Week 35 and Memorial Day Weekend

Lots going on that's for sure! I'm thinking that the way these weeks have been going, this little lady is going to be here in no time!

So, after Jeff Tudgay's Deacon Service on Saturday, Joe, Cristin and Brian went for a nice long bike ride along Harvey's Lake sans me. They are preparing for a 16 mile race that they signed up for in Hershey this coming weekend. I'm sure I will have some pictures and a post to go along with that! Thankfully for them, the weekend was gorgeous and to spend it around the lake...I'm sure was a lot of fun! Hopefully I will be able to join them after this baby is born! :) Good way to lose the pregnancy weight right?

That night, we had a great Italian dinner....well, that is all of us except Brian! These are the times that I wish I would keep my mouth shut. So...we head to my favorite Italian restaurant: Arcaro & Genels. They have FANTASTIC homemade Italian foods. It's one of those small restaurants that you have to always wait to get a seat! One of their specials was "Veal Osso Buco!" Now...I know that Ruth's Chris is not some small, Mom & Pop Italian Restaurant, but they sell a Veal Osso Buco that is to DIE for! Well, Brian asks what it is and I go into this savory description of veal ravioli with a tomato cream sauce!! Fantastic! He's sold!!! :) Our appetizers come...Delicious...salads...delicious....one by one our meals come...all LOOK delicious and then his arrives! It looked like a giant slab of meat from a pot roast! He was a trooper and ate it..but it looked HORRIBLE! I felt absolutely horrible that I sold this guy on this amazing ravioli dish and it came out looking like something the dog dragged in from the yard! Sorry Brian! That will not happen again!

On to Sunday....! We didn't do much on Sunday! Joe had some work to get done and went to the office for most of the afternoon. There was some cleaning that took place around the house as I actually went outside and weeded to get myself out of the house! I filled an entire 33 gallon trash bag full of weeds! Ugh! But it felt so good to be out and about and help Joe out with something that I could do...I paid for it later with the nice swollen feet, but it still felt good! I think I even got a little sun!!

Yesterday, we spent most of the morning just hanging out and relaxing! The weather was beautiful, but we were happy just hanging out inside. During the afternoon, the hustling began! We still have a lot of little things to do around the house, like finishing up cleaning the upstairs and doing a lot of the yard work now that summer is here! Joe has become a pro with the pool and the water was sparkling clean! He finished up cleaning the pond and got that working and then we went for jump in the pool! Well, he and Abbie went first and then I went in later! See...I forgot to mention that the hormones are back...and I've been an emotional basket case for about a week now! I got upset over something and went inside while he and Abbie enjoyed the warm, clean pool! Don't worry...he came inside and got me to go out and enjoy myself while he cooked me dinner! But I broke down to him and told him I was just done being pregnant! I just don't think that my body can handle much more of this...thank goodness we only have a few more weeks to go!!!

These pictures are getting more and more difficult to share!

Your baby doesn't have much room to maneuver now that he's over 18 inches long and tips the scales at 5 1/4 pounds (pick up a honeydew melon). Because it's so snug in your womb, he isn't likely to be doing somersaults anymore, but the number of times he kicks should remain about the same. His kidneys are fully developed now, and his liver can process some waste products. Most of his basic physical development is now complete — he'll spend the next few weeks putting on weight.

Congratulations Jeff!!

This past Saturday marked a large milestone for Joe's cousin Jeff Tudgay! We were fortunate enough to share in this important day as he was ordained as a Deacon.  Jeff has been one of Joe's closest relatives and friends, therefore we have shared with him every step on his path of becoming a Priest. He currently attends seminary school in Philadelphia and now only has one more year until he is ordained as a Priest! We know how big of an accomplishment this is for him and we can't wait to share the next step with him as well! Here are a few pictures of the service at St. Peter's Cathedral in Scranton.

Congratulations Jeff!! Joe and I are really proud of you!!!

The storms will pass...

Weather has been absolutely crazy the last two couple of weeks! It has to be a record of how much rain we have had along with the storms. Joe barely got half of the grass mowed Sunday morning and it started pouring...and he wasn't able to finish it until last night. Which...he then had to mow the entire yard again because the part he had mowed on Sunday had grown so long because of the rain.

Today, I worked from home! My office is allowing us to work from home one day a week and this was the first time I was able to! The day was beautiful! I sat at the kitchen table with the sun shining through the door. That didn't last long. At 4:30, I went and settled in on the couch, took a short nap and woke up to thunder and lightning at about 6:00. It's almost 11:30 and it still is thundering and lightning outside. One of the longest storms that I can remember. If the weather man is right...this should all pass by the end of this weekend and we will see summer start to appear.

Along with the horrible weather this week, my pregnancy is definitely taking a turn in the other direction. I have had a fabulous pregnancy to say the least. Except for the last couple of weeks. I am officially ready to have this child. My swelling along with not being able to sleep and the back pain that I feel throughout the day...I'm done! If only these last few weeks would go by quickly. At my doctor's appointment this week, he said that I pretty much just have to suck it up. Unfortunately, these are the normal side effects in the third trimester and that they are not harming my pregnancy. He did mention though that I am suffering from Pregnancy carpel tunnel in my hands though. Throughout the day, especially in the mornings, I have very serious pains and numbness in my hands and wrist. Because of my severe swelling, it is cutting off the circulation in my hands and therefore causing pregnancy carpel tunnel. I'm done with that too! But, we are down to only a few more weeks....and these problems too shall pass!

We will be 35 weeks pregnant this weekend and be entering the month of June in just a few short days. Wonder if we will have June baby or make it to July?

Beautiful Day

Sunday weather = not so great. Sunday festivities = fantastic

My day started off with a trip down to Bethlehem, PA where my sister-in-law, Cristin, lives. She and my other sister-in-law, Alison, were kind enough to throw me a baby brunch with the rest of the ladies in the family!  Cristin picked a beautiful location called Hotel Bethlehem. They have a room that is all floor to ceiling windows and they offer a GLORIOUS brunch. I'm not kidding when I say that not one of us left hungry. We ALL made multiple trips - omelets, meat stations, waffles, french toasts, fresh shrimp, desserts, carving station, pastry station, salad station...you name it, they had it!

And on top of that...this little lady has pretty much completed her "need' list.  Stroller & Car Seat, Bath Tub, Swing, blankets, sleep sacks, swaddle sacks, mobile, first aid kit...they have all now been checked off the list. And, Cristin made stunning potted flowers gifts for everyone. Thank you ladies for all of your hard work and generosity!  Here are a few pictures from Sunday that Alison took:



The Cavanaugh Ladies




The Whale Bath Tub! I just love this little thing! And funny enough...this was from Abbie and Caleigh (Cristin's little puppy) We have such great family pets :D




The women in the family! Thanks to everyone for coming and making our little ladies day so special! You can also see the adorable potted plants that Cristin made on the table.

As for Joe...he had a busy day himself! He had the joy of putting together the nursery with his father! They had picked up the furniture in Philly the day before and were putting it all together on Sunday while all of us ladies were at the Brunch. Thank you Joe and Sr. for putting all of your time and energy into the nursery on Sunday! It truly means a great deal to have the room almost 100% completed :) Just a touch of final decorations will make the room complete.

Room is painted

Furniture Added

The most comfortable chair in the world! I can't wait to "use" it

How adorable is this bedding? And the matching mobile with the baby zoo animals! I hope she likes it!

Week 34

It's been a fun last two days. I worked late night yesterday at work which means I work from 10-6PM. I LOVE IT! I get to sleep in and it's the one time that I feel like I can actually get some good sleep! And to come home after 6 isn't so bad because Joe usually isn't home until after six either! When I got home, Joe had already cleaned out the nursery and he begun transforming the room! After a few hours, the room is now a lovely shade of green and will be finalized come Sunday. Joe needed to get the room painted because he went to Philly this afternoon to pick up the nursery furniture! His father is coming over tomorrow to help Joe put the furniture in the nursery while I am away at my brunch/shower with the family! I can't wait to come home and see it all put together. Here is a sneak peak of the color:

And yes, as of today, we have reached week 34! Only 6 more weeks to go....I can't believe it! I am getting so anxious for the weeks to pass by quickly! Now that the room is is getting finished, it finally feels like we are getting to the end and we will be bringing home our little lady so soon!

Your baby continues to grow and develop inside of you. Measuring about 17.5 inches long, he now weighs over 5lbs! And from this week, until 2 weeks before birth, he will continue to gain about a half pound of weight every week. Unlike the first trimester, the weight between all babies in the third trimester is much more variable. Some babies weigh more and are taller; some babies weigh less and are shorter.
Also unlike the first trimester, by week 34 not much is changing. Your baby continues gaining weight through the development of subcutaneous fat and with that weight, is probably gaining strength in his movements. You may even be startled by a sudden jab to the ribs or be able to see a punch to your belly from the outside!

Excitement...

I am really excited about this weekend! We are FINALLY finishing the nursery! The bedding has arrived and the color is picked for the walls. Joe is coming home tonight to paint and he and his father are going to Philly tomorrow to pick up the furniture! I'm sure that this will be the time that I feel like there is a baby coming! We only have a few more weeks!! I'm anxious to see the final room....can't wait to post pictures this weekend!

And then Sunday, I get to spend the morning at a brunch with Joe's side of the family! A nice little treat to end the weekend! Hopefully lots of pictures to share :)

Week 33

I guess you can say that when there isn't a lot that happens...I sort of forget to post a blog....but I somehow usually remember to take a picture!

This week flew by quickly! I look at the number of weeks we are pregnant and it feels like eternity! I'm starting to get very, very uncomfortable! Although, my swelling and such has gone down due to my doting husband making sure that I don't lift a finger when I am at home and that my feet are propped to alleviate the swelling from the work day! You can tell there isn't much room for this little girl to move anymore. The doctor said she was facing head down already, so the body part I feel the most is her tiny little butt...right above my belly button! It's funny because now always know where she is sitting in my stomach based on where her bum is! Joe is getting more enjoyment out of feeling her move and we are able to share that bond more now that she is bigger. It's getting so close to when we are able to finally meet this little lady!

I had my first belly faux pas this weekend! As the boys were unloading the jet skis, I went with my mother-in-law and sister-in-law to a few craft stores to pass away the time! We were browsing through this adorable little store that had a little too narrow of aisle ways to walk through. As I turned at one point....I heard something fall to the ground. My sister-in-law looked at me and we knew something had broke! On the floor lied this little knick knack of a dog that was carrying a basket of baby birds in it's mouth....and it had a bird on it's tail that had broken during the fall! We laughed so hard...knowing that the worst part was how modern Joe is and how we would NEVER put something like this up in his house! Too country...he he! But I bought it anyway because I felt so horrible about breaking something in a store. The man sort of thought it was funny and was trying to come up with signs he could make about pregnant woman and the aisle ways being smaller than they appear....sigh....we'll see how that goes for him! So, the poor little dog now has a home on my desk at work! Maybe we should put it in the baby's room..... :D

Your baby continues to grow and develop inside of you. Measuring about 17 inches long, she weighs around 5lbs. And from this week, until 2 weeks before birth, she will gain about a half pound of weight every week.
The bones in her skull are formed, but aren't fused. They actually don't fuse entirely until early adulthood, allowing room for her brain to grow through childhood. Because they aren't fused, the bones in her skull will be able to overlap, helping her to fit through the birth canal during delivery.

Happy Mother's Day

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY TO ALL THE BEAUTIFUL MOTHER'S OUT THERE!!! MAY YOU HAVE A RELAXING AND WONDERFUL DAY WITH YOUR FAMILIES AND/OR FRIENDS!!!

Although I thoroughly enjoyed my weekend at home by myself for the most part, I had a wonderful morning with my girlfriend Amanda and her family! She made brunch for her mother and her boyfriend, Tony's, mother and family. So I am thankful that they allowed me to join in on the their Mother's Day Celebration. And boy was it a gorgeous day with gorgeous food!

Amanda set up the beautiful brunch outside and let me describe the amazing food we had: almond and corn flake french toast, bacon, fresh fruit, ham and cheese quiche, spinach and cheese (with a special cheese) quiche, sour cream coffee cake and an amazing trifle cake. I could have eaten all day long! And to sit outside in the sun....glorious!!! I even got a little color on my arms!

So, a big thank you to Amanda and her family! It was a wonderful day spent with wonderful people!

One more pic from last weekend...

Thank you Jeff Thornhill for capturing such a cute pic of Uncle Joe with the triplets!!! This is at the Columbus Zoo where Jeff and Joe took the girls while Marie was setting up and getting the shower started!! I think he is going to be a wonderful father from the looks of things..... :)

Week 32 - More Doctors visits and Nesting?

Week 32....only 8 more weeks to go! Not that I am counting or anything! I just don't think it has hit me that at the end of all of this...there will actually be a small child that will come! Though you plan, and purchase necessities and begin to decorate...does it really hit you before hand or does it take the actual birth to wake up from the dream?

Nothing exciting to share this week! Although I know I technically missed last weeks recap...but I have shower pictures....it's been a pretty "boring" week! I do start going to the doctor every two weeks! I"m still cut off from salt...bummer...and I now have to make sure I relax after work with my feet propped for about an hour as well as during the night as well because of my swelling. I know from cleaning last night, it really puffed me up and I woke up with really stiff hands and feet! I'm not sure what arthritis feels like, but if it feels anything like how my fingers felt this morning....I hope I never have it!

Although Joe has only been gone for a few days, I surely do miss him! Being my best friend and the one person that I spend the majority of my time with, I get a little lonely when he is not around. I even catch Abbie wondering around the house and looking out the front door to see if he is home! Although I miss him, it has been nice to sort of do nothing at some points and get some other stuff done that I have been meaning to do for a quite a while. I'll leave the hard stuff for Joe to do when he returns....but at least I am getting a head start! A few of my friends have informed me that my intense energy to clean and organize all of the sudden means that I am most definitely in the nesting stage. I even had to laugh because I am going to a girlfriends house, Amanda Perna, this morning for Mother's Day brunch (which I am very excited about...) but all I can think about it what I want to do upon my return...clean...and reorganize.....I have a whole list of all the exciting things I want to do!! ha ha...I was working until midnight last night when I finally made myself go to sleep! I will most definitely try to keep things mild today as I have to pick Joe up later from the airport and I don't want to be exhausted for work tomorrow! I guess that means I'll to save what's left for next weekend! ha ha!

OH...and last but not least! I just want to say Congratulation to my beautiful friend Erin and her husband Rob! They just found out that they will be having a little boy this fall which will add to their adorable twin girls!! How exciting!!! I'm so excited for the two of you! And also, a BIG Congrats to my other wonderful friend, Marie Thornhill for completing her first Half Marathon in Columbus this weekend! What an inspiration to us all !!! Joe and I are so proud of you!


So, here we are to 32 weeks!

By now, your baby weighs 3.75 pounds (pick up a large jicama) and is about 16.7 inches long, taking up a lot of space in your uterus. You're gaining about a pound a week and roughly half of that goes right to your baby. In fact, she'll gain a third to half of her birth weight during the next 7 weeks as she fattens up for survival outside the womb. She now has toenails, fingernails, and real hair (or at least respectable peach fuzz). Her skin is becoming soft and smooth as she plumps up in preparation for birth.

Mancation 2011

Now...onto the weekly recap! It's been interesting. That's about all I can say. From Joe being gone on a mancation to my "nesting" beginning this weekend! Life just hasn't stopped!

I dropped Joe off at the airport Thursday to spend a few days down in Ft. Lauderdale. Him and his buddy Adam Miller went down for a "dual" bachelor party. Joe actually didn't get a bachelor party and he was going to unfortunately miss Miller's party...so they opted to do a "mancation" instead! A relaxing, weekend on the blue waters of Florida....deep sea fishing! So, I get this phone call on Friday from Joe and I asked him how his fishing trip went! He said it was okay..they had only caught two fish....bummer! But then he went on to say that the second fish they caught was a 10ft HAMMERHEAD SHARK!!! At first I didn't quite believe him, but then he shared the amazing photos with me! What an incredible day on the water! They didn't keep the shark..although I'm sure both of them would have loved to have mounted that sucker on one of their walls...but the thrill of the catch...I'm sure was all worth it!

Unless you are willing to kill the animal as a trophy fish, they won't bring it inside the boat because it is such a dangerous predator. So at least they got to be up close and personal to a deadly, deadly animal!  Joe said it took them an hour and a half to pull the guy in! Had to have been tiring!!!

Well boys...glad you had a great trip! Maybe next year the ladies can join you ;)



Beginning stages of Nesting

It's happening. I think I'm nesting. I have been itching...literally to get started on the nursery and cleaning out the closet and the basement. I'm ready to purge! Joe left on Thursday for a mancation with his best friend Miller and I have been thinking about getting a head start before the nursery furniture arrives. The only problem was is that we had to have a transition "period" before we could move onto the nursery.

The nursery is going to be where our office is currently. So...we had to find a place to move our office which we have decided would be the one side of our basement. To complicate things, we decided to order new office furniture. Well, when it arrived a few weeks ago, it was damaged and so we had to wait for the replacement pieces in order to finish setting up the office. Now that it is set-up, we can move all of our office stuff from upstairs to downstairs. Obviously I can't do this by myself, so that has to wait until Joe returns home and then we can at least paint before the nursery furniture arrives which should be in just a few weeks.

That leads me to why I am in such a cleaning frenzy and want to clean, clean, clean and organize, organize, organize! I was so excited to finally start cleaning out the closets today. Now if only I can figure out what to do with all of our shoes.......

Ohio Baby Shower

I am very blessed to have such wonderful friends and family! My friend Marie was quick to the gun and offered to throw me a baby shower in Columbus, OH. I don't get to spend much time in Ohio with how far the drives are which means I don't get to see my friends and family very often. So, you can only imagine how excited I was to spend the day with so many of the close people in my life.

Joe and I drove in on Friday night...a little late, so no plans with anyone. And I was up bright and early Saturday morning. (around 6:00AM...I seriously couldn't wait to get the day started.) And..I forgot to mention that Joe was invited to go to the zoo with Marie's husband, Jeff, along with their three little girls, Anna, Ava, and Alexis...(they are triplets in case you were wondering.) That gave Joe a good reason to be a little excited about our visit as well!

We were to be at Marie's by 9:30 so they had plenty of time at the zoo! With a slight delay due to a severed tire (Jeff' had a small mishap on his way to pick up the cake...). I got to spend the morning with Marie! Boy did she plan a spectacular event! From the food and decorations..I was blown away! She had the fantastic help of her mother, sister and friend April to help set up.  Her sister, Tammy, made all of the invitations, thanks you cards and "gift bag" that held the homemade mints that Marie made. And April came with the cool Diaper Cake, this neat glass stand with blocks inside that spell out "baby girl" in which she placed her homemade red Velvet and Buckeye cupcakes on! Absolutely delicious!!!! Incredible!! I really appreciated everyone helping Marie out and putting together a fantastic event! And I haven't even touched on the food and the gifts!!!

There were so many yummy foods to choose from....but the chicken salad croissants and the fruit salsa were absolutely amazing! I'm going to have to get that recipe from the girls! They even baked their own cinnamon tortillas! Yummy! I definitely did not leave hungry to say the least!

But of course, my favorite part of the day was getting time to spend with my family and friends. Although it wasn't a lot, its nice to be able to have that time to get me through until the next!

I don't have a ton of pictures to share! I of course, didn't hardly take any! (what was I thinking) so the pictures I have are from my mom and April! Thanks ladies for taking pictures!!!




The beautiful cake that was designed to look like the invites :)





These were the adorable "gift baskets" filled with homemade mints..yummy!




Look at those cupcakes....absolutely amazing!




See how the cupcakes were tiered with the smaller vases.....so creative!





Don't you just love little girls clothes? And you can see the thank you notes as a nice little touch in between the onesies!




DIAPER CAKE :)



My aunt made this adorable little babies tutu and headband! I'm thinking about pictures already!




Look how cute the little animals are on these outfits!



Marie made this beautiful blanket...and it even has stitches that are stars :)



Once again..Bruce Springsteen makes an appearance! Marie made this adorable onesie....as I'm sure this little lady will be running our house in no time at all....




Wonderful time with friends...thank you Jenny and Melissa for coming! Especially Melissa! I think she got the "Traveled the Farthest" Award. She drove in from North Carolina with her three children! :)




Grandma, Mashea and Allainna



These were just a few of the highlights from the shower! I wish I could have shown all of of the generous items this little girl received! She's already spoiled and she isn't even here yet! And let me just say..she is going to be one well-dressed little lady! :) Thank you everyone again! It was a magical day!