My mother taught me...(so Erma)

1. My mother taught me TO APPRECIATE A JOB WELL DONE.
'If you're going to kill each other, do it outside. I just finished cleaning.'

2. My mother taught me RELIGION.
'You better pray that will come out of the carpet.'

3. My mother taught me about TIME TRAVEL.
'If you don't straighten up, I'm going to knock you into the middle of next week!'

4. My mother taught me LOGIC.
'Because I said so, that's why.'

5. My mother taught me MORE LOGIC.
'If you fall out of that swing and break your neck, you're not going to the store with me.'

6. My mother taught me FORESIGHT.
'Make sure you wear clean underwear, in case you're in an accident.'

7. My mother taught me IRONY.
'Keep crying, and I'll give you something to cry about.'

8. My mother taught me about the science of OSMOSIS.
'Shut your mouth and eat your supper.'

9. My mother taught me about CONTORTIONISM.
'Will you look at that dirt on the back of your neck!'

10. My mother taught me about STAMINA.
'You'll sit there until all that spinach is gone.'

11. My mother taught me about WEATHER.
'This room of yours looks as if a tornado went through it.'

12. My mother taught me about HYPOCRISY.
'If I told you once, I've told you a million times. Don't exaggerate!'

13. My mother taught me the CIRCLE OF LIFE.
'I brought you into this world, and I can take you out.'

14. My mother taught me about BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION.
'Stop acting like your father!'

15. My mother taught me about ENVY.
'There are millions of less fortunate children in this world who don't have wonderful parents like you do.'

16. My mother taught me about ANTICIPATION.
'Just wait until we get home.'

17. My mother taught me about RECEIVING.
'You're going to get it when you get home!'

18. My mother taught me MEDICAL SCIENCE.
'If you don't stop crossing your eyes, they are going to get stuck that way.'

19. My mother taught me ESP.
'Put your sweater on; don't you think I know when you are cold?'

20. My mother taught me HUMOR.
'When that lawn mower cuts off your toes, don't come running to me.'

21. My mother taught me HOW TO BECOME AN ADULT.
'If you don't eat your vegetables, you'll never grow up.'

22. My mother taught me GENETICS.
'You're just like your father.'

23. My mother taught me about my ROOTS.
'Shut that door behind you. Do you think you were born in a barn?'

24. My mother taught me WISDOM.
'When you get to be my age, you'll understand.'

25. And my favorite: My mother taught me about JUSTICE.
'One day you'll have kids, and I hope they turn out just like you!'

Happy (belated) birthday, Jenny!

Well, Jenny finally joined the rest of us and is now one year closer to 30. And just in case some of you haven't seen how amazing Jenny's looking, here's a pic I stole from their wedding site. (Yes, Dan looks good, too. =] ) Happy birthday, Jenny!!!

Tom and I are still hunting for a house. We saw 2 more places last night, both in Springfield. I wasn't a huge fan of either, they were both okay and could look really nice with a lot of hard work. Neither of us really liked the neighborhoods, so we scratched those off of our list. So far the Fairfax City house is still the front runner.

On to baby news...I've been reading lots of books and websites about "what to expect" - thanks, Loula for the Girlfriends' Guide! I love the advice she gives. As of today, I only have 176 days left until my due date. According to whattoexpect.com, here's what the baby's been up to this week:

Continuing the march towards normal proportions, baby's legs now outmeasure the arms. And, finally, all four limbs have functional joints. Your fetus is squirming and wiggling like crazy down in the womb, though you probably still can't feel the movements.

Tomorrow's belly picture day, so I'll leave you with these shots from What to Expect and The Nest.

House search continued

Last night we went to look at two more houses. The first was in Fairfax City, off of Roberts Rd in Green Acres. We both really liked this house - the neighborhood is nice, the location is great (equidistant from Tom's dad and Aunt Peggy!) and the yard is a decent size. I almost choked when we walked through the front door, but once I looked past everything, I saw the place was nice and would work for us. Here are some pictures (yes, they have waaaaaaaay too many knick knacks). The second house was in Springfield, but I didn't even bother taking pictures of the it - it was awful. I only stayed inside the house for a minute and we left. Even if the house was nice, I wouldn't want to live there - I didn't feel comfortable just standing in the neighborhood. (Jennifer, surprisingly, I haven't found a single house we like in Malibu - must be all of the earthquakes...)

dear daddy,

please bring me some yummy ben & jerry's ice cream!

love,
bebe

Me and Mom

Everytime I would stay with Garu (my mom's mom), I would see pictures of my mom and always think, "When did I take that picture?" Then realized it was mom, not me. About a year ago, mom found almost identical Easter pictures of us. Weren't we the cutest babies?

Mom & her dad, Easter 1956:

Mom & me, Easter 1982:

Happy Mama

Thought I'd share a couple of pics of my mom when she was pregnant with me and after she gave birth to Ryan. You can't really tell she's pregnant in this picture, but if you knew her, you know how small she actually was when she wasn't pregnant. She told me she gained so much weight with me her doctor told her to "Put down the fork."

Happy Mama, pregnant with me, late 1980 or early 1981 (there was no date on the back):

Right after Ryan came home, December 1984 (I'm smiling, but I told my mom I didn't want a brother and to send him back):

House search

We only saw two houses yesterday, since one already had a contract on it. Of the two, we were most excited about this house in Centerville...

...until we saw the inside, which needed a TON of work. There is no central A/C in the addition, which included a bathroom and three bedrooms. The basement is riddled with mold and the kitchen needs all new appliances and a new floor. It didn't take long for us to realize that this is not the house for us.

Next, we drove over to Chantilly to see another house, but this was a short sale (which is one step away from foreclosure).

The house looks small on the outside, but actually has a lot of rooms. There are 2 bedrooms and a full bath upstairs and 2 more bedrooms and a full bath downstairs. There is no dining room, but there is an eat-in kitchen. The basement has a fireplace in the main room and walks out to the backyard. The backyard is a decent size, but the majority of it is on a steep hill, so we would have to spend money putting in a retaining wall and then leveling out the rest of the yard for it to be functional. The house is move-in ready (after a few paint changes), but we don't want to get involved in the long process of trying to buy a short sale.

So we're back to square one. Last night Tom found almost 20 more houses he wants me to check out online. I'm hopeful we'll find something good soon.

Mid Term Biology Test

Students in an advanced Biology class were taking their mid-term exam. The last question was, 'Name seven advantages of Mother's Milk,' worth 70 points or none at all. One student, in particular, was hard put to think of seven advantages. He wrote:
1.) It is perfect formula for the child.
2.) It provides immunity against several diseases.
3.) It is always the right temperature.
4.) It is inexpensive.
5.) It bonds the child to mother, and vice versa.
6.) It is always available as needed.
And then, the student was stuck. Finally, in desperation, just before the bell indicating the end of the test rang, he wrote...
7.) It comes in cute containers.
He got an A.

bebe's turn

mama, feeeeeeeeeed me! i'm starving in here! also, why hasn't aunt jennifer sent me any presents yet? i thought she loved me. =[

14 Weeks

Happy Friday everyone! Baby Merks and I have made it to the 14 week mark. I took a couple of pictures this morning to show my belly before the bloat takes over. It doesn't look like I've gotten much larger, but i can no longer button any of my pants. Instead of buying tons of maternity pants, I bought two bella bands so I can keep wearing my old pants unbuttoned. Now I just need to invest in some longer and bigger shirts. Yay for Saturday shopping day! Tom and I are going to look at a few houses this Sunday with his dad. They all look good on paper, so hopefully we'll see something we like. Keep your fingers crossed for us.

The whiner of the family:

First "Are you pregnant?"

Yay! Someone just looked at me and asked if I was pregnant! That's the first time someone's asked and not just assumed I was fat. Yay for me!

13 weeks, 5 days

According to thenest.com the baby is the size of a lemon (or a clenched fist) this week. Right now the little booger is covered in lanugo, a fine downy coating, and will keep this until it starts putting some fat on its little body. My baby's just like bigfoot. Everything I'm reading says the baby is moving all of the time now (like a ballet dancer) and that I might feel flutters when the baby moves, but I haven't felt anything yet. I'm still exhausted at the end of the day, but am making it through without the need of a nap, so maybe that 2nd trimester burst of energy is here. My back is killing me by the end of the day and I have heartburn all of the time.

On another note, we've been looking for furniture for the nursery (crib, dresser, changing table), but everything's so expensive! If you come across something that sounds reasonable, please send it along. So far we've bought a glider and ottoman for $25 off of craigslist. The frame is in great condition, but the cushions could stand to be washed. We're also still looking for a good daycare option. We're on the waitlist for 3 different places and will probably get into 1 in May 2009, but they don't have a partial week option, you have to pay for 5 days. I would like to find either a place for 3 days a week or an in home person (but where do you find those???). It's amazing how many things we need to get in place before the little one comes out.

Dear Baby,

Thank you for all of the water you make me retain. I *love* not fitting into my clothes.

Love,
mama

Baby Merkel's 2 Cents

today i made mommy feel like she didn't get any sleep at all last night. i also played the bongos on her bladder to make her go to the bathroom like 5 million times. hahahaha. i also made her eat lots of oranges (which is way better than her dinner of potatoes and applesauce).

The Nursery

Tom and I have been debating what theme we should have in the nursery (and why there should be a theme - you can guess whose idea it was). We finally agreed on a zoo animal theme. We went to the National Zoo on Sunday to take pictures of the animals for the walls. Unfortunately it was ridiculously hot out, so a lot of the animals were hiding or were indoors. We still got a few good shots. The plan is to blow up a few of them and frame 8-10 pictures and make a collage on the wall in the nursery. We're still tossing around color ideas, but they'll probably be in the yellow, green and brown families. I know it's early to be planning this, but if you know me, you know that I just can't help myself. Here are a few of the shots we're thinking of using for the walls.

Catching Up

We thought we'd start this blog to keep everyone up-to-date on how everything's going with our little mutant - I mean bebe. We went in for our first real appointment on July 7 and got to hear the baby's heartbeat, which was at a healthy 169. Listening to the sound really made everything real - there's a little person growing in me! Here are some pics of my ever-expanding belly. It's all bloat right now, but makes my clothes feel really tight. I can't wait until it's actual baby belly (though I'm dreading strangers rubbing it).

10 1/2 Weeks

12 1/2 Weeks