Baby Shower!!

Last weekend we were so blessed to have a shower thrown for us by my sister, two of my best friends from college (Pamela & Colleen), & one of my best friends from work. They are all amazing and don't know how to do anything half way!! This shower was unbelievable and so cute!! I'll let the photos do the talking.

 name in ombre (her nursery is pink ombre)

 The decor in living room

 (the pink glider will go in her room- it was my Grandma's chair in her room as long as I can remember)

 my fabulous ombre cake! (the inside was ombre too- all 3 layers!)

 having so much fun

 Nike dry fit shorts for little girl- I die. 

 Ascher wanted to come say Hello when he woke up

 All done with presents-- time to put my feet up and reflect on how lucky we are to have such wonderful family & friends

 Erin ( my cousin)- due the same day as me with her 3rd girl & Me

 My fabulous hostesses!! (Jessica, Natalie, Me, Colleen & Pamela)

 Jessica, Me & Mom

 Verna (Mom's cousin- LOVE HER!), Jessica, Hadley, Me & Mom

Family Photo!

It was such a fun day! My cousins from Louisiana & Tyler drove in as well. I was so happy to see everyone and so happy that family made the drive from all over to celebrate our sweet little blessing. We could not be more thrilled and excited to watch as our family grows! I can't wait!! It was a wonderful wonderful WONDERFUL shower!!

35 Weeks: Bump Update

Week 35

June 17 , 2014

size of baby: honeydew, 18.2 inches, 5.5 lbs

total weight gain/loss: +18 

maternity clothes: I have found a shirt of Justin's that I got him when I was in college. It is a Delta Gamma Anchor Slam shirt in a large that I am pretty positive Justin has never worn. Anyways- I found it looking for a large comfy shirt to put on. I am pretty sure I have lived in it all week. I've washed it twice and put it back on the same day. I don't know why but it has become my go to shirt (I'm even wearing it in this weeks bump photo). Also, at the beginning of my pregnancy I bought a bunch of clothes from my friend. Well one pair of shorts were a little large- Jessica & Mom would always tells me I was not allowed to wear them out of the house cause they were huge. Well this week. They fit. That's all I have to say about that. 

gender: It's a GIRL! I can't believe our house has exploded PINK!!

movement: painful movements now- still blowing and going (At this point with Ascher they weren't as often- she is still crazy in there even though she has no room) When I lay on one side for a long time I feel her entire little body pushing at my sides. Its painful but I just roll over and normally she goes too. 

sleep: Snoring has been out of control this week. I mean WOW. I snored with Ascher and I believed Justin when he said I snored this time but this week I was snoring so bad I woke myself up a couple of times. Talk about bad. Its awful. I have never in my life woke myself up from snowing!!

cravings: ICE!, ice cream, still loving sweets

what I miss: getting out of bed/rolling over with ease, having a lap for Ascher to snuggle in (he tries so hard to lay on my lap...its near impossible and painful)

symptoms: swollen, crampy, braxton hicks, peeing all the time, backache, headache, no energy, blah, stuffy (this symptom has never gone away the whole pregnancy)

thoughts: 

• IM SO LARGE!!!!
• SWOLLEN! 
• She could be here so soon!! We had our 35 week apt and it was our first time to get checked. I am 60% effaced & 1 cm dilated. He told me to hold her in for two more weeks (At least get to 37 weeks) and to think 38! I have this weird feeling she is going to come early. I think Week 38 might be her week- however, this could just be my wishful thinking. : ) 
• I ordered the last of the things we needed and once everything arrives I think we will be set. I have washed tons of pink clothes and organized her nursery two or three times and I'm sure once she gets here I'll re-do it again. I still haven't figured out how I plan on keeping her bows and headbands.

Big Brother (Ascher) news: 

• We went to Matthew (Daniel & Megan) 1st Birthday on Saturday. They had a giant blow up slip & slide and a cool little baby splash pad in their backyard. Ascher had a  blast. He LOVES water! 
• Has a new fondness of his paci...we were doing so good. We are currently in a regression. He wants it all the time. I have semi given up fighting him because once baby is here there is gonna be one around (if she likes them). 

Weekly Photo:

and how cute is this one of Ascher giving sissy kisses...

34 Weeks: Bump Update

Week 34

June 9, 2014

size of baby: canteloupe, 17.7 inches, almost 5 lbs

total weight gain/loss: +18 

maternity clothes: This week was a new low. I waited until last minute to find a dress for my shower and it was totally depressing. Our maternity shop here is awful (you'd think itd be good since we live in such a big city...nope). Every dress I tried on was awful. I was a total whale. I went across the way and found a maxi dress at Old Navy. Granted, I needed an XS and they didn't have it so I was just hoping Mom would have time to take it up before the shower (she did). Anyways- we left the mall and I was happy but not thrilled. Nothing looks good. I just feel swollen and large. 

gender: It's a GIRL! She has a full name & I still LOVE it!! 

movement:  slow strong movements, I think she is running out of room. She is also super low yet (still carrying high) -- if that makes sense

sleep: still peeing all night- but when I am asleep I am out! (Snoring apparently...)

cravings: blueberry cake donuts, easy mac, crushed ice, water, fruit, ICEE's, snowcones, ICE ICE ICE

what I miss: my belly button (weird I know), getting out of bed/rolling over with ease

symptoms: swollen, crampy, braxton hicks, peeing all the time, backache, headache, no energy, blah, stuffy/bloody nose (this symptom has never gone away the whole pregnancy)

thoughts: 

• Got a fake ring this week : ) It's a beauty...hehe
• feeling the nesting bug- getting things done in her nursery
• went shopping and picked out all kinds of stuff- didn't buy any of it and when I went back to purchase what I couldn't stop thinking about...it was gone. Womp womp. Sad day. 
• got my hair dyed all over again- my hair color was so dull and my gray hairs were rather shiny....hmph (I'm too young to go gray!!!)
• Had our baby shower this weekend. It was ABSOLUTELY fabulous. My hostessess don't know how to do anything half way!! They went above and beyond!! Shower post to come later this week! 

Big Brother (Ascher) news: 

• Daddy went and got him a blow up pool and he lived in it a number of days. He LOVES being outside and playing in the water!

Weekly Photo:

this was my jeans are too tight, I'm changing into sweat pants before Justin gets home outfit : )

33 Weeks: Bump Update

Week 33

June 2, 2014

size of baby: a pineapple, 17.2 inches, 4.5 lbs

total weight gain/loss: +17

maternity clothes: I have never in my life felt uncomfortable in tank tops. I have always had a small frame but lately I wear tank tops and see pictures of myself and say OMG is that me!? I know its all for the baby and I'm not complaining --- its just different. Now that its hot I've been wearing mostly running shorts around and then a maternity top/tank. Nothing too fancy. And if I need to go somewhere, I've been throwing on a maxi skirt or maternity dress

gender: It's a GIRL! She has a full name!! She has had it for a couple weeks but I keep forgetting to put it on here. We are so excited. We couldn't decide on her middle name and then one day just like with Ascher- it came to me and I ran it by Justin and he really liked it...so we tried it out for awhile and we love it! 

movement: hiccups like CRAZY!!! She gets them all the time but gets them fast and hard right around 11:45ish EVERY NIGHT. like clockwork. She is still moving a ton but they are very rhythmic movements. Like she is moving her legs, arms, etc. Not just kicking- so crazy its almost the end!! EEEK

sleep: sucks. I was waking up 1-2 times a night to pee...now I normally will pee at least 4 times from the time I get ready for bed until the time I get up for the morning. And I notice how much slower I am walking to the bathroom in the middle of the night. At our old house, my side of the bed was close to bathroom- now we have a much larger master and my side is the farthest from the bathroom. I'm almost to the point of begging Justin to switch sides with me this last month or so. : ) 

cravings: blueberry cake donuts, easy mac, crushed ice, water, fruit (pineapples)

what I miss: sleeping, having energy, feeling like me

symptoms: swollen, high BP (then goes back down), crampy, braxton hicks, peeing all the time, backache, headache, no energy, blah, stuffy nose (this symptom has never gone away the whole pregnancy)

thoughts: 

• Belly Buttons: with Ascher my belly button completely went flat. I loved it. It was clean and didn't hurt when anyone messed with it or anything. I couldn't wait for my belly button to do the same so I could get it good and clean again (weird I know!) However, with her my belly button is a volcano and I absolutely HATE when people accidentally touch it. It is the weirdest thing. It is like she is sucking it in instead of pushing it out. Its gross and sticks out majorly! (p.s. as I'm writing this she has the hiccups)
• I felt kinda gross earlier this week so I thought I'll take my BP. Well it was 158/80. I have always had super low blood pressure. Like problematic low BP-- never high. So I messaged my nurse and she called doc and he said to go to Walmart and use their machine (more accurate than our electric one from CVS)--- thankfully when I did it at Walmart it was fine. So twice more it has happened and the first time I take it- its high and when I wait 5 minutes and take it 2 more times it slowly goes back down. I'm gonna ask him about it at my next apt (tomorrow)
• SWOLLEN- I'm so sad about this one. With Ascher, I delivered with my wedding rings & Aggie ring on. : ( Yesterday I had to use soap and water to squeeze them off my little sausages. Also, since I just run errands/around the house I've only been wearing my flip flops. Well I put on a pair of heels this week and OMG my feet wouldn't even half way go into them because they were so swollen. Its weird because they don't look huge and fat which is why I guess I hadn't noticed. They just hurt really bad. I kept saying I feel like my feet are swollen they hurt so bad. Well...I guess they are I didn't know what I was looking for. 

Big Brother (Ascher) news: 

• rough week for Ascher- sick little buddy. Took him to doctor on Wednesday after he woke up on Sunday with a snotty nose. Double Ear Infections. Ascher hasn't had an ear infection since before he turned 1. That is OVER a year ago!! Poor bubby. Started him on meds but I'm not sure they are working. Today is day 4 and he is still telling me that there are "bees in his ears". : (  

Weekly Photo:

and just for fun-- here I am in same dress at my baby shower for Ascher at 31 weeks compared to 33 weeks with Baby Girl

Month of May Dump

The month of May we were super busy but just doing things here and there...I figured I'd do a little recap in the form a photo dump from my phone. These are just the first 2 weeks of photos- I'll do rest of May tomorrow night. ; ) 

 We finally hung some stuff in Aschers room one weekend. I was going to re-do it into a big boy room but figured I would wait until he moves into a big boy bed and do it at once instead of doing it now and then again when he moves out of crib. So these paintings were hanging in his old room. We also hung up his personalized ABC's & a "finger" painting canvas he did with his BFF, Emma when they turned one. 

Justin picked out little girls first outfit. So adorable. 

When Ascher wakes up he always wants Mommy to "lay down...cuddle mommy!" until he fully wakes up and it never fails that he climbs on top of my head- its one of my favorite times of the day

True Life: Some mornings look like this.

Big boy haircut for summer

 Popsicles outside

 water table fun

 loves to color in the bathtub

 I worked a little in the 5th bedroom. Yeah I know it looks awful but would you believe this is progress!!?!  (I unpacked boxes so what was once in a neat giant pile of boxes is now organized into math, reading, books, etc.) This is all my teacher stuff!! And my "nesting" has me wanting this room done even though its upstairs and no one sees it--- I need to be working on nursery/downstairs not up here. Even doing a little makes me feel better though. 

Cute little man shopping one night

 Our newest nephew arrived on May 10, 2014. Everett Bright. He is precious. We went and visited him on Mothers Day.

Ascher adores his cousin, Grayson. Anytime we play with any boy that is older than him he talks about "Grayson" for days. He thinks that everyone is Grayson and when he actually gets to play with Grayson all is right in the world. He is still talking about Grayson giving him a bouncy ball and it has been 3 and a half weeks since he saw him. He LOVES his cousin Grayson. So sweet. 

I'll do the rest of May tomorrow night along with our Memorial Day Weekend Recap! 

The Zoo!!

This drive me nuts all out of order but I decided I would rather have the memories written down than stress over the order of what its in. With that being said, the first weekend in May we went to the zoo. It all started on Saturday we ran up to the mall to return some stuff and we walked past the Rain Forest Cafe where they have a giant fake elephant. Well Ascher was enthralled. Didn't want to leave the elephant and for the rest of the day talked about this elephant. I had the brillant idea of asking him if he wanted to go see REAL elephants which of course was a YES!! So with a little convincing Justin and I agreed we would wake up Sunday and head to the zoo. 

Ascher has been to the Houston Zoo before when he was less than a year old as well as the Waco zoo last summer for Ella's birthday but both times he wasn't obsessed with animals (particularly the elephants) like he was this time. We got up Sunday and Justin called Daniel & Megan and asked if they wanted to come with us so we all headed to the zoo (hoping to make it in time for elephant baths- we barely missed them). Ascher had a blast! It was so fun to watch him have so much joy as he watched each animal interact with its habitat, each other, people, etc. He is at such a fun age. He did fabulous the whole time as well. No melt downs and only cried when he fell and scraped his knee but only for a second before, "I okay." and back to the animals. Here are some pictures from our day. I am so upset we didn't get a family photo (other than this selfie)

 of course we went and saw the elephants first- such joy. like pure happiness. I may or may not have cried when I saw how happy he was to see a real elephant...I'll blame pregnancy hormones ; )

My 2 Boys

 After the elephants we walked over the sea lions. Ascher was just as excited to see them swimming. However, he kept saying "Ascher hold it!" He didn't quite understand he couldn't HOLD the animals but was happy to pose with a fake sea lion. : ) 

We walked around the rest of the zoo looking at all the animals. I just love the zoo- it is so much fun and never gets old! Justin said he hadn't been to the zoo since he was in elementary school!!! We found our way to the petting zoo and let Ascher "hold" some animals. Granted the whole petting zoo is basically goats but he was okay with it and I was happy to follow him around and let him touch each and every goat before we headed to lunch. 

After lunch we walked our way back to the front stopping along the way to see a few more animals but it was nap time and we figured we should head on home before the fun of the day came to a quick close. 

We had so much fun and I am so glad we went on this spur of a moment outing. Ascher still talks about the elephants at the zoo so I'd say our fun day was a success in the eyes of our little 2 year old. 

Week 32: Bump Update

Week 32

May 26, 2014

size of baby: a bok choy (??), 16.7 inches, 4 lbs

total weight gain/loss: doctor appointment this week was +16 (I blame Grandma's cooking last weekend) ; ) I am now officially heavier than I was when I gave birth to Ascher.

maternity clothes: yup. all I can say at this point. (haha) even Justin's medium shirts are getting tight

gender: It's a GIRL! 

movement: she moves a lot after I eat or while I am eating crushed ice and still moves the most when I'm trying to go to sleep (I hope this isn't a preview of whats to come).

sleep: pretty much same as last week- I sleep great till I have to get up to pee then I can't go back to sleep for life of me and then Ascher is still waking up before dawn every morning and doesn't want to go back to sleep. I also switched my snoogle around and that has helped the sleeping situation- any time I am having trouble sleeping if I re-arrange the pillow it seems to help a little.  

cravings: easy mac, crushed ice, water, candy, desserts, SUGAR!! (total opposite of Ascher)

what I miss: being able to go for a walk and not feel miserable by the end of it, running around/sitting on the floor with Ascher 

symptoms: crampy, braxton hicks, peeing all the time, backache

thoughts: 

• Doctor apt was a real crappy day. Not because anything was wrong it just wasn't a fun apt. I drove in the pouring rain- then got my TDAP shot, blood drawn & paid my remaining balance...then drove home in the pouring rain again. However, little girls heart sounds good and I'm still measuring small and looking good. He told me I've just got to make it 7 more weeks! (We are planning a delivery since I am driving into town so he can deliver her) Enter panic followed by giddy school girl giggle. 
• Worked more in nursery--- her bedding came in and we put gold vinyl dots cascading down wall behind her crib. I ordered her initial for above the bed and we hung shelves and decorated them. I'll post pics when its all done. There is still boxes on floor and crap everywhere. But total progress.

Big Brother (Ascher) news: 

• woke up this weekend with allergies but didn't keep him down
• still waking up in the middle of night/before 6:30am every morning- and he is waking up crying not like he usual does where he just wakes up and says, "mommy...come get me...mommy...where are you?" in a cute playful voice

Weekly Photo:

 Pip has turned into a terrible little needy puppy. He is acting out big time (doing things that are major NO-NO's) and won't get off my lap if I am sitting down. He is also stress eating and can devour 3 cups of food in one day (learned that lesson quick--- dont give him 3 cups of food) Normally he can last 3 days and divides it up himself...not currently. I am not sure he is happy about this baby. 

And Ascher...care free...worry free.