Baby Shower for Itty Bitty

It was quite an eventful weekend here. On Saturday my wonderful family and friends hosted a baby shower for me and Itty Bitty. It was so nice to have all my female friends and family together in one place to help welcome our son. Having all these ladies together at one time doesn't happen very often. I was overwhelmed by everyone's thoughtfulness and generosity. The theme was children's books so Itty Bitty has quite a library already setup thanks to everyone's contributions of books, in addition to lots of other wonderful gifts. Here are just a few of the highlights.

Cake made by my talented sister-in-law

My mom and me

My mom, me, my mother-in-law

Two of my oldest friends--I've known them since kindergarten!

Blanket made by my maternal grandmother

Quilt made by my mother-in-law

Handmade baby carrier made by my brother's mother-in-law

Blanket made by my friend Amy

All the hostesses went together to get the nursery bedding--Yeah!

Thanks to everyone for a wonderful baby shower! We are so blessed.

33 Weeks

Well, we're down to single digits now folks. Only about 7 more weeks to go (9 at the most). Here's a picture from this weekend and guess what, I'm not wearing black. I do look tired in this picture but I'm really not. I've still been feeling really good, except for an occasional less-than-comfortable night. I have added a little more decoration to the nursery, as you can see from the letters above the dresser. There's still a little more decorating to do, but it's coming together. 

Itty Bitty is still moving around a lot. Sometimes he kicks so hard my whole belly shakes! Some of you have probably been wondering about a name, since we know we can't call him Itty Bitty forever. Well, I think we have pretty much decided on a name, but we are keeping it a secret. We decided since we already found out the sex of the baby, it would be fun for the name to be a surprise.  

We've been busy the last few weeks taking childbirth classes and getting things ready around the house. I've been cooking like crazy to try to have quite a few meals frozen so we won't have to cook when baby arrives. One of my goals this week is to pack my bag for the hospital. At childbirth class they warned us to get our things ready early just in case baby decides to make an early arrival.  I have my next check up with the doctor tomorrow so let's hope everything is on track.

Easter 2009

On Sunday we celebrated a beautiful Easter! It started out stormy and I feared we were in store for a dreary day, but the clouds cleared just in time for church. We enjoyed a great day together and even took a walk in the park in Georgetown (after Patrick's bike ride). Here's a couple of pictures we took while we were still in our "church clothes." This week marks 30 weeks of the pregnancy.

You'll notice in one of the pictures Patrick has a surprised/shocked look on his face. This is because he just realized that Itty Bitty will be here in only about 10 weeks :) Just kidding. We were just trying not to squint in the sun. By the way, I do own maternity clothes in colors other than black. It just seems that every time we take a picture I happen to be wearing black. 

We started our childbirth classes last week and we think we're going to like them. They're offered at the hospital where we'll have the baby. It's called Prepared Childbirth so it's not technically Lamaze it's closer to that than any other method I've read about (like the Bradley method). We decided on this class because they cover everything--both relaxation/breathing techniques and they also inform you of all the medical interventions possible. Although I hope to avoid a lot of medication or medical intervention, we figured it would be good to be informed about the options so that at least we wouldn't be in the dark if decide to use them. Personally, I'm trying to keep an open mind about the labor process. I've heard so many women say they wanted to have the baby naturally and then they later decided to get an epidural and they felt like a failure. I want to avoid that. My thinking is: I've never had a baby before; I've never even had a broken bone so I really don't know what my pain tolerance will be. If I absolutely can't handle the pain, I don't mind getting an epidural, but I'm going to try to avoid it if I can. 

We also recently picked a pediatrician. He came well-recommended by several friends so hopefully we'll like him also. Apparently he has 5 kids of his own so he definitely has a lot of experience. 

I've been working on decorating the nursery so I'll post pictures when that is complete. Only 10 weeks to go!

Third Trimester Here We Come!

This week I (or should I say we) officially begin the third trimester. These weeks have really flown by. I can't believe it's only about 2 1/2 more months until Itty Bitty arrives. I also can't believe my belly has to get even bigger. It may not look big to you, but I already feel huge.

I'm feeling good that we've got the nursery furniture, but there's still a lot to do: pick a name (that's a high priority), pick a pediatrician, take childbirth classes (those start next week), work on our birth plan. That's just to name a few. I know it will all get done. In the meantime, Patrick and I are taking a few days away to relax. We're spending a few days at the bed and breakfast where we spent part of our honeymoon and then on to visit my family in west Texas. 

A Room for Itty Bitty

Well, after a few weeks of searching we finally got Itty Bitty's furniture this weekend. We had been looking on Craigslist to try to find some nice, but gently used nursery furniture to try to save a little money. We figured if we hadn't found anything in another week or two we would just go buy some furniture at a retail store. Until Saturday, we'd hadn't found anything we really liked. Then, Saturday morning we noticed a posting for a nursery set in San Antonio. It looked really nice but the folks selling it were asking a little more than our budget could handle. Well, we decided we'd make them a lower offer just to see what they'd say. Luckily, they accepted our offer! So, we rented a U-Haul trailer and we were off to San Antonio to pick up the furniture. The couple who sold it to us were very nice and the furniture is great. Even though it's several years old, you'd never know it; it hardly has a scratch on it. I had kind of been secretly admiring a glider/rocker and we ended up getting that with the set as well. It is SO comfortable. Thanks to my wonderful hubby for all his work driving and moving furniture this weekend! I hope Itty Bitty will like his room.

Nursery Bedding

Well, a couple of weeks ago we officially picked out the bedding for the nursery. Here's what it looks like. I actually found it several months ago and liked it but wanted to make sure we didn't find something we liked better. We wanted something that was basically gender neutral so it would have potential for more long term use. I think the colors will go well with the blue bedroom. Plus, it's never too early to start learning those ABCs, right? 

We won't be using all the pieces shown here, but many of them. I'm not a big fan of crib bumpers and I've read some safety information that suggests not using them because of risk of SIDS, so we probably won't be using those unless Itty Bitty starts having major issues with hitting the side of the crib. We'll post pictures of the actual nursery (complete with bedding) when it's complete.

Make Room for Baby

Now that Itty Bitty's arrival is just a few months away, baby prep is in full swing. We decided to convert what used to be our workout room into the nursery. Luckily, we painted the room a nice blue color a couple of years ago so it will work well as the baby's room with no repainting necessary. A couple of weeks ago, Patrick sold his weight machine (willingly I might add) and we moved the spinners for the bikes into the garage. With a little cleaning of the closet, the room was cleared in just a few hours. Here's how it looks now.

We're in the process of deciding on a crib and dresser/changing table and hope to have those set up in the next few weeks. As you can see from the picture, we already have the infant carseat (thanks to our great friends Amy and Chris) and a few books. 

We've also recently gotten our first shipment of cloth diapers in the mail (thanks to our great friends Desi and Ray). We've decided to give cloth diapering a try. After doing a lot of research, it seems they are both better for the environment and very cost effective. Who knew that disposable diapers cost several thousand dollars over the 2+ years the child uses them? Cloth diapers, while expensive upfront, will end up only costing a few hundred dollars (plus the cost of washing them at home). Plus, we found some cloth diapers that have adjustable sizing so they are supposed to fit the baby pretty much all the way through potty training. We'll see if they live up to their marketing. We're only going to get a few cloth diapers to start, see if we like them, and if not, it's not a huge investment. Here's what the cloth diapers look like. Harry the Bear kindly agreed to model them for us. 

They're sure not your grandma's cloth diapers. No pins or plastic pants needed. I think they're actually pretty cute.