We FINALLY Picked Out Nursery Bedding!

We found out the baby's gender 3 weeks ago. If you know me, the fact that it took 3 weeks to decide on bedding says a lot. I usually know exactly what I want immediately, which is why my wedding was so easy to plan. Deciding on a theme for our nursery was one of the most difficult things we had to do. We both wanted something with blue in it, but Jeff really wanted a cutsey animal or sports theme and I wanted something a bit more "adult" like stripes and polka-dots. I found this set on Buy Buy Baby and showed it to Jeff along with two other sets we liked in the past and told him to pick one. The one he picked was my favorite, but he didn't know it. I love this bedding because it combines what we wanted! I get my stripes and polka-dots, and Jeff gets a cute turtle theme. I also love that we can (and will) get some of the coordinating accessories! We are going to get espresso colored furniture and paint the walls a light shade of blue. I will definitely post pictures when we get it all done, but that won't be any time soon :P

Also, I know quilts are a suffocation hazard, the quilt will not be used on the baby, nor will the bumpers be used in the crib for the same reason. They come with the set, and the other stuff I need isn't sold separately, so I don't have a choice. The quilt will be used for decoration somewhere, and the bumpers will hide in a closet or something lol

Here it is! It's called "Mod Turtle" by Kids Line

Baby Bargains

I'm sure all of you that are pregnant out there already know about this book, but I wanted to share for anyone who doesn't or is going to try for a baby soon! My friend told me about this book and called it "the Bible." Now I get why because I actually opened it up last night and used it. This book is AMAZING! It does all of the hard research work for you and you just read and get to decide what products are best for you and your family! It breaks everything you could think of that's baby related down by price and gives it a letter grade based on quality. It factors in any recalls, poor customer service, etc. It's a MUST for any pregnant woman! I was able to register for a lot of our big ticket items (stroller, car seats, high chair, etc) last night after doing my research with this book. I think a new edition is coming out this spring, so I'd wait to get that one if you can. My baby shower is in April, so I had to get this version, which is the 8th edition.

* I did not get asked to write this, nor did I get paid. I just wanted to share this amazing book with all of you. I hope someone finds it helpful.

21 Weeks!

I'm now at the point where I have less weeks of being pregnant left than weeks I've already completed! That's nuts to me! Not much new to report this week. Baby boy is the length of a banana and I am feeling him move and kick a lot! I actually felt one kick on the outside of my stomach yesterday, and that was awesome! I can't wait for my husband to be able to feel the baby move. I think he's jealous that I can feel him and he can't right now haha! I'm feeling pretty good aside from one vomiting episode last week that came out of nowhere! I am finding that if I pack too much stuff into a day or weekend, that I pay for it the following day. I actually stayed home yesterday because I made myself sick from trying to do too much over the weekend, so I am trying to remember to slow down and relax when possible.

We're still trying to figure out our son's name and nursery design, and we need to get going with the registry. My mom and I decided on a date in April for my baby shower, but I'm glad I don't have to actually plan it! The idea of registering is overwhelming. There's so much stuff out there and it's hard to decide what's best for you and your baby!

Here's my 21 week belly. Not sure why the picture is blurry.:

Brain Dump

* 3 people told me yesterday that my belly has really popped! I love hearing that! It's so much better than "You don't look pregnant at all!" I think I look huge today and I'm only going to get bigger!

* I bought "Water For Elephants" yesterday. I've heard nothing but good things about it and I'm excited to start reading it!

* I am going to a friend's house tomorrow for a girls' get-together. I haven't seen this friend or her 2 kids since Halloween time and I'm really looking forward to seeing everyone and catching up!

* I bought Baby Boy like 6 onesies yesterday and Jeff was like, "THAT'S SO MUCH STUFF! HE WILL NEVER NEED THAT MUCH CLOTHING!" Is her serious? Babies puke, pee, and explode their diapers with poop all the time! 6 onesies will maybe last 1-2 days! Someone is in for a reality check and it isn't me... Jeff also says a lot of people will buy clothes for the baby shower, which I know is true, but I want to buy my own son clothes too and I see nothing wrong with that. 

* We've decided for our baby's bedding that we aren't going to buy an actual set because it comes with crib bumpers and a quilt, which from what I hear, are both baby death traps and you can't use them anyway, so why bother buying them? We are going to get a few cute fitted sheets, and a dust ruffle and window valences that are boyish and do something fun with the wall paint job and decorations. The baby will be swaddled in those sleep sack things most of the time anyway, so this will save some money and it makes more sense for us. I love the look of crib bumpers and all that, but why bother if I can't use them? I will get breathable bumpers if our baby moves around his crib a lot when he's bigger. Any moms want to weigh in on this? It's all so overwhelming and you hear so many conflicting opinions!

* We had another snow day today, so I worked a grand total of 2 days this week (we had one Tuesday as well and then MLK Jr. Day was Monday). I say keep them coming because I won't make it to the end of the school year, so I won't have to make them up haha! We're supposed to have another storm next week, so we'll see what happens!

* I need to stop being so lazy and start walking again. I'm going to be so sorry if I don't...

20 Weeks!

Technically I turned 20 weeks pregnant yesterday, but we had a snow/ice day and I didn't shower or change out of my PJ's all day, so I decided to wait until today to take my belly pic. I cannot believe I am halfway through this pregnancy already! This is FLYING by! I feel great and I'm feeling our son move more and more! It's really cool and I love it! The biggest things we are working on now are names (we have it narrowed down to 2) and nursery colors. I definitely want light blue and then either orange, green, brown, or yellow with it, maybe a mix of a few of these colors. I can tell it's going to be stressful figuring that out, but fun too!

Here I am at 20 weeks, 1 day pregnant:

Here's our son at my 19 week, 5 day ultrasound from Monday:

Baby K is a....

We went for our anatomy scan and the baby was VERY cooperative! We are so thrilled to say that we're having a wonderful little BOY! We're SO excited, but I was a bit shocked since I thought we were having a girl! He showed us his stuff and there was absolutely no denying that this little one is definitely all boy haha! We have two names in mind, but we're going to wait awhile to decide which one we want to use, maybe even until we meet him when he's born. Now I get to start designing the nursery and buying cute little boy clothes! :D

Cat's Out of the Bag

My co-workers had a baby shower today for the 6 women who are pregnant, and the one woman who had her baby in October. I was really overwhelmed at how generous the faculty was to us and now I have a few cute, gender-neutral things for Baby K. Once I get some pics from others, I will be sure to post them :)

All of my students now know that I'm pregnant. Most saw the baby shower bag full of my gifts and asked me about it, and word spread around fast! The kids were SO CUTE about it during every class. Some said they knew it, but didn't want to be rude and ask in case they were wrong. They were all really excited and one of the boys offered to carry all of my stuff for me both now and when I get "super pregnant." It was really sweet and they're all so excited!

This weekend we are off to PA to see my FIL and Step-MIL for our final Christmas celebration a bit late. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone!

We find out the gender on MONDAY! Please pray that Baby K is healthy and cooperates so we can see if our little one is a he or a she! I will be sure to report back later that day! :D

19 Weeks!

I'm 19 weeks pregnant and almost halfway done! Baby K is the size of a mango and from what I read, is moving around a lot in there! I think I've felt some movement, but it's hard to tell if it's that or gas lol. I'm sure in a few more weeks I will feel definitive kicks. I'm feeling pretty good! A little nauseous here and there, and I did get sick once last week, but overall I feel well the vast majority of the time and I have more energy. My skin is definitely stretching and getting tight and dry, so I've been using cocoa butter everywhere and feeling better with that. It's cool to feel the little round belly I have, and I think it's fun for Jeff to be able to actually see that I'm pregnant now! We're going in for the big ultrasound on Monday to see the baby, make sure everything is developing and working properly, and of course, find out the gender if the baby cooperates! The most important thing is that the baby is healthy, but I really want to know what I'm having!

As I mentioned in my last post, some of my students (1 class out of 5 to be exact) know that I'm pregnant because a kid noticed and asked me about it in front of everyone. I was going to tell my health class yesterday, but then one girl said how it's weird to think that anyone who is/has been pregnant, including their moms has had sex, so I decided to save that announcement for another day lol. I know they're going to make the connection, but I'm not ready to deal with it yet haha! People at church noticed (we're new to this particular church) and I could tell because they'd keep looking at my belly, but no one said anything until I brought it up. Then they all said they suspected it, but didn't want to ask in case they were wrong!

Here's my 19 week belly pic:

Hahaha

A student finally noticed on Thursday that I'm pregnant. He asked me about it at the end of class, and I confirmed that I was. His response? "You should let Mr. K know the good news." I told him I'd get right on that. How funny that he actually thought that my husband didn't know yet! Everyone has been getting a good laugh from that one! :)

18 Weeks!

Today marks my 18th week of pregnancy and Baby K is the size of a sweet potato. I always say it, but I can't believe how fast this is going! I feel SO MUCH better and more like a human again. I have more energy, but do still get tired quickly. I am able to get more done when I do have energy though (like clean the house or actually cook a nice dinner for my husband and I), and I'm not quite as lazy as I was throughout the first trimester. My only complaints right now are headaches, but they're manageable, and round ligament pain from everything stretching out to accommodate the baby.

I went back to work yesterday after 16 days off and that was hard. It was so nice sleeping in and being lazy all day, but I'm happy to see everyone here and I just look forward to Saturdays to sleep in now! It's weird to think that at this time next year, I will have an almost 7 month old and be staying at home with him/her!

I'm wearing all maternity pants and a few maternity tops. My regular tops still fit, but I like the length of the maternity shirts more and they're so comfortable! We find out the gender in less than 2 weeks and I can't wait! :)

Here's my 18 week belly pic. I still think if you didn't know better you might just think I was getting chubby, but in person I think it looks like I'm pregnant. I can't wait until one of my students finally notices and asks me about it!

New Year

We had an OK New Year's Eve and a nice New Year's Day. We started yesterday off with lunch at Chili's, then a shopping trip to the outlets! I found some cute maternity shirts, which I can wear now and they will grow with me! They're SO comfy! I saw so many cute baby clothes, but couldn't buy anything because I don't know the gender yet! My SIL had made 9:00pm reservations for hibachi dinner last night at a place we went for her birthday about a year ago. A few extra people wanted to come, so we called the restaurant hours before our reservation and they said it was fine. We weren't seated until 10:15 and we were at a table that was WAY too small, yet they had smaller groups at a big table that should have been given to us since we were all seated around the same time. My husband and several other people in our group went over while we were waiting to ask what was going on and to complain about the wait when we had a reservation. The staff told Jeff's cousin that we were next, but then they called like 6 other smaller groups which was frustrating. I don't know why we bothered with a reservation when we had to wait over an hour past the time we asked for. The hibachi chef was hilarious, but the food wasn't wonderful. I felt the steak was fatty, the chicken was overcooked, and some people ordered filet mignon and were given skirt steak. The last time we went to this place, it was really good, so we were a bit shocked. The other issue was that Jeff's cousin and a few of his friends got blasted and one of the friends was really obnoxious. She was talking about her boob job, telling the other guys to feel how firm they were, and all sorts of other sexual, inappropriate for dinner stuff and she needed to go. My SIL is considering writing the restaurant an e-mail with her complaints because we weren't really treated the way you'd expect to be treated at a nice restaurant. We got back to my MIL's house 5 minutes before midnight thank goodness! I was worried we were going to ring in the new year in the car, and that would have sucked. We hung out at the house with a few friends, played some games, and went to sleep. We had a lot more fun at the house than we did at dinner because all the really drunk, obnoxious people weren't with us. I didn't miss alcohol at all and kind of like watching other people get drunk as long as they don't get out of hand.

Today we just relaxed. It was nice to sleep in and my MIL made her delicious french toast casserole for brunch. We watched "Despicable Me" which Jeff and I have seen before and loved, then drove home. The plan for tomorrow is church, lesson planning, cleaning the house, and me dreading my return to work on Monday. I can't believe my 2 week vacation is over! Everything goes so fast!

I cannot believe that I can now say that I am going to have a baby this year!

I hope everyone else has a wonderful time last night and that you all get everything you want in 2011!