bugaboo {27 weeks}

Well, I fit into all of my maternity clothes now.  :-)

{although, ironically, neither of the things I'm wearing in these photos are maternity...ha!}

This bump is for real people and becoming very much in charge.  I'm really not sure where it all came from, but baby girl is moving a ton and using all of her available space in there.  This pregnancy is flying by - how am I 27 weeks already?  Almost to the 3rd trimester - wow.

When I went to my doctor's appointment on Friday the midwife I saw this time wasn't my favorite.  I knew that had to happen eventually since I've been seeing different ladies each visit and no one gets along with everybody {right?}.  Don't get me wrong - she was fine technically - we just didn't click.  Mostly it was the way she put a few things into words that bugged me.  Like when she said that I gained 8 pounds this months and I'd "better keep my eye on that".  Well, last time I was here the midwife I saw told me I'd only gained 7 pounds the whole pregnancy and I really needed to eat more snacks and put on some weight.

Make up your minds people. 

And please don't ever, ever suggest to a pregnant woman that she's gaining too much weight.  First of all, it's basically out of our control.  I eat a reasonable amount and try to make good food choices.  Beyond that when and how I gain weight isn't up to me.  Secondly, is it just me or is weight gain in the back of every pregnant woman's mind anyway??  I know I'm putting on the pounds for an excellent reason, but it's still hard to see the scale inch {or, in my case, jump} up.  Let's not add guilt to that scale as well. 

Ok, rant over.  And fingers crossed she's not on call when baby girl decides to arrive.  :-)

As I mentioned yesterday we got a lot of work done in the nursery this weekend.  I'm really excited to get started on ladybug's bedding and accessories now!

Baby is the size of a rutabaga this week.  She is between 1.5-2.5 pounds and has been practicing her breathing skills.  Go lady baby, go!

How far along: 27 weeks

Net weight gain/loss: 15 pounds

Maternity clothes: the bump is big and getting bigger, so I wear a lot of maternity Ts and gaucho pants - super comfy!

Stretch marks: none yet

Belly button: either flat or out - depends on the day and time and who's pushing out from the inside

Sleep: it's been pretty good, except that whenever I {accidentally} roll off my left side I wake up because my arms fall asleep.  This baby presses on some major nerves if I lay on my back or right side!

Baby movement: yes - lots and strong!

Gender: it's a GIRL!

Food cravings: anything cold and crunchy; sweets

Food aversions: pizza hasn't tasted good this week at all

What I miss:  nothing this week.  It hit me how fast it's all going and I want to enjoy every minute of expecting her!

Looking forward to: taking the next steps in her nursery

Best moment this week: getting her nursery painted and the crib assembled

Milestones: baby is viable!

nursery progress {and other jobs}

This was one of those weekends where we decided to get. things. done. You know the kind I mean? It looks like Drew will be traveling again soon for work and we wanted to get as many house and baby projects out of the way as possible.

It actually started last week when I bought paint for the nursery. We primed on Wednesday and planned to paint on Thursday. That's what we did except....Home Depot made me the wrong paint. Ahhhhh!!

I took lots of time choosing the just right shade of gray and once we got it on the walls I knew that this was NOT it. Of course I assumed I simply picked badly, but once Drew and I looked at the paint strip more closely we realized that they mixed up a color one lighter than the gray I asked for. It made a huge difference!

Here's the color they made me originally...it looks exactly like the trim - not cool.

In my pregnancy induced hormone extremes I got pretty upset about the whole thing and actually shed some tears. Drew hates to paint and I felt so bad that we had to do the whole room over again. Needless to say, I headed out first thing and got the paint replaced for free. The new {correct} color is perfect! Just what I imagined. :-)

It looks even better finished.

In a stroke of good luck I got a call on Friday saying the crib I ordered was in so Drew went to get it and put it up right away in the nicely painted nursery. Asher gave it a quality control check with some good, strong bounces. I think baby sister will be safe and sound in there.

It did freak me out a little that there are now 2 cribs in my house. Um, people, we're having a new baby living here soon! ha!

Two more exciting pieces of the nursery came together this weekend as well. Drew painted the little rocking chair I found at the thrift store a super sweet navy blue for me. I don't know if I've shared this with you all yet, but ladybug's room will have a gray, pink, navy blue, and white color scheme. I'm so excited to get working on the other details!

We also got her curtains hung! They are the blackout lined ruffle curtains from Pottery Barn Kids and to say they make a statement would be saying the least. Ha ha - I love them. I was worried about the gray being dingy and depressing for a baby, but no longer. This wall o' pink livens the place right up. :-)

A lot of the other elements in her nursery involve her name or monogram so I won't be able to share much more than this until she arrives. Sorry! I will share a few more pics {I may even break out the big camera! Sorry for the awful quality this time around...} once I get down making her bedding and the other furniture arrives.

For those who were worried, don't be - Asher wasn't completely left out this weekend. I saw this idea on Pinterest and Drew made it a reality. Asher loves magnets, but we have a stainless steel fridge now so he hasn't been able to use them. To solve this dilemma we got an oil drip pan from the auto parts store and hung it on the playroom wall with Velcro Command strips. Perfect!

A-train loves it. Daddy is his hero!

Drew did so much other work around here that I didn't get to photograph.

He also...

• hung 2 ceiling fans

• installed dimmer switches

• weeded the flower beds

• got his CDs organized and packed up to send to music shifter {mp3s coming soon!}

This is a lot for one weekend folks - he's my hero too! We love you Drew - thanks for taking such great care of us with your only free time of the week.

new look and name!

We have a new look around here.  I like to mix things up once in awhile and decided it was time to give my blog a facelift.  For now I designed it myself, but I think in the near future I'll seek out a professional to really spruce things up.  :-)

You might be wondering about the name change...

Well, to be honest, I was never super keen on our last title.  While trying to think of a new one I asked myself what the purpose of this blog is.  As I thought about the last 1,000 things I've posted about they've all had one thing in common - this blog is filled with the little moments happening around here that I don't want to forget.

My life {and blog} isn't one of exotic travel or gourmet meals.  It isn't extreme sports or amazing home makeovers.

Mine is a simple, but wonderful life and my blog reflects this.

This blog chronicles baby bellies, Pinterest successes {and failures}, DIY crafts, and toddler firsts.

If this day-to-day stuff of my life interests you because you're my family or you want to make fun stuff for your house from Goodwill or you, too, have babies and toddlers - well, then I'm so happy to have you!

I also registered a domain name for my little ol' piece of the internet.  If you currently have a link to here then Blogger will automatically redirect you soon {might take a day or 2}, but if you can update to our new address that would be great!

Come see us at:  http://www.lifeslittlemomentsblog.com

Welcome, friends - celebrate the everyday with us!

{phone dump saturday}

I missed my weekly phone dump last week and now, my phone, it overfloweth! Get ready...

Drew managed to find a Sonic near our new house and I was SO excited! One of my major cravings with this pregnancy has been icy things to crunch so a Sonic slush was just what I needed. Asher was pretty excited about their mini milkshakes.

 

Pinterest will probably be the death of me. I'm pretty sure I have pinned more great ideas than I have life left to try them all out. One that I did get too {and was a winner} was this baked oatmeal. So yummy and full of fresh berries. YUM!

 

Asher and I found a new park near our house that has all kinds of challenging equipment for him. I love it because it makes him try to things and work muscles that we just can't work at home, but I hate it because all these new moves of his are making me go gray.

 

I mentioned Last week how much Asher loved swimming in his puddle jumper the first time we tried it. I'm happy to report that he still loves it and is becoming a very independent guy in the water. I'm so proud!

 

Asher has also done a bit of painting. Anyone else think this masterpiece looks an awful lot like "Wilson"? Ha ha - am I the only one who remembers that reference?

 

We ordered a breakfast table back on April 15th and it was finally delivered last Friday. I love it! So worth the wait and definitely a place we'll be sitting to enjoy meals long after the kids are grown.

 

To beat the heat Ash and I took a trip to his favorite bouncing place last week. That boy just jumps and jumps. Better here than on my bed...

 

This lady baby has also been craving Mexican food. Drew is a good sport and took us all out for dinner the other night. Asher is all about "dips" these days, so of course he wanted to try the salsa. To my immense surprise - he loved it!

 

Last Monday was our every 6 weeks haircut for Asher. I swear this boy's hair grows SO fast! He's basically a pro now and gets really excited when I mention going for a haircut. He always gets a ton of hair on his shirt and I normally bring a backup T, but forgot this time so instead of changing he got to ride home redneck style sans shirt entirely. We're nothing if not classy. :-)

 

Yesterday was one of my favorite in pregnancy. I got to take my glucose tolerance test! Woohoo! People usually make a huge deal about how gross the drink is, but honestly I don't think it's that bad. My appointment first thing in the morning so I didn't get to eat breakfast which meant it made me a little shaky, but besides that not bad at all. Results next week - fingers crossed my pancreas is insulin-ing for 2 just fine!

 

Drew and I have done a lot of work on the nursery this week - including one major mishap with the paint. I'm going to do a nursery update soon so look forward to all those fun details. :-)

Happy weekend everyone!

 

wordless wednesday {hitchin' a ride}

I about fell down when I turned the corner and saw this.

Can you say spoiled?  ha!

asher splasher

Hey guess what - this is my last Florida post!  Yay!  It feels good to be caught up with at least one thing in my life.  :-)

Sometimes it's hard to know what to do with Asher in the afternoons.  He is an awesome napper {no complaints} and will often sleep from 1-3 or even 4 {I always wake him up at 4, no matter what}.  That only leaves an hour or two before he's really hungry for dinner.

On this particular day we decided to accomplish two things at once and took A to a splash fountain that was in a park right near a couple great restaurants.  We thought he might splash for a little while then we could change him and grab a bite to eat.

Well...he wanted to splash for a loooong while.  He loved it!!

This fountain was so great - it had lots of jets and they stayed on constantly.  Asher isn't a fan of the ones that squirt up randomly and surprise you, but he really liked these.

I wasn't sure if he'd be a fan or not but now I know better.

We're in the middle of searching for a similar splash pad here in Raleigh!  Sometimes it's nice to have an alternative to the pool.

I just love this photo of Asher and his Grandma Linda - isn't she so pretty?!  :-)

Nothing makes me happier than seeing him happy - and this fountain surely did that.

help a mama out

I need some help from all of you mommies of little girls. 

Where do you buy all of those cute hair accessories that I see baby girls wearing?  This is a whole new world for me and I have no idea where to start!  Do you get hats with bows on them for newborns or do you recommend headbands?  I assume bows will only work once they have hair to clip into, right?

I must sound so stupid, but I really have no clue how this all works!  ha!

If you have a go-to website or Etsy shop for these sweet items I'd love to hear about it.  According to my pregnancy ticker the ladybug is coming in 100 days or less and there's no time to lose.  :-)

{I know a lot of people make their own bows and I hope to do that myself someday, but honestly, I'm sewing a ton and doing a couple other DIY projects in her nursery so that's just not happening before she's born...}

dockside adventures

After dinner one night in Florida we took a walk down a dock so Asher could see all of the boats.  He loves all things motorized so seeing the boats up close was pretty exciting.

I need to take a quick mommy minute and say that this dock scared me to death.  It is a working dock and not really for kids so there were NO safety rails and a long drop into the water.  Asher always held someone's hand, but I was still freaked out the whole time.  Not my favorite part of our trip.  :-)

Asher had a fun time and it was just a quick jaunt to the end and back.

To add ecstasy to his joy we also saw a train while we were looking at the boats!  Trains and boats!  At the same time!  Wow.

At the end of the dock we also saw a bunch of pelicans which was pretty neat.  Did you know that the brown pelicans are simply young birds?  As they age their feathers turn white.  Who knew!

Happy Sunday.  :-)

goodwill strikes again

I feel like whenever you move there are a lot of systems in place that you take for granted.  In our Virginia house we had a traditional refrigerator and used magnets to hold our family calendar, birthday party invites, and photos on display.  Once we moved in here and got our new {much beloved} stainless steel fridge it occurred to me that I had no place to hang my essential calendar.

Hmm...what to do?

Of course I considered getting a cork board, but the thought of marring our nice walls with a college dorm room style cork slab was unthinkable.  I searched Etsy for a pretty alternative and they had a lot to offer.  For about $200!  Yikes!  That wasn't happening either.

After the huge success of the Instagram frame creation Drew and I started scanning Goodwill for a second frame in desperate need of some TLC.  Could lightning strike twice?

Of course!  People give these lovely frames away and have no idea how excited I am to take advantage.  :-)

At the same Goodwill I also found a traditional, basic framed cork board that Drew cut to fit the size of our new frame.  Drew did all of the work on this project, so I didn't take any photos until the end.  If you want to make your own, the steps are super simple.

1 /  find an ugly frame, remove the backing + picture + glass

2 /  prime the frame with spray primer

3 /  paint the frame with spray paint in whatever color you love

4 /  cut your cork board to the shape and size of your frame

5 /  buy some gorgeous fabric to cover the ugly cork-iness, pull fabric taut and staple to the back of the cork board backing

6 /  put your covered cork board in the frame and secure with staples or picture clips

7 /  hang and admire your handiwork.  :-)

I love, love how it turned out.  Very functional and beautiful.

Total cost:

1 yd of fabric at Jo-Anns with 50% coupon - $5
cork board - $8.99
frame - $6.99

We already had the hanging clips and spray paint, so that was it.  Just $21!

My love for Goodwill continues to grow.  I actually found a really big cabinet in one yesterday I'm considering getting to repaint for Ladybug's nursery.  Has anyone ever repainted stained, large wood furniture before?  I'm intimidated - send your tips, please!  :-)

at the beach

Does it seem ridiculous to anyone else that I'm still posting about a vacation that wrapped up over a week and a half ago??  Well, we're almost through.  :-)

I mentioned before that Asher's least favorite part of visiting Florida is the beach.  Sooo glad we have a family beach vacation planned for August!  ha!  The first day we went to the beach was even particularly nice - the waves were super calm and made little tidal pools in the sand, but he still wanted nothing to do with the water. 

This was the one trip he made to the edge - and dissolved into tears a few seconds later.  Oh well. 

I love this photo because it pretty much says it all.  Drew is having the time of his life and Asher is the picture of disdain.  ha ha!

Asher did, however, love digging in the sand.

And pouring water into his sand creations.

And sending Drew to constantly fetch him more water to pour in the sand.  :-)

{How impressive is his squat, by the way??  He was like that for a really long time!}

When we came to Florida this time last year we got really lucky and saw some newly hatched sea turtles. 

This year we got lucky again!  Somehow we were sitting on the beach when the first little guy escaped the nest and bee-lined it for the shore. 

I keep hoping that Asher will enjoy the beach as he gets older {and I'm sure he will}.  Until then, he's got the same attitude as this fella...

see ya, beach!