Oh, Christmas Tree!

I finally got my lazy butt to get the tree up and running this last weekend. And I think it looks quite cute, although its much brighter and prettier in person. I still don't know how to work my camera well enough to get the full effects. I should have read the manual. :(



I made sure to get Haley her own ornament. Even though she is not here in person yet, she is still very much with us this Christmas season. I can't wait to meet her, it almost hurts.



And no tree would be complete without an angel... er, uh, Quagmire from Family Guy(it was the only way I could make my husband happy without ruining the tree completely). Its all about compromise, people...

Long Overdue!

To all my fellow friends who actually read this blog: I am SO SORRY! You probably thought I fell off the face of the earth. Well, almost. But I've been so busy, not to mention without internet this past week due to the transition from duplex to house. Speaking of such, I am officially moved! Hallelujah! Life couldn't be better. I am so pleased with the new place, I almost don't know what I did to deserve it. Here are a couple of upsides to being a homeowner:

~I actually take pride in cleaning. Matter of fact, I go out of my way to do it.
~I no longer have to go down to the basement just to let my dogs out. All I do is walk over by the kitchen and open the door. Beautiful!
~PAINTING. Nothing perks me up more than color, especially ones that make me feel cozy and at ease. I never have to look at a dull, light grey color for the rest of my life if I don't want!
~Cabinet space. My new kitchen is pretty amazing, and where at the duplex I had to improvise on where to put my applicances and dishes, I am actually left with empty cabinets at the house. Now I can actually go to Pier 1 and buy something for my kitchen without worrying where I'm going to store it. Actually, maybe that is a bad thing, for the pocketbook at least...

So, without further ado, here are some photos of the new place:

The proud owners!


Guest Bath

Master Bath

Master Bedroom

Living room (the Christmas tree is yet to be done!)

Kitchen


Hope you like it as much as I do. I am very pleased with how it all turned out. And god bless my husband for being the best guy in the world! He barely made me lift a finger through the whole moving process. I compromised and did most of the unpacking instead.

On to baby stuff. Well, its going. I am a big girl, I'll say that. My belly seems to be taking a life of its own these days. And the pain is catching up with me now. I was getting by pretty well, but now I'm 28 weeks and I have officially entered the third trimester. I must say, I am terrified! I guess its the fear of the unknown. I don't know much about anything, but I do know I'm ready to meet this little girl. She is so energetic, I almost can't believe how much she moves around- I'm almost tempted to ask the doctor if its abnormal! Hey it could be worse, she could not move at all. Then I'd really be freaking out. Maybe this is God's way of blessing me so I was able to finally put all of the worry behind me from the beginning. But man, I could sure use a break sometimes. She really LOVES to move nonstop when I'm at meetings at work and I need to FOCUS. She is already learning how to terrorize me! :)

Here is my belly at 28 weeks:




Tomorrow, I see my doctor for my 28 week checkup. From now on, I'll need to start seeing her on a biweekly basis. UGH. I'll be taking a glucose test to check for gestational diabetes. Hopefully all goes well. If I'm forced to prick my finger on a daily basis, you might as well shoot me now. I am not sure how much I have officially gained yet, I suppose I'll find out tomorrow. My guess is its somewhere between 18-20 pounds. Right on track! I've had to wind down walks with the dogs because apparently my pelvis can't handle it anymore. I took a half hour walk the other day and could barely stand up from my work desk the other day. Maybe my husband is right- I CAN'T do the things I used to do. But a measly 30 minute walk?? Geesh. Oh and not to mention I have to pee every freaking 10 minutes! But I never know until I stand up and the baby falls onto my bladder. Man, pregnancy is so great! When can I do this again, seriously??!!

I promise to post more often on the blog when I can- no more 5 week breaks! I just had so much going on with the house, it was nearly impossible. I should be doing the baby room very soon, so I will definitely post pictures as soon as its done.

Before I know it, this baby is going to be here. WOW.

Where Do I Begin?

There has been so much going on in these past few weeks, or month I might say. Between all the newness of knowing I'm now having a girl, looking for a house, and work being work, I have barely been off my feet these days. So lots to report on!

First things first, Ian and I bought a house finally! YEAH!!!!! I never thought I would get to this point in my life; it always seemed so far away, but with a baby on the way, and fortunate circumstances in my life where I had the funds to do so, as well as it being a buyers market, we knew now was as good a time as any. I found the house while I went on a house hunting spree with my relator when Ian was away in Iowa, and came across a house on the Northeast side that I really liked, but it wasn't really on my radar until I actually got to go inside and see how great it was. It desperately needed cleaning and some small other details, but I saw the potential right away. When Ian finally got to see it with me, he agreed. We made an offer the next day and closed after a few counter offers the following morning. It feels so good to know its mine, that I own something and I can put all the love, work and passion that I want into it. Here is a photo of the front:



I love the kitchen!!



Our close date is November 21st and we can not wait to start painting! Let me know if you are interested in joining the paint party. :)

On to baby stuff. Not much new, but I am growing everyday. I am happy to say I don't suffer from headaches as frequently and I feel pretty good for the most part, but I do have some trouble sleeping. I don't wake up very often to go to the bathroom, which is nice, but I am suffering when it comes to sleeping on my side. They say the best side to sleep on is your left, but my body clearly disagrees. I wake up to the worst ear and hip pain you could possibly imagine. Honestly, my left ear aches so bad and I can't quite figure out why. You would think I was sleeping on a brick. Its so annoying. When I am having these issues in my second trimester, I get more and more scared of reaching the third trimester every day. I'm just not looking forward to what it might bring.

So far, I've gained about 14 lbs now. That worries me a little, but it doesn't really look like I've gained that much. I'm at the halfway point though, and these last months are when the weight gain really adds on, and if I gain over 25-30 lbs, I fear its going to be really hard on me. I don't eat excessively, but sometimes it doesn't seem to matter. The weight just adds on no matter what you do. I still try to walk as much as I can, but with my busy life at this time, I can hardly find the time, and exhaustion is an issue. Here is my belly as of 22 weeks, 3 days(Bouulevard decided he wanted in on the photo):



On a fun note, when I found out I was having a girl, I went out with Christy during lunch to find something fun for the baby and ended up leaving with the coolest diaper bag I've ever seen!

LOVE IT!


It came with some great extras too: a changing pad, a bottle holder, and a zipper bag.




I guess I'm not off to a good start when I go to get something for the baby and end up buying something for myself. But I figure I might as well do that now because once she comes, it's going to be all about her.

Before I go, we went to Christy's for a Halloween party last night. Can you guess who Ian and I went as?

Its a GIRL!

Boy, was I WRONG!

I'm Going Through Changes...

I guess I haven't really realized how my belly has gotten bigger every week, mostly because I live with it so I don't notice all the small changes.


Here are some photos of my weekly progression:

16 weeks



18 weeks


16 week


18 weeks


It's subtle, but I can see the changes! I'm getting closer to my halfway mark, and so far I've gained 9 lbs. I can live with that! But I'm starting to develop some allergies, or cold like symptoms that have made me pretty sedentary. I'll feel much better when I can feel normal again and get some energy back.

This weekend I went to St. Louis and took the plunge and invested in cloth diapers. Everyone thinks I'm crazy, but they have no idea what cloth diapers are actually like. These are not your mother's cloth diapers(cloth and pins)! They are just like disposable diapers, but much more absorbent(they have microfiber inserts), and they last you until your child is potty trained so there is no need for replacement. They cost $18 per diaper though, and you need 24 to make it work. I bought the all-in-one diapers, which you can alter from newborn to toddler with snaps. Here is a photo of the way they look, with diagram, in a color I bought:



It costs a lot up front, but down the line it is going to be an incredible savings(people spend $1000 a year on diapers), on top of being SO much better for the earth. I feel so good knowing I won't be contributing to thousands of diapers being dumped into a landfill. It is a complete personal decision, but one Ian and I felt was best for us. Just trying to do my part, you know??? :)

My 20 week scan is coming up, and I am so excited! We'll get to register in St.Louis right afterward, and that is going to be overwhelming; things will REALLY start to kick in then.

I thought I would share the good news that Bank of America approved us for a home loan! Yippee! It only lasts for 90 days, so we might have to renew it but other than that, its a relief to know we have the first part taken care of. I've been looking mostly in the Columbia area now since we decided $135,000 is probably the max we can go; the homes we want in Ashland tend to be in the 140,000 and above range. We have luckily found tons of homes so far in the area that are perfect for us and are in the 129,000 range. I am very positive we will find our dream home soon!


On the baby front, I am learning he is QUITE the kicker. I think he's going to be a soccer player! He just kicked me again! This should get interesting... :)

Please forgive me!

Okay, I admit it, I have been a complete slacker this past month. I didn't feel there was much to report though. The time from 13 weeks to now, 17 weeks, was really dull, and not very fun to be perfectly honest. Though I am so fortunate to have sidesteped morning sickness and most of your typical first trimester woes, I have been dealing with one symptom that I didn't expect: migraine headaches. I mean, bad. All day, every day. I worried that taking tylenol on a daily basis was going to be bad for the baby, but my doc insisted he'd be just fine. So I've been doing just that, but still feeling pretty guilty that I'm pumping my body full of medicine. I wish there were alternative methods, but so far, there hasn't been much offered my way to help. So I'm getting by, but there are days I wonder if I can take 5 more months of this intense pain. My body is starting to become immune to Tylenol, and thats not a good thing! All I want for Christmas is a freaking massage at this point.

On a much happier note, I can finally feel the baby move! I'm very lucky to feel him so early on in my pregnancy, and good thing because I was about to lose my mind in anticipation! When I'm not getting ultrasounds, my mind starts wandering with unnecessary stress. At least now that I can feel his movement, its reassuring. It actually happened when I was 15 1/2 weeks and I went to Mandy's for some girl time and Mizzou football. We made nachos and those jalapenos must have been spicy because he let me know for about 10 minutes! I knew it wasn't gas(you would think making nachos, right?)- you can't mistake those little flutters! It is really the best feeling I can describe. You tend to forget you have this tiny growing human being in your stomach and out of nowhere, he reminds you and you can't help but smile. At the risk of sounding corny, its so amazing.

My 20 week ultrasound is set for October 9th now, and the gender will be revealed. I love that there are all these little milestones you get to look forward to. Just when you think it couldn't get better, it really does! And the ultimate prize is seeing and holding our baby for the first time. It will be surreal to see the baby at 20 weeks and maybe even get a small inkling of who he looks like more already. All I know: the baby better get Ian's height!

I'll post some photos of the belly soon; its certainly getting bigger and changing everyday! And even though I barely know my body anymore, you better believe its all worth it!