Baby H: 26 weeks

 

How far along? 26 weeks {98 days to go until my due date!!}

Baby Size: Baby H is 14 inches and 1.75 pounds. The size of cucumber. The baby can hear Nick's voice now - I better buy some books for him to read to the baby!

Total weight gain: 24 pounds. I remember when I first found out I was pregnant and thought I'd only gain 25 pounds during the entire pregnancy...how naive was I!?! The weight gain has seemed to slow down alittle...but so has the brownie sundae intake. Coincidence?!

Maternity clothes? Barely wearing anything non-maternity these days.  
 

Sleep: Still sleeping great most of the time! I had one night when I woke up every hour - but that was the night before the shower I hosted, so I think my brain just couldn't shut off. I was back to sleeping through the night the following night.

Best moment this week: Becoming a member of Nick's church. I know this is not pregnancy related, but it's something I wanted to do before the baby was born. Now the baby will be baptized in the same church we were married in and we're both a member of.

 

**All dressed up for church on Sunday - ready to become a member of the church**

 

Miss Anything?  Nope, not really.

Movement: I was so busy on Saturday, that when I finally had time to relax and sit on the couch at 8pm - I realized I hadn't felt the baby move all day! I made sure to drink plenty of apple juice the next day so I felt lots of movement! And ofcourse, I freaked myself out thinking the baby wasn't moving enough or the movements weren't strong enough...but once s/he had several strong kicks in a row - I was convinced everything was fine!
 

Food cravings: Not really. Just trying to eat a balanced diet at this point.

Anything making you queasy or sick/symptoms: Just when I thought the bloody noses were done - I got a really bad one this Saturday. Let's hope they're only once a week now instead of daily. My leg/foot is hurting less because I know what motions make it hurt, so I've try to avoid those positions {such as extending my foot out}.
 

Gender: Not finding out. This week's wives tales to predict the gender of the baby - Clumsiness: If you find yourself clumsier with pregnancy, its a boy. If you remain grounded ans still in control of your body, its a girl. Nick claims that I've been more clumsy with this pregnancy - which I agree considering the number of times I've spilled food & drinks!  Based in this wives tale: it's a boy.

Have you started to show yet: I have completely embraced the belly and I love dressing the bump!! I think it's crazy how some days - my belly seems huge and other days I barely notice it! 

Mood: Happy all week long!!

Stretch marks: None.

Belly button in or out: Barely in.

Wedding ring on or off: On.

Labor Signs: No.
 

Thoughts: 

I hosted a couples baby shower this past weekend for Rachel & Nolan. Everything turned out great and they received lots of great gifts for baby! The best gift was definitely the Poo-Poo Pail for Nolan. It was a 5 gallon bucket with diapers, wipes, butt paste, goggles, face mask and tongs! SO funny!!

I'm headed to Chicago next weekend for a girls trip. We'll be doing some shopping, eating, drinking {for the non-preggers} and going to the Pink concert. The same group of girls went to Chicago 2 years ago for the Bon Jovi concert and we had a blast, so I can't wait for this trip!! I'm hoping to get in some good shopping & finding something cute to wear for maternity pictures!

**The girls on our last Chicago trip**

I was going to plan a babymoon for Nick & I in March, but I've decided there just isn't enough time for it. We're already traveling out of the state 3 times this month, so we'll only have 2 weekends at home - I'd rather stay home and relax those free weekends!

I read that Braxton Hicks contractions often begin around 26 weeks {insert panic face here} the thought of having contractions makes it more real that the baby will be here soon! And so will the labor pains...

Things I'm loving {for baby}

As I  search the internet for all things baby - I am seeing a theme of items I am loving. Things I never would have thought twice about before.

Elephants. Really?!? I never thought I'd see the day that I thought elephants were so cute! But now, I find myself searching the internet for all things elephants - prints for the nursery, blankets, hats, hooded bath towels and toys. I don't want to have a theme in the nursery, so I won't be adding a ton of elephant items but I'm sure I'll have a few things around the room.

How cute are these elephant prints?!?

 

 

So many adorable blankets!!

 

 

 

 

And other fun elephant items!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gray & Aqua. If you can't tell from all the items listed above...I'm in love with all things gray & aqua. I originally wanted to have apple green as an accent color in the room, but I'm drawn more & more towards the aqua color instead!

Burp Clothes. The homemade burp clothes from cotton diapers are SO cute! All you  have to do is pick out fabric and sew them onto a cloth diaper - luckily, I have a MIL that has experience making these!!!

Onesies with applique.  Do you know how hard it is to find gender neutral clothes? I've been able to find some onesie, sleeper and sleep sacks - but not many. In my search, I came across white onsies with appliques and fell in love. They can be made with different animals or details on them - in any fabric - so they can be gender neutral.

 

 

I'm sure as I continue to search the internet, I'll find other items that I love. And I have a feeling my checking account is going to be in trouble...

 

Nursery Notes 6

Monday & Tuesday.
We worked both Monday & Tuesday nights to finish the closet. Nick painted the second coat on Monday night and installed the shelving unit on Tuesday night. The nice thing about the shelving unit we installed is that it can be moved around - add/remove shelves and make the clothes hanging area bigger as the baby grows {and so does the size of its clothes}.

 

 

 

While Nick worked on the installing the shelving unit and I assisted him by handing him tools & parts...Jayde sat right in the way!!

 

 

Now that the shelving unit is installed - I can start picking up baskets, hampers and other organizers to put in the closet. I might pick up a couple more of the pull out baskets - I think those will come in handy. I really have no clue on how to organize the closet at this point because I'm not sure what I'll need or use, but I'm sure I'll figure it out once the baby gets here!

 

 

 

It only took 2 days longer than expected, but we got everything done on the to-do list! Now that all the big items are installed/assembled/arranged - I can start working on the small things. The fun things that will add character to the room!



 

The list of to-do's to focus on next {can you tell I like to make lists and check them off?!?}

1. Order glider & ottoman

2. Make curtains

3. Make crib skirt

4. Make crib bumper

5. Make changing pad cover

6. Buy frames/shelving/decorations

 

As you can see...alot of these items involve sewing. I think it's time to pull out the new sewing machine I got for Christmas and learn how to use it!

 

 

Nursery Notes 5

Sunday.
I didn't start out as bright & early on Sunday morning. We went to church, dinner with Nick's mom and stopped by to visit Chloe & Baby Abey. Nick was going through withdrawals since he hadn't seen them in over a month! Chloe is such a big girl - she's almost fully potty trained and was wearing her big girl undies!! And I can't believe how big Baby Abey is already {he's almost 6 months} - he's starting to army crawl and wanted to move all over the place!!

**All dressed up for church**

 

 

When we got home - we were ready to start on the nursery again. Nick started putting the first coat of paint on the closet while I worked on putting together the new night stands for the master bedroom {I might post more on this later if they turn out}.

 

 

So glad to get rid of the ugly yellow color!

Note to other home owners...don't paint your closets the same color as the room - it's alot of work to repaint the room & the closet for the next owners!!

 

 

After painting the closet - we were ready to put together the last piece of furniture for the nursery. The chest of drawers only had 6 drawers {and we were experts by this time} so it only took alittle over an hour to assemble.

 

 

I was so excited when the last drawer was installed and the room was rearranged!

 

 

I'm loving the look of the nursery so far - so clean and simple. I feel like the gray walls & white furniture work well together - and once I get the fabric in the room it'll look even better!!