A sneak peek of the nursery......

On a lighter note, here is a sneak peek of the nursery :-)

Take note.....I haven't sewn the crib skirt yet or bumper, so the crib looks a little bare. Shaun's Aunt is coming over after Christmas to help me knock out the rest of my projects- so HOPEFULLY the nursery will be done soon :-)

Click the photo to see a larger version.

Vaca Absurdtities......

Vacation Absurdities.....

Disclaimer!!!!! I am sitting in the airport with a 5 hour delay, so even though my vacation was ABSOLUTELY wonderful, and I have many fabulous things to share, this blog is appropriate for the moment. :-)


In order as it all occurred......

1. Getting snow the night before we leave for Florida and not being able to play in the snow with Gus. He LOVES to play in the snow and there's something magical about how our neighborhood park lights up with the white layer on the ground at midnight. So sad, but he had GREAT sitters who took him out!

2. The 4 inches of snow on the ground the morning we leave for our trip. The hills we hard to get down!

3. Being told every morning as we enter the Disney parks I should get a wheelchair (Disney is 40+ square miles by the way, and we were walking an average of 10 miles a day). I'm sorry, but I refuse to be "that girl". Although, it was unbelievable hard to keep up with my 18 family members.

4. Rude people equipped with strollers equals wheels rolled over your toes. I can't count how many times someone in my group was ran into by a stroller, or wheeled over. We had a stroller in our group...it's really not that hard to control.

5. Grandmas hanging out in the smoking section with a ciggy in one hand and a toddler in the other. I can't believe how inconsiderate some people are to the people around them, and in most cases their own kin! There are designated smoking sections throughout Disney World. Disney does a pretty good job with reserving space for cancer seekers in obscure areas, however with 1000's of people you always come across the trash that think it's ok to light up in the line of Peter Pan.......and lady- pay no attention to those who have left a 15 foot gap behind you, they're just tired.

6. There is a famous voice of Disney that tells you where you are going, to hold on to your children, watch the doors, sit down, what Resort or Theme Park you are at etc, etc. The absurdity is when you’re on the monorail the “Voice” tells you to stand clear of the doors, the doors slam shut, and then the “Voice” repeats himself in Spanish.........so basically if you don’t speak English you missed the warning. I actually think it’s a wee bit funny.

7. Having a 5 hour delay on your flight home.

8. How ridiculously slow the wi-fi is in the airport. I can't watch any good shows without it having to Buffer every 10 seconds.

The Parlor

The Parlor........Girls night turned into couples night turned into an all nighter! :)

A few of my favorite things.....

A few of my favorite things....... 1) A dog that sleeps for days because he is so worn out from swimming at the dog park and from running rabid at the in-laws goat/tree/chicken/horse farm in Cle Elum. 2) A long drive with the greatest husband in the world who lets me listen to Christmas music the whole trip to Elum to get our Tree. 3) Making Ornaments with glitter and ribbon. 4) Sewing a blanket for the baby- my latest obsession.

After a very long day of the dog park, driving to Cle Elum and back to get our tree, and a crazy night at the Parlor.....I finally got the tree decorated. My theme for the last 2 years has been green and I LOVE IT! Green is my favorite color and I love finding new decorations that fit right in. Since you can only use so many green balls, I had to improvise last year and make some of my own. Looking forward to what I can conjure up next! Click the photos to see them larger.

Our Tree!


2008 Green Ornaments


He who has yet to be named's Baby Blanket.......

Symphony

Saturday night Megan, Heidi and myself went to the Symphony. It was a lot of fun and our seats were great, even at only $23/ea! The baby didn't do much during the 1st half, but was going crazy after intermission. I wonder if he could hear it. It was my 2nd time, Heidi's 1st and Megs has been a lot. I am definitely hooked and I think we got Heidi hooked too. :-] The baby is moving more and now I am starting to feel his head, or feet or who knows what just resting/pushing in certain places. He must be out growing his space! The nursery is coming along nicely. I am continuing the sewing projects but have hit a wall. Tamara and I took a sewing class last week and it helped, but not enough- reading patterns is hard! I have most of my stuff cut and at Thanksgiving at Shaun’s dads house, Shaun's Aunt Candy will have to fill the gaps in my projects. Since I have been reading SOOOOO much my biggest concern is keeping the baby asleep in our 1100 sqft home with hardwood floors that makes the sounds in the house travel, and a lab with a big bark. Now I am wondering if we should move the nursery to the back of the house......Shaun is NOT going to like this epiphany since he worked so hard at remodeling the nursery. So many things to decide on and only 13 weeks to go!!! Here are some pics from the symphony and a pic of the fabric I am using for the nursery........YES, I took pictures of my fabric. Lol

Happy Monday!

So, I've figured it out....the baby moves a bunch after I eat. I am feeling him much more now, and now it's not just a tap tap tap, but he's running his foot? hand? something! along the walls of his little space. =] It's fun to feel! Shaun can feel him a lot more now, it's so exciting! I don't have any new pics to post, and I hate posting without pics, so I thought I would post a pic of the house I just sold. I have another one available with this same floor plan listed at $489,950, but it's still under construction so no pics yet. Happy Monday!!!!

Prego Pictures!!!

Alas....someone finally got a pic of my belly. :-)

Heidi, Me and Leslie @ Heidi's 11/08/08

Curtain Pics

Here are some pics of the babies curtains!!! I finished them late last night and decided I may just keep on sewing everything for the nursery. I honorably accept all criticism that I am a total NERD. :-)

(click on pic to see larger version)

Hood Canal

Since I have committed to work weekends (people buy houses on the weekends) Shaun and I decided to venture out to the Hood Canal this last week. It was a peaceful mini vaca that was needed! We packed up the wagon and headed out Wednesday. Most of our time was spent napping, watching the news (post election hooopla), eating, cooking, napping, eating some more and sewing. We were planning to go mushroom hunting for Chanterelle’s but got rained out!!! Poor Gus was SOOOO disappointed.

Shaun's Aunt Candy and myself made curtains for the nursery. They turned out so cute!!! The fabric was really nice to begin with and the pattern we used just made them look great. I don't know if I will ever spend $$$ on curtains again, when you can make something just as nice, if not something you like more because you are in complete creative control. The curtains are a pale blue. I have to get ribbon for the top. I am thinking of a green ribbon with dots of some sort and possibly getting some little brown puff balls (like what use to be on the back of our socks in the 80's- gotta love the 80's!) and scatter them on the curtains. Mmmmm....can't wait to go shopping! So far my project list is: Re-Covering the rocker cushions, making a cushion for the top of the blanket chest, throw pillows for the blanket chest, and a diaper stacker. We will see how far along I actually get in the next 4 months (less Christmas vaca, less parties galore and less extra sleep for my getting fatter by the minute butt). Shaun called me an oompa loompa this morning...........SAD!!!!! No new pics this time, so here is an oldie from our tree hunt in the mountains near their house.

On to Turkey Day!

I feel like such a bad blogger! I have been so busy lately, I am wondering if it ever ends? When do I get a break? Everything is going great! We had our 24 week appointment on Friday and all is well! Our next appointment is in 4 weeks (30 week apt) and then it's down to every other week, and then once a week----wow! I can't believe how fast 30 weeks has come! It feels like I just bought all my baby books yesterday ;-]

Here are some pics of our pumpkins....Shaun did the scarry face, the spider and I did the (according to Shaun) "not so festive" crab.

Mele Kalikimaka....

Don’t get me wrong, I love Halloween. Shaun and I will have our best dressed pumpkins on display, scary music playing through the front window and honor our reputation of handing out the biggest handful of candy in the neighborhood. I love love love Thanksgiving dinner. So much I actually do a dinner at our house just for us, and sometimes some lucky guests ;-] Thanksgiving is always fun and a great kick off to Christmas. I will make my traditional Pumpkin Soup (which for the 1st few years the comment was always "Pumpkin Soup again?" and then one year I didn't make it everyone complained- of COURSE!). So now I make it every year. :) Normally the day after Thanksgiving we would get our Christmas tree in the mountains, but this year we are short on time so I think we will get it early.........YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!! So....in short LET THE HOLIDAYS BEGIN!!!! :)

Happy Birthday to me!!!

Even though the day you turn 29 isn't so exciting, I had a pretty darn good birthday. My dad surprised me on the big day (he was in town for his baby Bear (me) and a good friend's memorial service was the same weekend). He stayed with us for 3 nights and it was nice to share "everything baby" with someone from my family, since they all live in Florida, California and Illinois. :( Poo! He came with presents and, like I requested, they were all for the baby. YESSS!! Shaun and I went out to the Garage on my actual birthday for a friend's birthday party. Why would I go to someone else's party on my birthday you might ask??? Well, I can't explain it but the thought of going to someone else’s party sounded better than having my own!!! If I wanted to stay home at the last "Preggers" minute I could and if I wanted to leave early I could. I thought it was a great idea!!! Shaun and I celebrated just the 2 of us with my traditional Dairy Queen Ice Cream Cake.....which I have been getting for as long as I can remember, and when my family moved away Shaun has whole heartedly kept up the tradition. I love him so much. :) Wednesday Becca planned a girls dinner for me (love her) at Zeke’s Pizza in Kirkland......Pizza has become my favorite thing in the world!!! It was SOOOOOO good!!! Here are some pics. It was a great time. I am truly thankful for my friends, they are the best.

Am I cheap?

I have to admit, I have an addiction to the sweet satisfaction of "saving money" and having a baby has opened up a whole new world to satisfy my craving! I have become quite the consignment shop fanatic. I had no idea there was such a huge market of mother’s selling their (generally) 3 months used baby goods in conjunction at these wonderful little stores. I have so far visited 4 shops from Redmond to Everett and to my delight spent minimal dollars for some great stuff! My favorite find is a complete Janie and Jack Outfit (head to toe coverage and accessories) for less than $10, I have had such luck 3 times! I found the babies bedding at Ashleigh’s Attic in Downtown Redmond (it’s adorable, I will post some pics). (Ashleigh’s Attic seems to always have a few Pottery Barn sets in almost new condition for about $40). I found the same bassinet I registered for for 1/3 the price and yesterday I picked up my GREATEST find EVER for Dad! I got this jogger (retails for $375-$400) for $69.99. It’s a TRUE Husky Purple and I have started the search for Gold UW Patches to sew onto it. I scrubbed the canvas last night and the frame and it looks NEW! I love it! I know (he that will soon be named) will love it too.  That’s all for now, have a great weekend! PS the Armoire behind the jogger is apart of the nursery furniture set but it is too big (or our house is to small) to fit through the door frame.

(Click the pic for a larger size)

Baby Moved!

Shaun and I went to the Husky/Stanford game last night and I could start to feel the baby- finally! I read that at about 19 weeks the baby can start to hear, so maybe the stadium woke the little bugger up ;-] It feels like a little tap, not much happening there. Yesterday I started to feel little twitches that made me itch.....today Leslie said "Don't Itch!". She said the itching is caused by the stretching and if you itch you will get stretch marks....good to know!!! Today I am sort of in pain. I read it's like growing pains, I don't ever remember growing pains. Now I can really emphathize with Shaun since he is 6'5" and had awful growing pains growing up. Bummer! This kind of sucks.

Boy!

Shaun and I are still in shock. We can't believe we are going to have a little boy running around. We are VERY excited, I think more than we have been so far. In preparation we have to finish cleaning out the room (mostly done) and re-paint. I was thinking of keeping the green color, but now since there is going to be SO much color in the bedding and furniture I might go for beige and brown accent wall. Which might have something to do with the fact that my office is based out of a brand new model home and it's covered in vanilla paint. Mmmmm.....what to do?!?! These are major decisions to start thinking about!

Last night Shaun and I tried to decide on a name.....this is not going so well. We just can't agree. We did agree on a new theme for the room (easier decisions)- fishies!!! Much better and since we love to fish and we don't live on a farm (yet) we decided to nix the cows. Plus the cow theme was mostly white and, yes Becky, white will be tough with a baby, 2 black cats and a ridiculous black lab.

Since I took all my pics off my laptop this is the only pic I have of Gus. This pic was taken last year in the Olympic Peninsula Mountains....we were getting our $5 Christmas tree.

Oh BOY oh BOY!!!

We found out yesterday we are having a boy! Shaun and I are both ecstatic. I can't explain how much more of a connection we are feeling with the baby now. Shaun is completely beside himself, I knew he wanted a boy but I had no idea how bad! It's great!

After the ultrasound I had a few hours to kill before meeting the girls for dinner so I, of course, went to the mall! I haven't been to Bellevue Square (the actual mall- I have been to Lincoln many times) in a long time and boy oh boy (I just can’t stop saying ‘boy’…lol) have they done some major remodeling! There is more baby/kids store too. I went to Janie and Jack, my favorite kids clothing store. When I worked at the mall and Melissa was pregnant I probably went there every other day to check out the sales rack. (Darn it! I always staked a claim on the J&J clothes I bought for her daughter and now I don’t get them. :-( Sad!) Janie and Jack is a tad pricy but their sales are awesome! I got 3 little jumpers for $20! Then I went next door to Pottery Barn’s new clothing store for kids- Threads. They have super cute stuff too and they have an embroidery machine right in the store! They had some good sales and I got 4 onesies for $27….I think that’s a pretty good deal! Right?!?! I just love that you can get a whole outfit for a baby for less than $10!

This little baby boy, I can already tell, is going to be spoiled in the clothing department. It was really different looking at boy clothes. Even though Shaun and I have been convinced we are having a boy I still never REALLY looked at the boy stuff. I have, naturally, always looked at the girl stuff and mentally decorated in girly themes. Looking at the boy stuff was totally different this time around and having to steer away from the pink (and almost always more than ½ the department) was hard and a little sad. Awww well. Shaun says “I’ll give you a girl next time.” Let me tell you, since Shaun has 3 brothers, that was really comforting. ;-]

In this picture the baby is sort of squatting and the picture is being taken from underneath. To see the picture larger click on it.

Click the pics to see a version you can SEE :-)

Wine Night and Becca's Birthday at Heidi's Dad's House

The guest of honor....woohoo! 28th Birthday's are fun!

Trying to pose for the picture- wine makes people not pay attention

The birthday girl showing off some finer gifts..... ;-)

All the 'girls'

It feels like fall

It feels like fall and I am thrilled about it! The leaves are changing; the furnace has at last needed to fire up; and this morning I used my Pumpkin Mug with pleasure. I HEART it all!!!! This year I love fall because Shaun and I finally get to find out if the baby is a boy or a girl (today at 2:30 to be exact). I of course love fall every year because it’s my birthday (a few weeks away)!! YAY! I have given Shaun stern words to not go crazy (as we normally do) because we have a nursery to fill and we are traveling so much in the next few months (Florida for Christmas, Florida in Jan for my sister’s wedding and Hawaii in May for Tamara’s wedding). Shaun has brought out the orange tub from the attic so I guess it’s time to start decorating for the season! Only 2 ½ hours till the appointment! I am so excited, can’t wait to share the news. Bye for now!

Does the Starbucks Drive Thru Voice Drive Anyone Else NUTS?

So I am in route to Seattle this morning, which is an awful commute of at least an hour or more, and as a pregnant woman I HAD to stop by Starbucks to get my new craving "Venti Iced Passion Tea and Lemonade, no sweetener". Since I have nixed my commute I have given up my morning Starbucks run and forgot how annoying the girl is at 6am!!! Does anyone else dread the drive thru voice that starts with a slow spoken 'Welcome to Starbucks and h o w a r e y o u d o i n g t o d a y y y y y y y y y . . . . . . . my gosh is it just me? All I want is to tell her what I want. Maybe it's the pregnancy talking, but I think the world would be a better place if Starbucks just got to the point! :-)

Baby news..... we have our Ultra Sound tomorrow! My doc said we could move it up a week, we are TWO VERY ANXIOUS PEEPS who have very little patience, so of course we took the opportunity. :)

Baby Pics...gotta post!

Ok, so I know this is my 3rd posting today but I just have to post some pics of Elijah- what a little angel! The EHS reunion is this week which means lots of out of towners are in town. Liz and I paid a visit to 1 month old Elijah and momma Vanessa at their new house (adorable BTW and it has Vanessa written all over it!). Jaime was staying with Vanessa too.

Blue Bedding- what if it's a girl?

Yes, I am aware it’s blue bedding and if it’s a girl I will simply stitch on some pink grosgrain as an accent, or do some embroidery. J You know how crafty I am, it will work for either one.................BUT, Shaun and I are convinced we are having a boy. We shall see! October 2^nd is the big day!!!

 

Friday Night at BabiesRUs!!!

I have had the BabiesRUs bug for a while and last night I got my fix. We decided we would go to match a crib to the rest of our nursery furniture. Our nursery furniture is a hand-me-down Laura Ashley bedroom set I got from one of my favorite clients last year (If you have been to my house you surely know all about this client of mine and the fabulous pieces she gave me from her last house in England). Anyhoot- the furniture is, I like to call it, this Florida Turquoise-blue and a real knotty wood (I think it’s pine). Shaun and I decided to use most of this set as the nursery furniture and just buy a crib. The crib is gorgeous and since we’re not buying anything else we figure we should pick the one we like and not a cheap one! I never would have thought I would be so excited about a crib! I have also been searching high and low for some nursery bedding that I actually like- it’s been pretty hard! I finally found it at nurserydepot.com (a great place) and actually BabiesRUs has it too! It’s called Moo Cow by Sumersault, and YES it’s covered in cows. I knew I wanted a farm animal theme and I just LOVE cows.....so weird huh. lol

16 week apt yesterday!

Yesterday we had our 16 week appointment. Everything went well. The nurse freeked us out because when she was looking for the heartbeat she used the wrong size sonogram(I think thats what it's called) and she couldn't find it! Then she said she was using the 20 week+ sonogram by mistake. Whew!!!! We got our blood results back and our babies health risk is 1 in 25000.....or something like that. GREAT!!! Our next appointment is Oct 3rd and then we will find out the sex! Yippee!

An all around update....

When we had our first appointment I thought it was going to be a very long 10 months. I can't keep surprises, Shaun and I both always give each other birthday presents early because we can't hold out. I have no patience so I was sort of panicking about how I have absolutely no control over this little being. :-) But now that we get to find the sex out, hopefully, in 2 weeks it feels like we're moving along! I can't imagine my stomach getting any bigger. It's so weird!! Our 1st ultrasound was crazy! It was moving SO much we were in total shock.

I had nausea up to the 12th week on the dot- like clockwork. It was really strange, all of a sudden it was gone and then I started to get this weird heartburn/indigestion feeling whenever I ate- which is more bearable than the nausea. I never actually threw up!!! I felt so sick sometimes, I was just waiting to barf and I never did. I have heard from lots of people if you don't throw up you're having a boy.....who knows. I got headaches too. I have never been someone who gets
headaches, so it was odd. I researched it and they were tension headaches, from the baby of course!

I have the weirdest food aversions. Chicken grosses me out...unless it’s in something like Mexican food or a yummy salad, but just plain-barf! So Shaun started making a lot of steak for dinner and I didn't like that either. So weird! Meat has become my enemy. Cheese has become MORE of a favorite and bad bad foods have become a craving. :-(

We haven't bought much for the nursery. We have 3 bedrooms and decided to try and combine the office with the guest bedroom, and well, that just isn't working. We have to get rid of our 2nd bed. We have this blue/teal furniture that we can use for the nursery. In the set we are going to use the blanket box(soon to be a toy box), a dresser as the changing table (you can buy a changing pad for the top and now so many
people do that the pads come with straps you can screw into the back of the dresser) and we will hopefully find a crib that matches the wood. My mom and I went shopping ALL OVER and found out that BabiesRUS has by far the biggest selection, quality stuff and great prices. I've looked on craigslist and have only found some cute pottery barn bedding sets.

That’s enough for now! Got inspired and felt like sharing

An incredible ultra sound!

We had the most incredible appointment yesterday! See the little person was absolutely the mast amazing thing so far. He/She had the hiccups and kept putting it’s hand in the air and kicking it’s feet all around. It was so cool. The picks show #1 Baby facing you, head is on the right, #2 Baby facing upward, head is on the right, #3 Back of baby, see it’s perfect little spine!!!!

We heard the heartbeat!

Yesterday we heard the heartbeat! It was incredible! It was very interesting how the nurse looked for it, and looked for it, and then all of a sudden we got surround sound of the ‘Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!’ It was crazy, I can’t get the sound out of my head. Dr. Zimmer says I am doing GREAT and all of my levels are exactly where they should be. The baby’s heart beat was 164. Next week we have another Ultra Sound, so I hope to post some worthwhile pictures soon. Apparently the baby is now the size of a large lime…..and my uterus is the size of a grapefruit. Fabulous.

Morning Sickness is over!!!!

I finally kicked the morning sickness! Yay!!!! I am feeling much better J Tomorrow we have an appointment for a checkup and Ultra Sound. I will keep you posted!!!

 

Our 1st Appointment!!!

Our 1st appointment went great! We saw the heartbeat....it looks more like a moth looking for the light. We came home with some ultrasound photos but our computer is undergoing surgery and we can't scan them :-( As soon as we are up and running they will be posted.

about the size of a small raspberry

This week baby McGrath is about the size of a small raspberry! Feeling ok this week... a little sick here and there.

Morning sickness....:(

Momma McGrath here.....and feeling very barfy today. I thought I had morning sickness already for 2 days last week and was done with it.....but I was SO wrong!!!! This morning is bad :-(. My dear friend Ginger Ale hasen't kicked in yet, hoping she will soon.

The little black spot.....

Sarah had an ultrasound Friday afternoon and the little black spot was found!!! We have been waiting for the ultrasound to confirm the due date, and with the measurements it February 19Th, give or take 12 days..............what?! Sarah is only about 5 weeks along, so at about 10 weeks they should have a firmed up date.

Famous Main Photo.....

Many have asked about the main photo......well that cutie pie is our neice Anna McGrath, she belongs to Shaun's bother Jesse and Wife Michelle. She is much bigger now! She was born 01/29/07.

Dear Friends and Family.....

We are at Day 4 of 'Our Life Has Changed Forever'. Having found out we are pregnant.....officially with 4 pregnancy tests, all of different brands of course........we have already felt a big change..........and we welcome it completely. :-)

Everyone has been thrilled with the news. There has been a lot of high pitched "EEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!" and screams. We found out on Father's day. We were able to get Sarah's whole family on the phone while they were out to 'Father's Day Breakfast' in Celebration, Florida (coincidence?). Sarah took pictures of the double-lined pregnancy test and sent it to her Mom's phone while she was on another phone with Dad. They all starting shrieking and laughing and asking 'Is this real?' and then the congrats came along from everyone and titles were proudly taken at once, Aunt Becky, Aunt Devon, Grandma Lori and Grandpa Bob.


We spent the day with Shaun's family and shared the news with Shaun's Dad Randy as part of his father’s day present. Funny thing Grandpa was just gripping that morning about how he only has 1 grandchild. Hahaha......The sweet soon to be Baby McGrath gained 3 Uncles; Jesse, Jordan, Daniel, and an Aunt Michelle (Jesse's wife). Of course Sweet Baby McGrath will also be showered with love from Aunt Jeannie, Aunt Cindy, Aunt Candy and Uncle Bill.


So far Sarah has decided Dr. Zimmer of Bellgrove OBGYN will deliver Baby McGrath. She had blood work done yesterday and the results were great! She is hoping to have an ultrasound done on Friday to get the ‘real’ specifics.

Everything is a little funny so far. The alien-ish pictures you find on the internet that depict what your little baby looks like, which is the size of a sesame seed. The strange food that is now filling our fridge, and large amounts of ginger products that have taken over the kitchen, car, purse and office. It's all a little strange but AMAZING.

Stay tuned.....