BooBooBaby

Newsflash!!! We've got a one month old!!!! 
(Actually, in full disclosure, I wrote this blog post at her one week mark. But of course, being a new parent and having a needy newborn, here we are a month later.)

Elizabeth Clara born on 10/31/14 at 12:54 PM
7 pounds and 5 ounces and 18.5 inches of absolute perfection.

And like that, one month has passed. When I look at her, I still can't believe she's ours. It's so unbelievably surreal. She's perfect in every inch of her body, and we're totally smitten. It's funny how things change once 'they're yours'. I remember telling Daniel before she was born that I didn't think I'd be able to change poopy diapers. A week later---I've been pooped on, peed on, thrown up on...and it hasn't fazed me in the least bit.

Every part of me wants to protect her with my life. It's so crazy, but thinking about the times in my past where I've had heart ache or have felt wronged in my life...I want to do everything that I can to keep her from going through those pains. AHH!! I'm staring at her right now while I blog and I'm melting everywhere. 

Our birth story isn't exactly the most epic. In fact, it was fairly calm and unsurprising for the most part. Elizabeth's due date was set for October 31st by my OBGYN. The last 9 months, though, I was absolutely convinced her due date was/is on October 19th since I knew the exact dates of conception. (It could've only been on 2 consecutive dates back at the end of January since Daniel and I only 'tried' twice, and we decided to wait after those couple of times so that we could take one last international trip before trying again. Sure enough---DTM's super swimmers did it those few times.) In any case, by the time we hit the month of October, I felt overly eager to have her out of me already. Notwithstanding the fact, that this felt like one of the most unbearably warm summers, by mid October, I truly believed she was starting to 'overcook' in my little oven. 

On October 30th, our baby still had not come, so Daniel and I tried to get some errands done for our house. We went to go pick up a range/hood when I started to feel some achy/sharp contractions. After about a good half hour of pains, we arrived on site of our construction zone of a house to meet with the cabinet guy. By this time the pain had subsided, so we continued with our day and met with our general contractor to go over some more detailed decisions about our project. Afterwards, Daniel and I went to go get some lunch and then went home to relax a little bit. This was the first time that actually sitting in the spa sounded comforting, so I changed into my swim suit and switched between the jacuzzi and sitting on our giant exercise ball throughout the afternoon. 

Spa selfie! (The calm before the storm)

The contractions had basically disappeared at this point, so I thought the morning aches were Braxton Hicks again. We headed over to the spectrum to walk around and grab some Cucina Enoteca happy hour afterwards to pass more time. 

Cucina's bruschetta with three kinds of toppings. So yum.

We had the intention of leaving McCrae at his daycare overnight in the instance that our baby decided to come, but since all the contractions had disappeared, I wanted him home with us, so we went back to go pick him up for the night. Sure enough, on the drive home from picking him up, I started to feel some pains again which I'm pretty sure Daniel was ready at this point to turn back around and leave McCrae back at the daycare. (Ha!) We got home and decided to call it an early night and headed to sleep. At 11 PM I woke to some pains again. They were more noticeable this time but still about 20-30 minutes between the next contraction, so I ignored them and tried to sleep through them. Come 3 AM----the 'witching hour' for a lot of pregnant women...and funny it's called that since it was technically Halloween---I awoke to the gnarliest contraction EVER. I swear it was about 3 minutes long, and my whole body curled up in so much angry, ferocious stabbing pain that I knew this had to be a real contraction this time. I woke Daniel up and we started timing them. 3-5 minutes apart, 5 contractions later and we knew it was time to bolt to the hospital. 

We checked in and the nurse asked that I hand over a urine sample. (Okay, seriously...when I'm contracting every couple of minutes...asking someone to pee in a cup is SUPER cruel. I'm pretty sure that urine cup ended up sitting on a table in the room thereafter anyways!) The RN said I was at 3.5 cm and that if I didn't progress shortly, they would have me try walking around, and if I still wasn't able to dilate to 4 cm, they would send me home. (The pain by now was pretty excruciating and I was DETERMINED to stay at the hospital.) About 45 minutes later, the RN came back in to check again and I was at 6 cm dilated. The pain was getting SO crazy that I swear I felt like I belonged in the looney bin. I was demanding an epidural, and because they require some blood work beforehand, everytime I had to go through a contraction, I felt like ripping off the sideboard of the hospital bed and screaming bloody murder while I waited! They quickly moved me to the delivery room where another RN unsuccessfully tried to hook me up to an IV. 4 stabs later, she resorted to using my hand vein as the IV "port". About 20-30 minutes later, the anesthesiologist came with the golden shot of glory!!! The epidural was a sting, but it was nothing compared to the contractions, and I gladly received it! 

If I wasn't a believer of epidurals before, I am now fully convinced that for me, it was the way to go--hands down. The pain had pretty much completely disappeared and the contractions were noticeable but completely bearable. At about 6 AM after some monitoring, the nurses let me sleep for a few hours at this point, and both Daniel and I caught up on some zzzz's which I now believe to have been crucial for our delivery. We woke up shortly before 10 AM when they said that it would be a good idea to start pushing. 2 hours of pushing later, out came baby Elizabeth. Easy peezy. I had no idea it would be that easy to push, and am so thankful that her delivery was smooth like butta'! 

This is Elizabeth's first baby photo post birth---all puffy and swollen after incubating for 9 months! One of the nurses had knit little, festive hats for the babies born on Halloween! What a treat. ;) 

First photo as a mommy. Look at that hair!!! So crazy!

My two sweethearts <3

In other news, our house is almost near completion. We're just a few weeks away and Daniel has kept me away from the house so it'll be a much bigger surprise to see the final product. Here's where we left off the last time I was onsite:

Where our kitchen will go.

Our master bedroom and his/hers closets.

Another master bedroom shot out of the bay window. We sorta ordered a super huge bed, so hopefully our room doesn't look too squished. Eek.

The "sunny" yellow is the raw material color, so not to fret, the house WILL be painted. We had to get at least one obligatory photo with the baby at the house before completion.

This week they're working on all the flooring and putting in the kitchen and bathrooms. After the longest 9 month wait ever, we are giddy beyond belief. 

Next up, we'll hopefully be in our house and have more to share with y'all. Till then, au revoir!

The Final Countdown

Daniel and I are at 37 weeks as of yesterday, which means this crazy little family are at full term for this pregnancy!!! I can't hardly believe how quickly the time has flown by. I remember thinking back sometime around March or April that we had months and months before fall would hit and October would be coming around. We had all the time in the world to prepare to bring this human to life, and 9 months later...here we are. My body seems to have ballooned up these last couple of weeks, and the reality has begun to set in that Daniel and I will be responsible for more than just ourselves now. How wild.

Work has been so crazy this summer selling real estate, I've finally stepped back the last couple of days to breathe and relax a little. I'm such a busy body that feeling remotely bored is a whole new concept that I'm trying to embrace. I've most noticed the effects of relaxing at night. Shrek feet get super gnar-gnar-sausage-esque by evening time when I'm walking around all day, but the last couple of days...I've actually seen the difference of not being up and out! (In fact, I had to buy a couple of new pairs of shoes because my fatty toes wouldn't fit in my regular flats.)


Counting away to Baby Morgan's arrival isn't the only thing slowly ticking down to...our house is still in process of being built, and it looks like we have about approximately 3-4 months left. The contractors have ripped up the whole house and what first started as this:



has progressed to this:





and to this: (our master bedroom)

The bay window is off the front side and is being built into place. Daniel and I snuck onto the site over the weekend and got to 'walk the house' and feel out the dimensions of each space. It's definitely a different experience being able to be there versus seeing it as a sketch on paper. When all is said and done, our home should look something like this:

AHH!!! We're so excited. I can't wait to see the final product!!!! Every day we go back to visit the house and there's consistent and drastic change. By the end of our renovations, we'll have remodeled from a 3 bedroom/2 bathroom, 1600 square foot home to a 4 bedroom/3 bathroom, 2200 square foot single level dream home. SO. STOKED. We have a lot of ideas that we've been throwing around for the interior, but we'll keep that on the DL for now. ;)

In other news, my baby sister is getting married this weekend!!! I can't believe it. She's got her own home and family now, too. I can't wait for her to jump on the baby bandwagon and join me so our kids can have tons of little nieces and nephews to play with! Just keeping my fingers crossed that our little one doesn't decide to make an early guest appearance.

The next time we post on here won't be until after Baby Morgan's arrival, so au revoir and see ya again when our lives are flipped upside down! Can't wait to meet you, little chica!

Love, the Morgans

National Geographic Ninja Punches

Without clothes on, I look like I belong in a National Geographic ad.  Sure, having some waist defining dresses and chest clenching bras can hold in the tidbits a little here and there...but for real...throw me in the jungle and I'd fit right in.

One thing is for certain---I don't think anyone's ever prepared to understand what it feels like to be pregnant until you actually go through it. It's my body, but obviously one that I've never known. WEIRD things happening people!!

And let's go ahead and talk about this kicking baby. She moves in-cess-antly. It's actually an insane feeling especially when you've got waves of movement and jabs right and left coming from the inside. The best way to describe it is it feels like you've got a bad case of the farts---except it never comes. (Gross...I know. How un-lady-like of me, but we're all human, right?) Like your stomach churns and gurgles.....and that's about it. It's unpredictable and you wonder what the heesh is going on in there. Not to mention, my beloved sleep routine seems like it has now become a thing of the past. If it's not being woken up by all these ninja punches, it's the excruciating-midnight-wake-me-up-fiery-charlie-horse-leg-cramps I'm getting in BOTH my legs throughout the evening. Or maybe it's the cotton mouth-but-I-dont-want-to-drink-too-much-water-or-I'll-be-peeing-the-entire-night that has been causing this restlessness.

Whatever it is, it's not anything you'd anticipate until you've gone through this whole life changing experience. I keep trying to get Daniel in on this so he can feel as connected as possible to baby Morgan, and he's certainly felt a few major kicks here and there---but most of the time it's just me who's feeling all of the squirmyness from the inside.

I've officially outworn my jeans. I tried to wear them as long as possible, and I managed to sneak away with a couple hair bands holding back the buttons...until my Santouka ramen lunch the other day at Mitsuwa. The hairband literally SNAPPED and broke off WHILE I was eating my noodles. It was a pretty major realization for me---seriously! I couldn't get away with it any longer, so I've finally ordered a few pair of mom jeans maternity pants. (Sigh.) I refuse to get rid of any pre-preggo pants, because I WILL fit in those again soon......sooooooon.

Our house project has been delayed (major grin) since the architect's main structural engineer has gone AWOL. Not the greatest news you should be relaying to a six month pregnant, homeless wife, but it is what it is. We'll just have to roll with it. Daniel went to town this past weekend and took it upon himself to go ahead and start demoing within reason. Our good friends, Danny and Jordan, and my sister's fiancee, Kevin, also volunteered their manly services to help wreck some things. One weekend and a large dumpster later...we've moved the needle a smidge! THANKS GUYS!!

Pre-demo. Of course, Daniel couldn't help himself and didn't wait for me to take pics before ripping out a couple cabinets to the left. I forced him to stop so I could at least snap a few before going to town.

Hey, laminate!

The smell of ripping out cabinets from the 1950's? Slapworthy.

Like whoa.

Let's break ish.

I've gotta admit---I was sort of a champ, also. My lazy butt managed to rip out a number of door frames and most of the baseboard. For someone who typically hates manual labor---go me! In all seriousness, though, the boys did a pretty fancy job mauling all the cabinets. Great job, men! 

With that, I leave you with my 5.5 month preggo pic. I'm not one for selfies ever...but the difference between 4 to 5 months has been pretty astonishing. SO, here she is:

Lovely lady bunp.

Which, by the way, she's been kickin' this whole time I've been blogging, so I'm going to get off my bum and walk her back to sleep. Hope you're all enjoying this gorgeous weather and beautiful summer. Until next time, au revoir!

Gun Registration & My FUBA

So where can Daniel and I register for a gun at?

Considering we BOTH had separate dreams of having a boy...having a girl has thrown us for a complete curveball. (And by dreams, we mean they were more like 'NIGHT VISIONS' and not exactly passionate desires to have a boy, by any means.)

In no way does this photo indicate we are not more than thrilled we're having a little mini-me, btw. More so, just an expression of ayudameeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! What do we do with a little girl??? She's going to be so fragile..so delicate. Eeeeek.

In fact, we weren't even coming up with girl names, because we were entirely certain it was going to be a boy. So imagine our surprise when the ultrasound specialist (who also had an inkling it was going to be a boy) told us, "It's a girl! See the two little lines?"

.....(apparently, also known as a "hamburger" versus a "turtle"---signs on the ultrasound)....

Help. 


We've got a name nailed down, so if there's one thing we're keeping a secret until this little girl arrives..it's that. So the cats outta' the bag. Baby in T minus 5 months, and Daniel and I are super excited and cannot wait!


Now---if we can just figure out this house remodeling thing. We're still awaiting the final sketches since we discovered it would be relatively easy to take down the large wall blocking off the kitchen from the family room, and it also turns out the chimney isn't supporting anything at all---thus, away it goes! We've decided to completely rearrange everything from our initial plans. Since opening up the floorplan to an even greater great room, we've basically started over and are waiting to hear from our architect on the final arrangement. Daniel and I also figured since we'll be under so much construction and demo work already, we might as well re-landscape at this point. I almost tripped on our driveway twice last week getting out of my car, so part of this includes jackhammering all the existing concrete and starting fresh with that, too.

Honestly, the whole process sounds painful...and we haven't even started yet.

If Daniel gets the green light on everything this week, he's going to go to town by self demo-ing the kitchen and doors. I cannot tell you HOW giddy he was about being able to tell met his. Boys! Hehe.

In other news, we're planning one final 'babymoon' vacation since we're in our 2nd trimester, and supposedly, this is the best time to go while preggers. (I'm supposed to be feeling my best right now, which for the most part, I am.) We were originally considering an all inclusive resort somewhere in Mexico, but after doing a little more googling, I'm going to see if somewhere else in the states sounds fun! (Chicago...Miami...New Orleans?) Chicago is topping my list so far with all of their fun outdoor movies, festivals, summer-fun things. We'll be planning and probably booking it tonight. Keep y'all posted!

Oh, and lastly---I've had people ask for a baby bump picture. Honestly, it's a pretty sad bump and I've been currently referencing it as my "FUBA" versus a "bump".

FUBA is also known as my "fat-upper-belly-area".

So, ask and you shall receive. Now featuring, Christine's 4 Month FUBA!

Sad, isn't it? I'm sort of in a funky middle ground where it's not large enough to look pregnant but no longer small enough for me to suck it in gracefully. FUBA it is. I guess I should embrace my size for now. I mean..not sure how long I'll be able to manage feeling like a beached whale.

Until next time, au revoir!

A New House for Captain Morgan

Ahoy, matey! How's it going, friends?

Daniel and I would like to apologize for the lack of posts. It's been the most insane year of our lives. (By the way, how the heck is it almost May?? Mind blown.)

The past two months have been filled with absolute chaos. First of all, we sold Daniel's house (aka his swanky bachelor pad in the rolling hills of Aliso Viejo). We were going to try leasing it out for another year but received an offer we couldn't refuse. Thus, we were left with a predicament. (Not a bad one, but a predicament, nonetheless.)

What to do with this newly discovered equity...(tap fingers)...

We decided to roll over the funds and buy a house that we found in the same neighborhood as one of our best friends. It was a 'for sale by owner', and I was able to transact both sides of the deal with all my gathered real estate skillZzzZz---naturally.

Though this house is perfect for us in the long term (huge corner lot home, single level, with 3 bedrooms/2 baths), it's a 1950's, original condition property that needs a TON of work.

I'm still trying to figure out what decade the salmon and baby blue color combo was in style...or if ever?

HUGE front yard, so we're adding on a master suite, converting it into a 4 bed/3 bathroom home. (Finally get my walk in closet. YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

The original family room---wall to the left of the fireplace is the first thing to be knocked down.

The original kitchen. The oven is an original 50's GE stainless steel in tip top condition. Unfortunately, it's just not going to work for us, so we'll have to find it a better home!

The backyard with the sweet jacuzzi tub. If you're lucky, this beast is staying. ha! Really, though, Daniel's gonna have a field day re-designing this space. Forget the man cave when you have this much backyard to mess around with!

We just finished gutting and remodeling our little home on the Eastside of Costa Mesa (my 'bachelorette pad' that we settled into after getting married).

We touched every single inch of our townhome. (Flooring throughout, new kitchen, took down walls, re-landscaped the whole yard, all new windows...I mean to the nines!) Very satisfied with everything we had accomplished there this last year---we are now faced with this monstrosity of a project for this other house we intend on moving into! Of course, everything that this new "old" house requires (at least to satisfy our current wants and needs) doesn't come cheap, so we've also put our Eastside townhome on the market and are in escrow, set to close within a couple of weeks. (Not gonna lie, I think both of us cried a little bit inside after all the blood, sweat and tears we poured into making it our home.)

Actually, now come to think of it---I still can't believe what we've just signed up for, and I'm pretty sure Daniel was scheming to take on this massive remodel regardless of what his pregnant wife was thinking.









Wait, WHAT. Come again?

Yeah, you heard me. We're pregnant with a little captain on board. (Yak yak yak. Git it? Captain Morgan? Eh? EH?Yak yak yak!)

Hey, little champ!

 
So there's also that! Daniel said I could announce it on my blog, since he butchered the baby announcement with our families. Haha! Okay, in all seriousness, though. We're preggers and that's just bonkers as far as I'm concerned. On top of expecting, we will be gutting, remodeling, adding another master wing to this new house that we've gotten on the other side of town. We've been working with an architect, and our estimated time frame to complete this will be right up until the ETA of our little captain---due in October 2014! (Thankfully, I'm blessed with the greatest in-laws in the universe who have graciously allowed us to occupy their home in the interim so we won't have to live through a construction zone again like the first time around!)

We received the architectural site renderings today and are STOKED with the results so far. BEST. ARCHITECT. EVER.
 

 We can't, can't wait. AHHHHH!!!!


AHHHH!!!!


It looks so amazing, and these are just sketches for cryin' out loud! We're going to meet with the architect again to finalize the drawings, and then off to the city they go for permits. We're going for a more contemporary 'colonial' feel this time to the exterior, and we intend on tearing down walls, widening hallways, opening up the floorplan, all the fun shenanigans!

What can be more exciting than this?? We get a new house customized to our preferences just in time for our little bun in the oven. I feel elated, blessed, and am so thankful for everything God has in store for us.

Alright, you've officially been updated. Peace out folks!

One Year in Review!

Daniel and I have been married for nearly a year. A YEAR!!! Where has the time gone? It's seriously crazy how fast that went by. I've actually learned quite a bit in our first year of marital bliss, and I must say, if this year went by as quickly and well as it did---I'm ready to take on another 80+ years together. Among the things I have learned so far, these come out on top:

1.  Laughing together, keeps us together. Between the two of us, Daniel certainly has the funny bone. He's the most hilarious person I know and probably doesn't even mean to be. I actually laughed out loud writing this. Since the inception of our relationship, I feel like we've had nonstop laughter. He's just so quick. My thought is, to be able to react the way he does in situations with his witty comment, you've got to be a genius. I love him for that---more than he'll ever know.

2. It's all about the compromise. I'm still unsure if undergoing a major home remodel a couple of months after getting married was the wisest decision we've made, but to date, I've learned that Daniel and I know how to compromise. He's very methodical while I like to do things on a whim. Surprisingly, I think this has resulted in a healthy balance. While I'm looking to change every detail without blinking twice, Daniel is there to pull me back and slow me down. Though there's a fiery rage for me to order things and 'get-er-dun', if it weren't for compromising I'm sure our home wouldn't be as perfect as we both think it is today.

3. Encouragement is key. We both have good days and bad days, but the key to keep it going and finding happiness is to continue encouraging each other. In the worst of days when I encounter trouble at work or feel a heavy sense of anxiety, Daniel is continuously encouraging me to press on. I try my best to do the same for him, and I'm sure there is much more room for improvement but I think we are definitely aware of encouraging each other frequently.

4. There's always a reason to celebrate. Whether it's a closed deal or something as simple as having a clean house, we always have a reason to celebrate! I mean, why not?


And that's that! A whole year later, I'm still smitten, and I feel blessed as ever to be married to the most genuine, hilarious, and hottest guy ever! (Thank you, Jesus!)



In other news, we're going to Croatia and flights are BOOKED!

Busy bees planning the flights!

Team Croatia 2014!!

We had originally planned on a trip to Spain, but after speaking to people who had been in that general area, Croatia seems like the hot spot to go. According to one person, "It's where all the other Europeans go to vacation!" We'll be going with a group of some of our best friends and are super thrilled. 

LOOOOVE IT!!

Oh, and I failed to upload these right after Valentine's day, but my dear friend Michelle and I planned a joint Valentine's bonfire surprise for our hubbies at Corona Del Mar beach! We led them through a scavenger hunt to different bars before using a hand drawn "treasure map" down to the beach where we had appetizers, drinks and of course---a bonfire waiting for them. Twas' magical!

I hope you all stay warm in this torrential downpour! Have a great weekend errrbody. Ciao!