2014 in Review

What a year! Here are some highlights:

• Natalie:
• Turned the big 3-0 in January
• Completed her second half marathon in February
• Sold her Neon and bought a new "mom car"
• Mitch:
• Climbed Long's Peak with his brother! 
• Got his CrossFit Level 1 certification
• Started coaching 3x a week at OSFX
• Completed first Tough Mudder - and enjoyed it?!
• Lots of friends had babies: Emily, Brittany, Kristin, Aimee, Megan, and soon Sara!
• Lots of trips!
• Florida in January
• Colorado in February
• Camping at Enchanted Rock in May
• CrossFit Regionals in San Antonio and Texas Hill Country Wineries in May
• Mexico in July
• Colorado in August
• Work:
• Boeing won the largest portion of the Commercial Crew contract
• Weddings: 
• Dylan and Mary in January
• Dan and Rachel in August
• Books read:
• Dude, You're Gonna be a Dad
• Classic Christianity
• Sequencing
• Womanly Art of Breastfeeding
• Your Pregnancy Week by Week
• Excellent Wife
• Cherish the First 6 Weeks
• Baby Preparation:
• Transformed the "junk room" into a nursery
• Completed Lamaze Class
• Completed all the pre-baby scrapbooks and photo albums
• Wonderful baby showers from church friends, work, and gym

Of course, the biggest highlight of them all was meeting our daughter last month. Our lives will never be the same! Merry Christmas and Happy 2015!

Dedicated to Elissa Claire

The other night I was listening to the Pandora "Lullaby" station while putting Elissa to bed, and this song came on. When I heard it, the tears just started flowing and we listened to it over and over. This is now our bedtime song. 

Elissa, this is for you, my sweet girl. Mommy loves you.

When the rain is blowin' in your face

And the whole world is on your case

I would offer you a warm embrace

To make you feel my love

Evenin' shadows and the stars appear

And there's no one to dry your tears

I could hold you for a million years

To make you feel my love

I know you haven't made your mind up yet

But I would never do you wrong

I've known it from the moment that we met

There's no doubt in my mind where you belong

I'd go hungry, I'd go blind for you

I'd go crawlin' down the aisle for you

There ain't nothin' that I wouldn't do

To make you feel my love

Storms are ragin' on a rolling sea

Down the highway of regret

The winds of change are blowin' wild and free

But you ain't seen nothin' like me yet

There ain't nothin' I, I wouldn't do

Go to the ends of the earth for you

Make you happy, make your dreams come true

To make you feel my love

Surprise Baby Shower

Today was the BEST day! 

I wasn't going to go to the gym this morning because I was really discouraged earlier this week with how difficult it is becoming to keep up with my friends at our gym. I asked Mitch what we were going to do today (since he is the coach now and he gets to decide), but he wouldn't tell me specifics. He just said "we're doing all your favorite moves!" And I was like yeah right.... but I decided to go anyway and just give it a try. 

We pulled up and I saw that the pavilion by our gym was being set up with a "baby shower" sign, but I didn't think anything of it.... at all. Talk about baby brain. 

So we get inside and I saw that Mitch had already written the workout on the board the night before. It was "The Nat" which is a workout that I programmed back in April when we were all taking turns making up our own workout. So I was pleased just because they chose to do my workout again. It's all things that I like to do. Although, I wasn't pregnant at the time, so we had to modify some things. 

THEN....Mitch pulled Saran Wrap out of his bag.... I was like "no way! we're going to do that?!?!" I had seen a video a while back where a gym had the non-pregnant people wrap medicine balls to their tummies to simulate being pregnant in solidarity with the ladies in the group who were pregnant. I thought that was really cute and would be a fun thing to do sometime, so I had mentioned it but decided to just let it go because I figured that would be kinda mean to make them all do it. But that's exactly what they all did. My whole gym strapped 8lb to 25lb medicine balls to their tummies and we did "The Nat" together. I was cracking up the whole time. Couldn't stop smiling. Couldn't believe they were actually doing this for me.  

And there was MORE! After they completed a grueling 2000m row and a 30 minute workout, we went out to the pavilion and it turned out that the baby shower that was being set up earlier was for ME! I still can't believe they did all this. So they put pink tablecloths on the 4 tables out there, hung streamers and a sign with hand-made flowers. They brought a watermelon cut like a baby carriage, pink popcorn that had little tags with poems written for baby, bundt cakes with little hand-made tutus, bottled water with custom labels, and of course chocolate milk - the ultimate recovery drink. They also brought gifts! Some warm clothes, socks, headbands, books, blankets, and a bottle of wine for later. :) 

I'm so grateful for this supportive group of friends. They've been so encouraging the whole time. Now I feel like I have the motivation I needed to keep working out the next 3 weeks - or however long - until she comes. I love you, OSFX! 

35-36 Weeks

Time it takes to walk up 4 flights of stairs at work: Mostly using the elevator now, but I can do it in 52 seconds (5 seconds slower than baseline)
Stretch marks? Nope
Sleep: Loved that extra hour we got this weekend!
Best moments this week: 

• Unexpected baby gifts from family 
• Helped Mitch with his bio for the coach page on our gym's website
• Dinner/pedis with bestie while Mitch had his "man shower" 
• 8th Annual Halloween at the Rosson's!

Movement: She moves a lot! 
Labor Signs: Nothing
Symptoms: Just the heartburn. And now my knees are telling me that I'm too heavy. 
Looking forward to: Showering this baby girl with love. This is a great blog post from one of our local radio personalities who had a daughter a few years ago now. I've always loved this post and it captures the type of mom I hope to be, too.

Waking up her sleepy head before dawn, filling a thermos with hot coffee and heading on a beautiful morning hike together, talking or just hiking in silence. Splurging for a massive bouquet of flowers after her dance recital, singling her out from the other kids and celebrating when she accomplished something amazing at school, listening to a song we both know by heart in the car and singing at the top of our lungs, asking her what she thinks about politics and allowing her to have her own opinion, creating an environment with no inhibitions to keep her from dancing wildly to her favorite music, chic flicks with popcorn together on a rainy afternoon, talks till 3 a.m. about why he broke up with her (loser), stopping for lunch together after shopping for a prom dress, and girl trips here and there to visit places and people we love.

These are the things I daydream about with her. I don't want to miss a moment. And I want her to know how celebrated she truly is.

God, give me everything I need to be the mom she needs and deserves.

Worst that happened this week: I'm a project manager for International Space Station, and some of the hardware that I built was on the Orbital rocket that exploded on Tuesday. I'm very sad that happened because a lot of time and hard work went into those projects, but NASA is in the process of determining what to rebuild. It looks like both of my items will be rebuilt in the near future. Also sad for the people who work at Orbital - this is a very tough thing to happen but I know they will find the cause, fix it, and learn from it. 

This week's accomplishments: 

Week 35: Hanging the shelves and pictures in the nursery. It's pretty much done now! Just needs a nightstand or little bookshelf near the gliding chair.

Week 36: Mitch's first Tough Mudder!

Next on the to do list: Pack the hospital bag and pray she comes early rather than late!

34 Weeks

I can still: Do pullups, row, lift, squat.
Maternity clothes? Haven't bought anything new in a while. Going to try to make it work up until the end. Finally learned to buy clothes bigger than what I need at the moment.
Stretch marks? Still none!
Sleep: Little more difficult
Best moments this week: 
Woke up 2 mornings in a row to temperatures in the 50s.... that called for baking some pumpkin cupcakes! 

Mitch went to the CrossFit Level 1 certification class at CrossFit EADO this weekend. He was all smiles! When he got back after day 1, he said "I think I need to switch careers." He signed a 6-month contract to teach at our gym. This is one happy guy!

CrossFit onesie from our former coach

(a pood is a unit of measure for kettlebells = 36 pounds)

Miss Anything? Good wine. We watched two really good documentaries about wine-making on Netflix this week: "A Year in Burgundy" and "Red Obsession."
Movement: There's a big baby in there!
Food cravings: Nothing weird. I'm kind of disappointed.
Labor Signs: None
Symptoms: Heartburn and trouble sleeping
Currently reading: Not spending much time reading right now because I'm trying to finish all the things that require me to move around before I get too big. I'm guessing that the last 2-3 weeks I'll be spending more time on the couch to read.
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy and excited
Looking forward to: Pedicures with Amber on Friday!

Best advice I got this week: Don't wear your glasses in any pictures at the hospital because no matter how cute and in-style they are right now, in 20 years they won't be. :)
This week's accomplishments: Put all the gifts away, washed baby's clothes and blankets, rearranged the nursery, finished buying all the essentials.

Before

After

Cutest load of laundry

So adorable

Next on the to do list: Find a nightstand, hang some shelves, and buy a pack 'n play.

32-33 Weeks

Time it takes to walk up 4 flights of stairs at work: 49 seconds (only 2 seconds slower than at 21 weeks!)
Stretch marks: Nope
Sleep: A rough night here or there, but overall I'm still getting 8+ hours of sleep a night.
Best moment this week: 
Week 32: I had one of the craziest days I've ever had at work. Everything was due at the same time, everyone needed something from me ASAP, I was fighting fires left and right, and then I missed our cutoff to leave for the gym so Mitch had to leave without me. I was so bummed. And then my neighboring cube-mate said "Natalie, I brought something for you, can you come to my car?" So we had a nice little chat on the walk out to the parking deck, and then she handed me two gigantic gift bags of baby gear! She gave me the Boppy pillow, some newborn onesies, pacifier, teether, and two blankets! So sweet and it really brightened my day!

Week 33: Baby Shower! Two of my friends hosted the cutest baby shower ever. We had quite the spread - mimosas (not for me!), coffee punch, pigs in a blanket, baked brie, quiche, muffins, pumpkin cupcakes, and yogurt parfait waffle cones (genius!). I loved that all the shower decorations were gifts for me to use in the nursery. It was so great to spend time with my dear friends. 

Movement: Hiccups!! So cute, oh my gosh. They are so tiny. She has hiccups at least once a day. 
Symptoms: Probably my least favorite symptom is heartburn/indigestion
Wedding rings on or off? Off 
Currently reading: So proud of Mitch - he picked up "Mayo Guide to the First Year" off my nightstand and read the whole thing in about a week. Beat me to it! 
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy with random moments when I could cry at the drop of a hat.
Looking forward to: Seeing if her eyes will be brown like mine or blue like Mitch's. He votes for blue.

This week's accomplishments: I've been scrapbooking up a storm the last couple weeks. I finished the books for high school, college, study abroad 2006, Ukraine mission trips, wedding, honeymoon, and Italy trip. I decided that it's now or never!

Next on the to do list: Finish getting all the essentials next weekend while Mitch is getting his CrossFit Level 1 certification! 

31 Weeks - 9 to go!

Maternity clothes: Bought some XXL workout shorts at Target...crazy! Thanks for the gift card, Aimee! 
Stretch marks: Nope!
Sleep: Has been pretty good this week. Can't complain. 
Best moment this week: Picking out sheets for her crib! 

Another special moment this week: Mitch and I attended our last two pre-baby ballets this month. On Sept 6 we saw Midsummer Night's Dream. I loved it! On Sept 20 we saw "From Houston to the World" which was a compilation of 3 pieces. The second piece, Murmuration, was one of the best we've ever seen. There are a couple clips on Houston Ballet's YouTube page. We have been going to the ballet together since 2008. It's just one of the sweet things he does for me. We'll still go to the ballet after baby, but not without a baby sitter. We'll have to start buying a third ticket down the road! 

2008:

2014:

Movement: She moves all the time! I love it! Mitch loves to play with her. If he feels a foot he taps it gently and she moves. Then if she hides her foot he pokes somewhere else until she puts it back out. It makes us both laugh. Baby feet are the best!
Food cravings: We never drink soda, but this week I was craving root beer so I had one at Rudy's BBQ - it was so good!
Wedding rings on or off: Off .... sad face
Currently reading: Mayo Clinic Guide to Your Baby's First Year 

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy
Looking forward to: Baby shower in 2 weeks! 

Most annoying thing that happened this week: Growing out of the jeans that I thought would last the whole pregnancy. 

Best/worst advice I got this week: Take turns getting a full night sleep so that it's not always one person who is sleep deprived. 
This week's accomplishments: Finished baby classes! We really loved the nurses who taught the classes. We learned a lot. I highly recommend the Cradle Club classes at Clear Lake Regional if you're in the area. We did the 4-week childbirth class plus an all-day nursing and baby care class. I feel so much more informed about all those things now. I especially loved the hospital tour. Seeing the actual Labor & Delivery rooms made it a lot less scary. Those rooms have all been remodeled this year and are very nice! I love that CLRMC is a Texas Ten Step hospital so they focus on ensuring the best bonding experience for mom and baby. Just to name a few things...they let you hold your baby skin-to-skin for an hour after birth, they encourage rooming in for the night, and they encourage breastfeeding and provide ample resources available to help with that. 
Next on the to do list: We need to settle on her name!

Doing CrossFit while Pregnant

Disclaimer: I am not a doctor, so don't take this as medical advice! I just wanted to share some resources I've found if you want to keep doing CrossFit during your pregnancy. You should obviously make sure to check with your doctor.

Our gym has a CrossFit certified instructor, but it is not an affiliate. It's not "real" CrossFit, but we do "constantly varied, high intensity, functional movements." Our gym's program is called "Outer Space Functional Training" or OSFX for short. We have classes on Mondays and Wednesdays at 4:30pm, Tuesdays and Thursdays at 6:30am and Saturdays at 8:30am. Mitch and I go 3 times a week. Mitch also adds in 2 other days a week because he is a rock star, and he is getting his CrossFit Level 1 certification next month! When I married him, I had no idea he'd become my personal trainer! 

I started doing OSFX 1 year ago today. I had been participating 3 times a week for about 6 months before I got pregnant, but I had been doing other workouts for years before that. I completed my second half-marathon one month before getting pregnant. High intensity workouts aren't something you should start when you become pregnant, but I was happy to learn that there are women who continue CrossFit during and after pregnancy. If you're considering continuing CrossFit while pregnant, here are some resources that I found helpful. 

I started by reading the CrossFit Journal post on the topic.

This site, crossfitmom.com, has a lot of helpful resources such as guidance for each trimester, scaled workouts, and substitute exercises. 

BirthFIT has a website, facebook, and instagram feed all with helpful info and inspiring pictures to keep you going.

I loved this article written by a mom who is a CrossFit coach and doula:

The majority of the women who have continued to do CrossFit throughout their pregnancy have had extremely short, relatively easy labors. Hands down. In all the births I've attended I've noticed CrossFit Moms having a great deal of stamina, mental focus and endurance, and with all the squats we do -- shorter pushing times. Oh and let's not forget recovery. CrossFit moms have shorter, easier recoveries. All of this can be attributed to exercise but let's not forget about diet. CrossFitters usually eat very clean, minimally processed, high quality diets. THIS MATTERS.

There is also a quote from the American Congress of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ACOG) website from the article above:

Twenty years ago, very little research was done on the effects of exercise on the pregnant woman and fetus. Therefore, doctors erred on the side of caution and recommended a sedentary lifestyle for pregnant women.

Now, numerous scientific studies have shown no correlation between moderate or even vigorous exercise and miscarriage or pregnancy-related complications. In fact, ACOG says if a woman is accustomed to vigorous exercise, she can continue to do it as long as she feels okay.

I also found some inspiring videos.

This one talks about modifications you can do: 

This girl rocked out pullups during her whole pregnancy!

And one more:

I immediately noticed a huge drop in my ability to do anything cardio when I became pregnant. I went from being a middle-of-the pack runner to being the slowest, by far. At first I wore a heart rate monitor to ensure that I stopped when my heart rate was getting too high. But eventually, I figured out I can just listen to my body and I know when to stop. I modify just about everything. Double unders became single unders. Box jumps became step ups. No more max lifts, but still enough to be a challenge. Instead of burpees, I do pushups on an elevated surface. Now that I'm in my third trimester, my belly gets in the way of the barbell so I use kettlebells instead. I used to be on the crew team in college, so rowing is one of my favorite parts of CrossFit. I can still row, I just can't go as hard as I used to and my knees stick way out instead of being inside my arms where they're supposed to be. At the end of a workout, though, I'm just happy that I completed it... no matter where my name falls on the board. 

Staying active and strong while pregnant has helped keep my blood pressure in the normal range, baby's growth and heart rate are perfect, my weight is right on track, my ankle swelling (from sitting 8 hours a day) goes away after I work out, and I am able to get better sleep on days when I work out. Labor and delivery is basically the hardest "WOD" (workout of the day) that I'll ever do, so my main motivation is to prepare mentally and physically for that. 

I hope that one day, my daughter and I will be doing this together... and since her daddy is into it too, I'd say it's a given. :-)

29 Weeks

Total weight gain: 27 pounds
Maternity clothes: Just got a bag full of clothes from my best friend!
Stretch marks: still none!
Sleep: Once I hit 29 weeks, it started to get more difficult to sleep. 
Best moment this week: Free breast pump - thanks ObamaCare! 
Movement: Really strong kicks now! She is the most active right before my bedtime. Still haven't definitively felt hiccups, but I can see the movement visibly from the outside. It's amazing!
Food cravings: Anything with buttermilk: pancakes, biscuits, ranch
Symptoms: My feet look like Miss Piggy's in heels:

Wedding rings on or off? On
Best advice I got this week: Read all the books, and then throw them all away.

This week's accomplishments: 

1. Got the glider/ottoman - first VarageSale purchase!
2. Visited daycares
3. Got the car seat
4. Got the mattress 
5. Completed Baby Care and Breastfeeding class

What's next on the to do list: crib sheets and decorations for the nursery

Funniest thing that happened this week: My team at work voted on the list of baby names. Many of them are acronyms of NASA boards that we support. The winner was Hailey Elise Bland (HEB) which is our grocery store's name. No, that's not going to be her real name. 

27 Weeks

Total weight gain: 20 lbs 
I can still: Paint my toenails (amazing, but true)
Maternity clothes: Going to have to start borrowing Mitch's gym clothes because mine are too small.
Stretch marks: Still none
Sleep: Still waking up a couple times per night
Best moments this week: 

1. Getting the crib and dresser! Pics below. 
2. Free swing and baby carrier from my boss! 
3. Lamaze class! We are taking the 4-week class every Tuesday this month. Walking inside the hospital was a really special moment. I was thinking, "wow, I'm really here, taking this class, with my sweetie." It's just something I always imagined doing someday, and now that day is here. The instructor is really fun. She is an RN and a mom of 2 girls. There were 10 couples in the class. We're all about the same age. Three of the others work for NASA as well! Three of us have the same doctor. For introductions, the spouses had to give all the stats about their wives (how many weeks, doctor's name, etc) so that was cute. Then the moms had to say how they told their husbands the news and what their main concern was. No one did anything creative to tell their hubbies, so I felt better. And almost everyone's main concern was c-section. It's comforting and reassuring to know that we're a normal couple. After the very informative class, the instructor talked about massage techniques and breathing. Then she turned out the lights and played Enya while our hubbies gave us a 20 min massage. It was so nice! I almost fell asleep. So Tuesday is now my favorite night of the week and I wish I would have signed up for 6 classes instead of just 4.

Miss Anything? Nope
Movement: Bigger, stronger
Food cravings: Nothing in particular
Symptoms: It sure is nice having a little fan at work because I'm always hot.
Belly Button in or out? So that's what the inside of my belly button looks like...
Wedding rings on or off? On
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy
Looking forward to: Visiting the two daycare options tomorrow with Mitch

Best advice I got this week: Coworker told me the only piece of advice he got that turned out to be good advice was if your baby is uncontrollably crying (too hungry to sleep and too tired to eat) turn on the vacuum and let it run. He said that it worked both times that happened. Baby was distracted enough by the noise to start eating and then go to sleep.

25 Weeks

Maternity clothes: So thankful that Sara let me borrow some jeans for Colorado!
Stretch marks: Not yet - this Shea Moisture stretch mark cream from Buy Buy Baby is working so far... but I have a long way to go.

Sleep: I keep waking up once in the middle of the night, but other than that it's good
Best moment this week: Colorado trip! More below.
Movement: Stronger kicks
Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope
Symptoms: Hiking in CO really kept the ankle swelling at bay.
Belly Button in or out? Out!
Wedding rings on or off? On
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy
Looking forward to: Taking baby girl backpacking in Colorado one day

This weekend we went to Colorado to visit Mitch's family. We had such a wonderful time! On the flight out we spent some time thinking about names. Still haven't selected, but we've got a few we like.

We went on 3 hikes. The first was a 1.5 hour hike at Alderfer / Three Sisters Park in Evergreen. It was a beautiful day and we made it back to the car just before the rain came.

The next hike was on the way to Rocky Mountain National Park. We stopped in Grand Lake at the East Inlet Trailhead and took a little walk. We saw a beautiful waterfall and again made it back to the car just before the rain. Rain in the mountains is pretty much my favorite thing.

Later we drove up Trail Ridge Road. Just spectacular up there.

The next day, Mitch and his brother summited Long's Peak! They started at 3:45am and summited at 9:30am. The trail is 14.5 miles, 5100 feet elevation gain, and the summit is at 14,255 feet. It's the tallest peak in RMNP. Mitch has attempted it twice before but couldn't beat the weather. This time, it was perfect. Congrats hubby!!

The next day, we did our last hike. It was a 6 mile round trip from Bear Lake trailhead to Jewel Lake. We hit the trail at noon after a delicious breakfast at Big Horn Restaurant. First we hiked an unimproved trail which was a lot of fun and got us away from the crowds. We ended up at Jewel Lake about 1:35pm and had our lunches (sandwiches made at the Big Horn). The water was incredibly clear, cool, and refreshing. We could see Long's Peak from our lunch spot. About an hour later, we started back down the trail. I turned on my GPS tracker for the return trip. 

I felt great on all the hikes. I was the slowest of the group, but it was still doable. I'm glad we went when I was only 25 weeks and not much later. This was baby girl's first trip to the Rockies and I hope that she loves them as much as we do!