My thoughts on daycare...

It is amazing how many opinions you get when you are pregnant. First, people tell you their birth stories ALL the time and people are full of advice. I feel like I'm a very nice person and I do like hearing what people have to say most of the time but sometimes people offer a little too much.

I cannot tell you how many people have told me that they would never put their kids in daycare or they would never trust anyone else to watch their kids. I appreciate other opinions but people offer this up before even asking what we are going to do with our baby. Today I was getting our carpets cleaned and the man doing them went on and on about how daycare is so bad and he would never trust someone else with his kids. He doesn't even have kids by the way and isn't going to have any. Maybe he thought I didn't work because I was home but still, it's annoying. Even the lady waxing my eyebrows last week told me that her niece stays with her elderly grandparents daily because they would never put her in daycare.

Have these people even looked at these horrible places called daycare? Dan and I have been touring what seems like every daycare in our town to find the perfect place for Charlotte to be while we are working. These daycares are so nice and more like a private school. The women working there have worked with children for such a long time and you can tell that they truly care about these babies. There is so much they can start learning at such a young age that I know I am not prepared to teach Charlotte. She will be in a small class with babies her age and she will be learning so much! Of course it will be so hard to leave her but we know it is best.

I have said over and over, I think that being a stay at home mom is the hardest job in the world. Not only are you caring for your child or children you have to teach them a lot before they head off to school. Everyone has their own opinion on how to raise their children and that is how it should be. Just don't judge me for taking my baby to daycare. :)

33 Weeks!

Here I am at 33 weeks! It's hard to believe that Charlotte could be here next month. I really, really want her here before Christmas. I've been on the lookout for a cute Christmas outfit that would fit a teeny tiny newborn, but I'm scared to buy anything because I don't want to jinx it! This week I feel like Charlotte has dropped a lot. She moves all the time and I actually felt her kick on my side close to my back the other day. I didn't know that was even possible. I'm really wondering if she will have any more room to get bigger! Last night Dan and I went to the movies which is something we love to do. Oh my gosh I was so uncomfortable. We probably won't be doing that again until after Charlotte gets here.

Tomorrow I have another doctor's appointment to check on Charlotte. I'm so thankful that my doctor is close to our house and my job is flexible so it's not an issue me going to the doctor all the time. I hope everyone has a wonderful week!

32 Weeks...and another photo shoot for Charlotte!

The weeks are flying by. I feel like I say that every week, but Thanksgiving in a couple weeks away, Christmas is right after and hopefully Charlotte will be here sometime around then. Here I am at 32 weeks! Our baby is definitely growing! Charlotte has been doing less kicking and more rolling lately. I can sit there and watch my stomach move from one side to the other. She is head down and has been that way for a few weeks. She has also decided to pitch a tent right under my ribs which is bringing us much closer. Nothing like a dull pain 24/7! As long as she is growing and healthy I shouldn't complain. Not too much longer before we get to hold her in our arms! It seems really surreal thinking about meeting her for the first time. I can't imagine the feeling of seeing this little baby that is part of Dan and I.

We decided to go ahead and do another 3D sonogram this weekend. I highly recommend this to everyone! Our doctor doesn't do it and we aren't scheduled to have another sonogram until 38 weeks so we decided to go to a center and pay to have it done. Very cool. Charlotte was sound asleep the entire time but we got some great shots. When we first started she had her hand directly in front of her face and the umbilical cord was in front of her mouth. After a little while the cord moved and she moved her hand. She is plump and healthy and that is all we can ask for. The sonogram tech kept commenting on how sweet her lips are. It will be fun to compare the pictures after she is born. Now she will just keep getting bigger and bigger!The nursery is coming together and all we need is a baby to be in it!

31 Weeks...a trip to Chicago and our daughter's name

Whew! What a BUSY week this past week was! Monday morning I flew out to Chicago for the entire week for work. I was really nervous about this trip because I knew it would be long days and nights and I would be tired. I stuck it out and overall it was a great trip. I know I don't need to keep saying this, but I really love my job. Being this pregnant and being new at a company I try really hard to not act pregnant. People are always very concerned with how I'm doing and I just try my best to act as normal as I can. I don't want special treatment just because I'm expecting. I'm still Emily, just pregnant and can't move as fast.
Dan flew up on Friday to meet me downtown and we spent the weekend together and got to spend time with my friend Jamie and her boyfriend Brent. Such a fun weekend! I love Chicago. I lived there for 6 months right after college and it was so nice to be back. Chicago is such a beautiful city with so much to do. It's only a two hour flight too, easy breezy. We can't wait to go back.

I haven't talked about what we are naming Baby Tumis. I'm not sure why, I just wasn't ready to post it online. We have known what we are naming her since the day we found out she was a girl. We didn't really discuss our list of names with anyone before because we didn't want opinions of anyone else. We wanted a name that wasn't too common and could go for a child or an adult. It sounds silly but we would always ask ourselves how would that name look on a resume. There are so many wonderful names out there but we wanted one that fit us and what we imagine our daughter to be. Hopefully she likes it :) Baby girl Tumis will be named Charlotte Rose.

Dan and I always kept a list of name prospects and Charlotte was never on the list. Then one day we thought of it and knew that would be the name of our daughter. Her middle name is Rose after our grandmother's. My grandmother was an incredible woman that I adored and unfortunately was only in my life until I was 15. She loved shoes which might be where I got it from. Her middle name was Rose. Dan's grandmother, Rosie, passed away before we got engaged. I'm told she made the best fried chicken around.

Charlotte, we can't wait to meet you. Please come before Christmas!

I have the greatest friends.

Last weekend my girlfriends threw us the most wonderful baby shower. All the details made everything so cute! The invitation had little birds on it and they went with a bird theme with pink and turquoise accents. SO CUTE! Again, the pictures do not do justice at how cute everything was. It was so fun to have all of my close girlfriends around. I was so jealous when they would get together to work on things for the shower because I couldn't hang out with them all at the same time. Dan and I are so lucky to have such great friends and our baby will definitely be loved. We got so many wonderful and practical gifts that were much needed to bring home our baby girl!

The beautiful hostesses, Patti, Regan, Rebecca and Adrienne. I love you girls!

Dan and I with our mom's

The gorgeous quilt my mom has been working so hard on for the nursery.

We got some really special gifts from people too. My grandmother gave us a tiny pearl necklace that she had been given for one of her girls and wanted to pass it to us for our daughter. Our friends from Houston came in for the weekend and gave us the neatest light up "C" for the nursery. I'm kind of obsessed with it and I can't wait to get the nursery together and see everything in place.

The shower was so fun and we are so grateful to everyone that came to celebrate our baby girl. We can't wait for everyone to meet her in the next couple of months. My friends are amazingly talented and made the day so special for Dan and I. Thank you all for everything!!

30 Weeks...nesting has set in!

Here I am at 30 weeks preggo! We had Dan's mom at our house so Dan had to sneak in for a picture.

I have felt so great this past week. Sometimes I really do forget I'm pregnant and then I look in the mirror and I'm quickly reminded that I have a growing belly with a baby human inside.

I had to explain to Dan what nesting meant to kind of explain my madness. I have just felt the need to get the nursery organized lately. It is very overwhelming to have to much stuff everywhere. Dan and I are pretty clean/organized people and we like everything to be in its place so having tons of baby stuff everywhere is driving us crazy and we have to get it put away. Where do people store all of this stuff? I am out of town this week so project organize nursery will take place SOON! It's all so much fun though :)

Reality is setting in that we will be parents soon. I'm full term in 7 weeks and that time will be here before we know it. Who knows if she will be here around then, but we will be ready her. We are taking a couple of classes at the hospital coming up so hopefully that will prepare us more. Babies come with a book of directions right? Dan and I are so excited to meet our little girl and we can't wait to have her in our arms. I can't imagine the feeling of holding her for the first time. I get to feel her move and kick all the time but Dan only has a glimpse of our growing baby. He's going to be an amazing Daddy and our daughter will steal his heart.

29 Weeks...officially a Tumis!

Here I am at 29 weeks. Please excuse the no makeup and ponytail. I worked from home today and didn't feel like getting fixed up. Our little squash (her size this week) is growing and kicking more and more everyday! She is about 16" long and weighs 2.5-3.8 lbs. She will triple in size before birth! I can now feel her from one side to the other when she moves. This weekend she had the hiccups several times. Dan and I were laughing at the constant movement of my stomach. I say in the title of this blog that I'm officially a Tumis because Dan and I did something this weekend that is just like his parents. When Dan was growing up his parents bought 3 Dodge caravans in a row. Two of them were even the same color! I've been driving a Honda pilot the past 5 years and it was finally time to trade it in. When we had to take it to be worked on twice in two weeks we decided it was time. We have had it paid off for a couple of years and have been spoiled not having a car payment, but it was time to let the Pilot go. So what did we get...a new Pilot. A different color though! And it is 7 years newer than my old one so it's like a brand new model to me. It's super nice and will be perfect for our growing family.

This week is crazy busy and this weekend is even busier! I am LOVING my job so much and it is keeping me very busy. Dan's mom is coming in town tomorrow to visit us for a week and we have another baby shower this weekend. I have the most wonderful girlfriends that are putting this shower together for us. Saturday can't get here fast enough! Next Monday I leave for Chicago for a week for work. This should be my last trip on a plane for a while. I went to Illinois right after our New York trip and it was pretty rough traveling, so I am going to try rest a lot this week and especially next week when I'm out of town. I can't go as fast as I'm used to and I find that I push myself too hard and have to pay for it later. Soon enough I can get back to my normal speed!

Now that I am back working I feel like I am so much more productive. My house is cleaner, we are back to planning our meals out ahead of time, cooking every night, I feel less stressed...it doesn't make sense but I'm loving how I feel and loving my job everyday.

Happy Monday!

28 Weeks....Hello 3rd Trimester!!!

We are finally into our 3rd trimester! Time has flown by these past 7 months and I hope it continues to do so. At the beginning I felt like it dragged on and on and now each week is passing by. I'm very happy to be in my 3rd trimester because that means that we are closer to meeting our daughter and I am almost done being pregnant. I have loved giving this baby a home and feeling her move all the time, but it will be very nice to hold her in my arms and feel normal again. I've been sleeping better lately thanks to my body pillow but still get up all throughout the night. At least I can go back to sleep now. I guess I am being prepared for our future. I have started getting charlie horse's pretty often. The first time it happened we were sitting in Wicked and I couldn't stretch my legs out so that was fun. Now I'm getting them during the night and first thing in the morning. Oh the joys of pregnancy.

We made some progress in the nursery but there is still a lot to do. I'm not sure where we are going to put everything! Babies need so much stuff! Once everything is done I will post more pictures. Right now everything is just a mess.

This week baby girl is the size of an eggplant and is almost 15" long! Maybe longer due to the height of my hubby. She weighs about 2.5 pounds and is continuing to put on layers of fat. Her and I both apparently!

I hope everyone has a great week!

A Vintage Garden Tea Party

This weekend we were so honored to be thrown an amazing baby shower by my friends Lisa, Shawn and Jamie. The shower was at Lisa's home which is always a treat to visit. These women completely outdid themselves. I was blown away at all the details they put into this amazing shower. Everything from the invitations to the food to the flower arrangements were so thoughtful. The pictures do not do justice at how beautiful everything was. There were so many wonderful women that came out to Lisa's home today to celebrate our baby girl. We received such thoughtful gifts from everyone which are so appreciated.

The invitation read for everyone to wear their a chic chapeau (hat) to the shower. It was so fun to see everyone's hats. I am a hat person so I loved it!

A really special gift was given to us by Lisa. She wrote a story of the gift in the card. When she found out she was pregnant with her son the first thing she bought was a stuffed bear that she just had to have. Her son is now 13 and he wanted to give the bear away which broke Lisa's heart. He told her that he wasn't a baby anymore and she needed to give it to someone else having a baby. Lisa decided to give it to me for our baby. The bear had been torn so she gave it to my mom to repair. My mom made a little outfit for the bear to cover the damaged areas. This gift was so thoughtful and brought tears to my eyes. What a special gift to pass onto our daughter!

Thank you to everyone for coming today! It is a day that I will remember always! You all truly know how to make a girl feel so special! I can't wait for all of you to meet our daughter!

27 Weeks...and our Baby Moon!

Last week Dan and I celebrated this pregnancy with a mini vacation aka our Baby Moon. The intention of a baby moon is a last vacation before the baby comes. Kind of like a honeymoon before the baby. We booked a trip back in June and decided to go to NYC for a long weekend. Dan had never been and I hadn't been since high school.

We stayed at the W Hotel that was 3 blocks from Rockefeller Plaza. It rained about half the time we were there but that didn't stop us. We went to Central Park, Times Square, Rockefeller Plaza, basically all the main tourist attractions. When Dan and I travel we normally go non stop and walk everywhere. This time was a little different which I was not expecting. I pushed myself as hard and I could and there were times that my body just told me to slow down. Luckily there were benches everywhere and New Yorker's are very kind to pregnant women.

One morning we were at the NBC studio watching the Today Show and Brooke Shield's just walked right past us. It was too fast to pull out my camera, but she is so beautiful in person. She had just come off of the Today Show and walked past with her assistant.

The main part of our trip that both of us were looking forward to was going to go see Wicked. Dan had never been to a Broadway play and didn't know what to expect. I think we were both blown away at this show. It was worth the money we spent on the tickets and we will definitely be seeing it again one day. During intermission I stood up to go to the bathroom and went to wait in the very very very long line. One of the workers came over to me and whispered for me to follow him. He took me to an elevator and told me to take it to the 2nd floor where a woman would show me where to go. So I took the elevator and it was to the handicap bathroom! To a 6 1/2 month pregnant woman this was like Christmas. I felt like a celebrity!

Here I am at 27 weeks. My weight gain has slowed down a lot which makes me very happy but I am still getting bigger as this little girl keeps growing. She must be having a great time because she does a dance party in my stomach all day long. Next week I will be officially in my 3rd trimester!