28 weeks tomorrow!

27 weeks, 4 days

Belly comparison:

15 weeks, 3 days

18 week, 2 days

22 weeks, 2 days

27 weeks, 4 days

Definitely looking REALLY pregnant now! Sometimes I just look at my stomach and can't believe it is really my stomach! No stretch marks yet, and I'm crossing my fingers. I keep applying my cocoa butter cream in hopes of keeping them away. Cherette sent out the invitations for my Cincinnati family shower on March 6th, and they are absolutely adorable. I'm so excited! It will be so much fun to get stuff for our little man. I've been doing my best to not buy clothes and things yet, so I can see what I get first. It's been much harder since we are sure it is a boy. The dresser/combo unit finally came in to the Cleveland warehouse, and we were able to order it last week. I got a call just a few days after that that it was here and I could pick it up. I can't wait to see it in the room, since that is the last major piece of furniture for the nursery. Mom is working on the curtains, and I'm gonna make a memory board and a few other small decorations too. The weather has been snowy here, and not the best weather for picking up a dresser that is fully assembled and needs to be in the back of a truck. I think we are going to try and get it tomorrow though.

I couldn't resist putting on the bedding to see how it looked. We also got a great quilt rack from Patrick's parents for the room. They put a coat of varnish on it, and I really don't think it could match any more perfectly. It looks like it belongs with the set. Very cute to display the cute quilt and blankets since you aren't supposed to have them in the bed with the baby because of suffocation. Anyways, everything still needs to be washed before the little man arrives. Like I said, I just had to get a sneak peak of how it was going to look. And if you are wondering, no we have not decided on a name yet. I get asked that all the time, but it's a hard thing to decide on. I'm very indecisive, and it's something that he will have the rest of his life!

Nursery sneak peek:

The Snoogle and hospital tour...

Snoogle!

As I am now 26.5 weeks, sleeping continues to get more uncomfortable. After a few nights of waking up several times due to back pain, I broke down and bought a full body preggo pillow. I got the Snoogle, and it has been a God send! I love it! It looks like a giant "C" and I like to put part of it between my knees and use the long side to support my back. You can flip it around and use the long part to hug, so to speak. I may try that out as well. I've used it for two nights, and I must say that I have slept much better. Although I have had two really bad dreams each night as well. Hopefully tonight brings sweet dreams! Anyways, I would definitely recommend the Snoogle. Yes, they aren't the cheapest, but use a Babies R Us 20% off coupon and it's not too bad. Definitely worth it in my opinion. Also, you can use it after the baby is born sorta like a Boppy or just to help prop you up too when nursing.

We had our hospital tour last night, and it definitely brought back memories to when we were there almost 6 months ago when Cherette had Kara. I had already seen the rooms, but I was still impressed a second time. They have awesome birthing rooms at Good Sam. They redid them recently, and they are so roomy. I also saw the waiting room where my mother in law and Cherette's mom spent hours waiting for little Kara to arrive. After the baby is born, you go into the postpartum rooms. It's too bad they aren't as roomy as the birthing rooms, but I understand why they aren't! They aren't so bad though. Maybe I'll be lucky and get a corner room, which is a little larger. We saw a couple little ones in the nursery, and it made me excited for our little boy to get here. Just about 3 more months! I'm so excited for my showers. Tiffany and Cherette both have the invitations, and they both did a great job! I know they will throw awesome showers. I'm lucky to have such great friends and family! My little boy continues to move around a lot in his little home. He sure likes to let me know that he is in there. It really is neat. I think I'll miss it when I'm not pregnant anymore.

I've been doing pretty well still going to the gym. I try to go 3 times a week, and I have been. I usually just ride the recumbent bike for a little while and walk around the track or on the treadmill. I was walking in today and a guy told me that I looked like I was smuggling in a basketball. Another guy asked how far along I was. Glad people know that I'm pregnant and don't just think I have a huge potbelly! I guess when you are fairly small everywhere else, it should be pretty apparent.

A year ago today....

A year ago today we lost an amazing woman. I never forget the call I got at work saying to come to the hospital as soon as I could because things weren't looking good. It was one of the saddest days I've experienced. Surrounded by family, Patrick's grandma went to heaven. Over the years I dated Patrick, we spent quite a bit of time with his grandma. She was probably the most generous person I've ever met. She always made me feel welcome and part of the family. I'm so glad she was able to make it to our wedding, and also to her own when she married Jerry. It's been a strange year without her here, and Christmas I was especially missing her as well. She was such a fun lady who enjoyed going to the casinos and taking her whole family on vacations. My grandparents were much older, and I never got to really know them or do things with them like his grandma. I'm so grateful for what she did for Patrick and I throughout the years. It makes me sad that she won't be around to see her great grandson.....her first great grandson....but I know she's watching out for us. Sorry for the sad message, I didn't put it up to be depressing, but to take the moment to remember and be thankful to have had her in our lives. I know she's enjoying heaven and playing all the nickel slots she can!

25 weeks.....15 to go!!

25 weeks, 2 days


Glider!


Assembled Crib!!


My niece Kara!


I can't believe how fast January seemed to go! I know it's not totally over yet, but almost. This past weekend, we got our mattress and Patrick assembled the crib and the glider! I went and visited my sister in law Cherette and niece Kara on Saturday, and he got it done when I was gone. So exciting to come home to! He said the crib took only about 30 minutes to put together and a little longer for the glider. They look great! The crib looks great in the room, although it is currently probably not on the wall where it will go. There is still a desk in here with the computer (where I currently am typing) since this was our office. We ordered a desk/armoire type thing with doors that we are going to put the computer in our front room. Waiting on that to come in and then we'll get this desk out of here and really be able to see what we have to work with.

Back to the visit with Cherette and Kara....it was Kara's first play date. One our of ADPi sisters came down with her little girl Tillie, who is just a little older than Kara. It was fun to see them together, and I got to hear some stories and advice. I also got to see all of Kara's little girl toys, and imagined what kinds of little boy toys my guy will be interested in. Anyways, Kara was sooo adorable in her little walker, I had to put her picture up. She just keeps getting cuter!

I'm getting really excited for my showers! Tiffany is having one for friends and coworkers at the end on March, and Cherette is having a family shower towards the beginning of March. Our awesome family friends since I was really young are having a Springfield shower for me at some point too. I'm so blessed! This baby is going to be so loved and so spoiled!

24 weeks and nursery update

I am currently at 24.5 weeks and growing more every day! One of my books says the baby is over a pound now, and as big as a banana. I find these comparisons interesting, but still hard to imagine. I have a little banana inside me? Fitting that we chose monkeys for the nursery. My mom came down yesterday because I had one of the 20% off coupons for Babys R Us that needed to be put to good use. We had planned to use it towards the dresser, which yes, they do let you do. I HIGHLY recommend to all the pregnant or will someday be pregnant girls out there to sign up for a Babys R Us rewards card so that you get the coupons and 20% off one item coupon each month. I signed up for the credit card too, which gets you 10% off everything for the day you sign up plus points for the dollars you spend and they send you gift certificates. Anyways, they were currently out of the dresser in the warehouse, but the lady assured me they were getting more and a new coupon would be in the mail soon. I did get to use the coupon on my glider though! Very exciting! The one I picked happened to be on sale anyways, then with the extra 20% off, it was a great deal! I think I've said this before, but I'm so excited with all of my savings so far! The glider is coming from the Cleveland warehouse, so it should be here sometime next week. The nursery is all painted and looks great. Crib is still unassembled, but one thing at a time. Supposedly it is not hard or time consuming to put together. As the not quite all there associate told us, "even I could put it together."

I can't believe how fast the time is going by now. I know it sounds cliche or dumb, but I am having fun being pregnant now! You may think I'm crazy, and if you asked me in the first trimester, I would have said no way. My face broke out like crazy and I felt sick and had no desire to eat. I'm somewhat thankful for those 10 pounds like in the first trimester, since they are all back now plus an additional few. I like having my belly, now that it looks more pregnant and not just bloated or fat. Sleeping is still an adjustment and not the most comfortable, but for the most part hasn't been horrible. Patrick is amazed by the pillows I use, but he's adjusting as well. I've been doing much better working out and going to the gym too. It makes me feel better, even if I'm just riding the bike or walking around the track. I know moderate exercise is good for me and the baby, and could even make the delivery easier. Let's hope so!

Oh another interesting thing to note concerns my first baby. My chihuahua Bella that is. I've been doing some reading about getting her prepared for the baby since it can be quite a shock for dogs. I think she is going to have a hard time since she really is like our baby now and gets all the attention. Anyways, my mom got this doll that makes baby sounds that you are supposed to wrap up like a baby and hold it and see how she reacts and reward her for being good or curious. I felt sooo silly carrying around a doll, but it has been interesting. She seemed somewhat interested, but Bella is pretty smart. Pretty sure she realizes it's not real. Oh well. It's just supposed to get the image in her head. They say you also need to bring home a blanket from the hospital with the baby's scent before you actually come home to get her used to the smell. We'll see how it goes! I suppose I will stop for the night as it is getting late and I will be exhausted in the morning!

23 weeks and new haircut!

Today marks the start of week 23! Going by so fast! Patrick has started painting the nursery, but it's still a work in progress. I really do like the color on the wall. It's always a little scary seeing the sample they dab on the top of the can after mixing. It looks much better on the walls. I'm excited for it to be all painted so I can work more on the nursery. We got our crib, and it looks so good! It's out of the box, but not assembled yet. I'm really happy with it. We went with the Europa Baby Palisades Crib, which is made by the same company as Babi Italia. They did not have the dresser in yet at Baby Depot, but it does say they have it at Babys R Us. We got it at Baby Depot because it started out cheaper and we had a 20% off coupon which they let us use. Great deal! We already have the armoire, so we still need the small dresser/combo unit and the glider. Nothing else too exciting going on. I can feel the baby moving around quite a bit more now, so that's really neat. Finally got my hair cut again yesterday, and I really like it. I go to the doctor again this Thursday, but I don't think it will be an exciting one. I'm pretty sure my glucose test is done at the visit after this one. That's about all I have for now. Sorry if I've bored you!

Christmas, New Years, and Baby BOY White!

It's confirmed! It is a boy!


Baby Legs!


Boy parts!


With Erin and Kate after Christmas


19 weeks, 2 days


20 weeks, 3 days

So I feel like a blog failure. It's been a while since I've posted anything and it seems like so much has happened. We had a great ultrasound on December 17th, and found out that baby White is developing right on track and is a healthy little boy! He put his little butt right up to the screen so we got a good look! We really thought that it was going to be a boy for some reason. Just a feeling. We are so excited to now know for sure and start to plan and decorate. We went to Babys R Us and ended up already buying our bedding and the pieces in the collection that go along with it because it was on clearance. Such a cute pattern and deal that we couldn't pass it up. It is called Monkey Vine. I really wanted to incorporate monkeys, especially if the baby was a boy. We also decided for sure on our car seat and stroller. We are going with the Pippin collection from Graco. It has very cute little elephants. I did start my registry too, so you can check on Babys R Us if you are interested in seeing anything we've picked out so far. I don't have everything on there yet, just some of the main stuff.

Yesterday we went with my parents to order our crib because we had a 20% off coupon. I thought that we would have to order and it would take weeks to get in. Turns out they had three in stock, so we are going back today to pick it up! So exciting! We went with the Europa Baby (another division of Babi Italia) Palisades crib in oak. We have an armoire that is really nice already from his grandma which should match nicely. The coupon made such a difference in the price too. I'm actually quite proud of the coupons and savings I've used so far for this baby! Things are just so expensive!

Christmas was really nice this year once again. We spent the day with the White's, and then my parents ended up coming down for Christmas dinner. Patrick and I then went to my parents' house for a few days after Christmas. We both took the week after Christmas off work, and it's been so nice. I have unfortunately been sick again, pretty much the whole break, but finally getting better now. My immune system must be focused on more important things right now, along with the fact that you can't take much in terms of medication, makes it not so fun when you are sick. But I can't complain. As long as the baby is healthy. I was really excited to see Kate and Erin at Kate's sister's baby shower the day after Christmas. I wish I didn't live so far from most of my college friends, but it's always great to see them. New Years was spent at Ted and Miranda's, and it was a good time once again. It was a little weird to be the only sober one, but I didn't mind too much.

I think that my belly really started to pop out around week 19, and it just keeps growing! That's about the time when I can really feel him much more as well. We are now, as of today, at 22 weeks! Can't believe how fast it is going now! I will try to do better with my blog updates from now on. Hope everyone is having a great start to the new year!