Nesting

The last 2 days have been wonderful and Christmas isn't even here yet!  I felt so overwhelmed with all the things I needed and wanted to do over the last few weeks and was really looking forward to having a couple days off this week.  I decided to just stay home and not fight the crowds.  It's felt so good to just be a home-body.  Yesterday I was able to get a lot of grocery shopping, cleaning and laundry done which felt so good and productive.  Today I started a project for our little one - his quilt.  I had spent some time already cutting the fabric and was ready to sew.  I'm really happy with how the front turned out and the back will be a charcoal minky really soft fabric.  A friend from church offered to quilt it so I'm pretty much done.   I'm excited to welcome our little guy soon!

A short time

I have always felt that the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas goes so quickly and this year has been no different.  Here it is almost Christmas and I haven't been keeping up with this so well but I've been very busy "nesting".  Well it hasn't all been nesting... I've more been busy with candy making.  "The Silver Tin" has been successful so far I believe - I'm not quite sure what to measure success on but if it's how much candy I've been making and how busy it has me then it's going well.  Hopefully it will continue after the Christmas season!  We finally have the nursery furniture put together and I've started the bedding also.  On Black Friday, my mom and I went fabric shopping and came away with some really cute fabrics and I ordered a couple online too.  I have the bed skirt done and have cut a lot of fabric, now I just need to sit down and sew.  I'm hoping to have time next week to start and finish that project.  I'm looking forward to it and I'm hopeful that it won't take too long or become stressful.  Anyway, I will update with more pictures next week of the nursery... it's really coming along.

This week I've realized how uncomfortable it can be to be pregnant and sitting on the floor.  With my job, I sit on the floor working/playing with kids for about 65% of my day and it has really taken a toll on my body.  One day this week I made the mistake of thinking I could wear pre-pregnancy jeans with the belly band that goes over your jeans and boy was I wrong!  By the end of the day I was in such a bad mood and feeling horrible!  Maternity jeans or leggings will be the way to go from here on out!

We are 32 weeks now and our little guy is turned upside down.  I'm really hoping he turns on his own and we don't have to do an aversion or c-section.  I know it wouldn't be the end of the world but I want don't just want to go to the hospital for a "procedure" and come home with a baby.  I may feel differently when I'm actually in labor but I really want to experience the whole labor and delivery part of having a baby.  It's probably weird... but I want it.  I feel like it's a part of motherhood that I need to experience.

Well this momma is tired and must go to bed so until next time :)

Thankful

Yesterday we had a minor scare with the baby.  I wasn't too concerned but called my doctor in the morning after having a little spotting the night before.  The nurse told me that was not normal and I needed to take it easy.  They sent me for an ultrasound to check everything out.  I had a feeling that things were ok - he was moving around and I didn't have any cramps but it scared me just a little when they felt I needed to go get an ultrasound that very day.  Everything checked out fine though and I am thankful that everything is ok with the baby.

Kevin, Ellen, and Eden stayed here last night.  It was great to see them and I know Stephen and Kevin enjoyed catching up! Today I'm making rolls and stuffing balls for Thanksgiving dinner so I better get busy! Here are some pics of our little guy, Happy Thanksgiving!

27 Weeks

It's always exciting to see pictures of our little guy.  Here are a couple from today's appointment.  They weren't the best because of the way he was positioned.  

Here is also a video of him "licking the placenta" which is kinda weird but that's what my doctor described it as - she has a different personality too.  She said he was looking for a nipple... I wasn't sure how to respond to that.  We also talked about delivery and she asked if I had any ideas or preferences of how I would like the delivery to go.  We talked about the epidural and I'm open to it.  She said it was a good idea because she likes the baby's head to come out half way while the woman pushes then to stop pushing and let the uterus do the rest of the work.  I told her that sounded horrible, painful, and slow.  I guess that's what the epidural is for... 

All in a day... or two

Stephen and I attempted the impossible yesterday!  We were both feeling so overwhelmed and in need of a trip away to recharge and seek some much needed advice from a good friend so we set off on a spontaneous trip to Dallas that involved driving 5 hours there, spending time with Stephen's mentor, eating at In&Out, IKEA, seeing some friends, and driving home.  All in one day... not exactly relaxing but the trip involved a lot of things we needed to get done and we fully believed we could do it all in one day.  We started off on schedule but by the time we ran into IKEA at 6:55 (closing in 5 minutes) we knew it wasn't going to happen.  The lady came over the microphone over and over saying IKEA IS CLOSED which made me feel like I was in trouble, very stressful.  We decided since we were already there and I didn't have to work today that we would stay the night and come back in the morning.  I am relieved and happy to say that we now have all essential furniture for the nursery.  Crib, dresser/changing table, and bookshelf/storage items, along with some other fun things we couldn't pass up.  I'm really excited to get all the furniture put together and start organizing the few things I already have for our little guy.  Next on the to-do list is painting the other dresser and then work on the bedding (bumper, crib skirt, etc.).  After the weekend, I'm feeling much less anxious about having a baby and starting to accept it and look forward to it.  Mom and I went shopping tonight to look for a glider/rocker for the nursery - no luck yet but we're closer and I'm sure we'll find a great one.  Well, I am really tired from our adventure and have 2 long days of work, laundry, and housework ahead of me before we set off on another trip so I better get to work or get some rest. We will see which one wins.

Moving along

As I sit here on a quiet Friday night, I can't help but think it's nice that things are a bit slower even if for a few minutes.  Stephen is at church for a bible study training that's going on this weekend so it's just a quite evening with some music.  Things have been moving so quickly lately, time if flying by, and I am still not ready for this baby to come! Sometimes I wish I could just hit pause for a little bit.  Here are some updates from week 26 or 27 (I've lost count in the last couple weeks)

• The baby has been moving more lately - it seems that he does flips in my belly all day.  It is such a neat and different feeling unlike anything else.  
• I finally finished painting the nursery last night and I'm really happy with how it turned out. Now I have some major cleaning to do :(   
• Un-baby related - My friend Jenny and I have finally started our candy company "The Silver Tin" and we are starting to get a lot of orders in which is exciting and semi-stressful because we both work full time.  We've talked about this for so long though so I'm really excited to see it take off :)
• I've decided this week that I'm taking the full 12 weeks of maternity leave - I wasn't sure if work would need me back sooner especially since another PT will have a baby during the same time I'm gone but I talked to my supervisor and she was really supportive of me taking all the time I could.  I really love where I work! 
• I'm also toying with the idea and have almost fully decided I'm not going back to work full time - maybe 80% but not sure about the details yet.   
• I've become very concerned about developing rectus diastasis which is common during pregnancy where your abdominals split from weakness and stretching.  Every time I think about it I contract my abs!  

I'm really thankful for my husband, he is a wonderful Godly man who loves me so much.  He works so hard and does such a good job at the church.  I just can't keep this fear out of my head though that after the baby comes there is just going to be too much going on with baby, church, work, life, etc and our relationship will suffer.  I've really been praying about this because I know so many women neglect their husbands after having a baby and I definitely don't want to do that!  There's just so much going on in our life right now that I rarely see Stephen and get to spend good quality time together - I can't imagine adding a baby to it all.  I'm praying to keep balanced - God first, family second, then the other stuff.  

I will try to remember to take a belly pic tomorrow and post some pics of the nursery :) 

The baby mark-up

Over the past few days as I've been registering for baby stuff I've become quite annoyed with the huge mark-up on baby items.  Bedding, bumpers, sheets, strollers, and all the things you "need" to have a baby.  I had picked out some bedding from Pottery Barn Kids then realized it was crazy expensive  which I should not be surprised by but it was still shocking.  Then I started thinking this mostly white and grey bedding would probably be ruined once the baby pooped or spit up on it :(  So as I was talking to my mom tonight I started thinking about making a baby quilt and bumpers for the baby.  It would be so much more meaningful and sweet and reasonable.  I made this baby quilt my Senior year in high school and thought about using it if we had a girl.  It wasn't too hard at all if I remember right and I've always wanted to start sewing - this may just be the opportunity I've been looking for.

Tonight I've been looking at some fabrics online and I think I may go by the fabric stores tomorrow to just look around and ask some questions.  There is also a quilting ministry at our church so I think I could crash their party some night, sew, and get some help if I needed it.  Here's what I've found so far

We'll see what I find tomorrow! 

Painting

We started painting the nursery this weekend.  I really love the color, it's a nice calming grayish blue and we've decided to paint one wall with horizontal stripes.  I'm not sure if that was a good idea or not and at this point it's turning out to be kind of questionable.  We painted the wall white Sunday and started our tape lines tonight and it's so hard to get them just right.  I'm not sure how "right" they have to be but I know it will drive me crazy to have a wall that is supposed to have nice straight horizontal lines turn into wavy lines.  Here's a few pictures of our efforts tonight.

This is all we got to tonight, we decided it was enough and if we did too much more those lines may just get wavier  :)

Just this week I've realized that sitting on the floor is not such a desirable position anymore.  As I was doing an evaluation today I just felt my comfy drawstring pants digging into my belly and I realized I love my maternity jeans.  Anyway, it's not like it will get easier either since I live on the floor all day and am constantly up and down but one day at a time!

23 weeks

We started registering this weekend.  I had been putting it off for a while after my first horribly overwhelming trip to Buy Buy Baby.  I had my list in hand this time from my little trip with Lara, Stephen was there to scan, and Melissa had good input from her babysitting/nanny experiences.  We were still really tired after it was all over though.  Stephen and I collapsed into the car and wanted to go home and take a nap.   The store is just so big and there are so many options.  I still need to finish with a couple other stores and I've realized I really need to decide which bedding choice I want - so we can paint - and so I know what else to decorate the nursery with.  

I like this bedding and I think it's my favorite right now but I'm unsure if it's too simple and uncolorful.  I know I can add lots of other color accents in the room so it may be ok. 

Then there's this one we saw at the store yesterday...

This one's cute too...

Oh I just don't know!   Anyway Saturday night we went to a friend's house to hang out with some people from church.  I was looking forward to it because I just knew I would get a cloth diapering tutorial while we were there since Robin does cloth diapers and I'd talked to her a little about it before.  Sure enough, it was very informative and after an hour my head was swimming but she sent me an email today with all the details so I'm glad to have a reference to go back to.  She also let me borrow a big tub of maternity clothes.  I'm not really wearing many maternity things yet excepts some jeans I bought.  After looking down one day I was working with a kid and realizing the inseam of my jeans was so thin I could see skin I knew I needed new jeans so I figured to go ahead with the maternity ones.  They are quite comfy and I think they're pretty cute too.  I'm relieved to have some things though for when I need them and it will be nice to not have to go buy a lot of clothes that I will only wear a few months.  

I saw my doctor again today.  The person ahead of me was having some problems so unfortunately the appt took about 3 times as long but our little guy is doing really well!  He always has his hands up at his face so it's hard to see sometimes but I guess he's doing good.  He was laying transverse (sideways) today.  

I'm now 23 weeks which seems significant to me since I started seeing twin boys last week that were born at 23 weeks.  I can't imagine having my baby this week, it's so scary!  I didn't even know babies could survive when born this young, in school we learned 25 weeks was a viable age but goodness! They're 8 months now and doing pretty well for their adjusted age.  They have a really nice family and I'm excited to start working with them.  

Well my Stephen is home and I must spend some time with him so until next time! 

Let the awkward belly rubs begin...

I'm not sure why people think it's ok to touch someone else's stomach.  In no other situation is it ok to reach your hand out and rub someone's (let alone a stranger's) belly so why does this change with pregnant woman.  I'm realizing there's really no way around it, I've tried to avoid it for some time now with the quick turn, block with a handshake/hug, wearing scarves, wearing clothes that hide my tummy... but now that I'm showing it's becoming more frequent.  People are so quick too! It's hard to avoid and it's really stretching me since I'm a private introverted person.  I love for people (who are invited) to feel the baby though! He's really started kicking in the last few weeks.  My sister was here this weekend and she was feeling where the head, back, butt, and legs were.  She's so smart and I know she'll make a great nurse.

I love when Stephen talks to the baby, it's sweet and he does it quite often.  The baby also really starts kicking when Stephen's around too.  It's like he already knows who his dad is and he gets really excited to be around him.  I just know they're going to be the best of friends.  :)

A lazy mood

As I am about to head to bed, I keep thinking of all the productive things I should have done this evening... like laundry, planting the pansies I bought today, clean out the nursery, go on a walk/exercise, or sand the crib.  I however, did none of those things.  Instead I had a lazy evening with my husband, ate pizza, and watched Melissa and Joey on Netflix.  It was a wonderful and relaxing however and I'm sure I will remember it fondly in about 4 months when I can't really just sit on the couch all night...

Cloth or not?

So I've been debating to use or not use cloth diapers for a while now.  I have to say I'm pretty intrigued with the idea of it but also feel a little lost in the cloth diapering world.  There are all different types, brands, inserts, creams, sprayers, and diapering lingo - it is a little overwhelming.  I have a couple friends at church who use cloth diapers who I've talked to a little bit but today at the fair I came across a boutique who sells cloth diapers.  A local lady makes them and wanted to provide affordable, good quality diapers.  That's another thing they can be so expensive! Some brands are like $25 per diaper and it's not like you can just use one.  I know it's a big money saver in the long run though.  From what I've seen on her website these are about $6-10. Anyway, they offer 101 classes at their store so I'm going to check it out in a couple weeks!  I'm really excited for someone to just sit down and explain everything to me and hopefully I can get some really good deals while I'm there too! Stephen said he would come to the class too which is good.  I think the idea of cloth diapers scares him to death.  I don't think he's ever changed a diaper so maybe its just the idea of diapers in general.  Most parents that use cloth say it's really not too big of a deal so I must say I'm looking forward to it!

We also have a crib now.  It needs some work and a little paint but it was free and you can't beat that!  We're planning to paint it white and the nursery will be grey with some touches of yellow.  I must admit, it's very inspired by my sister Stephanie.  She has great nursery ideas and I love her girls' nurseries.  Here are some pictures she sent me a few weeks ago that I really love and have sparked my thinking.

I'm really starting to show now too, here's a few pictures.

18 weeks

22 weeks

A little kicker

I'm finally starting to feel the baby move and it's such a weird but cool feeling.  I really felt like I was missing out on not feeling him move.  Last week at my big ultrasound I felt especially stupid when the ultrasound tech said, "Really? you can't feel him moving... I just felt him kick!" I tried to play it off but I didn't feel anything.  Anyway, I was really happy a few days later to start feeling him move.  It's kinda funny to see my belly jumping when he really gets moving.  It's unreal to think that there's a baby in there!

I finally went back to BuyBuy Baby again today.  I went a few weeks ago with my mom and sister.  It was a horrible experience! There are so many options and so much stuff, it was just overwhelming.  I'm not sure how a first time mom is supposed to walk into that store and know which stroller, car seat, bouncer, bottle, pacifier to buy so today I went with some help.  My friend/PT supervisor/mentor Lara just had twins so she suggested we use some comp time and go register when we had a few minutes and today was the day.  I had my post-it notes and pen in hand and wrote everything down, what a huge help!  I think I'll go back tomorrow evening and set up the registry and scan everything before I forget!  Well that's all for now, my body is just tired and I feel like my belly gets 10x bigger from 5pm to 10pm.

Babymoon - Costa Rica

Stephen and I had the best time together in Costa Rica!  (Even though this happened a couple months ago, I still think it's important to document.) It was full of sleep, relaxing time together, and adventures. When we found out our little one was joining our family, we decided we needed a little time together.  We are always so busy with church and I was able to start my new job so it was a much needed vacation! Costa Rica was so beautiful with the rainforests mixed with the beaches, it was unlike anywhere I've been! 

We flew to Manuel Antonio National Park in a small plane which was quite an experience! It was nice to see the scenery from that view.  The plane was a little scary at first but the ride was quite smooth  - better than some domestic flights I've been on.  

We stayed in a cute boutique hotel that was small and quiet - just perfect!  It had a beautiful view and we were able to sit on the patio, drinking Costa Rican coffee, reading, talking - perfect! 

Although I was pregnant, we still wanted to experience the adventures Costa Rica could offer.  I had always wanted to zip line in Costa Rica and since my doctor didn't think it would be a problem we went for it!  It was the most incredible experience.  We drove/hiked up the mountain and zip lined all the way down! It was beautiful and so much fun! (no worries, we were safe!)

We also went white water rafting which was super fun, but we didn't get any pictures of that...

The Manuel Antonio National Rainforest was beautiful and we hiked through it 2 days and saw all kinds of monkeys, birds, and sloths.

We also had some down time relaxing at the beach, eating a lot of good food, and just spending time together - what more could you want?

On our way home we spent a day at San Jose, Costa Rica.  It was neat to see and experience the culture and people.  We stayed at the Gran Hotel which was the first luxury hotel in San Jose and overlooked the plaza.  Our day was interesting filled with the local market, shopping, and a crap wrap (NOTE: don't try a falafel in costa rica)

Well that's all for now!  It was a truly memorable vacation that I will cherish forever, it was wonderful to spend some time with just the two of us before we welcome our little one! I love you Stephen!!! and baby!