34 weeks...my return

ok, i should get this out of the way before i post my weekly update.  clearly, i have been ABSENT lately.  i think i just kind of reached the point in this pregnancy where i am just a little "over it". we have been extremely busy with the basement remodel for the last several months, and while it may be no excuse, i'm just burnt out.  the nursery isn't done (although i vowed it would be weeks ago), i still have no clue whether i possess the "right" stuff for this child, the house is a wreck, none of my clothes fit, i can't ever get comfortable, and i'm just generally a bit cranky these days.  i know i should be thankful that i have had a rather uneventful pregnancy and as far as we know, i am harboring a healthy baby girl; but sometimes it is hard not to be a bit whiny and "woe is me"...so i'm going to try to do better. TRY is the key word here people...here is an update (without pictures, i'll work on that).

How far along? 34 weeks

 

Total weight gain: 25 lbs! which forced me to move the bottom thing on the scale...it was traumatizing...still not over that

  

Maternity clothes? even those don't fit...i find every excuse possilbe to wear sweatpants and chuck's t shirts.  i may start wearing that to work...what is the worst that could happen?

Stretch marks? not yet, not sure how

Sleep: this is definitely not improving, but i'm still sleeping

 

Best moment this week:  umm...the carmel pie I ate last night...or the 3 donuts i ate yesterday...my life is pathetic 

Wedding rings on or off? On! 

Happy or Moody most of the time: happy this week

Miss Anything? being comfortable, we take that for granted

Movement: everyday! 

Food cravings:  sweets, all the time.

 

Anything making you queasy or sick: nope

Gender: little precious GIRL

Labor Signs: Nope. 

Symptoms: indigestion! (i live on tums) and a big ol belly, and hip pain

Belly Button in or out? OUT!!   

Looking forward to: a normal sized uterus.  and thanksgiving dinner

 

Other: maternity pictures are tomorrow.  the nursery is still not complete (we swear that will happen today...i hope so).  i'm just hoping i don't look like a beached whale in EVERY picture.  maybe they will surprise me, doubtful.  i promise i'll post pictures soon, my size is shocking.  i need to update about our chattanooga shower too...it was AWESOME.

32 weeks

Yes, i know i haven't blogged in 2 weeks! I'm lazy, I'm fat, and now I've been sick for the last 3 days.  And no, there isn't going to be pictures at the end of this, because we haven't taken any...maybe tonight...

 

How far along? 32 weeks, 1 day

Total weight gain: no clue, because I don't think I have been to the gym since the last time I posted...over 20 I'm guessing

 

Maternity clothes? YES, and even those are starting to get tight.  it is too cold here to live in dresses which is hindering my wardrobe...(note to self for next baby, if there is a next baby, plan 8/9 months for fall or spring)

Stretch marks? not yet, not sure how

Sleep: sleeping is getting worse, i have to wake up and pee at least once a night now, which somehow i had avoided up until this point.

 

Best moment this week:  there aren't too many to speak of..I've been sick, and it's been cold. she has been super active which is always nice.

 

Wedding rings on or off? On! 

Happy or Moody most of the time: happy this week

Miss Anything? food in general, i haven't been able to eat anything in 3 days

Movement: everyday! 

Food cravings:  sweets, all the time. would still kill for a cold turkey sandwich, on white bread, with mayo

 

Anything making you queasy or sick: uhhh everything...

Gender: little precious GIRL

Labor Signs: Nope. 

Symptoms: indigestion! (i live on tums) and a big ol belly.

Belly Button in or out? OUT!!   

Looking forward to: finishing the nursery...like really done. and our shower in Chattanooga this weekend.

 

Other: my goal for the nursery to be complete was 32 weeks..WOMP, WOMP!! we are close, but there is still stuff left to do.  my new goal is 34 weeks (before maternity photos).

the best kind of shower...

the kind of shower that involves cake and presents!!! saturday my amazing friends teamed up and threw me a kickass baby shower! they seriously went all out and i have been kicking myself for 2 days for not bringing my camera to prove it.  thankfully mom did get some pictures on her iphone so i can prove that this shower did happen and that it did indeed kick ass...but i wish i had more pictures! i even got a diaper cake for goodness' sake...who doesn't love a diaper cake!! (too bad i would rather stare at it than use it's contents...i'm not sure how long chuck is going to let it serve as our dining room table centerpiece...)

the party started with food...lots of food.  there were at least 10 different appetizer options, cake, cookies, oreo balls, and tons of candy to graze upon.  i must admit, i probably ate more dessert than i did regular food...no regrets here! check out this cake Mary had made for the event...her baker even mimicked the fabrics i am using in the nursery on the frosting...(ignore the fact the Spearman may or MAY NOT have the R in it...)

after food, all the guests took turns painting customized onesies for Charlee.  they turned out really good, and the event did not fail to entertain! next we played a quick game of "who knows mommy best"...it shouldn't surprise anyone that my own mommy took home the grand prize....i think i woud be a little hurt if she hadn't.

next up was gifts! we got so much stuff! thankfully many of these girls know WAY more about parenting than i do and hooked me up with all kinds of goodies! charlee got toys, books, clothes, and all kinds of other stuff.  i was so excited Sunday, i washed all her clothes and assembled her swing (our house will never be the same).

i can't thank everyone enough for throwing me such an fantastic shower! my friends never cease to amaze me with their awesomeness! all we need now is a BABY!

75% complete...

 

How far along? 30 weeks, 4 days (30 out of 40...hence the title...)

Total weight gain: 20 something pounds... 

Maternity clothes? YES.  

Stretch marks? not yet, not sure how

Sleep: sleeping pretty good

 

Best moment this week:  my baby shower hosted by some amazing friends

Wedding rings on or off? On! 

Happy or Moody most of the time: happy this week

Miss Anything? turkey sandwich (jimmy johns in particular)...STILL

Movement: everyday! 

Food cravings:  sweets, i had a random pimento cheese craving that i fulfilled at lunch today

Anything making you queasy or sick: nope

Gender: little precious GIRL

Labor Signs: Nope. 

Symptoms: indigestion! (i live on tums) and a big ol belly.

Belly Button in or out? OUT!!   

Looking forward to: finishing the nursery...like really done.  we washed all the clothes yesterday, now i just have bibs, blankets, towels, etc left to wash.

Other: we had our first shower on saturday, i am reserving a whole post just for that...it was AWESOME! i got to see lots of friends, ate lots of yummy food and cake, and everyone showed so much generosity to our little angel  baby!

since i am a slacker and haven't posted 3d pictures yet, here is a teaser.  I must note that due to an unfortunately located placenta, we really didn't get that great of pictures.  we are actually going to try again this friday at our appointment, so if we see better results I will post more.  regardless, she is still the cutest thing in the entire world and no one can tell me otherwise....

and yes, i do have a CD full of the actual images, but this is a picture of a picture taken by my phone...sorry!

nails + string = AWESOMENESS!

i have let my creative side flourish a bit during this nursery preparation! you have already seen the results of my sewing (well some of it anyways...i promise you will see it all eventually).  the next project i'm going to show you is sort of a nod to the wooden letters everyone is doing in nurseries these days.  I just couldn't bring myself to spell out her name in wood letters hung by cute ribbons **while there is ABSOLUTELY nothing wrong with this, it just didn't have the right feel for me**; however I did want to have her name or initials somewhere in the room.  after tossing around a couple of ideas, i settled on doing a string art project.  this probably isn't new to anyone, it is much like a "trace the dots" kinda thing...make dots with nails, fill in with string! I'll quickly take you through the process, if you aren't interested in my labor just scroll to the bottom to find the finished product. 

First i bought a piece of sanded (paint/stain ready) wood (i think it is about 2.5'x4').  Then Chuck stained and polyurethaned it for me (i don't have pictures of this part...i think it is pretty straight forward).  Then it sat in our basement for 2 weeks waiting on me to get motivated.  finally, i was ready.  i used adobe illustrator to type out the name and then convert the outline to a dotted line (i ended up with a dot every 0.75").  here is my font


I went with the one on the top

Once I sized it correctly and changed the outline, i printed it out, taped it to my stained wood and started putting nails on the dots (this took a while...and my hand started hurting from nailing).  during this phase I had three spectators (2 were critiquing my every move...chuck and dad, and one was sucking on that pink bunny)

during the nailing process

finished nailing! considering leaving it just like this!

the next step (while the most time consuming) is probably the easiest and most straight forward.  use your chosen string and start filling in between the nails.  I chose to go around the outside edge once and then do the middle.  the picture below was taken after about 2 passes across the name (i probably ended up doing about 8 passes). 



i left the string at the ends of the nails, to give it more dimension...i know, i'm artsy!



finished product...where it still sits.

  i love it! i can't wait to hang it in the nursery.  obviously i'm going to have to secure it very well to the wall as we don't want this falling on anyone.  i'm glad i thought outside the box on the whole name art thing...

29 weeks

How far along? 29 weeks

Total weight gain: 18 lbs, at least. 

Maternity clothes? YES.  

Stretch marks? not yet, not sure how

Sleep: sleeping pretty good, getting pretty uncomfortable in the mornings 

 

Best moment this week:  watching our little girl almost kick the phone off my belly when I was playing her Mozart on Pandora

Wedding rings on or off? On! 

Happy or Moody most of the time: happy this week

Miss Anything? turkey sandwich (jimmy johns in particular)

Movement: everyday! 

Food cravings:  sweets

Anything making you queasy or sick: nope

Gender: little precious GIRL

Labor Signs: Nope. 

Symptoms: indigestion! (i live on tums) and a big ol belly.

Belly Button in or out? OUT!!   

Looking forward to: our 3d ultrasound TOMORROW! i promise I'll post pictures of the cutest baby in the world soon!

Other: excited about seeing Mom tomorrow, and lots of UAH friends on Saturday when I'm in town for the alumni game! 

latest picture...baby as big as a butternut squash! apparently that is a BIG vegetables!

28 weeks

How far along? 28 weeks, 1 day

Total weight gain: 17 (!!!) lbs as of yesterday...and growing.  I'm trying to be ok with this.

Maternity clothes? YES.  all this time.  mostly dresses that resemble mu mus

Stretch marks? not yet, not sure how

Sleep: sleeping ok this week

 

Best moment this week:  finishing up my sewing projects!

Wedding rings on or off? On! 

Happy or Moody most of the time: happy this week

Miss Anything? nothing too bad

Movement: everyday! 

Food cravings:  sweets

Anything making you queasy or sick: nope

Gender: little precious GIRL

Labor Signs: Nope. I did feel my first braxton hicks contraction the other day...interesting

Symptoms: indigestion! (i live on tums) and a big ol belly.

Belly Button in or out? OUT!! when i stand up.  

Looking forward to: our 3d ultrasound next week...

Other: headed to gainesville later today to watch FL vs LSU in the SWAMP! excited about the game, not so excited about the 8 hour drive and having to pee every 50 miles!

28 weeks and growing!

and just for fun...a look back