My new obsession....

My second digital scrapbook page! :)

My first digital scrapbook page! :)

I was able to create this page for FREE! I browsed many websites and watched some tutorials and figured out how to make my first digital scrapbook page! I won't disclose how long this took, but it is going to be worth it in the future! No more buying all the supplies! :)

New SLR camera + Photoshop=VOILA!

35 weeks edited version...Meaka complete with eyes and everything!

Below in an older post you can see that the flash blew out her eyes and one of mine....so now I know how to fix it....thanks to J's expertise!

(now this pic is ready to print and put right into her scrapbook!)

37 weeks

In hopes to forgo having to get professional baby pics taken when Maya is born, we have been practicing our camera techniques and I have been learning photoshop! It takes patience, that is for sure, but so far so good!

(thanks to the multiple websites/blogs I have consulted to figure out these various techniques!)

Christmas in San Francisco!

Milo.....taken with my new SLR camera! LOVING IT!

Christmas goodies I baked for J, sporting my new apron from mom and dad Silber it is perfect...

it says, "the chef is not responsible for cat hair!"

and you can barely tell I am 9 months pregnant! :)

butterfly coasters!

my handsome husband!

Ocean Beach on Christmas Day....it was in the 60's and absolutely BEAUTIFUL!

J was even brave enought to wade in the ocean a bit!

36 almost 37 weeks shadow baby bump

J and brother Kyle making Christmas dinner....tacos! I know really original!

LOVE it when dinner is made FOR me instead of by me! :)

Baby Bumps continued

34 weeks

35 weeks with miss Meaka (before photoshop)

after photoshop! I am learning! bring on the digital scrapbooking next!

(J had to help me figure out how to add Meaka's eyes back in!)

36 weeks

37 weeks

The Baby Shower @ Pacific Catch

The few of us remaining at our shower!

Back L-R: Vaughn, J & J, Mandy (hostess), Emilie, Kyle & Jasmine

front: Trish & Amelia

***more pics to come once my friend sends them to me!

Disability Leave @ 34 weeks

32 weeks

33 weeks


So, I got my wish and was put on disability at the 34 week mark! It was actually the suggestion of my MD, when we went in for our last check-up she asked her RN when I could be put on leave and the RN and I looked at each other and then to my MD and told her she was calling the shots! She said whenever I was ready she would write me out for back pain and edema....so I didn't put up too much of a fight! :) This way I scored and got all 3 winter holidays off! Unfortunately I will be right at the 36 week mark the week of Christmas, so we won't be able to fly back home to Iowa. But....we have planned a little mini vacation for next week....after J finishes his finals we are taking off to Lake Tahoe for 4 days and 3 nights! Not that I can go skiing or snowboarding, but we will be able to have some time to ourselves before little miss Maya makes her debut!

So, for those of you wondering how the whole diability thing works....we pay into a supplemental disability plan, so after the initial waiting period is finished we will get paid 70% of our regular pay, without taxes! So, when we initially signed up, the options were for a 7, 30, 60 and 90 day wait....well at the time we weren't planning on having a family so we chose the 30 day wait. And the disability pays until you are 6 weeks post partum for a vaginal delivery, or 8 weeks for a c section. So, for us, the sooner we could be put on disability the sooner we would be able to get the full benefit of our plan. This way....the plan will start paying by the time we are 38 weeks thru my post partum period. If I had waited and worked till I was 38-40 weeks, we still would have had to wait the 30 days before the disability started....so the plan would only actually pay for a few weeks after she was born....do you follow? So....anyways....it just means that I get MORE time off that is PAID! :)

It seems that it is the norm out here in California for nurses to get put on disability around this time in their pregnancies! I can just remember back to when my fellow Boise girls worked pretty much right up until their due dates! You were all troopers! Not that I would have been unable to do that....it is just nice that I won't have to! Plus, it is pretty scary being pregnant during this H1N1 epidemic!

32 week ultrasound update

So, even thought my belly looks "tiny" to some people it is holding a 4 lb 9 oz baby! She is right on target....even maybe a little bit bigger than most 32 weekers....so the scary thing is that if she were to double her weight between now and delivery we could be looking at a 9 pounder! AGH! hopefully since the measurements are just "estimates" she won't be THAT big! I would be happy with a 6-7 pounder to start! :) Unfortunately we weren't really able to get any good pics of her because she is already head down and face back towards my spine. So that was kind of a bummer....but the MD said it looks like she has some hair already and even questioned J and I if we had curly hair when we were born! How can she tell something like that?!?!? It was funny!

Baby Bump Progression Pics

I thought it was about time to post some more baby bump pics! She is getting bigger, but not absolutely huge yet! I went in for an appt at 29 weeks and my doctor said I was measuring a little bit small for her gestation....so we are going to get another ultrasound! We will go in on Tuesday morning to see our precious peanut again! My doctor told me she thinks my abdominal muscles are just so tight they are holding her in! But...this way we will get to see how big she is and how much amniotic fluid I have, and also her position, so I am not complaining! I have still been feeling really great! A friend at work is planning a baby shower luncheon for me on December 13th, so that is super exciting! Jason is about 3 weeks away from graduating and couldn't be happier! On my days off I am just taking it easy around home, and I started reading the Twilight Saga series! So many of my co-workers have raved about it, so I thought I would try them out! I just started the 3rd book! They are fast reads! I am trying to think of things I want to do for myself before baby comes, because once she is here, things are going to CHANGE!

28 weeks

29 weeks

30 weeks

31 weeks