portlandia

I just returned from a wonderful (and calorie-filled) trip to Portland, OR to visit my good friend and college roommate, Grace.  Our other college friend happened to be visiting from the East Coast also, so I took the opportunity to take a kid-free mommy trip (my first since E was born) to catch up with girl friends and indulge in many a delicious meal.  I mean, seriously, we ate the whole time.  Shopping and a hike accounted for exercise to help burn off some of the food, but we just really based our day on all the amazing restaurants Portland had to offer.

First meal after getting off the plane: the Sausage du Jour from Chef Paley's restaurant.  Grace knows how to treat a girl right.

E has a strange fascination with mule deer (thanks to "Baby Bear, Baby Bear, What Do You See?") so I snapped this photo for her.  Can't say that's an actual mule deer, but it's in the same family.

You know it's Portland by the Prius cabs.

No sales tax = waaaay to much shopping.

Had to get these for G so he can cheer on the Seahawks in style.

My bed buddy.  I adore this dog.

Evidence that there was some effort given to burning off the calories. 

The Fruit Loop.  Made me want to move to a farm, grow my own produce and make jam and bake pies.

My favorite meal might have been the buiscuit sandwich from Pine State Buiscuits.  Fried chicken, cheese, bacon and a fried eggs sandwiched between two fluffy buiscuits and drenched in (amazing) sausage gravy.  We had some collared greens to make sure we had the vegetable component.  This was followed by lavender honey and IPA upside down cake ice cream.  All consumed before noon.

We walked off our lunch with a tour of the rose garden overlooking the city.  Very pretty, and I now want to grow these.

It was a really good trip and a nice break from being a mom (though I still had to pump throughout the day).  It was tough letting go of the responsibility of taking care of lots of little beings, but I enjoyed being able to just take my time with things and not worry about naps and meals and nursing.  It was also nice for Adam to spend some special time with the kids, and he was an awesome stay-at-home Dad while I was gone (though he still had to work a lot).  And I know I couldn't have taken this trip without the help of Donna and Ashley.  So I am very grateful to my village for an amazing early birthday gift.  We will definitely have to visit Portland again.  There is still just so much more to be eaten!  

girly

So when I was pregnant, Adam and I didn't really have a preference as to what gender our baby was.  Still, I was pretty thrilled about having a little girl first.  And one of the reasons was because I could dress her up (shallow, I know).  Now that she's getting older (and thus, bigger), I can have a lot more fun with her outfits.  Some of my favorites come from tea. and peek..., which have really cute styles and super soft fabrics.  At least I've curbed my own shopping addiction to balance all that I buy for Ella.  And the pugs are definitely grateful that I no longer use them as my dress-up dolls.

I love this skirt from peek... And the toes? I nibble them daily.

The Waiting Game

With just a few more days until our due date, Adam and I spent our (possibly) last weekend together as just the two of us strolling around town and taking it easy.  The beautiful weather we've been having has been very conducive for our walks and getting out and about.  Yesterday we met up with my mom and family for lunch at a delicious dumpling place (where we got free dumplings because Adam broke out the Chinese and told the waitress how good their food was), and then did some last minute errand shopping at Target (always a favorite past time of mine).  Today we slept in a little, then met up with our friend, Louie, for lunch at Porto's in Glendale and some shopping and strolling at the Americana.  We joked that I should scare people in stores by starting to pant and look pained.  When I took the stairs in the Puma store, the (really sweet and thoughtful) employee at the top level pointed out the elevator to me "just in case."  Apparently I look as ready to pop as I'm feeling!

Adam and I are trying hard to stay patient and keep our minds off the impending labor process.  We are just so eager to meet our little girl, it's hard to wait.  Nonetheless, we are focusing on staying prayerful for a safe and healthy birth, and trying to appreciate the last few moments we have as a family of two.

I'm 39 weeks and 1 day.  Adam is just plain ready for the baby to show up. 

Lullabies

When I was an elementary school teacher, Adam would sometimes accompany me to shop for teaching supplies.  He always dreaded walking into Lakeshore and having to hear kids' songs play for the entire hour or so I was there shopping.  I explained to him that a lot of those songs and nursery rhymes were good for childhood development of language skills, but even then, he's wary of the sugary sweet, overly enthusiastic adults singing about numbers and sheep.  So when I mentioned buying some music for our baby to listen to, there were some raised eye brows (and maybe a pantomimed shotgun inserted into the mouth).  Then I found these from Rockabye Baby!.  There are no lyrics (and they're not really in the genre of kids' music), but we love that we can listen to them even when the baby isn't around.  We think this will be perfect for her to drift off to sleep to.  If anything, they tend to calm the pugs.

Shopping Deals

I recently discovered the guilty pleasures of Gilt.com and Zulily.com.  These sites offer daily deals on brand name items (some up to 70% off!).  So every morning I'll stalk the site to see what new sales they have. I'm trying to be good about not spending too much on baby (and maternity stuff since I won't be like this forever), so it's great when I find a really good deal on something I've been looking to purchase to begin with.  I scored some really cute infant outfits from Tea (one of my favorite baby/kids clothing lines) at a great price and a pretty maternity dress from Gilt.  Today I scored a couple items from Infantino that I've been eyeing on Zulily.  I feel productive this morning already!

A super cute swaddling blanket.

A shopping cart/high chair cover.  I love the print!

Pregnancy Perks

Makes weekend mall trips much more convenient.

Apparently the bump adds extra lumbar support for the pugs.

Pregnancy Perks

I'm the first to tell people that I do not love being pregnant.  I'm just not a happy, shiny, preggo person.  That being said--I really am enjoying this part of the pregnancy process.  My bump is still small enough where it's "cute" (and not yet laborious), I can still be mobile and active, and my energy and sense of motivation are magnified by the sunshine and pretty weather we've been having.  One of the BEST parts of pregnancy at this stage is preparing for our baby's arrival.  In hopes of narrowing down items we need to purchase, Adam and I went with my mom to several baby stores to check out the goods.  Our experience boiled down to: Babies 'R' Us is incredibly overwhelming and overflowing with waaaaaay too many pregnant people, The Right Start had excellent customer service and we love the items they carry, and Giggle was cute (minus the children's nursery rhymes playing on a loop throughout the store).  It was a lot of fun shopping (without spending) and testing out items.  I loved watching Adam get fitted for a baby carrier, and my mom be amazed at all the products out there for babies these days.  Speaking of my mom, it warms my heart that I can share this experience with her.  I know she's been itching for a grandchild for ages now, and it's such a blessing to see her excitement.  It occurred to me that our miscarriage last year was almost as much a loss for our parents as it was for us.  We didn't get a chance to celebrate that baby and plan for its arrival.  We didn't get to know it and name it and talk about all the places we wanted to take it.  Needless to say, I am so incredibly grateful for this time--the time I get to share with my mom, with Adam and with this little one fluttering inside of me.

We all had a lovely time shopping and eating ice cream and just enjoying each other's company in anticipation of our child.  I dreamt of car seats and strollers and bouncing zoo animals, but I woke up to the peace of knowing that God gives us each day to celebrate and be joyful in the creation of life.

Buying for Baby

Shopping.  I'm awesome at it.  Online, in store, anywhere.  I'm not a shopaholic, but I do love me some pretty things.  So having a baby is just the thing for fulfilling my heart's shopping desires, right??  :)

Now that we've reached our halfway mark and there have been murmurings of nurseries and baby showers and nesting, I figured I should start collecting data on what we'll need for this little one that is consuming so much of our time and attention these days.  I have to say that Adam and I are trying our hardest to not over-buy.  We don't want to end up with a bunch of stuff we'll never use or that our baby will outgrow in a blink of an eye.  We have enough pug toys and clothes laying around that drive me crazy as it is.  Like that shark costume I bought Remy with visions of him running around with his fish-shaped bone in his mouth.  Remy hates costumes.  (So the shark has not made an appearance since it's departure from the Target store.)  So we will try to focus on the essentials for the baby.  (Though it's hard not to start collecting headbands and ruffled skirts because our daughter will just love them. Really!)

Looking through all the baby stuff out there I am as overwhelmed as any new mom-to-be with all the products.  I'm narrowing down my search thus far to true essentials (plus, I have a test to study for and can't be spending too much time daydreaming away):

1. car seat (apparently they come in handy when you want to actually bring the baby home)
2. stroller 
3. breast pump
4. travel crib/pack and play
5. baby carrier

So, I'm putting a call out to all parents who read this blog (those of you out there with all  your purchasing wisdom) to share your take on your preferred items above.  I would love to know how you narrowed down your search.  Keep in mind that I am a sucker for aesthetics so it helps if the product is cute, too.  Except for the breast pump.  I mean, how cute can a breast pump be?