Boston Adventures + The Wedding

Lots of adventures in Boston

1. The Aquarium

2. The Science Museum

(Ben sitting at the little kids activity table)

This is hilarious-- this was a thermal sensor-- the whiter the image the hotter the area, dark red is cool, and green is cold.  Look how cold my hands were (and always are) compared to Ben.

I like this thermal image of the baby, look at the that white hot little peanut cooking away in there...

3. Wandering MIT's Campus

4.   The Wedding!

The suit... so handsome.

Such a trooper-- despite food poisoning the night before, Ben was up and at em' for the wedding on Saturday.

Julia and John

The Yale girls

Food & Animals in Boston

We just returned from 5 days in Boston.  The primary purpose of going out was to attend my good friend Julia's wedding, but we made a trip of it and ate & explored our way through Boston.

Trip to the aquarium-- this guy reminded us a lot of Harlan :)

Sea Turtle

Sea Dragon

The cutest penguin- blue penguin- only 1 foot tall full grown

Oh the irony-- after going to the aquarium, we devoured seafood at Legal Seafood

Make Way for Ducklings Monument in the Park

We spent a lot of time watching the duckies...

More seafood...

Creme Brulee the size of a pizza...delicious...

The first day that we arrived we immediately stopped and picked up cupcakes (which were gone in less than 48 hours)

Week 17

We are all growing :)  We are now in the 17th week of pregnancy and the baby is going to be 5 3/4 inches long (head to butt) and weigh 4 ounces by the end of this week (growing over an inch!).

The baby's sense of hearing is developing, so if we are lucky enough to visit with any of you during our many upcoming travels, please say hi :)  The baby is also beginning to form fat tissue.  I don't know if everyone has seen pictures of me as a toddler, but holy cow, was I fat.  I will scan some in tonight for your viewing pleasure.  If our baby ends up anything like me, it will be roll after roll after roll from head to toe.

This weekend we went to the Hawkeye vs. UNI game (baby's first college football game!). Ben has been teasing me lately because I have grown increasingly concerned that he isn't eating enough.  What's actually happening is that Ben is eating exactly the same as he always has, but I am eating ten times more, so while I'm eating my third lunch, I'll look over and say "Why aren't you eating?  Are you sick?  Do you feel okay?".  Example: not only did I get a pretzel with cheese dip and peanuts at the football game (right after tailgating where I ate a cheeseburger, fritos with cheese dip, and other assorted snacks, which mind you, followed a breakfast and a brunch), I also snuck in a boatload of snacks in my purse.  When we were entering the stadium the security guard looked in and shook her head at me, but I quickly said, "Please please please, I'm pregnant and I have to eat all the time, please I'm starving." ..voila! they let me through with my contraband!  The perks of being pregnant :)

16 Weeks and Gearing Up for a Crazy Few Weeks

Happy Friday!

I am now 16 weeks pregnant (4 months) -- almost half way!  Ben and I pulled out a ruler last night and held it to my belly and were slightly shocked to see how big 4 1/2 inches really is.  The fruit/vegetable equivalent of our child is now an avocado, and the baby has eyelashes and hair, and teeny tiny tastebuds.  The baby can also hear us now, so I'm trying to get Ben and I to stop talking like sailors when we are at home (it is surprising how often we swear once I started paying attention to it!). 

Next week we head to Boston for 5 days to celebrate my friend Julia's wedding, and to eat A LOT of lobster.  This blog will be plastered with pictures of seafood in approximately 10 days.  I'm on a mission to gain weight and can think of no better way to do it than eating delicious crab and lobster smothered in butter and cannollis every day. The following week is Dad and Joleen's wedding, the weekend after that we will be visited by the Olson clan, and the weekend after that we head to St. Louis to visit family.  It is going to be a crazy 4 weeks, but lots of fun and we can't wait for all of it.

Have a great weekend everyone!

16th Week

Hello family :)

Well I finally got my husband back, and we spent the weekend napping, watching season 9 of NCIS, and eating lots of food.  I am extremely happy to report that I gained a pound over the weekend (my first since getting pregnant... 'bout damn time!).  I think it took eating 3 pounds of chinese food court food, but whatever the reason, me and my apple will take it. 

So what is happening in the 16th week of pregnancy?  My body is producing 50% more blood which makes me hot and light-headed.  The increased hormones are also causing oil glands to work more, leaving my face more shiney... which is a nice way of saying I have more pimples now than I did when I was 16.  Oily skin and flushed cheeks are what make women 'glow' during pregnancy-- it's not quite as romantic when you know the physiology behind it is it? ;)  I am also experiencing super stuffy ears, which is a product of increased blood production.  It's causing me to yell out checkout people "I'm sorry, what was that?!?" when they talk to me in a store... I can't hear anything.

By the end of this week little baby will be over 5 inches long.  Baby is currently preparing for a major growth spurt that will happen over the next few weeks.  If I think my heart is working hard, I just have to compare it to the baby's and I'll stop complaining-- it's little itty bitty ticker is pumping 25 quarts of blood a day. 

Between 16 and 20 weeks moms can feel the baby move, and I'm really looking forward to that.  I know he/she is punching around in there already, so it will be amazing when I can feel it's little ninja moves. 

I have a noticeable belly now, so the next time we see you, there will be no question over whether or not I'm pregnant.  

Have a great Monday everyone!

Love,
Blair & Baby Apple

Harlan at Daycare

This was definitely our doing...

Day 2 of Ben being in Chicago.  Harlan has been especially gooey and sissy-like since Ben left, I think he is sad.  We spent the afternoon preparing for our visit to the vet (which makes Harlan extremely anxious). 

I got my treat before the vet (icecream cone) which Harlan very much wanted.

After realizing that I wasn't going to share, he gave up and sat in my lap while we watched TV.

He stayed in my lap until it was time to go to the vet, I think he knew something was up...

Once we got to the vet, Harlan was shaking non-stop and stayed in my lap the entire time (Well, at least he tried, his front half stayed in my lap, and he tried a couple of times to jump all the way up but would teeter with not enough space and just jump over me).

Harlan does not have anaplasmosis or lyme disease (the tick diseases they drew blood to test for), but he does have a severe case of 'i'm-a-giant-pansy-itis'.  Apparently the cause is being babied and spoiled rotten by your parents, and the cure is... well, there is no cure.  

Harlan Fights a Cherry Tomato... To the Death.

There is only so much Harlan and I can do to keep ourselves busy.  Fortunately, he does not require much in order to be entertained/ing... Today's foe-- the cherry tomato.