New Year's Eve photo shoot

Belly shot - 24 weeks

Relief for my feet - pregnant ladies, go buy some!

So, we're in Vegas.

Walking and walking and walking and walking.

After a long day of traveling.

And my feet were over it (not to mention my ankles, hips, back, tailbone and uterus) (And yes, I typed uterus.). My tennis shoes were worn out as it was and add all this extra weight and all this extra activity and my feet had had it.

So, we finally reached our destination of The Fashion Show mall on the strip (after walking from Bally's - eek!) and I said - family, I need some new tennis shoes - pronto.

Cue the Puma store.

I walked in, plopped down, tried on a few pairs and walked away with these sneakers. The sales lady said something about technology that took pressure off knees and hips - but really they just felt amazing. And the best, best, best part - you lace them once and then they become slip on's! Yes, i don't have to bend over and lace tennis shoes. I just slip them on and they still are nice, snug and supportive. I can only fathom how amazing this technology will be for me in the months to come.

So, pregnant ladies - go get some! I'm sure they are on sale around the Web or malls. They were in Vegas!

Yay hubs!

I'm such a proud wife (and goober).

Rusty won the CBC New Media Employee of the Year 'Diesel' Award yesterday during their holiday luncheon. This is the first year of the award, and winners are chosen by nominations from their peers.

How magical is that? :)

Yay, babe! So proud!

Baby Boy, oh, all the stuff you'll need!

The pile of Baby Boy's stuff is growing at our house. We have a hand-me-down Basset crib (pretty sure it was never used) and mattress. Then there's his little growing wardrobe (note to self: get some of those cute baby hangers). And then there's the papason (how do you spell that?) vibrating chair and exersaucer that BFF Baby Hailey passed down.

So, I think this weekend we need to tackle the upstairs. If only just a little; so that my OCD-organizing-nesting side is at least a little satisfied that progress is being made. Stay tuned. We're going to relocate Rusty's office to the guest room and set up the crib! And I need to tackle refinishing the dresser that once belonged to my mom as a kid. Yay!

Oh, and can I just say that baby registries are adorably fun? Thanks to my friends who are expecting and/or new parents, I've gotten the shortcut list on the must-haves and best-haves. So, I'm working on Baby Boy's wish list. I'm trying hard to avoid Babies r Us (horrible return policy and hate the Raleigh store). So far, Baby Boy is registered at Walmart and Target. Fun, fun, fun times!

Little guy, you are loved.

You & Me

I'm feeling a little sappy today. Particularly where my husband is concerned. I'm sure it's a combination of starting our family, sharing our first holidays in our home and learning to appreciate the daily moments - always thankful for the big moments to come.

So, dear, I hear this song and it's totally You & Me. Seriously. Especially the part that says when our kids are older, we're gonna teach them to fly. :)

Wanna pack your bags
Something small
Take what you need and we disappear
without a trace we'll be gone, gone
moon and the stars will follow the car
And then when we get to the ocean
Gonna take a boat to the end of the world
all the way to the end of the world

Oh when the kids are old enough
we gonna teach them to fly

You and me together
we could do anything, baby
you and me together yes, yes
you and me together
we could do anything, baby
you and me together yes, yes

You and me together, we can do anything. And it's all gonna be freaking fabulous. Love you, babe.

Sweet anticipation - quilt is on its way

Here's Baby Fella's bed quilt. I've ordered it from the Web site etsy.com, which for those who do not know is a site where crafters sell their handmade products. (Here's a link to the grandma crafter's page who made our baby's blanket: Ugly Duckling Studio.)

I plan to make his room adorable without being matchy-matchy. And this quilt will go nicely with the alphabet cards and the vision in this mama's mind. Yay!!!!

Meet our little guy!

Look at that sweet face.
(Profile, little mouth is opening. We watched him swallow fluid.)


Here are his 'boy parts'. (Sorry, kid, had to do it!) Rusty couldn't decipher what he was seeing, so we saw it from all angles until Rusty got the hang of it.

Side profile - look closely and you'll see his teeth buds. (Note: bright white = bone)

Look inside the brain. Looking smart, naturally.

Here's a side profile shot. You can see his tiny ear and his arm going up by his neck. Adorable.

"Hi, mom and dad. I love you, too. This little wave is just for you."

He's looking straight at us in this one. You can see his eye socket, nose, and his right arm and hand waving.

I've got that boy, boy, boy joy...

... down in my heart. (Where?) Down in my heart! (Where?) Down in my heart! I've got that boy, boy, boy joy down in my heart. Down in my heart to stay!

I'm singing that over here. Still a little shocked we're having a boy when I felt fairly certain it was a girl. But perhaps, I would have felt a little shocked either way - a real shock - an identity shock. Our baby is a gender, and it's a boy. We have a son on the way!

We're going to get good scans of all our photos tomorrow, but I promised an update tonight. So, here's a pick of five little fingers waving around in there. So freaking precious. Warms my heart.

Everything looks right on track. Little fella is looking healthy. He's 10 oz! (2.5 sticks of butter weigh about the same.)

Grow on, little guy. What a great big blessing! We look forward to meeting you in April. Until then, we'll be loving on you, talking to you, singing to you and tinkering with the perfect name.

God, please watch over our son and let Your will be done. We are so thankful.

Another item for the little one's room

Look what Mom dropped off today! Don't you LOVE it?

16 weeks, 3 days: goodbye old shape, hello new shape

I"m officially kissing my shape goodbye for a while. And sure, you'll say I don't look that different (translation: big, curvy) blah blah, but I can tell. There are lots of changes. I see photos like that little wedding photo up there to the right and think "Wow, I don't look like that anymore." But I will again one day. For now, I'm a baby growing machine. Why does that make me want to tear up writing it?

Cue the emotions. We're. Having. A. Baby. Us. And that's awesomely awesome.

I'm feeling better, yep. Rusty said I was actually smiley the other moring. That must mean I'm feeling better!

(The photo above was taken by me (late) last night after spending the evening at Raleigh's most upscale nightspot with my tipsy husband listening to an old school rapper that he loves. Clearly I'm feeling better if I actually carried through and attended such an event on a Wednesday night.)

Hopefully now, we're living a little safer.

I always suspected that old furnace had a problem. The house would have this awful gas smell every fall and winter. Rusty would say, that's how it is with all gas furnaces. I'd question that. Something just wasn't right. And I later learned my hunch was correct. That thing had all kinds of issues. But, now we have a new one! Yay!

And, even better, it appears the random men that came and installed it (from a very detailed CraigsList ad and series of interviews from Rusty) seem to have maybe had a clue what they were doing. So far, so good!

Check out the obvious improvement.

Sweet anticipation - Alphabet cards on their way!

And thanks to the brilliant Lindsey Bennett, these are now on their way to the wall of our little one's nursery-in-the-works. Or some sort of equally fabulous art project.

Sweet anticipation - Tuesday's thoughts

This is cute and makes me smile.

And this is preciously sweet.

And this library of classics makes me happy.

And I love, love, love this nursery inspiration.

And this one, too.

Could my dog child be any cuter?

Adventures on Chancery Place

Here we are on tree-trimming day. And what a difference it made... after scaring me with Rusty up a ladder with a chainsaw and after making a huge mess of our yard... our yard and house look fabulous from the road now.
You can see I was working hard as safety supervisor.

Our Chicago visit

Rusty and I went and visited Denise and Mike over Labor Day weekend. And I'm so slack I haven't posted any pics from the adventure. Shame on me.

Here's scoop --

We landed and went downtown to Millenium Park. They had a few drinks. I drank lemonade or something equally not as great as a margarita.

During our time we also went to the zoo, the Science & Industry Museum and toured the u-boat.

And hung out in their adorable Roscoe Village neighborhood.

Let me just say - I LOVE Chicago. I only half-loved NYC during our trips. But I LOVE Chicago. It's pretty and clean and has gorgeous waterfront. And the little neighborhoods and row houses are totally my style.

(Miss you, Neek.)

14 weeks and growing

(And yes, I recognize the bathroom background is messy. Normally I cannot handle mess, but lately I'm just so tired that I let it sit until I get a burst of energy. No judgment!)

Hello 14 weeks, glad you're here! And along with you came...

• A flatter, less inverted belly button. It's strange.
• A less frequent urge to gag. I can sometimes even pour the dog food without gagging. Ok, just twice, but that's progress.
• Headaches. Or maybe this is from the H1N1 vaccine.
• Comfy maternity pants. Ah, they are divinely comfortable.
• My still unruly, won't-do-a-thing hair. But, hair appointment on Monday may help with that.
• Tighter shirts. My once loose Sea Gate t-shirt looked like a fitted tee last night. Nice.
• Huge appetite. Perhaps only for that one thing that sounds good, but I'll eat the heck out of it.
• Stomach gurgles and rumblings.
  
• Feeling full all the time, like I just ate a huge meal but I didn't.
• Better nights of sleep, compared to the insomnia of earlier.
  
• Strong sense of smell. That new furnace we're getting today better not make a tiny leak of gas smell or we're in for trouble.
• Continued skin issues of a teenager.
• Sweet husband who's excited about being a dad. Yippee!
  
• Lots of quick, sneaky glances at my stomach by my coworkers.
• Yawns, yawns and more yawns.
  

Second trimester here we are!

Well, according to some of the books and Web sites we're in the second trimester. Other things say week 14, some docs say week 12. And to make it even more complicated, we are 13 weeks 2 days today which means I've been 'pregnant' for 13 weeks and 2 days - technically in the 14th week. Couple this with the whole you are 2 weeks pregnant upon conception and it becomes really complicated.

All I know is last night, I was coming to bed and Rusty was checking his 'What to Expect' iPhone app and it informed him we are in our second trimester. He said "Happy second trimester birthday!" After going through some of the above stats, I finally just agreed - ok, we are in the second trimester! Woooooo hooooo!

So, why did I wake up retching and gagging again at the pouring of the dog food? And why did my nausea appear at its usual lunch time hour? And why does nothing still sound good for dinner? I don't know, second trimester, you've got some more magic to do. I'm ready to feel better!

And baby, one day when you read this - worry not: it's all totally worth you growing in my belly and being here with us.

Mark your calendars for a super important event!

The world’s first ever iPhone-using-hip-hop-loving-baby-genius coming in April. None other than Baby Kroboth, of course!

That's right, we're growing a baby! (And boy has this been a hard secret to keep!) We are thrilled to announce that we're about 12 and a half weeks preggo. Little baby genius is due April 19.

Now you know why my blog has been so quiet... once you realize you're pregnant, it's so hard to write anything about anything else. The little life becomes your world! But now you'll be able to tune in and keep up with everything. I have so much to write!

The short scoop: I have felt pretty darn crappy. Rusty has been super fabulous dealing with it. And we're both diving into baby books and reading our fruit/vegetable weekly updates.... which we learned last night that baby rapper is about the size of a peach.

We'd appreciate your prayers for a healthy baby and pregnancy, and for God's will to be done with our new family. (Of course, any trendy, adorable maternity clothes donations are also appreciated. And don't worry, I'm up to speed on all of the H1N1 news and I'm hunting down a vaccine as soon as the pregger-safe version is released.)

Fun times ahead!

(Ultrasound photo, 8 weeks 4 days)

Mexico pics - Tulum

Many thanks to Uncle Larry, Tisha, Anup and Arjun and the Heathers for their gifts on our honeymoon registry. We enjoyed a divine day at Tulum and Xel Ha as documented in these bright, tropical photos. Thanks, guys, for helping us make memories!

I'm a SENIOR

Senior Web Producer, that is.

Yay, I got a promotion!

I was rather surprised by this development - not because I haven't been working my tail bone off, but because I had already had my review and well, the economy blows. But, our team is rocking the Capstrat world and doing great work.

So, I'm happy to report that I am now a 'Senior'! All of my hard work on my latest project definitely paid off. (Check it out: www.startheregoplaces.com and build your FutureMe.)

Ok, I'm done patting myself on the back now.

This is how we honeymoon!

The wait is over, the second music video compliments of Krusty Productions is ready for viewing. With footage from our laid-back wedding reception and on our luxurious honeymoon at the RIU Palace Riviera Maya in Playa del Carmen, Mexico.

Luxurious Rusty and Kira from Rusty on Vimeo.

HOLY AMAZING!

Fabulous. Simply fabulous. Earl (our minister) would have probably not gone for it, but I love it!

Yowzers

It's been busy at work for weeks now. I'm talking 8 a.m. until 11 p.m. every day busy at work. So, I'm exhausted. And busy. Hence the lack of posts regarding the gorgeous wedding pics Ron took, some nice memories from our honeymoon and other way more important things than work. But I digress.

Here's a quick peek at what's to come... one day!

Joni Belle, this one's for you.

I watched this dance last night on my fave show So You Think You Can Dance. And as I watched, it brought tears to my eyes and chills to my arms and legs. Two beautiful dancers tell the gripping story of addiction, left open to my interpretation.

And in my case, to tell the story of my precious sister and what's she's been through and going through. I watched it again, thinking of her strength to walk away from a love that wasn't right for her. I watched it reminding myself of my past, of the times I walked away from someone that wasn't good for me. Of walking away time and time again - and finally, for good. I reminded myself of that pain and hardship, and made a mental note to show her this dance, play her this song and pledge my support again to help her through this time.

Belle, I remember how hard it was for me. But I also remember feeling proud of myself and leaning on others for support and love to replace that temporary void. Let us know how to help you. Hold that gorgeous head high. Remember that the true love that God has picked out for you comes with no doubts and with a love story meant just for you. It'll be imperfect, but it'll be so perfect. That's worth waiting for and being strong for.

I love you bigger than the universe.

Feel the love. It's all around us.

I remember thinking throughout the day, things like:

This is our wedding day. Wow. Stop and look around. Savor it all.
How cute is this! A reception in a hanger with BBQ and all the people we love!

Ah, I love my family. Look at what they did for us. Perfect.

Beer! Beer before church is certainly ok.
Slow down, pay attention. You're about to walk down the aisle and get married.
Rush, rush. You're running late! But, it cannot start with out me. But, Rusty would get worried.

We just got married.


Wait. Is it? That's our song she's playing! (The pianist surprised us by learning our songs, even though they were not church music.) Amazing moment. Perfection all over again.

Tears. Yep, I'm crying. Not when I thought I was going to, but tears all the same.

You're my Mr. I'm your Mrs. Gonna be until we're old.

I think my thought blurbs and these pictures do a good job of telling the story. More details can be found at our wedding Web site for the really curious (wedo.kirapeoples.com).