The Bump

I may be just shy of 39 weeks pregnant... but I feel like I am running about 49 weeks pregnant.  I'm not going to lie, the novelty has definitely worn off of being pregnant.  Sleep- ha that's funny.  Sitting- yeah that isn't comfortable.  Laying down- no relief there.  Walking- only causes swollen feet, which requires laying down, which causes heartburn.  Bending- you are kidding me right?  So, let's get right to the point.  I want my baby and I want it NOW!  What little scrap of patience that God gave me has officially been depleted.

Oh, you didn't log on to read all about my current grievances?  Well what are you looking for?  Would a picture of my watermelon belly make this visit worth your while?  If so, feast your eyes on this creamy white skinned bumpy goodness:

I feel bad for all of my above complaints.  This whole pregnancy journey has been a joy and a blessing.  While some times have been more trying than others, and the past few days seem to be endless, I could not be happier with our progress. While I may feel like the goodyear blimp, I know that I am baking a beautiful baby that will make it all worth while.

I realize that I may be a bit of a drama queen with some of my complaints, but I think it is because I really can't wait to meet Little T. And I am sure that when our eyes meet for the first time I will forget all about how embarrassing it is to toot every time I cough or sneeze.

The Bump

37 weeks now.  Officially FULL TERM.  Holy. Crap. I'm gonna be somebody's mother.


From a scientific viewpoint, 37 weeks marks the date when baby is done cooking. Of course, full term is an estimate and also a range which lasts from 37 all the way to 42 (42!!!) weeks. So in all reality I have anywhere from hours to weeks before Little T will get the actual eviction notice.  Do I think that we will have Little T here soon?  Nope. Especially not if the little one takes after me. I am pretty much always running late.


So here is the bump--- you've seen it clothed in a few previous posts, but here it is naked again in all of its tight skinned glory.

Yes, those are my pre-pregnancy jeans.  Yes, I am starting to resemble a duck. Yes, you are correct if you are thinking that I look less comfortable than last week. And no, my belly button has yet to pop (although the top part is starting to pull suspiciously down and out like it is thinking about popping but wants to wait to see what move the rest of the button makes).

So in honor of our "full term" status I thought we'd mix it up with a little Q&A.

How far along are you? 37 weeks

Have you gained any weight? Funny you should ask!  Why yes, I have gained some weight.  And by some, I mean that I no longer consider the scale to be my friend (as if we ever were).  In fact, I am no longer speaking to the scale.  We are having a rough patch.  All though shockingly my doctor seems to think that I have gained exactly what she thought I would.

Are you wearing all maternity clothes? Surprisingly, no. I am still wearing regular tank tops and a slew of regular skirts and dresses.  Some are ones that I have already owned and some new.  Mainly I am hot all of the time, so dresses and skirts have been key.

Do you have any stretch marks? I don't really want to answer this question because I am fearful that I will jinx my current situation.  Maybe I can just say "to be determined'?

How are you sleeping? I generally sleep like a champ.  Last night I did have to get up twice to skip to the loo.  Usually I sleep through the night though.

What was you best moment this week? Well, another thing I don't want to really jinx, but you might as well know.  Little T has been hanging breech.  Yeah.  I know.  BUT I am fairly positive that against all odds Little T may have flipped on Friday.  I won't know for sure until Wednesday.  If Little T has not flipped we will have to have a version.  This would not be good news.

Have you been having lots of movement? This late in the game movement should be slowing down.  BUT, Little T doesn't play by the book.  I would say movement has increased by about 50% in the past week.

Have you had any cravings? Ice cream.  Mmmmm ice cream.

Well folks, that is about it for this bump for now.  I'll just leave you with one parting pic.

ALSO!!! I you have yet to make your guess on when Little T will be here, what the heck are you waiting for? Click HERE

The Nursery Reveal

Drum roll please..... we have finally finished the Nursery.  With a lot of hours of work, and a lot of help from family and friends, we are proud to unveil our creation.  Yes, it is missing one key element, Little T.  But, he or she needs to bake just a little bit longer. 

Just a little reminder, here is what the room looked like before: 

And remember our inspiration from Spearmint Baby? Well here is our final product. We knew we wanted Dr. Seuss. We knew we wanted gender neutral. And we knew that we wanted the best nursery that we had ever seen. I am pretty sure that we accomplished all of those things. (although I may be a little biased)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And of course, you have to see what it looks like with the lights off and the back lighting on.  We did this so that when we have to get up at night we can use the soft glow rather than the bright overhead.  It is actually quite a warm glo--- just hard to photograph!

 

 

 

So how did we do it?  Well, let me break it down for you!

The White Stripe- the stripe around the room is actually built to stand off the wall by about 1 inch.  Behind it is rope lighting that connects to a light switch at the front of the room.  It creates a glow effect that allows us to see everything in the room without turning on the over head.

The Dr. Seuss Characters- Once we had decided on the theme and had an inspiration, we knew that we wanted a lot of handmade touches in the room.  We asked my dad if he would be willing to do a few drawings for us.  Before knowing exactly how many or how complex they'd be he agreed. Sucker! Each of the characters is hand painted (not traced, not projected, not copied) onto a piece of white styrete. This way we were able to place the characters around the room on the elevated lighted white stripe.  When Little T out grows the room we can simply take them down rather than having to paint over.  My dad spent hours working on this project and the room simply would not be the same without them

The Alphabet- Simply black vinyl cut in the Dr. Seuss font with my Cricut then applied around the room.  It is easy to remove if we ever want to make a change

The Green Chair- This super cozy chair is the Tryp by Best Chairs.  It was a gift from my parents and we were able to custom order it in our limey accent color.

The Bookshelf- The bottom is a closetmaid shelf and the top is a book ledge from Ikea.

The Polka Dot Lamp- This was a black lamp from target that was a shower gift from my cousin, I'm sure she didn't expect me to add the polka dots.  I just couldn't help myself.

The Curtains/Crib Skit- I made these to coordinate with the room.  

The Crib- The Graco Lauren Classic, a gift from Matthew's mom.

The Mobile- This is a fishy mobile from Ikea.  I am pretty sure it has been discontinued, but on our last trip to Ikea they had one randomly in a bin. Score!

The Changing Table- Matthew and I are both pretty tall so we wanted a nice high changing area.  We bought a closetmaid unit for $40 and added a $4 table top from Ikea to make this beauty.  We screwed it together and to the wall for support.  Once baby doesn't need it anymore it will convert into a shelf again.  I did some iron on vinyl on the bins too--- I can't be stopped with the cricut.

The Dresser- This actually is contained in the closet.  It holds all of Little T's clothes all organized and ready!

The Fan- This was a regular black ceiling fan, until I added the vinyl polka dots.  Now it looks like it was bought that way.

Everything Else- Ok, so I realize this is a very broad bullet point, but quite frankly I am running out of typing patience.  Just about everything in this room was altered in some way to give it our own personal touch.  I am so happy with how everything turned out and I can't wait to have our baby to bring home to see it.

Dr Seuss Throws a Shower

Well, I hope that none of my faithful blog readers is here on a dial-up connection, because the number of words and pictures in this post may cause your computer to crash. In addition, the number of stunningly creative ideas that you will witness may cause your brain to crash as well. When people wonder where I get my party planning and creative genes from they need to look no further than Mimsy. To say that she out did herself would be truly an understatement.

I knew I was in for a treat when en route we had passed by the Cat in the Hat telling us which way to go and Thing 1 and Thing 2 letting us know we were almost there. A five foot tall Cat in the Hat stood guard at the door. When I walked inside I could not believe it. The whole main level of the house had been transformed.  Tables were covered in bright and cheery polka dots, the kitchen was filled with pasta and fruit salads, cheeses, snacks and a spread of sandwiches that made my mouth water.

Around 12:30 the guests started to arrive. And arrive. And arrive. It seemed like everyone wanted to shower Little T! The women all gathered up stairs and the men headed downstairs for manly things. I was able to talk to everyone for a little bit, but this bump was in high demand!

Mimsy was in her element. She effortlessly floated through the massive crowd making everyone feel welcome. She made sure that everyone had a place to sit, a bite to eat and plenty of good conversation. I'm not sure how we got a picture of her sitting down!

Once we all had full bellies it was time to open presents. This is where I get totally blown away. I know that our family and friends care for us, but I can not believe how generous they were. Little T is truly blessed to have so many wonderful people to surround him or her. When I looked at the mountains of gifts I didn't know how I was going to be able to get through them.

Little T received so many wonderful things. I know that it can be challenging to buy for a baby that you have never met and that you have no idea of the sex, but that didn't seem to phase any of our guests. From the bath to the nursery, Little T is practically set!

About halfway through the gift opening extravaganza, Mimsy could see that I needed a break. No problem for my hostess. She had planned a little intermission entertainment. In honor of the Kentucky Derby being run later that day, she had her own horse race.  One by one she called up six men from the downstairs and loaded them into their "gates".  First was Matthew, then my Dad- Jack, our family friend- John, Adam, Andy and finally Aaron. Each was given a baby bottle with 2 ozs of beer. It was a drinking game and we all had to bet on our "horse". I, like most of the other 40 guests, put all my money on Aaron.

The race started and the excitement built in the room. I don't think I have ever seen anything as funny as six grown men frantically sucking down beer. Some even had their own techniques. Andy went for the squeezing the bottle method, while the rest mainly just sucked. I nearly wet myself laughing. If you ever need a shower game, I highly recommend this.

And in a twist of fate, not unlike many other Derby upsets, Aaron was not victorious. He barely even placed. He was obviously off of his game. The winner was the proud papa-to-be. Other contestants announced that Matthew "sucked the most".  I think that they were jealous.  

After the race we continued to open gifts. Finally, at the end of the presents I was able to give my mom her gift. I had wanted to make her something because I knew how much work she put into the shower. I also wanted it to be something useful. Since she will be watching Little T after I go back to work I thought a diaper bag was the perfect gift. She was surprised that I had had time to make it for her, and she loved it!  It may be the best bag that I have made yet.  I was able to make a pocket design that even included the word "Mimsy" like a brand.

Next came the best part of the shower. Many showers have a cake. Mine had cupcakes. Not one type. Not two. But FIVE different types of cupcakes.

She made each from scratch and had a variety of flavors all modeled after Seuss characters.  By far the crowd favorite was the Green Eggs & Ham cupcakes which featured Sam I am atop a key lime cupcake.  My favorite was the triple chocolate Cat in the Hat... mmmm... soo good.

Once everyone was sufficiently sugared up it was time to go home. But not without a parting gift of course. Each guest got a box of Yertle the Turtle handmade turtle candies. Just in case they needed a little more sugar on the way home.

I had so much fun seeing everyone and didn't want the day to end. Little T sure is going to be a lucky little baby!