95 Days to Go

I went to my prenatal appointment today, and I gained more weight than I wanted from my NY trip. I've been feeling like a fat cow lately! My belly is getting bigger and bigger and at times it feels really tight. It's either the baby laying with his back against my belly, or I'm experiencing Braxton Hicks contractions. The tightness doesn't hurt it just feels like I'm really bloated. Aughhhhh.....

Only 95 more days to go until John and I's precious little baby is here. We are very excited for the new year to come, so we can start doing our baby related classes. John is up first with Daddy Bootcamp on January 13th. I can't believe how quick the time is going. March will be here sooner than we think! :)

Back in the New York Groove

Our trip has begun...early Tuesday morning, November 21, 2006, John and I got on a plane to NY. We left around 12:30am and arrived in NY 6:30am. I couldn't sleep a wink...it was hurting too much to sit in an upright position for so long. I did get up a lot to use the restroom to keep my circulation flowing. I don't recommend flying while 6 months pregnant. At least, I will never fly that far along again.

Here is our traveling companion...Huggy! He is sitting on Pam's bed...this is the only shot we took of him the whole time. We should have brought him on an outing, but we forgot.

Me trying to catch up on much needed sleep. You can see my baby bump! :)

John and I on the train heading towards the city. In was Wednesday, November 22nd, and we were planning on seeing them blow up the balloons for the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade. Pam was with us, and she got us on the train for free with the power of her badge. *Side note* We never made it to see them blow up the balloons, because it started to rain.

Today is also a special day for John and I....we have deemed this day, Yogi Day. I got a Kirby at the Nintendo World Store as my gift.:)

John and Pam smiling for the camera as we make our trek into the city.

Here is a picture I took from the train of Harlem. A place we have no desire to visit. A little scary! Although you can't see that from this picture.

Geoffrey the giraffe from Toys 'R' Us superstore in Times Square. It was so cool in there. Ahhhh...to be a kid again!

Here is a section for the new Nintendo Wii at Toys 'R' Us.

"I'm walking here!"

Thanksgiving dinner with the Blancos! Here I am waiting patiently to eat...actually I was starving and close to taking someone's life if they didn't feed me soon. Never mess with a pregnant woman's ability to eat on demand.

I'm sitting with Pam and Carolann. You can see Mike Boy and Susan in the background.

The Blanco and the Baldino family. John gives everyone's name here: http://zablanc.blogspot.com/2006/12/day-3-thanksgiving-family-photo.html
He forgot to mention one person...Baby Cedric. I'm pointing to my belly in this picture. Cedric was there incognito! ;)

Saturday, November 25th...John and I went downtown again with Glenn and Danielle. It was our first time meeting Danielle, and we both enjoyed her company. We started off in Times Square, and we went to the Nintendo World Store....John and Glenn got their cool new hats.

We eventually made our way to the Subway system to head to lower downtown to meet up with Chris and Theresa. We were all pretty much newbies with the Subway. Let the adventure begin!

We survived the Subway! FRESH AIR!!!! hehehehe

We met up with Theresa and Chris, and we have made another new friend. Both Danielle and Theresa are very nice girls, and we all hit it off swimmingly.

We walked to Greenwich Village and stopped in Washington Square Park to take pictures in front of a famous arch from movies. John also wanted to go to the park, because a young Bobby Fischer learned to play chess. Very cool!

Glenn, Danielle, and me...what a pretty day!

Another shot of Washington Square Park...you can see some cool buildings in the background.

Funny name of a restaurant!

As we walk along on our journey through lower Manhattan, we visited the Paul Frank store(pic not shown), so I could get some cute monkey shirts. We had lunch and continued on our way.

We headed over to mack on some delicious, famous cupcakes....Magnolia Bakery. The bakery is shown in a Sex in the City episode and in an SNL short skit. We had to wait in line, but it was worth it. However, some of the bakers are a little disgruntle....John was filming the cake batter being mixed, and she thought her ugly mug was being filmed too. "Lady, why the hell would we want your face on our camera? Get over yourself!"

John and his papa...we celebrated John and John's birthday on Sunday, November 26th. We eventually celebrated John Sr.'s birthday again on his actual day, November 29th. My sweet Boo Boo's birthday was on the 10th of November, but it was nice to celebrate again with his family.

Pam's kitties...Rumer and Poncho.

Here is Tiger....Pam's new addition to her family.

Today is Tuesday, November 28th, and it is our third trip into Manhattan...this time John and I went alone. Later, we were going to see the Daily Show with Jon Stewart.

This time John and I were going to see Ground Zero. Everytime we go to NY we say we are going to go, but we never make it. Well, we made it this time! We tackled the Subway system all by ourselves, and we pretty much mastered it. We rule!

Here is a picture I took of the Brooklyn Bridge. Next time I would like to walk across it...it has a pedestrian area so you can walk on it.

People reading the timeline from that dreadful day in 2001. Even though it has been five years, Ground Zero still has a very sad, empty feel to it. :(

The Daily Show had Tom Waits as the guest....I wasn't impressed! Too bad we didn't have tickets for the next night....George Clooney would have been there. That would have been cool...oh well, it was still fun seeing Jon Stewart in person and watching a live recording of a show. We had fun! The wait in line sucked for my pregnant belly though.

After the Daily Show, we met up with Chris and Theresa for dinner. We ate at a place called Vnyl(this is how it's spelled). It was cool, and John and I both liked our fried chicken dinners.

I took this shot as we were walking down Times Square heading back to Grand Central to catch the train back to Tarrytown. It's Harmony's very own bar! ;)

While John was sleeping and trying to get over his cold that he has had the entire vacation, Pam and I went to breakfast at Strawberries. We stopped down at the water afterwards to look at the fog swallowing up the Tappan Zee bridge. Here are some seagulls hanging out.

On Thursday, November 30th, John and I went to Mike and Carolann's house in Fishgill. It was a very nice house...I love the yard! Here is Toby sitting on my lap while John and I chat away with Carolann. We waited for Mikey, Tyler, and Mike to come home, so we could all eat dinner together. Later on, John and Mike played Madden '02, and although close, Mike won. Poor Boo Boo! :(

Our final day in NY has arrived or so we thought. It's Friday, December 1st, and like two ships passing in the night, we got to hang out with John's grandma for an hour before we had to leave for the airport. It was my first time meeting her, and John hasn't seen her since 1996.

John's grandma, Emilia, is full of a lot of spunk for a woman who will be 90 in May. She walks a mile and a half everyday for exercise. I think that is so cool!

Okay here's the situation: Mike picks up John and I to take us to the airport. We run into some traffic, but we eventually make it. I called in a head of time to Jetblue to see if our plane was delayed....it was by an hour and a half. It was raining and windy in NY, but the real problem was the midwest was getting slammed with a blizzard. Augh....I hate waiting!

First off, John and Mike were convinced terminal 4 was our drop off. I said I saw a sign that our terminal should be 6. They didn't listen to me, and they were wrong!!!! Luckily, the air train came to our rescue and took us to where we needed to go.

John and I checked in, had some dinner, and took a shuttle to our gate. We get there, and we find out we are now delayed three and a half hours....are you kidding me! I'm not a happy camper, because my belly is already hurting, and I half to be in an upright position for a long time. John and I read a little and then decide to go for a walk. As we are walking back, we look at the monitor above, and we find out that our flight has been cancelled.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!! We waited all this time just to be turned away! We were stranded at JFK...not a place you want to be stuck in. We were told to call the airlines and re-book another flight. Apparrently, communication is not a strong point of Jetblue. We were told on the phone, after waiting 15 minutes of being on hold, that we need to go to the service center. Whatever, so we went! Long lines and frustration, from the lack of communication, was getting to us. The natives were getting restless! It was entertaining at least hearing all the grunts and grumbles from the stranded passengers.

Finally, we talk to someone, and they get us booked for the same flight tomorrow night. Now the new challenge of finding a place to stay for the night. We try Chris and see if Theresa can take us in, but after long discussion of getting there, we decide to call Pam. I wasn't going to attempted the Subway with bags and then walk through a long stretch of Brooklyn. No thanks!

Pam was our savior! She was fine with coming to get us and take us back to her place. We stayed another night in NY, and we had more time to spend with John's grandma and other selected family members. We weren't happy about staying another day, but at least we had shelter and we were safe.

The tired, weary travelers attempt to leave NY a second time. Success! We waited at our gate, that was leaving on time, to take us back to Colorado. The only hiccup was the ground traffic for the planes to fly out. We were 30th in line to leave, so 45 minutes later we take flight for home.

A long trip in deed, but we had a lot of fun. We got to experience lots of new things this time around, and next time we visit NY, we will be a family.

Baby Cedric's Room

Cute graphic of Cedric Diggory from Harry Potter. I'm using this graphic to represent Cedric Shea, because he's not born yet. :)

The nursery furniture was put together by John and my dad. My mom and I watched. You should have seen all the styrofoam that John had to clean up afterwards. It was insane...not to mention the cats were covered in it, and they didn't like it being vacuumed off their bodies. Although, it was very entertaining!

Here is the crib with Winnie the Pooh characters all around to watch over Cedric, and to give him something to look at from his crib.

This wall is across from the crib. Here we have Cedric's armoire and changing table with a honey covered Pooh hanging out overhead.

Different angle of Cedric's room. You can see a part of the crib, and an elephant chair that Cedric can sit on when he is older.

My current add to Cedric's room. It's a Heffalump, and he is pulling a kite with Roo hanging on for the ride. I thought it would be cute to add a Heffalump to the room, because it goes well with the elephant chair and it's a character in Winnie the Pooh. This addition to the wall makes the mural complete!

Here is the elephant chair again...hehehee, so cute!

Here's a shelf I bought a Pottery Barn that was half off. I was originally going to put the books on it, but my dad said it would be too heavy and it could fall. I decided to put stuffed animals on it instead. I'm eventually going to buy wooden letters that spell Cedric, and I'm going to put those letters on the smaller ledge of the shelf. Currently, there are little animals sitting on it.

Here is the Winnie the Pooh lamp I bought at the Disney store before I was pregnant. It was such a good deal that I couldn't pass it up. I also have a sailor Pooh from eBay, and a Heffalump dressed up as a pirate. The little baby in the blanket was a gift from my parents. They bought the figurine while on a recent trip to Alaska.

This picture wraps up what Cedric's room looks like. He is going to love spending time in here looking at all the cute pictures of Winnie the Pooh and his friends.

The room represents the different seasons! I've been working on this room on and off since I've been trying to get pregnant. It took me awhile, because I worked on it in stages. Finally, it's complete! :)

Cute Picture

I thought this was a cute picture, so I put it on my blog. :)

In a little over four days, John and I will be in NY having lots of fun and getting fat on turkey. :)

Birthday Celebration

Happy 30th Birthday to my sweet, Boo Boo. We met up with some friends at Cinzzetti's to celebrate. We had lots of fun gorging on deliciousness!

From left to right: Me, John, Aaron, Adriana, Shawn, Kevin, Sean(a.k.a. Mobat), and Athena

I bought John a Killer Bunnies t-shirt and four expansion packs. I also bought him a Beeker stuffed doll, but he left him at work to hang out with his Dilbert. When I went to see John for lunch at work, I brought him a balloon with Beeker in a bag. Everyone knew after that, that it was John's birthday. hehehehe

How cute! John and I snuggling for the camera.

Happy 30th Birthday!!!!

Today is my Boo Boo's birthday. He is turning 30 today, and we are going to first celebrate with lunch to NY deli. Later on, we will be having fun at one of our favorite restaurants...Cinzzetti's. Here he is with his birthday twin and furry nephew, Brewster Pugsley. I'll write more later about our day!

Baby Cedric and I dedicate this song to the man we love:

Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World
lyrics by: Israel Kamakawiwo Ole'

Somewhere over the rainbow
Way up high
And the dreams that you dream of once in a lullaby

Somewhere over the rainbow
Bluebirds fly
And the dreams that you dream of
Dreams really do come true

Someday I wish upon a star
Wake up where the clouds are far behind me
Where trouble melts like lemondrops
High above the chimney top
That's where you'll find me

Somewhere over the rainbow
Bluebirds fly
And the dreams that you dare to
Oh why oh why can't I

Well I see trees of green and red roses too
I'll watch them bloom for me and you
And I think to myself
What a wonderful world

Well I see skies of blue and
I see clouds of white
And the brightness of day
I like the dark
And I think to myself what a wonderful world

The colors of the rainbow
So pretty in the sky
and also on the faces of people passing by
I see friends shaking hands saying
How do you do
They're really saying I, I love you

I hear babies cry and I watch them grow
They'll learn much more then we'll know
And I think to myself what a wonderful world
world...

Someday I wish upon a star
Wake up where the clouds are far behind me
Where trouble melts like lemondrops
High above the chimney top
That's where you'll find me

Oh somewhere over the rainbow
Way up high
And the dreams that you dare to
Why oh why can't I...

5 Years Ago

Melody

The message was real,
On that full moon November day.
Your small body had given up,
The pain was planning to stay.
I looked at your glazed eyes in fear.
It was your time to fly~~
My weakness overcame me with each tear.
The wetness flooded my face with each word of goodbye.
I lost my sweet song on that first of November.
My furry friend went on,
I can't help but remember~~
That you are really gone.

This is a poem I wrote for my cat Melody who died November 1, 2001. I wrote the poem for a class on April 22, 2002. I still find it sad that she is really gone. I still have her sister Harmony, but I feel like a void is missing for her and me. We have Cimbi to fill that emptiness, but it's not the same. John and Cimbi would have loved Melody. She was a great cat! Very sweet girl! Goodbye my friend!

It's A Boy!

John and I went in for our 20 week ultrasound today, and we are happy to announce that we are having a BOY. We are very excited! Cedric Shea Blanco is going to be his name. We can't wait to meet you little Cedric, a.k.a. Baby Boo.

Baby Boo's Transportation

Finally, the travel system that John and I were waiting to be available for purchase is finally on its way to the Blanco residence. They had other styles available for awhile, but we really liked the Notting Hill. Baby Boo will be traveling in style! :)

October Snow 2006

Yesterday morning, John and I woke up to freshly, fallen snow. It was so pretty I had to take a picture. In one month, John and I will be on a plane to New York for some fun and turkey delicious. Mmmmmmm....turkey!

Me so far: My belly is gradually expanding, and I'm feeling lots of aches and pains...but all worth it. John and I will know, as long as baby cooperates, the gender of our child. We're so excited! As far as everything else is concerned, all is well. :)

Countdown Begins!

In exactly two weeks, John and I will find out if we are having a girl or a boy. Of course, the baby has to cooperate. We will be happy with whatever as long as the baby is healthy---that's all that matters. I would like a girl first, because there are only boys between the young Ross and Blancos. Nevertheless, a boy would be just as welcomed and loved. So on October 27th, I will make the announcement on my blog with an updated picture of Baby Boo. :)

Poor Fattie

My poor cat Harmony can no longer fit through the cat doors to the basement. Despite all the diets she has been on in her life she is still fat. I just don't know what to do to help her to lose weight. She only eats diet cat food. Occasionally, on rare occasions she'll have a little tuna or turkey, but that is very rare. So John and I have to buy dog doors now and install them into the door, so my kitty can get through. *Sigh*
Who's that waddlin' down the street
It's just me 'cause I love to eat
Fudge and Twinkies and deviled ham
Who's real flabby? Yes, I am!
Every picture of me's
Gotta be an aerial view
Now my doctor tells me
There's just one thing left to do

Grapefruit Diet (Diet!)
Throw out the pizza and beer
Grapefruit Diet (Diet!)
Oh, get those jelly donuts out of here
Grapefruit Diet (Diet!)
Might seem a little severe
Grapefruit Diet (Diet!)
I'm gettin' tired of my big fat rear
Blow, fatty!

Well, I used to live on chocolate sauce
Made sumo wrestlers look like Kate Moss
Walked down an alley and I got stuck
I got more rolls than a pastry truck
When I'm all done eating
I eat a little more
When I leave a room
First I gotta grease the door

Grapefruit Diet (Diet!)
Can't have another eclair
Grapefruit Diet (Diet!)
I gotta decrease my derriere

I'm on a Grapefruit Diet
I'm on a Grapefruit Diet
I'm on a Grapefruit Diet

No more pie now
No more creme brulee
Lay off the gravy
And souffle
No french fri-yi-yies now
No ice cream parfait
Mr. Cheese Nacho
Stay away

Oh I think I'd sell my soul
For a triple patty melt
But I need a boomerang
When I put on my belt

Grapefruit Diet (Diet!)
Lay off the 3 Musketeers
Grapefruit Diet (Diet!)
Until my big booty disappears
Grapefruit Diet (Diet!)
Eat 'em till they're comin' out of my ears
Grapefruit Diet (Diet!)
'Cause I haven't seen my feet in years

I'm on a Grapefruit Diet
I'm on a Grapefruit Diet
I'm on a Grapefruit Diet

I think I'm about ready for a Quarter Pounder with extra cheese
I need a side of onion rings
And oh yah, don't forget to Super-Size that
Lyrics by Weird Al Yankovic

Baby Boo at 13 weeks

I had a scare yesterday evening that carried over into today. I was bleeding, and I didn't know why. John tried to reassure me that everything was okay, but I know that bleeding isn't a good sign when you are pregnant. Thankfully, I was able to get an appointment for today to find out the cause to my bleeding. I wasn't having any cramps, so that was good. The doctor did an ultrasound, and I was told I have a low lying placenta. It is partially covering my cervix which can cause bleeding. I just have to be a little more careful, but I should be fine. As my uterus grows my placenta will move up and away from my cervix. I'm fine now, and I was so happy to see my little baby bouncing around having a grand old time in my uterus.

Here is a picture of Baby Boo at 13 weeks. Baby Boo is looking forward waving at the camera.

Here is another picture of Baby Boo...it's a profile shot with its leg kicking up into the air. Please don't be alarmed by the alien looking baby....ultrasound can give a baby that kind of appearance because it also detects the skeleton.

Crocodile Tears

I woke up this morning to sad news that Steve Irwin from The Crocodile Hunter was killed by a stingray off the Australian Barrier Reef. He was 44 years old, and the father of two young children. This man is notorious for getting too close to very dangerous animals, but the stingray is generally a timid creature. He just got that one in a million shot....he was swimming over the stingray, and its barbed tail popped up and pierced Steve in the heart. A stingray's sting is painful but not deadly unless you are pierced in the heart or chest. Unfortunately for Steve, he encountered such a sting. This man cared more about animals than most people. He went out of his way and put himself at harm to perserve the lives of creatures...he gave them a voice so desperately needed to be heard. He was one of the best conservationist around, and he will be forever missed.