Happy Birthday Grace!

It's little G's b-day today! She turns the big 4. I cannot believe that 4 years ago today we were in a hospital in Houston celebrating the arrival of my sister's beautiful baby girl.

Once I receive pictures of Grace's big birthday bash (30 kids showed up...she's on popular gal) from yesterday, I will post a few.

What the sugar will do to you...

Make your belly grow!


Here's an picture of Baby S and I today, at 32 weeks and 1 day. We are officially in our 8th month of pregnancy!

A couple notes from the last few weeks:

- My local starbucks barista (don't worry, I order decafs) thinks I am ready to pop! This morning she said "you've GOT to be due soon right???" I received the same comment from an old co-worker I ran into today as well. I'm not quite sure how to take these comments.

- Sandy licked my belly this weekend. She's SOOOO ready to be a big sister. Can we talk about how she's the best dog ever? Ok, I'll save it for another post.

- Jerry stepped on my belly this weekend. Needless to say, I am still a bit worried about his reaction to Mike's newest baby.

- Commute time on bart used to mean time for me to get some work done, listen to my pregnancy podcasts, catch up on my Us Weekly, write some baby shower thank you notes (yes, that's why the handwriting is messy) or read my latest book club book. Now bart = NAP! Like clockwork, two stops into my bart ride I am catching some zzzzzzs. This morning, my own snoring (which for the record I do not normally do) woke me up just in time for the Embarcadero station. This whole growing a life thing is really draining my energy.

- We had an amazing shower thrown for us in Colorado by my mother-in law, 2 sisters-in-law, and future sister-in-law. Lots of friends and family gathered to celebrate our little one and we could not have had a better time. There will be an entire post devoted to our Colorado shower shortly.

- I am on strict watch. Mike read my last blog post and is threatening to perform a detailed audit of our kitchen pantry and my office desk for any and all sweets I may have hidden from him or anyone else. He caught me in yet another lie this weekend regarding how many cookies I ate on Saturday, so he's on me like white on rice.

Confessions of a sugar-crazed pregnant woman

My name is Jamie. I am 31.5 weeks pregnant. I cannot go hours without sugar. I blame this on the pregnancy, specifically the third trimester. Like clockwork, the 28th week rolled around and all I could think about were cookies and ice cream. I knew my addiction was bad when I started attempting to hide my indulgences from those closest to me. But when I think about it...there's no reason to hide! I've done well on the weight gain for where I am in my pregnancy, I've eaten relatively well for the last 7 months, and I've only got two months to go. As Mike so eloquently put it "You've got less than 2 months left...all bets are off!"...it is times like these I am reminded why I married this wonderful man.

But in the spirit of being open and not feeling like I'm eating sugar in a dark closet where I'm sure no one will find me, I feel the need to confess (and make a few of you laugh). So here it goes!

1. I have had AT LEAST one cookie every afternoon for the last 2 weeks (maybe more). Notice the use of the phrase "at least".
2. Mike and I (mostly me) downed a bag of double stuffed oreos - dipped in milk of course - this weekend while catching up on our DVR'd episodes of The Biggest Loser. The irony alone is funny.
3. I bought Mike 6 chocolate covered strawberries and 2 chocolate covered oreos for Valentine's day. Mike had one oreo and 1 strawberry. The rest is gone. You do the math.
4. I just snuck out of work early today, forwarded my office phone to my cell phone, and rushed to Baskin Robbins for some ice cream...all in time to down it before Mike got home to see me.
5. We've gotten in the habit of making chocolate and strawberry milk as a treat before bedtime...but we vow to only do this on occasion during the week. We already had a few this week so while Mike was in the other room, I secretively made myself a chocolate milk, ran to the bedroom, and gulped it down before Mike could notice.
6. Mike gave me a bag of chocolates for Valentine's Day. I told him I was going to take them to the office so people would eat them there. Instead I kept them in my office for an entire day and snacked on them off and on throughout the day. My boss was in my office while we were on a conference call and I kept them under my desk and would slip one into my mouth when he wasn't looking....repeat 5 times.
7. After the conference call, I took said chocolates bag to the receptionist and told her to lay them out for others in the office and that under no circumstances was I allowed to have any more. She agreed. 30 minutes later I walked by her desk and noticed she had stepped away...so I stole 5 chocolates very quickly and rushed away before she could notice!
8. The other day, someone asked me about my pregnancy diet - was I eating healthy and did I have any big cravings. I told them no big cravings and I was eating pretty healthy and was proud of myself. 3 weeks ago this was a true statement. After reading #1 - 7, do you agree?

Let's Celebrate Baby S - Texas Style!

In January, my best friends through me the most fabulous baby shower ever! I feel so blessed to of been surrounded by so many friends and family during this special time. It meant so much to be able to see everyone and to celebrate our impending arrival...I just wish the shower could have lasted all day long so I had enough time to catch up with everyone.

Here are some highlights:

The food table...

Meredith and Jana...


Eileen and Karen...


Grace and her Granny Jessica...



What I was unaware of was that I was the entertainment for the shower! One of the "games" was I had to act out a bunch of movie titles, song titles, and sayings with the word "baby" in it. That was embarrassing and exhausting! But pretty hilarious for my guests to watch their pregnant friend acting out pop culture's biggest baby hits.

"Baby Got Back"...

"Hit Me Baby One More Time"...

And everyone trying to figure out what in the world I was acting out this time...

When it came to opening the gifts, Grace thought it would be most beneficial for me for her to spread her knowledge that she learned over Christmas. In other words, she wanted to help me open all of my gifts! She's such a doll. And who can turn her down? Not her nanny Jamie!

One of my best friends Eileen got Baby S a Dave Matthews Band onesie!!! She knows me so well... Do you think the baby knows DMB's songs by heart now? I listen to him enough... Maybe his first word will be "dancing" or "nancies" or "ants".

Another highlight was Baby S receiving his very first Texas team sportswear from Elizabeth!!!! GO AGGIES!!!!!!!!!! Can you tell how exciting I am??? After the voluminous amount of Denver Broncos stuff received, it was about time this baby was introduced to Texas football. I've got a LOT of work to do to even out the Colorado vs. Texas team outfits though.

Katie, Karen, and I....

My Houston A&M co-workers (I miss you ladies!)....


Mom and I....


My gorgeous shower hosts (minus Katie)...

Thank you to everyone who was able to make my shower in Houston...it was so great to see you there and I am honored that you were able to make it. Baby S was "showered" with so many great gifts so Mike and I cannot thank you enough. And thank you to my wonderful shower hosts...I know how much work went into the day and I just wanted to let you know how much I truly appreciate it. You are the best friends a girl can have. Love, Jamie

The gig is up

When my sister and I were young, we saw Santa peering through the window on Christmas Eve one year. I was a bit young to remember but my sister will never forget it.

So we tried to recreate the experience for Grace.

When Grace saw Santa through the window of the front door, she got really still, her face went blank, and she whispered ever so softly, "Santa....." It was a moment I know I will not forget.

So Santa comes in with gifts for all of us...the biggest one for Grace of course.

A Cinderella dress (I was SOOOO jealous!)

Grace soaked up all the attention...I mean, this was Santa! In her house! And he was bringing her some darn good gifts. But sadly, at some point Santa had to go. He gathered his things, said goodbye, and began walking about the door...to which Grace yelled...

"WHY IS GRANDPA SANTA???!!!???"

We all had mixed emotions. I mean, clearly, this girl is not stupid. But at the same time we were worried that we had ruined the next 5 years of Christmas magic!

No worries though b/c the next day at brunch, Grace ran right up to Santa to get a picture. Then she ran across the restaurant to Amy yelling "mommy, mommy, i just met Santa!!!!!!!"

We are on for next year.

Christmas in Houston

We headed straight from Illinois to Houston for a week of Christmas celebrations with the Martin clan. This was a REALLY exciting year b/c it was the first year that Grace was old enough to really appreciate Christmas and Santa visiting. Personally, Grace and I got along REALLY well b/c she's going through a serious princess stage...everything she wants revolves around princesses, pink, trying on princess dresses, and pretending she is a princess. My sister Amy thinks this is just a stage but considering I'm 31 and am still experiencing this so-called "stage", Amy and Andy have a lot of princess in their future.


Christmas morning!!!


Christmas morning consisted of Grace ripping open a present and a combination of Amy, Andy, Mike and / or, myself frantically trying to put together the gift as quick as possible. This repeated about 15 times until Grace had been through all of her presents. It was pretty exhausting but a lot of fun! There was a lot of scrambling between various toy parts, tools, directions, and batteries but eventually we got it all put together. Who would have known one blond princess would be so high maintenance? :)


Amy, Andy, and Cinderella...



Mike and I after a yummy Christmas brunch...

The Martin clan (Papa, mom, my brother Greg, me, Mike, Grace, my sister Amy, and brother-in-law Andy)...

The Holidays in lllinois

Every year since I can remember, my mom and I fly to St. Louis, rent a car, drive 3 hours to southern Illinois (specifically the booming metropolis of Eldorado), goof around with family, eat lots of carbs, eat lots of sugar, eat lots of butter, gain 5 pounds, fly a UFO, drive 3 hours back to St. Louis, and fly home...all in 3 days! We look forward to it every year! Well, for the second year in a row, Mike joined us (I think it was either the UFO or Aunt Donna Mae's desserts) for the madness.

Mike and I with my Grandma Opal...


Four generations (Grandma Opal, mom, me, and baby)...

Mom and I after overindulging ourselves on a combination of Aunt Donna Mae's 15 desserts...

Sometime after that, me - post nap...

Uncle Bill, me, and Baby Spruiell...

Mike and I cheating on Jerry with another border collie (Uncle Bill and Aunt Teresa's baby Chico)...

Does this picture look familiar to ANYONE else? Just substitute Mike for Uncle Bill and Jerry for Chico.

As for the highlight of the weekend, the UFO! So the story goes, when my Uncle Bill was younger, he built this UFO and let it fly around town. Well, some of the townspeople saw it, really thought it was a UFO, and it made the paper the next morning! There was even a quote in the paper by one man who swears he saw tiny aliens inside. Every year since, we have re-created the UFO. We spend the entire weekend analyzing the probability of the thing flying - between wind trajectories, temperature, materials, and other factors we cannot discuss (top secret family business) - it all comes down to the last night! Will it fly or not? Let me tell you, we've had some pretty good years! We've seen this thing fly so far we cannot see it anymore. On the flip side, we've had some really bad years - think burning UFO landing on top of Uncle Bill's roof. Either way, come hell or high water, we try to fly.

The UFO team members include Uncle Bill - founder and president, my cousin Clint, myself, and the newest member Mike! Mike was voted in this year after my family confirmed he is not a Russian spy selling our secrets - in fact his engineering background has proven to be a great asset! Other helpers include Clint's daughter Faith. The next generation of UFOers will include Faith, her now 9 month old brother Jaxson, and Baby Spruiell so we have been putting them through some pretty rigorous training.

Here are some pictures - there are no close-ups due to the preserving the family secrets in UFO building... :)