DEFINITELY A BOY!

So if you look at the left of the screen, you will see that Chase is definitely a boy!

Shower Time!

Sam, myself, Elizabeth & Nicole

Monica, Sam & Nicole hard at work!

Auntie's Shane, Lauren & Sal!

Amber had her baby shower exactly 10 years ago to the day!

Miss Ingrid - in from San Diego

Marilyn, Julie, Chelsea & Stephanie (Stephanie is exactly four weeks behind me in her pregnancy!) Nicole, Teresa, & Ricci

Auntie Julia

This past weekend, I was very blessed to have my good friends join me in celebrating the upcoming arrival of Chase with an amazing shower thrown by Elizabeth and Nicole (and generously hosted by my dad's hotel, The Tuscany). What an amazing day and my goodness, the gifts! Mike and I cannot express our gratitude for your generosity...thank you to you all. I will keep my post short and sweet as Mike has summed up the day in the post below as only Mike can!

XOXO

Daddy's Corner Part 3

Its Fall! Its cooling down in Vegas, Football season has started, and my baby boy will be here in just about 7 short weeks. Can life get any better? What a great weekend as well. My fantasy football team was victorious, the rebel football squad scored a big upset vs. Arizona State, our friends and family threw an incredible baby shower for my baby's mama and my friends celebrated Chase's impending birth by drinking beer with me and bringing over 750 diapers. Its called a beer and diapers party for those of you who have not heard and its the greatest invention since Al Gore created the Internet for fantasy football leagues. We drank beer, watched football, played games that take no talent or athletic ability and I ended up with diapers to keep my baby boy outfitted for months! I do have to gripe about one thing. My friends seem to like Carrie more than they like me. For those of you who were at the shower you may remember the game that involved picking qualities that Carrie and I possess and trying to figure out which ones Carrie would prefer Chase have. Well when Carrie and the girls came home after the shower and my so called "buddies" were still on the couch we decided to play this game with them. It started out by them and I picking Carrie's eyes and ears and brain for the baby. Of course Carrie has better eyes then me. And she is smarter. And sure she has great legs. But when they picked her legs for my son? Come on. Who wants there son getting whistled at by construction workers when he wears shorts? And then they followed the legs thing up by choosing Carrie for everything from looks, to athleticism, to funniness and everything in between. I didn't get one vote for anything! Great friends they are. I guess they can choose my ability to pick a mate, but that was not on the list. I still thank them anyway for the diapers and the fun time on Saturday. I am sure Chase will enjoy having men around that are so handsome and funny since his dad is apparently not. I also have to thank all of you who attended the shower and sent gifts from out of town. Your gifts where overwhelming and your generosity appreciated. Its amazing how much space something so little can take up in your house. Ever since Carrie started her "nesting period" the adult space has slowly shrunk starting with my office and now spreading out into the guest room, guest room closet and currently the garage. By the way they say women are supposed to have a nesting period, but Carrie had a nesting 3 trimesters. Ever since we found out about the little one there have been weekly trips to babies r us, decorating the baby room completely the day after we found out the gender, countless hours on the Internet (previously known as the thing for fantasy football) researching baby furniture, organic diapers, which bottles are the safest, what feeding philosophy is the most appropriate, you name it. Maybe my friends are right Carrie is a harder worker than me, but I know I will at least be more fun to watch football with. Mike

He's Stuck in the Placenta??!!

This past weekend, Mike & I looked forward to catching a sneak preview of Chase with our 3-D ultrasound...however, Chase was not really ready for his close up. Indeed, he decided that he would squish his little face in my placenta and not budge! No amount of walking, turning, twisting, jumping jacks, or squats on my part could get the little guy to move away from the placenta! So, what we ended up with are pictures of our little boy looking a little smooshed. The good news is that the tech that did the ultrasound is a good friend of one of my coworkers, Rob, and she is going to have me come in again at no charge to try to get some better pics. The picture of him yawning does look pretty cute and also represents how I am feeling today - TIRED! I am hoping that when the cool weather comes I will get a little more energy back because right now I feel like I could take a 8 week long nap - just until my due date!!!

It is absolutely blowing our minds that we will have a baby here in just eight weeks - our world is about to change as we know it!!!!

What's happening this week:

This week, Chase measures over 16 inches long. He weighs about 4 pounds and is heading into a growth spurt. He can turn his head from side to side, and his arms, legs, and body are beginning to plump out as needed fat accumulates underneath his skin. He's moving a lot, too, so I am definitely having trouble sleeping because his kicks and somersaults keep me up!

30 Weeks!

Girls night out before Maria's big day

Maria's hot bridal party!

Going to the Chapel!!!

One more first kiss for my camera!

Newlyweds!!!

Pool day at the Hyatt after Maria & Gary's wedding

One of the impressive views from the Waimea Canyon

View from an amazing hike in Oahu

View from our hotel in Honolulu

We found the pot of gold!

The Rainbow Drive In - they specialize in very fattening plate lunches and we learned after going that it was one of Barack's favorite places to eat at when he lived in Honolulu!

Our last dinner in Hawaii with a perfect sunset!

The past two weeks have gone by sooo quickly and have been so much fun! I headed out to Kauai while Mike was still working in San Diego and Maria put me to work right away on last minute wedding details. Between a little bit of fun, and a LOT of work :) the wedding came so quickly! It was an amazing day and the details were absolutely gorgeous. I am not sure that she could have screwed much up with Hawaii as her background, but Maria did a fabulous job planning and executing her big day. After the wedding, we stayed in Kuaui for a bit longer to explore and then headed over to Oahu where we stayed in Honolulu. The city was a little bit crazy for an almost 8 month pregnant woman, but it was fun none the less. The North Shore of Oahu was absolutely incredible and so much fun to explore. While I did get to do one hike that was paved the whole way up, I know I definitely missed out on some pretty cool hikes that we could have done minus the belly! I feel especially bad for Mike who had to put up with my sore back the whole time! By the time our vacation was over, we were both ready to come home - Mike especially as he was starting to think that he no longer lived in Las Vegas as he has been travelling so much! With the exception of one short trip for Mike, we are both home for the next nine weeks until the baby comes - NINE WEEKS - it is SO HARD TO BELIEVE CHASE WILL BE HERE THAT SOON! We go for my 4-d ultrasound on Saturday so stay tuned for some interesting pictures of the baby!

What's happening with the baby this week: The baby is about 15.7 inches long now, and he weighs almost 3 pounds (like a head of cabbage). A pint and a half of amniotic fluid surrounds him, but that volume will decrease as he gets bigger and takes up more room in my uterus. His eyesight continues to develop, though it's not very keen; even after he's born, he'll keep his eyes closed for a good part of the day. When he does open them, he'll respond to changes in light but will have 20/400 vision — which means he can only make out objects a few inches from his face.