Piece of Cake

This past weekend B and I attended a marathon day of baby classes at our local hospital. It was eight hours of baby 411 and birthing videos and the like. The most fun part was when we got to "play" with the fake babies...

 On the left is our instructor showing us the proper way to swaddle. On the right is fake baby #1 just chilling in his hospital bassinet.

 Meet our fake baby. Hello stiff heavy little guy.

My dear husband who jumped right in and swaddled that little thing like a pro. His first comment afterwards was, "I don't see what all the fuss is about. It's a piece of cake!";D 

On the right he's practicing his "football hold." Even though the "babies" were plastic, it was still surreal to see B handling a baby. He's going to be a great dad :)

6 weeks and counting,

Aim

Creme de la Creme

Bonjour, Sophie.

Sophie hails from Paris and is the creme de la creme of baby teething toys on the market today. Apparently, any baby who's anybaby has one. Who knew that social status stuff started so young? Anywho, the self proclaimed #1 babysitter extraordinaire Court gifted the babe with Miss Sophie yesterday. Thanks to people like her our kid won't look like the nerd on the playground teething on something as plain jane as...the side of his stroller? :D Ahahaha

Thanks Court. I'm certain that he will love you, Sophie giraffe or not! 

P.S. And welcome home girl! ;)

Aim

So Exciting

Coming to a store near you December 1st. It's a Target collaboration of epic proportions! 24 top notch designers with 50 pieces for the Target Fashionista in all of us. AND it's not limited to clothes either. There are baby things and home goods as well. I cannot wait to see the pieces in this collection! Read more about it here.

From one Target devotee to another,

Aim

Pregnancy Schmegnancy

*Disclaimer: mini pregnancy rant that may include some tmi to follow. If you are sensitive to things like this, please refrain from reading. Normal Aimee post to follow shortly.

There is a mom at our church who never fails to say, "Don't you just LOVE being pregnant?!?" every time I see her. Usually I laugh a little, or offer a smile but I don't respond with what I'm really feeling~

No, actually, I do not enjoy being pregnant.

Let me say before you gasp and go crazy on me, that I am looking forward to having this baby, to expanding our family and to all that this will bring. This has nothing to do with my feelings toward pregnancy. Let's get that straight right out the box people.

I could do without my rapidly expanding waistline, the sore feet, the cramps in my hamstrings, being hot all the time, randomly breaking out in sweat multiple times a day, the hugeness of the boobage area (sorry if this is tmi for you), my clogged nose and harder breathing (due to the baby being smushed against my lungs), the pressure in my lower abdomen every time I move, having to pee all the time, tossing and turning at night because a comfortable position alludes me, the difficult time bending down or doing something as simple as tying my own darn shoes, the intense acid reflex in my throat, the Bell's Palsy that refuses to go away, being tired all day every day, having to deal with cord bank people on the phone, constantly going to the doctor and having to find a parking space, not drinking an ice cold ice tea in this heat and missing out on camp, to name a few.

I am looking forward to meeting this little guy and to moving into this next phase with Blane. We have a beautiful nursery that is just about ready, but would suffice if he came before it was completely finished. The support and love we have from both sides of the family is overwhelming, in a good way. I don't think there could be a better situation for this baby to be born into. We are definitely blessed. As far as the whole pregnancy thing goes...maybe next time I'll just hire one of those gestational carriers to do the leg work for me. Just a thought ;)

7 weeks and counting,

Aim

The Fourth of July

Stars and Stripes and Freedom and Independence and...a day off from work! :)

Happy 4th Everyone! Today, Blane and I are headed to his parent's house to feast with the family and then afterwards we are, in true American fashion, going to a Dodger game where we will see fireworks and hang out with good friends. Whoo-hoo! 

Oh, and if you're feeling ambitious and would like to try and make this beautiful pie, the recipe is here.

Happy Independence Day!

Aim

I Am Woman...

Remember the propaganda ads from World War II? This one in particular struck me today. Why? Well, to sum it up: I needed new windshield wipers.

This may seem like a menial thing for the average joe schmo. However, I am not that person. Things like this tend to overwhelm me, mainly because #1-I've never had to get/install new windshield wipers and #2-There's so much else going on right now that it was just another thing on my "to do" list that needed to get done. 

I realize that it's summer and the prospect of rain is not in the near future. However, if I don't do it when I have the "We can do it!" mentality, then it's never gonna get done people. And I refuse to be stuck in another rain with my one windshield wiper that has a flappy piece of rubber waving around because it had become undone from the wiper blade.

Enter these guys...

Meliss told me that you could pick up wipers at any Pep Boys. So I Google'd the nearest one and headed over there after staff meeting today. It was a little intimidating walking into this huge auto parts store (totally outside of my comfort zone) but everyone inside was really nice to the pregnant lady, haha, and I was in and out of there in under 10 minutes. 

They even installed my new wipers for me for free to boot! It literally took the guy maybe 2.7 seconds to all of remove the old ones and replace with the new ones...but it would definitely have taken me at least half an hour more to figure it out so I was grateful. :) All I had to do was drive around their building into their service area and as I sat in the car with the engine running, one of the service guys just came over and pretty much did what this picture looks like. Easy peasy.

I highly recommend Pep Boys for not only having what I needed in stock, but for making the entire experience fast and efficient, just like I like it! Kudos for great customer service too!

Bring on the rain,

Aim

Busy Busy

Summer has been busy for me. Between finishing up youth events for the school year+starting summer youth events, I've been busy planning for the fall youth calendar when I will be away on Maternity leave. It's been kind of crazy, but I'm thankful for the many people God has given me to help with youth stuff, vision for its future, as well as encourage and uplift me in the process.

Sunday afternoons are one of my most favorite times of the week. Its usually the time during the weekend where Blane and I have some quiet time together. Yesterday Duncan, our neighbor cat and Blane's BFF, came by for the zillionth time this week and the two of them were hanging out. Duncan has been lonely this past week because his owner is out of town so he's been coming by constantly for some love and attention. Mornings around 8:30, at least once in the afternoon, again when Blane gets home from work and finally at 10:30-11pm at night he's been meowing at our door. I'm not a cat person, but I can't help but feel bad for him!

Anywho, so back to Sunday afternoon. I was putting dinner together and Duncan was there, meowing away, so we decided to spend some more time with him and eat our dinner in the back on the deck so he could just "hang out" with us. Call us crazy, but that's what we did-have dinner with Duncan! 

It was a really nice early evening and we enjoyed taking advantage of the longer summer days and the cooler afternoon temperatures to dine on the deck. I can't wait to get a rectangular outdoor table+chairs to put out there so we can have dinner parties under the stars!

Happy Monday all,

Aim