Hello??

Anyone out there???

There have been some issues with people accessing the blog lately, so I'm wondering if anyone is even reading anymore. Also the lack of comments is making me sad. I guess you don't like my posts... I'll have to find more controversial topics to discuss. I hope to have some funny April Fools jokes for you tomorrow.

Nugget's Birth Date

It's about time to guess Nugget's birth date. Everyone gets ONE guess (There can be multiple people with the same date). Entries must be submitted by April 24th. You can either email us your date or you can leave it as a comment. We will enter your date on the calendar. I also included some other activities, such as prom, just to give some perspective on where I'll be :) Some key information: 1. My due date is May 24th 2. Due to the diabetes, I will be induced at 40 weeks 3. I am still meeting with my acupuncturist who can also induce labor 4. My mom had my sister "about a week early"

32 weeks

Here we are another 4 weeks later! It's hard to believe that Nugget will be here in 8 weeks or less. For the most part I'm feeling great. My stomach isn't huge, no swollen ankles, and no back pain. I'm starting to crash as soon as I get home though. 3rd trimeter fatigue is catching up with me.

I had an encouraging midwife appointment on Friday. No meds (yet) since I am managing my glucose levels with diet and exercise. I gained 1 pound since my last appointment, belly measures fine, and she thinks Nugget has his head down. I'll go back in two weeks. We hope to get a sneak peak at Nugget around 34 or 35 weeks.

Nugget's First Par-tay!

Nugget had his first party this weekend and didn't even know it. My mom orchestrated a lovely shower for me/us at her house in Lancaster.

I was showered with love from a group of fabulous women: my family, my four favorite college roommates, my longest running friend, and my mom's "cool friends" (as she calls them). Nugget was showered with lots of gifts. Nugget will have enough bath supplies (towels, body wash, etc) for the next 3 years, diapers for a few months, and sheets in case he gets sick 5 times overnight. Most importantly, Nugget has his ride home from the hospital. The creative and talented women in the group made blankets and other gifts.

While I went out to dinner with my senior year Ship roommates, Jason packed the car in PA and unpacked the loot in MD. A very curious doggie has sniffed his way through all the gifts. So far nothing has been destroyed. Parker will need to learn which toys are his and which are not. Yeah, good luck with that Marisa.

I felt very special all day. I'm so thankful Nugget's two great grandmothers could be there as well as my beloved friends. A special shout out to Amy for making the trip from Georgia, my mom for being an awesome hostess, as always, and my sister for coming up with creative games that didn't involve Bingo cards :)

Baby Shower, Lancaster - March 2011

Beantown

I was quite devastated to lose yet another Maryland friend this summer. Erin was my go-to friend at school. We enjoyed lunch together and spending free periods at Starbucks across the street. Not only was she my work best friend, we also hung out a lot socially with our hubbies. Erin & Brian remind me a lot of our college friends- down to earth, easy conversation, and usually a ton of laughter.

Although I miss them immensely, I view their move to Boston as a perfect travel opportunity. Jason and I always take friends up on the "come anytime" invitation. A free place to stay and tour guides in a new city- why not?! Since everyone worked the week of my Spring Break, we went Friday afternoon through Monday morning. Spending 3 quality days with good friends was exactly what both couple needed. We've both been bogged down with baby and house stuff recently. I think I laughed and smiled more this weekend than I've done in a long time!

There are a few things that are a guarantee when the Evans & Hollencamp's get together: Some serious SORRY! playing, dance parties (usually just the girls), Wii playing, and laughing at each other's stupidity.

We made two trips into Boston (E & B live 20 minutes north). On Friday night we went to Charlestown and had dinner at Figs. On Saturday we took the T to Fenway Park and signed up for the tour. Even though I'm not a huge baseball fan, nor a Red Sox fan, it was really neat to hear the history of the ballpark. Despite the frigid Boston temperatures, we did some walking on Newbury Street and through Boston Garden. We thought every statue was Paul Revere- not that case. Not everything in Boston is related to him :)

Erin was a wonderful host making us yummy meals that were diabetic friendly. We also took a ton of walks through her neighborhood. I realize my new "condition" is a pain. I am so appreciative of Erin & Brian's flexibility. This trip made me realize how much I miss them and also how much I want a single family home!

Inside jokes for E, B, & M: "Baby lock the door and turn the lights down low", getting kiddie sized ice cream cups with about 5 scoops of ice cream shoved into it, and the sweltering T car.

The next time we see Erin & Brian we will be a group of 6! We can't wait for our next adventure together.
<><>
<><>
<><>
<><>
<><>

Beantown, Spring Break 2011

Spring Break 2011!

Get CRAZY, it's SPRING BREAK!!

Oh, that's right. I'm 7 months pregnant. There's no crazy these days. I can't even celebrate with a soft pretzel or milkshake! BOO!

Spring Break was a new thing to this Pennsylvania born and raised girl. We had no such thing- we had a slightly longer Easter break. When I taught in MD Public Schools Spring Break fell in line with Easter. In private school, it always falls this week no matter when Easter is. It's glorious! I really like when Easter is a different date than Spring Break. It makes traveling so much easier. Most of my rich private school students go to exotic islands or to Europe. I will be surrounded by beautiful tanned girls next week. While I dream of Spring Break adventures like theirs, it's just not possible with my measly salary and a husband that "can't" take off this week.

As I take a pause in my teaching career for at least a year, I thought back on the last 8 Spring Breaks. Here's what I think I did:

2004: First year of teaching. Jason was still in PA, so I think I went to his place and played wife for a week. I must have been a good one because he proposed later in the year

2005: Bought our house. We spent many nights painting and making lists of what we wanted to do to the house

2006: Vegas!



2007: In exciting Maryland. I remember "playing tennis" with Colleen on a beautiful Spring Day at Centennial Park. My butt hurt so much the next day from bending over picking up all the ball 80 times. We haven't attempted since this outing.

2008: As my mom called it "Dank New Jersey". My mom and I helped Laura paint the nursery in preparation for my baby niece's arrival in May

2009: Colorado!! I went to see my school friend, Noelle, in Castle Rock. Then Jason joined me for some skiing in Breckenridge for Erin's 30th birthday.



2010: My mom visited her girls in Maryland. One highlight was having a picnic by the airport. Hannah loved watching the planes land over our heads.

2011: Boston to visit with Erin and Brian. The same couple from two years ago. We really like them :) Post and pictures coming soon!

This Week's Appointments

Since the first question everyone asks me these days is "how are you feeling?", here's the update:

I reached 30 weeks cooked on Tuesday.

I felt Nugget hiccup for the first time this week. At first I thought I was feeling my heartbeat in my belly, but then I realized it was Nugget with some super fast hiccups!

My body feels good- no back pain, no swollen ankles. My legs are a little sore from the increase in exercise from about 10 minutes a day to almost 1 hour a day (about three 20 minute walks). I hope Parker is enjoying the longer walks than normal. He needed to lose some winter weight.

The diet is a pain, but I'm hanging in there. I had a few numbers over the limit. It's eat and learn. The midwife today said I'm doing good, but wants me to work on my fasting numbers. I go back in a week to show them my new round of numbers. I really don't want to go on medication. I WILL make this diet thing work.

I didn't gain any weight since my last appointment. So at least Nugget isn't 15 pounds yet. I wasn't surprised- I'm starving most of the day now. My acupuncturist recommended adding more fat to my diet. Go for the beefy, greasy burger (no roll). Jason and I plan to go out for wings or burgers at least once a week. It's really hard for me to switch from eating lean protein back to fatty stuff. I've switched from skim to 1% milk. I don't think I can go as far as 2%.

My acupuncturist saw a connection between some of the issues I've been having and the diabetes. She can't cure me, but will do her best to help me out. I'm glad someone can make some sense of what my body is doing! I'll see her more often. She also can help induce labor once we get a little closer.

Speaking of delivery type stuff- the midwife said they won't let me deliver beyond 40 weeks. This is really good news to me. I don't want to sit around after my due date waiting. Let's get the show on the road. I have a bad feeling Nugget wants an April birthday like all the other Hollencamps. We will give everyone a chance to guess Nugget's birth date once April arrives. Start picking out your day! I will provide more information so everyone can make an educated guess.

That's all for now. Sorry about the boring post.