How Long?

How long has it been since he last ate? I really can't remember.

I am normally not a gadget kind of girl, but this is my new best friend. One of my friends came over a few days after being home and was asking me about how long he was going between feedings and I couldn't remember. I had been trying to keep up, but because of a lack of sleep it was really hard to remember. I guess I could have gotten a piece of paper and written everything down, but that just seemed to hard. A few days later my friend showed up at my house with this little thing.

I really like that it's small and I can hook it on my pants to keep it with me. I also really like the flash light feature for laying him back in the bassinet in the middle of the night. It doesn't store any info, you just press a button for whatever you are doing and it keeps time until the next time you do that same thing and press the button again.

It is so nice to look at it during the night and know exactly how long it has been since his last feeding and not try to figure it out. When you are exhausted this is just easier.

So, if you are a new mom or expecting mom I would highly recommend this little gadget. (I was not paid to review this item, I just really like it and wanted to pass along the info.)

He is Here!

Henry is Here!

2-9-10
3:51 am
8 pounds 1 ounce
20 inches

Nesting

...is in full swing!

Wednesday
- I cleaned out every drawer, basket, cabinet, and bulletin board that collects clutter.
- Rearranged a few kitchen cabinets and did some purging

We have been keeping up with the cleaning and laundry, but on Saturday we did a major clean.

Saturday
-Major deep clean in the bathroom - including washing shower curtain and liner, I scrubbed the tub (you can see here that the husband has been doing this for me for months), and the rest of the bathroom, bleached all of little mans tub toys
-Cleaned out and rearranged the bathroom linen closet
-Vacuumed, mopped, dusted entire house (the husband vacuumed)
-Cleaned out my SUV
-Washed the car seat cover and all of the other car seat parts, made sure it was installed properly
-3 loads of laundry
-Finally hung up the initial canvas on the baby's door
-The husband hung up the last curtain rod in the nursery (now the curtain rods match)
-The husband was sweet enough to go through the large stack of mail and deal with it for me. We usually do this daily, but I let it get piled up.
-Everything is packed and ready for the hospital, I made a list for the last minute stuff
-Cleaned out the microwave

This may not seem like much to some of you, but that is way more than I would normally do in a day, especially while pregnant.

Baby still isn't here, so keep those guesses coming.

The Waiting Game

We are still waiting on little man #2 to make his appearance. To say I'm ready would be an understatement. I'm just trying to enjoy still sleeping through the night. It may not be the most comfortable sleep, but at least I sleep all night. I know I'm only 38 wks, but because #1 came at 37.5 weeks it's hard not to think that I could go at any time.

While I'm waiting I am...

enjoy all of my one on one time with this little guy

brushing up on Baby Wise (I used this with my first and had great results)

and wondering when people will quit calling me to ask how I'm feeling or if I feel any different. I know everyone is excited, but I WILL call when I do go into labor. We must be patient.

The Cleaning While Pregnant Routine

Image Source

This pregnancy has been great, but very different from my first. I learned early on in this pregnancy that I was going to have to have some help with some of my normal tasks and change the way that I did some things.

I changed my cleaning routine from doing certain tasks once a week to doing them as needed. This has made it so that certain tasks have gone from getting done once a week to sometimes every week, but often every other week.

My house has still been clean and tidy as long as I really do them when needed. I may keep this routine after baby gets here.

dusting

I now dust when I see dust.

swiffer vacuuming the hard floors

I swiffer vac the floor when I see crumbs, not after every meal.

vacuuming the rooms with carpet

I vac when I see stuff on the carpet.

bathrooms

I don't do the entire bathroom at one time.

I usually wipe down the sink and counter everyday with my bath towel after I have showered. (We don't reuse our towels between washings)

I use an everyday shower spray that keeps the shower cleaner longer.

When the shower needs to be cleaned I ask the husband to do it when its good for him.

I spray, wipe down, and swish the toilet bowl when it looks like it needs it.

mopping

I mop when it looks like or feels like it needs it.

There are still things that obviously have to be done everyday like dishes, laundry, making beds, and straightening up and making sure things get put away, but changing the way I did some of the big tasks, made things much easier. It has also been nice to have a husband that didn't mind taking over the tub scrubbing. I will also tell you have he has been super helpful with the laundry. I have a great husband!

One of the biggest tasks that the husband took over for me early on is bath time for the little man. This isn't a cleaning chore for house, but it didn't take long for it to be hard to kneel or squat next to the bathtub while trying to lean over and give the kid a bath.

So what about you, did you change your cleaning routines while pregnant? Did your husband pitch in and help? What changes did you make? Do share!

37 Weeks

Well, it's been 37 weeks! We are nearing the end. My house is clean, the laundry is done, the nursery is ready, baby clothes and blankets have been washed, organized, and put way, my freezer is stocked with meals (Thanks to my wonderful Mother). We are ready when he is.

Go HERE to guess when he will arrive.

Guess Baby #2's Birthday

I thought it might be fun for you to all guess when this baby will make his appearance. There will be no prize, this is just for fun.

I will give you some background info to consider while making your guess.

Baby #2
Due Date based on first ultra sound - Feb. 12
Due Date based on cycle - Jan. 27
At my last appt. I was still measuring right on for the Feb. 12th due date.

Baby #1
Due Date based on first ultra sound - Dec. 14
Due Date based on cycle - Nov. 22
Born - Nov. 26 at 5:08 am, 7lbs 8 oz., 20.5 inches

And just so you know, I'm not counting on him coming closer to the earlier date just because my first son did. I know that they are all different.

So, give me your best guess, what day and time will he arrive?

Feeling Crafty (Burp Cloths)

I haven't done much of anything crafty lately, but the urge finally hit this weekend.

I had a stack of cloth diapers that I planned on using for burp cloths. I decided to add some fabric to them to jazz them up a bit. I used some Thomas fabric I had leftover from another project for my older son, and a $1 fat quarter I purchased.

I didn't take any pics of this process, but it was quite simple. Just measure and cut your fabric to fit where you want it, iron, pin, and sew it on. I can handle straight stitches pretty easy. These are not perfect, but I didn't figure anything that was a spit-up catcher really needed to be.

These also make great shower gifts. I would recommend that if you make them for a gift that you do at least 3 and that the fabric at least coordinates. Just tie them up with a cute ribbon and homemade tag and you have yourself at cute little gift.

Little Man's Birth Story

Since I will soon be having baby #2 I have been thinking a lot about the birth of our first son. I want to remember everything that I can about it and realized that I have already forgotten so many of the timing details. I was originally going to post this on my private family blog since it is really for me, but decided to post it here. If it helps just one person, then I'm happy for everyone to read it.

I have always had a very low tolerance for pain and because of that always just assumed that when it came time to have children I would just get an epidural. I never really gave any other thought to it. Then, one of my pregnant friends told me that she was believing God for a Supernatural childbirth without pain. She had been reading a book called Supernatural Childbirth by Jackie Mize. I really thought she was crazy. I have been a born again, spirit filled, tongue talking Christian most of my life and had never heard of this. I still didn't really do anything with this info at this point, but when she had her first child without pain I knew there was more to it than I had thought. I ordered the CD when I became pregnant with our first son. I began to see things in the Bible in a way that I had not before. I'm so glad that God is patient with me. I began to see from the Word that pain from childbirth is under the curse. Jesus died on the cross to pay the price for the curse for us so that we could be free from it. This includes pain during childbirth. I listened to this CD every time I got in my car during my pregnancy. I knew I needed to continue to build my faith in this area, and faith comes by hearing.

Let me also add that I am not against epidurals or pain meds. I think that if you are in pain you should take the meds. I wasn't out to prove anything to anyone, I would have taken the meds if I had been in pain. But God is so good, and I had a mostly pain free natural childbirth. I say mostly, because it did hurt some when I tore a little at the very end, but I had no pain with any of my contractions of during the pushing.

Now that I have written a books worth of background info, I will move on to the actual birth story. My little man is now 4 years old so some of the times and details are somewhat fuzzy, but I'll tell you what I remember.


Friday, November 25, 2005 - the day after Thanksgiving
37.5 weeks pregnant

My husband and I got up super early so that we could shop some of the black friday sales before I had to be at work at 7:30 am. I did a good bit of walking before I ever got to work.

I was a bank teller and Fridays were always really busy days that required me to be on my feet more than most weekdays. For about 2 months I had lots of BH contractions all through the day on Friday. Usually once I got home by 6:30 and put my feet up they would stop. The contractions on this day were no different than any other Friday.

Around 4 pm my supervisor told me that she thought I should go ahead and go home early today. I didn't complain. Leaving at 4pm instead of 6pm on Friday sounded great.

My husband and father-in-law were going out to eat oysters to celebrate my husbands birthday. (my FIL had been out of the country the previous week, so they celebrated when he got back) I knew I was on my own for dinner so I ordered a plate from a local restaurant and picked it up on my way home. I went home, got my feet up, and enjoyed my dinner in front of the TV. The contractions were sporadic, but still there. My husband called around 6 or so and I told him that I didn't really think anything of it, but I was still having contractions.

The husband gets home. He found out earlier in the week that I had been climbing in a chair and then standing on top of the washing machine to get something off of the top shelf in our laundry room. He didn't like that at all, so we headed to Home Depot to get a proper step stool. Still having some contractions.

We came home to watch TV and unwind for the night. I laid on couch still having contractions. We decided to time them, they were consistently about 5 mins apart. I decide that I would just go get a shower to freshen up. From here I don't really remember the exact time line, but by 11pm we decided to call the Dr. since my contractions were consistently 3 mins. apart. We made the call, he said get to the hospital.

Keep in mind that I am having contractions this entire time, but without pain. It still had not sunk in that I was indeed in labor.


Saturday, November 26, 2005 (just around mid-night)

We arrive at the hospital and get all set up in our room. The Dr. gets there tho check me and I had started to dilate (I don't remember how much), still having consistent contractions. I just sat in the bed and talked to my husband. We talked about how weird it was that I was for real in labor and were going to get to meet our son soon. It was a great experience. I thoroughly enjoyed the laboring part. It was fun to watch the contractions on the monitor and see how big they were. I could feel everything, my body was working hard, but I didn't have any pain. I don't remember all of the timing details at this point but once I was at 8cm my body was trying really hard to push even though it wasn't time yet. I couldn't control it so they gave me a half dose of something (I don't remember what it was) to help my body just relax a little bit so that I could finish dilating. Once it was time to push, I didn't push long. Somewhere from 15-30 mins. and our little guy arrived at 5:08 am

I did tear a little bit and happily took the 2 advil they offered me at this point. It was so nice to have such a wonderful, fairly short, labor and delivery. I'm looking forward to the next one.

34 Weeks

Here I am at 34 weeks and a pic from 26 weeks just for comparison.
It is still amazing to me how God created our bodies to do what they do.

32 Weeks

The Finished Nursery!

The nursery is finally finished for baby boy # 2, and I am thrilled with how it turned out.

Everything is just like I pictured.

Today I am just posting pics.

In the next few weeks I will do several posts with a
break down on where everything came from,
what was DIY'd, before and afters, and the cost.

Go HERE to see the before.

The Nursery List Revisited and a New Project

This list is getting smaller and the nursery is really coming together. Everything has turned out just like I wanted.

I still will not be showing any pics until it is all done sometime next month.

BEFORE

I will tell you that we got a dresser that got a fabulous makeover and it will be in the nursery. It looks amazing! My husbands grandmother was getting rid of some things and they just happened to be things that I have had on my want list. Major score!


Items in blue will be done by the husband.
Items in purple will be done by me.
Items in green will be done together.

Office
-purge, have yard sale, and donate - DONE
-put together new desk - DONE
-finish boxing up items to store DONE 10/14
-find a place for boxes in garage DONE 11/9
-clean out garage DONE 11/6
-pack up dishes in buffet to make room for office stuff - DONE
-organize office stuff in desk and buffet DONE 10/14
-run cable to dining room for internet DONE 10/17
-move computer and printer to new desk DONE 10/17
-get large desk out of office DONE 10/24
-get large TV and stand out of office DONE 10/17
-move chair and end table from office to living room DONE 10/17

Nursery
-move baby stuff from Cade's closet to Henry's closet - DONE
-buy and cut new shelves for changing table (ended up not needing to do)
-get crib and changing table out of in-laws attic DONE 10/23
-paint crib, changing table, and shelf DONE 11/21
-paint large canvas 11/23
-paint nursery DONE 11/6
-figure out what I want for curtains and make them (I have figured this out, but not done it yet)
-decorate
-organize nursery closet - DONE (I'm sure it will need to be done again as I get more things.)

added 11/24
-get new handles/knobs for dresser and drill holes
-hang artwork
-get curtain rods and curtains
-hang curtain rods and curtains
-get rocker

There are also several other things that need to be done in other places around the house.

Cade's Room
-get Cade a twin size bed (we will need his mattress for the crib) DONE 11/20
-headboard project
-re-organize Cade's closet minus all of the baby gear - DONE

Living Room
-make slipcovers for ottomans
-make new pillows for couch (I've got to make that red chair work)

26 Weeks

I'm excited to be 26 weeks. This means I have less that 100 days until I get to meet my sweet baby boy.

I had my glucose test Tues. and didn't hear anything so that is good. They said they would only call if something was abnormal.

I feel like I'm huge and have 14 wks to go.

My ankles and feet were swollen the entire weekend last weekend. Like I didn't have ankles. I'm trying to be better about keeping my feet up.

I feel like I have cried so much this week over nothing. I'm ready for my hormones to be back to normal. I don't remember crying this much with my first pregnancy.

Baby's room is painted!!!!!! Things are moving right along.

From Office to Nursery - The List

I am on a list kick, so here is the long list of things that still need to be done to make the office a nursery. To see a before of the office go HERE. I'm sorry so many of my blog posts have been about this project, but I'm sure it won't be the last. It has been a large project and hasn't left much time for anything else.

A lot of this will be done by my super sweet husband as he has the time.

Items in blue will be done by the husband.
Items in purple will be done by me.
Items in green will be done together.

Office
-purge, have yard sale, and donate - DONE
-put together new desk - DONE
-finish boxing up items to store DONE 10/14
-find a place for boxes in garage DONE 11/9
-clean out garage DONE 11/6
-pack up dishes in buffet to make room for office stuff - DONE
-organize office stuff in desk and buffet DONE 10/14
-run cable to dining room for internet DONE 10/17
-move computer and printer to new desk DONE 10/17
-get large desk out of office DONE 10/24
-get large TV and stand out of office DONE 10/17
-move chair and end table from office to living room DONE 10/17

Nursery
-move baby stuff from Cade's closet to Henry's closet - DONE
-buy and cut new shelves for changing table
-get crib and changing table out of in-laws attic DONE 10/23
-paint crib, changing table, and shelf
-paint large canvas
-paint nursery DONE 11/6
-figure out what I want for curtains and make them
-decorate
-organize nursery closet - DONE (I'm sure it will need to be done again as I get more things.)

There are also several other things that need to be done in other places around the house.

Cade's Room
-get Cade a twin size bed (we will need his mattress for the crib)
-headboard project
-re-organize Cade's closet minus all of the baby gear - DONE

Living Room
-make slipcovers for ottomans
-make new pillows for couch (I've got to make that red chair work)

As you can see, my husband has a lot of work to do too. We are getting there. I'll update this list as we get things marked off or find new things that need to be added to the list.

22 Weeks

22 Weeks - It's a good feeling to know that I'm a little over halfway there. Some days it feels like the time is creeping ever so slowly, and other times it feels like WOW 22 weeks already.

I'm feeling pretty good. It's nice to not require a nap every afternoon anymore, but I'm going to bed much earlier.

I have had a little swelling in my feet when I'm up doing a lot, so I'm doing what I can. I feel huge already, but that is okay.

I had a great OB visit this week. I love going and getting to hear his heart beat. It is still such a great sound.

Artwork for the Nursery

I decided to do something fun before I tackle operation "Making Room for Baby." I'm still trying not to think about how much work it is going to be. I'm pretty good at procrastinating.

I knew that I wanted to paint a name canvas for our new little guy. I thought it would be a great way to give you a "sneak peek" into what I have planned for the nursery without giving everything away. I love the colors, I think they look quite masculine.

Navy happens to be one of my favorite colors for little boys. It is an easy color and it makes transitioning a nursery into a toddler/big boy very easy.

I purchased the bedding from a major store instead of doing something custom. It is just simpler this way. I also found something that I fell in love with and knew right away that it was what I wanted to use. Any guesses on what I picked based on the canvas?

Oh, and just in-case your aren't sure, his name is HENRY! It took a lot of searching and discussion to land on a name this time. It has been funny to hear our family's response. My mother, dad, and brother don't like it at all and think that it is a joke. I happen to love the name and told them we weren't taking a poll, his name is still Henry.

**EDIT** I know that his name is crooked. I thought I could live with it, but I can't. So, I'm going to redo this.

Making Room for Baby

We finally have a plan for the nursery.

The Plan - find a place for everything that is currently in our office so that it can become a nursery. This will be the hardest part of this plan.

-I have to find a smaller desk and relocate the computer to the dining room. Not real excited about this part, but there is no other place. The desk may evolve over time. I'm going to see if we can swap desks with my parents (they would love our huge desk) and use theirs until I find what I want.

-My husband's favorite red chair will be relocated to the living room. The red chair is the ONLY red thing in our house, but he loves it, so I have to make it work. This will require revamping the colors in the living room. I will be doing this spending very little money.

-I have to empty my hutch in the dining room to make room for office type supplies. It has glass doors that I will cover with fabric or paper or something so that you can't see the "pretties" inside. My real pretties will be packed up until we get a bigger house.

-PURGE, PURGE, PURGE! I'm going to have to part with a lot of stuff, and so is the husband. There will be a lot to get trashed, donated, and sold, but a lot will have to be stored until we get a bigger house.

I also have a plan for making it a real nursery, not just an empty room.

-paint has been picked out
-bedding has been purchased
-furniture will be painted
- artwork is underway


I have my work cut out for me.

18 Wks

Today I am 18 weeks. It is a good feeling to know that I am getting closer to the half way mark.

I had a great checkup this week, but I am counting down the days until Tuesday the 15th. That is the day that we will finally found out if this baby is a girl or a boy... finally.

All of the cravings are gone and I'm not taking a nap everyday...maybe every other day. I have also have had enough energy to get back to the gym. I'm not doing any serious working out, but I am walking on the treadmill. If I can get there 3 days a week I will be happy. I'm sure this has to be better than the nothing I did for the first 17 wks.

About the bump... I wasn't planning on taking pics or posting them for the world to see, but I didn't with my first pregnancy and I think I will enjoy looking back on this. Let me clarify and say that I love to see baby bump pics, but I am much heavier than I had planned to be before I had a bump. I've decided that this will also serve as motivation to not gain more weight than I need to, and then work hard to get the weight off this time after the baby arrives ... for good.

I'll let you know some time Tuesday if it is a girl or a boy.

Not much to report, so take a guess, BOY or GIRL?

pic source found through google images

There isn't much to report. I've still been too sleepy to do any projects to show off. I'm just trying to keep up the laundry and getting back into cooking dinner regularly.

I had another appt. this week and everything looks great! I will be 14 weeks tomorrow.

I'm ready for my ultrasound next month so that we can find out the gender of this baby. Last time I knew for sure we would have a boy, and this time I don't have that FOR SURE feeling either way.

I set up a poll on the right so go ahead and give your best guess.