while i get ready for work, i tend to leave the back door open so that the dogs can come and go. i found bea hunting a squirrel this morning....

first she hides to stalk her prey...

a view of her crouched position from the front...

the squirrel taunting her from a tree...

close up of the squirrel in question...

after a fruitless mad dash toward the tree, which of course sends the squirrel packing to the neighbor's yard, bea contemplates what went wrong...

i was having so much fun watching bea it occurred to me that i didn't know where casey was. i found him burrowed under my unmade bed covers. i love the look on his face when i pull back the covers to see him...

guess what?? the girl who just moved into the office in front of my desk went on vacation last week!!

who gives a crap, right?? right!! why do i know this?? because apparently she thinks that now that she is in an actual office (and not a cube like us lowly workers) that she can talk at any volume without the sound traveling past her door.

i'm not kidding. i do not know this girl at all (though i can say if you are going to lighten your hair to that shade of blonde, you really need to follow up with the eyebrows) but i do now know all about her vacation. i've heard about 5 times that the altitude was crazy and how 2 glasses of wine made her really drunk up there! i've heard about the triathlon that was in town and the great scenic pictures that she took. i now know all about how expensive the food was and how she'd love to go back!

i have learned all of this from sitting in my desk chair... while speaking with my indoor voice.

folks, we have another double digit "first"! (and no, thankfully i'm not talking about my bra size this time.)

check out the countdown up there!! 98 days to go and counting... can you believe it?!!

today is a dark dark day.

no i'm not talking about the ominous weather. and no i'm not talking about the fact that its friday the 13th.

i was in a good mood when i stepped IN to victoria's secret to be fitted for new bras. i've known for weeks (okay, maybe months) that my bras were no longer fitting. a trip to the mall with my sister last week confirmed my secret shame as she laughed and laughed in the dressing room at the way i had stuffed my new pregnant boobs into my previously great-fitting bra.

my mood when i stepped OUT of vicki's was distinctly more sober. yes, the bras fit great, yes they were ridiculously priced as usual. but there is just something about a double letter bra that makes a girl frown on the inside...

yes, you read correctly. we're in the double letters, people. 3 months to go and lets all cross our fingers that the girls stop while they're ahead!

i had my monthly doctor's appointment on friday and had a 1 hour glucose tolerance test.

meet my arch nemesis:

ahh... the generic orange "glucose drink #050". how i remember you fondly. you tasted faintly of melted orange popsicle mixed with flat mcdonalds orange soda.

first of all, outside of a cake eating contest with a really great prize, i'm not sure if there would be any reason in life to ever consume this much sugar in a) one sitting or b) such a short period of time. it is an odd feeling.

secondly, i was all about the challenge. as you know, i tend to be a teeny tiny bit competitive (who me?!!) and my body was ready to kick this glucose test's ass. it was actually even doing a little bit of shit talking... "don't you MAKE me prove i love sugar!!" "oh you think you're gonna make ME change MY diet?? i don't think so, glucose drink!"

an hour after grimacing on my last swallow of orange nastiness i had my blood drawn too see how effectively my body had broken down the sugar and got the results yesterday. i passed with flying colors!!! woohoo!!!

i celebrated with easter candy and a heaping serving of my mom's homemade banana pudding. its like i said... don't you MAKE me prove i like the sugar!! :)

casey and bea are such world weary travelers...

(can't you hear casey humming "on the road again..." a la willie nelson??)

what a busy weekend!! i spent friday in austin with kevin and helped host a wedding shower on saturday.

here are some fun pics:

have you ever finished eating something so mindlessly that you look around for it like you must have misplaced it, because surely you didn't eat all of it?

i remember stacking the final 4 fig newtons from the box on the counter.

i remember thinking about how good they would taste.

i remember eating the first one.

i walked back into the kitchen about 20 minutes later looking for my cookies... where did they go? i even gave casey an accusatory glance and held up the empty cookie box to see if he would flinch in guilt. no dice.

i guess i owe casey an apology.

i just came across this headline...

Woman ill after eating recalled dog food

an excerpt from the article reads "After noticing her dog, Missy, wasn't eating, Larabie said she took bites of the pet food in order to trick the terrier into thinking it was people food. The ploy worked and the mealtime routine continued for about two weeks until both dog and master became sick."

wow.

i never thought i'd be one of those pregnant ladies that uses her stomach as a resting place for food... until now.

as i was eating my dinner last night i was reclining on the couch and had my bowl of pasta balanced on my stomach. i thought it might be an anomaly, but here i lie, laptop on lap- and a container of icing on my belly.

so not only am i dipping pretzels in leftover cupcake icing... i'm doing it while pregnant and using my stomach as a table. yikes. next thing you know i'll be in a minivan. *shudder*

the weeks keep on flying by as we get closer and closer to the end of the world as we know it... aka. my due date.

i had my first braxton hicks contraction last night - it was so weird!! it also reminded me that my body is already preparing for lily's birth even though its still over 3 months away.

i came across this photo last night that i have seen several times before and was so taken back when i realized that lily is already 2 weeks older than the baby holding the doctor's hand in the picture. now THAT is strange...

interesting...

sleep is extremely precious to me right now and i am a grumpy girl if you ruin it for me. two people i have a very hard time being mad at woke me up this morning with the following unpleasantness:

6:00 a.m. bea throws up

6:45 a.m. lily has the hiccups and is pressed firmly against my bladder... so approximately every 10 seconds i need to pee

mama needs a nap.

you know your belly is getting big when....

you accidentally bump it while doing upright rows at the gym.




i can only imagine this getting more and more interesting from here...

guess whose special day it is....

happy birthday to you! happy birthday to you!

happy birthday dear casey!
happy birthday to you!!

have you ever seen a cuter 7 year old?? i doubt it!

this seems to be just as good of a march madness theory as any...

what a truly truly amazing weekend of answered prayers! we got to see our sweet baby and found out that it is completely healthy and growing perfectly :) amen!!

we had the ultrasound on friday afternoon and could not have been happier with the results. we had them write down the sex of the baby and kevin and i went to the park to have a picnic and open up the envelope with the big news inside...

we are excited to share that we have a baby GIRL joining our family and she is due july 24th!

here are some pictures from the weekend.

our picnic

the big news!

proud mom

scared dad! :)

sweet lily

thumbs up guys! its nice and warm in here!

just getting ready for a leg workout - i love kicking mom!

proud granparents - gaga and moon!

my girls!


auntie e!

we know what we're having!! we know what we're having!!

i'll tell you this much- one of the dogs was right!! heehee

casey and bea try to answer the question of the day...

we'll know soon enough who is right!

it's a.....



oh, come on you guys!! you know the ultrasound isn't until tomorrow!! :)

i couldn't help myself, but i promise to post the REAL results over the weekend! we only have 30 hours to go, but who's counting?

(oh yeah, i am!)

for those of you keeping score of my lent infractions ( right ------>) you might notice i'm up to a whopping $13. at least the pace has slowed down a bit... i quickly learned that i curse entirely too much when playing a highly competitive game of air hockey. i was so excited when we got the air hockey table at work - its too bad it makes me swear like a sailor!

and for anyone needing a little eye-candy this morning, i give you a beautiful picture taken by miss brenda on her cell phone in the grocery store checkout:

note to self: never wear mom jeans with a thong.

i am SO SO happy its friday! this means several things:

1. only 7 days until i find out if tiny is a girl or boy!

2. engagement celebration tonight with chris and meg!

3. three words: sleep in tomorrow!

4. 2 full days until i have to come back to work!

and MOST importantly....

5. i get to see kevin tonight!! :)

CONGRATULATIONS!!
i couldn't be happier for meg and chris!

i was laying on the couch last night just after 10:00, browsing through email on my laptop when.... POKE!!

i tried not to move to see if i could get an encore and then faintly again - poke, POKE!
wow! tiny was waving hello!! as if to say "hey mama! i'm in here!!"

i couldn't stop smiling - i just wish kevin could feel it too. how amazing! there's really somebody in there :)

a HUGE congratulations is in store today for one very happy and very lucky couple. i'm afraid to post their picture or name names until she has a chance to spread her joy with everyone personally... but i'll only give her until tomorrow and then the cat's out of the bag!! :)

i was on the couch watching tv last night and bea jumped up to cuddle. she was making me laugh because she curled up with my legs and fell asleep.

aaawwwwwwww

my reasons for going home for lunch today were two-fold.

1. this weather is amazing!! i brought my potbelly home and ate on the back porch while the dogs enjoyed the warm sun.

2. i have a hole in my pants the size of cleveland that is located squarely in the crotch. safety pin, anyone?!!

bea had a ball rolling around in the grass until her back was sufficiently scratched

you only have three weeks to make your vote count! i thought it would be fun to see what everyone is guessing for the sex of the baby. hopefully i can keep myself entertained in the next few weeks to make the time fly by.

the big day is just 3 weeks away!
we will find out the sex of the baby on friday, march 9th!

crazy days around the burpo abode lately. here are a few pictures i've taken in the last week or so...

HEY!

tired snuggles after playing all day

the dogs' favorite car ride positions. looks like a dog guillotine to me!

this warning sticker was on a storage container i bought. note to self: no babies in boxes.

this weekend kevin and i went to see the bodyworlds exhibit at the science museum. i thought the show was really amazing. i find it hard to believe that my body is making something as complicated and intricate as a human body right now!

the most moving portion of the show for me was the developmental section that housed fetuses and an 8-month pregnant woman. when i saw her body cradling the baby i was just overcome by how truly perfect pregnancy is. i definitely had tears in my eyes after seeing her as well as the small 16 week old fetus.

it is so perfectly formed and made- its tiny toes and sweet little eyelids. its hard to comprehend that i have one inside me right now.

for you formed my inward parts;
you wove me in my mother's womb.
i will give thanks to you,
for i am fearfully and wonderfully made;
wonderful are your works,
and my soul knows it very well.
psalm 139:13-14

the next morning at church we were singing a song that has made me cry ever since i found out i was pregnant. i just get this overwhelming realization that salvation has already been offered to my child and is waiting for him/her to grasp and accept. i imagine seeing my child finding its first joy in praise and honoring god and i just feel so much gratitude and responsibility all at once.

it is hard to describe, but i always end up crying! the song is called amazing love:

i'm forgiven because you were forsaken.
i'm accepted- you were condemmed.
i'm alive and well, your spirit lives within me
because you died and rose again.

amazing love, how can it be
that you my king would die for me
amazing love, i know its true
and its my joy to honor you.

in all i do, i honor you.

we had a blast playing around on the myheritage.com site at julie's house saturday night. we were howling with laughter at some of the celebrity lookalikes. if you haven't done it before, its really entertaining!

i uploaded a pic this morning...since when am i asian?

at least they threw grace kelly in there to make me feel better!

we have new audio of the tiny burps!



i could listen to this sound all day long! the pic is the only one we have of the little bugger, but in another month we'll get to see it again, get cute pics, and find out if its a he-burp or a she-burp.

pop quiz... what is the main difference in these two cribs?

give up? i'll tell ya.... about $400. bargain mollie strikes again!

fun info about the tiny burps this week!

Your baby's taste buds are beginning to form now, too, may be able to taste what you've been eating. Researchers found that flavors from the food pregnant women ate ended up in their amniotic fluid. They also found that eating healthy foods during pregnancy may help your baby develop a preference for those foods that could last a lifetime.

At around 4 inches long, crown to rump, your baby now weighs about 2.5 ounces.

we had a very donovan weekend! here are some fun pictures we took along the way...

family pic for mom's birthday gift!

we surprised mom at school!

mollie and bea love birthdays!

mom making her wish

happy happy birthday to my amazing mom!

never have i met a woman who knows how to laugh quite that loud, cook quite that well, dance quite that confidently, or shop quite that much. here's to another 30 years with you, mom! i don't know what i'd do without you!!

you might remember this summer when i discovered jose gonzalez for the first time... well since then i've purchased the cd, seen him live in concert, and totally fallen in love with how his music can affect my moods.

i saw this on youtube and had to share - his voice keeps me in a trance almost as much as a million rubber balls :)

sometimes i just realize that in 6 months i'll be laying down in a delivery room holding a baby with kevin standing over me kissing my forehead and i just start crying.


...must be the hormones :)

tiny burps and i are having a fun week so far! kevin's mom lent me her doppler to listen to the baby's heartbeat this week and it is so neat hearing that beautiful swooshing every night :)

it has been a stressful few weeks, but things are finally settling down a little... enough for us to pause and celebrate vicki's 60th birthday tomorrow!!

we have finally surpassed the fruit stage for tiny burps - this week its the size of a jumbo shrimp!

in honor of its current size:

viva pepe le burpo!

casey and bea are loving the snow day!

snow day!!!

if you're in the mood for something educationally hilarious

i'm at home with a nasty cold today and the only thing that makes a sick day really feel like a sick day is watching 'the price is right'.

i'm off to spend quality time with bob and the beauties.

does anyone else find it hilarious that kevin's myspace profile says:

"Baring accidents, no kids for a few years still."

i laughed pretty hard when i saw that.

in related news, this week the baby grows from the size of a large strawberry to the size of a large lime!

from this:



to this:



seems like a lot of work in just 7 days for little tiny burps!

happy new year!!

2006 was a crazy year with lots of changes... new city, new house, new puppy, new job, new pregnancy! 2007 has a lot to live up to, but something tells me its going to. :)

we had a very fun new year's celebration with friends out at the dyer's lakehouse. somehow i ended up not taking any pictures! i don't know how that happened...but i do have some video that i might edit and post on here.

kevin decided to enter 2007 without his beard and shaved it down to a lovely handlebar mustache just for the occasion. say it with me, ladies... H O T !

here are two funny pics from this week.

casey was apparently being haunted by something in the bathroom cabinets and wouldn't leave them alone, so finally kevin had to pick him up AND stand on a chair to let him investigate the highest shelves himself...



my mom and i went to the mall to take advantage of the post-holiday sales and found maternity clothes on sale! as bizarre as it sounds, they strap a giant belly pillow to your stomach so that you can see how clothes are going to fit once you get bigger - so here's me at 7-8 months along!

this is the funniest thing i've seen on snl in a long time...

i haven't blogged much lately because i am trying to keep from talking incessantly about the oh-so-fun details of pregnancy so that i don't deter any of you out there from wanting to give this thing a shot. :)

oh i could go on and on about morning sickness (which is a misleading term when its ALL day), force feeding yourself food to keep yourself from throwing up (and how twisted that concept is), the general gaseousness (i actually gave 'burpin brittany baker' a run for her money saturday night).

instead, i'll just use this as an opportunity to point out why its so darn important to marry the right guy!! i can't begin to explain how sweet and patient and loving kevin has been for the past 6 weeks. he brings me flowers, he rubs my back, he tells me my newly grown 'pooch' is "sexy", he listens to my complaints, and he just makes me feel loved.

i just don't know what i would do without him. i can't believe i get to have his baby!!

kevin and i at my company party