Baby's 1st "Swim"

 

I had been told that the most glorious feeling when you're 8 months pregnant is swimming. Those that told me so - you were correct. 

The water is still chilly, but boy is it worth it!

Goose observed from someone's lap, and Maverick of course joined us - he doesn't care if the water is cold or not :)

 

I think Baby E liked it too, because she didn't kick or move or anything the entire time. Just peacefully floated along I guess :)

 

Here's a 32(?) week pregnant swim suit belly for ya ...

First boat ride of the season

Some of you may remember one of last year's first boat rides of the season ... does this tiny puppy in yellow look familiar? This was during Bryan's 24th Birthday Party.

But now Maverick's much bigger and has a sister along for the ride too! Maverick outgrew his tiny life vest, so now Goose wears that one:

 

And Maverick got a new one a size bigger:

 

I think Maverick REALLLLY wanted to jump out of the boat into the lake the entire time we were out there. Thankfully the life vests come with handles perfect for lifting dogs out of the water OR keeping them in the boat. 

 

Both dogs actually followed me off the boat onto the board too, which impressed me. I think Mom may have some pictures of that?? 

Way to go pups! And thanks for taking us for a spin, Dad!

LPCA Race for Education 2012

I mentioned in my earlier post about Legacy's annual Race for Education. This is one of the school's primary fundraisers. All of the student's accept pledges for completing the 5K - and then the school spices it up by awarding 1st, 2nd, & 3rd place and so on. This year RFE was held at Burrough's Park which is really a perfect place for this size and type of event. Lapping the big pond 4 times makes up 5k, and provides pretty scenery while you go too :) Plus there was a place for the Dad's to grill, picnic tables to eat at, and plenty of playgrounds for the teeny tiny ones present. 

First, the warm-up :) I loved watching one of the Legacy Mom's (who owns a Gold's Gym) lead an aerobic warm-up/class. The littler kiddos especially enjoyed this, which was so fun to watch. 

The race was then divided in half. First, all of the kids and teachers from 5th - 10th grade ran/walked while all the little kids spread out and gave high fives and cheered. Once they were done, the little ones (Pre-K - 4th grade students & teachers) had their turn. I probably don't need to point out that there were many, many more scraped knees and tears from the 2nd group :)

And they're off!

I admit, I walked. These days running really doesn't feel like an option.

There were plenty of Momma's with their smaller children in strollers too. It really was a huge family day!

Our principal, Audra May, is a runner. She runs marathons, half marathons, and shorter races pretty regularly. The goal for most of the students was to beat her time, because anyone who beat her time could silly-string her at the end :) The kids LOVED it!! But I don't have a picture .... doh!

Once all of the races were finished, the smaller kids had lunch while the big kids played games like tug of war, tire roll, sack race, bean-bag toss, etc. I was in charge of the Three Legged Race. I have to admit, watching the kids do this was probably the highlight of the day for me! It was hysterical. 

Many of the guys thought diving would save them some time.

Faster, faster!

 

After the big kids rotated through their events, the little ones took their turns. I didn't manage a station this time, just walked around helping with little bo-bos and wiping away tears as well as laughing plenty at the little ones getting into sack races and tug of war. 

At the end of the day was the teacher tug of war, which I was not allowed to participate in, per my superior's instructions. It was probably for the best because there was a lot of falling over and trampling involved, and I'm not sure my 34 week old fetus would appreciate other teachers landing on top of her.

Technically the day ended with an award ceremony, but I was so hot and tired by point, I made my escape a little early and joined Mom's Book Group for lunch. 

Next year I'll have a better idea of what to expect - and I'll bring my own kiddo along to walk the 5K!

Way to go Legacy - I'd call the event a success!

A Week Away

Last week Bryan was in California for work (late Sunday through Saturday around noon). Historically, Bryan leaving me for more than a few days has almost always resulted in some sort of crises (think: dogs at the emergency vet, no electricity for more than a day, water leak, etc.) Trying to be proactive, we decided to board the pups at Willow Creek (which they LOVE), and I would stay at my parent's house at Lake Conroe to help with Grandma and prevent me from going crazy. Double bonus: my parent's have a pool! (which feels like Heaven when you're 34 weeks pregnant)

Bryan's trip went really well, he learned a lot and was able to get a bunch of stuff done for Anadarko. For more details you'd have to ask him since I'm still not sure exactly what he was doing - something with new software, hand held devices, geographic systems ... ?? Obviously I'm not a good listener since he explained what he was doing several times. 

The week was also a little whacky because it was SAT testing week at school. This means I got out early every day but Friday! (Can I get an "Amen"?!)

Monday was low key. School let out early at 12:30pm after the students took their Language portions of the SAT. I honestly don't remember what I did that afternoon ... maybe running errands with Mom? We did watch Dancing with the Stars - I like the football player & opera singer. We'll see what happens to them. Oh - and how could I forget? We turned on the hot tub later that evening. Glorious. Even Grandma stuck her feet in!

Tuesday was Legacy's annual Race For Education (which wiped me out by the way!). I did walk the 5K, but didn't even think about running it. And I volunteered at the Three Legged Race station after the race (which was hilarious). Completely hot and tired, I then met Mom's Book Group for lunch, which was really nice. I headed back to my parent's house, and then Mom & I went shopping for furniture for the bunk room at the ranch. We pretty much got back to the house in time for me to say hello to Grandma, visit with her friend Patty briefly, and then drove back to The Woodlands to meet up with Rachel, one of my college roommates, for dinner. It was actually an insane day and I was exhausted by the end of it!

Wednesday I headed to school from only 8am-10am (crazy, I know) as the students took their math portion of the SAT test, and then they surprised me with a baby shower at one of my 9th grader's houses who lives close to school! I was so blown away by how awesome my students are. Rebecca made a cake, and Sarah made punch, and all the students visited with me and gave Baby Girl gifts. It was amazing. After the baby shower I joined some of my coworkers for a late lunch, then ran back to my parents' house, and had a really wonderful conversation with my Dad. It was Grandma's chemo day, and she was surprisingly enough hungry after so we had dinner at Phil's so she could get herself a burger with mushrooms & a coke - just what she craving. 

Thursday there was no school, but I had a prenatal appointment with the midwives (I've had better), and then tried (and was eventually successful) in getting Grandma hooked up with some blood work for the nutritionist. Mom, Grandma, Patty & I had some lunch, and then I went back to the house to do some more swimming. The water is still a bit cold, but it really doesn't matter :) After a very long grocery store trip with Grandma, Mom & Grandma made it back to the house and we got started on the tiny's "valence"! I realize it's highly unconventional, but it's turning out to be so cute. Can't wait to see it hung! 

Friday we had a full day at school, and then I picked up the puppies in the middle of a pretty legit storm. They were worn out from their week at Willow Creek and ready to just nap. Aren't tired pups the best? :) I joined Laura & Collin for a very late dinner at BJ's Brewery and LLLOOOVVVEEE their pazookies. Bryan and I even bought some cookie dough to see if we couldn't make our own. We'll see :)

Saturday was a lazy morning and then Bryan came home!! And that pretty much catches us up for the week. I have several pictures, but can't find the cord to connect my phone to the computer for some reason. I'll have to add those Bryan gets home.
I hope y'all had a good week too! Thanks for letting me stay, Mom!

Birthing Class

Per usual, I have several posts missing, like the first swim of the season, Aggie baseball game, Timmy's baptism, and nursery updates (shelves especially!). Oh well. They're coming. Eventually :)

This past weekend Bryan & I were signed up for the 10hours in a weekend birthing class through our birthing center, Nativiti. A doula, Megan, (pronounced with a long e) was the one that taught the class. Overall reaction = it was great! I hadn't met her before, so I wasn't sure what to expect, but she was wonderful and *VERY* enthusiastic about labor and delivery.

On Saturday we attended from 10am-4pm, with an hour break for lunch. Because it's an incredibly small world, there was only one other couple taking it the same weekend we were (which was actually really nice for topics like these), and we KNEW the girl! She was the other senior transfer into Concordia the year I transferred. We didn't really know her, but we did recognize her and know her name. Loren & Chad were a fun couple to take the class with. They are due a week after us, so I'm sure we'll be seeing a lot more of them. We love making new couple friends!

In the morning we learned about the different stages of labor, and what to expect in each one. This was really good information for me, because I've been slightly paranoid about when exactly am I supposed to go to the birthing center? What if I don't know I'm in real labor instead of all these supposed *fake* contractions I've been having? I now have a much better idea of how to time contractions, and how to tell if labor is progressing or if I'm still just having Braxton Hicks. I think Bryan was relieved to have a better understanding of this as well.

We also started practicing "breathing through contractions" in the morning. To make our "contractions" feel more real (since we weren't having any, obviously), we would hold a handful of ice for 60 seconds, which is about as long as the average contraction during stage 2, active labor, when most soon-to-be-mommies get tired of the pain. I'm not gonna lie, the first time we did this it was NOT hard for me at all because I was having a hot flash anyway. The ice felt spectacular. I even thought about dumping the entire bucket of ice down my shirt. I felt kind of bad because that defeated the purpose, but I still practiced breathing correctly! When we did this some more in the afternoon and on Sunday I realized that it was a little harder than it looks when you don't feel like you're sitting in a furnace. We didn't do the "hee hee, oo, oo" breathing like you see in lamaze videos, but it was slow and cyclical and it actually really is relaxing if you forget you're kind of embarrassed to be doing it. (We got over our embarrassment pretty quickly.)

A bite of lunch and we're back! The afternoon was brilliant. We focused on relaxation and comforting measures. This was the part the husbands really had to zone into, and Bryan was a champ. He really does deserve some serious respect for paying such close attention and trying really hard to master the techniques we were taught - including breathing, massage, positioning (standing & on a birthing ball) and different ways to help when I'm in the water. We practiced each one several times with and without the ice until the guys got the hang of it. Since I obviously won't be using any pain medications at the birthing center, I thought this was a really important part of the class. We both need to know what may or may not help! My Mom will probably be there too, and I'm sure Bryan will show her some of the different comfort techniques when his hands start to kill him :) We finished by watching an 80s movie on comfort techniques to reinforce what we learned.

As soon as we left for the evening, Bryan pulled into HEB & Walmart and bought Red Raspberry Leaf Tea which is supposed to help women in their last 6 or so weeks relax their uterus/cervix. I guess liquid labor prep? :) And then he bought us an exercise ball which doubles really well for a birthing ball. And that night he suggested we try all of the different techniques again to reinforce what we'd learned earlier.... Except I refused to continue holding ice. Burr. The dogs thought we were nuts :)

The next morning we skipped church because I think if we're all honest we don't expect us to get up and go to the 8am service (it's just not gonna happen), and we had to be back at the class by 10am, and the next service wasn't until 9:30, so we'd show up and have to leave 5 minutes later to get to the class on time. Oh well.

The morning focused on breathing & practicing comfort measures through iced-contractions, as well as learning a few more. We also talked about the actual birth part - the pushing and delivery. All those contractions are supposed to lead somewhere, right? We got into different pushing positions and she showed us better ways to breath and prep for that part of the delivery process. I'm thinking by that point most women are just thinking, "get the baby out!!"

Lunch break (I LOVE the tortilla soup from Salt Grass!), and then back at it. This class moved surprisingly quickly. The only time I found myself getting sleepy was during the 30 minute video we watched right after getting back from lunch. After the video we talked about what worries/concerns have been lurking in the backs of our mind and did a pretty cool visualization/art deal that I thought sounded stupid, but ended up really good for both Bryan & I. I don't think either of us was truly aware of what major concerns the other had but was shy about discussing. Then we talked about postpartum - what happens once the baby's born in those 4-6 hours we stay at the birthing center post-delivery, and then what happens once we take the baby home. Those were two really good questions we needed answered :) We also talked about birth plans and pediatricians.

Sorry for the blow by blow, but it was a really good class! And if you're looking to deliver your baby in the Houston area, whether you want an un-medicated water birth or not, I would recommend this class to others! I think I'm going to attend the 2 hour breastfeeding class before the tiny one is born as well. We touched on it during the class, but I'm a the-more-information-the-better kinda gal, and think that would be good.

Hopefully we retain what we learned!

Maternity Photos - 33 weeks

I'm behind on posting once again, but thought I'd share the activities from yesterday!

Bryan & I decided to take maternity pictures. I was on the fence, but I'm really glad we did them. We had a lot of fun with our photographer, Shannon Morton, and even had Kyle Field to ourselves for a little while! We also used George Bush Library as a more traditional setting, which has a really pretty pond and garden area. It was pretty toasty and humid, but hopefully I don't come across as too sweaty in any of the pictures :)

Here's the preview Shannon sent us:



She said we'd have the rest in about 2 weeks or so. Love them so far! (Especially the one with Bryan & I on the field.)

Anadarko Baby Shower

Today at Anadarko Bryan's group (GIS) at work threw us the sweetest shower possible. It was adorable, generous, and so very very precious to Bryan & I.

It was low key, there were delicious fajitas, fabulous lemon cake, visiting with Bryan's co-workers (I can see why he enjoys them so much!), and Bryan was required to open all the gifts while I watched - absolutely perfect.

They must have sent out this invitation to the group:



And blew it up to hang as folks walked in to the conference room. Really cute!

The Anadarko cafeteria catered fajitas, which were really yummy:





Mom, Dad & Grandma came to the shower too, which was fun. I think they also enjoyed themselves :) Bryan's group made it very easy to relax.

Isn't this cake incredible? An Anadarko employee makes and decorates them. Talent!

And it was lemon, my favorite!!!

I think one of my favorite moments was watching Bryan try to cut the cake for everyone :)



They were so generous! We received a snap'n'go stroller, bouncer, pack'n'play, diaper pail, little bath toys, travel size baby lotion/oil/soap, an adorable little dress, a teething ring, and some pacifiers from the GIS group, and Mom & Grandma gave us an incredibly cute dress and fun burp clothes with giraffes on them. So very blessed.







After the shower, Mom & Grandma came over to our house for a little while. Mom helped me make sure I had everything we received written down (I panic when I don't), and then we put together the snap'n'go stroller & the bouncer with two very helpful puppies:

Good thing they're so cute :) I think it's good that they're getting so used to all of the baby items before she's even here.

We feel so loved. Thank you GIS!! Baby E will be by to visit this summer :)