The Nursery

We've been working on the nursery for the past week. We've removed all the furniture that was in the bedroom & are working on doing some painting. I painted the trim white & did some touch up paint on the walls. Looks like I am going to have to put a whole coat on the walls as you can see where I touched up compared to the rest of the walls.

So before anyone yells that I shouldn't be painting.....my doctor said it was fine for me to paint as long as I use latex paint (which I am), have the room well ventilated (windows open & fans are on) and take a break if the fumes bother me. The problem with pregnant women & painting used to be that before 1978 paint contained lead - which of course it does not now. :)

I had picked out a crib & dresser that I liked from Target online - they said they didn't have the crib to show in the store. The crib had received great reviews but the dresser not so much. Well our Target in Cary had the crib & dresser set up in the store. I brought Jordan there on Saturday to see if it met his standards. The crib did - the dresser failed miserably. :)

We went to Child's Space to see if they had anything that we liked. We found a set that we liked & that met Jordan's level of quality expectations. Here's the link if you'd like to look at it. We have ordered the crib & dresser that has the hutch on but didn't order the hutch. It looks nice but isn't very practical. She wouldn't be able to reach anything on the shelves until she was 8. So we are looking for a little bookshelf instead. Here's the link if you'd like to see it - we ordered it in the Chestnut color. http://www.babysdream.com/Products/Infinity/

The sales lady also sold me on a mattress. I couldn't resist the sales pitch. I don't know a whole lot about baby mattresses but she told me that foam mattresses are recommended but that they only hold up to 25 pounds. Once the baby reaches 25 pounds you need to buy another mattress. Well, they have a mattress that one side is foam and the other side has springs - so you just flip over the mattress when the baby gets to 25 pounds. The crib converts to a toddler bed then a full sized bed - the mattress will fit the toddler bed as well. Sounds great doesn't it? I thought so too. Well, there's another feature this mattress has. It has a button you can push to have the mattress vibrate for 10 minutes giving the baby the same feeling as riding in a car. Well, isn't that just the best thing you have ever heard of!! Of course the baby will probably hate it and we'll never use it but it's there just in case!

The only downfall to ordering this furniture is that it can take up to 8-12 weeks to come in (Target's was 7 days). My due date is in 14 weeks. :) I had to smother that little nesting voice in my head that was freaking out and remind myself that the baby will not care if her room is set up or not when she comes home. I have also reminded myself that we do have a pack-n-play already so if she comes early we can always have her sleep in that. Crisis resolved.

On our trip to Target I also wanted to get a CD player for the baby's room. I was just going to get a basic little CD player that I could plug head phones into so I could play music for her now - and I figured it would be nice to have it in her room for when she is actually here. I had one all picked out and then Jordan came over. He sees one that you can put an ipod in. Why buy some little piece of junk when we can buy one that has a hook up for an ipod?? I know the baby would have been very disappointed if we didn't get her a CD player that she could hook an ipod up to. So we go to Best Buy and purchase a very nice CD player that you can hook an ipod up to & a remote to control it - tons of bells and whistles. I have to admit it is very nice & as long as she doesn't drop it on the floor at some point & break it - it will be a very nice little player for her in the future.

I have had a few people ask for pictures of pregnant me - I will try to get Jordan to take a few tonight so I can post them for you.

Hope everyone had a nice long weekend!
Stefanie

Baby Names

So Jordan an I have one name right now that we both like. Not sure it's going to be the name we end up going with as we both think we need to keep looking in case we find something better we like.

I found this really interesting site while looking for baby names. Social Security Administration! What a great place to look and see what names are popular right now. You can also go as far back as 1879 to see the top 1000 names for that birth year. You can also type in a name and it will tell you how it ranked and in what year. Here is the link: http://www.ssa.gov/OACT/babynames/index.html

The name that Jordan & I like has not been in the top 1000 in the past 15 years. I'm not sure if that's good or bad. :)

The baby likes the sound of Jordan's voice. We were trying to get her to move the other day and she was quite willing to move all around when he was talking to her. He leaves the room and she won't budge when I talk to her. Guess she hears my voice all day. So I'm hoping this behavior of not listening when mommy talks doesn't continue once she's actually here. :)

So, I'm 23 weeks along and have gained 15 pounds. My doctor said 15 is right on target for where I am considering my height & build. I've been holding steady at 15 pounds for about a month. He figures I'll gain a pound a week from here on out - putting me at about gaining 30 pounds total. Well, I haven't gained anything since I last saw him and my eating habits certainly haven't changed......

With one exception. When we were in NY my mom made egg salad sandwiches for us to take with us on the ride back to NC. Let's just say they are my new favorite thing to eat. I have at least two a week. Actually, I just finished cooking a few eggs and will be having one for lunch today!

My favorite foods right now are cereal, fruit, peanut butter & jelly & egg salad sandwiches, & peppridge farm oatmeal cookies. :) I honestly could care less if I ate anything else. Jordan on the other hand isn't so happy with those selections for dinner so I try to cook other food for him. It's kind of hard coming up with ideas for dinner when you really don't want to eat it. I try to have a few things he will like i.e. some sort of meat, starch & vegetable - then I've been sneaking in a fruit salad for me - and for dessert a peppridge farm cookie, with a glass of milk of course!!!

That's all for now, hope you all enjoy the rest of the summer!

NY Baby Shower

I've had my first baby shower. My mom and friend Krystal were so nice to have a shower for me in NY when I wasn't so big it would be uncomfortable to travel. They had it at my parents house in their side yard. They had put up a large white tent with tables and chairs decorated with balloons. We couldn't have asked for better weather. The sun was shining & it wasn't too hot. We did have a little bit of wind which tried to knock over a few umbrellas & peoples plates though. :) We managed just fine.

The men (just a few) cooked hot dogs & hamburgers for us and we had tons of sides & appetizers to go with it. There was a diaper cake, a real cake & baby bottles filled with candy. We received a lot of great items for the baby. If you'd like to see pictures from the shower click here. The 4Runner was quite full on the way back home! All an all a perfect day!

I'm still trying to find a place for everything. Right now most of what we received will have to stay put in our family room b/c the nursery is just not ready yet.

The baby & I are doing just fine. She moves all the time now. Her favorite time seems to be between 7:00 & 10:00 at night. She must be getting bigger b/c we are starting to see my stomach move with some of her more forceful movements. I've gained about 12-14 pounds at this point and I am 22 weeks along. I feel great with no real changes except I now have a belly. :) So far this pregnancy has been a breeze - I hope it continues to be that way!

Movement

I've had several people ask me in the past few weeks if I have felt any movement yet. Until Monday the answer was no. I felt her move for the first time Monday at 5:22. I was sitting at my desk working on my laptop when I felt it - very subtle, if I wasn't sitting still I probably woulndn't have noticed it. Kind of felt like a bubble moving around. I felt her move two other times that night. Since then I've felt her move about 3-5 times a day.

Jordan has been trying to feel her by putting his hand where I felt the movement. He thought I was just teasing him by saying she was moving or that maybe I was wrong and what I was feeling was not her. I believe he thought I was just having gas. I told him that I've never felt anything like this before so I was pretty sure it wasn't gas. :)

We were watching t.v. last night and she was moving around quite a bit. So he put his hand where I had felt her move last and I told him to be patient and just keep his hand there for a while. Well, low and behold after a few minutes she moved (it was a big move) and he felt her, twice actually!

We have not decided on a name yet. We throw a few out every now and then but nothing that we both like so far. We have a few middle names we like, but nothing for the first name. I should tell you now - when we have decided on a name we are keeping it a secret until she is born. So you'll have to wait until December to find out!!

Have a great weekend!!

It's a girl!!!

Jordan an I went to have the ultrasound Thursday morning & they told us they are 99% sure it's a girl. Guess they probably say that to everyone just in case. :) The appointment went well - they said she looks good & her measurments are right on target. To see ultrasound pictures click here.

We went to Babie's R Us to finish up registering. We had kind of a hard time picking out bedding. I really didn't want something really girly & everything they had there was pink! Not a whole lot to choose from. We ended up not registering for the bedding there & started looking online. I found this set that I absolutely love!! It's very bright and cheerful looking, not too babyish, and has lots of colors besides pink!! Plus it has little baby zoo animals which I love too. I registered for it on this website called babyenvy.com . Check it out!!

We haven't picked out a name yet. I've tossed a few around that I like - but Jordan didn't like them so I guess we'll keep trying!!

Grandma Lynn has already brought over 3 little girl outfits for baby Duggan. Now she has some clothes hanging in her closet!!

Definitely makes things more real knowing what we are having & that she has some belongings in the house.

Nesting?

So, I know I said that I wouldn't post until after we found out if we are having a boy or a girl but something kind of funny happened today that I thought I would share.

This is the first weekend in a long time that I do not have to work. I knew I wanted to do some cleaning and things around the house that have been neglected a bit.

I did some of the normal household things like laundry, vacuuming, mopping, changing the sheets etc. I did have Jordan help me flip our mattress over too.

Then for some reason I got the idea to clean out our master closet. I started going through my clothes and made a pile for Good Will. I then decided that our closet needed to be organized. I started moving items around and straightening shoes. I realized that we needed some organizational items for our closet - the shelves that have been in there for the past 6 years and have been fine until now - are just working anymore. :) I went to Bed Bath and Beyond and bought one shoe rack & one sweater/shoe rack combo - both that hang from the closet rod.

I set those up, put items in them, cleared our shelves & vacuumed the carpet in the closet. Closet looks great. I then move on to my dresser and go through all of those clothes and put another pile for Good Will. While I'm sitting on the floor with a dresser drawer in front of me I can see the bathroom cabinet. The next thing I need to organize of course. On to the cabinets underneath my sink in the master bath. Throwing out old medicine, make-up, lotions etc. Once my cabinet is nice and neat and I have quite a large pile of trash I realize that I can't leave the drawer messy so I start to clean that out as well.

As I was looking over to the bathtub thinking I needed to clean out a basket that has bath items in it, I realize what is going on. I started with the closet at 2:00 and it is now 8:00 (although to my defense that includes a trip to BB&B and to get a smoothie) I think to myself, what am I doing? I must look like a nut right now. I put down the items I had in my hand and walk into Jordan's office. I very simply say, "Hun, I think I'm nesting." He just looks over at me and smiles. (Of course all day he has been in the house with me so he's seen what I've been doing. I think he already knew but just let me do what I needed to do.)

Well, so now I know - I'm nesting. But that doesn't stop me. I of course have to finish what I've started in the bathroom - and that basket on the bathtub too. Once I finish - at about 8:45 I call it a day.

The rest of the house may be a mess but our closet & bathroom are neat as a pin!!!

Can you imagine how neat an organized our house would be if every weekend I didn't have to work!?!?

:)

Boy or Girl?

Jordan an I go next week (July 19th) to find out if we are having a boy or a girl.

Anyone want to take a guess as to which one it is? :)

I have a feeling it's a boy. My only reason for this is b/c I have had no morning sickness at all - and have felt pretty good throughout the pregnancy so far. I've heard and seen friends who had girls who were quite sick during their pregnancy. Of course this could be a complete myth - and I could be 100% wrong. :) But it's fun to guess anyways!

So I haven't had morning sickness - but I have had other pregnancy ailments that of course no one ever had mentioned to me before. For the past two weeks I've had headaches almost everyday - the kind that are already there when you wake up in the morning. Those have been a lot of fun. I haven't had one in a few days so maybe they have run their course.

Everyone keeps asking me if I've felt the baby move yet. Answer is still no. Maybe next week. :)

I've gained 8 pounds so far. Jordan took some pictures of me last night - but I don't find them flattering so I'm not posting them. :) He would only take my picture in a white tank top and black pants. I tried to get him to take some the other day when I had normal clothes on but he wouldn't. I'll try again this week.

I probably won't post again until after we find out what we are having. So you have over a week to make your guess as to what the baby is going to be!