Drop It...

I did not realize that this day would come so soon...but just yesterday I put Abby in her crib while I opened a few window around the house only to come back into the room to see her with both hand on the crib side and her butt in the air! Scary! So when Michael got home today we dropped her crib to the lowest setting. I guess I was living in my own little world in thinking (or not thinking I guess) that her crib wouldn't have to be lowered until her first b-day or so...First time motherhood is funny like that!

Abby Moves Out

I am a procrastinator at heart, I know this and now you do too. There are MANY things I have been putting off these last 3 months--buying new pants because I know that I will lose more weight (have to start working on that one...), buying new shoes because I know my feet will shrink back to my old size (keeping my fingers crossed on this still), getting the Jeep looked at and oil changed because I am afraid to hear what they have to say about the beast with 133,000+ miles (come on Jeep, two more years)--but what I have been procrastinating the most on was moving Abby into her own room.

You see, it's so nice to have her there at the foot of the bed in her bassinet: When she wakes to feed I don't have to go down the hall, when she poops and wakes herself all I have to do is crawl to the end of the bed and put in her pacifier, when I haven't heard a peep out of her in 9 hours I don't have to go into another room to make sure she is ok. She is always right there--it is so nice to have her so close all the time. I really didn't want rush putting her into her own room And besides I want to have her room done before she moves in...

Well, at almost 3 months Abby has grown so much that there is barely enough room for her in the basket, which kinda makes the move necessary at this point. So, I have spent the last two days getting rid of all of my excuses for not having her in there yet: finishing and hanging the curtain, putting away all of the clothes and gifts she received and moving all the stuff from our room to hers. Most of the excuses I have used to delay the inevitable are gone and Abby spent her first night in her own room last night.

I wasn't sure how her first night in new surroundings would go--after all this new room does not look or smell like Mommy's and Daddy's room--so I had to do a little planning. For the past two weeks we had been spending time in her room each day; I got her ready for the day there, had her in the room while I cleaned and organized, and laid her in her crib while awake as often as possible.

All in all, I think her first night went pretty well. I figured the transition would be a little more work than the average night due to her new surroundings, but in the end we managed to escape any major drama! She went down with ease, but woke 5 or 6 times within the first 2 hours. I got to thinking that she might need a little more Mommy around so I put the little 8x8 blanket down as a sheet under her head so that my sent was there to comfort her. I think it worked! After putting this down she did not wake until 1 am. Not bad... She woke again at 3:30 for her pacifier, at 4 and 6 for a feeding. At 8 a.m. she was a happy camper.

Tonight went much better: Down at 7 and have not heard a peep from her since! Good work Abby! Your are a big girl now with her very own room!!

What a Difference a Day Makes

Well, by Friday evening I was feeling pretty good! No, I'm not 100% yet, but my sore throat is gone, most of my coughing has subsided and my stuffy/runny nose is to a manageable level. I am so thankful that this summer cold did not stick around for long!

On another note, I started the cutting the curtain last night and hope to get at least 1/2 (if not all) of the sewing done today. I am on a mission to get the nursery "done" in the next two weeks. By done I mean curtain sewn and hung, random items put away, dimmer switch installed and maybe the bumper cover sewn. We'll see if I can get it all done in time without killing myself!

I have been out and about this week searching for some misc. items such as baskets for the living room, something to wear in the hospital (that looks good enough for visitors to see me in, has easy access for nursing, doesn't cost too much and is something I won't get attached to in case it gets ruined) and decorations for the nursery. I would like to say "Thank you" to Michael's for the basket (FINALLY), Marshall's for the CHEAP night gown and robe, and Target for the new knobs for the dresser. MJ and I had talked about getting something different b/c he did not care for the ones that came with the dresser, but I had little hope of finding something we liked that did not cost $7 each. Here is what I found for $4.99 each:

Love them!

Round Out the Week

Well, here we are at the end of 35 weeks...less than a month to go!!!!!! Take a peek and enjoy the update :)

How far along: 35 weeks, 6 days

Sleep: Back to 8 :)

Best moment this week: Finishing the crib skirt!!

Movement: Slowing down a bit, but she has been kicking the top part of my belly!

Food cravings: Chocolate pudding

Labor Signs: Nothing new :) I plan on keeping it this way for 4 more weeks. Keep your fingers crossed too!

Belly Button in or out: Still in

What I am looking forward to: Holding Peanut for the first time!

What I miss: My shoe collection…hope it still fits when all is said and done.

Weekly Wisdom: To all you non-pregnant and newly pregnant women: lay on your belly as much as possible now because right about 30 weeks you WILL miss it even if you never lay on your belly. Promise!

Random Belly Touches: I must be giving off the don’t touch vibe, two weeks in a row touch free.

Shout outs to new followers: Hello Dana, thanks for checking us out. Enjoy!

Baby Brain Moment of the Week: It is getting hard to pronounce words correctly. It seems like I am putting the wrong letter first or smushing two together all the time.

One Down, Two to Go!

I just finished the crib skirt!!!! That make one nursery item done and two more to go: the curtains and the bumper (but the mattress is too high right now for the bumper, so I could cheat and not finish the bumper until we lower it a notch...really, I plan to finish it before Peanut gets here). Well, I'm off to start on the curtains, wish me luck!

Round Out the Week

Yes I realize it is Monday and that I am 2 days into week 35, but I promised a ROtW every week. So here is the ROtW for week 34, I promise that I took the pic. yesterday:

How far along: 34 weeks, 6 days

Stretch marks: this is no longer a topic of discussion…

Sleep: Down to a 7.

Best moment this week: Laundry! Yes, laundry. I started washing the baby clothes and put them away in our redesigned closet and new dresser. Pics to come…

Movement: She loved/hated (not sure which) fireworks on Saturday night!
Food cravings: S’mores!!! Oh wait, I always crave those this time of year!

Labor Signs: Nothing new J I plan on keeping it this way for 5 more weeks. Keep your fingers crossed too!

Belly Button in or out: Still in

What I am looking forward to: Getting all the thank you notes done! Still working on those too!

What I miss: Eating big meals

Weekly Wisdom: none
Random Belly Touches: Touch free week!!!!!!!!!

Shout outs to new followers: Welcome Emily, hope you enjoy your visits!!

Baby Brain Moment of the Week: not sure…

Round Out the Week

Happy Sunday! I know this is late AGAIN!! But at least I posted it this week. I hope to post a ROtW EVERY WEEK FROM NOW UNTIL PEANUT ARRIVES!! That is about 6 or so more ROtW posts...wish me luck!



Well here is the pic and the Q&A:



How far along: 33 weeks, 6 days



Stretch marks: 3 more small ones on the bottom of my belly :(

Sleep: Still an 8, though rolling over is getting harder and harder…I think I wake MJ up every time. Sorry buddy!


Best moment this week: It is a tie between our last shower and putting together the crib with Michael! I will post more on these events later this week…Promise!

Movement: It is fun to watch Peanut move during meetings and late at night. MJ thinks it is a little freaky!

Food cravings: Not really any “I-have-to-have-_____-or-I-will-kill cravings” yet.

Labor Signs: Just some Braxton Hicks contractions during our 2 mile walk…hummm, wonder why….

Belly Button in or out: Still in

What I am looking forward to: Getting the dresser up stairs and starting to put things away. We hope to have it in the room on Friday!

What I miss: Being “skinny”. It has been a while since I considered myself “skinny” but now I even miss the “not-so-skinny-but-not-huge-and-preggers-Keliann”. I get REALLY jealous when I see a cute girl in short and a tank top…

Weekly Wisdom: Babies that are carried in a sling for just a few hours a day sleep better at night!!! It is totally worth a try!


Random Belly Touches: The cleaning lady at work!! I have to get out of there earlier on Wednesday nights!

Shout outs to new followers: No new official “followers” but I hear Peanut’s Aunt Stacey checks the blog regularly! Hello Stacey!

Baby Brain Moment of the Week: I can’t remember…

Slowly but surely...

The nursery is starting to come together! MJ has been painting and I finally started sewing. Here are a few pics to hold you over til we get it finished....

First, I had to tape:

Then MJ put 2 coats of light green and 3 coats of dark green of Sherwin-Williams environmentlly friendly Durations paint, but don't let this picture fool you...MJ hated every minute of it:

Which turned out like this:

Next, I pulled the tape, sanded the edges of the greens and taped the stripe:

Filled it with pink:

And then we have the almost-final product:

I taped the trim and MJ painted that too (bless his heart!) and now we are waiting for his boss to come touch up the pink stripe and the painting will be all done!!! We are hoping to put the crib together sometime this week (or perhaps next weekend....) then move the dresser in and start putting way all of the "stuff". We're almost there!!

Happy Mother's Day...

to Me!!! My "first" mother's day weekend was great! It started Friday with a delivery from the UPS man. My dad sent me a the cutest t-shirt with this on the belly:

So fun! I will post a pic. with me in the shirt later (I hate getting my picture taken...). Later that afternoon the mail came and there was a card from Peanut! She is so thoughtful and knew just what I needed: a haircut!! Sad to say, but I have not been to Stephanie in over 5 MONTHS!! Yes, months not weeks! So Saturday morning off to the salon I went!

Mommy's Day continued this morning with MJ getting up to feed the cats at 8 a.m. when they started calling at the door for breakfast...so nice to sleep in a little. He came back to bed about a half hour later with a present for me! Michael got me a shirt, a pink zip-up hoodie and some maternity undies. It is amazing how the little things can make you feel like a new person! Comfy clothes are the BEST right now...and I am only going to get bigger :) Next we went to out for a yummy breakfast then came home and got ready for our day. First we went to pick up paint (add taping and painting the baby's room to our to do list) then to the mall to grab a few items. Then it was on to the Johnson's for a little cook-out. The boys took care of everything and actually made a great dinner. I got a nice potted plant for the front porch and a couple of Mommy-to-be cards. So very thoughtful of everyone.

Now I am home, in my jammies, typing away and dreading another work week (it is a long one with night meetings Monday-Thursday....YUCK). What a wonderful Mother's Day! I hope yours was just as special and enjoyable.

On that note, I just want to say a little "Thank You" to all of the women in my life who have ever supported, encouraged, and loved me. Especially you Mom! I love you!

Decisions Have Been Made

Yes, we decided on Nursery fabric!! It has been purchased and washed so there is no turning back now! I know that I am crazy for wanting to sew my own stuff, but we could not find anything in the stores that we liked. I figured that it can't be so bad...I only have to make the crib skirt, bumper and widow treatment (I am thinking roman shade at this point, but we will see where that leads). So, with a little planning and a little work each week I think I can get it all done before Peanut gets here. It will also help that MJ's classes are starting this week. He will have 2 night classes (time to sew) and home work (more time to sew) to do, so I SHOULD be able to get it all done...wish me luck!

Here is a sample of the fabric:

We also picked up the previously mentioned rocking chair (here and here) on Craig's List a few weeks ago--thank heaven for deals! Needless to say, I had to give a little when it came to the rocker. As usually, I knew EXACTLY what I wanted: An upholstered chair with a square back and arms that ROCKS--not a glider. Let me tell you that they DO NOT EXIST. I found the chair I loved and wanted, but only if it could be made into a rocker. So, hopeful Keliann e-mailed the maker and asked if they could put the rocker base that they make for another chair on the chair that I wanted, scratch that--NEEDED, and got a big, fat "NO" for an answer.

Now, I know that some of you are thinking that I am weird for wanting a true rocker over a glider--I get that. BUT, there is such a different feel between the two that I am willing to do the extra work in order to ROCK and not glide. Call me crazy...

So that left us with a close second: the Dream Rocker from Pottery Barn Kids. It is nice, I can't complain (but I really wanted the other chair to rock...). Like I said, we got a real deal on it by buying it second hand (which also makes it a "green" purchase) from the nicest couple in Holly--The Millers. They purchased the chair during their last pregnancy, which turned out to be a set of twins!! She laughed and said that she never got to use it much since they already had 2 girls and then added 2 more instead of just one. I would like to add them to our "new friends" list now that I think of it, but anyway...back to the chair. It came with a denim slip cover, which will not work in the above color scheme, so we have been exploring our options. Actually, I've got a funny story about that....

Lunch with Grandpa Bill

T.G.I.T. Yup, Thursday--I don't have to work tomorrow :) (but I do have to work on Saturday) That is the only reason I am posting at 11 p.m. (Yes, I took a short nap on the couch while MJ watched Lost. I will have to catch that later).

I went to lunch with my dad today, so fun! Grandpa Bill got me a book--What to Expect the First Year! I was so excited to get it (I just put it on my registry on Tuesday), I even started to read it today....along with the 4 others I am currently reading. I am happy to report that ONE of them is NOT a baby book but a Nicholas Sparks book. I figured it was o.k. to do a little "reading for pleasure" since MOST of what I've read the past 6 months is for "knowledge".

We have a busy day planned for my day off...we are headed to Ann Arbor tomorrow to get our rocking chair re-upholstered, hope to stop by Ikea, hit some maternity re-sale shops (my wardrobe options are getting rather low), check out 2 daycares and get working on the nursery bedding. More on that later, I am off to bed. Enjoy your Friday working!!!

Yikes!

Michael and I started the hunt for baby furniture in January and it proved to be as difficult as agreeing on our own bedroom furniture. We have come to realize that when it comes to decorating, each of us has to give a little...well more than a little. It always seems like what I like, MJ does not. The same is true for what MJ likes, I usually say "yuck" with a crinkled nose. So, since the beginning of our search we have heard the word "no" a lot.

One day in early March we were out and about doing a little shopping and MJ suggested we hit A Baby's Room in Sterling Heights. I agreed to look, though I did not have much hope for finding something we could agree on. Now mind you, at this point we had perused the obvious and not so obvious: Babies "R" Us, Buy Buy Baby, Art Van, JC Penny's, Burlington Coat Factory, Target, (Walmart-online only--I swear!!) and either could not find anything we could agree on or no options at all (boo to Penny's and Art Van for not having ANY to look at).

So, in we went. Much to our surprise we both like, I mean really liked, the second one we saw there! What, you like this?!? I like it too!!! The longer we looked the more we liked it. Yes, both of us were giving a little on what our "perfect" crib and furniture would be--MJ did not LOVE the front of the long dresser and I was hoping for white, but hey other than that we AGREED!!! That in itself is sometimes something to celebrate! Now, those of you who know me, and I mean KNOW me, realize that I can't just buy something...I have to shop around before I commit. Hey, this is a long term investment. I will have to look at this set for the next 20 years or so, so I have to be absolutely sure I like it AND know that I got the best price. Besides, at this point I realized that I wasn't able to say much about the wonderful customer service at this store, so on to Direct Buy we went (Yes, I am a member and Yes, you do save money).

Lucky us, Direct buy carried the manufacture so we were able to compare prices. Once again, Direct Buy was the cheaper route :) but resistant Keliann kicked in again. What if the dresser is too long? What if we get it in and I don't like it? What if we find something we like better once we order it? I made MJ wait before processing the order. Home we went and out came the tape measure. I don't say this too often but, Michael was right. The dresser would fit and we really did not have many other shopping options to explore--if any. So, Saturday, March 7th Michael and I ordered baby furniture! Unfortunately, the shipping time was 6-8 weeks. Well, we will have time to decide on bedding and paint before it gets here, I thought.

Boy was I wrong! MJ picked up the furniture this week!! Yes, its here! We have BABY FURNITURE!!! Crap, time is flying by...from order to my house in 6 weeks, and that was with it sitting in the warehouse for almost 2 weeks!!! And no, I have not committed to bedding yet. That is actually another post of its own! Well, here is link to what what we picked: Bonavita

We went with the dark cherry (room 1) not the black. The crib converts into a toddler bed and a full size bed (yes I made MJ order the nightstand too, though he did not understand why at first. Hey, what do you expect a teenager to put his/her alarm clock on??), the long dresser in the back (without the hutch top) and the tall dresser (right side of the picture). We will have to put the nightstand and tall dresser in the office/spare bedroom for now, but we will have the full set when the time comes. We are SO excited that the nursery is coming together, we have a rocking chair too (that is also another story to be told) and have the bedding narrowed down to two options (though they both require my sewing abilities...we will see how that goes). MJ tells me we HAVE to decide this weekend so he can get to painting before his school and work schedule gets too crazy--but I don't see the rush since the furniture is gassing off in the garage for now...but wish me luck on this decision!!