Category Archives: Our Family

Maternity Photos!!

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So we’re pretty much in love with our maternity photos!

Without further ado, below are some of our favorite maternity photos. You can click on any one of the photos to make them bigger and you can also comment on an individual photo once you click on them.

We’re planning on framing a few of these as well as printing a pregnancy photobook as a keepsake for us. We’re ALSO going to print custom thank you cards for our baby shower using a few of our favorite photos.

 

A huge thank you to our photographer Kelly Boitano for doing such a fantastic job!!!

P.S. We are 34 weeks today! 6 weeks to go!!

33 Week Update

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We are so ready for our little girl to join us! We can’t believe that we only have 7 weeks left and then she’ll be here (if she’s on time).

We had our checkup with the doctor last Friday and when I told the nurse that the pregnancy has gone by so quickly, she looked surprised and said, “You’re the first person who’s ever said that to me.” I can understand how my opinion would change if I had morning sickness throughout the entire pregnancy or one of the other less positive side effects of pregnancy but I really do think it’s flown by! Then again, at the same time, I feel like I’ve been pregnant forever. Not in a negative way, I just feel like it’s become the norm that I can’t eat my coveted over easy eggs or enjoy a cold deli sandwich. Yes, I think those two things are what I’ve missed the most during pregnancy. You better believe it when I say that those will be one of the first things I eat after Baby T joins us! I can’t wait!

The nursery is pretty much done at this point. We have some minor items we want to add to the room but, if she came tomorrow, we would be prepared for the early arrival.

As far as how I’m feeling, I’m definitely feeling much bigger now. I get out of breath easier, am feeling more tired, and have been getting some acid reflux which is no fun. Tums are my new BFF, if you were wondering. Those little things work wonders! Some days my feet seem to be a teeny bit swollen but not a ton. I notice it mostly after a full day of work and wearing flats. I have been drinking a TON of water which I think has been helping make things easier… not to mention, I’m thirsty all the time.

We’ve been attending some classes that our hospital puts on for expectant parents which have been really helpful. So far, we’ve taken Childbirth Prep, Breastfeeding, Infant/Child CPR, Shopping for a Car Seat, and a Newborn Care class. We figured the more classes, the merrier. We’ve been reading some books (What to Expect When You’re Expecting for Me, Baby 411 for CJ) which have been helping us throughout the pregnancy and for when she arrives. We might schedule another hospital tour just to make sure we’re all prepared for D-Day since we took the tour in January and our memory might be a little rusty.

P.S. A huge thank you to our photographer Kelly Boitano for taking such wonderful maternity photos! Check her out, she’s amazing and sooo sweet! www.kellyboitano.com

February Recap

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Some of you might have been wondering where we were all of February – apologies for not providing many updates until now. Our month was extremely busy and it seems like as we get closer to Baby T’s arrival, we are getting busier and busier. Every night after work we have several items to cross off our to do list and every single weekend is jam packed with errands. We also try to make time for ourselves as a couple so that we aren’t too overworked and exhausted.

So what happened in February, you might ask?

  • Valentine’s Day – We always try to plan a date night on Valentine’s Day to celebrate so, this year, we went to an Italian restaurant in downtown Pleasanton for dinner. The food was delicious but the service could have been way better. Good thing we weren’t in a hurry because dinner took two hours (and no, it wasn’t a 5 course meal, they were just that slow). But let’s be honest, Valentine’s Day is really just the day before my sweet husband’s birthday. See below for what we did. 🙂
  • CJ’s Birthday – For Christmas, I got CJ a beer brewing kit from Williams Sonoma (he’s always wanted to do this) and he’s been patiently waiting for it to arrive. It was on backorder until the end of January so he decided to save the activity for his birthday weekend. A couple of his friends came over and they spent the day in the kitchen prepping and brewing. It takes two weeks for it to ferment before it can get bottled and then he has to wait another two weeks before drinking. We’re crossing our fingers that it turned out well, you never know until it’s ready for drinking! Not to worry, I won’t be tasting any of the beer. That night, we went out to dinner with some of our friends to Sauced (a delicious BBQ place) in Livermore and came back to our house for a game night. It was such a busy day but a ton of fun!
After CJ's Birthday Dinner

After CJ’s Birthday Dinner

  • Abby – We spent our last weekend with my dog Abby on CJ’s birthday weekend. I will always be thankful that we were home to spend time with her during her last days and will forever cherish that time. People who have never had a dog or grown up with a dog will never truly understand the amount of pain and grief I’ve been going through over the last week but we lost a member of our family, not a pet. Abby was my best friend since I received her as a Christmas gift in December 1999 and has been there for me through the hardest and happiest times of my life. I think about her and miss her every day and no amount of preparation could have gotten me ready for such a loss. Abby had 9 lives and was able to persevere through so much in her way-too-short life so a part of me never thought I would see the day when I would have to say goodbye. In November 2012, she got extremely sick and we thought she was nearing the end of her life. The doctor told us that she had several days to maybe a week to live so we decided to bring her home so her last days could be spent in her home. I spent the next few days laying next to her crying and telling her how much I loved her. She was able to fight through that time but was never the same and, on February 18, she passed away in her sleep. Losing her is the most excruciating pain and heartache I’ve ever experienced and, like I said, no one truly understands if they haven’t gone through it. Thank you to our friends who reached out to us; we are so thankful to have you in our lives.
My best friend for the past 14 years.

My best friend for the past 14 years. I love that smile.

  • Babymoon – A gracious coworker gave us a voucher to Peppermill Resort in Reno to use for a two night stay that we just redeemed last weekend. It was a much needed weekend away after the stress from the week before and was a lot of fun. We won a jackpot (in my mind) on the penny slots and won a whopping $25!! I felt quite accomplished. We also explored a cute old west town called Virginia City and stopped in Truckee on our way back and bought some fun items. It was so nice to have a weekend away as a couple to just relax and not have to worry about our endless “to do” list. We definitely had a vacation hangover the following Monday as we just wanted to go back to the weekend and relax a bit more.
Driving up to Virginia City

Driving up to Virginia City

  • Nursery – It feels like every day we are getting a shipment or working on something for the baby room. It’s hard work but sooo worth it and we’re loving the process of getting it set up for Baby T!!
  • Adirondack Chairs – CJ finished painting them and they are now sitting on our porch. He did an amazing job! Maybe he’ll do a post on the final result soon 😉

And that’s a general update for what we’ve been up to – there’s been so much more in the mix but what’s most important is that we are so thankful for the time we get to spend together over the next few months before our little girl arrives and can’t wait for her arrival.

30 Week Update!

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Wow, I can’t believe we’re already 30 weeks along!! I would be posting updates more often but not much has changed since the last time I posted. I just have a bigger baby bump and more people are noticing it now. The most common phrase I hear these days is either “Woah! You’re pregnant!” (from someone at work) or “Congratulations! When are you due?” (when we’re out and about). I think people now feel safe to make a comment because it’s clear that I’m growing a baby and I didn’t just eat a big burrito.

I’m feeling the same – she’s kicking regularly and I’m loving it! We are soo excited to meet her and cannot believe that there are only 10 weeks left of the pregnancy. We fall more and more in love with her every day and will never get tired of feeling her kick.

So far, the only person that has felt Baby T kicking is CJ. My favorite moments are when the two of us can feel her kicking together. It’s such a special feeling and I love sharing that between the two of us. It still would feel awkward to have someone hold their hand to my belly waiting for a kick with no guarantee that they’ll feel anything. Plus, it’s my belly… it’s still weird to me to think of other people touching it. My opinion might change but that’s how I feel right now.

My cravings haven’t changed – I still want to eat clementines all day every day! They are just so delicious.

I’m sleeping like a rock right now (knock on wood) and haven’t been having any back pain. Now that I’m in my third trimester, I’m guessing that will change but I’ve been savoring this luxury while I still have it.

The nursery is moving along nicely – it’s officially our favorite room in the house. We’re so excited for the big reveal once Baby T is born! We like keeping it under wraps so I’m not going to give you much more detail other than the fact that we love it.

26 Week Update

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Hello everyone! Today we are officially 6 months into the pregnancy – woohoo!

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This was taken last week. Apologies for the iPhone photo, I promise I will post a better one next time although I do love this one.

The most common question I get is, “How are you feeling?” and I’ve been feeling great! I’m not especially exhausted, no headaches, no nausea anymore (knock on wood!) so all is good. I do tend to get out of breath easier when I’m climbing stairs or doing a lot of activity but I can’t complain. This has been such an amazing experience so far and it’s all worth it. I’ve been trying to join CJ at the gym once or twice a week to stay active and, the other days, I’ve been trying to make more of an effort to walk places to get some exercise in (shout out to my fitbit for keeping track of my step count!). I’ve been sleeping really well too but I have a feeling that will change once I’m further along, at least, that’s what I’ve heard from other moms.

In the first trimester, when people would tell me that they loved being pregnant, I would think to myself, “How could you love being nauseas 24/7??!” but now I understand. Everyone has a different experience, but for me, the nausea went away after the first trimester and I really have loved every minute of it since. My favorite part, above everything else, is feeling Baby T kick. It seriously is the coolest thing in the whole world especially when CJ can feel. Every week she gets a little bit stronger and we feel her on the outside more often. Now, once in a while, we can feel some body parts move past an area on my belly! I can’t even explain how cool it is and how happy it makes us. We already love her so much and can’t wait to meet her in a few short months. I definitely know I will miss feeling her kicks.

For my birthday, we went to a 3D/4D ultrasound place and finally got to see her cute little face. It was so fun and the best gift ever! We might be biased but we think she is just absolutely adorable! We also got a cute little teddy bear with a recording of her heartbeat which will be really fun to show her as well as a few other goodies. I highly recommend doing that to anyone who’s expecting a  little one.

As far as how the nursery is coming along – we are slowly making progress. We got rid of all of the guest room furniture – we sold the bed and the nightstand to our friend and brought the dresser to my parent’s cabin in Arnold. We’re glad the furniture will be put to good use because they still have many years left in their lives. CJ painted a second coat of the wall color since we only did one coat when we first moved in and our uneven wall surface definitely needed a second coat to get all the spots we missed. Now, we’re working on getting the furniture and goodies to fill up the room. We’ve decided that we’re not going to reveal the room to anyone (other than ourselves obviously) until Baby T arrives. We thought it would be nice to keep that a surprise along with her name. So, no photo updates will be posted on the blog or shared with anyone until after her arrival. We are really excited for what we have planned for the nursery and are excited to share the final result once she’s here.

People are definitely noticing that I’m pregnant now when we’re out and about which is fun. I do get a little shy when people start asking questions because I’m not used to the attention but I still enjoy it. And luckily, no one has come up to rub my belly uninvited – success! I still think that’s the weirdest thing that people could do that without an invitation but, to each his/her own.

And lastly, I’ve been asked if I’ve had any strange pregnancy cravings – not yet! The only pregnancy craving I’ve had is for clementines. Oh dear those little cuties are so incredibly delicious, I could eat an entire box of them if I had no self-control. Actually, I have to give most of that credit to CJ because he’s been looking out for me and making sure I haven’t been binge eating clementines. Luckily, they are a healthy craving!

21 Week Update!

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BabyT on Make A Gif

Merry Christmas Eve everyone! Today marks 21 weeks – we’re more than halfway there! Woohoo. Above is a fun gif of how my belly has been growing. The most recent picture was taken last Tuesday.

All is good in the pregnancy department! I’m gaining the exact amount of weight I’m supposed to each month, my test results are coming back perfect, and I haven’t been sick since the second trimester started.

I haven’t had any crazy cravings (that I know of) and have been drinking plenty of water. I do really enjoy Mint Chocolate Chip milkshakes but I’m not sure if I would categorize that as a pregnancy craving. Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream has always been my favorite, I just want to eat it more often now. 🙂

I’m not sure if I’m feeling any movement. Sometimes, I think I feel her moving around in there but since it’s so faint, I’m not positive. My doctor said in the next few weeks it should become more pronounced as she grows so I’m excited for that. I’m most excited for CJ to be able to feel it because I can’t wait for us to experience that together. That’s supposed to happen a few weeks after I start feeling movement.

I’m getting a bit more used to sleeping on my side, which is good. It’s still not my favorite sleeping position and I do find myself waking up on my back in the middle of the night but I just move back over to my side and fall right back asleep. Last week, I woke up with an uncomfortable pain in my back so I guess I slept weird that night but it went away the next day. It was really distracting so I probably told everyone about my back pain that asked how I was feeling that day.

Luckily, most people have stayed away from touching my belly. There are a few people that I’m okay with but, for the most part, the whole concept of touching someone’s pregnant belly is strange to me… unless the expectant mother tells you to do it because the baby is kicking. That makes sense and is totally understandable. I fear the day when random strangers come up. A few people have told me about that and that completely baffles me. Who walks up to a complete stranger and touches their belly?  Not me. 🙂

Other than that, nothing newsworthy to report.

Gender Reveal – We’re having a….

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GIRL!!!!!

And oh my goodness, we are so excited!! I couldn’t stop smiling the rest of the day when we found out. Actually, I don’t think I really have stopped smiling. Knowing a little bit more about our little one who will be joining us in May makes it so much more real and exciting.

The ultrasound told us only good news – she has all her fingers and toes, perfect measurements, healthy heart, etc. Although, me being a huge fan of photos, I really wanted to see her little face but she just wasn’t in the mood to reveal herself just yet. She had her arms up on both sides of her face so we couldn’t see anything other than her tiny little hands, cute little fingers, and her ears. We were in and out of the appointment in what seemed like 10 minutes, it was so quick and efficient! They gave us a CD of some of the photos that they took but, unfortunately, we didn’t get a copy of her profile. No worries, we’re just happy we have a healthy baby girl!

The overwhelming majority of people guessed that we were having a girl but we were unsure the whole time. We didn’t really have a feeling either way and the only thing I was sure about was whether or not we were having a girl or boy, we would have been ecstatic.

We told most of our family and friends the same day we found out. At first, we thought maybe we should do some big reveal but, after we found out, we were just too excited to wait. It would have been cute though to wrap little gifts for everyone and have everyone open them together on Christmas to find out the gender. We weren’t patient enough for something like that. 🙂

Now that we know we’re having a girl, we can start registering and planning the nursery. We’re going to start working on the nursery in January after the holiday season. CJ has already started working on sanding the baby furniture that will be going in the room and then we will paint it a nice shade of white. We’re most likely going to stick with the gray, yellow, and white color scheme that we originally planned but we’ll see. We might end up doing gray, white, and a soft pink. Who knows! You’ll have to wait and see.

There are sooo many cute clothes out there and now that I know we’re having a girl, I’ve been obsessing over a few:

Oshkosh 2-piece set

Oshkosh 3-piece set

Carters 3-piece Elephant dot set

Gap Dot Flutter Dress

Etsy Headband 

Etsy Headband

There are so many cute items! But I haven’t bought anything yet, I’m trying to control myself until after the holidays. 🙂

We’ve had a lot of people asking what her name will be or making comments like, “Now that you know it’s a girl, you can start picking names!” Well, we’ve already done a lot of research on baby names but have decided not to reveal her name until she’s born. We think it will be fun to keep it a surprise! I promise you, it will be beautiful. 🙂

17 Week Update!

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This past Tuesday (November 26) marks the 17 week mark! For anyone doing the math reading this post, that is further along than my original due date that I posted. During our last checkup with the doctor, she moved the due date up to May 6. That was, in part, due to the high def ultrasound that we had done a month or so ago to see how far along the baby looked.

I think the most exciting thing about this process so far is seeing my little baby bump slowly get bigger. I keep waking up every morning and checking it in the mirror to see if it’s “popped” as some expectant mothers call it. It happens at different times so I don’t really know when it will happen for me but I am sooo excited!! I’ve been wearing looser shirts so I don’t think people can tell that I’m pregnant but I can’t wait for it to be obvious! It’s pretty noticeable when I wear tight shirts. Some people tell me they can see the little bump but others are convinced that, since I’m so tiny, I won’t show for a long time. At the end of this post, I’ll show you what I looked like at 6 weeks and now at 17 weeks. You’ll see there’s a huge difference from my flat stomach to a rounded stomach.

Another thing that we’re excited for is to start feeling kicks. I hear that is the coolest feeling ever and I just can’t wait!

As far as how I’ve been feeling, I’m doing much better than I was in the first trimester. The nausea is pretty much gone (knock on wood), headaches are way less frequent, and I have more energy than I did before. In the first trimester, I could barely keep my eyes open throughout the day but now I can definitely stay awake until bedtime… success! Don’t get me wrong though, if I’m laying down on a couch getting nice and cozy, I guarantee I’ll fall asleep. 😉

That’s pretty much it for now! We are still counting down the days until we find out if we are having a boy or a girl. The suspense is killing us! 🙂

 

6 weeks!

17 weeks!

Nursery Talk

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So, as I mentioned in our previous post, we’ve known about Baby T being on the way for several months now. In these past few months, we’ve mostly been reading books to learn about what to expect during the pregnancy and how to prepare for when the baby comes. But, a couple weeks ago, CJ and I were talking about how we’d like to decorate the nursery (what is currently the guest room) and I decided to start looking for some ideas online. I found a few cute ideas that went with what we were envisioning on Pinterest and decided to “pin” them.

Once we made the big announcement, we had at least three ladies tell us that they suspected something when they saw me pinning nurseries. Maybe I’m just an amateur Pinterest user (I only went on when planning our wedding, to find ideas for a baby shower that my sister and I are planning for our lovely cousin, and occasionally to get cute outfit ideas) but I would never have suspected anything if I saw someone pinning nurseries. Maybe because I’ve pinned cute baby outfit ideas years ago and was pinning wedding ideas before being engaged, but I tend to think that pinning is for you to save an idea for later… whether or not that “later” is in the near future or way down the line. But anywho, I learned my lesson. No “pinning” unless you don’t care about people suspecting something before a big announcement. 🙂

So, what are our plans, you might ask? The room is currently painted a light gray which is a nice neutral color so we are thinking about painting large white stripes on one of the walls as an accent wall. We might have the color scheme stay gray, yellow, and white. But we’re not sure yet, we want to wait to see if we are having a little boy or girl.

Here are a few ideas we have:

Nursery Idea #1 – Love the branch idea

Nursery Idea #2 – Love the stripes. These are on all walls but still super cute.

Nursery Idea #3 – Here’s closer to what we were thinking for the wall color.

I like the overall theme of the first two photos better and how light and airy to room feels but I think we might just paint one wall like in the 3rd photo. We’ll see. 🙂

For all the moms out there, how did you decide how to decorate your nursery? We’re pretty excited to get started on the project but are planning on waiting until after the holidays.

Baby Makes Three!

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Yes, you read that right! In approximately 6 months, CJ and I will have an adorable little baby boy/girl! We are sooo incredibly excited for this new chapter in our lives and can’t wait to share it with you.

We found out on August 30 and celebrated that night with a glass of bubbly (aka Sparkling Apple Cider).

With so much excitement, it’s hard to focus on anything else going on. The regular question that comes up, “What’s New?” has been the hardest question for us to answer. What’s new??? CJ and I are going to be parents, that’s what’s new!! But we have been calmly replying, “Oh you know, not much.” Although I always felt like people could see right through me. We wanted to wait until after the first trimester was over to tell everyone just to be safe but the anticipation was killing us! We kept talking about how it’s weird that something so exciting was happening in our lives and no one knew. It was all for a good reason though, we wanted to make sure that baby was healthy before sharing anything.

Our first picture of the baby was from when he/she was about the size of a pine nut. So tiny that we really couldn’t see much in the sonogram. Our doctor just pointed in between two tiny little white lines and said, “Right there, that’s your baby!”. What a crazy (but exciting) phrase to hear! Our second picture of the baby was from our first ultrasound which was such an exciting experience. Baby T was quite active during the ultrasound!

So here are the details so far:

  • Baby T is due on May 11, 2014
  • We will DEFINITELY be finding out the baby’s gender. Are you kidding? We are too excited to wait and really want to pick a name!
  • The guest room will turn into the baby’s room

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As far as how I’ve been feeling in these first few months – nauseous, constant headaches, exhausted… you know, all the fun stuff. I expected to feel that way after reading through What to Expect When You’re Expecting (yes, we bought the book right away and yes, it’s super informative) but didn’t expect it to be so distracting. Thankfully, I haven’t felt that way in a couple of weeks! I’ve been told the first trimester is the hardest part and that it gets much easier after that. Today marks the first day of the second trimester, woohoo!

And that’s about it so far. We’ll keep you posted on the progress!