week 15

Maternity Clothes? nothing maternity, but definitely altering my clothing choices to more comfortable ones...

Stretch Marks? none.

 

Gender? 17 days until we find out!

Movement? Christmas night I thought I felt something!  I'm still not convinced because the doctor said I might not feel anything for awhile, so who knows.

Sleep? Overall, not too bad.  Still getting used to sleeping on my side.  2 nights ago though, I had the best night of sleep I've had in a long time! 

Food Cravings? ummm... at the moment... ice cream

What I Miss? if I had to pick something... it would be fitting into all my clothes

Symptoms? still have headaches and itchy skin

Best Moment Last Week? being able to relax with my baby's daddy ;)

Looking Forward to? enjoying our last days of Christmas break

memories from 2011

As I grew up, around this time every year, my Dad would sit down with family and write a list of memorable events that happened throughout the year.  It was always a nice way to reflect on the year, but also a good way to keep those memories written down to look back at again.

I did a recap of 2010 last year and so this year I will do something similar.  Just like my dad, I don't want to forget anything (but don't have the best memory) which is one of the many reasons I love blogging.

So here it goes... our biggest memories from 2011!

Way back in January, after 4 years of living in our home, we finally decided to paint!  It was a huge job for us Kirby so I'm not sure when we'll get some other rooms painted ;)

In April, we went to the OBX for our first camping trip.  It was a fun trip and we ended up going camping again in September (click here for part 2) with some friends.

 

In May, I participated in my first running event since high school... Dirty Myrtle Mud Run.

July I went to my first blogger meet-up!  I hope to have some more in the future.

August 9 we celebrated our 3 year wedding anniversary!  ...3 wonderful years with my perfect soul mate!

October was an exciting month for us.  The most exciting news was finding out we were expecting our first child!  We started preparing for the new arrival right away.  We bought another SUV since a baby can't fit into a Lotus. ;)

December was the sad month Kirby sold the Lotus.

catchin up with friends

When Dave and Darlene come in town, we almost always head over to our favorite restaurant, Mexico Lindo, to eat and catch up with them.  They plan on being in town until Sunday, so we look forward to spending some more time with them before we all go back to school/work next week.

the bump

For our friends here in North Myrtle Beach, you may have already seen me sportin' the little bump.
For our family and friends back home and all over the country, this is what we're lookin' like at 14+ weeks! :)

week 14

Maternity Clothes? nothing yet, but I can't fit into my favorite pair of regular jeans anymore.


 

Stretch Marks? thankfully, no.

Gender?  I don't have that instinct that people say I'll get... so we'll see.

Movement?  nothing yet... but I can't wait!

Sleep?  another week of better sleep!

Food Cravings? nothing- I am still working on eating more protein.

What I Miss? lots of carbs (cereal in the morning)

Symptoms?  itchy skin maybe... otherwise nothing.

Best Moment Last Week? I don't know if I'd count this as the best, but it was cute.  A student rubbing my belly and telling me "the baby is getting BIG!" haha... she'll come to see as the months go by that the baby (and Mrs. King) will get MUCH bigger!

Looking Forward to? celebrating Christmas with just Kirby and I for the last time

bye bye Exige...

Well, after about three years of Lotus ownership, boredom and fatherhood prompted me to sell the Exige S.  Initially, I intended to keep this one forever, as it was rather hard to find (had it shipped here from a Lotus dealership in California).  Plus, there are only about 300 of them in the country, so to see one in person is a pretty rare occurence (I've only seen one other before).

I got bit by the Lotus bug over 20 years ago and became a fanatic after seeing this 1990 Esprit SE in the movie Pretty Woman...

I test drove a few Esprits over the years but never found the "right one".  After that, I kind of lost interest in Lotus until the Elise came to the US in 2005, which we ended up buying one of those a few years ago, only to sell it to buy an Exige.  That brings us to today.  I was actually thinking about selling it out of boredom earlier this year, but Anna encouraged me not to.  Just recently, though, with Anna and I expecting, I decided it would be selfish to keep it, as I'd be the only person getting any use out of it over the next several years.  So, with only 7,500 miles on the odometer, up for sale it went on a Lotus car forum.  A handful of people were interested from all over (including California, New Mexico, Florida, Ohio, Canada, and even Peru), but it ended up going to a guy in Greensboro, who picked it up Monday evening.

The older I get, the more I realize how much I inherited the "car buying/selling gene" from my father.  I just realized since Anna and I have been in SC (a little over 4 years), we've somehow ended up owning/buying/selling 9 vehicles (including a motorcycle) during that time.  Not quite on par with dad, though.  I remember him telling me once when he was 18 years old, he went through about twenty cars in just that one year.  He passed away about 5 years ago.  I'm sure he wasn't too happy with the Lotus purchases.  He was never into any of that kind of stuff.  But I'm sure he was happy with the end result... ownership was essentially "free" over the past three years, as we ended up selling them for exactly the same amount we had invested in them.  Sold the Elise for a little less, and the Exige for a little more.  This one was for you, dad ;-)

Unfortunately, as of the 2012 model year, Lotus is no longer offering a streetable version of the Exige in the US. It is only being offered here as a track-only car that cannot be licensed and driven on public roads... http://www.autoblog.com/2011/12/08/2012-lotus-exige-headed-to-u-s-as-track-only-car/

A few pics before it was picked up...

And one the new owner sent me after it reached it's new home...    

week 13

Maternity Clothes? nope.  I only have to wear the BeBand for a few pairs of pants

Stretch Marks? nothing :)

Gender? 12 boy. 15 girl.  We get to find out January 17th though!

Movement? I can feel my body parts are movin' around in there, but no baby yet.  I found out I have an anterior placenta, so I guess I won't feel the baby anytime soon.

Sleep? so.much.better!

Food Cravings? nothing-  I am working on eating more protein instead of carbs though.

What I Miss? nothing really...

Symptoms? headaches... but I'm working on that.  I hope they stop soon.

Best Moment Last Week? 1. reaching the 2nd trimester  2. getting another ultrasound!  Being able to see our baby, and it looks like a baby now, was amazing!

Looking Forward to? when the baby can start hearing us.  I looked it up and I read somewhere that it happens around 16 weeks :)

another ultrasound!!!

4 appointments and 4 ultrasounds... makes for 2 happy parents!!

Once we chatted for a bit with the nurse today, the doctor walked in and said "Okay, wanna see the baby today?"  Who would turn down that offer!  Then to make things even more exciting... he flipped the machine to 4D for a little bit!  We were in heaven!  We could have sat there all evening and watched that screen! 

We tried to get him to take a guess on gender... and he did try... but couldn't make any calls yet.  We go back in 5 weeks (January 17th) and that's when we'll find out if Dad's little buddy will be a surfer dude or a surfer chick!

We are officially 13 weeks and 3 days!  The baby had a heartbeat of 148 bpm :)

This was 1 of the 4D pictures.

Even though the baby needs some fattening up, we loved seeing the pictures!

I heart family

Saturday Kirby and I drove to the Charleston area and to visit with my aunt, uncle, cousins, and the newest addition, baby Jude!  I loved seeing them all!  Baby Jude is just precious and I'm so happy for his mom & dad! 

My aunt and uncle (with some help from my cousin Andrew) made Frogmore Stew and oysters for dinner.  This was our 2nd encounter with an oyster roast down here in the south in one weekend!  Everyone, except me, feasted on the oysters!  I had a great time taking pictures and watching them for entertainment!

It won't be long until we see everyone again!  Lucy and Andrew are due in February with a little boy!  Can you imagine what the girls sat around and talked about.... haha, maybe babies?!

Horry's Restaurant

Last night we met up with some of Kirby's PE friends from Maryland at a neat family-style restaurant.  We did a lot of PE/teacher talk and ate a ton of food!  It was a nice, relaxing night. 

week 12

Maternity Clothes? wore the BeBand for the first time today.  I'm not sure if I'm a fan or not...

Stretch Marks? nothing :)

Gender? It's a tie.  11 boy.  11 girl.

Movement? not yet, but I'm reading that some 2nd time moms are starting to feel it, so maybe it'll be soon!

Sleep? Can't complain about this too much anymore.  It's been getting better.

Food Cravings? nothing particular.  I do feel like I want to eat all.the.time though.

What I Miss? being headache free

 

Symptoms? headaches... I guess that's it right now.

 

Best Moment Last Week? lookin' at colors for the baby's room.  We haven't officially decided on anything yet, but I have my favorites ;)

Looking Forward to? Our appointment next week

 

teachers have fun too...

Friday night was NMBP's Christmas party.  We had another great time at 2001 with a Carrabba's and Boulineau's catered dinner.  We played lots of fun games, hung out and just relaxed with each other. 

It's always nice to spend some time with friends outside of the workplace!

week 11

Believe it or not, I do have something going on down there, but you can't see it.  Maybe next week I'll put my hands on my food/bloat belly to give you a better idea.

Maternity Clothes? regular clothes are tighter, but no maternity clothes yet.

Stretch Marks? nothing :)

Gender? the votes are up to 9 for boy and 10 for girl.  We'll see...

Movement? he/she is kicking, but I can't feel it yet

Sleep? I caved and started sleeping on my back again.  I figured I have a few more weeks (2nd trimester) until I have to start sleeping on my side.  Sleeping on my back has helped A TON!

Food Cravings? still veggies and dip (what I'm eating right now), but nothing else really

What I Miss? nothing really, but sometimes a soda when we go out to eat

Symptoms? headaches and 1 bloody nose

Best Moment Last Week? when Kirby noticed a little bump...

 

Looking Forward to? showing for real

Oh, Christmas Tree

The King family is on the ball this holiday season!

We already have our house decorated (even though we don't have a lot to put up anyway) and bought our Christmas tree this weekend too.  We are in the Christmas spirit... that's for sure! 

I think we are finally realizing that if we want a real Christmas tree in the south (or at least in North Myrtle Beach) you have to grab one quickly.  A few years ago, we couldn't find any decent looking real trees anywhere at about 2 weeks before Christmas.  Oh and... they sell Christmas trees at grocery stores here too... Thanks Kroger for our tree this year!

Old Wives' Tales

Chinese Gender Chart-

BOY

Dangling a pendant over mother's belly-

If it moves in a circular motion it’s a girl. If it moves in a side to side motion it’s a boy.

GIRL

Morning Sickness indicator-

If you have a lot of morning sickness it’s a girl, if you don’t have a lot of morning sickness it’s a boy.

BOY

Cravings-

If you crave sweet foods it’s a girl, if you crave salty it’s a boy.

BOY

The Baby Whisperer/Dreamer-

1 BOY dream & 1 GIRL dream

 

Fetal Heart rate-

If the heartbeat is on the slower side it's a boy and if it's on the faster side it's a girl.

BOY

1- GIRL  4- BOY  1- TIE

We'll see how accurate these old wives' tales really are in about 9 weeks!

week 10

How far along? double digits- 10 weeks

Size of Baby? a kumquat... whatever that is.

Or some say... a prune

 

Maternity Clothes? nothing yet.  I walked around with my jeans unbuttoned for half the day yesterday though.  Last weekend, I bought myself a beband.  I haven't had to use it yet. 

Stretch Marks? still none

 

Gender? we don't know yet, but I'm getting anxious.  There are 8 votes for a boy and 6 votes for a girl right now.

 

Movement?  I don't feel anything yet, but that baby is moving around for sure!  When we got an ultrasound Wednesday, he/she was kickin' and movin' his/her little arms and legs like crazy!  I can't wait to feel that!

 

Sleep? not sleeping well...  I'm trying to remember to sleep on my side and it's been hard.  I am also waking up to go to the bathroom 3, sometimes 4, times a night.

 

Food Cravings? I'm not sure if it's pregnancy related, but last weekend I craved veggies and dip.  Normally when I buy vegetables, they go to waste.  But this time, I'm almost done with the big bowl I started on Saturday.

 

What I Miss? nothing really, but if I had to pick one thing it would be a good night sleep

 

Symptoms? still tired and I think I'm starting to feel things stretch

Best Moment Last Week? two things. 1. getting to see our baby again on the ultrasound!  Insurance companies should really let you see your baby more than 2 times a pregnancy... it's amazing!  2.  visiting a daycare right down the street.  We know it's early, but it's a popular one and they say you have to get on the list early.  Well, we were 30 weeks early ;)

 

Looking Forward to? maybe, just maybe starting to show a little bit.