Much Needed R&R

Another weekend has come and gone.  Danny and I had a pretty relaxing weekend for a change, which was really nice!  Friday we attended our second birthing class.  Danny got to feel what it's like to carry around an extra 25 pounds, that was quite comical.  He will kill me for posting these (it's a good thing he doesn't read my blog, huh!?) but they are too funny to resist. 

And this one had the whole class laughing...even the instructor said she's never seen this happen before!

Yeah, that's Danny breastfeeding, lol!!

I think he has a lot to learn about the male anatomy, but he was a good sport!  Saturday we slept in and we set up Danny's new "media center" in the basement.  He's like a kid in a candy shoppe and I can't peel him away from his new desk.  I guess you gotta love a good Craigslist find!

My little nerd :)  I <3 him...

Once the desk was put together, we headed to our favorite place, (insert sarcasm for good measure) Fairview Beach!  Everyone knows that we have a slight history at Fairview Beach and if we knew what was good for us we would steer clear of that place, but we never learn (we've had a few broken bones, a bar fight, an ER visit, and many a drunken night occur at Fairview Beach).  We met up with an old friend that I went to High School with, Danny and I shared a beautiful sunset together then headed to the beach to watch the fireworks.  The show was great!  It was such a nice night.  Then we went to the Pirate's Den for a quick drink, well, I had ice chips while Danny had a beer, then we decided to call it an early night before we got ourselves into any trouble!  We tried to order pizza and bread sticks from Domino's but we just missed closing, so we vegged out on frozen pizza and bread sticks once we got home.  Not the best food to be eating at midnight, but it was good nonetheless.  

We grilled out steaks with Danny's parents today and they stayed to watch "The Bounty Hunter."  It was a nice relaxing day and tomorrow Danny leaves for travel to New York.  I'm bummed that he will be gone, but hopefully this will be the last time before Marissa gets here.  And hopefully Marissa doesn't decide to come early, or Danny will be on an immediate flight back home!

Tomorrow marks 5 weeks until my estimated due date.  There's a full moon on August 24th, a day after my due date, so I'll be interested to see if that impacts her arrival at all.  I know it's an old wives tale, but it's still fun to think about.  

Eli wanted to have a little photo shoot this evening, Sadie however did not...

Sadie kept her little butt under the futon, out of camera shot.  Her loss, no blog appearance for her!

**36 Days** to go!

Marissa is Getting Ready!

So, I think it's safe to say I've dropped...

I still have 40 days to go, but it looks like Marissa is getting ready for her arrival into the world.  Not that dropping means that I will be going into labor anytime soon (which is fine with me) but it does mean that we're getting closer to meeting our sweet little girl. 

We still have three birthing classes to finish, so Miss Marissa needs to stay put!  Plus, Danny is leaving for travel next Monday and won't be home all week.  I can't imagine what I would do if things started progressing when he isn't here.  Eeek!

I had someone tell me this weekend how scared they are for me to go through labor.  Call me crazy, but I guess it hasn't hit me yet.  I feel pretty calm and collected about the whole ordeal.  I feel like if I get all worked up over it and start focusing on the pain, it's only going to make the pain that much worse.  My plan is to stay relaxed, calm and to not focus on the pain and discomfort, but to focus on meeting our first child and the joy that she will bring to our lives.  I know that labor will be painful, it will probably be long, and I honestly don't know how I will handle the pain, but it's inevitable.  It has to be done and stressing about it isn't going to help anything.  So I'm taking a positive approach.  And if I hear one more person scoff at me for wanting to go natural, I just might not let them know when Marissa gets here!  Is it so much to ask for a little support?  And if I end up getting an epidural...so.be.it!  What does it hurt to try and how does it impact you on what I wish to do for my labor?  .::End Rant::.

Marissa has been pretty active lately.  It's crazy seeing my stomach move and discombobulate.  Sometimes I think she is sticking her butt in the air, or she'll hunker down on one side of my stomach and make my belly look lopsided.  It's quite a site!  I love feeling her hiccups too, it's so cute!  I'm really going to miss all the little kicks and jabs once she is an outside baby, but I can't wait to meet her.  I think Danny is getting pretty excited to meet her as well.  He's going to be a great dad! 

In ~ 40 days, we will be parents!  Now that's a crazy thought!

The Weekender

This weekend was a busy one!  I had my shower on Saturday and it was great!  I am so thankful for my family and friends and their generosity for our sweet little girl.  Mommy, Daddy and Marissa got LOTS of goodies this weekend.  I've been spending the day washing baby clothes and finding a place for everything in the nursery.  I even wrote out all of my thank you cards today (go me) and they are ready for the mail tomorrow.  I really hate putting off thank you cards, I want everyone to know how thankful we are for everything they did for us, so the sooner they are out, the better.  :)  I had a lot of fun at the shower, the food was delicious and I couldn't have asked for more!

Before any guests arrived

The gift table ~ Baby Girl

Loved the chocolate bars!  Soo cute!

Cake Table

Danny and I

Cierra and I

Liz, Kristin, Amanda and I

My mom and I

Mickey and I

Linda and I

The Ladies ~ Minus just a few...

After the shower, we cleaned up and headed home to play with some of our new gifts.  Danny tried on the moby wrap with Jeremy and Mickey's baby, Hunter.  He is 10 weeks old and was the perfect test model.  After a little more research on you tube, I think we have a better understanding of how to use the moby wrap.  

He's going to be such a cute dad!!

Can A Closet...

...Ever be too organized!?  I.think.not!

Okay, I'm at it again...my obsessive compulsive disorder to have all things organized has officially taken over Marissa's closet.  But it looks sooo cute and everything is now labeled so there is no mistaking where things go (hint, hint, Daddy)!

I made these basket labels for things like blankets, sheets, burp cloths, socks, hats and bibs.  With a little time on the cricut and a few sheets of scrapbook paper, I have custom labels that match the clothing dividers I made awhile back.

Without further ado:

A little bootie

A Pea in a Pod

Rattle

Notice the moon for blankets which = sleep?

I can now rest easy that Marissa's closet will be nice and organized.  =)  Wow...I seriously need help, don't I!?  He~he!!

*Good night blogger world*

Love you Marissa! <3

My Cloth Diaper Stash

I'm showing off my stash for this blog:
http://vanessascraftynest.blogspot.com/2010/07/cloth-diaper-week-show-off-your-fluff.html

  

So here is an update to my cloth diaper stash posts from the past!

This is our changing table/dresser/hutch combo station.  I'm hoping I get a changing pad soon but my husband keeps telling me to hold off until my shower.  Boo!

Cloth wipes, essential oils, snappis, spray bottle and accessories are kept in the white basket to the right.  Fleece liners, extra inserts and prepping/washing instructions are kept in the right drawer.  I love being organized!  Anyone who knows me, knows that well. 

Here is another picture taken over the weekend, I've been rearranging things to fit my needs...

This is what is currently in my stash:

6 SmartiPants One Size (OS) Pocket Diapers

3 FuzziBunz (FB) OS Pocket Diapers

1 BumGenius (BG) All-In-One (AIO) Organic Diaper 

2 BG Sized Pocket Diapers

2 (PINK!) Rumparooz OS Pocket Diapers (not pictured, they are waiting to be prepped)

28 Prefolds

5 Thirsties XS Diaper Covers

3 Kissaluvs Size 0 Diapers

3 Dozen Cloth Wipes

2 Hemp Doublers

4 Snappis

2 Planet Wise Wetbags - 1 medium/1 large (in super cute patterns)

2 Planet Wise Pail Liners (chocolate and pink to match the nursery)

And I made about 3 dozen Fleece Liners from some no pill fleece I got at the craft store.

I'm waiting to buy more OS Pocket Diapers after we figure out what works best on Marissa.  It is my plan to not buy anymore gender specific colors, but pink is soooo hard to resist.  =)

I will probably throw the prefolds in the wash one last time before Marissa gets here.  A friend of mine also gave us some newborn disposable diapers they had left over so I'm thinking we will use those during the meconium stage.  Our washer and dryer is in the basement so I don't know if I will be up to running up and down the stairs immediately after delivery to do laundry, so we'll probably use those until we run out.  And though we've put on our registry that we are cloth diapering, I expect that someone will buy us disposables for my shower.  Guess we'll see this Saturday!  Wahoo!!

Happy 4th!

Happy 4th of  July!!!

Thank goodness for a long weekend.  We've had time to relax for a change which has been really nice.  We're heading to the in-laws today to celebrate Danny's mom's birthday.  We went and watched fire works last night which was fun.  Marissa slept through most of them but towards the end she started bouncing around in there!  I wonder what she was thinking!?

This morning I made some DIY pacifier clips and I'm really happy with how they turned out.  I want to go buy more ribbon and make more.  =)  Know anyone who needs pacifier clips?  Stores like Target want $5.00 for a pacifier clip and I made 4 for about $5.00.  Can't beat that!

Love the polka dots!

We also got our lamp stand in the mail yesterday so Danny and I put it together.  I think it looks pretty good.  I'm so in love with the nursery.  I just like sitting in there and taking it all in.  I guess it's a good thing I like the nursery because in a few short weeks I will be spending  A LOT of time in there.

I found this adorable little box that says "baby" on it yesterday at the store.  It matches our pink and brown theme and it has cute polka dots on it.  Marissa's first doll is to the right of the box, it's handmade which is really neat!  My mom's friend gave it to us.  

The letter "M" that I painted awhile back also found its home on Marissa's door.  It's not perfect but I still think it's cute.

I can't believe my family/friend shower is next Saturday!!!  I'm so excited to get together with everyone and eat lots of yummy food!  We are going to have a full house.  My parents are coming in to stay with us, my best friend, my brother and his girl friend and my cousin is coming as well.  Plus, I think some of the guys are going to be hanging out, drinking beer while the girls are at the shower.

Eli and Sadie haven't made a blog appearance lately, so here's some pictures that I took yesterday:

 Our handsome brown hound

Miss Sadie being shy for the camera

I hope everyone has a happy and safe 4th of July!!

My Poor Blog Has Been Neglected

I've been wanting to blog all week but haven't found the time or energy to log in, so here it is Thursday and I'm just getting around to last weekend's adventures.

To begin, last Saturday we went to a friend's 1st anniversary cook-out/pool party.  It was a lot of fun.  I got to sit my big fat belly in the pool, eat delicious food, take a boat ride and relax with friends.  I can't complain.

The view from the pool

Pretty Hibiscus

Danny & I on the boat

The sun beginning its closure on the day

And of course, what's an anniversary party without the bride and groom - Sean & Kristin

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Sunday I did three large loads of baby laundry.  Talk about exhausting!  But with laundry comes a finished closet thanks to my wonderful husband and Father in Law (FIL).  It was so much fun going through all of the clothes.  I can't believe how tiny some of the outfits are.  Here is the GRAND reveal....

It is such a relief to have the closet finished.  Now all we need to do in the nursery is order the wooden blinds for the window, possibly install a new ceiling fan and put away any items we get at my showers.  Oh yeah, and have a baby. :)  We've already received all of these clothes from friends and family, did I mention I haven't even had my showers yet?  Miss Marissa ought to be one stylish little girl!

I'm really proud of the nursery, Danny and I have both put in a lot of hard work, and I'm glad to see it has paid off.

I sit in my glider quite often, thinking about how in just a few short weeks, our little angel will be here.  

I was a good wifey on Sunday and made Danny his favorite dessert...strawberry cupcakes with cream cheese icing.  And he didn't even have to ask me to make them.  I think that deserves some brownie points, but who is keeping score?

Monday, June 28th marked 32 weeks for me.  I've gained about 21 pounds total (on a good day, the above mentioned cupcakes for breakfast probably don't help the scale) and Marissa appears to be growing on track.  I've been feeling her hiccups lately, which is really neat.  She has been pretty active, some days it feels like she is doing somersaults!  I wish I had x-ray vision so I could see what exactly she is up to all day.  I still haven't had a single craving, which is kind of a bummer!  You think that when you are pregnant you will have lots of cravings, sooo not true for me.  I guess I eat a pretty rounded diet so maybe that's why I don't really crave sweets, salt, etc.  So here we are at 32 weeks:

Marissa is getting B-I-G!

I'm ready for the long Holiday weekend ahead of us.  We don't have any real plans other than celebrating Danny's mom's birthday on the 4th.  We need to get some yard work done and I need to do some stuff before my shower next weekend.  Hopefully we will have some time to relax and spend some quality husband and wife time together.

Have a Happy and safe 4th of July!!!