Love my days off.

I love my days off from work. Yesterday I got off of work in the morning, went to sleep when I got home, then got a wonderful prenatal massage at Dolce (thank you groupon!). When I returned home, Jim surprised me with a picnic packed and a date in the park. :) Ahhh I absolutely loved it. Jasper came with us too and I remember thinking, at this moment, life is absolutely perfect. I have the best husband in the world, a beautiful baby girl on the way and the most loving doggy. I love my little fam! Our time in the park was pure bliss. Definitely started my "weekend" off right. Spending quality time on a low-cost, casual date is exactly what I wanted and needed. I picked up 2 extra nights at work this past week since we just switched from paper to electronic charting and they were allowing everyone to pick up shifts. As much as the 13-hour nights are tiring, it is a blessing that I was able to pick up shifts with Abigail on the way and me taking time off of work. After our lovely date, Jim agreed to do whatever I wanted for the rest of the night! What a wonderful husband I have. :) So we went to Target to register for some more baby items and we picked up the baby swing I've been wanting from someone off of craigslist. Craigslist is amazing. I love getting things for a great deal! Then we went home and cuddled on the couch and watched some tv before bed. Ahhh such a wonderful day. :)

Today was a good day as well. I went grocery shopping with my coupons in hand. I usually go on Wednesdays since that's when the majority of new ads come out, but didn't have time this past week so I went today before the ads change tomorrow. It stinks going on a Tuesday since some of the items on sale are already sold out. I know I can get rain checks, but then I never remember to go back for the item once I do. Then I cooked dinner for us and enjoyed a nice night relaxing with Jim and Jasper.

I truly wish I could be a stay at home mom once Abigail is born, but it's just not realistic with a house mortgage, 2 car payments, and lots of bills. :( But working only 3 days of the week has got to be the next best thing! One of the perks of being a nurse. But I know if I were a stay at home mom, I would feel guilty about not contributing financially since I remember already feeling like that during those few months of not working after I graduated from nursing school. I hope I can find a job after Abigail is born that is also 12-hour shifts so I can continue working 3 days and having 4 days off and at home. Speaking of which, my contract for work was originally supposed to end in mid-March, but they are keeping me on the schedule another month until mid-April! Such an answer to our prayers. Now I will have a job up until I am 38 weeks, then I can just get prepared for Abigail those last couple weeks (if she doesn't come early).

My life the last few days.

So Jim joined a softball league about a month ago. I finally was able to watch one of his practices on Saturday. Jasper came too. :) I love watching my husband play sports. He is so good at all of them! No, I'm not biased at all. ;)

Saturday night I went to work. It was definitely one of my tougher nights. Another 13 hour shift with no break or lunch. :( My temporary position is supposed to end in mid-March, but my charge nurse told me that she talked to our supervisor and she thinks she will be able to put me on the schedule for the following month... if so, that would totally be an answer to my prayers! I just need a job until I become closer to delivering, so I hope that it's true and she can keep me on the schedule for another month. A lot of family/friends have been praying for my job situation and I know it'll all work out (whether I have a job or not, God will provide). Jim and I already see God stepping in and providing... besides Jim's regular full-time job, he has his own business on the side where he does computer work for people. Lately he's been getting more calls to fix their computers which means more money to save up for when Abigail arrives. It is so cool when we can see God taking care of us. :)

Sunday evening Jim and I hosted a neighborhood block party on our street. Last week we went door to door handing out flyers for it. Out of the 20 houses on our block, 7 of them actually answered their doors and 3 households actually came. :) Ever since Jim bought this house I wanted to make it a goal to reach out to our neighbors and befriend them. I feel like a lot of neighbors nowadays have become strangers to one another and I remember growing up where you actually knew your neighbors. I want the same for our nieghborhood and family. Even though only 3 households came, it was so nice to be able to get to know them more and connect. It was also nice to have the support of our friends from church. A few families from our church came over to support what we're trying to do and we really appreciated the extra love. As Christians, the world is our mission field, Jim and I are just starting out with the people on our block. :) The best way to share Jesus with others is to build relationships with them and show them the love of Christ, not by shoving the Gospel down their throat, but by being genuinely caring and loving neighbors.

Today I had the day off. Love my days off. :) I've been looking on craigslist for a pack n play since that is one of the pricier items for baby. I've always loved the Graco Silhouette pack n play in the Rittenhouse print, but couldn't justify paying about $200 for it brand new. I've seen it a few times on CL but either the price was still high or they were too far. Today I found it for a great price (only $79! which I think is worth it. I know there are pack n plays much cheaper, but this is the one I really wanted). It has all the bells and whistles (which I know isn't necessary but is a nice perk for the price we got it at). I wanted a play yard that didn't look too kiddish and would blend in nicely with our decor. I LOVE the black and white damask print on this one and even though I think this is more towards the feminine side, if we have a boy next, it'll do for him too since the colors are so neutral.

Our new (to us) pack n play! The canopy on the left goes up for shade and the cute little bears hang down like a mobile. And on the right the changing table folds down with storage for diapers and wipes. :) Love it!

This is the blankie that we will rock Abigail to sleep in before she naps in the pack n play. Her Berda and Papa gifted it to her (Jim's parents hehe)

Jasper was curious about this new contraption in our home...

 

 

So that's what's been going on with us the past few days... tomorrow we have Abigail's 31 week OB appointment! Ahh I can't believe she will be here in 9 weeks (or less, hopefully not more)! We will be getting a 3D/4D ultrasound done sometime soon and we are so excited to see what she looks like! Tomorrow night I work. The whole hospital is switching from paper to electronic charting this week, so it is definitely going be a crazy week at work. That's the reason I got hired in the first place, to add more nurses on the floor when we go live with Epic Electronic Medical Record. I hope I'm ready!

Spring flowers

Ever since we had landscaping put into our backyard last year, the flower beds have been empty. I would look outside and still think the backyard looked unfinished since the flower beds I was originally so excited to be put in were still left without any blooms. Today I finally got around to planting some pretty spring flowers! The backyard looks so much more inviting and colorful. I just want to spend my whole day back there with Jasper! Not to mention the weather is perfect right now, but alas... gotta go grocery shopping and run some errands before my 13-hour shift tonight. :/ But I am proud of my little gardening work. :) Now, who wants to come over for a barbeque?!

Jasper hanging out in our cozy backyard :)

yes I know our grass looks dead... we didn't seed it for winter grass this season :/

finally there are flowers in the flower beds!

Next on the list for the backyard... a shed (going in that concrete corner pictured above) and a pergola over the patio. But that won't be for awhile, gotta save up money to prepare for Abigail's arrival in a couple months. :)

Double date night while saving money!

Tonight Jim and I went on a double date with Jered and Jenni! We met up at the park and ride on Camelback and 19th avenue and were able to ride the light rail for free since we were going to a Suns game. (FYI) Taken from usairways.com:

In partnership with METRO light rail, US Airways Center and the Phoenix Suns have established the "Rail Ride Event" program, which allows guests who purchase a ticket to an event at US Airways Center to ride METRO light rail at no additional cost, on the day of the event.
Through Rail Ride Event, METRO will recognize US Airways Center event tickets as valid light rail fare on the day of the event for four hours prior to the start of the event, through the end of the transit day.
In addition to Phoenix Suns and Phoenix Mercury games, US Airways Center hosts nearly 200 events each year, including concerts and family shows, with the venue's longstanding partners Live Nation and Feld Entertainment. Tickets for every event at US Airways Center, which attracts over two million visitors annually, will be valid for the Rail Ride Event program.
— You are required to keep your event ticket on your person when riding light rail and must show your event ticket to a fare inspector upon request. Failure to show a valid event ticket can result in fines ranging from $50 to $500 dollars.
— US Airways event tickets are good for light rail only, they are not valid as bus fare.

I didn't know about this before today but I thought that was pretty cool that they do that. Even though a light rail pass is pretty inexpensive, it's always nice to get things for free! Before the game, we went to dinner at Steve's Greenhouse Grill where we had a groupon for $12 for $25 worth of food (another discount! woot!). We ended up getting to the game just before the 2nd quarter ended! Late, but we were able to catch the first half of the game at the restaurant, so no biggie.  We also purchased our tickets for half the price via groupon again. :) Thank God for Groupon! The Suns won, woo hoo! I'm not a big basketball fan, but it was still a fun game to watch. Jered caught a free Suns t-shirt, which was pretty cool considering we were in the nosebleed section haha. And since the Suns won, we also got a voucher for a free large fry at McDonalds and 2 free $0.99 tacos from Jack in the Box since the Suns scored over 99 and their opponent didn't reach 99. Love freebies, especially those since McDonald's french fries and Jack in the Box tacos are my guilty pleasures! We had such a nice night with Jenni and Jered and glad the evening cost half as much as it should have been!

at the Suns game... WOW my husband is attractive! :D

Jenni and Jered!

watching the game from the nosebleed section haha

SUNS....

....WIN!

Jillian's baby shower

Jillian and I with our babies Brayden and Abigail in our bellies :)

Today I attended Jillian's baby shower. I remember when she told me she was pregnant... she was doing my nails -for free!- (she's a nail technician at a fancy salon in Phoenix ) for Jim and I's wedding celebration back in September and she said she had something to tell us... she told us her news and at that time nobody knew Jim and I were pregnant except for our immediate families (we made our big announcement at our reception) but after she told us her news we just had to spill the beans to her too! I was so excited to be able to experience this journey with another first time mommy, and not only her, but since then have found out several other friends of mine are pregnant as well. I am looking forward to play dates and sharing tips and tricks with my other mommy friends! I feel so blessed that God has surrounded me with friends at a similar stage in their lives and I feel comforted and I feel it's a little less scary knowing I have friends going through the exact same thing. :) Anyway, Jillian's shower today was so much fun. I loved seeing all my girlfriends! It's such an exciting time in our lives with weddings coming up and babies being born. I love it!

Valentine's Day

We had a simple, yet wonderful, Valentine's day this year. But the showering of love started even before 2/14. Jim knows I love fresh flowers in our home, so a couple weeks ago he bought me a Valentine's bouquet with my favorite flower (hydrangea) and color (pink) in it. :) Then at work on Friday, he surprised me by having 18 red roses delivered!!! Wow. The morning of Valentine's Day, we had our 29 week OB appointment. Abigail is sounding great (heartrate of 144 which is perfect) and measuring right on schedule! We love her so much. For dinner Jim had reservations to a fancy restaurant in downtown Phoenix, but the menu and prices just didn't seem appealing to me haha. So we cancelled our reservations and went to a new restuarant near our home. Afterwards, we stopped by Fry's for pizookie ingredients, and then went home to bake a homemade pizookie and watch the Valentine's episode of Glee! Relaxing and cuddling with him on the couch was my favorite part of the day. :) You don't need to shower me with gifts and expensive things, Jim knows the way to my heart is just to spend quality time with me.

the first beautiful Valentine's bouqet Jim gifted me displayed in our entryway :)

the beautiful red roses Jim surprised me with at work now in our kitchen :)

us at dinner... the restaurant gave all the ladies a red carnation :)

Crafting craze

Lately I have been so interested in anything crafty and diy. I've made a few things for Abigail and her room so far, and have lots more in mind. :) Next on my list is making her fitted crib sheets and crib skirt. I've been looking around online for bedding I like, but the sets are so expensive and all I want from it are the fitted sheet and skirt, so I've decided I'll just make my own! It will be so much cheaper and will be customized to match her room! I am so excited. My parents gifted me a sewing machine years ago for Christmas when I was in high school, and sad to say the only use I got out of it was making dance costumes one year and have since forgotten how to sew (only knew the basics to begin with but even that I can't remember). I'm hoping lots of online tutorials will do the trick. I will be picking up my sewing machine from my parents tomorrow and will be bringing it to a repair shop to hopefully get it fixed. I remember something not working with it years ago but don't remember what happened and all I know is that it doesn't work now. Hopefully they can fix it and I will be in business. I will definitely post pictures of the finished product (if they turn out decent and once Abigail has a mattress haha).

Another item I've really been wanting to create is a small kitchen island! Our kitchen is open, but not much counterspace to work on, so I think a small kitchen island with casters on the bottom should do the trick. It will be my vision with lots of handy work help from Jim. :)  I'm excited for this weekend project! Hopefully we can get it done before Abigail gets here. It will be nice to have a little extra storage space in the kitchen too.

Other items on my craft to-do list:
- spruce up my little office space and create a memo board, erasable calendar, hang a shelf or two and pictures
- make more bows and headbands for Abigail

It has always helped me to put my goals into writing so it becomes tangible to me. I'm hoping all these thoughts will turn into some awesome diy projects. Will post as I complete them. :)