Grandchild #34

I don't think I've yet mentioned that this baby we're expecting will be grandchild number 34 for my parents. That's right 3-4. You'd think by this time my mom would be tired of baby showers and such. However, if you know my mom I don't think she could ever get tired of throwing a party. Especially when my sisters get involved.

So last week my mom and sisters threw me an amazing baby shower and I have to blog about it (I promise this to be the last of the baby shower posts by the way. Ben says they're taking over the blog :) ).

Everything turned out beautifully and we had a great turn-out. It was so great to see some people that I hadn't seen in years.

My mom and sisters did all the food. The table was beautifully decorated.

A little touch of Rita in the centerpiece

Opening gifts

My Bushman cousins gave me the most amazing diaper cake.
Really, it was a work of art.

Rachel explaining how she put it together

And the guest list included:

My sweet nieces Adaline, Ashlyn and Stephanie

Nana Ruby, my DeBry grandma. She's 95 and amazing.

Debbie and Paola

My cousin Amy

Cousins and cousins-in-law from the Leckie side
(L to R: my sister Christina, Rachel, me, Briahna, Cindy and Anna)

First and second generation Leckie girls
(L to R: Aunt Margaret, me, my mom, Aunt Rilla, Aunt Alice, Aunt Carrol)

With some Jackson cousins, Verla and Stephanie

My sister Julia, me and our good friend Amy Clayton

The DeBry girls
(L to R back: Aunt Mary, Circe and her beautiful new baby Tziporah, Nana, me,
Aunt Marla, my sister Laura. Front: Tiffany, my mom, Allison)

Practicing with my friend Nicole Ernst's new baby girl

Thanks to my mom and all my sisters for a beautiful shower and to everyone else for coming. What fun to be together!

Showered with Love

Petersen Baby Shower

A few weeks ago Ben's grandmother Nyla threw me a baby shower. It was up in Ogden on a Saturday so Ben went skiing with his dad at Snowbasin while I spent the afternoon with Ben's family. It was such a fun shower and so good to see everyone. The Petersens make me feel very loved.

The shower was at the Ogden Country Club. Lunch was delicious!
(L to R: Leslie [Ben's aunt], Alice & Dixie [Nyla's sisters],
Jane [my mother-in-law], Me, and Nyla)

The other table of guests
(L to R: Kelly [Ben's aunt], her daughter Lacey, Chelsea [Ben's sister], Karissa [Ben's cousin] and Lydia and Sayla [his cousin's daughter and wife]

I got so many nice gifts. Everyone was so thoughtful and generous. Thanks Nyla!

Friend Baby Shower

Last week my high school friend Brooke threw me the most beautifully put together shower. Everything was so well planned, decorated, and executed that I couldn't have asked for anything better. I took our nice camera (I'm still working on the whole photography thing) and tried to capture some of the beauty in her decor.


We played some really fun games- one was called "My Water Broke" in which there were little plastic babies frozen into ice cubes. Brooke then put them into water glasses, gave everyone a glass and when she said "go", whoever could get the baby out of the ice first won. I thought it was super clever and it made me laugh.

Also, my friends have great taste in little girl's clothes. I got some really cute things. Ben also stopped in at the end so he could meet some of my friends he hadn't met before.

Of course I had to show him all the cute things we'd received


All the girls. Thanks to everyone for coming and Brooke for a great shower!
(Back L to R: Jessica, Cassidy, Natalie, me, Shea, Brooke, Annie.
Front L to R: Krista, Katie)

Something got into the water....

The other day as I walked a patient to her room in the ER, she looked around and asked, "Is everyone pregnant here?" I laughed, but understood why she wondered. Maybe that's because I was working with some of these beautiful ladies:

There are a total of five of us that are currently pregnant and due in the next few months (the other woman pictured is a spouse of one of my coworkers). We're thinking that 8 months ago or so, something got into the water in the ER.

But whether it was something in the water or not, we've enjoyed experiencing pregnancy together. We swap stories, compare belly sizes, eat ice cream and yes, sometimes we complain and vent. Every pregnant woman needs an outlet. But yesterday we had nothing to complain about because our awesome coworkers threw us a baby shower. They were so generous and I got some adorable things.

"Everyone say 'heartburn'!"
We're in order by due date. That's right, I'm the furthest along in this photo.

After I have the baby I'll be quitting my job. Ben and I have planned and saved so I can be a full-time mom. I can't wait, although I know I'll miss these people. We've been through a lot together. You can only understand the ER if you've worked there. We all know firsthand what it's like to be kicked at by a drunk, proposed to by a psychotic man, and even thrown up on. We've saved lives together and watched people die together. It bonds you for life and I love each one of them for what they've taught me. Contaminated water or not, they make the ER a great place to work.

Mission Pennant Banner: Complete

Last night I was up until 2:30am finishing the most fun craft project I've ever done. I finished a pennant banner for the nursery and had the greatest time. Here's my own mini-tutorial, although I can't claim to be the expert. Most of my inspiration came from this site. I just added a few ideas from other tutorials I saw.

First I bought adorable fabric at a local quilting store. I got 4 different patterns. Each was $10 a yard, so I just got a 1/4 yard each. That made it affordable.

I then cut a triangle cardboard pattern 7 inches wide and 9 inches long. That made cutting the triangles fast and easy- I could even cut them side by side to minimize waste. To cut I used a mat and my rotary blade.


I wanted my banner to be double sided so I pinned two pieces of each fabric together. As you can see I went with the brown, green, pink scheme again.


I then sewed a 1/2 inch from the edge down each side of the triangle.


I wanted to add a little extra to the edges so I got pinking shears and pinked the edges of the flags. This was the hardest part since my shears weren't super sharp and on some of the flags I had to cut the two pieces of fabric separate.


I then placed my triangles in order and pinned them into the bias tape. I used the Extra Wide Double Fold Bias Tape (in brown) like the above tutorial recommended.


I then sewed the flags to the bias tape.


And... voila!


This is view when you walk in the door. It was Ben's idea to hang the banner from one wall to another like that. I love it.


There you have it! So much fun, and surprisingly simple. Mission pennant banner: complete.

Pregnancy Chatter: 36 weeks

Can you believe we've hit 36 weeks already? Today is the first day I can officially say "I'm having a baby this month"! Woo hoo! I texted that to Ben this morning and he texted back, "I just fainted". Ha ha. In his defense, it's all pretty surreal. We know that one month from now our life will change in a huge way... we just don't know exactly how. It'll be different, but a good kind of different. And we're looking forward to it.

Lately, in preparation, I've been having all kinds of other "new" experiences. For example:

- I was checked at the doctor today and found out I'm only dilated to a centimeter. Not that I expected to be further, but I was hoping. At this point I'd love to have the baby early, but I don't think it'll happen. In fact, I just realized I could have her in April. Ugh...
- Braxton Hicks and I have started to get to know each other. I get them fairly frequently, although thankfully few are painful. Most just make my stomach feel like someone stretched the skin too tight. And if that's what it takes to get this baby into my arms then bring 'em on.
- The baby has been head down in my pelvis for awhile, but today was the first time that I sneezed and the pressure from her head was too much for my bladder to handle. I'll stop there but let's just say it required a change of clothes. TMI? Yeah probably. Sorry about that. I'll just be sure to take more frequent bathroom breaks so I don't have to publish another such experience here on the blog.

And Ben?
He's wonderful like always. Busy with school and work but excited to be a dad. For Valentine's I got him children's books in Spanish to read with the baby. We've decided that we're going to speak Spanish with her as much as possible. But that's a post for another day.

In the meantime, I think it's time for a bathroom break. Hasta luego.

More Nesting: The Crib

Okay, I know a crib isn't really interesting enough to do a whole blog post about, but I wanted to show the progress we've made in getting ready for the baby. Last week we finally got rid of some things in the den, rearranged the furniture, and made room for the new crib.

Ben and the unveiling of the new crib. It was a generous gift from his
grandmother. She let me pick it out at Babies 'R' Us
so I got just what I wanted. Thanks Nyla!


I helped a bit but Ben did most of the work.
He loved stepping into the "dad" role- especially since it involved tools.


Ta-da! All assembled and next to the changing table. I'm still working on the
wall decor- I have some great ideas and am so excited to get them hung up.
I'll be sure to post once the projects are done.

night shift + pregnancy = 3:30 am blogging

It's 3:30 am and here I sit on the couch blogging. After working from 5pm to 5am yesterday I was so excited to fall asleep at a normal hour (11pm) tonight with Ben. However my excitement was short-lived as my internal clock (aka my bladder) woke me up at 1am. Oh the joys of night shift and pregnancy.

But what a great opportunity to surf the internet! And think about decorating the nursery! And blog about all of it! Unnecessary confession: I've spent the last two hours on my computer looking at fun ideas and projects and I'm still not tired at all. In fact, I can't wait to get started.

Here's where my internet surfing has taken me tonight:

- Pennant banners. I'm excited to do one over the crib or changing table. I love the tutorial at this site but etsy also has some great ideas.


-Stuffed elephants. Don't ask me why they call to me, but I think they make the cutest decor. I found these ones on Etsy.com, and although they're adorable, I just can't justify spending $45 on one. I'm content just looking for now.


- Baby pictures of Ben and me. This isn't internet surfing (we're not that famous yet), but I've been perusing my computer of pictures of Ben and I as babies to hang in the nursery.

I like these ones...








but this one has always been my favorite of Ben.
I'll be forever grateful if the baby gets his eyes.

That about sums up the last 2 (now 3) hours of my life. Now to get some sleep. After such fun internet surfing, I'm hoping to dream of colorful pennant banners and stuffed elephants. I can wish, can't I?