Week 14 and 15

So remember when I said I was going to take week 14's pic and post separately? Well with all of the yuckiness in the air, everyone in the Mikulin household was feeling dis-gust-ing and before I knew it, I turned around and it was week 15! Seriously, Mark and I have never had such bad allergies before! Even poor Sir Regal, Prince of Darkness (our cat) and Bastian (our dog) were suffering! I looked into the news to see what was up and this is what I found:

Outside is scary. Don't go out there. 

Absolutely ridiculous. Sneezing + Round Ligament Pain = Worst allergies I have EVER had. I was miserable until......well I still feel pretty yucky but better than I had before. I also found out that around this point in my pregnancy my nasal passages are congested because:

"Your uterus is not the only thing that's starting to swell. The mucous membranes of your nose may also start to swell from all the pregnancy hormones circulating in your body, which are also increasing blood flow there." http://www.whattoexpect.com/pregnancy/your-body/week-16/nasal-stuffiness.aspx

So thats....just great. But despite the alleries-from-hell epidemic, its been a great couple of weeks around the house. We went to check on Willow at our birthing center, Austin Area Birthing Center, who I HIGHLY recommend. They are absolutely amazing in so many ways! Check them out here! The check-up went great, we got some questions answered, went over our food journal, and got to hear Willow's heartbeat again. (Which is by far the most beautiful sound in the world.) Since being required to keep a food journal, I have really had to think before eating anything. But luckily enough, I love my hippie food and my wonderful husband makes sure that my sweet tooth cravings are subsided with frozen berries. I have also transitioned from hatha yoga to starting prenatal yoga at AABC as well as doing it at home with the Shiva Rea Prenatal Yoga DVD. I love that it has modifications for each trimester. It is all kinds of awesome! Check out her DVD library here!!

Love it!!!! 

On a Martha Stewart/Real Housewife note, I have started crocheting again. With the baby coming, I have really started thinking about what arts and crafts I can make for Willow that he/she will have forever and treasure in future years. And then I realized that one of the only things I still have (well, that my Mom has) from when I was a newborn  is the baby blanket my Grandma (her mother) crocheted for me when I was on the way. Since they didnt know what I was going to be, it is pink and blue and I really hope to display it in the nursery when we put it all together (hint hint Mom)! My Grandma, who happens to be the best person in the entire world, had a huge hand raising me and my sister growing up. Its funny, when I meditate and go to my "safe place", I am instantly transported her apartment we visited every weekend. Love her so much. Anyway- she crochets and being the inquisitive, crafty kid that I was (who am I kidding- still am), wanted to learn to create clothes for all of my barbies and trolls. Funny thing about stuff like that is that it really is a lot like riding a bike. Turns out I can pick up a needle and thread and bust out a baby beanie in about an hour! So since we dont know the sex yet, I went to my local craft store and picked up some black and white thread. Im not a big fan of following patterns or directions on crochet projects. Probably because I cant read them, but thats not the point. I create from inspiration and learn from mistakes. Here's what I've made thus far:

Beanie and booties

On our model, Willow's 1st Teddy Bear from FAO Swartz, NYC 

A blanket for Willow- work in progress

Once we find out the sex, Ill make more in color. But for right now, this has been a great stress relief and makes us smile when we think about our lil one wearing or being bundled up in one of these projects. :) Thanks again for the knowledge Grandma! I know this is nothing compared to your works of art but I hope you approve! :)

Ok, moving on to bump pics. Like I said, I missed week 14 due to looking and feeling like something that rhymes with sit. But I did snag a quick shot during the Florida vs UK game as well as our week 15 pic! Ive also decided to post some FAQandAs. :) I have to give credit to the Little Baby Garvin blog for giving me so much inspiration for my blog. Its a really cute blog! Check it out!

This baby is already a Gator fan! (Despite what its Aggie father says) ;) 

Mmmmm....Avacado.....

How far along? 15 weeks

Maternity clothes? Sometimes, loving the belly band but finally purchased maternity jeans and black slacks. (Not gonna lie, they are super comfortable. But no maternity shirts, dresses, or skirts yet- just stretchy ones. ;) 
Stretch marks? No thank God. Let's keep it that way. 
Sleep: Im having trouble falling asleep and having weird dreams. But thanks to Rescue Remedy, its getting better.
Best moment this week: Hearing Willow's heartbeat. Ill never get sick of that. 
Miss Anything? Medium-Rare steaks or burgers from my Dad's grill and beer while watching some football!!! 
Movement: Nothing yet- CAN NOT WAIT! 
Food cravings: Im beginning to get quite the sweet tooth, which I never have had before. So tons of berries and kiwis! Also, chili powder or sauce on ev-ery-thing.
Anything making you queasy or sick: Fish! Which is so weird because it used to be the only meat I ate!
Gender: TBA 
Labor Signs: No, thank God. 
Symptoms: Feeling great other than some fun Round Ligament Pain every time I sneeze. Which, with allergies, SUCKS!
Belly Button in or out? In. Very in. Ive always wondered if my belly button was abnormally in. We'll see!
Wedding rings on or off? On. Always. 
Happy or Moody most of the time: Other than feeling sick from allergies, generally HAPPY! Loving life!
Looking forward to: Feeling the baby move! And of course, finding out if we are having a boy or girl. :) 

Sorry this post was so long! But hopefully my out of town family and friends are enjoying reading about our journey! :) Also- with decorating season coming up (You know, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years Eve, My Baby Shower, Super Bowl, Valentines, St. Patty's, Easter. Duh.) Im really excited to start posting DIY decorating ideas. Thanks for reading!

Lots of love,
Susannah, Mark, and "Willow"

Hello 2nd trimester!!!

Hello friends and family! 

The Mikulin house is SO glad to announce we are in the safe zone- also known as the 2nd trimester! Mark and I are really getting excited to see my bump grow each week and know that Willow is past the scary 1st trimester. Although Im not going to lie, I didnt have that bad of a go at my 1st trimester. Just SUPER tired. All the time. But other than that, it was pretty smooth sailing! We had a lot of fun surprising friends about our upcoming arrival at Mark's 30th birthday- pictures to come soon! I got a great idea off Pinterest (where else) to make a chalkboard to document my belly growing. It was a lot of fun to work on a craft with my husband. Gotta love being married to an engineer! I think of crazy projects and he makes them a reality! I also decided once I started to actually show to wear the same black dress in each picture to really capture how my body is changing. I know- Im THAT girl. Oh well. I missed my 13th week because I was in El Paso for my 10 year high school reunion. Which, btw, was interesting (to say the least) being pregnant and sober. Im going to post week 14 separately but heres what we have so far. :)  

So without further ado- My Bump ladies and gents. :) 

The day after we found out! 1 month! (4 weeks. Duh.)

7 weeks in Capri, Italy! 

First Picture with our chalkboard! 

First picture in my "belly dress"! 

I can already see a difference within one week! 

Im excited to see my belly get even bigger and REALLY excited to find out whether Willow is a girl or a boy. We have names picked out for both so I really wanna get down to some crafting business! Have a great week y'all! 

Love, Peace, and Chicken Grease, 

Susannah, Mark, and "Willow" 

Say Hello!!

So Im finally out of the 1st trimester and finally getting the hang of this pregnant thing. Just a quick update about how me and the first 3 months got along. GREAT! I was so blessed not to have any morning sickness! Although I had a few blah moments, I never got really really sick. I had moments of pure exhaustion and a few headaches from the 7th circle of hell but other than that, I felt fine!!! Since we were in Europe for the month of July (seriously 3 days after we found out!) it was really easy for us to keep the baby a secret until we got back. When we did get back I was already a little over 8 weeks so we decided we would tell our family. We had our immediate family over to the house to "talk about the honeymoon and get souvenirs". Well we definitely talked about the honeymoon but the fun part came when we handed out gifts. We explained to our 8 family members that since we went to 8 different locations, that we got all of them the same gift from each location, and everyone gets one. I then said "if it doesn't fit, you can give it back. Ok everyone open it!" and in everyone's gift was a onesie from a different location. There were tears, laughter, confusion (my dad didnt get it at first, he thought it was weird European underwear), and hugs all around. Good idea in my opinion!

Shortly after, Mark and I found where we are going to give birth and our midwife! After watching Ricky Lake's "The Business of Being Born" along with a few other documentaries, we've decided to stay away from hospitals and go with a more natural route to this having-a-baby thing. (Note- Neither of us want your opinion on this matter. Please do not try and tell us that hospitals are safer, midwives dont know what their doing, ect. unless you want me to tell you what I honestly think of your life choices, hair, make-up, and/or outfit.) I suggest that anyone having a baby educate yourself before you make a decision on the medical aspects of childbirth. Anyway- we's gonna do it all natural. God help me. 

At 10 weeks and 5 days, we finally got to hear and see our baby for the first time. To say it was the most beautiful thing in the world is an understatement. I am still tearing up thinking about it. I am oh-so in love with this baby and I havent even met him (yes, Im sticking with HIM) yet! So without further ado- everyone say hello to our bay-bay!

Hi Mom and Dad!!!! 

Now that Im done traveling (13 flights in 2 months- seriously?!) I am going to do a better job of updating my blog more often. Bump pics, baby crafts, pregnancy recipes, and whatever else pops into my noggin, coming soon!!! 

Much love, 

Susannah, Mark, and "Willow" 

Willow

Guess what?????? The Mikulin family is about to grow....by 2 feet! We were so blessed to find out that we are expecting our first child on July 4th of this year! While Mark went to the lake for the morning of the 4th, my friend Kendall came over to buy items for her sister's baby shower. When she walked in she took one look at me and asked "Whats up with you?" I apparently had different energy but I honestly didnt think anything was up. I told her I was a little stressed getting ready for the Europe trip but she didnt take that as an answer. Then I mentioned that I thought I was late, but maybe I calculated it wrong. She shouted, "THATS IT!" even though I told her I didnt think so because we weren't trying in June. But she stood her ground and off we were to buy baby shower decor! On the way back from Michaels, Kendall kept pushing buying tests from CVS and just to prove her wrong, I agreed.

I took the test as soon as we got home and then went to eat our snacks and watch Willow. Kendall anxiously waited the 3 minutes so I told her she could go check if she cared that much. When she shouted, "There's only one line!" from the restroom, I shouted back "I told you so!" But when I went to go throw it away, I saw the faintest of faint 2nd line.....and freaked out.


Its there..........can you see it???

After screaming and literally runing around in circles, I took a 2nd test and had the same results. As Kendall and I stood in the restroom, we just stared at each other in silence when, as if we were in a movie, the soundtrack from Willow began playing in the background. Complete with the sound of a baby's cry.

            Freak-y. Since then, we've referred to the baby as "Willow".

When Mark let me know he was coming home, I had to make a mad dash kicking Kendall out of the house and preparing how I was going to tell him the big news! I told him that I had a present for him when he came home (which he thought was cupcakes) and went upstairs to get ready. As soon as Mark arrived, not 30 seconds later, MY DAD showed up to the house!! He was coming by to pick up a spare key and get instructions for everything as we were leaving for a month-long trip to Europe in 3 days! AUGH!!! So as Dad walked in, I honestly didnt let him in further than the foyer, talked to him as fast as I could, and totally turned down the invitation for him to get beer and spend the day together. (When he found out he said "yeah, you were really rude that day. But I totally forgive you now!") As soon as I got my Dad out of the house, I ran back upstairs and put my plan into motion. Since we had been trying, I bought a baby dinosaur bib because Mark loves dinosaurs to announce the news. So I quickly put it around our 4 lb yorkie's neck and called down "Will you get this dog? Hes annoying me!" So as Mark was walking up the stairs, calling out to Bastian, he looked down and saw the bib. At first he thought I had made a cape but then realized what it was and when he looked up I was holding the test. To say he freaked out was an understatement!

Surprise Daddy!!!!

Mark being the matter-of-fact man that he is, needed a definitive answer so we ran BACK to CVS for digital test (by this point, Im sure the clerk at CVS knew what was up) and a mexican soda. I Juno-d it, downing that soda and waiting for the minute I had to pee. Again. But when I finally took the digital test, and it said "Pregnant", it became very very real. I finally started crying and it hit me- Im going to be a Mommy. :) We hugged and laughed and hugged and laughed for what felt like the rest of the day.

Our for-sure answer!

Being as it was the 4th of July, we went to watch the fireworks that night. As we looked up in the sky, we both smiled as if the celebration in the sky was just for us. I am going to attempt to update as much as I can throughout this process, including bump pictures and all! Stay tuned as we take this crazy journey! :)


Yep, these 2 are gonna be parents. ;)

Super Duper Party

We recently had our first "entertaining" party to break in the new home! So we decided the Super Bowl would bring a good group of family and friends. It totally did!! :) It was awesome to have all of our favorite people enjoying our lil nest. :)nIm sure I could name all the people there, but dont ask me anything about the game. All I knew was that both teams' colors were red, white, and blue- which really made decor ideas a lot easier. To welcome our guest, I decorated the dining room table with a football field inspired spread.

I took 2 large hurricane vases and filled them with layers of moss and paper confetti. I topped one with a stuffed football. I guess that side has the ball? I actually placed some red and white carnations in both vases but took this picture as the hubs was out buying them. :) The feild marker pieces are samples of (free) 7 different astroturf from Home Depot. I wasnt able to make all the yard lines but if you want to pay for it, I guess you can buy a yard of astroturf, and cut accordingly. But Im cheap.

You will need:

Astroturf samples from your local hardware store

White Electrical Tape

Scissors

Take one sample (or one coaster-sized sqare of the astroturf you didnt have to buy and cut)

Cut a strip of electrical tape in half, lengthwise.

Place the electrical tape down the center of the astroturf.

Create yard line numbers out of strips of electrical tape. I cleaned this up afterwards, but you get the idea.

Spread out on serving table, enjoy!

After a long day....

Day 1 of Semester 2 in the books. The spring semester of the school year always feels like it is over in a heartbeat. Im excited to start the craziness that is my life once things get rolling. Us theatre nerds are putting on Antigone, the cheerleaders are heading to competition, my Modern Oratory team has an academic UIL meet on the 13th, starting a Event and Wedding plan course in Feb, helping community theatre in March-May, not to mention that I have 4 preps this semester and we just got the ok to move into a beautiful new home! ***SO many posts ideas!!1**** But after a 2 week vacation, its always super sucky to get back into the groove of a 7-4. So with the hubs out of town until Friday, a home-spa night was needed.


For a relaxing bath, I wanted to use some of the lavender bath salt left over from Christmas gifts.
This salt is amazing!!! I promise I refuse to EVER buy bath salt again. I also happened to have, and used, lavender essential oil I purchased from the Becker Winery in Wimberely, TX. It makes me smile and think of having wine with Mark in Fredricksburg on New Years Day 6 weeks before he proposed. I watched every sip I took that day, sure that the ring would be in the glass THAT time. But I wouldnt take back being surprised at The Driskill on Feb 4 for anything.


The recipe for the salt is easy:
(1) cup of epsom salt
(1) cup of sea salt
(10) drops of lavender essential oil
(3) drops of food coloring

Mix the above mentioned ingredients until the salt is evenly coated, pour into a pretty apothocary jar, cover with lace and ribbon. This is a picture of the gifts I gave to my family for Christmas. My little sister, Dominique, had the great idea of simply using the salt as an air freshener. Stir it up whenever you need to refresh the scent. :) Thanks Doodle!!

NYE resolutions start Jan 2

If you missed my last post, I mentioned how Jan 1 is a "free day" in the Mikulin house hold. We spent the entire day vegging out, watching full seasons of Modern Family (comparing ourselves future selfs to characters the entire time) and Once Upon A Time (which led to awesome fairy tale dreams), drinking and eating whatever we darn well pleased. Well minus meat. Marks going pescatarian with me but only for Jan. We only left the house to get milkshakes. It. Was. Awesome.


Ok- now it's 2012. January 2 should be considered the first day of the year. So as such, NY resolutions start Jan 2. Mine is pretty simple- put this oven on self-clean to get ready for some baking.
I am just going to take better care of myself. Going pescatarian to eat better, going to yoga regularly, and not stretching myself to thin at work (read: learn to say no).

My dad told me that instead of resolutions he forgives one person who's hurt that they have caused he cannot let go. Mark and I both agree to start that as well. It feels really good.
I seriously recommend it. :)

So if you have a resolution but felt bad you were a waste of space yesterday, don't fret, you can start today. I am!

After I get up after this nap. :)