revealing to my brothers

such perfect timing had it that my brother and his wife were in town for a half marathon (hers not mine!) just a few days after we found out little Pip is a BOY!
we were able to meet up for dinner, had another blue filled cake for dessert, and a fun reveal for my brother...
thankful we had 3 out of the 4 siblings together for a reveal...but missed my dear brother scott and his wife caroline.... who live very far away.  we took a video of the reveal and emailed it to them!
here is eric....

and his reveal

luckily he caught the balloon!!!

he was pretty excited:)

revealing to the parents, part 2

sunday, we were able to get all of DB's family together, including our adopted parents frank and kim!
we were able to get a cake made, and did a very similar reveal we did with my parents:)

here are the brothers, videoing each other, making predictions

brendan thinks its a 7 lb 8oz bald boy.
both DB's parents think its a girl.
kim thinks is a girl
frank guessed boy.
the reveal...

revealing to the parents, part 1

this past week we have had a really fun time revealing the gender of little Pip to our families!

we found out on wednesday, and i knew my mom was in her club championship that day, so i preordered a blue and pink cake to be ready for pick up that afternoon; my parents friends were already apart of my plan and we going to deliver the cakes to my parents under the disguise of celebrating my moms championship (but they didn't need to use the cover, they just showed up!)
little did i know, my mom...not a patient women!
she called me around 1pm and REALLY wanted to know the gender, over the phone!
but we had already planned that i would to go to my sisters to skype with my parents that evening at 7pm to reveal the gender all together...but mom wanted to know sooner than our scheduled skype date! 
she sent me text messages, 6pm, 612p, 632p, 646p....all saying, "so...are we skyping yet?! ...when are you calling me?! ...im waiting!"
oh mom!
 
we all got onto skype, and then the door bell rings; mom is confused why her friends are at the door with cakes and champagne...

we had everyone guess what they thought it would be; and all guessed girl, except for my dad.
jill said, "i don't believe it..i still think its a girl!"
 well....little did they know...
i instructed my mom which cake to cut open....and then it was revealed...BLUE for BOY!
...below you can kind of see the blue

my dad had to leave the room, for a bit to contain his tears...mom was pretty excited!
these are the cupcakes i took to jill's to reveal to her and sean.

20 weeks/finding out

here i am at our 20 week ultrasound appointment.
the appointment that we thought would have taken less than an hour to complete....
but due to our little Pip deciding it was time to take a nap, I had to drink grape juice and run up a few flights of stairs in attempt to wake him up so that we could get some good photos of all the organs, bones and specifically his heart!
he did, cooperate, kind of....i had to do some yoga moves/stretching in attempt to help the technician get clear shots!
the tech...oh my...miss silent!
i was trying to ask questions, like what am i looking at?  hows it look?  when do we get to see boy or girl?
she wasn't really into talking, and made it pretty clear.
she was very nonchalant when she asked, "do you want to know the gender?" ... "oh its a boy"....
and kept moving on as if she just told me the sky is blue.

i looked over at DB, and said, "its a boy!"  he was smiling.....and the technician kept taking photos of our little Pip.

the reality didn't really sink in, nor did we have a chance to talk about it until we were out of the hospital, down the elevator and into our car.
DB played a song for me in the car he had downloaded on his ipod while we were upstairs ...
and then i lost it.
(even thinking of it now, i get all teary)
that song, it kills me.

holy crap....we are having a son! 
we have been blessed, we have been given the responsibility to raise little Pip into a respecftul young adult, who will go forth into this world and make a difference.

that day, emotionally, felt very much like the day when we found out there were 2 lines on that pregnancy test.
i so very much appreciate knowing the gender of this little child occupying my abdomen.
i like being able to associate HIM with dreams, plans and looking forward to the future, being able to vision a boy.

to say the least...we are excited...

our first family 5k...many more to come.

DB and I ran our first 5k together...why did we wait until I was 19 weeks pregnant?
Unsure really; but so glad we had the opportunity to run together today.
It was really fun.

My last race was in June of this year; and it all comes back to you when you're lining up with so many others challenging themselves, pushing themselves, the energy--its crazy contagious!


Made me remember one of the things I love about running...i love the training, i love the quite peaceful miles logged just with myself; but I love the ability to be apart of an event with others.

I can't remember the last time I ran a 5k, maybe the shamrock shuffle in 2001 when I was college?
What amazes me; 5k's are stinking fast.
I couldn't believe it took us 30 minutes; and we were done.
Wild.

This past year, my half marathon warm up's have been 3 miles; and thats when I'd fall into my pace, find my groove and settle in for the next 10 miles.
Not today; it was a quick little run with DB by my side the whole time; it was awesome!


We decided next year; we're doing it again with Pip in a stroller.
(its an out and back route, all flat, tons of families and strollers!)
Most likely we'll be doing the 10k; as we probably could have done that today; but we didn't know how I'd do with Pip adding pressure and weight to my mid section;
honestly; I felt really good, I felt strong, I took it slow, didn't push myself, couldn't tell you my mile by mile pace; accidentally left my watch at home... it was great!

It was nice to get a run in again, and Im looking forward to the next one:)


This picture makes me laugh...really!? are you that tired?! i don't buy it.

19 weeks

today marks the 19th week of little Pips journey of development and growth.
he/she really does make me so tired.
like exhausted kind-of-tired.

in all i've read, its commonly said you'll feel more tired during pregnancy
but what they should have said was...
you'll want to go to bed at 6pm, almost all of the time
you'll choose to skip meals so you can sleep
you'll be so tired after getting off work, trekking around the lake sounds more like climbing mount everest
you'll count down the hours until you can fall back into bed
you'll feel torn when making decisions about going to the gym or sleeping
you'll feel torn when making decisions about going anywhere, or sleeping
you'll want to take a nap everyday, but your schedule won't allow
you'll want to take a nap everyday, but concerned you won't wake up until the next day

this tired thing is crazy business.
something i don't think i could have even appropriately planned for, as i haven't ever had a similar season like this in my life.

this past week, i've started to feel my lower abdominal muscles stretching.
which is WILD.
it feels like i've had an awesome work out kind of muscle-soreness
but im not doing crazy abdominal muscular toning workouts; so i know its Pip growing his/her space to make room for his/her ever growing body.

this week, i've been hungry...oh wait; thats been for the past 18 weeks.
so no difference there.
in conjunction with hunger; is also thirst.
a longing for straight not too cold water....and a lot of it, all day long!

this week, my work pants have felt a little tighter :(
i've held out for so long, i am trying to hold out even longer...
(discomfort might win over; i just don't know what kind of work pants to wear next)

(photo 18.5 weeks; taken wednesday before i left for a meeting)
work aka my new store...a little overwhelming and stressful at the moment.
we have a huge test product launch in 2 weeks; there are only 9 stores chosen for this project; and somehow my store is on that list. in addition, i have only been there 3 weeks; and time is how changes, growth and perfection is achieved...and we're not there yet.

next week....we hope to find out the gender of little Pip....and im excited about that:)

let the studying begin...

someone has recently received the letter from the bbs stating his 3000+ hours have been approved...and he can now take part 1 of the 2 part state exam to become licensed!!!
its all very exciting...yet incredibly taxing as the intense studying has begun



good luck mister! i know you're going to do great!

18 weeks

this belly has seemed to pop!
the changes in my appearance from week 17 to week 18 have been significant
and im okay with this now...i don't look like i've been hanging out with ben and jerry too much;
rather i think i am looking more like, "oh she is pregnant"
which is nice.
the past 6-8 weeks have been rough with the pudgy stage.

I can at times feel Little Pip making some movements, still ever so slight.
I am still wearing all my normal clothes, they are just filled out a little bit more.
My higher waisted work pants, clearly don't fit;
but most of my lower riding jeans still work out! Which is nice!
I am trying to hold off on maternity clothing as long as possible!
I have been incredibly hungry and more tired this week than I have in the past month.
I have had a lingering sore throat this weekend, which makes me nervous, as last time I got a sore throat it lead to a horrible cold that took me out of commission for far too long.
So today, I haven't left the house; DB offered to take a friend to the DMB concert tonight so I could stay home and sleep/rest....so thankful for that.
I need an 8th day in my week to just sleep...truly i do.
I got new running shoes this week :)

Next weekend, DB and I are running/walking our first ever 5k together!
Its funny how we both have races under our belts, yet never have done one together...im looking forward to it!

17 weeks.

if was really on top of it; i just might have weekly updates on being pregnant.
but up until now; i truly haven't carved out the time to do so.
i really should; as i think i might regret it if i don't.
here i am at 17 weeks, yup, the belly has popped, its no longer hidden/and or possibly secret when you see me

i have started to feel the "flutters" which aren't gas, hunger or any other normal feelings that i could mistake it for.
my favorite part of the day is when i get into bed, exhausted, hoping to stay awake and still for 5 more minutes to see if i can feel him/her moving around.
it doesn't happen every day; but maybe 4 times out of this past week.
its pretty wild; and the bigger he/she gets, the more i will be able to feel it.
im excited about that.

we have 2 more weeks until we might find out the gender; im ready to start associating Pip with a gender; as mentioned before i want to start organizing, buying and getting his/her room/stuff set up.
my only prominent pregnancy symptoms continue to be hunger and tiredness.
i know working as much as i do doesn't quite help in that arena, but it really does make every day and every week fly by!

america's cup: SF August 2012

America's Cup was in our backyard last month
(because we are now sitting in September!!....good-ness, time flies!)
We took a lazy afternoon with DB's parents to enjoy the festivities



korea won the final race of that day; it was crazy, to see, being so close!



i really do appreciate it when DB takes the camera and treats it like its his own, and doesn't share...cause this is what I get...