So, what I’ve been doing lately is cleaning cleaning…oh…and more cleaning!  I have cleaned the entire house like crazy (mopped the wood floors on my hands and knees) but now I’m working on organizing/cleaning.  For example, today I went through my wardrobe and the closet, organized all the shirts by color and then by style.

By style is huge because guess what?!  Being pregnant…you not only have to buy maternity clothes but now you have to buy nursing clothes!  This is too expensive!  ;)  Yesterday my friend Kristin and I hung out and had a great lunch and then she spoiled me and introduced me to a store that she loves, The Pump Station.  Now, I understand the love.  This store has everything on breastfeeding.  It’s great!  The staff was friendly and helped me find a great nursing bra, yup, you need those too…and they’re not cheap.  The Pump Station also has a plethora of information on breastfeeding and classes!  I noticed they have one this Friday that teaches baby sign language.  I am going to text Kristin and if she’s free…you know where we’ll be Friday!  :)  Well, while there Kristin and I noticed some nursing shirts that gave us some great ideas to do ourselves, snaps on the sleeve of a T-shirt to just fold down.  We looked at that and must have realized at the same time, I giggle thinking of it now, but we both said, “We can do that!” so excitedly we have plans to meet on Thursday to alter a few shirts!  That’s why today I was going through my closet pulling the shirts that I am going to Frankenstein up!  I bought 3 $4.00 T-shirts at H&M a few weeks back because they are long enough to cover my belly and the fact that they were $4.00 was exciting to me, now I get to use them even further by turning them into nursing shirts!  I’m so excited!

Another thing I’ve been doing is baking!  I baked chocolate chip cookies, brownies, chocolate cupcakes and now my latest and greatest!

Yup, RED VELVET cupcakes with cream cheese frosting

Thomas, please come soon.  I can’t continue eating like this anymore.  I love desserts!  I loved desserts even before being pregnant but now more than ever I really NEED it.

We’ve all placed bets when Thomas will be born and my guess was July 21st, 2010!  If you don’t have a calendar handy that’s tomorrow.  I really feel like he’s going to be early but I’m not feeling any symptoms as of right now so maybe he’s not going to make his grand appearance tomorrow.

Being with Kristin yesterday was exciting, she just had baby Grayson James Fischer and boy is he cute!  He is 5 weeks old and snuggling him really made me want to snuggle Thomas.  I just want to be able to hold him and kiss his little cheeks!  It was so wonderful being able to do that with Grayson.  And the best thing in the world was Thomas kicking while I was holding Grayson.  I think they are going to be great friends!

Grayson James Fischer - So precious! We are so excited to have this little guy in our lives!

xoxo!!!

Just wanted to post some pictures of my big belly before it’s gone.  ;)

Glad I love my running shorts so big, they are going to be the ONLY thing I wear for the next few days!  ;)  They are pretty much the only thing I fit into.

I tried to post skin belly shots but Kev was against it.  :(  You can’t get the full effect but trust me…my belly is HUGE!

In the background you can see a bit of Thomas’s room and the special quilt that his Tia Tara made him.  It’s so perfect and goes amazing with his crib!  I love it!

xoxo

That means I’m 35 weeks and 3 days going strong.  Well, maybe not the strong part, I’m getting pretty uncomfortable and maybe more ready for Thomas’s arrival then he is.  He has been doing some amazing movements the past couple of weeks, just being super active and moving my belly from one side to the other.  I just sit and watch it in amazement.  I really love it.  I love that he is in there just being himself.  One pretty funny thing he’s been doing is sticking his butt way out to my right side and every time I say, “Kev, check this out!” he moves it back in.  I think he’s playing with us.  Another not so funny thing is his toes in my left ribs…that gives me such a burning fire of uncomfortableness!  Pelvic rocks help take him out of that position but he finds it again…faster than I hope for.

I received a really great book from my little sister Sherry, it’s called The Beginner’s Bible.  I lay down at night before bed and read to Thom Thom.  He has heard many stories of God’s great love.  We are working our way through Exodus now and last night he learned about the Ten Commandments and how Moses saved the Israelites and took them out of Egypt.  Tonight we are moving into Numbers.  As part of my quest for being a good person, wife and mother I want to teach Thomas everything I can as soon as he comes out to join us.  Just like a mother, right?  Wants her kid to come out of the womb doing algebra. haha  I just want to give him every opportunity to be all he can be.  I want to provide for him things that weren’t available to me.  But, deep down, I know he only needs to know one very important thing…and that is that Kev and I will love him unconditionally forever.

I did get a couple other books, in case he does show some interest. hahah!  ;)  One book is to teach Kev and I some simple sign language that way we can teach Thomas a few baby words and hopefully help him better communicate with us.  Another book I got (and this is really ambitious) is a potty training book.  I heard that babies can actually be diaper free!!!  Not sure if I can do all this while being a new mom and breast-feeding but I really love that the potty training book understands that.  The book gives great suggestions on how to get started and not to be so hard on yourself if you only catch a few eliminations in the beginning.  They want you to set realistic goals for yourself.  It’s such a strange concept for us westerners to grasp because everyone around us is using diapers and they use them for at least 2 years but, in other countries they don’t use diapers and if they do it’s not for 2 years.  And with me not working I thought, what better way for us to try and save a bit.  I saw a friend’s post on Facebook and she mentioned how she started potty training her daughter and how excited she was about all the extra money she’s going to have left over.  Being new parents Kev and I are clueless as to how expensive these things are going to be.  I am really going to put my best effort into potty training Thomas early.  If it works, the one thing I’ll miss is a diaper booty because I love when babies have that huge diaper booty in their jammies!  But, a good thing the book mentioned was that kids progress faster in doing stuff like turning over because they don’t have a huge diaper between their legs holding them back and then not to mention not getting diaper rash.  I am really enjoying the potty training book!  The last book I’m reading, this one I’m reading with Kev is our Bradley book, Husband Coached Childbirth.  Doctor Bradley was a pretty smart fellow.  I really feel by engaging in his techniques of childbirth Kev and I have become even closer.  Doctor Bradley talks about how the father is not just the seed donor and that’s it, but he should be a big part of the labor process as well.  With this, Kev and I have started our Bradley classes…finally!  We had such a late start!  ;)  but here we are in our 3rd out of 4 classes.  We have learned how to work together to relax and enjoy as much of this birth as possible.  I hope that you will pray for me.  I get a little sweaty in the palms thinking about it but I have to remind myself when I’m in labor every contraction will lead me one step closer to holding baby Thomas.

All in all, being a housewife is awesome!  I have had time to go out to Brea and visit great friends.  And it was nice getting on the road and driving, just me, Thomas and some great music.  I have enjoyed putting Thomas’s room together, washing all his toys, clothes, towels, and blankets.  I love being able to prepare dinner for Kev.  I haven’t tried any new recipes but tonight Momma just gave me some ideas on what to do with some salmon and pasta that sounds amazing!  I can’t wait to make it for dinner.  A few weeks back I had the prettiest baby shower a girl could have asked for!  It was a tea party theme baby shower and there were so many sweets, a delicious yummy pasta salad and fruit salad (oh the fruit salad was the cutest…the watermelon was cut out in the shape of a bassinet) Sandra and my beautiful sisters did such an awesome job!  I wish I could post pictures of everything we got because everything was just amazing and beautiful.  Thomas is so lucky to have such a wonderful family and great friends.  A few things we got, Tia Tar Tar handmade his quilt, Tinie started his book collection, Momma gave him the best pacifiers and the books that were popular with Kev and his brother and sisters growing up.  Kev was really excited to see Momma gave us The Spooky Old Tree and you have to say it just right.  My mom bought us the mattress and friends from work all pitched in and bought us our crib, Sandra gave us our changing table, and Corinne, I can’t thank enough, gave us just about everything else! hahaha!!  We were lucky enough to get all of Madeline’s hand-me-downs, car seats, stroller, boppy’s…just everything.

The last month without being at work has been busy and exciting!  I don’t know how I had time to work in the first place.  But I do get a little lonely throughout the day and have to remind myself that Thomas will be here soon to keep me company.  ;)

xoxo

So, here I am…day 1 of my new job and I am already super busy.  Woke up at 6:30 with Kev and went out to get the lawn watered, took Kev to work, dropped off thank you notes, came home and continued watering the lawn, and started laundry.

I’m taking a moment to blog but then I have to make a grocery list and head out to Whole Foods, or as Dad calls it, Whole Paycheck.  Kev sent me a list called the “Dirty Dozen” which included 12 fruits and vegetables that you should buy organic. Here is the list:

celery, peaches, strawberries, apples, blueberries, nectarines, sweet bell peppers, spinach (kale and collard greens included) cherries, potatoes, imported grapes, and lettuce.

I tend not to buy organic just because it’s a little pricer then other stuff and if I’m just running to Ralph’s they don’t have a big organic fruits and veggies section, and also, I have the mentality of wash it good.  But, last week we got a call from Ralph’s about a bag of lettuce that had been recalled…that we purchased and had already consumed!!!  It got me thinking about being more cautious at the store, taking my time and really buying more organic.

Kev loves apples, he eats one everyday but some days he’ll have two and I’m sad that I haven’t been buying him the organic apples!  I’ve been filling him full of pesticides.

Today, with the start of my new job I vow to do this job exceptionally well and take better care of my family!  While I’m at the store today (have to go to Whole Foods for vitamins) I plan on buying only fruits and veggies that are organic and what we need and will eat!  I hate when I have to throw stuff away.

I feel like I have a ton of stuff to do today, how in the world did I ever have time to work on top of all this other stuff???

I’m really enjoying my life.  Thank you Lord, I am so blessed.  Thank you for taking care of us…all 3 of us.

Today I noticed on my unsticky post-it that I only have 20 more working days left.  I looked around my desk and thought of all my personal items that I need to start packing up to take home and then a picture of my dad caught my eye.  A whirlwind of memories flooded my brain.

I thought about how lucky I was to be so fortunate to have a dad like him.  He was truly the greatest dad.  When my mom left, he stayed. I imagine it wasn’t easy but he did the best he could and I have always appreciated his strength and love.

So many memories of times we had had.  I could still remember the way he laughed so hard he would grab his belly which, always occurred after he scared the living daylights out of me in our long dark hallway.

I remembered how he used to nestle his arm around me at church when I was little…making me feel like I was in a cocoon.  I always felt cozy and warm and would fall asleep…of course!

Oh my goodness, my dad loved swap meets!  Once we put a bunch of stuff/junk together from his garage and headed to the swap meet early in the morning so he could sell it…the funniest thing and, I think we laughed years later about it but, he had this part that he wanted to sell, I don’t even think I can describe it, it was just one wheel.  It was missing the other wheel and I thought it was trash.  He was convinced it would sell and I was kind of annoyed that he didn’t just throw it away…it was the first thing he sold.  I can still see his face as we laughed because I think he was just as shocked as I was.

He loved watching Westerns and I loved just being in the same room with him so I would pretend to watch them too, just with my eyes closed.

He loved tinkering with stuff in the garage.  If I threw away a broken hair dryer he would find it and try to fix it.

If he was in his bedroom watching TV and I was in my bedroom he would call me, “Mija, let’s have ice cream”.

My dad commuted to work and I commuted to school, sometimes we would catch up to each other on the freeway.  Anytime this happened we would always get off the freeway in our old town of Chino and go to one of our favorite restaurants, Mi Ranchito.  We always ordered the enchilada style burrito (red sauce…very important).

I remember in Junior High I told a friend about a pair of shoes I wanted and the next week I showed up to school with the shoes.  I remember my friend said, “Man, you get whatever you want”.  That has always stuck with me because it made me realize that my dad didn’t have a lot but I never went without, not even without a fancy pair of double velcro strap Reebok’s.

My dad and I were not just father and daughter but best friends.  We enjoyed being around each other and just hanging out.  We talked to each other about everything and my life is better because he was my father.

I feel like he’s missed so many of my huge accomplishments, graduating from college, moving out on my own, meeting Kev, my wedding, and now baby Thom Thom.  I really wish my dad was here for Thomas’s birth.  I know he will be there I just wish I’d be able to hug him over it and I’ll miss never getting to see him snuggle Thomas.  I’m comforted by the fact that Kev has such a beautiful family and I know they will never let Thomas feel he is missing anyone’s hugs and one day when he’s old enough I’ll tell him all about his Grandpa Guillermo who he is named after.

He had the best smile

My first birthday was spent in Mexico City

The picture I had on my desk, He was always happy! Looking forward to his next camping trip.

I miss you Pappe.

I finally Snoogled, unfortunately it was with much delay and hesitation.  I never thought that this weird oversized snake like pillow would make sleeping so much easier.

I say with much delay and hesitation because I was over 5 months pregnant when I finally decided to invest in this crazy pillow.  I heard from almost every pregnant lady that this was what I needed for a great nights sleep but I have to admit I was being VERY cheap because I looked this pillow up online and saw that it was $70 bucks.  Good grief, no thank you…I’ll manage.  And then, let’s talk about the size of this thing…IT’S HUGE!  It takes up our whole bed!  Well, after many months of tossing and turning, I finally decided to do it.  I was going to LOOK at it.  Telling myself even as I was walking into Baby’s R Us that I probably wouldn’t buy it.  Matter of fact, I did everything on my way there to avoid even going in the store…stopped at Jamba Juice got a yummy cold something…then very slowly walked into the store.  There it was, the monsterous pillow thing that was super expensive that probably wouldn’t even work.

But wait!  What’s this…it’s on sale!  No way!  It was almost 40% off!  Ok, I picked it up.  Then I noticed they only had 4 of them left.  This really nice pregnant lady looked at me and said, “you think that thing really works?”, I was like, “I sure do hope so”.  She said she was 7 months pregnant and didn’t see any reason to invest in it now.  I thought great, how dumb do I look buying this thing? haha!

Well, I’m happy to report…IT WORKS!   It was still more than I wanted to spend on a pillow and it is super huge but I sleep so much better!  The other morning Kev said, “So, you’re sleeping better”, I was like, “Huh?” and he said, “you were snoring all night”. haha!!!

The Snoogle

The best part of the Snoogle was walking into the room and seeing Kev snuggled up next to it.

Other than the Snoogle, can’t say I have found many pregnant/maternity products that I want to write about.  I would like to say that maternity clothes are hideous!  Someone needs to start making some cute stuff.  And why is the really cute maternity stuff so expensive???  No fair!  Boo!  So, I took some old jeans to a seamstress and asked her to turn them into maternity pants.  I can’t wait to get them back!

Baby info:  Thomas Guillermo Marsden is getting big and so am I!  He’s 9in and 1.7lbs.  The size of an eggplant.  We are 25 weeks on Friday.  He is kicking so much harder now, it’s bizarre!  Today I got a really great jab that took my breath away.  Had no idea that was possible?!  I am hopeful that he will arrive in this world sleeping through the night.  I noticed that he is super mellow when I’m falling asleep.  I mean, he tosses and turns with me to get comfy but then he’s off to dreamland with me.  When I tell this to people, especially other mothers, they look at me funny and say, “ya right, keep wishing”.  Like I said, I’m hopeful.

Me and Thomas

Our ultrasound appointment was set about a month ago.  I knew that we would be able to tell the sex of the baby at this appointment and wouldn’t you know it…last week went by so slowly and it was only a 4 day work week.

By Thursday I was ecstatic!  I was done with work, Sandra was coming over to stay with us and Momma Vanessa would be there to see our new little one!  My mom and Pete drove all the way down but didn’t stay long, that made me kind of sad but I guess they had other plans?

Our ultrasound went great!  A nice long show of watching our little guy kick his legs and we got a cute picture of his feet set together like he was showing them to us.  I have to mention, his feet look huge!  Definitely taking after Kev there!  Mom Kev and I thought all along it was a boy but Sandra needed extra convincing so the technician took this photo. 

The technician said he was, “a proud boy”.

Our little guy is doing great and he is growing into a strong healthy baby!

We are 19 weeks today with 21 weeks to go!  Thomas is 12oz. and the size of a mango!

xoxo!!!

Justification, did I have to justify myself?

Today I found myself justifying growing out my gray hair to a lady that smokes 3 packs of cigarettes a day.  She walked passed my desk, must have taken about 2 steps too many and backed up wobbly grabbing my desk along the way, creating wind so I had to smell the last cigarette she inhaled that was seeping out of every pour because her poor lungs are probably so dirty they can’t handle anymore nicotine!  She said, “Are you growing out your gray hair?” but not with that inquisitive, I’m just asking, look on her face, more of someone in disgust with squinted eyes and nose raised accompanied by a firm shake of the head…as if an inner NO wanted to come screaming out loud.

I don’t want gray hair, really I don’t.  If I had it my way I would have this delicious dark chocolate color with slight golden highlights but, for some reason God gave me this silvery/white somewhat beautiful gray hair and He gave it in abundance!

Before being pregnant I was embarrassed and hid it under the strongest of dye formulas man could make but now, it’s different and so am I.  I want to do good for my baby.  I don’t want to overload my system with harsh chemicals just to please someone that thinks my gray hair is gross.  I’ve asked my sisters to help me decide what to do with it because they know I’m not happy I have gray hair but never have they looked disgusted with me because of it and my husband is fine with me growing it out, he loves me with white, brown or half white and half brown hair.  How do some people feel so entitled to give such a harsh opinion?  People that don’t even know you?  I can only hope that I’ve never done anything like that to someone.  Does this lady not think I’ve considered all my options?  I’ve looked on the computer for endless hours wondering…do I cut it all off (which I like but I’m a bit scared to be so huge and have short hair – will my head look small with my big body), dye it with non-toxic stuff, or just dye it with the same ol’ stuff and not believe that that junky stuff will do anything to the baby?  I really don’t know.  I don’t know what I want?  I’ve never had long hair and am pretty excited by the length (thank you prenatal vitamins).  My dad raised me and he didn’t know how to handle a girl with long hair, it was tangled all the time!  So, my aunt cut it when I was 8, that was the last time my hair laid on my back.  I’ve never had the patience to let it grow since.  Now, it’s super long and nearly in the middle of my back.  Along with being pregnant and enjoying all these little steps of pregnancy I am also feeling an excitement with my long hair.  It’s new!  At night it gets wrapped around my neck and nearly chokes the life out of me and when I sit on the sofa it is trapped behind my back so when I try to move my head and not my body my head is tugged with displeasure.

What my venting comes down to is…gray hair is a lot nicer and prettier than a chain smoker’s stench and opinion!

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Or download the mp3:  Baby Heart Beat 14 Weeks

I just had to share.  ;)

So, we have a new ultrasound picture to share.  I, honestly, can stare at this picture all day long.  Sometimes I sit at my desk and just catch myself daydreaming as I stare at this little one.  I wonder what it’ll be like to hold this little one up to my heart and rock him/her to sleep.  Or what it’ll feel like to walk holding his/her hand.  I also find myself staring at Kev wondering what features this baby will get from him.  I love my beautiful husband, I hope the baby comes out looking just like him and I hope he/she has his same sweet soul.

In the latest ultrasound I was 12 weeks 6 days, and you can see a fully developed baby!  Proof that God is an awesome and amazing God, to allow a human body the ability to create a life, in just a few short weeks.  I guess the saying, “they grow too fast” started here.  At 7 weeks, our first ultrasound just looked like a fuzzy piece of rice but the strong heart beat that we heard assured us there was a baby growing, almost 6 weeks later he/she has taken shape.  Amazing!

Baby Marsden is the size of a navel orange 4.5 inches!  We are 14 weeks, 3 days and just 25 weeks, 4 days left!  Seems like forever!  So, the application of What to Expect says, “baby is practicing sucking, swallowing and breathing”.  The best part about reading that is that when we went in for the last ultrasound we could actually see the baby’s tongue moving, so we know he/she is right on course!  ;)

I hope you can all see the new picture.  I love it!