And Bailey Makes Three

TWO!

2012-01-07T14:18:00.000-08:00

Bailey,

You are TWO! I can not believe that this day has actually come. It truly does feel like just yesterday when we brought you home from the hospital.

You are quite the chatterbox now! You repeat everything you hear (we need to be more careful now!) and you say and learn something new every day. You name things that I’m not even sure where you heard the word before! And you say some super cute things too like “oopsie” when you drop something, obviously mommy is the nerd that you learned that from, and you sing the Elmo’s world theme song all around the house “la la la , la la la” with pretty good tune I must say. Some of your new words and phrases are: “Princess on”-you love wearing your princess pajamas and you have an obsession with “seps” (steps) and will go up and down over and over. You just learned to use the word “no”, which I knew was coming soon and is the epitome of a toddler but its so cute when you say it so sweetly. You love having full conversations with people, in your own Bailey language. You will sit and tell an entire story with animation and so much excitement. You know exactly what you are explaining to us, we just don't understand it all most of the time but we try our best to fake it.

You love to read books, some over and over. We read a book as a family before bedtime every night. We all get comfy in our bed and you pull the covers up to your chin while you brush your teeth with your “Ahh” (a.k.a your toothbrush…. you call it this because we tell you to “say ahhh” when you brush your teeth). That’s the only time you will let us snuggle up close to you. Your favorites are books with Elmo or Abby, Goodnight Moon, Curious George, Going on Bear Hunt and your “Princess book”. You also know all your letters. You can point to all of them when asked and you can say a large amount as well. You will point out “M-Mom”, “D-Dad” and “S-Sam” on any signs that you see.

Things you love: Duplos, Little People, anything with Elmo or Abby, keys and gates, cars or trucks that you can push and cooking food at your new kitchen and serving it to your guests. You jump from character to character of who you love the most and who deserves to sleep with you at nap and bed time. Currently, it rotates between your Curious George, Elmo, Dora and Boots, Abby and Winnie the Pooh plush toys. You love being outside more than anything- running, jumping, playing, splashing in puddles, climbing on rocks, dancing, climbing steps, etc.

Bailey, you’re the best daughter in the whole world and you’ll always, always be my baby girl. You make me smile and laugh every day, you’re so smart and funny and sweet, you always amaze me.

Love,

Mommy

Fall 2011

2011-10-23T23:30:00.000-07:00

It still doesn't feel like fall to me yet. I love when the weather starts to change so we can start layering clothes and drinking pumpkin spiced lattes. However, the warm weather hasn't stopped us from celebrating fall. Here is a glimps of our fall so far:

Beating the heat in the pool

Yum!

Pretend City:

"Bapples!"

Setting the tunes for the theatre

Bath Time!

Arranging her dinner set

Irvine Pumpkin Patch:

Loving the hay ride

"The wheels on the bus go round and round..."

How tall am I this year?

This one is just my size

I want this pumpkin

Here catch! (Actually throwing it at us)

Uh Oh, I'll fix it

Pumpkin City:

She was the smallest one riding the swing

Catching bubbles

What we've been up to lately

2011-10-23T22:20:00.000-07:00

We were very busy this summer. We took several local trips including Sand Diego, Palm Springs (twice) and multiple trips to our local splash park. Here is an overview of our summer:

San Diego

Hanging with Dad

SD Zoo

Palm Springs:

Drinking her Starbucks water to stay cool

Irvine Zoo:

We had an oddly cold week late in August so we headed to the Irvine Park to visit the animals.

Visiting the horses

Petting Zoo

Bailey was chasing the goats around

Riding the train around the grounds

Splash Park:

We have a splash park within walking distance from our house so it's nice to spend hot days here.

A Fun Age

2011-10-21T14:00:00.000-07:00

Bailey is learning so much lately. This age is so fun because everything is a new experience and she can do the funniest and cutest things. I want to document everything so I don’t forget this age later on.

Bailey’s language is developing very well. Her favorites now a days are: Mom :), guk (Milk), kisses, Sam (her grandparent’s dog), put away? (relating to toys, milk, etc), dye (bye), what’s this? and Map (from Dora). She goes crazy over anything from Dora the Explorer and we are now practically being overtaken by Dora stuff, including stickers, PJ’s, a lunch pail, and coming soon a “Backpack” backpack with “Map” on the side. She also loves her Elmo. She takes both of her Elmo dolls to sleep with her, one tucked under each arm. She also requests to watch the “Elmo Slide” video on the computer which is a dance video that Elmo does.

She loves dancing and listening to music. Every evening she requests for us to put on the music channel on out TV. She stands up, pointing to the TV screen, shaking her little booty and says “dancing?” to ask to put music on while she plays.

This week, I have had to work several night events so it’s been difficult not being home or barely seeing Bailey at all for two nights in a row. Last night, I came home late but luckily Bryan was just putting Bailey to bed. I snuck upstairs to say goodnight while she laid in the crib about to fall asleep. Her eyes excitedly opened up wide and she said, “Mom! Hi Mom! Kisses?”…..oh my heart! She is such a sweet little girl.

The other day we went to my Mom’s house for our weekly dinner. As we were packing up the car ready to leave, Bailey had found her shadow. The light from the garage was shining down and casted her shadow in front of her. She swung her arms, “jumped” around, which is mostly like galloping, stomped her feet, danced around and ran up and down the driveway. She got a kick out of watching her shadow follow her. We were all hysterically laughing at the cuteness.

We returned to the Irvine pumpkin patch last weekend to continue our tradition from last year (pictures to come soon). Speaking of pictures, it was much harder to get a good picture this year because Bailey was running around all over the place, not wanting to sit still. How dare her!  I was so surprised how fascinated she was by all the pumpkins, unlike last year when she would cry when she got close to any of them. She wanted to pick them all up, including the ones twice her size. She was successful picking up a few but then proceeded to through them at us, thinking they were bouncy balls. The stem broke off of one so she picked it up and tried to put it back together. She was frustrated that it wouldn’t stick back on. So we left it alone to “get better”.

The pumpkin patch was very crowded this year, including the wait for the train ride, so we opted to take a hay ride instead. Even though we chose it by default, I think it was much more fun than the train. Bailey loved it! She was smiling and laughing the whole time. She was cracking up when we hit a bump in the road. We also went in to a haunted house that they set up. I was a bit apprehensive that she would get scared by the darkness and scary things inside but she loved it. I was so surprised. Once we left through the exit, she went right back to the entrance again for another go. I’m hopeful that it’s the same case when we go trick-or-treating this year. I was afraid she would be scared by all the decorations. We will see! I am so excited for trick-or-treating this year. Bailey is going to be a strawberry, just like I was at her age! Next weekend we are going to my Mom’s for painting and carving pumpkins. Can’t wait for all the festivities!

Things that you only say to toddlers & people who use meth

2011-09-29T13:27:00.000-07:00

While I can not take credit for this blog title (see "Heir to Blair" written by my favorite mommy blog), I can completely relate to her post about the strange things we tell our children that make us sound like lunatics! Here are just a few of my favorites of what we have told Bailey:

“Don’t lick your shoe”

“No pee pee on the carpet”

“Please don’t put toys down mommy’s shirt”

“Crayons are for paper, not the floor”

“Excuse me, but we have to put our pants on before we leave the house”

“No, the paci is sleeping. Say night-night paci”

“No honey, its broken” (to basically anything she’s not allowed to have)

“That’s not a water fountain, please don’t put your hand in it”

12-19 Month Recap

2011-08-17T12:04:00.000-07:00

Now that Bailey is a toddler, a lot has changed in her physical and mental development. Starting with physical, she is basically running everywhere she goes. She has the funniest carefree run with her arms flailing every which way as her feet stomp and her head bobs around. I like to compare her to Phoebe from friends, you know the episode where she goes running with Rachel and she is embarrassed to be seen with her as Phoebe runs. Yup, that’s Bailey. But it’s cute though coming from a child. Bailey loves dancing to any music she hears. As soon as a tune comes on the radio or a car goes by or even when someone sings, her little hips move back and forth and her arms go up and down. She is obsessed with watching Dora the Explorer and I think she gets her dancing skills by following Dora dance at the end of her show to the “We Did it” song. She loves helping in any way she can, like putting clothes in the washer or dryer during laundry time or in the hamper at the end of the day. She will even put clean clothes from her drawer in the hamper because she thinks she’s helping. Any “trash” on the ground goes directly in the trash can and when she’s done playing with a toy she will put it back in her toy box. I wonder where she gets that from ?  She loves being silly and adores her dad because they get on the floor and basically tackle each other. She thinks Bryan is a jungle gym. She could spend her entire day outside if she could, running around, chasing balls, going on walks, smelling flowers, watching birds, splashing in puddles, etc.

She is learning so much every day and it amazes me how much she knows already. What she lacks in speech, she makes up in other areas. She can point to all her colors, all zoo animals and characters of sesame street and Dora. She knows every feature of the body, including eyes, ears, nose, tongue, teeth, hair, fingers, toes, arms, legs, belly button and booty (I taught her that one ). She even knows which features come in pairs because when asked, she points to both. She can sort by colors and group alike items, both of which she does on her own while she plays without guidance. I can tell there is so much going on in that tiny head, we just don’t understand the jibber jabber that comes out right now. She has full on conversations with us or with her toys and gets very animated but the words just doesn’t make sense to us yet. She can say some words that are pretty clear but our favorite right now, “mmm, delicious!” I am sure we will be seeing an explosion of words developing in the near future.

Birthday Girl

2011-01-10T16:08:00.000-08:00

Bailey,

You are ONE!!! My little girl is now one year old. Twelve months. No matter how many times I say it or different ways I say it, I still can not believe that it is true. I can still remember how tiny you were when you were born, only 5 lb 9oz, and how you couldn't even fill out your newborn sleeper when we dressed you to bring you home. I can still hear your sweet tiny little cry when you were born, not the typical newborn cry. I could tell your cry from any other baby. Everything about you is petite and adorable. Everyone said you were the cutest little baby. Your whole family came to visit you in the hospital and they all wanted their time to hold you. Daddy and I were so excited to be parents. We were anxious to meet you for the first time and welcome you to our family.
Watching you grow over the past twelve months is nothing short of amazing. You have grown into such an inquisitive little girl with a real personality. You learn new skills so quickly and you love mimicking what we do. You have the sweetest little voice when you say "Hi" to new little friends or even yourself in the mirror. You are now crawling like a pro, cruising on coffee tables and couches and you so want to start walking on your own. You talk to your toys in your Bailey language while you ride in the car. You love anything with buttons, including the TV remote and the cable box, and you think it's funny when you change the channel on the TV. You have a silly nature and you love it when we copy you. We love you baby girl so much!

Happy Birthday Bailey!

Love, Mommy
............................................................................................................

For Bailey's birthday day we went to Farrell's restaurant to have some burgers and ice cream sundays. They sang to Bailey, which was a little loud for her liking and scared her a little but we made up for it with ice cream. Yum!

The following Saturday, we had Bailey's birthday party at my mom's house. All my family came along with some of our friends and Bailey's friends too. The day was a little overwhelming but all in all a great day!

Sitting at Farrell's

After ice cream

The big day

Proud mama

Soooo BIG!

Cake time

Proud Grandma

Chrismas Time

2011-01-10T15:30:00.000-08:00

     It seems like this year's holiday season came and went so quickly. This year's Christmas was very special because it was our first as a family. We pretty much spent an entire week attending holiday parties, beginning with the Barnes family party in Canyon Lake the Saturday before Christmas. It was a challenge to get there this year because the timing conflicted with nap time so we arrived a few hours late but it was low key, which is a pleasant change from previous years. Bailey loves playing with her cousins when they all get together. The next day we went to the annual neighborhood party on my Mom's street. Pretty much everyone has stayed on the street since I was little so its a blast to visit every year. Last year I was a week away from my due date when we attended so it was fun for everyone to see Bailey.
     The following week was Christmas and we celebrated 4 Christmases in three days, which was a bit exhausting but Bailey did great! First was Christmas Eve ad my Dad's house where we had a traditional Italian dinner that has been passed down from my Grandmother. She used to have everyone over at her house while she served course after course of Italian food, including antipasti and seafood pasta, while they waited for midnight mass. Now my Dad continues the tradition, minus the midnight mass with the little one. We decorated the tree while we watched the annual tradition of Christmas Vacation. My Dad and I can quote the entire movie and we still think its hilarious every time. This year, my sister Megan was in town which was a nice surprise. Bailey loved watching my Dad's train under the tree. He has had it since was maybe two or three years old. Every year we help set it up and we are always excited to see the new modifications he's made. This year, there are now three stories of trains along with city scenes for each one that have all been updated and repainted. Bailey received her own little pink chair with her name printed on the back. It is now her favorite seat in the house :)
     The next morning was Christmas morning. We wanted to make sure that we allowed Bailey to have her own special time to open presents at home just the three of us and we will continue to do that every year. It was such a fun morning. Bailey really liked ripping open the sparkly paper and banging on the boxes, a little too much to actually enjoy what was inside. She got lots of fun toys, mostly Discovery Toys which I am pretty partial to since I sell them :) But I love how they are educational and she can use them for years (ok enough advertising for the day...ha!) It's neat watching Bailey figure out how to use everything they way they are intended just by observing our actions. So crazy how fast she is growing.
     Later that night we went to Bryan's parent's house for dinner. We had a nice relaxing and not to mention very tasty dinner. Bailey has basically showered in gifts. Her favorites include her own baby doll named Abby who she hugs and says "Hi" to all the time. She also loves her walker/activity table and is so proud of herself when she walks with it on her own. The next day we went to my mom's house to celebrate with my siblings and their children. We had another very yummy dinner that night too. For this Christmas, the little kids open their presents first, which is always a good idea so that they can all go play while the adults open theirs. Bailey's favorite toy was her marble maze where you put large jingle bell "marbles" on top of the castle and watch them zig zag down to the bottom. She knows how to do this one now too but I think she likes jingling the marbles the best. All in all, it was a great holiday season and it went pretty much without a hitch. Here are the pics we took over the season:

Visiting Santa's Workshop

Doesn't like SC so much

Her new pink chair

Christmas morning

Checking out her new toys

Helping Daddy open his gift

So proud of herself

She loves her new Abby doll

Banging the jingle ball marbles on the table

Happy Holidays!

Celebrating Fall....or whatever this weather is :)

2010-11-02T12:20:00.000-07:00

     We definitely enjoyed the cooler weather, while it lasted. I'm not sure that our present 90 degree weather can be considered fall but whatever. This year, I was very excited to begin our family holiday traditions beginning with our family Halloween get together. Every year, my brother and sister and their children all gather at my parents house to carve pumpkins (or paint them for the little ones) and decorate cupcakes. The little kids (who are not so little anymore) dress up in their Halloween costumes so everyone gets to see them. The adults and bigger kids all compete to see who carves the best pumpkin. I won last year :) This year, I was so excited that Bailey could participate in the festivities. She dressed up as a ladybug for Halloween and we took a picture with all the cousins dressed up together. Lots of fun. That night, Bailey was beginning to push up on her knees and rock back and forth. My mom predicted that she would begin crawling within the week. Sure enough, she started crawling the next day! Crazy huh?

     We also visited the pumpkin patch at the Irvine Great Park. It was the perfect cool autumn weather that day. We met our friends Sharon and Brian with their 6 month old son Ethan (aka Bailey's boyfriend) at the patch. We cruised the pumpkins, took lots of pictures and rode the train around the park. Bailey loved the train! She flirted with the little girl sitting behind us the entire time :) However, she HATED sitting with the pumpkins on the ground. I'm not sure if they scared her or if it was just getting close to her nap time but every time we put her down to take a picture with them, she cried. Oh well. We got some good family shots. We also met Sharon and her family at the community center where they had some Halloween festivities. Babies again dressed up and they had vendors where kids could play games, make crafts and buy food. Some of the vendors passed out candy for trick-or-treaters. The benefit of trick-or-treating with an infant is that the parents get the candy!

     Bailey and I also attended the Ladera Mommies 2010 Halloween party with all of her friends. That was a lot of fun because all of the babies dressed up in costume. It was a warm afternoon so I opted to not use her ladybug costume and instead used what we had around the house which of course ended up being a ballerina. I already had a pink tutu made from a friend with a matching flower headband. She also had a white leotard and white Babylegs (leggings) with a pink trim. It ended up being really cute. The mom who hosted the party set up some pumpkins and hay stacks in her backyard so we could take pictures of the babies in their costume. Again...she cried. We also attempted to take a picture with all the babies together in one group shot but that ended up being complete chaos. Bailey kept knocking kids over in an attempt to reach for one girl's headband that she liked. She even made a little girl cry! Such a bully :)

    The actual night of Halloween was very laid back. We went out to dinner with Bryan's parents to a new Mexican restaurant in our area that just opened up. Very yummy food! We decided to leave for the night because in our past experience, we only get maybe one or two trick-or-treaters at our home and we thought it would be a waste to buy candy for just those kids. And then we would end up eating all the leftover candy ourselves, which we didn't need! All in all, we have had a great fall so far. I just hope the weather goes back to normal again!

Beware....lots of pictures below ;)

"Mommy's Little Pumpkin"

Just about to crawl

Parent's Halloween party

So happy!

All the cousins

Cruising at the pumpkin patch

Family Pic

Look how tall I am!

Waiting for the train

Riding the train

Giving her approval for the ride

Peekaboo!

Um....ok you got the picture, now get me out of here!

What are these things?

Scary pumpkins!

Mom's group Halloween party

Pretty ballerina!

Again, not to happy about this

Bailey the bully!

Community Center Halloween

Trick-or-Treating

Happy Halloween!

My new business venture

2010-09-27T10:29:00.000-07:00

I have started a new business! I became an Independent Educational Consultant for Discovery Toys. I recently attended a DT party and I was so impressed with the quality of the product that I decided to join the team. We offer a wonderful line of quality educational toys, games, books and music at affordable prices for all age groups of children. Check out our catalog on my website at: www.discoverytoyslink.com/erinwatson. I am really excited to start having parties and start selling these toys. It will be a great way to socialize with adults, which is very much needed, and meet new people while also supplementing some of my lost income. Can't wait!

P.S. Let me know if you are interested in hosting a party or purchasing product :)

8 Months... Wow, how you have flown by!

2010-09-16T10:50:00.000-07:00

I've been kinda sucky with updating my posts lately, simply because day to day it doesn't seem like anything interesting goes on to talk about but looking back over the last four months, a lot has changed!

8 Month Letter to Bailey:

Dear Bailey,

You are now 8 months old and becoming more of a little person rather than a baby every day. You have been sitting up like a champ since 6 months! We were on a family vacation in Newport Beach and one morning you just decided that you wanted to sit on your own. It was an amazing milestone because you are able to play independently with your toys without having to lay on your back. However, you are still not remotely interested in being on your belly at all. You are much more interested in pulling up and standing, with a little help from Mom and Dad. You makes this face like "I'm such a big girl!" when you are standing. It is amazing to watch you grow and become more independent. You study every new thing you sees, trying to figure out how it works and exploring your world. You are fascinated by new textures, like the carpet of all things :) And you also love people's faces, squeezing cheeks and pulling lips and much as you can get your hands on. It is so funny to watch you try to fall asleep because you kick your legs and squirm and push yourself around in circles in your crib before you find your sweet spot and conk out. You are such a sweet little girl. You smile at everyone and you love when you can make people copy you like shaking your head "NO". You think it's hilarious! I still can not believe that you are only four months from your one year birthday! I can not wait to see what the future holds!

-Love Mommy

Here are some pictures from the last four months:

Relaxing by the pool in Newport

Sitting for the first time. She is so proud of herself!

Bath time...a rare pic on her belly

4th of July BBQ

Standing at her play table at 8 months

4 Months and Baptism

2010-05-06T12:45:00.000-07:00

Last weekend was a very special day, Bailey was baptized. All of our parents gathered together at the church I grew up in to witness this wonderful event. Bailey was so well behaved, other than the fact that she spit up all over me as soon as we sad down :), but it seemed like she was at such peace. She wore this cute puffy white dress with her pink knit sweater, since it was a bit cold in the morning, and this huge flower headband that was practically larger than her head. After church, we all headed to my mom's house where we all enjoyed lunch and passed Bailey around so all the grandparents could spend time with her. Bailey has recently begun having separation anxiety when other people hold her but that day she was her happy, smiling self.

The following Tuesday Bailey had her 4 month checkup....which meant shots! Poor girl. She never knew what was coming. I was so worried that we were going to have a repeat of last time, which included my mom and I both balling the entire time at the doctor's office and a very fussy baby that night, but it was much better this time around. Bailey was upset, of course, but nearly as much as last time and she was able to soothe herself after I fed her in the waiting room after the appointment. That night was much better too because we gave her a bath before bed so she was much calmer, although you could really tell she was feeling yucky later in the evening. It was an early bed time but she woke up a happy girl again.

Our little family

The whole gang

Grandpa (my dad)

Nona

Showing her skills during tummy time

1st visit to the beach

Trying out the Bjorn

No longer a newborn

2010-04-22T11:55:00.000-07:00

It's official...Bailey is no longer considered a newborn baby. I just can not get over how fast she is growing. I recently just visited a friend of mine who just delivered her baby boy at 6 lb 13 oz, a pound more than Bailey was when she was born, and to compare him to Bailey now 3 months older is simply unreal. I obviously know that she has gained weight by looking at the scale (10 lb 13 oz at her 3 month appointment) but to me it really didn't sink in until I saw her next to the newborn baby. I guess it's because I see her every day and it's difficult to notice how much she has changed. Bailey is becoming her own little person and showing her personality. She is such a smiley little girl and lights up whenever she is happy, which is most of the time. We have even gotten her to laugh a few times! Her sweet little giggle melts my heart. She also loves playing with her tongue all the time. She is always trying putting things in her mouth, anything she can get her hands on, so we have to be careful!
However, she is very much a child who thrives with lots of sleep. Whenever her morning nap is cut short, she is not a happy camper the rest of the day. This unfortunately happened on Easter morning. As a family, we all got up early to attend services at Anaheim stadium with the church my mom attends. We thought out the timing thoroughly with her feeding in the morning and leaving early enough so Bailey could sleep in the car on the way. She did sleep for a little while but as soon as we got to our seats, she woke up. We thought we were in the clear when she acted so perfectly during the service but as soon as we got back to my mom's house, the extremely tired child let it be known that she was not happy. She did not want to be held by anyone except me or Bryan, which was sad because my aunt was in town from Ohio and all she wanted to do was visit with her. It was just one of those days I guess. We know now, let the child sleep!

This month we have gone through a lot of changes, not only for Bailey but as a family as well. We decided that I would stay the rest of the school year home to take care of Bailey. We came to the conclusion that even though we will have to cut back on expenses and our goal of purchasing a house will need to be pushed back a bit further, Bailey will only be this young of so long and we couldn't dream of placing her in a daycare for someone else to raise at this point in time. And honestly, I love being a stay at home mom!

Enjoy some new pictures of Bailey:

Sitting in her Bumbo chair

Happy Easter

She kept eating her sweater

Ready to celebrate the Angel's opening day game

Happy 3 months!

Waiting in line to see the Easter Bunny...sleepy girl

Still half asleep :)

2 Months Old

2010-03-18T10:51:00.000-07:00

Bailey is growing up so fast and is so fun to see her learn new things. She is becoming very aware of her surroundings. She has been smiling a lot lately. I love walking into her room in the mornings when she wakes up and she has a huge smile on her face like she is saying "I missed you mommy, I'm so glad to see you." She loves playing on her play mat with her "friends" or the animals hanging above her head. She gets so excited and starts to wave her arms and kick her feet, which ultimately moves the animals and then she gets even more excited. She loves staring at her hands, which seems a little weird, but every time her hands make their way in front of her face she stops what she’s doing and stares at them. She is so fascinated, it's so cute. Also, Bailey loves watching TV! I think she likes the flashing lights and colors but every time the TV is on, she is in a daze looking at it. If you move her body away from it, she will cock her head so that it is still in view. She is sleeping a solid 8 hours a night, which makes mommy and daddy very happy, and is eating all the time during the day. She has grown to over 8 lbs and 22 inches according to her last doctor visit. She is definitely going through a growth spurt. She is beginning to grow out of her newborn clothes, which makes me a little sad, and into her 0-3 size clothes. Here are some recent pictures of Bailey:

Playing with her "friends"

Staring at her hands

Beautiful smile

Watching TV

2 months!

Happy girl!

She's here!

2010-03-01T11:06:00.000-08:00

Bailey Elizabeth has arrived and amazingly two months have already flown by! Bailey entered the world on January 6, 2010 at 6:13 pm weighing in at a tiny 5 pounds 9 ounces! She was one week late so my doctor wanted to induce me, worrying that she would be too big.....well she obviously was wrong. Even the nurses were amazed at how small she was. Even though she is a tiny little thing, she is certainly not lacking on strength. She can already keep her head up and her kicks are so powerful! I was instantly in love and I could never imagine my life without her. She has the sweetest personality and makes the cutest faces. She is the perfect combination of Bryan and I. She has my dimples and smile and Bryan's eyes and nose. Amazingly enough at two months, she is sleeping through the night already! She certainly takes after her mommy and daddy :)

1st bath

2 weeks

1 month

Valentines Day

I Can't Wait!

2009-12-15T15:25:00.000-08:00

Nope, this isn’t a sappy post about how I can’t wait to hold our baby or meet her for the first time (all that is a given, right?). This is a post about ME :)

I can’t wait to…

*see my ankle bones again
*get rid of my compression socks that make me feel like an old granny
*bend over without pain
*put on socks and shoes without sitting down or using a shoe horn
*skip the 2-3 bathroom trips every night
*sleep without waking up to the “lightning arm” that is my carpal tunnel or wear my arm braces to bed
*wear clothes that fit
*not get tired just from standing up
*not get light headed or winded from walking across the room or up the stairs
*properly shave my legs
*drink some gooooooooood wine
*sleep on my back and belly
*regain my balance and not trip over myself
*stop waddling like a duck
*get out of bed or off the couch easily and on my own
*be able to pull myself up to the table/counter/desk without a massive belly in the way
*not spill my food down the front of me because I can’t bend over far enough to reach my plate
*button up my jacket
*never have heartburn again

But really, there are some things I’ll miss too…

*using my belly as a shelf to rest things like… my arms, cereal bowl, drinks..
*letting my belly just all hang out. This is really nice after a big meal!
*watching Bailey kick and move
*Bryan staring at my belly in complete amazement
*Bryan pampering me: cooking, helping me off the couch, giving me a boost getting in to the mammoth of a truck
*using “I’m pregnant” as an excuse for just about everything :)

37 Weeks

2009-12-10T09:13:00.000-08:00

Only 3 weeks to go until my due date! The weeks have gone by so fast and I can not believe Bailey is almost here. Bryan and I have been working hard finishing the nursery, washing clothes and getting everything put away. The room is really coming together. The theme is ladybugs...so cute. I will try to post pictures soon. Slowly but surely we are completing all the items on our checklist of things to be done before Bailey arrives. We have officially finished our preparation classes at the hospital, have gotten the car seat checked, began freezing dinners, put together all the furniture and the swing, purchased all the remaining necessity items from our registry and I have actually finished Christmas shopping wrapped all the gifts! Now all that's left is pack my bag for the hospital and wait....which I feel will be the most challenging part of all. My last day of work is next Friday so I am just counting down the days! I will be gone from work for 12 weeks and I am so thankful that I will have the time to bond with her before going back to work. My prediction is that I will go past my due date but we will see.

How far along? 37 Weeks
Total weight gain: 24 lbs
Maternity clothes? Yup. Some of then are starting to get tight but I refuse to buy more.
Sleep: I wish!
Best moment this week: Feeling Bailey's hiccups, it's the strangest feeling.
Movement: Mostly stretching. I think she's getting a little cramped in there.
Gender: Girl!
Labor Signs: None yet
Belly Button in or out? Way out
What I miss: A nice glass of wine with dinner
What I am looking forward to: Meeting this girl!
Milestones: Finishing the nursery

"Little Lady" Shower

2009-12-03T13:17:00.000-08:00

A few weekends ago I had my baby shower put on by the grandmas-to-be. I was so impressed and honored with how much time and effort they put into planning my shower. It turned out so beautifully with a huge turnout! It was so nice to catch up with my friends and family, many of whom I have not seen since our wedding. The theme was "Little Lady" since the nursery has a ladybug theme. We received so many cute clothes and blankets and lots of items off of our registry. Bailey is already so spoiled and she's not even here yet! Games were a bit challenging with so many people in attendance so we only played two. The first was the famous guess how big the belly is with a string. We actually had two people guess exactly correct so we had two winners. I was very impressed because I am usually horrible at that game. The second game was really fun to watch. Everyone was given "dirty diapers" filled with "poop" (melted chocolate bars) and they were to guess what kind of chocolate it was. It was hilarious watching people analyze and smell the diapers and making disgusted faces; especially when they came across the chunky diapers with nuts! Check out some of the pictures from the day.

Beautiful centerpieces

Dirty Diaper game

Mom and I

Some of my family

Jas and I

Work friends

High school friends. Jess and Carter - her 2nd baby (left)

and Trysden with 3rd baby in her belly (right)

32 Weeks

2009-11-04T12:28:00.000-08:00

So, Bryan and I had a huge dose of reality this week...we toured the hospital where I will be delivering. When I registered for this a few months ago, it seemed like so far away. I was picturing myself, with my huge belly, wondering how I would feel once I stepped in the laboring room. Well, now that I have I can say that it freaked me out! Bryan and I just stared at each other with blank faces in amazement, thinking potentially 8 weeks from today I will be in a room just like this bringing a brand new person into the world…wow! The entire night was overwhelming but at the same time it brought a lot of excitement and anticipation for the big day. Tonight, Bryan and I are beginning our “Preparation for Childbirth” 3 week series, which I am sure will bring a multitude of additional emotions! However, even though I am nervous for what is to come, I am also excited to finally meet Bailey and start enjoying our family of three….just breathe!

How far along? 32 Weeks
Total weight gain: 17 lbs
Maternity clothes? Oh ya!
Sleep: Barely any at all!
Best moment this week: Standing in the laboring room at the hospital…wow it’s all getting so real!
Movement: Mostly after I eat. You can even see the movement on my tummy.
Gender: Girl!
Labor Signs: None yet, just Braxton Hicks
Belly Button in or out? Oh it’s out, has been for a while. I guess that what happens when you already have an outie to begin with!
What I miss: A full night’s sleep. It has not been fun getting up at least 5 times a night to go to the bathroom, change positions, and change my carpal tunnel wrist band from one arm to the other.
What I am looking forward to: My shower in 2 weeks
Milestones: Touring the hospital

Funny Cartoon

2009-10-26T16:08:00.000-07:00

This cartoon basically captures it all!

30 Weeks!

2009-10-22T16:05:00.000-07:00

So I know that I haven't been the best about updating this blog but I thought I share some baby updates since my last post. I am now 30 weeks...how the time flies! We found out that we are having a girl! And we have decided on a name, Bailey Elizabeth. Bryan and I went to have a 3D ultrasound of Bailey yesterday. This experience was unreal! She was twisted up like a pretzel so it was quite challenging to get a clear shot of her face…notice her arm across her face and the feet squished up on her cheek! It’s hard to imagine that she will be here in just over 2 months!

Below are some of our favorites:

She's laying on her foot!

Sticking out her tongue

Little feet

Jumping Bean

2009-06-22T13:43:00.000-07:00

I had my 12 week ultrasound last week and it was sooo cool! Our little "jumping bean" was movin' and groovin' in my belly, which is so weird because I can't even feel anything yet. The u/s made everything seem much more real. The doctor printed a bunch of pictures for us so I thought I would post some of my favorites.

This one looks like it's sucking it's thumb.

"Alien Baby"...so weird!Our "Boxer Baby"

Intro and First Post

2009-06-15T15:21:00.000-07:00

For those who don't know, Bryan and I have been together for 10 years and our one year wedding anniversary is coming up in less than a month. I cannot believe how fast the time has gone by. We are now expecting our first child and we both could not be more excited to meet our little one.

I had so much fun documenting the whole wedding planning process that I decided to begin a whole new blog for our newest adventure through pregnancy and becoming parents. So with that said, here is a rundown of the benchmarks we have hit already:

4/26/09 BFP! (Big fat positive) This was such news and might I say a big shock as well :)

5/6/09 We told our parents the big news! We got everyone together for a special "Mothers Day" dinner. Little did they know that we were celebrating my own Mother's Day as well. To announce our news, we gave each mom a gift bag with a little onesie inside and had them open it at the same time. Everyone was shocked and excited! It was so difficult to keep it from them.

5/21/09 My first doc appointment. Bryan and I were able to see our little "goober", which basically looked like a big blob. We were able to see the little heartbeat which was so amazing!

What's to come? My next appointment (12 weeks) is this Thursday. We will be able to see the baby again. From what I hear, there is a big difference from 8 weeks to 12 so we will see.