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. :)
Here I am on Saturday, helping Brian at the lab.
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).
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.
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.
