Initiation Ritual # 1 - Registering for Gifts

The key to registering for gifts in the first place is heavy duty recon work and boy did I think I was prepared, but I really had no idea.

Ever since I got pregnant my new favorite website is Babies R Us so I can search out the perfect gear for my little angel. They have excellent buying guides and advice. All I needed was confirmation it was a girl and we were off.

Mentioning to one of my friends at work that we were going to register this weekend she comments "oh how fun, picking out exersaucers and yada, yada" I am like exer- what? With fear in my eyes she chuckles to herself and says- you need to get this book and read it before you attempt to register. Boy am I glad I did- for anyone that is pregnant with their first child this was a godsend- The Girlfriends Guide to Baby Gear: What to Buy, What to Borrow, and What to Blow Off. It made me feel very prepared- that is until I got to the store :-)

Since I had done plenty of walking the isles of Babies R Us (BRU) and endless hours on their website Simon wanted to do some of his own- so we went Friday to check out some of the bigger gear items. We started with the Travel system (for the childless this is the stroller, car seat combo) We pull one out are driving around the store and want to pull the car seat out and check out the stroller. We unfasten two pieces and pull the car seat- WAIT it won't come out, we try something else, then something else, but nothing. HOW DO THESE STUPID THINGS WORK? Oh my I am going to be a failure as a mother....... finally some people walking by sensing our distress stopped to help. The lady pushes a button grabs the car seat- and like magic out it comes. Wow, she was an angel sent from heaven. We explained we were new parents (as if that was not obvious!) and laughed to ourselves (hysterically).

The next few items had no moving parts so we were ok, although I was somewhat distressed because I always imagined great baby gear with cute patterns, but I am learning you get one or the other- NOT both.

On to furniture. We decided to peruse and see what BRU had. Finding a nice crib it said drop side- which to me is important as I am short. Drop side, but how do you drop it? Pushing, pulling, banging- NOPE that is not working. What happened to the little buttons on the side like when my little brother was a baby. Talking to ourselves- Simon leans against the crib- AND BAM! down it goes.......... so that unlocks that mystery!

Armed with what we saw this evening we are going back home for a little more recon work before we actually register. Check back soon for this funny adventure.

BTW- we did get registered.

VIDEO Added

Well I promised the video and now you have it. This was not as easy as I thought it would be, but it was much longer than the Christmas video. Anyway, I have added at the top for your viewing pleasure.

Check back later for my posting about yesterday- Our weird initation rite into parenthood- Registering for Gifts! It was a hoot.

Talk to you soon, enjoy!

It's A GIRL!

We are tickled pink (pun intended) to let you know that based on the ultrasound yesterday we are having a little girl. In honor of my late mother we will name her Jennifer Anne (I will probably call her JenniAnne, her father being more proper will probably refer to her as Jennifer- Always). We are very very excited!

Sorry for the delay in posting, however we wanted to include the video! We took video of the ultrasound and it came out really neat, but there were like 20 minutes of it. I cut it down to a few minutes so I could post here :-). I included the fun part, where we find out that she is a girl.
We had a long day 2 doctor appointments, several day care visits, and a pediatrician interview- on top of that my lovely husband drug me to the auto show. That made for one tired pregnant lady! But the most exciting thing happened, when we returned home we had the nicest surprise. On our doorstep was a lovely pink bin with Jennifer's name full of cute little clothes from her Aunt Nicole and Uncle Jonathan. That really made my day! It was a nice close to a wonderful day.

Enjoy the video! It is a little long, but lots of fun stuff to see!-

OK NO VIDEO RIGHT NOW, I THINK IT IS STILL TOO LARGE.

I will work on that tonite, but I included some pictures above. Be sure to check back for the video.

Love, Mommy

Shopping, Shopping, and More Shopping

Wow! I am so unbelievably tired. We shopped and shopped and shopped- but I think I am outfitted until the blistering heat of houston arrives. (so what is that about a month)

All joking aside- shopping for maternity clothes is not fun. Nothing is that cute- I see cute pregnant ladies all the time and have been so excited about being one myself, but geez it takes a lot of work. My theory now is this- Every time you see a "cute" pregnant lady, tell her because you have no idea what it took to get her to that point.

We hit every store that had a maternity section and still no pants I liked. Those are what I needed most because my shirts although tight over the bump would still work if necessary. I finally broke down and found some that would do at JC Penney and bought jeans and khaki's. But still on the lookout for the perfect pant. I contemplated just buying some larger elastic pants, but darn it I am pregnant I want pregnant pants. After a trip to motherhood to return some pants I already bought and did not like I talked to some soon to be moms in the same situation. One girl comes in and says to the sales lady- I need some pants for work but everything is so ugly! Can you help me?

I laughed! Being in the same boat!Finally we were at Kohl's and Simon said why don't you just try on the elastic pants? Please? So I gave in and tried some on..................It was like being in heaven on earth. They fit great, were comfortable..........SOLD I will take them in every color.

Now back to Penney's to return the others.New shoes were on the list too as my feet have already grown a size, can you believe that? I am happy with our purchases, but as any girl I still feel like I have nothing to wear. Nothing to wear after 12 stores, 30 purchases and a trunk we could not close.............Spring is around the corner and it will be time to do it again!!! YEAH!

Happy New Year!

Well no one is more excited about the new year than me. Goodbye 2008 (which will go down as the all time worst year of my life) and Hello 2009 (which I hope goes down as the best year!) We are already off to a great start with the expectation of our baby in June of this year.

SORRY THIS IS LONG, but I am trying to catch up!

New Year's Eve

Let me tell you not much a 14 week pregnant girl wants to do on new year's eve- so we had a fun and low key evening hanging out at my mother in law's house. It was fun and I even stayed awake to see the ball drop and kiss my husband for the new year. Wonders never cease.

Cotton Bowl

New Year's Day we were off to Dallas for the Cotton Bowl with every expectation of watching the Red Raiders romp the Ole Miss Rebels (we all know that did not turn out as expected). We got to Dallas and went out to dinner with some friends and in early for the next day. The cotton bowl- weather was awesome! We walked, and walked, and walked, and walked some more. The place was packed! The seats well bleachers with a number on them were wide enough for a 10 year old only! So trying to pack the number of adults on the rows that there were number of seats was not pleasant. I spent most of the time standing on the bleachers, but after all that walking I was exhausted. Not to mention by the third quarter the walking, standing, being cramped, and the score made for one cranky pregnant lady! We left in the 4th quarter. And had a quiet evening just the two of us with nice dinner at a cool restaraunt some brewhouse.

MATERNITY CLOTHES SHOPPING- Not as much fun as you would think

Dallas has a great store- Destination Maternity. It is A Pea in the Pod, Mimi Maternity, and Motherhood all in one. Houston has a pea in the pod and motherhood- separately in most malls- but here it is all in one huge store. Just our luck it was across from our hotel and I had a gift certificate (THANKS SIMON) They were great there- you had your own helper who offered you juice and water, helped you figure out this whole maternity thing; however the only problem I had was the pants all had wide legs. Since I am short the widening usually started at the top of the foot and I'm not real keen on wide leg pants (i do not care if they are instyle or not). But I bought a few cute shirts and we were off.

All in all the new years weekend was not too bad!

Telling Work:

When we got back to work I let my work know about my secret - of course my boss and 1 coworker already knew b/c there was no hiding some of my morning sickness. Which for me was morning, n0on, and nite sickness. Everyone was totally excited and very very surprised I was able to keep my mouth shut for 3 months.

That is about it for now... I am at the point where I now have a bump that won't fit into my clothes anymore- so we are off to do some shopping this weekend. I will let you know how that turns out.

Love ya