2 Days Until Christmas!

I had a rough night last night.  It’s actually been a rough couple weeks.  I go to the midwife today for my 34 week appointment.  I cannot believe that my due date is only 6 weeks away!  I have developed carpal tunnel, heartburn, and general soreness.  The baby likes to play in my ribs, and I get up around four times a night.  I am ready for this baby to come!  In terms of discomfort I know that I don’t really have it that bad.  I know it could be worse.  And all together I am really enjoying being pregnant.  I’m just so excited to see our baby!  I am pretty worn out and while I am thankful to not have the stress of traveling for the holidays, I kinda wish we were.  This is going to be our first Christmas without seeing our families.  They have sent gifts for us to put under our little Christmas tree, but it’s not the same.  And knowing they’re all together makes me sad

because I just want to be part of that party.  I’m really going to focus on relaxing and enjoying the holidays with Adam.  We are pretty busy these next couple nights with responsibilities at church, and the house is a wreck and needs to be cleaned but after that, I just want to rest.  I am going to take the rest of the year off from blogging.  Just so I can focus on spending time with my husband and friends in the area.  I will start writing again in January for the home stretch!  I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!

Family Traditions

Every family has some sort of tradition during the holidays.  Even if your tradition is to not have traditions, that’s a tradition.  Depending on which side of the family we are with determines what our Christmas will look like.  Thinking about the holidays and our families I wonder what our family traditions will be.  Will we open gifts on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day?  Will we have a certain menu for Christmas that we have every year?  Will we have a tree decorating tradition?  As I think about all the traditions that are out there it makes me excited to think about what I want to do with our children.  My sister and I always take a picture in front of the tree, which is fun to look back on. 

 Another one of my favorite traditions was to make and decorate cookies with my mom and sister.  One of Adam’s favorite traditions is on Christmas Eve he would exchange gifts with his other brothers.  I remember one year we made a birthday cake for Jesus on Christmas.  I think traditions are good, but also adding in new traditions can also be fun.  This will be Adam and I’s last Christmas “just the two of us.”  And since our families are so far and I am so pregnant, we will be staying home and celebrating in our own home.  Maybe we’ll even imagine what our future Christmases will look like.

What is your favorite Christmas tradition?

Blessed

I am so incredibly blessed.  This pregnancy has taught me to wait patiently for God because he has a plan and he is taking care of us.  I had been having a lot of stress and anxiety about all the things that the baby was going to need right away.  Whenever I saw a sale on something we needed, I wanted to run right out and get it so I could be sure we got a good deal on it, even though it was something on our registry and I hadn't had a shower yet.

Adam one day just looked at me and said, you are not allowed to buy anything for the baby until after the shower.  Good advice, but stressful for me.  What if we didn't get something we really needed and then there were no good deals on it and we had to pay an arm and a leg for it.  I should have just taken a deep breath and waited on God.  He had a plan to provide and I just didn't see it.

In the last few weeks, gifts from family and friends started showing up at our door, and then last weekend one of my best friends threw me an amazing shower.  (You can see photos from the shower here on her blog).  It was an amazing event and I was so incredibly blessed by all the ladies who came from church and gave me such generous gifts.  I was overwhelmed by their love, affection, and advice.  God provided a loving and giving church family to shower me with gifts and support.  I am so blessed that we moved here to be a part of the CrossWay family.  It has been such a blessing already and God is providing a loving family for us to be a part of right here in Nashua.  How amazing!

After the shower, I got in super planning mode.  God provided someone who had a crib, almost brand new, that they were giving away!  He also provided a cheap changing table on craigslist.  I was just in awe as I saw God take care of everything.  We were able to get lots of things the baby would need with the gift cards that we were given and we only have one thing to purchase.  We are so blessed.  Sometimes it is hard to wait on God, but when you do, he will show you his amazing provisions.

Advent should be another season of sitting and waiting.  Adam and I have been doing an advent devotional (by Ann Voskamp) and these ideas of advent really stood out to me.

•  Advent comes from the Latin which means "coming".  Throughout the month of advent we are waiting for God to come. 
• An infinite God becomes infant.
• The Giver becomes the Gift.
• Wait for the coming of the God in the manger who makes Himself bread for us near starved.

We should be actively waiting for God to show up during advent.  Oftentimes my waiting becomes saturated in the gifts and the flash of Christmas.  But Christ coming to Earth was a simple, beautiful gift. 

During this month I have been thinking a lot about Christmas and how to focus on the gift that it is.  I'm taking a deep breath, and I am waiting to see what God is going to do.  I am being intentional in waiting for the baby in the manger.  And I know that in my waiting I will see God show up in amazing ways and with beautiful blessings.

Here is a link to a song that has been on my mind during this season.  I hope you enjoy it.

DIY Alphabet Wall

If you do a Google or Pinterest search for a nursery alphabet wall, you will find so many cute ideas.

In my search for ways to decorate the nursery, I stumbled across this and was inspired.  I just loved all the cute ideas for an alphabet wall.  I did not realize however, until a few days ago, how expensive it would be to do.

The problem is not finding the wooden letters.  Many craft stores sell a variety of unfinished wooden letters in various fonts that are perfect for this, but they're just so expensive.  Going into it I thought I could just buy an alphabet pack of letters and go from there.  It was nearly impossible to find anything like that.  Almost everywhere I looked, in stores, and online, made you buy the letters individually.  Then, depending on the size you wanted for each letter, they could range from $1.50 to $5 each.  That shocked me.  I never thought they would be so expensive! 

After realizing I would not be able to do the project as I originally had intended I decided to try and figure out a different way to achieve the same outcome.  So here for you, is my DIY version of an alphabet wall.  And all I spent was $4.

Supplies
Cardboard
Scissors
Sharpie
Pencil
Paper
Crayons
Paint
Paint brushes

Luckily I have been getting lots of baby goodies so I had tons of cardboard boxes piled up.  The first thing that I did was cut up 26 cardboard squares.  I chose to make mine different sizes, but you could just as easily make them all the same size.

 

Next, I brainstormed what I wanted my letters to look like.  You can make just plain letters in various fonts, but I decided it would be fun to make the letters look like something that started with that letter (for example: A for Alligator).

 

Next, I sketched the letters out on the cardboard in pencil, and then outlined in sharpie. 

 

Then I painted all of the letters.  This was time consuming and space consuming because I did it one color at a time.  I didn't worry too much about staying inside the lines because after the painting was finished, I went back over the letters with a sharpie getting all the edges and details to stand out.

The last, and hardest part of the project was cutting the letters out.  Especially if there were a lot of little details to cut out.  These Octopus legs were a challenge.  Luckily, my wonderful husband offered to help.  So I cut out the big chunks with scissors and he did the more challenging parts with an exacto knife.  We finally got it finished, even though by the end our hands were very sore.  Then, I got to have the joy of hanging them on the wall and seeing the finished product.  I just used 3M to hang them. 

 

 

Things I Need to Remember

This is a list of things that I am learning about being pregnant that I need to remember for the remainder of my pregnancy.

1. I'm pregnant.  I can't do things the way that my non-pregnant 24 year old self would do things.

2. I am slower than I want to realize.  Yesterday I decided to run errands in the afternoon before picking up Adam.  I went 6 places and it took me three and a half hours.  Non-pregnant 24 year old me could have done it in 2.  But now I'm slower and have to find the bathrooms more frequently.

3. I need to go to the bathroom when a bathroom is available, not when I have to go.  It can be hard to find a bathroom when you are running errands.

4. I can't sit on the ground crafting all evening.  Well, I can, but the next day I will feel it (like today).

5. I can't trust my brain.  I need to write things down.

6. I can't be the sleeper I once was.  I used to never have any trouble sleeping unless something was wrong.  Now when I lay down, I never know what I am going to get, except for multiple trips to the bathroom.

7. I can't bend and lift as I once did.  I need to ask for help.

8. I can take a deep breath and not get everything done.

9. I can just sit and enjoy the baby moving.

10. I can cherish these days because there aren't many left.

11. I can eat whatever I want.

12. I can wait excitedly for a little baby to arrive.

Sleepless night for new reasons

I've talked about sleepless nights before, but now I have new things plaguing me that are keeping me from sleeping.  Fatigue has come back at me full force, but now I cannot get a good night's sleep.  And this time, it's not because I'm uncomfortable.

I had been sleeping great ever since getting that awesome pillow, but now, even though I am comfortable I cannot sleep! I'm so tired and yet I wake up every few hours in the night to roll over, go to the bathroom, rub my hands (because of carpal tunnel), or just lay there wide awake.  Is my body just preparing me for sleepless nights?

I'm always so tired when I wake up.  The only time I can get some good sleep is with the return of my afternoon nap.  I think I'm going to have to start scheduling 2 naps a day into my routine just to try and get me back to a good amount of sleep.

Do you have any tricks for sleeping at night during these last few weeks?

Christmas is Coming

 

Today is the first Sunday of advent.  I had posted a few days ago that being pregnant is making me think and evaluate everything.  We had a great sermon today at church and it really convicted me and Christmas has already been on my mind.

 

In his sermon, Ron talked about the things that we have allowed to steal our joy this Christmas.  The first thing being overcrowded calendars and the second stuff.  I was really convicted by the stuff part.  I have slowly but surely let stuff wiggle in and steal my joy in Christmas. 

 

One of Adam and mine's favorite things to do at Christmastime is buy gifts for our family members.  We like to plan and find the perfect gift for each person.  This year we are really watching our money and we will not be able to buy Christmas gifts this year.  I have found myself really saddened by this.  I love showing people I love them by giving them gifts.  And I have found myself wondering: how do I celebrate Christmas this year without being able to give gifts?

 

But that's not the point!! I have been having my Christmas joy in stuff and I  hate that and I don't know how it happened.  So that had led to some good conversations between Adam and I about celebrating Christmas and also how we will celebrate Christmas with our child.

 

One thing that really stood out to me from the sermon was this quote from Ron: "Christmas has become the time of the year when we tell our children that it is ok to covet."

 

Woah.  That gave me a lot to think about.  I definitely don't have the answers, but now my eyes have been opened to the questions I should be asking.

 

What have you done during the holidays to direct the joy to Jesus and not to gifts?

The Quest for Comfortable

Daily I am on a mission to achieve "comfortable".  When I am sitting, standing, sleeping, really doing anything it is so much better for me if I am comfortable, but I am finding that right now that is easier said than done.  There are several things that hinder my ability to become comfortable.

1-Back pain
2-I don't bend as well as I used to
3-I'm hot...no cold...no hot
4-Leg cramps
5-Carpal tunnel in my hands
6-Not enough pillows
7-Too many pillows
8-The baby is laying funny

Now you can see my problem.  On top of that, once I achieve a few seconds of a comfortable position I undoubtedly need to:


1-Go to the bathroom
2-Get something to eat
3-Get something to drink
4-The baby moves and pinches something

And then I start the whole shifting and situating fun all over again. 

If I find a few minutes of total comfort every day than I am a happy camper, however long it takes me to get there.

Giving Thanks

When Thanksgiving rolls around and I'm  thinking about what I'm thankful for, I'm usually thinking: I should have been doing this all year long.  And it's true.  Of the 365 days in a year I'm not sure that one is enough for everything I'm thankful for.  My goal for the next 364 days is to daily remind myself of all that I am thankful for, because I am greatly blessed!

Today I am thankful for:
An awesome church family where God is active and moving.
My amazing husband.
This baby growing in my belly.
Family
New friends and old friends who are sources of great love and encouragement.
A warm place to call home.
A fridge full of food.
A car that can get us place to place.

Those are just a few of the many blessings on my mind today.  I hope you all enjoy your Thanksgiving and time with family and friends.

Happy Thanksgiving!

A Different Kind of Pregnancy Brain

It's kind of amazing how an impending baby can make you think about everything.  It makes me look at my days and think about how they will change.  It makes me think about money in a different way.  It makes you think about holidays and traditions (or lack of).  Having a baby is going to change our lives. Radically. And not even in a bad way, but in very good, exciting ways, but it is exciting and even scary to think about.  It makes you question everything, at all hours. 

The last post I wrote was all about how I've been questioning my time.  The next few posts I write will focus on a few other things in my life that having a baby is causing me to reflect on.

What were the biggest things that changed when you had your first child?

Time is Valuable

I've been thinking a lot about my time: where it goes, how I spend it, and what that means.  I've read several books about being work, household, and leisure balance.  Right now I am busy but now every hour of every day and I realized that I have a lot of leisure time right now.  I put housework on the back burner and I just spend my days the way I want to.  But does that make me happy?  Am I productive?

I have been pondering a lot of things in this inner dialogue with myself.  I spend a majority of my time focused on screens.  I work on a screen, but most of my leisure is also taken up by a screen.  Am I happy about that?  What does that say about my priorities?  And this is the new question on my mind:  Is that how I want to train my child to be also?

No.  And that is really not even what I want for myself.  You know what has happened to me?  I've gotten lazy.  When I think about my priorities and what I want to show is important to me, I do not want screens to be a priority.  I want God, my family, and time with other people to be my priorities, along with work.  Is my time showing these things?  Absolutely not.  And that has really been haunting me.

I don't want my child to associate time with me with a screen.  I need to disconnect.  This is something I need to continue to think and pray about, but let's just say for now that I am very convicted by the fact that I watched the whole series of Gilmore Girls this last month.  I've read over 200 books this year and watched over 200 movies.  But what does that matter?  How much have I read my Bible?  How comfortable has my home been?  Have I created any new relationships?  Have I grown myself in any way?  I'm not sure.

My time has been showing that I am selfish.  Is that how I want my child to view me?  Children learn by seeing.  What will my children see when they look at me?

An honest look

I've heard a lot of critiques of blogs and social media for the reason that people can show their best, most put together self, on their posts.  Pictures are usually the best, edited photos when you're having a good hair day and look your best.  If you show your house, it's usually right after you clean it.  The articles I've read say that this just leads to a skewed view of yourself and other people.  Well, I want you to know that you don't get that here.  I am a flawed person, and today I'm going to give you an honest glimpse into my unclean house. 

 

One thing that I am very sensitive about is how my house looks.  Except you would not know that because I hate housework.  The only time I seriously clean the house and get it to look "perfect" is when people are coming over.  I have always hated housework.  And now, being pregnant and losing my energy, I am extra not motivated to keep the house clean, and Adam hates it.  I don't usually care to be in a messy house.  It doesn't bother me.  I can still think and function fine, as long as I'm not expecting anyone to see it this way.  So today I'm going to clue you in and let you see the status of my home.  We haven't had people over for weeks and I have had no energy, so this is usually as bad as it gets. 

 

 

 

So there you have it, an honest look at my un-perfect home.

 

But what about my honest self?
I recently had someone at church tell me that I look like I'm having the best time with pregnancy.  I'm always smiling, I'm always happy.  And to tell you the truth it really has been great and I have been really enjoying it, until this trimester.  I am now plagued with aches and pains and uncomfortable sleeping and getting colds that I can't take medicine for.  So when he told me that last night I said, well to be honest, this is actually how I feel.  I am a grin and bear it person, generally, but I will be honest about what is bothering me.  Here is an honest look at me today:

 

Yeah, some days it's just not pretty, and I am very ready to admit that.  But it is still an adventure that I am happy and grateful to be on.  I'm not perfect, and I hope you know that reading this blog.  If you didn't before then hopefully you know now.

Energy? What energy?

I had heard that once you're in the third trimester your energy goes back down, but I never expected it to go so fast.  Maybe it's combined with the fact that I have been fighting off a cold, but my energy has been zapped.

I had no energy in the first trimester.  All I did was sleep, eat, and get sick. Then in the second trimester I had a huge surge of energy.  It was great.  Now, in the third trimester I am just plain worn out.  My body hurts, I'm tired, I don't sleep well, but all I want to do is sleep.

So far this trimester I lay around trying to sleep but I'm so uncomfortable that I can't and so I just get more and more tired and nothing gets done.  And I've heard that this won't go away until the baby's born, so it will be a long 11 weeks.

I’m Officially Ready to Give Birth (yeah right)!

On Saturday Adam and I attended a Childbirth class at the hospital that we are going through.  It was a pretty long day, but it was very informative and we learned a lot.

 

We learned all about the stages of labor, we got to watch several videos of births (much to Adam’s enjoyment), learned breathing techniques, and comfort measures.  We even got a certification for going.  So that means that we’re all set for the labor pains, right?

Probably not.  Everything we heard this weekend was all about how we cannot really be prepared for labor and we shouldn’t have a plan.  Well if you know me, you know I’m a planner, so not planning how my labor will go is hard, but really I’ll know nothing until it happens, so we’ll just have to see.

Let me just say that I’ve decided that I don’t want to use any pain medications, the goal will be to go totally natural.  And while I was watching the video of the births I just kept thinking that I hope I’m not as wimpy and whiny as the women in the video.  I know that sounds awful, but it is true!

We’ll just see how it goes.  It should be interesting.  Good thing I have a couple months before I have to experience that!

Aches and Pains and Cramps, Oh my!

This trio has been the story so far this trimester.  My days, and nights, are now filled with back pain, shoulder pain, leg aches, and calf cramps.  At the end of every day I feel like I have run a marathon, my legs are so sore!  I guess it’s because I weigh more than I ever had in my entire life, my center of gravity is different, and it is very hard to get comfortable.

I have a daily challenge of trying to make myself comfortable so that I don’t feel the aches and pains.  I get relief by using a combination of ice, heat, pillows, and a tennis ball.  Adam and I learned that one of the best things to use to massage back pain is a tennis ball, and it really works.

I’m guessing that there will be many more aches, pains, and cramps in my future.  I just have to grin and bear it.  Do you have any tips for leg cramps, because those are the worst!

10 Things I Learned During the 2nd Trimester

Today I enter the third, and final, trimester of my pregnancy.  Woah.  Here are ten things that I learned during my second trimester.  (And if you need a refresher, here is the link to the 10 things I learned in the first trimester).

1. Stock up on Snacks

During the second trimester I was hungry all the time.  My appetite was and still is huge.  What do I do about this?  Eat every time I’m hungry of course.  So, I kept snacks around like apples, pretzels, brownies, and I also didn’t plan the weekly menu to contain a lot of leftovers because I also started eating at least two servings at dinner.

2. Buy an Awesome Pregnancy Pillow

I wasn’t able to sleep this trimester.  I was looking for anything that I could get to sleep better, which for me was this awesome pillow.  To read more about my favorite one, click here.

3. Use energy when you have it

I had a lot more energy this trimester, so I made use of it when I could.  I tried to keep the house clean, Adam and I worked on the nursery, and I got several projects done.  Use the energy now because I have heard that it won’t last very long into the third trimester.

4. Use your free time to read

I found it very valuable to read during this trimester.  I read a few books about babies and I found this was a good trimester to do that because I can start learning now when it won’t be too overwhelming.

5. Drink more water

This is something that I always have to remind myself about.  Much like the first trimester, if you think you are drinking enough, you’re probably not.

6. Always know where the bathroom is

Unlike the first trimester when I needed to know where the bathroom was for a fit of nausea that could strike at any time, during the second trimester I needed to know where the bathroom was at all times because my bladder is smaller and keeps getting kicked.

7. Strangers will start to notice and ask questions, so try to be patient

People started to notice my belly this trimester, and they ask a lot of questions.  Whenever I go into the grocery store I have to stock up on patience to answer the same question the whole time I’m walking around the store.  Just take a deep breath and try to enjoy it.

8. Get some clothes that fit

None of my pre-pregnancy clothes fit anymore.  Which is exciting, and yet stressful.  I bought things that were on sale and never spent very much on any individual item.

9. Cherish the days and the time

I learned to spend all my extra time with Adam if he was home.  I decided to stock up on quality time now when I have it, because who knows how much time we will have in a couple months.  Another thing I learned is how valuable time by myself was.  Just to sit and feel the baby moving is an amazing feeling.

10. Don’t worry about the scale

I put on quite a bit of weight during the second trimester.  I just had to remind myself that it’s good weight, for the baby, and it won’t be around forever.  I did not stress about how much or how little my weight was changing.  I just trusted the doctor to tell me if something changed.

I learned a lot during the second trimester and I’m glad it’s now the third.  I am on the last leg of this pregnancy.  We’ll see what I learn in these months before my child arrives!

Waiting

In the words of Inigo Montoya: "I hate waiting."
Waiting has never been a strength of mine, let's go even further to say that I'm not patient--at all-- I never have been.

Nine months is a long time to wait for something.  Besides a baby, is there anything else you've ever successfully waited nine months for.  The only example that I can think of is this:  you're a child and your birthday is in March.  You've just had your birthday and you love all your new toys, but then you see this one toy that you forgot about but you have to have it, and you're out of birthday money.  Your parents says this to you: "put it on your Christmas list."  Ugh! But that's nine months away!  And most likely you will forget about the toy because who wants to wait nine months for something?

The only other thing I had to wait a long time for was for my wedding day.  I had to wait a year from engaged to married.  I can't tell you how many times I said, "I just wish we could be married already!"

So, "I wish this baby were here already!"  I've made it through six months.  Only three months left.  My patience will be tested.  I wish I could speed up the process, but it is probably not the same.

I know that I'll need lots of patience when I have a child, so I should look at this as practice, right?

Phew, I'm sure that these nine months will be more than worth it, but I just hate waiting!!

A Suggestion for what to do this Weekend

It’s the weekend!  You know what my favorite thing to do on the weekends is?  Watch movies.  Actually this is my favorite thing to do every day, but especially the weekends.  And even more on cold weekends when I can curly up on the couch with a blanket and hot chocolate, and my hubby if he’s willing.  In honor of the movie night I hope to have this weekend, here’s my list of recommendations of movies to watch while you’re pregnant.  Let me know what you think of the list!  Hopefully you will find something that interests you for a movie night of your own.

10 Movies to Watch when Pregnant (in no particular order)

Father of the Bride 2

George Banks finds himself with his daughter pregnant and his wife!  How the whole family deals with these challenges and excitement is hilarious and will make you, and your spouse, laugh, and maybe even your baby too!

What to Expect when you’re Expecting

Such a fun movie about pregnancy.  It has ups and downs, but it’s all about families and new life.

The Backup Plan

Zoe is ready to have a baby, but she doesn’t have a man.  So she decides to have a baby on her own.  Once she becomes pregnant, she meets the man.  This is a funny movie where nothing goes as planned. 

Babies (documentary)

An adorable look at babies from all over the world!  When I watched it I could not get the smile off of my face.

Raising Helen

This movie is not about pregnancy or babies, and the beginning is a little sad, but it’s all about parenting: the good and bad of it.

Baby’s Day Out

Just a cute baby wandering around New York City, what’s not to love?

Knocked Up

This is the only rated R movie on my list, but it’s on here because, if you can find it on TV it is hilarious.  Boy meets girl, girl gets pregnant, and they try to figure out how to become parents.

Baby Mama

Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, need I say more?  This movie is about a woman who does not have a man but wants a baby, so she gets a surrogate to carry her baby.  They live together, and find out that they have different ideas on how this pregnancy will be carried out.

Juno

Teenager gets pregnant and has difficult decisions to make.

The Princess Bride

Nothing about pregnancy, parenting, or anything.  This is just a good movie and I will use any excuse to watch it.

 

As I made this list I also thought of some movies that you should definitely not watch when pregnant.

Kill Bill

Pregnant bride loses her baby, and then she seeks revenge.

The Changeling

A mother is sure that her kid was kidnapped, but no one will believe her.

John Q

Child needs a heart transplant the family can’t afford.

Rosemary’s Baby

Just don’t.

Taken

Daughter is kidnapped.

I hope you found a movie that interested you.  What movie do you think should have been on this list?

Maternity Clothes

 This morning I put on something that I have worn many times.  A simple tank top and pullover.  And this is what I noticed:

It's a little drafty (haha).  This is becoming the reality for all of my pre-pregnancy clothes.  All of my t-shirts have become belly shirts.  Wearing my previous pants?  You've got to be kidding.  I wore a pair last week to work in and I can't even get by with the hair-tie trick anymore.  It's official.  I'm all maternity all the time. 

I found this awesome website for maternity clothes.  It is called Pink Blush Maternity.  Check it out here.  Their stuff is super cute and very reasonably priced, especially the stuff on sale.  You also get free exchanges and returns, which makes online shopping so much easier.  I recently bought a couple shirts from them that I just love.

 I love the color of this shirt.  Also, on the sleeves and the back there are these cute little polka dots.

 This purple shirt is so cozy, warm and comfortable, and not to mention cute!

 

I really like this long tunic.  It is so cute with jeans and boots!  I got all of these shirts on sale and I am totally happy with my purchase.

After purchasing these three shirts, I now have 10 maternity shirts and 2 pairs of pants.  I'm not sure that's going to cut it now that I can't wear any of my pre-pregnancy clothes anymore (at least not in public).  So I'm going to be checking out consignment shops, Burlington, and other cheap places to stock up for the winter.

Here is a dress I ordered from Pink Blush.  I really love it, but I haven't worn it yet because Adam doesn't think it looks good because it's so close to my skin color.  So, fashionista friends, what accessories can I add to this dress to make it look better and separate it more from my skin?

 

I'd appreciate any advice you can give me because I really want to wear this dress!!

Peaceful Saturday Mornings

I love Saturday mornings.  Everything seems so peaceful and calm.  There's no screeching alarm clock, no pressing things on my mind.  Saturday mornings are my time to read blogs, books, my Bible and feel every precious movement that the baby makes.  That's probably my favorite.  I just lay in bed with my hands on my belly and enjoy.  This morning as I was enjoying what seemed to be tap dancing in my belly, I realized what a change our Saturday mornings will soon experience.  And while I could lament the loss of my lazy, peaceful Saturdays, I am looking forward to hearing those early morning cries, seeing those feet kick, and spending time with the baby in my arms.  I will cherish these peaceful Saturdays and look forward with excitement to the unpeaceful Saturdays in my future.
Happy Saturday!

Time Flies

I am now double digits away from my due date!  I remember when I was waiting for my wedding day, when it finally got down below 100 the days just flew off the calendar.  Adam and I are so excited and can’t wait for the baby to arrive.  As it gets closer and closer it starts to feel more and more real.  Sometimes it still catches us off guard and we’ll say to each other, “Can you believe there’s a baby in there?” or “Can you believe that we’ll have a baby?”  It still seems surreal, but the days are passing by quickly and we are so excited!  We are so lucky to be so busy and that the holidays are coming up so that we have many benchmarks to make the days pass by even quicker.  Here’s a glimpse at what’s to come.

We have 97 days until my due date.

In 1 day it will be November.

In 28 days it will be Thanksgiving.

In 55 days it will be Christmas!

In 62 days it will be 2015!

And in 93 days it will be February!

I know that these next few months are going to fly by and that’s great because I cannot wait to meet this little baby, but there is still plenty to do.  I’m going to do my best to cherish these last months of pregnancy and prepare for our first child.  There’s so much to do! And plenty of days left to do it in.

Watching the Scale

When I first found out I was pregnant everything I read said to track your weight gain.  I knew the general amount of weight that I was supposed to be putting on each trimester and not seeing the dial increase was stressing me out.

Before becoming pregnant I weighed 130 pounds.  After the first trimester I weighed about 123 pounds.  Yes, I was just that sick.  My midwife said that it would be good to see me put on a little weight, but not to stress about it, and most importantly to just stay healthy.  She told me to just keep eating healthy and don’t worry about the weight.  She also said, like we’ve all heard already, every pregnancy is different and she has had some people not gain any weight and be perfectly healthy and she’s seen some people gain way too much, so it’s just something to be aware of but not stress about.  Health is the goal more than anything.

As of today, the first day of week 26, I weigh 138 pounds.  I eat when I’m hungry, and until I’m full.  I drink tons of water, and I try to stay healthy, and I feel great.  Not worrying about the weight has been freeing.  And I know that as these last few months pass I’ll get even bigger and heavier, but I’m not stressed about it.  Just do what feels right to your body and if something needs to change your doctor or midwife will tell you, until then, don’t stress!

Perfect Pregnancy Pillow

This pillow saved me, well my sanity that is.  Before this pillow, I could not sleep through the night.  I would toss and turn all night and constantly be adjusting the mountain of pillows on the bed that just wouldn’t lay right.  I would get the pillow under my knees adjusted, then the pillow under my neck would be out of wack, then I would fix that and the pillow under my belly would shift.  And not to mention the constant struggle against the back pain!  Well, I am here to tell you that this pillow changed all that.  I am not getting paid in any way to write these things, the pillow just blew me away that much.  I didn’t even buy it.  One of my recently pregnant friends had given me hers that she had hardly used.  Once I slept on this pillow my pregnancy changed.  I’m not even kidding or being overly dramatic.  My back pain eased up, I could sleep through the night (aside from the bathroom breaks) and I only had one pillow to deal with.  And a happy husband because this pillow “corralled” me on my side of the bed.

Here is a link to the Snoogle pillow on Amazon so you can see what I’m talking about.  And here is a photo of me enjoying my Snoogle pillow.  I rest the top part under my neck and the bottom between my knees and the straight part provides really good back support and keeps me from rolling onto my back.

 

And husbands love it too.  I went into the bedroom the other day and found Adam enjoying my pillow, and also demonstrating the other way to use it.  If you need more belly support you can put the straight side in front of you.  This way is also very comfortable.

And then this position has helped me get comfortable when I read in bed.  It provides good back support and stability.   All I do is fold it on top of itself.  It's so easy!

 

All in all this pillow has been amazing, and I highly recommend it!

What my days look like now

I know that I set myself up for failure last week when I told you about all the awesome stuff I was going to be writing about last week.  Obviously only one of those posts happened because I found myself sick and with absolutely no energy to do anything but sleep and watch Gilmore Girls.  But thankfully I am feeling much better now after a great weekend spending time with lots of people.

Adam and I have been very busy lately.  And we are going to stay busy.  These next few months we have something every weekend, which I am so excited about because that means the weeks until baby will go quicker.

I have a lot more energy now and have found that I do not need my afternoon nap so much anymore unless I really didn't sleep well.  This week my center of gravity changed.  It's hard to get up off the couch, it's hard to tie my shoes, and it's just hard to bend in general.

Adam and I have set into a pretty comfortable routine with our weekdays and I'm finally able to keep up with some of the housework regularly.  But I know that this is all about to end, or so I've heard, as I go into the third trimester.  I can't believe that I only have 3 more months until the baby is born!  What an adventure!

Best Book I've Read so Far!

Heading Home with your Newborn: From Birth to Reality—by Laura Jana and Jennifer Shu

I just finished this book last night and it is the best parenting book that I have read so far.  This book was written by two pediatricians and they take you through everything you need to know about your baby.  I learned so much!  As soon as I was finished I put it in Adam’s hands.  The topics that this book covers include:

-Feeding

-Sleeping

-Crying

-A “What goes in must come out” chapter

-Bathing

-Fevers

And so much more!!

I highly recommend this book to anyone who is pregnant or has recently had a baby.  It was so helpful and encouraging.  Check it out!

Halfway through 24 weeks

It’s been a few days since I’ve blogged, and actually it is not because I haven’t been feeling well.  I have actually been super busy and have had tons of energy!  It has been amazing—yay for the second trimester!

Adam and I keep thinking about how quickly the rest of our pre-baby time will go.  In about one month it will be Thanksgiving, then a month from then it will be Christmas, and then a month from then it will be pretty darn close to baby time!

We just registered for our child birthing classes, there is a baby shower date on the calendar, and my belly continues to grow.

A funny thing happened to me last night—the baby kicked so hard that it actually scared me and took my breath away!  It’s pretty amazing what God can do!

I have some exciting posts coming up this week for you to watch out for:
--An awesome pregnancy sleep aid

--An awesome pregnancy book
--An awesome maternity store

Yes, many awesome things are coming this week and I’m so excited to tell you about them!

Nursery Status

For the last week I have been working really hard in the nursery.  Adam and I have been going through things and getting rid of some, combining storage, and de-cluttering the nursery.  I showed  you a picture last week of the current status of the nursery and I thought I would show you an update of our progress.  We are really happy with it and never thought it would get to be this spacious. 

There's not a lot in it, but we are happy with the progress so far.

Another Nursery DIY Project

Adam and I knew that we needed another dresser or bookshelf for the nursery, but we didn't want to buy one.  So, here is how I repurposed a piece of furniture for the nursery for only $10.

This is our old entertainment center

 

We have been keeping it in the nursery and storing some things in it, but I thought it would make a good bookshelf or toy chest for the babies things.  So the first thing I did was paint it all one color.  You can't tell very well in the picture, but it is a soft green.

 

Then I sketched out some painting that I wanted to do on it, keeping with the forest thing and I painted it using acrylic paints.  This is the finished product.  I am really happy with it.  I also covered the glass much like I did with my plastic storage DIY.

 

And here it is in it's place in the nursery

 

Later today check out the pictures of our nursery progress!