Wednesday, December 30, 2009

1 month

Conley is 1 month old today.

According to our own scale, he weighs almost 13lbs.

He holds his head up really well and does a fair share of headbanging against mom and dad.

Loves his hands and has to have them in front of his face.

Has sucked his thumb a time or two but definitely loves his hands by his mouth.

Makes more noises than I can believe (which we NEED a video camera to document!!!)--those that have heard his array of noises are quite amused by them.

Likes his swing and his bouncy seat.

Does not like his carseat if he is awake (but has slept 4 hours in a row the past 2 nights in a row in it!).

Seems to like music and dancing around to it with me :)

Does not like his crib much these days. He's been congested the past few days and I'll use that as the reason (hence the sleeping in the carseat).

Is often content being laid down in his pack and play while he's awake where he can sit and make his noises and wiggle around.

He has 2 signature looks that I LOVE-- 1 is the little bird look where he opens his mouth and does a little "elvis lip" action....usually when we tickle his cheeks or his chin; the other he crinkles his eye brow revealing a "dimple" he has above his right eye.

Has the MOST AMAZING blue eyes ever and eyelashes that are growing and are now longer than mine (not a difficult feat, believe me...he didn't get my lashes!).

Smiles often and has let out a few giggles.

Likes to be held on his side/belly with our hand on his belly.

Likes to rock in the rocking chair.

Likes to eat. Duh. ;)

Likes his changing table.

Loves baths.

Generally is a really laid-back baby, but lately he DOES NOT WANT TO GO TO SLEEP AT NIGHT. During the day he is fine, but as soon as I lay him down for what I want to be the last time that night, he decides not to and it takes about an hour and a half to finally get him settled. Ugh.

Loves to be held and can fall asleep most anytime in our arms.

0-3 outfits still fit for the most part, but we have already retired a few items that he has outgrown. He can wear a few 3-6 outfits as well.

Tolerates tummy time well.

Not a big crier-- mostly only when he is hungry or gassy.

That's it for now...I'm sure I'll think of more as we go. I got his first scrapbook page done today...yay!!!

Even when he is crabby and crying and waking me up in the middle of the night, I am madly in love with the little man and still can't believe he is ours. Those smiles melt my heart!!!

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Pictures...finally!

I have taken daily pics of the little man (too much? I just uploaded 438 pics...) since he was born and it is about time i get a few of them up here. Now, SIGH, if only I could scrapbook them, right? Oh how I want to scrapbook. I see it in the near future though...I cleaned the house today while he was napping (is napping!), so tomorrow should give me a few free hours...maybe?! Otherwise, Christy and I have a scrapbook weekend in the works for Jan/Feb.

I'm starting back to work VERY, VERY, VERY part-time on Monday. Yikes! It's kind of a spur of the moment decision, but my job is flexible enough that I will only be out of the house for a day or so for now(with Conley!) and that way I can save up some of my PTO for when he is a bit older (and less easy to work with) so we can do things like go to the zoo in the Spring and other non-blizzard weather things. The fact that I can work with him is such an amazing thing--I'm looking into drop-in daycare, but other than that, I'm just hoping to start work slowly so I can easy my way into doing both.

He's 1 month old tomorrow. I'll post more about him then, but here's some of my favorite pictures for now.

PS- I know I'm supposed to be keeping him awake during the day as much as possible, but HOW IN THE WORLD am I supposed to do important things like eat lunch, do laundry/dishes, and keep up on my blogs without his good noon time nap? I'll sacrifice a little in the middle of the night sleep for the couple of hours I get now. :)



Cousin Allison who is 3 weeks older. This is the 1st year or many years to come of matching Christmas PJ pics!







Allison again.




There ya go! Just "a few"! How to choose?! :)

Saturday, December 26, 2009

My good little sleeper

...is only a good sleeper during the day.

He can lay down and sleep like a rock for hours upon hours during the day. Then when he falls asleep at night when we rock him or feed him, he is out like a light...until we lay him down. Then he stays sleeping for another 5-15 minutes or so and wakes up grunting and groaning and making all kinds of noises. We don't pick him up until it turns into an actual cry.

He's waking up almost every hour during the night for the past week or so. Feed him, rock him, sleeps, lay him down, sleeps, wakes up soon after, repeat. It's pretty exhausting! He doesn't CRY much though, just makes all of his crazy noises and cries if he is hungry.

So, mamas, I need some tips! He's too young to let him cry yet (right?) and I have a nice soft blanket he lays on in his crib (very safe--all tucked in!!!), soothing music, a warm room, tried the pacifier, etc...what's next?

I would love some ideas of how to get the little man's schedule turned around so he isn't sleeping so much during the day and is actually sleeping at night. :) Help?

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Christmas Vacation

I'm blogging from my parents' house in Wisconsin where we have been since Saturday and will be til Saturday. Things have been going great with the little man and there have been numerous times over the past 2 days where Ryan and I have had to literally get out the calendar to confirm that he is really only 3 weeks old. That part isn't what is SO surprising, but the fact that he has only been with us for 3 WEEKS?! Unreal.

It seems like a long time ago that I got to experience that joyous delivery.
(ha. ha. ha)

I feel like we've had him forever.

It just seems so right.

So, it's been fun sharing him this week with family and friends (especially when my mom comes to steal him around 6am each day where I then continue to sleep for another 4 hours. Heavenly.).

Conley has been smiling a ton this week and I'll say they "officially" started on Saturday. Nothing could be better. I wonder if his smiles signify that he wants to live in Wisconsin?

I have a zillion pics to share at some point, but let's just say my parents' internet is less than stellar, ok?

Merry, merry Christmas!

Monday, December 14, 2009

2-Week Appt

Conley is 2 weeks old already! How many times will I end up saying "Conley is _____ ______ old ALREADY!"?. A lot.

Here's the stats:

Weight: 11lbs (96.9 percentile)
Length: 1'10.24" (93.54 percentile)
Head: 15.55" (93.39 percentile)

Everything looked great and it looks like we have a nice and healthy guy on ours hands. Weird to think we don't need to go back until he is 2 months old!

The appt today was the first time I've ventured out by myself with him. It was tiring! We were in the car for a whole hour, stopped at Ryan's work to pick up some paperwork and show him off there, he cried in his car seat the whole 10 minute ride to the clinic, then was an angel for the appt, then to the house we used to live at to visit the staff and residents. He has pretty much been sleeping ALL DAY LONG which terrifies me when I think of the night ahead. Yikes! I sure could use a nap myself!

Overall though, a great day and it was nice to be out and about. We have plans again tomorrow and then we're heading back to my parents' on Saturday for a whole week!

Sunday, December 13, 2009

Super Cute Video from YouTube

Look out Jason Mraz

Saturday, December 12, 2009

Daddy



I got this picture on my camera when Gina was hearing doing her pro pics. I absolutely adore it.

First Outing

Ryan, Conley, and I made our first real outing as a family today (other than an appt last week). I'm proud to say his first store was Archivers...haha. :) Ryan was glad that stop #3 was Gander Mountain, so I suppose it evens it out.

It was my first outing since Monday when I ventured out to WalMart on my own and I was glad to get outside. Sounded like a good idea, but I was tired and sore after an hour and we headed home. Conley was fine, it was me that was the big baby.

We got some Christmas shopping done at our 3 stores visited and then Ryan went in and grabbed us lunch from Chipotle followed by me and Conley's routine nap on the couch together. :)

I have a new appreciation for weekends when Ryan is home!!!

Thursday, December 10, 2009

Big man


I swear that Conley grew overnight last night while we slept. His cheeks are bigger today, I just know it. Might be due to the 26 oz of milk he ate yesterday? Yes. We have a little big man on our hands.

He is SUCH a good boy. I know that I am super lucky to have such a content guy-- he knows just how to show us he's hungry and otherwise he only cries if has a big burp to get out for the most part. The dog can bark like crazy and the TV can be on and we can vacuum and he just sleeps right through it (he obviously heard the dog barking enough while he was inside me!). I can set him in the boppy or the bouncy chair or lay him in the pack n play and he will usually just hang out with his eyes wide open looking around while I'm able to do a few dishes or get a load of laundry done. We are truly blessed by his good nature. Last night he only woke up 3 times. He got a bottle, got his diaper changed, and went back to bed. The funniest thing about him is that he is such a noisy little baby, especially when he is hungry or falling asleep. He's been sleeping in his crib since day 1 and the monitor is in our room (his room is right next to our room) and he lays there grunting and growling and purring and carrying on until he falls asleep. He doesn't need anything, he's just noisy. I think it's hilarious and wonder if he'll be as big of a talker as he is a noise-maker. I know that I should appreciate each day of this good baby!!!

So, this has been our first week home alone together and it has gone pretty well. The snow irritates me now that he is here because I wish we could go out somewhere, but instead we're snowbound with freezing temperatures. On one hand I'm glad I don't have to leave the house in this weather, but the other part of me is going a little stir crazy already. Visitors are more than welcome to break up the day!!! We do have an appt on Monday (2 weeks already!) and then a Christmas brunch on Tuesday and we're heading home for Christmas next Friday for a whole week. I can't believe it's Christmas already. In the afternoon when he is awake and we're waiting for Ryan to get home I put on the Christmas music station on our TV and we dance around to the Christmas music. :) He likes that too...for now.

On a side note, I found this deal on someone else's blog and thought I'd share. I just ordered one and know that there are some mama's out there that would appreciate this deal. Go to this site , put one in your shopping cart, then enter the code PLANNING. It ends up being free and all you have to pay is the $8.95 or so for shipping. Cute ones too! Enjoy.

Monday, December 7, 2009

Our baby

We got newborn pics done of the little man and I am even more in love!

Check them out on the amazing Gina's blog: http://zeidlerphotography.com/blog/?p=1273

Leave a comment on hers and she's donating a can of food to the homeless per comment, so it's also a good cause! ;)

Saturday, December 5, 2009

...and baby makes 3!

So, time for a post I believe. :) Have to get some things in writing so I don't forget them (other things I will post knowing that I will never, ever forget them anyway).

First and foremost, I have been constantly amazed over the past couple days that Ryan and I are parents and that we have this absolutely amazing little man in our lives. I just sit and watch his little faces or snuggle up with him and think how amazingly lucky we are. I realize that I used the word amazing 3 times there, but I just don't see many other words that fit as well.

Conley is a great baby so far! :) He has a big sore on his head from being vacuumed out during delivery. I don't mean a little sore, it was pretty big, more like a burn (they had to actually vacuum him twice which is why it was so bad). Luckily he has lots of dark hair so you can't see it that much and it is looking better every day. Because of that, he was also at higher risk of jaundice, but that is clearing up nicely as well (after a number of heel pricks to on his poor little feet to check his billi levels). Despite these things, he is such a content little guy. He's getting up every 2-3 hours in the middle of the night (more or less), but just eats, gets his diaper changed, and goes back to sleep. He makes the most adorable little faces and always has his hands up by his mouth. He was weighed again yesterday and was at 9lbs and 8oz, up a little from hospital discharge which is great. My sense of size is way off however, because I know that nearly 10lbs is BIG for a baby, but to me he looks just SOOO tiny. I can't imagine a 6 lb baby!

Ryan has been absolutely awesome. He has had this week off from work, and I honestly do not know how I could have survived without him home! Conley is GREAT, but I'm still so sore that Ryan has been doing a ton...he's been super helpful by taking the baby, cleaning, running to the store for embarrassing items, and being uber supportive. He is an amazing daddy which is no surprise. It's weird to think that it's been the 3 of us for nearly a week now and that I feel like we're doing a good job. This precious little man was brought into our lives and we actually know how to be parents! :) Phew!

As for Tytan, he is also doing pretty well. We weren't worried that he would be bad, but were curious as to how he would react. He is definitely interested in the baby to some extent, but has been really good. He likes to know where the baby is and will give him a sniff here and there, but mostly I think he just wants our continued attention. We've been good so far at making an extra effort to do that. He is our first baby after all! :)

I'm feeling better overall, but didn't realize or think through the fact that I would be so sore still. I will be thrilled to wake up one of these mornings and feel good---what a difference it will make once my body is up to par! I've been managing well though and trying to take it easy as much as possible. I know that I haven't blogged about the labor and delivery part yet, so here's a brief summary:

We went in for the cervadil gel on Sunday for appt #1 or 4. We were supposed to be induced on Tuesday, but one cervadil gel later I had regular contractions within a half hour. They weren't uncomfortable, but so regular that they decided to keep me. I went from a 0-2 during that time and got admitted. That started around 12:30 that afternoon and he was delivered 12 hours later. I would say that the first few hours were a cakewalk, then got the epidural once I was at a 4. The epidural only worked on one side at first, so the doc had to come in and readjust the IV which helped. I still have a hard time believing that the epidural worked like it was supposed to though. I started the actual delivery at about 10:15pm and he was born at 12:53am. That's the worst part, obviously. Ugh. Here's my summary of that...

1. People always told me their horror stories about birth.
2. They weren't exaggerating.
3. Delivering him was the hardest thing I have ever done in my entire life and I will NOT say that I forgot all about the pain once I held him, but I will say that it was worth it.

So, now he's here and I'm a mommy and Ryan and I have gone from sleeping 8 hours each night to needing much less. Our lives are turned upside down, but at the same time our lives are better than they ever have been, so maybe they were just turned right side up. Either way, life is good!

Monday, November 30, 2009

Baby boy

Here's a few pictures of Conley's first day! I can hardly believe that he is currently less than a day old! He is wonderful and amazing and I am in disbelief that he is really ours.




Baby has arrived!

Conley Ryan Abbott entered the world at 12:53 am today (Monday) weighing in at 9.2lbs, measuring 22 inches long (need I mention the 15" head?). He has dark hair just as I had hoped!

It was horrible, but now he's here and wonderful! More updates and pics to come after we all get some sleep! :)

Sunday, November 29, 2009

NEWS!

Finally--baby is on his way! We went in this morning for our first "gel" treatment to get my cervix moving along and BAM! my body really responded to it and I went from 0 dilation to a 2 right away with really regular contractions. So, we were supposed to get 4 of those over the course of the next 2 days, but only needed one and we're on our way. We got admitted rather than being sent home and now we're just anxiously awaiting some more progress. Sounds like baby wants to be born in November after all!

Stay tuned! :)

Monday, November 23, 2009

3rd Trimester in Review



Following suit with my 1st and 2nd trimester lists...here's the final one!

1. A brief love affair with mac and cheese.... mmmmm!
2. Increased irritability
3. Good sleep through about week 37 or 38 then I spent about half my nights on the couch.
4. Swollen feet and hands starting around the last month
5. Most memorable craving= orange juice
6. Regular breakfast of PB and honey toast
7. Getting up for the bathroom 2-5 times per night
8. Wishing I could wear jeans but never finding any tall enough maternity ones
9. Overall really comfortable with very few complaints
10. Nesting--especially with the nursery! Happy with the result
11. Change in my vision...not sure if this happened earlier and I never noticed?
12. Not overly emotional (don't ask Ryan)
13. Excited and nervous about baby's arrival
14. Sore feet
15. Not as tired as first trimester--bedtime around 9 to 10
16. Low blood pressure
17. Never looked at the number on the scale at doctor appointments
18. Amazing at not buying clothes for the baby yet. I've been in all the cutest stores and haven't bought a thing! We have PLENTY of clothes for now!
19. Ready to wear normal clothes again
20. But overall really enjoying the ride :)

Week 40

Holy moly. Here I am!

Puffy and swollen, but otherwise doing good still! Ryan is amused (and disgusted?) by the puffiness of my feet and my hands and I'm still going crazy from the tingling.

We had a laid-back weekend here. Planned on going out to see a movie, but decided to rent movies and get ice cream instead! :) We probably should have taken advantage of the opportunity, I know I know. It was so nice to be able to keep the sweats on instead though!

I got some work done yesterday to save a PTO day for later this week and am planning on heading into the office this afternoon as well. This should be a pretty boring week until baby comes because, like I mentioned before, I'm pretty ready.

Our entertainment of the weekend? Squirrels. :) Ryan bought a new bird feeder and a corn holder and the squirrels have been our amusement out our big window in our living room. Need I mention the constant state of stress and anxiety we are causing Tytan?! No, I think he likes it. He sits on the little perch we have for him in front of the window and stares intently out it. This morning there were 8 of them out there. I have an amusing (to me) squirrel post with Ryan coming up...maybe tonight. :)

Last news: we're going to have a Thanksgiving! Yesterday Ryan invited his dad and sisters up on Thursday, knowing that they'll either visit us at the hospital or there won't be a baby yet and Ryan will be cooking T-Day dinner. It should be a pretty simple one, so I'm not worried about being stressed about--especially since he's cooking! It will be nice to have something to do that day (if I don't have something BIGGER to do that day!!!).

And the very last news.... OUR CHRISTMAS TREE IS UP!!!!! :) WOOOOO-HOOOOO!

Saturday, November 21, 2009

A few thoughts...

Ryan and I sit here leisurely sipping on our coffee with french vanilla creamer. Love. He just finally started drinking coffee when he started his new day hours. I like weekend coffee time. :) It's such a nice crisp Fall day and there is frost on the yard. Makes a girl want to put up her Christmas tree, but Ryan is still trying to hold me off. We'll see how the weekend progresses!

Speaking of progress...none on the baby front other than the fact that I am getting to a more uncomfortable stage. Really sore back yesterday and still the ridiculous hand tingling. I feel confident that I won't need to be induced, but it makes me nervous to write that here because now I will have to! Jinxed.

I think we're basically "ready" now. Can I say that that is a really hard question to be asked on a routine basis? Are you ready? Are you ready? Ready how? Like do I have the baby's nursery ready? Yes. Are you ready? Well, I'm freaked out about the extreme pain that I know my body will be going through in no more than a week and a half, but yes, I guess I'm "ready". And as of yesterday at 5:30, I feel pretty ready in regards to work. Sure there are still things to do, but if I did have the baby this weekend, I would feel ok knowing things would be fine at work. That's reassuring! Since I ultimately will probably be going back to work Monday anyway, I will be able to use whatever I have of next week to finalilze those things and to work on some projects that I haven't gotten to. Very low stress. Love that.

Oh, by the way...know how to get your husband to answer his phone at work every single time you call? Be 9 months pregnant. Haha. I hesitate to call Ryan at all because everytime I do he has this anxious voice because he thinks I'm calling to say I'm going into labor. It's funny. Did I mention how ridiculously excited that guy is? Very. I should mention impatient too. :)

So, this weekend we're just going to do a little more nesting...a few errands, possibly a movie tonight. Hope you all have a happy one. :)

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Appt: Week 39

No progress. :)

However, we do have a timeline. If baby does not come by our next appointment (next Wednesday), then we will have an ultrasound on Friday.

If baby does not come by Monday, I will go to United 1-2 times each on Monday and Tuesday to start getting things moving along.

No baby?

We will then be admitted to the hospital on Wednesday, Dec 2nd (2 weeks from today) to start the petocin (sp?)and stay there til baby comes. Ryan's birthday is December 3rd, so we'll just have to see I guess! They might share their birthday!

So, at this point I'm assuming I will go late, but I'm planning on having everything at work ready to go by this Friday so next week will be totally stress-free workwise.
If baby wants to come this weekend then so be it. :)

Either way we won't be going anywhere for Thanksgiving which is a bummer, but we are DEFINITELY putting up our Christmas tree that day if there is no baby yet! I have been waiting since October I swear!

Stay tuned. :)

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Appt

We had a different doctor on Friday which was kind of interesting. She was nice and really helpful--just unique to have someone who met me for the first time. She guessed that baby currently weighs about 7.5 lbs.

That was about it from the appt. No progress.

I still feel really good (other than the arms and hands), so no hurry on my part. There is still Christmas shopping to be done! ;)

Baby's First Picture???

So, me, RYan, Josh and Michelle went to Dave and Busters on Saturday. For those of you who don't know what that is, it's basically an adult Chuck E Cheese...a bar, restaurant, and huge video arcade where you can play lots of games and win lots of tickets. It was pretty fun. The funniest thing is that me and Ryan accumulated like 9000 tickets. Yup. That's A LOT! All we cashed them in for was a giant stuffed hippo for the baby and 2 things of sprees. :) We now have about 8000 tickets left. It's just ridiculous.

The best part of our time there? They have a photo booth that takes your pic then lets you either try out new hairstyles, morph yourself into an animal, OR..... find out what your baby would/could look like! Which option did we choose? See below.... I find him quite adorable. :)



So, he's not a baby, but he's a keeper. We'll see how realistic this one is huh? It's definately one for the baby book. :)

Friday, November 13, 2009

Pregnancy is a real pain in the....

arms. and hands. ouch.

How did no one ever tell me about this? I heard about all the others and no one ever tries to sugar coat things in general, so why did no one mention the incredible tingling pain in my arms and my hands? Oh dear. This is especially painful at night and keeps me awake on and off as I alternate sides and then alternate arms start hurting. Doctor says its normal (like pregnancy induced carpal tunnel) and won't go away til I have the baby. Drives me nuts. Happens during the day too, but not to the capacity it does when I'm trying to sleep. Big time pain. In the middle of the night I was thinking of what to compare it too and at that point I felt like both of my hands had been slammed in a car door, but then the person driving pulled forward and my right arm went with it. That's what it felt like. ;)

So now, I type my complaints with puffy, tingly hands. Oh joy.

Note that my ticker at the top says 10 days. 10 days! We had our Wednesday appt cancelled because the doctor was delivering a baby, so we're seeing someone else today since she is now out of town. We'll see if there is any progress, but I won't get my hopes up. I keep giving the disclaimer that I'm due in 12, 11, 10 days but then I add the 7 days I could potentially go overdue so that I am being reasonable and won't have a completely miserable week of being overdue. Obviously it's realistic, right?

Weekend should be fun though--Josh and Michelle are coming up so we should have lots to do. They were of course hoping a baby would be here or on the way. Sorry guys. ;)

Happy Friday everyone.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

9 years

Is it silly that Ryan and I still acknowledge our anniversaries of dating? :) haha
That's today! Not like we did anything, but we did acknowledge that today is the day. 9 years!









Happy Anniversary Babe. ;)

Monday, November 9, 2009

The First Abbott Addition of November

Ryan's brother Ben and his wife, Jackie, had their baby girl, Allie yesterday! Jackie was 6 or 7 days overdue but Allie came when she was ready.

I saw a pic today and she is beautiful with lots of dark brown hair.

2-3 more weeks til her lil' cousin arrives!

Saturday, November 7, 2009

Project!

Here's our work in progress! All done, just waiting to be hung on the wall once the glue dries. I have to hand it to Ryan--he was really the driving force behind this. He made us stop at Home Depot, convinced me that it would work, and did a ton of the work. Impressive! I keep asking where this handy man has been the past few years!

This was quite the teamwork effort.
I determined how big each frame should be.
Ryan made the cuts.
I freehanded the letters.
Ryan cut them out.
I painted them.
Ryan glued them.

Of course I can't show you the REAL finished project because that would give away his name. What can I show you?

How about a

???



OK. First a few more peeks...





OK, so we thought we'd try a few different name options... :)






Any votes? :)

So, there you have it ladies and gentlemen. Our weekend crafty project! Can't wait to hang it on baby's wall. Feeling MUCH better about it then the former (well, current) polka dots. These will pretty much be the finishing touch.

And do you really think we'd reveal the whole name? Nah. We were a little tricky (read: missing letters or extra letters). Oh what fun! ;)

I won!


I entered Anna's halloween picture from last year on Pear Tree Greetings facebook fan page and WON a $50 gift card! So excited because I've already ordered my address labels and now just have to wait for baby to get here to order our Christmas cards/ birth announcements.

So, friends & family, I encourage you, you, and you to head on over to www.peartreegreetings.com to check out their awesome stuff. Super cute cards and great quality (plus lots of other stuff too)! Order yours from there! :) Christmas is just around the corner!

Friday, November 6, 2009

Appt update, Weekend ahead

Another appt today. Not dilated. Doctor said she thinks we'll have a December baby. Nice, huh? Actually I'm glad she isn't telling me he will come earlier. I would rather have the mindset that he will be late and then be surprised if he is early or on time. That seems like it would help with sanity a little better. AND, I still feel good.

This weekend: BIG project! Ryan and I stopped at Home Depot on our way home from the appt and we have a big crafty project to do for the baby's room. Should be the last major thing and the room is set. It involves his name, so unfortunately I won't be revealing the WHOLE finished project for you once it's done, but I will show you a peek. Maybe. :)

My roomie from college is coming up tomorrow to see our place and to go to lunch, so that should be fun too. Can't wait!

Other than that? Organization, cleaning, and a little R & R!

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

More nursery

Forgive the pictures lately. I dropped my camera when I was home for the last baby shower and the photo quality has not been quite the same ever since. Bummer!

Here is the bumper pad I bought from Target. I returned the other one I had bought which was striped on one side and polka dots on the other. Too busy. AND this one is breathable! :) It's called a breathable bumper pad and it feels/looks like shiny mesh kind of. I like that it's a good dark brown and gives some contrast to the busy-ness of the sheets and the white of the crib.


Here's the window valances I bought online from Target. They aren't meant to match the bedding, but I really like them. The brown is actually kind of corduroy-ish and then the stripes are brown, whitish, and green.



See the 2 circles on the window sill? That's my hand and Ryan's hand from Kindergarten! I'm planning on doing something with them. We found his last time we were home and then I dug mine out of a box. Kind of fun!

So, nursery is about done. I'm taking the polka dots down off the wall and have a letter idea in mind and I'm waiting to hear back from someone to make them. :) I really want the big picture to be complete by the time baby comes!

Belly


37 weeks and counting!

Halloween and Anna's Bday Party

I went to Brenda's for the weekend to help with Anna's big 6th birthday and to go trick or treating.

Halloween pics first. A pirate and....


Hannah Montana of course!


Ryan turned out pretty darn cute I will say.


And the birthday pics. Anna had 4 of her kindergarten girlfriends home on the bus with her after school Friday. Boy oh boy do 5 and 6 year old girls have a lot of energy. It was a 2 hour party and Brenda and I were spent by the time the parents picked them up! They even entertained themselves really well for a while, but they sure are a non-stop talking whirlwind. So fun though!


It takes a BIG BREATH to blow out 6 candles ya know! :)

November

November 1st was a strange day. I'm having a baby this month!!! (Well...hopefully! I suppose it could be December, but....) I have a due date this month! :)

Last night was hospital tour day for baby class #4 of 5. These 4 weeks really flew by. I feel like I just posted about baby class #1 and next week we're done! That means that the past few weeks of pregnancy have also flown by. Geesh!

We had an appt on Friday morning and got lots of info from the doc about questions that we've thought of. I really like her. No progress on the baby front which did not surprise me in the least. Baby is WAY too comfortable in there to be wanting out. I don't feel like the pregnant women that are demanding to be induced or who are so miserable that they beg to have the baby out. I'm pretty comfy...for now. The only pain in the butt I have is actually my hands. THey are so numb and tingly...especially when I sleep. Other than that...days are good. Evenings I get a little crabby, tired, uncomfortable, but nothing too bad. Still sleeping really good most nights of the week. Next appt is Friday.

I made a little more progress on the nursery (bumper--check. valances--check.) Will post finalized pics oncce it's all done. I'm going to do letters spelling out his name on the polka dot wall and take those down for the most part. I just am not happy with the colors...I think that's the problem.

My sister-in-law was due yesterday with their baby girl. No news yet. Ryan's cousin is due a couple of days before us, so adding to the abbotts is a pretty fitting name! I've dreamt twice in the past week that I've had the baby. First dream he had brown hair which made me happy, and 2nd dream he was actually a girl which DIDN'T make his dad very happy. :) You never know!

So, today I'm going to work from home for most of the day since yesterday was a long one. I'm currently hanging out in bed with the dog. Funny thing is that as I was typing this post, I didn't realize that my water bottle had fallen on the bed. All of the sudden I felt wetness and of course I had the split second thought that my water had broken. haha! Nope. Just a really wet bed. :)

Pics of Halloween with Anna and Ryan to come.

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Blog Stalking

I'm done using Christy's blog as my homepage in order to see what my favorite blogs are up to. Nope, I finally took the time to add them to my own blog list. To the left you'll see my updated list of those I read on a day-to-day basis. I'm so excited! :) Haha. PLUS, a few new ones that I've stumbled across from the bump.com. Unexpectedly Expecting just had TWINS! ;) And of course, I am forever a fan of the Life in Transition blog. Fun, fun!!

Nursery Pics

We have the nursery MOSTLY done. There are a few things to add (valances ordered. bumper pad ordered.) Here's some pics of our progress:

This was my project for today. I have one in our living room that I made with a square punch and it's one of my favorite things. So, I was in the mood to do something crafty and this is the result. Circle punch + glue stick + canvas (+ a few buttons) = wall art! I'm pretty happy with how it turned out in comparison to the crib sheets.






This is the million piece dresser we bought at Ikea a few weeks ago. Nice deep drawers.




This is the "changing table" Ryan made. We saw something similar online and thought it was pretty cool. So, Ryan surprised me with the handy-man side he has kept hidden all these years and made this. He cut notches so it fits right on the crib rails snugly, but then it can be removed in between. It's a good height since we're both tall and then we padded it with a normal changing table pad with the straps. I like.




See the polka dots on the wall? That one wall has large and small dots/circles in orange, brown, green, and yellow. I'd show you a full picture if I was set on it, but now I'm having doubts. We'll see if they stay up or if I change my mind. They're the great sticker ones and I cut some of them to layer up like the bedding. The rocker was free from a friend and the fabulous basket of blocks was a present from my mom. Very cute!


Cute li'l "Shh...baby sleeping" hanging from my neice and nephew for my shower... I want a small stand for it so I can keep it on the dresser instead of hanging it on the wall. The light is from a garage sale from my sister. :)


Large rubber ducky bath was filled with tons of baby stuff from Steph, Michelle, and Kirsten at my shower. For now I'm using it to hold baby's stuffed animals (some of which are mine from when I was little). Now...if only I could keep Tytan away from them. :)

That's that! Now all we need is a baby right? RIiiiight.... :)