The way to a woman's heart...

is Lowe's gift cards!!! Yay!!! :-)Thanks to Bobby's mom and step-dad, we are now able to help the economy and shop even more at Lowe's! Thank you, thank you, thank you! My mind just won't stop thinking about what to buy next. I did find out that Olympic paint has a "Premium" brand now - i.e. No VOC paint - which will be good for baby and me. How exciting!
We also want to continue thanking Barbara and Bob for all the other Christmas gifts! Here's Bobby with his new favorite ornament. I bet he is going to show it off to his two older brothers!
And while we're in the picture-taking mood (and all dressed up for Bobby's company Christmas party)... here's me with my baby bump at 4 1/2 months. Slowly but surely I'm accumulating on maternity clothing, which I believe makes the belly look even more pronounced!

It's definitely a boy!

So you're looking at it! Right where the "mouse" is pointing... evidence of a little boy! You're basically looking at the baby from his bottom up. His legs are crossed at his ankles. Those legs sure look awfully long! No wonder he woke me up in my sleep the other night from kicking!
Guess we better start looking for a name versus calling him "Peanut" all the time! :-)
In the meantime, our little peanut continues to receive gifts! These cute bunnies were a gift from Isabelle and Daniel - good friends here in Tulsa. Izzy's mom actually knitted these bunnies or should I say "lapins" in French, since they were handmade in Quebec!
And of course, can't pass up the chance to post more pictures of our celebrity neighborhood hawk. I'm constantly trying to sneak up on him on the deck to get a closer pic, but he would always fly away!

To faux or not to faux...?

Well, I guess based on the picture... the answer is a big NO! I thought that maybe, just maybe, I could use the kitchen color paint - dilute it a little, paint it on and rub it off with a towel - to tone down that bright yellow in the laundry room. (I was not about to pay $7 for a Polo Ralph Lauren sponge!) As you can see, it didn't turn out so well (maybe I should have bought that sponge!).
So anyhow, I ended up mixing a little bit of the "Golden Glow" yellow with some white and painted about 2/3 of the room. It's funny how different parts of the wall looks more yellow than others based on the lighting in the room. I did leave the bright yellow on the wall where the door is and also where the washer and dryer is going to be. I did tone down the color above the cabinets and I think it looks so much better.
Now I just have to figure out what to do with the cabinets - stain or paint???? And what color??!!?














Spotted a woodpecker yesterday in the backyard. It was like an invasion of birds when the sun came out. One minute they were there,... and the next minute, they were all gone! Looked it up on the internet and this one is called the red-bellied woodpecker. I don't see the red belly though!

Thought you had a bad hair day???

I woke up yesterday and was completely shocked when I saw myself in the mirror. And of course, I burst out laughing! I took a pic of me on my cellphone and sent it to Bobby at work and he said that he burst out laughing out loud too... in his meeting!
Well, if anything, you can definitely see how much my hair has grown since the hair buzz/cut almost 6 months ago :-)

And here's my baby bump of 16 1/2 weeks. My belly button is definitely not much of an innie anymore. I'm still quite sad and freaked out about that. Our next ultrasound appointment is on Monday. We will definitely be able to confirm if our lil' peanut is a boy. And we should probably start giving him a "real" name vs. "Peanut". Haha!
And a quick thank you to my sis, Scott, and little Mikey for sending a nice care package of toys!

"You have a silly name!"

True words of 3-year old little Amelia to Bobby on Day 2 of our stay in Memphis! Bobby and I decided to take the 7-hour drive and visit his childhood friend who just moved to Memphis with his family earlier this year. It was great to see BJ and Ellen and their two kids - Jeb (6) and of course, little cutie Amelia. We got our first-hand experience at watching parenting skills in action and bounced plenty of questions to BJ & Ellen in anticipation of our little peanut. Needless to say, it was definitely a trip worthwhile!
We also saw the biggest Magnolia tree ever!!! It was across the street from their house. I just had to take a picture with it!Since it was my first trip to Memphis, BJ took us on a quick trip around Graceland to see Elvis' house. Did you know that it's the 2nd most visited house in the US, apart from the White House? The house is bordered by this brick wall along the side of the street. And if you look clearly in the pic, it is covered with graffiti! Elvis also had both of his planes parked on the other side of the street, walking distance from the Heartbreak Hotel.
We also took a quick drive in downtown Memphis. We drove by the Lorraine Motel where Martin Luther King was assassinated (thanks for the spelling correction, honey!) in 1968. The motel looks exactly the same as it did then, based on what I've seen on tv. It was quite an eerie feeling! It is now the home of the National Civil Rights Museum.
On the drive home, we saw a whole flock of birds flying south. It was an amazing sight! Well, at least to me it was. I kept going "Wow!" and Bobby was barely showed any enthusiasm. :-P
Once home, Bobby was excited to start a fire in our fireplace for the very first time. BJ & Ellen had an amazing stone fireplace in their family room and so, needless to say, Bobby couldn't wait to get started when we got home. Problem was, once the fire got started, he just wouldn't quit poking at it! I guess anything to keep him occupied :-)

Boeuf Borguignon - Attempt #1

Inspired by the movie "Julie and Julia" and of course, by Julia Child, I bravely took on the task of cooking Boeuf Borguignon for the very first time. Well,... let's just say it won't be the last! (Or will it be???)
There were numerous versions of the recipe online and I went with one where the instructions were about a page and a half long! Well, to make the story short... here are the results:
As seen in the pic, it was a complete disaster! In the movie, Julie actually burnt her first Boeuf Borguignon as well but that was because she fell asleep on the couch. Mine only took less than 3 hours to burn! The funny thing is, I could smell the dish when I opened up the oven and it actually smelled really good! So I was really surprised when I opened up the casserole pot!
Maybe it's because I completely ignored the part of the recipe that said "Cover and place in the oven, adjusting the heat so the liquid simmers very slowly for 3 to 4 hours".
Thankfully, I had bought a frozen pizza the day before while grocery shopping. The pizza sure looked a lot better next to the burnt pot!
I guess I shouldn't have laughed at Bobby when he burnt the pancakes last weekend :-P I still think it was a bad recipe. I will have to look for another version of it for Attempt #2 :-)

Happy Thanksgiving!

It's amazing how quickly Thanksgiving comes and goes. We started out Thursday morning with pancakes, some better than others as you can see. Thankfully "Aunt Jemima" was able to provide more batter :-)
Dinner was a little bit more successful. Since we didn't have any family or friends coming over for dinner, we decided to go back to our simple Thanksgiving menu of 2008 - meatloaf and mac 'n' cheese! Bob did assist in helping me make a mess in the kitchen. Let's just say spilled milk on an electric stove top equals a nasty burnt smell and a nice black stain.The weather on Friday and Saturday was gorgeous! Needless to say, we were both out on the golf course. And I want the record to show that I was able to beat Bobby on both days. Not bad for a pregnant lady! ;-)
On a more serious note, I am thankful for having a hubby that loves me and more importantly, feeds me (and little peanut) and provides a roof over our heads. And thankfully, he has not asked me (yet) to look for a "real" job! Love you lots, honey! :-x

Baby update - A boy???

Based on our second ultrasound, we may have spotted a 14-week wiener! It's not a 100% but when the doc was moving the device around on my belly, you could definitely see a different lighting between the lil' peanut's legs :-)
Speaking of doc, we did decide to switch to a new doctor and we are SO happy that we did. He was great and his staff were nice and efficient!
Here's a quick shout-out to Grandma and Pop-pop in New Jersey! We did receive the box of gifts for the little one and I'm sure we'll be using all of it. Thank you both!
In the meantime, I finally started painting the laundry room. But unfortunately, the color turned out really bright in comparison to the kitchen. Like REALLY bright!!! I don't think the "Golden Glow" was the right choice, although we did paint the sample on a couple sides of the laundry room. Guess that's one of those moments where you just have to go "Hmmm....???" So looks like a re-paint is in order, but just a matter of when :-)
And oh, I bumped my head in the corner of the cabinets while moving the dryer. Talk about OUCH! It was so painful I think lil' P felt that one too! It's been 2 days later and the scab above my hairline is still there and of course, the bump still hurts!!!

Baby blanket

Finally! 2 1/2 years later... I finally finished crocheting the baby blanket! I had started on it when my sister was pregnant with my little nephew back in the summer of 2007. Right about halfway through the blanket, she decided that she didn't want it because it was too pink! And obviously, with little Mikey being a boy, he can't have a pink blanket! When I first bought the roll of yarn, I thought there was just the same amount of purple in it versus the pink, but I guess I was wrong.
I did actually complete the blanket once before but it wasn't symmetrical at all when I was done! The way this blanket is crocheted, it starts out at one point and goes wider into a triangular shape and then back narrow towards a single point, to form, from what I can see, more of a diamond shape rather than a square (well... kind of a diamond shape ;-). In any case, it was no where close to that diamond shape the first time! So after pulling off the yarn back to the halfway point, I tucked the project away until about 2 weeks ago.
I'm glad it's finally done! Although, I'm not too sure what to do with it now. I do have a friend that's expecting a baby girl in February, but I'm embarrassed that it might not be well-made enough as a gift. Guess we'll leave it for now and see what happens at our next doctor's appointment. It may still be too early to tell though what the gender of our baby will be. I will only be at 14 weeks next Monday.

Shiny car!

Finally, after months of sitting dirty in the garage, I finally washed and waxed my car. I have to say, it looks great! :-) It took extra long to clean it because after an entire season of driving, I had to use a special bug cleaner to get all those bug and oil stains off the bumper and along the sides of the car. Phew! Now, I just want to keep the car in the garage and not drive it and get it dirty again!
I've been slowly taking care of little items around the house. I finally was able to switch out a couple of the light switches with dimmers. It took me THREE attempts to change out the light switch in the living room. First attempt - I didn't have the correct light switch (so back to Lowe's!). Second attempt - The wires didn't fit the little holes behind the switch (so back at Lowe's again!). Third and final attempt - with the same light switch, I was told to wrap the wires around the screws. Tada!!!
The dimmer switch in the dining room was much simpler. 2 black wires and a green wire. I've yet to put the face-plate back since we are planning on painting the dining room. Not too fond of the dark red.
Speaking of painting, I finally sanded and repainted my country bench. Right now, we have it by the back door... it seems to fit in that little nook. I know I'm probably going to move again soon enough! :-)

Hawk sighting

It's been ages since I last saw the hawk. I was wondering if there were any baby hawks after the last "humping" sighting this past May :-)
But there it was this morning... calling out, which is how I spotted it. The weather was really foggy this morning so the pictures are not very bright. I'm guessing this is its nest.

Pregnancy update - 3 months later

My first trimester is over and they are right - you do feel better at the start of your 2nd trimester! I did have the chills and a fever last week. Still can't figure out why. I wonder if it had anything to do with the flu shot that I took while I was at the doctor's. Oh well... I'm just glad that I'm feeling so much better!
Although, I was freaking out a couple of nights ago when I noticed my belly button in the mirror. I just want to make it clear that I'm an "innie" and have and always will be one! Well, I'm still freaking out about it. Yes... a very sensitve issue. My belly button is hardly an innie anymore!!! AAAHHhhh...! Nobody said anything about that in any of the books! I do feel as if my belly is expanding from my belly button though. So I've started loading up on cocoa butter cream in hopes that I won't have to deal with stretch marks later.
And I finally took the plunge! Bob and I went to the mall to buy maternity clothing yesterday. And I'm so glad we did!!! The pants are so much more comfortable and I won't have to unbutton my jeans in the middle (or even before!) my meal at the restaurants. :-)
3 months and counting....!

Baby's first gift!

We were leaving for dinner last night when we saw a package outside our front door. Bob got out to get it and I was SO sure that it was a gift from his Mom. But I was wrong! Looks like his oldest brother's family beat his Mom to it!
It's the cutest looking (and cuddly) puppy with booties tied to it's neck. Of course, they got both blue and pink covered. Maybe this could be the color inspiration for the soon-to-be nursery, once of course I take care of some other rooms around the house :-)
Thank you Doug & Myla and soon-to-be cousins Parker and Matthew!

Happy Halloween!

Or... "Hap Halloween" as a little tricker-treater said this past Saturday. He sounded really cute but I couldn't see him as I was bundled up on the couch with the chills. I was all prepared for Halloween - carved the pumpkin (was suppose to carve both but it was SO TOUGH!) and even bought a witches hat! Oh well, guess I know what I'll be next year for Halloween!
Actually, Bobby and I were really wondering if anyone was going to knock on our door for trick-a-treating. We were expecting the first knock at perhaps 6:30pm but no one showed up till maybe 7:30pm! Wow... Bobby and I must be old or too conservative! Thankfully Bobby took care of the door knocks and handed out the candy while I moped on the couch. And thankfully the last door knock was before 9pm. I was ready for bed!
I felt a little bit better on Sunday... and seeing the little birdie again in the tree house made me happier as well. I haven't spotted the bird since our last sighting 2 weeks ago. And as to how this bird actually can perch itself up in that hole? I took more pictures and look! You can see it's tiny feet! so it's actually just sitting there. It's just seems like such a tiny opening though! And I'm not sure if this is a different birdie, but it does look skinnier. Maybe the male? Looks like he's protecting the birdhouse - "I'm king of my domain!!"
And Bobby was back at it again! After mowing the backyard, he attempted to take another fallen branch down. He did send me away... after ONE comment or what he calls CRITICISM! No need to raise your voice at a now pregnant woman! Blah! :-P Obviously, everything worked out in the end when the dead branch finally came down. Bobby then went to play golf and I stayed home and watched movie after movie on TV since I still wasn't feeling 100%. And Bobby took care of dinner when he got home too. How nice! I wonder how long this can go on for... :-)

Knocked up!

Yup, it's official! I am 11-weeks pregnant! We actually found out during LPGA qualifying school late October but wanted to keep it quiet until we actually had our first ultrasound. So speaking of ultrasound, here are a couple of images. The doc had to use the vaginal probe to get clearer images, which I was not happy about at all! But seeing the baby's image and HEARING the baby's heartbeat was amazing! It was beating at an amazing 160 beats per minute! And when the doc held the probe still, you could see the baby move. It was moving like crazy! Hope that's not a sign of TROUBLE to come! :-)
Here's a funny pic that came out from the ultrasound. Bobby calls it the crazy jack o'lantern peanut! The baby's eyes and mouth are illuminated like a jack o'lantern and his head and body is shaped like a peanut. And look, he's waving at you too! Haha! Too funny. Speaking of "he", we really don't know the sex of the baby yet. My dad's already put in an order for a girl. :-)
Well, the baby is at 7cm right now - almost 3". We're reading the book "What to expect when you're expecting" and we really thought that the baby was only the size of a blueberry, so obviously we're a little bit off track! But it's just amazing how this little "thing" growing in you can cause so much discomfort and nausea! No, I haven't had to hug any toilet bowls (yet)... but it sure is an awful feeling when all you want to do all day is lay on the couch! And I've yet to have a good night's sleep. The baby already has me trained - having me wake up at least 2 to 3 times a night to pee,... and getting me up at 6:30am needing to eat! Did I mention how tired I am of thinking of my next meal???
But out of it all, both Bobby and I are really excited. I think reality is sinking in slowly for me that I'm going to be a mommy. AaaahhhhHHHHHH...!!! And Bobby is hoping the baby's due date will be on his birthday. Right now, the baby is scheduled to arrive on May 20, 2010 which is 10 days earlier than Bobby's birthday. We're going to have another Gemini in our house! Yikes.... 6 personalities in one household! And based on the Chinese calendar, the baby will be a Metal Tiger. So, among a Dog (Bobby) and a Dragon (me), it's going to be a crazy family! :-)

Productive Sunday

Bobby and I had a really good day yesterday. It all started with a nice surprise in the front yard. There was a little birdie in the bird house!... the one that I "borrowed" from the golf course :-) Bobby had a good point - how DOES that bird just sit there in the entry of that birdhouse? Maybe there's a little perch on the inside. I always wondered if there would ever be another occupant for the birdhouse since there was already a bird's nest in there when I first picked it up from the course. Oh wait, I mean "borrowed" from the course. I'm so happy for the new birdie!!!
Bobby and I finally finished putting together the border along the front yard. We are so happy with our work. It looks so much better! We found some decorative border that will (hopefully) keep the mulch in place! The rain has been washing away a lot of our mulch, hence the rock as well on the corner of the house. We'll need to put another big rock against the wall, once Bobby recovers from his hardwork :-)
Speaking of hardwork, Bobby didn't stop there. Once we were done, I wanted to have a branch of a broken tree limb trimmed. So off he went. First, with the smaller ladder and armed with an electric saw. But then unfortunately, the battery of the saw died pretty quickly. So he was stuck with a curvy saw on a long pole which was doing very little at ground level. Thankfully, I found the other spare battery for the saw. So off he went again. This time with the larger ladder. After a few minutes of sawing, he would come down and tug at the tree limbs (tree winning of course, but obviously not a good thing to say to him). When the battery started to die again, I suggested an axe... and needless to say, an awesome idea! It did take quite a few chops (and a few misses), but eventually, Bobby got the job done! And then, he decided to show off... which probably attributed to his sore back. Who is my silly honey!! :-p
Well, I had my own productive day today. It took SOOOO many hours to paint the front door, but it's done! Just don't look at it too closely. Let's just say that fiberglass it not a fun material to paint on! And... hmm, come to think of it, I still have to paint the inside of the door and the trim on both sides! Good thing my golf season is over and there is no deadline!

New sink and faucet installed!

The new sink and faucet is finally installed! I had bought the kitchen faucet since my golf event in New Hampshire (end of July) and the new sink had been sitting on the kitchen floor since last month. So, yay! The guy that installed it was actually just here earlier this week installing our new door. It took him a little bit longer with the sink and faucet as he had to go back to Lowe's a couple more times to get the correct parts. He also had to familiarize himself with the faucet and its built-in filter system. Fancy! But then again, once it was all said and done, the faucet doesn't actually shut off completely when you turn it off. So drip, drip, drip for a few seconds and then it's done, which is really weird for an expensive faucet. I did buy it at a surplus super-store, but then again, hmmm.... I'm tempted to write to the manufacturer to see what they will say about it. I may want to leave out the details of the surplus store though :-)
It's probably a good thing we hired a guy to perform the installation because I had mentioned how heavy the sink is and the guy didn't really believe me until he had to pick it up out of the box. And he's a big dude too!
Well, the caulking needs to set and I've convince Bobby that I can't cook tonight. Plus, it's too late to go out and get groceries! The sun is finally out after a few long gloomy days so I think we may hang out by the river tonight ;-)

Hair update - Month #4

It's been 4 months since the buzz cut and I feel like any other person walking on the street with short hair. Ok, maybe bad short hair! My side burns have completely taken over me ears! It will probably still be a while before I go in for my first haircut :-)