Indiana's Nursery Reveal!

Just a little while longer and this darling nursery will be home to my little Indiana! 

We are super excited and I am so ready to get this baby out. This pregnancy has been so much different from Heidi's. While I have had way more aches and pains this pregnancy, I think I enjoyed it more overall. Having been pregnant before, I'm much better at reassuring myself that it will be over soon and things will go back to normal. Plus, I know what I have to look forward to.

Some pregnancy ailments I have experienced thus far: morning sickness (stopped at 12 weeks thank goodness), leg falling out of  hip socket leaving me temporarily paralyzed (too much relaxin!), constant heavy pressure/soreness down there, hip/leg/foot/calf/back/shoulder cramps at least once a day, sciatica, anemia followed by 3 day-long hospital iron transfusions, heartburn, and worst of all - frequent painful contractions/cramping throughout third trimester. I think some of these symptoms may be related to dehydration and the baby sucking up all my nutrients. I've heard that dehydration can increase contractions and leg cramps, but it feels like I drink and drink and still get them - which makes me think that I just don't have the minerals I need to properly hydrate. So I've been trying Coconut Water,  taking Magnesium supplements, and Evergreen to try to help. I notice the biggest difference with Evergreen and Magnesium. 

Heidi's pregnancy, on the other hand, was pretty routine. Yes I had morning sickness and heartburn, and a little sciatica, but it was nothing like this one. This one has been way more uncomfortable and I'm not sure why. I haven't gotten pre-eclampsia yet like I did with Heidi though, so I guess I should be grateful. 

My biggest pregnancy craving so far has been sweets - I have made more chocolate chip cookies in this pregnancy than I have in all my previous years of existence combined. I think I have finally perfected my recipe! Chocolate cake has been a favorite as well. Apart from sweets I've craved orange juice, french bread and butter, tomato sandwiches (sliced tomato, fresh ground salt and pepper, mayo on sourdough toast), tangy homemade potato salad, and fish n chips. I'd love to know what all these cravings mean. It feels like nothing tastes the same when you are pregnant and all your favorite foods become non appealing, and then all of the sudden something unusual that you normally wouldn't be interested in tastes amazing. Is it your body's way of trying to get something its lacking? I wonder! 

Indiana is the name we've chosen for her. We will call her "Indie" for short. But I love both.

Other top contenders were: Navy, Scarlett, Calise, and Sloane. We haven't decided on a middle name yet so we may use one these. 

Thats it for now. I will definitely be posting more now that sweet little Indie will be here soon! So stay tuned :)

 P.S. Did you know Jellycat makes security blankets? I love everything Jellycat! That owl hanging on the dresser is a Jellycat musical pull too, but it doesn't quite fit on my crib so I need to extend the belt. Super cute though! 

Botanical Gardens in June

Haven't bothered with my camera for quite some time. 

I think I need to start taking it with me again! I forgot how fun it is! 

Babe Update

thats right.

 we're having a she!

13 Week Ultrasound Photos

My ultrasound tech was so not into guessing gender this early. Anyone else want to take a stab?

Its Official!

Three

Three. She's three now. I think shes officially out of the baby stage, possibly even the toddler stage. She seems a full on child these days - talking, tricycle-riding, questioning every facet of the known world. Her days are filled with much more complicated tasks than her yesteryears. In place of learning to walk, talk, and feed herself are new endeavors - cat taming, mothering a small orphanage of lost stuffed animals, and sword fighting her father.

As much as it is exhausting some days, I know I will miss this when she is grown. There is so much cuteness in this house my little heart could just burst some days.

In other news, we have decided to try for number 2! Hoping it won't take too long to conceive. Heidi happened right away so hopefully we will have the same luck this time. Wish us baby dust ! :)

Little Healer

My daughter - she is so sweet! Even though I'm the parent and technically the one who is supposed to be imparting good values, I am surprised by how often I feel like she is reminding me of whats important. My little girl is full of love and compassion. As her mama I get to enjoy hugs, cuddles, and kisses all day long, but more than that, she appears to genuinely care about others. Of course, she does squabble and fight with other two year olds from time to time, but when it comes to her family she is very in tune with other's feelings and is quick to take up the role of healer when someone is sad.

The other day we made a special trip to specific grocery store to find our favorite brand of jam. When we got to the jam and bread aisle, I discovered that they had stopped carrying it. I wasn't pleased and Heidi could tell.

 "Whats wrong mommy?" she asked, visibly concerned from her baby seat in the grocery cart.

 "They're out of our jam!" I answered with my best frowny face.

"Oh nooooo!!" she exclaimed and put her hand on my arm and slowly started to rub it in a reassuring manner."Its ok mommy... Its ok" and she just kept rubbing. 

Nearby a middle aged hispanic woman's draw dropped. "I raised 6 six kids and none of them ever did that to me." 

It isn't uncommon for her to take one of our sighs or sniffles when we are tired or sick as a clear indicator that we are upset. Sometimes I forget that she is constantly watching and paying attention to us and am genuinely surprised when she says "Mommy are you ok? Mommy are you crying?" And even though I will answer her "No, I'm just tired baby" or "No, I'm just sick" she still responds with "Oh, its ok mommy! when we get home I will go in the kitchen and get you something to make you feel better!" 

Maybe its because nurturing others is not something that comes easily to me, but I find her ability to be so aware of people inspiring. I think she is going to be very special. I think her love for others will make her shine throughout her life. I can't wait to see how she uses it. 

Saying Goodbye

She did it. She traded the binkies in for a new toy. I feel like I wasn't ready for this milestone. This one was my husband's call. She had become quite dependent on them lately (slightly obsessed) and he figured it wasn't going to improve by itself so he called a date for the affair to end and it did.

She has not been happy about it. We gathered her binkies together and told her we were going to take her to the toy store to get a new toy and that she would give her binkies to the lady at the toy store and that she would get a new toy. She was thrilled with the idea, and then with her toy, it wasn't until bedtime that she realized what the exchange entailed. It broke my heart when she told me "I don't want my new toy I just want my binky".

I guess we have to take it away at some point. Just can't help feeling so sad. She isn't a baby anymore.

Oh motherhood, so bittersweet.

Playing Done Right

 I'm not that great at playing, honestly, but my husband is really good at it. Every night when Daddy comes home she runs up to him and says "Daddy I want you to pray with me!! I LOOOVE it when you pray with me!" (Thats not a typo. She pronounces her Ls like Rs for some reason). Pretty much the cutest thing ever. My husband is definitely the fun parent.

I took these photos last night, but the funniest part of the evening wasn't caught in photo. After we put Heidi to bed I decided to be funny. In an attempt to make my husband laugh, I got into bed and threw the giant bear on top of me in a somewhat suggestive manner and called Austin into the room. Laugh he did. And then he went into a jealous rage and started beating up my teddy lover. In a typical UFC fashion he took Teddy and threw him over his head to body slam him on the floor, but when Teddy went over Austin's head he smashed our glass chandelier into a thousand tiny pieces.

Teddy survived, but we did have to extract quite a few shards out of his coat.

Summer Has Been Summery

To the people who have been giving me reminders about posting on my blog: thank you for the push! I miss doing this and your words have helped me remember that and because of you, here I am writing and recommitting myself to blogging. So here we go people. I’m back! (and this time I mean it!)

Summer has been very summery. I’m proud of myself this summer for not being my usual hermit self and for actually going out and doing summery things. My new job of managing the Beach House has brought to my attention that people spend a lot of money to vacation here for a week or two just to enjoy the town that I call home. Most of the people who stay at the Beach House fly here from all over the US and then spend quite a bit renting a car, renting a house, eating out, etc. just so they can enjoy the California Coast lifestyle! To think I have lived here on the coast for the past 5 years and haven’t really been taking advantage of it, let alone appreciating it the way that these people do. After I had this epiphany I became determined to take advantage of where I live more often. And I did just that.

Heidi has been grateful ever since.