Sickly

So ever since I got pregnant, my immune system has been pretty much nonexistent. The office that I work at seems to be a nesting ground for germs. Some of my coworkers have even threatened to turn me into "Bubble Boy" to keep me from getting sick.

Of course it's my luck to get sick right as Francis and I are about to go to Santa Barbara for the awesome trip that his coworkers generously paid for. To top it off, my coworkers also gave us a gift certificate for Spafinder.com! Hopefully I'm not coughing and hacking while I'm trying to relax :o)

His first kick

Francis finally felt Alana kick for the first time today! It's times like this when I regret that I didn't have a camera handy to capture these moments, but I guess writing about it will just have to do. (I probably had my iPhone with me, but I was too caught up in the moment to care about taking a picture)

I put his hand on my stomach and I knew that he was already feeling the kicks but they were so small that he kept saying that it was just me moving...until the one huge kick that said, "DADDY! I'M RIGHT HERE!!!" And if you're a mommy yourself you know as well as I do that we feel it throughout the day, kicking and punching everything within her reach. But I wouldn't take it back for the world.

I look back on the day when we found out we were pregnant and it's all passing by so quickly. Before I know it we will be moving out of the Palace and into my parents house and it's going to be such a huge change for us. No more parties going on downstairs while I try to rest, no more knocks on my door to tell me that my roomies love me, no more drunken talks in the house at 3 in the morning. I'll definitely miss these moments. The other day all the roomies had dinner together and I just started to get sad that we would no longer be living there. But things change and we knew this day would come eventually. I just didn't know it would be this soon.

I look at my growing belly and realize that in a few short months I'm going to have a family! I feel like I've been looking forward to this moment for my whole life. With my problems with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome I thought I might never be able to have kids so having Alana despite the obstacles is definitely a blessing :o)

23 Weeks

Ok, so I think I've been postponing posting these pictures because I get horrified at seeing how huge I'm getting! I know being pregnant is a beautiful thing, but when you've worked so hard to lose weight and keep it off, it's not always a joy to see a tummy poking out of your clothes...until you remember what's inside that enormous belly.

I look at some of my friends and family who are currently pregnant and are due at the same time as me and think to myself, "What the heck? Why am I so huge? They're barely showing". I feel like I've been showing since I found out I was pregnant at 5 weeks! Haha! I find myself needing to remember that I'm not them and that I don't have their wonderful genes and that's ok. After talking to other mothers, I feel comforted to know that I'm not alone.

When Francis and I are on our breaks at work and he crouches down to kiss my belly and talk to Alana, I am reminded that the weight gain and the little inconveniences of pregnancy don't matter. Francis and I are starting a family and that is the one thing that I said I wanted to do with my life. All the hard work to go to school, get a steady job, save money and get married were all to prepare for raising a family. So what...I can lose the weight when I'm not pregnant :)

Anyway, I'll be a little bit braver and start posting pictures weekly. I know I'll look back on this and regret it if I don't!

Surprise?

So I don't know why but as with every other surprise party, we always try to surprise the celebrant when we know very well that they won't be surprised. I thought that we had already told my dad about the party but apparently we were still trying to hide it from him, oops!

Regardless of how the surprise went, my dad was smiles all day. He was so proud of his new TV and proudly played movies in 3D while everyone took a turn using the 3D glasses.

Thank you to everyone who came out to celebrate our Dad's birthday with him :) Now time to burn the calories from all that eating...you know how filipino parties are!

Family Picture :)

Kim and I posing with our bellies :)
Dad and Friends

Dad and Ninang Nita

Dad and Sandy

Happy Birthday Dad!!!

Miss Janet

A few months ago, my sister called me frantically asking me to please please help her get tickets to the Janet concert. We promptly checked the website at 12:00pm and after 10 minutes of trying, my sister finally bought the tickets and we were ready to go to our second Janet concert together.

"LA"

Our seats at the concert
Because of a group of asian girls, we actually got to switch with them and get better seats because they wanted to sit with their friends. So we got to sit a little closer to the center of the stage.

"Scream"


"There are times when I look above and beyond. There are times when
I feel your love around me, baby. Together again..."
Janet singing to her brother Michael at the end of the concert

I loved this concert not only because Janet is an amazing singer/performer but also because it was one of the rare moments that I get to share alone with my sister. Growing up has pushed us in our separate ways in life and I miss the random moments we took for granted when we were younger. Knocking through our closets in the bathroom, playing video games till the wee hours of the night, opening our presents before Christmas carefully then re-wrapping them before our parents found out. As much as I hate to admit it, I miss living with my sister :( We rarely get to spend time together and I cherish moments like these when we can call these memories ours and no one elses.

One thing she pointed out before the concert started was that I had Alana with me. So Alana, the Janet Jackson Number Ones concert at the Gibson Ampitheatre was the first one you ever went to so thank you Ate for her first taste of amazing music.

And as daddy requested, I remembered the songs she kicked to: Control, Together again, If and to his disgust but my amusement Nasty Boys. Hahahaha! Sorry Francis, I think she's gonna be a handful!!!

Thank you Ate for taking me to share this with you. Next Janet concert is on me!!!

Hello. My name is...

Alana de la Cruz Vita!!!!

Elle, Zoey, Arielle, Melody and Alana were all in the running but here is how we decided:

At first we were set on Elle. Before even getting pregnant Francis suggested it and I liked the name but I didn't really take it seriously because, well, we weren't pregnant. When we found out that we were, my mom immediately said this, "So her name is going to be Elle Vita? Like Velveeta?" That quickly changed my mind, but not Francis' just yet. He was sold on the name before we were even together so I know he was attached it, but I just couldn't get Velveeta out of my head. (To be fair, we can actually use Elle as her nickname :oP)

I think I was either going through a website or looking through a book when I saw the name Alana and I loved it so I mentioned it to Francis but he was still stuck on Elle. I told Pam about the name and because she really liked it too she tried hard to convince Francis to pick that name. I guess this caused a little misunderstanding because he thought I came up with it with Pam and was a little sad that he wasn't there.

A few weeks later, I was talking to Janda on the phone when I mentioned the names that we had for her. She squealed in excitement after hearing Alana and mentioned something that Francis and I had failed to notice. Alana is one of the names of the sisters in The Little Mermaid!!! Being one of Francis' FAVORITE movies, I knew he was sold, but he didn't admit to it until a few days later.

So thank you Janda for finally getting us to agree on a name :)

Middle name suggestions anyone?

The best example of a father

I don't usually talk about it much, but my parents are amazing. They've taught me so much about life, love and friends that it's no wonder that I have surrounded myself with such amazing people. I'm definitely nervous but I know that I will be a great mom because of what my parents have instilled in me. They supported me through every decision that I have ever made (even the bad ones :/), helped me through my problems, and loved me through it all. So it was only fitting that I write this for a huge milestone in my dad's life, his 60th birthday. My dad has always been a huge fan of electronics, especially since he has pretty much based his career designing them. So of course for his 60th birthday my sister and I decided to buy him a new TV.


My happy dad with his new TV. Below it is the stand and new surround sound that he couldn't resist buying for it. Not pictured yet is the 3D blu-ray player that they bought later on that day.




His birthday was actually the day after my wedding March 27th, but being the awesome dad that he is, he didn't make a big deal of his birthday. He thought of me first and unselfishly gave up his birthday to spend time with me in Disneyland. But my sister and I knew that we would do our best to make it up to him. We weren't going to let such a special occasion pass us by.

The package arrived at our house and my dad opened the door. As soon as he did, he immediately thought that they had delivered it to the wrong house. My sister ran to the door and the delivery people made no mistake, it was my dad's 59" 3D ready TV!!!! When I arrived there a few minutes after the delivery I saw the biggest smile on my dad's face and I couldn't be happier. I can't think of a dad more deserving. I only wish we could do more. We love you dad!!!

Happy 60th Birthday!!!!

Potluck Friday

Duck Cupcakes by Fedilyn

Our Breakfast Buffet

Fedilyn and her cupcakes

If I haven't said it before I'll say it now, I have some pretty awesome coworkers. I sometimes feel like they've been watching me grow up. I came into this office as an unexperienced LVN and through the last few years I moved up to RN, gotten married and pregnant. As Chip always says, this is the most fertile place I've ever worked at. It's interesting to look back and see how many changes I've gone through since starting at Accredited in 2007.

On Wednesday Janelle, Natalya and I were talking about the delicious breakfasts that Natalya always makes and decided to have a mini breakfast potluck. Being pregnant, there was no way I was gonna turn down an offer like that! We each decided on what we would bring and it was all set. I couldn't eat the lox for obvious reasons but I definitely dug into the bagels, cream cheese, omelet, fruits, and dessert that were there. It was a yummy beginning to the weekend. We should do this more often.

Just can't resist

Ever since I found out that Francis and I were going to have a baby, I would find a reason to pass by the baby section of Target with every chance I got. We kept thinking to ourselves, "When we find out the sex, then we'll go buy something for him/her." Then after passing through Disney stores it just made me want to buy everything in there!!! Thankfully, Francis was there to convince me not to buy out the whole store of baby clothes (not that I could afford it but I definitely wished that I could!).

Anyway, I thought to myself that this is probably what happens to every first time parent and that I'm doing pretty well without having any impulse buys for the baby just yet. Little did I know that everyone else was having the same temptations. As soon as we found out the sex and told everyone, this is what happened:

From the Serranos

From Grandma Tetet

From Charlene

They just couldn't resist!!! *To our family who bought clothes for our little princess, thank you!!! We can't wait until she gets to wear them!!!! When I get to my parents house I'll be sure to take a picture of the awesome baby blanket, booties, mittens and beanie that my mom crocheted and post it up. I'm a little afraid for my next trip to Disneyland because I think I'll be coming home with a trunk full of stuff for the baby. Maybe Francis should just hold my wallet next time we go there :) Aside from all the fun of cute clothes and pink everything, this little one can kick! When we went to our ultrasound, the tech said that it was pretty early for a first time mom to be feeling the kicks already and then attributed it to either a sensitive mom or a strong baby. Since I can sleep through almost anything (especially living in the busy Langdon house for the past 4 years), I really think she's been pumping some iron in there! At 21 weeks, she's already waking me up at night and kicking or punching everything within her reach. As weird as the feeling of her movement is, it's reassuring to know that she's inside there and healthy. If only she didn't have to kick my bladder all the time...

It's a...

GIRL!!!! Yesterday April 1, 2011 Francis and I had an appointment with CVS ultrasound and its 99% confirmed! It's a girl!!!!!!

Right now everything is so surreal. 2 days before Christmas Francis and I found out that we were pregnant, so we decided to move up the wedding. Last week we got married in Disneyland. (I haven't even had time to run through some of those pictures and write about that yet!) Yesterday we found out that we are having a girl! Everything is happening so quickly that sometimes I feel like I don't have enough time just to take it all in. Sometimes I just want to spend some quality time with Francis and appreciate the newlywed feeling, but we just don't have the time. There are "Thank you" cards to write, groceries to shop for, rooms to clean, businesses to run, work to do, time spend with family, Posse, and friends, and most importantly future planning for our baby girl. I can whine all I want but honestly bottom line is I life the life that I do because I choose to. I'd rather live a busy life filled with loved ones who need more of my time than a non-eventful life with nothing to look forward to. I love my life and wouldn't trade it for the world. Thank you everyone for making my busy life more than worth living. I can honestly say that at this point in my life I am HAPPY :)

Wedding pictures and stories to follow...