The bundle’s first live music show

Jeff and I headed out to see the Matt White show last night and not only was it outstanding, the baby was getting his or her groove on too! I'm convinced we have a little rock star in me, but that could be wishful thinking on my part (because I love me some music and love me some people with musical talent). Appease me and let's pretend the kicks and punches I've been feeling lately are actually air guitar moves and hand to mouth microphone simulations.

Let me fade back into my promotions days. If you haven't heard of Matt White, check him out . However, it completely worked in our favor that apparently many of you haven't heard of him because that meant we sat front row, three feet away from him as the band performed last night. Not to mention, tickets were ridiculously cheap (13 bucks, so around $20 thanks to Ticketmaster). We couldn't believe it, but the venue was like a petite grade school auditorium (perhaps more like a gymnasium), a sentiment echoed by both opening acts and the headliner. We knew it would be small, which we were pumped about, but we had no idea of just how intimate it would end up being. There had to be less than 50 people there. Seating was set up like a basic church style of two groups of seats on each side and an aisle in the middle. Facing the stage, we sat in the left section and had the first two aisle seats. Matt (yeah, I'll fake like we're tight) could literally spit on me (and I was so captivated by the closeness that I may have welcomed it if he had)!


If you haven't sensed, I could go on and on (which I probably will continue to do). I'll start my conclusion with saying that after the show, the band came off stage to hang out with the audience for a bit. We ended up being able to score their set list (with the drummer's permission), and thus began the mission of getting the guys to sign it for us (I know, total whack jobs, but absolutely worth all the entertainment. It was Jeff's idea, and it was brilliant.).

We were talking with the drummer for so long though that eventually Matt retreated from the few stragglers that remained without us getting his signature. We finished our chat, snagged a John Hancock from the guitarist that hadn't yet signed it (yes, we know their names, but I'll refrain from using them so as not to sound like a name dropper :) ) and decided to wait to see if Matt would appear again. No such luck until a guy breaking down the equipment asked us if we were waiting for Matt, so we told him the deal (he was the last of the four to sign the set list and we hoped not to leave without his mark too). He said he’d see if he could help, went back in the room Matt was in and then came out and invited us in. Yes, he invited us in! Matt, his band mates and a couple others were hanging out and we were finally able to bug him and he let us do so, graciously.


We tried to clarify that we weren't crazy, probably just annoying, but they made us feel entirely normal, welcome even. We got to chat the group up for about ten minutes maybe. Awesome. They asked how we had heard about them (an iTunes discovery of mine about five months ago), we talked about what they thought about the venue, where else in Minnesota they’ve played, had some other miscellaneous banter and we ended the conversation with some pregnancy talk, which was really fun! We let them know that it was our baby’s first show and they were all so courteously interested about the pregnancy. It was charming, even if they were as I said, just being courteous. Thanks for reading my recap; we had a blast. It's a night we’ll remember and hopefully they’ll get their well-deserved support and then it will be even cooler sharing this memory with our child.

(FYI: When a word or phrase is highlighted in a different color than the other text within a post, it is hyperlinked so you can click on it for more information...for those that didn't already know. There are several examples above, and in previous posts if you hadn’t noticed.)




Sorry about the poor quality of these photos, but I was trying to be discrete and these are from my phone.

Our baby at 21 weeks

At 21 weeks, the baby is about the length of a carrot.

(For the first 20 weeks, when a baby's legs are curled up against the torso and hard to measure, measurements are taken from the top of the head to the baby's bottom — the "crown to rump" measurement. After 20 weeks, the baby is measured from head to toe. ~cited from babycenter.com)

20 weeks: Photos

Doctor appointment: 20 week ultrasound

Our baby is looking "smart, limber and awesome", according to some choice words the woman doing our ultrasound used today! :) Well, we have a feeling the smart comment after looking at the brain was not much more than a warm fuzzy, but she really meant the limber part (see last photo labeled "foot over face" and notice the baby's hand appears to be holding the foot!) and we like to think she meant the awesome part too!

She pointed out a few key features that help ease the serious concerns at this stage about our baby having some of the main abnormalities they check for, so that was wonderful to hear. That part made me start to cry. It was just nice hearing any kind of reassurance. All four chambers in the heart looked good and the baby’s fingers and toes are all accounted for (no, he or she isn't missing a big toe in photo four, it's just bending!). Seeing the details of the spine was really cool too. As we had planned, we did not succumb to the suspense getting the better of us and still opted not to find out what we are having. It wasn't clear anyway, so even better for us knowing that no one could have spilled the beans accidentally. I've gained nine pounds, and even though that's normal, I can't help but wonder how many more will be packed on in the second half!

Everything combined made for an extremely surreal and moving event today. Our eyes could not stop staring at the monitor and we are both so in love with our baby. We met with our doctor after the ultrasound and he said that everything looked fantastic!

Diaper champ

Let's just come right out and say it: yes, Jeff changed all the poopy diapers, three to be exact, when we watched Makayla Levy (just shy of four months old) this past Friday night (Friday, October 17th). I was one heck of a cheerleader though and I only had to leave the room once while gagging and that, my friends, is a considerable fete.

Back during my babysitting days, my recollection is that changing diapers seemed to come fairly naturally. In the past several years though, ever since I changed the sloppiest, nastiest, most rotten diaper of my nephew's (all while I had a winter scarf that I had sprayed profusely with perfume tied to my face about four times around to cover my nose as I still gagged continuously from the stench), it hasn't come as easily for me. I could go into many more details about the seemingly never-ending crap fountain that I faced that day, but I'll spare the gory details.

Luckily, everyone likes to remind me that it will be different when I'm changing my own child, and I sure hope they're right. But especially now, with a nose like a bloodhound, I just couldn't do it. Sorry Makayla, but you sure were a sweetheart, stinky butt and all! She was such a good little girl for us, and we had a really enjoyable time with her. We appreciated that Mike and Missy trusted us enough to give us the opportunity. Both Jeff and I were able to do one of Makayla's feedings, so that was fun too. I was somewhat surprised when I looked over and Jeff was trying to breastfeed her during his, but I figured he must really know what he's doing. After all, he did take a parenting class in college.

I will not lose my mind over crib bedding

I will not lose my mind over crib bedding. I will not lose my mind over crib bedding. OK, so finding crib bedding has been a bit of a challenge.


In the grand scheme, it’s really not that big of deal, but it’s proving to be more difficult than I had planned for. The toughest part comes from the fact that we already have our walls painted the color we want for our nursery and finding something that matches our beloved “Firebush” (I wish we could say we picked it for the name) would be a lot easier if, say we had picked something called “Creamy Buttercup”.


Back when we decided to paint our then office this very piping hot shade of orangish-red (see photos to get the gist), we did so thinking that this would be a fun shade of gender neutral for what we hoped would be our nursery in the not too distant future. It really was in our master plan.


Well the shade is still fun and we both still love it, but finding bedding that agrees is like buying a shirt in the perfect shade of magenta and then realizing the only way you’d find shoes to match is if you pulled a move straight out of the 80s/early 90s and had them dyed to the desired hue (wait, do people still do that?) . I’m not looking for perfect, but even most shades of orange and Firebush don’t always blend so well. For a while I thought that black and white would look really great with it, and I’m pretty sure it would, but I’ve since tired of the thought of that combination.


Of course, we could paint the walls a different color, but…we don’t want to! Besides, how could we do that to Square and Balanced, after it took a couple coats of primer and no less than three coats of paint on top of it to achieve the masterpiece (thanks Pete!)? Anyway, as of now, the color stays and the bedding hunt continues.


It really is not as big of a deal as I’m probably making it seem, but I have been looking and looking and looking. I’ve looked in person and online. I’ve looked at the low end and I’ve looked at the high end. It’s very easy to find pinks and blues, but when we don’t know if we’re having pink or blue, I have to move on. It’s very easy to find yellows and greens and most things in between (starting to feel like I’m in a Dr. Seuss book with the rhyming here), even combinations of all the colors of the rainbow, well all except…Firebush.


Until recently! We have hope. I’ve found a few patterns that I think could work, but I’m waiting to get swatches to see for sure. What’s even better is that both Jeff and I like them, even if not to the same extent. Regardless, there is hope, but now I have another wrench to throw because I may have found something even better. Custom bedding! Screeeeeeeech. Anything with the word custom usually costs a pretty penny, and unfortunately, this newly found option isn’t as budget conscious as we had hoped. But for both of us to really love what we’ve found, that has to account for something, huh?


But I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t try to figure out a way to do it for less. So we have a couple fabrics we like in mind and I’m wondering…do any of you reading know of anyone who can sew? And I don’t mean the “yeah, my mom sewed me a Halloween costume once in the third grade” kind of seamstress. If we go this route, I’d really love to find someone who knows exactly what they are doing. I have found places that do this online, but after buying the fabric, sending it to them, paying them to do it and paying to get it back to us, we’re better off using the place that we originally discovered just to save us the hassle and to give us the piece of mind it’ll be done correctly (which in the end may just be worth it anyway). So if anyone knows of some avenues to explore, please post a comment or send me an email and I will explore. I’m not saying this is the approach we will even end up taking. Like I said, we have found some options that may work, but I’m also into seeing what’s out there. Did I mention we don’t even have a crib yet? So yeah, keep that in mind when I pretend like this has been the biggest deal. It’s hasn’t been.


Call me crazy. Call me anal. Heck, call me pathetic, but these types of things consume me some. I wish they didn’t, but if they didn’t, who would take care of all the worrying? Surely not my husband (and God love him for that too). Neither of us wants a fancy schmancy nursery; that’s not what this is about at all. But we are going to have to look at this room a lot, and for quite some time, so we’re just hoping it will be pleasing to us too (somebody, anybody who has done a nursery, especially for the first time, back me up on this!). So please don’t say after reading this, “Wow, she needs to relax. It’s just baby bedding for crying out loud!” I know you want to, but I do know that after all, it is just baby bedding for crying out loud. Oh, and please don’t come over once it’s completed and say, “Wow, THAT’s what you ended up with after all that stressing?” Yeah, that is what we ended up with and chances are, we’re hopefully happy about it.


Seriously, this truly, truly is a fun process for me. Yes, even after I have written an entire post on the challenges of nursery décor. I really do love it and part of the fun of it for me, I hate to say, is the challenge of it too. Again, I promise, amidst the extremely minor decorating obstacles, I am having a ton of fun (even if I have become a tad boring, writing about crib bedding---just wait until the stroller and car seat posts come...and you can bet they will)!

20 weeks down and 20 weeks to go

Yay---five months pregnant today! If pregnancy was really nine months long like I was always told…well let’s not get bogged down by that at this point. It's actually more like 38 weeks, but somewhere along the way, there was this bright idea to start the countdown a couple weeks before we are really even pregnant, thus making it 40 weeks. Geez, this still gets a little confusing. Regardless, I am 20 weeks pregnant today and have 20 weeks to go until my due date and I am loving every minute of it!

From twinges and tingles to...

"That's awesome," he says with a smile as his hand touches my stomach while his baby moves. The baby has been more active lately, and last night (Tuesday, October 14th), Jeff could feel that too! He was out of town for a few days last week, and when he got home I let him know that in addition to feeling the baby internally, I was pretty sure I could also feel movement from the outside of my belly now. That night (Saturday, October 11th), he was trying to feel too and there were a few times he felt something, but neither of us was totally convinced it was the baby (maybe my stomach flexed, maybe dinner was digesting, maybe it was our imaginations entirely). Now after feeling the same things again, we're fairly certain that's what it was then also. It was even more intense last night and there was no mistaking it, almost like little punches and kicks. Jeff can feel the baby now! What a lovely experience to share.

The power of the blog/Birdzilla

Most sports fans have heard of the Sports Illustrated jinx whereby an athlete gets showcased on the cover of the magazine and soon thereafter he/she goes down with a season ending injury. Little did I know that the Bundle in the Oven blog, like SI, has a similar power. My last post featured a picture of Manchester United’s Cristiano Ronaldo with the AIG corporate logo emblazoned on the front of his jersey. Shortly after my post the insurance giant nearly crumbled to the ground. Just a coincidence?...I highly doubt it. To test the theory I have posted a picture of Donald Trump. Wouldn’t the world be a better place if he was the next to go broke during this financial crisis and we never had to listen to that arrogant, condescending goon ever again? And we’d never have to look at his ugly mug on TV either! If this works feel free to start submitting candidates for my next post. I like where this is going. Stay tuned...

As for actual baby stuff, I’m really looking forward to the ultrasound on October 21st. Nothing would make me happier than if Dr. Chow said, “Wow, that kid is enormous. I think we better induce right here and now.” The waiting is pretty much killing me at this point. Jennifer has had to listen to me on about 100 occasions utter the phrase, “Let’s get that kid out of there already.” Maybe you need nine months to mentally, emotionally, and financially prepare for a baby if you are a 16 year old kid who had no intention of having a child your sophomore year of high school, but when you’re 32 years old nine months seems like an eternity. It’s like booking a tropical vacation months in advance. All you do is daydream about the feel of the white sand between your toes, the sound of the waves crashing on the beach, the taste of the margarita as it hits your lips…until it eventually starts to drive you nuts. That’s where I am with this kid right now. Hurry it up in there already! Isn’t that turkey done? A couple of weeks ago my wife’s belly button popped out just like that timer thing pops out on a turkey on Thanksgiving. Doesn’t that mean the kid should be popping out any second now? I know, be careful what you wish for. We certainly don't want a premature baby five months ahead of schedule, but c'mon!

In the meantime I guess I’ll just have to daydream about dirty diapers, sleepless nights and spit up on my favorite clothes. Yep, I knew that would work. That metal imagery has worked wonders for my patience already. Gobble, gobble!

Happy, happy

Two blissful years and things keep getting better. No champagne for this year's cheers, but this one contained something extra special: you. Remember this date, kiddo. Happy anniversary to us!

Family ties

From morning to night, such fun was had yesterday (Sunday, October 5th). Before Jeff and I had dinner together with all of our parents, my mom and I spent the early part of the day with Vince so we could make his family's pasta sauce and meatball recipes. How I love being married to a man with Italian roots. To say Jeff's dad can cook is an understatement, but there is something so special about having family recipes that have been passed through generations and it’s a privilege being able to learn them for myself. It's even better when those recipes involve Italian food, one of my absolute favorites.

The lesson for me was long overdue; we've been talking about making it happen since even before Jeff and I were married. Tricia had her lesson with Vince's mom about two weeks after they were married, so I did get a little grief from her for my delay! I have learned my share of other recipes from Vince though, and I'm sure I'll be passing them down one day too. My mom had asked to come along when I got together with Vince. "Since I'm family now, I should probably learn how to make the family sauce too!" she explained. We had a wonderful time and even though the day may have started with the idea of just having some good times together, it was something I know I will always remember and I will take so much pride in telling our child(ren) about it.










A quick (or not so quick) aside…We so also celebrate Tricia’s Irish heritage (both Jeff and I are about half Irish too) with a traditional corned beef and cabbage dinner for St. Patty’s day every year, and it was great learning how to make pigs in a blanket with her a while back. I’ll also be making her pecan pie recipe for years to come (anything that tastes that good has to be really bad for you---and it is, but it is so yummy you can't resist it). Jeff’s nana, Tricia’s mom, gave me her pineapple pie recipe which was the ending to the very first meal we ever had together at their home in Florida. She promised to give me the recipe if Jeff and I were married (we weren’t even engaged at the time), but then gave me the recipe before our stay concluded!

I have also learned so many recipes from my mom and several of those were passed down to her from both her mom and my dad's mom. Even for dinner last night, my mom made a dessert that I will always associate with my grandma. Just mention Cherry Delight to my maternal aunts and cousins and no doubt the vision of grandma Sales’s kitchen or dining room table appears. My nana, my dad’s mom, not only let me drink Cafe Vienna coffee as a kid, she was also responsible for some mighty tasty spaghetti of her own. Even though her recipe may not win any awards with the Italians, it was hers and it was, and still is (thanks to the help of my mom), delicious.

It helps that I love to cook, but being able to share in the recipes, in the history (and yes, in the eating!), brings such a thrill to me. I cannot wait for all that will be passed down to the next generation. I hope I’m in the kitchen someday teaching family recipes passed down from both sides, and maybe some new ones of my own too.

OK, back on track. It seemed only fitting that we'd get to eat the finished product of our work yesterday, so last night we enjoyed dinner together with our parents (and Tom was able to join us too). Jeff and I feel extremely fortunate to have our parents in our lives and the fact that the two sets get along so well with each other is an added bonus.







Our baby is one lucky duck too. Our parents are all so excited to be his or her grandparents and there is so much love circling this little one already. Thanks in advance to our moms and dads for being the best grandparents! May you always feel our baby’s love just as strongly as we hope you feel ours for the four of you. We will be looking forward to all of the stories, traditions, shared meals and the recipes that will continue to be passed along to come.