Sunrise

It's been a long time since I've been up early enough to catch a proper sunrise. But today, at around 6:10 am, mother's intuition woke me, and I heard a strange sound coming from downstairs which saved me from my very bizarre dream... and I sat up only to find Sam walking into the room looking for me. I hurried downstairs to find the poor guy had gotten sick on the bottom two steps... he must have been coming up to get us, and couldn't quite make it. Awwww. It wasn't too bad of a mess; I was more worried about him! He kept trying to lick me and be comforted by my, and I felt badly but I wasn't interested in barfy kisses at that moment... In any case, I cleaned up his mess, and then let him go outside in case there was any residual sick that he had to get out. But he seemed OK. When he finally came in and I was ready to lie down on the couch for a few more minutes before rising to officially start my day, I realized I'd left the front storm door open. And this eerie peachy-pink light had begun to filter in the room. So I coaxed Sam to come out with me, and together we sat, on the front porch, watching the sun rise over the distant houses in our neighborhood. It was actually quite peaceful, and not something I've done in a very long time. I'm getting ready to kick off a very long, difficult week at work, and this was a good way to start that, even though I would have appreciated another hour's worth of sleep!

16 weeks

...and everything is going really well! I think I even felt Baby Rolston moving around in there for the first time last night! We had a doctor's appointment on Monday, and turns out, I haven't gained an ounce. In fact, I'm down .5 lbs... so obviously my fears of overeating and packing on the pounds were for naught. I really had these terrible visions of getting on the scale and having my wrists slapped with a ruler. When my doc asked if I was eating OK, not throwing up or anything, I answered, "well I could be eating better, and by better I just mean healthier..." and she responded, well, you haven't gained a ton of weight so I'm not terribly concerned at this point! Yay! Business as usual, then! Bring on the mac and cheese, please! I'm still not showing at all, though a friend did tell me yesterday that she thinks my belly looks pregnant... so that's a great thing. At least my belly doesn't just look FAT to other people. :) Dr. C said that I probably won't really be visibly showing until around 20 weeks... so I still have a few weeks to go!

I started taking a prenatal yoga class with my friend Alison, and I'm beginning to like it. The first week was rough, mostly because I hadn't ever done proper yoga before (okay, maybe once or twice, over the last TEN years) and was struggling to make sure my balance was in check and I had the different postures correct. But this week I fell a little more into a rhythm and I think it will end up being really good for me. Even though I am fairly muscular, I am SO inflexible, and hopefully this will help with that. At the end of the class, we have about 5-10 minutes of what the instructor calls "relaxation time," and I laid down on my side and closed my eyes, and that was when I think I felt the baby flutter around in there. It was weird, felt like bubbles! But it made me happy. I'm sure I will start to feel more movement over the next month or so.

Dave and I had a pretty productive weekend; we managed to start the daunting task of shuffling stuff from room to room (to basement) so we can begin to visualize the nursery. We obviously still have several months until anything major needs to be done, but it's good to start now so we don't have an even bigger project on our hands when the time really comes to get it all together. I also managed to bag up 5 giant trashbags full to take to goodwill, and we put a ton of stuff out in the trash on Monday, so things are moving along. Now if only we could come up with the cash to get this basement finished... we also inherited a pretty sweet surround sound system from my parents and two of Dave's wonderful buddies came over and got it all hooked up for us. They did a great job... it sounds really good, and there is no evidence of any wires anywhere! Yay Ted and Keith! Unfortunately this morning when I turned on the TV, all I got was dead silence, but I'm hopeful that it's an easy fix and we'll be up and running again in no time. Dave and I joked that we are lucky his boys knew what they were doing; had it been left up to us to hook up the system we would we have had ridiculous amounts of cables and cords running all over the place and probably still no sound, but we would have wound speaker wire around one another's necks by the end of the process. I did feel kinda badly because Dave and I sat there watching Monday Night Football while the boys worked... but they seemed to enjoy it... so all it took was a few beers and burgers and they were happy!

By the way, my fantasy football team DOMINATED this week. GO LIMERICK NUKES!

So all in all, life is still pretty damn good. My next Dr's appointment isn't until October 12th, and then the next ultrasound (the "big" one!) is scheduled for the 19th, when Dave gets back from WEFTEC. I can't wait for that. It's just so comforting and reassuring to see the little one in there, kicking away... and it's unbelievable watching them grow and develop!

My favorite time of the year...

September.is.awesome.

I love it. I always have. September to me means so many things. It means the promise of cool, crisp weather. It means the beginning of soccer season (which I sadly will not be able to physically participate in this year). It means the start of the Eagles season, which I know exhilarates Dave, and therefore, I am psyched by default. It means it's almost time to carve pumpkins, and for anyone reading this blog who knows me, you know that Pumpkin Weekend down in Maryland is my absolute favorite weekend of the year!!! I might need a little help lugging my pumpkin through the pumpkin patch this year, however!

It was this month that our four-legged son received his AKC Canine Good Citizen designation; after 6 weeks of training classes, he passed the test with flying colors! What this means is that, not only has Sammy proven to have good manners and behavior, but we can now begin even more rigorous training to eventually test him to be a therapy dog! We are so proud of him and feel so lucky to have such an awesome pet, and family member!

And finally, September this year also means that we've made it into the second trimester with this pregnancy, which is a huge milestone, and an even huger relief. I am feeling exceptionally well... sometimes I forget I am even with child, because I have so few symptoms at this point. I have been sleeping much better, and I attribute it to the cooler, less-humid air. I am not showing at all yet to the public eye, (though Dave and I can definitely tell there is a slight difference in my shape) and I still haven't had to don any maternity clothes, though I can definitely tell that my jeans are starting to get a little tighter around the waist... but all things considered, I feel great. Looking forward to my 16 week appointment next Monday, where I'll hopefully get to hear the baby's heartbeat again. :)

In any case, though I've had quite an enjoyable summer, I am thrilled that fall is just around the corner!!!