San Diego

First of all: big shout out to my friends (who shall remain un-named until further notice) who just found out they are having TWINS!!!! I'm so happy & excited for them! YAHOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Craig and I ventured over to San Diego for the weekend. It was a blast. We drove over Friday afternoon/evening and returned to the desert Monday afternoon. For those of you midwesterners who have not been there before: it's LOVELY! Of course the beaches are gorgeous, but it's such a fun town with so much to do. The reason that EVERYONE in Arizona goes there during the summer is it's actually chilly there too. Highs were in the low 70's, lows in the 60's... So if you are on the beach in the direct sunlight it is warm, but other than that, it's chilly. That, however, is a wonderful feeling to have after living w/ temps hovering around 100 for a month already! We stayed on Shelter Island thanks to cousin Hannah who hooked us up w/ a nice room at the BW for a price we couldn't have gotten ANYWHERE! Thanks again!

Here's what we did:

Saturday: Mission Beach, rented/rode beach cruisers for 4 hours, hit the beach, hit the pool, went to Coronado Island for dinner

Sunday: Mission Beach in the AM--watched the surfers, Ocean Beach in the PM--watched the hippies & shopped in the cool little shops and of course, MOST IMPORTANTLY: ate fish tacos at the best fish taco place EVER: South Beach Bar & Grill, Sunday evening picked up Pete (friend from home who lives in SD) and headed to The Skinner's place in Pacific Beach (my cousin Steve's family) for a BBQ.

Monday: Drove through La Jolla and saw the seals--headed home!

6 hours in the car pregnant is NOT easy! But it was a great trip.

Here's some pics: http://www1.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=603764015/a=5766466_5766466/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

Baby Bag

My AWESOME mother in law just bought me this:



It took me FOREVER to pick out which diaper bag I wanted! This one is from Fleurville... they sell them at Nordstrom, but I got it on their website (along with the matching wrist bag!). LOVE IT. The company's products have great design, as well as functionality. They are also very environmentally friendly ("green").

Today's Dr. Update

EXCITING I KNOW!!!

Nothing really new... I passed the glucose test (yay! no diabetes!) but apparently my iron levels are still low, so MORE supplements for me (no yay!).

He did confirm that if everything looks "favorable" at my 36 week check-up, we will probably be ok to do the induction on the 14th or 15th! SWEET! Also he confirmed again that my child is already a LARGE ONE!

We had a great time last week/weekend w/ Sara! She was in town for work and fun. We went to the spa, the Chihuly exhibit at the Desert Botanical Gardens, to my baby shower* and out to a fun dinner w/ Larry, Lisa and Dan to Digestif. Everyone (but me) tried Absyinthe! I think her favorite part of the trip was one of two things: Riding in the Ford Focus or getting licked by Rosco and Buford. She did, however, confirm that our guest bed is SUPER comfortable, so everyone: COME VISIT!

* Lisa and Erika threw me a FABULOUS baby shower on Saturday (pics to come). It was perfect! Great food, fun games (they made up a new one: Baby Catchphrase!!!), awesome company and of course: MUCH SPOILING OF ME and ELLIE! We got some really great gifts, as well as suggestions and recommendations from my mommy friends.

One really cool gift I got from Sara and Ally is the "Dress with Pink Rosebuds" for Ellie to wear home from the hospital! Sara, Ally and Kyla have all worn it! They are so cool to invite me into their family tradition. I am just hoping Big Al will be watching down on us that day keeping an eye out!

Birthing Classes

First of all, let me say a quick THANK YOU to the man upstairs! My Uncle Archie had a kidney removed yesterday and the surgery went successfully. He's been battling cancer and all kinds of NASTY stuff for a while now... they weren't sure what they were going to find when they opened him up, but all was good--well except for the fact that he only has one kidney now, but they were happy w/ the results. YAY!

So, Craig and I successfully graduated from our Birthing Class last night. Here are some things that you are supposed to take away from the class:

*LaMaze Breathing
*Relaxation techniques
*How a vaginal delivery works vs C-Section
*Pros and Cons of an epidural

Here are some things I PERSONALLY took away from the class:

*Craig and I have a hard time taking the LaMaze breathing seriously
*Especially if Craig's breath stinks!!!
*LaMaze breathing makes me light headed
*If Craig does not brush his teeth before I go into labor, he will not be allowed in the room (small things really bug you when someone is ALL UP IN YOUR FACE)
*Craig needs a little practice on the "helping me relax" techniques :) Please feel free to send him pointers!!
*Although I really am worried about the pain, I am not sure I want an epidural. There are so many negative risks associated w/ it. Plus the whole huge needle in the spine thing...
*The video of the C-Section scared me

All in all it was worth it, but I think I might be a little nervous now!

We also went to a breastfeeding class last weekend--that one was great. TONS of information---almost TOO much really, but lots and lots of helpful hints, etc. Mostly I think it just prepared us for the fact that it takes some patience and work to get good at it, so be prepared that it's not easy at first!

Ellie Update

We had a Dr. appt yesterday... It was fun. We did an ultrasound and got to see our girl!

Our Dr. informed us he is leaving for vacation July 18th. Therefore, he will do everything in his power to deliver her before he leaves! Most likely July 14 -17th!

Ellie weighs 2 lbs 13 oz which puts her in the 75th percentile for babies her age! That means she's on the large side :) Which means there should be no problem delivering a week or two early... plus I'll certainly be ready by then! Everything else looked just normal!

Carpal tunnel is still ANNOYING but I am feeling good... the swelling and retaining water has started to set in too.

Gotta go take the glucose screening next week, and now we have Dr. appts every 2 weeks! yikes!

We bought our stroller & my parents ordered us our chair over the weekend... And as organized as I feel, we still have LOTS more to do! Oh! And we have our first class tomorrow night!