Boo for COLDS!!

Having a cold when you're pregnant is rather miserable. But having a husband who is sick with a cold while you are pregnant and sick with a cold is even worse! Boo--we are sick.

Roomies

Honestly, one of the biggest areas of adjustment when Daniel and I got married was living together. We went from seeing each other every day, or every other day, to being in each others' space all of the time. And for me, it was also leaving my roommates, who were some of my dearest, closest friends (Olivia and Katie--we definitely had some fun times at 210 E Mount Ida!!).

This week, Nikki stayed with us--Dan and Buckley took to the road heading for Denver on Monday, and Nikki was flying out to meet them on Thursday, so she stayed with us for a few days. And can I say--it was so nice to have a girl friend in the house--almost like having a roommate again! Even though this week was ridiculous--late nights for work and sad hockey playoffs, and we all had colds--it was still really nice to have another lady in the house to chat with!

So Nikki--safe travels to Denver, and thanks for staying up late to debrief on the day, to commiserate over the Dans, to cuddle with Spud, and to let me have a piece of your leftover pizza!!

Yipes!

My bellybutton is starting to do weird things...and it's making me NERVOUS!

Weekend in Review, and a Sad Farewell

Per usual, this weekend ended up being rather full and busy! Friday night, we had awesome seats at the Nats vs. Dodgers baseball game (thanks to NCFC). In good news for Daniel, our seats were about 15 rows behind the visitor's dugout, so we were definitely in Dodgers territory. In sad news for Daniel, the Dodgers lost--but it was a beautiful night for baseball (if a little bit chilly), and it is always fun to see a game in person.

Saturday, we spent the morning cleaning the house, doing laundry, and taking Spud to the park. Then Saturday afternoon, we ventured out to Georgetown to officially say goodbye to our good friends, Dan and Nikki. Their departure leaves us equal parts sad and excited--super sad that they're leaving DC, but really excited for them (and excited that it is possible to leave DC and venture west! Look, Dan and Nikki are doing it, surely we can do it too!). Dan got an awesome job at the National Cattlemen's Beef Association's headquarters in Denver (woot!)--and Nikki is sure to find a fabulous job when she gets there. Aw man, we're sure going to miss them!

(PS this was a particularly sweaty and un-photogenic trip for me...but this is the best I could come up with in a pinch. I know we have better pictures somewhere, particularly of myself...I'll see if I can post something better, and less fat-sweaty-arm-ish. BUT--that was delicious salsa that we were holding.)

(PPS Nikki and I almost died after this trip--OK, I was sick, but Nikki was really sick--so let's hope, even with the tough ending and the few instances of shenanigans that occurred while we were there, that's not all we took away from our week in Cabo.)

On Sunday, I taught the Relief Society lesson at church (*Church is a multi-hour affair for us Mormons. We have three sessions during Sunday services--Sacrament Meeting, Sunday School, and Relief Society/Elder's Quorum. The Relief Society is the women's organization within the church, and in my congregation/ward, I am one of a handful who are asked to teach about once a month.), while Daniel vacuumed the house and finished the laundry. Then, I made dinner (Daniel grated the cheese)--enough for us, and enough to take to Amanda and Todd, who just had their baby girl Maddie last Monday. Of course, baby Maddie was asleep when I stopped by--but it was probably good for me to see the bleary-eyed, exhausted new parents, to get a glimpse of what is to come! And it turns out our official Sullivan/Menendez goodbye was not our actual goodbye--they came over, with their friend Mike, for one last Sunday dinner at our house--Kenny joined us too. Good times for sure!!

This week, our babies each weigh about 5 oz, kind of like a turnip!

Where are my marbles?

This week and next are going to be long weeks at work--lots going on, big meetings, long days, etc. Luckily, last night I got home at a reasonable hour, and after a jaunt to the dog park, I made fish tacos for dinner.

The first instance of crazy hit while at the dinner table--we were enjoying delicious fish tacos and talking about how our days had gone. Daniel mentioned, in starting to research child care options, that he registered with an au pair website and got pricing information. I could not even get a sentence out before I was bawling (irrational, anyone?). I mean, fair enough that this will be an emotional issue for me (while staying home is not a financial reality for either of us while we're living here in DC, it will break my heart that someone else will get to spend all day with our babies, and that it will not be me--ug), and one we will have to tackle sooner than later because of the cost and availability of child care in DC--but to start crying before we even start talking?! Daniel had no idea what was coming when I opened my mouth and my eyes welled up.

So, we talked about it a little bit, tears were dried, and we got past that--and the rest of the evening was fine. Daniel watched hockey, I read the Baby Bargains book, then I got ready to go to bed. I headed upstairs to brush my teeth and put on some pj's, and I yelled down the stairs to Daniel, "Ew, our house smells like FEEESH STEEEKS!" And I must have thought this is the funniest damn thing I have ever said. I could not stop laughing. I was laughing hysterically, so hard I was crying and wheezing. Fish sticks?! Feeeeesh steeeeeks?!? True story--it did smell like fish, as we'd prepared fish tacos for dinner. But for some reason, it hit my funny bone so hard, I couldn't catch my breath or stop laughing. Again, reason for Daniel to be concerned--I was a little concerned that I couldn't stop laughing. (I'm not going to lie, I'm laughing out loud as I'm typing this now.)

Daniel's response to all of this: HORMONES. And maybe he has a crazy wife. Sigh.

Hockey Playoffs: And so it begins...

Whew, hockey playoff season has begun, and it is exhausting! So far, there has been lots of game attending--the Washington Capitols played here in DC at the Verizon Center on Thursday AND Saturday. I ended up at the Thursday night game with Senator John Thune (sigh, dreamy), and Daniel and I had tickets to the Saturday night game. Both went into overtime = I am tired! There has also been lots of hockey watching--Daniel's catching ALL of the rest of the games. These two factors combined means that there is far less sleeping than usual going on in the Satterlee house.

GO CAPS!

Aside from that--this weekend we put together our new patio cafe set--and then BBQed outside on Sunday evening. Unfortunately, temperatures plummeted just before we got out to eat--but we made the best of it. Here is Daniel, a very serious Spud, and our rooftop patio with our new table and chairs!


And this week--week 16--our babies are the size of avocados!

What Sounds Good for Lunch?

I tell you what I can't get enough of these days--Subway sandwiches. I have always loved a good sandwich, usually of the turkey variety. But as I am having to avoid the deli meats these days, I am lucky that Subway has a few options that I can choose from. But I don't need a few options--all I want to eat is the oven roasted chicken breast sandwich with pepper jack cheese, loads of veg, and spicy chipotle sauce, all on 9-grain honey oat bread. Where else am I going to get a quick meal, loaded with veggies, protein, and complex carbohydrates, for $2.50 (half of the footlong today, half for tomorrow)?! Nowhere else!! Thank you, Subway.


And tonight, we're making peach milkshakes for dessert. For some reason, a peach milkshake sounded DE-licious as we were standing amid the frozen ice cream treats at the grocery store...light vanilla ice cream, check. Frozen peaches, check. Skim milk, check. Delicious peach milkshake--HERE I COME!!

Belly Pic: Week 15

I took a self portrait on Monday to showcase the ever-expanding belly...and here it is!

(Er, don't mind the refrigerator in the background...)

Babies Update

We need to get cracking with our weekends--while it seems like we have all of the time in the world to get ready for these babies, I have a feeling the next few months are going to fly by, and we have a lot of work to do! Alas, this past weekend, we did not get cracking, or anything like it. I was tired and not feeling very well (I haven't been sleeping very well, boo), so we took it easy and hung out close to home.

Yesterday, we had a doctor's appointment. We listened to our babies' heartbeats, and they sounded good and strong. Only three more weeks until we find out if we're having boys or girls or one of each! (AND only three more weeks until Daniel is OLD :)

This week, our babies are the size of apples! We took a belly measurement yesterday--a whopping 41 INCHES!? Good grief. Will have some belly pics up in the next day or two!

What is that I feel?

Is it my tummy digesting a delicious fudge-covered graham cracker that I ate right after I woke up from a nap today? Or is it a BABY?! Tricky...

In Weird News...

Two things I found out this week that are freaking me out:

1) Did you know that you can nurse two babies at one time?! Turns out that if you have two babies, you can indeed feed them at the same time. I found this out when an EZNurse Twin pillow was posted on the Moms on the Hill list serv (here's what it is, with a handy dandy VISUAL: http://www.justmultiples.com/ez-nurse-twins-pillow-foam.html)

But this is what comes to mind:


I had not thought of puppies until co-worker Lisa mentioned them today--and now that image comes to mind too, along with the barnyard animals!

Whew, this might take a while to digest and be "comfortable" with.

2) Co-worker Jill tells me that your belly button gets super sensitive. What?! I am not a huge fan of the belly button, generally--and I really don't like having my belly button touched. But that it would HURT to be touched?! I mean, I know it's going to be out there at some point in the not-so-distant future--but really, painful to the touch?! I might have to invest in some of these little ingenious devices to keep my sensitive belly button to myself:

So much to consider...

I Spy...

My first lilac in bloom today! Spud and I ran into them on our walk this morning--beautiful, and smells divine...

Easter Recap and Progress

Whew, what a weekend. Yesterday was Easter, and we had many of our friends over to celebrate. Joining us for an Easter feast: Olivia, Janet, Katie and Zach, Nikki and Dan, Nikki's sister Mandy, Matt and Becky, Cordell and Holly, Kenny, and Patrick (how did we not take one picture of the Easter party?! Fail.). We had so much good food--Olivia, Nikki, Becky, Janet, and Holly all pitched in and brought lots of appetizers and side dishes and desserts--we were all stuffed by the time we were done. It was a lot of fun--and it wore me out! I'm pooped today--I officially think Easter should be a three-day holiday--I could definitely use one more day off.


At the official start of the second trimester (week 14), the babies are the size of lemons this week! And we check in with Dr. Rothman next week.

Cherry Blossoms Are Out!

It was such a beautiful day today--and was about a perfect Saturday. I met up with Olivia and Kim Heiner (who was visiting from Kansas) for breakfast at Eastern Market--then Liv and I headed to the Tidal Basin to check out the cherry blossoms while Kim toured the White House. There were SO MANY PEOPLE out, but the trip was worth it to see all of the trees in bloom!








A belly shot at just shy of 14 weeks.




I should have done my hair before we left the house--but here's a pic of cute Olivia and me.



Then, we met up with Kim, Katie Stahl and her bf Zach (who are also here visiting) for lunch at Potbelly's--it was sooo good to see Katie! She left DC last summer, and in very sad news, I haven't had the chance to see her since. From there, we all went our own way for the afternoon (I started cooking for Easter, took a nap, and caught up with my mom), then reconvened for dinner at Two Poblanos, delicious Mexican food in Del Ray--it was so good to catch up with Katie and Zach, and for all of us to be able to hang out together again. A great day all around!

Two Firsts

First: I took advantage of "expectant mother" parking spots at two different retailers while running errands today. And it was wonderful, thankyouverymuch. They are not offered everywhere--but at some Targets, some grocery stores and the like, right next to the handicap spots there are spots reserved for those with small children or women who are pregnant. Much appreciated, Target and Safeway, much appreciated.

Second: I had to buy a couple of new bras. In a larger size. Today was the day that I officially joined the D Club. Wah WAH.

Funny, when it hits you

It is an absolutely gorgeous morning here in DC, and spring has definitely sprung--daffodils, tulips, and cherry blossoms are in bloom, the grass is green, and the sky is a clear, beautiful blue. But on my drive to work, I only wanted to be here:


This is a pic of Mount Borah from a trip home almost exactly a year ago to go skiing and steelhead fishing. Sigh.






These pics are from one of my favorite places--on a boat trip with the family on the South Fork of the Snake River.



And I really miss all of these yahoos.