Only one more week....

until I can finally get off my butt and out of this bed! I saw my midwife this morning and as long as I don't "spring a leak", I should be back to work on Wednesday. I never thought I'd say this, but I might actually be glad to go back :) Thank you to everyone for your prayers and good thoughts. I also greatly appreciate those who have sent packages or popped in for a visit... I really have some great friends :)

Christmas was fantastic. I spent the weekend at my parents' house (yes, lying down) and my brother was in town. I received some great things, the 2 that I'm most excited about are a pressure cooker (artichokes in 10 minutes!!!) and my new maternity jeans (my brother is WAY too generous and bought me some sevens). As you can tell by the picture below, they look great on him ;)

I'd now like to share with you this weird side effect of pregnancy (don't worry, it's not my belly button)... we refer to it as fire toe. Sometimes it's just one toe, sometimes it's my whole foot. As you can see here my right foot is ON FIRE. This happens at night and it makes it really hard to sleep and frankly it sucks. Please don't mind my non groomed feet, bed rest is giving me ample time to give myself a pedicure :)

My View

I would have been one of the first people to tell you that I would be a perfect candidate for bedrest... I love to read, watch TV and play on the internet. But when that is ALL you can do, it's not really that fun. I'll admit it, I'm bored, this is really not as fun as I thought it would be. If I could move freely it might be better, but every time I get up I worry that I"ve been up for too long and I'm going to start bleeding heavily again and that I'm putting my baby in danger (yes, I'm a little of a worry wart.

I thought today I would show you what I've been looking at for the next 3 days..

As you can see here I have all my necessities... vaseline, water, tp, my phone

Right now I'm watching the Today Show and eating some Cream of Wheat. I try to not watch the TV ALL day long, because really daytime TV is BAD and Food Network makes me too hungry

My baby registry books and the computer (I'm working from home so I don't have to go on disability)

Yeah, it's pretty exciting around here, what can I say? Right now I'm reading a book called Carpe Diem by Autumn Cornwell, it's very cute. Last night I watched Mad Hot Ballroom, the documentary about ballroom dancing classes in inner city schools... SO cute!! I loved watching those kids dance! I also watched the finale to Shot of Love with Tila Tequila... I can't believe I just admitted that ;)

I hope everyone is well!!! Thank you so much for the good wishes :)

Had a little scare today :(

I had some bleeding during the night and spent the morning with my midwife. It turns out that everything is okay with Baby Schwab, but I have "placental abruptions", basically bleeding in my uterus. They aren't sure why, there are some tears that the bleeding seems to be coming from, but there really isn't anything that they can do to *fix* it. So I'm on bedrest, full-on bedrest, until at least 12/27 and hoping that the bleeding stops.

The upside of this is that we got another ultrasound and the baby looks great. S/he had NO idea anything was happening, actually it looked like s/he was at a dance club, moving around so much! Here is a cute little picture for you :)

Yummy Dinner!!!

I just made a super yummy dinner using the random ingredients in my fridge and had to share. Now I know that there are some of you that don't like peas in their pasta, but believe me, it was good!
Jamie called on his way home from work to tell me that he was bringing home some smoked salmon. I checked the fridge and had cream (naughty, naughty girl), dill and a lemon so I figured I could whip something up.
I started with a roux and added about a cup of cream (I know, but you could use milk) and 1/2 cup of chicken broth (all I had open) and simmered that with one smashed garlic clove. When that thickened I added about a cup of peas, a handful of chopped dill, the juice and zest from half a lemon and about 1/3 lb of smoked salmon, flaked. Done. Seriously, that was it. And it was SO good. I normally don't rave about my own meals, but this one was fantastic. Especially since I just threw it together. It's too bad I don't have a picture, but I was starving ;)

16 weeks!

My how time is flying... well not really, but I'd like it to :) We had a nice weekend, a little (cooked) sushi, lunch with my girlfriends, some babysitting, some football watching and a little shopping. I think my belly is getting smaller, which is weird, but I guess it proves that it really was bloat at the beginning. I have an appt on Wednesday and I'm interested to see how much weight I have gained (I'm promising myself I won't freak out if it's 5lbs or under. It's been 5 weeks since my last appt, that's reasonable, right?). And in other pregnancy news my belly button is getting weird, but I won't gross you all out with pictures quite yet. I wish someone would have told me to take a before photo so I could compare it, but oh well ;)

Ode to Trader Joe's

Trader Joe's, oh how I love thee!!

My trip to LA was good. In N Out Burger was just as good as I was told it would be, Ikea didn't disappoint (except for the fact I can't bring most of the stuff home on the plane) and Trader Joe's was wonderful, ***sigh***. Seriously, that store is just fantastic.

So in preparation for my trip I packed my biggest suitcase. Since I was only there for 3 days/nights, there obviously wasn't a ton of stuff in it and when I check my luggage on the way out there I had 20 lbs to spare before being charged... I thought I was set. I spent about an hour at TJ and managed to find almost everything I wanted and then it ALL fit in my suitcase. I was a happy camper.

Until I went to check my bag and discovered I was 10 lbs overweight. That's right folks, I bought 30 lbs of stuff at TJ. Now in my defense, I did buy quite a few items for friends, but still. The lady checking me in was laughing quite hard at me as I tried to move some stuff around. Luckily I had picked up a bag at the gas station and it lasted through security. Then I picked up a plastic bag at a store in the airport, and it was holding, but the straps hurt my hand. So then I bought a reusable grocery bag (who knew they sold those at the airport) and all was good. Everything made it home in one piece, and I have Christmas presents galore ;)

I've been a bad blogger :(

Sorry! I'm not too sure where the last 2 weeks have gone, but it's been crazy!!

Thanksgiving was wonderful! My Gramps was in town, along with my brother and Sam, my Aunt Susan and Jeffry and my Uncle Charlie. We were also joined by our good friends Jay and Miriam, and the day ended up being a blast!!! Great food, great company and some great, competative Cranium playing (that was great because my team won ;))!

Let's eat!!

Stuffing!!!

Me and Gramps :)

This is a serious competition (L-R; Dad, Jamie, PJ, Jay)

Family Photo

(back row L-R: Jeffry, Susan, Sam, PJ)

(front row L-R: Jamie, me, Gramps, Mom, Dad)

We then headed to OH for Grandpa's Schwaberow's funeral. It was a really nice service, very small, and our BIL Jeff did the eulogy and per usual he did a great job. It was nice to spend some time with the family, even though it wasn't the best of circumstances.

Jamie and Madi

Me and Dorothy

The big news this week is that I'm 15 weeks and FINALLY off my medication. Wow, am I a different person... so much happier and although I'm not sleeping as well, I think everyone likes the nicer, kinder Ivory :) I purchased some maternity pants this weekend... sweet lord are they comfortable... I think I might like to wear these when I'm not pregnant!

Last night Suzie and Mike came over for dinner and I made an awesome (if I'm allowed to say so) Molasses Pork Tenderloin with Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes and Green Beans. YUM!
Here is the Pork recipe:

Molasses Pork Tenderloin with Red Wine Sauce

Ingredients
1 cup reduced-sodium soy sauce

1 1/4 cups molasses

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

1/4 cup olive oil

3 tablespoons minced fresh ginger

2 large garlic cloves, minced

3 (3/4-pound) pork tenderloins

Combine first 6 ingredients in a shallow dish or heavy-duty zip-top plastic bag; add tenderloins. Cover or seal, and chill 8 hours.
Remove tenderloins from marinade, discarding marinade.
Grill tenderloins, covered with grill lid, over medium-high heat (350° to 400°) 20 minutes or until a meat thermometer inserted into thickest portion registers 160°, turning occasionally. Let stand 10 minutes before slicing. Serve with Red Wine Sauce, if desired.
Note: Tenderloins may be pan seared in a hot skillet to brown and then baked at 375° for 15 to 20 minutes.

Red Wine Sauce

Ingredients
1/2 small sweet onion, minced

2 tablespoons butter

1/2 cup dry red wine

1 (14 1/2-ounce) can beef broth

1/4 cup water

2 tablespoons cornstarch
PreparationSauté onion in butter in a large saucepan over medium-high heat 3 minutes, or until browned. Add wine, and cook 3 minutes. Add beef broth; bring to a boil, and cook 5 minutes.
Stir together 1/4 cup water and cornstarch; add to broth mixture, stirring constantly, 1 minute or until mixture thickens. Remove from heat, and serve over tenderloin.

Tonight I'm off to LA (Ontario really)for 3 days. It's my first time in the area and I've already planned out my stops at In N Out Burger, Trader Joe's and Ikea... watch out!

Prayers and good thoughts needed please :)

Jamie's Grandpa Schwaberow passed away this morning at the wise old age of 92 :( Please keep his family in your thoughts and prayers (if you pray) as they get through this difficult time.
Happy Thanksgiving and much love to everyone :)

13 Weeks

I am almost there... for those of you that don't know, the first trimester is considered the most "risky" and when the most things can go wrong. You officially enter your second trimester at 13 weeks and 4 days... so Friday. Not only does it mean I can take a slightly deeper breath, but I get to stop my medication and am no longer on pelvic rest so I can start exercising and lifting things again and rumor has it you start feeling better... I'm really looking forward to it :)

One of the weird things about being pregnant is the changes in your body. Obviously it's quite the miracle that I'm growing another human (seriously, I could sit and think about that all day) but it's kind of hard to accept the changes that happen that you have no control over, but I have to say I'm doing much better with it than I thought. I'll fully admit that I've always had very poor body image, but I've gotten to the point where I just don't care any more. The other morning it dawned on me that I didn't care that my arms weren't toned or that my butt is getting a little jiggly since I can't exercise. I am actually embracing the changes and it feels really good. That said, please take a look at this week's belly shot and tell me what in the heck is growing in my stomach?? I've done my best approximation to show you how big the baby is right now (the size of a peach, it also developed fingerprints this week!) and how that compares to the size of my belly.... um, what else is in there? Part of me is wondering if I'm eating too much, but since there are days I can barely eat, and I've actually lost a pound, I know that is not it. Any guesses??

I am also SO excited for Thanksgiving this week!! My brother and his girlfriend Sam are coming into town and my Gramps will be here, along with my Aunt Susan, her boyfriend Jeffery and my Uncle Charlie. We're having dinner at my parents' house and I'm really excited for some family time. I'm in charge of the stuffing, trifle and rolls :) Bring on the food!!!

KC was fantastic!!!

What a perfect weekend! (oh, except for Jamie not coming with us) We had the most fantastic time in KC!! We had some wonderful food (if you're ever in KC, I HIGHLY suggest LC's BBQ... it was so awesome, best burnt ends I've ever had!!) http://www.lcsbar-b-que.nv.switchboard.com/ and did a little shopping (Oh, how I love Dean and Deluca!!) :)
We also saw Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood... great, great show!! Wow, can that man preform! And we saw the Broncos beat the Chiefs, which is a rarity at Arrowhead. All and all a great trip and it was wonderful to see Suzie's parents :)

Girls' Night Out :)

Last night, in honor of Jill's birthday, I went to dinner with Suzie, Drea and Jill at Brasserie Ten Ten in Boulder. I have so say I wasn't extremely impressed with the food. We started with the Grilled Calamari Salad with shaved fennel, piquillo peppers, oven roasted tomatoes, lemon, thyme and radicchio and it was very good. The calamari wasn't fried so it was very light and fresh. For an entree I had Almond Crusted Sea Bass served over caramelized fennel and rock shrimp with roma tomatoes in lobster carrot sauce. The sea bass was extremely over cooked and dry, though the rest of the flavors were very nice. For dessert we split their Lemon Tart with candied lemon wheel and bruleed whip cream and it was really good. And it was actually the first sweet thing I've had in weeks that didn't make me sick, yay!!
And most importantly I had a fabulous time with the ladies, it was JUST what I needed after a crappy day... thanks girls :)
Today I'm off to KC with Suzie and Mike to see Garth Brooks and the Broncos... woo hoo!!! Wish us happy house luck, it goes on the market today!
I hope everyone has a great weekend!

11 weeks!!!

I am slowly reaching the end of my first trimester :) I had another ultrasound today and it was so awesome to see the baby actually look like a baby instead of just a blob. Everything looks great and s/he is measuring a little ahead so maybe s/he'll be tall like my brother. Heartbeat was 162 (for those of you that would like to guess if it's a boy or a girl) and I haven't had anymore bleeding so that is great!

(if you can't tell the baby is upside down, that is it's head to the right and it's legs and toes are stretched out to the left :))

I've also included a belly shot. Up until last week most of it was bloat, but this week it's starting to feel more like baby belly. The baby is only the size of a large lime, so I'm not sure what the rest of that is :)

The stagers paid us a visit!

So in preparation for our house going on the market (this weekend), we had two stagers come over today and "move things around". I wasn't really sure what to expect, but told them to do whatever they thought necessary and I have to say the house looks great!! I am so excited about the changes they made and I'm hoping it translates into selling quickly :)

Before and After Pics :) (I tried to post them side by side but I couldn't get it to work, sorry!)

Living Room/Dining Room Before and After

Living Room Before and After

*Xbox* Room Before and After

After shots of Master Bedroom and Guest Bedroom

I wouldn't say that all the changes are convenient if we were planning on living like this forever, but I really, really like the way it looks and I think the house will show very well!

Pictures!!

I finally uploaded some pictures and wanted to share.

This is my dad and I at the game on Sunday :)

And since I've gotten a couple *love* letters about my lack of belly pictures, in honor of halloween I will scare you all ;)

Congratulations to the Rockies :)

I know the World Series didn't go quite like we hoped, but I am still so proud of them winning the pennant and the absolutely amazing streak that had this post season. Good job guys, I can't wait to watch you play next year.
My dad and I went to the game on Sunday with our good friends Dan and Aaron. It was awesome. The atmosphere was so fun, until we started rallying in the 8th inning and the family behind us got mad at us for standing up. Then the dad started calling my dad and Aaron assholes because they wouldn't sit down, but they were Sox fans so we really didn't care. Then the mom said "but I'm a Rockies fan, won't you sit down for me". Lady, if you were a Rockies fan, you would be on your feet cheering for your team like the rest of the stadium. Give me the break, there were 9 outs left in the WS and they actually want us to sit down? They would not drop it either, it was super annoying. I have pictures of my dad and I, but alas I forgot my camera cord, again!!!
Saturday night I watched the game with the girls and Nick... it was fun until our night was ruined by some lame ass couple at the bar. See Drea's blog for part of the story and super cute pictures http://themaidenmetallurgist.blogspot.com/2007/10/brunette-barbie.html

The house is coming along. Our goal is to have it on the market by 11/10 and we're making pretty good progress!!

So Jamie is gone...

and my midwife has *ordered* me to stay off my feet, so I now spend my nights on the couch reading and watching TV. I don't have a lot of human contact in the evening, so I figure I'll use my handy blog to feel like I'm communicating with someone :)
Last night I went to the grocery store... woo hoo!! It's kind of a hard trip for me these days because food isn't really my BFF anymore. I eat, because I know I have to, but I don't *crave* food, which really is quite sad. So my trips to the store consist of me wandering aimlessly around the store trying to find SOMETHING that sounds good to me. Last night it was celery, yogurt smoothies, goldfish, cottage cheese (I made myself, but it doesn't actually appeal to me), sour cream, bread and some Clif bars. Not very exciting, but I tried to stay healthy. I took a picture of how pathetic my cart looked, but I don't have my download cord with me. The other annoying thing about food is that I need to eat every hour or two and I don't like to eat the same thing over and over again... so now I'm forced to eat 8-12 different things over the course of the day and that gets really old. If I could sit at home all day and cook, I could handle it, but work makes it hard :)
I started reading a new book last night by one of my favorite authors; North River by Pete Hamill, so far it's pretty good, but I HIGHLY recommend his books Forever and Snow in August. They are both phenomenal books and Hamill is an amazing author.
And lastly GO ROCKIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Let's show those Sox that we aren't just a nobody team from a podunk town!!

Quick Weekend!

Why do the weekends always pass so quickly? We spent most of ours preparing to put our house on the market. I was planning some *quick* packing and organizing, but so far we have about 8 bags of clothes and as many boxes and we're only about half way through... it's not such a quick process I guess :( And with Jamie busy with the World Series for at least the next week, it's up to me to get this all done. So if anyone wants to buy an adorable townhouse before we get this done, I'll give them a deal ;)
I did manage to have a great dinner at Duo in the Highlands... great food (I had a beet salad with goat cheese and gnocchi with exotic mushrooms and parmesan cheese), but we were a little put off by the hostess. A couple member of our group were 7 minutes late and as she was getting ready to seat us (she wouldn't seat us until everyone was there), she said "just to let you know, we have another reservation at 8:15, so you'll need to be done by then"... um, our reservation was at 6 and we were done in PLENTY of time, but we thought it was a bit rude. Oh well, I'd eat there again :)

GO ROCKIES!!!!

Here are some pictures Jamie took from the celebration on Monday night. Luckily he entered the clubhouse in full rain gear (including his camera) so he didn't get *too* drenched :)

We have news!!!!

That's right, we finally have the news all of you have been pressuring us for... I'm pregnant!!!

I'm 8 weeks along and we heard the heartbeat last week and things look really good. I'm due May 26th and we're so excited :)

In other exciting news, THE ROCKIES ARE GOING TO THE WORLD SERIES!! How awesome is that? I haven't seen much of Jamie lately as he's been travelling with the team and at all the games, but it's worth it for him to experience such a once in a lifetime opportunity!

I hope all is well with each of you, please check back and I'll try to keep the blog updated as things happen.... but for now I'll leave you with baby Schwab's first picture :)

We've given into the peer pressure...

and started a blog :) We thought it might help our friends and families keep track of our crazy life. Enjoy!