Oh Boy!

Guess what...

Boy, oh Boy, oh BOY!

A healthy, active, beautiful (and not modest) baby boy!

We couldn't be any happier!

White Christmas

Baby Mac - Boy or Girl?

The major question on my mind these days is pink or blue?  Tutus and tiaras or trucks and trains?  I don't know!  It's so hard!  I'd be lying if I said I didn't have a slight preference.  But then again, I'd be lying if I said that it really mattered to me.  As cliche as it is, as long as the baby is healthy, I don't care either way, I just want to know!  I want to plan the nursery.  I want to pick out names.  I want to SHOP for the baby!  And I can't do any of that until I know.  So, I've become slightly obsessed with the old wives tales predicting gender.  I thought it'd be fun to go through some of them to see which side of the fence we fall on.  Let's play, shall we?

Chinese calendar (based on mother's age and month of conception): GIRL

Heartbeat (faster than 140 bpm = girl; slower than 140 bpm = boy): GIRL

Morning sickness (very sick = girl; not so sick = boy): BOY

Skin (breakouts = girl; clear skin = boy): BOY

Leg hair growth (no more than usual = girl; lots of growth = boy): GIRL

Cravings (sweet = girl; salty = boy): BOY

Feet (hot = girl; cold = boy): BOY

Bump position (high and wide = girl; low and centered = boy): BOY

Breast growth (lots of growth = girl; not much = boy): GIRL

Mayan calendar (if mother's age at conception and year of conception are both even/odd = girl; if one is even and one is odd = boy): BOY

Sympathy weight (if your husband gains weight during the pregnancy = girl; if he doesn't = boy): GIRL  (sorry Ryan)

Ring test (ring swings back and forth = girl; ring swings in a circle = boy): GIRL

My "mother's intuition" says GIRL

Ryan's "father's intuition" says BOY
_________________________________________________________________________

So, that puts the count at 7 for GIRL and 7 for BOY.   50% chance of being right.  Hmmm.  Not all that helpful, huh?

What's your guess??  

You can vote in the poll up on the right hand corner of the blog or leave your guess in the comment section.

And stay tuned to find out on Monday!

Baby Mac Update - 18 weeks

Well, since you've been asking, I'd like to interrupt my regularly scheduled Italy photo dump post to give y'all some deets about the baby and the bump.  I wasn't really planning on doing weekly bump shots or updates, but I'll make sure to keep you informed on how things are going and how Baby Mac is cooking in there.  Especially if you ask (I don't want to bombard you with it - especially those of you who could care less about baby stuff).  But, since so many of you have sent me harassing emails lately demanding more info, I shall oblige.  

How far along: 18 weeks on Thursday

Total weight gain: 6 lbs. 

The bump: Really starting to show now, which I love.  Strangers have finally starting asking me when I'm due, when makes me absolutely beam!  Honestly, I can't wait until it's bigger!  (Yeah, I know I'm probably going to regret saying that in a few months, but I hope not.)  I'm having a little more difficulty putting on socks and bending over to snuggle with the dogs, but not too bad.  My favorite winter coat is not going to last me too much longer (sads), but I'm going to wear it until it just won't zip over the bump anymore.  I have 2 pairs of maternity pants that I've been wearing every now and then (weekends), but mainly I'm getting by with sweater dresses, leggings and tunics.  I'm hoping to hit a few maternity stores after the holidays for some good sales.  Who knew maternity clothes were so boring and so expensive?

Symptoms: My lower back is pretty achy.  I constantly feel like it needs to pop or something, but just won't.  And I don't want to try and accidentally throw out my back, so prenatal massages are my best friend right now.  I've been seeing a massage therapist who's also in chiropractic school that has done a great job and has given me some exercises and stretches to do to help.  My newest symptom is really bizarre to me...anytime I lean back in a chair or lie on my back I get incredibly nauseous.  I think the baby has shifted into a position where she's pressing on something that makes me feel like I'm going to vomit when I lean back.  So when that happens (which is surprisingly quite often), I have to get down on my hands and knees to relieve the pressure and the sickness goes away.  It comes on and goes away pretty quickly, but I'm dreading the day that I have to get down on all fours in a meeting or in my boss's office or something.  That'll be fun.

Sex of the baby: We will know whether baby Mac is a he or she in less than one week.  YAY!  I love playing the guessing game.    Usually I'm really good at guessing, but since I've been pregnant, my instincts are way off.   I've added a poll at the top right-hand corner of the blog for you to log your guess!  I'm happy to go through the old wives tales with you, but I think this deserves it's own post.  What do you think?  I can't wait to see what you all think we're having!  Either way, I'm absolutely dying to know.what this little one is.  I need to start planning the nursery and I want to start seriously considering names.

Food cravings: TACOS!  Seriously, I cannot get enough tacos.  I eat tacos nearly every day for lunch.  And my poor husband has to endure taco-mania at our house for dinner now too, because I just want them all the time.  About every other day I have to have tacos, taco pizza, taco dip, taco casserole or something.  And no, other Mexican foods (enchiladas, burritos, etc.) do not satisfy the craving.  It must be tacos.  I'm convinced that means Baby Mac will be born on Cinco de Mayo.


Food aversions:  I think I'm over my food aversions for the most part.  I was pretty anti-seafood there for a while but now seafood sounds great (as long as it's in taco form).  And I had a real problem with raw meat for a while as well.  At one point I had to ask a woman at the grocery store to pick up some chicken for me and put it in my cart (where I couldn't see it) because I would have tossed my cookies had I had to get anywhere close to raw chicken.  Ryan's done all the meat preparation and cooking in our house for the last few months.  

Movement: I'm feeling the baby much more regularly these days.  Not so much during the day (maybe because I'm distracted at work and not paying attention), but definitely at home when I'm still - either sitting on the couch or lying in bed.  It's like flutters and is such a strange and wonderful feeling.  For the first few months, at night before we would go to sleep, we'd pull out the doppler and listen to Baby Mac's heartbeat.  Seriously, that is the sweetest sound I've ever heard.  Being a paranoid wreck, the doppler really helped me relax and know that the baby was ok.  Now that I can feel the baby moving (and know that the baby can hear us), at night Ryan sings to the baby.  That's when I feel her the most.  I really think she likes it.  James Taylor is her favorite.  

Planning/prep: I take care of THE MOST IMPORTANT things first.  No, I don't have a crib or clothing or diapers or anything baby related, but I do have a newborn baby photographer.  Because you know me and you know that pictures are VERY important.  As soon as we were officially telling people about the baby, I booked Jodie and Kim of Fresh Art Photography to take baby's newborn pictures, 6 month pictures and 1 year photos.  So, Baby Mac may be sleeping on the floor with Mally and Sage, but her life will be well documented for the first year.  And that, my friends, is my priority.  :)

Roma

Vatican

Forum & Colosseum

I can't even begin to explain how much I loved Rome.  We were only there for a couple days, but I didn't want to leave...maybe ever.  I think Rome is one of those cities that you could walk around for years and still discover new things every day.  Although nothing in Rome seems all that "new," the city is made up of tiny streets and winding alleyways where it's so easy to lose yourself (and your husband, if he's not close) and discover something ancient and magical.  Every block seemed to have another gorgeous old church that I was dying to explore.    Every alleyway was filled with museums and shops and restaurants that didn't show up on any map we had.  Every corner we rounded we were pulled deeper into the heart of a city that stole mine.  

We didn't really have a plan or destination as we walked around Rome, just a general desire to get absorbed into the city and see what we could find.  I think we did a pretty good job of showing ourselves around.  Or maybe Rome just did a pretty good job of showing us her beauty.

We saw at least 6 million churches.

Tons of gorgeous statues.  

And don't forget the Bernini fountains.

With Trevi being the most famous.

The Mausoleum of Hadrian (aka the Castel Sant'Angelo).

Remember this from Angels & Demons?

The Monument to Vittorio Emanuele II

The Pantheon, of course.

Raphael's tomb.

Is this amazing or what?

We made another trip here to get some photos at night.

The Spanish Steps.

Which we didn't even attempt to get close to because I would have had a claustrophobic panic attack.

No thanks.

Instead we hiked up to a lookout point in Villa Borghese and watched the sun set in the park on our last night in Rome.

I'm already dreaming of the day I can go back.

Ciao Roma!

Until we meet again.

Next: Sorrento