Shoes-day

ok - so Tuesdays are officially Shoes-days in my world. Its the day i allow myself to window shop - or should i say, internet shop for one of my loves - shoes. Shoes have always been tough for me, b/c i have small feet to say the least. i'm a size 5 or 5 1/2. I love fabulous shoes, but heels are a big deal for me. As beautiful as they look, if they're too high, i can't wear them. i'm just not one of those people who can walk around all day in heels. Some people can do errands in them, some people can walk around the mall in them. I can wear them on date night when i know the most walking i'll be doing is from the car to the dinner table at the restaurant, or when i'm at work when i'll be sitting behind a desk all day.

Here are my findings for the week. It seems that laser cut styles are all the rage this season, the symmetrical details are very eye catching. I found a budget friendly one in a soft neutral pink color from the one and only Target!

$99 - can't beat that for these fab open toe booties. can't you just picture wearing these with a classic khaki colored trench coat from www.lightinthebox.com?

and of course, I'd have to accessorize with one of my classics - the Cassandra pearl necklace from my jewelry line www.designsbykcayetano.com

But let's be realistic here, swollen feet, extra weight in our midriff, feeling tired easily, these cute booties may have to wait until postpartum time so for now, here are pics of flats i've been eyeing for awhile that i can realistically wear everyday for the time being. can't go wrong with Tory Burch Reva flats:

I like statement shoes since i love to invest in shoes moreso than my clothes. with clothes i feel like i can get reasonably priced basics/classics that are on trend all the time and dress them up with fab shoes. So I chose the cheetah print shoes with the gold logo and the fuschia leather with the gold logo. LOOOOVE.

The Real World

I owe you a few updated pics from my pregnancy. I've been so gung ho posting great pics from the internet that i haven't posted any "real" pics.

Here I am in Aruba at 23 weeks or so

Then Wil and I on a date at Sundial at the W hotel. I'm about 26 weeks here

And then this is my most recent pic from this weekend at my sister's bachelorette party in Montreal - i'll write more details and post more pics from that trip in a separate entry. I'm just about 29 weeks in this pic.

Pig Roast

This past weekend was a big weekend for us. We had our baby showers and it was also Wil's 33 birthday!!! It was so nice being with family and friends again. We did see them last week for tita esther's funeral, but it was so nice to see everyone for a happy occasion. I could tell though that Tita Esther was looking down on us. :)

So we had 2 showers. One Wil's mom hosted for us for wil's side of the family and the "adults." It was a lot of fun - there was tons of great food and it was hilarious watching the aunts play the dice game and fight over a green ceramic dish :) i even fought for it a few times. The second was hosted by my favorite cousins Rg and Carneth, with the help of our friends. I can't even tell you how much work went into the details of this party. As i mentioned before it was pig themed :) for our little round piglet. As soon as we got to the complex there were signs everywhere directing people to the "Leano baby shower!" Then in the actual room, each table was adorned with fab diaper cakes, topped with pig oven holders on top :) They were surrounded with little hershey kiss giveaways.

Even the games were so organized! for one of them, the guys had to race to finish the juice in the baby bottle so they had to wear these pink pig bibs. hahahaha. i loooved it. And for "feed the baby" there were life size pics of wil and i for the baby head. They even had a recording of a baby crying in the background for the full effect. So many little things that made it special.

I have to say, for me, it was so surreal -thinking that this shower was for me - for baby. We've been waiting so long to have a baby - trying so hard, and now he's finally coming!! He got so many cute things :) cute outfits, little onesies, bibs with witty sayings like "spit happens", his little froggy robe, rattles - i can't wait!!!!!!! We're so lucky.

And my hubby turned the lucky 33 this weekend :) we celebrated the day after at Pinz, a local arcade, restaurant and bowling alley. I have to say-it was a great venue - i think everyone had fun - including the birthday boy. This is what happiness is.

Papa-Paparazzi

I used to tease that baby would dance in my belly to Lady Gaga's song - Paparazzi - but after all the teasing, i realized, its true. I swear, the minute she would sing, "ra-ra-oo-la-la" he would move around. So, that's his lullaby - that's the song that he will remember when he's out of the womb - i'm sure of it. lol.

Speaking of Paparazzi, there are a lot of belly shots that i saved in my "pregnant pics" folder, that i was hoping to recreate for this pregnancy . Not that i would have a place for these pics - but i just didn't want to regret NOT taking pics. I regretted not taking any before my wedding and i didn't want to feel that again. But, in light of my numerous stretch marks (and weight gain that i haven't mentioned) i just don't know if i have to confidence to pull these off. But here are the samples i'd like to recreate. Enjoy! I'll keep you posted if i gather the courage to take these.

Uninvited guests

So, they finally came - the infamous, never welcome stretch marks!!!! They started showing up 2 weeks ago, i just saw them on my sides where my hips were. Then last week my underbelly was soooo itchy - i didn't think anything of it, until i tried to take a cute pic with my belly showing - and let me tell you - that camera did not do me justice at ALL. Stretch marks under my belly were screaming out at me - it was really bad. So here are samples of belly shots that i was hoping to copy that i found on photographer's websites- but forget it. either i needed like 5 bottles of concealer or my pics would be perfect for nightmare on elm street movies.

Then, to top it off, today, i found a stretch mark on my arm right above my underarm! Yikes. They're taking over!!

I've been using Palmer's Cocoa butter just because it has been tried and true, but i have to say, it hasn't done anything for me - maybe my marks would've been worse if i hadn't used it, but who knows - i still religiously rub it all over my belly and body. Lets hope these ugly red marks slow down their visits.

Never Let Go

Just got an email from my hubby saying, "this is us forever." it made me cry - it was so sweet. Its us together in this world, and a little one on the way.

Say Cheese

As I write this blog, baby is contently kicking away :) He loooves playing around at night. I'm sure he got that from Wil and i since we're such night people. If i had my way, the work day would be from like 7pm-3 am. and i would sleep and wake up a little after noon. All i know is, i never want to forget these little moments. i love feeling him move. Its still so surreal that there is a live being in me. I absolutely LOVE being pregnant. As much as there are some aches and pains and sacrifices you have to make at this time, nothing beats knowing that there is a little one dependent on me already. I love him so much now, i can only imagine how i would feel when i get to finally meet him in person :)


Anyway, so i've kind of been doing some research on photographers to take professional pictures of baby after he's born. I'm still debating on when, b/c lets face it, all babies look the same in the first few weeks of their life. Anyway, in doing the research, i came across some poses/props that i absolutely fell in love with and hope that i can take something similar with baby if he cooperates. As i contemplate this more and more, i think, Baby has strong Cayetano blood in him - of course he's going to cooperate in taking pics. lol.

So here are some of the pics I came across. You can't help but say, "awww" as you look at them. Enjoy :)