Our ER-filled Father's Day Weekend

Yup, baby girl's dad really does rock. Not only on stage at work, but in being the best husband and daddy! I insist that this IS his first Father's Day and that he IS already a dad. This weekend was definitely proof of that.

Friday night we decided to eat at Rubio's before Mike left for work because I had a free birthday coupon. Later that night he left for work and I went to bed not feeling quite right. But, I meditated myself into sleep and thought all would be well in the morning. Turns out, not so much. I woke up at 12:30am so sick. Won't go into detail, that's how gross it was. Mike was still at work, so I was up texting him until he was done. I pretty much "got sick" every hour. By 4am we decided it was time to go to the hospital since I wasn't keeping fluids down. Also, after every "sick" moment, I was having a tightening/cramping in my belly and back pain...we were a little concerned that those were contractions (figuring out now that they were probably Braxton Hicks).

We got to the hospital around 4am, so happy we live only 3 miles away! They admitted me into labor and delivery and made us sit in the registration office for a while answering questions. I was just watching the clock, waiting for that next hour to hit, hoping I wouldn't get sick all over this lady's desk. They finally took me into a triage room and monitored baby to first make sure she was ok. We weren't too concerned that she was in distress since I could feel her moving so much. They found the heartbeat and concluded that I wasn't having contractions, so they moved us in to the ER. On our way over there, we noticed the sun coming up...couldn't believe we stayed up the entire night.

In the ER they took forever checking my vitals and had to redo them since I got sick in the middle of it. Sigh...they moved a little slow for my liking at that point. They finally got the IV in me (something I was a little terrified of) and pumped with me some zofran for the nausea and a ton of fluids since I was extremely dehydrated. By then it was 7am and we knew Mike had to get home to try and get some sleep. Turns out Saturday he had a show in Morenci which was 4 hours away! He had to leave around 10am, drive 4 hours and then play for 4 hours. Since we knew everything was going to be ok for me, I was getting more concerned for him getting through that day. After all, he did have a dizzy/dehydrated/tired fainting spell the weekend before after a show.

Mike left around 7:30am and his mom showed up shortly after so I would have someone with me and to take me home. It was so great to have her there so I wasn't alone! I did forget to mention that my whole family was out of town this weekend...perfect timing, right? :-/

I finally got home at 10:30am. My mom decided to leave her trip at the lake to come stay with me since Mike was going to be gone all day and overnight. Seriously wouldn't have recovered as much as I did without her. She brought over all my favorite "sick" foods like 7up, Jello and chicken and rice soup. Funny how I never eat those things unless I'm sick! She stayed the whole day with me and spent the night, she is amazing!

Mike got back around noon on Father's Day and I had gained some of my energy back so we were able to have a decent Father's Day. We went to his parents' house that evening for dinner and spent time with his whole family.

This weekend made me extremely grateful for our awesome moms! Things would have been much more difficult without them. More than anything, I am so much more grateful for this amazing man that I get to call my husband. Our daughter is the luckiest girl that she gets to have him as her daddy. He is so calm and patient, but also so wise and in charge in the moments when we need him to be. I have always struggled with anxiety and panic attacks, especially when sick or getting poked with needles. He kept me so calm and reminded me of our breathing techniques we learned in birthing classes. Maybe this weekend was a test run for later this summer when baby girl arrives? I definitely have been rid of some of my fears of things to happen during labor after this weekend and was able to see my husband's strength and companionship.

Happy first Father's Day Mike! We love you!

My Favorite Yellow Dress

The other day I was at my parents' house and my mom and I looked through my baby box to see if there was anything we may want to use for baby girl (for sentimental value of course). We found some pretty funny stuff in the box – school projects from 1st and 2nd grade that include some people I'm still friends with today! Unfortunately anything with elastic just didn't hold up, but we did find a white bonnet, shiny black mary jane shoes, denim overalls and this adorable yellow dress that my mom made for my birthday. (Is this my 1st or 2nd birthday, mom? It's hard to tell because I just never had any hair.)

My mom is great at sewing, something I never seemed to master quite like her, and she made quite a few of my dresses when I was younger. I still remember every Sunday at church people would ask me if my mom made my dress and when I said yes, they were always impressed. This yellow sundress was definitely one of my favorites along with the plaid Christmas dress that had a full skirt (so fun to twirl in!) and the blue stripe dress with yellow ducks on it that I ruined while using the roller racers (we found similar fabric for a sundress for baby girl!). I'm so thankful she saved this yellow dress though. It is still in great shape so we decided to hang it up in baby girl's room. It fits perfectly with everything and I wish I could share a picture, but we are so close to having the room done and Mike says no more pictures until it is completely done. :) So, I guess stay tuned for nursery pics in the next few weeks!

It's scary to think that this dress is now considered vintage, isn't it?!

P.S. We totally missed the belly pic at 28 weeks. Looks like we'll just wait until 30 weeks! :)

Summer Reading List

If my mom is reading this, she's probably thinking, WHAT?! She has always loved reading and I have not been as much into it. I love reading blogs, articles and magazines, but reading books for fun has never been at the top of my list. I hate to admit it, but I'm a tv addict. I love my shows, but lately they have been somewhat boring (maybe its all these horrible summer shows) and I have been enjoying sitting in a quiet room reading a book more so than watching tv. Plus, once baby is here, we want to not have the tv on as much as background noise.

Right now I've been reading mostly birthing and parenting books, but that's not exactly what I want to sit and read by the pool or when trying to relax. So, I'm looking for good book suggestions. I do have a few I've been hearing about and want to check out:

I've seen this one mentioned on multiple summer reading lists and it sounds pretty good. It's about three women who seem to have everyone around them getting married while things in their lives don't seem to be going in the same direction. Even though I'm married and baby is on the way, I think this would be a fun read and give me some perspective on what some of my non-married friends might be feeling...or it would just be entertaining to read, I hear it's pretty humorous.

I love chick lit and The Devil Wears Prada was such a fun read, so I'm hoping this is just as good. I love reading light-hearted books like this...just like I love watching fun, light-hearted chick flick movies. Don't judge me.

Maybe this one can be categorized under parenting books, but I hear it's very interesting and light-hearted. I've been wanting to read this for a while and since we're expecting, it's the perfect time for it.

Any other suggestions??

Restaurants to Try

Over the past few months, Mike and I have been making more of an effort to not only eat healthy, but change our lifestyle into a healthier one. We've switched to cooking nearly every meal at home and I've started buying a lot more produce (I'm working on buying organic for the dirty dozen) and have been trying to switch to non-GMO food. Surprisingly, Costco has some awesome products that have helped us in this switch! For everything else, we stick to Sprouts. I wish we had a Whole Foods and Trader Joe's closer, but Sprouts seems to have everything we need at reasonable prices anyways.

We do allow ourselves a restaurant budget for the month though, but now that we've been eating healthier, we are actually craving that kind of food instead of the heavy processed kind. It's amazing how that happens, isn't it? Usually we go to Pita Jungle, which we love, but there are only so many times you can go there in a month. :) So, I did some research and found a few other places to try soon!

Ok, so we've already been here a few times, but we love it so much! It's called Thrive! and lucky for us it's right next to Mike's gym and the hospital we are delivering at. They just serve smoothies and bowls, so it's not really a restaurant, but it's a great replacement for breakfast, Starbucks, sugary smoothies and ice cream. Everything is dairy-free and they use no added sugars. It's not exactly cheap, but they use a special acai sorbet that is so amazing, plus they have gluten free granola! I'm definitely sending Mike here when we're at the hospital and I can finally eat. :)

A place I've been meaning to try is Pomegranate Cafe in Ahwatukee. Everything on the menu sounds awesome and they have a ton of gluten free options. Reminds me of Pita Jungle, but with different options...exactly what we're looking for!

I also discovered 24 Carrots while searching online and ironically, it's located in Chandler, the same cross streets that I grew up at! It seems somewhat similar to Pomegranate Cafe, but slightly more casual as it is a juice bar too. Definitely need to try this one!

We also like getting out of the east valley area, so I found a few other places a bit further away:
Fair Trade Cafe
Beckett's Table (we went here for my birthday last year and we love it!)
The Herb Box (I went here once for a work lunch, it was delicious and such a cool place)
Green (I've been here a few times, but it's been a while!)
Nami

Any other places you'd recommend we try? :)

Changing Table: Before & After

Mike and I are extremely blessed to have friends and siblings kind enough to give us hand-me-downs for baby girl! One item we received a few months ago was a changing table from Mike's brother and his wife. We knew we needed some kind of changing station downstairs (in addition to the changing station in her room, on her dresser), so this was perfect! Our dining room is a large room that is enclosed on three sides and is right next to the main great room. Our plan was never to use it as a dining room (we don't even have a table in our great room/nook area either!), so we are going to use this is a baby item area/changing area/playroom. We're hoping this will keep the clutter of baby items down to a minimum in the great room.

This changing table was in pretty decent shape and is definitely good quality! Our niece apparently liked the taste of the wood though, so there were some bite marks on the side and the mahogany stain doesn't really fit with the colors in our house. I would have been totally fine with the stain color, but we wanted to figure out a way to cover up the scratches and bite marks anyways...and I have been looking for a project to test out using Annie Sloan chalk paint, so this was the perfect beginner project! Here is the before of the changing table:

Since the chalk paint says for pregnant women not to use it, Mike had to do all the painting. We chose a light gray/blue color that would also work in the nursery for the spice rack shelves and a few other items. Mike did such a great job with it, here is the after:

I'm just so excited about how this project turned out, and now I can't wait to get our cloth diaper stash to organize on the shelves!

Bump Watch: 26 weeks

How Far Along: 26 weeks

Size of the Baby: Eggplant (9.2 in long, 2 lbs)

Sleep: Most nights getting up multiple times. Baby likes to kick at night! I tried a new pregnancy meditation app and had the best night of sleep! Didn't even get up once and woke up feeling refreshed!

Best Moment of the Week: Spending quality time with Mike and the birth class we took at my prenatal yoga studio. Loved it so much!

Anything making you queasy or sick: I tried cutting down my B6 to half a pill and got so sick the next morning. Guess that means I need to stay on the full dose. :-/

Any cravings: Still salad, citrus and fruit! We just discovered a smoothie and bowl place next to the gym (and the hospital we are delivering at, woohoo!). They server gluten free granola in their bowls and everything is dairy free. No sugar added, all whole natural foods made with acai. So delicious!

What I'm looking forward to: Baby shower invites went out this past week and the shower is in less than a month! Looking forward to celebrating this baby girl with friends and family.

What I miss: Believe it or not, workout classes! Mike has started going to a cycling class at the gym and I so wish I could go with him.

Nursery: We just found the perfect yellow lamp for the nursery and hung up the curtain rod. My mom is just finishing the school year, so hopefully soon we will be able to sew the curtains so we can hang other things in the room. We also bought a few other items for the walls. It's really coming together!

Random people have become brave enough now to assume that I am pregnant. I mean, it is pretty clear that's whats going on, but I still think it's pretty brave for people to make assumptions! No belly rubs from strangers yet, but plenty from friends and family...and I love it. :) She's really kicking up a storm now and Mike is able to feel her kicks more and more.

It's also been fun getting questions from my nephew Preston about the baby. He is so intrigued by her and asks a million questions about her. It is so cute! He said hi to the baby and introduced himself to her as Bruce Wayne, haha! He's such a character.

Nursery Updates

Today we ordered a few items for the walls in the nursery! We had a Crate & Barrel gift card, so we went ahead and ordered the oval mirror pictured above and the kraft paper letters that you see sitting on the dresser. I'm excited because I think the mirror will be something that can grow with her. The mirror will go above the rocker and the letters will go above the crib. I guess this means we are somewhat committing to a name?! Still haven't decided if the letters will stay in the kraft paper or get painted white.

I took this picture on my phone a few weeks ago, but sadly there has not been any progress since then. The room has been painted for a while now and we started buying frames for the photo collage above the dresser, but that is pretty much it. All the fabric has come in for the curtains, crib skirt and floor pouf, but my mom and I haven't gotten very far with those projects. We also have the Ikea spice racks that will go above the rocker, to the right of the dresser, but we want to hang up the frame collage first. It's definitely coming together with colors and style, it's just a matter of getting some projects completed. Can't wait to share the finished product! :)

You're a Good Mom

I've seen this post floating around facebook and blogs lately and thought it coincided well with my post on mom judgements. While Mike and I have defined ideas on how we would like to do things as parents, it is not a judgement on others, just what we hope to do for our family and what seems to fit with us. Heck, we may be switching up a few of those ideas once she actually gets here and we find out something isn't working for us. Over the past few weeks I've connected with a different groups, friends and family who have similar paths as to what we are hoping to take. It has helped so much with tuning out the negative comments/advice/feedback about our decisions. Or maybe I'm just developing thicker skin? If you haven't seen this post yet, enjoy and know that you are a good mom because you are providing and caring for your child the best way you can. :)

To the mom who's breastfeeding: Way to go! It really is an amazing gift to give your baby, for any amount of time that you can manage! You're a good mom. 

To the mom who's formula feeding: Isn't science amazing? To think there was a time when a baby with a mother who couldn't produce enough would suffer, but now? Better living through chemistry! You're a good mom.

To the cloth diapering mom: Fluffy bums are the cutest, and so friendly on the bank account. You're a good mom.

To the disposable diapering mom: Damn those things hold a lot, and it's excellent to not worry about leakage and laundry! You're a good mom.

To the mom who stays home: I can imagine it isn't easy doing what you do, but to spend those precious years with your babies must be amazing. You're a good mom.

To the mom who works: It's wonderful that you're sticking to your career, you're a positive role model for your children in so many ways, it's fantastic. You're a good mom.

To the mom who had to feed her kids from the drive thru all week because you're too worn out to cook or go grocery shopping: You're feeding your kids, and hey, I bet they aren't complaining! Sometimes sanity can indeed be found in a red box with a big yellow M on it. You're a good mom.

To the mom who gave her kids a homecooked breakfast lunch and dinner for the past week: Excellent! Good nutrition is important, and they're learning to enjoy healthy foods at an early age, a boon for the rest of their lives. You're a good mom.

To the mom with the kids who are sitting quietly and using their manners in the fancy restaurant: Kudos, it takes a lot to maintain order with children in a place where they can't run around. You're a good mom.

To the mom with the toddler having a meltdown in the cereal aisle: they always seem to pick the most embarrassing places to lose their minds don't they? We've all been through it. You're a good mom.

To the moms who judge other moms for ANY of the above? Glass houses, friend. Glass houses.