31 Weeks = Halloween

It's kind of neat that I am 31 weeks on the 31st of October! Alright, maybe I'm just a geek.

We started off the day by going down to Mankato to visit a couple of stores. We stopped at a place called Sweet Peas and picked up a book and a washcloth and we stopped at Hobby Lobby and picked up two piggy banks. Once of the ladies who follows our blog picked one up there and I have been looking for a nice one that wasn't $75 a la Nordstrom. We got two - a mama piggy and a baby piggy and they are so blasted cute I can't stand it!

After that we made our way to my parents' house for some delicious chili and Halloween festivities. We dressed up the dogs and took them on a walk around the block, like we have done every year, and we gave out candy to cute little kiddies in adorable outfits that were mostly covered up by coats and hats (it was super chilly)! There were a couple of kids dressed up and Dad asked, "Are you Jedi's?" and the kids just answered, "No" and started walking down the stairs. Halfway down after he stopped giggling, he said, "Well what are you?" "We're Saints. Saint Agnes and Saint Paul!" Then their little sister came up the stairs, tripping on her costume and almost wiping out. My Mom said, "Wow, we almost had a fallen angel too!"

I love seeing all of the kids dressed up and can't wait for next year when Adelle can join in the fun - even though she won't know what is going on!

Adelle is growing:
She should be measuring over 16 inches long and weigh about 3.3 pounds (which is like carrying four navel oranges) and is heading into a growth spurt! She can turn her head from side to side, and her arms, legs, and body are beginning to plump out as needed fat accumulates underneath her skin. She's probably moving a lot, too, so you may have trouble sleeping because her kicks and somersaults keep you up. Take comfort: All this moving is a sign that your baby is active and healthy. She doesn't keep me up but she is definitely more active at night! Only 62 days to go!

29 Weeks = The List

Since I was organizing Thursday, I thought I would share the list with you. This is so I can try to organize my thoughts a little more and in case any of you want to buy us things and aren't sure what to get. We do have registries at Target and Babies R Us, but we didn't register for many clothes.

I have organized Adelle's closet by size - NB, 0-3, 3-6, 6-9, 9-12, 12, 24, 2T - using closet dividers I made. Then I have organized each size by sleeve length - tank, short and long. I haven't seen any shirts with 3/4 length sleeves, but if she gets any they would go between the short and the long sleeve lengths. After that I have organized the clothes into colors - light to dark. See, I told you I was anal retentive! I even do my side of the closet this way and I love it! It is so easy to find things!

So here is the list. I haven't broken the list down into colors... maybe I should do that too?!

NB - 12 articles of clothing
4 onesies - short sleeve without pants
1 onesie - short sleeve with pants
1 onesie - long sleeve with pants
4 sleepers - long sleeve with feet attached
2 sleepers - long sleeve with feet attached and mitten cuffs

0-3 Months - 16 articles of clothing
9 onesies - short sleeve without pants
2 onesies - long sleeve with mitten cuffs
1 shirt - fleece with long sleeve and pants
1 pair of overalls
1 sleeper - long sleeve without feet
2 sleepers - long sleeve with feet attached

3-6 Months - 19 articles of clothing
10 onesies - short sleeve without pants
1 onesie - short sleeve with pants and sweater
1 onesie - long sleeve without pants
2 onesies - long sleeve with pants
1 sweater set (short sleeve shell, long sleeve sweater)
1 shirt - long sleeve
1 dress - short sleeve
1 sleeper - long sleeve with feet attached
1 sleeper - long sleeve without feet

6-9 Months - 25 articles of clothing
1 onesie - short sleeve without pants
2 onesie - short sleeve with pants and sweaters
2 onesies - long sleeve without pants
1 onesie - long sleeve with pants
1 tank top
2 shirts
1 shirt - with undies
1 shirt - long sleeve with pants
4 dresses - with undies
1 dress - tank style with sweater
1 dress - with long sleeve onesie and undies
7 sleepers - long sleeve with feet attached
1 sleeper - long sleeve without feet

9-12 Months - 13 articles of clothing
5 onesies - short sleeve without pants
2 onesies - long sleeve with pants (1 Halloween, 1 Thanksgiving)
1 shirt - long sleeve with pants
3 dresses - short sleeve/tank top
1 tank - with pants
1 sleeper - long sleeve with feet attached

12 months - 21 articles of clothing
7 onesies - short sleeve without pants
1 onesie - long sleeve without pants
1 onesie - long sleeve with pants
2 tanks - with pants
4 shirts - long sleeve without pants
2 shirts - long sleeve with pants
1 dress - with pants
1 dress - with undies

18 Months - 2 articles of clothing
1 onesie - short sleeve without pants
1 dress - tank top style

24 Months - 5 articles of clothing
5 onesies - short sleeve without pants

2T - 2 articles of clothing
2 dresses - tank top style
1 sleeper - long sleeve with feet attached
1 sleeper - long sleeve without feet

Well, there is the list. What are your thoughts? After looking at it again I think she will need pants! There are a couple of sizes where more clothes are a must - look at the later months for Pete's sake!

Adelle is growing:
She is growing rapidly now. This week she weighs about 2 1/2 pounds (like a butternut squash) and is a tad over 15 inches long from head to heel. Her muscles and lungs are continuing to mature, and her head is getting bigger to accommodate her growing brain — which is busy developing billions of neurons. Every day, about 200 milligrams of calcium is deposited in her skeleton, which is now hardening. Just 77 days to go!

The Joys of Organization

I have decided that today is the day that I will work on Adelle's closet, changing table and dresser. We don't have the dresser in the room yet because Brian wants to work on it some more. I guess I should sand it a bit so when he's home he can just stain, gloss and be done but I don't really know what I'm doing. I see a trip to Home Depot in my future!

Anyway, back to the clothes! And no, I don't have ADD.

We have gotten so many clothes since finding out we were pregnant - and since finding out Baby V is a she - that I really don't know what to do with them all. I am not sure what should go in the closet (and be hung up), what should go in the dresser (for me to lose track of), and what should go in the changing table.

I am assuming that all of the cute little dresses and outfits should be hung up in the closet - there are some things I know! I also thought that some sleepers, swaddlers, onesies, hats, mittens, and socks should go in the changing table for those 'quick' changes. The rest should go in the dresser then, right?

This is where everything goes fuzzy for me though.

I've had people ask me what size clothes we need still and what size we don't. Well for Pete's sake, I'm not sure; how many articles of clothing should we have per size range? And if I am supposed to know the answer to what size we still need, I need to have all of the clothes in one spot - or a list of everything we have. Don't get me wrong, I have already started a list but I am so incredibly anal retentive that if we get something new I write - oh who am I kidding TYPE the list all over again. Then I am afraid of keeping the list with me in my purse (and two at home of course) because I don't want to seem crazy!

So I sit here now, with some of Adelle's clothes on the floor and most in the closet wondering what I should do next. Go get more hangers so EVERYTHING can be hung up? Take down all of the onesies and shirts that will go into the dresser? Just separate things by size and figure it out from there? Or start my new list?

Ah the joys of organization!

28 Weeks = Putting Together the Crib!

This was an exciting weekend for me - we put together the crib!! Dad, Maria, Brian and I worked on it Saturday evening and it looks fantastic! The dark wood looks great with the pastel colors of the bedding!

The room itself isn't done, we still have a lot of work to do, but it's coming along. We have ABC flash cards that we want to hang up around the room, as well as get the dresser and lamp in there. Oh, and all of the clothes need to be hung in the closet again with all of the clothes we have gotten recently. Maybe I should start washing them so I don't spend all of December washing clothes before she comes home.... We need to find shelving for above the changing table and maybe some artwork. If you - whoever actually reads this other than myself - have any ideas, let us know!

Here are the before, during, and after pictures!

Before
We finished painting the room before we left for Kelly and Derek's wedding, but hadn't gotten back to it until this weekend. Golly, it's like we have jobs or something!



During
Yeah, Maria didn't know I was going to be taking pictures, but really, does she know me at all? I got the camera out and this one was great. She saw it and smiled just in time for me to press the button. I really do like this picture!

It's true, my Dad reads directions! He even stops to ask directions sometimes too - but rarely needs to. This is where I get my navigation skills from.

The three of them work so nicely together! I didn't want to get in the middle of things so I stood back and took pictures.


After
My heroes! THANK YOU SO MUCH for "helping" put together the crib! We/I really appreciate it!

The room looks pretty good, especially since we aren't finished with it!


Close Up Shots
Ahh... the changing table and curtain. I am not sure what is going to go on the changing table shelves (or what is supposed to for that matter) but I am sure I will change my mind after using it a few times. These are on the west wall of the room.

Here is a picture of the crib and trunk. I love how they look together and think that everything has tied in nicely. These are on the south wall for now.

Curtains are the bain of my existence. I will have to have another post for the curtains alone. In the mean time, here is a close-up of a part of it. It is white sheer with colorful little butterflies on it (that are 3D so you can touch them) and little leaves painted on.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this bedding and am so happy that we got it!! It looks great, washes well, looks great.... I still love the animal bedding we were going to get, and still look at it when I am at BRU, but I am truly happy we got this one!

This is a picture of the ladybug pillow from Land of Nod and the Bride Teddy Bear that my friends Laura and Pete got us/me for our wedding (sans the bridal gown of course).

The cute flower and ladybug mobile that Bri found for us - it plays the Lullaby Song too!


Adelle is growing:
Adelle weighs about two and a quarter pounds (like a Chinese cabbage - though what does a regular cabbage weigh?) and measures 14.8 inches from the top of her head to her heels. She can blink her eyes, which sport lashes (hopefully super long and beautiful like her Daddy). With her eyesight developing, she may be able to see the light that filters in through your womb. She's also developing billions of neurons in her brain and adding more body fat in preparation for life in the outside world. Just 82 days left!

22 Weeks = The Bedding is Here!!

We want to thank all of you for your comments about what bedding we should/could get. It was helpful yet made things more difficult at times (thank you Maria ;). We decided on the the purple bedding from Land of Nod called Maria's Flowers. I love the way it looks in the pictures but it looks better in person somehow.

We ended up getting the bumper, skirt and a ladybug pillow that goes with the twin set. We got the ladybug pillow because Adelle's middle name will be June which was Gram's middle name and she loved ladybugs! The pillow isn't as yellow as we thought it would be but it is still beautiful.


Now we are starting to think about paint colors. Do we paint the walls white or a pale color? If we end up painting the walls a pale color, how do we decorate? Do we decorate with cherry wood and white? If we paint the walls white we figured we would decorate and accent with the colors from the bedding.

What are your thoughts? How does that sound?

Adelle is growing:
At 11 inches (the length of a spaghetti squash) and almost 1 pound, she is starting to look like a miniature newborn. Her lips, eyelids, and eyebrows are becoming more distinct, and she's even developing tiny tooth buds beneath her gums. Her eyes have formed, but her irises (the colored part of the eye) still lack pigment. If you could see inside your womb, you'd be able to spot the fine hair (lanugo) that covers her body and the deep wrinkles on her skin, which she'll sport until she adds a padding of fat to fill them in. Inside her belly, her pancreas — essential for the production of some important hormones — is developing steadily. Just 126 days left!

21 Weeks = Dresser

Since we found out we were pregnant I have been looking for/at furniture. I wanted the pieces to match and I wanted them to be cheap. Now, when I started looking I thought it would be impossible. Baby furniture - well, any furniture really - is expensive. We will be using this furniture for a long time but golly....

Well, our friend Bri found a crib and changing table on Craigslist for a reasonable price for both pieces. Since we got those pieces I have been looking for a dresser. Craigslist didn't have anything that we really liked or that would work in our tiny room. We looked at new dressers and didn't really find anything that caught our eyes. I was really starting to get discouraged.

Then I remembered that my parents still had dressers from when we were growing up! I asked Mom and Dad if we would be able to buy one of them and they agreed!!

Dad, Maria and Brian brought it into our house a week or so ago. It was white with multi-colored knobs (one color for each drawer). Brian and I decided that instead of keeping it white we would take the paint off and stain/paint it to match the other furniture. We began by trying to sand the paint off but it didn't work out so well. The next day Brian went out and purchased some citrus scented paint stripper. He has been using that on the dresser for the last couple of days and while it looks awful it has already come a long way.

I don't have batteries for my camera so when I do I will post a picture!

Baby V is growing:
Adelle weighs about three-quarters of a pound and is approximately 10 1/2 inches long — the length of a carrot. It is starting to feel like she's practicing martial arts - Auntie Maria will be so proud - as her initial fluttering movements turn into full-fledged kicks and nudges. I am also supposed to discover a pattern to her activity as I get to know her better. In other developments, her eyebrows and lids are present now, and it's crazy to think that her vagina has begun to form as well. Unreal! Only 130 days left!

15 Weeks and 2 Days = New Furniture!

So I have been a little late in posting because there hasn't been anything too exciting happening. This week - however - we hit the mother load!

We made it to 15 weeks on Saturday (yes that is right, we make it to each new week on Saturdays) and we couldn't be happier. We are into the 2nd trimester (see previous post) and things are still going well (I think).

We have asked our friend Bri to help us look for furniture on line because we are trying to save some money (we're having a BABY here people) and Bri is AMAZING when it comes to looking on line and finding quality things. So she sent us a few links for items and we were too slow for them. They sold before we were able to make a decision! So she sent us a few MORE links and we decided to send emails right away. Well, one person STILL hasn't gotten back to us (after almost a week) and the other person got back to us yesterday. Since our week is pretty hectic we decided to take a look at what they were selling and ended up buying the furniture! We got a BEAUTIFUL crib and changing table!! I don't know about Brian but I am BURSTING with excitement! I really want to put the crib together but I know that wouldn't be a great idea because once we find out what we're having we'll need to paint, but I want to anyway.



We went to his house in St. Paul around 6:30pm and took a look at the crib and changing table (with the help from his wife and 3 kids). They have a cherry finish and still look fantastic after 1 or 2 children and a move! Anyway, we discussed briefly and decided this was going to be Baby V's first furniture! We went back in talked about money and then called my parents to help us take them home because Brian's Accord just won't fit a crib and changing table and my parents live close (and are awesome)! ;) We ended up getting everything to fit and then stopped for ice cream at Izzy's for all of our efforts - YUMMY! After we picked out our cones we left for home.



We got here around 8:30ish and Maria, Dad, Brian and Mom helped bring things in while I watched and held the door. I felt like a bump on a log but it was wonderful to see everything coming into the room... it's starting to LOOK more like Baby V's room! Brian even has a trunk that we are going to keep in the room because it matches so well (sorry about the wonky picture though)!



After Mom, Dad and Maria left we went upstairs and just looked at the crib and changing table. My mind was racing with patterns and bedding, planes and ABC's and just general excitement.

What a GREAT way to start out our 15th week!


Baby V is growing:
Baby V is about the size of an apple. She is moving all around and she can move all of her limbs now too! Though there isn't much to taste her little taste buds are forming... I don't think she likes french fries because I still get an upset tummy when I eat them and I love them (oh golly, she's already taking after her Dad)! Only 173 days to go!