Whew... Been awhile. Time for the BIG updates!

So, it has been a good while since I have had a chance to do a real post. Things have been so crazy busy around the Boren-Drugo household that I hope you will forgive me! For starters, last Thursday, Scott closed on our townhouse, as well as had the closing for the house in Bridgewater! We are now happy homeowners!!! It is nice to see his old house go to a young family that will really be able to enjoy it, but now the adventure of getting the townhouse ready for our move-in is upon us! Here is the link to the "before" pictures of the townhouse, when the other owners still lived there.

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.997850831849.2511112.7817696&l=14569e59eb

 

Currently, we have gotten the entire first floor of the townhouse cleaned, and the laundry room painted. Chris and Katie (the previous owners, and new owners of the Bridgewater house) had 4 cats and a dog, and the litter boxes from the cats had been kept in the laundry room, so that room was the first priority in getting spic and span so that we could get the liter smell out before bringing the pets by (don't want anyone to be marking territory over other smells!). Today at 2 we have the estimator coming to price out new carpeting too. The carpeting there is a bit worn, and sometimes things just need to be refreshed for the new owners. :-) We are really excited though.

 

Scott's cousin Jesse came for a visit, and has been a god-send, priming the upstairs bedrooms for us so we can paint later this week. He truly has been a huge help, and it's been wonderful to have some family visit. I finally finished picking out colors for the bedrooms and kitchen, so it will be really fun to see the transformation as it happens. I will try and remember to take pictures through the various stages. We even cooked our first meal at the house last night. Granted, we ate our steaks off plastic-ware plates, but it was nice to comfortably have 4 people in the kitchen without anyone bumping into each other. Right now, we can't even fit Scott and I in our kitchen together without and elbow to the ribs. hahahaha

 

So, as I'm sure you can tell, things have been and will continue to be busy for a bit while getting ready for that. I will be sending out "change of address" cards to the family in the next week or two, but for those of you who want the new address sooner, we are moving to (effective now):

 

525 Pointe Drive

Harrisonburg, VA 22801

 

 

On to how things are going with our little Ellaina! Well, obviously, there has been lots of excitement, and, as I'm sure you can see from the pictures, I have definitely been putting on the belly weight. :-) I am up to 137.5 as of our last visit, with a starting weight of 117, so a healthy 20lbs weight gain so far. The mid-wife had said I should gain around 35 total, so I'm right on track with where I should be it seems. Ellaina is a very active little one, and we had our 24 week mid-wife appointment on Friday. They said that everything is looking good, her heart beat was around 150 bpm, and that my belly is measuring 25 centimeters (rule of thumb is 1 centimeter per week of pregnancy) so I'm a touch bigger than my actual weeks of progression, but nothing to be concerned about. Next visit I have to take a glucose screening test to check for gestational diabetes (standard practice nowadays) and that will also mark when my appointments become every two weeks instead of once a month.

 

I am also coming to the conclusion that we will have quite the smarty pants on our hands... solely based on the brain cells Ellaina seems to be stealing from me. hahahaha As if it weren't bad enough that I'm blonde and ADHD to begin with, the "pregnancy brain" has made me feel like a total scatterbrained idiot as of late. For example, last Saturday (a week ago), I just couldn't seem to get anything right. I started out by leaving the car windows open during a thunder storm (DOH!), then washing Haileys new dog bed and subsequently melting the liner that held in all the foam, so it came pouring out of the dryer at me (Oye Vey!), and finished off the day losing my keys in the Ollie's store while getting Hailey a new bed to replace the one I had ruined (that one took the cake). Thankfully, the assocaite found my keys, but by the end of the day, I was ready to go home and sleep before I could do something else totally stupid!

 

I have to admit though that the time is flying. When this journey started, 9 months seemed like such a long time. Now, with only having a little more than 3 months to go, it is amazing to me to think that it will be over so soon, and that I'll be meeting our little girl in such a short amount of time. The next three months will fly by too, especially between moving, baby showers in PA with the Drugo and Uncapher families, and the housewarming party we are having in August (when I am on travel restriction and too big to be going anywhere, as well as us being settled into the house by then).

 

In some ways, I am already thinking about how much I will miss feeling her kicking inside me. I know having her in my arms and all that comes with her being here will be another adventure, but I'm also trying to enjoy the time I have when her and I are part of one body, and I realize that it won't be for that much longer. There's a certain magic to feeling her kick, her movements, her hiccups... Watching her change my body, and me becoming this totally different human being with a added sense of purpose. I think I will miss that to some extent. Granted, I still have 3 very hot months of pregnancy in front of me, so I may be feeling a bit less "magical" in a month or two, but I think I will revel in it for the time being. :-)

 

A couple of notes about registry items... Though we are registered at Target for ease of access and having one central registry, I have realized a number of items on the registry are "internet only" items, as well as that some things, such as the crib bedding set, can be found for a good bit less elsewhere online. I have tried to add some clothing and smaller items also to the registry, and continually update it with items. As I have said before, this is the "pie in the sky" list. We appreciate all of the interest from our family and friends, and can't say thank you enough to those that have been helping us with preparing for our daughter's arrival. The support and encouragement has truly been overwhelming. :-)

 

Well, time to get to some other stuff for the day. I will make a big effort to get on here more often with updates. I hope all of you are doing well. :-)

 

Love you all, Nic & Ellaina

Registry updated and made public!

Hey everyone! Quick update (will post a full update tomorrow after our midwife appt of all the goings-ons)... I have made our registry where you can search for it at Target stores using our last name(s) now. Thank you everyone who has shown an interest in helping provide for our little Ellaina! I am so happy she is coming into the world surrounded with such love and happiness!

I have also added some cute clothes to the registry that would be for summertime next year. We are pretty much set up to 9 months for clothing. :-) I in addition added some cloth diapers. We don't plan on using cloth full time, but liked the idea of having a back-up in case we were to run low one night, etc and the g diapers came highly recommended. :-)

Time for work, then packing tonight because we are MOVING! Yay!!! I will post a full update tomorrow though. :-) Thank you all again for your love and support! It truly means the world to both Scott and I.

All our love! Nicolle & Ellaina

24 week bump picture (will post an update tomorrow after midwife appt)

Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice...

Well, life has been unbelievably crazy the past few weeks, but thankfully I would say it's all good!

For starters, I spent 5 days in Baltimore for the ABA conference for work. It went wonderfully, but man was I exhausted when it was all done!! And you would think that having a nice king sized bed all to myself without Scott hogging the covers, pushing me off the bed, or Hailey waking me up in the middle of the night, or licking my ear like she's going to eat my brains at 8 am would mean that I would sleep like a baby, right? Guess again. I slept like total crap. I must be a glutten for punishment. Though, I have a feeling Scott wasn't too lonely in bed:

And man had Hailey put on some weight when I got home! Then again, Scott said I got bigger too. Hahaha. Amazing what happens when you leave for a few days!

While I was there, I started to feel our little one move A LOT more though, and even during the day when I'm acitve, not just when I was sitting down or laying in bed. And by the activity level, I would have to think baby is training for the Olympics!

Once I got back, I was home for about 48 hours before getting back on the road to spend a "Girls Weekend" with Scott's mom Mary-Lou and her family. Everyone was so wonderful, and I finally had everyone's names down by the end of the weekend! I did have some beginners luck too at winning a few games of Nickels with the ladies, but the group Wii activities really kicked my butt, or more like my arms! I was still hurting 3 days later! hahaha. The pictures were totally worth it though!

Scott and I also want to thank Mary-Lou from the bottom of our hearts for buying us our travel system so our little one has a comfy and safe way to travel. It is a beautiful and very well made set that I am sure will last us not only through this baby, but any future ones we have! Thank you Mary-Lou!!!

So other things going on include that Scott (being the amazing man and baby daddy he is!) put a contract down on a townhouse for us! It will be a welcome upgrade with 3 stories, 3 bedrooms, a nice garage for Scott, a big kitchen for me, and a nice sized yard for the Hailey and Dolce, and of course baby! :-) I am so over the moon happy that we will have a dedicated nursery for the baby as well as a good guest room for family and friends that want to come visit. We should be able to close on the house quickly, and be in by the time our lease here is up on July 1st. The only major thing the house will need right away is for us to fence in the back yard, and a couple coats of paint to help make it ours. :-) We have some ideas for upgrades later, but it is pretty much move-in ready which will be a huge blessing for us as I get bigger! I will try and post more pictures soon!

 We had our latest midwife appointment this last friday. (Yes, I am intentionally keeping you all in suspense!) I have gained about 10 lbs already and they are happy with the weight gain saying it's right on track with where they want me to be. Here is the latest belly pictures:

Hmmm... from the front I still look pretty darn skinny!

From the side, definitely Preggers looking!!

And, Drumroll (I know, I am mean making you read this whole blog post just to find out if it's a girl or boy...)

As the Ultrasound Tech said... There's the LIPS!

IT'S A GIRL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

I am pleased to introduce everyone to the little miss Ellaina Nicolle Drugo! The midwife said she is developing beautifully and is perfectly healthy. She is about 12oz right now, right on target, and we got to see all the chambers of her little heart beating, and the hemispheres of her growing brain. She still looks a bit like an alien, which they said is normal until they get more body fat which develops the facial features, but she is beautiful to us! She is soooo very active and was such a good girl during the ultrasound letting us get to see all of her little parts.

And to celebrate, I had to get her a little outfit. :-)

We know our little girl is going to be surrounded by sooo much love, and I'm sure she will have her daddy wrapped around her little fingers in no time! :-) Halfway to getting to meet her in person! Till then, I will have to settle for her pounding on me from the inside. She is getting strong enough that I think Scott should be able to feel her soon also. Thank you all so so very much for all of your support and love. It means so very much to Scott and I to know the world of love our little Ellaina will be coming into!!

We hope all is well with all of you! Love you!

Nic

A Grown Man Cries & Lastest Check Up

I feel better that I'm not the only one getting the "weepies" with this pregnancy, and that small things can trigger the weepies for a grown man as much as it can for me. Last week while Scott and I were at Ollie's, I came across a little board-book called "I'll love you no matter what" and decided to grab it for the baby. Upon giving it to my big strong man, I hear "uh, I need to go check something." Thinking that maybe he forgot something in a different aisle, etc. I asked him what he forgot, and when I look up at him, I see the glassy eyes filling with tears. :-) Yes, my grown man "just thought about the fact that I will have a child to read books to" and became a bit overcome with emotion. It was absolutely one of the sweetest things I have ever seen, and it was so wonderful to know that this is something that makes him so happy also. :-D

Friday was our most recent midwife appointment, and so far we have seen 3 of the 6 midwives at the office. 2 of the three I have really liked, but one I thought could jump out a window. Hahaha. Baby had a good strong heartbeat, and we were able to find it right away with the doppler. We discussed induction and my strong resistance to the use of potocin if at all possible. The midwife said that everything sounded great with the baby and that we are able to have our next ultrasound right at 20 weeks, which is just under 3 weeks from now, and that will be when we can find out gender. Our next appointment is Friday the 22nd, and hopefully we will be able to find out if we will be having a little boy or a little girl then!!! :-)

Other than that, Hailey is almost completely house trained! YAY! Scott was at drill this weekend, so I relaxed since the next couple of weeks are going to be kind of nuts for me. Next week I have the final prep for a big conference at work, and then from Saturday through Wednesday I will be in Baltimore to work the booth for the conference. I will definitely be good and tuckered out by the time I get back!

Hope all is well for all of you!

Nic

It's starting to feel like a nursery!

I want to start off by saying Thank You a million times to Scott's dad Joe, and his step-mom Denise. They came to visit with us this weekend and while they were here we went crib shopping. Baby now has a crib in the nursery thanks to Joe and Denise, and Scott and I cannot say thank you enough for them generously buying us a safe and beautiful place for our baby to rest it's head at night.

They also brought us the first baby clothes. :-) Of course, they had to get the little munchkin Steelers gear, and also got us a nice pack of bibs and a sweet little romper set and some socks. Their visit was so wonderful. They got to meet Hailey as well as Stray, and Dolce and Bit got plenty of loving too. We had a fantastic dinner at Dave's and brunch at Clementines before they had to head back home.

Putting together the crib for me is such a surreal thing, and is just one more thing that makes the amazing fact that we are having a baby sink in. The room is looking less like a office/general purpose/junk room, and more like it really has a purpose. Yup, you guessed it, I teared up once I stepped back and took it all in. :-) The cats have been curious (naturally!) of the new digs in "their" room, but seem to be more interested in hiding underneath it and watching it from thier spots on the futon than they are in getting into it. We will see how long that last though.

We have our next appt with the midwife on Friday, and are hoping we can schedule an ultrasound soon to find out the baby's gender once and for all. I still really believe we have a little boy coming, as do a number of the family, and have been leaning that way a bit with purchases, but have really been trying to hold off on getting anything till we know for sure. While Denise was visiting though, we did finally look through Target's baby bedding collections, and I picked out my favorites for both a boy and girl and added them to the baby registry. For a boy I think we are going to go with jungle animals, and for a girl, something a bit more luxurious and princess-ish, without being crazy over the top. No crowns, etc. but pink and chocolate colors and silky fabrics.

I know some of it is hormones, but I have been tearing up at least once daily over various things, but mostly all at the wonderment of it all, and how lucky I am. Work is fantastic. I love the people I work with and they have all been so supportive. I recieved a thank-you eCard from a co-worker on Friday for helping him with a SharePoint site for his reports, and lost it finally when one of my bosses, Jodi, said I was doing a great job. I feel so fortunate to have so much support from all around. Scott is amazing, and loving and caring, and my mom and his family have all been so supportive and excited for us. There is so much that is wonderful in our life that somedays it's overwhelming. I can honestly say I have never felt this much love and caring from all those around me, and so much support at work ever in my life.

Ok, I'll stop with the mushy stuff now. I just hope everyone knows just how appreciative I am for everything. :-)

On other notes... we got 2 inches of snow this weekend which melted the same day, and Hailey has learned how to climb on the bed. Hahaha. As much as we said "no Hailey on the bed", once she was up there and snuggling between us, it was really really hard to make her get down. She's growing like a weed but is such a personable dog who you can tell absolutely adores her family. We love her and all of our "furry children" so much. They certainly keep us on our toes!

I hope all is well for you all and I'll update again after our mid-wife appointment!

Nic

16 week belly pic!