Molly at 25.5 weeks

I am only posting this because all you crazy people asked for it, and mostly because my crazy sister is holding my coveted diaper bag until I post a picture of myself! Let me preface this by saying that I have never liked pictures of myself...even when I was in shape and at my optimal weight. I always look 50 pounds heavier than I am. So take that, add some extra weight, and then add in 25.5 weeks worth of baby making, and you can imagine how I feel about my pictures now! Oh well, what the heck?? Here I am in all my glory with 25.5 weeks of pregnancy under my skin!

"Well, it's not going to fall off!"

I had my 20 week ultrasound on Friday. I was so excited the night before; I felt like a little kid on Christmas Eve again! I couldn't wait to receive the confirmation that I was having a baby girl. You see, from day 1 I have called it a girl. When I was only craving bean burritos and couldn't keep anything else down, even Elliott nicknamed the fetus "Juanita" (for those of you who don't know, Elliott is half Mexican). When I would read my weekly BabyCenter email and it said "he" in the development description, it didn't sound right. I had many dreams of my little girl...even before I was pregnant. Even Elliott had dreams of the same girl. I knew I was having a girl, and I wanted it confirmed. Her name would be Paisley Jo. Oh, the crafty things I had planned!! Plus, literally ALL of the friends/family around me have had boys. I thought it was high time for a girl in this area, and I was going to be the one to have it.

Elliott finally got to go to this ultrasound. The technician was really efficient and told us everything she was looking at. It was amazing to see the feet, hands, face, spine, heartbeat, legs, butt. Then it came time for the all-important question: What is the sex of the cute little thing inside me???????? The technician said:

"If I can find the sex, do you want me to tell you?"

"Yes."

"Ok.....pause.....it's a little baby BOY!"

"OK....are you SURE??? I know for sure this is a girl."

"No, it's definitely a boy [she points the cursor to his jewels and says]...See that? It's not going to fall off!!"

HAHAHAHA!! She made me laugh, though I have to say I was in a state of shock. Elliott turned to me and said with a huge smile on his face, "It's ok babe, I'll buy you some ice cream."

I must admit I had a hard time at first discovering that my baby was really a boy and not a girl. I mean, I was excited for a boy too, it's just that I was POSITIVE it was a girl! Plus, I think I would make a good girl mom, but I'm weary of my abilities with a boy. I'm getting more and more excited for my little boy everyday. I just wish I could come up with a name I like. Elliott likes Quinton or Wyatt, but I'm not a big fan of either name. We both kinda like Tyson, but still, not sold. Boy names are hard!!

Anyway, to get more excited about my little man, I decided to go shopping. Elliott's sister has been in town, so she went with me. I bought his first outfit. A couple days later, Elliott bought his second outfit. Elliott thinks that he'll get more compliments in the outfit he picked out versus mine. So, if you have read down this far, leave me a comment and tell me which outfit you like better for Baby Snyder!

This is Elliott's outfit. We were at Universal Studios and he picked out this thing for our little guy. Elliott wants me to point out that it has padding in the stomach area to imitate a six-pack:

This is my outfit(s). Little monkey PJ's, silly monkey t-shirt with shorts, socks, and blanket to match:

LET THE VOTING BEGIN!!

A New Life....A New Love

I've been meaning to post this for a while, but you all know how my blogging skills have been lately. So for the few of you who still occasionally check this blog, the Snyders have some post-worthy news:

We have a little one on the way!!

We are thrilled and a little scared at the same time! I am just about to start my second trimester, and the official due date is October 21st. We don't know what we are having yet, but for some reason, we both lean toward thinking its a girl. We find out on June 4th....forever and a day away it seems.

I have had two ultrasounds so far. The first was at about 8 weeks and was not under the best of circumstances. My blood work returned abnormal - very high white blood cell count and very low progesterone. They thought this was indicative of a miscarriage, so before they started me out on any treatments, they called me in for an emergency ultrasound. They didn't give me any real hope, so I went in to the ultrasound thinking that our baby hadn't made it. I was upset, needless to say. The ultrasound tech wasn't saying anything, so I said,

"Well, is there a baby?"

"Yes." Nothing else.

"And does it have a heartbeat?"

"Yes. Hold on a minute." Me sitting there with some relief, but not much.

Then she turned on the sound. And I heard the most beautiful sound I've ever heard in my life...a strong and healthy heartbeat. (Elliott couldn't be there because of board exams). And I saw the little kidney bean moving. I cried; I went from thinking my baby was dead to seeing a miracle....I was in love instantly.

Flash forward to 12 weeks along. This time I'm going in for other genetic testing and they do another ultrasound. Only four weeks ago, my baby looked like a bean and not much like a human. Now I get to see a perfect profile, arms, hands, legs, feet. And then the ultrasound tech turns on that sound, and I cry...again. (Elliott couldn't be there due to yet another test). The amount of love I feel for this child is amazing, especially considering I haven't even met it or felt it (except for excessive amounts of puking).

My life is about to change forever, and I couldn't be more excited!

7 Years and No Itch

On the 14th of this month, Elliott and I celebrated our 7 year wedding anniversary. I meant to post something on the day, but my blogging skills need some serious work. You've heard of the "7 Year Itch," right? It represents the fact that most divorces happen after 7 years of marriage. Well, there is no itching going on in our marriage, that is for sure! Elliott is the kindest, sweetest, most loving husband I could have ever asked for. Through the years we've worked out a lot of our kinks and it just keeps getting better as we learn more about each other. I am so blessed to have him in my life; he balances me out. I can't wait to see what the next year brings....hopefully a little Elliott or little Molly. He is my better half! I love you babe!

P.S. To celebrate, we went to a nice dinner at J. Alexander's, grabbed some steamed milk to go, and then went home.

My Sister, The Miami Wo-Man!

My sister Jamie came to visit us this weekend! She's made it a point to come see us every year, which I have loved! This year she has been really into competing in tri-athalons, duathalons, and half-marathons. She found out that Miami was having a half-Iron Man competition around the same time she comes every year in November. She previously did a half-Iron Man in Utah and loved it, so she decided to do another while here with us. This competition was huge - over 2000 contestants. The run part of it went through the Miami Metro Zoo, so we were excited to get to see the crazy contestants along with the animals. For those of you who don't know, a Half Iron Man is a 1.2 mile swim, then a 56 mile bike ride, followed by a 13.1 mile run.

This is Elliott at 5:30 a.m. at the race site. We had to get up at 3:45 a.m. in order to get ready and get down to Miami for the race. It was a little hard to get up, but we were excited to cheer on our favorite racer!

I don't know what my hand is doing in this picture, but it was just as dawn broke, so give me a break! I was so excited to cheer her on!

The racers were assigned swim caps according to their start "wave." Jamie was to start at 7:25 a.m. and was in the red group. I made her pose for this picture b/c the caps were so cute. They were little sharks/pirana things with fins! She's definitely a fish!

Let the race begin!! Here is her wave starting!

I think this was her, but there were so many swimmers out there, I definitely can't be sure.

Elliott and I ran around a lot to try to get good pictures...actually, we were sprinting around a whole lot! We found this spot where I could take a cool picture as she was going to her first transition. I was waiting with my camera ready and everything, and this is the shot I ended up with! Guess she is just WAY fast!!!

Here was my last ditch effort at getting the transition shot!

Here she comes on the run! This is just outside the Metro Zoo and about 2 miles into her run. (We never saw her on the bike, though we diligently searched!) She's cheering on the other contestants as she goes!She caught site of us. Elliott tried to anticipate her run, and she must've slowed for the pose, hence the side shot. I like her enthusiasm on the last leg of the race! What an athlete...I'd be dying...or probably dead.

Lookin good in pink, black, white and grey!

Look closely and you'll see African elephants in the background! Just before she got there, the elephants were really close to the edge but they moved by the time she got there...geez, Jamie, can't you pick it up?? ;) J/K!

Here she is at about mile 10 on the run! Almost done! She's concentrating and throwing us her soaking wet bike gloves.

The home stretch just before the finish line! Still running! You go girl!!

IT'S OVER!!! Go Jamie!!! Her finishing time was 5:41:03! She placed 6th in her age group (one away from a prize, darn!), and placed 22nd in women's. I think she was 126th overall! Very competitive!

Catching her breath and eating a banana to avoid cramping!

Trying to eek out a smile while catching her breath...I'm sure she was like, "Ok Molly, enough with the camera!"

Proud brother in law after the race!

Go Jamie! We are so proud of you!! We miss you already!!

Happy Halloween!!

This year Halloween was quite the event. I had a work costume party, a murder mystery party, Trunk or Treat, and a Halloween party to attend! Elliott had the idea to be the Joker. The Joker has a girlfriend named Harley Quinn, so he bought me her outfit. It was not flattering at all, so I made up my own Joker costume to go along with his. I think it turned out pretty good!

Work Party...Stephanie was the Lollipop Princess from Candyland, Joe was our file clerk Carmen (who was out of town), Ketsia was a cereal killer, I was Lady Joker, Wanda was a baseball player, and yes, my boss Charlie was a banana! Haha!

My mom sent me some hand baggies b/c she just knows I love to do funky treats on holidays. These were perfect party favors. I filled the ends with candy corn to look like fingernails and then popcorn for the flesh. I was not original in that idea, it was on the cover for the baggies.

Haley gave me the idea to do a 7 layer bean dip with a spiderweb. I think it turned out great for my party.

The Joker and the Lady Joker at Trunk or Treat!! It was hilarious because some of the kids were scared to come up to us. They'd rather pass on the candy than deal with the creepy Jokers. I think Elliott looked especially creepy. Some people didn't even recognize him.

The Joker and Batman. This little guy, Hayden, must think Elliott really is the Joker because the next day at church, he leaned over to his mom and said, "Mom, the Joker is sitting right over there!!" So cute!

The CJ Pirate Family!! AKA Peter, Barbara, and Justin

Ipod earbuds! AKA Susan and Matt

Cowboys and their sheep herder! AKA Micah, J.D. and Jonnie

Doctor Family! AKA Justin, Toshi, and Taija

Obama and the Nobel Peace Prize! AKA Steve and Emilee

Luke Skywalker, Princess Leah, and Yoda! AKA James, Lindsey, and Jem

Nurse and H1N1 patient! AKA Dano and Jeremiah

Michael Jackson and Soccer player! AKA Jake and Mallory with baby Schumers almost here

Air traffic control and NACHO Libre! AKA Morgan and Chelsey

Secret Service and tired Mom! AKA Alex, Heidi, and Greyson

Yes, folks, there was an awesome pinata at this party!! I felt like I was 5 again and loved every second of it!

Emilee got me super dizzy and I was seriously about to fall over in this picture!

Lady Joker giving that ghost some grief!

I just love this picture of Dano. She had to interrupt her swinging b/c the ghost fell off the rope.

And last, but certainly not least, a performance by Michael Jackson!!

Hello, I'm a Mac

Check out our new big pimpin' iMac!! The best part about this baby is that it was 100% FREE!!! That's right, I said Fa-Ree!! Elliott was so kind enough to participate in a Gallup poll for his school. In doing so, he was entered for a chance to win an iMac. Who ever wins those things anyway? Well, then he got an email that he won a Mac, so he went to the school administration office like 3 times to claim his so called prize. No one knew what he was talking about, so he just figured the email was just some gimmick or something. Then this weekend one of the administrators at his school found about at it and told him to go check one more time. So he did. It was open house weekend, so everyone and their mom was there to see him haul out this big huge box with MY new computer!! :) Yes, mine. He doesn't really know that yet...

I'm so excited to try out the Mac world. So far it has been complete bliss. Storing photos and songs has never been easier. I just might leave PC's forever!!!