Baby Shower

My baby shower was this past Saturday, September 22nd. One of my very best friends, Merideth Calderwood, hosted it, and my Mom and Aunt Didi helped her a lot. I know it's a bit early for a shower. I am only 26 weeks today, and normally you wait until you're a little closer to the baby's birth, however I am moving to California in a few weeks so time was short.

It was so much fun! It was especially great because so much of my immediate family was able to come. My sisters Rebekah and Meghan were there, my step-mom Bev, my Dad even drove up but didn't want to intrude on girl time lol. My Granddaddy was the only male at the shower, he even won a prize for guessing how many bubblegum were in the giant fish bowl sized bowl. My step-grandma, Gloria, made a gorgeous pillow cake with a slipper on top, and my Aunt Didi made an amazing carriage on top of a pillow cake. Both were really cool. I'm amazed at the talent in my family.

We had a good turn out. I was sad a few people missed it because it was so last minute, but I got to see old friends, support from many good friends, and I got some much needed supplies for our baby. I even settled on how I am going to spell her name thanks to a chat with my Dad, Bev, Bekah and Meghan.

But back to the shower. It was fun! We all wore tiaras and feather boas. I know, over the top and a little dorky... but that's kinda fitting for me. We played baby charades, the pin stealing game (you get to steal someone's clothes pin if they say the word "baby," guess the baby food game, and had everyone bling some baby bibs that Merideth made... they actually turned out pretty cute, and they are nice and big so they'll work well for a messy baby.

Present time was awesome. I got some really great stuff. But I'll stop blabbing and start sharing some photos.

Here's me in my tiara and feather boa... looking very pregnant

A side view.. so big..

Left to Right: Bev, Meghan, Me, Rebekah, My Mom at my shower (before everyone else showed up)

The Pumpkin Carriage Cake

The Slipper Cake

Merideth is apparently the best onsie maker ever... super cute sign

Gloria playing charades

Merideth playing charades

Julie playing charades

Susan charading it up... Ok I think you guys get the point, we played charades

Granddaddy won... there were 667 or something like that... can't remember

Me, lording over all of my gifts

My mom painted me this and said she thought the woman looked like me... very sweet, my Mom's got some talent!

I wish I could share all the photos but there is no way.. Rebekah took 100 photos of the shower. 

Here's one of my and my Dad goofing around after the shower. He was afraid to touch my belly. haha. 

Belly shot

Belly Shot with Ultrasound Overlay

The Hoke Sisters

Left to Right: Bev, Bekah, Dad, Me, Jeff, Meghan

Being Weird... 

Baby Food Tasting Jars at the Shower

these are a little out of order...

Me and my Niece Adelaide

Me and Meghan

Me, Granddaddy and Meghan

Mom, Me (and Sonja), Granddaddy and Meghan

Mhari, Julie, Merideth and Liz

Marisa and Kelly

My Mother-in-Law Susan and Adelaide 

If you want to see more photos, you can on Facebook.

I left out a lot of the present ones cause I look horrible in them haha. 

Overall it was a great shower, I felt loved and also sad that my sweet baby won't get to be around all the people that were there to show their love and support. But I will do my best to make sure everyone meets her and gets to know her.

Blog Out.

Pre-Baby Bucket List

Today I realized I am near my 3rd trimester... dangerously near it. I only have a few more weeks left in the 2nd trimester, and the reminder occurred when I could barely walk after eating a small portion of food but downing 3 lemonades.. I know, I lecture clients on drinking their calories and there I was downing home made lemonade like it was the end of the world. I just didn't think it would hurt so much when I stood up. It hurt so bad I was hobbling around Target with my husband and he kept asking me "are you sure you're ok?" I wasn't ok. I was miserable. I felt like my insides were going to burst out any moment in a flood of lemonade and baby. It's the most uncomfortable I've been since getting pregnant. My stomach feels tight, like it might rip if I add one more thing to my stomach contents.

So I decided that since my 3rd trimester is soon approaching, and I am going to be getting increasingly uncomfortable, I would make a bucket list of 50 things I want to get done before the baby is born.

1. Sell our house
2. Move in to our new apartment and completely finish unpacking
3. Visit San Francisco
4. Get a manicure
5. Get a pedicure
6. Stay up late and watch scary movies
7. Sleep in late while I still can
8. Road Trip with my Mom to California
9. Dress up as a Sumo Wrestler for Halloween
10. Make a new friend in California
11. Take a Lamaze or some sort of Birthing Class
12. Take a Hypnobirthing class
13. Do pre-natal yoga
14. Try Pre-natal Pilates
15. Swim
16. Spend a day out shopping for clothes, baby items, whatever I want
17. Get the Nursery completely decorated and set up for the baby
18. Install the carseat in my car, and put a carseat base in Jeff's car
19. Go to a Farmers Market in California
20. See a movie at the theater (while I still can)
21. See my Sister Valerie before I move
22. See my Sister Rebekah, my Dad and Bev before I move
23. See my Sister Meghan before I move
24. Make at least one thing I've pinned on Pinterest
25. Spend some quality time with my mom before I leave, painting or getting pampered
26. Spend some quality time with my niece Adelaide and my sister-in-law Liz
27. Have a Marathon Movie or TV show night
28. Have a Baby Shower
29. Find a Mommy and Me type play group to start integrating myself into California
30. Have a date night with Jeff somewhere fun or fancy
31. Find a Newborn Photographer to do photos of our baby
32. Get Maternity Photos taken??? I don't know if this one really needs to be professionally done but maybe by my mom or husband or something...
33. Enjoy a nice bath and a book
34. Read an entire book (I tend to stop reading 3/4ths of the way through most books.. ADD)
35. Read an entire pregnancy/baby prep book or two or 15
36. Find a new OBGYN in California that I actually like
37. Write out a birth plan
38. Make my own crib mobile
39. Start Playing the Piano again
40. Explore Petaluma
41. Go to the beach
42. Go on a mini babymoon with Jeff... even if it's just to San Fran
43. Have a girls night with Liz and Merideth and whoever else wants to join us
44. Play Just Dance 4 when it comes out
45. Try the crazy icecream flavors at Lick in Austin
46. Have a weird pregnancy craving and give in to it
47. Get a foot massage from Jeff
48. Find some comfortable pregnancy PJs
49. Get a 3D ultrasound
50. Go to South Congress one last time before I leave

Alone Time and Our Move to Cali

When we found out Jeff got the job in California, we were both really excited. Jeff hasn't been very happy at his job here, he's felt stagnant and under-appreciated. Not that he was mistreated, I think he just isn't meant to be a desk guy... he always loved actually being out in the field, doing a lot of the work himself. And now that Jeff is a partner in the company he formed with his Dad, and is also able to work out in the field, I can tell already he's happier. He feels free, instead of chained to a desk. The dramatic pay increase didn't hurt either.

The part of California we are moving to is called Petaluma. It's about an hour north of San Francisco in the Bay Area. According to Jeff, who left last Saturday to start his new job, it's gorgeous, and the weather is fantastic. Petaluma is near the coast, this month the average temperatures have been in the mid 60's and low 70's. Blackberries grow wild on the side of the road there, there are rolling hills and lots of very impressive trees. This is the area where the farm to table movement started. I think I am going to like it a lot.

After Jeff left for California, I was surprised at myself. I thought I would get all mopey and weepy. After all, I am pregnant with his child, and I figured those untapped emotional waterfalls would let loose any moment after his departure. But they didn't. Don't get me wrong, I missed Jeff. I talked about him non stop to anyone I interacted with. I kind of do that anyway. He is my soul mate, my best friend, and we do almost everything together. I don't have many stories from the past 5 years that don't involve the man. But I never cried for him, mostly because I felt secure that I'd see him again in a week.

The day I dropped him off at the airport, I was distracted by a pool party with friends. I had a lot of fun in the pool, playing with my niece, talking to friends, and just hanging out. It was a good first day distraction. That night I was nervous, though. I wondered how I would fare sleeping alone in a big dark house by myself. I even contemplated letting Puppy sleep in my bed, but couldn't give up the security of a closed and locked bedroom door booby trapped with all sorts of things to alert me at the slightest attempt to enter my fortress of sleepdom. I spent the first night with the lamp on, facing the door, bat under my bed and ready for action.

Another reason Puppy wasn't allowed to sleep with me... scaredy cat

I spent the next two nights adjusting the lighting until I got it down to just a small light in the master bathroom. Yes, I am afraid of sleeping alone in the dark, mostly because I start seeing shadows that look like murderers. I may be mildly crazy.

Incidents Over the Past Week:

- Incident #1: The Sunday after Jeff left I had an interesting experience. I locked myself in the garage. It started out innocently enough... I opened the garage so our friend, Chris, could come and pick up a few pieces of furniture we were giving him. He and his step-dad took them away and I thought I'd closed the garage door. Then, 5 minutes later, I left the house to meet a friend to get manicures. I looked over and the garage door wasn't shut. So I got the remote and tried to shut it. It wasn't shutting. "So much for Jeff fixing it..." I grumbled to myself as I walked inside and manually shut it. I shoved the metal latch over so that no one could just manually open the garage door from the outside. I then walked to the door that leads back into the house, and realized my house key wouldn't unlock it. Oh crap. So I tried unbolting the big garage door to get out that way and couldn't get it unlatched. Double crap. I suddenly realized I had limited options. I had no husband to call for help. I was on my own. I had 2 choices. I could try to go through the door on the side of the garage, the one Jeff turned into an outhouse for Puppy... filled with litterbox goodness... or... My only other alternative was to blast my way through...

If you don't get this reference you need to watch Major Payne immediately

Our garage door has a dog door, one that I had sealed with a covering so Puppy couldn't get into the garage and eat crickets and barf on my carpet. I let out a scream "AHHHHHH!!!!!" And kicked the cover over and over "Bam!" "I saw what you did to my friends!!!" "Bam!" "Bam!" (OK seriously if you haven't seen Major Payne there is no way you will get this but trust me it's funny). I managed to kick the cover off, crawl through the dog door until my belly would no longer let me through, and unlock the door from the floor. I still made it to my manicure date with my friend Kelly, and I actually got there a little before her! Score! I survived!!!

- Incident #2: I was telling Jeff about how I was building security devices and booby trapping my bedroom door at night when he had the genius idea of instead of doing all that, I should just turn on the motion sensors along with the door alarms at night. I didn't like the idea, since I tend to have to get up and get water at night, or if I forgot I might set the alarm off. However, it did seem like a better security measure, so in the interest of self-preservation, I decided to do it. I set the alarm to motion sensors activated and ran up the stairs to sleep. Sadly, I'd forgotten my precious Iphone charger, and realized I had to go get it. What I didn't realize is that when you set the motion detectors on, the alarm is armed at "Away" instead of "Stay" so there is no warning, if it sees you move (as it saw me as I walked over to get my charger), it immediately starts screetching at the top of its lungs, sending a warm stream of fear down those with lessor bladder control than mine. I managed to stay dry but only barely. I had to sprint to turn the alarm off. My adrenaline pumped so hard, I spent the next hour trying to calm myself down, but even worse my poor baby was kicking around like crazy. She's a fighter, she was ready for action. I felt really bad about it though. I still re-set the thing for away, and sure enough the next morning I had a similar race to the key pad to turn the alarm off. It was awesome.

Overall, I had a lot of support from friends this week while Jeff was away. I got a lot of dinner invites and lunch date invites. I felt very loved. I also was well distracted because of this, which helped a lot. I also had clients and dealt with painters for a few days. I got a lot done without the distraction of a husband. I lined up a lot of things for our move, for finishing the house, and also for work. I found a few potential replacement trainers. I also started my boot camp at Forest North back up. I won't be able to do it for very long, but it was very important to me and to them that I come back if only for a few weeks to get them started and hopefully have them carry on without me. I am really going to miss my job.

My newly painted front door among many other things the painters did....

This week I also started testing out the new night and day contact lenses. I'm really hoping I can stay in these because the thought of waking up, totally blind, and trying to nurse and take care of a newborn infant is terrifying to me. The least I can do is make it a little easier on myself by being able to sleep in my contacts and actually see. So far, so good. I got them on Wednesday, and have not had any issues with them thus far.

So I made it through the week without Jeff. No one murdered me. I can't wait to see him. The next time he leaves, I'll have about 3-4 weeks without him, but that's all. After that I am leaving house sold or not. 

Part 2 : Baby Things I Love

Last time I focused on Diapering Items. This time I'm going to move on to bigger things.

Strollers:

1. The Origami is one of the coolest strollers I have come across. It folds itself and unfolds itself with the push of a button. It's got great handling and turns on a dime. The stroller even records your mileage, tells you what the temperature is like outside. I want this stroller soooo bad.

2. The Bumbleride Indie Stroller was recommended to me by a friend of mine, who still has hers and loves it. She said it was the best jogging stroller she found, and she liked it more than her friend's BOB Revolution, which was the jogging stroller I was looking at before I talked to her. This is the more affordable of the two, but if dreams came true I'd pick the Origami.

Car Seats:

1. The Britax Chaperone is really the only car seat I want. I love it in the cow print too. It is a winner of many awards for safety and design. Also note the bar in front of the car seat, that bar helps stabilize the car seat in case of a car accident, it doesn't move nearly as much and protects the baby from slamming into the seat, much like the bumper on a vehicle. The only down side to this seat is that it's heavy and bulky.

So when looking for safety and a little less bulk, the 2nd runner up car seat I like:

2.  Chicco KeyFit 30 Infant Car Seat is one of the top rated car seats. It's lighter in weight than the Chaperone and scores high in safety. It is also supposed to be really easy to install. If I don't get the chaperone, I will probably get this one.

Cribs / Sleeping Arrangements:

1. Generation Next Safety Gate Crib is my current favorite that doesn't cost more than $600. What I like about it is the gate folds down so that a short person (like me) can reach the baby, without worrying about the hazards of a drop down gate (which is now illegal I believe).

2. Arms Reach Co-Sleeper Mini Harmony is the bassinet/co-sleeper I want for the first 3 months of Baby Girl Hartung's life. It connects to the bed, but also works as a bassinet I can use for nap time and such. I also think it's super adorable.

3. Pack 'n Play Playard with Cuddle Cove Rocking Seat so many people have told me to get the pack n play. I like this one because it has a lot of aspects ideal for a newborn all the way to a toddler, which means I can use it longer. It's great for traveling, like if Jeff and I take a weekend trip to San Francisco, we won't have to put our baby in some nasty hotel crib. We could use this a lot longer than the bassinet, but honestly I want all 3 of these... is that overkill?

Baby Bedding:

So I'm going to try not to let my granola side get the better of me too much, but when it comes to bedding, from what I have read, Organic really is better. So I plan on having organic crib sheets, and anything I think my baby may end up chewing on (toy-wise) I am going to be especially conscious of plastics, paints, and that sort of thing. That's my little disclaimer.

1. Taylor Nursery Bedding (Mostly the Crib Sheet is what I want). I'm planning on having a lot of silvers, blues, and glam in the nursery, but I love these elephants... where I'm going all out is the crib sheet we're probably going to make (My mom, Aunt, and I).

2. Magnolia Organics Crib Sheet Starlight Blue Elephant is pretty much like the last one. I just like it too. I think that one can never have too many crib sheets.

3. Migi Sweet Sunshine 4-piece Crib Bedding Set by Bananafish  is one of the cutest crib bedding sets I've found.

4. Migi Pinwheel Crib Bedding Set by Bananafish 

Nursery Mobiles:

1. Hot Air Balloon  by Shop Littles on Etsy. This vendor has some really cute stuff!

2. Cloud Mobile  by leptitpapillon. This girl makes a ton of super cute cloud mobiles.

3. Black Chandelier baby mobile by ShabulousChandeliers on Etsy. This sort of plays into my idea of making a mobile of tiny chandeliers.

Baby Monitors: 

1. Snazo Halo Baby Movement Monitor is my paranoia relief in a small device. This device can tell if baby stops breathing. When baby stops breathing in the middle of the night, it gently vibrates, reminding the baby to take a breath. If baby goes too long without breathing, an alarm goes off, alerting the parents of the baby. This is a great tool for those afraid of SIDS. So obviously I want this really bad. I would probably supplement with a sound monitor too, depending on how our new apartment is set up.

2. Angelcare 4 Piece Baby Video Sound and Movement Baby Monitor System is much like the system above, only more. Instead of the monitor clipping to baby's diaper, it's a pad that goes under the mattress, but it essentially works the same way. It also has a video and sound monitor. I like this one a lot but I feel that the one that clips to baby's diaper may be more accurate. I don't know. I'd be happy with either.

Bath Time:

1. The Blooming Baby Bath is one of the cutest (while still very functional) baby bath's I have found. Feel free to read the amazon reviews on why this is a good choice, but I think it's ideal for an apartment, it will fit well in the kitchen sink, which is probably where I will bathe baby until she can handle being in the big people bath tub. 

 More to come later :)