33 Weeks Pic

A busy and successful Saturday.

My dearest husband has been working in the yard all day. We've decided to tear everything out of the front beds and just completely start over.

 

Here's the before pictures I took a couple of months ago.








As you can clearly see, all the bushes are trying to take over the house. (And in case you're curious, those things on our roof are solar panels made to help heat our water.... not currently in use.)

It's allllllll coming out. And here's a quick shot I took with my phone a few hours ago.



 

Love his heart, he's going to be sore tomorrow. No more bushes.. except the two rose bushes at the stairs. The monkey grass is still there for now. I think we'll be transplanting that to edge some of our trees. There's a ton of monkey grass.

 

While Cory has been doing all that, I've been reclaiming the front porch from spiderwebs and trash. I also started reclaiming the sunporch in the back by taking down the christmas trees I had in there and sweeping it out. We've got an old mattress set in there we need to get rid of before we can completely reclaim that.

 

Annnnd I took a couple of bump pictures last night before our date night. (Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2.. and, yes, we were the only people without kids in the theatre. )

Enjoy!







 

Look! I can still get my feet off the ground! :) And, in the event that you didn't notice... I've become to lazy to write on the chalkboard. Photoshop from here on out. I don't know why I didn't think about doing that before.

Rainy Wednesday

It's already nearly 4pm and it feels like I just woke up. Needless to say the rain certainly doesn't help with the serious fatigue that's hit me over the last few weeks.

I've been keeping busy with the house. The day planner is certainly coming in handy for keeping me in check with all the things that really should be done around the house on a daily basis. (Okay.. minus those two days were I really just wanted to sleep all day and not move). I'm happy to say that it's Wednesday and there's no laundry, no dishes, no sweeping, and no counter scrubbing that needs to be done. Our bed is even made. I can't say the same for groceries, though. Since we didn't get back home from Knoxville til Sunday night, I didn't get my usual meal planning and trip to Publix in. Guess I'll be doing that this evening.

Work has been quite busy as well. The end of the fiscal year this month brings lots of meetings and transitions not to mention the transition of my job to someone else while I'm away.

In house news, our bathroom is going to be remodeled next week! HOORAY! I'm very much looking forward to having a bathtub and a vanity that I won't have to break my back at to wash my face. It will be glorious. It will also be nice to have the guest bathroom done, which just needs a little TLC and some tile.

Last night we also had a meeting with our doula. I can't remember if I mentioned that we hired one or not, forgive me if I did. It was a really informative meeting here at the house. I think Cory and I now have a better idea of the things that we really should know and be informed of before we hit the hospital. One thing I learned, that I was a little shocked by, was the rate of natural births in the area. 3%. Yes.... just three. I looked up some other information today and found that 35% of births in Chattanooga alone are cesarean. I wasn't super surprised about the percentage of cesarean births considering the pre-registration packet for the hospital includes information about elective induction. Any who, the reason that was brought up was basically to inform us that this area is not accustomed to performing natural births and if that's the route we really want to go then we need to be prepared for the things that could possibly be offered, to talk to our doctor about her way of typically doing things, and really think about a birth plan and why we're choosing the options we are.

So that's the next task. Really write out a birth plan. Inform myself. I've done a good job of that so far, but with the way my brain has been working lately, it'll be nice to have it out on paper.

And because posts without pictures are boring... here's one of the maternity sash I made a couple of weeks ago.





My next sewing project will be my bean bag for baby photos.... Assuming I can still waller around on the floor to get the vinyl cut out correctly.

Dreaming of ICEEs

I think it's important to tell everyone about my dream last night. Well... one part of it anyway. Most of it was pretty mundane, but I must tell you about a new feature that was in my car.

It was an ICEE button.

Unfortunately the car didn't actually make me an ICEE. I just pressed the button and a guy came over the speaker and said "If you just drive up the hill, we'll have a vanilla ICEE ready and waiting for you."

Now, I realize vanilla ICEEs don't exist, and if they did... that would probably be pretty gross. I'd settle for a cherry.

If anyone is interested in helping me pitch an ICEE button for cars, let me know.

 

Nesting

According to good ole Wikipedia:

Nesting: In human females, the nesting instinct often occurs around the fifth month of pregnancy, but can occur as late as the eighth, or not at all. It may be strongest just before the onset of labor.

It is commonly characterized by a strong urge to clean and organize one's home and is one reason why couples who are expecting a baby often reorganize, arrange, and clean the house and surroundings.

The first signs of things on the "cons" list of pregnancy have arrived. {Mildly}. I believe the nesting instinct has come on full force in the last week which has been accompanied by stress to get things done and thereby inducing stress-related mood swings. It hasn't been terrible, I just feel like I'm in a race with myself to finish projects.

Here's a list of things I did over the past week:

• Made two hospital gowns


• Made a maternity sash (I actually ordered one from a lady on Etsy {with good reviews} a few weeks ago and that turned into a fiasco ending with a PayPal and Etsy dispute and me getting my money back and deciding to make it myself)


• Cleaned for 8 hours straight on Friday


• Shopped for 5 hours on Saturday morning for guest room #1 decor, organizational things, and cleaning supplies


• Spent the rest of Saturday putting together the guest room (with the help of Mrs. Branum THANK YOU!), making a wedding present for a friend (no detail here, I haven't sent it yet!) and setting up my DIY baby photography backdrop holder.


• Sunday was the day for meal planning, another trip to Lowe's for ceiling mount curtain rod holders, Target for cheap curtains, and grocery shopping.... And taking down closet doors and putting up a curtain instead. The good news is I don't have any issues opening the closet doors anymore. The bad news is that it's not terribly attractive.

All that, plus the usual house upkeep, dinner making, and my actual job, it was a very tiring week. And I can assure you I won't be doing that much walking for a while as it was very unpleasant to move about halfway through the cleaning spree on Friday and into the shopping event on Saturday. My pelvis, right hip and right knee where NOT HAPPY.

I'm very glad we're back to Monday. Monday means actual job and lots of sitting. It was a very productive day at work as well. Lots of things to get done before I take maternity leave.

I also spent a little time in the nursery last week, basically just moving things around and thinking about all the things we still have to get.. which is just about everything that isn't clothes. (Diapers, car seat, stroller, diaper bag, more diapers, wipes, pack'n'play, and possibly some socks.)

I think Cory and I will need to get the car seat/stroller and pack'n'play in the next week or so. I like to be ready for the unexpected and since "full term" is a measly 6 weeks away, I'd just like to go ahead and have those two things ready. I'd like to pack my hospital bag too. I've already made the list of things I need to pack and plan to print it out and put it on the fridge in the event I don't get to pack it myself.

So now we're down to just 2 or 3 hundred more things to do before baby Colette arrives in the next 0-9 weeks.

A nap is needed.

Oh and here's a couple more maternity photos from Brittany Mauldin! If you've landed here via Facebook, you've already seen them :)

[gallery type="square" ids="617,618,619,620"]

A Fancy Hospital Gown

Completely impractical. I imagine I'm not going to give a hoot what I'm wearing when labor is happening, but I thought I might like to have one anyway. I first saw them on {*surprise*} Pinterest, which linked me over to Etsy. The variety I like the most is from Milk Threads Maternity. I love the designs and color combinations. The only thing I really couldn't wrap my head around was paying a $60 price tag for something that will only be worn once and likely be completely gross after birth.

And then, like most crafty things that I don't want to pay a million dollars for, I thought I would just make one myself. I went with a more simplistic design than the gowns from Milk Threads. This is mainly because I'm a novice seamstress *at best.*

I perused the fabrics at JoAnn until I found something super soft yet durable. It's basically a nursery fabric. It feels like a cross between flannel and jersey. Very nice. I bought 3 yards at 40% off and some nice ribbon and paid less than half the price of the pre-made gowns on Etsy.

With all that fabric I was able to make 2 gowns (one for delivery and one for post delivery) and still have enough left over to make a nursing cover.

And here's what I came up with: (Please, forgive the terrible iPhone pictures)

[caption id="attachment_612" align="aligncenter" width="532"] The front[/caption]

Super simple with ties at the shoulders for easy nursing access. I would still like to possibly change up the ties and use something a little more like the Milk Thread gowns. Those are a little more sturdy and seem more practical than bows that could possibly just irritate me.

[caption id="attachment_611" align="aligncenter" width="472"] The very fashionable backside[/caption]

And, what hospital gown would be complete without a slit up the backside. For modesty's sake, I also put in snaps so my rear-end doesn't completely hang out at all times.

I haven't made the nursing cover yet, we'll see how that goes another day.

Pregnancy Update and The Day Planner

Why, Hello there! I feel like my brain is sort of devoid of any communication skills this morning. I was all excited about posting something new and now I'm having a hard time formulating thoughts on anything specific.

I think initially my main goal for this blog was to give a general update on my pregnancy as well as post some info about the nearly 800 page planner I had printed for myself. So we'll start with the update!

(And by the way here is another sneak peak from the maternity session with Brittany Mauldin)

[caption id="attachment_602" align="aligncenter" width="560"] Feeling a little round in the facial region in this photo.[/caption]

How far along: 29 Weeks, 6 Days

Total weight gain: 13 lbs

Maternity clothes: Absolutely. I bought a couple pairs of maternity jeans a few weeks ago that I imagine I’ll wear every day for the next foreseeable future. And I’ve been wearing maternity shirts for a few months now because they’re flattering and comfortable :)


Stretch marks: None to speak of

Sleep: Fairly well. I don’t usually get up to go to the bathroom or anything, so that’s awesome.

Best moment of this week: A healthy check-up.

Miss anything: Seafood. I know I can eat it, but my desire to do so has significantly diminished. I also miss the occasional beer as it is the beginning of tailgating season.

Movement: Lots of that. LOTS. Stretching and punching galore. Possibly a couple cases of the hiccups as well.

Food cravings: I don’t really crave anything. I have noticed that I eat a lot more grapes and pancakes though.

Anything making you queasy or sick: Brach’s Juicy Berries Gummies. The scent of them is horrifying and I’m not totally convinced that it has anything to do with pregnancy.

Have you started to show yet: Obv.

Gender: Girl as of 20 weeks… let’s hope there aren’t any surprises when we have our next U/S in about 4 weeks.

Labor signs: None

Belly button in or out: In. It’s pretty far down there, so I don’t think it’s going to pop out, but who knows.

Wedding rings on or off: Off. I can still wear them, but with the weather so hot and humid, anytime I go outside the house my hands tend to swell a bit and getting my rings stuck on my fingers terrifies me.

Happy or moody most of the time: Generally happy. Cory oftentimes wonders when the pregnancy rage will come out.

Looking forward to:  Checking more things off the to-do list. Mainly our master bathroom remodel and the electrical update. Once those two things are done I can finish pretty much everything else, i.e. the nursery.

 

So there's that! And now onto the day planner.

[caption id="attachment_603" align="aligncenter" width="560"] The Book[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_604" align="aligncenter" width="560"] Tabs[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_605" align="aligncenter" width="560"] Spiral bound[/caption]

There's what she looks like! A massive display of organizing goodness on paper. I love technology and being able to pull up a calendar at the touch of a button.... but I REALLY love writing things down and books. As you can see from the photos, the front has a clear cover and the first page is actually a weatherproof material. The backing is cardstock. I did actually ask for a clear binding, but alas, something is always bound to go wrong and since this is my first planner and there are a lot of thing that I already know I want to improve upon for my next one, I let it slide.

 

Here is a PDF of the basics you'll find inside the planner. Taylor_Planner_Lite I was initially going to post screen shots, but I think if you're that interested, you can just download the PDF :)

Here's a list of things you'll find in my planner:

• Yearly Goals


• Important Dates to Remember


• Monthly Calendars


• Monthly Priorities


• Weekly Meal Planning


• Weekly Chores Checklist


• Weekly Cleaning Schedule


• Daily Planning/Routines


• Important Info (Contacts, Medical, Billing, Budgeting)


• Blogging (Editorial Calendar, Possible Series, Future Post Ideas)


• Seasonal Planning/Crafting (Craft Ideas, Party Planning, Seasonal Cleaning)


• Notes

I definitely can't take credit for a lot of the information in here. You'll have to go to Life As Mom and check out all the things she has about planning and organization. I bought her PDF planner and basically adapted it  to my own needs and wants.

When I initially started putting everything together in inDesign, I was thinking about all the little things I wanted to put in design-wise, like quotes and images, etc. But the more I thought about it, the more I really wanted a blank canvas. I like to doodle and write things down. You should see my old notebooks. They're filled with colorful writing, doodles, song lyrics, and anything else you can imagine. I want to get back to that so I left a lot of white space around the edges.

And there you have it. Shipped it off to Office Depot and the next week I had a beautimous personal planner.

 

Until next time...

 

Maternity Session with Brittany Mauldin

Ahhh. We had an excellent babymoon at Garden City Beach, South Carolina. The weather was great, maybe a little on the hot side, but the water was cool and the food was delicious as always. It was nice to get away for a few days with just Cory and myself.

While we were there we had our professional maternity photos taken. The photographer of choice was Brittany Mauldin. It was quick and painless (even Cory enjoyed it..) and she did an excellent job with different posing and background options. I'm very excited to see how they all turned out. She did post a sneak peak on Facebook that I'm pretty excited about.

[caption id="attachment_598" align="aligncenter" width="560"] Brittany Mauldin Photography[/caption]

If you know me, you know I've been ranting about finding a chiffon dress of some sort for these photos. Everywhere you go on Pinterest you see beautiful pregnant women in these luxurious chiffon wraps and I just couldn't seem to find one. Not one that was reasonably priced anyhow. I couldn't see paying upwards of $200 for something that would most likely get sandy and wet. So I made one myself. Three yards of chiffon fabric (1/2 off at JoAnn, score!) and one hour of my time and I have my very own luxurious chiffon dress. And I think it turned out pretty well, if I do say so myself.

Overall the experience was great (well.. maybe not the getting up at 5am part :) ) But I definitely recommend Brittany to anyone in the Myrtle Beach area that's looking for a photo session. Here are links to her Facebook and Website.

I'll post more photos as soon as I have them!

The rest of our trip was spent laying on the beach, playing in the pavilion arcade, eating, and definitely sleeping.

We did also get sad news over the weekend. My Uncle Gary passed away very early Saturday morning. I didn't really grow up around him like my older siblings did, but it still weighs heavily on the heart to know a family member is no longer with us. Any good vibes or thoughts you can send to my family would be much appreciated.

I hate to end on a sad note, but that's all I've got for the moment. Hope everyone had a great holiday weekend!