Pregnant and having fun

Who says you can’t have fun while being pregnant. Here’s a couple things I’ve been doing this last month of pregnancy.

Knee boarding. Good times. I hadn’t done this since I was a kid. Okay, I didn’t do it this time either, but the picture looks real doesn’t it! Here’s what I really did in the water…

That’s right, I floated. Really well too! Notice Mt. Rainier in the background. Isn’t she beautiful. Good thing Steve waited to take the picture ‘til I wasn’t in front of her. My belly could have easily covered the view otherwise!

Next activity… bowling.

This one I really did do! Check it out.

What form. So turns out, a big low belly does hinder my bowling performance a bit, mainly because I can’t bend down as low as I usually go while bowling, but I was still able to get a strike and a couple of spares. Unfortunately, my learning curve affected my first few frames, so the strike and spares where not enough to get above 100. :( But hey, I still had a good time, and baby girl got her first bowling lesson.

*Disclaimer: no pregnant bellies or infants were harmed in the filming of these events.

Alright, here are my standard weekly photos.

Hopefully baby girl will decide to come any day now. Steve and I are anxious to meet her. I’m pretty much ready for her now that her room and bathroom are all set up. I hope to get pictures up soon. You may have to wait until after she comes though since her name will probably go up on the wall this week and that’s going to be a surprise for all of you. (Good thing Steve and I finally know what it is though).

Oh, and if you want to see pictures of my WA baby shower, check out my sister-in-laws blog. Holy Craft It starts on this post and then she talks about it more in subsequent posts on how she created all the cute little decorations. If you love crafting, it’s a blog you may just want to bookmark, she’s pretty… crafty! Sorry, she is really talented though.

So that’s it for now. I really hope the next post will be introducing our new little girl to you all. Wish me luck!

Catch Up

Wow, it really has been a long time. Well, soon you’ll understand why. First off, let’s say pregnancy is still going well, and baby girl and I are both healthy and happy. Even though I am officially full term, I don’t mind her staying put for a while longer so I can continue getting her room to a place where I think it’s ready. If she comes today though, she has a place to sleep and clothes to put on her back, so she’d be quite content. =D

I’ve had two baby showers since the last time we spoke. I don’t have pics from the second one yet, but here are few from the one in CA.

Event Setting

Beautiful (& Yummy) Cake

Friends and Family

Nana to Be (and half the planning crew)

Great Aunt to Be (and other half of planning crew) – oh, and tummy measurement for one of the gamesSpoils from the shower. Baby Girl is going to be one well dressed child!

So on to why I’m all of sudden so busy. (Besides just have moved into a house and trying to unpack, and getting ready for a baby) Shortly after my trip down to Northern California for a baby shower, I had to make a quick trip down to Southern California for my father. Turns out he had a stroke and his roommate had taken him to the hospital for care. As soon as I found out, my aunt Lauri (Dad’s youngest sister) and I flew down to visit and evaluate the situation. The stroke had mainly affected his sight (loss of his right peripheral vision) and short term memory, but other than that, he’d been fairly lucky. With his sight restrictions, and the new diet he’d need to be on to help monitor his diabetes, high cholesterol and high blood pressure (all of which was discovered after the stroke), we decided it’d be best to bring him up to Washington to be near family. So Steve and I talked and decided to move Dad in with us. We figured, free babysitting, why not. :)

After a few days of testing and healing, he was discharged and Aunt Lauri’s husband Jeff flew down, helped rent a van, pack up his stuff and we took a 3 day road trip up I-5 to Dad’s new home. Although traveling by van as pregnant as I was was not the most comfortable thing I’ve done during this pregnancy, we had a nice trip and all got to visit together and stop at some of Dad’s favorite restaurants on the way. Jeff and Lauri were a big help, I couldn’t have done it without them.

Once we got up here, we got Dad settled in his new digs and gave him the tour. Unfortunately, the second night he was here, he had another stroke. Steve and I took him to the emergency room and stayed with him until they were ready to admit him. Like the last stroke, this one affected his vision but to a worse extent. (Again, he was still lucky this was all it affected.) His sight is fairly hindered, only being able to see from the horizon down and to his upper left. But even that vision is not clear and he has lost his color vision. After a few more days of testing and resting, he was again released into our care and has been staying with us ever since.

I’ve been working on making sure he eats healthy and takes all his meds. He seems to be adjusting well and really enjoys when his family comes to visit. Although this isn’t something I had planned for, I’m excited for him to be around for Baby Girl since I’m not sure how much he would have seen her living in S. California. I think he’s looking forward to her birth as well. But really, who isn’t?!?

It’s been amazing to see how God has worked in our lives throughout this whole thing. I was part of a Mom’s Group Bible Study this summer on Jonah, Navigating a Life Interrupted by Priscilla Shirer. She led us through the book of Jonah and we learned how God can change our plans at anytime and how we can take His lead, embrace it and see how His plans will work in our lives. Talk about life interrupted, but I’m ready for the challenge. God had already set me up in so many ways.

-He gave me a diabetic dog when I was growing up where I had to give her insulin shots (which I don’t have to do for Dad, he can do his own), but I at least know how to prepare a needle and know what to do if I have to start.

-God gave me a wonderful husband who is willing to have his life interrupted as well, and has been supportive and understanding throughout this whole ordeal.

-God found us a house that is a split level that allows Dad to have effectively his own apartment downstairs which allows him to keep some of the privacy he had before his big move.

-Even the timing was perfect. If Dad would have had his stroke 2 weeks later, I would not have been allowed to fly down. Any earlier and we wouldn’t have had a house for him. He had it within a month of his birthday so we were able to sign him up for Medicare without any penalties.

So praise God for everything He is doing in our lives. He’s got a reason and although we may not see it yet, or ever know what it is, I feel blessed to be a part of His plans.

Now for a fun last note. With all this going on, my feet have taken to swelling a bit (and by a bit, I mean a lot), so I have finally needed to become a pampered pregnant wife. Here is how Steve has helped me in this:

This would be in our living room after washing and folding girl clothes all day (notice the boxes surrounding me). My feet are in a bucket of ice water Steve prepared for my hot and swollen tootsies, he’s given me a jar of peanut butter for me to eat straight out of and of course, the remote, so I can not use my brain for a bit. What a great husband!

Good Busy

Sorry it’s been so long but a lot has happened since the last time I posted. Let’s go through it quickly together with photos. As you can see, I continue to grow at an exponential rate. But I love that Steve and I both feel her all the time now. She’s getting so strong! (Oh by the way, I think most of you were excited about my previous pregnancy super power, the ability to chop onions without crying… well, I am sad to report the super power has left me, and I am now more vulnerable to crying when cutting onions than ever. Sad)

For our 6th anniversary, Steve took me to the Space Needle and we ate dinner in the 360 rotating restaurant. Although we didn’t sit at the outer row of seating, we still got to enjoy the magnificent view while eating good food. We stayed the night in the city and walked around Pike Place Market the next morning. As you can see below, baby girl had her first picture with the Golden Pig. Don’t ask me what it represents, I have no idea! But it’s famous for some reason. (I haven’t had the time to look it up, sorry)

Finally, the newest big news since announcement of our pregnancy. We bought a house!

(I swear there is a house somewhere behind those bushes in the background) These are just some preliminary pictures for now. I hope to put more up soon so you can get a little online tour of the house we bought. So between a new job (Steve), growing a baby (Val), getting the house ready to move in, baby classes and volunteering for the High School group at church (both of us), we have been quite busy. But like the post title says, it is good busy! We are very happy with our purchase, and can’t wait for you to come visit!

how awesome is my pregnant wife

She picked out, installed and re-keyed new locks for our house! All by herself! (she is currently carrying 2 selfs but I doubt baby was much help)

-Steve

More than halfway there!

So many things have happened baby wise in the last 3 weeks. I feel her kick and punch (my bladder mainly) much more often now, and just last week, Steve finally felt her kick too!

I got to go home to Ventura a couple of weeks ago and visit with the parents and one of my good friends. I was so excited to finally experience some consistent sunny weather, to only find the weather only 2 degrees warmer than Gig Harbor, WA. Seriously Southern California?!? But ultimately, since that was not my main reason for visiting, it didn’t ruin the trip. I had a great time with my family, and my mom even took me on a much needed maternity clothes shopping trip. As you can see, I am visibly pregnant now, and no longer fitting in most of my clothes!

Steve and I participated in the Gig Harbor Street Scramble last Saturday. It’s a free event that is sort of like a scavenger hunt. You are provided with a map with almost 50 locations marked on it, and a corresponding list of questions with a point value for each location. The farther the location, generally the more points you can earn. You then bike, run, walk, or as in my case, waddle, to as many of the 50 locations on the map you can, answer the corresponding question, and try to get back to the starting point in the time given. We didn’t stay for the awards ceremony since baby was hungry, but we did get a free shirt from the event which was a total bonus I’d say. Here’s some of the pictures from the event:

Start of the event

Maps given to us (notice plastic cover in case of rain, only in WA)

The stairs of the end of the “shortcut” we took. I may be smiling now, but I wasn’t after I climbed them all.

Steve finding one of the answers at one of the locations on the map.

Finish line

Steve and I (and baby girl) with our new shirts.

Finally, the 20 week ultrasound as promised...

elementary math

Val and I were at Half Priced Books today and overheard this
conversion between an employee and a mid 30's, overweight, male
customer.

Cust: How much are the Dungeons and Dragons books?
HPB: They're individually priced, but they're all 20% off.
Cust: It's $9.98 so how much is the discount?
HPB: $2 (presumably with a look of incredulity)

What you’ve all been waiting for…

(Ha ha, I thought this was published while was in Ventura, but I guess we forgot. Sorry for the late notice.)

So you may notice I’m wearing a different colored shirt this week. If you haven’t figured out why yet, let me fill you in… WE’RE HAVING A GIRL!!! Our little one with be 7th or 8th in a long line of baby girls in the Teodoro family. By 7th or 8th, I mean one of our cousins is due 3 days after me and they’re having a girl too, so depending on who goes first, our girl will be the 7th or 8th girl born in a row for the Teodoros. So we may not be breaking any trends, but we are still excited to meet her in less than 5 months!

Our 20 week ultrasound went well. Baby girl looks healthy and everything is progressing well. I’m a little nervous over the fact that after measuring the circumference of the baby’s head, we learned her head size is in the 97th percentile for her age! I’m not looking forward to discovering that first hand in 19 weeks!! Other than that scary fact, it was fun to watch her squirm around and stretch her long legs during the appointment. I’ve posted the pics from the ultrasound and we’ll post the video from the ultrasound soon. I expect you will all fall in love with her as much as Steve and I already have.