Showered with love

A beautiful shower, thrown by beautiful people, on a beautiful day, surrounded by beautiful loved ones, to celebrate my beautiful baby girl to be.

Love my family :)

Decorating and personalizing baby clothes!

Always a few pregos in the house ;)

High school friends

Amazing friends!

Testing...

Yesterday my wonderful husband threw me a surprise birthday party with family and friends. Such a wonderful treat and so nice of everyone to drive to RSM to celebrate. My lovely family got me some great gifts, including a Flip video camera to record the baby! We were testing it out yesterday, so here is our very first video. We actually made this for Brandon's mom so she could see the baby's room all done :)

Abigial's room from Felicia Lykins on Vimeo.

Dr.'s orders...

Saw my Dr. on Wednesday and everything looks great! She said, start thinking about getting a carseat... well, little did she know I was way ahead of her! My lovely mom and dad got me this great travel system, carseat included, and Brandon put it together for me last night. We were practicing folding it up and taking the carseat in and out... o we had fun :) But we LOVE it! Thanks mom and dad!!!

Read and researched

Didn't take me long to go through this book and write some notes about what I would talk to the pediatrician about. I have researched this topic before but I feels very personal now because I want to make sure I am aware and ready for this process to start. Some may think this is not a big deal or have no opinion about it but its definitely worth getting informed about! This is a very unbiased book with great information.

Done and Done

Finally we are done with the baby's room! Big relief! I'm so proud of Brandon for refinishing most of the furniture for me and working hard to get it done.

This was the project that ended up taking me much more time than I had expected but I love the finished product.

Big props to Brandon for finding those perfect green curtains for only a $1 a panel!

Get excited!

Baby bedding has arrived! Okay, so you don't have to get as excited as me but I still thought I'd share this picture of it all put together. I love it so! Thank goodness for Target and their amazing deals on all things baby. You can also see in the picture that cute little table in the corner that I found at a thrift store, Brandon stripped it down and painted white for me. I love the little basket at the bottom, I plan on putting some cute stuffed animals in it. Brandon and I are very happy with the way the room is turning out, especially since we found a great deal of things at thrift stores and refinished ourselves, including a cute little light green shelf that I found at a thrift store today for only $2.99! It was in great condition so I snatched it right up! We have made a pact to finish the room this weekend because next weekend is my shower and I would like everything to be organized before then. So, tomorrow Brandon is painting 2 walls purple, my friend Sam is helping me finish my framing project, and then on Sunday we are hanging everything on the walls and putting everything in its proper place. Pictures will be up soon!

A few fun photos

I work in a building that has many perks, and it just so happens that buy.com is the sister company to the company that I work for, and they have their studio where they film and shoot in my building. The director of buy.com/buy.tv graciously offered to take a few fun pregnancy photos of me in their studio. Such a special treat and a blessing to get these unexpected photos done on just a regular Monday at work. There is many more but they are not yet touched up, so I will be waiting patiently to see the rest.

Lovely Saturday

I love that we live so close to so many beautiful places, including this one, Dana Point harbor. Brandon and I spent a lovely Saturday morning there with Jeter. We got my favorite breakfast craving to-go, Denny's french toast (Yum!), and ate it on the beach. Then we walked with Jeter over to the Wag-A-Thon on Dana Island. Jeter loved all the friendly dogs roaming around. The weather could not have been anymore perfect!

Getting organized

Looks like we forgot to unpack a few things! What we really did was neatly stack these boxes in the spare bedroom closet when we moved and were unpacking, shut the door and just left them in there! I guess we didn't need anything in these boxes. In an effort to organize the baby's room yesterday, I had Brandon drag out all these boxes so I could go through them and condense them down and take anything out that we need, the rest is garage or trash bound. I managed to do a fairly decent job and throw away a lot, and now Brandon just has to take them out to the garage and the baby's closet will be empty! I already feel more organized :)

On another note, my lovely husband is also almost done refinishing all my thrift store and Craigslist furniture for the baby's room. I can't wait to post the finished products! I also can't wait until the dresser is completely done so I can start washing her sweet little clothes and putting them away.

While I was going through all the boxes, I found this little gem that I made for Brandon back in 2005 as an anniversary gift. I love all our young, fun, dating pictures displayed in here.

In the middle of the frame is this poem. It still means as much to me today as it did then.
Love you babe!

Love

Love Easter, love the Lord, love my husband,
love my family, love my baby girl, love my pup, love California.

What a mess!

Poor baby girls room is such a mess. Brandon and I really need to start making this room a priority, otherwise we are going to be trying to paint and organize when she is here. Maybe I should start recruiting some people to come and help me on the weekends... Or I could just keep napping on the weekends like I have been doing. O this room is so daunting to me right now... But what a blessing it is to already have all this beautiful stuff for her! We just have to make it look nicer :)

Need to start putting little newborn things in those cute baskets on the changing table

Definitely need some bedding (which is already on my registry), and you can't tell just by looking at the picture but there are little girl clothes piled up in the crib that need washing and need to be put away in the dresser

Such cute gifts we've already received from friends and family, plus that awesome bag of newborn diapers that was given to us!

Finding the lamp was easy... its painting this cute thrift store table white that is proving to be more of a challenge

Need to get more little baby hangers so I can hang up more clothes, after washing them, of course

What NOT to say...

Maybe its hormones, maybe its me being too self-critical, maybe its them... Whatever it may be, I have become extra sensitive on the subject of my belly. I am in the home stretch now and its very clear that I am pregnant, but for some reason I keep running into people that feel the need to say something about my pregnant belly. It would be great if they had some good or positive things to say, but I have heard, "Wow, you should lay off those donuts", "You are HUGE!", and my favorite, "Are you having twins?" Really people, really?! I am carrying a little human being and I am 7 months pregnant, what am I suppose to look like? So, I have complied a very special list of things not to say to a pregnant woman of any size, I read this list off a great pregnancy article and it truly made me chuckle and think, "Thank goodness, I am not just being paranoid!" Those of you who have had babies will chuckle and nod your heads in agreement and those of you who haven't had babies will get well informed, so feel free to pass the new info along ;)

1) "You look like you're ready to pop!"
---The last thing a very pregnant woman wants to hear is how big she looks. We are already frustrated and tired of being pregnant and reminding us of this isn’t good for anyone. This could potentially turn into an emotional situation that no one wants to be a part of. Might I suggest saying instead, "You look great. How are you feeling?"

2) "Are you sure there aren't twins in there?"
---After a comment like that I would love to say, "What's your excuse? I'm carrying a life!" But instead of lashing out we just feel horrible about ourselves. Women are self-conscious enough as it is and when we're carrying an extra 20 or so pounds its safe to assume that we are extra sensitive about our looks. You can always try the old classic, "Do you know what your having?"

3) "Can I touch your belly?"
---The first thing I want to say to people when they ask this is, "Who the heck are you?" Unless you’re a close relative or friend, this is just awkward. Maybe just try skating by with, "Your belly is so cute."

4) "Enjoy everything now, because once the baby comes, you can kiss it goodbye"
---Well thanks captain obvious for telling me that my life is about to change, as if I already didn't know that. I have had 9 months to think about that. Pregnancy is such an emotional time, so reminding me that I will never enjoy sleep, skinny jeans or a minute alone ever again is not helpful. Why don't you say something like, "Kids are a lot of work, but they are worth it! Enjoy every minute."

5) "You shouldn't be eating or drinking that."
---Well gosh person I hardly know, I am well aware of my food restrictions and limitations, if I have made a conscience decision to eat or drink anything, then that is my business. I know whats best for me and my baby. There is not even a good thing to say instead of this, because bottom line is, I craved it, I'm eating it, and its probably the best food I've had in my mouth all day so leave me alone please. Thanks!

6) "I don't believe in natural childbirth or my wife had a horrible labor"
---Awkward! The only person I need to be talking to about labor and the birthing process is my Dr. so please step away quickly. Enough said.

7) "Are you going to breastfeed?"
---Unless you are my mother or a close friend, there is no need to put this question out in the air. Breastfeeding is completely a personal choice and when the time comes, you will know whats best for you and your baby. No one should make you feel guilty of that, nor is it anyone's business.

There you have it, my very special list of all the things people have actually said to me. Maybe working in a building of 90+ companies has set me up for all those questions, but when in doubt, if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all. Just smile and keep walking, and everyone will have a happier day :)

7 months

Today marks the day of my 3rd trimester! Only 12 more weeks to go! Brandon and I are anxiously awaiting the arrival of our sweet baby girl.

Thank You!

Brandon said it perfectly last night, we are so blessed with all the things we have been able to get for our baby and all the wonderful gifts we have gotten already from our amazing family and friends. Last night Brandon stopped by the Stires household to pick up baby goodies for us! They graciously gave us this super cute bassinet, a bag full of diapers, and a sweet little bouncy seat. We have also gotten baby girl clothes from friends, and Brandon's mom already sent us so many cute girl things, including a beautiful quilt.
To all our family and friends...
THANK YOU!

The test

Glucose that is... this is the test that for some reason scares everyone, probably because if you don't pass this first one, then the next test up sounds awful and time consuming. I decided to go into it with an open mind and just chug the drink, getting it down was no problem, keeping it down, on the other hand, was what I was worried about. It was mind over matter at this point in the appointment to keep this stuff down no matter what! The clock was ticking and I just wanted my hour of waiting to be over so I could rush out of there and get some breakfast. The hour actually went by pretty quickly and then it was off to Starbucks for breakfast as a treat to myself for doing such a great job. Yay Me! :)

In other baby news, I will be in my 3rd trimester at the end of this week and I could not be more excited! The countdown is on until the end of this pregnancy. I just want to hold my baby at this point and I'm anxious for the end. I did get to see one of her tiny limbs poke through my belly last night, first time for that! I feel her move constantly and I see my belly shake and move but this was the first time actually saw a hand or a foot. Definitely something I can't wait to see again!

Cooking

At 4 months...

At 27 weeks...

Still cooking away in the kitchen almost every night. Brandon appreciates home cooked meals still, but I see this phase soon coming to an end because I am starting to get so tired at the end of the long work day.
Only 13 more weeks to go!!!

Busy weekend in pictures

Seems like every weekend is starting to get filled up fast with lots of things to do! Good thing about that is, it will make my last few months of being pregnant fly by (hopefully)! So, here it is, my busy weekend, though pictures!

I wake up to this cute little face every morning, and Saturday morning is no exception :)

Love waking up Saturday mornings and making myself a yummy breakfast that I can actually sit down and enjoy.

Snapped this picture of my sweet little nephew Graham when I went to pick up my sis to head out to a baby shower in Lake Forest

Congratulations Stephanie! Baby shower was beautiful and she looked great!

After the baby shower, off to South Coast Plaza I went to watch my beautiful friend try on wedding dresses!

Returned home fairly late on Saturday night and since Brandon had already eaten dinner, I took this opportunity to stop by IHOP and pick up my favorite crepes for my dinner! Strawberry syrup anyone?! Yum Yum!

Woke up so early Sunday morning to drive to Murrieta to watch Brandon play football at 9am and then head to my parents house for a bbq. Although it was cold in the morning, the weather turned out beautiful for the rest of the day.

Cousin Romina and her lovely boyfriend, Julian, are visiting from Argentina and they surprised me with a baby gift, little tiny pink Vans! So cute!

Graham's first Argentine bbq, he loved it, as you can tell... lol! Sleepy baby bear in my mom's arms.

Me and my fur baby... poor Jeter was wiped out at the end of the day, he jumped up into my arms and fell right asleep. He is one spoiled dog, but we love him :)

There you have it! My looooooong, busy weekend! Now for a full work week ahead... o boy, its only Monday morning and I am already exhausted! Looking forward to another busy weekend ahead, lots of fun things in store!