Giant Giraffe

After I decided on a giraffe themed nursery, I remembered after I had Allie I had seen a huge stuffed giraffe on two different occasions that I loved.  The first time I spotted him was at the Women's Hospital gift shop, the 2nd time I saw him was at the Vineyard.  I remembered him being around $100, but like I said, that was almost two years ago.  I searched cragslist hoping to find a huge giant stuffed giraffe no one wanted.  It sounds odd, I know, but I actually found one in an Evansville posting!  I quickly texted the lady and she sent me a picture of the one she had for sale.  Definitely wasn't the same one I had fallen in love with, so I passed, and took my search to the web.  I found it!  I found a brand new one, from Indy, on eBay, for about half of what it costed two years ago! 

I knew the next step was convincing Kevin I NEEDED an expensive "stuffed animal".  That didn't go so well.... it actually took me about a week to convince him I wasn't going to bring a baby home from the hospital with out a huge giraffe waiting in the nursery!  My behavior over a stuffed giraffe wasn't my finest, but I was so excited to order him!  On Monday I tracked our package and saw it was out for delivery!  I waited and waited... and waited... and a little after 5pm, our giraffe was delivered! 

The kids were sooooo excited.  (I used them to help me talk Kevin into getting it).  We quickly sliced the box open and took him out of the package.  He was everything I wanted!  Now, I just have to find a way to keep the kids off of him until the baby gets here! 

A close up of his face!

Only When I'm Pregnant - 28 Weeks

Happy 4th of July! 

Yesterday we had another ultrasound.  Kevin & Hayden went with me (I planned on taking Allie too, but she had pink eye).  I use to get so worked up over ultrasounds that I wouldn't be able to sleep the night before!  I'd stay up wondering if the baby was a boy or girl.  Then for later ultrasounds, I'd keep myself awake wondering what the baby looked like.  I haven't lost any sleep over these ultrasounds this time.  Not because the ultrasounds are less exciting, I just learned not to get my hopes up with ultrasounds.  All those times I spent laying awake at night with Allie wondering what she looked like were a waste of time.  We never were able to see her face because it was buried!  And with us not finding out the gender, I really don't lay awake pondering that because I know we're not going to find out until late September or early October!

At my appointment they told me the baby is only in the 40th percentile for weight and I'm not measuring as far along as I am (only measuring 25 weeks). They scheduled another ultrasound for my next appointment to check on baby's growth, but all the organs/fluid/movement are perfect and normal so they said there is no reason to be concerned.  We are just praying the baby stays in the 40th percentile or has a big growth spurt and is in the 50th-60th percentile!

I'm starting to feel big in the belly and I've noticed some things are more of a challenge.  Challenge #1 - sitting for long periods of time.  Challenge #2 - bending over to pick something up.  Challenge #3 - staying cool.  Challenge #4 - not over doing it.  I have had to limit my cleaning/organizing time to hour long sessions.  If I don't stop, I get really hot and light headed and my back aches.  I take a break and make lists and plan what I'll do the next hour I have to be productive! 

I've had this craving for caramel that I didn't really realize I had.  I think it started when we were in Florida and I had a salted caramel ice cream.  I've caught myself pinning, on Pinterest, lots of recipes that include caramel.  I also decided this week I needed ice cream at walmart and selected a turtle ice cream that has a swirl of caramel.  (Let's not talk about the huge bowls of ice cream I eat before bed!)

I'm still sleeping good and haven't started swelling yet.  I know those days will be here soon, so I'm really trying to be thankful for that!  Baby is weighing in at 2lbs 8oz.  Here's a sweet profile shot we got yesterday at our ultrasound.... and I think baby has the same profile as my little Allie...... what do you think?  Boy or Girl?  Oh and the heartbeat was 156 - and I'm still carrying low.  

1st Sewing Project

I keep finding all these cute sewing ideas and my list of what I want to make just continues to grow.  I decided it was time to break out my sewing machine and get acquainted with it.  I was really intimidated by it... really.  I found this tutorial on how to transform a men's shirt into a dress and decided I'd make that my first project.  I picked up this red/white/blue/black men's long sleeve shirt at Goodwill a couple weeks ago for $2.50. I spent a couple hours ripping the seams of the shirt and taking apart all the pieces.  The instructions call for a short sleeved shirt but I didn't find any I liked, so I knew my straps would have to be different than the version I was following. 

A few hours later, this is what I ended up with!  I added the flowers and the hair clip because I didn't add all the details the tutorial called for.  I recycled an old "Heilman for Sheriff" shirt to make the flowers.  The buttons I removed from the shirt (around the collar, at the sleeves, and on the pockets) were the centers of my flowers.  I spent just over $3 making the dress (I had to buy red thread).  I definitely learned A LOT (mainly what not to do), but I'm looking forward to getting my machine out again and whipping up another new project! :)  Here's a tutorial for the fabric rosettes.  (P.S. I made the ones on her dress removable because I didn't think they would wash well.)

And my model wearing her dress........... (I made the hair clip later the next day so that's why she's not modeling that in the picture!)

Checking in...

This will be an exciting month!
#1 We are hoping to get a new computer this month
#2 I've found lots of home projects I want to do and I can't wait to get started!
#3 We are trying 10 new recipes this month, so I'm bound to have some good recipes to share!
I'll be back soon with lots of fun new postings! I'm looking forward to it!!!

Only When I'm Pregnant - 27 Weeks

My sister texted me this week to ask if I was on blog strike... And the answer is no! My options when it comes to blogging are #1 use my iPhone,or #2 borrow a computer. Neither are very convenient, so that's why the posts are slow for the time being.

On to my pregnancy. Last night was by far my worst nights sleep. I started thinking about it, and 5 hours of sleep will be considered a good night once the baby gets here! We've been trying to walk a few nights during the week. It's mostly so TJ and I can get our exercise, but the whole family enjoys going. My new niece should be arriving soon and it makes me anxious for September! I guess having baby fever when you are pregnant isn't a bad thing! It's hotter than the dickens here. The forecasted high tomorrow is 107*. You can bet I'll be spending the day inside, with the AC blasting!

No crazy food cravings this past week. I have not had any heartburn yet so I've been wondering if this baby has any hair (like Allie did) or will be pretty much bald (like Hayden was). I have an ultrasound next week and I'm hoping baby is not camera shy because I want more pictures of him/her! Will post next week with an ultrasound update :)

Cute Jammies

When I was cleaning out Allie's "old" room, I found a pair of pjs I had bought for her about a year ago.  They were huge a year ago, but now they fit her well.  I think they are just about the cutest things ever - but of course I'm partial to anything panda!

 I started unloading the dishwasher and turned around to see this.......... Kevin questioned my parenting skills when didn't immediately rescue her, but she wasn't going anywhere!  She does stuff like this ALL day long!  She is her mother's daughter, I guess.........

Only When I'm Pregnant - 26 Weeks

I'm definitely feeling a difference between the 2nd and 3rd trimester!!!  One day I turned our AC down to 69 because I was burning up!  I have a feeling I will be freezing everyone out of the house this summer.  I also am struggling to get up off the floor once I sit down.  And that darn sciatic pain is back and isn't being very nice.  Monday I gave myself a huge to do list and I wasn't going to let anything slow me down.  Well, my back did slow me down, but I kept moving and going (maybe when I should have stopped) and yesterday I had to spend the day recuperating. 

I'm up 25lbs.  I'm still hoping to not go over 40lbs but my cravings have been a little nuts lately.  This past weekend I had a bad chocolate craving.  Overall, Kevin has had more cravings than I have!  He will wake up and tell me he has to have Hacienda, or he will die if he doesn't get a snow cone.  I don't think he got the memo I'm the pregnant one!

Baby is continuing to move 24/7.  I don't think this child ever rests.  Not only do I feel the kicks a lot more, but I can see my belly move when the baby decides to move.  It's pretty cool :)  So, other than being hot all the time and having to slow down, life is pretty much normal.

Oh yes, I do need to mention one more thing.... I spent about 90 minutes one day picking out the best of the best fabric for my bedding I planned on making.  I put it all in my online shopping cart and it totaled $108.  I was a little bummed it cost that much, so I just decided to check on eBay to see what some of their sets were going for.  I found an adorable taupe/white/giraffe print that made me say aww.  It was a 9 piece set for $109.99 shipped.  I thought about it overnight and decided to just buy the one on eBay.  My sister and I discussed the best accent color and narrowed it down to red or yellow :) Kevin and I decided on yellow.  Time to start painting and decorating!  (I've almost got all of Allie's old stuff cleaned out of her room!)

Father's Day 2012

I had been asking Kevin for the last couple weeks how he wanted to spend his Father's Day.  He decided he wanted to go fishing.  My parents had made plans to go to Christmas Lake and cook lunch, so we decided to join them, and my brother and his family, and do some fishing. 

We got up there before anyone else did (we went to church the night before) and I'm glad we got there when we did!  The fish were biting!!!  I caught the first fish - a small bass.  Shortly after, Hayden screams, "I GOT ONE!"  He says this about every 2 minutes when we're fishing so I just looked back and was going to say "Oh yea, keep reeling it in," BUT his pole was all the way bent over and I said, "Kevin, I think he really has one!!!"  Sure enough, he did!  It was a good size one too.  Then he caught another one, just like the first one.  We think they were rock bass.  Never heard of them, but Kevin googled them and it's what they looked like.  Then Kevin caught his one and only catch of the day, a little sun fish.  Then I caught the biggest fish of the day, another bass, about 2 1/2lbs!  It was a fun Father's Day and I hope we make fishing a yearly tradition on that day! 

Hayden with catch #1

Hayden with catch #2

Kevin requested strawberry pretzel salad - his favorite dessert!

My Little Turtles

We have been home a lot more this summer than we were this past fall and winter.  The kids keep playing funny things - for example - they like to pretend they are going to the beach, or Hayden likes to find pretend fishing poles and make Allie play a bass and he tries to catch her.  My favorite is when they play turtles.  I just think their little minds are hilarious!  Who would have thought pillows made good turtle shells?!

What Do You Think I'm Having?!

I'm 2/3rds of the way through my pregnancy and I still don't know what I'm having!!!  I thought for sure I'd have a good guess, but I don't.  Here are some reasons why I'm so confused....

Things Baby #3 has in common with Hayden's pregnancy:

• My gums have bled throughout the pregnancy
• I am anemic (due to being pregnant) and have to take an iron supplement
• I've loved mac n cheese just as much as I did when I was pregnant with Hayden
• I'm carrying low
• Frequent headaches

Things Baby #3 has in common with Allie's pregnancy:

• High heart beat
• Slight obsession with Chinese food (I couldn't even look at Chinese food while prego with Hayden).
• I was very nauseous my first trimester (was never nauseous with Hayden)
• No heartburn
• My hair is less oily than usual

Hayden thinks it's a brother; Allie thinks it's a sister.... What's your guess what I'm having and why?!