Cookie Monster

Apparently Miss Carson Cannon Segrest is going to make an early appearance into this wonderful world of ours. I am soooo excited for Lee, Brant and Big Sister Ava!

Lee might be induced tomorrow which means Auntie Ryan is on call all weekend to run to Greenville at a moment's notice. That also means I need to post about the shower I co-hosted for her BEFORE Carson arrives. EEK!

I originally planned on making Cowboy Cookies this weekend to give to the sweet ladies who are throwing us the baby shower next weekend.

Well, it will be difficult to make Cowboy Cookies while holding Carson or playing with Ava. So I logged on to work really early this morning and did a couple of projects and then made the dough. In case you're wondering, here's what four batches of Cowboy Cookies looks like.

Well of course I'm not going to make and bake all the cookies today. I have to work people. So I Food Saver-ed the batter and now I can make one bag of cookies per weeknight next week so they're all made for the shower next Saturday. And yes, I will be Food Saver-ing the baked cookies too. Stale cookies are the worst!
Ahh, Cowboy Cookies. A token of my childhood. No, I will not be posting the recipe. It's a secret family recipe. Well, kind of. A long, long time ago (circa 1983), my mother was at a Clemson football game. As she was walking through the tailgate lot to go to the restroom (TMI?), she noticed a platter of delicious looking cookies. She complimented the strangers on their beautiful baked goods and a lady offered her one.

After sampling her first-ever Cowboy Cookie, she was hooked! She asked for the recipe and the kind lady said she would mail it to her. Low and behold, six months later the recipe arrived in the mail. The McNamara/Giles Family has been making these cookies for tailgates, holidays and beach trips for the past 28 years.

My million dollar idea is to somehow sell the cookies. Yes, they're that good. Jealous you aren't getting any? Throw me a shower and I'll make you some cookies. Just teasing!!

And now, some random photos for Becky. You're welcome.

Where Mom made us park at Buy Buy Baby this past weekend.

I don't know why but it seemed really embarassing. Maybe because I don't think I'm showing.... I don't know. I just think she didn't want to walk far. Glad I can be of service in that regard.

Check out this pic of Molly Monster. I've been trying to drink my morning coffee (half decaf) out of a straw to prevent my teeth from staining- especially since I can't bleach them while pregnant. Well Molly thought she would help...

As much trouble as she causes me, I do love that little face. She is the sweetest thing.

And lastly, a teaser to the hightly anticipated diaper bag reveal....

Whatever could it be?? Stay tuned for the actual bag...

15 weeks, 6 days

Well, I'm almost to the four month mark. It's really hard to believe that in less than six months, Baby Swinson will be here!!

We ordered the crib and the changing table this weekend and the mattress arrived today!! Some sweet friends of Aubrey's parents bought us the mattress. My mom ironically bought us a crib sheet this weekend so at least we have the crib all set (well, minus the bedding)...

Now. Where to put this stuff? Hmm... we definitely need a bigger house.

I had a doctor's appointment yesterday and it took the doctor about 10 seconds longer than I thought it should to find the heartbeat. Needless to say, I about had an anxiety attack on the table. I did hear a weird whooshing sound on his little device. When I asked what it was, he said the baby was kicking. Awwww..... isn't that cute?

Two weeks until we know what Baby Swinson is. Aubrey and my mother are certain it's a girl. Because of this, I'm certain it's a boy. Now, I have no feelings or inclinations that it's a boy, but just because they're soooo "sure," I have to disagree.

We'll see who's right!

15 weeks, 2 days

Well, it's been a crazy week for us.

Last Wednesday, Aubrey and I went to the scary Buy Buy Baby to register for all of our baby gear. Based on the size of the store, I think this should have taken us 4 hours. However, because we had done lots of research- including asking some of my brilliant "mom" friends what their favorite baby gear was- it only took us about an hour and a half.

Needless to say, Newton Swinson will be set for their first week of life if we get everything on the registry. I am a little obsessed with checking it daily for updates. I LOVE seeing what our amazing family and friends purchase for him/her.

Speaking of him/her, we'll officially find out what Newton REALLY is on September 27 at 11 a.m. I have to go to the Women's Institute (perinatologist) for a high risk anatomy screening. I am really nervous. Nervous about his/her general health and also to finally know what it is. It's kind of magical not knowing and I do feel a bit of pressure to produce a certain grandchild that can wear smocked dresses and big hairbows.

Newton attended his/her first Clemson football game last Saturday. Of course, I didn't take any pictures... It was nice and "cool" at the tailgate but as soon as we went into the game, I thought I was going to die from heat exhaustion. We had a good time but I think I might wait until October to go back. Maybe....

We finally ordered the crib last night!! Woohoo. It said it would ship in 3 -4 weeks so we expect it by the end of September, beginning of October. I hope to have the office/nursery cleared out by then so we'll have a place to put it. The nursery's closet is slowly starting to fill up with packs of diapers and other random baby things that people give us- so nice!!

I can't wait to purchase the changing table/dresser so we have a place to put some of this stuff!! We're going to a children's furniture store in Greenville this weekend that all my Greenville friends swear by so we'll see what we find... my plan is to purchase all the nursery stuff before the holidays so we can financially and emotionally enjoy those. Then, in January, we'll see what we're still missing from a gear perspective and stock up on the rest. Whew!!

13 weeks, 5 days OR 14 weeks

It's true. They don't really know how far along I am.

At Wednesday's ultrasound, the baby (a.k.a Newton) was measuring 13 weeks, 2 days. That's great and all but I really should have just been 12 weeks, 6 days. So I have a super human, giant baby. Great.

Now I have NO idea how to answer when people ask how far along I am. I don't know. I'm due somewhere between Valentine's Day and Easter. Good luck.

So, back to the ultrasound. Aubrey and I decided to have the baby tested for chromosomal abnormalities (a.k.a down syndrome). I'm not sure what we would have done with the answers had the test turned out positive, but I'm happy to report, Newton is practically perfect. Stubborn, but perfect. The ultrasound technician literally had to jab my stomach with her magic wand to get the baby to do what she needed to perform the measurements. I was sure I would wake up bruised on Thursday.

I noticed two arms and two legs. I couldn't count fingers or toes because it was so blurry, but at least we have all the appendages so far. I go back in four weeks to the Women's Institute for my Anatomy Screening. Because we're so special, we don't get to go back to the "normal" high-risk OB, we get to spend one billion dollars at the fetal specialist's. Yes, even Newton has a specialist now.

On Thursday, I visited our family friend and famous opthamologist, Blake Myers, to get my eyes checked. Apparently, the pregnancy can have an adverse effect on the state of my eyes so now I get to see him every month as well. My insurance company is HATING me right now. Thank goodness I have wonderful benefits. My eyes look fine. DUH.

I co-hosted a shower for our dear friend, Lee Segrest, this weekend at Brick Street Cafe. Lee is expecting Baby Carson any day now (today if it were up to her) and big sister Ava is very excited. I'll post those pics as soon as I upload them from my camera.

Silly me decided that I'd like to have the nursery "done" by Christmas. I realize that's quite the goal, but I don't want to have to worry about any of that stuff during the winter/last trimester. I have already picked out the crib and now just need to order it. Once it comes in, I can match wood samples for the changing table and as soon as we know what we're having, I can order the bedding and glider. This way we can pay for everything in the Fall, and still have some money (hopefully) for Christmas.

Here's the crib:

I like the bedding options from Polka Dot Designs- www.polkatotdesings.com. So as soon as we know what Newton is, we'll be ordering from there.

I really like a glider that we tried out at Bellini here in Charlotte. I want to sit in it again and I also need to determine if an ottoman is necessary or now. It seems nice to have but will I really use it??

I took all the stuff to be donated this weekend. The only remaining pieces in the office/nursery are the bookshelf- moving to the guest room as soon as our friends come pick up the chest we're giving them (should be this weekend), the desk (can't find anyone to give that to) and Aubrey's random sports equipment and stuff for his new office at work. I realize that sounds like a lot, but it's really much better.

Once Aubrey gets an assignment and an office, we can move out most of the random sports equipment and golf paraphernalia there.

As soon as that's done, I need to have the carpets professionally cleaned to determine if we're going to have to replace them or not. Yes. Molly did quite a number a number of times in the office. NOT where I want my baby to sleep.

12 weeks!

Well, I'm in the last week of the first trimester. Whew! Mom reminded me yesterday that I'd be having a baby in six months. OMG. Too soon. I need to save more money, climb Mt. Everest, see William and Kate in person- so much to do and so little time.

Mom was here because of my lovely root canal. It's true. I have dental anxiety. After my panic attack last spring in the dentist's chair during my first ever filling, I have opted for sedation dentistry. Well, because of Newton (Mom and Steve's nickname for the baby because last week it was apparently the size of a fig), I can't be sedated. Lovely.

So I HAD to have it done yesterday. I took my iPod and blared Zac Brown Band the entire time and worked on some visualization techniques. Yes, I was thinking I was at the beach. Well, it worked. He finished half the root canal and I have to go back in 10 days to finish. It was that bad.... I was fine though. The most pain I'm experiencing is sinus pressure and I'm not sure if that's because of the root canal or the underlying sickness I was already experiencing...

So Mom came to hold my hand. Yes, I do realize I'm about to be a mother myself (freaking out as I type this) but sometimes you just need your mom...

She (and Steve)'s coming back this weekend to do some baby research. With all of the crap, I mean, beautiful baby stuff on the market, I'm looking for her guidance on what's the best. So we're dragging the guys to Buy Buy Baby to touch and feel and practice with the car seats and strollers and all the gender neutral stuff we're going to need. I think I'll go ahead and start the registry with this stuff and then go back when we know what we're having to add pink or blue items. Pink if you ask Mom or Aubrey. Blue if you ask me...

I was going to tell my office about the baby today but I chickened out. My manager knows and she's ironically due 4 weeks before me!!! I'm just learned about someone who miscarried at 12 weeks so I want to wait one more week just to be sure. I also go back to the doctor's next Wednesday to get another ultrasound and the results of the Nuchal Translucency Test (down syndrome and other chromosomal abnormalities).

If that test comes back all clear, we'll be shouting it from the rooftops! Well, at least after next weekend. We're headed to Greenville to throw a baby shower for one of my best friends there. Once we tell a couple of people in person, then we'll shout it from the rooftops.

Sorry there's no pics today!

Weekend Update (11 weeks, 4 days)

Well, we're nearing the end of the "super scary period." I wish I had lots to post about a super fun weekend, but I was really sick. Not baby sick, headcold sick...

I took Friday off so I could go to several doctors' appointments. The first one was supposed to be with the Nurse Coordinator at my OB's office but she had to cancel last minute so I only met with the OB. He answered all of my most recent questions:

1. Can I have mayonnaise? YES. Thank goodness, I've been craving egg salad.

2. Do I have to eat steak well done? NO. Yay! Between you and me, the last two steaks I've eaten were only prepared medium-well, but they made me nervous. He said as long as they're cooked and the insides are warm (medium to medium-well), I should be okay.

3. Then I informed him of my looming root canal. Yes, I went back to the dentist last Wednesday, and she referred me to an endodontist immediately. She said I need to have a root canal within the week!!!!!!!!! Auugghhhh. I typically choose sedation when getting a filling so this is freaking me out because they can't sedate me pregnant. I'm planning on taking my iPod and my mom is drivin up on Tuesday to take me Wednesday morning. I can, however, take certain painkillers- Percocet, Hydrocodone and Oxycontin. Yay!! I will definitely be taking those!! Call me on Wednesday afternoon, it's sure to be a good time.

4. My throat was hurting and I asked him to check it out and he said it looked fine and to gargle with salt water. YUCK.

After we chatted with Dr. James (loved him), he used his little doppler thing to listen to the heartbeat. It was 170! Perfect for our baby's "age." So he told us we were good to start telling people. We haven't really told anyone besides close, close friends and family. I'm still feeling nervous and just learned of someone that had a miscarriage at 12 weeks so I think we'll wait to 13...

After Dr. James, I met Catherine and Lisa for lunch. I had been craving spicy tomato sauce and penne pasta (a la vodka) so they were kind enough to meet me at Mama Ricotta's. So delicious. The spicy part didn't feel great on my throat but I was starving.

I had another appointment in the afternoon with the prenatal endocrinologist. Kind of boring but basically they're trying to help me come up with some protein alternatives since I have a really strong aversion to most proteins right now.

Friday night we had a great time out with friends at Pizza Peel but I really started to feel bad at dinner so I was really ready to go home... Saturday morning I woke up and could barely get out of bed. Sweet Aubrey went to the drug store for me and came home with...

I think I just have a nasty headcold. I tried taking some "OB-approved" Dayquil but it wasn't really helping and it was making me nervous to take the medicine. I laid on the bed/sofa all day while Aubrey began cleaning out the office/nursery. We're purging everything to make room for this baby and potential move. Here's some of the progress (sorry, they're blurry- great Blackberry photography):

Clothes I'm selling at the consignment store (I did this part):

Clothes I'm donating (there's tons more on the guest room bed, but I'm still collecting wire hangers to hang them up):
"Junk" we're donating:

Tonight we're going to make better piles and box everything up so I can take it to the Junior League of Greenville Nearly New Shop when I go home in two weeks. Yay for home organization!!!

10 weeks, 5 days

Well, I made it back to Charlotte in one piece. For those that might not remember this when you read this, I spent three and a half weeks in New York City working on a large project for work from July 14 - August 7. I think the experience was both a blessing and a curse for me.

It was a blessing because it distracted me from thinking about the pregnancy but it was a curse because I was away from home, newly pregnant and scared. I was thinking that I would have more time to write for the blog but by the time I crawled to my room at night, it was all I could do to wash my face before falling into bed.

I have never been so tired. Most nights after we finished an 11 hour day, I just ate a container of Greek yogurt and went to bed. I tried really hard to work out as much as possible but after the first week, I lost all energy.

I also began having food aversions. Mostly, any protein. Great. Carbs stick to me like glue to glitter. I tried several times to eat an egg white omelet. I made it to the plate twice. Once, I just opened it and put it away. I ate a lot of dinner rolls, cantaloupe and salad. It was about all I could tolerate.

I did find a Jamba Juice right by the hotel. Yummo. I had one of their light smoothies with whey protein added and felt like I was eating a good snack.

Right now, I'm obsessed with Cheerios. I eat a baggie every day as a snack. I guess it's a childhood comfort food for me?? I guess it's better than eating Cheetos??

I've also been able to tolerate beef. Aubrey made me soft tacos on Sunday night with ground beef and they were yummy. I got another pound out of the freezer this morning and will attempt to make spaghetti tomorrow night. I'm going to run to the grocery store tonight and get a zucchini and a squash to puree and put in the spaghetti sauce. Since I'm not really liking veggies either, I gotta get them where and when I can!