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2.25.2009

if i had a million dollars

I'm eating some fruit salad right now and drinking orange juice, instead of the sausage and hash browns I was going to do for breakfast. I'm trying to eat healthier, and I know I fall short in the fruits and veggies department (especially veggies)... not to mention way too much in the fats and carbs areas. I really love love love fruit, but it can be expensive, and if you aren't careful, it goes bad quickly. So I end up buying fruit and eating it in a few days, then not having it for another week until we go shopping.

If money were not an option I would love to switch to mostly organic, natural, local foods. Tons of fruit, fun salads (with nuts and organic goat cheeses!), local non-hormone ridden meats, fresh eggs, and tons of multi-grains. I was all inspired by Lauren this past weekend... she eats very organic, natural stuff. But that really does get expensive fast, and we don't have the money for it at the moment.

So, I'm trying to make small changes. Picking fruits when they are available, over other sugary snacks. Salads or other veggies with dinner. More multi-grains and less processed carbs.

I'd love suggestions for the ways that you fit healthy eating into your day. Or ways to make healthy eating more affordable. Help me out?

2.24.2009

redeeming myself

Pictures!

The beautiful bride-to-be:



(Our gift to her... their stemless wine glasses and a bottle of wine.)


Toilet paper wedding dress!


Then there was the bachelorette part:


Fun times all around!

Now I'm going to go make some hash-browns (Mmm....) and get lots of work done. Oh, and try not to freeze even with two heaters going, since it is 20* out! Brr. Bye!!

2.23.2009

silly little milestone

I just bought my first pair of maternity jeans! :-) Actually they were a gift from a friend... who is so sweet and wanted to treat me. I don't have a real belly yet (though I have that roundness I talked about before), but I can feel my uterus now, and regular jeans (plus most of my work pants!) push in on it. Not comfortable and I always end up unbuttoning my pants by mid-morning!

So! I got these:

They are cute, comfortable, and best of all... a normal top covers the waist of the jeans so that you can't even tell they are maternity! I can't wait to start wearing them! :-)

This week the baby is the size of a lime:
Photobucket
And we'll get to see him/her in a week and a half!!

11 w, 1 d

promises, promises

Did I say I would have pictures to share? And a real blog post? Because I definitely haven't downloaded my pics yet... and I'm not sure how much I'm feeling a real post today either. I'm a bit tired this morning, and there is a bunch of work to do... including once again trying to fix everything that went wrong in our damn office after our building did a complete power shutdown twice this weekend. Fun! This time it was just one breaker that had to be replaced... but that one breaker controlled half the computers in the office (including mine)! Its back up now, but seriously, pain-in-the-ass way to start a Monday.

The weekend was great though! Seriously so much fun. Friday night I drove the two-ish hours to Morristown to spend the night at my Hoser's apartment. It was so fun to see her and catch up. Alli and Sabrina joined us that night, and we went to sleep around 12 so we could get up at 6:30, to be out the door at 7:45. Lauren drove us all in her sister's SUV... and thought it would take us 4ish hours to get there, aka a 12ish arrival. Well, apparently it took only a little over 3 hours, with a bathroom/food break... because we were there promptly at 11:15!! No problem though, it gave Lauren and Alli (two of the bridesmaids) extra time to set up the room for Hannah's shower.

Hannah was so happy with everything! She was surprised to see how many people were there, happy that Sabrina & I had made the trip, and just excited for the whole thing. She got a ton of presents. We played a game where we all asked Hannah questions about her fiance Jeremy. For each one wrong, she had to stick a piece of gum in her mouth! But she rocked it out and of the 30 questions, she only missed 8. We also did the toilet paper wedding dress game, which my team won. :-)

Once things wrapped up, Sabrina and I left saying goodbye to Hannah like we were going home, when really we headed back to her house to decorate for her surprise bachelorette party. She had no clue, which is exactly what we all wanted. She came back, was completely surprised, and we got the night started. There was lots of champagne and music. Pizza was ordered around 6:30, and finally around 9:30 the group headed out to a club called Marti Gras for some dancing and drinks. Everyone returned to crash at Hannah's (minus a few people who stayed in a nearby hotel) around 12:15. Hannah had a great time, which made it a perfect night.

Sunday Hannah, myself and two other girls got up around 8ish. Lauren, Alli, and Sabrina got up around 8:45. We ate breakfast and relaxed until about 11:15ish, when we headed home. Beside a bit of torrential rain, the trip was fine. We got back to Lauren's about quarter of 3... got a few things from her apartment, then headed home. I was back just a little after 5, and spent the rest of the night relaxing with my boy and my dog. It was a very nice end to the weekend.

Only one more month and I get to see all those fun ladies again at Hannah's wedding! Can't wait! Anyone want to dog sit?

Well, I guess you did end up getting a real post out of me. But now I'm going to run and get my bum in gear to get some major work done. Ciao!

2.20.2009

wish me luck!

I head out tonight to drive to Jersey, spend the night there with my hoser, then tomorrow we head up to Rhode Island. Hannah, a friend that I lived with for two years in college, is getting married in March. This weekend we have some of her pre-wedding festivities. I'm excited to see her... it should be a great weekend, and hopefully I'll have some fun pictures to share come Monday. I'm sure I'll also be tired as hell from 14 hours of being in a car, etc. But it will be fun.

I got a call this morning from Ro and I have next weekend to look forward to now also... pedis! Her treat! The boys will be on baby duty, and we'll get our feet treated. :-) I'm so psyched!

As for now, I'll leave you with a cute picture to hold you over until I find it in me to make a real post:

cute pictures of puppies with captions

2.19.2009

it was a dark and stormy night...

Well, a dark and stormy mid-morning. The overcast, heavy-hearted weather seems almost fitting for the first anniversary of my "work mommy" Jan's father's passing. Very sad. She's home today... taking care of a million items that have popped up, but I have flowers waiting for her return tomorrow. Something to hopefully brighten her day just a little.


Something completely unrelated? I stole a meme from Dooce. Its different, and fun... and I thought a fitting one to do with how much I've been appreciating Trav lately. His willingness to sacrifice his mornings for my sleep, just how great he is. A surprise dinner on Tuesday night! In anycase, here is the meme on significant others.


What are your middle names?
Mine is Katiegh, his is James.

How long have you been together?
8 years, 4 months. Married for 2 years, 4 months.

How long did you know each other before you started dating?
One day. We met at a party on Oct. 12th... he kissed me goodnight and asked me to come back the next day. I did and we've been together ever since.

Who asked whom out?
He asked me.

How old are each of you?
I'm 26, he's 28.

Whose siblings do you see the most?
Mine, definitely. Ethan is only 1.5 hours away and still at home, so I see him about every 6-8 weeks. Trav's brothers are in Pittsburgh and Cleaveland, so we only get to see them once or twice a year, if that.

Which situation is the hardest on you as a couple?
Hmm... I'm not sure. We had different relaxation styles which caused a little bit of friction in the past, and money right now is a bit concerning. But really, I can't think of one situation that is super hard.

Did you go to the same school?
We both graduated from Lehigh University, two years apart.

Are you from the same home town?
No. I'm from a tiny, country area in eastern PA (Schnecksville) and he's from a big city in western PA (Pittsburgh).

Who is smarter?
I'm not sure... I think we are smart in different ways.

Who is the most sensitive?
Lol, probably me.

Where do you eat out most as a couple?
The Pearl... a place that serves both yummy Chinese dishes and lovely, fresh sushi... just a 10 minute ride from our house. It's always near the top of our list.

Where is the furthest you two have traveled together as a couple?
Ireland.

Who has the craziest exes?
Probably him.

Who has the worst temper?
He does... though it is much, much better then when we first moved in together. I'm just a much more "glass half full" person.

Who does the cooking?
We take turns! We actually both really enjoy cooking, and are both pretty damn good at it. He handles the red meat normally, while I'm great at whipping up pasta and chicken dishes. I think he stays more in a certain comfort zone while I experiment and want to try new things... but he might be more consistant in his outcomes. Lol.

Who is the neat-freak?
Err... definitely him.

Who is more stubborn?
We can both be stubborn about certain things... but neither of us tends to be unweilding.

Who hogs the bed?
Ohh, definitely him!! It's less my side and his side, more his side and my edge. Lol.

Who wakes up earlier?
He does. He's always preferred to be very early to work, rather then late or even on time... so he's out the door before I'm even up. And he has the ability to fall back asleep after getting up in the early morning... while once I'm up, I'm up. So this has all worked out with the dog and was less of an adjustment then it might have been.

Where was your first date?
We never really had dates. We hung out and spent time together... but it was watching movies, hanging out with friends, partying (it was college after all). We didn't really do the official, lets go to dinner and a movie thing.

Who is more jealous?
Neither of us are really jealous people.

How long did it take to get serious?
We were always serious. We were exclusively together from the start and knew at 6 months that we wanted to marry each other one day.

Who eats more?
Lol... me most of the time. He says that I'm going to make him fat because he often ends up eating just because I'm eating... which is all the time.

Who does the laundry?
We both do.

Who's better with the computer?
We're both very computer literate. He's better with excel, I'm maybe better with photo editing stuff.

Who drives when you are together?
He does more often, but not all the time. Whoever is in the mood to... or not not wanting to. Thankfully he's not one of those guys who has to be the driver, because I do really enjoy driving. Thankfully also, he doesn't mind doing the city driving.. which I hate!


Your turn!! Let me know if you do this!
And now, off to work.

2.17.2009

more gg

Because who could get enough of this sweetheart?!




Trav visited on Thursday while I was in DC for work... which, by the way, was great. The weather was beautiful for our trip down, our hotel was amazing, dinner with my uncle and cousins was fun, and the event went smoothly. Overall, I couldn't have asked for it to go better. Anyway, while I was down... Trav had off to watch the pup. Ro needed something picked up from the store, so he grabbed it for her and visited with the babe.

Sunday I headed over to take Ro's mom shopping for some other needed items, and then picked up Trav so we could all hang out for a few hours. It was really nice. Pat took some pictures, which I'll steal once he uploads them.

The rest of the weekend was nice too, although back to being cold. I had off friday and monday, so I hung out with the pup, got my oil changed and greeted the Terminix guy who came to do our annual inspection. Saturday I headed up to my parents for a hair appointment and to do some shopping with my mom. It was a great visit. We really didn't do anything for Valentine's Day. We had decided beforehand to make it a very lowkey holiday... no gifts except for one for our mutual Valentine, Daisy. Trav made me dinner... but that was about it. Honestly though, after all that driving, the last thing I would have wanted to do was go back out again! So I was very happy to slip into my PJs and tuck into dinner at home.

Now its back to work... and I'm, if not exactly excited, at least content to be here. I love staying home, but its VERY different now with the pup... and can be quite exhausting I have to say!! Plus, I have a lot of catching up to do still!

So, on that note... off I go!

2.15.2009

10 week belly

On the left, 4 weeks... on the right, 10 weeks (ignore the weird faces and bad hair):
The difference is subtle, but its there.

You can see it more on this one... but I think I was poking my belly out a little:
I can't wait to have a real belly!

10 weeks

dear ftd

Dear FTD.com,

I HATE YOU.

That's all.

Kisses,
Meegs

2.14.2009

telling the fam

I told my family about the baby today... it was great. (The paper was disguised as one of his birthday gifts... so he was opening it expecting something like that. It read, "You're going to be an Uncle!!!") Check out these reactions:


I love my big, bad brother getting all covering-his-mouth surprised/happy. It tickles me. :-) And honestly, just the best reactions. I'm so so glad I waited to tell them in person!!!

9w, 6d
(10weeks tomorrow... 1/4 of the way through!!)

2.11.2009

Gabrielle Gaia

Gabrielle Gaia
Born February 10th at 6:24am
(after 30+ hours of labor)

8lbs, 8oz. and 21" long
Head full of dark hair, just like daddy.


We went to see her last night. She's such a doll.


Dad is very proud:

Mom is absolutely in love:

Even Trav thinks she's pretty neat:


She's such a sweetie and I can't wait to spend time getting to know her. Congratulations Ro & Pat!! Welcome GG!!


Now, off to get ready for DC this afternoon!

2.10.2009

fambly


So I was totally going to post just this picture... BUT! I have a baby to talk about!! After a long process, where progression didn't happen... Ro was moved to the hospital last night where she was given some drugs to bring on the contractions. When those didn't work, she was given some other drugs. Lol. Those did work. It took about six hours, but after less then a half hour of pushing Gabrielle Gaia S******* arrived this morning at 6:30ish weighing approx 8.5lbs (Sorry, got details from a frazzled daddy... I'll get the real specifics from mom later). Mom and baby are both doing well, and I'm so looking forward to seeing them both tonight. I'm sure I'll have pictures to share tomorrow.

2.09.2009

back into the swing of things

So I was definitely tired this morning... but it feels good to be back at work and in the swing of things. When you're away on vacation, the week flies... but this past week felt a lot longer because it definitely wasn't your typical vacation! It was a lot of chasing this cutie around:

She really is a doll though and I'm loving her more and more everyday. Especially since she is doing better and better everyday.

The weekend was nice since Trav told me that he didn't mind doing the "morning shift." He pointed out that once I'm up in the morning, I'm up for good... while 9 times out of 10, he is able to fall back asleep pretty easily. So he let me sleep in, which was amazing (what a great guy I have!). It was also great just to share the day with him, and the chasing duties.


Daisy loved having her "daddy" around too. :-)
Sunday we met with a dog walking service who's going to stop by once a day to let Daisy out and play with her for a bit. Trav will also be coming home for his lunch hour, and he adjusted his hours so he can be home from work earlier too. So we'll see how Daisy's first full work day goes.

Saturday night we headed over to Ro & Pat's for a bit to take them some dinner. Ro was almost 41 weeks... and she was definitely feeling tired and sore.


But I got some great news since then! Ro's water broke last night, and she's now at the birth center!! So hopefully they'll be a baby post tonight or tomorrow. :-)

In the meantime, I have so much to do here. So I better get to it!

2.06.2009

now i know how parents feel

Trav has been calling every day to check on "his girls." We always talk about how Daisy's been doing that day... if she pooped yet, if she's been good, etc. I think I know how parent's feel... we're going to have to start making special times when we purposely don't talk about the dog! Lol.

Today Daisy is 3 months old. Only 9 more until we switch her to adult food... but about 21 more months until she's really considered an adult. Oh boy. On a positive note, only about 5-6 more months until she loses her first set of teeth... those razor sharp puppy ones she currently keeps accidentally destroying my hands with. Seriously, it looks like I've been playing with barbed wire.

Yesterday was Daisy's first trip to her new vet (she had a trip when out in Pittsburgh)... she's now 22lbs of fun!! She did great for all the new/different things it involved. First off, I took her myself (although Trav surprised us there!) so she had to ride in her travel crate in the car. She's not a fan, she likes to ride in laps. Lol. Then it was a whole bunch of new people, and the smell of a million dogs. So she was a little overwhelmed and whined a bit. But she charmed the doc, got her nails trimmed, and got two shots without flinching. We go back in three and a half weeks for a few more.

As for today. Well we're doing a work trial run! So I'm hiding upstairs again this morning... and this afternoon I'm going to see Ro, who still hasn't had her baby!! I guess GG is very comfortable in there. Then it will be the weekend. The wonderful weekend with Trav home, and the chance to take turns sleeping in. I can't wait! :-) Have a good one!

2.05.2009

first doc appointment

I just had my first doctor appointment Tuesday. It went really well... the midwife says my cervix looks good and my uterus feels nice and pregnant. :-) Lol.

I was thinking the first appointment... since it is really just an annual exam, some blood work, and Q&A... would be boring or not at all reassuring, but I was wrong. It was actually really neat and made it feel a lot more real! I had a ton of blood drawn (for a normal workup)... which was actually very easy, the woman was a pro and it didn't hurt. I think I took the bandage off too early though, because I now have a two inch long bruise on my arm. Ugh.

Most exciting: I scheduled my next appointment and first ultrasound! Both will be the first week of March. Can't wait.

This past weekend we also told the ILs our news. They were very excited for us, but it didn't go exactly as we had planned. Trav thought it would be cute to say, "So when are you guys going to Cape Cod, because Megan is pregnant and can't go after the middle of August." Lol. They both had a moment of "huh?" before huge smiles and congrats. Of course then, Trav's mom started yelling at his dad because apparently they had decided on the end of August, but she had really wanted to go in July. Opps! Obviously we didn't realize they had been arguing about that very thing, so it wasn't exactly the reaction we were expecting, but they really were happy.

Only a week and a half until I tell my parents!

2.04.2009

practicing my patience

Puppies are something. :-)
Daisy really is a sweetie, but boy is she keeping me busy! Yesterday I had an appointment in the morning, but otherwise my whole day (as with the days before that) was spent running outside so Daisy could go to the bathroom two million times a day, playing with her, feeding her, and snuggling with her. The last part is my favorite... she's a good snuggler when she's in the mood.

We're crate training, so when I really need a break, I tuck her in there for a bit and hide upstairs with a snack and a drink. Actually that's what I'm doing at them moment, but its mostly because I need to hop in the shower... not because she was driving me crazy (yet). She's doing great with the crate, no accidents after the first night... she is quiet in it, minus a minute or two of whining when she first goes in. She's also been good with the housebreaking part of the crate training... with only one accident yesterday (::knock on wood!::). She is a smart girl, and for the most part its been good.

The only part that's been hard for me is when she gets antsy in the afternoon and will start whining for no reason. We'll have just come in from going to the bathroom, she'll just have had water, I'll be trying to play with her, and/or snuggle with her... and she'll just sit there, stare at me, and whine. That's frustrating to me, and those are the times I wish I spoke puppy so she could tell me what's wrong. That's when I normally need a break, because I get frustrated and want to have lots of patience for her. I definitely can't wait until she's a bit older... with a bigger bladder, and a set schedule (which we're working on). Hopefully then we'll have a little less whining!

I'll tell you the truth too... we won't ever do a puppy again. If we get another, it will be a young adult dog (from a shelter), that is already housebroken and past the age of the 20 minute bladder.

But, she is a beautiful puppy. And any frustration goes away at the end of the day when she falls asleep on my lap or chest. I'm sure the next few months will pass quickly too. Especially with all the stuff we have going on in the next few weeks! Before the end of March I have a trip up to my parents, two trips to Connecticut (one with Trav, one without), a trip to DC for work, and hmm... and I know there is more. In any case, I'm sure the time will fly and before I know it my cute, frustrating puppy will be a big, crazy dog that I can no longer pick up and throw on my lap. So I'm trying to remind myself of that and enjoy this time as much as possible.

Something I won't miss... this snow! We have so much right now. We went from nothing... and probably in the 50s on Monday, to cold and about 5" of snow today! I can't believe how quickly it piled up overnight, and it certainly makes going in and out dozens of times a day a lot wetter.

Okay... time to get back to my girl!