Last weekend I left the house only once – on Sunday.  It snowed for two days.  The weather fit my feelings and mood.  Quiet and hushed.  When we finally went out on Sunday, Denver was fairly still and VERY cold.

This weekend we’re expecting a huge rise in temperatures – into the 50s!  We’re seeing friends tomorrow and the Broncos play on Sunday (and everyone is making a really big deal about it!)

This evening at work I was dreaming about what I was going to eat next, which is very much at the forefront of my mind lately.  I thought I’d love a hearty bowl of cereal.

I could only think of one cereal I wanted, and of course, it would be a challenge to find it.

Product 19.

I haven’t seen it in a grocery store for years so I was thrilled when after I Googled it, I noticed I can buy it by the case on Amazon.  Production has not stopped.

I said out loud at my desk I was determined to get my hands on Product 19.  My manager agreed that it’s one of the best cereals and she too hasn’t seen it for a while.  Another coworker said that I could go to the Kellogg’s website to see where certain products are sold in the area.  I immediately opened the site and found that Product 19 is available in two stores within 15 miles of my zip code.  One is very close.

I left work and headed straight there.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t find it in the cereal aisle.

I asked a store manager what I should do and he got me a request card.  He said to fill it out and hand it to cashier when I was checking out and they would order the cereal for me.  Isn’t that fantastic?

Some lines on the request card needed special attention and I was unsure I was filling them out correctly.  UPC number? Ummmm.  Quantity?  I don’t know if a year’s supply is enough.  Product description?  Most awesome cereal ever.

When I got in line to check out, I realized the cashier and the bagger were boys, each about 14 years old, so I had a feeling I’d have to have the same store manager come over again to help with my questions.  I thought I’d give it a try with the cashier, however, before I panicked.  Perhaps he was an old soul and knew about this incredible, robust, flaky breakfast dream.

“What is it called?”  The cashier asked as he read what I had filled in on the card.

“It’s called Product 19.  It’s a cereal.”

“That sounds healthy,” the bagger said.

“It is.  It’s delicious.  It has eleven essential vitamins and minerals.  I want a whole lot of it.”

“Product 19!?  Oh my gosh, it’s like Special K but WAY better!” An older female cashier in the next lane piped up.

We continued our conversation about it for a while, the four of us.  My whippersnapper of a cashier continued checking my other items.  Among some fruit and a box of cream cheese and green tea I had three more boxes of cereal.  I felt I needed to say something about the obscene amount of cereal I was about to order on top of the few boxes coming down the rubber belt so I said, “Pregnant ladies love cereal.”

The young lad cashier looked at me and said, “Yeah, when my mom was pregnant, she said the same thing.”

That made me feel old.

I am consoled by the fact that in eight to 13 weeks I’ll have my Kellogg’s Product 19 to satisfy this early January craving.

Snow has been falling lightly all day and I’ve stayed snuggled in the apartment.  I’ve just figured it out.  I’m n-e-s-t-i-n-g.

I’ve made vodka cream sauce.  I have a load of Hallmark movies on the DVR.  Chris is working at the dining room table.  I’m planning to stay in jammies.

There is baby laundry in the wash.  It’s all so tiny.

Now that we have the dresser that will be used for a changing table together and in place in the nursery, we can start organizing.  One load of wash is filled with the knitted and crocheted blankets we’ve received as gifts.  My mom’s friend knit us a gorgeous purple, white and blue soft, soft, soft blanket for Baby Stroh.  And she sent me home this fall with two crocheted blankets my great-grandmother, Mimi, made for me when I was born.  One is yellow and one is white.  The white one has never been used.  I came home from the hospital in the yellow.  A knitted cream-colored blanket was sent along with a few sweet little knitted infant hats from Aunt Grace.  All such treasures.  My friend Frannie told me the knitted and crocheted blankets made by people you love are the absolute best.  When I saw her little baby in the fall, she was snuggled in a pink blanket made by the same friend who made the purple, white and blue blanket for us.  Soft.  Made with love.  And…washable!

Baby is on the move inside me.  Busy kicking and stretching.  It’s very comforting.  Stay safe and warm in there, little one.

Let. It. Snow!

I think I’ll make a pan of brownies now…

Last year’s New Years Eve was just about the most fantastic I could have imagined.  We were on a game ride in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, with Luds and Amy.  It was such a blast.  After a sweltering day in the bush, we were subject to sweet relief.

The cold rain and thunder were incredible during the ride and it was just gorgeous.  I don’t think we saw ANY animals, but we did have lots of delicious ZA beer and get soaked to the bone.  We spent the entire time laughing.  I was the spotlight holder for the back of the jeep.

This year, things are a smidge different, but happy nonetheless.  We’ll be glad to leave behind these last few months of the year and start fresh with a bundle of baby joy at the beginning of 2014.

We sent out 2013 with steak and scallops.  With Christopher at our dinner table we toasted to new beginnings!

Chris is a dear husband and will make a wonderful father.  He’s a lot like my dad in that he wants to purchase the very best money can buy when it comes to important things.

He loves Consumer Reports.  Often, a high price tag on something [as far as he's concerned] means it’s quality.  We’ll have it forever!  My dad always tells the story of buying his Pioneer receiver in the early 80s.  It was top of the line, several hundred dollars.  Worth-every-penny.  My parents still have it running the sound system in their house.

I wonder if this logic applies to baby strollers.

Chris got very animated the other night when he told me the kind of stroller he wants.  It slices, it dices, it juliennes!

We live in a concrete jungle.  I don’t know that we need an “all-terrain” stroller.  But, this is what Chris thinks is best for us and our baby.  He’s read a lot of reviews and our friends bought a Bugaboo second-hand and mostly like it (their complaint is that it’s bulky).  It’s great for Wash Park, I imagine–from the sidewalk to the grass with no bumps for baby.

But when I saw the price tag I gagged.  This price does not even include all the “attachments.”  It’s like a Kitchenaid mixer.  I guess, when it comes to strollers, I was thinking more Graco than Bugaboo.

So then I thought about my dream transportation for baby.  I told Chris all about it (hey, we can both dream, right?)

They call the Silver Cross Balmoral Pram the “Rolls-Royce of prams.”  It is $4,400.  That would be approximately 1/100th the cost of an adult-sized 2013 Rolls-Royce Phantom Coupe.

Wouldn’t we look so posh pushing this pram in Cheesman Park?

However, the pram may take up too much precious space in our small living space, I think what we actually need is something more like this little sling for Baby Stroh.  Looks like it’s pretty easily foldable.  We’ll put it in the coat closet when it’s not in use.

Updates to follow on what we actually purchase!

As of this past Friday I am 31 weeks along.  I thought it would be fun to do one of those surveys I keep seeing on pregnancy blogs.  Some of them share information like, “total weight gain.”  I’m not answering that.  I have posted a photo though, you can take a gander!

Size of baby? Baby is over three pounds and about 18 inches long.  Long, skinny baby!
Maternity clothes?  Oh yes.  I’m pretty much exclusively wearing maternity clothes.  I’m happy not to stretch out anything from my former belly-less days.
Sleep?  What sleep?  I drift off and wake up.  Drift off, wake up.  I am generally up and raring to go at 2 or 3 in the morning.
Best moment this week?  I was sitting in a meeting and I felt baby move.  I pushed my hand on my belly to get it out of the spot where it landed and the baby pushed back!
Miss Anything?  Sleeping on my stomach.
Baby Movement?  Baby is ON THE MOVE.  I’m trying to count kicks each evening when I turn into bed.  Generally, I’m feeling and seeing ten movements well within one hour.
Food cravings?  I’m loving potato chips, cereal, cottage cheese, raw vegetables and soup.  ’Tis the season for Fudge-Covered OREOs as well.  Lucky me!
Foods you’re avoiding?  Since about week 14, I’ve been steering clear of pickled beets and anything with Indian curry.  Even typing that made me feel a bit queasy.
Gender?  It’s a surprise!  But…we think it’s a girl.  We’ve thought it from the beginning.
Labor signs?  None (thank goodness!)
Symptoms?  I’m tired after long days at work.  I’ve also started experiencing some fairly major heartburn but taking antacid helps.
Belly button in or out?  [This is one of those bizarre questions, but I'll answer for inquiring minds] In, and un-adorned without the ring that’s been in it since I was 18.  You were right, Momma.  I regret the piercing.  It’s left a fairly ugly scar.
Wedding rings on or off?  On!  No swelling to speak of.
Happy or moody most of the time?  Happy!  Excited to meet this little babe but happy to be just a couple right now too.  Apprehensive about labor and birth.
Excited about?  Visiting with family this coming week!

We signed up for birthing classes at the hospital where we plan on delivering months ago–in typical Bridget planning mode.  We scheduled around C’s original date of surgery.  But then we had to reschedule when his surgery was pushed off to a later date.  And then one more time when the surgery was again pushed off.

We’re now signed up for a four-week childbirth preparation class pretty much on the edge of the end of this pregnancy and I’m having minor heart palpitations thinking about not knowing a thing about labor (except for what I’m reading) until this baby is ready to pop out.  I imagine most of my worry about the late date of this class came from a Yoga Sculpt class I took last night–which is supposed to be relaxing.  There was a wee little infant with his momma in the class and she mentioned he’s five weeks old but came THREE AND A HALF WEEKS EARLY.  So this morning, while the rest of the world is sleeping, I went online and tried to get into express classes and condensed classes and even the six-hour class that gives you “just the basics” as well as a tour of the labor and delivery unit at the hospital (we’ve only seen labor and delivery triage so far after the car accident.)  To no avail.  Every class is full until the end of January.  We’re due February 14.  I can’t push it that much.  I’m keeping our third original class dates.

But I just can’t take Childbirth Prep and consider myself ready.  What happens AFTER this baby is born?

Luckily, there are other hospitals in the area (lots and lots of them).  Most are just as full as our hospital when it comes to class sign up.  But I’ve found a gem after some searching around.  As of this morning at 2:30 a.m., I’ve signed us up for two other classes – Baby Safe (CPR and basics on keeping your baby right-side up) where there was ONE SLOT LEFT at a hospital close to our house but not where we’re delivering THIS SATURDAY and then a breastfeeding class at the tippy end of January at the same foreign hospital.  Chris will wake up to two Google Calendar invites after the Sandman leaves him in the actual acceptable morning hours.

Holy crow.  I wonder what I’ll be worrying about Friday morning.