Newest Find

Since I found out we were expecting I have been browsing diaper bags. Not sure why, but this is one item I have put a lot of thought in to. Last night I made my purchase. Check out this beauty:

JJ Cole Swag Diaper Bag

It has 3 zipper pockets on the outside, 4 exterior insulated pouches, and lots of pockets on the inside for organization, two of which are insulated. It even comes with a changing pad and an area where this, diapers, and a wipes case can go. It has a little zipper pouch that attaches inside the bag, a key clip, and stroller clips attachments are included. The strap is adjustable so you can change the length to wear it over the shoulder or across the body. It zips shut which is a good thing for me since I tend to loose things if a bag doesn't.

I am laughing at myself about how excited I am about a diaper bag. :) I ordered it from diapers.com because I had a $10 off coupon and they have free 2 day shipping. Can't beat that.

Nursery Sneak Peek: Take 1

First peak at the nursery with the furniture all together and in place (minus the glider and ottoman).

Notice all of the clothes and such in the crib. I swear that I have only bought about six outfits, the rest is the grandmas. Little Miss is already getting spoiled.

(Vacuum is still in it's original spot, we still need to figure out where we are going to keep that now).

The changing table baskets arrived and now I just need to get them together and in place. Notice the beach bag, debating on returning is so it is hanging out there for now.

Crib mattress, exciting I know. ;)

Bedding and a cute little pillow I couldn't pass up at Home Goods.

And finally the paint. This our next task along with cleaning out the closet. I just need to figure out where I am going to put that stuff. I am so many clothes and apparently cannot bear to get rid of them

Thankful Thursday

~ I am thankful for our precious baby girl. I sometimes take for granted that she is growing and everything is going good so far. I was on BabyCenter and saw several birth announcement already for the September Birth Club. These women are only due one month before me, it was sad and scary. Please stay put little princess.

~ I am thankful for health insurance. I didn't realize how important it was until I was pregnant.

~ I am thankful for my husband and his support. He was especially great during the first trimester where I literally puked 24/7. If it were not for him we would have gone hungry, naked, and lived in pig stye.

~ I am thankful for the place that I work. They were so understanding when I was so sick and I was able to work from home on the days I was really bad (but not so bad I couldn't work at all).

~ I am thankful for Zofran, these little pills were like heaven in a bottle and helped so much with morning sickness.

~ I am thankful for Babies R Us. I know that sounds silly, but I love it is a one stop shop for all things baby.

~ I am thankful for full panel maternity pants. They may look hideous, but they are so comfy.

~ I am thankful for watermelon. I am thirty and crave sweets all the time, it satifies me every time.

~ I am thankful for little miss's kicks and jabs. I seriously smile ear to ear when she moves, the greatest feeling!

~ I am thankful for the love that I already have for our sweet little girl. I never knew I could love someone this much without ever meeting. She has filled me with so much happiness and I am so grateful!

Bump Update: 21 Weeks

How far along? 21 Weeks 5 Days

Total weight gain/loss: 0 lbs. I am now back at my pre-pregnancy weight. It took awhile before I started gaining what I lost from the m/s, but once it started it never stopped. I am caught up now, so it can slow back down to the normal rate anytime. My appetite is hellacious these days!


Maternity clothes? I've ditched the belly band and am pretty much full force maternity clothes. Although I still wear some of my regular shirts that stretch well.


Stretch marks? Still none yet and I am totally fine with it staying that way. Still using the Palmer's and greasing myself up nightly with this "magic" oil stuff. If I get them at least I can say I tried, right?

Sleep: This is getting a little better. Seems like only on occasion I have to get up in the middle of the night to pee. I am also sleeping with this dandy little thing. Can we say in love!

Boppy Pregnancy Cuddle Pillow

Movement: Baby R is moving like crazy and I can FEEL it! It is so amazing. Hubby has felt her move a few times. It was truly a great moment for us! I love watching my belly when the movement gets strong I can see my stomach actually move. It's crazy and awesome!

Food cravings: At this point I am just loving food, maybe too much. Just trying my best to eat as healthy as possible.

Gender: Baby Girl!

Labor Signs: Again, none, and so thankful for that!

Belly Button in or out? In, but still thinking that it will pop. It almost fully flush with my stomach now.


Weekly Wisdom: I used to think that it was going to be so fun shopping for maternity clothes. I am so picky and it just seems like most things just don't fit right. I completely forgot that I had made that statement about looking forward to maternity clothes, until my sweet Hubby reminded me. Oh boy was I wrong.


Milestones: Being at the over halfway there point. :)


What I'm Looking Forward To: Painting the baby's room. Hoping that will be done in the next week or so.

21 Weeks:

Nursery Loot

After we found out that Baby R was a girl the shopping began. We purchased all of her furniture online at Babies R Us.

Storkcraft Aspen Stages Crib

Storkcraft Aspen 5 Drawer Chest

Storkcraft Aspen Changing Table

I already had the bedding picked out (Ryan had agreed) and planned on ordering it as soon as we found out. Once we found out we were having a girl Ryan starting second guessing the bedding choice. You see I was always saying if I ever had a little girl she would not have a room that looked like a pink explosion. So the bedding we had picked out was red, sage green, black, and silver. He decided that it was not baby enough and looked too modern. Plus he said he wanted his little girl to have girly things. I am so glad that he spoke up because I love what we found instead.

Pink and Lime Paisley Splash by Baby Sam

Ryan's parents were so generous and bought us the chair and matching ottoman that we wanted. They are the same green color that is in her bedding (not the chocolate chenille type material I have shown below, they only have this one online for some reason) and are soft and oh so comfy. We are so thankful that we ordered when we did because to be able get the plain green we had to custom order it which takes 12-14 weeks. So hopefully there are no delays beyond that or we will be pushing it!

Newco Serenity Classic Glider and Ottoman

Tonight we finalize our choices for the paint colors and Ryan will paint hopefully next week. He already has all the furniture up and in place (minus the chair of course). I took pictures this morning and will do a nursery sneak peek with all the furniture set up before the painting begins.

I don't know about everyone elses' experiences, but I am having so much fun finding ideas and getting things ready for her room. 19 more weeks!

Maternity Clothes

For as long as I could I wore stretchier shirts and a BellaBand with my pants until about 3 weeks ago, when I hit the point where I NEEDED maternity clothes. My pants were becoming a pain to keep up with the just the BellaBand so I gave in and went shopping. I was pretty excited about this, until I actually started the process of shopping.

I ordered a few things from Old Navy online. The stuff looked so cute, but in person it seriously looked awful on me. I only ended up keeping one shirt. I also went to Target. They have some good basic items, the problem is apparently everyone in my area wears my size. I could only find one pair of capris in my size that I liked. I toured all the various Motherhood Maternity/Destination Maternity/Pea in the Pod stores. I managed to get a few shirts and bottoms that I was satisfied with. I also found a few items at Gap and got a pair of Long and Lean maternity jeans that I love.

Check them out:

Did I mention that I LOVE the full panel. This surprises me because I was sure I would like the medium one. The full panel is comfortable and smooths everything out. I feel like at this stage the medium panel cuts my bump in half and makes me just look chubby not pregnant.

I now have a couple different bottoms and tops. I am still wearing my pre-pregnancy shirts that I can. After three weeks I feel like I am already tired of wearing these outfits. I need more stuff, but have no idea where else to go. I have also visited a more expensive boutique and I really like a lot of their stuff. But in reality I can't make myself spend $80 on a shirt. I would definitely consider doing so a great pair of jeans though. I have found one brand that has lots of super cute stuff, Olian. It may definitely be my go to brand for when I need a special outfit.

Right now I am looking for a dress for the several weddings we have this summer/fall. They are all different groups of people for the most part so one good dress would do the trick. Now I just need to find it. If any of you have any tips/suggestions for stores or websites that have some good maternity dresses, please send them my way! Also, just maternity clothes stores in general, I will take any leads I can get. Thanks!!

Take a peak at this Olian dress I drooling over, just wish I could find it in my size. :(

Feeling Yucky and Quick Question...

I woke up Sunday morning with a little cough. It was no big deal, I felt better after eating breakfast and having some water. Then came Monday morning. I woke with a cough and sore throat. I used some natural cough drops and went about my day. By the end of the evening I was extra exhausted. Now this morning I woke up with a cough, sore throat, headache and just overall felt yucky. I decided it was best for me and Baby R to take it easy and rest this off. So I took off today. Of course this always happens when I am super busy, but I reminded myself that my health is very important right now. Since I can't really take anything to speed up the recovery a little TLC had to be the right answer. So far I have taken two naps today. I don't feel 100% but I plan to go to bed early tonight so I will hopefully be much better tomorrow. Being sick and pregnant is not easy that is for sure.

On to my next little predicament. Sunday is Father's Day. While Ryan is not yet technically a father I still feel like he deserves something special (not to mention he gave me the cutest card and a gift certificate for a prenatal massage for Mother's Day). So now I am still trying to figure out what to get him. I have not gotten any leads from him, so I need YOUR help. I want to try and do something related to baby if it works out, but at this point I am getting desperate with Father's Day being this Sunday. Any ideas?

Big News Reveal...............

Yep, it's what your thinking. I am ready to share the gender of Baby R with all of you!

Let me take you back to the first ultrasound (not technically the first one, but one where we could possibly find out the gender). It was Friday May 14th and I was 16 weeks. We were going for part one of our 4D ultrasound. We bought the package where you go once around 16-20 weeks and then later on again at the time of your choice. We were told that she would only tell us a gender if she was 100% sure. So we went in and immediately saw our LO on the screen moving around like crazy. She said that since she could see everything so well I could go ahead and empty my bladder. I was thrilled I already felt as if I were going to pee my pants! Once I got back in the room she started showing us all the parts of our LO. Then she said "I'm 98%, nope 100% sure what you are having, do you still want to know?" We said "Yes of course," and she told us. I was shocked, it was what Ryan said all along. I immediately started bawling (tears of joy of course), we were hugging, it was definitely a great moment. We asked if she had ever told anyone one gender at 16 weeks and it changed, she said she is proud to say she has NEVER been wrong in 25 years. Wow, we were impressed. Still I wasn't sure we should share the news with everyone until later. (A later post on the gender reveal party.) The ultrasound went on and we got to marvel at our precious baby. We left with a bag full of pictures and a CD of everything set to lullabies (not gonna lie I have seriously watched it 10 times at least in the last month).

Now we are at the ultrasound last Thursday June 3rd,  I am 19 weeks and this one is at the OB office. We told the ultrasound tech that we had a 4D and they told us what it was. We have heard so many stories of people finding out early and it was not correct so we were not going to share and wanted to see what she said. She went about the exam where she measures and checks everything and then she said "Well I can tell you for sure what you are having, so let's see if what you were told first was correct." And we hear you're.........

This is what we were told the first time and we were still so thrilled! We have already purchased her furniture and bedding. I will sharing the start of her room very soon. We also have it narrowed down to two names, I prefer one, he prefers the other. We will be sharing it with our friends and family as soon as one of us gives up the battle we figure it out. I haven't decided if I will share with the blogger world or wait until her arrival. We shall see....

20 weeks today, halfway there to meeting our sweet baby girl!!!!!!!!!

Bump Update: 18 Weeks

How far along? 18 Weeks 6 Days

Total weight gain/loss: -4 lbs from my pre-pregnancy weight.

Maternity clothes? I took the plunge last week and went shopping. I am at the stage now where most of my pre-pregnancy clothes still fit, but are very uncomfortable.

Stretch marks? None, but I know it is probably too early for that. So I am just going to keep my fingers crossed and keep lathering up with Palmer's.

Sleep: I think I have forgotten what it is like to get a full night's sleep uninterrupted. I still wake up at least once a night to pee and I still have back pain. Now it is not just my sciatic nerve, but also pain in the middle of my back. It feels like muscle strain pain, but I don't do any heavy lifting so it has to be pregnancy related. I am falling apart it seems.

Movement: I have felt Baby R move a couple times. At first I was not sure what it was, but the nervous tummy and popcorn popping feeling in there has to be our sweet baby. I am ready for some consistent moving, I get all gushy everytime I feel it which is every few days.

Food cravings: Sweets, ice cream, candy bars, and tasty fruit. Cannot get enough!

Gender: We found out a couple weeks ago and we will have our mid-pregnancy ultrasound TOMORROW to find out for sure!

Labor Signs: Again, none, and so thankful for that!

Belly Button in or out? In, but from the looks of things it will pop. The question is when? Question for all those who have went through this before. Does it go back in after the baby? I do not know anyone that had an outie so this is all new to me.

Weekly Wisdom: Your butt can grow even when you are not gaining weight. Not sure if this is wisdom, but certainly a provable fact.

Milestones: Does getting your first maternity clothes count?

What I'm Looking Forward To: Tomorrow afternoon. We get to see Baby R again and hopefully confirm the gender we found out at 16 weeks.

18 Weeks:

Vote Please!!!

I put up a gender poll, curious what the bloggy world's guess is. Cast your vote! :)

I've been keeping a secret...

well sorta, but I'll explain. A little over a month ago I found out about a 4D ultrasound place that was super close to our house. They had a fabulous Mother's Day special for a 2 part 4D ultrasound. The first part could be done as early as 16 weeks where they would also tell us what we were having if they could tell. The second is done later in pregnancy where you can pretty much tell exactly what your baby will look like. We decided to do it. The idea of being able to know 3 weeks earlier what our sweet little baby was thrilled us. The lady doing our ultrasound said she was 100% sure what we were having so we found out at 16 weeks and 1 day!

I decided not to share this until we have our mid-pregnancy ultrasound at the doctor's office and they confirm (hopefully no surprises), since I have heard that sometimes when people find out early it is not always correct. We have this ultrasound this week on Thursday. I will share then what we are having. Hopefully they confirm, otherwise I have a lot of returning to do since I just could not resist a little shopping. So stay tuned for a bump update with pictures this week and gender reveal on Friday. :)