Father's Day

Although this Father's Day wasn't quite as exciting as last Father's Day where we got our BFP (don't think we can beat that any time soon, nor do we want to!), we had a good time. We went to Taco Deli for breakfast. I figured that if it was good enough for me on Mother's Day, then it was good enough for Steven on Father's Day. :) Gotta love the migas royale! Afterwards, we went to the Round Rock premium outlets, which isn't a very Steven thing to do, but we had to buy Ryan's baptism outfit. We got an all white overall outfit at Strasburg Children. Let's just say that we won't be shopping there very often. We also got the cutest baptism booties. They are little booties with crosses on them, they were too cute to resist. Ryan's getting baptized on Sunday. When we were looking for an outfit for him, I kept on picturing spit up/drool all over the front of all of those outfits! Afterwards, we're having a housewarming. I'm still nervous about the seating situation. Is it rude to ask guests to bring their own chairs? Anyways, hopefully we'll post baptism pictures and housewarming pictures next week. We definitely have to get good pictures of him in his outfit before it gets ruined! We had to buy him a 0-3 month outfit, which leads me to my next paragraph, Ryan's 4 month check up.

We went to Ryan's 4 month well-child visit on Friday. Ryan weighed in at a hefty 12 pounds and 6 ounces. Yep, he's a lil guy. He's still in the 15-20th percentile for weight and 35th percentile for height. He was 11 pounds and 2 ounces at around 3 months, so he's gained quite a bit, but he's still really little. We've been supplementing with formula for the past month, so I thought that would push him into the next percentile, but I guess not. Again, Ryan ran a fever until the following afternoon. He was so happy until the nurse came in to give him his shots. He started crying right away, poor guy. He did pretty well until bed time when he was especially fussy and he was really fussy the following day. It didn't make for a very fun Saturday. Oh well. The doctor did say that Ryan looked really good and called Ryan a big muscle. Yea, I thought that was a weird comment too. He was basically saying that Ryan was really strong, which I found interesting. We went to Steven's manager's house for dinner a few weeks ago and they have a daughter that is 10 days older than Ryan. She was so active compared to Ryan. She was jumping around, talking/screaming, and just constantly moving. Seriously, this kid could have beat Ryan up. It made Ryan look so sedate, so I was surprised that the doctor commented on how strong he was.

Yesterday, I went to a free rubber stamping basics class at Archivers. Archivers is my new favorite store that is fueling my recent scrapbooking addiction. The class was really informative, I learned a lot. I've never really been a big stamp person because what can you do with a stamp and an ink pad? It turns out that you can do a ton. Anyways, it was a great class and now I want to buy the entire stamp section, it's no wonder those classes are free!

When we bought our Stroller Strides Bob jogging stroller, I got a week of classes for free. I tried out a class a couple of weeks ago and I started using my coupon this week. I went to a class in Steiner on Monday. It was held all outdoors and boy was it hot! There was a breeze and it wasn't as humid as it has been lately, but I just can't imagine how much worse it's going to get! We did a lot of walking. It was good, I really enjoyed it. The instructor and other ladies there were really nice. I went back to the Lakeline Mall location today and that was good too. It's all one big program, but it doesn't seem like a lot of the girls go to classes in other locations and they seem to be curious about each other. I guess I'm an anomaly. I really like both instructors and I think it's good to mix things up a bit. Anyways, it's totally kicking my butt and I can barely move my legs. It's hard to always be the one lagging behind and the one doing all of the modified positions, but at least I'm trying. :)

Enough for tonight, I need to get more sleep!

It's Official

I turned in my computer today and I am no longer an employee of EY. After the almost fours years that I've spent at the firm, it was really weird to walk in with my computer and audit bag and walk out without either. But look at this face, wouldn't you want to spend your time making it smile? :)

I've been so worn out this week. I was really anxious about today, even more so than when I met with the partner last week. I think it's because without my laptop, this whole quitting thing is real. Silly, I know, but I had files and emails saved from back in 2003 when I first started!

We've scheduled Ryan's baptism for June 24th at St. Thomas More. Afterwards, we're finally having our housewarming. We figured we could knock out two birds with one stone by combining the two events. We've had a few people over for various things, but I'm really looking forward to the 24th. We don't have that much furniture yet, so I hope that people are willing to stand! :)

I recently joined a meetup group for stay at home moms. I went to my first meetup today at Krispy Kreme. There was only two of us that showed up! I had a good time though. The other mom was really friendly and nice and her son was so cute! He kept on looking at Ryan and grabbing Ryan's feet.

Father's Day is also this weekend and for the life of me, I have no idea what to get Steven. Ryan already has a "I Heart Daddy" onesie which he'll wear on Sunday, but besides that, I'm clueless. Any ideas? Last year, Steven got a home pregnancy test that said "Pregnant." Hopefully this year Father's Day will be less exciting! :)

So, I'm slowly getting back into scrapbooking and my goal is to finish my pregnancy scrapbook within the next couple of weeks. It should be fairly easy, but I need to pick pictures to print and I am so indecisive! If you get 300 pictures printed at Adorama, then the price per picture decreases. I figure that if I print pregnancy pictures, Thailand pictures, and maybe Disney pictures, I'll reach 300. Ryan's baby scrapbook is going to be quite the project, so I'm going to save those pics for later. I'm sure you've seen all of his pictures, it's really too hard to decide which to print!

Anyways, I'm rambling....Ryan is getting his four month shots tomorrow. I'm really not looking forward to it. I didn't think twice about it when he got his 2 month shots, but it was a horrible experience! We just finished feeding him and so he was really happy and then they stick him with four needles and give him some oral medicine. I felt so bad for Ryan. He was happy and doing great and the next minute he's in pain and crying. He also ran a fever for about a day after that. I am definitely bringing the Tylenol with me this time around. Wish us luck!!

We're also in the process of renting out the old house, so I'm trying to get everything set up with that. We're getting the trees and bushes trimmed this week and I still need to hire someone to clean out the place. Anyone need a washer and dryer?

I've got so much going on right now, but hopefully things will slow down soon!

Phases

I've been going through some crazy phases these past few months. When Ryan was around 1.5 to 2 months, I had this thing where I couldn't get enough of the local news. Crazy, huh? I practically had my day scheduled out in front of the TV so that I could watch as much local news as possible. Sad, I know!

After the local news phase, I entered the reading phase when Ryan was about 2.5 months. I ended up subscribing to four magazines, Oprah, Martha Stewart Living (to fit in with the stay at home mom stereotype), Cooking Light and Parents. I was also obsessed with buying Ryan Lion kids books so that I could read to him. I'm proud to say that we have quite a collection now.

Then I moved into my movie phase at around 3 months which I am at the tale end of. I went to baby day at Alamo Drafthouse a few times and I started obsessing over my queue on netflix. I've got like 50 movies in my queue now! It's just so easy to pop one in and feed Ryan.

My newest obsession is trying to get into shape. I went to a free Stroller Strides class, which was fantastic. But, we still have our membership to Lifetime, so I went to work out there this morning. It felt good to lift weights, but I think that I like working out with Steven better. He shows me how to work all of the machines and makes sure that I'm properly aligned. Without him, I just guess and hope that I don't look like too much of an idiot! I've also been walking the dogs more. Carrie really needs it, she's a hefty 75 pounds. The vet thinks that she may have thyroid problems. :( I'm trying to do a couple of things to get a feel of what is going to work the best of me right now. I want to try postnatal yoga sometime this week. I think that'll be fun to try.

I've also joined a stay at home moms group on www.meetup.com. It's actually a pretty cool website where people with similar interests can get together and start a group. They have a really cool calendar function that lets members RSVP. My first event with them is brunch at Krispy Kreme, which I totally deserve after trying to get into shape!

Another reobsession of mine is scrapbooking! I'm working on my pregnancy scrapbook with belly pics and ultrasounds. It's pretty much going to look like this blog. At least I blogged all of it so the scrapbook will be really easy to make. I just need to decide which pictures to print.

As you can tell, I'm trying to find ways to keep myself busy, but I think that the key is going to be balance as opposed to waves of different obsessions. I'm just trying to balance things out and get into a good routine.

Anyways, it's late and I'd better go to sleep now since Ryan is going to wake up in 4 hours!

Night!

Four Months Old!

Ryan is four months old today, I can barely believe it! Here's a couple of video clips from today. I'm not sure if you can even see them, but it's worth a shot.

Lots going on...I officially quit last Wednesday. Everything went really smoothly. My "seperation" date is scheduled for this Thursday. Quitting was really bittersweet for me. It was my first time back in the office in a long time and it felt like going back home. There's so much that I'm going to miss about the firm, mainly the people. It just amazes me the type of people that this profession attracts. Seriously, I think that I've met some of the best people that I will ever meet in my life at EY and in PPA. There's a lot of stuff that I'm not going to miss too, but it's one of those take the good things with the bad things I suppose. I don't for one minute regret my time spent at EY. Anyways, it's done and I've started a new chapter of my life entitled Stay at Home Mom. I admit it's a bit of a switch, but I'm trying to ease into things. I have been at home for the last four months, but it's weird not having the option to go back to work anymore.

Let's move on to Ryan Lion. He's changed so much. Every single day is a new experience for him; no two days are the same. Last Friday, for the first time, he rolled from his stomach to his back! He did it multiple times in a row. Luckily, I caught it on video, check out his picasaweb page. Ever since then, he hasn't been able to do it. Oh well, maybe we just got lucky on Friday. At least I have evidence that he did it! He likes to interlace his fingers now, it's really cute. It makes him look smart and very thoughtful.

Ryan really likes to press the buttons with the animal noises in his activity center and he likes pressing the piano keys in his jumper. I think he really likes the sound effects and the lights. I need to look for more toys that has both. He also really likes his Laugh 'n Learn Puppy because it sings. I don't think he's as into his stuffed/plush toys. He grabs them and squeezes them, but that's about it.

Ryan is still really good at restaurants, thankfully! If he wasn't, that'd be really tough. For awhile there, he was screaming bloody murder whenever we put him in his car seat and went for a ride. It's getting better now, but I really do think my hearing has suffered a bit. At around 3 months, he started screaming whenever we finished his bath and were drying him off. This came totally out of nowhere. At first, he didn't like baths and would just cry through the whole thing. Then, he didn't seem to mind them at all. Now, he's okay in the water, but has been bawling when we dry him off. It's getting a little better, but it's still ear splitting at times. Tears literally jump out of his eyes like a cartoon, it's quite impressive really.

Ryan still really likes standing as oppose to being cradled. He's gotten really good at head control, but when you least expect it, he bobbles his head and you just hope that he doesn't hit anything!

He has totally turned into a drool machine. Today alone, I changed him four times just because of the drool. It's so gross. Even when he wears a bib, he wets through it to his onesie and gets that all wet too!

I'm going to publish now, I hope that the video works! If not, I'll try to post some other pics instead.

Memorial Day Weekend

We had a fun filled Memorial Day weekend filled with family and friends. We spent Sunday hanging out with Josie. In the evening we planned to have Ken and Jessica over for dinner; and Maria and RJ were also in town after spending the beginning of the weekend in Fredricksburg for their two year anniversary. Since we were already planning to have four people over for dinner, we went ahead and invited Emily and Michael over too, then we got a phone call from Al letting us know that she and Colt were going to be in town too on Sunday night. Steven prepared a very gourmet dinner for the ten of us. We started off with a tomato tart and arugala and raddichio salad. The main course was rib eye steak with orzo pasta, grilled vegetables and chipotle shrimp and corn for the sides. For dessert, Steven made a very festive berry pie. All I can say is yum. I regret not listening to all of the registry guidelines though, we didn't have enough matching silverware and glasses! For some reason, I thought that two sets of four would be enough. I didn't think that we'd need more than that! Oh well, despite the unmatching silverware, dinner turned out wonderfully.

A good portion of the night was spent alternating playing with Ryan and the wii. I gotta say that the wii is pretty addicting. Ryan was really good on Sunday with everyone around. He got a little bit fussy, which was totally understandable given all of the people and commotion going on. I think that it really wore him out though because on Monday, he slept from 10ish to almost 3 in the afternoon!

The pic is of Ryan and Auntie Al. Poor Alice, Ryan made her work for his affection. She was running laps around the house with Ryan on Monday morning. Yes, I have to admit, Ryan can be a bit of a brat! :)

Links

I was looking on www.babycenter.com's Austin board and there was a great post with links for activities for children around Austin. Ryan's a bit too young for them right now, but I wanted to post them for future reference or if anyone else was interested.

• Sweet Berry Farm for berry picking
• Ready, Set, Play! inflatable playground
• Regal's Free Family Film Festival
• Texas Jumping Beans inflatable playground
• Austin Children's Museum
• Kiddie Acres Amusement Park
• Inflatable Wonderland inflatable playground
• RadiJazz Playnasium indoor playground
• Dino Pit
• Dinosaur Park
  

I thought these were all really cool ideas, especially for when Ryan gets older. There's also a couple of other things we were thinking about getting into at some point:

• Stroller Strides
• Postnatal Yoga
• Gymboree Play & Music
• The Little Gym
• Baby Days at Alamo Drafthouse

Three Months Old

I can't believe it, our little Ryan Lion is already three months old! Since I've done such a horrible job of blogging Ryan's first three months, I'm just going to write down a few milestones, at least the ones that I can remember!

The first month was a blur. That's all, it was a blur. There was so much that was happening, mostly me and Steven getting to know Ryan and adjusting to life with him. By the time he was a month old, he learned how to give us a pouty lip. Let me tell you, I can't resist that pouty lip! I know he does it when he's unhappy, but I can't help to laugh each time he does it! I know, I know, I'm just horrible!

Month two was a lot more fun. I discovered that he absolutely loves his swing and our occupational therapist said that it's good for his inner ear, which helps with balance. After she said that, I felt less guilty for leaving him in there to nap during the day! Ryan also started tearing when he turned two months. Let me tell you, those tears are heart wrenching! Once the tears start, he gets whatever he wants! Around 2.5 months, he became absolutely infatuated with his changing table mobile. The mobile is a lion with a mirror for the tummy and the lion's legs dangle. He loves that mobile! He likes to flirt with himself in the mirror. Steven has even caught Ryan winking at himself. There's a video on Ryan's picasa web album site. If you haven't seen it, you really should! He's definitely happiest on his changing table.

Just recently at three months, Ryan has started to grasp things with his hands. Since he's got more control over his hands, he's been holding onto his rattles and playing with his crib mirror. We take the mirror and place it in front of him and he'll hold onto the ring and birdie and spin the lady bug's body which is a rattle. Ryan likes to grab onto the books that I'm reading to him and he's also starting to grab onto our fingers. It's a lot of fun seeing him play! I told Steven that means that Ryan's ready for more toys now! :) He's also starting to kick with his feet a lot more. His head control has gotten a lot better; we can place him forward facing in the Baby Bjorn now and since he's over 11 pounds, we don't have to use the leg loops anymore.

It's so crazy how fast Ryan's grown. He's on the smaller side for his age and he can still fit some of his 0-3 month clothes, but I already have a box full of clothes that he's outgrown, we no longer put him in the newborn positions (toward us) in his carriers, and he's awake for much longer stretches now. It's so exciting seeing him grow! The next thing you know, he's going to be drinking margaritas!

New Favorite Song

Okay, not really new, but new to me. :)

Abba's Thank You for the Music

I'm nothing special, in fact I'm a bit of a bore
If I tell a joke, you've probably heard it before
But I have a talent, a wonderful thing
cause everyone listens when I start to sing
I'm so grateful and proud
All I want is to sing it out loud

So I say
Thank you for the music, the songs I'm singing
Thanks for all the joy they're bringing
Who can live without it, I ask in all honesty
What would life be?
Without a song or a dance what are we?
So I say thank you for the music
For giving it to me

Mother says I was a dancer before I could walk
She says I began to sing long before I could talk
And I've often wondered, how did it all start?
Who found out that nothing can capture a heart
Like a melody can?
Well, whoever it was, I'm a fan

So I say
Thank you for the music, the songs I'm singing
Thanks for all the joy they're bringing
Who can live without it, I ask in all honesty
What would life be?
Without a song or a dance what are we?
So I say thank you for the music
For giving it to me

I've been so lucky, I am the girl with golden hair
I wanna sing it out to everybody
What a joy, what a life, what a chance!

So I say
Thank you for the music, the songs I'm singing
Thanks for all the joy they're bringing
Who can live without it, I ask in all honesty
What would life be?
Without a song or a dance what are we?
So I say thank you for the music
For giving it to me

Ryan is 11 Weeks and 2 Days Old

I'm still having problems posting pictures from Picasa, hence my lack of posting. Also, I still haven't finished my birth story. I have no idea where the time goes. While I'm working on both, I figured that I might as well give a Ryan update before I forget everything!

The last time that I posted was on our two year anniversary. We went to the last show of our Paramount Theatre last word series season ticket package. It took two years to use the gift certificate we received for our wedding, but it was worth it. We heard David Sedaris speak. Lydia got me to read his book, Me Talk Pretty One Day, back when we were in school. Parts of his book made me laugh so hard that I had tears in my eyes! It's still my favorite David Sedaris book and I even got a copy signed right before the show began. He ended up reading two excerpts from the book. It was so funny to hear him reading his work. It made it so much funnier! With our gift certificate to the Paramount, we got to hear Sarah Vowell, Dave Barry, and David Sedaris. We also got to see the play 1984 based on the book by George Orwell, and Steven's parents went to go see the Kodo Drummers. We're going to look into season tickets again, we really enjoyed our date nights at the Paramount. :)

I also have to say thank you to K Ry for babysitting that night. After her first time babysitting Ryan a week or so earlier, I didn't think she'd want him back! But, he was being really good for her, except for when he peed on her while she was changing his diaper. The best part was when she was telling me about it, Ryan sat in his infant car seat and just laughed at her...classic! K Ry was the first person to attempt to tame Ryan's mane. Click here. What do you think?

Last week, we also got a visit from Lydia. I miss you!!! It was nice getting out of the house with Ryan and just getting to hang out. Ryan went to the mall for the first time where, of course, I splurged on a couple of cute outfits! Ryan's almost outgrown all of his 0-3 month clothes. Most of the Carter's and Baby Gap stuff still fit, but I just can't help myself. We now have a box in the nursery that we're starting to fill with his old clothes.

On Saturday, we went to the last of our season ticket shows to Bass. We saw Mamma Mia! It's actually the second time that we've seen it, but it was so much better this time around. Both Sophie and Donna were amazing! It also helped that I listened to the soundtrack the entire week before to get hyped up for the show. Abba is a little before my time, so it really helped to know more of the music this time around. With our season tickets to Bass, we also went to see Hairspray and The Lion King. I remember the Hairpsray movie, so it was fun to see the musical version and The Lion King was amazing. I was so surprised how they could take a movie that I love and that I am so familiar with (it's my favorite non-Pixar Disney movie) and turn it into a beautiful Broadway show. It was just amazing, from the costumes, to the sets, to the music, I was really impressed and not just because I'm a Disney fanatic!

Thank you Maria and RJ for coming down and babysitting! I think they had a lot of fun with Ryan Lion. They did his hair (see above), took him out on a walk and played with him. We got to go to brunch at Chez Zee on Sunday morning...yum! While we were waiting, Ryan Lion got his first balloon animal, a lion, of course!

I've got some exciting news...I figured out how to take video with my camera and post it online via Picasa and Picasa web albums. Yay! The first video I posted is of Ryan on his changing table. He loves his changing table. We have a mobile above the changing table with a mirror facing downward so Ryan can look at himself. Yes, he's smiling and laughing at his reflection. Yep, he's vain. We've decided that he got that from Uncle RJ. They even shared hair gel this past weekend! Luckily, Ryan still loves his swing. He's beginning to like his mobile more and more these days, even though I think it really depends on his mood. He used to really like his activity mat, but I can't leave him on there for more than 5 minutes anymore. I think it's because the toys on his activity mat don't move, while his mobile toys do.

We still do a little bit of tummy time, we should probably do more, but he just hates it so much that he needs a lot of calming afterwards. I've started using the exercise ball for his tummy time instead of the surfboard mat, but I think it presses on his stomach too much and he ends up throwing up all over the place. It's really hard to do tummy time without having Ryan throw up! I've also started putting Ryan in his Bumbo. That's the cool looking chair that he's sitting in above. It's suppose to help build neck and back muscles and get infants sitting up as opposed to being in the supine position. It's a cool little chair and it really does look like Ryan is sitting up all by himself. He usually ends up spitting up/throwing up when he's in it though. I think the sitting position pushes on his stomach and makes it all come up. I just need to time it right and we're usually fine. :)

On the other hand, Ryan loves to stand and walk around, with assistance of course. :) If he's getting fussy, if you put him in the standing position, he instantly gets in a better mood. If you let him stand on a semi-hard surface, he'll start to walk. He lifts one foot, moves it forward and places it down, just like he's walking. He doesn't step very far though and usually ends up stepping on his other foot! While he's "walking," he has pretty good head control, so I don't worry about tummy time too much.

Did I write enough? ;) I can go on and on when it comes to Ryan Lion!

Happy Two Year Anniversary

Two years ago, I married the man of my dreams. Little did I know back then that we'd have a very handsome two month old. I'm the luckiest girl ever. :)

Web Albums!

Since I can only post four pictures at a time in each entry, which was way too inefficient for all of my cute Ryan Lion pics, we started a Picasa web album at: picasaweb.google.com/babytangy. I've been a lot better at posting on there than I have been on here. :)

10 Weeks

I know, I know, it's been 10 weeks since I posted last. What can I say? It's been a busy 10 weeks. :) I hardly know where to start. I can't seem to post pictures directly from Picasa, so bare with me.

First of all, I'd like to congratulate Alice into getting into vet school and Melissa on finishing the BPMS150 for the third time! Ryan's extremely advanced for his age, he made a sign for Melissa to cheer her on while she crossed the finish line. We're proud of you both!

Last Belly Pics at 38 Weeks and 2 Days!

Reflection

Well, we've got about 25 hours left until we start the induction. I'm really excited to finally see lil Ryan, especially the feet that I've felt kicking me for the past several months! I can't wait to see him in all of his cute outfits. I probably over bought, but I wouldn't be me if I didn't. :) I also can't wait to hear him cry for the first time, even though I'll probably get over that pretty fast...hehe. It makes me so happy to think that by the end of the week, he'll be sleeping in the crib that we picked out for him months ago and we'll finally be able to hold him.

On the other hand, I'm really nervous about the whole induction process. Since he's not really ready to come out yet, it increases my chances of a C-section. I keep on telling myself that no matter what way he physically makes his way into the world, we still have a baby in the end and that's all that really matters. It's all means to the same end, right?

The process to get to this end has been quite a journey. There have been so many people who have surprised me by their thoughtful words and actions, I am truly lucky to call them friends.

Thanks to all of you for your phone calls and emails just to check up on me, it really has made this time in my life more special. Thank you to all of those people who offered continual support and always made me feel better about what was going on.

Hopefully we'll be posting baby pics soon!

We Got Pink Slipped Today

"Your induction has been scheduled for _________________.

Please report directly to the Labor & Delivery desk at NAMC (901-2155). You may eat a very light breakfast if you desire (piece of toast, small bowl of cereal). If you are scheduled in the evening, you may eat normally.

Please remember that the hospital must save room for the women who go into labor naturally (aka not you). There is a small possibility your induction will be delayed or rescheduled if the Labor & Delivery unit is too full. The hospital will contact you as soon as possible if this happens.

Good luck with your induction, and congratulations in advance. We will be thinking about you!"

_______________ = Sunday, February 11, 2007.

Carrie Has Officially Moved In

For some reason, Carrie has gotten really bold and has started sneaking into our bedroom and sleeping on our bed! Silly Carrie! Steven caught Carrie in the act and took this picture. Sorry about the mess, we're still in the process of cleaning up, but with such a comfy bed, it's hard to get anything done at all!

Nursery Pics

Here are a few pictures of the nursery. The first picture was taken from the doorway. We have french doors with glass inserts because the room was suppose to be a study. :) We need to figure out a way to make it a little more private, but I do like how it's really easy to look into the room. The dragon rug is from Ikea and you can see the burnt orange glider and crib from USA Baby. Of course, there's the exterior door with the doggie door. :) We've let out the dogs back there a couple of times, but I don't want them to get used to it or else they'll end up running through the nursery every time they want to go outside!

In the second pic, you can see the blanket on the glider and the night stand. On the night stand, we have a cool lamp from Ikea that changes colors and of course the magnetic monkey from Natalie's birthday party. The big picture frame was made by Maria and RJ during the shower and the little elephant frame is from Xin-Xin. The mama and baby stuffed elephants are from Judy who is now back in Austin...yay!!!

The last pic is of Ryan's closet. Hehe...do you think I went overboard on the clothes? Everything is so cute and tiny...I can't wait to dress him up! We've also stashed the other baby stuff in the closet, stuff we figure that we won't need right away. The nursery is really coming together, I'm so excited!

The biggest thing we have left is decorating. We wanted to paint it a baby blue, but with the move being so close to our due date, we decided against it. I was worried that the paint wouldn't have enough time to dry and air out, especially with all of this cold weather we've been having. We still need to hang up a few things which will really liven up the room, but we won't do that until after he comes. I'm excited about hanging up all of the shower stuff!

Baby Blanket

It's finally finished! This blanket has been by far the biggest project that I have undertaken time-wise. I knitted seven strips of seven blocks of colors each and then sewed together the seven strips. Let me just say that my knitting looks a heck of a lot better than my sewing! Each square took me a little over an hour to knit and each strip that I had to sew together also took over an hour. In the book that I got the knitting pattern from, the blanket was under the "less than 10 hour" section...ha! Did I also mention that this was the first time that I knitted with skinny needles (size 6!)? I was joking with Steven that this blanket is just for looks only, Ryan will only take pictures with it, but won't be allowed to actually use it...hehe...

Baby Update

Ryan may be making his debut into the world a little earlier than expected...this coming week! I became officially full-term on Friday at 37 weeks, so he can really come at any time and he'd be alright. It could be as early as Tuesday, February 6th or as late as Friday, February 9th, depending on how my lab results come back on Tuesday morning. I'm getting my blood drawn on Monday morning and the results should be back by Tuesday morning and my doctor's appointment is at 11:30 on Tuesday, so we'll find out then what they recommend. My perinatologist doesn't think that we should go past Wednesday, but I'm hoping that the lab results come back okay and that we can hold off until Friday when I'm 38 weeks. My regular OB initially wanted to wait until I was at least 38 weeks because of the GD, but she said last week that once I show signs of progress, that they'll go ahead and induce me.

They checked me on Friday and the baby isn't exactly ready yet, but he has dropped. The nurse practioner took one look at me on the exam table and said that he'd dropped already! I was surprised because I thought that was one of the things that I'd notice since it means that labor isn't far away. Apparently I'm short-waisted and that's why I didn't notice. Have I failed to mention that I'm so oblivious when it comes to my own body? :) It makes sense though because while I was getting fitted for my wedding dress, the waist was too long, so my seamstress had to basically cut my dress in half in order to raise it up! That has to be one of my most memorable pre-wedding moments...seeing my dress in two pieces! It's also probably why I started showing early. Everyone kept on saying that I showed early because I am petite, but I didn't think that was it because I'm not skinny :), but this short-waisted thing makes more sense. When I think about it, Ryan dropping makes sense, it's probably why I can't go longer than 3 hours without having to go to the bathroom! Yes, it makes the nights extremely fun, but I figured out that the hallway bathroom is actually closer to me than the master bathroom. Fun stuff. :)

We had a great last weekend as a couple. We slept in on Saturday morning and went to Natalie's first birthday party in the afternoon. It was a sneak preview of the future, there were kids everywhere! Then we went out for a nice dinner at Sushi Sake (no sushi for me, but the shrimp tempura was yummy). Today we took the dogs out for their first walk around their new neighborhood and just hung out.

I know we're getting close to the end, which I am getting excited about but I've been having so many mixed emotions. I am really excited about finally meeting little Ryan and seeing what his personality is like, but I am going to miss being pregnant. I know I've had some pregnancy issues, but I'm going to miss feeling him move around when I'm eating or when I'm in the car or just watching my stomach in amazement while he's doing back flips in there! It'd be nice to feel more normal though. I can't seem to stay awake during the day anymore, I'm always napping or sleepy. My pregnancy brain has also gone out of control. When I talk, I feel like it's all verbal diarrhea! I can't seem to hold a conversation because I either get too distracted in my own thoughts, or I can't remember what I wanted to say next! I've literally been in my own world for the past week...just completely out of it. Hopefully things will get back to normal after Ryan comes!

Another thing that I'm looking forward to is my first meal where I don't care about carbs! Here's a list of things that I'm thinking about eating:
~Krispy Kreme donuts
~Extremely sweet beverage from Starbuck's (pumpkin spice lattes still around?)
~Einstein Brothers bagels
~Girl scout cookies (caramel delights!)
~Chocolate cake
~Pappa John's pizza
That's my short list. Let's hope that I don't end up with a C-section, because then I'd have to wait 24 hours before I can start eating again! I told Steven that I'll be the only part partum woman in history who actually gains weight after she gives birth...hehe... :)

Anyways, I've been working on the baby blanket all day. I need to finish...I have less than a week left!

37 Weeks and 2 Days

Yes, we have officially moved in! As you can see, it didn't take Button very long to unpack her mogu and set up shop on our new couch. I don't think that she's moved from that spot since!

We closed on the house on Thursday, and the refrigerator, master bedroom furniture, washer and dryer, and couch were all delivered on Friday. On Saturday, we got the baby furniture and the movers came to move us from the old house to the new house. On Sunday, we went to San Marcos and bought a kitchen table. Phew...that should be all of the furniture that we need right now! We've furnished most of the first floor, except for the dining room where we'll put Steven's parent's dining room set and the living room, which will probably remain empty for awhile until we decide what we want to do in there. As for upstairs, we've got two queen sized beds, a futon and a couple of desks. I'm trying to not have furniture just to have furniture, which was a problem at the old place because you feel bad when you get rid of furniture you haven't even used! Most of our stuff is still in boxes in the dining room and garage. We should get our blinds in by the end of next week, then we can hide all of our stuff better! :)

Also, last Friday, we went to see Dave Barry at the Paramount. We haven't been to a show since 1984, and this one was perfectly timed. We got to evade moving for a few hours and be entertained. He was so funny, me and Steven were cracking up the whole time. It was our last show before the baby comes and we really enjoyed it.

Dinner time...will update baby news after I feed this kid! :)