Weeks 23 and 24: A growing bump and time with friends!

Howdy folks! Another week has passed by and baby girl is growing at a rapid rate! She is kicking the dickens out of my belly too! She is nice and quiet when I am active. I find that when I run, garden or shake things up, she is as calm as can be, but the moment I kick my feet up is when she decides to do some moving of her own! What I find hilarious is Dan's urge to sing to her while I am propped on the couch! He has a multitude of hits that he chooses from (original material :) ) and when he sings to her, she starts dancing about in my belly. We've had so much fun this past week watching my belly move and experiencing all the new surprises that come with pregnancy!

This past week I also had the extreme pleasure to visit with my best friend, Shelby, and her parents. Growing up, we were joined at the hip! We took all the same classes, rode the same bus (embarrassing), ran Cross-Country and Track and lived at each other's houses. As adults, we are just as close. She was the matron of honor at my wedding and she is sincerely one of the best people on the planet! We had such a great time hanging out: we went to the Dana Point harbor and hung out in one heck of a nice yacht! I was pretending to be a business mogul on a leisurely lunch break, looking to purchase a yacht. It was quite fun! We had lunch together and caught up on our most recent adventures too! Of course, the visit wouldn't have been complete without a bit of time with her parents, Lana and Tim. Growing up, they had to endure endless hours of us girls cracking dumb jokes, eating them out of house and home, farting, belching and stinking up their cars on the ride home! They are like a second set of parents. Talking with them is always such fun! Lana and Tim showered me and Dan with the cutest box, which was filled with an adorable pink outfit and a cupcake blanket! This little girl is going to be spoiled!

Dan and I also had a doctor's appointment this week! Doc says that baby girl sounds healthy. Her heart rate was a steady 147 and sounded loud and strong! He also informed me that I am moving along at the right pace, whatever that means. All I can say is that I am relieved that she is healthy and that the pregnancy is going smoothly so far: fingers crossed! 

Here is the latest pic of my belly:

I must also share two additional pieces of news. Dan and I bought our first piece of nursery furniture--a nursing chair! I put it together on Saturday night! It is SUPER COMFY!

I've been told that a good rocking/nursing chair is a great piece of furniture to have, so I am delighted that we have it ready to go for when our little girl arrives. Lastly, my dear friend and devoted pen-pal Brook sent me this adorable onesie and Dan loves it so much that he wants to wear it! I don't think it's going to fit him (note the disgruntled expression), but he looks mighty cute anyway!  

Brook recently had a baby girl--Ellie(as seen above)! She is so cute and it's so exciting to hear about Brook's adventures as a mom! She has been one of my dearest friends, dating back to junior high. It will be fun to swap mommy stories with one another! 

Well, that's all for now! Stay tuned for the next update! 

TEA, HAIR AND G-PA

 Summer time is a time for fun, sun and friends! When one lives in SoCal, the emphasis can often be placed on the word "Sun".  However, this was not the case on a recent excursion to Orange with my three girlfriends: Jess, Kelly and Nicole. I most certainly had fun, and did so with friends, but instead of sun, we experienced slight drizzle and some low temps. It was actually quite nice though! You see, we are tea lovers! We usually hold a "tea party" at a local venue that we absolutely adore, but since their doors closed this past January, we have had to look elsewhere for "high tea".

So, I did some researching on-line and came across a lovely looking place called, Paris in a Cup. We booked a reservation and awaited our tea-date with utter anticipation! Paris in a Cup is a Parisian-themed (duh!) tea boutique that specializes in attention to detail. EVERYTHING is Paris--right down to the paper towels in the bathroom!

 We had such a fun time gabbing about our summers, catching up on the latest, sipping tea and eating finger sandwiches. I partook in the Broccoli Cheddar Soup, sweet scones, and delicious and savory sandwiches. The food always "seems" small, but let me tell you--it's filling! We probably went to the bathroom 15 times between the four of us (tea will do that to you), but the bathrooms were so cute that it didn't bother us one bit!

 After our tea, we moseyed on over to the shops in Orange; there are so many excellent vintage clothing stores in the Circle! Oh dear--I am ready to go back in time! These shops had the most exquisite dresses from the 50's and 60's. I was also really impressed by their hat selection! Everything was well preserved and so chic! I am going back there after baby-girl is born so I can do some major shopping!

I must also admit that I am convinced that everyone from that era was much smaller! The clothes are SOOO tiny and it would be foolish to look for an outfit in what you would consider to be your "normal" size. People were pint-size back then! I tried on women's gloves and you'd think I had sausages for fingers. The gloves were as tight as could be--I know I am pregnant, but I am not Andre the Giant!

 Needless to say, our day-trip was a blast! We had such a great time and plan to book more tea-dates in our future!

The following day, I found myself in one of my favorite places! Paradise Hair and More is a salon that is owned by a dear friend of mine named Millie! She is a hoot and a holler! I have known her for many years; she used to listen to my mother and me tell random stories each time we came in for my mom's routine nail appointment. Now, I usually come in with my dad. He also tells random stories and we all laugh at his silly demeanor. Millie's niece also works at the salon; her name is Elyse. She is an amazing stylist and we have so much fun talking, laughing and swapping stories. She recently had a baby herself and she looks amazing! The woman carried pregnancy like a champ! I hope I can follow suit!

To the left is a picture of my dad and me after our appointments. We both had our hair "did"(Pop Culture reference for those of you out of the loop) :). He is sporting a lovely and sophisticated goatee as well--it's his new look. This is the first picture I have of Grandpa Shaffer! Hooray! I plan to add pics of Grandma and Grandpa Hipp when we visit with them again!

Look at my belly! It's getting big!

This week has been a great one! Until next time...

Cutie clothes for a baby girl!

So, I have decided that girl clothes are too much fun! I know there's this horrible stigma attached to the female gender that we're addicted to shopping and that we can never have enough shoes, dresses, shirts, and whatnot. The interesting thing is that I have never been one to shop-til-I-drop; I have a limited endurance for shopping and must have a purpose for my excursions to the mall or clothing department of any store. This philosophy may change, however, with the arrival of our little girl--the clothes are just too adorable! As of lately, with any trip to Target, I must muster every ounce of discipline in order to avoid the Clothing Department.  Look at these clothes!!! Why don't I have a shirt like the one on the right here? "Sun-sational?!" That's adorable and ridiculously fun! I would wear a shirt like that if it were made in my size!

Anyway, the point is that Dan and I are having so much fun looking at items for our daughter-to-be. I recently cleaned out the guest room closet in order to make room for baby items and whenever I get the chance, I mosey into her room, open the closet and look at one of her out-fits. I know, it's embarrassing. I can't believe I am actually admitting that I do this, but I can't help it! Baby clothes are like an addiction! Needless to say, we're really excited!

This week has been fairly uneventful. My belly is getting bigger and I believe I have put on a little more weight, but I feel good. I am keeping up with my running routine and I am simply happy that I can still run. Today, I ran my usual 3 miles and I felt really strong. I keep the pace nice and SLOW, but the fact that I am doing it at all is quite the accomplishment. My doctor has encouraged me to continue running, so I hope I can do so for as long as possible. I know there may come a time when I need to pump the breaks though. I am aware of this and am being realistic! :)

I think that's it on the baby-front for this week! Until next time...

Week 21

Well, this week marks the over halfway point for baby! We can't believe how fast time is going by. Now that it is July, it feels like there's not enough time to plan for everything: nursery, registries, curriculum planning for maternity leave, the list goes on. We're excited for everything, but that tinge of nervousness has settled in for Dan and me.

This week has been an eventful and HOT one! After we found out that our little "bun" is a girl, we were off to Fresno for a family friend's wedding. Dan and I planned on a fast turn-around on this trip, as we had a lot of things to get back to, but the turn around was expedited even more when we found out that Dan's brother, Matt, and his wife, Julie, were in labor! We danced the night away at the wedding and then at 10pm heard news from Matt that Julie was in labor! Julie was only 1 cm dilated, so Matt informed us that we could afford a night's rest before heading down to Los Angeles. So, that's what we did: we slept, woke the next morning, and were off to L.A. to meet our new niece. SHE IS SO CUTE! It was so exciting to see Dan holding his little niece. It gave me an indication of what was to come in our future.

This week also marked a couple of firsts for me. I registered at Babiesrus with my friend Nicole and discovered that registering for baby items it quite an adventure. Who knew there were so many products for nursing mothers and their boobs? I mean, I knew about the pump, but there's so many, with so many different levels of flow. Did you know that there are also a variety of nipples? Some attempting to replicate a real nipple as much as possible (isn't that the goal?). I was told by a random mother to register for a certain brand of bottle, as it best mimics a real nipple. CRAZY!!!! After the new discovery, Nicole and I had to take a pit- stop in the rocking chair department. There's just way too much to look at and so much store to cover--it was essential to rest!

My other first was the purchase of my first maternity dress. I live in dresses once summer season hits, so I wanted to make sure I had a few to fit my ever growing gut! I ventured into Motherhood Maternity and was drawn to a green, tie-dye maxi. I am wearing it now, in fact! I don't know if I am ready for the elastic waistband that hugs the belly yet. It kind of scared me! We'll see. :)

I can see I am rambling, so here are the other updates: I think I finally felt her move last Tuesday night! I didn't feel the flutter that so many women mention, but I felt two distinct rolling movements in my belly. It was exciting! I also found myself waking up in the middle of the night due to some extreme discomfort. I've read that this discomfort is known as round ligament pain. It's an indication that the uterus and pelvis are stretching: OUCH!

I will close this week's post with a few shots of our daughter! Hee hee! I love saying that! I hope you enjoy!