Getting There

Week 36: We finally have the nursery all ready for baby boy to arrive. Now we're just waiting very impatiently to meet him!



Aaryn made this adorable hippo for her new nephew. The bird mobile was finally completed, and I made crib sheets for the oval mattress.




Robert painted the hand-me-down changing table to match the toy/book shelf, and we put up a Jane Callister painting for him to gaze at while being changed. The lampshade got covered in some cute japanese fabric with little bunnies in a woodland setting.

Some of my colleagues had a shower for us in Richmond this weekend. It was a lovely afternoon, and we were so happy to celebrate with lady friends. Big thanks to Holly and Nigel for hosting, and to Elissa, Mary, Mayme, Loie, Emily, Ander, Reni, Sarah, Hope, and Amanda for joining in the fun. No silly games either and good homemade cakes!

Painting for Nursery

I made this for the nursery. The design is totally ripped off from this cute Momoluna 64 fabric print and adapted. I don't have much of a graphic design sensibility so I had to steal someone else's idea.

What's he doing in there?

When I went to the midwife yesterday they could easily tell the position of the baby. They always bring a med student with them to the check ups, and he was the first to feel that baby was head down with his back on my left side and feet up and on the right. The midwife agreed and it was consistent with where they found the heartbeat. I was sort of worried he might be breech the whole pregnancy because he seemed to be for a while and I couldn't tell when he flipped. I thought I was getting elbowed but those pokes must have been his pointy knees. I also never mentioned that I passed my 3 hr glucose tolerance test. Yesterday, the midwife was looking over my sugar levels and noted they were very low. The first test must have been a fluke.

We went to Boston/Brookline for the past weekend to see Neali, Justin, Paisley, Beckett, and Pocky (John). We were watching the hurricane news knowing we would not be flying home as scheduled Sunday (right when the storm hit that area.) We couldn't get a flight out until Tuesday noon ish. The storm caused a lot of damage to trees and power lines right around Pocky's house. I watched a huge willow blow over into the park right out the window. Right after the storm his street was blocked by 4 downed trees with power line hostages. We didn't have power for the last 2 days we were there but just hung out at Neali's where they did. I taught the kids how to hand sew, and we made stuffed birds. I also taught them an easy friendship bracelet, and we had some nice quiet time doing that. They are pretty excited about their new brother and cousin. We told them we are going to name ours Iciclepopsicle Blue Raspberry Armstrong. We do have a name but it won't be released until he is born. It's more fun that way.

I'm back at work commuting to Richmond. It's exhausting to say the least-even just the teaching part is harder than I thought it would be. My students don't exactly understand that I need to sit and drink water periodically and they will have to wait a minute for some help. Also I get like hot flashes sort of and my head feels like it's in a steam room.

We are starting a birthing class next weekend. The style is called Hypnobirthing. We are also interviewing doulas. A few weeks ago there was a cloth diapering demo right after prenatal yoga. We were already gung ho on doing cloth diapers, but now we know even more. We're ready-just 2 more months to go.

More sewing for baby

I made these two covers for the changing pad which will be on a changing table when we get one.
I also found a pattern online for play yard sheets and made two for our Pack and Play.

Not too much other news except I am 26 weeks now and 132 lbs. I failed my glucose tolerance test, a screen for gestational diabetes, and have to go back for a longer test this week. It's no wonder I couldn't process the sugary drink they gave me after not eating and refined sugar or "white" foods for over a month. A lot of people fail the first test and pass the second one. I'm training by eating more carbs and a little dessert so I don't get womped with the sugar next time.

For baby boy

Here's the blanket I knit for baby with a matching toy mouse. Finally I can move on to booties.



I made these bibs as well and I sent some to friends and family with little ones.

We've also gotten a few really cute things from friends and family I wanted to share.



Hooded Monkey Towel from PJ



Maple Teethers from Ruby



Bottles from Aunt Kelly and Uncle Terry



Chew and clutch toys from PJ



clothes from Brenda and Carston



Swaddle blankets from Peyton

Gender Revelation Party!!!!

The Gender Revelation Party just came to a close. We had some cute decorations for both boy and girl, lots of delicious food, and a HUGE lemon cake with lemon buttercream frosting. Watch the video to watch the cake being cut. The color of the icing inside the cake corresponds to the gender of the baby and nobody knew but the baker until now! Check it out!

Nursery Projects

Here is the crib looking rather naked still and the rocking chair I was soothed in as a baby which my parents saved for me for all these years.

I made new pads for the rocking chair in a leaf green grid pattern with turquoise dot ties. The pillow is a super cute hand drawn looking forest animal pattern with a coral puffy border. It will help my back when nursing and rocking the baby in the middle of the night. The (to-be) blanket is just folded flannel right now. I'm waiting on some fabric to come in for the back so I can sew it together. The animal print will be also made into bumper pads in regular cotton.

The repainted dresser in a bright spring green.

I repainted this shelf brown (it was an ugly yellow particle board color). It will be for toys, books, and other items and we can add another level to the top for later on.

I bought an old boppy and a boppy play gym yesterday for 8$. They were the old kind that had ugly printed fabric sewn onto the pillow not just as a cover over white. This is the play gym that I am basically remaking rather than recovering because of this. Flexible padded bars attach to create a little dome where toys dangle. I took apart the gross cotton/poly fabric and used it as a pattern for this cute organic cotton. I'll do the same with the padded bars and create some of my own fabric toys to hang from it. The other boppy I'll just put new covers on because the fabric isn't too dark. My mom was going to work on some for me. I hope all the effort is worth it! It is fun making things for baby anyway.

Registry Link

If anyone is curious or been asked about the registry (even though it's kind of early still) here is the link:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/registry.html?ie=UTF8&type=baby&id=35IBG77J8MUHT

We are also happy to receive hand-me downs either from the registry or similar items. I'm trying to find stuff at garage sales and on craigslist that I don't need brand new like a stroller, car seat, bathtub, bouncy chair, and boppy. We are trying to keep all plastic (even BPA free plastics) out of the mouth of our little one. Glass, stainless steel, rubber, silicone, bamboo and wood (with baby safe paints) are all great! Since we don't know the gender right now there are boys and girls clothes on there. The 'boy' stuff I think looks gender neutral and would use for either, but the girl stuff I'll either keep or delete once we bust open the envelope.

If you have any suggestions about stuff I might not have thought about that we might need-leave a comment to this post or shoot me an email. My girlfriends have already been really helpful with suggestions.

baby pics

Baby is studied by ultrasound technicians and determined to be 100% normal.



Baby profile looks like Robert.


Baby was somewhat stubborn during analysis and required much belly prodding for better pictures.

Baby gender is hidden in mysterious and tantalizing pink and blue envelope! Gender prediction is certified as 100% accurate by two sonograph techinicans.

Gender Revelation/House Warming Party

Mark your calendars. July 16th we will host a celebration to warm our new home in Alexandria and to reveal the results of this week's ultrasound: boy or girl. We're keeping it a secret from ourselves until the moment of the big reveal too. Hopefully we will have be serving up some homemade sausages on the grill along with other morsels. My parents are visiting from Austin for the occasion. This will serve as our shower as well, but there will be no shower games-just the cake with pink and blue frosting. I'll be sending out an evite soon. We will record the revelation moment and post it on the blog so you can be here in spirit!

20 Weeks Pregnant

This week we will have our second ultrasound to see how this little bean is doing and its gender. We are going to ask that they keep it to themselves, but give us a sealed envelope with the info. After we get back from our vacation to Spain we'll be hosting a Gender Revelation/House Warming party at our new house in Alexandria where we will all finally get to know whether it's a boy or girl! Little baby has been squirming and kicking for the past few weeks-now strongly enough for Robert to feel too. Weigh in on your guess of the sex at the bottom of the page! We'll compare inklings to hard data in a few weeks!

We are getting the nursery in order with furnishings and decor. We just bought a second hand Stokke Sleepi crib that is so cute and stylish. Fabrics are on order for some custom pillows, rocking chair pads, blankets, and changing pads that I will be sewing. Robert is working on refinishing a

dresser and shelf with fresh paint to match.