Tick Tock

Holy cow, its June! Where did March, April, and May go? Pretty soon, I will get to see the precious little feet that have been kicking the crud out of me for the last several months! I hate to get all mushy on everyone, but how incredible is it that sometime in the next two weeks, I will meet my son for the first time? To say that I have had "baby brain" recently is an understatement. There is a myth (at least I think its a myth) that men think about sex every 7 seconds. Well I think about baby about every 3 seconds- and that's the truth. Sometimes I feel a little crazy because I can hold an extended conversation with my belly. As a suggestion from my co-pregnant co-worker, I bought myself a stability ball. They are great for pregnant exercising and supposedly can help induce labor. If nothing else though, it lets me FEEL like I am being proactive. My husband laughs at me when he walks in to the room and sees me bouncing, bouncing, bouncing on my stability ball. He tries to have a conversation with me, but sometimes I need to focus on my bouncing.  Usually when I am bouncing, I am putting forth a persuasive argument as to why my son should come out and meet his mom. I am officially a crazy pregnant lady. 

I suppose the reason I am so anxious is that I'd LOVE for bambino to come before Saturday. You see, my doctor is out of town all next week and then I'm due the next weekend. So, if he doesn't come by Saturday I either will have to be delivered by someone I've never met or be induced. These are all things that I tell my belly during my persuasive argument. 

When I am not bouncing, I try to keep up with all the work that seems to grow exponentially around me. At work, I try to have things organized and labeled every day when I leave since I never know if I'll be back the next day. At home, I can never seem to get caught up. It's not even baby related stuff, it's just normal household stuff- dishwashers, alarm systems, water heaters, laundry. Our tiling job still isn't finished (it's possible we drastically underestimated the amount of work tiling entails) but we are very, very close. I will post pictures this week so you can see how amazing it looks! 

Everyone hold on to their britches, the next post will be done by Mr. G himself! I asked him to contribute a long time ago and he said he wanted to do the first post-baby blog entry! Y'all hold him to it! See you on the other side! 

38w4d. 40 inches around at belly button.

We tried to go to the Rangers game but Mother Nature had other plans!

Old tile. It actually looks decent here.

Messy!

New tile! These pictures don't do it justice!

Love this. 

Had to do some editing here since his name is already on the wall!

Love his sweet little room. :)

Can't wait to rock my boy in this glider!

Downpour

Holy baby shower! Our family baby shower was April 27th and Mr. G and I walked away with more than we could fit in our truck at one time. Of course, since the Bakers organized it, everything was so well planned and lovely! Then we had a shower at Matt's work followed by one at my work (a joint one, in fact, with a friend and coworker who is due June 8th with a precious girl). When I take a look at all we were gifted, "baby shower" is just not accurate. This was a baby downpour!

 

On another note, my house is an absolute disaster. I finally got all the toys put away, clothes washed and folded, decorations up, supplies organized, and baby gear put together but lots of boxes and packaging remain. Not to mention we have a few home projects in the works. On Saturday we had new carpet installed in our bedroom. Our old carpet had gotten so dirty from the dogs so we had to get it changed before baby. Our poor dogs are not a fan of their new outdoor life but we just have to find other ways to spoil them now! We also ripped out the vinyl tile in our kitchen (with a lot of help from Mom and Doug).  I have hated that junk since we moved in and I couldn't take it anymore (I may or may not be on a home reno rampage). Matt's folks came down last weekend and the men worked hard at laying our new tile. It's still a work in progress but it looks absolutely beautiful. Matt asked me not to post pictures until its finished so that will have to wait until next post! Until then, we are living with our stove and fridge in our living room. Convenient for fetching a beer (or water in my case) without getting off the couch, not so convenient for just about anything else! 

Sunday was Mother's Day and Mr. G made sure I felt like a mom even though our bun is still in the oven. He got me a beautiful Pandora bracelet with a few charms that signify our little boy. I feel so spoiled! I don't know how I got so lucky, but somehow I married my best friend and now we have been blessed with the most wonderful gift! Boom baby! 

Upcoming events: Last sonogram on Thursday. Visit to Texarkana. Finishing our kitchen!!!!

Well we have a ton of pictures this time. Laurie (Matt's mom) took some maternity pictures of us a couple weeks ago so I'll start there!!

Family shower!

Thanks Luminant!

Such a cute cake from Matt's coworkers!

MPD spoils me. I am a lucky girl! :)

Blue for Baby Gross, Pink for Hailie Phelps



Busy Busy Bees!

What a busy couple of weeks we've had! I'll hit the high points.

San Antonio Trip: Mr. G and I headed south to meet up with some of his college buddies. It was great to get away for a bit and see each of the couples new homes. I think Matt was most excited to see Bocephus, the weiner dog he lived with in college. If that dog could talk he'd have some interesting stories... though some are probably best untold!

First Trial: I testified in my first murder trial on the 10th. Pretty neat milestone in my career!

Pregnancy classes: We were a little disappointed by our childbirth and infant care classes. I suppose they'd be helpful if you had absolutely no idea which end of the baby was which, but we pretty much have that one nailed down. On our way to a Parents of the Year award!

Doctor's Appointments: These are getting old.

3D Ultrasound: We had our 3D ultrasound Saturday. It was absolutely wonderful! The sonographer was much better than the ones at the doctor. I suppose it's because it's not a medical ultrasound so she tells you all the fun things you like to know rather than just speed through the organs. Baby G was wide awake the entire appointment so we could see him open and close his eyes. She could even tell that he has decent amount of hair! I learned that our peanut has his daddy's ears (which are very unique!). During the appointment the sonographer told me that I was having a Braxton Hicks contraction. I have been feeling these sensations for some time but always attributed them to the baby moving. Guess I was wrong!

Other neat things: I painted my front door red (and I LOVE it). Matt is on a trip to San Diego (not so neat for me). We had our first couples poker game (and it was great fun!).

Upcoming events: Baby showers. Foreign exchange brothers visiting. Maternity pictures.

Mr. Bocephus

Belly pictures in the bathroom for Mr. G

"Before"

"After"

Little peanut <3

I love this little face more than words can express!

That is definitely an ear from Matt!

Only picture of his eyes open. He didn't want to move that hand!

H-E-Double Carrot Sticks

A couple weeks ago I had the mother of all doctor's appointments. I had my glucose test, an ultrasound, and a normal check up scheduled the same morning. For those of you that don't know, the glucose test consists of drinking a sugary drink on an empty stomach (no eating after midnight the night before) and then getting your blood drawn an hour later. Then, you cross your fingers and hope your doctor doesn't call you in a few days to tell you that you failed. On a side note- I hate how doctors often do that whole "I'll only call you if something is wrong" thing. Being the over analytical woman that I am, if I never get a call I worry that the call didn't come through, that the doctor has the wrong number, or that my results got lost in space and I got skipped over! Well, not to worry about all that this time because I got the dreaded phone call. More on that later. The ultrasound part of my appointment went wonderfully. At our last u/s (around week 20) we were told our baby had a Choroid Plexus Cyst in his brain. Yes, my doctor said "baby", "brain", and "cyst" in one sentence. It's not as bad as it sounds though. It's very common and my doctor made me feel very comfortable with it. He said it would almost certainly go away on its own. This u/s was just to check that it actually did. Well, great news, the cyst was gone and Baby G looked perfect in every way. He measured 13.5 inches and weighs 2 lbs 8 oz. He is just slightly larger than the average baby (which is great because his momma loves chunky babies!).

The other interesting tidbit from my doctor this visit- I'm gaining weight too quickly! As of that appointment which was two weeks ago today, I had gained 25lbs with 12.5 weeks left to go. In a typical pregnancy, a woman should gain 1 pound a week for the last 13 weeks and gain a total of between 30 and 35lbs. You may have just done the math... My rate would have put me closer to 40lbs IF I got back on track and only gained 1lb per week. Anywho, I was told to simply watch my carbohydrate intake. I thought "No sweat, Doc. I can do that". I fell off the low-carb bandwagon two days later.

Let me just say how much I admire anyone who can do that Atkins diet. It's nearly impossible, virtually everything except meat and raw veggies has carbs, and lots of them. I basically became a carrot stick depository. I ate them twice a day for a week (it was one of the very few low carb habits that made it past day two). I don't even like carrot sticks.

Okay so back to the dreaded phone call. I just barely failed my one-hour glucose test which meant I had to go back for a second, more extensive, 3 hour test. For this one I have my blood drawn after fasting, drink an even more sugary drink, then have my blood drawn once an hour for three hours. It wasn't so bad although sitting at the doctors office for 4 hours isn't much fun.

I got the results at my doctors appointment today (yes, 3rd trimester pregnant women practically live at the doctor). I passed with flying colors. Thank goodness! And although my low-carb quickly had low-effort, the simple fact that I was even more conscious of what I was eating meant I didn't gain a single pound in those two weeks. I say that's a success.

Okay enough about doctor's appointments! Spring time means nice weather and baseball season- two things Matt and I love! This last Thursday we went with his folks to the Rangers exhibition game. I can't wait to take our little peanut to his first game! Then on Friday I took advantage of the day off of work to put some elbow grease into our home. I sanded, repainted, and added hardware to our bathroom vanity. I am quite proud of the results! I have since started doing the same to the guest bathroom although I haven't quite finished. Saturday and Sunday we celebrated Easter with each of our families. We are so blessed! :)

April events: More doctor's appointments. Trip to San Antonio. Childbirth class. Baby shower. Testifying in my first murder trial. 3D ultrasound.

Rangers game!

Box suite- not too shabby!

A painting I did at Painting with a Twist!

The "before" picture.

Another "before"- see how dingy!

"After"- pardon the mess I make while doing home repair. 

6 months down, 3 to go!

I should be in the blogging Hall of Shame with the infrequency of my posts. Regardless, Matt and I have just been gearing up for June and trying to take advantage of all the free time we still have. In the past couple weekends we have managed to get all the big furniture items that we have put into the nursery, Matt has built a work bench for his man cave (the garage), we have sold unneeded furniture and bought needed furniture, and we planted new bushes in the front of the house. There is still so much to do around the house though- I feel like I will never catch up! 

My belly seems to be growing faster than Pinnochio's nose when he lying. It has officially swallowed my belly button. Now that I am really showing, Matt has gotten into talking to his little boy.  Everyday he comes home, he gives me a kiss then kneels down and kisses my belly. How can we love our bambino so much already? Luckily for me, Baby Gross has been taking it pretty easy on his Momma lately. I feel as though it's not fair to other women that I am coasting through my pregnancy. Not that I would want it any different, but so many women have a miserable 9 months and I am free to just enjoy it! Keeping my fingers crossed this impending 3rd trimester is just as smooth.

I did, however, get my first taste of pregnancy charlie horses. Oh.my.gosh. I really thought someone had stabbed me in the back of BOTH calves at the same time. I was in a dead sleep and don't think I have ever shot out of bed that fast. Of course, after realizing what was going on, I fell back onto the bed and resorted to a few choice words which hopefully the baby didn't hear in my belly. I have also been dealing with "pregnancy brain". I swore up and down that this was a myth but, this week, my body is proving me wrong. It does exist, and it will make you feel like a complete goober. 

Other preggo news: My belly is now 34.5 inches around at the belly button (up from the original 27.5) and I have gained about 17 pounds (which is ALL belly). Baby G weighs just over 1.75 pounds and is just starting to open his eyes.  All his growing is making my appetite insatiable. I take two lunchboxes to work everyday to fit all my snacks. :)

In non-baby news, work has been crazy busy for me. I enjoy it though- even when it means I am standing in a dirt field at 4am in the freezing cold or when I am huddled in an interview viewing room watching a case unravel. The other day I was getting ready for work and it suddenly occurred to me that I hate my extra long hair. So the next day, I chopped it off. It feels so much better and I don't know why I didn't do it sooner! Matt keeps trucking away at work. I think its a busy time for him too so we both come home from work pretty worn out. He also started his softball league a couple weeks ago. I love going to watch the games- just can't wait until hes out there coaching our little tyke.



Nursery progress



Big ol' belly.



Matt's pride and joy.



With our sweet niece.



Preparing for Gepetto

I guess I should explain the title to my post before I get too deep into this. When Matt and I finally settled on names for our baby (at the time we didn't know whether Baby G was a boy or girl we had a name for each) we decided we wouldn't tell anyone until the birth. To curb our families curiosities we came up with the two of the most awful names we could think of and decided that's what we would tell them when they asked. Not too long after that we were sitting at dinner with Matt's family when the topic came up. So we proudly told them if we had a son he would be "Gepetto" and if we had a daughter she would be "Zelda". Laurie, Matt's mom, immediately objected but the rest of the family tried hard to pretend like they liked it. For the rest of the meal, everyone politely tried to figure out if we were kidding with them. I've never been a great liar so I was dying inside. By the end though, we had them fairly convinced that in June we would be welcoming a Gepetto or a Zelda Gross. Our original plan was to keep it up until the birth but we did feel a bit bad so we eventually filled them in. Ever since then though, Gepetto/Zelda has been an ongoing joke.

So it's been quite a while since my last post and we were just about to find out if we are having a son or daughter. Well, our gender reveal party was absolutley wonderful (thanks Mom and Doug) and we found out that Baby Gross is a BOY! We are going to have a son! There's so much I look forward to with a little boy- just think of all the sporting events we'll have! Now that we know Baby G is a boy, preparations for his arrival are in full swing. The last couple weeks we have focused on getting his nursery ready. We've only gotten as far as painting the walls, but I love the way its coming along! I have nearly finished staining the crib and changing table the Baker's gave to us. After I sanded them down I was so nervous that I was never going to get them looking good again. I was convinced I'd ruined them. But low and behold, they are looking great! I can't wait to get them assembled and put in Gepetto's room!

Other baby news:

• I can feel my son moving around so much more now. I am learning what makes him active. So far, he likes baths, nighttime, and Fruit Loops.
• Occasionally, I'll pull out a little book Leslie gave me called "Oh Baby, the Places You Will Go" (it's written like Dr. Seuss books and talks about all the different character's baby will "meet" when reading Dr. Seuss). Well, one night I got Matt to read it to my tummy. Talk about a Kodak moment!! I got a chuckle out of hearing him read words like Motta-fa-Potta-fa-Pell.
• I am now 23 weeks along and baby is about 11 inches long and weighs just over a pound. In the next four weeks though, he doubles his weight! Grow, Gep, Grow!

Non-baby news:

• My mom and Doug are getting married! We are super excited and so so happy for them! They want to get married in Colorado so I guess that means we'll have to make a trip out there, darn it! :)
• Matt's good friend Blain married his fiance, Laura, last weekend. We were so happy to see them tie the knot! Plus, listening to the preacher talk about the depths of marriage and the joys it brings was a good reminder to Matt and I during a stressful time. I loved when the preacher would say something that's so true to our relationship and Matt would give my hand a little squeeze just to let me know he caught it too. I sure do love my husband!

Our cake was absolutely adorable!

The "Gross" "Bakers".

He loves my belly.

Finally starting to look pregnant instead of just chunky.

The cake cutting.... it's BLUE!

We were so excited to learn Baby G is all BOY.

Allie was not as thrilled... she wanted a girl cousin. 

My favorite in-laws. :)

Mom and Doug... thanks for the par-tay!

You can't read it but it says "Gepetto".

(Don't judge my post-painting look) My belly is 33.5 inches around!

The walls are done! I love it!