Our Baby Shower, Part 1

My sister Michelle and my friend Crystal threw us a beautiful baby shower on Saturday. They came up with a nesting theme to go along with what I've been planning for the nursery. The decor from the shower will transition into items to decorate the nursery with. So fabulous! Here are some action shots of me opening up gifts. I'll have to post pics of the shower decor later when I get them from Bri.

Look! Cloth diapers are so cute!

Thank you to everyone who came to the shower, and especially to those who drove in from out-of-town. I had a fabulous time, and Luke loves all of the tiny little clothes!

Our Baby Girl

We had our last ultrasound today, which means you get to enjoy another video! She was quite sleepy this time, despite the handful of M&Ms I shoved in my mouth in the hopes of waking her up with sugar. The technician is quite good at belly jiggling, so we were able to get her to wake up a bit. First we confirmed that yes, she's definitely a girl, so no need to return any girl items I've bought already. Whew. She likes to keep her hands right by her face, which made it hard to really see her at first. At one point she had them clasped together right under her chin - precious. If you watch closely you can see her yawn hugely (around 1 min 45 sec), and then she keeps smacking her lips throughout the video. She started blinking as she woke up and you can see her stick her tongue out. Apparently, she has Luke's lips, and the cutest chubby cheeks ever.

Baby Toro at 34 weeks from Luke Presley on Vimeo.

I'm a Winner!

There is this fabulous little blog, The Blah Blah Blahg, that is having a month long giveaway project called The Bright Side Project. I LOVE giveaways. I NEVER win. But today I was delighted to find an email in my inbox stating that I had won one of the lovely prints being offered up. Here's my darling print, from Argyle Whale. You can find her awesome prints on Etsy (another of my favorite sites).

Isn't this print fabulous?! Be sure to check out The Blah Blah Blahg also for more giveaways through the end of February. The Bright Side Project is oh so fun and makes each day happier because I get to discover new artists out there.

Cute Video

I wonder if our dog Molly will be this kind to our baby.

Fabulous

My friend Diane is always on top of all things related to Anthropologie, and she's one of my inspirations for creativity. She clued me in to this fabulous lady and her fabulous giveaway - check it out. I know I'll be looking in on her blog from now on.
A Bushel and a Peck

Nursery Design Inspiration

I found this nursery today on Ohdeedoh, and jumped on over to the owner's own blog to see more details. I'm obsessed with looking at this website, and they always have the best nursery tours. I'm hoping one day I can post our baby's room on there as well. Right now I'm sad that we won't have a nursery for the baby when she first arrives, since we're moving shortly after her birth. I can't decorate like I want to because why put in the effort when I'll be packing it up 3 weeks later? She won't notice of course, and she'll be in our room to begin with anyways, but the nesting side of me feels the need to have a completed room for her before she gets here. Sigh.

Chickpea Stew with Tomatoes and Polenta

I tried another new recipe today, courtesy of Cooking Light. This one is for a chickpea stew. The chickpeas and polenta are a nice subtle balance against the tangy tomatoes and lemon juice. I fell in love with polenta when I worked at P*ONG in New York...Pichet had a polenta and corn pudding that was to die for, although it doesn't seem to be on the menu anymore. It was delish. This particular recipe for the stew needs a little tweaking - I think it could use more cumin and pepper to kick it up a bit, but overall, a nice winter meal to warm you up on a cold night.

It's February!

Which means March is next, as Luke pointed out excitedly to me last night. Apparently telling him only 8 more weeks meant nothing, but the realization that next month is THE month, that March comes after February (as it has for, well, ever) made him nearly jump out of his seat. I have the most adorable husband.

I had a doctor's appointment this morning - everything is coming along nicely, and she's head down at this point, which is a huge relief to me. As long as she stays that way, we'll avoid a breech birth. Her little feet keep pushing up on my ribs, but thankfully they haven't slipped under there yet. These doctor appointments are always so boring, though, because I pee in a cup, I step on the scale, I wait for an eternity, and then spend 5 minutes with the doctor. Sigh. At least she's a very nice doctor - my favorite out of all doctors I've ever had. They check the heartbeat each time (always so strong!) and measure my stomach (32.5 cm today, from top of stomach down to the bottom, not around my waist - that's much larger, ugh). Reassuring news - she doesn't seem to be on the large side...so we're hoping that we don't have a sumo-baby. Or at least I'm hoping for that. Luke still thinks it would be cool to have a 10-pounder. I then repeat these words to him: "tearing" and "episiotomy". He shudders.

In 2 weeks we have our last ultrasound, where she should look more human thanks to some fat forming on her little body. Last time she was downright skeletal. After that, I start going to the doctor every week! Oh. My. Gosh. I'm so excited.

The Countdown Begins

...or continues really. I've been counting down for months now. But! Only 8 more weeks until we meet our daughter. Some major changes are coming for our family, and it's exciting to see where God will lead us. We toured the hospital last Thursday, checking out labor and delivery and the fabulous new postpartum wing. I've been in major nesting mode and went through all of the papers that have been piling up in our house, tossing and shredding and filing. I've also started an updated address list so I can print out labels and stick them on birth announcement envelopes before I leave for the hospital. I'm ready to pack my hospital bag, but Luke says it's too early. So I wait, because I'd unpack it 20 times before then because it'll have something I want now. We've scheduled pediatrician consultations, and it's just a matter of hoping I have the evening off on those days, or else I have to reschedule them. Did you know they schedule a month out, and only in the evenings?! Geez. I hope it's not that hard to get appointments when our daughter is sick. The baby shower is in 3 weeks, with a friend's wedding the weekend before. February is filling up fast, because we're trying to cram as much in while I'm still feeling good, with what my schedule allows. Once March hits, we're bunkering down - no more out of town, although we've pretty much stopped that already. I'll have two weeks off of work before my due date, in hopes that it'll be enough time to get the house cleaned and in order before she arrives. My checklist was shrinking for awhile, but it's growing again! It happens at night when I can't fall asleep (which is almost every night now) - I keep tacking on things I want to get done.

So, off I go to try and check a couple things off the list before work tonight.

Blog Beautification

Luke is going to start building a custom design for this site, but until then, I'm borrowing a template. Isn't it cute? I lost the pregnancy ticker in the transition, so it's now at the bottom of the page because I couldn't figure out how to embed it at the top.

And, since Luke never posts on here, and it's really just my blog, I've changed the name. It might change ten more times as I work through my vision for this site. I'm trying to figure out what direction to take it. You'll still be able to read about our daily life here...the content won't change.

Love to you all!

Pregnancy

Woes:
heartburn. the inability to breathe fully and deeply. active baby when i'm trying to go to sleep. swelling in my fingers. having to get up to pee 3 times a night. balance issues. not being able to carry heavy things, requiring more trips back and forth. having to eat tiny little meals all day long. people asking if i'm sure i'm not having twins, or triplets. being told how large i am every day. forgetfulness. lost ability to count. itchy skin. gas. restless legs. waddling. needles. weird dreams.

Joys:
God's blessing. feeling the baby move for the first time. learning that we're having a girl. the realization that i'll be "mom" and he'll be "dad". hearing the heart beat for the first time. increased metabolism. calling it a craving makes it okay to eat ice cream every night. foot and back massages. tiny little clothes. nesting. reading to her and playing music for her. seeing the joy on other family members' faces. praying for her. the automatic bond between all pregnant women. not being pregnant in the middle of the summer. anticipation and eagerness. long talks at night with the hubby about our daughter.

Bloggie Carnival

I've discovered this great website
It has almost 1000 links to giveaways on the web. The best one of all? The one from Nurse Mommy with a giveaway for the Bumbleride Indie stroller. I've been eyeing this stroller for months now, ever since we found out we were pregnant. I still can't decide on strollers, because I'm just not sure what our needs will be, but this one is at the top of my list right now. It's so cute and multi-functional. Plus, the reviews have all come back as quite positive for this brand. I'm hoping to win this stroller so that I can try it out. Luke is hesitant because he thinks it's too pricey (I should show him the Bugaboo...he'll change his mind then). Fingers crossed!

New Recipes

Since my pregnancy cravings are quite random, it's always interesting trying to find food to cook that will still sound good four days after I go to the grocery store. Last week's craving was Indian food, so today we're finally getting around to making a chicken curry and some roasted potatoes to match. I wanted to make fresh naan, but I ran out of time, so later in the week I'll make naan and hummus. Yum!

Boredom

I'm thankful today for my job. Many days are very hard and long, but at the end of a hard day's work, I'm thankful for my husband who rubs my feet and puts my (large) pregnant self to bed. And I'm thankful that the day passed quickly. I have 4 days off in a row this week, which is an unexpected blessing, because I am in dire need of some quality R&R, particularly because I don't sleep well at night these days. However, despite being at home resting, I find that I'm quite bored here. People at work always ask how long I'm going to stick it out, because they see me growing bigger each week. They think I'm crazy for not sitting on my couch, eating bon-bons, as some have affectionately referred to the glorious life of the end of pregnancy. It's because I'd go out of my mind crazy with boredom! Work keeps me distracted, and I like my job. I can't imagine how painfully slow these last two months of pregnancy would be if I were at home all the time.

On another note - I've been catching up on Luke's blog. I've been a bad wife and haven't read much of it. I may be biased, but I think he's quite talented as a writer - he expressed himself well, in a style that I enjoy reading. My writing style is boring - I really need to get him to write on here and record our daily life, because it'd be much more entertaining. Or I should just change the title of this blog, since it's really just my blog, where you can read about our life from my perspective only. Anyways, I stray from my point. He's been trying to develop a new hobby, find new meaning and purpose in his life, and writing has become that. He always talks about doing something more creative with his life than working in grey-cubicle-land. I highly encourage this, but I also pray that he sticks with his day job until he writes a best-seller. I know this has become a struggle for him - he's not really happy with his role at work, and corporate America and Luke just don't seem to mix well, despite how well he does and how hard he works. It's not his passion...it's simply a means to an end. I wish I could see him happy in his work.

The Latest Doc Appointment

I'm going in this morning for my glucose test, bloodwork, my rhogam shot, and a check-up. Lots of needles. Ick. 28 weeks is not fun. Luke's cooking me breakfast right now, and then I have to drink this syrupy "fruit punch" drink - at least they let me take the stuff at home, instead of waiting in their office for an hour. Wish me luck!

The Nursery

Our nursery is coming along finally! The theme is birds (everyone knows my love for them), which will be so precious for a little girl.

Artwork from p.carter carpin on Etsy:



Bedding from JCPenney:
We also found a cute blue striped rug on sale at the Pottery Barn outlet (yay for bargains!!).

Here are three cribs we're trying to decide between:

JCPenney

AP Industries

Restoration Hardware

Fabric that I just found that I'm considering purchasing:

I can't wait to meet her and enjoy her room with her.

Merry Christmas!

This year has been so busy for us, especially in the past few months, so I have failed and didn't manage to get Christmas cards out this year. So, in lieu of them, Luke and I wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year via our blog. We wish we could celebrate the holidays with all of you and we miss you all dearly.

We had a fun visit into Houston the past two days to celebrate early with each side of the family. It was quiet at Mom's house, with only my sister Brittany there. Luke's parents' house was a little more lively, with his nieces and nephew there, but we missed seeing his older brother and his family. We visited my grandparents for a little while on Monday, but I wish we could have stayed longer - I don't get to see them enough.

Tonight Luke and I will exchange our annual Christmas Eve gift (new pjs) after I get home from work, and then tomorrow morning I'll continue the tradition that my grandma started, with a delicious Christmas morning brunch. We're inviting a friend over to celebrate with us, so it won't be quite so lonely. Then I'm off to serve hundreds of other people Christmas dinner/dessert at work!

And a pause for reflection - the state of the economy has helped refocus us on what's most important to remember over Christmas. Usually we get all hyped up on gifts, and though we are still exchanging them this year, it's become less about the items bought and money spent, and more about the spirit of giving. I won't be able to attend any church services this year due to my work schedule, but we'll take the time tonight and tomorrow morning to reflect on the greatest gift of all - Christ.

Luke 2:9-11
"And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them...Do not be afraid; for behold I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord."

2/3rds of the Way Through

I'm almost done with my second trimester. Things are getting harder, like breathing...I find it difficult to sit for long periods of time because everything in my abdomen and chest all squish together leaving no room for the lungs to expand. I'm thankful that I have a job where I can stand all day (what normal person is thankful for that?!), so that I don't have trouble breathing. Going upstairs at work is difficult. I can't take them as fast as I used to, or else I'm short of breath. Bending over - what a comic sight. I do this weird squatting thing, since I can't really bend at the waist anymore. Putting on socks - ha! I can still see my feet, but it's hard to reach them. I feel enormous - this extra weight really takes a toll on me. And I still have a long way to go in that department - yikes! I toss and turn all night because I can't ever get comfortable, but thankfully I'm still able to lie on my back for short periods of time to stretch out a bit.

It will be interesting to see how I do with work in the next 3 months - my goal is to work until the last possible day, since it keeps me busy and makes the time go by fast. The job is fun, and everyone has been very gracious and helpful as I've gotten bigger.

24 Weeks

I'm liking the Christmas tree as the backdrop for all of my belly pictures this month. Back to the plain boring wall next month.

23 Weeks

I'm actually at 24 1/2 weeks now, but this is a pic from last week.

It's the Holiday Season!

Luke and I finished setting up our Christmas tree last night. We put on the Christmas music and made hot chocolate. I love reminiscing over the ornaments - our tree may not be stylized where everything matches, but each ornament has a story. We purchased the tree Sunday night, but it was too wet to put lights on it, and I fell asleep around 9 pm, so we did all of our decorating yesterday. Trying to get the tree felt almost Griswold-like - I almost talked Luke into a tree that upon getting it home, we would have had to do a chop-job on it in order to get it to stand upright in our living room. Thankfully, he's so wise, and talked me into the shorter tree. Now, if we had only realized that skinnier would have been better too. It's quite fluffy!

The dog has been trying to eat the ornaments and lights, so she's spending time outside whenever we're not home.

Thanksgiving was wonderful, even though not quite on the right day. I had to work Thanksgiving day, so we went to see my family Wednesday, had a great dinner, stayed the night, and drove back to Austin Thursday morning. A whirlwind trip, but we were able to have a great meal with the whole family - all of the siblings were there. We're hoping that even though Christmas will be much of the same, we'll be able to catch all of Luke's family this time.

In baby news - I feel her moving around and kicking much more lately. Some mornings I wake up and it seems like she's doing somersaults in there. The roommate has moved out, so now I can start working on the nursery!! First step is to organize everything and get rid of all of the junk. I really don't know how we accumulate so much stuff. Also, they say that second trimester is when you have all of your energy back, plus some, but I'm not feeling it so much. It must be my work schedule and the type of work I do, because I'm exhausted most of the time. And as I get bigger, it's harder for me to move around quickly, and bending over is almost a no-go at this point. It's just too much effort. I know I have a long ways to go yet, but even this small amount of extra weight makes things difficult. What an incentive to stay in shape after the baby is born!

I'm thankful that I have the next couple of days off so I can finish decorating the house for Christmas and get some Christmas shopping done. I'm also fighting off a cold or sinus infection, so I plan on getting some rest as well.

Luke has been super busy with work - he's having to take over work for a gal that left, on top of his regular duties, so he's a little tired right now. Pray that he'll have the strength to get through the next few weeks, until Christmas when he'll have some much needed and much deserved time off.

Oh yes! I passed my 90-day review at work, which means I'm an official employee now. As a perk, we get a night at the hotel, which will be a nice little vacation for us. Not exactly going very far away, but it's a night out of the house!

Gingerbread Village

Our gingerbread houses are complete! We met back up late after work this evening, once the lobby was mostly clear, to set up our village. Our engineering guys are great and every year they build a fabulous table for the village and then drill and wire the houses so that we get lights in each one. Once all of the houses are placed, we start snowing them in with tons of royal icing. Tomorrow we add the trees and the village people, so more pics will come once the whole village is completely finished. Here are some highlights from the evening:

My house
I love the chimney on my house!

And...

Ultrasound from Luke Presley on Vimeo.

We're having a girl!! No doubt about it - the technician showed us exactly how it can't be anything but a girl in there. We are absolutely thrilled about having a daughter- we've had a feeling for awhile now that our baby was a girl, and it's fun knowing we were right. We're tossing around some names, although I think we've settled on one for now. The harder part is deciding the nursery....

We tried to get as many phone calls in to family this morning, but our family is so big!! We quickly ran out of time before we both had to be at work, so we'll try and finish the rounds tomorrow. And I hope everyone reads the blog - I tried to share the video via email, but I haven't gotten my copy of it yet, so I'm wondering if any of them went through.

Anyways, I'm headed to bed, hoping that insomnia doesn't strike again.

Oh My Gosh!

Tomorrow is the big day!!! We get to see our baby through the ultrasound, and we (hopefully) can find out the sex of the baby. I haven't been able to sleep the past two nights because I'm too excited thinking about Wednesday. I keep praying that the baby's legs won't be crossed. I don't work on Thursday and Friday, which means I get to play in the baby stores!

Gingerbread House

Front

Right Side

I finally got one bird done for the mobile for the nursery. I haven't had the time or motivation to be crafty lately, but today I was determined to finish this one bird. Isn't he cute?!

Now if only I could get the rest of the project done! After this I'll be working on reupholstering a rocker to give it an updated look. Look at me getting all domestic.

Gingerbread House

We have a huge project at work that comes around every Christmas season - the gingerbread village! The houses go up for auction, and there is a big party to reveal them the day after Thanksgiving. Here is the start of my house - I'll keep you posted on its progress. This is my first gingerbread house to construct from scratch, so we'll see what happens with it!

18 Weeks

Misunderstandings at Work

Apparently people around "the office" think I'm 18 and knocked up. I'm always dumbfounded initially at some of the comments, then they just strike me as funny.

The first one: "So, you decided to keep the baby." Um, duh.

Yesterday: "So, are you going to get married?" I gave him a quizzical look.

I know word gets around, faster than wildfire, because a new person every few days comes up and asks about the pregnancy. So how did they all miss the part that I'm married, have been for a few years, and this is a good thing?

Milestone

Tonight I felt the baby move for the first time. I was laying on the couch listening to my Ella Fitzgerald station on Pandora, with a little Edith Piaf and other fabulous French artists thrown in, when the baby started dancing. Or, at least that's what I'm calling it. It was the softest thump-thumping on my inside - not regular like my heartbeat, or like the beat of the music, but steady enough to know that it was the baby. I had a caramel tart in the oven that was about to burn, but I was so hesitant to get up for fear of not feeling the baby again for a few days. I know that I won't notice it most of the time for another few weeks, especially when I'm busy working, but tonight was such a special moment.

A Peek Into Our Home

So my Midwestern friend and my Northeastern friend were curious about our house. They probably think we're living in the middle of a cow field in a darling little ranch house. Kidding!

Here's just a peek at some of my favorite spots.







And finally, Luke, just home from work, explaining a funny story from the day. I was on the porch enjoying the nice weather when he surprised me by showing up from work early. I love when that happens!

Insomnia!

Can't sleep. So exhausted, but my mind won't turn off for the night. The day felt wasted. Woke up on the wrong side of the bed, wrestled with Molly at the vet and left there terribly embarrassed at her behavior and a couple hundred dollars poorer, and then was a lazy bum the rest of the day. Luke calls it my "recharge day", while I say I wasted it. Because I don't feel any more rested or recharged. So now I sit here lamenting over the fact that nothing got done and making a list mentally of all of the things I want to do during my insomniatic (new word?) hours. Luke will wake up to 1. a spotlessly clean house and/or 2. a tired and hormonal wife who still needs more sleep and has yet to clean the house. It could go either way at this point.

I keep waiting for the nesting tendencies to kick in. I guess mentally they have, but they aren't expressing themselves physically yet. My list of to-do grows longer by the minute, but my energy and desire to actually get started on the projects doesn't keep up. It's also hard because we have a roommate occupying what will be the nursery, so I can't do much until he moves out. We haven't started preparing for this baby at all. Luke is of the mindset that we should just wait to get everything after the baby is born. Panic! No way! He's right in that we don't have a space to put stuff for another 2 months, but it's killing me to sit around and do nothing. Part of it is time - which I have little of these days. Work has taken over my life...while I enjoy it very much, it leaves little room for getting stuff done around here. Also, we're headed into holiday season, which means overtime and gingerbread house construction off the clock. Sigh.

On a brighter note - Luke had a dream that our baby is a girl. Woke up absolutely convinced, and he is even saying "our daughter". I think it's the sweetest thing, and I really hope he is right. He used to lament that he was surrounded by too many women - he has two sisters, and me, and my two sisters, his two nieces, plus both of our moms, plus the dog. But after this dream of his, he's having the most fun trying to think of girl names, and saying how he can't wait to have all of his girls around him. Now what if we have a boy?! Watching his excitement over this baby makes me love him even more. He is going to be an amazing father. He's already the best husband, especially in dealing with my pregnancy moods.

Fun with Belly

Earlier today I learned that if I slouch just right, I can balance a yogurt cup on my belly now. I told Luke about it, and of course he thought it was the funniest thing ever. So he had a bit of fun at my expense, having me balance a plate of chocolate chip cookies on my belly.

Not quite big enough for that yet - it kept sliding off. Although from this angle, my stomach looks enormous!! It's really not that big yet. But it's funny to see how my body changes each week. We've been snapping pictures of me every week to put into a book later on. It'll be nice to look back on this during subsequent pregnancies and see how it differs.

Belly!

I take the worst pictures. I laugh, I smile, I grimace - doesn't matter - they all look dumb. But, Luke managed to catch a couple cute belly pictures. This is me at 16 weeks.


Had my latest doc appointment this morning - everything is coming along well. Next month we find out if it's a boy or girl! Everyone keeps saying that we shouldn't find out what we're having, because "it's the last great surprise in life". Though that may be true, I'm too much of a planner to not know what I'm having. At least the first time around. Perhaps we'll keep the gender of the second baby a surprise. Besides, if you're in the camp of "don't find out", then don't ask what we're having. I won't tell you. It'll be a surprise to you.

Also, my cousin Talia just had her first baby - a beauty of a girl named Aubrina.Congrats Tal and Mark! You're going to be great parents. Can't wait to meet Aubrina!