30 weeks and a sewing kick

• How far along? 30 weeks
• Total weight gain: According to my scale, 14 pounds total.  My scale must be really off.
• Maternity clothes?  Won’t need any more since Jill lent so many to me!
• Best moment this week:  Matt texted me this: “I have come to the conclusion that Adrian’s first word he will learn is ‘brains.’ That way I will have the sweetest little zombie ever!”
• Miss Anything? Being able to mop, do dishes, pack boxes etc. without getting super tired and having to take a break.    
• Movement: It’s kind of fun to watch my belly move all over the place.  Then when he kicks my ribs or my bladder it’s a little less fun.  But I like knowing that he’s okay so frequently!   
• Food cravings: Smoothies, ice cream, anything cold.  But this is probably more due to the heat than anything.   
• Food aversions: Greasy food.  AKA fast food.
• Gender: Boy!
• Symptoms: Again with the really weird dreams.  I feel sore when I wake up.  I had edema in my legs and feet for the first three days of last week, but thankfully it’s mostly gone away.  I bought these really cute shoes to make myself feel better about not being able to buy cute new summer clothes, and now they won’t fit.  Boo.
• Looking forward to: One day when Matt’s schedule doesn't suck, our one year anniversary, and moving into our new town-home!

     So like I said in my crazy woman post, I was pretty much alone all weekend.  I spent quite a lot of time looking for curtains for my dining room but no one had what I was looking for.  Therefore I spent a long time picking fabric and couldn’t decide between two so I made Matt choose.  It was between this:  

Pom pom play spa by Waverly

and this:  

Dwell Studio Vintage Blossom in Azure

and Matt just said “not the bird one.”  Well I had texted him at work to prepare him for this huge life decision and it turns out he didn’t get it until the next day.  So the day after he rejected the bird fabric, he asked to see the fabric I was choosing between and I told him he already helped me pick it out.  I showed them to him again and I really don’t think he likes either one of them.  But hey, he gets a man cave and I’ve included him in most décor decisions in the house.  He gets to pick out the Ugly Dolls for the nursery.  He picked out décor for the front of the house without me, so he gets no sympathy from this camp. 

     Now I’m on a sewing kick.  I was going to buy yellow gingham drapes and a crib skirt but now they are all sold out.  EVERYWHERE.  Apparently it’s a really popular choice.  The skirt was selling for $17.95 at Target and I saw it on eBay (exact same brand) for about $40.  I suspect that someone bought the whole stash just to sell them because they are so popular.  I also saw some for $68 which is just ridiculous.  I decided it will be way cheaper to make my own.  Instead of paying $44 total for curtains and drapes at Target (if they ever come back in stock) I got $31 worth of yellow gingham fabric for $26 because I had a coupon.  Well you get free shipping if you spend $35 on this site so I decided to make my own car seat cover as well.  It’s just to keep the elements off of baby, keep strangers from touching him, etc.  It's like this, this is the tutorial I'm going to use:

http://www.make-it-do.com/sew-it/baby-car-seat-cover-tutorial/

I got this elephant fabric 

Premier prints ele french blue/kelso

and this polka dot fabric:

Premier prints oxygen dots brown/french blue

I am way too excited about this.  Stay tuned for my sub-par projects, a post that accidently got deleted, and hopefully some “after” pictures as the townhouse gets finished.

Night of the big-ass bugs

     This post is a rant because I'm a tired, angry pregnant woman.  The third trimester isn't too bad so far but I'm getting tired really easily.  Just in time for all the packing/moving/cleaning we have to do in the next two weeks.  So I do what I can and then take breaks.  This weekend I was pretty much alone the whole time, so I was able to pack a few boxes, repair a seam in Matt's shirt, do tons of laundry, clean the bathroom,etc.  Tonight I'm trying to make my place look decent for bible study which is tomorrow.  

     I was standing in my kitchen, trying to get my laundry done when I saw a huge spider.  The little bastard was partially on the carpet, partially on the linoleum so it was impossible to stick a cup over him.  So I did what any sane person would do and tried to get him to move by throwing shirts at him.  It didn't really phase him.  So I took a spray bottle and kept squirting him with water, but he didn't seem to care too much.  So then I sprayed him with laundry starch.  He ended up looking pretty wet and stuck to the floor so I turned around and grabbed some paper towels to finish the job. Then a giant black fanged thing came speeding across the floor and I cursed a lot and threw a Tupperware bowl over him. Well part of him started to crawl under it and I thought he must be able to lift it so I threw the (about to be thrown away) waffle iron on top to make it heavy. Then I realized he was actually trying to crawl out of the spout.  So I stuffed the lint from the dryer in the hole and used a heavy cup to keep the lint in place.  I know this is way more elaborate than just stepping on the damn things but I hate being chased by anything, let alone a huge bug, so it's just easier to let Matt do it.  Plus it makes him feel manly to save me, right?  Well I looked over to where the spider was and he was GONE.  So I had a really pissed off, wet, starched, giant spider running around somewhere.  After a 10 minute stand-off I got a cup over him.  I walked over to the fridge to get water, and yet another giant spider was sitting there, probably with the spider equivalent of a smirk on his face.  Now poor Matt has three bugs to take care of when he gets home.  Thank goodness the Orkin man is going to come to our new place every few months, I am so sick of getting attacked.

He doesn't look all that intimidating in this picture but that's the leg of my entryway table and  the leg is pretty big so  it dwarfs him.  This is the starched one.

This is what Matt's coming home to.  The waffle iron isn't plugged in by the way, it's by the trash because it's useless.    I can't be the only one who goes through such elaborate lengths to trap bugs.  

I wonder what would happen if I put the spiders and the giant fanged thing under the same cup...

I can't identify the fanged thing but it's probably just a beetle.  Still, I feel all dirty.

Don't judge me.

29 weeks and a trip to Lincoln

     We are getting so close!  Excuse the picture, I took a two hour nap on the couch and then made a pie so I look a little disheveled.  But hey, my bump is growing and that’s what’s important.

     This weekend I finally got to see my Peru friends after about 4 long months.  Well I saw Emilee last weekend but still, it’s been way too long and we must never wait that long again!  I’ve never driven to Lincoln by myself before but it worked out okay.  We met at Walmart and checked out a few garage sales.  The first one had tons of baby clothes but I was nervous because Jill asked the lady how much the clothes were and she said “make me an offer.”  I guess I prefer having a price because I have no idea what to offer.  I like set rules.  Plus I just have no idea what size the baby needs and I’m nervous to buy too many clothes until I know how big he really is.  I get all confused about the sizing and often depend on store tags to help because they give a weight range.  So Emilee pointed out a couple cute things but I was silently panicking.  Jill bought a whole pile of clothes for $5 and I walked away a garage sale failure.  I guess I need some practice.

     Next we headed to Trader Joe’s where Emilee and Aaron bought hipster food (sushi and hummus.)  Then we got drinks at Panera and looked for yellow dresses at VonMaur for Emilee’s wedding.  Jill tried on two really cute dresses but they were so short; not really bridesmaid appropriate.  I think I’m going to stalk Anthropologie for my dress and see if any yellow dresses in my size happen to go on sale.  A girl can dream.  Lastly we went to Red Robin.  It was so fun seeing Anakin again, he’s so cute!  He seems like a really happy baby.  Jill said he normally gets scared of strangers but he wasn’t scared of Emilee and I.   I was just thinking we need to get more pictures when we hang out because I don’t have any.

     On my way home, I drove through Lincoln and a storm was following me.  Every time I got stuck at a red light it would catch up and downpour.  I found a gas station and I should have waited, but I wasn’t thinking and while I was pumping my gas it down poured on me.  I would normally like it but I wasn’t wearing the right shoes.  Plus it was kind of cold.  I parked and waited for a few minutes because driving in that much rain scares me.  Driving on the interstate is scary enough.  So anyways, I ended up driving next to the storm and then once I got home it attacked.  Oh and Jill lent a bunch of her maternity clothes to me and most of them fit.  It’s so exciting to get new-to-me clothes during pregnancy; especially since I get all depressed when I see all the cute new clothes in stores that I can’t wear right now.  I miss my dresses so much…

In other news, I got a text Sunday night from Eric that said “OMFG they are playing a Buffy song from the musical episode of Buffy at this gay bar!!!  FOLLOWED BY ELEPHANT LOVE MEDLEY FROM MOULIN ROUGE” ...I think I have to go there.

Blog Makeover

So I'm a total psycho but I just stayed up really late finishing my header.  I finally figured out how to make one with photos so once I got started there was no stopping.  I also changed my title, I decided the booger one wasn't very adult sounding and I would never click on a blog with that kind of name.  So you are all spared.  You're welcome.  My web address will stay the same.

28 week anatomy scan

     I was so excited for this appointment!  I also had my glucose screening so I had to fast from 8:00 pm to 9:45 the next morning.  First I had to drink that orange stuff and I don’t know what everyone else is talking about but I thought it tasted just fine, like orange soda.  Perhaps I have a high tolerance for sweetness?  A few minutes after I finished, we went back to the ultrasound room.  Well first I got weighed and according to the clinics scale I have gained 20 pounds.  Now that’s counting from when I lost all the weight in the beginning of the pregnancy.  If you count from before I got pregnant, I’ve gained 12 pounds.  I really shouldn’t have weighed as much as I did before I got pregnant; it was those damn birth control pills. 

      Finally we made it to the ultrasound room; I was giddy and dizzy but what else is new.  First we saw his brain and it looked normal.  The doctor said he has a big head.  I know that all babies have big heads, but so does the doctor, so the fact that she pointed it out means something.  His head measured at about 30 weeks; I just hope it doesn’t get SO big that I would need a C-section.  I really don’t want a c-section.  For some reason it scares me more than natural childbirth.  She said he’s kind of a big baby and all of his measurements were about a week ahead.  We were told to expect more of an 8 lb baby than a 6 pounder.  So we might have to take the newborn clothes back L Or save them for the next baby because you know I’m going to have 3 or 4 boys.  We saw his heart and all 4 chambers.  Everything looks good!  Oh and nothing fell off so he’s still a boy.  Good thing we don’t have to take everything back because I got a lot of cute things.  He is currently head down.  Let’s hope he stays that way.  She said it looked like the umbilical cord was over his shoulders and reminded me to count his kicks every day.  He’s supposed to move at least 4 times in an hour.  It doesn’t take that long to count movements; in fact he is currently repeatedly kicking my side.  Hopefully he moves around and gets it away from his neck.  Note to self: don’t google it.

This is his face, it's almost a profile but I think his head is turned towards us a little.  The top of his big ass head is on the right.  If you turn your head a little, I think half his face is in the light and half is in the shade.  It's like phantom of the opera.  This is the longest caption ever.

     We got to see a 4D view and it was AMAZING.  Everyone says their baby looks like an alien but I didn’t think that at all.  I can’t wait to compare the pictures to him when he’s born.  I saw Matt in him but everyone is saying he looks like me.  He could still have the Palmer nose though, it’s something you grow into.  He stuck his tongue out all the way, it was SO cute.  We didn’t get a picture of it but we have one with the tongue partly sticking out.  He smiled too.  It looked like he was sleeping.  I might have to copy some of these so I can have one at work and stare at him all day.  I told Matt that seeing him in pictures makes him feel far away, even though he’s right here with me all the time and I can feel him.  He said he knows exactly how I feel.  I’m hoping he comes a few days early but not until after our friend’s wedding on July 28th. Babies always come when they’re told, right?

You can see either little toes or little fingers right under his chin.  Looks like toes to me.

This one might be hard to make out at first.  His face looks more blurry and his tongue is sticking out a little, his tongue is the circle in the middle of the picture.  You can just barely see his eyes and his nose.

A smile!  This is the picture that reminds me of Matt.

     Work on the townhouse was put on hold for most of the day so I got to hang out with Matt. We went to Applebee’s for lunch, showed the ultrasound pictures to our families and went to dinner at Outback for my FIL’s birthday.  The day went by way too fast.  I can’t wait until the townhouse is done so I get Matt back on Thursday evenings.

28 weeks/Mother's Day

I’m in my third Trimester!  I’m pretty sure my body knows that all-of-a-sudden and has decided that 2nd trimester bliss is over.  Let’s do a survey:

How far along? 28 weeks and 2 days technically

Total weight gain: 12 pounds; about half of what they say I should have gained, but I eat all the time so I have no idea why it’s not more.

Maternity clothes?  I can’t wear my long work pants anymore because walking in heels is torture.  So I really have to get short people maternity pants.  I got two dresses from Old Navy but they need to be hemmed and I am SO lazy.

Best pregnancy moment this week: When Matt asked if babies like to cuddle with their dads too J  He’s going to be such a good daddy.

Miss Anything? my figure, but I’m sure it’ll come back by next year.  And I only miss it when I see other girls in super cute dresses with little waists.

Movement: He’s getting strong.  Sometimes it’s enough to make me grab my belly and say “whoa!”

Food cravings: nothing specific.

Food aversions: Fast food just doesn’t do it for me anymore.  Maybe if they hadn’t gotten rid of chicken fries, it would be different.

Gender: Boy!

Symptoms:  Shortness of breath (probably worsened by my lack of a torso) and sometimes by the end of the night my belly will just start to feel really heavy.  Oh and Matt tried to watch Xmen last week.  He got through about 5 minutes but changed the channel when I started bawling because the beginning is during the holocaust and magneto is being taken away from his parents.

Looking forward to: Our anatomy scan on Thursday!  We get a long ultrasound and a really good look at him.  We might get some 4D pictures, cross your fingers.

     Matt told me that sometimes he will wake up in the middle of the night and put his hand on my belly.  The other night he felt huge movements (either a bottom or a head) and said it kind of freaks him out because that was only the second time he felt that.  He said “to you it’s like ‘wow, I’m creating a life!’ to me it’s like ‘what the hell are you doing to my wife?’”

     Yesterday my in-laws were working on the townhouse so we stopped by and brought her Mother’s Day cards. Then we got food and hung out until Matt had to go to work.  I haven’t seen him a whole lot this week because when he does have time off, he works at the townhouse.  There’s nothing for me to do there yet and there’s all kinds of fumes from staining wood and painting.  So I really miss him and even though I tried really hard not to, I sobbed when he started leaving for work.  I’m sure it made going to work even worse for him, but at least he knows he’s loved I guess.

     I bought some pink impatients for my mom’s porch and headed to my parent’s house for a mother’s day barbecue.  I got a few pictures of the kids and Sophie.

Also, Matt got me flowers :)

La Cucaracha

Matt and I went to check out the townhouse the other night because I wanted to see what the nursery color looked like on the walls.  I should have taken "before" pictures before things started getting made-over but I didn't think about it til now.  It'll work still!  So we have to go through the basement to get into the rest of the house and we were about to walk up the stairs when Matt saw...a cockroach.  GROSS. So I took a picture so it could be identified but I'll kindly leave it out of this post.  Matt tried to kill it with a broom (he didn't want to get it on his shoes) and it came after him.  There was a struggle and he got it outside eventually and the Orkin man came yesterday.  I didn't actually witness it because I bravely ran away.  Just call me Sir Robin..  Hopefully it was just a stowaway from the home depot boxes and doesn't mean there are tons more hiding somewhere.  

So here are some pictures of the house, there's been a lot more progress in the last couple of days, they're working hard!

The kitchen is getting new cabinets.  There was mold behind these old ones.  I think these are the original cabinets and the townhouse was built in the 60's.  Once the cabinets were taken out, Matt's dad said they would probably have to do a new floor too.  I swear, it's one thing after another.  Our friend Scott has been helping with his dry wall expertise.  We have such awesome friends.

Dining room, right next to the kitchen.  When you come up from the basement this is the first room you see.  The lighting looks weird but the walls are just tan right now.  We are painting this and the kitchen yellow, with white trim.

I'm 99% sure Jill has this light fixture too.  The bank had good taste!

This is the living room, it'll be gray with white trim.  I keep thinking about how there will be a baby swing in here soon, and a pack n play. There's more room on the other side of those doors and that's where the stairs are.

This is the nursery!  The trim is white now, it looks so pretty!  I'll take a picture when it's all set up.

Baby gets a walk in closet.  No fair!

Aren't I so original with the paint color?

This is the partially demolished bathroom.  Thank goodness they got rid of the sliding doors.  I can imagine bumping into those a lot and having trouble bathing my child.  The vanity, bathtub and tile are all going to be replaced.  Matt picked the color for this, its a light shade of green.

Our bedroom.  I have no idea what color this will be.

We get double closets, which is good because Matt has a lot of clothes.  They got rid of the laundry shoot just in case Adrian were to get any ideas from it.  

Not pictured are the man cave, laundry room, office, and the powder room.  Most of which are in the basement, which is where the cockroach was, so I didn't stay in it very long.  It makes me nervous to put a picture of the outside on the internet, and it's not all that special anyways.  I can't wait to start moving in!  

Childbirth classes for a know-it-all

     I started looking up what kinds of classes our hospital offers and seeing what exactly they teach.  I might want to take the breastfeeding class, but then again if someone is going to be helping (uh, watching me and critiquing me and telling me what to do) in the hospital after the birth, do I really want to sit through a class?  If I already knew everything, the specialist would annoy me even more.  It might be best to keep my formal education to a minimum and read books.  I'm undecided at the moment.

     Another option is a class on labor and delivery. The problem is, they don’t have a separate class unless you are doing it the natural way (Lamaze); which as you may remember I decided against after seeing the size of a real live newborns head.  The class they do offer is once a week for 6 weeks for two hours each day.  It bundles classes on breastfeeding, labor and delivery, info about c sections, info about epidurals, and how to take care of your baby.  Well I am an expert on almost all those things.  What do I need to know about epidurals that I don’t already know or can’t read in a book?  I refuse a c-section unless it’s really the only option.  I learned a lot with my sister’s babies, plus I read way too much.  I can teach Matt everything, and my mom and Michelle can teach me anything I don’t know. I don’t feel at all scared to take care of a baby; it feels completely natural to me.  I think being a mother is one of God’s callings for me; it’s the one thing I have always known I wanted to be.  I’m not sure if I already mentioned this but when I was little I thought it was unfortunate that you had to have a husband in order to have a baby.  I’m sure lots of kids think that way though.  Love you Matt!!!

     If I took that class I would get annoyed that they were trying to teach me things I already know.  Does that make sense?  It’s like when older people assume I don’t know anything about the times they grew up in. I’m a history buff, I know about all the decades of last century (and then some.) Don’t presume I don’t know things just because it was before my time. It’s seriously one of my biggest pet peeves.  Wow I am so stuck up.  So anyway, I did a little questioning of people I know who have babies and have come to the conclusion that I don’t have to spend 12 hours, and skip 6 bible studies to “learn” how to take care of my baby.  I will however, enjoy teaching Matt about some of the less pleasant sounding parts of labor and birth. (Mucous plug.) I’ll get the camera ready.

Graduation and 27 weeks

Matt graduated this weekend!  He wouldn’t let me take very many pictures, so this is all I got.  

His mom’s family came down from Minnesota and we all suffered together.  I’m not saying we suffered because graduations are boring, this graduation was special.  First of all, it was outside at 10:00.  (We were the lucky ones, the other ceremonies were at 2 and 5:30)  Maybe this is an unusual year and there’s no way they could have predicted that, but it was terribly humid, and hot.  It had to have been at least 80 degrees.  They did not bother to cut the grass so it was long and scratchy.  There were millions of gnats that flew at you with every step you took, and dead ones all over the chairs.  The only shade was way in the back, or on the side reserved for handicapped people.  So I sat with Chris while everyone else ran away to the back with the shade, and we complained the whole time.  I was cranky enough, but then people had to stand up in front of me, taking pictures and video (which technically they weren’t allowed to do) and I said out loud “if anyone is standing in front of me while Matt walks across stage I am gonna flip shit!” Also those horrid air horns kept going off so I loudly proclaimed my dislike. Thankfully everyone was seated while Matt walked across. I know this all sounds incredibly mature, but pregnant Julie is not a very good audience member in the hot hot sun. 

After the university tortured us, we were treated to lunch at Charleston’s and my parents, Michelle and the kids came.  The kids had fun with Matt’s cousin, so I think next time he comes down I would like to take them to the zoo or somewhere fun together.  Then it was nap time, so I went home and slept for 2 hours because 20 minutes doesn’t cut it right now.  Matt didn’t want a cake because he doesn’t like all the attention focused on him, so I told him he was selfish and maybe the rest of us wanted cake!  So I bought some random cupcakes at target because these were the least obnoxious ones.  

I don’t like tons of different bright colored frosting; most of them looked disgusting.  I told Matt they were pregnancy craving cupcakes, not graduation cupcakes.  So we hung out with his family and I went to Nebraska furniture mart with his mom and aunts. 

The next day we ate at Red Robin, saw the avengers with Chris, and they took me to my first comic book store.  It was the ultimate nerd experience.  The Avengers was really good (Joss Whedon wrote and directed it, so I expected no less.)  I decided Captain America is my favorite because he’s hot, God fearing and patriotic.  I was trying to decide between him and Thor the whole time.

The baby is doing well, he really likes my ribs and stretching on my right side.  Next week we will get a really good look at him on the ultrasound.  I can’t wait!  I told Matt it felt like my bump shrank but he said “believe me, it hasn’t.”  Thanks?

Only one more week and I will be in my third trimester!

We finally got the keys to our new townhouse!

(I forgot to post about last weekend, so I’m going to be a dork and post two blogs in one day.)

     I took my parents on a tour last week.   I realized what a horrible memory I have when it comes to dimensions and spatial awareness.  The laundry room was (a lot) smaller than I remembered, but still a good size.  The kitchen was bigger than I remembered.  It’s going to be fun to get our furniture in and decorate once all the painting and cabinet replacements are finished! 

     The front door is black, so hopefully that can get repainted.  Who paints a door black though?  Especially when the siding is tan.  My Halloween wreath would just blend in, how sad would that be?  Is it sad there’s a little part of me that is excited for when Halloween comes?  I think it’s mostly because it will be fun to share it with Adrian, even if he has no clue what’s going on.  I’m basically wishing the whole summer away so I can have my baby; sorry everyone.

     On Friday Michelle and I were supposed to go see Titanic in 3D but it was on too late and neither one of us was that excited about it.  Sorry Jill ;)  So we got Chinese food with mom and Caroline, and then stayed home and played Glee Karaoke.  I’m surprised there were so many songs I don’t know on there, so that made it hard but it was still fun.  I rocked the 90’s songs but prided myself on the fact that I could not do that “Friday” song.  Either Adrian wasn’t impressed or he was soothed to sleep.  Better get used to it kid, I’ve got TONS of songs I want to sing to you. 

     On Saturday I did a bunch of cleaning, finished that wreath project and thought about making cookies but it just never happened.  I told Matt how I thought about making cookies and likened it to when he says “I meant to buy flowers for you today, but I forgot.”  You just don’t get points for that.