Baby Shower No. 3

My sister Alyssa threw me my third and final baby shower. It was amazing!!!! My sister is an amazing party planner/thrower and they always go off with a hitch. First, back in April I bought two dresses to wear to my baby showers. There was the pink flower one that I purchased for Lauren's and then a black and white polka dot dress for Alyssa's. As everyone knows I love surprises, so Alyssa kept everything about my shower a secret until the invitations went out.

When I received my invitation I knew it was going to be a great shower as she requested that everyone wear black and white attire!!!! I called her immediately to ask her if she knew that my dress was black and white polka dots. She said she didn't and we were both so excited and knew this shower was meant to be a success.


Alyssa hosted the shower at well known restaurant in Tempe called The House of Tricks. For anyone out there that is reading this blog, both me and my sister recommend hosting a shower of some sort at a restaurant. I don't know how much more expensive it is to host one there rather than at your house, but it is so much better!!!!


Anyway, as I said before the theme of the party was black and white. Alyssa got the idea from the black and white cookies at that bakery from New York called Crumbs. She even called Crumbs in NY to see if they could send some b&w cookies from NY, but they weren't able to. However, she found a NY style bakery right here in Phoenix that makes b&w cookies. So her plan was saved! Also, in the centerpieces she printed little pictures of my maternity session with Teddy. They were super cute. Here is a picture of the table...

My shower was on the 12th of June, which was when I should have taken my 8th month picture. Unfortunately, this is only one that was taken and it is blurry. But at least you can kind of see my b&w dress and the belly.


















Here I am with my cousin Jenny. She is my mom's niece and I am really excited that I have a picture of her to post on the blog!!!

Here is a picture of some of my friends and family at the shower. From the left going clock wise, my friend from Church Jean Ginsbauch, my Aunt Judy, cousin Jacquie, cousin Julie, cousin Jenny, me, and my friend Mary. I met Mary when I started working at the court house 7 years ago!!! I can't believe we have been friends for this long!!!!

I actually told Alyssa about this game when she was planning a shower for one of her co-workers. It is bottle bowling and a lot of fun!!!! Well I didn't end up playing it, but it sure looked fun. You line up 10 bottles and then bowl with rolled up diapers. It is so clever!!!!

Here is a picture of my Aunt Lara taking a shot at bowling.

Everyone did such a great job, but it was my cousin Michelle that took the prize home after she knocked down all 10 bottles with a spare!!!!

Now on to the good stuff!!! Here is a picture of a few of the gifts.

Everyone was so generous. Both Teddy and I are so thankful for everything that people gave us. We can't believe how many diapers we were given!!!! It is a life saver...well until she is born and we actually start using them!!!!

Of course, people get creative when it comes to gifts. Well my Aunt Lara is going to make baby announcements for us, and this is how she told us. She made a picture with the crib and the Manni doll. It is so clever!!!!

This next gift actually brought me to tears. When I was given the gift, it was in a green Chinese food box without a card. The tag said something about following in mom's footsteps and when I opened the box....It was a Hanson onesie and bib!!!! Yes, that is right, it brought me to tears!!! I can't wait to see her in them!!!

I also want to give a shout out to my cousin Michelle for making the onesies that she gave the baby. I don't have pictures of them now, but will post some pictures of the baby in them when she arrives. Michelle didn't say anything at the shower and I didn't realize it until I got home, so I wanted her to get the proper recognition because they are super cute!!!!

Fred Flinstone????

So I am 8 months pregnant and I have just started to swell in my feet and hands. I can't wear my wedding ring and I have a really hard time wearing my shoes. I know it is only temporary and to be honest it isn't too bad. It hurts every once in a while, but it goes away so it is easy to deal with. Sometimes I don't even notice until someone points it out.

Well the first week it happened was when our temperature in Arizona reached over 100 degrees. It is so hot outside!!! I drink plenty of water, but apparently I am just meant swell until this little bundle of joy decides to come out. The best part of having your feet swell is you can laugh and make jokes. Like this picture of the first day of swelling...my feet look like Fred Flinstone's feet.

You can't see my ankle bones!!!! I will try to take more pictures, but man this cracks me up. I am speaking honestly when I say it isn't that bad. I try to swim 2-3 times per week to help with the swelling and it does help. The only complaint I have is how sore my ankles are. They didn't hurt until the swelling started, but I honestly don't know how obese people handle it. If my ankles hurt this bad with me being pregnant and having a temporary swelling and weight gain, how do their ankles feel?

Disability

I have to tell this story but it needs a little explanation before I start. My husband can't see without contacts or his glasses. He has terrible eyesight. He actually wanted to be a fighter pilot but knew he wouldn't make it because of his eyes. I am not sure how else you would know this without me telling you, but I find it to be hilarious when he takes his contacts out. I call them his eyes, because he literally can't see in front of him. When he looks at his phone without his contacts he has to hold it right up to his eyes to see it. Why it is so funny is because he calls it a disability. Whenever I tease him, he always says I am cruel because I tease and make fun of people with disabilities. I am cracking up just writing this. OK, now for the real story...

Because my belly is getting bigger Teddy has started tucking me in at night. No I am not 5 years old, but he will come in the room and help me get my pillows situated before I go to sleep. This night in particular I asked him to get me a glass of ice water. As I was waiting in bed, I heard these noises coming from the kitchen. I got out of bed to see what was going on and Teddy was standing at the refrigerator picking ice up off the floor. He said that he couldn't see that the glass was upside down and all the ice kept falling all over the place. I don't think I have ever laughed that hard....

Dreams Do Come True

Like many of you I am on Twitter. Many times I have thought about deleting my account because sometimes Twitter is just glorified texting. But this day, I started to believe in Twitter more now than I ever had before.

It was just a normal Wednesday afternoon and I was sitting at my desk working. I looked at my phone and noticed that I had received a text message. I looked at it and it was a Tweet from Hason. Yet, I said Hanson. The boy group that sings Mmmmbop. The Tweet said that they would be on Mix969 in an hour. For a second I sat there and wondered where that is. Just the day before they had tweeted that they were in New Mexico, and I thought to myself how wonderful it would be if they came to Arizona and saw them driving down the freeway or something like that.

So I decided to Google Mix969. I knew that there was a radio station here in Phoenix with those call letters, but I really didn't think it would be here. Well, it was here!!!! I went on Mix 96.9's website and confirmed that Hanson was going to be in the studio!!! You honestly have no idea how excited I was...so I mapquested the address for the station and figured out that it was only 15 minutes away from my work. I also added the phone number for the station to my phone.

When 4:30 hit, I ran out of the office so that I could try to meet Hanson at the radio station. I finally found the station and waited outside. It was really hard because I was 7 months pregnant and I had to pee so bad...but I held out. Finally, after waiting for almost an hour I drive around the studio for the 7th time and pull up next to these 10 girls that were waiting the whole time I was. So I asked them if they were waiting for Hanson and if I could wait with them. Well, they were!!!!

About 30 minutes later they walked out of the radio station and I couldn't believe my eyes!!!! I was so excited I shouted out loud. As it turned out the other girls that were at the station had already met them, so they let me cut the line to get a few pictures.

Here I am with Taylor Hanson, the middle brother, and in my opinion the hottest one of all three.

Here I am with Taylor and Issac. Man are they good looking boys. Zach was already in the van so I couldn't get a picture with all three.

The whole reason Hanson was in Arizona was to promote their new album Shout It Out. They were on what they called a Detour, where they traveled from Oklahoma to different cities around the U.S. promoting their album in a 15 person van driven by them. They go to different cities appear on television shows, you might have seen them on Jay Leno and Lopez Tonight, and then put on a listening party. The one in Arizona was held at the Tempe Beach Park. So Teddy took me there to spend a little more time and possibly get a picture with all three of them.

Here is their van with a banner that says Hanson. Now what I didn't know, and I kind of have to make fun of them a little, is that they were going to play their c.d. out of the speakers of the van. If I had known that, I would have asked Teddy to bring a few speakers and subwoofer along with us. Okay, enough with the jokes.

Now, for some reason Hanson is friends with Frankie Munez from Malcolm in the Middle. Now I took this picture, because he is a celebrity, and to show you the shirt that I was wearing. This is a t-shirt that Teddy bought me at the Hanson concert I went to 2 years ago. I squeezed my pregnant but into this shirt...and this is the result.

Now the fun begins, here I am with Issac. The oldest brother. I am not sure what he said to me here, but apparently it was pretty exciting!

Here we are posing with his signature on my belly.

Here I am again with Taylor. He signed it to the baby :)

Hopefully people can see why I think he is so handsome.

The third brother Zach doesn't like crowds very much. He pretty much stayed away for as long as he could. But not long enough because on the way to take a group shot with all the people that came to the listening party I snagged him for a quick signature on my shirt. Zach was too fast for Teddy to get a picture.

Can you find me in this picture? It is like Where's Waldo ;)

On the way back to the van I make a dash for Taylor and I ask him if I can get a picture with all three of them. He was hesitant at first, but I pulled the baby card. I told him that I needed to have a picture with all three of them so that she would know who signed the shirt while she was in my belly. I don't pull the pregnancy card often, but I couldn't help but use it now. Like I said before, Hanson rarely does a picture with all three of them together. I am not sure why considering they are the whole band, but it was worth asking. Taylor told me that if I couldn't get all three of them together then they would take the picture. I told him that I would be waiting by the van.

I am not too sure how I got back to the van that fast, but I did. I waited by the passenger doors for all three of them to get there and sure enough...it worked!!! Here I am with all three of the boys. They were so nice to do this...

This was truly one of the best days of my life and I have crossed something off my bucket list. The best part is they are coming back to Phoenix in September for a concert. I can't wait!!!!

And to prove that I have all three signatures, here is a picture of my shirt :) I am going to frame it and put it above the t.v. ha ha ha, Teddy wouldn't care for that too much. But I am going to frame it.

Baby Shower No. 2

I think I had mentioned this before, but I started a new job in December. It was a big transition, but this firm took a chance on hiring me and has been more than nice to me during my pregnancy. The best part is that all of the people are excited about the baby!!! So the ladies at the office threw me a shower! It so much fun and again, everyone was so generous!!!

One of the other paralegals picked the decorations for the shower. The little white papers on the table are quotes about little girls. The sad part about that is she couldn't even make it to the shower. She had a meeting with some experts and she wasn't able to get out of it. :( I felt so bad for her but I enjoyed the decorations very much.

For food every one brought in a delicious dish!!! One of the attorneys introduced me to a jalapeno and cilantro hummus. It is amazing!!!!!!!!!

Here is a group shot. Everyone was sharing strories of their husbands while they were giving birth. They were pretty funny!!!!

Now it is time for the good stuff...the gifts!!!

Several people around the office pitched in and got us the basinet we registered for. It is beautiful and I love it!!!!

Here is her first bathing suit!!! It is super cute. Teddy isn't too sure of it because it is a two piece, but it is still cute!!!!

While we were enjoying the presents we got word that our firm won its first trial!!!! That is a great result for our firm as we are just starting out and need to start making a name for ourselves.

Then it was time for the rest of the good stuff...cake!!! First, I love cake. Second, I love red velvet cake. Third, it is a bundt cake.

Needless to say, it was a great shower...

Baby Shower No. 1

On May 8th Roni and Lauren (Teddy's Mom and sister) threw me a great baby shower!!! There were cute games, an amazing cake, wonderful guests, and cute gifts!!!! Here are a few pictures of the day :)

Lauren thought of a cute game where people had to guess different white powders. I played the game, not to win of course, and ended up only missing two!!!! Here is a picture of my best friend Lizzie with powder on her nose.

Lizzie had her little girl on April 9th and named her Tyanna. Here is Alyssa holding her...she is so little...

Now this is one of my favorite gifts as it is both cute and clever!!! Teddy’s Aunt Dolores is a Girl Scout Leader and I made the comment to her a few months ago about how mad I was at Teddy for not letting me order more Thin Mints. I loved them before I was pregnant and then I loved them even more. Plus they freeze so well that I like to keep a few boxes in the freezer for a rainy day. Anyway, she remembered!!!

The cookies are for me and the bib is obviously for Manni...But isn’t it cute? I didn’t even know they made things like that!!!!

After the shower we got together for some family pictures.

Here are the Aunts (Mindi, Lauren, Alyssa)

Here is a picture of Aunt Lauren and Grandma Wright

The Grandmas (Christy and Roni)

And the Grandmas and Great Grandmas (Great Grandma Carmen, Grandma Christy, Grandma Roni, and Great Grandma Dora)

Everything turned out great and we were given so many nice and wonderful things.

7 Months

Wow, it sure has been a while since I last updated my blog. Sorry about that. Well a lot of things have happened....

We found out that Teddy's parents will be moving from VA to Tucson at the end of June. Both Roni and I are very releaved that they only have a 2 hour drive to the hospital instead of an 8 hour flight!!!! It just so exciting that David was able to find a job at the Davis Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson and they were able to get them both out here well before the baby's due date!!! Now all of our immiate family lives in the same state! Very exciting!

We had another ultra sound this month to look at the size of the baby. The ultrasound tech said she is right on schedule, give or take 2-3 weeks. Since we know the date of conception, I think she will be two weeks late.

Teddy's parents were in town last week and they were so generous to the baby! Roni noticed that the crib set we registered for was on clearance and picked-up some sheets, mobile, and lamp to finish decorating the room. I guess the set isn't discontinued, but no one told me....Anyway, while the ladies were out shopping the guys were back working on the nursery. David and Teddy finished the chair rail and a few days earlier Roni and David finished painting the room and closet!!! It looks so cute. There are a few more things that I want to get done before I post anymore pictures.

Well, that seems to be it...oh wait...here are recent pictures of my belly :)

Sprinkles and the Floor

On Sunday I attended Charlie's birthday party. It was fun and Lindsay had good food for the humans. She had Serrano's Mexican trays and Sprinkles cupcakes. I have never heard of Sprinkles before but I will never forget them. As you all know, I LOVE cupcakes. This is something that I have been almost obsessed with since I became pregnant. Anyway, Charlie and Lindsay were nice enough to let me take a Peanut Butter cupcake home with me for a little snack.

I had a BBQ to go to at my friend Jacob's house, so I wrapped the cupcake in a napkin and took it with me. I even brought it inside so it wouldn't melt. Hey, I am pregnant so I can get away with things like that. Okay, I digress.....When I got home from the BBQ I relaxed in my new recliner and then decided it was time to have that cupcake. Then the worst thing happened....

I was just about to take a bite when I lost control of the cupcake and it fell out of hand and landed right on on my floor. It was a loud splat and chocolate frosting and sprinkles went everywhere. I was so upset...I stood there for a few minutes and just stared down at the horrible scene.

The worst part was that I ran out of floor cleaner so our kitchen floor hasn't been mopped in while so I had to throw the whole cupcake away. Otherwise, I would have done the 5 second rule. Even though I don't much follow that rule now that I am pregnant. Food on the floor doesn't appeal that much to me anymore.

I should have taken a picture so you guys could see just how bad it was....but it is better if I don't have any physical proof of what happened. It is bad enough that the events of that horrible accident keep popping into my head.....

Tattoos

As many of you know, the NBA Playoffs are getting ready to start. I am just soooo excited...that was a little sarcastic but somewhat true because the Suns are in the playoffs this year. Wouldn't it be exciting if they went to the Finals because there will be a parade. Teddy would be so excited if he actually got to go downtown for the parade!!!!! Lets hope that Manni doesn't decide to come around the same time!!!!

Anyway, now that the playoffs are starting up I have been exposed to the "Bird Man" Chris Anderson of the Denver Nuggets. I am just so disgusted with him. I don't understand why professional athletes have to cover themselves in tattoos. Not even just athletes, any professional should never have a tattoo that can be seen by other co-workers, fans, clients, etc. I have tattoos and I can guarantee you that my employer has no idea. I expose them when I want and to whom I want. Which isn't the whole world.

To show that I am not biased, I have also included a picture of Amare Stoudemire from the Phoenix Suns. I just don't understand why they have to have so many or why they have to be exposed the whole time. If I was the commissioner I would make them over their arms and necks.

There is another player on the Nuggets team that has lips on his neck. Just gross and inappropriate.

6 Months

Here are my 6 month pictures:

And what would the blog be without a photo montage of the past three months???? I can't believe I am only 14 weeks away from my due date!!!!!! Oh, just an FYI, the belly pictures are usually taken right before I go to bed. That is why my hair and eyes look the way they do. Well, my hair always looks like crap, but my eyes are particularly little because I am tired. Just wanted to throw that out there if it had ever crossed your mind.

Nats 2

To continue my story about Nats...I hadn't seen any in since the last time I had killed one. Until today...I was using the facilities and when I looked down there was a Nat on my leg!!!!!! I couldn't believe it. I swatted it off my leg and looked around to see where it was on the floor so I could kill it. I finally saw it and it was on the base of the toilet bowl. When I turned around to smoosh it...it was gone!!!!

Was it all my imagination? Am I being haunted by the ghosts of Nats that I have killed???? What does all this mean???

Happy Easter!!!!

For Easter Manni received two presents. One was from Grammie and Don Viejo (Roni and David). It is an elephant rattle that has the crinkle ears. It is super cute.

The second is from Grandma (Christy)...the crib set!!! It so cute and I am so excited I can't wait for Manni to see it.


You will notice that there is a blue teddy bear in the crib. Well, that teddy bear belongs to Teddy (no pun intended :) ) Teddy had that bear since he was little and actually took a picture with it. When Manni turns 1 we are going to have her wear pink cortezes and hold the bear just like Teddy did.

Nats

I have sent out a few twitters about this but I thought I would write about it. I have seen a million Nats around. It is the weirdest thing. There were only a few around the house because I had let a plant die and they came around before I had a chance to throw it away. Of course I have seen them outside with all the wonderful blooming plants and bushes. But the weirdest thing is that I see them in the bathroom at work. It is so weird. I ended up killing one and then another one showed up and I killed that one. To prove that I am not going insane, here is a picture of the Nat after I killed it.


What does it mean???????

Manni's Room

Here is another update of Manni's room. Teddy has done an amazing job!!!! Before I went to bed, the room looked like this.
















And when I woke up, it looked like this:
























Teddy bought a special tool that helps you make straight lines. It looks really good; however, we are getting a chair rail to go around the room, so this is the only time you will get to see how straight the line is.

The room is really coming together and it is looking super cute!!!!

Crumb

This past week Howard Stern was on vacation so I listened to Rosie O'Donnell's radio show on Sirius. Sometimes it is pretty weird, but for the most part it isn't that bad. For some reason, Rosie was giving away gift cards to this bakery in NY called Crumb. They are famous for their cupcakes and black and white cookies. It just so happened that my sister was in NY last week and she made a trip to Crumb, only to find out they were out of b&w cookies. I am not sure what my sister did, but I looked up the website and I am obsessed with the cupcakes. I spent my whole lunch hour today looking at all the different types. There is a reason for that later....You might find this odd, but Howard Stern has Cupcake Wednesdays where someone brings in treats from Crumb and people actually get in arguments over them I actually asked my sister to put in a special order to be shipped to my house. They only have a few locations and they are in CA, PA, NJ, and NY. So if I want something from Crumb, I would have to order it online. I am not sure I would be able to spin that to Teddy, even if the "baby" wanted the cupcakes...

Anyway, I was doing okay with the obsession until this morning. I picked out my outfit and looked in the mirror and realized that I look just like a cupcake myself. So all day all I could think about were the Crumb Cupcakes. That is why I spent my lunch hour eating a salad and looking at cupcakes. Well you take a look at the Crumb website http://www.crumb.com/ and then at what I wore and tell me that you wouldn't think of a Crumb cupcake every time you looked at me...

Swelling and San Francisco

This past weekend was my firt experience with swelling. I have been pretty lucky so far in my pregnancy, but I have a feeling that as it gets hotter I am going to swell more often. This past week it went to 80 degrees overnight. I am not complaining as it was very nice outside, but my body wasn't prepared. As Teddy and I were headed out on Friday to a game night I looked down to put my shoes on and I realized that I didn' have ankles. It was the craziest thing to see. As the weekend continued, the swelling moved up to my hands! It really hurt to have my rings on when I slept, so I would take them off to give my hands a break. I increased my water, I normally drink a minimum of 64 ounces of water a day, so I am not sure how much I had this weekend! When I woke up this morning, I had ankles and my hands looked normal!!! I just can't wait for the pool to get a little warmer so I can start floating in the water when get home from work ;)

You are probably wondering what the heck San Francisco is about in the title. Well, I am going to tell you; however, not without a explanation. I read once that you should be careful what you tell people about your pregnancy. Mainly because people don't want to know everything. Even if they ask you, it is usually just to be nice. So I generally try to be discreat with information, unless you are my mom, Teddy's mom, or my sister. Well this next story isn't that bad...but might make you look at me and hopefully laugh.

The one side affect that I have noticed it this pregnancy is that my feet sweat so much more than they ever have beore. Even when I wear sandles they sweat. And with sweaty feet come stinky feet. It is something that I have been trying to control. I really wash my feet almost twice a day. At night when I get home and in the morning when I am in the shower. But that isn't even the worst or explain San Francisco.

For Christmas my mom gave me a pair of flat black shoes from Payless. They are so comfortable and versitable. I just love them. The only problem is that I wore them without socks and Payless shoes are not made to be worn without socks. Once you do it, they are damaged goods and there is no way to fix them...So that is how San Francisco came about...

Tonight, my cousin Michelle brought me a pregnancy pillow that she used when she was pregnant with the twins. I got to the house a little before Michelle did and I took my black shoes off in the garage because they stink by the end of the day. I was very appreciative that Michelle drove all the way over to bring me the pillow, but I didn't have time to wash my feet. It was dinner time for Molly and Nicholas so we all decided to go to Gallaghers for dinner. It was a lot of fun hanging out with Michelle and the twins...but when Teddy and I got back in the car it smelled like my feet. I know, I know...it's bad. I apologized to Teddy and he only replied with "It's just San Francisco." I asked him what that meant, and he said that he would call me San Francisco for SF aka Stinky Feet...

I guess I could have a worse nickname ;)