Week 32: Baby Shower - Dr. Seuss Style!

Yes, it’s official. I really do have the best friends in the world! I am not sure how I got so lucky, or if I even deserve them, but somehow I have them and I will NEVER let them out of my life!

In all my life I have never had a group of girlfriends. I have always had one or two friends here and there in every stage of my life, but they have come and gone with the years. I never really thought it was possible to have a group of girls that actually get along with each other all the time. Of course I have heard of such groups, but I doubted they could sustain the years and changes in each other’s lives.

Our group is still relatively new, but I do believe we actually have one of those groups. We bonded so quickly and easily, and have already overcome adversity as a group, which only made us stronger. We all fully intend to still be the best of friends in 10-20----50 years. I think if we all outlive our spouses, we would be totally cool living out the last years of our lives “Golden Girls” style. :-)

Going through these last 7 months of my life being pregnant, has made me realize just how important these girls have become to me. They are all so different, but each has the same goals when it comes to our group…. Take care of each other, and make time to be together. They have definitely taken care of me, more than they know. I believe the reason my pregnancy has been so easy and even enjoyable is due to the support and love I have received from my husband, my Mom & Sister, and my girlfriends.

I had the most awesome Baby Shower this weekend! It could not have possibly been more perfect! They went with the Dr. Seuss “theme” to go along with Punkin’s nursery theme (which was the big secret they were keeping from me). Everything was decorated so bright, colorful, and fun! My girlfriends made it perfect right down to the smallest details, and it went off without a hitch. Everyone seemed to have a great time, even the ones who walked in not knowing anyone there. There was a ridiculous amount of food (always is with this group)….all the food was bright and colorful, and there was even green eggs & ham!!! The cake had the “Oh Baby the Places You’ll Go” theme, and it tasted as good as it looked. I got to take home some truly gorgeous flowers decorated up Dr. Seuss style. Probably the biggest perk was having a neighbor friend of G’s take all the pictures so I didn’t have to pose for 10 different cameras. :-) We played several fun games, ate delicious food, laughed and chatted, and I opened a ridiculous amount of baby gifts for Punkin. She is one really lucky girl to be loved so much….and she hasn’t even made her appearance into the world yet!

I went through all the gifts yesterday and tried to organize everything in the nursery. After doing that, I feel like we are now prepared to bring a baby home. I am only saying that we could bring her home anytime, and we would be able to take care of her and meet all her needs….. I am not saying I am ready for her to be here yet. I have actually enjoyed my pregnancy and I know our lives are going to change so much when she arrives. I know it will all change for the better, and will be incredible….but I am not yet ready to give up what “free” time I have left. I fully plan to enjoy these next few weeks and soak up the time I have with my husband, family, and friends before the big change.

BIG THANKS to everyone who made Saturday so special for me! I am so Lucky to have each and every one of you in my life!!!

~~~

One Lucky Chick!!!

Almost all of the ladies that mean the most in the world to me will be gathered in one place tomorrow….and I could not be more thrilled!!!
My best girlfriends are throwing me a baby shower tomorrow, and somehow they managed to pick a day when most of my closest friends will be able to attend. There are a few that will be missed, but unfortunately that is almost always the case. Honestly, I am amazed at the amount of my friends that plan to attend. Not because they wouldn’t want to attend my baby shower, but because the location is about 30-45 minutes from most of their homes in Austin…not so convenient.

My girlfriends have basically been working on the details of this party since I told them I was pregnant….at 5 weeks along. Now I am 32 weeks along and the party is finally here!!! I know they love me and are having a blast planning this thing, but the fact that every part of it is a secret from me is driving me crazy…

· They had an initial planning session Happy Hour that I didn’t get to attend.

· I am sure there have been numerous email chains I’ve been left out of.

· Tonight they are all getting together to decorate, and of course eat and drink.

Not that I don’t appreciate all that they are doing for me, but I hate being left out of these special girl times with my best friends. I am so glad all the secrets will be over after tomorrow!!!

Honestly though, the fact that they have all done such a remarkable job of keeping details from me has me completely intrigued. I absolutely cannot wait until tomorrow!!! My week WAS going by fast…until this afternoon. Now it feels like the day is just dragging by just to torture me.

My big day tomorrow starts with a mani with my sister, then we’ll get ready for baby shower. On our way out of town we’ll grab some lunch so I won’t be devouring everything in sight as soon as I walk in the door. :-) The girls are letting me get to the shower early so we can take some pictures and chill before the festivities start. And then the mayhem will begin. I am sure they have some crazy, silly games planned that will have everyone laughing and having a good time. After the shower a few of us will crash another party where we’ll find our husbands having their own “good” time.

So yes, I am truly looking forward to a fun filled day with people I love!

*** I genuinely do have the most amazing girlfriends in the world. How did we get so Lucky to come together like we did? Now that we’ve come to this point, I know our friendship will never fade. We have so many years ahead of us to look forward to with big, little, happy, and even sad events. I feel so good knowing I have such an awesome circle of girlfriends to go through life with.

I Love You All So Much!

Thank you for Everything!

~~~

Week 31: Doctor appointment & Mosaic Fun

We had a doctor appointment on Friday afternoon with the Nurse Practitioner. Plus we had an extra sonogram since Bobby missed the last surprise one...so we invited my Mom to join us for it. She was so excited to see her first grand baby. After the appointment I showed her baby picks of Bobby and me that I happened to have in my purse. After seeing the sonogram in person she really thinks Punkin has my nose, cheeks, and lips. (I had chubby cheeks and lips, and so does Punkin.) ....we'll see in about 8 weeks.

The nurse said that everything is measuring exactly perfect and the baby is doing great. At this point Punkin is exactly the right size (including her head).....which makes Mommy very happy. The nurse checked to make sure we have chosen a pediatrician and talked with me about the few side effects I'm having. Of course everything is normal, and she said everything is progressing exactly as it should. Always great to hear!

In other news, I finally finished mosaicing the bird bath this weekend!!! The top part was already finished; but yesterday, with some help, I finished the base. We almost started grouting it, but remembered the glue has to dry for awhile before you can grout it. So the next step is to grout where we have tiled.....and let it dry completely. Last step is to seal it since it will be outside with water in it. THEN it will be DONE. Regardless, the time-consuming, hard part is DONE!
I sure hope the birdies love it as much as I do!!!

~~~

WEEK 31: Babies and Dogs

Just NINE more weeks and we will be bringing Punkin' home to an already full house....and I've been nervous about this for awhile now.

We have FOUR dogs:
- Red Nose Pit Mix - 100 lbs
- Australian Cattle Dog - 40 lbs
- Chihuahua Mix - 6 lbs
- Chihuahua - 7lbs

They are all high maintenance and each has their very own set of quirks and problems.

So a couple of weeks ago Bobby & I attended a seminar called:

Babies & Dogs Mini Seminar w/ Jyl

This seminar is open to the public and is designed for expecting parents, recently new parents, or anyone who has kids and wants to know more about dogs and how they see children. This class offers an overview on the different ways a dog sees a child from infancy up to teenage-hood and how this explains behavior issues that may arise.

We were pleasantly surprised that the seminar was very informative, and not just a sales pitch to get you to come pay lots of money for a dog trainer. Everyone asked a lot of questions and Jyl covered a good amount of quality information about getting your furr-kids ready for a new pack member. After class we stayed and asked Jyl more specific questions about our situation and she was more than happy to answer all our questions and offer some great advice. We probably stayed 30+ minutes after the seminar ended talking to Jyl. We really appreciated that she was not rushing and pushing us out the door, or telling us that we just need to schedule an appointment.
...So we scheduled an appointment with the main trainer: Lee Mannix. Apparently a very well known dog trainer....especially with aggressive behaviors. (Which is one of the main items we are dealing with.)
Our appointment last night was a 30 minute evaluation with Lee and all of our 4 dogs. He asked us lots of questions and picked up on our dogs quirks without us even telling him. He told us we are doing some things right, and some things wrong. But he did let us know that we were not the worst case senerio and our problems can be corrected. At first he wants to focus mainly on our Australian Cattle Dog - the agressive one of the bunch. He did express his concern for her around the baby/toddler, so she is number one priority.
We as pet parents have a lot of work ahead of us in these next two months to get our pack ready. Just another thing we have to take care of before Punkin' arrives. But of course it's for the best!
~~~

Week 30: Road Trip & Belly Rubs

Bobby & I finally made the trip to Lubbock this weekend to visit some of my family. I’ve been trying to work it into our calendar for months now, but it was getting down to the wire. Soon my doctor will tell me not to travel further away than 1 hour from him and the hospital I will deliver at. (Ha! Depending on the time of day/traffic….I live 1 hour away!)

So yes, we made the long, boring drive to Lubbock on Friday. And that drive is even longer when you double, no make that triple, the number of pit stops along the way....due to being pregnant (tiny bladder). What should have been about a 6 hour trip took about 7.5 hours. Ugggg! Fortunately the trip back to Austin on Sunday was better. For some reason the pit stops were less frequent so the trip didn’t feel nearly as torturous.

While in Lubbock we visited with my Dad, his wife, Amma (Dad's mom), an aunt, and my Papa (Mom's dad). Everyone was so happy to see me and Bobby, and especially happy they got to see me while pregnant. But since my family is not a touchy-feely family, they didn’t ask to touch my belly at all. One time Punkin' was moving around like crazy, so I did kinda force my Dad and his wife to feel of my belly while she was doing her gymnastics.

So No, the Belly Rubs didn’t come from within my family….. but rather a stranger working at Taco Villa. Taco Villa is the place everyone can’t wait to go back to when they’ve moved away from west TX. It is one of those places that you take for granted when you live there, but as soon as you move away you realize just how much you miss it. Anyway, when I went to the counter to place my order, two female workers came to the counter and one of them asked if she could touch my belly. (OK, at least she asked!) So my response to her was, “Ok, but I get to touch your belly first.” She was kinda surprised but agreed anyway, so I rubbed her belly before I let her touch mine. After she rubbed on my belly for a second she said, “It’s a Girl!” I smiled and confirmed that yes, it is a girl. She smiled a huge smile and laughed with her co-workers who didn’t think she’d be able to call it.

So yes, it happened….my first belly touch by a stranger. At least she was nice and fun about it.

After all the belly touching I turned to Bobby, he hugged me and told me I handled it perfectly. He knows exactly how I feel about strangers wanting to touch pregnant bellies. I really just don’t get it. No one would ever ask to touch someone’s non-prego belly. That is your own personal space….so why is it not considered your personal space anymore once there is a baby in the belly?

***Note to my friends….I am NOT talking about you! I am talking about people I don’t know! So don't get your feelings hurt. I know you are all touchy-feely people and I’d probably get my feelings hurt if you didn’t touch my belly!!! :-)

In other news, my Dad gave us a baby gift this weekend....the car seat. Bobby and I took it out of the box, learned how to snap it in and out of the base, and checked out the fit in our new Pilot. It's a big car seat, so it's a tight fit even in the Pilot. We determined it would have to go behind the passenger seat because there is not enough room for the driver if it is behind the driver's seat. Fun Stuff. :-)

~~~

BIG MILESTONE: 30 WEEKS!!!!

Hooray!!! I have made it to 30 weeks. It definitely feels different when I tell people I'm "30 weeks" rather than 29 :-) It feels like the big day is getting really close and we are running out of time to get stuff done. On top of our ever-growing To-Do List, my calendar is really filling up over the next 2 months! I have projects I need and want to finish....one being my mosaic bird bath.

Other things on my To-Do list include:
- dinners and happy hours with friends & couple friends we need to catch up with now....because it may be awhile before it happens again...
- baby showers!!!
- bi-weekly and then weekly doctor appointments
- dentist appointment
- hair appointment
- classes for me & hubby to prepare to bring a baby home
- dog training...as a group, to prepare our 4 dogs for Punkin's arrival
- get Dr. Seuss pages framed and up in the nursery
- get all my picture albums caught up...because I know there are going to be tons of new pictures soon!
- take all my photos now in individual frames and organize them into the multi-picture frames
- Church
- as many Yoga classes as I can fit in
- pack bag for Hospital stay
- my Birthday!
- lots of Girl Time with my Chicks: HHs, Movies, Slumber Parties, Plays, Shopping....SPA WEEKEND!
- of course I still have to work 40 hours/week

.....that is just in the next 2 months. And I'm sure I'm leaving some things out.

This isn't even touching on Bobby's own To-Do list....which is probably longer than mine!

I am happy to say that we are marking one To-Do off this list this weekend....road trip to see my Grandma in Lubbock. She is my FAVORITE grandparent, and always has been. I was her 1st grandchild and I always new I had a special place in her heart. I even suspected...and still do...that I was/am her favorite, but she will never admit it.
She hasn't been doing very well for a couple of months now and I have been trying to fit this trip in for awhile. So we are finally taking it this weekend....and I am really looking forward to seeing my Amma and other family & friends I haven't seen in way too long.
~~

29 Weeks - Uber Mama Mode

If you didn't think I was in the "Mama-Mode" before, I can assure you that I am now in UBER-MAMA Mode!!!

Proof #1:
This weekend Bobby & I made the tough decision to go ahead and get the "Mama Car". Yep, we did it.
We traded in the fun, sporty Audi and the loyal Explorer for a bigger and better family car.

- 2006 Honda Pilot -

It is a few years old with some miles on it, but it is loaded (read DVD player) and it has already been broken in by another family with kiddos.

We spent all day Saturday at CarMax getting the deal done. During our debate, Bobby made a great point: This will be our car for the messy baby & toddler stages. After that we can get a nice, new car to tote the kids around to soccer practice and music lessons.
He is right....if my toddler would have slung crap onto the roof, or punctured the leather seats in the Audi, I would have absolutely f-r-e-a-k-e-d. But in this car I can chill and spend my time focusing on the important things, rather than the car.

We are both happy that we won't have to deal with the car seat in that tiny backseat. And Bobby is especially glad that he doesn't have to see me struggle to get out of the car anymore....now I can just slide right out. Great Perk!

We are taking a road trip to see some of my family this weekend. Bobby has already informed me that he is going to let me drive while he watches movies in the backseat. I told him that is fine....I'll just take Fancy and Penny and let them ride up front to keep me company. :-)



Proof #2:
I attended my 2nd PreNatal Yoga class on Sunday morning, and it was amazing. My phenomenal husband encouraged me to sign up for the classes and go, so I did.

The class is obviously tailored to pregnant chicks so there are no crazy positions to try and contort the unwieldy pregnant body into. Instead the focus is on the core and other parts of the body that ache and hurt during pregnancy, as well as helping to prepare the mind & body for labor & delivery. Actually, I have found tons of awesome reasons to do Yoga during pregnancy.

I felt so much better and more relaxed after both the classes I attended.
I am anxious to go again!
~~~