Tuesday, June 30, 2015

Surprise Work Baby Shower

I've been wanting to post about the surprise work baby shower but I couldn't remember to take the pictures off the server.  I did that last week so now I can post!  

I thought it was just our close development team going to lunch this particular Monday to celebrate the baby but in reality, the whole office had gotten together and thrown me the sweetest shower in our conference room!

Yes, I was surprised!  And embarrassed!  And touched that they did this for me!

A diaper cake that is a boat!  One of the girls is super talented and made this.  It is truly amazing and I will never take it apart even though she told me I have to when the baby wears size 3 diapers ha!

Those little people work on the boat in the below pic and they are made out of washcloths and socks.  Too cute right?!


The detail!

Crab cookies!  I loved the whole nautical theme!

They were all too thoughtful!  


Two party planners...thank you girls!!!  I feel funny putting the other work people on my blog but I know these two don't care! ;)

The cards were all so sweet and all the gifts were adorable.  Most of the office went in on a huge Target gift card that is SO nice to have for necessities!

My work family is the very best and I cannot thank them enough for doing this special shower for me.  It really meant the world to Kevin and I both!

Monday, June 29, 2015

Another Hospital Escapade and Gigi's First Birthday

Hope you all had a nice weekend!  Our Friday afternoon didn't go as planned...to put it simply, I went to my regular 39 week doctor's appointment and the baby's heartbeat wasn't as high as they liked.  They monitored me there for awhile and it didn't change.  I had an ultrasound and they didn't see he/she breathing so they sent me over to the hospital for further monitoring.  Kevin met me there and for a couple hours I laid there with the monitoring machines on.  I wasn't dilated at all and there were no contractions, just simply monitoring the baby's heartbeat.  After a couple peanut butter crackers, the baby decided to wake up and was perfectly fine.  A bag of fluid and then we went home.  Whew.  They want to see me bright and early this morning to be sure things are still well.  I don't mind the extra monitoring, especially at this point!  Better safe than sorry!

Saturday was a very lazy day.  I spent some time brushing Mills.  I brush him almost every week and still this amount comes out of him.  I love the Furminator!
 

All brushed!

We didn't really do anything all day until mid afternoon when we went down to Kevin's parents house to check on his Dad who had eye surgery on Thursday.  We stayed there for awhile then went out to dinner at Kabuto, one of our favorite places.  Could be our last date outing before we are a fam of 3!  After the torrential rain, we headed to Target and Teeter for our weekly errands then home to hit the bed early.  

 Yesterday morning this puppy was dead tired.  He knows the difference in Saturday and Sunday versus the work days.  He expects to be able to sleep in on the weekend!  Lazy bones.

And then will stretch trying to wake himself up.  Seriously!  He's part human!

 After a quick trip to the farmer's market I came home to get ready for a special little girl's birthday party!  

It was Gigi's First Birthday!

Lilly themed of course!


It was the perfect day for the party and it wasn't too hot!  Aren't these kiddos the cutest?!

Swooning over the birthday girl!


Cannot believe she is already one!!!  Well, she will be on July 5th!  Time flew by!


 Kevin gave Camille a high five to give to her daddy! 

It was the sweetest party for sweet Gigi!

My brother sent me this picture of his buddies on the boat.   

Hope you all have a good week!

Friday, June 26, 2015

Five on Friday - Mills and his cousins, 4th outfit and Rug

No time today but here are a few things...

1.  Mills Facetimed with his crazy golden cousins yesterday.  It was so cute!

2.  Then my SIL and I got talking about how all three puppies looked when they were 12 weeks old.  Above is Gill at 12 weeks.  This is Mills at 12 weeks.

And this was Fin at 12 weeks.  Gill and Fin are from the same breeder and you can tell.  They are both taller.  Mills is stocky and husky.  Ha!

3.  Mills out back holding a tennis ball.  He heard his friends outside playing last night and wanted to go over there. ;)

4.  My friend Anni is making these adorable fourth of july outfits!


5.  I ordered this rug for our bathroom and it came in yesterday.  I don't know how much I love it but for $33, I can find a place for it somewhere in our house.  I love Dash and Albert rugs!


Happy Weekend friends!


Thursday, June 25, 2015

Week 39 Pregnancy Journal

Thank you all for your feedback on the cars!  I know cars are like a lot of things - people have opinions on what works best for them and their family so I appreciate all of the information!  I may be the pickiest car person alive....my last four cars have all been the exact same - color and all!  Hey, when you like what you like, why change?!  But this time, it's for obvious reasons - baby, pooch and many road trips in our future!  Okay on to more important things...


How far along?  39 weeks, due July 3.  THIRTY NINE WEEKS PREGNANT, HOLY MOLEY!!!!!!!!!!!

Size of Baby:  Probably around 6.5 pounds at this point?  I have no idea.

Gender: Kevin says Boy.  I say I don't know.  

Weight Gain: None but for the record, I feel huge this week. 

Maternity Clothes: Getting by.  My shirts are definitely getting too short.  Now that I'm only working in the office three days a week, I only really need to look presentable for those three days.  The rest of the time I wear workout clothes or shorts with a tee.

Nursery:  I went on Tuesday and got more fabric so the ottoman can be recovered.  Hopefully my guy Marty will be able to work it in before October. 

Movement: Yes but you can tell he/she has run out of room.  The movements are big!


Symptoms:  I feel like an old woman.  Rolling over in bed is an act of congress and I literally roll right out when I get up.  Our bed is pretty high up so that's been kinda funny!  Don't feel too badly for me though, I can still pretty much operate like I used to be able to.  Lisa and I walked twice this past week and for a few miles at our usual fast pace.  I hope to keep this up until THE day.

Sleep: Still up a couple times a night for the bathroom.  I do go right back to sleep though.  Thank you Benedryl.

Cravings:  Everything I can't have.  I have a list of foods and drinks I will have after the baby is here!


What I Miss:  Being able to plan my life.  Basically we are in limbo from now until July 10th which is when they said they will induce.  We are tentative for everything ha!  People understand though.  

Best Moment This Week:  Last Saturday when Kevin and I went and tooled around looking at neighborhoods, stopping by breweries or restaurants and doing whatever we wanted to do.  Not much longer til it's not only us anymore. 

Looking Forward to:  Whenever the big event occurs.  We're ready (I think!)!  It's scary but we're excited.  And I'm excited for my parents to get here.  That may make it seem more real!  I know, after 39 weeks, you'd think I would realize it's real...but it sometimes still does feel like a dream!

Wednesday, June 24, 2015

Mom/Dad Car

Well, it's that time.  We need to probably get a new car pretty soon.  A Mom/Dad car.  We aren't sure who is trading their car in and who will drive the new one so that's why we say a mom/dad car.   I got my new car right before I got pregnant and Kevin got his earlier last year too so we're working with two sedans and we'll probably end up getting rid of mine.  Makes more sense financially we think.

Whatever we get will more than likely be black with tan or gray interior.  And I'm not a minivan Mom.  More power to you girls that are (I hear they're fabulous) but that isn't me or us.

Let me know if any of you guys have these and how they are for kids, dogs, driving etc.  We've pretty much driven them all but of course will go do test drives once we narrow down to a couple.  I know I love Tahoes and Yukons as that is what I usually rent when I'm on work trips.

Here are some of our top choices and Kevin has been on the hunt for a good deal.

Tahoe LTZ
Kevin's top choice is the Range Rover.  Not necessarily for practicality but because he LOVES them.

Yukon minus the rims below.

Toyota Sequoia.  These run in our family and everyone loves them.  They last forever.

Land Rover.  A bit cheaper option compared to the Range Rover and we both really like it.

As you can see, we're all over the place.  I'm sure we'll get what's right when the time comes in the next month or two.  For now, we can certainly survive with what we've got!

(All images are from Google)

Tuesday, June 23, 2015

Gestational Diabetes - A Day in the Life

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO MY PARENTS!  42 years never looked so good!  And they were high school sweethearts...awwwww...awww!!!


My friend Hey Hawleywood did a post about her day in the life of gestational diabetes and while I never thought I'd have to read it again after she posted it, it was my go-to post to read the second I found out I had gestational diabetes.  She helped me get through those first couple of weeks and I'm so thankful...I sent her a gazillion questions and she replied with the sweetest emails and lots of answers.  And that's when I realized my world was not going to end and that this was just a temporary problem.  Kevin also put it into perspective for me.  I'm happy to be married to the voice of reason!


First, I don't think a lot of people understand the ins and outs gestational diabetes.  Here are a few things you may not know:
1.  They test you between 24-28 weeks pregnant.  If you fail the one hour test, they make you do the three hour test (it's all about how your body reacts to the sugar).  Mom was in Charlotte and sat with me the whole time I did that three hour test.  Basically you drink the same amount as you did the first time but it has double the sugar.  They test your blood before you drink then each hour for three times after you drink the drink.  And I'll be honest - the drink is not that bad.  I had lemon lime the first time and orange the second.  The drink is minor in the grand scheme, trust me!

2.  You can't control whether or not you pass the test.  Yeah you can not eat carbs the whole day before your test but there is a hormone that is in your body that you cannot change.  And to be honest, you need to know if you have the gest diabetes for the health of your baby so don't fudge the test.

3.  The diet and how you deal with it is different from regular diabetes.

4.  You can control it by the way you eat and not have to take insulin.  You can take the two diabetes pill medicines but they aren't FDA approved for pregnant women so that leaves insulin.

5.  The whole gestational diabetes diet is centered around counting carbs.  Basically they want you to have carbs but limited and in conjunction with high protein.

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So here is a day in the life for me...

6am - wake up and take Mills out.  Prick myself to test my fasting blood sugar and hope for 60-90 (I have been between 84-92 usually).  This has been the hardest one for me because it's not exactly about what you ate - it's about how much of that hormone is in your body (it peaks from 4-8am), how well you slept, how much stress you have, how long you fasted for.  Basically this is not a consistent number so I've really battled with this number.  Thankfully I've been able to keep it in check.  But this number has driven my engineering mind nuts because it's not concrete.  I can eat the same thing the night before, sleep the same amount of time and my number is different from one morning to the next.

6:30am - eat something for breakfast - you only get 15g of carbs for breakfast.  I've been living off the 9g carb yogurts lately and then I'll add nuts for protein.  I also ate breakfast tacos on a 6" whole wheat wrap (egg, avocado, sausage and sout cream).  An omelet is a good option if you're forced to out for breakfast.  When I was traveling, I'd get the egg and cheese mcmuffin from McDonalds and only eat half the muffin with the egg and cheese.  Breakfast has been the hardest meal for me because I have not been into eggs while pregnant and if you knew how obsessed with eggs I was before that, you wouldn't believe this ha!  I've also gotten into the habit of having a little chocolate milk.  The Tru Moo kind works with the amount of carbs versus protein so I have to get this at Target or Trader Joes. 

7:30am - test my blood sugar and hope for between 90-120!  I'm usually fine on this.

9:30am - must eat a high protein snack - I got a lot of different bars from Target that are high protein and low carb.  Must be less than 15g carbs.  I also eat nuts or three peanut butter crackers.

Noon - lunch.  Lunch is also hard because you can't eat lunch meat while pregnant.  You can't eat a sandwich because usually it's too many carbs.  My go-to lunch has been chicken salad, kale salad and tomato salad.  It's a meat and two option from Harris Teeter for $6.  The chicken salad has bits of apples which gives me some carb.  Technically I should probably have some crackers with this to meet my carb amount.

1pm - test blood sugar.

2:30pm - feeding time again.  I have never eaten so many times in my life til this diet.  I felt the feeling of hunger for the first time last week, ha!  This time I'll have a small apple with peanut butter or a small fruit cup.  You can have fruit in the afternoon snack times.  String cheese is also good.  I was really limited when I was traveling and basically only ate bars and peanut butter crackers.  Now I can bring stuff to my office and put it in the fridge.

4:30pm - eat again if I remember.  I'll just do a scoop of peanut butter or 10 scoops depending on the day. Haha!  I have been eating peanut butter by the gallon trying to gain weight...something I've never had to do in my life!

6:30/7pm - dinner.  Low carb but still have carbs.  Taco salads have been good...I'll add a couple whole wheat chips.  If you have a low carb meal then I sometimes add a glass of milk to get some carbs.  

7:30/8pm - test blood sugar

9/10pm - go to bed but first, have a bedtime snack which always makes me feel like I'm being bad!  I have some greek yogurt popsicles that Maran told me about or the snickers ice cream bar is what the dietitian told me to have.  Baffling, I know!  Or a glass of milk.  This basically holds you over until you wake up so you want to be sure it has protein in it.  They say they don't want you to fast for more than 6-8 hours.  This is tough because I want to sleep more than 8 hours, especially on the weekend.  Eh I'm getting by.

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So the day time numbers are pretty easy to deal with because it's all in what you eat.  I'm disciplined enough that I can change what I eat so I make the numbers and the baby stays healthy.  They say that 70% of ladies that are diagnosed with gestational diabetes end up having to go on some insulin.  I've been INCREDIBLY thankful that I haven't had to do that.  When you go on insulin, that's when you have to worry about the baby getting big quickly and they end up possibly inducing labor early. 

I don't wish gestational diabetes on anyone but I will say after the last 8.5 weeks of dealing with it - it's manageable!  As long as you follow the diet and do what you're supposed to do, you and the baby will be perfectly healthy.  It's not the end of the world!

Long post, I know but this is my diary and I may need this post again for round two! ;)


Monday, June 22, 2015

Meal Planning Monday and Weekend

It's been a couple of weeks since I actually planned out decent meals.  We always plan what we will have that week on Sunday mornings before I go to the store but the last couple of weeks were blah.  Honestly at this point, we are just trying to get by until our world changes.  But here is our week in meals:

Monday - BLT Chopped Salad 
Tuesday - Meatballs with something - not sure yet
Friday night - we usually go out for pizza - something Kevin and I both did growing up!


On Friday night we had some friends over for an completely impromptu happy hour!  And Mills had his pool out trying to stay cool and a special lil girl had a big time in it!  The two of them were adorable together!  She giggled and giggled and giggled!

This boy got super muddy but I knew he was getting a bath this weekend so I didn't care too much.

Got this picture of my two nieces and cousin's girl who I also say is my niece!  Love these three girls!

Saturday I didn't change out of my pajamas until about 2pm.  LAZY but necessary.  Mills and I played then Kevin came home and decided he wanted to go bop around and check out some places we hadn't been in awhile.  

We went to look at a new condo he may end up getting as an investment, then checked on a couple rental houses we have.  Next stop was Heist Brewery for beer cheese and a sampler of beer.  Delish...well the cheese was! ;)  Kevin loved it and if this was what he wanted to do for his almost Father's Day then I was perfectly fine with that!

Then we stopped at Benny Pennello's for a slice of pizza because we had heard such great things about it.  I'm blog friends with the owner's wife and we just had to stop by!  

And we ended the night at Mac's and driving a couple more neighborhoods before heading home with big to go boxes, ha!  We had fun together and that may be the last time we get to do that for awhile.  It was our kind of day.

Sunday - Mr. Mills got a bath!

And we celebrated Kevin's Mom and brother birthdays and Father's Day with dinner at Mickey and Mooch!  Look at sweet Kendall!  She is Kevin's brother and SIL's lil girl.  By the way, Kendall thinks we are having a girl!

I'm so upset I didn't think to get a picture of the whole gang.  We all came back to our house to open gifts and have cake!  

Here's to Monday and the start of a new week!

Sunday, June 21, 2015

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to my favorite Dad in the world. He truly knows everything about everything and is the best role model!  We love you!

And Kev you're the best Daddy to our buddy!  Can't wait to see you in action with our other child any day!!! xoxox


Friday, June 19, 2015

Five on Friday

TGIF!

1.  This week I went to our neighborhood swim meet for a little bit.  I like going each year to see my friend's kids swim!  They are all so adorable and remind me of the olden days of being on swim team!  

2.  These yogurts have been the best.  They have under 10g of carbs which works out perfectly for my gest diabetes.  I add sliced almonds to it and it's the perfect breakfast.  They have all kinds of flavors including boston creme pie!

3.  My friend Lisa and I met at 5:40 one morning this week and walked for 2.5 miles.  It felt good to be back for an early morning.  We walked very quickly and chatted chatted chatted!

4.  Just waiting...and waiting....2 or 3 more weeks (max)!  He's excited about his new brother or sister!  He really has been super cute about it...he stops in that room almost every time he passes by now.  Since he is part human, I think he knows what's about to happen! ;)  Or at least I like to think so!

5.  We have a low key weekend ahead.  Pretty much every weekend since we've been grounded in Charlotte has been pretty chill.  And honestly, at this point, I need things to be that way.  I have been working from home two days a week which has been REALLY nice.  I'm thankful for my work people for being so understanding and flexible with me.

Hope you guys have a great weekend!