Baby Centered

I haven't posted lately, but our free time/ weekends have been pretty baby centered lately. The past three weekends we spent doing a lot of baby stuff, painting his room, sanding his dressers, putting together his crib and birth class.

Yes, that's right, we went to a three week birth class offered by the midwives at my doctor's office. It wasn't anything fancy but it was comforting for me and I think let Willie have a better understanding about birth. Most women don't attend birth classes any more or maybe just what is offered by the hospital. I wanted more than that though. It was very relaxed, but gave us some tips on coping with labor other than with medication. It also let us get to know the midwives better. Since my doctor works in a group practice she isn't always on call so we have decided that if she isn't available we will have the two midwives as our backup. (Don't worry they are fully trained in both nursing and midwifery and we will still deliver at the hospital.) For me it's nice to know and feel comfortable with the person delivering my baby. It makes me really excited to think about what is to come! The best part of our last class was during a relaxive breathing exercise the baby was going crazy moving around. I think he liked it, maybe he was trying to say "Yes Mom, I feel comfortable when you do this". It was a little hard to concentrate on my breath and keep my eyes closed, but I love to feel him move. When we were done the midwife told me she had been watching and could see my belly going crazy. IT'S SOOOO COOL!

After class each week we've been trying to tackle all our baby room projects. I'll post pictures when everything is done. But I'm happy so far. We have awesome lime walls, with beachy cabana stripes. A freshly painted aqua twin bed. A beautiful white crib that makes me think it washed into the room with it's waved sides. The dressers have taken a bit more time than expected but I'm hoping to start painting today and get them knocked out this week. Other to-dos on the list include some surfer and turtle wall art (Nate- if your reading how about some photos!), homemade baby quilt and crib skirt, recliner cover and a lamp project! I'm sure there's more, but we are getting close. Which is good because we are almost down to the single digits on weeks left! So with that I better go get some breakfast and get to sanding and priming!

Week 27

Week 26

Week 25

Aqua and Lime

Ever since Baby B was this little person we hoped and prayed about, I have dreamed of a lime and aqua nursery. Regardless of gender, lime and aqua seemed perfect. For a girl we could throw in a little pink or coral, but now that's not really an issue. Lime and aqua remind me of the coast, which is definitely appealing. :) Awhile back I found the perfect fabric for a baby blanket. Little sea turtle flannel in, you guessed it, limes and aquas! So aqua, lime and turtles it is, with maybe a few surfers thrown in for good beach vibe measure.

Here's the room in all it's current glory awesomeness blahness.

The chair and dresser are staying, with some refinishing. We will have a twin bed in the room, but the daybed frame is getting replaced by an old iron bed I'm spray painting aqua. Here are the color schemes and turtle fabric.

The lighter lime will go on all four walls. The darker lime will be big 12 inch stripes on one wall. The sea salt (grayed white) and aqua frost are for the dressers. Aqua on the drawers, sea salt everywhere else. The clean white is just in case. Here are better shots of the dressers. They were my mom's and then sisters and now they are getting a make over. Unfortunately some of the knobs are missing so even though I love them, they will have to go. :(

The chalkboard (the one in our announcing Baby B video) is staying in the room along with all the fun baby stuff on the long dresser. Notice this little cutie on the dresser?

What kid doesn't need to start out life with Mini Winnie! And finally here's a pic of our crib. We're just waiting to go pick it up from Walmart! As long as it's sturdy it will be staying. I love how it's reminds me of waves. And it's solid wood and has non-toxic paint. Win, win, win!

So that is the game plan for the room. I also have dreams of creating a sea turtle painting and mobile and framing some awesome Aussie surfer photos my bro is going to take for me! This weekend we will hopefully start tackling sanding and painting the dressers and maybe getting the room painted. I'll take and post pics when things get finished so you can see all the loveliness.

24 Weeks

Baby Love

Meet Baby B. These sonogram photos were taken on August 24. Baby B weighed roughly the same as a can of pop and we found out we are having a little boy! It was cool to see him moving around. It was also good to see his healthy spine and his little heart beating away! :)

23 Weeks

Storage and Sutures

We have a random collection of toys, books and puzzles at our house for our niece and any other kids who come over. We used to have them in a tub and box in what is now turning into the babies room, but I wanted to move them to make room for all things baby. So while visiting my sister in Houston we took a long visit to Ikea and I picked up a handy storage unit. If you've never been to Ikea it is pretty overwhelming, but has some neat stuff. Most furniture comes in boxes and you have to take it home and put it together. Last weekend we tackled our new shelf. It was really easy, especially once we found a rubber mallet. Now our random set of toys and new shelf have a new home in our basement. They actually fit pretty great under all my mom's old vacation pennants.

WARNING: SLIGHTLY GROSS PHOTOS AHEAD!!!!

And now for the stitches. Lola had cruciate surgery on August 19. The doctor went in and used heavy duty string to basically join her two leg bones back together from where her doggie ACL was torn. They closed her leg back with a series of staples and stitches. A few days after she came home one of her staples came out but she seemed to still be healing well. We took her in every other day for a laser treatment to help the wound heal. 10 days after she came home the doctor decided the stitches and staples could come out. The next morning, however, her wound split back open. So back to the vet she went. They only put two "tack stitches" back in her leg so it was pretty nasty and still gapping open. We did some hydrotherapy (running the cold garden hose over the wound) and just made her continue to take it easy. She hasn't been able to run, play, take the stairs or show Jake who's boss. It is looking much better and she is definitely feeling better. Anyways, we're hoping we don't have to go through all that mess again. Though Lola is such a great dog and well worth it.

Lo's wound.....

22 Weeks

Sorry I missed 21 weeks, whoops.

20 Weeks

We had our 20 week sonogram on Tuesday. It is so awesome and amazing to see the baby. It was so wonderful to see that the baby looked healthy. One of the coolest things was finding out that we're having a little BOY! I didn't have a chance to scan the photos, but they are so awesome. I just keep looking at them. Needless to say, I'm in love!

18 & 19

The Sea

You probably can't read the quote above very well but it says, "For whatever we lose (like a you or a me), it's always ourselves we find in the sea." (E.E. Cummings) The beach has always been my one of my favorite places to visit and that quote expresses how I feel. My mom and I are currently visiting my sister in Texas and today we visited the beach. Galveston is not the most glamorous beach, but compared to our state it is wonderful. We spent the afternoon reading on the beach. Tiff and Adam bought Baby B a onesie that reads "Future Beach Bum" and that is so true as I hope our child will love the ocean and beach as much as we do.

Dog Days of Summer

Jake and Lola both turned four this summer. Jake in June and Lola in July. If you've been to our house you've probably seen them thought we usually put them "up" when company comes over. They really, really love people. Like Jake really likes to practice his slobbery kissing skills. And while if they aren't in the backyard or our bedroom you might get knocked over, they are lovers till the end. And very loyal. That is why I feel so bad for this gal....

Lola tore the doggie equivalent of her back left ACL. Booo. To be honest it happened a while ago. She never whimpers just doesn't walk on it and hobbles around with only three legs. Usually she can stretch it out and then walks on it. But a few days ago she wouldn't use it at all. So after debating all night I took her to the vet. A shot of sedative and thirty minutes later and it looks like Lola gets to have surgery. A lot of people would probably say too bad, she can suffer on three legs. We love Lola too much to not help her out. She really is a great dog she just seems to attract medical issues (she had colitis when she was just a pup). Now it's time to choose between our vet and K-State. And besides this guy needs someone to hang out with....

When we got Jake and Lola, Willie wanted a boy and a girl so we could breed them. After taking care of Lola's litter-mates, I persuaded him that I wanted no part of breeding. So Jake and Lola got the big fix. I think we have both been very happy with the decision. Lola's brothers and sisters were hard to sell and it was hard for me to let them go to people I didn't know. Every time I hear about stray, abandoned or abused dogs or cats I know we made the right decision. Looking back we really had no business even considering to breed dogs. There are so many purebred dogs and puppies available in shelters and rescue groups that need good homes because people think they could make a buck or two or because they think that getting a dog spayed or neutered is too expensive. Well news flash, puppies are more expensive. Okay, so where is this rant going? Let me introduce Maui....

Maui is my sister's foster dog. She's a Pitt Bull and was abused by her past owners. Tiff is giving her a second chance by fattening her up and helping her find a forever home. She's a  really nice pitt. Loves to play, loves people, loves other dogs. My point is if you want a dog or cat go get a shelter pet. They are just as good (if not better) as dogs from breeders or people who don't fix their dogs. I love Jake and Lola and wouldn't give them up, but I'm really glad we didn't help contribute to the over population of shelters. If we ever get a cat or another dog it will definitely come from a shelter. And just because, here's a photo of Maui's current roomies (Tiff's full time dogs)....

17 Weeks

I had a check up on Wednesday (same day as this photo). The best part of every appointment is hearing the baby's heartbeat. So awesome. It made me feel much better to hear it after our big trip. I could hear the baby moving around a lot while we were listening to the heartbeat. It's fun to know the baby is so active.  I think I've felt the baby move a few times as well. Yay!

Since I've Been Gone...

We spent two great weeks exploring Australia and visiting my brother. It was busy, exhausting and amazing. I'm still recovering. My body can't seem to to get itself back on American time. Needless to say it has not been a productive week. It might be easier if I had to get up and go to work, but I'll be back to that soon enough. I've been trying to sort through all 2100 photos I took and I've narrowed it down to 436. I want them to look good though so I'll be doing some minor upgrading in Photoshop and then I'll post some of them. We also have lots of video to sort through, too. I'll try and do a better post about our trip, but for now here you go....

 

Taken by our wonderful matey Natey in front of the world famous Sydney Opera House. Also while I am definitely growing in the belly, I'm going to blame part of the right photo on Hungry Jacks (Aussie Burger King).

Change the Date

At my doctor's appointment today I found out that we are changing my due date based on my ultrasound. Mark the calendars for January 3. Happy New Year Baby! I also heard Baby B's heartbeat again. So much fun, he/she tried to hide but was clocked at 160 beats/minute. Nice and strong. Otherwise the appointment was uneventful. :)

Oh So Crafty

I'm watching So You Think You Can Dance right now. I love this show. Makes me want to take a dance class again, though that would be a little scary. So maybe I'll stick to this...

What is this jumbled mess of color you ask, well part of it is this....

I'm on a necklace making kick. When Tiff and I were little we would make similar necklaces with our Grandma. Back then we used cotton balls in the center and beads instead of knots. As an update I used beads inside the fabric and knotted between them. I saw this idea on the internet and though, "oh, yes". Cheap, easy to make but very fun. Here's a closer look at my "wearable art".

I also whipped up these little cuties thanks to a tutorial off the Internet (I LOVE the Internet).

That's right, passport covers. No more boring, unprotected cover for me. My family gets to reap the benefits of my craftiness as well. Passport covers for everyone :)

I've also been working on this project for Baby B

I've been keeping a journal to document every thing surrounding the baby. I took a cheap composition book and through a process, thicken the pages. Then I can write, draw, paste photos, whatever my little heart desires. (Yes, again an Internet idea, it's really a great place for crafting ideas) My plan was to take it on our trip, but instead I'm going to journal in something smaller and glue the pages in when we get home. Someday Baby B can read what went on early in his/her life.

While I've had craft fever this is what Lola has been doing

I think that dog would sit on the porch all day long if it weren't for this guy

Jake prefers the couch and doesn't like Lola to be outside. Actually I like to think he just doesn't like to be separated from me. :) Usually they both go out, Jake gets antsy and so they both come in. Silly dogs.

And in preparation for an adventure we will be off to shortly I downloaded this little number for the iPod. Please enjoy.

13 Weeks = Peach

Baby B is the size of a peach this week. Pretty cool huh. There are a ton of baby/pregnancy websites out there and since I have the summer off I've spent way to much time checking them out. Anyways they can give you a weekly play by play of the baby's growth and compare the baby to fruit and veggies. I find it amusing. 

12 Weeks

Technically 12 weeks 3 days....

Crayons, Kicks and "Kids"

Baby B got his/her first gift in the mail this week from wonderful Aunt Tiff.

She so rocks! The baby is an artist/creative soul in the making! Thanks Tiff.

I also bought my first pair of these...

That's right... TOMS

And now a child someone also has a new pair of shoes! The verdict after a full day of shopping. Pretty comfy, especially since it was so hot. They will make great traveling shoes.

And finally I'll leave you with this photo, proving dogs can be just like kids sometimes when people shove a camera in their faces....

Lola just looks annoyed that I would try and distract her from enjoying her grass to take a photo.  And dear Jake, so much slobber it seems he can never keep his mouth closed. :) But aren't they still the cutest dogs ever. We love them. :)