the pumpkin patch(es)

pete and i went to a few patches this year! we visited the pumpkins at apple hill, in dixon, and the usual spot in green valley, Larry's. it was a little early and crowded at apple hill, so we left those pumpkins there. the dixon patch was great, and will be great with kids -- they had wagons for riding around, a guinness book of world records winning corn maze, and the largest patch i've ever seen. we may have visited that patch a little too late in the season as there were very few acceptable pumpkins.



on monday, we went to our regular spot and chose three great carving pumpkins.

25w+6d

on tuesday, pete and i went to another baby check up. we listened to the baby's heartbeat - and to the swooshy sounds of it moving around (a ton!). the movements are getting very strong (esp. for a little one - only about 12 inches and around 3 pounds). i had to take a blood test after drinking an extremely sweet orange-flavored carbonated beverage to detect my glucose levels (a standard test at the end of the 2nd/beg. of 3rd trimester). the results came back and my body processed the sugar well, so we are in the clear of gestational diabetes at this point. we have less than 100 days until the due date!!

apple hill

on sunday, pete and i joined my parents, david and laura on a trip to apple hill for my dad's birthday. we used to visit this place every year around this time -- we'd fish (there is a little pond), visit the craft booths, and eat a slice of apple pie a la mode. we indulged in a few other treats: caramel apples and caramel-covered marshmallows! so many memories rushed back to me when we got there and it was so nice to share them with pete. we look forward to visiting apple hill next year with our little one!

thanks, dev!

a little shout-out to devon for our anniversay present -- a cupcake traveler and cake plate :) here is the first outing to annie's birthday. i made cupcakes from leslie's recipe with funfetti icing -- they got great reviews -- thanks devon and leslie!

first fire of the season

when pete got home from work on tuesday, he surprised the girls and i with a quick-start log and some firewood. we had our first fire of the season! bailey loved looking and it, and pepper, baby, and i took a nap near the warmth. the baby kicked up a storm and pepps and i got in a few good zzzzzz.... such a great evening after a soggy day!

on october 13th...

amy flores and daniel sosa tied the knot at the wild animal park in san diego. the scenery was amazing and so perfect for the couple! we spent a lovely evening rehearsing and eating dinner at the karl strauss brewery. the bridal party, parents, and out of town guests enjoyed a delicious meal with micro-brews and wine. later that night, the girls hung out by the pool, danced to some ipod tunes, and got some rest for the big day. the morning of the big day was jam-packed with hair and make-up appointments and a limo ride to the park. here are julie,emma, and i in the limo - check out emma's expression! the ceremony went off with out a hitch, despite the early day down-poor. amy and daniel are so in love and had a great time at the ceremony and reception. it was a whirl-wind weekend for a preggo, but i am so happy i was there to celebrate with them!

23w+4d

here is a belly pic! i am 23w+4d and so looking forward to our baby :) i just started popping out - hence the lack of pics before now! i will be sure to update weekly so you all can share in my growth!

a traumatic poodle experience

check out bailey on our way to get her first big girl haircut:

such a proud poodle:

and bailey after they had her for 5 hours...

i spent quite a while asking the 'stylist' about bailey's coat and her matted hair. i asked her not to shave her, maybe just cut a little close where she needed to. as you can see, bailey had wonderfully wavy hair that would've covered any shorter areas. i also asked her not cut her in any way 'poodle-y'. i should've known the outcome wasn't going to be what i asked for because the 'stylist' didn't even call to have me pick her up. i think she jetted out of work so she wouldn't be there when i got there.
here's what bailey did later that evening to our white feather duster:

pete and i think she was trying to make herself a new coat.
lesson learned: if you want something done in a specific way, and you can't do it yourself, stay to oversee the job.

current object of my obsession

yesterday, tara and i spent some time looking for baby items. we visited goores, a specialty baby/children's store in sacramento. our goal was to determine a paint color for the nursery by exploring different boy/girl bedding and furniture options. we found some amazing items and think we came to a color conclusion (more on this as i get the palate ready for public viewing).

more importantly, this was the place where i found my current obsession (see minnie mouse bag) mia bossi diaper bags! they look like the most practical purse, yet hold all our little one's needs for outings. i haven't made a final decision on color yet, but this was the best style we found - no top zipper for quick grabs of cloths or bottles, plenty of side pockets, and so much interior room for all the necessary items. my ultimate goal is to make the diaper bag my purse - i can't handle two! - so this brand will lend itself nicely to being all a new mom could ask for! and, for later use, the interior 'diaper bag likeness' can be removed and a laptop carrier/organizer can take its' place - doesn't that scream classy working mom?

the first kick

it happened! pete finally felt the baby kick! i've been feeling the little movements, a.k.a. quickening, for quite a while now and have been wishing for the day to share it with the daddy. while watching the cal game on saturday (by the way, they pulled off a great upset), i felt some strong movement. pete started in with some cal conversation and cheers, hand firmly on my belly in the area of the previous kick - and wham! a nice big one! this, of course, confirms both of our previous predictions. kicking during a cal game = boy, kicking during a cal cheer = girl. i am so happy we don't know the sex of the baby yet because it is too fun trying to figure it out!

just to get it in writing, pop pop called the other day to let us know he thinks the baby is a boy... he also made the prediction a few minutes after we shared the news at his house in millersburg, pa... he said something about him or he in reference to our baby while talking about the pregnancy! we'll have to wait until february to see if he's right!

our anniversary

this weekend, pete and i celebrated our first wedding anniversary! we spent the weekend at home, spending quality time with pepper and bailey and the baby. on saturday, the 29th, we watched the cal game and made lunch. pete bought paper roses for me, which are pretty and symbolic, not only as the traditional first gift, but also because he sent roses on our wedding day, too. i made a frame with a quote from a card he gave me on our first dating anniversary. for dinner, we drove to winters to the buckhorn. this restaurant is quite the costanzo family tradition for special occasions, so i have many memories of the place. pete and i announced our pregnancy to my family over dinner there, too! in addition, their catering department catered our wedding, so it was an obvious first choice for our first anniversary! i ordered the most amazing lobster (surprised?) and we had yummy mud pie as a dessert! on sunday, we napped (i have been so tired the last week), and spent time at my parent's house before coming home and trying our year old wedding cake. btw, this is totally something i encourage for tradition's sake, but get an extra cake to actually eat! i got a little worried by an odd flavor, so to ward off any food poisoning for the baby and i, we passed the cake on after the first bite. pete also surprised me with the modern first anniversary gift of a clock, which we desperately needed! he went to hamilton house and got help from my mom, she even broke out the paint wheel to make sure it would look great on our wall! all and all , we had a great first year and first year celebration!! we thank all those who sent well wishes and have been there for us this last year... we're on to year two and an addition to the family now!

** click on the title 'our anniversary' for pics... i'll learn how to post for real some time :)

cooking and other domestics

some say when you become a wife-y, it's time to strap on that apron and get vaccuming... maybe not in that order, but 'taking care of' your hubby and your house is to be high on your list of priorities. if cooking meals means baking chicken with a dash of season salt, tossing a bagged salad, and steaming frozen veggies, i am a master. if cleaning means decorating the entire house when your husband is out of town, i take the cake. lately, however, i haven't been so proud of my routine. my cooking (and variety) doesn't come close to what i think it should be when children are involved and my cleaning (deeply or even picking up) is no where near the tidyness level for infants to crawl around. so, enter this site, a great tool to get and keep me on top of my wife-y and motherly game!

five-month ultrasound

cute, huh?

we had our five-month ultrasound today. baby green is growing so well! i am doing such a good job :). this is the appointment that requires extra attention from the ultrasound operator, so it wasn't a chatty appointment, but very neat just the same. guests aren't allowed in the room until the end and pete wasn't able to be there, so i was all alone watching our baby move for about an hour. the operator takes shots of all sorts of cool things: ventricles of the heart,bladder,umbilical cord, etc. taking a profile was difficult because apparently babies in utero find their thumbs around this time! we had to 'catch' the baby with their thumb out for a profile pic - in the picture above, you can see his/her hand just above the head. the operator also measures the baby and stated an expected due date of january 28th. i guess due dates don't change from this check-up unless they are 14 days different than the original estimate -- looks like february 3rd holds ground!

First Sonogram!

Baby Green was 2.3 cm at 9 weeks

and 3.0 cm at 9 weeks and 5 days!

Everything is great and the baby is growing well...

Also, the debate has begun. I saw a dancing machine = girl, pete saw an olympic swimmer = boy... either way, the baby was moving all over the place waving its bitty hands and feet!!

ok, that's all the gooshy-mom-stuff from me! for now.

Back from Honeymoon.

Friends and Family,

Pete and I are back from Sicily, settling in to our new home. We had such a great time leading up to the wedding, with showers, bachelor and bachelorette parties, time with our family and bridal party, and the rehearsal dinner. The main event was spectacular, despite the cold wind and the dogs breaking out of the chicken coup! Everything went according to our (Sheila and I) anal plan :). Pete and I enjoyed the company of all of those who were able to make it and felt the love of those unable to attend.

After the wedding, Pete and I attempted to unpack some boxes and pack for our out-of-the-country rendez-vous -- it was an experience! We were able to make it to the airport just in time to upgrade to 1st class, avoiding traffic, figuring out packing issues, fixing camera malfunctions, and an unsuccessful bank trip! We settled into our seats and enjoyed our ride to JFK, where we spent our first honeymoon night in the most run-down, dirty hotel we could imagine... In the morning, we took the subway into the city for a walk around Central Park before our 9 hour and 45 minute flight to Palermo -- a red-eye, no less. It was a test of our patience trying to find our hotel, a beautiful beach front resort with 4 pools, bocce ball, ping-pong, mini-golf, a private beach and what I would consider a very interesting buffet breakfast and dinner service. I made it, though, as fishy as it was, without ketchup and diet coke, I survived (ok, so we did have pizza the majority of the days for lunch and one, very timely meal at McDonald's -- I wouldn't have survived without).

Pete and I toured the country-side on the overcast, rainy days of the week, and sunbathed by the sea on the sunny, warm days. We were fortunate to have a car,(don't ever doubt the power of a Fiat Punto) so we were able to travel to markets and small towns. We learned very quickly that stop signs are merely a suggestion for Italians, two lane roads are commonly used to pass people, and even though there are lines on the roads of bigger cities, everyone just drives where they need to go -- all of this equaling to get out of the way of the crazy Italians or join them (you know Pete joined them)! We spent some time in Cefalu, which was 12km from our hotel, a cute town which was busy from the hours of 4-8pm, before that, there were long, long periods of silence for naps and family time. Pete and I learned early-on that visiting towns before 4 was great if we wanted to drive safely and enjoy the views, but horrible if we were hungry or wanted to shop! Another amazing town we visited was Erice. To explore the town, you had to drive up a very windy road (not for me) or take a gondola (not for me either, but this was the best, straight route, with amazing views). The town was built very long ago (ok, I forgot already), and was built with a fortress wall around it. We ate marzipan fruit candies and yummy snacks at a pastry shop and took many pictures of the stone streets, Trapani (the city below), and the sea. This day we also took a ferry ride to an island where Italian families spend their weekends in the summer -- the Hamptons of Sicily? We saw many amazing sights and spend some great quality time together -- much needed after the whirlwind of the wedding!! Our trip home was long (we figure we were awake for 35 hours and either on a plane, in an airport terminal, in a custom line, or in passport line for approximately 30)!! We stopped immediately at JFK for a Diet Coke - Coke Light stinks, don't ever let anyone tell you differently, and looked forward to sleeping in our own bed. We have been home for over a week now and are enjoying each other, our backyard, Pepper, and our house immensely.

We have yet to open all of our presents and thank you cards are starting to make their way out. We want to thank everyone for your well wishes, hugs of support, and being there to help us celebrate on September 30th! Pete and I had the best time ever at our wedding and we hope you did, too!!!

Thanks again so much - we love you all!