nursery projects

-nursing cover - check!

(tutorial)

-car seat canopy - check!

(tutorial)

 -closet dividers - check!

(inspiration) 

-painting for nursery (back in the day i used to paint - i think i still can!)

-make mobile - in progress 

-finish quilt (yikes)

-hang pictures

-wash and sort clothes

-organize white plastic drawers that will hold diapering stuff

-mount monitor 

-lots of other things that i'm sure i'll come up with 

31 weeks!

again, a few days late! i have no excuse! 

what’s new with baby: our sweet baby girl is now over 16 inches long and weighs about 3.3 pounds! she can turn her head from side to side and her arms, legs, and body are plumping up with needed fat! 

what’s new with mom: i've been doing pretty good! still tired and achey a lot, but i did have a couple much needed bursts of energy this week! on tuesday i woke up and went to work organizing the nursery closet and the office/guest bedroom. the office went from anxiety-attack-i-can-barely-walk-in-here to oh-look-someone-could-actually-stay-in-here within hours! i love organization! i even listed a few things on amazon and made over $120 this week! the baby stuff is now centrally located in the baby's room (crazy, i know! but it had been first in the dining room and then in the office when we painted) and pretty organized, pending another shower before final preparations and decisions are made. this week i also made a nursing cover for myself! 

wardrobe: no change here! 

cravings: hmm... a little bit of everything? my newest interest is definitely amy's indian samosa wrap. YUM. i've been wanting indian food for a while but we haven't been eating out much, so this fits the bill perfectly! seriously, if anyone knows how i can get these for less than a a couple bucks a piece, please let me know! 

anything hard? nothing new here - restful sleep! i'm also getting to the point of feeling like i really don't want to bend over and i'd prefer help getting up off the couch! (i'm fine to do it myself, but if josh is near by i might ask just for fun!) and i've been bumping my stomach into things more and more. since when did the kitchen counter stick out that far!? :)

best moment(s) of the week: josh and i had a much needed date night saturday night which was definitely fun! of course over dinner i told him how i'm on mental overdrive with all this baby stuff - constantly reading and trying to consume information and makings lists and even dreaming about stuff like changing pad covers - i'm so romantic! but it was fun and we ended the night with dessert and shopping for board books for olivia at a local used book store, and then we went back home and read them to each other for practice! (you should seriously ask josh to hear his rendition of Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear! it's quite the performance!) 

30 weeks!

just 9 weeks to go! woah!

what’s new with baby: well our active baby girl is now over 15 and 1/2 inches long and weighs almost 3 pounds! at the doctor on monday everything was right on track and she had a heartbeat of 140 bpm! olivia is getting really good at expressing her opinions already - she is quick to let me know if i'm hungry or sitting in a way that doesn't suit her. 

what’s new with mom: i've continued to be tired and achy, to the point that i want a nap every day! i have so much i want to do so i'm just trying to get a little accomplished each day and not push myself too hard. i've also continued to be extremely hungry, even though i fill up much faster! lastly, i feel like the pregnancy brain has really set in. i'm so thankful for the calendar and notes on my iphone to help me keep track of everything - and i'm not even working! this week i even called my mom to help me think of a word! (the joy of writing thank you notes while pregnant!) 

wardrobe: not much change here! i'm hoping to not spend too much more on clothes at this point and just work with what i've got! luckily i've been getting some of briana's maternity clothes now. :) bra purchasing is definitely in my future though!

cravings: i've gotten to the point of getting a little tired of being so hungry! our budget is tight so i'm not going out, and i'm so tired of the same food at the house every day! i still want more milk and bananas lately (which is great since i got a killer charlie horse a couple weeks ago!) but i'm still bored with my food selection. i've been wanting thai and indian food - the things i don't feel as confident cooking! 

anything hard? definitely the tiredness and back aches are my biggest complaints here. i hate having the desire to do a ton of things but none of the motivation and energy needed. but alas, that's okay! 

best moment(s) of the week: this week was busy but good! it was great to know that everything is going well at the doctor's on monday. josh and i started a new book on marriage with our small group on tuesday, and dave ramsey's financial peace university class on wednesday. both of these require a descent amount of homework, but i'm loving how close me and josh are these days! we're so excited for olivia to come and i feel like we are really on the same page about so many things. i'm so thankful to have such a great husband and i know he's going to be an amazing dad! during the 30th week we also made some progress on the nursery - getting the furniture back in, hanging the curtain rod and black out curtains, and decorating the book shelf (because i just like to do that!). now that the paint smell is pretty much cleared out i'm excited to get more stuff in there and start organizing and decorating! 

pregnancy through the ages

just for fun, i started asking my grandma about what her pregnancies were like back when i was first expecting. she was so excited to share and tell me how the best feeling in the world is when you first feel a kick (back before i felt any of olivia's jabs!). she also talked about how prenatal care was totally different, no one knew what they were having, and you didn't breastfeed because that wasn't "in" then. these conversations lead to her sending me some pics from when her and my mom were pregnant!

my grandma 8 months and 2 weeks pregnant with my mom in November, 1958...

and here she is pregnant with my uncle dave, with my papa holding my mom all dressed up and precious! 

 and again pregnant with my uncle brian! such a foxy lady! 

 fast forward... here's my mom pregnant with me! she was tiny and i was ginormous (9 pounds, 1 ounce) so i'm sure she was quite miserable! 

with my precious sister! 

check out that hairstyle! gotta love the 80s! 

this is the day before i was born - march 3rd, 1985! i would be sitting too! 

it's amazing how pregnancy care and trends change over the years! regardless of what was "in" then or now, i'm proud to be part of an awesome line of women blessed with this amazing adventure of growing a baby! it really is like having a front-row seat as god performs this amazing miracle in front of your face inside of you! i wouldn't trade it for the world! 

29 weeks!

it's so hard to believe that i'm writing this 30 weeks pregnant! where has time gone!? 10 more weeks!!! but i guess i'm getting ahead of myself here...

what’s new with baby: well olivia is now about 2 and 1/2 pounds and over 15 inches long! her muscles and lungs are continuing to develop, and her head is growing to make room for her developing brain! 

what’s new with mom: mom is doing good but definitely feeling bigger and more tired! i may have even fallen asleep pretty close to midnight on the 31st. luckily my friends woke me up in time for a sparkling cider toast! my back is continuing to ache quite a bit, but that is unfortunately quite normal these days. 

wardrobe: nothing new here. maternity clothes whenever i need to look descent for sure. i did wear josh's pajama pants for our new years eve pajama party! (we're so wild. and i fell asleep. awesome.) 

cravings: not really. usually if i want something i'll just get it. like the other day i wanted biscuitville so josh and i went there. it was yummy. that may not be a good thing. :) 

anything hard? i feel like lots of little things are getting more difficult. little things that you don't think about unless you're pregnant. like bending over. or getting up. good times. 

best moment(s) of the week: this week i feel like olivia has started doing somersaults in my uterus! it is so neat to see my stomach dancing and bouncing around! i love it that she is so active, even when she jabs me because she doesn't like the way i'm sitting. other than that this week involved a lot of organizing and work on the nursery. we still have a long way to go, but we wrapped up the 29th week with getting the nursery painted! and we were able to get some great finds at a consignment store. i'm so excited to see everything come together. 

the aftermath from the showers...

check out all those clothes! milo had to check everything out! 

lots of goodies! 

she already has more shoes than i do! 

more goodies!

 and some progress... 

an assembled crib and paint going up!

finished paint :)

cute bookshelf for toys and books 

end table and lamp for next to the rocking chair! 

i can't wait to get back in there once the paint smell clears out! 

welcome to 2013, olivia! we can't wait to meet you! 

baby showers part 2

the second shower was with josh's family in the afternoon. josh's sister hosted and his mom did the food. it had a lovely tea party theme. 

how precious is this? 

 me and mom ready for round 2! 

why does my face look ginormous? 

some pics of family...

and lots more present opening...

my sister-in-law marci made the cutest "about to pop" popcorn favors!

precious! it was another great shower for sure! 

baby showers part 1

would i recommend your average pregnant girl have two showers in one day? probably not. i was overwhelmed and exhausted when it was all said and done. but i also felt totally thankful and blessed by the generosity of friends and family! and when you live 8 hours from home, you do what works! 

the morning of the showers we woke up to this! 

the first shower was for my side of the family and it took place in a local church's fellowship hall. the great thing about this shower that was my sister was there! well, as there as she could be via skype! it was definitely different but super awesome to do a joint shower with one person on the other side of the world! my morning, her evening. you get the picture. 

of course my mom, aunt, grandma, and cousins did an awesome job on the decorations and food! 

here's a bad picture of me helping krystal greet everyone! 

the grandmas (or great grandmas!) took turns opening krystal's presents. 

and krystal watched everything via skype! 

here's the quilt i made for baby b! i hadn't posted about it because i wanted it to be a surprise. i hope my niece or nephew loves it! 

lots of friends and family in attendance! 

here's a fun pic of me, krystal, mom, and our grandmas! 

the flash and smudgy computer screen is kinda a bummer. 

thanks for driving down in the snow, shannon! 

belly shot with my sister! 

in addition to lots of clothes, our pack and play, and our stroller, my mom gave me the crib skirt and pillow she made for the nursery! i'm so excited to start getting the nursery all together and set up! but that's definitely another post! :) overall it was definitely an awesome morning!

catching up: weeks 27 & 28!

so it turns out being on vacation, not having internet, and traveling on the days you take your belly pics, makes it really difficult to blog and take the usual weekly profile pics. we'll just have to do without them. it was a great time celebrating with family, visiting friends, and relaxing back at home. not to mention that i got to see beautiful snow, which was completely void from my life last winter! here are just a few pics from the past couple weeks!

a couple days before we headed home we had our 3-d ultrasound! it was awesome! of course some of the pics are blurry - but she is in my uterus! josh and i think she's the cutest baby ever! 

we spent our anniversary in the car for 8+ hours, but we did go out to eat the night before to a yummy restaurant here in NC! 

celebrating our 6th anniversary!

our first day home we got to see some friends from columbus at josh's parents' restaurant near cincinnati! 

visiting with mindy & connor - thanks for driving down to see us! 

later in the week i met up with some of my college roommates for our annual post-christmas roommate brunch! 

so fun!  

my friend jeana's baby elliott will be about 1 year older than olivia exactly! he was born march 23rd, and olivia is due right around that time! it is so crazy to know that i will have such a fun and active baby by next christmas! he is a cutie! 

i also had my first and second baby shower! these were both amazing and we were so blessed by the generosity of friends and family! a separate post is on its way to document the festivities! 

anyway...

what’s new with baby: well, by week 28 olivia is about 2 and 1/4 pounds and almost 15 inches long! olivia is blinking her eyes (that have lashes!) and she can sense light that filters in. olivia is also sleeping and waking at regular times. i've thought she was more of a day person and i still do, but i'm less certain. i definitely feel her moving around when i roll over during the night, but i figure she probably just has to readjust how she's sleeping too! 

what’s new with mom: mom is definitely feeling olivia up higher these days! i've had my first (and many subsequent) kicks in the ribs in the past couple weeks. it was such a surprise the first time because i had never felt her kick so high! i was sitting leaning over a bit and she did not like that! and since then she's become quite good and letting me know when she needs more room. i've gotten to the point of feeling more out of breath with her being so high too! fun fun! 

wardrobe: maternity clothes all the way! well, technically i'm still wearing some of my t-shirts and my own pj pants - but if i need to go outdoors and look decent i definitely go maternity! surprisingly i'm still wearing the same jacket regularly, but i'm thinking it won't zip too much longer! 

cravings: hmm... i can't really think of anything particular. food in general makes me happy! i have noticed that i've started getting fuller much more easily as olivia takes up more room in there! i'm still quite hungry though! 

anything hard? sleeping has continued to be a challenge. i slept quite terribly while away. my back just aches every time i reposition and i feel like my back somehow detaches from my body while i sleep  and goes to do a triathlon before returning to my body in the morning! it is that sore! i know that's completely ridiculous, of course. and, not surprisingly, i've been really tired! 

best moment(s) of the week: despite the tiredness i obviously had a great couple weeks! what could be better - 3-d ultrasound, anniversary, christmas, baby showers, and lots of time to visit with family and friends! i am one blessed girl for sure!