Nursery

So, we've added a few more items to the nursery decor :)



I had to paint the mirror and letters.  The mirror was originally black, but it was the exact style I was looking for.  And, it was $30.  The paint & primer was like $8, so I saved A LOT on that front.  All of the white mirrors I have looked at like that were between $150-$200.  o_O

The white bonnet was made for me by my Granny on my dad's side.  She passed away when I was one.  The blanket she made to match the bonnet is drapped across the front of the crib (below).  The owl was just because I felt like that was the only "animal" that matched for the room.  And, the changing pad was from an Etsy shop.  I am totally addicted to that website!  I love that practically everything on it is handmade.  Plus, I could not find a lime green changing pad cover anywhere else to buy or register for.

You can kind of see the white blinds that we swapped out ---->
I think it works better with the white mirror and shelf. 

I have also decided that I do not like our crib bedding as much anymore (selling the 10-piece set on eBay).  I found something else I like better, but even that's not exactly what I was hoping for in my vision.  I am thinking about trying to find the material myself and either make it (with the help of my mom) or commission someone to make it for us.  Basically, I want something brighter and that pulls the lime green in more.

I have also decided that I want to make a quilt!  I have contacted a place in Denham to see if they offer a beginners class since I am completely clueless!  I also need to print out some of the pictures I have saved for painting ideas.  I want to do some canvases for the nursery.  I feel like if I occupy my time "making" things for the nursery, I'll spend less time "buying" things instead! Haha!!  Plus, it adds much more meaning to the room if I make it.

I know that the more we add to the room, the more I will love it.  Right now I just feel like it's bare and a completely unmatched mess. lol

I love my baby.

This morning, I woke up, rolled over onto my back and laid there for a few quiet moments.  I put my hands on my rounding tummy and just waited.  I could feel my sweet pea shifting, maybe waking up from his or her own sleep.  Then, I felt it - little bumps pushing up on my hands.  I cannot describe how amazing it feels.  I just laid there and relished in my quiet, little moment with my baby.  In that moment, I felt like a mommy.

God's way of saying "Sorry"

The Snoogle



OMG.  Holy hell.  Now that I've got my groove with this thing, I don't know that I can go back.

My only beef with the little slice of heaven is that it does not do any wonders for your neck.  I like my normal pillow, so I just use that for my head.  This thing more than covers the rest of my body the entire way around.  I use it between my ankles for even better support.  I do not know how I have lived before this modern marvel.  I'm in love.


Oh, and Michael likes to pretend that I'm going to pass it over to him once the baby comes... ;)

Big Boobs, Registries & Blinds, oh my!

So, this past weekend proved to be quite overwhelming!  We registered for the baby at Target (Michael was waaay better at it than me!), and I bought new bras.  Woot.

I finally put my pregnant-panties on and made the trek to Destination Maternity.  My boobs had literally been spilling out of my bras, and it was starting to cramp my style.  I'm normally a 34C, and I figured 36D was a safe assumption.  WRONG!  Let me go back a second.  The store itself is very nice, but a little more bare than I imagined it in my head.  I must have looked slightly overwhelmed in their bra section whilst trying to figure out why the snaps on the front did not mean it had a strapless option.  One of the salesladies came over and fitted me.  She said, "36D, but let's pull the DD/Es just in case."  Hmm...ok?  So, she snags a few ugly, but supposedly popular options.  I enter the dressing room and toss the larger of the mammoth bras to the side.  It wasn't long before I was reaching back for them.  36E!!!!!!  The lady said DD, but last time I checked, I could read, and those tags said E.  Then she proceeds to tell me that she was pretty sure I'd be in those, but didn't want to scare me since I looked terrified to begin with.  Holy hell.  I realize that I have probably ruined all of my nice, pre-pregnancy bras now.  Way to go, me.  So, to help me feel better, I threw in a Snoogle. :)

The next adventure of the weekend was the baby registry.  Let me just throw out there how much of a trooper Michael is.  He is pure, grade "A" Daddy material.  We walked in, got our scanner and were told they were out of Welcome Packets.  No biggie, except I was looking forward to the shopping guide.  Oh well...  So, we get over to the baby section and I immediately have no idea what to do anymore.  It's like the baby section of any store just completely drowns me.  Michael goes into Daddy-mode and takes over.  I could not have been more thankful!  Then, the scanner stops working.  WTF.  I was just starting to get comfortable.  Michael takes it back to Guest Services and returns with a working gun.  Yay, all is well again.  It ended up not being as awful as I imagined.  I think had we gone with Babies R Us, I may have vomited before it was over.  Target is all about one section, BRU is the entire store.  We made notes of things we wanted but didn't see, and now I need to go update the registry online.  I think we did alright, considering we couldn't pick anything pink or blue.  That may have actually helped us be more selective....maybe.  I'm all over the consumer reports on this stuff!

I feel like we should have another option for the registry.  Maybe Walmart?  Or Amazon?  Can I just copy over what we did at Target? lol  I actually did start one on Amazon, but right now it's just for brainstorming recliners/gliders.

The final touch of this weekend was the great blind swap.  I decided that I wanted to put a white set in the nursery, and get another brown set to put in our bedroom.  So, once we were finally able to track down the right set of brown ones, we headed home.  AFTER we got the white ones in our bedroom down, we realized that the new brown ones were just about 1/2" too wide.  Michael made a trip back out to Home Depot to get them shaved down while I was at a friend's baby shower.  When I got home and saw the swap, I was shocked at the difference.  Getting up in the mornings will never be the same again.  They should have put a "blackout" disclaimer on the box!  They are AWESOME!  The white ones in the nursery didn't make much of a difference in the light (crib is on the same wall as the window), but definitely look better now that I have the white mirror and shelf set hanging up.  Yay for more nursery details! :)

Milestone for Daddy!

Last night, for the first time, Michael felt the baby kick!  It was so cute!  We were listening to the heartbeat, and the little booger kept kicking the wand.  I figured with as active as it was, Michael should give it a shot.  Every time I have tried to see if he could feel any movement, he couldn't and was slightly disappointed.  I was really hopeful because of how crazy-active the baby was.  He put his hand on my stomach and waited a minute.  Then, all of a sudden, his eyes lit up!  He said, "Oh my God, I just felt it!"  Then he felt it again!  It was so sweet how excited he was. :)  Made our night!

Tomorrow morning, we are going to Target to register for the baby.  I have already started it with the big items online.  I wanted to research those and read reviews.  Plus, I did not want us to get there and become completely overwhelmed.  My hope is that this way, the experience can be fun and pleasant since we've already figured out most of the more complicated stuff.  We shall see! :)

Weight Gain

And, no, this post is probably not going to go the way you think it is. ;)

I've been tracking my weight gain since we found out I was pregnant.  I wanted to make sure that I stayed on track throughout the pregnancy.  I have not starved myself or denied when I was hungry.  I have really surprised myself lately with the food I can put away!  Trust me, when this chick is hungry, she's going to eat! lol

That being said... I noticed something today.  I have been trying to document my weight at least 2-3 times a week, on the same days if possible.  Sundays and Wednesdays have been the ones I can remember the most.  According to my doc (& the books), I should be gaining about a pound a week right now, on average.  Anyway, according to my research, I think I have been gaining correctly (not really a whole pound per week, but doc hasn't said anything about me being unhealthy), but I've noticed that I weigh less on Sundays than I do on Wednesdays - like around 2lbs less, consistently.  I know that there is possible bloating to keep in mind, but it's just kind of funny to me the way it has been so regular.  I almost completely disregard January's tracking because I lost weight from the flu.  February was when I started to get more normal with my appetite, so I looked at that and March.  Overall, I've gained about 3lbs total this pregnancy - that's from my pre-pregnancy weight.  I think that's alright.  And, until my doctor says different, that's what I'll keep saying. ;)

Anyway, I posted this because I found it a little amusing how consistent it was, and the fact that no one really like to talk about weight gain during pregnancy without getting a little defensive, it seems.  Everyone is different, and every pregnancy is different.  I've been saying this, and will continue to... I know my time is coming!  There's only so many places this baby can continue to grow into on my 5-foot frame! lol

OOOOOOOH!! We're halfway there!

Yes, today marks 20 weeks!  Only 20 more to go before we meet little Ethan or Aubrey!  That is so weird for me to comprehend.  In four months, we will be meeting the little life we have created.  We've been together for almost 10 years, just the two of us.  But, now, all of that is about to change.  It is so amazing to think about!

Am I dreaming?

Did we really finish the nursery on schedule?!  Why, yes!  Yes, we did!! :)  We definitely could not have done it without the help of Jessica and Josh!  I am SO GRATEFUL for amazing friends!  We are blessed!

Let me just say that it was NOT easy, but the end result was well worth it!  I absolutely adore our nursery, and it will only get better as we continue to fill it!  I believe the final total of hours worked to completion was around 25.  Everything was painted - no decal or wallpaper here!  Had I known how much work it was going to take, I may have brainstormed another idea. ;)  I have a link to the photos from start to finish on my Snapfish account below:



I'd like to share my Snapfish photos with you. Click here to view photos

Mango! Yum! :)

That's how big baby is now!  My sweet little mango! :)  I cannot believe I am now one week away from the halfway mark. o_0  My goal was to have the nursery painted and started before then, and we're well on our way to that!

We've made a lot of progress in one afternoon and 2 nights:







 







We have now started the brown trim at the top.  I am so ready for it to be done!  I know we will love it once we're through - if we don't kill each other first! lol

Granted that we finish with the trim by Saturday, we'll have the carpet cleaned and then set up the furniture.  I have started researching other pieces that I would like to add.  I know that yellow will be the "kinda" temp accent color.  I say that because if it's a girl, we'll switch it to pink, but for a boy we'll leave the yellow.  So, I don't want to get too many yellow pieces, but enough to brighten it up. :)

So excited!

Time flies when you're having fun!

So, I recently realized that I am almost to the halfway mark of this pregnancy!  Holy moly!

I picked up our nursery re-vamp supplies yesterday.  So, this weekend's plans include painting the nursery and scheduling a cleaning service to steam the carpet.  Once that is done we'll be able to set up the crib, changing table and initial decorations.  I am SO EXCITED! :-D  I will definitely post before and after pics.

Speaking of pics, I have scheduled my maternity pictures!  Part of me was thinking I had plenty of time, then the other part of me realized how far in advance photographers book up their time.  I searched around, received some great recommendations, and finally decided on a grade school friend., Amanda (Williams) Ratcliff of Amanda Blythe Photography (check her out here: http://www.amandablythe.com/ or on Facebook).  I love how sweet and natural her pictures look, and I am so excited that she will also be doing our baby's entire first year!!  Oh yeah, I've already booked her for our baby.  That sounds crazy to me!  My baby has an "official" photographer and we haven't even met him or her yet! lol  I'm definitely excited about the maternity pictures, but honestly I am WAY more excited for her to capture our little angel! :)

That's all for now!  This rainy weather is making me sleepy! ;)

Punch Dancing

That's what my little booger has been doing inside my stomach lately!

Sunday, I felt the baby kick for the first time.  It was pretty amazing!  Mom was maneuvering the doppler wand trying to chase down the heartbeat.  She got in one spot and stayed for a second.  At the same time, the little kicker made us aware that he/she did not want us in his/her space anymore! lol!!  It was incredible!  I had been feeling the swimming around for about a week, but this was wild! :)

I just think the baby has been excited with Momma over the new car. ;)