Oh baby!

And then there were three... 

We'll be introducing our newest little Sanders June 2018... 

L is for...

And she's here!! Livia, aka The Livster is finally here...and currently sleeping for who knows how long. Mom, Dad, and Baby are all currently doing great but two of us are seriously sleep deprived (guess which?? haha...) so the posts are a little slow going at the moment. They tell me (not really sure who the they is, but you know...) that this sleep deprivation thing ends someday (hopefully before she goes off to college, right?) so rest assured there will be more posts coming...soon. ish. 

A Rainbow of Colors

Ugh... I am alive. Sort of. Not sure if I could have said the same thing a few days ago. See about a week and a half ago I woke up a sniffling, coughing mess. One strep throat diagnosis, lots of antibiotics, a late night trip to the ER where they wrote my stats on a paper towel (yeah, don't ask), and I'm feeling a bit more human these days...well, human rolled under a truck and recuperating that is.

But before I got run over by the germ fairy, I got to experience awesome baby shower numero dos. Yes, I promise this isn't just turning into a baby blog but let's just say that at 8 months pregnant I've got babies on the brain lately.

Baby Shower 2 was hosted by my awesome coworker Lindsay who threw the partay for us Rainbow gals. (I work at Rainbow School hence the party's theme) Here's the buffet table decked out in all it's multicolored glory...

Don't worry, one of those bottles is just for me--nothing like sparkling apple cider to really get a party rockin' you know. 

And those scrumptious looking cupcakes in the background? Yeah, those are rainbow chip funfetti cupcakes--frosting carted in from the States and everything. I just about fainted from all my swooning over those (obsession with funfetti cupcakes is probably not too strong a word). 

And aren't these cupcakes freaking fabulous as well? I guess you can taste the rainbow... Oh and for anyone wondering why the random penguin in the middle it's because our classes have animal names; I'm the teacher of the penguin class. (or was before they sentenced me to a life term of bed rest)

Haha this scene cracked me up...who knew that Playmobil makes maternity ward action figures? Looks like our baby is gonna have a full head of hair... 

I even got some clothes for baby to wear... or her future barbie...

Here's the whole gang, minus one coworker. Did I mention that it's a small school? 

And that's my boss there in the middle...

Oh diaper cakes... never mind that just after this pic was taken it toppled all over my neighbors...

And onsie cupcakes with socks for the 'topping'...can ya get much cuter than that? 

Here we are in all of our rainbow glory (ok I missed the memo, but still)... 

Now if this baby would just hurry up and come already! 

ps. one more week until baby is at 37 weeks, or full term. Aka one more week and then bring on the old wives tales for labor inducement! I can guarantee that I will have buns of steel by the time I'm finished with all those stairs... 

How getting knocked up in France is different than the US of A

First of all, lets just start off with this pic, shall we? Classy I know. 

That's the pregnancy glow for ya (it brings out your inner coolness).

Ok now I should probably throw in a disclaimer: I have been pregnant all of three weeks in the states. I also wasn't showing yet since it was my first trimester. So everything I've gleaned about preggo ladies in the states has been taken from friends/family and American pregnancy websites. I apologize in advance if I misrepresent you fellow rotund future mommies. 

I present to you, the battle of the pregos: 

The Frenchy vs. the American  pregos, that is...

	US of A:	France:
Length of pregnancy :	40 weeks	41 weeks
Who delivers your baby :	An OBGYN	A midwife
Pregnancy mantra :	Eating for two, yeeahh!	9 months of dieting. Boo.
Recommended weight gain :	11.3-15.8 kilos/25-35 lbs (for the average woman)	12 kilos/26.4 lbs (no range, period.)
Maternity wear:	Dress up that bump!	Ditto.
Biggest Prego fears:	Doing something to harm baby.	Gaining too much weight. (ok, probably it’s the same as for Americans but this is def a close second!)
What not to do:	Drink alcohol, caffeinated beverages, herbal tea, eat spicy food, deli meat cuts, seafood, under cooked meat, dye your hair, paint the nursery, go in hot tubs/saunas, smoke, do drugs, lie flat on your back, change the litter box.	Drink alcohol (officially, although quite a few French women will have a bit), eat seafood, sushi/uncooked salmon, unpasteurized cheese, any kind of meat from Spain or Alsace(ie. charcuterie), bleeding meat, junk food, smoke (although too many women still do this while prego), do drugs, gain extra pregnancy weight, so much as even look at the cat.
Average Cost:	·         2,800-4,740 $ with insurance ·         11,000-17,800 $ without insurance	·         Zilch with basic insurance ·         Between 0-30% of medical costs months 1-6, 0% months 6-9 without insurance (just Soc. Sec.)
Supplements:	Bottle of Prenatal Vitamins	Folic acid, iron
Pregnancy bible:	What to expect when you’re expecting	J’attends un enfant
Controversial topics:	Stay at home or work, breastfeed or bottle, attachment parenting or cry it out, epidural or natural birth	Kind of breastfeeding…although the debate isn't as intense.
Maternity leave:	4-12 weeks (varies)	6 weeks before baby is born, 10 weeks after (all paid)
Biggest pre-baby perk:	No one yells at you for eating that slice of cake and a lot more people are nice to you	Government financial assistance for low to mid income earning families (900 euros up front and then a monthly stipend after birth)

Warning, baby post!

Yes, yes, yes... I promise you all I still am alive. So is the mini Sanders for that matter. Just ran into a rough patch there with the end of Fall Term craziness and you know, being pregnant and all... :) I promise to get back to Part 2 of the last post, but there's been so much happening fairly suddenly this week that I felt a need to interrupt the Frenchy posts. The first interesting bit of news is that we just had our mid-prego ultrasound this past week. Somehow despite me and all my fabulous Talia clumsiness, the baby is in great health (I could have told the doctor that though by all the kicks I've been receiving!). We also found out this lil' bit of info... 

That's right; we're going to have a lil' Sanders lady! We're thrilled and I can't stop thinking about all the clothing and nursery potential abounding (hey, it's only a limited time before she won't be letting me dress and decorate her room, so a mom-to-be's gotta take advantage of it while she's got it!). The last bit of news isn't so great. Apparently Baby S (that's S for Sanders and not Shakira) just can't wait to come out and meet us and is already head down, putting quite a lot of pressure on my cervix. Yep, Talia has been officially put on early maternity leave. Until the baby is born. My that's a long time. (April 21st is her due date)  I'll find out later this week if that means full out bed rest or just takin' it easy until it's time for her to make an appearance. But hey, more time for blogging, right? :)