Waterpolo, TLC and MTV

Water polo season is finally over and boy is that a blessing in it's self. I love coaching water polo and I love my team but being pregnant and spending 12-14 hours on a pool deck on weekends, has literally turned me into a walking zombie.
Just for example this is what October looked like for me:
Oct. 5-6 I spent the whole weekend in Napa. On Friday I was up at 4:45am and didn't get home until 8:00pm. Then  I repeated that same schedule on Saturday the 6th.
Oct. 12-13- I spent the whole weekend in Modesto/Turlock/Ripon. That was nicer because I got to see my families, but I still was at the pool deck a lot of the day on Friday and Saturday.
Oct. 19-20- I spent Friday in Turlock at Pitman watching the Oak Ridge varsity boys and my little brother's polo team. Saturday I spent the whole day in Davis from 10am-8pm
Oct 26-27- We had our final JV girls tournament at Oak Ridge. It was great that it was only 20 minutes from our house, but I needed to be there the whole time since it was my tournament. I spent from 5:45am-7:45pm at the pool all day on both Friday and Saturday.
Not to mention, we have a 2.5 hour practice everyday Monday-Thursday plus about 6 games in various places from Stockton to Sacramento during the month of October.

IT WAS BUSY! AND IT WORE ME OUT!
I did this exact schedule last year and I was still working full time at the juvenile hall/group home and I wasn't even close to as exhausted as I am this morning. Plus, tournaments we're an excuse for me to get away from my own classroom :)

I think the lowest point was when at the Napa tournament I went to my car and took a two hour nap in the back of my Subaru between one of our games. If I hadn't, I seriously don't think I would of made it home.

With all of that though, I would still do it year after year because the improvement that my teams show from the beginning to end is absolutely amazing. It makes me know that I have got to be doing something right in regards to coaching.
My team this year went from the first two weeks of practice literally teaching kids how to breaststroke kick and egg beater to actually looking like a team that can play and understand water polo. 6 of the 12 girls on the team had also never really swam before! Yikes!
The number of comments I have gotten about how much they improved makes it all worth it.

These were taken on October 5th at our first tournament in the month of October:

Look at that defense. To go from not knowing how to egg beater to this?
Pure Awesomeness!

Our goalie this year volunteered for the position....and look at her now!

This was taken at the beginning of the season. So obviously I am a lot larger now...
That coaching shirt doesn't even fit my belly.
I'm going to try find some of me coaching with my belly showing.
I was still 4.5 months pregnant when this was taken.

Along with water polo being over today, I will be doing nothing but watching television, reading and sleeping today. I think I more than deserve it. Recently I have taken an interest in watching pregnancy shows and women giving birth. It makes me feel better knowing that if they can do it I can do it. I have even reserved my self to watching the always horrible 16 and pregnant. When I get done watching, it makes me feel good knowing that well, "Hell if this 15-17 year old can push that sucker out or go through a C section well then by all means I can." It also makes me feel very, very responsible.
I wish I could get paid what they do though to have my pregnancy and birth on camera....I don't think though that 24 & pregnant has the same ring to it, nor is as entertaining.

Julia

Maternity Clothes Part Deux and Overwhelmed

I seriously thought I was handling this whole pregnancy thing pretty well....until yesterday.

I thought that I was doing a great job not being super emotional, and before I got pregnant I swore up and down that I would not be that hormonal crazy bitch that some women tend to turn into during pregnancy.

Well I wouldn't go too far and say that I am a crazy hormonal bitch, but I am a tad bit overwhelmed and I have been in denial about it for a while.

It all became clear to me yesterday when Nate and I we're shopping for some pregnancy jeans.

I was told that Goodwill and Snowline Hospice have a great maternity section over here in Folsom.
I knew it was going to rain this week and my jeans can no longer handle the ponytail extender idea, so in the 3rd quarter of the Ravens game Nate and I left to go shopping. (Thank god we did because the Ravens were really shitty this week and it would of been torture to sit and watch the rest of the game.)

Smart idea at the time but being almost 25 weeks, which is 6 months, it's not quite cutting it anymore.

We went to Goodwill and Snowline Hospice and they have a maternity section, but it sucks! I decided that unless I want to look like a homeless person we better start looking else where. Now, I don't mind looking like a homeless person at home, but unfortunately I have a job where I have to be out in the weather, rain or shine, so I don't quite have the option to run around looking like I just walked out of Skid Row.

I did find one GAP maternity sweater from Snowline Hospice and it was only $4.04 with tax, but for the amount of gas we spent driving around we we're just better off hitting the department stores.

We then went to the local mall and went to all the major department stores. I began getting frustrated because we kept getting told the same thing. "We don't carry maternity anymore, but we have a great selection online."

We then went to JCPenney and I thought, "OK they have to have a maternity section here." We then asked a nice lady who was folding clothes where their maternity section was and she replied, "We don't carry maternity anymore, but we have a great selection online." Uh Oh....

I then lost it. My eyes swelled up with tears and I said, "I don't understand how you buy maternity jeans online when you've never been pregnant. I need to try them on! I am fat now and things don't fit the same at all!" Nathan then grabbed my hand and led me out of the store so I wouldn't continue my meltdown in front of the poor lady. She did however feel really bad, and said, "I know its tough and I'm so sorry and if I had it my way we would still carry it." What a nice sales associate and you could tell she felt really bad. I was also super proud of Nate because he knew that I was really upset and he just let me be, which is what I needed in that moment.

We then, out of desperation, tried Sears and thank god they had a maternity section that carried actual maternity jeans. They were even having a sale of buy one get one free so, I got each pair of pants for about 23.99 and a pair of yoga/sweatpants that were on clearance. Thank goodness.

All the swag I got. Three pairs of pants and an awesome sweater.

I then on my way home realized that I have been feeling completely and utterly overwhelmed with the idea that Lincoln is coming. I then began telling Nathan all my fears and began saying things like, what if Lincoln hates me, what if the room isn't done, what if you lose your job and then we're poor. On and on I went for about 5 minutes.

Nathan then looked at me and said, "What if we have the best baby ever."

I then got the point. I had been filling my head with so much negativity lately that I have not even been giving all the positive, great things in my life any room to flourish and grow.

So, here is my list of things that in reality are true and not what if's:
1. My husband is completely and utterly awesome. We have been together just about for 10 years and we are now having a baby. Thanks to his awesomeness and work ethic, we are completely prepared for this as a couple emotionally, financially, and we have so much love between ourselves there is no way Lincoln could feel not loved.

2. My pets are awesome. When we first got Sheila she was a hot freaking mess, but through months of training she has finally become manageable and we did all of this without hiring a trainer. She doesn't eat walls or the remote anymore, she knows sit, stay, come and lay down, she can be walked on a leash for the most part, does fantastic when off a leash, is not aggressive, and will not be in your face anymore when we eat food. She does still like to jump on people, but if that is my only problem then I have it made.

She seriously is so much better.

3. I have started to take pictures of my belly frequently because it's important to Nate and decided I will be a good sport about it. Plus, people love seeing my belly.

Me rockin' my new jeans and taken yesterday afternoon.

 4. I love my baby and as long as he is loved, fed, clothed, has diapers, and put to sleep he will be happy.

~Julia

Three Glasses Of Wine Later.....

Last night, Nate and I decided to put together the awesome crib that we got for baby Hans.
Oh and by the way, the crib was free! Thanks Tim and Renee for allowing us to have the crib that you used with your children. Let me tell you, this crib is nice and I know they forked out a nice chunk of change to get it, so I promise to keep it nice since you want it back :)
With it being free though, that means it didn't come with any instructions. All  we had were wooden crib pieces, screws and washers just hanging around waiting for us to figure out where they go. Nate and I figured no big deal since hell it was free!

Well lets just say it took a bit longer than we thought.....
We started putting the crib together at about 6:40pm and by 8:30pm we had finally figured it out.
Nathan had about three glasses of wine, so I'm not sure if that had anything to do with the delayed finish time but whatever! :)

Beautiful! Nothing a bit of liquid courage can't fix!

We also picked up a glider for 30 bucks from a garage sale that was recently used by another couple. The glider its self is in great shape! The cushions are another story...
Thank goodness Nathan's super awesome Aunt Heidi is going to sew us some slip covers. If it all works out of course! Which I have faith that it will Heidi!  (I promise Heidi you will have the fabric and cushions by November once waterpolo season is over! Nate and I can't seem to get our schedules lined up to get to the fabric store to pick out some nice upholstery fabric.)
Thanks Aunt Heidi!

Here's a before picture:

See? The glider is perfect! Cushions are a hot mess!
For 30 bucks totally worth it.

I have also begun my shopping extravaganza for Lincoln! I have tried to slow down my shopping for clothes since I am having at least one baby shower, but honestly I can't help it! I have now curtailed my efforts to getting Lincolns room together. Which means I still get to shop but I'm just staying away from clothes, diapers, burp cloths and what not.

Here is some cute stuff I have picked up, all on sale of course:

Eggplant hat. Baby Gap has the best stuff!

Corduroy cut-off hipster shorts. Lincoln's Uncle Ian would be proud! 

Motorcycles/quads and the beach, two of Dad's favorite things. 

Here are some cute decorations that I picked up for Lincoln's room:

I love it!

Perfect for the bookshelves.

My personal favorite :)
It's a topless mermaid clothes hook!

Lincoln is one loved baby already!

Julia

Nuts or No Nuts?

Last week, Nathan and I found out the gender of our baby.

Hopefully this picture will help you solve the mystery.

In otherwords...our baby has nuts. Its a boy!

He is not only a boy his name will be Lincoln Johannes 'Hans' Roos

When we went in for the ultrasound  on the 26th of September the first thing the ultrasound technician asked us was if we wanted to know the gender. I replied 'Oh Yes! I want a boy.'

She then began looking at our baby and the instant, and by instant I mean within 20 seconds of us being there, she stuck the ultrasound stick on my belly told us she already knew what it was. She then made sure we wanted to know and asked us again if we wanted to. We both said "Hell yes!"

She told us "Well, its a boy!" I then cried.

Here are some great shots that Nathan took of me and our little family. We are wearing the celebratory blue of course!

The couch was the only good place to get a photo of the both of us on an automatic timer.
Nathan looks so cute! (and skinny)

I look like I'm in pain but you can really see my belly. 

This is a great photo.

My dog rules.

Hello! Sheila takes the best photos. 

I am so happy we're having a son! I have always wanted to have a boy first because growing up with my younger brother, who is 10 years younger than my self, was so much fun. I loved having a little boy around to play with and it was seriously so awesome. I love taking care of him and I still do to this day. I hope to have something very similar with our child, and of course believe it will be even better.

This was also the first time I felt proud of my son because he knew what was up going into the ultra sound. The first picture we got of him was of his family jewels, one smart baby if you ask me and possibly very comical as well.

-Julia