My Big Surprise

So last night Hila, Mom & I were going to take Tarylyn out for her birthday & after dinner go back to Tarylyn's house for cake & ice cream. Well, it turns out this wasn't the case. I had been tricked, I just didnt' know it yet! Hila came over yesterday around noon so we could make Tarylyn's birthday cake & spend the day together; we worked on Tarylyn's cake for almost an hour, while it was baking we watched the NCIS marathon. After the cake finished baking we took it out to cool then went to Safeway to buy the frosting for the cake, Rainbow Chip icing for Rainbow Bright :) Hila, you're so funny. While we were on the baking aisle I found rainbow candles for the cake to go along with the theme, & Hila thought they fit in perfectly (apparantly she was looking for the same thing, but wasn't finding them). We also picked up our lunch while we were at the store, then headed back to the house to fill & ice the cake. After our lunch we decided to try giving Desiree a nap so she would be good for Brad while he watched all the kids so the girls could go out for "Tarylyn's birthday". Well, that wasn't happening, so after about like 30 minutes we finally gave up & decided to ice the cake completely. After we finished the cake we got ready for the big night. Hila suggested that I put on some makeup so I could look nice since I never get to go anywhere without my kiddo or really go anywhere to get made up. We packed up all the goodies for Tarylyn's birthday surprise & headed to her house. Just as we were about to pull into the house Hila turned off her headlights so they wouldn't see us pulling up & we could put the final part of Hila's sneaky plan into action; we got into the driveway we snuck over to Brad's truck & put the cake, ice cream & other goodies for the birthday surprise in there for Brad to get after we pulled out of the driveway with Tarylyn. We got Tarylyn & headed to Miller Woodlawn to get Mom to leave work (or so I thought). I must admit, Hila's really good at these tricky secrets, even when two are coinciding with one another & she's having to keep two people in the dark. So, we get to Mom's work & Hila says she's gonna go in & see if Mom's ready to leave. Meanwhile Tarylyn & I are sitting in the car, & she's trying to keep me talking to her & my full attention focused on her; although I didn't realize that's what she was doing at the time. Apparantly Ben, Michele & the boys were sitting in a car (I didn't even see their car, & if I did, I didn't know it). Well, while Tarylyn & I were talking mom pulled up & backed in to her usual spot, blinding me & Tarylyn in the process; which drew my attention, & poor Tarylyn was trying to get it back inconspicuously so I wouldn't notice it was Mom with Grandma & Grandpa. Ha ha, they did a really good job because I still didn't suspect a thing. Then Hila came back out to tell us that Mom just got back from running an erand for work (which she actually does frequently, so was completely believable) & for us to come inside to wait for her to finish up & get her stuff together to leave. So we go inside, talk to Pam (the receptionist) for a couple of minutes then went downstairs where Mom's office is. We went into the meeting area & there were a bunch of people sitting in there, I didn't register anybody's faces & just assumed it was people that worked with Mom waiting for the Family Gathering to end; it took me about a minute to register what was going on & who was sitting at the tables. When it completely dawned on me everybody was just looking at me & smiling, I'm sure my face was completely hilarious. So, I was completely fooled & felt so silly at how long it took me to realize what was going on; but I was also extremely greatful at how much trouble they all went through to surprise me & what everybody did for me. I really do have the best family ever & know some really great people! Everybody that works with my mom is so wonderful, & I'm truly blessed to know them. I can't believe, they did all that for me! I found out it was all their idea to throw me a surprise baby shower, Hila just had to keep it a secret & get me there without any suspicion. Last night was a truly amazing night! I got lots of great gifts for baby Emily. Sean, Tony & Royce (Ben & Michele's boys) got her an awesome little sleeper (it's super soft & thick so it'll be really warm for being born in the middle of winter, & it has little slots in it so we can buckle her into her car seat with the sleeper on), a pack of cute little socks, & two little tins with plaster in them to make Emily's little handprint (& one for Desiree, so she won't be left out), Ben & Michele got her an awesome Rainforest Open-top Cradle Swing that plays music, Grandma & Grandpa gave us $20 to buy diapers or other baby stuff we might need, Julie got her some cute little clothes, two adorable little dresses, a cute onesie, an adorable Classic Pooh sleeper & a cute little outfit that's super soft & has little ruffles on the bottom of the pants (hehe rufflebutts), Mom got her a baby bath, two bottles, a bottle brush, extra bottle nipples, a pack of wash cloths, & an adorable little pink onesie with frogs on it & a bib with it, Hila & Tarylyn got her diapers & wipes, & all of the wonderful people that work with Mom pitched in & got her a baby crib & changing table. There was an awesome spread of food there too, Hila & Mom made Hila's Oreo Truffles & these yummy little appetizers that have bacon, cheese, & onion in them, & Yvonne (a lady that works with Mom) had a cake made at Costco, it was super yummy with butter cream frosting & strawberry mousse in the middle.










Last night was a great night. After the baby shower we went back to Brad & Tarylyn's to "drop off" Tarylyn. We all went inside so we could see the kids & I could get Desiree, but not before we surprised Tarylyn with her birthday cake (which Brad put the finishing touches on, per Hila's instructions that you can see on her blog).
It was a great night & everything went as planned.

With a Little Help From My Friends...& of course, my Family

I know I haven't blogged in like a month, but here's some good news for you guys. We have accumulated some stuff for the new baby, & have decided on a name. First off I want to start by thanking a couple of the wonderful people I work with :), James & Erin & Ramone & his wife (I think her name's Rachel, but I can never remember). James & Ramone gave me some really awesome stuff for our new baby. James & Erin gave us a little basket full of goodies; which included some Pampers Swaddlers, baby socks, an awesome Baby Healthcare collection (the usual stuff, safety scissors, baby nail clippers, the nose sucker thing, etc.), & some super cool baby toys, a couple that go on the car seat for entertaining her in the car. Ramone & his wife gave us some super cute baby clothes (they just had a baby girl in July, so they gave us all of the 0-3 months stuff for our baby) which included some really cute little baby dresses, a couple pairs of adorable baby shoes, some little headbands & some little shirts. Yay, less for me to buy! I also want to thank Mom & Hila for getting all the cute baby clothes they got at the garage sale they went to & the car seat from St. Vinny's from our day packed full of shopping on Saturday. They picked up quite a few cute little sleepers for winter to keep her warm, & some other little outfits, like some dresses & pants. I also got some cute stuff for our new baby at St. Vinny's. I got a cute little dress, a couple of onesies, & a pair of pants or two (I couldn't help it, I also bought myself of couple of books & a dish drying rack...had to endulge a little for myself; I'm so terrible). Saturday was such an awesome day! I have such a blast hanging out with my family, especially my sister & my Mom, they really are a couple of characters; I don't know what I'd do without them. Thank you guys so much for being so awesome & supportive, & always being there for me.

Hila & I added in some close ups so you can see everything I have so far.

Finally, to the biggest news of all. My tummy's finally showing that I'm pregnant, for all of you who have made comments about me sucking for not showing any proof of being 7 months along; I'll be including a picture of my new pregnant tummy. Last but definately not least, Nick & I have decided on a name for our new little girl; Emily Judith (Judith after Nick's late mother). Oh, & my doctor has, or was going to, scheduled my C-Section. If I remember correctly, she wanted to schedule it for a week prior to my actual due date, which she estimated for about the 12th of December. Well, I don't really have anything else to tell you so I'll close for now & hopefully will have more news in a couple of weeks.

And The Results Are In...

Just wanted to put this cute picture of Desiree in to mark the start of our day, this was before we left for the Social Security Office.

Today was my ultrasound appointment, & let me tell you, it was a rough morning. Hila came to pick me up around 10 this morning, after she had to go & get Desiree's car seat from our car at Nick's work. We started off the morning by going to the Social Security Office so I can get a new Social Security Card & a letter stating that I've applied to get a new one. When my number finally got called it was like 10:50 & my ultrasound appointment was at 11:15, good thing it didn't take me long to get the application put in. So, off we headed to Salmon Medical Center Imaging Department for my ultrasound. When we got there Hila took a pregnant tummy picture for pre-ultrasound, I guess for perspective.

So, we get inside & I go to check in with the receptionist; here's the best news of the day (if you could hear me, you'd be able to hear the sarcasm in my voice) apparantly I wasn't scheduled for an appointment, today or any other future date, at the Salmon Medical Center! The receptionist called another Imaging office linked with the Doctor's Clinic to see if maybe I got my information mixed up, well, I wasn't scheduled there either; so Hila, Desiree & I went back up to the Doctor's Clinic to see what was going on & how we could fix it. It turns out my Doctor's assistant did make me an appointment at Salmon Medical Center, but somebody over there screwed up & didn't put me in the system. Well, the receptionist was finally able to get me an ultrasound appointment it was with a place called AMI in East Bremerton at 2:30 (at least I was able to get it fixed & still able to be seen today). So, we went back to my house & layed Desiree down for a nap (she was being a very rotten little girl), I did the dishes & Hila went to the store to pick up the last of the ingredients for the cookies we had planned to make. When Hila got back we got to work on our Peanut-butter Blossoms, they turned out really yummy!!

There's Hila putting them on the rack to cool (I'm a little ghetto, I don't have a cooling rack so we used upside down pizza pans). While we made the second batch of cookies we also cooked Velveeta Shells & Cheese for lunch, it was rather yummy. The day was certainly looking brighter :). After we ate our lunch & all the cookies were done we had to leave for AMI for my ultrasound appointment. Yay, no repeats of this morning; I was able to get in to get my Ultrasound done. The nurse who did my ultrasound informed me that I'm 27 weeks & 2 days along. Wow were my calculations WAY off!! All of the baby's measurements & estimated due date are as follows...oh & my ultrasound pictures. For those of you who don't know where to look for what on one of these things, my estimated due date is 12/20/2008 or 1/19/2009 (I know I can only read a little of it, couldn't begin to tell you what the baby's measurements for it's head & such are).

IT'S A GIRL!!!!!!!!!!

Hila's Here

So, Hila & Dad got in on Sunday, 8/24/08, at around 9p.m. Desiree & I were over at Grandma & Grandpa's for their arrival; it was a very busy & exciting day! When they finally got to our Grandparent's house we had a busy first hour or so situating cars & the moving van & trailer hitch (which had Hila's car on it). Then we got down to the business of visiting for a bit all together, before Hila & I went downstairs to look at the pictures she had from Panama (it's sooo different down there!). I forgot my camera, so there are no pictures from that night; which is probably better because at first Hila & Dad were very grumpy.

Monday Mom was going to come and pick me & Desiree up to go over & spend time with Hila & Dad. So, Mom called to let me know that she was going to be at my house to pick me up in a little bit & that Hila & Dad were coming over to bring me some stuff that Dad wanted to bring to me from his house. I got a lot of GREAT stuff :). Well, Mom got to my house & they still hadn't shown up; it was around lunch time & Mom had called about 30-45 minutes before she showed up. So, Mom spent about 3 hours watching movies with me & Desiree (all Desiree's movies) before they got here at about 2:30 with a bunch of stuff (one item being a very nice glider...thank you Tarylyn); then Nick got home & everybody just stayed at my house & spent time together. It was a rather fun (even though we didn't really do anything very interesting) day. Dad played Barbies with Desiree, we got a good little video of that (which I was unable to post, I'm sorry). I also got some really cute pictures of Dad & Desiree together. Here's one of them.

We spent the majority of the day together watching the little movie clips & pictures Hila got in Panama. It was really fun, & I'm really glad Nick got see Panama (or parts of it) & some of it's rather large wildlife, even if it isn't the way I remember it.

Today was Dad's last day here, which is sad (but at least we got to visit with him for a few days), so we all got together as a family & went out for dinner. We went to eat at Shari's (a little diner chain up here, a little like The Waffle House but with more meal options). Ben, Michelle, Sean, Tony & Royce (Ben's wife & kids), Mom & Dad, Hila, Brad, Tarylyn, Sam, Saria, Benjamin, (Brad's wife & kids) & Tarylyn's Mom & stepDad, Grandma & Grandpa, & of course me, Nick & Desiree were all there; which made it loads of fun for our server, we're a pretty big group & very loud (that was the younger kids). Every time the server came back to our tables (yes, tables, we took up four total) people had moved to different seats & different tables, like we were playing musical chairs, poor lady; so when our food came our poor server was super confused about who got what food. Anyway, we had lots of fun and laughs & Hila & Dad gave us (Ben, Brad, me, Nick, Tarylyn, Michelle & the kids) our presents they got for us while they were in Panama. It was a good last night for Dad, I think...at least I hope he enjoyed it. I'm really gonna miss him. So, here are some pictures from our dinner.

There are all four tables, & keep in mind that people kept changing spots so nobody was actually sitting in these seats to start with.

Now on to the goodies we got. Nick, Ben, Brad, Mom & I all got a pair of flip flops from Panama. Tarylyn & Michelle got some really nice bags/purses ( I think they had Mola's on them, you'll see what a Mola looks like in a minute). Everybody got Huevitos, YUM (candy from Panama). Sean, Tony & Royce got shirts (I didn't get to see what they looked like). Nick got a Panama hat. Desiree & Saria got Mola dresses, I'm not sure what Sam & Benjamin got but I know Dad & Hila didn't leave them out. And finally, Brad, Ben & I all got Tagua Nuts (carved into little frogs), chinese plums, & platanitos (more YUM), & I got a Panama bracelet. Here are the pictures of the stuff Nick, Desiree & I got. The first two pictures are Nick wearing his Panama hat & Desiree wearing her Mola dress, second are my Panama bracelet & our frog Tagua Nut, third are the yummy Panama snacks (platanitos, the Huevitos in the middle & the Chinese Plums last), fourth is just a close up of the Huevitos so you can see the labeled name & the candy inside, and last but not leas are the authentic Panamanian flip flops we each got a pair of.

I had to put the bag in there so you could see that these are "the Original" sandals. :) Well, that's all I really have to blog about tonight. Oh, but some good news really quick, I got approved for medicaid. Yay!!! No paying for Doctor visits & labor & delivery. Hope you guys enjoyed.

The Big Shock!

Well, I don't really have anything new to report other than that I'll hopefully be getting my Medicaid very soon so I can get to the Doctor & find out for sure how far along I am & possibly get a due date (when that happens I'll blog about it >:) ). Now for the reason for the name of the post. I've decided that I'm pretty sure that I'm out of my first trimester (spelling?? Hila); but how far exactly, I don't know. The reason for my thinking this is because I can feel every move the baby makes & because I can also sometimes feel (with my hand) where the baby is sitting, if he/she is pushing against my tummy. So, Hila, as far as taking preggo pictures, don't worry, I have a camera too you know, & I work at Best Buy, so I can always pick up a bigger memory card for you :). So far on the guesses of the sex of the baby we have a tie, lets see who's right, & get some more votes in. (Don't jinx me & say twins either :P that does sort of run in my family...on Dad's side anyway). I added in a poll so now everybody can vote & see what the majority thinks, make things a little interesting.

A New Addition

I don't have very long to blog right now, gotta be getting to work very soon, but I did want to blog about my new news. I'm pregnant! I'm not sure how far along I am, but I do know that there will be pictures soon; especially with Hila gonna be here in like 20 days. Hila wants to take pictures of my pregnant tummy so I can post them, before I get any ultra sound pictures. I will LOVE anybody that talks her out of that idea for the rest of my life!! Anyway, I just wanted to update all of you that didn't know yet, & I do promise there will be more blogging coming from me soon to come, & lots of pictures. I hope the news isn't upsetting for any of you. Oh, & any gender guesses, please post them in my comments :) Maybe there'll be a surprise or something for the winner?!?! Love you guys.

The New Me

So, I know I haven't blogged in a super long time. Sorry Hila :) & Katherine. Well, I got my haircut yesterday. For the most part it's alright, but the lady cut my hair too short :(. I wanted it down to my chin, but instead it ended up at about mid-jaw. A little too short for my taste & definately a lot shorter than what I'm used to. I feel like I look like a boy! So, here are my pictures.





Well, that's not a very good picture. Here's another one, maybe it's a little better.

Well, it looks like both of the pictures I took are pretty bad :(.


My hair is now too short for me to do what I would normally do with it. I'm so not a girly girl type girl, I'm more of a roll out of bed, brush my hair & put it in a ponytail type of girl, but now I have to wake up earlier so I can attempt to style my hair (which I know absolutely nothing about...well, on my own hair anyway). I did do Hila's hair, for Julie's (I believe it was Julie) wedding, once & it looked so good!!! When it comes to my hair, especially this short, I'm completely lost!! Hahaha...any tips would be appreciated. I really hope my hair doesn't look as bad as I think it does. What do you think??