It's been a few days since I've last posted because I have had some wonderful company. My sweet mommy came down from Dallas for several days while Andrew and Dan were on their annual father-son trip. They caught tons of fish and had a really great time too... I'll post some of those pics separately.
Mom flew into Houston last Wednesday night and then spent the whole weekend with me, mostly doing baby-related things. Thursday I still had to work so she asked for some "projects" around the house that she could work on. That's a scary thing to ask at my house...I have LOTS of projects. So, I easily fulfilled her request and by mid-morning she was sanding and priming a little piece of furniture that no longer matched the rest of the kitchen. Since that was going so quickly, I planned ahead that she could also help jazz up our front flower beds a little more. We went and had lunch at Novrosky's (since I had a coupon for free cheese fries... a pregnant or non-pregnant Emily's dream!!!) and then hit up Lowes for some more paint and flowers. It was a beautiful day and I have to say I was jealous that I couldn't be outside helping her plant some of the flowers. She's had way better luck with her flower beds than we have ever had, so (fingers crossed) hopefully her heat and sun-loving selections will make it through the summer. She got just about everything planted except those flowers we reserved for a few pots. I wanted to make some contribution, so I saved those for later while she took a nap... she was working hard!!! We were both pretty pooped Thursday night and didn't really feel like cleaning up to go eat somewhere, so we just ordered some Cheddar's takeout before our favorite Thursday night show, Project Runway. It was fun to actually watch a show when it was on with someone else. I usually have to record everything since most of the shows I enjoy Andrew could care less about (except Modern Family and Breaking Bad). I don't blame him though, I would not classify most of my shows as things most guys would watch. Anyways, we hit the sack pretty early since I had an early doctor's appointment on Friday.
Friday we got up early and skipped breakfast since I had to do my gestational diabetes/blood glucose screening. Fasting is not fun. Luckily, most of my 8 hours was while I was asleep. As the nurse put it, you are never more hungry than when you are told you can't eat. That sugar water stuff they make you drink definitely will get you a little jittery... I think Tater liked it though. He was moving all around while we were in our doctor appointment and then waiting the hour for them to draw blood. I thought his heartbeat would be off the charts, but no, it was a perfectly healthy 140. The doc said everything else looked good and gave me some more comfort about the whole single umbilical artery thing. My mom got to meet my doctor too, which I know she was happy about. I haven't gotten the results from the glucose test, but I'm hoping that all looks good too. I've heard the long test is really not fun, so hopefully that won't be necessary. If I don't get a call in a couple days, I should be good to go.
Once we headed out of the doctor's office, I was really starving, so a big IHOP breakfast sounded like a nice treat. While we were there, I got a quick lesson on how quickly babies can get their hands on something. There were two women behind us with two little boys. One of the mom's turned her head for 2 seconds and that little boy had the whole coffee pot that they leave on the end of the table in his hands. Luckily, she caught it just in time, but I could have easily seen that situation have a different outcome. Breakfast was delicious, and I made a happy plate. :-)
I had two missions for the weekend:
1) Find fabrics for the crib bedding
2) Start registering
I am SO lucky and excited that one of our dear friends has offered to make the crib bedding. She made the bedding for her 3 children and it looks GREAT! Bedding is so expensive too, especially when they grow so fast! We have a $79.99 bed-in-a-bag set from Marshalls, so I really couldn't justify spending at least $200-$300 (if not more) for some of the bedding sets that I had seen online that I really liked. That's just crazy! The biggest challenge was finding several fabrics that all went together. The plan was to have one material for the outside of the bumper pad, one for the inside, and one for the skirt. I've seen material used for thick cording or a ruffle too, so that makes 3-4 different fabrics. We went to Hobby Lobby first... nothing. Then we went across the street to the JoAnn's Superstore. Amazingly, it was all there! We found 3 prints (1 print that kind of has that Moroccan/stained glass window feel, 1 stripe, and 1 dot) we liked and then a complementing dot chenille for the inside of the bumper pad. I really, really liked it and couldn't really imagine being able to find anything else that went together so well. So, we got big swatches of each (since the sales lady said it wasn't going on sale until Sunday), and decided we would check out a couple more places in Houston just to be sure this is what I wanted. I always want to see all my options before making a decision. It reminded me of wedding dress shopping. I'd find something I love, but then didn't want to commit until I felt like I had seen everything else. This will drive you crazy. On Saturday, we did end up going to Glick in Houston and nothing really jumped out at me. I'd find one thing I liked, but then I couldn't find anything else that went with it. So, after we left, I just told myself "you're done" and decided that the decision had been made. One thing marked off the checklist... WHOOP!!!
On Friday, we also went into Target and Babies R Us just to browse through all the baby stuff. We went into Target first and left with 2 pairs of sandals (for me) and 3 cute, footed onesies that were on clearance. :-) We then went into Babies R Us. After a quick walk-thru, we decided, let's just go ahead and get this registering thing started. We filled out some short paper work and then got the zapper gun. When Andrew and I registered for our wedding, we did it all online, so it was fun to physically go through the store and zap stuff. We pretty much stuck with the basics since I thought I needed to do more research on the big ticket items (i.e. stroller, car seat, high chair, etc.). I feel like I'm shopping for a new car (except that I've never really done that either). There are SO many... no, let me take that back... TOO MANY options. We already have a Peg Perego infant car seat that someone gave us, so the whole travel system thing doesn't seem necessary. We're thinking one of those convertible car seats that they can use up to 65 pounds is probably the best way to go. We've heard the
Britax Marathon is a great choice... plus, I think the "cowmooflauge" print (i.e. cow print) is super cute and won't show dirt or puke! I haven't ran the whole cow print thing by Andrew yet, but maybe since it's kind of like camoflauge, he'll love it. :-) I think the stroller is what I'm struggling with the most. Everyone has a different opinion. I know a couple people with the
BOB Revolution and they swear by it. I'm not really a jogger, but I do like to walk and we do a lot outdoors and the all-terrain design is probably something we would appreciate. There are a couple others that people have mentioned that look great too... decisions, decisions. Nonetheless, the process was started, so I feel really good about that. Now, we just need to physically start making progress in the nursery. After all the painting we've already done, I think we might just give in and pay someone to paint the nursery and ceiling. We've decided we're not that great at it and we might enjoy the nursery process more if someone else did that part.
Friday night I took Mom to
Larry's French Market to experience a little Southeast Texas flavor. She's been there before, but it's always a fun place because they have a live zydeco band. We both got crawfish and gumbo, and even splurged and had dessert too. I had to re-teach her how to eat crawfish, but she did pretty good. I had to admit, I was a little embarrassed when she was wiping all the yellow stuff off and pulling every vein out, but what do you expect from a "Yankee" (i.e. anyone living north of I-10... according to Andrew)! Just kidding MOM!!!! Love you!!!
After we got home, Steel Magnolias was on TV, so we watched it since she had never seen the whole thing. I can't say anything, because Andrew nearly hit the floor when I told him I had never seen Goonies, Lost Boys, or Teen Wolf. That has since changed, but I don't know where our family was during the 80's!?!? :-) Mom also got to feel Tater kick for the first time. I always get excited when someone else gets to experience what I get to experience every day!
Saturday we got up pretty early and then drove in to Houston to meet my sweet friend Lindsay for brunch at Empire Cafe. We had big plans on sitting out on the patio and enjoying a beautiful Saturday morning, but unfortunately Mother Nature had other plans. It had been raining, so we sat inside instead. My fabulous omelet was delicious either way! We had a nice visit. I always love seeing my old friends. It makes me realize how much I miss just getting to hang out with them on a regular basis.
As I mentioned before, we then went to Glick to check out fabric but had no luck. If I was recovering a chair, I would have been in Heaven though. As were were wandering around a section near a display crib, there was a pregnant girl with her mom and aunt who were clearly frustrated. We had pulled out our samples from JoAnn's to compare some colors and they were like, "Where did you get that?!?!" Apparently, they were having twin boys and she wanted green and her husband wanted blue. So, our combination was pretty on-point with what they were looking for. They took a picture and were going to go to JoAnn's to check it out. I'm glad we might have helped solve their problem. I was just thankful that I was not in her shoes and having twins... wow! They said they had gone to High Fashion and hadn't found anything. Since were were looking for similar things, Mom and I decided to not waste time going to High Fashion and to call the fabric search off. We were done. We found it. :-)
We didn't have too much time left before we needed to head back to Baytown, so we decided to pull off into Highland Village. We made a pretty quick run through Pottery Barn Kids and then headed into a baby/children's clothing store called
Janie & Jack. I had never heard of it, but it looked like they had some cute things in the window... and did they ever! They had some precious little clothes, many of which were on sale. We found some alligator-themed pieces that we just could not resist. Mom decided to buy Tater a whole spring collection, so she thought she'd just wrap it up and give it to me at a shower. Sounds good to me! :-)
Saturday night we went and ate at Artista with Wanda and her friend (and mine too) Carolyn before seeing
In the Heights at the Hobby Center. The show was not at all what I expected, well, I didn't really know what to expect. It was different. I'm used to the classic Broadway productions with elaborate sets and costumes with big numbers that just make you go "WOW"! This wasn't really like that at all. The setting and characters were somewhat of a modern-day West Side Story, but a lot of the songs were almost like raps. The main character sounded like Eminem in several of his solos. Not all the songs were like that though. There were some good numbers and most of the dancing was really high energy (combination of street dancing and Latin), several funny moments, but overall it just wasn't my style of show. I was entertained for the most part, but I definitely wouldn't see it again.
Sunday we got up and went to IHOP again for breakfast. Wanda's kitchen is being remodeled, so breakfast at home wasn't really an option. You don't have to twist my arm though to go to IHOP. I made another happy plate. After we got back, Mom packed up and then we just sat and talked and looked at more baby gear/registry stuff online. I had such a great time, I didn't want her to leave. Hopefully, she will be able to come back in May with Nina so we can all hang out again. I know there wont' be much time for that after Tater gets here. Love ya MOMMA!!! :-)
