Lot's of love, laughes and memories made...

Part of me finds it really hard to believe that Ricky and I have been married a year already, but another part of me finds it hard to remember ever being without him!  We're like two best friends that grew up together from diapers on...but we actually only met a little over 4 years ago!  The connection that we have is one that transcends time...and maybe that sounds cliche but the fact is that he's my best friend and he's been my best friend pretty much from the moment we met.  Of course our relationship/friendship would better be categorized as "sparring partners" from the time we met (and not much has changed in that department) but it's grown into something deeper, more intertwined and intimate... *readers throwing up a little*  ;)

Anyway, we've been going back and forth about what to do for our 1st anniversary and really hadn't settled on anything because Ricky had to work most of the weekend and was only going to be off the "day of" so that cut back on our options (we figured if we did go away or something we do it on a full weekend!).  We decided to just "fly by the seat of our pants" and see what we felt like doing as we went along!  This option is great when you worked night shift and overtime the last couple days and you have a increasingly large pregnant wife!

Sunday afternoon rolled in and we were sound asleep!  I don't think either of us moved (at least consciously, I can now take multiple bathroom trips w/o actually waking up) until 12 noon or slightly after...finally Xavier was hungry so he started kicking me to wake me up.  He's found that if he kicks me hard enough I'll get up and feed him lol...boy, I sound like a terrible mother...but I was TIRED so I figured I needed the rest more than the food!  No matter, I got up and made two pieces of raisin toast to hold me over.  Ricky fell out of bed, went got my anniversary card and then dragged himself to the shower.  In the meantime, I ran down the street to the drugstore to grab mascara (left mine at my parents house) and a card for Ricky (my trip to get a card the day before ended with Buddy, Maria and I stranded on the side of 309!)  Found the perfect card ;) What can I say, our cards say it all lol! Usually something ridiculous and crazy cause that's us!

While out I picked up the menu from the diner across the street and asked the owner if they could cook me something "safe" ie: no where near the pancakes, bread, etc!  They said no problem so I bounded up the stairs to grab Ricky (mind you, "bounding" is a VERY loosely used phrase in this case!)  By this time, the shower had him coherent and hungry and very happy for an option which didn't involve either of us cooking or washing dishes!  Off we went!  The heat was pretty bad at this point, but I figured it was only across the street so I'd survive...

Well apparently, I wasn't in the diner long enough to notice their AC wasn't working and they were running big fans to try to help cool off the air...the only way I can think that I missed this little detail is because I was more concerned about what food they had and how it was prepared... Anyway, it wasn't THAT bad and we were really hungry so we sat down and ordered our food.  Then it started...that horrible numbing, queasy feeling...I grabbed my apple juice and started drinking as fast as I could, but it kept coming...oh no... Ricky I'm feel like I'm gonna pass out, I'm gonna go to the bathroom... and I scampered away to go cool off my face and neck in the ladies' room.

Problem...there was a sweet little girl trying to use the one stall bathroom while her dad stuck his head in and tried to coach her along.  I stood against the wall and tried to be patient...for about 3 seconds and then I couldn't control it anymore and slid down the wall in to the black oblivion that is PASSING OUT!  Ok, Xavier, what is it about holidays that we have to make a grand scene?! Hmmm?! First mother's day and now my 1st anniversary?!  I couldn't have been out for more than a couple of seconds, my mind questioning X about his impeccable timing and also fighting to regain consciousness at the same time...I could hear everyone hurry around me and talking about "the poor little pregnant thing the heat must've got to her go get her husband blah blah blah..."

Ricky and one of the waitresses started rubbing my arms, head and neck down with cool clothes and I finally fought my way out.  I immediately started insisting that I was fine and could go back to my chair...all the while my head was still swimming and my tummy was doing somersaults, but I was terribly embarrassed to have all these waitresses fawning over me and my poor husband of 1 year next to me trying to make me comfortable... this was not in my celebration plans!  But once I convinced them I was fine and made it back to the table, our food was ready and hot and they had taken one of the fans and moved it directly over our table...so hey, there were some advantages!

I made it through half my meal and then the migraine kicked in so we headed back to the house to take a nap before going to our next plan.  The park near our house happened to be having "Shakespeare in the Park" on our anniversary and it just so happened that the play was "Much Ado About Nothing"...(now to give you a little background, when Ricky and I were dating I directed a one-act at Montco.  I love Much Ado and the relationship between Beatrice and Benedick is very much a Shakespearean representation of the relationship that Ricky and I have so I dedicated the play to him in the program :) SO of course I thought this would be a great idea for a 1st anniversary outing!

When we woke up there was a rumble of thunder...and we thought uh oh...plan B in case the sky opens up... Well the movie theater is directly across the street and we both had been wanting to see karate kid... and good thing we had plan B because by the time we left the house and got to the intersection by the park and theater, the storm was almost in full swing!  The idea of sitting on soggy grass in pouring rain, heat and humidity was anything but romantic lol!  Instead we opted for snuggling in a cool movie theater, watching a great movie and eating 3/4 of a large family-size popcorn...ok I admit I ate most of it, but I did tell him to get a small!  Guess he figured he wouldn't get any that way lol : P  But I am blaming him if I'm over my ideal weight next appt! *raspberries*

After the movie it was Ricky's turn for a nap break (we like naps these days, guess we're already on track for parenting success!) I called the restaurant where we were headed for dinner to make a reservation for later on and we fell right to sleep.  We woke with 5 mins to get to our reservation but thankfully Bonefish Grill is right around the corner!  And not crowded at this particular moment! ...We proceeded to eat our faces off! The thing I like most about Bonefish is that they have a wide variety of choices if you're dining gluten free...a lot of restaurants don't or just make something off the menu for you sans sauce, seasoning, etc which translates to BLAND!  They also have my favorite dessert, a chocolate macadamia nut brownie with ice cream and raspberry sauce *Hallelujah chorus*  Of course after the popcorn and the dinner, we took it to go :)

Back at the ranch we decided to watch a French romance movie...it started out so nice and then got weird and then ended plain ol'demented...gotta love the French for their "artistic" take on love...we just looked at each other when it ended and went, HUH?! That was nuts!  But our delicious dessert was waiting (and even though our wedding cake wasn't bad, actually surprisingly good for being a year old) a fresh macadamia nut brownie was just what the doc ordered to finish up a great day!  Well that and a bite of my delicious chocolate husband, but those memories are for me and me alone ;) *giggles*  Happy 1st Anniversary babyboy, may it be the first of many many many more great years together!  I love you!

Why yes, she IS a raving lunatic...

It's official...I'm going crazy...mad, nutso, bonkers, off-my-rocker...a full order of fries short of a freaking happy meal... And not in a nice, one day your meandering through a field picking daisys in your mind and come upon a cute little monkey and then someday in that same thought the monkey turns into a savage man-eating monkey and then years later they find you in a corner muttering, "Don't close your eyes or the monkey will eat you" crazy... Oh NO...this is more like one day you "wake up, run a hundred miles an hour into a brick wall over and over again because the voices in your head tell you too" crazy!

To truly explain said crazy, let me start two weeks ago...5 months hit with a jolt...of adrenaline at 5 am and a sudden need to "frame pictures that I have had for 4 years in a box with plans to hang them someday"...I laughed at myself and rolled over to go back to sleep...and tried for the next 2 HOURS...with no success to the point where I finally got up, put on clothes and went to Walmart...which didn't have any frames I liked, but happened to have an armful of other things that seemed overwhelmingly important for the house...that led to AC Moore where I eventually found the frames, went back to the house, framed them, hung them and by this time got hungry and started breakfast...

Since then I've been driven by a "need" to get my house in order that is a like a warm hum in the back of my mind, but overall not hugely abnormal...honestly, I've chalked it up to the fact that now we know it's a boy I'm starting to picture him and the nursery and all the little things that he'll need and more...normal mom stuff...mom wanting to make the perfect little home for her perfect little man...

Until 4:30 this morning...

I had NO IDEA that the advent of bringing the crib into our house would set me off in to a downward spirl straight for the big house with "nice young men and their clean white coats"...trust me, I'd be happy to see them right now...they'd have sedatives...which means I would be sleeping...instead of fighting an overpowering feeling to get out of bed, find a flashlight and...

COUNT THE DAMN HARDWARE FOR THE CRIB AND MAKE SURE IT'S ALL HERE...

Mind you the instructions are attached to a piece of the crib...which is in the room where we're sleeping...in the dark...also take into consideration that I have no idea whether or not the stupid instructions ACTUALLY tell you how many pieces of everything you need ANYWAY!  Not to mention the fact that a quick trip to a hardware store will (most likely) fix the absence of any piece that we could possibly need for the dumb crib...

But the urge hit me like a ton of bricks...so I rolled over to my rational husband and told him I'm going mad and proceeded to tell him what I wanted to do...most men at this point would go sleep in another room for fear of their lives, but Ricky took it in stride and said okay we can count it...to which I said "WHAT?! That's crazy, I'm not giving into this...this doesn't make any sense at ALL!  I don't know whether to laugh or cry about this"...So I chuckled, cried a little (which somehow THAT reaction made sense to me) and snuggled in as he held me while I tried to calm my nerves and heartrate and go back to sleep...

*tossing and turning*

As you can see (if this blog documents time, I don't remember)...an hour + has past...so I decided to get up and try "blogging therapy"...plus I think it's important that you all know what to expect when you see me twitching and muttering "Hardware" in the corner : P I have no idea if this "insane urge" will let me sleep anytime soon...maybe Ricky's right...maybe I should just count the stupid hardware and get some peace...but somehow that feels like I'd be allowing myself to fall that much deeper into this madness...which apparently is called "Nesting".

Ugh...I LOVE being pregnant...

To Pull or Not to Pull...a muscle...

Having been a dancer for...well YEARS now...my muscles have always been rather toned and I've always been conscious of proper preparation to avoid injury, thankfully I have been quite successful in avoiding injury! (other than car accidents which don't really count in this conversation)... Apparently being pregnant throws all of that lovely "muscle-building" right out of the water, strains your ligaments, muscles, skin, etc to it's outer limits thus leaving you as fragile as a kitten to the perils of pulls, tears and other muscle mayhem...

This is the part of the story where my chiropractor starts shaking his head at me... He's been warning me of the dangers of pulling a muscle for months now, and in my defense I have changed how I get up from sitting, laying, and other positions.  Also I've been doing yoga to try to help my accident injuries and muscles adjust to Xavier's ever growing little body...suggested by both my doc and chiropractor...and actually helping I might add! But alas, my evil chiropractor jinxed me lol :)  J/P Dr. Pineno!

Anyway...after a long day of work, walking home from the train and some brief exercise, Ricky and I decided to lay down and relax our tired muscles.  Within a couple of mins, the potty called...now I did get up on my side like I was supposed to BUT a little too quickly I guess...cause the next thing I know my side has a sharp pain in it!  My first thought, "that doesn't feel very good..."  Not even an hour later, I began to realize just how "not good" that was...it felt like my side was on fire with a stabbing, burning pain that radiated from my groin all the way around my right side to my back...Ricky quickly got me ice and I laid down as still as possible to try to relax the muscle...

That's when Xavier decided it was "stretch out sideways in mommy's tummy time" which led to me hollaring in pain (I now understand that little X doesn't particularly like ice on his home, but when you need to get down inflamation you use ice!)...poor Ricky didn't know if he should take me to the hospital, run out and get some pain meds or just sit there holding my hand and trying to get me to calm down...finally he started talking to X and rubbing my tummy which got the little stinker to move eventually!  Go Daddy!  When I was calmed down, he decided to lean over and tell me, "Hey guess what?! I'm all set for labor...I'm deaf in my right ear now!"  Let me just say...I now find this funny...but at the moment I'm just glad my muscles were hurting bad enough for me to NOT be able to reach over and punch him! :)  This man is in for a shock in the delivery room...he'd better measure my arm length ahead of time!  I can't promise I'll be as kind then...

But hey, the joys of pregnancy abound, Xavier is a very active little boy...seeming to dance around the most when I'm feeling my worst which (when not adding to my pain) puts a HUGE smile on my face lol!  He also gets really excited when he hears Daddy's voice when Daddy comes home at night!

To add to the fun, Daddy has begun reading to Xavier and me before we go to sleep at night from his favorite book from when he was a little boy called "Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher"...it rocks! :)  It's adorable, charming, fascinating and just plain fun to have Ricky read his favorite childhood story to us!  X starts somersaulting with excitement as soon as he starts reading :)  And it puts Mommy to sleep...though I do manage to hear the whole story!

Mama's Little Xavier

When we talked about finding out if we were having a boy or a girl, Ricky was all about it from the beginning.  I would go back and forth...part of me wanted to know and another part wanted to wait the full term...but as the day got closer to my 5 month "Fetal Anatomy Ultrasound", I finally decided if the baby wants us to know then we'll find out:)

Apparently, Xavier is NOT shy...and likes to sleep with his little legs stretched out with everything airing out lol:)  This is where I would say he sleeps like his father, except for the fact that Ricky thankfully sleeps clothed beings as I usually steal the covers and God forbid there was an emergency haha!  He also likes to have his arms/hands up by or above his head, again like his daddy...of course the bigger he grows the more uncomfortable this particular sleeping arrangment is for me!  Try having that leg in your side!  He's gonna be a track star the rate he's going! And his other favorite thing is using my bladder as a PILLOW!

As soon as the ultrasound tech found the baby, we could all plainly see it was a boy and she was like umm...do you want to know?  And we said, umm...we think we can tell already lol!  (No I will not add a shot proving that it's a boy : P)  Anyway, Ricky was beside himself and I was relieved that the beard growing on my stomach was indeed baby testosterone induced and therefore reversible after his arrival!  (If not I was taking out stock in wax!)  Xavier was as I said very peacefully sleeping and did not feel like being disturbed!  The ultrasound tech needed him to move to get some shots of his heart and other organs for the doc, but he was having none of it!

So she started poking him...which he did NOT appreciate!  And between her poking and prodding and him stretching and arching, I was like get me out of here!  It was amazing to see the movements that I could feel him making actually projected on the screen.  For one, it proved that he indeed likes to use my bladder as a pillow...which I had been swearing he was doing for the past couple of weeks!  Once all 3 lady ultrasound techs were in there, then he decided to be cute and cooperative... figures! : P  AND make sure that all 3 of them saw that he was a boy multiple times...like I said, this kid is anything but shy...

In other news...my belly, otherwise known as "ZaZa's House" is getting bigger by the minute...honestly, I swear if I videotaped for 5 mins and sped it up you could actually see it happening!

Belly - 16 Weeks (just started to look preggers!)

Belly - 20 Weeks (My shirts are starting to shorten lol!) 

Xavier's room (half of our huge bedroom) is slowly getting cleaned out of all of mine and Daddy's stuff that needs to be packed away or given away!  So far our awesome friends and family have given us (or are storing for us :) - a crib, crib set, changing table, swing and pack and play!  Our goal is to have the room completely ready for items to move in no less than 2 weeks!  I'm finally making some real progress now that school is done!  ZaZa (as Auntie Maria calls him) has two new outfits to wear next summer that she brought back from her recent shore trip... I think she's trying to brainwash him already! : P  Of course these are from the same person who calls herself Auntie Awesome when talking to ZaZa's House!!! 

On the other side of the fam, someone decided to buy him his first toy!  So now there is this adorable looking wooden airplane sitting in a corner of the room waiting for my chubby legged caramel baby to climb all over it!  One of our favorite toys when we were kids was a wooden rocking horse my parents got for my brother one Christmas...we loved that thing to death and it held up like a champ!

It feels like we'll never have everything done by the time he's here, but I know we'll be fine...and just thinking about holding my little caramel latte makes me smile...I can almost smell that awesome baby scent when I close my eyes tight and breathe deep :)  Mommy can't wait to hold her little boy...Buona Notte Savio mio...