Baby Update!

I am now 32-1/2 weeks pregnant!  I had my 2nd maternal fetal sonogram on Monday.  Madalynne is growing perfectly! Dr. Koster said she has plenty of fluid and is moving a lot....don't I know it!  LOL.  Her head and legs are tracking at 32 weeks and her tummy is tracking at 33 weeks.  I was worried that she was fat, but the doctor said she is just healthy and that is good news.  Both my mother and sister had preclampsia, which can be hereditary so I have been worried; but the doctor said her large tummy is a good sign.  Early warning signs of preclampsia is actually a smaller stomach because the baby is not getting enough nutrients so what she does get goes to her brain and limbs and anything left goes to her tummy...... a baby diet in essence.  These are her latest photos, profile shots of her forhead, nose, mouth and chin with her little hands raised up.  She has already turned and is correctly positioned to greet the world!  I am so thankful that everything is going so well.  We have been truly blessed!

Project Life Tuesday - Week 32

Welcome to Project Life Tuesday 2011! If you are new to my blog, welcome! I hope you will stay awhile. I'm Jessica and I am participating in Project Life, a different way to record our lives by taking one photo a day. This was inspired by the fabulous Becky Higgins who has put together a wonderful kit to make this challenge easier.

Don't worry, I'm not leaving traditional scrapbooking behind. This just gives me the opportunity to focus my scrapbooking on trips and things that are important to me right now and not get all bogged down with every birthday, dinner, and holiday that comes along.

Each Tuesday, I will post my pictures/journaling from the previous week. Project Life Tuesday was created by Jessica Turner over at The Mom Creative and she hosts a linky for readers to link up their pictures. So if you want to join in or want to see others POTW, just click the Project Lift button at the top of this post.

And finally, my POTW:

Saturday: FC Barcelona came to the US to play Club America in the Herbalife world Football Challenge. Juan was so excited to see his favorite soccer team in person. We bought tickets months in advance, at a pretty penny to make sure our seats were decent. $300 including parking. The game was scheduled to start at 3pm. We left our house about 2:15pm and made it to the Cowboys stadium by 2:45pm or so.  There were no signs directing us to the parking area, so we followed the sign for general parking and that's where we hit traffic for both the game and the ball park.  We literally sat at a standstill for over 45 minutes.  It was the most RIDICULOUS thing I've ever seen. Not to mention it was about 106 degrees so cars were overheating and having to be pushed everywhere you looked. The most digusting part, that wasn't even where we were supposed to go to park, it was the back of the stadium where we first exited the highway.  Needless to say by the time we found the parking, got to the stadium and then found our seats (which no one could seem to direct us to) it was half time.  Then we learned that Messi, Barcelona's number one star player and the one that Juan was SOOOO excited to see, was on vacation and didn't even attend the game.  Other favorites like Puyol attended but didn't play.  There were a few starters playing like Iniesta, David Villa, Keita, and Daniel Alves all played, but they were pulled out soon into the 2nd half.  It was so disappointing that we missed so much of the game, but even more disappointing that Juan didn't get to see his all time favorite athlete.

Led by forward David Villa’s first-half goal, FC Barcelona took care of Club America, 2-0, in the international friendly.

*Fans were booing often in the first five minutes because of the slow tempo. That quickly changed following Club America forward Vicente Vincente Sanchez’s opportunity to score in the seventh minute. Sanchez received an entry pass with only FC Barcelona goalie Victor Valdes in front of him but tangled legs with an FC Barcelona defender behind him in the penalty box. Valdes wasn’t tested much in the game before he was substituted for Jordi Masip. Club America had only one shot in the first half and four total against Valdes before he exited in the 73rd minute.
* Villa took over with a brilliant performance in 75 minutes of action, earning the Coors Light Man of the Match. Villa actively pursued to find the open spots on the field starting in the 10th minute. He frequently found himself in the penalty box leading another FC Barcelona charge against Club America and goalie Armando Navarrete. Villa scored off a beautiful assist from defender Adriano Correia. Villa gained so much separation from Club America defenders that he was waiting for the ball to arrive in the box before his header reached the back of the net. Villa finished the game with seven shots, four on goal.
*FC Barcelona midfielder Thiago Alcantara drew some of the loudest cheers from fans when he displayed his crafty footwork and nifty dribbling abilities. Alcantara finished the match with three shots. Forward Pedro Rodriguez also had a solid outing despite only one shot. Rodriguez always seemed to be matching Villa stride for stride down the field when FC Barcelona was in attack mode. FC Barcelona finished the match with 15 shots, seven on goal.


*Club America made a charge in the second half following a couple of key FC Barcelona players subbing out of the game. Club America had eight shots in the second half with Sanchez and forward Christian Benitez leading the way with a combined five shots. Perhaps the biggest chance to score an equalizer came in the 65th minute when Benitz was called offsides on a through ball from midfielder Edgar Castillo.


*FC Barcelona added to its lead in the 90th minute on midfielder Seydou Keita’s tapper in the goalie box. Forward Gerard Deulofeu received a cross from the right side of the field and dribbled from the left into the penalty box. Deulofeu dribbed down the goal line and lifted the ball over a diving Navarrete, making it an easy score for Keita, who was right in front of the goal.


*FC Barcelona also dominated the time of possession over Club America, 71 to 29 percent. It also edged out Club America eight to four on corner kicks. Club America was shut out in its three World Football Challenge defeats and allowed five goals during the exhibition tournament.

*60,807 people were in attendance to watch the match, but it goes without saying that if two-time FIFA World Player of the Year Lionel Messi would’ve played for FC Barcelona, it would’ve drawn a larger crowd. As fans were leaving at the conclusion of the match, the video board at Cowboys Stadium showed a commercial starring Messi and quite a few fans stopped heading for the exits to watch one of the biggest names in the soccer world. 

Sunday:  My work girlies threw me an awesome baby shower at Danna's house today. It was beautiful and awesome! They did a Storybook theme for the event. They had a even set up a special event, in which each guest brought a photo and created a 12x12 scrapbook page for Madalynne's personnal storybook filled with all the people she is going to know and love. Each page was themed based around what that guest wanted to do/or teach Madalynne in the future. The album turned out adorable. Each person also brought a storybook along with their gift, so we got some wonderful little books, most lovingly signed with special notes to Madalynne.  There was even a supercute cake from delicious cakes with little booties on top. They decorated adorably and had little outfits strung on clothesline across the window. The game was about nursery rhymes and let us all laughing. It was fabulous and Juan even attended. He is so excited about our little girl that he wants to be part of everything. It was nice as he was the official photographer!  Thanks again girls! It was absolutely wonderful! 
 

Monday: We are getting quite the little mound of clothes for Madalynne between those I received at the shower, those we've purchased, and those that Vanessa gave from Ashlyn's hand-me downs. I have done about 8 loads of little laundry and managed to get everything cleaned, organized and hung in her closet. I can't wait to dress her up in all of this cuteness!

 

Tuesday: We are still finishing up the final details on our home renovation. Mom made us dresser "doilies" that match our new bedding and she brought them over today. We have been using white towels to protect the furniture.  These look MUCH better! We also finally got a few more photos hung on the wall, including our engagement photo in our bedroom. 

 

Wednesday: Today I am officially 31 weeks pregnant! Stats: weight 237.1 lbs. This week, our baby measures over 16 inches long. She weighs about 3.3 pounds (try carrying four navel oranges) and is heading into a growth spurt. She can turn his head from side to side, and her arms, legs, and body are beginning to plump out as needed fat accumulates underneath her skin. She's also moving a lot, too, so I am having trouble sleeping because her baby's kicks and somersaults keep me up. All this moving is a sign that my baby is active and healthy. 

Thursday: This week was extra exhausting for me.  On top of my normal work schedule, I had to squeeze in a 6 part narrative on a huge campus that I am not at all familiar with, Medical City Dallas Hospital.  My "evening" job accounted for about 40 extra hours this week. 17 hour days are not exactly what my body was calling for. Thankfully, I managed to do most of the report on my couch, although it did make a mess of our living room.

 

Friday:  Juan bought another gift for Madalynne today at his favorite french store at Northpark. He was so excited about his find. It is adorable, but I was not quite as excited as he was as my friend, Danna, had already given us her old tummy time mat and it was twice as expensive as the original one we registered for. He was so excited because this one was pink and matched her room. I know bright colors stimulate little minds, so I was concerned that all of the muted pink wouldn't be as stimulating for her. Then Juan said dejectedly that he would return it and I felt like a complete creep! It is adorable and does match perfectly.  Who am I to burst his little bubble. He really thought I would absolutely adore it. We are keeping it, and it does look super cute in her room. I really need to let go a bit and let him be the father he wants to be. The last thing I want to do is diminish his excitement.

Thanks so much for visiting my little part of the blogging world today! I so love my blogging friends and the comments they leave.  Hope you are having a fabulous week.  

Project Life Tuesday - Week 31

Welcome to Project Life Tuesday 2011! If you are new to my blog, welcome! I hope you will stay awhile. I'm Jessica and I am participating in Project Life, a different way to record our lives by taking one photo a day. This was inspired by the fabulous Becky Higgins who has put together a wonderful kit to make this challenge easier.

Don't worry, I'm not leaving traditional scrapbooking behind. This just gives me the opportunity to focus my scrapbooking on trips and things that are important to me right now and not get all bogged down with every birthday, dinner, and holiday that comes along.

Each Tuesday, I will post my pictures/journaling from the previous week. Project Life Tuesday was created by Jessica Turner over at The Mom Creative and she hosts a linky for readers to link up their pictures. So if you want to join in or want to see others POTW, just click the Project Lift button at the top of this post.
And finally, my POTW:

Saturday: I threw my friend, Angie, a baby shower for their new addition, Kayla.  They are adopting her, so she was quite the surprise.  Kayla was the most adorable thing every in her little outfit.  The theme was baby clothes. I decorated with baby clothes on clothes lines strung around the room, the games were all diaper related, the advice clothes line had little onesies precut, the plates and napkins had little clothes lines and baby clothes on them, the prizes were lingerie bags and wrinkle remover/tide pens, and the favors were single load samples of tide and downey packets.  I think it went well, although I could NOT have done it without my sister helping me set everything up!  Thanks Vanessa! 

Sunday:  I came home from Tulsa today to find the house spotless and flowers awaiting me.  Juan is so sweet, he said that he got two colors, one for me and one for Coco!  They were quite gorgeous.

Monday:  I finished the banner I was making for Madalynne's room.  It has about seven layers and each had to be hand cut with my Grand Calibur.  I really like how it turned out and can't wait to hang it in her room.

Tuesday:  It has been SOOOO hot already this summer.  We are literally breaking records everyday.  108 to 110 is normal everyday.  We are well on our way to breaking the all-time record for number of days over 100 degrees. Update: we missed the record by 1 day with a total of 41 days above 100.  We only had 2 days of respite and we are back on the record train.

Wednesday:  I am officially 30 weeks pregnant today!  Weight - 237.9 lbs.  I seemed to have gained over 4 lbs this past week.  :(  Our baby's about 15.7 inches long now, and she weighs almost 3 pounds (like a head of cabbage). A pint and a half of amniotic fluid surrounds her, but that volume will decrease as she gets bigger and takes up more room in my uterus. Her eyesight continues to develop, though it's not very keen; even after she's born, she'll keep her eyes closed for a good part of the day. When she does open them, she'll respond to changes in light but will have 20/400 vision — which means she can only make out objects a few inches from her face. This week I have definitely become uncomfortable. My back seems to constantly ache and it is hard to get up and down.

Thursday:  Today was another doctor appointment with our OBGYN.  We have progressed to appointments every two weeks from this point forward.  Stats: blood pressure 128/70, weight 239.9 lbs.  Although we had just had lunch, I was still surprised to see my weight.  That means I gained 7.8 lbs in TWO weeks!!!!  I know my last appointment was under weight as I had not eaten for my glucose test, but that still seemed like a lot!  When I asked my doctor about it she said that was a lot and I really needed to try and watch the weight gain.  The sad thing is, I haven't changed my eating habits at all.  They haven't been perfect, but for the most part no cookies, candy, etc.  That bummed me out.

Friday:  Juan brought home an outfit for Madalynne.  He bought it at the little french store in Northpark.  He was barely able to contain himself from buying matching shoes and hat.  He cracks me up.  It is a sweet outfit though.

Thanks for visting me and peaking into our current week.  I hope your week was as eventful!

Baby Madalynne Banner

  

I saw a similar banner at the Dallas CK Convention this year and fell in love with it.  I immediately bought everything to replicate the banner for our soon to arrive baby Madalynne!  Although I haven't been scrapping lately, I have been crafty and finished the banner this morning.  I love it!  I can't wait to hang it in her room, but we have to wait until there is some furniture. LOL!

Here is the banner:

And here are a few detailed shots:

 

 

 

   

Materials Used:

Cardboard box

Spell Binders Grand Calibur - Shapeabilities Nested Pennants, Nested Lacey Pennants, Fancy Tags Two

Paper - My Mind's Eye Lost & Found - Madison Avenue "Pretty" Polka Paper, "Girlfriends" J'adore Paper, "Girlfriends" Lovely Paper

Bling - Want 2 Scrap - Nested Pennants - PrinR, Fancy Tags Two - WhiteP

Ink - CTMH - Cotton Candy, Chocolate

Alphabet Stickers - Lost & Found - Madison Avenue "Sisters"

Twine - My Mind's Eye - Lime Twist - Life of the Party "Charmed" Twine

Brads - My Mind's Eye - Madison Avenue "Happily Ever After" 

Layered Stickers - My Mind's Eye - Market Street "Happy Birthday"

Flowers - Prima - Fabric Fancies - Quartz

Ribbon - Unknown

Tools - Crop A Dile

Buttons - CTMH & Unknown

Thanks for visiting!

Project Life Tuesday - Week 30

Welcome to Project Life Tuesday 2011! If you are new to my blog, welcome! I hope you will stay awhile. I'm Jessica and I am participating in Project Life, a different way to record our lives by taking one photo a day. This was inspired by the fabulous Becky Higgins who has put together a wonderful kit to make this challenge easier.

Don't worry, I'm not leaving traditional scrapbooking behind. This just gives me the opportunity to focus my scrapbooking on trips and things that are important to me right now and not get all bogged down with every birthday, dinner, and holiday that comes along.


Each Tuesday, I will post my pictures/journaling from the previous week. Project Life Tuesday was created by Jessica Turner over at The Mom Creative and she hosts a linky for readers to link up their pictures. So if you want to join in or want to see others POTW, just click the Project Lift button at the top of this post.


And finally, my POTW:

Saturday - We worked all day on Coco's room and getting her closet set up.  The closet has a corner for Juan's desk and study materials and a little mini desk right next to it for Coco.  Then, there is a 6' section for all of Coco's clothes and things and the far back corner is for additional storage.  Mom is making us a curtain with pink and yellow fairies that will hide all of our luggage and stored items at the back of the closet.  Juan is very excited about her closet and being in there with her to draw and color.

 

Sunday - We finally finished clearing out Coco's room today.  Then we put down the rug we ordered for her play corner.  It's small, but so fun.  Of course, the rest of the room is empty still.  Next on the list, order the furniture!
 

Monday - This is a shot I've been meaning to take for a long time.  I've been saying for months that my stomach is lopsided.  I've gotten bigger and I keep thining my lopsidedness will eventually even out; but for now....my right side is way larger than my left.  Can you see it? 

 

Tuesday - Juan brought home and cooked dinner tonight from Central Market.  Salmon, veggies, rice, and croissants.  Yummy and oh so appreciated.

 

Wednesday - Today I am officially 29 weeks pregnant! Weight - 233.8 lbs. Our baby is growing rapidly now. This week she weighs about 2-1/2 pounds, like a butternut squash, and is a tad over 15" long from head to heel. Her muscles and lungs are continuing to mature, and her head is getting bigger to accommodate her growing brain - which is busy developing billions of neurons. Every day, about 200 milligrams of calcium is deposited in your baby's skeleton, which is hardening. With this rapid growth, it is no surprise that our baby's nutritional needs reach their peak during this trimester. This week she has also become SUPER active. She moves almost constantly now and it surprises me everytime it happens. The movements are getting stronger as well.

 

Thursday - I've been preparing for Angie's baby shower all week.  I'm throwing it for her in Tulsa on Saturday.  On the left is the thank you for attending favors that I will hand out to everyone and the right is the prizes for the games I have planned.  The theme is a baby clothes line theme, laundry, diapers, baby clothes, etc.  I thought favors of downy and tide were appropriate.  The game prizes are lingerie bags, wrinkle release, tide pens and travel sized spot cleaner.

Friday - Still preparing for the shower tomorrow.  Here are the Izzy drinks that I wrapped in gingham and a baby safety pin.  I also made little signs with the flavors of each bottle.

Thanks for visiting me this week.  I hope you past week and upcoming week are fun and eventful!

Project Life Tuesday - Week 29

Welcome to Project Life Tuesday 2011! If you are new to my blog, welcome! I hope you will stay awhile. I'm Jessica and I am participating in Project Life, a different way to record our lives by taking one photo a day. This was inspired by the fabulous Becky Higgins who has put together a wonderful kit to make this challenge easier.

Don't worry, I'm not leaving traditional scrapbooking behind. This just gives me the opportunity to focus my scrapbooking on trips and things that are important to me right now and not get all bogged down with every birthday, dinner, and holiday that comes along.

Each Tuesday, I will post my pictures/journaling from the previous week. Project Life Tuesday was created by Jessica Turner over at The Mom Creative and she hosts a linky for readers to link up their pictures. So if you want to join in or want to see others POTW, just click the Project Lift button at the top of this post.

And finally, my POTW:

Saturday - We finally registered for Coco!   Juan wanted to do in in about 30 minutes and totally drove me crazy!  I really didn't know what I was doing and wanted to take my time; but Juan just wanted to "hurry up and pick something".  Needless to say, I finally decided to just let him register for the items he wanted to and decided I would come back later with my sister and "fix" the registry.  We started at Babies R Us and that took us about and hour and a half, then off to Buy, Buy Baby which took us under an hour and then we finished off at Pottery Barn just to do our final bedding information update.  It still was a huge accomplishment and took us most of the day.

 

Sunday - I am throwing a baby shower for my friend, Angie, next weekend.  I wanted to make her a diaper cake, but had never made one; so my mom came over to help me make my first diaper cake!  It went together fairly easily and I am happy with how it turned out.  Thanks for the help, Mom!

Monday - We've been looking for a coffee table and rug for our living room since we started renovating.  The coffee table that I really wanted was at Crate & Barrel, but it was out of our price range.  When I found this trunk/rug combination at Pier 1 for about 1/5th the price, I knew it was perfect.  The size is right and the rug helps blend  all of our living room colors together.

Tuesday - Vanessa went with me this evening to "fix" our registry.  She was a HUGE help and we were at Babies R Us for almost 4 hours!  We went through everything on our registry and I feel SOOOO much better about it.  I was amazed at all the stuff we hadn't put on it and all the stuff we picked that we didn't need or needed something different.  Thanks, Vanessa!

Wednesday - Today I am 28 weeks pregnant!  I am very concerned with my weight increase this week. I seem to be skyrocketing and I am nervous that it's justational diebetes. I am 235 lbs today. My next doctors appointment is tomorrow and the big test day. Our baby weighs two and a quarter pounds, like a Chinese cabbage, and measures 14.8 inches from the top of her head to her heels. She can open and close her eyes, which now sport lashes. This movement is more of a reflexive blink than a deliberate openeing and closing, but it won't be long before she's batting those eyes at us!

Thursday - Today was our next doctor's appointment.  This is Dr. Farrow and we are extremely happy with her.  My weight this morning was 233.8 lbs. I also broke out bad again this morning on my feet, hands, and arms. They drew my blood for the glucose screening test, after I drank my orange liquid. My blood pressure was good at 120/72. I won't get my glucose results until tomorrow; but when I expressed concern to Dr. Farrow about my weight gain this week, she said that I hadn't gained ANYTHING in the last month based on their records and had only gained 10 lbs since my first appointment. That made me feel a lot better. At the doctor's my weight was 232.1 (with clothes on) which was no gain from last month. Yeah!

Friday - The nurse called from my OB this afternoon and my glucose test was negative!!!!  I don't even have to take the 3 hour test. YEAH!!!!  She said the protein levels in my urine were fine and everything looked great.  YIPPEEEEEE!!!!!  I was really worried about that.  I celebrated by going to Eatzi's with Danna for a delicious spinach salad with lots of veggies.

Thanks for visiting me this week! I hope you had a terrific week! 

Project Life Tuesday - Week 28

Welcome to Project Life Tuesday 2011! If you are new to my blog, welcome! I hope you will stay awhile. I'm Jessica and I am participating in Project Life, a different way to record our lives by taking one photo a day. This was inspired by the fabulous Becky Higgins who has put together a wonderful kit to make this challenge easier.
Don't worry, I'm not leaving traditional scrapbooking behind. This just gives me the opportunity to focus my scrapbooking on trips and things that are important to me right now and not get all bogged down with every birthday, dinner, and holiday that comes along.
Each Tuesday, I will post my pictures/journaling from the previous week. Project Life Tuesday was created by Jessica Turner over at The Mom Creative and she hosts a linky for readers to link up their pictures. So if you want to join in or want to see others POTW, just click the Project Lift button at the top of this post.
And finally, my POTW:


Saturday - We went to Tulsa today to visit my friend, Angie, and see her new little one, Kayla!  She is adorable and super sweet.  So are the photos, but I am not posting here as the adoption is not yet finalized.  But the photo for today is adorable!

Sunday - This week I've finally been able to scrap and I was featured for three different layouts on two different blog sites.  Yeah!  I guess I haven't lost my touch and my mojo has returned.
 

Monday - My friend, Joy, is a new Mary Kay consultant and she came over to give me a facial.  I needed a new cleansing regiment, so the timng was perfect.  I bought the setup, hope I like it.

Tuesday - I finally cooked dinner tonight.  Just simple salsibury steak and steamed vegtables, but it was nice to be able to sit down together for a real dinner.
 

Wednesday - Today I am officially 27 weeks pregnant! It's beginning to get difficult to bend over and to get in and out of bed. Weight update: 233.1 lbs. This week, our baby weighs almost 2 pounds (like a head of cauliflower) and is about 14-1/2 inches long with her legs extended. She's sleeping and waking at regular intervals, opening and closing her eyes, and perhaps even sucking her fingers. With more brain tissue developing, your baby's brain is very active now. While her lungs are still immature, they would be capable of functioning - with a lot of medical help - if she were born now. Next week is my next doctors appointment and my glucose screening test.

Thursday - Tonight was our last Theater ticket for our season tickets. The show was the Wiz and was great. It is a spin on the Wizard of Oz with singing, dancing, and our seats moved around as part of the show.  Very cool! We had dinner first at Fedora's, a little italian place.  I had a glass of red wine, my first of the entire pregnancy and probably my last; but boy was it fabulous.  I had a very rough and stressful week at work and desperately needed a little relaxation.  It definitely helped.

Friday - We have replaced pretty much all of our hardware in our house. We finally added hardware to our drawers and cabinets in our master bathroom.  The top two drawers are now sporting these adorable dragonfly drawer pulls.  My sister got them for me for my birthday like two years ago and I never found the right spot for them.  I'm so happy that they now have a home!

Thanks for visiting this week!  Hope you come back soon!