M y bay area shower was April 26th thrown by my good friend Angie. Thank you, Angie! The shower was wonderful- with all of the personal touches brought to it. Many friends and family from far away were able to attend. Angie threw a “green” shower, so all of the take aways, juice pitchers- almost everything including the gift wrapping was all able to be re-used or recycled. It was a very cool concept and even more cool to pull it off! We played a fun game where you hold a card above your head (so you can’t see what you are drawing) and then you draw what you think the future baby Matthews will look like. This is the winning drawing by my friend Andrea. The love and kindness of all was definitely felt that day- Thank you to everyone who was able to participate!

We’ve also been busy with the home remodel project. In retrospect, perhaps it wasn’t the best time to decide to tear up our house! Todd’s dad was here to help us with the project. They gutted the bathroom, laundry room and water heater room down to the studs and rebuilt it again. Originally Joel was only going to stay a week, but thank goodness he extended his stay- because we weren’t close to done after a week! So we had Joel with us for two weeks. They accomplished so much in a very short amount of time. We could not have done it without Joel’s help and guidance. Thank you so much! It was really cool to see the father and son team in action :-)

Here are a few shots from the progress. Hopefully the next post will show a completed bathroom. We are actually really close. The walls are up and painted, the floor is installed and the fixtures are back in place. The washer is now fully functioning- Yay! We still need to affix the toilet, put the finishing touches on the vanity, install and find the vanity light and mirror. After that we need to get the custom cabinets made for the laundry area. Then we’ll be done!

We still have some other projects going on as well. The nursery is still not together. Todd has to measure, cut and install the moulding. I still need to paint the moulding. I’ve started washing all her clothes and getting all of the wonderful shower gifts put away. It’s all happening- slowly but surely.

Todd and I feel like we’ve been at Kaiser constantly! They have so many classes… last Thursday we took our first installment of the newborn care class, then Friday morning we had the meet and greet the labor and delivery staff, that was a very informative session where you got to ask all sorts of questions. That was definitely helpful. Then Sunday we had our labor and delivery class- which we got stood up on! I hope they come through better when it’s show time. So we rescheduled for the 18th- let’s hope little miss decides to stay put that long. Last night we had our hospital tour- which was kind of a weird experience. It’s odd to think that the next time you are in this room or on this floor- you are going to be having A BABY! It was good to see though and also very helpful. Today we have our last ultrasound to make sure the baby is in the correct position (which I’m pretty sure she is) and to do my Group B Strep test. After this appointment, I’ll start going weekly. Time has flown. Tonight we have our second installment of the newborn care class.

My last day at work was Friday, May 2nd. I’m very fortunate that my work has such a great policy. All were very sweet and we went to lunch to celebrate. I’m very happy to not be working and in the 3 days I’ve had off so far, I haven’t been bored once and I’m really shocked at how fast the days go by. There is so much to get done at home- I can’t believe I used to go to work and take care of things at home. It is a relief to not have to wake up and get to work everyday and then sit all day long. It was getting quite uncomfortable. The baby has now decided to move down to my lower areas and I can’t say it’s my favorite position for her.

Well I think that’s plenty of update this time- sorry it’s so long- but lots has happened. Take care- hugs, Todd, Becky and baby

W e had our first baby shower this weekend hosted by my Mom (and Charlie) and my sister. THANK YOU!!!

It was a wonderful gathering with many friends and family in attendance. The food was great and everyone was in happy spirits. As luck would have it, it was one of the hottest weekends yet this year, so we were all looking for a little reprieve (see picture below of Todd and Elijah in the kiddie pool!) The gathering was very special to Todd and me. We were so happy to see so many lovely folks show up to share their well wishes with us. This is going to be one special baby to have so many wonderful people in her life. Thank you everyone for the thoughtful gifts and company.

I had my doctors appointments last Thursday and everything is going just as it should. My next OB appointment will be May 8th and they will do another ultrasound to make sure the baby is in the correct position and do my Step B test. After that, I’ll start going to the doctor’s every 2 weeks, then every week. I also went to the neurologist to check out my little vision problems. He said, well the good news is that I’m neurologically in tact. (I thought that was excellent news!) and the bad news was that they can’t give me any medications for what he calls optical or retinal migraines. I don’t mind much, since they don’t really hurt and they are just more or less annoying.

Todd has begun the demolition on the downstairs bathroom. It is almost down to the studs. We (or the plumber rather) has removed the old water heater and installed a tankless water heater on our storage shed. Now I’m just starting to get a little bit nervous, hoping that this will all work out like we have planned- we aren’t by any means experts and we definitely don’t want to be throwing money away.

Next week Todd’s mom and dad (Joan and Joel) will be coming out. Joan is coming out to attend my bay area baby shower – and to celebrate a birthday (HAPPY EARLY BIRTHDAY!!) and Joel is coming out to help Todd to figure out how to get this remodel finished.

I have also decided to leave work a bit earlier than I had planned. My work is okay with that. I now only have 2 weeks left!! I can’t believe it. I don’t know if I should be over-joyed, scared or feel bad for leaving! I’m sure I’ll get over it somehow- as there will be plenty to do.

More next time- Hugs and love- Becky, Todd and baby girl

O nly about 8 weeks left now! I cannot believe how fast time has gone. I know I promised a perhaps more fancy shirt and I thought this was a fancier shirt, until Steven said to me, is that the same picture as last time, and then Todd said, no, but the shirt is still blue…. Fine! I like blue! :-)

So let me fill you in on what’s been going on. Todd left for Australia and New Zealand to have a fun vacation with Steven on March 20th. He just got back home today!! I’m so happy to have him home. We’ve had a great day of catching up and even had time to squeeze in a movie. The pictures are spectacular and Todd can’t wait to take me and the baby back with him for a proper family vacation.

I had another doctor’s appointment on March 27th. The baby was measuring right on schedule and progressing just like she should. I had only been gaining a pound or two per month, but apparently this month… I made up for some lost time and they said I gained a whole 8 pounds! I was a bit shell shocked and vowed to stop eating ice cream every night and try to make sure I get in 2 good walks a week along with my regular yoga twice a week. I’m doing okay with it so far!

Something that hasn’t been so fun is that I’ve been having migraine-like events without the headaches. They think they are Ocular Migraines. I feel “off” for about 15 minutes then I get weird blind spots for about a half hour- then they turn to weird gray crystal spots and then it resolves and I’m left feeling a bit dingy. Then it all just goes back to normal. I had had a couple of these (one per week) so I called my doctor. They had me go into the ophthalmologist to have my eyes checked and yes all my nerves and retinas are okay. They also had me go into the OB to have the baby re-checked and she’s fine too. Since then, this has happened one more time and they are just becoming the way it is for me. Very strange. My next doctor’s appointment is April 17, where they have also scheduled me to see the neurologist, just to be sure.

I have started painting the nursery and got one coat up and then my back started ACHING… so I think Todd will have to finish that up now that he is back :)

We are very excited to be having our first baby shower in Los Angeles this next weekend hosted very generously by my mom and sister. This will be a couple’s shower and so fun to see every one and see all the wonderful baby goodies. I cannot wait to oooh and ahhh. Our second shower isn’t until a couple of weeks after that in good ol’ Oakland thrown by my very good friend Angie. Todd’s mom will make the long trip out to attend along with some other family members. We are so lucky to have fabulous family and friends! I will be sure to post pictures of both events.

We have a lot going on. This week Todd needs to start tearing up our bathroom to make way for the remodel (along with finishing up painting the baby’s room). Todd’s dad is very kindly coming out when the bay shower is to help Todd along with the bathroom remodel. We are very grateful to Todd’s dad for sharing the knowledge and really helping out (read – really being the guy that knows what the heck is going on!) It’s very cool to see Todd and Joel going at projects together :-)

So finally… we still cannot choose a name… it is so darn hard. That being said, if you are so inclined here is a website where you can vote on names that have crossed our minds. We may choose one of these, we may not. If you have a super favorite, let us know. If you super hate one… don’t tell us… we just might pick it!