Monday, July 30, 2012

Pictures from the Best Baby Shower Ever!

Here are some of my favorite pictures from my baby shower! Enjoy! 
 Our Family
Poppa Brito and his girls
 The Brito Family
 Some of my mommy friends - Angie, Stacy, Jackie and Sam
Debbie - My Bestie and Co-Hostess with the Mostest!
My girls!
Mother-in-Law Anne and Baby Crall's Nana
 Adorable decorations that match Baby Crall's room PERFECTLY!
 Auntie Kelsey's AWESOME dessert creations
 Presents for Big Sister Kayleigh!
 

 Stacy's cute clothes line gift! Such a great idea!
Heather's adorable motorcycle teddy gift! So cute I don't want to take it apart!
 Daddy got Mommy an iPad for the Big Day!
Baby Crall's Nona Margie and Nana Anne
Auntie Kelsey, Nona Margie and Great Granny Patti
Mommy & Daddy competition with baby food...Daddy wins! 

Thanks again to my Mom, sister and Debbie for such a wonderful day! 

Xoxo,
Kim & Baby Crall

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Week 32-34


Week 32                              Week 33                             Week 34

These weeks might have been the most stressful for this Mommy-to-be! Being that I was a premie baby, it is hard to think that at week 33 my Mom went into labor with me and was completely unprepared for what life was going to deal her. The thought of Baby Crall coming to visit early was throwing me for a serious loop, especially since his room wasn't done yet and I had nothing for him expect for some cute outfits I couldn't pass up early on.  I hadn't had my baby shower yet and was in a panic!  Luckily, I made it to June 24th and had the BEST baby shower anyone could ask for. 

During these three weeks Andy and I crossed off many of the to-do's off our list, such as:
*New carpet in all three bedrooms - SO NEEDED before Baby Crall arrives!
*Baby Crall's room completely painted
*Furniture assembled and in place
 *Kayleigh's Room/Office furniture assembled and ready for her arrival

Week 32  This was the start of my every 2 week check ups with my Doctor. Before the months seem to go by so slow and then all of a sudden 2 weeks seems like two days and every time I go in I seem to be growing at lightening fast speed! From 5/23 to 6/13 my belly grew from 31cm to 34cm! I guess that's pretty normal but I was shocked!  Then for my Doctor to tell me..."Well, that just means he's not going to be a petite baby!" WHAT THE HECK DOES THAT MEAN?! Of course I didn't actually ask that question but all I could think of is delivering a 12 pound baby! No over cooking this not-so-petite little guy! 

Week 33 started off with a fantastic Father's day spent up at Casa de Brito.  Andy got to watch golf with my grandpa Dave and my dad uninterrupted (the one request by Andrew - otherwise he would have stayed home, plopped on the couch with the remote control).  Me on the other hand spent hours relaxing on my raft in the pool watching the golf tournament from afar and just feeling....WEIGHTLESS! The benefit of having a summer baby...POOL TIME is AH-MAZING! By the end of the day I had no swelling what-so-ever and was in a state of complete relaxation. I think Andy thought something was wrong with me for the longest time until he figured out I was so relaxed and couldn't have been better!  Other highlights from this week were: the end of our birthing classes - Apparently now we should be completely prepared for what's to come in the next month or so! RIGHT!?! Haha And....Friday was the day our little Flounder, aka Kayleigh, arrived with Andy's mom, Anne! KK's summer vacation in Arizona was officially beginning!

Week 34 I MADE IT! I MADE IT! It was my baby shower and I didn't have the baby yet! My biggest worry was now behind me! The shower was SO PERFECT! My Mom, Baby Crall's Nona, host a gorgeous shower for us, and I am so thankful for my sister Kelsey and my bestie Debbie for co-hosting. All the details were just perfect. Decorations matched the baby's room perfectly, Kelsey's RIDICULOUS baking of all the desserts (gluten-free even!), 
Debbie's games and activities...it made for a perfect day! I was surrounded by both of Baby Crall's grandma's, his big sister, his great-grandma, his great-great-aunt, family friends from out of town and MANY more great friends....and boy did he and I get spoiled! I didn't think I was prepared before but I definitely was now! I can't say thank you enough for everyone who came and shared in our special day! We are so blessed to have such amazing people that surround us! (I will upload so more pictures soon - Keep posted on my Facebook!)

This week we took some maternity/family pictures which was perfect since Kayleigh was in town!  Her and I went to the Dry Bar (hair salon) and had our hair done before the pictures and then got to go model! :) Kayleigh is such a little diva when she's in front of the camera - I love it! Kayleigh also got to go to one of my doctor appointments and listen to her baby brother's heart beat. It was pretty cool to see her face when she heard the beating and when she would feel him move all around in my belly! She's going to be a great BIG sister - although I haven't quite sold her on changing his diapers! :)

Here's a sneak peek at our photo shoot, courtesy of Amanda Marie Photography We had a blast taking the pictures and absolutely love how they turned out!! Amanda did a great job and I can't wait to see the magic she works with our little man for his newborn photo shoot next!




Next up - Week 35-37

Love, 
Kim + Baby Crall

Where has the time gone?


Week 29                              Week 30                             Week 31
**Thank you iPhone for all the lovely profile tracking**

As week 28 came to a close it was a very fun weekend.  This was my company's XP weekend in Los Angeles.  Every year they host an awards party to show appreciation to those that had eXtraordinary Performance over the past year.  Although I didn't win an award this year (last year was my big year) - I was still invited due to my promotion to Manager of two of our pediatric offices and got to help celebrate and congratulate my Doctor on his award.  This time of year is always fun and exciting and a great time to mingle with co-workers, however, this year was a much more sobering experience but still very exciting for me.  I realized that life is much better when you're NOT hungover at a work function! :)



Although, having a small basketball for a belly does make you the target for seminar speakers and party hosts! I had the conductor of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra come up and touch my belly during his presentation as well as our dinner party host "Austin Powers".  Andy always tells me to never sit in the front row at things because you will get a lot more attention...well my friends decided we should sit dead center and FRONT ROW during our dinner party. Normally there's no host it's just employees winning awards and then we carry on with our night...but not this year. This year we had a host for the dinner party...first Jay Leno, then Austin Powers and then Donald Trump.  It was quite hilarious until he spotted me and my belly.  I knew I was a sitting duck when he decided to grab a portable mic and walk around the audience, making a bee line straight for me. Of course asking me to stand up and comment on my belly and how he was "TOO LATE, Baby!" (in an Austin Powers accent of course). He talked to me for a few, asking who I was there with and if I liked my husband...my response while rubbing my belly said "Well, OBVIOUSLY!" Luckily, he decided to move onto other victims and my rosy red cheeks could return to their normal state. Even though I was a target with my belly, I had a great time and am glad we got to make it!

Side Note: This weekend might have been my first real signs of "preggo-brain". Before leaving for LA I had a laundry list of things to accomplish the day of...all of which COMPLETELY slipped my mind.  THEN, the biggest one of all...I for some reason thought our flight was at 3:50 PM, when we go to check our bag and get our boarding passes we were told that we needed to hurry because we were late and our bags would probably not make the flight that was scheduled to take off at 3:15 PM...mind you at this time it's about 3:05! The look on Andy's face was classic! Meanwhile, being 7 months pregnant running through the airport wasn't so much fun for this momma-to-be!

Next up for Week 29 - The oh-so-lovely glucose test! Good news: I passed and the drink wasn't so bad! Thank you Lord! 



As week 29 came to a close I unfortunately has to say goodbye (AGAIN!) to one of my besties, Blair, and her hubs and baby Crall's future gf Miss Waverly as they embark on another adventure in Wichita, Kansas. I wish them all the best and hope to see them living back in AZ in the next few years. Xoxo


Week 30 was a good one...We kick started with a day off - Thank you Memorial Day, this momma could always use a paid day off! We also had a blast celebrating another besties birthday at Talking Stick Resort! It's always a great time getting together with our good friends to go out on the town...or in this case, hit up the casino! Happy Birthday to both Angie and Stacy! Love ya girls!
 
Week 30 came to a close with the starting of our Mommy & Daddy classes. First was the tour of the hospital and then Week 31 kick started our 3-part birthing classes! I'm not one that gets freaked out about scary stories or the not-so-lovely things that happen during labor so I was excited to learn about the process and prepare myself for what is going to happen in the next 10 weeks!

Our teacher for the birthing classes was AMAZING! She was this 60+ year old lady that had been a labor and delivery nurse for years.  She knew about EVERYTHING and was so full of knowledge and, most importantly, didn't sugar coat anything! For someone like me...she was PERFECT! Andy and I actually asked if she still did deliveries because if so - we were going to get her no matter what! Over the next three weeks we learned so much from her and really got a lot out of the classes.  As a mother-to-be it's always exciting to see your husband react to different things and see what their take away is from the whole experience. For the mother, we have to pay attention and listen to everything because ultimately this is all on us, but to hear Andy talk about what he can do and what he got out of the classes made me confident that he's going to be an amazing coach and partner throughout this whole process.

Next Up - Weeks 32-34

Love,
Kim & Baby Crall

Monday, May 28, 2012

Week 27-28

Week 27 & 28

 

          Week 27                                             Week28           

So I must say there's not a lot going on from week to week, except for my consistently growing belly, see the pictures above, so I try to limit my posts to those events that are semi-exciting.

The most exciting part of week 27 was at the end of the week when we had our friend/neighbor, Mindy, come and paint the baby's room.  Painting the baby's room is:
1. being something that pregnant woman are not supposed to be doing, and Andy wasn't too thrilled at the idea
2. a HUGE to-do item on our nesting list 
3. I have high standards and would expect it to be done PERFECTLY
...and I must say Mindy and I were SO on the same page and she did a BEYOND perfect job! The room turned out GREAT! (see below)

(Cali Cameo)
As you can see we're going with a turquoise/teal blue and super light sky blue.  I've found an online source to order the baby's bedding from so I think it will all go together quite nicely. 

Next big happening was...MOTHER'S DAY!

This has been an ongoing battle at The Crall household...Andy thinks that I am not yet a MOTHER since baby boy isn't out of the womb yet. (Of course he still gives me great credit for being a step-mom) I, of course, disagree being that I get kicked and punched from the inside everyday and it's a life changing thing to carry a child! Well, I don't know if I finally won the debate or enough of my girlfriends broke him down, either way, I was caught off guard when my hubby brought out a very UNexpected Mother's day present...and I must say he did a GREAT job!
 (My new diaper bag and glider!!)

Mother's day was just the two of us and it was great! Nice and relaxing...not as relaxing as my Mom's 10 days in Maui but I'll take what I can get and my Mom deserves a trip to the islands!

A big thank you goes out to my hubby for making my first Mother's day so fabulous and a very Happy Mother's day to all my family and friends! I'm sure next year will be even better...

Love,
K & Baby Crall