Happy Leap Day!!

Today is Leap Day!  My Grandpa turns 80 today...but is really just past his teens! 

Baby Girl Aiello was 23 weeks as of yesterday...the size of a pomegranate!  

Next week is a really big week...viability!  She *could* live in the outside world, but I want her to stay right where she is for 15 more weeks! 

*Gasp* a belly Pic!

I have been feeling pretty good, but the heartburn is pretty killer.  Hopefully the Old Wives' Tale will be correct and she will have a beautiful head of hair! :)

Maybe like this *without* the beard...although she is a quarter Italian!

This week, we started priming and painting Baby Girl Aiello's nursery!  It is starting to feel so real and the fact that she will be here in 15 weeks or less is is definitely starting to set in!

Here is the before shot of what used to be the office.  Lola really loves it in there already!

Priming...

And here are the beginning swatches  It is so hard to match gray!

I think we may need to get some more lighter colors!  What do you think?

We have also ordered a dresser, changing table, and will be getting the crib from my little Sister, Lydia.  I ordered a crib skirt, a crib blanket, an owl mobile, the owl decal, and block letters for her name (don't worry...you will find out in about 3 1/2 months!)

Here is a preview of some of the colors for the bedding:

I cannot wait to get all of the things we ordered!  I am having a severe addiction to Etsy right now!

We also registered last weekend thanks to the help of Stephanie!  I don't know what we would have done without her help!  It took awhile, but we tried to make it fun!

See what I mean?? :)

One Step Closer!

We are one step closer to working on Baby Girl Ai-owl-lo's nursery!  We have finally designed the decal and here is a sneak peak!

We wanted to keep it gender neutral to add more "owls to our nest!"  But, I had to add the flowers...she is a girl!  ;-)  We can take them off at a later date if we choose to.  We will be painting the room grey...but a little lighter than what is shown.  I am so in love with this! :)

Happy Valentine's Day from the Aiellos!

Happy Love...week! :)  Since Chris just returned home, we are still celebrating!  Chris had probably the longest day of his life this past Saturday.  After spending a little over a week in China and Japan, he headed to the airport to come home.  Upon arrival at the airport at 4 AM Saturday, (2 PM Friday EST) he found out his flight was delayed more than two hours, which would have made him late for his flight home to Chicago from London.  After working with British Airways to try to re-book his flight, he was able to change his flight time but was hours away.  He had some pretty limited options at the Tokyo airport for "breakfast."  An oddly shaped hot dog with salsa, some shrimp meal, and a curried chicken dish.  Indian for breakfast it was!  Finally, he was off to London (my favorite city in the whole world, so I was a little jealous!) for a 12 hour flight.  I told him to bring me back something British and he found Crunchies, which made made his pregnant wife VERY happy!!!  Long time family friends the Ryans, introduced us to these years ago and I was hooked!  They are milk chocolate with a honeycomb center.  YUM!

Hungry, yet???  :)

After buying my addiction, he boarded his 8 hour "skip across the pond."  Since this flight was running late also, he missed his connection in Chicago.  He was bound and determined to make it home that day, so he rented a car and made it home around 2 AM EST on Sunday.  Talk about a long weekend!  It feels so amazing to have him home and to have our family complete.  Baby Girl Aiello was so happy to have him home, he felt her kick for the very first time the day he got home!  It made my entire week seeing his grin from ear to ear!  She was 21 weeks and 5 days.  

Speaking of Baby Girl Aiello....she is 22 weeks this week!  The size of a papaya!

She can definitely hear sounds from the outside by now.  Chris speaks to her everyday and while he was gone, she kicked the phone when I put the speakerphone by my belly.  It gave me such joy feeling that!  She also likes Nicki Minaj...she REALLY jams out to Super Bass.  :)  She is already developing a little personality.  She is like her Daddy in the fact that she loves to sleep and snuggle.  From the two ultrasounds we have had, she has always been so peaceful and calm (like Daddy...not so much me).  She is like me in the fact that she loves t be around other people.  She is always squirming a kicking when it is loud or she hears a lot of people.  We both feel like we know her and we cannot wait to meet her!!  17 more weeks and counting!  

My Mom and I got her some adorable owl themed things that just make me melt!

And Chris found this to put in her nursery from Tokyo!

I will leave you with my 22 week photo.  I think I have definitely "popped!"  We tried to be creative for our Valentine's week photo.  Chris threw heart doilies and took the picture as they fell.  Just trying to keep it creative!  :)  

Stay tuned...Chris will be updating the blog with photos from his trip very soon!

Greetings from the Far East!

Herro! This is the father of this wonderful blog, Chris, writing on the road from China, specifically from the city of Dongguan in Guangdong provence. I am here for work for a week. And while I'm enjoying it as much as I can, I'd give anything to be back home. I'm missing Ashley, Baby A, and Lola lots! But all in all, these trips aren't too bad. That is once you get over the 15.5 hour long flight to get here and the questionable meals. Other than breakfast (the hotel has a great breakfast buffet, complete with omelet and waffle stations) I'm really not sure what most of what I've eaten has been. Some of it has been pretty good, some pretty bad, most somewhere in between. The thing that is nice, though, are the hotels. Thanks to a favorable exchange rate, we get darn nice hotels for fairly reasonable rates. Check out the view from my room. This hotel is surrounded by thickly forested mountains on all sides, and in the morning all the different birds you hear makes it sound like we're in the middle of the jungle!

So what do I spend my time doing here? Well that's a good question. I tour a bunch of factories to learn about the different processes used to make different parts that are used on our amazing Klipsch headphones. And when we're not touring factories, we sit at the factory of our chosen manufacturing partner and work through the details of our designs for our latest and greatest new products. What is great about being here is that working face to face, we can accomplish in a couple days what would otherwise take several weeks or more.

That's all for now!

Half Way There!!!

Today is a momentous occasion!  Baby Girl Aiello has made it to the half way point!  She is a strong little girl and has been kicking up a storm today!!  She has a best friend....it is my bladder and she likes to jump and pounce to her heart's content.  Right now, I find it endearing...ask me again in a couple of weeks.  I have been seriously craving sweets.  I have never been a "sweets" person, but I crave anything sweet...luckily fruit will usually do.  Speaking of fruit, Baby Girl Aiello is the size of a cantaloupe at 20 weeks!  Does that seem big to anyone else??

                                                                                          Hehe!!

Since I started the blog just a couple of weeks ago, I thought I would share a "bump montage" with you.  From 4 Weeks to 20 Weeks!  Enjoy!!  :)

                                                                                         4 Weeks

                                                                                       Family Shot!!

                Lo wanted to join in!

In other family news, Chris has been very busy at Klipsch!  He is travelling to San Jose, CA today and tomorrow and then leaves for China this Saturday.  I will miss him tons, but he promised to share some pictures of his trip to the Orient with all of you when he returns.  Oh, and since he will be gone, I am looking for takers to be my Valentine.  ;-)  Although, I will say, I have my eye on Lola!

Superbowl Fever Here in Indy!!

This week for sure has made me proud to be a Hoosier!!  I am beyond impressed with this city and what it has transformed into.  Chris and I went Downtown for a bit to see what it was all about and we were able to see the "Superbowl 46" display.  I have never seen this much hustle and bustle in the city and I sure wish it could stay.  Can't we make every day into the Superbowl?? :)

 
Indianapolis has proven to be a class act and I hope the reputation spreads.  The energy here is electric and it is exciting to be apart of it.  I am excited for the big game!  May the best team win....as long as it's the Giants!  Go Giants!!!  I must say, even though we do not like the Patriots, I do have a special tie with the New York team.  I went to high school at Cathedral with Mathias Kiwanuka...starting linebacker for the Giants.  He was a very well-rounded, super nice guy and I hope he can help lead the Giants to victory!  And being a Colts fan, it IS nice to have one Manning in the big game.  I leave you with our favorite furry friend, Little Lola, showing her Colts pride!  Play ball!

It's a....

        Girl!!!!! Bring on the bows, ribbons, dresses, flowered headbands, and…pink hockey gloves! We had the most amazing gender reveal party hosted by my Mom & Mark! It was so great to share that special moment of finding out if we are having a boy or girl with our immediate family and closest friends. It was a day that Chris and I will remember forever! There was brunch, an Old Wives’ Tales game, and then the cake cutting!! The Old Wives’ Tales game gave us exactly 10 answers for a girl and 10 for a boy! So, the cake was the tiebreaker. Allison won the game by guessing how many of the Old Wives’ Tales pertained to me. While Chris and I both had Mommy & Daddy intuition that this little one was a girl, I was still so nervous to find out!  Blue or pink would have been great...but it was the anticipation!  I really thought it could go either way before the cutting, but low and behold….the cake was pink! And delicious!! We are going to have a daughter! And it is so nice to say “she” and “her” instead of “it.”  Everyone at the party filled out their well wishes to Baby Girl Aiello and let me tell you, they brought tears to both of our eyes.  It warms my heart to not only know how much we are loved, but how much she is already loved as well!  Thank you for your messages and for making this a great party!  Here are some pictures of the fantastic day!

                

Lindsey filling out her wishes to Baby Aiello! 

                                                                  The before shot of the cake!

                                                                              

                                      

                          

                    

                                                                     Awaiting the cake cutting!

                                                          
                                                                                    "It's pink!!!!"

                                                                             The Aftermath  :)

                                          We are going to be parents of a little girl!!

 


Here is my first posted "baby bump pic."  I was 19 weeks pregnant as of yesterday and Baby Girl Aiello has been kicking away! She is still very low and breech, so I cannot wait for her to move up so Chris can feel her too! She is the size of a mango this week...one of my pregnancy cravings! I have been feeling pretty great except sleeping is already getting a bit difficult. I am supposed to sleep on my side, but whenever I wake up, I am on my back and I can almost feel her weight smushed into my back. The only continued aversion I have is pizza. Pretty crazy for a baby that is 25% Italian! My biggest cravings are fruit! I LOVE anything citrus...I drink grapefruit juice, eat oranges, and sometimes have lemonade every day! I have gained 12 pounds total up until now, so I am really trying to watch that since I want to gain no more than 30 pounds. Here's hoping!! I will be half way next week...a big milestone!!

Baby Girl Aiello's Fruit of the Week!