Wordless Wednesday: Beginning to look a lot like Brother!

(PS- found this that we bought on a whim probably a year ago... now funny and very appropriate for Baby Boy considering my apple cravings!)

Sort-of First Words!

This week Kenna has said a few things that I guess could technically count as her first words? Every time we go get her out of her crib in the morning or after a nap, Pontouf (our dog) is close at my heels to come check on Kenna- and she is the first thing Kenna looks for when we pick her up. Many times Kenna has said "dah" when looking at or playing with Pontouf, but you never know if she's really trying to say dog or if it's just a babble of excitement. Well, our neighbors have this large beautiful weimaraner named Ash that we see all the time, and today when we walked by her, Kenna pointed right at her and said "dah!" very excitedly. So I think she is trying to say the word dog since she associated it with a dog other than Pontouf.

Also, she really surprised us the other day when she accidentally dropped her paci and said "oh no!" clear as day. It was so cute. Now I try to get her to say it all the time, not just when something has happened. She also has started shaking her head no when she doesn't want something, usually when she doesn't want to eat something we're handing her, or when she knows her diaper is about to get changed. I know the "no!" years can't be far behind!

Now she says or sings it at totally random times and it cracks us up. I was so excited that I was able to get a little video of her saying it after her nap today!


Another funny story... we found our little trickster in her crib like this after one of her bumper ties had gotten just the tiniest little tear in it that I didn't think would be a big deal (my mistake!):
She had torn three of the ties completely off, so she slept for a few days bumperless while I looked for an inexpensive bumper online (which are expensive even if you don't want the whole bedding set!). She's into wrapping things around her shoulders like a cape/scarf... I promise she's not suffocating, I check constantly! When her feet were actually sticking out between the rails I figured I needed to hurry things up (didn't get a picture of that one!).
That same week, God totally blessed us with the exact bumper I had bookmarked online thinking we would get a little bit later when we could afford a new one. I just happened to see it at the end of the aisle at Target, the only one they had, brand new in the package, on clearance for $8 instead of the regular $40 price! Apparently the only reason it was on clearance was because it had been purchased online and then returned, or they are not carrying just the bumpers anymore, only the full bedding sets. So now Kenna is sleeping in style in this cute brown bumper:
It might not seem like a big deal, but God has blessed us so much recently in those completely unexpected ways, big and small! He is such a generous Father! I had this verse on my heart today when thinking about the many ways he provides:

"Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever!" -Ephesians 4:20-21

Starting to "Scootch"

Kenna has started this little "scootching" stage, where she is not quite strong enough to push up on her arms to start trying to crawl, but she loves to roll around and scootch back and forth. When we put her to bed in the middle of her crib, she plays around to keep herself awake and this is usually what we find:
Just when we think she's out for the night (or for a nap) we hear her toys rattling or find her teddy bear flung across the crib. Also, she hates to have covers on her and will kick them off eventually no matter what we do. It makes me feel like such a mom to come in when she's finally asleep and put the covers back over her little legs. We always laugh at how she sleeps so spread out... such a silly baby!

36 Weeks and a Bargain

Here is my current look at 36 weeks, with one pair of pants that fits and lots of anticipation:
What the OB is saying about our progress:
-We are dilated 2 centimeters and starting to efface!
-She's not premature at this point, so she safely can and might come at any time now!
-They gave us all the warning signs that require an immediate call to the hospital (I'll spare the details of those) and that we should call when the contractions are 5-7 minutes apart... or when they "have me cursing" as the OB said!
-If we keep up this progress, it looks like little K will be making her appearance sooner rather than later...

Some of the things I've been doing to get ready:
-Eating whatever I want, whenever I want! The intensive baby-weight-be-gone diet must start sooner than I want to think about!
-Finishing up little things here and there for the baby room... hanging things on the wall, labeling dresser drawers, and putting away clean laundry.
-Packing my hospital bag, just in case!
-Becoming close friends with Matt's sweatpants.

I also thought I'd mention to anybody that's interested that Old Navy is having a $10 and under deal sale right now, and also some 75% off clearance from the summer. Matt and I just happened to stop by the store because I had a $6 gift card from a return that I wanted to use up, and we got some great deals! Matt got a really nice brown and blue dress shirt for about $12, and I got a nice little haul of tank tops, one long sleeve maternity shirt, a 'tshirt skirt' as I call them, and a navy blue summery top, 8 items all together for just under $30!
I get super excited when clothes are on sale for $1.99, even if they are just little tank tops! I'm also noticing that CVS is a really good place for bargains... they offer grocery staples like milk for much cheaper than stores, have some buy one get one free things, and also have a store card that earns you free "bucks" which are like store credit based on your spending. I started using them for prescription filling, and now we can use the bucks on things like photo processing and the occasional shampoo, etc.

back in Raleigh (kinda)

We're in Raleigh this week, finishing up our last... four... days... of work... I think we're going to make it. We've both been anxious to go ahead and get down to Randleman and be settled in one place! I keep having the classic problem of going to grab something, then having to stop and think which house it might be at (nevermind which bag/box/random hiding spot it might be stashed in)... and then realizing it is not at the same house as me! We're staying at the beautiful and luxe Hotel de Brogli (Matt's parent's guest room) and it has been so nice. I have a big, beautiful bathtub at my disposal anytime, and in-laws who have been stuffing me and Baby K full of delicious home-cooked food! Most of the veggies have even been fresh as it gets, straight from their garden. Thanks mom and dad! Hopefully we have not been too obnoxious of houseguests, although we do have one little addition with us who is furry and barks a lot at inopportune times- but maybe all the puppy kisses and snuggles have made up for it!

One of the things I keep leaving in the wrong place is my camera, so of course, I can't post any new house pictures yet. But it is definitely coming together well! We spent overnight this weekend putting up the blinds over the windows, and putting away more dishes. Right now what's mostly left to unpack are the pantry things, my craft room stuff, putting together the guest bed, and then putting together K's room. I've left that for last 1-because we thankfully don't need it right this second, and 2-because I'm so excited about taking my time and making it beautiful! (And because some of the projects I'm planning to make for it necessitate the craft room being organized first).

There's lots of exciting things on the horizon for us, but luckily now that one house has closed and the other is about to close (thank the LORD!) and everything is moved, we can catch our breath a little bit!

One Hundred and Eleven

Today, I decided it was worthy of a little celebration to have reached our 111th day of pregnancy! We had two showings on the house this morning (yay!) so we grabbed Pontouf and took her with us out to the flea market for a little while. It was pretty hot, so we all needed a little bit of rest after we grabbed some lunch and finally got back home. We all stretched out on our nicely made up and ready to be shown bed, and I got to work on some crocheting, which is so deliciously expectant when you're pregnant. It's one of my favorite crafts for several reasons:

1. It's really easy to take with you somewhere, ie: in the car on long trips.
2. It's really easy to do while watching a movie, once you get in a flow enough to not really look at it while you're working.
3. It's really easy to pick up and put down, and you can go months without having to finish whatever project you're working on (and I usually do).

***Disclaimer: We do not know the sex of the baby yet. This pink or blue specific crafting is all hypothetical and in preparation for the possibility of either boy or girl!!! Trust me, we will be shouting from mountaintops when we do know!***

So today I was excited to finish one little project and get halfway done with another! Halfway finished project one: a blue granny square baby blanket. I think it will need to be at least twice as big of a square to be the finished size.
Finished project number one: a flower baby hat that turned out even cuter than I expected! I think I'll have to make matching booties too... just in case, of course.
And now I feel like I'm being fair to our baby boy-or-girl-to-be by making one project of each! Happy 111th day, Baby B! Only errm.... 169 days to go!

(PS- If you're a big craft nerd like me and this stuff actually interests you, I write a lot more about it on my other blog!)

Surviving the First Trimester!

As my 14th week of pregnancy begins this week, I'm happy to report that we have survived the first trimester! As many of you experienced moms know, the end of the first trimester marks several happy things... usually a decrease in morning sickness (if you're having any that is, keep reading), a decrease in the likelihood of miscarriage, a balancing out of some of the raging hormones, as well as (most importantly, of course) 'permission' to finally color your hair again (although self-tanner and teeth-whiteners are still forbidden, bummer). I'm only mostly kidding. And I did finally color my hair again.

So, in the spirit of celebration of the little things in pregnancy, here comes my own list of things people didn't tell me/things I basically learned as I went about the discovering of and being thrilled over getting pregnant! Gentlemen be forewarned, this one is for the pregnant ladies... those who are, those who have been, and those who would like to someday or are currently hoping to be!

1. If you are suddenly peeing literally every 10 minutes (including 5 times a night) you might as well do it on a stick. You are probably pregnant. I am a notoriously frequent pee-er and even I had this one as my first majorly noticeable 'symptom.'
2. If you've never experienced sheer exhaustion from simply lifting a pen, prepare yourself. And raising your arms to reach something over your head for more than a minute? Don't even... unless you have time for a solid half-hour nap, which you could honestly take on the floor at work on the nasty carpet and not even think twice.
   
3. If you happen to be the (apparently) 1 lady in a billion who does not get morning sickness, you will be told by pregnancy books and magazines everywhere how insanely lucky and slightly freakish you are, as though you found the magic cure of prevention. This doesn't mean I don't have extreme sympathy for the ladies who unfortunately have been tossing their cookies 24/7 daily for the last 3 months!
4. Don't think for a minute that acid reflux, constipation, and swollen ankles can't be yours, friend- all before you are pregnant enough to actually look pregnant, not just like you have been feasting from a never-ending buffet table.
5. When you're hungry (and you will never not be hungry) everything will sound good to eat. Except Mexican food. Or spaghetti sauce. And no Chinese food. But everything else will sound great! Until you eat it... then you'll feel nauseous, and then 15 minutes later you'll feel so hungry again you'll think you forgot to eat at all (which is also quite possible and likely, as forgetfulness will also become your new best friend along with the acid reflux).
6. From the moment the nurse practitioner explains the terrifying effects of listeriosis, you will crave nothing but turkey sandwiches full of (forbidden) deli meat, a big fat (evil) all-beef hot dog, salads laced with (dangerous) feta cheese, and even tuna (which normally disgusts you). And you can't have any of them!
   
7. Hug your husband when you remember that things that normally would roll of your easy-going, laid-back back now crawl under your skin and make you crazy. He has meanwhile been left wondering where on earth his once laid-back, easy-going wife has gone.

So there you have it. They say the second trimester is the "easy" trimester, where you have the happy glow and people noticing your baby-filled belly and you get to actually start wearing your cute maternity clothes rather than searching for the loosest, most stretched-out pair of jeans you've ever owned in the meantime because you didn't feel "pregnant enough" for the maternity ones yet. Hello, belly... goodbye, feet!

I also read somewhere that if you and your husband can survive assembling your baby's crib, and still want to be married and have a baby together when it's done, then you can survive parenthood! I'm happy to say that Matt and I made it through not only assembling the crib (and a new pack 'n' play without the instructions) but also painting the crib! This was not a small feat, and lasted all day on our Memorial Day off, and the next few nights after work. We were given a great crib for free, but decided we'd rather it be white.

Crib before:

on our back porch, waiting to be liquid sandpaper-ed, primer-ed, and painted.

Crib after:
up against the green walls of the baby-room-to-be!

I love how the white furniture looks against the green walls. Even if we end up moving to a new town because of Matt's job search, we'll definitely be re-painting whichever room will be the baby room to this exact shade of green. I love it! I just wrote that re-painting sentence while also thinking to myself, I don't want to paint anything else at all until after the baby comes. I guess that's one more thing we'll have to wait and see on!