A Surgeon's Life? Not for Us...No Thank You.

Evan has really had a rough past few weeks.  His schedule is daunting and exhausting.  I don't know how he does it.  Last week, he woke up at 4:45 every morning from Monday - Friday.  He, naturally, gets to sleep in on Saturday right?  WRONG.  On Saturday, he was already at the hospital at 5:30 that morning and did not come home until 11 on Sunday morning.  He was beyond tired.  I felt so bad for him.  He told me to wake him up at 2.  I woke him up at 3.  We laid in bed until around 3:30.  And before we knew it, his "weekend" was over when he went to bed at 9:30 last night.  He was at the hospital around 6:30 this morning.  He's already on call again tomorrow, which means he'll get in at 6:30 and won't come home until Wednesday.  I feel so bad for him.  What makes matters even worse is that my schedule isn't 'spend time with him' friendly.  He'll probably wake up around 2:30 on Wednesday, but I probably won't come home until 6 because I'll be working at the law office. 

Evan had a semi mid-life career crisis a few weeks ago when he started surgery and realized he didn't like it.  Surgery was originally going to be his back-up for Urology.  I have to admit that when he said he didn't like surgery, I was rather disappointed.  I thought he would be great as a general surgeon.  Plus, it's kinda hot: "yeah, my husband's a surgeon!"  Actually, it was more than that.  I find it VERY attractive that my significant other has such high career goals for himself.  I find it VERY attractive that my significant other is so intelligent.  My Dad always says you should be with somebody that you respect and for me, intelligence is a big factor in respect.  Evan's a trillion times smarter than I am.  He doesn't think so, but that's why we work!  He says that my ability to focus and do so well with my career has always been very appealing to him.  Sure, I could have said "I'm marrying a doctor, I don't care what I do with my life because he'll support me."  But honestly, that was NEVER an option for me.  At the end of the day, I wanted to be proud of myself, and most importantly, I wanted my husband to be proud of who I was.

After these first four weeks of surgery, I am incredibly glad Evan didn't like surgery.  I'm entirely convinced that if somebody decides to become a surgeon, they must not like their spouse that much!!  What you'd basically be saying is, my career is #1 to me.  Not my family.  While Evan and I are both very career oriented, we come first in each others lives.  That's the way it should be.  That's the way it has to be.

If Evan does get in to Urology here in Lubbock, he will have to do general surgery for a year (it's his first year of residency).  That year will suck.  It'll be just like these past 4 weeks, but worse, because he'll actually be DOING the surgeries.  But, it'll only be the first year.  After that, he'll do Urology.  His hours will get somewhat better and he gets to take call from home!  That sounds MUCH better.  If Evan doesn't get Urology, he has decided to do OB/Gyn (he wants to do a Uro-Gyn fellowship afterwards).  Again, those hours aren't great, but they have a better schedule set up for their residents and the hours aren't quite the same.  When he was on OB, he occasionally got to sleep when he slept over night.  Also, he wasn't GO GO GO the entire time. 

He only has 3 weeks left, which means I only have 3 weeks left...then I get my husband back!  We haven't woken up together in so long.  This Saturday, we'll finally get a morning to wake up together.  Our Saturday ritual is waking up whenever we feel like it, and then turning on some stupid TV show for 30 minutes while we cuddle and occasionally fall back asleep.  It's amazing.  We can't wait...HGTV, here we come.

28 Week Survey

How far along? 28 weeks, 5 days

                                                   
Maternity clothes? The only non-maternity stuff I wear these days are Evan's t-shirts to sleep and pajama pants that I think I'll be able to wear until I deliver.  The pants with elastic are feeling snug sometimes, but the ones with only a drawstring can get huge, so they're nice and comfy.

Stretch marks? Still none!  Woo hoo!  I weighed myself yesterday and my weight gain finally started getting normal.  I haven't gained 20 pounds yet, but I think that will happen pretty soon.

Sleep:  My sleep varies every evening, but in general, I did pretty well this week.  My back hurts a couple times a week, especially around 4 in the morning.  Also, I never sleep very deeply because the baby moves so much.  BUT, those movements are so welcome.  I don't think I'll ever get tired of feeling our daughter move. 

Best moment this week:  I worked A LOT this week.  I was at the office all the time and it felt so good to work and feel really productive without constantly thinking about the pregnancy.  I'm really big on still being me through the pregnancy and after the baby comes along, so it was nice feeling proud of my work at the end of the day.

Movement: OH YES!  When we were at the doctor's this week, she said I was measuring small (this doesn't mean my belly is small, this means the uterus wasn't measuring as high).  This happens sometimes when the abdominal muscles of the Mommy were pretty fit before pregnancy, and I was actually in really good shape before I got pregnant, so this didn't surprise me too much.  Anyway, she wanted to do a fetal monitor test to make sure everything was fine and they were quickly convinced that I didn't have ANYTHING to worry about.  When they were putting the little monitor on my belly, we couldn't keep it still because Liliana was moving so much that it kept moving around.  They thought it was hilarious.  She's already so unique.  This is what these nurses and doctors do all day and they still thought she was so surprisingly active! : )

Food cravings: None this week.  Not even my candies! : ) 

Gender: Guess what?  I had a dream on Friday night that she came out as a he!!  WOAH!! That would be crazy!  "Umm...Mom...can you go home and change the ENTIRE nursery?" haha.

Labor Signs: Still having some Braxton Hicks, but didn't have too many this week.

Belly Button in or out? Yeah, it's pretty out.  I even had some random person at the law school tell me "that turkey timer is almost ready!"

What I miss: You know, I've never complained about missing alcohol.  I rarely drank before pregnancy anyway.  BUT...this week, as I said above, I worked a lot and had a rather rough week.  I'm really trying to impress them at the office while still sending applications to other firms, doing my school work, dealing with pregnancy, being a student (which is already a full time job in and of itself), etc.  ANYWAY, long story short, I was really stressed to say the least.  Anyway, one really busy afternoon at work when I had gotten three new projects and was thinking I would have to stay until 10 just to finish them, I sent Evan a text saying "if we weren't pregnant, you would have taken me out for a delicious margarita tonight."  So, this week, that's what I missed...margaritas that make all my stress and aches go away! : )

What I am looking forward to: We have our third trimester ultrasound on Tuesday!  Even though the fetal monitor test went really well, the doctor decided to still do the ultrasound to make sure my amniotic fluid is looking ok.  SO, we originally thought we'd see Liliana again at 34 weeks, but we're gonna see her at 29 weeks!  I CAN'T WAIT.  Plus, Evan most likely will be able to come with me to the ultrasound which is really exciting (he couldn't come to the last visit and I missed him so much).

Weekly Wisdom: Try and schedule some time for just you and your spouse in the second trimester.  I wish Evan and I had done this more.  We tried our best, but now that I'm in my third trimester, finals and projects are around the corner, and we have to keep going with the nursery, I realize there will not be that same amount of time.  Don't get me wrong, I can't wait for Liliana's arrival.  She is going to be the sunshine in our life, that is for sure.  BUT, I am starting to get a little emotional because life as I've known it with our two pups and us two is done.  That's going to be a hell of an adjustment!

Milestones: The job search is REALLY on.  Hopefully in the next month, I'll finally have some word as to what the plans are.  We'll seeee.....

Our Baby Shower

Last Saturday, we had our big baby shower.  We have another shower in Lubbock that will be on April 17th, but this shower was our big one...lots of people...you know, the only way Puerto Rican women know how to do it!

My godmother threw my wedding shower as well.  She is the queen of amazing showers.  For my bridal shower, she took all her furniture out of her home, set up her entire house in Bright Green and Dark Purple (my wedding colors) and it was just incredible.  Of course, she went all out again for the baby shower.  I don't know how my godmother does it.  She had knee surgery three weeks before the shower and was going through so much personal stuff that week (the whole family got deposed for a lawsuit my godbrother is involved in when their baby boy was born stillborn abotu 3 years ago).  She is so special to me and I appreciate her so much.

We wanted to do a couples shower and suddenly realized there were too many people that we were inviting!  I told her I thought it would be 60 pepole if we did couples...I would have been WAY wrong.  About 45 - 55 women were there (I didn't count everyone).  Multiply that by two and WOW, everybody in San Antonio would have been at our shower.

Liliana's nursery is green and a dark bright pink (raspberry) and she had those colors around the house (huge bunches of balloons, etc) with quite a few Aggie things throughout of course.  The gifts were DAUNTING.  I opened gifts for 1.5 hours STRAIGHT.  I didn't get time to stop and say "oh my gosh! how adorable!"  I was going as fast as possible and I have to admit, I was exhausted by the end of it all.

We loaded everything in to my Mom's mini-van and Evan's 4Runner after the shower (yes, two cars).  When we got home, we stayed up until midnight sorting everything...what we had doubles, what we could leave in S.A. until my Mom came to Lubbock later, etc.  The next morning, my Mom and I went and returned all the doubles because if not, we couldn't have fit everything in the car.  While we were returning everything, my Dad, my brother (who surprised us and drove ALL THE WAY from Shreveport with Annie and Sofia), and Evan strategically packed the 4Runner and fit everything we wanted to bring!

Evan and I drove home ANXIOUSLY awaiting our arrival to Lubbock.  We were SO excited to start setting that nursery up and I went strong for over 3 hours helping Evan unpack, organize, etc.  By about 9 p.m. I was exhauasted, so we stopped for the night.

I'd say her nursery is now 75% complete.  We still have to put the prints on teh wall and make a few more aesthetic changes, but for now, it's ready!!  Here are some pictures to keep you up to date.  If you have some suggestions, let me know.   I must admit though, I think it looks AWESOME.  She's over 2/3 done in the womb and we're 75% done with the nursery, so we're ahead of the game! ; ) 

This side of the room looks the most similar to what it looked before, but we did add the mobile, the cradle swing, and of course, in Lubbock the ESSENTIAL humidifier.  ALSO, you can see that I've started painting the toy chest.  I'm not done with it yet.  I still have to add the letters spelling her name and will probably go buy those this weekend.  Who knows when I'll have time to paint them.  I have been SO FREAKING busy this week...that's a whole other post.  For now, keep looking at her calming nursery (hmm....did we make it calming to help Mommy out perhaps? haha)

This side has quite a few changes!  We added the boppy, the changing pad, the basket etc.  The toy chest, for now, is full of wipes and diapers.  I LOVE that bcthe room smells like babies now...  : ) 

Look at our closet!!!  This is my FAVORITE change of all and took quite a few hours.  The side of clothes that you see on hangers is all her nice outfits from 0 - 3 months (yeah, she's covered).  The boxes are full of shoes, clothes for 3 - 9 months, and little bows for her little head. ; ) 

One more view...sorry...I think I just wanted to see it again.  hee hee.

Can't wait to post it when we're officially done!

BTW: not everything is in the nursery obviously.  We have 3 car seats in the guest room, and our kitchen already had an overhaul because she already has her own section.  Plus, we have the high chair and bumbo in there too.  Oh yeah, and the guest bath has her bathtub, toy carrier, and a bunch of other stuff.  NO...she's not already spoiled by my amazing family...

Our house is looking like the baby will be here soon (again, not until June 15th Ms. Liliana Rose Lacefield!!!  Don't you dare!!! haha)  We're really glad with how it's coming along and sit in her nursery every evening before going to bed.  We can't wait for her arrival, but for the next 3 months, we're going to try and treasure these last few as just us two...those 7 1/2 years of just us two have been amazing, I want to cherish what we have left.

The Search for Daycare

I finally found our day care!!

Last week was Spring Break, but I decided to make some cash and worked every day but Friday (we were traveling to San Antonio for our baby shower that weekend).  I worked Monday until three o'clock because I had an appointment to cut my hair and while getting my hair cut, the stylist started saying "you haven't decided where you're doing day care and you're already starting your third trimester?  You need to get on that!"  I left with a decent hair cut AND stressed...

I went to get a pedicure (hadn't treated myself to one since I found out I was pregnant) and plus, I wanted my toes to look nice for the baby shower (as if anyone noticed but me! ha!).  Unfortunately, my stress carried over to my pedicure.  I spent the whole time calling day cares, getting prices, calling in home caregivers, etc.  The prices in Lubbock range from about $500 to $650 a month for full-time care.  However, the rest of it ranges so much!  I couldn't believe it! 

I wanted a place with the following characteristics:
(1) close to our home
(2) opened early
(3) closed late
(4) let us pick her up at any time
(5) started caring for the baby at infancy
(6) helped work on developmental phases
(7) taught Spanish

I found one with ALL of these!  After calling about 15 places (not exaggerating), I decided to go see Neighborhood Academy.  It's apparently the priciest in Lubbock.  It's funny, because I finally see the "cost of living" that people talk about.  My cousin and his wife are also having a baby and they're paying $1200/ month in San Antonio.  In Lubbock, I'm paying about half that and it's the nicest here?  That's nuts to me!  This place is wonderful though.  I had called around to quite a few places and they made it very apparent that they did not do "unannounced" tours.  This bothered me.  I don't want to see what you're like with my child when I'm THERE.  I want to see how you act when I'm not around.  I showed up around 5:45 (they close at 6) and instead of huffing and puffing because they all wanted to go home, I got a 30 minute tour and by the time I had left, I knew this is where Liliana HAD to be. 

Let's go through the list:
(1) the daycare is approximately 1.8 minutes away from our house...I think that counts as close! haha.  If I am lucky enough to get the job at Craig, Terrill, Hale & Grantham (which is looking less and less likely by the way, but that's a whole other blog post), the new office is literally across the street from the day care.  I would have a 3 minute commute to work including dropping off the baby.  That was THE BEST part of it.  But even if I don't work at that firm, having it so close to the house is AWESOME.
(2) the daycare opens at 7:30.  This is great!  When I have trial at 8 in downtown Lubbock, I can drop her off and yes it will be close, but I'll still make it!  Most places do open this early, so this didn't really sway me either way.
(3) This was a BIGGIE.  ALL the places I had called thus far closed at 5 or 5:30.  If only I was fortunate to have that kind of job...but I won't be.  NOBODY leaves the firm that early.  Having it close at 6 is awesome.  I can leave the building at 5:50 and be there 8 minutes early. : )
(4) This was another thing that struck me from some other day cares.  They told me they "strongly discouraged" parents picking up at random hours because it "distracted their teaching environments."  Whatever.  When Evan has been on call for 30 hours straight and hasn't seen his little girl, he won't care about "distracting" Liliana's advanced 14 month teaching environment (sense sarcasm there? haha).  This daycare didn't mind if he happened to pick her up at 2 p.m.  He needs to spend time with her whenever he'll get the chance.  He was really glad that the daycare allowed him to do this, especially since it's so close to the house, he'll just get her on his way home.  I told him I thought he could come home, take a nap, and then go get her, but he said "we'll see" which means "I'll just have her sleep on my chest..." ; )  AWWW...
(5) Alot of daycares don't start as early as 6 weeks.  They'll do 12 weeks or even not until they're 12 months.  However, hopefully I'll be working!  Neighborhood starts at 3 weeks.  We won't need them that early because Evan is taking the month of July off so she'll be at least 6 weeks before we're needing any kind of care.
(6) This is the reason why this daycare is the "nicest" in Lubbock.  They're big on helping with developmental stages.  They have a room for each stage of a child's life and don't divide it by age, but by their progress.  For instance, once the child starts becoming more mobile (whenever that is, even if it's at 7 months), they move them to Nursery II so that they can SEE others moving and this makes them want to start moving as well.  I'm really big on this.  I think that seeing other children can really help in many ways.  It makes them more sociable, it makes them have something to compare themselves against, AND most importantly, it gives them someone to play with! 
(7) Can you believe it?  THEY TEACH SPANISH!  They have a fluent Spanish speaker with a degree in Education (other than Nursery I, all other teachers have college degrees - impressive, and perhaps even overkill, but still...it can't hurt right?).  At 9 months they start teaching them their sign language (which honestly, I don't care too much about), but they also integrate LANGUAGES!  Now this, I care about.  I REALLY want Liliana to be fluent in Spanish.  Evan wants this even more than I do I think.  His Spanish is amazing and I think he wishes that he would've started learning from birth as opposed to his twenties.  They teach them German and French (which is neat because Annie can help strengthen this) as well, but I mainly care about the Spanish.

It had all my characteristics...great.  BUT, even better, it SUPERSEDED my expectations.  My other two favorite things were:
- Liliana can stay there until after graduating from kindergarten!  They have a room all the way until age of 6 and I like the idea of her staying and getting a little group of friends.  The convenience to the house and the fact that the price doesn't go up as they grow (most do) is neat.  The teachers will get close to her and I know that means better care.
- OK, so sue me...this one is kinda stupid: they have web cams in EVERY room so we can log on and see!!  HOW COOL IS THAT?? Some people apparently don't like that because they say "why pay for this?"  But it's included in the price each month.  My family is so excited about this.  As long as I give them the password, they can log on and watch her whenever they'd like.  Whenever I'm having "Mommy separation anxiety" I can log on and see that she's happy playing with her friends.  Whenever Evan's been on call for a million days in a row and missing her, he can log on and see his beautiful baby girl missing her Daddy.

The day care find was awesome. Since Evan was on call when I toured, I told her I wanted my husband to see it before we were set.  Plus, I didn't have enough cash on me to pay the deposit and they didn't take credit cards.  I asked her if she could keep our spot on my promise and she said yes.  Evan went the next afternoon, fell in love as well and paid the deposit.  It was a good thing we paid too because it was their LAST SPOT!  At first I thought she might be kidding since it's for August (note: 6 months away!!), but someone called the morning after I toured and she told them someone had promised to come pay that day so they were out of luck.  It really really was meant to be!  I decided to go look on a whim, and I am so thankful I did! Had we gone the next day, our spot would have been gone!

After the deposit was paid, I realized, "I still don't have a job."  I kept saying I'd find the day care when the timing was right, so maybe I need to relax about the job, keep searching, and it'll come when the time is right. Yeah, that'll have to be my new mind set...keep searching, be aggressive, and I'll get the job that I was supposed to get.

27 Week Survey

How far along? 27 weeks, 6 days

                                                   
Maternity clothes? yep!  I really am getting bigger and bigger.  I can still wear many non-maternity dresses if they have empire waists. For instance, the dress I wore for my baby shower wasn't maternity.

Stretch marks? I definitely did a check this morning in the mirror knowing I was going to write about stretch marks in my blog and I'm happy to report the stretch marks are still non-existent!  I'm sure they'll come along soon enough, but in the mean time it's a little victory.

Sleep: My back wasn't hurting quite as bad this week, but the insomnia of the third trimester has definitely set in.  I wake up really early and can't get back to bed!  It's really irritating and has no relation to what time we get to bed.

Best moment this week:  The baby shower for sure!  It was so much fun!  I'll write a whole other blog just about it.

Movement:This week was AWESOME!  She moved so darn much.  I was really proud of her.  EVERYBODY in my family got to feel her movements and she was just really awake.

Food cravings:Evan keeps buying me gummy candies?  What am I supposed to do?  Not eat them??

Gender: Liliana's nursery is looking so nice.  I'll take some pictures tonight and post some.  Since we got SO many nice things at the shower, it was great to see it all come together.  

Labor Signs:I can give myself Braxton Hicks contractions with barely moving!  If I switch positions, even really slowly, they happen.  In general though, they don't hurt.

Belly Button in or out?The belly button keeps coming out...it's no innie anymore.  When I wear t-shirts, it's very obvious.  That's the first thing my parents noticed when they saw me last weekend!

What I miss:Not eating soggy sandwiches.  I have to heat up all my deli meat to protect from Listeria.  When I'm at the house, I use the toaster oven or panini press and the sandwich is rather delicious.  However, 90% of the time, I'm at the law school or at work when heating up my sandwiches.  They taste pretty gross...I'm looking forward to eating something more crispy and less mushy.

What I am looking forward to: I have my 28 week visit tomorrow!  It's going to be a long visit because I have to do my Glucose screening, but it at least signals that the baby is coming soon! : )  I start with visits every two week at this stage.

Weekly Wisdom: Register for organizational items in the registry!  I had registered, kinda on a whim, for some items to organize our closet and they are AWESOME!  When I saw just how many gifts there were at the shower (it was ridiculous...I've never seen so many items in my life), I thought there was NO WAY we would fit it in her room, but somehow we managed, and somehow, it looks perfectly non-cramped.

Milestones: We've started the third trimester!  I can't believe we'll be parents before we know it!  Yesterday night, Evan assembled her mobile and put it up on the crib.  He turned it on (it projects little animals on the top while playing music) and we even role played as parents...hee hee.  We slowly opened the door, saw the mobile on with music playing, and imagined our beautiful little girl laying down to sleep.  This moment was amazing.  I think it was the first time that I thought to myself, "I really can't wait to meet her."  Up until now, I've just been shocked and then thrilled to be pregnant.  It's as Evan said as we were walking to our bedroom: "Suddenly, we're thinking baby baby baby instead of pregnant pregnant pregnant."

P.S. I realize I'm way behind on other things I need to blog about: nursery progress, law school progress, choosing the day care, and the baby shower.  I'll get to those this week, I promise! ; )

Nursery Wall Decor: Check!

I have so much to blog about, but not too much time to do it...SO, I wanted to post about my favorite website these days: etsy.com.  Etsy is this great website where people with homemade projects sell their products online.  In general, they're incredibly affordable, but of course, the best part is that they're custom orders, so you get exactly what you want.

I've been wanting to get some decor for the walls in the nursery and wasn't too sure where I wanted to go with it.  Over the weekend I had two projects: paint the toy chest and paint Liliana's name above her crib.  I started looking online for ways to paint her toy chest.  I couldn't find one I liked, until I found a simple one that had their name ON the toy chest with wooden letters that you paint.  I decided that would be the design and have already painted the toy chest and the pink on the top and sides.  However, now that I was changing the design on the toy chest, I no longer needed to paint her name above the crib as well.  In comes etsy...

I ordered these and the BEST part...they're in SPANISH!  These are going to go above the dresser.  Now, we needed to tackle what went above the crib.  We decided to order from the same person on etsy because the colors needed to match and be the same hues.  Evan and I went to the baby's room and put my computer up to the walls and he remained patient with me for nearly the entire hour that it took me to make all my final decisions.  These three prints will go above the crib.  They'll go in the following order from left to right. 

I think the room is going to come together so nicely now...as if it's complete...ready for our angel (well, in 12 weeks). 

26 Week Survey

How far along? 26 weeks, 6 days

                                                   
Maternity clothes? Oh yeah!  But, unfortunately, they're not really available in Lubbock.  I went to Old Navy this weekend to get our friend Mike his birthday gift and decided to go look in the back in case they had some maternity clothes...they had 3 shirts, 2 ugly dresses, and some pants.  What a selection (not).

Stretch marks? Not yet!  I'm excited about this one cause I was reading a blog the other day that said "yes" at this stage.  Woo hoo!

Sleep: Not so great this week.  : (  I was awake from 4 - 7 this morning.  My back just KILLS me and then with the thunderstorms this morning, they startled Liliana and she was moving around like crazy.  I know her movements are a good thing, but when I only get 4.5 hours of sleep, it makes it hard.

Best moment this week:  I FOUND OUR DAYCARE!  That will be a whole other blog post, but that was definitely the best best best moment of the week.  I am so relieved to have found it. 

Movement: I have to admit, this week wasn't her biggest movement week.  It made me worry a few times, but any time I worried, she'd move and say "I'm here I'm here!"  And after last nights thunderstorms, any worry is gone.  Plus, she was kicking like crazy at the daycare tour, as if to say "this is my home!"  Yes, I'm completely over analyzing her movements...so sue me.

Food cravings:I liked gummies again. : )  But, still no other cravings really.

Gender: Our girl will be the only LILIANA at the daycare that I saw.  I was looking around and there were plenty of other common names, but Liliana wasn't there. YAY.

Labor Signs:  The Braxton Hicks contractions subsided this week, so that's nice. 

Belly Button in or out? OK, big change this week...it's pretty out!  It is no innie anymore.  It's not completely popped out, but it's half way there.  And, I'm not exaggerating, even Evan admitted it the other day.  I didn't really have a complete innie to begin with, so I think that's why it's coming out sooner than some other ladies.

What I miss: The thought that money wouldn't go straight to the baby! haha.  While I LOVE the daycare, I realized that each month, I'll nearly take one week STRAIGHT to daycare.  YIKES.  Thank goodness we'll still have some loans.

What I am looking forward to:  Our baby shower is this weekend!  I can't wait!  It's going to be so much fun.

Weekly Wisdom: When you go to tour daycares, go UNANNOUNCED.  Don't do a planned interview.  They are how they're going to be with your kids when you don't announce your being there. 

Strollers, Slings, and Car Seats oh my...continued...

I posted my top 5 items before.  I have my other five to complete the top 10, but realized that some ESSENTIALS are off of these top 10.  They almost seem too obvious though: furniture! HA!  Obviously, a crib and a dresser of some sort are really important and I figured I would just talk briefly about my recommednations with that.  First: no drop side cribs.  That's a duh...they're all recalled anyway.  Second: don't get a dresser with a separate area for the changing pads.  Just get a dresser flat up top and buy the changing pad.  This way, that kid can use the dresser for years to come as opposed to just when they're getting diapers changed.  I'm sure you'll think "well, I'll just use that for the other babies," but even then, dressers last for YEARS and YEARS.  I plan on keeping Liliana's dresser for at least 15 years...I DO NOT plan on having kids for the next fifteen years.  No thank you.

OK, back to completing the other 5 items:

6. Activity Item:  I learned about this the hard way.  I registered for a swinger that was cute and on the cheaper side.  Done right?  Well, my Mom, the pediatrician, told me she thought it looked flimsy and I should register for one that was not $100, but the $150 lamb one.  I got upset, shrugged it off, and kept trucking through the store.  Three weeks later, I got an email from Babies R Us (note: by the way, Babies R Us automatically lets you know when you get recalls on items on your registry...Target DOES NOT do this!) and mine got recalled for...well...dang it...being too flimsy and falling over!  Guess which one we're registered for now? She'll look SO cute in this...     ; )

7. Play Pen: This one's for the parents.  Yes, I'm excited for Liliana's arrival, but NO, I don't want to hold her full time!  GET A PLAY PEN.  Lots of people don't register for them because they're rather pricey if you want a nicer one.  Ours is about $100.  It was the second thing to come off the registry after the above.  Now, you can make them $150 if you want a separate item where you can change the baby on top.  To me, this wasn't that important.  In our home, I can just walk 3 steps over and change her in her nursery.  When I'm at someone else's home, I'll have a changing pad with me.  But, if you want the bassinet or changing section anyway, go for it.

8. Diaper Genie: I don't have much to say about this one.  I think everybody knows they need it.  The only suggestion I have: register for the refills too!  You know you'll need them, so let somebody else pay for the first few.  I also registered for a "Diaper Fresh Dispenser" which is basically little baggies with arm and hammer to help with the smell!!  You clip the device in your diaper bag and it's only $4.  Well worth the embarrassment when you're shopping around and people wonder who pooped their pants.

9. Changing Pad: Again, not too much to say about this one.  But, you will need the pad and the covers that go over it.  Make sure to register for multiple pads cause they'll get...well...DIRTY.  I had registered for 2 and my Mom even told me to bump that up to three.  Three pads it is!

10. High Chair: While at Babies R Us, I registered for the cutest wood high chair.  That's totally the only reason I should register for one right?  Wrong.  When I got home, I started reading my handy dandy reviews and realized I had made a pretty big mistake.  Ours didn't have wheels on it, which would by nice on our tile kitchen floor, AND, it folds.  I like things that fold away.  I'm aware that soon our home will be full of baby stuff, but I want the ability to fold things away when I do feel like having "adult" time.  So yes, they all have different levels depending on the age of the child, but try and think of other things to ease your life.  It was only $8 more than the other one I had registered for and the ability to fold and the ability to roll seemed worth the $8 to me.  Oh yeah, and I didn't pay for those $8 anyway...that already came off the registry too!  I told you, I have such a supportive family.

They love us...all three of us (note: Evan, Cristina, and Liliana.  NO, it's not suddenly twins!  You think I would have just written about registry items and not freaking out? C'mon, you know me better than that.  One surprise is enough, thank you.)

Strollers, Slings, and Car Seats oh my...

REGISTERING.  Wow.  What a confusing nightmare!

A couple days after we found out our wonderful baby was a "she" we decided to go register for items at Babies R Us and Target in San Antonio.  Fortunately, we have both of those stores in Lubbock as well, but they're bigger in San Antonio and we had the time over Christmas break, so took advantage of it.  I thought it would be fun and relaxing...wrong!  It was overwhelming!!

So, I'm gonna make a list of top 10 things I think EVERY couple should make sure to register for.  I'll tell you which individual brands we chose and why, but items change with time, so our suggestions are only so helpful.  I'll do 5 items today cause all 10 would be such a long post...I'll update the other 5 sometime later this week.

First: where to register.  Babies R Us seemed like a given and then it was between Burlington Baby and Target.  I decided to register at Target instead of Burlington for three reasons: it is more expensive than Target but has much less variety than Babies R Us, and Burlington Coat Factory gives me the heeby jeebies.  It smells like old people and moth balls. Last, I'd rather get gift cards to Target for obvious reasons...Target rocks.

When adding items to the list, I often compared prices from Target and Babies R Us.  For instance, the cradle swing we registered for was $20 less at Target, so I registered for it there.  I figured somebody would be more likely to spend $150 versus $170...I was right.  That was the first item to come off the registry.  So, that was a reasoned enough decision...on to the items.

(1) Bumbo - a bumbo is this rubbery thing where you sit the baby when trying to feed them.  They're a must!  There are other brands out there that are about the same price, so might as well get the most commonly bought brand.  It works for other Moms too.  I was BIG on reading people's reviews on Babies R Us.  Sometimes, their reviews are stupid: "the color wasn't what I wanted." "I like name brand stuff only."  But sometimes, they were warranted, "this stroller was so flimsy that when the wind blew, the stroller fell over with the baby in it!"  YIKES...take THAT stroller off the registry!

(2) Monitor- Neither Evan nor I were too picky on what monitor we got...just make sure to get a decent one.  We didn't think it was too important to get one with a screen on it, but my brother and his wife insist that we'll be happy we got one with the screen.  Therefore, with the screen it is.

(3) Stroller - the stroller was probably the item that I was pickiest about.  We didn't register for one.  Instead, try and find someone that is willing to give you the stroller as your gift and then you're not confined to Babies R Us or Target.  Something we learned: you don't NEED a travel system.  In fact, they're bulky.  We got a stroller that works from birth (by reclining it), paid a little less than a travel system, but were able to get a better quality item and folds so tiny!  I went on youtube and watched the Babygizmo videos for about 40 strollers.  I know that sounds excessive, but you see, I don't have a big car.  I have a little Hatchback Mazda 3 so I needed to make sure it folded down enough to fit in my car.  Also, Evan in about 3 or 4 years will probably get a truck and turn in his Toyota 4 Runner, so we needed something that would fit in the back part of the truck (don't want it in the truck bed: will get dirty, what if it rains? etc.).  We already have the stroller and although Liliana's not here, it's my FAVORITE item so far...it's just as great as the video said.  Here's a link to the youtube video.

(4) Car Seat- another secret we found out while registering (also, from pediatricians around town).  See, we were lucky...through the ENTIRE registry process, Evan was in his pediatrics rotation and kept asking pediatricians about things.  My brother's wife (this woman knows EVERYTHING baby...makes me feel like I'm gonna be the worst Momma ever) had told me to register for the convertible car seat since they're so expensive and that way I wouldn't have to buy it when Liliana was one and we were even more broke.  Great advice.  Well, I started reading up on them and they said "good from birth."  What the hell did we need the infant car seat for then?  Evan starts asking the pediatricians and they told him most parents on their second, third kid don't' get infant ones any more and pediatricians actually prefer the convertible ones because the baby isn't so tightly confined in an area.  The bigger one forces the baby to move more and therefore helps their development some.  Granted, the infant car seat is really helpful to have them when you're just sitting at restaurants etc., so we're just borrowing my brothers and his wife's for a few months.  Nice...  As for the actual car seat, I know most couples try and share one.  Evan and I are really gonna be 50/50 parents and switching the seat each time would have been a pain in the ass.  So, we're getting two.  I got our main one (Britax Roundabout 50) for free from the legal website I work for.  I had built up enough points in researching so damn much through these three years for a $220 car seat...amazing.  We got this car seat because it's good for small cars!  As for Evan's car, we got an Evenflo one that had the best safety and user reviews for a much cheaper price ($99).  Below is the one I'll have in my car.

As for the infant car seat that we're borrowing, it's a Peg Perego.  I do warn though, Annie told me that if she had to do it all over again she WOULD NOT get this car seat because it's so heavy.  Since we won't be using it full time though, I figure it's still great for us and we appreciate them letting us borrow their stuff!!  Free = who cares if it's too heavy??

(5) Rocker- obviously, you need a glider/ rocker etc.  I decided I didn't want a glider because they looked like they HAD to be in a nursery.  I wanted something that I could use around our house or outside after the baby had come.  Also, Annie had told me to register for a nice WIDE rocker because the ones that they sell at Babies R Us are too narrow for you to wear your boppy.  How stupid to make them so narrow!  We got sooo lucky with ours.  We happened to be at Pier One looking for curtains, and found it.  I'm in love with it and think it makes the nursery look so classy and yet welcoming. 

25 week survey

How far along? 25 weeks, 6 days

                                                   
Maternity clothes? I only wore something "non-maternity" yesterday (Sunday).  If I would have worn that out, I would have been showing my stomach to every one!  Even my BIG shirts don't work! That's exciting/ frustrating all at the same time because I can only wear my few shirts that I've purchased...I like changing my clothes often. haha.

Stretch marks?Not yet, although I think that's really common at this stage.

Sleep: My daily massages aren't working as well as before because my husband is going to bed earlier than I am most nights since he wakes up at 4:15 every morning.  I was doing just fine without them...until last night.  Guess who's getting a nice long massage tonight?? haha.

Best moment this week:We had our 25 week doctor's appointment and she said everything looked AWESOME.  I told you...they always say our baby is the best baby ever!! : )   Also, the invitations went out for my shower in San Antonio and things already started coming off our registry.  My family is amazing.

Movement: She really is an active girl.  I love rarely having to worry about lack of movement.  Thank you Liliana for making Mommy calmer...

Food cravings:The gummy cravings have officially set in!!  I'm so excited...finally my first craving!  I've also gotten hungrier this week.  I'm sure that'll show up on the scale soon.

Gender:I had a "girl" dream last night, I guess I'm completely imagining her being here...it's amazing.

Labor Signs:Continued having Braxton Hicks, but I don't think I had quite as many (that or I'm just not even noticing them)

Belly Button in or out?It really started coming out even more!  When I look down, I see it coming out...hee hee. 

What I miss:Not being "weirdly" looked at.  I feel like people constantly think "is she pregnant, or fat?" I'd rather just look skinny ... I know most women want to look super pregnant really early, but as long as she's healthy, I don't mind...it'll just be less to lose afterward.  However, the bump is DEFINITELY there (hence my being in maternity clothes full time)

What I am looking forward to: Spring Break is coming!  I will be working full time, but at least I won't have classes!  I have an exam tomorrow, so I'm planning on taking Friday and Saturday OFF from school...you have NO IDEA how excited I am for that.

Weekly Wisdom:Take a weekly bath!  I haven't been GREAT at this...it's about once every week and a half, but I love it. Sometimes Evan joins me and that's fun too because she moves a bunch in the bath and he gets to feel that.  Plus, I'm so much more comfortable in the bath...no braxton hicks. 

Milestones: I made ALL my appointments for the remainder of my pregnancy.  That was an ordeal...took me going back to the office because she had messed up the dates, etc.  BUT, they're set in stone baby.  I go back in 3 weeks and after that, every two weeks until week 36.  At week 36, I go every single week!  One funny side note:  my 38 week visit is on our 3 year wedding anniversary...man how times change!!  haha.

The Obligatory "I Hate you Law School" Post...

I've tried as well as I could to keep negativity out of this blog.  Heck, I've been trying the last year to keep negativity out of my life.

As I've posted earlier, I hated the first year of law school.  I cried probably 4 times each semester through stress and poor Evan had to sit there probably thinking to himself, "What a wimp!  It's just school!  Get over it!"  Evan handles stress much better than I do.  During his third year probably marks the first time I've seen him physically drained and tired of his schedule.  During OB/Gyn, his night float week was tough.  He was gone from the house at 4 pm and didn't get back until 8:30 am.  He slept until 1:00 (yeah, only 4.5 hours) and I'm at work between 1 and 4, so we barely ever saw each other.  It was a tough week.

Currently, Evan is in his Surgery rotation.  I see him tired again, and I hope I'll see him happier soon. Evan wants to do Surgery.  Well, he wants Urology first (which involves a year of Surgery residency), but if he doesn't get in to Urology, Surgery will likely be his second choice. Evan's waking up at 4:15 every morning and leaves the house around 4:50.  He's not getting home until around 5:00, but when you add up that time, those are 12 hour days and he has to go to bed so darn early every night that the schedule is tough.  What makes this harder than OB is that this is his schedule for 7 straight weeks.  To make matters WAY worse, he's on call every four days.  For instance, he's on call today.  He got to the hospital around 5:15 this morning and won't come home until noon tomorrow.

I post all this to say, I realize that my story isn't a "cry me a river" situation.  My husband has this schedule, and I have the AUDACITY to say I'm stressed?  Ugh.  Get over it Cristina.  Alas though, I can't help it...this week and next week will be ridiculously busy.

Tomorrow (yes, Saturday) I have an exam at 9 in the morning.  The Multistate Professional Responsibility Exam.  It's historically not supposed to be a difficult exam, but if I don't pass, I don't get licensed.  The average law student takes it twice to pass.  I want to pass it, badly.  I am on my second chance already...so that adds to the stress.

RIGHT after I get home from taking that exam (which I'm sure I'll be studying for until late tonight), I have to start studying for my Family Law midterm on Tuesday afternoon.  I have barely had enough time to properly prepare for both.

I leave the house at 8 every morning and get home from work usually around 6:30.  I do my school work just to keep up for possibly being called on in class the next day for a copule hours each night and then of course, we have to eat dinner.  Usually, that goes until 9:30 (when Evan starts getting ready for bed).  I feel like we barely get to spend time together because he goes to bed so early and I get home so late.  I usually get in bed around 11, so then I've had about 1.5 hours each day to study for two exams.  Ideally, I would want at least 4 hours each day to study for each...I'm very behind.

If I didn't have my job, I think my stress level would greatly decrease.  To make matters worse, as I said in my post a couple weeks ago, I knew I would shoot myself in the foot for getting excited about the vacant associate position at the firm.  I heard some people talking today about how the firm wants someone with minimum 3 years experience to take her spot.

The situation with lawyers right now is so tough economically that they know they can pay an experienced lawyer pennies compared to what they would have given them years ago.  Might as well have someone who is experienced if you can pay them what normally a brand new law student would have been paid.  So, I sit there at work, working my ass off, and all I can think now is "for what?"  However, I try my best not to think like that. 

But like my Dad told me yesterday, "I'm not sure there's anything YOU can do to change whether they'll hire or not. You just have to wait"  I think he's right.  In the mean time I need to see the positives:  this only gives me experience, you NEVER know what'll happen (maybe they'll hire me after all), I make enough money to pay for our utilities every month, AND most importantly, I like it. I really don't think they'd regret hiring me.  I would work my ass off. 

Ugh.  So I'm done...there was the obligatory "I hate you law school post." I feel better.  : )

Graduation = 70 days away.  WOO HOO!  Just keep swimming...

25 Weeks and All is Well...

I'm 25 weeks today.  I weighed myself this morning and thought this would be a good post to talk about food, appetite, and eating habits.

I have officially gained 14 pounds throughout the pregnancy.  I had only gained 3 pounds at 20 weeks and in the last 5 weeks, my body ballooned!  I think it's important to talk about how weight gain effects the pregnant woman.  I've, fortunately, never really struggled with weight.  Sure, I've gotten chubbier at times but then again, there are times when I got skinnier.  In general though, I fluctuated in the same 5-7 pound range in the last 8 years.  This doesn't go without work though.  I love working out.  When not pregnant, I workout quite regularly and am a huge fan of Jillian Michaels DVDs.  Unfortunately, I haven't worked out nearly as much as I've wanted throughout the pregnancy due to health complications that always seem to come about, but, I'll write a post just about that some time (if I remember).

After Liliana is born, I'm sure I'll do a post just about Jillian's DVDs and which ones I recommend.  I own all of them and feel like an expert on them...I've only done each about 100 times.  In case you can't tell from my DVD mentionings, I do work out at home (versus a gym).  In college, I was a rec center fan...a big one.  I was there 5 times a week.  But, as law school started, I realized I no longer had time for this.  By the time I drive to and from the gym, I've lost out on a lot of precious studying time.  Therefore, after my first year of law school, I got addicted to working out at home.  I think this will be helpful as I become a working mom.  I can put Liliana in the play pen as I pop in my DVD and get to it.  Plus, I save so much money by not joining a gym.  I know a lot of gyms out there have great deals (ex: just $20 a month!!!!) but I'm a math person...do the math...that's nearly $250 a year.  I know some people love the gym.  My husband really enjoys going to the gym.  I'm sure he'll get a gym membership after he graduates and that's fine. But, in the mean time , if you need "at home" advice, I'm your gal.

As for weight gain in pregnancy, I lost weight the first trimester (which is incredibly common).  I didn't throw up too much during my morning sickness time: 3 times.  So obviously, this isn't what took the weight off.  I just didn't want to eat!  I wasn't hungry!  I felt so sick, so miserable, and so yucky until week 16.  Even though I didnt' work out throughout the time period and was sitting on my butt feeling crappy, I wasn't eating enough to gain weight.

As the second trimester rolled around, I started thinking the pounds would come on.  I was wrong.  At week 20 I had only gained 3 pounds and started worrying about whether I was gaining enough weight.  I asked my OB and he calmed me down.  He said he HATES how the pregnancy books say to gain about 1 to 2 lbs each week.  He said around week 22 or so, the baby will start gaining anywhere from 1/3 to 1/2 lb. a week and that's when you'll start gaining.  But, why should you gain so much before when the baby isn't growing at that fast of a rate?  I finally calmed down and stopped intentionally trying to gain weight.  Sure enough, he was right!  The weight came on by itself.

As for my eating habits and any cravings:  I have not had ONE craving yet.  Through all my morning sickness, I had two things that didn't' make me feel horrible: macaroni and cheese and gingerale.  But, I didn't crave them.  Plus, I love macaroni and cheese all the time, not just when I'm pregnant.  I feel like a horrible mommy-to-be because I haven't eaten healthy at all.  I just eat whatever sounds appetizing at the time.  If that means pizza, then I eat pizza.  If that means bananas, then I'll eat bananas.  But I haven't changed my eating habits.  Included in that statement: my appetite hasn't increased one bit yet.  I know it likely will with time, but from every thing I've read, most women have had an increase in appetite already...and I haven't.  I'm not complaining about this though.

My philosophy with eating throughout this pregnancy is pretty simple: eat when hungry, not just for the heck of it.  I've had COUNTLESS people ask me "are you enjoying being able to eat whatever you want??"  Why in the world would I do this?  I'll just have to work out even more after Liliana is born if I maintain that way of thinking!  So, I'll eat when it sounds good, but when my body isn't hungry, I won't eat needless calories that will give me more stretch marks and a dumpier butt.  No thank you sir!  : )

24 Week Survey

How Far Along: 24 weeks, 6 days

Maternity clothes? Yep, most of the time! I don't think I wore any non-maternity pants this week and only wore a non-maternity top one day...after seeing I nearly stretched the fabric, I realized the regular clothes stage of my pregnancy is REALLY coming to an end.

Stretch marks? Not yet. I did gain quite a lot of weight the last couple of weeks, so I think they're gonna come sooner...bummer. This little, completely unrealistic part of me, was hoping I could go throughout the entire pregnancy without them.

Sleep: This week was great! Evan's massage every night and my stretching every evening before bed has made such a BIG BIG change!

Best moment this week: Abuela felt Liliana move! : ) We went home this weekend for Evan's birthday and my Mom was able to feel Liliana move...it was special. ALSO, Abuela took me shopping and bought me some GREAT maternity clothes! THANK YOU ABUELA!!!

For instance, she bought me this dress from Motherhood Maternity! It looks awesome on, is so comfortable, and is PERFECT for work.

The main reason we went shopping was because I have an banquet for the law journal on the 27th of March and needed a nice dress, so we found this one at Motherhood Maternity as well! We brought 3 fancy dresses in to the dressing room and this was BY FAR our least favorite on the hanger, but it fit me so well and was SO comfy! LOVE it! :

Movement: Yep! She had a couple days where she was much quieter than usual, but more than made up for it over the weekend. I suppose she was just a little sleepy some days...

Food cravings: You know, I still haven't craved anything, but I've realized there's only one thing that I won't ever turn down (that's the closest I've been to craving): gummy candies!! Not gross ones either. I like the good quality ones: haribo cola, haribo gummy bears, sour patch straws. Well, at least I'm showing Liliana good eating habits, haha.

Gender: still a girl!

Labor Signs: I do have Braxton Hicks contracts every day now...or as Evan says "she's preparing you for what's coming in 15 weeks!" EEK.

Belly Button in or out? It's still in, but I'd be surprised if it stays this way for another month.

What I miss: Being able to go to plenty of stores and shop. I LOVE everything my Mom got me, but really there aren't many affordable maternity stores. BTW, A Pea in the Pod is freaking expensive! Sorry, but if you shop there, that's dumb. Why spend so much money on something you'll only use for like 4 months?

What I am looking forward to: I have another doctor's appt this week. I start meeting the other Doctor's now (the office requires me to circulate through all the doctors). Every time I go to the doctor and they tell me things look great, I feel AWESOME for the rest of the week. It's so nice hearing from professionals that our baby is the best. ; ) Ok, maybe that's not what they say, but that's what I hear.

Weekly Wisdom: I don't know if I said this last week...can't remember...but I'll repeat it: have your significant other give you a massage, even if it's 3 minutes, every evening once you reach the second trimester. It makes sleep so much better.

Milestones: We did a road trip, while pregnant, and WELL in to my second trimester and you know what? It wasn't bad! Yes, I did have some Braxton Hicks while driving and that was weird. I wanted snacks more often than usual, but overall, we managed just fine.