Happy Happy Birthday!!!

HE'S HERE!

Hello everyone! This is Kristen, Sharisa's little sister.

Just wanted to let you all know that

Baby Merrick arrived this morning at 6:23 a.m.

weighing in at 6 pounds 5 ounces

and 18.5 inches tall. (He's a little guy!)

They are keeping Merrick in the NICU for a couple of days due to some slightly under-developed lungs but they say that he is doing awesome and recovering at a really fast rate. Because of this, the only people that are allowed to see him are his parents and grandparents

:( So I have yet to see the little guy in person, but we are hoping for tomorrow or Saturday.

Merrick and Grandma Shiflet

Sharisa and Mom gettin all prepped for the surgery


Here's the little mama this morning at the hospital ... lucky girl- she got to have her hair and make up done and actually look cute in her pictures at the hospital.... an advantage to having a scheduled birth :)

Sharisa is doing really awesome and is recovering well. She'll probably be home from the hospital on Saturday or Sunday. We're still not sure when visitors will be able to see the baby, but we'll keep you updated!

I've been tagged :)

*Five things I was doing 10 years ago:
1. I was on the volleyball team at Gilbert Jr. High and I got team MVP that year :)
2. Sitting on AOL all night long at Meghan's house (or maybe that was when we were a little younger, I don't remember)
3. Wearing purple eyeshadow...yeah I don't want to talk about it...
4. Babysitting all the time to earn money to blow at the mall every Saturday
5. Listening to Britney Spears


*Five things on my to do list today:
1. Drop off thank you cards from my baby shower
2. Take a nap
3. Clean my bathroom and do my laundry
4. Take a walk
5. Make cookies, what else are Sundays for?


*Five snacks I enjoy:
1. Apples
2. Jamba Juice
3. Toast with Peanut Butter
4. Popcorn
5. Dove Promises


*Five things I would do if I were a millionaire:
1. Buy myself a cute house in Agritopia so Merrick could have his own room
2. Buy myself a Lincoln Navigator, I really want an Aviator, but they don't make them anymore and if I had a million dollars I might as well splurge and get the big one, right?
3. Buy a completely new wardrobe from Anthropologie
4. Put enough aside to send Merrick to a private school in a few years
5. Buy season tickets to the Sun's games


*Five places I've lived:
1. Gilbert, Arizona
2. Chandler, Arizona
3. Honolulu, Hawaii
4. Sorry, that's it...
5.


*Five Jobs I've had:
1. Wal-Mart, when I was in high school, they were flexible with my busy volleyball schedule okay!
2. Toni & Guy Salon at Fiesta Mall
3. Junky Trunk Boutique
4. Marsha Nadalin Salon & Spa in Hawaii, worst...job...ever...
5. Nordstrom, if I hadn't been pregnant and throwing up everyday this would have been the most fun job ever


Go to your pictures folder and take the fourth picture from the fourth file and post it.


Okay, this summer when I went to Utah to visit my sister-in-law Shannon, we made these little treats that we found on 'Pioneer Woman' and they were absolutely incredible! We had to take pictures!

That's it.

Merrick will be here on Thursday bright and early! I'll keep you all updated :)

Happy Birthday To Me! And a real long preggo update...

Yesterday was my birthday, so my family got together tonight and had a little bbq for me. I got a gift certificate for a massage, some high quality jewelry, some toys for Merrick and most importantly the stroller and carseat that I wanted! Yeah!

And here's a fun, long pregnancy update. I am so not a fan of people's pregnancy T.M.I. blog posts so I am going to try and make this as cut and dry as possible. Here goes...

I had a Dr.'s appointment yesterday morning. This is my last month, so the Dr. really had to look at things. He said that he thought the baby was breech. I guess that's not a good thing at this point in my pregnancy, so he said he wanted to do an ultrasound just to make sure. If the baby was indeed breech, then I would have to go to the hospital and see if they could turn him around (I think it's called an ECV?) .

So, this morning I went in for an ultrasound and he is definitely breech. They measured the little guy and I got to see how big he's gotten in the past few months. He is so cute! And he has a ton of hair! The ultrasound tech kinda pushed on my belly where his head was and you could see his hair waving! I couldn't believe it. She said he probably weighed about 6 pounds. She also told me that she was pretty sure that they had messed up on my due date. She said that she was getting something more like October 26th. Hooray! That moved everything up like a whole week! Then after all the fun was over she prints out the pictures and tells me she needs to talk to the doctor about a few things and he would be in in a few minutes...yeah, that sounds promising.

The doctor came in and starts in on a few key factors I have working against me at the moment. (By the way, the baby is totally healthy and there is nothing that is wrong with him at all. Phew!) He says the baby is breech, he is also piked (so his feet are up by his face, like he's bent in half), I have really low amniotic fluid (so he's not swimming in very much water), my placenta is in the front (which isn't really bad, it's just not normal) and Merrick's head is HUGE. He said that his head is in the 92nd %! I guess that's real big.

So I'm thinking, okay let's go ahead and flip this guy around, but the docotor goes on to tell me that with all these things working against me, it is totally unlikely that we could flip him. And they never deliver first-time moms breech. And even if we could flip the baby, or if Merrick flipped himself, he's not very confident that I could deliver his head...then he said the dreaded word that I have avoided this whole pregnancy...C Section. He said that he really thinks it's the best option especially since my fluid is low. He really didn't act like there was much room for decision-making.

Don't get me wrong, I 100% trust my doctor and I think he is great, I was just really shocked this whole time. And then, even more shocking he said he wants to go ahead and schedule the surgery for the week of the 13th...that's in like 10 days. So I am likely going to have a child in about 10 days...I'm kinda still a little shocked by all this, but as the day has gone on I have gotten a lot more used to the idea. And really, who is going to complain about not having to go through labor and delivery??

I am going to be in such a rush getting ready for this little guy over the next week. And of course, this was a week that I was going to be pretty busy. I have a class that I am taking on Monday, we play Highland Tuesday and Thursday is my baby shower (which I hope you're all coming to by the way). But I am excited that he is going to be here so soon since pregnancy really isn't that much fun and comfortable. Wish me luck!

And if you've kept reading this long you are a saint. Haha!

My Baby Shower

The girls that own the boutique I used to work at are so nice enough to be throwing me a baby shower next week. I want anybody that wants to come to come! I already sent out invitations last week and just don't want anyone to get left out. Seriously, don't be shy! I would love to see everybody. Here's the info...

Thursday, October 9th (That's next week)

6:30 to 8:30pm

Audrey Ryan's Home

1817 E. Coral Tree

Gilbert, AZ 85234

Seriously please come, it's gonna be a ton of fun with great food! These girls really know how to throw a classy party :)

I think there is a list somewhere that contains all the "best baby things" that moms get to do while they are pregnant and waiting for baby. Like buying that first outfit, or making shower invitations or setting up the nursery. I was really excited about the nursery part. Before, when I lived with my in-laws I was so lucky. They baby was going to have his own big room right next door to mine. I would have had plenty of room for all the furniture I needed plus some. So, I went out and bought the most awesome crib. I took weeks and weeks searching and finally picked it out at Room 4 Baby here in Gilbert, paid for it upfront and started waiting. Well the waiting is finally over. But, of course (welcome to my life) my living situation has completely changed. I now live in a tiny bedroom in my parent's house and I can't even barely fit all my furniture in there, much less a crib. Much less this crib. I picked out this huge, beautiful crib because I had all the room I needed before. Plus, at this point I could really use that money back! The store can't take it back becuase they had to order it, blah blah blah... which is totally understandable. But now I am stuck with this enormous, beautiful crib and nowhere to put it. I don't know very many pregnant girls that are still looking for a crib, but if any of you do let me know! I just want to sell it for what I paid for it. It's still brand new in the box and hasn't been opened yet. It's the Munire Deco Crib in Espresso and I paid $500 for it. Sorry if this post seems like a whiny post, I really don't mean it to be! I just need help getting this crib sold so I hope you guys might be able to help me! On a lighter note, I'm 35 weeks already! Only 5 more to go. The baby is doing good. He moves a ton and just beats me up all day long :)

Look at my cute brother!

My little brother Juddy is on his mission in Chile. He has been out for about 8 months now. He loves his mission and we miss him so much! He just sent these pictures this morning so I thought that I would share them with everybody. He said that this family just went through the temple since they were baptized a year ago. And he actually found a Dr. Pepper! He was so excited and and at the same time so sad that he had to share with his companion, haha :) I love Juddy and I am so proud of him.
Isn't he so cute?!

Utah

My mom, my sister and I drove up to St. George, Utah this weekend for my cousin's blessing. She is 4 weeks old and she is just too cute. We didn't get any pictures of her on our camera but I will have to post some when we get them from my aunt because you would just die at how much hair this little girl has! We had a great time and pretty much just hung out and ate good food the whole 3 days we were there. I can't believe I survived in a car for that long! And for all those who have been begging...I included a current belly picture :) Yeah! I'm 32 weeks! Only 8 to go!