Getting the Nursery in Order

On Friday morning Gilbert and his friend went to pick up the dresser and bedside table. We spent Friday evening and Saturday washing all of the baby clothes, towels, sheets, etc and putting them away. We are both very happy with how the nursery looks and can't wait until the crib arrives. Hopefully it will be here in the next few weeks.

Organization Station

Ever since I found out I was pregnant, I have been reading and subscribing to various pregnancy and parenting magazines. I read Fit Pregnancy, American Baby and Parenting - and just subscribed to Pregnancy and Newborn. I am all about information overload.

When I see an article that I like, I have been turning down the page and telling myself that I will be able to find it when I need it. But a stack of magazines has accumulated on my coffee table and I realize that I am not going to have time to flip through tons of magazines to find the article that I want once the baby is here.

My solution?? The binder.

Make fun of me all you want, but I am really excited about what I have put together. I went back through all my magazines this past weekend and tore out all the pages that I wanted to keep. I then organized it into 5 categories - Play & Sleep, Baby Health, Exercise, Breastfeeding, Misc.

I have also been using a pregnancy organizer that I received for free from my favorite store - Baby Style. 2 of the sections I really like are the one that lists all items to register for, the price, where they are located and if received - and the other is a listing of gifts received and items borrowed.

My due date is drawing near, but I am trying to combat my anxiety with a little organization station!

Easter BBQ

Sunday afternoon we went over to Nikki and Brad's for lunch. Brad's birthday is tomorrow, so we celebrated that as well.

Nikki made a chocolate mint cake. It was delicious!

Singing Happy Birthday to Brad

Katie read Brad's card from his Dad out loud. It was very sweet (and she is a great reader!).

Nikki and Brad sent the kids upstairs so that Gilbert and Brad could go outside and hide eggs. The big hit was the confetti eggs. I didn't get involved - because I didn't want to be on the receiving end! But everyone else had a great time mashing eggs on each other! I guess the confetti was pretty clean compared to what Gilbert and Nikki used to do. They used to fill the eggs with ketchup, flour and all kinds of nasty stuff. I can't imagine!

Even Randy got hit!

Nikki taught Gilbert and I a little trick about Easter baskets. Recycle treats every other year - the kids never remember:)

There is this fart stuff that is similar to play-dough except it makes fart sounds. Gilbert loved it. I think he is turning 12 this year.

Easter Morning

We knew that church was going to be packed because of Easter, so Gilbert and I left early for church. I guess other people had the same idea because by the time we got there, it was hard to find parking and seats inside!! The service was wonderful - they had Gilbert's favorite male singer and my favorite female singer - they pulled out all the stops!

After we got home from church we took a few pictures outside. It was such a pretty day - sunny and in the 60s. Beautiful!

We changed clothes and Gilbert helped me make potato salad to take over to his sister's for lunch. He also helped me with laundry (I hate putting away clothes!) and we organized his closet as well. We found a pair of boxers and Gilbert thought that Ricco would look great in them. Ricco was not happy about it, but he was a good sport!

The boxer shorts say "stud" on the back.

31 Weeks

I can't believe that I only have 8 more weeks to go. CRAZY! I am having problems staying asleep at night. I think a lot of it has to do with anxiety. I will wake up and not be able to calm my mind down. I have started to wear my mouthguard again because I am grinding my teeth in my sleep. Lovely, I know. I have also noticed that I am slowing down when I go on my walks. What used to take me 15-20 minutes to walk is now taking 30 - and I am beat when I get home! I am trying to take my sister's advice and relax when I get tired, but it is hard. My "to do" list seems to grow daily!

Our dresser and bedside table have arrived and Gilbert is going to try and go and pick it up on Tuesday. I can't wait to get in Eva's room!!! Unfortunately the crib won't be in until mid-April. I am so glad we ordered this furniture back in January!!! We bought special detergent yesterday so I can start washing Eva's clothes and put them away. Our choices of detergent were very limited at Target - since we have a High Efficiency washer and need detergent that is "free and clear". The cheapest option was $10.50. Needless to say, we are only going to use this to wash Eva's clothes, towels and sheets! I guess everything with babies is expensive - including detergent!

Catfish!

Tonight we went to dinner with Joe & Rebekah - and their children Joanna and Ryan at the Manchaca Fire House for all you can eat catfish. For $10 you can have all the catfish, coleslaw, french fries, beans and hush puppies that you want. Gilbert made sure to eat his $10s worth and I ate about $5 dollars worth of food. The catfish was excellent, but I kept thinking back to my doctor telling me to stay away from fried food - so the guilt outweighed the delicious catfish!

JoJo is now 17 months and is quite active. She couldn't wait until we got done eating so she could get down and explore. Poor Joe had to run all over the place after her. We only got pictures of her when it was time to go - and it is obvious from the pictures that she was not ready to leave!

Gilbert finally got her to smile!

Ryan is a little over 3 months and is a sweet boy. He sat on my lap for a good 20 minutes - just looking around and playing with my fingers. He looks so much like Joe!

Nice Life!

Other than barking at mail trucks and people mowing grass, Roxie and Ricco don't do too much during the day. Each of them have their spots in the office to lay while I am working. I had the camera with me the other day and had to capture thier naps.

Ricco gives Gilbert dirty looks when Gilbert tries to sit on this part of the couch.

Yes, she really sleeps with her head on a pillow. Gilbert's 49ers pillow no less.

The Date Has Been Set

I got a call from the nurse at the doctor's office yesterday morning and Eva-Renee is scheduled for delivery on May 19th at 9AM. Only 10 more weeks!! I can't wait!

My sister is tired of looking at my purple belly, but it seems like I have been wearing a lot of purple lately. Here I am hanging with my kids. Ricco likes to use my belly as a headrest. Who can blame him?

29 Weeks

Gilbert and I just realized last night that if I deliver on the week of May 19th, that means we only have 10 more weeks to go. Sounds like no time at all!! So there is a slight panic to make sure everything is ready for Eva.

I had a doctor appointment this week and everything went well. I passed the glucose test, which was a relief. I am measuring at 27 weeks - so Eva is growing as she should. Thankfully I have only gained 14 pounds - I just have to keep it up and stick to only gaining a half to a pound a week for the next 10 weeks. Sometimes I find that I get full really fast and then there are other times where I feel that I could just keep eating and eating and eating:)

Eva has been moving a lot more lately - mostly in the morning when I am working and sometimes in the evening after dinner. I hope she keeps this schedule - she really isn't waking me up a lot at night.

Every day it becomes more real - I am going to be a Mom!

Cupcakes

I tested out a cupcake recipe on Saturday. The cake part was delicious, but the icing was a bit too sweet for Gilbert's taste. We took leftovers to our Sunday School class and some of the kids mentioned that they were too sweet. That is when you know there is too much sugar!!

Gilbert enjoying the first cupcake.

Roxie & Ricco waiting for a crumb.

Week 28 & Nesting

Week 28 is off to a bang. I am finding it harder and harder to convince myself that I am full. I guess Eva is going through a growth spurt or something! I am going to have to be really careful about what I eat. Maybe I can use this as an opportunity to eat more fruit...right.....

Nesting has kicked in full swing. Today Gilbert and I spent over an hour in the nursery unpacking the suitcase that my sister brought to me in Chicago (thanks Amy!!). It was full of 0-3 and 3-6 month clothing - including shoes and baby towels. I went into major organization mode. Hopefully my dresser will come in soon. Right now I have stacks of clothes on the floor!

I organized all the washcloths and towels. Plus all of the nighties by size. The smaller hanging organizer has all her cute little shoes - by size of course. Eva-Renee is going to be one stylish little lady!

Chicago Trip

This Friday I went to Chicago for work. We have a lot of loan officers and branches there - and I needed to go and check out a particular one. Luckily my sister agreed to come with me. Driving in any city - especially Chicago terrifies me. Plus, who wants to be all alone on a business trip?? The trip was initially scheduled for a month ago, but snow kept us from going as planned. The weather was better this time - there was a little snow on the ground - but nothing that interfered with us getting around.

The first stop was work. The 2nd and 3rd work stops were cancelled. Long story.... But that gave us an opportunity to get checked into our hotel in Schaumburg (where our parents used to live!) and visit a neighborhood Dunkin Donuts. Dunkin Donuts in Chicago was like Starbucks in Austin. There was one every few blocks. Unbelievable. Here we are sampling our afternoon snack.

Goofing off in the elevator



Friday night we had dinner at Shaw's Crab House (or maybe it was Lobster House - I can't remember.....). The seafood was delicious - and lucky for me - I was in one of my hungry streaks where I really could eat anything in sight. It was great to enjoy a nice meal with my sister.

To your left, you will see a $10 glass of wine. Crazy.



The following morning we got up early because Amy had scheduled massages for us. I hadn't had a massage since my first trimester (where I could lay on my back), so I wasn't sure how everything would work. It was wonderfully relaxing and just the perfect thing. After our massages, we visited a local breakfast restaurant where I had banana bread french toast (have to get in my servings of fruit!!) and Amy had some apple crepe things. It was fantastic!!


After we got ready and checked out of the hotel we made our next stop at the Woodfield Mall. I think we only went to 2 wings of this huge mall - but we both did some damage!! We got some super cute things for Sophia & Eva. We were eying the outfits at Janie and Jack - talking about what we would dress the girls in for their first picture together. We shopped all the way up until it was time to leave for the airport.



Thanks for coming with me Amy. I had a really great time! We will have to do it again - maybe next time in New York after I win the lotto??