Harley and Baby A

So Harley really missed Baby A this weekend.  We came back into town and she was so lovey with me and wanted to hear the baby's heartbeat.  Here are some pictures of her bonding with Baby A.  I know I said this before, but she's going to be such a good nanny!

34 Week Check Up...

We went in for a check up at 34 weeks last week.  We also got to do 2 ultra-sounds: one on the baby and one on my abdomen.  The ultrasound on my abdomen came back good, there are no concerns with any of my internal organs, yeah!  This is great news since I've been having a lot of pain in my uppper stomach and back and was really worried about it since it wasn't going away.  They say the pain is caused by muscular/skeletal issues (which is normal).  I was very relieved!  I just have to deal with it for the next 6 weeks now.
The ultrasound for the baby was great too.  She is progressing very nicely and is already 5 lbs. 9 oz. and they say she will be about 8 lbs. when I deliver.  They believe she will go full term and seemed pretty confident about that.  I was so worried I was going to deliver early...I'd rather her bake as long as she can.
Here are some pictures of the ultrasound.  Since I'm so far along, the baby is all squished up, so they could only get a couple of good profile and face pictures.  She's head down now, but that could change in 6 weeks...let's hope not :).  These are the last pictures before she comes out...can't wait!!!!

New Nursery Pics

I'm almost done with the nursery and I'm so happy with it.  The linens came in a couple of days ago and they are just fabulous!  After searching for the perfect prints to go into the vintage frames, I finally found them today on etsy.com.  I decided not to put a rug in there because we just got the carpets cleaned and I think I'm banned from buying/returning anymore PotteryBarn Kids rugs (I did that 3x).  I just couldn't find anything that I liked and the rugs we tried out were getting in our way of the door or ottoman.  I also decided not to do a floor lamp or any lamp for that matter.  Blair worked really hard in putting up the gorgeous chandeliere and it's on a dimmer, so there's really no need for extra lighting.
The only thing that is missing is the mirror I ordered from Restoration Hardware Baby.  It's on backorder until mid-October, so I just hope it comes in before the baby.  But it will go on the wall above the chest of drawers, so you can't really tell anything's missing unless you walk in the room and see the nail in the wall waiting to be useful.
I'm just so thrilled with how it all turned out.  I wanted something clean, simple and classic.  I hope Baby A enjoys it.  Harley has been picking out her favorite places to lay in the nursery (thank goodness it's not the chair).  I started taking pictures and she just had to be in them. 

Plymouth, MA at 7 months pregnant

We took a week long family vacation to Plymouth, MA this year.  It was a great week of relaxation.  Blair and I went into Boston for a day and toured around and visited Harvard too.  The house my parents rented was really nice and right on the bay.  It had a great large backyard and a good deck that we ate dinner out on each night.  Except for the night of Hurricane Earl.  The storm was coming right for us and then it just rained at night one night.  It didn't mess up our plans at all the the day before and after were great. 
I got to spend some good time with Sam and he taught me a lot about being a parent.  He was a lot of fun to play with and really enjoyed the bubbles we brought him.  Huckleberry was very attentive towards me and gentle.  He would jump up in my lap and let me cuddle with him.
We ate a lot, which included lobsters, clams, chowder, hamburgers, steaks, etc.  We cooked almost every night.  Plymouth had a great cupcake store, probably the best I've ever had.  I ate about 3 large cupcakes and it was totally worth it. 
We had a professional photographer come to the house to take family photos for my parents' 40th anniversary (which is in 2 weeks!).  Below are some of the pictures that I took and some that the photographer took. 
I wish I could take off for a week each quarter to relax and get away - at least I have 3 months off from work coming up soon though.

Vegas Baby - literally...

hat's right, I went to Vegas 6.5 months pregnant!  And we had a great time!  It was for Terilyn's 30th birthday and her husband put a lot of effort into the trip.  We ate a lot, gambled and walked a lot too.  Here are some pictures.
We think that Baby A is good luck because Blair did quite well on the tables.  He would rub my tummy before rolling the dice...ha ha. 
We spent a good amount of time at the Venetian pool and I was rocking the bikini with my large tummy.  I felt like I fit in, only if you count my new large chest though :).
We decided we are definitely going back after Baby A arrives, there's so much more we want to do, like go to a show, party out at a club, try out some other restaurants, etc.  Plus, it was the first time we've been since Blair proposed to me in Vegas in June of 2008, so taking more trips there is very meaningful.
It was a great trip and I'm so glad I got to go...nothing was going to stop me from celebrating Terilyn's 30th!  Not even the fact that I couldn't drink (though this was the first time that I missed it terribly - I last 6.5 months without missing it, so I figured that was pretty good).  I even stayed up the first night until 1am (that's 3am Houston time)! 

New Updates to the Nursery

We got the crib in earlier than expected, so I was really happy!  Blair put it together Saturday morning while Harley and I supervised.  Then we went shopping for a little bit and quickly found a dresser.  I've been looking for the perfect dresser for my nursery for a long time.  We went to El Paso Imports in Rice Village and within 20 minutes, the dresser was in the back of Blair's truck on our way back home.  It was exactly what I had been looking for, it has character, is the right color and has the right dimensions. 
Then on Sunday I went to Pottery Barn Kids and found the rug and chandelier.  I'm still debating on the rug, but think I'm going to keep it.  The chandelier is so pretty and hasn't been hung up and installed yet, so it's not in the picture.  It's really pretty though. I'm just so excited everything is coming along.  I think seeing our new niece really helped us get our thoughts together and helped me make some decisions too.
Next I'm working on the walls and then the linens get in in about 4-6 weeks - can't wait!

28 Weeks Today! And a New Niece!

Yeah, I'm officially in my third trimester! 

This week was so exciting, my sister-in-law had her baby yesterday!  Her second beautiful girl, Charlotte Mae.  I got to learn a lot from both Kacey and Brent during the whole process.  It was very helpful and I took great mental notes.  She delivered at the same hospital as I will deliver, so Blair and I know all the parking, valet, quick entrances and all for the big day.  We also know how to get around the hospital better.  It was very neat to hold the baby and see how small she is and we definitely got more excited for our own.  I watched how to change the diaper too.  Blair and I both have never changed a diaper, so we're waiting for ours to be the first one - and that's probably an excuse not to have to change one at this time...ha ha.  We are so happy for all of them.

Here is what the babycenter.com says about my 28th week:

By this week, your baby weighs two and a quarter pounds (like a Chinese cabbage) and measures 14.8 inches from the top of her head to her heels. She can open and close her eyes, which now sport lashes. This movement is more of a reflexive blink than a deliberate opening and closing, but it won't be long before she's batting those beauties at you.

Weekend Pictures with Mary

Mary and Brendan came in town this weekend to hang out.  We figured out Nana's (my Mom's Grandma name) baby room and Blair and Brendan went to an Astros game.  Of course we ate a lot over the weekend including Escalantes queso (thanks to Wendy).  Mary was really only in town for about 48 hours, but we got some good time in together.  I had to talk to them about borrowing a pack and play for the baby when we come visit them in NYC next year with Baby A.  Everyone got to feel the baby moving around and even see her moving in my stomach.  Here are the pictures of Mary and I.  My favorite is the classic "prom" picture.  As you can see, I'm getting bigger.  I'm at 6 months right now...

My Tummy and Harley

Here is a better picture of my stomach (since many are asking for better pictures of my tummy).  This was over 4th of July weekend though, so I'm a little bigger since then.  I'm taking Harley for a walk in the heat.  We both didn't make it very far that day.  These days Blair is the one who walks Harley.  There are days I'll go with them and waddle behind them to get some exercise, but it's hard to keep up with Harley's steps.  She's always on a mission to find the perfect spot to sniff out.

Then here's another picture from the same weekend (I tried to pose quickly):

Blair and I all dressed up...

We went to a fabulous wedding of my good friend this past weekend.  Despite my pains and sinus allergies, we got all dressed up.  The wedding was amazing and the bride, gorgeous.  We had such a good time and were so glad we could go.  Here is a picture of us all dressed up.  Thanks to my wonderful sister in law for letting me borrow such a cute formal prego dress.  It worked out great and since it was a bubble dress, you couldn't even tell I was 25 weeks pregnant.  And I even wore heels and it wasn't that bad!  Ha!

25 weeks...what is a rutabaga?

I'm 25 weeks today!  Here is what the babycenter.com says about the baby this week:

Head to heels, your baby now measures about 13 1/2 inches. Her weight — a pound and a half — isn't much more than an average rutabaga, but she's beginning to exchange her long, lean look for some baby fat. As she does, her wrinkled skin will begin to smooth out and she'll start to look more and more like a newborn. She's also growing more hair — and if you could see it, you'd now be able to discern its color and texture.

So I looked up with a rutabaga is and here's a picture:

She is still moving around a lot...kicking, elbowing, pushing, twisting, you name it, I feel like I can feel her throughout 50% of my day - which is a lot when you think about it.  This truly is a miracle!  And yes, I'm still a little freaked out that there's something growing inside of me especially now that I can feel it moving.

We're going to a wedding tomorrow and I'll try and take some pictures to post.

Blair in 1996 or 1997 at my old house!

So I knew I hadn't posted in a while, and thought I'd do another one today.  Here is a picture that a friend of mine found in her house.  This is Blair (and some guy we have no idea who) at our old house on Holidan Way.  He came over after Junior Prom with a bunch of my friends (he was one of their dates) when my parents were out of town.  Don't you just love his tux?  We both vaguely remember this night, but the proof is in the picture...we were friends in high school!  Who knew he would marry me and I'd be carrying his baby?  It's fun to think about the "fate" that was involved.

Nursery in the making

We've gotten started on the nursery and I'm so excited!  With many thanks to my in-laws who helped move the furniture around in the house, the room is cleaned out and ready to fill with baby things.  Here are before pictures of the "office" and a picture of what it looks like now in the first stages of the nursery.  The chair is amazing and we just got it in last week.  It's a glider/rocker/swivel...which makes it comfy for late night feedings and perhaps a rest spot for Blair after a dramatic baby diaper change - since he'll be changing all the messy ones...ha! 
This room was originally pink when we moved in and I had always planned on making it the nursery, so I painted it green within a month after we moved in.  I knew green would go great with a boy or girl.  So the colors for the nursery are green (only on the walls) and the linens will be a white shade (like the chair) and the furniture is most likely all going to be a dark wood and then I'll bring in a touch of pink in the chandelier, rug and accessories.  I've ordered the crib and it's on back order until the end of August...hopefully I won't need it until after then. 
We moved the big desk into the front bedroom along with the office chair and ottoman.  We actually like this a lot better since there's a bed in the front bedroom too...it makes for great telecommuting days for me.  On Tuesdays I telecommute from home and work at the desk and rest on the bed when needed.  Harley's little nap area (under the desk) was obviously moved, so it's taken her a little bit to get use to the new space but I think she's adjusting fine. 

Office Pictures:

Nursery Picture:

More pictures to come when we get more pieces in the room...which will be a while.  In the meantime, I've been framing pictures and paintings I've been meaning to do for months and have been hanging them up around the house...I guess it's what is called "nesting."  Blair will come home from work and I'll be hanging something or moving something around and his comment is "Ah...nesting again?"  I'm really having a good time organizing everything though.

22 Weeks and 4 Days

Here's a picture of me at 22 weeks and 4 days.  I'm definitely showing and instead of people ignoring the "questionable" bump on my stomach, they are all stopping me and asking me my due date or making baby comments.  People have been asking me what I'm craving and it's really the same thing...anything with fruit!  I've moved on to Cheerios instead of Fruit Loops and my absolute favorite thing to make is smoothies.  I'll make a banana/blueberry smoothie or banana/kiwi smoothie.  My Mom has been making me some green smoothies, which is fruit and some sort of vegetable like celery, kale or carrots.  I'm also eating a lot of whole fruits, especially watermelon, oranges, apples and blueberries.  And for a bad treat, I'll eat ice cream.  Sonic Happy Hour (2-4) is awesome!  I go on Tuesdays when I work from home and take Harley with me...she loves Sonic Happy Hour.  I get a watermelon or cherry limeade slushie for 86 cents!  I've tried all their flavors and these two are my favorite.  I guess this is really a bad treat too because it's mostly sugar.  I highly recommend it to anyone though on a hot Houston day.
Baby A loves to kick and Blair has been feeling her kick a lot, which is really special.  I've been feeling ok, I guess what's expected being 5 months pregers...definitely not unbearable, just a little uncomfortable.  I still love being pregnant, it makes me feel really good and I've been eating so much more healthier and exercising a little more.  In the mornings I do yoga stretches for about 20 minutes (Harley helps by sitting almost on top of me, watches and roots me on).  On Tuesdays I get to go to my Pilates/Yoga/Ballet class for 30 minutes.  I love this class as it helps my legs and butt look good with a large tummy.  The instructors are so encouraging and always talk to me about what they learn I can do.  Then I'm trying to walk a little more.  I'm usually really tired when I get home from work, but I try and go with Blair to take Harley for a walk.  I need to work more on pushing myself to go. 

Here's me at a little over 22 weeks and growing...

Here's Harley excited to go to Sonic Happy Hour (she was moving a lot and this was the best pic I got)

20 Week Check Up

We had our 20 week check up last week.  I had another ultrasound and there is definite confirmation that the baby is a girl!  It was so neat to watch her move around on screen.  She was waving her hands and would cross her legs and uncross them and then turnaround.  She's kicking a lot now too, so to see her moving all around was really neat.  They said everything is still looking good and they did a lot of measurements and took a lot of pictures for the Dr. to review.  The Dr. said all is well and she has 10 fingers and toes...we counted on screen.  Here are some pictures of the ultrasound, they aren't that great.  She looks kinda weird in the face pictures, so don't judge her by these pictures.  The ones with the hands and feet are the best.

She looks like an alien here.

Here's her feet.

Here's her hands.

AND...Blair felt her kick two nights ago for the first time!  It's very faint, but he was excited he finally felt it. 

Hawaii Pictures

I had a time downloading and labeling our pictures, but here they are...finally!  And my pregnancy brain kicked in when I got the camera all ready for the trip by deleting old photos off to make room for Hawaii photos, but forgot to bring the charger.  So my camera lasted about two days and I had to use my phone camera the rest of the time...which turned out ok, but we didn't get a lot of pictures with the two of us since my phone camera doesn't have a timer on it.  Here are some of my favorite pictures from our trip, but all of them are in the link at the bottom of the post. Just click on Hawaii Pictures 2010 and that should bring up the Kodak Gallery site.  They pretty much tell the story of everything we did.  We stayed in Maui for 2 nights and took a ferry to Lanai (another small island) for 4 nights. 

Here's Blair driving the road to Hana in our cool Mustang Convertible

Us at Waianapanapa State Park on the road to Hana

We woke up at 3am our second morning and drove up the volcano for 1.5 hours to Haleakala National Park (House of the Sun) to watch the famous sunrise over Hawaii.  We were over 10,000 feet high and above the clouds.  It was definitely worth the drive and early morning rise.

On a grassy hill overlooking Wailea Beach, it was great people watching and our favorite beach in Maui.

We took a ferry ride to Lanai for an hour.  It was 9 miles away and the sea was rough and angry that day.  I was trying to keep it down the whole ride there.  Thank goodness for my motion sickness wrist band I'm wearing...it was a lifesaver the whole trip.

We went snorkeling in Manele Bay on Lanai.  It was voted the best snorkeling beaches in our book and we saw a lot of really pretty fish and even some eels.  Here's Blair coming back from his second outing with the fish.

We went on Fisherman's Hike along the West side of our hotel on Lanai.  It was a wonderful rough hike up and down the cliffs to the beaches you see behind me.  It was a great workout.

We also went on another hike to the East of our hotel to Sweetheart's Rock or Pupu Pehe.  This is half way to the rock...what a view.

We made it to this destination...facinating how the rock formed over time.

This picture is bad quality, but the only one of both of us together that isn't in a shadow.  We just ate dinner at our hotel on Lanai and this is the hotel's lobby area.

All in all, we had a great "babymoon" and hope to bring Baby A back here some day.  She did a lot of kicking while we were there, so I know she'll love it in person.

Hawaii Pictures 2010