Baby Shower Invites

So for the past few weeks, my cousin and best friend, Eliza and I have been in baby shower planning mode and it has been so exciting. First off, being that we are such crafty girls we decided that we would design and assemble the invites ourselves. Being that Omar and I decided not to go with any specific theme for the baby shower and opted for a color scheme of bright pink, black and white I knew that the invites were going to be simple and cute. Eliza and I looked online at many different invites to gather some ideas as far as design and wording; within an hour we were sketching out our vision and the plan, as well as all that we would need to make them.

We then went to our local Michaels and purchased what we would need and set the target date for assembly of the invites for the weekend of June 25th. We were originally going to use black envelopes, but instead I found the perfect bright pink size A9 envelopes from Envelope Mall and opted to purchase those instead of black. So glad I did because I think it's a great compliment to the invite we made.

So here below is a picture of the final product: invite, envelope, and inserts with where we are registered and some other info.

I will be posting some of the other crafty things we create for the baby shower as we work on them.

29 Weeks and Counting!!

The first week of my last trimester has been quite interesting to say the least. I am already experiencing the swollen feet and ankles on a daily basis, and on occasion swollen hands. I am also having a more difficult time sleeping at night, especially since I have to wake up so often to empty my bladder, partly because I drink so much water and she loves to just kick my bladder. Just last night I fell asleep at 10pm and woke up at 1am and was not able to fall asleep. I've been awake for almost 21 hours straight and I'm exhausted. Oh well...I guess it's just preparation for many of the sleepless nights I will soon encounter in a couple of months.

 

A view from the front

Thank goodness I have an awesome husband who massages my feet every night to help the swelling and discomfort subside a bit. He really has been awesome through this whole experience; I really am lucky!

I do have to vent about some of the weird things that people feel they just need to say to me that in my mind are just not necessary.

1. "Oh you're pregnant!" -- No shit Sherlock, I mean really?! It doesn't take a rocket scientist

     to figure that out.

2. "Wow! You're belly is really popping out! You look like you have a watermelon under    

      there." 

3. "You're soooooo big!! But you look great." -- Did you just throw that last sentence in there 

     because you feel like you stuck your foot in your mouth with the first sentence?! 

I could go on and on with some strange things people tell me, but I'll spare you all and myself from having to repeat some stuff that gets me even more irritable than I already am.

 Side view

I will say that all the discomforts aside I am so in love with this little girl growing inside of me and I can't wait to meet her.

Happy Dad's Day!

This Father's Day I take the time to reflect on a man who has helped shaped me into most of who I am today, my dad!

                             Helping my dad rake the leaves in our front yard, circa 1979

Ever since I can remember I have always been a "Daddy's Girl", and I really have no shame in admitting it. My mom even tells me the story over and over again about how my dad told her he was hoping for a girl as his first born; I guess he got his wish. From that point on I believe we were pretty inseparable. I have fond memories of helping my dad in the yard with raking up leaves or sweeping up the grass after he mowed the lawn. I always wanted to be daddy's helper and mimic everything he did. I guess that's why I don't mind getting myself dirty every once in awhile with some hard work. He taught me how to check the oil on a car, how to mow the lawn and prune the flowers, and he even taught me his perfectionist ways of sanding and painting the walls. Don't get me wrong, as loving as my dad was and is, he was at times pretty rough on me and expected the best, but then again what parent doesn't expect the best of their child(ren).

                                      Posing with my dad inside our house, circa 1980

To the man who shaped me into the woman that I am today I say "thank you"! Thank you for cleaning up all the boo-boos, reading me stories, teaching me how to ride my bike, encouraging me to never give up, showing me that there is more to life than we could ever hope for, singing with me and to me, even though you are tone deaf and can't hold a note, and most importantly loving me unconditionally and sacrificing so much to give my brother and I the life that we had growing up. I know you'll be an AWESOME grandpa to your soon to be grand-daughter and I know she'll love you as much as I do.

                                                    Dinner time, circa 1980

Love you Pops, more than words could ever express!

A Blissful Saturday

Today was a fabulous day spent with the husband. First off, I was excited that I only woke up once to use the restroom and I was able to fall back to sleep without any problem. Second, I slept in until about 10am; I honestly can't remember the last time I was able to do that. So thank you to whoever out there made this possible for me.

So once we woke up we decided to get ready and head out to Long Beach to enjoy the beautiful day. First stop would be to our favorite Italian spot, Papalucci's, for a late lunch. Omar introduced me to this spot shortly after we started dating and we just love going there any chance we get. It was not busy at all so it was nice and quiet, and we didn't feel rushed through our meal.

We started off with the Pepe Salad and Garlic Rolls, while we waited for the main course. The Pepe Salad is a wonderful mixture of lettuce, purple cabbage, cucumbers, tomatoes, and garbanzo beans topped off with cheesy vinaigrette dressing.  The Garlic Rolls are a buttery, cheesy gooey goodness that just warms my belly, not much else to say about that. I ordered the Henry's Special Shrimp with Fusili Pasta and it's always delicious with tomatoes, basil, and lots of mushrooms. Omar ordered the Tutte Mare (mussels and shrimp) with Angel Hair Pasta and he said he enjoyed it.

Picture of our entire meal at Papalucci's in Long Beach.

After our delicious and filling lunch it was off to Shoreline Village to walk around, enjoy the weather, and relax. We locked along the docks checking out of the boats and talking about which one we wouldn't mind owning in a few years, nothing wrong with dreaming, right? After that we found a spot to sit and read our books for a bit, and I indulged in an ice cream cone. We noticed that it started to get busier with people walking around and decided to venture off to a quieter spot where we could continue reading and just enjoy the weather and company. We found a huge grassy area and took refuge under a tree, I continued to read and Omar decided he was going to take pictures. 

I have to say that I can't remember the last time we had a day where we just relaxed and spent the day at our leisure without having to worry about rushing to do this or that, or be anywhere in particular. 

 We stopped along the way to take a picture with all the pretty boats.

Here's looking forward to another day like today in the near future!

Entering the Twilight Zone...

Actually it's just the third trimester of my pregnancy. I do have to say that I am really starting to experience some serious changes as I move into this stage. I find myself feeling short of breath quite often, I have to pee at least once an hour (it's the worse when she decides to kick my bladder), my feet and ankles are starting to swell more often (despite my limiting my salt intake), and I feel like I have a ginormous heavy belly that causes me to feel off balance. Oh well, all this aside I am enjoying my pregnancy, especially when I feel her move, kick, and wriggle around.

I still have about 12 more weeks left before my September 8th due date and I know I will experience many more "twilight zone" episodes, but I'll take them. I'm just anxious for our little girl to arrive. 

Here are a few pictures of my belly growth starting at week 20.

20 Weeks

 

 23 Weeks

25 Weeks

 

28 Weeks

So there you have the progression of the baby and belly growth over the past 8 weeks/2 months. From this point on I will chronicle the baby and belly growth on a weekly basis until she arrives. 

Now What?!

On Saturday, June 5, 2010 I graduated from college with my Bachelors degree in Human Services and I'm trying to figure out what to do with my spare time since I don't have homework or classes to occupy my time.  It's definitely been an adjustment, but I think I'm figuring it out.

 Here I am pregnant with our daughter who is due to arrive in early September 2010, my husband Omar, and "bonus daughter" Desiree.

With my proud parents!

So for now I've just been catching up on some much needed R&R and organizing my life a bit at a time. I have also started coming up with some "crafty" projects to work on in the next few weeks for our "Baby Polie's" room. I already purchased the material to make curtains and some supplies to make some creative artwork to display on the walls. I'll post pictures of those as they get done. Currently "Papa" Beto (my dad) is working on jazzing up her room by sanding and painting the walls. I can't wait to post the before and after pictures once it's all done.

With prepping for her arrival comes the planning of the baby shower; this part has been super fun, especially because my awesome cousin and best friend Eliza has been planning most of it. We already figured out the invite design and can't wait until she returns from her DC/NY trip this weekend so that we can work on them and mail them out the last week of June. This means that I have to get crackin' on our Baby Registries, which can be pretty overwhelming and exhausting. Thankfully my cousin, Vanessa, has offered to help me register and give me pointers on what's not needed and what's really needed. 

So as you can see I now know what to do with my "free" time before the little one arrives in just 12 short weeks.