the home stretch....

Me and my girls!

Opening Katie's painting. So adorable!

Aunt Patti's dalmation painting. We love it!

The cupcakes and diaper cake!

Well, it's been over a month since I last posted something. I have been really busy getting the nursery ready, had 2 baby showers, Dr.'s appointments every other week, working 9-1 at Source Vital and picked up a side job as well! I am doing accounting for a property management company - I used to work for the owner years ago and he needed some help so I am doing work from home for him each afternoon. He owns 4 apartment complex properties in the Heights and Montrose areas of Houston. I am enjoying the extra money and also being able to work from home.

We have so much stuff for Collin already - we feel so prepared and are now just on the countdown til his birthday! Less than 40 days and he will be here in our arms. We are so excited to be parents. Christmas is right around the corner. We are hoping Dr. Rao gives us clearance today for us to travel to Corpus for the inlaw family Christmas this coming weekend, 12/19/09. I find out today at my Dr's appointment! Cross your fingers!

Here are a couple pictures from my last baby shower hosted by my best friends and cousin - Jamie, Lani and Kelly. We had a wonderful time. Thank you so much ladies!

the nursery is coming along...

I have been working on the nursery a lot! We painted an accent wall in the bedroom royal blue to go with our red, white and blue fireman theme. The pictures are a little dark because they were taken with my cell phone but you get the idea... I painted wooden letters with dalmation spots on them and hung with red ribbon above his new crib!

Here is his new crib - Dad and Barb got it for us from our registry! It's a cherry wood sleigh bed and converts into a toddler bed, day bed and full size bed. It's BEAUTIFUL! We will be getting the bedding for it this weekend from my grandparents at our first baby shower.

This is a shelf I hung with a picture frame I painted... We also have added a few fireman keepsakes on top :)

These are the black and white pictures I took at Jeff's fire station. I had them blown up to 8x10's and printed. I got the frames at a garage sale (they are oak) for $1.50 for all 3. I painted them red, and they look brand new! :)

This is the pack n' play my Mom & Paul got us from our registry. They gave it to us early because we were excited to set it up! It has a monkey mobile on the top. It will go in our bedroom for the first few months where Collin can sleep close to us. I love it!

28 weeks, 4 days check up...

I saw Dr. Rao yesterday and everything went great. I passed the gestational diabetes test by a point - 139. If you get 140-200 you have to do the 4 hour screening/fasting/blood work ordeal. They said a score in the 200's usually indicates diabetes so even though I passed by a hair, I don't need to change my diet at all or worry. What a relief!

I passed the anemia screening as well. I've only gained 13 lbs total throughout the pregnancy and Dr. Rao is very impressed. She said I'm having such a wonderful/healthy pregnancy. The beginning was definitely ROUGH but I'm paying for it now. I am loving every minute of this experience.

She told us to pre-register at the hospital, pick a pediatrician and count Collin's kicks. If he doenst have 10 kicks every 2 hours, I am supposed to call her day or night. I don't have to worry about that...Collin is sooooo active, he's always kicking and rolling. I never wonder if he's okay in there. :)

We found a pediatrician at the same Dr.'s office my OBGYN is located. She's wonderful and was recommended to us by friends and even the director of Collin's day school. She will be coming to the hospital to see Collin when he's born and give him his first exam.

All is well......looking forward to my first baby shower this weekend at Joni's house! Can't wait to see all the family and enjoy quality time. :)

Handsome Hubby!

I am so lucky to have such a wonderful husband.
I don't know what I'd do without him.

26 week check up, and girls night...

I had my 26 week check up last week. Everything went great and is right on track. Collin is still measuring bigger than normal but nothing alarming or anything to worry about. I had my blood glucose tolerance test as well. I had to drink this sugary drink and wait an hour. Then they took 2 vials of blood from my arm and tested it for Gestational Diabetes. I got the results the next afternoon and I passed, everything looked wonderful the Dr. said. I was so relieved!

Here is a picture from the dr appointment that Jeff took. :)

Robin came over this weekend and had dinner with us. She also gave me a much needed leg/foot massage and pedicure. I am so blessed to have such good girlfriends!! :)

Hospital Tour 10/25/2009

We had the hospital tour yesterday. It was so nice.
We got to see a labor/delivery room which was really nice (wood floors, big bathroom, spacious, hot/cold packs, blankets, comfy bed, dim lights, tv with place to insert CDs if we want to listen to music, etc.)

Then we saw the postpartum room where I will stay after delivery. Most likely it will only be 1-2 days. Some rooms are smaller than others. They are all private now though which is awesome! You never have to share a room and you don’t have to pay extra to have your own either. Some of them have 2 beds and some have 1. they said if you get one with 2, your not having a roommate - hubby will just get his own bed! You can also upgrade to a suite which is $300/night (but we are passing on that) LOL

We saw the nursery where they take the baby an hour after he's born for 3-4 hours. There was one little baby girl in there only an hour old and so precious. They encourage having the babies room-in with mom during your stay. They also encourage breastfeeding within 20 minutes after the baby is born before they take him to the nursery and transfer you to your room.

Visiting hours are 9am-9pm. If the baby is born after 9pm family/friends be able to see him until the morning, unless they let you walk by the nursery.
I'm allowed one person to stay the night with me in the room. I'm allowed 3 people in the delivery room, and only 3 guests in my room after birth at once.

The café is open for 3 meals throughout the day, and until midnight. They told us what to pack and where to valet. I will pre-register online this week. We saw a new mom leaving the hospital with her babies (boy and girl twins) being wheeled in a wheelchair to the car. Her husband had all the flowers and balloons and diaper bag. I started crying - it was so beautiful to see and I'm getting so excited for little Collin to be here. 92 more days!

visit to the fire station...

I went to Jeff's fire station this past weekend to take pictures for Collin's nursery. We will be doing it fireman themed so I wanted some "professional looking" pictures to frame. There are a few of us mixed in that we took for albums. Hope u enjoy!

new pictures

These pictures were taken at our friends wedding - Jennifer & Adam.
We had a great time and Jeff wanted the photographer to snap a picture of us showing off the baby bump!

This picture was taken at work this week. Jeff bought me this maternity shirt and I absolutely love it.

6 months this Saturday!!

6 Months (23 - 27 weeks)

Baby
Over a foot long, your baby weighs in at almost two pounds now. He is already practicing walking by pedaling his feet and kicking you, sometimes right in the cervix. Ouch! Your baby has developed a strong grip and he can open and close his eyes in reaction to light. His vocal cords are fully functional, although he won’t be truly practicing until he sees his first glimpse of daylight. Hiccups are common for him as your little one practices swallowing, and you may feel these throughout the day. A baby born now can survive with intensive care.Find out how your baby is developing every week. Sign up for our FREE Weekly Fetal Development Newsletter. Click here!
Mom
Can you believe that your six months along? Your uterus is now 1 ½ - 2 ½ inches above your belly button and is the size of a basketball. In fact, people may say that you look like you swallowed a basketball. Now you know why. You are feeling the baby kick more, since he is getting stronger and he still has plenty of room in there to play some soccer. Your abdomen is aching and itchy as the ligaments continue to stretch. Common physical symptoms include constipation, heart burn, bloating, indigestion, headaches, dizziness, nasal congestion, bleeding gums, increased appetite, leg cramps, swelling, varicose veins, hemorrhoids, itchy stomach, protruding naval, backache, skin changes, fuller breasts, carpal tunnel, tingly hands and feet, and clumsiness. You may start getting bored and impatient with this pregnancy thing, as that seems to be what defines you right now. Anxiety about the baby and about how life will be with baby is also common as reality sets in. Calm your anxiety by focusing on the nursery, taking a hospital or birth center tour, and registering for a birth class.

visit to Dad's in Canyon Lake

We went to see my Dad and stepmom Barb in Canyon Lake over Labor Day weekend. Here are some fun pics from the riverwalk and the markets where we went shopping. We had a great time with them!

our ultrasound at 16 weeks

Jamie and Ginger came with us to "The Inside Story" when I was just 16 weeks to find out the gender. Here are a few pics from that day, it was amazing!

the journey so far! (halfway there)

We are taking pictures every 3 weeks.... here they are so far! :)

Gift from Lani

Check out the cute outfit Lani picked up when she was shopping the other day! It's just precious!

Aunt Joni also got him a nightgown pajama outfit with firetrucks, dalmations and hydrants on it - with a matching little cap.

He is so spoiled already!

18 weeks, almost halfway there!

Here he is waving or giving a high five, not sure which :)

Precious little angel

Well our appointment with The Inside Story went great! I will post pics when I upload them. We were so happy to have Ginger and Jamie go with us.

We decided on Collin Joseph Garza for our little bundle of joy. We think his name fits him perfectly already!

We had another appointment early this morning for our halfway mark/ultrasound. The sonographer checked the 4 chambers of his heart, brain, measurements, heartbeat (150 beats per minute), kidneys, stomach and bladder which were full because he is swallowing the amniotic fluid properly, all of his little fingers and toes, his spine, etc. She spent an hour doing the ultrasound and made sure I had a full bladder to see everything clearly - talk about painful! All in all, everything looks great and here are 3 pictures from this morning. He is just precious!

16 weeks/4 months!

Our beautiful niece, Ella Garza -->

Playing "mommy" with Kash Gonzalez last Christmas!

Kash is SUCH a sweet, loving baby. He turns one this month!

Jeff - THE LIGHT OF MY LIFE!

I'm am SOOOOOOOO excited for tomorrow. We have an appointment at "The Inside Story" to have the baby's gender determined and also get a 10 minute ultrasound (on DVD with background music) and 4 pictures. We absolutely can't wait to find out what we're having!

I think it's a boy, Jeff thinks it's a girl. We have a bet!

Ginger will be coming in town to visit for the weekend and is going to our appointment with us which we are VERY excited about too!

Here is a link to the website of the place we will be going. http://www.theinsidestoryultrasound.com/ Check it out, it's really neat.