Garage Sailing Galore

 My husband is a thrifty man. One of his favorite hobbies is to dig around in thrift stores, garage sales, flea markets, pawn shops, and record stores for deals. I'm usually not that into it unless I have a specific purpose. Don't get me wrong, I definitely have a thrifty nature (I'm generally much more of a cheap-o than him), but I just don't enjoy the hunt as much as he does. However, now that we're expecting our girl, I have been overly excited to join him on his Saturday morning treasure hunts. This Saturday we ventured out, and it was a very successful day.

I thought it would be fun to share some of our finds.

Lets start out with the find I'm most excited about. We found this fisher-price swing at a garage sale for $30. I have talked to several of my mommy-friends who have said that their babies LOVE this swing. They have one in our church nursery, and apparently it's a hot commodity for the fussy little ones. This exact swing is no longer made, but a very similar one (which happens to be the one we registered for), is sold on Amazon for $126. It also came with an extra cover which will most likely come in handy at some point. I'd say that $30 is a steal!

Every time I walk in the front door and see this set up I smile and say to myself "wow, we're going to have a baby to put in this thing is a few months!"  

Sweet little birdie that our little birdie will enjoy watching. 

It's pretty much impossible for me to go shopping anywhere these days without drooling over adorable baby clothes. Baby girls are just incredibly fun to buy clothes for! Our wallets unfortunately can't handle me splurging on every dress and onesie that I love in the stores, but garage sales and thrift stores are another story. We got lucky at one specific thrift store that was having a 50% off ALL clothing sale, and another one that had up to 75% of select items. I went a tad bit crazy...

Over 15 (some are buried) outfits...less than $12!!!

6 pairs of pants/leggings (most complete with ruffle butt)...$5. 

Last, but not least is this adorable little sling we found. After some research I found out that this particular sling (and all slings released by infantino) have been recalled due to several babies suffocating in them. I still plan on using it, but will do so in a way that I am extremely mindful of how my little one is placed in the sling, and checking on her every couple of seconds. I'm excited about carrying her in this sling, and other slings that I have my eye on...carefully. 

Infantino Sling...$5. Similar slings run around $30-$40.

We also got a pretty area rug for our new place's living room for $15, a few books, and some cds. 

It was a fun, successful day of thrifting. 

It's safe to say that Andrew and I high-fived when the morning was over...because we're cheesy like that. 

Hope y'all enjoyed this installment of Garage Sailing Galore. Hopefully there will be many more of these posts to come in the future. 

Week 23

23 weeks into this wonderful adventure! Everything and everyone is just trucking right along. Both baby girl (I know we still have yet to go completely 100% public with her name...we cannot decide on a middle name for her) and I are both growing and doing really well. Most of the time I feel like I am growing much more than her, which I still have not completely been able to embrace fully. Don't get me wrong, I love seeing my belly grow, but other parts of me...not so much. 

Other than growth, this week has been mostly uneventful thus far. We did have an appointment on Wednesday, which means we got to hear our girl's heartbeat, also known as the most magical sound to our ears these days. True to her pesky, stubborn ways she made it nice and difficult for the doctor to hear her heart for more than ten seconds at a time by doing somersaults and kicking strong. 

Speaking of kicking, you would think she has a black belt in karate with how much she's kicking and punching around in there. One of my favorite things to do these days is to just sit or lay down and spend time feeling her move around. It makes me smile so big. 

This week she has crossed over the pound mark in weight, and is either right at or just over a foot in length. I can definitely tell a difference in her size just from the past two weeks. Her movements are much more forceful and at times she gets in positions that are a little uncomfortable for her mom. 

Symptom wise, I really have no complaints. I am usually pretty sore and tense by the end of the day from walking and standing so much, but that is nothing some relaxation on the couch and a little massage from my sweet husband can't fix. :) I'm really enjoying being pregnant right now. I feel so grateful to be blessed with the opportunity to carry our little girl and feel her growing every day. It's a miracle.

Photo inspired by Robyn's 22 week pictures (it is so fun walking this journey with a friend that is due less than a week after me!)  

Weeks 21 & 22

The trend of blogging my pregnancy two weeks at a time is becoming prevalent. To say that I have become a bit of slacker at documenting this journey would be an understatement. I'm hoping to improve. We will see.

We're almost halfway through week 22. I am feeling awesome. I have my energy almost completely back. I think it's safe to say that this is the most it will return for probably another 18 years, or more. I'm perfectly okay with that, and definitely enjoying it while I can.

My sweet girl is making her presence known quite frequently, and it brings me so much joy. I've read that most babies are sleeping in the womb up to 19-20 hours per day...not my girl! I guess she could be sleeping that much, but my goodness, she is a rowdy sleeper if so! She is moving all day! I don't notice it as much when I'm running around at work, but when I sit down at the computer or my desk she lets me know she's there. It's so amazing. She definitely has gotten herself on a schedule though, which is also really, really neat and intriguing. She wakes up every night (morning) around 2:30-3:00. I know this because that is when she likes to move the most. I swear it feels like she is doing flips in there! It wakes me up, but I really do not even mind. I usually get up to go to the bathroom and then lay back down, put my hands on my belly and feel her do her thing. Last night I could feel her kicking me way down in my lower right abdomen and punching me in my upper right abdomen. It made me laugh a little, and also made me realize how big she is getting!

She is about a foot long now and weighs a pound. I can definitely tell just by looking in the mirror that she is growing. On Sunday morning as we were on our way out the door to church I said to Andrew "I feel really pregnant today" he pat my belly and agreed that I am indeed pregnant, and looking like it!

We're still indecisive about a middle name. While I'm excited to nail down her full name, I am loving getting to call her by her name. I love talking to her, and so does Andrew. I can't believe how much we love this little person that we haven't even actually met yet. I can't even describe how amazing it is.

Just a little less than 4 months until we'll be holding our sweet girl.

Here are pictures from the past two weeks. Once again taken with my iphone in my bathroom mirror, not out of the usual. I've been on a straight hair kick for the past couple of weeks. After straightening it last week I realized how badly it needed to be cut (and thinned).

21 weeks: 

 22 weeks: (one growth spurt and hair cut later)

Thanks for following us on this journey to meet our girl. 

Earth Day

The nature/animal documentary nerd of my childhood is about to be shown....
I cannot wait to see this!



I cried the first time I watched it, and have watched it about 10 times since then (without crying...I'm not THAT hormonal).
I want a little baby chimp so bad. That last clip of him falling asleep on his adopted parent...oh my gosh, melt my heart.

Okay, I'm done gushing about monkeys.

Happy Earth Day!

Grown-ups

Big things are happening over here in our little lives. We found a house to rent, and it's perfect for us. A cute little 3 bedroom, 2 bath house with a pretty backyard. The only thing we are the slightest bit sad about is moving out of the city. We realized that we just cannot find what we want/need within our price range here in the city, so we're moving on the outskirts. We've enjoyed being so close to everything, and will definitely miss it. We signed the lease today and start moving in at the end of May. It was fun to stand in that empty little house today, look around, and imagine how much our family will grow and change in there. What a journey we're about to embark on! Andrew and I have had a few conversations that end with something along the lines of "wow, we're kind of turning into grown-ups".

Little one has been kicking me so hard the past couple of days. Occasionally it takes me by surprise and makes me jump. I love to feel her move from the inside, but there's just something about laying my hand on my stomach and feeling her kick it that makes me so giddy. She is a feisty little girl. I can't wait to meet her.

This week at work (it's only Tuesday?!?!) has been hectic and stressful. Among other things, I got "stuck" on the Westbank after doing a home visit because I forgot to bring a dollar to get back across the bridge. I have never used my debit card with the pin (I only use it as "credit") so I couldn't get money out of an ATM. I had a moment in the car that involved pulling out of sight at the gas station and crying onto my steering wheel for a good 5 minutes. After I composed myself and realized how much of a hormonal pregnant mess I was being, I drove myself to a bank and cashed a check for $20, and proceeded to cross the darn bridge that started all that drama in the first place. Sometimes you just have to cry in a shady shell station parking lot before you can start thinking clearly, I guess.

Here's hoping the rest of the week flies by!

Weeks 19 & 20

Woohoo! We've hit the halfway mark! We are 20 weeks away from meeting our girl, and my goodness, SO very excited about it.

Weeks 19 & 20 have been easy breezy. I would say 90% of the time now, I enjoy being pregnant. My exhaustion has leveled off. While I'm still tired at the end of the day, I don't feel completely exhausted and drained like I was before. I'm only waking up ONCE a night to pee instead of 2-3 thanks to my uterus moving up in my belly some (I know this will most likely be short lived, but I'm enjoying it for now). I have a definite bump at this point, and people are constantly congratulating me and asking me questions about the baby. I've had a few people touch my belly randomly, which was something I was unsure about if it would bother me or not, and it actually hasn't at all. Because of the rapid belly growth, I had some pretty bad pains a couple nights in a row. I don't know how to describe them other than it felt like my muscles were being shredded by a sharp knife. Pleasant sounding, right?  I would get up and try to walk and stretch but nothing could quite take the edge off. Thankfully, that only lasted 2 days and now I only get uncomfortable if I sit or lay in one position too long. I'm pretty much exclusively wearing my maternity clothes. My other pants can still be worn with the belly band (most genius invention ever, by the way), but they aren't super comfortable. These days, comfort is of utmost importance to me, so I choose to wear the same pants 2-3 times a week. My residents (who lack any type of filter whatsoever) have yet to make any remarks, so I'm still in the clear. 

Andrew and I began looking at things that we want to register for last weekend. It was fun to look, but also slightly overwhelming. BabiesRus is insane. I just cannot believe there are enough baby products to fill a huge wear house of a store completely. I'm trying to keep in mind that hundreds of thousands of parents before us have successfully raised a baby without all that crap, and not to let the process overwhelm me. We did pick out our infant seat, stroller, and pack-n-play...so fun! 

Baby girl is now about the length of a banana, and around 11 ounces. She is swallowing the amniotic fluid frequently these days and because her taste buds are developed, she can apparently taste flavors of what I am eating. How crazy is that?! I'm feeling her kick much harder than ever before now. It's real slugs instead of fluttering. She tends to move around a lot during meals and when I lay down at night to go to sleep. Her kicks can be clearly felt from outside of my belly, but she has yet to show off for Daddy (or anyone else for that matter). I will tell Andrew "hurry! she's kicking hard!!" and the second he puts his hand on my belly, she decides to call it quits. I sure hope she cooperates and kicks her dad in the hand soon, because I'm pretty sure he's starting to think I'm making it up. Last night I could feel that she was laying completely on the right side of my belly. I pushed on her to try and nudge her over a little and I felt her turn around. It was the craziest thing I have ever felt!! I still can't help but smile and giggle when I feel her move and kick me...it's just so amazing. 

In other news, baby girl has a name! A first one at least. We are still debating over a few middle names, but I'm in love with the name we have chosen for her and I already feel like it fits her perfectly. It's so fun to be calling her by her name now. We will share once we make a final decision on her middle name. It is special and beautiful and I'm just so happy about it. 

It seems as though I have resigned to taking weekly belly pictures on my phone now. I at least got Andrew to take one for me this week (so I could send my sweet in-laws a picture of the cute outfits they got me for my birthday). I'm hoping to continue taking pictures with an actual camera, but like my last post said, life has just been a little hectic, and we haven't made time for it. 

19 weeks: 

20 weeks: 

That concludes weeks 19 & 20 update! See you tomorrow for week 21. Except, probably not because lets be honest, I'm pretty terrible at updating these on time. 

Life these days

It seems like I've taken a slight blogging hiatus unintentionally. I'll catch up on the baby posts soon, it's just that things have been kind of hectic here lately.
Andrew and I are in the middle of making some pretty big, life changing decisions. It's exciting, frustrating, and difficult. Change is always hard, even if its small.
We've kind of started the process of looking for a new place to live, and I've gotten kind of into it. I have this really strong desire to get settled in a place where our sweet girl will be welcomed into a home that has a special space just for her instead of just a bassinet in our room. I know she wont know the difference, but it's important to me for some reason. Nesting this soon? Possibly, except I have absolutely no desire to clean, so probably not. It's probably because I've been on Pinterest way too much when I get home from everything we've been doing these days. I have some pretty fabulous ideas for Little One's nursery (hopefully she'll get one). It is so much fun looking and imagining what it will be like to decorate a space for her.

Baseball season is in full swing. The boys have been SO well behaved. I was thinking about how much they have changed in one year. Last year at baseball practice Andrew and the other coaches spent at least 80% of practice breaking up fights and trying to get them to pay attention for just 5 minutes. This year, it's like a brand new group of boys. While they are still rowdy 9, 10, and 11 year old boys, their attitudes are completely changed. They try hard, are generally pretty respectful, and haven't gotten in ONE fight yet this season. AMAZING. I love them so much, and am grateful to God for placing each one of them in our lives. Since we started ministering to them, 3 of them have accepted Jesus into their hearts. 2 of them were baptized last week, and 1 is getting baptized on Mother's day. It is so special to watch them grow, physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. I'm so thankful for the work God is doing in them, and that he's allowed us to be apart of it!

Work is good. I've hit the 6 month mark and still enjoy going to work most days. On the days I'm not that excited to go, I try and remember when I didn't have a job and wanted one so badly and that usually helps. I enjoy my residents, co-workers, and the difference I get to make in people's lives. The good mostly always outweighs the stress.

And that is an update on life as we know it right now.

23

Today is my birthday. It's been a wonderful weekend filled with friends, spending time with my man, and celebrating Jesus and the magnificent sacrifice he made for us. I can't help but sit and reflect on this year, how much change has happened in my life, and how wonderful it has been. I feel so thankful that God is allowing me to live this life full of His blessings, and overflowing love. I'm looking forward to the year ahead of me, my 23rd year of life. Welcoming new life into ours has already been such a sweet experience, I cannot wait to experience it in full when our daughter comes into the world.

I can't imagine a better way to celebrate my birthday, but on Resurrection Sunday, pregnant with my first child. There is just a general overwhelming thankfulness for life happening in my heart today. For my life, for my precious baby's life, and mostly, for the life of our Savior who lived a sinless life, was crucified for our sins, and raised to walk in new life all so that we could be forgiven.

"...the Son of man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to
give His life as a ransom for many."        

          -Matthew 20:28

Happy Easter. May you know the joy and peace that come with knowing the risen savior.