Letters To Norah {11 Months}

My Sweet Baby Girl, 

"Better late than never" has become my motto far too often lately. But, when there is Christmas, Cabo, and a first birthday to plan {I can't believe it!}, there seems to be no time for blogging! 

I couldn't believe how much you grew, developed {from holding your head, to rolling over, to sitting up and more}, and became more aware each month from when you were born until about 7 or 8 months. From then until now, your looks haven't drastically changed {except your hair is longer and curly} and you haven't grown a ton {you've been in size 3 diapers for a while now}. What continues to change drastically month to month is your communication. 

It's amazing how many things you understand and the ways in which you communicate with us. You recently started waving hello and goodbye. However, you also make a waving {opening and closing/squeezing} your hands when you want something {especially more to eat!}. You also show us that you understand what we are saying to you. Of course, you know the word "no." Whether or not you choose to listen to us is another story! Often times we'll say things like, "Go get your baby" or "Where is Dada?" and you'll look around to find the appropriate thing we've asked you about. 

You are quick. You haven't looked back since the first steps you took on your 9 month birthday. You love the ability to get around so easily, especially that you can carry as many things as possible while you walk around. Your new favorite thing is to spin. You spin in circles as many times as you possibly can until you are too dizzy to stand any longer. Most of the time, you get right up and start spinning again...silly girl! You recently began holding our hands {a finger or two} while you are walking. Oh, how I love when you do this. I hope you will want to walk next to me and hold my hand for a very long time! 

I often sit on the floor while you are playing. Sometimes you want Daddy or me to play with you, but many times you entertain yourself for long stretches of time {you hate it when we leave you in the room and come running after us!}. Along with your spinning, you've been practicing walking backward. Recently, you will back right up to my lap and sit right down. It's so cute to watch and even nicer to have you playing on my lap {while most of the time you don't stay long!}.

You still love giving kisses, especially to the dogs. Sometimes, you'll walk right up to Daddy or me and plant big, slobbery kisses on us. We love it, slobber and all. Most of the time we are begging for kisses. Sometimes you'll oblige, while others you'll let us know that you've given too many kisses and need to get back to playing! Most any time we say "Give Cooper/Olive a kiss" you turn around to find the dogs and plant one on them! You've also started to pet them. Oh, how you love your doggies!

I absolutely can't believe the next time I'll write you will be for your first birthday. My quiet, snuggly baby has turned into a independent, strong-willed, and curious {almost} toddler. I miss that baby stage because you grew out of it far too quickly. But, I can't help to smile and laugh each and every time you come running towards me {when I say, "I'm gonna get you!!"} with your mouth wide open as you laugh. I love the little girl you are becoming, but I wish time wouldn't fly by us so quickly. This year has been my best one yet because of you. And what's crazy to think...I know the best is yet to come! 

Never forget, I love you to the moon and back. 

Mommy

P.S.- The day after we got home from Cabo, we had a HUGE snowstorm. It kept us inside for 3 days straight. While it was far to cold to take you out for long {and we didn't have snow clothes for you}, we had to take you out for a minute to see just how much snow we got. You were amazed! 

Letters To Norah {7 Months}

Baby Girl,

While you will forever be my 'Baby Girl', these days you aren't looking like a baby anymore. Every day I look at you and am amazed. You stop me in my tracks. Take my breath away. And, make me a bit sad. I continue to wonder how you got so big so quickly. How your little brain can learn so many new things each and every day. How Daddy and I are so blessed to be your parents. 

A month ago, I felt like you had reached a milestone. 6 months, half a year! This month, I feel like it sounds so old. How did we get to 7 months already? For some odd reason, 7 sounds so much more than 6 did. 

You are growing and changing faster than we can keep up. I'm not sure why I ever worried about you going to day-care. You hands-down, 100%, without-a-doubt love it! When we get to Lynda's, you wiggle out of our arms so that you can get on the floor and play with your new friends. And play is all you do. You aren't a sit-back-and-observe-what's-going-on girl. You are right along side the big kids playing and learning. I swear, every day we bring you home from Lynda's, you've learned something new. And boy are you tired every day! 

My transition to being a working mama has been interesting and pretty smooth. You loving day-care has helped tremendously. We know leaving you at Lynda's is so good for you. You're having more fun there than being stuck at home every day. Not getting to see you for more than a couple hours has been the toughest part. All I want to do when I get home from work is love on you. But, you're not much of a snuggler anymore. 

You continue to love to eat. You aren't picky and eat everything we give you, except rice cereal. You are eating around three meals of solid food now. You love eating mashed up bananas and love trying the foods we're eating. You have started to work on feeding yourself. You end up wearing more of the food, but you are proud of yourself for getting some things in your mouth. You have mastered using a sippy cup on your own and love drinking water throughout the day. 

You continue to talk up a storm. Your newest 'word' is "BA." You like to go on and on with your "BA's" and follow it up with a funny noise you make with your lips. Your laugh is one of my favorite noises. I love to hear your chuckles when you think something is funny...especially when you crack yourself up!

You still haven't quite mastered your crawling yet. However, you get around quite quickly. You continue to scoot more than crawl. I wonder if you'll ever crawl or if you'll go just to walking. It's better for you to crawl first, so I hope you do it for at least a short time. You have started pulling up on anything and everything you can get your hands on. You love to be standing and moving around. 

You still only have two teeth, but Daddy and I can tell you're getting another one. Our guess is that it's coming in up top. We'll just have to wait and see! 

It's still hard to believe that only 7 months ago, we were just getting to know each other. Now I feel like I know you better than any other person I know. I love watching you grow and develop each day. I often tell your Daddy that I still can't believe you're ours. I can't imagine life without you, but it continues to amaze me that you are mine. Forever. 

I love you to the moon and back,
Mommy

P.S.- Sorry the pictures weren't great this month. Attempting to get you to stay still is quite challenging! 

Letters To Norah {Five Months}

Norah,

I say it each and every time, but truly this month has gone by in a blink of an eye. With buying and selling houses and completely packing our current house, things have been incredibly crazy around here. You've kept up with us and not complained when we've been on the go for far too many hours than I can count. What a flexible baby you are! 

You continue to get cuter and cuter {if that's even possible!} and more and more fun. Your giggles make me smile and laugh and your open mouth smiles are the very best. The way you move your body when you are excited or having fun is so cute. I love how we can tell when you are having fun by the smiles on your face and the way you flail your arms and legs.

You are THIS CLOSE to sitting up all on your own. You can do it, you just need someone to make sure you don't fall to the side. You are super good at staying up when you have something in front of you to keep you focused {like Coop}. 

I know daddy and I will have our hands full because you are going to be crawling before we know it. You scoot everywhere. One minute you'll be on your play mat and the next you'll be way over on the carpet trying to pet your doggies or find a new toy. You get up on all fours, downward dog style, and get from one place to another, especially when you are in your crib. 

You tried cereal for the first time this past month. Sometimes you're really into it and others, not so much. Probably a reason why you aren't loving it all the time is because I haven't been very consistent about giving it to you. With things being so crazy around here, that's one thing that hasn't always happened. Your doctor told me that you could start baby food in a couple weeks once you've been on cereal for awhile, but I think I'll wait until the beginning of August. July is going to be such a crazy month and there is no way we are going to be able to give you cereal/food on a consistent basis. Why rush, right?!? 

I'm sorry this month's note is so short. We are going to make so many memories this next month. I can't wait to tell you all about them! 

I love you to the moon and back,

Mommy 

Birthday Present

Last year, the day after my birthday, I received the best birthday present ever. We got our first peek at Norah. She was 6 weeks old a year ago today. I'll never remember that day when we first got to see her. This year, I was able to spend my birthday celebrating with her. Life is good.

Letters To Norah {Four Months}

Lovie,

Wow, what a busy month it has been! There has been a lot going on around our house and you've been so flexible while we've been on the go. You've grown and changed so very much this past month and I've loved watching every minute of it. You have quite the personality and love chatting and screaming! 

This month you started rolling over. You've been a mover and a shaker from the beginning, but now you are really all over the place! Once you are on your tummy, you scoot everywhere until you've gotten yourself stuck. :) Now, you sleep on your belly and love it. 

You love to play. You have a few favorite toys that you love to grab and put in your mouth. You always have to have something in your mouth these days! You are so alert and are always looking around the room to see what is going on. You also recently started enjoying listening to books being read to you and love looking at the pictures!

Your giggles. Oh, your giggles. They make me smile and laugh each and every time I hear them. 

We went to the doctor today for your 4 month check up. Your doctor is incredibly pleased with you, how strong and alert you are, how much you've grown, and how much you're sleeping and eating. I couldn't agree with her more! You weighed in at a whopping 14 lbs. 2 oz today! You are in the 90th percentile for height and 75th for weight. Out of the doctors mouth, "She's tall and thin!" :) You had to get four shots today and you weren't happy about it. However, you took them like a champ and are rallying this evening. 

You have gotten yourself on quite the schedule and it's really helpful because I can plan our days and know why you are crying when/if you do. You eat an 8oz bottle first thing in the morning and last thing at night. You eat two 6oz bottles during the day. You always eat about four hours apart. You typically take three 2ish hour naps during the day and continue to sleep 11-12 hours at night. 

This month has been absolutely crazy. We spent quite a bit of time getting our house ready to sell. We did most of the work during the day while you napped. We also bought a new house. Trying to make sure we got the new house has been so crazy and a bit stressful! I'll be sad when we move out of this house, but can't wait to watch you grow up in our new one. So many memories will be made there. 

This month, you've accompanied me to pilates once each week. You've been doing some of your own pilates with Anne while I work out! We had another playdate with Henry and got to meet sweet baby Kennedy. You had your first overnight with Grandma and will have your second one with Nana and Papa this weekend! You visited Orchard with me another time and traveled to the lake for the very first time. {Thank goodness we got to go to the lake because we all needed a mini-vacation together!}

Each day I can't help but think about how little time I have left to spend with you before I return to work in August. I decided this month to stop teaching and go work at Papa's office. This will allow me to stay at home with you more. I know I'll miss teaching, but spending time with you is the most important thing to me! 

You are such a good baby and I love you for that. I love how you make me smile and laugh every day. You are absolutely perfect. 

Love you to the moon and back,

Mommy

One Year

A year ago today, my world changed. I went to work, had an appointment after school, worked out with my mom, and then went to dinner with my parents at Bazbeaux. Kurt was already up at the lake with OG and Josh getting ready for a fun Memorial Day weekend away. Because we were planning on drinking that weekend, I decided it was a good idea to stop by CVS on my way home to buy more pregnancy tests just to triple check that I wasn't pregnant. {I had already taken some in the weeks prior but they were all negative. I was pretty sure I wasn't pregnant, but thought I should really make sure.}

When I got home, I went straight to the downstairs bathroom and took a stick with me. Immediately it showed pregnant. I looked at myself in the mirror and said aloud, "Holy Shit!" As I was shaking, I cleaned up in the bathroom and went outside to call Kurt. 

As I was sitting on our back step, Kurt answered his phone. It was clear that the guys had already started drinking, but I told Kurt he needed to walk away from the guys. He was hesitant at first and didn't really want to, but did as I persisted. When I could tell that he was away from them, all I could get out was, "I'm pregnant!" 

In that moment, I was incredibly excited and in disbelief that it truly did happen. I wanted nothing more than to share that moment with Kurt next to me, not on the phone. 

In the next couple hours, I went ahead and took the other two tests to triple check that I was in fact carrying our baby. Of course, they all came back positive right away. 

I'm pretty sure I didn't sleep much that night. 

So much has changed in a year and I wouldn't want things any differently. It's amazing to think that we were just discovering my pregnancy a year ago and now I sit admiring our sweet baby girl. 

A year ago, I sat on our back step excitedly telling my husband the news on the phone. Tonight, I sit by the lake with a drink in my hand and my husband at my side while my baby girl sits on my lap. Life is really good.

Cheers to wonderful husbands, beautiful babies, warm summer evenings, and of course, a cold drink in hand!  

Week 38 {and preview of week 39}

Week 38...Almost Baby Time!

My belly can't get a.n.y. bigger!

What's going on with baby and me:

The baby is just chillin'. He/she is clearly not in any hurry to come into this world and is putting on weight as we wait. Today my doctor said, "I think you're going to have a big baby." Just what I wanted to hear! :) I've been fighting a little bit of a cold for the last week. I haven't felt terrible, I'm just congested. It's made it even more difficult to sleep. Thankfully my doctor told me last week that taking Tylenol PM is okay. I've taken it a couple times in the past week and it's really been helpful. I'm still feeling quite a bit of pressure and having contractions on and off. I haven't really been paying as much attention to my contractions because I know that they are not the real deal at this point. The baby hasn't been moving around as much because there truly is no room left! All movements are clearly visible from the outside. So if you look at me and my belly is completely lopsided, it's not an optical allusion...it's really lopsided! 

What happened this week: 

-Monday I had another doctor appointment. She checked me and I was 1 cm, but my cervix wasn't very "favorable." She made me a deal that if I had dilated to 3 cm by my next appointment {today}, she'd go ahead and admit me. Clearly my body didn't get that memo! :) After my appointment, Kurt and I went to the grocery store to stock up on some food since we knew we wouldn't be checking into the hospital any time soon. 

-After school Tuesday I had a meeting. I left school around 5 and headed up to 5 seasons to work out with my mom. It felt good to actually get a good work out in. When I got home, we cooked dinner and then I showered before the IU game at 9. They played horribly, so I ended up falling asleep in the middle of the second half. 

-The rest of the week was pretty uneventful. Wednesday I didn't do anything but work, eat, and go to bed early. Thursday I took a nap at my parents' house after school before working out with my mom. We grabbed dinner after our workout and then I came home to go to bed. Friday after school I came home and watched a movie before Kurt and I went out for dinner together. I ended up falling asleep pretty early once we got home. 

-Saturday morning we slept in. We ran up to my parents' house to drop off all the diapers and wipes that my students and their families bought us. We had no room to store them here! Kurt was craving Chipolte so we stopped by there for lunch before heading home to watch the first Blackhawk game {finally!}. Later that night, we walked down to Josh and Mer's to eat some dinner and watch some more hockey. 

-Sunday we slept in again...we're taking advantage of this as much as we possibly can! We picked up some wings and headed over to Kate and Mike's house to meet their new little man, Henry, and watch the IU game. It was great to get to hang out with them for a bit and talk to Kate about labor, delivery, and babies. I can't wait to have play dates with them while we're both off work! We left their house towards the end of the game so Kurt could get his hockey stuff together and head up to his game. I took a quick 30 minute nap before Mer picked me up to go watch the hockey game. My parents and Julia ended up coming to watch the game, too. After the game, we went to Ram to watch some of the football game and eat dinner. Josh and Mer came down to our house to watch the second half of the game and then the beginning part of the Blackhawk game. We had so many different games to watch yesterday! 

-Today I slept in {because I didn't go to bed until late} and then I met Susanah at First Watch for lunch. After lunch we went to go get our nails done. I had been waiting for WAY too long to get them done, but I wanted to get them done right before the baby comes. Even Kurt asked if I was planning to get a pedicure because my toes looked so horrible! :) I met Kurt at home after my nail appointment and then we headed back up north for my doctor appointment. This was my very last appointment before the baby is here!! The next time I'll be in that office will be for my postpartum appointment in 7 weeks...crazy! She checked me today and my cervix had soften a little bit and I'm now 2 cm...better than nothing! On the way home, we stopped at CVS for Kurt to finally get his flu and whopping cough shots {nothing like waiting till the last minute!} and then came home to cook a delicious dinner. He's now at hockey and I'm just hanging with the pups. 

This week will probably be pretty uneventful. I'm planning to work out with my mom on Tuesday and Thursday and I have pilates on Thursday. Tomorrow I'm going into school for a half day for a professional development meeting and to say bye to the kids. Wednesday I plan on staying at home to get the house cleaned and the laundry done. Thursday Kurt and I are planning to get some errands run. The rest of the time I plan on relaxing and sleeping some. 

Someone from St. Vincent Carmel called me last week to set up my induction appointment. We have to be at the hospital at 6 on Sunday. This time next week, Kurt and I should have a baby in our arms. We can't wait!! 

Week 37

I don't have a belly picture to share this week, mainly because the last four days I've felt so miserable, putting on makeup and something other than pj's sounds terrible! 

What's going on with baby: Our baby is now considered full term. He/she weighs somewhere around 6 and 1/2 pounds and is probably 19 inches long. Baby W is spending time adding fat to his/her body while the brain and lungs continue to develop. 

What's going on with me: The week started off fine and has ended not so great! I'm finally now feeling "pregnant" and completely physically and mentally drained. I know I'm lucky that I've made it this far without feeling badly. I hate to complain, but I'm not sure how much longer I can wait for this baby to be here!  I absolutely cannot imagine how women carry multiples if this is how I feel carrying one baby!! 

What happened this week:
-Monday I had a doctor appointment. I didn't have her check me because I had just been in the Wednesday before. I talked to my doctor about the possibility of scheduling an induction. Because I don't have a medical reason to induce early, the earliest she could induce me is my due date {January 27}. She checked her schedule and is actually on call that day. I told her I needed to talk to Kurt about it before she scheduled me. What she would have me do is come to the hospital in the evening on the 27th. They get things ready and then start the medicine the next morning. If I make it to my due date, it looks like Baby W should arrive on Monday, January 28th!! 
-Tuesday was the kids first day back to school. It was so great seeing them and hearing all about their breaks. I felt pretty tired after school and didn't go work out with my mom. 
-Wednesday was definitely a bit more difficult at work. I was much more tired than I was on Tuesday. The kids had a surprise baby shower for me! It was so cute. The parents sent in diapers, wipes, and books for the baby. It is unbelievable how many diapers and wipes we have! My whole trunk is full with different size diapers that we're going to have to store at my parents because we have no room here! After school, I went to pilates and then came home to eat and get in bed early. 
-Thursday is when things started to change a bit. I had a really difficult time getting up in the morning. I noticed my body beginning to ache more and I was having more difficulty moving around. I started having more and more contractions as the day went on. My pelvis and lower back began aching and I was having some mild cramping. Instead of going to work out, I came home and started timing my contractions. I took a hot shower and relaxed as much as I could. My contractions were happening consistently every 7 minutes for at least two hours. I planned on calling the doctor that night but wanted to make sure I ate dinner if they said it was time to come in. We made a quick dinner {mac n' cheese}. I decided not to call the doctor because I wasn't in a ton of pain. It just seemed like it wasn't what I should do. Kurt suggested I call my sister-in-law who suggested that I drink even more water than I already had and relax. I decided to lay down. The contractions started to slow down and I ended up falling asleep pretty early. That night, I slept horribly. My back was aching so much and I continued to have random contractions throughout the night. 
-Friday morning I almost called in to say I would either be late or not come in at all. I was almost in tears a couple times that morning because of the pain and the fact that I'm feeling so over being pregnant! I'm glad I decided to go into work because I felt like it would help keep things moving along and I really thought the baby would come sometime over the weekend. I kept myself busy during the day, but tried to sit as much as possible. I started to notice how swollen my feet and hands had all the sudden become and made sure to drink a ton of water all day. I kept my phone with me all day and tried as best as possible to keep track of my contractions throughout the day. My mom called after school wanting to know if we wanted to go to dinner with them. I heard that the Mexican pizza at Bazbeaux was a great way to help induce labor, so I told her we would go to dinner as long as we could go get pizza! Around 6, I started keeping track of my contractions consistently. I did this until about 9. They were pretty consistently coming every 4-5 minutes and started getting a bit stronger at dinner. I was pretty uncomfortable sitting at dinner but was trying not to make it obvious. I kept thinking to myself that I would call the doctor when Kurt and I got in the car after dinner, that we'd run home and get our stuff, then we'd be heading to the hospital. When we got in the car, Kurt suggested that I call the doctor. I thought about it, but then I decided that I should wait to see what happened when we get home and I lay down for a bit. Of course, when I did lie down, the contractions began to slow down even if the cramping and back pain didn't go away. Kurt thought it'd be good to shower and shave just in case we were going to head into the hospital. I ended up cutting his hair, too. I decided to take a shower to see if that would help. After showering I came downstairs and sat/bounced on our workout ball to see if that would help things move along any. Nothing worked and the contractions didn't get any stronger. We were both exhausted and decided to try to get some sleep. I did sleep a little better Friday night, probably because I was so exhausted from not sleeping on Thursday night. 
-Yesterday we didn't do much. The weather was really nice, but my body ached and I didn't really feel like being out and about. Kurt had some studying to do so I took down the outside Christmas lights and then watched the IU game. After the game, I cleaned up the house a bit and did some laundry. We watched some of the football game and decided to hit up Chipolte for dinner {in the pouring down rain!}. I wasn't having many contractions during the day, but my body didn't really feel any better. Mexican food didn't help get anything moving, but it sure was delicious! When we got home, I changed into my pj's and hung out on the couch while watching football. Of course, I fell asleep on the couch and then headed upstairs for the night. 
-Today was another incredibly lazy day. I hate being so lazy, especially since I know being up helps get things moving even more. My body aches so much, that being lazy is about the only thing that makes me feel a bit better. Sleeping isn't really comfortable anymore and it's impossible to walk without waddling now...how attractive! My feet and hands are still pretty swollen. I've been having a few more contractions today than I did yesterday, but nothing like I was having on Thursday and Friday. I'm thinking that being up on my feet all day at work is causing me to have a ton of Braxton Hicks. If I'm going to feel this miserable and have so many contractions being up and around, I'm not sure I'm going to make it 6 more days at work! We'll see what happens!

I have a doctor appointment tomorrow after school. On Friday, I totally thought the baby would have already been here and I wouldn't even need to have an appointment tomorrow! I'm definitely going to have her check me tomorrow to see if anything is going on. We talked about taking our hospital bag with us tomorrow just in case, but now I'm feeling like that is really wishful thinking! 

I'm even more ready for this baby now than I was last week. I hate to sit around and complain, but I'm not sure I can take this achy body much longer! Plus, I'm so ready to meet our baby! Keep your fingers crossed that Baby W makes his/her appearance sooner rather than later!

Ready or Not?!?

I'm 37 weeks pregnant today and SO ready to have a baby. I'm so excited to see what Baby W looks like and if it's a boy or girl! I'm ready to get our new life started with another member of our family. I'm ready to use all of the new baby gear we've added to our house. I'm ready to actually get comfortable in bed {even if I don't get a lot of sleep} and not have my right arm fall asleep every 5 seconds. I'm ready to be able to bend over again and not ask for help putting on my shoes...or see my feet again!

I am so ready.

Come on, baby! I'm really not sure I can wait any longer!

Belly Photo {Week 36?}

I'm a huge slacker and I'm not even going to try to play catch up on the 5 weeks I've now missed! Here is the most recent picture Kurt has taken of me. I'm pretty sure my skin can't stretch anymore! 

The four weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas seemed to drag on FOREVER. I was looking forward to Winter Break so much, and now as I sit here typing this, break is almost over... Our weekends between the two holidays were full of Christmas parties, shopping, IU games, and family celebrations. 

What's going on with baby: Since the last update, the baby has most likely doubled his/her weight and is probably somewhere between 18 and 19 inches long. I can definitely tell that the space is getting tight for Baby W. Most movements I feel can also be clearly seen. The baby is spending time right now practicing his/her breathing skills. It is said that if the baby were to be born right now, he/she could survive just fine {especially since I'll be 37 weeks -- full term tomorrow}...I'm soooo ready, baby! We'd be MORE than happy for you to make an early appearance. :)

What's going on with me: Other than being 100% impatient, nothing. We had a 36 week doctor appointment last week, and now my appointments are weekly. She checked me. While I haven't dilated, my doctor said my cervix seemed very soft and not as high up as a typical first time mom. Better than nothing! Winter break has been amazing for me. I've been sleeping in every day, getting SO much done around the house {which makes spending time at home way more enjoyable!}, reading lots of books, and eating some good food {I have worked out a couple times...not nearly enough!}. While I do think going back to work will be good for me {to keep my mind off the baby as much as possible, to help the kids transition, to pass time quickly, etc.}, I'm really wishing that I didn't have to go back for two weeks before my maternity leave begins. I need to enjoy the last couple days of my break and jump back into reality on Monday. Only 11 more days to get up early...no problem! 

Last day - Tuesday, January 22nd. {Maybe, just maybe earlier if the baby comes early!!}

As for now, I'll enjoy the time with the pups and Kurt. We have most everything ready for the baby. Our hospital bag is semi-packed. Now we wait for Baby W, which is probably one of the most difficult things for me. Waiting for something I'm SO, SO, SO excited about but have absolutely NO idea when I'm going to get to meet him/her. Any ideas of how to induce labor are warmly welcomed! 

PS - My husband has been sick and in bed/on the couch all day today. It's been a wonderful excuse for me to do absolutely nothing today, too! :)

Few, Quick Updates

I'm feeling way too lazy right now to do a whole two week belly update {plus I haven't had Kurt take any pictures for the last three weeks...oops!}, so I thought I'd share a couple things that have been going on around here lately. 

I got a call last week that our glider/ottoman had arrived at Buy Buy Baby. We were really excited to pick it up but knew it wouldn't fit in my car. Friday night we asked my brother and Quinn if we could borrow their car so we could go pick them up. We stopped by their house and ended up hanging out with them {minus Julia who went to Yuletide with my parents} and eating dinner. We eventually made it to Buy Buy Baby around 8:30. They had it ready for us, so we put it in the car and headed home. Josh helped Kurt bring it upstairs. We probably shouldn't have ordered both the ottoman and chair, but the ottoman came with this particular one so we figured we should go ahead and get it. There really just isn't a ton of room. We'll keep the ottoman off to the side for now and we'll move it more towards the middle of the room once we are really using it. The color looks great with the bedding and it is SO comfy. I can already see many late nights spent half asleep feeding and rocking Baby W...!

{This picture doesn't really do it justice since I took it on my phone. But, you get the picture! I wish you could see the cute Boppy cover that is already for the baby...my friend Anne got it for us and we l.o.v.e it. It's covered in dogs. One looks like Coop and another looks like Olive. Perfect.}

There are TONS of Christmas parties going on right now. We had three two weekends ago and were invited to two this past weekend. We ended up only going to one. Here's a picture we took from the one we went to this weekend...while we didn't dress the part {ugly xmas sweaters}, we still had a good time. I didn't get to participate in the Dizzy Elephant gift exchange....guess I'll have to wait until next year! 

I'm feeling pretty good. Only 6 weeks left {hopefully} AND I only have 15 days of school left before I begin my maternity leave!!! I have my 34 week appointment on Wednesday. We'll see if the doctor still thinks the baby is breech or not. I'm not really sure anymore. I absolutely cannot believe that Christmas Eve is a week from today. I can't wait for school to be over so we can spend time together and celebrate our 10th Christmas together! Enjoy the week. Hopefully I'll be back sometime to share more of what has been going on around here. 

More Nursery Updates!

Okay, this is probably going to be a long post, but I am SO excited to share all of the work we got done this weekend in the baby's room! I'm not going to lie, I have been putting off decorating Baby W's room and really been dreading it. I'm not great at decorating, but I always have these great visions of how I want something to look. Things never really work out how I have envisioned. Last weekend while we were hanging out, I spent quite a bit of time writing down things we needed to do/buy for the baby's room and looking up pictures online of ideas for the room. This week while I was out running errands, I spent a lot of time looking around for things to buy for the room. I have a habit of looking around for decorations but not buying them thinking something else better may come along. I didn't do that this week and I'm so glad I bought the few things I did! 

We had a couple big projects we were working on this weekend.

1. Making/painting bookshelves to hang.

2. Cleaning, organizing, and adding shelves to the closet.

3. Cleaning, folding, and organizing all the baby clothes {and baby gifts we've received}. 

Project #1 - Bookshelves

I found a couple different bookshelf ideas on pinterest that looked fairly easy to make. Kurt and I went to Lowe's on Friday night to buy the wood and paint for the bookshelves. This project was pretty cheap and I'm so glad we attempted it. We probably spent around $25 with all the materials and now we have plenty of room for the baby's books...we actually need more to add! :)

Lowe's cut the wood to the size we wanted for free so we didn't have to do anything but assemble them. Kurt borrowed the nail gun from his dad {and now wants one of his own!} and it made putting the shelves together a breeze. It took us no longer than 10 minutes to put all the shelves together before painting. 

We used three pieces of wood and nailed them into an L shape. Each shelf is 2 feet long and there is plenty of space to put a bunch of books on each one. 

This is what each shelf looked like before we sanded, primed, and painted. Pretty easy. After Kurt stapled them together and helped sand them, he went upstairs to work on the closet while I primed and painted the shelves. {I also managed to do 6 loads of laundry while we were doing all this work!} 

I didn't take any pictures of the bookshelves in the middle of painting because I was on a mission to get them finished as fast as possible...not to mention the paint that was on my hands that I didn't want on my camera! Thank God it was so warm on December 1st or I wouldn't have probably been able to do this project on my own. I think the paint fumes would have been a little much for me if we had to do it inside. Plus it was much easier to not have to clean up a mess inside!  

This picture was taken after one coat of primer and two coats of paint had been applied. Since I was out in the sun, the bookshelves look MUCH more yellow than they do inside and on the wall in the baby's room. I was a bit worried about the color when I was painting yesterday, but I really do love them in the room now that they're up. I'm guessing you're wondering what the yellow W is that is sitting on the cardboard as well. I found a project on pinterest that I did yesterday and I went ahead and quickly painted the W while I was painting the bookshelves. You'll see a picture of that project in a bit...

So here's the finished product...

What do you think? We love them! They were SO easy to make and really inexpensive. We plan to put the chair we bought next to the bookshelves so we can grab a book to read while we're sitting with the baby. Now we just need to buy some more books! 

If you look below the bookshelves, you'll see one of the things I bought this week while I was out and about. I wanted one place to put all the baby toys to keep them somewhat organized and accessible for when the baby is more mobile. I found this grey wicker basket at Home Goods this week for $20! I love how the grey matches the room and is big enough to fit a bunch of toys. Keep your fingers crossed that neither of our four legged children get into the basket and play with some of the toys! :) {We left the room open today while we were gone for 3 or 4 hours and everything was okay.}

Project #2 - Closet  

I didn't take a very good 'before' picture of the closet yesterday before Kurt starting working. I thought I had one, but not really. Here's a picture I took awhile ago before we even painted the room. You can kind of see what the closet looked like before... 

Anyway, the closet had only one shelf. The top of the shelf was FULL of our stuff that we had been throwing up there since we moved in. The half that you can't see in this picture has some of Kurt's clothes and shoes. We had already cleaned out some of the closet when this picture was taken, but I couldn't believe how much stuff we had stored in there when we took everything out yesterday...

Not too long ago, we spent a ton of time cleaning out this room and this is what it looked like yesterday when we took everything out of the closet {and before I was able to put all the baby gifts away...}! You literally couldn't move in the room! Where did we get all this crap?!?

So after we got the closet cleaned out, Kurt moved the one shelf that was in there up a foot or two. If you look closely in this picture, you can see the holes from where this shelf was originally hanging. 

 While we were at Lowe's, we bought another long shelf to add into the closet. We hung one of Kurt's shirts from the top shelf to make sure that he could still use some of the closet before hanging the second shelf. We also had an extra shelf in our garage that Kurt cut in half. The plan was to put two half shelves in the closet on the left side to have more room, but we ended up only hanging one. That way, we have quite a bit of space at the bottom of the closet to store baby things that we don't want out around the house. 

 Here are both sides of the closet. I wish I would have taken a picture before Kurt put the doors back on. Either way, we feel like we have a ton more space/storage and we were actually able to put a lot of our crap back on the top shelf! Kurt can still use the right side for a few of his things that can't fit in our closet and the left side has a bunch of room for baby things. We've put a lot of baby things in the closet that will probably be left out once the baby arrives, but it feels good to have them out of the way for now. Let's see how long we can keep the closet this organized...

Project #3 - Organize

I love organizing things. It makes me feel less stressed out. However, I wish I was better at keeping things organized. I was having a hard time starting this project. If you asked me to organize my clothes, I'd have an easy time doing it because I know how I like my things organized. I've never had to organize baby clothes before so it kinda stressed me out. I want to make sure I have things in places that make sense and are most accessible. I'm probably not making any sense, but it stressed me out. I made myself finally start getting things put away yesterday. Here's what I've decided on so far...

I didn't take a very close up picture, but next to the changing pad you can see another cute basket I bought from Home Goods. It's perfect. It has a little yellow in it and I think it's a perfect size for the changing table. I put some diapers, rash ointment, hand sanitizer, and a few other things we may need on a regular basis when changing Baby W. 

In the top three drawers, I tried to think of things we'd use a lot. In the left drawer, I started putting burp cloths, swaddling blankets, and Boppy pillow covers. In the middle we have lots of extra diapers and wipes. And in the right drawer, I put onesies.  

Underneath those drawers, I started putting outfits. In the left drawer, I put all the sleepers and in the right I started putting outfits. There are a few things that are hanging. We have tons of hangers and space in the closet that we can use when we need it.

What's so great is we have SO many more drawers for other things. I'm so happy we bought both dressers because I know we can use the storage for so many things. So I know things are pretty organized right now, but I'm not sure what I'm going to do once we have more outfits in a variety of sizes. How am I going to keep different size outfits organized...stress. 

While those were our main projects this weekend, I thought I'd show you a couple other things in the room. 

I'm not quite sure this is where all of these things are going to permanently live, but here are a few fun things we've gotten for the room...

From the left to the right:

-That is the W from the picture above with the bookshelves. This week, I bought a wooden W, one piece of scrapbook paper, and a picture frame {$12} from Michaels. I painted the W the same yellow as the bookshelves. When it was dry, I set it on the glass, cut the paper to fit in the frame and put it behind the W, and closed up the frame. It was a quick and cheap project! 

-The owl is something I bought from West Elm. I've been eyeing it and knew it would be a cute addition to the room. 

-Paddington Bear is SO cute. My mom bought that for the baby while they were in London this Fall. We need to keep him high up so Coop and Olive don't eat him. :)

-The frame on the right is from my aunt. That is not a picture of us...yet! It says on the top, "One Lucky Baby, One Happy Family." I can't wait to put a picture of us in it soon! 

Kurt and I are not huge stuffed animal people. However, while we were cleaning out the guest room this fall, we found three that we knew we wanted to keep for Baby W. They are currently waiting in the crib...until they need to find a new place until the baby is older. 

The dog on the left was a gift from Kurt to me one Christmas. He bought it for me because it kinda looks like Coop. The IU bear in the middle is Kurt's from when he was a baby! We absolutely love it and can't wait for our baby to have it. The bear on the right was a present that I bought Kurt when we first started dating. I'm not really sure why I thought it'd be good to buy him a stuffed animal, but Kurt kept that bear in his room all through college. 

On the front of the crib, we have this little sheep hanging. {Thanks Peck!} Not only is the sheep cute, he is a sound maker. Kurt and I sleep with our white noise app {crickets and water to be exact!} so we thought our baby would like some noise, too. 

If you look behind the lamb, you'll see the new bedding! The crib skirt is already on and the two sheets we bought are washed and folded on top of the mattress. I'm waiting to put one of the sheets on until we get a waterproof mattress cover. 

The latest addition to the room is above the crib and I absolutely love it. My friend Lauren lives in San Fran and obviously couldn't come to my shower today. She is so thoughtful and sent Mer some decorations for the shower today. We loved this little banner so much, we decided to hang it above the crib! It's so perfect. 

 I was kinda dreading having to buy more things to fill the wall space above the crib and now I don't have to worry. And, it will always remind me of how much fun I had at my shower today and Lauren! 

 It may not look like we got much done, but it feels like we did SO much yesterday. I'm actually starting to fall in love with this room and absolutely cannot wait to spend time with our baby in the room. We still have some things to do and do have quite a bit of things to find places for {see corner of the room in the next pictures}, but we're getting there! I'd like to also buy a fun mirror to put somewhere in the room. We have a few more projects we'd like to do, too. 

So what do you think? I think I'm ready for a baby to be in this room! :)