Thursday, August 23

Tooth Fairy

My niece, Julia, is so cute. She called my twice today {and woke me up from my nap...I'm glad she did!} to tell me she lost her first tooth!! I'm so excited for her. Only problem...the tooth fell down the drain while it was being cleaned off. I assured her the tooth fairy would still come. Later tonight my brother texted me this...

How stinkin' cute. I hope the tooth fairy is extra generous tonight! ;)

Monday, August 20

Weekend Shopping

This weekend was spent running errands {we're good at that around here} and buying lots of things for the baby's room. We did a really great job procrastinating on cleaning/organizing things around the house! However, we did end up getting a lot accomplished. 

Saturday was spent looking at nursery furniture and bedding for the first time. We found a great deal on a whole set that wasn't my favorite and I definitely wasn't ready to commit that day, even though it was tempting. When we got home from a crazy afternoon, I spent quite a bit of time going back through our Baby Bargains book to check out the ratings of the furniture we saw. We narrowed our choices from Decor 4 Kids down to two that we wanted to go back and look at. We also found two choices at Buy Buy Baby online that we wanted to go look at. Kurt priced all four sets out to see what we were working with. I also spent some time looking at different bedding fabrics at a company that Decor 4 Kids sells called New Arrivals. They have THE CUTEST stuff and tons more gender neutral options than anyone else. You can custom order using any of the fabrics which is so nice. We narrowed down those options and planned on ordering some bedding when we went back up to Decor 4 Kids. 

On Sunday, we met my mom at Buy Buy Baby to check out the furniture sets we found online and planned to go back to Decor 4 Kids after. After debating, we finally decided to bite the bullet and buy the crib, tall dresser, long dresser, and bed conversion kit from Buy Buy Baby. The bedding from Buy Buy Baby was already quite a bit more inexpensive AND they gave us 20% off each item!! We couldn't pass up the deal on furniture that is just as good quality as the ones from Decor 4 Kids. We knew we're still going to need to spend quite a bit of money on other things for the nursery, especially a glider. 



At first, I thought the color of the furniture had too much of a reddish undertone. We found some grey bedding at the store {we'll probably use some shades of grey} to see how the color looked with the furniture. Looked totally fine! What I really like about the crib is that the front swoops down. I've found it difficult to put down/pick up babies from cribs before because I'm so short. I think the front will allow me to reach in easier. 

We plan to put the changing pad on top of the long dresser. We like how the drawers pull out easily and don't slam when you close them. We're hoping that there will be plenty of room for baby things {and possibly some extra for our crap!}


We also bought the conversion kit/rails to change the crib into a full bed. We plan on using this furniture for a long time and like having the option of a larger bed for the future. Either this furniture will grow with baby #1 or it will be the nursery furniture for all our kids. We'll have to wait and see! No matter what, the bed will look great whenever we decide to use it!


I wanted to add some more things to our registry while we were there, but picking out/ordering the furniture took a long time...we were ready to get outta there! However, I did show my mom the two strollers we're debating on. Ugh, such a difficult decision! Why can't the more practical one look as cute as the other one!!! 

After eating a much needed late lunch, we decided to go ahead and make the trek up to Decor 4 Kids to try and get the bedding picked out and ordered. They didn't have all of the swatches we wanted to look at, so they are going to order all the swatches and send them to us. We are for sure going to order a bed skirt and I think we'll get a matching sheet. My mom wants to buy us a bumper pad. We're not sure we're going to use one...some people say you should and some say you shouldn't. We're going to wait to see if our baby is a mover and a shaker while sleeping and might need some protection from the crib rails. We can mix and match any of the fabrics, so I know it's going to be a tough decision! They have all sorts of room accessories to match fabrics/bedding sets. We may look into ordering a pillow for the glider once we have that picked out. So many options...stressful!!! Here's what we're thinking about for bed skirts and sheets {all swatches from New Arrivals}. 


Bed Skirt? Probably our last choice. Would pair neutral sheets with it until we know the sex and then would buy blue/pink/yellow/etc. colored sheets to make it more gender specific. 


I think this is my favorite so far. I like that it's not too modern but not too traditional. We could pair it with tons of colors/patterns of sheets and room accessories. 


 I do love the chevron, but I'm thinking it's a bit too modern and trendy. My hope is that we'll use this bedding for all of our children and I don't want this to look funny years down the road because it was a fad. 



These two sheet options we would consider putting with either of the grey bed skirts. I really like the polka dot with the first grey skirt. 

We've pretty much ruled out the blue/green skirt. We went ahead and ordered the swatch in case we had a change of heart, but we love the grey and love how many different colors we could pair with it. Only difficult part is going to be picking out a paint color for the room. 

Because we're pretty sure we're going to use grey bedding, we went ahead and bought the changing pad and one cover while at Decor 4 Kids. The pad is a cozy fabric that is a dark charcoal grey. I can't wait to put it on top of the dresser! 

Now that we have all of the furniture ordered and the bedding will {hopefully} be ordered in the next month or so, we need to get our butts into gear and get the nursery cleaned out! We set some dates to get things cleaned and get everything moved out of there. We also planned when Kurt will paint the room and the day we're going to pick up the furniture. Hopefully having dates for when things need to get done will help us stay on schedule for getting this room put together! Fingers crossed, the room will be pretty much finished before the holiday season begins {I'm really hoping it'll be done by the end of October}. 

So, what are your thoughts?!? What bedding would you choose if you were picking? I'm horrible at making decisions, so any advice would be appreciated! :)

Wednesday, August 15

Week 16


How big is baby: Our baby is really growing. He/she is about the size of an avocado! I read that the baby is going to have a growth spurt in the coming weeks and double it's size and length. Does that mean my belly is going to have a growth spurt too?!?

What's going on with baby: Other than growing a ton, the legs are much more developed. The head is more erect and the eyes are at the front of the head. The ears are close to their final position and the baby is beginning to hear noises. I read that babies begin to become startled by loud noises like dogs barking. Plenty of that happens around here. However, what I was reading said that if the baby hears a lot of dog barks while in utero, he/she will be well adjusted and typically sleep through it once born. Let's hope this is true!!  



{Coop can be noisy, but he's a good pup. He'll love his new brother/sister like crazy!}

Symptoms: The acne has returned...ugh. My doctor told me I can use the Neutrogena acne products which made me feel much better. Some of them I used pre-pregnancy and already have at home. Let's hope this helps! Knock on wood, the heart burn has stayed away. The lower back pain has started to get increasingly worse. {Sounds like a massage and facial are in the near future!} A couple nights this week, my back hurt so badly it was difficult to sleep. Monday night Kurt and I went to Buy Buy Baby to pick up a pregnancy body pillow in hopes that I would sleep better through the night. It has really helped {and it blocks Olive from hogging the bed in the mornings}! My back still hurts, but I've been sleeping better through the night. It's kinda crazy how many pillows I have surrounding me a night...we need a bigger bed! Poor Kurt doesn't have much room anymore. Check it out...   

{I've been sleeping with the long part tucked under my back, not my belly. I'm sure it will come in handy to have it under my belly once it's bigger.}

Weight Gain: Today I saw numbers on the scale I've never seen before...not an easy thing. According to my app that I started tracking the morning after I found out I was pregnant in May, I've gained 13 pounds. According to my doctor, who started tracking my weight at eight weeks, I'm up 9 pounds. 
Way. Too. Much.

What's going on this week:
-Sunday I went to the outlet mall with my mom. Shopping is stressful and difficult currently. I still really need to buy some maternity pants. I have plenty of tops for now. We went to Capital Grill for dinner with friends because of Devour Downtown. The food was pretty good, but we really shouldn't have spent the money.  
-I've been at school almost everyday this week. We had meetings with parents Monday and Tuesday. I'm not quite ready for the waking up early and not being able to take naps. 
-Today I went to lunch with my mom before we had our 16 week doctor appointment. We were able to hear the heartbeat again! 150 this time. :) Everything else looked/sounded great.
-We're going to meet with a potential in home daycare lady tomorrow. I'm hoping that it's going to be a fit. We've heard great things about her. I'm going to spend the afternoon with Julia and Lauren at the pool after J gets out of school. It's probably going to be my last pool day of the summer...time flies! 
-Friday I have to be at school all day for meetings. I'm sure it will be an early evening! 
-We're planning to spend this weekend trying to get more of our house cleaned/organized. We have a lot to accomplish around here and need to get working. 

Next appointment:
We scheduled our next three appointments {the last three of my second trimester before going to every other week}. Our next appointment is our 20 week ultrasound!! So, so, so excited!

Week 15...a little late!

A couple fun belly pictures from our San Francisco trip!! 


{Woah, watch out...belly bump!}


{Who's belly is bigger?}


{Comparing belly size!}


{Daddy got to be in these pictures thanks to Lauren photographing!}

How big is baby: About the size of an apple {4 inches long crown to rump}. 

What's going on with baby: Our baby is busy moving {I have a feeling this baby is going to always be on the go once he/she makes his/her appearance!} Amniotic fluid is beginning to move through the nose and upper respiratory tract, getting the lungs ready to breath come January. Our baby can sense light even though the eyelids are still shut. Taste buds are beginning to form...let's hope this baby isn't a picky eater! 

Symptoms: The acne started getting better this week, but my face isn't totally clear. While in San Francisco, I had a 48 hour period of HORRIBLE heart burn. It kept me up ALLLLLL night one night and I ended up needing to take way too much medicine to help it feel a little better. Keep your fingers crossed that the heart burn doesn't return. Don't worry though, if it does I'm quite prepared with medicine to fight it! :) My belly changes size each day, some days it looks bigger than others. The only pants I can fit into are maternity {I really, really need to buy a few more pairs!} and I'm finding many shirts don't fit anymore. I do feel better about my body when I wear maternity clothes, especially pants. They fit me correctly in the right places and don't make it look like I'm trying to hide a beer gut {although a beer would be really nice right about now...:) } 

Hardest part of pregnancy so far: 
1. My changing body. I know I need to gain weight for this baby, but it doesn't make it easier. I've always said I want to be one of those cute pregnant ladies that just grows a belly but doesn't gain weight other places. Too late. My face is already starting to get fuller along with other things too. My goal - to be thinner after the baby than before. 
2. {BAD MOM ALERT} Not being able to drink. No, I'm not an alcoholic...promise. I love the taste of good beers and I miss it every so often. It's not just taste of the beer I miss, it's the atmosphere that makes it hard. Sitting outside for a nice lunch on our vacation would have been even better with a yummy local brew! My wonderful husband is going to save some beers for me that won't be in season once the baby is here so I can enjoy them then! 

Best part of pregnancy so far:
Daydreaming about our baby and imaging our life with the baby here. I have loved researching different things and beginning our registries. I think the absolute best will be once I can feel the baby moving. I have loved getting to hear the baby's heartbeat the few times we have so far. We even got to see the heart flickering at our 8 week ultrasound...wow! 

What happened this week:
-We stayed in San Francisco until Monday early afternoon. We weren't ready to come home! 
-The rest of the week was kinda crazy! I was at school most days and I tried to fit in as many work-outs as possible. 
-Friday afternoon Kurt and I ran errands and then decided to go to Buy Buy Baby to begin registering. We have a lot more things to add, but I feel like we made good progress. I've been working on our Amazon registry when I get a few minutes. It's been really convenient to do it all online!  Thank goodness I've been reading Baby Bargains. It's really helped us decide on the best products to register for and things that are really unnecessary. I'm having a really difficult time deciding on our stroller. Maybe I'll post about that sometime soon...
-Saturday night we had some friends over to grill and hang out. It was a beautiful night and we would have loved to have a fire. Too bad the burn ban is still in place. :(

Friday, August 10

Yum!

A much needed snack after spending a few hours at Buy Buy Baby starting our baby registry! Having a hard time deciding on a stroller...

Thursday, August 9

Week 12


Week 12

How big is baby: The baby is the size of a lime!! I can't believe how big it's getting so quickly!

What's going on with baby this week: The reflexes are developing. The baby is beginning to squirm in response to my belly being touched. I absolutely can not wait to feel this baby move! The intestines are starting to move from the umbilical cord to the abdomen. 

Exciting news: I've finally been able to begin telling some of the people I work with! Only a few more people to tell before our news is completely out in the open... hooray! 

Look at that belly: Yep, I'm finally starting to feel like that belly of mine looks like a baby bump and not a lot of fat! No pants or skirts fit. The belly band helps a little when I wear pants {when it's not too scorching hot out!} but I've been wearing dresses as much as possible. I finally had to order some new bathing suits {one pieces} because those bikinis aren't looking so good anymore! I'm trying to decide if I want to buy clothes, pants in particular, in bigger sizes or just start looking at maternity clothes. I definitely didn't think I'd have to be buying maternity clothes this early...

Weight gain: I've gained a little over 7 pounds since the day I found out I was pregnant. I think more than I should have gained at this point, but hey, it could be worse! I am thankful for the increase in my boob size, though! Let's just say most of the weight has been gained there...! :)

What's happening this week: 
-Another doctor appointment! We got to hear our little baby's heartbeat for a third time! The nurse was able to find the heartbeat really quickly with the doppler. It was 160. I also found out that my blood type is O+. I've always wondered about that. The doctor answered some questions we had and talked to us about the genetic testing that is available. We're still trying to figure out if we want to do any testing or not. 
-On Friday we are heading up to the lake for the weekend sans dogs. Most of Kurt's family is going to be up there so it should be a fun time. 

Tuesday, August 7

Week 11 {Catching Up}

 It's Official...weekly baby bump pictures have begun!



Week 11


How big is baby: About the size of a fig.

Total weight gain: It continues to fluctuate, but way too much! I'm hungry allllll the time!

Food cravings: Fruit, fruit, and more fruit! I also love my peanut butter crackers.

Food aversions: Only thing that has sounded horrible the whole time is eggs.

Clothes: They are TIGHT! I don't own any pants that currently fit without my belly band. We've been cleaning out our closet {to make room for clothes that are in the baby's room} and I'm getting rid of a lot of things. There are many things that are being put away until after the baby is here with hopes of one day fitting into them again! At this point, I think it's too early to buy maternity pants, but I don't necessarily want to buy bigger size pants either...

What I'm looking forward to: We have our next doctor appointment in a week. I can't wait to hear the baby's heartbeat again! At our last appointment, we saw the baby and heard the heartbeat. That was a month ago.

Gender: We aren't going to find out. However, I took 4 silly gender predictor quizzes the other day for fun. Two said we're having a girl and two said we're having a boy. :) 50/50 chance!

What happened this week:
-I've continued my two time a week pilates schedule, as well as working out with my mom two times a week. Working out really helps keep me from feeling nauseous. I woke up at 5:45 Wednesday morning to go walking with my mom for an hour....overachiever!
-Nordstrom's Anniversary sale started Wednesday and you better believe my mom and I were there! Shopping with an uber skinny and stylish mom is really difficult when I've been gaining a lot of weight and don't feel great about my body!
-Friday is Julia's 6th birthday and we're taking her to Benihana for dinner. Her family birthday party is on Sunday. We can't wait to celebrate with her!
-Saturday will be the baby's first wedding! Peck and John are getting married and we can't wait to celebrate with them, as well as see our friends!

Weeks 9 & 10 {Catching Up}

Okay, we're almost caught up on the week updates here. After this, baby bump pictures will be around each week. 

How big was baby: A grape and a kumquat {?!?!?}. 

What's going on with baby: The embryo turned into a fetus. The baby is kicking up a storm {I wish I could feel it!} and many of the vital organs are beginning to function. I can't believe how much the baby is growing and developing each week!

What happened this week: 
-Week 9, we finally had a week that wasn't so crazy busy. I was able to get some things done around the house. We went to dinner with Lauren and Tom and I was able to get a {much needed} full week of working out in.
-We went to pick up Kurt's new car on Thursday!! And I had to take my car in to get new tires put on. We spent wayyy too much money in one day! :)
-Friday we packed and got ready for our trip to South Carolina. We left later in the evening once everyone else was off work. 
-Week 10, we were in SC the whole week. It was a great, relaxing vacation!


{Celebrating the 4th in SC and testing out the new camera.}


{Good friends, good food, and a great trip!!}

Thursday, August 2

Great start to our vacation! Non-alcoholic is better than nothing!

Wednesday, August 1

Week 14 {2nd Trimester!}


The beginning of my 2nd trimester. I can't believe it! While it seems like January is still very, very far away, thinking that the pregnancy is already a third behind us is kinda crazy. It doesn't seem like long ago that we found out about this baby. While I'm excited to welcome each new week to learn about what's going on with our baby, it makes me stop and realize how quickly time flies! We have A TON of things to do to get ready for this baby and I know I'll feel more pressured to get things done once fall comes. I had plans of getting so much done around the house in July since I wasn't working or tutoring. July has now come and gone and my to-do list for the house isn't one bit smaller! Oh the life of a very good procrastinator! 


How big is baby: The baby is about 3.5 inches in length, about the size of a lemon. Wow!


What's going on with baby: Our baby is now making many facial expressions. He/she is squinting, frowning, grimacing, and possibly sucking his/her thumb! {None of that baby...bad habit!} The baby's kidneys are starting to produce urine and he/she is beginning to pee...yuck! The arms are now proportionate to the rest of the body. 


Symptoms: I continue to {thankfully!!} feel great, but HELLO acne...ugh. This week has brought about a face full of wonderful spots. I've had to stop using almost all of my pre-pregnancy face items and feel helpless not being able to try to get rid of these zits. I did read about a pregnancy safe acne face wash that I'm thinking about buying. I've had a few stretching pains in my belly area. I'm thinking that this is probably the start of the round ligament pains I've been reading about. Other than that, I still don't really feel pregnant. However, I suppose that's a good thing! :) 


Is my belly growing? I know it is, but it still looks like fat and not a cute baby bump. I'm still able to "suck in" a little of my belly. My belly always looks really good {small and almost like my pre-pregnancy belly} in the mornings and looks wayyyy bigger by the end of the day. I know this is still bloating and probably the food I'm eating, but I'm ready to look pregnant, not fat! 


What's going on this week:
-On Sunday, Kurt and I did some yard work around the house. I wish I would have taken before and after pictures to show. While almost everything at our house is dead due to the drought and watering ban, the yard truly does look better now that things have been cut back and cleaned up! I needed a nap after all the heat and work outside. We headed downtown for our little date after we went to church. We ate at the bar at the JW and then walked over to White River State Park to listen to some good live music. It was a beautiful evening! 
-I've been at school quite a bit this week trying to get things ready for the beginning of the year. I'm starting to get really excited about my new adventures in Kindergarten this year! I know I'm going to be absolutely exhausted once school begins. It's going to be difficult getting in bed early considering we've been staying up really, really late each night watching the Olympics...and I definitely don't plan on going to bed any earlier until they're over. :) 
-Today is laundry/cleaning day at our house...YUCK! We're heading off to San Francisco tomorrow so lots needs to get finished around here before we leave. 
-I'm worried about what in the world I'm going to pack for our trip. It looks like it's going to be pretty chilly there and I currently don't have many fall-ish clothes that fit! I'm a really bad packer and know that trying to pack many layers is going to simply lead to complete over-packing. It's always good to have outfit choices! :)
-I can't wait to be in CA and get to spend 5 days with Lauren and Jared!! Many trip updates to come!