Go Ramblers!

Chris was starting to get a little jealous of the cute little U of I onsie we have for Chicken Fry, so he came home from work the other night with a little surprise of his own. We typically have a fun little sports rivalry going on in our home (i.e. U of I/Cubbies over Loyola/Sox), so normally I would have tried to veto such surprises, but I couldn't resist welcoming this awfully adorable newborn onsie to our collection ;) It's SO TINY!

This year we purchased Loyola Basketball season tickets in honor of the newly constructed Gentile Arena. Tonight the Ramblers take on Rockhurst (whoever they are) ... GO RAMBLERS!

Season's Greetings

It was SOOO nice to wake up this morning, knowing I have the next 2+ weeks off of work and school with lots of shopping, cookie baking, dinners with friends, and holiday parties to look forward to.

Hey Chicago, look at all the snow out there ... perfect timing.

We wish everyone a HAPPY HOLIDAY SEASON. xoxo.

Orange You Glad It's The Weekend?!

15 weeks and, according to our Friday fruit update from thebump.com, Chicken Fry is weighing in around 2 to 3 ounces and measuring the size of a 4.5 inch naval orange. Everything seems to be right on track ... fingers crossed. We have another check-up next Wednesday morning.

Just keep growing Chicken ;)

From Lemons to Lemonade

Every Friday I receive an update from thebump.com letting me know what fruit Chicken Fry (or at least the average chicken) most closely resembles. This past Friday we officially entered month four - three down, six to go - and our little guy is supposedly one approximately 3.4 inch lemon. That's a long way from the tiny poppyseed we had on our hands back in week 4.

At 14 weeks, here's what Chicken can supposedly do (not to brag or anything):

• He's probably sucking his thumb and wiggling his toes in there!
• His kidneys are making urine, and his liver and spleen are doing their jobs, too.
• And he's growing lanugo, a thin, peach-fuzz-like hair, all over his body -- it will help him keep warm!

I had been really REALLY exhausted during the first three months, but now I'm happy to report that I'm seriously starting to feel a little more with-it, just in time for finals. I don't know if it's the excitement of the holidays, or if I'm finally learning to turn lemons into lemonade, but I'm definitely ready to get off the couch and attack the mall like it's my job ;)

ILL ...

... INI. Chicken Fry is DEFINITELY a little Illini at heart, and can't wait to cheer on the GREATEST SCHOOL IN THE WORLD next fall.

Thanks for the sweet orange gear Sean and Kelly. CHIIIEEEFFF.

Chicken Fry's very first onsie. Perfect.

On the Night You Were Born

Even though Chicken won't technically celebrate his (or her!) first Christmas until next year, I was doing a little shopping for this year and couldn't resist picking up this beautiful book by Nancy Tillman. This is our first official gift for our Little Chicken Fry, and we plan on reading it to him regularly.

Here is one of my favorite passages ... 

"Heaven blew every trumpet

and played every horn

on the wonderful, marvelous

night you were born."

And this one definitely makes me smile, 

thinking of all the cuteness that is to come ...

"Not once had there been such eyes,

such a nose,

such silly, wiggly, wonderful toes.

In fact, I think I'll count to three

so you can wiggle your toes for me."

To our silly, wiggly, wonderful Chicken,

Love, Mommy and Daddy

Lucky 13

Yesterday was really a very cool - very special - day for Chris and I. Our little Chicken Fry will be 13 weeks on Friday, and in preparation for our second trimester, we were able to have our second ultrasound done, along with a little genetic testing. Before the testing, Chicken had a 1 in 800 something chance of being born with down syndrome based on my age/condition/etc. After the testing, we are so happy to report that Chicken's odds decreased even further to 1 in 10,000. The ultrasound also let us have some much needed face time with our little love bug. I may be a little biased, but I have to say that our baby is so stinkin' cute! Chicken Fry was all curled up in a tiny little ball, so the ultrasound tech had to really shake my belly to wake him/her up. Poor Chicken ... reminds me of Chris on the weekends ;) As soon as Chicken woke up, he/she did this pretty amazing kick boxing move and spent the rest of our visit just kind of bobbing around. We were excited to see two arms, two legs, and the cutest little nose ever. The pictures hardly do it justice, but check them out if you'd like. We feel so lucky to have our little Chicken Fry to look forward to meeting next spring, and we can't wait to finally tell everyone our news. 

Our second ultrasound. Taken Wednesday, November 30th.