Maternity pics…a preview!

As I mentioned in my 34 week post…this past Friday Lance and I had our/my maternity photo session.  I went back and forth with whether I really wanted to have this done or not.  I mean I don’t see myself posting a bunch of these around the house (like wedding pics or baby pics) so i really didn’t know if it would be worth it.  Also, I haven’t really felt that “pretty” during this pregnancy…it’s not that I don’t think growing a baby is beautiful…I do!  I have loved my bump from the beginning…even when it just looked like a beer gut…but I wasn’t sure how that would translate in photos and if I would even want people to see them.  Throw in the fact that I tend to be picky when it comes to what I like/don’t like in photography and you can understand why I was torn.  I didn’t want any bare stomach photos, awkward poses, or anything unnatural looking.

 

After reading Tara’s post and seeing her beautiful photos I started to warm up to the idea.  However I still hadn’t found a photographer I liked to do our newborn photos!  So that was my first priority.  After searching and googling I found a couple different photographers that I was ok with…but none that I felt really had the feel/look I was going for.  I was really hoping to have someone come to our house and capture our baby in his/her natural element…in the nursery, on our bed, etc…no awkward baby poses or strange props.

 

I came across Jylare’s site via an interior designer’s site (of all places) and instantly fell in love with the style of her newborn shoots (scroll through the lifestyle category if you want to see!).  I emailed her and we set a date for our newborn photos…and then discussed the idea of doing maternity ones.  After debating it for a couple weeks I decided to go for it!

Even though these are just the first few I couldn’t be more happy with how they turned out.  Jylare is so fun and upbeat and she did such an amazing job directing us and helping us not look totally awkward…I really can’t wait to see the rest!  I also feel 110% confident in my choice to have her shoot our little one when he/she comes too!

*all photos by Jylare Smith Photography…please do not copy without permission!

34 Weeks

 

 

Another mirror pic…taken quickly Sunday night after a very busy weekend!!

This past week and weekend was a busy one for us…baby prep, football, and Lance’s bday!  As we tick closer to the due date the weeks and weekends seem to go by way too quickly.  I’m busy at work trying to wrap up/pass off projects before I take 12 weeks off…Tuesdays we have our birthing class right after work and don’t make it home till almost 10pm (which is way past my bedtime)…and I am now starting weekly appointments with the doc.  So yeah…it’s been hectic.

I started to go into panic mode a bit last week when I realized that I’ll be full term (37wks) in 3 weeks time…and that is the soft “deadline”  I set for having things finished and ready to go!  Considering the nursery is nowhere near where I would like it to be…and we don’t even have a list for our hospital bags (or a diaper bag yet!)…you could say we’re a bit behind.  I jotted down a huge “to-do” list and “to-buy” list…both are slightly intimidating.  I have my 2nd and final shower this weekend with my Utah friends (hooray!!) and hopefully after that we’ll have a better idea of what we still need to get.  My mom and Aunt are also coming to visit this weekend and I think baby shopping is on our to-do list…so hopefully we can get a lot of the bigger items we need taken care of!

We did cross a couple of big things off our list this past weekend…one GIANT one being a new mom mobile!

This is a purchase we’ve been discussing and saving for way before I ever took a pregnancy test…but the whole “growing family” thing definitely made it a priority.   If you can’t tell from the crappy photo we went with a Toyota Rav4 in red (looks like I need some new Husker stickers!).

So far it’s been nice and we’ve already taken advantage of the cargo room…which leads me to purchase number 2 for the weekend…a rocker/glider for the nursery!  I ordered this rocker from Target about a month ago when they had their big “baby sale” for $100 off the reg price…even though there were no reviews at the time I figured I would take a chance as it was the color and look I was going for.

While it looked great and worked perfectly in our nursery…it was not that comfy.  It wasn’t awful…but it just wasn’t as comfy as I was hoping for…considering I’ll likely be spending a lot of hours in it in the middle of the night.  Plus after about 10 minutes of rocking it started to make a click noise with each back/forth motion.  I spent a good hour WD-40-ing every joint I could find but nope…didn’t help.  So we returned it (this is where the new SUV came into play…cargo space!).

Lance could tell I was frustrated and upset with the rocker situation and so he told me as my “push present” he wanted me to pick out any rocker I liked regardless of price…so off to Buy Buy Baby we went!  I picked one that is 100x more comfortable and chose some cute light grey fabric and we placed the order.  I don’t think it will arrive before baby…but hopefully I can get through the first week or two without one.  Since we had a 20% off coupon it only ended up being about $50 more than the Target one…score!

To cap off an already eventful Friday…we then met up with Jylare for our maternity shoot!  I will share more about this when I post some of the pics she sent me today as a sneak peek!!  I was on the fence about doing them…but after seeing the sneak peek today I’m so glad I decided to go for it…and convinced lance to tag along.

To round out the weekend we also watched both of our teams (Huskers & Vikes) come away with big wins, and celebrated Lance’s 31st Birthday with a nice steak dinner out and ice cream cake!

(If you’re wondering…no I didn’t write the Happy Birthday message on the cake…you can thank the high school dudes working at DQ for that loveliness.)

Needless to say week 34 was a busy/eventful one…and I know they will only be busier from here on out till baby arrives!  Let the official count-down begin!

 

32 Weeks

This week was a rough one.  I made it 7 months sickness free…but my luck couldn’t last forever…the death cold found me.  I should have known when I went to the doc for my appointment (pre getting sick) and the nurse commented that almost everyone she had seen in the last 2 days was sick.  Normally I would just OD on cold medicine and keep on truckin’….but obviously that wasn’t going to work now that I’m growing a human.  Not to mention this cold was an evil one…I couldn’t smell or taste anything for 5 days…talk about miserable!  My meals consisted of cereal and soup.

Even though I felt like death this past week…it doesn’t overshadow the really fun thing that happened….my BFF Shelley had her baby!!  A Girl!!  She’s super cute and I’m bummed I can’t just jump in my car and go visit them.

We’ve been able to chat here and there on gchat and via text so I’m getting all the info I can out of her about being a new mom, labor, breastfeeding, etc.  It has also got me thinking/realizing that this WILL BE ME in 8/9 short weeks!  I’m going to do my best to not get overly eager and instead enjoy these last weeks baby free with Lance.

We also started our 6 week birthing class this past week.  We covered pretty basic stuff that I already knew…but the remaining classes look to cover a variety of topics (labor/delivery, postpartum, breastfeeding) so I think we will end up learning a lot and hopefully it will prep us both for what is coming.

Oh and I’m slowly making progress on the nursery!  I was able to whip up an easy DIY crib skirt while watching football this weekend.  I used this tutorial and then just added ties to attach to the spring frame part…this way I can hopefully just move them in as we move the mattress down.  For as ghetto as it is (only 3 sides…shhhh) I think it looks pretty good!

 

 

30 Weeks

A little different “bump” pic this time around…Lance & I were in Nebraska this past weekend for the first Husker game…and my first shower!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We have been going back for the first Nebraska game of the seaon for the past 5 years…it’s tradition!!  Hopefully we can continue to keep going…we’ll just leave the little one at home with Grandma  Being 7 months pregnant this year made things a little bit different obviously…no Embassy Suites happy hour drinks for me!  Fortunately my little sister recently turned 21 and so she was able to take advantage of my “situation” (and drink tickets)…it’s a tough job but someone has got to do it.

Fortunately/Unfortunately Shelley was (and is) still preggers so we were able to keep our pre-game at Brewskys tradition alive as well!  I’m sure Lance felt real cool hanging out with two pregnant chicks drinking O’douls.  My how times have changed!

 

 

(pic stolen from Shelley)

The game itself was fun like always…and HOT!  For a while there I wasn’t sure I was going to make it through.  While waiting in line…drunk sorority girls to my left…smoking lady to my right…and the giant sun blaring down…I kinda wanted to run back to our air conditioned hotel room and just watch the game on TV.  BUT…I also knew that this would be the one time this year I get to see the guys in red play…so I stuck it out all the way till the end!

My mom got me this cute tank to wear that says “Quarterback in Training” across the bump…and I got lots of compliments and comments from people throughout the day!  So being pregnant at a football game isn’t all bad.  I’m just happy I wasn’t the girl running to the bathroom to pump during 3rd quarter…not sure I could have handled that.

 

Then on Sunday we made our way to Omaha for my first baby shower!!  My two aunts (that threw my wedding shower) along with my little sister hosted and did an amazing job putting it together.

It was so great to be able to see family and friends one last time before this little one makes his/her appearance.  Everyone is so excited for us and can’t wait to meet him/her.  We received so many generous gifts that really help as we try and make final preperations for the baby’s arrival.  I also requested a “favorite childhood book” from each guest and it’s safe to say baby A’s library is off to a great start!  I can’t wait to read to our little one in the months and years ahead.

 

My aunt form Chicago made these adorable sugar cookies….I think the little onsies were my favorite!

 

She also made this cute fruit carriage…complete with our last name on the back!

 

Of course sweets were aplenty…which was perfect as that seems to be ALL I crave these days.

 

The best part about having a shower back home is I get to see my friends that I don’t often see when we make quick trips back to Nebraska.  Three of us are pregnant in the pic below…that’s a lot of babies!  It was really fun to share stories and compare our experiences thus far.  It’s times like this when I get bummed I don’t live closer to home so we could get together more often…espeically after all the babes come along.  Maybe someday!

 

My little sister and I…it’s always fun to hang out with her when we go back and hear about all her college escapades.  Kids these days…I swear I never did any of that crazy stuff when I was in school…

 

Thankfully she found time between her trips to “the bottoms” to put together this super adorable diaper wreath.  Pinterest worthy indeed…complete with a Husker onsie and booties!

 

I’d say week 30 was one of the most fun yet!  You really can’t go wrong when you mix some of my favorite people and football together!

28 Weeks

If you follow me on Instagram (stephavey) then you have already seen this pic…sorry to repeat!  I didn’t get a chance to take one of the usual deck pics this past weekend so this will have to do. 

Hooray for 28 weeks and the official start to the 3rd and final trimester!!  I feel like I’ve been pregnant forever…but thankfully I’ve only really been “feeling” pregnant for the past couple months or so.  Trouble sleeping, having a noticeable bump, finally giving in to maternity clothes, heartburn, and feeling movement…all undeniable signs that I’m growing a human.

I LOVED the 2nd trimester…so many great moments (first ultrasound, beginning of movement, strangers noticing the bump and asking about the baby, purchasing baby things and starting the nursery) and I definitely had a lot more energy than I did in the first trimester which at times almost made me forget I was pregnant…almost.

It’s also amazing to look at the changes my body has been through the past 14 weeks..

 

I hardly recognize that girl in the week 14 pic!  To think I actually felt like I had a “bump” then…ha!

While I’m excited to be in the 3rd trimester finally…I’m also already starting to feel some of the uncomfortableness that comes along with it.  My weight slowly went up at first…and now I’m gaining at least 4lbs between appointments…and feeling it.  My legs get tired after standing/walking a lot quicker then they did just weeks before.  I’ve also noticed simple things, like bending over, are getting a bit more challenging.  Oh and I can no longer paint my own toes…so I guess that means bi-monthly pedicures are in my near future

I’m going to try realllly hard to do weekly updates from now on up until the end.  Lots of exciting things happening including 2 showers, childbirth classes, and lots of nursery & sewing projects to get done!

26 Weeks

Nori is a photo whore…she was feeling a little left out.

For those of you that are super observant…yes we did re-stain our deck!! It really needed it…so that was one of our pre-baby summer goals…and I’m happy to say it is almost completely done. I didn’t put in nearly as much time as Lance (for obvious reasons)…but it still only took a few weekend days to complete!

And now onto the baby goods…

26 Weeks!

Baby Fruit Size: Head of lettuce (Average size: 13.6-14.8 inches, weighs 1.5-2.2 lb.)

According to one of my weekly update apps…the Babe now has recognizable hair color and texture…so if this child is gonna be a “Ginger Baby” (as my little sister seems to think) like me then it’s happening! Only time will tell for sure!

Best Moment: As gushy/girly as it sounds I’m really loving the baby’s fits of kicking/punching/Gabby Douglas-esq moves. It’s like I get to steal these secret moments with my baby randomly during work and again at night after dinner. I love to just sit there and watch my belly move all over the place…so hard to explain but such a cool experience. He/She is definitely getting into an active/sleep pattern and I feel as though I’m getting to know this little one even before we officially meet. I’m also surprised at how strong some of the kicks are…like make me stop and gasp strong. Which I take is a good sign the baby is growing and getting stronger…Lance just assumes it’s a boy preparing for his future football career.

Cravings: Ice Cream is still going strong in this category. Lance also pointed out that I’m craving/eating a lot of carbs lately…toast, cereal, muffins, bread…I can’t seem to get enough!

What I Miss: Sleep. I know this only gets worse but I can’t help it…I miss real, full-night sleep. Not having to worry about laying on my side (preferably left) and the hip pain that hits around 3am that keeps me from falling back asleep…oh and of course the 4am wake-up kicks from the babe (which I love…but c’mon…it’s 4am!). I think the time has come for me to invest in a body pillow…to at least help with the hip pain.

What I Can’t Wait For: I’ve been chatting with my mom, sister and aunt about my upcoming shower and I’m getting really excited to see everyone back home!! I have some friends that I haven’t seen or talked to much since getting pregnant so I can’t wait to catch up with them! Add in the fact that we’re going to the first Husker game that Saturday…and possibly a new baby to visit…and I’m insanely stoked for our annual trip back to Nebraska over Labor Day weekend!

;

OH and the other big accomplishment in the baby department this past week….I finished knitting the chevron blanket!!!

I LOVE how it turned out. It was a lot easier/quicker than I thought it would be and I’m actually a little sad that it’s finished already. The yarn is super soft cotton and it’s nice and thick too…perfect for those first few months after the baby arrives!

24 Weeks

I think the “nesting” bug is starting to hit.  I finally started doing some research for the different things we will need for baby…and holy crap…it’s a lot.  Who knew such a tiny human needed so much?!  Good news is we’ve purchased our crib and car seat…and our first couple boxes of diapers!  Never too early to start stocking up right?!

So of course all this research forced me to get started on our registry.  My family is throwing me a shower over Labor Day weekend while we’re back in Nebraska so I figured I better get on the ball with figuring out what we want/need.  (Any “must have” input would be greatly appreciated  I still have a lot of work to do on the Nursery planning end of things…but at least we have a crib now!

Oh AND we secured a spot for daycare!  Such a relief.  I was a tad stressed about finding a place that we felt comfortable with that didn’t cost a bajillion dollars…easier said then done.  We also ended up going with a center I didn’t think I would like before we toured…but turns out we both felt really good about it…weird how that works out.

24 Weeks!

Baby Fruit Size: Cantaloupe (weighs just over a pound.  Length: about 11 inches)

Best Moment:  Purchasing baby things!  Seeing the crib set-up (even sans mattress) and the tiny little car seat in the nursery just puts a smile on my face every time I walk by.  I also ordered this little newborn outfit/one-piece from Baby Gap that has a little ear of corn on it…being from Nebraska I sorta have a “thing” for corn…and omg is it cute.  Lance & I both couldn’t stop staring at it when it came in the mail…hard to believe we’ll have a baby to put it on come November!

Cravings:  Fall…yes the season.  Fall has always been my favorite time of year (thanks to my bday and football!) but this year it obviously has an even bigger appeal…the arrival of our little one!   I’m ready for football and stuffing my face with everything pumpkin flavored I can get my hands on.  In fact I already gave in to my craving a bit and made chocolate-chip pumpkin bread this weekend…I could eat a loaf a day.

What I Miss:   I had a big “omg i really want a glass of wine!!” moment this past week.  Lance and I went to our first Red Butte concert on Tuesday to see Josh Ritter.  I’ve been wanting to seem him for years and Lance surprised me with tickets for Mother’s Day…so we went!

The best thing about Red Butte is you get to bring in all your own food/drink…which of course equals WINE.  I mean we live in a pretty “dry” state (at least compared to the midwest) but I swear every single person there had bottles upon bottles of delicious wine…so not fair.  Thankfully I like Josh enough that I don’t need to be tipsy to enjoy him…but still…wine would have made it even more awesome.

What I Can’t Wait For:  Football and Fall and Pumpkin stuff…er is this supposed to be baby related?!

22 Weeks

22 Weeks!

Baby Fruit Size: Papaya (weighs almost a pound(!!)  Length: about 11 inches)

Best Moment: It’s hard to pin-point a particular moment from these past two weeks (since I skipped week 21)…it’s more of a combination of things that have been pretty great.  We were in North Dakota for the past week visiting family/friends and hearing/seeing how excited different people are for us was awesome…we are so thankful to have such loving family and friends who are just as excited as we are for this little one to join our family.

The other big thing for me personally has been feeling movement like crazy!  You go so long wondering if there really is a baby growing in there…and once you start feeling (and seeing!) frequent movement and kicks there’s no denying it!  It’s such a fun/wonderful/amazing thing to experience and has really helped me to start bonding with our little one.

Cravings:  Whenever we go back to Lance’s parent’s house…his mom always has plenty of goodies on hand…so needless to say I never really had the chance to get hungry and crave much…I was too busy eating!  I also got to experience my first “Indian Taco”…I think this must be a NoDak thing?!…anyways it was pretty delicious!

What I Miss:   Laying/sleeping on my back.  Apparently this is a big no-no come 2nd trimester…and they say the best position is to lay on your left side.  I’ve been doing pretty good starting out on my left side…and alternating between right and left throughout the night…but dangit sometimes I just want to lay flat!!

What I Can’t Wait For:  I think Lance said it best this past weekend, “Can the baby just get here already…”.   I think he was bored at the time and seems to think the baby will come out baseball glove in hand ready to play catch…boy or girl.  I guess I’m not ready for baby just yet…I’m just starting to get into the groove of this whole pregnancy thing and enjoying it!  I know the next 18 or so weeks will fly by so I want to try and savor every moment before then!

 

In Lance’s hometown they have this little “Art in the Park” festival during the 4th of July and Grandma A got the babe some cute bibs and a tie-dye onesie…Vikings colors of course!

20 Weeks

(Mini decided she needed to be in the pic too)

And just for fun let’s compare with 5 weeks ago…

Looks like baby has been doing some serious growing!

20 Weeks (Halfway there!)

Baby Fruit Size: Banana (weighs about 10.6 ounces.  Length: 6 1/2 inches, head to bottom.)

Best Moment:  Our ultrasound!  Even though we are choosing to not find out the sex until the babe is born…the ultrasound was still really amazing.  We got to see the little one squirming about, moving his/her arms and legs…it was so cute!  And it makes everything seem very very real…as in this is happening…like soon.

Cravings:  On Thursday Lance & I met for dinner post-work at a local brewery…and I had to have fried pickles…which is weird b/c I never eat them…but dang they were good.

What I Miss:  Not much of anything…I actually have been enjoying everything about being pregnant this week (except maybe the trips to the bathroom in the middle of the night).  After seeing the little babe at the ultrasound and feeling his/her movements regularly now…it’s been a great week!  I’m also feeling more pregnant instead of just fat these days.

What I Can’t Wait For:  Getting started on the Nursery.  We also haven’t made any big baby purchases yet…crib, car seat, stroller, swing, rocker…we need it all.  So I’m excited (and a little intimidated) to start shopping around.

And now a couple pics from our ultrasound this past week.

 

How cute is that little baby foot!? and hand?!  I think it’s my favorite pic from the whole bunch

18 Weeks

 

18 Weeks!

Baby Fruit Size: Sweet Potato (weighs about 7 ounces.  Length: 5 1/2 inches, head to bottom.)

Best Moment:  Feeling movement!  Pretty sure I’ve started feeling the babe kick/punch/move…whatever it is he/she is doing.  At first I wasn’t sure…but now I think I have a pretty good idea of when it’s happening.  Crazy!

Symptoms:  Once again nothing really big here…just the normal stuff…stuffy nose, need to pee, hunger (although this has toned down a bit…thank god…I was starting to feel like a real heffer)

Cravings:  Ice Cream/gelato/anythingfrozenanddelicious.  Seriously…it’s getting a bit ridiculous.

What I Miss:  Beer…especially now that it’s summer…and we have Widmer Hef on tap in the bar.  I think Lance picked it just to torture me…evil I tell you.

What I Can’t Wait For:  Feeling movement more frequently…and scheduling our “big” ultrasound.

I also started my first knitting project for baby this week….a blanket!  Thanks to size 11 needles it’s actually coming together faster than I thought.   I’m sure It will still take me till November to finish it…once I get busy with other things it will be hard to find time to just sit and knit.  I’m making this chevron blanket I found via pinterest (obviously) and using these colors.

 

So far I’ve got one of the “stripes” done…just 6 more to go!