18 Weeks

SO! 18 Weeks have FLOWN by, and my little man is the size of a mango and already .5 lbs! I seriously can't believe how fast time is going now. It seemed like the first 12 weeks when we weren't telling anyone was so slow, and now it's in super speed. Thank the Lord I've still been feeling really great, just getting bigger by the day it seems.

The snoogle seemed to have cured my insomnia, which is amazing. Now my battle is my hubs stealing the snoogle from me! Maybe I should get him one for Christmas :). 2 days ago I had a scare where I thought I was getting a "pregnancy bunion"... not sure why I put that in quotes but pregnancy induced bunion sounded weird... I started having foot pain (which I have learned is quite common in pregnancy even as early as 16 weeks when I started having it!) near where you would have a bunion 2 days ago, and freaked out! Bunions don't go away on their own and I'm only 27, how could I already have one! Well, after googling (don't do this, bunion pictures are gross) and talking with my mom about it, we decided it was maybe just inflamed from the shoes I wore Monday and thankfully it feels much better today!!!

18 weeks

Luke is much move active lately, or at least I can feel him a lot more now. I feel him throughout the day thumping around, but mainly when I lay down on the couch at night he starts to really roll around! I'm not sure if it's kicking, or him completely changing positions, it feels like he is doing flips! Mark has felt him a couple of times, which is so exciting! Most of the time I go to see if I can feel him from the outside and he stops! Stinker!

We carved a pumpkin Sunday with little mans name! Cute huh!

What's in a name?

So our little man has a name...

Luke William Segaloff

I've always loved the name Luke, and knew I'd love for my first little boy to be Luke. When Mark and I first talked baby names, he agreed he loved Luke too, and if we had a boy he already had a name! It was seriously that easy!

Luke: Latin meaning is light giving

I know this little guy is going to be the light of our lives, he really already is! and I hope we can raise him to be a light of Christ to those that surround him!

William: Honoring Mark's dad who passed when Mark was very young, and my grandfather who passed in 2010. Both Williams were wonderful men, and this little guy is going to grow up hearing how amazing they were!

We love to refer to him by his name now! Mark is always asking how his little Luke is doing, and has lovingly nicknamed him L-dub :)

16/17 weeks and the evolution of pregnancy insomnia

I'm actually almost 18 weeks, but I never posted 16/17 week pics (admission that I still haven't taken my 17 week pic, I will tomorrow and upload it then!)

16 weeks

I've been feeling really good lately, except a headache that I can't shake here and there. I'm definitely getting bigger, and actually feel uncomfortable sometimes already. BUT lately our little guy has been a busy body and I'm feeling more distinct movements! He tends to be more active in the evenings, and he thumps around for a second or two and then stops. He's a mover too, he doesn't stay in one spot for long! I thought he was always hanging out on the left side but last night I felt some distinct rolling movements on my right side. He was thumping away and I grabbed Mark's hand because I thought maybe he could feel it and he did! He was so excited, our friend Barry was in town and got to witness our excitement! I remember before I could feel him move, I was a little freaked out by it. Thinking of something you can't control moving around inside you just seemed strange. At first it was a bit weird, but now, I absolutely love feeling him move around. Sometimes I poke around just to try and get him to wiggle so I can feel him!

About a week ago I started having a hard time sleeping. I've always been a stomach sleeper, and now it's very uncomfortable to be on my stomach, so I've had to switch to my side. I didn't really think this would be a huge deal but I started waking up with terrible neck aches that turned into all day tension headaches! I was so bummed this started so early, and determined to find a solution. I love my sleep so much and couldn't go much longer without sleeping! I was trying to avoid the expensive pregnancy pillows they sell, so I started with a king size pillow from Target. That was quickly hijacked by my furry girl...

 So I tried the king size pillow, and I actually woke up without a sore neck one morning, BUT I had terrible low back pain because I had it positioned differently. So I went to my people, Facebook and various forums looking for HELP! I talked to my HS bff who recommended the Snoogle... that's the pillow I had heard of but was trying to avoid since it's kind of pricey for the short term use! But enough missed sleep and I was desperate, so I went to Buy Buy Baby and picked one up Monday. That nights sleep was the best I've had in some time, the Snoogle is a miracle in pillow form! Below is the Snoogle (image from google).

It's pretty huge, and maneuvering it to switch sides will take some work to perfect, but I really love my Snoogle :)

Completely unrelated but I was shopping (meaning putting adorable baby clothes in my online basket and then closing the website before I could buy) the other day and came across this adorable one piece!!! I haven't ordered it yet but I'm definitely going to, Lord know we love kitties in this house and I'm sure our little man will too! 

It's a.....

BOY! Woohoo! The little squirmer in my belly is a mini-Mark!

We actually found out the day I turned 16 weeks, almost 2 weeks ago. It was the weekend of our 1 year wedding anniversary, and I wanted to surprise Mark. We weren't sure due to his work schedule if he would be able to come to the 20 week ultrasound, so we had talked about doing an elective US early to find out. I called a few days before and found a "pregnancy spa" with an opening. On Saturday I fibbed and told Mark we had lunch plans with some friends, but really drove to the US place! He was pretty shocked but excited! We got a good look at our little guy, and I saw pretty early on before the tech announced it that we would be having a little dude :)

We were both so excited, although I'll admit it took about an hour for it to sink in with me. All I've known is little girls since I have two nieces, and my brother is 5 years older and wasn't a "typical boy" (he was always super nice growing up and pretty quiet). We called our parents that day and told them the good news, everyone seemed to guess boy to begin with :) After church the next day we went to babies r'us and bought a couple of boy outfits and the same weekend we ordered the crib (which arrived today)!

Little man already has a name, I'll do a separate post on that, but below enjoy some pics and our "gender reveal photo"!

ALL BOY!

Precious profile

little feet!

We took this on the alter where we said "I do" one year ago! 

It's a boy! 

My little goldfish

We got home from our trip to Maryland last night, and were pretty exhausted. We only had about 4 hours of sleep the night before due to an early flight. I tried to nap and couldn't so I went and took a bath (one of my favorite things to do now during this pregnancy)! If Mark is home, he will come in the bathroom and talk with me, I get lonely :) I was just laying there not moving, and felt something on my lower stomach. I thought something was floating around the water tickling me, and then it occurred to me that, IT COULD BE THE BABY! Sure enough, I lifted myself out of the water and it was still tickling me! It felt like a gold fish swimming around. It was amazing, and yet very very strange! It kept laughing and shrieking! It's such an odd, yet amazing feeling. Especially since the  baby is the size of an avocado  yet the movement is so delicate! I know soon enough he/she will be jabbing me awake in the night and moving non stop! My little fishy started moving again this morning, which is exciting since I thought maybe it would be awhile before I felt it again. It's so light, I have to lay still to feel it. Now I keep envisioning my uterus as a fishbowl, and a gold fish swimming around in there! We have our 16 week appointment next week, and are going to TRY to get the DR to tell us the gender early, exciting! :)

Maryland Wedding Weekend

One more of Mark's high school friends is officially off the market! We flew out to Maryland for the weekend to attend Mike and Jaclyn's wedding in Chesapeake City. We flew into Philadelphia late Friday night, after a few delays on both flights, and drove about an hour through Delaware (I still think it's so weird to drive through states within 20 minutes to get to another one!).

The town was sooo tiny! You can walk through it in about 5 minutes, but it was adorable and so quaint! All of the wedding festivities took place within the little town. We stayed at a cute little bed and breakfast called the Inn at the Canal. It was so weird staying in someone's house! But the breakfast was to die for!

Saturday we had pretty much all day to ourselves, so we decided to go apple picking! Mark grew up doing things like this, but I never have and it was so much fun! We drove about 20 minutes to Milburn Orchards. They had a huge fall festival going on for kids and families, a big farmers market, and then apple picking! The types of apples you can pick change depending on the week. I actually forget all of the ones we got because I had never heard of them, but they were delicious! We picked about 13 lbs, and I plan to make an apple pie for Mark next weekend :)

15 week belly pic

Mark and Justin

Mark, Marcello, and Brian

All in all it was a great weekend, and I'm glad we had the opportunity to make the trip up there. I'm also glad I won't be traveling anymore until after this baby comes! :)

Babymoon, Mark's 30th, Anniversary Trip!

In September, we took a trip down to Naples, FL to celebrate a few things! An early babymoon, Mark's 30th Birthday!!! and our 1 year anniversary that is in October. We spent 5 days at the Waldorf Astoria Edgewater Beach Hotel, and it was amazing. They were pretty empty since school had just started, so they upgraded us to one of the penthouse suites on the top floor! The suite was almost too big, but the panoramic windows in both rooms were incredible!

On our way to dinner at Chops Steakhouse for Mark's 30th! 

Sunset from our balcony the first night

Amazing birthday dinner! 

Since I couldn't drink, Mark enjoyed one for me! 

The beach was so relaxing, we just laid under an umbrella every day and napped read. 

This was probably our last vacay until the baby comes, and for awhile! We really enjoyed getting away and relaxing, it was much needed! We're ready to go back already though!

Baby Segaloff

We're having a baby! We don't waste anytime here in the Segaloff household :) We're so excited to announce that we're expecting baby Segaloff March 2013! Mark and I are overjoyed to be on this amazing journey together. We are so ready and excited to be parents to this little baby!

We had our first appointment in August and got to see our little bean on the screen with the heart beat and all!

Baby Segaloff at 8 weeks

Baby Segaloff at 12 weeks

At 12 weeks we went in for the NT scan, and it was amazing to see what a transformation the baby had already made! It looked like a little person! We got to see the baby moving it's arms and legs around and moving it's jaw! Then the US tech switched on the audio and we heard the precious heartbeat, 158 bpm! I go back at 16 weeks for just a regular check up, and HB.

Mark's new job!

Whew! SO much has happened in the past month I don't even know where to start. First of all, MARK GOT A NEW JOB!!! I've been waiting so long to type that! A while back Mark interviewed with 2 airlines and was offered a job at both. He ended up accepting with Spirit Airlines! We are so excited for this next step in his career. He will be flying an Airbus A319/320 or 321, big jet planes!!!

Part of Mark's new uniform

His last day with Colgan was the beginning of March, and he took a week off before heading out to training for Spirit. Here was his last flight with Colgan on the Q400 as I was tracking it.

Mark headed off to training in Ft Lauderdale, FL on March 11 for 6 weeks. I was so happy for him and he was so excited but I knew I would miss him so much while he was gone. While we're away from each other a lot, it's never been that long. Thankfully we have 2 JetBlue travel vouchers that Mark had won at an ALPA event and booked me a trip out this two weeks after he left! I just got back from Miami (they moved from Ft. Lauderdale to complete the rest of their training in the AirBus SIM place). I left this past Saturday and stayed until Tuesday. It was so nice to take a little break from work, and to get to see my hubby and the beach!

Hollywood Beach

Miami Beach

So the first night I was there our plan was to go eat down on Miami Beach. That turned out to be a TERRIBLE idea. There was an international DJ competition going out and it was mobbed, traffic was awful, and we were hungry and not in the mood to deal with any of it! So after sitting in traffic hardly moving for over an hour, we ditched Miami and drove up to Hollywood beach to have dinner, it was already dark by the time we made it up there. We still had dinner on the beach at a cute little seafood restaurant, who knows if it was good, we were just SO hungry it all tasted wonderful!

Sunday we drove up to Hollywood beach again and met up with Mark's cousin Shari who lives there. She has an apartment right on the beach, so we parked there and spent the day soaking up rays and playing in the water. After a few hours, I was down on the shore line collecting shells and hear Mark and Sheri yelling for me to look in the water. It was hard to see at first but there was a SHARK! He was about 20 or so yards off the shore swimming around, you could see his huge shadow under the water, and then his shark fin swimming around. The lifeguard pulled everyone out of the water and followed it for awhile until it swam off. He said it had been coming around once a day and he had to get in on his jet ski and scare it off the day before!

Monday Mark had to go back to training around 1pm, so I spent the day the pool while he was away. Mark's Cousins David and Nicole live in Ft. Lauderdale and drove down with their 1yo adorable baby Piper! I was so happy to finally meet her, she is so dang cute! We swam for a few hours and chatted and caught up and then they headed home.

I had to leave Tuesday and was so sad to say goodbye to my hubby :(. But so happy when he called and told me he would be home this Sunday through Wednesday! They have those days off and then he will be home again right before my birthday.

It was a great trip, and I am SO proud of Mark for this huge milestone and accomplishment in his career! He is so amazing and I am so proud to be his wife!!! 

February: Month of food!

So far this month Mark and I have celebrated 1 year since our engagement and 4 months of wedded bliss! The last 4 months have been the most amazing time in my life!

I have also been doing a lot of cooking, mainly to eat healthier and save money. Mark has been home the past two weeks, which is rare! So I have been trying to cool a lot for him. I also tried to have left overs to be able to freeze some for Mark's lunches during trips. Here are some of the things I have made.

Skillet maple glazed pork chops- so tender and amazing! I forgot to take a pic of my dish so this is from the cook book.

Beef tips with onion mushroom sauce. A healthier take on beef stroganoff. Super easy and delicious!

Homemade broccoli cheese soup. I found the Panera bread recipe which uses real cheddar and not processed cheese. I'm curious to see how this one freezes.

Tonight I made Shepards pie. Mark has never had it before so I was excited to make it for him!

this and that

So we're planning on moving in July this year. We're not sure where yet, but we think out time at The Triangle has come to an end. Its been a great place to live, incredible nice and cozy, but it's been over run by the younger college generation. Since we want to start a family eventually, I can't imagine pushing my newborn down the hall here while the college girlies run around gossiping about boys!! Mark and I have always said we feel like the RAs of the building, which is kind of funny. We never talk to anyone around us other then say hi, but we just feel so much older! With that said we looking into becoming a part of a ministry called apartment life. We have friends who have done this for 5 years and they really got a lot out of it. Basically we would live in another apartment complex around the Austin area and find ways to engage the apartment community. We would work with the management, have a monthly budget, and plan events to create more of a community within the complex. We're really excited about the opportunity, we have an interview next Friday. Once we know more I will update!

Mark has been at an executive meeting in Washington DC this week, I feel like I have barely talked to him! because I haven't! He comes home tonight around 10, and we plan to have a nice relaxing weekend together, hopefully we can accomplish that.

The weather here in Austin has been absolutely crazy lately! Its January 19, and 80, yes 80!!!! degrees outside! Most people love it, and yes it's nice but the 40 degree up and down in the temps has me constantly sick. I'm sure next week it will snow, it would only make sense now!

I've been addicted to a show on Lifetime called Dance Moms. The season premier was last week and this show is just ridiculous! Its about 6-7 little girls who are apart of a Dance Company and follows them through their training and competition season. The  main part of the show is the ridiculousness of the moms and the dance teacher. The teacher is SO rude and mean to the little girls and their moms, but they moms have nothing better to do then sit at the studio and gossip up in the viewing gallery! They cry every week saying they don't know why they subject their kids to this, yet they are still there... I guess I shouldn't judge too much since I am the one sitting on my couch watching the train wreck!

Mark and I watched the Kings Speech last weekend, what a great movie! I'm embarrassed to say I didn't know anything about English Monarchy other then Queen Elizabeth. It was a really moving movie, I highly recommend it!

and that's it for today!

Vienna, Austria!

Just a few of the many pictures from our trip!

Seared Tuna on Austrian Airlines flight! 

Veiner Snitchel! (SP???)

Stephansdom

Emperors square

This is where Hitler had his famous speech in Vienna

The old wood doors everywhere were so beautiful 

most amazing coffee E.V.E.R. 

Our friend Maurice! 

Pizza with Ham! Behind Mark is a machine you can pay .50 Euros to go to the potty! 

Emperors Summer Palace dressed up for the Christmas/New Years Markets! 

Mulled wine and delicious pastry! 

One of the booths at the markets

The emperor built this for his wife, so she would have a place to go in the summer and look out over the city. 

Walking around with an open beer is completely legal! 

Famous Opera house

Beer/keg???

cheers! 

Mark's short ribs

"The Shovel"