37 week Bump Update

How far along? Exactly 37 weeks today 

Total weight gain/loss: 31.7 lbs 

Maternity clothes: I have found that my dresses from last year are now working great as shirts for this year :)

This is me wearing the above shirt as a dress last Easter :)

Stretch marks: Same as last time, but not to worried as long as my boy needs room I am willing to keep growing 

Sleep: Sleep is good... no real changes. I am getting tired more often these days, but luckily have the flexibility to rest most of the time if I need it.

Best moment this week: Mike and I were just talking yesterday with  his mom when she was helping us (ok helping Mike) move in our new living room set how extremely blessed we feel right now. Things have been working great, and people have been so good to us! We are all set for our boy (his nursery is done and hospital bag is packed) we don't need anything else for him, and there is no pressure to get things done before he gets here. And all baby stuff aside we are still having a fun summer with Things 1&2

Last week we had Mike's squadron picnik where the kids had a blast catching bugs and fish.

Then Sunday we took the kids to get spoiled at Operation Homefront's Military Kids day at the zoo with our great friends the Malones. 
I worked a few days last week, but one of them was just to have my Work Baby Shower where I was spoiled by my work family.

Tuesday we had our birthing class while my little sister hung out with Jenna. When we picked Jenna up Eva surprised us with the Medela Pump Metro Bag we registered for. I think Mike could have kissed her he was so excited!  
Then Friday we went over to hang out with my brother and his wife where they gave us a car seat and stroller set that we wanted! 

Saturday we went to a free Family Sleep Event where we got 2 bags of free organic baby stuff like sheets, soap, and detergent. 2 Undercover Mama nursing tanks, and Mike and I each won a baby carrier. 
Then we had my work BBQ which was amazingly fun (I am bias as a member of the departments event committee ;)
Sunday was such a lazy day. I didn't wake up until it was way too late to go to church. We woke up and from the comfort of my couch while eating the yummy protein chocolate chip pancakes Mike made me I sold Jenna's bed that has been in our garage for 3 months and bought a new couch set. YAY the internet :) Then we had dinner with my mother in law, and then I caught up on my blog while Mike and Jenna played basketball. It was the lazy weekend this pregnant mama needed! 

Today was my weekly Midwife appointment, and it was one more week of everything being perfect on the pregnancy front! My strep B test came back negative, so that is great. I am measuring at 38 weeks which means little man is growing still, and his heartbeat is 143 which is right where it should be. I have another appointment next Monday if I am still pregnant by then. :)

 Miss Anything: As much as I could be done being pregnant anytime, and be completely happy with my pregnancy experience being done I don't miss anything. If I could have one thing right now it would be cooler weather I am so hot all the time! I am generally a the warmer the better, but no I am too hot!!

Movement: He has actually slowed down moving lately. Though daddy figured out that if he blows on my stomach his son will freak out and move all over! 
                                   

Food cravings: I have actually been eating less the last few weeks... at least at a time. Eating to much makes me feel sick to my stomach (probably because it has no room) I have been loving protein shakes and cheese sticks for when I should eat, but don't want to. I still love Snow cones, and like food that have vinegar even if it is just vinegar dressing on salad. 

Anything making you queasy or sick: Still just if I eat too much I get nauseous 

Labor Signs: Since Thursday I have 2- 5 min. contractions an hour 

Belly Button in or out: Mostly flat but if he moves at all it pokes out 

Wedding ring on or off: On and still fitting great

Happy or Moody most of the time: Super Happy and ready to meet my new little man! 

Looking forward to: Our last birthing class is this week! I can not even believe it! I loved this class so much it was such a good bonding time for Mike and I, and I am feeling way more ready for the labor process. 
I am just looking forward to relaxing and continuing to enjoy these last few weeks of anticipation. 

Nursery Part 3

So the nursery is coming together, and is officially my favorite place in the house! I love just sitting in my new refurbished rocking chair just taking in every dream come true this room represents! It is completely decked out in yellow, grey, chevrons, and safari animals!

Here is the view from his door :)
My mother in law bought us that awesome reclining rocker,
and my mom had it reupholstered to mach the nursery.  

Here is his Armoire/ changing table
This is my post  about how we made it
My friend Jammie got him the animal stands to hold
his toy box and box of books
My sister Grace got him the You are my Sunshine
lyrics sign for his wall 

Some of the pictures on his walls
to go in frames from my friend Amanda

A Basket I made to go downstairs for when he needs changed,
and we don't want to go to the nursery
Thank you to Amanda for getting us the basket for our shower :)

Turning an Armoire into a Changing Table

One of the 1st decisions I made about the nursery is that I wanted to use an armoire that came with our bedroom set that we didn't use once we got a house with walk in closet. 

My mom bought and set up most of the Changing Table for us as our shower gift. She got the Changing pad and cover from Babies R US. She made a Sunshine mirror for baby to look at himself while getting changed, and put a refillable soap for hand sanitizer next to his elephant a friend bought him that makes white noise (according to Jenni June child sleep consultant it is good for you to have white noise in nursery, but not to keep too close to the crib, so this is where our noise elephant will live)  

She added a dish drying mat that matches our nursery to protect the wood, and then got a small shelf to put the wipes warmer and different small things that are convenient to have on hand during  baby's changing!

Stick some scrapbook stickers on a shower caddy and you have a Baby Bathtime Caddy 

We got lots of separators from the dollar store to keep all his cute stuff organized 

My mom being the amazing grandma that she is even painted grey and yellow chevrons on the hedge hog to make the door hanger she bought match the rest of our theme :) 

Hospital Bags

Packing a hospital bag is one of those things that you start doing as you enter your last trimester hoping to finish by the time baby is born. I wasn't finished when I had Jenna at 35 weeks, so this time I was ready way too early :) I did a lot of looking around on Pinterest of what others packed and found a lot of good ideas, and a lot of overdoing it. I tried to fit somewhere in the middle though I tend to prefer being over prepared than under. I know there will be things I don't end up needing and something that I will forget, but I am positive this will end up being such a wonderful experience and I wont mind one bit. 

Sibling Bags

To start a made hospital bags for Thing 1 and Thing 2. Seeing I don't know what time of day this will all take place I want to have a plan for them to be entertained if they end up spending time in a waiting room. I also wanted them to have something special to remember the day, and stuff to do for the days after while we are in the hospital and they are staying with family. 

Each bag has:
-A change of clothes
-Money for food with a note from dad
-A water bottle
-A new chapter book to read
-New crayons and colored pencils
-A work/coloring book
-Card games
-Snacks
-A Bib decorating kit to make a gift for their new brother

-A photo book made by mom of their baby pictures until now, so they can see how much they have grown!
-A letter from mom telling them how awesome they will be at being a big brother/sister!

Baby's Bag
Next is Thing 3's stuff, and for being so small he sure needs a lot :)

We are bringing:

- His Carseat and base

- Grey Chevron Carseat cover

- A Whale Program Kit (We have a little Emergency) to fill out and put on his carseat before we leave the hospital. If you don't have this on your car seat no matter your child's age please see the link, and get one they are free through the Idaho Transportation Dept. 

- A small travel bag for any special things I want to save from the hospital like our id arm bands etc. 

-Our Medela Breast Pump Metro Bag 

-His Boppy Pillow for nursing and being held by brother and sister

-His denim Thirty-one Diaper Bag (Cindy tote) with clothes for baby to wear home, a nursing cover, swaddle blankets, the soap we want him to use in the hospital, pacifiers, socks, and burp cloths.

Mom's Bag

I have 3 bags actually, but thanks to Thirty-one they all fit into one large utility tote I just put them all into one. 

My Bags:

1. My Labor Bag

-A copy of our birth plan (though mine is not very detailed... I had no plan at all when having Jenna, and it was a perfect experience. So I don't feel like over planning is necessary with something woman do so naturally. There are things that I specifically don't want like vacuuming my baby's head and things I want for sure like Delayed Cord Clamping...but I have already told my midwife and she does it that way anyways. I feel like it is setting me up for disappointment to have things too planned out, and making it so that I don't have the flexibility to change my mind depending on how I am feeling. Mike and I sat down and talked about what we want and what makes me comfortable, so that he can advocate for me and help me to stay with my ideals. If outside of perfect scenarios come up then we put in our birth plan we want everyone to leave the room, so we can decide together what comes next) 

-My labor gown 

-Robe

-Flip flop

-Slippers

-Comfy socks

-Massage oil and massage tools

-Lotion

-Mikes swimsuit for if I use the Jacuzzi 

- Headphones (Mike made me 2 play lists on his phone for when I am in labor. One of my favorite songs, and one of calming ocean and piano mixes. So that I can choose based on how I am feeling what I want to listen to. We can play them through his I-phone speakers, or headphones depending on what I need)

-A small travel bag 

   -hair ties

   -head band

   -chapstick 

   -gum

   -deodorant 

   -sour candy for nausea 

- My favorite card game

-A Book 

-My favorite tea

-Gluten free crackers 

-Kind and Quest bars for Mike (and me depending on how I am feeling)

-Photo book paper to get baby's footprints 

2. My Cosmetics bag

-travel sizes of 

   -my shampoo and conditioner

   -toothbrush / paste for Mike and I

   -deodorant for Mike and I 

   -make up (knowing that this was coming every time I bought makeup the last year I would do it when Benefit was doing a sale that you got mini sizes of make up with your purchase, so that I could stalk up. Now I don't have to worry if it is not packed when I go into labor while we are not at home)

   -brush

   -face wash cloths 

   -lotion 

-razor

-floss sticks 

-Mikes vitamins 

-My meds / vitamins 

-Pads and panties (I know that the hospital provides them, but I would be way more comfortable in my own, so I got some larger sizes panties that I can throw away later and some Always Overnight pads)

3. Clothing Bag

-Nursing Bras

-Nursing Tank tops from Undercover Mama 

-2 nursing nightgowns that I can wear instead of clothing while at the hospital seeing pants will be less comfortable. (I got dark colored ones, so they don't get ruined during recovery) 

- My favorite sweater 

-Socks

-Maxi Dress that fit great in 2nd Trimester to go home in, so I am comfortable. 

-My phone charger 

Other Stuff 

This is all of our bags packed into one side of our trunk, so no matter where we are we have it. 

Other stuff:

The blue small suit case is Daddy's Bag

-3 Changes of comfortable clothes (we only expect to be there 2 days, but if he is coming from work he won't want to stay in his military uniform the whole time) 

-Comfortable shoes

-slippers

-His phone changer

My comfy blanket and pillow so that I can relax easier 

Mike's Zip up hoodie (we want baby Reece to start his life with skin to skin contact. Ideally that will be with me. but if for some reason like a C-section that can not happen Mike will be in a zip up so baby can snuggle in close with daddy)

-Thank you cards for Dr and staff 

-Wishes for the baby cards for anyone who comes to visit to fill out for his baby book 

36 weeks brings a Midwife Appointment, a Baby Shower, and an Empathy Belly!

To kick off week 36 I had my weekly appointment with our midwife. Everything is looking fantastic :) I had my strep B test, and will get those results back this week. Baby boy is head down and has dropped (THANK GOD I CAN BREATH AGAIN). I am not dilated or effaced at all, and Baby's heart beat is 140. It looks like I will be pregnant for at least a week longer.

Then I went into work for my awesome team to throw me a baby shower! It was such a great afternoon getting even the guys involved in baby talk and diaper decorating :)

I got some awesome gifts, and my management team gave us a gift card to get the last big item that we need from our registry before baby gets here!

Thank you again to everyone who came and who made it special!

Oh and outside of gifts my AMAZING supervisor Carolyn got me a snow cone machine! John was a trooper and made snow cones for the shower... if he ever doesn't make it as a caseworker the Snow Shack would be lucky to have him ;)

I only had 2... well 3, but the 3rd one was small ;)



My sweet friend Nicole has been such a blessing of support through my whole pregnancy, and she was the one to take charge of planning the shower. Her creativity shined in the cute decor and fun food and games

That evening was our 4th Birthing class! It was the best class so far, because this week Michael got the pleasure of being pregnant too :) Our teacher wrapped his chest in a tight band to make it hard to breath, then put a heated belly with an attachment to squish his bladder on him. Then he got to pick things up, lay down then get back up, and other fun pregnancy trials :)

I ended the day cuddled up watching the lighting storm (which is one of my favorite things)

 with my baby daddy! It really was a wonderful day!

 I am glad everything is staying so happy through this pregnancy I feel very blessed!

Baby Shower Family Lunch

My sweet mother and sister in law took us to lunch today for some of Mike's family to spoil Baby Reece! They picked my favorite restaurant which alone would have made my day, but they also got us so much stuff that we needed I can't tell you how happy I am!  

  Outside of all the sweet things Mike's sister Mandi, cousin Corri, and our friend Erin gave Mike's mom and grandma made Baby lots of spit cloths, swaddle blankets, and an amazing Teddy Bear quilt!

We had a great afternoon catching up, and I think the kids like opening presents for their brother just as much as they do for themselves! :)

Just Me and My Bump Pictures

I wanted some pictures captured of just me and my bump.

 As much as there are days that I just feel huge and uncomfortable this pregnancy is one of the most amazing times of my life, it is such a beautiful gift! 

I am so very glad that I asked Becky Barry to take my pictures she never fails to make a girl feel beautiful! 

A picture to represent how big I feel ;)
The rest are of how gorgeous my bump really is!

Family Maternity Pictures - 2

A few weeks ago we had summer family pictures done

 Most of them were done for the babies nursery, and some just to capture our family in this amazing time

 We had them done by Rebecca Anne Photography, Becky did a great job! 

Here are some of my favorites :)

Thing 1

Thing 2

Picture for Big Brother Frame for the Nursery

Our almost family of 5

Baby Reece's amazing siblings
Look how much they have grown from the year they became sister and brother 

we have a similar picture Becky took when the kids were 3!
This is going in the Nursery :)

Baby Reece's 1st pair of shoes!
This is going in the Nursery :)

Picture for Big Sister Frame in the Nursery 

Just me and my boy

Me reading "You are all my favorites" to my all 3 of my babies!
This is going in the Nursery 

My very sexy baby daddy 

This was the pose from our wedding invitation
This is how it all started :)

Our song is "God Blessed the Broken Road"
The day of our wedding Becky captured this same moment 

Daddy and his baby boy! 

There is so much to the biblical truth!
Baby Reece is the answer to so many prayers!!
This is going in his Nursery

Me, the man I love, and our baby boy!
One of those life doesn't get better than this pictures for me :)

Peacefully in love with a boy I have never met 

Here is the link to the pictures of Just Me and My Bump