Happy Birthday, Cooper!!

He's the best doggie ever! I can't believe that in January we'll have had Coop for 7 years. We'll hopefully get to celebrate many more birthdays with you!!

Nursery Updates...Finally!

We finally got around to picking paint and painting the baby's room as well as the guest bathroom upstairs {we've had that paint for months...}! I didn't like the paint colors in either of these rooms from the time we moved in, but we didn't feel like changing them because we rarely used either of these rooms. The guest bathroom has never been showered in and we've used the cabinet under the sink for extra storage. As you can see, the guest room was used for all of our junk that didn't fit anywhere else in our house. Kurt uses the closet for overflow because we can't quite fit everything in our closet {yes, we still need to clean out the closet}. We are still trying to find a spot for everything that was in the guest bathroom and bedroom...our house is too small! :) We're planning to add more shelving to the closet after we clean it out and before we get a bunch of baby stuff. That's a project for another weekend...!

Before we painted, the guest room was green. It wasn't horrible and actually looked okay with our furniture and duvet cover. I just didn't love it. Even though we aren't finding out the sex of Baby W, I've said from the beginning that I do not want to do everything in the traditional gender neutral green and yellow. The color could have worked for a boy or girl, but that green reminded me too much of that gender neutral green!

Here's what the room looked like before we painted after we moved out the furniture....this really was pretty clean compared to what it looked like before!!! 

I'm really indecisive when it comes to paint colors. I feel like I have a vision for how I want something to look and can never find the perfect paint color. It also seems like such a big decision that can't be changed if you don't like it, probably since it takes so long to paint a room. We definitely had been putting off buying paint for the baby's room until the last minute...right before the furniture needed to be picked up. The paint color we actually ended up using is called Beach Glass. I saw it on one of the blogs I read and thought it was a good mix of gray, green, and blue. All of the bedding in the room is going to be gray, but we couldn't paint the walls gray because that's what color our bedroom is. I think the color is really pretty. I would definitely use it again when we need to paint. However, it is a little more blue than I thought it was going to be. Oh well, the baby won't mind! :)

{It was difficult to get a picture of what the true color looks like. The color also looks different during different times of the day.}

Here's a before and after of the paint color. Again, it's hard to tell a huge difference, but we really can! I'm so much happier with the room color now. 

{That is one of the dressers that we bought. The changing pad cover is a bit darker gray than the bedding will be. We definitely need to find some things to hang on the wall!}

Here's what the other side of the room looks like. We finally found a furniture set-up we like. The room does look a lot smaller with furniture in it and we're a little worried about how the glider/ottoman is going to fit! I love the crib because of the curve in the front. I'm so short it's always difficult for me to reach in and grab babies from cribs, especially when the mattress is lowered down. The way this crib curves seems like it will be much easier for me to lean down to reach in. 

I'm really excited to get the bedding, glider, ottoman, and some decorations in the room. I know that won't be complete for awhile, but I'm feeling much better having a large part of the room complete. Next on the list is to work on the closet! We need to look around and find some accessories to put in the room, too. 

I thought you might like to see the before and after paint in the guest bathroom while we're talking about paint. The paint in their was definitely not going to stay. We both disliked the purple. We picked out the paint color and bought the paint months ago. We just never got around to painting. Kurt painted both of these rooms in one weekend...thanks, babe! The blue color is one I knew I already loved because it's the color in our half-bath downstairs. See what you think...

Weeks 23 & 24

I've been terrible about blogging lately and there has been so much going on around here! Baby W has been rockin' and rollin' in my belly and other people are able to feel the movements quite often now! Last night the baby wasn't moving around at all. Kurt put his hand on my belly and the baby immediately started moving around and kicking his hand! It was really funny and cute until everyone else fell asleep and I was awake with a wide awake baby kicking around in my belly! :)

{You probably don't notice any difference in the background color, but this picture was actually taken in the baby's room after Kurt painted it {instead of in our room}! We love the new paint color!}

How big is baby: Our baby has grown from a large mango to the length to a large ear of corn. He or she is weighing in just over a pound. The baby is growing pretty quickly these days!

What's going on with baby: The baby's ears continue to develop and sounds are becoming even more noticeable for him/her. Blood vessels in his/her lungs are developing so that he/she will be able to breathe after being born. The brain is quickly developing as well. 

Symptoms: I'm still feeling great and really lucky because I do feel so great. Nothing is swollen {and I hope it stays that way!} but my heels do tend to hurt after the long days on my feet...probably because I don't wear the best shoes. Beauty is pain, right? I'd say the biggest problem is sleep. The issue -- I'm so tired early in the evening and end up falling asleep early {think 9:30ish}. Then by 3 or 4 in the morning, I'm wide awake because I went to bed so early. Napping helps keep me up later, but I can't really nap during the week because I get home from school too late. 

What happened the past two weeks:

-Two weeks ago was another busy week around here. I suppose that's a pretty normal thing. Monday night Kurt and I went to the baptism class at IHM. Surprisingly, I was the only one there that is pregnant. Everyone else already had their babies. I'm glad that we took their advice and got the class done before the baby arrives. It was pretty quick and painless but it feels good to have one more thing checked off the list. Kurt had a hockey game that night, so I came home after the class and got in bed early. I have so many shows recorded that I need to catch up on but haven't had much time. I'm hoping to have a lot of shows still recorded for when the baby arrives so I can have some semi-decent things to watch while I'm awake in the middle of the night!

-Tuesday was another photography class. On Wednesday, I had pilates and then headed to Binkley's to meet Lauren for dinner. It was great seeing her and catching up. We really don't live that far away from each other but don't get to hang out as much as we'd like!! 

-Thursday I had a meeting with a parent after school {that was an hour and a half long} and then I rushed to 5 Seasons to work out with my mom. 

-Friday the weather was gross. It was rainy and cold all day long. Kurt and I decided to go out to grab some dinner. After we ate, we headed to Buy Buy Baby to finish up our registry and check the dimensions of the furniture we were planning to pick up on Saturday. After leaving Buy Buy Baby, we stopped at Orange Leaf for some much needed yogurt. On the way home, we stopped at a Red Box to pick up a movie. As we were walking into Marsh {where the Red Box was}, we saw a bunch of college kids walking out after buying beer and snacks, clearly on the way to a party. As we were picking out a movie, I asked Kurt how we got so old so quickly. It really doesn't feel like that long ago that we were in college all dressed up buying beer at 10 on a Friday ready to go party. Now we're renting a movie on a Friday night and getting ready for a baby to join our family. Why does life move so quickly!?!?!? 

-Saturday was filled with getting things complete in the baby's room. After we slept in a bit, we headed up north to pick up Stephen's car. After we got the car, we both drove to Buy Buy Baby. Before picking up the furniture, we wanted to order a glider/ottoman for the baby's room and buy the mattress for the crib. We were a little worried about all the furniture fitting in the Avalanche and my Jeep, but we managed to fit it all in one trip...phew! Josh and Mer came down when we got home to help us get all the furniture up in the room. We had to leave quickly after getting the furniture upstairs to make sure we had Stephen's car back to him in time for him to get off work. When we got home, we put the crib together. It looks great! We moved the furniture around the room 3 or 4 different times before we decided on the set up. The room looks a lot smaller with all the furniture in it and I'm a little worried about the glider and ottoman fitting....oh well! 

-Sunday we went to church and then picked up breakfast at Einstein's. We came back home and changed into some comfy clothes and then headed down to Josh and Mer's to watch the Colts game. We came home before the game was over because we needed to get some laundry done and Kurt needed to start packing for his trip to Utah. He left for his hockey game and I watched some TV before getting in bed at a fairly decent time. 

-Monday morning was a bit hectic. We both had to wake up early. Kurt was leaving for a couple days to go to Utah early that morning and we needed to both get ready, as well as get the dogs fed and let them out. Our dogs do not do well early in the morning and it's like pulling teeth trying to get them to do things before 9 or 10 am! Kurt is normally in and out of the house during the day to let them out and feed them so it's normally not an issue for me to be gone for long periods of time. I ran home to let the dogs out at the end of the day so Jan and I could meet after school and then I had pilates at 5:30. I didn't end up getting home until close to 7. I ate dinner and was in bed pretty early that night. 

-Tuesday was another early morning because I needed to get the dogs up early and fed. I left as late as I could in the morning and left school right after the kids were all gone. I still felt bad leaving the dogs for so long. I ate dinner before heading off to my final photography class. When I got home, I was ready for bed. 

-Wednesday was the last morning I had to get up early for the dogs. They were not happy to be getting up early for the third day in a row and Olive wouldn't even eat breakfast! I left school right away again to get home ASAP. Andy, Julia, and Lauren came over to drop off a hat I asked Andy to buy for Kurt's birthday. When they walked in, Lauren said, "Hi Kiki". That was the first time I've heard her say my name! :) After they left, I got the dogs in my car and we drove to the airport to pick up Kurt. Later that evening, we decided to head downtown to grab a quick dinner. 

-Thursday I worked out with my mom after school. Then we went to my parents house because Quinn and my mom were hosting a cooking party. We put together a bunch of meals that are made to go in the freezer. We're planning on saving these meals for when the baby arrives in January. I ended up being at my parents until close to 10 before heading home and getting in bed. 

-Friday Kurt picked me up from school right at pick-up and we headed up to IU North for my 24 week appointment. We had a follow up ultrasound since they couldn't get all the pictures of the heart they needed last time. The ultrasound was much quicker this time and they were able to get the pictures they needed right away. Then we headed over to the doctor's office for my appointment. The worst part was having to get the flu shot...ugh. My arm was sore, but knock on wood I haven't felt sick at all from the shot. I was worried it was going to make me get sick since I never get it! After our appointment at the beginning of November, I'll start going to the doctor every other week because I'll be in the third trimester...crazy! When we left the hospital, we ran over to Kurt's doctor's office to pick up a prescription and then headed to Target to get it filled. Of course, when we got to Target the pharmacist told us they had not filled out the RX properly so we couldn't fill it. After buying a few things {because let's get real...you can never leave Target without buying a bunch of stuff!}, we headed over to my parent's house to celebrate Kurt and Andy's birthdays. We ate WAY too much food and hung out for a bit before heading home. I was so exhausted from the week and ended up falling asleep so early. Of course I was up at 4:30 in the morning wide awake and ended up coming downstairs to watch TV and sleep a little more on the couch. 

-Saturday we woke up early to run errands before heading home to clean the house. I took a little nap before getting in the shower and getting ready for people to come over. Kurt wanted to have a party for his birthday. We ended up having quite a few people over and partying late that night. It was good to see everyone and it was a perfect evening to watch some football, grill, and sit by the fire! It was a great celebration for Kurt! 

-Yesterday we went to a late breakfast to celebrate his birthday a little more. We headed home to watch the Colts game and I ended up taking a three hour nap...it was clearly much needed! We had such a lazy Sunday and ended up not getting much done. Kurt left for his hockey game. After his game, I met him and Josh and Mer at La Hacienda for a late dinner. We came home after stuffing our faces, got ready for bed, and watched a little football before going to sleep pretty early. Thank goodness this week isn't going to be nearly as crazy as the last two were...and it's a 4 day week because we don't have school Friday! :)

Nursery Sneak Peak

I haven't had a chance to photograph the whole nursery updates and upload pictures to my computer. However, I did take some pictures of things while we were working this past weekend. Take a look. See what you think.

Promise I'll get around to taking pictures of the nursery and post them soon. I'm feeling like my life is crazy right now...

Weeks 21 & 22

How big is baby: Baby W is somewhere between the length of a carrot and a spaghetti squash. He/she is growing quite a bit and is almost weighing in at 1 pound! 

What's going on with baby: Other than kicking quite a bit {especially after I eat breakfast and lay down at night}, our baby is looking more like a baby every day. His/her lips, eyebrows, and eyelids are more distinct and hair is beginning to grow on the head. 

Symptoms: Nothing new, really. Lots of kicking going on. Kurt was finally able to feel the baby one time last night. My face is currently better than it has been. My lower back hurts often, but that's not really a pregnancy thing...it hurt before I was pregnant. I truly feel great. If I wasn't growing a belly and feeling the baby move, I really wouldn't know I'm preggo. I'm pretty lucky! 

What happened the past two weeks:
-I didn't end up getting a massage/facial the weekend Kurt was away. Instead Julia spent the night and we went to see Finding Nemo 3D. Later that weekend I went on a mini shopping spree! I ended up going to the first home Colts game with my dad. 
-A couple weeks ago was another busy week...maybe that's why I've been falling asleep between 9:30 and 10:00 every night! Tuesday night was another one of my photography classes. I've loved learning about my camera. I'm hoping that maybe I can do the intermediate class while I'm on maternity leave. Wednesday after school I headed to Carmel for a haircut. After I was finished, I met Kurt for dinner downtown Carmel. It was a beautiful fall evening so we sat outside and enjoyed dinner together. It's fun being back in that area. It brings back a lot of great memories from when we lived up there. We were supposed to go to tour IU North after dinner. Dinner ended up taking too long so we decided to grab some ice cream at Bubs and walk around the area. It ended up being a perfect evening. Thursday I worked out with my mom and then we went to dinner together. By the time I got home, it was time to watch some football before falling asleep on the couch. Friday after school I had pilates and then went to get some Orange Leaf with Anne after...yum! Saturday we spent getting some things done around the house. We ended up having time to get all of the guest room furniture out of the room and moved up to Kurt's parent's house. It felt good to get so much completed in the room. I was exhausted from all of the work around the house that of course I fell asleep on the couch that night watching more football! Sunday, Kurt and I went to the Colts game. We left a little early to go to the Orchard tailgate. It was another beautiful day! Unfortunately the Colts lost. After the game, Kurt and I ran up to the grocery store. Ashley was in town and was able to come over and chill for a bit. It was great to see her!
-This week wasn't as busy. Tuesday was another late night with my photography class. Wednesday we finally made it up to IU North to tour the hospital. While we haven't made our final decision, at this point we're leaning toward delivering at St. Vincent Carmel instead of IU North. I know either one is going to be great and I actually wish we didn't have to make the decision. We went ahead and signed up for two different classes at IU North {because there are more date options} and we'll decide on a hospital when we absolutely have to! Kurt had a late hockey game that night so I was able to come home and get in bed a a pretty decent time. Thursday was a crazy day...one of those days I wish I could have ended with a nice cold beer!! :) It started off with a 7:20 meeting at school. The day had many random things all piled into one school day...too much to handle in one day! Friday after school I stopped by Andy and Quinn's house to pick up the trash bags Julia sold us for her school fundraiser. It was fun to see the girls for a bit and they gave us some yummy homemade cookies that had just come out of the oven. Kurt spent the whole day Friday painting the second bathroom upstairs. We've had the paint forever {since this spring} and never got around to painting up there. He was pretty tired and I wasn't in the mood to do much because of work all week. We ended up getting Yats for dinner and hanging out for the evening. We woke up pretty early for us for a weekend yesterday to get started painting/cleaning. I can't wait to show you the finished product. Kurt did a great job painting the room and it looks SO much better than the green that was in there. The color is a little more blue than I thought it would be, but I think it will work out great once we get the furniture and bedding in there. We'll hopefully get the furniture in there sometime this week/weekend. Things are starting to come together! :) Once I upload my pictures, I'll post a bunch. Last night after dinner, Kurt was able to feel the baby kick for the first time! He/she normally stops moving every time he puts a hand on my belly. This time he/she kicked him really hard! 
-Today starts my 23rd week...17 to go. CRAZY! We fully intended to wake up early and head to mass this morning. Of course, we woke up fairly early but didn't make it to church...we're really bad! I was finally able to get a massage scheduled at the Conrad for this morning and couldn't wait to go {especially after so much work around the house yesterday}! I'm not going to lie, prenatal massages aren't as good as the usual deep tissue massage {because they can't use that much pressure}, but it felt pretty darn good! So good I actually ended up falling asleep at the end of the massage and the therapist had to wake me up! I'll definitely need a few more massages before the baby gets here! :) I'm currently finishing up some laundry before I head to Kurt's hockey game. I'm totally going to get made fun of because I'm going to take my camera and work on taking some pictures! Loser...

Enjoy your week! I'll be back to update you about this coming week, as well as posting some pictures of the nursery. 

Painting Day!

We're painting the nursery today {really Kurt is painting while I clean the house...}! I'm excited to see the finished color. I've hated the green that's been in that room since we moved in 3 years ago.

If all goes as planned, we'll have the furniture in and set up by next weekend! I ordered the bedding this morning. We won't get to see it for 6 weeks, but I can't wait! One of the only things left to do in the room is to order the glider. Hopefully we'll do that in the next week!! I'll be sure to post before and after pictures this weekend, as well as catch up on my belly posts. Enjoy your Saturday!

Week 20...Half Way!

We're half way there and I absolutely can't believe it! 20 more weeks until we get to meet this baby of ours. We have a lot to get done in the next 20 weeks and many things will happen before then. But 20 weeks sounds short to me. I know time will fly and January will be here before we know it. :)

{You don't need to see a picture of me when you can look at this!}

How big is baby: Beginning this week, babies are measured from head to foot. The baby is the length of a banana...woah! It wasn't too long ago that we were excited to hear that the baby was the size of a blueberry! The baby weighs around 10 1/2 ounces. I was trying to think of something that is about the same weight as that. All I could come up with is a can of coke is 12 ounces. Our baby almost weighs the same as a coke...crazy! 

What's going on with baby: The baby is swallowing often, warming up it's digestive system. All the things that are being swallowed make up the meconium that we'll have to clean up in the first couple diapers... 

Symptoms: There's not much new going on with me. My face is still broken out...ugh. {I think I'm going to get a facial next weekend while Kurt is gone for the weekend...} Sleep has really been fine. Not great, but I can't complain. The other night, I woke up in the middle of the night with a crazy calf cramp. I read that leg cramps are common in the 2nd and 3rd trimester. I ended up getting out of bed to let the dogs out and stretch my calf on the stairs. My leg is still somewhat sore from that cramp! I'm guessing I need to be drinking more water so that doesn't happen again. I know for sure that the baby is moving around in there. The only time I can really feel it is when I'm laying down. But it's for sure a baby moving around!!! :) Everyone keeps saying, "It feels like butterfly flutters." Even before I could feel the baby moving, I couldn't even describe to you what butterfly flutters feel like. And now that I can feel the baby, I still don't think it feels like butterfly flutters... The only way I can describe it is like a twitch. Now the twitches are starting to feel stronger....a feeling that can't really be described. I really hope that Kurt gets to feel the baby soon. It's still too early for him to feel anything. 

News from the ultrasound/doctor appointment:
-The measurements from the ultrasound all look good. The baby is right where he/she should be for this stage in pregnancy. 
-Baby W is breech right now. Only place I feel movements is low down because that's where the feet currently are. 
-My placenta is in front causing it to be a little more difficult to feel the baby moving. My doctor said that it's totally normal. She said I'll be happy that it's in front because when the baby is bigger and moving around a ton it won't keep me up all night. The placenta is basically acting like a pillow between the baby and my belly. 
-Baby W is stubborn...shocking! He/she wouldn't change position during the ultrasound and was positioned kinda funny. The ultrasound tech couldn't get a good enough picture of one side of the heart {everything looks good though} so we'll be back for another ultrasound in a month. It'll be great to see the baby again though!
-I only gained a pound this month because of school starting. My weight is actually now exactly on target for how far along I am. Let's hope it stays that way!

What's going on this week:
-Saturday we did some work around the baby's room. We didn't get as much complete as originally planned, but we got a couple hours of work done...better than nothing! We have a long way to go...
-Sunday, Kurt went to the golf tournament with my dad and brothers. I stayed home to clean the house and do laundry. It was the first week of football {which is really crazy to me that it's already football season!} while I was getting things done around here. My parents, Kurt and I went to dinner together and then we headed to the grocery store. I ended up making three loaves of banana bread {two for my kids at school} late Sunday night while we watched Sunday Night Football. 
-Monday was a normal day. I stayed at school late to get some work done. I tried to get in bed early, but fell asleep on the couch watching more football. 
-Tuesday was my third photography class. I really need to take some more pictures and share some of them. 
-Yesterday was my dad's birthday. After our doctor appointment, we headed home to let the dogs out. Then we went to my parent's house to eat dinner and celebrate with my dad. It was fun to show everyone our ultrasound pictures. 
-Today was normal. I worked out with my mom after school. Kurt and I are hanging out on the couch watching football right now. I'm sure I'll fall asleep here before I make it upstairs...!
-Tomorrow Kurt's leaving for STL for the weekend. There have been quite a few break-ins in our neighborhood lately. I'm a little nervous to stay at home without him here. If we didn't have the dogs, I would for sure be staying at my parent's house! I'm going to pick up Julia after I go to pilates tomorrow. She's going to spend the night. I'm sure we'll grab dinner somewhere and play some games. 
-Saturday, Julia and I are going to see Finding Nemo 3D {Mer might come with!!}. I can't wait to see it. Finding Nemo is one of my favorites! I'm sure I'll hang out at home with the pups, do a whole lot of nothing, and go to bed early. :) I really need to finish up our registries and might do some of that Saturday, too. 
-Sunday is a Colts home game. I'm either going to the game or staying with Julia and Lauren while Andy and Quinn go to the game. I don't have any Colts shirts that fit me right now... Go Horse!

Puppy Love

I love our pups so much. I know they are going to love our baby and I'm sure our baby is going to love having Coop and Olive around to hang with. I saw this on Pinterest and think it's the coolest thing. 

http://shelterpups.com/b4aftr.php

http://shelterpups.com/custom_order.php

However, I just looked into buying two for our baby and they're $90 a piece.  
:( I'm wishing I could add this to our Amazon registry! Oh well... It's a good thing I get to look at these cute puppy faces every day! :)

Week 19

Week 19 

A few belly pictures from my cousin's wedding this weekend!

How big is baby: This baby is growing a ton right now! It weighs 8 1/2 oz and is about 6 inches from crown to rump. {This is the last week that the length is measured like that. Next week takes legs into consideration!} Our baby is about the size of a large heirloom tomato. 

What's going on with baby: The baby's legs and arms are now in proportion to the rest of the body. Hair is beginning to sprout on his/her head. The baby's sensory development is exploding and the brain is designating special areas for the senses. 

Symptoms: I'm feeling great! My back still hurts here and there, but the body pillow has helped so much. At the end of the long school days, my feet are a little sore, but nothing crazy. It would probably help if I wore better shoes, but I'm wearing flip flops as long as the weather is warm enough! The acne is still around, but the new face wash/lotion has helped a lot. It doesn't really help that I'm now wearing makeup all day long and not spending any of my time outside in the sun like I did over the summer. Every so often I feel some round ligament pains, but again nothing too crazy. I'm still not sure if I can really feel the baby moving or if it's just my imagination. I do feel little twitches after I've been really active and sit or lay down. Hopefully I'll feel this baby moving around a lot in the upcoming weeks! 

What's going on this week:
-This week began by being very, very unproductive! On Sunday, Kurt and I slept in because we were tired from the wedding. We had plans to work on cleaning out the nursery all day...this really needed to happen! Instead, we went to brunch with my family. When we got home, I took a 2 1/2 hour nap. It was a perfect day...nice and rainy! 
-Today we had some people over for our fantasy football draft. I told myself that I'd go work on cleaning up some things in the nursery once everyone left. Well, it's now almost 7 and we haven't done a thing! {The last load of laundry is in the dryer right now, though!} I'm hoping to get a little work done in there once I'm finished blogging....{The plan was to have it all cleaned out by next weekend. Ha, yeah right!}
-Tomorrow I'm going to have a long day. I need to get into school really early tomorrow morning to finish getting ready for the day {since I had to leave right after school Friday afternoon}. We have a meeting after school with the room moms. I have to run to an eyebrow wax appointment from school. Then I'm going to come home to eat a quick dinner and head up to my photography class. I wasn't a very good student this week...I didn't have ANY time to experiment with the things we learned last week. 
-Wednesday is going to be a pretty normal day other than the before school meeting. I have pilates right after school. Kurt and I are really going to try working upstairs to clean some things out of the room. Fingers crossed we don't make any excuses to get to work! :)
-Thursday we have another meeting after school. Then for the first time in a couple weeks I'm finally going to be able to work out with my mom! Once I get home, I know I'll be ready for dinner and to get in bed early. 
-We don't have too many plans for the weekend, which I love. We did leave this weekend open so that we could really get a lot of work done in the nursery. The hope is to move the guest room furniture out to Kurt's parent's house so we can get the room painted soon. 

To Do: {I am a list maker. Maybe if I make this list on here I'll make sure to get it finished!}
-clean out nursery and organize the closet
-order fabric for crib
-find and order glider
-pick out paint color
-paint guest bathroom and nursery
-work on finishing up registry

I'm sure I'm forgetting some things right now...

I'm ONE week away from the half way point. I absolutely can't believe it! It's very exciting but also pretty crazy. Time flies. I can't wait to meet this baby of ours, but we really need to stop procrastinating and get going on things around here. We have more to do around the house than just the nursery...!! A week and a half until our ultrasound! I can't wait to see you baby!

Week 18

I'm a week late on this post... Hopefully I'll get back on track now that the first full week of school is behind us. Week 18 was quite a busy week! When I was home, I was pretty much sleeping!!

Here are a couple pictures to show how much my belly has grown in 7 weeks. Crazy!

How big is baby: The baby is about 5 1/2 inches long, the size of a bell pepper. He/she weighs about 7 oz. 

What's going on with baby: The baby is busy flexing his/her arms and legs. Sometimes I think I feel a little bit going on, but I'm not 100% convinced it's the baby. The ears are in the final position and are listening closely to what's going on around here. I'm sure he/she hears Coop and Olive quite a bit! 

What happend this week:
-Sunday was supposed to be a "work on the nursery" day. Before we could get to that, our house needed a full cleaning. By the time we organized all our crap and cleaned the house, it was too late to begin working on the room. While cleaning, I managed to do about 10 loads of laundry. Then we headed off to grab a really late lunch before we went grocery shopping. We decided to stop by Buy Buy Baby before the grocery to check out the gliders for the nursery. We weren't originally planning to buy a chair from there, but since we have coupons, it only makes sense. We need to finalize the nursery swatches before we order the chair. We need to make all these decisions in the next couple weeks so everything is delivered in time! I was pretty beat and sore from all of the work we did on Sunday and I was in bed pretty early. 
-After school Monday I went to the gym for a little bit to get some cardio in. Kurt and I had an early dinner and I was in bed early again knowing that Tuesday was going to be a late night. 
-Tuesday I stayed at school for a little bit getting some work done. I rushed home to eat an early dinner and then headed up to the Indianapolis Art Center for my first of seven photography classes. The class is from 6:30-9:30 every Tuesday. I was excited about the class but nervous to go by myself! :) The class is great and I'm so excited I signed up for it! I'm already sure that I'll be trying to find time to take the intermediate class some time next Spring/Summer. I was hoping to try out some of the things I learned Tuesday, but haven't had much time because of the busy week. I did try a few things out at my cousin's wedding but nothing crazy. 
-Wednesday, I had pilates right after school. Then I headed to meet my mom and the nail salon. The lady who did my nails did a horrible job. :( I knew I would need to go back at some point to get them redone. Then my mom and I met Kurt at Chipolte for dinner. 
-Thursday night after school I went back up to the nail place {since some of my nails had already chipped!} to get a few fixed. They ended up redoing all of my nails. I didn't get home until 5:30 or so. Kurt and I fixed a quick dinner. Then I changed and refreshed my make-up before heading back up to school for Back To School Night. We were there until about 9ish. Kurt and I stayed up kinda late that night catching up on a show or two that we had on our DVR. 
-Friday morning I woke up early to shower. I had to leave school right away {without having everything planned for Tuesday...I hate that feeling!} because we needed to get downtown for Kristin and Scott's rehearsal and dinner. I ran home to change and refresh makeup/hair and then we headed right downtown. We were at the dinner until late Friday night. 
-Saturday morning I tried to sleep in. I was up kinda early with the dogs before I needed to get ready for the wedding. Kurt and I were of course rushing around/running a little late for the wedding. We had a lot of fun at the reception. I spent most of the time on my feet dancing the night away! It was SO nice having a rainy Sunday after the wedding to sleep in and take a nap. 

Week 17

I'm late on my blog post once again. I'm sure it won't be the last time! Things have been kinda crazy with the start of school. I'm thankful for the schedule but quickly remembering why I wanted to get so much accomplished this summer {that didn't get completed}!! :) Back to the busy life! 

Anyways, here's a recap of what happened during week 17:

{First front shot. Can't quite tell (at least in this picture) that I'm sporting a little bump. Let's hope my body keeps getting the memo to grow only a belly and not gain weight other places...}

How big is baby: About 5 oz and 5 inches long {crown to rump}, the size of a turnip. 

What's going on with baby: Our baby's skeleton is changing from cartilage to bone and the umbilical cord continues to grow and thicken. His/her sweat glands are starting to develop. The baby can move his/her joints. 

You in there baby? I may or may not have felt the baby move for the first time this week. After a busy, active day, I was lying in bed watching TV with my hands on my belly. My lower belly felt like it was twitching. You couldn't feel it from the outside, but I could from inside. Was that you baby?!? 

What happened this week:
-I was back at school each day this week. Monday was our all school meetings. Tuesday and Wednesday the other kids were in school but KG and Preschool didn't start yet. This gave us some extra time to get the room/our things ready for the little kiddos, finish up meetings, and meet the kids on Wednesday morning. Thursday was the first day of KG. The kids were there bright and early and ready to start off the day. The first two days were really tiring, but it was fun to be back with the kids. 
-I didn't do too much working out that week because I was so tired from the long days. However, my mom and I did the IHM 5K on Saturday morning. It felt good to get the day started with an early exercise. Then we headed off to the mall to find a dress for me to wear to Kristin's wedding. Shopping while pregnant is a stressful thing! Kurt and I went out with some other people later Saturday night for Mer's birthday.

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! ;)

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! :)

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. :(