Maternity Leave

I have to give a shout out to my amazing co-workers. People are seriously super nice to you while you are pregnant. I am sure going to miss that part about being preggo. My co-workers have gone above and beyond to make sure that I never did any heavy lifting. Kendrick (the guy on the far left) would go above and beyond to give me easier lists and had me do monitor tech whenever possible so I didn't have to deal with patients. 

People watched out for me and let me know in the mornings when the x-ray techs would come around and do their morning x-rays. Sometimes it's hard to hear them when they say "X-ray!" so I was glad for my co-workers watching out for me. 

They would always ask me how I was doing and were genuinely so excited for my little girls arrival. 

I'm going to miss the great group of friends I have made at work. They even threw me a surprise pot luck! I didn't get a chance to take a picture but here are a handful of desserts once we devoured everyhing. My last day was SOOO busy. I was on the floor in charge of helping everyone. At first they were going to make me stroke nurse (meaning I go anywhere in the hospital where there's a possible stroke. Most of the time our patients are air lifted and we meet them in the Emergency Room) I am SO glad I was not stroke nurse because there were 4 strokes that night! I would've been down in the E.D. all night and not have gotten to eat any delicious food from my potluck. Also, you have minutes to push your patient down for an immediate CT, then run down to the basement to take them for an MRI and if indicated start the process for Interventional Radiology. That would've been ALOT of pushing of gurneys for this preggo. Again, thank you Kendrick for watching out for me! 

One of my co-workers even came from work to deliver a baby shower present, so sweet of her! 

Yay for maternity leave. I can't wait to dedicate all of my time to my sweet cakes! 

Thanksgiving 2016

For Thanksgiving this year we decided to stay home. In the morning Mike went out with a couple of guys from church to play a little soccer. I hung out in the side lines chit chatting with the girls. 

 Later on, Joel came over and we had a simple dinner. Mike made his crockpot ham, and Joel and I made the sides. Although it was supposed to be simple, we ended up with quite the delicious feast. 

I hadn't even planned on going shopping on Thanksgiving day. I think it's mean to make people work while they should be with their families. But, we ended up going! Ha! I'm such a traitor! My friend had invited us to go with them to Target, but we just ended up going to the Target by us. We had never shopped for "Black Friday" (more like Thursday) so we had no idea what to expect. We didn't even want anything, just wanted to go for the thrill I guess. We waited in line for about an hour and a half and looked to see what we wanted to buy. When they opened the doors we had a game plan, the boys would go straight to electronics and I would get my baby video monitor. We all knew what we were getting and in a matter of 30 minutes we had everything we wanted. 

We ended up with a PS4, extra controllers, video baby monitor, blender, and other little things like throws and pillows and picture frames. It was pretty fun. I couldn't believe how many people were there. I thought it'd be crazier but it was not too bad. Next year I think i'll just stick to my cyber Monday deals so I don't have to feel bad about making people work. They should just close all stores the entire day. My friend said, "We like to spend the morning and afternoon being thankful and the evening prying a toaster out of an old woman's hands." Ha, ha! So funny, sad, and true. 

Well now that we've had our one Black Friday experience, I think next year we will work more on the staying home and being thankful part :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Christmas Pictures 2016

I love taking Christmas pictures. We don't take pictures together any other time out of the year so it's always special to make it a point and take pictures for our Holiday cards. 

I can't believe next year we will have an almost 1 year old. It's really going to be a circus then! 

Here are the final pics. I loved the way they came out. This first picture was the winner since we are all smiling :D

It's always a little more stressful to add the pups to the mix but I just couldn't have it any other way. They are part of my family. They are my buddies. They keep my company on those long days when Mike is away at work. 

Thank goodness for my mother in law, she kept the pups sitting while she waved treats in front of them. They were quite wild so I am glad we were able to get a couple of decent pictures with them. 

I love my fur-babies.

Getting Closer

I just cannot believe how fast time is flying. I am still in denial about the fact that it is already December and that it is only a matter of weeks until we meet our baby. I just can't seem to wrap my head around it. Me? Having a baby? I keep thinking that this baby is something that we are going to get once we go to the hospital, It's hard for me to wrap my head around the fact that this baby is already here, in my belly.

 I'm starting to feel anxious, scared, nervous, and all of those emotions that I'm sure are normal with your first baby. I'm also starting to get worried about all of the "what ifs" of giving birth. I've also started to worry about my baby having any problems that we are unaware of while she is in the womb. Yesterday, Mike was reading me a story about a little girl who passed away and she was only five. I told Mike, "what if WE are going to be parents of a little girl that passes away?" He said, "that would be hard." His answer was not as satisfying as I would've liked it to be.

 There are so many diseases, cancers, accidents that can happen and I'm already getting all worried and worked up while she's not even here. I think I've spent too much time at the hospital with parents of sick kids and kids with cancer. I know first hand the amount of suffering those kids and parents go through. Aghhh, so much negativity in this world. I am the biggest worry wort too. I need to try to stop worrying about the "what ifs" and just enjoy the fact that I have been blessed to have been pregnant for this long. Some people never get that blessing. I need to be thankful for her every move and every wiggle, I know people spend years praying for what I already have. For now I guess I'll just keep myself distracted and keep praying that this little girl continues to grow healthy and that she has a safe delivery. 

*35 Weeks*

This week I am starting to feel a little less achy on my pelvis. My joints still feel like that are about to dislocate but, I know that means my body is getting right on track for that delivery. I'm starting to notice a little more swelling in my ankles, but that's only minimal. 

*36 weeks*

This week I am feeling the baby high up in my ribs. I remember thinking if I would ever feel movement up so high when I was only a couple of months along. Now I know the answer is, yes! I think her bum is under one rib and her little feet must be under my other rib. It's definitely a different feeling. I have to sit really straight if not I feel like i'm squishing her. She is in the right position as of now. I keep hoping she' stays that way! 

*37 weeks* 

This week I have started to feel more cramps. I get a little excited every time that happens because I know it means that we are getting that much closer. I am curious about what contractions will feel like and if I will be able to stand the pain. I have watched just about every labor and delivery video on you tube as well as breast feeding and prenatal videos. I make Mike watch them too because we have no idea what we're getting ourselves into. I wonder when she will be here and what kind of delivery I will have. Of course I am hoping that my water doesn't break so that I will be able to labor in my comfy home as much as possible before going to the hospital. I've tried to prepare Michael by telling him that I might turn into a monster with the pain of contractions. We shall see if he is up for the challenge! I'm also all done with work this week and I'm enjoying maternity leave. My co-workers have been beyond amazing helping me out so much these past couple of months. I am blessed to have the best work family who helped me get this far at work. Now time to stay home and wait for our little baby cakes. 

Nursery Update

I don't know why I always think it's a good idea to take on such big projects. It would've been so much easier to be like any other normal person and just paint the room and call it good, but noooo. Mama Joanna wanted wainscoting installed in the nursery :)

Michael was so sweet to take on this project with me. Well mostly him, but I helped a little. I wanted to paint the room a super soft blush pink, almost white. When I finished painting the first wall I was a little scared of how dark the pink was. It definitely took me a while to get used to it, but now I love it! It makes the white trims in the rooms pop! 

Here's some before pictures. White walls, ugly baseboards, no trims. 

After a fresh coat of pain. 

Done with the second coat

Putting in the fresh new baseboards. I cut and painted all the baseboards myself (which is probably why this step took so long, hehe) Once I was finished cutting everything Mike bought a compressor and nailed them all in.

Next it was time to install the panels. Mike got these white ones which made it easier to prime and paint. 

After the panels Mike nailed in the chair boards. One of the hardest parts and what seemed to take us forever was putting in the squares. After some failed attempts, they are finally nailed in...yay!!

I love the progress we have made even though it has taken us way longer than expected. We need to really crank down before this little girl gets here. I know she won't be sleeping in the nursery for a while but I doubt anything would be done if we didn't have it finished by when she arrives. So excited to see it slowly come together!