We're having a...

GIRL!

Most importantly, she is healthy and doing well...everything measured on track.  

We couldn't be happier!

Week 18

Thank you for your comments on the furniture in my last post.  I'm leaning towards the modern set today, but who knows what I'll think tomorrow.  Ahh hormones!  Please vote on the baby's gender in the poll on the right sidebar if you haven't already.



How Far Along: 19 weeks today, but I'm recapping week 18

Total Weight Gain/Loss: 3lbs at my last appointment.  I'm sure Tuesday's appointment will show a healthy gain...and by healthy I mean huge.

Maternity Clothes: I love my Old Navy maternity jeans.  If you have suggestions for other maternity clothes, please let me know.  The work pants I ordered from Gap last week were a huge no-go.

Gender: Tuesday can't come fast enough...

Movement: More and more!  Baby seems to have a dance party at night when I'm laying in bed and after I eat.

Sleep: No complaints.

What I miss: Maybe having clothes (pants, specifically) fit me.  I'm not complaining at all as it is obviously for a very great cause but I'm in between regular/maternity pants.  I have a Bella Band that is helping me through the transition.  But I did walk down an entire hallway at work earlier this week with the Bella Band (unbeknownst to me) up at my waist and my pants undone.  You're welcome for the show, hallway-goers.  At least I learned my lesson to readjust my clothing prior to moving away from the privacy of my desk.

Cravings: Peppermint Ice Cream.  Tis the season!

Symptoms: None, still feeling great.

Best Moment this week: Scarfing down an entire Chick-Fil-A chicken biscuit breakfast in 2 minutes flat.  Well, maybe that wasn't my finest moment, come to think of it.  But it was pretty impressive.

Girl or Boy?

***Please make sure to cast your vote for gender on the sidebar to the right!  The poll is open through Tuesday 12/21.***

With our gender appointment exactly 6 days, 22 hours, 4 minutes one week from today all I can seem to think of is girl or boy?  We've said from the beginning that ideally we'd like one of each - so it doesn't matter which comes first.  And, of course, we pray for a healthy baby.  But finding out the gender will set a few things in motion.  First, it will help to shape the identity of this little one, so we don't have to call it 'it' all the time.  Second, we'll be able to pick a name (which if you know us, you'll know that we have a 50% chance of this being an easy task).  And thirdly, we'll be able to start on the nursery!

I was perusing Overstock.com the other day and found some great nursery furniture.  I've always gone to Overstock to look for great deals on things like home lighting or furniture like armoires or buffets , so I figured they had to have some good deals on cribs and changing tables.  I hit the jackpot!  Here are some of my favorites.  I know they are a different style/look/feel from each other but I like them both for different reasons.  What do you think?



Modern 3-drawer Changer





Of course I can't find the actual link to
this crib now, but it is from Overstock.com. 
I hope it's not sold out!





Stasia Espresso 4-in-1 Crib





Sleigh Style Espresso Changing Table
with Hamper and Baskets





And for the exciting part!  Overstock has provided me a discount code good for 10% off all Overstock.com products.  Just enter 121728 at checkout.  Also, for free shipping on electronics, enter 202234.

All the ideas and opinions expressed are my own. No monetary compensation was received for doing this post, however, I was provided with a discount code.

Week 17

So Hubs has been on my case for promising weekly updates and miserably failing after the very first one.  I know, I know... In my defense, I was busily working this past Friday to be able to head out of town to ride The Polar Express with my best friend and her family.  Which was awesome, I should add!  So anyway, better late than never, no?

How Far Along: 18 weeks now, but I'm recapping week 17

Total Weight Gain/Loss: 3lbs at my last appointment (although I'm sure it will be much higher at next week's appointment - eek)

Maternity Clothes: I love my Old Navy maternity jeans and I ordered a few more maternity pants for work.

Gender: TBD on December 21st!  I opened a poll to the right of my page - please cast your votes!  I can't wait to hear what you all think.

Movement: I'm pretty sure I've been feeling the baby move!  It's hard to tell as a first-time mama, but everyone (my mom, Twitter friends, my What To Expect iPhone app...) is assuring me it must be the baby.

Sleep: Excellent, except for waking up 1-2 times to use the bathroom now.

What I miss: Hmmm, not too much this week.  Maybe still missing beer :)

Cravings: I've been on a Salt & Vinegar chip craze.

Symptoms: None

Best Moment this week: Feeling the baby move around!

Christmas music FAIL

I love Christmas music.  So much so that I've been listening to it since the beginning of November on Pandora.  Now that they play it on 2 local radio stations?  I'm in hog heaven.

One of my favorites is Baby, It's Cold Outside.  Doesn't matter which version...I just love the catchiness of the music and lyrics.  Problem is that I've been singing it wrong for like ever.  Instead of "...at least there will be plenty implied", I've been singing "...at least there will be plenty of pie".

Umm, FAIL.

I've got it down now, thank goodness.  Too bad it took me until now to figure that one out!

xoxo

Week 16

Thank you all for the sweet comments you left on my last post and on Twitter.  I feel so blessed to have such a great community of blog friends to share our good news with! 

The cards you saw in the picture of my last post were what we used to let my family know about the baby.  They each say something different: green eyed or brown eyed, fair skin or olive skin, football player or cheerleader, April 2011 or May 2011.  I put them in plain envelopes and we passed them out to my mom, dad, brother and SIL.  They were a little confused when they opened and read their own cards, but got it quickly after putting them together. 

I'm going to do a weekly recap - please feel free to skip them if you don't want to read them.  I just really want to document this journey.  I am borrowing fellow soon-to-be-mama Megan's format of recapping the prior week.  So, without further ado...

How Far Along: 17 weeks today, but I'm recapping week 16

Total Weight Gain/Loss: 3lbs at my appointment last week

Maternity Clothes:  I bought a few maternity pants that I'm mixing into my wardrobe; otherwise, wearing my normal clothes with a Bella Band.

Gender:  TBD on December 21st!

Movement:  I haven't felt anything yet, but my trusty iPhone app tells me it will happen soon.

Sleep:  Excellent, except for waking up 1-2 times to use the bathroom now.

What I miss:  Beer (no joke!) and Wildflower Bread Company's Honey-Cured Ham & Swiss sandwich.

Cravings:  The spiciest of foods, above and beyond my usual penchant for spice.  Thanksgiving weekend I was dipping everything in straight habanero sauce.
 
Symptoms:  None (knock on wood)...I feel really great.

Best Moment this week:  Not much has happened this week, so I'll borrow from last week: we heard baby's strong heartbeat - 155 bpm.

One last thing: while I am so grateful that this is happening to us, I am very aware of others who are struggling.  I guess I just wanted to acknowledge that - and to say that my thoughts and prayers have been and continue to be with you.

xoxo

What will it be?

Hubs and I are very excited to announce that we are expecting our first baby Spring 2011!  We are so overjoyed and cannot wait to meet the new addition to our family.

xoxo

Trust In The Plan

So remember how I was waiting on some big news in this post and then again in this one and this one?  Well I got the final verdict the second week in September.  What a long, drawn out process.  And all for nothing.  I didn't get the position I had been hoping for. 

It's funny how life works out, though.  Two weeks after being let down and thinking for sure my career was over, something new came along.  Something better.  I went for it - and guess what?  It worked!  A month after taking a leap, I'm happily starting a new gig (within my current company) on Monday. 

When God closes a door, He opens a window.  You'd think after 29 years, I would learn to trust that there is always a plan.  It may not be my original plan.  It's a better plan. 

xoxo

Shuffle

I saw this on Handbag Obsessed today and if you know me at all, you know how much I love music.  I have my iPhone contstantly playing music in my ear all day long - it gets me through my day. 

So here are the first 10 songs that play when I hit shuffle....

Kenny Chesney "Beer in Mexico"

Mat Kearney "In The Middle"

Wynonna Judd "Tell Me Why"

Cam'ron "Hey Ma"

Blessid Union of Souls "Hey Leonardo (She Likes Me For Me)"

Red Hot Chili Peppers "Give It Away"

Gavin DeGraw "Just Friends"

Eminem "My Dad's Gone Crazy"

Andrew Belle "Make it Without You"

Aladdin Soundtrack "A Whole New World"

Kind of a random mix, isn't it?  I love it all.  Each song brings back a different set of memories....80's/90's country music as a child (think: George Strait, Alabama), my parents playing 70's folk/rock on Colorado vacations (Gordon Lightfoot, Simon & Garfunkel, James Taylor), blasting college music with my roomies (Britney, Eminem, Nelly). 

So tell me friends, what random music is on your iPod?

Nov 2nd

Happy Election Day!

I've read so many Facebook posts and Tweets today about people going out to vote.  And while, yes, it is redundant to read that each and every person in your friend list voted, I am absolutely loving it.  Soaking it up.  I love that our generation is involved, informed and excited to get out there and do their civic duty.

So if you're not already bored to death with all the updates, I'll leave you with my own...

I voted today (duh), did YOU?

Should things go wrong at any time, the people will set them to rights by the peaceable exercise of their elective rights.

-Thomas Jefferson

Simply Bags recently contacted me and generously offered a personalized lunch tote.  Since I work the corporate 9-5 I thought it would be great to get a lunch tote to motivate me to pack my lunch.  The product doesn't disappoint!  It is the perfect size to fit my food, yet isn't too bulky to carry around.

Simply Bags has a great selection of other bags that you can personalize as well.  Check them out!

Yes, my initials are ESL as in English as a Second Language.  We go by our initials at work, so it is only appropriate that I personalized my lunch tote as such!

***Fine print: The item was given to me at no cost; however, my opinions are entirely my own.

xoxo

Loving...

Monique Lhuillier

Spring 2011 RTW

both pictures via Style.com

I'm not a huge designer/fashion show kind of girl. I have an eclectic wardrobe which works for me. But these dresses? Gorgeous.

Now I just need a reason (and a few extra pennies) to wear them!

Happy Friday

xoxo

Limbo

So I realize that I left you all hanging after the last post.  The long and short of it is that I haven't heard anything yet myself.

To bring you up to speed, I had that meeting and then another one last Wednesday.  And I've been waiting ever since.  I'm supposed to hear something this week...and at this point it will be nice to know either way. 

On another note, there are some big things going on around these parts (which I promise to share when the time is right).  Don't you love a little suspense? 

xoxo

So that call I was waiting on? It finally came late yesterday afternoon. What a long time to wait in suspense. The relief I felt at getting her call was quickly overshadowed by the fact that I now have a very important meeting today at 11am. Today.

Please send some good (intelligent, calming, confident) vibes my way.

T minus 1.5 hours.

xoxo

Just call me Bridget...

I'm at work, waiting on a phone call that will help to shape the future of my career. And I type that with full realization of the melodrama dripping from the words. But I am nothing if not a little overly dramatic about the happenings of my life. But I digress....

Here's the situation: I'm not sitting at my own desk, next to my own phone line. Rather, I'm sitting at another desk in another department, waiting for a phone call from a person sitting one row away from me. I'm sitting in her department, waiting for a phone call at my usual desk. I've called my extension about 850 times this morning, just to check. I'm Bridget Jones in the opening scene of the first movie (one of my top 5 favorite movies of all time), repeatedly checking her messages. You have no new messages. Meanwhile, I'm desperately trying to listen for activity from the next row, trying to hear some clue as to what hangs in my future. But, you now, without anyone actually catching on to my spying ways.

So there you have it. All this working me up into a tizzy and it's only 11am. On Monday.

So, lovelies, please entertain me....a joke, a story, tabloid gossip, whatever. Anything to distract me from myself.

xoxo

BlogHer Weekend Recap

I was so lucky to have had the opportunity to travel to New York this past weekend to attend the annual BlogHer Conference.  All I can say is... what an adventure!


The fun started early last Wednesday morning when my real-life friend Lulu of The Dirty Martini Diaries and I caught the first flight from Phoenix to New York.  We got in a cab and headed to the city to drop our bags at the hotel and head out for Indian food (our favorite!).  Erin of Blue-Eyed Bride and Mojito Maven of Make Mine a Mojito had already checked into the room and were headed to dinner and Billy Elliott.   Except.... (and this is the amazingness of those crazy serendipitous moments)...when our cab pulled in front of the hotel to let us out, who was in line next to get in our cab?  Erin and MM!  What are the odds?  And despite (me) never having met them in person, we recognized each other and gave hugs before they jumped into the now empty cab and hurried to their dinner.  


Lulu and I had an awesome dinner at Tamba and then made our way to Central Park South to Whiskey Park for a drink and to meet up with the girls.   


The rest of the weekend consisted of awesome dinners at these fine establishments, meeting great bloggers in person {here's looking at you, Millitini, PaisleyPearls, Slynnro, Kristabella, Regan, and Amy from ABCD Design to name a few}, picking up swag at the Expo, attending a few parties, laughter and fun!


One of my favorite memories will always be sitting in Robert at the Museum of Arts and Design in Columbus Circle, enjoying the city lights, drinks, cheese and new friendships.  Well, that memory and maybe also this one...

Because what doesn't bond you faster than wearing McDonald's bags on your heads at the CheeseburgHer party?

Thanks for an amazing trip, girls.  I love you all so much and am so excited for our next adventures!


xoxo

Sweetest Post

Ya'll have to check this post out.  It's from Ashley Paige at I Love You More Than Carrots.  It's a letter to her very-soon-to-be-born son.  It is so sweet it will warm your heart.  Enjoy!

Start here for an explanation of her blog name (which is also a sweet story).

Then read her letter to her son here.

Happy Friday, lovelies!

xoxo

Those days, those games

I'm having one of those days...you know the ones.

Either you're burnt out or distracted or just not feeling 100%. Today is one of those days for me. I just can't seem to concentrate on my task at hand, my mind wandering to something else I should be doing...or better yet, just wandering. It might be that I'm tired, or excited (BlogHer is only 1 week away!) or maybe I just had too much caffeine.


Either way, I play these games with myself to stick through the day. "After lunch if I'm not feeling it, I'll go home." And then lunch comes and goes and I'm still here, plugging away. "At 3pm I'll leave early." And then 3pm comes and goes and I'm still here, plugging away. I never actually go home early. But somehow these games make me feel better. Like I have an 'out.'

Do you ever have these days? What do you do to cope?

xoxo

One Year

A year ago today you celebrated your 25th birthday....

Who knew what a ride your 25th year of life would be?

From cancer treatments to an engagement to a beautiful wedding, this is a year that will stand out in time.  

I'm thankful not only that my brother has found his equal, his partner in life, but also that I have a new sister, a friend for life.

  

Happy 26th Birthday, Sara Cate!  

Here's to a future full of love and laughter.

All my love,

Miss E

Inception, Stinkin' Hot and a Scorpion Sting

So you saw in this post how busy I've been over the past few months. This weekend was the first in a while that we were free. And by free I mean, free to clean the house and tackle the piles of laundry.

We did manage to sneak away for a movie on Friday night to see Inception. If you haven't seen it, you must go - no, run - to the theatre as soon as possible. This movie was awesome. And not only because of my favorite, Leonardo DiCaprio (I've had a mad crush on him since Romeo + Juliet days, sigh). But mostly because this movie makes the audience think.



Have y'all seen it? How do you think it ends?? I have how I want it to end and then how I believe it really ends. Just can't seem to match those two up.


Saturday we ran some errands and then came home to lay around and watch a move clean. Now Saturday was a hot day (even for AZ standards). After 30 minutes of not being able to cool off inside, we checked our thermostat. It read 4 degrees hotter than the set temperature. I'm sure you can imagine where this one is going. We slept that night in our steamy 90 degree house, praying that the service man would actually show at 8am as he said. We all did a happy dance (dogs included, I've never seen the poor things pant so much) when the doorbell rang at 7:30am. A hefty check written for a temporary fix but at least we have a cool house again! Once it cooled off, we finally got to the business of cleaning, etc.


Oh and on top of all that, I got stung by a scorpion on Saturday night! The first time for this native Phoenician! I don't believe it was the bad kind since the numbness/tingling only traveled up the front of my foot/leg, below my knee. I survived, nonetheless, and am completely back to normal as of today.


So we had quite the weekend! What about you? Any other eventful weekends out there?

Hello Again

First off, for those who have sent me kind messages (or nudged me in person): THANK YOU!

My mind has not stopped composing the posts, it's the rest of me that fails to get them onto the screen.

The past few months, I have....

Watched my brother marry the love of his life

Been honored to be a bridesmaid for my newly official sister-in-law

Read at the wedding ceremony of a best friend

Travelled to Denver twice (and Vail once!)

Spent time in Payson with my family

Turned 29

Celebrated Hubs' 29th birthday

Attended the midnight premiere of Eclipse with my aunt and cousin

Chaperoned a high school field trip (and yes, the kids thought I was a friend of my cousin, not a chaperone)

Spent hours creating, planning and crafting with my mom and Sara Cate

Sang, danced, cried, loved

Made many, many new friends

Today I am....

Still recovering from the excitement of Casey and Sara Cate's awesome wedding weekend

At work, unfortunately

Very excited to see family who is still in town

Future plans...

Attend BlogHer in NYC next month with an old friend and {officially} meet some new ones

So, sweet friends, what have you all been up to? Fill me in!

xoxo

Moments

There are moments in life that metaphorically smack you in the face.  A wake up call, if you will, to get outside your own head, look around, and rejoice.


As the rain falls quietly outside, I'm tucked comfortably into bed with my little family.  My husband is snoring softly next to me and the pups are snuggled under the covers at my feet.  I'm pulled out of the moment I'm in and remember to thank God for what I've got, who I've got and where I am in this life. 

Life is good. 

Happy Birthday to my mom, Happy Valentine's Day to all!

Happy birthday to the most beautiful, strong, intelligent, passionate, caring woman I know: my mom.  She's been my role model and biggest support throughout my life.  I couldn't be the person I am today without her (the good, the bad and the beautiful).

I love you, mom!  Thank you for your love and friendship.  I'm so blessed to have you in my life.  

Please join me in wishing her the best of birthdays!

xoxo

PS - Want to know more about my mom?  Read here and here.

Irene

Yes, I jumped on the Doppelganger bandwagon that is all over Facebook.  

In high school my friends called me Irene as in Me, Myself & Irene which was popular at the time.  

What do you think...see the resemblance?  So, tell me, who is your celebrity lookalike?

xoxo

Rainy Day Schedule

So Hubs, the pups, and I are majorly hunkered down in our room right now, candles lit (just in case), watching the weather updates.  It is raining cats and dogs here.  Cats and dogs.  They even issued a tornado warning for our county.  Umm, helloooo...Arizona is supposed to be having beautiful weather right now so as to make all the other winter dwellers jealous.  Apparently that is not in the cards.  Too bad, too, since it's the big week of Barrett-Jackson and Russo and Steele Auto Auctions.  Read: insanely rich men pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for collector automobiles to fulfill childhood/adolescent fantasies.
And don't even worry that I've basically worn the same outfit for the past 3 days to work.  And had to steal  borrow an umbrella that I found at co-worker's desk who is on vacation.  And drive 5MPH - I'm so not even kidding you - down the streets.

But with all that said, I really do love rain.  It happens so infrequently here that it's always a treat.  As a kid growing up here, 'rainy day schedule' was always the best of days.  Heads Up 7-Up and Quiet Ball in the classroom instead of recess.

So let's hope we don't blow away tonight! 

As I'm writing this, I asked Hubs what other games he used to play for rainy day schedule and he looked at my with a blank stare.  Help me, friends, weren't there other games we'd play?  I'm drawing a blank....

xoxo

Plant Dreams and a Distraction with Pretty Dresses

I can't sleep because mostly because I'm a night owl and this is my prime time and partly because I've got a major case of the heebie jeebies going on.  So instead of trying to sleep I'm up reading blogs, lusting over dresses and designing my free calendar poster collage courtesy of Snapfish.  Even though I didn't know I needed a calendar poster collage until tonight.  See how productive one can be at midnight?  

So to the heebie jeebies... You know how dreams are usually all over the place and don't make much sense?  And you usually can't remember the details in the morning?  Well my dreams are extremely vivid and intense.  Which has its pros and cons.  

Last night I had this uber scary crazy dream where there was a hole in the wall of my bedroom, but not all the way through to the other side of the wall.  Just through one side of the drywall.  And in it?  There were plants growing.  Delicate, tiny-leafed, viney plants.  Which is fine and dandy until I realize that I have a similar hole in my forehead and the same plants are growing inside my head.  Now what I'm thinking is where is my brain if these plants are growing behind my eyeballs?  Which is a totally valid question, right?  Which is followed by I have to cut these things out of my head!  Which is followed by how do I cut them out without damaging my non-existent brain?!  So at some point in all of this freaking out, Hubs puts Band Aids across the hole and tries to get me to my Dad aka medical help.  

 End scene.  

The alarm goes off and I wake up and have actual goosebumps all over my body as a result of this bat crazy dream.  Good news is that I soon forget about it all in the hustle of the day.  But after dinner I remembered it again and now ohmygosh I can't forget it.  

So as I'm writing this I know how incredibly lame-oh this must sound.  I mean, it sounds that way to me.  But what does it mean!?  And why is it haunting me?

In an attempt to distract myself and now you since I know you're wondering why the hell did you just read about my stupid plant dream I will share with you this goodness:

Ouma Clothing

Etsy

Blog

Did it work?  Are you sufficiently distracted?  Here's hoping so!

PS - Leave me a comment and interpret my dream.  Oh there I go again...

xoxo

Rundown Central

So much has happened since last we spoke.  Let's do a rundown of the past 4 weeks, shall we?

A birthday celebration

An engagement! 
Yes, my little brother proposed to Sara Cate. 
I couldn't be happier for them to make it official.  And yay for a fun family wedding!

A trip to Zoolights with the family.  An annual tradition.  We do/see the same things each year.  i.e., walk in and get Kettle Corn, walk the same direction around the zoo to see the lights.  But this year, we found a new addition the the typical lights.

Um, WHAAA?! 

So since there's really no words to explain what's going on here, we'll move on.

We had a great Christmas and were able to spend a lot of time together as a family.

My dad's family, Christmas Day 2009

We went on a family trip to Disneyland for NYE.

Sara Cate finished her last round of chemo! If you haven't been following her journey, you can catch up here. She has a short break to recuperate followed by 4 weeks of radiation. She's had a long battle and has stayed strong and positive throughout.  And now there's some light at the end of the tunnel.


My Gram had her surgery, which went better than expected.  They were able to remove the affected area laparoscopically so her recovery time was next-to-nothing. 
The super shitty part? 
They found cancer cells in her lymphnodes (that we hadn't been expecting from her scans).  So now we're looking at cancer treatments, oncologists, etc.  Fingers crossed that she can do a less-invasive form of chemotherapy, kill the cancer, and carry on with her life. 


So there's been a mix of super high's and a few super low's.  Kind of a perfect way to sum up 2009. 

Now listen, 2010, I have high hopes for you.  So please shape up the way I'd like you to.  Mmmkaythanks.
But with 3 weddings (2 of my college besties and Casey & Sara) this year,
2 babies (not mine) cooking away,
a Mexican Riviera cruise and
a weekend in Rocky Point already planned...
it looks like it's shaping up to be a good year!

So, lovelies, how have you all been?  Tell me, tell me!

xoxo