0 Working on the baby room- without the actual room

I am starting to be a little stressed about the baby room. I have been looking at bedding, sheets, rockers, curtains all without knowing what the baby room will actually be. Talk about stressful! I am sure that we will get the big stuff taken care of eventually, however, I still can stress over it. Hopefully I can organize my thoughts here so when it comes to the time to actually move into a house and decorate we will be ready.

The crib has been purchased and is in a light honey oak to make it more timeless. I loved the look of dark baby room furniture, however, I am worried it looks more dated for our taste. White had the same feeling to me- would be great for a baby room if we knew we were having a girl, but I am more into the natural wood looks. Here is the crib we selected again: Pottery Barn's Kendall crib

We plan to use the dresser that I had when I was a kid - I am REALLY excited about this. We are purchasing new knobs from Antropoligie to give this an antique but updated look. Its slightly darker than the crib, but still an oak finish to keep the lighter wood going in the room. Here are a few option
 

and the last piece of furniture is the changing table. Grandpa Tom (as he is very excited about being) is making the changing table. We know its not a necessity to have one, but we are hoping to use it as some storage for the baby toys as well. We plan to anchor it to the wall so that when the little one actually starts pulling up on stuff, we dont have to worry about things falling on its head. Here is the design for the changing table:

We plan to add baskets to the bottom of the changer and store toys and extra items there.

Decor- we have part of it covered but a long way to go. So far, we purchased the alphabet cards and map that we showed in an earlier post but again here:

 Recently we purchased a few more cards to add in with the alphabet letters. I am really excited about the colors on these cards and plan on using these colors throughout the room.

We are skipping bedding since you cant use most of the pieces, so we are planning on a few items to keep with the color scheme. The crib bumper is a breathable bumper which is more of a mesh bumper and keeps their little hands and feet from slipping through the rails. We are selecting a neutral color of white or tan to keep it usable for more than one kid and for more than one specific color.  The sheets are another item to add in color and texture. Here are a few of our selections:

As I start to think of paint and trim ideas, I will post more. We have 100 days until baby Lee (hopefully) makes its presence. Hopefully the house hunting will continue soon and we will be ready to move in before the baby is here!

 

0 Belly Progress and an update -

I am terrible at posting and need to get on it- not too much time left. I have to find the first pictures since the only pictures I am finding right now are ones that start in November- atleast its every two weeks at this point so I am consistent. Here is the bump progress:

So These range from 11/1 until yesterday. You can tell good progress until 12/15 and then it branches off. I need to get some better pics so that it is more consistent, but I definitely look pregnant now. I am 25 weeks so this is my update for 25 weeks:

Total weight gain: Monday will tell the official but I think its around 6lbs. I am counting that as a win.

How big is baby?: we are measuring the size of a rutabaga from Babycenter, this week on the Bump we are the size of a eggplant.

Maternity clothes?: Found bras- SCORE. Need short sleeve items badly, nothing is long enough for the bump and my chest.
Stretch marks? still feel like I should own stock in Palmers cocoa butter that is still keeping these away.
Symptoms? sleep is getting better as the round ligament pain starts to go away. Some days I wonder what in the heck is going on in there.
Sleep? still sleeping so that is a win. Tired more often than I thought I would be.
Best moment this week?: my dad called this morning and asked how his grandbaby was doing... not going to lie it made me cry.
Movement?: LOTS - I feel like a trampoline some days. Last night I felt hiccups for the first time. Hilarious.
Food cravings? spinach is the food of the week. I guess chalk it up to being healthy.
Labor signs?: keep them away.
Belly button in or out?: still in - stretching but getting bigger.
Gender? team green
What I miss? still missing cute clothes. I am disappointed with Maternity fashion right now- the economy has caused so many places to cut back and shopping online isnt for me this time.
What I am looking forward to: I am going to Cali next week so that should be fun pregnant.
Milestone: 15 weeks and counting... its going fast!

0 Baby Gear and a few decisions

Registering for baby stuff is definitely not the same as picking out wine glasses for your wedding. So much more thought has to go into things that are going to be protecting a human life.  I knew that I would be overwhelmed registering for gifts if I went in there blind, so I took some suggestions from friends and what they used as well as read a TON about every category that we needed to purchase. Mark and I registered at BabiesRUS which is somewhat the only option around here for baby registry. I think keeping it simple is the key and having more than one is too much for me right now.

We registered on a Monday night when I was off work. I think we were actually in the store about an hour and a half and we did get most of the work complete. I did find a lot of toys that were added by the excited father, however, if that is what he wants to add, more power to him. Below are some of the items that we decided to add to the registry and we cant wait to use all of the items. We had not planned on doing baby bedding, but did find something that we liked. We plan to use the color scheme but arent 100% positive we want all the baby bedding. Time will tell what we do about bedding, but it does take us down a path of organization.

For the nursery we picked the following items:

The baby bedding- Lambs & Ivy Doodle Doo from BabiesRUs.

The recliner/rocker - I could seriously sleep in this thing. Its a micro suede, but we plan to put some covers on the arms to help protect it from baby slobber.









Some simple gear:

Our bouncy seat- I can recall uncle Kenny loving his bouncy seat when he was a baby. We totally understand that the baby might never want to use this, but knowing I can take it into the bathroom while I am bathing or showering is a nice touch.

The swing- again something some kids love or hate.. we hope love is in the air for a swing. This is the Cradle n Swing Luv U Zoo- cute music not too obnoxious and runs on battery and by ac power.

The jumper- our friends use this and their little one loves it. I hope our little one loves it too.









That is just a rundown of a few items that we have selected. I will review some of the other items in another post. I am excited for our first shower which is in about 6 weeks. We have such generous friends and family members even willing to throw us a shower. We cannot wait to start decorating our little persons room! Wish us luck as we continue to look for a new home!

0 week 23 update, right before week 24 (better late than never)

 

Its the first full week back to work so I have been hell of busy! Here are my thoughts now!

How far along: 23 weeks 6 days -Size of a mango (weight)

Total weight gain: Last visit to the doc - 2lbs. I have stayed between 2 and 4 lbs but need to watch because I lost three pounds last week. Need to continue to eat if I am going to workout this much.

How big is baby?: we are measuring the size of a mango from Babycenter, this week on the Bump we are the size of a papaya.

Maternity clothes?: Oh I I love them. New bras this week will help, but I scored a bunch of deals at Gap so I am set for a while. Just need to accessorize now.
Stretch marks? could be my biggest fear so now I have upped my arsenal to cocoa butter and stretch mark cream. I think if I keep up on it I should be fine
Symptoms? feeling pregnant is a given. I finally look pregnant from the sides, but still not to everyone. I am not sleeping as well and I am having less control of the bladder, but we will see.
Sleep? getting harder- the baby moving doesnt help with that at all either. I really wish I had a king sized bed sometimes with two cats, a pregnancy pillow and a husband in the bed.
Best moment this week?: it would be awesome if we had a snow day tomorrow so I can catch up on work, but I am not counting on it. I am hoping to get a few things caught up and hopefully find a house soon!
Movement?: feeling full kicks now. Love that Mark can feel it as well as others. It really gets going sometimes.
Food cravings? pineapple. I know its weird, but I love them right now.
Labor signs?:none thank the Lord
Belly button in or out?: still in - just getting bigger. 
Gender? its a surprise and plans to stay this way.
What I miss? cute clothes - I am going to Nashville in a few weeks and I would love to get some cute tops- not this time
What I am looking forward to: finding a house- getting very anxious. a lot to do in a little time.
Milestone: almost 16 weeks left!

0 We have External Movement- and Mark got to feel it!

So we took a small mini vacation with friends to their lake house for NYE. Fun times. Lots of good food, good company and much needed relaxation. We arrived on the 30th in the afternoon and were able to relax and get settled for the weekend. Since I wasn't drinking, I made myself some mock-tails to get through the weekend. Love sales on cranberry juice and soda water! I woke up around 6am on NYE and felt some weird fluttering by the baby. I have been feeling this in the am, but nothing as strong as this. I quickly woke up Mark and was practically screaming- "I feel the baby, give me your hand." I am not sure if he was totally awake but he felt it. It was pretty exciting. I cannot wait to feel more! (remind me of that statement when its kicking the crap out of me.) I am feeling all of the movement very low, so I know the little booger is sitting pretty low still. I am fully showing and pregnant now. New post of the belly pic tomorrow for reference. The whole weekend was a great start to the new year - great way to start such an exciting adventure. Time to find a house, get moving and get work settled in the next 17 weeks. I cannot believe its already that close!