baby shower, maternity pics, and more!

Well, it's May. Do you know what that means? That means I am supposed to have this baby NEXT MONTH!! It sounds crazy close when I say it like that. However, it still seems really far away. I swear the days are going slower, and the nights are so much longer now; third trimester discomforts.

I was watching the "What to Expect When You're Expecting" movie the other day, while working on some pottery, and found myself relating to the character Wendy Cooper (played by Elizabeth Banks) A LOT. She and her husband try for two years before they finally get pregnant- and she is of course over the moon- but experiences all the crappy, uncomfortable pregnancy symptoms. She does her best to put on her happy pregnant lady face, until this scene...

Oh my heavens, can I EVER agree with her- especially with how giant and uncomfortable I have felt lately. Oh, and I discovered a new pregnancy symptom that I had never heard anyone mention before- my finger joints are so achy! I feel like an old lady with arthritis. NOT fun. Nathan thinks it has something to do with the swelling I get in my hands sometimes- I don't know what it is, but I will be so happy when it's gone. I don't really have anything else to report- I am just getting bigger and bigger and sore and uncomfortable- and it seems like that's just how it will be until this little guy decides to make his big debut.

Luckily though, I have had some fun things to distract me! Like my baby shower! I must admit, I have never been a fan of baby showers, but it is different when it's your own. It was so nice to see everyone! There were a few people there that I hadn't seen in years! Even if there had been no food, or games, or presents, it was still a blast to have everyone there and to visit and feel all the love and support. It makes me so happy to know there are so many people that love little Xander already.

My sister was kind enough to throw the shower for me and my mom was kind enough to help. Jessica made the invites and his is what they looked like:

My mom was in charge of the food- here is a picture of the food table:

Since the shower was at night, we had all desserts/sweet stuff. There were cupcake push-ups, cake pops, cookies, mini pineapple upside down cakes, brownies, fudge, a peanut butter cheese ball, m&m shooters, and some yummy sweet green salsa. 

The decoration were all safari/ baby lion king theme- and so cute!

Here a few pictures of various guests:

In the picture below, we are playing one of the shower games. We played a fill in the blank game with nursery rhymes, "Name the TV Kids" (which I did far better on than I probably should have,) and Guess Tarin's belly size. 2 people were almost exactly right on how big around I am- very impressive. I was most happy about the people who guessed too small- since I have been feeling so HUGE!

And here are a couple photos of me opening some gifts:

Everyone was so generous, we feel so blessed! I separated everything into categories when I got home, so it would be easier to put away. Here is a break down of what we got!

Here is all the gifts (condensed for travel purposes) 

Shoes and Accessories:

Newborn clothes:

 3 month clothes

6 month clothes:

 9 month clothes:

A Bouncy Seat!

 Blankets and Bedding: 

 Bath Stuff!

 Bibs and Burp Rags:

Feeding stuff:

BOOKS!

(The invite for the shower asked that guests bring books in lieu of cards- I love them all, but a few I am SUPER excited about because I loved them so much when I was a kid)

DIAPERS!

We also did a diaper a raffle at the shower, and wound up with enough diapers to last us through about the first month.

Thanks, Sister! For hosting me a great shower!!

(Isn't it kinda weird how not-pregnant I look from straight on?)

Since the shower we have also gotten another hooded bath towel, more diapers, and a Boppy!

My nesting urges also kinda kicked in after the shower. I want to make sure we have everything so I checked everything we got from the shower off our "Newborn Essentials" checklist and started shopping for the other stuff. I made lists and went through coupons and did some price comparisons and research- so we could get the best prices on the items I felt would work best for us. 

Here is some of the fun I have had on my baby shopping sprees!

  

This is a stock photo of the swing I picked out. It is different than the one I thought I wanted originally- this one sways rather than "swinging-" I picked it because so many moms mentioned in the reviews that they could go from swaying with their infant in their arms and transition to swing without the baby waking up or noticing anything had changed. PLUS- it's baby Lion King, and how stinking cute is that?!

My mom and I also took a trip to the mall, since I had some Children's Place gift cards and I got our little guy a few more pairs of shorts, and this adorable little outfit! I am thinking family pictures for Christmas cards!! 

While we were out my mom also got us a few things- some sports binkies, a binky that closes to protects it from germs when it falls to the ground, some other binks, binky clips, sunglasses, and a "sports cup" to cover his boy bits during diaper changes to prevent us from getting surprise squirts! I have still not decided if this product is genius or ridiculous. I guess I will know a few months!

I did some other online shopping at Target and got the crib mattress and baby monitor, both of which should arrive next week.

Nathan and I did some shopping this past weekend and picked up a baby bath tub, more bibs, baby wash clothes, a few bottles, a bottle warmer, side snap t-shirts, a baby health/grooming kit, wipes, and some swaddlers. 

So much stuff! This is what the nursery looks like at the moment:

I am still figuring out exactly where I am going to put everything. Not that we don't have space it all, it's just I've never done the whole baby thing before, so I am trying to figure out logistically where everything should go. It's making it all seem so much more real and I am loving it. I am actually starting to feel more like a mommy and not a fat hoarder with an alien living in my stomach.

The day after the shower, at our monthly Lunt family dinner, my awesome sister in law, Amy, snapped a few maternity pictures for us. Everyone kept saying that I should get some taken, or I would regret it- so I did. I haven't been super psyched with my pregnant physique these days, but I figured for documentation purposes they would be nice to have. 

Turns out, I actually really love them! So here they are!

In other news, we took our child birth class this weekend. It was interesting. The first day was a lot of lecture and a lot information that I didn't feel was as important/relevant- but I still found very interesting. Nathan thought it was kinda boring. He did what he could to make it fun for both of us though. When we got the part that discusses the anatomy of pregnancy, they gave us a diagram of the pregnant body and we were supposed to label all the different body parts. Nathan kept making me laugh by insisting that the liver was a tumor, because we couldn't figure out what it was. Overall though, we did pretty good! Nathan knew a lot more about a preggo's biology/anatomy than I thought he would!

We also talked about nutrition during pregnancy and the instructor had all the mommies-to-be write down what they had eaten all day. Knowing how my eating habits have been lately Nathan got a big grin on his face and was like "Yeah Tarin, write it down. Start with dinner!" 

My eating for the day wasn't that bad, I actually ate less than I should have- but Nathan was looking over the list and was like "Noodles? For breakfast?!" I pointed in his face and said "I just like noodles, ok?! Don't judge me!" and we both laughed. 

The second day was way more fun. We learned breathing and relaxation techniques for when I go into labor. Of course, my goofy husband kept me smiling the whole time with goofy faces and tickles. Hopefully I find him that hilarious and charming when I actually go into labor.   We "practiced contractions" by putting our hands in ice water- and then tried out different breathing patterns to figure out what might work best for us on delivery day. The dad's had to have a couple "contractions" too. It was awesome to watch the faces of the guys around the room while they were doing it. The instructor was impressed that none of them cried. Nathan was pretty tough through the first one, but the second one I could tell was really pretty uncomfortable for him. 

After the class, I do feel better prepared for coping with labor. I have read up on the labor and delivery processes enough that I already understood what would happen- but now I feel like I have some good tools in belt to help me handle it mentally and physically. And sticking your hand in ice to practice to practice contractions may sound dumb-but it was kinda painful and definitely not comfortable and I was able to find out what worked and didn't work for me in making the "contractions" easier or at least seem to go by faster. 

And Nathan was able to learn what I thought worked best and different positions for laboring and how I like to be touched to make me feel calm and relaxed. It was a good experience and I really enjoyed doing some that focused on us as a little family.

We also toured the hospital, which also made me feel so much more prepared for delivery. I looooooove how Banner Gateway has their maternity floor laid out. It's all on the ground floor and it's right next to the main entrance  so it's easy to find. They are really family focused and everything is set up to make things as easy as possible. The operating rooms for c-sections are right across the hall from the labor and delivery rooms- so if I do wind up needing to be cut open it's not like I have to go to different floor for surgery or anything- it's all right there. All the L&D rooms have showers in them with the detachable shower heads to help ease the pain of labor, plus I have access to the Japanese soaking tub (as long as I haven't had any pain medication yet.) They also provided birthing balls to sit on and a squat bar if I decide I want to try birthing in a squatting position. They have a really nice private garden too- but I have a feeling we won't really use that much since I am due at the end of June and it's gonna be super hot. 

Nathan didn't understand why we would be in so many different rooms; triage, then labor and delivery, and then a postpartum room. But overall, I think he took some good information away from the tour and knows a little better what to expect. 

Speaking of Nathan, I am so freaking in love with him these days. Obviously, I have always loved him- but it's crazy how much more and more I love him every day. Just when I don't think it's possible- BAM! I love him more! I am afraid that my heart might just explode from so much loving by the time the baby is born! Experiencing this miracle together has been just amazing. I feel soooooooo blessed to have the opportunity to become a mother and to share it all with such an amazing man. :)

Well, I think that pretty much sums it up for now. My next doctors appointment is on Monday, so I am sure I will probably post a small update sometime afterwards.