Sugar and Spice and Everything..... Perfect

It's official!!!

We're having a healthy....

 adorable....

baby.....

GIRL!!!!!!

What I'm loving Wednesday

Link up with Jamie at This Kind of Love

I'm loving...

Wall Decals. My wonderful mother-in-law just ordered a decal of this quote for our baby's room... I can't wait to put it up! It looks just like this:

Except our nursery walls are a cloudy blue and we have a white crib. That's right. There's a crib in my house. I try not to hyperventilate when I walk past it. Having baby things in our home is normal. Everything will be fine. The crib won't jinx anything. Everything will be fine. Lather, rinse, repeat.

I'm loving...

"Rise Above" by Reeve Carney w/ Bono and the Edge. Heard this song on the radio.... I love Bono, and I am just digging this song for some reason, even if it's technically from a new Broadway musical that I have no interest in seeing...



I'm loving.... lemons. I mentioned this on Monday, but I would be lying if I said I didn't dream about them. Weird thing though? Lemon-flavored candies and cakes are gross. I need the actual lemon juice (or artificial lemon extract from the fake plastic lemon). So weird!

Mmmmmmmmmm......lemony goodness.

 I'm loving....

that we're only 5 days away from The Bachelorette season finale. Who will Ashley choose!?!?

Will it be cutie patootie Ben, who owns his own winery and has a goofy, endearing sense of humor?

Or will it be Hottie McHotHot JP, who has the most adorable smile and looks great in blue shirts?

Presh.

I've already read who allegedly "wins" (thank you Reality Steve) but it's still fun to watch. This show is my favorite summer guilty pleasure, and I'll be sad when it's over!

I'm loving.... the Olive Garden leftovers I have for lunch. Chicken Scampi and a bread stick. YUMMO!

And of course.... I'm loving that we get to see our nugget on Friday. 49 hours to go!!!!

Fun with Old Wive's Tales

Friday is the big day - we'll find out for sure if our little one will be a little dude or dudette. We got a "95% guess" at our last ultrasound, but as most of you know, I don't really trust statistics anymore because I've been on that "less than 1%" side before. Stats are not my friend.

As long as little one is healthy and thriving, I am so excited to find out for sure. Last time, we decided not to find out the gender until we had the baby, and I only found out I was having a son after we knew we wouldn't get to keep him. This time, we knew we wouldn't want ANY surprises; we wanted to know everything we could know, as soon as we could know it. Thankfully, my doctor has been incredible and has really helped to allay my fears and anxiety with lots and lots of reassurance that our nugget is doing perfectly.

So to help keep my mind off the fact that I have to wait 4 more days until we get to see baby again, I decided to have some fun with all of these Old Wive's Tales I've read over the last few months. I don't take stock in any of them, and you'll see why. However, I thought it would be fun to tabulate and see which one comes out on top.... boy or girl. Annnnnd, here we go!

YE OLD WIVE'S TALES
Numerical Significance
Take your age when you got pregnant and add that to the month you are due to determine boy or girl. An even number means you are having a girl and an odd number means you are having a boy.

So 26 + 12 = 38 = Even number = GIRL

Cravings
Craving citrus = GIRL
Craving meat = BOY

I have been noshing on fruit like it was going out of style. I kid yoyu not, sometimes when I need a spritz of citrus and there's no fruit in the house, I take that plastic lemon juice extract out of the fridge and drink some. So gross.

Meat has been completely unappealing, except for homemade hamburger sliders, which I feel I could eat every day. So I guess for this one, I'd vote girl.

Craving sweet = GIRL
Craving sour = BOY

Now this one is the total opposite. With Jack, I ate a bowl of cream almost every single day. With this nugget, I have not been able to stomach sweets of any kind. Ice cream, which used to be my favorite food, is so sickly sweet to me that I want to vomit. Which hasn't stopped me from having it a few times, and it never goes well. Baby wins. But like I mentioned above, I have been craving lemons, so for this craving, I'd say definitely boy.

Heartrate
Over 140 = GIRL
Less than 140 = BOY

To help with my anxiety, I got a fetal heart doppler machine on eBay, and it was by far the greatest pregnancy purchase of all time. From about 8.5 weeks onward, I was able to pick up the beautiful sound of our baby's heartbeat, and it never gets old. And even though I can feel him/her moving now, sometimes I listen to it just to make me feel better. It's always in the 160 range. But so was Jack's, and he was a boy. But for the purpose of the OWT, girl wins.

Skin
Clear & glowing= BOY
Not so clear and not so glowing = GIRL

I definitely don't think I'm glowing, but my skin looks better than normal (to me at least) so I vote boy.

How you carrying, fool?
Carrying high = GIRL
Carrying low = BOY

I can't really tell, but if I had to pick one I'd say low. What do you think??

In the work bathroom, pondering my bumpal position

Appearance
Have you gotten uglier? = GIRL
Looking better than ever? = BOY

Um, I can't really answer that. What a rude question. Tie.

Morning sickness. 
Mildly sick/Feeling good = BOY
Feeling sick/very sick/sick for a long time = GIRL

Girl all the way here. With Jack, I was sick in the beginning, but it was gone completely by 10 weeks. With this nugget, my morning sickness lasted until 16 weeks, and I still feel sick occasionally now, especially if I eat something that baby doesn't agree with. Don't even ask me about the rotten asparagus incident.

Weight Gain 
all around = GIRL
all in the front all belly = BOY

Ok, don't judge me... I haven't gained any weight yet. I blame this on being really sick the first 3.5 months, and I had a little extra weight from my last pregnancy to start out with. I promise I am eating healthy, and my belly is obviously growing just fine! As long as baby is getting what he/she needs, I don't care how much or little I gain. Boy wins here.

Dreams
Dream of a boy = BOY
Dream of a girl = GIRL

I've had one boy dream, and two girl dreams. So majority rules on this one.

Wedding ring on a string
Back and forth = BOY
Circle = GIRL

Two times in a circle, one time back and forth. Me and Jon are thorough in our investigations. Again, majority rules.

Baby Center = BOY
Babygenderprediction.com = GIRL
TheBump.com = BOY
Chinesefortunecalendar.com = BOY
Labor of Love = GIRL
Baby2see.com = GIRL

GIRL = 10
BOY = 7


Girl might win on the Old Wive's Tale showdown, but I won't be convinced until the doctor says "Your healthy baby is a ....... " Until then, these pins and needles I'm sitting on are getting kinda uncomfortable.

Have you ever had a dream like this??

Why yes, yes I have.

What I love most about this video is at the very end, he's so proud of himself. That smile totally says:  "NAILED IT!"

Hahahahahahahahaha.

Happy Friday everyone!

Happy Birthday to my BFF!

Today shall henceforth be known as "Soul Friend" day.

You've heard term "soulmate" before. This is typically our partner, the one we choose to marry, the one we can't live without, etc.

But a soul friend, you see, is the friend that, just like with your soul mate, you know will ALWAYS be in your life. There's no wondering "Will I still be friends with that person 10 years from now?" No. With this person, you plan family vacations 5 years in advance, because you know without a doubt no matter where life takes you, you will still be friends, and you'll have a kick-ass time on that trip.

To me, that person is my BFF Jess.

We met in college (where some of the most awesome friendships form) when we worked together at the same campus job. For a little while, we rarely worked together, but were always nice to each other and I always thought she was a cool girl. She was also very tall, which made me respect her that much more :)

It wasn't until we were assigned the same Wednesday morning 8:45am to 12:00 pm shift that we realized how much we had in common. Instead of "working" we would walk around the facility and laugh at random stories and talk about how random our lives were. (They still are, BTW).

I also learned very quickly that this was a person I would always get along with. It's rare, but there are people who you just never tire of. I learned this even more during the summer of 2004. I had just broken up with my boyfriend, and was really upset. Jess saw how heartbroken I was and said "Let's take a road trip to DC and visit my family." Just like that. Even though we had barely been friends for a year, she wanted me to relax and forget about my heartbreak. So 2 days later, we were packed in the car, and embarked on one of the best road trips ever. It was exactly what I needed, and it solidified our friendship. I had never laughed so much in my entire life, during a week when I thought I would never be happy again. (Oh how monumental college break-ups seem at the time). To this day we still joke that the whole reason I was with that person was just so that we could take that trip and become best friends. Totally worth it.

Our truest test of friendship?? We lived together our senior year of college, and we LOVED it. Many times, living with a friend can ruin a friendship, but it only made ours that much stronger. We still have countless inside jokes and awesome memories from that time.

One of the things I love most about my BFF is her compassion for the people she cares about. I have been through some tough, tough stuff over the last few years. She is always there, unfailing in her support and advice. She always says the right thing, and is helpful without being overbearing. I feel like I owe her so much for everything she's given me, but I hope I can someday repay her for becoming one of the most important people in my life. (I have already promised her 10% of my winnings once I hit the Super Mega Lotto Jackpot, but I don't think even that would be enough).

Happy Birthday Friend. Here's to the next 28 years of friendship and more! :)