4th Trimester Update- 8 Weeks and it is Getting Interesting...

How Far Along- 8 weeks! Moving right along.

My Weight-  About the same. Definitely we are past the point where weight just coming off is long forgotten. Started exercising again, and I have been trying to eat right, but trying is the operative word.

Baby Cuteness Rating- So cute! I usually think babies at this age are in the awkward puberty of infancy, because they are more crazy-eyed than cute. I look back on The Bub, and he was not super cute yet. But this baby is so darn smiley and cute already. Motherly love talking? Maybe. But you can't fight with baby rolls.

You Breastfed Where?- A fancy restaurant? While dressed as a Pokemon? Life is full of so many possibilities when it comes to whipping out your boobs.

And I am Feeling- Scared. This is the first week where I am really on my own- all the grandparents and paternity leave cushion has run out. I did my first day of two bubs today, and we survived. That seems like a solid start to me. It will get better, but first it will suck, and I am not excited to be in the suckiness phase.

Most Bizarro Quirk of the Week- Apparently my hormones think my baby is blind, because I have saucers on my chest. Maybe they were like this before, and I was too busy with other things to notice. But wow, body, we get it, you can nipple. Let's turn the volume down on that now.

Best Moment of the Week- We are running on empty, and it feels like we are surviving moment to moment. We thought we were completely out of The Bub's diapers, and we were debating who was headed back to the store. It just felt like adulthood was back to ruin an already iffy day.

Then, like a gift from heaven, a UPS-driving angel dropped off the Bub's box of diapers a day early. I may have danced with the box through the living room. These are not the days where you get a lot of wins, but man, a diaper subscription, two chocolate chip cookies, and a documentary about the Shining may have just saved house morale. 

Having my cousin visit this weekend was also amazing. We had trick or treating, and having her there made the whole thing more fun and less stressful (because adults again outnumbered babies). I am so lucky to have her as a friend and cousin- is there anything better in the world than having someone love your kids? Plus, I really like having a full house of people. 

Favorite Tool in my Arsenal- Reusable Nursing Pads (I have these ones from Love Your Reusables on Etsy). Why did disposable nursing pads even become a thing? These are easy to throw in the laundry, and I have saved so much money (and prevented waste!) by going this route. If you are a new mommy, consider it!

And We are Watching- Nothing interesting. I mostly watch food shows at night, but I have actually been avoiding it to try to keep the Baby Bear sleeping. I have been working on Shutterfly projects on a dim computer. My goal is to have an awesome playlist for November so we mostly use music to fill the house.

And the Boy?- Back to work and I think in total fear I will have a break down from the challenge of getting everyone enough sleep. I am hoping he will be pleasantly surprised. I miss having him around all the time though.

Looking Forward To- Getting everyone back on schedule! 2 months of upheaval since we had a "normal," so I am looking forward to having a "normal" again. Plus, we have more visitors coming this weekend! Excited to spend the weekend with the Boy's brother and sister-in-law. So fun, and it is always happy to introduce our baby to his family. 

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Wedding Wednesday- Vendor Love- Jeremy Ganss

 

Ok, now it is time to sing the praises of another one of the vendors that helped for our wedding. This one matters a lot, I think, because it's not like we will have the chance to hire Jeremy too many times in our life (I mean, I am not sure if he dj's 2 person dance parties), so the best way we can show him support is to highly recommend him, which we definitely do. He is based out of Clarion, and works a lot of Pittsburgh weddings, but if you are planning a wedding in Western PA, you can't do better. He was our big splurge for the wedding, and it was totally worth it. 

 

Jeremy keeps up a blog of his own that you can find here-  http://jeremyganss.blogspot.com/ To be honest, this blog was what won me over in the first place. I never saw a dj who was that serious and enthusiastic about his weddings that he kept track of song choices and took pictures himself. He clearly cares. Then, when I called him to chat (actually the first time we talked I was just getting his opinion on Wanango, but we talked for practically an hour), he was generous, funny, and a well of information. He knew about all the sites, all my regular wedding complaints, and how to best strategize his weddings. He was genuinely a pleasure to deal with every step of the way.

 

These are all pictures from his blog- for real, check it out! Jeremy knows his stuff, but he has a very humble, open, and generous Western PA personality. He is not hungry for the spotlight. I have been to those weddings too.  The whole night the dance floor was full, and everyone told us that they had a good time. We didn't have to worry about the schedule, because Jeremy was on top of all of it.

 

I could go on about Jeremy a long time, but The Boy wrote Jeremy a note that I think sums up his awesomeness pretty well:

 Jeremy,

Where to begin? You were absolutely phenomenal in every way, from the moment Barbara contacted you out of the blue to ask, not about DJ’ing, but for your opinions on Wenango (having seen your online review for it, not knowing you were a local DJ), it was immediately clear that you were passionate about your job and fully committed to delivering well executed, extraordinarily fun weddings. You always went above and beyond reasonable expectations to offer exceptional service, and it really showed.


You were always proactive, patient, and flexible to our schedule, not an easy thing to do when Barbara and I both were thousands of miles away for all but a handful of whirlwind visits back to Pennsylvania through the year+ of planning. You actively sought our opinions and took the time to meet us to get to know us, our tastes, and our goals for the wedding. You did more than pick a bunch of songs (though you did do that too, and your website made that easy to do in our own time!); you helped us to create the overall schedule of the night.


Once the reception began, you kept us on task and on schedule without ever being pushy or controlling or trying to take center stage; you gently guided us and our guests from dinner, to toasts, to cake, etc. without any jarring transitions. Once the dancing began, the floor was never empty—not even close—for more than four hours!  You transformed our eclectic requests (modern pop, Motown, obscure big band music, etc.) into the non-stop dance party we asked for.


You kept everyone, from the youngest cousins to our grandparents, excited, pumped, and moving the whole time. Unlike most of the DJ’s I’ve seen at weddings, you take your craft very seriously: your equipment is modern and your library and tastes are trend-leading rather than trend-following (Norah Jones: out; acoustic covers of the Bieb: yes, please). Most importantly, you actually know how to DJ: you did more than put together a giant playlist, press the ‘play’ button, and then walk away to eat cookies, take MySpace pictures of themselves, or fiddle on their phones for the majority of the night (yes, we’ve seen these before).

The level of service Jeremy provided was unparalleled, and he was key in making our night the most fun I’ve ever had at a wedding. Thank you for making our wedding kick ass!

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