A Bump In the Road.

I feel like I have spent this whole pregnancy, holding my breath, waiting for the other shoe to drop. I have been telling myself that we have made it through the hard part in the conception stage, but I have just been so afraid that somewhere along the line we would hit a bump in the road. Well, we have, and Friday I got some pretty scary results from a screening that we completed just prior to my 16th week. I feel like I should let you all know, because this week I will probably be a bit MIA from the blog, and I wanted you to know why.

Basically, my numbers came back from some tests that we had, and both are slightly high. This puts the baby at a higher risk for down syndrome, and we went from somewhere like 1:500, to 1:30. I have been obsessing (and convinced) that we are the 1 for the last two days, and now I am just trying to remember that we could just as easily be the other 29, and more likely so. The numbers seem SO UNBELIEVABLY SCARY, but as my husband, and all my friends/family members keep telling me, it just means that we went from a .05 chance, to a 3.3 percent chance. So, here I am, left holding onto the fact that we can just as easily be in the 96.7%, as in the former.

The only course of action, for us, is to know for sure. I have an amniocentesis scheduled Tuesday morning, and we should have the results within a week. Again, my savior, my MIL is coming up to help out, so I should be able to minimize the risk of miscarriage (something that can happen as a result of the amnio) as much we can. Other than that there is nothing to do but wait and worry.

It's going to be a relief when all this is over, but for now it's pretty hard to keep from wallowing, and obsessing. My head is telling me everything is going to be fine, so I hopefully I will soon start to believe it.

It's going to be a very long week.

Jenna Lyons Is Messing With Me.

I'm pretty sure that I have adequately conveyed what a hellish winter we are having around these parts. I know the same can be said for New York City, the city where Jenna Lyons (the creative director of J.Crew) lives. I can picture her sitting around in her fabulous brownstone, watching the snow fall, thinking "how can I remind everyone just how amazing spring is, 3! months before it will actually be here." "I know," she said, "I will send out a fabulously styled look book of amazing spring fashion to all of those people who are currently living in black, bulky gear, freezing their asses off." (She is then whisked away by her heated town car to somewhere ridiculously warm, like St. Tropez, with her evil plan in place.)

Cut to me, salivating over these pictures. The cut, the color, the bare legs! These pictures just ooze spring, and the sad thing is I won't be wearing any of these looks until NEXT spring giving my quickly growing figure. Oh well, a girl can still dream of warmer weather, and a day when I again will fit into my skinny jeans. Damn you Jenna, I think you've managed to find a way to make this winter even more dreary. 

I might have to get this skirt, if only to hold up as motivation to get back in shape. Oh, and that white blazer/jumpsuit combo? So, not child proof, but so gorgeous. 

Pink, on pink, on pink? It's sounds so wrong, but looks so right. Same goes for you, fabulous orange. 

Who knew yellow leather shorts could look so good? Oh yeah, Jenna did. I'm loving this olive combo as well. This is a look that is definitely "park friendly."

If I were 20 again, these two looks would be my go to. That turquoise jumper is to die for!

That striped shirt + the red lips are MINE, even if I have to get an XL to cover the bump, they're MINE. The nude shirt and pants reminds me of how I wish you could dress in an office, yes an office on Ally McBeal, but an office none the less. 

Note to self, when the Summer catalog comes throw it directly in the recycling. I repeat directly in the recycling. No girl up 30-40lbs needs to see that...

A Rant.

This...

+ 12 MORE inches of snow on the way.
         

+ This little boy who is dying to play outside.
= Oh My God, I cannot believe it is going to snow again! What the hell is up with this winter? Are we all being punished for something? Monday, it was colder here than in the Arctic. Seriously, the Arctic? I can't believe we have 3 more months of this. How are we supposed to survive when it is always snowing. If we have to go to the museum AGAIN I think I might lose my mind. Okay, I give in, I am more than ready to move to the West Coast. Actually, why don't we live in Hawaii now? What were we thinking staying here? What's so great about Boston anyway? If they close school ONE more day, I think I might actually have to break into the building and hold it myself. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, make it stop.


In short, mother nature, she's is a dirty whore.

Living Room: Before & After.

Yay! I am so EXCITED to finally be able to share the before & after pictures of our living room/ kitchen. We are so happy with the way it turned out, and I love coming home to such an open and peaceful space. Everything we chose is virtually child resistant, so it should stay looking this way (fingers crossed) for the years to come. It's amazing how a few tweaks can really make a house look like a home!

Before:

After:

Special thanks go out to Auntie Tia and my besties J, and M for all their style advice!  I cannot thank you enough for reading all those pre-purchase frantic emails!!!

Now.... on to the nursery!!!!!

I Dream of Eames.

One of the perks of having a friend as an interior designer is that she can give you fabulous ideas for styling your (somewhat boring) apartment. The second, of course, is that she can share her amazing designer discount with you. This is how I came to own a piece of art (so says MOMA) and on February 28th we are going to be the proud parents of a 30(?) pound, cream, buttery leather, walnut encased Eames lounger, and with that our apartment decorating is (almost) complete. 

I have to admit a year ago I had no idea what this chair was and whom it was made by. When my girlfriend pointed it out in a magazine I recognized it, but I had no idea how iconic this piece of furniture  was/is. I wasn't to sure about having something so nice, with such small children, but after seeing this chair EVERYWHERE over the past year, we decided that it was exactly what our bedroom needed. Not only is this perfect for the space, but our bedroom is the one place in the house, short of cuddling in the "big bed," that our little guy has ZERO interest in. After months of waffling, we decided over Christmas that if we didn't go for it now with the discount available to us, we would be kicking ourselves later. 

Looking at these pictures I am 100% sure we made the right choice.

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I had to add in this picture of someone, who is MUCH braver than I, who dared to put this beauty in the nursery. I will afraid to even sit in ours for the first year, so needless to say, there won't be any babies in this chair. I do have to admit that it does look fabulous, although, I'm pretty sure this chair would look fabulous anywhere, even in a bathroom. (I am also loving that colorful blanket!)

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Now if it could just arrive... I'm dying to share the "after" pictures with you all!

Everyone's Having Babies!

Holy Hollywood... is there any out there NOT having a baby? If last year was the year of the break up, this year is definitely the year of the baby! You've got Alicia Silverstone, Selma Blair, Posh Beckham, Natalie Portman, Mariah Carey, Kate Hudson, Rachel Zoe, Jewel, Pink, Ivanka Trump, Marion Cotillard, Jane Krakowski, and (reportedly) Hillary Duff and Reese Witherspoon. Add these to the list of celebs who are also new parents, like Elton John, Miranda Kerr/ Orlando Bloom, Nicole Kidman, Owen Wilson, and, well, there aren't enough People magazine covers in a year to cover all of this babyliciousness! In my own inner circle my two best friends just had and are having babies, and I have a few friends that are still in the closet but soon will be walking around sporting a noticeable baby bump! Even some local bloggers are drinking the baby water and we are eagerly awaiting the birth of Baby Q, and April Elizabeth's little one. In short, this is one club that I am more than happy that I get to be a part of. I have a feeling we are in for some great maternity fashion, and some even better bizarre baby names.

I, for one, am loving it!!!

It's My Lot In Life.

It's my lot in life to be surrounded by handsome men... because we're having another BOY!!!!!!!!!!!

Everyone in the room called it at 95%, so there is a chance that it could it could be some weird girly parts, but, well, we saw some balls, and really, I don't want a girl with balls.

I'm still trying to wrap my head around the fact that I am going to be the momma of TWO BOYS!!!!!!

I've been saying all afternoon, "my boys... the boys... come here boys." I could not be happier.

This also means that the Foundation Fighting Blindness. www.blindness.org. will be getting a donation from baby Gray.

Yay! Another BOY!

It's a... ?

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It's that time my friends!

Tomorrow is the big day we should, depending on leg spreadage, find out if we are having a he or a she! (Yeah, I won't be sleeping much tonight.) I still 90% think I'm having a girl, but as my husband reminded me tonight, I was 100% sure the last time that our baby was a female, and boy oh boy was I wrong. I'm also happy to report that tonight I felt the baby moving about for the first time. Man, things are really happening this week in my belly!

I'm sure you all have a "feeling" one way or another (I always think EVERYONE is having a boy) so I thought it would be fun to hear what your guesses are. If you leave your choice gender in the comments section, with a link to you favorite charity, the little bean will donate $50.00 to the winning gender, chosen at random. So guess away! (only once please :))

I must admit that I was leaning towards wanting another boy, but after a week of talking about nothing other than "poop," "burps," and finding out today that the LM told everyone at school that his daddy has a "giant penis" (no comment,) I'm thinking that maybe a girl would be nice, balance things out a bit. I grew up in a house of 4 sisters, so I'm wondering if I might be out of my league with another boy.

I know everyone says it, but all I'm looking for is 10 fingers, and 10 toes... anything else is gravy!

I'll report back tomorrow night with the answer (hopefully!)

Outsmarted By a Tree.

I had a plan. A good plan. A plan that I now learned totally sucked. In short, I have been outsmarted by a tree.

See, for the past few years I have been sure about one thing when it came to decorating the nursery; behind the crib there is going to be a tree. Yes, a tree. I have seen pictures like the ones below and my heart has jumped out of my chest. Considering that I don't have an artistic bone in my body I knew that this was going to present some sort of challenge, but I thought that I could figure out some way to avoid actually drawing the tree myself.

 Enter the plan.

It seems like every room that I have been looking at has some sort of wall decal on it. While I love the decal itself, I don't love the "look" of a decal. So, I thought I could put on the decal, paint the wall around it, and then voila, peel off the decal and have a true painted mural.

Genius, right?

Wrong. 

I called a friend this morning, who is an expert on these kind of things, and he basically told me that my plan just wasn't going to work. More than likely the decal will ruin the paint underneath and or/ peel the new paint around it. He said my best bet was the old projector on the wall bit, detailed here, and I have to tell you that this is not what I wanted to hear. While I am disappointed, I am not deterred, and will still attempt my tree dream. This morning I found the "perfect tree," and then a friend who is willing to loan me a projector, and while she doesn't know it yet, when my Mother-in-Law comes to visit in March we are going to take on this little project. 

It's going to either be awesome or a total disaster... the end result is yet to be determined. Until then, here are some shots of people who were able to get it right. I'm just hoping that soon I can be counted as one of them. 

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Have any of you attempted this type of project at home? Do you have any advice for this artistically challenged Mum? I'll soon be positing the results here... thank God it's only paint, Right?

Snow Day(s).

Did you all hear about the snow that pounded New England, yeah well what was reported was NO JOKE. We got nailed by the storm, and my little guy had his first official snow day(s) from school. We spent yesterday sledding, sleeping, sledding, and sleeping. I was so grateful that we live in a condo with a garage, because if it was any different we would have spent the day shoveling, shoveling, and shoveling some more. My little guy was, surprising, really disappointed that he couldn't go to school, and whenever the snow plow would go by he would say, "see the roads are clear, now we can go to school!" He was even more shocked when I told him it was cancelled again today, but I have assured him (crossing my fingers behind my back) that school should be open again tomorrow. I guess I should revel in the days when he actually wants to be there, because as this California girl can attest, I would have done anything for a snow day after I hit junior high.

I must say, it's actually been pretty nice taking it easy at home. We have watched some movies (Going the Distance is hilarious!) and I was able to embark on my "playroom" project clean-up which involved sorting through all of the little man's toys to determine what was "baby" and what was "big kid." I had planned on doing this project by myself, but to my surprise my guy was more than willing to help. I thought that he would want to keep everything for himself, but he was awesome about sorting piles between upstairs (nursery,) and downstairs (his room,) and he even made a trash pile which is something that I never thought I would see. He seems really excited for the baby to come, even if it just because it makes him even "bigger." We are almost getting to the point where we can paint the nursery and I am already in full nesting mode... God help us all during the next six months.  

Now back to the snow, for those of you who don't live around here, this is what 16 inches of snow, in 8 hours, looks like. They have said that we better get used to having the white stuff around because with freezing temps for the next few weeks, we are going to be looking at this for a long time to come. Here is our "front yard," aka our Winter Wonderland.

The day after....

4 more months to spring... four more months to spring...

Oh, and for those of you who noticed, yes I taped his boots to his pants with duct moving tape. There was only so many times those damn boots could get stuck in the snow before I decided to resort to desperate measures. I must say it kept his sockies nice and dry...