Sunday, June 30, 2013

Home Improvement Heat Wave

One week closer to our baby shower, and getting really excited! I've gotten our RSVPs back, and we will have 30 people! Definitely a party :) We've decided to set up a photo booth, so I'll be excited to share those photos here at the end of the month. Should be really fun to see everyone and celebrate our baby girl! Pam is officially the only family member that will be there, so stoked she will make it all the way out here! As for the rest of the fam, I'm really looking forward to seeing everyone when I fly back with Jocelyn in February (if all goes to plan). But our shower, yay! Jason's had some great ideas for games, decorations, and planning, and I don't know why more people don't involve their husbands in their showers. She's our baby! He should get to have some celebratory fun too! I'm sure going to miss sharing some of his homebrew this time, but it will be great to have it ready just in time for the party and all our guests. I'll make my fresh lemonade, and iced tea, which isn't his HB, but they're still pretty good :)

This weekend, Jason finished the bamboo in Jocelyn's closet, and is putting together a rocking chair that my mom sent us, and the "pack n' play" that my sister sent. Jocelyn's room is feeling more and more like a baby room all the time. Starting to feel more and more real!

I ripped out all the floor trim/molding in our guest room, and am putting down some click n lock vinyl floors. There's no heavy lifting (Jason's been bringing the heavy boxes up to me), no hammering, no toxic glues or paints, so its a project I can do on my own to make the guest room look more finished (I did call for Jason's help in removing some of the extra stubborn side molding, and nails- he's such a great partner and papa! Thanks J!). It really turned out well with the quick-stick tiles in the guest bath I did last weekend, so I'm excited to tackle the guest room, and make it ready for our shower guests, and post delivery visitors. This room should be easier, since we won't have to remove/replace a toilet, and no weird edges and angles around bathtub or sink! I should finish it all today pretty quick.

Next weekend carpets go in the hallway and on the stairs, and then ALL OUR FLOORS in our house will have been updated! Its only taken us three years, haha but we'll finally be done with that part of our home reno. We've come a long way from 60s carpets in all our bathrooms and kitchen! Haha, oh the joys of buying a mid century house.

We still need to put floor trim in (all the rooms we've redone floors - upstairs and down), but that's it. Floors will officially be DONE. So stoked! Also we'll need to replace our hand-rail for the stairs, since Holden got to it as a puppy haha. This time we'll probably put something metal in. Its really great to look back and think of how our house looked when we bought it, and see how it is now, also knowing that Jason and I did all of the work with our own two hands. Well, Holden helped with his teeth and paws, he sure was a lil adorable (terror of a) puppy haha and ripped out some of the carpets and destroyed several things haha, so glad he's outgrown that- but other than his "help" we have done it all, and really put in all our love, blood, sweat, and tears, and its finally starting to pay off and not only feel like our home, but look like our home, and not an unfinished project. :) - for the most part!

My belly's getting bigger all the time, and she's moving around so much. I've really gotten used to all her dance moves in there. When I first started to feel her, it would surprise me when she would have a big kick or wild "jazz hands!" quick movement, sometimes making me gasp out of surprise haha. Now I'm so used to her moving in there, I love feeling her and am sure that I will miss this part when its over. Its so fun to watch her too, when she really gets moving I can see my belly poke out where she pushes, and turns around. Pretty sci-fi cool. I'm really looking forward to the actual birthing part too, and feel completely at ease in my decision to be 100% natural, and though I know I will feel lots of strong, uncomfortable sensations, I'm really looking forward to laboring. I'm not nervous about that part at all, I really thought I would be more worried/scared about it. But the more I read, the more I meditate, the more I practice my yoga, and feel in touch with my body and my baby, I trust myself, trust my body, and the natural course of birthing that women's bodies have been doing for centuries. I really am looking forward to experiencing this part. I'm totally not scared like most women in the states are brainwashed by the medical industry to be about childbirth - which I'm surprised by, because I thought I would be more scared, which I'm not. I'm really excited about it, and though I am thankful that we have medical technology available if needed, I am not worried about needing anything more than my body to do nature's work. I mean, giving life? Experiencing that? I can't wait. Such an incredible gift to give, and experience - however it happens, it will change my life forever. I feel so lucky.

Its been so hot this last week, we had record breaking temperatures of 106, but I'm trying to keep myself as cool as possible, staying in doors as much as possible, minimizing yard work during the times of day when the sun is out, drinking lots of ice water, using my desk fan at full blast at work, and keeping my hand-fan flapping in my face when i'm at home like an old Southern lady. Miraculously, the 30% chance of rain that we had in our forecast, actually happened last night! We had thunder and lightening (I know since I get up to pee twice every night) and we got some MUCH NEEDED rain, along with it a "cold" front, bringing our thermometers down to the mid/upper 90s. SO thankful! To all of you back in California, with your "75 degree heat wave" trust me, having 95 in Texas right now, actually feels nice and cool comparatively! Those "super hot" 75 degree days back in Nor Cal sound like a lovely freezing breeze - though I'm sure they are uncomfortable to everyone over there. Regardless I hope that y'all can appreciate it for me if you can!

I can't believe its already JULY tomorrow! Jocelyn's getting closer and closer to joining us on the outside, and we can't be more excited to meet her. Amazing to think that I've already been pregnant for just about half a year. She's already been with me that long. SO cool. According to my baby app, she can now start to distinguish light and dark from her developing eyes, and also hear sounds beyond my voice. Jason wants to start reading to her and singing to her so she can get to know her papa better. Before bed, we practice our lullabys to each other (and to her), and hearing him sing makes my eyes tear up - hormones or not, its the sweetest thing to hear, even if sometimes a bit out of tune. He's already such a great loving papa. Jocelyn is such a lucky girl.

My sister in law recently sent a bunch of hand me down baby things to my mom that we went through together yesterday over skype, so she can send what we need over to us for Jocelyn, and we are so excited and grateful to have so much family love, even when we are way across the country. Technology is amazing, I even was able to show my mom the new floors we've put in. I love having the ability to have video phone calls, this is the future! I remember when I was a kid talking on my land line telephone (which was a rotary phone by the way) to my best friend Kate. We would image what it would be like in the future when our phones would have video chat, that was such a cool futuristic idea, which now we can use routinely! I can only imagine the kinds of innovations that Jocelyn will see in her lifetime... Hopefully towards a greener, more efficient, loving and intelligent planet. A mama can hope.

This last week had a lot of excitement with all of the political happenings here at the Capital with Wendy Davis standing up for Women's rights in Texas with her 13 hour filibuster, and with the death of DOMA and prop 8! I don't remember the last time I felt so much joy, pride, unity, and straight up happiness for our country and the representation of our people. I know that Rick Perry is calling the bill back for a vote tomorrow, and unfortunately as inspiring and successful Wendy Davis was this last week, along with all of the people in the crowds who showed up to share their support in defense of the woman's right to choose, I'm not entirely confident that the Texas Governor still won't shut down the majority of Texas abortion clinics in this state, leaving only FIVE remaining. We'll see what happens tomorrow, but my outlook unfortunately is grim. Davis said that she will keep fighting, but I'm not sure what will keep this horrible Bill from passing, if her filibuster didn't already. On the upside, yay for Marriage Equality! Even though that still doesn't make same sex marriage legal in Texas (yet), its such a huge step forward in human rights, that should have happened ages ago. Paris also recently celebrated their first same sex marriage, which warms my heart to see this kind of progress taking over around the world.

Politics aside, I've been super proactive about our thank you notes, which feels so good to stay on top of, considering how amazingly forgetful about things I've been lately- which is unlike me. Haha, "baby brain" is a real thing apparently. I'm not sure if its proper etiquette to send thank yous before your shower, but I'm just happy that I am able to be sure I thank everyone as gifts are received, so no one is accidentally forgotten. Which I am sort of paranoid about accidentally doing! So far so good :) I'm the queen of spreadsheets, so that has also been helping me stay on top of everything.

Time to get going on these floors!

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