Well, friends, here goes nothing!

There's a craze hitting the blog world right now...to create an accent vlog.  I don't really think people from Arizona have an accent, but I do say some of the words differently from those I've seen, so maybe that means I do have an accent of sorts.  The instructions are posted below so you know what I'm talking about.

The instructions are to say these words: 
Aunt, Route, Wash, Oil, Theater, Iron, Salmon, Caramel, Fire, Water, Sure, Data, Ruin, Crayon, Toilet, New Orleans, Pecan, Both, Again, Probably, Spitting image, Alabama, Lawyer, Coupon, Mayonnaise, Syrup, Pajamas, Caught 

And answer these questions: 
What is it called when you throw toilet paper on a house? 
What is the bug that when you touch it, it curls into a ball? 
What is the bubbly carbonated drink called? 
What do you call gym shoes? 
What do you say to address a group of people? 
What do you call the kind of spider that has an oval-shaped body and extremely long legs? 
What do you call your grandparents? 
What do you call the wheeled contraption in which you carry groceries at the supermarket? 
What do you call it when rain falls while the sun is shining? 
What is the thing you use to change the TV channel?


There you have it!  Hope you all join in, too!


xoxo

Welcome to Motherhood

If you had asked me, I would’ve bet that I was going to have a small-ish baby (6 lbs or so), born a few weeks early (in April) and that I was going to have an easy delivery (after all, my mom had natural births with my brother and me). 


I was wrong on all counts. 


Viviana June came into the world on May 11, 2011 after a scheduled induction weighing 7 lbs 12 oz. My delivery was not easy, but thank God it was fast. 


Now I know what you’re thinking…7 lbs 12 oz isn’t huge and this is a true statement. But at barely 5’3” with a small torso, I just didn’t think I could grow an almost 8 lb baby. I was clearly in denial, look how big my belly was just days before delivery. What did I think was in there?!








I’d like to promise that I’ll be back with all the details of what we’ve been up to the past 4 months since last I stopped by this ol’ blog here, but I think I know better than that. So I’ll only promise that I’ll do my best. The past months have been the biggest whirlwind of love, tears, stress, family, happiness, and joy that I’ve ever experienced. 


Welcome to motherhood.

Vivi
5/11/11
9:02am
7lbs 12 oz 20 in 

 - Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Final Countdown

Well, friends, we're in the final countdown.  My due date is May 12th...exactly one month from today!  I can't believe we'll meet our little girl in the next month!

We're as ready as first-time parents can be.  We have the car seat, crib, stroller, a closet full of clothes and two hearts full of love for this little person who is going to complete our family. 

Hubs and I had an awesomely laid-back weekend, just soaking up our time together.  We went to dinner at a Spanish restaurant, we saw a movie, we went for a walk.  You know what, though?  As great as it was, it feels like we're waiting, like we're missing something.  I know it's her...we're just waiting on her.  We're already a family of three and we're just waiting on this baby girl to make her arrival. 

Speaking of her, I should formally introduce you her. We've had the name decided on pretty much from the time we found out the gender. 

We wanted a name that was unique yet classic, strong and feminine, something that could be said in both English and Spanish...and Viviana was the perfect fit in our minds.  June is my grandma's name, who embodies those unique, classic, strong and feminine qualities and who all-around is one of my most favorite people on this planet.  To be able to work in a family name - and her name, no less - was the perfect bridge to her name. 

We call her Vivi ("Viv-ee") or Viv for short and I'm sure we'll come up with other fun nicknames once she gets here and we see her personality.

So there you have it, friends!  One month and counting!

Weeks 31-33

Well hello again!

Apparently I can't seem to blog consistently to save my life.  I am a little distracted with this growing belly, so please forgive me.  Let's start with a quick recap, shall we?




Week 32



Week 33



Week 31 was my baby shower which I will recap in another post, so stay tuned for those pictures.

How Far Along: 34 weeks last Fri, but I'm recapping 31-33

Total Weight Gain/Loss: 16 lbs

Maternity Clothes: Most of my maternity clothes are pants/long sleeves and I'm really resisting purchasing more clothes.  So in other words: if it decently covers the bump, I'll wear it!

Gender: Girl!

Movement: All the time!  I imagine she's getting pretty cramped by now.

Sleep: It's difficult to turn from one side to the other, so I wake up more frequently.  But I have no troubles falling or staying asleep otherwise.

What I miss: SUSHI. I want it like whoa!

Cravings: Still loving Hubs' PB&J sandwiches.  Also, hot dogs.  So random, I know.

Symptoms: A little heartburn, a few leg cramps.
 
Best Moment This Week: On March 19th we had the most beautiful baby shower hosted my by mom, Sara Cate and two of my oldest and bestest friends.  It was such a special day to have all our closest friends and family around to celebrate the upcoming arrival of our sweet girl.  I can't wait to share the details with you!

Weeks 27-30



Week 27

Week 28



Week 29

 Week 30

How Far Along: 31 weeks last Fri, but I'm recapping 27-30 

Total Weight Gain/Loss: 15 lbs

Maternity Clothes: Mostly maternity, but now that I have my closet unpacked, I found some regular shirts that still cover the bump. 

Gender: Girl!

Movement: She is active pretty much all the time, which is awesome because it means that friends and family have been able to feel her. 

Sleep: I'm so exhausted at the end of the day, sleep comes easily.

What I miss: I'm back to missing ham sandwiches.  It's my first request for when she's delivered!

Cravings: PB&J sandwich for breakfast, made by Hubs.  I don't know why but he makes the best PB&Js ever!

Symptoms: I've had some heartburn, but nothing that a few Tums can't cure. 

Best Moment This Week: We had an ultrasound on March 1st that showed Baby Girl was breech.  After doing some 'exercises' (which basically consisted of me laying on my head) we went back in on March 8th for another position check and she had turned.  So we're pretty much locked, loaded and ready to go!

 

This next weekend is our baby shower, which I couldn't be more excited for!  I can't wait to share pictures and details with you all, so stay tuned!

Hello and Giveaway Winner Announced

Hi all!

I'm sorry to have been gone for so long (I know, I know - excuses, excuses).  We've been tackling the house and I'm happy to say we are done with renovations/painting!  And we're mostly done unpacking!  We hosted our first garage sale this past Saturday, which was a major success.  We sold just about everything that we had out and got some extra cash to put towards furniture.  Win-win!  Looks like we will have everything in place before this baby makes her debut.  Hallelujah!

I have been remiss in anouncing a winner for the Apothica Giveaway.  So without further ado, the winner is....

Elena

Congratulations and thank you all for entering! 

Also, I have a new layout courtesy of the amzingly talented Jessica at Diamond Doll Design. 

She is so easy to work with and has such a creative flair.  She put together every item of my 'wish list' and I'm absolutely in love with what she designed.  Please stop by her blog and give her some love!

I'll be back later on with a pregnancy update.  We're getting close...if I'm lucky I have 9 weeks left, although I'm banking on more like 7 (my mom was exactly 2 weeks early with my brother and me).  Eek!

State of the House: Part 1

So as you know, we moved.  We started this move on January 22nd and are still not yet done.  For a visual, the house currently looks something like this:

 



Family room



Living room



Living room



Except worse.  We now have every piece of clothing we own laying across all of the above surfaces. 

You see, we are in the process of rebuilding closets in order to create more useful space for storage.  So instead of one hanging rod, we have built-in shelving units and double rods in all 3 closets.  The end result will be glorious.  We can see it more and more everyday as progress is made.

We are also painting.  Every wall, door, cabinet and all the trim.  The house was built in 1985 and although it has been painted/updated by previous owners, it still has a very heavy feel (notice the cabernet-colored wall in the family room pic above?).  We are painting the trim and doors white, walls will be shades of taupe-y gray (minus the baby's room which will be pink!), and cabinets will be a steely brown.  Here's an idea of what we're choosing:

And for a reference, I drew out the rough floorplan in Excel (what else would you expect from this analytics geek?):

I have some before/after shots that I'll work on posting this week. Fingers crossed we can start to unpack some things this next weekend! My nesting instincts are in full effect...12 weeks until our sweet girl is due and I have a feeling she's not going to wait the full time. So I'm banking on more like 9-10 weeks as the deadline to get everything situated/organized. Which sounds like a good amount of time, but to this mama? I just feel the days melting away. So here's hoping I don't drive myself, my mom (only the best interior designer out there!), or our poor contractor crazy.