles' litter mate.  On the drive back home, we were trying to decide on names so I tossed out "June," meaning: we got her in June and she's a June Bug/Pug. Ritche looked down at her and called "Juno" and she immediately looked up.  

I never considered the Pug breed before I met Juno. In fact, I wasn't a huge fan of small, toy breed dogs.  I am a fan of goofy dogs and fortunately her little package is stuffed with tons of character!  Shortly after we got Juno, I watched the movie Marie Antoinette and was intrigued by the fact that she too had a Pug named "Mops."  Then a few weeks ago Suzanne sent me some pictures from the June issue of Italian Vogue, featuring model Linda Evangelista and a bunch of Pugs, and it got me thinking about our little Juno...who is she?

I already knew from the movie Juno that Juno was a Roman Goddess who was married to Zeus. According to Wiki, Juno was the protector and special counselor of the Roman state.  She's the daughter of Saturn, and sister AND wife (you know how the Romans use to "do") of Jupiter, and mother to Juventas, Mars and Vulcan. 

When we first brought Juno home I got her a stuffed toy that is a lamb. It's big enough to line her crate, so I thought it would be a nice for her to sleep on. She often pulls it out of her crate and tries to rip its head open.  Coincidentally, every year on the first of March in Rome, women held a festival in honor of Juno, and on this day lambs and cattle were sacrificed in her honor.  

I wonder if the Roman Juno also peed on the floor and took a long time to potty train.

Here's a picture of our Juno and her sacrificed lamb.

  

Kirsten Dunst as Marie Antoniette and her Pug, Mops.  I've also read that 

way back in the day, toy breeds were popular among Royalty because they 

were small enough to carry and keep their owners warm.

Supermodel, Linda Evangelista and her supermodel Pugs.

This is what Juno and I strive to look like every morning.

Juno is now going on 5 months, and she's starting to really to show her true colors. She's so much fun that I can't imagine not having her around.  Who knows? Maybe down the road we'll add to our collection and get a "Jupiter" or "Mars" into the mix.  Then I could dress up like Audrey Hepburn and we can "Vogue."

The Kids are Alright

During Labor Day weekend, Grace of Shine Pet Photos came by to snap some pictures of our pooches.  She did an amazing job!  Here's a link to the "sneak peek."  I'm looking forward to seeing the rest.

Our forever gangly, goofy Jeffrey.

Our little June Bug, aka Juno, aka "Squigy" 

trying to take the cake.

For those of you who know the duo above, I'm sure you can tell that Grace fully captured their personalities.

Solitary confinement

In addition to Dog the BH, there's this killer pooch sitting on the other side of me.