Baby Girl's Nursery

I am so excited that our nursery is finally done! We love how it turned out and know it will be perfect for our sweet little girl. She better like elephants, because we couldn't resist all of the cute elephant decor everywhere! The nursery has been a work in progress for a while now, and we couldn't have done it without the help from our awesome Mom's, Sisters and Grandma Franny. We also got so spoiled by everyone at all of my baby showers, holy cow, we are so overwhelmed with all of the love and support everyone has shown us! This baby girl has more clothes than me and definitely has a great blanky collection started. I have been really anxious to get it done before she comes, even though she probably won't sleep in her nursery for a few months. But it feels so good to have it all done. Now we're ready baby girl! So, without further adieu, here's some pics of her room....

The view from the door

Her crib and bedding that her Great Grandma Franny made

Her daddy built this board & batten wall and shelf all by himself!

I'm sure I'll be spending a lot of time rocking her in this chair soon

The quilt that her Great Grandma Fran made her

Once she has a name, her initial will go on this wall

Her princess crown from Grandma Jen

Just a glimpse of her closet full of adorable clothes

Her blanky drawer

Car seat all ready to go!

Her bag is packed and ready for the hospital 

It's Getting Real!

I had maternity photos done last weekend (in between my visits to Labor & Delivery). I wasn't very excited to go for a photoshoot feeling like a giant whale, but my my parents bought me a photography package for maternity photos and newborn photos, so I thought I'd better go. Even though I look enormous, I'm sure someday I'll look back and be glad that I have pictures of me being preggo.

How Far Along: 35 weeks, 4 days

Baby Size: 5 1/4 lbs, 18+ inches long

Baby Gender: GIRL!

How much weight have you gained/lost: 15ish lbs.

Maternity clothes: Yes!

Stretch marks: Not yet. Let's keep it that way....

Sleep: Sleeping is super uncomfortable, but I've been extra tired lately, so I usually sleep okay in between my nightly trip to the bathroom and trouble rolling over with this huge belly.

Baby Movement: Yes! She is getting bigger so I can feel her movements so much more. She loves to kick me in the ribs.

Miss Anything: Wearing normal clothes, sleeping comfortably

Any Fun Moments to Note: The nursery is finally done!

Food Cravings: Watermelon. It's my favorite.

Sick or Queasy: Nope

Other Symptoms: HEARTBURN! and feeling enormous..I think that's a symptom

Labor Signs: Yep! Lots of contractions and starting to dilate!

Belly Button in or out: Pops out a little now

Happy or Moody most of the time: Both! I've been really tired and uncomfortable, so probably more moody than happy.

Looking forward to: Meeting baby girl.

I have visited Labor and Delivery at the hospital a few times now because of all of my contractions. Anytime I have more than 6 contractions in an hour, I have to go in to get checked out. Let's just say the nurses are starting to recognize me now. This past weekend I was having contractions every 3-4 minutes for a few hours, so we spent most of Friday night at Labor & Delivery. I'm starting to dilate, so they kept me and monitored me for a bit at the hospital. They ended up giving me a steroid shot for the baby's lungs just in case I end up having her early. I had to go back on Saturday night for a second dose of the shot, and we ended up getting a fun little tour of Labor & Delivery, so now we are a little more prepared for our upcoming stay.

The bad news is my contractions keep on coming and they aren't sure why I have so many, but the good news is they aren't doing much and the baby seems to handle them fine (she's just hanging out having parties in there). My goal is to make it until 37 weeks- full-term, so for now I have to take it super easy and monitor my contractions closely. The doc doesn't think she's going to stay in there until her due date, so we may have our baby girl here soon!

Here's some more photos from our maternity shoot...

31 Weeks Along

Picture from my family shower on Saturday

Here's a quick update! A post of my baby showers coming soon! It's been a busy few weeks.

How Far Along: 31 weeks

Baby Size: 3.3 pounds, 16 inches

Baby Gender: GIRL!

How much weight have you gained/lost: 11 lbs.

Maternity clothes: Yes!

Stretch marks: Not yet. Let's keep it that way....

Sleep: Sleeping is getting more difficult. My hips ache and rolling over with a giant belly is getting harder. It's also HOT HOT HOT!

Baby Movement: I'm pretty sure she has dance parties in there some days.

Miss Anything: Being able to enjoy the sunshine and summertime...it's just too hot to be outside long

Any Fun Moments to Note: My first 2 baby showers! Our little lady is getting spoiled. (shower blog post to come...)

Food Cravings: Watermelon. It's my favorite.

Sick or Queasy: The heat is starting to make me nauseous at times

Other Symptoms: I've been having a lot of Braxton Hicks contractions lately and have to lay down on my left side to get them to calm down. They don't feel very good....

Labor Signs: Nope, hopefully not for a while

Belly Button in or out: Starting to pop out

Happy or Moody most of the time: Both--it's been hard to lay down and take it easy  when I know there's so much I still need to do.

Looking forward to: Finishing her nursery.

Third Trimester!

Today we went to Fetal Fotos for a 3D ultrasound and our little miss wasn't cooperating. She had her hands AND HER FEET up in front of her face, so we couldn't get a good shot. We know she's flexible like her mama and has long skinny legs like her daddy. She is definitely still a girl and has cute little feet, but that's all we got to see. We'll try again in a couple more weeks. It's pretty crazy that I'm officially in my third trimester! Second trimester flew by so fast and now we are on the home stretch. Now I'm feeling like we still have so much to do before we are ready for the little lady to make her grand appearance. My belly is growing so fast these days and I'm starting to get a little uncomfortable. But, everything is still looking great, she is healthy and growing and that's the most important thing. I did fail my glucose screening a few weeks ago, so I had to go in and do the 3-hour test. They drew my blood 4 times in a 4-hour period. If you know me, you know I HATE needles, but I guess it's just something you get used to when you have a baby. My mom was right! I ended up passing the test, so all is well and I can continue to indulge on watermelon and ice cream to keep me cool this summer. It's getting really real! We are so excited!

Here's my little update...

• How far along: 28 weeks, 2 days--- THIRD TRIMESTER!
• Baby Size: 2 1/4 pounds, 14 inches
• Baby Gender: GIRL!
• How much weight have you gained/lost: last doc appointment, 9 lbs.
• Maternity clothes: Yes! But I'm starting to get bored with my outfit choices already
• Stretch marks: Not yet. Let's keep it that way....
• Sleep: Sleeping is getting more uncomfortable, but thank goodness for the maternity pillow that my sis-in-law Nicole let me borrow!
• Baby Movement: Holy cow she's an active little thing! She kicks me all over the place nowadays. 
• Miss Anything: Being able to reach my toes 
• Any Fun Moments to Note: Making it to my third trimester! It's crazy how fast time is flying!
• Food Cravings: Not yet.
• Sick or Queasy: I still get car sick really bad...and even when I'm driving.
• Other Symptoms: worrying, achy back, braxton hicks contractions and starting to feel hot.
• Labor Signs: Nope, hopefully not for a while
• Belly Button in or out: Still in, but stretching!
• Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy!
• Looking forward to: Finishing her nursery.

New Floors

And for the big reveal.....

We have finally completed one of our BIGGEST home projects yet! Well, we didn't exactly complete it ourselves, but it's still been an exhausting project. We have been wanting new floors for a while now, and we finally took the plunge. Before, our floors were ugly tan linoleum and ugly tan carpet. We have slowly tried to get the tan colors out and put more modern gray and white in our home. We found the perfect wood looking tile and gray carpet and hired someone to do the dirty work for us. We had a lot of square feet to cover with tile, and it took 2 full weeks to get it done. It's been crazy living in a construction zone. We also decided to rip out all of our old floor boards and replace them with new ones, so once the floors were done, we had a lot of finish work to do. In fact, we still have Ryan's den and a few rooms to finish up. We had tons of help from our awesome family--moving furniture, painting, caulking, ripping up carpet, I don't know what we would have done without them. At the same time that all of our floors were being re-done, our master bathroom renovation was also underway. We've still got some finish work to do in there and then I'll post some pics of the bathroom! 

Here are the photos of before, during, and after the new floors!

Before 

Kitchen/ Entry Hallway

Hall to the Master Bedroom

Kitchen

Another view of the kitchen

During

The cementing stage

After

Kitchen

Kitchen/Hallway to entry

Hall to Master Bedroom

Front Hallway to Entry

Kitchen

Family Room with new carpet/molding