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Thursday, May 28, 2009

35 Weeks!

And 35 days left!!! Ahhh!!!

Weekly Survey

  • How far along?: 35 weeks
  • Total weight gain: +34 pounds (that's up 4 since my last appt 2 weeks ago)
  • How big is baby?: Approx 5 pounds 10 ounces (and about a foot long!)
  • Maternity clothes?: Yep - I think I'm going to try and wear dresses and skirts exclusively now, the waistbands on pants and shorts are digging : (
  • Stretch marks?: Nope, but I hate, hate, hate the linea!!
  • Sleep?: Started going to bed a lot earlier, so feeling a bit more rested.
  • Best moment this week?: Tie between hearing Wiggly One's heartbeat yesterday and finding out about my maternity leave today!
  • Movement?: Still wiggling away!
  • Food cravings?: Oreos of the double stuffed variety- really helps with the weight gain...
  • Labor signs?: Still getting Braxton Hicks
  • Belly button in or out?: Still the same!
  • What I miss: Never missed it before, but I really want some alcohol. A strawberry daiquiri sounds heavenly right now.
  • What I'm looking forward to: Maternity leave!!
  • Milestone: On to weekly appts now.
So I read that this kid is now the size of a honeydew melon... that explains a lot. He'll get a good wiggle session going and it'll feel like he's trying to come out of both sides of my stomach! It's really cool to watch, but sometimes not so fun to feel. DH laughs at me when I eyeball the moving lumps and have a heart to heart with Wiggly about how it's not nice to punch mama there!

I had my first weekly appt yesterday. Doc says that everything still looks perfect! Yay! After checking my fundal height he said he wanted to make sure that Wiggly is head down. Wow that hurt! He pressed down so hard! I could've told him myself that he was; I've been feeling hiccups down there for weeks! I was supposed to have the GBS test done, but he didn't have time and put it off till next weeks' appt. A tad annoying 'cause I put in extra effort and contorted my very pregnant body into positions that defy imagination to make sure I was properly ladyscaped. I can't be too upset though, I'm not terribly fond of having people poking and prodding around my lady bits.

I was hoping to be able to post the FINAL pics of the nursery, but again, nothing ever goes as planned. We have it 80% completed, we need to hang a shelf, finish putting his toys away, make up his crib (need to buy sheets), set up his changing area, and move the recliner into the room. All his little clothes are hung up or put in drawers (they look so cute in there)! I also packed his diaper bag! I'll have to take some more pictures when everything is finished. I totally lovf the nursery, it's just perfect! We went out and bought the pack and play on Monday and got it all set up in our room. It's weird seeing it in there. Up until then, all the baby stuff had been confined to the nursery, so I never really seen it during the day. Now we have the P&P and his little tub set up in our bathroom. The surreal feelings are coming back again : )

We're still looking for a family friendly vehicle. I drive a 2-door Tacoma and DH has a Mustang, neither of which is really ideal for hauling a little one around! If it comes right down to it, I can switch off the passenger side airbag in my truck and use that until we find a car we can afford, but I'm REALLY hoping it doesn't come to that!

I was informed today that I was approved 12 weeks maternity leave! I.am.so.excited! I cannot wait to start it, but that won't be until the Wiggly One makes his debut, so I still have a while to wait. DH also submitted paperwork for 4 weeks, I'm hoping they don't give him any trouble, his bosses tend to be a-holes.

In other news, I still need a pedicure. Especially if I plan to continue wearing flip flops to work ; )

Here's me at 35 weeks!

Friday, May 22, 2009

34 Weeks!

Weekly Survey

  • How far along?: 34 weeks
  • Total weight gain: Update next week
  • How big is baby?: Approx 5 pounds
  • Maternity clothes?: Yep
  • Stretch marks?: Nope, but that linea is still so gross!
  • Sleep?: Not getting enough
  • Best moment this week?:
  • Movement?: He's my wiggly little dude!
  • Food cravings?: Anything with berries.
  • Labor signs?: Still getting Braxton Hicks and now occasional light cramping (no bleeding though)
  • Belly button in or out?: Still the same!
  • What I miss: have I mentioned sex yet?
  • What I'm looking forward to: The three day weekend!
  • Milestone: NBR: MyLovf and I celebrated our 3 year wedding anniversary yesterday!
Yep! 3 years! But it feels like just yesterday I was standing in that gorgeous white dress marrying the lovf of my life! I hear that's a good sign; feeling like you've known someone for 50 years, but somehow, it also feels like you haven't been together very long at all. We took the day off of work to just be together. Tight budget dictated that this year's festivities be somewhat mellow compared to past years, but it was still really nice. We hung out together in the morning and around 2:00 we finally ventured out of the house to go see the new Terminator movie. Then we went to dinner at the... wait, you guess ::twiddles thumbs::... need another minute? ok ::whistles a tune::... right! The Olive Garden! How did you know?! I even tried something new! I usually get the seafood alfredo, but this time I got the risotto (hello Chef Ramsey in my head), and it was really good! I may just have a new favorite! The only mar on the day was that the Lakers lost against Denver in game two of the Conference Finals. I don't know WTH is up with them lately, but this seems to be a trend; win one, lose one, win one, lose one. Ugh! As long as they win the series, it doesn't really matter I suppose, but it's still so frustrating! They're better than this!

Whew! Kind of flew off on a tangent there, didn't I? Ok, Laker vent over.

In PG related news, my fingers are getting swollen! Not enough to make me take my ring off, but enough that I now have a light impression from it. I really hope I get to keep it on for the remaining six weeks. It's kind of a waste of money to go out and get a cheapy one at this point, but I am not comfortable with NOT wearing one. I'm also starting to get uncomfortable. It's getting harder and harder for me to find a position to sleep in that won't result in something being sore in the morning. My poor hips! I don't know how much more they can take! And I grunt every time I turn over; DH is always waking up asking me if I'm ok. I may just be hitting that wall of "get this kid out" sooner than I expected!

It also doesn't help when co-workers and other people comment on my size. I am NOT ready to explode, thank you very much! What kind of person says that to a pregnant woman? Also, the looks of horror I get when I say that I still have about six weeks to go... those suck too. Someone out there really needs to put a list together of the Things You Should NEVER Say to a Pregnant Woman and just post it up everywhere. That person would be forever lovfed and adored.

So, last week I promised pics from our baby shower, and here they are. These are by far not all of them, but I couldn't convince my SIL to email them all at once. She's sending me a CD, so you'll probably be seeing more of them when I finally get it.

Have you ever had one of those days where you look in the mirror and think "damn, I look good today"? Not that you're being conceited or anything, but we all have those days right? This happened to be one of those days for me, which should've been great... until I saw pictures of myself. Now, looking at them, all I see was that "my hair looks gross in that one" or "eew, look at that fat roll!" or holy jeez, my nose looks huge!" I know we are all our own worst critics, but I really wish that I could look at these pics without negatively analyzing them. ::le sigh::

This is the taco lady that they hired. OMG, they were so good, I could not stop pigging out!

The belleh with a cute little "It's a Boy" confetti thing stuck to my dress.
The cake! It was so cute and tasted like pure heaven!
Cutting the cake.
**Ask me about that sash sometime. There's an interesting, albeit annoying-as-hell story behind it.
Me and MyLovf
The "loot" ; )
My MIL made this blanket. It matches everything else in the nursery : )
My grandma crocheted three blankets for the Teeny One. They're so soft and so beautiful! I don't think he'll ever actually use them for anything other than pictures. Don't want to get spit up or poo on them!
This game was called "How Big is Mama?", but I think "Destroy What's Left of Mama's Self-Esteem" would've been a better title.
MyLovf with baby's namesake (his best friend)
Me and my parents
Me and my grandma. She always calls the belleh her "balóncito" (that's "little ball" for all you non-spanish speaking folks)
Me and our hosts; my SIL and our friend Travis
Left to right: My brother, SIL, Jen (Trav's GF), Trav, Me, MyLovf, Meg and Pete (Trav's roommates)
This was taken during the after party. I don't know why they felt the need to take a photo looking at the "baby maker". They're all so wonderfully weird!

Comparison shot. The first is from 24 weeks, I lovfed the picture so much that I wanted to duplicate it 10 weeks later. The lighting was way different, but I think it came out pretty good anyway. Check out the difference in belleh size! Wow!

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

33 Weeks!

Weekly Survey

  • How far along?: 33 weeks
  • Total weight gain: +30 pounds : (
  • How big is baby?: Approx 4 pounds, 8 ounces
  • Maternity clothes?: Yep
  • Stretch marks?: Nope, but that linea is so gross!
  • Sleep?: Not getting enough
  • Best moment this week?: Our Baby Shower!!
  • Movement?: The last few days have been very active. It's like he's awake all day!
  • Food cravings?: None really this week
  • Labor signs?: Still getting occasional Braxton Hicks.
  • Belly button in or out?: Still the same!
  • What I miss: SEX!
  • What I'm looking forward to: Getting the nursery completely decorated and organized.
  • Milestone: I'm getting hot flashes!
My SIL didn't send the pics from the Baby Shower yet : (

We went to my 32 Wk appt on Tuesday. Everything is still looking fine with the Teeny One, he and I are measuring right on track, his heartbeat is good and he's moving a ton. I thought that as he got bigger I'd feel him less (what with him running out of room and everything), but nope, he's a wriggly little thing. I'm going to have to do the GBS test at the next appt on the 27th... should be fun... I also gained four pounds in two weeks! Ick ick ick. I'm blaming it on the tacos I ate at the baby shower. I stuffed my face with them the whole time. So yeah, it's the tacos.

I spent some more time in the nursery trying to get everything organized the way I want it. I need more storage. He has so much stuff already that I don't know what to do with it all! I'll probably make a trip to IKEA this weekend for some shelves and maybe a closet organizer. Right now, everything is on the floor and stacked against walls. It's lovely!

DH helped me hang a GORGEOUS wall mural that my MIL made. She is truly talented. Did I mention that she also made me a custom diaper bag? It's blue fabric that DH picked out himself, so he won't have an excuse not to use it too. AND she also made a comforter. I have to take pics of those, they're so awesome. We hung the mural above the crib. Don't worry, we made very sure that there was no way it would come down on the Teeny One. I would lovf to post a picture of it, but it has his name on it.

My kid has created a game of simultaneously punching me in the cervix and squashing my bladder. DH and I were driving home the other day when he started up his game and I had to do my damndest not to pee myself! So uncomfortable! When he makes his appearance (in 7 weeks!) he'll be immediately grounded for that one! Ornery little thing.

I guess that's all for now. Hopefully my next entry will have pics from the shower. ::crossing fingers::

Here's the belleh!

Monday, May 11, 2009

Baby Shower!

The past weekend was really an adventure! But I can honestly say that I'm glad it's over; not that I didn't have a good time, it was just very exhausting.

We got up on Saturday morning at 3 (yes, 3AM) and left the house for Cali at 4. I'm lucky DH likes to drive, if I had taken the wheel, we probably would've ended up a smear on the center divider; I fell asleep like five minutes after we got onto the freeway! My poor honey only had the furbabies to keep him company till I woke up again two hours later needing to pee like a racehorse! I counted eight stops total, six to pee and two to get food. The drive only takes six hours! LOL

So we finally get to Ontario, we drop off the dogs at the boarding kennel, and then had to go to Robbins Bros about DH's wedding ring (again)! Little back story: this is the ring that DH originally had:
It's black titanium with a tension set diamond in it. Really nice, and totally his style, but if the prongs get pulled apart, even a little bit, the diamond falls out! It had happened twice before and both times we were able to find the diamond and just have them repair it (lifetime warranty). When it happened for the third time last Sunday, we weren't able to find it. I think the dog ate it! So, long story short, the customer service people said that we could bring it back and exchange it for a new one. Yay! When we get to the store, we're informed that he can't do a straight exchange for the same one because they don't work with that vendor anymore! He was so bummed, he really lovfed that ring. They gave us full credit for the old one and turned him loose to find his new ring. After looking at everything they had in the store (twice), he decided on a new Tungston one.
Nice huh? Only problem? It's valued at $350 LESS than the black one. Solution... he gets TWO rings! He also chooses this titanium one for everyday use.
He'll use the tungston one for special occasions and when we go out. New problem, we still have $250 credit, and if we don't use it now, we'll never be able to! So he also got me a 3rd Year Anniversary / Mother's Day present...
They're so pretty! I lovf them! After taxes and everything, we only ended up paying an additional $40! We spent so much time at the store that I didn't have time to get a pedicure before the party (and trust me, I really need one!) We high-tailed it to our friends' house. I changed and did my hair and then we were off to our baby shower! We only arrived about 45 minutes late... woops!

**I don't have any pictures to post right now, I didn't take any with my camera. My SIL promised to send me the ones she took very soon, so I'll post them as soon as I get them.**

My SIL and Trav did an awesome job! They really know how to throw a party! There were checkered flags everywhere, which I was really happy to see, it wasn't over the top babyish and suited us just perfectly! They hired a taco lady to do the cooking, I think I ate like a dozen tacos, they were so good ::drool:: The cake tasted like heaven, but they spelled my name wrong! You'd figure Jen wouldn't be that confusing, but it somehow ended up "Jeni". No biggie, I ate it anyway ; ) Music was good, games were fun, and it was so great to see our friends and hang out for a few hours.

There were a couple of disappointing things that happened though:

First, hardly anyone came. Nearly everyone that we sent invites to RSVPd that they would be there, but only about half of them showed up. I was bummed. : (

Second, we didn't get very much off of the registry. I know it's horrible of me to say, and I really am grateful for what we got, but I was hoping that we wouldn't have too much to buy ourselves after the shower. Little Dude got a shit-ton of clothes and three custom blankets, but no pack-n-play, no crib sheets, no carrier/sling, only four bottles(!) and a lot of cute things to hang on the wall or other decorations. I guess I should've listened when people told me not to announce what we're having. It really is true that if people know what it is, they'll gravitate to the cutesy, gender-specific clothing rather than purchase the essentials... like a Diaper Genie or boppy pillow.

And lastly, my FIL called two hours before the shower started to let us know that he wasn't coming. Evidently, he was mad at us because my brothers-in-law didn't get their invitations. He gave DH a huge speech about the importance of family and how it was awful of us not to invite them... Except that we did... I was assured that the invites were sent out and I have no reason to believe that my SIL was lying. We won't even go into the irony of DH being chastised for not being a good brother when it was the other two that would steal from him to fund their drug habits and have had minimal contact with him for at least 10 years. Yeah... we won't go into that. So FIL boycotted our shower, which really upset me, which in turn upset DH, who then had to have a "talk" with his mother for a good 30 minutes during the shower. Fun times.

The shower ended around 6:30, but of course, there was an after party! The guys that had been hiding in the garage busted out the beer pong table and commenced getting smashed. The other young mother that was there (first time meeting her) decided to regale me with tales of her birth experience and how she would recommend having a c-section to everyone regardless of their medical status or birthing preference. I tried to stay away from her, but it wasn't working out that well. At around 9 I was half dead, but I didn't want to pull DH away from his friends knowing that we wouldn't be seeing them again for a long while. We left about 11. I was the DD (of course) and also gave another guy a ride home. We had to stop for gas and he decided that he was starving, so he walked across the parking lot to the Jack in the Box. Hilarity ensued when he walked up to the cashier and told him that he was "drunk and need food!" The look on the cashier's face was priceless. He then ordered "10 of those, and 5 of those" pointing to a couple of pictures on the menu. I didn't even see what he got till he started pulling stuff out of the bag. Hamburgers and tacos. And between him, DH and I, they were all gone by the time we got back to the house. : )

We were supposed to leave for home on Sunday, but DH got a call from his mother saying that she really wanted us to come over for a while the next day. DH was hesitant because he thought that we would end up getting grilled by FIL for the brother drama from the day before. By that time, I was just annoyed that he had boycotted our shower over a stupid misunderstanding and now, even though everything had been explained, he wouldn't just drop it. Turns out that FIL wouldn't even be home and DH decided it was ok to go, he wasn't going to originally because he knows how upset I was and didn't want me to be stressed out. So we made plans to stay the extra day and then went out to lunch with our friends and watched the Lakers lose their asses. WTH was up with that game anyway?! Ugh! We got back to the house and then spent the rest of Sunday afternoon in the pool. It was so relaxing! I also got a Soon-to-be Mother's Day present from my friend; some yummy perfume and a cute little frame : )

On Monday we packed everything up, loaded our dogs and then went to my IL's house. The reason she wanted us there was because she was having some work done to her house and didn't want to be alone with the repair guy. Silly, she could've just told us that! We hung out with her for a few hours and then left for home at 3. This time, we only made four pit stops, but none of them were for food! LOL We got home at 8 and then I spent two hours in the nursery hanging stuff and organizing clothes, toys, etc. At 10:30 I was snuggled into my own bed.

Barring the little (but not so little) disappointments, it was a very fun weekend. I know I'll be spending the next few days in the nursery sorting through clothes and toys and hanging stuff up on the walls. I'm waiting on the BRU completion coupon before we finish up our shopping. I'm dreading having to compile the list of all the things we didn't get at the shower. That should add up to a nice little chunk of change **I really AM grateful, I just sound like a brat right now**

Hopefully I'll have the pictures by the time I post my Weekly on Thursday.

Friday, May 8, 2009

32 Weeks! (+1 day)

Weekly Survey

  • How far along?: 32 weeks
  • Total weight gain: Being weighed again next week
  • How big is baby?: Approx 4 pounds
  • Maternity clothes?: Yep
  • Stretch marks?: Nope, but I am seriously hating my linea!
  • Sleep?: Getting pretty tough, waking up at least once to pee and getting out of bed in the morning is an event.
  • Best moment this week?: NPGR: seeing my little sister yesterday
  • Movement?: It's gone from jabbing and kicking to rolls, swishes and stretches.
  • Food cravings?: None really this week
  • Labor signs?: Still getting occasional Braxton Hicks.
  • Belly button in or out?: Still the same, I just might make it the whole way without it popping out!
  • What I miss: SEX! I think this should just stay here. I really miss it, you just have no idea.
  • What I'm looking forward to: Baby Shower tomorrow!!!
  • Milestone: Toured L&D on Wednesday
I couldn't post this yesterday because I wasn't anywhere near a computer all day. I traveled to Tucson with my parents and little brother to watch my little sister graduate from AIT at Fort Huachuca! We're so freakin' proud of her, we're just busting! Now that she's done with that, she'll be off to Korea for a year. She won't be leaving for another two weeks, so I'm hoping that we'll get to spend some quality time with her.

Disclaimer: You may want to skip the next two paragraphs if you're not in the mood for venting.

As always, spending any extended amount of time with my mother turns out to be trying in some way. Yesterday's trip was no exception. We stopped at Subway to get some lunch and when I went to take a drink, the soda bubbled up from around the straw and spilled all down the inside of my shirt (don't ask me how I did that). My belly and boobs were all wet, and I was sticky and embarrassed. So what does my loving mother do? Grab some napkins? Oh no. She laughs at me! I got irritated with her (really, who wouldn't?) and I snapped at her that it wasn't funny. OMG the look she gave me; it was like I had just kicked her puppy. She got all offended and stormed off to the car leaving me there, standing in front of the coke machine by myself. I wet some napkins and cleaned myself up; thank goodness you couldn't tell that I'd made a mess, the pattern of my blouse was very busy. For the rest of the day, she would find random moments to bring up the fact that I'd snapped at her and how she wouldn't have reacted that way and how I'd hurt her feelings. I didn't apologize, and I don't ever plan to. She hurt MY feelings when she laughed at me, and then proceeded to bug the crap out of me all day about what had happened.

OH! AND she was being a total brat about me not wanting to pull up my shirt so my sister could see my belly. "Just let her see it! What's the big deal?!" I explained to her that I was self-conscience about it and I didn't want to. Should've been enough right? If you answered "yes," you'd be wrong, she brought it up again at least three times after that. I was so tempted to tell her that if she bared hers, I'd bare mine, but I know what kind of reaction that would've brought, so I left it alone. True, I post pictures of the bare belly on the internet, but you'll notice that they're always side views and on the one (or two) front view ones, my hand is strategically placed to hide as much of the horrendous linea nigra as possible. No one but DH has ever seen the full on bare naked belly and I fully intend on keeping it that way.

Aside from all the Mama Drama, I had a blast seeing my little sister. She's doing so great in the ARMY! She has a lot of friends and her higher-ups have nothing but good things to say about her. She's really come in to her own since she joined up, I hope that she continues down this path. I think she could make a great life in the ARMY, it just suits her so well. Now, if we could just get her to see the light regarding her current boyfriend... oh, excuse me... fiancé ::gag:: then everything would be golden! After her graduation, we took her out for ice cream, went shopping, and then had a steak dinner! So fun, but by six o'clock, I was done. I was exhausted, my feet hurt and my belly felt like it was trying to rip itself off. I just wanted to get home and sleep, but we didn't leave there till nine; got to my parent's house around eleven and crawled into my own bed at 12:30. Yeah, I'm half dead today.

And now, baby related stuff! We went and toured L&D on Wednesday evening. OMG, did that ram home the fact that this little one is on his way! I keep having moments like that. Sometimes it feels like I've been pregnant forever and will continue to be till the end of days, and other times I get whacked in the face with something that reminds just how close he is to getting here. EIGHT weeks! Eight more weeks and we'll finally meet this little man that so loves to punch me in the cervix (he's such a sweety, isn't he)? I am dying of anxiousness! I cannot wait to see which of us he looks like more and what color eyes he has (I don't know if DH will survive through the night if he doesn't come out with green eyes). I seriously have to finish up the nursery. Every weekend I set myself a goal in there, and every Monday I come into work not having accomplished anything. I think the baby shower tomorrow!!! will be enough of a kick in the butt to finally get everything squared away.
I guess that's all for now. Please keep us in your prayers as we travel this weekend. It's a little over six hundred miles round trip. Oy.

**I know my hair looks a little funky; I blame it on the lighting. Pics were taken an hour later than they usually are and it was brighter in my bathroom.