Extreme room makeover

It's probably time to start thinking about clearing out the back room to make way for baby, so I thought I would document the process. It's going to be quite a change as the room now functions as Jason's "man cave" or "lair". As of now, we're thinking we might leave the couch and the TV in place, but everything else will be relocated to our bedroom. Fun!

Here's where we are now:

Jason's favorite napping spot -- right in between his Jane's Addiction and Who/Pearl Jam posters

To the left of the couch -- bookshelf crammed with books, records, photos, and whatever else needs storing

 

Around the room we go. Desk/office space and TV in the corner

 

The entire right side wall is a closet. This thing is completely filled with extra bedding, golf clubs, a file cabinet, and winter coats. I will NOT be photographing the mess inside

 

The room isn't very big, so we are hoping to find a crib/changer combo system to save a little space. I am thinking that will go on the wall where the bookshelf is, and then we'll put a bookshelf or cabinet for books, toys, and clothes underneath the TV. I am hoping we find out if it's a boy or a girl on Thursday to make it a little easier to pick paint colors and choose a rug. But if not, gender neutral is cool too. We'll probably go bright, modern, and graphic, so that should work for any kind of kid.

Feel free to leave comments or email me suggestions!

My child is shy!

Are you surprised? We went in for the 20-week ultrasound today and everything was looking good. BUT, the baby was very content in its position and we weren't able to find out the sex. Luckily, I will get to try again in a week! They weren't able to take a good heart photo either, so I have another chance on March 4. Stay tuned.

Until then...head, shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes!

Cute little profile if I do say so myself:

Looks like all the fingers are accounted for:

And the toes too:

Someone's got some long, skinny legs:

LOST Lunch Wednesday: Lighthouse

Maybe this episode should have been called "Nuthouse" because we learn that Claire is totally crazy!

I'm not going to speculate too much about the learnings from this episode because the preview for next week swears that we will start getting answers. It's oh so frustrating, but oh so good!

LOST Lunch Wednesday: Where we digress and obsess about male figure skating

Tuesday's episode, The Substitute, was well-acted and compelling. Locke and Sawyer both have some wonderful moments and classic lines ("Well, I guess I better go put my pants on"), Helen is back, and we learn a little bit more about Jacob and the Man in Black. Oh yeah, and Sawyer, Jack, Hurley, Sayid, and either Sun or Jin are all "candidates" for something.

That's all good, but what we really care about this week are the Winter Olympics and the male figure skating competition! We spent the second half of our lunch hour breaking down the short program and obsessing about Evan Lysacek and his Vera Wang feathered bodysuit.

I am definitely pulling for Evan to win the gold. However, I also have a major soft spot for Johnny Weir and hope he can find some way to move up from 6th place and take a medal. The judges totally screwed him out of a couple points in the scoring...probably for being overly gay. But I find his flamboyance endearing and love that he insists on speaking with his coach in Russian. It's something I can picture a young David Sedaris doing, were he a male figure skater.

As much as I enjoyed watching Evan and Johnny skate last night, the highlight of the night was definitely the Italian who wore dirty-looking farm overalls (with one strap down) and skated to J Geils Band. My sister and I could not stop laughing about it!  

Anyway, I can't wait for the finals tomorrow. Am I a mean person for hoping that Yevgeny Plushenko bites it on his quad jump and falls out of the medal race? Until then...congrats to Shani Davis, and good luck to Lindsay Vonn and Shaun White. It's another awesome night of Winter Games!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Jason has this holiday all figured out.

Flowers from the Dilly Lilly 

(best flower shop in Chicago: http://chicago.citysearch.com/profile/3678039/chicago_il/dilly_lily.html)

Cheesy fondue

Perfectly-cooked lobster tails

 And a little love

Yes, I am the loser who gave my husband a homemade Valentine's Day card :)

Belly shot #1--18 weeks

That's about 4 and a half months for those non-pregnant people not used to counting by the week.

Here I am:

I feel absolutely huge, but guess I don't really look it in this photo. Man, what's it going to be like at 8 months and counting?? Yikes!

At any rate, I've started to grow out of my regular jeans and think I might brave the President's Day shopping scene on Monday to buy my first pair of elastic waist maternity jeans. Wish me luck!

He went to Jared! (LOST Lunch Wednesday: What Kate Does)

Touching that Sawyer was going to propose to Juliet...but how exactly did he manage to come across an engagement ring on an ISLAND? Heh.

Anyway, Tuesday's episode was a little bit of a snooze, but we did learn a few things:

• Sayid has been "claimed" or "infected." By what (or whom) we don't know. Could he have the same "sickness" that wiped out Rousseau's crew? Well, I guess Rousseau actually wiped them out, but only because they went crazy, right?
• Claire is back! And she's been claimed too, possibly by Rousseau, if we are to read anything into her new ratty hair-do and trapping skillz.
• The characters in the alternate reality have some kind of connection to or subconscious awareness of the island reality. My lunch group noticed a few things in the first episode, and then in this one, Claire somehow knew that her son's name was supposed to be Aaron. 

It was also very interesting to see Ethan pop up as Claire's doctor in the alternate reality. As one of the blogs mentioned, he seems like a better guy OFF the island, unlike our Oceanic flight 815 passengers, who find their redemption ON the island.

I have a feeling that next week's episode, The Substitute, is going to be intense. It's about Locke, how could it not be??

It's gorilla central out there...

"When I woke up I was like what did I do last night? Like what did I do?" -- Snookie, Jersey Shore Season 1, Episode 1.

Even though I didn't drink last night (obviously), I still felt kind of hung over this morning after the debauchery that was Lindsay's Jersey Shore party. Basically, this meant dressing in trashy/cheap clothes, bumping our hair, and applying Sally Hansen spray tan until orange. I must say, getting ready was probably the most fun part of the night! It was also very fun to see Teresa, Dana, and Alan, who all happened to be in town for the weekend. Check out the pics.

Me, B, Teresa, and Joanna -- pretty classy!

Jason looking juiced

Philip (pre-spray tan) and Joanna

 

Robbie decked out in some Ed Hardy gear

 

Me and Linds (we nicknamed my belly the "Lil Situation")

 

Dana giving love to the Lil Situation. Check out my fake eyelashes! Wicked.

Now it's time to switch gears and get sporty. Superbowl party at the Bird's Nest! Go Saints!!

LOST Lunch Wednesday: LA X

It's back! Finally! Let me start by saying the 2-hour season premiere of LOST did not disappoint. And neither did our lively lunchtime discussion of the show :) We spent most of the lunch hour talking about the Locke/Man in Black and Sayid/Jacob characters. Everyone seems to agree that there's something Biblical going on with a battle between good and evil, the island being a sort of purgatory for the passengers of Oceanic flight 815, and the final season having something to do with redemption, etc. The producers seem to be laying it on pretty thick... I mean, seriously, when they pulled Sayid out of the water, I almost screamed, "Christ figure!" at the television.

However, my mother brought up the possibility of the roles being reversed, where the Locke/Man in Black character is actually the good guy and the Sayid/Jacob character is the bad. This could be a possibility when you consider the LOST Supper promotional posters they released to advertise the new season (Sayid is in the Judas position):

There's also a TON going on with the whole time travel aspect of the show. I don't even know where to start with all of that, but I will include a few links that my fellow Losties have been emailing about today at work.

The first link is to an article by "The Watcher" who writes for the Chicago Tribune. She has some interesting theories, including this one:
"In the end, will the people on the island find out there's a different timeline? Will they have to choose which one they want to stay in? 'You have a choice,' Jacob told Ben last season. I wonder if that dilemma will be presented to the survivors -- stay on the island and/or stay in the island timeline, or go off and never have those island experiences. I'm betting that will become one of the main features of the final season -- pondering which choice might be better, and why, for various characters."
http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/entertainment_tv/2010/02/lost-season-6-la-x-sayid-jacob-locke-ben-jack-kate.html

The second link is to an interview with the producers of LOST that may help explain a few things about the 2 "realities" and the differences between the original Oceanic flight 815 and the new Oceanic flight 815:
http://popwatch.ew.com/2010/02/02/lost-premiere-damon-carlton/

Finally, I just thought this link was kind of fun. It shows some of the different LOST "connections." Click and hold each boxed name to reveal:
http://www.scordit.com/blog/lost-characters-past-connections/

I guess that's all for now. It was a very intense first episode and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the rest of the season is as good!

Baby update -- 16 weeks and counting

I had my 4-month checkup this morning and thought I would pass along the good news that everything is going well so far. There really isn't a lot to report during this second trimester. I just feel like I'm kind of waiting it out! I did get to hear the baby's heartbeat again, which was kind of fun -- it sounds like a helicopter. Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh.

I am also starting to bump out a little. This became apparent for the first time when I was attempting to try on skin-tight T-shirts at TJ Maxx with Betsy and Lindsay in preparation for the Jersey Shore party this weekend. I had to opt for something a little looser in the gut area :) Photos to come after Saturday!