I Want To Remember...

Last night our families threw us a "Baby Sprinkle" with our friends in here in Rifle.

As I'm trying to remember the evening... I am just overwhelmed with joy.

Where do I even begin for what made this evening so special?

• This was the first time my parents had ever seen Hubby and my new home
• Mom Miller and I had been working like dogs to get the house to NOT look like we just moved in 6 weeks ago and I have been on serious activity restriction for half that time
• We never had a baby shower in Rifle when we were expecting Tracey Ann... and so we hadn't really seen a lot of our friends in one place enjoying each other's company since we've moved here
• The Sprinkle was completely casual, almost like an open-house, where people could just drop by for food, good company, and to see our new home
• Children were welcome and two other families came with kiddos for a total of five kids under five -- one was a little baby only a week old.
• The toddlers were so much to watch playing -- a four-year-old girl, her one-year-old brother, a boy who JUST turned two, and Tracey Ann who will be two in a few months.  They had SO much fun, and it was such a joy to see our new home filled with laughing, playing children.  We have sort of a circle in our home where you can walk from the kitchen to the family room to the dining room and then back to the kitchen in a circle -- I had no idea how great that would be for children!  These four little ones ran that circle with each other all night pushing and pulling different toys and sharing very well.  I loved seeing Tracey Ann right at home and right in the middle of all the play going on.  She handled the crowd so well despite being very tired by the end of the party and, to me, it was very clear she felt at home in her home.
• With this party both our mothers were here along with my dad (Chris' dad was making his way back from hunting) and it was a lot of fun to all collaborate on an event together in our own home... and watch Tracey Ann with three of her four grandparents.  Never in my life do I ever remember more than maybe two grandparents present at a time... Tracey Ann is so blessed that she does see all four grandparents on occasion.
• I think this is the first time Hubby and I have really REALLY ENJOYED our home since we moved in -- it is definitely the first socializing we have done in our home, and we are still in the process of making this house our home -- tonight it was our home, full of our friends, full of love, full of family.  What a perfect night.

Preggers I: 35 Weeks

This picture was taken at my baby shower in Michigan
The banner says "Welcome Little Honey" and the stuffed animals are from Winnie the Pooh

How far along?  35 weeks (a little late because we were traveling... but I will write from the perspective of last weekend, 35 weeks)

How I am feeling?  More prepared than I have felt before.  We had a wonderful baby shower in Michigan, plus Christmas was last week, and we received such lovely gifts.  My parents even gave us a car seat for Christmas... so really, the baby can arrive any time!  :-D  After the shower, we went shopping for the remaining big and/or essential items that we need before the baby arrives.  We are more prepared now than we have ever been.

 

How big is baby?  The size of a coconut...17.2-18.7 inches, and 4.2-5.8 pounds.

Sleep:  I have still been able to sleep really well.  As long as I can manage the heartburn, if I cannot sleep, it usually isn't due to pregnancy discomfort, it's just due to not being in my own home, and having a lot going on.

 

Boy/Girl Prediction:  Most friends and family have been referring to our little one as "he" -- so maybe a boy... maybe a girl.

 

Baby Nicknames:  Pretty much Baby, Nugget, Little One, or Little Honey

Best moment this week:  There were several this week including Christmas with my parents, my lovely baby shower in Michigan, and buying our remaining necessary baby items... but I think the absolute BEST moment of this week was at the midnight Christmas Eve service at church.  It was so beautiful to hear the Christmas story from the perspective of an expectant mother.  Also, as the gorgeous music played and the stories were read, the baby was kicking like crazy.  It was amazing.

 

Food cravings:  Nothing in particular...

Missing:  I don't think anything this week... it was a good week.

 

Movements:  PLENTY!  I LOVE feeling the baby move.  I am really going to miss these when the baby is no longer inside my body.

Labor Signs:  Not yet.

General Attitude: Feeling as though the baby will not come on our journey from Michigan back to Colorado, because we are SO prepared for this possibility.  My parents were traveling at 34 weeks from Florida back to Michigan, and my mom's water broke... and they were not prepared at all.  We are as prepared as we could be -- we have our hospital bag in the car, we know where the baby book, and camera are packed, and we have a car seat... therefore, there is no way my water will break on the way back to Colorado.  We are just too prepared for it.

What I am looking forward to this week:  Relaxing at home in Rifle with my hubby.  We have a lot of baby things to organize, we have our home to continue to prepare for the baby, and we are cherishing these final days of life together, just the two of us, before our life is forever changed.

Milestones:  At 35 weeks, I have officially carried this baby longer than my mom carried me.  Also, my belly button has not popped out... but its about as flat as it can possible get before it pops out.

 

Rodriguez Baby Shower

This past weekend, Hubby and I made a WHIRLWIND trip to St. Louis for several reasons, the most important of which was I co-hosted a baby shower for Chris' sister, Becky!

Becky and Daniel are expecting a baby in early July and I collaborated with a friend of Becky's in St. Louis for her BIG baby shower -- about 40 guests.  The verdict was it is much more difficult to plan a shower long distance than on-site, but the joy of blessing friends remains a constant.

Here are some picture collages of the fun shower:

The shower was for Becky and Daniel (Chris' younger sister and her husband)... although it was basically a women-only party.  Daniel came for the last part and opened a few presents that were just for him.  We are so excited for these wonderful people, amazing siblings, and we know they will make amazing parents.

Here are some scenes of the shower... pink, blue and yellow because they didn't know the sex of the baby.  We had the shower at her grandmother's home and the space was so beautiful.

Flowers and rubber duckies, and desserts, Oh My!

Opening presents -- some of the best ones include: a bib that said "Are these people REALLY my relatives?"'; a onesie that says "I love my grandma" in Spanish (since Daniel is from Mexico); a pair of baby scrubs; and a wall decal that says "For this child I have prayed..."  Becky and Daniel and their little Nugget were so blessed

Some pictures of shower guests -- only a few of them... there were so many people!

 Some family pictures from the shower -- my momma and me, Chris' mom and Grandma (the will-be Grandma and Great-Grandma to Nugget), Chris and Becky and me, Becky and her Grandpa Miller (who picked her a little flower bouquet), and Mandy, Becky and Me -- the Miller girls (as soon as Nick and Mandy get married).  I am so blessed to be a part of his family.

 We had a wonderful, wonderful weekend... and this shower was just a part of it.

Okay, little Nugget Rodriguez, we're ready for you -- in about 6 weeks when you're done cooking.

1,000 Words

Capturing the Simple ~ March

Amy at Filled With Praise has started a monthly blog post where you choose 9 pictures from your month post about them.

I thought it was going to be hard to choose only 9 pictures, but the truth is, 9 pictures covers the month pretty well... and now that I look at the collage, somehow I ended up with 10 pictures.  I'm not sure how that happened when I chose the 9 picture collage... oh well.

  Our pup, Lloyd got left out of this month, but I'm sure he will make an appearance in the April pictures.

Here is my March collage and below are the picture descriptions:

Starting top left and working left-to-right:

• Amazing view from Blue Sky Basin while skiing
• Church basement transformation for a baby shower I hosted
• A little relaxation during a VERY busy month!
• Lexie helping me choose a ski run for the day (she's looking at the grooming report)
• Date night with hubby at Micky's new restaurant
• Ski picture with Hubby -- the first of our little family
• Ski picture with my cousin, Elizabeth, we had a blast skiing together
• Ski picture with my brother
• Baby shower flowers -- white roses, mums and mini roses in mason jars with lemon slices -- I was really proud of these flowers and I loved having all the vases around my house for the next week
• It was great seeing my cousin for a few days

That's a fun way to re-cap the month... but I just remembered I forgot the Easter sunrise service on the top of Vail mountain... I'm sure I'll get better at this in months to come.

 Happy April!

Selbig Baby Shower

Saturday Chris and I hosted a baby shower for our friends, Jon and Chelsea.  They are expecting a baby girl in May and we're so excited for them.

The shower was a lot of fun and went really smoothly.  I went with the colors pink and yellow and served brunch food because the shower started at 10:30am.  It was held at Jon and Chelsea's church because it was more convenient for Jon, Chelsea and guests.  It was a little overwhelming to see the big, open space Friday night... but Hubby and I worked together and the place looked party-ready in no time.

Here were some of my favorite crafty, creative, decorative parts of the shower.

The food was delicious... bacon wraps, fruit salad, mini-quiche, fruit ka-bobs, blueberry salad and mini-muffins

A game I invented... Name Those Parents

Each of these children are either Jon and Chelsea's, Jon and a Celebrity's, or Chelsea and a Celebrity's... Name Those Parents!

The prize table, and the flowers -- white flowers in Mason jars with lemon slices in the water

All of the prizes from the games were for the baby!

Here are some pictures from the shower...

The Little Mother

Lots of gifts!

Guests playing games

These three cuties tagged along with their moms, and they were so well-behaved

A onesie that says "Seriously Cute"

A summer hat for the baby... but it looks pretty good on Jon.

Laughing because, while joking about losing baby socks... they lost a sock while unwrapping this present.

Chris captured some fun faces...

My hubby gave Jon a pink camo jumper we found at Cabela's.  This little girl will be a hunter just like her Daddy.

A bathtub fishing set for Captain Jon's little fisher girl (Jon's a fisherman)

Cute onesies

An exercise jumper... and Jon looking really overwhelmed by the whole thing.  :-D

We're so happy for the Selbigs and excited to meet our new little friend soon.

Friday Letters: Snuck Up On Me

• Dear Friday, All week I though it was Thursday... and yet Friday really snuck up on me.  How does the brain work that those two statements can be true?  It doesn't make any sense.
• Dear Exercise, Its been nice to see you a few times this week.
• Dear Graduate Professors, In my work, I really try to response to emails within 24 hours...  sometimes it doesn't happen and it takes me 48 hours to respond, but I REALLY make an effort to at least send some type of response within a day.  I wish you would adopt this philosophy.
• Dear Pioneer Woman, I really love your recipes.  I wish you published a workout program with all your wonderful, delicious recipes.
• Dear Baby Shower This Weekend, You are going to be a lot of fun, the decorations will be beautiful, and the food will be delicious!
• Dear Spring Break, You are close enough to see, but way too far to feel yet.
• Dear Friends and Relatives Who Are Having Babies, I feel as though your children are going to be born at JUST the right time... I'm had babies on the brain lately, and I think when your babies arrive, my baby brain will skedaddle when I see all the work, cost and responsibility that comes with a baby.  Thanks for timing your children so perfectly for me.  :-D
• Dear Long Distance Friends, We need to catch up
• Dear Daily Commute, I'm getting tired of losing reception ever 30 miles.  I can never have more than a 30 minute conversation with someone without the call dropping and needed to call them back.  Colorado, you need to put more cell phone towers in some of these canyons, please!
• Dear St. Patrick's Day, Good to see you again!

Happy St. Patrick's Day Everyone.

Baby-Shower Brain

I have heard of wedding-brain, baby-brain, pregnancy-brain...
but right now, I have baby-shower-brain.

This is also known as, trying to work 10 hour days, administer TCAP tests, drive 1000 miles, stay on top of graduate school, prepare for relatives to arrive... AND plan and prepare for a baby shower.  Of all those things, the baby shower is the most fun thing to plan for and think about, so I have baby-shower-brain.

A few challenging parts about this shower for me is that it is not at my house... the positive part of this is that I don't have to clean!!!!!  :-D  The negative side is that I have to set up an empty room from scratch and transport EVERYTHING for the shower -- from decorations, to serving platters, to cookware, to tape, to pens and paper.

The other challenging part is that the shower starts at 10:30am... which was totally my call.  I WANT to host a morning shower because it will be a brunch and women will still have the afternoon to themselves... but the location of this shower is 60 miles away... so it will be an early morning for Chris and me to load up and get to the shower location in time to prepare for the guests by 10:30.

All of that being said, I'm getting pretty excited!

Hubby and I went to Grand Junction (the big city) last night to do all the shopping, and I'm feeling good about how things are coming together.

I have the menu planned, food purchased and recipes waiting to be made.
I have the games planned, and a To-Do List on what needs to be finished.
I have favors purchased and just waiting to be assembled.
I have prizes purchased and ready to be wrapped.
I have decorations purchased and ready to be used.
I have the gift purchased and ready to be wrapped.
and,
I have the shopping list of things I couldn't buy last night on stand-by.

In addition to the baby shower this weekend, I hosted a baby shower last fall, and, coming up, I'm co-hosting a baby shower in St. Louis in May for my sister-in-law.  It has been fun to keep some ideas from the last shower and add new ideas to this one, and I'm sure I'll do the same for the next shower.

I think I'm in that season of Bridal Showers and Baby Showers.  :-D

1000 Words

1000 Words

Ready for Today

I'm getting ready for today -- the baby shower day.

I have been working like crazy... and I'm getting really excited about the party.

After so many close friends threw me various bridal showers when Chris and I were engaged, we feel so blessed to be throwing a baby shower for these friends for their first baby.

 The house isn't ready yet... but it will be by the time the shower starts.

The house isn't ready yet

The mother-to-chair is ready... but Lexie thinks its her chair

"What do you mean this isn't my spot?"

The Teddy Bear is ready to party!