35 Weeks!

Reed waving HELLO! 

How far along?  35 Weeks (+1 day)

Weight Gain: +3 in the last 8 days.  I mean, really!?!?!  How is that even possible!?!?  LOL.  

Maternity Clothes: Squeezing into my maternity jeans and rotating a few maternity shirts.  I've outgrown maternity clothes that I bought in the fall.  Oh well.  

Stretch Marks:  Not happy...  

Sleep:  I've been sleeping GREAT!  In fact, this morning JJ went running at 5am, and I never even heard him leave!  I've been getting about 7-8 of sleep per night.  (Still taking 3-5 bathroom breaks per night though!)  

Best moment this week:  My ice cream and foot massage date with Amanda!  An hour foot massage at YaYa Foot Spa is bliss for a pregnant lady!  The other highlight of the week was our sonogram today.  We had not "seen" Baby Reed since our 20-week sonogram so it was very special.  He's packed in there pretty tightly so it was hard to get a really good picture of him.  We did find out that he's weighing 5 pounds 11 ounces and measuring 18.5 inches at this point.  He's measuring right at track, and the doctor predicts he will be about 7 pounds 11 ounces at birth!  Perfect!  =) 

Missing anything?  Prosecco.  27 days until I have a nice, big glass in the hospital...

Movement:  Reed is getting hiccups 2-3 per day.  He actually had hiccups during the entire sonogram!  It was so cool to feel him hiccup and actually see it on the sonogram screen.  The sonogram tech told us that hiccups are actually a really good thing because it's a form of breathing, and it helps build and strengthen his lungs!  She said babies HATE hiccups though!  So funny!  :)   

Food Cravings:    I read online that Kim Kardashian has been craving Pizookies from BJ's restaurant during her pregnancy.  Ever since I read that, I've been craving Pizookies from BJ's as well.  Also, yellow Gatorade is a  must.  I could drink about a gallon of that per day!  {Reed must be an athlete?!?!?}

Sickness/Symptoms:  Heartburn and some other non-ladylike symptoms!  

Labor Signs: Not that I know of.  I'm wondering about these Braxton Hicks contractions I read about.  I don't think I've gotten them.  I guess I would know if I had one!?!?

Belly Button:  Not cool, belly button, not cool...

Wedding Rings On/Off:  On.  As soon as it warms up, they are coming off.

Moods:  Eager, excited, and down right happy!

Looking forward to:  Baby shower at Primo's on Thursday with my Shugart Sheriffs and Garland ISD friends!!  I have six wonderful friends who are putting on this shower for me, and I couldn't be happier about it!  I'm so lucky to have a caring, loving support group!  

Video from today's sonogram if you are interested!  You can see his heartbeat and then see his sweet hiccups every few seconds.  It's hard to tell what you are looking at for the most part, but it's a baby, I promise!  His head is down and he was facing down so can't see his face.  Bummer.  

One more pic...  Check out his cool, squiggly hair!!!

34 Weeks & NURSERY PICS!

Happy St. Patrick's Day from the Pledgers! 

How far along?  34 Weeks (+1 day)

Weight Gain: +37 total 

Maternity Clothes: I'm bound and determined not to buy any new clothing until after Reed is born, and I get skinny!  :)  We'll see...

Stretch Marks:  Nothing new.  Using my Tummy Butter to help prevent anymore, haha.  

Sleep:  The past two nights I've woken up around 3am, unable to fall back asleep.  Thank God for Pinterest because I spent about an hour and a half fooling around on my phone, pinning random stuff!  :)  Hopefully the sleeplessness will go away!!  

Best moment this week:  Seeing the doctor on Monday!  Reed is doing great!  The doctor scheduled induction date for baby boy....APRIL 22nd!  I'm sooooo excited that he will be making his entrance into the world a week early!!  :)  

Missing anything?  Wearing heels!  I'm pretty much only wearing Nikes and flip flops these days!  I miss the way heels make me taller and feel beautiful...

Movement:  Tons of moving and adjusting.  So neat to rest my hand on my belly and feel him snuggling up.  =)  

Food Cravings:  TCBY soft serve in a waffle cone & Slurpees.  My belly gets full so fast now.  I'm still starving all the time, but I fill up so quick!  No room for food and a baby in my belly.  

Sickness/Symptoms:  Heartburn still persisting...Any suggestions?   

Labor Signs: No....Still 5 weeks to go!  

Belly Button:  GIGANTIC.  Starting to wonder if it will ever look normal again...

Wedding Rings On/Off:  On for another week...

Moods:  Anxious and a mild case of the baby blues!  Fortunately, my sweet husband and several afternoon naps made me feel much better!  After my appointment on Monday, I feel so giddy and excited about Reed's arrival!

Looking forward to:  Hanging out with several girlfriends this week!  I'm enjoying as much friend time as I can before life changes dramatically!  

And now for the revelation of the nursery!!  Here is the guest room BEFORE:

Our original design/plan for the nursery created by TheCheapDecorator:

 First step, clear out all the furniture and paint!!

We chose Benjamin Moore "Timber Wolf Gray" for the walls.  We used a bright white for the crown molding.  For the ceiling, we had the Lowe's guy create a very soft gray that made the white of the crown molding really pop!

View when you first walk in the door...

Crib: Pottery Barn Fillmore Crib in Sun Valley Espresso

Bedding: Harper Nursery Bedding Collection from Pottery Barn 

Name Board: Created by Michelle DeLoy {TheCheapDecorator}

Check out Michelle's Etsy shop!

We hope Reed is a good reader because he has tons of books already!  :)

Book Shelves: Pottery Barn Holman Picture Ledge (4')

I found the letters for the bookshelf at Michael's.  I liked them because they are a little taller than most wooden letters (13").  I bought several different kinds of scrapbook paper and applied with Mod Podge!

This is the wall, opposite the crib!

Dresser/Changing Table: Fillmore Dresser from Pottery Barn 

Curtains: Scribble Window Panels (96") from West Elm

Glider: Regal Loose Cushion Glider in Ophelia Dove fabric from Posh Tots

Ottoman: Standard Gliding Ottoman in matching fabric from Posh Tots

Bookshelf: Cameron 2-Shelf in Sun Valley Espresso from Pottery Barn Kids

Lamp: $20 at Target!  Woohoo!

Basket: Rugby Striped Bin from The Container Store 

Another angle...

The gallery wall was quite a project, but I'm so pleased with it!  I found all of the frames at Michael's and Target.  The scalloped mirror, white clock, and gray/white canvas square came from Target.

I found the Subway Art "All Boy" print on Etsy!  I ordered the digital image from Dana's Etsy store and then had it printed in 11"x14" at Wal-Mart for just $5.  

 Close up of the "gallery wall"...

Take a peek inside the closet!  I love to organize!  Thanks to my sweet friend Nery for her help with Reed's perfect closet!  J.J.'s dad built custom shelves for the closet.  {Apparently when they built the house in the 1930's, they didn't need shelves in their closets...}

I found this "hosiery organizer" at The Container Store to organize all of Reed's toiletries and little things!  

Diapers, wipes, and more on the top shelf {Baskets were so cheap at Home Goods!}

Feathergrain wood bins filled with baby stuff from The Container Store

  Nery helped me find these amazing gray and white boxes at The Container Store.  I've filled them to the brim with blankets, swaddle pods, and toys!

Plastic storage containers on the bottom of the closet for bathroom/tub accessories and towels!  

As you can tell by this blog post, I am incredibly excited about the nursery and the way everything turned out!  To be completely honest, the past few nights, I've sat quietly in the nursery admiring the sweet room and thinking about life ahead of us!  I am so grateful to all of my family and friends who contributed to Reed's nursery.  We can't thank you enough for your kindness, generosity, love, and support!  =)

I hope you enjoyed the tour of Reed's nursery!!  34 days til his grand debut!!  

Week 33 & Reed's Name Board

This picture was taken at my friend Samantha's baby shower at La Duni on Saturday!  

How far along?  33 Weeks

Weight Gain: +34 total (BLAH!)

Maternity Clothes: One of the best maternity purchases I've made is from A Pea in the Pod.  It's the black and gray dress I'm wearing in the picture above.  I've worn that dress for almost every special occasion throughout my pregnancy.  It's grown and stretched with me, and that's what I love it! 

Stretch Marks:  Unfortunately.  

Sleep:  Sleeping great at night and taking occasional naps in the late afternoon...

Best moment this week:  Buying our car seat!!  We were blessed to get some gift cards from friends, and we were able to make one of our big purchases on Friday night!  JJ is going to install the car seat and extra base in the cars sometime this week.  We still have 7 weeks to go, but I'm hoping to be prepared for an early arrival.  Another highlight of the week was the hospital tour on Sunday.  I've never been to a Labor & Delivery wing at any hospital, so I didn't have a frame of reference until now. Medical Center Plano looks like a wonderful place to bring Baby Reed into this world!  :)  

Missing anything?  Running!  I'm pretty much only walking now, and I really miss the endorphins I feel after a great run.  

Movement:  His kicks and jabs are getting much stronger.  According to my iPregnant app, he's probably close to 5 pounds now so he's a strong little man now!  

Food Cravings:  Cool Ranch Doritos and yellow Gatorade.  I eat like a 6-year old.  

Sickness/Symptoms:  Heartburn.   Yuck!  

Labor Signs: Nope.  Just lots of dreams about having the baby!!

Belly Button:  Not natural...

Wedding Rings On/Off:  On for another week...

Moods:  Excited and a bit nervous after childbirth class!

Looking forward to:  Finishing and hanging the gallery wall in Reed's nursery.  (Pics soon!)  Also, the bookshelf and glider/ottoman should arrive this week!!  Yippee!!

I wanted to share pictures and details about one of the projects my fabulous cousin, Michelle, and I did for the nursery.  This piece is really special because it's handmade, hangs above the crib, and is really the focal piece of the nursery!

First, we bought ply wood at Lowe's.  We knew we wanted the name board to be 27" x 38" and centered over the crib.  We had the wonderful guys at Lowe's cut our ply wood into the exact dimensions we wanted.  After we got home and realized our math was totally off, we went back to Lowe's and had the wonderful guys RECUT the wood to the correct dimensions.  Oops!  :)

Then we used wood stain and a foam brush to coat the wood.

It took 2 coats to get the dark walnut color we wanted.  It matches the "sun valley espresso" color of the Pottery Barn furniture perfectly!  

The guys at Lowe's helped us pick out the hardware we needed to attach the four boards together.  Unfortunately I have no pictures or information about the hardware we used, but the Lowe's guys will know. Just ask them if you plan to make it!  :)  

We also purchased silver screws/bolts and washers at Lowe's to decorate the name board.  They don't serve a purpose in holding the name board together, but they look so cool!

We printed the stencil letters for the board on cardstock.  I cut them out very carefully so they could act as stencils on the wood.  We traced around the letter stencils using a ball point pen.  It made a line that was barely visible but left a slight indention for the painting part.

 Notice the string in the picture below...We attached the string to give us a baseline so his name wasn't crooked! {Michelle is so S-M-R-T!}

Next up...Michelle's incredible painting ability!  Using the stenciled line, Michelle free hand painted the letters in his name using bright white paint!

 

My amazing and very handy cousin Michelle was able to hang this bad boy on the wall BY HERSELF!  I consider it a miracle because this thing is pretty heavy!  Again, I have no idea what tools or hardware were used for this step of the project, but the Lowe's guys will be able to tell you what to buy to hang it.

Check out the finished name board hanging above sweet baby's crib...

I'm so grateful to my sweet cousin Michelle for creating this masterpiece!   It's sooooo much cooler than anything I could have bought at the store.  I love it because it's one-of-a-kind!

If you're not into Do It Yourself projects, you can purchase a personalized name board like mine by visiting Michelle's Etsy shop.  It's called TheCheapDecorator!

32 Weeks

How far along?  32 Weeks (+1 day)

Weight Gain: +2 pounds over the past two weeks.  I celebrated after the doctor because I was so pleased with that number!  =)

Maternity Clothes: Still living and loving everything lululemon.  So cute and comfy.  

Stretch Marks:  Unfortunately.  

Sleep:  Sleep is still pretty good.  My cracked rib is healing so that really helps!

Best moment this week:  The first part of our childbirth class.  Wow!  I really learned a lot!  J.J. and I giggled like high schoolers in biology class, but really, I think we found it pretty informative.  Labor looks pretty intense, and the videos they showed were crazy!!

Missing anything?  Margaritas and Happy Hour!

Movement:  Reed has gotten hiccups twice this week!  I think it's so cool when it happens.  It's so light and rhythmic, and I love the feeling!  

Food Cravings:  Everything with sugar in it...

Sickness/Symptoms:  Sleepiness in the afternoons.  It's nothing like the first trimester, but my energy isn't quite as high as I'd like it to be.  

Labor Signs: I haven't had any Braxton-Hicks contractions yet, but now that I've attended the Child Birth class, I know what signs to look for...

Belly Button:  It's really freaking me out.  I hope it goes back in...

Wedding Rings On/Off:  On, but I've heard some horror stories about people have them cut off, so I'm wondering if I should take them off...

Moods:  "Sweet & snuggly" says J.J. (Awwwww!)

Looking forward to:  Getting the windows replaced in our house!  So excited this project is finally getting done.  The stinky part is that I'm basically going to have to take down the entire nursery in order for the men to install the new windows.  Ahhh!!!  It'll be worth it in the end though.  :)