sara without an h

i'm about to be really annoying.

kay.  so top baby blogs reset its rankings today, and i'm about to beg for your votes.  ready?  please please PLEASE click the top baby blogs button in the left sidebar to vote for me!  after you click it, there will be a screen that pops up and you have to click the link on that as well.  that's it!  just two clicks and i get a vote!  i'm not going to pretend that this blogging network means nothing to me.  i get the majority of my site traffic via this network.  i have also met some AMAZING and supportive ladies through the site.  the friendships i have made and the advice i have gotten mean so much to me.  help a sista out!  after this post there will be no more begging for votes until the next reset in 3 months.  no putting the top baby blogs link badge at the bottom of every post.  no mentioning TBB unless its important to a post.  you have my word!  help me out just this once (and then again in 3 months)!  THANK YOU SO MUCH!  (you can also click the banner just below.)

and now back to our regularly scheduled programming.

after seeking out advice here, on facebook and on twitter we decided to introduce a sippy cup into sylvie's routine.  it won't replace her bottles just yet, but she's taken to it really well!  for now i'm putting only water in it.  i think i'll give her the weekend to get used to it and then try adding some formula on monday.  THANK YOU to everyone who gave me advice on the matter!

in other news, i'm sure you noticed that things look a little different around here.  i made a new banner and tweaked the colors while sylvie napped today.  i like it much better!  how about you?  i just found the old color scheme and banner  to be a little too aggressive, if that makes sense.  i mean, i want a blog that gets your attention not smacks you over the head.  so i dropped the carnival colors in favor of something more subdued, more me.  any feedback is always appreciated!

on that note, i hope you all have a fantastic weekend!  thank you for visiting and voting (or not)!! 

hiatus.

i took a little blogging hiatus this past week. my heart just wasn't in it this week. i was exhausted from yet another night spent in the hospital thanks to my gallbladder. travis' parents took me and sylvie in for the week. i got a lot of help with sylvie and some much needed rest. travis got some time to focus on his school work. sylvie got a lot of snuggle time with her grammy and poppy. win-win-win. the three of us are back together and back home again. sylvie turned 10 weeks old yesterday. here is a peek at week 9 in pictures. on another note: i wasn't sure if i was even going to bring this up, but here it goes. top baby blogs reset its vote count back to zero a few days ago. let's be real, TBB is essentially one big popularity contest. really. on the other hand, i have met some amazing women (and their adorable babies) through this community of mommy bloggers. these girls provide me with support and advice as i raise my sweet girl far away from family and friends. i would be remiss if i pretended like their friendship, which would not be possible without top baby blogs, meant nothing to me. that said, if you could please click the following banner to vote for me i would so appreciate it. i have amazing readers. all of your comments mean so much to me. thank you so much!

another first.

today is travis' first father's day! i got him a few small gifts (a nice wine journal and a funny book) and took him out to dinner. i really don't know what i would do without him. he has spent the entirety of this pregnancy anticipating and fulfilling my every need, want, and craving. he truly is the most patient and caring man i know. our little girl has no idea how lucky she is to have him for her father. i know he will be completely devoted to her and our little family. happy first father's day to my favorite, my one and only, my man. i love you more than i know how to express. thank you for everything you do for us.
p.s. if you like what you see here, please click the above banner to vote for us. top baby blogs reset all of its blogs to zero today. i would love to get back on the first page, but i need your help for that! all you have to do is click the banner and then click "click here to vote" on the brown page that opens. that's it! many of the blogs in my blogroll are listed, too! check them out and throw a vote their way if you like. we're all in this together! i began blogging as a way to find a community while pregnant and separated from the majority of my support system. through top baby blogs i have met so many other wonderful mommy and preggo bloggers. a lot of people have found me through them, as well. getting onto the first page greatly increases my traffic, which helps me meet new people! thank you so much and have a happy father's day!

columbus, ohio.

travis and i are in columbus, visiting his family, until friday. his parents (sylvie's grammy and poppy) were extremely generous and bought our little girl her crib. as a thank you, we cooked dinner for them tonight. i made prosciutto-wrapped halibut with a sage and brown butter sauce. here is the halibut straight out of the oven: this is a picture of the brown butter sauce as it cooked: we also made calçots with homemade romesco sauce and a grilled potato salad. it was delicious! now we are off to jeni's ice cream for a little after-dinner treat! if you ever find yourself in columbus, you have to go to jeni's. it is some of the best gourmet ice cream i've ever had! okay. i need that ice cream NOW. have a wonderful tuesday night! p.s. we're just a few votes away from the front page! thank you all so much for your continued support of our little corner of the internet!

boring day.

my day went something like this: -woke up at 7am -worked from 8-12 -met travis for lunch and ate flautas and sopapillas -hung out at home until it was time for trav to leave for work -took a nap -ate a huge steak and a bunch of asparagus -went to wal-mart to pick up a few things -walked auggie -watched "school of rock" -made this post pretty boring, huh? that's all she (i) wrote. just so this isn't text only, here's one of my all-time favorite pictures of travis. i miss the beard. p.s. we cracked the top 30! now we're just a few spaces away from the front page. if you like what you see here, please click the banner to vote for us!

17 weeks!

we're just 3 weeks from the halfway point and 16 days from finding out the sex!  time is simultaneously flying by and dragging on.  this week baby is the size of a turnip, at 5 inches long and 5 ounces in weight.  my belly seems to fluctuate from day to day.  some days it really sticks out and other days it looks like i ate too many tacos.  most days, both points are true. today has been a really nice day so far.  it is half-price bread day at our local bakery, the scholar's inn.  we picked up a loaf of seeded rye that smells amazing!  the northeast has the best delis in the world.  it is almost impossible to find a good loaf of rye or a rare roast beef sandwich in the midwest.  scholar's inn has both! on another note, check out sarah's blog post today on some great books about both passover and easter.  if you're raising your child(ren) in an interfaith household (like she is and we will), check it out!  you can enter her giveaway for a chance to win a copy of each book.  i did!  plus, her baby, charlotte is a beauty and her blogs posts are always heartfelt, funny, and honest.  WIN. okay.  i'm going to be a shameless self-promoter for a moment.  if everyone who visits us today would click on the banner below**, it would make me mucho happy.  we would love to crack the top 50 (#57, so close!), but unless we get a small surge in votes, it will never happen.  you'll also notice a few new sites in my blogroll.  most of these are fellow mommy and baby bloggers, who are also listed on top baby blogs.  check them out!  if you like what you see (i know i do), vote for them too!  to me, blogging is about building a community.  this is why i joined top baby blogs in the first place.  i wanted to meet other bloggers, make connections with other preggos/moms, be a part of something, and share my experiences.  the further i (or any other blogger) moves up in the ranks, the more traffic i get, and the more chances i have of meeting new readers.  thank you for your readership and your support. **note:  all you have to do to vote is click on the above banner.  there is nothing to fill out or register for.  there will be nothing notifying you of your vote.  the top baby blogs site will open in a new window.  feel free to browse the other awesome blogs listed or close the window.  THANK YOU! ***EDIT:  looks like top baby blogs just changed its voting procedure.  now, after clicking the banner, you have to also click the part on the page that comes up, which says "click here and your vote will be added".  THANKS!  sorry for any confusion.

top baby blogs.

dear readers, top baby blogs reset every member to ZERO today, which means it is now a completely even playing field!  if everyone could please do me a teeny tiny little favor and click the brown button to the right to cast a vote for me, i would really appreciate it! that's all you have to do.  there's nothing to fill out, no ads, no pop-ups.  you click the button, top baby blogs opens a new window, and you can either browse the site or close it.  that simple!  thank you so much.  we were in the top 80 blogs before it reset.  with your help, we can do even better this time! THANK YOU.  SO VERY MUCH. love, sara, travis, and auggie the doggie p.s.  here is a picture of cute puppy with a heart in its fur as a thank you!

just a quick note...

...to say that i've noticed a spike in readership over the last few days.  if this is your first visit, WELCOME!  i'm so glad you stopped by!  if you've been a daily visitor (here's looking at you, mom and dad), then welcome back!  THANK YOU so much for supporting this little corner of the internet.  auggie the doggie appreciates your support, too! don't hesitate to visit my formspring page and ask anything you want!  as long as it's appropriate, i'll do my best to answer thoroughly and honestly.  and, if you like what you see here, don't forget to click the button to the right to cast a vote for me on top baby blogs.  we're getting so close to breaking into the top 100, and it's all thanks to you! i hope you all have a pleasant monday night.  the husband and i are going to settle in and prepare for tomorrow's snowfall.  goodnight.

10 weeks, less than 7 months.

today our kumquat is exactly 10 weeks old.  he/she has doubled in size in the last 3 weeks and is due to double again in the next 3.  in two weeks, our kumquat will be a lime!  A LIME!  kumquat's major systems are now in place, but will continue to develop over the next 30 weeks.  little k is also getting ready to make his/her first poop!  this part blows my mind.  this little guy is pooping inside me?  WHAT!? in less gross news, my developing placenta has taken some of the hormonal burden from me.  this means i am eating more and throwing up less!  HUZZAH!  those other less than comfortable 1st trimester symptoms, such as soreness and fatigue, should start to subside in the next few weeks.  i am anxiously awaiting that burst of energy everyone talks about.  more than anything, i am ready to start showing.  i can't wait to have some tangible physical evidence of little k.  from what i've read, i'll likely wake up sometime in the next month and suddenly have a small bump. on an unrelated note, keep those formspring questions coming!  i've had a great time answering them.  also, please keep clicking the top baby blogs button in the sidebar to the right.  we're really moving up in the ranks, and it's all thanks to you!  you can click everytime you visit if you care to.  travis and i really appreciate your support.  thank you!