Have Label Maker, Will Organize

I'm happy to say that things are finally coming together in the nursery. We've had the basics (furniture, decorations, etc.) set up for a while, but as we've had our showers and received/purchased the necessities, things have just sort of piled up in the room. I could only store things in and around the crib for so long! Finally, the closet, changing table, and various storage units are organized!

Here are some pictures of the closet. The left half is for baby stuff and the right half is storage for my craft supplies and Jeff's books/supplies for class. Thank goodness there is a big closet in this room!

The changing table storage is also all set up. The cloth diapers are washed and stored in the bookshelf, while the disposable diapers are organized in the cabinet. Yes, they're in labeled bins. Do you expect anything else? We plan on using disposables until the baby's belly button heals and they get big enough to fit in the cloth diapers well (about 10lbs.)

The fun stuff is kept in a neat storage unit I found at Michael's a few months ago. Originally, the colored bins (where the diapers are) came with it, but I liked the look of the baskets better (plus, we had tons left over from our wedding!) The baby's books and stuffed animals are in the top part and the baskets are holding rattles, toys, teethers, burp cloths, bibs, and other fun stuff.

Once I had the nursery organized, I realized there was a bunch of stuff that needed to go in the bathroom too. Thankfully, I found this simple shelf at Target and it fit everything perfectly. Now, all of baby's towels, washcloths, and extra bath supplies are organized and within reach. As a side note, I love baby bath stuff - duckies are so cute!!

Its a no brainer, but this kid's stuff is taking over our apartment and they're not even here yet! I can only imagine what it will be like after they're born. Joking aside, I love seeing everything come together - its a gentle reminder that yes, indeed, our lives are going to change pretty drastically soon. Its exciting and overwhelming at the same time. One minute, you can look around and ooze confidence about your parenting skills and amazing preparedness and the next, be on the verge of freak out that nothing is ready and you have no idea what the heck you're doing. Hopefully, we can trick ourselves into feeling prepared enough because regardless of how we feel, in t-minus 45 days (or so), its game time! :-)

My To Do List is Beginning to Scare Me

If you didn't know this about me, I'm a to do list type of person. I've got a to do list for just about everything in my life and find great satisfaction in checking things off as I do them. Why, then, does my baby to to list scare the crap out of me?! Its not that I'm afraid of running out of time, I just can't believe what I have left to do:

• Stock up on baby medicine
• Install car seat
• Get car seat inspected
• Pack hospital bags
• Finalize maternity paperwork with HR
• Put together a "to call" list for the big day

Is that really it? Just the last minute big stuff?! I'm going to chalk it up to being super prepared ahead of time and NOT to the fact that this kid is coming sometime in the next 7 weeks and there really isn't much left to do. Don't get me wrong, we're SUPER excited for him/her to get here already, but you can't help but be overwhelmed at the idea of becoming a parent. I'm not even going to try to imagine how our lives will change; I'm just going to continue to be excited (and a little scared!) and enjoy every moment of it. :-)

Forty-eight days to go!

DIY Fever!

Once again, my list of things I'd like to make for the baby has gotten super long and somehow I'm convinced I have a lot more time than I actually do. *looks at countdown ticker* Yup, time is flying by! The good news is that I've had the motivation/energy to make a few things lately. As any crafty person knows, however, its not about finishing the list - its about crossing things off faster than you can think up new projects!

Yesterday, the Joann Fabric's stars finally aligned and the item I wanted wasn't on some piddly 20% off sale and I had a 50% coupon I could actually use on it. Woo hoo! Have you ever noticed that? The more coupons that are out there for Michael's or Joann's, the more things are on sale rendering the coupons useless? Anyway, I was able to buy a "Nurture Nest" (aka a Boppy pillow, which sells for about $30) for $10 with my coupon. What's the difference between a Nurture Nest and a Boppy? Beats the heck outta  me. My faux Boppy also comes with a pattern to make covers, which is awesome since Boppy brand covers can run about $10-$15 each depending on how fancy they are. With snuggle flannel on sale for 60% off, I went to town! Here's the first (of several) pillow covers that I made.

 

Robots are gender neutral, right? Well, either way, I think its really freaking cute. I've also got fabric to make a cover that matches the crib bedding and a few other fun, soft patterns for my little angel to throw up and poop on. 

Up next on my list? Some more pillow covers, a growth chart, some taggy toys (if you're wondering what a taggy toy is, look here), Christmas stockings for Jeff, the baby, and me, burp cloths, and some outfits. Lets see how much I can get done in the next 7 weeks!

Oh Sleep...You Elusive Devil, You.

Now, I'm not complaining. I've had a (knock on wood) boring pregnancy thus far. My hope is that information like this enlightens others to the wonders of pregnancy that no one tells you about! Anyway, when I first got pregnant, I heard about "pregnancy insomnia." I have found out recently, however, that this is not true insomnia at all. Insomnia would insinuate that I would be laying in bed staring at the ceiling, wide awake. What I'm experiencing is quite different. As Jeff calls it, its the vicious cycle of sleep distractions. *Dun dun dun*

Either I have to go to the bathroom, need to stretch/readjust something, have heartburn, need to eat/drink something, or am getting kicked in the *insert vital organ here*. The problem isn't having to get up and address one of these things. The problem is that once one of these things happens (at 2:30, 4:30, and a half an hour before my alarm clock goes off), others are bound to follow! For instance, if I have heartburn and need to get up to get some Tums, I'll inevitably have to go to the bathroom. Then, I'll get back in bed, but now that I'm awake, my stomach starts growling, so, I get a snack. Eating usually wakes up the baby quite a bit, so now I'm getting kicked (which I love to feel, just not necessarily when I'm trying to sleep) and I end up tossing and turning for a half hour. This, my friends, cannot be described as insomnia! Then I'd at least be laying in bed instead of running around the apartment! :-P

And please don't tell me that this is just training for the baby. There is no amount of "training" you can go through that will get you adequately prepared to run on zero sleep! All this does is make me miss caffeine. Ooooh, sweet, sweet caffeine. 

In other news, for the first time in the 26 years I've been around, I've become a wicked snorer. Who knew!? Jeff was so nice about it, saying that it wasn't too loud and didn't bother him. That was until he started losing sleep because of it. Apparently, the second I fall asleep, the chainsaw starts. Oops! So, along with Zantac, Tums, prenatal vitamins, and DHA supplements, Breathe Right nose strips have become part of my daily routine. If you've ever wondered - they work GREAT!

This whole "miracle of life" thing is pretty darn neat...

Yesterday was a pretty big day in baby land - we hit 31 weeks with our very healthy little one, dropped off our pre-registration papers at the Birthing Center, and coolest of all...Jeff could hear the baby's heartbeat right through my stomach!

I had read somewhere that as you near 40 weeks, it becomes easier to hear the baby's heartbeat with the naked ear, but we hadn't had any luck yet. Last night while we were laying in bed, I knew how he/she was laying (shoving their butt into my ribs and their head into my hip - thank you very much) so I told Jeff to listen "riiiiight here" and pointed to a spot near my side. He pressed his ear up to my stomach and after a second said he actually could hear their quick little heartbeat! Even while resting, my heartbeat is pretty darn fast, but the baby's is much faster (between 140-150 bpm), so its obvious which one is which. He listened for a minute or two and then looked at me with a face that could only be read as, "that's so awesome!"

These past 31 weeks have been full of neat developments as the baby grows, but for so many of them I'm the only one who can experience them. It would be pretty hard for me to press my ear up to my own stomach, so this one is all his to experience. How cool is that?

Cat in the Crib Follow Up

Thank you to everyone who gave me suggestions on how to keep Jodie out of the crib! We decided to start with the aluminum foil idea (we have a ridiculous amount of it left over from a prank I pulled on my boss last year, but that's another story) and it seems to be working! There are definitely little paw indents in the foil, but no sleeping kitty! Hopefully, she'll figure it out and go sleep in her own darn bed.

Christmas Outfit

One of the many fun parts about having a December baby is picking out a teeny tiny Christmas outfit for them. One of the bad parts of not knowing the sex of your impending child, however, is not knowing what the heck to buy/make! I've been looking at sewing patters for the past few weeks to find a pattern in which I liked both the girl outfit and the boy outfit, but wasn't having much luck. Truthfully, most of the girl outfits were adorable, but the boy outfits were slightly heinous. Well, I finally found one!! Oh, Simplicity - you've done me right once again.

So freaking cute! In this pattern, I almost like the boy's outfit better than the girl's! Look at that tiny little vest! Love it. Anyway, now to just get over to Joann Fabrics during their $1.00 pattern sale and pick it up. Then comes the tricky part. Will I be able to make a Christmas outfit for a newborn while taking care of said newborn all before Christmas comes?! Only time (and my sanity) will tell.

Caught You!

Ever since we set up the crib a few months ago, we have kept an eye on the cat to see if she could get in there. We never found any of her long gray hair on the light green sheets, so we knew she couldn't. She's not a very good jumper (it took her until she was 3 for her to be able to jump up on the counters), so we weren't very worried.

Well, guess what...

Sneaky, sneaky. Look at that guilty face. We caught her snoozing in the comfy crib twice already today and can't figure out how the heck she's getting in there. We'll have to spy on her to figure out how she's doing it because (must to Devin's disappointment) we don't want to have to put one of these things on the crib...

The best I can figure, she'll avoid that room at all costs once there is a screaming, flailing, smelly little person in there. Hopefully, baby cage won't be necessary.

30 Weeks Down, 10 to Go!

Last night I realized that I hadn't taken any "bump" pictures as of late and I wondered how much bigger I really could have gotten. Well, you be the judge.

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The picture on the left is at 24 weeks and the one on the right is from yesterday at 30 weeks, 1 day.

I'll give you a hint. Yes, my shirt is now too short to fully cover my bump. Haha And if you're curious (because I was), at my belly button my circumference is 43". Yes, at this point, I feel large enough to consider it a circumference. Ask me in another few weeks - I may just call it an equator.

Aside from a little bit of heartburn and a few sleepless nights, things have been going really well and my doctor is pleased with the baby's growth and my blood pressure/weight. Woo hoo! The little one has been kicking up a storm - to the point where you can clearly see him/her bumping around in there. No creepy footprints protruding from my skin just yet, but when I'm sitting in a meeting or standing in line at the store people kind of stare at my dancing bump. I don't care - I love feeling him/her move!

Baby Shower

Finally, an update! The good news is that a lot has been happening and we've been pretty busy. The bad news is that its mostly been work related. Boooo. Oh well, it happens.

Back to good news! A few weeks ago, we had our baby shower and it was wonderful! The weather was beautiful, the food was delicious, and the company was absolutely fantastic - what else could a gal ask for? It had really been too long since we'd seen everyone. Seriously - when did we all grow up and get so darn busy? Anyway, our little one got fantastic gifts and beautiful diaper cakes!

Jeff really liked being involved in the whole opening presents thing. Hehe

Big thank yous go to Grandma Paula for helping us pick out decorations and helping pay for everything, Grandpa Doug for making all the food, and to Aunt Christina and Uncle Mike (and of course Landon) for helping us shop and clean up on Friday night and Saturday morning. Christina picked out our cute cake and Mike carved the awesome fruit salad baby carriage!

Not sure when Jeff and I will get out of town again, so it was nice to get away for a bit. Every time I go back, it makes me realize how much I miss living in Pennsylvania. Who knows, we could end up back north!