::Baby G:: Happy Halloween

How far along? 31 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: 22 at the last appointment

Maternity clothes? Yes

Stretch marks? Same, same

Symptoms: Overall a little more uncomfortable, heartburn is getting worse, back pain is getting a tad bit better.

Sleep: I've been pretty tired this week and sleeping rather well considering. Sleeping with the windows open, cool breeze blowing has been awesome. Fall is finally here

Best moment this week: Finishing the nursery, shower with my dad and his side of the family, and the weather!

Have you told family and friends: Yep

Miss anything? I miss being able to hug my husband so closely, I also miss comfy snuggling with him, belly just gets in the way.

Movement: An enormous amount of movement, I feel like my stomach is constantly moving.

Food cravings: Nope

Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope

Have you started to show yet: Oh yes!

Gender: Girl, Henley Nicole!

Labor Signs: None.

Belly Button in or out? The top little flap is out, the rest is flat.

Wedding rings on or off? Still on but pretty snug.

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy for the most part.

Exercise: With the nicer weather I got a few long walks in, trying to walk at least three times a week.

Looking forward to: Our anniversary is this weekend---6 years!

Fitz was such a good sport wearing his triceratops costume. I was actually shocked we got the pictures that we did. He even posed for a few after we were finished---all in the name of getting a treat! :-)

Happy Halloween!!!

Mere :-)

::Baby G:: Nursery is Complete!

It's finally done! The nursery for Henley is finish and just waiting for her arrival. We have had the majority finished for a while, just waiting on some shipping/seller issues on Etsy. I did a video tour and took tons of pictures of the room so hopefully you get a good idea of what it looks like. Here we go...

Curtains: DIY see here for post

Crib: Graco Lauren from Target

H: Etsy purchased unfinished, we painted it

Blankets, Crib Skirt: DIY

Sheet: Carousel Baby Bedding 

Changing Table: Hand-me-down

Gallery Wall: Mostly from Etsy, I made the middle one from Scrapbook paper, my mom made the little owl using cross-stitching

Frames: Ikea Ribba

Changing Pad Cover: DIY

Knob: Etsy

Bins: Ikea Skubb

Glider: Hand-me-down from a friend, DIY recover

Dresser: Purchased from Craigslist, painted white, same knobs as changing table.

**I should note---we ordered these from one seller and got them in pink instead of purple. I emailed the vendor and they were to send me purple ones. I hadn't received them after a month and therefore had to order them from another seller. If anyone is interested in pink crystal knobs, I have 6---please let me know and I can sell them to you! :-)

Ledges: Ikea Ribba

Henley Bunny: Hallmark, gift from sister-in-law

Owl: Gift from Mother-in-law

Canvases: DIY

Dresser decor: Gifts from various friends

Bird houses: My mom made these

Guest bed & Fitzy

I love that I got to put so many personal touches in this room. I am really happy with how it turned out. If I didn't link something and you have questions just ask! Hope you all had a great weekend!

Mere :-)

::Baby G:: In the 30's!

How far along? 30 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: My scale says 26 lbs, doctor says 22---going with the ol' doc!

Maternity clothes? Yes

Stretch marks? Same ones I've had, no new ones---I think it's time to apply the oil twice daily now since I read most of the belly marks show up during the end.

Symptoms: More of the same--back pain and heart burn have definitely been my most constant symptoms.

Sleep: Interesting week with sleep--a couple good days, a couple really rough days.

Best moment this week: My doctor's appointment. We found out my gluclose levels were perfect, baby's head is already down, and of course we heard the heartbeat!

Have you told family and friends: Yep

Miss Anything? I miss being able to paint my toe nails comfortably. I have chipped toes and anyone that knows how particular I am knows this is driving me crazy but the uncomfortableness that comes with painting my toes isn't worth it. I think the time is coming for a pedicure.

Movement: Still tons of movement. I felt hiccups for the first time today. On Monday her foot was in my ribs and I tried to push her down a little bit and she actually kicked me back. I cracked up thinking this is the first of her little feisty-ness coming out.

Food cravings: Nope

Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope

Have you started to show yet: Oh yes!

Gender: Girl, Henley Nicole!

Labor Signs: None.

Belly Button in or out? The top little flap is out, the rest is flat.

Wedding rings on or off? Still on but pretty snug.

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy for the most part but a little tired and cranky the last few days.

Exercise: 22 flights of stairs (more on that below) and two long walks. I've met up with my friend and my sister on two different occasions to walk downtown, the weather is getting a little nicer so I hope these nice walks continue.

Looking forward to: My shower hosted by my dad on Saturday.

I had a really relaxing weekend for the most part which all came crashing down on Sunday night. At about 3:45am the fire alarm started blaring that an alarm had been activated and we must evacuate the building. We live on the 22nd floor of a high rise condo. Fitz was extremely startled and started barking, my initial reaction was freaking out of course. I got some clothes on, grabbed my wedding rings, hubs grabbed Fitz and we headed down the stairs. It took us about five minutes to get to the bottom level. I was moving pretty carefully and holding the hand rails so I didn't slip. Once we got to the bottom, the fire trucks showed up and let us know that there was some sort of electrical short causing smoke coming from the elevator control room. 

At around 4:45am, we finally decided to relocate to the Jeep and reclined the seats to try to rest a little bit. At 5:15 we were finally allowed back in and thankfully could take the elevator up.

Tuesday morning I woke up with major calf cramps which are common during pregnancy and I have experienced them here and there so I didn't think twice of it. Then hubs woke and said his legs were sore too---it took us until about noon to realize that we were sore from the stairs and it wasn't him having sympathy pains for me :-)

I'm so thankful to be in the 30's and cannot believe I have ten weeks to go!

See you soon. Hopefully show you the finished nursery this week, waiting on one order to be delivered!

Mere :-)

::Baby G:: Week 29 is Fine!

How far along? 29 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: 25 lbs

Maternity clothes? Yes

Stretch marks? Same ones I've had, no new ones although I have read that the belly ones are more likely in the end---hopefully all of my oiling up pays off.

Symptoms: No new symptoms but I have learned a remedy for my back pain---long, hot baths! Not too shabby of a remedy if you ask me.

Sleep: Some good and some bad nights but my crazy, off of the wall dreams are back.

Best moment this week: My shower! I loved seeing everyone together and of course the presents ;-)

Have you told family and friends: Yep

Miss Anything? I miss being able to shave comfortably.

Movement: Lots! I think she is tired out today from all of the movement. The last few days she's been crazy but today she's been a little more mellow.

Food cravings: Nope

Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope

Have you started to show yet: Oh yes!

Gender: Girl, Henley Nicole!

Labor Signs: None.

Belly Button in or out? The top little flap is out, the rest is flat.

Wedding rings on or off? On but snug! I'm going to be sad when they don't fit!

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy!

Exercise: None unfortunately. The weather is getting nicer so hopefully we get some good walks in.

Looking forward to: My last free weekend from now to Thanksgiving. I have so many great weekends planned ahead but at the same time, I am looking forward to a mellow weekend. 

Happy Hump Day!

Mere :-)

::Baby G:: Shower with Friends!

I've been super lucky in my life to be surrounded by great friends and family that are always there for me. It seems that Henley is going to be as lucky as I am because we are having three showers thrown for us. Today was my first shower thrown by my friends Nicole and Shanna. They did such a perfect job and it was the little details that made this day totally perfect!

Bestie Heather and I

Bottle racing game

Mary won! Check out that technique---having a six month old must be the key!

Great hostesses - Nicole and Shanna

Present time!

I love this dress!! It's adorable!

The crew----love you all!

All of the pregos! 

Today was such a great day, I can't say it enough! We got all kinds of good stuff. I just want to take it all out and get everything all set up. I know it's too early to start all of the washing and laundering but I want to do it so bad!! :-)  (this must be the "nesting" everyone talks about). Can't wait for Henley and thanks to tons of great friends, she is going to have some great things to help get settled in!

Happy weekend!

Mere :-)

::Baby G:: Week 28 is Great!

How far along? 28 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: 22 lbs

Maternity clothes? Yes, actually purchased a few dresses for the showers from asos.com. They have some great, stylish dress options for us pregos.

Stretch marks? No new ones thankfully!

Symptoms: Same as usual--back pain and heartburn but on the flip side, my nails are growing like crazy and I'm not losing hair anymore. Typically when I shower or brush my hair, I lose a ton of hair and now there is none. Weird.

Sleep: I've been so thankful for the Snoogle lately---it really helps me to be comfy!

Best moment this week: We had a Minnie Mouse birthday party for my niece on Saturday, she turned two! 

Later that day, we had a great time at my co-worker's house. She and her husband hosted an Oktoberfest complete with German food and home-brewed beer. There were five pregos there so luckily someone thought to bring prego "beer" for all of us :-)

(the pregos)

Have you told family and friends: Yep

Miss Anything? This week I was missing sushi again, I just love that for a quick, clean tasting meal.

Movement: The last few days have been almost constant. She is moving all of the time and I can even feel her turning or something that feels like turning. I'm starting to feel her in two places at once which means she is getting so big!

Food cravings: Nothing specific

Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope (yay!)

Have you started to show yet: Oh yes!

Gender: Girl, Henley Nicole!

Labor Signs: Nope, no braxton hicks yet either but I hear they may start showing their face any day now.

Belly Button in or out? The top is starting to pop out and it shows through most shirts. 

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy!

Exercise: None but I need to do more stretching because the back pain is getting worse.

Looking forward to: My first baby shower is this weekend! I'm so excited!!! My best friend from Ft Lauderdale is coming over and I can't wait to celebrate this baby girl with all of my good friends. 

Mere :-)

::Craftie:: DIY Pillow

Well the nursery is almost complete, just waiting on a few shipments from Etsy for finishing touches. It feels so good to have it almost complete. I absolutely love the room and I can't wait to share it with you guys!

One of the first thing I made for the nursery was a little owl pillow. I know you aren't supposed to put anything in the crib with the baby but for now, this little guy is just chilling in the crib waiting for Henley to come along.

I saw this pillow on the make it and love it blog and not only was it totally adorable, she provided a pattern to use. Making this first really helped me create a plan for my giant floor mat owl I made (see here).

I got all of my fabric on Fabric.com, they had the best deals compared to some other places I have seen and their shipping was pretty quick as well. Since the blog site has all of the details of making the pillow, I'll just show you guys some pictures I took during the process.

All of the pieces cut and laid out. This fabric is a super soft minky and since it's a furry texture, sewing the eyes out of it looked terrible so I ended up just using felt. The felt works great and was really easy to work with. (This purple for the wings ended up being hard to work with since it was so furry I ended up using a dark purple dot fabric).

The feet are stuffed and all of the front pieces are sewn together here.

All finished and stuffed---ready for Henley! 

This project wasn't too difficult at all, I highly recommend it, especially with the pattern that is provided. 

Hope you all have a great week and I'll be back Wednesday with a weekly update!

Mere :-)

::Baby G:: Week 27

How far along? 27 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: 19.8 lbs --zero lbs this week

Maternity clothes? Yes of course. 

Stretch marks? No new ones---sticking with Bio-Oil and Mama Bee's Belly Butter

Symptoms: Back pain, heart burn, no longer sleeping peacefully. 

Sleep: Waking up often to pee but when I do fall asleep, I sleep pretty well. I love my Snoogle still and so does Fitzy.

Best moment this week: Pinterest Party and making it to the third trimester!!

Have you told family and friends: Yep

Miss Anything? Nothing specifically this week

Movement: Yes---tons! I had a scary two days this week. She didn't move very much for two days and it scared the crap out of me. I drank a huge, ice cold OJ and she kicked once or twice to let me know she was a-ok.

Food cravings: Just sugar! Anything sweet has been calling my name.

Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope (yay!)

Have you started to show yet: Oh yes!

Gender: Girl, Henley Nicole!

Labor Signs: Nope

Belly Button in or out? A little popping out at the top, it's starting to show through my shirt.

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy!

Exercise: Just a little here and there, this week has been pretty busy at work.

Looking forward to: My next appointment on Monday. Even though there is no ultrasound, I still love hearing her heartbeat and knowing she's doing ok.

::Craftie:: Fall Pinterest Party

This weekend I hosted my very first Pinterest Party. For those of you not quite sure what this is, it's a party where you and a bunch of friends get together, eat some great food from recipes found on Pinterest, and make crafts or other ideas from...yep you guess it...Pinterest!

I have been working on so many baby crafts lately that I thought a Fall themed party would be a great opportunity to branch out from my baby bubble. 

I made finger foods from recipes that I found on Pinterest (praying they didn't bomb since most were being made for the first time). I thought I would share if any of you were interested in your own Fall themed party.

Yummy!

I was thinking of using this pin to make mini caramel apples but then I saw this idea from this blog to make a DIY Caramel Apple Bar!

I bought bagged, pre-sliced apples for this since I knew the apples would be sitting out while everyone grazed and I didn't want them to brown. I skewered each slice and set out mini chocolate chips, coconut, mini marshmallows and candy corn for everyone to make their own caramel slices. My favorite combination was the chocolate chips with coconut. This was a really fun alternative to caramel apples and everyone was able to make their own variations and try different combinations.

Nothing exciting here, just hummus with carrots, cucumbers, and pretzels.

There have been many recipes (here, here, and here) for various fall trail mixes floating around Pinterest and I took a little something from each of these and came up with this yummy mix.

Fall trail mix: Cheezits, pretzels, Reese's Pieces, candy corn, chocolate chips, and salted peanuts

Pigs in a blanket are always a yummy, quick treat. I attempted to make them "mummy" pigs in a blanket but it wasn't working out so we just settled on the norm.

This recipe for stuffed mushrooms got tons of great reviews but didn't really seem to have much substance, various reviews altered it by adding sausage or crab. I added chicken Italian sausage to the mix and dipped the mushrooms, once stuffed, in bread crumbs and grated Parmesan cheese prior to baking.

This dip is delicious! It's a pumpkin dip with cool whip and was light and airy while still quite tasty. 

The creator of this used Nilla Wafers and apples as dippers, the apples were my favorite.

Decor from Jo-Ann's and everything fall was 40% off.

My father-in-law brought tables over that I put end to end on the balcony since our inside space is quite limited. Thankfully the weather wasn't too hot or humid once the sun set.

Fall table cloths also from Jo-Ann's. 

I didn't get pictures of anyone's crafts before they left but here is what I made based on this pin. I printed out the letters on legal paper and used an exacto knife to cut them out. Then I taped the outline of the letters to this foam pumpkin and traced the letters with pencil. Using acrylic paint in brown and a teeny paint brush I filled in the letters and topped it off with a brown polka dot bow. It's in our foyer as a cute way to greet guests.

It was a pretty quick and easy craft which I recommend for these kind of parties since you don't want anything too complicated.

This party was pretty fun and was one friend even suggested we make it a seasonal thing. Have any of you attended a Pinterest Party? What do you think?

Monday is over friends---one step closer to the weekend!

Mere :-)