Finished!

Well, after a rare burst of energy this weekend, the nursery is finished! Poor Andro--I woke him up early Saturday morning to help me hang the shelves (i.e. to do it for me) and then spent most of the day organizing all of the wonderful things that Isaac has gotten from our amazingly generous family and friends. After getting everything unpacked and put away, I was shocked by how much room there is!

The nursery, and in particular the glider (thank you to my Momma and Daddy!!!), is my favorite room in the house. It is so peaceful (at least right now, before the baby takes residence) and the glider is the most comfortable chair for me these days. Almost to 34 weeks and I'm starting to be plagued with 3rd trimester discomforts. I can't seem to get comfortable at all, my joints are sore from the 'softening,' and I've been suffering from bouts of insomnia. Poor Libby will wake up and halfheartedly try to find a toy to keep me company at 3am, but usually she falls asleep within a minute of trying to hang out with me. Only 6 more weeks to go! (lol hopefully!)

And...in other news, I've sent in my hospital admittance form and have a pediatrician, so I'm making progress on all of my to-do's.

Updating the To-Do list

A few weeks ago I posted my to-do list. I've been making slow progress on this, but thought I might as well update it. On my to do list:

1) Get a 'practice' baby to teach Libby boundaries [status--complete]
a. Libby has been doing really well with 'practice baby,' my infant Cabbage Patch doll. She knows that she can't jump in my lap when I'm holding him and she's learning that I need to give attention to the baby and not just to her (that's been really tough for her, she is my little furry shadow and gets tons of affection whenever she wants).

2) Get a cd of baby sounds to teach Libby to not bark when she hears weird noises [status--need to order]

3) Finish organizing the nursery and put in deeper shelves in the 'built-in' bookcase for storage [status--work in progress]
a. Over the weekend, I got the wall repaired (i.e. spackled flat where old anchors had been) and painted (miraculously got Lowe's to match the paint color) and purchased everything that I need for the shelves. Next step, getting Andro to put up the new supports, hopefully he'll do it this week. Issac has so many clothes and toys and things in general now, I need to get them put away on the new shelves. And I hate having unfinished projects staring at me!

4) Become members of a local church [status--complete]
a. We joined a local church and have been going to service and it's great! I love this church,

5) Find a pediatrician [status--almost completed, still]
a. I found a practice that I like but missed their March open house. Hoping to get some interviews scheduled and/or attend their April open house. This is a top priority.

6) Fill out the hospital registration form [status--complete and mailed in!] (and get the hospital bag ready [status--giving myself some more time before I start packing])

And 7) Figure out a way to con my Mom into living with us and taking care of the baby full-time [status--I've given up on this one, but having her here for 10 days was so wonderful...it really spoiled me, I'm looking forward to her visit in May!]

A couple of new ones to add to the list:

8) Wash all of Isaac's clothes and linens (just bought some baby laundry soap) and get them organized (i.e. in the bins on shelves and need to get some drawer organizers for his dresser)

9) See every movie that I have even the remotest of interest in before May 12 (not really a major to-do, but I love going to the movies, and have a feeling that it's going to be one of those luxuries like washing my hair and putting on clean clothes in the beginning few weeks/months of being a mom that just isn't going to happen)

Amazing weekend

Mom, Aunt Jay, Tine, and Trini threw me a baby shower on Saturday and it was wonderful. A great chance to see friends and family (including Auntie Ema, these are actually two of her photos that I'm hijacking)and celebrate the impending arrival of Isaac. The theme was Noah's ark and that cake was as delicious as it is beautiful (I'm anti-fondant, it tastes so bad I don't care how good it looks, this was pure butter cream perfection)and the decorations were adorable--animal balloons, gorgeous white roses, the blue table cloths that we had made up for the wedding. It was an amazing day and I feel very loved and very, very spoiled.


Andro and I before the big event got under way (he hung out at Mickey Finn's with some of the husbands).

I mentioned in my last post that Jackie's little boy's due date was nearing and he was actually born last Sunday. Jackie sent word the morning of the shower that she was in labor and her little boy, Lucas, was delivered early the next morning. We can't wait to meet him! All in all a pretty full, fantastic weekend.

Getting Caught Up On Photos

I've been really horrible about taking photos lately, but Layla posted some from our annual friends holiday dinner that I thought I'd share on the blog. I've noticed that I've worn a lot of black during this pregnancy, making it a little difficult to discern the bump...but he's there, although he has been cut out of the photo of me and Andro.

This year's dinner was held at Pete and Carol's which is now only 20 mins. away from us back in January. In the above photo you can see half of the class of 2028--two lil boys are still cooking, but one is getting close to being finished. Jackie is due on the 18th. Funny to think that by the next holiday dinner--tentatively being held at Mark and Tiffany's new house--there will be four high chairs set up.

29 weeks 4 days

Andro and I went to a stunning wedding for our friends Aisha and Dave at the Adler Planetarium. This wedding was simply gorgeous, beautiful flowers, amazing view of the city, and a great time for everyone. Above is a belly shot taken at the event and yes, he's getting big. Please note my arms are still the same size (and my bf Kinsey thinks they look a little thinner now because of how big the belly is). I tried to take photos during the ceremony but the flash wouldn't work...grrr...

PS (How handsome is my husband? He's the cutest and has been going above and beyond to still make me feel pretty while my belly gets bigger and bigger.)

Another wedding!

My very, very favorite thing to do is to be involved in weddings. After we got engaged, I went totally overboard in everything to do with our wedding--all the paper (stationery, invites, place cards, programs, etc.), decorations, timelines, contracts, you name it. Andro thought I'd wear myself out and be sick of weddings by the time we finished ours...but the opposite happened. I can't get enough! I was thrilled to help out our friends Jason and 'chelle along with Kinsey at their fantastic event in October and am gearing up for another one this Saturday for our friends Dave and Aisha. I'm going to pretty much being making sure that everything gets set up and is ready to go and get the bride down the aisle on Saturday and can't wait! Just got off the phone with the bakery and am so excited. It's going to be a beautiful, beautiful event!

Nesting

Tomorrow I officially start the third trimester and have begun anxiously trying to get everything in order for Mr. baby's arrival.

On my to do list:

1) Get a 'practice' baby to teach Libby boundaries
a. In What to Expect the First Year--they recommend pretending a baby doll is the baby to teach the dog about what is going to change (i.e. when he's feeding, Libby can't be right in my lap but she can sit next to me, not jumping to see what is in the bassinet, etc.)

b. So my Mom mailed me one of my old Cabbage Patch newborn dolls to practice with...we'll see what happens after it arrives

2) Get a cd of baby sounds to teach Libby to not bark when she hears weird noises
a. Not sure if this is actually going to help her not bark, but I'm hoping it'll at least get her used to the sounds that she can be expecting

3) Finish organizing the nursery and put in deeper shelves in the 'built-in' bookcase for storage
a. A reminder of what the bookcase used to look like:


b. I've since cleaned it off completely, but what you can't see in the photo is that these shelves are only 6" deep. I'm replacing them with 12" deep shelves so that I can use normal size bins and baskets to help hold diapers, toys, etc. Don't be fooled by the drawers in the desk or the closet--those are entirely full with other things (I've got an amazing ability for cramming things into 'storage space'), so we've got to go out into the open with Isaac's things.

4) Become members of a local church (almost completed)
a. I found a church that I really, really like, so now I just have to get Andro up every Sunday to go with me (I refuse to look like a girl in trouble who just found Jesus). I've got Isaac's Godparents all lined up and am actually really excited about being a member of a church again. I haven't been a member of any church since Evansville.

5) Find a pediatrician (almost completed)
a. I found a practice that I like and I'm going to an open house to meet the doctors next month.

But...until I officially have a baby doctor I can't do this one:

6) Fill out the hospital registration form (and get the hospital bag ready)

And 7) Figure out a way to con my Mom into living with us and taking care of the baby full-time.
a. Yeah, that's not going to happen. I'm thrilled that my Mom will be here for Isaac's birth (she's pretty much going to come up in early May once I stop working and wait it out until he's born), and for a bit after he's born to help us out. But I'm also excited for this new chapter in our lives.