21 weeks :)

Hello out there! Well I am going to try and make this quick because American Idol is on and I love me some Idol! A good laugh is good for the soul...and I feel bad that it is at the expense of others...but if you are going on tv- that is free game for a laugh!

Anywhoozers- We are 21 weeks today! And my weekly emails inform me that she is the size of a large carrot or 5 large tangerines! Last week at 20 weeks she was a banana :) I did not update you with our last doc visit at 20 weeks- it went great! The doc said she was measuring at 20 weeks 5 days- they will not change my due date, unless it is a much bigger difference. So who knows when she might actually come! She weighed 14 ounces, 2 small ittty bitty ounces short of a pound! The ultrasound really made our day- you could see all of her fingers and toes (she has 10 of each!), and she was swallowing a lot...even raising her hand to her mouth to suck on her thumb (something Mike did as a child!).

The flutters are now gone and I am overjoyed when I now feel "love taps". I call Lily's light kicks love taps because they are not a hard kick yet. Sometimes it is in the lower abs which is her hands and arms, and then the stronger taps are on the left side of my belly button which is her feet. Mike has not been able to feel them- partly because the taps are few and quick! Speaking of quick- I have had some jabs of pain every now and then; however, the other morning as I rolled over to press snooze again I got the worst sharp pain on the left side. I curled up in the fetal position it was so bad. The sharp pains are called side ligament pains and it is just my body stretching out! They are quick, but I was really sore the rest of the day! Crossing my fingers that it doesn't get to that level of pain again...but what am I thinking---this is no where near the pain I will encounter when it is Lily's birthday! I will upload her new beauty shots tomorrow...again Idol is on and I have stopped typing a few types to enjoy some Idol crazies!

On a more somber note...I would like to ask all of my family and friends for some prayer help. If praying ain't your thing- then hope, wish, or dream for some peace in Egypt. You see my dad's sister, the fabulous Aunt Jane, married my sweet Uncle Fathy years ago. Fathy is Egyptian- but you would never know it because other than his "middle eastern tan", that I am so envy, he has the biggest & sweetest southern voice! Even though he grew up here in the states he still has family back home. His son and my cousin, Will, was just there visiting his Egypt for the first time. I am so thankful he is back home and safe. It breaks my heart for him to worry about his family in such a scary time of crisis that Egypt is facing. He speaks to his cousin everyday. Will said that his cousin did go out and protest a bit and warns that tomorrow is suppose to be very violent. So I ask you all to please pray for peace in Egypt. If not for my family's family, but for the future of the middle east and the repercussions that could happen if radical muslims gain ground and power.

drum roll....

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And The Bean actually has a name! We decided on Lily Mackenzie Romano :) I was so shocked at how hard it was to pick a name. I really struggled with the fact that I was naming a human being, not a pet that would 100% have 30 other nicknames. No, this name will go on stationary, on a resume, on a wedding invitation....she will raise her hand when this name will be called out in school...I could go on and on- so I took this task as a mother (strange to call myself that!) very seriously. Lily was a name that Mike and I liked before we even knew she was a "she". Mike was pulling hard for Peyton in the end so when he came up with the middle name Mackenzie I let him have it if the first name would be Lily...

Having Lily's name set makes this journey even more real. We love talking about her and actually using a name. Mike even asks me in the morning..."So how is Lily..." It feels right. So Lily and I need to get back to work- almost 20 weeks!! Half way there!!

BTW- Justin & Lauren, can't wait to tell her the list of names that her aunt & uncle came up for her! Onamora (romano spelled backwards with an added "a") was in our top 3.....:) lol

Sometimes I think God has moments where He likes to look down and laugh at us and moments He knew were coming. Case in point- my Monday. I woke up and got ready dreading working due to horrible rainy thunderstorms we were having and it was projected to rain the entire day. Mike and I searched the house and only found 1 umbrella....I do not know how I came upon this umbrella, but it was made for a child. Seriously the diameter stretches from one shoulder to another! I am sure I looked pretty ridiculous heading into my accounts! The only thing it is good for is keeping my hair wet, and well the rain was coming from all sorts of directions with wind so instead of looking like a drowned rat...I settled for misty frizzed hair. fabulous. Along with the lack of an actually working umbrella, I had the day off. Yes people I woke up and went to work on MLK! Thanks to my lovely co-worker Lauren, I would have worked the entire day if she hadn't texted me wondering why I was up so early on a day off! Thanks Laur! So as God chuckled upstairs I headed to the salon to get my nails done!

On another note I got the fetal heart monitor in the mail today. After a couple trys and with my mom's help I was able to make it work. Her heartbeat is lovely music that I could listen to all day long!

And on another note we have been preparing the house for the baby and first up was getting the grout clean in the front portion of the house and replacing the carpet in the baby's room, guest room and Mike's office. Grout was done and cheap- floors look uber clean ;) Carpet...well that was an experience. My mom came over in the morning while I went to work for the installation. When I came home for lunch I was surprised when I saw the carpet in Mike's office. We signed up to get regular looking carpet (these are rooms that are rarely used and we went the cheap route)..and to my amazement I had really nice berber carpet! I was shocked and gave my mom an eye- you know the "OMG this is not the right carpet..." eye. I quietly mouthed "this is nicer carpet than I ordered". I brought her in another room and explained the issue- I didn't want to say anything yet because if I could manage to score berber carpet for a cheaper price my lips were sealed.with super glue. The only hang up- the color. We wanted a light cream color. We got a color 8 shades darker. Our couch is a light chocolate and when you put a piece of the berber next to it, it blended. Sad that I knew I would not get to keep this major upgrade I went to Lowes to figure out what to do. Solution- the installers messed it up and installed someone else's carpet in our house and had our carpet at their warehouse. So they are coming back Thursday to rip out and install the right stuff. I am so happy that this is happening so quick. My house is such a mess with my dining room filled to the brim with all our home's decorations....

These are moments where I usually would have popped a bottle of red and poured a glass (or two) of vino. No vino for this preggo...so I am going to drink my special reserve (aka H2O) and watch 20/20. Hope God and you got a laugh...I did.