Bed Rest

What a whirlwind.  For a while, I had a relatively uneventful pregnancy.  I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes, but it was well under control and I wasn't having problems with it.  It mostly just meant that I needed to be more mindful of what I ate, I had to take my blood sugar, and I had weekly appointments at my doctor.  April arrived, and with it, so did state testing at school.  I made it through testing, but after my students finished their last test, I was feeling off.  I saw the school nurse, and sure enough, my blood pressure was high.  For anyone that has had to administer state testing, that's not really shocking.  But, it wouldn't come down, so off to the hospital I went to be monitored.  I figured I would just be at the hospital for a few hours to run some tests, then I would go home.  I was wrong.  At just 31 weeks pregnant, I was having regular contractions (but completely not feeling them), so I got to stay the night at the hospital and was told I wasn't going back to work.  I had the joy of getting to be on bed rest at home.  I was allowed to move between the bed and the couch, and my days were filled with watching mindless TV.  It wasn't fun, but it was what was necessary for Micah to continue to grow.  I made it several weeks at home on bed rest, and things were staying steady.  Things were going so well, my doctor even let me participate in my best friend's wedding at 35 weeks pregnant!  I was hoping just to be allowed to attend the wedding and wear my bridesmaid's dress, but she even let me walk down the aisle and go to the reception!  The following week, at just under 36 weeks, my blood pressure was high, and I was the lucky enough to get to finish the rest of my pregnancy in the hospital.  It was at that point that I was told Micah would be delivered at 37 weeks.  The end was in sight!  On June 1, at 37 weeks, Aaron and I welcomed our sweet Micah into the world!  My bed rest was over!

A Shower for Micah

My sweet friend and her mom graciously opened their home and gave a shower in honor of me and Micah.  Allison and I have been friends for 15 years, and her mom is like another mom for me.  I was so thankful to have friends celebrate Micah, and it is wonderful to know he is already so well loved.  Now, we wait for him to arrive!  Here are a few pictures from the shower.

Such wonderful touches

Sweet friends - I am so thankful for their friendship

Brenda and Allison

Micah will love his grandmothers so much!

Reveal

After waiting anxiously, the time came to find out if Baby A was a boy or a girl!

I have always been convinced that I would be a mom to boys.  My sisters will have girls, I will have boys.  I don't really have a lot of reasoning behind that thought, but I've always been the different one.

My mom has been telling me that she really hopes Baby A is a boy.  She says she has her girls, and she wants to love on a baby boy.  I have no control over this outcome, but I'll do the best I can.

We went to the doctor on Thursday, but we didn't want to find out while we were there.  We asked that the sono tech seal the pictures in not one, but two envelopes so we could find out with our families.  Aaron and I left the doctor, and promptly took our sonogram pictures to a friend to fill a paper lantern with either pink or blue confetti.

We enjoyed dinner with our families at our house, then after waiting impatiently, the time had come to find out if we were having Baby Boy A or Baby Girl A.

Just minutes away from finding out if Baby A is a boy or a girl

It's a BOY!!!!!!

 Baby A is a BOY, set to make his appearance in June!  Aaron and I are thrilled, but I think Chela (my mom) is more excited than anyone else to hold her first grandson!

Christmas Cheer

Christmas is hands down my favorite time of the year.  We have gotten to celebrate with friends and family, and Christmas hasn't even arrived yet!

On Wednesday, Aaron and I had plans to look at lights from the comfort of a limo with our sweet friends Courtney and Marc, Andrea and Chris, and Stacey and Jay.  However, Baby Dane couldn't wait to make his appearance in the world.  Courtney came to work on Tuesday morning, but left not long after to head to the hospital.  Instead of a limo and lights, we headed to the hospital on Wednesday to meet sweet Dane and take dinner to Courtney and Marc.  Dane is a sweet, precious baby, and I loved every minute of getting to meet him and hold him.  He's a little thing, and I love him!  It was definitely better than looking at lights!

On Thursday, the Everitt/BitsyBug/LPR Christmas Party was at the Bowlin's house.  Stephanie's brother, Sean, cooked for us.  Dinner was delicious!  Sean is a chef at Fearing's at the Ritz-Carlton.  He can cook!  One of the best parts of the Everitt Christmas Party is always the Secret Santa exchange.  Everyone is required to wrap the gift they are giving so that the recipient is very obvious.  It's always pretty funny, and I like to see how the person who gave to Aaron wraps his gift.  This year, Aaron's gift was wrapped in red paper with Buddy Holly glasses on it.  The glasses had tape around them.  It was too funny for two reasons.  Aaron is a little bit of a nerd, and before he got new glasses, he held his together with tape.

Yesterday Aaron and I celebrated Christmas with my mom, dad, Monica, Matt, Adelina, Reed, and Claire.  We always go to San Antonio to spend Christmas with my mom's family.  A few years ago we realized that it was better to open gifts together here instead of taking them all to San Antonio with us.  We ate tamales and opened our gifts.  I love spending this time with my family.

Merry Christmas, Sweet Claire!

 

Monica, Adelina, and I are in charge of desserts for Christmas Eve, so we'll be baking on Thursday.  This is our second year to make the desserts.  We'll be baking several different desserts, but no sugar cookies.  We burned them last year, and by the time they were ready to be decorated, we were ready to be done!  Aaron and I will be going to San Antonio on Christmas Eve, and we'll fly back to Dallas Christmas Day to spend the day with Aaron's family and celebrate Sharon's birthday!

Celebrating Gabriela and Scarlett

I love babies, and I love that so many important people in my life have recently had or will have babies in the near future.

This past weekend, my sisters and I hosted a baby shower for my cousin Gabriela, along with her sister, Carissa, and her sister-in-law, Tila.  It was wonderful to celebrate Gabriela and Scarlett, her baby girl set to make her appearance in November!

Gabriela... she's very cute pregnant!

Cousins

 Gabriela and Adelina are only a couple of months apart in age, and their little girls will only be a few months apart as well.  That is something that I love!  Adelina and Gabriela are not only cousins, but close friends.  I can't wait to see their little girls grow up as close as they did.

Adelina and Gabriela

Saturday morning, Adelina, Monica, Claire, my mom, and I loaded up and headed to San Antonio.  We stopped first at Gabriela and Dean's house so we could see Scarlett's nursery.  It is adorable, with wonderful personal touches.  It's just how I would picture it.

The shower was Sunday morning, and it was so much fun!  There was such a variety of food, and all of it tasted wonderful!  A diaper wreath welcomed guests, and a well wishing tree allowed guests to write sweet messages to Gabriela, Dean and Scarlett.

Monica made this adorable well wishing tree.

This diaper wreath was so easy and fun to make!  Plus, it makes a really cute door decoration at the hospital!

 Guests were asked to bring a book in place of a card, so Scarlett's library is off to a great start!  Gabriela received so many wonderful gifts.  Scarlett is set when she arrives!  I can't wait to meet you, Scarlett!

Countdown to Claire

I said in my last post that Aaron and I had celebrated many things in our first year of marriage.  We are getting ready to celebrate the birth of Claire, our first niece!  My sister, Adelina, is pregnant, and due in just 10 short days!  I can't wait for Claire to be here and experience the joys of being a part of this wonderful family.  I can't wait to love on her, and see how Adelina and Reed parent her.  I think really Adelina has been preparing for this her whole life.  Being the oldest, she always took on responsibilities that she didn't have to, but did because that's who she is.  Adelina is going to be a wonderful, loving, giving, protective, active, fun mommy.  She will care for Claire in a way that only Adelina can.  She will teach her daughter how to love well, and Claire will probably inherit a lot of Adelina's Type A personality traits.  She will do everything for Claire, because her love is that big.  Reed will be Reed.  He will be an amazing father, showing his daughter immense love.  He will make her laugh more than anyone else could ever try.  I'm pretty sure he will give her a love for fishing, and water in general.  He will also give her a love for music that makes you want to dance.  Adelina and Reed will be the perfect balance of silly and serious.  I am so excited to meet Claire!  You should all be hoping that Claire will come six days early, on August 4.  That's my day in the family baby pool, and I'd kind of like to win!

Adelina with all of Claire's aunts!