A Wart

When I was a little kid I used to have warts.  Yeah, gross I know, but whatever.  So when I would go to the dermatologist as a kid and get my warts burnt off I would get to go to 7-11 and get a Slurpee.  Didn't you know that Slurpee's can cure almost anything?  They can . . . at any age in fact.  

Well . . . I don't have warts now but I kinda wish I did.  Instead of having an actual wart I've got a new kind of wart, all of you moms out there know what I'm talking about.

I'm now an official worrywart and it's terrible.

Did you know that a worrywart is an actual word with a definition?  It is, according to Merriam-Webster the definition of a worrywart is : a person who is inclined to worry unduly.

  

The "What-Ifs" in life are going to turn me prematurely grey that's for sure!

I've always struggled with being a worrywart which makes my new level of worrisome a bit of a problem.  The ultimate source of my worry problem:

That pretty pretty princess that is eyeballing me right there.  She is my new number one source of worry.

To be honest, other than my husbands terrible driving skills, I'm not sure what I used to worry about before her?  

My biggest struggle is that if I believe in God, I shouldn't worry since He will take care of me and my family and all of those things that I worry about, right?  Why can't I let myself let go of the worry and just let God carry that load for me then?  This is a question I fear I will ask myself forever, because my worry for baby Leah and any future babies I may have will never ever go away.

The worry de Leah began the day I found out I was pregnant in fact.  Will I be like so many other women out there and have a miscarriage?  Will the baby have a heartbeat?  Will the baby have 10 fingers and 10 toes?  Am I eating the right foods?  Am I gaining too much weight?  Will my labor and delivery be okay? The questions are endless.  So of course, when I found out Leah had pooped meconium inside me and had the cord around her neck as I was trying to push her out, my worry exceeded the worry-o-meter!  Of course, she came out perfect and wonderful, why oh why did I worry so much?  I surly won't do that with my next pregnancy (insert sarcastic giggle here).

Now that Leah is here I get to worry about her in real life flesh, oh joy!  First it was, is she eating enough?  Is she sleeping enough?  Is her poop the right color? Are those noises normal?  Why are her eyes gooey?  What's that bump?  Surely I must go out and buy the 806 page What To Expect, The First Year book right?  I mean, if the book says its normal then it must be normal . . . at least I'm going to believe that so it makes me feel better.  Of course I HAVE to go buy the baby monitor that can alert me if she stops breathing in the middle of the night!  Although, if I have that monitor and she sleeps for more than 3 hours then why am I still going in to check on her?  Hmmm . . . 

The real source of this blog is the fact that my poor baby girl has to go get her shots tomorrow and surprise surprise . . . I'm worried.  I mean, why do they have to inject my little 8 week old baby with 8 different shots through needles and orally?  Is that really necessary?  I know that shots are a huge source of controversy with moms so I'm not going to get into it but I'm just going to say that it worries me.  I hope she doesn't cry for too long, I hope she doesn't run a fever for too long and I hope that her sleeping patterns don't go so awry that it worries me even more.  I hope, I hope, I hope . . . I worry, I worry, I worry.

Ugh, I feel so bad for my mom to have a 28 year old and 32 year old.  That means that she's been worrying for at least the last 32 years of her life!  What a nightmare!  

Well . . . it's time for our bedtime routine . . . bath, lotion, swaddle, eat, burp and sleep . . . with a whole bunch of worry intertwined in it all.

Look at this face, you would worry too:

(We were watching The Price is Right, she loves that show apparently)

(I think she probably just pooped all over the place here)

( I love how her lips get all squished when she sleeps on her belly)

(She just loves tutu's, thanks Auntie Wolff)

Thanks for listening to my ranting and raving of what takes up most of my day . . . worry, worry and worry with a bit of worry in between.  

Enjoy the end of your week blog world!

XOXO Jen XOXO

Summa Time, Summa Time, Sum, Sum, Summa Time . . .

Ahhhh . . . the 5 senses that are summer time!


I just don't understand how some people don't enjoy summer time?  I can't grasp it simply because summer time is the best.  Granted, I love the other seasons as well.  Fall brings me pumpkin pie yogurt from Yogurtland, Winter brings me Christmas . . . and pumpkin spice steamers from Starbucks, and Spring brings me Easter and beautifully perfect weather.  Summer though?  Its brings me so much more!

The smells.


One of the greatest parts of summer are the smells!  You agree?  You know that smell early in the morning when its warm but not hot and you just know its going to be a beautiful day with a bright blue sky?  That's a good smell.  What about the smell of barbeque's grilling all day every day?  The other morning I was actually in bed still and I smelled my neighbors barbecue grilling up something delicious, maybe steak and eggs?  You can't forget the smell of chlorine on every little kids skin . . . or your own skin!  The good ol chlorine smell that even after you shower you can still smell stuck to your skin and in your hair.  Oh, the smell of sunscreen and tanning lotions too!  That coconut and pina colada smell that you just want to eat!  Or even right now, at 11:00pm, I can smell the night blooming jasmine coming through the windows in the breeze.  I'd have to say that the best sense that is summer has got to be the smells.

The sights.


Well . . . you start with beautiful bright blue skies daily, that's always a great sight to see.  Then, there are all the people everywhere.  Generally, I'm not a big fan of people all over the place, but during summertime for some reason its all okay.  Kids are everywhere.  They are riding bikes, playing football in the neighborhood, jumping in the pool and walking down the street.  They are doing things that kids are supposed to do, they are outside, and that's a good thing.  If you know me at all, you know that one of my favorite sights is the beach.  Sure, seeing a good looking tan guy walking down the beach is nice, but I'm talking about seeing things even better than that at the beach.  Seeing the water and all the great things that the water can bring.  The sun shining on the ocean is so beautiful, along with the sunsetting behind it.  The sea creatures that come out because of the ocean water, the dolphins, the birds, the sand crabs.  Ugh, summer is just awesome.  Do you not agree with me?

The sounds.


I'm going to begin repeating myself here but its just all so wonderful!  The sound of kids playing outside is awesome, I love it.  The sound of waves crashing and birds chirping has to make you smile.  What about the sound of the ice cream truck????  Remember that?  Yeah, we still have one that does its tour around the neighborhood, too bad they are slowly dying off though.  Every Thursday in the summer, one of our local parks has Concerts in the Park.  They have a different genre each week and its so fun!  Its like our whole city is at that park and you throw down your blanket and just lay there listening to the bands, those are great summer sounds.  We all know that the sound of fireworks is clearly an indication of summer as well, we all witnessed that last week right?  

The tastes.


Of course, the fair is the first thing you should think of if your town is anything like mine.  It's tradition to go to the Orange County Fair every year and that is clearly a summertime event.  The tastes of the fair just screams summer.  Every fried food you could imagine is at the fair!  For our family the tastes of the fair are grilled corn on the cob, pulled BBQ pork sandwiches and frozen lemonade.  Those are the must-haves every year!  Every now and then we will throw in a funnel cake or a corn dog or some curly fries, it just depends.  The tastes of anything bbq'ed or salads for dinner are clearly summertime favorites in our house as well.  What about the taste of nachos and pretzels from a baseball game?  Though they never taste good, you have to have a pretzel and nachos from the game.  The tastes from Farmer's Markets are obviously a summertime favorite as well.  Sweet potatoes, strawberries, oranges, peaches, all of those delicious summertime fruits and vegetables.  Um, we can't forget ice cream and yogurt too!  Is it just my family that tastes all of these delicious flavors that are summer?

Touch.


When you think of this sense, touch, and you think of summertime, what comes to your mind?  My first thought is . . .  sunburns.  Yikes.  We all lather on that sunscreen but get so caught up in having fun outside that we come home at the end of the day with that infamous summertime sunburn.  It happens every year and there is no stopping it.  Oh, what about the touch of a cool pool or the freezing cold ocean?  Is that not summer to you?  What about the feel of your cool sheets the second you get in bed or flipping over your pillow for one quick second of that cool feeling?  Touching the warm sand between your fingers and toes will bring you straight to summer.  Or walking barefoot in general, whether it be the hot asphalt or a cool tile floor.  Being barefoot happens 90% of the time in my house during summer.

  


I love summer.  I love everything about summer, even those pesky and idiotic June bugs that actually come out in July!

Happy summer and cheers to warm summer nights!


XoXo Jen

The Easiest Most Difficult Decision . . .

Yup.  


The easiest most difficult decision I've ever made.  An oxymoron you say?  Yes it is, kind of like the phrase, "the same difference."  Not a mistake or a grammar error.


I've recently made the easiest most difficult decision I've had to make so far.  I assume this will be the first of many now that I have a little human being that means more to me than I could explain.  She, or maybe it was God, put me in front of a big decision recently.  Do I go back to my job as a high school counselor or take on a new job as a wife and mother? 


That was my easy yet difficult decision.


Difficult.  


Brea Olinda High School has been my home for the past 6 years.  I was a 21 year old college student working as an aide with the Special Education department as well as interning as a high school counselor with the guidance department.  I worked side by side with my mentor Kim Kessel, she taught me the ropes and the ins and outs of being a high school counselor.  I owe all of my awesome counseling skills to her in fact! :)  Of course there were several other counselors there as well, as a team they all taught me something new and different in the counseling field.  Our lead counselor fought for me back in December of 2006 to make sure I was hired and I was!  I didn't even have my credential yet but was able to get an emergency credential and work as a real life counselor.  So, the difficult part is the obvious, I'm leaving my friends that have become family.

Difficult.


I'm leaving my counseling team who have fought for me year after year during budget cuts to make sure that I have a job.  My friends who know everything about my life and I enjoy spending time with outside of work as well.  My friends who text me to see how things are going and who treat me like their family, their little sister in fact.  There are two Jen's that work on the counseling team so I was dubbed the name "Baby Jen," and they did wrap their arms around me and guide me through everything just like their baby sister.  I love them, they are what made this decision the most difficult.

Difficult.


The principals, office staff and teachers were all my friends too.  I felt like they all looked after me and were always ensuring that I was doing ok and was a happy camper at work.  Working part-time last year made me feel a little disconnected and they always did a good job of making me feel right back at home when I would show up halfway through the week for work.  They are all my friends that have become family too.

Difficult.


My pseudo kids.  I will miss them.  When I first started as a counselor I worked with the high risk kids, I loved them.  I continued to draw myself to those kiddos every year and constantly checked on them to make sure they were doing ok.  I will miss those kids.  I know that they are in great hands with the other counselors, but it hurts to know that I won't be there to chat with them and see whats going on in their lives anymore.  That made my decision difficult.

Easy.


My husband and my daughter.

As much as I love every single person that I worked with at Brea and felt like they were my family and home away from home, it comes down to the fact that I don't love them or the job as much as I love my husband and daughter.

Easy.


The thought of sending Leah to a daycare and in the hands of strangers terrifies me.  I know she would be fine, my friends have their kids in daycare and are alive and well, but that doesn't mean that it doesn't terrify me.  Having me stay home with her at all times takes that anxiety and worry away.  Knowing that I will be home to see all of her "firsts" and not hearing it from a stranger excites me.  Being involved with her preschool one day and not just dropping her off and picking her up is something that I look forward to. 

Easy.


I remember when I was younger and my mom was home with my brother and I, it was the greatest thing ever.  Having my mom involved at my school, on my soccer team, at my brownie meetings are all things that I will never forget.  One of my best friends had a mom who stayed home too, Cindy.  I will always remember going home with Amber to play and her mom Cindy would be baking cookies as we walked in the door and she would leave out a spoonful of dough for each of us.  On cold days she would make us real hot chocolate on the stove with milk and cocoa.  Her and my mom would take us to the beach, camping and to Knotts Berry Farm or to places that we otherwise would not be able to go because we would be in daycare.  These are the things that I remember as a little girl and these are things that I want Leah and her sibling(s) to remember one day too.  I want her to remember me being there for her and creating these memories for and with her.  

Easy.


Being there for my husband is important to me too.  Believe it or not, I actually enjoy cleaning my house, cooking dinner, baking and of course caring for my child.  All of those stereotypical things that the woman of the house is "supposed" to do, I actually enjoy.  I guess you can say I'm traditional.  Maybe its because that's what my mom did and that's what my brother's family now does and I'm just accustomed to it.  I'm all for women's rights and whatnot, more power to those women, that's just not me.  Anyway, I enjoy taking care of my husband and making sure that he comes home to a clean house, a good meal and a cared for child.  


Wow.  This has become a long winded blog huh?  I guess you get my point?  


My friend Jaycee said it best when she told me, "you can always go back to work one day, but you can never get back your kids childhood."  Agreed.


One more thing I need to add.  I know that I'm very very very lucky to be able to stay home.  I know that there are a lot of ladies out there that would do anything to have the opportunity to stay home with their kids but just are not able to do so.  I wish that every mom could have the opportunity to stay home if they wanted too and that circumstances didn't hold them back.  I know that I'm very lucky to have the life that I have and the hard working husband that I have.  Thankfully, God has blessed us and allowed Marc to be the provider of our family.  Wow am I lucky!   


Looking at my husband and Leah, this was the easiest most difficult decision.

Happy Summer 


Jen xoxo

Traditions . . .

Does your family have traditions?


You know, do you have to do a certain thing say every Christmas because its a tradition?  Maybe that's just my family?  I don't know.


We have traditions, a lot of them.  


Maybe you could call it "unwillingness to change," I'd prefer traditions though.


For example . . . 


Every time we go to Mexico we have SEVERAL traditions.  If we don't do the same things every time we go to Mexico its just not the same, the trip has a different feel to it.  We always stop at the same McDonald's on the way to Mexico, the one off 4th street to be exact.  We always get the same thing and we always fill up on gas.  4th street is just before crossing the border and its somewhere that we've always stopped and will always stop until 4th street disappears, which is highly unlikely.  When in Mexico its tradition for us to go to Faly's and eat huevos rancheros, nobody can go to Mexico with us and not eat Faly's huevos rancheros, they are the best thing ever!  Just look:

Delicious!

We also have to have "Peg McMuffins" every time we go to Mexico.  My mom, Peggy, is the maker of the Peg McMuffin unless she isn't there, in which case I am the maker of the famous Peg McMuffin.  

Yum!

If you were to refer back to my Mexico blog you could see all this same stuff.  My point is, my family has traditions and I love it.  Most of our concrete traditions are in Mexico which is why I started with examples from there, oh but there are quite a few others as well.

Marc and I have our own traditions too.  The best one ever is SPT, otherwise known as "Stretchy Pant Time!"  Every night around 7:30 - 8:00 we have SPT.  That of course is when we change into our comfy pajama pants for the night.  Its the best time of day!  We are such old folks that SPT falls right between our Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune watching time, haha.  We don't care, we love it and that's what matters, right?  After SPT is "Cookie Time!"  My mom lives just two doors down from us so every night around 8:30 we walk to her house and plop on the couch for cookie time.  "Traditionally," Marc will take rule of the remote control, he will pour himself a glass of iced tea and he will get each of us one cookie (but always two for himself!).  We watch a show or two or a sport and then head back home after about an hour.  Its tradition, we can't help it.

We have a LOT more traditions than that, but I don't have the time to write for days upon days.  

I was just thinking though, what traditions will Leah have?  Will she pick up on our McDonalds tradition and carry that on when she is driving to Mexico?  Or will she join us at cookie time when she gets older?  Of course she is forced into these traditions now because she is only a whopping 3 weeks old and has no choice, but what will happen when she does have a choice?  I can only hope that she would like to join her parents in some traditions just like I have with my mom, but it will be fun to see her create her own along the way too.

Traditions are fun, they are what makes your family more unique than the next.  I wouldn't change anything that we do, its the best and it makes us happy!  As a wise wise lady (my mom) once told me, we all create our own happiness, nobody else is responsible for YOUR happiness.  So, Marc and I will continue to do just that and I look forward to bringing baby Leah along for the ride!

I'm going to leave you with some professional photos of Leah . . . just because I'm a proud mommy and I LOVE LOVE LOVE these pictures of our little girl!  A big shout out and THANK YOU to our photographer Michelle at Taylor Rose Photography, you are amazing!

Happy Monday everyone!  Have a great week!

Jen XOXO

Baby Leah's Birth Story

The good news is, I'm still a blogger!

The greater news is, I'm now a blogger mom!!!!

Wow, what an amazing week and a half I've had.  I'm going to use this blog to tell you the story of Baby Leah Marie.  I've told this story to all of the visitors that we've had and the ending is such a happy one that I could tell it over and over and over again.  


By the way, here I am just a few days before Leah's birthday . . . 

Ok, here we go!

Friday, May 20th I began to feel just a little "different."  I called Marc in the afternoon while he was at work to let him know that I just wasn't feeling right and that I thought my body might be gearing up for baby within the next couple of days.  I was really thinking that Sunday the 22nd might be "the day."  I spent the day running errands and went out to lunch with my mom, nothing too crazy.  I was cramping throughout the day but nothing unbearable by any means.  By 4:00PM I realized that I was able to keep track of that cramping feeling as it was coming pretty consistently.  Then I did what most pregnant women do when they think labor is coming its way, I walked.  I wanted the cramps to turn to contractions and to get this show on the road.

As I was walking, my sister-in-law called me and wanted to do something fun that night.  She had been tied up in the house with my nephews for a while and just wanted to get out that night.  We decided that my mom and I and my brother and his family would go out to Irvine Spectrum to walk around and eat dinner and just get out of the house.  As I drove my mom out to Irvine (just a 20-25 minute drive) I felt the cramps turn to contractions and come on a little stronger.  We made it to The Spectrum and just walked around, watched my nephews on the carousel ride and window shopped a bit.  Then we went to Red Robin for dinner and that's when things got just a little stronger again.  After dinner we took the boys to Golden Spoon for some yogurt and that's when I decided to call Marc.  

I wanted to let Marc know that this seemed like it was for real and that he may need to leave work that night and come home so we can have a baby!  He spoke with his captain and they decided that it would be best if he came home right away rather than waiting until the middle of the night and that is just what Marc did.  He left work and we left the Spectrum and met back at home around 11PM.  

If you are truly counting the hours of labor at this point you could have said that I was in labor 7 hours technically.

Marc went to bed and I stayed up and labored throughout the night.  I bounced on my yoga ball, I walked around the house a bit, I tried different positions on the couch and by about 3:45AM I decided it was time to tell Marc that we needed to go to the hospital.  His response of course was, "ok you just tell me when."  I thought to myself, "isn't that what I'm telling you?"  So I went back downstairs for another 15 - 20 minutes and then decided that was enough, time to go.  We finally got to the hospital and settled in there about 5:00AM.  They checked me and I was already at 5-6 centimeters at that point.  This was such a relief because I kept telling Marc that I didn't want them to send me home! 

I had previously tested for Group B Strep which meant that they had to give me antibiotics before baby came out and it had to be in 4 hour increments.  The nurse told me to stay put and try not to progress too much because they had to give me one bag of antibiotics and then wait 4 hours before giving me a second bag.

Now, 15 hours into labor (technically), the nurse checked me again . . . yikes . . . 9 cm already!


They had to give me the second bag of antibiotics early before baby Leah made her way out.  They started the second bag and now fully dilated, my water finally broke!  Then came pushing time!  I pushed for 2 looooooong hours before Leah was born.  The pushing, although it felt better because I couldn't feel my contractions, still was very tiring.  By the second hour I was completely exhausted.


 I don't think I mentioned it yet, but I decided that I wanted to do this whole child birth thing completely natural.  So yeah, by the second hour of pushing I was tired to say the least.


They gave me oxygen and also wanted me to push while on my side because baby's blood pressure and heart rate were going wacky.  The nurse oh so casually mentioned that the cord must be around the baby's neck.  She also oh so casually mentioned that the baby had pooped meconium while still inside also.  This meant that the NICU staff had to come in our room and prepare to work on Leah right away.

After 18 hours of a natural labor (which really only felt like 5 hours while I was in the hospital) and two of those hours pushing, our baby girl Leah Marie was born at 10:41am.  Weighing in at a whopping 6 pounds 9 ounces and 20 inches long with a cone head like you've never seen!

The whole labor and delivery was an experience unlike anything else in this world.  Call me crazy, but I actually enjoyed that 18 hours of labor far more than I did the 9 months of pregnancy.  The contractions hurt, but they weren't going to kill me.  The pushing was exhausting, but I knew I'd get a baby in the end so it was well worth it.  Not only that, I had the best coaches in the room with me, my mom and my husband.  They would tell me when my contractions were coming, when they peaked and when they were going down.  That was extremely helpful.  I had back labor so Marc would push on my lower back, or massage it during my contractions as well.  The delivery room was very quiet, very low key, and very much a stress free situation.  I couldn't have asked for a better experience.


Now I'll give you what you have all been waiting for . . . pictures! :)


Please excuse Leah's lady parts here . . . but this is a picture of a very happy and proud daddy, I have to post it!

Our very first family picture, about 10 minutes after birth.

Leah's first bath . . . she wasn't a big fan.

Daddy's girl for sure.

Mama loves her little girl.

Leah's first outing to the doctor's office.

Haha, this happened last night . . . I guess Leah ate too much . . . 

And then this happened . . . so all is good in the world.

She loves to sleep on chests, this is her typical position before real bedtime.

She also loves to have her arms up when she sleeps, or maybe she just dreams of being a football referee one day, who knows?  Touchdown!

As a proud mommy, I could continue to post pictures of her all day long.  It goes without saying that Leah is perfect and beautiful and the greatest addition to our life.  Nothing in this world can compare to the love that we have for our new daughter.  Of course, as uncomfortable as the 9 months were leading up to the big day . . . we all know that I'll do it all over again just like so many of you.

Thanks for reading our baby girls birth story as I change from a full-time preggo to a full-time mom!  

Let the fun begin!

Happy Memorial Day!

XOXO

A Wedding, 2 Birthdays, Mother's Day, and No Baby Yet!

Wow.


What a lot of stuff going on in the Fiamengo/Watson household!


I must disclose now, I do not have any pictures from last weekend!  I know, how sad right?  I'm so sorry to all of you visual learners out there!  I do have a great video that you can watch though :) 


So lets start with the wedding because that was the first of the events from last weekend.  My brother-in-law, also Marc's twin, got hitched on Saturday!  Talk about a beautiful wedding and a stunning bride!  Oh and my brother-in-law (Bryan) was stunning in his tux and bow tie also :)


The wedding festivities began on Thursday with the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner.  Thursday was also Cinco De Mayo so it was only appropriate that the rehearsal dinner had a Mexican theme.  Not to mention food catered from El Farolito, only the best Mexican food in all of Placentia!  Yum!  On Friday, the girls went to this great nail place and got manicures and pedicures, it was really nice!  Let me preface by saying, I have nothing against Asians in any way . . . that being said, this nail place was awesome because they had signs posted that said something like this, "if you hear us speaking Vietnamese with our colleagues, your service is free."  You have no idea how appreciative the customers are to see that, it makes us really uncomfortable when you speak a language other than English in front of us and makes us feel like you are talking about us all the time!  Not only that, this place also gave complimentary champagne, water, juice or soda as well as a plate with some cookies and chocolate!  Awesome!  And it was only $29 dollars for a mani and pedi!  What a deal!  We went out to lunch afterwards also which was really nice, it was a beautiful day for us to sit on the patio and grub.  The boys did an all day golf extravaganza and of course had a fun time as well.


One of the best parts leading up to the wedding was the fact that I was a bridesmaid.  Being a bridesmaid allowed me to get closer to my new sister-in-law, Katie.  I feel like she and I have this new connection that we otherwise wouldn't have had if I wasn't in the wedding and didn't have the opportunity to spend as much time with her.


The wedding itself was perfect.  Every single part of the wedding from ceremony to reception went off perfectly.  It was such a beautiful wedding.  I'm a little biased, but one of my favorite parts of the wedding was listening to Marc's best man speech!  He did such a GREAT job!  I was so nervous for him as he was speaking because I already knew was he was going to say and do, but he did amazing!  He explained what a twin was by dictionary terms and then what a twin meant to him, it was so good.  I must say, my husband is an awfully good speaker and very good looking as well so I think everything he does is great, you be the judge though:

So . . . what do you think?  Pretty good right?  I was very proud of him!


Anyway, the wedding was just great.  Then, the next day was Mother's Day.  Like I said in my last post, we celebrated Mother's Day, my dad's birthday, and my brother's birthday all on Sunday.  It was a really nice day.  We started out the day over at Katie's parents house and watched Katie and Bryan open their gifts.  Marc's mom and grandma were both there so we could celebrate Mother's Day with them as well.


Then we made our way back to my parents house where Shane, Molly and the boys were.  My mom made a bunch of food and we celebrated the birthday's and Mothers day for the rest of the day.  We even had a delicious ice cream cake from 31 Flavors!  Yummo!  Oh, and my Aunt, Uncle and Cousins were at the Angels game (they won by the way) so they stopped by for a little while also.  It was a nice little family day.  Marc and I decided to clean up my mom's house at the end of the day since it looked like a tornado blew through there!  Being that it was Mother's Day and all we thought we could do that much for her, she did work the whole day!


Oh yeah, and that's right, no baby yet!  Granted, my due date isn't until May 24th so technically there shouldn't be a baby yet, but I just feel like there should have been one here by now.  It doesn't help that my doctor told me that Baby Fiamengo would come early!  I wish she would have never said that!  Plus by coming early did she mean 3 weeks early?  4 days early?  A couple hours early?  Who knows?  That is the worst part about the end of pregnancy, you just never know when you are going to go into labor or if your water is going to break!  "They" say that only 15% of pregnant ladies water actually breaks while at home and the rest of the women have to have their water broken in the hospital.  Still, you just never know, its a guessing game every day.


In the meantime, there are several reasons why I would like to have this baby, well, right now actually!  First of all, Bryan and Katie live in Boston.  They are in Las Vegas for their honeymoon so if I have the baby now, they can come back home to meet their niece or nephew before flying back home to Boston.  Secondly, tomorrow is my Aunt Glady's 90th birthday and really, how awesome would that be?????  Lastly, my grandparents who live in Mexico are going to be in the States this weekend so they could also meet the baby before having to go back home.  They really hate being in the States so they usually only come up if they really have to for doctors visits and things like that.  If they don't meet baby this weekend then we will be bringing baby to them in October! :)


Anyway, I ramble.


Just so you know, I'll be here just walking a lot, bouncing on an exercise ball, drinking raspberry leaf tea, eating pineapple and doing all of those things that supposedly induce labor naturally (all lies by the way, nothing works, baby comes when it wants too and when God says so!).  It just makes me feel better ok, don't judge me :)  I know, I'm NOT in control that's for sure!


Thank you all for reading about my life!  Hopefully I'll be writing a birth story to you in the very near future!


Much love to you all!


Jen :)

Mom, Mother, Mama, Mommy, Madre, Peggy

Mom, mom, mom . . .


This coming weekend is all about mom's!  Hooray for mom's I say!  Or at least hooray for MY mom!

Most of us think that our own moms are the best in the world.  To be honest though, MY mom really IS the best mom in the whole world!  If you ever met her you would agree too!  Seriously though :)


I don't know much about this mom thing yet, but I'm certainly getting close and am ready to experience it, I know that much!  Speaking of which, I'm at 37 weeks pregnant today leaving me with only 21 days to go . . . unless I go early or late that is . . . I mean, unless Baby Fia decides to go early or late.  It's already all about Baby Fia and he/she isn't even here yet!  If it were up to me this little bugger would have been here by now!  I guess I'll just keep pretending like I have some sort of control over this and walk, eat spicy food, bounce on a yoga ball and do all those so called natural induction methods that are out there.


Anyway, I took a little bird walk, sorry.  My mom is still the best :)

So this weekend is Mother's Day, what are you doing for your mom on Mother's Day?  My poor mom has to share this day every year, she never gets it all to herself.  She would never complain about that, but really that just stinks for her.  You see, my dad's birthday is May 8th (Mother's Day) and my brother's birthday is May 9th.  Just as we did last year, we will celebrate all three special occasions on the one day, Mother's Day.  As you know, Sunday is also Family Day for us Watson/Fiamengo's so really this coming Sunday won't be any different.  My poor mom will still cook for all of us, the only difference is, she will cook my brother's favorite meal.  She's a good mom.

Not only is this weekend Mother's Day, my dad's birthday and my brother's birthday . . . it's also my brother-in-law's wedding day on Saturday!  Yay!  What a busy weekend!  Oh and did I mention that this week starts the first week of my maternity leave?  We have a busy week and weekend ahead so I'll do the bulk of my nesting next week I suppose.

(The Bride and Groom)

Marc is the Best Man in his brother's wedding and I am a bridesmaid so we have some big roles to play this weekend.  Well, Marc has a big role to play, I'll just be big :)  I'm really excited for Marc's speech, its going to be a good one!  I have to help him with some of the pieces this week in order to make it perfect!


Back to Mother's Day again.


My mom has taught me that being a mom is the number one most selfless thing you can do on the planet.  She would do anything in the world for my brother or me.  She is my best friend, hence the reason for me living 2 doors down from her!  That is the best thing ever!  Even if she wasn't my mom, you would here others say that she is, kind-hearted, hard-working, completely selfless in every way, God-loving, BEAUTIFUL, nurturing, amazing and pretty much like Mary Poppins "Practically Perfect in Every Way!"  I'm just lucky because I get to call her mom.

(This picture is particularly funny because my mom doesn't drink, she could hardly pose for this picture even!)

It's my hope that I will take some of her traits and characteristics with me as I venture into motherhood very shortly.  I know that there are some sons and daughters out there that don't get to say such great things about their moms and that makes me sad for them.  Hopefully those people can break the cycles that have been created for generations, I'm guessing, and become more like Peggy :)

If you are a mom, I wish you the happiest of Mother's Days!  If you are going to be a mom soon I say good luck to us and Happy (almost) Mother's Day to us!  If this is your first Mother's Day I say Congratulations to you, enjoy being spoiled!  If you do not have a close relationship with your mom I say embrace those around you that act like they are your mom (even if you hate it sometimes).  If your mom is no longer with us I hope that you remember all of the great things that your mom taught you growing up and that you thank God for taking care of her now and spoiling her for once!


Have a Happy Mother's Day to all of you wonderfully fabulous ladies out there!


Happy Mama's Day to YOU, Nana Times Three, I love you so much!

Have a great week and weekend my friends, give your moms a hug this weekend!


Jen :)