30 Week Belly Bump

How can we be so close to being done already?!

How far along - 30 weeks

Weight gain - 11 lbs! My belly also grew 4 weeks worth in just the last two weeks! My midwife was shocked when she went to measure my growth but yay baby! Last time I was measuring two weeks behind and this time I was exactly where I should be!

Morning sickness/nausea - Not at all.

Movement - I get random periods of movement throughout the day but I can ALWAYS count on a dance party in my tummy from around 6-9 pm! It is almost non-stop! There are jabs, pokes, kicks, and those very strong rolls that move my entire tummy.

Contractions - Some Braxton Hicks here and there. Nothing we're worried about though.

Pain -  My back pain still comes and goes. Gabe will crack my back between my shoulder blades and that helps a lot. He will not however, touch my lower back. It's hard because I can't lay on my tummy for him to crack it so we leave that up to the chiropractor and his special maternity table to fix.

Sleep - Sleep is good when I finally get comfortable. It's getting difficult to roll over and find a good comfortable position.

Stretchmarks - No. Thank God!

Maternity clothes - Yes, yes, and yes!

Food cravings/aversions -  I get cravings but rarely act on it because that would involve going out to eat and we just cannot spend all that money. Not really any specific aversions.

Eating/drinking - I can't eat huge meals because I get full very quickly.I am also trying to make a conscious effort to eat and snack often throughout the day for the weight gain and baby growth. Apparently it's been working with all the growing I did the past couple of weeks!

Boy or Girl - I've been predicting girl this whole time but there are moments where I have doubts.

Lowlights of the week - Obviously it is getting harder to sit comfortably like pre-pregnancy. I have to elongate my upper body or the baby will give me some hard jabs to remind me.

Highlights of the week - My  sister-in-law had her first baby last week and it has gotten me so excited to have my own here shortly! (Although,  I will be sad to see this pregnancy end.)

Anything to add - I'm in denial at how close the birth really is. The labor is always on my mind. Thinking about how it will go, if it will be fast, painful, how I will literally birth, etc. We have yet to buy a car seat for the little one and I always think we have a lot of time but when I think realistically, I get a mini panic attack at how close it is and how much I would still like to get done before he/she is here!

You can see the growth of my belly by the way my tank top is fitting. This is the first week it does not cover my belly!

29 weeks

 

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30 weeks

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 I'm thinking the positioning of the baby has a lot to do with the fact that I look bigger in my 29 week photos than in my 30 week. Don't you think so?

Wordless Wednesday

One of my most favorite parts of babies and my kids. Feet! They are just so cute!

What's not to love?

SNOW in Arizona!

Yes, we had SNOW in southern Arizona! Granted we live almost a mile above sea level so snow is not impossible. It's just highly unlikely. The mountains surrounding us are usually the only way we get to see snow throughout the winter. Being that we are located at a higher altitude, we do get a small dusting at least once a year but not like this. We were blessed with almost two inches on New Year's Eve. (Yes, I am just getting around to posting this almost a month late!)

Gabe and I were woken up to the sounds of Alena screaming "Snow! We have snow! Can we play in it?" And who are we to tell her no when this might be her one and only chance to play in snow this year?

So we were bundling up the kids and getting them ready to head outside when we thought up the idea to take them to the park where there would be more snow than at home. So Gabe and I bundled up too and even before anyone had breakfast, we were out the door to play.

I was joking with Gabe and saying how only in Arizona do you play in the snow before eating breakfast because you know it'll be gone by noon. It's true! I also joked that this was a once in five year type of snow. We have lived here barely over five years and this is about the most we've seen.

We were not the only ones who had the idea to come to the park because there were several other families there enjoying the snow. The kids had a blast and I do believe Christian could have played in it all day! Alena, on the other hand, is more like me. We like for a bit, but when the cold overtakes the fun, we're done.

Trying to make a large ball for a snowman.

You can see in this next one that Christian took the opportunity to nail Gabe with a huge snowball while he was helping Alena with her gloves.

You can see where Alena was nailed right in her forehead.

The others in the park with the same idea as us. They were building some sort of funky snowman (snowfrog?).

After having our fill of snow, we headed home. On the way, we decided we were just too lazy to make breakfast so instead, we would head to a local restaurant for some brunch (since by then it was 11). Gabe and the kids ordered breakfast items but this pregnant momma was craving the Turkey Reuben as soon as I saw it on the menu. And boy was it good! I ate the whole thing and completely overstuffed myself!

Waiting for our meals to arrive.

YUMMY!

We had such a good family day!

Project Playroom Update

As of now, Gabe has built all the storage shelves and we have been painting like crazy.

Here's an idea of what the shelves will look like set up. There will be three of the large cubbies with the four cube cubbies on top.

Gabe has an upcoming long business trip so we are working hard at trying to finish before he leaves. I've been neglecting some other household duties and painting all. day. long. I'm going to have lots of cleaning to make up for. I've painted so much my left hand is in constant pain/discomfort from holding the paint brush. And it's starting to travel up to my forearm now too.

I'm in charge of painting the inside of the boxes and let me tell you, it is tedious! Because of the back of the inside being a different color, I have to take care not to get paint where it shouldn't be. I've done a good job of it but it is just so slow. So slow in fact, that Gabe has helped me by painting the insides too. He gets as close as he can to the corners and then I fill that part in.

Even the kids are helping! We're letting them paint the back which will be against the wall.

Look! Proof that I really am helping too! And whoa to the belly!

OMGoodness! The kids got paint everywhere. Their clothes, the floor, on themselves, and even their hair. But they had a good time and enjoy painting so it's OK.



The carpet in the playroom was also redone this week! We had the bedrooms done a couple of years ago and now that we're redoing the playroom, it was a perfect time to get the old dirty carpet out of there. We replaced it with the same carpet that is in the bedrooms.

Here's a before pic. We've already gotten rid of a lot of toys and the toy box that was in the room.

And the UGLY tile (maybe laminate?) that was underneath.

Finally, the new BEAUTIFUL carpet. I am in love!

My next post should be the final product. We just received the totes that I bought online here today and there are just a few more boxes needing painting. So close now!

28 Week Belly Bump

Third trimester baby!

Wow! I've got a soccer ball sized belly. I'm at the point in my pregnancy where people start to tell me how small I am. I popped out super fast but it has slowed down significantly. I'm not offended at any comments because I love this belly and know that it is the perfect size... for me.

How far along - 28 weeks - third trimester!

Weight gain - 10 lbs! For the first time, the midwife mentioned something about my lack of weight gain. I was told to "pig out" more and even try drinking meal replacement drinks (with lots of calories) in between meals. I'm not concerned with my weight gain (only gained 12lbs my last pregnancy) and neither is Gabe so I will continue doing what I'm doing.

Morning sickness/nausea - Not at all.

Movement - OMGoodness! This little one is a mover and a shaker! I think we have a little acrobat on our hands.

Contractions - Some Braxton Hicks here and there. Nothing we're worried about though.

Pain -  My hip and back pain stay away most of the time. I've been seeing a chiropractor regularly and that has helped a lot. The pain intensifies and lasts a day or two every time I work in the church nursery (which is almost every week). But that's because I usually always have a baby in my arms which I know isn't good for my back but what can you do.

Sleep - Sleep is good when I finally get comfortable. It's getting difficult to roll over and find a good comfortable position.

Stretchmarks - Nope.

Maternity clothes - I wear maternity pants when I go out and mostly sweats and yoga pants at home. My regular t-shirts are also starting to get too small so I may have to take some from Gabe. He doesn't mind though and actually likes when I wear his shirts. :)

Food cravings/aversions -  This changes quite frequently depending on how hungry I am. If I'm hungry, I'll eat almost anything (except seafood. Nasty!).

Eating/drinking - Up until a week or so ago, I could eat and eat. Now, I get about halfway through my meal and am stuffed. I have to eat small meals more often.

Boy or Girl - I've been predicting girl this whole time but there are moments where I have doubts.

Lowlights of the week - Not being able to slouch while sitting. I have to keep my upper body stretched out or the baby will let me know it does not like the fact that they have less room to move.

Highlights of the week - It's hard to describe the amount of love in our family right now. I look around and am just amazed at what I have been blessed with.

Anything to add - We are SO close to having names picked out! I am now starting to see the midwife every two weeks (can we really be that close to the end already?!) *tear* Good news! The baby is already head down! This makes me happy because I am terrified of what might end up happening otherwise.

27 weeks

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28 weeks

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28 week belly button

Looking through these pictures, I think I actually grew from 27 to 28 weeks! Could also be the way the baby is positioned.

Project Playroom

I don't know if it's nesting or what, but I finally seemed to have some energy and cleaning motivation this week. I did one room per day and the whole family is loving the results! We still have the bedrooms and game room to do but our main living areas are clean. Woohoo!

As I was doing the rooms, each day I would pass by the playroom and think "Something needs to be done about this room." The floor was clean and stuff was put away but there was just no organization what so ever. We have outgrown the two small bookshelves now so that the extra books had to be placed in a temporary place. We had a big toy box that collected all the larger toys but the kids always had a hard time finding something and then getting it out without pulling out other toys and making a bigger mess.

I talked to Gabe and he agreed that something needed to be done and quick. So to the computer we went... searching for solutions. We found the bookshelves and playroom system we wanted but there was just one problem. They were SO expensive! We found what we wanted for a decent price at IKEA but go figure, the closest one is 180 miles away. Ordering online through them would cost an extra $200 in shipping fees! Well crap.

We were back to square one. So Gabe kept searching and ended up finding a great blog that gave us the answer. This lady is seriously awesome. She'll take big name store items and make it herself for a fraction of the cost. Plus, she gives you all the measurements and directions on how to do it! Now we're getting somewhere! So off to Lowes we went and a few hours and dollars later, we were ready to build.

Here's our three day process so far...

We are using MDF board for this project and actually had Lowes cut everything down to the size we need. It saved us money because we didn't have to buy the table saw to do it and the trouble of doing it ourselves.

The first box is done and ready for painting!

Three boxes done! The larger bottom ones will be the base and for games or odd sized toys. The four cubby box will be for books and will also have totes in them for toys (as soon as I can find totes I like). The four cubby boxes will go on top of the larger base box as shown in the picture.

Ready for painting!

This is the inside back of the box. The boxes themselves will be white (Valspar primer and paint in one in Clean White) but I wanted to add some color to it. I think adding just a little of this blue to the back where it will "pop" out in various parts will do the trick nicely. This color is from Olympic called Aqua Chiffon in a Satin sheen and I went with the primer and paint in one (it only increased the price .50 for a quart!).

We're having a cold spell here in Southern Arizona so Gabe is working inside. Also, given the lack of workspace and proper tools, he's managing to build the boxes well despite the added difficulties. We won't be able to set these up in the playroom until the carpets are replaced. In May of 2010 (Gabe says 2011) we had all the bedroom carpets replaced but left the playroom to do at a later date. It was an ugly brown and had holes from the dog chewing on it. That carpet was a real eye-sore to look at so we figured this would be the perfect time/excuse to have them redone. Once the storage unit is built and set up, we won't be able to move it since we will be anchoring them to the wall.

I'll keep updating the more it comes along. I'm so excited to be doing this! It's hard work and a huge learning experience but I know it will turn out great and we'll appreciate it more because we did it.

Is anyone doing any sort of projects? Big or small? I'd love to hear about them.