Baby Girl Bobenmoyer

Well if you haven't heard my shrieks of thrill by now -- or in Brad's case the sound of his jaw hitting the floor -- we discovered Monday that not only are things on track for a July arrival, but Baby Peanut is also a GIRL. (And no I haven't spent the days since amassing an enormous, frilly, pink wardrobe.)

Although Baby Girl Peanut was completely uninterested in sitting still for the ultrasound camera, the tech was able to capture some truly incredible images. And for those of you keeping track: We are at 20 weeks and 1 day in our countdown to the day a baby girl joins our happy clan.

So on to the photos: Here's a good almost-full-length shot where Peanut is flexing her arm over her head but has her leg crunched up by her side.

Profile shot: Hello little nose and lips!


At one point, she extended her leg up over her head (I mean seriously, how DO we expect her to stretch out in there?) and gave us a flash of one hand.




Okay... so maybe I did splurge on ONE adorable outfit. But seriously, who could resist?

Things We Are Loving This Week

• Hunter asking 'what's that name???' for practically everything he sees
• H's insistence that he sleep with a box of Honey Nut Cheerios last night (and fortunately, the lid stayed shut tight due to the massive amounts of Scotch tape I affixed)
• The latest words/phrases in our house: amb-lance (replacing my much loved ah-nee-nah), dontwantthat!, 'ment' truck (a cement mixer), daddy - are you??? (said when trying to find Brad in the house: notice the absence of the 'where')
• That H has caught on to my nickname for Brad (Bub), but instead has revised it slightly and started calling him BOB
• My new, delicious-smelling, apricot-scented Henri Bendel candle: little pricey but soooo worth it
• Hitting the Bob The Builder exhibit at the Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum... and reliving my youth while standing in the bubble machine

• Stomping in puddles and kicking large snow drifts... and then having Mommy ring out our shoes
• Canned pears and chocolate milk (pregnancy thing)
• Feeling Baby Peanut flutter around ALOT
• Our newly-painted, freshly-decorated bathroom! Click photo to to enlargen.

• LOST has finally returned!
• The song Goin' Home by Dan Auerbach from the Up In The Air soundtrack (buy. it. now.)
• The partially-grey/partially-beige nail polish color that's all the rage in Hollywood right now (and currently donned on my 2 hands). Take a look at Essie's Chinchilly here. Don't believe me? Connect to the source of all things fashionable (InStyle) here and they'll tell you what's up.
• That Conan O'Brien has finally joined Twitter. And GD is he hilarious.
• Learning that even President Obama understands the power of social media and thusly is hiring a Royal Twitter
• Discussing baby names :)
• Prepping for our first Date Night in a long time. Roast @ Book-Cadillac, HERE WE COME!

Happy 4th Birthday To Our Niece Schuler!

Dump Truck & Caboose French Toast

Always on the hunt for something in the name of entertaining a toddler, I found a fantastic use for one of the hundreds of kid-centric cookie cutters my mom picked up last summer during her garage sale rounds: French Toast! Here are the dump truck and caboose cookie cutters making a delicious morning treat for Hunter.

A Little Bait And Switch

(Before I begin, let me just say that NO I haven't forgotten that we have a big baby announcement to make -- just that we have not been able to speak personally with one 'Gram'
and 'Gramps' yet. So if this moniker describes you or your spouse, please give my esteemed hubby a phone call because frankly I'm dying to start posting some new Baby Peanut pics!! <-- Note the very gender-neutral green color being used for the time being.)


And on to one of today's posts which I'll call Bait and Switch.

The background is this: I did the unthinkable and bought an orchid from Ikea. Ikea! See Brad and I have been known to starve an orchid or 2 in our time, which is why said purchase is so laughable. But surprisingly, this one did very well until Brad was gone in Orlando last week, I opted to do some cleaning and unintentionally moved the orchid in front of the *ahem* heating vent. Blooms started curling up and spitting off the plant almost instantly. Granted, it wasn't in the best of shape to begin with but still: Please refer to below Old picture as reference.

Not wanting Brad to return home and chastise my mistake and debunk any further orchid purchases, H and I promptly went in search of a replacement orchid to pull the ole' bait 'n switch (please see New). Let's just say Brad hasn't noticed a thing to this date. Ha!

The Recipe For A Little More Laughter In Life

Ingredients:
1. Invite your Uncle Juniper over to visit (I mean, who doesn't have an Uncle Juniper?)
2. Grab your cell phone (or in this case, Play-Doh presses work perfectly)
3. Engage in a little game of Telephone

Bake at 350 degrees. Enjoy coupled with extreme laughter.

Before & After

Design*Sponge: Another all-time fave online stop that has inspired some recent aesthetic changes in our house (much to Brad's chagrin that is). As my Bible of truth for all design trends, crafts and must-haves, D*S also boasts a to-die-for Before & After section dedicated to highlighting the transformation of fun vintage finds or redesigned rooms.

So with all this in mind, I decided to try my own inspired restoration of an antique chest (thank you $30 Craigslist purchase)-turned HWB changing table/dresser. You'll notice the original chest was covered in an off-white sheen with some gold piping, but I opted to up the ante and give it a rich, cheerful punch of red, as well as update the hardware. Once Baby Peanut arrives, this will serve as his or her changing table and I'll likely do a nursery update based on this fun shade.

If you're looking for some design inspiration, I've linked both the Design*Sponge and Before & After mentions above and encourage you to take a peek.

Before

After

The Little Hearts Project

I wanted to take a moment and dedicate a quick post to my sister-in-law's new blog, The Little Hearts Project. From my perspective (and after constantly electing our friends to new service projects -- just ask Laura or Katie about sweating it out in 85-degree weather to build a children's playscape!), Holly's blog has a vision right after my own heart. Let me do a quick cut and paste on the mission statement of The Little Hearts Project:

"Ideas and inspirations to help instill into the hearts of young children compassion, kindness and the value of giving to others."

I am so passionate about the message this blog represents that you'll notice I've also added a link to it on the left sidebar under the heading "Blogs We're Loving". Even if you don't have little ones in your home, you know someone who does -- and I hope you'll encourage them to check it out.

Listen and Repeat

Many of you may remember that Jeff Buckley's version of this incredible Leonard Cohen tune was our wedding song. And rarely do I stray from Buckley's rendition for any other takers.

My nose turned up a bit upon hearing Justin Timberlake tackling such a feat for the Haiti telethon (sorry JT) -- but all I needed to do was listen once and I was captured. You will be too. So please: Listen. And repeat.

Available For Party Rentals: Our Own Little Mickey Mouse Impersonator

Adorable blonde curls are included.

Baby Peanut Update: 18 Weeks, 3 Days

Well it officially happened this week -- I 'popped' so to speak. Or rather, the baby did. I truly hate that term but it quickly builds a visual for you of what my budding belly resembles so it was the only way I could think to describe.

As of today, Baby Peanut is officially 18 weeks and 3 days along, or, according to BabyCenter, the size of a bell pepper or large mango. (Pet peeve: Why do baby development Web sites use various forms of food to describe a growing baby's size? I find it especially humorous in my case as I am still having trouble keeping some food down.)

Here's a quick rundown of this week's developmental highlights:

• Size: Approx. 5 1/2 inches long and 7 ounces in weight
• Ears are now in final position
• Cartilage in the body is forming into bone
• Baby is now more in control over movements - i.e. more noticeable small kicks that I started feeling a couple of weeks ago and am loving :)

Mark next Monday, 2/22 on your calendar which will be a monumentous day in our house: It's the day I officially explain to Hunter that he's getting either a brother or sister... and NOT a fire truck as he keeps requesting.

Hunter's Latest Art Creation

Appears to be a victim of too much mercury in the water... or really, really unfortunate genetics.

And You Thought You Had It Rough

Grumbling over shoveling a little snow this week?

How about going out to brush off your car and not being able to distinguish it from a small ski hill?

Behold the sight Meredith encountered this week in DC. Luckily she was finally able to ID her Olds via the license plate but can only imagine how many she had to clear off first. Now THAT is what I call a snow emergency.

Be My (Our) Valentine

Hunter is a sucker for our daily Sticker Time. It typically involves me delving into our mass catalog of stickers, handing over a 1/2 sheet of colored paper and watching H collage them until his heart's content.

Speaking of hearts, it was a timely discovery that brought about this week's craft projects -- Valentines for a local senior center. See, this adorable gift shop in Berkley (Michigan, not Cali mind you) called Catching Fireflies is collecting homemade Valentines to distribute. In turn, families are gifted with a fun magnet, but really the gifting is in the service itself.

So, paper doilies were purchased, a little Valentine greeting was written on the back of them, they were affixed to the opposite side of our Sticker Time creations and voila! Our homemade Valentines.

End Note: Anytime HWB is able to wield a glue stick is a superior day in his book.

Baby Love: Bo Kolter Skelton

A big congrats to my stepbrother Colby and his wife Charlotte are due -- Bo Kolter Skelton made his debut yesterday at 4:10am CST, and weighed in at 6 pounds, 13 ounces. I have a nephew!

Fort-Making, by HWB

So with my sabbatical comes many, many photos and videos you may have missed over the past 3 months. Thusly to bring you up to speed, I present How To Make A Fort, brought to you by one HWB. Enjoy.

So... What's New?

Yes, I know it's been a while. After a 3-month blogging sabbatical, I've found myself constructing many (ok, hundreds) of posts in my head, but never having a free moment to log them in. And I know what you're thinking there -- what the H have you been doing for the past 3 months? Well it's simple really:

* Found out I was pregnant
* Confirmed I was pregnant with an actual, medical practitioner (no offense EPT)
* Got laid off from my job of 5.5 years one day following said visit to medical practitioner (classy nod on the part of Fate and Karma if you ask me)
* Completed all of my 2009 New Year Resolutions except for that pesky 'lose 15 pounds' one. Please see aforementioned pregnancy to confirm why this resolution will be carried over to 2010.
* Read 9 books (no seriously -- ask for my reading list)
* Redecorated the basement and adjacent playroom
* Sent my resume to virtually every advertising-related company in the Detroit area
* Became a stay-at-home-mom or SAHM <-- please keep this term in your glossary for future postings
* Lost 3 pounds (thank you Baby Peanut)
* Gained 3 pounds (thank you multiple packages of Valentine's Day candy conversation hearts)
* Spent time doing the circuit of SAHM activities in the name of entertaining a toddler (Read: Ikea, mall play areas, playdates, library story times, etc)
* Re-taught self how to knit in effort to meet one 2010 New Year Resolution
* Visited Indianapolis and Louisville (thanks to our new, highly-entertaining in-car DVD player for HWB)
* Memorized the words to the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Chuggington and Handy Manny TV show theme songs... please don't get me started
* Brushed up my knowledge of all working and emergency-type vehicles in order to hold conversations with HWB
* Started a monthly Breakfast Club with my girlies in order to have some much-needed adult time
* Began watching The Bachelor (I mean, REALLY)
* Rediscovered my love for soft pretzels, and
* Slowly reintroduced foods back into my diet that are NOT cereal, bread or yogurt (again, Baby Peanut)

So all in all, it's been a quiet 3 months... riiiight. But no, we haven't had a bad break-up, and yes, the sabbatical is over. So enjoy it. I know I will.