A few of my favorite (baby) things

I've seen this on several other blogs and I thought it would be fun to do my own.  Since I am an old pro now that I have two babies, you know.  Here are some products that I love.

General

My newest find - the Woombie.  This is the best swaddler I've discovered.  We tried the SwaddleMe and that worked okay, but Everett (and now Callum) could always get his arms out.  Kind of the point of a swaddle, no?  We also tried the Halo Sleepsack Swaddle.  That one is nice.  It's more of a wearable blanket with a swaddle wrap that is attached on some velcro loops.  My favorite so far though, has been the woombie.  It has an awesome double zipper (so diaper changes are easy peasy), holds baby nice and snug, and there is no way a kid is sneaking an arm out and waking himself up.  If they would bring the price down a little, I'd give them an A+.

Aden + Anais swaddle blankets.  I know, another swaddle thing.  These blankets are good for swaddling, but they are also very awesome for other uses.  They are super lightweight so they are great for covering baby when nursing in public, shading baby outside without overheating (if it would ever get warm here), and snuggling with indoors.  They get softer after each wash and come in some very cute patterns.  Again, the price issue...., so B+.

Playtex Drop-Ins.  I've tried several types of bottles in the past two years or so.  It might have something to do with picky boys, but the drop-ins have been the winner with both.  (The Ventaire is also just fine, it just has more pieces and we only have one.)  The nipple on these bottles is the best I've found and simulates breastfeeding much better than the stupid First Years Breastflow bottle.  That thing always managed to collect milk between the two nipple pieces and drive me up the wall.  Once C can manage a faster flow, I'm excited to use our new stainless steel bottles!

Mam pacifiers.  This is really all baby's preference, but my boys loved Mam pacis and no others.  Tried soothies - No go from Everett.  Nuks got the same reaction from Callum.  Neither cared for an orthodontic playtex one either.  You really just have to try a few types to see what baby will like (if any).

Fisher Price Soothe and Glow Seahorse.  Callum's not really that into his yet, but Everett still sleeps with his.  It plays nice songs, lowers the volume as it goes and plays for the perfect length of time.  Also, portable.  So you can have your bedtime music and light wherever you need to go at bedtime.

Gilligan and O'Malley Nursing Tanks.  I LIVE in nursing tanks.  Only one of these has had a clasp break on me and it was my oldest one.  And I just kind of forced it back together and still use it on a daily basis.  For this price, I can buy several and not look like I'm wearing the exact same thing EVERY day.  They are a bit baggy in the torso area, especially the long style.  So for that, they get an A-.

Sony Baby Call Monitor.  A great sound-only monitor.  I kind of would like a video monitor, but this thing is pretty great.  It has both a setting for on always and a voice activated setting so you don't hear anything until baby starts squirming.  The volume control does seem a little touchy, so I generally keep it turned up pretty high.


Baby-wearing


Ergo.  The best baby carrier for those past the newborn stage.  Hands down.  Lower the price and get some cuter patterns, please!

Moby wrap.  Awesome for the newborn stage.  A little cumbersome to get on, especially while out and about, but so comfy for mom (or dad!) and baby!  Not a sized carrier so mom and dad can both use it even if mom is 5'3" and dad is 6'4".

Baby K'tan.  My first nice baby carrier!  I got this as a gift before Everett was born and he kind of lived in it.  It's a lot like the Moby and really only good until they're about 20 pounds (even though they say 30 I think).  It is much easier to put on than the Moby and does pretty much the same holds.  You don't have to worry about it dragging on the ground while putting it on.  Downside?  It's sized.  So only I can use it.  For that, A-.

Diapering
I'm a major cheapskate when it comes to diapers, so I don't have the latest and greatest and I buy most things used.  My absolute LOVES are these:

Thirsties Duo Wraps.  These are polyurethane laminate (PUL) covers that you put on over an absorbent cotton diaper (prefolds, fitteds, etc.)  These came out after Everett was born, so we started out with regular sized covers for him.  The duo wraps make it so you only need to buy two sizes of covers, newborn to potty training.  Yes, they did work on my newborn on the smallest setting, but he was over 8lbs at birth.

Thirsties Duo Diapers.  These came out once Everett was bigger but I have two for Callum.  I adore them.  They are just like the thirsties covers, but they also have a fleece stay-dry liner sewn in and come with an awesome insert.  It is seven layers of microfiber terry and hemp in two pieces that snap together.  Super absorbent, stay-dry, pretty much leak-proof.

Green Mountain Diaper prefolds.  These are slightly different dimensions than regular prefolds and they are excellent because of it.  Using natural cotton diapers means they are much easier to wash, much more difficult to wreck, and easier to avoid stink, staining, and the like.  http://www.greenmountaindiapers.com/diapers.htm

Blahg!

Too much happening, not time to write, and my camera keeps mysteriously making its way into Brian's backpack and off to his office....
Here's the weekend summary. Yesterday, we three went garage saling and found some good baby toys and clothes and a gate for the dreaded day that Everett can crawl up stairs. We spent the rest of the day cleaning and then made a mad dash over to the McP house for Jakey's birthday cake, then over to the H house to deposit Ev and retrieve Christy to go see Big Bad VooDoo Daddy at the Big Top. They were awesome, as usual. :) My only minor complaint is that the concert didn't start until 8:20 and we didn't get to bed until midnight. Ick. Ev was apparently very good for Dr. Gma though and went to sleep without a problem. Today, we went to Duluth because we needed to purchase......our Chariot!!! Yes, the one baby item that Brian has wanted since college is now in our possession. We got a Cougar 1 in orange and it is truly the coolest baby carrier of all time. Now we have the BOB for walking, jogging, and rollerblading, and the Chariot for biking, strolling, and eventually, skiing! Here's a picture of the Chariot (not our exact one, obviously):It does not just balance like that though. Ours currently has two little strolling wheels on the front, but it also has a long arm to attach to a bike wheel and we will get the ski kit which it two bars that attach to a belt for the skier. I'll get some pictures of Ev in it soon, I promise!! Maybe in his BOB too, because it's also awesome. I am now the snobbiest of stroller snobs and I like it that way. Now tomorrow, I have to once more deposit Ev so I can rush off to the dentist here and see what fate brings me.....have I mentioned recently how much I hate teeth in general?

We got a Bumbo!

While I did not want to pay $40 for a Bumbo seat, I did want one. So imagine my delight to find a used blue seat on craigslist for $20! Brian picked it up and brought it home, then went to work bleaching the heck out of it. After it dried, I set it on the floor and we had some dinner. During dinner, we looked over into the living room, and saw this:

Riiight...because Bumbos are for cats! Hmmm....Today Olivia decided that she would let Everett try it out too, but only under close supervision:Then she gave up. Here he is actually kind of enjoying it! (Still a bit too young, but he's going to like it, I can tell.)
And here's a shot requested by Gramma M - unclothed baby. (Two poo-splosions in one day = bath time!) Look how long and lean!

Presents everywhere! [35w5d]

We got a load of stuff today! Not just baby stuff, too. First off, we had attended a halloween...errr...."harvest" party at our apartment office on Wednesday and they had said costumes were encouraged. So Brian assembled half of a pirate costume (a hat from a costume store and a plastic sword) and we went and ate their food. Turns out, he won a gift basket for his costume! I think it's really because the office girls like us and know that snowp's on his way, but hey! Here's the gift basket:

If you have trouble identifying the objects, I will detail them for you: a lovely basket which will now become snowp's laundry basket, some Tide Free (love the stuff!), Bounce Free (yay for no dyes and perfumes!!!), some Arm and Hammer detergent, Tide Pen (one of my fav inventions of all time), a bottle of Shout gel (yes!), and a tide mesh laundry bag. How cool are our aparment workers???

In addition to the awesomeness of winning a basket full of laundry stuff, my work surprised me this afternoon with a baby shower of sorts! We were having a staff lunch (which I knew about), and then after we ate, everyone brought out bags of lovely baby stuff! SO awesome! So here I go detailing the gifts!

First, we have this lovely, handmade quilt with jungle creatures. It's a nice, heavy quilt that will keep our little guy nice and cozy this winter!
Then we have this amazing creation from our supremely creative former elementary school principal. Are those flowers?

No! It's all kinds of onesies, washcloths, and socks!My boss just got back from a disney cruise with his grandkids and he brought back this authentic disney cruise minnie mouse for our snowp.
Even the high schooler who snoops my blog brought something. Hi Nathan! :) A very nice, heavy receiving blanket with cars that match snowp's nice heavy towel. Matching things! Woot. Also, some burp clothes that match more blankets we have!

High school co-worker also helped with the shopping of this basket of wonderfulness from the girl who started at the office the same time I did. I will attempt to detail all the stuff in this one too: we have a Johnson's bedtime bath set (smells soooo good!), a set of two towels and two washcloths (now we can clean the snowp!), an awesome little penguin onesie (no Christy, you may not steal it for Daisy.), the coolest bib ever since it has a MOOSE on it!!, a cute little stuffie/blankie combo and I like rubbing on my face, and BOOKS! The Lorax (environmentally friendly edition), Goodnight Moon, Guess How Much I Love You, Dr. Seuss' ABCs, Put Me in the Zoo, and....Are You My Mother?

In addition, she got this awesome card that reads: "It smells funny, makes a lot of noise, and depends on you for everything!" The inside reads "But enough about your husband. Congratulations on your baby!" Loved it!

AND, her sister is donating some hand-me-downs from her boys to the cause of Operation: Keep Baby From Being Naked.

I had to have snowp model the cuteness of that bib:

Finally another belly pic [34w2d]

Greetings blog readers! I come to you this afternoon bearing a new belly picture. Since I refused to stand up every time Brian has suggested taking a new picture and I was finally awake enough today, I decided to try a few shots myself (Brian's at class). I'm hoping that we might be able to get some nicer outdoor pictures of us and the snowp belly sometime soon. The fall leaves here really are a lovely sight....and we still need a pumpkin....hmmm....

We spent the past weekend in Bloomington (as you can read about on our other blog) and since we stayed at the motel 6, which advertises internet access but really just has two phone jacks, I didn't have the internet to entertain myself while Brina rode bike. As a result, I found a lot of shopping. :) I bought Christmas presents (nearly done now I think!), found myself a nice new scarf on sale at Kohl's, and got some baby stuff! I finally bought a baby book, got a cover for the changing table pad, found some side-snap t-shirts for those first days after birth, and a new cross-stitch kit to make a new baby stitching (I'll work on it beforehand and then only have to fill in the birth data afterward). I'm still working on crocheting - it's just kind of transitioned from baby stuff to items hopefully good enough to work as christmas presents for some little rascals I know.

I plan to get the car cleaned out this weekend and get the base of the carseat set up in the backseat. I might even go so far as to make a carseat check appointment since I'm a little anxious about the fact that we have a used carseat. If I had the decision to make over again, I would have bought one new, but since we've already spent the money and Brian keeps reassuring me that it's fine, I'll deal. Also in the plans for this weekend is to start getting together stuff for "the hospital bag." Yes, it is finally time for my over-prepared self to go into crazy mode and start getting stuff ready. All that's left on my list of stuff to have ready for snowp is a bouncer, so I obviously have to move on to something even scarier like the hospital bag. :)

Well, that's all for now. Dr. appt on Thursday, then we have another two weeks from then, then we're onto the weekly schedule!!!

Finally some pictures [33w1d]

Okay, here I am! And I come bearing pictures! I know, I know, I might have been attacked by angry mobs had I dared show my face here without providing a peace offering of photographs. Since I don't care much for angry mobs, I just decided to prevent this problem altogether.
On Saturday, we returned the breast pump we had bought from Target (because mom found a double Medela for $20 at a garage sale in Ashland!!!) and used the money to get more necessary baby things. It was a bit expensive, but I'm feeling much better about life now - you know I can't feel good about life unless I feel adequately prepared for things.
On Sunday morning, Brian went for a bike ride with some of the tri club, and I thought, "hmm...maybe I shouldn't be entirely useless today and actually do something with everything we bought yesterday..." So, I worked on The Nursery. (Capital letters show scary emphasis.)
Here is the valence we found at a garage sale this summer. Brian actually put this up a while ago after we bought a curtain rod on another trip to Target. We also found the little lighthouse window hanging at a different garage sale and since I'm vaguely attempting to create a nautical theme for the kiddo, it's now in the window. (We still need to take down old stuff from the walls like those seen in this picture).

This is a bookshelf that we bought at a garage sale last year and it has been a long battle to get things off of it to use for baby stuff. I finally stacked things better and removed some books to free up the top two shelves. The lighthouse lamp was Brian's from long ago and we bought a nice new plain white shade for it (the one before was bent and had yellow ships on it...not my style...). The shell is also Brian's, but I don't know if it will remain there. On the top shelf is also a pile of fuzzy blankets! One I made, one Nancy made, and one I bought. The second shelf is currently holding the basket full of onesies and two bins of random stuff that will probably be replaced by other, more useful stuff later. (You'll also notice the swing and carseat on the floor.)
Here's a picture of our new changing table! Although it isn't white, it was too cute to pass up. While at Target, we bought this nice new changing pad (yes, there is a strap and buckle attached). This thing is now loaded with necessary items, i.e. diapers, receiving blankets, wipes, thermometer, comb/brush, clippers, aspirator, and desitin. Within those lovely doors are baskets and bins of socks, bibs, burp cloths, bath stuff, bottles, and other random items.

Here's another exciting picture for you! This is the most recent blanket I made, and I must say, I am quite proud of myself. I discovered this technique called "intarsia" which immediately struck me as a fascinating combination of knitting/crocheting and cross stitching! I only made the preemie sized blanket because the regular sized one would have taken a whole lot of yarn. You will notice a large white square in the middle of the picture. It does not look this way in real life. Snowp's initial is in this square, and of course, I don't want you to see it!
Here's a closer look at one of the stars.

Well, that's it! Nope, no belly picture this time. It's been hot and sticky and I refuse to let Brian take any pictures until it cools down. :)

More baby stuff [32w1d]

On Saturday morning, we had our breastfeeding class. I did learn some new things, especially about pumps and other equipment, and Brian learned a lot. I did not enjoy having to use a baby doll to pretend to breastfeed. Seriously people....a plastic doll..... ugh.
After the class, we decided to not try and drive back to the West side a half hour before the start of the Purdue-Penn State game - that traffic would have been icky - so we stayed in Lafayette. I had wanted to go to the mall, but then remembered that we were near Once Upon a Child. So we stopped there to check out the used goods, and...success! We found a perfectly new looking pack n play for $40 and a lamaze play mat for $12! Yay! Two more big items off my list! Now we need mostly little things like side-snap t-shirts, receiving blankets, more burp cloths, and medications plus some way to store his clothes. Still working on that last one. I'm considering a range of items from shelves with baskets to a hanging organizers, to a dresser.

I've been working on a little blanket recently which will include snowp's first initial when it is complete. I had gotten to the point of needing to include the initial, so I told Brian we needed to decide on his name. We talked very briefly and then he went off to watch a football game with Ron. When he came back, I had completed the initial, and he said, "Oh, so I guess his name is ______?" (That's right, I'm not telling you!!) So, our snowpea has a name (not officially of course, that's not until a birth certificate is made). I've been leaning toward the name for a long time but just couldn't kick out the poor other names that I liked. But I think this has really been his name for a long time now. We just have to discuss the middle name situation, but I am leaning toward one over the other already, so I pretty much have his full name in my mind.

I'm starting to think that we need to get this baby room put together soon as we are now at 32 WEEKS! Yikes! Weeks are seriously passing without my noticing and I can't believe we're getting so close already. Just over a month, and he could technically be done cooking. I think about that and then let him know that he is free to stay for quite a while longer if he'd like, as long as he doesn't lodge any body parts in my ribs for extended periods of time. There are a few times when I swear he must be standing up straight (and sideways in my belly) because all of a sudden, my belly will have sharp parts showing on either side. He's getting to be a strong little bugger and when he moves around, it's a strange mix between "ow!" and "weird!"
Well, that's all for now. The next doctor appointment is on Friday, Brian has fall break Sat-Tues, and all is still going well (besides me needing a nap often).

Just me, feeling giant [31w3d]

No pictures or anything (because of course, I'm at work again), just me here, feeling giant. Maybe it's the outfit today, but I looked at myself in the mirror after one of my million bathroom trips per day, and went "geesh!" I have a feeling snowp was going through a growth spurt recently because I have been utterly pooped (don't know if there is actually a medical correlation between him growing and me being tired, but hey, I'm going with it.) and now I look like a condo/small house. I've also noticed that my belly button appears to be sprouting a bruise. Probably not really a bruise, but the skin around it is a darker color than the rest of my skin. I think all of my abdominal skin is now reaching the "freak out" point, wondering how much more I plan to put it through. Ha ha, just you wait, skin, just you wait...
Shopping news: after registering for, and receiving, the wrong size sling, I returned it to amazon for credit. Well, I found out that it would be cheaper to buy it directly from the maker (with a 15% discount because I'm addicted to celebrity baby blog) than getting it on amazon, so I bought it from the maker and decided to spend the refund on other useful stuff. Interesting choice, seeing as it then took me about a month to decide what to buy off amazon. I finally settled on: Oprah's newest book club pick (shut up!), an additional boppy cover with ocean friends and stripes, a swaddle-me wrap (so cool! Olivia didn't think so though....couldn't even keep her in it long enough to get a picture), a nursing tank top, and nursing bra. I've now received everything but the clothing and am quite pleased. I look forward to starting on the book this evening while Bri does his swim workout. I'll have to take some pics soon.
Well, that's all for now. I promise an updated picture will show up sometime in the near future.

Changing Table [31w1d]

We found a changing table! Yay! We went to a garage sale on Saturday morning and found this ancient changing table (that is still very sturdy and adorable) for $25. Seeing as the changing table that would match our crib retails for about $250, we figured this was a nice deal. It doesn't match the crib at all, but oh well. We'll have a hodge podge of furniture in there. Once I get stuff a little more organized, I'll take some pictures of the room.
We also went to Target and picked up some necessary baby stuff (maybe not necessary, but stuff I've been wanting to buy): some soothie pacifiers, newborn size diapers, wipes, bedtime baby bath, and a curtain rod to hang a valence we found at a garage sale a while back.

We had a dr. appt on Friday. We waited for about an hour in the lobby before going in for a five minute appointment. How fun for us. Nothing new, nothing exciting. The new hospital opens in three weeks, so I am psyched about that. No way would I be happy to deliver in the icky old hospital.

This weekend, Bri and I watched the documentary, "The Business of Being Born." It was produced by Ricki Lake and it is all about home births and midwives. Very cool flick. Although I was already a very crunchy granola person when it came to my opinions about childbirth, I think this movie may have shown Brian why I have those opinions. We're also getting into some reading about natural childbirth (Bri's actually ahead of me and stole my borrowed copy of "Husband Coached Childbirth" before I could read it!) I'm waiting for another book to be available at the library, "Ina May's Guide to Childbirth." For those who haven't heard my rantings and ravings, this does not mean that I want to go out into the woods and have a baby in the river. We're not even talking about a home birth here (not this time at least!). Right now our main focus is just to try and avoid any interventions - things like pitocin, epidurals, other IV pain meds, and definitely C-sections. We'll see how things go. I am definitely not going to refuse some pain assistance if things get to be too much, but I would really love to be able to avoid all that artificial yuckiness. I'm really glad that Brian sees my side of the whole deal and he is supporting me 110%. He even commented last night that we might agree about this issue more than anything we've ever agreed on before!

Brian has also now taken to using baking analogies when referring to the growth of Snowp. I believe at this point, he is "done rising and ready to go into the oven to become nicely toasted and golden brown." The bread comparison doesn't quite work for me because I'm pretty sure loaves of bread don't have pointy elbows and knees, and stinking strong arms and legs to beat me up from the inside out. He has found his favorite place to kick me (my right side) and boy is that the strangest sensation ever! Snowp and I also volunteered at our first triathlon yesterday. We got people registered, helped out elsewhere, and then drove the sag wagon behind the bikes. Fun fun. At least we got to listen to Beatles-o-rama on the classic hits radio station for the whole drive.

Well, that's all for now seeing as I'm at work.....and obviously not working.

Baby Shower, labor day, and week 27 [28w]

Well, I am finally getting around to posting again. We've just had piles and piles of errands to run this week and I haven't really sat down and made time to post. Oops.
Our labor day weekend trip was excellent (minus the sitting in a car for two days but hey). Here's the run-down.
Friday, we left Indiana in the morning and made it to LaCrosse by the early afternoon. We got to check out little sister Janelle's new dorm room and walk her down to band practice. She's taking all kinds of crazy smart people classes. :) Then we continued on to Apple Valley. We stayed with Nancy and Bettina and went out to dinner in Mpls at the Town Hall Brewery. I had a very tasty walleye sandwich that was bigger than my head.
Saturday was the baby shower! Mel, Nancy, and Britt put on an excellent party full of yummy brunch foods, the craziest fun games I've ever played, and wonderful decorations. Here's a picture of me with the hostesses.

We got all kinds of excellent gifts too. The list includes: a tub, bath kit, baby mozart cd, nursing pads, diapers, onesies, shoes, a handmade blanket, a towel, lots of bibs, a drop-in bottle set, burp cloths, nipple cream, a health care kit, a baby carrier, that cool fisher price aquarium, and even some stress relief hand soap for me!
Others took lots of pictures but I haven't gathered them together in one place yet, so maybe I'll post more later.

Saturday afternoon, we headed up to Ashland to see the fam. We tried out the new mexican restaurant in town and approved of it thoroughly. Christy had two friends in town with her, so the house actually seemed normally full. We then headed over to my parents' to see that whole gang and let Benj open his birthday present. I wish we had the camera out because he made the greatest face when he realized that there was a super cool monsters inc. stuffed car in the bag. I still laugh about it when I remember his expression.
Sunday Brian went for a run with Nora (both were thrilled to see each other) and I took a walk down to the lake. Boy did I miss that lake. I just sat down on a picnic table for a while and watched the water. Then we went to church with my fam and had a yummy sunday lunch with all the kiddos. Mom got this cool picture of me and Bri outside by the tree before we left for the afternoon:

We then went out on the boat to Long Island with Brian's fam. It was a windy day and there were icky waves on the lake that made the boat ride bumpier than a toad! I pouted.Then, for dinner, my family treked over to Brian's family's house for a backyard picnic. It was a fun time with good food. Christy (and friends) and I also took Amy upstairs to look at Christy's hand-me-downs to get her ready for school on Tuesday! We dressed her up, made her turn in circles, and Christy even cut Amy's hair for her.

Monday, we drove back to Indiana, which took FOREVER! We got back late but still brought up everything from the car before we fell fast asleep.

Phew! Now this week! Work was long and boring. I'm always amazed at how long four day weeks seem to take and how I think I would criminally harm someone if I had to work for five days. Wednesday, I had another ultrasound to check on that low-lying placenta. It was really cool to see snowpea again, even though Brian couldn't make it to the appointment (class! geesh!). His cheeks look chubbier and he was moving his mouth open and closed. (For a while, he was also sitting with his mouth hanging open, which the u/s tech thought was just the funniest thing. I said, hmm....that sounds like someone I know....) Good news is, the placenta has moved and the u/s tech said everything looks good for a vag. delivery. I got a profile pic but haven't scanned it yet. I also had to get my blood drawn again because they forgot to do a full blood count when they did my glucose test. Turns out, I'm anemic. Poo. This means more red meat, leafy greens, and an iron supplement every other day. Silly baby, stealing my iron!
Friday we went out to Boiler Market with the Tri club for some pizza and headed home at the late late hour of 8:30. Yeah....we're old and boring. :) Last night we managed to stay out until 10!!!! We went to a hawaiian themed party at Erin's house (a la Kevin and Erin, our friends from last fall!). Now we're up to today. Church this morning, Brian's on a bike ride now, I wrote out my thank you notes, and phew!!!! No belly pics yet, sorry.
Snowpea has been moving around like crazy lately and he's getting bigger so it's feeling stranger. He's about 2.5 lbs now(!!!) and it looked from the u/s that he's running out of room. You can see my belly move around when he readjusts his position and it kind of looks like there is an alien in my abdomen! :)
Anyway! That's all I can spew out for now. I'll try to update soon with more pictures.

Some garage sale finds [26w]

This weekend, there wasn't a triathlon and we weren't out of town. That means, we went garage saling! We picked up some more baby clothes, a window valence, a sheet and mattress pad, and.........a video camera! Yes my friends, we found a used video camera at a garage sale. Original retail price (4 years ago when it came out): $800! Today's special deal for Beth and Brian (and snowpea!): $20! That's 97.5% off! What a steal! Oh, and what's that Bob? Sorry friends, but we just ran out! Yeah...it was awesome. Now we had to buy a DVD burner drive, a firewire port, and some mini dv tapes, but after that, we should be ready to go.

I never did get on last week to post a belly pic, and we never even got around to taking one. But today, we decided to go floating (swimming for pregnant people) at our lovely apartment pool. This was only my second time in our pool, and the first time this year. For some reason, we just never make it down there when it's hot out. It was a lovely time floating around and there were only two other girls there. It didn't even feel like I had a uterus! Ha. Anyway, before we headed down, I said, "hey, I already have my belly hanging out, let's take a picture," so we did. Here it is:
This Friday, we're off to Minnesota for the baby shower (YAY!) and then to Wisconsin to see long-lost family (January was a long time ago). I'm not so sure about sitting in a car for that long, but it will be worth it.

I'm bad. [25w1d]

So I discovered this site called mamabargains.com (which Brian calls baby woot) where they sell off one deal at a time. Well, I get home from work today and what is on the site, but the most awesome looking blanket in the world! It didn't take me long to decide I must have one, so I picked out a color and headed for the checkout. Then I realized shipping would be $8 in addition to the $12 for the blanket (they retail for $50 without shipping normally!). So then I decided I'd better not. I even called Brian and told him about it. Just listen to their description of the blanket: "My oh my! The Star Swaddler Blanket by Baby Star is so super soft and cuddly you'll wish they made them in adult sizes! The soft waffle material makes it a natural swaddler with it's light weight ultra snuggly soft goodness - is it sure to entice your little one to curl up and siesta! A truly lucky star find in this Star Swaddler! 30 x 30 inches All products are formaldehyde free making them safe for baby and safe four our environment! "

Well, I couldn't help myself. I'm not normally an impulsive shopper but darn it I wanted this blanket!!! Look how soft they look!So I ordered one in chocolate with blue trim! Heehee. Snowpea will have a celebrity-quality blankie to tote around!! Take that Suri Cruise!I'm not all bad though. I decided to build up snowpea's musical brain by playing him my favorite classical piece (on youtube, not an instrument, duh!). So I found some Moonlight Sonata and sat the laptop near my belly. Wow, did I get a reaction! I don't know if he was trying to get away from the sound, was conducting his own orchestra, or dancing, but he sure was doing something! So now we've got some Clair de Lune going. He seems to enjoy that too. So I found a new fun thing to do when I want to make snowpea move. :) Who knows, maybe he'll become a musical genius!
I've been doing well, except for killing my feet, legs, and bum yesterday. Brian had a triathlon in Indy (which we had to wake up for at 3:45 AM!!!) and I walked along the canal (twice) as he swam then sat on hard rock for two hours waiting for him to finish. Well, I thought my heels were going to fall off after we got home and took a nap. Then at bedtime, I discovered sciatic nerve pain. That was fun (sarcasm abounding). Luckily, this morning I felt much better and all is well again in the world of Beth and her body. (Ooo, we're now onto Per Te by Josh Groban for music choices now!)

Oh! And the crib is now put together! Yay! Brian was very happy to get it together and likes to look at it. :) Here it is:The crib is currently filled with stuff that we don't have another place for yet. Hopefully we'll figure something out for that soon. (The bunny is named HopHop. He is Brian's from when Christy was born!)

I also still had blue yarn left and decided to complete my blue outfit by crocheting up some mittens. There's still the tiniest bit left, but I'm not sure what I can do with it. Maybe trim the next hat. :)That's all for now. We haven't taken a belly pic yet this week, so I'll post again sometime this week.

We found a crib! [23w]

More garage sale success this weekend! We drove by a couple of garage sales in Laf yesterday (so worthless!) and then gave up and went to Sam's Club to get a membership. We figure we'll save enough in diapers alone to pay for the membership! We did some shopping and then decided we would check out some of the West Laf sales that mentioned baby items even though it was after 10am by then. So we dropped off groceries and went exploring. The first one we stopped at had a crib, but.... it was at least 10 years old, you had to use two hands to put the front down, and the woman had at one point spray painted it and it was chipping in some places. They only wanted $50, but I just couldn't do it. They also had an awesome changing table/dresser for $25 that had already sold. Drat! So we went on to another. It was way out of town in a fancy little subdiv. As we walked up the driveway, the woman says "I still have the crib and dresser if you want to see them!" We say, "actually yes!" She said she saw my "little belly" and thought we might be looking for the crib. Well, it was much better than any crib we've seen garage sale shopping. Most cribs have been 10 years old and I am just not comfortable with that age on a crib. This crib was three years old, obviously in beautiful condition, and the little girl never slept in it once she figured out how to get into her parents' room. :) They also had the toddler bed kit and the full bed kit to change the crib into a bed once snowpea gets bigger. She wanted $45o for the crib with kits, armoire, and dresser. Brian asked if she would be willing to split them up and sell just the crib since we live in an apartment and don't have much room. She said she guessed but she would still want $200 for the crib since it would no longer be a full set. After talking about it, I decided that the crib, two conversion kits, AND a sealy mattress was worth the $200, so we gave her $50 and promised to be back with the rest within the hour. We disassembled it, brought it home, and it's almost all put together now. We are missing two screws for the crib (it was set up as the toddler bed, so we didn't make sure we had all the hardware for the crib) so we need to find replacements for those before it is completely ready. Here's a picture of the crib model (we got it in white, don't have the pull out drawer) so you can see what it will look like. The front does not come down because the curved front is supposed to make it easy enough to lean over and take baby in and Also, those mean old missionaries visited us and convinced us to go to church today, so we took my belly pic for 23 weeks while I was dressed up. Snowpea heard the "din of babies" (Brian's words) during church and decided to join in by jumping all around. Also, whenever I stop singing, he jumps around, so with three hymns, he was having a little dance party in there. My ankles were starting to get sore from sitting with them straight on the ground though. Anyway! We have to go check on Brian's test at the lab again, so that is all for now.

Oops! Forgot this last picture. We are (Brian is) slowly learning about all the places we cannot put snowpea, for storage or otherwise. Here's the latest: (Yeah, that's a rubbermaid bucket...)

Garage Sale Success [21w6d]

I know, I know. I just posted yesterday about all the awesome presents we got, but I need to post again. We were very successful garage salers this morning and I must share my deals! The morning started out with Starbucks for croissant/apple fritter and a newspaper. We then realized we forgot the gps and ran back home for it. Then we were off! There was only one that sounded appealing on the west side (which was confirmed to me today to be the best garage sale shopping....lafayette is just too gucky), so we stopped there first. Success! That woman had two long tables piled high with baby boy clothes! She also had a pack n play, car seat, stroller, bouncers, etc, but non that made me overly excited. So I picked up this collection of clothes for $9 comprised mostly of gerber onesies and carter's rompers and onesies. Also a cute little Osh Kosh turtle outfit that Brian really wanted, some arizona overalls, an awesome little vest, and an 18 mo Purdue romper.

While I was looking through the clothes, Brian was over under the table looking at somthing. And he came back over to me with a Baby Bjorn! And it was $2!!!! Now you must understand that the cheapest I have found these new is $56 and Once Upon a Child has them for $18, but $2!!! It is in need of a good washing/scrubbing, but who the heck cares! Yay Brian!
We then stopped/drove by various sales in Lafayette with no garage sale success. Poo. Then, we made our way over to the extreme East side of Lafayette where there are still nice new developments, and found something more appealing! We found this:A Graco Snugride carseat! Still legal until Dec. 2010, which will more than long enough and marked at $35! It was so clean, I actually asked the girl if it was used! She assured me it was and then said that she had the matching stroller in her garage if we wanted to look at that. Now, Brian and I had already decided against the whole travel system idea because they tend to be so big and bulky, but we looked anyway. Well, this stroller was the "metrolite" model and actually weighs under 20lbs. Brian strolled around the driveway with it and only kicked the bottom a little bit. It also looks very nice but obviously has some more scuffs and stains. We decided to definitely get the carseat but didn't know about the stroller. The girl said $60 for the carseat/stroller combo, which is an excellent deal, but I still wasn't sure. Finally, we decided that since it matched and was a good deal, we'd get it and try to sell it on Craigslist if we never used it before we move next summer. Well, it was a pretty good idea. We looked up the system when we got home and the stroller was number 2 on consumer reports for strollers and got an overall rating of Very Good, and when I looked up the system new online, it was over $200. Woot! So here's the stroller (you can use it like this for kids who can sit on their own, but also attach the carseat to the top when they are little wee ones.):Ahhh, sweet garage sale success! Gotta love it!
Oh! And I almost forgot! Olivia was very interested in all the smells on everything we brought home, but was more than thrilled by this new stroller thing. Here she is modeling the lovely storage basket (which is HUGE, btw):

Oh my presents-ness! [21w5d]

I've been meaning to post a new belly pic and a picture of the cute present from Kate and Cory but this week has been so dreadfully boring, I haven't. That's right, boredom=me not blogging. What do you mean, that makes no sense? Pshaw! Well, now I really have to post because we got some more presents in the mail this afternoon. So here we go.
First, I'll start you out with the most recent belly shot. As Brian put it, people should no longer be staring at me, wondering if I'm pregnant or not. Correct. Now they are just staring at me because I AM pregnant. Seriously, it's kind of funny to watch people sometimes. I don't think they even realize they're doing it, but their heads kind of follow me and they don't look at my face - it's all just staring at snowpea's house.

And for those of you who enjoy looking at freaks of nature, I took this shot. I've noticed that when I lie in bed, my belly looks....well....it just looks weird! Half my body looks normal, and then there is this lump of uterus! So strange. I often just lie there and stare at it, poke it, ya know. :) It's also pretty cool because if I stare long enough when I have just laid down, I can sometimes see moving in there. Amazingly enough, Brian never happens to be in the room when it happens, so he still has yet to see (or feel!) that boy moving around. Also odd/interesting to notice, these pictures were taken two days apart. My belly really does go down that much when I am lying down.

Now we will move on to the exciting post of PRESENTS!!! Heehee! Actually, I lied. First I will show you what I have bought for snowpea so far. Here's a pic of the first baby purchases. I bought these at Carter's in the MOA with Nancy. It's obviously fairly neutral stuff because we didn't know there what type of baby we were to expect. And the blankie is silky on one side and fuzzy on the other - just the way I like em!

Here's what we bought immediately after the big ultrasound when we found out snowpea was a boy. (Kohl's this time.) The shirt you can't see has a little bear on it and says "handsome." While I do admit that girls can also be handsome, it seems to generally be not quite such a compliment for them as it is for males, so I decided this was a male-oriented outfit. And of course, a future engineer needs his first polo shirt.

Now we'll move on to presents that I did not purchase. Darling Kate and Cory sent us this adorable bib in the mail with one of the most gorgeous cards I have ever seen!! AND a gift card to Target! Yay!
Thanks Kate and Cory! You are awesome!

And now.....the ridiculousness begins! Someone forgot to remind me to buy some stock in Baby Gap before Auntie Christy found out she was getting a nephew. Oh well! Seeing as Auntie Christy is still in college, I'm guessing a certain pair of grandparents also donated to this shopping spree, but we won't tell her I know that. :)

Don't anyone think your gifts pale in comparison because I have loved every single baby gift and I will continue loving every single one because they are from you, my dear friends and family, and that's the most important part. (Plus, they're all so darn cute!!!)

Let's start off with the item that made my jaw drop all the way to the freaking floor. Gosh, I am still hoping that there was an awesome sale going on, because if there wasn't, someone's getting a smack upside the head for this one!
Yes, that is a Vera Bradley diaper bag. I didn't even know Vera Bradley made diaper bags!! It's a lovely black and white paisley pattern on the inside and on the trim of the changing pad which is so elegant and not babyish - I LOVE it! If there are actually any men out there who read this and are saying, what the heck is Vera Bradley, let me briefly explain. It's this sometimes crazy-patterned, sometimes nice-patterned (see picture), quilted stuff (purses, wallets, tote bags, apparently diaper bags) that cost WAY too much money for my frugal shopping. I always touch them longingly, then look at the price tag, scoff loudly, and walk away. :)

Next we move on to the reason I really wish I had that stock in Baby Gap right about now. Lot number 1, designed for a male child ranging between the ages of birth and three months. We have here two onesies, one with a little lion and the words "King of the Jungle," one with a polo neck and trim in plaid (nerdy engineer baby!). We also have a zip-up hoodie in navy blue and a pair of shorts....because 2 month old babies go to the gym? I don't know, but they're cute as can be!

Next we will move on to Lot number 2, broken into two pictures, designed for a male child ranging between the ages of three and six months. (Dang, do they grow fast!) In the first picture, you will see six onesies with varying phrases. Since I'm not sure how large the picture will turn up on the blog, I will briefly describe what you are seeing here. First, a Ralph Lauren polo....wait a minute....I don't even own anything by Ralph Lauren!!! Hmmm....guess I need to go out and buy that perfume finally! Anyway, back to baby world! The next has a picture of bread and says "the best thing since sliced bread," the next is "happy as a clam" with the expected picture accompanying, then we have "turtley awesome" again with the anticipated illustration, then "here comes trouble" which I would expect to see with a picture of Auntie Christy, but I guess a shark works too, and finally we have "monkey business" with said creature.
The second picture depicts more items designed for the same age range. It shows a terry cloth navy blue polo (engineeeeeeer!), matching "I love daddy" and "I love mommy" onesies which actually seem to be smaller than some of the 0-3 month stuff, resulting in their residence of "the baby closet," a bib that says "all star," some blue pants and a blue and white striped shirt (let's hope snowpea's not too fat or those stripes will do nothing for his figure!).

And finally, we have Lot number 3, designed for a male child ranging between the ages of six and nine months.


(I guess they make the most clothes in the 3-6 month age range?) Here you will see that sonny boy is much too big and mature for onesies and will now wear only shirts and pants. We have another Ralph Lauren polo (with stripes this time).....two bottles of perfume for me?, a shirt with a soccer ball that says "little champ," and some matching blue pants, classy white shorts, and some awesome golfing shorts to go with his polos. And of course, another bib because if snowpea is anything like his father, drool will be a problem! (I love you Brian!)
Phew! I'm exhausted! But the very happy kind of exhausted! I got all kinds of amazing, wonderful stuff for baby boy and I didn't even have to walk around and see the prices!!! :) Thanks friends and family - you make life so much better! (Really, I'm not usually this nice. Consider yourselves lucky!) That's all for now....I don't know what else I could possibly write about!
Dr. appt on Monday, so we'll finally get to hear about what was seen in the ultrasound! I'll let you know then!