And I gained weight!

In all the right places....

This picture was taken today at 20 weeks, 5 days...that's about 5 months along.

All is going well. I feel great and the baby is kicking away. Mike has resorted to laughing at me occasionally when he sees me sitting or standing in a way that accentuates my growing belly. He has found humor in the fact that I look like I've just drank WAY too many beers over the last year. Honestly, it catches me off guard sometimes too and it makes me crack a smile. That being said, I still warn him that at some point the hormones will kick in and I'm going to start feeling self-conscious and he's going to make me cry.

His response: "I'm laughing because you are so cute!"

Does this make sense to anyone else?

I will of course remember this when HE has a growing belly. We women have great memories for these kinds of things. :)

Jerry lost weight!

Don't get too excited. It's not like he's been working out or exercising or anything. We all know better. The most exercise Jerry gets is trotting over to Mike for his hourly snuggle.

We shaved the little man!

Before:

(yawning...it was early in the am)

And After!

4 to 2

Males to Females. That's right! We are HAVING A BOY!!!!!!!!!

Sandy and I can handle it.

I mean, look how much we've done with Mike, Jerry, and Toby. Really. What's another 8lb bundle of testosterone? We SO know what we are in for.

Everything measured up perfectly in our u/s and the baby is growing right on track. Well actually, much like his dad, he is outperforming our expectations and is about 5 days bigger than his due date...making his arrival date even more convenient for Grandpa Calvin and Auntie Amy. Yep, there's a small chance this baby may come around April 15th...literally the busiest day of the year for the Martin family.

One of the many highlights of our ultrasound was the somewhat political statement our baby boy made.

So I'd like to think he was just saying "Everything is a-OK in here mommy" instead of "Make Love Not War".

I feel a bit guilty like I'm exploiting my child or something b/c years from now if he reads this blog, he might be embarrassed that I posted the next picture but....oh well....isn't it a mom's right to embarrass her children? So here you go...proof it's a boy...

And some more cute pics of our baby...

So as you can tell, the girls are going to be ALL over him when he gets older! Tyler Terjesen...you've got some competition!

Animal Planet Population = 5 plus 1

Well, our biggest news yet is the population of Animal Planet is increasing! Those of you who have yet to hear our wonderful news may think that I've adopted yet another animal (decent assumption) but you are wrong! Mike and I decided we needed to even out the human to animal ratio and are adding another one of our own:

No I have not eaten too many pizza and cookies...well, actually that could be part of it. Either way, inside that rounded belly is our baby! The above picture was taken exactly a week ago when we were at 17 weeks and 4 days. We are in the middle of our 18th week now. To those unfamiliar with these pregnancy terms, that's almost 4.5 months and in our 2nd trimester.

We had a pretty detailed ultrasound at 12weeks (6 weeks ago) to check various measurements. So if you are like my Houston co-workers and simply think I've just become fat, here your proof:

And to answer my most common questions I've received:

1) Is Mike excited? I think it is funny when people ask me this. Of course he is! He has been a very active participant in the pregnancy. He has been to every appointment, bought me tons of healthy snacks, has been very patient with my sleeping habits, makes me breakfast in the morning, and is making comments daily about the size of my growing belly. He even raided the Broncos store while we were in Denver and came back with onesies, jerseys, dinner set (plates, bowls, forks, spoons), and a bib. There's no doubt our baby will be a Broncos fan!

2) How do you feel? Are you nauseous? I have felt great throughout my pregnancy! I didn't experience the nausea that many women feel. I can probably chalk that up to the constant snacking I have been doing. My only debilitating symptom in my first trimester was exhaustion! Like we are talking in bed by 8pm exhaustion...every night! My second trimester has been a bit more friendly in that there's maybe only one night a week when I have an 8pm bedtime. This week I've been experiencing some lower back pain but I'm sure yoga will solve that problem.

3) Is it a boy or girl? WE FIND OUT TOMORROW MORNING!!!!!!!

4) Do you have any intuition as to if it is a boy or girl? The answer is no. But really, if I did, that means nothing more than if you guessed the sex of the baby. I have taken a poll with my co-workers and as the poll stands we are at 9 people voting girl and 8 people voting boy. And believe me, they've used all the "old wives tales" from where I am carrying the baby to if I've experienced morning sickness to if I've had a metallic taste in my mouth. So it is a pretty accurate poll at almost 50/50.

5) Do you want a boy or a girl? Honestly, I'm 50/50. Either way, we are going to be surprised and excited! There have been times I wanted a girl and times I've wanted a boy. There are pluses to both. I am just geared up to pick colors and themes out so I'm hoping the baby is healthy and cooperative tomorrow!

6) Have you felt it move yet? Yes! I felt our baby move for the first time about 1.5 weeks ago. It is such an amazing feeling too! And last night was the first time I could feel it from the outside of my belly. I tried to get Mike to feel but it didn't quite work out. I have already figured out that at the stage my baby is in now, he/she is shy and does not respond to poking. So I gave Mike strict instructions. "Lie next to me and gently place your hand right here and wait. Do not push, do not poke, do not apply pressure. The baby is shy just like its mommy." Well, that lasted about 30 seconds. Mike cannot sit still and kept using this as an opportunity to not only tickle me but poke at the baby. Sigh.

7) What do the animals think of this? Well, let me start off by giving props to my baby Sandy. She knew I was pregnant before any of us did. Days before I took a pregnancy test she followed me around everywhere! She never does this. She is a pretty independent doggie and for her to follow me like white on rice...well, it was very peculiar behavior. Mike and I continuously made comments about it. Well, low and behold, we tested a few days later and learned we were pregnant! After some online research I learned that dogs can smell the added progesterone in your body. Toby is more curious with the baby room than anything else. We have a strict 'no animals in the baby room' rule and Toby knows it and doesn't like it. The second we open the door he is in there! And Jerry, well Jerry is in denial. I don't think he is happy that attention will be taken away from him.

8) How much weight have you gained? 8 pounds at 18 weeks...not bad!

9) How is the baby doing? He / she is doing really well. We've had a few genetic tests done that have all come out with good numbers. The baby's heart rate is anywhere between 155 and 158 bpm which is normal. With the exception of our very first appointment he / she has measured on target or just a little bit longer or further along. The baby seems to be moving more and more these days. I notice it more in the mid-morning, late afternoon, on my bart ride home, and at about 8:30ish at night. Tomorrow we will know a lot more as we have a pretty detailed ultrasound scheduled.

10) What is your due date? April 19, 2009

So look for an update tomorrow with updated pics and to see if we are evening out the male to female ratio on Animal Planet or if Sandy and I are going to continue to be the lone females...

It's been a while

Sorry it has been a while since my last update. We have been really busy getting settled into our new home in Lafayette. The transition has been really great. I've found that being closer to friends is a BIG plus and I did not realize how close to Walnut Creek we are. For the out of towners, Walnut Creek is known for its huge outdoor mall (think Galleria in Houston but not AS awesome....BUT all outdoors)...so naturally I'm there every weekend. It has a ton of my favorite chain restaurants (so suburbia) and Eileen, Jana, and Mer will be happy to know that we have visited the local Chili's but refrained from taking a menu. :) Mom and I ate at PF Changs too...I'm a sucker for the chain restaurants.

We are also walkable to the Walnut Creek Open Area. Actually our street runs us right into the entrance. This is a big hilly open area where we can let the dogs offleash to roam and smell cow patties. It has great views of the East Bay and I'm hoping we take them there quite a bit.

I've also found that people are much friendlier in the East Bay. I was beginning to think Californians, in general, needed a little lesson from "The Friendly State" of Texas. Alas, I'm thinking it is just San Franciscans. The other day we walked the dogs to a shopping center near our house and, not only did the pups get a TON of attention from everyone but one of the shop owners gave us some free tea packs from her store to welcome us to the neighborhood. I'm thinking I could do this suburbia thing...

Oh! And does anyone want any lemons? We have a pretty large lemon tree in our front yard that I have no clue what to do with. I pulled one off the other day and it smells devine! If anyone has any ideas for recipes using lots of lemons, please pass them along. We also have an orange tree in the backyard as well; however, it isn't getting enough sun to grow big oranges. :(

I'll update with pictures soon...

Happy Birthday Toby!!

Our "big" guy turned 6 today! I will post a current picture of the birthday boy later when we celebrate but wanted to share the news. His grandparents flew in the the event (and to help us move) so we are celebrating big tonight. Rumor has it grandma is making a cake...

Moving to Houston...

...road that is!

Sorry that was a very cruel joke to some of you.

Our new address is:

The Spruiells
1595 Huston Rd. (pronouced "Houston")
Lafayette, CA 94549

I don't know if this is the official pronunciation of our new road but it will be for all Spruiell household members, family, and friends. I made Mike promise he would pronouce it this way (versus like the "Hudson" river). After a lot of 'my wife is crazy' talk and 'i'm not pronouncing it that way' he actually DID on the phone to the Comcast guy...I heard him! Good boy....

My dad is also excited b/c Lafeyette is one of our favorite towns in Louisiana that we pass through just before we get to Baton Rouge (cue Garth Brooks) so he's pretending he's back home (aka "God's country") every time he visits me as well. Sorry Papa, no swamps in California. But I can probably find ya some fried food, alcohol, and people with crazy accents....but no good football teams. Geaux Tigers.

BOO!

Don't be scared!!! In case you cannot tell, that's Sandy under there showing off her Halloween costume (and her mom's first effort at making anything remotely to clothes). At one point I told Mike that I needed a sewing machine. I never thought those words would ever come out of my mouth. I almost had to call my good friend Jen in New York for some tailoring advice...she's a successful student in fashion school and made Jerry's favorite dog bed (amongst many clothes, purses, and Rosemont quilts).

As you can tell, I'm getting a LOT done during our move. Who says a move should ruin the holiday spirit?? Not me!

As for Jerry, well, Mike said he would worry about Jerry's costume so I'll keep you posted... (I bought another white sheet just in case.)

And no one is getting a costume on Toby. Do you think we are crazy?

What would we do without Toby?

Moving is going well. We are making good progress and actually rented a U-Haul yesterday to move some of our things over by ourselves in an effort to save some money on the actual movers we hired to come next weekend.

Toby is working hard too.

Off to pack some more....

Meet Miles!

This is Miles.

Don't worry, contrary to what you may believe, I did not adopt another dog for us.

Miles is a dog we rescued and reunited with its very relieved owner just a few doors down. Until we could locate who his owner was, we let him hang out with us for a bit. He was so big he made Sandy look tiny!

Made me realize that maybe we COULD handle three dogs....

Race for Grace!

It was our turn to race in memory of my grandmother Grace. Mike and I participated in Race for the Cure a few weeks ago in San Francisco and had a great time. We ran with Team Chevron!

We're selling out...

....and moving to the 'burbs!

Lafayette to be specific. It isn't San Francisco but it'll do.



Lafayette is just past Oakland through the Caldecott tunnel in the East Bay. I mention the Caldecott tunnel b/c that is pretty much where the temperature drops by at least 10 degrees from one side to another. San Francisco tends to remain around 65 degrees (give or take) all year round, while the East Bay is much warmer during the summer and much colder during the winter. That will present more of a challenge for me who will live in one and work in the other...hence why layering clothes is so important in the bay area. It's all about the micro climates out here!



The good news is that we were able to find a place to rent in or around the area that we are hoping to buy in next year. The dogs will have a really big yard to run around and I've got a pizza place just down the street! Plus many of our close friends live out there so we'll be able to see and hang with them more! And to be fair, even though I feel like we are moving to the suburbs, my total commute time will only increase by about 10 minutes while Mike's will decrease by about 45 minutes...so all in all, a good decision.



The downside, we lose our view. For those of you who didn't visit us when we lived in the city, here's what you missed...



View from our balcony (straight ahead) of Downtown San Francisco, the Bay Bridge (and bay water), The Mission District, and Noe Valley:





View from our balcony (to the right) of Giants Stadium, Bernal Heights, Potrero Hill, South Bay, Noe Valley, and The Mission District:




View from our balcony (to the left) of Noe Valley and Diamond Heights:




You cannot beat these views! We spent many mornings and evenings just staring out our windows. Sometimes I'd play games with myself and pick out all the pink houses, or yellow houses, or blue houses...or sometimes I'd try to focus on the trees or the streets or the fog rolling in and taking over the city. There's nothing like the fog that rolls over the city by the bay. On July 4th or January 1st (or when the Giants win) we could watch firework shows from our balcony. And this weekend when the blue angels were in town, we didn't have to fight traffic to the marina area for the show, we just sat on some chairs on our balcony!


I will truly miss living in San Francisco. Who knows...maybe we'll find ourselves back in the city at some point. A girl can dream right?

D-Day: October 25th.

Tea for three?

There's this great place called Lovejoy's Tea Room down in Noe Valley that is walkable from my place that I had been dying to try out! It is a quaint place that has a very home-y feel to it with mismatching table cloths and cute china that makes for a perfect tea party. Naturally, Lesley, Marisa, and I had to check it out. They bring you sandwhiches cut into triangles, salad, scones, and sugar cookies to compliment your tea...and it all comes out on this tri-level platform thing in the center of your table. and to top it all off you get tiny plates and forks to enjoy it! And did I mention the bottomless pot of tea??

Obviously you can tell nothing from this photo other than we drank tea. We have empty plates and our food is no where to be seen. Probably because we basically inhaled our food...it was that good! We promise to take more pictures the next time so you can get a real idea of this place...it was so cute!!! You'll have to take our word on that...or just look at our smiling faces.

I promised you pictures...

Well you are getting one (until Erin sends me more)...

This will make your heart melt!!

Remember Tyler Jackson? Well, he's a whopping 5 weeks and 4 days old today...clearly he has enough experience in the world to know he is the cutest baby ever! If only he could speak...what would he say?? Maybe something about how his brother Herbie is his new best friend or how he's got the best mommy and daddy in the world!

Mike-1, Sy-0

GO BRONCOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Chargers suck!!! (aka Sy is a loser!)

This was my first Broncos game at Mile High stadium and I was sold! It was a blast!!

And that's how a Bronco is born...

When's the next game???

Coach Spruiell is Cool!

We headed to Colorado to visit Mike's family and had a great time! I finally got to watch Mike's younger sister, Amy, coach her college volleyball team. Amy is the head coach for Chadron State College and we could not be more proud of her! She has truly done an amazing job recruiting and coaching that team and it was SO exciting watching her coach. (She's the one in the red.)

And, of course, I couldn't leave Colorado without some pictures with the resident furry creatures.

Me and Toby, Mike's dad and step-mom's beagle:

Me with Jakey, Mike's mom and step-dad's poodle (I'm holding a treat in my hand to get him to focus on the camera):

Eat, Drink, & Be Merry

Our very good friends Craig and Amanda, flew to our side of the world over the Labor Day weekend to do what we do best in California...taste some wine! It was Amanda's 30th b-day so we had LOTS of celebrating to do.

Craig had our entire itinery planned out with multiple tours, wine tastings, and yummy lunches and dinners. Mike and I just promised them some great weather and good company.

Lunch at Mondavi was a highlight of the trip. We ate a 3 course meal outside in their garden and each meal was paired with one of their wines. Most of the food prepared in the dishes came directly from their grounds...it was so good!

Some of the barrel rooms we visited...

And the Newlyweds....

Introducing the Referee

As my good friend Alison put it, Toby gets no love...but he's a BIG part of our lives...even for such a small individual but he never makes it on the blog and that's going to change. It is mostly due in part to the fact that he never makes it out of the house...it is pretty much best for everyone. Toby is just as happy to stay at home and nap on the couch as the dogs are to go to baseball games and find tee pees while hiking.

Most people who know Toby understand that he's got a BIG personality. Toby's sole job is to pretty much keep us all in line. He gets involved if Jerry is picking on Sandy and even keeps Sandy in line if she's just plain annoying him. And sometimes if Jerry is being his occasional stubborn self, Toby intervenes and all of a sudden Jerry obeys. It is truly amazing to watch this little 10 pound man boss around 100 pounds of canine. Toby was the first creature on animal planet and deserves a post of his own. So let me introduce the "man of the house". First off, here's the most recent picture I've got of him...taken just a few weeks ago.

And as Toby does best, showing the dogs who is king and taking over their beds...

The furry creatures really do all get along! Especially on a warm day on the balcony.

The 4 of us hanging out on a Sunday morning...

Toby is a 5 year old (soon to be 6 in October) maine-coone mix that followed me home from work one day back in Houston and hasn't left my side since. He's not much of a cuddler but then again, neither are Sandy nor myself. He has a very sweet side that, unfortunately, many don't see that much b/c if you pet him more than he deems appropriate you'll meet his teeth very quickly. Toby and Mike have a love/hate relationship. Let's just say that Mike isn't a big fan of Toby (if you ask me there's a bit of a 'power struggle' as to who the 'man of the house' is) until he realizes how many spiders Toby actually kills in any given day. Then Toby is the #1 man on Mike's list (watch out Jerry).

And one of my favorite pictures of Toby at about a year old...

Take me out to the ballgame

One of the great things we have found living out here in the bay area is how dog friendly this area really is. Case in point: Dog Days of Summer! How do you sell more tickets to a Sunday afternoon Giants game? By inviting the furry creatures of course. Sandy and Jer-bear took in their very first baseball game this summer!



In the beer line...

And in the stands...

The dogs even walked away with their own souvenir Giants bowls too!

(Oh, and don't worry...we are still Astros and Rockies fans at heart...but I really don't feel like I need to remind you of that.)

Playing Cowboys and Indians

We went hiking with the dogs a few weekends ago and look what the dogs came across...

Yep, right in the middle of the park! Very random but Jerry sure did enjoy the shade!

Following the wildfires... (Part 3 of 3)

Wow am I behind on my blogging...I promise to catch up very soon!


To complete our wildfire experiences for the summer we headed to the booming metropolis of Redding, CA to visit our good friends Will and Jennifer Bond and their adorable baby boy. Redding is about a 3 hour drive north from San Francisco and is allegedly surrounded on 3 sides by mountains, including Mt. Shasta. I had been hearing about this for two years so I was anxiously awaiting to see Mt. Shasta!


As we arrived into Redding we couldn't help but notice the smoke in the air but it really hit us when we opened the car doors. We were in the middle of a campfire! Seriously! I couldn't help but begin thinking about marshmellows and graham crackers b/c it was smore-making time! We were supposed to stay indoors but really what was a little smoke inhalation going to do to us really??? Since it was apparent that I was NOT going to see any mountains this go around, nothing was going to stop me from seeing the infamous multi-million dollar sun dial bridge that I've been hearing about as well. So off we went to check this thing out...and it is truly a site to see.


You can see the shadow in the following picture...it is pointing to the time!





And here's one of Will and I standing by the marker that the shadow points to...telling us what time it is.





Will and Mike on the gazillion dollar bridge...

We were also lucky enough to meet a couple of Will and Jen's friends too...such a fun group of people! We EVEN managed to meet some friends of our own too...

We really had a great time hanging with Will and Jen over the weekend. We will definitely need to make it back if for no other reason but to see this Mt. Shasta that I've been hearing about. And we definitely have motivation to get back there to meet the new Bond girl. Did I mention Jen is expecting??