Ich liebe Deutschland!

The world is a funny, strange, and exciting place. I had to come to Tennessee to find out the answer to something I have been wondering about Illinois.

Back in college, I had a friend from New Jersey and we were chatting one day about accents and how people speak differently depending on what region of the US they call home. He mentioned the MOST annoying thing Mid-Westerners said was, "Do you want to come with?" instead of asking the same question and adding "...with me?" I thought what a strange thing to be annoyed by. But always thought it was just a Mid-Western idiosyncrasy in our dialect that I liked to hold onto, regardless of how "annoying" it might be to people outside the Mid-West.

Until I was having the same conversation with Jim (hails from New England) and 2 local Tennesseans. Jim, although he is from New England, he has lived in TN for about 15 years and speaks German fluently as well as French. I brought up my Mid-West "Do you want to come with?" thing and he actually said it is not so strange. I was perplexed, since I have discovered this dialect difference I always thought it to be unique.

He said that since most Germans settled into the Mid-West, when they immigrated from Germany, it makes total sense.


Again, I was confused. Not too unusual for this gal ;-) Until he explained, in the German language when someone asks if they want you to join them they say, "Wollen Sie damit kommen?" It is the same English to German!


I thought it was so interesting to know the idiosyncrasy I thought was so unique to the Mid-West isn't unique to us at all...but rather our heritage.


I wonder if other parts of the country attained their accents by their heritage? I know New Orleans has French Creole influence, but the East coast? Southerners? Far North? Interesting...

By the way... I will always call pop - pop. NEVER soda, soda pop, or coke. :)

Not sure if it is a German thing or not, maybe...

Week 16!

Well, I am officially 16 weeks. Check out the article from Strong Moms.com

Baby Sweet is the size of a large pear.

Interesting to think since he/she has most of what they are going to have when they are born. At this point everything is really really small and not functioning. Although, I have heard I should be feeling "fluttering" or kicking. I am not sure how that is supposed to feel, but really the only thing I am feeling is gurgling. The gurgling isn't like sounds your tummy makes when you are hungry or rumbling, but it feels like it. Just really low. If you asked me to pin-point it, it would directly behind and a little below my belly button. Plus since baby Sweet's placenta is attached on the front of my belly, it is absorbs most of his/her movement :(

Baby Sweet can make facial expressions, he/she has eye lashes, and could be having his/her first hiccups...only I can't feel them -- yet ;-)

Strange things keep happening to my body. I got the Strong Mom's newsletter on Monday. Of course, BEFORE I read it I arrived to work sneezing and had a full-on runny nose. I thought I might have gotten sick. (I rarely, if ever, get sick). UGH. Then I read the newsletter and discovered the increase in blood volume can wreak havoc on my nose! Strange, but true.

I am feeling a lot more energy and am not falling asleep at 6:30 pm anymore. Whew. I have been doing yoga, running, and swimming. Which is good, since I have decided baby Sweet and I are going to do a triathlon! On August 8th we are going to do the Sports Barn Super Sprint. The swim is .25 (440 yd) mile swim - 8.2 mile bike - 2 mile run. Since I have never done this tri before, it will be easier to hold back and not be going for a time. -- I hope. We will be in it to finish. I am thinking I might even wear my Tri-Shark jersey. When I wore this jersey before I usually tucked it up under my bra strap anyway, this time instead of a flat tummy, baby Sweet will be bumpin' out. :)

In addition to the preggers calendar ticking by, I have some more good news. I have gotten a new job at BikeToursDirect.com I am the marketing director for BTD. We hook up Americans (and some Europeans living in the US) with bike tour vacations in Europe. We handle everything from booking the inclusive tour to answering questions about traveling in Europe. The cost of the tour includes breakfast and lunch each day (typically both but always breakfast), hotel accommodations, luggage transfers, the bike tour (guided and self guided), and bike rental. The only thing we do not include in the price of the tour is the airfare. We are in the process of revamping our web-site and adding all the 2011 tour information. *keep an eye out for fun stuff.

Speaking of the fun stuff! BikeToursDirect has a Facebook page AND a Twitter page. @BikeToursDirect. Please become a "fan" on FB and follow us on Twitter. We will soon be creating a blog so that will be one more fun thing to read while at work ;-)

Take care and see ya on the flip side, Heather

I will leave you a pic of me at 16 weeks...oh I AM gettin' bigger :)

Baby Registry...blarg

I am now at week 14 and things are starting to take off. Baby Sweet is about the size of a peach. Like I mentioned in my previous post, none of my pants or shorts fit anymore. I got all of Cara's maternity clothes hung up and the skinny Heather stuff put away till next year. I couldn't give up my 2 favorite pairs of jeans though. I am hoping to get a belly band or a b-buckle. I am thinking if I get 1 b-buckle, I can figure out how to make more. It looks like a piece of t-shirt material with 2 snaps on it, but for sizing purposes and things...it would be most efficient to buy one and replicate it. ;-) Hey, I am a crafty sewing mamma...see the new baby curtains?


Yes, I know they are 3 inches too short. I am in the process of fixing that. And before anyone asks, "Can't you lower the curtain rod?" No, we can't. Not a biggie. Adding a ruffle or a band at the bottom will be perfect.

I am feeling more and more comfortable telling people I am pregnant and we are expanding our family. At first I was worried it was still too early and I didn't want to jinx it by being too excited and happy too early. Go figure. Catholic guilt perseveres in the strangest places ;-) But now that I am wearing maternity clothes and "showing" a little. I figure why hold back now? My body is putting it out there, so why not talk about it, right? Right.

The one thing I have not completely embraced is this darn baby registry. I know, if we don't put one together we will have 5 diaper genies and 1000 packs of disposable diapers (btw-we are using cloth diapers). When Andy and I got married, I was all over that registry. I was so excited to start putting together our life and visualizing our home. I think it was the first thing I did after we picked a date. But this baby registry...ugh, I feel greedy putting things on there. I don't think it has anything to do with not wanting to visualize our baby and our growing/changing family. I think it has more to do with the fundamentals of asking for stuff. Stuff I have NO CLUE about. Why do I need a bouncy chair, a swing, a play yard, AND an exer saucer? Check this out...it is crazy! My eyes are going buggy just looking at the thing.

We are going to register for the fundamentals. Simple. Streamline. I know essentially what we need. I have a check list, no worries there. Come on...haven't you known me long enough to know I have researched and created at least a couple lists? ;-) Andy and I are very simple people (with the exception of our bikes). Our intention of moving to TN and living in BFE was to live simply and enjoy what the world has given us. That exer saucer thingy is not simple. Hope I don't break anyone's heart here, but that octopus looking thang is not going on the registry. A part of me wishes if people want give us stuff, awesome; and we would be blessed with their generosity and kindness. I know, I know. That is not how things work and I am going to have to suck it up and do this baby registry thing.

On the other hand, we have already started a pretty good baby collection. As not thrilled as I am about the registry, I am getting really excited about starting to collect things. Strange, I know. I don't know how to explain my Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde syndrome.

So far, we have a bassinet (Mom and Dad are bringing that down on their trip), a jogging stroller (thanks to Deni and Lloyd), a crib (thanks to Elaine and Al), a wicked bad ass diaper bag (thanks to Candace), some smart wool booties from Courtney (so cool AND cute), and a ton of onesies I found at garage sales. I will probably not keep up the laundry list of stuff since I am sure it will be overwhelming and not interesting to everyone, but with the few things we have so far, I couldn't resist.

Take care and wish me luck "shopping." ~ Heather

PS-I will post a blog or send an e-mail when we have our registry finished.