Little Rock Baby Shower

This weekend, some good friends from home threw me a shower in Little Rock. The food and decorations were fabulous. A special shout out to Katie Cooper who couldn't be there, but still made the most amazing cupcakes E-V-E-R. It was so good to see everyone and catch up since I don't get home as often as I would like. Tara and Eric were nice enough to host the shower at their house. We got to meet their daughter Olivia, who is adorable and sweet as can be. We at least remembered our camera this time around, however, I didn't really get any pictures together with everyone. Here are the pictures that we did get. Thanks MG for being the photographer, even though you turned your nose up at our point and shoot camera!


Ryan wanted me to hold the baby to see how I acted. I guess he was trying to test me. Not sure what he was going to do if I didn't pass his test. It's a little late now! So here's a picture of me looking very uncomfortable holding Olivia.

Here's Eric, Ryan, and Erin's daughters Maddie and Mo.

Celeste with the awesome wreath that she "threw together" for us.

Ryan modeling a lovely watermelon outfit.

Tara, Anna, Erin, Celeste, and Doug (holding Olivia)

It's a girl sign from Cookie and Marc.

Cookie, Sam, Ryan and I.
Blanket handmade by Sam!


Thank you again to Anna, Tara, Celeste, Katie and Cookie for a great shower! I'm so lucky to have such amazing friends and family.

Week 34 - Cankles and More!

6 weeks left and counting... Isla is now about the size of a pineapple and weighs around 5-1/2lbs. She has been very active this week. Her movements feel more like pushes and rolls than sharp jabs now. However, whenever she hits my ribs that is still a pretty sharp pain! I've been doing kick counts each day where I make sure she kicks or moves 10 times within an hour. She usually passes the test well before the hour mark, especially if I do it right after I eat.

Sleeping is still uncomfortable, but not as bad now that I have the new pillow. As the title of the post states, the cankles have arrived! Oddly enough, this was the one symptom that I was really hoping I wouldn't get. They have been coming and going for the past few weeks. The swelling would usually go down after I slept or elevated my feet. Nothing really helps now. It doesn't really hurt, but my feet feel tight and it just looks really gross. For anyone who doesn't know what cankles are, here you go...

I saw the doctor on Monday and everything went well. Isla's heartbeat was good and all of my stuff - weight, blood pressure, etc checked out ok. I have another appointment next Monday. On Tuesday night, I am taking a breast feeding class at St. Luke's. I'm hoping this will help mitigate some apprehension I'm having. I've read a few books, but it still seems very overwhelming.

Dreamgenie pillow

Quick update: Evie is also enjoying the pregnancy pillow.



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Nursery and Week 32

Just finished week 32! Only 8 weeks left to go! That seems so soon and we are starting to get a little nervous for when Isla makes her arrival. I went to the doctor on Monday and everything seems to be going along just fine. Isla's heartbeat was strong and my blood pressure, weight, etc. was ok. The doctor confirmed that I passed my blood glucose test so I don't have to do the three hour one! It was a quick visit and now I have to start going every other week instead of monthly.

Sleep wise, things have not been going well. I am getting less and less sleep. It is just really hard to get comfortable. Even when I do get comfortable, it doesn't stay that way for long and I wake up. I did buy a new body pillow that has been helping. The latest one is the dreamgenie. I would recommend it to anyone who doesn't want a huge pillow that takes up half the bed. There are a lot of pregnancy pillows out there. I bought the Snoogle awhile back and it works ok, but I usually end up throwing it off the bed at some point during the night.

So for the nursery...

We put some finishing touches on the nursery this weekend. Here's a before pic when it was still our office (please excuse the mess).

Here are a few during pictures:

We used a bead board wallpaper and put up a chair rail that we painted to match the trim.

Here is the chandelier we purchased at Home Depot.

Furniture , Bona Vita Peyton Collection,purchased at Treasure Rooms and Kate bedding from Serena and Lily.

Door letters from Lynn's husband Kris!

Our project this weekend was the mirror and shelves. We found the mirror at Home Goods and the shelves at Lowe's. We painted them Laura Ashley Tulip to coordinate with the yellow fabric in the cornice (from a decorator here in NewTown: The Grateful Thread) and I think it turned out well.

The chair we ordered from Nebraska Furniture Mart. We still need some artwork and things for the shelves, but I think we've done all we can for now.

Week 30

So this is my first official blog post on my own blog. I plan on moving all of my previous posts here as well. Unfortunately, I have not been able to keep up with crossfitting over the past 2 months. It just got too hard to try and do most of the moves as well as the fact that the round ligament pain I've been experiencing was just too much. I hope to get back to it as soon as I can after having the baby. These days I can barely take the dogs for a walk without being in pain or having to sit down to rest. It kinda sucks. I've also noticed that bending over, going up the stairs, or just walking to my car in the parking garage at work have become harder and harder. Pretty much everything I do takes a lot more effort than before. I've also had a lot of swelling in my feet/ankles. Yes, the cankles have arrived. I can usually get the swelling to go down if I drink a ton of water and prop up my feet. I've also had horrible heart burn. My doctor told me I could take prilosec and zantac, so I've started taking those together this week and it seems to be working. I just hope it keeps working, because that is miserable!

Since I posted last, things have been going really well. At my last doctor's visit, I had to do the glucose test which was not fun. You basically have to drink this really sugary drink a hour before your visit so they can draw your blood. I hate having my blood drawn so I was not looking forward to it. The nurse couldn't get any blood out of the first arm she tried so she moved on to the next one. Since I can't watch, I had my head turned away and all I heard was "oh sh*t". This is not something you want to hear when there is a needle in your arm! Apparently, the vial shot off of the needle and across the room. Ryan got a kick out of it, but it scared me to death. Fortunately, I didn't hear back from them after the test which means I passed and don't have to do the three hour test! I have another appointment tomorrow and then I will start going every two weeks until 36 weeks. At 36 weeks I will start going weekly. It's hard to believe there are only 9 weeks left until my due date!

This week we had a 3D ultrasound. Originally I had heard they were really expensive so we decided not to get one. However, we found a place that does them for $60 on Monday during the day so we decided to give it a try. It was amazing. I couldn't believe how clear the image was and how much you could see. In the 2D version, the ultrasound tech said the baby already has a lot of hair. The placenta and cord were in the way of her face a little in the print-outs we received, but they were still really good. Seeing her made things even more real. There really is a little person in there and I can't wait to meet her.

STL Baby Shower

Last weekend I had a baby shower in St. Louis. It was hosted by three of my good college friends and sorority sisters, Maureen, Lynn, and Katie. Katie even came into town from Chicago for the occasion. It was a small group of people, but we had a great time. The decorations, favors and food were all fantastic.

I got a lot of wonderful gifts as well as advice. Instead of cards, the invitation suggested the guests bring bibs. We got a ton of great bibs and should be set for awhile. At least I hope so!

Lynn's husband, Kris, painted some wooden letters that spell out Isla's name and they are beautiful. We hung them on the door of her nursery.

Even though it's been almost 11 years since we became KDs, some things just never get old!!!

Thank you to everyone who came. Isla is going to love all of the gifts! I can't wait for her to meet you all!

Week 23 & 24

Week 23& 24 The baby now weighs more than 1 1/2 lbs and is about the length of a standard letter. The baby's face is almost fully formed now just without all the baby fat she will have at birth. Her weight should double over the next four weeks. I sometimes feel like mine is doing the same!

I had a doctor visit this past Thursday. The doctor said my blood pressure is good and the baby's heartbeat is strong. I have been experiencing some brutal round ligament pain. Basically anytime I get up, roll over in bed, walk, or move in general I feel like I have pulled a stomach muscle. I took a week off from Crossfit to see if it would help. I do feel better now and plan on going back this week. I talked to my doctor and she basically said there isn't much you can do or not do to make it better, but that it will go away eventually. Only to be replaced by other pains and symptoms.

The nursery is getting closer to being finished. We got the wallpaper up this weekend and painted as well. It is supposed to look like bead board. While it is not quite the same, it still looks pretty good. The picture above was taken in the nursery. Now we are just waiting on the furniture to arrive. It should be here by the end of March, and then we can finish gathering the art and shelves that we plan on putting up. Since we don't have room for a bookcase, we want to have plenty of shelves on the walls for books and displaying other items.

I made it to the gym twice during week 23 and took off during week 24.

WODs Tuesday 2/8/11 - 4 Rounds for Time 250 M row 15 TTB (subbed pull-ups with green band) Time 14:02

Thursday 2/10/11 150 KB swings @35lbs I used a 20lb KB and did this in 8:05