One year ago.....

Yesterday, Rich and I celebrated our 1-year-anniversary.  I can't believe it has been a year since we exchanged our vows on that beautiful Maui beach.  

We spent a wonderful day together remembering and celebrating each other.  We started out the day going to meet with a photographer to take some maternity photos.  It was such a fun session, with us posing together and my belly being the center of attention.  We did the photo session on the other side of town in our old neighborhood, so since we were in the area, we found our favorite breakfast spot and had some delicious LuLu's breakfast burritos.  

I have been wanting to go to a pottery painting studio for awhile to make some decorations for Alex's nursery, and after we finished breakfast, Rich actually suggested we do that together!  I couldn't have said yes any faster, mainly because I was worried he might change his mind! :) 

Here's me in disbelief that we are actually doing this....

And here we are with our finished products....

After our pottery painting fun-fest, we enjoyed a lunch of.....Cold Stone ice cream.  Really, all of this excitement was before 1 o'clock! 

Then we came home and Rich watched some basketball playoffs while I had a little mid-afternoon nap.  After siesta, we headed to Asia de Cuba and had a delicious dinner.  

All in all, it was just a great day! We needed that time to spend with each other, especially knowing that alone time will be a precious commodity in just a couple months!

A perfect baby shower!

Last weekend, my friends Katie and Stacy threw the cutest shower for Alex and me.  The decor matched her nursery theme (pink, white & black) and was a blur of polka dots and pink daisies! It couldn't have been any cuter.  

It was held at my mom's house, so we could take advantage of her beautiful (and LARGE) backyard because we ended up having nearly 30 women in attendance! Wow, did I feel loved!

Here are a few of the photos....

Before the party started...

Polka-dot tablecloths and pink daisies.....Gorgeous! :)

Katie and Stacy decorating...

A craft table set up so the guests could decorate a onesie or burpcloth...

How cute is this serving ware????

A little decoration with some cute baby clothes!

Some yummy food...

Is it a little strange that I only took photos of the sweet foods? ha!

The onesies and burpcloths came out darling...

So many gifts, it was awesome!!

What a wonderful day!  I am a lucky girl and so is Alexandra!

8 months pregnant photo

Here was 7 months......

And here is 8 months!

The black shirt that I'm wearing in all of the photos is going to be retired.  It isn't long enough to cover my belly now!  You can't see it from the side, but when I face frontward, I have a lovely 2 inch stripe of bare belly showing above my jeans and below the shirt.  It's not pretty.  

Things I love about being pregnant

Though I'm getting a tad uncomfortable lately, I love being pregnant.

Here are some of the best parts:

• Watching my belly grow, of course!
  
• Feeling her kicks and rolls....I can be entertained for hours by just watching and feeling her little pushes and nudges.  
  
• Baby hiccups.  So cool!
• Seeing how she responds to noises around us, like when I was in a meeting and the audience started clapping loudly, and she startled from slumber, as if to say "Whoa! Keep it down out there!"
• Talking and dreaming with Rich about what it will be like to have our own little family unit.
• Rich kissing my belly goodbye every morning when he leaves for work.
• Rich reaching out in the middle of the night while he is half-asleep and giving my belly a little touch.  
• Not dieting! This is probably the longest period of my adult life that I've gone without being paranoid about every calorie I consume! 
• Cute maternity clothes.
• Playing the piano for her, and seeing what music makes her dance the most.
• Shopping for itsy bitsy baby clothes!
• The excitement in our parents' eyes when we talk about their future granddaughter.

Top 5 things not to say to a pregnant woman...

In my job as a pharmaceutical rep, I interact with physicians throughout my workday.  Being that they are medically trained and deal with a variety of patients, you would think that they are well-versed in what the typical 'faux-pas' pregnant statements are.  Unfortunately, they seem to make the funniest foot-in-mouth comments I hear!

Here is my recent list of laughable comments that my doctors have made:

1.  Wow, are you sure there's only 1 baby in there? (Really?  Yes, I'm large and pregnant.  No need to make me feel larger!)

And along the same lines....

2.  Wow, only 30 weeks pregnant?  You look as big as my daughter did at 40 weeks! (And you felt the need to tell me this, why?)

3.  Don't feel bad...that pregnancy "glow" thing is all a myth anyway. (And no, this wasn't in response to me saying that I didn't have the glow.  It was un-prompted!)

4.  You're looking good for being pregnant!  (for being pregnant?  thanks?)

5.  Oh wow, you look really uncomfortable now.  (well, I wasn't really uncomfortable, but now I am!)

And then there's one of my doctors who I showed this ultrasound photo:

And he said, "It's been a while since I have looked at one of these. Now what exactly are we looking at here?"  It's not like I showed him the 6 week photo where it's just a bean!  I mean, it's a profile for goodness sakes!!!  

Oh well, it's all in good humor and most of them know I can take it.

7 month photo update!

What a crazy couple of weeks it has been. I have been sick and busy with work (travelling to Vegas) but hopefully things are calming down again soon.

Here is an update to the photos:

My 6 month picture:


And here is 7 months!


Wow, that's a lot of belly isn't it?! We're getting closer and I can't wait!