Barca Belly Pictures - Week 22

Here are a couple pictures from this week:



From this morning, after the chocolate buffet! I just want to point out that I'm wearing a dress I bought before I even got pregnant, best purchase ever. Not only was it a great dress for the cruise (lightweight, it has pockets), but I can't believe it still fit when I had to dress "business causal" for brunch.


Barca and I are both growing (and so far it seems to be in my stomach only, thankfully). And she is now kicking me on a regular basis, especially as I try to fall asleep! And now that the PE exam is over, we can focus on important things like the color of her room!

(And mom...now that I have a little bit more time on my hands, I'll try to get an appointment for a haircut...)

Just 10-12 weeks of waiting...

So yesterday was the big exam. All my studying and hard work rolled into one day. It was difficult. One marathon exam. And now, all I have left is to wait 10-12 weeks for the results (it was multiple choice, I don't know what can take so long!).
Basically here is how the day can be summarized:
-Left the house at 6:20 am, got home at 6:30 pm (it was a LONG day)
-8 hours total of exam time, 4 hours in the morning and 4 in the afternoon.
-80 questions total (approx. 6 minutes a question...not a lot of time to design a concrete beam or steel column!)
-75 minute lunch
-approx. 1.5 hours of just sitting there while they read instructions, tell us not to cheat, collect and count the exams, etc
-75 pounds of books (not an exaggeration, ask Nick, he carried it down the stairs)
-2 strangers I had to ask to help me get my suitcase of books in and out of my car
-finally a good nights sleep where I didn't have a dream about taking the test!

Today in celebration of having taken this exam, Nick got reservations at the chocolate buffet at a hotel downtown and we headed down there for brunch. When I took the FE (the first 8 hour exam I took in college) we went out drinking after. However, well...can't do that this time so I ate my weight in chocolate covered strawberries (okay, at least Barca's weight, well maybe a little more).

Feel the 'Nois!

That was the theme of this year's Homecoming at the University of Illinois. I went back and had a great time -- despite the final score of the football game at the center of the weekend. (Still can't believe we got beat by Minnesota. We really ARE better than them.)

It was cool to hang out with some friends from school I haven't seen in years -- and hit some of the campus bars I haven't hit in years. We didn't go to Kam's or Joe's, though, so I can't help but feel like the trip was missing something (namely skanks), but what can you do? Hehe...

Anyway.. since I feel like you'd be better served with picture captions rather than a long write-up, here we go (in chronological order):

No college football weekend is complete without an early morning of tailgating. We got set up on the corner of 4th and Kirby in Champaign (as usual), kiddy-corner to Memorial Stadium at 7 am. There's nothing like waking up at 5:30 am to start drinking -- unless it's waking up at 3:30 am to start drinking at the Rose Bowl. That was still amazing. The guys are all friends from my fraternity.

 

My mom and dad even stopped by the tailgate to enjoy some weird Costa Rican beer. Aside from not having any labels, the beer was great.

It had been a while since I saw some of the frat guys. However, some I tailgated with before the Bears game in Chicago just a couple weeks ago.

Gametime was 11:00 am, but we went into the stadium early to catch the Marching Illini. They were good, as always. Too bad the football team couldn't manage to follow suit.

There's the football team entering the stadium through the Marching Illini (and alumni band). That's my mom's hand waving her "Zook Zone" towel. I have one, too. They are orange and they are awesome.

The improvements to Memorial Stadium are really great. These stands behind the north end zone, the new home of the student section, are brand new.

On the field behind the south end zone, the university set up a bright orange basketball court for what it dubbed "the world's largest basketball practice" following the football game. Too bad the basketball team sucks, and the football team suffered a depressing loss, because absolutely nobody stuck around to watch.

After the game we made our way back to campustown, where I had to get a picture of the Alma Mater (and Altgeld Hall). The town is still a great place to visit. We made sure to eat a burger at Murphy's, some barbecue at Hickory River, and breakfast at the Courier Cafe (for Sunday breakfast with Ann's dad, Mike). I am sorry to say we missed out on deep dish pi zza from Papa Del's, though. We tried to go there after the game, but there was an hour-and-a-half long wait.. which we couldn't stomach. Too hungry.
After the game we went to hang out at Legends, one of the other bars on campus to hang out with, you guessed it, more frat friends.
(It actually is an Illinois jersey from the early '90s.. but hello.. how about some orange?! I don't know what the university was thinking back in those days.)
Here's me and friend toward the end of the night -- just prior to our La Bamba's run. I can still taste the chorizo-y goodness of my Super Nachos.

That's the trip in an orange nutshell. Like I said, I had a great time, despite the football team's beset efforts to ruin it. I hope to get back to another Homecoming as soon as possible -- and whenever that is, I'm sure I'll have a little Illini fan in tow.

50-yard line

We are half-way there. Only 20 more weeks (give or take a few) till we are, "Harrer, party of three".

I would post a picture, but Nick, once again, has jetted off to Chicago for a long weekend (this time he's going to Illinois' homecoming, Go Illini!!). So we'll all just have to wait till he returns and has time to take a picture of me. Hopefully he'll have some good stories and eat plenty of pokey sticks and Papa Dels and Murphys and Aunt Sonias...I'm getting hungry just thinking about it. I can only wish that we could get decent deep dish pizza out here on the east coast.

I'm feeling her move and kick a lot more now. It is really a strange feeling. Pretty awesome though. Apparently she is now the length of a banana (according to the internet). I'm definitely getting bigger, it feels like everyday I'm getting a larger belly.

We've begun quest for the perfect name. The most difficult part is when I think I have a great name, and I tell Nick and he shoots it down immediatly off a gut reaction. I can't blame him entirely though, I do the same thing. At least we have developed a set of criteria that we want the name to adhere too. But we have decided that we won't pick a final name until we meet her. So we only have to agree upon a short list right now.

And only two weeks until the PE. I'm starting to freak out a little bit. And it doesn't help that I now have a headcold. The last thing I want is to be sniffling or coughing during the test!

10 fingers, 10 toes, and...

...nothing extra. No extra appendages. No stems.

We're having a girl!

We had an ultrasound last week where we were able to see her heart beating, her stomach, her brain, her little arms and fingers, and her itty-bitty little toes! The doctor said all was well and normal.

Again, Barca did not sit still for the doctor. Constantly moving the doctor had to work fast to get measurements and photos. She kept her face covered up with her arms too, which made it difficult to get a good picture of her little face. However, she did cooperate when the doctor asked if we wanted to know if it was a girl or boy.

Below are a couple of the images from the ultrasound. Fair warning, during the actual ultrasound she looked a lot more like a baby and when she moved you could make out her arms, legs, etc. But the printouts you get, yeah, don't really look like her. So enjoy the photos of Barca at 19 weeks.

Here is all of Barca, you can see her trying to punch me

Tickle, tickle...bottom of Barca's feet

I am super excited to have a daughter. I know what little girls like! And I can't wait to make her dresses and skirts (making boys clothes would just be boring!) I wasn't rooting for a boy or a girl, both have plenty of pros and cons. Plus, it'll be nice to go against the trend right now of all our friends having boys!

Hey, speak of which, any of you new or soon-to-be parents of boys want to wager that we can potty train Barca before you can potty train your guys?

Weekend in the Windy City

Last weekend my friend, Dan (who is a fan of everything Philadelphia), and I went to Chicago for a couple days of football and fun. The main reason we went is because I was lucky enough to get free tickets to the Bears vs. Eagles game from a friend of mine from journalism class in college who now works for the Bears (as a photographer), but hates football.

That's right.. FREE tickets. It turns out he gets a pair to every game and is working for most of them and has no use for his seats. Nice friend to have, huh? Now.. if I can only figure out a way to make friends with somebody who works for United or American Airlines.

In any case, I gave Dan a whirlwind tour of downtown Chicago, including stops at the Sears Tower, Grant / Millennium Park, Navy Pier, the waterfront, the Magnificent Mile, and Wrigley Field. We also made sure to grab some Chicago-style hot dogs and deep dish pizza.

Saturday night, just a few hours after getting in and dropping our stuff off at my Grandma's place (who was very kind to let a couple of goof-offs stay with her), we headed downtown to catch the Illinois -- Penn State football game at a Big Ten bar I'd been to a few times. Little did we know, though, that the place was the headquarters for the night of the Chicago Illini Club -- the city's UI alumni organization. Needless to say, Dan was outnumbered. But, his team wound up winning so he was happy.

Sunday was the main event, though. In the afternoon we met up with a couple of my friends from college (Don, Jennifer, Zack, Colton) -- who are Bears season ticket-holders -- at their tailgate. Thanks to them for some great company and awesome food. After a couple hours of tailgating, we made our way into Soldier Field. As hideous as the place looks from the outside (you know, with the UFO having landed on the classic, old, columned stadium), it is spectacular on the inside. Not a bad seat in the place and some great concourses/facilities. And, I'm happy to say Sunday was my night to leave happy.. as the Bears managed a great upset of the Eagles.

In all.. it was a great trip. We packed a lot of stuff into just a few days, but it did a lot to remind me about how much I love that town.

Here are a few pictures from the weekend:

This dude at the Bears game at Red Sox hat on. Weird.