We have a baby!

Yep, a bit late. Obviously I don't update here very often anymore and spend all of my blogging time on our baby girl's blog now. I had a scary and eventful pregnancy from 20 weeks on. We got a call a few days after the anatomy scan that my cervix looked short and on a follow up visit I was booked for an emergency double cerclage surgery. I was on full bed rest for almost 17 weeks!  Then sky high blood pressure lead to a 3 week early induction and now we're parents! The induction went awesome and the Cervadil did great! Didn't even need Pitocin...I'm sure due to my crappy cervix. Finley Lynn was born on May 24th.

Not saying that I plan to start updating a ton on here but figured this was too big to not share ;) So yeah, we have a three month old and she's the light of our lives and best thing ever. I mentioned before but here's the link to the blog about her again.

and here's some photos of our little love.

Birth...

5 Days old...

3 months old...

Well that's all for now folks. Gotta go be productive while little Miss is napping!

How I've been winning free stuff!

I realize I've been neglecting my blog a bit lately. I'm still on bed rest. Baby Finley is doing great. Just hit the 3rd trimester. The link to Finley's blog is in the prior post if you want to check out updates.

I just wanted to share with you all how I've been earning free Amazon gift cards lately. I earned one within a week of joining the site this week. I choose to get the Amazon.com gift cards because I am stocking up on baby stuff but you can use them to get lots of other free things and gift cards in their store.

It takes a little time to figure out the different ways to earn points by trial and error. I figure if I get one $5 Amazon card a week or so, that ain't bad. $20 a month adds up!


Here's how it works...



First follow the clicky above and join. Start earning points and use them towards your free Swag!

Some ways to earn Swag Bucks...

Use their search engine to search.  Also, type in addresses to sites you want to go to when checking your e-mail etc. They add up pretty fast like this is you do it on a regular basis. Installing the toolbar has helped me to use it all the time and you get a point a day for having it installed.

Get codes-Join and subscribe to email alerts from here. My email comes to my cell. When a Swag code is available it will usually send to you if you are subscribed to that thread. Just hurry before it expires.

Watch the daily video (if there is one that day) and do the daily poll... in the drop down window. You can sometimes watch several videos from the main screen too. I've gotten points from watching videos over and over...

Click (skip/next offer) through the NOBO daily. -2 pts

Click into trusted surveys from the drop down. You get one daily point just for clicking into it. Also do the surveys. It can be a pain being eligible at times. Look for higher percentages of eligibility...ones that aren't too hard to qualify for. Above 70% eligibility is what I look for. I hate starting a survey, doing it for 5 minutes and being told I'm ineligible. This is why I only stick with the higher % ones.

Do easier tasks. Finding the okay ones are through trial and error.

You may want to create a junk e-mail acct for doing offers and surveys.

Special offers. These are in the drop down menu too.. (Gambit, Tapjoy etc.) Some of the 30+ points ones don't take much time at all. Some are completely time eaters and not worth it. You can figure that out by trial and error also. Some of them have videos mixed in there that will get you 2pts for watching as well.

It really just takes logging in every day, seaching and doing the main things + a few special offers to start stacking up Swag Bucks.

Referrals! - when they earn bucks through search you are matched with the same amount of points!

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Just wanted to share some of the wealth. If you have any questions feel free to ask. I'm still learning the in's and out's too.

New Baby Blog: Follow me!

Some big baby/pregnancy updates. Lots has happened. I started Finley her very own blog to document our familys journeys with her along the way. Click here to check it out and be sure to become a follower ;)

To have her story from the very beginning I've back posted some of the ones already on this blog and post dated them while also adding new updates already.

Baby Updates! Anatomy Scan

As you may already know (from two posts prior) we found out that our little one is a girl and named her Finley. This past Wednesday the 19th we went for our anatomy scan to make sure everything is growing well in there.

I have been feeling her kick for a few weeks now, sometimes it seems like shes trying to jump out. I can even see it sometimes and Joe has felt her too.

Here are some of her pictures.

all looked good and I could feel her moving during the scan. In fact shes moving right now! Lol. She's a very active baby.

She looked nice and comfy in there and kept posing with her little hand under her chin...just like the picture up above :)

I wanted to wait and see her when she arrives but her daddy was not having that and said that he 100% wants to do the 3d/4d scan. We'll let him have his way. Not sure when we will do that yet.

Here are some other things I've bought for her lately.

This headband is for her to wear in her naked butt, sleeping newborn pictures we plan to have taken.

Her very first onesie.

I also ordered the crib today. The bedding came in a week or two ago along with the nursery chandelier. Grandma (my Mom) and I plan to paint the nursery by the end of next month.

Here is the crib I ordered today. It should be here in about a week.

and the bedding set we have. It came from Overstock.com. FYI: We will NOT be painting the walls that color. lol

and last but not least. The Chandelier.

It's a start. I'm taking it all little but little. Glad to have started so that I am able to take my time like this. I realize this post is jam packed. Guess that's what happend when I take so long to post!

I hope all is going great for everyone and the new year has been good to you so far! Until next time!

Mac Product Rave!

Hello! I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas! We hosted and spent the day with family. It was a great time.

Anyways, My Mom and I made a Mac trip the other day. I had to get some loose powder and studio Tech. I also got a new shadow and 4 pot shadow palette since I've bad three shadows break in my big (15 pot) palette recently. I need to take it easy with that one and not carry it it my purse anymore. I think it just got banged around too much. The four palette will be better to fit in my makeup bag with more cushion to avoid shadows cracking. Here is my new color.

Amber lights (it's a shimmer color)

I paired it in the palette with Nylon, Saddle and a darker brown...cannot recall the name right now.

My mom also got a whole new stock of makeup too... Saddle shadow to be used as a powder brow liner along with an application brush, loose powder, studio tech, expensive pink shadow pot, a four shadow palette for her pots, and a blush.

Okay, to the point of the post!
How did I not know about this stuff???!

One use and I am hooked. I will be a forever user. Best brow color ever. The tip is so fine that there is literally no messing up with it. The color is perfect for me (Fling, the lightest one). It lasts ALL day and does not smudge. It's a roll up, so no sharpening. I much prefer it now over a regular eye pencil or a brush and powder annnnd it's only $15 (original price before pro discount). If you have never tried this brow product, do it!

I also want to add that I now adore the Studio Tech too. I've used Mac pressed powder in the past and been just ehhh with it but I think I found my product in the Tech. Goes on just thick enough but not cakey.

Hope everyone in the blogging world is doing great. I am trying my hardest to not be so MIA. I've been doing some baby shopping so I will be sure and post that fun stuff in my next entry. Bye for now!

It's a ...... !

So many updates!

Okay first I will start with or NT Scan. All went well and the baby was even measuring a litttle bit ahead of what the doctor had dated us. Guess I gained some of my days back and am closer than I thought to the actual date I thought was correct in the beginning. We'll see at my next Dr appt if she wants to change the due date according to the measurement at the NT scan or still just keep it the same. The NT measurement looked good at 1.5. We were told we would get the results in a few days. Here are some phtots from the scan.

It was so cool at the scan because the baby was moving around and sticking out those lips making little fish lips. lol

Fast forward three days. We get a call from our nurse who is also a friend that the Genetics Center had called her with our results for the Gender Scan! I wouldn't let her tell me until I got Joe on the other phone and put her on speaker.

It's a GIRL!!!

I am so so happy.

I was so convinced that she was a boy that when our nurse friend said "girl" I was like, "what a girl?"

I would have been soo happy either way but only plan on two total (God willing) and knew that I had to have my Girl at some point in time. This will be the first girl in our family in 15 yrs and the first Great Grandaughter.

I was at work upstairs when we got the news and I actually screamed with joy and jumped up. Everyone downstairs thought that I had fallen! lol

More news. She now has a name.

Our scan results came out yesterday. They were great stats and we are very happy with them.

Chance of downs is only 1 in 3000 and chance of Trisomy 18 & 13 are LESS THAN 1 in 10,000. This was such wonderful news to get. Relief.

Since we were able to find out so early by the blood test with our NT scan mentioned here the next 6 months are going to drag. I'm guessing our next ultrasound will not be until 20 weeks, I may be wrong though.

I also wanted to post a picture of the house Christmas Lights that I mentioned putting up in the previous post. Note to anyone out there... Blow up decorations are a pain. Notice you see no inflatable snowman in these photos. That is because he was returned. With a little wind that thing was doing the lean back dance. I couldn't deal with that all month and tore him down. lol. Joe seems to think the wider ones that aren't so tall would cooperate better in the wind. Who knows.

and my tree :)

Have a great weekend everyone!

Updates

I hope that everyone had a great Thanksgiving. Ours was pretty low key. Joe's Birthday was on Thanksgiving and he had to work. We ate over at my parents and were able to do the feast earlier in the day so that he could eat with us. It was actually nice having everything done and cleaned up earlier in the day this year. My Mom and I made a visit to Garden Ridge where I got all the outside lights and decor for our house. Since this is the first year in the new house we needed everything. I got some inside decor as well. My Mom even got us the cutest ceramic snowman and some pretty festive place mats for the dining table setting. All the inside stuff is up besides the table runner for the coffee table that I still need to find (didn't like any of the Garden Ridge ones)

We also decide to do a little Black Friday shopping. Nothing too early though, I'm not that hardcore. Even starting out at nine a.m I was able to score a great deal on a Pre lit LED tree at the Home Depot. We then headed to the mall, crowds weren't bad. I think all the die hards were already gone by 10:30 when we got there. Since it was raining pretty bad that may have helped too. We scored the Victoria Secret gift bags with $60 purchase even that late in the day after a 25 minute wait in the line. VS had to be the most packed store in the entire mall. The gift bags are a pretty hot pink with a Love Spell lotion, Dream Angels spray and a full size lip gloss. Mom and I Christmas shopped a bit but mainly for ourselves. No fretting though, the stuff is going under the tree! ;) Joe and my dad are so hard to shop for! We decided we'd contemplate for a bit longer to try and figure out what to get for them. We were able to score a few of their gifts though. We then headed to lunch and the Western Store where my Mom got my Dad some really nice boots. All in all it was a good day of shopping and we enjoyed ourselves.

Now baby updates. I am 12 weeks today! We had our Monthly visit on Wednesday. I invited my Mom to come with me this time. It was neat because it was the first time we were actually able to hear the Heartbeat on the Doppler. Heartbeat was 170. It was so funny because once the Dr. found the HB she lost it almost right away. She said "baby moved away". Guess S/He didn't like being poked at! She quickly found it again. I was all smiles. I was a little concerned because my headaches had decreased quite a bit and I've been feeling much better than before. Everything turned out well though.

Next visit is this Monday for the NT Scan. I am excited to see a baby on the ultrasound rather than just a little peanut blob. Our last ultrasound was when I was barely 8 weeks. As I mentioned in the prior post we will be having the blood test done to determine baby's gender and should have the results within a week of Monday. I cannot wait to find out!

As far as showing...sometimes I feel "not as flat in the stomach as I used to" but I really am convinced that I will be one of those late showers. Or so everyone tells me. Don't ya love the un-solicited advice. I've taken one picture at about 10 weeks and really should take another. Once I get a few and actually feel like there is enough to show I will post them on here.

I'll post more updates soon on the NT Scan and the Christmas lights outside! Joe is putting them up tomorrow. I hope everyone is having a great Weekend so far!

Awaiting the stork!

Surprise!

I wasn't going to share until we got the okay. On our first prenatal appointment two weeks ago I thought I was a little farther along that I really am. When the doctor was not able to find a heartbeat (just a sac and yolk) we were alarmed and told to get blood work done and come back in a week for another ultrasound.

Fast forward a (stressful) week and some not so promising hormone levels that didn't rise as much as they should have...there was a baby and a heartbeat, measuring 6 weeks and 2 days! Our doctor ordered more level checks/blood work. The next levels didn't quite double but were promising. They went from 17000 to 43000 is four days. She scheduled us for yet another ultrasound a week later.

Today was that third ultrasound that revealed a growing baby measuring at 7 weeks 4 days. With a great little heartbeat and we even gained two days! Our doctor was very happy and said that she's going to quit worrying about me now and that I obviously just ovulated/conceived a little later than originally thought.

Our due date is set for June 11, 2011 for the time being. I am hopeful that everything continues to say on track and go well.

In four weeks we are scheduled for the NT/Genetics testing and are so fortunate to live in Houston where  the Center for Genetics Testing is located. They offer the gender test as an option along with the other tests. We will for sure opt to do the gender test which is said to be 98% accurate. I cannot believe we will be able to find out the sex in just four weeks (12 weeks pregnant). I hope that all of the other testing goes well and there is no cause for alarm. The next four weeks are going to drag. Hubs has gone to all of my appointments with me up until this point. I asked my mom if she would like to come along for the next one. I'm excited for her to get to see the little heartbeat too :)

There the beans are spilled! I'll update soon hopefully and try to not be such a stranger to my own blog.

I love Halloween time

This is the best season. This morning it was 49 degrees when I woke up. In Texas! That is the coldest so far this year. If it stays like this thats A okay with me. Of course this afternoon it was back in the 80's.

Anyways, I've never made one of these but hubs always talks about making then as a kid. The other day our niece was over so they got to work. The result...

It looks like it has a shrunken head. lol. This thing actually makes me jump when I open the door because I forget that he is there. It's pretty cool. Notice the Crocs.

Some of our other decor. I might or might not have put this stuff a week prior to October first :x

This year Joe most likely has to work so our niece and nephew will come over to Trick or Treat in our neighborhood since they live out in the country and then we will pass out candy. I am excited since it will be out first Halloween in the new house.

Current Wants

I know I've been neglecting and I think I am going to work on getting back on it. It always seems as the seasons change my list of wants starts to grow. Here are a few of my current wants.

I have added trese Vans slip on's to my Christmas list. Yes, I already have one. I think they are cute, casual and will go with lots of just bumming around casual items here in Texas during our cold season. I normally wear cute dressier flats and flat boots during the fall/winter seasons so these are a little out of the norm for me, which I like.

I want these Louboutin's bad but I am for sure not going to buy them for my self and I know hubs would never ever agree to spend that amount of money on shoes. To be honest, as much as I want them I couldn't even justify spending that chunk of change on them either. So, I will continue to admire...



This I will get. Unlike shoes, I can completely justify spending $$ on a purse. Guess I am just more of a purse girl than a shoe girl. I plan on buying it for myself in a few months. I have the Speedy 30 shown below in the Monogram canvas already so I want this above Neverfull (in the MM size) in the Damier Ebene canvas. Since my current LV has a arm strap I will like the change of also having a shoulder strap on this new one and also that the strap will be darn brown vs. the current tan on my Speedy, which stains pretty easily.



I know it isn't fashion related but I also really want a new vacuum. Not sure which one yet. Mine has been acting funky lately so I think it is time.

Do you think seasons changing makes your want list grow too? Anything you have been totally eyeing lately?

I'll leave you with some pics from our Florida trip earlier this month as promised in my previous post. We had a great time. As some of you know I am from Florida. I moved to Texas during high school.

we rode this! It was at Universal Studios.

Godniece and I out on the boat.







This is my Godmother (Meme). We were on Cocoa Beach during the Intl. Surf Competition. Good Timing.

Thats all for now. Hope you all had a great weekend. Mine was full of last minute plans but turned out nice. Finished it off with an afternoon at my parents house :)