"Nesting"

Jonathan and I both had yesterday off of work, and thanks to our service men and women, Veterans Day allowed Annette, my mother-in-love, to be off work as well.  She has basically painted our entire house up to this point (with our help of course, but she really is the professional) and so of course we called her up for some help painting the baby's room.  She came down yesterday morning and we knocked it out in one afternoon.  You'll notice she is not in any of the pictures, but don't let that fool you - she did practially all the hard stuff (like the dreaded trim work)!

Not only is Annette a painting pro, but she is also awesome on the sewing machine! So I ordered some very cute brown and white elephant material today for her to make some curtains. I can't wait to see this fabric in person, hopefully it will be as cute as I think and that our baby boy loves animals as much as I do!



Today we went to a baby boutique in Chesterfield, MO called Treasure Rooms.  Jonathan and I have been visiting this store periodically to test out gliders.  They have one that is made for taller people like us so that our heads are a little more supported for those late night feedings/rockings.  On our trip today, Annette and Marc actually purchased this set as a gift for us and the baby.  I could not believe the generosity and love in this gift - it definitely brought me to tears!  Each chair is custom made to our specific fabric and color choices and so it will be ready for pick-up in 4-6 weeks.  This is an example of what the gliding chair/ottoman set looks like, navy blue with white piping:

After a delicious lunch at The Cheesecake Factory, we parted ways with Annette and all went home.  This evening I went to Weekends Only (our favorite discount furniture store) and found what I thought was the Chupacabra of rugs - a cheap, but cute, tangerine colored rug that is at least 4x6'.  I've seen a couple options onine for about $150 but I was not about to spend that much on a rug.  Luckily, I found one for $68, so I had to go ahead and snatch it up just in case I never see another one again... I have seriously been looking for the past couple of months in every possible store!

Jonathan and I faced the daunting task of putting the crib together when I got home from shopping.  After watching the horror that every expecting couple faces on the TV shows, we were a little nervous that this evening would turn into WWIII.  Luckily, it was a fairly simple process and nobody got mad or started crying.

The crib is beautiful and I'm so happy we found it for such a good deal on amazon.com!  Here is a picture of the newly painted room, our new crib/mattress, and new rug:

My camera does not capture the wall color very well, but the name of the color is "Tame Teal" - it's a cross between a teal and an aqua blue :)  We have so much more to do on the nursery, but now that we have some of the basics completed, the fun decorating can really start!

Onto the Third Trimester...

This past weekend I took a trip up to Chicago to see Mary Poppins at the Cadillac Palace Theatre with some of my Quincy girls!  It was so much fun to see the movie come to life on stage - my favorite part was definitely the "Step in Time" number.  Although three days later I'm still singing "Practically Perfect" haha

Left to right: Trudi, Becky, Josie (Trudi's daughter), Emily, Jessica, Me, Beth, Katie

I made the five hour drive up on Friday morning so that Emily and I could have all afternoon to hang out before all the other girls got in town.  She has an awesome new camera and wanted some practice with it, so we did some pregnancy pictures of me out around her house.  Here are some shots that she got - I am exactly 27 weeks and 3 days along:

Sunday morning I woke up at the crack of dawn (literally... thanks to the time change) to head home to my husband and the NFL Sunday Ticket.  On my long drive home I started to come to the realization that our little boy will be here in 12 weeks!  We have so much to finish start on his nursery.  I've worked really hard on planning exactly how I want it to look, but now we are to the point where things need to actually start happening.  I'll make sure to snap pictures along the way - we are hoping to get the painting done this weekend!

Pregnancy update:

I had my 28 week doctor's appointment yesterday and everything is progressing right on schedule.  I am 23.5 pounds heavier than I was six months ago and it kind of freaks me out to think about having to lose all of this weight after the baby gets here.  We start our childbirth/newborn/breastfeeding classes next Sunday night at the hospital where we will be delivering and those will last for five weeks.  After next month, I will start having appointments every other week, and then the last 4 weeks (all of January) I will have an appointment every week.  My due date is still January 31st!

November 7, 2011, marked our six month wedding anniversary.  I couldn't ask for a better partner to go with me through this crazy life.  God really knew what he was doing when he put us together :)  I have no idea where I would be today if it weren't for Jonathan; he has taught me what it truly means to love and I promise to cherish our marriage vows forever! xoxoxo

Mary J. Blige says...

"NO MORE DRAMA!"

How is it that my little corner of the world can be so calm and happy but at the same time I'm stuck in the middle of craziness between people who don't know how good they really have it?  My family members are the most important people in my life and it kills me to see any bad blood between any of them.  I've tried to be supportive of everyone and it's almost like by not picking "sides" I have become part of the problem.  These people have their health, a roof over their heads, families that love them, and food in their bellies - what more can you really ask for in life? 

My heart starts pounding, my face gets flushed, it gets harder to catch my breath to even speak, and my brain starts going 100 mph... this baby does not like my body when I'm stressed out.  It's like God's way of telling me to step away from the situation and focus on the health and happiness of me, my husband, and our little one.

I hope that by removing myself from the conversation, they can vent/talk to each other instead of putting me in the middle.  If only I could be like Dorothy and click my heels to get away from the craziness of The Land of Oz my family's drama.  At least I will be in my happy place tomorrow night!


"There's no place like home."