Half Baked!

We're officially halfway there!  This week marked 20 weeks into my pregnancy.  Officially 5 months, half baked, over the hump!  There is no hiding this belly now.

So we wanted to take this time to share a few new bumpies with you and update you all on the updates since we've last provided a dedicated baby blog:

How I'm feeling:  fan-freakin-tastic.  To the point where I started getting scared because outside of my growing belly, and the recent growth in my eh hem...chest region - I don't even feel pregnant!  My energy is up, I'm still working out every day, I am eating as healthy as possible (with a little more ice cream than normal), and I'm sleeping well!  Soaking in every second of this glowing part of the pregnancy while I can - because I know that I'll be longing for these days in just a few weeks time!

How is baby feeling?  I've been a little worried these days because I haven't felt my little mango moving around.  A lot of friends I have talked to felt their babies moving around during weeks 16, 17, 18, 19....I'm at week 20, and nothing.  I read a few places that orange juice or apple juice will make her wiggle - or that shining a flash light on my belly might make her squirm.  And I tried both...several times...but nothing.  And then it happened!!!!  I was sitting on the couch eating a VERY late dinner after a 13 hour work day, with my feet up on the coffee table, winding down from the day.  And my sweet little America decided that would be a good time to play!  I felt her first little bumps in my belly and it was the greatest sensation in the world.  The little palpitations I felt in my tummy matched the ones she made me feel in my heart!  Every day since then she's been kicking up a storm in there!  No apple juice or flashlights needed here anymore!!!  The only hard thing is that Mike can't feel her yet - but soon enough.

What I'm craving:  I'm so glad to be back to my healthy eating habits with a few added treats before I go to sleep.  But I have an insatiable craving for FroYo...that's all I want...every day.  But somehow every FroYo restaurant in our neighborhood within a 4 block radius has closed.  And walking more than that when it's 10 degrees outside, just doesn't seem like a smart thing to do.  So my solution has been SMOOTHIES!  Smoothies every day....if I can put it in my nutri-bullet, I'll blend it.  I just can't have enough of them.....And it's probably a healthier alternative to FroYo anyway.  So I guess that's a good trade-off!

What I've been living in:  I'm holding on for dear life to my non-maternity pants.  So basically, my bella band has been my saving grace...almost every day.  It's also still ridiculously cold here in New York, so I'm just happy my winter coat can still fit over this bulging belly.  Just a few more weeks of this cold!!!

What I'm looking forward to: We're moving to our house in just a few weeks time & I am so thrilled that we'll be able to decorate her nursery before she gets here.  I've created a very organized Pinterest board of how I envision little baby girl Mobley's nursery will look- and we already did a little shopping to get ideas of cribs & rockers.  But we just can't wait to roll up our sleeves and get everything started in there!

I'm not sure if I've mastered the art of the "bumpie" yet, but I'm trying to be more diligent about taking them weekly so I have them for our little one.  We are going in for a few doctors appointments next week - and can't wait to have some more pictures of our tiny little girl!  But for now we're 20 weeks down...20 to go!!!

My Dallas Valentines

I love surprising my dad - it's just too easy.  I think I've done it every time I've gone to Dallas (with the exception of maybe Thanksgiving and Christmas).  My mom is a great accomplice (only because a surprise could never work on HER!), he's never suspecting, and he's genuinely thrilled when he comes home from the office for a little lunch & I'm causally sitting at the kitchen table!

Last week, I had a meeting in Dallas for work - and since it was a long weekend I turned my business trip into a birthday surprise for my Pops!  Yes! It was too perfect - a business trip + a long weekend + dad's birthday.  The stars were all aligned.

I'm trying to work here
Burton....

Mike came and met me down in Dallas after he had finished up the work week, and we managed to get a 3 day break from the 11 degree weather here in New York and accumulate some much needed vitamin D and family time.  With my maternity leave coming up in 5 months or so, it's harder and harder for me to get away for a few reasons.  First, I'm going to have to be careful about traveling a little bit later in my pregnancy.  And second, I kind of have to stock up on those vacation days so that I can make the most of my maternity leave.  So between now and July, I'm going to have to be very stingy with these 2015 vacation days.  Which means, my 4-5 yearly trips to Dallas are probably going to be down to MAYBE 2 this year...a major lifestyle change for these two jet setters!

We've had a cold winter this year.  I think it has snowed at least once a week, if not twice for the past 5 or 6 weeks.  While we haven't had to dig ourselves out TOO much like our friends up the coast in Boston, it has started to cause a little bit of cabin fever over here in the Mobley household.  So Mike and I were thrilled when the Dallas forecast was in the 70s and we got a sky full of sunshine.  That means some fresh air and walks outside with the whole family - pups included of course.  It was even nice enough for a lunch outside on the golf course to celebrate the birthday boy!

That's a lot of love!

We opened presents and cards in our pajamas on Valentine's day.  Since we were seeing everyone in person this year, we had a few extra gifts in our suitcase to bring along!  Our evenings took us from lower Greenville for an Italian dinner with the 6 of us to our Four Season's staple - Via Real for dad's birthday - and also Valentine's Day!  I was happy as a clam with my first Valentine (my pops), my last Valentine (my husband) and my furry Valentine (Burton...of course!).  And we gorged on the greatest Tex Mex and margaritas (virgin strawberry daiquiri for me please) to toast the man of the hour.

It's been hard being pregnant and being away from our parents during this exciting time.  And it's been even harder being stuck in the house and not knowing when you'll see them next.  I don't often get a business trip in Dallas - it maybe happens once/year.  But I'm glad that this one was perfectly timed so that I could get AND give a little TLC from my parents.  It was good to restore my spirits and warm my soul and my chilly bones up a little bit before returning to the frozen concrete jungle.  I'm not sure when we'll get back out there or if we'll be traveling with a sweet little carry-on next time, but I'm glad we could make a little getaway out of a work trip!  Happy Birthday Pops, I'm glad we could pull a fast one on you again - because it's just too much fun!  We love you & can't wait until YOUR next business trip to our coast!

We're coming home!

We have to admit that we've been keeping ANOTHER secret from you all.  But now that we're exactly 2 months away from waving goodbye to Manhattan - we're thrilled to announce that Mike & I are officially homeowners!  For those of you who know, there is a lot of time and red tape that goes into buying a house.  We had to get through the bidding, the inspection, the contracts, the lawyers, the banks and the crazy laws in the state of New York.  There are understandably a lot of areas for dream crushing in this entire process.

But we're happy to say that we're on our way to the blissful comforts of our very first home!  We started our search last fall, when little America was just a dream and hope for our future.  Back in September & October, we knew that our efforts and prayers for a baby would be answered for us, and when that time came we wanted to be ready.  We wanted to have a cozy home & a perfect nursery ready for that little miracle.  So after watching the market for a few months, and collecting some of our favorite prospective homes, we made an appointment to head out to Bronxville when we returned from our trip to the UK.  We were all set to start the process at the beginning of November.

Just a sampling from the stacks of paperwork we had to
sort through as part of the process!

And then we got the greatest news ever when we found out that all of our dreams had come true!  We were expecting a sweet baby!  So we entered our house hunt with a slightly different attitude, and much different priorities.  We always knew that we were shopping with our future family in mind, but now it was more imminent that we had ever thought!

We had quite a few choices when looking into our houses, and we'd amassed the selection of favorites & a very comprehensive list of questions for our broker.  But just 4 days before we had our appointment scheduled to tour homes in Broxville, a new house hit the market.  It was a beautiful little colonial - built in 1935 with all the charm of an old home, but with brand new renovations.  THANK GOD for the renovations!  And in perfect, move-in condition...ideal for us to bring home our little bundle of joy.  Nestled in a tiny little cul-de-sac, this was without a doubt, the future home for the Mobley family.

Winston & Mike assessing their plans for
their future backyard!

Between the timing of the house hitting the market, us getting our appointment scheduled with the broker, and finding out that we were expecting....all of the stars aligned.  All of our dreams came true within just two weeks of each other.  A perfect little home, and a baby on the way!  I can't wait to get in there and decorate our first HOUSE!  We can't wait to pull into our own driveway to bring little America home from the hospital this summer.  Winston can't wait to have his own yard for endless days of football & soccer on the grass.  I can't wait to sit in our window seat and watch the first snowfall of the season next year. Mike can't wait to finally get his shiny new grill and throw some burgers on for a gathering with friends.  We're so thrilled to be able to finally host a Christmas part with more than 300 square feet of room to entertain!  We can't wait to have all of the family holidays & children's birthday parties, and visits from our family from all over the country.  Wish us luck during the move & we'll share more pictures once we're officially "home" in April!

First Trimester "Pinks"...

Over 400 choices for Whisky - and I can't have any of it....

I'm not going to call them the "blues", because we're having a girl, AND because not all of them were THAT bad!  Now that I'm in my second trimester, I thought it would be safe for me to speak a little bit about how my first trimester went a few months ago.  We found out we were having a baby in the last week of October, which means the toughest part of my pregnancy was over quite a few large holidays.  I was pregnant for a work trip to Puerto Rico with my Bacardi Rum clients (ooof), I was pregnant in the land of whisky with my Mobley family in Scotland (Scotch is my lifeline, so for those of you who know me well, you understand my pain), and I was pregnant on Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas AND New Years...meaning no cocktails for me.  But the hardest part WASN'T being the token sober friend or designated driver - it was keeping it from all of you!

The first question I always get when people find out we're having a baby is "how do you feel?"...I get that even before "do you know what you're having?!?"!  Thank you so much to everyone for checking on me and for your concern and caring of my health and well being.  We're a healthy 18 weeks now and I'm absolutely elated!  I may be in the early stages of my "honeymoon trimester" of the pregnancy now, but it's the most wonderful feeling in the world now that some of those 1st trimester "pinks" are out of the way.  And in speaking of these - I thought now would be a good time to share a little of my most frequent symptoms from the 1st trimester!

My first ever BUMPIE!  This was the best we could do
after 10 or 11 attempts that weren't up to par

1.  Heartburn - DEAR GOD HELP ME!  I'm like Smaug from Lord of the Rings every day, all day.  I had to cut back on some of my favorite treats that might worsen the heartburn - that means no buffalo wings, pizza or Tabasco for this momma, almost as bad as cutting the scotch.  While I'm not a big milk drinker, I've found that this and froyo are the only real remedies - but it's been a little to chilly for frozen treats these days.  So I've been known to snack on Tums Smoothies in my dire efforts to tame the fire-breathing dragon that has started growing in my tummy.

2. Nausea - I tried to salvage my nose from as many offensive smells as possible.  My sense of smell reached vampire or werewolf levels.  I could walk into a restaurant and smell everything every single person had on their plate for dinner.  And the smells were what caused the nausea.  If I could brace myself from any offensive smells, then I would have been in the clear.  But despite the 15 weeks of gagging my entire walk home from the office to my apartment, or covering my nose during lunchtime at work, and hiding my face in my scarves when I passed a cart full of New York street meat - that was it!  Just the nausea, no morning sickness.  No vomiting.

Right after we found out she was a girl!
Some hand knitted booties from my Gram!

3. Emotional - On a scale of 1-10, I'd say I was a face ripper.  Yes, that goes beyond the numerical scale...I would rip faces off (mostly Mike's).  My patience was non-existent.  Not so much the crying, but the face ripping...yes...definitely.  I'm glad (but I think Mike is probably more enthusiastic) that this symptom has subsided.  So your faces are safe from this preggo....for now!

4.  Appetite - My first 15 weeks I ate like a toddler.  My appetite consisted of bagels with cream cheese & jelly, some pretzels, cheerios & maybe some chicken fingers, if I was in need of protein.  It was excruciating.  I was so excited about the day I'd find out I was pregnant and become a human garbage disposal.  But I was the exact opposite.  It was a huge win if I was able to eat 3 full meals a day.  Just nothing was good.  It was frustrating for a person who usually has kale for at least 2 meals a day, who is used to a wealth of options for lunch in Manhattan, and who has is extremely liberal with fish-based meals.  I was also trying to do everything possible to provide my little baby with all the necessary nutrients to make sure that she's nice and healthy in my belly. So not being able to pump my body full of all those good leafy greens and all those rich proteins was hard to swallow (pun intended) and I felt a little bit like a failure to my little Miss.  But I am so relieved to report, that right at 16 weeks - I'm able to eat everything again!  I've ditched the bagels and toddler meal options!  My husband doesn't have to be worried about taking me out in public for dinner anymore!

5.  Baby Brain - Let's see...in my first 14 weeks, I succeeded in leaving my wallet in a hotel safe in Puerto Rico, I left my passport at the security check in on my way to Europe, I mailed about 5 Christmas cards without the actual CARDS IN THE ENVELOPE, I misplaced about $200 of Christmas gifts (that I never found), and I've committed countless acts at work.  I've officially lost my mind....I'm scared to see what I'm like when I'm sleeping for only 2 hour increments.  The thought of "mommy brain" being worse than "baby brain" terrifies me because I'm already out of control!

So so creepy - but check
out that pout!

6.  Anxiety - I'd say this was the biggest battle I had during my first 14 weeks.  Anxiety about getting ready for our little one's much anticipated arrival, anxiety about keeping a secret for so long, anxiety that she wasn't really there and I was just imagining the whole pregnancy, anxiety that I was going to lose control over everything in my life, anxiety that this little creature will be a stranger in my happy little family, hell...even anxiety about what I was going to have for breakfast that wouldn't give me heartburn!  These thoughts plagued me all night while I was trying to fall asleep, they haunted my dreams, and they were the first little notions that creeped into my brain as I was just starting to wake up in the morning.  But then something weird happened....at 14 weeks I was able to deal.  There is a lot to do before baby girl gets here, but we have the greatest support of family and friends to help us on our way.  So it's all going to be alright - and she's in there.  She's growing....she's a REAL thing.  I'm really pregnant!  The anxiety has turned into peace with the fact that I get 22 more weeks to prepare for our creature with the best people we could ever know.

So needless to say, I'm not sorry to say goodbye to some of those symptoms as I get deeper into my second trimester.  This is the good part.  This is the part all the mommies rave about.  I've said goodbye to some of those "pinks", I'm starting to see my belly grow with my little sweet potato (that's how big she is this week!), and it's all becoming more real to me.  I wake up every morning and it's like a blissful surprise when the first thing I think about every day is the little human I'm cooking in there! We got to see her in an anatomy scan a few weeks ago, and she is such a tiny, real person!  A moving, breathing, squirmy person (that already seems to have inherited some pretty luscious lips if I must say)!  I haven't been completely diligent about sharing bumpies, but mostly because it's not completely there yet, and because it's really hard to take a good bumpie!  But keep checking in because we'll have LOTS more to share!  Yay for the second trimester!