Diaper Bag

So which one to I want?

The practical

The trendy/ The roomy

The pretty / The organized

The subtle

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Showered

I am so blessed to have been honored at 2 baby showers these past weekends.  I had so much fun at both, and received so many great gifts. Overall, I think I was most blessed by how wonderfully loved and supported I am.  Thank you to all that were able to attend, and to those that couldn't make it, I hope to see you soon!

Here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure.

Cincinnati Shower Decor

The theme was "Cute as a button" and there were tons of button details around candles, and in and on vases.  There were orange colored roses, a diaper cake, hanging tissue paper puffs, and some framed pictures.

Cincinnati ... action shots!

Look at the trees!  They change color!

 

When using the theme, "cute as a button" beware of angles that block the "O."

"Cute Butt"

All of the guests!

Houston Shower Decor

There were lots of balloons, attached to the lamps in the living room, "it's a boy" confetti and melt in your mouth dinner mints on the entry table and food table, a clothes line for all of the cute outfits we got, and orange tulips.

Answers for the super fun candy game.

Houston Action Shots ...

The hosts!

 

Color schemes make me SO happy!

I wish I had thought to get a group shot, but alas I didn't!

Thank you for two wonderful weekends of blessings.  I was so honored.

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Project Mattress

So like I obsessed about cribs, now I'm obsessing about mattresses.  Just as with the crib, I thought I had made a decision and now I'm thinking I want something else.  Here's what I have it narrowed down to.

No compromise Organic
   Pros: most affordable
   Cons: noise and puffiness
I saw a floor model @ the baby earth store, and it was indeed noisy and puffy as some of the reviews on amazon had indicated, reviews also questioned durability

All Natural Latex
   Pros: my sister has this and loves it, it's super comfy, uses wool for fire retardant
   Cons: my niece sometimes gets sweaty, my bro-in-law thinks the pliability of the mattress makes it a pain to change sheets

Nook Organic
   Pros: you to not need a puddle pad or mattress pad, breathable latex (to prevent the sweating mentioned above), uses wool for fire retardant
   Cons: I've never seen it and there are not many reviews to be found, the price is higher than the other two

And now on to the, "What will the baby sleep in for the first weeks/ months?" question.

Pack n Play with Organic Cotton
   Pros: free, good for travel
   Cons: cannot have this right next to the bed, not totally non-toxic (and after making the crib such a healthy environment it feels wrong for him to begin his time at home in anything less), terrible reviews and no longer available (but my sister never had a problem with it), cardboard and thin foam for mattress

Arms Reach Mini Co sleeper
(this is what I really want)
   Pros: baby is right next to the bed, good for travel, can probably find one on craigs list
   Cons: the mattress is a foam that is treated, and I would want to buy an replacement mattress, not totally non-toxic

Put the nursery crib in our room

   Pros: not buying anything extra, completely non-toxic, I'd feel better about splurging on a nice mattress

   Cons: pain to dissemble, can't have baby next to the bed, baby has to sleep/nap in our room

Anyone want to voice their opinion or advice on the matter?  Let me know what you think is the best deal!

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The Nursery Theme

People have asked me for the theme/ color scheme in the nursery.  Here are a couple pictures to give you an idea!

Bedding - I didn't pick a set, because so much of the money is wasted on the bumper and crib skirt.  Since my awesome crib does not need a skirt, and bumpers are supposed no-nos, I focused my search on sheets.

Curtain from Land of Nod
This is the overall color scheme.
Major bummer: this is out of stock till February!

Organic sheet from giggle.com

Decoration - I'm still at quite a loss here, but here are some pictures I really like.

Lanterns to hang from the ceiling.
I'll probably add ribbon to dangle down.

I LOVE THIS
Can someone tell me how to make it?
A stencil perhaps?

This expensive wall paper, I really wish it was a piece of art I could buy.

I like the use of scrapbook paper on both of these names.

I like the wreath, but don't know that it's a worthwhile craft.

I would LOVE opinions, and suggestions.  Within my immediate family I'm the craftiest and most design savvy, but that's really not saying much! (please note, this includes only those related to me genetically)

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Needles in a Wheat Stack

Every year for the past 4 I seem to have the same problem.  My body decides that its #1 job is to produce mucus.  It is often accompanied by loosing my voice once or twice, sneezing on occasion, and a cough.  The first year that it happened it lasted from around Thanksgiving to Easter.  Not the whole time, but on and off throughout.  During these phases I usually feel pretty good, it's just really obnoxious.  Occasionally I think the drainage causes infection, but just minor, and then I get over it.

Let me frame this all with the fact that I'm not a big fan of pharmaceuticals.  However, the first year this happened I went to the doctor, got a round of antibiotics ... it did nothing.  I went back, they gave me an inhaler ... it did nothing.  I took allergy pills with a decongestant: they helped, but made me loopy and dried me out.  The next 2 years I was very inconsistent with what I took, and just let my body run its course.

This past week the mucus producing fairies returned, and I went to the acupuncturist.

Hubs started seeing an acupuncturist when he was dealing with all of his hand problems, and credits the Dr (along with massage and some physical therapy exercises) with his return to being normal again.  Now the acupuncturist didn't just do acupuncture, he assigned hubs with lot of homework: breathing exercises, stretching, nerve gliding exercises.  He also tested him for common food allergies, using a crazy and unsubstantiated science called "applied kinesiology," and found reactions to peanuts, tomatoes and casein.   However, after he eliminated those foods, he noticed a decrease in puffiness in his hands.

So, I went to my appointment today.  Long story short I reacted to histamines, wheat (but not gluten), shellfish, dust and pet dander.  I then had a 20 min acupuncture treatment to reset my immune system.  The Dr thinks that the more quickly and completely that I can eliminate wheat the faster I'll see this clear up.  I figure I'll give it a month and try to do it cold turkey.  If it causes a significant improvement, I'm a believer.  However, this means no stuffing or pie at thanksgiving, and no cookies or cake at my baby showers. :(

I suppose I've been Paleo-curious for about a year, so why not give the wheat-free thing a try?  For those that don't know what a Paleo diet is, it's basically no grains.

Anyway, I'll keep you posted as to how it goes.

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Rich

About a year or more ago I was at Panera Bread with my boss and a co-worker.  I was struck with a very real dilemma: Asiago Cheese or Everything bagel?  My stomach did not know.

I decided on the Everything simply due to the fact that it was cheaper.  When I relayed this quandary and my solution (with much enthusiasm) to my boss, she said something to the effect of, "Don't live with a spirit of poverty."

I was half offended, half amused, but the gist of her words stuck with me.

When I thought about those words later, I laughed to myself: her husband is one of Dave Ramsey's biggest fans.  After all, I was just being wise with my money & resources.  I don't think I really understood the heart of the message.

Flash forward to about a week and a half ago:
I was looking up local photographers for a maternity & baby pics.  I was thinking about how much I love having memories captured with photography.  I started thinking how much I would love to have someone there to photograph the labor and just after birth, and how I'd love to have an outdoor family session and a studio maternity session.  I was thinking how great it would be to be able to own all of the images to archive.  I started to remember how picky I am about photography.  I started to feel really poor, and really sad for myself: there is no way we could afford everything I wanted.

After about a day or two of feeling really down, I realized how rich I actually am.  It hit me in the, "oh my gosh, I just remembered" kind of way.  Not just rich as in comparison to the rest of the world, which we are, but more that we are richly blessed.  We have so much for which to be thankful.  I felt kind of dumb that I had let this slip from my mind, but I also felt a huge weight lifted off of my shoulders.  Feeling sorry for yourself can get pretty burdensome.

Poverty is the curse of never having enough.  Poverty is not the state of being poor or needy, it is the state of wanting, it's the torment of never having enough.

So although I'm not going to have a professional photographer by my side to capture every moment, and they are not going to retouch them and hand them over at no cost, I'm more okay with the fact that I'm not going to get everything that I want.  I'm richly blessed.

I have come in order that you might have life—life in all its fullness.
John 10:10

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October has Arrived

The month has arrived & the low last night was 54!  The weather is glorious.

How bad is it that I really wanted to pull down the Christmas tree last night!?

Here's 2 bump pics side by side for fun!

16 weeks

26 weeks

I definitely did not realize how much I had changed!  It's pretty exciting.  I'm super eager to meet him, but I'm glad that I have about 3 more months to prepare.

On the preparation front:

We're registered.

We've made major progress on the conversion of the dining to office & office to nursery.

We're taking Bradley Method classes (more on this later).

We've taken two classes at the hospital: child birthing & breastfeeding.

I've started some exercises & and have become more vigilant of my diet - I want to start developing those taste buds for yummy flavors early!

I'm so glad I/we have moved from not really preparing, through crazy research, to having a plan and taking things one step at a time.  I'm sure that bouts of crazy research will happen again, but I think this time it will be a little more paced, and a lot less frantic (who knew circumcision was such a hotly debated topic!?).  But thebump.com's checklist assures me we're taking care of the things of which we need to take care, on time.

Last night I really felt like my pre-pregnancy self.  I went to see the Hubs play at The Tasting Room, and hung out at the bar and chatted with the bartenders, who I consider friends.  I even stayed till after mid-night!  What a rock star I am!  It was really fun to hang out in a chill environment and listen to Hubs rock out.  I think the cooler weather & being with friends really energized me.

There's a lot of self doubt that goes with being pregnant (and being/becoming a mother), but today I kinda feel like, "I got this, and it's gonna be awesome."

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