33 Week Pregnancy Update

Well, I have 7 weeks to go, and I'm counting down!  I'm starting to feel uncomfortable and uncomfortably huge.  It's getting harder and harder for me to do the things I normally do.  Here are some of my recent experiences:

• I finally broke down and got a pedicure this past weekend.  I can no longer reach my toes.  However, I realized that I need to go with a friend.  Since I'm not a regular, I get too stressed out because I don't know what to do, and I can't understand the ladies.  I wonder if they think I should be able to understand them better since I'm Asian...
• My maternity clothes are starting to get snug.  I didn't realize this would happen.  I thought maternity clothes would stretch.  I wish I had bought larger jeans... my thighs have grown with my stomach.
• At my appointment yesterday, the doctor said she thought Baby Ali is in a breeched position, meaning I may have to have a scheduled C-section if she doesn't turn.  A sweet girl a work told me about some yoga positions I could do to help her turn such as getting on all fours and rounding my back.  I think Todd thought I was crazy when he saw me on the floor on all fours.  After some internet research (what did we do before internet!), I found out I can also do headstands in a pool to help her turn.  Not sure that's a good idea for me...
• I keep saying that I'm ready for her to come because I'm tired of being huge and pregnant, but when people ask me specific questions, I realize that I'm really not ready.  For inquiring minds:
• No, I have not finished decorating the nursery.  It's not even close.  The walls are painted, the glider is done, the furniture has been delivered, but the crib has a big crack in the headboard, so the manufacturer is sending us a new headboard.  But her closet looks great.
• No, I have not packed my hospital bag.
• No, we have not completed our prenatal classes at the hospital. 
• No, the car seats are not in our car yet, but yes, we do have them.
• No, we have not finished returning registry duplicates and finished purchasing all the things we do need.

Have a good week/weekend!

Belly Shots - 32 weeks!

32 weeks and counting!  I'm starting to feel huge and uncomfortable in the 100 degree Texas heat.  In the past when Ali kicked, it was a cute fluttering sensation.  Now her kicks are starting to hurt because she's getting so much bigger.  She weighs about 4 pounds right now.  Here's the progression of my belly growth!

12 weeks:

17 weeks:

20 weeks:

24 weeks:

28 weeks:

 
32 weeks:

Here the full length shot today!  I've definitely grown... and I think I've passed the point of cute bump to just being BIG!

Couples Baby Shower

My good friends Katy, Vivien, Emily, Jenny, Chelsey and Season threw us a Couples Baby Shower this past weekend, and it was a lot of fun!  Thanks girls!  The food was amazing, and we had a great time.  The party started at 4pm, and we didn't end up leaving until almost midnight.  That's late for this pregnant girl!

There was a bit of drama before the party even started!  Katy's almost one-year old son feel and split his head open on the leg of the table.  They couldn't stop the bleeding, so Katy and her husband rushed him to an emergency clinic where he had to get stitches.  Poor little guy... he was a trooper though!

Here I am with my awesome hostesses:

The decorations included very cute embroidered onesies, bibs and burp cloths.  They even made some that said "Little Gator" for Todd.

Chelsey tied on little baby charms on each of the plasticware packets!

My girlfriends knew that throughout my pregnancy, I have been craving ice cream.  One of my favorite parts of the shower were the cookie ice cream sandwiches from Pokey O's!  If you haven't tried Pokey O's ice cream sandwiches, you need to make a trip... these things were delicious!  We had a chocolate cookie with chocolate chunks and nuts with mint chocolate chip ice cream.  I'm glad I'm pregnant and have an excuse to eat 2 per day - one for me and one for Ali!

Can you tell I enjoyed these thoroughly???

Thanks Again Girls for Everything!  Now that our showers are complete, it's time to start getting everything together and finish the preparations and room decorating before Ali arrives!

What Our Baby Could Look Like!

I received an email from The Bump today tempting me to see what our baby could look like.  All you had to do is upload a picture of mom and a picture of dad, and it spits out a picture of your baby.  You can select the gender.  Just for kicks, I gave it a try.  Here is our result:

It Feels Like Christmas in August...

Or baby shower season!  This may be even better than Christmas.  It seems that every day when I come home, I have a package waiting on my porch, and it's a gift for Ali!  Thanks to ALL who have sent us gifts or brought us gifts to our showers.  We really really appreciate it. 

My sister and girl friends - Judy, Whitney, Missy and Jen - threw me an AWESOME shower this past weekend.  Thanks so much, ladies.  It was absolutely perfect!  I am usually not a fan of traditional baby shower games, but I really enjoyed the game we played.  They had asked Todd questions and he provided answers.  During the shower, each guest received an envelope with a question on the outside and the answer on a card inside, and each guest took turns asking me a question.  Here are a few fun facts I learned from Todd's answers:

• Todd thinks I will spoil Ali more than he will.
• According to Todd, Ali won't be allowed to date until age 30.
• Todd has Ali's career picked out - LPGA player.
• Todd thinks I will change more diapers than him.  I answered that he would change more diapers than me.  I guess we're both wishful thinkers!
• Todd thinks Ali will be born after Oct. 12 (her due date) - Yikes!

My hostesses were the best!  Thanks so much ladies!  The food was delicious, and the tiered cakes from Nothing Bundt Cakes were super cute and yummy.  The bottom tier was White Chocolate Blueberry, and the top tier was Carrot Cake, one of my favorite flavors.

My mom and sister came in town for the shower.  It was great to have them here for the weekend since Todd was out of town.

I two GREAT helpers to help me open presents.  Thanks Hazen and Caroline!

My friend and sorority big sister made the trip from Kansas down to Dallas for my shower, and she made this cute diaper cake with the super cute booties for me!  I'm so glad I got to meet her precious daughter Alyssa.  I was really excited to see Alyssa in person because she's a mixed baby, so it would give me an idea of what Ali could look like.  I hope she's as cute as Alyssa!

As a party favor, the hostesses put together a cute bag of cookies with pink, green and white icing and a sweet label that said "A sweet treat to welcome sweet baby Ali!"

I'm so blessed to have such wonderful friends.  Thanks again to all of the hostesses and to all who came to my shower!  We have one more shower this coming weekend, and it will be a couples shower.  I'm really looking forward to it!

Baby Showers Begin!

We kicked off our first baby shower on Tuesday at my work, Town North Bank!  It really was so exciting to get so many great things from my co-workers, and I was honored to get such awesome gifts.  I have to say though... I don't really like being the center of attention and having everyone stare at me, but it was definitely worth it for all the fabulous gifts we received.

Here we are with our fabulous hostesses: Cinda, Katie, Alyssa, Racheal and Melinda.  They put together a fun spread with cake, cherry sours (my fave!), strawberries, watermelon and punch.  The flowers were beautiful, and I'm still enjoying them in my office!

Lots of pretty packages waiting to be unwrapped!

Almost too pretty to unwrap!

Here we are unwrapping presents.  We received a nice combination of necessities (lots of bottles!) and some fun cute gifts, too.  Todd even looks like he's having fun!

This was a great beginning to our showers!  My sister and girlfriends are hosting a girls brunch shower this Saturday, and we have a fun couples shower planned for the next weekend.  I can't wait!

Our Final Trip Before Ali Arrives!

What a wonderful weekend!  We were in Jackson Hole, WY this weekend for Dana and Adam's wedding, and it was a blast.  The weather was awesome, our adventures were memorable, and the wedding was amazing!  Of course we have a few stories from the weekend.  Enjoy!

On Friday, we went on a scenic rafting float.  We opted to do that trip since I didn't think a 7 month pregnant woman should be tackling the white water rapids.  We were expecting a calm float down the river with nice views of the mountains and wildlife.  Little did we know we would be rescuing a father and his son who were kayaking down the river not once, but TWICE!  This poor dad was on the river with his three sons while his wife was at the spa, and the dad was in a kayak with his 6 year old son.  They flipped their kayak twice on the river, and we had to come to the rescue.  Gump saved the little boy's life by pulling him out of the water!  Note to self: Don't kayak down the Snake River if you don't know what you're doing.

We stayed in a condo, and the rental lady told me that it wouldn't be unusual for us to see wildlife from our back patio since we were right up against the wildlife park.  We didn't expect to see a moose in a neighbor's front yard though!  How would you like to open the door and see this mama moose and her baby eating your shrubs?

The wedding was on top of the mountain in Teton Village.  It was such a beautiful location, and the perfect spot for Dana and Adam's wedding.  They did a fantastic job planning the whole weekend, and I appreciated ALL of the little details (especially our RMNP table assignment) that made the wedding so special!  Thanks Dana and Adam and the Dericksons for such a fun weekend!  

Here's the crew before we headed up in the Gondola:

This was the view from the top of the mountain where the wedding ceremony took place.  It's so beautiful that it almost looks fake.  You can also see that my belly is growing!

It was the perfect wedding backdrop, and the storms held off until after the ceremony!  Oh and guess what... we had real life wedding crashers!  The gondola and the restaurant were reserved for the wedding only, but somehow a couple managed to sneak up in a gondola.  They were caught and escorted out.  Ha!

Dana sported some really cool boots!

Have I mentioned how amazing our dinner was?  The reception was at the Couloir restaurant that was on the top of the mountain, so not only did we have amazing views, we had a fabulous meal consisting of organic field greens, melt-in-your-mouth buffalo tenderloin, fresh trout with corn relish, delicious yams, a vegetable medley and focaccia bread that was so good that Natalie asked them for the recipe.  The waiter couldn't resist her batting her eyelashes and gave her the recipe!  The dessert was a trio of smores made with a graham cracker cake and fancy marshmallow on bamboo skewers with a pot of decadent chocolate for dipping.  It was so good that I used two skewers like chopsticks to scoop out every last bite of chocolate out of the pot! 

Todd and Caleb's man crush continued... they decided to feed the yummy smores to each other. 

You couldn't keep people off the dance floor at this wedding!  Todd doesn't usually dance, but he was on the dance floor most of the night!  The music was great, and the crowd was awesome.  According to rumors, Dana's typical country club dad and his friends are in a break dancing club!  These 60-year old men were showing people up on the dance floor!  It was awesome. 

I really hated coming back to the 100+ degree weather today, and I'm really missing the nice Jackson Hole temperatures.  I'd like to move out there for the rest of my pregnancy.  Thanks again Dana and Adam for a wonderful weekend!  Congratulations to the new Mr. and Mrs. Strunk!