32 week (4 day) checkup.

Things with Hannah are looking really good! My blood pressure was awesome, which was a huge relief. I think it was right around this time with my first pregnancy that my blood pressure started to raise. It must be the stay at home mom thing that helps me. I was working when I was pregnant with Cameron, and that job stressed me out. The midwife said my weight was great (yeah, okay..) and that Hannah is measuring right where she is supposed to be! That means we probably won't get to have another ultrasound to see her one last time in the belly, but that is okay. We are a little less than 7 weeks away from meeting her!

In other/semi related news, I helped my mom book her plane ticket for when she comes for Hannah's birth today. It is starting to get more real! I haven't seen my mom since last July, so I am very very excited about the upcoming visit. That is all for now. I'm not sure what our plans are for this weekend, so if I don't blog, have a very nice, relaxing and safe extended weekend!

A work in progress.

When we first moved into this house, there were definitely some areas that needed TLC. I wont' go into the dark blue carpet today, but maybe someday =). Today's focus is on the little garden in front of our living room window.

This is a picture of our house on the day we first saw it. Nevermind my mother in law and the realtor, take a look at the 2 flower/plant/rock beds on each side of the house.

The one on the right was particularly bad. There is the huge snowball bush that tripled in size from April 2006 to last summer. I don't even remember what else was in there, besides humongous rocks for landscaping. Last summer, Josh and his mom and stepdad spent a lot of time moving rocks and using a SUBURBAN to pull the snowball plant and it's giant roots out of the ground.

These are pictures of the right side garden last week when mother in law and I decided it was time for an update. Please forgive the terrible quality/sun exposure. These are cell phone pictures on a hot sunny day.

Pretty terrible, right? Can you imagine having to look at that mess everyday you're outside playing with a busy little boy, or what the UPS man thinks when he delivers a package to our front door? Scary.

These next pictures are the newest ones, after we hit up Lowe's and bought 4 lily plants, 2 bushes, and 20 bags of river rock for landscaping. It is certainly not done, by any means. Josh is going to put in some edging around the front and right hand side of the garden and get some hanging plants to hang from the shepherd's hook. I am excited about the progress thus far!

Our next project is the left side garden. We have pulled those trees out of the ground and gotten rid of them (also having to use the suburban!). We are going to plant a couple of burning bushes, pull the wood edging out and grow grass up to the bushes. Can't wait to have a good looking front yard!

Top 2 Tuesday : Dates

I know a lot of parents feel this way, but dates just don't happen as often as they used to. We might get the opportunity to go out and do something fun once a month, but by the time we get Cameron out the door and start to get ready ourselves, we wind up on the couch with pizza and a DVD. I will post 2 dream dates. One that will definitely happen, and one that probably never will.

1. Dinner and Sunset-watching in South Haven (and maybe a movie on the way home). I am not quite fond of the beach in the summer time, especially right now. We went last weekend and only lasted for 45 minutes. I would love to go before the summer comes, or after it ends, and have a good dinner at Clementine's. After that, we would walk to Captain Nemo's for some ice cream. After we ate our ice cream, we would walk to the beach and watch the sun set. I love watching the boats, and a nice night with a little bit of wind and lot of cuddles sounds so amazing. <3

Doesn't that look amazing?

2. Now this is the date that would never happen. I love musicals. Rent, Hairspray, whatever. I love it. I would die a happy girl if I could go to New York and see a musical on Broadway, with my husband of course. But he hates musicals. He would rather watch paint dry or pull every single hair out of his head before he watched one live, let alone on DVD. We could go somewhere awesome for dinner, go to a fancy bar, walk around the city, and end up at a Broadway show. Doesn't that sound fantastic?

32 weeks!

Pregnancy: 32 Weeks

Weight Gain: Still not weighing myself. Probably in the mid to upper 20s though.

Sleep: I think she is preparing me for the nights after she is born.

Gender: Girl

Name: Hannah Elise

Feeling: Uncomfortable and swollen.

Health: So far, so good!

Movement: She is an active girl. Her new favorite place to hang out is right at my hips.

Belly: Sprouted some new stretch marks this week. Gah.

What I am looking forward to: July 16th, then I will be done. :)

What I miss: A good nights sleep, the occasional beer..

Show Us Your Life : Hometown

I was born in Santa Clara, California. I lived there until I was about 2 years old, and moved to Michigan with my parents. Ever since then, I have been a resident of Kalamazoo County (except for the year I went back to California, but found my way right back home).


Life is not too faced paced around here. Yes, it is a decent sized city with about 250,000 residents. Kalamazoo is home to Western Michigan University and the smaller Kalamazoo College. There are several parks and shopping centers, as well as restaurants and a decent shopping mall.


Downtown Kalamazoo is very diverse and architecturally pretty. There are several large buildings and a gorgeous hospital downtown.

More towards our side of town is a really nice walking/biking/blading trail known as the Celery Flats. The trail has been extended over the past few years, and we enjoy riding bikes or taking Cameron for a walk on the trail. There are also a couple of playgrounds for him to play on along the way.

Those are the highlights of Kalamazoo. There really isn't too much that happens around here, so we drive the 2.5 hours to Chicago or Detroit very often.

TGIF!

This week could not have passed by any slower. Having a bad day sucks, but a bad week? Ugh.

There were a couple highlights, though! Cameron got a new outside toy that he absolutely loves.

We spent an hour playing outside yesterday, but I didn't take any pictures. The boy went back and forth between his water table and his cozy coupe until he finally tired himself out enough for a nap. I love him. =)

Josh's mom bought us some flowers to plant in the little garden area in front of our house.We got a couple of lily plants and one calla lily plant to try. We also got a couple of little flowering bushes to spruce it up out there.

And even better news, we finally got the letter from my OB with our c-section date! If everything stays the same as it is now, Hannah will be born on July 15th, probably around 9:45 am. So excited!

Hope you have a great weekend. I am looking forward to some relaxation!

Top 2 Tuesday

Two things to do before I die..

Go on my dream vacation.

 I have always wanted to go to Australia. Pictures of Sydney are gorgeous. If it weren't for the 20 hours in the air and the layovers, I would definitely go as soon as possible.

Conquer my fear of heights.

 This is a fear I may never get over, but it would be nice! My knees get weak and my stomach gets queasy even on the 4th floor of a building looking down. I don't do rollercoasters for this very reason, and flying on an airplane is usually pretty traumatizing. Maybe one day...

31 weeks.

How far along? 31 Weeks. (Picture taken at 30w5d)

Total weight gain/loss: Same as last week. I don't want to know.

Maternity clothes? I still have some non-maternity shirts I can wear, but the pants are definitely maternity pants.

Sleep: Sucks. :(

Best moment this week: Playing outside with Cameron all weekend. It was about time we had a nice weekend!

Food cravings: Tacos.

Gender: Girl.

Movement: She is slowing down a little bit, but still moving!

What I am looking forward to: Holding a tiny little baby.

What I miss: Not having heartburn. Yuck.

Playing outside.

We spent a lot of today playing outside. Here are a few pictures of the boy at home and a couple from the park.

On the market

The time has finally come.

Josh and I purchased a tiny little kitchen table when we first moved into our house. Since we don't have a separate dining room, we had to find something that would fit into our kitchen. We found this table, and have loved it ever since.

Now that we have Cameron in our lives, and a little girl on the way, it is time for an upgrade. We could easily buy new chairs for the table we already have, but for about $75 more, we are looking to buy a new table. I found this one and fell in love with it. Not to mention it has pretty great reviews and should fit perfectly into our kitchen.

Cameron has been using his highchair now for a little more than a year. One of the plastic pieces that helps keep the chair back upright snapped off a couple of years ago, so we are going to be using this booster seat and sit him at the table with us.

I am so excited!

Tonight.

Tonight was amazing. Josh got home from work at 6:15, just in time for me to jump in the car and head to the spa for my prenatal massage. Oh my god, it was awesome. I have never been to a spa, let alone gotten a professional massage, so I had no idea what to expect. Sitting in the atrium in the robe was awesome. I read a magazine while I waited for the masseuse and sipped on some water. She called me back and I swear I entered heaven. I was sort of expecting to lay on my stomach on some fancy pregnant lady table, but I wound up on an inclined bed with my legs draped over a wedge. She spent a lot of time massaging my face and shoulders, then my arms and finally my legs. She couldn't really get too far with my back, seeing that I was laying on it, but I feel worlds better. I don't think what Josh knows what he got himself into with this. I might have to make this a new thing!

Wish List Wednesday

1. A personal chef. I have had the most random cravings, and most of the time I am too lazy to make what I want. A personal chef would be perfect.

2. A money tree. I would love to be able to go outside and pick some money off this tree whenever I felt like spending a ton of money.

3. An SUV. I predict a headache in the near future. Trying to fit 2 kids in the back of my tiny car with all of their stuff. Not to mention the double stroller that probably won't fit in my trunk.


That is all. Not too much to ask for, right?!

the best mother's day yet.

A few weeks ago, I went to Kohl's and spent some money on myself. After a new pair of tennis shoes, a few pairs of socks and some work out pants, I assumed my Mother's Day was done for.

Friday night, Josh took Cameron and I out for a quick dinner and to get some last minute Mother's Day stuff. He asked me to get something from behind his seat, and that is where I found it. He got me even more. I opened the envelope and found a gift card to a local spa. Upon opening the envelope, I discovered that I would be going for a prenatal massage. I cannot even begin to say how excited I am for this. My back is constantly killing me, and there is no way Josh can help because I can't get into a position for him to be able to give me a back massage.

I just called and scheduled it, and it appears I will be in massage heaven this Thursday. I cannot wait!

30 weeks!

How far along? 30 Weeks

Total weight gain/loss: I don't weigh myself, and I try to avoid looking at the scale at the OB.

Maternity clothes? 95% of the time.

Sleep: I miss it. I am exhausted and no amount of sleep makes me feel better.

Best moment this week: Getting a gift card for a prenatal massage from Josh for Mother's Day. So excited!

Food cravings: Gah, I always want Taco Bell. I need to stop it.

Gender: Girl

Movement: She is constantly moving.

What I am looking forward to: July!

What I miss: Feeling rested. And not to forget, the occasional drink. Everyone had margaritas last night at dinner and MIL taunted me with her cosmo. Sigh.

growing boy.

This morning after breakfast, I was in the kitchen washing dishes. It took me about 10 minutes to wash them all and clean up the kitchen. I went out into the living room where Cameron was supposed to be watching Dora while he finished his milk and this is what I found.

The boy snuck a box of mac & cheese into the living room and was sucking on the hard noodles. He cried when I took it away.

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy mother's day to all the mommas out there!!

Show Us Your Life : Baby Names

When I was a little, little girl, I had all these ideas of names I would use for my future children. They were mainly names that I wish I had as my own, seeing that I thought my name was terrible. I loved Taylor, Jennifer, and Summer for a girl. When it came to boy names, I loved Jacob and Hunter.

Fast forward to May 2008. We had our big ultrasound and found out we were having a boy. It was pretty clear from the very beginning that Josh and I had completely different tastes in baby names. I doubt he would have ever gone with the name Hunter, and we mutually decided that Jacob was probably a little too popular for us. We were throwing name ideas with his mom one day, and she picked the winner.

Cameron Richard

The name Cameron really has no personal meaning to us, it is just a name we liked. I knew, even before I was pregnant, that if we ever had a first born son, his middle name would be Richard. No ifs, ands or butts about it. Josh, his dad, his grandpa and his great-grandpa all share the same middle name, and it was natural that Cameron would share it with them. It also happened to work out that one of my grandpas is named Richard, so there was another person honored with the name.

Not many people know about the boy/girl ratio in Josh's family. He has 7 cousins on his dad's side of the family. Of the 7, only 2 are girls. Countless people in his family have told me that they hoped I liked having a son, because I was sure to be blessed with another. Now don't get me wrong, while I love having a son and wouldn't mind having another, there was something deep down inside of me that longed for a daughter. It doesn't help walking around stores and seeing the gorgeous little girl outfits.

The day was March 3rd, 2010. We went into our big ultrasound not knowing what to expect. Besides the obvious nerves that go along with wondering/hoping everything is okay with baby came the fear that I wouldn't know how to react if I were faced with the technician saying "it's a boy!" The tech must have sensed something, because she went right for it. The 'money shot.' "Well, it seems we have a little girl here!" She said. I couldn't believe it. Due in mid July will be...

Hannah Elise

Again, Hannah is not really a name that has any personal meaning to us. One we could both agree on. Elise is a name I have loved forever. My name is Alyssa, but not pronounced the way you would assume. Uh-lisa is how my parents and the rest of my family pronounce it, but I prefer the regular old Uh-lyss-uh. I love that my daughter will have a name that is similar to mine, without being the same.

Thanks for reading if you made it this far. :)