The Finishing Touches

So I couldn't help posting the finished pictures of the nursery! The shades are up and the chair is assembled and in its place. We also have a 2 and 1 swing/bouncer...I love it! Hopefully L.J. does too.

And now all there's left to do is prep myself mentally for the stitch removal. I had some cramping today but I'm sure its no big deal. Probably just doing too much. I'm in the process now of packing my hospital bag seen as if after the cerclage comes out I have no idea whats going to happen and I guess its better safe than sorry.

These are the outfits I've chosen for my little man to come home in:

Newborn size not sure if he'll be able to fit this so option #2 is:

Anyway I better get back to attempting to pack before I lose all motivation. :D

Baby Shower/Nursery and Updates (picture heavy)

So I wanted to blog about the baby shower and nursery a couple of days ago but blogger was on the fritz! Anyway, the baby shower was great! Hubby and I really enjoyed ourselves! We had a sports-themed baby shower, which meant people were supposed to wear the jerseys or hats of their favorite sports team. Some participated and some didn't. But overall the event was fun and light-hearted and we received sooooo many gifts!

Here are a few pics:Me in my Redskins gear!

My Sorors


Men sucking juice out of the bottles! Hilarious!

Getting ready to open gifts!


Personalized afghan; absolutely beautiful!

It's reversible! (it says L.J.!)

LOL...our hats! :)

A great time was had by all! Needless to say after all the gifts were transported to the house I had to have plenty of help! My aunt, mom, mother in law and two cousins helped me organize and get everything into the nursery. However, I had to wash ALL the clothes:

Yea! Lots of clothes! Keep in mind that this doesn't include the clothes my mother and I had already started to accumulate at her house. LOL! No matter at least I won't have to go clothing shopping for a while...right?

And now...the long awaited nursery:


Hubby just finished putting together the 2 and 1 swing/bouncer and we finally got the shades up. We're waiting on the rocking chair, lamp and a few small items, but other than that the nursery is finished! Mom, hubby, dad and I all worked so hard to finish everything. I'm so glad the big stuff is done and all that's left to do is very minor.

I had a great doctor's appointment this past Friday. Of course they checked my cervix and because of the cerclage its still closed and of course the cerclage is still in place. This coming Friday is D day for the cerclage. It's coming out! At this point L.J. should be about 5lbs or so and he may make his appearance shortly after the cerclage comes out. Yay!

My doctor informed me that L.J. will be over 6lbs...that's a good size baby! I'm happy as long as he's healthy. My doctor even asked me what my plans were for my birthday (May 27th...I'll be 37 weeks). I asked him sarcastically...."I'm not sure but what should I do doc...lol" He suggested that if I go out that I go out near Holy Cross Hospital which is where I'll deliver. *Sigh* no offense but I want to enjoy my birthday not be couped up in the house! :( It's my LAST birthday in my 20's so I just want to be out on the town with my friends and hubby. But I guess going into labor and having a baby on my birthday would be an awesome gift! :) Either way I haven't made any plans so we'll see what happens.

It's Becoming Real!

So I guess I can't really complain too much anymore! I feel like my hubby and I have accomplished so much this past week, which consequently was his spring break!

Here's a basic rundown on what was done:

Nursery closets FINALLY painted!
Baby mattress cleaned!
Carpets in the house cleaned!
Crib 99.5% complete!
One bathroom painted (one more to go)!
Hospital pre-natal tour complete!
My car trunk was de-cluttered!
50% finished with switching my closets from winter to summer clothes!

I know it doesn't sound like a lot but it truly is! Once my dad comes over today I'll probably ask him to pull out another clothes bin for me so I can finish organizing my clothes. Plus I'll ask him to finish up the crib by installing the footboard.

Of course I took pictures of hubby putting the crib together but I refuse to post any pics until the nursery is complete...which at the rate we're going won't be until after L.J.'s arrival! LOL! No that's not true because that would drive me up a wall! I'm too much of a planner/organizer for that last minute crap! Unfortunately, I know I've been getting on my husband's nerves but he deals pretty well.

Fortunately, for all parties involved (yes I feel like I'm getting on everyone's nerves...lol) there are only a few more things left to do:

Put the dresser in the nursery
Finish organizing the closets in the nursery
Wash all baby items (probably won't do this until after the shower)
Decorate the nursery (again not until after the shower)

So yesterday, it was sooo humid here but hubby and I decided to just utilize the fans in the house since its a little earl y for air conditioning in this area. However, I felt like I was going to pass out so I went to sit downstairs where its like 20 degrees cooler. After coming back upstairs, we decided the air MUST be turned on. I've never felt faint or that hot in my life. So my new rule until I'm postpartum is to stay inside in the air conditioning. Honestly I feel like I cannot regulate my temperature and I don't want to get sick and risk anything happening to myself or my baby boy.

One a happy note, we had our hospital tour last night and it was so informative and exciting to think that in a couple of weeks hubby and I will arrive at the hospital and leave with L.J. in our arms. I'm soooo excited and nervous all at the same time.

Next weekend is my baby shower! FINALLY! I can't wait! I do hope that people purchase items from our registry. I worked so hard on putting them together and I definitely don't want family and friends purchasing clothes! We soooo don't need clothes! LOL! But whatever they purchase I'll just smile and say thank you :)

I Need Batteries!

Yup I'm in desperate need of some batteries...for myself! As of late I'm sooooo tired and really I feel like its for no reason at all. Though I guess if housing a baby counts then, well, I guess I can complain just a tad about being tired.

My 2nd trimester wind has definitely died, and as my Sisterlocks client remarked to me yesterday I won't be getting a third! Darn! I can't lie though it is slightly frustrating to be this tired but I guess it is what it is....*shrug* not like I didn't know this repeat of the 1st trimester would rear its ugly head again. LOL

Anyway, still making small strides on the nursery. We still have a twin bed that needs to get gone and a chest that needs to be moved downstairs to the laundry room. Additionally, I need to order some shades (taking down the crappy cheap blinds) and get the carpet cleaned but all those things are small minor details. We did get the travel system put together *happy dance* so again, progress!

I can't believe that my shower or should I say our shower will be in a couple of weeks! YES! My mom got the paper invites in the mail and now its just all about who to invite. Either way all invites (paper and electronic) will go out by Friday, April 1st! AND maternity photos at the end of April, two weeks before the shower! Needless to say April is going to be an exciting month! Can't wait to post more pics...stay tuned!

Third Tri's the Charm

Yes I finally hit my third trimester yesterday! Woo-Hoo! Plus, I had an awesome appointment yesterday! Thank God! Cervix and cerclage are holding up well and I guess its due to me resting and working from home. I also cut back on my sorority duties as well so that probably helped as well.

Anyway, L.J. is growing nicely! He's 2.5 pounds and he turned; he is now head down and hopefully he stays that way LOL! I am now on bi-weekly appointments and on March 28th Hubs and I will attend our first child birthing class! Time seems to be flying by but I'm glad. I can't wait to hold my little guy and to get a break from work.

Fast-forward to earlier today...Hubs and I made some major moves in terms of cleaning house. Originally, all of his clothes were in the two nursery closets. I am no happy to say that he condensed his clothes and shoes into the one closet in the office. Honestly, I'm extremely happy with the move and it makes more sense to have his things in the office closet since that's like his mini "man cave." My winter clothes were moved out of our bedroom closet and put in the laundry room (we have shelves and a place to hang clothes there). Once Hubs brings up the bins, I can unpack some of my summer maternity things and hang them in the closet.

So in accomplishing the closet switch-a-roo, we threw out a lot of papers and junk that was just sitting around since we moved to the house back in 2009. Also, we discovered that we should probably paint the closets in the nursery. :( Not sure if this will happen though as its not urgent and we still have other items to purchase and things to do but its definitely on the to-do list, so we'll see what develops.

I personally cleaned two out of three bathrooms, swept the kitchen floor, vacuumed the living room and our bedroom, dusted our bedroom and cleaned the kitchen ceiling fan. Normally I'm a cleaning machine but after that I was pooped. And at this point I'd love to take a nap, but I'm waiting for my mom and mother in law to come over and listen to their plans about the baby shower.

In fact here's a peak at the paper (yes paper) shower invites (edited out all the personal info):



I found a cheap printer that will print 100 invites for FREE! You only pay $4.99 to upload your own design and of course shipping (which I think is $12.00). So if we have more than a 100 invitees (yes its going to be a huge co-ed shower) then they will get the electronic invite. Unfortunately, the next number of invites is 250 and we definitely don't need that many. I'm hoping 100 will do but we'll see.

Another reason for my napless day is Hubs and I are waiting for some of his fraternity bros to come by and help move all the baby stuff upstairs. Unfortunately, the baby stuff will go in the kitchen until we get the carpets cleaned next month. Ugh! Again...slow progress but progress nonetheless. I'll just be glad to have everything set up as I'm starting to feel like we're running out of time!

A Race to the Single Digits

I'm FINALLY in my double digits! 94 days and counting! June 17th seems like a lifetime away but really its just around the corner...at least that what I keep telling myself. LOL.

Unfortunately along with being in the double digits are a host of symptoms: heartburn, fatigue, insomnia, flatulence, constant stuffy nose, back pain and probably some others that I can't think of at the mo moment. I know all this will be worth it just to gaze upon my little man's face, but honestly, I'm ready for an outside baby.

Don't get me wrong, LJ needs to keep baking at least until I'm 37 weeks (my birthday) but he can come at any point after that as far as I'm concerned. I guess I shouldn't complain too much though. I never thought that things would be as smooth as they have been after I had to get the cerclage. I just knew things would just continue to be complicated but so far so good and I'm hoping things stay that way.

Though, I must admit I did get concerned yesterday when LJ seemed to move a lot less...but today he's back to his active self. Thank goodness because if today was anything like yesterday I would have called my doctor's office and made them see me to make sure my LJ was okay. My hubby and I have been though too much to take any chances.

Moving on...Hubby gave me some good news! This weekend we are finally moving all the baby stuff (mattress, dresser, crib, and travel system) upstairs! We are getting rid of the twin bed that's in the nursery and Hubby is moving his clothes out of the closets in the nursery! FINALLY progress! Unfortunately, he can't put the crib together since we have to get the carpet cleaned but I'm just happy to know that things are moving forward and all the baby stuff won't continue to sit in the family room.

Well I guess I should finish drinking my ginger ale and possible take a few tums and hope that I can get to sleep! The joys of pregnancy!

Marching to a New Beat

Its March and Spring is finally in the air...with the exception of the snow we got in the northern and eastern parts of Maryland.

I am 25 weeks and 3 days today! 2 more weeks until the dreaded 2nd trimester is over and the 3rd trimester begins. I can hardly wait! The 2nd tri seems to have dragged on and I'm over it at this point. :)

So last two weeks ago I was very excited to get the go-ahead to return to work. However upon my return I discovered that my parking had be canceled and my company couldn't offer me parking within the building per my doctor's request. These inconveniences coupled with the long drive and rising gas prices I began to miss working at home. But I didn't have to miss it for long because once my doctor got word of my parking situation he put me back on modified bed rest but did allow me a little more leeway as far as household chores and moving around.

All and all I have left the sorrows of February behind. While I'm still annoyed with work I'm able to push past the BS and not make emotional decisions.

Last but not least here are some nursery pictures:

Nursery Bedding

Fresh paint and chair rail


New wall plate (matches the bedding)

One of diaper bags (this one has the same pattern as the stroller)

Couldn't resist purchasing at least one box of diapers (I love Amazon!)