30 Week Bumpdate

Only 10 weeks left, baby girl!!!

Or less!!

We just can't wait to meet our Tiny Dancer.

:)

Duke the Dingleberry

Do you see this guy??

Oh sure, he looks innocent enough. But don't let him fool you. He's a rascal.

He's of the terrier variety (Fox or Rat Terrier.. we don't really know. We're too cheap to spring for the Doggie DNA test), which means he has a lot of um.. SPUNK to him. He likes to get places in a hurry. And by places, I mean one area rug to the next. He'll seriously do a full speed sprint through the living room and then literally do a flying leap onto the dining room rug 10 feet away. It's just the way he likes to travel. Everything is exciting, a big event, a celebration, worth a good butt wiggle, etc. Especially when mom and dad get home. Namely dad.

Anyway, on Sunday morning, we decided to play hooky from church so that this pregnant lady could try and tackle a few of her 1,674 pre-baby projects and actually cross a few off the list (Mission: Sort of Accomplished). Well this was big news for Duke. You mean mom and dad are staying home??? A family day??? SA-WEEEET!!

So what does my darling dog do? Well, he heads to the backyard for his morning fence perimeter check and sniff-out, then he um, takes care of some business. We can always tell when his bathroom experience has been ohhh, successful, because he comes tearing through the doggie door and bounds across the house like he's got a new lease on life.
He's literally lightened his load.

So we hear him barreling in and do a quick turn when he realizes our bedroom door has shut and we're inside changing the sheets. I can hear him race into the nursery, step-ball-change and race back out. Sheesh.

A few minutes later I head into the baby's room to get to work on the crib skirt and nearly pass out. There are faint paw prints across the carpet (we only have carpet in the bedrooms) and HORROR OF HORRORS, a tiny little dingleberry on my SWEET PRECIOUS BABY GIRL'S FLOOR!

OMG.

Are you kidding me?? Is it really so exciting that we're staying at home that you can't finish up your "business" before coming inside to see us??

Thankfully hubby breaks out the Resolve and papertowels while I give Duke a piece of my mind. Nevermind that the nursery is still where he sleeps at night- he's lost his daytime privileges in this room!

Fast forward to this morning, getting ready for work. I'm standing at my dresser, intent on selecting the perfect pair of socks to wear on the first official day of boot season, when I hear that rascal of a dog tear through the house and into our room behind me. Then hubby comes out of the bathroom and lets out a roar that he's done it again!!

Another dingleberry!!

What the heck is going on here?? This has never happened before these two incidents!

I head to the kitchen to see that Duke has not gone back outside as commanded, but is sitting on my beautiful rug, in the crouching tiger pooping dog position, and there is a full sized dog turd next to him!!!

AAAAGGGGHGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

I scream and he's out the doggie door like a bat out of hell. Hubs comes running in as I take a step closer and realize that it is not, in fact, a dog log, but rather the remnants of his (dead) fox toy, who happens to have brown paws that look surprisingly like feces in the morning light.

Le sigh.

This is just too much for one pregnant gal to handle.

29 Week Bumpdate

How far along? 29 Weeks
Weight Gain: 10 lbs
How Big is Baby? 2 1/2 - 3 lbs
Maternity Clothes? Noooooope. For whatever reason, I am harboring a very strong aversion to buying any maternity clothes. The problem with this little notion is that I am quickly becoming a Large Marge and it frustrates the crap out of me when something doesn't fit. I just don't want to spend money on clothes that I won't be able to wear for very long. But I do want some new clothes. I desire to look cute. Not that anyone could know that, as I rarely dry my hair these days and typically finish putting on my make-up on the way to work..
Stretch Marks? No praise the Lord.
Sleep: Up and down.
Best Moment of the Week: Making headway on the crib skirt. It may or may not be the death of me. Oh! And we picked up the car seat with some gift cards we got at the shower!

Movement: Um yes, could we just talk about this for a moment? My darling daughter thought it necessary to throw another all night house party last night, in the form of tap dancing on my right rib cage all through our childbirth class and on through the night. We had another long discussion on bed times and why mommy needs her sleep and why she can't get her beauty rest when a certain someone is practicing Morse code on her internal organs.
I'm not sure she gets it.
I guess I didn't name her Tiny Dancer for nothing, because sister decided to keep the rave going through my morning meeting.
It's slightly embarrassing when she gives me a swift kick that's so violent and surprising that I yelp out loud and physically jolt a few feet, like I've been goosed. I heard some guy mumbling about tourretts..
Food Cravings: Crispy (read: fried) chicken sandwiches. From anywhere.
Gender: Asweetpreciousbabygirl

What I Miss: Right now? Weightless boobs. Just keeping it real.

What I'm looking forward to: Just meeting my girl.
Symptoms: Growing larger by the day.
Emotions: I'm going to go with UNSTABLE.
I had more than one meltdown in the past week.. along with some irrational irritability peppered in with some pure rage. My only real solution was a good cry. And I have to admit, I felt better afterward. Thankfully, I have a wonderful husband, who after getting over his initial shock and alarm that I was losing it and wondering what on earth he could have done to upset me this time, said, "Well, isn't this what's supposed to happen? It's ok babe."
And then he held me.
:)
The worst part of these breakdowns is that I am fully aware that I am having irrational thoughts. And so I pray and take deep breaths and say "let it go, Aja" and think about rainbows and puppy dogs and sixty degree weather and my stretchy pants. But then ten seconds later something else sets me off.

Hormones, much?

Zara for Kids

Oh my word.

Thanks to Sharstin, I recently found out that Zara has come out with a new kids line and people, could this get any cuter??

I want the girl and her clothes.

How adorable is she in her little leggings and coat? A mini fashionista. :)

I imagine this little doll is what my future (waay future) niece will look like!!
(I'm talking to you, Darius & Aivy!)

I don't even dress this well, but surely your kid can double as a doll to dress up!

Finding Moolah

Have you ever found money?

Like, completely out of the blue- a $10 bill stuffed into the bib of your old high school overalls (I know you had some!) or a few crumpled dollars in the parking lot?

I think this is the best kind of discovery.

Last week while on a walk in our neighborhood I looked down and saw a dollar bill.
Total score! I snatched that baby up before my hawk-eyed hubby could get get his grubs on it. Hehe. Then I told him we could put it in our travel fund.
See how I share?

Then last night I tricked him into walking to Target, since he wanted to pick something up and Tiny Dancer and I needed a long walk after stuffing ourselves at dinner. He's agreed to this once or twice before and each time on the way back he realizes it was a much longer distance than he signed up for.
Anyway, there was some new video game out that he wanted and after Duke and I waited patiently for him for a solid 45 minutes in the parking lot, he came out to explain. Apparently they had some promotion going where they gave you a $20 Target gift card when you bought the game. Nice. But then the cashier couldn't figure out how to ring it up, so they called the manager, who sent him to customer service, who couldn't figure it out, so they called the manager again, who promptly handed my enraged and impatient husband a twenty dollar bill.

Can you believe that? CASH.
And do you think he shared??

So have you ever found any money?

I found a dirty 5 dollar bill at the park once.. two dollar bills on a walk at another park (had to split it with my walking partner)..

I know I've found more, but I can't think of any specifics at the moment.
I blame pregnancy brain.

My mom finds money all the time. I swear one time she found an envelope full of twenties.

And she wasn't even in a shady neighborhood.

So fess up. What money finds have you had??

Showered!

This weekend we had my first shower and it was a whirlwind of fun!

My mom and my stepmom threw one for me in my hometown for all our family and friends back home. We had a packed house and lots of yummy sweets to snack on.


Here we are before all the guests started arriving:

My stepmom, me and my mom

Since I haven't lived here in so long, all of our guests were family and family friends of my parents, with the exception of my Angelyn! We went to middle and part of high school together. It's always great to see her- we pick up right where we left off. I was soo excited she could come, and she brought her mom and adorable little girl Elliot.

Hi Ang! So good to see you!!

Mmmm. We had about four different kinds of cupcakes and two cheesecakes.

Sweet overload! Tiny Dancer loved it. :)

Here are the shower invitations:

I actually designed and made them myself (shh!), with a little help from my friend Katie.

I thought they turned out pretty cute!

One thing I loved about the shower was that the the invite asked everyone to bring baby girl their favorite book for her library instead of a card. Everyone got a little book label to sign and place in the book. So sweet!!

Here are just a few of the books she received:

I can't wait to start reading her bedtime stories! I love love love that lots of people signed the books to Tiny Dancer, since we haven't revealed her name. I guess more people read my blog than I thought!

(BTW- I LOVE comments! It let's me know you stopped by and that I'm not just spewing my thoughts into thin air..)

Thanks to all of my parents and family and friends for "showering" us this weekend!!

We feel so blessed!

To say I've put on all my pregnancy weight in the "B" Zones (boobs & belly) is the understatement of the year...

I fully expect to get a bad case of "pregnancy face" any time.

Blog Love: Prudent Baby

I'm sure you all are getting sick of hearing all the baby talk lately.. to that I say DEAL. I'm preggo and have babies and baby projects on the brain.

I also still have my constant DIY/home decor thought stream coursing through my brain, but it's taken just a slight back burner spot here on the ol blog.

ANYway.

I found this blog today and O.M.G., can we just say the heavens opened up and rained down sewing machines and cutsie baby projects and now my list is so long I can wrap it around my belly 3.84 times.

Feast your eyes:

Hamptons Hooded Beach Towel

Love the chevron. Love the colors. Love it all.



One Shoulder Dressy Dress

How cute is this?? Adorable for next summer.


DIY Diaper Cover

Totally love these diaper covers. Nothing is cuter than a chubby little baby with nothing on but a onesie or tshirt and diaper, so we can see those squeezable legs.

Recycled Rug Ottoman

Not sure I need to recycle an old rug to try this one out, but I love this idea! Clearly I have ottomans on the brain. I'd love to have some this shape or more like big, soft floor pillows to throw around and lay on in the nursery.

Tutu-torial

Sooo cute. I'm not a girly girl, but surely every little lady needs an adorable tutu to play dress-up in or for a quick trip to Target.

Most awesome of all? All of the projects are listed out in awesome categories, like By Craft, Under an Hour, In One Evening, etc.

LOVE IT.

Go get inspired!

And if you don't have a little one to make something for, make something for Tiny Dancer!!

:)

27 Week Bumpdate

Don't you just love a short week??

I think we should have them once a month.

27 Weeks

Just a few pregnancy highlights for this week..

Tiny Dancer has taken up river dancing, and she likes it best when she can tap and clog away on my ribs.. especially my right side.

This girl is definitely growing! I feel bigger every day.

I'm excited/amazed/shocked to be nearing my last trimester. One book says its this week and another says it starts next week. Either way, we're in the home stretch and I can hardly believe it!

Progress Report.. basically a FAIL

Well, here we are at the end of the long weekend.. hope everyone had lots of fun!

I thought I should check in and let you know how my Weekend of Laboring went.

While I did get a TON done, I'm going to go ahead and give myself a big fat C-, because our guest room looks basically the same as it did on Saturday morning. Oh, lots of stuff got moved around and thrown out and given away.. but somehow new, homeless stuff grew while we were sleeping and the room is total chaos once again. I'll spare you a new photo. Just imagine 2 chandeliers where my old bridesmaid dresses were, and some random workout equipment where a stack of fabrics once sat. SIGH.. Luckily we have no guests needing a room in the near future.

This will teach me to go making promises on the interwebs.

On the bright side, I did get a lot done in the nursery!

As you saw, we got the crib put together and set up, and I did get started on the silk crib skirt. That baby is a whole other post in itself.. let's just say it's taken some serious math skills and has gotten far more involved and tedious than I initially thought. Silk is no joke to work with and this hormonal mama has a limited supply of patience at the moment. But it will be worth it, right??


So here are the only "After" photos I took, since most of the place is still in limbo.


Tiny Dancer's closet

I guess I didn't post a Before of this closet, but I cleaned it out quite a bit and sewed a curtain to hang over the shelf we installed, which is currently hiding (most of) our luggage. Sadly, she doesn't get a whole closet to herself, since I have more college picture albums and high school yearbooks than I know what to do with.


Guest Room Craft Closet

Ta-Da!! While the actual room is in shambles, the guest room closet has been organized! I would love to get more baskets or cute containers, but at the moment all of my extra funds are going to Baby Girl projects and QT donuts, so the random laundry basket and shopping bag will have to do. I'm also planning to sew another curtain to hang over the bottom shelf, like in the other closet.

Whew, I guess that's it! If you want to see more fan-TAS-tic Labor Day organizing, check out my friend Katie's post- she and her sister got to work and have some fun before and after pics, too!

Mucho Progress..

With a foreman like this guy, how could we go wrong?

He translated instructions for us.

See how helpful Duke is?

Isn't it cute??? Go Daddy, go!

:)

I'm dying to get started on the bed skirt, but I think hubby might kill me if I start another project while our house is in total disarray..

Progress...

..is being made!!

Before

After #1

**

Yay!!

We're working on her crib right now, so I'm hoping to post pics of that soon!

**This clean room in no way reflects the rest of our house at the moment..

Weekend of Laboring

No, not that kind of labor!

This weekend, my to-do list is very very full. Ugh.

Next weekend is our first baby shower (yay!), and since I know I'll be coming home with some goodies, I have a goal set to get the nursery completely cleaned out and organized so that we have somewhere to put all the new stuff.

Cause, see... this is what Tiny Dancer's room still looks like...

I know, I know. Sad, isn't it?

Also on my list? To get the guest room in order as well.

Feast your eyes on this:

GAH!

Yes, my mom did, in fact, stay in this room last weekend, and yes, the room did look very similar to this about 20 minutes before she showed up. I'm not proud of it, just stating facts.

Here's why the room is so cluttered:

A few nights ago, we semi-cleared out the closets in both rooms to install a third shelf. (Said shelf is not actually in this picture. Helpful illustration, isn't it?)

Aren't we handy?? The shelves won't be bolted down, so that we can remove them if we need to, like to hang regular people clothes. But since baby girl is so teeny, and the guest room closet doubles as my craft room, these shelves will really help keep things organized.

Got it? Good.

Also, we got the call this afternoon that her crib just came in (yippee!), so we'll pick it up tomorrow and hubby will go to work setting it up. I'm really excited, but as you can see, there is currently no room in the nursery for a crib! Soooo, that means I have lots to do to clear out and organize all that junk that we just can't live without.

Writing this post was my temporary solution to put off the inevitable... guess I better get to work!

Have a great Labor Day!!

26 Week Bumpdate

How far along? 26 Weeks
Weight Gain: 8-9 lbs
How Big is Baby? 2 lbs!! Holy smokes. No veggies this week..
Maternity Clothes? Nothing new
Stretch Marks? Nada
Sleep: Pretty good. I actually went two nights in a row without getting up to use the bathroom and thought I'd won the lottery
Best Moment of the Week: We met with the high risk OB this morning, where they did a full check of our baby girl. Everything looks great! Her right kidney's dilation has already gone down since our last appointment with my regular doc, which is wonderful. We will be going back again in a month to keep an eye on things, but we're very thankful and praising God that she is healthy and whole. It was a lot of fun to see her moving around in there and to know which body part is pushing and kicking on me where!

Movement: Ohyessirree
Food Cravings: Strawberry Limeade from Sonic
Gender: Definitely a girl! I made them check again for me at our appointment :)
What I Miss: Um.. not involuntarily moaning and grunting every time I have to squat down to pick something up or get in and out of bed. I swear it sounds like I'm dying and I keep getting weird looks at the grocery store.

What I'm looking forward to: Getting her crib in and all set up!
Symptoms: Take your pick. Some strange dreams.. I had a dream that my boss was pregnant and then the next night that my friend Megan (!) was pregnant and flirting with my boyfriend. :)
Emotions: Pretty good.

We can definitely tell that she's growing.. I feel like I'm getting bigger by the week! I just can't wait to meet her and see what she looks like!