Of course she does.

This gem popped up in my Yahoo news feed and I could not refrain from laughing out loud in my office. Of course Rosie O'Donnell wants to renovate a house for the stars of Honey Boo Boo. Of course she does. Her generosity astounds me.

And crap, now I've posted a picture of both of them on my blog. What have I come to?

Carmelitas.

Do yourself a favor and whip up a little batch of these.

Ooooh, We're Halfway There!

The halfway point has been reached. The boy is forming a solid little belly and is moving nonstop all the time. I am constantly begging and pleading with him to please take advantage of his whole womb and not just the lower region as he sits on my bladder ALL DAY LONG. I don't recall this being an issue with Rivers at all but this time it is BAD. So bad that I'm using a lot of CAPS up in here. Other than this I am at a really comfortable point in my pregnancy. I am beginning to start on the nursery so that I'm not 8 months pregnant and making 20 pound curtains that required me to sit on the tile floor for ample space like I did with Rivers. Also, the coming months are bringing a lot of holidays and I know time will fly and before we know it he will be here. At this rate he will be here nameless but that's ok. I'm sure we will be forced to agree on something once the birth certificate paperwork is in our laps. Rivers is starting to catch on to the idea of the brother and everytime I ask her where baby brother is she points to my belly. Whether or not the belly gets a kiss depends greatly on the time of day and her overall mood at the moment.

And for my own paper trail:

Pregnancy Stats:

How Far Along: 20 weeks

Size of baby: Banana

Total Weight Gain: 10 lbs

Gender: Boy

Movement: As previously mentioned: all the time. He is always kicking really low and a lot of times his movement feels like he's doing shimmies or rolls. I never experienced that with Rivers.

Sleep: Pretty great sleep right now and a dear husband who gets up with Rivers every morning so I can have 30 extra minutes.

Cravings: Spicy things, fall baked goods, baked goods in general: specifically these carmelitas things I'm going to have to try tonight

Best Moment this week: Seeing our little man moving at his 20 week ultrasound and hearing that everything looks wonderful.

Bummer Moment of the week: Finding out that I will have to take the gestational diabetes test again at 24 weeks. Hoping and praying for normal results so that I can enjoy carmelitas the rest of my pregnancy if they turn out to be as delicious as they look.

A Sneaky Treat

Pinterest. It has opened my eyes and my belly to things I would never have known. My most exciting recent find is chocolate frosting shots made from coconut milk. I had never opened a can of coconut milk before and was surprised to find it thick like whipped cream. Don't shake your can! The recipe suggests opening the can and letting it sit in the refrigerator over night so that the whole can gets thick. I wish I had done this as only 25% of my can was thick but it was enough to experiment with. Since my milk portion was off I just improvised to taste with the following ingredients: cocoa powder, vanilla extract and powdered sugar. The result is very tasty but with every bite my brain screams It's Not Buttercream!!! Every night I get into it, I find the taste better and the consistency is so delicious, like thick frosting or mousse. I can't believe this girl made a vegan dessert and is enjoying it. Give it a try!

17 weeks and some change

17 weeks and 3 days over here. I have been feeling lots of movement regularly for about two weeks now. I had forgotten just how magical those little thumps are and this time around they seem perhaps even more precious since I have tangibly held a little being that did similar thumpings. This pregnancy is truly flying by and I often forget that I am even pregnant until I get a little kick or a side-mirror glance at my growing bump and I instantly smile thinking of this little gentleman that for now, is all mine. The name debate seems neverending around here and I have this feeling he will not have a name until he is here in our arms. We aren't agreeing on much and I think I am choosing names that would suit a baby boy who looks like Rivers when there is a chance (although in my heart of hearts, I feel they will look just the same) that this baby could look completely different.

Pregnancy Stats:

How Far Along: 17 weeks

Size of baby: Sweet Potato

Total Weight Gain: 7 lbs (5 of which have jumped on me within the past two weeks. Ridiculous) 

Gender: BOY (I still can't believe it!)

Movement: I always feel him when I've been moving around a lot and finally sit down. Probably about 4 times a day now and at night!

Sleep: Sleeping alright minus the potty breaks. Having a hard time falling back asleep once I get up to potty. 

Cravings: Spicy Pad Thai Pasta, Cornichons, Vinegar and Chocolate

Best Moment(s) this week: Coming home to the babysitter saying Rivers was pretending to take a phone call from "Brother".

Baby Boy is going to get his first taste of Sin City this weekend when we go to Vegas to see Garth Brooks! I'm also feeling lucky so we'll see how the Craps tables treat me! Momma needs money for maternity clothes and a new nursery!

Yosemite

 My baby dear checking out the baby deer in Yosemite. Just this one second of cuteness makes up for hours upon hours of pure stinker behavior.

The Birthday Surprise

You may recall me touting my decision to wait until delivery day to find out the gender of this baby. Well, Dave really wanted to know and ultimately I realized it wasn't that big of a deal to me. I didn't tell him I had changed my mind and I went and got a secret ultrasound yesterday morning. I had the tech put the picture in the envelope so I wouldn't know either. My big plan was to take a box to Party City and have them blow up pink or blue balloons and seal it. I was then going to wrap the box as a present so Dave had no idea. Have you heard that there is a national helium shortage? In short, no one in town has helium and thus the balloons were not going to happen. I ended up blowing up pink and blue balloons myself and purchasing one it's a girl banner and one it's a boy. I asked a coworker to bury the correct one at the bottom of the box and seal it. I then wrapped the box and stuck a big bow on it. It worked splendidly! Dave had to dig for the answer and I was honestly so shocked when he pulled out the sign below. I am over the moon!!!!