Holiday Cheer!

Just wanted to take a moment to congratulate our dear friends, Fred and Nicole.

They're engaged!!!

We were able to meet up with them for a post-holiday luncheon to celebrate the news. Plus, Aunt Nicole and Uncle Fred had a surprise gift for baby. An ongoing joke at Mitch's former workplace and at the fire department is a web address where a banana jumps around singing "It's Peanut Butter Jelly Time." Yes, I am aware this seems rather silly, but people love it. So, baby will happily wear it's new shirt with pride. Thanks Nicole and Fred!

Side note- Right after I opened this gift during lunch, Mitch got a text message from a colleague at work. What did it happen to be...a sound message of "Peanut Butter Jelly Time." So, he promptly texted back a photo of our baby t-shirt. Impeccable timing!

Merry Christmas

Just wanted to say Merry Christmas to everyone. Our Christmas this year was perfectly peaceful. Mitch and I headed out to an early holiday dinner at Ruth's Chris. We dined on fillet, crab cakes, asparagus, and creamy potatoes. I, even, took a small sip of Mitch's yummy wine. Bad mommy-to-be:)
We enjoyed a yummy dinner at the Milchak house on Christmas Eve. The event of the night was sitting around trying to make the baby kick. Baby was showered in lots of fun gifts this holiday season, even though Sweet Pea still has a ways to go before blessing us.
Mitch headed to work on Christmas Day, while I headed with the family to my grandpa's for a Xmas Brunch. So, many delicious foods for baby. We arrived back at the house pretty late and I fell asleep on the couch. I awoke to people talking to the baby and, once again, trying to get baby to put on a show. Michael played ridiculous music from his cell phone to provoke a reaction from the womb. Baby has now heard some fine rock music and great 80's tunes, along with the Flash Gordon theme song. Nice!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

24 Weeks

We headed to our 24-week appointment on December 23rd. Which actually put us at 25 weeks. They did the normal checks on me and baby. Everything is coming a long fine. We met with our third and final physician, Dr. P. So, we have Dr. W,-very serious, old school doc-he makes me laugh with his no nonsense, one word answers. (Bueller, Bueller, Bueller.) Dr. G, whom I love because she jokes and giggles through every exam. And Dr. P who is very sweet and reassuring. She answers every question we can conjure up for her. It was important to us when we chose a OB office that there would be multiple people "on call" for baby's big debut. This way we will hopefully know our baby's doctor, instead of being surprised. Plus rotating doctors has been nice and takes away from the hum drum of the check-ups.

We listened to baby's heartbeat, which as usual was strong with an occasional muffled kick. Baby has become increasingly active, especially in the morning and evening. Sweet Pea loves to pound away in the morning before I am ready to get up and in the evening just before I fall asleep. Baby has, also, become more active after afternoon meals. Baby loves to start squirming after mommy eats yummy food. We, also, have discovered that we can now see baby kicking and punching my belly. At night, Mitch will talk to Sweet Pea and in a matter of moments my belly starts dancing. It kind of reminds me of the scene in Alien, when we first see the baby alien come out of that guy's stomach during dinner, hee, hee.

I was assured that from here on out baby would become even more active and my adorable 2nd trimester belly was going to start growing rather rapidly. We, also, have appointments made through March, many of which will be only 2 weeks apart. Wow, our calendar consists of nothing else besides OB appointments.

24 Weeks

Holiday Fun

This past weekend we headed to not one, but two holiday parties on Saturday. For the first party, we headed out to Culpeper. The party was hosted by one of the firefighters on Mitch's medic unit. Although, it took us about an hour to get out there-it was well worth the trip. We enjoyed a buffet of awesome food and entertainment by the host's son, who played the piano for us. It was, also, nice for me to put faces with names. I had met a lot of Mitch's co-workers at Station 25. However, when he finished his Advanced Life Support class a few months ago, he moved to a new station. So, I loved putting stories with faces and loved hearing fun tidbits from the rest of his unit about my dear hubby.
After a few hours in Culpeper, we got back in the car to head to Leesburg for the annual Vannoy Christmas party. We missed the group opening of presents, but were bale to open ours after things had calmed down a bit. Mitch was excited about his hilarious "animal" t-shirt and firefighter ornament. You can never have too many of those:) I was showered with a few gorgeous maternity tops. And thanks to Jeremy, baby was not left out due to a few cute onesies and a stuffed alligator. What a fun night? Although, we got home a little after 2am, so we both slept the day away on Sunday.

Turkey Day Flutters

Well, actually they used to be flutters-now they are full-on kicks at mommy's belly. I had been trying to distinguish between other funny stomach feelings and baby moving. But, ever the fairly calm person-I would not convince myself that every little feeling in the gut was baby.

But, over thanksgiving break I gave in and had Mitch patiently lie on our bed with his hand on my belly waiting for baby to move. Of course, our now famously stubborn child would not cooperate the first few nights. Not surprising. After all this is a kid that refuses to be found by the heartbeat monitor, stays still during sonograms when he/she needs to move, or won't move when they need a different angle. Again, baby is just like mommy. So, the other night while quietly laying in bed, Sweet Pea, became very active...while Daddy was in the shower. Figures:)

When Mitch came to bed, I told him that baby had been moving-but stopped as soon as he came in the room. So, daddy gave baby it's first scolding. He told baby to stop making mommy out to be a liar and let daddy feel all the kicks I have been feeling. With a little persuasion and sweet words, baby started kicking daddy's hands. And harder then usual too. I guess baby does not like being "called out."

Since their little heart to heart baby seems to know when daddy's hand is on mommy's belly and will start to tap to say "hello." Baby seems to like daddy's voice too, because if Mitch says something close enough to my tummy, baby will start pounding away. It was an exciting Thanksgiving break and I am so thankful that baby and Daddy are bonding. Disgustingly cheesy, I know.

Thankful for Relaxation

We headed to Lifetime Fitness over Thanksgiving break to get his and her massages. If you have ever been to Lifetime you would realize that it is more than just a gym. It is a lifestyle..haha. We are not current members, though we both have been at one point or another. However, we had a gift certificate to the spa at the club and finally found the perfect time to use it.
With Mitch completely done with his medic classes and finding myself at the half way mark in my pregnancy, massages seemed like the perfect way to start the holiday season. Mitch was treated to a hour long Swedish Massage, while I opted for the Pregnancy Massage. Let me just say that this was a godsend and I recommend every pregnant lady get one.
Now, you may be asking yourself where this post is going-here it is. After my massage was over, I headed out to the lobby. My masseuse met me to take me back to the spa lobby. On our way there she mentioned that Mitch's massage may run over. Okay...I am thinking maybe they got started late-except he was taken about 10 minutes before I was from the lobby. She then proceeds to tell met that while she and his masseuse were washing their hands and getting ready to come in that Mitch's masseuse was ecstatic to get to massage Mitch. Okay...I am wondering where this is all going. Lucky, I am not a jealous wife:)
She goes on to say that the girl was thrilled to learn Mitch is a firefighter. At this point, I realize that the girl is not attracted to my dear hubby. Seeing as we often get the same reaction whenever someone learns Mitch is a firefighter. My masseuse lets me know that the girl is currently going through the process to become a firefighter and thought this was a nice opportunity to get some inside info.
The masseuse laughs and asks if I heard Mitch through the joining walls to our rooms. I had heard a Mitch version of a Charlie Brownish "wha, wha, wha" during my massage. I said I had heard him and we both laughed. Seeing as I was yelled at the first time I ever got a massage for talking, I usually just stay quiet. But, not Mitch- he talked away during the first half of his massage. So, I sat in the lobby for about another 10 minutes waiting for Mitch. He struts in all relaxed and I dare say glowing from being allowed time to hand out knowledge about the road to becoming a firefighter.

Here is my issue people...why did Mitch get the perk to a longer(almost 20 long minutes) massage, than his poor pregnant wife. It's the career, I tell you. Being a firefighter is like being a celebrity. It even got a discount on our nursery furniture. I guess I cannot complain because I often reap the benefit, too. However, I was a bit jealous of his extra massage time. LOL!

Halfway There...20 Weeks!

It's hard to believe that we have reached the half way mark already. It seems like only yesterday that we were celebrating the good news, and in 20 more weeks we will get to meet our sweet pea.

We have nicknamed baby "Sweet pea." We were at Babies R Us beginning a registry and MItch saw a bib he thought was really cute. Yep, it came about all because of a bib Mitch liked. I was overruled when I mentioned it sounded like a girl nickname, because Popeye's baby was a boy and named Sweet pea. how can I fight that logic. Since we are unaware of baby's gender, giving him or her a name seemed better than referring to baby as an it.

On November 21st, we headed to our 20-week appointment. All the usual tests and procedures were the same. Everything looks great, mommy and baby are both in good health. Hearing baby's heartbeat was a bit different. As we listened, a strange noise caught me off guard. It was sort of fuzzy, like if an announcer dropping his microphone at a football game. the doctor laughed and informed us everything was okay. The sound we heard was baby kicking up a storm. Doctor G let us know we have a "maniac child" on the way. I guess it is good that I am still blissfully unaware of all this kicking.

20 Weeks-this may be my last week wearing my pre-pregnancy pants:)

I had to turn to show off my "Ciao Bella" shirt that Momma Milchak got on her last visit to Italy.

Boy or Girl? And baby will be...

Nope, we aren't finding out. Those wondering will just have to wait until Spring. We decided there are so few surprises in life, why ruin the best one. Baby will remain a mystery.

On Wednesday, November 12th, we headed to our 18-week ultrasound. We got up bright and early to meet Milchak Mom at the doctor's office to view our little sweet pea. Baby seems to take after daddy, he/she is very chill and relaxed. Check out the photo below, where baby is blissfully relaxing with his/her hand under her chin. Baby must be a thinker, too.
We spent almost an hour seeing baby from all angles and positions. Hands, feet, brain, stomach, liver, face, etc. Seeing as Mitch has been hard at work learning all kinds of medical information in his "Advanced Life Support" classes, he loved asking questions and adding tidbits that mom and I were clueless about. For instance, while viewing baby's heart, Mitch asked if we were looking at it upside down. The nurse answered yes, and Mitch explained that the way the chambers were contracting showed us which angle we were seeing the heart. My genius husband, hee, hee.

Of course, when it came to the big question, we politely declined to know the gender of the baby. Which was probably a good thing, because baby decided not to be very cooperative at this point. Baby seems very happy is mommy's tummy, because no matter what the nurse did, she could not get baby to turn for profile picture. Mitch mentioned that this was where it's mother's genes came into play, being uncooperative and stubborn. Milchak Mom loved this one. I, personally, think baby was tired of being poked and prodded while trying to rest peacefully. One of the last shots, before the nurse left to give baby some time to move around. Obviously, this is baby's Van Gogh "The Scream" look or for younger generations, the "Home Alone" look. Would you stop pushing on my mother's belly!

So, the nurse left to print out all our photos and give baby some time to move around. Like mommy, baby came around in his/her on time and was ready to go with profile photos upon her return. Foot Shot
Hand Shot

After all the sonogram photos were complete, we were told everything is right where it should be and baby looks fantastic. After all that work, we headed to Silver Diner to treat Baby to breakfast. Nice work little peanut.

Mommy at 18 Weeks

Baby's Furniture

Over the past few months, we have been teetering back and forth on what furniture to buy for the nursery. I won't bore you with all the details. Bottom line is we found a store in Manassas that we really liked and the owner is an adorable, honest, no BS kind of lady. We like that. Of course, the firefighter discount she gave us was a selling point too- hee, hee.
We wanted something with longevity, durability, beauty, and safety. We fell in love the Tuscan Collection by Pali in a terracotta finish. It really just screams Mitch and Catherine, doesn't it.

Maternity Fashions

This past Saturday with Mitch off to the office, I decided to take the plunge and look for some maternity pieces. While I am still quite comfortable in my pre-pregnancy pants, I have been warned that the belly could come at any moment. So, rather than go to work in sweats, I thought I should be prepared. I invited my mom and Jaime out to lunch and a shopping trip.
After a yummy lunch at Pei-Wei, we headed to Kohl's. Mom and Jaime were super helpful in helping me pick out a few essential pieces. Who says you need to spend a fortune on maternity clothes? They are only good for a few months. I am almost 20 weeks and all my clothes still fit. So, less then $200 later I now have three pairs of pants(jeans, black and gray), several cute tops (this is one of my holiday Xmas top), and a gorgeous dress Jaime got me as a "yeah, your pregnant" gift. She, also, got baby an adorable outfit with a firetruck on it with the word's "Daddy's Hero to the Rescue." Gotta love her!
All and all, I think today was a huge success. A couple of sweaters and I think I am done. Hopefully...

Sweet 16 on Halloween

Baby Z hit 16 weeks on October 31st. The week before we enjoyed our 16 week doctor's appointment where we heard baby's heartbeat once again. It was hard for the doctor to find baby's heartbeat, because he/she would not stay still. As I told Mitch-"That's definitely my kid in there. "


Baby could barely stay still long enough for us to hear the little heartbeat. Eventually, Doctor W. was able to get a clear heartbeat and let us know everything sounds and looks great. He told us it was a good sign baby was so active , because this meant our little peanut is healthy and happy.


We went over a few of my questions about symptoms I had been feeling and afterwards we were sent down the hall to give another vial of blood for yet more testing. I think it is a good thing I got over my fear of needles. The running joke with Milchak Mom is that I was the worst out of all four kids with shots. I would work myself up leading up to the appointments and then scream bloody murder when the needle came out. My mom laughs when she hears how great I am with needles, now. I suppose I am probably in for a kid who hates needles, right mom:)

After our appointment, we headed to Cox's Farm to pick out our pumpkins for Halloween. Mitch and I searched amongst the enormous pumpkins to find our favorites and even picked up a mini pumpkin for baby. To celebrate 16 weeks, we carved our spooky pumpkins. Hopefully, baby will love Halloween as much as we do.

Our first of many Halloween's with baby

Baby's First Photos

On October 6th, we headed to Fair Oaks Hospital for our 12-week ultrasound. The OB nurse ushered us to a large room with a bed, many electronic devices, a chair, and t.v. Now, why do I mention this? As I layed down on the bed next to the sonogram machine, I noticed two things. First was the overstuffed chair Mitch was sitting in. Seriously, it was huge and looked oh so comfy. I laughed at him and commented about the luxury. Then, there was the t.v. It was enormous. A large flat screen that spanned the entire corner of the room. Too bad Mitch was not settling in to watch a big game.

We were so excited to see little baby. The screen came on and all of a sudden their he/she was. It was amazing to see a mini person moving around. Mitch and I laughed and asked questions. The OB nurse was very informative about what exactly we were looking at as she moved about getting the photos she needed for testing. Baby is quite active and kept wiggling around. Here are some sonogram photos from the day.

Cheers to Three Years

Happy Anniversary

Wino Crossing=Baby Crossing

Wine tasting has long been a favorite past time for us. We love heading out to wineries for an afternoon of sipping wine. So, what better way to celebrate the end of our first trimester then to head out to the wineries. Even if I can't drink the ambiance is still nice. We had successfully kept our little secret from everyone except close family and I was dying to announce to our close friends the Tomasulo's and Devey's.
We could not have asked for a more perfect day. It was sunny and warm, the wines were gorgeous, and Pearmund had love music playing when we got there. The Devey's arrived with little Grace in tow. As everyone settled in with a glass of wine, I was inside at the play corner with Grace. I decided to let her in on the news first. After a minute of puzzlement, she asked if the baby was in my belly at that moment and what "her" name is. I told her we did not know if it was a girl or boy and we had to think of a name. She had many ideas, all deriving from Disney Princess movies:) I told her baby would be arriving around her birthday.
When we headed out to our table, I asked Grace to tell her grandparents what Cat and Mooch were giving her for her birthday. Rather shyly, she told them, "Cat has a baby in her tummy." The rest involves some screaming and some crying.
Unfortunately, not all the Tomasulo's and Devey's could be there-so we had a few phone calls to make from the winery as well.
Here are some photos from our fun day...

Mitch and I

Momma Devey and Momma Milchak Cousin Grace gets her first pic with Baby Z
Grace and I
Grace loves her Mooch
The Boys
Grace tells me "No stinky boys" I guess we are in trouble if Baby Z is a boy:)
The mom's decide with another grandbaby on the way, they will need something a little stronger, hee, hee. Nice t-shirt pick, Kathy D.

NKOTB still Rock!

Pre-Show at Rosa Mexicana

Jaime, Kristin, and Me

I honestly remember when New Kids on the Block came on the music scene. Although, I admit I was not a fan until the second album. It was 1988 and I was only 7 years old, but I loved Hangin Tough. The title track, You got the Right Stuff, Cover Girl, Please Don't Go Girl-yep, I was a fan. Everyone was NKOTB crazed. I bought the t-shirts, the BIG buttons, jewelry, the sleeping bag, the beach towel, books, magazines. I even had a Jordan doll, too. Oh, how I loved Jordan Knight. Somehow, I convinced my grandmother to buy me a $50 framed poster of the group. I am sure if I looked in my mom's storage area of the basement I could proabbly find some of these "keepsakes."

A few years later, Step by Step was released. I was a few years older and gasp, I was able to go to my very first concert. So, the poor Dad's on the block(no pun intended) had to take all their darling, screaming girls to a concert in D.C.

Shortly after the boys faded away and my childhood crush faded away.

Now, 15 years larer they are back and on tour. What to do? Buy a ticket, of course. My good friend, Jaime and I proudly purchased tickets to the boy band's show in D.C. and may I just say that it was amazing. I walked in thinking, this will either be cheesy or they will be trying to hard to be cool. It was actually a good mix of both to make an amazing concert. It was sort of surreal to hear songs I still remembered and others that jogged my memory after a few lyrics. They even did some old school dances, which is awesome. These ex-heartthrobs can still work it. It was a great concert and jaime and I had a blast.

Oh, and in case you are keeping score-this is Baby Z's second concert to date. My poor baby is gonna come out with boy bands ringing in his or her ears. Sorry baby:) But, it was fun telling my oldest friend, Kristin, the happy news. And Jaime was thrilled to hear another baby is on it's way.

To zap or not to zap...

Okay, so registering has long been a troubled source with Mitch and I. After we got engaged, we headed out to the appropriate stores to register. I think we were both very excited to zap items with our handy-dandy register gun. But, as we walked around Hecht's, Crate and Barrel, William Sonoma, and Linen's N Things we kept asking each other the same question.

"Do we need this?"

I mean, honestly, a $50 pizza cutter, a waffle maker(cool, yes-but ask yourself how many times you have used yours), 12 $30 wine goblets(and all those other sets of glasses they swear you need), serving platters for this and that. The list goes on, but you get what I am saying. We had lived together for a while and had a lot of stuff like blenders, plates, and towels. So, when we registered it was very low key. I did want my wedding china and silver. I do admit to that. But, other than that, we registerd for very little and practically.

The point is, Mitch and I are not the best at registering. We just don't get gun happy and we always look at items reasonably. But, seeing as we have nothing baby related and baby needs a lot we headed to Babies R Us this weekend to start a registry. It went alright. We registered for a few big ticket items and looked around for a bit before deciding we would be better off coming home to research, discard, and select. We have to do things in stages and Mitch loves to weigh out all the options. I get a little overwhelmed while in stores and trying to decide whether I need this or that. And frankly, there was a lot in the store that just seemed like a lot of fuss. A poncho for your stroller(I don't plan on getting stuck in a monsoon), a bassinet that really is useless after a few months, and baby monitors with little tv's. Again, I could go on. And then, do we need a bouncer, swing, and glider. Why do I need a Baby Jumper and an Activity Jumper?

Don't get me wrong. Registering is enjoyable and I love doing it. I just may be a little bit more modest when it comes to the process than others. So, over the next few weeks we will be researching baby stuff and selecting and discarding from our list. It seems like it would be easier to have just gone in and got everything in one visit-we just don't operate that way:)

We Have a Heartbeat!

Not that we thought we didn't, it is just up until today we had not heard such a gorgeous sound. We headed to the doctor for our 12 week appointment this morning. I was super excited because I thought we might get to see the baby, but alas today was just an informative appointment. We got brochures about babies, classes, and tests. They took down some stats, asks questions, and I gave up some blood. I was starting to get anxious when the nurse finally said we could go into the examination room to hear the heartbeat. We waited patiently as the nurse tried to locate the baby. As she inched toward the right side of my stomach we suddenly heard our little one's heartbeat. We squeezed each other's hands and smiled. I swear Mitch was a little dusty:)
HAPPY HEARTBEAT DAY!

(Great) Grandparent's Day

At 10 weeks, Mitch and I decided it was time to let our grandparents in on our little secret. Of course, I had been dying to tell anyone what was going on. I just had not decided when we should tell . I spoke to my father to let him know my last doctor's appoinment had gone well and he mentioned that he noticed Grandparent's Day was coming up (surely invented by Hallmark, by the way) on his planning calendar at work. I had never heard of this day before. But, never being one to pass up a situation decided this would be the day to tell all of our grandparents. Plus, my father and brother were going crazy seeing my grandpa every Monday at my Dad's office and not being able to say a word about the baby on the way.
So, we gave Mitch's grandparents in Arizona and North Carolina a call to tell them our news. We, also, headed to my grandfather's apartment in Alexandria and my grandmother's house in Arlington on Grandparent's Day. We had a great time visiting with my grandparents and each got a card with a tiny sonogram photo of their great-grandchild.


Here are some photos from the day. Notice all the posed of Mitch and I. My grandma kept finding roses in her garden to add to the photos:) Poor Mitch. If you know my mom and my grandmother, you should know they love pictures and nothing pleases them more then to make you pose over and over again. Mitch has been subjected to this for years now and he is a good sport. And, I don't mind because I have inherited this ridiculous love of taking pictures.

Mitch and I on the steps of my favorite part of my grandmother's backyard

Uncle Gary, Grandpa, and Mitch and I

Momma, Grandpa, and Mitch and I

Mitch, Me, Grandma, and Floyd

Mitch, Cat, Grandma, and Mom

Four Generations(Baby not pictured)

More posing for Mitch:)