Baby Steps to a Nursery

So...we are fortunate enough to have a room we can dedicate as a nursery. It took us a week of de-cluttering and 2 trips to the D.I. and there is STILL tons of stuff we will probably need to get rid of or move...but we got it cleared out enough to at least paint. It's still far from done, but here is a little sneak peak to what we've got going on thus far.

First, my amazing husband painted the base coat while I was at work and he was off for Good Friday. (Isn't he the best!) It's a lot more..."WOW, that's blue!"...than I thought it would be...but it's a good blue. So we're going to go with it.

Then we pulled out my super sweet overhead projector which I got from a school district sale for $1 and we started taping.

We think it turned out pretty darn cute, don't you? We just did one focal point wall, the remaining walls are just a solid blue. But I'll keep posting as we get more done.

(You're going to have to excuse the poor photography. I'm working with a cell phone camera. My camera decided to not work anymore. Great timing, right? It's not like there isn't anything life alteringly significant coming up in our lives that we'd like to document with pictures. psh.)

Which leads me to a little bonus pic... Here is the updated "bump" photo. Again...self portrait with camera phone. Ugh. Which means you've got to use a mirror. I hate these. But...you work with what you've got, right?!?

23 Weeks! Here's lookin' at 17 more...ish. Oh boy.

A Breaking Point: Week 22

This morning...I was 10 min. late to work.

For those of you who know me...you know that isn't necessarily uncommon -punctuality is not a strength of mine, (I blame my dad) but Chad has made it his mission in life to make it one. So I really have been doing much better, thanks to him, and I haven't been that late for quite some time. But this morning...this morning I couldn't find a thing that fit!

Up until now, I have been able to pull off wearing all my regular clothes. Using the hair tie method on the pants button, I haven't had to buy any maternity pants. But today...today even my hair ties seem to be stretched to capacity.

I have only 4 actual maternity shirts but this morning -being Friday morning- the 5th day of the week...they are all in the wash and I was S.O.L.

Garments are becoming ever more annoying due to the fact that my swollen midsection pushes my garment bottoms down, and my garment tops up, leaving me with an exposed belly button. ...Charming, I can know be compared to my 2 year old nephew after his dad puts him in pj's that are 2 sizes too small for him, only difference is...his belly is considered adorable when it pokes out.

Let's not even get started on my dilemma's concerning my upper body support systems being incapable to keep up with the seemingly never-ending growth spurts taking place there!

::sigh::

Yesterday, I spent a large sum on Stewie and his wardrobe (a first), of which he won't even be using for MONTHS. In hindsight...that money may have been better spent on MY wardrobe. It's time to break down and go shopping. Live and learn, right?

Turns out...Stella is a Stewie

So...yesterday we found out our little Stella...is actually a Stewie. HA...who knew???



Certainly not Chad and I. We were both pretty sure that we were going to be having a girl. But...we are pretty happy to be proved wrong on this one.

I don't know if Chad has ever thought it even an option for him to have a son. Even before we got married he was told he would "have all girls". And I think he just assumed that would be the way it would be, and he was totally okay with that. But when he found out he was having a boy...and after the shock wore off a little and it really started to sink in...he was thrilled! I don't think he realized how happy a son could make him. Not that he had anything against boys...he just never even considered it really, I don't think. He's always told me we'd have only girls, even when I told him I wanted a boy he said "Don't count on it."

But there it is. In black and white. A boy. Our son!

It will be me and the boys! My life will be full of balls and bugs, and boy scouts. I can just imagine him flirting his way to good grades, just like his dad. Batting his little eyes at every woman and having them wrapped around his little finger just like that.

I doubt I could be more excited to meet this little guy!


Even though in these shots he kind of looks like an alien. He's my little alien. And I love him already!

17

17 Isn't really a milestone for anything per-say, however, 17 is really only 3 weeks shy of 1/2 way point...and that's kind of a big deal. 17 is the 10 day marker for when I get to find out if little Stella is a boy or a girl! 17 Means roughly 23 more weeks to go or 161 more days...oye...let's stick to weeks. 17 Weeks makes my baby roughly the size of an onion, it's skeleton is hardening and changing from rubbery cartilage to actual bone, and the tiny little fingers and toes actually have their own one-of-a-kind prints!

We didn't even find out we were having a baby until a few days before Christmas. I was late, and I took a test and it was blank. Weird. It was a few days later that we got to the store and bought another and again I took the test...and again it came up blank. I was starting to get annoyed after two faulty tests, so I got impatient and took another one right before I left for work, and Chad had already left by that point. I found out on my own and for about 10 hours I was the only one on the planet who knew. I couldn't tell Chad over the phone! It's too big of news not to share in person. So...I waited. Chad called later that day to tell me he was going to work some overtime that night. So...I waited even longer. And then when he finally got home...we had company. So I waited some more. Finally I was able to tell him..."Hey...guess what I found out today? You're going to be a Dad!" He got this little grin on his face and said "I am?" Chad was pretty thrilled with the news. Which made me even more so.

Pregnancy has been fairly kind to me. I was definitely tired, and I had the queasiness to be sure, but I was spared the vomiting. Week 7 when I was making brains...that was a rough week...making brains is hard. But 3 days after week 12 hit...I was good. Sure, I had a tooth break off, and my high school acne has returned with full force, -oh and lets not forget the never ending heartburn (Tums have become one of my new best friends)- but aside from these very trivial repercussions of pregnancy I really don't have anything to complain about.

Mostly, at week 17, I find myself anxiously excited. I can't wait to find out what we're having! I can't wait to see what our baby will look like, and what kind of personality it will have! I'm excited for the day when I will feel our little one inside of me. I'm nervous for the changes my body is going to make and curious to see if it will ever go back to what it once was. I'm a little apprehensive to get on the scale and see a number I have NEVER wanted to see. But I can't help but feel undeniably blessed to be able to BE pregnant and to carry my baby as it grows inside of me. It's the most bizarre and awesome experience, and I thank my Heavenly Father everyday for this adventure.

Remodel!

So...USUALLY first time expecting moms go on what they call a "baby-moon". One last travel hoo-rah before they sign their lives over to diapers and mid-night feedings. Chad and I seriously considered this because we do love to travel. We started planning a big trip to Cancun! Everything was working out, we were finding excellent deals, it was going to be epic!

Well...during our travel planning we started to also talk about potential home remodel ideas that we've been wanting to do for quite some time now. As we started to price those out we realized...for the same amount Cancun would cost us...I could actually DO the remodel.

I picked the remodel.

Before....

After....

We did the backsplash and the undercabinet lighting. We love it!

Our babymoon will just have to wait...or...maybe just be down graded. ;)

Now Introducing: Stella

We wanted to be sure we were out of the woods for the most part before we made this "public" but now that I've made it to the 2nd trimester...

Chad and I are expecting our first little Hatchling on August 19th.

We have yet to find out if we're having a boy or a girl...we've got a few more weeks before we're going to be privvy to that information...but until than we're calling our wee one "Stella".

This is a tradition that I got from my Mom. She didn't like the idea of calling the baby "it" all the time, especially since most people didn't find out what they were having back then, so she started to give all of her kids womb-baby names. Just silly, outlandish names that you would never actually name your kid for real, but are fun nevertheless. ...Or maybe they are names you would like to name your kid but either your spouse hates it and compromised with you by using it as the womb-name, or you just don't have the guts to name your baby something so...edgy. For me...it's a little of the silly...but more so the lack of guts.

Every baby Stella I've ever met has been the most GORGEOUS thing ever! So naturally I've associated the name with beauty. Unfortunately, I think Rocky has ruined it for me, personally, so I can't bring myself to put it on the birth certificate. SO...the womb-name it is.

Don't judge. I'm sure you have your own "forbidden fruit" kind of names lurking in your head too. My brother, Micah; his was "Jamal". But you just can't name a white toe-headed kid "Jamal" (not that any of his kids have blonde hair...but still...you know what I mean.) So, Brittney compromised and that was Tai's womb-baby name.

Mine was Peirre. My brother Josh: Marigold. John: Zeb. Stephanie: Guido. Mandy: Mel. Micah: George. And a friend of mine decided on Huey as their womb-baby name.

You gotta love the idea! Time to confess: What have been/or would be your womb-baby names?!? Think about it. It's kind of fun.

Ironing...GOO

Ever since I was little there were only two...okay maybe 3 chores I NEVER liked doing (I'd pretty much run and hide anytime my parents told us we were cleaning the garage.) The first would be weeding. I HATE weeding. I used to tell my mom that I would clean the ENTIRE house as long as she didn't make me go out and weed. That's how bad I hated it. When I moved out into rental world, I never really had to worry about it. And I pretty much made sure I wouldn't have to worry about it when I bought a home with an HOA and the only weeding I'm responsible for is a little 2'x12' strip surrounding my patio. And even THAT I have a hard time wanting to maintain.

The second chore I tried to dodge like the plague was taking out the garbage. I hate taking out the garbage. I don't know what it is about it...but I just don't like doing it. When I was living with my old roommate we made a deal. I would ALWAYS do the vaccuming (the chore she despised) if she would ALWAYS take out the garbage. Life was great! And when I married Chad my roommate told him, "All you have to do is take out the garbage, and she'll be happy." And that was true, until...there was ironing.

Before I got married, I rarely...IF EVER-ironed. But...Chad-bless his heart- has a million and 4 shirts that need to be ironed ALL the time. Before we got married he would just send them to the dry cleaners. But at $50 a month, I thought it'd be smarter for us to just do it ourselves. ...I'm starting to regret my frugal-ness. In trying to be a good little wifey, I spent 4 hours ironing yesterday. FOUR HOURS!!! I almost wanted to quit and go outside and weed!

Ugh. My husband has a great wardrobe built up, but I'm about to throw out every shirt that isn't wrinkle free, which will leave him with less than 3/4 of what he currently has.