Our Newest Addition

Ekemona 

October 2010, 6:02 AM

6 lb. 9 oz.

18 1/2 in.

You're Freaking Kidding Me...

I'm in chemistry class right now, but class is a joke so I decided I should do this post. So last night McKinley and I were eating dinner. She looks at me, gives her hair a flip, and says, "I hope I have the baby tomorrow because my hair looks good." Haha...ridiculous. So just remember, it's not just how you deliver the baby...it's how good you look while you deliver the baby. Here's a pic of McKinley yesterday w/ her curled hair...

Voilllllllaaaaaaaaaaaaa.... ZEEEE Nursery!!!

The title of his blog is suppose to be read in a French accent. That is why "the" had been replaced with "ZEEEE". So read it again if you didn't get it the first time.

The long awaited post of our nursery. Everything is ready except his name will be in letters on the wall above the crib, and the other item is not easy to explain. So I will post about it once it is done.

I hope that you can envision our nursery with these pictures. Sometime pictures don't do it justice. OHH PS we were not allowed to paint our walls, which is totally fine with me. But that is why they are stark white.

The crib and bedding

My mom got our baby this little bear. It is a traditional music bear that plays "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" when you wind him up, and the bears head tilts from side to side. I love it!!

I painted this canvas. Man, I think this took me 3 weeks to complete. The font didn't come out the way I thought, but I think it gives it character! In my family, my mom gave each of us our own lullaby. I wanted to carry this tradition on into our family. I was having a hard time finding one for Baby M. until my mom suggested this line from my lullaby to paint on the canvas. I thought it worked great and had more meaning, so his lullaby will be the same one I had.

The beautiful changing table! With his hand painted canvas and lullaby from his mommy!

This wall was hard to get a photo of. It is right across from the crib. There are books on the two right shelves, and on the small left shelf there are three birds that my friend Jessie gave me. It has some meaning that wouldn't make any sense if I explained it. Two of the three birds have a little thing to hold pictures or papers. There, I put two ultrasounds of our little one.

These are the wonderful stuffed animals this baby has to come home too. Gian's Lola (that is Grandma in Tagalog) gave her great-grandson the huge teddy bear that has the sweater "I Love Vegas" on it. The old raggedy rabbit is my absolute favorite stuffed animal from my childhood. The owl is from a date that Gian and I made together at Build-a-Bear. Then the panda Gian got, it is actually a pillow if you unbuckle his belly. Gian thought it was amazing and loved that pandas equal Asians ahahhahaha.

The valance over our really small window. I looooooooooove it!!

I wanted to make the baby a blanket... here is one side.

Here is both sides...

Here is the other side. I am not sure if you can see it, but I quilted diagonal lines on the blanket to give the appearance of puffy diamonds, to make it nice and plush.

There you go!! I hope you guys like it!! I love to just sit in the nursery and stare. I love thinking this is where our baby will sleep, where I will be able to get him out of his crib, where he will get his dirty diapers changed. This helps rid the fear of labor, and makes me think, "I can't wait!!!"

Baby Games

Can I please tell you one of my favorite pass time activities is to just sit in the nursery and stare! I can't wait to bring this little one home.

OK, to the main event. My due date is October 26, today's date is October 18, and I have 8 days until the ETA. He could come any day now.... or he can stay nice and tucked away in his little kangaroo pouch until November 3 {which is my induction date}.

Gian was convinced that the baby would come this weekend. Guess what... he didn't, I am still pregnant. So I thought it would be fun to make this into a game.

In the comment box, write the date and time of when you think the baby will come. Whoever guesses the closest will win a wonderful treat from us {no matter where you live}. The time will only be used if he was born on a date that more then one person guessed. So try to be a little different to help your chances of winning.

Mental Note

Watching a live birth at 38 weeks pregnant DOES NOT HELP!!! According to birthcenter.com it may help you prepare for the big day. FALSE.... I now feel more scared then ever before. I did not want to know the details of what goes on down there. Well, usually I wouldn't have minded, but knowing I will be doing that any day now is freaking me out. I mean there is a reason God made our heads above our shoulders, so we don't get scared and panic when giving birth! Agreed? Now I am doomed!! I know the truth! There is nothing I can do now, except calm my fears.... which isn't working!! {GULP} Ready or not, here comes baby!

Halloween/Disney Costume

Remember when I told you I felt like I look like THIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIS?

Well, our friend Megan had a birthday party that was Disney themed and you had to dress like a disney character. At first I was really sad because there was no princess let alone character that was pregnant. The only thing I thought of was Ariel because in The Little Mermaid 2 she has a little girl. So after hours of hunting for an Ariel The Little Pregnant Mermaid costume, I was begining to feel hopeless. AND THEN... it dawned on me... Smee is a Disney character from Peter Pan and he looks pregnant with that sexy pot belly of his.

It was off to the thrift store I went. I was able to find everything for the Smee costume except his hat. I got glasses (little girl's), the shirt, the pants (they were scrubs that I mangled to be piratey), and the shoes. I was so proud to have shopped at just one stop and walking out only spending $17.50. I loved the idea so much that if I am still pregnant when Halloween parties come around I will be him again. Maybe making Gian be Rufio (which by the way he didn't come to the party because he was working... LAME!!).

Here is the grand masterpiece... SMEE in all his glory!

Incase you were wondering who that cute Tinker Bell is... thats Megan, the birthday girl. Her party was a hit. It was so much fun, they had my favorite carmel apples from Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory and pizza and then we played games. Happy (belated) Birthday Megan!

I Feel Like Saying @$*&%#

I would really like to say" @$*&%#" to my wonderful new found stretch marks!!!

In our society stretch marks are viewed as something disgusting or non-human. They may make your brain say to your self, "EEEEEEEEEEWWWWW!!! WTF, YOU HORRIFYING MARKINGS OF DEATH!!!" Well that was my reaction to this new discovery. Can I first start off and say how sneaky these son of a bees are? I made it a whole 36 weeks... I was almost to the finish line. BUT NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO... these rude, rude, rude, creepy, monsters made their happy little way in to my life, and being pregnant makes it difficult to see every inch of your body. So when you find yourself walking in circles trying to see if that is indeed the worst thing you can find on your butt, you feel like someone just sucker punched you in the head! RUDE!! I would never do such a thing, to anyone... EVER!

I must say I cried when this news sunk into my consciousness. Mostly because I was really emotional that day, and hormones where ruling over me. I then began to think of why stretch marks are so unwelcome to many of us who have to sport them. It is because it is associated with gaining weight, which for whatever reason is frowned upon in our society. When many people forget that it may mean you loose weight too fast, or maybe possibly had a child or two. I also then realized no one looks at stretch marks and thinks, "Ohhh how cute, you had a baby!!! What a great souvenir to always reflect on!" After wishing that is what people would REALLY think I then decided to make a whooooole new stigma about stretch marks. I decided to LOVE THEM! Yes, you read that right LOVE, as in L-O-V-E!!

How do you love your stretch marks you may ask? It is not exactly easy, but I can begin to share the secret. Think of the happiest thing you could ever comprehend... for example I am thinking of what my baby's smile will be like. Once you have chosen that image, place it after every glance you make of those defined markings. You can even choose to say something to help make the thought process more efficient. Like I am going to say, "I love you baby battle wounds! You are not ugly to me!" You see the real trick is to trick yourself!!! Also, use this same process if you see someone else with stretch marks. Together we can change the way everyone feels and views stretch marks!!! Don't you agree?

I share this with all of you to read because I feel like we are all human and we all gain and/or loose weight. We have great bodies that we all respect, and sometimes it is hard to remember why we love them or why we may even feel beautiful. I just wanted to bring humor into something that may be taken negatively.

So instead of always saying "@$*&%#" to our stretch marks or other body parts.... lets say, "I freaking love you, you little piece of joy!!!" Never under underestimate the power of your brain.... it can do wonders!

I Love Being an Aunty

My niece Ella is 4 and half years old now. She is super cute and says the funniest things. Call me bias... that is totally fine, but you have to read the funniest things she has said.

It was Christmas time and she was about to be 3. We all went snowmobiling and Ella was left with Koko to bake cookies. I plop my self on the couch and said, "Ohh Ella I am pooped!!" She put her pudgy little hand on my thigh and with much compassion said, "You need to change your panties? That's ok, ACCIDENTS HAPPEN!!" We all started laughing soooooooooo hard. She looked at us with confusion. Especially because she understood exactly what it was like to have an accident in your panties ahahhahaha.

Another time I was baby sitting Ella and Hunter while Brittany was in the hospital with Lily. I was going to take the kids to the splash park, but I could tell they were tired and needed a nap. I could see Ella's eyes were drooping and she was desperately fighting her tiredness. I said, "Ella, you look tired why don't you try to take a nap?" Within a millisecond, she peeled back her eyelids to make her eyes as wide and as possible and yelled, "No, I don't! I don't look tiwed!!!" I still don't get why kids don't like to take naps.

Brittany and Ella were reminiscing about Cinderella and how they haven't seen it in a while. This time I wasn't with Ella, but this is the conversation that Brittany (my sister) and Ella had.

Brittany: We should watch Cinderella soon, huh?

Ella: Yay, we should, but you know what mama?

Brittany: What Ella?

Ella: The commewshal says, "It's better then you wemembew," and I watched it and it's not... it's exactly da same!

I love the way kids think. I wish they would still have that show Kids Say the Darnest Things.

Tis The Season

'Tis the most wonderful season of PUMPKIN EVERYTHING!!!!

Pumpkin Bread

Pumpkin Cookies

Pumpkin Bagels with Cinnamon Butter

Pumpkin Pancakes (my mom makes the best)

Pumpkin Hot Chocolate

Pumpkin Steam Milk from Starbucks

Pumpkin Doughnuts from Krispy Kreme

Pumpkin Pie

Pumpkin Ice Cream

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

Pumpkin Soup (my dad makes the best)

Pumpkin Carving and Painting (aka Jack-O-Lanterns)

I love Autumn it is such a beautiful season. The trees turn colors, Halloween and Thanksgiving are right around the corner, and we get to celebrate with beautiful food!! Pumpkin is my most favoritist seasonal food. Whoever thought of all the wonderful ways to use pumpkin was just genius! I feel like Bubba from Forrest Gump only about PUMPKINS!!! What is your favorite holiday treat?

525,600 Minutes

Gian and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary together this last week. When I think of all the wonderful moments that I have gotten to share with Gian, it is hard to believe that the first year is already over. I wish that I captured more of the great moments. I didn't realize how fast they just pass you by, and how you don't even notice it until you look at the calendar.

I couldn't think of my life without Gian. He really is absolutely perfect to me. And best of all, even in the tough times that we have had, I love the way that we are still able to resolve our conflicts. When I think of how I envisioned my family, the kind of man I wanted to marry, Gian fills that image exactly. This life could not get any better and I feel blessed to have such a wonderful husband.

Looking back on our wedding day I found myself being very emotion thinking of how happy I was and how it was truly was one of the best days of my life. We recently got the rights to all the images from our great day. Take a look at our day... I know there are a lot, you don't have to care as much as I do ahahaha!

In case some of you don't know, I will give you a back ground of our wedding. We got married September 19, 2009 in the Salt Lake City Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. After our religious wedding ceremony, we got taken in a 1921 Rolls Royce to La Caille where we had a ring ceremony and a three course lunch. We got married on Rosh Hashanah which is the Jewish New Year. My Dad was Jewish and then joined the LDS church when he met my mom. He likes to call himself Morish ahahhaha. Anyways I wanted to be able to capture that side of his life, and since I thought it was very interesting that we happened to get married on the great holiday, I thought it would be appropriate to have the Hora (the chair dance). One of my best friends that I have known since we were 10, Elyse Cohen, her dad performed this ritual for us. It was hands down was one of the best parts. Check out Gian's dad's face... that picture is worth a thousand words. Our reception was done around 3pm, then Gian and I went to the hotel and relax and really got to enjoy "our day." I highly recommend doing that!

These are from our engagement session:

We think we are sooooooooo funny!

This was our bridal session:

This is the day of our wedding:

We had a photo booth and this was taken from the outside looking in.

To celebrate 525,600 minutes of our married life, we wanted to spend the night reminiscing of our favorite place in Utah, La Caille. If you have not been there before you have to go! Save up a month's worth of groceries and take your love or have your love take you, whichever you prefer. It is the best food in the whole wide world. It is a four course meal and everything is too delicious for someone to even comprehend unless you are there eating it. You have to make sure you can go sometime before sunset because the property is gorgeous and so whimsical. They have free range peacocks, chickens, roosters, ducks, swans, bunnies, and geese. Every single detail is amazing. Even if you don't go for dinner, just go to walk around. Even in the winter time it is a wonderland!

When Gian and I walk into the front door where we were greeted by the hostess. We saw Kim, who was our wedding coordinator. I couldn't tell if she recognized us or not until she ran out from behind the front desk to greet us with a hug. She continued to tell us that our meal was FREE!!! I was shocked, she explained that the brides and grooms who get married at La Caille get a complimentary first anniversary dinner. Gian and I were dumbfounded. We had no idea. I love La Caille. They have taken such good care of us and I feel like this place has even more of a special meaning to us now because of the relationship they have built with us.

Here is the night that we got to celebrate. I would have taken pictures of the food, but I felt embarrassed because it is such a high end restaurant. I thought it would be tacky, EXCEPT when they brought us our chocolate strawberries with a giant sparkler. I didn't feel bad about that because that was their way of helping celebrate with us, and I was so surprised because we already had our dessert so I assumed that was it. I had to document this beautiful display, plus I saw another table take a picture... so I couldn't be judged heavily!

The alter at night time.

The pond with some lights up.

Us very full after the best meal I think we have ever had