Just Call Me Martha...

Since the moment I found out I was pregnant, I've had this overwhelming urge to be crafty. I used to do a lot of creative projects back in the day. But I'm a little, shall we say, behind. Like, I still haven't scrapbooked our wedding pictures. We got married 2.5 years ago.
Anyway, Eric was busy most of this weekend so I decided there was no time like the present and I got down to business with a girl's best friends: Modge Podge, craft paper and virgin wood!

I decided to fall victim to the ever popular, ever present wooden name letters... with a Mini twist of course. Animal print!!! And no, I am not choosing to reveal his name through this post. You only get a hint, and a tiny one at that. There is an "N" involved somewhere (bwahahaha!):


I also decided that the child's closet was vast enough to merit a need for dividers. It really is a trying task to figure out how those onesies and teeny pants translate to actual sizes. So I spent far too much time googling and found a jumping off point to make these:


The supply list includes wooden letter "O"s found in the wood craft aisle (a pack of 2 for 99 cents), scrapbook paper remnants (left over from said name letters), puffy scrapbook stickers, a spool of craft ribbon and Modge Podge. Ta da!
Martha would be so proud : )

Huh?

Sophie just trying to figure it all out....

She has been following us all over the house as we make room for Mini. She loves to go into his room and look up inside his closet (of course that may have something to do with the large herd of stuffed animals living on the top shelf).
She really had a field day when we brought home the bounty from our baby shower last month.

Please excuse the no makeup/glasses and fancy PJs....
Imagine what all of these smells must do to a little dog's senses! If only we could prepare her for the many smells to come.

Another Apology

I feel like I've been saying sorry to my son a lot lately. I'm sorry I like spicy foods so much right now, yet they appear to give you the hiccups. I'm sorry that I keep rolling over on my back at night and then worrying that it is somehow hurting you.
But most of all, I'm sorry that this blog hasn't been updated the way I intended it to be when I got started. I can only hope your baby book will be a smoother process : )

I finally fixed my phone, which contained the majority of my recent belly progression pics, so here is my best attempt at playing catch-up.

34 weeks:
33 weeks:
32 Weeks:31 Weeks:
I forgot to take one for week 30, but here is a pic of the Mr and me living it up in Chicago that week.Phew! That was a lot of cutting and pasting. Another good reason for me to try and stay on track this time.
We love you son and can't wait to meet you (but please keep baking until you are good and ready to meet us).

58 Days

When I logged on to my computer this morning, the little ticker showing Mini's progress popped up. I don't always notice the text on it but today it caught my eye... "31 weeks, 5 days pregnant. Only 58 days to go." Um, WHAT??? How did this happen?!?! I realize that things have been hectic the past, oh, 7 months. But I really thought I had a better handle on this whole time management thing. I can't believe I can start answering the question "When are you due?" with "Next month."

I think I will feel slightly less panicked after this weekend. We are ready to make some big time progress on Mini's nursery. We are having all the carpets cleaned on Saturday and E's parents are coming up on Sunday to help us move in the furniture (that weeping you are hearing is E, overjoyed at the thought of reclaiming his spot in the garage.)

In other news, and I haven't really shared this with many people, we are on Amniotic Fluid Watch. 2 weeks ago I went in for a routine appointment. When the Dr. measured my belly she said I was smaller than I should be (I admit, I gloated silently for a moment). She said she wanted to do an ultrasound to check on my fluid levels (I stopped gloating, STAT).
To make a long story short, my amniotic levels were sitting right at the border of normal. The Dr. decided to have me come back in last week to check my progress. Wash, Rinse, Repeat. I got the same results.

So what does this mean? Well, I have to go back in 2 weeks for a repeat ultrasound. If my levels stay static I am allowed to carry on with my business under orders to rest whenever I am not at work.
If my levels go down... bed rest. Yuck. I know that wouldn't be the end of the world and obviously my priority is the health and safety of Mini, but being the control freak that I am, the thought of not being able to do things to prep for baby boy makes me hyperventilate. I am a do-er! While I appreciate offers to help, I am not satisfied sitting back and letting others complete tasks that I have spent the past 7 months envisioning myself accomplishing. Does that sound selfish? I hope not. It is merely meant as a form of nesting and preparing for the arrival of this little man. It's part of the whole process in my mind.

Whew! This got long! So to sum it all up: Pray for an easy nursery assembly with only minor bouts of cussing, pray for my fluid levels to increase and pray for me to find more patience if they do not.

Progress

29 Weeks:

After painting Mini's room... twice.... we really hadn't taken further steps to make the empty room into his future little man cave.
I wanted to wait until after some friends came into town so we could continue to use his space as overflow for our fabulous guests (love you Katie and Linz!).
But when a package arrived yesterday with vinyl decals for his walls, I just couldn't wait any longer.
Welcome to Mini's jungle! I have to give props to my husband for talking me into the bright orange color, and to my mom for helping me get this sucker on the wall... definitely a two woman job.
After scoring the whole thing with our credit cards (who knew they had so many uses?), we peeled off the backing paper, positioned the decal (and repositioned it twice for my OCD self), and used said credit cards to rub it on to the wall.
Ta da! I love how it turned out. Now we just have to tackle the 6 foot tall giraffe that will be hanging out over his crib...

Special Delivery

This is what will someday be our baby's furniture! Right now it is E's placeholder in the garage. The poor Accord is once again kicked to the curb for more important cargo.

My dad and Sue deserve major thanks for hauling this load across state lines and delivering it safe and sound to its current resting place. They traveled with us to Indianapolis to pick out Mini's first room set early in May. We stumbled on a great deal at a children's furniture store where we were able to buy the crib and side table at floor model sale prices. Score!
It was a long 3.5 week wait until the dresser came in, but my daddy was kind enough to rent a trailer, make the trek back to Indy and schlep the goods to our house. Thanks Poppy and Grammy : )

In other baby news, Mini made his debut among high society at the annual Wines and Polo on the Prairie to benefit the children of Easter Seals. I was nervous to wear this dress since it showed off my, ahem, growing assets, but in the end I think we cleaned up nicely.

25 weeks:

He was definitely a fan of the party since it is centered around eating and drinking and since yours truly was not doing any drinking, I made up for it with extra servings of Uncle Bob's ice cream. Happy little kicks were the thanks I received from the little man. That and some very sore legs the next day, courtesy of the high heels and my dancing craziness.

Where to Start?

Life has been what you might call chaotic these last several weeks. I switched hats at work, which also means I got to switch schedules to a normal shift of 9am to 5:30pm. This was, quite possibly, the best gift I could receive before Mini makes his arrival.
But the new schedule also comes with less time to waste... I mean less down time... at work. So as a result the baby blog has taken a back seat. Mom fail, take three!

We are now on the precipice of the THIRD trimester!!!! How did this happen? How do I make it stop? Not that I really want to stay pregnant forever, but both E and I feel like we're running out of time. And as every other person looooves to remind us, this is only the beginning.

Here is my latest bump pic taken this morning (once again in the bathroom) at 26 weeks and 6 days: