25 weeks

Ok, so almost 26, but be comforted in knowing I took my pictures on Saturday, just haven't gotten around to posting them. I went to the doctor this morning. All is going great. Babies HB was 152 and she is very active. The doctor had to move the doppler several times to get the HB reading because baby kept running away. Pretty funny actually. I gained 5 lbs (YIKES) since my last appointment, to which my doctor said "Did you stop exercising?" (Truth is I haven't really been exercising unless you consider my constant walks to the bathroom or kitchen to get food/water. I do plan to start again after I take my test next week.) I then pointed out that I have still only gained 3 lbs. total. She looked back and said that 5 lbs was great then. I do need to watch it a bit. I can't be gaining that much, considering 3 of those pounds were from last week alone! No more cake and cookies!

How far along?: 25 w 5 days.
Total weight gain: +3
Maternity clothes?: Bottoms, with the exception of the glorious day that was Saturday. I did but some maternity tops at BRU last night because they were cute and on sale.
Stretch marks?: Nothing new to report
Sleep?:I got up 3 times last night to go to the bathroom. Not fun. The night before I didn't get up once, but I think it was because I was so EXHAUSTED from getting up at 3:30 am on Monday morning and not being able to fall asleep again till almost 6. Not fun.
Best moment this week?: We got a freaking steal of a deal on our glider. We had a 15% off coupon and the glider rang up with a special 20% off from our rewards card. We ended up getting about $120 off the glider. We bought the glider, 3 shirts for me and an outfit for Emily for about $40 less than we would have, had we bought the glider full price. SCORE!

Food cravings?:Still none, there are times that I think, yum that sounds good, but not 2 minutes later I am over it. I do eat junky food sometimes, but only because it is there, not because I crave it.
Labor signs?: None
Belly button in or out?: In, but looking a little weird these days.
What I miss: Sleeping comfortable on my stomach. THIS, again.
What I'm looking forward to: Our glider and high chair getting here. The high chair is in the mail and the glider should get here in 2 weeks. We decided that we were going to buy 1 big item a month from here on out. I bought the highchair because I really liked this one pattern and I was afraid they would run out of stock because I think it is discontinued. I know we won't use it for a while, but it's nice to get something big checked off the list.
Milestones: Only 14.5 weeks to go!

We hung the letters that Jenn made and the cute lady bugs that Alice made on Sunday. We also got the sign in the mail for above the crib and got that hung. The room is starting to come together. Mom and Robert bought us our mattress and mattress pad and gave it to us on Saturday. Now all we need is to get a frame for the picture my mom gave us and wait for the bedding to get here! I will take pictures once we have the rest of the items done. How very anti climatic!

Here I am 25w1D! My hair looks a little weird. I don't know if it is because Diane needs to fix my layers or if because my camera battery was on the verge of dying so the picture is a little blurry...And yes, these are my jeans in all their buttoned glory! They stayed buttoned for a few hours this day too. Woot woot!

Success!

While slightly masochistic, I decided to see if my favorite (and virtually only) pre-pregnancy jeans still fit. I went into it knowing that it wasn't a bad thing if they didn't, but much to my amazement, I was able to get them on and buttoned...if only for about 2 minutes. Even better, they were newly washed jeans, and you know they are always a bit snug for the first couple hours of wear. They buttoned pretty easily, but they way they were sitting on my hips, they ended up giving me a pretty ridiculous muffin top. I ended up using the good ol rubber band trick and they fit great! It was more for me to make sure that my hips and ass aren't growing at the alarming rate I thought they were. And just because I have this wild hair, I may just wear a pair of heels to top off the outfit. Oh how I miss my heels and the ability to fake being at least 5'3" on a good day. It may only be for a few hours, but it will feel good to not be the shortest person in the room! So "success" is an understatement when describing my day.

24 weeks and Viability!

How far along?: 24 w 3 days.

Total weight gain: +1

Maternity clothes?: Still just bottoms, but some of my tops are starting to get a little short. On Saturday, I was still able to fit into some of my pre pregnancy shorts, which I was pretty stoked about.

Stretch marks?: Nothing new to report

Sleep?:Meh, nothing to brag about

Best moment this week?: Zig officially got to feel Emily move several times. Last night she gave him a few good hard kicks. I love the look on his face when she does that.

Food cravings?:Nothing really

Labor signs?: None

Belly button in or out?: In, but getting a little shallow

What I miss: Sleeping comfortable on my stomach

What I'm looking forward to: getting all the cool girfts that we received from Jenn, Alice and my mom hung on the wall and finishing the nursery

Milestones: We have reached viability. Basically, if Emily was to come tomorrow, she would have a fighting chance at survival. No I don't ever wish that she would come early, but there is something comforting knowing that if anything was to go wrong at this point, the doctors would do everything they can to try and save her life.

So we received a really cool and super thoughtful gift in the mail from cousin Alice today. I am glad that we have some crafty family members, because that is something I lack these days. Look how cute these are! Thank you from the bottom of our hearts Salzwedels! We love them and they are going to go perfectly in Emily's room! Sorry these pictures aren't that great! My camera battery was about to die and I wanted to make sure to get my post in earlier this week since I have been so late.

The Kaase's were also in town this weekend and my very creative and artistic sister in law made this for Emily's room. I love them and they match our bedding! I am horrible at hanging things straight though, so I am waiting for Zig to get them put on the wall.

My mom just got back from Alaska and Seattle and saw this print when she was at the Fish Market in Seattle. It is perfect because it is a little ladybug on top of a gerber daisy. (Gerbers were Grandma Griego's favorite flowers) and I was planning on getting a small vase with a couple fake gerbers to go on top of the dresser.

And check out all the clothes this little girl has so far. We received a couple outfits from my sister when she was in town in early July and a TON of outfits in different sizes from JoAnn and Robert. She is one spoiled little girl already!

Finally, here are some pictures of the tum. Seriously, where did this come from?!?

What's in a name...

So we decided on a name for our little girl, although I must admit, it is weird to call her by her name now. I still call her baby, but Zig is really good at referring to her by her name.

Our daughter's name is...::Drum roll::

Emily Alice

We really didn't have a hard time picking a name at all. We had a very short list of names that we really liked, but the one we kept going back to was Emily. It is just very simple and very sweet. Zig and I always thought we liked different unique names, but in reality, every name we picked, both boy and girl, was very traditional. Yes, we know her initials are going to be EZ. We have thought about it, but we don't care. I am sure kids may tease, but if they didn't tease her about that, they would find something else to tease her about.

As for her middle name, this was something very special to both Zig and I. We both decided before we knew what we were having, that if she was a girl, her middle name would be Alice. As luck would have it, Emily is due on my Grandma Griego's birthday. I really am a firm believer that my grandmother is watching over us up in Heaven. We have received so many signs making us believe even more, that give me a warm feeling inside. From purchasing our first home, to our first baby being due on such a memorable day...she is with us everyday in spirit. (If you haven't heard the story of our home, remind me to tell you one day. It makes me smile just thinking about it.) I know Emily may not be born on that day, but the fact that we tried for so long and it turned out this way makes me feel so happy everytime I think of it. Grandma was one of the most amazing women I know. She was the most generous, kind and loving person. She was the best grandma. Seriously, I mean that. She had an impact on every life she ever touched. I miss her so much and I think of her everyday. I miss her hugs, her warm smile, and her laugh. What a remarkable women. So we got the middle name from my grandma, Mary Alice, and it couldn't be any more perfect.

There you have it! We can't wait to meet little Emily in 16 weeks!

Week 23 and Nursery progress

Ok, so I will start off with the survey...


How far along?: 23 w 4 days.
Total weight gain: 0 I am officially at my starting weight
Maternity clothes?: Still just bottoms
Stretch marks?: Nothing new to report
Sleep?: Pretty decent, but I have to switch sides often
Best moment this week?: Setting up the nursery and Zig getting to feel the baby kick
Food cravings?: Beer. I actually bought some NA beer. Yes it still has a little bit of alcohol in it, but I would have to drink 6 to equal 1/2 a bud light so I think I am fine. I had one and it definitely satisfied my craving.
Labor signs?: None
Belly button in or out?: In
What I miss: Nothing really. Things were good this week.
What I'm looking forward to: Zig has only felt her once, so I'd love for her to give her daddy a big kick.


This weekend we had a productive weekend as you all probably read from Zig's blog. We got a lot done! The biggest was the progress we made on the nursery. All we need is the bedding (which my sister's good friend Rachael is going to send us in a couple weeks...have I mentioned we have the best friends and family), the mattress, a glider and decorative accessories. I ordered the sign to put above her crib, so that should be here soon! It is good to get to check lots of things off our to do list! Here are some pictures!


And here I am at 23 w 4 d. I am pretty sure I popped this week. People are starting to ask if I am pregnant so I may be out of the "did she gain 10 lbs or is she pregnant?" phase.

You have to give to recieve!!!

So it's been a while, sorry to all my fans. Let's call it a sabbatical shall we. Let me catch you up on the lastest happenings. So lately I have been Mr. Handy. I don't know why but every now and again, probably becuase Miche makes me, I get this urge to fix something. This time it happened to be a wall for Michele's sorority. Yeah, I guess there was a plumbing leak and You-Know-Who got volunteered to fix it. Couldn't have come at a better time because of this urge to do something with my hands. So to skip the technical talk, I basically hung some drywall and mudded my joints (don't ask). I have accomplished a hell of a lot more than I thought I would in only two days. So now I am almost done and can't believe how good my work turned out, seriously (I am actually surprised).

Aside from all that, Michele and I both had a very productive weekend...here was our plan...

1. Move stuff out of spare room
2. Take garage sale items to Michele's mom's house for future garage sale
3. Take crap to Goodwill
4. Paint the spare room
5. Take TV to Rebecca's
6. Go clean up at Michele's sorority house
7. Pick up new baby furniture
8. Assemble new baby furniture
9. Decorate new baby room

Well here's how it went down... Moving stuff is easy when you have two people. Since the wife can't lift very heavy things, really I just wouldn't let her, we will count her as half a person for now. So we basically have 1.5 people to move some pretty heavy stuff...a TV being the most heavy (who knew). We got a futon, two chairs, a table, a workout machine, and a karaoke machine all loaded in the truck and taken to Michele's mom's house (thanks Mary). Then we came back home, loaded a bunch more crap and took it all to Goodwill...by now I am feeling great because it's only about 10:00 AM. Then we head back home to paint. That was a task, one room, one gallon, 1.5 people...success is imminent. Michele is actually a very good painter...and a trooper at that. Since Rebecca wasn't home the TV idea was out, that and I couldn't lift the heavy-a$$ thing...So we decide to call it a day.

The next morning 8:00 sharp, I head to Kappa to clean my mess from the repair work. I technically didn't get there until about 10:00 but that's another story. So I get there and the House Mom just so happened to be there...long story...really long story...I get out of there at about noon...my cleanup work took only about 8 minutes. Figure that one out. I head to pick up Robert (who BTW is rocking awesome for helping) to help move the 13-ton TV and pick up the new baby furniture. So three 800 lb. boxes and one destroyed wall candle sconce later, a sore back and smiles all around...we have our new baby's room.

All I can say is...thank god we didn't paint the room pink!!!

Love you all, that's it from me for now!