Week 19 and Gender Reveal!

We found out that we are having a GIRL!!! Woo Hoo!
 
Damien and I are really excited and would have been happy with whoever was cooking in there.  

As far as names go, we had a hard time with girl names because our naming styles were so different (I like older names like Adelaide and Esme, while Damien liked more modern names like Caroline).  Our top four were Miranda, Lydia, Evelyn, and Vivienne.

Evelyn narrowly beat out Vivienne so that's what we're going with!

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How far along? 19 weeks 

Baby's size?  Mango

Total weight gain:  6-7 pounds

Maternity clothes? These bella bands are helping me stretch my pre-pregnancy wardrobe

Sleep: Nightly waking up, but the new mattress is divine.

Best baby moment this past week: Finding out that we are having a girl and that the anatomy scan went well!

Miss Anything? Not this week!

Movement: Yes -first kicks on Sunday night!
Food cravings: Hot corned beef sandwiches, olives, and chips and salsa

Anything making you queasy or sick: Not really this week (fingers crossed that this continues.

Labor Signs:  Nope.

Gender Prediction: Looks like I was right!

Symptoms: Just the more frequent bathroom visits, lol

Belly Button in or out? in, but definitely heading out

Wedding rings on or off? on

Happy or Moody most of the time: Great mood this week!

Looking forward to: Getting the nursery put together!

Sunday Fun and New Stuff!

Damien and I had another busy day yesterday!  We usually like to spend one day of the weekend relaxing, but that certainly didn't happen this week.  Guess we are becoming more like real people, hahaha.  

We started off the day heading to Lilianna's second birthday party!  It was our second such very young person's birthday party this summer.  Our friends are preparing us for all of the fun to come!  There were certainly a lot of cute babies and toddlers there.  So adorable - can't wait!

Afterwards there were lots of errands to run, but one thing that I didn't have to do was go grocery shopping.  Or rather I should say, I didn't have to wander around the grocery store with a cart, but instead spent 30 minutes on my computer in the morning adding items to my digital list and submitting it to the grocery store.  One of the newer grocery stores to move into the neighborhood (Shoprite) offers services for customers to shop online and either pick-up the gathered groceries later in the day or even have the groceries delivered to you home!  I figured that it was time to give it a go and let me tell you, I may never go large scale grocery shopping myself ever again, especially since the order was spot on.  I instead got to spend the afternoon shopping for items for the bedroom in anticipation of the mattress arriving this morning!

Once we were finished picking up the groceries, I decided that it was time to tackle a new cupcake recipe.  I found a great recipe for Earl Grey with Lemon Butter cream and decided to give it a go.  (My typical cupcake baking process is first trying a recipe to the letter and changing things around during subsequent uses of the recipe).  These cupcakes smelled AMAZING as they baked and I must say that I finally created the best lemon butter cream that I have ever whipped up!  Damien was a huge fan of them and they are en route to Damien's job where I'm sure they ended up being a tasty breakfast treat! 

Since I was on such a kick with the success of the cupcakes, I decided to change up my meatloaf recipe too and decided to try out Alton Brown's meatloaf recipe.  Ummm, wow.  It was quite tasty and extremely flavorful and it is likely that I'll never go back to my old recipe.  I improvised another potato recipe and threw some green beans on the plate, and ta-da delicious Sunday night dinner!

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New king size mattress!  The bedroom is finally coming together.  Pictures still need to be hung and we need to get a few more piece of furniture, but I'm really happy with the progress!










New futon mattress for the futon that currently resides in the living room.  It really matches the space!

Playing with Yarn on a Sunday morning

I started out the day in the yarn room getting yarns together for upcoming projects.  It's nice to have my knitting/crochet mojo back!  The first project I was planning for is one with one of the Ravelry groups (Vanna's Choice yarn group) that I joined a couple years ago.  Every few seasons, one of the amazing designers in the group offers a "mysteryghan" in which we are given weekly clues (pattern instructions) and have no idea how the finished afghan will look until it is finished!  These are always a bunch of fun!  I'm quite determined to finish this one by the end of the year!  I'm going with a neutral palette for this blanket and I'll be using Vanna's Choice yarn - black, charcoal grey, sterling grey, espresso, taupe, linen, rust, honey, and beige. 

I looked for inspiration on the Design Seeds website.  (This is a fabulous website that I love to browse through to get ideas for colors!)  I was drawn to the color palette above on the right and evolved it to the 9 colors needed for the pattern.  It looks like the first pattern clue is going to be released this coming Saturday on September 1.  Looking forward to it!

The second project that I was planning for is for another Ravelry group that is devoted to Madelinetosh yarns.  I have developed quite a stash of Madelinetosh merino light over the past year to use for my first and second beekeeper's quilts and am going to dig deep into the stash for this project.  I'm going to knit a shawl/wrap that I'll hopefully use during nursing.  The pattern is pretty straightforward and lots of knitting, but I think it is doable.  

The pattern is called "All Shades of the Truth" and was another fabulous Ravelry find.  I'm planning to make my wrap in shades of black, greys, and greens.

A photo of the original pattern completed by Laura Aylor (ravname: LATaylor13) is above.  

In addition to these two projects, I'm also working slowly on yet another beekeeper's quilt.  I'm trying not to make myself crazy with too many projects (I have a tendency to over-commit, lol) so this project will just get completed as I am able to work on it.

Hooray for yarn!

Mattress Shopping!

After weeks of being pushed further and further out of the bed by all of my pillows, Damien finally agreed to go mattress shopping today!  This was something that we had planned to do earlier this year soon after Christmas in an effort to get the guest room set-up so folks could have a bedroom to sleep in when they visited us.  Then Taiko had all of his issues...and there went the funds that we had saved for the new mattress.  Money well spent though and it was all worth it.

We headed out and I must have been getting "in a mood" as Damien likes to put it because all I remember is talking to him and him giving me the oddest look.  He pulled the car into Taco Bell and said, "let's get you something to eat."  I guess I was hungrier than I realized because my mood improved dramatically after that.  My darling Damien knows me so well.

Anyways, we visited three stores, the first two were stores we had never gone to before, but figured that we would give them a shot.  The shopping trip probably would have gone more quickly if it didn't take me forever to get in and out of all of the beds that we were trying out!  

We liked a mattress in the first store, but it was a bit above our price range and absolutely hated everything about our experience at the second store.  We had to go get ice cream after wards to get us back in the swing of things, lol.  We found what we were looking for in the third store, which is a locally owned shop that has been doing business around here for 30 years.  We were able to purchase the mattress that we wanted back in February so we couldn't be more pleased!  (We also picked up a new futon mattress - Taiko kind of ruined the current one - and a headboard.)  All in all, it was a rather production day.  

Old Wives Gender Prediction and Chinese Gender Predictor

Damien and I have been having a fun time with the gender prediction.  Damien is still solidly team blue and I'm being contrary on leaning towards team pink.  We'll be happy with whoever is in there.  Here are some old wives' tales for fun!

Girl came to 5 out of 7

Boy came to 2 out of 7

List from Parenting Here is the link to the list on the original website

Highs and Lows

This one you can do just by looking south: if you're carrying high, break out the pink. If your bump is low, you're carrying a boy. 

• Maybe too early to tell on this one, but everybody says I'm carrying high so GIRL

Be Still My Beating Heart

Next time your OB pulls out the Doppler to listen to baby's heartbeat, ask her to tell you what the heart rate is. According to legend, 140+ beats per minute indicates a girl, and below 140 a boy.

• We've been consistently at 140 or higher (last appointment was 146) so GIRL

Sweet and Sour

Craving ice cream every single day? Some people believe this means it's a girl. If you have to have salty or sour stuff, then it's a boy.

• This one is a bit of toss up as my cravings vary, but those olives I ate at 10:00pm last night have me thinking that I'm team blue with this one!  BOY

Chinese Birth Chart

This ancient method uses your age at conception and the month you did the deed to determine gender.

• Chinese birth predictor came back with GIRL

Potty Time

This one's a little out there. Pee in a cup (you've been doing it at all your prenatal appointments anyway, haven't you?), mix a tablespoon of Drano in, and watch to see if it changes color. Green = girl, and blue = boy.

• Totally not doing this one...

Even and Odd

Legend has it that the Mayans determined a baby's sex by looking at the mother's age at conception and the year of conception. If both are even or odd, it's a girl. If one's even and one's odd, it's a boy.

• According to the Mayans, we're having a BOY - 27 at conception and it's 2012

Spot On

If you're breaking out like crazy, blame it on your girl babe. The belief goes that girls steal their mother's beauty, hence, those annoying zits.

• Yea, I'm going to go ahead and give this one a GIRL

Nice Ring to It

Pop off your wedding ring -- if you still can! -- and tie it to a string. Hang it over your belly. If it swings in a circle, a little guy's in your future. If it goes back and forth, you've got a girl.

• Haven't done this one yet!

Queasy Does It

Sick as a dog during the first trimester -- or still? Signs indicate you're having a girl. Little or no morning sickness points to a boy.

• If the first trimester is any indication, there is a GIRL in our future!

A few days late, but 18 weeks!

How far along? 18 weeks 

Baby's size?  Sweet Potato

Picture from http://www.thebump.com

Total weight gain:  I'll find out on Tuesday when I go to the doctor's, but I'm going to guess 4 pounds.

Maternity clothes? Yep - still didn't get a skirt for work, but I'm making my current wardrobe work!

Sleep: Lots more waking up during the night so I don't think it is restful sleep

Best baby moment this past week: Holding my cousin's 2 month old son and seeing how good Damien was with him too!

Miss Anything? Not really this week!

Movement: Yes - still pretty inconsistent

Food cravings: This past week's craving was Mexican - I couldn't get enough chips with freshly made salsa

Anything making you queasy or sick: Night time nausea made a bit of a comeback this week along with heartburn.  Both nights I got sick, I ate cheese so I'm thinking that may be the link.

Labor Signs:  Nope.

Gender Prediction: I'm becoming more and more convinced we're having a girl.  For several weeks there, I didn't have a feeling either way, but as we get closer to finding out the gender, I just keep thinking girl.

Symptoms: A few headaches

Belly Button in or out? in

Wedding rings on or off? on

Happy or Moody most of the time: I've been in a better mood this week, but watch out if I get overly tired, lol

 

Looking forward to: Anatomy scan on Tuesday and finding out the gender!

Weekend Update!

Damien and I have a fabulous time in Pittsburgh this past weekend.  I thought that I would have time to update with a post or two, but that didn't end up happening so here I am now!  We had a great time visiting with Dan and Cheryl - they are AWESOME!  Colin and Rachel are always fun (even if Colin does like to leave his stuff in our car - we came home with your red pullover, sorry!  I'll put it to good use though ; )   It was great seeing Aunt Cathy and Jack again too - it had been quite a few years since I'd seen them!  Just last night Damien was telling me that he was glad that Aunt Cathy and I had a chance to bond our the creepy clown scene in the movie Poltergeist, haha.  All of this discussion was brought on by my fear of a "Peek-a-boo" bear.  Check out the video above!  I think it was the talking mouth that got me.  There is a funny story that goes along with this bear, but it is best told in person so the next time you see me, ask me about the peek-a-boo bear!

I fell in love with these tiny little frogs that are sold at the store where Rachel works.  I guess they are called African Dwarf frogs and they just stay little.  I was convinced that I would bring some home or at least to bring to the library (library frogs, how cool, right?).  I ultimately decided not to get them though since I wasn't sure they would make the car ride home.  (How did your frogs do Aunt Cathy?)




Rachel and I did our customary yarn shop run and enabled...erh, I mean gave each other opinions on possible yarn purchases.  As usual, I came home with yarn that I probably didn't need, but man oh man is it luscious!  I purchased several skeins of Malabrigo Worsted "Deja Vu" and plan to make a knitted log cabin blanket.  I have already started it and am working on it as I can!  This blanket will be all mine (mwahahaha?).  It'll be even nicer to work on as the weather gets cooler as this is going to be a good size blanket that will need to sit on my lap as I knit it.

Picture from http://www.eweneedyarn.com

I also got to meet little 2 month old Joshua - my goodness was he a handsome little man!  It was surreal to hold a little baby since I really haven't done that since my now teenage cousin Joshua was a little baby!  Damien looked quite comfortable with him and I think baby Joshua took quite a liking to Damien!  Good practice for both of us!

Joshua's Blankie

I'm glad that I remembered to take a picture of this baby blanket before giving it to my my cousin Jennifer for her son Joshua.  I have a tendency to make things and not take any pictures before gifting them!

This is one of my favorite baby blanket patterns.  It is a modified version of Circles to Squares found on the Lion Brand website.  I hope she likes it!

Still debating what blanket to make our baby - in 13 days we find out if we are having a boy or girl and then the yarn shopping it on!

Week 17

How far along? 17 weeks

Baby's size?  Onion  

Total weight gain:  2-3 pound? I haven't been weighing myself and usually just leave that for the doctors appointments.

Maternity clothes? These pants are a Godsend.  So comfy!

 

Sleep: If possible, I'm an even lighter sleeper now, but still making the nightly rounds at least once a night now

Best baby moment this past week: Feeling more movement and getting the registry mostly completed

Miss Anything? Being able to eat sushi!

Movement: Yes - can't wait until Damien can feel the movement too!

Food cravings: I cannot get enough corned beef this week.  Give me a hot corned beef on soft rye with a slathering of Russian dressing and I'm in HEAVEN.

Anything making you queasy or sick: Nothing food related but does Damien's driving count?  Hahaha! 

Labor Signs:  Nope.

Gender Prediction: I'm still thinking girl!  (Last night I wasn't able to multi-task, talking and typing an email so Damien says that is more proof I'm having a boy since guys aren't the best multi-taskers?)

Symptoms: Heartburn is coming back at night.  Ick.

Belly Button in or out? in

Wedding rings on or off? on

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happier this past week!

 

Looking forward to: Seeing family in just a couple more days!

Nurseries, Take 3 - More thoughts on girl's nurseries

If it is possible, I think I found a collection that I like even more than those I found on Carousel Designs.  

I came across this beauty called "Lizzie" from Cotton Tale Designs just this morning.  I love the colorfulness of this design - it seems so cheerful.  And, there is a good chance that we wouldn't need to repaint the room that is now going to be the nursery since I went a bit crazy earlier this year and painted the second guest room when Damien was out of town on a business trip.

 Here is a picture of the current room color.  (Don't mind the knitted hexagons - these yarns actually inspired me to look into the color "Monarch Wing")

The "Jacana" collection from CoCaLo is just so pretty!  I love the muted purples and pinks in these bedding as much as I love the in-your-face brightness of the "Lizzie" collection above.  This pattern also has elephants and giraffes which I'm a fan of too!

I should note that this is also Damien's favorite so this is probably the direction we will go.  Apparently he isn't as big a fan of bright, loud patterns as me!

Damien and I really like this one quite a bit too, but we both keep coming back to the Jacana set!

Thinking about nurseries, part 2...for boys

Carousel Designs doesn't have what I would consider awesome boy nursery sets, so I've expanded the search.  It might be a good thing that I am too because I'm finding all sorts of new and fabulous designs with other companies!

My three favorites companies are Cotton Tale, Cocolo, and Lambs & Ivy.  What I love about all of these is they come with matching accesories - lamps, wall decals, valances, mobiles.  All for an additional price of course, but I think if I play my cards right, I  can find a good deal!

I really like this "Bubbles and Squirts" bedding from Lambs & Ivy.  It is just so much fun!  I'm not usually one for aquatic things, but I'm just drawn to this one

Another set I liked is the "Paradise" collection from Cotton Tale.  I'm really digging the colors in this set, but I'm not sure that it is detailed enough or what I had in mind.

Another one that I'm considering is the "Dinos at Play" collection from CocaLo.  I never really thought that I would like the dinosaur beddings, but this one is pretty cute and jumped out at me.  The dinosaurs have a slight creepiness to them, especially the little green one.  I think that it is the beady eyes!  Still cute though and definitely a contender!

Running a very very very close second behind my favorite is the "Vroom" collection from Lambs & Ivy.  Must be all those transportation picture books that I used to read to story time.  The sound effects during those story times were the best!  (This would be the moment that Damien would remind me that we must be having a boy since I said I enjoyed something slightly boyish, lol - he is on a one track mind right now!)

My absolute favorite right now is the "Enchanted Forest" collection from Lambs & Ivy.  I like the woodsy feel of this one and the color scheme.  If I had to take a guess though, I would say that this is the one that Damien is going to like the best too!


He is pretty middle of the road about things and he trusts that I'll choose something great.

So many decisions! 

I have also come across several more girl bedding collections from these three designers too - I'll save those for the next post!

Cribs, Travel Systems, and Pumps....oh my!

A couple days ago, I told Damien that we needed to get on the ball about registering for baby stuff. He responded, "oh yea, let's do that this weekend." I had to tell him that we couldn't go quite yet because I wasn't even quite sure what we would be buying! There are so many brands for EVERYTHING that some time needs to be spent researching what products are best for our family. I've been in a sort of daze about all of this registering stuff, but it's time to break out of that phase of procrastination!
I've decided to spend my day off from work tackling the baby registry or at least getting myself up to speed on all of the stuff that we're going to need for our LO (little one).  In preparation for just this occasion, I purchased the Baby Bargain books (a la, the Bible) from Amazon several weeks ago, but it has just been sitting on my nightstand taunting me everyday

Well that all changes now! I've spent the better part of this morning researching cribs and have moved on to pumps and even created a registry at Baby's r Us. I'm only going to add items that I'm sure we'll use, but I'll definitely leave some scan gun fun with Damien when we actually go to the store.

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 UPDATE, Sunday August 12, 2012
Well, I did end up stopping by Babys r Us on Friday afternoon after all.  I braved the downpour to head out and get a most delicious corned beef sandwich (drool) and vegetable barley soup and then spent a leisurely afternoon wandering around the store with the scan gun.  I ended up adding items for boy, girl, and neutral so I'll just delete the others when we find out if we are having a boy or girl!  I spent a good portion of the time texting back and forth with my best friend Sandya - it was like registering with a friend with me : )

Here is the crib we decided on - it's the Simmons Renaissance in the espresso finish:

 I have added the matching dressers too.  Off to look at more nursery beddings!

Week 16

 

How far along? 16 weeks as of this past Tuesday

Baby's size?  Avocado (I just gagged typing that)

Total weight gain:  1-2 pound?
Maternity clothes? Yep, I need to get some skirts for work!
Sleep: Crazy, vivid dreams and waking up a lot....good practice?
Best baby moment this past week: Damien looking at me and saying "19 days"  I asked him what he was talking about and he said 19 days until we find out if we're having a boy or girl.  He's so cute!

Miss Anything? Sweets tasting the way they used to!  I guess that is a good thing in the long run since I've just about given up candy.
Movement: Yep, more defined flutters, but still very random
Food cravings: This past week was pork fried rice of all things.  But man, was it good!

Anything making you queasy or sick: Not this week and I hope it stays that way!
Labor Signs:  Nope.

Gender Prediction: Girl - at least this week!
Symptoms: Balance is starting to go.  I guess I'll have to turn in the 3 inch heels one of these weeks for more "sensible" shoes

Belly Button in or out? in
Wedding rings on or off? on
Happy or Moody most of the time: Still in generally good spirits, but when moments of sadness or anger strike, I find it that it takes me a bit longer to get over it.  Usually chatting with Damien or friends get me straightened quickly though!
Looking forward to: Getting my mind around this registry business!

Thinking about Nurseries...for a girl

Alright, so I've started looking into possible nursery ideas. 

I am loving the bedding that I am seeing from Carousel Designs (http://www.babybedding.com)

Here are my absolute favorite girl ideas so far!

Little Mimosa~ I love the citrus look of this bedding. 

 

Spa Pom Pom~ The calmness of this bedding and fabric is very soothing and I'm a big fan.

Girly Owl~ Maybe a bit too much pink for what I had in mind, but I'm a sucker for cute little owls!

I have ordered fabric samples of all of these so I can see what they look like in person!  I wonder which one Damien will like...

Week 15 Baby Bump

Here is this week's baby bump picture!