The Home Stretch

As of today, I am in my 3rd trimester.  I feel like I can't believe it's already here.  In some ways, it feels like 3 months from now is such a short time.  However, at other times it still makes me feel we do have 13 more weeks to go before the due date and that feels long (even if it is the same amount of time).  He isn't even half of his birth weight yet.  It's crazy.


Yet, it feels good to have 2/3rds of the pregnancy behind me now.  And I will say I do feel that third trimester coming on! I'm starting to have to go to the bathroom more frequently now.  I am having more trouble bending over and getting up out of chairs and such.  Plus, I feel I'm starting to "waddle" oh my! When Gordon Lee moves, it is so strong now! He gave me a scare on Wednesday as he did not move the WHOLE day! I didn't know what to do.  They say to call the doctor for decreased fetal movements, but I didn't want to seem like this obsessive woman who was overreacting.  Fortunately, he got to kicking later on that evening.  Then, on Thursday, he was moving like crazy! I suppose he may have had a little growth spurt. :)


I really just wanted to see what he face looks like.  So, I scheduled a 3D ultrasound that I just had done today.  The little stinker kept covering up his face with his legs and hands.  So, we didn't get a lot of good pictures.  The lady wanted to schedule another session free of charge.  So, I'm going back in on Wednesday to see him again.  


A few things I learned today at the ultrasound were...

• he is definitely a boy lol
• he supposedly weighs 2 pounds 2 ounces
• he is already on his own schedule! Usually, he would have been awake at the time when I had the ultrasound, but he wanted to sleep today.

Here are the two best pictures we got.

As you can see in the first picture, he's quite flexible! :) That's all for now, I will hopefully have a few better pictures on Wednesday!

The Thing about Kids is You Have to Raise Them

I love babies, and I enjoy being around them.  But I have never looked at a baby as just a baby.  When I see a baby, I see a human being who will become a child, a teenager, and eventually an adult.  I never went through a phase as a teenager where I wanted to get pregnant.  I wasn't in a hurry to have kids.  And this is because I saw a baby as a human being that you are responsible for for the duration of your and their life.  I'm not saying any of this to seem like I'm just "oh so smart." Believe me, I'm not.  That's just part of the way my brain operates.


And let me mention that just because I see a child as a responsibility does not mean that I do not believe that children are wonderful blessings.  I'm saying all of this to preface something I read about tonight.


I have been loaned this fabulous pregnancy book by my "Aunt Patti." :) It's called The Pregnancy Countdown Book.  

I LOVE IT! It counts down pregnancy by the day.  Each day has a page of random thoughts, comments from mothers, jokes, etc. relevant to the stage of pregnancy you are in.  I have a hard time not reading ahead because I enjoy it so much.

Well, I just had to share tonight's reading on here.  It deals with, you guessed it, parenting.  When you are expecting a child, it's pretty much impossible NOT to think about how you will raise him/her.  You may have a plan NOT to be like your parents or to be just like them.  And, of course, we all have witnessed people who have to parent and discipline their children in public.  I, for one, would say that I would be being dishonest if I didn't admit I form my own opinions about people's parenting techniques when I see them.

But this page tonight really brought out some important things that I think we all should remember.  I am going to write it down exactly as it appeared on the page.

"At This Point

I'm not going to be like that!

No doubt you're noticing mothers with their children a whole lot more than you did before.  You probably already have some ideas of how you'll parent differently.  For example, your child will never:

• have a tantrum in a grocery store (only brats do that)
• eat cookies in the grocery store (she will request carrot sticks)
• eat sugar or drink juice (she will request water or milk)
• get hooked on a binky (she will be a secure child)

You will also never in a million years tell your child, "If you don't get back in this grocery cart, I'm leaving.  Okay, here I go.  Okay, I mean it.  See my keys are out.  I'm shaking them. Here I go...."

THE WHOLE TRUTH AND NOTHING BUT

What real moms think of your plan

     Good luck!

ADVICE FROM THE TRENCHES

Consider staying silent

"If I were you, I would keep my big child-rearing plans to myself--especially in front of mothers with young children.  Maybe you will be the one mother in a million who continues to make her own organic baby food past the third batch and really won't use lollipops as a child-rearing tool.  But then again, you haven't been shopping with a young child yet."

-Lisa, mom to Harris and Brian"

It's true we (or I if I am alone in this) will see other people with their children and think "they really ought to...." But what do I know? I haven't had a child and what mother doesn't get physically and mentally exhausted after handling a small child all day? Who hasn't thrown in the towel after seeming to have tried everything?  I haven't had children, but I have been a nanny and it does wear you out.  Some days you just want to offer the child a million dollars just to be quiet...just to have some peace.  And that's why THEY and WE are all human and EVERYONE Everyone learns as they go.  

So hats off to the moms out there working hard to raise their children no matter what strategies they've tried.

Getting Ready...

When I last wrote on Monday of last week, I thought I was going to be writing a lot last week.  However, I was really tired and I just didn't feel like writing.  Also, I didn't have things quite the way that I wanted them to to post pictures.  Another thing is that my mother ended up blogging about the very same thing I was going to blog about on the same day, so then I didn't want to copy what she put up.  It's not a problem at all..I guess we were just on the same wavelength. :)


Anyway, the nursery is nowhere NEAR where I want it to be, but I have gotten a start on it.  I just have to wait for the bedding, the wall appliques, the mobile, and a clock that will hopefully tie the room together.  It's from a collection called Lambs & Ivy Enchanted Forest. Here is a picture of the whole thing. 

I haven't gotten any of the things from my nursery theme that I want yet except 1 lamp.  So, these pictures of the nursery are FAR from what I want the finished product to be.  But for now, I'll show you the cute, fun things I've added in the meantime.

A few notes about this picture...

1.) The two pictures on the wall are pictures I drew in high school.  One is a raccoon and the other is a chipmunk.

2.) The green box at the end of the bed is being used to hold small toys and books.  when I have time, I plan on ripping off that unsightly label and adding woodland animal appliques with a sign that says "toys"

3.) The bed doesn't have a mattress yet, so I've put some things on it to try to make it look less bare.

Here are some notes about this picture

1.) Instead of buying a new changing table, I decided to cover up the table we had there, get a contoured changing pad, and then put diapers and wipes, etc. underneath where they can't be seen.

2.) The turtle lamp is a GREAT thing that I wanted that I got at one of my baby showers!! :) I'll show more about that in a minute.

3.) I found that fabric for the table for a very low price a Joann's. It has tiny dragon flies on it, and I thought it would go very nice with the theme.

4.) On the end.  I have a little display for when he first comes home.  That blanket is only there temporarily until I can get a fabric for it.  I hope to use the picture frame to hold one of his first pictures.  Then those are a pair of newborn sized shoes given to us! :) They are great!

I had a very hard time capturing a picture of it.  But the turtle lamp projects a constellation on the ceiling and walls! It is an amazing thing! :)

With these pictures, you may be wondering what we do have.

Well......

We have plenty (and let me emphasize that one more time) plenty of clothes! And these aren't even all of them.  I still have clothes in storage that I have yet to fold and put away or hang up.  I started by folding some of them as you see in the bottom picture.  But then I decided not to for the rest because I need to wash all of them anyway.  I just wanted them to have a place to go instead of just sitting around in boxes.  So, I hung up clothes until I used up all of the hangers.  Then, I put others in drawers based on the type of clothing they are.

I can't wait to post a blog of the actual finished nursery! But that will have to wait a little while. 

Also, if you notice that fabulous centerpiece on the table, it is a diaper cake that my mother-in-law and sister-in-law made for us! Since it would be redundant to post it again, you can see it and read about it on my mother's blog! :)