QUICKLY approaching D-Day Month!

T-minus 2 weeks or so... and counting. Its been a busy couple of week for A, B & Baby C. Last week, my work hosted a shower. They generously added to Baby C's growing library with some great classics like Winnie the Pooh and a collection of Fairy Tales. Brandyn's school also got together to throw him a shower. The kids pooled their money and gave us a very generous gift card to Target (no doubt we'll get great use out of that!). One of B's fellow teachers Denise, presented us with several home items (blankets, burb cloths and a cross stitched piece of art). Everyone has been so generous!!

As for me... today "officially" marks my last day of regular commuting into San Francisco. My Dr. suggested that I work the last two (or so) weeks from home... and my work agreed! Thank goodness too... 'cause the day is REALLY beginning to wear on me. Yesterday... TWO people (both my regular Starbucks Barista and my Boss) commented how I'm starting to look swollen/puffy... niiiiice! I guess its true. My wedding rings have come off... and I only have a few select pairs of shoes I can wear.

And the belly... it keeps growing too....

We're pretty well set for Baby C's arrival... just working on a few last minute projects. In the meantime... I've "packed" my bag. (Well... I've organized it all in the Baby's crib... ready to be scooped up when we need to head to the hospital).


Tomorrow, February 28... marks the last day of February. Next month up on the calendar... MARCH. The month of Baby C's arrival!!!

My belly is *so* big...

HOW BIG IS IT!?!

My belly is so big... that this evening when I went to wash the dishes... I discovered my belly hits the counter/sink... forcing me to lean/hunch over in order to reach the water/faucet. THAT'S how big my belly is now. Sounds like its time to turn the dish washing over to Brandyn!! ;)

Playing the waiting game...

At my Dr. appt. this morning... she confirmed everything looks good... and I could deliver Baby C anytime between now... 3 weeks from now (my due date)... or even 2 weeks after that. So... basically... we're playing the waiting game.

In the meantime... I'm keeping myself busy. Last night, my mom came up and helped me host my annual Oscar Party. She literally "catered" the whole thing! There's no way I could have done it without here. We had loads of games and prizes... including mini Oscars for everyone (my Mom won for Best Director, of course!).

A interesting night...

Last night I was awoken by a light cramping pain in my lower abdomen... I thought... hummm... that's new. And tried to go back to sleep. Then about 15 min later... it happened again. This time I put my hands to my belly and felt a firmness all over. I layed there a while thinking... wow, could this be contractions? It happened off and on for a couple of hours. I woke Brandyn up, told him I wasn't feeling good... and that I thought I should call labor and delivery (as they tell you to do).

This week marks 36 weeks in the pregnancy for me... so I had a small panic attack about it all being too early... and thought for sure that the hospital would call me in to give me drugs to make the contractions stop.

The labor & delivery nurse was super great. Asked all about my symptoms... had my water broken (no)... what was my pain level on a scale of 1-10 (2) etc., etc. And then she explained to me that sometimes contractions/cramps like this can happen for weeks before the baby is born. But other times it is a sign that labor is beginning... and since I'm 36 weeks... that's totally OK and they would allow that to happen.

WHAT!?! How did I get close enough for the baby to be born at any minute!?! I'm/we're not ready for that!

So... I took it easy today... worked from home... waited for the cramping/contractions to subside (they did)... and... started working on PACKING my hospital bag and getting other things ready.

Time to install the car seat Brandyn!!

A nice long weekend...

What a fabulous weekend! Not only was it Presidents Day today... meaning a 3-day weekend (4 days for Brandyn)... it was also fun and productive!

Saturday, Valentines Day, we started the day off with a photo shoot! The VERY talented Kelly took our pictures... and while we've only seen a few so far... I love them. Here's one!

More to come soon!

Later that evening, we went out for a nice dinner. Normally dinner out on V-Day is NOT something B and I enjoy... its crowded... hard to make reservations... the fixed menus are always pricey, etc., etc., etc. BUT... being that this our last kid free V-Day... and likely one of the last times we get to go out for a nice dinner... without a babysitter... we splurged! Lucky for us... we were only able to get early reservations (5:30 p.m.)... so the restaurant wasn't very busy and we had a great dinner... and great service!

That was the FUN part of the weekend. Now... onto the PRODUCTIVE part. Yesterday and today... we were busy little bees. We ran to Target and Babies R Us for last min. items... and then began plugging away at the room.

Here's how I spent my time. (Pic is looking down on the dresser/changing table. I cut tags, did laundry and folded more clothes than I have in my LIFE!)


And Brandyn... well... he had a much bigger project. Remember last month when my family was visiting... and we put them to work removing the plain French doors awaiting the arrival of our newly ordered glass panel ones?? Well...

A BIG thanks to Mr. Matt... for his patience and time in helping Brandyn pull it all together!






And the finished product!! (Well.. we still need to get the paint coated plastic off the glass windows... but we're *almost* finished!)

Spoiled...

This past Saturday, my "oldest" group of friends (since Freshman year of college), hosted an amazing shower for Baby C! (THANK YOU Danae, Sandra, Michelle and Sonya!)

Honestly, its so overwhelming and amazing for me to be in a room with so many people I love!! Friends locally... friend and family from north Sacramento... and even my friend Lisa who came from Arizona!!

The shower was hosted at my communities' 1970's club house... which is not so hot looking, but you NEVER would have guessed... cause when I walked in... my hostesses had totally transformed it!

The decorations were awesome - all a pretty lime green and teal. There were pictures of the covers of children's books lining the room (which was also a game)!






They set up a craft station with wooden blocks for people to paint/decorate.








More decor included a BEAUTIFUL handmade diaper cake.











The tables were decorated with stacked gift boxes that looked like ABC blocks (which also houses the favors... cupcakes!!).










The games were so cute and creative!! Pictures of children's book (either name the book or name the author from just the cover picture)... remember the items on the tray (after seeing it for 45 sec).

And the last game... and VERY cute game where guests had to build a Baby C based on eyes, nose, and mouth images that came from both DH and I, and our parents (guests didn't know which features were which). I selected the winner "cutest Baby C"... which... was very narsacictically... MY eyes, MY nose and MY mouth from my baby pic!! It was very funny actually!. Here's the winner!

Everyone was so very generous with their gifts. My hostesses had asked that everyone bring a book to sign instead of a card - which was a to fun... and we've totally built up our library. I think we're now set with almost everything Baby needs.

And the "cutest" moment... whiel they were serving the cake... my Danae & Michelle passed out small glasses of Guinness for everyone to toast the baby!! Sooo cute!!

Here are my hostesses and I!!

More of my friends/family...

Five years later... oh so much has changed!

This weekend at my baby shower (more on that later)... for the first time since our wedding, almost 5 years years ago... I was back together with all my beautiful bridesmaids! Michelle, Jennifer, Lisa & Danae!

While we've gotten together individually many time, and even most of us have seen each together over the years, we've missed having Lisa in our group. Lisa and her husband moved from the Bay Area to Arizona a few weeks after our wedding, to buy a beautiful house and raise their two handsome sons.

So at Lisa's great suggestion, this weekend we took a picture of the five of us once again. Looks like I've put on a few pounds in the last five years... but I'm OK with that!! ;)

Chivalry is alive!! (Sort of...)

Aw, the trials and tribulations of commuting on public transportation. While I know that I've been complaining my BART commute a LOT throughout my pregnancy, I seem to have left all my complaints out of my blog!

The summary is... that over the past several months, I've had a tough time finding thoughtful people on the train who see a tired looking pregnant woman (me!) and want to give up their seat.

However, I have two great stories to share from the past week!!

Late last week... I was standing... waiting for a seat to open up. A nice young woman, about my age, who is also standing, sees me and asks if I need a seat. I told her that I was just waiting for one to open up. She immediately turns to a well dress man in his early 50's sitting in the handicap seats (which are clearly labeled for elderly, disabled or pregnant people)... and asked him if he could please stand up as "this nice young lady is pregnant and needs a seat." He (unwillingly) stood up and offered me his seat! YEAH for nice women who see a fellow female in need!!! I will admit, I was embarrassed... I could have stood... but I was very flattered that that woman would go out of her way for me! So, of course I took the seat!

Earlier this week... I was boarding a train out of SF that (amazingly) still had some empty seats left. But I was at the end of the line... and as I was finally getting in the train doors... I looked around and all the seats were taken... all but ONE that is. A very nice gentleman toward the middle of the train tossed his briefcase in a seat (before someone else could take it)... turned straight to me and said "Here you go miss... I saved you a seat. If anyone needs one... you do!" Awwww... is that guy married!?! His wife is one lucky lady!!!