The Stewarts Visit Texas

Jake & Jenny Stewart drove from Florida to San Antonio on Thursday to surprise Jenny's mom for her 60th birthday!

We were lucky enough to get to spend some time with them today on their quick trip to see family.  Dave and I met Jenny, Jake, Sam and Kelly at the Taproom today for lunch.  The Taproom was one of our absolute favorite spots while we were in college in San Marcos. Jenny and I would go there for dinner at least once a week, if not more, during our junior and senior years at Texas State.

It was nice to get to have lunch there and hang out and catch up on everyone's lives.  It was also great to be able to see Sam and Kelly at the same time.  Even though Kelly, Sam and I all live here in Central Texas we hardly ever get the opportunity to see each other!

Dave and I got to San Marcos a little bit earlier than the noon time we planned on meeting and drove around town a bit.  It was fun to get to point out some of the spots we had been together, and some of the places we have fond memories of.  One day we will get to take our children back there and show them were Mommy & Daddy first met!  The college is also really expanding and doing some upgrades and those were also neat to see.  It's funny how we live right up the road and drive through San Marcos all the time, but never ever stop to actually do anything there. 

These ladies below were 3 of the ladies in my wedding party.  Sarah was the only one missing and she was right down the road at Canyon Lake with my parents and some of her friends.  I loved getting to see them and wish we could do this more often!

They all look beautiful and I definitely look very pregnant.

The Taproom burgers did not disappoint, either!  I have had a hard time getting back to eat a Taproom burger because Dave does not like their food at all, he had an unfortunate experience with their french fries and the fish 'n chips once.  He tried a burger for the first time and really like it.  I highly recommend this place for anyone in the San Marcos area!

22 weeks

How far along? 22 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: I think since my last appointment I have gained 2-3 lbs, so that would put my total weight gain at about 13.

Maternity clothes? Still just wearing some maternity pants, some normal pants and all normal tops.  I think I will be able to wear a lot of my own tops for a while still.  Most of the maternity tops that I have are HUGE and will have to wait until the end of this pregnancy.

Stretch marks? Nope, not, yet.

Sleep: Sleep and I have a love hate relationship right now. Nights have been very warm for me lately, and if/when I wake up because I'm hot I have a hard time getting back to sleep. Most of my days start at about 5am, I guess this is just good training

Best moment this week: Everything has been pretty good this week.  I was able to take 2 relaxing baths after work this week so that was pretty enjoyable.

Movement: More and more movement from this little girl.  I will usually feel her a couple of times throughout the day, and at least once on the outside too.  She is tricky because everytime I will feel her on the outside I go to Dave so that he can feel her too, and she gets shy :(.  He did feel her kick about 3 times Friday night while we were watching a movie. 

Food cravings: Red vines!!!  We went to both Walmart and HEB to find them, and neither store carried them.  Dave swears they are the same as Twizzlers, but a real licorice lover knows that Red Vines and Twizzlers are very different.  We finally found a bag of Red Vines at Walgreens. 

Food aversions: No, unfortunately.  I have beeen doing a really good job about eating healthy though.
Gender: As far as we know, she is still a girl :)

Labor Signs: No.

Belly Button in or out? My belly button is very much out and proud.  I still love it.  I think it's adorable, but I know that many people think outties are gross.  I guess because I know that this is a temporary outtie, I'm really enjoying it.   Weird, I know.

What I miss: I miss people not telling me, "You can't do that, you are pregnant."  Yes, I'm pregnant, and I'm very much aware that I need to be slightly more careful in my daily activities, but I'm not crippled.  I'm very intuned with my body and I know what it is capable of doing.  Plus, being pregnant is not an excuse to be lazy and get fat.

What I am looking forward to: I know this is still a ways away, but I'm really looking forward to meeting Olivia and seeing who she looks like!

Weekly Wisdom:  Really listen to your body.  If you are tired, rest.  Try not to feel guilty about it.  This week my energy has been really high, but in spurts.  Tuesday through Thursday of this week I was pretty much worthless when we got home from work.  As a result, my house looked like a wreck by Friday, and I was completely okay with it.  I knew that I wasn't going to try and kill myself just so that the dusting, and sweeping got done.  I needed to just relax and lay low in the evenings.  So long as I got my daily morning walk with Thor, I felt accomplished. 

Milestones: The belly button is offically out, that is quite an accomplishment. Picture of the belly button below.... :)

 

Taken right after my walk with Thor. 

Bare Belly Picture:

Hello, Belly Button!

Edited to Add:  After I wrote this blog on Sunday morning, Dave and I went to the Round Rock Scott & White Medical Center to tour the hospital we will be delivering in.  I was so impressed.   I knew very little about this hospital prior to choosing a doctor and a hospital.  I have talked with our Bradley teacher a little about her experience in this hospital.  She told me that her experience being a doula for one woman at this hospital was overall very positive. 

This hospital is pretty new, so there aren't any ladies I've met that have actually used the Labor & Delivery here.  My doctor told me that we were welcome to tour the hospital anytime we wanted.  So Sunday morning before we headed out to San Marcos to meet up with friends we headed out that way. 

The hospital is about 20-25 minutes from our house and a pleasant drive.  It's not a really busy drive there so we won't have to worry about too much traffic if I needed to go to the hospital during rush hour.  The Labor & Delivery has Labor, Delivery, Recovery, and Postpartum rooms (LDRP) which is exactly what I wanted, and this is the only hospital in Austin that is doing this right now.  What that means is that the room that we check into when we get there to deliver will be the only room we will be in. 

 This hospital also doesn't have the typical nursery.  Our baby will be with us in the room the entire time.  She will have her first bath there, here Apar testing right next to my bed, her weight and height and vitals will all be taken while we are in that same room.  The only time the nurses may take her to their nursery station thing is to do the hearing and sight tests at like 2am, and then Dave will have the opportunity to go with Olivia for these tests. The rooms are quite large and there is a pull out bed in the room for dad and any other family members that may need a nap. 

The nurse who gave us the tour was VERY helpful and VERY nice.  She reassured me that all of the nurses there on staff were very accomadating to each women's birthing wishes.  The nurse even said that once they (the nurses) are aware that a women wishes to not have the epidural or any meds they won't ask her again about it. I really hope we get to have her, or she has a least one 12 hour shift while we are there. 

The only thing I did not really care for was that baby and I are required to stay approximately 24-28 hours after Olivia is born; even if neither one of us has been given any drugs, or shows any signs of stress.  The reason for this is that there are several "tests" they like to perform on the babies 24 hours after they are born, so they make you wait for that.  I know I will be going crazy and ready to get to my home.  This, however, is something that we will just have to deal with at any hospital. 

Dave and I had actually been toying with the idea of giving birth in the Austin Area Birthing Center, which is one of the best birthing centers in the nation.  After touring the S&W Med Center I feel much better about using this hospital to deliver our first baby.  I feel like we will be able to have the birth that I would like and not be pressured into any unnecessary interventions. 

I must remember to be flexible about my visions for our first birth.  I must remember that there are a million things that can happen during labor and delivery that are completely out of my control.  I am trying to remain open-minded about every scenerio, while at the same time preparing for the birth that I want.  The more that I read and know about the things that can happen, the more I feel prepared and confident that when the time comes I can make the best desicions for me, our baby, and my husband.  I'm really looking forward to our birthing classes in September because then we will have even more knowledge about the birthing process.  I'm at the point right now where I can't get enough information about pregnancy and birth! I'm so dorking out about this, but I've really learned a lot about what is going on in hospitals in the US vs. the world. 

I can't wait till the main event :).

The Jimenezes do Central Texas

Jae, Claudia, and Ava came to town!  Yay!  Ava's birthday is July 25, but they came a weekend early to celebrate her 2nd birthday with family in San Antonio.  The weather was wonderful, the food was wonderful and the company was wonderful.

Friday night everyone stayed at our house in Leander and had dinner.  After dinner, no we did not wait 30 minutes for our food to digest, we went swimming at our neighborhood pool.  Ava is still a little scared of swimming and water, so Jae just had to grab her and bring her in the pool.  It only took about 10 minutes before she warmed up to the idea of being in the pool and loved to splash!  She would not let Jae hold her out in the water though, and was fastened to his neck the whole time. 

Ava is chatting up a storm!  I was really impressed with this little girl's vocabulary.  She is very soft spoken, but she is forming 4-5 word sentences and it's really easy to have a conversation with her.  She also adds a -y to a bunch of words!  Milky, Juicey, Parky (the family dog) and I know this is because that is how my brother talks to her.   It is adorable!

Saturday morning, Mom, Thor and I went for a nice long walk around the neighborhood.  It really is the best therapy getting to walk on the weekends with my Mom!  While out on our walk we came across a garage sale that was selling a bunch of children's books for 10 cents each.  I've been trying to start a collection up for Olivia, so this was a great find.  I got about 14 new books for her and a lot of them were the classics, like Dr. Seuss books.  Dave ran out and got breakfast for everyone from one of our favorite local Mexican carnercerias in Leander.  We ate, hung out, showered and then got ready to load up and head to San Antonio. 

In San Antonio we took some family pictures at the Mission San Jose, where Dave and I got married.  Then afterwards we went to my grandparents house and did a little bit of shopping around town.  We needed to pick up some supplies for Ava's party later that evening.  My Mom had rented out a pavillion on Ft. Sam Houston that also had access to a water splash pad & a very nice covered playground. 

Our growing family.

The Jimenez Siblings

Mom and Dad

The party was a lot of fun!  We have so many little ones (cousins and 2nd cousins) that it always makes everything more lively.  I can't wait till Olivia is here next summer and gets to play with all of her cousins!  I just need a couple more of my cousins to start having some more babies *ahem* Krystal & Gen! : ).

Singing Happy Birthday to Ava.

Fist bumping Uncle Dave after going down the slide.

Sunday was shopping time with the ladies! Golf for Dad, Popo, and Jae.  And Dave took Aleck and Adan to see Despicable Me.    Then we all met back up at Mama & Popo's house for a Mexican lunch at La Perla.  So good!  After that Aunt Suki, KT, Jon, and the Eds came over and we got to hang out some more.

Sitting in Mama's rocking chair.

Ava loved Thor!

My lovely sister.

Dave and I got home around 7:30 that evening and we were all wiped out from all of the excitement.   I spent the evening trying to get the house together and laundry in order for the week. 

Baby update:  This past week and these last couple of days the baby has been moving and shaking like crazy.  It often feels like she is somersaulting in my belly more than actual kicks.  Dave has gotten to feel her move and kick so that makes it more real and exciting for him.  She is a morning person that's for sure.  I will usually feel her when I am trying to go back to sleep after an early morning potty break.  It makes going back to sleep hard because I don't want to miss all of the movements!

We have another busy weekend ahead of us.  I'm excited about seeing Jenny, Jake and Sam if they are able to make it up to Austin like planned. 

OMG

BAM!  20 weeks in all of my glory.  Getting ready for bed

The bump is growing at a very rapid rate these days, and I have mixed emotions about it.  Sometimes I'm in love with the growing belly because I know my body is doing what it needs to for our baby.  Other times I get slightly worried about gaining this weight (10lbs), only being 20 weeks and feeling huge, finding something to wear and trying to constantly eat healthy.  I am feeling absolutely wonderful, aside from some minor aches and pains.  The energy I have right now is great so we keep moving along.

This weekend like almost every weekend that we stay in Leander was completely dedicated to home improvement & maintenence.  Dave has made significant progress in the nursery and he says that he should be completely done by Friday.  The room is painted and all of the trim has been selected and cut.  Now he is sanding down the edges and getting ready to put the floor boards and ceiling panels on.  Yay!

I cut the grass this weekend (go me!), both the front and backyards, bathed the dog, grocery shopped, did most of the cooking and lunch-making and cleaned, cleaned, cleaned.   I love our spacious home, but more room means a tons more cleaning. 

This week it's back to work for both of us, and then we are hosting my parents, sister, brother, sister-in-law, and niece for dinner and a sleepover Friday night!  I cannot wait.  We have not seen the Jimenez family since the wedding in January so I'm really excited. 

19 weeks & 5 days

How far along? 19 weeks 5 days

Total weight gain/loss: From my very first appointment, until today, my 20 week appointment, I have gained 10 pounds. 

Maternity clothes? Just wearing some maternity pants, some normal pants and all normal tops.

Stretch marks? No, thank gawd!  So long as I continue to keep this weight gain gradual, I think I may actually avoid them like my mom and grandma did!

Sleep: My sleeping has been pretty good.  There is probably one night a week or so that I don't get the best sleep, but that was normal before pregnancy.  Thor is usually the reason for it, too. 

Best moment this week: Getting to hear Olivia's heartbeat and her squirming around in my belly at my doctor's appointment today. Hearing that her anatomy scan went perfectly and all her measurements are great.  Such a relief.  Also, the doctor confirmed that Olivia is in fact a girl.  :)
 
Movement: Still no real movement.  There have been a couple of times that I thought I felt her, but I really can't tell.  She definitely  is moving around, we have seen her twice on the ultrasound screens, and I have heard her moving around. 

Food cravings: Tootsie roll pops, gummi bears, any gummi candy, and ice cream.  I have yet to indulge in any of these cravings, but I may this weekend to celebrate the "halfway" mark.

Food aversions: None, whatsoever, and that is very very dangerous. 

Gender: It's a girl!

Labor Signs: Nooooooo

Belly Button in or out? It is still on the verge of becoming an outtie.  I think my belly button is one of the funniest things about my changing body.  I kinda sorta love how weird it looks.  I will try and take pictures. ha. 

What I miss: I miss not being out of breath from going up the stairs!  9 times out of 10 I make it up our stairs with no problem, but if I'm on the phone while going up the stairs, or talking to Dave in our house, I will get to the top and be a little winded.  I feel like a big fat kid. 

What I am looking forward to: Feeling Olivia moving and when Dave will be able to feel her on the outside, too. 

Weekly Wisdom:
1) Eat my daily serving of prunes.
2) If I see a bathroom and we are in a public place, and I ever so slightly think I may need to go pee in the near future, use the bathroom. 
3) Relax.  There are a million and one things that you can worry about while you are pregnant.  If you body is acting normally and you feel good, chances are the baby is perfectly healthy in there.  I get so worked up in between doctor's appointments wondering how she is, only to find out she is doing perfectly fine.
4) Continue to exercise. Yoga and walking have been my two main activities, but I try to be as active as possible each day. 

Milestones: On Sunday, Olivia will be halfway baked. 20 weeks down, 20weeks-ish to go!

July 4, 2010

Happy Birthday, America!!!

This year, like almost every year for the past 5 or so, my parent's had a 4th of July BBQ.  I love family get togethers, and it has been really fun to get both of our families together.  Bless the Copelands for enduring my family. :) lol.  This year was much smaller than usual because my aunt and uncles family did not come, but it was still fun.

This time next year we will have a little 7month old-ish Olivia to join in on the festivities!!

BBQ and all the sides. (My dad seriously makes the best BBQ chicken.)

"The Circle" enjoying Annette's Key Lime cupcakes.

A dip in the pool, of course.

Mom, Uncle Mike, and Jacob.  Mom and Uncle Mike sure do look like siblings!

More Circle times.

Dad can't wait to have a human baby to cuddle.

Dave and I.

Olivia  :).

I love love love Texas summers and this year has been a really great one so far.  We have not had a single day in the 100s and it's already July 6th.  I believe today is suppose to be our first 100, so not too bad.

Dave has been working on our nursery this weekend, too and I'm getting really excited about it.  It only took about 3 trips to Lowes/Home Depot for me to finally pick out the nursery color.  I couldn't help but go back and forth before picking our color.  The problem I was having was trying to decide if I really wanted pink walls versus another color wall.  I love pink, and I have alway wanted such girly things if we were having a girl.  I then realized that everything is pink for girls, and it may bee a little too much pink if we also panted the room pink.  So I decided on a yellow paint, and the bedding and accessories that we get are going to be pink. Plus, loads and loads of pink clothes, bows, shoes, socks, etc.    This is our paint color:

It is Disney's Main Street Lights paint color.  In real life it looks a tad darker, but it may actually come out this color once it is on our walls.

Dave has pulled all of our base and ceiling trim and done all the prepatory taping.  Now, with the humidity gone he will be able to paint sometime this week or weekend.  We have been taking before and progress pictures, and will definitely post after pictures once things are more complete. 

Six Flags Over Texas

Last weekend we went to Six Flags in Arlington, Texas. Hot, crowded, and a blast!  Every summer I forget just how sweltering Texas summers can get.  I love it though, and I love being able to swim any day of the week once May hits, and usually stays that way till about September. 

So anyways, my parents were wonderful and brought Dave and I along with them to Six Flags.  We were busy from about 6am - 10:30pm. 

Friday night after work Dave and I headed to Harker Heights so that we could leave first thing Saturday morning.  My wonderful father-in-law was house sitting for us for the weekend, so Thor had some fresh person to terrorize! 

We were all on the road by about 6:00am Saturday morning, ate breakfast at Dennys and made it to the park by 10:00am.

Group shot taken by Mom so we could remember where we parked.  Sarah is so glamorous. 

Mom and I. Yay!  We were waiting for Sarah and Dave to ride the Batman for the 3rd time.

Dave and I.  This is a horrible picture of me, but you can actually see a baby bump! lol.  All the other pictures I just look like a blob. 

I begged Sarah to take this picture with me.  Thank you Sarah!

Dad and I.  My parents are getting so tan this summer, already!

One of the few rides I actually got to ride!!

Waiting for the Parade right before the parked closed.

I LOVE parades.  Any and all parades. 

One of the best things about going to the Six Flags in Dallas was that my mom and dad got us a hotel close to the park.  We were able to go through the park and tackle a lot of the rides, then go back to the hotel, swam, and ate a big Pancho's dinner, and then return to the park for some more rides and the parade.  It really was nice to get to go take a shower and refresh. 

The next morning my mom and I went for a nice hour long walk before all the other bums woke up.  We then got into our swim suits and took a dip in the pool, showered and ate the nice hot breakfast at the hotel.

We then headed to the Grapevine mall and did a little bit of shopping before we headed home.  What a fun trip!  I love any trip where we are go-go-go, and this one was nice because we even got a little of pool time!

And here I am this morning.  I have been feeling particularly pregnant today so I took one of those classy bathroom pictures in my office's bathroom.  

18weeks4days :)