25-26 weeks!

These are week 25. We forgot to take photos outside before it got too dark. It gets dark so early now!



Godel the cat helped with that last one.





And thus, my need for maternity clothes grows. I thought I'd be able to get away longer with wearing my own clothes, but this week, I started wearing Ryan's shirts. I'm not going to lie, I kinda dig Ryan's plaid, cotton work shirts. It means twice as much dry cleaning, taking 10 shirts to the dry cleaners to be washed and pressed every Friday instead of 5, but maybe I'll just buy Ryan a few more so that he has a better selection. When my parent's were here over the weekend, my Mom really wanted to buy me some maternity clothes, but it's a minimum 2 1/2 hour trip to Target (what with the subway and all) and most of the maternity stores are in Manhattan. I didn't want to have to drag Dad there on his vacation. I did drag them to my ob appointment though, and for as apologetic as I tried to be, they insisted that they enjoyed themselves. They say that ultrasounds are a lot more technologically advanced than they were in 1982, and they were fascinated with little Flannery's tiny bones and heart.

As far as cravings go, I haven't had anything specific the past 2 weeks. I'm just hungry all the time. In fact, the OB is concerned over how much weight I've gained. Oops. They referred me to a nutritionist that I swear I'm going to call. One of these days. I am nervous about the gestational diabetes test I have to take at the next appointment. I plan on eating paleo foods ( I said eating them, not actually following the paleo diet) and walking a lot between now and then.

I can't believe it's already been 26 weeks. That means there are only 14 left. I remember being 14 weeks pregnant and thinking there was so much time left.

I found it on Pinterest!

This past week I made Meatball Sub Casserole. It was so good, that I made 2 extra batches to freeze! This recipe came from Plain Chicken, and it's no surprise that it was so good because I've loved all of her recipes.







Here is the recipe: http://www.plainchicken.com/2012/05/meatball-sub-casserole.html

Mom and Dad are in town. As you can see, this has been a very serious study of New York culture.





We also saw the Rockettes at Radio City Music Hall. I didn't want to take any photos of the actual show, but my favorites were the little toy soldiers act!



Radio City Music Hall is beyond beautiful!

Happy Thanksgiving!

If I do say so, I think this is a great turkey. It was a 7 lb breast that we brined and cooked in a cornbread stuffing.



Last year, Ryan and I made dinner for 4 friends, and this year it was just Mom and Dad. It was really nice. They drove up from Cincinnati and we've been having adventures in the city and planned a few more so far.

Flourish Bracelets!

Over the summer, I ordered 2 leather bracelets from Flourish Leather on Etsy. I love them! I thought I'd post a photo of the bracelets admiring the progress on the the new World Trade Center. Thanks, Danielle! Check out her blog and coo and goo over her adorable new bebe, Lotus!

Some scenes from the neighborhood

 The other Saturday I woke up really early (9 A.M., I realize that will be a late morning once the baby comes), and so I ventured out to get coffees and a cross word puzzle or something. Not only was there not a single other person on the street, but there were only 3 cars parked on the main drag though our neighborhood. This is NYC, people. This kind of crap never happens. I thought the apocalypses had occurred a few months early and no one told me.

 Ryan posed for this cute photo. Little known fact: Ryan is a black belt!

 Sometimes on Saturdays, they close off the streets in Williamsburg so that you can meander through them. Someone dumped a load of sidewalk chalk in the middle so that people could graffiti. I made this.

 Just read it. It was a joke posted on a fence. I think it was a joke. I hope.

 Those little lines on the towers were the names of everyone that died.

24 weeks!

I cannot believe I am 6 months pregnant. The funny thing that no one tells you about being pregnant, you're actually pregnant for 10 months. Only 9 calendar months, but 10, 4-week months. So I still have 4 months to go from today. Good thing, because we haven't done a single thing to get ready for the baby except register, clean like crazy people and read about pregnancy and childbirth. Registering for a baby wasn't as much like registering for our wedding like we thought it would be. For our wedding, we were able to imagine what we wanted and needed and how we'd use it. Our wedding registry is still active and we buy ourselves things from it for birthdays and anniversaries. We can even still edit it to add new things, like when new colors and pieces of fiesta ware come out so that we can add them to our collection!

But a baby? what the hell does a baby need? I always thought I would just register for a boatload of onesies, diapers and wipes. Does a baby really need a mobile that stimulates her eyeballs and helps her focus? Does she really need a bottle warmer if I'm going to exclusively breast feed? She doesn't need a bassinet, I'll just empty out a dresser drawer for her. But now, I find myself over thinking a lot. I want her to be the smartest baby on the planet. Will a toy that turns her into a Mensa member at age 3 be worth it? Absolutely. What if my boobs run dry and I'm not lucky enough to breast feed? I better make sure that I get some bottles and formula that someone else is willing to buy for us. Sleeping in a drawer? That's funny to think about, and I'm sure wouldn't make a difference in the long run if it had a real mattress in it, but the American Pediatric Association says that sleeping in a crib from the get go is the way to go. Well, if they say so.

Also, this week, I graduated to real maternity clothes. Long shirts and the belly band weren't cutting it anymore. Maternity pants might be the greatest thing ever. I don't understand why all other pants aren't just made this way to begin with! One of the maternity dresses I bought doubles as a nursing outfit, so I'll be able to wear it even longer.

The past 2 weeks I've been craving:
- hot chocolate
- pecan pie
- stir fried bok choy with general tso's sauce
- tom kha gai
- almond joy
- sweet tarts (gross, I don't even like sweet tarts)
- fried pickles
- cheese straws
- reese's cups

Today, I'm off for Veteran's Day, but Ryan is not :( so I'm going to redeem my birthday gift, a prenatal massage! I've never had a professional massage at a spa, so I'm really excited, and a little nervous! I requested a woman masseuse, because males always remind me of this guy that used to live upstairs from my friends who carried around lotion in a holster on his belt. Ha.