happy 20 weeks to bebo!

yep, that is right... we are halfway through! And the belly has only begun to get big!

Bebo is 10.5 ounces and about the length of a banana from head to bottom!!
Check out how much I have grow from my past weeks here.

happy easter..a day late!

I woke up at 5:30am to go to the sunrise Easter service at the Dogwood Dell Amphitheater next to the Carillon with my folks.

Thankfully, Fletch let me take a nap when I got back until about 9:30am.

Rick is on man-cation with his friend Matt. They are camping through Western NC? I am not exactly sure their itinerary but they seem to be having a grand ol' time. He doesn't get back until Friday. But the time to myself has been nice, mostly! I sure do miss him though.

I was Betty Crocker all weekend. I baked chocolate chip cookies from scratch... shocking I know. And I made cinnamon streudal muffins (that became my breakfast the last few days!)

Things are going wonderfully with little Bebo. My belly is getting big and he is definitely doing some movin' and groovin; now that I can actually feel his little feet, or hands, or whatever it is he uses to perfect his field goal kick. I will try to take some week 20 pictures tomorrow with our webcam since Rick has our camera, but I can't make any promises they will turn out decent!

My allergies are TERRIBLE. I have heard this is going to be the worst allergy season in 10 years. (Of course, I pick this one to be pregnant!) I will definitely do my best to plan to have the baby in March next time we plan on having a baby! Not being able to take the really strong allergy meds as been killing me (and my eyes!)

I bought myself an early birthday present today in the form of shoes. Shocking I know! It has recently been brought to my attention that we are allowed to wear sandals to school, even if they are open-toed, so long as they stay on your feet and are not considered flip flops. I have been eyeing some hiking sandals that I have heard are extremely comfortable which should help with lessening back aches as well as helping me to keep my ever growing center of gravity balanced. PLUS, they are considered amphibious shoes, so I can wear them in the river, at the beach, on water days at school as well as using them while hiking this summer (ie walking in the woods, seeing as how I have a baby in my belly!). So I bought them!

I have only worn them on walks with Fletch, but so far they feel wonderful! The real test will be on our class field trip to the Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens on Thursday!

a palm sunday update.

The children's choir (aka The Cherubs) I have been teaching at church over the past few weeks had their performance this morning and they did SO GOOD!

I was a little worried they would get really shy before going up on stage (or while on stage) but they didn't. They sang loud and proud and the congregation seemed quite impressed. The best part- the kids had sooo much fun! High fives all around! The choir director even asked me to lead the Cherubs on an upcoming CD project! I am definitely starting to find my place at this church.

The pastor at our church is giving a 4-week class on the core principles of the church in order to provide newer members with a deeper understanding of what Good Shepherd is all about. We have been thinking about joining so I am hoping this will give me confidence in making my decision. Since we are both technically members of other churches, I don't believe joining at Good Shepherd would require much but we don't want to make an empty commitment either. So we will see how that goes!

In Bebo news, I am getting bigger everyday. I really don't have anything to complain about... I am feeling great, mostly energized and my headaches are getting more and more periodic. I will say, however, this growing belly is becoming quite uncomfortable. I have been choosing a chair in my classroom over joining my students on the floor because getting off the floor is becoming increasingly difficult. I also have trouble sitting for long periods of time because of the 90-degree angle the chairs require of my growing abdomen! But again, nothing to complain about!

We have our next doctor's appointment on April 13, which is technically our week 20 appointment but will be on the first day of week 21. So we will have an ultrasound (the last one I believe) which will hopefully confirm the doctor's original statement of "It's a BOY!"

I also promise to post more belly pictures (probably not til week 20) for all those belly-lovers that don't get to see me regularly.

Rick and I have finally reinstalled weekly date nights from our dating days. We have a list of ideas and each week we pick one and do it, then cross it off. We plan to keep this up (which helps make me feel like I have social life) even after Bebo is born! This keeps our dating life interesting so we aren't just going to dinner and a movie EVERY weekend but doing things like going to the IMAX and touring the botantical gardens and maybe even bowling, although that is going to have to wait til after Bebo is born.

I am steadily praying for it to warm up again and stick around! My cold weather clothes do not really fit anymore and I have only bought warm weather maternity clothes seeing as how I am going to be pregnant during the spring/summer. So COMON SPRING, this momma needs you!

this is MY blog now!

So I guess now is the time to stop pretending this is a blog written by me and Rick. I think he posted on this once and it was in the first few months we had it... which was a LONG time ago.

In fact, it is likely never to happen now that he has his own blog! That is correct, Rick is a blogger!

So this is now my blog.

If you would like to read up on him and what he is up to (ie, his dream boat) you can read it for yourself: Honey... Can I have a boat?

I will post again about our fabulous weedend but until then... HAPPY SPRING!!

I have a confession to make...

...as you probably have guessed...

I have not been as committed to my lenten promises as I had hoped. Which you have obviously guessed due tot he lack of blog posts about tasty home-cooked meals.

But before you go getting disappointed in me...

What I set out to do, I am accomplishing.

See the point really wasn't to cook 2 fancy meals a week. The point was to gain confidence in the kitchen and that is exactly what I have done.

Instead of going by Wendy's on my way home or fixing Ramen noodles for my dinner. I cook veggies and pasta with minimal butter, salt, pepper and garlic. I stop by the grocery store to grab something if there truly isn't anything in the fridge.

Although, I still haven't tackled the task of touching raw meat, I am able to reheat it in the microwave after Rick cooks it! (Baby steps here people!) In fact, tonight Rick cooked the meat before his band practice, left it in the fridge and I made some pasta and brussel sprouts to go with it and it was delicious.

In fact, I have started grocery shopping better (although not anywhere near ready to tackle that by myself, if ever!) and I find I am eating better too. Instead of having a scoop of cookies and cream ice cream I pick a no-fat yoplait yogurt in a devilish delicious flavor like boston creme pie (are you sure this only has 100 calories?!?!)

Still disappointed?... That's what I thought. See... if I am accomplishing my goals, does it really matter how I get there? EXACTLY!!

In Bebo news...

We had our 16 week appointment last Friday. Mostly uneventful. I know I mentioned before about how I have continued to lose weight since my first appointment in January. They didn't seem worried then but would be this week had I continued to shed weight.

Well, no need to fret, I gained all 8lbs back, so I am back to my January weight. Boy, was that a sigh of relief because I swear I have been eating like a maniac. I feel like eating is taking over my life. So if I hadn't gained weight, I was just going to have to tell the doctor I couldn't!

We got to hear Bebo's heartbeat as well. It has gotten A LOT louder and stronger. It is still so crazy to me, I have a little human growing inside me! (Will that feeling ever go away?)

I was reading a friend's blog today and she was talking about how much she loves her life. I had to steal her thought because I couldn't have said it better myself... but I too feel the same way. "I am so happy that I feel like I should be running through a field of daisies in a sundress and screaming at the top of my lungs." Thanks Tami, I hope you don't mind!

Hope this finds everyone happy, healthy and as excited for Spring as I!

Love,
your blissfully happy richmond rices.

bebo is making his way...

...through the produce section that is!

He is now about the size of an avocado!

I really can't believe how big he is getting and so very fast. We are seriously going to have a baby before we know it and will be scratching our heads... "Wait, when was I pregnant? Was it really nine months?!"

I also can't believe how I hit the jackpot with finding a husband.

When I got home tonight, Rick had cooked pot roast with veggies and potatoes (including organic carrots so my ears wouldn't get itchy) and even got salad and french bread!

Just another reason, he is amazing. If I feel this lucky now, how in the WORLD am I going to feel when I have a precious baby boy in my arms??

Okay... gotta run, here come the water works! Damn pregnancy hormones! :)

Love,
us.

baby belly!!

I know, I am so lame! How dare I write a blog about my belly "popping" without posting any pictures!

So here you go...

This is my belly at 8 weeks...

and 16 weeks...

Huge difference I know! See why it was so crazy to go to bed looking more like the week 8 picture and waking up looking more like the week 16 picture!
Love,
us.