38 Weeks

 

(Excuse the painter's tape, just the windows are left to be done!)

I am beyond tired today and don't think I went to bed until 5am for some reason.  What is going on?  I don't stay up thinking about anything, I listen to my hypnobirthing scripts, but I just can't seem to fall asleep lately, although last night was a rough one, I've never stayed up that late, tossing and turning, before.  I am very comfy in bed and have nothing really on my mind, it's weird.  So, all I feel like doing today is laying on the couch but our couches are getting cleaned so I may just have to lay in bed instead!

Baby news:  She has definitely moved down because I no longer feel her little feet tucked up into my ribs like I did a couple of weeks ago.  Now the movements I mostly feel are hiccups, way down low, and knees (could be feet) on the sides of my stomach just grazing by.  They poke out and you can see them and I think it's her knees because I think her feet are tucked up underneath them.  It's strange how her movements are slowing down, they say they do this towards the end and have sleeping patterns like newborns, and there are really no more kicks just kind of sweeping movements.  I have to stop sometimes and make sure she's moving still and whenever I think she isn't, I feel her, and then my mind is at ease again.  I wonder what she's doing in there, if it's cramped and if she is just out of room.  I wonder how big she is (there really is no way of knowing, although doctors can guess and she was small when they guessed) and exactly what she looks like, even though we have the 3D ultrasound pics.  I just can't wait to meet her, I wish she'd come out so we could kiss and cuddle her!

This week Ian prepped and painted the back of our house (see this post for when we started this project) while I stayed inside and cleaned and organized.  My mom came over on Friday to help, wearing a heart monitor (she's ok, just a 24 hour monitor check up) and she worked her butt off!  She was a cleaning machine and by the time I puttered out at around 2pm she was still in my bathroom on her hands and knees scrubbing away.  I have mentioned my mom multiple times on here but I just want to say again that we could not have gotten the house ready, the baby's room ready or my mind ready if it weren't for her.  She is the most amazing person, my favorite person, an incredible mother and my best friend.  She and Joe, my step-dad, have done so much for us, it's unbelievable.  I told her to go home and rest but there she was, still scrubbing my bathroom, while she made me lay down.  Who is this 60 year old woman?  She is amazing, and that word doesn't even do her justice.  If you know her, you know what I mean.

Our couches are getting cleaned today for the first time in 6 years or something and our house is getting professionally cleaned tomorrow for the first time ever.  On Friday my mom and I are going grocery shopping for freezer stuff for when baby comes and then we are done.  Ian should be done with touch-ups by then too and then we are just . . . waiting.  

Speaking of waiting, it's a funny thing.  You try to make a baby (for us it took 8 months the first time and 6 months the second time) and then you wait for that line to appear on your stick.  Then, you wait until you are 3 months pregnant to find out if baby is ok and is healthy and they you wait some more.  You wait until you feel better, you wait until you start to show, you wait to find out the sex, you wait to feel the kicks, you wait until work is over, you wait until you feel her slow down (they do this towards the end), you wait for contractions (surges, in hypnobirthing terms) and then you wait for her to come.  It sounds, and feels at the time, like a whole lot of waiting.  But, all of a sudden you are 38 weeks and 4 days and it's almost time.  Then you find yourself just waiting to meet her.  I am not nervous or stressed, I am just excited and anxious.  Anxious to find out what labor is all about, anxious on how it is going to happen and when and excited to meet our little girl.  The waiting seems like it takes forever, but it really doesn't.  It goes by slowly but really it doesn't, it's the strangest thing.  I can remember seeing that stick for the first time, not believing my eyes, and then fast forward to now - when she could come at any moment.  Time flies, it really does.

 (Some other friend of ours that seem to be waiting for Lemon too!  I swear they know something is up!)

We had a doctor's appointment on Monday and our doctor is out of town (I'm kind of hoping I go into labor while she's gone!) so we saw our incredible nurse practitioner, Nancy, and she checked my dilation again.  From half a centimeter last week to a full centimeter this week it's not much to write about because I know it all really doesn't matter.  There are people who go from 0 to 10 in a day so I'm really not worried, it's just funny how they check when it really doesn't matter at all.  My yoga teacher suggests that you can have them check but not have them tell you, because it could mess with your head (all that waiting again!) but I'm realistic and know how it works.  They can check and tell me and I know she will come when she's ready.  I just hope it's sooner than later because then Ian will get more time with Lemon before going back to work on July 31st.

We are practicing all of our natural induction techniques and I have been pretty consistent with my perineal massage.  I also have been walking twice a week for a half hour on the treadmill (I know, I need to up this!) and using 5 pound weights while doing it to keep up my arm strength for holding baby.  Sex, and sperm, are great labor starters but, as you pregnant ladies know, it is hard to get comfy (and sometimes feel sexy) but I am actually pretty into all of it (TMI!).  Ian, on the other hand, has been working his butt off for 5-7 hours a day, in 110 degree weather, so at night it's sometimes tough to practice this one.  But, we are on it and know that it's the best way to get things moving at this point!  Speaking of - my poor husband works so hard while I try to do things inside but am not much help at this point - have I mentioned before how lucky I am to have him?  Right now he is out front touching up paint at 12pm in the afternoon during the hottest part of the day while I sit here blogging in 75 degrees.  He is incredible.  

 

(We rented a paint sprayer from Home Depot last week to get the big stuff.)

(Same wall as above, up until last week and since last summer.  That's lead paint that has been chipped away and sealed it.  Ah the joys of living in a house built in 1959!)

(We painted the front of our house last summer but didn't get to the back, so here it is finally gray like the front!  Wahoooo!)

(I made a yummy chicken salad that Ian's mom, Patty, gave me the recipe for while Ian painted one day.  It was a pain to cut everything up but we ended up having it for lunch for about 5 days - it was awesome!  Just pineapples, mandarin oranges black and green olives, grapes, onions, celery, grilled organic chicken, miracle whip, dry mustard, regular mustard, almond slices and raisins.  So good!)

 

(A very blurry me on the treadmill.  9.5 months pregnant, pretty good!)

Christine has been also hanging with us a few nights this week and I went swimming with her and Espen this past weekend too.  Her boyfriend is out of town, and has been for over 3 weeks, so I'm happy we get to entertain her while he's away, I always love spending time with her.  I also love that everyone comes over to hang out because I really don't feel like putting on real clothes, or makeup for that matter, to go anywhere lately - mostly because I'm so tired all the time.  Ian and I have started to take 2 hour naps (we call them snappys - fast naps) during the day so that helps us stay up at night to watch House (a series we started this summer) and then I try to get in bed by 12am and fall asleep - and sometimes it works.

Oh and guess what?!  My yoga friend Amy had her daughter, Mabel, last night so guess who is now the most pregnant person at prenatal yoga?  This girl!!!  How crazy is that?  I remember when I first went to that class on a Wednesday night (March 7th, when I was 22 weeks pregnant), and I was one of the least pregnant people there, and looked across at the really pregnant ladies and thought - will that be me one day?  And tonight, it is me!  On Saturday morning, after yoga, I went to breakfast with 3 of my yoga friends and hope that we can go to dinner again tonight together.  I am really going to miss them after I have the baby, I hope we can all keep in touch!  Prenatal yoga has been one of the most amazing things I've done pregnant, I suggest it to all moms out there, it is a bonding experience like no other and has kept me healthy, flexible and not swollen (along with leg rubs from my husband)!  Go, meet other pregnant women when you are pregnant, there is seriously nothing else like it.

Not much else to add.  Our checklist is dwindling away and after Friday we are done with everything and are just getting excited to meet our little friend.  I did visit with a pediatrician this week (my mom came along because I had no idea what to ask!) and thought I'd post our questions here (we ended up loving her) as well as the questions I had for my hospital visit, but never got to ask because our tour guide knew nothing (see this post).  Hopefully I can go back there some day soon but if not, I'm not worried and have gotten most of them answered by our doctor.  Just thought some would like to see what we asked (or would have asked) so that when you go you can make your own list by just adding to ours!

COME ON, LEMON!!!!

Questions we asked our pediatrician:

• What is your philosophy on child rearing?
• Do you accept our insurance?
• How much are your hospital charges/fees for office visits with our insurance? 
• Does a nurse practitioner work in your office?  Who will I see on visits?
• Do you return phone calls in a timely manner?  
• Can I call just to ask questions instead of bringing our baby in?
• What is the length of appointments usually?
• Do you have a "sick" and "well" waiting room?
• How often will you want to see our newborn the first year?  What are those visits usually like?
• If you share a practice, will I always see you?
• Do you have evening or Saturday hours in case of after hour appointments?
• Do you have "same day sick" appointments?
• Do you have email?
• Which vaccines do you give infants and when?
• When do we call?  What constitutes a visit?
• Do you believe in natural healing with babies or is medication always the best?
• How many years have you been in practice?  What are your specialities?
• As a pediatrician, what are your biggest concerns with infants?
• Are there resources available to me?
• Do you come to the hospital for the initial meeting?  

Questions I wanted to ask during our hospital tour:

• What are your c-section and episiotomy rates?
• Do you have an iPod hookup with speakers?
  Do you have a DVD player?
• Can we dim the lights and bring in LED candles?
• Can I labor in the tub?  What about after my water breaks?
• What are the extra costs associated with labor/delivery?
• Will I be able to move around?  Can I walk, do you have a labor bar/stool?
• Are there classes we will need to take before we are released?
• How do we check in?  Where?  Parking?  ER?  Pre-registration?
• Can we bring our cloth diapers?
• Where is the snack machine?
• What is the temperature like in the rooms?  
• Is there a lactation consultant?  Will I need my breast pump?
• Do you do car seat checks before we leave?
• Do you have a pediatrician or should we notify you of our own?
• Do your nurses know what hypnobirthing is?  Are they familiar with the practice?
• Do you have a freezer for popsicles?
• Can I eat/drink on my own?  Do I need to be hooked up to an IV for fluids?
• Do you have a birthing ball?
• How much activity am I allowed during labor?
• Is our baby in our room with us after birth or will she be moved to a nursery?
• Is there newborn care on site in case there is an issue?  Will she have to be taken anywhere?
• Do you have any forms of drug free pain relief you can offer?
• What are your views on pacifiers, formula, and sugar water?  Policies for giving these to baby?
• I have a wheat allergy, can you accomodate?
• What is your fetal monitoring policy?
• What is your cell phone policy?  Do they work in the rooms?
• Where is visitor parking?  How many visitors can we have?  Can we request no visitors for the first two hours after birth?
• What are your checkout procedures?
• IV procedures?

37 Weeks

 

 (Excuse the newspaper, we are painting tomorrow!)

An eventful week for us but not much exciting stuff to write about, I'm afraid.  I will do my best but this may be a super short post, maybe that's a good thing?!

I went to yoga on Saturday and it was tough getting there at 10:15 and living a half hour away.  I haven't been able to fall asleep lately, usually an hour after we go to bed, so waking up before 8am is getting harder and harder.  Last night I think I got maybe 5 hours of sleep, I may need a nap today!  At yoga we were asked what the best part of our pregnancy has been so far and it was hard for me to think of just one thing.  I am just so grateful and thankful to be pregnant, to experience all of it because I know so many can't or have been through a loss like us and just aren't ready to try again.  I told her that I am just so full of gratitude and think of those women who aren't able to do this or are afraid to keep trying at least 4 times a day.  Ian even said, the other night, that I haven't really complained much throughout this pregnancy and I think it's because I just feel so lucky, no matter how crappy or tired I may feel that day.  The lucky totally outweighs everything else and I can't even imagine saying at this point - "oh I'm so uncomfortable, get this baby out of me" like I've heard so many say.  I am enjoying our last few weeks together, Lemon and I, and although I am excited to meet her, I know this time with her inside is fleeting so I am taking in every moment.

I recently talked with two new people who have had (or are expecting) a miscarriage - hello Stephanie and Tory.  Tory wrote a comment on my post last week and it touched me deeply, it was right after yoga and it just brought tears to my eyes knowing that she is reading.  Stephanie and I became Instagram friends and have been emailing back and forth recently.  They have different stories than mine, but we all share in our loss.  I have met so many people, because of this blog, and I feel so lucky to have met them.  I cannot wait until I read their stories and hear about their future pregnancies and see their babies when they are born, eventually.  I feel so connected to them, even though we've never met, and am so happy I can help them not feel so alone in their journey.  I added a section to this blog awhile ago, Blog Love, and I hope you check it out.  Some of the woman on there are women I have met because of our similar situations and they could use all of the love and support you've given me, while on their path to recovery.  I think of them daily and send them all of my love, they amaze me constantly with their positivity, I wish I could have been more like them last year.  Take some time to send some happy thoughts their way (or say a prayer, whatever you want) if you think of it.  We are all connected and they will definitely feel your love.  I also wanted to add that I respond to everyone's comments on here so if you've written me, I have written you back so make sure you check back to see.  I hope that all of you keep in touch so that we can one day rejoice in your little bundles of joy too!  :)

My hypnobirthing teacher, Marne, and her son, Kingston, came over on Friday to swim and record some hypnobirthing scripts so that I would have them to listen to in the hospital.  The twins and Espen joined us (Christine had to work) and we had a fun day of swimming and recording.  The best spot to record in our house is in the bathroom, so Ian stuck all the ladies in there and listened on headphones while they read their scripts.  It was really fun and I'm so happy they did it (and it sounds awesome!), I will LOVE hearing their voices while trying to concentrate in the hospital.  Jenny saw the nursery in person for the first time and cried, she will be such an amazing aunt and I hope she slows down soon and stops working so much so she has more time for herself.  I want her to have a muffin of her own one day, and she does too, and I know she will be an amazing mother.  (She could use some of those happy thoughts too if you think of it.)  Christine even came over last night and did a recording of her own too, a long one (and she was nervous!), but she did it and I am SO thankful she did.  I have the BEST friends!!!

 

(Espen)

 

(Kingston)

 
Friday night we headed to Ian's parents to see his grandma, Aunt and Uncle who were in town and had fun over there eating dinner with them.  Saturday and Sunday we did some finishing touches on the flooring in our house (things that we've wanted to do for years!) and everything is starting to look so great around here.  We plan on starting painting tomorrow and Friday and then hopefully finishing painting the back by this weekend, we are so close to being done!  Sunday we went back to Ian's parents to celebrate Father's Day and Ian got a cute Father's Day present from me and Lemon:

Angie Austin on etsy makes these frames, I've written about her before, and she made another cute one for Ian and my Dad this Father's Day, with a personal message on the back.  Ian loved his and I can't wait to see my Dad's in person when he comes home from Oregon to see the baby (we just have to call him when it's time!).  We got Ian's Dad a Pick Punch (a MUST for guitar players!) and Joe, my step-dad a gift card to Cabela's, his favorite.  I was fatherless this year so my mom and I went to Patty and Henry's to celebrate with Henry and had a good time hanging with Ian's brother, my sister-in-law and our nephew.  Happy Father's Day to my husband, a brand new Dad, and the best one I know!

We had a doctor's appointment on Monday and it was the first time that she checked me to see if I was dilated or thinning.  She said I was only about a half a centimeter, but was thinning, and the baby's head was a -2, so it was down and getting ready.  I also measured only 34 weeks which means she's dropping.  I know that none of this means anything and am definitely not in a rush, but am going to continue to go to yoga and walk on the treadmill so that we can naturally induce Lemon on time.  I am pretty ok with just about anything happening, aside from a c-section, but I definitely don't want to have to be induced so we are trying everything that has been suggested to us (including nipple stimulation and sex - sorry again moms!).  Lemon can come any time now and the excitement is just killing me, I can't wait to meet her!

Ashley, my sister-in-law, and our nephew, Reggie, came over yesterday to swim and help me do my belly cast.  I said to Christine last week, "I don't want to do the belly cast until I am really big" and she looked me up and down and basically said the time is now with her eyes!  So, I thought I'd better do it now just in case this baby comes early!  Ashley volunteered to help, and she's a pro at art projects, so they came over and after about 2 hours we were done!  Ian kept Reggie busy and then we went swimming, it was a really fun day but we were exhausted after.  Ian and I fell asleep on the couch as soon as they left for about 3 hours, we apparently have no stamina for 2 year olds!  We need to work on this!  Not really sure what I'm going to do with this belly cast yet, I'd like to paint it and hang it in Lemon's room but I'm not sure.  It was just one of those things I had to do with my first pregnancy - something I couldn't miss out on!

 

(What a mess!  That's why I wore my bikini bottoms!)

(Same smiles, too cute!)

I repacked our hospital stuff, organized it, and made a couple of birthing playlists for my iPod yesterday.  We also found a pediatrician that is close (we meet her tomorrow) and made an appointment for our house to be cleaned and couches to be vacuumed and shampooed.  We are more and more ready for Lemon to come and after this week hopefully the house will be ready too.  Ian is working so hard every day, in the heat (110!) by himself, I just have no words for how hard this man works to take care of his family.  I wish that I could help him more but am just so tired lately, and the heat kills me (it takes all day for me to recover from a half an hour outside!), so he is alone in his endeavors but is out there every day just working it!  I love him more than words can describe and am so thankful for all he does for us.

That's it for now, I will be 38 weeks on Saturday and it is just so unbelievable.  My posts could stop any day now and then there will be a post by Ian from the hospital - so crazy!  Keep us in your thoughts and let's start the chant - "Come on Lemon, Come on Lemon!"  :)

I will end with some cute, wet, pictures of Julie after her bath today - just because!

9 Months & A Nursery Reveal!

So here we are, 9 months later, and what a journey it has been!  I can remember posting this post, revealing the news and being nervous that something could still go wrong.  My nerves are still the same, it is still hard to believe we will be bringing our baby girl home with us in just a few short weeks, but we have made it SO FAR, it's kind of silly to still be so cautious.  I told you, my brain won't knock it off, but I'm trying.  :)

Interesting things that happened this week - I have talked to two different people, in the past couple of weeks (total strangers), that have asked me when I'm due, I tell them and then they ask, "Do you think you are going to make it that far?"  When I say, "no" they say, "me neither."  It is the weirdest thing but I do feel like this baby is going to come earlier than later and apparently other people think so too.  Also, at the cloth diaper store this weekend we got another tutorial on cloth diapers, learned about baby slings and ended up buying one of these for spraying off baby poop (when they start drinking formula or eating solid foods) but mostly because the woman said moms like it when they first get home from the hospital and need to "freshen up" down there.  It sounded good to me so my mom and step-dad got it for me, it's like your own personal beday and I have a feeling I am going to love it!  Anyway, the woman said to me, "You seem so calm so close to your due date, believe me, that is very rare.  You seem so positive, we don't see that very often."  And, she even told me stay positive and keep this energy about me until the baby comes, as we were leaving.  It made me so happy because I knew that one day my positive attitude would show and then people would stop wanting to tell me their horror stories, or any stories, and just appreciate my positivity.  Hypnobirthing has helped me, I feel really knowledgeable and ready, not scared or nervous, and I am excited more than anxious about labor and delivery.  It was a nice thing to hear when you are 9 months pregnant, people aren't often that nice.  :)

While we were out shopping I ran into one of my prenatal yoga friends that had her baby 3 weeks ago.  I shared with her my frustrations about prenatal yoga (how there is no post-natal class for us all to meet up again at) and she said the same thing.  She actually lives by me and got my number, and I hope that we can take our kids out and go on walks together.  She looked amazing, I had only ever seen her pregnant, and I just hope I look that amazing 3 weeks after giving birth!  It was so fun to see her and she says that she is going to start going to Mommy and Me yoga on Tuesday mornings with a couple other of the girls from our prenatal class and that made me happy, like at least we will all be able to catch up there.  And, my step-mother (who passed away), her good friend Peri teaches that class, so I was planning on going to it anyway and just got even more excited about it!  Lemon and mommy at yoga?!  Come on!

Some crazy body stuff going on lately - my feet and my bladder.  When I get out of bed in the middle of the night, or in the morning, and my feet first hit the floor they feel sore and like they can't support me.  It's like all of the blood was relaxing during the night and then they get shocked into working when I get up.  Throughout the day they feel fine, and no swelling yet, but it's in the morning that they feel the weirdest.  I also have this pinching bladder pain that feels like I have to pee right after I pee or when I get up or down from sitting.  My yoga teacher said it's pubic symphysis but my OB said it could be contractions.  However, having experienced a bit of contractions (surges in hypnobirthing) before it doesn't feel like that and I think it's Lemon's head pressing on my bladder.  I looked up diagrams on where she's laying (she has been head down since 30 weeks) and her head is right there, squishing my bladder.  So, I'm pretty sure that's it but it causes me to stop for a second and take a breath because it is kinda painful!

This week we were still working on getting things ready at home before I go into labor.  My only goals for this weekend were to pack up our hospital stuff and to install both car seat bases before Ian took off for Vegas with his family (just in case!).  

The contents of our hospital bag(s) include:

• chapstick
• hair ties/bobby pins/headband
• iPod, headphones and speakers (with Hypnobirthing scripts recorded on it)
• Hypnobirthing book/scripts/visualizations
• gum
• undies (non-flattering ones to hold the after birth gigantic pads)
• feminine products
• our portable DVD player to hook up to TV in room if they don't have one
• DVDs
• blankets/clothes/hats/bows/flowers/outfits/mittens for baby
• baby book for footprints and handprints - do they still do this in hospitals?
• camera
• nightgowns for delivery and after, including a robe
• soap and towel
• massage lotion
• diaper bag with baby items
• breast pump (unopened just in case)
• bathing suit top (for tub)
• my normal hygiene stuff that I couldn't pack yet like deodorant/toothpaste/shampoo/lotion/face wash/etc.
• Ian's normal hygiene stuff
• we are also going to be plenty of water and snacks that I can eat because I'd like to decline IV fluids if possible (and there is no evidence supporting not eating during labor)
• socks/slippers/flip flops
• sweater
• pillows/blanket/snoogle
• notebook and pen
• and . . . a vibrator (sorry moms!)  This is a technique we learned in hypnobirthing (and also in Ina May's book) for slow or stalled labor, we will let you know how it works! 

I also posted our birth plan in this post, along with links to all of the posts where I mentioned hypnobirthing, our teacher, information about it and a brief overview - in case you're interested.  I did that post for my yoga friends, because they were asking about it, but it's really for anyone interested in what we are doing, or trying to do, regarding labor and delivery.

(Do not mind the chair covered in clothes, it has since been cleaned!)

(And this is where everything lives, in the living room, until we have to go!  I even made a list for Ian so that he knows what to pack for himself when the time comes, and one for my mom when she comes over to our house while we are in the hospital.  We are ready!)

Now, the car seat bases.  First, the Prius (which has a latch system):

 

(Convinced we did something wrong because the latches have really no give!)

Then, the 4runner, which is older so we had to use the middle seat belt:

(Thinking I had it down but then needed Ian's help!)

(It was probably like 110 that day and Christie took all the pics for us!)

My mom and I shopped all day on Saturday (pics of the nursery below!), we had spaghetti with my family on Sunday (and Hawaiian shaved ice after at Bahama Bucks) and then Ian left for Las Vegas for a mini family reunion on Monday morning.

 

(It is like shaved ice but with ice cream mixed in, and at the bottom.  So delicious!)

 (Ian had fun playing a ring game while we were there!)

I was so sad to see him leave for some reason.  He was only gone for two days and a night but being so close to having our baby girl left me in kind of a funk while he was gone.  I even cried when he left, how lame is that?!  My mom spent the night on Monday night with me (just in case - again!), even though she worked all day and had to work the next day (she is AMAZING!), and I used the time to swim with Christine, hang with my friend Elise and get some things done around the house.  But, I was still in some sort of a funk because I woke up early both mornings he was gone, couldn't go back to sleep for hours, and then went back to bed and slept until almost 12, not wanting to even get up then and moving slowly all day.  I knew nothing was going to happen while he was gone, but was worried something might happen to him on the drive, I was just being dumb.  He was away when we lost the blueberry (see his post) so maybe that's it, I was just kinda sad for the past two days.

Before Ian left, we put the final touches in the nursery after my mom and I picked up a few things.  My mom helped us buy a new rug, some other things we needed and a cute ladybug light that projects stars all over the room when you turn it on (I didn't think Lemon needed it, but she did).  Ian and I ended up spending Saturday night, laying on the new rug together, looking at the stars projected, holding hands and crying, talking about how our Lemon will soon be here with us.  Having babies is truly a miracle and when you've lost one, you are reminded of that fact even more.  We are just so thankful and happy we've gotten this far and can't wait to hold our little girl in our arms.  It seems unreal and so amazing, we just laid together and talked about her and how happy we are that she's almost here.  The next morning, Ian had written this (all on his own while I slept) and it captured my thoughts/feeling exactly:

Dear Lem,

Last night I saw the starriest night

all because of a ladybug’s light.

Your mom and I laid on the softest pink grass,

among puffy pink flowers,

we simply held hands.

3 solemn strong robots stood so very still

protecting the stillness, they watched the stars too.

The animal watched on the calmest cool night

 as the stars changed their color by lady bug’s light.

There was an art show set under the stars

with paintings by artist whose names are like ours.

Dogs, dinosaurs, jawas, birds,

 words and odd trees;

your mom and I painted so many of these.

We laid there like glaciers frozen in time,

talking and loving your mom’s hand in mine.

You might think were crazy lying out in the trees

but really we laid in your new nursery.

We worked like old dogs, we started from scratch;

we nailed, we hammered, we fastened and latched.

Now we are ready a few weeks ‘til your due,

our whole lives we’ve waited so we can love you.

Last night, after prenatal yoga, me and 3 of my new pregnant yoga friends went out to dinner.  It was SO MUCH fun and I hope we can do it again next week.  I have said it before and I will say it again, there is NOTHING like hanging out with pregnant people when you are pregnant, seriously.  I hope to keep in touch with these girls after we all have our babies - wouldn't that be the best?!

Now, what you've all been waiting for - our final nursery reveal!  Remember when we started, back in March, our spare room looked like this:

And now it looks like this (details to follow):

 

 

(A Pinterest project that turned out to be way more work than we thought.  Bought a canvas, sticky letters/hearts, spray painted it white, then bought a light from Wal-Mart to put behind it, had to build out the frame, twice and use sticky tape to lay it flat to the wall.  The light actually came with a remote so it is stuck in there and we have a remote to turn it on and off like a night light.  It turned out really cute!

(My grandma, Nani, and me.  I hope to one day have Lemon and my mom take a picture just like this and then put the two side by side.  And look what is on the table and behind us in a bowl - so weird!)

Nursery details:

• Ikea Frames
• Mobile from JennaEBee13 on Etsy
• Lemon Bookends from DesignAtelierArticle on Etsy
• Prints from KZukowski, heartsee, enrouge and papermoth on Etsy
• Wet bag (for cloth diapers) from Sweet Bobbins on Etsy (you can get any fabric/handles you want, just look at the fabric they have available)
• Lowes paint color Valspar brand in Fountain Mist
• Lowes molding
• Ikea flooring
• Dresser is from Coaster Furniture (actually found it through Coleman Furniture for $100 less and white glove delivery and they put it together!)
• Chevron curtains, rocking chair pads, yellow lamp shade and crib skirt are from Carousel Designs (not cheap but SO worth it)
• Ikea closet curtains
• Lowes sheer curtains
• Lowes pot for plant
• Ikea Expedit shelf
• Michaels letters
• Buy Buy Baby rug
• Babyletto Hudson 3 in 1 Convertible Crib
• Babies R Us closet accessories
• Company Store yellow storage bins
• Ikea pink storage bins
• Lemon suitcase from IMarriedMrRogers on Etsy (she's got one lemon one left and some tangerine ones if you're interested!)
• Babies R Us crib sheet
• Target pink breathable bumper
• Target Prince Lionheart cloth wipes warmer
• Ikea hamper
• Ikea storage bins in closet (for clothes over 3 months)
• Lemon pillows handmade by our friend Sandy who also has an etsy shop.
• Paper flowers were made by my sister-in-law, Ashley.
• String of pom-poms were made by Jenny.
• The flags were made by Christine.
• The hearts were made by IMarriedMrRogers and were hidden in the lemon suitcase!
• The robot looking toys are actually ATATs and an ATST from Star Wars.  :)