OH BABY... room!

After much deliberation and planning, we finally put together our baby's bedroom! I do have two more things to do still but they won't happen until after the baby is born. One item because of product availability and the other because I am ready to be done for awhile!

So... where to start? How about "In the beginning..."

In the beginning, this room used to be sort of the "drum room" and everything else that didn't have a home dropping ground.

Not really much going on. Notice the '80s mini blinds.

And sadly, Luke's drums that have been sent to the 'Man Shack'

It was kind of an ordeal to get this stuff out of the room because of Luke's broken collar bone and my 3rd trimester fatigue/awkwardness/I don't feel like it-ness. And this is like half-way through January when all the pregnancy emails say we should be packing our bags and the nursery should be just about done. Um... nope.

And it didn't help that I agonized over furniture, etc for quite some time so I was feeling the crunch! Even knowing that the baby doesn't really care about this stuff... well, I CARE! I like rooms that look nice! So it had to be done!

I think Luke felt the intensity too!

A wise friend once told me that I should definitely have a clock in the nursery because it can feel like 5 hours have passed when the baby is crying and really, it's been about 12 minutes so it's good to have a clock/ahem, perspective on hand.

Thank-you IKEA!

Here's our rocking chair! This took quite awhile to find! There is a blank spot on the wall above and I'm going to get one of Luke's totally adorable "when he was little" drawings put onto canvas and hang it here! This is the thing I just don't feel like doing right now. It means digging through Luke's boxes in the garage for the right picture. Maybe another time.

The light fixture we first picked was a BIG mistake. So we went with this little thing. It works!

Here's the shelf that I HAD to have for this baby's room. Someday Hudson will appreciate it! I mean, what child wouldn't just be thrilled with all that storage!

Note another blank wall. There is a shelf that will go here and all those stuffed animals will be moved up... but it's not available until April. And then we'll put some more framed photos on the table.

Here's the dresser/changer. That changer comes off so this will be our boy's dresser for a VERY long time. I love the pictures by Norman Rockwell. Lots of sports. Maybe he will like sports? Maybe not. No pressure. Except for mountain biking... Just kidding.

And my favorite part! The crib! And polka dots! And very luxe curtains, which I must add with pride, were Luke's choice! He's had plenty of input into this room and he's got some good taste! I can't help but smile when I see this. It looks like a happy place to go to sleep and wake up!

Well, there you have it. Baby Hudson's bedroom!

Notable mentions: Thanks to my mom for helping me paint! Thanks to Luke's mom for single-handedly putting together the rocking chair and for helping with the shelf! Luke sat and watched. Something about a broken collar bone or some other lame excuse. But we don't need to go there. Anyway, THANK-YOU!!! And to Ron as well for helping move the drums! And Thanks to my friend Romay for teaching me to make the polka dots! And making a few herself! :-)

Next on my list: write thank-you notes to all the awesome people I know who blessed us with loads of baby things! This may take awhile...

Thanks for reading my blog!

Pregnancy Survival Guide

Being pregnant for the first time in my life, I didn't really know much of anything going into this. Nobody really tells you what it's going to be like. Even having several friends who've had several babies didn't really prepare me for what these past 9 months would be like.

And now, because I have this whole arsenal of information, I'm going to share with you the MUST HAVES for pregnancy. Well, at least my pregnancy. And you should pay attention because at some point you'll either be pregnant or know someone who is. And they will kiss your feet for sharing this information. If they can bend down... but that's another story.

1. Swimming: Do it. I am a literal water storage tank right now and swimming has basically allowed me to NOT turn into a total living nightmare for everyone around me.

2. The IKEA shoe horn: You can actually get your shoes on.

3. Chair massager: It's saved my husband's life many times.

4. Memory foam topper: Ours is 3 inches thick and I have not had one bad night of sleep since we bought it. Again, saved my husband's life many times.

5. Running shoes: I don't know what it is but basically, my feet are swollen all the time and when I tie my shoes tight, it keeps my feet from falling apart. (little side note on this... my sister-in-law commented that my style has changed since I've been pregnant. Let's be clear on this... I don't have any style right now. After the end of November, my "cute" clothes just didn't work anymore. And when you feel large, you don't feel cute in anything so I'm not wearing running shoes a lot. And besides, my nice tall boots just don't fit unless I have a few "helpers" to get them on)

6. A good sense of humor: People just say weird things to you when you're pregnant. And sometimes, it's just not funny. Better to smile and nod if this happens to you.

That's it for today. I was all inspired about what I was going to write earlier today but now I just want to get my stuff done and have this baby. Maybe today? We'll see.

Cheeky Cheeky.

When I first started blogging, I was determined to use photos to help make my posts more interesting. Because I like to take pictures and I figured... you'd probably like to see some pictures.

And then I got pregnant. And my camera suddenly felt heavy and burdensome.

So no pictures for awhile. Just a little while longer.

All I really had on my mind this morning is this one single solitary thought to share with you...

I love my little dog's cheeks. They are very nice. And soft. I could eat them... not really but you know what I mean. And wouldn't a photo just really help make this post seem a little bit more fun? A cheeky photo? Again, I apologize.

Happy Friday!

Cravings

Cravings during pregnancy is a very strange bird. A weird and wonderful thing. And probably a little bit disturbing.

Prior to pregnancy, I could describe a craving as something that maybe struck my mind as sounding kinda yummy and maybe I should do something about it. A craving during those very long 9 months is more like... if I don't get my hands on this food in about 3.7 seconds, I'm going to go crazy. And I mean CRAZY. No joke. Ask Luke.

And the weirdest thing I've learned about these cravings is that they evolve. I have not craved a single food item the entire time I've been pregnant. In fact, during the 1st trimester, I kept waiting for a craving. I finally discovered the first one sometime during peach season. And did I ever eat peaches! In fact, I canned 50 lbs of them as well... you know, just in case. I didn't want to run out during the winter months. But sometime around October, that craving kinda died. And I have jars and jars of peaches to eat still. They are still tasty but it's not like I'm going to keel over and die to open a jar anymore.

And then there was the 2% milk thing. That's lasted the longest I think... we were at a friend's house for dinner and she offered a few different beverages and kind of last minute was like... oh and we have milk too. And for someone who NEVER, EVER likes milk to drink, I though... maybe I should have some milk. Well, I drank 4 glasses of milk DESPERATELY and QUICKLY. And since that fateful day, I don't know how much money we've spent on the stuff. It's like a drug. I have to have it. And if we're out, it's an emergency. Again, ask Luke.

So, today I thought it would be fun to look back on my many cravings because they seem to be slowing down a bit. I'm not as desperate to have whatever it is that I'm craving. I'm getting to the end of this whole party. But here's the list...

1. Peaches

2. 2% Milk (preferably Northwest Farms 2% organic from Fred Meyer. It just tastes the best out of all of them... and we've tried them all.)

3. Orange Juice with at least 4 ice cubes and a little bit of water and a STRAW. Very important.

Funny... while I'm typing about my cravings, the baby is moving around plenty! He obviously likes these foods too!

Moving on.

4. Oreo blizzards from Dairy Queen. This one only lasted a little while.

5. Cheeseburgers. Particularly the Bonzai Burger from Red Robin and the Boomer Burger from a local drive-in.

6. Tums. Just kidding.

7. Grapes, oranges... generally fruit. I ate a lot. I could eat a whole batch of grapes, bananas and oranges from Costco on my own in one week. No apologies.

And I think that's about it. Unless I'm forgetting something. Oh, I am! My latest one for the last few days has been strawberry smoothies... Strawberries, ice, milk and soy yogurt. SO good!

Oh, and I've also been craving Root Beer and Pepsi these last few weeks. I haven't given in to this one very often but when I do.... :-)

And I really think that's it now. Unless I'm forgetting something. Really, another topic altogether. Forgetfulness aka Pregnancy Brain. I think I'll just end this now.

Sunshine at my house

In my part of the world, a sunny day is priceless before late spring. And here I sit, squinting my eyes because of the bright light that is pouring into my home. And I love it!

And I just realized I'd rather be enjoying the sun than sitting here blogging. Sorry.

Gone Swimming

Today is Tuesday. And it's not just any regular Tuesday if you live in my world. Today is the day I go swimming at the pool. Well, one of the days at least. Normally, I meet my friend who is also expecting a baby and we deep water run and talk for an hour. Because it would be boring to do this alone with nobody to talk to...

And as of today, I'm officially on my own. With nobody to talk to.

Because... there is a baby in the process of being born RIGHT NOW!!! Probably more than that all over the world but in my world, there is one coming right now! I'm very excited!

But I'm also swimming alone. For at least a couple more weeks.

With all of this said, I just wanted you to feel sorry for me. Just go ahead and feel it. How sad that Bonnie has to swim alone with nobody to talk to. Very sad.

But then feel happy. Because I'm still going to go swimming and that's a good thing!

k... bye!

And I'm the first to admit that maybe I'm a total moron. :-)

Happy Friday

On this Friday...

I am happy for the Korean girl who won her gold medal. Dang, she is quite the skater! Obviously.

I am happy that my dog only barked about 70 times today instead of 100. By noon.

I am happy that it's windy outside because I'm really warm right now.

I am happy that it's the weekend. Almost.

And I am happy that I have really only about 3 weeks left (approximately) until I can say I'm a Mommy and expecting anymore! Can anybody give me an AMEN to not peeing 25 times per day!

And that's all for today folks!

HAPPY FRIDAY!