Pregnancy dreams are...

interesting, to say the least. Never in my life have I had such vivid, weird dreams before! Last night's nightmare consisted of some scary man breaking into our house and stealing my scrapbook paper. He put a gun to my head and demanded it. When I woke up in a panic, I thought to myself "OMG! My scrapbook paper is gone!". Then I came to my senses and realized that it's scrapbook paper and no one is stealing it from me.

28 Weeks - Sophia is a Chinese Cabbage!

By this week, your baby weighs two and a quarter pounds (like a Chinese cabbage) and measures 14.8 inches from the top of her head to her heels. She can blink her eyes, which now sport lashes. With her eyesight developing, she may be able to see the light that filters in through your womb. She's also developing billions of neurons in her brain and adding more body fat in preparation for life in the outside world.

How far along? 28 weeks today
Maternity clothes? Oh yes! I heart maternity pants and dresses.

Stretch marks? Nope, please stay this way!
Sleep: Not horrible, not great. I've also been waking up with these lovely leg cramps/charlie horses and toe cramps.

Best moment this week: The damask stroller came...in like 2 days! I was also happy to get some more progress done with the nursery.
Movement: All the time and all over! It's super-freaky to see my belly bump & bounce.
Food cravings: It was a very chocolate-filled week, yet again. I should be embarrassed but I totally crushed an entire package of Oreo's in about 3 days.
Gender: It's a girl!
Labor Signs: Nope
Belly Button in or out? Still an innie, not for long though.

What I miss: Not flying out of bed in pain from leg cramps!
What I am looking forward to: Cooking out at the in-laws tonight for Memorial Day...love hamburgers and potato chips!

Weekly Wisdom: Prop your legs on some pillows to help with the leg cramps...keep drinking that water!

We pulled our first weed this weekend...Yes, we've lived here for 2 years now. I don't think it's a secret that Jordan and I both absolutely hate yard work, especially since we both have been suffering from nasty allergies. We spent all day Saturday pulling weeds and even pulled a couple ugly bushes out. We plan to hopefully re-do it all before Sophia gets here, but we'll see if we have enough time. It's starting to look much better already!

I've got Jordan in nesting mode along with me now...He's gotten a start on our to-do list, so that's been mind settling for me. I just get in these panics that we have a million things to do and our house needs so much done, I'm crazy :)

Some nursery progress

We decided to re-arrange the furniture because we weren't going to be able to fit a chair or an ottoman, which would not be fun for those late night feedings! I prefer the previous arrangement, but oh well! We also got some curtains hung and added a few details to the room. I am not 100% satisfied with the curtains, we could not find the right color ANYWHERE. So, we settled for these and they'll work just fine.

We still need to hang the chandelier, get some kind of blinds for the windows, put in the base boards, get a rug, get a comfy chair and an end table to go by that. We also still need to get some small little decorative touches to go throughout the room but I'm not in a huge hurry to get those, I just want to get the big stuff out of the way. Once we get all of that, it will be finished!

We moved the changing to this wall and moved the dresser to the wall that the changing table was previously.

Here's the dresser with the bird cage that I'm in love with, the new lamp and cute frame that Ashley picked out!

Don't mind the price tags still attached there :)

The new curtains with my little curtain-rod idea that I thought turned out really cool!

Pretty molding that is hung above each of the window's.

I love this "S"! This is the little corner that we'll put a chair and end table...still need to find some kind of art or something to hang on the wall to the left.

View of the nursery from the door

Wait...What? I'm in 3rd trimester!

Whoa, that totally snuck up on me! I didn't even realize it until about .5 seconds ago.

Fun finds from Target

I went on a hunt for aqua curtains for the nursery and walked out with WAY more! Everyone knows it's impossible not to find a million things you never thought you needed at Target :)

Well, I didn't find curtains but I did find this adorable white and pink chandelier (way prettier in person):


This adorable crystal lamp, except mine came with a prettier shade that has crystal beads on it:
I also picked up a super cut rug that I have to return, it wasn't the right size and clashed with the bedding. Then I found this rug on the Target website that I might order:

A pink rug isn't ideal because I'm trying to bring in more aqua blues into the room but I've had the hardest time finding anything that is the right blue. They're all either "boy" blue or they look like a blue highlighter. Jordan and I went to 3 stores yesterday looking for blue curtains and couldn't find anything. So, we may be having a very pink nursery!

We bought the damask stroller!

I'm so excited, I wanted this stroller so bad! We found it for a really great price + free shipping on amazon.com. It's a lot nicer than the Evenflo stroller we bought. It gets better safety ratings, holds up to 50 pounds and has some other really cool features such as a digital clock and temperature gauge...not to mention it's so cute :)

27 weeks: a cauliflower

Your baby is as hefty as a head of cauliflower, weighing in at almost 2 pounds. (Length: about 14 1/2 inches.)
This week, your baby weighs almost 2 pounds (like a head of cauliflower) and is about 14 1/2 inches long with her legs extended. She's sleeping and waking at regular intervals, opening and closing her eyes, and perhaps even sucking her fingers. With more brain tissue developing, your baby's brain is very active now. While her lungs are still immature, they would be capable of functioning — with a lot of medical help — if she were to be born now. Chalk up any tiny rhythmic movements you may be feeling to a case of baby hiccups, which may be common from now on. Each episode usually lasts only a few moments, and they don't bother her, so just relax and enjoy the tickle.

How far along? 27 weeks, 1 day
Maternity clothes? Maternity pants all the way, that's not going to change! I can still fit into loose non-maternity tops. I'm wearing those as long as possible :)

Stretch marks? Nope, please stay this way!
Sleep: Eh, it's been okay...my back has started to hurt recently.

Best moment this week: Baby shopping with Ashley and hanging out with Kate, Amy & Ash - it was a good time and I wish we could all get together more often!
Movement: All the time and all over! The remote was bouncing on my belly last night :)
Food cravings: Hostess chocolate cupcakes, chocolate cake, chocolate ice cream, brownies with chocolate icing, oreos & milk...if it has chocolate, I want to eat it!
Gender: It's a girl!
Labor Signs: Nope
Belly Button in or out? Still an innie

What I miss: I really wanted a hot dog the other day, Jordan talked me out of it since it's one of the only things I won't eat during pregnancy.
What I am looking forward to: Memorial Day weekend and another wedding I have coming up this weekend!

Weekly Wisdom: Get things done early! I'm SO glad I did because I'm already starting to slow down a bit and I have a long way to go still!

I feel like Jordan and I have been going non-stop this week! We've been busy with anything and everything and our house looks like a tornado zone right now. It's a good busy but I just feel like we don't sit down and relax together as much as we used to. I guess I better get used to that because those days are probably long gone :) Everything is going good though, no trips to the ER or labor & delivery this week! My allergies are absolutely killing me but oh well, I can deal with those over that crap I dealt with last week!

We're trying to get ready to have a garage sale soon. Our family room is just filled with old furniture that we cleared out from the nursery that all needs to go! It drives me crazy because I am still in organizing mode and seeing that stuff in there just makes me nuts. Jordan can't keep up with my neurotic organizing I've had lately :)

Oh, and since I didn't do a 26 week belly picture last week here is a quick photo Ashley and I took together on her iPhone after a day of shopping. It's a pretty horrible picture of the both of us but oh well!

Passed my glucola test

Woo hoo! SO glad I did, because if I didn't then I would have had to do a 3-hour long test and get bloodwork done yet again. So there's some good news for once :) I feel like I've had nothing but bad luck lately...I can deal with that as long as little Sophia stays nice and healthy!

It looks like Jordan has a sinus infection now, poor guy. When men get sick they instantly become like children, so I had to take care of him last night. Figured I owed him since he's been dealing with my sinus infections, taking me to urgent cares & ER's and then to labor & delivery at midnight so much lately :)

Finished the dresser!

The antique dresser is complete! I LOVE the outcome, it's exactly how I pictured.

Before:
After:

I just realized...

that I'm in double digits! 98 days until Sophia makes her debut :)

Love these decals!

Jordan and I have been on the search for some cool wall art for the nursery, but it's been hard because the nursery has big long windows which take up most of the walls, so there's hardly any wall space. There's actually only one open spot, which is above the changing table, and we plan to put up wall letter's with "Sophia" written out there. So we found these really cool flower decals on http://www.etsy.com/ that we plan to put randomly all along the walls, above the wainscotting.

This one is by Etsy seller "Elephannie":

Another one we like by Etsy seller "byrdiegraphics":

Or these by Etsy seller "Elephannie":

Or this one from Etsy seller "lewasdesigns":

Another favorite from Etsy seller "BubbaAndDoodle":

Decisions, decisions :)

26 weeks: A cucumber!

Your baby is as tall as an English hothouse cucumber and weighs about 1 2/3 pounds. (Length: 14 inches, head to heel.) The network of nerves in your baby's ears is better developed and more sensitive than before. He may now be able to hear both your voice and your partner's as you chat with each other. He's inhaling and exhaling small amounts of amniotic fluid, which is essential for the development of his lungs. These so-called breathing movements are also good practice for when he's born and takes that first gulp of air. And he's continuing to put on baby fat. He now weighs about a pound and two-thirds and measures 14 inches (an English hothouse cucumber) from head to heel. If you're having a boy, his testicles are beginning to descend into his scrotum — a trip that will take about two to three days.

How far along? Exactly 26 weeks
Maternity clothes? Yep, and my aunt just loaded me up with a TON more!

Stretch marks? Nope, please stay this way!
Sleep: Still waking up at 7AM every day, but sleep is good

Best moment this week: Oh, I had the week from hell...but Mother's Day was great! Registering was fun too :)
Movement: All the time and all over!
Food cravings: Pepperoni pizza & chocolate ice cream cones
Gender: It's a girl!
Labor Signs: Nope
Belly Button in or out? Still an innie

What I miss: Hmm...nothing really. Well, I don't miss not getting sick all the time.
What I am looking forward to: My baby shower!

Weekly Wisdom: Call your doctor! Don't wait around until it gets unbearable like I did.

I hope all the mama's and soon-to-be mama's had a wonderful Mother's day! My first was great :) Jordan brought me some really pretty gerbera daisies that we're going to plant in our yard.

I forgot to update about my doctor's appointment last week. Everything is going great! Sophia's heart rate sounded nice and loud (I missed what he said what the BPM was) and I still weigh less now than I did at my first appointment. He said my weight gain has been "fantastic" and to keep doing whatever I'm doing. I have no idea what I'm doing :) I guess I'm just eating much healthier. He also advised us to get enrolled in some birthing classes and to get the nursery and whatever else we need to get done now...because I'm not going to have the energy that I do now for much longer. I'm totally in nesting mode so I have no prolem trying to get everything done now!

On Saturday, Jordan and I went to Babies R Us to register -- that was so overwhelming! We just went down every single aisle and scanned away. It was way harder than I thought...Jordan thought everything looked like a "boy" so we went back and forth over everything. I really didn't want to get a bunch of pink stuff just in case we have more little kiddies and we have a boy. We didn't even go near the clothes or register for any! Our closet is already almost full from all the clothes that we have already received from friends & family! I'm not over exaggerating! She'll be well dressed :)

We're also taking back the Evenflo stroller we bought. I SO knew this would happen, Jordan thinks it looks like it's for a boy. Of course he didn't like any of the other strollers at Babies R Us because they all look like a "boy" but he doesn't want to get a pink one either, there's no pleasing him! I'm still trying to talk him into letting us get the $300 Graco Rittenhouse Metrolite travel system, but I'm not sure that's going to happen :) I'm not even sure why it's $300 because all of the other Graco "Metrolite" travel systems are about $210. I'm thinking that it's an older fabric, so it's harder to get...there aren't even a lot of places that sell it in that fabric. I did a Google search for "Graco Rittenhouse Metrolitle Travel System" and there's an online store called www.babysupermarket.com that has it "on sale" for $289.99 and then www.walmart.com has it for $335.88. Not sure why there's such a huge price difference?

Baby shower is set!

This totally snuck up on me! My schedule is a little busy with my photography business so we were pretty limited to dates that would work, so we ended up going with June 6th. Invites will finally go out on Monday...just in time! The shower is going to be at this adorable little place called The Secret Garden. We're really hoping the weather will cooperate, otherwise it will be held in their little chapel. It's so pretty outside in the gardens and by the lake! It's hard to tell from these pictures:


Also, here's a little sneak peak of the invites...I think they're so cute!

Can I switch?

I posted a while back about the green & black Evenflo travel system we bought a couple months ago. I just saw this Graco "Rittenhouse" Quattro Tour travel system recently and my mouth dropped. If you know me, you know that I have a slight obsession with damask. WHY does it have to cost so much more than the Evenflo travel system? I want this so bad, but something tells me that Jordan will not be able to justify a $100 price difference just so I could have a prettier fabric :)

It DOES have a higher weight limit and some cooler features than the Evenflo...but it's also bigger. How can I talk him into this one? Doubt that's going to happen :)

My night from hell

I can't catch a break!

I had all of the text book symptoms of a UTI and I was trying to wait it out for my OB appointment that I have today. Well, by the time Jordan got home from work last night I couldn't handle the pain anymore and called my OB office. It was after office hours for them so they sent me to Urgent Care. They did a urine analysis, which came back negative. The doctor went ahead and gave me meds for the UTI anyway just in case and said they were going to send it off to be tested further.

We come home, I take the medicine and some Benadryl (still fighting this sinus infection), took a shower, then tried to lay down. I eventually fell asleep but woke up when Jordan came to bed. I was in horrible pain. The pain had spread to my lower abdomen and lower back and was almost unbearable. Jordan tells me to call my OB again and they send me to labor & delivery at the hospital.

I told them about my negative urine analysis for UTI but they decide to do another just in case. I get hooked up to all kinds of machines to monitor the baby - baby is doing fine. They basically said the same thing the Urgent Care place said and told me that the pains I'm feeling in my lower abdomen and back are most likely ligament pain from stretching to accomodate the baby. She said that pain can be pretty severe but will go away. Back home we go.

I woke up every hour throughout the night in horrible pain. Then I made the mistake of taking the medicine again without eating and that made me sick. The pain isn't quite as horrible today but it's still very very uncomfortable today.

I have an appointment with my OB today for my glucose test and they're going to do a follow-up with me on this whole UTI thing. Hopefully we'll have some answers.

Nursery Progress

Well, I am home sick (again) today with yet another sinus infection. Sinus infections are 3x more likely during pregnancy, so I guess that's why I keep getting them.

Anyways, I decided to take a couple quick pictures of the nursery progress so far. It just looks all pink right now, we'll get the blue accents in there eventually :) We still need to touch up the paint, put in the base boards, replace the fan, put up window treatments and get some kind of art work for the walls. We don't have very much wall space so we don't have a lot to choose from.


The old antique dresser we bought, missing the mirror -- still needs to be painted blue
The crib bedding, minus the mattress - still have to get that :)

25 week belly pic

Not much of a change this week. Notice the wainscoting and pink walls in the background -- Thanks to Mamaw & Papaw Begley for helping us out! Thank you!

25 Weeks!

Your baby rivals the average rutabaga in weight -- about 1 1/2 pounds. (Length: 13 1/2 inches, head to heel.)
Head to heels, your baby now measures about 13 1/2 inches. Her weight — a pound and a half — isn't much more than an average rutabaga, but she's beginning to exchange her long, lean look for some baby fat. As she does, her wrinkled skin will begin to smooth out and she'll start to look more and more like a newborn. She's also growing more hair — and if you could see it, you'd now be able to discern its color and texture.

How far along? 25 weeks today
Maternity clothes? Oh yes, although I can still wear my loose pre-pregnancy clothes

Stretch marks? Nope, please stay this way!
Sleep: Waking up at about 6:30 or 7 everyday like an alarm clock

Best moment this week: John & Melissa's wedding day in the Bahamas, it was beautiful
Movement: All the time and all over!
Food cravings: Starbucks Iced Caramel Macchiatos...I haven't had any in a long time until this week, I think I had like 3 this week. SO good.
Gender: It's a girl!
Labor Signs: Nope
Belly Button in or out? Still an innie, I'm not sure how long that will last though. It already feels really weird.

What I miss: I actually really enjoy being pregnant...I still feel like I'm behind on everything with housework and stuff like that though.
What I am looking forward to: Working on the nursery some more.

Weekly Wisdom: Bad things happen, sometimes you just can't do anything to prevent it. You just have to try to keep your head up and remember the glass is half full, not half empty.

The Bahamas was absolutely beautiful, the bride and groom looked amazing and they had such wonderful families - They made me feel right at home! I was very sad to leave :(

Jordan surprised me when I came home from the airport late last night. Jordan and his dad spent all day Sunday putting up the wainscoting that I've had my eye on in Sophia's room. It looks SO good and exactly what I imagined. I'm so thankful that we both have such awesome parents who help us with so much.