Maternity Pics

Yesterday my boyfriend and I went to have our pics taken at a place in the mall. I wasn't sure how I'd feel about taking pictures in a studio. I mean, where I'm from, I have a few friends who do photography. *I* do photography. And we all like to do natural, outdoor shots. We go to beautiful places and take a LOT of pictures and edit them, and give our "customers" (more likely friends and family members) a CD with the edited pics and a release stating they can print them where-ever and however they like. All for about $100-$150--depending. Now, if we were doing a wedding, obviously we would charge a little more, but we do like 6hrs of pictures at their event and give them hundreds of pictures! Up here I am realizing that our way of doing things isn't the norm.

A few weeks ago, I started calling around to local places. I called JCPenny's, Sears, and a few other places around here, trying to get an idea of what to expect. Most places were willing to print me sheets of like 3-4 poses for a ridiculous amount of money. And NO CD option! A girl I work with has a neighbor who takes pictures, so I emailed her and asked about her pricing. She charged a $200 sitting fee (never heard of this outside of an established studio!) plus you have to order up $300 worth of prints. And she had an option for a CD--but it'll cost you at least $300!! HOLY MOLY!! Now, don't get me wrong. I looked at her pictures and they are GORGEOUS!! But I'm a southern girl. I can't imagine spending that kind of money on pictures.

Then we found a place in the mall. Their pictures on their website were cute and well done. I looked at their pricing: Not horrible. No sitting fee. A hig-res CD would only cost $150. So, almost like what I would get back home. But in a studio. That was a little tough to swallow, but everything else was good. So we booked a session (and rescheduled about FIVE TIMES, lol) and went yesterday. They say you should bring some props, things that were gifts from grandparents, memorabilia, etc. I took the blankets my grandmothers ' made me when I was born, the teddy bear my sister bought me at the ultrasound with Emma's heartbeat in it, the penquin my SO's mom and we made at Build-A-Bear back in November, a picture frame with a Hop On Pop pic in it, and some ribbon with baby foot prints on it.

I have to say. I still miss the way we do things in the south. While we ended up with some cute pictures, it always felt like the photographer was rushing us into the next pose. I understand: She has about half an hour to get us in and out. And that includes our "ordering" time. But still. She kept saying: "Is there another pose you want with [insert object we're using at that time]?" Eh, wasn't thrilled about that. When we sat down to look at the images, there were only like 20 to choose from. And there were quite a few pics she took I absolutely HATED! But then again, I am more critical of myself than most people are. In the end, we opted to go for the high-res CD so I could edit them when I got home. This also got us the "Membership." There's some free pics we can use, some $10 discounts, and the more times we go, the more free things we get. So hopefully we can go back there after she's born and get some studio ones of her, plus some of us as a family.

Here are a few pics we took:

This book means a lot to me because it is the very first book I ever read. Had to include it in our pics.

Family photo.

Some pretty significant things.

"Sandwich'd" between the two loves of my life: my daughter and my boyfriend.

"A mother stops becoming the picture, and starts becoming the frame."

FINALLY! Some good pics of her!

I thought we would NEVER get a good shot of her little face! Every time I went to have an ultrasound done (either with a doctor or electively), she would always make sure she blocked her face! The first time we went to have the elective u/s done, she swiped at the tech! Kind of like she was telling us to leave her alone. LOL

I know this is already on here, but I just love this picture! LOL Total personality pic.

The next time we went, it was for our 20 week ultrasound (medical one). At that one, she let them get the measurements they wanted, but she was not about to pose for any pics.

Then I went for what I thought was my last ultrasound, another elective one. I knew this place doesn't like to take mothers-to-be after 35 weeks, because by then the baby is so big and there's not a lot of room and you can't get any really good shots. So I went on 5/3/13 to see my little girl. And she was SLEEPING! Almost the entire time!

All curled up and cozy!

But this time she was wide awake! It was almost like she was talking to us at one point. Her little lips kept puckering and moving. And she had the hiccups. haha She would kick me every time she hiccuped. It was definitely a funny feeling.

I went with her daddy, his mom, dad, stepmom, and little sister. It was the first time his dad, stepmom, and sister had been to one of these, so they were so excited. We kept saying what part looked like her daddy and what part looked like me. And his stepmom would say how such-and-such  movement or moment was like when she was pregnant with Emma's aunt.

I think she's going to have her daddy's lips and chin. A head full of dark hair. My nose and cheeks. I can't wait to see what she looks like. If she looks like the images we got.

Our happy, smiling baby

Profile picture

She has her feet together

Monster feet and toes!

Mother's Day, Father's Day, and gifts

Holy cow. Mother's Day is in 2 days!! That's still so surreal to me.

Last Friday I gave my mom her Mother's Day gift early: I took her to our elective ultrasound appointment. She hadn't been to any of the medical ones or the elective one prior and I knew this was something she was really looking forward to. So I scheduled it for a Friday after work, hoping both my sisters would be able to make it as well. One wasn't because of work, but we had fun anyways. And because she didn't cooperate, we get to go back the day after my mom's birthday and I think it will get to be all four of us this time.

While we were there, my mom bought me a Baby Book. It is sooo cute! Pink--of course--with all these pages to fill in. The nerd in me was quite excited! lol She said it was my first Mother's Day gift. I honestly hadn't even thought about getting a Mother's Day gift this year. I don't know why since I am usually one to over-think EVERYTHING! but I really hadn't considered whether or not I was "eligible" for a Mother's Day present. (Side note: My sister got me and my mom teddy bears with Emma's heartbeat in them for our Mother's Day presents!)

So... Am I a Mother? Officially? Mentally? Spiritually? All those other "ly's"? Should I expect a Mother's Day gift or acknowledgement on Sunday? I guess I don't feel like I should expect one. But that's also because I don't love getting gifts for the most part. I like giving gifts. I like making gifts for other people, picking things out I think/hope they will like. But Christmas and my birthday are always weird days for me. Because people ask me what I want and I never know how to answer that. I usually tell them I just want dinner with friends and family. Fun games or activities. Bowling or volleyball or even going to a karaoke bar (even though I NEVER sing! lol). I like being around the people who mean the most to me. Now there's another day where people might feel obligated to get me something and that makes me feel a little awkward. :-/

That's not to say I would ever tell a pregnant woman she is not a mother. Because then I think about it: and I truly consider my boyfriend a FATHER to our baby girl. Has he been able to hold her yet? No. But he has made hard choices to make sure her life is a good one. He works very hard to provide for her. And I know how much he loves her. Like last night. We were sitting on the couch and he was just rubbing my stomach. I asked what he was doing and he said "I want to feel her kick." Of course she already listens to Daddy more than Mommy, because almost immediately she kicked right where his hand was! (Stinker!) He also kisses my belly, holds it as he's going to sleep at night. I feel so much love when he does that. It's almost like there's an invisible beam going from his hand straight to her. I feel different when he's holding my belly. I can't put it into words; I guess it's just a feeling. I have every intention of getting him a Father's Day present from me and Emma. I've already been looking for just the right thing. (Still a little stumped, so any ideas you want to offer up would be GREATLY appreciated! LOL) But I can't say that I thought about whether or not he would get me a Mother's Day gift. hmmm

Today made me think of all the traditions we have in my family for Mother's Day. We are really big on traditions! (Maybe we just don't like change. lol) For Mother's Day growing up, we would make my mom coffee and Puff/Smacks cereal, put it on a tray with a little bell, and wait for her to wake up. You should know that us making coffee consisted of putting hot water over coffee grounds; and the milk was poured into the cereal long before she woke up so it was always incredibly soggy!! But she would eat the cereal and drink her mud and say how much she loved it. And she would ring the bell just to tell us she loved us. For Mother's Day 2 years ago (I think), I tried to do an upgrade on our childhood tradition. I bought her a new tray (one she could use on her patio they were just finishing up), a brand new bell with a beautiful green stone on the handle (her birthstone is an emerald), the new Special K with chocolate cereal, and fresh ground Starbucks Vanilla coffee. I don't drink coffee so I have no idea what a good flavor is. I took a stab at it! haha She loved it. She said it reminded her of when we were little and that was almost the best part. That we still got to be her little girls.

My dad was lucky. I was born the day before Father's Day. And since I'm his first, he never had the dilemma on whether or not he was "really" a dad while his wife was pregnant. Man, thinking about it--the guys in my life are so lucky! I mean, my birthday is the day before Father's Day again this year. It also happens to be my anniversary. So that means my boyfriend gets presents TWO DAYS IN A ROW! What a jip! LOL just kidding!

A very nice lady at the bank today wished me a Happy Mother's Day. And it made me smile a huge smile. Maybe because I didn't expect it, didn't ask for it. Maybe because it was nice to have someone look at me and say (indirectly) "You are a mother and are doing a great job--judging from the size of your belly." hahaha

All that being said: I cannot wait for Mother's Day next year. To spend the day with Emma in my arms instead of my belly. To watch my guy hold her and love on her. To know I can still give him a gift on a day people say is designated for me... to share the moments she will have with someone I love so much... that is going to be the best gift I ever receive, I think.

P.S. Wasn't totally kidding about needing ideas for Father's Day/1st Anniversary gifts for my guy! :)

We've got a little stinker!!

Yesterday I went to have another elective ultrasound done of Emma. I took my mom and baby sister (my middle sister was trying to get off work but couldn't). Before the "show" even began they were going a little nutty! LOL My sister got me a teddy bear that we put the baby's heart beat in. She also got one for my mom for Mother's Day and she got herself a monkey one. Then my mom bought me a memory book. I had registered for one but wasn't sure about it. I mean, the ones in the stores where we had registered were okay, but I didn't love them. And you can't look at every page when you register for one online...so I wasn't sure what we were possibly getting. But the ones they had at this place were really cute!! We, of course, got a pink one and started flipping through it, verbally saying the answers we'd fill in later.

Then it was time for the ultrasound. And guess what...She Was Sleeping!! She never sleeps after I eat! That's usually when she's most active during the day. Agh!! What a stinker!!

We tried everything. I pushed and poked and jiggled and wiggled my belly as much as I could. I turned over on both sides and then back to my back. But she was all nestled in there. She was using the placenta as a pillow even!!

At one point, after jiggling her around, she kind of looked up where the wand would be...then immediately turned into the placenta more! Just like when her daddy says "Five more minutes!" Ho boy! This does NOT look good for school mornings already! lol

But the great thing was we did get to see some of her face. And I think she is going to look like my dad! She definitely has our face shape with the chin angles and puffy cheeks. But I think she got my Pappy's nose! Daddy's feet and hands though. That was for sure. The tech took some measurements and said it looked like Emma currently weighs about 3lbs, 12 oz. What a hoss! lol That means, if she stays on track, I could give birth to an 8lb, 12oz baby girl this summer. That's HUGE!

She started making some silly faces at us. Looked like she was blowing kisses or talking. Then she'd scrunch up her nose at us. Finally she was DONE with this photo shoot. She brought both hands up over her eyes. She crossed them in front of her face. She had them in the "Put 'Um Up!" position. She even went so far as to put her FEET in front of her face!! What a stink pot!

Using the placenta as her pillow, and her hand to block a good shot!

Stinker's foot by her face!

3D sepia of her.

Luckily this place is amazing and, when they realized she wasn't going to cooperate, they immediately offered me a chance to reschedule. For free! I was a little depressed going in to that appointment because I thought it would be the last time I see her face until she is born. But her stubbornness was a good thing because now I get to go back in a few weeks and see her again! Not gonna complain about that!

Pics from the trip

Just a few more pics taken while we were in Disney.

Me and my guy at Epcot

Checking out the "FIS"

"A" took a picture of Emma!

"A" trying to pull the sword from the stone.

Cinderella's castle at Magical Kingdom

Belle's castle...new in Fantasyland at Disney

Ariel!

On our way to DownTown Disney our first night there.

Babymoon **Part 2**

I know they say a "babymoon" is supposed to be the trip the mommy- and daddy-to-be take together, to get away and spend quality time together, before the baby is born. And yes, we went with his family. His mom, stepdad, brother, 2 aunts, uncle, grandmother, 8yo cousin, and baby cousin. But I have to say we were really lucky to be able to go on this trip. We were lucky his family offered us this trip, that our jobs let us off. And we were lucky to get some time to ourselves while we were there.

On Thursday, the weather was amazing. We spent most of the day at the waterpark with everyone. It was great. No running around. No crazy rides I couldn't go on. No one feeling left out. Me and the baby "A" got to be a part of the group the whole time!! (Small victory, lol) I didn't feel like I was holding anyone back, because we all got to go into the wave pool whenever we wanted. And I felt great!! I didn't realize it, but all the walking around was starting to kill my feet. Being in the water or on the lazy river.... HEAVEN!!

After catching as much sun as we could, my guy and I went to the Boardwalk. He wanted to watch the draft at the ESPN restaurant. I thought it would be cool to go there. Wasn't sure about the food, but it could still be a good time. I mean, how many "sports-based restaurants" have good food? Well we got there. Based on the line, I thought we were going to have wait a really long time. Luck was definitely on our side though. No more than a 20 minute wait. Plus they had TVs with sound so we could watch the draft going on. And they had a menu outside so we could figure out what we wanted before we sat down.

When we were in, we immediately ordered nachos and our dinners. He got a "Chicago meets Pittsburgh" (fitting I thought!!) and I got a Philly cheesesteak. OMG was it good!! the nachos were amazing. I had to hold back though so I would be able to eat my sandwich. And then it came...and I am pretty sure I ended up over eating!! lol I was STUFFED by the time we left.

Friday we went back to Hollywood Studios. Since it was so late the last time we were there, we didn't get to do a whole lot. But this time we got to walk around and see tons!! We went to the Indiana Jones show (which wasn't at all what I thought it would be, but was a fun break). My guy and I wanted to do the Star Wars ride, but I couldn't because I'm pregnant. :'( Oh well, next year! I got to do the Toy Story ride this time too! I'm no where NEAR as good at those games as my boyfriend and his family, but it was fun. He's like a little kid....with a competitive side! lol We did the "movie ride" and then saw a Mickey Mouse/Disney Jr. show. The baby LOVED it!! He got up and danced and interacted with some of the other little kids there.

Being silly for "A" as we wait for the others on the Star Wars ride.

"YOOK!"

After that we went to Epcot. The last time I was there, it rained the WHOLE DAY!! We didn't get to do anything. This time though, we got to see and do a few fun things. They have this ride "Soarin" which made me a little nervous. It's a virtual ride set up like a plane. You are seat belted in and then raised a little. There's a huge screen in front that shows all these sites in California.  They even blow smells at you so it feels like you are really there! I was nervous because of the train ride we had tried to do a few days before, but this was great.

After that we went on this ride that talked about how Epcot is trying to be eco-friendly, how different parts of the Earth do/need different things... There were even some tanks with fish in them. "A" LOVED it!! He sat in the front and got to see it all really close-up. "YOOK! YOOK!" The whole ride he wanted us to see the cool things he saw.

Most of the fam went on this ride called the "Test Track." The baby and I couldn't so my guy's grandma stayed with us. "A" and I sat in some really cool Chevy's and pretended to drive them. Hey, I felt bad because once again he was being sooo good in his stroller and there wasn't a lot for him to do. Then we went to the Sea portion of Epcot. I can honestly say I wasn't 100% "Yeah buddy" when they mentioned we were going to Epcot at first because I thought it was more of an educational park--which it sort of is. But seeing "A" have as much fun in the Sea portion made me change my mind. He was running around, looking at all the fish. "Sark!" (Shark) "Fis!" (Fish) "Monster!" (Anything really big! lol) I took some video of him in the aquarium but it was really dark so I don't know how it came out.

My guy's and my last full day there was Saturday. We didn't really want to fight crowds. We both had gotten a LOT of sun the past week. And one of his aunts had gotten too much sun (I think). So we opted to go to DownTown Disney and go to Disney Quest, an indoor arcade. Another thing the baby and I could do! Except, by that point I was exhausted! lol I played a few games, tried a virtual reality comic book thing, and took the baby around for a while. But mostly I sat and talked to my guy's mom, aunts, and gma. We were there for HOURS!! Afterwards we went to a Harley store to get his dad a shirt (a tradition of sorts that they have). And that was it....full but not jam-packed! Not a bad last day!

So that was the trip. The babymoon. My vacation to Disney. And as happy as I am that I went, I am now REALLY looking forward to Emma getting here! Less than 10 weeks. 65 days or so....

Babymoon (REALLY LATE in coming) **Part 1**

Sorry it's taken me this long to write about the amazing trip my guy and I took last week with his family. It's harder getting back into the swing of things now!

So I mentioned before that my guy's family decided they were going to Disney World and had asked us to go with them. At first we weren't sure we would be able to, but ended up working it out to where we could. Boy am I glad we did!! It was an amazing time!! I was able to keep up with everyone (most of the time) and even got to ride a few rides.

I forgot how big of an "ordeal" flying can be! It's an ALL DAY THING just to fly somewhere! Even a two-and-a-half hour flight takes all day because there's the traveling to the airport, checking in, flying, getting your bags, traveling to your hotel/resort, checking in there.... it can be exhausting! You almost can't do anything else those days. On Monday we ended up just going to DownTown Disney and having lunch at T-Rex. We brought his cousin's son (A) who is almost three and he did NOT like this restaurant. All the big dinos and loud sounds made him edgy.

Tuesday we went to Magic Kingdom--Disney World!! We had a huge party of about 15 (with 3 "babies"--under 3-- and an 8yo), so it got a little hectic at times trying to make sure everyone got to do something they wanted to do and could do. I felt a little like the babies at times because there were quite a few rides I couldn't do. I tried to do one of those train rides and it was not good. lol It said "Expectant Mothers should not ride" so I asked the ticket lady why. She said it was just a little bumpy, but they put that up there so they aren't liable. I asked a few people in our group and everyone thought it would be okay. It's kind of a kiddie ride. So I got on. After the first drop, it felt like my uterus went up, then down and landed on my stomach and bladder. So I felt like I was going to throw up and pee on myself at the same time! Weird feeling!! After that, if it said I shouldn't ride, I didn't ride! Whew!!

We spent the whole day there. It was great the rides I did get to ride (Pirates of the Caribbean, It's a Small World....) but I think the best part was watching the babies get to experience all of Disney's magic for the first time. "A" loved all the sights, but he was NOT a fan of the characters walking around. If they approached him, he would cry and hide in his stroller. So we avoided them. But there were lots of things that got him just jumping up and down in his seat. Like when we were on Small World... he and his grandparents were sitting behind us and all you could hear was "Yook!! Yook!!" He wanted everyone to see every cool thing. As an "adult" we tend to avoid this ride unless it's a ridiculously hot day and we just want out of the sun for awhile. But to a baby like him...it's full of fun sights and sounds. Like green goats and dancing dogs. Yook Yook!!

We went on a "safari" boat ride and that was interesting. Smooth ride through the "rivers of the world" with lots of fun facts hidden in between corny jokes. Again, the baby made that ride the best because of all his "Yook"s and "OOOOOhhh"s.

Wednesday morning my guy and I and his mom went for a swim at the resort's big pool for about an hour before heading off to Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios. We ate breakfast and I had waffles in the shape of little Mickey heads. Adorable and Tasty!!

Animal Kingdom was fun. We went on another safari ride (Jeep this time) and got to see all these amazing animals!! I saw giraffes, crocs, hippos, lions, and things I had never heard of before. They were just right there waiting for us. I thought maybe it was a real "ride" and the animals would be fake so they could teach about conservation and things like that, but these were REAL ANIMALS!!

We walked around for hours, wearing the baby out in the process. Poor guy took a nap in his stroller at one point. I tried to take him to the kiddie DinoLand area while everyone else was on a ride, but the big dinos scared him. So I just followed him around for about 20 minutes, letting him walk around and change directions as he wanted. Why not, right? We didn't have anything else to do and he'd been so good in his stroller the past two days.

After Animal Kingdom we went to Hollywood Studios so my guy's 8yo cousin could ride the Rock N Roll Roller Coaster for the FIRST TIME EVER!! He's been too short until this year and that's all he could talk about. The people at Disney are so great too. My guy's stepdad ("MR") told them it was the little guy's first time and they gave him a Fast Pass so he could ride it again!

It was kind of late by the time we got to Hollywood Studios, so we didn't get to do a whole lot that time. After Rock N Roll Roller Coaster, we ate dinner and then did the Toy Story Ride. That was a fiasco!! First the ticket person ended up splitting us up, but into uneven groups. I got sent with my guy's brother and grandmother, and the other 8 were in another line. I didn't want to ride by myself (what's the fun in that?) and by the time the three of us were even put into a car, the other group was all done. And some didn't want to ride again....Pregnancy hormones kicked in and I had a mini-meltdown. :/ Not my best moment. I tried to control it because even I knew at the time that it was ridiculous...but once it hit--it hit. I felt bad afterwards, but also knew it was almost 10pm, we had been walking a lot without stopping to eat as often as I am used to (food at Disney is EXPENSIVE!!), and we had packed a lot into the last 3 days. All these combined with the hormones... At least my guy was understanding. And I did only meltdown in front of him, which helped. lol

Okay, that's all for now. I have to get ready for work. I'll post about the last half of the trip later!! Plus some "just for fun, random" pics.