Mama's Baby Shower

Lucky me Tyler got 3 baby showers!  Kayla only got 2!  So, first off, thank you to all our wonderful friends who really showed us the love.  The first was the Cowboy shower, then the work shower on 6/2, and today was the mama's shower (mostly Stroller Strides women, but everyone there was a mama).  Alicia, my night partner at Stroller Strides, hosted the shower at her house - which I love and am completely jealous of - and enlisted the help of SS instructor Ana to help with games and food and one of Alicia's students to make the cutest duck cupcakes! 

We had such great food - baked french toast, an egg and sausage dish, some yummy grape concoction that was absolutely delicious, a blueberry and strawberry shortcake, and of course punch and champagne.  Instead of a lot of games we sat around and talked and relaxed and enjoyed our kid free time, but Alicia did keep them busy sewing onsies for Tyler!  Yep, you read that right - they sewed!  Well, sorta.  They cut out fabric in fun shapes like turtles and trucks and balloons and used a simple stitch (I think Serenity called it a blanket stitch) to sew the shapes on the onsies.  I've heard of painting onsies but never sewing!  As daunting as this was it was a really cute idea.  I wasn't even about to attempt it so I helped myself to another serving of the grape concoction and watched all of them go to town.  I only came home with one though - Alicia's because she had started it the night before.  Everyone else had to take theirs home to finish it.  Kelly said she had never been to a baby shower and come away with homework!  That's how we roll as mama's though - our work is never done.  Seriously though, ladies, I totally appreciate it.  Super cute idea! 

Of course there was time for opening presents - mostly clothes which are cuter than I expected.  I was spoiled with Kayla's super cute clothes that I thought shopping for boys clothes would be boring but they have some cute stuff out there too.  But, lucky me, I don't have to buy much b/c our friends have been so great about giving us new stuff and hand me downs.  And I totally don't knock the hand me downs.  The kids never wear them for long enough so you might as well get some more use out of them with other kids.  Works for me!

We were enjoying ourselves so much some of us stayed for 3 hours!  That's a long shower!  I offered to sleep on Alicia's couch so she didn't have to go pick up Cooper yet but she figured he was asleep so she wouldn't go get him anyway.  I did miss my nap for the day though but oh well - this was a much better way to spend the afternoon! 

Thanks ladies for such a great day!  We are really very blessed to have such great friends!

It's in the numbers

Every day I'm asked one or more of the following questions one or more times...

How old is Kayla?
How much longer (till baby #2)?
When's the due date?
How far apart will they be?
When do you go on maternity leave?

So many questions, and all the answers are numbers.  So, let's lay it all out there.

How old is Kayla?
16 months

How much longer (till baby #2)?
5 weeks

When's the due date?
7/6/10

How far apart will they be?
17 months

When do you go on maternity leave?
6/8/10

How many days of work left?
5 days

How old was Kayla when you found out you were pregnant?
9 months

How many bedrooms is your place?
3

What day is your baby shower?
6/2 and 6/6

How many more kids will you have?
0

When's Kayla's birthday?
1/29/09

How many weeks are you taking off?
14+

How much weight have you gained?
???  Haven't looked at the scale in months

How many times have you been asked each of these questions?
835  :-)

Getting prepared for #2

Last week at my doctor's appointment I asked how the planned c-section is different from the unplanned c-section.  The doctor, Dr. Johnson, answered very quickly.  It turns out it's kinda like going to the grocery store for a kid as Eric put it.  He said we go to the hospital at our appointed time, which right now is scheduled for 8:30am on 7/6, and we're in the OR within 30 minutes and in recovery within an hour!  No time to ease into it... just kinda walk in a pop out a baby.  Plus, that early in the morning, we're just going to wake up, drop Kayla off at daycare, head a mile or so down the road, and...pop out a baby.  How exciting, and a little disconcerting.  Last time I was in the hospital for almost 2 days before we had the c-section so there was a lot of build up. 

Speaking of which, supposedly the recovery will be much easier, which I get since I won't be bedridden for close to 3 days.  And, again supposedly, there's a really low chance of me having another hematoma so hopefully the incision won't have to be opened up again which would definitely make for an easier recovery.  I do wonder how it's going to be recovering and being with Kayla.  She's definitely clingy lately, more so to me than to Eric too, so it should be interesting.  Good thing Grandma Rita's going to be here to help keep Kayla occupied and entertained.  And, yes, I did mention dropping Kayla off earlier.  At this point I think she will still be going to daycare twice a week, though probably only half days or at least shorter days, to keep some normalcy and routine in her life.  Plus, when the family leaves and Eric goes back to work I'm going to need nap times.  :-)

Let's see, what else are we doing to prepare.  Not much.  Tyler will sleep in our room for the first few months.  Kayla slept in our room until she was 4 months old, I have no idea how long Tyler will stay in there.  It'll depend on if he's still crying a lot at night... I don't want him waking her up.  Because, yes, they will be sharing a room.  It also depends on when we decide Kayla can handle a toddler bed since we'll be using her crib for him.  So, he'll be in our room until around the end of year.  Sometime around there we'll redo her room to make it their room... can't have him sleeping in a pink and brown room.  :-)  I'm still thinking of a theme.  I just found out a friend of mine made her little boy's nursery Dr. Seuss and it is so cute.  I've always liked Winnie the Pooh - maybe I can convince Eric to go with Winnie the Pooh.  But I like Dr. Seuss and would probably try to stencil on the wall "The thinks you can think if only you try" or "Oh the places you'll go" since I think both are things I want to instill in Kayla and Tyler.

Other than that there's not a whole lot to do - probably just a lot of laundry.  Soon I'll start having Kayla play with a doll, pretend it's her baby, so she starts to get the idea of taking care of another "baby".  I wondered if she was too young, but a friend's daughter who had her girl and boy 17 months apart as well said it worked well for her daughter so I'm going to give it a go.  Guess I should probably make a list of things to pack for Tyler and me, and I want to get Kayla some little toys/books for when she comes to the hospital to visit (as if seeing me won't be enough of a treat!)  I also need to pick up a friend's swing that she never used for her baby boy... again - can't have Tyler swinging in a pink swing.  :-)  Oh, and find a place for Tyler's clothes.  Kayla's have taken up most of the closet and two full drawers.  Of course, there are boxes of outgrown clothes in that closet to that I should probably move and use some closet organizers to help with the space problem - I mean, baby clothes can't take up that much room can they??   This is, of course, all in addition to my to do list that grows practically every day!  Good thing I've got a month off because while it doesn't seem like a lot there are tasks that are definitely going to take up my time so we'll see how much I actually get accomplished.

We'll see when the day comes how prepared we really are... physically.  I don't think we can prepare mentally.  Just gotta go with it.  Wish us luck!

Surprise baby shower!

It seems Eric makes quite the impression on folks he meets... last year his new sometime coworkers threw him a surprise baby shower (I knew about it but he didn't) and this year his Cowboy's Fan Club friends threw me a surprise baby shower (he knew about it but I didn't).  How'd he surprise me - by not really being involved.  :-)

The Cowboy's meet up planned a day at the park yesterday complete with family and friends, bbq, and softball... a round 2 of the same event a couple weeks ago that we attended.  I saw that it was going to rain on Sunday and that even if it didn't rain that it was going to be chilly (low 60's) and wasn't sure Kayla and I should still go.  I mentioned this to Eric several times and he said we had to go, that he didn't want to be the only one there without his family.  Then I wanted to go late b/c it started at noon and I wanted Kayla to have a full nap but he wanted to be on time so he could get some good food (that we missed out on last time b/c we were late then too).  My response - Mexican's are never on time for anything!  Not that we're Mexican, but the rest of the Meetup group is so I figured we had time.  Turns out we did and we let Kayla sleep for almost an hour before getting her in the truck, where she promptly woke up and did not return to a peaceful slumber for the 35 minute drive as we had hoped.

Anyway, as we were walking up, lugging all our crap, me holding Kayla's hand, I saw everyone gather around, which I thought was weird.  Then when we were within hearing distance they said "Surprise".  My response - I'm supposed to be here.  What's the surprise?  Yea, I didn't see the decorated table or anything so I was completely out of it.   It wasn't until someone said "this is a baby shower for you" that I got it.  Hello!  How dense can I be???? 

It turned out they had a family fun day complete with family, friends, bbq, baby shower games, and presents!  Yay!  We played the game where you can't cross your arms or your legs or else someone gets to take your ribbon, the one where the husband dresses up the wife in toilet paper, and how many clothes pins can you grab... and the most fun... drinking beer out of baby bottles (as hard as they tried the guys just couldn't get the hang of it so just like the work shower last year, the guy who bit the whole in the bottle won!).  The guys were really into the games actually and made it really funny to watch. 

Tyler came home with several outfits, in the 6-12 month size thank goodness (b/c everyone wants to buy you cute little newborn clothes) a new diaper bag, and a Roy Williams Cowboys jersey that's not going to fit until he's 2 or 3! 

Kayla got to enjoy running around, watching the older kids, and the frosting from a very yummy cupcake!  She was absolutely enthralled with a kite that was being flown - I think she probably watched it for 10 minutes, which for a 15 month old might be a record.  :-) 

Eric of course enjoyed the beer and the bbq.

Watch out folks - it's shower season and we've got 2 more showers coming, that I know of, so there will be more posts in the coming weeks.

What’s in a name?

Good Lord! You’d think we were trying to name the next planet or country the way we’ve been carrying on about names. No it’s not really that dramatic but it was a constant thing. Every night we’d come home – what do you want to name him?

Katie - How about Aiden?
Eric - Aiden. Aiden. No, I don’t like Aiden.
Katie - Zachary?
Eric - I don’t like the –ary part.
Katie – we could just name him Zach. How’s Kevin?
Eric – Kevin? Kevin. These are my kids Kayla and Kevin.
Katie – This is my family Katie, Kayla, and Kevin. Ha ha ha
Eric – uh, no.
Katie - What about Eli? Evan? Ethan?
Eric – Oh, that’s cute. We could be Eric and Eli, Katie and Kayla. No.

Every night for the last few weeks.

We’ve known for almost 2 months that we were having a little boy. We bought a baby name book. I looked up names online. My friend gave me his spreadsheet with a list of names where we could each vote for each name. And to no avail. We’d talk about a name for a few minutes or a few days and then eventually rule it out. Of course there were names we ruled out immediately like Jim Bob :-). We didn’t want to name him after anyone or with the same name as any of our immediate family, friends, ex-boyfriends, or our friend’s kids – we didn’t want to steal anyone’s name. So that ruled out Jack, James, John, Jonathan, Robert, Raymond, Matthew, Seth, Dallas, Austin, Vance, Calvin, Jacob, Cooper, etc. But, on the other hand, we didn’t want something too unique – nothing that would stand out too much, or that he would be made fun of for having, or that the teachers would have a hard time pronouncing. So, no, Tito or Akbar or Hercules of course. I had friends texting me names, posting them on Facebook, emailing them to me. When grandma was in town this weekend she kept calling out different names. Everyone trying to help.

Why must it be so difficult???  I had Kayla's name picked out for a couple years and as soon as we knew we were having a girl we started calling her Kayla.  This time around it was uncomfortable calling him baby boy Colvin, or #2, or whatever for so long.  I really prefer being able to call him by name - makes it more real, because, you know, the growing belly isn't real enough.  :-)

So, now after umpteen conversations like the above I’m glad to say that we finally decided on a name. Am I going to tell you? Sorta. You have to figure it out. It’s the name of the city in which Eric went to school. And, yes, I know Eric went to school in a lot of different places but only one makes sense as a name. So – there you go. Good luck!

This time it's... different

This time... I am running to the bathroom more often which is annoying. 

This time... my nose won't quit running... all day long it just runs...

This time... at 4 1/2 months I already look more like 5 1/2 months or maybe even 6!

This time.. i felt the little guy move a little sooner.  I had to be really still and really quite but there have definitely been movements, though not all the time yet. 

This time... I'm winded much more often much earlier in the pregnancy... probably because of the quick growth

This time... I don't worry as much.  I still worry, but the worries are more about life after the baby, life with a baby and a toddler rather than the pregnancy itself.

This time... I'm not aware of every single little thing that's happening, because I have my own little "thing" to worry about who takes up much more of my attention.

This time... I'm almost 19 weeks and I just took my first belly picture!

This time... I'm not so worried about the nursery.  We have one, sure, but he's not going to use it at least until next year.

This time... we have no name picked out yet.  I called Kayla Kayla from 16 weeks on... I have no clue when we'll finally get a name for this little one.

This time... it's just different.  Different pregnancy, different baby, same love.  awwww, me.  :-)

I think I might of definitely felt movement, maybe

In these early weeks it's a little hard to tell but I've been feeling some rumblings in the tumbling for the last few days. When I felt Kayla it was right at 20 weeks and it was a big ole punch! This time around it's a little earlier and a little softer. So, I'll keep waiting until I know for sure, that there is actual movement, and enjoy the the time when she isn't kicking/hitting the crap out of me!


And, oh by the way, I exploded recently. I look now how I looked probably around 5 months. Only this time it's an actual circle belly, not just a fat belly. Don't know if that's because of working out more this year or if it's just because it's the 2nd pregnancy or probably just a combination of both. But either way it means i have to scrounge up some money for some more maternity shirts since my old ones are the wrong season and some are even already too small. Sad. One day soon we'll get the first belly picture taken - though I'm sure if you looked a Kayla's 1st birthday pictures you'll see the belly.


I tried to convince Eric not to find out the sex, but he wants to. So now that I know we're going to find out the sex I want to find out now. I have no patience. I have an 18 week appt in a couple weeks and we'll schedule the ultrasound then... so by the time Eric turns 32 we should hopefully know what our 2nd baby will be... though I call her a girl.


Well, I think that's enough rambling for the night.

What I didn't miss about being pregnant

insomnia... now that we got Kayla to sleep through the night I'm waking up 2-3 times every night! So frustrating!


this in between time... where I'm not really showing, just look fat, but I'm not sick anymore so there's nothing to "prove" that I'm pregnant. Also, this is the time when nothing fits! The maternity clothes are still a little big, the regular clothes are a little small.


pregnancy brain... at least three times a week I have to back track to my house 3 minutes after leaving it to make sure I closed the garage door. I always have, but I never remember if I did.


being sick (cold sick, not nauseous sick) while pregnant... you're limited in the medications you can take, if you feel comfortable taking any. Since my cold has turned into a sinus infection I'll be calling my doctor begging for meds in the morning.


worrying, all the time... not that I expected this time to be any different. I'm constantly questioning if everything is okay, what medicine I can take, what I can and cannot eat... with Kayla I was planning this and had prepared and read the appropriate amount of information, now all that has been forgotten and I don't have the books to refer to anymore. Thank God for the Internet!


I guess there's not a lot to miss about pregnancy when you have good ones, but just a few things that are frustrating even with the easy ones. I'll be really happy in a few weeks when I'm really showing and really feeling the little one - those, I believe are the best parts of pregnancy!

14 weeks and counting

Just 8 short months after I posted a similarly titled blog... here I go again... only this time it's for pregnancy rather than Miss Kayla. My how time flies! I had a doctors appointment on Thursday and saw the new little baby again - for the 4th time! Usually at these routine monthly visits they listen to the baby's heartbeat on the monitor but you only get an ultrasound once or twice during the life of the pregnancy. Well, the doctor kept saying "Your heartbeat is so strong... I'm only picking up yours." And amazingly enough, I believed her. Had she just said "'I'm not picking up the heartbeat, let's go do an ultrasound." I probably would have freaked that I had miscarried again. But for some reason I believed for. So, anyway, we went for the ultrasound and she picked up the heartbeat right away and I got to see that little heart beating away like crazy. Baby also waved a little bit which was cute. So, we officially made it past the iffy first 12 weeks and are now firmly into the 2nd trimester. And, since we did, I finally announced it on Facebook and at work and everyone has been so happy for us. Found out there's lots of surprise babies and lots of babies that were born really close together like ours will be. Everyone seems to think they'll be really close so that's good to hear... hopefully it's true.

Since it was such an easy 1st trimester I expected that to continue. Nope. I'm more tired now, and get nauseous a little more often. Which is weird, but I just go with it. The nausea doesn't last long and I can always take naps... and at the end we'll have a healthy little girl... or boy...

Speaking of which, I don't have a real strong urge to find out the sex this time. I think we probably will so we don't agonize over a name we won't use and so we make sure to have the correct sex clothes. But, really, I think I could do without. At least, that's what I think right now. The first time I had to know b/c I really wanted my girl, it was the first baby, I was anxious... I just had to know. This time, not so much. But, for inquiring minds, the Chinese Gender Predictor says girl. It was right with Kayla and it's been right for all my friends that I've tried it with... so we'll see.

Alright, since it's now almost 8pm I figure I've got one good hour left and then it's off to dreamland... I'm sure I can find something on TV to waste my time watching. :)

Taking a Post from Alyssa's Blog

From Christmas 2009

Kayla's Dress: $4
Picture Postcards: $25
Teddy bear: free gift!
Letting you all know there are actually FOUR of us in this photo: $PRICELESS$

That's right folks... seems we have a bun in the oven... and have for 12 weeks now! It's actually been a very easy pregnancy, very few symptoms save for a couple weeks of nausea but it wasn't very bad. Mostly, since I've felt perfectly normal I've been stressed b/c I was sure I had miscarried. I got an emergency appt at the doctors at 10 weeks and they did a quick ultrasound and the baby was in their floating around, kicking, moving - very cool. My nausea made some returns but it hasn't been every day, so that's handy. Despite all the stress I finally made it through.

I did get bigger sooner than last time - was wearing maternity pants by 9 weeks but can still fit in 1 or 2 of my regular though larger size pants. The maternity pants were actually still a little big, but they are way more comfortable than my regular clothes. :) It was hard to hide the pregnancy at work though b/c I didn't have many winter clothes that were lose since the last time I wore non-maternity winter clothes was 2 years ago - pre baby. :) But if anyone at work noticed they didn't say anything and for that I am thankful.

So, anyway, here we go again! Baby number 2 on the way! Due date: July 16th, but it'll have to be another c-section and it will be scheduled prior to the due date so I don't "accidentally" go into labor, which I doubt I would since I didn't with Kayla but you never know. So, sometime at the beginning of July we'll have another Mini-Colvin. :)

YAY!

P.S. For those of you on Facebook, please don't post anything, I'm going to wait until my January 14th doctors appointment before mentioning anything on there. :)

To my pregnant friends....

So, I polled my newly momified friends to find out what they would say to pregnified friends. (man, if I had thought about it I would have asked them what they would have told their pregnant selves, instead of what they'd tell their pregnant friends. Oh well, I'm sure it would be the same thing!)

Anyway, here's the first few topics (Click on one if you want to go straight to that one - since this blog is long: Pregnancy, Things We're Glad We Bought, Buying Advice, Don't Waste Your Money On...).

(Just so you know, sometimes the "I" is me, sometimes the "I" is another mom, sometimes I combined what moms said or added to it myself. Take it for what it is - new moms trying to help other new moms, roughly. :)

good luck ladies!
Pregnancy

• Enjoy as much of it as you can. It's SOOOOO hard, but try to be an "enjoy the moment" type of girl.
• Enjoy yourself, you are creating a new life in your body. You'll miss being pregnant. It might not seem like it now, but you will. Enjoy feeling the baby move and kick, enjoy those hiccups that he or she gets, those are such precious moments to cherish. And video record them - it's fun to look back on.
• Make sure you have a great digital camera.
• If it’s your first – take lots of pics of your belly.
• Keep a journal, online or on paper – it’s cool to go back and read later.
• Don’t obsess over stretch marks. If you're going to use creams, don’t go and spend a bunch of money, it’s not worth it. Stretch marks are genetic, you're going to get them or you're not and who cares if you do?!?!
• Aches and pains are normal during pregnancy!
• People try to scare you out of doing everything when you are pregnant too! IT IS OK to take a warm bath, drink a couple of cokes a day, etc. Just don't do anything in excess.
• Try snacks before you buy a bunch - don't go on other people's words. You may find all those pregnancy bars, lollipops, etc aren't worth it.
• Get comfy shoes. I found the tennis shoes that had elastic, already laced up, laces were the best - support but stretchy.
• In the final months having a belly belt helped relieved back pressure.
• Take a trip, before month 7, when you’re still feeling good and you’re not huge. It might be your last hurrah for a while.
• Regardless of what they say, you may not feel your baby move everyday. Especially if you take Sudafed! Babies have "tired days" too where they don't move a lot.
• Pregnant with multiples? Definitely join a "Mothers of Multiples" Club. Not only are they a great source of advice for moms of twins and triplets, but also they have garage sales and hand me downs for babies that coordinate and match. They also do a lot of buddy programs in case you go on bed rest. Which, of course, there's a good chance will happen.
• Take the birthing class – it really does help prepare you in terms of what’s going to happen. You’re never going to be fully prepared but the class helps. Plus, at mine, they used the same heart monitor they do in the hospital and I got a read out of the baby’s heartbeat – you don’t get the ones that come out in the hospital so that was pretty cool.
• Don't rush the delivery. Once the baby is out, you can't put it back in so you can take a nap!!
• Stay in the hospital as long as you can if you have good nurses.

Things We're Glad We Bought

• Diaper champ – not the diaper genie. Diaper champ can use regular trash bags, diaper genie has its own. (But I have a sneaking suspicion that the genie is slightly better at blocking the odors – but you can just take out the trash regularly.)
• If you’re getting a monitor, get the video monitor (We were given a baby monitor, not a video one, but since our house is so small we never set it up – once you become a mom your ears become super human and you can hear almost everything – even in your sleep! If we had a video monitor, maybe that would have come in handy so I can check on her and not risk her seeing me if I want her to hang out in there for a little while longer.)
• The Bumbo helps them sit up when they are dying to try it. And it helps give them just the right amount of independence.
• The bottle cleaning/drying rack – very convenient for letting bottles dry. Mine bottles were never even put away till we stopped using them. Just clean them and put them on the rack. You go through them like, um, water anyway. :)
• Bibs! Tons of bibs! You can’t have enough.
• Tons of burp clothes and receiving blankets for cleaning and catching the spit up. Keep them everywhere – each end of the sofa, on the backs of chairs, in every room… everywhere… and even then you won’t have one where you need it!
• Pampers diapers in the white and green package, they say Sensitive Skin. They come with the line in the middle of the diaper that turns blue when the baby pees, that came in handy. But, don’t use them for too long because as much as it would bother us adults – baby’s don’t have to be changed as soon as they pee b/c sometimes they only pee like 2 little drops and that stupid line still turns blue! But, it was really handy. :)
• A nice mobile swing can help them to sleep. I didn’t buy mine until she was 5 months old and since by then she was sleeping on her stomach it didn’t help much but the sounds and lights still helped.
• The sheets that have a zipper layer that you can easily remove and replace without removing the entire mattress to get the sheet off are awesome. You realize this after you've had to untie all the strings on the bumper, pull the mattress out, take off the sheet, put the new sheet on, put the mattress back in the bed (while not messing up the bed skirt if you have one, then re-tie the bumpers. And for moms of multiples it’s worse when they get one done and then turn to do the second bed. Ugh!
• For twins, the only stroller you will need for the first 9 months to a year is a Double Snap and Go. Don't let the store tell you that you need a fancy one. It's pointless. Get the Double Snap-N-Go. Once your twins have outgrown their baby carriers, then upgrade to a side by side. Not front and back stroller. Your babies will both want to be in the front looking out and if they're side by side than they can play together. I love my Baby Trend Jogging Stroller. Just wish it were a little lighter. But, that can be said for all strollers, especially double strollers.
• Go ahead and splurge for those precious first baby pictures. You'll never have the opportunity to take those again. Don't let anyone tell you it's too much trouble or too expensive. They're well worth it to have the memories!
• Get good lotions but don’t go crazy with them. I use lotion on Kayla only when she needs it – they have soft skin already. Aquaphor seems to be the lotion of choice, especially if they get eczema. And they don’t need diaper rash cream every time you change their diaper. Again – only when they need it. You could probably get away with never buying any – just using the free samples. In Kayla’s 7 months I’ve put diaper rash cream her less than 5 times. A + D ointment was the only recommendation I got there – I use Butt Paste.

Buying Advice

• Go to wal-mart.com and babies r us.com and read the reviews on products, they come in hand to see other peoples comments and/or pictures but then go to the store and play with the stuff. You won’t know what you need till after you’ve bought everything and started using it, so ask friends for recommendations on what they like. For example, my stroller was nice, got good reviews, but you know what – when I have the car seat/carrier in it, and the stroller seat down, I can’t get into the basket underneath. Other strollers sit up higher so you can get into the basket. I didn’t realize this when I bought it. Also, decide if you want the baby in the room with you at home or not. We did, but not in our bed so we set up the pack and play or the cradle my dad made us at the foot of our bed. But, she still ended up in our bed for the first few months. But decide what you want to do then you’ll know whether to get the pack and play or the co-sleeper or nothing.
  Buy less than you think you'll need...I feel like we have too much "stuff". Target and Wal-Mart can always be visited – and will be! Those cashiers will be your new BFFs.
• The more expensive stuff didn’t last or they don’t like – make friends with the dollar store!
• Research the pros and cons of the infant seat/carrier you like. We found out the hard way that our Chicco and Graco carriers don't fit in grocery store carts.
• If you don't receive one of the larger toy items at a shower, check out the consignment stores and sales. Most of the time these things are still in excellent condition because they aren't used for very long. Bumbos, mobiles, jumpers, snap and go strollers, etc can all be bought there. Just start looking before you need it – I always shopped too late (as in the weekend I wanted to buy) and they don’t always have things in stock. Give yourself plenty of lead time so that if they don’t have someone one weekend, maybe they have it the next.
• Check out ebay for room decorations – many things can be customized to fit your bedding choice even if it isn’t sold with the bedding set. I bought a light switch cover, a lamp cover, and had curtains and wooden letters made all to match her bedding – all bought on ebay!

Don’t waste your money on

• A fetal monitor. If it wasn’t broken or only 3 times and either way you could hardly hear anything which resulted in way too many scary moments.
• A body pillow - it didn’t help at all, not worth the $70. The baby didn’t even like to use it afterwards. I just used the extra pillows we had around the house and that worked great!
• A mini crib, get a full size crib. Too hard to find sheets for it and not practical to have at all.
• A wipe warmer. If they start out getting cold wipes they’ll never know they can be warm. If you find you need one try to get it 2nd hand b/c you won’t use it for long.
• A bottle warmer. One mom bought it to keep at the side of the crib but I never really used it. Another mama’s warmer almost melted the bottle and damaged the Playtex Drop-Ins.
• Too many toys or activity centers. They outgrow these so quickly! But do register for them. People love to buy these as gifts.
• Fancy bedding for the crib. They can't sleep with a blanket until they are almost one anyways, so it ends up in the closet. Wal-Mart had very cute things and didn’t cost an arm and a leg.

Okay, I think that's more than enough info for now. Stay tuned for another blog about baby clothes, feedings, daily care, and Things I wish I had done...

ESTIMATED Due Date

Well, Saturday January 24th has officially come and gone without an appearance by Ms. Kayla. So, my doctor has scheduled an induction 1st thing Wednesday morning (as in 12am). I really hope that things go smoothly and we don't also end up with a c-section but you never know. I've heard both good and bad stories about inductions so it's anyone's guess. I'm ready though. We are ready to meet our little girl and I'm ready to stop being incredibly uncomfortable and I'm ready to stop waiting. I know, I know - she'll come on her own time - but after 40 weeks things can go downhill in terms of my health and hers so I'm okay with this induction - all things considered. And at least he gave us an extra few days to see if she'd come on her own.

So, that's it, I'll post again when we make it home - the 3 of us!

No News

Well, the saying goes "no news is good news" and I certainly don't want to give you that impression so this is just to let you know that there is still no progress on labor. No contractions, no dilation, no nothing. So, here I sit and wait for Ms. Kayla. The doctor is pretty adamant about induction shortly after her due date but I think I'll try to give her until Tuesday or Wednesday. We can induce on Wednesday or Thursday and the doctor can still have his precious weekend. I'd really prefer not to induce - I hear there's a higher rate of c-sections with inductions and I don't want that to be the case. Plus, if the doctor is so quick to jump to inducing then he might be quick to jump to a c-section. Seems to me doctors are way to quick to jump the gun these days. So, anyway, I'll be busy this week walking and getting a pedicure (apparently there are some pressure points in your feet that can stimulate labor). Not much else I can do.

I do find it a bit humorous that everyone seems concerned that I haven't delivered yet. Her due date isn't until next Saturday. Now, if her due date were last Saturday I'd be a little more worried, but 40 weeks is 40 weeks and we're only at 39. There was an episode of Roseanne a while back where Jackie was pregnant and flipping out saying she was going to be carrying around a 13 year old kid. That's kinda how I feel but, again, I'm only at 39 weeks. I guess I'll start flipping out when they schedule the induction date.

Anyway - that's about it. This may or may not have been the last weekend as non- parents... we'll see. :-)

Baby Showers!

I think we have finally had our last baby shower - and none too soon for that matter (12 days before her due date!). We had 4 total - one in TX, one at my work, one with Eric's immediate co-workers, and one with Eric's not so immediate coworkers. Below are descriptions of each one (warning - this is a loooong post! Maybe I shouldn't have saved up writing about them...)

TX Shower
Thrown by Katie Wallace, my mom, and my grandmother
in New Braunfels at Grandma's church
with our friends and family that live in TX.

This one is where we raked in most of Kayla's clothes, several blankets including a handmade quilt, a few toys, bath items, and diapers (I held up those little newborn diapers and nearly cried they were so small!). Since it was in TX - all the ladies that I don't get to see regularly were there. It was great to see everyone and be able to get everyone in the same room, even my Aunt from Connecticut came down (though not specifically for the shower - but she did arrange the visit to coincide). We played a couple guessing games (like how big around I was - why I agreed to that I'll never know) and when Kayla will actually make her appearance (the winner of that is still TBD obviously) and a game where they had to guess the nursery rhyme - which was way harder than it sounds. And my favorite was baby pictionary where we used quotes, movie titles, and song titles as the "clue" each person had to draw (And I have to say - who doesn’t know the quote “No body puts baby in a corner” is from Dirty Dancing? Apparently Amanda – She doesn’t know what she’s missing!). Fun times! I am thankful to everyone who was able to come (and to those who couldn't make it but sent gifts anyway) and all that they provided for Ms. Kayla - she will certainly be spoiled!

Eric's Project Shower
Thrown by Diane
in Irwindale,CA at Callahan's Bar
with Eric's coworkers on his current project.

Since Eric's co-workers know him very well they decided that the best shower they could throw for him was a Happy Hour shower! So, we all met up at the local watering hole and (they) had a few drinks, gave us a cash gift and homemade card, and exchanged lots of fun/interesting/scary parenting stories! It was very low key and relaxed, just like Eric, and he very much appreciated that.

Katie's Work Shower
Thrown by my co-workers Christine, Ann, and Virginia
in Los Angeles in district offices
with my co-workers.

My co-workers were not at all phased by the fact that we had to have this shower on our 1 hour lunch break - they were determined to have a full-on traditional baby shower complete with games, snacks, a cake, and gifts. We again played the nursery rhyme guessing game but the main event was having 3 guys get up in front of everyone and attempt to drink apple juice from a baby bottle. Eddie kept trying to squeeze the bottle to get it to come out, Norik drank it like he was drinking from a different kind of bottle, and Hector bit a hole in the nipple and was the only one to finish his off. It was really very funny to watch and they were good sports about it. This time around Kayla managed to get some cute little bibs, a gigantic box of diapers, some more cute clothes (b/c really - who can resist) and a few more toys and bath items along with 2 more handmade blankets. I was so thankful for everything - that isn't normally how showers are done at work so I wasn't expecting as much as was given. We really do know how to celebrate (or at least eat) on this project!

Eric's Departmental Shower
Thrown by Kathy (Eric's boss) and Tammy his co-worker
in Irwindale, CA at their Irwindale office
with his departmental co-workers.

Tammy emailed me back in December and asked if it'd be okay to have a surprise shower for Eric in January. I warned her that he was going to be embarrassed but that he'd be okay as long as there weren't any cheezy baby shower games. So today, after a quick staff meeting, they told Eric they were having lunch and when he walked in he saw the food, then the very pink and very girly decorations and realized what was going on. He was in the room for at least 30-45 seconds before he realized that I was there - and he was standing right next to me! Man he's oblivious! But very surprised (yet again!). He's a good sport though and even did the opening of the gifts, which I'm sure really embarrassed him. But I enjoyed it. :) They were so nice to actually provide a full on catered lunch of Mexican food, along with a cake and some nice presents - like the swing and the bathtub that we still needed. And, lucky us, they gave us a swing that plugs in rather than runs on batteries so that will be really nice (b/c those C and D batteries are super expensive!). Because these folks don't know each other really well, as they are spread out all over southern CA on various projects in various offices, it was really sweet of them to do this for Eric. He didn't want to make a big deal out of this but his co-workers (whether they know him well or not) really like him and like to work with him so they weren't going to let him get off without some celebrations. We are both thankful he works with such great (and generous) folks.

And that folks is the end of the showers. Now it's my turn to go on a shopping spree at Babies R Us and Target to get some final things that we'll need soon. At least both stores give us a 10% discount to finish up our registry so that helps (a little).

So, to everyone who has started Kayla out on her spoiled journey we call life, we are grateful and appreciative. We definitely couldn't have done this all on our own. And we're so glad that everyone appears to be as excited about this new little life as we are. It's going to be a fun adventure!

The tattoo of pregnancy

Alright - she has got to come out! It seems as though my body has stretched as far as it will stretch, as I have, in the last week, become the not so proud owner of stretch marks. At first they started out as little red dots along my belly/hip - then started stretching - and now a few of them are about an inch long! I was so glad that for the last 8.5 months I had escaped these demons but they have now found me! Eric's all like - oh, they aren't that bad, you can't even tell. He's such a good husband sometimes b/c these suckers are hard to pass up. Good thing I haven't even attempted a bikini in like 10 years...

So, in an effort to hasten Ms. Kayla's arrival I shall begin walking, and walking, and walking - maybe that will encourage her, and discourage the stretch marks from becoming even more elaborate. Of course, I can only walk if I hold up my belly so my back doesn't kill me, but I guess that's a sacrafice I'm just going to have to make. Until then I guess it's lots of lotion and vitamin e oil!

Wait for it...

Well folks, it seems Ms. Kayla is in no hurry to join the rest of us out here in the world. She's perfectly comfy and happy in her little womb without a view. She is head down but she hasn't dropped and I haven't dilated at all yet - here at 38 weeks. The dr says if I don't deliver by her due date that he'll induce me - I think I'll give her a few extra days but if she hasn't arrived by Tuesday (the 24th is a Saturday) I'll go ahead with the induction. Seems to me doctors like to rush to that now. I am on a pregnancy chat board and about 75% of the ladies who have delivered already were induced and only a couple of those for medical reasons. Several others have said their doctors will induce whenever the mom wants. Seems a little extreme to me - whatever happened to waiting until 42 weeks? Yes we're uncomfortable and anxious and excited to meet our little ones but give 'em a break - if they want to hole up inside for a few more days what's wrong with that? I didn't ask... maybe I should.

Anyway - just a heads up that nothing is happening. :) Which is fine by me. I have a whole pregnancy scrapbook to work on and if I don't get it done beforehand I don't know if I ever will - especially if this blog is any indication. So, until Kayla decides she's ready - I'll just be hanging out here in the office working on the book.

Nursery

It's finally done! Almost. :) All the furniture is put together and arranged, the clothes and blankets are all put away or hung up, and the main wall decor is up. I have 2 more wall decorations to put up, then we'll be done. But, i figured, it's close enough so I might as well put up the pictures.

It was definitely a process getting everything together, but I think it turned out really nice. Eric and I are both happy with the end result. I am glad and sad that we didn't paint. I think it's great without the paint but I also think it would have been cool to have some color on the walls - but the design I picked made up for the lack of wall color I think. It's a small room so we didn't want it to get too busy or cluttered in there.

And real quick, before we get to the pictures, let me just say thank you to everyone who helped pay for the nursery.

The crib was bought by my mom, the glider bought by Eric's mom, the dresser/changing table by a lot of Eric's co-workers, and the shelf by Vance and Susan Skidmore (Eric's cousins), oh and the lamb was a hand me down from one of Eric's co-workers. We'll eventually have to take it out of the room so we can give it to her for her birthday or Christmas down the line :). I took pictures of a lot of different things in there so hopefully everyone will see something they purchased for Kayla.

Alright alright - on with the show...

Click play to start - it will go through the pictures automatically but if you want to pause on one or go through manually, roll your mouse over the slide show and you can pause it and go forward and backward on your own.

Or if you want to have a full screen slideshow click here. (The same controls exist, with the additional ability to slow down the slide show by clicking the + next to "seconds".)

Pregnancy Schmegnancy

So, since it's been 3 months since I posted I thought I'd do a quick run down of those 3 months. I'll try not to bore anyone - though it has been a pretty easy pregnancy - all things considered. I didn't get a lot of the pregnancy symptoms most women get - no constant cravings, only mild heartburn (though it is frequent), no supersonic smell, no sciatica, no urge to run to the bathroom every 10 minutes (yet), no raging hormones (there are hormones but I don't go from rage to tears in a split second), no stretch marks to speak of (though this weekend I found little red marks at the ends of where I already had stretchmarks on my hips- hopefully they don't extend what's already there!), and no braxton hicks contracts (again - yet).


But I didn't get off easy. It has been hard to breathe (as in after I climb up the stairs, change, and climb into our bed I have to sit there for a few minutes and catch my breath - and I'm using 3 pillows now to keep my head/chest elevated), it's definitely hard to get comfortable, and in the last few weeks I can't stand or walk more than about 10-15 minutes w/o my back killing me. I wake up almost every day between 3am and 4am and cannot get back to sleep, I get charlie horses that also wake me up in the middle of the night and keep me sore for days. I got the linea negra which isn't bad - just different, my belly button is slowly but surely popping out and looks weird along with a faint blue circle about an inch wide around it. For the first time in my life I have allergies which brings a runny nose and incessant sneezing along with the new ability to start a 2nd sneeze while I'm in the middle of the first sneeze (I think I've mentioned this before). For about a 6 weeks I had serious round ligament pain, I have heart burn multiple times a day, I've completely lost my patience for stupid people and slow drivers (not that I had a lot to begin with), and more recently almost constant hunger and the inability to sit in a booth b/c my belly butts up against the table.


BUT - and I want this on the record - Eric has said that I have not been hormonal or bad about complaining, that it could have definitely been worse. I was, and I think he was, definitely expecting worse. I wasn't any more irrational than I usually am or any harder to live with generally so that was a pleasant surprise. His main complaint - the pants that I have decided to live in while I'm at home. A pair of grey, drawstring, capri cotton pants - which wouldn't be so bad except that they are a few sizes too big so he says they make me look like I live in a trailer park. Now if I could just put my hair in pink curlers and have a cigarette hanging from the corner of my mouth I'd be set. :) But I can't help it - they are the most comfortable pants ever and when you can't breathe and you can't get comfortable in almost any position you try, you don't much care what you're wearing as long as it's loose and comfy!


The only real problem we had with Kayla, which wasn't even a problem, was my doctor being nervous b/c I didn't feel her move a lot every day. She would go in spurts of a couple days of lots of activity and then a few days of not a lot and that had been her pattern for a while. I mentioned it to my dr about a month ago and she sent me for a biophysical ultrasound so I was in the hospital for about 4 hours hooked up to a fetal monitor to monitor her heartbeat, and they did an ultrasound to be sure she was moving and her heart and lungs were working. All was well, as I knew it would be, but I wasn't about to turn down yet another ultrasound (that made for my 8th! - 2 early on, 2 private ones, the gender determination one, 1 at the high risk doctor just b/c i had 2 previous very early miscarriages, 1 echo cardiogram b/c that high risk doctor couldn't see her heart well enough, and then this biophysical one - man that was a lot of pictures of Kayla - but those last 5 all said she was a girl so that better be what pops out!). Anyway, turns out she was moving a lot - I just couldn't always feel her. She had her little hands in fists and I asked "Is she going to punch me?" just kinda joking and the ultrasound tech said "I think she has been!". Ha ha ha. But, I'm so glad I didn't feel everything b/c now that she has turned head down and her feet are all up in my ribs I definitely feel more movement, harder movements, more uncomfortable movements. I cannot imagine having to feel that for months on end - weeks will be plenty for me.


And, to top it all off, I only had one stranger touch my belly. Who does that? I really wish I could have said to her "oh, now my turn!" b/c she definitely had her own belly but didn't have the same excuse I have. Unfortunately, I couldn't do that b/c it's a lady who now works a couple aisles down from me and I have to see her on a regular basis so I can't exactly be that rude to her. She also came over and just stared at me one day - said she was admiring the baby. Hello? She's staring at a belly for goodness sake! She's just weird. I dread the day I take Kayla up to work b/c I know she'll be there - I don't even know this lady's name hardly but I have a feeling she's going to be all over Kayla so I'll have to find a way to prevent that.

So, anyway, that's about it in terms of they physical aspect of the pregnancy. I'll have to write another post on the emotional side of things.

Nesting

So, yea, I was supposed to update this blog a looooong time ago but apparently, like with any diary or journal writing, I suck at keeping up this blog. Don't feel bad though, I haven't even started on my pregnancy scrapbook yet - but I plan on putting that together in the next couple weeks. Just like I plan on having the air ducts cleaned, the carpet cleaned, the house cleaned, the rooms all organized, the kitchen cleaned out and organized, and whatever else in the house I can find that needs to be organized. Some would say this is nesting. I call it planned nesting b/c I've been saving up things to do for the last 6-8 weeks just so I'd have something to keep me busy during my 4 weeks off before the due date.

I've actually been pretty good at accomplishing my to-do items in my first week off- organized the nursery and the closet including moving a lot of things from there into the office (after organzing the office closet and cleaning out last years paperwork to make room for this years forest), washed a lot of laundry, bought a glider, and generally got the nursery liveable. We also bought a web cam and a video camera - so if you have Skype and/or GoogleTalk and/or a web cam - let me know and we can do video chats once Kayla makes her appearance. I started reorganizing the kitchen so I had room for her bottles and bibs - but there is more to be done there. I had to prioritize in case she came early so the only urgent thing left to do is to pack our bags for the hospital stay. Now, with 3 weeks left, how am I going to fill my time? Those scrapbooks for one (though first I have to organize that little area of our office!), and this blog I suppose :). And naps and reading and relaxing since I think I'm about to see the end of all of those things. So, while I wait, I'll make this the most organized house ever! (And, no, I won't come do yours. :) )

Latest Happenings

Hola! Wow - I can't believe it's been over a month since I posted. I'm now 24 weeks along - 16 left to go! That equates to 3.5 calendar months... it's going to come up so fast!

We had a great time in Oahu - very relaxing. We were able to do a lot of things - pregnant or not. We went sailing, "swam" with sharks and dolphins and turtles. We visited Pearl Harbor and the USS Arizona. We spent lots of time on the beach and at the pool. We tried ocean kayaking (kinda hard) and had the best pancakes in my life (banana macadamia nut).

If you want to see some pics - click here.

In terms of the pregnancy - we confirmed at 20 weeks that so far we're right on time and that we're having a little girl. Kayla Marie Colvin. The name came from a misunderstanding of mine at Starbucks. :) I told them Katie, they heard Kaylee, which I really liked but couldn't see having Katie and Kaylee in the same house so I switched the ending and came up with Kayla. And then Marie is my middle name, along with my grandmothers and my great grandmothers. I've had this name picked out for a couple years now and the more I write it and say it the more I love it. My only fear is that someone will call her Kay for short and I really don't want that. So, if/when you meet hear please call her Kayla. :)

Also at 20 weeks I felt her move for the first time. Since then it's become a daily event - multiple times a day. She goes in and out of patterns. For a little bit she was active during the 9pm hour, but that's changed. She is generally more active at night but I couldn't give you a specific hour now. Eric felt her a couple times around 22 weeks after days of me say - oh, come quick, but then she'd stop. Since then he hasn't really felt her b/c of the same issue - you can never predict when she'll be moving. I finally saw her move this week - which is the weirdest thing to see. But I absolutely love feeling her move around. It is so cool to know and be able to feel that a little baby is growing inside. People tell me I'll get tired of it, and I guess if she moves around all day every day or if it hurts then I'll be tired of it, but until then I'm enjoying every little kick, stretch, or movement.

The belly is getting bigger and bigger. But at least it's very obvious that it's a pregnancy belly and not just a fat belly. :) Though I did have one lady who didn't seem to know - and I was even wearing a What's Kickin' maternity shirt. Oh well.

Here's my 23 week picture - along with a few from the past so you can see the growth.

From Pregnancy

And another pic that I took of me in regular clothes.

From Pregnancy

Well, even though it's been forever, that's really all I have for right now.