Nearly 39 Weeks - Maternity Photos

I had another great doctors appointment today. Things are really progressing nicely! I'm still just dialated to 1CM, but my doctor said I'm 70% effaced!! Which, in terms of progress, is great!

My doctor felt around my belly again and said she estimates she'll be about 7lbs when she is born. TJ and I have been thinking she'll be about 8lbs or so, which is good news. As long as she is healthy though that's all we can ask for!

Her head continues to be very low. Her heartbeat was just under 150bpm. My blood pressure was 124/78, and I've gained about 27lbs so far. All in all things are looking like sunshine! My doctor estimated that she'll be here within the next 10 days. I'm ready as soon as she is, c'mon out Madeline!! :)

Other than progress things continue to be pretty good. Today is the first day where I've felt extremely tired and crampy and sort of thought, "Hmmm, I could be done with this now!" I'll be 39 weeks on Saturday, so I'm pretty proud that it took me that long to get to this point.

Like promised last week I'm posting my maternity pictures. Again, thank you to the fabulous Justine with J. Shelton Photography for her wonderful work. I had a hard time triming down all the photos I wanted to include in the blog as I love them so. The photos were taken at 35/35, which means I was 35 weeks along and 35 days away from my estimated due date on that day.

9 Days left, holy moley!!

Almost 38 Weeks - YIKES!

I've been told it's time for an update. :) I would agree, I've been slacking on my blog writing. Things have been pretty uneventful on the baby front. No news is good news!

I will be 38 weeks on Saturday (crazy, right???). According to the normal pregnancy calendar that would mean I'm nearly 2 weeks away from meeting Madeline. Of course I know she'll arrive on her own time, but just the thought that there are so few days left is nuts!

I had my weekly doctors appointment today. I am measuring right on track (well, at least my belly is). Last week my doctor sort of felt her through my belly and said she might be a little on the big side. We certainly make big babies on both sides of our family, so I assume she'll be a good sized little lady. We'll see though here in the next few weeks!

The good news is she is in the right position, with her head super low in my pelvis. Last week and today the doctor said I am dilated to 1CM. Like she pointed out today, that is 1/10 of the way there! It also doesn't mean a whole lot in terms of when Maddy will arrive or not. Women can walk around dilated to a 1 for weeks, and sometimes not even go into labor on their own. Still, progress is progress, so even though I'm not reading too much into it I find it exciting!

I haven't posted pictures of my amazing shower yet, so I thought I would post them now. My Aunt's Nan and Da threw me the greatest shower ever. I was overwhelmed by the love and kindness of all of my family and friends that day. I'm so happy that there are so many wonderful people in my life who are as excited as TJ and I are to meet our baby girl. So, thank you all from the bottom of my heart for making my shower so wonderful!! Maddy's stuffed closet and dresser also thanks you all for the too-too cute clothes I have to dress her up in. ;)

Coming soon - maternity pictures!! I posted a link to the teaser pictures from Justine's blog on Facebook, but you can click above if you haven't seen them yet. I should have the full gallery of photos sometime this weekend to share! J. Shelton Photography totally rocks my socks off, I can't wait to see and share more with you all!

For now though I leave you with shower photos. I was 34 weeks the day of my shower. :)

Getting all of the lantern balls set up.

All set up and ready to go!

The table.

Props for all of the games, courtesy of Aunt Nan and Da.

One spoiled little lady (and mama)!

The best present ever. ;)

My Grandma wrapped up outfits that my other Grandma (Grandma Bessie) had made for me as a baby. My Grandma Bessie passed away when I was 2, so it was a really sentimental and emotional gift to open. The photo below is a picture of me in the exact dress I'm holding in my hands.

The beautiful dresser my Aunt Nan bought (and filled with cute outfits!!)

Proud Grandma's-to-be!!

We can't wait to me our baby girl!!

One load of laundry. . .she's gonna be super freaking cute!

Nursery Picture Extravaganza

There isn't a lot of news to report since my last update. I'm still getting beat up by my kid on a daily basis, and in the last week it's been out of control and non-stop. In fact as I type this out she is kicking my ribs and moving around like a crazy person. Seeing that her space is growing smaller and smaller, her movements are exaggerated quite a bit. I seriously question the folks on that "I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant" show. How can you not know? If I didn't know I was pregnant at this time I would need to head to the doctor ASAP to see why my stomach keeps moving around on it's own.

So me and the booger a doing great. I don't know when it started but I started calling her booger a while ago and it just sort of stuck. I already sort of feel bad for her. A little. She is kicking me in the ribs afer all, so I don't feel that bad for her. ;)

Today was a very productive day. My mom and dad came over for a bit. Mom, TJ and I pulled weeds in the front yard until it started to rain and then we all head into the house to work on the nursery some more. It is now very close to completion!! Today my dad painted the rest of the molding, and TJ put up the molding that was already dry. We put her name on the wall, set up her crib, and put all of her bedding on. When we opened up the box that her changing table was shipped in we noticed it had a crack in it. It was shipped over 30 days ago so we can't return it, so TJ used some extra hold wood glue and it is drying in the garage now. Her room should be complete next weekend!

So with that I can't leave you with out pictures of the progress! I am loving how it is coming along and I can't wait to see the final product!!

32 weeks today, 8 more to go (Insert totally freaked out face here!! AH!).

29 Weeks

Can you believe I'm already 29 weeks?? I sure as hell can't! I feel like I keep saying it, but it's true: time has flown by! Things continue to go very well, I still have very little to complain about and most of the complaining is about my future soccer star and her perfected rib kicks. Or when she beats on my bladder and hips. She is super strong, and while I find it very cool, a lot of the time her kicking/hitting/rolling sort of hurts. I'm also finding that there must be no room for my stomach anymore, I can get about two meals a day in now. Anymore than that and I walk around with that uncomfortable I-ate-way-too-damn-much feeling.

I had my 28 week appointment with my doctor today. I start my bi-weekly doctors appointments now and I'm sort of in shock at that. Every two weeks. Only women who are close to their due date see their doctor every two weeks. I am now one of those women. Holy crap!! Since I'm pretty damn proud of how well my pregnancy is progressing I'll post my stats from my appointment:

29 Weeks 2 Days
Blood Pressure: 122/77
Weight Gain: 16lbs
Fundal Height (belly measurement): 28-29 CM
Madeline's Heartbeat: 150 BPM
Over All: GREAT! :)

The fundal height is right on track. I've managed to keep my weight gain down, and since I'm aiming for 25-30lbs total I'm right on track. Madeline's heart rate is right where it needs to be. My BP last appointment was a little high at first (when they took it again it was normal though), so over all I'm as healthy as a horse. I get to do the glucose test sometime before my next appointment. As someone who loved orange soda as a kid I hope that the rumors that the glucose drink tastes like Orange Crush is true. I go back to see my doctor August 5th.

TJ and I have started work on the nursery! We painted last weekend, and are waiting to buy and stain the chair rail and molding before setting up the room. Her crib and changer arrived a few weeks ago and they are still in their respective boxes. He doesn't want to take the plastic off the floor in the nursery, so we're waiting to get it all set up until after we get the chair rail up (next weekend).

I didn't think to take pictures of our progress (what little there is) until we'd already moved everything out of the room and painted two coats of primer. Originally the bedroom was painted 4 different (ugly and obnoxious!) colors - dark red, dark blue, green, and yellow. It took two coats of primer before we started painting. Below are pictures of day two, when the pink went on the walls.

Please excuse the mess, this was my craft closet before and we left my scrapbooking crap in there.

Finally here are the 29 week pictures I took on Saturday. I went back to blonde last week so I also put a new hair picture up.

The Story of Us

Three years ago today it was a beautiful day.



It was a day of what fairy tales are made of. A day that a little girls dream of while running around with a pillow case veil on their head. It was the best day of my life.

Three years ago today I married my best friend. I became somebody’s wife. And it was a damn good day.









It really doesn’t feel like 3 years has gone by since TJ and I got married. I am thankful for him every day, just like we said in our vows: even when he drives me crazy. I feel so lucky to have him as my husband, especially when I am driving him crazy. While sometimes we lose our patience with each other or fight over silly things we are truly a great partnership. We both have realized that a happy marriage takes work, it takes effort, and if you just let it coast along it’s just going to fizzle out. He tries every day to make me laugh, and make me happy (and 9 times out of 10 he’s successful). I wish there was a way for me to tell him in words just how happy he makes me, but nothing comes close to what I’d want to say.

The “story of us” started well before our marriage though. It was just over 6 years ago now that I met a handsome young man, with deep brown eyes, ruddy cheeks, dimples and a great smile. At the time we met I was seeing someone, but I remember thinking there was something “more” there. You know that “spark” people talk about? It was there. We finally went on our first date sometime around July 19th. At that point I was recently out of a very serious long term relationship and was not looking to jump right into another. We were both pretty shy at first, we met for dinner at Chevy’s and then rented a movie to watch at his place (The Butterfly Effect). I thought he was very sweet, and he probably thought I was fabulous/amazing/wonderful. . .or maybe not. ;) We continued seeing each other, and after a month finally made it exclusive.

I don’t remember exactly how it happened, but I remember his words very clearly. One night in October he told me he was going to say something and I didn’t need to say anything back. When he told me he loved me I froze, and did the absolute worst thing ever: nothing. I stood there, and he said, “Well, say something.” Ever the smart ass I pointed out that he’d told me I didn’t have to, and then explained to him that while I really liked him and thought I might be heading toward love it just wasn’t a word I liked to throw around until I was sure. I really don’t know why he didn’t dump my crazy butt right there, but he understood and waited until I was ready to say it back. I honestly felt ready to say it much sooner than I did, but I held off until December.

Things moved along really well, we moved in together (officially, since I was staying the night pretty much every night anyway) January 2005. I decided to start looking to buy a house a few months later and signed papers in May. We moved in just before I turned 21 and celebrated our first anniversary there, where I bought him a new TV and he bought me a nice little right hand ring. That November we had both my mom’s family and his mom’s family over to our house for Thanksgiving and our house was crazy with so many people in it. It also was a nice chance for our families to meet. After everyone left we went out to the bar at La Hacienda with a few of his cousins and he told his cousin Robert that day that he had decided to ask me to marry him. I think he went ring shopping/browsing the next day with his mom while I was at work, and I was none the wiser.

We took a vacation to Whistler, Canada the end of January 2006, with Robert and Bridie. On January 23rd he mentioned he wanted to go out that night, so I went into our bathroom to get ready before we went out. When I was ready to go I went out into the living room and Robert and Bridie conveniently decided they wanted to stay in that night (and watch the OC). TJ and I walked around the town for a while and I’d point out pubs that we could go to. He had a death grip on my hand and shot down every bar I suggested. While I thought the death grip was rather strange I was more annoyed that he didn’t like any of my suggestions. I finally gave up and told him, in an exasperated tone, to just pick somewhere to go himself.

He finally pulled me toward the center of the village toward a trail. My mom and dad had owned a time share in Whistler since I was 9 and I knew there wasn’t anywhere to go back there. I protested and finally gave in and walked with him, pointed out that I was right (of course!) and turned around to try and find somewhere else to go. He pulled on my hand to turn me back toward him and there he was down on one knee. Again with the doing the worst thing ever: I asked him, “What are you doing??? Are you sure???” After I shut the hell up he asked me to marry him, I put my hand over my mouth and shook my head yes. As soon as he got the ring on my finger the water works started, and all the mascara and eyeliner I’d work so hard (OK not really) at putting on ran down my face. We went back to the condo and Robert and Bridie were waiting anxiously for us. It was a perfect evening.





The wedding was perfect. The years that followed were amazing, and most of the time we still acted like two love sick kids who just met. We decided to start trying to expand our family on a whim at the end of October 2008. 14 months later on January 23rd I took a test and found out I was pregnant. It has been a wild and eventful six years, I can’t wait to see what the next year brings to us. I also can’t wait to see what forever with my best friend is like, someday we’ll get there, but for now we are just enjoying the ride!

Our first anniversary.

Our second anniversary.

I love you TJ, with my whole heart. Happy Anniversary to the best husband in the world!!!

*Wedding photos were taken by John Nolte (http://www.johnnolte.com/)

26 Weeks - It's Your Birthday!

Well, actually, it's my Birthday. But, you are more than welcome to celebrate if you'd like!! As I told TJ at lunch today, when he ordered a beer (or 3), someone should drink on my Birthday if I can't! ;)

I was 26 weeks as of Saturday, and have had quite the wonderful Birthday weekend. My mom, dad and sister went in together and bought me the glider I wanted (YAY!). I can't wait for it to be delivered! We all went out for dinner at the Cheesecake Factory on Saturday night and I had the most amazing piece of cheesecake e.v.e.r. Red velvet cake, layered with cheesecake, layered with more red velvet cake, layered with MORE cheesecake and a cream topper. Like I said, it was the most amazing piece of cheesecake ever. YUM!

Before dinner on Saturday TJ took me for a Birthday date to the Woodland Park Zoo. We walked around the zoo for nearly 4 hours before I became too tired. By the time we headed out I was pooped, but it was great exercise! We got a front row view at the elephant house (up next to the open window), of an elephant. The trainers were taking her blood to see if she had ovulated as they are trying to get her pregnant. I sent her all sorts of good pregnant thoughts. Interesting fact we learned from the trainers, elephants are pregnant for 22 months. 22 months. Could you imagine carrying a baby ELEPHANT around for 22 months?? Yikes!

Sunday was spent with my mom and sister, laughing. A lot. We went to Babies R Us and La-z-boy to try out their rockers/gliders. I ended up liking a chair a BRU the best and it should be here in 10-12 weeks. I cannot wait!!

Today, after waiting around at the DOL to renew my license, TJ took me to Alligator Soul in Everett for lunch. Again, YUM! I discovered a new found love for hush puppies, fried corn bread. Heaven! The present he ordered for me was on back order, but he did tell me in my card what it is. I should be receiving my I-Pad in the next few days!! I really can't wait. After we got home we ordered Madeline's crib and changing table. Everything should be here within the next few weeks.

It's safe to say my 26th year has started off with quite the bang. I'm a spoiled girl. I cannot wait to see what the rest of this year brings, I have a feeling this will be one of the best years of my life!!

Below are 26 week belly pics from today. I did another comparison picture at the end, the same outfit (well, different jeans) 8 weeks apart. And, I was brave and did a bare belly shot. Actually, I wasn't brave, you are brave for looking! ;)

14 weeks to go!

If It Walks like a Walrus. . .

Sometimes I reallllllly wonder about people. I wonder, didn’t your mother ever teach you any manners? What is it about pregnancy that gives strangers (and sometimes those who know you) a free pass to comment about your weight/size? Would you make a comment to a woman on the street about her weight if she was obviously not pregnant? No, of course not, that would be rude. Right? So, what gives people the idea that it’s OK to make comments just because a woman is pregnant?

The comments are starting to wear on me. Yes, even I realize that the size of my belly is rather surprising given the fact that I’m “only” 6 months. But, my doctor has given me nothing but the thumbs up in regards to my progress. She even used the word “textbook” when measuring my belly and taking my weight (measuring spot on, and up 11 pounds total at 25 weeks). So, rude checker lady at Safeway, while you may think I look like a walrus I am in fact not part elephant. You do not have to hide your young in fear that I might swallow them whole in mistake of an afternoon snack.

I’m at the point where you can certainly tell I’m pregnant, so I get the “How far along are you?” question a lot. A lot of people guess I’m having a girl, I’ve only had one guess that she’s a boy. To be honest, most people are generally very nice, but those aren’t the comments that stick with you unfortunately. It’s the condescending comments about how “BIG” I am already, or the comments about how “HUGE” I’m going to be. Well you know what? I’m growing a human. You need to gain weight to grow a human. I know I’m going to gain more weight in the next 15 weeks without your snotty observations. So shove it.

Take a page out of Thumper’s book, if you can’t say something nice, don’t say nothing at all. A-hole.