The Name Game

We found out yesterday that all the babies born during the production of the game Jason is working on will be named in the credits as "Production Babies." This is quite a cute idea and many movies do this too - if you sit long enough in the theater to watch the whole list of credits.

So, what do these beautiful lips look like? (sorry for the funny picture. He's head down so a full face shot is impossible)

Our dilemma, we have two names we love and we cant decide! So, today we are curious to hear your opinions. Here are our top two:

- Tarin Ray Colombo
- Ryder Alec Colombo
- ?

Baby Shower - Fountain Valley

After all the family visiting for Thanksgiving we had a baby shower to celebrate our little baby's arrival in January. My mom and two college friends, Lee and Talia, hosted the beautiful day for Jason and I. We had family and friends from all different times in our lives come to celebrate with us.

We made then stick their noses in dirty diapers to guess what candy bar was in there.



They had to attempt to drink beer out of a baby bottle. Hunter was a little confused as to the reason the whole room had a baby bottle but him.


And they played bingo as we opened up our gifts. Our little guy is set with toys, and cloths and books. We got so many thoughtful gifts from everyone to spoil our little dude right from the start. These music themed pieces are made especially for Jason from my cousin Jessica.


At the shower we learned of one friend and 2 family members that are due this year with little ones of their own. That makes it 1 childhood fried, 2 high school friends, and 3 cousins due this-coming year. Of those 6, 5 are due in June or early July. What was in the air last September?


As I write this Ashley is in the hospital getting ready to welcome Weston! So, here is our last family picture with all the bellies!

Cutest Lips Ever!

32 Weeks !

We got to see our little guy one last time! It was so amazing to see how big he has gotten. And yes, it is still a he. They showed us every inch of the little guy from his head, to his poty lips, to his organs and all the way down to his toes.

Everything looks good, is the right size and is right where it belongs. He is even head down already! No wonder he hates me sitting in the car commuting, i'm squishing his little head.

The following ultrasound pics are of his face. You can't see the whole thing, but you can see his chin, lips and nose. he is laying horizontally and the head is on the right of the picture. You should be able to click on the picture to see it larger too:

Thanksgiving

31 Weeks:

We spent the holiday in southern CA with the Taylor family. Dinner was spent with 18 family and friends spread out on two tables. It was so fun to get so many people together in one place. I am so Thankful that both of my grandmas were there to celebrate with us! This picture is of my brother, my cousin Kendra and my cousin Cory. Sorry, I didn't get the black and white memo...lol

Another belly picture, this time with Ashley! Little Weston has stayed put and made it to 38 weeks. We thought it would be interesting to compare our two bellies. It is quite entertaining since Ashley is much more petite than me and therefore is carring the little guy all out front. I am so curious how big i will be and how big I will feel when I am in her shoes at 38 weeks.

Can't wait to be an auntie again - any day now!

Keep posted for our 32 week ultrasound later this week!

Moving up and moving out!

30 Weeks !

Life is never dull around here. We've outgrown our 2 bedroom apartment and are moving up! Yep, we found a 3 bedroom duplex to bring our little guy home to. So, instead of setting up all the baby stuff...I am packing it all up. We move December 11th, so there is little time to pack with 2 baby showers coming up.

As for the baby, I have been enjoying an ever expanding waistband and a very active boy. He is the most active when i relax and sit or lay down. He must have a lot of room in there because it feels like he is doing somersaults in there some days. Jason enjoys coming right up to my belly and talking to the little guy. Sometimes Jason even gets a response. A little kick to let him know he got the point.

We are excited to spend time with our families for all the holidays coming up. This will be the last time we are a party of 2.

Bye bye belly button, hello Basketball!

26 Weeks!

Is that really my belly?

I had my belly button ring taken out over the weekend so i figured a picture to remember it by was in order. I held my camera out and snap. As i turned to see the screen i took a double-take. Is that really what i look like. I laughed. If this is 26 weeks I have a lot to look forward to....hahaha

So, the joys of pregnancy continue. First it was morning sickness and the nine weeks of steady bland food and lots of sleep. After that I was so excited to get back in the kitchen to cook! Besides the random headaches, things were really going well. We were feeling our little guy kick and enjoying getting live back on track. We started our baby registries at Babies R Us and Lullaby Lane. I even got Jason out to shop a few times. He loved that scanner and there are lots of Rock and Roll style things on our registry to prove it.

Then came more changes, heartburn. I tried everything my yoga instructor recommended and the almonds and aloe juice were just not cutting it. I couldn't go to bed when Jason did because I couldn't lay down. Then I was exhausted in the morning. So, I finally caved and bought my Tums. One lives in my purse and one at home. They really do work well and i don't feel so bad since it is just calcium.

So, here's to 14 more weeks.

The Belly

The baby belly progression:

June 4, 2010

September 14th, 2010

October 7th, 2010

Meow

Even the cat likes the belly!

To Doula or not ?

I am seriously contemplating using a birthing doula to help Jason and I through our first childbirth. I know of a friend and a family member that both raved about their birth experience and how the doula was instrumental in helping them. Below are the most common benefits of using a doula. I'm very curious about other's experiences (good or bad) with a doula.

Benefits of working with a birth or postpartum doula include:

- 60% reduction in the rate of epidural use

- 50% reduction in cesarean rates

- 40% reduction in the need for forceps

- 25% reduction in the length of labor

- higher breastfeeding rates

- more opportunity to spend time bonding with baby

- easier transition into parenthood
(more postpartum benefits my cousin Amy Olsen sent me)
- feel more secure and cared for
- are more successful in adapting to new family dynamics
- have greater self-confidence
- have less postpartum depression
- increased bonding with baby

Baby and Daddy

21 Weeks !

I usually feel our little one moving around when I am in a seated position. He's still pretty low in my belly and Jason hasn't been able to feel him. This week I've found him more active a little while after I eat. He is quite fond of Coldstone...lol

Last night I laid down on my back in bed to watch a bit of tv. All of a sudden he was super active. So, I called Jason in the room to come feel my belly. He placed his hand down and patiently waited. Then all of a sudden Jason jumped and said, "WOW!" He kept his hand on my belly for a while and felt our little guy's activity.

Jason was so excited to finally feel what I was feeling!

20 Weeks !

Half way there! This is getting SO exciting! My mom and Jason's mom joined us for the 20 week ultrasound. The tech pointed out the bones and major organs. We heard the heart beat and heard the blood flow through the body. You could even see the 4 chambers of the heart! And this little baby is only the size of a banana.

About 20 minutes through the ultrasound we got anxious and asked the sex. the tech took a good look between the legs.

It's A BOY !

My mom and Cathy both erupted with laughter (since they both have a boy) and congratulated Jason. They reminded him that he already has so much boy stuff, we're set....lol Jason is excited to

be a kid for life!

We finished off the day with a trip to Lullaby Lane to start looking at boy stuff. Now that we know it is a boy we get to start decorating!

John Williams Weekend

18 Weeks !

I spent a whirlwind of a weekend down at my parents house for a concert. We spent some time with Ashley, BT and Hunter on Saturday looking through baby stuff and just hanging out. We hopped on a bus to the Hollywood Bowl that afternoon to celebrate our birthdays with an evening of movie music with the family.

Sunday Jason and I joined a group of CSULB Tri Deltas for some quick beach time and catch up before we hit the road.

No more sickness !

17 Weeks !

Thank goodness this moment finally came - I'm not sick! From 6 - 17 weeks I had morning sickness almost all day. I rarely threw up but definitely had a constant urge to.

We had Jason's mom here for the weekend and I got to enjoy the kitchen again! We cooked, relaxed, took a walk, and just visited. I took Cathy to Babies R Us on Sunday to see all the new baby stuff. She was blown away by how much baby stuff had changed since her son, 37 years ago.

A Week off!

15 - 16 Weeks !

I am still patiently waiting for this tiny being in my belly to stop making me sick. I got to relax and get stuff done around the house. Unfortunately Boo became really sick and was hospitalized early in the week. By the end of the week we had lots of medicine and a pretty good diagnosis for her.

We got out of town late in the week and enjoyed the weekend in SLO. Jen and Austin have their very own farm complete with goats and chickens and lots of veggies. We enjoyed Morro Bay on Saturday with Kathy, Jen and Autin and picked up some amazing fish for dinner. We enjoyed a lot of their fresh veggies with dinner. Sunday, we hung in the sun at a local winery on Sunday and played boccie ball.

MDHS BBQ

14 Weeks !

We joined Valerie in So Cal for a great BBQ with old high school friends. We got together at Nikki's house to spend time and catch up on all the years we missed as Valerie was away in Panama. We broke the news to them all over dinner with a table full of congratulations!

Nikki had been trying to get me to join her with a glass of wine for hours. I waited until we were all seated at dinner and after another wine offering I told them i couldn't drink because "we were pregnant!"

Now it is time for Karen to get on the baby train...lol

Ultrasounds !

13 Weeks !

We finally got to see the baby! It punched and kicked the ultrasound wand while the Dr. was checking everything. This was the most precious shot - the baby sucking its thumb!

We can't tell the sex, but we do know it is active. The ultrasound tech took all the measurements and we heard the heart beat. It is amazing what you can see and developed they are at this early stage.

Grandpa Colombo is 90 !

11 Weeks !

We spent the weekend out in Sacramento celebrating Grandpa Colombo's 90th Birthday! Jason's father's family all came over to celebrate. We framed the first ultrasound picture for Alan and as he opened and shared we got to surprise the rest of the Colombo family with the news.

Now that the cat is officially out of the bag we are getting so much baby news. We learned more about Dale and Laura's kids and how her pregnancies were. They told us how they chose names so that there were no nicknames that worked. All these things we now get to consider...lol

Pine Flats Lake

8 Weeks !

We spent the last weekend up at Pine Flats enjoying the lake, the house, the boat, the pool and family. Unfortunately our little one will not have this place to come to to get together with family. My parents went up to the lake together the first trip to Pine Flats, and all of her bothers/sisters met their future spouses at the lake. What a legacy it holds.

Fathers Day Weekend

7 Weeks!

Jason received his first "father to be" card from my grandma and mom. We are still trying to wait until 12 weeks to tell everyone, but now that I am feeling sick we might have to get creative.

The Wolves

Tonight we went to enjoy an evening with Tonie and Dana Bass. They took us out to a san Jose Wolves Game! So much fun! Indoor arena football was a blast to watch. The players were brutal that the play went fast. We were still hiding the pregnancy until 12 weeks, so my multiple bathroom breaks were funny to explain. Just 6 weeks along right now.

Pregnancy Test

I had been gone all weekend and on my way home I grabbed a test to take home. I left the test waiting on the bathroom counter as I waited for the results. I actually made Jason go in to see the results. I definitely didn't think "first time's a charm," but it was!

I heard giggling from the bathroom and raced in to see Jason smiling from ear to ear saying, "I knew it!"

We are officially PREGNANT!

We made personalized cards for our parents to share the news. We included the pregnancy test picture in the card for them too. All of our parents are now going to be grand parents, watch out!

Our Wedding in Pictures

Here is a few pictures that really tell you more about our wedding:

My garter was hand made by my mom

and my engagement ring was picked out by Jason

My cute "I do" undies for my something blue

and a dress tag hand made for my dress by my sister in law

I chose ball room dancing shoes because they were sooooo comfortable!

My great grandma's pearls

My husband and my brother

My wedding dress top was unique, so no need for a lot of jewelry

The ring-bearer and pillow was hand made by my cousin since a pillow and 1 year old wouldn't have worked well

A photo guest-book in the chapel - idea thanx to the knot

Our sand ceremony

so we could keep it we poured it into a candle base and plan to add to it on anniversaries

Our flower girls and pew ties.

We did a simple ribbon and flowers as pew ties to match the ceremony colors

The flower girls and their baskets - inexpensive sashes helped them match the ceremony colors

Our chapel flowers - my mom did 2 just to bring in our colors.

One of our favorite wedding pictures. Us looking at each other through the looking glass with the downtown Long Beach skyline behind us

Another favorite shot - Us leaning against an old metal wall

My dress and veil and flowers. We DIY'd all our wedding flowers!

The amazing Queen Mary and us

Our cupcake tower allowed us multiple flavors to please all the guests palettes

Our DIY centerpieces with our C monogram

Our table assignments - framed to add creativity

Our fun cake topper, we loved the bride grabbing the groom

The cake cutters - hand made by my dad

Our reception Venue at night