Thursday, December 30, 2010

Will the morning sickness please go away....

Another day, another revelation.




I’m still battling every morning with morning sickness. Its gotten worse, which is a good and bad thing. The reason its good, is it means the baby is doing well. The more symptoms you feel, the better. From what I’m reading. The bad thing, I’m miserable at work and only feel good when I’m sleeping or in the evenings.
Yesterday, I didn’t want to go to bed too early because I wanted to savor feeling normal. So, I’m trying remedies to make me feel better. The first one, ginger in hot water. It is actually helping a little. I don’t feel like I have to constantly be running to the bathroom to gag. But I still feel weak.
Hopefully im not a huge drag this weekend since we’ll be in Chicago!!!!

My mom said she never had any morning sickness, and I get to have it everyday. This is miserable! I can't wait till im out of my first trimester. I will feel better about a lot more things by that time!

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

and the blog name changes again...

So this blog has quickly turned from my wedding blog, to my newly wed blog to my pregnancy blog 




It’s still very early to be announcing this too much, but I would rather document my thoughts and changes now than later!



Sooo… if you didn’t know, I’m pregnant!! I’m currently a healthy 8 weeks and 3 days along. Not very far and of course, there’s the chance of miscarriage. But we are nonetheless excited and can’t wait to get to bring this little Van Gundy into the world!



Since I found out on Nov 29th that I got a big fat positive (BFP for those bumpers) on my home pregnancy test three times, I was pretty sure this was the real deal. I chest had started hurting really bad in the beginning of November and I was starting to be skeptical. So after I returned home for thanksgiving, it was the first thing I wanted to do is test.



The most common question we’ve had so far is “was it planned?” Which is a difficult question to answer, but to be frank… no. Our motto after marriage was “if it happens, it happens, and if it doesn’t, it doesn’t.” So we weren’t planning or trying, but we were doing much to avoid it either. We were both extremely excited for kids and were pretty happy when I came out of the bathroom and said “cole…. Can you please come here?” I took the test, the first thing in the morning and Cole didn’t know I had. So as he comes up the stairs, and sees me trying to hide a smile, he stops half way up the stairs and starts smiling too! He knew.



Then he says “is it s yes?” I was sooo giddy and happy but I had to contain it a little. My friend Courtney was over, in the living room. (we drove together from sacramento and we got in soo late that we insisted she stay at our place). So we had to decide, there and then if we were going to tell her. Of course, in my excitement, I did!! But we were also very skeptical. Since, at this point, I had only taken 1 test. So Cole went to the store and I took 2 more tests and they all came out positive.



No major symptoms except my chest being sensitive, until week 6 hit. I started having morning sickness and felt really unwell for 2 days. Then it lightened up and would only happen in the morning until around 10am. I was REALLY happy I wasn’t one of those “all day morning sickness” girls.



Well, now its Week 8. The approximate due date is August 8th 2011 and I am sick as a dog. It’s all day morning sickness now:(



We had our first appointment with our OB Dr Te, in Bellevue. She’s fantastic and we’re really happy with her! She was very nice and easy to talk to. We had our first ultrasound.. (I didn’t know until a few day before that the first ultrasound was transvaginal…glad I had some warning!)

Friday, December 17, 2010

10.2.10


So this wedding thing. Ya know, the planning that consumed my life for about a year?? Yes, I should finally mention it. I was waiting until I got some of my professional photos before I posted. I have them now!
Really, im sure everyone has seen the photos from me or on facebook, but I figured I should blog about how I remember it. (hopefully I can look back and re-read this when im older and reflect:) )

So, leading up to the day, lots of people say “it goes by so fast” “remember to take the time to take it all in” “its so fast you’ll barely remember it”. Maybe its because I had so much warning, but I did NOT feel like it went fast. It didn’t go slow either! It is easily, the happiest day in my life so far! I was up at 4:30am to 2am the next day, so that could ALSO be why it didn’t go “fast”. I was able to take in everything constantly. I let things happen and it was great.



Spending the night before, with my best friends and having “girl time” to leaving the bar Fado at 2am and getting a cream cheese hotdog in my wedding dress on the way back to the hotel was all AMAZING!



I really enjoyed having the time to see all my friends and family and everyone who flew out to be with us. Their traveling really showed us they cared and we were so blessed to have them near us as we make a lifelong commitment to each other. We learned in our engaged couples retreat, that although love in a component in marriage, its not the key point. The point is the commitment you are making to yourself, your new spouse and God. Knowing that before I said my vows, was very important to me.



There was so many smiling, laughter, chatter, bubbles, and fun that I couldn’t have asked for anything more! I didn’t have a problem with any of my vendors, everyone went above and beyond! There was nothing I was disappointed in. But of course, things happen and it makes the day interesting. 



Lastly, now that I’m married and truly confident in the decision I made in a spouse with Cole, people ask me “so how’s married life?”. I know what they are wanting to hear “same ‘ol, same ol!” or “great, how’s your life”. But to seriously answer that question, married life with Cole, is heaven. Everyday, I come home to him and he looks better and better than the day before! I feel so blissful and connected to him. I really thought that being engaged was enough and there is no way we could be any closer. That nothing would change from engaged life to married life. But it does! I’m his family legally and in the eyes of God now.



Okay, I understand not everyone may feel this way and may say I’m over dramatizing it. Or it’s the “honeymoon stage”. But, its so often nowadays that you see failing marriages and people hating each other so much they can’t look at each other after they got married. I just want to be grateful that I don’t have that and that right now, we’re happy!



Okay enough of that, and here are some pictures!


























all Photos are from the AMAZING Azzura Photography!

Thursday, November 11, 2010

AKA my cousin Sharon

I realize this blog was meant to record some of the exciting things happening with wedding planning, and a year long engagement at that, BUT as expected, thing just got so busy and out of hand before the wedding that I wasnt able to update.


So im going to be skipping back and forth through the past and present things that have been going on. Now that this is really a "newlywed" blog :)

so.. where do I re-start? :)

I think I am going to start with the present!







just 2 weeks ago today, my BFF and cousin, Sharon, was whisked away to a thrilling evening with her long time boyfriend and long distance traveling compaion, Jason. He took her to Teatro Zinzanni in San Fransico, then to an evening along at the Westin in SF Union Square. Im not going to get into more details, as this is really their story to share, but the point is, late that night, he popped the question :)


My Shar-long-ee (a nickname) is engaged!!!!!! I had no idea when he was going to do it, so it was a more than pleasant surprised to get a call at 11pm on a thursday (note: I fall asleep at 9am usually) to hear her say "sooooo.... are you ready to be a maid of honor!?"






I was soo thrilled and to this day have continued to be so excited for their wedding!! Her sister auny (Jennie) and I are her maids of honor... which made me realize, Im actuallt eh matron of honor and Auny is the maid of honor. The next morning, I get an evite to a previously planned "welcome home" party turned into a "welcome home and happy engagement" party!!







since Sharon wasnt able to celebrate with me on my pre-wedding events due to her trip to asia, I definitely didnt want to miss ANY of hers!!! So I looked all of the internet and found flights for $49 each way from Seattle to SFO! So on saturday morning, Cole and I went to the airport and flew to SF :)







First off, I love SF. Its probably my favorite city in the world so far (next to london) and to celebrate with my cousin on this occasion meant SO much to me! but to make it better.... we decided to leave that detail out when calling sharon to chat. She had no idea we were coming! Cole and I coordinated with Auny and made our way over to the party!



It took auny and I, 45 min before we found a parking spot, and when I say found... I mean it loosely. What actually happened was it was a construction spot that you couldnt park in until 5pm. We were circling for so long, it finally became 5pm and took the spot! So we grab our stuff and make our way to the house... auny goes in first and then turns to the side as we hear sharon coming up saying how shocked she was that it took her so long to park!







Then turns the corner, does a triple take at me and starts jumping up and down in place!!!!! I was sooo excited and so happy to see her! It was surreal! Then she hugged me, and sharon... let me tell you, sharon rarely cries. She can tear up, but rarely cries. She just ahs an amazing ability to hold it together!







But she didnt this time :D (haha I got her!) she was hugging me crying... which of course made me cry. It was a nice moment, that will go down in the books.. or blog. or whatever :D
As it turned out, it was Oct 30th and the day before halloween, so everyone was celebrating. Cole and I came prepared with costumes.. I was a vampire (again) and Cole was a mexican (again). haha we got ready, and everyone came over. Auny pulled out the champange and then mini speeches were in order.

I had a suprisingly hard time with this. I was shaking so hard the champange was spilling out of my glass! Everything I wanted to say wasnt coming out in complete sentances and suddenly, we were in that moment.

people say "oh every little girl has dreamed of their wedding at least once" but I never did that, when I was young. BUT when I was older, I did! I specifically remember a time, Sharon and I were in college, and we meet to hang out at a CPK between Vallejo and Santa Cruz, and we talked about how we would be each others maid of honors and how we wanted little parts of Monica and Chandlers wedding from the TV show friends....

Now back to the party... we were in that moment, and I realized, this is something we had talked about and its happening! Sharon's getting married and I am SOO excited and happy!

You're probably wondering... why havent I said this about my wedding and didnt I have this feeling at my wedding? Yes and no. Its different. When I got engaged, sharon was JUST leaving for asia and I saw her for maybe in hour in vancouver and it was more of a "Im going to miss you!!!" thing. We didnt get to do the pre-wedding celebrating or anything like that! But at my wedding, I felt very divided and I had to do a lot and see a lot of other people and divide my attention.
But this wasnt that way. It was a smaller group of us, toasting to my friend/cousin/getting grounded from each other/driving to SF on a school day/making up jazz dances/going on strike just to have a sleep over/always there for each other no matter how far/ be each othter "soulmates" cause we werent sure we'd ever find our Leonardo DiCaprio, sharon and her amazing fiance Jason.


well, needless to say, my speech wasnt very good and I trailed off with crying. But I know that Sharon knew what I was trying to say and that at the end of the day, it was their engagement bliss that mattered. Not my speech.


So now, I get to help my "soulmate" plan her wedding.... stay tuned!


oh and in that last picture.... I can't remember, So I can;t explain :)

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Quick... ish update!

Its been about a month and a half since I have written anything. Not due to the lack of action, but because I have been going going and going. Its been nuts but fun!!!



I will have to go into more detail when the wedding is over since, I have to make this short.



So first things first: VEGAS



Vegas was amazing. It was perfect and I couldn’t have asked for anything more. Well, okay, one thing was missing. My cousin, Sharon. But, we’ll just have to make up for it during her party 

Here’s a couple teasers to start it all off.






Actually, this is a little out of order, but that’s okay. The weekend before Vegas(July 25) we went to Cole’s cousin’s (Shannon) wedding at Newcastle Golf Club in Seattle. Its an absolute beautiful venue and I am so jealous! The wedding was beautiful and fun. They had it on a Sunday and when I think back to all the wedding planning, having a wedding on a Sunday is a great idea! You have 2 great days of the weekend to lead up to it and even getting done at 11pm on a Sunday night was not that bad for Monday!



The weekend after Vegas(August 7) we were in Fresno for another one of Cole’s cousin’s(Katie) wedding. They also had a lovely wedding in a catholic church in Fresno. It was the first time I had been to a full catholic mass wedding. It was long, but not dreadful like most people tend to describe catholic weddings. I actually thought it was really beautiful and lovely! I loved the traditions that were done and so nice to be indoors, especially in comparison to the Fresno heat. I was over 100 that day.



The next weekend Cole and I decided to take some much needed time to ourselves and went to the first preseason Seahawks game against the Titans. We got really good seats and the hawks won! Woo hoo!!! That next weekend we went to the next preseason game against green bay for Courtney’s Birthday! We enjoyed the game, okay… we enjoyed about half the game before we all met up and decided to move on. With that, we went to Cowgirls inc. I don’t know what it is, but theres something about that place. I LOVE it! It’s kind of trashy, but I always have a good time there! I think because its fairly easy to get tasty drinks, the expectations aren’t very high and they play country music! After a couple hours of that, someone…. I didn’t know the guy, convinced us that there was a club “close by” that we should go to called Republiq. We walked so far, in our Seahawks gear, that we all sobered up, when we got there. Then told the cover was $20 per person…. WHAT!?? Who charges $20 per person in Seattle? Anyways, needless to say, it was a great night.



The following weekend, our friends Stephanie and Matt hosted a Couples Shower for us at Newcastle Golf Club. There were great drinks, great food, great company and fun games! It was extremely well organized and Cole and I had a lot of fun! It also was great because Newcastle is just up the road from our house so it was nice to not have a long drive home after a night of celebrating 



Since then it has been wedding planning and more wedding planning.



We have had a break also to celebrate Taylor’s birthday a little early. Since things will be hectic with wedding planning, we decide early is better. With the idea steming from our friend Amanda, Taylor, Brody, Nutmeg and Eli were able to participate in Pawswalk at Magunsen park!!!

oh and we brought dog ice cream..... brody's new guilty pleasure :)