Maternity Photos

The weekend following Thanksgiving, we finally had some maternity photos taken. We lucked out with the most perfect weather that day, and it was fun to just spend some time together getting excited about our little guy.  Thank you to Rieza for the capturing such wonderful photos- to help us remember this special time!  It was hard to narrow the photos down, but here are some of my favorites (yes, 20 is SOME).  And just so I remember- I was about 37.5 weeks pregnant here. 

  

Thanksgiving For Two (Three)

I think I will always remember Thanksgiving 2014 as one of my favorite Thanksgivings.  It didn't pan out exactly like we thought it would, but it ended up being just perfect.  

We had originally (albeit tentatively) planned to spend Thanksgiving in Austin with David's family.  My OB had said it was probably OK for me to travel there by car, but the general rule of thumb is that it's best to not go more than an hour away from your hospital when you are within 30 days of your due date.  We went back and forth about what to do, but we finally decided (perhaps in a bit of an anti-social move) to stay in Houston.  Once we made the decision, it was a huge relief. I was a little sad about our first Thanksgiving back in the US feeling a bit lonely, but I know we made the right decision.  

Some yummy pumkin bread I made the night before Thanksgiving

Thursday and Friday were David's first days off since moving back from Australia, so I know he especially was looking forward to a long weekend without any big obligations, road trips, etc. I ordered a pre-made turkey breast, stuffing, gravy, and some dinner rolls from Central Market (Texas' version of Whole foods), and then I made a few sides and my favorite apple pie.  It felt like such a cheat, but it was SO nice to just wait in a (not too long) line and pick up most of what we would need for dinner.  Plus, with just the two of us, we didn't need mass amounts of everything.  

Waiting in this line was a much better alternative to making my own turkey. Totally worth it!

I spent the morning and afternoon doing some cooking, watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade, and just relaxing.  It was a beautiful day, and I even convinced David to take a little walk around the neighborhood with me.  One of the best parts of the day was that I didn't ever change out of my pajamas, put on makeup, or even take a shower- oops.  Dinner was great and so nice and low key.  We missed family and friends, but I think we also really appreciated spending the holiday together as a couple, since this will be our last kid-free holiday in a long time!  

Baking pies and babies. Also, please notice how my belly rests perfectly on the kitchen counter.

I even broke out the fancy china!

The spread

I swallowed the turkey!

Dessert time. The best time. 

On Friday I deep cleaned the nursery and then we got the new rug I ordered laid out.  I also did a little Black Friday shopping... from the comfort of my couch.  

Baby officially has the cleanest (and shiniest!) room in the house. 

Saturday was officially deemed "Baby Day."  We started the day off by having maternity photos taken. We really lucked out with a  beautiful day, and it was fun to spend time together documenting our soon-to-be family of three.  I'm still waiting on photos, otherwise, I would share some here.  After photos, we took a little break and then started in on checking tons of things off our baby list... things that really probably should have been done a while ago.  Whatever, we work well under pressure.  Here's what we accomplished: crib assembly, stroller assembly (so excited for my BOB!), co-sleeper/bassinet assembly, car seat is ready to go, and play yard/bassinet assembly (this will be our downstairs baby sleep/diaper station so we aren't constantly climbing stairs).  We were both exhausted by the end of the day, but it felt really good to finally get those things done!  

Can't believe a tiny human will be sleeping (hopefully) next to me so soon!

 

I will always have great memories of this Thanksgiving weekend as our last as just a family of two. I can't even wrap my mind around the fact that we will have a nearly one year old this time next year.  

{Hidden Baby Chronicles} - 10 Weeks - A Prune/Kumquat

May 22, 2014

Wahoo! Double digits!  Things are moving right along.  I'm still really willing these first trimester weeks to pass quickly... I just really want to get to the second trimester and feel a little more comfortable with things most likely being OK. 

Photo Thoughts: Yet another flowy "disguise the bloat" shirt.  BUT, you can tell by where my hand is that my tummy is definitely growing.  Also, the "fruit of the week" is finally starting to get big enough to actually kind of see in the photos!  And as my face may reveal in the last photo, I have mixed feelings about my new "belly belt."  Sigh...

How I'm Feeling: Still pretty darn normal.  And this continues to freak me out.  Actually even more so this week.

Baby/Bump: This week our baby is the size of a prune.  I'm apparently already taking up the parent habit of thinking my baby is way cuter than others do, because I just couldn't deal with using a prune comparison this week.  I had to consult an alternative website that used a kumquat for size comparison.  Much better/cuter!  Baby is 1.2 inches long.  Little kumquat now has working joints and its organs are now fully developed and starting to function.  Also, hair and fingernails are starting to appear.  Crazy, hairy little kumquat!

Symptoms: Broken record again.  Very few of the typical 1st trimester symptoms that you hear about.  I know I am very lucky to be feeling so great, but it really just throws me off.  In fact, the few symptoms that I was having actually seemed to lessen this week.  Which really threw me into a tizzy.  I'm not having the slight nausea/indifference to food in the evenings anymore, not getting dizzy as much, haven't had any cramping for quite a while now.  All I'm really left with is the lovely BLOAT.  It takes a lot of mental effort to convince myself that just because I'm not having many symptoms doesn't mean something is wrong. Easier said than done though. 

Weight: + 4.  ACK!  Slow down weight gain!!  I've actually been doing really well with watching what I eat (or so I thought). 

What I'm Anticipating: I'm so anxious for my next OB appointment.  One week from today!  I am really hoping that I can calm the eff down after that. 

What I'm Stressing About/Worries: This week I got extra worried about my lack of symptoms and the fact that the ones I did have seemed to actually be lessening.  This pregnancy this can be a total mind game, people!  My mom got to listen to me go on and on about it for quite a while a couple days ago.  It felt good to just vent.  I also talked to David about it, and he actually made me feel a lot better.  Sometimes he's not the best at comforting me when I'm being emotional or unreasonable... he's just so typical engineer in his thought processes that I think it's hard for him to reason with me when I get like that.  But in this case, he pulled though and gave me some really good advice/encouragement, and I felt so much better afterwards.  He basically told me, "focus on the facts.  The facts that you have now are: 4 positive pregnancy tests, a beautiful ultrasound, and we even saw the heart beating away.  Those are the facts, and they all seem to mean that you have nothing to worry about."  His advice was so engineer/logical minded- I love it.  And he's absolutely right.  So I'm trying to just focus on the facts that I do have and not get caught up in all my hypothetical situations and worries. 

What I'm Missing:  This weekend was the first time I missed having a glass (or 3) of wine on Saturday evening while we relax on the couch and watch TV.  So I poured some fancy, bubbly fruit juice drink into a wine glass and tried to enjoy that.  It actually wasn't too bad, and did the trick... kind of. 

Sleep: Sleep is good.  So good.

Exercise:  Still sticking strong to my 5-6 days a week workout schedule.  Which makes me even more frustrated at the fact that I've gained 4 pounds already.  Oh well...

Movement: WAY too early for this.  Although supposedly, the baby has begun wiggling his/her arms and legs already.  Crazy!  And its little hands now meet over its heart- awwwww!

Boy or Girl: Also WAY too early for this.  But yes, we will find out when that time comes.

Milestones: For baby: vital organs are formed and starting to function!  For me: I had my first visit to a maternity store.  I had been doing some research on belly bands and belly belts, and I wanted to see some in person before I made my decision.  It was so odd to walk in there... especially without a bump to "prove" that I belong in there.  But the sales lady who helped me was so nice and answered a ton of questions for me.  I ended up with a belly belt, which should hopefully help me make my pants/shorts last me some more weeks before needing to buy any full on maternity pants.  It's basically like a bra extender that just lets you have more space around the waist band of your pants.  And actually, I tried it when I got home, and at this point it gives me too much room.  So I might just need to wear my pants unbuttoned for a bit longer before I'm ready for the belt thing. 

{Hidden Baby Chronicles} Big Fat Positive

April 11, 2014

This was a day that I will always remember.  It was one of those days where you are very aware that something very significant that will mark a huge change in the rest of your life is occurring.  It's actually been a few days since my big fat positive on April 11, but I wanted to make sure I took the time to sit down and record the events of this day, as it is sure to be a very memorable one in the story of our lives. 

April 11 was a Friday, my sister's birthday actually.  I had taken the day off of work since we were planning on leaving to drive to Austin that afternoon for my race.  I wanted to have some extra time to pack, do some last minute errands, go on one last run, etc.  I had decided earlier in the week that I would take a pregnancy test that day, even though I wasn't due to start my period until Sunday, since we had plans to meet up with some friends for dinner and drinks in Austin that night.  I wanted to make sure I was in the clear for some pre-race adult beverages.  I didn't really put much thought into the fact that I would test that day.  I was pretty convinced that I was not pregnant- just thought I better check it off the list.  This was actually only the second month that we had been "trying," and for whatever reason, I had it in my mind that this would likely take us quite a few months. 

I woke up that morning, went on one last run before my race on Sunday, and ran some errands.  By the time I got home, I was already running short on time, and I hadn't even started packing yet.  I called my sister to wish her a happy birthday, and started unloading groceries.  I hung up with my sister, went and grabbed a test from the bathroom, peed, set the test behind the box so I wouldn't be tempted to peek, and then went back into the kitchen to continue unloading groceries.  I noted the time and started getting a little stressed that I still had a lot to do before David would be home from work and ready to leave for Austin.  I headed back toward the bathroom.  I did pause for a quick second before I moved the box aside so I could see the test.  It was one of those, "is this it?" moments.  But I was sure it wasn't "it."  I moved the box aside, grabbed the test, and saw a faint blue line.  I had to grab the directions to verify the correct reading of these tests... even thought it's pretty straight forward, and I had indeed taken these types of tests before.  "A second line means pregnant!"  I thought to myself in a minor panic.  I actually then put it down on the counter, left the bathroom and calmly headed into our room to start packing like nothing had just happened.  I was definitely in shock, and not really processing anything at that point.  Just a few seconds later, after packing absolutely nothing, I grabbed my iPad and FaceTimed my friend, Kim.  Kim is one of the only people who even knew we were trying, and she had been such a support and encouragement to me- answering questions, offering advice, etc.  We don't ever really FaceTime so I think she thought it was a little odd I had called.  She asked if her son Cooper had accidentally called me on her phone.  I assured her he had not.  We chatted for a couple minutes, before I finally burst and told her that I had just taken a pregnancy test, and I help up the test.  I said something like, "I'm here all alone, the line is kind of faint, and I just need someone else's opinion."  She was so excited and assured me that that line was most definitely not a faint line.  That was when I started shaking and getting a little teary.  Although, surprisingly, being a huge crier usually, I didn't ever really cry all that much.  She calmed me down a little bit, congratulated me, and told me to go call my doctor. 

Somehow after that, I managed to be calm and not think about it all that much so that I could pack for the weekend.  The whole time though, I was calculating how soon David would be home, and how I quickly would need to call my doctor before he got home and also come up with a cute way to tell him the news.  I got a hold of my GP's nurse who gave me the number for an OB in their practice.  I spoke to that nurse who was very nice and congratulatory.  I mostly just wanted to ask her if it was OK for me to run the ten mile race that I had been training for that was just two days away.  She assured me that it was and cautioned me that if I had any cramping to just slow down.  She also set me up for an appointment with the doctor at week 8. 

David actually came home during the middle of that call, so I just moved out into the apartment hallway to finish that call without him overhearing the whole thing.  I was shocked at how easily I was able to act completely normal once David got home.  We finished packing up the car, and hit the road for Austin.  So basically at that point, I had about three hours to decide how I wanted to tell David that I was pregnant.  I was a little bit sad at that point that I didn't have more time to put more thought into it, go out and buy a onesie or something, or otherwise create something more "Pinterest-worthy."  And I was also a little sad that we would be around his family and friends that weekend so we'd have to be very secretive about it even though the news was so fresh and exciting.  I was coming up short on ideas for something cute/creative on such short notice.  I was texting with Kim on our drive over there and she asked me when my last period was so that she could calculate my due date.  I gave her the info, and she sent me back this:

According to this calculator, our due date would be December 18.  Our 4th Anniversary!  What are the odds?  That was when I decided to use one of the photos of the positive test I had taken on my iPhone and just use on of those write-over apps to write "Happy 4th Anniversary" over the photo.  I did all of this with David sitting right next to me in the driver's seat.  When we arrived at his parents' house, we only had about 45 minutes before we needed to leave for dinner.  We went upstairs to get changed and freshened up, and I told him I wanted to show him something on my phone.  He came over, took the phone from my hand, looked at the photo, and said, "Whose is that?  It's not our anniversary...."  He was pretty confused.  Once I helped him figure out what was going on, we just hugged and I filled him in quickly on what had happened that day.  We then had to rush out to dinner, but it was still a special, very memorable moment. 

After dinner with friends, David and I had some time to kill before picking up his sister, Renee, at the airport so we walked around downtown Austin a little bit and went into a few bars.  It was a beautiful night, and it was fun to finally be alone to talk a little bit more about our big news.  David was so happy and excited.  At one of the bars we went to, it was so cute to see how excited he was to tell the bar tender that I had just found out I was pregnant and could he please make me a preggo-safe drink.  It was awesome to see how excited/proud he was to tell a random stranger.  And I actually did get some really good alcohol free drinks.  It turned out to be a really fun night for the two of us to celebrate our big news! 

Surprise!

 

 

It's official! Christmas is coming early this year (Dec. 18, to be exact)!  I'm 20 weeks along and SO excited to finally have the secret out. 

Please forgive me while I go all "mommy blog" on you for the next couple weeks and post all of the "Hidden Baby Chronicles" posts I've been hoarding. 

Removing The Cobwebs

Although the intention is always there, I just cannot seem to get back into the swing of regularly blogging.  It's definitely something that I want to be better about, but other things just always seem to get in the way.  But perhaps I just need to accept that that's how things may be for a while around here, stop apologizing for it, and say hey- something's better than nothing.  Right?  So here's a little mish-mash catch up of sorts.  Thanks to those of you who have stuck around despite my silence!

~A beautiful Houston sunset that I caught on my walk home from the gym a while back.  One thing that I loved about living in small town Australia was that the skies always seemed so much more beautiful than anyplace I had ever lived (I wrote about them in a post HERE).  I don't know what it was, but they always seemed bluer, clearer, had the puffiest, whitest clouds, and some of the most breath-taking sunsets I have ever seen.  This Houston sunset almost reminded me of one of those gorgeous Aussie sunsets that I miss so much. 

~A teacher reunion with some of my favorite former co-workers.  You can tell by our clothes how long ago this happy hour actually took place, but whatever.  I miss these ladies, and it was so fun to catch up!

~A funny bookshelf.  I was cleaning and reorganizing a little bit a while ago, and I noticed something funny about this particular book shelf.  Can you guess which one of these books belongs to my husband?  If you know David, you will get a pretty good laugh out of this one. 

~An Aussie care package.  Two of my closest girlfriends that I met in Australia were sweet enough to send me this fun Aussie care package.  Thanks, Jackie and Katie!!

~A visit with some of my former students.  I spent a couple hours one day visiting my old school and some of my former students.  These are two of my favorites (yep, teachers absolutely have favorites).  I couldn't believe how much they had grown! 

~Office View.  This is my view from the office (it's a office run out of someone's home if you can't tell).  I love March/April in Houston because the azaleas bloom like CRAZY.  I had actually never seen white azaleas, so I was loving these ones.  I tried to grow azaleas at our old house in Houston, and I never had any luck (#blackthumb).  They're so pretty though, and so "Houston" to me. 

~A perfect Friday evening.  A while back, I picked David up from work on a Friday and we had the perfect evening.  We started with a couple glasses of wine at a neighborhood bar (the weather was perfect that night so we took advantage and sat outside), then we headed to my new favorite Houston restaurant- Hugo's.  You guys.  If you live in or around Houston, or ever visit, you MUST go here.  I can't believe we only discovered it a couple months ago.  It is some of, no THE best Mexican food I have ever had- super authentic.  Oh, and the best margarita of my life.  I was too busy chowing down and guzzling margaritas to take any pictures though. 

~Hard-working hubby.  Poor David has just been swamped at work lately.  We were talking the other night and honestly, we aren't really sure that the 13 hour work days/6 day work weeks he had to work in Australia were any worse than the current situation.  Sigh... He has been working just about every Saturday, and during the week usually not getting home until between 8 and 9.  A couple times it has even been 10:30.  One Saturday, I walked down to his office (literally like 3 blocks from our apartment) to bring him lunch, and I saw this duck guarding the entrance.  I thought it was pretty funny.  He seriously wasn't budging for anyone trying to get in/out.  And this text message shows you a little bit what life/work has been like lately.  I usually text him each afternoon/early evening to get his ETA.  And just about everytime, the answer gets later as the evening goes on.  Poor guy...

~Texas BBQ!  I can't believe it took us this long, but we finally made it to our favorite Houston BBQ spot- Luling City Market.  There's nothing like eating straight off of butcher paper and piling a ton of meat onto good ol' white bread.  Yum!  Don't worry, I did not eat all that meat in front of me- we shared that AND took home leftovers. 

~Shaking my head at Texas.  I love living in Houston.  And most of the time I forget I actually live in Texas.  Until I drive by things like this on the side of the road.... really?...

~Random Houston statues.  There is a random outdoor statue museum/field... I don't know what to call it... in Houston.  It's filled with these giant sculptures of the Beatles and about a million presidential heads.  So random, but pretty neat.  Not too far from that... display... is the "We Love Houston" sign that I've been meaning to see for years, but never made it there until now. 

 

~Bubba's Burger Shack.  This is another favorite Houston restaurant of ours.  It is a total dive, and as you can tell from the pictures, it is literally a SHACK.  And even better, it is situated basically underneath a freeway overpass... this little shack has been there so long that they basically built the overpass around it.  But oh my god, they have the BEST buffalo burgers ever.  So good!  I had the buffalo patty melt, and David had the double burger.  Nom nom nom! 

 

~A little Aussie reunion.  A few weeks ago, I met up with two girls that I met in Australia who now live in the Houston area.  Kim had just had her second baby boy, so Lori and I drove out to meet the new little guy.  It was a fun day and some much needed girl time.  It's so funny to me that I had to go all the way to Australia to finally meet some Houston friends :-)  I'm hoping that eventually even more of the girls I met there will get moved to Houston, too!  Please note, none of these adorable children are mine. 

~Crazy Houston weather.  A few weekends ago, Houston had one of its famous rain storms.  These things seriously seem to come out of nowhere, and they are no joke- flooding is usually involved.  This photo is a major street in Houston (Richmond Ave, if you're familiar), and it was completely flooded.  Don't worry, about 3 hours later, the sun was shining and the sky was blue.  Houston is weird. 


~Bear.  We went to Austin for Father's Day weekend to visit David's parents.  This is their dog, Bear.  I have a love/hate relationship with this dog.  You see, Bear used to be my sister-in-law's dog.  She and I used to be roommates in Los Angeles (that's how I met David).  Renee used to be out of town a lot, and so I ended up being the one to take care of Bear.  He would get mad when she would leave, and unfortunately, he would take that out on me.  TWICE this dog peed on my bed in retaliation.  I still haven't forgiven him. 

Alright, I think that's enough from me for now.  Hopefully it won't be another month before I'm back again! :-)