The Bump

So I'm now realizing that although I have been terrified of getting to be as big as a house since day one, I think I may have been a little disillusioned just as to how big I would actually get and how much my " shape" would actually change.

I shunned maternity clothes and shuttered at the thought of having to spend my hard earned money on " fat pants"... " meh, my yoga pants and flowy tops will be good enough" - and I really believed it . Well they were... For the first 6 months... And then a funny thing happened... I kept growing.
Every night I still feel the same... It CAN'T get any bigger, and every morning I roll out of bed, catch a glimpse... And it did!
I know it's fantastic and means little bean is healthy and growing lots ... But my religious- pee, scale, and shower - routine has gotten to be a little scary as I watch the numbers climb higher and higher.
Apparently, the outside world thinks I am all baby. Hehe. I think they are just being nice. And thats just fine with me. So far I have gained 25lbs. ( wow doesn't that feel weird to type out)... And at 32 weeks along, is perfectly normal! But geeeez... Grow baby grow.

Want to know what all those extra pounds have made me "grow to love"? You guessed it. Those dreaded- Maternity clothes. Haha
Bring on the stretchy tummy panels, special cut-long shirts, bigger bras... Oh and you might as well throw in some breast pads while you're at it.
I've discovered a whole new world at h&m mama! And I must confess, am slightly addicted. Good thing I live on a secluded island with limited opportunity for impulse shopping.

Since I'm on topic of my beach ball of a belly... I've noticed a few things in my day to day life lately ....
- putting on eyeliner at the sink/ eyebrow tweezing... Doesn't work if you actually need to lean in to the mirror
- food that used to fall on the floor when you missed your mouth .. Now ends up directly front and center on the belly. Always beware of crumbs and food dribble
- if you brush up against something wet or dirty anywheres below your belly button... Chances are pretty good that it will be a stranger that informs you since you have no visual of that area anymore.
- regular summer shaving and bikini line maintenance will replace your morning aerobics and yoga all in one .. Be prepared for some huffing and puffing
- strappy sandals and laces are better choices when there your partner or close friend is nearby in case you need assistance. Bending over easily is something you probably take for granted until it feels like you are crushing your lungs and .... Oh I don't know.., say.. A baby?!
- awkward intimate moments. Enough said.
- a pregnant belly trying to maneuver around cramped hospital rooms, IV poles, and treatment rooms is the equivalent to " bull in a china shop".. Although no one seems to mind.

There are also lots of perks to the every growing bump though...
- hours of entertainment watching it morph into weird shapes and bounce around as the little one stretches and kicks around
- stork parking
- the freedom to eat a big lunch and then slip ( errr... Squeeze) into a bathing suit , not having to worry about "sucking it in" or the afternoon bloat.
- being able to do funny dances around the house while holding your belly
- did I already mention the kicks haha
- feeling like a magic genie or the happy Buddha ... Everyone wants to rub your belly.. It has to be good luck sending all that love to the baby!

Pics of 28 weeks and 32 weeks along!

Paperbag princess

The floors of the baby's room are finally finished! And they actually turned out pretty good! It might seem like it took a while, and it did, but that's because we chose only to work on it on rainy days ( which have been few and far between)...
We used a dark walnut stain and then once that dried about 10 coats of polyurethane coating... Here's a few pictures :)

There's even one pic with our beautiful little crib finally set up! And wow... That certainly makes it feel a lot more real!
Decided to go with pinks, yellows, and white. And surprisingly enough, loving all the ruffles and girly accents....hmmm this is getting fun ;) Its slowly coming together...

Baby brain

Well, after a series of unfortunate events in my "virtual world", I am finally back. I'm sure that most people either thought I gave up on the whole blogging thing, or didn't have anything to write about.... No... Lots happening here!  Now I feel like I'm writing an excuse for a professor, but I swear its true.
After having my laptop crash ( it was about time anyways)... And going slightly crazy without having a connection to the web, I splurged and bought an iPad!.... (Yes- I probably should have purchased a car seat, stroller, or playpen instead.... But I guess I don't quite think like a mom jusssst yet).. Great! Problem solved.... Now I can get back to blogging!
Wrong....
Ever hear of baby brain?
It really does exist.
My email address and password, that I used almost daily... Completely wiped from my memory. And it really never came back.  I gave up a few nights and figured it would just come back to me... But no luck. So after multiple emails to google and a bazillion combinations .... I am back.

I've heard baby brain never really goes away after the baby is born. Haha... So  even if I somehow manage to escape stretch marks and swollen ankles, I can look forward to random moments of flakey-ness for years to come. You've been warned.

Also,  prepare to be bombarded with posts... I'm almost finished work, which means I'll have a lot more time on my hands..... Hopefully the brain will cooperate from now on...

Nursery DIY

Well I've decided to get creative! I've always been a little creative- but it was always the kind of creative that just floated around in my head and never really amounted to anything in the real world. And then.... along came pinterest! .... Its like a magical place where you can browse through other  ( much more) creative people's minds for hours-- marvelling over beautiful diy projects and original ideas.... and totally procrastinate from doing anything remotely productive yourself. Fantastic.

I decided I would change all of that and become a "do'er".  haha...

Alas- baby nursery is officially in progress... and is definitely a bit of a pinterest experiment.

I guess I can get some credit for being proactive in already painting the nursery/ baby room ( or whatever I am suppose to call it... haha- nursery sounds so old fashioned but I'll go with it). Actually most of the credit goes to the girls that gave up their afternoon to help me paint it.

It went from a plain ol' white to a bright and colorful turquoise/aqua color ( which I have since been banned from painted anything else in or around the house after a bit of a painting spree.... Sorry Rob). At the time it seemed like a "safe" choice because it was happy and gender neutral. I guess safe would have been a more gentle, soft color.... but I am fully committed now :)  ( did I mention its the same color as my prom dress from a decade ago)...

Back to the pinterest idea--- that would be our adventures in paper bag floors! Basically its a bunch of brown craft paper ripped up and paper mached to the floor with school glue. Then its stained and coated with some sort of poly sealer ( I'm not doing any of the chemically parts Mom)... and the final result is supposed to be an inexpensive - leather look-a-like- diy floor! We shall see.  But so far so good if I do say so myself!

Getting the supplies... and preparing to spend hrs on the floor ripping & scrunching paper....getting covered head to toe in glue :)

  

Day #1-- making some progress. Starting to cover the bare floor with craft paper... lol... hope it works!
You also get to feast your eyes on the colorful walls!



Almost finished phase one! ( that was my job!)



All the paper laid! Feeling pretty proud...A little dirty and a lot sore from all that bending and kneeling! lol...



Robby's turn! Hard at work doing some staining for the crazy craft lady!




Starting to look pretty neat! This was my last look before I fled the room for good until "phase 2" is dry! More pictures soon to follow!

It might not be your typical nursery-- but hopefully it all comes together in the end.. ( much like the whole naming baby issue). Now-- just to add the finishing coat... some shiny new baseboards.... oh ya!... and a bunch of baby furniture yet to be determined ;) Hopefully she's enjoying her current living accomadations in the womb for a few more months and gives mommy and daddy some time to step up their game.

Here's a few pictures I have come across of others who have chosen similar wall colors-- I like the top three the best I think... but still trying to figure out just exactly what other colors to use. Suggestions are always welcome! :)

 

 

On strike..

So, if you actually have been keeping up with my little updates you have probably realised that there really hasn't been much going on lately... its been just about 3 whole weeks since my 3d ultrasound... That's a long time in pregnancy- baby has gone from the size of a mango to a cauliflower and grown almost a pound... I have  upped a pant size, had 3 emotional hormone induced outbursts, gained 6 pounds, traded in the bikini for a tankini, discovered a mysterious grunt that comes out with random position changes, and have become accustomed to random rib shots. All in all, lots has been happening- none of which I have had the urge to write about... ( or the urge has been quick and fleeting- promptly replaced by an internal procrastination line or a nap).

Actually- I have a confession... I have been on babyland strike.
After all the wonderful excitement from the 3d ultrasound, and making my "online diary" a little more public ( via facebook) in all of my excitement and wanting to "share my babe with the world"... I froze.  All at the same time, I immediately regretted my brave post linking all of my friends and family to my random baby babble and belly shots... and I went through a bit of anxiety about how real all of this is becoming. 
I mean- now I have seen my "daughter", made out some tiny little features, and now I am starting to really see some belly growing! Its getting closer.... and I all of a sudden I felt even more unprepared.
The nursery remained bare. The baby has no official name. I haven't read enough of my pregnancy or parenting books. I haven't started looking for baby items yet. Maybe I should be more excited? Oh no!..... what am I doing?!............................
 I couldn't weigh in on any conversations of items I needed to acquire when asked by generous friends and family mainly because I really have no idea exactly what I even needed.
I knew a crib, changing table and car seat were all required items.... but in the crazy world of bouncers and jumpers, and walkers, and the million types of strollers,maternity clothes,  diapers, and bassinets?, and bath things and baby doo-dings.... my head was spinning.
So I opted for the easiest option..... boycotted the pregnancy/baby world until the spinning stopped.
No, that doesn't mean I acted like I wasn't pregnant and opted for the wine and sushi.
It means I pushed aside thinking of baby names, searching for baby room decor, reading pregnancy magazines, blogging about prego things and basically just took a break.
It was the best thing I could have done- because all of the negative feelings, fears, and anxiety about mommy-hood have seemed to take a hike for a while as well as any self-consciousness about writing down my feelings ( hahah.... I guess that is fairly obvious).
Rob and I took a little weekend vacation to relax and getaway... and although it was different that an adventure we would normally plan... it was just enough to hit the reset button.

Hey- a  girls gotta go at her own pace.... and I promised myself I wouldn't just write on this "to make a blog entry", but when writing things down was helpful and I actually had something to get out of my head and share.

Oh-that- and I really needed to finish  "50 shades of grey"... haha....

Sneak peaks- It's a girl!

This will probably be a short post about a very special day.
Today was our 3d ultrasound.....
Yes- I know... I would have been the first one to tell you ( pre-pregnancy) that those ultrasounds are ultra-creepy. You can see all the fine and not yet fully formed details of you growing baby- and you will be meeting them soon anyways- so whats the point?! Besides they always seem to resemble at little E.T.
Haha... I caved... and oh how my tune has changed.... and I absolutely LOVED every minute!!
True- it may still be slightly creepy taking such a close look into the womb early on..... but it is amazing. It's entrancing and its a beautiful experience. I've actually just spent the last 2 hours re-watching the dvd we took home. Scrutinizing every face and spontaneous movement. Laughing at the little yawns, unintentional smiles and scowls... and those chubby little cheeks.
I've been looking at baby in a new light.
As our baby girl!
That is correct.... it has been confirmed and I have video evidence of little girl parts. I feel like I can finally start to plan a little more now!
Watching her squirm around on screen was a little emotional. So real.  And of course, being a nurse.... I was analazing features to ensure the look of a healthy babe ( ear and eye placement, formed lips ect). Thankfully, paranoia was fleeting, and I began to really relax and enjoy the show.
The nurse doing the ultrasound told us she had very dainty features... and that she had set a record for changing positions ( in and out of breach 3 times)....
So bizarre that we have the technology to do this...
So wonderful....
Sooooooo in love.

Now as I sit here and feel her kicks, I am picturing her as she was in the ultrasound, cuddling up, making faces and definetly looking more and more like a real baby everyday.

Guess its just about time to start shopping! I can't wait to put a frilly headband around that head of hair!

First look at our baby girl!

Pointing ( aka attempting a peace sign haha)

Covering up

Yawns

Squinting and making faces

Sooo much hair already!

Legs

Cuddled up in a ball

Karate Kid

I can't believe I actually caught this on camera finally... remember how I said I sit and stare at my belly alot? Well this is why!! :)