Our Baby Room

After months of humming and hawing, we finally got a chest of drawers for our baby room. We share the baby room with the office, but it looks real nice! We spent Sunday afternoon putting it together, which was fun, and now we can get all the baby stuff that is littering the house put away :).

Feels nice to be finished!

Baby Moves

Two things for today.

One
Our 4th of July weekend was pretty mellow but Oh-So welcomed!

We started our Saturday with shopping for a chest of drawers for the nursery after which Peter spent a few hours at work.

Sunday we set up his train layout at work.

Monday Peter went to work after we picked up some fruit and lunch items. He came home early, we ate lunch by the pool then went swimming. We then spent time making watermelon sorbet which turned out disgusting! I don't know if it was bad because of the recipe, the watermelon, or if we just don't like watermelon sorbet.  At about 9pm we drove up Communication Hill and watched fireworks from all over the valley until 10pm. There were probably 10 different spots where they were shooting off fireworks. It's hard to know how many of them were legitimate shows considering that Santa Clara county has a strict no-fireworks policy. All the same, it was SO cool to be able to look in any direction and see fireworks coloring the sky.
It was awesome to just spend time with Peter without the pressures or worries of getting things done or ready. Not too much longer until we won't have hours of time alone together ever again.

Which brings us to Number Two

Our little girl.

After countless failed attempts over the course of several days I was finally able to capture a video of Claire moving inside of my belly. She was terribly camera shy, and I almost thought that I had waited too long to actually see big movements.

So here it is, my baby girl dancing in my belly.
The video is kind of long (about 4 min) and she doesn't move the WHOLE time, but it's still really weird and fun to see. Don't confuse my breathing with her movements. I assure you, I am entirely incapable of moving my stomach from side to side.

I actually got the idea of video-ing my belly from one of my friends. It's just something that doesn't happen every day to normal people, and it's our first interactions with our little girl. And therefore belly movements are video worthy!

So another week down. There are still things that need to be done, but when won't there be!
We just take each day one at a time and somehow the weeks pass.

Baby Preparedness

With less than 5 weeks left before our Little Miss arrives, you may be wondering how prepared we are to receive an infant. 

So here's what we've got!

We have a battery operated swing! 

It plays music and has dangling toys for her to look at.

It also very conveniently folds so it isn't always out.

Of course some assembly was required.

We have a stroller travel system (car seat base unit included). 

This is my sweet action shot

We have a crib which my handy husband assembled!

And a mattress and bedding.

I really like the bedding. (if you don't agree, lie!)

 Yes, there is a bumper, but I just think it's cute. And it won't really be a problem for a couple months at least, right?

I like that the colors aren't really bold. I'm a girl who goes for subtle elegance.

Not pictured are the glider, high chair, baby sling, pack-n-play, and baby tub. 

The high chair is nice for our small space because it attaches to a dinning table chair.

And we gratefully accepted the pack-n-play and tub hand-me-downs!

Because the "nursery" is a shared room with our office, we're having trouble finding a chest of drawers that fit the room, our needs, and our price range. Mostly it's just that the pieces that I like don't fit the space left in the room. 

Oh well.

So beyond all of these "gear" items, we have a smattering of clothes in a range of sizes, a few hair accessories, a few blankets, a nursing cover, and a few books.

Major necessities yet to come: DIAPERS! and wipes.

Along with a few various odds and ends. 

We have what we need in order to get her home and generally care for her though. 

So if you were thinking you wanted to contribute to our nursery but weren't sure what we needed, we've registered at Babies R Us, and there's a Wish List at amazon.com.

Registry number for Babies R Us is: 47064436

or you can just type in my or Peter's name. 

The Amazon link takes you straight to my wish list of various children's books. I'd really like to build a library fit for a baby. 

Don't worry about getting exactly what's on the list. We're first time parents and don't necessarily know what works best.

This isn't meant to be a plea for gifts in any sort of way! We just happen to live hundreds or thousands of miles away from all of our family and many of our friends, and I like to think we keep in touch through our blog.

So we're still busy over here as we anticipate the arrival of our little girl!

Her due date is August 2nd, but we're hoping for sooner rather than later!

Prayers are always welcomed :D

Happy Birth-fath-versary Weekend!

I had the most AMAZING weekend EVER!

It was incredibly perfect!

Well, there were a few adjustments made to the original plan which may have upset me initially (I don't like it when plans change), but all turned out for the best and resulted in 

the most AMAZING weekend EVER!

The weekend started on Friday afternoon when Peter came home early to go with me to my OB appointment where we had a 2nd Ultra Sound scheduled from which we have a souvenir picture!

Awwww! That's our little girl! 

(We had the sonographer confirm the gender one more time, just to be sure!)

Can you see her little face? She's lying down sideways in the picture with the top of her head at the right (my physical left). And that's probably a hand under her chin. And her little cheeks are squished so cute! Haha!

And think of how much she's grown! At 19 weeks this same shot could get her entire little body in! The technician estimated that she now weighs 5 lbs 4 oz. And my doctor says we can expect the baby to be between 7 and 8 pounds at delivery. So 6 more weeks to gain 2 more pounds. 

If you're interested, the reason we needed a 2nd ultra sound was because during the first one my placenta was too low which would mean that I couldn't give birth vaginally. But this ultra sound shows that as my uterus grew, the placenta rose, and so everything is A O.K!

So here are a couple of my Dr. visit day photos. I look much more alert don't I? 

From the front you may not know that I'm pregnant, but I am from the side!

So that's Friday. Peter and I were able to go shopping together and just spend the afternoon and evening together. 

Lovely.

Saturday morning I woke up to breakfast in bed. Peter made pancakes and a plate of strawberries and mango in the shape of a smiley face. I loved it!

Then we got ready for the day and headed to a farmer's market.

We bought some nectarines, pluots, and zucchini!

Then we took almost a 2 hour drive to the Jelly Belly Factory in Fairfield, CA.

 

We got free Jelly Bellies, lots of samples--they even have weird ones--and 6 bags of 2lb Belly Flops. Before you judge me, let me explain. You can buy one 2lb bag of beans for $9. Or you can buy 3 and get 3 free (6 for $27). So we just got 6. Peter also tried a pencil shavings jelly belly. He said that the food scientist had obviously never actually tasted pencil shavings = )

When we got home Peter made spaghetti and meatballs for dinner and once again we spent the evening together watching movies, talking, and playing games.

Sunday morning I used my early morning bathroom run to surprise Peter with cinnamon rolls!

I actually made 2 batches of the dough because I thought the first one was a flop after having no rising action for an HOUR! So these pics are actually from later with the 2nd batch, but it's the same really.

Yum!

Then we had Stake Conference, so church was shorter. And we took our extra cinnamon rolls (I know you may think, how do you have EXTRA cinnamon rolls, well, even if they are delicious, 2 people can only eat so many) to our friends. Then we played a game (I won!!!) and watched the 4th Star Trek movie. 

It was a beautifully relaxed weekend spent together.

Sigh... and tomorrow we'll probably have a nice dinner if I feel like it to celebrate our anniversary.

Pretty darn perfect in my opinion!

7 Weeks and Counting!

So at 33 weeks and 1 day this is what we look like:

I had been taking pictures on the mornings of my doctor appointments, but I decided to do it earlier this week (I almost always make my appointments on Fridays). I do have an appointment this Friday though. Anyway, all the other belly pictures are rounded up to the next week, but this picture is right on. 

A brief WORD OF CAUTION: I kind of ramble about all sorts of things in this post: what I'm feeling, what I'm doing, and what I worry about. I'll try not to be offended if you don't read it all. ; )

Do I Look tired? Because most of the time I feel tired a lot. (In this picture I actually just look tired because I'm not wearing makeup--that stuff is amazing!) I've also gone into full nesting mode. At first I thought that I was just catching up on my spring cleaning. But then a bit of cleaning turned into organizing all my crafting supplies in the office as well as rearranging the food in our kitchen cabinets and all in the course of 2 days because I felt an urgency to get it done. But like I said, I feel tired most days so I usually only do one or two "big" projects per day. 

Things still on my organizing/cleaning to-do list include: 

• re-sort our files containing important info
• put shelf liner in the kitchen cabinets (I didn't realize when we moved in that if I didn't put down liner, the paint would come off with the dishes!--stupid)
• Make my pregnancy clothes more accessible by removing old clothes from closet. (Right now they're at the top of the stack of old clothes on the high shelf in my closet. It was convenient when I started putting them there.)
• Dust everything, including blinds
• Clean window jams--ewww

This all goes on top of regular chores such as maintaining laundry, cleaning bathrooms, vacuuming/sweeping floors, making dinner, and doing some sort of exercise. 

I know. My life is so hard! Haha. 

And what else do I do with my time you ask? Well, I play piano, look up recipes, read books, read blogs, sometimes I write on my own blog, and lots of the time I research baby items/pregnancy/child rearing stuff. I am ALWAYS surprised at how much time goes by when I'm reading things on the Internet. While I'm reading I feel like I'm learning so much, but afterwards I feel like I've wasted so much time! But having no children and no job, time isn't really being wasted. 

I think that I feel like I've wasted time because I think there are so many things left to do and to get before our little baby comes. It's true that there is a lot to do and get, BUT I do have seven weeks to do them in. The problem in having seven whole weeks is that I've never been one to do projects over an extended amount of time. Sure when I'm doing the project it ALWAYS, without fail,  takes twice as long as I think it will; but I never plan something out over weeks. I'll think about it for weeks and if you ask me for a progress report, I would totally say it's 50% completed because the thinking and planning is half the work. HAHA! This kind of thinking drives Peter crazy--it probably drove my mom crazy when I was in high school too--Oh Well! I always got everything done and turned in on time and usually with a decent grade. Except for once when it wasn't done and another time when I was a little late. Anyway, the point is that I don't do things gradually over the course of several weeks--I like getting things done all at once either at the beginning or right before the end. 

Problem: Pregnancy is not something you can rush or get done with quickly. Neither is spending $1000s of dollars to prepare for a baby. Sure you can spend all of that money all at once, but that kind of spending makes me nervous. 

Took a little ice cream break just now. MMMMMMmmm!!!! This is my FAVORITE! Sadly it's only available during the summer. I first found my love of black raspberry ice cream last summer when 

Breyer's had Black Raspberry with chocolate chunks!!! YUM! So just know, this will be in my freezer consistently through August! 

SO I worry about stuff constantly like the fact that I actually have to have a baby or having to provide and care for an infant! I just worry. But in the end I know that things will be alright. I do my prenatal yoga at least 3 times a week, eat a prenatal vitamin every day, eat mostly healthy things, and my doctor says I'm fine. And whether this little baby comes out a boy or a girl I know that I'll love it just the same. This little baby is joining our family whether or not I feel ready. All of the should'a, could'a, would'a's don't matter. 

I'm certain that there will be at least one more whinny, complaining type post about feelings before this pregnancy thing is over. But let me just leave you with a few answers to random questions that pregnant ladies get asked. 

If you decided to skip the non-baby specific part, pay attention again HERE.

I haven't really craved too much. I'm a terribly indecisive person though so maybe I have craved things, but I've just gotten confused and flustered in the translation of desire and obtaining food. I've definitely avoided raw vegetables unless they're served to me. But I've eaten and wanted more fruit/berry things than ever! I actually can honestly say that I've wanted berries and fruit more than chocolate--but adding chocolate to said fruit and berries doesn't hurt. Since my third trimester started I've gotten heartburn almost every evening/night. And although I look small, this baby is definitely pushing some limits creating stretchmarks as she goes! She feels heavy and definitely inhibits regular movement. I realized sometime last week that I couldn't see my feet. This has probably been the case for a few (maybe several) weeks now, but I hadn't realized it because when I wanted to see my feet I just bent over. 

What I see when I look down

and what I see when I lean over.

Every night before we fall asleep Peter and I enjoy watching my belly move as our little girl stretches and punches and kicks. It's so fun to think that she's working out in there so she can be big and strong when she gets out. 

Oh and one more thing, PETER IS COMPLETELY FINISHED WITH HIS THESIS!!! 

ANNNNNNNNNNNNND

he has a date set to defend his thesis in Utah at BYU!!! Hooray!!!!!!!!!!

We really do enjoy our life together. We feel so blessed to have one another and to be starting a family. Perhaps it wasn't the most perfect timing, but I'm still so glad to be transitioning to this phase of life as parents.