Happy Birthday Sissy!

Today is my beautiful sister's birthday!

Happy Birthday Katie!

She's exquisite..

Left: Me                         Right: Katie and Mom

Left: Katie                                        Right: Me

Left: Me                                      Right: Katie

This is probably one of my favorite pictures of her ever! Look at that face!

Katie is my younger sister but she's always been an "ahead of the game" kinda gal. Even as the oldest I looked up to her in a lot of ways. Where I was self conscious, she could care less. Where I'm routine and stubborn, she's adventurous and carefree. When I plucked my eyebrows way too thin in early high school, she was out being a #1 stunna and already doing her make-up better than me. haha
I feel so lucky to have such a wonderful sister. She was the maid of honor at my wedding and I know she'll be the best auntie ever! I can only hope that one day our baby bird will have a younger sister as cool and amazing as she is.

Love you Katie!

Time For Some R&R

Good news: This weekend has been over the top fun and crazy busy.

Bad news: I've officially got a cold! Sadface. I'm just glad it didn't get bad until this evening. I can relax all week and hopefully feel better in no time.

Today looked a little something like this for about an hour:

Relaxing for a bit with the fam.

We finally took advantage and parked here yesterday:

haha 

D and I also spent a lot of time sorting through all of the bird's new presies:

Now it's time for this sick mama to snuggle with her birdies and rest up.

Goodnight.

34 Weeks

8 1/2 months- what whaaaat!? This week our sweet baby doll is about 20 inches long and 5 1/2lbs. Most of her growth over the next month or so will be in weight, not height, because baby's pretty much reached the in utero limit in the height department. Isn't that crazy to think that we have 6 weeks to go but she's full length already? Yes! It is! 

I've been getting some serious heartburn (to the point of throwing up at times) at night and it's pretty much my least favorite thing about being pregnant right now. That and the fact that baby bird is so strong now it hurts when she elbows me! A LOT. It's never her kicks or punches that are painful, it's those boney little elbows gliding ferociously across my uterine wall. For about an hour of our 3 hour Lamaze class this morning I was fidgeting and changing positions trying any way I could to stop those elbows from going Chuck Norris all over my innards. She only stopped after an hour to move on to kicks and pedaling. 

The class was extra fun today because we got to go back for another tour of the labor rooms and watched a hilarious video of women giving birth from the 70's. I was very proud that D kept his eyes on that screen the entire time! I thought for sure he'd have to look away during the ::ahem:: more personal moments of the video but he was a trooper. I love having a 3 hour morning every week that's fully dedicated to the three of us and this intense event we're all about to experience together. I not only come home feeling stronger in my womanly capabilities, but also in our family's relationship. The bird hasn't even arrived yet but our bond is solid as a rock. I'm such a proud mama!

Dear Baby Bird, 

You're now super strong and I know you didn't get any sort of muscle strength from me, so that's all your pops. I don't think he minds taking credit for that kind of gene contribution, and as of now he apparently still thinks his passing on his smarts as well. Um, no. I take full responsibility for your brain and at least half your heart. Papa Bird is a sweetheart so yes, half will do. We also equally pass on any music/artistic genes you may possess. As far as looks go.. well I wouldn't really know yet since I haven't yet seen your face in person.. but I'm pretty sure since we're both of the female variety I can take claim in that arena too. I know it seems petty for us to be fighting over any sort of "credit" but hey, it keeps us young and feisty! The best part of all is the thought of all those little characteristics/quirks/traits/looks that you'll have that we see and go "she didn't get that from us!?" I love the fact that you are part us, but also part just straight YOU. A whole new beautiful mixture of a human that we can only hope is the newest more capable and kick ace hybrid of us. I can't wait to meet you and to watch you grow and develop throughout the years. I already know you're seriously going to be so much cooler than us, and you know what? I love it!

Love you oodles, 

Ma & Pop

p.s. 40 days left on the countdown...

Baby Shower #2

I'm so completely drained from a 12 hour day of non-stop party I'm not even going to write anything other than:

THIS WAS THE BEST BABY SHOWER EVA!!!

So fun. I love my homies.

Workin Hard For The Scrilla

Mama & Baby Bird: 33 weeks, 5 days
Yesterday's doctor appt went well.. especially because I got the nice surprise of seeing the bird again! Bada bing! She's such a dollface and I pretty much wish I could bring that damn ultrasound machine home with me so I can stare at her whenever I want! I already stalk the 4D ultrasound pictures we just got..

Speaking of those pictures- I showed them to my doc and she basically said that the cord does seem to be wrapped around her neck but there's nothing we can do about it now.::tear:: I just have to continue doing my kick counts and be very aware of her movements. As of right now baby girl is totally fine, her heartbeat was excellent, and we even saw her breathing normally and making smiley faces. I'm just sad D missed it, but he was too busy being a good papa and workin hard for the scrillaaaaaa!

Speaking of Papa- this is what 13 hour days do to you...

Poor thing! Seems like he's either working, eating(finally) or sleeping. He tries so hard to stay up for quality time with me and the bird on the weeknights, but those heavy eyes drop uncontrollably. THIS is why he gets a 4-day weekend every other week. I also just realized that it's Labor Day weekend so he actually gets 3 days off this weekend as well. He deserves it! He takes such good care of his girls and we couldn't love him more.

Tomorrow is baby shower #2. We have some things to do early in the morning to help the host out. This is the big shower(I seriously don't even know how many people were even invited) and she's handling it all by herself! So, we offered to help pay for some things because that's just too much money for her to spend. I'm excited for D because all his boys will be at this shower.. unlike the extra girly girl stereotypical baby shower last week.. so he can have some man time with them around the grill while us gals gush about baby stuff. Here's hoping nobody yells out our frickin baby name this time. haha

Happy Friday!

Buddha Belly In The AM

Mama & Baby Bird: 33 weeks, 4 days

This is a random picture but that's what I like about it, and it pretty much sums up this mama's version of "tummy time" in bed. Ahhh bed, my favorite spot to hang out lately...

Today I got thaaangs to do! - errands, help with last minute baby shower stuff, and my doctor's appt. It was pouring all morning and I was so sad D wasn't here to snuggle, but luckily I always have baby bird with me. She moves a lot when I talk to her now, and I'm willing to put money on it that she's actually responding to my voice at this point. Ca-ray-zay!

Oh and here's a random question: What are your thoughts on episiotomies? D and I wrote out our birth plan last night but when it came to our thoughts on this subject, I felt completely neutral about it. Any of you strongly for or against them for any reason? I've read before that they can actually be more dangerous for you but that was only one source and didn't sway me one way or the other. Any input would be appreciated.