Baby book & a sponsor spotlight

Happy Monday! This morning I woke up feeling quite refreshed. I’m glad I took the weekend to relax, recharge, and get some good sleep. Currently, I’m sipping on some coffee and eating a Panera cinnamon crunch bagel and grapefruit with sugar. I don’t have a patient today so I’m going to catch up on some emails, phone calls, and travel preparations.

This weekend, I also got to catch up on one of my favorite hobbies - scrapbooking. I can do some serious damage at craft stores {you can always find me lost in the sticker aisles}. When I found out I was pregnant, I first jumped for joy and then woke Paul up by shoving the pregnancy test in his face. After the initial shock, I wanted to find a creative way to document this pregnancy.

I am using a SMASH book for this baby book. If you’ve never heard of SMASH books, you should go get one. I’ve been chronicling my pregnancy symptoms, ultrasound photos, and any other thoughts and feelings I’ve been having about this beautiful experience. I also need to order some photo prints online after the holidays so I can add those in too. 

What is great about these SMASH books is that they already have everything you need to get started with scrapbooking - colorful paper and a dual function pen and glue stick. You just need to add your photos, magazine clippings, stickers, and any other mementos you have. I plan to use this book to document the whole pregnancy and the first year of life. Yay! 

Do you enjoy scrapbooking? What are your favorite things to add to your scrapbooks?

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I’d like to introduce you to my friend Shannon over at Smile and Write! Her writing always has a way of speaking to me.

Hi my name is Shannon and I blog over at Smile and Write. I am a mom of two girlies under the age of two so life is hectic, crazy, messy but full of love. In my former life I was a kindergarten teacher for seven years and miss it but am thankful to have this time to teach my own little ones. I love running, food, and learning new things.

My blog is about making beauty in ALL things. Almost three years ago I lost my brother to a drunk driver and my world crashed with it. That is one thing I could not wrap my brain around and had a very hard time accepting it. Since then, it has taken me a long time to realize that if beauty can’t be found in something, it is my job to MAKE beauty out if it. So in essence this is why I am here, to make beauty out of all things and this is what you can find when you visit my blog and I hope you do!

Thanks for sharing Shannon!

At the moment {v.11}

Wow, I can’t believe it’s been two months since my last ‘at the moment’ post. Time flies. It’s been FREEZING here in San Francisco. {I realize there are parts of this country that are actually freezing, but this is as close to freezing cold as this born-and-raised Southern California girl can handle}. 

Here’s what I’m up to at the moment. 

Seeing :: changes in my body. I’m actually noticing a little baby bump. Most of the time I think it’s cute, but sometimes I think, ugh, i’m so bloated.

Feeling :: sick! Oh no! Paul has been sick all week and now it’s affecting me too. I was feeling somewhat off this week but I woke up this morning full on sick. Grrrreat. 

Drinking :: Starbucks decaf soy caramel brûlée lattes. Get in my belly!

Eating :: McDonald’s double cheeseburger and fries. I can’t help myself when the salt craving strikes. 

Reading :: Fit Pregnancy December/January issue. I took out an electronic subscription for my iPad  - love it. 

Watching :: The Sound of Music special edition DVD. I think this baby loves music - always dancing in there!  

Baking :: lots of Christmas goodies! 

Wearing :: LAYERS. 'Tis the season to bundle up.

Loving :: all of the holiday decorations I’m seeing. The Christmas spirit is all around!

I hope you all had a great weekend. What are you up to at the moment?

Just a little reminder to myself

I almost fainted yesterday. I was presenting a pre-op to my attending for an oral surgery extraction and felt a little off. A few minutes later, I got a wave of lightheadedness, my vision went blurry, and I got very hot. I have fainted before and I knew that if I didn’t sit down, I would have hit the floor. I was able to make it to a chair, sip some water and eat some food, but it was scary. I called my doctor and she told me that I need to make sure I’m staying hydrated and not change positions too suddenly.

This quote seemed to fit perfectly into my life right now. I am carrying precious life. I love this little one more than words can describe. I need to take care of myself, period. 

* * * * * * *

On a happier note, I’ve been feeling so much baby movement since Friday! Our little one is very active! I absolutely love these little twists and kicks. 

P.S. I’m still accepting questions for my next Q&A post, keep them coming!

5 Things You May Not Know About Me {part 2}

Happy Weekend! WEEEE! Who has Monday off? THIS GIRL DOES. 

Every once in a while, I like to offer up a few tidbits about myself that people may not know or to describe the silly little quirks that I have {it’s fun to get to know people this way}. Recently, I wrote a reintroduction and back in April I wrote my first installment of 5 Things.

1 // I am very competitive (if you have ever played a game with me, you know this). This photo was from our last game night. Natalie and I kicked the boys’ butts in charades! Most of the time I can keep my cool, but every once in a while I go overboard and the game board or deck of cards gets thrown across the room. OOPS. 

2 // I absolutely love watching The World Series of Poker. I know, weird. I look forward to this tournament every year. I get really into it. I yell at the players to make certain bets or if I think a player is bluffing. The final table was this week, it was so fun to watch! 

3 // I hate, ABSOLUTELY HATE, the dried up lotion wad that gets stuck at the end of the lotion pump. I have an actual physical hatred for it. I get the heebie-jeebies whenever it accidentally touches me. ICK.

4 // I vehemently refuse to eat the light or non-fat version of certain foods  {mostly condiments}. Do not give me light cream cheese, light mayo, or light salad dressings. A girl’s gotta enjoy life! 

5 // I believe that movie quotes are a valid form of communication. Anchor Man, Mean Girls, and Legally Blonde - some of the classic quotable movies. 

Let me know if you do a 5 Things post about yourself! I’d love to stop by your blog and read it. 

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

The Case For Grace

Posts that are more personal tend to be harder to write. I always need to do a little soul-searching while writing these posts. Although I am at an incredibly happy place in my life, I am struggling with a few personal issues.

So here it goes. I have been exceptionally unforgiving lately. I have been easily upset by others but mostly, I have been tremendously hard on myself.

I take a shuttle across the city to and from school every day. Mostly, I sit and read or catch up on email, but occasionally I spend the 25 minutes in quiet thought. It’s nice to have the white noise of the commute surrounding me while I sit and think. Today I got to thinking about how edgy I’ve been lately. It’s hard to describe but it’s a cross between anger, annoyance, frustration, defiance, and apathy {don’t ask me how I can feel all those things simultaneously}. 

This roller coaster of emotions usually results in me beating myself up about every little thing. 

Now, I could go on and on about what I’ve been doing wrong but instead of dwelling on my shortcomings, I’m going to focus on the case for grace. These are promises I’m going to make to myself and I invite you to make them for yourself too. 

I promise to be patient. I will go forth and focus on approaching situations calmly. I will be composed when I react.

I promise to be compassionate. I will appreciate the uniqueness of others and I will treat myself with respect and kindness.

I promise to be forgiving. I will not hold grudges against others. I will give myself a break and not be too hard on myself. I will accept myself for who I am.

God forgives us unconditionally. Why don’t we learn to forgive ourselves sometimes too?