the wan-nabean has arrived!

yup, i obviously spoke too soon with my last post. shut up.

and just a warning: i'm about to give you [almost] a blow-by-blow account of monday morning's events. don't say i didn't tell you so. i'll try not to gross you out or freak you out, though. >:) i really want to see y'all spring forth from your loins someday too.

and really, this post is meant for me to tell my birth story while i still remember it in detail. it'll be fun to read it later on, should baby fever hit again or the bean does something to piss me off. heh. i swear to you, i had no warning that anything was going to happen. i really thought the bean wasn't going to make her grand entrance into the world for DAYS, like her sister, who took her sweet time and had to practically be dragged out of the womb.

so there i was, just kicking it in our new bed with the hub quietly snoring away. it'd been quite a weekend - all the furniture had arrived and the ikea dude had come and gone, leaving behind a fully assembled wall unit in the nursery. seriously, i should've taken it as a sign - all of a sudden, our house was all ready and furnished, and all that was needed was a baby!

i wasn't really sleepy, so i pulled up the tivo and started watching the season premiere of "desperate housewives". i'd just gotten to the part where bree's not-so-pregnant belly was getting repeatedly jabbed with a BBQ fork when i felt it - a strange little trickle coming from the nether regions. i hit "pause", laid perfectly still for a moment, and brushed it off - until it happened again. i shot straight up and accidentally flung the damn remote across the room, and the poor dog jumped about a foot up in the air when it came crashing onto the floor next to her bed. oops. sorry, molly. the hub blinked a couple of times and i blurted out "um, i think my water just broke."

the smile that came to that man's face lit up the room.
"really??"

he jumped right up, got dressed, and promptly began to organize the rest of the stuff that was still sitting in boxes on the floor in the nursery. and when the contractions began around half an hour later, he was right there making a list of the time each began and ended and how long they lasted. awww, he DID listen during childbirth prep class!

so, yeah - i finished watching "desperate housewives". and i was damn near all caught up on "general hospital" when we realized that the contractions were getting closer and longer. it was almost 3am by this time, and after making molly comfy in the sun room (her usual hangout when we aren't home), off we went. believe it or not, the stupid freeway was CLOSED.

we ended up going down some janky ass sidestreets, with me hee-hee-hee-hoo-ing all the way. those contractions were getting stronger and stronger, and i wondered if i'd be one of those women on the morning news, giving birth in their car on the way to the hospital.

but we made it - the hub circled the half-full parking lot at least once before i snarled "JUST PARRRRRRRK IT!" heh. and then it was fun trying to walk my ass from the car to the entrance to the ER. i had to stop and pant my way through the pain a few times before we finally made it in there.

"wheelchair!" the hub barked at the first orderly we came across. poor guy - he was loaded down with my two hospital bags, plus my snoogle pillow AND trying to get me situated. all without panicking himself. finally we were in an elevator, headed up to the third floor - the labor & delivery department. the nurse on duty had my paperwork ready fairly quickly (all the while carrying on a conversation with another nurse about somebody's stupid fundraiser and their upcoming halloween shindig) and sent me to the potty for a urine sample.

[gross tidbit alert]

i hauled my ass outta that wheelchair and locked the door behind me and another wave of pain hit. a few more hee-hee-hee-hoos, and i was good to go. i remember looking in the toilet and saying out loud "huh. so that's what a mucous plug looks like." bahahaha!

the nurse tried to settle me into a labor observation room first, getting a fetal monitor hooked up and handing me a lovely blue hospital gown (haute couture, lemme tell ya). but when i sat down to wait out yet another contraction, my water broke fo' real (i guess what i'd felt at home wasn't the real thing). she took one look and put me back in the wheelchair to take me into a birthing room. "this one's water just grossly ruptured. she hasn't got long to go" she said to a nurse in the hall.

grossly ruptured??

"no, no, i don't mean 'gross' like THAT. i just meant, you're a lot farther along than i thought", she explained to me. well hell, i feel much better. thanks, nurse wench.

so maybe you've seen those posters during health class or in the OB/GYN's office that show you the different stages of dilation - like, 2 cm looks like a bottle cap, 10 is like a bagel? no? well, when you get to 10 cm, that means you're ready to start pushin'. and when that nurse did an internal exam (oh, so fun), she announced that i was already at a 7-8.

WHAT?? where the hell is my anesthesiologist? i want AN EPIDURAL, dammit! give me some effing drugs!!

but nooooo. that process would take another hour or some crap like that, and according to nurse wench, "my guess is that you aren't going to be pregnant for another hour!"

[thud]

i. got. no. drugs. sonofamonkey.

i was going to FEEL every damn thing. good god a'mighty. now, the rest of the story is somewhat of a blur. after the nurse said that, the hub looked at me with the biggest, most excited eyes i've ever seen. "she's coming! can you believe it? we're finally going to get to meet her!!" i WAS excited. and terrified. because i knew what i was about to go through, and it wasn't gonna be pretty. and i wasn't gonna be medicated!

one more internal exam by the midwife, and i heard little bits and pieces of conversation:

"she's at 10."
"let's get everything set up."
"we're ready whenever you are."
"okay, hon (i HATE being called "hon"), on your next contraction, let's try a push."

i peeked at the clock and it was five minutes to four. and then that next contraction hit, and so it began. at one point, i heard someone say "the heartbeat's dropped." and all of a sudden the midwife was gone and a doctor took her place. i looked up and realized there was a whole team of folks (men and women) sitting there waiting, while i was laying there spread-eagled for all the world to see. oh, joy. i didn't have much time to be mortified, though, because the next contraction came and i was pushing again.

"put your hands under your knees and pull back, it'll help" the nurse told me. you want me to WHAT?? please, heffa. i can hardly breathe over here, let alone do fucking calisthenics.

and soon the happy sound of a steady, regular heartbeat came over the monitors and the team was dismissed. it was back to the hub, the doctor, and a couple of nurses. phew. i was a little freaked out at the idea of anything going wrong.

and through it all, the hub was at my side, encouraging, supportive, the best cheerleader i could have asked for. they'd put a mask on me to help send the bean lots of oxygen during the pushing, and i was so hot (not in the fun, sexy way) and sweaty (surprise, surprise). and he dove into that fully packed labor bag and found the little handheld fan - remember, the one that saved me during the labor day power outage? it helped so much, and he was so patient with my whimpering and whining. "WHY did we do this again?" i asked between panting, and he just cracked up.

so a few more contractions, a few more pushing sessions, and amazingly enough, out she came. they picked her right up and placed her on my tummy and the hub and i gazed at her in absolute awe. she took a breath and in an instant, we heard the proof of a very healthy set of lungs. we were both so overwhelmed at the rush of emotions, and the hub leaned over and gave me a kiss. "she's here!" he said, and we both sniffled and watched that gorgeous baby wiggle and wail. he got to cut the cord, and then they took her for weighing, measuring, cleaning, all the fun stuff.

time of birth: 4:17 a.m.
weight: 7 pounds, 6 ounces
length: 19 1/4 inches
apgar score: 8

yup, less than half an hour of pushing. this is drastically different from my birthing experience with the kid, who was a week late and had to be induced. labor with her was a total of about 10 hours, with 2 of that being pushing time. just incredible.

while the doctor tended to my...uh...clean-up, i watched as the nurse gave the bean her first bath, with the hub snapping away with both his cell and the camera. he started on our extensive call list and around 5:00, the visitors started to arrive. first was his grandparents and his brother, followed soon after by his parents. his folks KILLED me - they walked in and came right over to me, tears rolling down both their faces, and giving me hugs, saying "thank you so much, you look wonderful, we are so proud of you all."

soon afterwards, we were moved to a private postpartum room, where we stayed for the next day and a half. we were visited by my parents, my gram, and my good friend A and baby nathan.

the rest of the week was quite a whirlwind - trying to establish a routine, waiting for milk to come in, showing her off to visitors, and on friday getting to introduce her to her sister for the first time. it was the kid's week with her dad, and unfortunately she'd managed to catch a cold, so she didn't want to spread her germs until absolutely necessary.

and how is the kid doing with the bean? i'm happy to say that she seems to be getting closer and closer to being as in love with this baby as we are. as i predicted, once she got to see and hold her, her attitude changed and now she's always taking charge of the stroller when we go out, watching her little facial expressions, and enjoying being a big sister (although she won't admit it unless you hold a gun to her head). but don't tell her "you're gonna be doing a lot of babysitting!" or "wow, you'll be doing a lot of work from now on", because she hates that. as do i. i mean, i may ask her to do something now and then, but it's certainly not her job to be the designated babysitter.

and as i sat in church yesterday, with my wonderful husband on one side, my beautiful firstborn on the other, and holding my newborn daughter, i had to hold back tears of happiness more than once.

life is good, my friends. life is good.

"nesting"

yes, i'm due today. no, the bean's not yet here, and there are absolutely no signs of her making an appearance anytime soon.

and no, i'm not talking about going over to the dark side of theknot.com.

oh no, the nesting i'm referring to is what my friend mrs. shorty cake mentioned in her comment on friday's post. when labor is coming, pregnant women often get this urge to get as much done around the house as possible - cleaning, organizing, laundry, etc. of course, the hub has been looking forward to this happening to me for YEARS. heh. doesn't say much for my housekeeping abilities, eh?

anyway, i think he's actually been bitten by the nesting bug much harder than i have. yeah, i've been pretty busy around the house lately, trying to make sure everything is ready and stuff. but HE'S been nuts! painting, rearranging furniture, and my favorite part - nesting of the retail sort:

yesterday, we decided to take WeeMo's advice and see if we could get assembly service from ikea for the wall unit we'd bought for the bean's room. after spending a good chunk of last friday night putting together two chests of drawers, the hub wasn't looking forward to opening another twelve boxes with extensive assembly required. and of course, walking into ikea always entails actually going through the entire maze. which, of course, leads to purchasing more items.

but they were having a really great special - if you spent $399 on sofa seating, they'd give you a $75 gift card. and we needed a couple of new couches. oh, and let's not forget blinds for the nursery and a desk for the kid. we ended up walking out of there with delivery and assembly guys scheduled to arrive this afternoon, armed with tools to assemble the desk and wall unit, plus drop off no less than THREE couches. well, with the three $75 gift cards we got, that desk was damn near free. how could we pass up something like THAT?

then, we swung into babies r'us to pick up a few items - the crib now actually has a mattress, and i'm the proud new owner of a hospital-grade breast pump. fun stuff! i know you're jealous.

but were we done? noooooo. off we went to meet up with MIL and check out the giant living spaces store in rancho cucamonga. and from there, we ended up with a new bed and a dining set - and now we'll be all set to host thanksgiving at our casa. heh. and THAT stuff is coming this afternoon too. it's going to be fun watching all these guys coming and going into our house, while the hub is trying to get a wall painted in the family room. yes, more painting.

oh, and we managed to sneak in a movie with MIL after the furniture shopping extravaganza. we saw "the kingdom" with jamie foxx, jennifer garner, chris cooper and jason bateman. i really hadn't had any interest in seeing it, but it turned out to be a pretty entertaining flick. and it makes us look at the news stories about the bombings in the middle east in a different light.

a quick dinner at pei wei capped off our busy nesting day. and today is a new day! phew, i'm tired thinking of all the shit on our plate today.

crazy, busy friday

whew. i should be tired, but for some reason, i'm just not. i had a long list of errands to run today, and i've accomplished almost all of them:

• paper source. i needed a few items for an order of programs for a wedding that's next saturday. hee!
• since i was in the area, i headed to dot's cupcakes for a treat. or four. and hiyo was so bowled over at me being due in two days that she threw a couple of fun freebies in for me - a pumpkin spice cupcake and a caramel apple mini. yay!
• pottery barn kids, to pick up a collared top for the bean. it's being washed right now so i can pack it in the bag and she can wear it home with this adorable dress (the pink one, of course):
• right start. i received duplicates of a couple of items on our registry, so i did an exchange for a swaddling blanket and the peanut shell sling i'd been wanting. i love the idea of carrying the bean around like this:
• ross. i hate that store, but i'd bought a container for the candy buffet at the MIL's baby shower that i didn't end up using, so i returned it. i hate having shit around the house that i don't need or want, so i trucked my ass in there and got my cashola back.
• staples. my printer was running low on toner, and we can't have THAT.
  
• michael's. similar to the ross run (returning an unused candy buffet container), but i actually like that store. of course, i found what i wanted in two seconds and ended up standing in line at the ONE cash register behind a lady who was buying the whole effing store. i kid you not, her bill came to $275. $275. at michael's. and there were no big items or cool toys in that cart, let me tell you. a whole bunch of little shit that came to $275!
• bed bath & beyond, to return four packs of shelf liner. i went a little crazy when we were moving stuff into the kitchen and didn't want to have to go back to buy more, and i always figure it's easier to have more and return the extra than to get all frustrated while you're on a roll and working away, only to run out of supplies. you know?
• i wrapped it all up with a stop at in-n-out for lunch. hey, i'd earned it, wouldn't you say?

as i pulled into the driveway, i noticed that the hub's whole family (well, damn near) was at our house, and i could see all sorts of activity going on. i walk in with the first load of purchases and he and his parents and grandfather are busy taping and laying down tarp and setting out paint trays. looks like the wan-nabes are going to have lovely, freshly painted walls! yay! my ILs are fabulous, yes?

and the moment i stepped into the house with my lunch and the rest of the crap from the car, it started POURING. man, my timing is impeccable. woo-hoo!

hmm. i wonder if me not being tired after all the shit i've done so far today could mean that labor is coming. i could SWEAR i was having mild contractions last night. huh. i really don't think i'd recognize a contraction if it jumped up and bit me in the ass.

keep ya fingers crossed.

dating-versary!

seven years ago today, the hub and i went out on our first official date.

we met at work. i was still married to the kid's dad and he was still with his high school girlfriend when he started in my office, pretty much as the marketing department's bitch. haha! talk about starting at the bottom.

over the next year and a half, life happened - i left the ex and began a year's worth of living life as a single mom. i can't lie - it was damn fun. i had my own apartment, the kid and i shared a bedroom and ate macaroni & cheese and top ramen A LOT, and during the few random occasions that her dad picked her up, i took advantage and went out with friends. i was flat fucking broke with a budget stretched to the limit, but i was living life on my own terms and making it up as i went along. hell, taking the kid to mickey d's for sunday breakfast was a weekly treat for us. sad, but true.

during this time, the now-hub was one of my best friends. he'd talk about what he wanted in life, tell me stories about what was going on, and i'd fill him in on my latest single-girl escapades. we went out to lunch in groups with other folks in the office and it was a really fun time. there's a pretty good chunk of an age difference (me being older), so i never really thought anything would happen between us.

and then he broke up with his girlfriend.

and then he asked me out.

we went to cheesecake factory in pasadena (i know, i know, but remember - i've mentioned my love of chain restaurants before!) and sat and laughed and talked for hours. it really wasn't long before i realized that everything i wanted in a man was right in front of me. hot, funny, sweet, kindhearted, loving, generous (almost to a fault!), family-oriented, and so, so extremely good to the kid. even when she's in the throes of PMS-y pre-teen angsty grumpiness.

obviously, we've had our ups and downs - but four years later, he popped the question. he'd made some decisions in his career that led to some great things for him, and so he suggested bringing our immediate families down to la jolla for a fun weekend "to celebrate a great year".

and at dinner on december 30, 2004, in front of [almost] everyone we love most in this world, he got down on one knee (i'm getting teary and goosebumpy remembering it), pulled the most gorgeous ring out of his pocket, and asked me to marry him. the moment is such a blur in my memory that i don't remember his exact words, but i remember my heart pounding and feeling the most powerful wave of love as i looked around that table.

and with almost everyone present at our engagement (his great-grandma sadly passed away a month before the wedding) plus a few more, we got married in hawaii on december 4, 2005. life has been nothing but fabulous. and today, we're just days away from meeting the bean.

so although he won't read this, happy dating-versary, dear hub! i loves you a lot and i am so grateful to have you in my life. here's to many, many more silly -versaries together.

beauty is pain.

so out of nowhere, the kid decided that she was finally interested in getting her eyebrows shaped. i thought it was a fabulous idea, so we headed to the anastasia counter at the local nordstrom yesterday afternoon. i wasn't really up to driving out to beverly hills, not to mention i didn't dig the idea of a $95 brow shaping. i wanted her to have her first one done professionally, but come on - even i have my limits.

of course, when we got there the girl had just left for lunch - for an hour. well, poo - stuck having to kill time at the mall. darn. what's a girl to do? >;)

the kid's BFF's birthday is today, so the first thing we wanted to do was pick up a present for her. vans shoes are pretty big with the kid and her friends - no cheesy prints, TYVM, just simple styles - so we went into the vans store and scooped up a pair of basic blue lace-ups like these: the kid's other favorite store is sidecca - it's like a cheaper version of urban outfitters. i took my usual seat (carrying all this weight around really tires my ass out) while she scurried around, checking out everything that caught her eye. while unpacking the night before, she'd found her wallet - and realized she had money left over from her birthday and 6th grade promotion. bonus! she picked out a top and a couple of other things and left the store a happy camper.

when we got back to the anastasia counter, the girl somehow had taken off on another break. i was like "um, she just got back from lunch." meh. we waited for probably another ten minutes before she finally came back, and the kid hopped onto the chair and got comfy. she gave me the eye when she found out that the procedure included waxing AND tweezing - she was really skittish about the idea of waxing, but she put on her game face and the process began.

andrea, our brow girl, damn near clapped her hands with glee as she squealed "oooh, virgin brows! how exciting!" again, the kid gave me the eye. i suppressed a giggle and tried to keep a straight face.

then, after examining the virgin brows, she handed the kid a mirror to show her what she was doing, busted out the arch stencils, and brushed on some powder. then she reached over to stir the wax (and it was such pretty wax. it was all shimmery and sparkly and i was a little mesmerized, kind of like a raccoon finding something shiny), applied a bit, and pressed the linen strip into place.

my heart flip-flopped when she ripped that strip off and tears came to my kid's eyes. [sad face] i'm always teasing her with "pain is beauty, my dear", but i knew she'd been nervous and it just made me a little sad.

anyway, the waxing continued, followed by the tweezing, then the after-tweeze cream (the kid's relief at the touch of the cool cream was visible), a bit of highlighter, and voila! i wish i had a picture to post, but she'd have killed me if i'd busted out a camera right then. she was already put out at the fact that the chair was right there in the cosmetics department for all to see - although it was tuesday afternoon, and not a single customer walked past us the entire time.

now i wish i'd have had mine done, too. i'm due, but i think i'll just go to my usual place - a little asian lady who charges me all of $5 to make my brows purty. yay for purty eyebrows!

the weekend recap. yes, two days late.

yeah, it's not like me to post this late, but it's been a little nutty around the wan-nabe household these days. so here we go:

friday:
the ILs came over to take me out for birthday dinner. the kid was a little miffed that this meant she couldn't go hang out at the street fair for the evening, but i had to bust out both the "it's my birthday" AND the "i'm the mom" lines. heh. anyway, we went to north woods inn, which i love - fake snow on the roof, peanut shells on the floor, and the best salad and cheese bread EVER? i'm all over it!

saturday:
the kid really wanted to go hang out with her friends at a local route 66 parade and picnic, so i took her over to her BFF's early (like, 8am! on a saturday!). she was thrilled - "moooooom, moving reallllly screwed up my social liiiiiiiiife!" oh, the drama of junior high. sheesh.

the hub and i spent most of that day - you guessed it - unpacking. i swear, it's neverending. i never knew we had this much shit in that little house. and we're still not done! then later, we met up with his brother, picked up the kid, and headed to the l.a. county fair to eat some really unhealthy food and do some wine tasting. well, the hub and his bro - obviously, i didn't partake. BIL had a report to write on wine for school (he's a student at the culinary arts institute), and it was easier to do it at the fair than drive all the way out to BFE for some wineries.

so while they did their thing, the kid and i decided to walk around and find some snacks. i'd already found what i wanted:

that's right, folks. it's cheesecake. on a stick. dipped in chocolate and then rolled in sprinkles. i told you i was out for unhealthy food! and the kid settled on a hand-dipped ice cream bar, with rainbow sprinkles. we're suckers for sprinkles.

when we were done munching, we walked by a booth that was stuffed to the gills with little-girl style princess gear. and the kid absolutely HAD to have this:

this is comical because my kid is very, very anti-pink (i think it stems from wanting to be nothing like her mother), nor is she particularly girly-girl. she grew out of this kind of stuff by the time she was four. so i ponied up the $15 and off we went, giggling like crazy. and even funnier, she was stopped probably half a dozen times by other teenaged girls just dying to know where she'd gotten her tutu. loved it.

sunday:
we did some mid-morning shopping at pottery barn kids and then decided to give burger continental a shot. we'd driven by the joint a million times and never tried it, so we took a lovely table outside. not being major fans of buffets, we bypassed the sunday brunch in favor of the regular menu items - there was a lot to choose from, ranging from pizzas to pitas. the hub and i opted for burgers, while the kid decided she wanted to have some nachos (obviously, the unhealthy eating was still in effect).

the. food. was. gross. the cheese on these nachos was all congealed and the kid just about hurled when i remarked that it looked like cheese jell-o. i guess i went a little too far when i started doing the "jiggle while you wiggle" dance from the jell-o commercials in my chair.

luckily for me, i had plans for dinner with a handful of the SFAMily. we were meeting up at wokcano to say goodbye to one of our own - our dear madisen had accepted a job clear across the country and this was our last chance to see her before her big move. there's photos and a great recap of our evening on weezermonkey's blog.

monday:
i found out that my cousin's girlfriend had given birth the night before, via picture message. ah, the joys of modern technology! so i picked up the kid from school, made a quick pitstop at babies r'us for a present, and headed to the hospital to see the newest family member, keira anne (i'm told that the name was inspired by keira knightley of "pirates of the caribbean" fame):



she weighed in at 7 lbs, 8 oz. welcome to the world, little one! a playmate (or rival, who knows - they're both girls, after all) is coming soon!

and today, i had another doctor's appointment. i'm five days from the big due date, and an examination showed that i'm dilated to a 2, which really means nothing. you have to be at 10 to birth a child, and you can be at 2 for weeks. she hasn't dropped at all, and hey - i'm perfectly happy with that. hell, come late if you want to! the doc asked if i wanted her to strip my membranes (after getting blank/puzzled looks from both the hub and me, she explained that it was a simple procedure that basically separates the amniotic sac from the cervix, which would induce labor) and i was quick to vote a big "no" on that one. nuh-uh. i'll stay pregnant as long as i can, TYVM. although at lunch yesterday, the hub's gram was telling me about how she gave birth to his uncle THIRTY DAYS LATE. homeslice was over 10 pounds. hell to the naw.

on our way back from the doctor's, we stopped at usa baby in san dimas and finally, finally bought a crib. the saleslady's eyes damn near fell outta her head when she heard we were buying the crib a mere five days from our due date. 'twas pretty funny.

i'm done! that's all i got for ya. i covered everything, from cheesecake on a stick to stripping membranes. you can always count on me to have a nice, wide variety of topics to tell you about. um, whether you want to hear about 'em or not. heh.

it takes A LOT to look this good.

bwahahahahaha!

okay, as mentioned in yesterday's post, my friend nanette has inspired me to evaluate my current make-up collection. i've been wearing make-up on a regular basis since the 8th grade. i started with the basic drugstore brands like maybelline and cover girl, putting it on while walking to the bus stop and then whipping out the make-up remover wipes on the way home. of course, i had every kind of bonne bell lip gloss and wore jean nate every day, too. moms wasn't too thrilled with me when she found out, and i remember the lecture on how she didn't start wearing any until she was in college.

obviously, i'm not my mother. hell, i'm also the girl who, later that year, entered the junior miss pageant for my city JUST so she would have to let me start shaving my legs! on the other hand, my mother is like mr. bigglesworth - she's never had to shave a day in her life. i guess that's why she couldn't relate.

it didn't take too much longer after getting busted with the contraband cosmetics before i was finally able to wear it openly without any more lectures or disapproving looks. while getting ready to be a co-maid-of-honor in a family wedding, mom took note of my application skills and even had me do her face for her. after that, it was all good and i didn't have to sneak my carefully made-up mug out of the house anymore.

so in the years between the 8th grade and now, i've pretty much tried a whole sephora store's worth of brands and formulations. my first foray into department store brands was with a line called ultima II - the nakeds. the colors were gorgeous, the products smelled good, and i felt quite grown-up as i forked over the cash i worked so hard for cashiering at target. i also made a beeline to the mall whenever clinique had their fun gift-with-purchase specials, but i never really got into their stuff. AND, i ditched the jean nate in favor of the most fabulous perfume of the 80's - giorgio beverly hills. mmm, i smelled goooooood. heh. i rocked that perfume with my guess jeans (with the zippers at the ankles, of course) and my western fringed leather jacket. i'd post a picture, but i don't want to break the internet.

fast-forward to current day - my makeup drawer now consists of a fun mixture of stila, nars, MAC, bobbi brown, and my newest favorite, laura mercier. my buddy A turned me on to her stuff and i absolutely love it.

my daily routine, also known as laura mercier's "flawless face" (as taught by the gurus at the nordstrom counter) goes a little something like this:

• laura mercier skin perfecting water, in light. the line "hydrating water" on the bottle always cracks me up - because, of course, one must be told what water does. whatever. i bought it on ebay at less than half of retail, and it smells good. i probably wouldn't buy it again, but i was on a laura mercier buying spree. anyway, you put it on a cotton pad and swipe it all over your face and neck. it feels lovely. like scented water. :X
  
• target brand under-eye serum. i was told by several different makeup artists that this area was prone to dryness, which would lead to other problems, which would then lead to premature aging. um, okay. at least i didn't let myself get suckered into the $50 stuff they were pushing.
• urban decay's eyeshadow potion. this stuff is MAGIC - it makes my eyeshadow last all. day. long. 'nuff said.
  
• laura mercier's foundation primer, the oil-free version. i'm not really sure if it's actually helping my make-up to last longer, because i'm a sweaty monkey, but i use it anyway. i happened to mention to the girl that i'd been using smashbox's photo finish primer and her eyes bugged out - apparently, that stuff is really meant for photo shoots and things, not everyday use. "you're putting SILICONE on your face every day!" quelle horreur!
  
• laura mercier's tinted moisturizer, in almond. i like to use tinted moisturizer vs. foundation in the warmer months, and i usually end up just using it until it's gone before i switch back to regular foundation - usually MAC's studio fix, because i'm lazy and i can slap that stuff on in seconds.
• laura mercier's undereye concealer, followed by the secret brightening powder. i'm not sure why it's such a secret, but it does help brighten up that area.
  
• laura mercier's translucent loose setting powder, applied with the fluffy $12 velour puff. SUCKER!
• laura mercier's cheek colour in "rose petal", topped with the shimmer bloc in "pink mosaic". the nars girl told me once that a completely matte face is aging, so i always put a little bit of shimmer on because god knows the last thing i want is to look my age.
• laura mercier's creme shadow - i go with "basic caramel" all over my lid and then "basic chocolate" on the crease. i could be putting in a little extra work with some fun shadows, but i'm usually too lazy. this stuff works really well and it's really easy to deepen the shade later, for going out to dinner or whatever. i do throw on a little bit of MAC's "grain" satin shadow under my brow, just for kicks.
• stila's kajal eye liner pencil in "tiger's eye"
• shu uemura's celebrated eyelash curler
• maybelline "full and soft" mascara - waterproof. remember, i'm pregnant and hormonal, and everything from a fluffy white cloud in the sky to a kodak commercial makes me tear up these days.
• laura mercier's lip polish and conditioner
• laura mercier's lip colour in "pink champagne", lined with stila's lip pencil no. 2, and topped with laura mercier's lip plumper gloss in "wildberry".
  

hey, i warned you - read my subject line again. but i've got this routine down - it seriously takes me around 5-7 minutes to get through it all. i'm also not one to take long showers - i'm usually done in about the same amount of time. and yes, i emerge from the bathroom completely clean. i even smell good - courtesy of philosophy's powdered sugar cookie shower gel.

if you've managed to read this far, you get to see this week's belly pic. what a treat for you! yesterday's appointment revealed that i gained no extra poundage in the last week, the baby is measuring perfectly (although i'm not sure exactly what that means, numbers-wise), and she hasn't yet dropped (which was obvious to me as i'm still gasping for breath vs. breathing like a normal human). i'm nowhere near labor at this point - YAY! stay in there a little longer, bean. i'm not quite ready for you yet.

$1900 at ikea, check.

oh, yes. even at the mecca of cheap home furnishings, we managed to rack up a 4-digit bill. the hub took one look at the ginormous pile of flat boxes in the truck and wanted to know why they couldn't throw in a swedish guy to assemble it all.

but we picked up a shitload of furniture. the entire wall/changing table system, wooden blinds, and a comfy chair for the nursery, a chest of drawers for our room, another one plus a mirror and bookcase for the kid, and a bunch of other odds and ends. it should look quite fabulous when it's all done. i wonder when that'll be.

i get to see the doctor again today. i'm dying to see what the scale will say this time, a week later. and one of my oldest and dearest friends is coming over for a visit, which will be nice because i haven't seen her since about the 9-week mark of this pregnancy. yay!

i so enjoyed nanette's post on monday about her make-up collection that i'm thinking i'll do one of my own tomorrow, if i don't get inspired enough to add it on for today. along with being a shopping/paper/handbag/everything else girly whore, i'm a total make-up whore too. shocker, ain't it? stay tuned.

paparazzi, just for me

i was a total rock star for my birthday. obviously, my blah attitude improved quite a bit ;) i got lots of fun e-cards, a good number of birthday e-mails, and a bunch of phone messages. i was quite the birthday princess, after all!
during fabulous sushi lunch with the hub, i casually (i swear!) mentioned that my back was killing me - i'd spent the majority of the day before unpacking box after box into the kitchen and the nursery, and i was pooped! so, of course, being the wonderful husband that he is, he immediately picked up the phone and called the claremont club to check availability for a nice, relaxing maternity massage. and amazingly, they had an opening! he gave them his credit card number and i was all set. he even tried to hook me up with a mani/pedi, but i wasn't that lucky. "just go to your regular place and get one after the massage is over", he says. um, okay. you sure don't have to twist my arm. although i put up the token argument ("but it's just going to get ruined anyway, with the rest of the unpacking and crap."), i wasn't hard to convince. ;)

the massage was oh-so-fabulous, of course. although i found it a little sad that my belly was too big for the pillow with the hole cut in it! hahaha! i ended up laying on my side and flipping over for her to do the whole thing. oh, well. it was wonderful.

i headed out to urbane for my mani/pedi and then raced home to change and meet the hub for a surprise dinner. all i knew was that we were supposed to be in l.a. somewhere by 7, and i got home just before 6.

in the car, the hub handed me a really sweet birthday card and a ginormous box from nordstrom. before i could open the box, he stopped me with a disclaimer: "i'm totally prepared for you to want to exchange this if it's not what you had in mind, so don't feel bad if you don't like it, okay?"

awwww!! and this is what was inside:

i LOVE juicy couture. and with his usual aversion to large handbags, i was really surprised at his choices. he knew i'd been wanting a kooba bag, but the closest places to find them in-store are the grove and south coast plaza - and with everything we've been dealing with lately, there was just no way. besides, i dig his selections, and i love that he took the time to pick them out for me.

after fighting 6:30pm santa monica blvd. traffic, we pulled up in front of mr. chow. i was totally excited - maybe we'd have some celeb sightings, too! the maitre'd took one look at my bulging belly and said "we have a few different options for your seating. there's a quieter, more private area, a booth (again, eyeing the gut), or the central area. it's noisier, but it's great for peoplewatching."

since it was our first time, we opted for the latter. sadly for us, there were no celebrities to be seen. however, we ate ourselves silly - i really wanted to take some pictures to post, but i just couldn't bring myself to bust out the camera and look like a total tourist. besides, the hub would've killed me! the waiter gave us the option of ordering off of a menu or simply bringing us dishes that he thought we would enjoy. since we were feeling wild and crazy, we decided to wing it and see what kind of stuff we'd get from the grab bag. "i'll bring you chicken, seafood, and red meat", our cute scandinavian waiter tells us.

the first thing we were served was lettuce wraps with minced chicken and veggies, with plum sauce. simple, but really tasty. he also brought out a curious plate of shredded seaweed and candied walnuts. weird, but i tried it anyway. and the other plate was sliced pork with enough garlic to ward off vampires and a red chili sauce. everything was yummy. after we polished that off, out came a plate of sliced filet with asparagus (oh, so delicious), a mixed bag of chicken, tofu, and shrimp in another spicy red sauce, and some sauteed bok choy. a silver pot of fried rice accompanied it all, and it was scrumptious. oh, how i wish i had pictures to share!

we'd been eyeing the desserts that were being paraded past us the entire time we were sitting there - most of them were coming out with candles, as it seemed i wasn't the ONLY birthday princess at mr. chow last night. boo. anyway, out they came with a mixed berry tart, singing the birthday song. the hub looks at me and goes "let's order you that fudge cake, eh? i'll eat that one."

he's a keeper, this man.

and when we went outside and handed the valet our ticket, we noticed a few dudes standing near the entrance, armed with both still and video cameras. a few of them were from TMZ, and we struck up a conversation with one guy who asked us if we'd seen anyone inside. he'd been waiting out there since about 6:00 and was prepared to keep standing out there till the wee hours, hoping for a money shot of someone interesting. good lord, what a boring ass job.

we ended the evening sitting on the couch, falling asleep in front of jay leno. yay! it was a lovely birthday.

it's my birfday.

yay. i mean, yay! YAY! hmm. i've gotta work on that for the day.

it makes me sad that i'm not as excited about my birthday this year. i guess i just have so much other stuff going on that even i've managed to shove it aside. hell, i'm usually basking in birthday princess MONTH come september 1st - counting down, busting out a tiara, looking for a fun new outfit to wear on the big day. i LOVE my birthday.

maybe i'm just getting old. this year, i'm officially closer to 40 than i am to 30. and that's one hell of a depressing thought. dudes, my birthday dinner dress is BLACK. i'm usually in much happier, brighter colors for today. the bean's gonna think i'm her friggin' grandma, not her mom. and i think i need to spend some time this morning covering up the gray roots that have managed to peek out again. didn't i JUST do that not too long ago?

but on the bright side, i'm going to meet up with the hub for a lovely sushi lunch at our favorite place, ken's. yeah, it's out in BFE, but for some reason, it's absolutely the best sushi we've had anywhere - and we've been to a lot of places! plus he's taking me out to dinner somewhere romantic and fun tonight, and i just listened to a fun voice mail from the kid, who's with her dad this week, and was obviously in the car with him while leaving the message:

"uh, yeah. hi mom, i, uh, just wanted to call and, uh, wish you a happy birthday. yeah. uh, i hope you have a good day. yeah. and, uh, yeah, i love you. um, okay. that's all. loveyoubye."

hee hee! she's such a typical pre-teen. i love that kid.

and something else to be excited about: TALK LIKE A PIRATE DAY IS TOMORROW!! my friend california girl reminded me of this via e-mail this morning.

arrrrr, ye salty dogs, be preparrrrrred.

just call me shamu.

so here we are, two weeks before the big due date, and what did i do on saturday?

shop for maternity clothes.

and why? because i'm finding that i no longer fit properly into my other pregnant-woman attire. i seriously look like this:

large and freakin' in charge. the hub looked at what i was wearing and was like, "um, do you want to go shopping?" normally, those words would have me jumping for joy, but ugh. i tried to console myself by remarking that i'd still be wearing some of these clothes for a little while after the bean comes. but that only reminded me that even after giving birth, i'm still going to look about 5 months pregnant (which is normal, but what a shitty deal). uh...yay.