Double Oak Baby Shower

Saturday morning four of Susan's best girlfriends threw me a baby shower. The shower was a brunch from 10 a.m. to noon and held at Karen Day's beautiful home in Double Oak, Texas. Our hostesses were Karen, Margie, Dottie and Rosemary, longtime friends of Susan's. I'd already met these lovely ladies at my bridal shower a few years ago and was looking forward to seeing them again, as well as meeting more of Susan's friends and coworkers.

As we waited for the guests to arrive I was able to spend some time talking with our hostesses. They are all so very excited for Chad and I, but I think even more excited for Susan. They told me they have been waiting and waiting for Susan to become a grandmother. They want her to be able to enjoy a grandchild the way they all so proudly do themselves.

As guests arrived, we all enjoyed getting to know each other over a delicious brunch consisting of punch, coffee, yogurt and granola, muffins, fruit and a very delicious breakfast casserole prepared by Miss Dottie. I loved this casserole, had I been alone, I would have enjoyed even more. I have to get my hands on this recipe. We also had some very tasty cupcakes, of which they let me take home the leftovers. These leftover cupcakes definitely did NOT last long around this pregnant woman!

Next we moved onto gift opening. I'm still overwhelmed how generous everyone was. I received some beautiful gifts, from cutesy clothing, toys and books to a Boppy pillow, crib baby soother, high chair, etc. We also received some very special handmade blankets, I can't imagine how much time was put into each of these. Susan really does have some very special friends.

Chad showed up towards the end of the shower, just in time to get a present just for him. I think he was a little overwhelmed when he walked in the door to have all eyes on him, and so many women in one room. He was a good sport though and wanted to participate and be able to thank everyone for coming to the shower. Paula had a special gift for Chad, a Baby Bjorn backpack, or as commonly seen, frontpack. Chad has wanted one of these and now he finally has it. I can't wait to see him carry the baby in it. Stay tuned for a photo of that.

All in all, it was a very lovely baby shower. Thank you so much to Susan, my hostesses and everyone who participated. Here are a few photos from the shower.

Nursery Progress

We are continuously working on the nursery and have had many requests to post some photos along the way. Today we added some detail to the tree Chad painted, little flowers, fireflies, caterpillars and butterflies. You can also see the dresser Chad recently repainted. This dresser was actually Chad's when he was little. It used to be yellow and white. Doesn't it look pretty now? Nicky helped me pick out some of the items on top of the dresser, which are still being placed, as well as her amazing chandelier find in the corner! Thanks Nicky!!

I'll post more photos as we make progress. Thanks for your inquiries!

Waiting for Baby

It has been a few weeks since my last entry, not much new has happened. We are patiently letting time pass waiting for baby. We had a doctor's appointment scheduled for last Wednesday, but when we arrived, the office was closed. We had ice storms in Dallas last week and apparently they thought it was bad enough to close the office that day. A 40 minute drive into Dallas for nothing, oh well. We're headed back tomorrow, which will put me at almost 34 weeks. I have no idea where the time has gone.

I'm still feeling pretty good aside from the common side affects, backpain, leg cramps, restless nights. It's a little more difficult to bend over and tie my shoes, put on socks, pick up Chad's clothes, you name it. (J/K Chad, you'd never do that to your pregnant wife ;) Oh, and I no longer have ankles, well, the ankles I used to have anyway, ha! Overall, I really can't complain.

One development from this weekend was the purchase of our crib for the nursery. The crib we orginally ordered is on backorder and we decided we'd better just go out and get one rather than risk waiting. Even though the baby will sleep in the bassinett for the first couple of months, it's most likely our "nesting" instincts kicking in that make us feel more comfortable having the nursery ready to go. The salesman at Babies R Us predicted it would take Chad just 20 minutes to assemble the crib. That turned out to be a bit of a stretch, it was more like an hour and a half. Thank you Chad, it looks beautiful and is much more sturdy than those cribs at the store that the 20-minute salesman assembled! This weekend we also finished painting the nursery. We still have a few finishing touches to work on over the next couple of weeks. Stay tuned!!!!

30 Weeks

Today marks 30 weeks along for Baby Blockley, just 70 days until our due date. I'm getting significantly bigger by the day. The baby is getting stronger and is much more active. According to Babycenter.com, the baby is approximately 15.7 inches long and weighs almost 3 pounds (like a head of cabbage). It's not long now.

I'm still feeling pretty good. My heartburn has subsided, thanks to my new prescription. I'm sleeping fairly well aside from the 7-8 times I have to get up per night to visit the restroom. I swear she's been sitting on my bladder since day one. Other than that things really are going fairly well.

As most of you know I was recently laid off from work and most likely will be off until after the baby is born. The bright side of that is I will have plenty of time to get ready for the baby's arrival as well as update the blog :).

Nursery

Chad and I started working on the nursery New Year's Day. We were delighted to discover Home Depot happened to be open for a few hours even though it was a holiday. We grabbed the window valence we were given as a gift to use as a color swatch and hit the paint department. We decided on a few different colors, Lavender Meadow, Mystic Purple and Aberdeen Place. All three colors match beautifully with the bedding and theme we picked out. Chad really enjoys painting and is very good at it. Of course he had a little helper. Stella just couldn't help but to be involved in planning for her little sister.

We'll keep you posted as the nursery is coming along. My girlfriend Nicky will be visiting from Wisconsin mid-January to help me with the finishing touches. If there's anyone who has an eye for decorating, it is her. I had no idea just how much fun all of this would be!

Christmas 2008

The week of Christmas started out having family over Sunday evening (Dec. 21st). Chad's Aunt Marilyn and Cousin Laura drove all the way from Missouri for the week. We were so happy to have them here in Dallas for Christmas. Uncle Bob and Aunt Beth also came over along with Susan and Gary. We ordered in Pizza from Bari's. It was a wonderful way to start out the holiday. Marilyn and Laura brought us MORE gifts for the baby.

This year we were so happy to have my brother Joe visit. He flew in Tuesday morning. Unfortunately it wasn't as warm as I had hoped it would be. Then again, he was coming from single digit temperatures, still considerably warmer. We brought him to the house and relaxed for a bit before deciding to head out to the Gaylord Texan to see their holiday "ICE" exhibit. ICE is a 14,000-square-foot display featuring a variety of magical holiday scenes and sculptures hand carved by 40 visiting artisans from Harbin, China. We had to bundle up in parkas as they kept the exhibit of 2 million pounds of ice at a wintry nine degrees. The rest of the week would lend itself to the irony in this, the same day Joe arrives in the South from the frigid midwest, we drag him to an ICE exhibit.

Wednesday we got an early start and did some last minute Christmas shopping. Joe and I had been planning on cooking mom's lasagna for some time. Seeing as Clay was flying in later that evening and Susan, Gary and Laura were right down the road, we decided to have everyone over. This also gave me the perfect chance to use my mom's china for the first time since Chad and I picked it up in Wisconsin. Chad, Joe and I were busy that afternoon preparing the pan of lasagna and garlic bread, setting the table and getting the house ready. It was actually alot of fun. Susan brought over a very tasty salad. Everything turned out wonderfully.

Here's a picture of the house on Christmas:

The next morning, Christmas Day, we headed over to Susan and Gary's. We exchanged gifts sitting around the beautiful flocked Christmas tree. We received so many gifts, including many for Baby Blockley. We are very blessed to have so much support from our family. Later that afternoon we headed over to Mike and Tammy's house for Christmas dinner. They had a house full, with 24 of us total. Even though Joe didn't know anyone, I think he really enjoyed himself. Later that evening we went to see the Curious Case of Benjamin Button. It was a very nice Christmas overall.

Friday was Joe's last day. Finally, a warm day in Dallas. Although it was very windy, Joe didn't mind since it got as warm as 83 degrees! We took him into Dallas and started out at the Sixth Floor Museum. This was an obvious stop considering Joe's love of history.

We spent the rest of the day giving Joe a tour of Dallas, Uptown and Highland Park. We headed home, ordered Pizza and watched a movie. Saturday morning I had to get up very early to bring Joe to the airport. I was so sad to see him leave. His visit went way too fast. I hope he'll come back and visit soon, maybe this summer so he can meet the baby.

Christmas 2008 was very special. Next year will be even better with our baby's 1st Christmas!

Chad, Pam & Stella Christmas Photo

Blockley Family Christmas Photo 2008

27 Weeks

Yesterday we had our 27 week checkup which included a sonogram and glucose test. We hadn't had a sonogram since 16 weeks so both Chad and I were very excited to see our baby girl again. She has been very active lately so I was hoping to see her moving around on the screen.

Of course, when the time came for our sonogram, she was pretty mellow. We did get to see her sucking her thumb. We could see her move her arm to her mouth and then see her jaw bones move up and down. It was absolutely facinating. She was also so much bigger on the screen this time. We could see her eye sockets, nose, heart beating and more.

The sonographer started taking her measurements and then said, "This is a big baby". Chad and I just looked at each other and asked what exactly that means. She said it could be that she is tall and has long legs. I choose to believe that is the case.

After the sonogram we headed up to see our Doctor. Again, first thing he said when he read the sonographer report was, "Big baby". He quickly reassured us that she isn't abnormally big, just on the bigger side. He also told us the sonographer tends to measure a little larger than the baby actually is. All that being said, he said we're doing everything right. So far I have gained 20 pounds, again he said fairly normal. Chad loves to see me get on that scale!

From here on out we have appointments every two weeks. As of now we are still on target for our St. Patty's Day (3/17/09) delivery.

In this sonogram photo you can see the side of the baby's head, with her little face looking up. You should be able to make out her eyes and nose. The two little round shapes toward the top are her fists. She looks pretty cozy to me!

Work Smarter Not Harder

Last weekend was beautiful and we decided it was time to get out and work in the yard. We've recently had some strong winds, leaving loads of leaves in our yard. Chad was a little more interested in leaf cleanup when his dad offered him the use of his leaf blower. We thought, for sure this would make things easier, this is afterall what all the landscapers use. While the leaf blower definitely works, it really wasn't making the dent in our workload we had hoped for. Chad went back to using the rake, while I scooped up leaves and put them in garbage bags.

Our neighbor Tom must have been watching and probably secretly giggling at our slow process. Before long he stopped over and offered Chad his riding lawnmower. He gave Chad a brief tutorial and Chad was off. The lawnmover was AMAZING. It picked up leaves so quickly and collected them in a basket. We were both smiling from ear to ear. Tom told us we could use the mower anytime.

Thanks so much Tom for helping us work smarter, not harder!

Thanksgiving 2008

Thanksgiving break was was very nice and relaxing this year. Clay flew in late Wednesday evening from Los Angeles. Chad and I picked him up from DFW, of course Stella had to ride along as well. He is, we've decided, Stella's 3rd favorite person. We spent the next morning at our house and headed over to Susan and Gary's around 1:30. The house smelled so good! I miss waking up at mom and dad's to that smell of turkey cooking in the kitchen. I told Susan next year we'll have to sleep over the night before so we can wake up to it! I guess one of these years we'll actually host our first holiday and our house will smell the same.

Once again Susan outdid herself. We had turkey, mash potatoes, green beans and rolls. Susan made her famous yams which are a new Thanksgiving favorite of mine. We also had dressing, which we all agreed was outstanding this year! I have to say that this year, being pregnant, I took full advantage of the surplus of food. I'm looking forward to Christmas dinner as well :).

As usual, Gary took the annual Thanksgiving Day photo. Maybe next year we can figure out a way to get him in the photo as well.

We spent the rest of the weekend hanging out around our house. I tried to nap as much as possible, taking the advice of every mom I've recently come across. They all say to get as much sleep as you can before the baby comes. Overall, it was a very relaxing and low key holiday, perfect for this mommy to be!!!

Daddy's Little Lady

Thanksgiving Day gift from Nini and Gramps

Baby Shower - 11/15/08

Last month I traveled back to Wisconsin for my baby shower. What a girls weekend it turned out to be! Thursday evening I met my girlfriend Juliet at the Milwaukee airport. Juliet flew in all the way from Los Angeles. She had never been to Milwaukee, much less Wiscosin. She has promised she'll visit again during the summer so she can really get a sense how much it has to offer. My cousin Machelle picked us up and we spent the night catching up at her apartment.

Friday morning we headed to a spa, where we met Nicky and Tammy. The girls had researched spas in Milwaukee and settled on Urszula's. They reserved a private room for the five of us. We changed into our big cozy robes and lounged on couches surrounded by goodies including fruit, cheese, rolls, and even a chocolate fountain with plenty of dipping treats. My treatment started out with a steam shower, followed by a 60-minute prenatal massage and 30-minute scalp/neck massage. It was amazingly relaxing. What better way to spend time with girlfriends. I could have stayed at the spa for another couple of hours. My girlfriends are the BEST!

We headed back to Machelle's for pizza and a nice quiet night in. My brother Joe took a break from studying and stopped over to say hello. I think a couple of hours with all the girls was enough for him. After Joe left, we stayed up watching Dane Cook and Sex in the City. What a great day!

Saturday morning Machelle and I introduced Juliet to George Webb for breakfast. We had to hurry home and get ready for the shower. Machelle helped curl my hair and it looked really cute, thanks Machelle! She also prepared an enormous amount of food, which we loaded into the van to bring to my cousin Chris' house. Tammy and Nicky met us at Machelle's and we were off! Chris had balloons and a cake to welcome me. The girls quickly set up all the food.

As the guests arrived I started realizing how blessed I am to have so many wonderful women in my life who care so much about me. If only mom could have been there. She would have oohed and ahhed along with the rest of us as I opened my gifts. I was taken aback how generous everyone was with gifts for the baby. I have to say that opening all the cutesy girly clothes confirmed my decision to find out ahead of time the sex of the baby. We received so many things....receiving blankets, onesies, tons of clothes, bibs, musical stuffed animals, a bouncer, bath products, a car seat, nursery decorations, baby monitors, gift cards, you name it. A couple of my favorites included a Green Bay Packer cheer leading dress and a cute pink outfit with a saying on the shirt that reads "Does this diaper make my butt look big?". My very favorite gift was a crocheted blanket from my Grandma Hoff. She has made so many blankets in the past and I always secretly looked forward to a blanket from her for my baby. It's beautiful. She even stitched in a "Made by Lorraine Hoff with Love" tag. I love you Grandma.

The next day (Sunday) Juliet flew out early and I spent the afternoon relaxing with Machelle. I was somehow able to fit all of my gifts in the 2 suitcases I brought with me! It worked out perfectly. I arrived late into Dallas that evening, but still had to spend some time with Chad and show him all of the gifts for the baby. Stella had to sniff each and every item. Chad couldn't believe how many presents we received. Baby Blockley is going to be one stylish baby!!!!

Thanks again to my girls, Machelle, Tammy, Nicky, Juliet and Chris, for making all of the shower arrangements. Chris, thank you for hosting and Juliet, thank you for flying so far to join us!! Also, thanks to Jamie and Juliet for taking photos!! I'm so grateful that I will always have this memory with me and will one day be able to share it with the baby.

Finally Fall

Today marks 22 weeks along for Baby Blockley. She has proven to be quite active, mostly later at night when I'm laying on the couch. Every now and then she kicks just hard enough for Chad to be able to feel her. I imagine she will only get stronger as she gets bigger.

According to my baby tracker update, Baby Blockley is approximately 11 inches in length, just a little longer than a carrot. She weighs almost one pound and is starting to look like a miniature newborn. Her lips, eyelids, and eyebrows are becoming more distinct, and she's even developing tiny tooth buds beneath her gums.

I'm starting to get used to regularly being asked, "How are you feeling?". I have actually been feeling GREAT! From everything I've read this is relatively normal. I'm hoping it lasts well into my 3rd trimester, if only I could be so lucky! Luckily enough we were able to schedule our recent during this time in my pregnancy.

We've been in the house just a little over a week and are almost settled. We only have about four boxes left to unpack. The sooner that is finished, the sooner we can fully relax. Along with the house came a yard with lots of trees and LOTS of leaves. Last weekend was absolutely beautiful. Although our goal was to finish unpacking, Chad spent much of the weekend raking and Stella spent endless hours running and playing. Who knew leaves could be so much fun?

From Dallas to Flower Mound Texas

It's official, we have left the city for suburbia! We moved last weekend from Downtown Dallas to Flower Mound, Texas. Luckily this time we had to hire movers. There are some advantages to being pregnant, ha! I won't bore you with too many details about the move, you've all been there and know just how much fun it is. We're slowing settling in and hope to finish unpacking this weekend.

Stella could not be happier. Our new backyard is her playground. She constantly wants to be outside. Chad and I are convinced she's lost at least three, maybe four pounds in less than one week. She cannot get enough of playing fetch with her tennis ball.









The leaves on our trees have just started to turn, and of course are starting to drop, right after we moved in. Chad will be busy with the yard this weekend. I'll try to get another photo or two posted.

We have already met a couple of our neighbors. An older couple next door has two huge sheepdogs that Stella has already befriended. The gentleman came over the other night and invited Chad to a Men's Club, shrimp dinner tomorrow. Chad is not sure what he's in for, but graciously accepted. More on that later........

There are definitely some advantages to living out here. Most importantly, we are much closer to Susan and Gary, soon to be Nini and Gramps :). The Town of Flower Mound is made up of approximately 60,000 people and has more shopping and restaurants than I know what to do with. There is very little traffic and parking is a piece of cake everywhere. Our house sits at the end of a cul-du-sac and is surrounded by trees.

It is very peaceful here!