That sunny funny face...

Today I got a sneak peak of our little boy...
At my last doctor appointment my measurements indicated that he was measuring more than three weeks ahead of his gestational time. It's normal for babies to measure a little ahead or behind, but if they ever measure over 2 weeks one way or the other doctors like to order 3D ultrasounds to check up on the baby. He has been measuring about 1-1/2 weeks ahead this whole pregnancy so I figured he was just a tall baby and wasn't too worried about today's ultrasound...mostly I was just anxious to see him because it's been months since I've seen that adorable sunny, funny face!

Well here he is:

(it's always a little hard to get a good picture of him because my placenta is in front of his face and he always, always has his hands on his face!!!)

But he looks just like his dad!!! Seriously look at the lips and noise...it's so Steve!

(this is Steve's hospital picture....so handsome!)

Best yet, the ultrasound showed that he is only measuring 4 days ahead of his gestational age, which is pretty much nothing. Apparently my belly measurements have been a bit deceiving because my placenta is positioned right in front of the baby (most women's are in the back) and my little boy is literally positioned all out in front of my body and not really in my regular body cavity at all. So as of right now, baby is about 5 pounds and around 18 inches! And my official guess for birth is that he will be 8 pounds 3 ounces and just over 21 inches (we'll see what actually happens in September). I'm just glad he isn't on track to be a 10 + pound baby or anything like that (I don't know how women push out babies that big!)

Other good ultrasound news is that: all of his organs and body parts look great, he is still a boy, and I got to see him yawn, rub his face, and practice breathing. I'm so in love!

Exciting Times!

Ahhh, so much is going on right now...and it's all just amazing! Last weekend my sister came in town for my baby shower (the first of two! I'm so spoiled!!!). The shower was beautiful and I had so much fun. Plus I learned a lot about baby products and just how much I still need to learn before our little guy arrives. Mostly I just enjoyed being surrounded by my good friends, good food, and the female side of my wonderful family.

My hands plus the hands of all the soon to be Aunts: Nickee, Mykaela, and Anne

Me with my sisters....and Mim, Me, and Myk

Some of  the many girfts I recieved...yes, I am very blessed!

The Ahwatukee Group

Also over the weekend, Steve wrapped up the painting of the changing table station (the old closet) in the nursery. We sill need to hang the mobile in the right spot/ height and get the actual changing station set up...but at least the hard part is done now and we can move on to some other big projects in there! Stay tuned...

And now for the big, big news...my sister-in-law Anne (Steve's sister) and her husband Jesse put an offer in on an amazing house just blocks from ours and it was excepted this week!!! If all goes to plan they will close in 30 days and move in over Labor Day weekend...just in time to get settled before we have our baby. I'm soooo excited I can't even explain it. Right now Anne and Jesse live up in north Scottsdale and it takes us 40-60 mins to get to their place (or more often, them get to our place). But soon they will be less than a 2 minute car ride away!!! (I originally wanted to say that it would be a 10 minute walk...but Steve said it's about 2 miles and pointed out we would probably never walk there) ...but either way, they will be super close! So now I have my brother and his fiance living 10 minutes away, my mom and dad living 15 minutes away, and Anne and Jesse living right down the street. All I'm missing is my little bird Mykers (my sister) but I guess I can get over the fact that she lives so far way because at least we will have the ocean and great weather every time we go to see her (and yes Myk, we will still come see you all the time once baby is born).

So yeah, those are the exciting things going on right now...
Well those and....
 * My second baby shower is in two weeks...
* Which Myk will be home for again (she is throwing the shower with my sister-in-law Anne and soon to be sister-in-law Nickee)
* Oh, and this time Myk comes home with the boyfriend that I haven't met yet!!! So excited to meet him
* And the cherry on the top is: I should deliver/meet my baby boy in less than 2 months (if he's not late) and I just know the time is going to fly!!!

Ahhh, it's all too much! I think I finally know how Jane from Pride and Prejudice felt when she said, "Can one die of happiness"

Happy Birthday Mim!!!

This post is dedicated to my adorable, energetic, wonderful mom, aka Mim.

Monday was my Mim's birthday...and we had a blast! The family (minus our cali girl Myk...we missed you so much Mykers) met up at Z-Tejas for happy hour once everyone got off work. It was a great evening...and as you can see in the pictures below I think the birthday girl had a really good time!!!

The birthday girl

The birthday girl and her beau!

Kipp and Nickee

 And now the fun pictures...

Mim loving her mug...and loving her birthday pie

And we tried to pretend that both drinks and desserts were hers...but that was a lie

She was a good birthday girl and shared with the whole family

Oh and the picture Mim took of Steve and I at dinner didn't actually get taken I guess; it wasn't on my camera when I got home...but because I know Mykaela will ask, below is a picture of me from later that night...I was exactly 30 weeks pregnant!!! (and wearing a new top which was an early birthday present from my Mim)

Pregnancy and Nursery Update

Well good new everybody...
The results are in and I do not have gestational diabetes!!! Turns out I do digest sugars a little on the slow side, but the 3-hour test showed that I do digest and process them correctly and that I'm in the clear. So that is a huge weight lifted off my shoulders and now I get to finish out these last 2 months without any more blood tests!

More good news is that Steve and I made some really good progress in the nursery this weekend. This is the design we are working on:

The colors being used...

There is no theme...but the color pallet was my take on men's Ralph Lauren Polo clothing...or a male version of Kate Spade designs.

Anyway, it all started about a month ago when Steve and I built the crib and put new hardware on an existing wardrobe and desk (that we will be using as a changing table). Then my friend Stacy and I painted the room a couple weeks ago (minty blue walls and warm gray ceiling). A week after that we had 5" white crown molding installed and the window trimmed out. Then Corey and Steve built an Ikea white media bench.


The Crib



The Crown and Window Molding

This weekend Steve and I installed horizontal beadboard in the closet (which will become the changing table station) and Steve installed a bench top spanning the entire window niche above the Ikea bench.

 The next step is to paint horizontal stripes of varying sizes in the accent colors Navy, Kelly Green, Turquoise, and Pale Yellow on the closet beadboard. Then we'll trim out all of the inside corners of the closet to finish up the beadboard paneling. Oh, and my mom is going to make us a window seat cover for a foam topper we are putting on the window bench. After that it all comes down to hanging some art, installing some lighting, a rug, and some decorative accessories. I am getting so excited to get everything all finished...hopefully we'll be able to do it soon.

29 and feel'n fine...ish...

So Monday I hit 29 weeks! There really isn't too much further to go now.
(how do you like that belly!?!?!?)

 

Last week I took a 1-hour glucose test to check for gestational diabetes and unfortunately my levels came back high enough that today I had to go back and do a 3-hour test (138 is the cut off and I was at 144). So what's a 3-hour glucose test you ask...

Well last night I was able to eat dinner as normal but from bedtime on I was fasting. This morning I was allowed a "sip" of water but had to continue the fast. Then I went into work at 7 am...and on to my doctor's appointment at 8 am (Oh, and Steve and I wake up at 4:45 am so by time 8 am rolled around I was so thirsty and hungry I couldn't believe it! Pregnant women shouldn't be asked to fast!!!). At 8:05 I had my blood drawn (the smame arm and place as last week!) and then chugged a orange flavored sugar drink. It was twice as surgery as the 1-hour test drink and wow did it taste it! The flavore itself isn't awful but the sugar made it so thick that it was hard to get down. I was then told I had to rise out my mouth with water (but not drink the water)...apparently the sugar drink is soooo sugary that if it stays in your mouth it will eventually make you throw up! Crazy right!?!?

Then the waiting came...I waited one hour (9 am) and then had my blood taken again
(same arm and place, ouch)
Then I waited another hour (10 am)...then had my blood taken
(same arm and place again)...
Then I waited another hour (11 am)...then had my blood taken for the last time
(this time I made her switch arms)

It was now 11:15 and I was finally done and allowed to eat!!! I had to have water and protein to off set all of the sugar. Other than that, I couldn't have sugar the rest of the day or fresh fruit (the fruit part made me sad). But yeah, now I wait for a phone call Thursday or Friday to let me know if I have gestational diabetes or if I can continue on this pregnancy road as normal.

Cross your fingers for me : )

3rd time's a charm...

...or at least I hope so! This is the third time I have "started" Summer Excerpts, and I'm hoping this time it will stick. I originally started this blog with the intention that it would, in time turn into a family blog. First I started to venture into the blogging world by blogging on here about anything that came to mind. I quickly found that I lacked the time management/commitment to keep up with blogging so I challenged myself to blog every day for a year on a new blog My 27th Year as a form of practice. After that I thought I was finally disciplined enough to start up this family blog again...and admittedly I had hoped that after my 27th year I would have even more reason to start/ keep up a family blog...but our plans to start a family had hit a major road block and I quickly lost patience and inspiration to keep this poor little blog going. So here I am for a third start...we are 3 months away from welcoming a little baby boy into our family and I am ready to start documenting it all!!!

Okay, so let's do a quick recap of what's been going on since my last post (October 2011 - yikes!) I will probably forget a lot but here we go:

October:
    - Steve and I have just about hit the 1 year mark of trying to get pregnant...bla! We found out in August that I have PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome) and it was keeping us from getting pregnant. So we started working with a fertility doctor and in October I had to officially declare my infertility to insurance. Seriously, I had to call them and literally say, "Hi, I need to declare my infertility". It was a low day...although I couldn't help crack myself up by thinking of Micheal Scott declaring bankruptcy.

November:
    - Kipp and Nickee get engaged!!! Yay!!! (PS. they are getting married February 24, 2013 at Villa Siena - that's 4 days after Steve and my anniversary and the same place we got married!!! Guess what Myk - this mean when you get married, not matter what year and to whom, you have to do it in February at Villa Siena!)
    - Nickee turnes 25
    - Our friends Ricky and Cynthia get married! Their wedding at the Phoenix art Museum is amazing!!!
    - The family has a great Thanksgiving

December:
    - Christmas!!! Myk is home and we all have a great, great holiday
    - December 26th, 8am...Steve and I go into the fertility clinic and have our 2nd IUI on our 5th round of clomid. Technically we should have had it done on the 25th but believe it or not, no clinics were open that day.

January:
    - New Years...we ring it in with some old, but good friends out at Teakwoods
    - January 15th, 8am...we take our 5th pregnancy test of the week and get our first real positive!!!
    - January 15th, 11am...Steve is working on my car's breaks when the jack stand falls and the car comes down on him crushing his right foot and trapping him in place. Yup, it was just as awful as it sounds. (I will probably come back to this story in full on a later post but long, long story short: we spent the day in the ER, Steve spent the next 3 months pretty much on bed rest, and then another couple of months after that going through physical therapy...oh and he is just now pretty much back to normal)
    - A few days later we tell our immediate families we are finally pregnant and everyone is very excited!
    - I get to host Anne's bridal shower and Grandma Rita and Aunt Julie come in town!

February:
    - Kipp turns 30!!!
    - We celebrate our 3rd wedding anniversary!!! Yay us : )

March:
    - We enter the second trimester and finally tell friends and family the good news...a baby is on the way!
    - Anne and Jess get married March 30th! (this is Steve and my 10th anniversary as a couple!)

April:
    - Steve turn 28!!! He also begins physical therapy...and finally starts to walk without a cane or crutches

May:
    - My Bob turns 56!!!
    - Mother's Day - Mim celebrates the day with the family and she in turn celebrated me as a "mom to be"

June:
    - Mykaela turns 26!!! (I miss you Mykers)
    - Father's day...we celebrated Phil (Steve's dad) and my Bob as a super great dads and almost grandpas and we celebrate Steve as a "father to be"
    - Steve and I just took a 5 day stay home vacation (we refuse to say "staycation") to rest and work on the nursery
    - Nickee and I have a wonderful spa day
    - We get crown molding and window trip put up in the guest room and nursery
    - Ace comes in town and we hang out with Kayla and Beav who give us some good baby advise!


And now here we are! It's July already and there are birthdays, baby showers, and fun events galor coming up. I will try my very best to keep up with this blog weekly and also fill you in on some of that other stuff you missed from above. Wish me luck!