Construction Update

So today was the day of the final tape removal, and we now have absolutely perfect pink and lilac stripes adorning the walls of Miss Annie's room. I will say that it has been quite a process but after the purchase of many, many quarts of paint in various colors to find the perfect ones and many, many steps of a very meticulous process taken on by Bryan and Perry, I couldn't have asked for a better outcome. It is absolutely perfect and I couldn't be happier.

Obviously the room itself is still awaiting its fair share of work. Bryan is going to start on the floor this weekend and tomorrow we'll pick up new blinds. But it's definitely beginning to resemble to room of a little princess!

#1 ASU Fan

 

Under Construction

 

So the work on Annie's room has finally begun in earnest. When we prepare for a new baby, we utilize the opportunity to completely remodel the room--new flooring, new baseboards, closet organizers, blinds, everything. So it's a huge undertaking, but in the end we have rooms that we hopefully won't have to mess with at all for a very long time. As you can see we're doing stripes (pink and lavender) and that's a huge job as well. Luckily our friend Perry is a pro at cool paint treatments and he's helping Bryan out. Getting the right colors has been kind of a nightmare, but we're finally there. Hopefully next weekend we'll get the painting done, then Bryan can start installing the bamboo floor. I think it's hilarious that our kids end up with nicer bedrooms than ours...

Relaxing in California

We spent last week on vacation in Newport Beach. We stayed in a great place and our condo overlooked the ocean. Our friends John and Ana and their son Ben who is three months older than Ryan spent the first three days with us which was a huge treat. While we were together we visited the Tall Ships Festival in Dana Point (which unfortunately was kind of a disappointment) and Sea World, and just enjoyed each other's company. The boys had a ball together and it was pretty nice for the adults, too.

The last few days we were there we just relaxed and enjoyed the amazing weather. There were lots of things for Ryan to do where we were staying--a huge sandbox which he loved, a playground and swimming pools. I was able to get in a massage while we were there which was like Christmas, and we were able to meet up with my friend Katherine and her daughter Sophia before we headed home. We also stopped in Riverside on our way back to Arizona so my friend Mary Lou could finally meet Ryan.

All in all is was an absolutely perfect week, and definitely our best vacation to date.

P.S. You can click on the slide show to view the pictures individually.

Not an Ideal Destination for the Holiday Weekend

While it's actually a pretty cool looking building, this photo is of Mercy Gilbert Medical Center, where I got to spend Saturday night and most of Sunday.

On Thursday Bryan and Ryan both came down with a pretty nasty bought of the stomach flu. On Friday night I figured I'd gotten lucky and it has passed me over. However Saturday morning I woke up early--and sick. Initially I thought it was just one of my twice-weekly or so episodes of morning sickness, but by 3:00 that afternoon when I was still vomiting Bryan decided I should probably go to Urgent Care and get some fluids and a shot. I went in and after 5 (yes FIVE) unsuccessful attempts to get a line in for an IV, the guy gave me a shot of phenergan to stop the vomiting and told me to go home and hydrate myself with oral fluids. That sounded fine to me--I've had a couple shots of phenergan during this pregnancy and it had always worked.

Anyway, about 2 hours after I got home I woke up from a nap and was sick again. I called my OB and she told me to go to the OB triage at the hospital so they could get me taken care of. They gave me a liter of fluids with Zofran (another medication that is supposed to stop nausea/vomiting) and I was feeling a lot better...until I sat up. As soon as I did that, I was sick once again, so my doctor decided I should stay overnight.

In actuality, it wasn't all that bad. The hospital is really nice, it's about 3 miles from my house, they have amazing nurses, and all of the OB rooms are private. I got lots of rest and had the comfort of them regularly monitoring the baby, who tolerated everything amazingly well.

I'm still really, really tired, but much better than I was. I'm so glad that I have such a great husband who is completely involved in every aspect of Ryan's life so when I had to be gone for a day, I didn't have to worry about them one little bit.

Can I just tell you that I am so counting down the days until the end of this pregnancy?

Ryan's New Tricks

In the last 48 hours, my son has developed the following new talents:

~Climbing over the shorter of the two types of gates we use to keep him in and out of certain areas of the house

~Opening the DVD carousel and taking out discs by the handful

~Climbing from the back of the grocery cart (since he will no longer sit in the front and allow me to buckle him in like a normal kid) onto the conveyor belt

Unfortunately I haven't captured any of these events on film, but I'm sure none of them are one time events...

Observation

It is possible to shampoo your carpet while holding a 23 pound baby during your 7th month of pregnancy.

Just in case you were wondering.

Another Year Older

So this past weekend was my 31st birthday. Lots of people asked how I feel about getting older, and my answer? Great! Every year since I've been married has gotten better and better. I anticipate much of the same in the future.

My actual birthday was pretty low key, but nice. When I woke up my boys brought cards and presents into our room, and we all lounged around in bed while I opened them. After that they ran out for a while and brought me home Dunkin Donuts. Yummy. That afternoon I went and got a pedicure (my favorite thing!), and my awesome mother-in-law brought over my favorite cake that she had made for me. That night we had a babysitter for the evening.

We went to dinner at this place we really like that is located at the end of the runway at Falcon Field airport. In addition to being able to see the planes take off and land, we had an awesome view of a beautiful desert sunset behind Camelback Mountain. We got done with dinner early, but since we actually had a babysitter, we didn't want to go home! Don't get me wrong, we love, love, love hanging out with Ryan, but it was just really nice and we were enjoying the time alone! We went and drove around Scottsdale and ended up at this really cute 50's diner type place called The Sugar Bowl where we had yummy sundaes while sitting at the counter on pink vinyl stools. So fun.

Overall it was a fantastic day. I loved that it was on a Saturday and I think the best gift of all was being able to spend all day with my sweetheart.

Pregnancy Comparison

25 Weeks, 4 Days pregnant with Miss Annie

25 Weeks, 4 Days pregnant with Ryan

So I was recently going through my pictures and I found a photo of when I was 25 weeks, 4 days pregnant with Ryan. Since I hit that milestone with Annie today, I decided to take a picture to compare. While I'm on track to gain 1 pound more with Annie than I did with Ryan, I don't think I look nearly as huge, at least not yet!

I've Been Tagged...

by my friend Sharla in CA.

How to play this game of tag:

Post these rules on your blog. List 3 joys, 3 fears, 3 goals, 3 current obsessions/collections, 3 random surprising facts about yourself. Tag 5 people at the end of your post by leaving their names. Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

3 Joys:
My son
My husband
The gospel

3 Fears:
Something happening to Bryan
Something bad happening during the delivery of my daughter
Financial instability

3 Goals:
Survive this pregnancy
Get my masters degree
Become a runner

3 Current Obsessions/Collections:
So You Think You Can Dance
Getting out of the house everyday
Getting every little corner of my house organized

3 Random surprising Facts about me:
I do some freelance communications consulting in my "spare" time. The adult interaction helps keep me sane.
I am completely obsessed with celebrity gossip.
I've already started my Christmas shopping.

I tag...Jacqie, Cara, Marnee, Christine and Mimi