But They're Just So Cute!

Gigantore already has a considerable wardrobe when you think about the fact that he doesn't even need clothes for another 16weeks! We generally don't buy anything in newborn sizes because he is estimated to be so big. I mean, what is the point, he isn't ever going to fit in any of them! However, the monkey outfit is just too cute! This is what he will come home from the hospital in. The T-Rex is baby gap and I just love it. It is so soft.

Then Target was having this huge sale, so we got some onesy's. I think they are cute. The first set is puppies, with paw prints and such, and the second is frogs. I like the frogs more, Mike likes the puppies. They are all 3+ months, so hopefully they will fit :) To be fair though, this isn't me. Mike is WAY worse about buying baby clothes than I am, he loves it!

This one was all me though, it has matching brown pants. I like it because he can wear the onsey around the house and the pants and sweatshirt if we go out at night. So cute!

Now we come to Mike's domain. I keep trying to tell him that the baby and us are going to want onesy's not button downs, but he loves these shirts. He says he will just leave them unbuttoned over a onesy. I think Mike likes having a mini-me. Our poor, preppy baby :) Actually, I think the red one looks like a lumberjack baby. Go cut some wood or something. Never mind we live in a townhome. And of course, the KU stuff begins. See, this is ALL Mike.

I, on the other hand, am obsessed with organized baby clothes. I HATE it when you go to dress a baby and there are a gazillion sizes and none of them fit. Some are too big, some are too small, you get it. It makes me nuts. The parents always know, but that doesn't help someone else. So I made these to hang in the closet to divide the clothes, when they get to small we will give them away, but we can keep the big ones handy in case he grows fast. Yet people who don't live here (like my mom) will easily be able to find a change of clothes that fits him properly.

Nursery Update

Mike and I have been working a lot on the nursery, and now I am concerned we may have too much stuff! Lol. Here are some images to help guide us. The first one is from the door and then it slowly goes in a circle.

We obviously still need curtains, and I want the curtains over the window to match the curtains on the closet. I am thinking a light brown/tan color, just because the room is already so busy. We have two valences that match everything else, they are really nice and are the exact width of the window, but I don't know what to do, I want real curtains to block light, and I am not sure it will look bad with the valence on top of the curtains. I want curtains that hang to the floor, not the find that fit inside the window, because I think it will balance the room better since the closet curtains will be to the floor. I just don't know.

We also have a lot more monkey decals to hang up, but I don't want to put them up until we get everything else settled. In the corner by the crib will be a rubber tree--for oxygen and decor. It was Mike's idea, I think it will look really nice to have a live tree in there. We still need to find room for a hamper, a wetbag and all of his toys! Eeek. We are putting those bins in the closet too, but we haven't gotten there yet. We bought all of the bedding off ebay and the dresser, glider and side table from craigslist. Oh, the glider is going though, it is the most uncomfortable thing ever. I do love the tree decal though, and the GORGEOUS blanket my mom made is on the chair.

Above the crib will be gigantore's name in letters that I made, each one with a different animal. I think I may have to redo the A because it looks like crap, and the I is missing the giraffe still (the store was out :( ) Other than that I like how it came out. It is HUGE and will take up the entire wall behind the crib, I think it is over 5 feet. Gulp.

I am also not exactly sure how to attach them to the wall....I think that is Mike's new responsibility, I made the damn things! :)

I also have all of these cute details, like the lamp and diaper hanger, but I have no idea what to do with them. I mean, the lamp okay, but the diaper hanger? I have no use for it, but it is SO CUTE! Plus we have crib bumpers, but I can't leave them in there when the baby comes, so I have no idea what to do about that. What else can you do with it?

The Joy of Cloth

I bought my first cloth diaper yesterday. I have been stalking Eco-Politan, a local cloth diaper store, but I haven't bought any because I am terrified I will spend all of this money and then they won't work with our son. But, I need SOMETHING when he gets here, so I bought some. I figure a little at a time will help the cost seem less. Diapers are expensive though. Like, really expensive. So, here is my first stash.

The two top ones are Thirsties Covers in newborn size. They fit babies 6-25 pounds (I think, maybe it is 18) and have three different rise options. Although M and I are both against velcro, the lady convinced me to get these two in velcro because it makes them even more adjustable. Next to them are Osocozy Indian cotton prefolds. These are the cheapest diapers ever, and I really like them. They are the old fashioned kind that people used before disposables. M is not at all into prefolds, but after intensive research I found that other diapers just don't fit newborns, not until they are about 6 weeks old. And the fitted ones made just for newborns are about $18-26 each and only last about 8-12 weeks. I am not spending that on 2 months. So, I will try the prefolds and used sized diapers only for night time. Here are two close-ups, the second one has a prefold inside, so it is how it will look when it actually goes on a baby instead of all flat.

Next up we have Best Bottom Diapers. I am SOLD on these. I love them, but I couldn't find them locally and I really wanted to support local business. Then I got a message on facebook saying my local store was offering them! I just hope gigantore likes them too. What I love about them is that they have double leg gussets, less chance for leaks. They are adjustable so they grow with baby which saves money, but they also have snap in inserts. Okay, so here is a quick lesson in cloth diapering. There are these diapers called pockets, they have a waterproof shell and a lining, then you stuff a pocket between these two layers with something. A prefold, a liner, whatever. Then when baby goes, the liners come out and you wash the whole thing. The advantage is that they get cleaner than just an all in one diaper (think disposable, but you wash it, it is just like that) and takes less time to dry. But, they are expensive and you still have to wash the whole damn thing. These are different. The liner snaps in so nothing touches baby but the $4 insert, baby goes, you pull it out and snap a new one in. So, I need WAY less covers and the inserts are same price as they are for pockets. As convenient, no. Less wasteful, yes. So, it is WAY cheaper (you can use a new liner every two hours at $4 a pop and one cover at $16 or you can use pockets at $16 each time), less wasteful (think about the laundry) just as easy since you have to stuff a pocket the other way and I LOVE the colors and prints. I only got two because I am trying to be reasonable here. The cow print is on the biggest setting, the chunky monkey (they all have icecream names to describe the color :) is on the smallest, that is a lot of growing! You can also see the double gussets on the chunky monkey.

Here is a close up of the snap on the insert and a pic of the chunky monkey with an insert in it, so again it looks like a real diaper instead of deflated one. The liners are four layers of cotton and a top layer of microfiber to help wick moisture away from baby.

And lost but not least, my sample of soap nuts! I need to wash all of my diapers, and my liners and prefolds three times before I can use them, so that is what I will be trying these babies on.

Oh Blogger

So, this has nothing to do with actually being pregnant, but I am frustrated with blogger. I like blogger because you can edit the html of posts and the template, plus they have lots of templates too. It is SUPER easy to use and change the layout of, think Myspace. Essentially, I LOVE how my blog looks and how many ways I can change that. Plus it is user friendly. You cannot, however, for some idiot reason, change the privacy of A POST. I can change the privacy of the entire blog, but not a post. Sometimes I want to use my blog as a diary and not have the world see it. I suppose I could write in a real diary, but I want it to be cataloged here, with every thing else. I find this super annoying. There are other things I would write that I would only want people who I actually know to read, or even just specific people (Mike, Rachel, Millie) you get the point. Livejournal offers this feature, which is why my other blog is featured there, but it is just so boring. Think facebook. Okay, I am done bitching now. I would probably migrate except it would mess up my blog and I would have to repost all my image links. Urg.

Oh yeah, and I wish I had status updates on this just like facebook too :)

I think I am actually pregnant

Although I complain a lot, I have had a pretty easy pregnancy. Or I don't know, maybe not easy, but just not standard pregnancy hard. I was sick in my first trimester, but other than that my pregnancy has been pretty abnormal. I mean, I hid it from my students for over 20 weeks, and most of them were shocked. Most of my staff was shocked. I still am underweight (although that is changing fast), I don't really look 23 weeks pregnant, I haven't really been into nesting, I don't really want to eat anything. However, I am starting to actually feel like I am pregnant.

For one, gigantore moves all the time now, so that is a constant reminder. Most of the weight I have gained is in my belly, so when I look down it is round. It is getting hard to bend and stuff because pregnant bellies don't bend--I never really knew that, that fat bends, but baby belly doesn't, it makes sense, but I never thought about it. I also have food cravings. Or at least eating habits that different than normal and tend to be really unhealthy. Let's just say the sugar aversion is gone. About half of my facebook posts are about food now. I am also hormonally imbalanced and therefore moody. I have been pretty easy going so far but I feel like that is changing. I feel super emotional in general, which is more like me pre-pregnancy. I just feel like the melt downs are coming. And the nesting, and the immense, sudden, weight gain, and the ridiculous baby purchases. At least I am more than half way done, most people have this in the first trimester and it lasts all pregnancy. Now we only have to deal with 16 weeks of this nonsense. I think I will go eat some pickles since I already had a strawberry cheesecake spoonbender and see if anything makes me cry tonight and how many rice crispy treats I will get down while actually in bed.

Week 23

Pregnancy is weird. Well, I guess that is sort of obvious, but that isn't really what I meant. You try to hard to get pregnant and when you see those pink lines, or blue lines, or digital "pregnant" reading, or all of the above, it is hard to believe. At least for me. Then you have all of this pent up excitement that you can't share with anyone. Then you doubt it, then you go to the doctor, then you are all excited again. By the time you can actually tell anyone it is sort of old news. The shock value has worn off for you. Then you go to the doctor again, and now you have to wait for the gender scan, so it is exciting again. You wait and wonder and during that time the baby starts moving and you start growing (or normal people do). People can feel the baby. You learn how to poke it to make it move, or when it moves, or whatever. Then you find out the gender, and it is all exciting again, and you buy LOTS of stuff because you finally can. And now? Now what do I do? It is too far from delivery to actually get excited about meeting gigantore. Then there is that whole actually birthing gigantore thing to worry about, but right now, what do I do? The baby moves. A lot. Other than my kids no one finds that exciting any more. We go to doctors, I check my weight gain (I am FINALLY gaining the right amount of weight and am almost up to the minimum required weight gain). I take tests. The nursery is almost done, and we aren't going to buy more stuff until after my shower. The baby grows, I grow, I eat a lot, I sleep a lot, sometimes I cry for no reason. Mike steals my prego snacks and I freak out. But really, that is just sort of life, except now life revolves around me being pregnant. That is all I hear about, how big I am, or people asking about the baby, or whatever. Which I know is well intentioned, but it is also obnoxious. Sometimes I am the way I am just because I am me, not because I am pregnant. Sometimes I eat like shit just because I do, or sometimes I am tired because my job sort of blows are the moment and is really stressful. Not everything about me is growing a baby. And I have four more months of just waiting, and really nothing to be that excited for until we are close enough that I can start wanting the baby to get here. It is boring prego time. Yet, I am still pregnant. Which sort of sucks (obviously I don't want the alternative either). I would like to have a bottle of wine. Yes, I know I can have a freaken glass, but I don't want a glass, I want a bottle. I am sick of getting fat, even if it is a good thing. I am sick of counting my protein intake. I just want to be done being pregnant, and have my baby. I don't get why anyone loves being pregnant. I mean, I get why you are excited to be pregnant, and am definitely fortunate and happy to be pregnant in the sense that it means there will be a baby, but actually being pregnant sort of blows. Luckily I read an article today about hating being pregnant and how to cope (my favorite being, don't feel guilty about not enjoying being pregnant) where one of the lines was "Hating pregnancy and being a good mother have absolutely no connection."

However, I promised Rachel that I wouldn't get like this and stop posting pictures, so here are a few where I look particularly pregnant, thanks to Anne Taylor non-maternity silk sweater which clings like no other to my maternity pants.

I did go to a breast pump class. Yes really. It was informative, but pretty boring since I will be staying home and not needing a fancy shmancy pump. The $50 one will do me just fine.

I need to take pictures of the nursery, it is really nice. I think I also want to learn to sew, make cushion covers for the new glider and ottoman and some curtains for the room. I do actually know how to sew, but I don't have a machine. Recovering major furniture is out of my comfort zone though, so we will see. I can't really mess anything up with it though. Everything else is done really, we have a closet, dresser with changing station, mirror, glider, ottoman, table, lamp, linens, some clothes and I have selected diapers. Not a whole lot to do but wait. I hate waiting.

In baby news:
Baby's now the size of a papaya!
Baby's little face is fully formed...minus the baby fat, of course. The next task at hand for baby: sprouting two teeny-tiny nipples!

Weighing in at a pound, and at eight inches long, your baby is starting to really look like a baby! You can compare her size to a box of sugar or a bag of coffee beans. Her skin is filling out as the first layers of fat are deposited and her muscles grow. During the next month, her weight may almost double.

I guess I can get new shoes out of the deal, even if I haven't hit the 15 pound mark:
Swollen from head to toe? Increased blood flow, by now an old friend, is to blame. Consider a trip to the shoe store because loosening ligaments will cause your feet to expand even more in the weeks to come.

Your care provider should be monitoring your expanding uterus and weight. You should be feeling movement at this point. If you haven't, talk to your care provider. No feelings of movement could be a sign that your placenta is in front of the baby. It may also take more time to feel movement if you're overweight. As your baby gains weight, so do you. You've probably gained at least fifteen pounds by now.

Oh yeah

I am also super into soap nuts, and plan to at least try them with the cloth diapers. I just think they are cool, and I think Rachel in particular will appreciate them. They are completely sustainable, natural, soap. They grow on trees. The place where we would buy them only harvests the fruit once it falls off the trees, they don't pick them. Thank you mom, for raising me without modern luxuries and thus being open to soap nuts and cloth diapers. Here is another blog entry on them!