Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Penguin Palace

Picking a nursery theme has been as difficult as picking a name- more on that in a later post. The original idea was a nice, pastel seashore theme. After quite a bit of time searching, most of what we found was either too Florida beach tacky, not right for a baby, and/or all primary colors. One of the first decor pieces we bought was this really neat tile fish mosaic. Matt picked it out, but it wasn't until we got home and I went to move it that I realized it weighed a good 25lbs and there was no way we could hang it above the crib. Talk about an accident waiting to happen...

Eventually I found a crib bedding set that we loved. It turns out that crib bedding sets are ridiculously expensive, especially considering that they say not to use a crib bumper anymore. Basically you end up paying a couple hundred bucks for a sheet and crib skirt! What a ripoff! Amazingly, Matt's mom found material that was very similar to the pattern we loved. She is quite the seamstress and agreed to make the bedding for us, which makes it even more special :) Aunt Erin helped a good bit so a HUGE thanks goes to both of them. This is the crib bumper and you can see all three of the materials we used.



After months of not knowing what else to put in the room, one day a month or so ago we went to see Mr. Popper's Penguins and afterward Matt said, "Why not do a penguin theme?" How we had not thought of this before remains a mystery. By the time we got home I had found some really cute things on Amazon and Etsy. You can only use so many penguins without turning the place into a seaquarium, so we still needed something for the wall behind the crib. Preferably something that didn't weigh a ton and wasn't a death threat. Lo and behold the idea came to use polka dot decals (my neighbor who hosted the BaByQue loves them and put some up in her kitchen recently). It should be noted that I am terrible when it comes to accessorizing. I envy girls who can pick out cool jewelry and have perfect pictures, rugs, draperies, etc in their homes. So I was pretty proud of the fact that the dots just happened to mimic the dots in the fabric- although to be honest it was a total, unplanned fluke.


Putting up those darn dots was a challenge to my OCD. Oh, and there are 192 of them. How can you not make everything mirror image? Matt got a free pass on that project since nothing makes him more crazy than seeing me hang pictures without using a level or GOD FORBID a tape measure.




We also have to thank Aunt Rachel for making the cover for the changing pad. It matches the chair fabric perfectly and is soooo soft. A friend's mom crocheted the white blanket on the chair. It is just gorgeous. Turns out that Matt's mom made him one just like it as a baby. My sweet friend Sara made the animal collage. Her little boy Cole told her, "If Auntie Fleah doesn't like it can I have it?", but there is no way she is getting it back. Sorry buddy but Auntie Fleah is keeping that forever. Last but not least we ordered prints of both of our families so the little Penguin will have everyone who loves him most watching him every night. The pictures aren't here yet but once they are, the room is officially done.

Now all we need is a baby.

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Babymoon

A wonderful co-worker of Matt's offered us her house near Pensacola Beach for Labor Day week, and knowing that this would be our last adult vacation for quite some time we jumped at the chance. Little did we know that this would be the week that Tropical Storm Lee would choose to hit the Gulf! The weather our first day was nice so we got in a tour of Fort Pickens and a picnic at the beach. The waves were about 5' and breaking right on shore so Matt got in but I was afraid to go out further than my calves, even in front of the life guard, it was so rough.

By the second day it started raining, but not enough to keep us from checking out a butterfly house and Navarre Beach. We spent a lot of time watching season opener of college football and just relaxing. All in all, the perfect babymoon.

Speaking of baby... we are down to 35 days now. He should be 5.5lb and 19"- although it is starting to feel like he is 19 feet and 55 pounds. The kicks and jabs are pretty ferocious.





Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Another A+ Check up

Pregnant Prom Pose


BaByQue 8/28/11


Florida Baby Shower 8/21/11


Today was the 34 week checkup. Hard to believe that! Little Penguin measured ahead at the last visit and was right on track at 34 weeks today. He should be about 19" and 5lb at this point. We are heading to the beach tomorrow to enjoy our last solo vacation for quite a while :) Less than 6 weeks to go!

I've also posted a couple of the pictures from our baby showers the last two weekends. Our friends and family are the best and we love them!


Monday, August 22, 2011

50 day countdown




A little over 8 months now and everything seems to be moving right along. Two strangers asked me when I'm due in the last week, so it is confirmed that my stomach is twice the size that it was two weeks ago :) Saw the doctor last week and the baby measured a week ahead. Although we don't know exactly, he should be around 18" and 4lbs.

Flew down to Orlando this weekend for a family baby shower. Something about the change in pressure really made the baby even more active than usual. My mom, sister and Gran got to feel him moving around so that was nice. Right before I left a big box came that has all the nursery bedding in it that Matt's mom made! I didn't even have time to really look at it yet but it is soooo cute. Pictures coming soon.

Thursday, August 4, 2011

Week 30- Let the Countdown Begin

It started pouring down rain and lightening about halfway through the tubing trip (we accidentally did the 3 hour tour instead of the 1.5 hour tour). Being a former Floridian I insisted we get on the bank with our tubes until the lightening went away. Jean being a bad Floridian floated down to us about 15 min later. This was my sad attempt at a pouty face.


Raven's Cliff Falls, Helen, GA


We met up with Jean and Paul in Helen, GA for some tubing on the Chattahootchee, hiking on the Appalachian, and stayed with them at Jean's family's cabin which is right on the creek. We went to the Old Saute General store, Jumping Goat coffee, and got some delicious mix at Nora Mill which Jean made into fabulous waffles the next day.



We've had a busy last two weeks. First we went to Granddad's for Matt's birthday. Since lemon meringue pie is his favorite we made him one... just didn't remember to bring a pie dish so it was a skillet pie. Best meringue ever!

Monday, July 25, 2011

Itchy Has New Meaning- Week 28

It turns out that you can develop random allergies, usually food related, during pregnancy. If there's an itchy rash to be had goodness knows I'm going to get it so it wasn't that much of a surprise when little bumps started appearing on my legs last week. By morning my legs were covered, along with my stomach and back, in what appeared to be a rather ogre like affliction. Swigs of Benadryl and popping Claritin has helped some but it's still not gone.

We went to the lake this weekend. Probably my last ride on the jet skis this year unless we go really, really slow and what is the fun in that?

Little penguin is a moving monster. He never seems to sleep. Forget counting kicks. That would be a full time job day or night. Last night he was really amped up so I told Matt to feel him for a while. Matt put his hand up and asked, "Are you flexing your abs?" Yeah, right... as if those exist these days! I laughed and told him, "No! That's his little bottom! He's pushing on my back and poking it out so my whole stomach swells out!" Cool, but definitely feels like an alien invasion.

The little guy should be weighing in close to 2.5 lbs and around 15" long. He can blink now, hears everything, and his little brain is super developing the next week or two. I'm starving all the time so he better be growing and not just me :)

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

26 weeks (aka the 100 day countdown)



We celebrated the 4th of July in Blacksburg, VA at the beautiful wedding of some friends of ours. Erin, Matt's sister lives there, so his parents came down for part of the long weekend. We had a lovely hike, ate some great food at Cabo Fish Taco, toured the Virginia Tech campus, saw lots of Matt's college buddies, and had a wonderful time catching up with everyone. We also had a chance to pick out fabric for the nursery and it is going to be SOOO cute!


Had a 26 week check up today with the glucose test. Everything is perfectly normal and on track! The Penguin was not a fan of the doppler and squirmed so much that the poor nurse could barely get a heartbeat, even though we could both see him moving around and knew he was just fine. I've gained 14 lbs and Dr. K would like it to stay steady at 1.5 a week from here on out, so cheers to ice cream every night and bagels smothered in cream cheese every morning!