What a weekend it was...

I am going to make you wait for the good stuff. First you have to look at the millionth across the table pictures of Scott and I. One day I am going to make a collage of all of these.

Scott, and...

ME!

Friday night we took a recommendation from Jess and went to Orson for dinner. The food was delicious and I could have easily picked a handful of other things off the menu I wanted to try. I guess we'll have to go back! PLUS, dessert is prepared by Citizen Cake. Remember how baby likes dessert? Well, baby LOVED the Breakfast of Champions (cinnamon toast ice cream, oatmeal ice milk, bourbon carmel fried french toast). It was divine.


Ok, enough of my sugary reminiscing. On to the good stuff. A couple weekends ago Scott and I were out impromptu house hunting and fell upon our dream house. It wasn't even in the cities we were originally narrowed in on. It was a lucky find and we fell and fell hard in love with this house.


Fast forward through a very long week of deciding when, how, and how much to offer to the sellers. A couple back and forths later we went into contract officially on Saturday morning. It was a roller coaster experience of extreme excitement and then a few reality checks when we thought we might have to walk away. This week was another nail biter waiting for the appraisal to come in. It came today and it was exactly what we had hoped for and now we are officially able to share our unbridled excitement about our house. Of course, it isn't over until it's over and we will close escrow mid June. Until then, I will continue decorating our new home in my head at all hours of the day and night. Maybe in June I'll sleep again...

Our little house!

Living room and dining area. Through the far door on the right is the kitchen and the next door in goes to...

The Family Room

Backyard and my mom's favorite part, the "in-law unit".

I see this fire pit getting A LOT of use!

Some house facts (in the words of Crick's sister Libby. Hopefully she doesn't mind me sharing her amazing words with you all...it was truly a wonderful email Scott and I received from her):


So, yesterday, I was at Crate and Barrel at Stanford and decided to drive over and look for your potiential house....(not knowing how fast things were progressing with you guys),low and behold, I found it.....after cruising down the Menlo Oaks MAJOR OAK-lined street before Bay. Omg! GORGEOUS! Anyways, the house is awesome and I actually pulled over and asked two darling gals (Mom's) about the street.  They were SO SO SO nice!


They told me these things:

1. Perfect street for young families!!!!!!!

2. Most kids under 3 years old.  ; 0 )

3. Laurel Wood is a wonderful school (so is Encinal for

Spanish immersion), which I already knew!

4. The family that is selling your house are really,

really nice and will be missed.

5. Last night, they had a Spring Fling at Laurel Wood

and they told me to tell you to come.

6. I told them that you were interested in it (I had

no idea how much! ha ha) and they said to

tell you that you will LOVE the hood and the families!

7. There were a lot of Mom-mobiles around there,

and it seems like many Mom's may

be stay-at-home.


We also got to see Libby on Saturday as she came to meet Crick, Kyle, the kids, Scott, Me and the Poms at the house. One of her new neighbor friends came over to visit and we got even more fabulous information about the street. I will stop rambling now but it pretty much just kept getting better and better. 

A San Jose Sharks cupcake some neighborhood kids were selling at a lemonade stand. LOVE!

Can you tell we are excited?


Saturday we continued the fun with the Strand Fam for dinner and officially collapsed in exhaustion into bed that night.  


Why stop there? Sunday we headed down to San Carlos and had brunch with Nick and Kristina at Town. It was nice to catch up with them and visit for awhile.


And, that's all for our weekend. We'll be sure to keep you posted. I have a million little projects and design ideas brewing in my head!

For Scott

Every week when we take my bump pictures Scott laughs at me. No, not because we are taking them in the same outfit weekly at 7:30am (which is why I always look so enthused) but because he is convinced this baby is staying the same size. 


So, to provide some proof that this baby is indeed growing I thought I would put together a time lapse. This also helped me understand why my jeans are getting a little uncomfortable ;-). 

Week 6, 11 & today. Proof that this little punkin is growing in there!

Week 16

This week you get the weekly pregnancy update first as the weekend was so fun and wonderful I need more time to put it together. So without further ado...

How Far Along: 16 weeks (+1 day).

Size of Baby: Size of an avocado. 

Total Weight Gain/Loss: 6 pounds. Right on track according to the doctor. Feels more like 15, just for the record. 

Maternity Clothes:  Still my clothes. Definitely ready to do a little in-between phase shopping. Some of my old clothes will be great when I have a real belly but this pudge needs to be tented in the meantime ;-).

Movement: Nope but the doctor said to expect it in the next month! I can't wait!

 
Symptoms: Still dealing with my face being a wild and crazy monster. Other than that, nothing new to report other than the normal growing pains. 

What I Miss: Regular people medicine: Advil and benzoyl peroxide are the ones I miss most. Sorry, but Tylenol just doesn't do a darn thing.

I actually wrote this before going to the doctor today. She gave me the go ahead to use benzoyl peroxide which made me want to do back flips with excitement. Watch out zits...you will be zapped!

Also, as a follow up to a note I made a couple of weeks ago I got the ok to sleep pretty much however I want. Hallelujah! Come week 20 I can't sleep completely flat on my back but she said a small pillow prop would be all I need to be safe and sound. 

 
Girl or Boy: We'll find out on June 17th.

Belly button In or Out: Innie

Stretch Marks: Nope. 

 
Cravings: Same as all previous weeks. Only aversions. I have officially banned ice cream from the house on weekdays. It is now a weekend treat only. I have also decided that I needed healthier snacks (Cheez-Its and Goldfish are great for sodium but that's about it...and who needs extra sodium?!). Sitting on my desk is a nice snack of apple and peanut butter. Hopefully I can keep this healthy snacking trend up. It's easy at home, but tough on the go when this baby decides it needs food, NOW!

Best Moment This Week: Going into contract on our house (more on that in the weekend update), and hearing the little one's heart at the doctor today.

16 weeks. Next week we will try to avoid the finger in the flash and shadow on the wall. Or I could learn how to use photoshop...

Week 15

Warning: This post seems to have come off a bit on the complaining side of things. It is just that kind of day today but really I couldn't ask for a better pregnancy thus far!!


How Far Along: 15 weeks (+1 day).

Size of Baby: Size of an apple, about 4". 

Total Weight Gain/Loss: I will be weighed in again next Tuesday.

I do feel like I am gaining a little weight in my upper thighs/hips. Scott says I am crazy but it feels like it. Pretty much I just feel like a blob this week. Again, this isn't a pregnancy thing really...I am a mental case. BUT, it might be time to lay off the ice cream as I don't think I am growing a baby in my legs. 

Maternity Clothes:  Nope. Still buying more dresses in preparation. Something tells me I might write off all denim in the coming weeks. I look forward to the extra closet space!

Movement: Nope.

 
Symptoms: My face is officially out of control. I look like a teenager going through puberty. There isn't really anything to be done about it so it looks like Stila Cosmetics is going to do well during my pregnancy!

My nose is also a mess. I learned today that a stuffy nose or nose bleeds are actually a pregnancy symptom due to estrogen levels and extra blood. I am on the nose bleed side of things. No actual nose bleeds but it feels like it could happen any moment of any day! So dry and agitated it actually wakes me up at night.

What I Miss: Nothing really new I am missing this week. Looking forward to finding about about sleeping at the doctor next week!

 
Girl or Boy: We'll find out on June 17th.

Belly button In or Out: Innie

Stretch Marks: Nope. 

 
Cravings: No cravings, just aversions. As I mentioned above, I think am going to have to stop indulging my sweet tooth. That and throw in a few extra Bar Method classes.

Best Moment This Week: Finding the house we are hopefully going to be bringing our little one home to! Not ready to share details on that yet as it is far to pre mature but exciting nonetheless!

Baby Retchless is growing! 

Whew

What an unexpected weekend. The major news is that it culminated with Scott and I finding our dream house. Not really much news other than we found it. House buying is quite the process so we are in a waiting game right now. I'll share more about the house when we know more. 

It was funny how we ended up at this house though. Sunday morning I woke up and Scott said, "I am going to go look at houses today" (our appointment with our realtor wasn't until the following Sunday). I decided to tag along on what Scott assured me was going to be "an hour, max" of looking. 7.5 hours later we made our way back home excited, nervous, and full of hope!

In other weekend fun we took to Crissy Field for the first time in ages! We spent so much time there when we were training for our 1/2 marathon but with all of Arnold's hip issues we haven't been able to get the poms down there. Luckily, Arnold is a new bionic Pomeranian and we all had a blast. 

Lola and me and the typical SF spring weather.

Arnold might look a little pooped but immediately following this picture he ran for the big dogs in the background and then sprinted into the Bay. He LOVES water but the Bay makes me nervous so we wrangled him back in. We'll have to find him a pond to swim in.

One happy little pomeranian.

Saturday evening we headed down to Redwood City for dinner with the Hyland Family. I failed to take pictures but we have a great evening of catching up and it was wonderful to see the kids again!

When we turned onto our street after driving home we noticed that it was oddly dark. We did a quick assessment of all the houses and realized the power was out on both sides of the street. I came to learn that this was Scott's first real power outage that he can remember. I got a fair amount of entertainment out of this fact as he sorted out what would work and what wouldn't. 

We managed to scrounge up all the candles in the house and found a great activity for the dark evening. Baby name selection. So, we pulled out some wine (for Scott), Ben & Jerry's (it was going to melt with the power out, it had to be eaten), the baby name book, pen & paper, a picture of the pumpkin, and set to work. My computer also had enough power to grace us with some music for ambiance.

Power outage fun.

We really enjoyed the hour without power and have decided it might be a good thing to just pretend the power is out once in awhile. AND, I am pretty sure we have officially selected a boy name (the girl name was already locked up).

I guess now is as good a time as any to share my philosophy on name sharing. I could do a whole post on people's reactions and statements about pregnancy and pregnant people (my prerogative, obviously) but it will likely come off as annoyed so I'll just keep my trap shut for now. BUT, it is really is amazing what comes out of people's mouths.

I digress...names. I (we?) have decided that I don't want to share the baby's name with the world because frankly I don't care what other people think. For the record, my opinion again, the correct response to someone sharing their baby name is, "Awww, that is so cute". Or something of that nature. "Oh, I knew a Timmy once, he was really strange" is not considered an acceptable answer. I think it comes from people not knowing how to react in the situation so they fill the void with whatever pops in their head and are truly just trying to relate. The thing is, this is the name I have selected for my baby to have for a lifetime and I don't care to know how many baby Timmys you know or who names who what or what an odd name that is. 

I don't really know that it will get much better once the baby is born but my hope is that by seeing the baby live and in person and hearing the name people will accept that name and just ooooooo and ahhhh over tiny fingers and tiny toes and not the person they knew once upon a time. I know this won't always be the case. People have their opinions but I just don't need to hear them until they can fall upon deaf ears.

I do intend to make a fun little game out of guessing the name (think NCAA bracket) so you'll get some clues along the way, but not a full reveal until I have a picture of the baby to go along with it.

Phew, so there you are. My personal issue with sharing baby named and why it will be a closely guarded secret.

14.1

I am officially mad at blogger. It went down last week and wiped this post out. I will add the picture back in ASAP.



How Far Along: 14 weeks 1 day (Monday is just not a good day for a new baby week posting!)

Size of Baby: Size of a lemon or fist. 

Total Weight Gain/Loss: I will only be weighed at the doctor so this will be updated monthly. I have never really been one for scales. If my clothes fit, and I feel good, then nothing to worry about. If the aforementioned start to change, then I make a change. I figure my clothes are going to stop fitting with the baby anyway so I don't need to weigh myself weekly. 

Maternity Clothes:  Nope. I am starting to feel really uncomfortable in "real" clothes though (could have something to do with how little I actually wear them). They all still fit, but I just like my Lululemon outfits and PJs the best. This isn't really a pregnancy development...I've always hated jeans.

Movement: Nope.

 
Symptoms: Tired (please read "what I miss") and still a little crazy. I feel like the crazy is calming down but I definitely have a short fuse for pretty much everything.

My face is crazy. Ever since day 1 my face has been breaking out. It seems better this week. Hopefully the trend continues. 

What I Miss: Wine. Still. I got the need for sushi out of my system at The House on Mother's Day. I didn't eat real sushi but the Fried Salmon Roll and Unagi appetizer hit the spot! 

I also miss sleeping however I want. I have been trying to adjust to sleeping on my left side and it is like torture. I am going to consult with my doctor just how critical this is because the trade off is lack of sleep! 

 
Girl or Boy: We'll find out on June 17th.

Belly button In or Out: Innie

Stretch Marks: Nope. 

 
Cravings: Same story on cravings as last week but the aversions are getting stronger. I was ok with sliced meat as of last week but have quickly learned that pretty much all red meat is out of the question. It looks funny, tastes funny, and just makes me generally grossed out. 

Best Moment This Week: My first Mother's Day! Looking forward to celebrating with the little punkin next year :-).

Purple shirt was dirty. It will be back next week :-).

It's Monday

For some of us it is a little tough to motivate...

It's hard to be a Pomeranian.

One more just because he is so ridiculous with his cute self.

For the rest of us, we hit the ground running this Monday after a wonderful Mother's Day weekend. Scott's mom stayed with us for the weekend and we spent Saturday with the family celebrating all the mommies and one mommy to be (yes, that's me). 

Kristina and Scott

Parents to be.

There were a few wild games of Bingo. The final pot was $120. Retchlesses take their Bingo seriously.

 Sunday, Scott acted on all my not-so-subtle hints that I deserved a Mother's Day treat this year and took me to The House for dinner. It was heaven. I have been wanting to go there for weeks and we just haven't been able to make it happen. What better date night could I ask for?!

Scott showing off his wine that he gets to drink :-).

Sorry for the B&W, the picture was really blown out and scary in color!

Stay tuned...I am 14 weeks today, weekly post coming in the next day or so.

2-for-1

Today you get a 2-for-1 post. A weekend recap AND week 13 baby update.

This past weekend I was the designated driver on a day trip to Napa. Originally the girls and I were going to be heading to Monterey to run the Big Sur Marathon as a team. That plan lasted a few months until we realized we would have to get up at about 3am to get on the bus to go to the race. We then downgraded to the 9 miler and 5K runs to avoid the early wake up call. After collectively not training and still just wanting a nice weekend getaway without an early wake up we vetoed Monterey and headed north.

Jess & Robin enjoying some sun at Rutherford Grill

The flip side of the table..JB & me.

The caves @ Nickel

I drug the ladies to all of our usual places...Gloria, Cakebread, Rutherford Grill, and Nickel & Nickel. They led me to a new place at the end of the day though...Bouchon Bakery. What a perfect little sweet treat to top off the day!

Napa rounded out week 12 of baby incubating and we are now onto week 13.

And baby decided to disappear again. Apparently I ate a big breakfast last week?

I borrowed the following list from Lauren as I thought it was a fun weekly update template to share:

How Far Along: 13 weeks 1 day

Size of Baby: About 3 inches long. The size of a medium shrimp (I liked the fruit analogies better).

Total Weight Gain/Loss: At last week's doctor's appointment, 2 pounds. She assured me there is plenty more to come!

Maternity Clothes:  Not yet. I am having a small obbession with maxi dresses though. Preparing for summer and a belly I guess.

Movement: Nada. Unless we are counting gas. TMI?

 
Symptoms: Still dealing with my fair share of fatigue and tiredness. It is definitely improving but being able to sneak in a nap is still a major bonus. I also have officially gone through every possible emotion in the book. I would put myself in the crazy category. Anything that you have read about hormonal pregnant people can be applied to me. My very nice husband disagrees, but I pretty much snapped on Sunday. The good news is with the turning of week 13 I appear to have entered the land of pure happiness! Hopefully this sticks around.

What I Miss: Wine and sushi. I am pretty sure the sushi is just because I was told I can't have it so I want it. The wine, it is a true sadness our parting!

 
Girl or Boy: We'll find out in about 6 weeks. We will share the sex with the world but just to be up front with you, you'll have to wait until November to learn the name (I'm due the 8th). I'll explain why in a less lengthy post.

Belly button In or Out: Innie

Stretch Marks: Nada. My mom said she never got any with me...here's hoping genetics are on my side.

 
Cravings: I am not really sure what counts as a craving in my case. I have become a huge dessert fan. Normally I can walk away from dessert any time or place. Now I go seeking it out. The reason I say I don't know what counts as a craving is that I want a lot of cheese, pasta, pizza, bread, etc... BUT I always want these things and normally just practice self control. So, I can't really say I am craving anything terribly different than normal, just indulging a touch more than usual.

I do have food aversions and a crazy sense of smell. Meat is a very tricky thing with me right now. A steak kind of makes me want to run in the other direction but I can do pulled pork...mystery! When I cook, I can smell what I cooked for days following even after a full kitchen clean. Interesting little side effect. 

Best Moment This Week: Ok, technically it was exactly a week ago. Seeing the little punkin moving around and saying hello to us!