The Takeover

I knew that our house would become full of evidence that we have/are having a baby... I just didn't realize the extent of it!  I could never have imagined the generosity that we have experienced with the gifts for Baby Al!  When I started to register for items and saw how expensive everything was, I had a mini conniption fit.  Babies are expensive!  And so is their gear!

This weekend, my dear friend Abby, threw me a shower here in Charlottesville at her gorgeous home.  I met Abby when she was in need of a babysitter for her three tots.  Since then I feel like they are my inherited family and am so, so lucky to have made such a fantastic friend.  This shower was incredible... from the oreo balls (which everyone needs the recipe for... i will try to get that and post it!) to the beautiful decorations, to the most amazing attendees!  Such a great, great day!  THANK YOU!  It was so great to see everyone under such happy circumstances.  The gifts were just incredible and now I feel like we have a VERY manageable "to buy" list for Al.

In addition to the awesome shower, we also had a Birthday dinner for mom and me at Sakura.  The Wimmers, Kyle & Townsend, mom & dad and Ron and I had an awesome meal (Thanks, Mom and Dad!) and delicious cupcakes.  This was all after the men's very hard day's work!  That's right!  The nursery is now complete with chair rail and crown molding and those talented guys knocked it out in one day!!  Ron just has a little painting left to do and I will post pictures!

Speaking of pictures, I am going to put a couple below from the past week and from our pregnancy photo shoot with Meg Runion!

It's been such a great week... even though Ron had to go out of town for work for my Birthday :(

OH! And Charly (my bestie from 4th grade on) is in labor with her little Emerson RIGHT NOW!!!

Life is oh so good!

By Meg Runion (2.18.2012 - 34 weeks)

By Meg Runion (2.18.2012 - 34 weeks)

By Meg Runion (2.18.2012 - 34 weeks)

Zulily :) Boots with tha furrr!

Al got a UVA tutu... Javy just had to try it on :)

It's Friday!!

It's Friday of my 33rd week!  I get my kicks these days stalking all of my friends and acquaintances who are having children in the next 7 weeks, or who have had babies since November of last year.  I am so intrigued and want to learn from their experiences.  What has been hard? What has been rewarding? What could have been avoided? What have you experienced that you never could have imagined?  And those sweet baby pictures!  Oh I cannot get enough of them! I go into the nursery every now and again just to hold the little outfits that she will someday wear... or will she?  Will she be too big for them?  Will she take months to grow into them? Will she have lots of hair? Will she have my coloring or Ron's? Will she look like us immediately?  I find it so interesting how so many babies are born with their parents' features.  Not sure why that blows my mind, but it does! :)

Needless to say, Al is all that I think about these days... from belly bumping off my desk because I have lost track of my spatial awareness, to her summersaults in my belly, to Ron's gasps when she seems to have situated herself all on one side of my body.  We go back and forth about how she is positioned in my belly at any given time, and I get excited every time I see her move.

We had one minor distraction from Al this week....my first child and love, Javier, gave me a scare.  Ron says he pointed out Javy's lumps on his chest to me over the summer...but I definitely don't remember that.  They came to my attention about 3 weeks ago, and I convinced myself that they were nothing to worry about.  A friend delivered girl scout cookies to us last week though, and I was very saddened to hear that her lab (of 13 years) passed from cancerous tumors.  That was enough to encourage me to get Javy in for his annual vet appointment a little early.

After I let on to Ron about how obnoxious my relatively calm lab behaved when visiting the vet, Ron decided that he would join us for Javy's appointment!  I will have to post a video soon of his crazy antics.  It's so comical.  The vet confirmed very quickly that these "nodules" were very common and benign.  In fact he said many labs become "more lump than dog" as they age :)  That was SUCH a huge relief!  After all... all of my visions of our family include my little monster Lopez!  I LOVE MY DOG!!!!!

This weekend we have quite a bit going on.... preggy pics with Meg Runion, I have to teach Interval Class, a Belvedere Neighborhood Social, my brother's girlfriend's horse show, and mom and dad will be staying with us Sunday night!  In all of this, I also have my fingers crossed that Ron and the men will get the chair rail and crown molding finished in Al's nursery so we can start finalizing it!  

Have a wonderful weekend, All! :) xoxoxo

The Real Deal

Last night we attended our final childbirth class offered through Martha Jefferson.  Ron and I are actually very sad that it's over, and I heard several other couples say that they felt the same.  Our class consisted of 10 couples... all pretty different, but we had one thing in common.... we were having our first babies, and were scared, excited, and clueless!   The fact that more than 1/2 of the boys men in the class were self proclaimed comedians definitely made the classes go by quickly and took away the "oh crap, what have I gotten myself into" edge that the class tends to bring on.  Betsy, our instructor, was animated, knowledgeable, and just plain fun!

We learned everything from different positions to try to ease the intensity of contractions, to what the labor room jargon really means, to seeing exactly how big and blunt that epidural needle is!  From this class, I think Ron and I have come out on the same page... we will do whatever necessary to have the healthiest baby that we can have.  If that means using/not using an epidural, so be it.  If that means having a C-section rather than a natural birth, so be it.  We 100% trust the medical professionals that we have chosen, and I am very thankful that I will be having Al here in Charlottesville!

The final class of this series is a tour of the maternity ward at the NEW Martha Jefferson hospital!  That's right! NEW!  This place is the Ritz Carlton of Maternity Wards.  Every unit is spacious, has it's own very large, very clean bathroom... including jacuzzi tub!  The walls are a very relaxing purple color and the lighting makes you want to take a nap.

It just so happens that one of the couples in our class had their baby on Sunday night/Monday morning!!  This made the trip extra real!  That little baby, that only one week ago was in our classmate's belly, was now getting a bath right in front of us!  CRAZY!  Both the mom and dad looked fantastic (granted they were 18 years old) and had a great experience at the hospital.  Her labor was only 7 hours long from the very start to the very finish.  NICE!

After class we went home and unpacked my car from the shower this weekend and put several of the items together.  So many more things to get ready before Al arrives... it's right around the corner!

Very Special Day!

This weekend I traveled home to Danville to celebrate our first baby shower for little Al! :)  Charly Harris and her mama, Kathy (see below) put on the best shin dig at the Danville Country Club!  It was such a classy event and everyone commented that it was the best shower they had ever attended :)

The Beautiful Hostesses - THANK YOU SO MUCH!!

The menu consisted of delicious mimosas, chicken crepes, fruit cups and a strawberry creme dessert. The favours were a huge hit: the most amazing raspberry cupcakes (from Shorty's Bakery)!  Memaw just couldn't get enough and had to go by the bakery after the shower to purchase some for herself and the Moorefields back in VA Beach!  MMmmm!!

The decorations were gorgeous and included mini diaper cakes in the centerpiece of each table with a bud vase in the center and beautiful flowers.  Charly and Kathy so thoughtfully used these as prizes for each table; the person who sat in the special chair with the tag underneath won the bud vase and flowers!

The games:  Guess the number of diapers in the hamper - Won by Pam Curtis
                   Guess the circumference of Erin's belly - Won by Cragan Burnett

There were so many special guests at the shower that I cannot begin to list them all, but I got to see everyone from my neighbors (who I NEVER see!) to my kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Farley!  Many of my family's friends from before I was even born attended as well as my mother's friends from school!  Thank you so much to everyone who made this day super special.  I only wish we were able to spend more time together!

The Prettiest Baby I Know - Ms. Lily Borloz

Friday before the shower we had the best time at San Marcos for dinner.  Charly and her mama and pops, my mom and dad, memaw, Lily and Ashley Borloz joined us.  So wonderful!  Lily is just the most precious baby and is so content and easy to be around!  Charly and I hope our little boogers are this perfect!!

Beautiful Bib, Burp Cloth and Paci Holders from the Rudders!  THANK YOU!!

GiGi's Blanket

I don't know how mom had time to make this gorgeous blanket without my knowing, but it is so, so special and I cannot wait to bring Al home from the hospital in it!  Thank you, GiGi!  So lucky to have such a talented mama!!

Gigi, Erin and Al

It's times like this weekend when you are overcome with how wonderful people are and how fortunate you are to have them in your lives!  Thank you Memaw for driving all the way to Danville to celebrate!  Thank you again Charly and Kathy for putting on the best first baby shower a woman could ask for!  Thank you to all family and friends who made this perfect!  I hope that you all had a great time!