ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

Coach Of The Year....... AGAIN!

http://brownbears.cstv.com/sports/w-wpolo/spec-rel/042508aaa.html

Felix worked SOOO hard this year- it was probably his toughest year yet coaching Division I, with TWO brand new teams and NO pool. I am so proud of him and everything he puts in to his coaching..........24/7 (even though I hate it everytime he has to leave me over the weekend!).

I am glad so many people are in his life and have experienced first-hand how wonderful he is, because he truly is one of a kind! I dont know anyone as generous & giving, thoughtful & caring as him. And words could not explain how lucky I feel to get to be his wife!!!

Look Who Came Home Early!!!!!!!!!!!

Kissing Mommy Hello!!!!

Matti seems to be great! He wants to play & run around and is as happy as can be.

He is on 4 different medications for the next week or so, and a strict diet of boiled lean hamburger & rice. Other than that, he is as good as new!!!

We are very happy to be together again & can't wait to snuggle :)

Quick Update

Quick update on Matti Watkins (for those of you sitting on the edge of your seat waiting to hear...). He has been in the hospital since Tuesday night- so we are almost at 4 nights. However, the news is good and he is being weaned off his IV fluids and antibiotic injections. They say he is more active and alert and seems to be getting better. SO I should be able to take him home tomorrow afternoon and will continue giving him his medicine orally.
Also- they said they could watch him for us when we are out of town.
I am SO relieved! I feel like someone just shot me up with morphine!!! I can finally relax and can't wait to be reunited with my sweet little monster!!!!!!!

Please Keep My Little Love In Your Thoughts & Prayers!

Little Matti Watkins got really sick last night- from 7:30-10:30pm he was just vomiting & shaking, and after not being able to calm him down Felix & I took him to the emergency vet. They ended up keeping him there over night, trying to figure out what was wrong. FINALLY they called around 4pm today and said they think he has HGE- hemorrhagic gastroenteritis. It is not known what causes it, but symptoms are suddenly onset & usually bloody diarrhea coupled with vomiting and dehydration.

Anyways... after ruling out all of the really serious organ concerns, this seems to be it. If treated, dogs are usually fine... so I am hopeful that everything will be ok, and thrilled that nothing was found in his internal organs!!!! My poor little baby.

They say treatment is IV fluids (which he has been on since we left him there last night) and antibiotics. Once vomitting has ceased for a while they will introduce some bland foods and see how he does. Good news is that he hasnt thrown up since 10am this morning, so hopefully he is on the mend. They said once they figured out it was HEG and put him on the antibiotics, his heart rate went back to normal and he seems to have more energy. They are keeping him there a few more nights to work this out of his system, and then he should be fine.

What a day yesterday was ... and today!!!!!!!!!!! And the funny thing is, Matti pukes ALL THE TIME from eating random things he finds, but somehow in my gut I felt like something was really wrong last night. It must be the "mother" in me!!!

I am also VERY thankful to have such a sweet loving husband! He drove us to the Vet ER last night as Matti was puking all over my lap in the car....(and Felix was gagging). Then when the initial doctor told us that Matti was "very sick" and listed all these potentially awful sounding things Felix comforted me, then when we got home in bed he rubbed my back so I could fall asleep... and then called the vet in the morning to tell them I was 7.5mos pregnant and to have better bedisde manner!!!!! He was then on the phone all day with the doctors waiting for the diagnosis for Matti. My little protective super hero.

Needless to say, I am still a bit nervous and will be until Matti is home safe and sound with his momma. So please keep him in your thoughts & prayers...we love him so very much!

Warm Day, Wardrobe Emergency!

Well, today is ABSOLUTELY beautiful! I mean.... just perfect!!!!! So by 9am I was set up outside on our deck in our "camping" chairs. And I must say, it does feel like I am camping while I am sitting out there in our wooded backyard. I can't believe it is ours!! Too bad Felix is out of town for a game, you know how much he LOVES camping!!!

I also realized that this New England pregnant girl is NOT prepared for warm weather dressing!!! I think it may be time to invest in a few maternity tank tops!!!!!

Baby Shower in Boston

Kristy, Jen, & Carrie,(the only pics I have of them from the party!!)

My friends Jen, Carrie, & Kristy put together a Baby Shower for me last weekend. It was so fun, and so nice to see everyone again. The three of them really worked hard to be sure everything was perfect- from the food, to the games, to the decorations! It was so very nice and I am so lucky to have friends like them!!!!!
We started off playing "guess how big Jill's belly is" by asking people to tear off the amount of toilet paper they think it would take to wrap around my belly. Here is Melissa testing
her "guess"- she won!!!

Melissa enjoying her prize for winning the toilet paper game. Unfortunately, she left her beloved prize behind and they made me try them on for giggles. (I was not a fan of sticking my nose in a pair of glasses everyone else had put their nose in!!!) But... didn't want to be a party pooper!!! Speaking of which...... read below

They passed around a bunch of gross diapers and tried to guess what was in them. Some were down right di-o-sgusting!

Then- they brought out a bunch of blank white onesies for everyone to decorate! We all picked different designs to iron on (or draw with marker). They came out so cute!!

This little baby of mine is all set for clothes for the first 0-3mos of her life!

And then we got to open presents!!! All the baby items are just too too cute!!!!!!! Everyone was very generous and thoughtful- this baby girl will have some of the softest, cutest little things ever! I definitely need to read the instructions on some of these new gadgets... but am looking forward to it! We already put her pack n play in our bedroom (still in the box), but she is all set to take her sweet little naps right next to our bed!!!

And finally- some pictures of the decorations. These took A LOT of thought and planning! I was just happy we were able to use my serveware that we got for our wedding, isn't it such a pretty layout!

I love having parties where we can use all of our fun stuff. But let me tell you- the 3 hosts worked all weekend to gather all necessary items and make sure everything was perfect. They even searched all over for a place that would blow up their balloons with helium!

Look at this diaper cake Carrie & Jen made- Jen said she will never make one again!!! I was so honored to have one made for me... how special!!!!!

And notice what Kristy did with this watermelon? It's a little stroller/bassinet!!!! TOO CUTE!!!!

A True Homeowner

Felix has gotten very motivated to take care of the outside of the house. Once our gigantic dumpster was removed, there was a lot of garbage and stuff on the driveway so Felix cleaned it all up and even replaced the side panel on our deck. His next plans are to clean out all the brush in our yard so Matti can have a larger playing area.

I have to sneak up on him with the camera because he always complains when he sees me taking pictures....... let's see how camera phobic he is once the baby comes!!!!!

Did Somebody Say.... MELTDOWN!??

Woah Momma, what a week this was! I cried every single day this past week- not sure why, but things kept upsetting me. To start, my parents called last weekend to say they had to put down our beloved Mickey, my childhood dog.
He was 15 years old and was suffering from renal failure, so it was best, but very sad.
Then of course, stuff just kept upsetting me with the house and construction progress (or lack thereof). And then today, I went grocery shopping and was at the check-out line and putting my items on the belt when out of nowhere, I just picked up the glass jar of tomato sauce from my cart and decided to drop it on the floor instead of putting it on the belt. SO yes, tomato sauce everywhere (even on my expensive maternity jeans) and I'm sure my face was as red as the sauce. They had to close down the aisle and call someone to clean it up. So after I offered to help clean I went to go get another jar- and couldn't even fit back down the aisle betweent the check out counter & my cart so I had to go all the way around the checkout lady in order to fit my big ol' belly. Then I was home cutting up my fruit & veggies for next weeks lunch when my contractor walks in the kitchen to help himself to some coffee and decided to "compliment" me and say that I seem to be very fit for a pregnant woman- just gaining weight in my face. OH BOY. I did have a knife in my hand, but decided it was best to just change the subject.
Anyways, the contractor said his work is supposed to be finished (on the inside of the house) by Tuesday. (So- from previous experience, that means he is telling me everything might be done by next month.....). However, we have decided to carpet the 2 bedrooms upstairs instead of refinish the wood floors up there- and Home Depot will be doing that for us, guaranteed to be complete within a few hours after they arrive. They come on Tuesday to measure and then will install as soon as the carpet is ordered and arrives. I can finally breathe a little easier. Aside from any real tragedy- like family illness, etc. - this home renovation experience has been the worst experience of my life (almost ties with the horrible experience I had towards the end of my old job)!!
Here is the before picture of the 2 rooms... let's look forward to posting an after picture VERY SOON! The pink is the baby's room, and the green is the guest room.

I spent this weekend going through some wedding photos to fill out a frame Felix got me, and it has helped me to put things in perspective and see how far we have come in such short time. Felix did AMAZING this weekend at his water polo tournament, and they even wrote an article about him in CWPA about his coaching skills http://www.collegiatewaterpolo.com/html/0708News/MercadoLivingtheDream.htm. I am very proud of him! And looking at our wedding pictures I see that we are so lucky to be so in love and happy, a healthy baby girl on the way, and we actually own a house- in a neighborhood we love and on a property that we had never imagined we could find, let alone afford! We are just really looking forward to having our house to ourselves and our family (and .....having a clean house wouldn't hurt either!!) Here are a few of my favorites from the wedding that I think really captured our feelings that day.

The first time we saw each other before the ceremony.

Realizing what an incredible day this was going to be!!!

Felix walking down the aisle to get me from my parents.

Here is Felix trying to recite his vows.........

28 Weeks

AND... here we are! 28 Weeks along- still no pain in my back or sciatica... or anything that you often hear about (thank goodness!!!). She is as hard as a rock, and likes to kick me VERY HIGH- I describe it that she kicks in the exact spot they teach you to put your fingers when learning chest presses for CPR, it practically knocks the wind out of me. But I dont mind- anytime I get to feel her I love it.

And have no fear.... we keep a pair of scissors close by incase we need to CUT me out of my sports bra!!!! I'm not sure this bad boy is going to make it for the rest of the modeling shots if I keep growing at this rate!!!!

We are getting very excited. Our next "4-week photo" will be 32 weeks, then 36, and then its BABY TIME!!!!!! We are almost there. I got a changing table for her last night, for some reason that made things seem very real.

I'm starting to get just a teency bit nervous about the birth. We signed up for a class, so that should help with the unknown, and I have experienced immense pain in my past from the endometriosis, so I am not too scared about the pain factor either... I guess I just want a bit more info on what to expect for this whole birthing process!!! But I do take great comfort in knowing that women have been giving birth for hundreds of years-so I know I can do it!!! (at this point- I dont have a choice!)

I Am Woman, Hear Me Roar!

I did A LOT of home improvement work this weekend- and I was pretty proud!!! Each new thing I do really helps to build my confidence that I can do more and more to help improve "this old house". If you are getting bored of my home improvement recaps, just skip this post!

I did the easy things like put some new knob pulls on some doors, but I am most proud of how I demolished the disgusting old shelving that was under our kitchen sink so that I could have room for our trash can and Matti's food container under there. No longer do I have to display our lovely trash can in the dining room out for all to see!!! I thought it would be easy to unscrew the shelves, but they were actually nailed in with nails that were so rotted and rusted in the wood that I just had to hammer the heck out of the shelves until they busted loose (without breaking any pipes). Here are my only battle wounds:

THEN- I decided I wanted to paint the awful wallpaper that is above the awful wood paneling in the dining area. Until we get a chance to re-do our kitchen, this was an easy fix. Here are the after pictures- it came out much better than I thought it would!

There used to be green wallpaper with little white flowers, and beige wallpaper with little white flowers- plus a few water stains here and there. By painting it one color, it really gives it a unified look. And BOY do I have plans for when we rennovate this room! I can't wait!!!!!!!!!!!