Cuteness Overload

I was sitting in Olivia's room today, as I have found myself doing more and more lately, and I became overwhelmed with the amount of cuteness in her room!  We have been given and bought some of the cutest things for our little girl.  All things baby are adorable, in my opinion,  but I wanted to share some of my favorite things in her room.

Olivia's first Christmas ornament

I also found a Thor ornament :)

Her little shoe collection. So precious&little!

Winter hat! My mom and I looked everywhere for a cute winter hat for newborn pictures we are planning on taking.  That was a surprisingly difficult task here in central Texas.

Friends of ours sent us this adorable diaper bag tag.  It has her name on both sides, and my phone number on the other side as well. It adds the perfect girly touch to our manly diaper bag that my husband lovingly picked out.

My mother-in-law, Annette, embroidered this butterfly bib and she also made the matching receiving blanket!  I love the butterflies.  She made us several matching sets like this and they are perfect.

An Olivia tote bag!  My sister in law sent this to us for my baby shower.

This is Olivia's "te-te."  I had a favorite headed blankey like this, but mine was Snoopy and I called it te-te.  My mom wanted Olivia to have something just as important to sleep with and love on. 

My aunt Suki bought us this adorable diaper cover.

This is our latest purchase, baby's bassinet! (Craigslist for 25 bucks, in almost perfect condition!)  I love seeing this in our room.  It makes me happy :).

Right now we are letting this little baby sleep in there.

Our home is completely prepared if Olivia decided that she was ready to be born today.  I have been nesting like crazy for most of October and so has Dave, so now we are ready.  The thing we are left doing right now is mentally getting ready!  I love to talk about how much our lives are going to change, and how our routines are going to change, but most of all I love how we really have no idea how things well be. We can read all of the baby books under the sun, which it feels like we have done, but until the time actually comes, and our baby is here, it's all a mystery to us.   

I'm getting so excited for the day that we finally get to meet our daughter and for the days, weeks and years ahead that we all have to get to know each other.  I love that our family is growing and that we have been blessed with the privilege of getting to become someone's mommy & daddy!

"Wordless" Wednesday

However, not so wordless...

Picture taken this morning before heading to work.  36 weeks and 4 days. 

Picture taken the morning we found out I was pregnant. 

Happy Halloween!

We carved our pumpkin!

It was a scary one this year!

Thor was no help, as usual.

This weekend was also the last weekend that Dave and I planned to go "out of town" until after Olivia is born.  We didn't travel very far, and just made a trip up to Harker Heights to visit my parents and see some of their newest home renovations.  My parents have had almost all of the floors in their home re-done, all 2.5 bathrooms renovated, kitchen countertops redone, and some new furniture.  Everything looked great!

Mom and I did some shopping. Then we all had dinner in HH, visited with my grandparents who were driving through down back to San Antonio from Oklahoma, and then passed out candy & glow stick lights to trick or treaters.  My parent's neighborhood was one of those weird neighborhoods that celebrated Halloween on Saturday night rather than tonight.  We then headed back home. 

Today has been filled with grocery shopping & football watching.  We are not armed and ready with our big bowl full of candy for the neighborhood kids!  It is now 6:30, and we have yet to have our first trick or treater!  It would be such a shame if we have no kids to give the candy to and must find something else to do with it :).

Feeling a little bit pregnant...35 weeks and 4 days.

How far along? 35 weeks and 4 days

Weight gain? 36ish lbs.

Stretch marks? Nope.  It amazes me that there aren't any, my belly is huge.

Sleep:  It feels like there is never enough of it.  And I do not know what the heck is up with Thor lately.  He has been getting up and waking me up starting at about 1am to 3am (if i'm lucky) every morning for the past 5 mornings or so.  He will come to the bed, breathe on me or lick my hand or my back until I wake up, and then whimper till I go downstairs with him and let him out.  Then he will repeat around 4 or 430am which is when I will usually get up for the day and we go for our walk. 

Best moment this week:  I had my 36 week appointment on Tuesday and the doctor confirmed that Olivia is head down, my cervix has begun to soften and I'm 0 centimeters dialated and 0% effaced.  More than likely she will remain head down until her birthday because there is not much room left in there for a turnaround.  This was reassuring. 

Movement:  She is a wiggle worm, especially immediately following anytime I eat something.  She is also still much calmer in the mornings, and busier in the afternoons.  There have also been a couple of times when she was so active in the middle of the night I have a hard time falling back to sleep. 

Food commentary:  I've been getting really hungry and must eat RIGHT NOW lately, but it does not take much to fill me.  Anything and everything gives me heartburn at this point so I just deal with it. 

Labor Signs: Aside from getting BH contractions, nothing really new.  Lots of heavy weight feelings & pressure in my underbelly by the end of the day, but I'm pretty sure that's just a result of carrying baby around all day. 

Belly Button in or out? Out, however, my growing belly is finally starting to strech it out and make it a tad bit more discreet. 

What I miss: This week I miss not having heartburn, I miss being able to move quicker, I miss not being able to wear everything in my closet,  I miss not being exhausted at the end of the day from doing absolutely nothing, I miss wearing my wedding ring :(, and I miss being able to wear heels. 

What I am looking forward to: We have finally reached that point in the pregnancy where I'm not required to go to the doctor once a week until we are done.  I'm not so much looking forward to going to the doctor every week, but I am looking forward to being able to leave work early for the appointments once a week. 

Weekly Wisdom: Do a birth plan if you want to!!!  Don't feel like you have to listen to everyone who tells you, oh, I had a birthplan and it all went out of the window the minute I went into labor.  Or don't listen to the people who just plan on going into labor and just seeing how everything goes.  Yes, I know we are going to be required to be flexible if situations arise that are out of our control, but I refuse to allow the medical team to make decisions about my body & my babies body without having knowledge of all risks, pros and cons.  The only way we can really know all of that information is by going into L&D as knowledgeable as possible.  We have learned so much in our Bradley classes about situations that can arise, and how we will want to handle them should they happen to us.  Dave is aware of a lot of my hopes and wants for O's big day and he will be the big advocate of our birthplan when the time comes.  I plan on being a little bit busy, that's why I have appointed him :).   Luckily, I talked to my doctor at my last appointment about having a birthplan and she was all for it. 

Early on when I first started preparing for O's birth I read an example that has stuck with me the whole 9 months.  A mommy needs to approach her labor as though it were an athletic event, because in reality it is.  If you were told one day that in 9 months you would be thrown into the ocean and be required to swim such and such a distance, you would spend the next 9 months training and preparing for that event.  Similarly, when you find out that you are pregnant why wouldn't you prepare physically, mentally, and emotionally for labor and delivery to bring your baby into the world?  Sorry if all of that sounds preachy, it just amazes/frightens me how little women in the United States know about giving birth and leave it all up to the doctors and nurses. 

Weekly WTF: My wedding rings no longer fits!  I'm heartbroken.  For a little while I truly believed I would be able to wear it the whole time.  I never ever take them off, but the other night before I went to bed I noticed my rings were a little snug.  So, I took them off to sleep and figured once the swelling from the day went down I would be able to put them back on in the morning.  No luck.  I feel naked without them. 

Nesting madness:  Moving along as usually.  There is always something to be done at home.  Because we are getting closer and closer to the due date, we will be staying home on the weekends much more.  After this coming weekend's planned visit to my parents in Harker Heights on Saturday I do not think we are going to be leaving town again until after Olivia is here. 

Milestones: We are almost in November which is baby's expected arrival month!!!  Please please please be a November baby!

A Pregnant Woman's Workout

What activity is productive and fun and a workout for an 8 month pregnant lady all rolled into one? Shopping!!!

My aunt in San Antonio has loaned us a cradle to use for baby and we needed to pick it up from her.  She, my grandmother, and cousin said they would meet me halfway in San Marcos.  My mom, sister and I decided to make an event of it!  We met for lunch at the Gristmill in Gruene which was delicious as always.  We then went to the San Marcos outlets for some shopping.  I had such a great time and it was fun to have a little lady time (plus Jon, who was a champ with all of us.) We parked, and walked, and walked and walked.  It wasn't bad at all because all of the walking was broken up by shopping, but my legs and ankles felt it this morning!

Sarah, Mom, Olivia and I :)

Mom, Mama, and Suki. 

Jon, Sarah and I.  Mama in the background looking as tired as I felt!

Post-shopping

4 generations: Grandma, Mom, granddaughters, and great-granddaughter in utero.

We were able to find some cute things for baby, of course!  This Halloween tutu will be great for next year.  It's not really a costume, but we can at least send her to daycare in the tutu and a black onsie to be festive! It came with a headband, too :).

I loved this Christmas outfit! I need to find some white tights to go under this outfit because surely by Decemeber 25 it will be colder here in Texas. (Highs are in the 85-90 degree range next week...)  Olivia has a pair of black patten leather shoes and a pair of "My First Christmas" slippers that can go with this onsie.   Thanks, Grandma! :) 

I'm still on the search for some cute winter hats for O.  It never really gets super cold here in Austin, but we do have a week or so in the winter that hats and gloves are needed.  Especially for our itty bitty newborn baby.  I also want to get Olivia used to wearing hats from early on.  We have brutal sunny summers and she will need to keep covered once it gets hot again.

Next project: Putting the cradle together and finding  a craddle pad and sheet for baby.

Paying It Forward

 One of the strangest & nicest & most random things that has ever happened to me happened last weekend....

A little back story: Saturday, Dave and I spent all day  running around to all stores that carry baby things pricing and buying items we still needed for Olivia. We went to every store imaginable, Babies R Us, two Toys R Us stores, Target, Ikea, Wal-Mart, Burlington Baby Depot and Hobby Lobby (for some nursery decorations.) I had a blast, and Dave was a champ during all of the baby shopping, he was even good about doing the obligatory "aaawwws." One of the important items that we still needed at this point was the crib mattress, but we wanted to see what all was out there before we actually bought the mattress. We finally decided on a Sealy mattress that was at Wal-Mart and we decided that we would go back on Sunday to get the one we wanted. 

Sunday morning came and I decided to go to Wal-Mart alone while Dave stayed home and watched football. I was almost completely done with my shopping at Wal-Mart, and I was looking for the last item on my list, syrup. My cart looked pretty full at this point with the crib mattress poking out along with all of the other things I was picking up; maneuvering the cart was fun.

I was trying to push pass a couple of other carts in the syrup aisle when this one lady steered around my cart and seemed like she was in quite the rush. She then looped the aisle we were on and came back around the aisle towards me. She pushed her cart right up next to my big ol' cart and approached me. She then proceeded to stuff a 20-dollar bill in my hand and said, "take this." I was quite shocked, checked my pockets (even though I knew I wasn't carrying any cash in them) and said, "Oh, I didn't drop that." This woman explained to me that I must take this 20-dollar bill because she knows that baby beds are expensive. I was really caught off guard, and was taken aback for a second. Lots of different thoughts ran through my head such as, was she serious?  Do I look homeless? (I was wearing my pink crocs....) Does this woman think I'm entering parenthood as a single mother? Do I really look that pitiful with my big cart and my big belly and at the store alone? Does she think I'm a teen mom??? I told her, "wow, thank you, but I really can't take that."

She then explained that she is a mother of three and knew how expensive babies can be, that she was done having children and she really wanted me to take this money. So, I took the money and genuinely thanked her and was truly touched. I stood there for a second trying to process everything, and she rushed off down the aisle, just like that. I thanked her again as she was walking away. Then, I made the biggest effort to rush out of the store and pay as quickly as I could so I would not have to run into her again. That would have been awkward.

This was all a very strange exchange, but at the same time I was touched.  Looking back I wish I would have at least asked her name.  For the rest of the afternoon I felt really good about humanity.  There are good, thoughtful people in the world, and that's nice to be able to experience firsthand.  I'm looking forward to the opportunity to pay it forward to someone else.  Additionally, there were about 5 different people who offered to help me to my car when I was checking out.  The mattress, although awkward, was not heavy at all, so I would politely decline, but it was the thought that mattered.

In the end, baby's bed is ready to go with the loving touch of my parents, Dave and I, and the kind stranger at Wal-Mart who felt the desire to chip in 20 bucks:

33 weeks 4 days

How far along? 33w4d

Weight gain? 33 pounds.  My lower back is beginning to feel it a little bit. 

Stretch marks? Nope, none.  Thank you sweet Olivia for growing at a gradual and steady rate. 

Sleep: Such a love hate relationship with sleep.  Last night was the first night in about 5 nights that I slept the whole way through.  I wake up and stay up for a whole bunch of different reasons, one night I had to pee a million times, one night her kicks were so strong they kept me up, another night my mind would not let me sleep, and then another night heartburn was the culprit for my lack of sleep.  I had a pretty eventful day yesterday and I think the exhaustion finally caught up with me and allowed me to sleep like a baby from about 1045pm to 5am.

Best moment this week: Another doctor's appointment down!  I only have 5 more scheduled doctor's appointments to go.  I may have to make one more if I go past my due date, but I will tackle that should the time come.  Another best moment this week was all of the baby shopping we got done!  Her room is really looking pretty awesome.  The bedding that I ordered should arrive today and this weekend we are building and painting her dresser that we bought unfinished from IKEA. 

Movement: Ouch!!!  I feel like this baby does not sleep from about 11am till 10pm.  She is moving, hiccupping, rolling around, you name it.  She does not seem to be a morning person as she is quietest in the mornings, but that could also be because that's when I am the busiest trying to get up, walking & feed the dog, and get ready for work.  Work also is typically busier in the morning than the afternoons, but once I get a little bit of down time I feel her non-stop. 

Food commentary: Not really much to say.  Still trying to continue to eat healthy.  I've been slightly hungrier lately, but I get full pretty quickly.  The heartburn can get pretty bad so I'm trying to be more aware of what may be causing it. 

Labor Signs: Not really.  The BH contractions are definitely picking up!  I will have anywhere from 3-6 a day.  They aren't painful at all, but slightly more uncomfortable than I imagined they would be.  I think that may be because I get them on our drive to and from work sometimes and I can't get up to move around. 

Belly Button in or out? Out.  The good news is that with the recent growth of my belly it's beginning to look slighty more discreet!  Finally!!!

What I miss:  I miss a good hard workout.  I miss really sweating and being out of breath and getting tired from the workout.  I get so easily worn out from a normal 30 minute walk that I'm discouraged and feel like I will never be in great shape again!

What I am looking forward to:  Olivia's bedding is suppose to arrive today.  I'm also looking forward to getting her bassinet from my aunt next weekend.  She brought it to us in San Antonio, and we forgot to load it in the car and take it home.  It works out well because now we have an excuse to meet in San Marcos for outlet shopping and lunch!

Weekly Wisdom: Every mother is doing what she believes to be the best things for her baby and family.  It is so hard not to be judgmental and give other woman the *side eye* when you talk about raising children and caring for a baby.  I know that simply because someone chooses to do things differently than us does not always mean it's wrong.  And the way that we choose to care for our child doesn't mean it's the only right way, but it's the right way for our family to do it.

Weekly WTF:  Deciding on baby gear!!!  Both Dave and I did a little bit of research on the different options we had as far as carseats, strollers, and carriers go.  We could not decide what we wanted to do.  Just buy the carseat, not the travel system and no stroller and rely on our carseat and Moby wrap?  Then should we get an infant carrier-carseat that only goes up to 22lbs or go for the slightly larger heavier one that fits a baby up to 32-35lbs??  Travel system? Which one?  We ended up getting a travel system with the infant carseat that fits a baby up to 22lbs.  The stoller is a "flip-it" so when the carrier is not on the stroller we have the option of pushing baby facing us or facing away from us. 

We also go our Moby wrap in moss green per Dave's request because he also intends on wearing baby.    Another "discussion" we had while shopping was the diaper bag choices.  Dave wanted something more "manly" so that he wouldn't feel like a woman carrying a purse.  I wanted the pinkest and frilliest girly one.  An option was to both get our own diaper bag, but the thought of having to switch bags from time to time seemed annoying.  I pretty much choose the travel system and almost everything else that we have bought so I gave in and let Dave pick our diaper bag.  Ta da:

It is called the Stevens Baby Boom Jeep Weekender Diaper Bag.  It is slightly bigger than I would have liked and it looks as though Olivia is going camping, but I loved his choice :).  The really good thing about this one is that it's very functional.  Lots of room, and pockets for organzing. 

Nesting madness: Yes, yes, and yes. 

Milestones: We aren't quite there yet, but in 2 weeks we will finally be at the "it could be any day point."