First Anniversary

I can't believe that Robert and I have been married for a year! In some ways it seems like it was just the other day that we were getting everything ready, and in others it seems like we have been married for years. (not in a bad way though!) It was a day filled with cheeseburgers, french fries, family, friends, and dancing. The wedding was a perfect day and the marriage has been even better!

Tonight we are having an official date night to celebrate. We are going to dinner and a movie. I am very much looking forward to it! I don't think I will be trying on my wedding dress though! Here are some pictures from our wedding!

Work Baby Shower

Friday night the girls from work took me to Chevy's for a baby shower. Amanda and Caley worked hard at all the little details and it was a great night. There are 4 of us at work that are all due within 1-2 weeks of each other, so there has been lots of celebrating lately. I even had a surprise gift from Jamie. It made it feel like she was there! I appreciated everyone coming out after a long day in the clinic plus everyone was so generous. Emma got lots of cute clothes, plus we got some of the "lifesavers/necessities" that we needed. Unfortunately there wasn't any pictures of me looking at the camera while I was opening presents, but I will post a couple anyway. Thanks again girls! I couldn't be luckier to work with such a great group!

Amanda and Aidan. (Emma's future boyfriend!)

Playing a game. Everyone had to draw a baby on a paper plate on top of their head!

This was a complete set of burp cloths, a onsie, a "taggie", and a bib that were all personalized. They were adorable!

Emma's first "designer" outfit....Robert also said it would be her last!

Doctor's Appointment

We had our 33 week doctor's appointment today. We received another clean bill of health! He said that everything looked great. No concerns what-so-ever. I go back for another appointment in 2 weeks, and then weekly until she is here! Nothing else to report on! Hope everyone has a great night and a Happy Friday!

Good Bye Party and Dinner

This week, my friend Jamie will be packing up her bags and heading to Africa for about the next year. Jamie came to Phoenix from Oklahoma for her Child Life Internship. She was actually my first Intern! After she completed her internship, she decided to accept a job at Phoenix Children's and not long after that, we moved her up to the 2nd floor with me. I couldn't have asked for a better person to work on the floor with.

Jamie will start in South Africa where she will be helping to develop a Child Life program in one of their hospitals. From the stories she has heard, she is definitely needed! I guess the nurses will hit the patients with scissors if they aren't behaving! After she works in the hospital she will head off to Mercy Ships where she will live on a boat that gives access to medical care to the poorest of the poor. This is an amazing opportunity for Jamie and even though I am sad to see her go, I am so excited for her. Luckily she has started her own blog so we can keep up with her and her adventures in Africa!

On Saturday Cathy and Cassie had a going away party for Jamie in her favorite theme of red, white, and blue. I'm sure Jamie will be teaching the kids in Africa some patriotic songs while she is there!

Then on Monday night, Jessica, Jenni, Jamie, and I went for dinner. The four of us try to get together every so often and we usually end up at a restaurant that has sweet potato fries! This time we went for something new. We went to Chelsea's Kitchen and it was pretty good. They have a little bit of everything from tacos to burgers to fried chicken. I would recommend their nachos and mac-and-cheese. Quite a combination, I know, but they were both so yummy! Maybe this is one of those weird pregnancy food combinations!

This is the necklace that the 3 of us got for her. We were able to custom design it through Lisa Leonard. She has a lot of different options for jewelry and you can customize just about everything.

It has been a fun couple of days, but a little sad also. Jamie you are a great friend and you are going to do great things in Africa!

Just Some Updates

Everything looked great at our last doctor's appointment. I am measuring perfectly for how far along I am. The doctor thinks she felt Emma's head pointing down so as long as she stays this way we won't have to worry about her being breech. The doctor thinks I am also having some Braxton Hicks contractions, but there is no need to worry about anything. Robert also thinks that my belly looks lower, so maybe Emma will surprise us and come a little early. She already is setting her own schedule! We are on our 2 week schedule now, so I will go back next week and check out things again.
On Friday we had our annual Arizona Child Life Conference. My good friend Jessica plays a big role in getting this planned every year, and as usual, it was a great conference. The only thing was my first session was not quite what I had expected. The title of it was "helping the bereaved family". Unfortunately working with the population of kids that I work with, end of life issues comes up more often than I would like. So I thought this would be a good session for me to take, plus, I have taken many bereavement classes in the past so I wasn't worried. Well, little did I know, the teacher was actually a Labor and Delivery nurse and all of her examples and stories were about full term babies that didn't make it through delivery for one reason or another, or babies that were 38 weeks along that died due to a knot in the cord. Needless to say, I cried through out the whole session. I know, I know, these things are not common, but it wasn't the best session for a pregnant girl to be in!
The rest of the weekend was spent doing things around the house and relaxing. It is the last weekend we have in awhile where nothing is going on. Robert worked on the yard, while I did some laundry and started on Jessica's baby shower invitations. Sunday, I didn't feel the best, so the majority of the day for me was spent on the couch. It looks like Robert is going fishing on Thursday so I think that is reason enough for me to do some shopping after work!

Cooking, A Wedding, and Babysitting

So the week started off with a cooking disaster. No, I didn't burn the house down, but I did manage to burn my face. We were having tacos, which is nothing new. And they taste so much better if you fry the taco shells yourself, so again, frying taco shells was nothing new. Tacos have become a big deal at our house ever since I found a new recipe for shredded meat. The meat is so good, plus it cooks in the crock pot, so it is pretty simple to make. Both Robert and I were looking forward to a good dinner. I was frying my second taco when the grease popped and went straight to my face. By the looks of it, the burn blistered and popped right away. So now I have this not so pretty looking raw/round gash on my cheek. I am hoping it goes away fairly quickly. I don't think we will be frying taco shells again anytime soon!

Saturday night we went to Jenn's wedding and took the girls home after. It was a great wedding and we had fun playing polly pockets and coloring with the girls today. Here is a picture of the girls walking down the aisle, but for some reason, I don't have a picture of Jenn in her dress.

And as promised...here is my 31 week picture. You can kind of see the start of the burn on my cheek....

Everything is still going great. We just can't believe how quickly the time is going. Emma moves around all the time. She is even starting to "dig" under my rib cage as she goes across my belly. This isn't the most comfortable of feelings, but I am sure if I was squished up in the same place, I would be trying to get more room also. I have a breast feeding class tomorrow and I'm hoping after this class, I feel a little more comfortable and confident about the whole process. We are gearing up for what is going to be a busy next couple of months. Between birthday parties, baby showers, good bye parties, birthing classes, ob appointments now at every two weeks, and all the little things to do before Emma gets here, we are looking at some busy weeks ahead!

The Chair is Here!

We got the chair, blinds, and drapes on Saturday. It is a huge relief to have all the big stuff done. Now I just need to make up my mind on where to hang some decorations. Robert and I both love how everything has turned out. I am definitely more excited about the chair then I thought I would be. I just wasn't sure if we needed a second rocking chair. Now that it is in her room, I am so glad that we have it! It is very comfy. Robert and I have both found ourselves just sitting in it thinking not much longer until Emma will be here.
Everything else is going well. Not too much too report on. We are currently filling out our hospital paper work and talking to pediatricians. We are both ready for the weather to get hot and stay hot. Not so much because we love the warm weather, but because we love those summer pay checks an Arizona A/C tech gets!
My work is going well. With the economy and state budget cuts, the hospital now has a hiring freeze and can't have on-call/fill-in staff anymore. So it makes for busy days, but at least we aren't facing lay offs.
The parents of a former patient of mine (that I have known for the past five years) is getting married on Saturday. So we have the wedding to look forward to, plus we will take her and her sister home with us early from the wedding and the girls will spend the night. I will take some pictures from the wedding and post a belly picture! But be prepared, the belly is getting big!!!!