Baby Dreams

Last night I had the coolest baby dream I've had so far in pregnancy. In my sleep she was probably really kicking and moving around, but instead of waking up, I dreamed that when she kicked I could see the outline of her foot... not so much as a foot stretched through my skin (like aliens haha), but more that my belly was transparent, and backlit so I could see the sole of her foot when she pressed it against my belly. Then from there, my whole stomach became lit up like a plug-in, light-up globe, and I could see inside and see her smiling face, her head with sweet soft hair (golden brown/dark blond), and was watching her arms and legs move. All of a sudden, while I'm watching her, Jason is there with me in my dream and he reaches over to feel my belly and instantly he is holding her - outside of my stomach, and she's laying on my chest now, and all I can think to say is, "Watch out for her cord!" while the three of us laugh and smile at each other totally in awe.

It was a pretty magical moment, and super sweet, loving dream staring the lil pumpkin. That being said, she has been kicking and moving extra strongly these past few days. Really wriggling around in there, and dancing all around. Interestingly enough she was fairly quiet during our week with guests, and at our party. I thought for sure I would have plenty of opportunities to grab Pam's hand to have her feel her moves, or at least share her kicks with someone during the party, but perhaps she's a little shy around so many new people and sounds. When Sara and I went to Barton Springs though, after our dip she was really moving and Sara got to feel her on our walk back to the car. Perhaps she was just happy that mama's was happy, had a great party, and refreshing dip in the springs! Finally no stresses in body or mind!

Luckily its Jason's birthday this weekend, because we have so much left over cheesecake, there is no way I can finish it all to myself. So birthday party cake for J! Still not sure what we'll do, but at least I know we'll have something to put his candles in. Speaking of candles, I also ran out of thank yous and need to pick up some more so I can finish writing all of my cards to our awesome, generous, beautiful friends and family. There are also some more classes at the birth center that I want to be sure to sign up for before time runs away from me: cloth diapering, breastfeeding (which they also wrap into a centering session), "new trends" which goes into the Bradley Method, hypno birth, and other relaxation techniques (its a four part class over four weeks), and also their "birth in a nutshell" class that is on a saturday and I'm hoping Jason can go to it with me.

I've been enjoying my nights home from work, after feeding the dogs, taking myself up to Jocelyn's room and reading to her in my belly before Jason gets home from work. All the wonderful books from our shower are really a great literary treat for our girl. I hadn't read Fox in Socks out  loud in years, and I was really having fun with all the tongue twisters. Next up I think its going to be The Cat in the Hat, and probably also One Fish Two Fish. Such classics! I love reading to her. Tonight though, off to Yoga first! Can't wait for that either.

Mellow Monday

Another start to a beautiful week, and another Monday workday under my belt (or rather under my stretchy maternity waistbands). Coming into this new week feeling so much love and happiness from all our fun this weekend, and also a little bit more sleepy than usual. Pam flew back last night, and Sara just left this afternoon after we met up for lunch downtown at Beets. So great to see them, and Kristin and Jody who drove over from Dallas, and of course all of our awesome Austin buddies. I had such a great time this weekend, and am now looking forward to all the adventures that are up just ahead as we sail closer to our due date.

Yesterday Sara and I went to Barton Springs and had a summer vacation experience swimming and soaking in some of the sunshine under some big fluffy Texas clouds. We even got a little bit of a slight shower, and it was nice to have some cooler weather (mid 90s). I love Barton Springs, it has such a refreshing, rejuvenating, and healing feeling. Whenever I swim there I immediately feel better and cleansed. Perfect after party date! We also ran into goddess mama Chenoh on our way out, :) Which was a nice surprise. After swimming we went to sweet ritual (the vegan ice cream parlor), and I didn't get ice cream (in case I had GD, which I don't! yay!), but did have a bite of Sara's vegan salted caramel, and vegan oreo scoops. Sweet Ritual, is the best! I ordered a Kale, Apple, Spinach, Peach juice and ate a mini Kale salad, which were also so delicious. This Jocelyn girl sure loves her Kale! Almost as much as Holden :) After that we were still hungry so went to eat at Bouldin Creek, and brought Jason home some food too.

I feel so relieved about my GD results, I was absolutely sure that I would "fail" *cough* or rather "not pass" and though I do know that if my test "didn't pass" there wouldn't be too much that I would need to be concerned about, I just am happy that I don't have to regularly do the finger prick thing to constantly monitor my blood sugar, and have something to obsess over which I most likely would. Another hurdle cleared.

I'm so looking forward to yoga tomorrow after work, and also to writing all of my thank yous to send out. Here's to a mellow Monday night, and settling back into the groove of our low-key, quiet house hold (aside from the occasional loud puppy play barks).

PASSED!

I passed my 2- hour glucose test!!! I do NOT have gestational diabetes! That left over cheesecake in our fridge from the party better watch out... here I come!

Baby Shower Recap and Photos

Yesterday was so much fun! Honestly, the best day of my pregnancy so far, getting everyone together, to fill our house with such great, fun, loving energy for our Jocelyn girl. It was exactly everything we hoped it would be, and such a great reward after our long work weeks. So grateful for everyone who showed up, and had some fun in honor of our soon to be newest family member. My heart is totally full. And so were our bellies! I realized, that I wasn't able to take photos of all the delicious food we had before we ate it all haha, but here is a recap:

Liz and Scott made/brought (Liz sent me recipes for all of these that I'll share and post soon):

• Deviled Potatoes (like deviled eggs but the vegan version - and OMG they were amazing, all our friends loved them, vegan or not). These were devoured with no possibility of left overs.
• Cucumber bites (really pretty, stacked, with deliciousness)
• (all vegan): Eggsalad, Tuna Salad, Spicy Tuna Salad, and Chicken Salad sandwiches. Thank you guys!! <3

Chenoh made/brought:

• Pesto pasta salad with sun-dried tomatoes and zucchini. So scrumptious, after the party ended Jason finished all of what was left in a big bowl to himself. Haha. Thank you God Mama!

Jody & Eli made/brought:

• Summer fruit salad with peaches, strawberries, blueberries and fresh sweet deliciousness. This was also a real hit with all of the kiddos that were there.
• and Guac!! (and maybe something else, but there was so much food I was distracted) Thank you Jody & Eli!

Jason made:

• Two of his salsas. A red "mild" (or rather medium), and a green, super spicy one that he had me label, "Really F-ing Hot!". He sent the jar (that wasn't poured into the bowl) home with Scott who also enjoys super spicy food. Yay new hot-hot-spicy buddies!

I bought (haha I was lazy and didn't make anything)

• Veggie Platter, with Hummus. Peas, cherry tomatoes, carrots, broccoli (and Liz also brought extra veggies just in case, such a sweetheart!)

I think that's all of the food, aside from the Cheesecake! (I hope I'm not forgetting anyone), there was so much food, and it was all so incredibly delicious. Our next door neighbors, Rima and Ajit also joined us, and since they are leaving for Indonesia tomorrow brought us a bunch of hot peppers from their garden and greens that we will not let go to waste! I also learned that Rima's husband Ajit is vegan, I knew that they were both vegetarian, but I hadn't really talked to him before, aside from the neighborly wave, and it was really great to have them both over and get to know him better too. He said he just finally decided to make the transition to vegan after watching a documentary on the East side a few months back, and its been a really easy transition for him. They are great neighbors, and I'm so happy they joined us, and stayed until the end! Rima said she will bring us back something from Indonesia for the baby, she's so thoughtful, and really such sweet people. Yay vegan block party! :)

Also not pictured, Jason and Pam took on the role of bartenders and made everyone fresh lime margaritas, and they also took over my iced tea duty, and made iced teas too to let me socialize. It was a lot of fun, and I'm so happy and grateful to have such awesome family, friends, and community here in Austin to celebrate with. 

Also we had lots of prizes we gave away to our game winners. Each winner got to pick two items from our goodies basket

Star Sticker Plate - Before the party I put a few star stickers on the bottom of a few random plates. After everyone was finished eating, we asked them to check and see who had stars. Here were our winners:

• Jane, Amanda, Heather (and maybe there was one more winner for this one? I'm forgetting)

Name Match - I took all our guests names and looked up their meanings online. We asked everyone to match as many names to their meanings as they could. Here were the winners:

• Mike & Jane with a combined entry, matched 11 correct

Baby Animals - I took a bunch of animals and looked online to find their baby names (Cat/Kitten, Dog/Puppy etc). We asked everyone to match as many animals with their babies, and some of them were definitely difficult (Platypus/Puggle, Hawk/Eyas, etc.). Three-Way Tie:

• April, Sara P., and Scott all matched 15 correctly

Belly Measurement - We asked everyone to guess in cm or inches how big they thought my belly was. Again we had a three way tie:

• Dave, April, and Scott all guessed correctly - 40"! (a couple folks were super lucky and won twice!)

Beans in a bottle - I filled a pretty glass vintage bottle with blackeyed peas and we had people guess how many.

• Pete was the closest guess at 1200, there were 1139 (and yes, I actually counted them all haha, it was actually a nice after work meditation I did before the party).

Congrats to all our winners! We also had a middle name suggestion bucket, which had some really great ones, and one suggestion that was interestingly enough entered twice by two different folks, that I think Jason and I might choose for her middle name... Definitely some magic happening there! There were also some sweet and funny ones, we enjoyed reading through them together.

We also had some white onesies with fabric pens to decorate. A lot of our guests were a little bit shy about it, but the artsy folks who went for it gave us some really great designs! (baby poop monster butt was a crowd pleaser haha)! The moons on the left onesie, we noticed resembles, "JOC" for Jocelyn... pretty groovy, loving on that.

We also had a bucket for guessing baby's height, weight, and time of day she will be born... Upon her birthday the closest guess will get an amazon gift card! We'll see who wins that prize in a few more months...

Okay, onto the party pics!

Amanda Sydney, and Poppy Olive

Heather, Colleen and Jamie

Mike, Jane and Sara

Ajit, and Rima

Mike, Jane, and Sara

Sara P!

Erica and Matt

Erin, April and Dave

Eli Jody and Jason

Pete and Sydney

Pete, Sydney and Amanda

Miss Jody Lee

Liz and Scott! <3

Heather, Jamie and Colleen

Party Favors up top- Jason was able to track down our mis-delivered Marini's candies at our postoffice, and we were able to include all these beautiful tasty vegan treats with our succulents and tea bag sachets! Success! And so much love and spoiling going on for Jocelyn on the bottom shelves.

Party Decorations - Clothesline full of baby gifts, sent from our family and friends all across the country. Thank you so much for all the love! No matter how far away we are, we feel so loved and connected to all our friends and family, thank you for helping us start our new family

Monica and Poppy!

Rob, Sarah and me

Can't handle it!

First lessons for my lil animal girl

Some magical treasures from the lovely miss Sara P, out here all the way from the bay area. LOVE!!!

Zombie's the best! So chill, and great with all the kiddos! Holden was really great too, though got put into puppy prison (gated off area of our kitchen) a couple times for stealing food off the kids plates. Our dogs are going to be awesome with our new little one.

Beautiful mama Kristin got in this one (hot mama with the floral skirt), just realized we didn't have another pic of her, she was running around being an awesome mama and spoiled us with so many goodies (Like 5 large yard-waste bags FILLED with clothes and baby goodies) brought back from Dallas. I can't wait to go through everything, thank you Kristin! You and miss Jody Lee are two bright shining stars, so happy you are just a drive away... looking forward to getting together more after Jocelyn arrives!

Words cannot express how much I love Monica at this moment 

Baby Gorilla Suit!!! Gearing up for our January Gorilla run, Jocelyn will join us this year!

Necessity! SUESS!

Diaper LOVE!!

Apparently this much excitement for diapers dwindles over time...

OMG, yes.

There are no favorites, but this one is definitely up there.

Roxy was hanging out the whole party, loving the kids, and being in the center of everything. Molly on the other hand, hid from everyone the entire party. Typical haha

Book love! Never enough!

Apparently this is the face I make when I can't handle how cute baby clothes are

Apparently I make this face too, haha OMG that outfit is so freaking cute.

Handsom papa J, Holden, Zombie, and Jody

Zombie regulating Holden to calm down around the baby. <3

Grammy!

Clothesline decorations (Shark Robe!!!)

We are spoiled, thank you so much for all the Jocelyn love, she is already so stylin!

Vegan CHEESECAKE!!!!!

Thanks again for everyone who came over and filled our house with such great energy and joy for our baby! We love you, and Jocelyn can't wait to meet you all! xoxoxo

Cap City Cheesecakes!

Picked up the party cheesecakes (both vegan) and they are GORGEOUS! And now everything is okay in the world. <3 <3 Can't wait for tomorrow. Pics to come...

Tyler January and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

Yesterday was the WORST. I'm generally really excellent with keeping myself grounded, and having an even mood even when surrounded by shitstorms and assholes. The one thing I can't stand the most is negativity, or negative people, and yesterday I was one of them. Which didn't help my mood either. So happy that today I am feeling so much better, LARGELY in part to the fact that I'm not forced to starve myself for the sake of 3 consecutive blood draws. Here's yesterday in bullet points (which actually starts the night before) so I can vent, bless, and release.

• Start fasting at 7pm Wednesday night to prepare for blood draw Thursday morning. 
• Watch my loving family enjoy my favorite pizza and beer while I eat ice cubes and frantically clean house to distract myself from hunger pangs.
• Wake up feeling nauseated from not eating the night before
• Cough back vomit while I brush my teeth, just like all first 4 months of pregnancy
• Drive to birth center, learn that I'm not just getting one blood draw after two hours, but i'm getting THREE blood draws.
• Get first blood draw with my "fasting blood." Pick up disgusting sugar drink that must be consumed in 5 minutes.
• Drink it, and immediately cough back vomit. Can't throw up, then I have to do this all AGAIN. Hope I don't have GD.
• Feeling hungry, spacey, nauseated, and irritable without my coffee or breakfast (or dinner). 
• Feel proud that I remember to bring snacks to centering for the group, and pick up breakfast tacos for everyone (again that I can't eat for another 2 hours)
• Forget my notebook, and ipad in the process- as I've volunteered to be the group's note taker. I'm ALWAYS the prepared one! This pissed me off... no time to go back home.
• Get to birthcenter, and get them to give me a pad of paper for notes. 
• 2nd blood draw. One more hour to eat. Convinced I have GD, and there's nothing I can do about it. Still nauseated. Irritable. Everything is annoying me at this point, trying to breathe, and just be a part of the group. Jocelyn is kicking ALL kinds, which I interpret as her Morris code for FEED ME!
• Listen to our centering discussion which focuses on "FEARS" (great more negativity)... holding onto the fact that at the end of this class we are going to practice some relaxation exercises to try and get me back on a more positive mindframe. 
• 3rd blood draw, and I can eat!!! But I know that if I have to pass ALL THREE tests, there is no way I will pass, convinced I will "Fail," told not to say "fail," but say, "Not Pass," as if that changes the fact. Tacos are cold now, but at least its food.
• Talk about tearing and episiotomies. I ask how many stitches are generally needed (1-2?), and the answer is evaded, so I ask again (so 5-6?) evaded again, and finally the third time (so 10?! I have no idea and just want the answer!) and am told there are two layers of stitches. 4-6, and 4-6. Great, instead of relaxation let's end on a thought about torn and stitched vaginas after birth. hahaha.
• Run out of time at centering, do not do any relaxation exercises. Feeling grumpy. Centering ran over schedule as well, have to rush back home to get to work
• Drive home pour some coffee. Want to socialize with Pam, who is going back to stay with her god daughter that night, and realize I have 3 minutes to eat the boul of muesli I've poured myself, before I have to jump back in the car and drive to work. 
• Work, is well work. Enough said on that front.
• Target pharmacy calls to say Rx for heartgard for dogs is (finally) in, but only for Holden, Zombie's wasn't in the system. Great. Get them to fix that, will pick that up next day.
• Go to pick up the Rx. 
• Go home, feed dogs, and give their meds. 
• Go to H&M to buy a shower dress, and realize the worst place to go when you are cranky (and me) is an annoying major fashion retailer with music that is just a series of annoying bass beats and repetitive mindless shit. Everything also smells like really fake chemical perfume. 
• Try on about 12 "loose" pretty dresses, 2 fit. Buy both, feel like I should have just gone thrifting instead.
• Get back home and start to get stressed about having 30 people over to our house the day after tomorrow. Start trying to clean as much as possible, and end up sweating as much as possible in our 85 degree house. 
• There is just so much to do, and not enough time (or energy) after the work days - I can see why mamas like to have their showers at someone else's house, and have someone else take care of all the planning haha. But I was doing my best and got to these:
• Organized Office best I could, so it at least looks like orderly chaos
• vacuumed in there, and recharged my camera battery
• washed all our sets of guest sheets for our weekend visitors
• Folded and put away laundry
• I fixed our master bath toilet (that Jason couldn't fix, said it kept running). 
• Learn that some of our overnight guests might be arriving Friday rather than Saturday, and get stressed because I won't be home until close to 7 after work and Jason probably not until 8, and then we have plans to hang out with Pam at the movies (which most likely will not be kid friendly). 
• Still feeling grumpy, irritable, and out of whack from the fasting, and nerves about my glucose test results. 
• Try to breathe, and stay light-hearted, and appreciate the last minute RSVPs that I learn about, and feel thankful that I made extra party favors, and that some of my friends are flaky so some might not show so there will be enough cheese cake for everyone. 
• Take one look at my husbands clothes on the floor RIGHT NEXT to his TWO laundry baskets and all my attempts to breathe and relax are again destroyed with my irritability. I don't say anything to him, but huff and puff around the house trying to keep my cool, but its 100 degrees and I'm a sweaty mess. 

HAHA. So... after all that, I finally put myself down into bed, and can't fall asleep until midnight (two hours after i usually fall asleep), because my mind is racing with agitated energy. 

I'm happy to say that today I DO feel so much better, and regardless of barely getting any sleep last night, not fasting makes SUCH  a difference. Not only is it cruel to me and my babes, but for the Husband to have to suffer through my Ty's Mania Devil dance. Such a good sport, even with my attitude he knows just how to say the right lame pun joke to perk me up, and when to keep his mouth closed and just let me have my freak out space. Thank you Jason!

 I am SO happy its FRIDAY and that tomorrow is our party and we can just relax and have FUN finally! Just about everything is done in preparation. I still need to go pick up our cakes on my lunch break today, then, get the heartgard at target that wasn't ready yesterday, bathe the dogs, and mop our floors, and dust (so much zombie hair). Still not sure if our other guests are coming into town tonight or not, or what our plans even are with the movies tonight... Jason seems like maybe that might not happen after all? I have no idea what's going on, haha, but its okay :) I'm letting myself be okay with that. Jason's sis was also sending us some party favors for the shower - some candies, which still haven't arrived, again - i'm just relaxing and breathing, haha, but luckily I made all the other favors, so if they don't make it to our party, it was a nice thought at least, and I'm sure we'll be able to find someone to eat them (since I can't have sugar - and I'm most likely going to die of GD - HAHA ugh GD. I know its not that big of a deal if I have it, just one more thing that I have to try not to worry about). 

Regardless! It's Friday! GD or not, i'm eating my damn cheesecake tomorrow! And I have a super cute party dress! Yoga tomorrow morning will also be my salvation. Trying not to stress about all the clean up I will have to do after the party. Hoping someone will help, but trying to be okay with it if no one does. I also was so excited about all my presents for my guests, that I forgot I will have presents to open! haha Liz, reminded me, so we can schedule that part of the party in there somewhere before the cake. Thank you Liz! So thankful for you and Chenoh's help! I know that I bought all the thrifted dishes for the party so I could donate them afterwards, but maybe what I need to do is smash them afterwards instead. HAHA, that sounds really satisfying. If I had a gun, maybe shoot them. HAHA (how Texas is THAT). Okay, maybe not all of them, that sounds wasteful, but maybe just a few. 

Today is a better day! Can't wait for party time tomorrow, relax and chill and live it up with a bunch of buddies! YES!

Refreshed

Its amazing the wonders that yoga can do for a pregnant body! I was feeling pretty drained and cranky after work yesterday, and though I could have used another full hour on top of the regular hour class, my stresses and body aches just melted right off my body in there. Kind of embarrassing, haha but since I've started to experience acid re-flux/heart burn lately, with my stomach now pushed so far up inside my belly, when I was in child's pose the back of my throat kept making these gurgling sounds when I would take deep breaths through my nose. Haha, it was probably louder to me than anyone else (right?), but sounded like a large frog was doing his practice with me on my yoga mat, as I tried to ignore my self consciousness and just move through motions to release and let go without inhibitions (ribbbbbbit!).

I also had a funny (less embarrassing) moment last night during an open balancing twist, not sure what its called but it was out of the pigeon pose, with my left foot on the ground with bent knee, and right leg on the floor straight back behind me (top of foot on the ground), left hand on the floor inside my left foot, and right hand outstretched, twisting my gaze and upper body up to the sky. What's usually such an easy balance for me, was so wobbly with my big belly and changed center of gravity, that Cat even said to the class while looking and smiling at an extra wobbly me, "What may be an easy balance for you most of the time, can really be thrown off and more difficult in pregnancy with your shifting center of gravity," I started giggling and tried my best to push against my hand and foot on the ground and figure out my new (constantly changing) center of gravity with the extra weight of my baby in front of me. Glad we didn't have to hold that one too long, it must have really looked funny seeing me try to keep a straight posture in that pose. Haha

I will say that since I've gotten over my nausea (for the most part) and have been going regularly to classes since beginning of June, I already feel a lot stronger and more lengthening and stretching in my muscles. Muscle memory from dance is amazing too, though I'm not quite at the dancer's flexibility that I was in my teens- in just a few short months of regular practice, a lot of my flexibility and strength is returning pretty quickly. It feels great, helping prepare for the hard work of labor ahead! And with working through my past two lunch breaks to make up my time I'll be out for centering, and my overtime hours from last week, I can now go back to my usual schedule, today and Friday and take an hour lunch break! Wa-hoo! So the rest of this week should be a lot less stressful on me. Tonight I do have to fast though, ugh, which should be interesting, haha with my nausea, I hope I don't throw up during centering with an empty stomach, then filled with nothing but sugar water- exorcist style haha. Its okay, it will be what it will be, and hopefully (I won't throw up into our circle haha), hopefully I'll have a good second reading (thankfully not the 3 hour test that I've been told about! just 2 hours- I can do it!).

And I know its early, but over the weekend, I hung up the baby shower decorations - a clothesline in our living room with clothes-pinned baby clothes and gifts so I would have one less thing to remember and worry about during the week after work before this weekend. Having everything all lined up across our ceiling makes me so happy and giddy when I get home, all those tiny lil clothes! so so cute, and a few more have arrived, that I'll need to hang up there too, maybe set up a second line for guests to hang their gifts when they bring them. Jason also bought the biodegradable "silver"ware for the party, so that's crossed off our list. Thanks papa J! All the thrifted dishware is all washed and ready for the party, and all tea-sachets are complete! I think i'll have people write their names on the blank tea-tags when they get there, to claim which one they want. And the only other thing I'm waiting on now, is the candies from Jason's sister for the favors, and the cheesecakes (vegan of course) to be ready to be picked up on Friday. Going to clean house a little more each night after work, and tonight I think since i'm fasting, while Jason does dinner I'll head out to buy a baby shower party dress. All my previously non-pregnant loose dresses are already getting snug on me. And while I'm out, I'll also pick up some chocolate bars for the goodies basket too.

I realize that having something like the baby shower to focus my energy into has given me something productive to put my mind into, that's not work, and helps me to not totally freak out about the fact that we're having a BABY (I can say this a thousand times, and its still just starting to really sink in and become more and more real). Considering we've already set up Jocelyn's room, and Jason and I've put away all her clothes, changing table and rocking chair assembled, he did the floors (so not much else to do for her room), I'm not sure what else will take all my "nesting" energy and focus in the next couple months to come. Considering we've had an annual pumpkin carving contest at our house every year for the last several years before Halloween, I mentioned to Jason that I would really like to keep that going, even this year (depending on when she actually arrives). I might just have to plan a "Meet our Baby!" Pumpkin party this year, which sounds like a lot of fun now, but like Jason said... maybe I should wait and see how I feel. I think it would be a lot of fun, even if I'm out of it (zombies are our other favorite and fitting for the season haha if I'm not sleeping and a total post-baby wreck), and my mom will be here in Austin from mid Oct to Halloween, so I think I could handle the company, and if need be my mom could help be the party hostess if I needed some privacy. Really though, I guess its up to Jocelyn, if I think she would be up to it, and we won't really know until we meet her. I figure too, if people want to meet the baby, might as well throw a party all at once? rather than have a long string of individual visitors when I'm trying to nap/etc and figure out the whole, now I'm a mom thing.

Gosh, I'm such a planner, I need to just breathe, and haha not get too ahead of myself. I think planning though is sometimes my zen. Especially knowing that when it comes to her actual birth, and being a new parent, that I will NOT be able to plan anything (for the most part), haha its up to nature, and I'm okay with that. But its in my nature to want to be in control, so Halloween Pumpkin Party for our lil pumpkin, I think will be my next mind focus to keep me from freaking out too much before she's born. Its either that or more work on our house - though at this point there's not much else to do besides fix part of the roof on our addition.  Haha, and I don't think Jason is going to be okay with his pregnant wife doing roof work in 100+ degree heat. Haha. First things first though, this weekend is going to rule!

Memory Games

Throughout the day I give myself small memory games, usually sequences of numbers that I have to memorize, and then try to remember several hours later or sometimes the next morning. I've gotten a lot better at it, and think that it helps increase my overall memory skills. Whether or not that's true, with my overactive mind, its at least a fun game I challenge myself with.

And I'm saying this at all, because I have SO MUCH to remember this week. I'm probably already forgetting something. 5587903

• Call pharmacy to see when Dog's heartgard Rx is ready, if not ready this week, go to vet's and pick some up from them
• Fast on Wednesday night - blood draw early Thursday, remember no food Wednesday after work!
• Which leads to remembering to go to the birth center at 8:30 Thursday to get said blood draw.
• Buy snacks for our centering meeting (this week is my turn)
• Pick up baby shower cheesecakes on Friday
• and also do at least one small thing each night after work to clean house in preparation for our party this weekend.

I'm feeling a bit more tired than usual, especially now, during my long week at work, to make up for the lost time at my appointment. At least this week I'm not ALSO making up time for leaving for Jury Duty, so only a few 10 hour days with no break, rather than 4. I don't mind my usual 10 hour days, but having a break in there somewhere makes it so much easier to get through. It's all good though, i'm grateful for my job!

And so incredibly grateful for Yoga on Tuesday Nights! Its my absolute savior during the long work weeks, and with my body getting more and more uncomfortable, yoga is my favorite. I feel sort of bad for going tonight, since we have a house guest visiting from California, (so, so, SO, stoked Grandma Pam is here, and that we can spend more time with her), and with Jason's long hours he won't be home until later as well, but I will be much more fun to be around after yoga - for everyone haha, including me - in my body. I have to take  extra special care of my body, especially right now, so I hope everyone understands. I guess I'm already starting to be a mama, Jocelyn comes first!

5587903.

Shower Power!

As usual I was awake and rearing to go at 7:30. I love my mornings since I have them all to myself, and in just a few months I'm sure I will love them for sharing with my baby, but for now I'm cherishing my mornings as my time. I posted all of the notes I took from my last centering session to our birthing forum for the other mama that couldn't make it last time, and also in full, true, nerd spirit I've volunteered to take and post notes at all our sessions so we can all discuss anything else we think of after our bi-weekly meetings. NERD love!!

Today Jason and I are picking up Jocelyn's changing table with drawers so I can start putting away all of her clothes that she already has (feeling so grateful). We're going to clean out her room and also put our Areo bed in there for our guests, and change the sheets in our guest room for our visits coming up soon! I also need to go through all of the clothes that I want to hang for our shower decorations on a clothes line in our living room. Holding up all of these cute sweet clothes makes me go into cute overload, I can just picture her in them, and my whole body shakes with squeaks of excitement. OMG. BABY!!! I'm ridiculously out of control, especially tiny socks. I didn't think I would be so totally, well, "squeaky" with all of these baby things, but I can't control myself, they are just (high pitched voice) TOO MUCH! *EEEEP!* Love!

Okay. Well, I wanted to restrain myself from posting what I've been working on for the shower, but this morning I thought, I'm too excited not to share my party favor creations. For my guests, there will still be plenty of other fun surprises, so if any of them are reading, I don't feel like I'm spoiling anything. I'm just so excited to give these presents out to everyone who attends!

Here are the spoils I picked up thrifting with god mama Chenoh and Liz, tons of party plates (to donate back after we use them for our guests), and tons of mugs and cups that yesterday Jason and I bought a bunch of lil succulents to fill them with and give to our guests as favors (I still need to scrub off the grease-pencil prices on some of the thrifted cups).

I am almost finished making all of the tea-bag shaped, organic lavender sachets to give each of our guests with their tea cup succulent (except my sewing machine jammed so I have to fix that to finish the last bunch of dog-eared edges). The fabric for these was also thrifted, and I think they came out really cute for my first attempt (at making them, and learning how my sewing machine works). Instructions for how I made them at the bottom.

Here's our goodies basket with prizes for our game winners to choose from, some good ones! I think I might still pick up a few chocolate bars to add in here too. Those crocheted things are hand-made finger puppets from Peru - an elephant, lamb, zebra, and monkey (from my work), and then there are a bunch of funny magnets (to the right), and a few small handmade coin purses (to the left), Hand fans, and air-plane sized bottles of booze, the clear ones are local tequila and the glass bottle is shaped like Texas. We also have a bunch of plastic halloween rings to give everyone haha since she'll be a halloween baby (again wish I thought of the goth/halloween in July themed party earlier! haha that would have been fun).

And of course my lovable helpers (if only for moral support)... and as usual Molly our black cat is being shy so she's not pictured. And the last one of me and my belly with our messy dining room table filled with baby and baby shower stuff (spot a Houdini nose top left? haha).

Now I'm going to write the next batch of thank yous, and make our photo booth props (bows, glasses, mustaches (and its hard to see but I'm wearing a tiara in the pic above for the photobooth as well). I was thinking about making some construction paper garlands for the photo booth too, which might be cute, we'll see. I also need to make our signs for our middle name suggestion mini tin bucket, and our birth time/weight/height mini tin bucket. The closest guess for her birth weight/time/height wins an Amazon gift card at her birth! Also I'm going to fill a pretty vintage bottle I thrifted with candies for a guessing game of how many beans. We have a bunch of other games lined up too, that should be a lot of fun, but I'll wait to post those after our shower to not spoil the games for anyone.

One more week, so excited! I also want to congratulate my cousin Aj and his new bride (as of yesterday) Megan! Congratulations you two love birds! I was thinking of you, and am sure that your wedding was as beautiful as it could possibly be, there is no place like home in Mendocino, especially when it comes to weddings. Love back home to all the family, looking forward to seeing you in the months to come after Jocelyn arrives! xoxo

How to make Tea-bag Sachets:

Supplies:

• fabric
• twine
• tea bag tags (I used wooden ones)
• sewing machine
• filling (I used organic lavender, I think cedar chips would be nice too)
• Stitch Witchery (or other iron-adhering tape)
• Iron & Ironing Board
• Damp washcloth
• Patience
• Cardboard
• Charcoal pencil (or pen)
• Scissors

How to:

1. Measure a piece of cardboard into a rectangle of how big you want your tea bags to be as a pattern for tracing your fabric pieces. (Remember the fabric will be folded in half, and leave room on edges for stitching).
2. Trace around cardboard onto fabric for as many sachets as you want to make (I made 35). Cut along lines and remember they don't have to be perfect.
3. Iron all fabric pieces with the backside of the fabric facing the iron.
4. Fold rectangles in half, with the backside of the fabric facing out.
5. Stitch up along the two edges leaving the top open to fill. I started the sewing machine at the top where the two folded edges met, so I would get a clean line down and finished off the bottom. This way if there is some unstitched sections at the top its okay, you are going to close that after filling it.
6. Fold all of the pockets inside out, to show the fabric pattern now facing out
7. Fill each pocket with lavender (or other filling). I used 3 large spoonfuls, fill however much you want. I also bought a 1lb bag of filling for 35 sachets, and my pouches are roughly 3 x 3 inches. I still have a little bit of filling leftover.
8. Cut pieces of twine to desired length of tea string. Cut one, and use as a guide for cutting other pieces. 
9. Tie one end to your tea tag (I bought small wooden gift tag labels on amazon - 50 pieces for $5), and put a small knot in the other end of the twine (to help secure it in the tea bag when you sew it in).
10. Cut lengths of stitch witchery tape so that each piece will fit along the inside of the top of the tea bag to seal together (you might be able to skip this step, but I did it to be sure that everything was secure - I also didn't just cut the length across, but I cut enough to wrap around the whole inner edge all the way around for extra strengthening. 
11. Fold down each of the tops of the tea bags to give a finished edge (it was easier to do steps 8, 9, 10, and 11 on their own for me, but you could do these as you go for each tea bag, depends how many you are making and what you prefer). 
12. Take one tea bag, and wrap a piece of cut Stitch Witchery around the inside of the folded top seam. Take one twine/tea tag and put the knotted end down into the sachet, so the knot is below the stitch witchery tape (this part was a little tricky and took a little patience to line up just right)
13. Once in place, lay flat on ironing board, and place the edge of a damp washcloth over just the top seam (with the tea tag out of the iron's way) and press the iron on a steam setting on the first side and hold for 5-10 seconds. Carefully pull back washcloth (it will be very hot), flip the tea bag and replace the washcloth and hold the iron on the other side for another 5-10 seconds. 
14. Remove the washcloth and carefully check that the stitch witchery stuck together to bond the top seam (it will be very hot). 
15. Set aside to dry and cure (takes a couple minutes). If any did not stick, follow steps 13 and 14 again until they adhere.
16. Once all tea bags are sealed on the top with tea tags, take back to your sewing machine. Fold down each of the top corners and line up to sew down and secure. I sewed back and forth to give two passes of stitches to hold the corners down (and make extra sure the twine was secure)
    ** You can probably skip this last step if you want - They actually look pretty cute as squares, and seemed pretty secure - but I thought they were cuter with the folded down corners, and the extra stitches add more strength. **

And that's it! I was also thinking of decorating the tea tags, by painting/drawing/coloring something on them (a heart, a J, a T&J etc), but I like them left blank as well and think everyone will enjoy them more that way, rather than branding them for our baby with our names etc. I also want people to pick their own cups, so didn't want to write people's names on them. It does take some time, and some patience, but I think they are super cute, and something that your guests are MEANT to just throw in a drawer and forget about, haha so even if they turn out looking kinda funky they will still do their job and be a sweet gift :)