The nursery (phase 1)

We finally started doing some work in the nursery...and when I say "work," I'm not kidding! So far, we have:

• Scraped the popcorn ceiling and re-painted the ceiling
• Painted the walls...twice, because we didn't like the 1st color of green
• Added the crown molding
• Touched up the doors and other molding
• Bought and installed new wood blinds

I think it is going to look very nice when we start getting things put together and moved in. The green is a very soothing color, while hopefully still "stimulating" enough for the baby. I know everyone will probably tease me about not choosing a pink color, but frankly, I have always loved the color green and since it is versatile enough for a boy or a girl, I had already planned on using green before we ever knew the baby's sex.

Jesse and I spent Valentine's Day evening together (1st time in awhile, since we have both been so busy lately), went to dinner, and then went shopping for nursery furniture. We found this beautiful crib at USA Baby, on sale "as is" because it was a floor model. No, we still have not had time since then to actually put it together, but at least you can kind of see the color and style.
A close up of the pillow for the bedding. The name of the bedding is called "Patchwork Pooh," and though I'm not a huge fan of Winnie-the-Pooh, this bedding is too sweet. The whole thing is a giant patchwork quilt, of green, khaki, and white, and is made with that soft, cuddly material we all love. Pooh is kind of sporadic, and I'm not going to go overboard with the Pooh extras for the nursery, but I just could not pass up the soft, green quilt pattern. If you want to see the whole nursery set (for whatever reason), go here:
http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2415159&cp=2255986.2256244.2256251.2256261&parentPage=family

I'm sure I will post more pictures once we get closer and start to get things more together. We're still looking for a dresser/changing table and trying to decide what kind of rocking chair we want to use in the nursery. At least you have a visual now, when I talk about it!

Home upgrades and additions

We have not had much time lately to do much...but I have been extremely focused to use the time I have had to "pretty" the house. It's not that I've done major changes, but mainly just added all the extras to make the house become a home. I figure it is about time, since we have almost lived in the house 2 years now.

The guest bathroom: added matching rugs and all the bath decor for the sinks, toilet, etc.
The office/guest room: We had to convert the office into the conglomeration of a guest room and an office in order to make room for the nursery.
My office desk no longer faces the window, but it is functional, and that's all that matters.
(Can you tell that work has been slightly busy by the mess everywhere??)
The master bedroom: Since buying our new furniture, I have been working slowly but surely in our bedroom. I re-painted the walls a dark khaki, and went and bought some new bedding. We're still in phase two of the project, still wanting to add crown molding in the bedroom, new wood blinds, and of course some kind of curtains, but it is starting to come together.

Our master "Elfa" closet: Yes, I gave in and allowed Jesse to install Elfa in our closet. As much as I hate Elfa right now, the new arrangement did give us a little more useable space, and having the drawers in the closet is great for storing my sweaters. Now I just need some shoe boxes to organize and stack shoes, and we should be good to go.
The fireplace mantle: We bought this new mirror from Pier 1 after Christmas, and got a great deal on it. We had been looking for a mirror since we moved into the house, and could not agree on one we both liked. We still need to hang it, but it already looks so much nicer.
The kitchen curtains: After almost 2 years of having no curtains in the kitchen (and a big open window with no privacy), we finally agreed on some curtains. The valance is across two windows, and the bottom of this window has the matching green and khaki plaid "cafe" (half)curtains.
T.V. armoire: We actually got the armoire for the t.v. last year, but most of you probably have not seen it. It is definitely an upgrade to the table cabinet thing we had the t.v. sitting on before. At least now we can close it all up and make the room look presentable, without having a t.v., videos, etc everywhere.
I'm becoming slightly obsessed with all of this home decorating and designing, but it sure is fun. It's a good thing Jesse keeps me on a budget or I could get really out of control! :)

Houston Marathon

Jesse has been talking about running in the marathon again for the past few years. He ran a few times after high school, mainly as a pacer to his friend Lamar. Two years ago, while we were still in College Station, he tried to convince me to run it with him. We trained together for about 3 weeks, and I said, "no way." This year he was determined. He registered back in October or November, and was training every day. He even convinced Lamar to run with him again!

Yesterday was the Houston marathon. Jesse was nervous and giddy all day Saturday thinking of everything he needed to do to prepare. He ate lots of carbs and pasta, drank tons of water and Gatorade, and stretched out all evening. We went over the map and agreed on meeting points for me to bring him Gatorade, power bars, action goo, etc. We were both ready.

Sunday morning, we had to wake up at the butt-crack of dawn. We left our house by 5:30 am and met Lamar to ride down together. They both seemed extra nervous this time and doubtful as to whether they would physically be able to complete the race. It was going to be a long morning for them, no doubt. This is right before they jumped out of the car to go stretch and begin the race, aka, the before picture.
During Jesse's training, he had worked up to about 15 miles, keeping a 9-minute mile pace. So, based on his pace, we planned where I would meet him at different mile markers. I was supposed to meet him at mile 8, 16, 20, and then the finish line. I made it to mile 8 slightly ahead of schedule. I saw the insanely talented runners, running 5-minute miles go sprinting by, and stayed watching for Jesse and Lamar until the slower 12-minute miles went jogging by. Never saw them. There were over 9,000 crazy people running this race, and we must have just missed them.

David, another friend of Jesse and Lamar's planned on meeting them around mile 16 to run the second half with them and help keep them motivated. He called and told me that he was going to try to meet up with them a little earlier, around mile 12. I headed on to the 16 mile mark where I was supposed to meet them the next time. David called again (while running, mind you) and told me they were at mile 15 and would be at 16 shortly. Sure enough, David and Jesse came around the corner, and I was able to give them drinks and supplies, and of course encouragement. Jesse was still smiling at that point. After they left, I suddenly realized that Lamar was no longer with them...I figured I would ask later.

I headed on to the 20-mile mark. It was very difficult to maneuver to all the different locations, as many roads were closed off, and many streets were already one-way streets! Not to mention I am not all that familiar with the area, and I have a horrible time reading maps. I would pretty much look for the string of runners, park where I could, and then try to walk/run wherever I needed to be. Same as before, I parked as soon as I could, and found a place along the 20-mile stretch. I could not find the marker, so I was not sure where exactly I was. David started calling at mile 20, wondering where I was. I asked someone, and they said mile-22. Oops. Well, it was close enough right? Then David called again, as they passed mile 22. Oops again. Turns out, I was closer to mile-23. By the time they got to me, Jesse looked absolutely beat and frustrated to boot. Sure enough, he was no longer smiling. Only 3.2 miles left, and I knew he would do it, even if it killed him!

I hurried back to the George R. Brown center, parked about 4 blocks away, and RAN towards the finish line. People were lined up on either side, as far as you could see, whistling and cheering on the runners. I somehow squeezed up onto one of the bleachers and had my camera ready, determined to see Jesse cross that finish line. Sure enough, I saw him coming down the lane (now David was gone), and started jumping up and down cheering as loud as I could. He actually SAW me in the crowd, and smiled, then sprinted in to the finish, finishing the race in 4 hours and 21 minutes. Pretty darn good for running 26.2 miles!!!
I met up with both David and Lamar afterwards, and we tried to find Jesse. Turns out David couldn't finish because he did not register or have a number. Lamar was hurting too bad, and dropped out around mile-17. Both were extremely supportive of Jesse, and we were all so proud of him. I did not get a picture of him afterwards with his metal around his neck, but it was pretty neat to see him beaming so big. What an accomplishment!

New bedroom furniture

After saving money for months, we finally bought our new bedroom furniture!! I asked only for money for my birthday in October and then again for Christmas. Sure enough, that is what everyone gave me, so we were finally able to venture out shopping. Jesse took off the Friday after Christmas so we could go shopping, planning on buying nursery furniture. We went to a couple of places, and finally decided which nursery set we liked the best, and I called them back and asked them to hold it for us. Then we made a detour and stopped by a couple furniture stores. Sure enough, we found something we both liked and agreed on (monumental!) and spent the money we were originally going to spend on the nursery...oops.

I took a few pictures of the furniture to share with everyone. I'm planning on re-doing our bedroom, starting with paint, then of course bedding, curtains, etc. (Probably a dark khaki on the walls, all white bedding, white sheer curtains, lots of pillows, etc) I will post pictures once I get it fixed up, but at least you can see the pretty furniture!

Our bedroom is not very big, and has very strange dimensions, making this furniture seem HUGE and overwhelming in this small room. But since we will probably have this furniture the rest of our lives, we couldn't plan according to this room. It sure does look like a LOT in this little room though...

The king size master bed, with headboard and foot board

Looking into the "nook" in our room
The dresser- we did not get the matching mirror, but might go back and get it or something similar to hang over the dresser.
The big, beautiful armour cabinet. For now, we are using this for clothing storage, etc. but eventually, we could put a TV or stereo or something in there.
Hooray! We finally have a bedroom that doesn't look like a teenager/college student's dorm room!

Christmas highlights

I know I'm late in posting, but better late than never, right? Here are a few pictures from the Christmas season. Obviously, I am only posting a few of the many I took, but at least you can see something!

Jesse and I at his STGCSAA Christmas party. These "balloon-bottom" maternity shirts add 10 pounds to every picture!

Julie, Susan, and Sarah at Christmas Eve dinner at Pappadeaux
Susan, Sarah, Julie, me, and Jesse at my parent's house Christmas Eve
Dad and Tiger in their matching antlers, hehe- Dad's always such a good sport!
Elijah Christmas morning
Jansen got a UT football uniform for Christmas, and Uncle Jesse was not thrilled. Jansen was a good sport and gave the camera the Gig'Em thumbs up.
Major showed me every single toy he opened and wanted me to take pictures
All Caleb asked for was Ben 10 stuff...and that is pretty much all he got! Every kind of Ben 10 toy you could possibly imagine!!
Jansen's new drum set- I'm glad he plays it at his house and not mine!! Haha
The air hockey/pool table for the boys

Jeremy and Eli snuggling on Christmas morning

Lots of fun was had over the Christmas holiday, and of course these pictures only capture so much. I hope you all had a wonderful 2006 holiday season!

Extra Estrogen

It's a girl!

Jesse and I had our doctor appointment and ultrasound yesterday morning, and I still do not think the news has sunk in. We had our ultrasound first, and it took the technician almost half an hour to decide what gender she thought the baby was!! Apparently we either have a very shy little girl, or a very stubborn little girl- she would not open her legs. The technician kept pushing around and bouncing the applicator on my stomach, then I would change positions, while attempting to shake my stomach and get her to move, and NOTHING! She finally gave us a 2-second peek, and the technician said, "well, I think it is a girl." Jesse and I both looked at each other, first in shock, and then questioning..."you think?? Can we be sure?" The technician told us she was about 90% sure it had to be a girl, since 'she would have seen testicles by now.' Um, okay. I think I watched the video 5 times last night, determined to find those testicles!!

I was literally in shock for a few hours. I really had my mind wrapped around the fact, not the thought, the FACT that I was going to have a boy. I had mentally prepared for a boy, had the nursery designed in my mind, and had even started using cute little pet names for my baby boy. See, Jesse's dad had all boys, and all his boys have only had boys...based on the statistics, I was destined to be a mother of boys! But God had other plans.

I do not want to say I am disappointed, because all I have been praying for is a healthy baby, boy or girl. (Which, BTW, all my testing came back negative and I am not only healthy, but also carry an extremely low percentage for down syndrome, spina bifada, etc.) However, I think the selfish part of me is disappointed. All of my friends and cousins who have had babies in the past 6 months have ALL had girls. I thought it would be fun to have the first boy, and let him be the stud of the group. I am so used to being the "first" to experience things in life, and I guess I felt I needed yet another "first" amongst my peers. But the truth is, it does not matter what my peers have experienced. Reality is: this is my first baby. It is my parents first grandchild, and my sisters first niece. It is the first girl born on Jesse's side of the family. That is a lot of firsts!! So does it matter that it is not a boy? Of course not.

I have always been worried about Jesse's reaction to having a baby girl, much more so than myself. He was literally beaming yesterday and started popping off girl's names right away. He honestly seemed more concerned about my apparent lack of excitement rather than his own. Half the reason I thought it would be fun to have a girl is so I can watch as she wraps him around her little finger. Talk about an instant softening of a relatively tough male! It is going to be awesome watching him love his precious daughter, and watch her truly become a Daddy's girl.

My thoughts are still sporadic, and I don't think I have completely adjusted to the idea of raising a daughter of my own. I always knew I wanted a daughter, I just had my family time line set slightly different. Perhaps that is why God gave her to us now. I have always been too much of a control freak and definitely too much of a planner. Things typically go according to my plan, or I change my plan accordingly to make it work for me. This is one of the first things in my life I had absolutely no control over, and even though I made my assumptions, God had other plans. And though I don't know what His plan entails, I trust He knows what He is doing! Perhaps he needed to teach me to trust Him. Perhaps he needed to teach me to not assume, or always have to be "first." Perhaps he needed to show Jesse true, unconditional love of a baby girl so wrapped around his finger that he does not know who he would be without her. I don't presume to know. All I know is that God has always taken care of us, and I know He always will.

I am going to continue to pray that God melts my heart and helps me begin to fall in love with the idea of being a mommy to a daughter. I know I will fall in love with her once she arrives- right now I need to love the IDEA of her. It is going to be a wonderful, miraculous blessing, and I am ready to be genuinely excited about all the fun that is coming our way.

It's a...???

We find out bright and early tomorrow morning! I feel so nervous, and excited all at the same time. Please pray that no matter the result, Jesse and I react appropriately with all the excitement in the world.

I'll let you know when I know!!

P.S.
I know I said I was going to avoid only posting about the baby, and lately every post has something to do with the baby. I can't help it! This is the only way I seem to be able to catch up with everyone at the same time. I apologize if it's annoying...

First movements!

The past few days, I have been noticing a new muscle "twitch" in my stomach, always in the same place around the same time of day. I think it must be the baby! Granted, I dont KNOW with 100% certainty, as I have never felt it before, but it sure feels like the little feeling everyone keeps describing.

I told Jesse I thought I felt it, and he scrambled across the room, and kept his hand on my stomach for about 15 minutes, determined to feel it himself. Hehe, I dont know that it is strong enough to be felt by him, but he insists that he pushed up against something and then it moved. :)

Only 10 more days until we find out the baby's gender!!

Baby Avery Reese

Baby Avery Reese made her (difficult) entrance to the world on Thursday, December 14, 2006. Heather went into the hospital Thursday morning already dialated 3 cm, and the doctors went ahead and broke her water to help progress her labor. Things moved slow throughout the labor process up until she reached 6 cm. Both her and Chris's entire families surrounded Heather, praying and cheering on little Avery to come out. After a little bit, the doctor came back to check and said she was ready to push! She dialated 4 whole cm in only 30 minutes! Heather had to push for about 45 minutes, and little Avery was stuck. The doctor had tried to turn her, using the forcepts and even the suction-thing on her head, and she would not turn. They began to prep for a c-section and the doctor was determined to try one last time. He grabbed her with the forcepts, and out she came! You can see she has some scratches and bruising on her face and head, from the rough delivery, but is a beautiful baby. She has dark hair like Heather, and Chris's blue eyes.
Jesse just kept staring at her as she slept...I dont blame him- we all were just staring!
Chris and Heather tried to get her to wake up so we could see her blue eyes, and Avery was not too happy about that. :)
The happy and proud new family!
Congratulations Chris and Heather! Your little miracle is absolutely beautiful, and we thoroughly enjoyed hanging out with you both.

Family Christmas 2006

I always look forward to Family Christmas. You see, ever since us kids were little, my mom's family realized that it was too difficult trying to get everyone together for Christmas day year after year. And yet, we really missed the years we could not all get together. So they changed plans and set the new plans in stone. Every year, on the 3rd Saturday in December, we all meet at my grandparent's home and have Family Christmas. Other holiday plans are always made around this very special date!

This year, we changed the plan slightly, and had Family Christmas at my aunt's house in Dallas. As always, we had a great time. The focus shifted slightly, with the addition of the two new babies this year. We had a new "baby" generation to play with and enjoy. The aunts and uncles still had their secret santa drawing, as did the married cousins. I was the only person in the entire family to guess my secret santa on the 1st go-around. :) After all the presents, and of course, TONS of food, we all played "The Name Game" for what seemed like hours. It was hysterical! A good time was had by all, and I am already looking forward to next year.

Julie and Jennifer are two years apart. While my mom was shopping for Jennifer, she asked Julie to help pick out something Jenn would like. On the same hand, Jennifer was helping Aunt Darenda pick out something Julie would like. Can you believe they picked out the exact same thing, at the exact same store?? Great minds think alike!

Now, the baby pictures begin. I know, I know- I couldn't help it! They are about 2 and a half months old, just so cute, and so DIFFERENT! Hard to believe they are cousins and only a day apart.
Savannah Lynn (note the baldness)

Kalia Grace (where did she get all that hair??)

Jennifer holding Savannah, while brother Jacob holds Kalia
Times like these remind me how lucky I am to have such a big, loving family. Even though we live apart and only see one another a few times a year, it is always the most special of times.

Christmas Cheer

I tried to decorate my desk at the office so when I have to go in, at least the atmosphere is cheerful! Our company is also having a Christmas decorating contest, and though I will not win, the festive feel of the office is definitely an improvement!

Jesse's funny idea...

While we were posing for our Christmas photo, Jesse came up with some goofy idea for a picture. He knows I am very self-consious about my growing tummy, and decides to have a contest and see "whose is bigger." So on the count of three, we both stuck them out as far a s we could, and my sister caught us with the camera at the perfect time! Dont worry, we are not using this on our Christmas card, but I thought it was pretty funny and had to share. :)

Christmas at the Shulse home

Merry Christmas!

I love this season, and decorating always makes me smile from the inside out. Granted, we are still growing our Christmas collection, a little every year, but it IS growing, slowly and surely.

Our mantle, with the nativity scene, and our stockings "hung with care"

The only snow men we will ever see in Houston, Texas
Santa with his presents
Our Christmas tree

(I still need to get a tree skirt...)
The lights, garland, and bows on the outside of the house
Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

Long time, no post!

There has been so much going on lately, and yet I have failed to share it all with you! Granted, some is boring and not very exciting, but there have been plenty of exciting things happening too!

Let's get the boring out of the way first. Work has been keeping me insanely busy, with deadlines right and left on multiple projects. I have also managed to train another new employee while still juggling my work. She is nice enough, though kind of quiet.

We have had some health problems in the past month which have not been fun. Jesse has been training for the Houston marathon and managed to destroy his feet and back in the process. He has been in physical therapy for a month and is starting to feel some results. We both came down with the allergies/flu-type symptoms, which knocked us out for about a week each. NOT fun. And to make it all worse, I have still been getting morning sickness and losing weight (not that you can tell). Throwing up is nasty, and when you do it on a normal basis, it is even worse. I would not wish it on my worst enemy.

On to the good news!

Jesse took on a new part-time job, on top of his regular job at the golf course, which has also been keeping him (and me, on occasion) extremely busy. He is installing Elfa shelving for The Container Store for the entire Houston area. So far, he seems to like it, and the extra money is GREAT. I'm worried that he is going to wear himself out, but he is very adamant that he needs to do this right now to prepare (our bank accounts!) for the baby. I'm very proud of his dedication and his desire to provide so deligently for our family.

Speaking of the baby, things are progressing right along. We had our first ultrasound November 1, and if I had a scanner I would post the cute little picture. It truly was a miracle watching such a tiny human being squirming around on screen, knowing it was growing inside of me. Very cool. I have started to show a little bit, and it's kind of annoying, to be honest. I just look chunky- not quite pregnant. My pants are all fitting much snugger, yet I cant fit into maternity pants (and dont really want to at this point). I will admit- I thought Jesse was going to be the one who struggled with my changing figure, and yet it has been me- he has been totally supportive. Hopefully it will be better once it actually looks like I'm pregnant and not just chunky!! We will go back on January 2 for our next appointment, and will find out the baby's sex at that time. Get your votes in now... :)

The holiday season is in full gear, and we are having a great time. We spent Thanksgiving with my family, and had a great day full of food, fellowship, and even poker! Yes, I WON for the first time ever!! (I'm not still gloating, I promise...hehe.) We will go up to Dallas this weekend to celebrate my mom's extended family Christmas with all my aunts and uncles, which is always a lot of fun. I'm excited to see my new 2nd-cousins (Savannah and Kalia) since I have not seen them since they were born in Aug/Sept. We will spend Christmas with Jesse's family. It is fun to watch his neice and nephews get excited about Christmas and open all their toys and games. I can tell this will be a great holiday season to remember!

Heather's baby shower

Heather and Chris are due early December, and we celebrated the upcoming birth of baby Avery Reese with a baby shower last weekend. It was fun to see Heather finally "getting big," since she did not start to show until almost 5 months! I thought it was ironic that she wore a blue shirt, since it was a girly (pink) shower...always a sense of humor!

We all helped to make a square for her quilt, as we did for Lauren. The nursery is going to be pink and brown, and as always, Brittany put together a beautiful quilt, made with the squares from all of us.

Avery's first Aggie football jersey- you know that present is more for Chris, than Heather

or Avery!

I just liked this picture...I dont remember why she was laughing so hard, but it is great that she is so happy. :)
Another close up of the quilt. My square is the top row, right in the center.
Erin got matching outfits for Lauren's daughter, Hayley and the soon-to-be baby Avery. Since Heather and Lauren have always been best friends, they just know Hayley and Avery will be best friends too. Either way, they will have a cute picture together in their green onesies!
It is always fun to get together and giggle with these girls. I'm so excited for Chris and Heather, and I cannot wait to meet baby Avery and get her initiated into the group.

my CEO's 50th birthday party

The CEO of my company recently turned 50 years old...in style! She threw an outrageous party at the Paraiso Maravilla off Chimney Rock. The place was very nice, though there were not enough chairs for everyone. They had top notch appetizers and finger foods, but I think I only tried a few that were recognizable. There was also an open bar, which is very strange for my strict, Baptist CEO! It was strange to see people you work with all dressed up (we had to wear 'after 5 attire' in either black or white), drinking, and boogying down on the dance floor! Jesse was out of town and unable to go with me, so I spent most of the night drinking Sprite and laughing as people danced all funky on the dance floor. I did manage to get a few pictures, though they turned out pretty dark.

This is my CEO and her boyfriend beginning the dance trend...

(I was on the 2nd floor looking down to get this picture)

The birthday cake...probably larger than my wedding cake...
Me and a couple girls from the office, Jean and Ana.
Chris and Lori 'getting down' on the dance floor! It was a fun evening, though not my favorite event ever. Perhaps it would have been different if I was able to have a drink or two and relax some, but that was not the case.

I stayed long enough for people to know I was there, then I headed home to have some Taco Bell and a cheesy chick flick- now THAT is my kind of night!