Frederick Finds

So I headed to Frederick today to a store that I used to love to go into called Flights of Fancy in Shab Row. I remembered them having some Beatrix Potter items that I thought might go well in Tiny's room.

I ended up getting a Music Box that played Mozart's lullaby and some porceline figurines of some famous Beatrix Potter characters. I think I'm going to get a few more of the figurines before Tiny arrives. We are also going to get the full set of Beatrix Potter stories for Tiny too! These items will go on my wall shelves that I bought for the room.

Mother Rabbit & Peter and Flopsy, Mopsey & Cottontail figurines


Peter Rabbit Music Box - Peter spins around as the music plays.




After posting this, I went in search of a Beatrix Potter Mobile for the crib. And what did I find but the cutest alphabet figurines that would be perfect to spell out Tiny's name. Chris has been against my idea of putting the name on the wall from the start, so these may be the perfect compromise. They are only 2 3/4 inches tall so they are small and subtle. Hopefully after I show them to him, he will go for it. Best part, apparently they make them for Winnie the Pooh too, which is the theme for our next little one. I hope you find them as cute as I did!

Alphabet Figurines

Basket Liner for Changing Table

So today on my day off I got a little crafty in between my napping. =) I tackled the task of making a basket liner for the baskets that are in Tiny's changing table. I got fabric last night at Jo Ann's that coordinates with the fabric my mom and I got a while back for the curtains. I found a Website online that had a video tutorial and went from there. It was an easy task, just tedious and took me over an hour and I only have one to show for my efforts. =) I still have two more to make for Tiny.

I wanted to share some photos with you but the fabric sadly is NOT gender neutral. =) My handy new camera that I love helped with that. I set it for black and white. They don't do the baskets and liners justification but at least you get to see something. =) You'll have to come visit in July if you want to see them in person!







It took me about 2 and a half hours total to make all three liners. I admit I did take my time. Here is a picture of all three baskets on the changing table. So pleased with my craftiness!



Now I just have to decide if I'm going to leave the baskets the original wood tone or if I'm going to paint them white. Decisions, decisions!

11 Weeks to Go - Cramp, Cramp, Cramp

Well this week was a good one! No big news to report.

I've been feeling the pains in my legs and stomach more and more. Tiny's definitely growing big and strong in there. To remedy this, I've been drinking water and Gatorade like they are going out of style and rubbing Cocoa Butter Oil on my stomach nightly. The leg cramps got so bad Wednesday night that I even ate not one, but TWO bananas! OH, how I HATE BANANA'S. Sad part was that my legs still cramped afterwards so I'm not going to eat them again in hopes of a remedy.

Tiny's been kicking more and more and the kicks are starting to be more noticeable to the outside world. I was teaching today and was pointing to something and got kicked. A student in the front row told me "Mrs. Trudden your shirt just jumped!" Then the class pretty much stared at my bump for the rest of class waiting for it to happen again, which it didn't. Oh well!

In other news, the correct crib (hopefully, fingers crossed) is on it's way and will be delivered on Wednesday so hopefully next week we will have more belly photos and some completed Tiny's room photos! More to come!

A Productive Weekend!

This weekend was a fun one. Started off with a sleepless Friday night followed by 6 hours of UNINTERRUPTED sleep on Saturday night. Woohoo! Let's hope for more nights like Saturday and less like Friday, at least until Tiny arrives. Although, apparently I was a good baby and slept 11-6 the first night I came home from the hospital. Let's hope Tiny follows after its mother if that is the case.

On Sunday, my Mom and I did a variety of Tiny-related tasks. We started by returning the wrong crib and reordering the correct one. That should arrive in 7-14 days. Then we can really start getting Tiny's room finished. We also went to Babies R Us to order the glider for Tiny's room because they were having a sale. That trip was less than productive. Why they have gliders on the floor that you can't even order for 5-7 weeks is beyond me?!? We ended up finding exactly what we wanted somewhere else online and it was almost $100 cheaper. We ended the day with making some invites for the baby shower. I underestimated how much time this task would take. We ended up getting only about 20 invitations completely finished. We have about 10 more that I ran out of ribbon and couldn't finish. Then there are 20 more that I need to finish some coloring and assembling. The ribbon is on order so hopefully I will have that by the end of the week and can finish. Here are some pictures of the stamping assembly line in action.





I also got two cross stitch samplers that I ordered in the mail on Friday that I'm going to make for Tiny's room. That will be my project when I'm parked on the couch in the AC this summer. One is an ABC sampler and the other is a Birth Announcement. I'm hoping to get the material and floss tonight so that I can get everything put together and ready to begin in 22 days when school is FINISHED!





More Graduation Photos! At the time when I posted about my Masters Graduation I didn't have the photos my mom took on her camera. Here they are!





Other than that Tiny is kicking and growing away in there and enjoying the nice juicy watermelon that I got from the store this week! Best $4.99 I have spent on food in a long while! Sometimes it's definitely the little things that excite us all!

Woah Baby! - Week 27 in Review - 12 Weeks to go!

So here is the newest belly photo!

Week 28


This week has been pretty uneventful! I had my last monthly OB appointment. For the next few weeks I have to go every two weeks and then every week in the end. The Dr. said everything was measuring well and Tiny's heart rate was 148-150. Her only concern was that I gained 6 pounds over the past month. Whoops!! But in my defense, I'm still down 7 pounds from my pre-pregnancy weight. So I'm going to keep a closer eye on what I'm eating. Seems like I'm hungry all the time these days, but I can't eat a full meal in one sitting, so I feel like I'm constantly snacking. I guess I should snack healthier.

Been feeling more and more stretching in the belly area, but have found that massaging it with Cocoa Butter Oil helps calm it. Tiny also likes it and seems to move around a lot afterwards. Teachers at both of my schools have joked that I'm not going to make it to August. And my fear is the opposite that I will make it to August and still be 2 weeks late. As long as Tiny is healthy and happy that's all that matters in the end. Oh and that I survive labor without too much screaming and yelling. =)

This weekend my Mom and I are going to finish the baby shower invitations and get those out in the mail. I was busy last night cutting out paper so that we could assembly line our hearts out! We are also going to return the wrong crib and re-order the correct one. Hopefully this time they will get it right!

Stay tuned for more next week!

Crib Debacle

Last night we finally put the crib together and moved the furniture around, so Tiny's room now officially had furniture! The only missing furniture was the glider. Then all we needed was wall art, a new ceiling fan, and curtains.

As we finished, I continued to be disappointed that the cherry finish on the changer and the crib were so different from one another. Just didn't make any sense to me. Then I noticed that the moldings at the base of both pieces were very different as well. I did some research online and looked up the crib pictures. Thought maybe I had ordered the wrong finish or something. Turns out, I ordered everything correctly, but the problem is that they gave us the wrong CRIB! Yes, I feel totally blonde for just realizing this now, after the crib is together. But, I'm crazy and neurotic these days, so after some tears when Chris expressed that it wasn't a big deal, and he didn't want to take it back apart to return it. Neither of us thought that the store would even take it back since we don't have the boxes anymore. I called the store and they said we could take it back and they will reorder the correct crib. So that is what is planned for this coming Sunday when my mom visits with her SUV.

I had some pictures of Tiny's room to share but now that we are returning the crib and getting the correct one I'm only going to leave you with two.

Tiny's room from the closet. I am making basket liners for the baskets on the changing table. We are going to use the same fabric as the curtains!


The ugliest ceiling fan EVER! I can't wait to get it out of the room.


More to come later as Tiny's arrival gets closer and our new crib arrives.

3 Months to Go!

Well this week had its ups and downs. Wednesday I went in for another ultrasound. Since Chris hasn't been able to get tested to see if he is a carrier of CF I will have to keep getting them every 4-6 weeks until he gets tested. I'm so frustrated with his doctors office right now, that I'm almost to the point where we might have my Doctor right the order and when it's not paid through insurance we will just pay for it. Baby looked really good during the UltraSound though. Nothing showing up that is concerning. Tiny is now 2 lbs and growing like a weed! Here are our latest shots of Tiny!

Tiny's Face. Face is on the right, the other big feature is the little, big tummy!


Our little gymnast. Tiny must have been working on its flexibility in there. One foot you can see in the picture, the other leg and foot are up and behind Tiny's head. =)


Then Thursday night into Friday, I had an attack of Neurotic Mommy Syndrome, which I really think is a diagnosis. Tiny has been very active at certain times of the day and night and I just hadn't felt it move all that much. So I called the OB and they told me to come in to Labor and Delivery. They hooked me up to a bunch of monitors, checked for the contractions and reassured me that I wasn't neurotic. Kathleen, my nurse, was WONDERFUL!! Everything was fine and Tiny starting kicking up a storm while I was there so then I felt slightly ridiculous for going, but better safe than sorry. While we were there Chris noticed that the heartrate for Tiny was going up and down, peaks and valleys, and when he asked the nurse she said that our baby's rate is more like that of a 34 week old fetus than just the 27 weeks Tiny's been around. She said that it was an indicator of high neurological function. Chris of course is taking all the credit for our "smart" baby. So I guess I'm left taking credit for Tiny being quite the mover and shaker in there. The doctor agreed that everything looked good and sent me home around midnight.

Saturday was a very exciting day. Sleep deprived and all, I donned my cap and gown and graduated as the first graduating class of Loyola University (they recently changed their name from Loyola College). The ceremony was long but I am very glad that I did it. After 2 and a half years of classes every Tuesday I couldn't even imagine not walking across that stage. Afterwards we went to Pizzaria Uno, my personal favorite, for lunch (nevermind the fact that it was 3 pm) as a family. I got a new camera and some cash from Chris and my family and can't wait to use the camera tons in August when Tiny gets here. The cash is going in the MacBook Pro jar. It will probably take me 3 years to get enough to buy it but for now that's what it is going towards. My mom took some pictures too, so hopefully I will get them from her over the weekend and will add them up here later. For now I will leave you with the photo of my diploma!





Now it's Sunday and I have a chore list from my husband and stamp camp to attend! School is winding down, 5 weeks to go, and less than 3 months till Tiny arrives. It's hard to believe that 6 months has gone by. Seems like it has flown by, now that I look back at it.

Changing Table

This evening after I got home and Chris and I had dinner we finished putting together the changing table. So at least now our baby will have a place to be changed. No where for Tiny to sleep yet, but that will hopefully be remedied this weekend when we put the crib together. Just couldn't get motivated enough to do it this evening.

Changing Table Minus the Drawers


Drawers


Changing Table All Done and Ready for Tiny


Crib Pieces


Upclose shot of the Crib Detailing


To see all Pictures of Tiny's Room check out our Family Photo Gallery.

Later tonight I'm going to add two of the photos from my sonogram today. Tiny is quite the active little baby! Everything is measuring well and Tiny is a whoping 2 lbs! Growing like a little weed!

Tiny's Room - All Painted and Coming together =)

So Tiny's room is all finished with paint. After we painted the walls and the baseboards, we took the tape down and found that the tape on the ceiling peeled off the paint from the ceiling so we had to re-tape and touch up the ceiling paint. Why it didn't do this is any other room just the baby room is beyond me. We also had to buy new outlet covers. Now I wanted to just switch out the outlets themselves to a white outlet, Chris did not want to undertake this project. Lucky for him they sell covers that completely cover the beige ones without having to replace them completely. So for now that is our fix. =)





Tonight, armed with a screwdriver and hammer I went ahead and started to put together the changing table. I got to step 5 out of 10. I needed some man muscle to help finished putting in the screws. There were 20 for step 5 alone and they were not easy ones. Hopefully Chris and I will finish putting it together tonight and there will be more pics soon.

The changer on its side, partially put together.


Hardware left (TOO MANY SCREWS!!)


More Pieces to Go!


Hopefully later this week we will tackle putting together the crib. It is just too big of a project for me to do on my own without any help! Chris should be home earlier tomorrow and then again on Saturday/Sunday he has off. So hopefully by the end of the weekend the furniture will be all together.

View all Pictures of Tiny's Room on our Family Photo Gallery

Tiny's Room

Tiny's Room has finally been officially started. It's been a long time coming though. Last night I taped off the baseboards and around the base of the window. When Chris got home, he taped off the ceiling and around the top of the door and window. Then he started painting.

Now last night when he was done and I went to see the room, I was very skeptical. I felt like I had made a huge mistake with the color I selected. This morning though when I peeked at the room, I felt a huge wave of relief. The color is perfect! We still have another coat which should darken it just a bit which is fine with me.





Chris is going to add the second coat this weekend when he has off and then we are going to have to scrub the baseboards before we paint them white. We also have to look to purchase a new door to Tiny's room. The door we currently have used to be a turquoise and was not painted over well by the previous owners. They didn't even take it off the jamb to paint it so it looks AWFUL.

Then we will start to put together all the furniture and add the curtains my Mom is making for the room. So much fun! =)

We also have some beautfiul strawberries and roses blooming in our Garden. Check out the photos here!

Home Ownership is Wonderful!

So this week has been an ok week. Thursday I slipped and fell at school but am recovering fine. It was a very controlled fall with the brunt of the fall occuring on my left knee. I had some pain in my left ankle that night and Friday but that has disappeared now. Went to the OB and had Tiny checked out and Tiny's A-OK.

Friday I attended a Technology conference, which I desperately needed after this semester with grad classes. It has me very energized to go back to work and dig my feet into stuff (well at least for the 7 weeks we have left).

This weekend I worked like usual, and the heat has been less than stellar. Chris and I did some shopping at Target and got a new carpet for our Living Room area. The old one was just temporary from IKEA but it was so full of cat hair and no matter how much I vacuumed because of the type of carpet it was, nothing would come up. The rug we got is soft to the feat and vaccums well. I already took some hairballs and vacuumed them up just to test it's vacuum-ability.



Since it's been so hot, I decided to water the small garden out in front of our home and found that some of our strawberry plants that Kim gave us are growing! We should have some strawberries soon!! =) Woohoo!



Over the last hour, Chris and I have been cleaning up quite the mess courtesy of a toilet that was clogged and overflowed. There was water everywhere in the foyer and worse it was leaking down into the basement. Luckily everything on the floor down there is in plastic tubs. However there was a ceiling fan that was going to go in Tiny's room that was leaked upon, so rather than start any electrical fires, I think we are just going to have to throw that one out. =) Chris had to run out to get some Drano or Liquid Plumber and we are going to try to get this under control soon! Hopefully.

Isn't home ownership wonderful. At least we didn't have a newborn while we were trying to deal with this too!