Cold Offspring

Sunny sometimes wakes up periodically throughout the night, usually after 4a, and we let her shuffle around and cry a little until she goes back to sleep. But when its cold like it has been here in Florida, we lay awake and wonder aloud if she's cold, too. We have the heater on and she is layered up with a singlet, socks, and her warmest feety jammies- and still she's cold.

We cant be the only parents who worry that their kids are cold, and rightfully so- Jason usually goes and gets her and they sleep the rest of the morning, warm, under our comforter, & on the recliner.

There are many more months of winter and I just cant stand it any longer. I bought Sunny this today:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000W8PZ0A/ref=ox_ya_os_product

I found it originally on Halo's website under Sleep Sacks for Early Walkers. It would've been over $36 to order one there. On amazon.com it is $20 (with shipping) and will be here by Friday. Not that we will really need it Friday night; I think we will use it during the really cold nights. It is basically a blanket worn over the pajamas. The reason this is needed is because Sunny has never kept a blanket on. She is too young to pull one over herself. We also put her in her crib awake each night, but sleepy. She sometimes stands and moves around before nodding off, thus throwing off any blankets. I creep in there before bed to cover her once for the night... & that must get thrown off about 4a.

What 2011 Brings

Things I Want to do in 2011:

Send out New Years cards instead of a holiday card. I think this will be the new "in" thing to do. And I have a few unique ideas. And I'm sick of the same 'ole Christmas poses, you know what they are: I saw a lot of yours this year.

Save my pennies each month for a bigger Christmas tree. Jason totally got the upper hand this season with the tree height decisions and next year its my turn. No less than 8 feet to make up for 2010's slack.

Not get pregnant.

Run a half-marathon with my dad. This has many goals in mind, including the actual distance would be a first- plus the Gligs are planning an Aussie Christmas down unduh and I want to be able to wear a tank top and shorts (in their dead of summer) and, I know this is pushing it, a bikini.

Find a decent Christmas parade. Sebastians was dismal.com/letdown for me and Sunny, and even Jason couldnt finish a drink in the amount of time the parade lasted. Boooooo. I've heard Vero's is nice.

Finish learning German before we actually go there in June. I've got many many hours to log in, I'm loving it, but finishing is key.

Thats all I can think of right now. I just ran every month through my mind and it is insane the amount of things we have to accomplish this year. I keep repeating this each year, but it really will be our most eventful year to date.

I'll be 28 this year, celebrating our 2 year anniversary of being married, applying for Jasons permanent residency (he's conditional at the moment. On condition that I sign, as his wife, that he is aloud to stay, hehehe), applying for a real-persons mortgage at a bank (thats a long story....), oh, I forgot- have Baby Glig #2 somewhere in there, then host Jasons parents at our place for awhile, then follow them to Germany!, train for half-marathon in between all this, celebrate our 1 year wedding anniversary (this will be the only year or it will just be too many anniversaries for us)... Jason turns 33 or something up-there like that, and we'll conclude our busy 2011 in Oz. See, told ya it was a lot. VERY hopeful and excited for 2011. Lets do it!

Happy List

What makes the Gligs happy: (since Brooke told me to do it at http://www.ohbeau.wordpress.com/)

Not being sick (which we never are, but I do not take this for granted).
Cleaning day (equalling a pleasently smelling house thats also nice to look at).
Babies kicking inside me.
A wagon ride.
Mail.
Etsy.com
Traveling the world.
A good photo, usually with Sunny in it.
Meme & Papa.
Weekly Skyping with the Original Glig(orov)s.
Gardening.
Sewing projects.
Online poker (can you guess who's favorites these items belong to?)
Lambie.
Three Lambies.
My weekly meal plan & the results (a new dinner every night!)
Coffee & GMA
A tan (this was hard to remember since its so cold right now and I'm really liking Uggs over a tan).
Running (also hard to remember).
18 holes of golf.
Evo. & Bluetooth. I decided yesterday that I need to wean myself off things (aftermath of Christmas). Mmmm but I love my Evo.
Popcorn and butter at the theater.
Getting my hair done.
Bathtime.
Learning another language.

Most things in my life make me happy. I love my life.

& like Brooke told me to, go make your own list. Its refreshing.

26 weeks and Pre-Christmas Festivities

I had my first doctor's appointment in Jupiter this week. Once, I was looking forward to delivering Baby Glig #2 fifteen minutes away from my house, in Vero Beach. Now I am back to driving over an hour, like we did with Sunnylee. Upsides: same Drs who delivered Sunny and a hospital that has the most amazing delivery suites.... Ahh.... cant wait.

We are 26 weeks along in this pregnancy, about 6 1/2 months and depending on where you look, in the 3rd trimester apparently, though I think I'll announce that at 28 weeks. Seems more appropriate. Baby is kicking often and other than extreme allergies, I am doing fine.

Our family has been nice and busy, making December fly by. There have been Christmas parties, parades, a moms meeting, Dr & hair appointments (both equally important), & Aussies visiting to pass the time. Jason and Sunny and I had a great week entertaining his mates from Sydney. I mostly enjoyed all the dining out we did. I realized today we didnt take one photo of the entire week... dissapointing!

The Gligs Repeatedly Run Into Famous Situations

Look at this photo from our wedding very closely, then watch the following Modern Family clip  :) 

hint: the wedding officiator (ok, so that was the entire clue but I didnt

wanna make this difficult for some)

How cool?

A Very Glig Christmas Letter

The Gligorov Adventures Continue… 2010

The short version of our Christmas letter this year is that we found someone foolish enough to give us a mortgage and we moved to Sebastian Florida, everyone is fine and/or pregnant, we had a great summer where it was too hot to even think about going outside, there was a wedding, nothing tragic that we couldn’t expertly deal with occurred since last Christmas, & we are not yet rich and will be less so after the 25th. For those of you with stamina, a more detailed account follows:


In January we traveled to Australia where Sunnylee met our friends and family for the first time. In April we bought our first home. We have a guest bedroom (& grass to mow and carpet to vacuum) so feel free to visit anytime. In September, twenty five friends and family members from the US, Australia, and Germany all traveled to Maui for a Very Gligorov Wedding. Jason and I said vows to stay together ‘til the bitter end. It was gold.

Jason is still at his job; it appears that his bosses love him! And since his job directly involves beer, I don’t see the two parting ways any time soon. Thank goodness for that, my paycheck has been quite small since, well, since I met Jason is really when it all started... He’s taken up golf with a Tiger-like fervor, hasn’t lost to anyone in table tennis since moving here, and I quote him, “I continued my career as a father.” That’s gonna be a long stressful career. But most fulfilling.

I’ve returned to my job, which is baby-maker. It doesn’t offer too many benefits: in fact, insurance is out of the question. Its temporary, I only have through March. But seriously, the pregnancy’s been a breeze thankfully, or maybe I just have other things on my mind, like “I haven’t heard Sunny for a bit…Are the baby gates up?” We’ve kept the gender a surprise like the first time, loving the reactions of others. Oh, and we do it for an easier time during labor, its life’s only surprise … & tradition. But really to ^#&@ off our friends. Yes, I just used salty language in our Baby Jesus’ Birthday letter.


Sunny can already say about 500 words, six of which are in English. Maybe she’s learning German faster than I am? Since we don’t have a dog it’s also fun to teach her sign language. She can sign you right off the farm, as animals are her obsession currently. Her other interests include eating while staying in size 6 month clothing for over a year (I think she’s doing Pilates in her crib) and training to be a metal detector by finding all the screws her daddy leaves laying about the deck construction going on out our back door. She’s managed to keep us fearful in 2010 by falling face first out of her wagon onto the road, keeping one fever at 105 for a few days, and most recently, jumping into the [full of water] bathtub when bath time was clearly over. At Thanksgiving dinner this year, when it was my turn to give thanks, I said, “We are thankful that Sunny’s nose is slightly bigger or it never would’ve stuck above the surface for air that night.”

Love from us: Jason, Abby, Sunnylee, Baby Glig #2, Rudolph, Dancer, Prancer, etc . . .

P.S. If a yearly review of the Gligorovs just isn’t good enough, visit www.thegliglife.com

 

Cute Calendar

Real quick- made this today. Got the idea from Young House Love & whipped it up during Sunny's naptime on Microsoft Publisher.

Custom 2011 calendar for the Glig family.

Each month is a phrase of individual happenins' in our lives & anniversarys of amazing dates of the past. Kinda neat. Although my 3mo whiteboard calendar wall [inspired by Pottery Barn] trumps it always, this cute paper calendar makes me smile.

The Gligs Thanksgiving Week Accomplishments

-Went to Meme & Papa's house for Thanksgiving, a few days early to get in the right festive mood.
-Had a playdate with Beau, 2 days in a row, AKA happy hour (beer & oysters for the mama's! minus beer for me)

- Went on a 3 mile walk with Beau's mom. I regret it since I was a train wreck the following day, T-Day, with exhaustion and general crabbiness.

-I almost became the first person ever to die of allergies, if there is such a thing.

-Whipped up a Thanksgiving leftover specialty back in Sebastian- an impromptu turkey pot-pie ala Paula D which was scarfed faster than Thanksgiving the day before. Recipe here.

-Jason put up Xmas lights outside of our house once we came back from Okeechobee- before any other house in the neighborhood! Our first time decorating as well for our first Xmas at our first house. It is actually our 3rd Christmas together, but it feels brand new this year!

-I happened to capture this video & decided Sunnylee had had enough of Okeechobee & its rascals so we went back home.

gDiapers

As my friend from this blog one-ups us all by skipping the mauling crowd at Target on Black Friday while she sits home and sews beautiful aprons for her friends this Christmas (I imagine her sitting by the fire in hand knitted wool socks while her content 16mo old reads quietly at her feet... in a rocking chair), I thought of how my family's own carbon footprint was affecting this planet. I only thought of that for a minute, and then I thought more about our savings account (who am I kidding, there isn't one) and finally bit the bullet and bought these cloth diapers for Sunnylee: www.gdiapers.com This same friend is the one who convinced me to cloth to begin with; she cloth diapers her one year old every few days, or whenever they stay home, or when its convenient for her. That schedule sounds very manageable to me. It cuts down on how often she has to buy disposables.

I am discovering cloth diapers with my friend, from this blog, who actually turned me on to this brand, gDiapers, awhile ago; she researched cloth for her upcoming arrival who is due this month. Since my own Baby #2 is on its way soon, and with that has already started with me purchasing two different sized disposable diapers, it kills me to spend so much $$ on something we just throw away when I am home most of my life right now, & in close proximity to the washing machine. One of my jobs as a stay-at-home-mom, a mom who's business degree shouldn't just be put on hold for years and years, is to save this family money. I do this in a million brilliant ways :) & this is the beginning of a new way. I am not against 'sposies, as disposables are cutely called on mommy-blogs, and will continue to use them when the Gligs are on the go. And when babysitters are... in our lives. One day. When we find one. Where is she?

I am testing out Sunnylee before the next Glig arrives. Since we know Sunny pretty well, and we know her diapering schedule very well, then the transition should be easy. And if we like cloth, then we can easily cloth baby #2 as well. When that time comes. gDiapers are in transit right now to the Glig House. We cant wait to put these cute diapies on Sunny.

Bad Parenting

Baby Glig #2 is entering its 21st week of existence this week. We had a huge ultrasound last Thursday where every organ is accounted for and each limb is measured. Seeing this baby kick and squirm on the monitor for 45 minutes makes the entire pregnancy and all its consequences more real.

The ultrasound tech said the baby was in a perfect position for every 'photo' she needed, so when I got a call the next day that they needed more pictures of the baby's spine, I was pretty anxious. It stems from Sunnylee's 20 week ultrasound- they couldnt get a good angle of her heart and told me so AT the appointment and I scheduled to come back again. But since the Tech said she got every photo, and a good one it seemed, I thought the worst. When I talked to my Dr though they reassured me they expect the best from the Tech's and the spine photos were not the best. Basically, I was paying for these photos and hadnt got my money's worth. So without hesitations, I am going back to the Dr today for a few more photos of the spine. The baby's perfect tiny little spine.

A Sunnylee catastrophe:
I dont want to admit an event like this, but hey, I learned from it, and more importantly, Jason learned even more! After Sunny's bath last night, we pajama'd her and commenced to rush into the dining room (with Jason's parent's on Skype) where Jason was opening his birthday presents. Sunny was interested for about a minute then decided to ride around on her ladybug pushie thing. We could hear her scooting up and down the hallway.

Then I heard a loud crash in the bathtub and I thought she'd thrown her ladybug into the tub- her favorite thing to do if we leave the bathroom door open is to throw random objects into her tub. I'd even forgotten to let the water out of the tub, so I was thinking of this ladybug (which was quite expensive and not waterproof) floating around in her tub now.... I sent Jason off to rescue it at once, with Sunnylee crying in the background. She cries whenever she throws her toys out of reach, which makes me wonder why she would throw it in the first place....? One year olds...

SO- Sunny's crying, Jason's blundering from room to room looking for the commotion (ok, didnt we JUST hear the bathtub-crashing noise? Did he not hear that?), then I hear him yelling and carrying on and water splashing. I investigate and there she is- standing in the middle of the bathroom now, soaking wet from head to toe, in her nightclothes. Crying. I bundle her up once he undresses her as he explains in pure freak-out mode, that he found her on her back, in the tub, with her nose and mouth barely surfacing above the water. Sunny does this "turtle" pose as I call it, where anytime she falls down she gracefully turns to her back until rescued. And thats what she did. She wont try to get up on her own though! You have to rescue her.
All night Jason talked about how, "If the water had been a little deeper," and other scary thoughts, but everything is fine now. I wasnt, and am still not, too worried- I am very safe with Sunny. Baby gates are up, doors are all shut, no bathroom accessibility, etc (ok, except for maybe last night, when we got distracted from all the Skype/birthday ruckus). I am not thinking about future traumatic events like this occuring often because they wont- we're baby-proofed over here and I keep it that way when I'm with Sunny...
But Jason and I did learn the following:

1. Not to let distractions keep you from keeping the babies safe.
2.a. The door to the bathroom should actually be shut after every pee, every bath because life isnt always "That'll never happen to us, what are the chances?" (2.b---and as the mother, my suggestions are not nagging or off-the-wall theories I've heard on 20/20 last night- thats what Jase learned).
3. The water should be let out each night (he blamed this on himself, when really I was the one who gave Sunny a bath that night... I corrected him, didnt want him to feel too guilty).
4. And babies, who you've invested 9mo "making" inside, 16mo raising on the outside, could all be over in less than a minute. Something that would affect you for as long as you lived.

And that is a scary lesson.

So... how was everyone's weekend?   ;)

Christmas Cards

I plan to gift these free holiday cards to my mom- there are 50 of them! (do we even know 50 families to send these to?) Shutterfly, for anyone who doesnt know, is an excellent resource for most of your photo-printing and photo-gift giving needs. We here at the Glig house make photo books of special events and send them to other Glig's across the world, as they cannot be here for all of our special events. I only do my printing of regular snapshots online as well. I gather up all my photos from the past few months (I just did this last week! I had to skip the Hawaii/Wedding photos, since who has the time to go through all those thousands of pictures???) and send them off to the printers! Shutterfly Fed'Exs them to you in snip-snappy time and then there you are, with hundreds of perfect prints to now organize in terms of how many months your child is... This ain't how your momma did it, but it sure is easy.

Here are a few samples of what Shutterfly has to offer this season:
· Christmas cards to http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-cards
· photo cards to http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery
· holiday cards to http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/holiday-cards

Ciao!

Food and Cold Weather

Sunny thinks wearing my grandma's watch on

her foot is funny, or where its supposed to be.

Week 19- Baby ? is moving, kicking, zapping me of energy at times, and poking out enough that strangers are regularly mentioning our newest Glig. THIS stage is nice. Anything before 5mo is just ______. 5mo to the end its real, it feels real, and everyone else knows its real!

My dad and Jason are building a deck at our house. We've made a lot of progress which makes me think we'll actually see it out to the end, and in time to still enjoy the cooler season.

Sunny loves to help:

When the slightest cool breeze blew through Sebastian I ran out and bought a giant silo of plain 'ole oatmeal like my mom used to make. Its cooked on the stove with milk then served- Sunny's with honey, mine with brown sugar. Yum yum, anyone else feed there little ones oatmeal in the morning? Sunnylee LOVES it, its her most favorite breakie right now:

Speaking of warm toasty meals, how much chili was made for dinner over the weekend? Jason whipped up a batch Sunday night that we're still eating (as of Tuesday!). What makes it different- its made with buffalo mince instead of beef. I'd like to say how different it was, but it tastes the same. Sunny loves to eat chili, just how it is, but this bowl of chili I rinsed off with water in a strainer first since we made it extra spicy. If I HAVE to give Sunny fast-food, then its usually Wendy's chili. She likes beans!

I've only realized last night why its essential to go out for dinners sometimes- not only do I not have to cook, which is obvious to me, I also dont have to clean up. No rice covering the floor, no dishes piled in the sink since the dishwasher is still full of clean dishes.... We went out last night [to avoid those cleaning-up tasks] to our newest fav sushi place. Sunny eats well at this restaurant, and if you have a little one then you know what I mean. Some places just dont cater to babies! As Jason and I ate miso soup, the waitress brought Sunny her own bowl of rice with soup mixed in. She devoured edemame, opening them herself to find the beans inside. After a full 45 minutes of eating, our plates had been cleared away, except for Sunny's. She was still scarfing rice. And beans. And random fruit that had come on our plate. Sushi joints= great for babies. Not always the first place you think of (I usually think of mexican places- everything is similar and smushed together in different ways, perfect for babies!).

I sent this picture to my sis-in-law-to-be, Amanda, and told her to show it to my brother Matt. Apparently Matt eats edemame whole (or did one time and thats all it took!), unknowing that there is a bean inside that you eat! I told Amanda that even Sunnylee knows there's a prize inside this pod:

Sunnylee's two favorites: the always popular Lambie and her baby

(popular for 5 months now- she received it for her birthday). She signs "Baby" now and says it clearly. She even pokes my tummy and says "baby" but she does that to Jason too so... I told her Jason has a Beer Baby in his tummy so she was right.

I keep this cabinet empty since I got tired of cleaning

Tupperware off the kitchen floor 23x a day.

When I couldnt find Sunnylee,

I looked here and this is what I saw:

Hay Bale Gardening

I guess its Week 19... who's counting? :) I have a hay bale garden- filled with yummy vegetable plants that are presently threatening us with 15 ripening green tomatoes at once. I painsakingly water, stake, and... well thats all I do really because this garden is the easiest! I got the idea from this site, so I cant take all the credit. Basically I bought 6 hay bales from the feed store, the kind of hay that is in large rectangle-cubes (I know that is the wrong description but what is a 3-dimensional rectangle called?) that horses eat. Got that?

Then I bought already established vegetables plants from Home Depot since my attempt to grow seeds made me feel like I had to give up my Green Thumb membership. Stuffed the plants right into the top of the hay, then viola! Instant garden, no bending over to take care of, no weeds, super easy. I DID have to get the bales 'ready', something I learned from this site. Anyways, my point of all this was to say I found dirt on sale at Walmart over the weekend so cheap that I almost updated my FB account exclaiming how grown up I felt over my excitement over dirt. I didnt put it on FB, but it was a great deal: bags of Organic Choice Miracle Grow for $1. For the benefit of my garden, vegetables and flowers and everything, I bought all Walmart offered. Then spread it all over the tops of my hay bales to insure they were recieving nutrients as the hay doesnt offer any. Just something I felt like they needed. And my point of all THAT, was to say something incredible happened after I spread Organic Miracle Grow dirt... Incredible in a disgusting way, in a way made me wish I'd never gone to Walmart that day. There is serious 'organic' stuff in this dirt because it caused a fungus to grow on 2 of my plants that scared the &#%#& out of me when I saw it. Jason and I poked it with a stick, ready to run, imagining a swarm of somethings to fly out. When nothing did, I did what any of you would've done, I Googled it. I Googled "Orange puffy fungus" and found a plethora of sites dedicated to this fungus they so accurately and scientificaly call "Dog Vomit Fungus". Can you picture what I've seen now? Google it, I dont even want to put the sites on here. G-r-o-s-sness. From what I've read, its harmless and.... you just deal with it (its even gone now, the next day, since I didnt water my plants [and they are bone dry]-- which I am now scared to do). Anyone wanna come over and eat a fresh salad at my place? On a happy note, I can feel the baby kick for sure now. Its been a few weeks of tapping inside, but now it is confirmed, there is a moving thing alive inside of me.

Weeks 17 and 18

Week 17 passed with a blur. Jason had 'work stuff' over in Tampa for 3 days/3 nights (a training program to become certified to install draft beer lines). He was gone all day while Sunny and I shopped and swam in the hotel pool. He loved it, was a team leader, and was very involved in this hands-on opportunity. Here's Sunny dreaming of a better life outside of the hotel hallways:

When we drove back to the East Coast we went straight to the Sprint store to pick up my new Evo 4g phone (plus a new thing for Jase, although not as fancy as mine; he admits he isnt interested in learning the technology, plus he'd break this). Ive been checking the weather on it ever since.

This week we were building up to Halloween weekend. I 'love' this weekend because I just want it to arrive then PASS so we can get to the good stuff, like fall and the Christmas holidays. I am tired of shielding Sunny's eyes from the skeleton creeping out of a neighbors' lawn and dead screaming banchies in Walmart/ the library..... What's so cool about the dead scary stuff? Gross. Halloween I could forget, its autumn and cooler weather and pumpkins that I love. We didnt even carve our pumpkin this year; he is too nice to carve! I've saved him for the front porch for the rest of the fall season where he will sit gratefully (he is pictured below with the kiddies).

We will Trick or Treat this evening, though. I mean, I do want to eat chocolate and I've got the perfect little chicken who can get this for me:

*Update: Trick or Treating was a hit. Jason and I agreed it was the most fun we've ever had on Halloween. There's just something about seeing your kid eat the paper off a lollipop for the first time, find a stick from the end of that lollipop in her mouth after 10 minutes and wonder how she didnt choke?, and figure out that running to the front door with her pumpkin-bucket dragging behind her will reward her with more goodies.... it was priceless.

The Cant Breath Week

I am now posting weekly blogs that coincide with how far along I am in the pregnancy of Glig #2. We are in Week 16 and I cant breath; I am so stuffy now that we bought stock in nose spray. Allergies are at their worst. Yuck yuck yuck.

Sunny got new shorts. She is now reminiscent of a 1980s basketball player.

These were $1 at Walmart. Worth the buck.

Since I only spent a buck on the shorts I bought her this 4wheeler, too. Not $1. But worth it as well- she needed something to play with outside besides the always-entertaining game of Eating Dirt. She goes mind-blowing speeds of up to 2 mph down the driveway, offroad (off the driveway) where the 4wheeler pretty much shuts down, and then back up the driveway. I didnt know they made these for 1 year olds- its makes the whole toddler-thing (throwing tantrums, tossing food off her plate, spitting out her milk) that much more fun!

We had a huge weekend. A weekend where you need a weekend to recuperate. Friday we went to the Melbourne State Fair (we live about 30minutes from Melbourne, FL). A good friend of Jasons' owns the fair and let us in for free, ride anything for free, and play whatever games we wanted as well! I took Sunny on a few rides that she loved; seeing your child having fun is priceless. Sunny played with other kids we knew there, chasing after the older ones as fast as her little legs would run.

OKTOBERFEST 2010

This is our 2nd year attending the German Club of the Palm Beaches' Oktoberfest- Jason reckons it is authentic, as authentic as it can be when compared to the Oktoberfests he's attended in Munich (every year for 8 years!). I recall last year being more fun, but then again I wasnt pregnant last year.... :(

We had lederhosen for Jase and Sunny which was extremely fun, everyone loved it. The band took Sunny onstage and sang with her for a bit. She is interested in everyone and everything, especially the people who have food and offer it to her.

Afterwards we visited Elliott and his girlfriend Sophie at her place. Sunny loved playing with the big-girl toys (Sophie's has a little girl) and was obsessed with this fish tank and every fish in it. (She is wearing her towel after having a quick swim on the roof in a heated pool)

So, thats Week 16 in the Life of the Gligs. Its been hectic and it'll continue to be hectic! We are soooooo looking forward to the holidays, loving the nice cool weather (our a/c is off, windows are open!), and.... that's it! Ciao!

Life's Only Surprise

I love hearing this from people- about me being pregnant and finding out the gender of my unborn child- "...when will you find out?" cuz I love to reply with this, "When it comes out." It usually throws them all for a loop, whether they like that we're waiting to find out or they dont think its something they would do themselves. I read this today and was like, "Yeh, these are the reasons why we're not finding out!" with the second reason, by far, the best (from experience!) Benefits of waiting: • You, your partner, and your family will have a delightful surprise on the day you give birth. • Your desire to know whether your baby is a boy or a girl will motivate you during the toughest parts of labor. • You'll be following in the tradition of your parents, your parents' parents, and so on. • There will be no mistakes — what you see is what you get! Someone put it this way: "finding out the baby's gender before the birth is like opening your Christmas presents before Christmas!" And it all makes sense to me now. A lot of people I know would gladly open their presents before Christmas and actually, some of them do! And they also give me my presents early and make me open them as well! You know who you are....

The Real World....

...is actually quite nice (not that I'd forgotten). We dreaded the flight home and the subsequent struggle with jet-lag, mostly how Sunny would handle it. And like most things with Sunnylee, she surprised us both and made all of our lives easier on us. Our flight left at 9p Hawaii-time and landed at 430p Florida-time. She slept at 40,000 feet for 10 hours. Then slept [at 2 feet] for 2 hours on the drive home from the airport. Then had a bath and decided to sleep for another 12 hours straight. And repeated herself the following night, 12 hours. (The first night was great- she woke up upset at midnight and we brought her into our bed thinking, "This is it, time to play!" By the time Jason brought her water to her, in our bed, she was passed out again! We snuggled and she didnt open her eyes until almost 10a that morning... Sometimes I wish she would always want to come to our bed at midnight, but this is what she was 'trained' to do, sleep on her own.... sigh) We've been pretty tired in the mornings- 7a here is 1a back there. We havent been hungry until after FL-lunch. We've been sleeping more than normal human beings need and drinking in whale-quantities (I imagine swimming in the ocean all day, they consume a lot of water...) Travel + Vacay + Airplanes = dehydrated exhausted Gligs.

So Jenalee tells me today that dolphins kill pregnant people. I didnt go on a dolphin swimming adventure this past week, but since I was in a tropical place, I had ample opportunites to do so. Since I am pregnant and could have almost swam with dolphins, then I conclude that I almost died last week. Has anyone heard about this unbecoming dolphin characteristic?

Posted A Little Late.... but whatev

The countdown to Hawaii has been in the very far reaches of my mind. There is too much going on! Sunny got her first official sickness over the weekend. After a couple of days battling a high fever (103-105 degrees) we drove her to the ER which happens to be on our street, convientiently. It was 630a and we'd had enough Tylenol/Motrin and fever worries. Our ER is amazing, quiet, clean, and empty when we've gone, so I have no issues with it. Within 45 minutes we were on our way back home with a script for antibiotics and a diagnose of a sore throat. Poor baby has been trying to tell us this for days! It was as if just seeing the Dr. cured her. She was fine as soon as we got back home and has been since. As of last night I am finally back to sleeping through the night, as is she. It was all 3 of our first times being up all night (after 15mo, what a good run!)and also the first time she ever slept in our bed. Jason was sleeping sideways, she kicked and cried and woke us up all night. How do people do it? It was nice having her close, but no one slept a wink. Back to the crib you go!

To make her feel better I made her a super hero cape.

Her appetite for Cheerios never wavered

I've finally started to 'plan my wedding' with one week to go. There are so many loose ends! I had to talk to the airline about checking baggage for the baby and what we were aloud to bring for free (stroller and carseat). I still have to check on the crib situation at the resort.... someone remind me later! I cant call Hawaii until the afternoon since they are 6hrs behind us and I get all my best work finished in the morning- so I forget later to do things. I also need to call my wedding planner who called me Friday night and I've yet to get back with her! We're booking excursions and cars, changing flights for some people.... I've been printing fun little things for destination weddings that I get to bring to the island, AND we've been shopping and packing. Its all fun though. 7 days and we'll be airborne.

Eating for Two

I'm only gonna say this once. So listen carefully.... Let me quote a couple of my last few journal entries, penned by hand in a notebook, and written about my current second pregnancy. "... my moods are awful though- depressed during the day, and night too if I feel like it. I have zero energy. Not that I usually nap, just no energy to get off the couch. Depressing." "... Cant wait to get my energy back. I am useless and its only 10a." "This baby is zapping me. I cant clean or garden. Its depressing." See a pattern here? Haha...! Obviously I havent been feeling so hot. And then, I changed one thing. I am my boss's Wellness Coordinator for Juice Plus. I just handle all of her clients orders and... wellness. In no way was I interested in personally taking on Juice Plus and the business of it all, and throw a heaping pile of it onto my friends and family. BUT, I did order my supply of pills so I was involved somehow. I'd read an interesting article about pregnancy and Juice Plus (http://juliahavey.typepad.com/my_weblog/2009/07/juice-plus-recommended-during-pregnancy.html), so I was vested personally anyways. I'm pretty turned off right now on fruits or veggies so Juice Plus and I are pretty much BFF. Ok, back to my story. I got my Juice Plus order in the mail on Tuesday, my last 'depressing' day. I took it that afternoon and then for the next 2 days. Those journal entries took place up until Tuesday. And now this is my journal entry after Tuesday: "... After that energy-less day, I've been on fire- running around Vero/Sebastian like a demon and today is turning into the same. I told Jason Tuesday that I couldnt do it anymore. I was sick of days like that. It sucked. But then... I'm good. Now. What I did different? Funnily enough I started taking Juice Plus. Hmmm...."

So, thats it. I'll blog how I feel from now on (so maybe I didnt tell the truth, that I'd only "say this once"-- I might mention it again, kind of like if I'd seen a good movie or ate at an amazing restaurant, I'd tell you?), conscious about these fruits and veggies I'm cramming down my throat. Not vitamins, not supplements, actual fruits and vegetables. Lots of them. You're welcome, baby Glig #2. Anything for you!

August Happenings

Siesta Key for my bachelorette party weekend! We began Friday night with these girls:

(plus Sara who must've showed up about 5min after this was taken)

Followed by the rest on Saturday here:

Alex designed these shirts just for the occasion, cleverly titled

"Abby's Fiesta in Siesta 2010" inside an engagement ring. Here I am talking to my 'fiance' during the photo:

I had a very entertaining weekend. Thank you Amanda, Sara, Jenny, Whitney, Jenalee, Hollis, Vanessa, Brandie, Nicole, Alex, & Katrina for showing me it can be fun even though I was sober. What Jason & Sunny were up to while I was celebrating my bachelorette-ness These 2 rascals had a daddy/daughter weekend that began with swimming at our neighborhood sports complex. It was his first time there which is why I'm not surprised five 5-year olds followed Sunny the entire time, irritating Jason. They wanted to touch her and pick her up, both options were denied. They chose instead to follow her close behind, shouting lines like "She's a model!" "She's a rockstar!" "Look at everyone following her, she's a Supa-star!" This makes me laugh. Wish I'd been there for Sunny's entourage moment. And if I didnt get enough attention that weekend, the following one was my bridal shower hosted by Katrina, Hollis, and Alex at my parents house. I left Sunny & Jason, again!, for a Saturday of girl time, food, and gifts! We played another questionaire game (we did one in Siesta) where I had to guess the answer that Jason gave... Like if I were an animal, what kind of animal did he think I'd be? (Koala) And I think I was a mango later on as well.... Thanks girls! Again!

I'm on my 3rd week with a new job. My title is awesome: Assistant Everything to my boss Lynda. I am also her Office Manager at her tutoring center called Make Your Mark In Life and Wellness Cooridinator for a product called JuicePlus. She is very passionate about it so here I am attending nationwide conference calls and future conferences overnight (specifially, in Orlando for 3-4 days in October) for JuicePlus. Its not a full time job but any time I had leftover from the House, the Husband, and the Kid is now dedicated to work. Its kind of a nice feeling. A stressful feeling, but fullfilling.

With my tiny extra income we get to upgrade our "lives" in the form of finally going from Kinda-Organic to Medium Organic (which now includes meat- the newest addition plus the others like milk and eggs) and we also got a Solar Power system installed this week. The SUN will regulate our AirCon and power our water heater. So sorry, FPL: you can take %25 of what we used to pay you and be happy with it. Other Green stuff- my new pots and pans I'm buying with a few giftcards I got from generous friends and family at the bridal shower. This cookware set is ceramic, but nonstick, and they are not coated with Tephlon- something I know contains a chemical that, of course, causes cancer....Google it. Better to be safe than sorry and I'm happy to add another Green-Thing to the Glig household...

I am relieved to say that we dont have a thing going on for almost 2 weeks. Stay at home, clean the house, organize the garage, mow the lawn, weed the garden, raise a 1 year old.... yah, we've got nothing going on...

(((22 days until my wedding!)))

I can ride my bike with no handlebars

I do American Sign Lanuage with Sunny for my me and Jase's own sanity. I explain it like this: she screams (and grunts and points erradically) for something 10 times in an hour, but since learning the sign for things she wants (drink, more, food, etc) she only screams 4 times an hour... It breaks down the communication barrier between us that used to be very apparent (or frustrating). Here's a video from a few weeks ago I put on Facedbook, hope everyone can see it: Sunny and I have a new ride. She waves at everyone as we cruise on by. Her newest Sign is "dog", which she immediately signs when we get on our bike, as we usually see dogs on our ride. This week Jason's been biking with her as I jog beside them. No matter how bad my day's been, and lately they've been trying, after running and shaving my legs, the day is lookin' up. The simple things...

Jason and I went to Sara and Boyd's wedding on Friday in Bradenton Beach. We took moms' 350Z, put the top down once we hit the west coast, and cruised on to our beach bungalow for two. I discovered Jason's never been in a convertible before. Score! Something I've 'beat' him to in the Check-off List of Life (he has one, and its got major check-offs!). Did you catch the "two" part, not 'three'? Did you know a 350Z only has "two" seats... YES, we left Sunny! Anything exciting happen? In the words of Juno, "I'm already pregnant, so what other kind of shenanigans could I get into?"

Nothing is better than a wedding: you dress up, look' hot on the dance floor as you try not to spill your drink too much and pick up single dudes. Well, I guess that's what I used to do. This time I sat at the Loser table sipping ice water. Wondering if I'll fit into my wedding dress. BUT, a guy did hit on me. Eyed me from across the room. Walked up to me in front of my husband and said "I just wanted to say hi!" I've had racier comments, better pick up lines; I had to hand it to this guy though, considering he was four years old. Our conversation didnt exscalate into much from there. So you're supposed to eat lots of veggies when you're knocked up... I was running today (that makes up for the lack of veggies- so I've thrown that fact into this blog 2x now) and thought about the junk I ate today. And I didnt have one vegetable. Oh wait, I had a bagel with cream cheese & chives. They're green. Better luck tomorrow. Countdown to me and Jason's wedding: 37 days (yikes!) I'm having a wedding when I'm already married, with a one year old child preceding me down the aisle, and I'm pregnant. If this wedding werent in Hawaii it would be the trashyiest. I'M JUST SAYING. And my non-bachelorette Bachelorette weekend is this Friday in Siesta Key. I wont be able to drink, stay out late, get TOO much sun, or eat lots of junk. Ok, so I'm lying, I will still do a few of these things. But I'm sorry in advanced (I didnt used to be so LAME, I promise... You remember, right???) to you single girls that currently lack a husband and/or kids and you arent pregnant--- have fun this weekend, for me, and one day you'll be there.... Sooner than you probably think if life mimics life... Check out our wedding website here: http://www.theknot.com/ourwedding/AbbyCook&JasonGligorov

Turtles Bunnies and Gligorovs

Nancy, my mom, and I made yummy yummy yummy jalapenos the other week after I found a recipe for one of our favorite pita-chip toppers. We tested them out today with hummus and pitas- extra hot and delish. Sweet. Just pretty much my fav right now.

A peaceful summer stroll across the street.

Daddy shows Sunny a gopher turtle who invaded our veggie garden and had to be rescued- turtles and bunnies are taking over Sebastian*

"There's the turtle"

We have a friend named Beau who turned -1- on Saturday

and we celebrated it on Sunday.

We partied like it was two thousand and nine.

She's practicing her hula skills for Hawaii.

The Gligs went with my parents to Amelia Island the last few days in July.

It was 102 degrees and my tan is looking good. Me 'n Jase Ferdandina Beach July 29 2010

Check it out, I'm wearing http://www.sanuk.com/flash/Tube/TUBE_FLOPS.swf (who gave them to me to put on my blog... just kidding, this isnt that kind of blog. Yet.) I really am wearing them though! Love love love

Sunny cleared the kiddie pool when she splashed

in with these sunglasses.

A 3 year old screamed "I'm scared of her!"

about 10 times before we left, unimpressed.

To keep up with the times, I am announcing Sunny's new brother or sister in my blog. After Jenalee made me pee on this stick with her on the phone, this plus sign popped up. She said it was from all the praying she'd been doing. Jason and I were excited, shocked, and it hasnt really sunk in, not even when I post this a week later! I am only 6 weeks pregnant, so keep our little family in your thoughts.

I just couldnt wait to share the news ;)

[[[ I know, you're thinking "Bachelorette Party in August" and "Wedding in September" but sometimes life doesnt always go according to your big plans...Especially me and Jason's Life ]]]

"Count me in on the party, out on the alcohol!"

*Turtle, bunnies, & Gligorovs are taking over Sebastian.

I made jam-filled cookies today- the shapes I used to cut these out were the square and the triangle from Sunny's shape-sorter toy (the circle was the rim of a glass, do I need cookie cutters?....) I thought it was pretty ingenious... And Sunny enjoyed eating them as much as I did.

Last weekend was my moms birthday. We went to Lake Placid and celebrated with our friends, who also has the same birthday. We've done this 2 years in a row now and I cant help but hope its a looooong tradition. It was hot and I got a nice tan. Sunny got slip/slap/slopped with suntan lotion 3x and doesnt have a bit of brown skin to show off. Perfectly white.

We might've gone out after this photo was shot:

We are going out to dinner tonight and I am psyched; its been months since we've had a date (if you consider dates to include your toddler, which we do). Sure I've eaten food outside of the house recently, but never on a weekday, when we're home, when there's a perfectly functional stove and thawed out piece of meat in the fridge. I wish we could eat at home- that would mean that I'm not sick. So... I'm sick. And I feel like crap and so does Sunny. Since she gave it to me, or we both caught 'this' at the same time, I imagine she hurts like me and I feel sorry for her. I am in no mood to cook and slave in the kitchen, so I'm twisting Jason's arm to take us to this yummy mexican place in town. We shouldnt go out, since I wont be able to enjoy all the spiceyness and Coronas that I deserve (I should be drinking broth for dinner instead), but I'm hoping, here. Currently my loves' are sleeping. Its almost 5p and I'm ready for chips and salsa! Wake up Gligs!