A Shabby Chic Baby Shower

So this Baby Shower was supposed to be outside. We picked April thinking that the weather would be beautiful and warm....and perfect for OUTSIDE! But as the weather in Colorado would have it, it was a cold 40 something degrees that day with a chance of snow. The only cold day like that for all of March and April. I should have known! So the shower had to be moved inside instead. This did not make your Auntie very happy and the weather didn't make me very happy because I refused to wear black to my "shabby chic" baby shower! After trying on everything that I could fit over my belly and not liking anything. I decided to pretend that it was a beautiful sunny day and I wore a blue sun dress with my jean jacket and flower pin. Lollie said when you're pregnant you can wear whatever you want!
This shower was hosted by my sister, Ashley, and my friend, Cristin Buys. Ashley and I went antique shopping about a month before and got lots of good stuff. She wanted the shower to look like this...

See a warm sunny day would have been perfect!
Ashley made/bought the decorations and made some of the food. And Cristin let us use her house, helped Ashley make some food (along with her husband Aaron) and planned the games. The house looked great and I hope everyone had a great time! Ashley even had someone ask her to plan their kids birthday party.

We had a great time! And we were blessed to recieve most everything on our registry. Now we're just waiting...

Ashley's cute & delicious invention! Brownies w/ Nutella, Coconut, and Chocolate Eggs

The Blessings Tree: People wrote well wishes and advice for me and baby.

The Blessings Tree before. This was probably the millionth tree or branch that Ashley collected for this purpose. She finally found one that worked!

Stamped Seed Paper as Party Favors (Very cute!)

Pennants from colorful paper.

Fruity Water and Orange, Pineapple, Ginger Punch

Cumcumber Mint Sandwiches, Lemon Cakes, Fruit Salad, Candy Olives!, Tomato/Mozarella Skewers. We also had Homemade Salsa, Brushetta, and Chocolate Cake! Everything was so delish!

Opening Gifts. Baby and I were very blessed between all of these showers!

Baby Shower Invitation

This weekend I had my Colorado Baby Shower. This is the invitation and I'll post more about it when I get some pictures in my possession!

Breastfeeding Class/Daddy Boot Camp

This weekend was another exciting whirlwind of baby stuff. Which has been really positive for me, since work is really stressful right now. It helps me keep things in perspective and it gives me something to think about other than the job situation.

Saturday morning I had my breastfeeding class and Justin had Daddy Boot Camp. In other words I saw lots of boob videos and he got to change a dirty diaper. And we paid good money for this!

On the way home and over a fancy lunch at Costco we shared what we each learned. I'm sure if someone heard us from a nearby table, they would think we have the weirdest conversations EVER!

But after the breastfeeding class I am feeling more capable and slightly more confident in what its all about. I am excited to give it my best shot and Justin is totally on board...probably because it will save us about $1500+ during the first year. But he knows its better for the baby too.

I also learned the importance of skin to skin contact with the baby, especially right after its born. And that Dads can do this too. Even Grandmas, but I think that's a little weird...so I'll just pretend that I didn't hear that. ;o) I also learned that for about the first 2 weeks I can warm or cool the baby down by placing him/her on my chest (again skin to skin). I also learned that a baby's stomach is the size of the top joint of your pinkie finger when it first comes out.

I am pretty confident in the breastfeeding positions and in the baby knowing what to do. But not as confident in knowing the difference between engorgement and being full. I also feel like the teacher may have sugar coated the first two weeks a little. But I've heard if you can make it through those two weeks, then it gets easier from there. If anyone has read a book that might help, let me know!

Justin learned signs for postpartum depression. He learned about labor and that I'll probably crap myself. (Which let me point out was the first thing he told me he learned and I think he found it pretty amusing. I on the other hand am horrified by this.) He learned to ask me how he can help, since he obviously can't breastfeed. He learned about the wife being a "Gate Keeper". Which is where the wife takes the baby back whenever it starts crying thinking the Dad can't do it "right". He said he didn't think this would be a problem for me. I'm not so sure about that, but at least now I can be more aware and make an effort not to do that. When you marry someone who is slightly OCD (me), I would think that would be a natural problem. But maybe I'll surprise myself and prove him right!

They also had a couple new Dads with 3 month old babies in the class. I could hear one of them crying in my class where I learned that if that happens while I'm breastfeeding, my milk will come down and I will start leaking. What!?! This should lead to some pretty hilarious stories in the next few months!

Next weekend is Labor/Delivery Class. No more living in denial. No more ignorance is bliss. I put it off as long as I could. I should probably bring snacks and juice to keep my blood sugar up, so I don't pass out. I imagine there will be more videos...oh great. It's time for a heaping dose of reality. It's probably a good thing, because at this point I'm pretty nervous.

So I am ready for helpful tips if anyone has them. But I'm still not ready for horror stories, so keep those to yourself! :)

Baby Center

Every Monday morning I receive an email from Baby Center telling me approximately how big Baby is and what's developing this week. It also tells me how my body is changing. This week I'm at 35 weeks (how did that happen!). So it says that Baby weighs about as much as a honeydew and that he/she shouldn't be doing somersaults anymore, but that the kicking should be about the same. I never really felt somersaults, but I can definitely tell the kicking hasn't let up. When I went to the doctor last week the doctor checked my cervix to see if I was dialated at all. So she told me that the baby was head down. So I asked her what these lumps are under my ribs and she said that in the center is the butt and to the right side are the legs/feet curled up. Well now that explains A LOT! Every once in a while I get a nice kick in the ribs or Baby stretches those legs out and I think he/she might just bust through! I'm sure I'll miss those kicks once they are gone, but maybe Baby you could just let up a little or kick a different spot its feeling a little bruised right there.

Baby Center also tells me this week that my uterus is crowding out all the other organs. Duh! I pee all the time. Justin, Ashley and I went to the movies last weekend and Justin went in first while Ashley and I went to the bathroom. He picked the seats and of course he went to a prime spot in the middle of the row. Luckily we got there early, so I asked him if we could sit on the aisle. Of course to him this sounded ludicrous. He said, "Why?" I said, "because I'm going to have to go to the bathroom." Now this was not a quiet conversation we had between ourselves, because that would have required me climbing over some people in the aisle only to need to be let out again. So all the older women and their husbands were cracking up around us. Justin got up to make the move and one of the men said, "sometimes you just learn as you go." Something tells me those men could give Justin (and I) a lot more valuable insight!

The Vending Machine

We have a vending machine at work. I don't get snacks out everyday, just here and there when I get hungry or if we haven't been grocery shopping and I don't have anything to bring from home.

Doritos makes taco flavored Doritos now and the vending machine carries them! Unfortunately the last couple times I've tried to get them I've been rejected! Let me explain a little more...

Today I go to the vending machine and I select B3 (the Taco Doritos) and I hold my breathe and then it beeps and tells me to make another selection! I can see them right there! I want those stinkin' Doritos! Baby needs those Doritos!

Begrudgingly I make another selection, probably one better for me, and out pops choice #2. Dang it! Stupid vending machine! Oh well...

A Full Baby Weekend

This weekend we had our hospital tours! I scheduled them on the same day, so they would be easier to compare. The first stop was St. Joes in downtown Denver. I'm not really sure what I think about this hospital. We found ourselves a little confused because the tour guide was very soft spoken and would start talking before we all caught up to her, so I would miss half of what she was saying. But I did see the labor & delivery area and the recovery area, so I guess that is what I came for. St. Joes is a little older, but it has everything we would need and is in walking distance for Justin to some restaurants and a Starbucks. I'm not really sure what else it has, because I couldn't hear! The recovery area has a double bed, so Justin can sleep there too and they room in with the baby.

The next stop was Sky Ridge by Highlands Ranch. This hospital would be closer to our house. It is a smaller hospital, but still has a NICU and everything we might possibly need, but hope we don't! It is a newer hospital and a little easier to get to and find your way around in. Again we saw the labor & delivery area and the recovery area. This one had a single bed, but a futon for Justin. They also allow you to room in with the baby, but also have a nursery if you need to get some sleep or shower. But their are no restaurants within walking distance. However, everything was a little nicer than St. Joes because it is newer.

At the end of the day we were leaning towards Sky Ridge, but everyone keeps telling us how great St. Joes is. So I guess at this point I need to find someone who has delivered at Sky Ridge to see what they think of the experience there. It's kind of an important decision, but I don't really have anything but the aesthetics if the two to base my decision on.

Any one know anything about either one?

Then on Sunday we kept the nursery for the first time at our church. We decided that if we are going to have a baby in that nursery then we should volunteer once a month to keep it.

I couldn't help but day dream about our little baby being in there. Then I was trying to day dream about whether it is a boy or a girl and I was imagining walking in and saying, "This is..." I can't fill in the blank yet, because we haven't decided on a name. I'm pretty sure this baby will come into the world without a name and then we'll have to kick everyone out of the labor and delivery room, while we decide. It's another big decision after all!