Gettin Ready for TEXAS

Nothin like searching for a new place to live AND packing for a 10 day trip while 32 weeks pregnant (I promise that's all the negative-nancy in this post). The last few days have been nice because I've been so occupied with getting ready for our trip that I've had less time to be bummed about the fact that I'm really looking for a place to live AGAIN. I'm very excited to go to Texas! We are going to spend the first 5 days in Texarkana with Gentry's family and the 2nd 5 days in Dallas with my family. I love Texas. We always have such good vacations when we're there, so I'm very excited. It's going to be cold, that's for sure, so I've had some interesting time trying to pack for an 18month old because all her clothes are for Southern California weather. Dressing her here for the cold means leggings and a long sleeve shirt :) And as of now, she can still get away with wearing her flip-flops when we go out. Raya still has a HUGE issue with socks and shoes. When we put her in her car seat she immediately starts kicking her legs to let us know the socks and shoes need to go before we are finished buckling her in. So this should make our trip to the cold a little interesting. I usually leave her barefooted from the house to the car and don't put her shoes and socks on until we are somewhere that she's going to be walking. I got some slippers in hopes that I can put those on her for our trips to the car and in and out of where ever we are going. She also doesn't really do hats, so that'll be fun. I did get her a super cute peacoat for the cold for $14! Old Navy had all their outerwear half off, so it was a great deal.

Gettin Ready for TEXAS!

This will be our last trip as "Party of 3." I'm a little bit sad about that. Not at all because I'm sad about the new one coming, I'm very excited for him! But one, I'm not a huge fan of change, and two, life with 3 (and travel with 3) is pretty easy and fun. So its very bitter-sweet. I know I've talked about it in previous posts, but as the time gets closer for baby boy to get here, I get a little uneasy about having a 3rd party added to my daily life with Raya. Uh, I sound like I'm not ready for him. That's not it at all. And I'm sure there's other parents out there that went from 1 to 2 with the same kind of feelings :) I just so enjoy my days with my BFF and I don't know what to expect....Pretty sure its the same kind of anxiety I had my senior year of high school knowing I was about to go to college and I had no idea what to expect, so I was very uneasy. Luckily I LOVED college, so I'm sure this will be like that x100!

And my favorite picture of the week! Why, because she took it of herself!!!! I saw her grab my camera and hold it up and say cheese, but didn't think at all that she'd actually get her face. I have no idea where she learned how to hold the camera away from her face at a flattering angel, say cheese and snap a head shot ;) But my kid can officially take her own Facebook Profile pictures! Its a proud moment as a parent, and a milestone I will be recording in her baby book. 

Raya Recently

My favorite outfit of the week!

Shirt is from her Aunt Romina (she got it at Target)

Jeggings (Children's Place)

Nike Air Maxs (That she's already growing out of :(

It was hard to get one good picture of the outfit...so here's a couple different angles. She's really starting to look like a little girl more than a baby :( Uhhhhh, stop!!!!

She got to go in Nana's spa this weekend because the heater was broken so it was more like a kiddie-pool. She LOVED it! It was a Nana/Grandma weekend...and clearly she was loving it :)

I LOVE THIS KID

Me at 31 weeks. I'm sure I could do a whole (long) post on the super fun past weeks ;) But I'll spare you. Baby is healthy and growing by the minute. There's a good chance he's a cage fighter! You know when you get trapped under the sheets or in a sleeping bag and get claustrophobic and have a mini freak out and kick and wail? Sometimes that's what it feels like he's doing. I keep trying to get it on video. It's crazy how he moves around. Sign of what I have to look forward to???? 

We're still looking for a place to live. I was super stressed about it last week, but for some reason I'm super hopeful this week. WE SHALL SEE...one of the most annoying things is that I can't put up Christmas decorations I bought 2 years ago!!! Right cause that's what I need to be worrying about. LOL.  We leave for Texas on the 20th and are there for 10 days and get back Dec 1...so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we'll have a place to move into the beginning of December (and a place I can decorate!) 

Hope ya'll are having a good weekend! (Yep, I said Ya'll. I'm preparing for Texas :) 

Pumpkin Princess

Wow, Halloween was almost a week ago and I'm just now posting about it. Oppsies ;)
Sunday was our big "Move Out Day," so it was long and tiring. I debated throughout the day if I would be able to take Raya trick-o-treating and I am so, so, so glad I took those couple hours out to take her. It was so much fun watching her!!! My mom and I took her to the very first house (our neighbor) and told her to knock, which she loves to do and did in a heartbeat. When our neighbor came to the door and handed her candy she was a little shocked and probably confused, but it was only a matter of seconds before she decided it was the best thing ever. I took her to about 15 houses, and she said "Thanks Bye" to every one of them. I didn't even think to try and teach her "trick-o-treat" during the weeks prior to prepare her for the big night, but "Thanks Bye" was so sweet and so cute. The funniest thing was she wanted to hold her candy and tried to keep as many pieces in her hand as she could. At one point she probably had 3 pieces, which is a lot for a little tiny hand, and she did this claw thing and opened her fingers up between her knuckles and would stick her hand in the bowl and then clamp down- Just like one of those claw games at the mall. When she pulled her hand out, she'd have all the same pieces plus a new piece between her knuckles. It was hilarious. And entertaining for the people handing out the candy as well. So much fun!

Halloween Morning in her Halloween Jammies

The Pumpkin Princess

The 1st house

"Thanks Bye"

Off to house #2!

Such confidence ;)

And that was how long the hat lasted

So even though it was a LONG day, this was the absolute highlight to my whole weekend. I'm so glad I took the time to take her and be a part of her 1st trick-o-treating experience. 

I took a bunch of pictures, duh...My whole Halloween Album is here

I also wanted to include a link to this Fabulous article about a little boy wanting to be a girl cartoon character for Halloween. A friend of mine posted it on Facebook and I want to share it with everyone I could. It's pretty fun, but more importantly its an example of amazing parenting. My little brother used tights and a tutu as part of his Halloween costume at least 2 times...so it reminded me of him dressing up and my mom and dad had no issues with it. It was never an issue in our house, it was always about what we wanted to be. As long as it wasn't offensive to another group of people we could do it or be it! Just an example of letting your child make their own choices and loving them unconditionally :) 

The Article/Blog: My Son is Gay

30 weeks!

Welllll, only 10 weeks (or less) to go...that's 70 days! And probably the fastest 70 days of the year. This time of year FLIES by, before I know it I'll be taking down Christmas decorations with a new baby strapped to me, but on the Outside of my body! Yesterday when I was searching for gold tights the store had Christmas music playing. And then today Starbucks served me my coffee in a Holiday cup!!! It's just getting better and better. I LOVE this time of year. I'm bummed that we had to move out of our place this week because I was seriously busting out the Christmas decorations as of yesterday. Grrrr to our A-hole property management company that's forced me to wait until Dec. 1 to get going.
Anyways, back to being 30 weeks pregnant. Not really the funnest time. I'm border line over it. I think the only reason I'm not totally over it is because as long as he's still on the inside I can get things done on the outside. This last week I had a mini melt down, once again due to the A-holes we rented from. I'm stressed out because now the soonest we will be in a place is Dec 1 and that only gives me about 5 weeks to get the house unpacked and his room done, which is basically impossible as I see it. I was so excited to get to decorate his room and get furniture and "Nest." I didn't get to do that with Raya because we moved out of our place a month after she was born, so there was no point setting up her room and then packing it all up a couple weeks later. I know he'll be in our room for the first couple weeks at least (which will most likely be the first couple months, but we'll talk about that later ;) But I was still so excited to decorate and set up, and now I'll be lucky if the house is unpacked. Blahhhhh. So that's always fun to be dealing with when the "countdown" part of the pregnancy started. Our last night in our old place I couldn't sleep because I was freaking out that I was going to go into labor while we were trying to move out and it was going to be such a mess! Well not literally, I mean in my dreams I always made it to the hospital. But a mess because all of our stuff was in boxes, half was in storage and the other half still needed to be moved out. Oh and speaking of early labor...twice this week he was pushing on my belly so hard that I had to stop everything I was doing and just breath because I was sure he was going to push right through my stomach. Especially since it was Halloween week I had super vivid pictures of an alien-like recreation. But seriously, this kid is sooooo strong! He kicks me and pushes on my belly like no other. Needless to say, I'll be excited for him to be on the outside :) But if he could just wait until at least everything is unpacked that would be Awesome! So if you feel like sending us some wishful thinking, or praying, or good vibes or special dances they'd all be VERY MUCH APPRECIATED :)

This is me at 29 weeks,
with my cheese face climber.

And then at 30 weeks

Today when we were walking to my doctor appt Raya would run a few feet ahead of me then run back to me and touch my belly, then run off a little and run back and touch my belly. It was so, so, so cute! This age is so fun because one day she'll do something that blows me away. I really didn't think she got the whole pregnancy thing, but clearly there's a lot going on in that head of hers. At my appt my doctor always lets her hold the heart beat mic and find the heartbeat and then clean the gel off my belly. Its fun to have her involved and even more fun that she has fun being involved. LOVE THIS KID!

As for the baby in my belly: all looks good. He's measuring a week big, which really doesn't mean anything. I feel much bigger than I did at this point last time, and I haven't gained as much weight as last time so all signs point to a big baby. I guess I'll know soon enough!