30 weeks

Um, I am not sure what is scarier - 30 weeks or the fact that next week there will only be single digit weeks left to go....YIKES!  That must explain the extreme nesting that has started and why I have bought baby a couple outfits.
The past couple weeks have been somewhat stressful, but I won't get into that here....Let's talk baby and fun stuff.....

The baby's room is painted - it doesn't have any flooring, but it is painted - thanks to my Baby Daddy ;)
We had a doctor appointment last week and everything looks great.  I passed the glucose and anemia tests from the previous appointment.  The heart beat was around 137ish.  Hmm, could that be a boy?!?!?
I hit the 20 lb mark.  Not sure if that is good or bad, but assume its okay as the doctor has mentioned anything.
The Dorito craving has subsided some, or maybe because I haven't bought them at the store lately, but I feel like I could eat pizza for dinner every night....or spicy food.
Just signed up for our childbirth class.
Bought these cuties at GAP for baby (they had 40% off the whole store on Monday - I got myself a long sleeve tee and a couple pairs of underwear.  I'm trying a new style - to find out why - go here) I figured they were neutral enough and will keep little one warm in our cool Atlanta winter and our visit to frigid Ohio!

 

Baby is very active.  The doctor said baby is lying across my belly right now, which would explain the jabs to the ribs AND my lower abdomen.  I can't get over how strong some of the movements feel.

And last, but probably not least, I am definitely growing.  The first picture is a little blurry but was a good shot of the bump. There were other pictures from last night, but they weren't as cute.  I think I wore this same outfit for my 28th birthday, only difference is the jeans weren't maternity back then ;)

That's all for now!!  More to come next week.

Crazy

I know its been over a week, but its been a crazy week.
I owe you all pictures and baby updates.
But today is my birthday and I took the day off work and am lounging/relaxing.
Pictures and updates tomorrow.....

until then...

Books

My blog reading grandmother (yep - she reads my blog!!) read my post on needing some new books to read and sent me home with a few after our visit to Ohio in July.  So far I have only read 1...

It was pretty good.  A fun, quick read.  I liked that it was set in Atlanta, so it was neat to "know" all the settings.  (find it here at amazon)
The other one is below and hopefully I can start it soon.  But my to do list seems to just keep growing and my time to get things done is getting shorter.

 Here at Amazon

So thank you Grandma and I look forward to getting more books from you!!

(this is supposed to post on Sunday.....not sure what is going on with Blogger)

Apples - Love'em and Hate'em

I apparently have a love hate relationship with apples.  I love to eat a good crispy, slightly sweet apple, especially in the Fall.  But what I don't love is the impact they have on my digestion.  They either have a mild impact - heartburn - or a stronger impact - let's just say its "move your feet or fill your seat." 

The reaction is mild or non existent if eating them cooked.  Guess that means I'll be baking with apples this Fall...I see an apple crisp in my future.  Any great recipe recommendations??

Labor Day Weekend Recap

I started this post 21 days ago and in order to preserve the weekend in my online "diary" I am still going to finish it....sorry its a bit late.

Labor Day weekend was a blast!!  Friday one of my best friends came to visit with her family.  I was so excited to see them - and to hang out with my little god daughter - she's adorable - see below (and I think the trigger for my baby girl dream).  Other than a great friendly visit the purpose of their visit was to attend the UNC - LSU Chick Fil A Kickoff Game.  James went to UNC (think we have talked about that here) and friend's hubby is a HUGE LSU fan.  To make Friday even more interesting, 4 of James' friends (my friends now too) from UNC came to spend the night before the game.  Rather than feeding all of them, we ate at a restaurant close  by.  The girls left after dinner, and the boys stayed until after midnight.  We enjoyed the rest of the evening catching up and chit-chatting.  We were up early (the girls that is) on Saturday morning.  D and I enjoyed the cooler temperatures and sat on the front porch with little A.  It was so nice!  The boys finally made it out of bed and rallied.  James and C headed to the Ga Tech season opener and the other friends headed to checkin and set up the tailgate for the UNC game.  D and I relaxed at the pool and then got ready to head to the game.  Me in my Caroline blue, D&A in their purple.  About halfway to the parking garage, I started to smell something and it wasn't exactly pleasant.  We decided it was A's diaper, but thought we would wait until we parked.....Boy were we in for a surprise.  It was a BLOWOUT of proportions I had never seen...up to the armpits.  And off came the cute little LSU onesie!!!  The final score was not in UNC's favor, but was somewhat to be expected given their current issues.  We finally got home and in bed around 12:30 AM...another late night!  Sunday was more relaxing.  We went to the pool and planned to cookout with some other friends.  Dinner was awesome as the weather was still fairly cool and we ate outside.  After dinner, we played cards until 1:30 AM.  Third late night of the weekend for this pregnant lady.  D & family left Monday morning.  It was sad to see them go, we had such a great time hanging out and are definitely looking forward to their next visit!!
After they left, James and I ate lunch and got settled on the couch - James to study and me to nap, all while watching US Open tennis.  Let's just say between the hours of 11:30 AM and 6:00 PM, I alternated between sleep and watching tennis.  I was a tired girl, but was definitely refreshed and enjoyed my nap!!

The only pictures from the weekend were from the pool, so I picked a couple I thought were cute!!  Just love this little girl!!
(Hope her mommy doesn't get mad I posted pictures)

28 Weeks

warning - long post - really 2 posts combined in one

We're in the 3rd trimester, its all down hill from here, only 1/3 left to go, yikes its getting closer....WOW! (Some resources say we entered it last week, so say this week, so I waited until this week to "declare" it)

Baby is growing and apparently so am I.  My email today says Baby weighs 2 1/4 pounds and is about 14.8 inches from head to toe.  I say all that growth is producing some pretty powerful movements.  Some feel like Baby is using my insides as a punching bag.  Others feel like Baby is stretching all 14 inches out and I feel it on both sides of my belly.  (I think Baby knows I am talking about him/her as I am getting attacked as I write this.)  Back to me getting bigger....its getting a bit uncomfortable.  I have moved my "office" so that I can sit in the big chair that has an ottoman.  Sitting straight up and down at the table is not comfortable anymore.  I find myself taking really deep breaths (which generally triggers questions from James making sure I am okay.)  I am still in some non maternity clothes, mainly my nike workout pants, tennis outfits and t shirts/tank tops.  In fact I ran into Old Navy last night and picked up some tshirts for $4.50 (they are on sale for $5 and Tuesday is 10% day with my BR card).  I grabbed them in size medium and figured for that cheap, I didn't care if I stretch them out too much.  I'm still working out, walking and playing tennis.  Though, I think my muscles are getting weaker - I struggled with the weights this week.  Also, I have had some cramping in my calves when walking.  But from what I read this is all to be expected.
Please know - I am not complaining about the above (well maybe sometimes and maybe just a bit) because we really are excited about the arrival of little one, and carrying him/her in my belly for 9 months is a small price to pay!  (I know I need to clean the bathroom mirror - sorry for the specks, but its the soon to be nursery and its in redo mode)  I gave you shots from all angles, I think Baby is sitting towards my right side.  (Hopefully I'll have better pictures later - James can take some!)

Big moment for the week....We selected a paint color.  I have been mentioning this for awhile now and technically owe you a whole post on it.  But, let's discuss here.  We (I mean mainly I) was going for a graying blue wall.  For a boy we would use navy/white or brown/white or green/white, some decent options.  For a girl we would use pinks/white - mainly hot pinks.  So during a sale at SW in August, we picked up 3 paint samples.  James put them up in a few places in the room (you know to check lighting and all).  None of them really worked for either of us.  So one day while out running errands, I stopped at Home Depot and picked up 4 more samples and put them on the wall.  One might have worked for me and seeing the new 4, James decided one of the SW colors might work for him.  But bottom line, none were what we really wanted.  Fast forward to Friday.....SW is having another 40% off sale and we're determined to make a decision.  We purchased 5 more samples.  (That's a total of 12 paint samples if you're keeping track).  3 blue samples, 2 green samples (don't get me started on that, let's just say James had this wild idea that green would solve our indecision).  FINALLY a blue we like!  On Sunday we purchased 2 gallons....a decision has been made and executed!!  Pictures below of our paint swatch walls......

The room has been cleared of furniture for another project (we're replacing carpet with hardwoods) but the bed was left for kids to crash on game night a couple weeks ago.  The door in the picture is to the bathroom, closet is off the bathroom.  Also - I had forgotten about James putting up that taupey green color on the bottom - so that makes 13 colors

This wall has all 13 color swatches....The winner is the second one from the left on the top row....its called Tidewater from SW.  (this picture shows it the best.)

Angle from the bathroom door.  This shows the final 5 color swatches. 

Last week I made my last trip to Lexington, this weekend is our last scheduled road trip and my last plane trip for work is at the end of Oct....time is flying by and Baby will be here soon....exciting and scary all at the same time!

Upcoming Birthday

My birthday has sneaked up on me this year (its in 2 weeks) and the gift idea requests have started to come in.  The last couple years I have posted a wish list of sorts and that has helped (since most of my family reads this little blog of mine!)  (see 2009 here and 2008 here).  But this year I am just not sure.  There are a lot of things I want, but most are baby related - and well its going to be all about baby in the next few months, so I wouldn't mind getting something for me (you know, kind of like savoring the moments before baby's arrival, even though baby has taken over my body).  The suggestions I have given so far are shoes (which are hard to buy for someone else) (I am in need of new shoes because anything other than flip flops are not fitting properly anymore, apparently my feet are growing in pregnancy) and a diaper bag (but that too is baby related).  Maybe spa treatments - yea - that's definitely just for me and would be very relaxing (massage and facial).....but then I have to find the time to do that and well, the next few weekends are busy and we really need to get cracking on the nursery and some other home projects (Yes, I know nesting is part of it).  And then as I look at the home projects, we are going to need new rugs, maybe some curtains and other accent pieces, but that doesn't translate into a birthday gift very well.

I guess the best I can do is post below some of the things I have bookmarked lately that caught my eye.....

From Etsy Seller Miss Betty Lou - there are some other great color combinations that are pretty as well - nothing like a pretty statement necklace to dress up a boring maternity top!

Not sure that worked either, because this was the only non baby thing bookmarked.  Shoes and maternity clothes are the only things in my shopping bags....hmmmm....so I really didn't get anywhere....Any ideas?!?!

UPDATED::

Maybe a cardigan like this one from Anthropologie (it should fit before AND after baby - and I don't plan to buy a coat but rather to layer)

Or this one from Banana Republic

Or this one at Land's End Canvas...(sorry can't get the picture to load)

I'll try to add more as I think of something or someone gives me an idea (Thanks Up North Preppy!!!)

Saturday

Happy Saturday!  We have a busy weekend ahead of us...GA Tech football game at noon, yard work (mostly James), thank you notes, Fall decorating, furniture moves, church, Sunday school, tennis (if it doesn't rain), and I'm sure something else will pop up! 

We're expecting rain here in Atlanta, hopefully the weather will begin to cool off and it will feel more "Fall-like"......

Have a great weekend!