Down with the sickness

So mom and dad were both battling sinus infections, and I was all happy because I wasn't showing any symptoms. I even joked around and said they should start on some prenatals. Well I have eaten and digested my words. I woke up yesterday with a sore throat, it's grown to runny/stuffy nose and fatigue. The only thing I'm allowed to take is Benadryl, and it knocks me out. Which normally I wouldn't mind because I sleep longer than I normally would, but when I do wake up it's like I don't realize that I've been laying in the same position for that long and my hips KILL me. Also I don't get up to use the restroom as much, so when I do finally come back out of my 3 hour coma I've got to pee SOOOOO bad. My eyes keep watering so I have tissues and I'm running through them like crazy. I'm gonna go lay back down for a while. But no more Benadryl until I'm ready to go to bed for the night...

Starting to get uncomfortable...

So it's pretty much impossible to sleep for more than 30 minutes at a time at this point. If it's not my hip going numb, it's getting up to pee or just not being comfortable at all in the first place. My belly is getting really heavy. The pillow under it for support isn't working anymore, and laying on my back is just impossible, it hurts too bad after 15 seconds. I've tried every combination of pillow placement that I can think of, nothing is working. I guess I'll just have to deal with for a few more weeks though. I'm just afraid that when I do go into labor I'll be so tired that a can't push effectively and they'll make me do a c-section. It's not that I'm against a c-section, I know in some circumstances it's medically necessary, but if I don't HAVE to do then I don't want to.

I did all of Deagan's laundry yesterday, using my Dreft detergent. That stuff smells awesome... My brother came home and surprised me with his brib bedding set, so that made me REALLY happy! One less thing I have to buy. He also got me some receieving blankets and an extra crib sheet a while back because it matched the colors. Then he found out it was part of a set and got the rest for me. :o) He's going to be such a great uncle! I think I'm going to see if Bobby's aunt will meet us halfway between Cartersville and Chattanooga to get the crib on Saturday. I come off my medicine in less than two weeks so I'm really anxious to get everything in the room and set up. Bobby said we can get the changing table on Sunday since he's off. Yay!! And I think we'll end up at Walmart to get the other things we needed. We still need the mattress, mattress pad, dishwasher unit (for nipples and etc.), a changing pad, breastfeeding cushion covers, another base for the car, an infant bouncer and a heath and safety kit. But luckily I added it all up and I think our gift cards will cover all of that stuff, so that's pretty awesome.

If Saturday is nice then I am DEFINATELY working on my chifferobe. I really want to get it done since it's the one piece of furniture that I actually have here. It's still in the garage though, waiting to be sanded and painted... I think I'm going to decoupage the shelves on the inside though. Give it a little more personal touch, it needs some extra love. Just painting it will improve the appearance dramatically though. I hope I feel better by then. My parent's just got over sinus infections, I woke up this morning with the back of my throat hurting. Bobby and I have our 2nd childbirth education class tonight. I think I'll ask the nurse who teaches the class if there's anything I'm allowed to take before it gets too bad. Hopefully I can retaliate before it becomes full blown...

Baby Shower Pictures

Here are some baby shower pics. I was going to post the ones with me opening gifts but this blog would be entirely way to long. There were so many gifts. I'll post it on my myspace though. Enjoy!

Candy Pacifiers
Diaper Napkins
A little surprise inside!

The favors: Vanilla and chocolate molded candy lolli-pops.

Centerpieces

Can you tell we're from Hawaii?

Love this... from Bobby's best friend and his wife.

Bobby said there was too much "pastel" baby stuff, so this just for when Daddy takes him out. I told him I was gonna get some body paint and do a replica of Bobby's 3/4 sleeve tribal tattoo on Deagan.

These are too cute!

The overflowing tub of clothes/socks/bibs/blankets/etc. that I have to wash now that I have the proper detergent.

Food Table

Onesie Decor

Diaper Cake

The real cake... it was DELICIOUS!! (Go to Publix for custom cakes)

Baby carriage cookies (I decorated) and cheese and cracker tray.

Baby bottle cookies. (My handy work as well)

Gift Table Diaper Napkins

Favors and Pacifiers

Shower

I promise I'll post pictures as soon as I can...

My shower was wonderful on Saturday. I got to see all of my Alabama family, Bobby's family and all of my friends. I got SO MANY clothes... I won't have to buy this kid clothes until he's a year old probably. I got an entire tub full from my Aunt Mary, and Bobby's cousins brought another bag full. He got his first Tennessee jacket!! Not to mention all of the clothes that came with other gifts. I probably have about three large loads I have to do. We got some Dreft detergent while grocery shopping today so that I can wash everything. I can't wait to wash and fold all of his little outfits and sock and put them away.

It's been raining all weekend so I haven't gotten a chance to work on my chifferobe project. I think I'm going to scratch the fabric wall. Not enough time or money at the moment. We have more important things to buy. I can always revisit the idea in a couple of months. I did do a little decoupage project though. I made two 12"x24" panels to be hung on each side of the window in the nursery. It was fairly easy, but really messy. I used scrapbook paper and foam board and mod podge. I'll get some pics of that when I get them hung.

By the way, Briana... you haven't added me to your blog reader list yet so I can't get my Jack fix. What's the deal? :o(

33 Week Specialist Appt.

Well, it was my last visit with my specialist today. So that probably means that was the last ultrasound I'll get until I meet my baby boy. :o( He was being mean and not letting us see his face again. He had one arm across his face the other one was up by his forehead. So I guess he's nice and comfortable in that position, what can ya do? Doc said to come off the meds at either 35 or 36 weeks, which ever I'm more comfortable with. My body needs to experience the "practice" contractions, but there's no telling how long it'll be before the "practice" will become the "real" contractions. So he said make sure I have my hospital bags packed when I quit taking the meds. My cervix was good, and he said at this point that it will start shortening on its own because this is the time when it SHOULD be doing that. I'm pretty excited. I think I'll wait until 36 weeks to come off the meds though. We haven't even done anything in the nursery yet...

It's going to be a busy rest of the week... Tomorrow I'll be working on baby shower favors. We got candy molds and we're making baby themed lolli-pops. (Carriages, rattles, diaper pins, etc.) I'll also be tying the necklaces on the candy pacifiers. I ran out of ribbon, so I need to run back to Hobby Lobby and get some more. Tomorrow night is our Childbirth Education class at the hospital. Bobby and I registered for it about a month ago, it's from 6pm-9pm. I'm hoping to learn a lot, since my only labor and delivery experience to date is watching "A Baby Story" and "Bringing Home Baby" on TLC, lol. Friday I plan to get everything for the baby shower packed up and ready to go. I'm pretty excited about it, I hope we have a good turn out. Saturday Bobby's aunt and cousin is coming over in the morning to do a maternity photoshoot. I'm really excited about that too! They did another girl in the family while she was pregnant and they came out beautifully. I've been on google images trying to find some fun poses. I hope mine come out good too. I may have to photoshop out some stretch marks and cellulite though, lol!!

My Weekend: Yard Sales, Walmart and 4D Ultrasound

Mom and I woke up early on Saturday and went yard sale-ing, just to see what we see. Fortunately we found an ad in the paper about a children's consignment sale at one of the local churches. So we decided to stop by there. I got a couple of shorts for Deagan because he had zero so far, a bag of about 8 or 10 bottles that were barely used (only have to buy the nipples), and these adorable shoes... Apparently the sale was for Friday and Saturday and on Saturday most items were half off. (Score.) We spent $13.00 total.

These shoes were immaculate, they don't even look used at all. The sandals and blue ones were $0.50, the white pair was $1.00.

After the consignment sale we hit some yard sales. I got a little chifferobe for $5.00, we just need to sand, prime and paint it to match the rest of our furniture. I'll post that pic when it's done.

About a month ago I had picked out a travel system (carseat and stroller) that matched my pack-n-play (Wyndham collection). Well a few weeks ago I checked my registry and it said it was no longer available online or in stores. So I picked a new pattern (Broadstreet, and it was only available online, not in stores) that had similar colors and pouted about it for a couple of days. When I had my shower Bobby's aunt had bought the carseat, however it was the wrong pattern, but she gave me the gift receipt. Today, mom and I went to Walmart on our usual grocery shopping trip, and I took the carseat in to get credit on a gift card to I could come home and order the 2nd choice pattern online. We decided to walk back to the baby section to again, just see what we see, and low and behold... There was my original travel system (Wyndham)!! Those Walmart.com people are LIARS!! I think I jumped up and down a little in the isle, lol. There was two of them, but one looked like it had been opened. So mom went to the front of the store to grab another cart and I stood guard at my unopened travel system. We chucked that sucker in the cart and dragged it around the grocery section for 45 minutes, ha ha ha!! So that totally made my day, I used the credit from the other carseat towards the travel system, it all worked out and life is GOOD!

So cute... I just gotta figure out how to install the base in my car tomorrow. Oh, and I was so excited I put it together myself. Bobby said he'd help me put it together tomorrow, but I couldn't wait. :o)

After Walmart, we came home and got ready to go to my 4D Ultrasound: an early shower gift from my parents. It was hard to get really good pictures because he was facing my back and would NOT budge. He must be really comfortable in that position because he was in the same position at my last specialist ultrasound 2 weeks ago. He showed us just about every other body part though!! Here's my little Deagan:

His hand is balled up in a fist.

Face: some of the cord was in front though.

Tootsies!

Profile.

His fingers are making a peace sign. It helps to tilt your head left to see it...

Yeah, he's flexing for all the chicks out there!! He's gonna be strong like his daddy!

Fingers.

Nursery Decor Ideas

So, since we can't really paint because we are renters, I came across some great ideas that are completely removable without being a pain in the ass. As soon as I get the bedding for the crib I'm going fabric shopping. By the way Better Homes and Gardens is my fave website these days, lol.

I love these fabric wall pieces. All it involves is foam core, fabric, fabric tape and sticky tack.

There's a blank wall that the crib will be against that I want to hang fabric on. This one involves a little more work, so I think I'm going to recruit my best friend who just graduated college with her interior design degree to help. I've got the instructions, but she'll be better at measurements and the actual hands on stuff. I'll just sew, lol...

I can't wait to get started though. Finally I'll have something to do while I'm stuck at home all day. I just finished painting a cute picture frame I picked up at Hobby Lobby. The border was brown and all of my furniture is black, so I had to paint it. It's so cute though. As soon as it's dry I'll post it. I got one more coat to go on two of the edges. I'm sure this won't be my last blog today...

Tennessee Baby Shower

The flag outside of Denise's house.

I can't even express how much fun this shower was. I had such a great time and got some really great (and much needed) stuff. I can't wait to start finding a place for things. Bobby's dad and aunt and uncle all went in together and bought the crib we wanted. I was so shocked, we were going to wait to get the furniture until after the showers to see if we got some gift cards to help offset the price a little. I really never expected anyone to buy it for us, but I am so thankful!

The food was awesome and the games were cute too. Mary and Candice were blindfolded and had to race to feed their "babies" (Meghan and Kayla), it was so funny! Then we did a scrapbook project. Eveyone got a scrapbook page and had to decorate it and leave room for pictures, and write a little note to Deagan for him to read. It was such a great idea! The cake was so cute, it had little booties all over it and there were little gingerbread babies.

The Hostesses: Denise and Barbara

Cake

Gingerbread babies

Scrapbook

All of my wonderful gifts!

Our beautiful crib.

Pack-n-Play

I am so in love with this thing... I can't wait to stand there and watch my little man sleeping soundly in his bassinet. I put it together in the baby's room, but it will go in our room while I'm breastfeeding at all hours of the night. I love the changing station on it, so I won't have to take him to the other room to change him in the middle of the night. (Or should I say Bobby won't have to... lol.) When he starts sleeping all the way through the night we'll put him in his crib in his room. I can't wait to get his furniture so I can actually decorate the walls, his room is so empty right now. The only thing in it right now is a loveseat, bookcase with tons of baby stuff crammed on it and my sewing table and scrapbook supplies.

Super Simple Door Decor

So, rather than going and buying the pre-made letters (that never are the colors you want them to be) or trying to paint the wooden ones from the craft store, I made mine from scrapbook paper, my printer (I didn't even use any color ink) and scissors. All things I did not have to buy before starting this project. Let me know what you guys think!

How To:
Materials - Scrapbook paper (1 page per letter, design of your choice), Word or Publisher, or any other desktop publishing software, Scissors and Tape.

1. Cut your scrapbook paper to 8.5"x11" if it is not that size already.

2. In your desktop publishing program, find a font that you like and type one letter per page.

3. Change the font color to a light grey (so it doesn't show through the paper after it's printed).

4. Make sure you load your printer with the scrapbook paper so that the letters will print on the BACK of it (the white side).

5. When you go to print, go into your print properties and look for the option that says "mirror image" and select. (If you do not do this your letters will come out backwords when you cut and flip it over.)

6. Print your letters. (I usually do one at a time to make sure I don't make a mistake.)

7. Cut your letters along the outline.

8. Flip it over to the scrapbook design side and you have perfect letters, in the font and style you want!

9. Tape it anywhere you want!