little updates

It's been three weeks since this little guy has been in this world, and let me tell you, it's been a whirl wind. I hate to complain because I know so many people right now who would give anything for a baby (especially one as adorable as mine), but this kid is a lot of work. He cries a lot and is very attached to me. Or at least attached to the milk I provide. He sleeps really well though so I'm grateful for that, but I'm waiting for him to adjust a little better to the outside world, poor guy! Here's a picture of the first time he's slept in his bouncy seat (he usually has to be held or in his carseat out for a long time in order to sleep). Progress people! 
I feel so lucky to have him though, he's ridiculously cute and hilarious (his noises and faces are the best) and I'm starting to be able to leave the house a little more (with him in tow of course) and things are starting to feel (semi)normal again. I'm looking forward to my Mother's Day present on Friday - a manicure and pedicure sans-kids! Luckily this little guy takes a predictable three hour nap every single afternoon at 2 o'clock when Belle takes her nap, so I'm going to use it to my advantage and sneak out for an hour or so.  Luckily because I lost about 20 pounds before I got pregnant, I have a closet full of jeans that fit my post pregnancy body so I'm no longer wearing maternity pants (woohoo!) And because the weather's been so nice, I've been living in jeans, tees and sandals but my t-shirt wardrobe is a little sparse so I picked up some of these GAP t-shirts (with 25% off and $60 in rewards, I ended up spending $8 for all four). I love GAP tees because they're loose fitting which is perfect for me since I still have a post-baby pouch...   I also decided I needed one more pair of sandals for summer since the gold strappy ones I bought a few months ago aren't suitable for every day wear. I ordered these but they are so different from my regular style, I normally prefer a between-the-toe sandal, so we'll see how they work out... I'm also slightly thrilled that I can drink alcohol again. Not that I do on a regular basis, but there's nothing like a nine month ban to make you crave a glass of wine and a margarita. Because I'm still breast feeding, I have to limit my intake to not more than one glass a day and not more than a few a week, but it's nice to at least have the option. So here's what I picked up at Costco the other day... Notice the red meat too? I gave up red meat before I got pregnant but then started eating red meat again when I was pregnant because I craved it. Now I'm trying to go off it again, but I get so hungry from being used as a baby pacifier all day that I'll really eat anything at this point and Justin has been craving some barbecued tri-tip. So I'm giving myself six weeks of binge eating before I get back on the (semi) healthy eating and regular exercise bandwagon. Three weeks down, three to go... wish me luck!

Update

I've been trying to get an update on this blog for the past week or so but any time I am not holding my new little bundle, I'm trying to cram in activities like showering, eating, going to the bathroom, etc. You know, the important things. It hasn't given me much time to type (typing one handed is hard!) and when I have had time to type, I've been working on Leo's birth story before I forget it.

Anyway, without further ado, here's a little update on our newest addition...

 Leo Robert Gomerborn: April 19, 2012 2:11 PM7 lb. 12 oz. of perfection20.5 inches long
So far, he is extremely loved by his big sister (as well as the rest of our family). He sleeps like an angel at night, having me wake him up every 3 hours to eat, but is a little fussier during the day. He loves snuggling with his mommy in a dark, quiet room and taking long naps. He also loves his carseat/stroller and being carried in around in the baby Bjorn. 

ready

This will probably be my last full on baby-related post on this blog. From now on, I'll mostly be talking about our new little guy over on the baby blog (babygomers.com) including Leo's birth story, so if you want more baby updates, look there...

By the time you are reading this, I will probably be in the hospital getting ready to have our little Leo the Lion (as I've already nicknamed him). Words cannot express how excited/nervous I am. Excited to meet him, hold him and bring him home. Nervous because I'll be recovering from surgery, not sleeping and juggling my attention between two kids. But in the end our lives will be so much fuller and brighter and I could not be more happy about what the future holds for our little family. 
Right now we are planning on staying in our two bedroom apartment until Leo is old enough to sleep in his own room (probably between 3-4 months), then we'll (hopefully) move to a three bedroom. So for now, we've set up baby stations throughout our house. Luckily in anticipation of having multiple children, we bought everything for Belle brand new, gender neutral and durable. Between loaning out the big stuff to friends with babies and storing the rest at my in-laws, we managed to keep everything.  This time around all we needed to buy was clothes and toiletries, and thanks to the generosity of friends and family, we more than have that stuff covered now. 
Station 1: Sleeping/feeding areaI moved my nightstand over to Justin's side of the room to make space for the bassinet and rocker on my side. It's a tight squeeze, but it's only temporary. I have a feeling Leo and I will be setting up camp here for a while.  Station 2: Supply/toy areaI bought this little cart to hold diapers, blankets, socks, toiletries, etc. Right now it's in our closet/library which is right outside of our bedroom. I thought it was better than keeping everything in Belle's room since I'll probably need some of this stuff in the middle of the night. Also, a diaper genie, our Boppy and a basket of newborn toys are right next to it for easy access.  Station 3: Living room entertainment areaWhen Belle was a newborn she spent most of her time in her bouncy seat in the living room with us. Her purple seat didn't hold up so we are borrowing Marco's for little Leo. We also kept this really nice swing we bought for Belle that she absolutely hated and probably only used twice. Hopefully Leo will like it better. Carseat This is now firmly installed in our car, ready to bring Leo home. 
We also have a really nice big playmat that Belle spent a lot of time on as a baby, but we're waiting to pull that out until he is ready for tummy time. Our baby bathtub is also still in storage until he's ready to take a dip in it. The high chair and bouncy toy thing (seen here) will also wait probably until we move and Leo's big enough to use them along with the bigger baby toys and board books. Our Bjorn, Bumbo and stroller are also ready to go. 
And here's Leo's coming home outfit all packed in my overnight bag for the hospital.
I think we have everything ready, now it's just a matter of time until we bring him home :)

NPOW

My Essie collection is growing! I'm starting to like Essie more than OPI, I find that the colors don't chip as easily.  Nail Polish of the WeekEssie: Navigate Her

38 weeks

I took this picture at 36 weeks but didn't do an update. Oh well, here it is anyway... 
And here I am at 38 weeks! One week left to go - I have a scheduled c-section set for my 39 week mark. P.S. - this picture was taken last week, so there's really only a few days left now until the big day.  How far along: 38 weeks 

Size of baby: As long as a leek and almost the size of a watermelon. About 7 pounds and 19 inches long.

Maternity clothes: Still managing to not wear any maternity shirts, but things are getting snug. Maternity pants are a must.  

Gender: Still a boy I hope!

Movement: This kid is so mellow, it's amazing. I hope this means good things for his demeanor when he arrives. He gets hiccups like 10 times a day, but other than that, just some feet massaging my insides every now and then. 

Sleep: Terrible. I feel huge and uncomfortable. Sleeping on my sides makes my arms and shoulders sore and I'm not supposed to sleep on my back so I prop a pillow under my side and do it anyway. I also can't sleep with any covers on me because I get so incredibly hot. And I get up 349,839,483 times a night to go to the bathroom. Also, no matter how much sleep I get at night (between 7-8 hours usually), I still doze off in the afternoons during Belle's nap. 

Cravings: Peanut butter and chocolate. All the time. 

Symptoms: Heartburn, back aches and a lot of pressure on my lower areas. I feel like he's going to just pop out at any moment. I also have some shooting pains in my legs and butt and all of my muscles are really sore. 

What I'm looking forward to: The big day (later this week!) I am so excited to finally meet him but really not looking forward to my hospital stay. Not only am I going to miss Belle like crazy (getting to read her stories at night, eating our meals together and playing with her during the day), but I really hate hospitals. I feel so stressed out having to be in one, like I'm suffocating. I can't wait until I can go home and probably will as soon as they'll let me.

This has been such an easy pregnancy and despite all of my complaining about how uncomfortable I am, I feel so lucky that everything has been so incredibly smooth. My doctor even tells me I'm her easiest patient. Hopefully this means he'll be an easy baby and any future pregnancies I may have will also be problem-free. 

Yum

It's no secret that Justin and I love food. Before this baby comes, I am determined to eat well because who knows when I'll be up for going out for a good meal again. And during this pregnancy I have really let myself indulge, but after he comes out, my eating habits need to change. I'm not crazy obsessed about my weight or anything, but hamburgers and cupcakes aren't the healthiest way to eat every day especially when I'll need energy to keep up with these kids! Here are some of the meals we've managed to fit in the last couple of weeks. 
Gregoire for lunch, a go-to favorite. This burger had pecans and Gorgonzola in it with pesto aioli, so good! 
Pizzeria Delfina. Justin had been wanting to try this place forever, so we finally made the trek into the city. It was so worth it! Best pizza I've ever had. And we live near some of the best pizza places (Little Star, Zachary's, Cheeseboard and Gioia)  
Gott'sIf you are ever in the Napa area or at the Ferry Building in San Francisco, you must eat at Gott's. It's one of mine and Justin's (and a lot of other people's) most favorite places ever. I could live on their onion rings (and probably die within the year). 
We also ate again at Tra Vigne Pizzeria, another favorite for their garlic rolls. So much good food, so little time. If you are familiar with the East Bay/SF/Napa areas, what other places do we need to try? 

Easter

This Easter was our last one as a family of three so we decided to spend it with our families. The night before Easter we stayed at my in-laws house so we could celebrate Justin's belated birthday. Sunday morning after breakfast we did an Easter egg hunt with Belle in the front yard. She wanted us to hide the eggs over and over again. She was having so much fun until it was time to take a family picture and we asked her to put her toys down. She was not a happy camper (see her face in the family pictures below). After lunch we headed to my mom's new house to run around her new big backyard. Belle had fun picking oranges and climbing rocks. It was a great, relaxing Easter for everyone.

11 Things

My friend Adrian over at Happy Girls are the Prettiest Girls tagged me in her 11 Things blog post, so I thought I'd participate.

Here is what must be done for this post.
Rule 1: You must post the rules. So, here are (the rest of) the rules.
Rule 2: Answer the questions provided by the tagger, then create 11 new questions.
Rule 3: Tag and link 11 new people
Rule 4: Let the people you tagged know you tagged them.

1} What is your favorite way to wear your hair? Down and straight or down and wavy, both of which take a lot of effort because my hair on it's own wants to be a curly/frizzy disaster.
2} What 3 things would you absolutely need for the zombie apocalypse? I love this question because in the past six months I've read World War Z and The Passage and have become absolutely addicted to The Walking Dead. First of all, I would totally need a weapon. Food and water obviously. And my family, because without them being safe, I'd just let the zombies eat me and be done with it.
3} Cat person, dog person, or not an animal person? I'd say none of the above. I wouldn't call myself a cat or dog lover, I think they are fine, but I don't dislike animals either. I'm indifferent.
4}What do you think of the barefoot/minimalist running trend? bonus, would you wear "toe shoes"? I've read that they can do more harm than good. Unless you've been running around barefoot your whole life, your feet are formed and used to the protection of shoes and those barefoot shoes can wreck them.
5} What's your favorite body part? I like the face, I think it's the most important part, it's your first impression.
6} Describe your eye color Dark green. People assume they are brown, but they're not.
7} What's your favorite flavor of cupcake? Definitely the bunny love cupcake at Love at First Bite (carrot cupcakes with pecans and pineapple, frosted with classic cream cheese frosting).
8} How do you make a bad day better? This sounds terrible, but laying on the couch and watching TV always makes me feel a million times better.
9} What's your least favorite trip ever? I hate road trips. With a passion.
10} If you could meet one blog friend in real life, who would it be and what would you do? A lot of my favorite bloggers are people I really know (mostly from college - Kelly, Tracy, Nicole), but of the ones I haven't met, I'd love to meet Rebekah from Life with the Edwards, she seems super sweet and I think we have a lot in common. I think we'd eat good food and watch Gilmore Girls.
11} What color best describes you? Blue because it's my favorite color. I love every shade of it. It can be happy and bright or serious and dark and everything in between.

Here are my 11 new questions...
1. If you could bring back one TV show that's not on anymore, what would it be?
2. What's your favorite hair product?
3. What's your number one dream vacation spot that you haven't been to?
4. What's your least favorite book you've read in the past year?
5. Describe your perfect Saturday.
6. What is one food you really hate?
7. Show a picture of any room in your dream home.
8. Who is your best friend and why?
9. Crayons, markers or colored pencils?
10. Are you an introvert or an extrovert?
11. How old will you be on your next birthday?

I don't have 11 people I want to tag, so if you want to answer my questions, go for it! And post the link in the comments. There are a few people I do want to tag though, so here they are...

La Tache at Smiling is Good for Your Teeth
Rebekah at Life With the Edwards
Michelle at Books N Shoes
Courtney at For the Love of...
Caroline at Simply Smithwick

summer comfort

Since Leo could literally come any day (although he's scheduled to come in about two weeks), I am trying to prepare not only for him, but by buying things I will need for myself this Spring/Summer. I figure I'll be spending most of my days with a newborn, recovering from surgery, breastfeeding, exhausted, etc. so I won't want to do much shopping. And comfort will definitely be a top priority. My must haves include: comfy (but cute) t-shirts, comfy shoes and some easy beauty products that will make me look awake when I really want to be asleep...

Here are some shirts I picked up from GAP & Target

And some warm weather/easy to slip on shoes (from Nordstrom)

And things to make me look pretty when I'm not feeling it (from Sephora)

Hopefully I'm prepared! 

random details about our weekend

Another week off from blogging. There are so many things I want to blog about, I just haven't had the energy. This past weekend was a little hectic but really fun.

Friday was Justin's birthday and unfortunately he had to go out of town for a conference so we all got up early to bring him to the airport. On the way there, Belle brought a [Highlights] magazine to read in the car and after we dropped Justin off, she put the magazine down and told me she had a tummy ache. At this point, the plan was to go pick up Abby and go to gymnastics class so I asked if she was ok to make it to gymnastics. She said yes and after a few minutes she just starts vomiting, everywhere. Four times. It wouldn't stop coming. I quickly tried to pull off the freeway and parked under an underpass and pulled out our spare diaper bag that we keep in the trunk of our car. That bag held five dried out baby wipes and a pair of pants a size too small... helpful. I cleaned her up as best as I could and got her home quickly. Once we got home, I rinsed her off, sprayed her clothes with Oxy-clean and cleaned out the car. Belle was really insistent that she still wanted to go to gymnastics class so we hurried to pick up Abby and made it for literally the last five minutes of class. Don't worry, she's not sick or anything, I just think it's safe to say that Belle has inherited her dad's extreme motion/car sickness. Something I know now to keep an eye on in the future. 

After our five minute gymnastics class, we ran to Target to pick up a few things before heading home for lunch and nap time. I made lunch, put the girls down for their naps then took out Belle's car seat and disassembled the entire thing to wash and sterilize all the pieces. It took well over an hour. After their naps, we got up and I let them watch a couple of shows while I cleaned the kitchen and washed all the dishes from the day. 

After Abby left, Belle and I went down to our local mall area and had a mommy/daughter evening of shopping and dinner. The only part Belle likes about going shopping is riding the escalator up and down in Barnes and Noble. By the time we finished what we needed to do, we got home at 9 PM (well past Belle's bed time) and she still needed a bath. We got a quick bath and then I put her to bed so that I could clean the rest of the house. Usually my Friday nights are spent dusting/vacuuming and scrubbing the kitchen and bathroom, but since we got home so late I was up until midnight doing it all so it would be clean when Justin got home on Saturday. 

Let me tell you about Justin's alarm clock. He has this annoying self-setting clock that adjusts itself for Daylight Savings Time. So Saturday morning Belle got up and the clock said 8:30. So I thought, ok, we'll snuggle for a few minutes then get up and have breakfast. After cuddling for a half hour I got out of bed and checked my phone to make sure I didn't have any missed calls or messages only to see that it was really 8 AM! The dumb alarm clock thought DST started that day and adjusted itself, so Belle and I were really up at 7:30, not 8:30. And just in case that doesn't sound weird to you, 7:30 AM in our house is early. Anything before 8 AM is a no-go. If Belle gets up before 8, she gets put right back to bed. I know this will be an adjustment when Leo comes but for now, that's our routine. Not to mention that I didn't fall asleep until around 3 AM the night before because of the cleaning and not being able to sleep without Justin being there. So Saturday morning we were both a little tired and cranky and at 10 AM Belle started melting down. Fun times, lol.

After a quick trip to Target and the bank, we came home and ate lunch together. Belle usually takes forever to eat so when I was done eating I started assembling a diaper cart that I bought for Leo that said "quick assembly" on it thinking I could get it done before Belle was finished. "Quick assembly" my ass. It took me over an hour to put the thing together. Belle had long finished eating lunch and her regular nap start time had passed. When the cart was finally put together, I put Belle down for her nap (late) and got to work on organizing things for Leo. I'm trying to get everything ready for him just in case he comes early, so any spare moment I have I work on getting things together. Also, at this point Justin was back at the airport and had a few hours to kill before his flight (his hotel checkout time was a lot earlier than his evening flight) so we chatted on Facebook for a while until Belle got up from her nap. Once Belle was up, she and I made shortbread cookies from scratch for Justin's birthday (his one birthday request). After washing some dishes and straightening up of the house, it was time to pick him up from the airport. 

I did not let Belle have a magazine in the car this time. We got to the airport and picked Justin up and then headed out to dinner. After dinner we came home and relaxed for a little while before putting Belle to bed. Justin and I watched a movie in bed and went to sleep early. 

On Sunday morning, we all woke up, got ready and headed up to Napa for the afternoon to celebrate Justin's birthday. For the past few months Justin has been craving this meat pizza from Tra Vigne Pizzeria in Napa so we thought it was the perfect afternoon to drive up and indulge. On our way up, we made a quick stop to visit with the Dicksons then headed out to eat. After lunch we ran around outside where there was a fountain Belle was fascinated with and then made a quick stop at Bouchon Bakery for some treats to bring home. 

We came home, sat down for a few minutes and then I had to head out to a sorority meeting. I'm an advisor for my old college chapter of AGD and because of Leo's impending arrival, this was my last meeting of the semester so I didn't want to miss it. After the meeting (which lasted almost four hours), I came home and watched Mad Men with Justin while we enjoyed our Bouchon treats before heading to bed.

Overall it was a fun weekend. I got to spend some quality one-on-one time with Belle (which believe it or not doesn't happen often enough) and we got to celebrate Justin's birthday and see some friends. 

So you can see why I haven't had time to blog this weekend, but I'm hoping to have some more posts up this week. And I need to update Belle's blog too! See you soon blogging world, we have a lot of catching up to do.