My new MOM-mobile

Today we traded in the Prius for a small SUV. With a car seat, stroller, pack-n-play (and all that other stuff that teenie tiny babies require), we wanted to have a little more room. Plus, we mostly bought the Prius for Zac's commute, and he won't be commuting anymore! :) In the two years he had it, we put 97,000 miles on it! Crazy huh? Anyways, my Camry is paid off (and it's awesome!) so Zac will drive that to work and around town, and we will use my car as the main "family" car. It's a 2011 Nissan Rogue, and in the nicest package offered, with all the "bells and whistles" (as Zac calls them). The outside is "frost," a light blue that looks almost silver. The interior is black leather.
After several really rough experiences at different dealerships, and with various slimeball salesmen, all the stars aligned today and we got an incredible deal! I'll spare you all of the boring details, but trust me, we did really well! Woohoo! Check out this cute car I'll be rockin'. Won't be long before I have a cute passenger in the backseat! In fact, if all goes as planned, it will be exactly ten weeks from today!

 

PS-I haven't been able to wear my wedding ring in weeks, due to the typical pregnancy water retention and swelling. I never go without my ring. I don't take it off to shower or sleep or put lotion on or anything. So naturally, I HATE not wearing it! For some reason decided to put it on today. Not a wise choice. Being outside a lot, looking at cars, and just because I'm pregnant, my fingers swelled around it. By the time we got home my finger was pulsing with pain. Soap and water wouldn't get it off, but luckily my handsome honey uses Paul Mitchell "Tea Tree' moisturizer in his hair, and it did the trick perfectly. :) I better not put that thing on again until Drew is here!

28 weeks

How far along? 28 weeks
Total weight gain: yesterday at the doctor, I learned I have gained 2 pounds since my last appointment with him, which was four weeks ago. If I remember correctly, that means 23 pounds total so far.

Maternity clothes? yes! Nothing else fits.

Stretch marks? yes. :( Luckily they are in areas that even a bikini will hide (as of now, at least) but it still makes me a little sad. Oh well...totally worth it!

Sleep: my joints haven't been too uncomfortable this week (hips and shoulders), but I'm waking up in the middle of the night not able to fall back asleep. I'm also having the worst reflux I've ever had in my entire life. Ya know how if you drink a Slurpee too fast you get brain freeze? Well my reflux is so bad that it feels like it's burning the lower back part of my brain. Kind of like the opposite of brain freeze, but just as unbearable (if not more!) Good news...doc said I can take two antacids a day (if needed) from now on. Hopefully that'll help.

Best moment this week: well the week isn't over yet, but I've enoyed hanging out with Stacy and Chris on Saturday, and getting to watch my fun and smart cousin Sam on Monday!

Miss Anything? yes, Malibu and Coke. :)

Movement: tons! He's an active little dude! One evening/night he decided not to move very much and it kind of (okay, majorly!) freaked us out. Zac started googling, which might just be the worst thing you can do. Haha! I got up and ate some cheese and Cheeze-Its in the middle of the night and he thanked me with some speed kicks. :)

Food cravings:no, haven't really liked any food lately. I've lost my appetite, I guess because he's pressing on my stomach and making me feel full 24/7.

Anything making you queasy or sick: hmm...not really. Except sometimes the thought of eating makes me feel nauseous.

Gender: still a BOY!

Labor Signs: no!

Symptoms: started having some Braxton Hicks contractions this week.

Wedding rings on or off? off, and I HATE it! :(

Happy or Moody most of the time: I've felt a bit more emotional lately.

Looking forward to: my 4-D sonogram next Tuesday, July 21st! I can not wait to see that sweet face!

PS-My nurse called this afternoon and I do NOT have gestational diabetes, and my iron counts looked great! Yay!

the girl who made me a momma

She hurts. I hurt. Daddy hurts.
 We were up all night worried sick about our first child, Molly. Yes, she is a dog. Yes, she is our child. I have always loved her crazy-hard, but when she's sick, my love reaches new limits. Like my heart is outside of my body and it's not okay unless she is okay. The fear and pleading in her eyes broke my heart last night. She was restless and uncomfortable. When she finally settled down, who cared that her front arms (read: bony elbows) were digging into my ribs, or that the weight of her head was directly on my (sensitive) chest. My baby was finally lying down and relaxing, and I wasn't about to move, no matter how much pain I was in. Because that's what mommies do.
I didn't sleep. Neither did Daddy. We wanted to hear very breath, and every movement she made caused concern. Somewhere around 2am, Zac whispered to me "I can't take it if she doesn't make it." My eyes filled with tears at the thought, I swallowed a hard lump, then told him "everything will be okay," because that's also what mommies do.
Our girl has thrown up a hundred times in her nine and half years of life. She's had diarrhea before too. But this time her little personality has changed. She's miserable. That very reason is what has us so worked up. Shes scared and uncomfortable and her eyes look at us like "please help me! What's going on? Do something mommy." And that's why we can't stand this. We're helpless.
Even though we all know parenting brings the biggest rewards, times like this remind us that a love this strong can also bring the biggest heartache. Praying that Molly feels better pronto, so we can start feeling better too. It's unbearable seeing her so helpless.

Special songs (part 2)

You might (or might not) remember when I posted about sweet lullaby type songs a long time ago, before I was even pregnant. Well, now that I AM pregnant, I have a few more to add to the list. :)

Colbie Caillat "Capri"
This song meant more to me before we found out we were having a boy. It's still a sweet song, but it's really about a mom carrying a little girl (named Capri). A friend told me to listen to it, and I did just that...a lot...every day. :) It's still a special song to me, since I played it so much the first 16 weeks of my pregnancy.


Taylor Swift (ft. The Civil Wars) "Safe and Sound"
I first heard this song about a week ago on a new Pandora station I had made. I was in the shower, and I stopped shampooing to listen. I dried my hands and picked my phone up off of the window ledge to see what this pretty song was called and who it was by. When I got out, I listened to the song again. It turns out that it's from the soundtrack to Hunger Games, funny huh? Anyways, I just think the chorus is so sweet. With everything that's been going on in the world (read:Colorado movie theater shooting), it just seems extra appropriate.
"Just close your eyes. The sun is going down. You'll be alright, no one can hurt you now. Come morning light, you and I'll be safe and sound!"


Beyonce "Halo"
I almost didn't include this song, just because I've loved it for so long, long before I got pregnant. I always thought it was referring to a man (and maybe it's meant to), but I heard it recently and teared up, because suddenly it seemed like a song referring to a baby. A love song for a child. :)
"Everywhere I'm looking now, I'm surrounded by your embrace. Baby I can see your halo. You know you're my saving grace."


Calvin Harris "Feel So Close"
THIS is the song that caused me to write this post. :) I don't think many people would consider this a song to a fetus, but that's exactly what it is to me! This song was popular at the beginning of my pregnancy, when I was so giddy and felt invincible. ("There's no stopping us right now!") I can remember being in my car driving so many times, when this song came on and I turned it up and sang to my belly. It also came on in the car the evening we found out Sweet Pea was a boy, and it was even more special, knowing I was playing it for not  just my baby, but my baby boy! :) I'm sure you've heard this song several times...listen again, and consider how special it is to me, since it's my song to my boy. ;) I still turn it up and play it really loud for him to hear. I think he will know this song when he comes out! "I feel so close to you right now, it's a force field. I wear my heart upon my sleeve like a big deal. Your love pours down on me, surrounds me like a waterfall. And there's no stopping us right now. I feel so close to you right now."

parents week

We had an amazing week with my parents here. They came in Saturday June 30th, and left Friday, July 6th. We made tons of major (and some minor) improvements around the house, and had lots of fun too. Oh, and we ate out A LOT! :) Here is a day by day rundown of our week...


saturday
They arrived in the afternoon, hauling a trailer with Drew's new dresser, play chest, a plant a friend sent to Baw's funeral, and lots of Papa's tools. We unloaded the truck and trailer and then returned the trailer to the U-Haul place. We hung out at the house for a bit and discussed some of the upcoming projects, then headed to Mansfield for dinner at Suzy Q's It's an old fashioned place, with Soda Jerks and oldies music, and the world's best cheese fries and coke floats! :) It's attached to an apothecary/pharmacy and gift shop. We all loved our food and left quite satisfied.

sunday
Papa and Zac and I made a Home Depot run early in the morning to get our supplies for the week. The first project was putting in a new kitchen sink. We had to buy a new sink, and ended up finding a great one, with all the accessories (faucet, drains, stoppers, etc) included. We went ahead and bought stuff for the other projects too, but I'll talk about those later. :) The guys started working on the sink as soon as we got home. Since the ktichen was in disarray, we ordered pizza for lunch from Mr. Jim's. They finished the sink in the afternoon, and at about 4:30, we left for the Rangers game. We had all been pretty worried about the heat, but it turned out to be in the low 80's the entire game! Isn't that crazy? Yu Darvish pitched (which was a big deal) and he did well, but the Rangers still lost. But we had a lot of fun, and Drew kicked like crazy. But maybe that was because of the cotton candy? :)

monday
Monday morning the boys started on the bead board. Mom and I cruised around town and stopped by a quilt shop, a resale shop, and a pawn shop, looking for old vintage type decor for Drew's room. We didn't have much luck, but had fun looking. Before we came home for lunch, we stopped and got four slices of Buttermilk Pie from a restaurant downtown. The guys were very excited about our yummy dessert after our sandwich lunches. :) In the afternoon, I took mom to my doctor's office to get her ears looked at. She had a cold a few weeks prior and hadn't been hearing well since then. Good thing we went, because it turned out she had a double ear infection! What a trooper! I also got a B-12 shot while we were there. My new Dallas colon surgeon, and my OB agreed that I needed to continue getting them through pregnancy, especially to help with iron absorption. For dinner we took mom and pops to Oma's Jiffy Burger. It's a local burger place that is SO delicious! Another productive day!

tuesday
The boys finished the bead board on Monday, and were going to be painting it, as well as the base boards and chair railing, and all the trim in the room today. Mom and I didn't want to be around the smell, so we dashed off to see Magic Mike. :) It was okay, not great, but we were glad we went. The guys finished up all the painting and I took a nice long afternoon nap. My cousin Amy Bert came over around 6 and we went to Tuscan Slice for a delicious dinner. My dad loves the pepperoni rolls there. Only 5 come per order, and I bet we got 4 orders! haha! I guess between five people that's not that bad though, right? :) When we got home, we set up some lawn chairs and blankets in the front yard and watched the city fireworks show from the comfort of our own yard. :) Amy had made a patriotic cake and we had cake and ice cream and celebrated the 4th of July (even though it was really only the 3rd. Hah!).

wednesday
The boys did some finishing touches on the nursery this morning, then we headed to lunch at Fuzzy's Tacos. My parents had heard us rave about it, so we were excited to take them. They liked it as much as we do! After lunch we made a stop at Home Depot (we went there A LOT this week!) then headed home. The boys got back to work around the house, and mom and I slipped away to Northpark Mall. It's the nicest mall in the area (at least in my opinion!) and mom had been there with me before, after my 11 week sonogram. I was able to get all of my hostess gifts for my upcoming showers, as well as some cute stationary from Paper Source. (Gosh, I could easily and quickly spend $500 in that store, without blinking an eye!) Mom bought some stuff at H&M. Needless to say, it was a very successful shopping trip. When we got home, the guys were playing washers in the front yard, and Zac (jokingly) freaked out when he saw how many shopping bags we pulled out of the backseat of the car! :) For dinner we ate at home, as my precious friend Vickie had made us a large casserole after Baw passed away. It was so nice to eat at home without having to cook or clean much. We just took the casserole out of the freezer and put it in the over! :) After dinner we played Mexican Dominoes. We used to play with my parents all the time (when we lived in Seguin and Burnet, and we'd go to Austin almost every weekend), so it was fun to play again! :)

thursday
Zac had to go to a work meeting, so Papa started replacing the faucet and drain in our master bathroom sink. When Zac got home from his meeting we went to lunch at Lighthouse Cafe, then mom and I headed to Target and Babies-R-Us to tweak my registries. We planned on spending about 20 minutes in B-R-Us, but stayed close to two hours. I completely changed which stroller and car seat I wanted to go with, and we spent a lot of time playing with different options, collapsing and lifting the strollers, and figuring out which ones were best. I'm so glad we did though! Even though I like the looks of the one I'd originally registered for (Chicco), the Britax stroller (my new choice) is so much easier to collapse and lift, and when I'm by myself with Drew, especially after a c-section, I definitely want it to be convenient to run errands and get the stroller in and out of the trunk. When we were on our way home from shopping, the carpet company called and said they'd received our carpet in, and would we like for them to come install it on Friday. Not realizing all that entailed, I said sure. So when we got home, we had to do lots of packing and shuffling and rearranging, so the carpet company could move furniture and get everything out of the rooms. It was a little bit stressful, but I'm glad my folks were here to help! For dinner, we met out friend Bez at Ojeda's in DeSoto. Another great day!

friday
The carpet people were suppoesd to be at our house around 9. Of course we had to be gone, so we had planned on eating breakfast in Mansfield at Joe's Family Diner, then going to a movie. It was closer to 10:30 when they finally showed up (ugh!), so it was more like a brunch. I think everyone liked their food though, so that's good! After brunch we headed to see a movie, but since we had some time to kill, the boys dropped me and mom off at Home Goods! Thank goodness they did, because I ended up finding an old wooden car, a metal airplane, some wall hooks, and a large piece of art, all for Drew's nursery! :) It was a one stop shop...I think I have everthing I was hoping for now. I'm sure I'll find some more things that I want to add, but at least I have all the items that I envisioned and "needed." :) After the quick (but awesome!) shopping spree, mom and I met the guys at the movie theater and saw "Savages." It was a little intense for me (parts of it made me close my eyes and cover my ears), but it was a pretty good movie! When we got home, the carpet people were gone and we had new beautiful carpet! :) Mom and Pops helped us carry some stuff back inside from the garage, then packed up to head back to Austin. It was such an awesome week, and we are so extremely grateful for all of their help! Not only was it a productive work week, but it was great to get to visit so much. This pregnancy is such a special time, and sharing all the excitement with family and friends makes it even sweeter. I love my parents so much, and I'm so thankful they are mine! :)

27 weeks

I am finally (and already!?!) in my third and FINAL trimester, so I thought I would start doing weekly posts to help me remember these last precious weeks. :)

How far along? 27 weeks

Total weight gain: hmm...haven't weighed lately, but as of my last doctor appointment, it was 21 pounds

Maternity clothes? yes! Nothing else fits.

Stretch marks? yes, a few. :(

Sleep: my hips and back haven't been hurting as much lately, but I am back to peeing every two hours, and my reflux has returned, so sleep isn't awful, but it's not super restful either.

Best moment this week:my baby shower!!!!! Thanks again Stacy, Ramsi, and Rheanna. I'm still on a high, and I smile every time I walk into the nursery and see all of Drew's gifts!

Miss Anything? this sounds weird, but I miss being able to do sit-ups.

Movement: yes! lots! I love it! We are even starting to SEE him squirming.

Food cravings: still loving strawberries and Nerds, but no major major cravings this week

Anything making you queasy or sick: chocolate and pizza are making my reflux bad

Gender:It's a BOY!

Labor Signs: no!

Symptoms:lower back pain

Wedding rings on or off? off, and I HATE it! :(

Happy or Moody most of the time: so happy, but I can admit that I get a little emo here and there

Looking forward to: this week with Madeline and Owen. Knowing that I won't be able to give them my undivided attention in the future (since I'll have one of my own in the mix) is really making me enjoy and soak up and memorize every special moment with these sweeties.

my "vintage monkey" shower

Yesterday was a day I will never forget. When you dream of being a mommy your whole life, you also dream about being pregnant, and a growing belly, and baby showers! Yesterday my friends (Stacy, Ramsi, and Rheanna) threw the most amazing shower for me, that exceeded my imagination and all expectations! :) The food table was DELICIOUS, and I'm not surprised that I liked everything on it, since they asked for my input! haha! They had homemade chocolate chip cookies, strawberry cupcakes, chocolate monkey cupcakes, AND my favorite candies! There was also the most amazing fruit (cut watermelon to look like a basket, and a sweet baby head made out of cantaloupe), chicken salad, spinach artichoke dip, and everything was so delicious!

 

We played a fun game where I had to pick whether I wanted Drew to get specific qualities from myself or Zac. Everyone else checked what they thought I would guess. (Just for some examples, I wanted Drew to have my eyes, creativity and musical abilities, but Zac's ears, intelligence and athletic abilities...just to name a few!) Zac's mom missed only three, Liz only two, and Stacy won, missing only one answer. She thought I'd want him to have my sense of style, but since he's a boy, I checked that I wanted him to have Zac's style. :) After that, all the guests participated in the neatest joint craft project. Rheanna had made a beautiful Alphabet Book, to help Drew learn his letters. Each person got to pick a letter and draw a picture and pick a word for the letter, then write their name on the page. I will have this book forever, long past when Drew knows his alphabet! It was such a cool idea!

 

While the ladies colored their alphabet pages, I opened the many gifts! The presents were incredible and generous and so teeny tiny cute! I loved it all! I got everything from bedding and nursery items, to books, clothes, items for the car, and more! I've already gone through all of the items about five times, and even started putting things away today! The nursery is coming along thanks to these gals, and I'll post more on that soon. :)

 Towards the end of the party, I asked everyone to come outside for some pictures. Look at all of these amazing women who made me feel so so special and loved!

 The girls in my family...

 I have pretty friends!

 Grandma and Grammy! Drew is a lucky boy to have these two in his life!

 And last but not least, my talented-generous-fun-thoughtful hostesses. (Minus hostess Rheanna, who wasn't able to come. We missed her greatly, but her personal touches were definitely noticed and appreciated!)

 Words really can't describe the way I felt...special, loved, cared for, and supported! Drew is coming into a world of lovely people, and I can't wait to show him off, and introduce him to these people who mean so much to me. ;)

Cute cards!

Look how cute these thank you cards are! I am so grateful to my friends and family for making me feel so special during this exciting time! Thanks to Shutterfly, hopefully I can make y'all smile as much as you have made me smile! ;)

Stationery Card

View the entire collection of cards.

I'll be back!

It has seriously been way too long since I've blogged regularly! I always thought that I would take a million pictures and blog like crazy while I was pregnant, but it turns out that life keeps going, in addition to this amazing miracle growing inside of me. But I WILL be posting lots of catch up blogs in the next week, covering the last month or two. :)
(This post was kind of pointless, but it helped me break the ice. Stay tuned for more posts...)