Twenty-Seven

How is it that THIS is sitting in baby's room now!? I feel like people always talk about how their pregnancy drags on, but this one seems to be moving so quickly these days. I am sure I will change my tune in a couple of months :)

Wish we had more pictures of the set-up, but we were kind of distracted.

Walking by and seeing the crib now just kind of melts my heart and makes me all shmoopy inside. 27 weeks today!

Life Lately

Oh, hey...

Haven't had a lot to update the past week. We've been doing lots of baby browsing (seriously, how many car seats are there to choose from? I never realized until now). Little man's crib should be coming any time today! Wahoo! We are planning to set it up for FHE tonight, so I will try and do some documentation.

Also, I have been working a lot on this  project, though it is going a little slower than I would like because it has been 90 degrees and above every day and my body has become an oven.

Once that's complete, I just have to keep working on the nursery and getting it all put together! I have some more DIY ideas (thanks to Pinterest) to keep myself occupied.

This whole nesting thing is no joke... I am not even in the third trimester, yet (one more week) and I seriously just spend every day trying to do something new to baby's room or the house or trying to find a new thing to clean/organize. 

Also, we have decided that we might take a little trip with our friends over the Fourth to this place....

Ahhh... Myrtle Beach

The whole "having a giant belly" thing on the beach this year has been making me a little wary, but I got a sassy new swimsuit, so here's hoping I feel a lot like this...

and less like this...

Can't wait! :)

Arizona Jaunt

Last weekend, we took a little trip to Arizona to spend Father's Day/my grandma's birthday with our relatives.

My mom and aunt were very sweet and threw us a baby shower; the little man was totally spoiled, and we are so grateful for our wonderful family.

Now I look at his little items around the house and feel a bit more mama-like :) I love to picture him in his teeny hats and onesies and think about our little family's future.

 Great-grandma Dory!

 Baby J's swag :)

 Horizontal stripes may have been the wrong choice... HAHAHA

Jordie's first Father's Day present!

Our little guy at 21 weeks!

Nursery

Sorry about the mass posting the last couple of days... With Memorial Day and exhaustion from some nighttime pregnancy woes, my daily schedule this week has been a little, shall we say, relaxed? :)

Also, I am trying to catch up on the past, oh, three-ish months... From my trip home to our time in the Bahamas with our friends, there is a lot to update about!

For now, I wanted to take a break and maybe get some ideas/help on baby's room. There is a site that I LOVE called Lay Baby Lay where she makes nursery inspiration boards of all kinds. I decided to try my hand at one of my own, though it doesn't closely compare to any that she has designed and thought up.

I think we are going to go for an outdoors/adventure/camping themed room that is a little more masculine and not super "cutesy" (just not my thing). I would also love to pay homage to Yellowstone in some way, since it was where we went on our honeymoon!

My question is, what are the most important things to include in a nursery? I know the crib, dresser, etc. but are there other necessities? Bookshelves? Storage tricks? Things you couldn't live without? Any help is greatly appreciated :)

Sources: Led Zeppelin poster;Vintage Grizzly print;Green dresser; Mexican blanket; couldn't find the exact link for red lantern, but it was on etsy;Owl Lamp;Map Wall Letter;Bison print on Montana map; Black and white gingham crib sheet; Climb a Mountain print;Chocolate colored crib

Just some ideas to get the brain juices flowing! I foresee adding more baby-ish items, and I am sure Jord's Chris Sharma poster might make an appearance somewhere in there :) I am really getting excited about this whole baby boy thing!

Thoughts on the First Trimester

IT SUCKS!

Just kidding :)

While I do not claim to be a professional on pregnancy, (or babies... I literally asked my best friend the other day if her 5 month old had started talking yet. Really, Alyssa? Shall we just name this baby "guinea pig?")I thought I would share some thoughts/tips that I have discovered over the past few months.

Like many, I did not have a very easy time the first trimester. Around 6 weeks, I started getting morning, afternoon, and night sickness that lasted up until a week or so ago. Not fun. I hate complaining, because I know this is a sign that baby is doing well and that all the hormones in the body are doing their job, but it is definitely difficult. Especially when you are working full time and trying to survive through the day without yonking on your co-workers.

I know that not everyone experiences "the sickness," but for friends that are pregnant, will be soon, or plan to be again in the future, here are some things that helped me survive months 1-3:

-Going to bed early! Seriously, sleep is your best friend

-Keeping some kind of something by the bed to keep your stomach full; I hated saltines and crackers after a while, so I tried dry cereal (Honey Nut Cheerios), tortilla chips, and prezels.

-Stay out of the kitchen. Seriously. All of the smells of the refrigerator and cooking will just make it worse. Buy some freezer meals or Taco Bell for your husband/family and just let it be.

(Also, have someone do your grocery shopping. It sounds really needy, but being around all of those food aromas in one place can be really awful and overwhelming).

-I know that not everyone is this way, but I could not take hot showers without feeling like I was going to faint. Try to stay cool!

-Don't feel obligated to do anything or be anywhere for any reason. Since we weren't telling a lot of people, I felt bad turning down plans to spend time with our friends, but who really wants a barfy sick person at their get-together anyway!? If you feel sick, let your body rest.

-Don't beat yourself up about that fact that you laid on the couch all night for four nights in a row eating Push-Pops and watching Friday Night Lights. You aren't "boring." You're growing a human.

-There aren't a lot of medicines and remedies that worked for me, but maybe you might have better luck. Ginger gum and Seabands were kind of a bust, but I have heard other people say they work. I used Emetrol and Zofran (prescription) when it got really bad, but your doctor has to okay them.

Mostly, just take it easy, sleep a ton, drink your weight in ginger ale, and try to remember there is a little nugget in there who is excited to meet you in 7 or 8 months.

There's a Baby in There

It's true! There is a new little member coming to the Rose clan in September 2012.

Sorry to leave a lot of you hanging all that time (even though most probably had a feeling there was something different). The true Scotsman in me is way superstitious, and I didn't feel like blogging about anything until we were out of the first trimester (which was a doozy... more on that later). Needless to say, we are pretty delighted!

Back in January, I started feeling SUPER weird... just tired and icky and had a bad appetite (which, most of you know, is definitely not normal for the girl who takes seconds of everything). Thinking I might be "with child," a took a test that came back negative, and just chalked it up to maybe catching something on the plane coming home from the holidays or just being worn out.

One Wednesday night a little bit later, Jordan and I went out for sushi (probably one of my top 3 favorite foods), and after eating about 3 or 4 pieces, I just couldn't stomach any more (unheard of). That's when we realized something was definitely up :)

That weekend, we took some tests and sure enough, those beautiful double pink lines showed up (within about 10 seconds... seriously).

Warning: the following is a photo of said tinkle sticks. Let's try to be mature about this ;)

We may or may not have been both terrified (well, me mostly) and elated at the same time, as evident by the following picture.... Also, we aren't jaundiced. Blame it on bathroom lighting!

The further along I get (I'm almost 16 weeks), the more and more excited we become, if that's even possible. It's been an adventure, even in this short time, but we can't wait to meet our little nugget and squeeze and kiss it to pieces!

Here is an ultrasound from my most recent appointment a while ago at 12 weeks.

Cute, no? ;)

Right now, we are just biding our time until the beginning of May when we can find out if is a little HE or SHE and really get to planning and preparing for the little one! I feel like it's a girl, but every dream I have had about baby is a boy.

Do you have any guesses!?

Thanks so much to our friends and families for being so congratulatory, positive, and helpful! We love you!

The weepies

Christmas makes me cry. There, I said it.

I have noticed, especially this year, that I involuntarily start tearing up at anything all during the month of December.

Am I the only one with this problem?

The other day when I was driving home from work and listening to a radio program about troops coming home from Iraq for the holidays... it was like Niagra Falls! One of those cries that is so violent and messy that you worry people in other cars will see you and feel bad for you/wonder if your cat died.

Every time I have had to get up and speak for a church-related function the past few weeks, I can barely get any words out.

And trying to watch this scene...

Or this one...

Or, especially, this...

WITHOUT sobbing? Forget about it!

I guess it's just the magic and wonderment of the Christmas season! That, or I am descending into madness :)

On another note, we are so excited to go to AZ/UT to see our beloved families and friends! Four more days... Grandma, you better get ready for some major bear hugs. Kat and Ash, you tell those sweet little babies of yours that Auntie Lyssie is coming to cuddle them to bits!

Wahoooo!!

BABY watch!

So, it seems as though my lovely friends will both be going into labor within the next day or two.

HOORAY!

Can you tell that I am excited? Maybe the whole mentioning it every post hasn't indicated that, yet.

Sorry, I just can't contain it.

Early congratulations to Katherine and Ashley!

Yay for procreation!

:)