23 weeks

The belly's a growin and she's a kickin!

The hubby is making progress too! heehee

Love going back and visiting SB!

Great friends, good food & beautiful weather!

XO,
S

Cold Season -2 / Sam-0 AND It's a GIRL!

There's so much I've been wanting to write, but instead I've been man down for the second time this cold and flu season.  GRRRRRR.  I'm seriously begining to think MJ was onto something with the whole face mask thing. 

Don't judge if you see me rockin one of this bad boys over the next few months.

Being sick SUCKS.

Being sick pregnant DOUBLE SUCKS!

Now that I'm almost done being sick, onto more important topics, like the ever awaited confirmation that we're indeed having a BABY GIRL!  We had our 20 week ultrasound last Tuesday (despite being sick, I wasn't going to miss or reschedule this appt. for anything).  We went to a wonderful perinatal doctor-  Dr. Silverman for this appointment.  Our ultrasound was on a huge screen and was completely fascinating.  They measured every little important thing in her body and seeing all four chambers of her heartbeat and all the details of her brain developing was amazing. 
Then, about midway through the appointment, the moment came. 
Doc: Do you want to know the sex?
Us: YES!!!
Doc: It's 100% a healthy baby GIRL

We are so excited and in love already! In addition to the exciting news,  I felt my first real kick during the ultrasound and have felt a few since.  There is nothing better than feeling this little life inside of me.
Shane is getting used to the idea of having a little girl that melts his heart and he can't say NO to. He's  completely on board with being out numbered, so long as I don't go overboard with PINK in the nursery!  Lucky for him, I'm not a big pink person anyways and tend to like neutral decor with pops of color.  I normally like more vintage girly things, but right now, I'm really digging the modern baby stuff.  It will probably be a mish mash of love and hopefully it will come together nicely. 
So here we are, 21 weeks and thrilled as can be to meet our baby girl in less than 4 months.  Holly geese, that's going to come quick. 
Since I was sick over the weekend, I spent time searching the internet for crib bedding.  This has been no easy task for me.  Making decisions these days isn't easy.  I found several I liked, but there's always one thing I would change.  I think I've narrowed it down though and have the one I like.  Still on a hunt, but for now, this is what I think I'm going to go with.  I'll add pops of cherry pink and orange in the room elsewhere to girly it up!

  Oilo Modern Berries- Taupe

Click here for Oilo website

Loving their simplicity and modern sheek designs. 

Lastly, we received our first peice of furniture for the nursery, yippee! 

 Window Day Bed from West Elm (love this place)

Buy here.

   We plan to fill it with pillows and use it as a comfy place to sit or sleep.  

Let the decorating and filling the nursery with LOVE begin.  

TTFN. 

 

XO,

S

Megan's Pulled Pork

These little suckers were goooooood!

Great/EASY recipe for parties. 

We served these up for the USC domination of UCLA this past Saturday!

Ingredients:

1 Pork Shoulder (3-5 lbs)

Liquid Smoke (tbl. per lb.)

1 Head of Chopped Cabbage

Soy Sauce (to taste)

Start with the pork shoulder and cut off the fat (this job screamed Shane, I need you!).  Once the fat is trimmed, put it in the crock pot on high with the liquid smoke.  You'll want to add a tablespoon of liquid smoke per pound of meat.  Let it cook on high for 8 hours.  After 8 hours, you'll want to drain the juice into a bowl and set aside.  At this point, your pork will be VERY stinky (good stinky, but stinky) and easy to shred.  Shred the pork and add chopped cabbage. Add back in a few ladles of juice and some soy sauce and let cook for 1 hour.  Serve it up on some Kings Hawaiian rolls.

Enjoy!
And thanks Megan for the wonderful recipe.  

XO, 

S

Cravings.

I heard they would come and they've finally arrived- CRAVINGS. 

Nothing too out of the ordinary, but here's what BB (Baby Ball) and I are craving as of late:

Pasta, hot, warm, rich cheesy PASTA

Get in my belly. 

(side note: this craving is super weird because I did not fancy pasta prior to pregnancy, it didn't agree with my tummy, so I'd opt for spaghetti squash or sauce over veggies)

Next up, The Habit Charburger

(side note:  I used to like my burgers plain, now I like them with cheese and grilled onions)

Next- FRUIT, fruit and more Fruit! 

Loving FRESH citrus and berries. 

CANNOT get enough!

Lastly, I'm really diggin these little guys- Sour Patch Kids.

 I'm normally more of a chocolate, salty sweet kinda girl, but right now these are my jam!

That's all I can think of at the moment.  Yesterday, we had a standard appointment with our OB and we got to hear the heartbeat again.  I love that wa-wa-wa sound, it's like music to my ears.  Next week we have our 20 week screening and find out 100% what the sex is (that is if the baby is cooperating)! 

CANNOT WAIT to start decorating.

TTFN.

XO, 

S

P.S. 

19 weeks and counting

Knowledge is Power!

...or OVERWHELMING!

Here's my new library, mostly given or lent to us by friends. 

I think I bought two of these and have opened three.(insert ashamed face here)

The first 16 weeks were about trying to feel better, now it's time to get my read on. 

Do you have a favorite, must read baby book?

I must say Exploiting My Baby by Teresa Strasser is my fav!

Happy Reading!

XO,
S

FINALLY... I am human again.

self portrait - weeks 6-16

Wow, that was the world's longest hang over and to think it wasn't even from drinking?!  Wondering what in the heck I'm talking about, well if you've ever experienced  "morning sickness" (let me clear my throat and say bullshit, all day sickness), it sucks, BUT the good news is it has finally passed (KNOCK ON EVERYTHING AROUND YOU, just in case).  I can finally enjoy my growing mid section and the little being inside me!  Yippee!

Bet you didn't know, I heart drugs!

Explanation: Unfortunately, before I could enjoy officially being nausea free, I caught a terrible cold.  Let me just tell you, being sick and pregnant double sucks.  I didn't realize what a druggy I was, until I couldn't take any for my recent cold. After a weekend of sniffles and trouble breathing through both my nose and mouth, I reached out to my doctor who said I could take Benadryl.  It dried me up real nice, but made the insomnia I was experiencing worse (gave me a whole new meaning to Up All Night, practice? Maybe!), either way- NO BUENO.  Long story short, I'm better now and happy, happy, happy.  Unfortunately I missed this 'happy' feeling on my bday, but que sera sera, on to greener pastures, there's always next year!

Next up, Thanksgiving and the holidays, woohoo!  My favorite time of year.   

XO, 

S

P.S. Stay healthy!

Cruising along... 15 weeks and counting!

Just cruising along, starting to grow a baby bump and enjoying this being pregnant business. Still feeling pretty nauseous, but I have my good days where I barely notice it.   Hoping/praying for more good days to come!  The latest preg related thing (I think) I felt was last night, I got a crazy pain in my butt (seriously, it was like in my butt cheek muscle, sorry TMI).   I think it's my sciatic, but I haven't had much time to research it.  It was the most crazy painful feeling, almost like a charlie horse in your booty.  It went away today, so I'm hoping it was just a weird cramp and this isn't going to be a normal occurrence, but I have heard of preg peeps mentioning this sort of thing.

On Monday, we had our once a month appointment and baby Ball seems to be doing great.  We heard he/she's heartbeat again, which is always the greatest feeling.  Thought we might do an ultrasound and be able to tell more about the sex, but I was wrong.   We won't be 100% sure until our 19 or 20 week appt.  So the wait continues.   

Bump Watch

15 weeks before our doc appt. 

 Outside the set for our friend Tessa's movie! (Shane and I tried our hand at being movie stars yesterday by being extras on her set.  So FUN!)

The beer belly, jiggly mid section (that's actually not so jiggly) is starting to form more into what might?! look like a baby bump to others.  If not to you, it does to me, so humor me people! BTW, I really like to touch and poke it.  Probably not very nice of me?  Shane keeps telling me the babies going to come out with indentations on it's head, but I quickly tell him, it's protected by gooey stuff (I'm so technical about my body, I know).

In other baby news, this past weekend we visited Shane's family in Fresno and got the cradle that him, his two brothers and nephew all slept in as babies.  This cradle is very COOL- it's wooden and very vintage.  We plan on having refinished, so baby Ball can use it too.  Before and after pics to come. 

This weekend it's off to the desert to see The Sensiba gang.  I am excited to take pics of Rhodes and Sevi and meet my cousin Trent's girlfriend and see the rest of the fam of course.

It's the busiest time of year and I just love it.  Lots of yummy food, boots, sweaters, scarves, fires, Halloween (which I'm skipping this year, but going double big next year, so watch out) and MY BIRTHDAY; so many things I love!  Now if only the weather would cool down for more than a minute, so I can get cookin some soups from Siriously Delicious. 

XO,

S

P.S. Pardon how random and all over the place this blog post is.  It's a little like my brain these days.  Rumor about pregnancy brain, TOTALLY TRUE.

ALS Walk

At the beginning of this year, we found out our dear family friend, Paul Jolly was diagnosed with ALS, commonly known as Lou Gherig's disease.  You can read more about it here.  With Paul in my often thoughts, I saw a sign about an upcoming ALS Walk in Ventura County and thought it would be nice for my family, Rick (Paul's partner) and I to walk and raise money in honor of Paul.  We signed up without hesitation and began our mini crusade.   Little did we know, that we'd rise to the occasion and raise the most money of any team walking. Collectively, we raised $14, 627 and the number is still rising.   I couldn't be more proud of our team.   

Yesterday was a beautiful day for the walk in Ventura.  Our team, The Jolly Walkers grew from the original 5 to 14, including Paul! We were honored at the event and Paul and Barney spoke on behalf of the team.  Those buggers brought me to tears with their heartfelt words.  What a great feeling it is, to do something for someone we love and a very worthy cause. 
Paul is now in a clinical trial and we are hoping and praying that the treatments help slow the progress of this awful disease.  Meanwhile, we'll continue to be there for him and give him lots to live for.  

We are still collecting donations. 

Click here to help!

XO,
S

$1 Oatmeal at Jamba on Wednesdays!

Not sure how long this goes for, but I can't wait for Hump Day this week!
My fav is with blueberry and blackberries.
For what it's worth, I also think it's better than Starbucks and Coffee Bean's.  

XO,

S

I.die.

Baby Ball's 1st Trojan Gear from Shaneenie at work.   

(don't mind the pic taken with an iPhone on my keyboard)

LOVE.

XO,
S

Kinda obsessed...

...with these frames

I'll take one of each.  

You can get them here, Delta Girl Distressed Frames.

I can't pick a favorite. 
Found these thanks to this fab blog.

XO,
S

"Morning" Sickness...

If only it was only in the morning!  I got pregnant thinking, I can deal with this "morning" sickness thing, but what I didn't know or realize is that this so called sickness plagues you into the night and on bonus evenings, it even wakes you up!  The best line I've heard or read is that the term "morning" sickness was obviously made up by a man because it clearly doesn't stop and start in the a.m. 

Mine had started to go away, or at least I was knocking on wood and thought so, but now it seems to be back. Hopefully it's temporary.  At least I can rest on the fact, that I haven't heard of anyone being sick their entire pregnancy, the longest seems to be around 16 weeks, so I've got a few more to go.  WE CAN DO IT!

Now for what "morning" sickness is for me.  I don't actually throw up (kinda wish I did if it would provide any relief, but I'm just not a pucker).  It's more like terrible nausea that I can only compare to a really bad hangover, minus the headache, although when it lasts for days on end, the headache normally comes into the picture.  The worst part,  I didn't get to enjoy my favorite tasty beverages to feel this way.  I was always willing to have a little nausea for some vino, but you can't blame that extra glass of wine or cocktail this time, it's just your hormones going crazy. 

 My lifesaver

Pretzels have been my BFF through this.  The salty carbs seem to make me feel a bit better.  Water is harder to drink and honestly even my favorite foods don't sound good when the nausea is bad.  The upside, I've only gained 3 pounds so far, so we're doing well in that department.  Too bad the waistlines were already tight on most of my clothes to begin with, so I'm going to need to do some serious shopping soon. Another upside, the hubby is helping out with the cooking and chores, which has been a life saver.  The last thing you want to do is cook and clean.  I have managed to squeak out a few meals, but I miss trying to replicate the cover of Cooking Light and hope to be back at it soon. 

That's all for today!  Here's to hoping I have a nausea free anniversary celebratory weekend in Escondido.  Poor Shane is sick of hearing, I don't feel well or seeing me with a sour face.   

XO,

S

First Trimester aka. "Scary"mester

Okay, so my 1st Trimester was not as full of excitement, as I'm sure some might be.  Don't get me wrong, I was thrilled to be pregnant again, but I was scared from my recent experience and also got a major case of nausea around 6 weeks (that is finally subsiding, but not completely gone).  I awaited doctors appointments like they were Christmas, just to get that reassurance that everything was going okay this time around.  The time did indeed pass and here we are past week 12!  We've had 2 ultrasounds, heard a strong healthy heartbeat and had our 1st Trimester Screening yesterday.  We are thrilled with the results and now can finally get excited.   

Let's catch you up, how in the heck I am 12 weeks along, didn't I just miscarry on 4th of July?  Well yes, I sure did.  It was beyond hard and as a result, we threw caution to the wind, thinking there was no way in $(%# we would get pregnant again so fast and went on with our lives (at least we tried).  As planned, we went on vacation to Anguilla, went out with friends, drank wine/adult beverages, tried to get back into working out....  It was working at first, naturally I'd get sad sometimes, but I was able to think positive about what happened and get through it.  Until BAM, 4 weeks later, it was all over.  I was taking a Core Fusion class and felt like I was going to faint.  I was peeing all night, so naturally I turned to Advil PM (sleep and I are BFF, don't mess).  I would be excited to have cocktails with friends for some occasion and after a couple, I was over it.  I was back to crying at the drop of a hat.

WHAT WAS WRONG WITH ME?  I called my doc and said you need to take my blood, I think my hormones are screwy from the pregnancy.  My life is not normal.  I can't do anything I used to. I feel horrible.  So I mozzied into the office and had blood drawn.  She called me the next day and said, are you sitting down?  I immediately thought, oh no, there's something REALLY wrong with me.  And she came out said, based on your hormone levels, it looks like you're about 5 weeks pregnant.  WHAT?!  Are you sure?  Maybe it's the old hormones and she said, no it's definitely not.  So I made an appointment and went in the following week to have an ultrasound and there on the screen was a little fuzzy gummy bear looking he/she.  I was in love.  Scared, but in love already.

Baby Ball's first photo

I wont even tell you what Shane thought BB (Baby Ball) looked like. :)

What did this mean?  Was I going to miscarry again because it happened so soon?  The doctor couldn't guarantee anything, but said that everything looked good, so far.  My lining wasn't too thin and I was probably going to be okay because I didn't have to have a D&C.  PHEW.  The next week, I went back in for another ultrasound and the baby was growing exactly as it's supposed to.  So, here we are, just over 12 weeks and finally able to share our news with the world!

12 weeks and counting

 Still in the "is she fat or damn, she should lay off the bag bagels" phase, but it's a start!

More to come... 

 XO,

S

One chucks, two chucks, BABY chucks!

Looking forward to next Spring!

(understatement of the year)

XO, 

S

Happy 2nd Anni to my BOOS!

 In no particular order, just a FEW of the millions of our wedding memories.

 The day started with the most loving letter from my husband to be.

It was a gorgeous day at the Bacara... just a little wind.

 So handsome.

 I had so much fun with all the details, these were our programs.  

Like I said, the wind. :)

 So far, the best day of my life.

This is one of my all time FAVORITE pics.

 We'll never forget the speeches and song by our family and friends. 

Our first dance to Broken Road by Rascal Flats.

Wish I could serve a piece of our cake with dinner tonight.

 So us.

I throw my hands up in the air sometimes...

Looking forward to celebrating 2 years with my hubby tonight.  Cooking this, one of our favs, watching our wedding video and just relaxing at home = PERFECT way to celebrate. 
I love you more and more each day Shaners.  

Thinking year 3, may just be our best yet!  

XO, 

S

Decisions... decisions...

These.

or

these?

Having an impossible time making decisions these days, but want to order a pair before it gets chilly (or at least what we Cali peeps like to call chilly). 

Buy here, if you fancy.

Happy Hump Day Shopping!

XO,

S

More Babies...

This past weekend, I made the journey to Santa Rosa to celebrate my beautiful friend Amy and sweet Baby Lucia on the way.  After an 8 hour drive on Friday, we went to a favorite winery- Mazzocco, where we got to see the Seaton and Cromie families, listen to live music, enjoy some eats and tasty wine!  

Saturday we had Amy's shower at her dear high school friend Lindsay's parent's house. Gotta love Nor Cal, where peoples families live close and have homes and wineries to host special events!  It was a gorgeous day and things couldn't have gone more perfect.  

Here are some photos and details from the shower. 

 Glowing Momma to Be

I'm tellin you, a little bit of ribbon on a Classico or capers jar makes the cutest flower vase!

My amazing mother slaved away making chocolate covered caramel pretzels for the favors.

(I helped with 6 out of 45 and they were a lot tougher than you would think)

Thanks Mo Mo, you are the best!

 Always a fan of the clothes line.

Knitted items by my momma!

Can't ever have enough CHEESE!

Perfect weather in a beautiful backyard. 

Couldn't have been more perfect!

Gifts galore.

-Diaper game-

We wrote messages on diapers for Amy and Luke to enjoy while they are changing sweet Lucia.

The food. 

Grammy's chicken salad croissant sandwiches

(I will try to get this recipe from the one of the hosts, as it's too yummy not to share)

Yummy green salad

Fruit salad

LA LA Love You framed print for baby Lucia's room made perfect decor. 

(Lucia Arizona- initials LA)

Get yours here.

The infamous fingerprint tree guestbook.

Always a hit, buy a variety here.

The hostesses and momma to be.

 

Let the countdown for baby Lucia's arrival begin!
She's going to be a little Scorpio like her Auntie Sam, yippee. 

XO,
S