KEEP OUT!

after some discussion, myka and i have decided our blog will need to go private before december 1st, 2008.

with the information and pictures that we post, we think that this will be best, especially since baby b will be coming soon and we anticipate using this blog to post many pictures and videos of her and her growth and development for family and friends to see. at the moment, we have a general idea of who is visiting the site, but would like to make sure, not just anybody can see it.

in anticipation of our "going private" campaign, instead, our readers will need to be "invited" by us to read our blog and there will be an added step to the view the website. so if you read it now, we'd love for you to continue, so just let us know and we'll be happy to add you to the list. nothing personal, it's really just for the added safety and security of our family.

so if you read our blog or know somebody who does, email one of us and make sure we have your email address and we will be sure to allow you access to read it. thanks!

braxton hicks (update)

so basically, everybody has braxton hicks contractions. some people are lucky enough to not notice them, but everyone has them. and apparently, everyone has them from early on in the pregnancy. but as your uterus/baby get bigger, you start to feel them more. unfortunately, i feel them almost daily.

there's nothing really to do about them. they're there and they aren't going anywhere. you just have to rest, drink lots of water and pray that they go away. what a great remedy huh?!

what did freak me out yesterday at my dr's appt however was, after dr bailey told me it's natural and there's nothing really to do, that he slyly threw in there "if you get more than 4 in an hour you need to immediately call the office or come down to the hospital." then he continued conversation like nothing.

UMM, EXCUSE ME? let's back up one minute!!

holy cow! so needless to say, i've been timing the hell out of these "contractions," like an right-minded woman would when her doctor throws something like that into the conversation.

fortunately, they're random with no more than two in an hour but still. YIKES.

26 week appt.

so today i made the venture to the doctor for my 26-week appt. and i can't tell you how many babies and ready-to-pop ladies were there waiting! i swear, when you're pregnant, you seem to notice all the other pregnant ladies and babies around you.

doctor did the usual and checked the baby's heartbeat. what a strong little beat she has!! dr measured me and says that i'm measuring at about 27 wks. crazy, especially when i'm only at the beginning of 26 wks. he also made me laugh when he pulled up my shirt to examine the belly and said, "WHOA!" HA, he's telling me!!!

other than that, we ready to get into our 3rd trimester and everything looks good. we got the info for birthing classes and are going to see the maternity ward at the beginning of next month. it's all happening so fast!!!

10 random facts of this week.

1.  i'm seriously craving cereal. i will eat a complete dinner and then go on to eat two bowls of sugary cereal. every night. my favorites this week have been rice krispies and frosted flakes.

2. the days of midnight cravings have arrived. last night, myka was reading and i was cross-stitching before bed and i turned to him and said, i'm starving. i continued to tell him that until i finally got my butt up to make a snack. which totally did not fufill my hunger.

3. this week i went for my glucose tolerance test for gestational diabetes. the whole experience was not one of my favorites. i basically had to chug a sugary, syrupy lime drink in five minutes and then wait around for an hour to have my bloodwork. i have to say, when you chug something so syrupy and sugary, you don't feel the greatest. the baby loved it though...bouncing all around like a little ball.

4. next week i enter my 3rd trimester. on oct 1, we will officially be THREE months from our due date. how freaking scary is that.

5. myka's mom sent us a box of furukake popcorn/hurricane mix. i loved the salty, tangy mix so much that i ate the whole box (4 pkts) in 4 days. of course, now that it's gone, i am craving it so badly, i am tempted to buy a huge box of it off the website.

6. i am an avid fan of costco. buying in bulk is awesome. so when all my baby books said that costco is the best place to get baby wipes and diapers, i was ALL for it. what made it even better? a box of 704 baby wipes, normally $15, went on sale for $12. i was stoked. and today, i opened up my front door to find my two boxes of baby wipes =)

7. this past week i have made some delicious dinners. stuffed green peppers, chicken pot pie, baked salmon. YUMMMMM. i love experimenting in the kitchen.

8. everyone keeps telling me how small my tummy is. if one more person tells me that, i might go crazy. i feel like a beach ball. there isn't anything small about this anymore.

9. i haven't missed hawaii since we moved, but this past week all i've wanted is to drive around the island and go to the beach and swim. oh, and i am craving some serious local food. boulevard saimin, zippys, kalbi ribs, likelike drive-in. and those are just the ones that come to mind, i'm sure there are more.

10. with the expansion of my baby bump, i have discovered that i now have a hard time breathing. every evening, myka and i walk around our entire complex and by the end, i am winded and having braxton hicks contractions. scary, i know. 

99 days to go...

i realized today that baby b is due in 99 days. the countdown is officially in double digits. HOLY COW!

here's some new belly pics...25 wks and 6 days

i know i'm definitely getting bigger but when i look back on the pictures, it's so hard for me to tell, as all the pictures look alike. 

i'm sure there's a difference, but who knows.  so after we took these, i thought, ummm, these don't do the belly bump justice. 

so....

i decided that the only way to do it was to

 reveal the actual belly

so...here it is.

baby b likes to stay towards the bottom right quadrant of my belly, or so, that's where i feel her the most...and for some reason all the pictures look like she's definitely in the lower half of my belly. at least they do to me!

the next one is my favorite, as i look like i have a huge beach ball in my tummy!! you can definitely see the indentation of the growing belly. three things that freak me out about this view are 1) my appendix scar, 2) my slowly protruding belly button and 3) my belly button piercing hole. 

the appendix scar is slowly pushing out which is sooo weird to me, as it's always been indented due to the high number of infections i had while recovering. and anyone who knows me, knows that this is THE most ticklish spot on my stomach. and where does baby b like to kick the most? yup, definitely on the 

scar, making me giggle and jump at the same time. what's worse is when i push on my stomach to get her to move away from the sensitive area, and she immediately comes back to kick on the scar again! i have a naughty little rugrat already!!

the belly button is odd as it forms and pushes it's way into an "outtie" and the empty piercing hole is so weird looking too especially after 6+ years of a belly button ring! my tattoo has surprisingly stayed the same in the size for now, only stretching on the very tip of one of the petals. we'll see how that weathers the storm as time continues.

i guess you could say i'm slowly getting there. i can't believe it's 99 more days. unbelievable. i'm almost in my third trimester. AHHH!!

babies"R"us

today, myka and i braved the storm at babies"R"us to complete baby's registry and ohmygoodness! i've never seen so many people and pregnant ladies and kids and just chaos!!

all in all, we spent over THREE hours, registering for everything. i gotta say, myka really handled it like a champ, scanning all the items and keeping me calm amidst the ruckus. i never realized all the stuff babies need. i mean i know, but being amongst thousands of items can be overwhelming!! luckily we had read up on reviews on just about everything, which made things sooooo much easier for us.

i laughed as we drove away and myka said, "i gotta admit, i'm kinda baby-ed out!"

our registry can be found at any Babies"R"Us or Toys"R"Us store using registry #43282623 or our last name. or it can be found online HERE

time is flying by. she'll be here before we know it!!

recipe hunt.

i have become a huge recipe hunter. i constantly am researching different dishes and varieties to try and taste and am constantly looking at ways to save money while shopping. i absolutely love it! it totally amazes me that a few years ago i could hardly cook toast and here i am cooking meals that i'd never have dreamed i would be able to!!

sooo, if anyone has any good recipes to pass along...please do so!! i'd LOVE LOVE LOVE to test them out.

the view from up top.

so when i mentioned in one of my older posts that i can no longer see my toes, brenda arincorayan gave me this great idea, and i HAD to do it.

soooo...

here's the view of my tummy from the top at 25 weeks:

... 15 weeks to go!

movin on up...

i always love seeing my mom after a few days and hearing her tell me "OH MY GOSH, YOU ARE SO BIG!!" it cracks me up as she goes on to tell me, "I MEAN, YOU WERE ALREADY BIG BUT YOU ARE GETTING SO MUCH BIGGER!!" it's funny to hear it from someone who doesn't see me every day and can see the changes. 

today she threw me off guard when she told me that not only was i definitely bigger but i was also carrying the baby much, much higher. i guess i just kept noticing how big i/baby was getting and not realizing she was moving on up!! no wonder i've had so much indigestion and heartburn... baby is getting bigger, pushing up and causing the food to come up with it!! it made me laugh until i remembered just how uncomfortable i really am!!

braxton hicks.

well, i had my first of braxton hicks contractions a few days ago. as i laid in bed in the early morning, i felt my entire uterus cramp up into a very tight ball. for a moment i thought the worst was about to come...but i softly massaged my belly while talking to little baby b...and it slowly dissipated. thank goodness, there were no others after that as it was so uncomfortable!! only about 110 days left to go...YIKES!

my pretty toes.

last night i came to the realization that i can no longer see my toes. if i stand perfectly straight and look down, all i see is my belly and baby b. myka can even put his head on my feet and the belly blocks his entire face. i'm not sure how i feel about this but i did manage to get some good laughs in (after i freaked out a bit!). i have to claim that i'm not TOO big though. i can still touch my toes, paint my toes, shave my legs and get around pretty easily. i guess i just didn't realize i couldn't SEE my toes!! HA!

23-almost-24 wks

we finally, Finally, FINALLY took pictures.

as you can all see the bump is definitely getting bigger. i feel her move all the time and not just one little kick here and there, but her entire body as she readjusts herself to get more comfortable. she also starting to react to noises and voices. 

whenever myka sings or talks to her, she moves and readjusts herself to be closer to his voice. and whenever the dogs bark or i raise my voice, i feel her kinda jolt. i always laugh when my little brother, kyle, is around because she bounces and bounces around in reaction to his loud voice and/or energy.  

each night i feel horrible for myka, as i toss and turn trying to get comfortable. and i've gotten to the point where i see some kind of food on tv and i want it NOW. luckily, i've been able to have a little bit of self-control. =)

all in all, "i'm definitely pregnant" as my mom likes to tell me when she sees me. and i've gotten to the point where i can no longer squeeze past someone without bumping them out of the way with the little ball. the best is when i hug myka and i feel the belly squish between the two of us. so cute, our little family!

ego boost.

so last night, i got a major ego boost. as i was trying to figure out what to wear, i reluctantly pulled out an old "pre-pregnancy" shirt and thought....well it wouldn't hurt to try. and so i did. and it fit! of course there was a little ball protruding from the tummy...but nonetheless, it was the one of the cutest things i have worn in awhile. i loved it. what a great ego boost!!

DYK (did you know?)

the mommy's group i recently joined has this awesome online forum with a topic called "Did You Know?" it's such a refreshing topic to write on and it's so easy so i think i'll try doing it once a week or so...

so here's the first DYK

DYK...i am 23 wks pregnant with a baby girl and i am TERRIFIED of raising a child nonetheless a little girl!

DYK...that i have never been such an emotional roller coaster wreck in my life!

DYK...i grew up in yorba linda, california and moved to hawaii 6 years ago. i thought i'd never want to leave hawaii.

DYK...i went to hawaii for college and never graduated because i couldn't figure out what i wanted to do with my life.

DYK...i'm now debating registering to the community college to finish up my GE and transfer to a college here in CA

DYK...that i still don't know what i want to do with my life.

DYK...that the first time i ever saw myka with kids (when he owned his swim school) i knew i wanted to marry him/he would be the father of my children.

DYK...we eloped 6 months after we started dating!

DYK...we wanted to wait 5-10 yrs to have babies.

DYK...we got pregnant 4 months later! completely by accident! we don't even know how it happened!!!

DYK...i found out i was pregnant on mother's day 2008. (only because i was nauseous from the smell of food and as a precaution took a pregnancy test!)

DYK...that two days after we found out i was pregnant, myka got an interview for a job (after we'd been trying to relocate and apply for jobs for a year!)

DYK...that we left hawaii to be closer to my mom/family and for a better life for our family.

DYK...that i don't even miss hawaii!! (probably seems odd to some!)

DYK...that for the first time in years i don't work and staying home all day with just my two dogs has been driving me crazy.

DYK...that this was really refreshing for me to write?

a big THANK YOU!!

we have such great, wonderful family and friends that have blessed our lives and since our baby's announcement have blessed and spoiled our little one. i just want to take a moment to thank the babygirl's great-great gramma Dorothy, great-gramma Lois, auntie kianey, auntie ashley & uncle kevin and auntie deborah & uncle david for their beautiful cards and gifts. your thoughtfulness brought many tears to my eyes and we are so grateful to have you all in our lives.

and i'd especially like to thank baby's great-gramma lana and poppy and baby's g-ma & g-pa for already making her the best dressed girl around. we can't wait to see some of these outfits on her!

we love you all!!

23 wks.

i'm trying to enjoy the free time that i have as much as possible before the little one arrives, so i'm attempting to update the blog as much as possible/everyday. we'll see how long this lasts.

the past couple days have been some of the most uncomfortable of the pregnancy for me. it's hard for me to find a comfortable position to get into and at all times of the day, it feels like the baby is trying to push her way out of my stomach. and when i eat, it's like there is no where for the food to go. so it just makes the uncomfortableness even worse.

my friend dee, recently had her little baby boy and recommended baby center to help track our baby's development and such. as of this week, it says...

"Turn on the radio and sway to the music. With her sense of movement well developed by now, your baby can feel you dance. And now that she's more than 11 inches long and weighs just over a pound (about as much as a large mango), you may be able to see her squirm underneath your clothes. Blood vessels in her lungs are developing to prepare for breathing, and the sounds that your baby's increasingly keen ears pick up are preparing her for entry into the outside world. Loud noises that become familiar now — such as your dog barking or the roar of the vacuum cleaner — probably won't faze her when she hears them outside the womb."

pretty amazing. 

we're currently trying to narrow down baby names. we've already decided that we'll wait til we officially meet her to pick the official name but so far i think we're down to the final three... however every time we brainstorm, the list seems to change a bit. we also decided that all of our babies will have a middle name named after someone/something special/influential in our lives. we think it's nice way to incorporate meaning into the children's names. any suggestions? let us know =)

crazy lady.

i feel like one of the crazy ladies i used to have to babysit at fernhurst. no joke. i have been out of whack, thanks to lots and lots of combined baby and mama estrogen. one minute i'll be fine, laughing even, and the next someone will say something that makes me bawl my eyes out. and when i say bawl my eyes out, i mean bawl my eyes out. for hours. no joke. last week, when i got a little upset, i started crying, left where i was like a three-year old throwing a tantrum, drove all the way home (mind you, still bawling) and while, the endless river of tears eventually subsided about an hour and a half after it started...i weeped the entire night. oh, and then next day as well. now i'm like many a good women, every now and then i need a good cry, but i don't usually spend two days crying over something that bothers me. AND i'll start crying at everything. i'll see a commercial on TV and i'll start getting watery eyes. someone will say something, that will remind me of something else and i start to water up. and i've also noticed that i've become the HUGEST worrier! i will seriously wake up to go on one of my 20 bathroom trips a night, and it will take me FOREVER to fall back asleep. it sucks! i start thinking about things or people and worrying about them. it drives me up the freaking wall and i'm sure it's no picnic for poor myka. i'm telling you, i'm on my way to being one of the crazy ladies from fernhurst.

children's orchard.

one day, when i was around town running errands, i noticed a small store: "children's orchard"  i thought, hmm that looks interesting. probably a bit overpriced in this small strip mall but worth a look. unfortunately, i was a half an hour too early and it hadn't opened yet. for some reason though, it stuck in my mind and i thought, one day, i'm gonna make it over there.

well one day was last week. after a day of baby shopping with my mom and gramma, i said, can we just stop by this little store...i just want to see what it's all about. and holy crap, were we surprised!

children's orchard is a buy and sell place for baby's clothes, toys, furniture, etc for all that stuff that you got, but only got to wear or use once or twice. i was stunned at the prices and the quality of all the merchandise. at first, i thought, buy and sell?? what kind of quality could this be in? but i found brand-new, brand-name baby clothes for 99 cents. my jaw dropped!! we're talking baby gap, children's place, oshkosh b'gosh, etc. and this was all outside on the racks. 

when we got inside and walked around, i found an Italian-crafted Pali Crib, normally selling for $600-$800, for $150!!! it had no marks and looked brand new. i was amazed!

the store amazed me. the prices, the merchandise, everything. i definitely recommend it to anyone who has kids. not only babies, but older children as well. we ended up walking out with a huge pile of baby clothes, for less than $20. A-MAZING!!

happy birthday mama.

i just want to wish my beautiful mother a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY. i'm so lucky to have such a wonderful woman as not only my mother but my friend as well. she has raised such a wonderful family and i'm so proud to be her daughter and excited to see her grow in her new role as gramma. i hope when my daughter is born, that i'm half as good of a mother as my mother was to the three of us. LOVE YOU MAMA. and remember, 43 is the new 25. =)

death at a funeral

i think i watched the funniest movie of my life this weekend. we usually spend saturday evening with my parents & family for dinner and a movie and this weekend my dad picked one of the funniest movies i have ever seen. the british comedy, death at a funeral,  had us all wondering "what the heck is going on?!" at the beginning and then laughing all the way through the end, wondering what could possible happen next. it was definitely NOT what i was expecting and ended up totally exceeding my expectations. definitely what a good movie should do!