31 Weeks: Revealing a Name, 3D Ultrasound, a Baby Shower & Babes of Summer!

(Too lazy to put the captions.  This blog was a long one and I've had to restart my computer twice trying to finish it tonight!)

Talk about feeling melancholy the 3rd trimester - that word describes exactly how I felt yesterday as I started this post.  I'm tired and just feeling blue for some reason.  School is out in 9 days and I think that's most of it - it's hard to find things to wear, hard to feel comfy and cool all day and I am just overall annoyed at my students, and we've been together way too long.  Not to mention that all of their late work is due on Friday so I have a TON of grading to do before then so I am really not motivated to write this post.  I just feel busy, busy, busy - we have so much planned, I just can't wait until school is done so I can have a moment to breathe.  But, enough with the negativity for now, it was an exciting week last week!

My best friend, Matt, came in from Oregon on Thursday to spend the weekend with us.  My step-dad dropped him off at school, we went out to lunch and then we all headed home and took Friday off to hang with him.  We spent Thursday night baking the cakes for our three level baby shower cake and then had to bake another on Friday morning (all three cakes took 7 boxes, total, of Betty Crocker's Gluten Free Cake Mix).  It was a HUGE task and took up almost our whole evening on Thursday.  After baking, we went out by the pool Friday and then I met my mom and Matt's mom, Sandy, for nails (she's like my second mom, I've known her my whole life).  I chose a yellow color nail polish, you'll see why below, for my toes and fingers so that they could look pretty for my shower on Sunday.  We all went out to eat and then went home to relax on the couch.

 (Gluten free batter doesn't really rise so you have to fill the pan enough when you are pouring it in.  Then, we had to cook them forever, because the middle just wouldn't cook!)

 
Saturday we frosted the cakes and then took Matt, Sandy, my mom and Ian's mom to our 3D ultrasound so we could all see our baby girl.  It was a really neat place, the tech had me lay on a super comfy bed while everyone got to watch from benches all around the room, and Ian got to sit right next to me.  The place told me to bring something that gets our baby moving, so I brought a Hansen's soda and hot tamales, and drank/ate some before I went it.  At first she was pretty cooperative, but just had her hands in front of her face a bit and the right side of her face smooshed into the placenta.  Then, as the tech wiggled and wiggled her (she seriously did and made me change positions like crazy), she got more and more uncooperative and ended up covering most of her face the rest of the time.  The tech even said that her head was so far down it was hard to get a good shot of her face, and predicted that she would come early (not what I wanted to hear!).  But, my regular OB said nothing about this last week so I had to tell myself not to worry too much.  The place was so nice they are letting Ian and I come back tomorrow for another shot at the ultrasound to see if we can get better pics and video.  I was happy with what we got, we saw her face, her nose, her lips - but they didn't think we got enough so we are going back.  I'm going to try to eat something big before I go this time, to really make her move!  It was so neat seeing her in there, it made me feel more connected to her, because it has definitely felt hard to connect, to realize she's really there and coming in July.  I mentioned to Ian that after you lose a baby, you don't want to connect for fear that something might happen, so getting that feeling back is difficult, even though this baby is a-ok.  It's just so hard to imagine a tiny human in there, even though I SAW her and know what she looks like, it's still weird and foreign to me.  I thought she looked just like my Nani when she was little (my grandma) with big lips and a cute nose - but we shall see when she comes out!

(It was a lemony cake, I think it took 8 lemons by the time we were done and some lemonade in all of the cake mixes!)

(Aw, look at those lips and that nose!  Such a cutie!)

The rest of Saturday was spent covering and decorating the cakes.  We covered them in fondant and then had to hand cut all of the letters of the baby's name, to put on the outside of the cake.  After covering the middle layer there was a hole, and Ian had to work for about 4 hours to patch it, it was a mess.  We ended up buying more fondant and just re-covering it, and then it turned out fine.  We stuck the letters on and I made the pieces for a bow, hoping to put them together in the morning before we brought it to the shower.  We also played a fun game with everyone on Instagram and Facebook - taking a picture of some of the letters and having people guess her name.  No one got it but a few people were pretty close!

(Matt's job while we were decorating.)

And, without making you wait any longer, here is our baby girl's name!

 

We decided to call her Lemon, just like we've been calling her up until now, except it is tough getting used to just Lemon instead of "the lemon."  We thought that life handed us lemons over the past year and for us, the possibilities were endless, so we thought Lemon just fit.  Ray is after Ian's sister, Kelly's, middle name and we spelled it differently to also represent a "ray of sunshine."  Angeline was my Nani's name and this is my Nani's baby, one that she has protected all this time and kept safe and healthy so we had to name Lemon after her.  We love this name and know it will fit our little happy ray of sunshine that was sent to us!

On Sunday the boys went hiking and so I woke up alone.  It was nice having the morning to just relax a bit and get ready for the big day.  My bow for the cake, however, failed me and so I spent most of the morning trying to make another one before getting ready so it wasn't as relaxing as I'd hoped.  My friend Andrea came over around 12 to go with me to the shower (she came all the way from Indiana!) and the boys came back to take the cake over (it weighed about 40 pounds at this point).  Both bows were a mess so I scrapped them and was thankful I bought some flowers the night before to stick on the cake.  It turned out looking beautiful and the boys hauled it over to Jenny's for the shower, and we were right behind them.

I need to just start by saying how amazing my friends are.  Jenny worked so hard decorating her house and buying things for the shower, it was unbelievable.  And, Christie and Christine helped along with my mom and Ian's mom, Patty.  Jenny never throws a bad party, I don't think she ever could, and she did not disappoint with this one.  We got to her house at 12:45 and already so many people were there, waiting to celebrate with me, and her house looked gorgeous!  All of the food was gluten free, at my request, and the games were super fun (and different which I LOVED) and my friends looked beautiful.  My Aunt Donna and Sonja helped set up and clean up and are always there to lend a hand, and Aunt Donna was, of course, the master of ceremonies.  I had such an awesome time, surrounded by all of the ladies I love and adore, and couldn't have asked for a better day.  Instead of writing more, here are the pictures to prove it (get ready, there are lots!).  (The shower was held at Jenny's house, the blonde bombshell in the photos, and she took all of these pics - so happy she did, they turned out so cute!)

For more shower pics, click here.

 

(My long time friend June who is taking maternity photos of me in a week!)

 

(We HAD to play the "don't say baby game!")

(Jenny)

 

(Me with a moostache!)

 

(Christie)

 

(Ian and Matt, the cake was heavy and they were tired after hiking!)

(My mom, Aunt Donna and Aunt Virgie were in tears after seeing the baby's name!)

 

(Coming in - these are out of order but I'm too lazy to organize them!)

(Baby necklaces)

 (The food was from Picazzo's, a gluten free pizza place here in AZ.  So good!)

 (Lemon candies with cute little sayings beneath each jar!)

("Ready to Pop" popcorn boxes I got on Etsy!)

(Mustache straws handmade by Jenny, the straws are also from Etsy.)

  

(Are you kidding?  How cute is this?  That's really me!)

(My friend Elise typing "wishes for baby.")

(Seriously, some of my favorite people.)

(There was a game where you had to make what our baby was going to look like, out of clay, and then I picked the best one.  My cousin Marilyn won!)

 

(I have lots of necklaces on!)

 

(My best friend, my mom.  She has done SO MUCH for us this past year, I owe her everything.)

(Christine and her mom making their clay babies!)

 

(Aunt Virgie who flew in from Nashville to be there.) 

(Aunt Donna is going to make a quilt from everyone's "baby wishes" for me to hang in the nursery!)

(Ian's mom and my mom!)

 (Another crying picture after they saw the cake!)

 (While opening presents, I tried to get Aunt Donna to say "baby" by asking her something about a gift and she didn't, but right after she passed that test she said, "Yeah baby!" like "in your face you can't have my necklaces" and so I got them anyway!  It was SO FUNNY!!!)

(And then my sister-in-law Kelly took all of the necklaces away from me!)

 

(The love of my life.)

(My cousin Krystal, I don't see her enough!)

 

(One of my first yoga students at school, Drew.  She just finished her own yoga teacher certification and can now teach yoga anywhere she wants - so proud of her!) 

 

(After I totally fell out of the bubble chair, the cushion slipped!  Christine got a great pic of me blaming her because I was trying to look at a funny pic on her phone!)

 (So much yellow!)

 

(Side pic!) 

Aunt Sonja took some pictures too and these were just too cute not to share!

 (My two moms!)

(Matt's mom, another one of my moms!)

 

(Jody and Elise, my work buddies!)

(Ian's fam)

(Matt's mom, Sandy, made these!)

(At the end of the shower, I gave my besties and my mom frames to say "thank you" for putting on the shower.  They cried!  The frames were handmade by Angie Austin on Etsy, an incredible artist.  Order some, you won't be disappointed and she custom made these for me and shipped them out super fast, see below!)

We drove Matt to the airport Sunday night and I was sad to say goodbye.  It was a such a busy weekend, filled with cake baking and shower stuff that I felt bad I didn't have more time to hang with him.  Ian did such a good job entertaining though, when I couldn't, and I hope Matt had fun.  I am so thankful whenever he comes to visit and it is so crazy that the next time we see him we will have a baby - so crazy!  Ian and I spent the rest of the evening opening and putting away baby shower gifts and it was lovely going through them with him and seeing everything we got for our baby girl.

Back to school on Monday was the same old thing, getting my kids organized after being gone on Friday.  We were in the computer lab and the kids were busy so I took the opportunity to do some shopping with our gift cards we got at the shower (shhh don't tell!).  We got most everything we needed, except for little things and a few big ones, and it was awesome to have a bit of help!  Everyone brought us the cutest stuff!  Then, I was off again on Tuesday for our annual Babes of Summer boat trip on Bartlett Lake (we had to do it before I got too big!).  It was a gorgeous day (cloudy at times, calm and a cool 90 degrees) spent with my three best friends on a pontoon boat, just soaking in the sun and relaxing.  I think we all needed it and I always enjoy our time together, no matter how it happens.  This one, too, is better in pictures than in words.

(You park high up and have to lug all of your stuff down a big hill to the marina.  The girls were so sweet and I didn't have to carry a thing!)

(Jenny and I stayed on the boat while Christine and Christie got in the water.  I don't know what's in that lake and was nervous about getting up and down on the ladder so it was better I didn't go in.  But, Ian made me bring a squirt bottle so I could keep cool, and it worked!)

(Apparently the water was cold!)

(I'm sure there's a better captain picture of Christine but this was the only one I had on my phone - someone send me a better one!)

 

(Yellow toes!)

(And just like my bikini pic at 6 months, I had to post this one for posterity!  I am not going to buy a new bathing suit just for pregnancy and Christie gave me a bunch that fit my big boobs and booty, so here I am in this little leopard number.  It may not be pretty but will be fun to look back on later!)

 

(Too tired to crop this, you will just have to deal with the Instagram icons!)

(2011 vs. 2012 - See my thoughts below!)

I had some major issues after seeing some of the boating pictures that we all took on Tuesday.  I have never been one to be self-conscious, in fact I don't think I have ever been my whole life, but after looking at some of the pics, I definitely was.  I felt big, really big and unlike myself in the photos, for the first time ever.  I realize that I am lucky, I know that I am blessed and I never forget that, every single day, but for some reason, on Tuesday night I freaked and hated every single one of the pictures that were taken of me (I even asked Christine to take some down from her Instagram!).  I guess there was such a disconnect between how I feel I look and how I actually look (and yes these were all bikini pictures I was freaking about so that may have been it) and it threw me off.  I am feeling so great, so happy and lucky to be on this adventure; but then when I see myself - ugh!  The lucky and blessed part doesn't help when you step on the scale and see an extra 30 pounds, when your pants stopped fitting not only your belly but your butt months ago and when you feel really clumsy like you could tip over at any moment.  Your body goes through some crazy changes, in such a short period of time, and I've never experienced anything like this before, I've always been pretty fit my whole life.  It was probably just the rocking feeling, being super tired and just worn out after boating all day that did it, but I went to bed in tears and felt horrible.  It was a strange feeling for me and threw me into a kind of funk on Wednesday, when I started writing this blog.  However, after yoga last night and a walk with the dogs and hubby this morning, I'm feeling much better today and more like my mood matches my look.  I am staying positive and happy, know that this is all temporary and that our little muffin will come out of all this.  I never lost sight of that, just needed to remind myself.  (It's funny because I JUST told my Instagram friend, Katie, this same thing when she was feeling down, and then I started feeling down myself!  I should have taken my own advice!)

This weekend we are off to our first hypnobirthing class (which have been a total PAIN to schedule with instructors in our state for some reason!) and have our second attempt at a 3D ultrasound on tomorrow.  I also am going to go to yoga on Saturday too, after going last night, because I am running out of time for prenatal yoga classes, and I love them!  I won a free half hour massage at my yoga studio too, so I paid for another half hour and have that after yoga before hypnobirthing, so much fun and perfect for my first Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all of my family and mommy friends out there, new and old, enjoy your weekend and RELAX like me!!!  :)