Bow Party

Lately, I had started to get a little bit concerned because my little girl had a serious bow shortage.  After all, every little girl needs bows and there is no such thing as too many bows.  Luckily, my friend Lori who has an adorable 6 month old daughter has become quite the pro at bow making.  Here are the ones she made for me and gave me at my shower.

We'd been talking for awhile about having a bow party, and we finally did it!  Lori, Rea, and I made a LONG trip to Hobby Lobby to get all of the supplies.  By the time we got done with that, the pregnant ladies were hungry, so we had to stop and get pizza. After we stuffed our faces with pizza and no-bake cookies, Lori taught us what the heck to do.  She assured us that flowers are the easiest, so we started with those.  

Looks hot pink, but it's actually red

This one is red, too

Once we figured out the flowers (and they were so easy - it's crazy that these are so expensive in the the stores!), we moved to the much more difficult ribbon bows.  Our first few tries weren't great, but we got better.

This one will be great for Razorback games! 

I also found this bow that I wore on my wedding dress during the reception.  I got it from an awesome Etsy seller, Rosebud Lips, who donates to a great cause with every purchase from her store. 

Set Hope Free. This is a project that I'm so passionate about. It's about redeeming women who have been held captive and have been sold into slavery. Human trafficking doesn't just happen in other countries, but in our cities. Please know that each item that you purchase contributes to a care package that is being sent to help these women reclaim their dignity. To make them feel beautiful again. To learn more, go to www.iamchange.org and see what we are doing.

It will look so cute in her newborn pictures!  

The whole day was so much fun!  I love when I am able to make stuff myself.  It means so much more than just buying things.  Although, buying things is fun, too!  It's been great seeing all of the packages we ordered showing up at our door.  Can't wait until we get to use it all!

56 Days and Counting

Jason and I have been plenty busy the last couple of weeks preparing for little Baby Suitt.  After our two wonderful showers, we've been doing lots of laundry (well, I've been doing lots of laundry).  I've gotten through most everything except maybe 1 load of clothes.  And, the cloth diapers still have some prepping, but it shouldn't be much longer before everything is fresh and clean!


I also spent a long evening making some new burp cloths.  Once I "perfected" the flannel ones, I moved on to the more complicated (and more absorbent) cloth diaper burp cloths.  I found some great fabric at Hobby Lobby and I think they turned out pretty darn cute!  Please forgive my less than stellar iPhone camera skills.

We were also finally able to figure out the shelves above the changing table.  This had been driving me nuts, and I'm so glad it's finally done!  I had also seen a super fun idea on Pinterest for using planters as wall storage, but I could not find the half circle planters anywhere!  I looked at Lowe's, Home Depot, Chicken Holler, and Westwood Gardens.  I ended up randomly finding ONE at Jo Ann, but I really needed three.  I got my mom on a mission to find them, too, and she had much better luck.  Turns out, Big Lots had exactly what I needed.  I really like how it turned out.

Last Saturday was our "Childbirth Marathon" class at Washington Regional.  It was so interesting and informative!  I think Jason especially enjoyed learning about all of the ins and outs of labor and delivery.  When I first got pregnant, there was no doubt in my mind that I would want an epidural as soon as I walked in the hospital door, but now with the breathing and pain relief techniques we learned, I'm thinking I'd like to try going the natural route.  I had been feeling like I might want to try for awhile now, and the class helped to solidify that for me.  I think it's partially just curiosity, but I really want to give it a shot.  We'll see if I feel the same way once I'm actually in labor.  Next weekend is our Baby Basics class which I'm really looking forward to.  We'll get to learn all about what to actually do with the baby once we get her home.  I'm thinking that will come in handy!

Sunday was my first (almost) Mother's Day.  Jason and I didn't do much other than clean house and run errands, but he got me the sweetest gift! I had been eyeballing the stackable engraved rings that all of my friends are sporting with their kiddos names, and now I have one of my own.  Unfortunately, in my swollen state, it won't fit on my finger, so for now it is on a chain around my neck.  I can't post a picture of the actual ring since it has her name on it, but here is the sample picture.

Lately, the word comfortable cannot be used to describe me at all! One of my favorite pregnancy blogs, Pregnant Chicken, has a hilarious post about the Stages of Pregnancy (WARNING: Amy does not hold back, especially when it comes to language, so click with caution).

http://pregnantchicken.squarespace.com/pregnant-chicken-blog/2010/5/31/stages-of-pregnancy.html

Stage 2 was definitely my worst stage - so sick!  And she's right, Stage 3 lasts about 27 minutes.  I'd say I'm a solid Stage 4 right now:

Stage 4: You're starting to find it hard to breathe and things are starting to swell. You're sick of people asking you if you know what you're having, when you're due and if you've decided on a name. You're tired of wearing the same maternity clothes but you don't want to buy new stuff because you're almost done. Shaving your legs, putting shoes and tending to your lady bits is becoming difficult.

The only thing I think she forgot in my case is the pregnancy-induced carpal tunnel syndrome.  Yes, it is a thing.  Yes, I have it.  And yes, it's normal.  But it is also borderline awful.  My hands are either sore, tingling, or completely numb most of the time.  This results in me dropping LOTS of things and having even more than the normal pregnant lady level of difficulty when it comes to getting in and out of bed.  But I'm told this too shall pass.

Tonight, we had a good time going back through our baby registry and buying many of the things that we still need before the little one arrives.  I love getting packages (who doesn't) so the next week or so should be awesome!

So, here we are with 8 short weeks before we have a baby (Maybe 6 if God answers my prayers desperate pleas).  I can't possibly imagine that any one is ever truly ready for their first child, but I guess we're just about as ready as we're going to get.  We are so excited, and scared, and all kinds of other things. But we can't wait to meet our little girl!

April Showers

The last few days have been a whirlwind!  Saturday was our shower in Little Rock hosted by Jason's mom's friends Cheryl and Debra.  The decorations were gorgeous and we had so much fun!  They even made a baby carriage out of a watermelon - very cool!  We got so many wonderful gifts! Of course, I forgot my camera, but I was able to grab this one from Facebook with Jason's mom and the lovely hostesses.

Sunday was our shower in Fayetteville hosted by Rea, Jessica, and Nicole.

The shower had a Goodnight Story theme and they went all out!  Books everywhere (with matching cupcakes) and milk and cookies.  Instead of cards, everyone brought books for our little lady!  It was perfect, and we are so lucky to have the best friends!

After two amazing showers, I went to Joplin on Sunday night so I would be there for my Monday morning ultrasound at Joplin 3D/4D Imaging.  Of course, it wouldn't be my child if she were to fully cooperate.  She made sure to be completely scrunched up with hands and feet right up in front of her face.  We were able to get a few good looks at her though.  The tech estimated her due date to be July 11 which is a few days earlier than the original date and I am perfectly ok with that!  Isn't she cute, already :)

Going back to work after such a long, exciting weekend was a little overwhelming, so I made up for it by buying some diapers at Terra Tots on my lunch break!  Just another reason why I'm excited about cloth diapering - buying diapers is fun!  BumGenius just came out with some great new colors and I found a couple of adorable Swaddlebees prints.  Here's a peak at a few of them - adorable!

Photo from the BumGenius website

Photo from Amazon.com

Photo from Amazon.com

Monroe Marie

Last weekend was great!  I'm so glad that Jason and I were able to throw a baby shower for our dear friends, Budd and Rea Smith (and so lucky to have had the help of Brooke & Daniel and Aubree & Nick).  We can't wait to meet baby Monroe Marie!  June 14th cannot come soon enough.  It has been so wonderful to be able to experience all things pregnancy with Rea.  We have compared ideas, frustrations, fears, awesome registry items, nursery plans, and enjoyed prenatal yoga.  I can't imagine not having someone like Rea to share all of these new experiences with me.  Below are a few pics from the fun evening!  I forgot to take any shots of my gift to her, but it had a theme:

• Something you want - monogrammed blankie
• Something you need - nasal aspirator (aka snot sucker)
• Something to wear - onesie stickers
• Something to read - The Velveteen Rabbit (my childhood favorite)

The Parents-to-Be

Me, Rea, and Brooke
It doesn't look possible that they are both due 4 weeks before I am!

Now I'm gearing up for another big week!  Tomorrow, Jason and I have CPR class, and Friday I will be getting a much needed pedicure.  Then Saturday, Jason and I will be heading to Little Rock for a baby shower being thrown by some of Jason's mom's friends.  Sunday, we will be having another shower in Fayetteville.  And Monday, I'm heading to Joplin for a 3D ultrasound to get some pictures and measurements of this "chubby" baby.  I can't wait to see all of our family and friends - and baby, of course!  It will be crazy, but so much fun! 

Projects, Cars, and Dr. Visits

It's been a busy couple of weeks!  I've spent lots of time getting ready for Rea's shower and can't wait for Saturday!  


I've also been working on a few projects of my own.  I've been very torn about what to put on the top shelf above the dresser in the nursery and I think I have a couple of ideas.  I bought the cutest print from Etsy!  Ours will be pink and the heart will the be in the right place.

I've also been working on a homemade project.  It started with me spilling the Mod Podge all over the table (apparently pregnant = clumsy), but luckily recovered the project.  Here is a little hint as to what it is.  Take what you will :)

As I mentioned in my last post, we bought a new car!  Thanks to my dad for buying the TrailBlazer so we were able to get this 2012 Honda CRV.  We compared LOTS of options before deciding on the CRV, and I'm so glad we chose it!  I'm already in love with the Bluetooth (how have I lived without it?!?!?) and the sunroof is growing on me, too.  Plus, it has a backup camera which is great for those of us who are a little vertically challenged and have a hard time seeing out of our vehicles.  And it doesn't hurt that we've been averaging nearly 30 mpg and our insurance is cheaper!  Love this car!!!

Dr. Update: I had an appointment with Dr. Collins yesterday.  I was supposed to have my glucose test to make sure I don't have gestational diabetes, but the lab tech had the flu, so I will have to go back for that.  Kind of a bummer because I made sure to eat no sugar all morning and definitely had a headache by the afternoon!  Other than that though, everything went well.  I only gained 6 lbs this month (whew) and my blood pressure is back down to normal.  Dr. Collins did say I have a "chubby baby" when she did measurements so hopefully that doesn't turn out to be the case!  A little bit scary for me, but she didn't seem concerned. I'm far enough along now that I will start going to see her every 2-3 weeks instead of every 4, so I guess we're in the home stretch.  It doesn't really feel that way since I can't see how I'm possibly going to get much bigger even though I know I haven't even seen the the big growth phases yet, yikes!

26 Weeks

And we have bedding!  The nursery is basically complete.  I couldn't be happier with the finished product from Little Charlie May.  Look her up on etsy.com or Facebook!  She made the beautiful blanket, crib skirt, two crib sheets, and matching pillow.

In other not-exactly-baby news, we bought a new ride this weekend!  It won't be in for a week or so, but here's a sneak peak.

It's hard to believe this is the last week of my second trimester!  I'm definitely ready for our little girl to be here.  For now, we are enjoying watching and feeling her kick and roll around.  She tends to hang out on the right side, so my stomach always looks lopsided.  The next couple of months will be very busy for us.  This month we have two baby showers (three if you include the one I'm throwing for Rea- can't wait!), a CPR class, a First Aid class, and a class on how to use our awesome Sony camera.  Hopefully, they'll teach us how to take some great pictures of our lady - and our puppies, of course!

New Goodies

Not a lot of new an exciting news on the baby front these days other than it's getting increasingly uncomfortable to sleep and do other things!  This has been a pretty exciting week, though.  


I got everything ordered for Rea's shower gift.  I wish I could post pics, but I don't want her to see it before the 21st!


After all my talking about learning to sew, my sweet mom bought me the sewing machine I wanted as an early shower gift!  Last night, Jason and I went to JoAnn to pick up a few essentials so I could give it a shot.  Keep in mind that my total time spent using a sewing machine in the past 27 years is approximately 15 minutes.  It took me awhile just to figure out what all of the parts were even though this is supposed to be an easy machine to use.  Turns out it is once I studied those little pictures!  It has an auto threader and is totally computerized.  All I have to do is push a button and it starts stitching whatever pretty stitch I select.  It even does auto button holes in several different shapes and came with 8 different feet.  When you pick a stitch, it even tells you which foot to use.  I'm still not totally sure what all that means, but hope to know soon.  I took it for a spin in an attempt to make a burp cloth.  It was much easier than I thought and turned out better than I expected, but even still, I'll spare you the pictures.  I can only get better though (I hope!).  I'm sure I'll be making adorable dresses in no time! Sorry, the picture is a little dark...

Brother CS-600i

I've been back and forth about a million times about whether to put a ceiling fan in the nursery.  The light fixture, although very plain, really grew on me after we got done painting, so I considered just getting a table fan and trying to find somewhere to put it.  It is recommended that you have some kind of fan to move air and lower the risk of SIDS.  After lots of searching, we finally found a fan we like, and Jason's electrician friend came and installed it today.  I love it.  It makes the room so much more comfortable.  I was a little nervous because we only had one light switch and I didn't want to have to pull fan cords all the time, but Jeff told us about a remote that can be installed inside the fan itself that would allow us to control both the light and fan without having to wire another switch.  With the push of a button we can select from 3 fan speeds and can dim or brighten the light.  Pretty cool!

I'm really looking forward to my next post, so stay tuned!  Our crib bedding should be here tomorrow, and I know it's going to be gorgeous.  It will be the last big thing that we need for the room.  I can't wait to see it!