TX baby shower!

my mom and sissy threw me the cutest baby shower a few weeks ago!  they spent so much time and effort planning out every little detail and everything turned out perfect :) we spent the night before baking 40 pink and blue velvet cupcakes (when I say we I mean they made them and I taste tested haha), white and dark chocolate covered strawberries, chocolate pretzels dipped in sprinkles, and my sister planned on making cake pops but sometime after midnight they seemed very unnecessary haha so we all went to bed.

pictures courtesy of my talented professional photographer sister!

our lovely neighbor Martha let us use her house for the shower since my dad is currently re-doing our house.  she heard we had a little animal theme going and put out these adorable stuffed animals she had lying around for decor.  not only did she let us use her house but she gave me a dangerous food magazine full of every kind of dessert imaginable and told me to pick anything I wanted and she would bake it for the shower!  after flipping through it, Mark and I made an emergency run to the store for all of the ingredients necessary to make a berry crumble!  haha it was so good!  I ended up asking her to make a banana cream cheesecake that was divine...

the banana cream cheesecake is on the right, behind the pretzels!

I didn't have a chance to have one of these at the shower but the night before they were delicious!  ha!

isn't this the cutest party favor?!  all Steph.

there were so many amazing things to eat at this shower!  so many people brought delicious things to contribute...we had beef and cheese empanadas (hands down, my favorite!), chicken salad, croissants, yummy fruit salad (all I'm craving this pregnancy!), vegetables and dips, and assorted crackers with fancy homemade cheese spreads! sooo goood!!!

there were probably around 30 people at the shower, half of them were my mom's sweet hispanic friends from work who knew so much about me and the baby already!  they all were so excited for my mom to be a grandma :)  some of my old friends from junior high were able to come and then lots of people from our new ward.  I'm so excited to make more friends out here, hopefully ones with babies!

my cousin Lydia was my official gift recorder (isn't she a doll?)  I got some super cute things including little animal sleepers, adorable onesies (all gender neutral! yay!), car seat and stroller activity bars, colorful bibs, spoons, a johnson & johnson bathtime set with the cutest finding nemo bath toys, a swaddle me, newborn mittens, a handmade baby blanket and booties (darling!) and lots of classic baby books!  also gift cards and cash which were much appreciated :)

I don't know what I would have done without all the help we have received from my two showers and the tons and tons of hand me down clothes, shoes, hats, swaddle blankets, burp cloths, bottles, and baby gear (three car seats, two strollers, a bouncer, playmat, swing and two breast pumps!) that we received from my sister-in-law Al.  this baby is so loved and we are finally ready for the big day!

35 Week Bumpdate

WEEK 35

Baby is the size of a lop bunny!

first off, how cute is that little bunny?!  I've been sick of all the vegetable comparisons, especially since some of my apps are repeating vegetables other apps used weeks ago...I might have too many pregnancy apps!  so expect cute animal comparisons from here on out...oh and in case you're wondering, my shirt says "namast'ay in bed" ;)

so we spent this week finishing all the baby laundry and opening packages every day as one by one, all the items from our registry arrived!  I've never ordered so many things in my entire life!  felt like christmas :)  everything is finally all put away and ready for baby!  nursery reveal coming soon!

this week I had another doctor's appointment and from now on I will be going every week!  ahhh, the countdown for baby rawlings has begun!  but it won't be anytime soon...the doctor checked to see if I was dilated and told me, "well baby loves you!  not coming for awhile!"  I'm anxious for baby to be here already but at the same time another month of sleep and relaxing (and finishing two more baby books!) sounds pretty good.

every week the baby is gaining about half a pound and will continue to do so until delivery!  and boy, do I feel it.  it's getting harder and harder to go on walks with the dog, get out of bed at night to go to the bathroom and just make it up and down the stairs without getting winded from all this extra weight!  it's the worst combination because I get restless leg syndrome and my legs always want to run a marathon but the rest of my body won't let me.  I have found swimming to be the perfect solution and I love being in the water and able to splash and jump and kick my legs to my heart's content without feeling all the extra weight.  I am so anxious to be able to work out and push myself again to get my body back!

sleep has become a nightmare!  I didn't fall asleep until 4 am this morning...I just cannot get comfortable!  sleeping on my side has started to hurt now with how big baby is...whichever side I'm on, the baby is all there too...like imagine a dead weight in your stomach and whenever you roll over, the weight rolls with you and is like lead weighing your stomach down!  it's pretty ironic that I'm looking forward to sleeping again after baby comes because sleep will probably be nonexistent then so I better appreciate any sleep I can get now!

I've been pretty emotional lately...last night I was flipping through an old family photo album of our trip to the grand canyon.  I saw a picture of Marci and me doing dishes and little 4 year old Stephy helping us and lost it!  I'm not really sure why...it just hit me that my little sister is all grown up and I don't even remember what she was like at that age!  did I talk to her?  did I give her big hugs and kisses and tell her how precious she is?  did I give her any attention at all?  or was I all wrapped up in boy bands,  makeup, and hanging out at the mall with my friends?  I can never get those years back and I'm not sure I spent them the right way and now my little sister is leaving home for good!  it's just all so sad...life is so short.  I'm going to blink and all my kids are going to be leaving home and mark and I will be all alone again!

^see I'm an emotional wreck!  haha, wonder what I'll be like after baby is here?  I know the hormones will be crazy and I really really hope I don't get a terrible case of the baby blues.  I'm trying to prepare myself in case it does happen but hopefully I will be on cloud nine and just so happy and in love with my new baby and family!

34 Week Bumpdate

WEEK 34

Baby is the size of a quokka!

have you heard about the quokka?  they are known as the happiest animal on earth!  I was so excited to find out baby is as big as a quokka this week :)  and you better believe it!  check out my bare bump!  we have been living in the pool these days so instead of getting all dressed up for my weekly bumpie, I figured I might as well show you what being pregnant in texas really looks like :)

little baby rawlings is about 5 lbs and 18 inches long this week!!  from this point on, if baby is born there should be relatively little issues since all of the important growth and development has already occurred and now all that's left to do is add on the pounds!  that makes me soooo happy!  I don't know why but I just have this feeling this babe is coming early!  I really hope it's still in June though because I really love that month but a May babe would also be wonderful!

my pregnancy has been progressing so normally and without any concerns that at my last appointment, my doctor said he didn't need to see me until 3 weeks even though it's standard at this point to be going every 2 weeks.  I feel so blessed to have a healthy pregnancy and (hopefully!) a very healthy baby!  up until now, I've been pretty stressed and overwhelmed and while there is still much to do, I've started to relax and just feel excited about all the amazing changes coming so soon!!

the baby laundry has already begun!  we are washing everything this week...clothes, hats, sheets, changing pad covers, swaddle blankets, wraps, boppy covers, burp cloths, bibdanas (the cutest drooling accessory!), towels, and all the accessories for the car seat, stroller, bouncer, and swing!  it's about 57234802822 loads of laundry but I'm trying to make it fun!  haha, after everything is clean, we finally get to start putting it all away!  and then baby's room will be ready!  I am a huge fan of nesting :)

this week we ordered all the remaining items off our pb kids and amazon registries!  we are finally going to have a crib mattress and changing pad, our city select stroller, (we got two strollers from my sister-in-law so we were not in dire need of a stroller but I have been dreaming about the city select since before I was pregnant!  it is so amazing!!), animal mobile, table lamp, baby moses basket, this adorable swaddle set and all the other baby essentials!  everything should arrive by the end of next week and when it's all put away I will finally take pictures of the nursery!

and now I'm off for a swim in between loads of laundry!  we have been loving having a pool!  after working out or taking the dog for a walk, it's so nice to be able to just jump in and cool off...and summer hasn't even started yet!  I daydream about summer barbecues and lounging poolside with the whole fam and baby...I cannot wait to have you in my arms!

32 & 33 Week Bumpdate

WEEKS 32 & 33

Baby is the size of a squash and a head of lettuce!

almost 34 weeks and I'm just now blogging about the last two!  but really not that much has changed...other than my tummy getting bigger and bigger!   I think I've finally started looking like a penguin, waddling around wherever we go!  haha but I don't mind.  pregnancy is really starting to grow on me...it's going to be so weird not having baby in there soon!

we have started taking my bump pictures in the nursery and the nursery changes from week to week as we get baby's room all set up.  in these bump pictures you can see the gray we chose for the walls (silvery moonlight by glidden in case you were wondering)!  I haven't taken any real nursery pictures yet because I'm waiting until it's all finished but it's finally starting to look like a baby could live there :) we have been waiting until after my shower to order all the remaining items for baby and my shower was yesterday so the ordering begins tomorrow!

last week Mark and I attended a breastfeeding class put on by my hospital.  we learned so much!  they talked about how important breastfeeding is and all the benefits it offers for baby and mom.  basically, they consider formula "medicine", a good option when you need it but you want to avoid it if you can.  we learned about the different positions to breastfeed in and practiced with dolls they passed around.  the baby we got was so heavy!  I guess you never know what you're gonna get, ha!  I have to say it didn't feel all that natural...that could have been because I was concentrating so hard on emulating the instructor's exact arm and hand positioning and wasn't really paying attention to what felt comfortable.  I just wanted to do it right!  luckily Mark was there to help.  I am so grateful to have him by my side for all of this.

after the class I took about 50 pamphlets and then they gave us a tour of the hospital.  it was then that I realized I don't think I've ever been in a hospital (other than being born!)  how lucky am I?!  it was like in the movies, the doors opening before you walked through, important announcements paging doctors on the pa system, nurses and orderlies walking around urgently...felt like I was on gray's anatomy!  haha

I am so emotional these days (what's new?) and I totally cried each time we walked into a new room where I would be returning very soon...the labor and delivery room, recovery room and when we got to the newborn nursery I lost it!  the babies were so tiny!!!  we are going to have a baby just like them in 6 short weeks!!!

contractions have become a regular occurence.  sometimes they feel like they could be the real thing (let's hope not!) but they aren't regular so I'm not too worried.  so here's what they feel like for me...a really bad side running cramp (and they are always on my left side).  like the kind where you start cramping while running but continue to run through the pain until you finally stop but by then the cramp is so strong it doesn't stop and it hurts to breathe.  people have told me contractions feel like period cramps but I'm one of those lucky people that never gets period cramps so that tells me nothing.  I kind of hope real contractions feel like my bh contractions because I'm mostly just so scared that I don't know what it's going to feel like!  like the cramps are painful but totally bearable and I could totally handle it if that's what they feel like.  for some reason, I imagine they will feel like getting shot or stabbed in the stomach over and over for however long you are in labor until the epidural kicks in!  I mean, people make it sound like it's the most terrible pain of your life so that's the worst pain I could imagine!  haha, please someone tell me that is not an accurate comparison?

in other news, Mark and I have the house to ourselves this week!  my parents drove down with sissy to Arizona so she can look at apartments and jobs so we are on our own living in this big house.  it's so quiet over here and a little scary but Xela is the best guard dog :)  tomorrow Mark has a second interview for a job that looks really promising.  crossing our fingers he gets it since his current job will be ending in July!

my second baby shower was yesterday and went so great!  so many people came (half of them I didn't even know and were my mom's friends!)  baby had a really fun time and wouldn't stop kicking especially during a game called "guess how big my belly is!"

more shower pictures to come next week!  and can you believe it's may?!  next month is JUNE!!!  baby month :)

31 Week Bumpdate

WEEK 31

Baby is the size of asparagus!

                 

almost missed my 31 week bumpdate!  time is flying...

I am 32 weeks tomorrow and next week is jam-packed so this might be the last post before my baby shower in a few weeks!

I know I promised pictures of the nursery but it's a mess right now!  kind of like our life.  we have been living out of our suitcases for almost 3 weeks now...it is getting so old!  our moving truck didn't arrive until a week after us so we spent the time clearing out and painting the nursery (so glad we did too because knowing it's painted and done is the only thing keeping me sane!)  but after our stuff arrived, we weren't able to fully move in because Sean and Kara decided to make a surprise trip out to visit before the start of their next semester!  so that put them in Sean's room and us on a mattress in the nursery (since we had already moved all the furniture out in order to paint and set up the crib).

we had a great time with Sean and Kara, can't wait to live close to them someday!  wonder if Kara and I will ever be pregnant at the same time?  that would be so cool!  or if sissy and I will ever be pregnant at the same time!?!  I really really hope so!!!  I mean, she isn't married yet but if she got married in like 4 years and then had a baby in 2 years, it's definitely possible!  we want 4 children and are planning on spacing them a few years apart, so if everything goes according to plan I will be pregnant with our last when I'm 33 and sissy will be 24...hmm, hey it could happen!

but I digress...so Sean and Kara left this morning and we finally moved our furniture into Sean's old room!  I'm not even sure if I mentioned that we are going to be living at my parents for the time being to have all the help we can get with the baby and save for a home so we can go straight from here to our own house!  no more apartment life for us :)  with my sister leaving in June, my parents will have their huge house all to themselves (leaving my mom alone for weeks at a time whenever my dad travels) so needless to say she is thrilled to have us.  also she might be just a liiittle obsessed with the baby!  we have the whole upstairs to ourselves and are thrilled to have a washer and dryer in the house (the things people take for granted!), a swimming pool, and be able to take my favorite dog in the whole wide world on walks whenever we want!  Xela is the sweeeetest!

so the latest in pregnancy news...the exhaustion is back!  I am so tired all the time and feel like I could sleep all day long.  maybe because we've been so busy and there is so much still to do and we haven't even started unpacking and just thinking of it all makes me exhasuted!  I dream of May when we might actually be all settled in!  all I want is a few weeks of daily living with no more projects or boxes or organizing (even though I love organizing!) because I want to re-gain all the energy I can for the baby!

a part of me is terrified for how life will change with a baby.  I've been learning about some of my friends' experiences and how the first few months were the hardest times of their life, so many people I know suffered from ppd and I'm just so nervous about how it's all going to affect me.  also, starting to get really worried about labor.  what do contractions feel like?  how will I handle the pain?  what if something goes wrong?

but that's just me...worry, worry, worry about every little thing instead of just enjoying the moment and being pregnant and getting ready for this new adventure in life!  I'm hoping it will be easier to enjoy it once everything is less chaotic around here.

still no stretch marks but I have had some leaking!  just a few drops of colostrum?  I think that's what it's called and it's only happened a couple of times but I'm always totally freaked out!

other than that, things are still progressing normally.  I am now seeing my doctor every two weeks...on the agenda for this week:

tour the hospital

prenatal appointment

my first breastfeeding class!

buy more nursery furniture (dresser, nightstand, bookshelf, and storage baskets)

unpack!

car inspection & registration

maternity photo shoot!

let's hope it all gets done!

30 weeks & memories

WEEK 30

Baby is the size of a cabbage!

I almost skipped blogging about 30 weeks since it has been one of the busiest weeks of my whole pregnancy but that's probably a good reason for me to write about it!  so, we officially moved to Houston, Texas!  I arrived last week and Mark drove down over the weekend all by himself, poor thing!  I felt so bad for not driving with him but he insisted I fly out...we wouldn't have gotten here nearly as fast because we would have had to stop every few hours so I could use the bathroom!  also, I get carsick and it has become worse since being pregnant so that drive would not have been fun at all.

at first we just felt like we were on vacation, especially since Mark hasn't started his job yet.  his old boss is continuing to pay him his salary through July so he has a whole two months of paternity leave!   don't think he hasn't been working though...he has been working SO hard on the nursery this week!  we are transforming my old bedroom (well the room where they stored all my old stuff since I've never lived at home in this house) into the nursery and it has been so much work!

this week has been a trip down memory lane...underneath my bed were hundreds and hundreds of letters, cards, pictures and mementos from my childhood (like kindergarten through high-school!)  you would not believe the junk that still exists from my past!  so many journals, yearbooks, old friendship notebooks, and "secret treasures" I saved...

Turner & Checkers...my animal pet koosh balls that I would actually leave with my best friend Sarah to take care of when I went on vacation!  she once threw them a sleepover party (with her pet koosh ball Fletcher), complete with confetti and party favors to take home! hahahaha!

one of many pictures and notes from my best friend Sarah!  this was for our beach party we had in her room where we made a music video to "barbie girl"...I was Ken.  good times!

what was I wearing???

can you find me and my best cuz Marci?

I have a TON of embarrassing, hilarious pictures of Marci and me wearing prom dresses ten sizes too big, dressed up in clown makeup, posing in pajamas at my grandma's house, and complete photo albums that would just humiliate the both of us if I posted them.  I also have about 100 letters from her starting when we were old enough to learn how to write all the way through high-school!  spent a day re-reading them...

my beautiful mother!

things not pictured: my Lance Bass puppet and bobble head (HA!), my Mary-Kate and Ashley fan club kit, TONS of my old clothes including flared jeans, shirts with my name on them, ridiculous dance costumes and middle school prom dresses!  I am so ocd when it comes to organizing (even clearing out junk) so of course I had to go through every little thing and read every letter and card (I was this close to going back and re-reading all my old journals but instead just flipped through them, what a laugh!) and decide what to keep, give away and throw away.  the whole process took me about a week!

after we cleared out all the junk, Mark took apart the bed and moved all the furniture into the garage.  then he spent two days removing the wallpaper and found out there is dark brown paint underneath!  we are painting the nursery a soft gray so we were worried the brown would show through but Mark researched it and it will be fine if we paint it with a white paint + primer.  so Mark spent another day painting two coats of primer.

the only part I've been able to help with so far (besides clearing out the junk) is picking the paint color!  at first I had my heart set on this color by benjamin moore...

isn't it gorgeous?!  also we are getting those shelves and that pouf!

but then we found out the only benjamin moore is in downtown houston (toto, we're not in LA anymore...) so we narrowed it down to these three colors by glidden...

and the winner?!

stay tuned for after pictures coming next week!

also I realize that this post had nothing to do with the pregnancy but honestly nothing has really changed!  and if they have, I've been too busy to notice!  I don't even remember I'm pregnant these days, haha, except I spend all my time preparing for the baby to come so I guess I haven't really forgotten.

oh yeah and my new doctor is amazing and bumped up my due date to June 8!  time is flying!!!

Easter weekend & 29 weeks!

WEEK 29

Baby is the size of a pineapple!

let's see, what's new with the babe...movement has become insane.  whenever baby is awake, my stomach wiggles around visibly from the outside.  it never fails to amaze me.  I always stop what I'm doing and stare for awhile.  whenever the movements are really strong and persistent, I feel like baby is asking for playtime and a song!  my favorite moment of each day...I rest my hand on my belly and baby immediately bumps up into it.  I know it's not on accident because if I move my hand an inch or two, baby follows along, wanting to be right up close to me!  then I have a routine of songs I sing...return to pooh corner, you'll be in my heart, a dream is a wish, maybe (from annie) and sometimes if I finish and baby bumps my hand some more, I'll just go through all my disney princess songs I do at princess parties!  boy or girl, this baby is going to loooove disney princesses because mama is a disney princess every weekend :)

p.s. will I ever be that skinny again?!

my belly button has POPPED!  I can push it back in but when baby awakes and pushes up, pop it goes.  everyone tells me it will go back in so I guess this is just part of pregnancy territory.  at least I haven't gotten stretch marks!

so let's talk braxton hicks.  what are they exactly?  I used to think I was getting them starting a month ago but now I'm not so sure that was them because of a few super painful contractions I've had over the past week.  it's like my stomach tightening so hard it radiates to my back and I have to stop whatever I'm doing and just try to breathe.  the last time it happened I had to yell for mark because it was so painful I didn't know what to do.  I started crying and he gently laid me down on my side and massaged my back until it went away.  boy if those are just bh contractions, what is the real thing going to be like?

it's weird that I'm not as terrified of labor as I used to be before I got pregnant.  I'm more just excited and anxious for the baby and I know that's the only way to get it out!  plus I'm planning on getting an epidural and any pain medication they offer me so hopefully I can endure the contractions until then!

I've gotten a few pregnancy comments from strangers but not nearly as many as I thought I'd get.  one time our landlady saw me as I was getting the mail and she's like, "is that a baby?" and I said, "yes, due in June!" and she goes, "awww!"  another time walking down to the garage, an old man walked into the building and just says to me, "soon?" and I'm like, "yup, a few more months!"

but then other times, especially when I wear tunics that don't hug my bump, I don't think people realize I'm pregnant!  like at the airport when I had to stand on the bus and hold my luggage because the luggage rack was full and no one offered me their seat!  umm, isn't that supposed to be a pregnancy perk?  I seriously think they don't realize because when I look at myself in the mirror and I'm wearing something loose fitting, I just look like a bigger person.  anyone who knows me would think I've gained 20 pounds (which, I have, HA!) but people who don't know me would just think I'm an average american who is not that skinny!

I'm sure eventually everyone will be able to tell no matter what I'm wearing, right???  do you think I'll get this big?

poor mama!  her baby must be in there sideways or something...

Easter weekend was my last weekend in LA.  we made it a good one.  we spent it in Palos Verdes and soaked up this beautiful view...

and went on a walk that ended with us randomly stopping to watch a high school girls' lacrosse game!

I've never been much of a beach person but suddenly knowing we were going to be nowhere near the ocean made me realize how much I'm going to miss it...

another thing I'm going to miss...family dinners with the Rawlings!

I made the fruit platter ;)

wish I had taken more pictures...everything was delicious!  we had lamb chops, tilapia, salmon, baby potatoes, hot cross buns and fruits and veggies for days with the most scrumptious homemade dips that have no recipe, a la remi!

I wish I had taken pictures of the easter egg hunt we made for Jake and Sam.  we highly underestimated Sam's ability to find eggs...he is 14 months old and found our hardest eggs for Jake!  we had to re-hide them really hard for Jake!  I miss them so much already!

and finally...for april fools I posted this photo with the caption, "baby came early!"

Mark with our precious baby niece Faye...she is 4 now!

it got over 100 likes and I'm not sure everyone knew it was a joke!  I mistakenly thought people would remember my due date and know that a baby born at 29 weeks would not look like this but clearly people didn't realize.  one of my friends texted me like, "this must be a crazy time, do you still need help moving tonight?"  oh man, well at least I know everyone will be very happy when baby Rawlings finally does arrive!  we can't wait!