The Ryans...

16 weeks in now, and the weeks seem to fly by. Often I'm struck in awe that already we find ourselves going into April, and before I know it, we're going to be finding ourselves with a small, screaming, monster we lovingly and affectionately know as Peanut. But to catch up on the past few weeks...

Earlier this past month we went in for our 12 week appointment--an overall worthless appointment excepting that we know that the Parasite still has a heartbeat, I (Taiga) am O+ in my blood type, and while I am seemingly unhappy that I'm now 25lbs heavier than I have EVER been, my OB continues her endless rant on how the weight gain is a necessary side effect. For those of you who are not familiar with my history, the weight gain has proved the hardest part of the entire pregnancy, that or struggling to keep up on my skis with the rest of the family. The rest of the month has been spent working, studying, sleeping, and awaiting for March 26th--for a date night that Reed had given to me as a present on Christmas.

Date night, as mentioned before, had been a gift that Reed had given me for Christmas per my great obsession with food. The evening was to be spent at a culinary school in Boulder cooking a fixed menu under the supervision of a professional chef; learning, eating, cooking, drinking, and more eating. Perfection in an evening if you were to ask me, and an amazing gift. I left work early to pick up Reed and get to Boulder in time. Reed was, what appeared to me to be curt and grumpy--likely due to having a late night dinner with my family the evening before, and running an injury down to the clinic right when I was supposed to pick him up (he knows I hate running late), but seemed to relax once we got to Boulder and had a shower at the little B & B we were staying at.

The date night dinner was precisely what I had hoped for--an apron on Reed and a menu full of things I've never cooked before. The courses were divided amongst the couples there and we were chosen to prepare the French Onion Soup. Reed used a tool known as a mandolin, where as I sliced with a knife 10 lbs of onions. And after about an hour and a half of cooking we sat down to a family style table lit with candles and devoured the toils of the evening. Bacon wrapped dates stuffed with almonds and fontina, french onion soup with floating guerre croutons, chicken saltimbucca with lemon scented brocolini, and finished with dried cherry and chocolate chunk cookies.

About half way through the soup course Reed started fidgeting in what looked like he had lost his contact. As it would turn out, Reed had not lost his contact, but rather was surprising me with a PROPOSAL. "I hadn't planned on doing this in front of a bunch of people, but I suppose it's fitting. I hope that tonight is one of many to come in our lives together of great food and great company. I hope to spend the rest of my life with you, if you will marry me. Will you marry me?" is pretty much how the whole proposal went, all the while with me sitting there dumbstruck and repeating, "oh my, REED what are you doing? oh my!" and answering with an "of course I'll marry you," rather than the traditional "yes". But what's a girl to do.

Champagne was passed all around, stories of how Reed and I met were told, and delicious cookies were consumed. The ring that he presented me with was an heirloom passed down from his grandfather. When his grandfather asked his grandmother to marry him, he did so with a beautiful diamond shaped gold ring with a small diamond in the center, explaining that when he had the funds he would get her a real diamond. I now wear the "temporary" ring on my finger and the "real diamond" that was given later awaits to be placed in a setting that both Reed and I like. And with that I join the Ryans--Peanut and Sioux in tow.

On the Peanut front, Reed and I are planning a get together--celebration of life's crazy surprises--with friends and family on April 11th. Below you'll see the invites, and the invite extends to anyone who wants to come celebrate with us. We hope to see everyone there. That's really about it for now, no crazy cravings, no obscure aversions, just a little sleepy.

13 Weeks

Hello everyone, welcome to the Belly Blog. Sorry we didn't start it sooner, but we heard that you're not supposed to tell people until right about now... so let me get everyone up to date. Some of these are excerpts from our diaries.

So here's how it went. Right about the day Mom and Dad Ryan (soon to be grandpappies) rolled into town, Taiga decided that the dull pain in her boobs may not be from falling on her avalanche beacon while skiing, but from a burgeoning peanut in her uterus. Turns out she was right, or so said the pregnancy tests (all 7). She tried calling me at work but I answered while on a control route. Taiga deemed it best to wait until I was finished playing with explosives. Later that night, Taiga got to meet my parents. Two days later, we celebrated my mother's 60th birthday and had the great pleasure of the whole Colorado clan coming up to Frisco for the night. Nothing like a little secret to grease the family wheels.

We chose to go to the doctor and get some information before we told our immediate family. The first doctor's appointment, was a bit of a watershed moment for various reasons. Taiga's OB doc is in Denver and after enduring 2 months of relentless high pressure in the mountains, it decided to snow a foot when we were driving down to Denver for our first appointment. So instead of taking 1 hour to get there, it took 2 1/2. Luckily we left early and were relatively on time. But as a precaution, we called the doctor's office to let them know that on our drive down from the mountains, we encountered heavy snow and traffic and would be a little late. They said that they would excuse us given the circumstances. 2 minutes later, they called back saying that if we didn't make it there in 15 minutes, we would have to reschedule. So imagine the situation. Taiga's already high BP was rising, and now we were probably taking risks we shouldn't have on the road. So we get to the office, Taiga (the asthmatic) ran upstairs and I parked the car. I got up to the doctor's office and we got a "NO". I was upset and probably should have bitten my lip, but I think a mild freakout got us in. Probably not, because Taiga's dad works across the street.

"Even though the circumstances leading up to the pregnancy weren't necessarily normal, I am nevertheless experiencing what I deem to be normal expectant-father emotions. One day, inexplicably stressed and the next, filled with love for the Peanut (yeah, that's right, we're calling it Peanut) inside Taiga and of course, for my beautiful woman herself. It's hard for me to know what to do right now since none of the changes are happening to me. I mean, I guess I'm ok with not being the one puking up every meal, but it's hard to know how to help. After all, I don't have a human growing inside me. But I know that the most important thing I can do is love Taiga. And guess what--that's the easy part." Reed 2/1

Let's see, what else has happened....oh, Taiga had about a 5 week bout of morning sickness. The most noteable period occured when I got rather sick and happened to kindly pass it on to her. It turned from a flu with me to brochitis and sinusitis with Taiga. The real bummer was the constant coughing turned on the puke button, which was especially miserable. The kicker happened at work when they made her wear a mask and following a rather productive cough that made its way to her eye, causing conjunctivitis. Yeah, Pink Eye.

Interesting cravings? Salmon Meatloaf, pickles (always), crunchy fruits and veggies, oreos, and that's about it.