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Showing posts with label Friends. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Friends. Show all posts

Monday, December 22, 2014

Houston Baby Shower

November 15, 2014

My good friends who I met in Australia, Kim and Lori, and my sister-in-law, Renee, worked together to plan another beautiful baby shower for Baby H and I- but this time in Houston.  They chose a Fall theme with lots of "lil' pumpkin" references, and it turned out so cute!  They did such a wonderful job.  This baby shower brought together a pretty eclectic group of family, former co-workers, new co-workers, and friends from Australia.  It was so fun to have everyone all in one place.  I feel lucky to have met such great support networks here in Houston who all love and support Baby H so much already!  

Take a look at some of the great decorations, food, and activities they organized!

 


Clockwise from top, left: Guest favors (pumpkin coffee and pumpkin bark); guest sign-in; bib decoration station; "write Baby H a birthday card" and send your wishes to baby activities
And here are my lovely hostesses!

Renee, Lori, Me, Kim (& Sully!)
Some of the ladies who came to shower Baby H:

My mother-in-law and sister-in-law
My good friend and former co-worker, Yesenia
My sister-in-law, Christine
Sierra- present assistant extraordinaire (as you'll see in the photos below)!
My favorite teachers! 
Former co-worker and now fellow preggo, Sharon
My Aussie turned Houston girls- Casey, Lori, Me, Kim
David's side of the family- Renee, Fina, Me, Christine, Tess
And take a look at some of the great loot that we were so generously showered with:

Clockwise from top, left: My new Coach diaper bag!; so many cute baby clothes, present supervisor at work, baby Northface!
I received the most beautiful quilt put together by the group of girls I befriended in Australia. We are all spread across the world now, and somehow they managed to organize this quilt while in Australia, Indonesia, Canada, and the US.  This was SUCH a special gift! On the back it says, "Assembled with love from around the world by your mum's mates." 

And a closer look at some favorite gifts: Pee-pee Teepees, baby Northface, and Baby's first pair of Air Jordans!

Another great baby shower for Baby H in the books! It was such a fun and memorable day!

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Phoenix Baby Shower

DISCLAIMER: Yep, still pregnant. Since that's nothing I can really do anything about, I am trying to take advantage of this extra time I have and use it to catch up on some blog posts that I had intended to do, but never got around to. This is more for my memory and future photobook-making than anything else.  So apologies in advance for the mega baby blog post influx.  

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October 11, 2014

In October, my mom, sister, and cousin threw me and Baby H the most wonderful Baby Shower in Phoenix. The theme was centered around Children's Books, and they did such a great job with everything.  It was perfect! I loved that I had the chance to celebrate back in Phoenix with so many of my family members and friends.  

Here are some of the details:



And here are some photos of my beautiful hostesses:
Hostesses at work- my sister is the best bartender!
Grandma-to-be

Aunt and grandma in the making
My lovely hostesses

With my dad before we kicked him out
Some of the guests:


My grandma here to celebrate her 8th (I think) great grandchild
My cousin organized a fun onesie decorating station. I was SO impressed with how creative and artistic everyone was!  I'm excited for our little guy to sport these onesies!

Before

During

After
Present time! Baby H was definitely showered with so many generous and thoughtful gifts!  And he has a GREAT start to his baby library.  


After the party was over, we caught this little thief trying to claim one of the gifts as her own!  Sophie the giraffe has mass appeal


Thank you mom, Lauren, and Lee Anne for such a perfect day! We are so lucky to have so much love and support!

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Tuesday, December 09, 2014

36 Weeks - A Honeydew

November 20, 2014

Photo Thoughts: A big event this week was my Houston Baby Shower, so this photo with my mother-in-law and sister-in-law/ shower co-host is featured in this week's collage.  

How I'm Feeling: Feeling good!  It was a busy, but fun week!  I can't believe we are just one month out now...

Baby/Bump: I can't believe that baby is most likely in the 5 pound range!  This week his circulatory system is most likely ready to go, and his skin is getting less and less wrinkly.  


The bump is definitely feeling heavier.  If I lean forward while sitting, I can definitely feel his feet/legs or whatever is up at the top getting in my way.  

Symptoms: OK, I know I'm a broken record here, but this back pain is getting worse and worse.  It did get a little bit better last week, so I thought maybe I had just pulled a muscle or something, but it came back even worse this week.  By the end of the day, I am basically limping around.  It's strange though, because it doesn't bother me when I workout or do any Pilate's stretches.  When it does hurt is when I'm doing just basic movements- like walking. When I transfer my weight to my right leg, I get shooting pain from my lower back to my butt... so that makes walking, climbing stairs, putting on pants, etc. really fun.  My doctor said that since the shooting pain isn't going down my leg that it's most likely not my sciatic nerve.  She thinks baby is probably just resting his head on some other nerve down in that general area.  Ouch!  Other than that, I still have some shortness of breath and nausea if I lay down on my back.  

Weight: + 0;  +27.0 total.  

What I'm Anticipating: I'm looking forward to our Childbirth and Infant CPR classes next week.  

Sleep: I'm so thankful to still be sleeping so well at this point- with only one wake up per night... I'm definitely pushing my bladder to the max.  

Exercise: Pre-natal Pilates/Barre and the occasional Zumba class or home workout video.  

Movement: Lots!  I can definitely tell he is getting more crowded in there though.  The movements are less roll-y/stretch-y and more jab-y. I can also tell he is getting a lot stronger, because those jabs are getting a lot more painful.

Milestones: One month (or so) to go! I am starting weekly appointments from here on out.  Between these weekly appointments and the classes we have coming up, I am going to feel like I basically live at the hospital.  


Highlights of the Week:  So many fun things this week!

-Houston Baby Shower: My friends Kim and Lori and my sister-in-law, Renee co-hosted a fall-themed baby shower.  They did a great job, and it was so fun to celebrate with friends, family, and co-workers.  This baby shower brought together a lot of different groups of people, so it was fun to introduce people and see people from different parts of my life together.  

My hostesses!
Some of the adorable Fall decor
Some of my favorite gifts were: Baby Air Jordan's from my sister-in-law's fiance and THE most beautiful quilt made by the group of girls that I met in Australia. They are all spread across the world now (Canada, US, Indonesia, Australia), and yet they somehow managed to coordinate this. It is so beautiful, and it will always be such a special gift for both me and Baby H to enjoy. I'm so lucky to have these girls as friends!  



-David's 32nd Birthday: David isn't much of a birthday guy, so as usual, he requested to just keep the day low-key. It was a work day for both of us, so that evening I just made chicken pot pie for dinner and his favorite cookies for dessert.  Like most men, David is very difficult to shop for, but I was pretty proud of my gift selections this year.  I got him some cute race car baby outfits (forgot to take a picture), a bottle of his favorite whiskey, and the mini version of his beloved IKEA chair, so he and his son can relax in style together.  For a guy who rarely shows much excitement, I'd say he was pretty excited and surprised... he especially loved the chair!

Chicken Pot Pie ready to go into the oven
 

-36 Week Appointment and Ultrasound: The 36 week OB appointment marks the beginning of the dreaded internal exams.  It's as unpleasant as it sounds.  BUT, after the torture was over, I found out that I was 1cm dilated, 50% effaced, and at the -2 position.  Technically those aren't really predictors of when baby will come, but it's good information and it feels good to know that my body is making SOME minor progress in the right direction.  ALSO at this appointment (which David came along for), we got a bonus ultrasound due to a study that I have agreed to participate in during my pregnancy and through labor and delivery.  It was SO fun to see our little guy, especially since we hadn't seen him since 20 weeks.  And we even got some 3D/4D views of him!  He looks SO big and baby-like.  And he most definitely has his dad's nose and lips.  He was sleeping pretty much the whole time, and the tech really had to struggle to get him to move his arms from covering his face.  This happened at the 20 week ultrasound, too.  So I'm interested to see if he will sleep with his hands up near his face once he is here, too.  Oh, and we even got to see the cutest little grin!


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Tuesday, May 20, 2014

A Rodeo Recap - Mutton Bustin' & Usher

Two months isn't too late for a recap, right?  RIGHT?!...

Maybe just don't answer that question.  Because either way, I'm about to recap my trip to the Houston Rodeo which happened back in March.  But really, compared to the rest of the recaps I need to catch up on, 2 months is nothing.  So here goes...

The Houston Rodeo is probably one of my most favorite things to do in Houston.  I've been to the rodeo every year since David and I started dating long distance, and I was sad to have to miss it for the first time while we were in Australia.  So this was my first rodeo since being back, and I was SO excited to go! 

For those of you who aren't familiar with The Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo, it's basically one of the most amazing and totally ridiculous things you'll ever experience.  It lasts for nearly the whole month of March in Houston, and it's a pretty darn big deal.  It includes lots of livestock/farming things I know very little about, a huge fair grounds with lots of rides and fried everything, cowboys, bull riding, and a concert each night.  I'm always impressed with the level of performers that the rodeo tends to pull- there are always pretty great shows to choose from.  I've seen everyone from John Legend to Rascal Flatts to Tim McGraw to Train.  David can get rodeo/concert tickets through work, and this year we scored tickets to Usher! 

A couple weeks before the show, my cousin Lee Anne found out that she would be in town for work, and David very readily gave up his Usher ticket so that he could avoid hearing my squeals she and I could go together.  I was so excited to finally take one of my out of town friends to the rodeo.  It is such a true Texas experience! 


We started our night off right with some yummy Texas BBQ on the fairgrounds, then we headed to our seats while I gave her a quick overview about what she was about to see.  Before the concert, you get to see all kinds of rodeo events- barrel racing, bull riding, etc.  But my two most favorite (and totally ridiculous) events are the calf scramble and mutton bustin'.  When I explained these events to her before she actually got to experience them herself, I think she didn't really believe me, because it truly just sounds absolutely absurd.  But here's a quick run down for you if you are unfamiliar.  Of course, I will follow it with some photographic evidence so you can see it with your own two eyes.

Calf Scramble.  Basically a group of about 50 FFA (or 4H, I truly don't know the difference) teenagers stand in the middle of the field? stage? (whatever you call it), and about 30-40 calves are released into the field.  The kids then scramble to chase these calves around and catch one with a rope and guide the stubborn thing back into the square painted on the ground in the middle.  If they get it to that point, they get to keep it and raise it.  Which is supposedly a pretty good prize?  It's basically chaos.  And hilarious.

And they're off!

Notice the calf on the right basically dragging the kid behind him

Mutton Bustin.'  OK, now this... THIS is probably one of the most spectacular things I have ever seen.  So essentially, they take little kids (I think 3-5 years old), put them on the back of a sheep/mutton, tell them to hold on for dear life, and then let the sheep run like a bat out of hell and see how long the kid can hang on.  Yes.  This is real life.  And despite how crazy/possibly horrible it sounds, if you see it for yourself, you will realize how seriously awesome this sporting event is.  People do all kinds of sucking up/donating for years to get the opportunity to for their small child to bust some muttons.  Seriously. 


Finally it was time for Usher to perform.  To put it simply- he was amazing!  He is the best dancer ever.  We squealed a lot.  He played an amazing set (lots of "old school Usher" from our college days like "Burn, " "OMG," and "Yeah").  And our Usher crushes were renewed with a vengeance.  See for yourself:


I LOVE this photo with the cowboy hat silhouettes



Thanks for visiting, Lee Anne!  I'll let you know when next year's rodeo line up us released :-) 

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