Holiday in the South

Andro and I left snowy Chicago behind for the warmer weather of St. Simons Island in Georgia. After my 20 week check-up--wow...half-way through the pregnancy already! hard to believe...the baby's heartbeat is holding steady at 156 bpm and my ultrasound is at 22 weeks--we started our drive south. We stopped overnight just over the Tennessee/Georgia border and made it to Mom and Dad's on Wednesday. We had a wonderful Christmas and have been taking full advantage of the better weather (Andro and my Dad are out playing golf and intend to play at least 2 more times) and the nice vacation from work. Libby is walking on eggshells around Mom's dog Brad, but is loving her trips to the beach (see photo above) and her Christmas present from Potsticker (see below).



Hope everyone is having wonderful holidays!

So not surprised

We had our monthly doctor's check-up today. (My schedule got thrown off a bit from Thanksgiving. Instead of going at 16 weeks, I went in today at 17 weeks and my next appointment is at 19 weeks 6 days because of Christmas.) Everything is good and normal and healthy. But in a hilarious moment, Dr. H was having a hard time with the doppler as Potsticker was squirming all over the place and even kicked right at the doppler. She finally had to hold on to 'him' and we got to listen to a strong steady 156 bpm heartbeat. It was just really funny. Between Andro's jimmy legs and my inability to stay still, I am not surprised at all that this baby is a squirmer. Soon I'll be feeling all those little kicks and I can't wait.

Bump watch 2009

(taken yesterday at 15 weeks, 4 days pregnant)

I've been having Andro take pictures of my 'bump' so I can monitor it's progress. Unfortunately, he has little patience for taking the pictures, and the angle on this one is a little off. I haven't really gained much weight so far (only about 5 lbs. at 15 weeks) but it's amazing to me how the belly seems to grow on its own.


(taken at 12 weeks, 4 days pregnant)

It's hard to see the difference, but believe me, the bump is definitely bigger than in the 12 week picture. At that point, it was still comfortable to wear normal jeans with a belly band over them, but (as mentioned previously) that ended last week and I am embracing pregnancy jeans.

In non-baby news, I'm getting really excited to decorate for Christmas. Andro has a firm "no decorations before Thanksgiving" rule so I pulled out everything today and have it all waiting in the nursery until I get the okay to start putting things up next week. (Although, I have snuck up a few small things that he hasn't noticed yet). I'm hoping to eventually wear him down on this rule. I don't think 3 weeks is enough time to fully enjoy Christmas decorations (especially when they take so long to get up!).

WOW

Just a quick one--I'm going to try to post photos of "the bump" sometime soon (if I can find my camera, etc.). Yesterday, I had an appointment with the maternity center's nurses in the Lake Forest Hospital's Center for Women's Health. The appointment was fine, just a big class full of other preggos to get acquainted with the practice. Actually, I felt like an old hand, because while I was 15 weeks, most of the other girls were like 7-8 (I transferred from my first doctor after we moved, so had to do this class a little later than normal).

But the class was not for nothing. I didn't get to do a full tour yet, but it is my understanding that I will deliver in this building and let me just say WOW. I have never seen a more beautiful hospital. Andro and I are going in for a full tour the Sunday after Thanksgiving and I'm really excited to see it all.

The bump is getting bigger everyday (or at least it feels like it!). It feels like almost overnight I went from being able to zip and button my work pants to needing the belly band. And--after last Friday's jeans day at the office when I felt so restricted even with the belly band--I succumbed and bought some pregnancy jeans at Old Navy. It's hard to believe that I'm already 15 weeks pregnant. I still have a LONG road ahead of me, but I was just thinking the other day, by the time I see Mom and Dad for Christmas I'll be at 20 weeks and halfway there! Really exciting, can't wait to meet you Potsticker.

Thank you Old Navy

Just a quick post to say that my favorite clothing company when I was a high school kid making minimum wage has quickly become my favorite again as I see no point in spending more than I have to on maternity clothes. After my 12 week appointment and hearing the baby's heartbeat again, I finally purchased some maternity clothes (although I'm barely starting to show, so I'm in an in between phase right now and can't really wear them). One of my purchases was new black leggings as my current leggings are much too tight on the belly. And these leggings are amazing, comfortable, still tight on my legs but fit under the belly (or...will once the belly gets a little bigger), so nice. Thanks Aunt Jay for treating me! The baby thanks you to as he/she is no longer being squeezed by lycra.

Hmm....

I can't help but wonder (constantly!) who this little baby is and--of course--what this baby is going to look like. I know it's a crazy dream, but how cool would it be if the baby got my Dad and Grandpa's blue eyes, or at least my hazel eyes? I love looking at our baby pictures to try to imagine what our baby will look like.

The Secret Is Out

(Baby Dio at 8 weeks)

Andro and I are, unexpectedly but delightedly, 12 weeks pregnant! I found out at exactly 4 weeks, just before Labor Day. We were by no means trying to get pregnant, but a little birth control snafu had me thinking it might be a possibility. It was weird, I've heard of women just knowing that they're pregnant, but I had no idea that I would be one of them. I woke up on a Wednesday morning and just felt different. Pregnancy was lurking in the back of my mind, but I didn't think I really was.

I wanted to be sure, so I bought a test on my lunch break and took it at work. Sure enough, there were 2 lines. The positive line was really, really faint, but it was there. I made it home and broke into tears the minute I saw Andro, feeling totally overwhelmed, anxious, and really nervous. I took another at home test the next morning, still positive, then went to my doctor's office to take yet another test, which came back positive. By that point, I had begun to adjust to the idea that I was going to be a mom but I can say, I really didn't start to get excited until the next day, when I told my mom.

We had plans to see my parents over Labor Day, so we took the opportunity to tell them in person. And I'm so glad that we found out when we did and were able to share our news face to face. Our flight got in late on Friday night, so I held off on saying anything until the next morning. I woke up early Saturday, totally unable to sleep, and at 6am told my mom, 'I'm pregnant.' Her genuine happiness and the immediate surge of love she had for the baby really got me excited about this little person.

My family has known since 4 weeks and I can honestly say, for me, it was not hard to keep the baby a secret. Andro has been dying to tell everyone, but I really wanted to make it to 12 weeks (heaven forbid something happen) before sharing our news. But, the moment we heard the heartbeat at our 12 week appointment, this past Wednesday, I felt like I was going to burst if I didn't let everyone know.

I'm so excited to meet this baby! It's amazing how much love I have for the baby already and I know nothing about this little person yet. We still have a long road--the baby is due May 12, 2010--but I am so excited and thrilled to be going through this experience with a supportive family and friends. I feel unbelievably blessed to be carrying our first child and can't wait to meet him/her! (I want to be surprised by the baby's gender and--much to Andro's chagrin--he is also going to be surprised, I told the doctor not to tell him because I know he won't be able to keep this a secret from me...)

I know it's only October...

[photo: Libby as Rudolph in November 2008, costume courtesy of my friend Jen]

But I'm already getting into the Christmas spirit. Andro and I moved last weekend and are still in the process of unpacking and putting things away, but I'm so excited about having more room to decorate. Andro told me that he expects me to go all out for Christmas this year, and I do indeed! I'm working on my holiday card, need to get that finished and ordered, and have a whole list of crafts to finish (from my ambitious holiday projects of last year). Can't wait to get started!

The Good Life

Libby enjoying her first ever steak bone.

It's been a busy month, and September is barely half over! And, of course, we seem to be booked solid through October. But I think we'd just get bored if we had a simpler schedule.

Another Long Weekend

Last weekend, Andro and I headed down south to visit my parent's at their beautiful retirement home on St. Simons Island (Georgia). This was Andro's first visit to their new house and we are definitely looking forward to spending a very warm Christmas there this year. The whole goal of the weekend was to craft Libby's Halloween costume. But sadly, we got very easily sidetracked...

About a year ago, just before Halloween, Andro stumbled upon this article. While he often scoffs at my attempts to dress Libby up in her various costumes and outfits, even he admitted, if we had an Ewok costume, he would dress Libby up in it all the time. We have been in discussions with Mom all summer about how to make this costume. I bought a bear that we could de-construct, we had all the measurements, and we thought we were set. But a late start on Saturday meant we didn't make it to the fabric store until after it closed... (and in the south, once it's closed, it won't be open until another business day...nothing is open on Sundays)

So, Mom and I came up with an easy solution...head over to Target and pick up one of their dog costumes. We choose the turtle, below are a few photos of Libby modeling once I brought it home. I think this is her favorite costume to date, because essentially she is being encased in a comfy pillow; nothing dangling off her, no wings or extra claws to chew on.





Why did Mom and I get so easily distracted? Well...I have no answer. We both wake up early but can fill an entire day with not doing much but talking and hanging out together. It's both a blessing and a curse. We talk to each other all the time, but then every time I talk to her it feels like we haven't spoken in a week!

Andro and Daddy enjoyed a round of golf on Sunday, while Mom and I went to the movies and just walked around the downtown. On Monday, in our honor of our long-standing tradition, Mom and I went to the water park and left the boys to fend for themselves. We headed over to Jekyll Island and had a blast! It's a smaller park, but we probably rode more water slides than we ever have in our trips to Splashin' Safari, because there was no crowd. We relaxed in the lazy river, jumped in the wave pool, and just had an overall great day.

Great trip, over too soon, and of course I forgot to take any pictures...

Campbell Kids Reunion

Of course, I brought my camera along for my trip to Connecticut, but only managed to take a couple of photos of my furry niece Sophie... I have to get back into taking pictures!

I managed to bring the chilly Chicago weather with me to the East Coast, but we had a great weekend nonetheless. Friday, Addam and I hit up the movies then we all went to the casino that night. The casino is on a reservation and is like a big lavish Vegas casino with a Native American theme, beautiful and really nice. I managed to win $17 on slots (and yes, by win, I mean I won back all the money I put in plus $17). Saturday, despite the rain, we headed up to Northampton, Massachusetts. Smith College is in Northampton and it's like the ideal college town.

In between, we managed to eat a lot of junk food, candy, and drink a lot of local beer. It was great, but yesterday my plain spinach salad tasted like manna, so I'm taking a break from the bad food for a while...

Overall a great weekend. It was great to hang out with Addam and Christine and see their town.

Never say never

If you would have told me when I was the age in the above photo, that I would be EXCITED to see my brother, I would have thought you were crazy. Can't wait to see him and Christine!

Love this

I've gotten hooked on this blog--www.cakewrecks.com. Hilariously bad cakes. By far my favorite is the Darth Vader baby shower cake. When I'm pregnant (in like 5 years), I want this cake.

Who's the boss?

I'm very excited to head out to Connecticut this weekend to catch up with my brother and sister (in-law, technically; really just my sister). They have been living there for a few years and this is my first trip out to see them. I know, I'm a bad sister, but better late than never!

While I'm gone, I'm hoping that Andro will clean up the condo. I've been cleaning on Fridays (giving Andro the summer off from his chores for good behavior) but that is quickly coming to an end as my summer hours (half day Friday's) are over Labor Day weekend. I have a feeling, though, that a lot of his free time will be devoted to naps and video games.

Working Girl

I'm a big fan of all sorts of blogs. Blogs by people I know (Mae and Kasey), blogs by people I don't know, blogs about saving money, blogs about decorating and home improvement (younghouselove.com), to name a few. On one of the savings blogs I check out, they had an article on ways to make more money. My favorite tip was getting your dog a job.

While I think she is adorable and definitely has 'spokesdog' potential, Libby could never sit still long enough to model anything. And any career as the next 'Wishbone' is also out the window--she only understands commands about 45% of the time. But, Andro has found her a job nonetheless. We just have to move to Italy.

I think Libby would look great in that swim vest. The only problem I can really see is her complete hatred of water.

She's just furry because she's illegitimate--give me a tax break

As everyone knows, I consider Libby to be my daughter, not my dog. And to be honest, she is so spoiled, I'm pretty sure she thinks she's my child as well. She sleeps on the bed, has a very extensive toy collection (even if most are currently being held in squeak-atraz), and loves to dress up.

So, I was intrigued by this article that Andro sent me about giving pet owners a tax break. I think it's great--if it encourages more people to rescue dogs (like our rescue girl) I couldn't be more supportive.

I am currently trying to fight the urge to adopt another dog. I'm ready for another addition to our family, so is Libby, but I don't think our condo could handle 2 silly dogs.

One year later...

A year ago, after the wedding, I closed down (and deleted) my blog and Andro stopped blogging too. We both just thought there wasn't really much to write about without the wedding and settled into married life. It's been a wonderful exciting year full of all kinds of emotional ups and downs, and while I'm still not sure how much there is to write about it, I thought I'd add myself as a contributor to Andro's blog and give it another go. So this time, the blog will truly be a Dio family effort.

So--since we last posted in July 08, we have been traveling, a lot. With family spread out everywhere, we are almost always on the go (and every time I think it's going to be a slow month, we end up booked solid). After the wedding, Andro headed out to Las Vegas for a hacker convention (9 days in the city that never sleeps is a little too much) and I met up with him over the weekend. We love Vegas. As much as I'm an early riser, I love staying up all night there, it's kind of intoxicating. By the time I got there, however, Andro had had enough of the nightlife and was starting to get a cold, so we didn't go out a ton, but it was still fun.

Over Labor Day, the first in 2 years to be wedding free, we headed back to Indiana to visit my parents. By this point, Mom and Dad had started construction on their new beach home in Georgia, so we were approaching the 'end' of our Evansville visits. Mom and I have been going to the Holiday World Splashin' Safari park (we spend the whole time in Splashin' Safari) every summer since we moved to Evansville. We both LOVE waterparks and had a final trip to Santa Claus, Ind. Very bittersweet. Only a few days after getting back to Chicago, we had some terrible news. We lost my Aunt Janice. I can't even believe it's been nearly a year since she passed, it still feels like it just happened, it was so shocking. I will always be so grateful that she and my Uncle Mike made it to the wedding, it was the last time I saw her alive and she was so happy. A beautiful ceremony was held in her beloved Nevada and all of the family that could make it came together and celebrated her life.


For Libby's second Halloween, she went as LiBEE Dio. I thought she looked great, and so did she. Andro is still trying to come to terms with my love for dressing up the dog. He doesn't like it, I believe he says 'it's silly honey,' but he is slowly coming to terms with it and even picked out her costume for this coming year; which is being hand-made by her Gigi Campbell.

My brother stopped into town for a night in November, just around the time I began suffering from Addam withdrawal. I lived with him for 16 years full-time and another 2 years part-time while he was in college. I thought I had had my fill of him, but the truth is, I've started to miss my brother. It's not quite like the 'Leinfelder' withdrawal I go through if I don't see Tine and Andy every couple of months, but it's getting there. I'm taking my first trip out to see him and my sister Christine in Connecticut in a couple of weeks and am really excited.

We hit the road the weekend before Thanksgiving to hang out with our friends Ken/Kinsey and Jason/Michelle and Michelle's parents cabin. It's a gorgeous home they've built on a lake near the Dells in Wisconsin, and we spent the whole weekend drinking, watching football (we are all in the same fantasy football league), and wearing sweatpants. Very relaxing.

Andro and I drove then down to Evansville for the final Thanksgiving at Mom and Dad's house. Mom threatened to make me take all of my 'stuff' with me, but luckily I was able to buy myself some time (and got rid of a ton of stuff at home in Chicago). Libby loved Mom and Dad's big backyard and had a ball chasing her 'Aunt' Jenny and anything that Grand-dad would throw her way. We drove home with one thoroughly pooped pup!


In December, we drove north to Minneapolis/St. Paul to see the Leinfelder's. Great trip, as always, and way too short. We baked Christmas cookies at Aunt Jay and Uncle Tim's house, got to hang out with my cousins Paul and Tom, and just had fun with Tine and Andy. We spent Christmas in Arizona with Mae/Brett/Brooklyn/Deuce/Trini and Howard. It was great to see everyone and be there for the baby's first Christmas.


We took our long awaited honeymoon in February and let me just say--best idea ever. It was so cold here and getting on a cruise ship and sailing through the Caribbean was WONDERFUL. We enjoyed each and every minute, but by far, our favorite day was spent at the beach in Magens Bay on St. Thomas. I think we could live there as full-time beach bums.

In April, I finally had to pack up or throw out all of the stuff I had left at Mom and Dad's house over the years. It was a very intense couple of days of sorting through all the things that had been left behind. I threw away a lot, Mom decided to take some things with her, and I packed the rest into the Mazda. I have since been able to consolidate everything into the condo, and for the first time since I left for college, have all of my clothes and belongings in one place.

Tine and Andy came to visit in early May and we all went to Kiefer's to eat--what Andro describes as--the best steak in Chicago. It was good, that's for sure, but I'm not sure if it was my favorite. No visit with the cousins would be complete without the movies, so we all went to Star Trek and were pleasantly surprised by it. We used to watch Star Trek the Next Generation when I was growing up, and I remember being dragged along to the movies (especially #4 with the whales), but have never been a huge fan.

Over Memorial Day weekend, I flew to Georgia to visit my Mom/Dad and Addam/Christine. The original plan had been to fly in Saturday morning and fly out Monday night--I had the benefit gala two weeks later--but I got very, very sick and ended up staying until Tuesday. I felt fine when I landed and Dad picked me up at the airport, made it home and hung out with everyone for a bit. I got really tired and went to bed, only to wake up with a cold sweat and a fever over 102. Not fun. But at least I got to hang out with my family and honestly, even as an adult, there is no one I would rather have take care of me then my Mom when I'm sick.


A couple of weeks later we headed to Florida with the Stephenson/Feldman branch of the family. We got to stay in a gorgeous condo right on the beach and had a great trip. Andro and I went to Epcot by ourselves one day and then went through the Magic Kingdom with everyone. Andro had promised to take me to Disney World and we had a wonderful time--but we've both agreed, the next time we go is when our youngest child is 4 years old and we won't be going later than April (very, very humid).


For our anniversary, we drove back up to Bayfield and stayed at Aunt Jay and Uncle Tim's house on Madeline. Really, really wonderful trip. The whole family came up for the weekend of the 18th and we went out on the boat twice. As we get older and it gets tougher and tougher to figure out schedules and times to meet up, I really cherish the time we get with my family that much more. After everyone went back to the twin cities, we spent a few more days on the island just relaxing and enjoying the beautiful weather and scenery. I love it there.

So--that's been our year! Every day, it hits me just how blessed we are. We are surrounded with an amazing group of friends and family, who love and support us. And every day we get to spend together.

I can't guarantee that we'll update often, but keep checking!