23 Weeks

Only 18 more weeks to go!

Stats:

Baby's weight: Over 1 lb
Baby's length: About 11 inches
Movements: I can SEE him move now, which is pretty cool
Cravings: Nada
Clothes: It's weird, I think the towels at my gym must have shrunk because I now have to use two of them to go around me.  Hmmmm
Pregnancy issues: Nothing new
Bump watch: Strangers now feel comfortable asking me when I'm due.  Having a belly makes it hard to get up off the couch and bend over, seriously how am I going to do this when it gets even bigger?!

I'm still trying to make it to the gym, I figure even going once a week is better than nothing!  I've also been making more of an effort to take Lily for a walk everyday which is good for both of us, and I would rather walk her than walk on the treadmill.  The weather has been so nice lately that it hasn't been too hard but it's supposed to get cold again this week, a high of 41 on Wednesday...brrr!  (Sorry to the Indiana people, I'm sure that would feel like a heat wave right about now, enjoy your snow!)

Someone needs a tan...and that someone would be me!

Bad Mood Days

Do you ever have those days that you're just in a bad mood and really have no desire to even try and get out of it?  I Googled bad mood and found an article from Real Simple on how to "Banish a Bad Mood in 15 Minutes"

1. Identify what it is that is really bugging you
2. Question yourself to see if that's really the problem or not - because apparently you are too dumb to know what it is the first time you asked yourself
3. Is it multiple things that are bothering me?  Well there weren't until you brought that up, now I can come up with a whole list of things
4. CALM DOWN! - Ha
5. Focus on your breathing - what is this, yoga?
6. Make a pie chart - seriously that's stupid
7. Find a quiet place - So you can stew some more over your bad mood
8. Distract yourself
9. Get some excersise, blow off steam - that's great, I think i'll jog a few laps around my office because thats where a number of my bad moods begin
10. Create a strategy on how you will deal with your issues
11. Talk to a problem solver - and by talk to a problem solver do you mean vent to your best friend??
12. Make a list - Pie chart anyone?
13. Visualize your ideal

Since all of those are horrible suggestions and I can't imagine that they would help anyone jump out of their bad mood I would rather use my strategy and look at DamnYouAutoCorrect  (WARNING: some of the content is not suitable for young audiences or Mom's)

Here are some of the more tame funnies from the website.  Hopefully they'll make you laugh and brighten your day like they did mine ;-)

Cloth Diapers

I've decided (and informed my husband) that we will use cloth diapers when the baby is born.  He finally got on board with the idea when I shared with him the cost savings of cloth vs disposable ;-)

I know when most people think of cloth diapers they think of diaper pins, saggy bootys and dunking them in the toilet.  Cloth diapering is sooooo different from when my parents were babies and different even from when I was a baby.  Now there are so many options that make it so easy that it is hard to at least not want to try it.

My question is, has anyone used cloth diapers or known anyone that has?  And how did you like/dislike them?  What kind/brands did you like the most?  There are so many different kinds and brands that its very hard to pick what will work best.  So far this is what I've come up with for my top options.

Fuzzibunz One Size Pocket Diapers these diapers adjust to fit a 7-35lb baby so you can use them for the long haul. Because they are adjustable they are a very snug fit (preventing leaking, yuck) and they are so darn cute!
Pocket diapers come with inserts you stick in the pocket of the diaper to help with absorbency. You wash the insert along with the diaper and reuse it.

bumGenius All in One these all in one diapers have no insert or pocket to mess with.  All of these diapers are made with a super absorbent material on the inside to keep the wetness away from baby.  One thing I've read about these is people like the hook and loop closure better than the snaps, easier to close when you have a squirmy baby to deal with!

gDiapers these are a little different than either of the above two.  These are basically a shell and you get an insert that snaps into the pants and that is what you change, the insert.  The inserts are either cloth or disposable and the disposable ones are biodegradable and flush-able!  One good thing about these is you can wash the shell with normal laundry (other cloth diapers have special washing instructions) and if you use disposable inserts you don't have to worry about washing the liners! 



So that's what I've come up with.  I have a feeling I won't really know what we will like, or what works for us until he is actually here and who knows maybe we'll switch to disposable, but I hope not!

Home Improvement Corner

Hey!  Making a baby isn't the ONLY thing I'm doing right now...just most of it ;-)


I bought this coffee table a few years ago off of craigslist for $10.  It is one of those coffee tables that has the glass inserts on the top, but the glass was missing.  I always knew I wanted to redo it but I was waiting on getting new furniture and drapes and rugs and all that stuff you have to buy when you buy a house.  We finally got all of those things so I picked out fabric, sanded it down to "rough" it up, had Jeff cut a piece of plywood for me, added some foam, batting and the new fabric and voila!  A new coffee table!  I really like it, I need to get a tray to add to it so we'll have someplace to put our 9,000 remotes, but I like the square coffee table much better than the rectangular one we had before.

Now it's time to play furniture go round.  Old coffee table goes to the game room and the bench that my Grandpa made, that is currently being used as a coffee table up there will go in our foyer.  Next up: PILLOWS for the bench!

Doctor's Appointment - 22 weeks

Today was the BIG ultrasound, but I guess not that big since we already know the sex ;-)  We did find out that Baby Lind is doing fantastic, he's is perfectly average with in this case average = perfect.  We also found out that he is for sure a BOY.  We weren't too skeptical but it's always nice to get a second opinion.  I resisted posting the proof on this one as I feel one day when he is 13 he will not want his little pee-pee on the internet.

Have you ever seen a cuter baby?  No, no you haven't because I can already tell that he is the cutest baby on the planet.

 Tiny feet :-)  I can already tell that he has his daddy's feet.  Long and skinny, and his toes look just like Jeff's.

 

Stats:

Baby's length: 11 inches

Baby's weight: 1 pound!

Mama's weight: TOO much!

Movements: Jeff felt him move last week!  Sometimes he is nuts and sometimes really calm.  Even the ultrasound tech commented on how much he moves around.  I don't feel all of the movements but I do feel him more and more everyday

Cravings: Nothing lately comes to mind, I'm just apparently eating too much

Clothes: Still the same, some regular shirts and dresses, maternity pants or sweats.  The other day I actually cut slits in the top of my tights to make them more comfortable.  I guess I should go invest in a few pairs of maternity tights rather than ruin all the ones I have!

Pregnancy issues: Still dealing with backaches, I got the name of a chiropractor/massage place from my doctor so I feel better about going to her than some random person out of the yellow pages, well Google actually, who uses the yellow pages anymore?

I can't believe we're already in week 22.  I made the rest of my OB appointments last week and finalizing everything through May just made it seem so close!  We have lot's to do between now and then! 

Things I've learned.....Part 2

It's amazing how things change as your belly grows and it becomes more obvious that you have a baby in there and not just Shipley's donuts.


1. The coolest feeling in the whole world is feeling your baby move.  Sometimes I wonder what he's doing in there and how in the world he's going to not break my ribs when he gets bigger!

2. When you slip and almost fall at Home Depot the employees are very concerned, rather than just laugh at you.

3. You make uncontrollable grunting noises when getting up off of chairs, bending over, laying down, climbing the stairs...you get the picture.  I figure in a couple of months I just won't bother doing any of those things anymore, well except the laying down part ;-)

4. Baby stuff is toooooo adorable and it is suuuuuuper hard not to buy everything that I see!!!!

5. When you tell people that you are having a boy they automatically say "I bet your husband is happy!" First of all, why can't I be happy that we're having a boy and second of all I'm pretty sure my husband would have been over the moon if it had been a little girl. (For the record: We are both ecstatic that we are having a baby, we didn't care either way)

6. Food starts talking to you!  The chocolate donuts at the grocery store shout my name from the bread aisle to the frozen foods.  How could I deny them what they want?

7. Googleing is a bad thing to do.  No matter what the problem is you'll find some pregnant lady out there who had the same problem and something bad happened to her or the baby.  Stay away from Google Victoria!

8. I should just move my desk to the bathroom, instead of making 275 trips there every time I move in my chair or stand up.  How can something that is going to get so much bigger make you have to pee this much already!

9. People are obsessed over what we're going to name this kid!  We aren't telling the name so don't ask.  And especially don't ask everyday because that's for sure not going to make me want to tell you, and only you, what we've decided to name our first born.  And BTW, we haven't even decided yet so it's a mystery to us all.

10. 8pm has become my new bedtime.  I really keep on waiting for that burst of energy everyone talks about but it seems just out of reach. But my husband isn't complaining, he loves going to bed early and having a tired pregnant wife gives him the best excuse ever to go to bed before 9pm.

So I know all you care about is how big my belly is ;-) Here is a crappy cell phone picture of week 21.  I'll have to have Jeff take a good one this weekend since he's FINALLY home!!!

21 weeks

Stats:

Baby's Weight: 12.7 oz
Baby's Length: 10.5 inches
Gender: BOY!!
Movements: Yesterday as I did nothing all day but lay on our recliner he was going CRAZY!  I swear I could feel him on the outside but after I saw the babycenter.com "What your baby looks like in the womb this week" photo I knew that it was all in my head.  Waaaay too much fat to get through!
Cravings: Chocolate donuts, you know the mini ones you get at the grocery :)
Clothes: I'm still wearing regular dresses (stretchy of course) and some regular tops.  Other than sweats no regular pants fit anymore.
Pregnancy issues: Backaches!  I've always had backaches they are just getting worse and worse.  You might want to just avoid me at all costs come April/May

Since we've known for a while now that we are having a boy, I couldn't resist ordering bedding and starting on the nursery!  My dear sweet friend Kayleigh came over this past Saturday and helped paint the room, walls & ceiling!  I might not be able to have my family with me here in Houston but having great friends like Kayleigh sure makes life better :)

I had a spa day with my mother-in-law on Sunday.  We got facials and had lunch at Trellis, it was so nice and relaxing all I wanted to do for the rest of the day was sleep.  And sleep I did!  We figured with the boys away having fun (my husband and father-in-law are on a ski trip) we should be able to have some fun too. Thanks Julianna!

We go in next week to the doctor, it will be a big ultrasound where they check everything out.  It's been such such an easy pregnancy and baby has looked great so far let's pray it stays that way.