I think because our first pregnancy was unexpected, I, in turn, didn’t have any expectations. I’ve mentioned before, but I took the whole pregnancy with Hudson one day at a time. I had a friend come to me and tell me that I had to buy “What to Expect When You’re Expecting” because it would help me feel less stressed over all of the changes.

I ended up reading that book from cover to cover because I love information! As soon as I started reading it, I felt better. I had a little bit of an idea of what to expect and that made the extra unexpected situations easier to deal with.

Now, what the book didn’t prepare me for was that everyone else was going to be an expert on my pregnancy and my baby. They all knew way more than I did. (Can you feel the sarcasm?) Or that’s how they all treated me.

And I know that people have great intentions and they just want to be helpful. But it is hard to go around for 9 months and have everyone telling you what to eat, what to avoid, how to sleep, and what to buy. I definitely didn’t expect that.

Most of the unexpected advice was great advice. Motherly instincts go a long way, but the knowledge I gained from other mothers who had “been there” was wonderful!

To celebrate the upcoming premier of the film adaptation of the classic parenting and pregnancy book, “What to Expect When You’re Expecting”, Dr. Smith’s is giving one lucky Blue-Eyed Bride reader

1. a 6 month supply of Dr. Smith’s Diaper Rash Ointment,

2. a $25 Visa gift card and

3. a set of 3 books from the What to Expect Series: What to Expect When You’re Expecting, What to Expect The First Year, and What to Expect the Second Year.

Two runners up will win a 6 month supply of Dr. Smith’s.

To Enter, you must “Like” Dr. Smith’s on Facebook, www.Facebook.com/DoctorSmiths and leave a comment on this post.  Entries will be accepted through Midnight CT on May 14^th, 2012.  Winners will be selected at random.

1. Why didn’t I start using Certain Dri deodorant earlier? I’ve heard about it for years. Plenty of people told me how awesome it is. What in the world? I waited too long. This stuff works miracles, ladies, if you’re a sweater like I am. I have spent too many summers driving around with my hands at 12:00 because I need the air vents in my car to cool me off.

*Certain Dri did not pay me to say this. I just love Certain Dri!

2. Todd and I had a lovely anniversary dinner at Garibaldi’s last night. It was really crowded because USC graduations are going on this week. We both will shout from the rooftop that Garibaldi’s is our favorite restaurant, though. But last night, we both ate way too much and both felt sick on the way home. Never let two overtired parents go to a fancy pants restaurant without some spoken limit on how much dessert they can consume. Too much of a great thing really can be a bad thing. I think we’ll be fine eating our boring meals at home for a while.

3. I’m so thankful for blogging. I often look back on my blog to see what we were doing a year ago. I did this last night to see where we spent our anniversary in 2011. I was 38 weeks pregnant with Hayes and his birthday was two days later. But I never blogged about how we spent our anniversary. I really need to do a better job of documenting the daily things while still being able to journal my thoughts here.

4. What is going on with American Idol? First Colton and now Skylar? I’m so sad!

5. My house is party central right now. There are party supplies and decorations everywhere. I’ll say it again… I’m so thankful my mom is here to help me this week.

6. My neighbor is a hair stylist and I asked him if he could stop by one day this week and cut Hayes’s hair. Hayes’s hair isn’t all that long, but it had started to grow over his ears, but not really at all on top. Ha! So my neighbor came over tonight and gave him a trim in our kitchen. Beats the heck out of a $15-20 haircut for a baby.

7. Hayes went an entire day without any formula. I think we stopped formula cold turkey. I’m so excited! It’s like getting a pay raise. He eats so well now and eats everything we have him try. He really likes milk. We’re still giving him two bottles per day- one in the morning and one at bed time. I think we’ll plan to do that another month after his birthday and then take them away at 13 months.

I can’t wait to share party pictures with all of you and show you Hayes’s 12 month pictures. I hope you all have a great weekend!