Baby Schab is a.......... ?

Enjoy our gender reveal videos below!
(take a good look, Porscha makes an appearance in almost EVERY video LOL)

Video #1
Surprising the 'future' Summers Grandparents...
Scene- We gave them a gift bag with a "gift" inside that would either symbolize girl or boy. The bag included a balloon that said, "It's A Girl" and a pink bib.



Video #2
Surprising 'future' Great Grandma Summers and Aunt Kelly
Scene- We baked a cake and the middle had either a pink or blue middle...



Video #3
Surprising the 'future' Schab Grandparents and Aunt Danielle
Scene- We gave them a "word scramble" with her name and they had to come up with the answer.



Video #4
Surprising the Uncles
*they took some time, so there is part I and part II






More videos to come which include: future Great Grandma/Great Grandpa Kalman and aunts/uncles/cousins surprise.

19 weeks and the big reveal!

So this week marked 19 weeks and our second official ultra sound/gender reveal. Rob and I were absolutely thrilled to see Baby Schab's development and also to find if we were having a boy or girl! Our appointment was at 1PM on Monday and believe it or not- my morning flew! I didn't think it would, but thank god I was up against another deadline for a work project and therefore that served as a wonderful distraction for me. However, the whole drive there and the walk to the office, I was incredibly nervous. Whenever I get nervous, I have to use the bathroom, a terrible and annoying habit. Prior to them calling my name, I peed 2x. As we were walking back to the room, I asked the tech if I could use the bathroom again (#3). The tech couldn't have been any nicer during our whole appointment. She really took her time and went through each part of the body carefully pointing out parts such as the spine, brain, heart, eyes, etc. As she was checking over the brain/eye area- I thought I heard her make reference to 'her/she'. I brushed it off and didn't think much of it.

As she was getting closer to the "private area" she goes, girl you have a full bladder again. She made me get up off the table and pee again (#4). As she was checking over each section, she asked if we had names picked out. We told her, believe or not, we have a girls name picked out (Ashleigh Paige), but we know we're having a boy and haven't narrowed it down. A few minutes later, I casually asked, "So do you have any inkling of boy or girl?" She said, "I think you have a little Ashleigh in there." My heart melted on the spot. I gasped and go, "Oh my gosh are you sure?" Then I turned to Rob and said, "Honey are you ok with this? I am so sorry for thinking it was a boy, now you won't have anyone to play trains with." LOL No surprise here when Rob shrugged and goes, "I was going to be happy either way, I am just happy to know what paint color to buy now."

Well, before I got too excited, I made her really scan the "private area" and show me that it truly was a girl. Baby Schab was being a bit stubborn and wouldn't open their legs. Finally, after what seemed like ages, the legs did open and she pointed out "girl parts." The whole ultra sound appointment was beautiful. It was the best feeling in the world to finally refer to Baby Schab as a he or she. It has been so much having a conversation with Rob and saying things like, "When Ashleigh arrives or I think we should do her room in pink, etc., etc." For the record, I also used the bathroom (#5) after she completed our appointment...I think I have a serious problem!

Reflections...

I have always, always wanted a little girl. Ever since I was little, whenever we would play house or nursery, I would always have "girl" children. Prior to getting pregnant, I had a "vision." I know this sounds weird, but I even told my neighbor that for some reason I just felt in my heart that we would get pregnant right away, baby would be healthy and it would be a girl- that was my original gut instinct (I was right on the money with all three so far). However, for some odd reason after our first ultra sound appointment at 6 weeks- I convinced myself we were having a boy. I bought all boy clothes, picked out a boy bedding set and only would look at boy toys. Within a few hours of our appointment and learning Baby Schab was a girl, I was eagerly looking at nothing but Pink Pink Pink. She is going to bed our little spoiled princess. I am so excited to meet our little lady in April! Real recently, I was on the phone with Rob discussing plans on furniture for the nursery and I made reference to the fact how nice it is to know what we are having and how much easier it is now choosing items. He responded back by saying, "Although I agree, I wish we would have learned the sex two weeks before she arrived." Ummm, ok Rob and why? "Because Kristin, I really don't know how I am going to make it until then. I really want to meet my daughter now." Ohhhh tear jerker! Love my husband, he will make an amazing dad and will be just so sweet on our little girl.

A few commonly asked questions throughout the pregnancy so far...

1. Are you going to find out the gender? Have you ever met me? I am a PLANNER! I want everything to be PERFECT for Baby Schab- bedding, clothes, toys, etc. Yes, we found out and yes we will happily share the news with family/friends and even strangers :-)

2. Will you reveal the name? Yes- mostly to just friends and family before she is born. I commend anyone who can wait- but we felt comfortable sharing the name once we knew 100% of what we wanted.

3. What name choices do we have? For girls- we loved Ashleigh Paige right away. Other top choices (and possible baby #2 or #3 names) Taylor and Brooklyn. Boy name choices (here were my top 4, although Rob and I didn't see eye to eye on all of them): Penn Thomas, Brody Penn, Ethan Penn and Robbie Thomas.

4. Why Ashleigh? Have you ever heard of a little show called the Hills? Back in the day, I was 'mildly' obsessed with this show. During one of the episodes, a bikini designer teamed up with LC to present a swim suit fashion show. Her name and bikini line....Ashley Paige. From that moment, I just looooveeed that name. We did change the spelling a bit to make it more unique for us, but I just think it is a beautiful name.

5. Have you been "eating a lot more"- one of my favorite questions asked by one of my male bosses. I can't really say I have been. I feel I'm eating the same amount of food before I was pregnant. I do not crave any type of sweets and would prefer items like- chicken salad, soups, salads, pizza, raw veggies, peanut butter sandwiches, bagels, muffins, granola bars, cereal, etc.

6. How do you feel? Ever since Week #14/#15- I'm a new woman and I love life! I feel great and have so much energy! I'm the little energizer preggers lady constantly running around now.

7. The big question....how will Porscha and Lexi react to a new baby? Based off of other observations and interactions with kids- I see them doing just fine. I have my predictions of how this will play out and I'm curious to see if I'm right. I see Porscha as being more of the observer. I can see her ears go back when the baby would cry and watching me during diaper changes and feedings. I could see her walking up to the baby and giving her a giant lick and saying lets play. I can see Porscha also just sitting and staring at the baby. I always find Porscha in our back yard sitting and staring at the children next door and her tail wagging wildly with happiness. Lexi may view baby schab as competition for mommy's attention. I don't see her being hostile, but rather, don't forget about me, love me, hi mom! I can envision her jumping up on my lap as I'm holding the baby and trying to compete for love and attention. Lexi is a huger licker/kisser and I can see her squeezing her little head in between my arms and the baby and wanting to get in on the action. Overall, I think they'll do great with their new roommate.

8. Have you felt the baby move? YES! At first I didn't want to believe it actually was the baby, because I didn't want to seem crazy for thinking I felt something. However, after doing some research and catching up in my pregnancy books, my suspicions were confirmed! The fluttery/pop corn like feeling in my stomach was definitely her moving. The other night, Rob and I were watching the AMA's and during a performance by Christina A. and I felt her moving away! If this is any preview into the future- she will take after her mother and serve as the life of the party when the music plays! I think my little gal wants to be a dancer :-)

19 weeks

Decision Day 2010....(the celebration)

So Decision Day 2010, no not the election, but rather gender reveal day took place this Monday, November 22nd at 1PM. My other blog will go into more details about the actual appointment and our reactions, but another post will feature reactions from family and friends. A few weeks ago, my co-worker Jessie and I started a friendly poll for faculty/staff and students in our department. Find their "predictions" below. As a result of the poll, I owe Jessie lunch at our favorite restaurant Mexitaly and a few people owe each other coffee from Starbucks.

Telling the Summers fam... My parents were in town Monday for an eye appointment for Grandma so we were able to tell them a few hours after the appointment. Find the video posted in the 'reveal video blog', I really wished my mom would have shown some more excitement.... (LOL) She was so sweet and even brought over two bags for Rob and I to open. One bag had boy items and the other bag, girl items. So once we revealed it was a girl, we opened up a cute pink monkey and an adorable pink onesie!!

The luckiest girl alive!

So let me just start off by saying I have some "sneaky", but the most adorable girlfriends.... About 3-4 weeks ago, I got an email from my college best friend's husband. He had bought a 'Green Bay Packers table' for her 30th birthday and needed me to get her out of the house for him to set it up. So I quickly sprung into action and set up a fun girls day for us, Chilis for lunch and the movies to follow...

I was pumped! It was great to have a free Saturday and do something fun and girly. Rob was away for the weekend on a camping trip with the boys for a bachelor party and I had an open morning. We agreed to meet at 11AM that morning and I was going to pick up her at her house. I was running about 5 minutes late and didn't want to run the risk of being late to catch our 12:50PM movie, so when I got to her house, I beeped the horn. Yes, I know, not the nicest thing to do for a friend, but I figured she would be on her way out the door. After a few toots of the horn, she still wasn't coming out. I left my purse in my car (with the doors unlocked) and ran up to her house to get her. As she opened up the door, I heard...."SURPRISE!" Doing what I do best during surprises, I quickly shut the door. I was so startled, I didn't know what else to do?!?

When I gained my composure, I opened the door to find some of my girlfriends throwing me a pregnancy party in my honor. A "pregnancy party" is a small gathering of girlfriends to celebrate your pregnancy. Instead of receiving gifts for the baby, friends do special things for the mom to be. I was absolutely stunned that all of the secret planning was taking place behind my back- I had NO clue. As we chatted over a beautiful brunch spread, I was absolutely stunned by everyone's generosity! I received gift certificates to restaurants for Rob and I to enjoy before the baby, gift certificates for massages/nails, maternity tops and gift cards for clothing. I am so blessed to have the nicest girlfriends in the entire world. I had the best time and was on Cloud 9 for the rest of the weekend.


Allison predicted girl (pink balloon) and I predicted boy (blue balloon)....winner will receive free chips and salsa during our next "real" dinner date at Chilis.

It's Official...I'm Preggers!

You're probably thinking, wait a minute, I knew this already?! However, this weekend truly marked a turning point for me. Yes, I have known I was pregnant since August 12th, but Friday marked my first day of "really feeling pregnant." I think the fun started Friday afternoon. I was like, "oh goodness my pants feel really, really tight." I got home after work and changed into jeans for our 'date night' later that night. That is when it happened....the button wouldn't close. Yikes! I officially couldn't buckle my pants. LOL So someone taught me the "rubber band trick" where you take a hair tie and loop it through the button hole and wrap it around the button. I did that to make it through the night.

Rob and I went out to the mall for dinner at the food court (no jokes, we're on a budget) and to take care of some phone issues at the ATT&T store. I also asked Rob if we could make a stop at Motherhood Maternity so I could check out work pants. Obviously in my other post, you would read that I hardly ever shop at regular malls now, but I have to admit, finding work pants at consignment shops are a bit tough. So I went into the store to stock up on some dress pants. The sales woman asked me if I needed any help when I walked in. I said, "Yes, I'm officially fat and can't fit into my pants anymore." She must get this a lot, because she didn't even blink and eye and said sure thing - lets get started. Rob was a supportive shopping buddy and waited patiently as I tried on pants and a few tops. Rob and I continued our wild date night that Friday by stopping at Walmart to pick up our new kitchen table set (find photos below) and making an impromptu stop at McDonald's for me. I told Rob, "Well, I can't fit into my pants, so lets celebrate and get some ice cream." I think I've only had ice cream 2-3x since I found out I was pregnant and was really in the mood for a carmel sundae. Mommy and baby approved, it was delicious! We were so excited to pick up our new table set- quite the bargin and is PERFECT for our growing family. Our other table only could seat 2 people, so we knew we would outgrow that pretty quick.

Additional weekend highlights...

a. My Mom and I spent the afternoon together on Saturday and had a great time seeing the movie, "Life as We Know It" and shopping at Kohl's.

b. Rob and I spent our Saturday night enjoying take out for dinner with my Mom and after she left, we played a game of Scrabble later that night. I always get so frusturated playing against him. Since college, the same scenario happens during every game. I start off strong and then he comes from behind and absolutely crushes me. I wouldn't get so upset, but the sad truth is, I would write HIS papers for him in college. Sophomore and junior year, he would bring over this english papers to my dorm and I would start off editing and eventually re-write his papers. I was young and in love and he was too darn cute to say no. So hopefully you can understand my frustration on how he beats me EVERY TIME we play. grrrr :-)

c. Sunday he got home late from job #2 and randomly bought me flowers. At first I quickly asked, "Uh oh, what happened." Don't get me wrong, he does surprise me here and there with flowers not on major or Hallmark holidays- but he was just giving me the weird smile. However, all is well and he said he saw them while grocery shopping and wanted to do something special for this "pregnant wife". xoxoox he is the best!

My Secret Addiction....

So yes, I have a secret addiction that I wish to come clean about (even though some are aware of this already...) It all started back in May 2007 (I remember this date well because it was the same day Rob and I got engaged). My good friend and now neighbor asked me to join her for lunch and shopping. She said, you have to check out this adorable consignment shop. I was a bit hesitant at first because I was only use to buying name brand items, BUT my friend always dresses super cute and looks like she walks out of a J Crew or GAP magazine at any given moment. So I agreed to this, told myself to keep an open mind, and the rest is history.

I am now proudly ADDICTED to consignment shops. Yes, I admit they are my absolute guilty pleasure. Ever since that Friday afternoon in May, I would say I buy 75% of my clothes from consignment shops. I'm not talking about frumpy clothes either, but rather labels such as Limited, Express, GAP, NY&Co, Ann Taylor and the list goes on and on. I have truly built up my closet to look cute and trendy at a very affordable price. In fact, the majority of my cute vacation clothes from this summer came from this shop including the biggest deal of the century, a white sundress from White House Black Market for less than $20! Also, the majority of my work clothes including suits, dresses and purses have also come from this store as well.

So naturally, my addiction continued when I found out I was pregnant. I started checking out children's consignment shops and I'm now hooked! I have found amazing deals on cute items and all in mint condition! Just for fun, I have added up the amount of what the items would have cost retail value and what I spent at the shop and I have saved us $500! I know the fun will only continue when we find out if baby schab is a boy or girl.

It is fun being frugal at times. Our life style is so much more different than how we were in college. I was able to take my RA/RD paychecks and spend all of it at the mall on clothes, food and other luxuries. Now, we have a mortgage, house improvements and most importantly, baby on the way. You soon realize you can still have nice things, but not pay an arm and a leg for it. In another post, I will explain my new love for yard sales as well. However, it isn't what you probably think. The trick is....go to the really, really rich neighborhoods in your area! That is how I scored our amazing pack n play and cute maternity tops. The lady goes, oh we had three pack n plays lying around and never used them. $20 for a Graco pack n play in mint condition!!! I think Rob is impressed with my bargaining skills. He laughs anytime I bring home new "treasures." Check out some of my deals below...

16 weeks baby!

So time is just flying by! I am 16 weeks and feeling ammmmazzing! I was a tiny sick this week, but it was more fever/chills type of sickness. Nothing really new to report other than I'm loving life very much! We are just so blessed with all of the kind words, unexpected baby gifts and cards that have arrived since we shared the news with our friends and family. Rob and I have also begun the "nesting" process. We both get into these kicks where we will be cleaning/organizing for a few hours in a row. I'm happy to report I'm STILL in normal pants and jeans, but they feel a bit snug places. My wonderful husband even made a comment when I was getting ready to take a bath to relieve some of the flu symptoms..."Wow, you're really filling out there." Hmmmm thanks?!? LOL Not what you necessarily want to say to your pregnant wife. However, in all seriousness, he is constantly commenting on how beautiful I look. I just roll my eyes and say stop joking, but he really does mean it. He is much more excited for my belly to grow then I am.... He will constantly rub it or put his face on my stomach and say, 'hi baby.' Too cute for words, I love him so much! Rob and I wanted to share the news with some of our other friends, so he put his design talent to good use and made me a cute T-shirt to model. If you are a Jersey shore fan like I am, you'll get it right away. If not, call/email me and I'll explain.

Fun Kristin Preggers Stories (never a shortage of these)...
a. Last week I was having an "off" two days at work (wasn't really myself). Well, ever since I announced the news at work, a few meetings were scheduled to make sure my work would be covered. As a side note (and this wasn't planned)- I have the potential of missing 3 of our biggest events that take place each year in April....again didn't plan it this way. So my boss so nicely asked if I wanted to go out to lunch with him and discuss my maternity leave and what would happen with my events. So the drive to the restaurant, I was a bit quiet and fighting back tears. I really didn't like the thought of "passing" my events to someone else and felt I was being replaced. He asked several times if I was ok and I simply nodded yes. We pull into the restaurant and I lost it. I entered Cry Fest 2010 for about 10 minutes in front of my boss and in a public place. I have been working with him for 3 1/2 years and have known him since I was a student and he is the type of person that can handle a few tears and my emotions- but I still felt terrible for my crying. He said, "Lets wait out here for a bit and try and calm down." In between the sobs, I was pouring my heart out to him, how I didn't like to leave work or my events and the best quote, "I don't even know who is in me right now and I'm changing everything for them." Oh yeah, dramatic with a capital D. Continued crying in the bathroom and five minutes later joined him at the table. YIKES! Well, I felt better and he was more than understanding and now it is the office joke. I am 100% ready to be a Mom and am 100%++++ excited to meet "whoever is in me." I think I was just having a hormonal 'moment.'
b. Food cravings...I really can't say I'm eating differently. I am eating a lot of carbs (which will be bad in the long run) but NOT craving sweets at all. Lexi got a hold of a mini Twix bar for the trick or treaters (it was still wrapped- but just stole it from the bucket and was about to take it to her bed) so I ate it and was like, eww gross. So either the baby wants to watch their figure or just doesn't like sweets. Love raw veggies/dip, salads, grilled cheese, peanut butter sandwhiches, bagels, tomato soup, french onion soup and Papa John's pizza (YUM)!
c. We will find out the gender in 2 1/2 weeks! whoo whooo (my prediction is still boy)


"We Got A Situation" at 16 weeks!

Happy Halloween!

Fall and Halloween are definitely two favorites of mine! I love dressing up the ladies and decorating the house for the fall season. On Halloween, I joined my Mom, sister, Abbie, Heather, Iggy and took Porscha and Lexi to participate in some "doggie Halloween fun" in Harrisburg. I know this sounds silly, but I am trying to soak up every minute I have with them because I know in five short months, life will be much different! So in the mean time, they are my doggie children and I will continue to spoil them. We had a blast taking them to get their photos done and they later "helped" Mommy hand out candy for the kiddos. Porscha and Lexi DID NOT like the kids dressed up in costume...check out the video of them going absolute NUTS!