Things are getting REAL!!!

Attention folks! The nursery is complete! We are so excited! Dan spent the better part of his work days a couple weeks ago putting the nursery together. He then added final touches this past weekend! We are so excited! We sometimes go in the nursery just to hang out! The smell, the books, the fun colors--it's a little baby-sanctuary.

We also installed the car seat, which we thought would be a painstaking task, but it wasn't. It's weird to look over my shoulder while in the car and notice this little seat in the middle! She'll be in it soon! It's just so WEIRD! Now that we're in the final stretch, we're finally realizing that it's only a matter of weeks or even days!

The doctor's visits have been good. Everything is checking out great! Baby is growing happily and she's moving like a juggernaut! We'll be sure to keep you informed of her arrival!

                                                                                

                                                                                

                                                                                

So, as you can see, we're having lots of fun with her room! Dan has adorned the walls with all sorts of original work--we're super excited about that!

Until next time...

Birthday Time, Shower Time, Doctor Time...

These past two weeks have been more than eventful! With the final countdown on the clock, Dan and I are brimming with excitement, but overwhelmed with fear too! I guess that's to be expected! So excited to meet baby girl, but nervous about how we'll adjust. Anyway, with all these emotions permeating in our brains, it was nice to have other things to distract us: More birthdays and more showers...oh, and some doctor visits too.

Celebrations #1: My birthday! The actual day is the 11th, but we started celebrating on Saturday. I insisted that Dan take me to Tea! I LOVE TEA, so we went to The Tea House at Los Rios; this is a place located in San Juan Capistrano! It's in the Los Rios District, by the train station. It's adorable! The area is really quaint, with old houses lining the street and Saturday vendors selling arts and crafts. The food was really scrumptious and very well presented. Take a look:

Doesn't everything look amazing? We ate until we wanted to nap--I practically did once we got back in the car! My stomach was content and my eyelids were super droopy, but Dan came up with an inventive Country song that he kept singing while we drove through OC, so that kept me from nodding off.  The tea we had was really something too--Vanilla Bourbon Rooibos tea (decaf), name after Bourbon St. in New Orleans!

Celebration #2: Kelly Hosted a Baby Shower!

My very dear friend and colleague, Kelly, threw a great Fall-Themed baby shower for me and my friend Nicole. Kelly hand-made these amazingly decorative pumpkins and planted gourds and pumpkins all around her house. It really added to the charm and quaintness of the day:

So many of our friends from Vista arrived to celebrate the arrival of our little girl and Nicole's little boy!

And this is what the two "pregos" looked like on their fine day:

Yeah, we're awesome! 

Kelly made incredible treats for her guests as well! She did a fantastic job and it was truly sweet of her to host such a lovely event. She had a co-captain in our friend Jess too! Jess rocked it like a super star and made sure everything went smoothy. Kelly and Jess were quite the team! 

Aside from some rockin' celebrating, I of course, had to attend a routine doctor's visit to ensure baby girl is ripening just right. According to Doc, she's doing great! I feel wonderful, with the exception of my incredibly shrinking bladder, and Doc seems satisfied with her growth and heartbeat. I am hoping that with my next visit, I will get an ultrasound--it'd be nice to see her again! So, we're now at 28 days to go! SCARY! Stay tuned, people. Our little Turkey-baby is coming soon!

A Baby Shower Fit For a Princess...

Let me begin by saying this: if one should leave it up to Madeleine to throw a shower, they are in for the ride of their life! Boy, did she stop at nothing to make my baby shower a beautiful, tantalizing, exquisite success!

My SoCal baby shower was last weekend; Madeline hosted, along with the help of my two best friends Shelby and Crystal. The day began perfectly. I awoke early on Saturday morning to get a start on the day. It was so nice to wake up and have Dan's mom, Sue, sitting in our kitchen and sipping tea. It's always so lovely to have her in our home. We get to have really great talks when she visits and it's so nice to catch up. I was thrilled that she came down for this shower!

I went on my morning run (yep, still at it--a waddling freak at this point) and then returned home for breakfast and a shower. Shortly after, my aunt came over so we could all drive over the mountain together and head to Laguna (the shower destination). Upon arriving, I was greeted by this glorious spread that you see above. Madeleine included such detail in every single aspect of the shower, down to the hand sewn napkin holders that she made!

She even created the cutest theme for the shower: STORKS! In each napkin, she included a story that detailed the lore of storks and pregnancy. The tale even went on to explain the connection between Vlasir pickles (which include the stork as their mascot) and pregnancy cravings! It was adorable! Who knew? Apparently Madeleine did.

In mentioning the food, my mouth begins to water! She made exquisite quiches: Lorraine and Spinach, both of which melted on your tongue and had you begging for more. She accompanied the quiche with a colorful salad that tasted superb!

All I can say is: MORE! It was so good! I can go on and on about this shower--it truly was a wonderful day! Unfortunately, I can't post pictures of all the games, as sneaky Shelby managed to make one of them a little too realistic, bordering on pornographic! Okay, not really, but she blew up a picture of my face and then had her sister-in-law, Deirdre draw my pregnant, naked body onto a poster board. To put it bluntly, Deirdre made sure to include extra detail, just to get the point across. A boob draped over the pregnant belly and a tuft of...well you know, in the appropriate place! The name of the game was "Kiss the baby"; it was done in the same fashion as "Pin the Tail on the Donkey". The girls all took turns trying to find the baby that was pasted on my belly. Julie took home the consolation prize--she kissed my "bits and pieces" if you know what I mean! Madeleine was the WINNER; she kissed the ultrasound right, smack-dab on the baby herself! Way to go!

Crystal put together a relay in which we were meant to diaper a team member, spit a pacifier as far as we could and chug down a bottle of apple juice. That was so much fun! One, my aunt in a diaper was absolutely hysterical! Two, Jaime (my sister-in-law) should get a gold medal for binky-spitting, and three, I have never seen anyone chug down apple juice from a bottle until I saw my friend Jess do so! She was fiercely competitive and determined to win! It was AWESOME! She had that competitive fire in her eyes!

Here are some other highlights from the day:

Grandma Hipp

Great Aunt Lynn

My sweet friend Shelby! 

Bumble Bee bedding from Crystal! 

Aunt Jaime! 

My friend Nicole and I are both prego together! 

Thank you Madeleine! WE love you!