D BACKS GAME!!!

David's dad got us and Evy tickets to the game against the Padres (David's favorite team)
Evy and I had fun talking about babies while the guys watched the game :) We were really lucky to have gotten such great seats!!!

The beginning of our Anniversary Weekend

Our lovely weekend began with a nights stay at the Pointe at Tappatio Cliffs.(We stayed there on our wedding night, so it was only tradition to go back for our first wedding anniversary) We arrived friday evening and got ready for our dinner reservations at A Different Pointe of View. This was one of the most beautiful and fanciest restaurants we had ever been to. It is ceiling to floor glass windows that look over the beautiful city. We were especially lucky that night to watch a lightning show as we dined. I enjoyed a wonderful meal of Fillet Minion while David had the Halibut. Too full from the bread, Lobster Bisque and our meals we decided against a dessert. However, the hotel gave us little packages of chocolate and cookies and wrote Happy Anniversary on our plate in chocolate. Since we couldn't have champagne or wine we decided to go for the next best thing Starbucks! It was perfect drinking our warm drinks on our balcony that overlooked the city while the lightning flashed off in different parts of the valley. The evening was perfect, we spent it listening to the rain... so romantic! This was extra special for us because it rained on our wedding day and we slipped out and danced in it and took pictures during the reception.
The next morning we went to the same breakfast place as we did the day after our wedding (last year we ended up sleeping through room service ;) Great food just as we had remembered. After breakfast we headed back to the hotel for a full day lounging by the pool. It was my sisters birthday so she ended up joining us at the pool and later her man came too. The four of us loved the lazy day! It was a perfect way to end our stay there!
It was so fun reminiscing about our wedding day and wedding night and all the magical blessings that we enjoyed on the day I married the love of my life!

Contractions!

Yikes! I can't believe how many contractions I have had so far today... lots of braxton hicks but quite a few of the cramping ones too! I am exhausted just from having them :)

Hmm... You don't think what the Dr. said is true??? you don't think we could really deliver in four weeks do you?!

My visit to the Doctor!

Today I went to the doctor for a regular check up and to meet the lady that would hopefully be delivering Gracie. She was so personable and friendly, I am now looking forward to having her in the delivery room. I can just see her cracking jokes and being sarcastic... that is pretty much what the appointment consisted of. I was laughing so hard the whole time. She said Gracelyn is definitely dropping and that we could possibly deliver in four weeks!! YIKES! Thankfully I think she has jinxed it and now it will happen later ;) She couldn't believe the results from the kicking test... in one hour my baby girl moved 68 times... boy oh boy is she a little fireball already!
She said that my contractions are normal even if I have about 5 of them each hour. That was encouraging to hear because I was wondering if that was normal or not. It is so crazy to think that in about two months we could have our little peanut with us :)

On a side note: David purchased and painted the baseboards tonight... and my dad is supposed to come over tomorrow night to help cut and place them.
While David was doing that I went on a cleaning streak (my third one this week) and cleaned the banister, doors, door jams, windowsills and every hard or dirty surface with a cleaning wipe! It was so fun to watch the dirt just magically disappear !!

Well tomorrow is the last Wednesday of work then all I have left is Monday. It is a bittersweet time!

Goodnight!
Mandi

Last full week of work!

I can't believe jut how quick the time came to leave my job. I am definitely going to miss it but it will be nice not to have to drive down to Scottsdale, not to mention I will be off of my feet. I have been truly blessed still no swelling, but because of my blood clot history in my family they want to make sure my legs are up more. I know I am probably going to be BORED out of my mind... but I am trying to think of some projects to keep me busy until little Gigi arrives. The doctors still think she is going to come early... she has dropped already so fast and the contractions are more frequent and getting stronger. I am actually going to meet OUR doctor for the first time on Tuesday. It will be nice to know the the lady who will (hopefully) be delivering us.

We registered for our hospital classes and are trying to get the ball rolling on the nursery... I know it won't be the end of the world if it is not done in time, however... I can't wait to start putting her things in her room and washing and hanging up her clothes. We picked out the carpet and are waiting for that to come in... now all we have to do it pick out baseboards and install them, paint them, and put down the carpet. After that David can start building all her furniture. He and my dad are actually making a window seat/toy box. It will fit in the window nook and there will be a cushion to sit on and then it will lift up and we can put her toys in there... both David and Dad are very creative... i can't wait to see it finished. Then all that is left is the mural. Which the painter is coming this week to work on I hope :)

So it still seems like a lot but I think we can get it all done... I HOPE :)

I will keep you posted and will write an update after the doctor on tuesday. Until then!

Blessing,
Amanda and Gigi

A sad goodbye :(

Yesterday David and I had to say goodbye to our dear kitty Tercel. David's family had adopted her as a stray five plus years ago so she never went to the vet. Once David moved out into his house he took her with him. She was indoor and outdoor. Many of his roomates loves her! She was David's baby... and woman before me :) She slept on his bed and he would always love on her, brush her, and pet her. I on the other hand was allergic so I couldn't pet her as much :(

Over the past month we have been noticing that she stopped eating a lot and was losing a lot of weight. I took her to the vet yesterday to find out if we should switch her to wet food hoping she would eat more... little did we know how sick she was.

According to the vet she had a feline lukema desiese. One of her lungs was 4 times the size of the other and there was so much thick fluid in her abdomen and chest cavity that they couldn't even find the tumor or her heart. She has weeks of poop stored up in her because she just didn't have the energy to go to the bathroom. And she was using everything she had in her just to breathe. The vet was very kind but told me that she pretty much was on her last week and was litterally drowining in her own fludis :( They encouraged me to end her suffereing. I immeditately called David. Here we thought it was a diet preference but turns out that she has been dying. My poor husband... was speechless. THere he was at work, not able to get off, not able to come say goodbye to his beloved kitty and I had to make the choice. Of course we didn't want her to suffer anymore. I left the vet in tears sobbing in the car the whole way home. Seeing my husband so hurt and in so much pain killed me. I wished there was something I could have done. I saw the most tender side of him... and hugging him as he cried made me see him in a whole new way.

I know some of you are not pet people, so it seems weird to be so sad over a cat... but I think It is amazing just how close you can be to a pet. You realize just how much of your daily routine included that little kitty.

More photos :)

Here are some more of our favorite pictures that Stephanie took!

Update on the nursery!

So since we have painted the room we have accomplished more projects... which is a good thing because it seems like we are behind schedule to have everything ready by the time little Gigi comes! ( that is her new nickname... given to her by her mama, Grandma and Great Grandma)
Here is our progress:

David replaced all the outlets and receptacles.
He took off the door and painted it white.
I painted the closet and the door jam white.
David ripped out the baseboards with my Dad and then pulled out the old carpet ( Unfortunately the person who laid the carpet last time didn't do a great job. The carpet in some areas was taped together with duct tape... we didn't find this out until we pulled it up! Also as David was ripping out the baseboards it ripped the carpet... thus the reason why we have to replace the carpet!
So right now it is a DANGEROUS place to be... carpet tacking is sticking up everywhere nails, spikes and splinters oh my!
Our next step is to purchase the new carpet and Dad is going to help David lay it down since he has a kicker! We are so thankful we don't have to pay 300 dollars for the installation.

I will keep you posted... but as of right now it seems like we are going to be working up until the wire :(
Pray for my peace of mind and patience with it... I just want to put the furniture together and start washing her clothes and put them away ;)

Love you all!
Still no word on any Doctors... I know the Lord is faithful and will bring the right Doctor into our lives!

On the search for a new Doctor :(

At our appointment on Thursday David and I were informed that Humana, our insurance covers less than ACCESS I think that is how you spell it. Well they told us that because of the situation they are terminating their contract with Humana. Unfortunately more than half of our insurance is paid for by David's work so there is no way for us to change insurance companies, which leads us on a search! If you know of any great doctors offices or OB G's preferably more by us (35th Ave and 101) Please let me know! We are looking for good recommendations. Thankfully they are holding to the agreement (as of now) to cover me until after Gracie is born... but then I have to find a new one!

Thanks for your help!! Great timing eh?! :)

Desperate Mama :)

Maternity Photos!

Stephanie our photographer was absolutely amazing! We had so much fun taking these and she really made it easy!!! We will definitely be using her again after Gracie is born! Here are just a few that she showed us... but MANY more to come!!





Stephanie our photographer was absolutely amazing! We had so much fun taking these and she really made it easy!!! We will definitely be using her again after Gracie is born!

I almost had a heart attack

Today at work a customer noticed that the diamond in my wedding ring was missing. I immediately freaked out! I had helped so many different people, wrapped gift boxes and ran to the stock room to do item checks... how in the world was I going to be able to find it. I crawled on the ground and didn't see it anywhere. I looked under the counters the cupboards and was just about to give up when something caught my eye. Could it be?! I knelt down to one of the shelves. There was my diamond... it had fallen into an envelope, laying in a box, sitting on a shelf between the counter and the floor! It is only by God's grace that I was able to see it, and find it! I know it is just a material thing, but it was the engagement ring that David picked out all by himself... I would have been sick to have had to tell him... and I know it would have broke his heart! Thankfully we found it, and took it straight over to the jewelers to have it reset. Now I don't look married... and I am pregnant... I think I am going to wear a fake one until tuesday! Just to be safe :)

What a crazy day!!!

Project Nursery Phase 2

David's mom was so amazing!! She spent the whole day painting the ceiling white (it has been tan before) and painting the walls pink!! Not to mention she purchased all the paint and materials!!! The color is called Delicate Rose.. even though it is a bit darker than we thought it would be... we still love it!


Once again Daisy needed a picture... only this time it was in a pink room!!


Our next step: To replace the ugly tan baseboards with molded white and take off the closet doors and replace them with curtains!!

Stay posted for more updates!!

Project Nursery Phase 1

David has primed the walls! His roommate before had painted them dark blue with red sponged over it, so it was a bit tricky trying to hide the blue from underneath!! And of course I can't forget to show pictures of Daisy... she loved the noise the drop cloths made when we ran on it :)

1 Baby Shower down, 3 more to go ;)

My dear friends Jessica whom I have known for about 16 years hosted a baby shower for a bunch of our friends from high school. It was so great to have a mini reunion and see everyone! So many memories with each and every one of those gals came up on Sunday and we had such a great time laughing about them :) Gracie got the cutest things, including bath towels, and bath toys, a lullaby CD by a bunch of great Christian Artists, some blankets and bibs and my favorite pink daisy sunglasses :) Not to mention all the cute outfits ... this kid is going to have more clothes than me :) We all met at Paradise Bakery for some lunch and chocolate chip cookies!! The shower was so much fun, and I am so thankful for such great friends... that even though it has been a few years since we have talked... we still have just as much fun catching up!!

Here are a few pics that Jess took, I will post more pictures when I get my camera charged :(
Love,
Amanda

Blog Makeover!!!

I have to say thank you to Moriah High for the great design. I hope she doesn't mind :) I was just getting tired of my old colors.. and then tried to change it and lost all of my links :( So it was time to change it anyway!!

11 wonderful months :)

It is hard to believe that David and I have been married for 11 months today. Crazy how fast time flies when you are in love... well that and pregnant ;)

Since the one year anniversary gift is paper... we are getting a couple's massage. I know I can't wait to lay on my belly again :) And David has been working so hard lately... I am sure he will enjoy his as well/

For our anniversary, we are going to stay the night at the Point, the hotel where we spent our wedding night. They have given us a dinner certificate to enjoy some fine dining on the top of the mountain at A Pointe in Time. The restaurant looks out over the entire city so at night we will be able to see all the city lights!! AND... it just so happens to be the restaurant where my parents got engaged!! So it will forever be a special place ;)

How blessed we have been this year! The Lord has truly had his hand in our marriage and I can't imagine it any other way.

Painting the nursery

Today David primed the walls of the nursery white so we can paint the pink over it. I can't wait till it is done!! So far I am not allowed upstairs but he did let me help him take the door off. I will post a picture when it is finished... then you can see the TRANSFORMATION!!!