Happy Birthday to me

Honestly not too much has happened since my last blog entry, however I felt like it has been a while since I have blogged so it's probably time. June 2nd was my birthday. We celebrated with the family on June 1st. It was a weird birthday for me. It didn't really feel like my birthday. I think this is because everything has been revolved around getting ready for Genevieve's arrival that it felt weird to stop and take some time to celebrate my day. At any rate, we all got together to celebrate. Unfortunately, I didn't sleep to well that night. My stomach was very upset and I was up half the night. I went to work on the 2nd (my birthday) and was feeling very sluggish due to lack of sleep the night before. Mom took me out to lunch and she said afterwards that I didn't really seem like myself. I realize now that I probably wasn't feeling 100% then either. I got home from work and was feeling nauseous and yucky. Usually this is a sign that I need to eat something. So I tried to eat the only thing that sounded palatable at the time and that was chicken noodle soup. Well it didn't stay down for long. I must have caught a bug or something. This was very different from the nauseous I feel due to being pregnant. What a birthday present huh? I'm not sick all winter but my birthday comes around, well Happy Birthday to me. It wasn't too bad though, it only lasted about 24 hours. Chad came home that day with beautiful flowers. How sweet huh? Hmmm not really. He says, "I don't know who they are from". His grandparents sent me flowers for my birthday. It was very sweet of them. Also I got a Willow Tree figurine from Chad's parents called Cherish (see picture). Chad got me the new Sweeney Todd DVD, the collectors edition of Singing in the Rain and the Avenue Q CD (very funny). Thanks to Jennifer and Eric for the Borders gift cards, Travis, Sarah and TJ for the Olive garden gift card and to mom and dad for the spending money. Dad also presented to me a painting that he had done for the nursery. We love it! I'll need to grab a picture of that to add to the blog as well.

We had another ultrasound on the 4th. There wasn't really anything new at this appointment. The one picture we got was blurry and not worth posting. Everything still looks good. Baby's head is down and everything is as it should be. My puffy feet are permanently puffy regardless of how much I keep them up but some days are definitely better than others. I'm still sleeping pretty good but some nights I have to get up for a little bit because my hips are too sore. I really can't complain too much. Everyone keeps asking me if I am ready for Genevieve yet. I usually say I will be after everything at work gets squared away. Of course if she came today I would still be ready, it'll just be easier for me to relax after the 19th. I've been trying to take it easy as much as possible and have even worked a couple days from home which has help immensely. Thankfully there is only a week and a half left of school and I plan on taking a handful of those days off. This Wednesday we have an appointment with a pediatrician we are checking out. This upcoming weekend Chad has "Daddy Boot Camp" which he is looking forward to. We also have Avenue Q (see below), which I have been looking forward to for some time. I keep hoping we actually make it. We are in the window of time where I could deliver at any time. 80% of women deliver either two weeks before or two weeks after their due date.

AVENUE Q is the story of Princeton, a bright-eyed college grad who comes to New York City with big dreams and a tiny bank account. He soon discovers that the only neighborhood in his price range is Avenue Q; still, the neighbors seem nice. There's Brian the out-of-work comedian and his therapist fianceé Christmas Eve; Nicky the good-hearted slacker and his roommate Rod -- a Republican investment banker who seems to have some sort of secret; an Internet addict called Trekkie Monster; and a very cute kindergarten teaching assistant named Kate. And would you believe the building's superintendent is Gary Coleman?!? (Yes, that Gary Coleman.) Together, Princeton and his new found friends struggle to find jobs, dates, and their ever-elusive purpose in life.

Keep your fingers crossed that Chad and I will get to go to Avenue Q. I'll let you know how it is. Wow it is just donning on me how close we really are to the due date. It's a scary thought, but we'll figure it out as we go like all parents do.

Memorial Day Weekend

Chad and I did not have any exciting plans for Memorial Day weekend.
Saturday we had great intentions of getting a lot of things done. We got up and started cleaning the house. Nancy called and said she had to postpone our hypnosis session as she has a mom in labor. We spent the rest of the day being lazy. Chad is still trying to recover from being sick. He has had fevers off and on for the past 2 weeks. He is planning on calling the doctor on Tuesday for an appointment. Something is just not right. Chad never gets sick, but there has been a lot of yucky viruses going around this year. I have been so fortunate to only one slight sinus infection in a year when so many bad viruses were going around. I still swear something is wrong with my sinuses, but I just continue doing my sinus rinses every single morning and this seems to ward off most of the sinus infections I might have had.

Sunday Chad and I were a little lazy again (we are taking advantage of it while we can!). We did tour Valley Medical again to remind ourselves of what we had seen 6 months prior and ask any questions to prepare ourselves for Genevieve's coming into the world. We also went to Fry's to look at Camcorders. Last night we went to see High School Musical. Neither Chad nor I was really looking forward to it, but we were both pleasantly surprised. It was very well done. I'm glad we went. While I was waiting for Chad I got a comment from a woman stating, "Are you due any day now?" I said no, not until June 21st. She looked in awe and then said, "Twins?" I laughed, nope no twins. The woman sitting next to me also let me know it was okay to put my feet up (I still couldn't do it) and that she would rather me put my feet up then have to deliver a baby right there. Yep, these days I get a lot of comments about how pregnant I am. I took a picture from last night to illustrate what I mean. I can completely see the chubbiness in my face and body. As for pregnancy symptoms I can't complain too much. I definitely like the third trimester better than the first and about halfway into the second. I am uncomfortable. Genevieve tends to either sit on my bladder or under my ribs. I get up once a night for about two hours to allow for my hips to rest as they tend to get very sore, but overall I have been able to sleep well and deep. My feet continue to be swollen, more so on warm days or days I have been on my feet a lot. I do get out of breath easily and my back and shoulders continue to be sore. I have been doing fetal counts and all seems well. From time to time I think, hmmm I haven't felt Genevieve in a while and I start counting. Of course I always get to 10 fetal movements before 2 hours (most the time in the first 40 minutes. Overall I think she must be a calm baby because often times I don't feel her movements unless I am thinking about it. I can feel however, that she is getting stronger. She still loves to tease her dad. Most times she is really moving around and I call Chad over to see or feel she stops instantly. Thankfully there have been a few times where he has seen here in action and got to share the wonder of this. It really is amazing to watch. Sometimes I just sit and stare at my bare belly and watch it move. It's pretty cool. I am feeling Braxton-Hicks contractions from time to time. Nothing to worry about though, it's just my body practicing. All these symptoms are still way better than the nauseousness I felt during the first trimester and now at least I can see that there is an end in sight.

Chad and I practice our contraction hypnosis every night. It's our homework. We turn on relaxing music, put out our aromatherapy and practice contractions. Chad times out 1 minute long contractions every 3 minutes. He states, "Contraction beginning" and puts a bag of ice in each hand and puts the physical trigger in place as I breathe out. If you have never held a bag of ice for a minute on 3 minutes off for 5 sessions before, try it, it's not as easy as it might seem. The goal is to be able to relax without focusing on the pain. Sometimes are better than others but I do seem to be making progress. Obviously, holding ice is nothing compared to what the contractions are going to feel like, but it is just a way to help me practice ignoring outside distractions while I relax.

My plans for today? Pack the bag for the hospital, write thank you cards, and have the last hypnosis session with Nancy before delivery. Wow, things are sure moving along. Before I know it we will be holding little Genevieve Ella in our arms.

The Baby Showers!

May 15th was my work baby shower. Thanks to everyone who came and celebrated with me. A special thanks goes out to Connie, Nikole and Joanne for putting it together. I truly appreciate it. Thanks for the pictures Connie.























May 17th was the baby shower that my sister, Jennifer put together with help from my mom. It was so great to see everyone there. Thank you cards will be coming. We appreciate everything. Jen, the Trophy Cupcakes were a hit.

Pics from My Fair Lady

May 4, 2008.

I just wanted to post these pics of my dad and me from the night we went to see "My Fair Lady". I was a great show!

Too much to do, too little time to do it in!

As June grows nearer Chad and I are overwhelmed with the amount of projects we need to do around the house and expensive items we need to buy before the baby comes. Both add up quickly. I am trying as much as possible to take it easy due to fatigue, swollen feet, sore back and numb thighs, however Chad just can't do it all. When he focuses on the major projects that need to get done the housework suffers, when he focuses on the housework the projects don't get done. Not to mention that our weeks get busier and busier with childbirth classes, doctor's appointments, hypnosis for birth classes and other baby related to-do's. I have decided pregnant or not, it is time I start helping out again. I will do what I can in small increments, but it needs to be done. Today Chad and I were supposed to go to see My Fair Lady at the Paramount. I wouldn't miss this for the world, Chad however, has reached a point of being so overwhelmed by projects and so underwhelmed by the thought of seeing this show that he has decided he doesn't want to go. Fortunately my dad is able to go with me. It will be a fun night for us. I am looking forward to it.

This past Wednesday my friend MariClaire had invited me to see a movie called "The Business of Being Born". MariClaire is a doula and a member of Tacoma Labor Companions. She was to receive a gift for her and her pregnant friend for bringing a pregnant woman. We had decided to go out to dinner before the movie. I thought it would be a fun idea to bring my friend Melissa along, too. After all two pregnant women has to earn more brownie points than one right? Melissa and MariClaire had met once before at my Rock Band Party. Unfortunately I was a few minutes late to the restaurant (Jambalaya). When I walked in I saw MariClaire at one table and Melissa in another area of the restaurant at another table. At any rate the three of us really enjoyed our food and company. The movie was very good too. I highly recommend this movie to any one who is pregnant or supporting someone who is pregnant.

In the upcoming week we have Childbirth class (3 more to go), I have a three day conference in Bellevue from Wednesday to Friday so Chad and I will be carpooling to work, we have a hypnosis for birth session with Nancy and it is Mother's day this weekend. The week after next is even busier!

Can't believe May is almost here!

It seems that I was just typing about how full of a month April was going to be and I just realized last week that May is just around the corner. Lots has happened since Vegas. It took me so long to get that video link figured out for Chad's indoor skydiving thing so it just took forever to post.

Let's see. The weekend we got back from Vegas we celebrated Jennifer and Eric's birthday and my house. I still think about how yummy the cake was. I really enjoy our family celebrations and that we take time out of our busy lives to celebrate with each other. Getting our schedules to all mesh can sometimes be challenging to say the least, but it is always worth the effort. Here are some pics from that day. Can you believe how big TJ is getting?




On the 12th Chad and I saw Cabaret. Neither one of us had high expectations for this but it was...shall I say "Fabulous". We both really enjoyed this show. I had remembered seeing the movie and not loving it. The show was very different than the movie, in fact, after seeing the show Chad and I watched part of the movie and I was like, "wow no wonder I couldn't remember what had happened in the movie while watching the show". It was completely different. At any rate it was a great one. It's always nice to have those shows that surprise you. When you are thinking, "Oh, I'm so tired, I really could take it or leave it tonight" and then the show blows you away. We recently got our renewal for 5th Ave. and we get to move two seats in. Woo hoo. This upcoming season should be a fun one.
We have started our Childbirth Prep classes on Monday nights. This makes for busy, late nights for me on Mondays. Right after work I get a massage (no complaints there), get dinner in route, and then have class until 9:00. I'm usually in bed by 8:00 so I am usually wiped out by the time I get home and have real difficulties getting up to work out Tuesday mornings, but the classes are worth it. I learned more in the first session than I thought I would that is for sure. I thought I already knew a lot about the process but there is always more to be learned.
Chad has also started his signing with baby classes at Microsoft. This has sparked my interest in learning more about what it would take for me to teach these baby signing classes. I'm currently looking into two programs: Sign 2 me and Signing Smart. I think it would be fun to teach mom's and dad's how to sign with baby and I'm pretty sure I would be able to meet the qualifications. I'll let the blog world know if I do start teaching.

We had another doctor's appointment which was very uneventful, always a good thing. Pee in a cup, take my weight, check for babies heart rate, ask any questions. Done. Everything is looking good. Oh by the way as far as my symptoms go right now, my left thigh has been numb since I got back from Vegas, I have these ghastly mini-pukes, or as Chad calls them "verps",all day everyday, fatigue has started in again as well as the uncomfortableness. But all things considered it really isn't that bad. Dr. McLennen says I can expect more areas to go numb in the next couple of months due to my small stature, so get used to it. My feet haven't been swelling so much, only on the days where I am at my desk at work for at least half a day. I try to get up and walk as well as elevate my feet but it just doesn't seem to help much.

The 19th mom and dad came with Chad and I to our 3-d ultrasound at Baby Pictures. Chad wasn't so impressed with the pictures. I thought they looked pretty good. On the 2-d ultrasound they could see that Genevieve already has a full, thick head of hair. We also learned that she likes to snuggle. She actually has a ton of space up top but she curls up down low and cuddles with her feet and hands. At one point we could see her sucking her arm. This is probably too much information but she also seems to like to snuggle with my placenta which is right in front. In several of the pictures her nose is flat because she is right up against it. So needless to say there were only a handful of pictures where you could see her face without the placenta, hand or foot getting in the way. Oh by the way, she is definitely a girl. I will post the video as soon as Chad gets done editing it.

See her flat nose?Here she is sucking on her arm.
This is probably the best pic of her face.

On the 23rd we visited Tiny Sparts, where Genevieve will be going to Daycare. I have worked pretty closely with the director of the childcare centers so I feel very comfortable that it will be a good program. Chad felt like he didn't have enough questions to ask but by most standards he had plenty. The program has teens that rotate through that are taking classes on early childhood. This is a part of there curriculum requirement. The lead teachers do a good job in making sure the teens are doing what they need to do. It will be nice having daycare so close to where I work and having my baby in the same daycare as a lot of my colleagues.

Every now and then we seem to have an abundance of wildlife in our backyard. I never knew how much fun it would be to watch birds and squirrels until I met Chad. We have a flock of Stellars Blue Jays that visit us often for the peanuts. We also get our fair share of finches, crows, little black birds that we don't know what they are and swallows as well as our little squirrel friend that runs along our fence. This is just one example of the finches in our backyard.

Unfortunately Chad has been sick this week with a fever, but is finally starting to feel better. It's pretty rough around her with one of us sick and one of us pregnant. Neither of us feels like doing anything. Even so we were both motivated enough to work on the nursery which is very exciting for me. The room is mostly cleaned out except for a few items we are trying to sell on craigslist. We discovered that we are going to have a paint as least one wall. We moved some bookshelves out of the room. The bookshelves were covering patched up holes where the paint doesn't match. We are thinking red? Is that crazy? And we are thinking of only painting that one wall. To those that are curious our theme for the room is Nursery Rhymes, more specifically Mary Englebreit Nursery Rhymes. Here is the quilt I purchased off of Ebay. As you can see, lots of bright colors to choose from. Mary Englebreit also has a couple of Nursery Rhymes books that we may pull a couple of ideas from. We have a couple of outfits (thanks to mom and Karyl), a changing table/dresser, Amby Swing, pack and play yard and half of the crib (we still need to pick up the other half from the friend that is giving it to us). The changing table, pack and play yard and Amby Swing were all craigslist finds. Yea to craigslist! It's exciting to actually have a place to put some of these items. With May just around the corner June will be here before we know it....EGADS!!!

For those of you who didn't notice, Chad has started a blog too. See the link on the left to check it out.

Ain't It Swell?

We had so much fun in Vegas, but we were busy the entire time. We were both happy to be home. Four days is plenty in Vegas when you have a jam packed schedule. There was still plenty more we wanted to do. Guess we'll have to go back again.

Here is our iteniary for the trip

Monday
9:40 - Arrive in Las Vegas, Check in at Bellagio
12:00 - Lunch at Cafe Bellagio
1:30 - Go to Mandalay Bay for the Shark Reef
6:00 - Go to Excalibur for Tournament of the Kings

Tuesday
4:00 - Get up and get ready for Grand Canyon Helicopter Tour
1:00 - Back at Bellagio, Lunch at Sensi
3:00 - Penguin Feed at Flamingo (opps this doesn't exist anymore)
6:00 - Dinner at Tropicana at Mizunos
8:30 - Folies Bergere at Tropicana

Wednesday
11:00 - Go to Bally's for Jubilee Backstage Tour
1:30 - Go to Mirage for Dolphin Habitat and Secret Garden
5:00 - Dinner at Olives
7:30 - Jubliee at Bally's
After Show Freemont Street

Thursday
10:00 - Indoor Skydiving
Lunch
Leave for Airport
Fly home!

Upon arrival we checked into our room. We had requested a room close to the elevator because the last couple times we have been to the Bellagio it seemed we had rooms near the end of the hall. When you are coming back from a long day of walking that hall seems to go on forever! We were very close to the elevator and the view from out room was amazing. It was so cool to be able to watch the fountains and hear the music from our rooms.

Lunch at Cafe Bellagio was wonderful. If you ever get a chance to go their you need to try their Chicken Picatta with Artichoke and Capers. It is to die for!

Chad and I both enjoyed the Shark Reef. We were able to snag a wheelchair for me. It is a little humbling to be in a wheel chair but my feet were so swollen and I was so uncomfortable. I would have been miserable if it weren't for the wheelchair. Looking back I wish I had taken a picture of the Corridor aquarium, but here is a picture of it I found on the web.


Tournament of the Kings is similar to Midevil Knights. We had fun, but both agreed it would be more fun if you either went with kids or had a little to drink. Unfortunately the entire dinner was spinkled with Parmasean cheese so I had fun trying to pick all the cheese off of everything.
We loved our trip to the Grand Canyon. I was a super early day, we ordered room service because nothing was open yet. I had never ordered room service before, what fun. The sad part of this day was I stepped on a scale because they ask how much you weigh even though they weigh you on the helicopter anyways. Oh so sad to see such high numbers on the scale. But at least I have an excuse huh? A shuttle came and picked us up at the hotel and took us to Boulder City. There we learned you could get an "upgrade" to sit in the front. As we mulled it over if we wanted to pay more for this "first class" seating they called us to start boarding the helicopter. Much to our delight we got to sit in the front anyways. I sat next to the window and Chad got to sit right next to the pilot. This would have been his preference anyways since he can see all the dials and controls this way. On the way out to Grand Canyon and back Chad and I were both nodding off. I'm not sure if it was that we got up so early that morning or just that the vibrations of the helicopter were lulling us to sleep. At any rate it was a calm, peaceful, beautiful trip. We landed and had a breakfast there and then headed back.


Lunch at Sensi was a little disappointing. We really should have gone there for dinner but we had too many other dinners planned. We didn't realize that the dinner menu was different from the lunch menu. The service wasn't that great. I ordered a Kobe burger and go two tiny burgers. Nothing on the menu stated that these were not going to be full sized burgers. I ran out of water in my water glass several times, the waiter was not friendly at all and the place wasn't even busy! I'm not sure I would go back to Sensi.

After Sensi we headed to the Flamingo hotel to watch a penguin feed that doesn't exist. Apprantly Chad looked at a book that was outdated. Ah well it was nice to see the hotel anyways. They did have a little aviary that was cute too.

We actually did not have high expectations for Mizunos at the Tropicana because it was part of a dinner/show package, but it was actually very good eats. It was a Benny Hana's type place. Becasue of the timing we got the entire grill to ourselves and it was yummy.

Folies Bergere was OK. It's one of those things that you do once and then say, yep I've done that before. Chad really wanted to see some of the old style Vegas shows since they aren't around much anymore. So now we can say we did that.

Wednesday morning we went on a backstage tour for Jubilee! There we met Sam. Sam is a singer in the cast. We got to see all the sets (a lot of them probably not all), some of the costumes and headresses, a glimpse of the hall of dressing rooms, and some of the ins and outs of what happens backstage. It was really neat to see. If you are planning to see the show I recommend the tour. Of course Chad had a bunch of questions for Sam which led Sam to believe that Chad has a background in theatre. No, Chad does not have a background in theatre (except for a few plays here and there) just a thirst for useless knowledge.

From there we went to the Dolphin Habitat and Secret Garden at the Mirage. Again my feet were massively swollen, so again we got a wheelchair for me. I felt like such a whimp. I felt like people were looking at me thinking you don't really need that. I'll tell you this much, if it weren't for that wheelchair I would have been in and out of there in 5 minutes because my feet hurt so much. Fortunately for Chad they had people stationed around all over to answer any questions visitors might have. Lucky me!! Hey I can't blame the guy for wanting to know more about everything. After a while though it felt a little like oh man this poor woman is going to think we are stalking her. The workers rotate areas they stand in and it seemed she was always where we were. Of course each area harkened new questions specific to that area. I give myself a gold star for my patience that day. I want Chad to get the answers to his questions, but I don't care about them myself. I'm more of the, "hmmm let's have a looksie, "Yep look at the Dolphins aren't they cute, OK let's go now". When Chad sees something he wants to know all about the eating habits, behaviors, the mating process etc. etc. etc. Typically when we go to a place that has information plaques he reads each and every one. I tend to go back and forth between exhibits while he reads and then Chad will report back to me the highlights of that area.

We had dinner at Olive's. That food at Olive's is wonderful! All week I had been checking in to see if Elysa Wilson was working. Elysa has been a friend of the family for years. Her dad and my dad were in the Air Force together and have managed to stay in touch all these years. Elysa is going to school at UNLV where she has finished her dance major and working on her criminal justice major and she works at Olive's. Thankfully she was working Wednesday night. It was great to see her and hear about how the Wilson's are doing (not to mention we got preferriental seating). She was surprised to learn that Chad and I are pregnant and is very happy for us. Here are a couple pics taken at Olives.




That evening we went to see Jubliee. A traditional Vegas show. It was neat that at the tour that morning Sam said he would look for us. I swear the entire opening number he was looking right at us. This show left Chad thinking, did Don Arden (creator of Jubilee) have ADD? There are four acts. The opening act, Sampson and Dehlila, Titanic and the Finalle--a tribute to Fred and Ginger. None of these seemed connected in any way shape or form but rather each was it's own sort of mini show. Another one of those, okay, now we can say we have done that.

After the show we went to Freemont street. Something we have always meant to do while in vegas. I think both of us was a little disappointed. It used to be that Freemont street had a light show coordinated with music and colors above the street now it is esentially a really big really long TV screen. They run a show on it every half hour with people dancing and music but it's not as impressive as I think the light show might have been, but I wouldn't know because I never saw it. It was a late, late night and I think we were both glad to be back at the hotel room to get some zzz's.

Thursday moring, our last day in Vegas. Packed up our bags, checked out, had a bellman put our bags in storage so we can pick them up later and headed to Flyaway for indoor skydiving. Chad had a lot of fun doing this. I would have loved to do this too, but alas no pregnant ladies allowed (no surprise there). Initially Chad did not want to do this without me but I encouraged him to do it because we have no idea when he will have this opportunity again. What a great wife I am huh?

Chad loved it so much and we had enough time left that he did it again.


We headed back to the hotel to pick up our bags and get the shuttle to the airport. The flight was incredibly long. Believe it or not it was a 5 hour flight from Vegas to Seattle. We stopped in Ontario, CA and San Jose, CA. Egads!! By the time we landed my legs were swollen from the knee down and I couldn't even stuff my feet in my shoes without taking out my orthodics first. We were able to pick up a wheelchair. It trully hurt with every step. I know I had been sitting for 5 hours but at least it didn't hurt to get from point A to point B in a wheelchair. We were both very ready to be home. We had a great time in Vegas and we realize that this may be our last trip with just the two of us for a long time to come.