Back to school...

We have finally begun our childbirth classes! This past weekend Jason and I attended the Prepared Childbirth series both Saturday and Sunday from 9a-1p. I was a little anxious about the class because there are so many things I feel like I need to learn before Conner makes his debut. There were probably about 10-12 couples there with due dates ranging from November to January. The first day we talked about what to expect during labor and we practiced different relaxation techniques, as well as positions to ease labor pains. Jason also learned different massage techniques and ways to help ease back labor pain. I think it allowed him to see exactly how he's going to be able to support me throughout labor. One thing I thought was interesting was that they no longer call hubby your "coach" because in the nurse's words, "it's mean to make you coach a game you can never play." The new name is "support person."

Also, up until this point I had been saying that I didn't necessarily want an epidural, but would just wait and see about the pain. Just very open-minded about the whole thing. At the beginning of the class the nurse asked about what kind of pain people in the class had experienced and how we thought that differed from labor pains. People threw out broken bones, torn Achilles tendons, and I said gall stones (if you didn't get to hear about my experience, see these posts). The nurse said that she's heard that gall stones are worse than labor pain. I was shocked! When Jason heard that ... he told me that he is confident that I can totally do this without the epidural. That meant the WORLD to me! If Jason didn't think I could do it, then there was no way it would happen ... but with his support and encouragement, I do think I can do it. Of course ... this confidence may slip away the second I get to the hospital with labor pains ... LOL! We will just have to wait and see.

So that afternoon Jason and I headed to a date night since we hadn't had hardly any time together just the two of us since before Jason left for "mancamp" back in the first week of October. Our first stop was Top Golf where we played 2 free games each and snacked on some yummy nachos and quesadillas. It was a beautiful day and we had a great time just being together.

 Check out my stud! :)

We then went to Guitar Center for some guitar wall hangars and played around on some of the instruments. We are like two kids in a candy store in there. So fun to check out all the equipment. It was getting to be dinner time, so we made our way over to Chuy's for some delicious Mexican food. We got there right at 5p and didn't have to wait for a table and had the best time just chilling and eating and talking. When we were done we drove home and played around on the keyboard where I showed Jason a few things about playing the piano. We started with the basics and used one of my piano books from when I was in elementary school! I was exhausted, and Jason wanted to watch the Rangers game, so he headed over to Chris' and I headed for the tub for a relaxing bath and reading time. It was so nice to wind down from the day and then fall asleep at a decent time.

On Sunday morning, we headed back out to Frisco for our second day of class where we learned all about epidurals, c-sections, and other important issues in delivery. We were so glad we attended this 2-day class together because we learned so much!

That afternoon we went over to my parents house along with Chris and Kylee, where the boys watched the Rangers game and us girls watched Twilight. We are gearing up for the new movie coming out in a few weeks, so we're watching the first 3 movies before then. It's been a while since I'd seen the first one ... it was better than I remembered it. :)

Then on Tuesday I decided to spend the day running errands, which began with a Salted Caramel Mocha, breakfast sandwich, and Baby Wise at Starbucks. Jason had read ahead of me, so my goal was to catch up to him. This book is so good! It talks about getting your baby on a flexible routine with eating and sleeping. I feel so much more prepared and I'm only halfway through the book. I can't wait for Conner to get here, so we can start implementing the things we've learned.

 Mmm, yum. AND, I got the comfy chair! :)

Yesterday Jason and I had another doctor appointment - we are going every 2 weeks now. We had a lot of questions from our class over the weekend, so it was good to get those answered. We got to hear the baby's heartbeat and as soon as the nurse pressed the little heartbeat reader on my belly, Conner kicked it away. His heartbeat was at 135 before the kick, and then jumped to 152 after the kick. The doctor measured my uterus again and I'm measuring big again. He anticipates that we'll have another ultrasound before the end, just to make sure I'm not birthing a ginormous baby.

After our appointment we headed back to Frisco for our Infant Safety and CPR class. We decided to try eating the food from the cafeteria at the hospital to just see how good it is. Let me tell you ... totally worth eating at Baylor Medical Center Frisco!

 My $7.50 dinner that was delicious!!

At 6p our class started and first we talked about safety which made me absolutely terrified that there are so many ways for your baby to get hurt or killed! I want to just put Conner in a bubble and wrap my arms around him so he'll always be safe. Unfortunately that's not realistic. I just can't believe there will be this tiny little baby who's safety and protection is controlled by me. What pressure and responsibility! I may get a few gray hairs being a mom...

Then we started the CPR portion and it was actually easier than I thought it'd be. We got a booklet that talks about Infant, Child, and Adult CPR. Infant CPR is only for babies 1 year and younger. We not only learned CPR but also what to do when your baby is choking (which is more likely to happen than having to perform CPR on your baby). I definitely felt better after this portion of the class, since I feel like I will know what to do in an emergency situation.

Here's our dummy baby - the plastic over the face was so that we didn't have to put our mouths on the actual baby. We weren't smothering the babies. Speaking of smothering your kids ...

I love me some Scrubs!! :)

All good things must come to an end ...

So I just saw Susan and Lynda off and was so sad to see them go! We had a great time while they were here, and can't wait to see them again in January, which is just a couple months away! So let me give you a little recap of what all we did and I even took a few pictures.

Jason had to work on Thursday and Friday, so it was just us girls for a couple days of shopping! It was fun to have them here to shop with and they loved all the stores we went to. I reminded them that "everything is bigger in Texas" when they saw some of our "strip malls." So, our first stop on Thursday morning was Home Depot where we picked out some hardware for some renovations going on at Lynda's house. I love looking at stuff at the HD.

 Next stop, Mooyah! It was such a nice day and we wanted some burgers. :)

 This was my delicious lunch. Mmmmmmmm. Susan said she liked Sonic burgers better, but I'm going to have to disagree. Mooyah burgers are so good.

Once we were done eating, we headed to Wal-Mart for some quick things we needed and then headed out to Frisco to get some more shopping in. We stopped by the mall and shopped in Dillards, and then stopped by James Avery.

 Since my fingers are swollen due to pregnancy, I've been wanting to get another ring to wear since my hands just feel naked without my wedding ring. I found the perfect one and I love it. It will also be a great piece of jewelry to wear on my other hand once my hands get back to normal.

After James Avery, we stopped by Uhaul to pick up a mattress cover for the futon mattress. We need to store it, but don't want it to get gross. That night when Jason got home, we put the cover on the mattress and moved it to our bedroom, and took the futon frame out into the garage. Then we moved the furniture around in the baby's room to see how everything will fit. Every change we've made in the baby's room so far has been so fun and has made it more and more real. We are going to have a baby. Woah. :)

 We moved the chair from the living room into the baby's room because that's where it will eventually go once we buy the recliner we're planning to get. It was perfect! Here's all of us girls getting excited about the nursery coming together!

Stella loved having "grandma" here to visit. She even got an extra scoop of food the first night! Clearly, she was super comfortable around Susan and Lynda - they loved her, too.

This is Jason and me with the onsie we're planning to bring Conner home in. We bought a newborn size and a 3 month size just in case he's a big boy! Of course, I'm sure he'll have a little onsie on underneath it, too - it will be cold in December!

Friday, we headed out for more shopping. We went to Buy Buy Baby first because Lynda wanted to buy us the Pack 'N' Play. Little did I know that they were going to also get some clothes, and lots of other things off our registry. It was so nice!! I was overwhelmed by their generosity!

After Buy Buy Baby, we walked over to Bed, Bath, & Beyond where we had fun looking at all the Christmas stuff and just wandering around the store. Lots of great stuff there - and lots of good purchases! At that point we were pretty hungry, so we drove to La Madeline's for lunch. It was super tasty and exactly what we were wanting.

Next on our list, was DSW where Susan and Lynda both bought a pair of boots, and Susan and I ended up getting the same pair of croc sandals. We then swung by Bath & Body Works and Lynda got some Japanese Cherry Blossom soap (which is what was in our guest bathroom - and they loved it), and I got some more refills for my wall flowers and some lotion. After that, we were ready to head back over to the mall for more and we stopped into Macy's. I was pretty tired at that point, and needed to sit down, so I found a comfy chair and played Solitaire while the ladies shopped till they dropped.

We headed home and Jason was close behind us. When he got home we had him put together the Pack 'N' Play. It was actually a lot more complicated than the crib and I'm sure he appreciated all of the comments from the "peanut gallery." ;)

Getting it out of the box...

Trying to figure out what pieces went with each other...

 And finally, a fully functioning Pack 'N' Play!! This was great to have now, since the bassinet side is where Conner will be sleeping the first week or so after coming home from the hospital. :)

At this point we were getting pretty hungry, so we headed out to dinner to Rock Fish. We enjoyed our seafood meal!

Susan and Lynda - sweet sisters!

Me and Jason.

Then Saturday, we headed out to meet up with our realtors to look at some townhomes in the area that Barry and Susan are considering buying. They are wanting a place out here so that they can come to Texas for a couple months at a time to spend time with us, especially once Conner is here.

 Me being goofy in one of the rooms at the new townhome (it was gorgeous!!).

The view out the front windows at the new townhome. Yes, that is a pond and it is so cute!

This is the kitchen at the other townhome. We looked at about 6 or 7 different places, but we just took pictures at the 2 options Susan liked.

This is the view into the kitchen of that same townhome.

After we finished looking at the different properties we went to Panda Express for lunch and headed home to hang out and relax. Chris and Kylee came over for dinner and to hang out for a little bit. I made Taco Soup and brownies. We ended up watching the Rangers game and holy cow, what a game!!

Sunday Jason and I went to church and then went home to get our stuff together to go over to my parents' house for lunch. I made chicken pot pie, green beans, and biscuits, with a chocolate pie for dessert. It was a delicious comfort food meal. Then I went back up to the church with my parents for the Faith @ Home seminar with Mark Holman and Jason, Susan, and Lynda stopped by the grocery store and then went home to relax. The seminar was really good and I learned a lot. That night I recapped it for Jason and we talked a little about what Faith @ Home really means to us. It's something that we need to make an effort at, especially now that we'll have Conner to look up to us as his parents.

Monday, Jason stayed home from work so we could spend some more time with Susan and Lynda before they left today and we just hung around, watched tv, sat out on the back porch, and then grilled steaks for dinner along with baked potatoes and salad. It was a great meal. Jason did an excellent job on the filets - OH.SO.GOOD.

So that is the recap of our week with our sweet guests. Today is going to be a day filled with cleaning house, laundry, and paying bills. Fun, fun. :)

House Guests :)

Yesterday my mother-in-law, Susan, and her sister, Lynda arrived. We are so excited to have them! They came bearing gifts and our crib, too, so that was really fun to see all in Conner's room. Jason put the crib together last night, and I took some pictures!

 The man with the plan!

 Such a hard worker!

 Building the crib around himself. Good thing he's got long legs!

Finishing touches...

 Checking out the dust ruffle and bumper .... It is exactly what I was going for and I LOVE IT!!!! :)

Stella chilling out in the wrapping paper. She loves paper.

I'll take a pic of the "loot" later this week.

What we've been up to lately ...

Hello. It has been a while since my last update ... we've just been so busy with getting ready for Conner, and trying to really enjoy this period in life before kids. I'm 28 weeks this week and officially in the 3rd trimester of my pregnancy. I cannot believe how fast the time is going by ... and at the same time, I am a little bummed and overwhelmed that I still have 3 more months to wait to meet our son! My pregnancy has been going great! My back has been bothering me some, but as long as I don't overdo it, I'm golden.

 On September 17 we went to the Plano Hot Air Balloon Festival. It was an early morning, but it was pretty cool to see all the balloons all blown up.

This is the balloon that was being blown up right in front of us. It was really cool to watch.

 Ladybug balloon! So cute.

 On September 24 Jason planned a fun date for us - Downtown McKinney Oktoberfest! It was so sweet of him to plan a date and it was nice to walk around outside and enjoy some good quality time together. Jason loved all the German food - I tasted it and was pretty impressed! Then he agreed to eat at Sauce on the Square for lunch and it was nice to sit in the cool restaurant and have some good conversation. I love spending time with him and I kind of feel like our time together has an inevitable ending (in December), but I just have to remind myself that having a baby will be an amazing addition to our family and that we will just have to make the effort to continue to keep our marriage fresh. It's not the ending - just a new and different beginning!

 I don't know if Stella senses the baby in my belly or not, but lately she's been sitting on my stomach a lot more. If I'm relaxing on the couch, she'll sometimes come sleep on me. I think it's awesome - since she has never been a lap cat at all. I'm a bit nervous how she'll react to the new baby, but I just hope that she'll just be curious and keep her distance. Ha! :)

 Last week we had an ultrasound to check on the growth of our little man. My OB had said I was measuring a little big at my 24 week appointment and wanted to just check on how our boy was growing. The tech said he was in the 59% on size, which sounds pretty average to me - so it was music to my ears! He was so cute and we got another updated picture of him. Sweet little face!

Jason and I were at the store shopping for my mom's birthday present and we passed by this aisle at Target and I said, "Hey Jason, you want some Jason?" He laughed at my hilariousness (I'm so humble, I know), and then insisted I take a picture. 

 This is a belly shot of me at 27 weeks. We were headed out the door to church and it was so nice outside. I love this dress - it was SO comfortable. (Thanks to my friend January for loaning me some maternity clothes!!)

 On Thursday, my friend Jessica came over and we worked on some arts and crafts. We are always talking about new projects we want to work on ... so we decided it was time for a craft day. I decorated the letters for Conner's room - using Mod Podge and scrapbook paper. I think they turned out great so far - the next and final step is to paint the borders dark brown and hang them from ribbons. I hope they look great in his room.

Jessica made the banner for my baby shower and it turned out SO CUTE!! I absolutely love it and love the little owls on each letter. Look close and you can see them. Ahh, so cute.

Speaking of Conner - Jason's mom will be here on Wednesday and she is bringing the crib with her. I simply cannot wait to put it together and transform that room from frumpy futon-ville to baby room! Her sister is coming with her and I'm really looking forward to the girl/family time. It will be awesome to share some of this pregnancy with them. Maybe they'll even feel him kick! :)

Hip Hip Hooray!

Today is the day we get our AT&T U-verse installed and finally will have a DVR! I am so excited and can't wait to record shows and watch whenever I want. :)

Chicken Tortilla Casserole

This is what's for dinner tonight ... Bon Apetite!

Ingredients:
2 cups cooked chicken, cubed
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 can diced green chiles, finely minced
1 onion, minced
1 (6 oz) pkg corn tortillas, cut into strips
6 Tbsp margarine
1 (8 oz) pkg sour cream
1 1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese
1 cup crushed tortilla chips (optional)

Instructions:
In large mixing bowl, combine soup, salt, pepper, green chiles, and onion. Stir well. Add tortilla strips and chicken. Melt margarine in 9 x 13 casserole dish. Pour in chicken mixture. Spread sour cream over top. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes. Sprinkle with crushed chips and bake 5 more minutes.

It's a BOY!

  

Source: etsy.com via Alina on Pinterest

And boy, oh boy are we excited! I'm so glad we found out and it's just been so fun looking at and picking out all things boy. People had been asking me if I felt like it was a boy or a girl beforehand, but I really didn't have a feeling either way. The morning of our appointment, I asked Jason if he had to say what he thought it might be and he mentioned our typical disclaimer first, "I'll be just as excited for either..." and then said "but I really think it's a boy." I told him I agreed. It was our first time verbalizing a prediction. So we headed to the doctor's office and it was the most amazing experience! The ultrasound tech was so nice, and you could just tell she LOVES checking up on babies. She called our little one "little munchkin, little sweetheart, etc" and was very thorough and told us a lot about the development and how everything looked. They checked the brain, heart, kidneys, bladder, umbilical cord, and checked for 10 fingers, 10 toes, and confirmed there was no club foot, no cleft lip and that there was skin fully formed behind the spine. Everything looked great and so then it was time to determine the sex. She said she could tell, but tried to get a good picture for us to be able to see. She joked that the baby was doing jazzercise and moving around like crazy.

The proof! :)

It took a while to get a profile and this is the best of the bunch. Sweet little face!

When we saw that it was a boy, I just started crying, and then the sweet teary eyes turned into a blubbering tissue-needing mess! I was just overwhelmed with emotions and thrilled that it was a healthy baby boy. Then of course the tech was cracking jokes left and right so then I started laughing so hard I was wheezing! I was a mess!! It was just such and exciting thing to see and we're hoping to remember to take a short video the next time we have an ultrasound. So fun to see him move around and practice his jazzercise! Ha!

After the appointment we texted/called family and then headed to Panera for a late breakfast, and to talk about our very eventful morning. We talked about names again, this time was so much more real since we knew it was a boy. We had basically picked the name at that point, but were still hesitant to just commit to start telling everyone. So, since we've now picked the name, it's no secret anymore.

CONNER GARRETT SMITH

This past weekend my mom and I went to Buy Buy Baby and Babies R Us to just basically go down every aisle and talk about everything you need when you have a baby. It was so helpful, and at the same time, very overwhelming. There are just so many things you need, that you have never needed before until you are expecting a baby. Mommy-hood from experience is the best information to have, because you can read all the reviews you want, but the advice based on experience of people you know will always trump the internet.

While at Buy Buy Baby, we picked out a stroller and got to talk to the sales guy who was uber helpful. Yesterday, Kylee and I put it together (it was SO EASY) and put it in Conner's closet (our new baby storage).

http://www.chiccousa.com/gear/travel-systems/cortina-30lb-systems/travel-systems-30-romantic.aspx

It's been fun trying to figure out what all we want his room to be. I've taken the simplistic approach to bedding, and am hoping to add pops of color and interest to the wall decor and accessories. And I'm pretty much in love with every single piece of boy baby clothing I've seen. It's all just so adorable!

I can't wait to get the crib in his room all set up and arrange the furniture how we want it. Jason's mom and Aunt are coming in mid-October and bringing the crib with them. I cannot wait!

So for all you moms out there ... what are some of the must-have items, or specific brands you love?

Halfway there.

This week is the official halfway point of this pregnancy! While I can't believe I'm already halfway there, I'm thankful for 4 and a half more months to get everything ready for our little bundle of joy!

Only 2 more days until we find out whether it's a boy or a girl!! :)

A lot has happened in this past month...

We went on a New Mexico vacation with our friends, Chris and Kylee, and had a fabulous time. I definitely learned the hard way to take nausea medication any time I'm planning on driving for long periods of time, but once I found out, it was an easy fix. The weather was absolutely beautiful and it got cooler in the evenings (which I love). We were able to meet a lot of their friends and spend some time with Kylee's family. It was a great time with our friends and a great trip. Looking forward to our next vaca with them!

One weekend I organized my laundry room finally. Of course I couldn't do it without help from my mom and Kylee. It was great to have someone to bounce ideas back and forth with, and in the end I think it was hugely successful. I'll do a post soon about the details of that project - it was a big one.

I also bought curtains for our living room, dining room, kitchen, and master bathroom - all from Ikea - along with a rug for our living room. My project for this week is to hem the curtains in the master bath, living, and dining rooms. I'll take pictures once they're done - my house looks so much more homey with curtains!

 Kitchen curtains

 Rug for living room

 Master bathroom curtains

Living & dining room curtains

We also went on a beach vacation last week to Orange Beach, Alabama with my family. We stayed in an awesome condo, ate lots of seafood, got some sun, and just relaxed. The 12 hour drive was rough, but totally worth it. It was so nice to get away from our regular responsibilities, and just spend time together. The next vacation Jason and I will have will be the last one before the baby is born - our "babymoon" - in Dallas. That's another thing on my list of things to do soon - book our hotel and make restaurant reservations for our weekend getaway. I'm super excited for that.

That pretty much brings us up to date! I got The Help from my mom (she read it on vacation), and I can't wait to start reading tonight. I'll probably end up reading all day tomorrow, too. It's just been too long since I've sat down with a good book and just read. I've heard great things about it and can't wait to read it and then see the movie with my mom. Hopefully we can see the movie sometime this week or early next week - that would be awesome.

Our next OB appointment is Monday (the 15th) and we have our 20 week ultrasound. I am so hoping we can find out if it's a boy or a girl! I can't wait to start picking things out and talking more seriously about names. We've narrowed some down, but are keeping it to ourselves until we decide. It's just too easy to get hurt feelings about names. And other people never realize that they are saying things that hurt my feelings, which makes it even harder. So ... we'll just let you know when we decide. ;) I also still haven't felt the baby move yet ... so I'm hoping that happens soon, too. I hear it doesn't happen until much later with your first baby - so I'm hoping in the next few weeks I'll be able to feel it. It's probably going to be one of those things you wish for and then when it happens all I'll want is for the baby to just settle down and stop kicking me! Ha! Maybe it's just me, but I think it will be so cool to feel and experience I don't even think I'll mind.

A little birdie told me...

We are expecting!! It's true - and we are so excited. Baby Smith is due December 29, 2011, which means I'm officially starting my second trimester tomorrow! I'm feeling pretty great most days, just mostly tired and can smell everything. Sometimes that leads to a little queasiness, but for the most part no morning sickness, which I am so thankful for. So since I've known since early May, I've been keeping this secret for way too long. It was hard to blog about anything when I had this great news I wanted to share, so I just didn't blog. No worries - I'm back!

So early May we realized I was 2 weeks late on my period (normally I'm very aware of when I'm due, but since work was incredibly busy and stressful at the time, it totally slipped my mind), so we decided to pick up a package of pregnancy tests and just see. It made me super nervous and anxious to think that I could be pregnant. We had talked about it and decided to stop trying not to get pregnant and just see what happened. I was expecting it to take several months to get the timing right, but clearly I was wrong. So we got home and I took the pregnancy test and we waited in the bathroom watching it ... and lo and behold...

Jason was super excited and I was instantly freaked out. I kept telling him to go back in the bathroom to see if it changed to "not pregnant." I think my main reason for feeling freaked out was that it was so unexpected, and I had lots of nervousness, worry, and anxiety about whether the baby was in the right spot, healthy, and not twins. (A little story about the twins speculation ... over Christmas my mother-in-law, grandmother-in-law, and aunts-in-law kept saying it would be so great if I had twins. To the point where I was thinking "I want a baby someday, but I don't know if I can handle twins....") So we called and scheduled our first meeting at the doctor's office which was with the pregnancy coordinator - it ended up being the day after my last day at work. The pregnancy coordinator was so sweet and full of great information. It was fun for Jason and I to get the bag of "goodies" and information and ask some questions and schedule our first appointment with the doctor. That first appointment was actually on our wedding anniversary (June 2, which was 10 weeks), so that was pretty cool. We had an ultrasound and got to see the little baby and hear the heartbeat. It was so cool for Jason and I to experience together and at that point the worry was gone, and excitement was in full force.

So then we had another appointment at 12 weeks to get me on the schedule the doctor uses to see pregnant women, which right now is every 4 weeks. At the 12 week appointment it was very short and easy. Blood pressure, heard the heartbeat, and asked some questions. The next day we did our Sequential Screening and that appointment was so cool. We had a sonogram and the baby was dancing around like crazy! It was very cool to see and we haven't heard anything back from that appointment, and no news is good news. Very happy for that!

My friend Tayler offered to make pregnancy announcement cards for us to send out to family and I definitely took her up on that offer! She did such a great job and I LOVE how they turned out! 

 

If you want to check out more of her work, check her out at

http://etchcreativedesign.com. She's a very talented designer!

It was so fun to tell family and friends and everyone is so excited which is awesome. Next on our list of things to do is pick out a crib. We've looked at Crib 4 Life and like the Infinity, Kathryn, and Legendary Curve beds in Espresso. It will be nice to make the decision and check it off our list.

Next up is our 16 week appointment on July 18. It sure does seem like a long time from now, but I'm sure it will fly by. :)