Goals - 2008

My life is such a whirlwind right now I know it is important for me to post my goals so I don't lose sight of them. So these are my goals for 2008:

• Spend more time with God
• Start attending an adult jazz class at least one day a week
• swim at least one day a week
• walk everyday
• eat as natural and healthy as possible with the occassional splurge
• devote 10 hours a week on discovering new ways to be a better mom, wife, etc.
• try to make my husband feel special/loved/respected everyday
• keep up my appearance and not fall into the "moms who only wear sweats" category
• cook dinner at least 4 nights a week
• eat dinner at the table instead of in front of tv
• completley give up soda
• hang out with someone at least once a week
• finish painting the house by 2009

Thats all I have for now, hopefully I will be able to check this list of next year and be able to take all these things a step further;).

Ali is here!

Born March 3rd at 4:39pm weighing 9lbs 7oz. I did the majority of my laboring at home (thank God!) the warm water makes the contractions so much more tolerable but I was throwing up a lot and couldn't get any water down so I got extremely dehydrated and exhausted so we drove to the hospital and within 45minutes had Ali! With the labor so hard and strenuous on my body I was so thankful it only took 5 pushes to get her out. I am happy to say although she was delivered at the hospital it still was as natural as possible. She is a very healthy baby girl with incredibly chubby cheek. I feel reminiscent of Mary Poppins when I say she is "practically perfect in every way";).

We are transitioning pretty well, besides the sleep thing. We didn't sleep at all the night before she was born so we are still trying to catch up from that but we are working out a pretty nice system and I am so thankful for Alex to be working from home for a while to help. This whole experience was such a blessing to me. During my labor two of my most wonderful girlfriends where there to help me keep my mind off of the pain and basically just be there for me which meant the world to me, thanks Jenna and Christin! People came and where cleaning our house, which I admit actually stressed me out more than anything...I have a system...but all the same it was such a blessing to see how many people were there for us during this time and even after having to go to the hospital all my nurses where incredible.

I was blown away by how much easier they made it for me.And even now as we are home we are constantly getting offers for help which if you know me real well you know that it's hard for me to accept help and I usually turn it down but now I don't have much of a choice and I gladly welcome these angels with open arms! I cannot express in words how satisfying it is to see her little face finally and how proud I am that she is mine. As soon as I am able to be up and about again I will take a zillion photos so you all can enjoy her cuteness;).

Also see Alex's blog;)

I know, I know...

It's been a while since I've posted here. I ran out of steam, the move, the growing baby in my tummy, all of it, I couldn't update anymore...

But now we are in the house, we are planning what paint colors to use which room to furnish first, etc...it's exciting. Whats even more exciting, Ali is due in 2 weeks, thats right 2 weeks, and if she comes early she will have the happiest parents alive! Not only do we love her so much it will be an absolute joy just to hold her tiny frame in our arms and shower her kisses but it will also mean I can move and bend again. All of our cupboards on the floor are empty;) due to the fact that if I were to sit on the floor there would be no getting back up, that would be it, the rest of my days spent on the floor...My baby has officially dropped so low that I can barley bend, even to sit...I'm sure if I were having a small baby it probably wouldn't be so inhibiting but the reality is Alex and I are both over the average height for our sexes and we were both pretty large babies ourselves. Both from our midwives measurements and the sheer weight of my womb we know she is already big, big enough to be born that is for sure. I'm hoping this fact will mean she will not find herself too comfortable in there and will realize she's better off on the outside and NOT join the 24% of babies who go past their due date...So far everyone I know who's due date was similar or near mine has their baby already...it makes it very hard to be patient.

I think the thing that we fine most humorous about my size and discomfort is trying to lay down in bed, due to the impossibility of sitting before lying down I must plop down on the bed in exactly the lying down position, so you must think to yourself how does she get up out of bed, well due to necessity, I've mastered the art of sheer willpower. As I stick my chubby swollen toes and my hands straight out from underneath the covers until they are out of bed and my feet have landed on the floor, yet my body is still not bent mind you it is a feet I've had to learn to get up use the bathroom a zillion times during the night. I've thought about making a cot right next to the bathroom for easier access but I've learned the routine pretty well, as long as I leave nothing on the floor, I am ok.

I just read yesterday that Christina Aguilera had scheduled a C-Section for week 37, I'm starting to think what a very smart move and if I weren't so passionate about having a water birth and it happening as naturally as possible I would have made the same decision. As I am in week 38 and ready to cut her out myself....everyday we try raspberry tea, walking around the neighborhood, and anything else we can find that will possible help "trigger" labor. So far we have triggered 1 false alarm, which was very disappointing...Today I might go for a swim, we'll have to see how I'm feeling. My body has been in rest mode, I think mostly due to the fact that sleep has become a luxury now with the increase of heartburn and hip pain and I read somewhere that before labor your body goes into rest mode to prepare you for the long haul of labor...

And here comes that nasty heartburn again to steal my sleep, well I think I'll try to drink a glass of milk and plop back into bed, wish me luck!

We've moved!

So we are in our new home! Yay! Still sick...not so yay...We are still getting stuff out of our apartment but most of everything is at the house already. We have till Feb 1st to get everything out of the apt. and cleaned, luckily it was so small it was easy to keep pretty clean. Now I have this big house to keep clean. It's pretty daunting but we don't have a lot of stuff so hopefully we'll be able to live mostly clutter free.

It's surprisingly hard to get used to so much living space when you've lived in apartments for the majority of your life, but as we get unpacked it becomes more personalized it's really cool. I'm very excited to see how Ali's room is going to look when it's all finished. Alex and my brother started painting it and now we just need to put together the crib and get it all decorate. Very exciting! I can't wait to start nesting. It will be so nice when I'm not sick anymore, and Ali is here and I don't bump into walls with my belly, lol! Oh and being able to bend over and touch my toes will be nice too;).

In other words, we are so ready for her. About 4 weeks, I will technically be full term...which means she can come at anytime, I just hope she's not super late...I'm not sure I can go too much longer, it is so much physical strain, it is pretty amazing that God made our bodies to withstand this process...I don't think anyone really can grasp it fully until they've been through it, the ways your skin stretch and changes, just holding up my pre pregnancy clothes makes me wonder how I ever fit into them, but then I remember I didn't always have this giant tummy;). Well thats my update for now.

Please Pray...

We have one day left to finish cleaning the house and getting it ready to move into and we are sick and exhausted and then tomorrow we have to move all of our furniture. Pray for health for our bodies please and pray that we get enough help with moving so we don't kill ourselves and pray that we get an oven that works.

Thanks!

Oh my Goodness!

So the house is officially ours! I was about ready to rip out our Realtors throat but it all worked out and he brought us a nifty clock...They wouldn't give us our keys until like 5pm today but the house was funded yesterday...all the papers were signed...I think they just wanted to dangle it in front of us one last time like playing catch with a dog, "am I gonna throw the ball now? nope." I was about to get rabid, lol! But like I said, it's done. The house is ours. It's official! We move in on Saturday! Craziness huh?

We spent a few hours this evening cleaning, we got a good amount done, now we have the other half to do, lol! and some touch up paint, and shampooing the carpet, etc. hopefully it will be done by Saturday. Tomorrow Alex and I are going to Ikea to get some shelves because our kitchen has no pantry...I'm excited we always have fun at Ikea! Well, I'm probably covered in dust so I need to go get clean. I'll update more later, ta ta for now.

Baby Shower!

So we had our baby shower this weekend! Boy was it tiring but so much fun! I can't believe how many people came! We were so blessed! I was going to plan this baby shower my self and my friends stepped in and saved the day, it was truly awesome!

Thanks so much to Suzie, Jenna, and Christy! You women rocked my socks off! You truly made my baby shower happen! I love you guys!

We got so blessed with gifts for baby Ali! She is going to be well taken care of! Also the diaper raffle was such a good idea! We have so many diapers!

And my friend Kristen made the yummy punch! Thanks Kristen! It was cute, pink to go in the red punch bowl. I loved it, we almost ran out! People were drinking punch like they lived in the desert, lol!
People always say to go to Costco to get a cake but Costco has nothing on Sams Club, they made the cake exactly how i wanted it and it tasted delicious. We decided to blow up our baby pics for decoration (mines on the left his is on the right).
These were the favors I made, life savers! They were really easy and fun to do, the girls came over and helped put them together. See the cute little lady bug! Overall my baby shower was beautiful and fun and it was so nice to see how many people came to bless us and Ali. Thank everyone!

Another Update...

It seems these days it's always update after update, no deep thoughts on life, no notes on pondering the wonders of the world, well hopefully pretty soon we'll get some of that back. For now, I have another update, which should be followed shortly by yet another update.

I am now 7 months pregnant! Can you believe it? It's almost over! She is getting huge! I've started to notice a trend of when she is doing some heavy duty growth spurts I get extremely exhausted and want to nothing but eat and sleep. So, now comes my baby shower, which I'm very excited for, some of my dear friends have been helping or have volunteered to help and it has been a huge load off my shoulders, there for a minute I thought I was on my own for this one. I'm very excited about the theme, Lady Bugs! I'll have to post pictures afterwards. I know it's going to be so cute! I'm so excited to just have everyone together and celebrate Ali coming and have a little party for her. We are so ready for her to be here! March 10th...and counting...

We should find out tomorrow about the loan for the house, so that is very exciting! I am so ready to get in that house and start preparing it for us and for Ali! It will be so nice to have space to stretch out in and have a place to call home, a place we know we'll be in for years to come. It really is an amazing thing. Our Realtor and our lady at Country Wide have been absolutely fabulous to us bending over backwards and helping us anyway they can. It's been a rollercoaster of a process but well worth it! We have all appliance but an oven! Ahhh! But I'm not freaking out, I'm sure we'll find one eventually, I swear all the used ones are almost as pricey as the new ones. Until then I guess we'll just grill all our food, lol!

I guess thats it for this update, I'm sure there will be more very soon!