Mr. & Mrs. Marcos Gallardo

My cousin, Pamela and her husband, Marcos, now my new cousin, had a beautiful wedding this past Saturday in San Antonio.  Pamela looked absolutely gorgeous, and the wedding was gorgeous as well!  We all had such a great time.  Dancing and eating tons, you can't go wrong there!!!

Congratulations Marcos & Pamela!

Cousins! Samuel, Me, Pamela, Sarah, & Kathleen.  We had a bunch of other cousins there at the wedding, but unfortunately did not get more pictures with them.

Dave & I. (and Olivia, she LOVED the garlic mashed potatoes!  So much so that Daddy gave me, I mean her, all of his.)

Mama & Popo.  Both Dave & Popo are comedians. 

Mom & Dad! Hubba hubba!!!

Sisters! Sarah is getting tooooo pretty.

 My mom and I!  Love her!

I loved getting to see so much family at Pamela's wedding.  I hope we don't have to wait too long until the next Jimenez family get together. 

24 Fabulous Weeks

How far along? 24 weeks


Total weight gain/loss: I had an "official" weigh in at my doctor's office.  I have gained 16.4 pounds total. 

Maternity clothes? I should probably be wearing 100% all maternity clothing, but I'm still getting away with a couple of my regular work shirts.  Also, I haven't bought any maternity workout clothes so I've been able to wear all of my shorts (elastic waist band) and all of my old oversized Texas State t-shirts. 

Stretch marks? Still none.  Thank you, God.  I'm being really good about putting lotion on my belly and other places ladies have told me they got stretch marks.  I know there are conflicting reports about whether lotion makes a difference on stretch marks or not, but I feel like it has helped keep my skin smoother and elastic-y. 

Sleep:  I still have crazy amounts of energy.  A couple of nights last week the house was just entirely too hot to sleep and I would wake up sweating.  By time I would get up, take the dog out and put the A/C on a cooler temperature I was no longer tired.  My mornings would start at 2am and I actually liked it because I would get a lot done in the house and Thor would get an extra long walk.  I'm just going to go with these early mornings whenever they happen.  Other than those freakish 2am wake ups, I usually go to bed around 1030pm-11pm and get up at 5am. 

Best moment this week: My doctor's appointment was the best moment this week.  I got to hear our little girl's heartbeat and was reassured again that she is growing and thriving like she should be. 

Movement: Still moving in my belly.  I feel her a little more throughout the day, and I feel her everyday now.  I feel  her on my bladder a lot more now, too.  Almost as though she is jumping on it, or pushing off my bladder to swim around in there.  Sometimes it will take me by surprise and I will feel a strong urge to pee and then that will go away.  Crazy kid. 

Food cravings:   I really wanted a pickle shaved ice this week.  I finally got to a shaved ice place and they had the pickle shaved ice flavor, but not the one with the actually pickle in it.  So I got a Red Chamoy shaved ice instead and it was very dissapointing.  (Chamoy is a mexican candy that is made from a dried plum that has been soaked in vinegar and spices.)

Food aversions: Milk.  When I'm not pregnant my body does not process straight milk very well.  If I have a glass of milk I will get an upset tummy.  I started drinking more low-fat milk once I got pregnant because it is an easy low-fat way to get some calcium & protein.  For awhile my stomach problems were non-existent when I was drinking the milk, however, recently I can't drink the milk anymore without getting an upset stomach. 

Labor Signs: No labor signs but I can feel some very distinct stretching of my uterus and stomach muscles.  Almost like a quick spasm here and there.  Upon Dave's encouragemnet, I checked with my doctor who informed me that these aches and pains are completely normal.

Belly Button in or out? Out and it has become quite the talk of my family.  Ask me and I am not shy to show you my freakish bellybutton.  I also checked with my doctor to make sure this was "normal".  She said that she sees belly buttons that come in all shapes and sizes...including my belly button size...Thanks? lol. 

What I miss: I miss more vigorous exercise.   I realized that before I was pregnant I could eat a lot more and not gain any weight because I could go to the gym with Dave, do an hour of body pump, 20 minutes of elliptical and run a couple of miles.  I would maintain my weight because I was always burning the calories off.  Now, I only walk for about an hour a day and I'm just not getting the same satisfaction, and I'm still gaining weight.  Good weight, but the numbers are going up, and up, and up, and up nonetheless.   

What I am looking forward to: I'm looking forward to my next doctor's appointment, and the glucose test.  I would like to just get those things out of the way with and move on.  I'm also looking forward to doing some more baby shopping this month!!!

Weekly Wisdom:  Spend time with your husband and pets now.  Lots of time.  Talk about the future and the ways that your lives are going to change.  Ask theoretical questions about the baby and how you are going to manage your time and responsibilities once she is here to get the conversation started. 

Dave hates theoretical questions, but some of our best conversations have spurred off of one.  Also really try hard not to get in an argument over an answer one of you may give.  It's only a theoretical question and answer and how the situation is really handled may be completely different once the time comes.    

Milestones: 6 months (24 weeks) !!! Wohooo.  We are almost at the 27th week which is the vitality week.  If Olivia were to be born at 27 weeks she has a much higher likelihood of surviving and thriving. 

Olivia and I all gussied up for Pamela & Marcos's Wedding - August 7, 2010.

Quarter of a Century

I  have been alive for 25 years now.  Twenty-five years. 300 months.  I'm officially, officially, officially an adult and out of my early twenties.  I'm now on the upward swing towards 30 years old.  I'm not quite sure how I feel about all of this... 

On one hand, I feel a sense of urgency of what I still want out of this life, and how quickly all of these 25 years have already passed me by.  But on the other hand, I also feel slightly accomplished in life, what I have seen and done, and where I am after these past 300 months. 

I am so incredibly blessed that it often makes me wonder what I did to deserve some of the great things in my life.  There are so many ways we are a lucky family, Dave and I.  We never go hungry, we have clothing, we own our home, we love our neighborhood and little community (so far), we have great jobs and great educations, we have supportive and involved parents, siblings, and extended family, we have love and a deep respect for one another,  we are growing a baby whom we both love so deeply already, and we have the best dog ever.  The list could actually go on and on.

My biggest concern as I look back on my 25 years of life is that time is seriously going by too quickly.  I want to enjoy these days, weeks, months and years to come as our family grows. Our lives are about to irreversibly change for the better.  I want to truly enjoy these these last 3 months as a couple before we meet our baby and officially become a family of three.  I know that it may be difficult at times as I continue to get closer to delivery, but I don't want to take this time for granted.

I also want to focus on living in the moment of every activity that we are going to do once Olivia gets here.  I want to relax more, and focus on those things that I can control, and not worry about the things I can't control.

I want to be a better wife to my husband.  I want to say I love you to him more.  I want to raise our children with 100% of my effort and energy towards making our kids strong and productive individuals.  I want to live up to the high standards that my own mother has set as far as being a working mom while being the most nurturing and caring mother I have ever met.

Career wise I also want more.  I was blessed with a wonderful entry-level paralegal position a semester before I graduated from grad school.  However, I've reached somewhat of a plateau with my current job.  I do like it, don't get me wrong, I just know that it may be time to grow professionally elsewhere.   Then I reach the next question of: what next?  Stick with the paralegal career field?  get my alternative teacher certificate? go back to my first true love of Social Work? stay at home mom? (<---haha, just trying to see if Dave will read this :) ).   So many options, and so many things to consider professionally...but at 25, I think that is pretty typical.  The goal is to eventually find that position that I love and never ever dread going to on Monday morning.

All in all I could not be happier with life right now.  It may be the happy pregnancy hormones talking, but right now at this very moment I'm completely satisfied with life. 

Rockport - Summer 2010

Rockport with the Copelands

What a fun trip!  Sort of as a last minute planned fishing trip (planned a couple of weeks in advance), Reese, Annette, Dave and I headed to Rockport, Texas.    Rockport is about 5 hours southeast of Austin right by the gulf.  It's a really small, nice and quaint Texas town that is completely fueled by the fishing business in this area. 

We headed out of town bright and early on Friday morning from the Copeland's house and arrived in Rockport around 1:30pm.  We were able to check in right away and headed to our cabin on Copana Bay.

The Bay House was absolutely adorable.  It was a 1 bedroom with a loft house.  It had a fully equipped kitchen, dining table, washer & dryer, full bathroom and a little living room.  The view from the house was absolutely gorgeous.  We could see our pier and the open water, and in the evening we had a great view of the sunset! That was my favorite part.

This was were Dave and I stayed, up in the loft.  The light in the loft was great.

The sunset from the house.  Also, there were ducks everywhere!  They were really good looking ducks, too.  You can tell that the locals and all visitors keep them all well fed.  On the last morning that we were there I took all of our left over bread and fed it to the ducks.  I started out feedind about 8 ducks and by the time I was done with the bread I was surrounded by about 20 ducks and 2 geese. 

Friday night we did fishing from our pier.  It was sooo convienent and fun to do.  I also throroughly enjoyed the fact that there was a bathroom so close by :).  We did not have much luck the whole weekend.  Everyone caught a couple of fish each, but unfortunately, it was not anything we could keep.  It was still really nice to be out there.

On Saturday morning, Dave and Reesee took the kayaks they picked up in Port Aransas the day before out for a daytime fishing excursion.   They loaded them up with fishing rods and packed backpacks with water and all the bait they would need for the afternoon and headed out. 

They headed out around 6:30am after Dave cooked us all breakfast.   They had several coves and bays they planned to head to. 

Annette and I stayed at the house for a couple of hours before heading out to downtown Rockport to visit the local shops.  We went to a quilt store, a woodshop store, and a couple of local stores, too.  We then headed back to the house to wait for the guys.  Dave & Reese got back to the house around 12:30 and unloaded, showered and then we all ate lunch at the house.  Although they were empty handed they still had a good time out there.  Dave finally got his fishing & kayaking itch scratched!

Saturday we all headed to Port Aransas to return the kayaks. Loading the ferry to get across was miserable!  It took us about 2 hours to board the ferry for a 3 minute ferry ride.  Once over there we returned the kayaks and turned around and headed back to Rockport.  Getting off of Port A was much quicker!

We ran a couple of errands in preparation for our second night of fishing.  Then headed back to the Bay House and started cooking dinner.  Annette had planned a contingency meal, just in case we had not caught anything we could eat!  We had steaks, potatoes and watermelon followed up with a yummy blueberry and peach cobbler.

After dinner Dave got all of the fishing rods ready and we headed out.  I seriously had to pretty much bathe in bug spray anytime I was outside in the evening.  For whatever reason the mosquitoes will find me in a big group of people.  I even get bitten through my clothing if I don't apply a layer over my shirt & shorts.  It's crazy. 

We were using live shrimp and I was finally able to grab my own bait and bait my rod.  For whatever reason it gave me the hibbie-jibbies.  Maybe because the shrimp was still alive and I had to poke the hook through it's HEAD!

Dave, Annette and Reese.

David fishing.

We were able to take a group picture outside of the Bay House on our last morning once Dave figured out the timer settings.  The group shot turned out great!

Reese & Annette.

Dave, Olivia and me.  I love trying to get as many pre-baby pictures as we can.  I can't wait to one day tell Olivia all of the cool things we have done this summer, the summer before she was born.  She has been on amusement park rides, kayaking, swimming, hiking, fishing, through a move, lots and lots of shopping and hopefully many more fun things to come while she is still in my belly! I also can't wait until this time next year when she will get to be in our family pictures as well.

Can't wait to do this again next summer!

Thor's Weekend with his Grandparents

My mom and dad were awesome and agreed to watch our ThorBoar.  Originally, we had planned to board him at his new vet's office in Cedar Park, but my parent's weekend plans changed and they would be staying in town afterall.  It was very last minute so we had to make quick plans to get him to Grandma & Grandpa's house. 

Thursday after work Dave and I went over to JonO & Lexie's house to help them do some moving.  We were able to help make a couple of trips from the old apartment to the new one, but I really wish we could have done a lot more.  The next morning, Friday, at 4:45 am while Dave still got some more sleep, Thor and I loaded up into the Jeep and headed to Harker Heights.  I love the drive from our house to both of parent's homes.  We are able to avoid all of the major highways and see the prettiest parts of the Hill County.  It's especially nice early in the morning when no one else is on the road.  Thor and I rode with all of the windows down most of the way. 

The drive back was a bit scary though.  I was rushing to get back home to Leander because I stayed and chatted with my parents a little longer than I intended to.  I was taking a back back way that we sometimes take and got pulled over for going 80MPH in a 60MPH area.  The cop was super nice though and told me to slow down and that I was lucky he was just giving me a warning.  He said my fees and the ticket would have been outrageous because I was going more than 30% over the speed limit.  WHEW!  Needless to say, after that I was definitely driving much slower. 

My parents kept me updated on Thor's daily activities and it was so much fun to get to see text message pictures of him throughout the weekend!

Dad loves walking Thor, which is perfect because Thor absolutely loves going for walks!

Keeping Thor nice and hydrated.

Another one of Thor's favorite pastimes.  He will literally just stand over the sprinkler for 5 minutes, then drink some of the water, and then continue to stand. 

Thor and his own personal fan.

Hanging out inside.  This weekend it was HOT.  It is finally hitting the hundreds here. 

Thanks, Mom & Dad & Sarah! 

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 :).