Baby Boy Love -- Photo Bomb!

Liam Thomas is here!!

Jake and I decided to do some last minute baby shopping to get a few things we wanted before baby arrived: Diaper Genie, a couple more sleep sacks, another box of newborn diapers. We chose to go to Robinson, which is an hour from our house because mama wanted a peach milkshake from Chick-fil-A and according to the Internet they should have had them as of June 1 (unfortunately, my info was off, but that's neither here nor there...) so it was worth a shot.

On our way home from our little Robinson adventure, (it was about 9:30PM) I heard a pop and then felt a gush. I told Jake "oh my gosh, my water broke." His response? "Are you kidding?" why yes, sweetie, that's why my panties and possibly the car seat are soaking wet. (;

On a side note, I could not get over how much fluid there was! Yet, somehow, I barely got any on the seat of the car. Amazing.

When we got to the hospital,I wrapped a hoodie around my waist and sloshed my way to the ER receptionist. She took one look at me (and my very obviously wet jeans) said "looks like someone's in labor," and directed me into a room where I checked in. Luckily, I had had an appointment with my OB/GYN the day before and he had sent me to L&D to get an ultrasound to verify the little guy was still breech and to schedule my c section (scheduled it for 6/20 at 7:45AM) and while there, the nurse had me fill out my paperwork so I didn't have to go through that mess.

I was taken up to a triage room in a wheelchair and prepped for my emergency c section. They put in my IV and catheter (ouch) and told me since I had eaten four hours prior and wasn't having any contractions yet, they were going to wait a little while.

Unfortunately, contractions started a short time later and they hurt way more than I thought they would. I breathed through them until they finally took me into surgery. They had Jake wait to go into surgery so they could give me my spinal. Good lord, that hurt like nothing else. The nurses were wonderful, though. One held me forward with my head on her shoulder and talked me through it. That was amazingly comforting.

They gave me the initial dose of meds, then upped it because I could feel a little when they made the initial incision. They let Jake come in then, and he sat beside me and held my hand; he was such a comfort. I was shivering uncontrollably from about my chest up, I don't know if it was from the saline in the IV or the spinal.

It was the strangest sensation feeling them tugging around inside me; I could feel them pulling him out, but it didn't hurt. At one point I remember sobbing uncontrollably because I was so scared but I calmed down quickly. Then I felt a huge relief of pressure inside me and next thing I knew, I heard our little boy screaming and I all of a sudden had tears streaming down my face (again); that cry was such a beautiful sound, I knew our little guy was okay. And man, did he have a set of lungs on him!

Liam Thomas was born at 11:58PM weighing 6lbs 10oz and 20" long. Such a beautiful little boy.

I was in recovery for five hours instead of the usual one or two because of the extra meds. I couldn't wiggle my toes for that long!

Recovery has been a breeze. My IV got taken out at 9AM the next morning, my catheter was out by 11AM, I was up and walking (with help) shortly after that, and I showered by myself around 2PM. We left the hospital after 48hrs, and I was lucky to have help the next week. Jake was off work all week except for Thursday, and his mom, Teresa, came down with his nieces Sunday night and they stayed until Monday evening, and my mom and sister came down from Tuesday until Saturday. I know not having to do everything with the baby and around the house really helped aide in my recovery and I'm so grateful for their help.

My staples were taken out a week after my c section, and I'm healing well.

I love being a mommy, our little boy is absolutely beautiful and such a calm baby for the most part. I have fallen so much more in love with Jake seeing him as a daddy. (:

The little guy is currently 16 days old. As I write this, he's snoring on my chest. So adorable.

Checkup: 35w, 5d

I had a checkup today, and since Jake is working third shift right now (12AM-8AM) he went with. He is absolutely my hero. He's been absolutely amazing this entire pregnancy, and I can't ask for a more supportive and generous husband-to-be. He would do anything for us, and I know he's going to be an amazing daddy to this little boy. (:

The appointment went well, I'm measuring at 35cm which my OB says is spot-on, and his heart rate was 144. Unfortunately he's still entirely head up (which I knew judging by his head putting ridiculous amounts of pressure on my ribs for quite some time now.) and if he doesn't turn by my June 9th appointment, I'll have to get an ultrasound to determine if I'll have to have a c-section.

That possibility terrifies me. I wanted to have a natural vaginal birth, and very much hope this little man cooperates.

I'm also still tightly closed and not a tiny bit effaced. Something tells me that if he does turn, and I don't have to have a c-section, he'll be late.

I'm seriously sick of people saying "I bet you're ready to have him" or "man, you look like you're tired of being pregnant!" Trust me, I'm perfectly content with this little guy coming in his own time, when he's ready. I'm not even 36 weeks, let alone full term, I'm not about to hand him an eviction notice.

Tonight is my first night at the new house, and it's just me here tonight! It's amazing, I'm not even sleeping in my own bed (the movers came in and packed everything today, but didn't actually move us yet, so I'm sleeping on the sofa bed in the den) but I already feel at home here.

So, I plan to breast feed, but I know that doesn't work out for everyone, so when someone on my birth board posted a couple of codes to get a 48-pack of Similac ready-to-use 2oz bottles that, after shipping, typically cost around $50 for only $11, I jumped on that and bought a case. They were on our door step when we got to the new house today, apparently free 2-day shipping was part of the deal. What a steal! I figure if I don't use them I'll either Freecycle them or give them to Jake's sister Athena if she wants them; she's due a week after me.

Even though it's a holiday weekend, we have no significant plans besides picking up our itty bitty boxer puppy! I'm probably nuts for taking on a puppy and a newborn at the same time, but I'm quite confident that I can handle it. What do ou guys have planned for the holiday weekend?

Nursery Progress. Dos.

This past weekend we spent some time getting the nursery together.  I assembled the crib with a little help from Jake and got my crib skirt, sheet, and breathable bumper (good lord that was a difficult little bugger to get installed!!) all put on it.

The crib and mattress were both shower gifts from Liam's wonderful Granny (Jake's mom.)

Jake (an expert at piecing together all things IKEA, I swear) assembled little man's "changing table" which is actually an IKEA Expedit bookcase with a changing pad attached to the top.  My plan was to buy as much versatile stuff for his nursery as possible so it's able to be used even after he's older

We also bought a yellow Lack side table from IKEA to go beside our glider/chair/recliner that I have yet to pick out.



That's it for now, but we'll be taking/posting more pics once it's completed!

Also, a bonus: belly pic!

35 Weeks on the nose...

The kitchen...wait for it...is FINISHED!!!

So, I have been a terrible blogger and completely neglected updating for quite some time.  For that, I am sorry!  To make up for it, I'm sharing some photos of what we have accomplished in these last few weeks!

The kitchen finally has a new countertop, cooktop, oven, sink, and faucet!

 Cooktop: Nutid from IKEA, $599

Now we just have to replace that ugly almond colored hood.  First, we have to decide if we want to take out the cabinet above it and put in a microwave with vent system or just replace the current hood with a white one that would blend in better.  Thoughts?

Oven: Nutid from IKEA,  $299.  A steal that was marked down from $699 because they are discontinuing their 24" ovens.  (:



Just a reminder of the before with some afters to compare!  I am absolutely in love with it! 

We still have a small list of things left to do:

-Switch out hood

-Make roman shade for window above sink

-Purchase and install garbage disposal

-Make drum shade that matches roman shade, and swap out ceiling fan on dinette side of kitchen with drum shade.

-Touch up paint on cabinets (we still have yet to get around to that!)

-Replace dishwasher??

Now, let's look again at the cost of this mini-reno.

Budget breakdown:

Hardware: Drawer pulls:       5@ $4.27- 21.35

                 Knobs: 2-10 packs @ 21.54-43.08

                                   1-single @   2.92- 2.92

                Hinges:  4-10 packs @ 11.97-47.88

                                    1-single @  2.93- 2.93

                                             Total:   $118.16

Paint:  Kilz Oil-based Primer: 1 Gallon @ $15.98 (Barely used 1/4 of it)

Colorplace Semi-Gloss in White 1 Gall @  13.98 (Used about 1/2)

                                             Total:    $29.96

Sand Paper: Medium grit: 4 packs @ $ 2.97- $11.88

Power Sander:  Borrowed from my dad, so FREE!

Drill/ drill bits: Already owned

                                              Total:   $11.88

Nutid Oven: $299

Nutid Cooktop: $599

Countertop: Landlord purchased

Sink: Landlord purchased

Faucet: Landlord purchased

                                                  Total:    $898

                                           Grand Total:   $1,058 most of which was appliances.  Still, not a bad price!

Sleep, you elusive fiend.

I knew when we started trying for a little bundle of joy that there would be rough spots along the way. Morning sickness and lack of sleep were certainly expected, but boy, not to this extent. Never had I expected to still find my head in the toilet every other day (at least!) past 15-16 weeks, let alone while in my third trimester! Baby boy certainly let's it be known when he doesn't like something!

And sleep, oh my. I'm up until 5-6am most mornings. It's the strangest thing I've ever experienced; even when I sleep I never actually feel rested.

Is anyone else experiencing this or have you experienced this before?

Jackie

Weekend=Bust.

The weekend was pretty much a bust, depending on how you look at it. We stayed out our current house, so nothing on the to-do list got done, but we did do some shopping and I picked up the blue glass bottles I had my eye on at TJ Maxx for the beachy theme I'm going with at the new house.

Today was seriously warm, the high was 81 degrees! We decided to go and find a couple of caches (geocaching is likes giant treasure hunt, it's so much fun! Go to geocaching.com and look it up if you're interested. You do need either a handheld gps or a smartphone with gps capabilities. C:geo is the best app I've seen for Android.) but I gave up after finding one, it was waaaay to strenuous for this mama to be. I had forgotten how easily winded I get these days. (:

So, we didn't do what we had planned to, but we still had a good weekend!

What did you guys do this weekend?

Weekend to-do list!

I know I'm jumping the gun a little since it's only Thursday, but I wanted to get down in print what we have to do this weekend, so here it is:

              To-do List

-Choose color for bathroom before Saturday

-Paint bathroom

-Paint living room (again)

-Paint bedroom, possibly.

-Take up carpet in nursery

-Touch up nursery paint, if needed
-Hit up Goodwill and any other thrift store I can find in
 search of picture frames

Mood Board.

So, I'm watching Love and Other Drugs and scouring the internet for some inspirational photos for our new home.  In case you're wondering, the movie is absolutely adorable; I fell back in love with Jake Gyllenhaal within the first five minutes. (:  And, Anne Hathaway's hair looks really cute all curly.

 

Anyway, here are the inspirational photos I found.

 

I dig the cool tones.

 How adorable is that bird mobile?

Simply beautiful.  If only my bathroom was bigger!

I have had my eye out for the perfect dresser to restore.  I love the shade of yellow they used here. (:

The plan is to do our master bedroom in greys and whites with touches of yellow.  I really love the throw pillows and comforter/duvet here!

I'm up in the air between leaning ladder bookcases and floating shelves on either side of our fireplace.  Opinions?

This weekend I'm going on a hunt for unique photo frames to paint white to do something cute like this.  I plan to use the fabric I bought a few weeks ago...

....along with these:

I simply adore this painting with the Ingrid Michaelson lyrics.

Here's hoping our baby boy ends up with a book collection like this!  And, how cute is this striped ceiling??

  
All photos were found on Made by Girl's Blog.

Our nursery is officially painted!

I'm a few days late in posting this, I apologize! We finally got little Liam's nursery painted this past weekend! It turned out beautifully. I initially wanted to paint the top half of the walls aqua, the molding around the middle of it white, and the bottom pale grey, but after painting a small section of the wall the aqua I had chosen, I hated it! The grey was gorgeous, though, so that was a keeper. I remembered we had some pale yellow paint left over from our old place, and it was perfect!

Nursery Progress.

I've finally decided on the wall colors for the nursery.  The colors in the nursery are going to be light yellow, light grey, and aqua.  Here's the current room:

Initially I was planning to paint the top half aqua, the middle molding white and the bottom light grey, but I had such a difficult time finding a shade of aqua I liked, so I decided to paint the top light yellow instead.  I wanted to see how it'd look but didn't have time to paint the entire room, so I just painted that spot in between the closets in the first picture.   Here is how it turned out:

In the photo you can't really tell the top is yellow, but I promise, it is!!  I also bought some fabric from tonicliving.com, I ordered it Thursday, so I'm hoping I'll get it by the end of this week, even though it is being shipped from Canada.  I'm still up in the air about whether or not I'm going to actually use the first print, but it was all only $1 per swatch and a $2 swatch surcharge, so the total was $6, and then I found a 10% off code, so it cost me $5.40, shipping was free!  Anyways, here's what I'm getting.

I still haven't quite decided what I want to do with them.  I'm thinking either framing them in white with cream mats or using embroidery hoops and hanging them like that.  What do you think?

Wine cork bath mat? Crafty Nest has the best ideas!

I was reading through Crafty Nest's blog and came across her tutorial for the wine cork bath mat here.

Seriously, how cute is that??  It would go beautifully in the bathroom at the new house; I want to go for a spa/natural feel, and I think this would really fit in, not to mention how goood it would feel on our tootsies!

Oh!  Speaking of the bathroom in our new place, during the down time while redoing kitchen cabinets, Jake installed a gorgeous curved shower rod!   I found an amazing deal at T.J. Maxx for a brushed nickel curved shower rod, curtain hooks, and shower liner, all for $24.99.  I also bought a white waffle shower curtain from Wal-Mart.  It's amazing how luxurious it looks, not to mention all of the added space in the shower is a dream!  Here's the finished product:

Oh!  And the wallpaper border is removed..wallpaper stripper is a godsend.  Now to choose a color for the bathroom.  Any ideas?  I adore this color, but for the life of me, I can't find the name of it!

(Source)

I may also go with a darker blue-ish color.  Ohh to be more decisive.

Next on the agenda: DIY Roman shade and drum chandelier shade!

I stumbled across a tutorial for a sewless DIY Roman shade on Thrifty Decor Chick's blog, and I would love to try it out for the window above the sink in the kitchen.  The tutorial can be found here.  I chose this fabric for both the roman shade and the drum chandelier shade:

I love how classic it is, and it will look spectacular against both the white kitchen cabinets and the grey-blue paint I chose for the kitchen/attached dinette.  The chandelier will hang above the kitchen table in the dinette.  I cannot wait to get the fabric; it was $14.95 a square yard at tonicliving.com, which is more than I was aiming to spend, but I fell in love.  Of course, taking into account how much roman shades usually cost, as well as drum chandeliers, the $45 + shipping I'm spending on fabric plus this $10 Januari cord set from IKEA (minus the shade):

Along with a generic drum shade which I will cover with the fabric, these projects shouldn't cost more than $75.

If you are interested in covering a lamp shade with your own fabric, here is a great tutorial on Crafty Nest's DIY blog.