25 Weeks

How far along: 25 weeks

How big is the baby: Baby boy is the length of a carrot-13.5 inches.

Weight gain: 19 pounds. Yikes.

Doctor/Medical/Body Stuff: Oh my achy back. Thanks to the suggestions of some ladies on twitter, I have put a heating pad on my back (thanks Aunt Suey for letting me borrow yours until I ordered one!) and it makes sleeping possible. I was fighting a cold all week and then it won. Much harder pregnant when you can't just fill your body with meds to kill off those evil germs!

Sleep: Depends on the night. Using the heating pad now definitely helps. Though I am at the corner of "uncomfortable" and "I'm never sleeping again" and I'm afraid there's no turning back.

Movement: I feel him more and more all the time! It is so fun to feel the occasional hard kicks and punches that make me jump!

Food/Aversions: Still loving on the frozen yogurt. I'm probably the only person around buying frozen yogurt when it feels like -20 outside!

What I miss: Being able to sit in a chair for any length of time without back pain.

What I am looking forward to: More cloth diapers coming! THEY ARE SO CUTE AND TINY! We decided to just try the cloth diaper thing from birth and see how it goes. We figure we will get in the habit from the beginning and it is healthy for Little Man, healthy for the earth and way healthy for our wallets in the long run! Since a newborn goes through about 10-12 diapers a day, we plan to have about 25 newborn sized and then wash every other day. 

Baby Projects: We "visited" our crib another time. This is the third time we've been to the store. I love it in the store, but when I look at the picture online I forget about what it looks like in real life. Adam started patching some holes in the walls and stop peeling and priming "The Red Wall" (He is currently not thrilled about my decision to make that wall red 4 years ago). We got a whole bunch of paint samples and are deciding on a gray for the walls. Currently the walls are a really pretty light gray, but I want it a bit darker for the nursery. 

Pearls from the Preschool: "Wait. How does the baby come out?" "Will you get a bandaid?" "Will you cry?" "Why is there only one baby?" "The baby doesn't have a name?" "Is 3 months a long time?"

Oh! And This: Our glider/recliner arrived this week and I LOVE it! Based on listening to various recommendations, I really wanted one that glides and reclines. Unfortunately they are all over the internet, but not in stores to actually try out. And the prices (like with all furniture) range from "gulp" to "OMG FOR A CHAIR?!". I really wanted a grey one to go with the room, but also so that it is neutral enough for baby #2 if she would happen to be a girl. We looked at this one from Target (so pretty!) but then liked this one from Costco quite a bit (and liked the price A LOT better). Since Costco has a great return policy, we figured we might as well order it and try it out! The other caveat is that our stairwell (being an old house and all) is only 31 inches wide....soooooo.....many other chairs wouldn't fit anyway! But our chair arrived and we love it! So comfy!

Couldn't help but order this from Zulily this week! I wanted to order them all! They were all country music themed onesies!

Trying out a pillow and the blanket I made 

Taking a selfie in the bathroom at work and also in my cold weather gear for unloading buses. It was cold this week!

One of the cloth diapers in my hand. SO TINY AND CUTE!

Faux Chenille Baby Blanket for MY Baby

Since I made this baby blanket for my nephew 2 years ago, I have always known that I would make one for my own baby when he was on the way. Shortly after finding out he is a boy, I headed out and got the fabric to get started! I followed this tutorial, which is similar to the first blanket I made.  

I got a ton of fabric for lots of baby sewing projects! The top right is the fabric for this blanket. We are doing grey in Little Man's room and I picked coordinating flannel colors to go along with it and the colors of his room.

This blanket is pretty simple to make, just very time consuming! It was perfect to do this over the end of my winter break, especially because we had two "cold days" with no school when the windchill was -38! I am pretty stubborn though and once I get started, I can't rest until I am done! So I got the whole thing done in about a week. (Sorry most of these are lousy iPhone pics at night.)

Laying out the pieces of fabric on top of each other. 

The next step involves sewing lines for ever and ever Amen. You would think this would be easy since the fabric had lines on it. But, I am not so great at sewing straight lines. And by "not so great" I mean "Holy cow, was she drunk when she did this?"

The next step is cutting inbetween the sewn lines for the rest of your life. After the first 5 lines, my thumb was completely numb and I had a bruise. I decided I could only do 5 at a time. About halfway though, I bought a new pair of sewing scissors with "comfort grip"  handles and that helped out a WHOLE TON. I was able to finish the rest in a day and a half. 

All the cut lines!

Next, you cut the edges to make them nice and even. When you sew the lines across the blanket (even though you start in the middle) it can get a little wonky.

I followed the tutorial to make rounded edges. I apparently didn't take any pictures of the binding, but that was NOT a blast. I followed the tutorial on this post and it was a bit crazy to try to cut the binding, then iron it double folded, and then pin it on! Also, I was having a bit of trouble with the back thread getting tangled until a friend told me to try changing the needle. The needle looked fine to me, but changing it really helped!

The finished product!

I am so excited about having this blanket for our little guy to play on the floor or cuddle up with on the couch. He is going to be here before we know it and I can't wait to meet him!

24 Weeks

How far along: 24 Weeks! I can't believe I am 6 months pregnant!

How big is the baby: Baby boy is the length of an eggplant-11.8 inches.

Weight gain: 17 pounds according to me. 16 pounds according to the doctor. Let's go with that!

Doctor/Medical/Body Stuff: Had my 24 week appointment today. All is well! I am measuring right where I am supposed to be. I just really like our doctor so much. She is so down to earth, answers all our questions, and takes the time to talk. Follow up 28 week ultrasound scheduled in a month to check on my naughty placenta (placenta previa).  Unrelated to doctor stuff: Some days I don't think it is possible for my chest to be any more sore. OY! Also, I burp like an old man. It is really pleasant to be around me.

Sleep: Depends on the night. But I sure do get a lot of Pinterest-ing done in the middle of the night some nights!

Movement: I am feeling him more consistently throughout the day. AND last night while laying in bed we saw him punching and kicking from the outside! It was SO fun! At the doc appointment I couldn't stop giggling because Little Men kept kicking the Doppler probe while she was trying to get a good listen. 

Food/Aversions: Nothing too crazy this week. 

What I miss: My back not hurting. 

What I am looking forward to: Picking out paint and getting the walls painted in the nursery!

Baby Projects: We hit up IKEA and Garden Ridge to start shopping for some nursery decor. That was super fun! We have also spent quite a bit of time looking at cribs online. Haven't made a decision on that yet. We did order a glider/recliner for the nursery that should arrive on Friday. I hope we love it! Our stairs are really narrow...only 31 inches...so it limits our choices. Target has had some great baby items on clearance this week. I'm so glad someone in my Facebook group noticed! I got a Mei Tai wrap for $17 (normally $35) and a squeeze pouch making kit for $7.50 (normally $25)!

Pearls from the Preschool: Friday I wore a zip hoodie (therefore my belly wasn't as obvious). When I took my coat off, one of my students screeched, "DID YOU BRING YOUR BABY TODAY!?!?!" I think she was worried I left my belly at home? Not sure. But it was cute!

Oh! And This: I was so sure that a car seat would be near impossible to get in the back of Adam's Mustang, but when our niece Emma was visiting this week we tried and it was really no big deal. You just couldn't have someone sit in the passenger seat with the baby in the back, but really we never take his car anywhere when it is the two of us anyway. We always take my car. So I guess Adam gets to keep his Mustang for a while!

 

My Instagram selfie after we saw Little Man moving while laying in bed!

 

 A bathroom selfie at work. I love this little baby!

23 Weeks

How far along: 23 Weeks 

How big is the baby: Baby boy is the length of a bittermelon-about 11.25 inches (depending on which info you go by). One app said grapefuit. An 11 inch grapefruit?!?! Side note: What does one do with a bittermelon?

Weight gain: About 15 pounds

Doctor/Medical/Body Stuff: I think I officially have the pregnancy waddle. I don't mean to do it. Suddenly I find myself doing it and I try to stop, but I can't. And if I have to go to the bathroom (for the 54th time that day)? I feel like a whale as I waddle there!

Clothes: I heart maternity tank tops
Sleep: Ugh.
Movement: I feel him quite a bit throughout the day! Especially when I am sitting or laying. Nothing you can view from the outside yet though.
Food/Aversions: I've really been digging on frozen yogurt. Which is silly because it has been so freezing cold here. 
What I miss: Sleeping well. 
What I am looking forward to: Starting to put our nursery ideas into place. There are so many ideas swimming around in my head! I have waited a long time to decorate a baby's room! I love this! Thank goodness for Pinterest. It helps me gather my thoughts and pinpoint exactly what we are going to do. 
Baby Projects: This weekend we (meaning Adam, my BIL, and FIL...not me) started building a closet in the baby's room. My dad helped by designing the room for us on Auto CAD. That was the first step before we could do anything else. When we remodeled our master bedroom, we stole the closet from that room. So now it is time to make a closet!
Pearls From the Preschool: I told my students I was pregnant on Wednesday when we came back to school. I wanted to wait until after break so it didn't seem like so long for them. After about 4,587 questions, I decided maybe January was still early! :) They were hilarious though. I don't think I could have pretended much longer anyway. The morning we got back one of my girls didn't say anything but spent the entire snack time looking at my belly, looking at my face, looking at my belly, looking at my face. It was like she knew something was up, but wasn't quite sure! The rest of the week randomly throughout the day:

"Miss Stephanie! What about your baby?" 

"He's still inside."

"Miss Stephanie! Did you feel your baby move?"

"Ummm....actually I don't think so in the 20 minutes you were out of the room."

And so on and so forth...but they are SO cute and so excited! The excitement is infectious!

Oh! And This: I honestly have the best and most supportive husband ever. This baby boy is so lucky to have such a loving and caring father. He takes care of me and doesn't complain even a little when I am a bear to sleep with and ask him to pick up stuff all the time from the floor (I CAN pick it up, but I don't always like to). You might think your husband is awesome. But Adam is the best. Ever. 

This is the view from the master bedroom. You can see the white part that used to be the closet for the baby's room. But we drywalled over that door and made that whole area part of our bedroom.

Before: this room was the guest room and then started to be the baby dumping ground

Framing it up

Drywall hung!

22 Weeks

How far along: 22 Weeks

How big is the baby: Baby boy is the length of a long papaya. This papaya looks huge! For the next couple of weeks he is between 10.5-11.8 inches. We went to Caputo's in the snow today to buy the papaya. As we checked out with our $8 papaya, the checker asked, "Did you come here just to buy this papaya?" We said yes. She asked, ".....Why...?" We were laughing a lot!

Weight gain: About 13.5 pounds.

Doctor/Medical Stuff: Nothing new!

Clothes: Maternity-duh.

Sleep: Been having a bit of a harder time staying comfortable throughout the night. Luckily it has been winter break so I can sleep in later to make up for it. I got a body pillow, but right now it really just annoys me a lot. I like falling asleep with it and then it gets in my way and I get mad at it.

Movement: I feel him a lot more now! And sometimes it is pretty hard! Adam got to feel him on New Year's Eve and one other time when he was punching pretty consistently!

Food/Aversions: I LOVE FOOD! 

What I miss: Rolling over during the night without being uncomfortable.

What I am looking forward to: Decorating the nursery. I am SO EXCITED about this. 

Oh! And This: We started registering this weekend! We started an Amazon list last week, but we decided on our "real stores" this weekend. We would be happy to just do Amazon, but we know a lot of people prefer a brick and mortar store! We had a lot of fun at Buy Buy Baby and Target picking out things for our little guy! But thank goodness it can be managed online because it is way too overwhelming to make all the decisions in the store! We liked getting the goodie bags from the stores too!

Last week we also hit up Joann and got lots of adorable fabric for my baby sewing projects! First stop: make a baby blanket! Now that school was canceled for the extreme cold tomorrow, I hope to finish the blanket! I am making this faux chenille blanket that I made for our nephew before he was born. But I went with the chevron option because his room is going to have grey chevron in it! It is a perfect blanket for playing on the floor. Yay tummy time! Some of the spots are really messed up. You would think I would be better at sewing straight lines than I really am. Adam says Baby Boy will love it no matter what!

 

And another note about the extreme cold: 
I think it is crazy that this is the coldest it has been in 30 years. Since I was like 8 months old! Tomorrow is supposed to be a high of -14 with a windchill of up to (down to?) -53! We made sure to get our photo done today since Monday and Tuesday will be extreme. On the way in from taking the picture, I tripped over a covered pile of mulch. Luckily there is so much snow I fell forward, caught myself on my hands and it was all in a huge pile of snow. So no harm to the babe! Just cold pants!