33 weeks

Or "oh what a difference a month makes"

Remember me at 29 weeks?

(29 weeks)

(29 weeks)

I was so excited about getting a new bra. Well, I bought two. 36D. And they are already too small. It's not that exciting because when I had B cups they stuck out way more than my stomach. Now I supposedly am a D but that seems way small in proportion to my new body.

Same dress 4 weeks later:

(33 weeks)

(33 weeks)

(33 weeks)

It doesn't really fit anymore. It was a dress I had already, not a maternity dress so I guess that's okay. If I start outgrowing my maternity clothes.... I might cry. I really, really, really wish I could let go of this pound-tracking obsession I have. For years I didn't even have a scale, I didn't want to obsess. I know that I'm eating healthy, and my body will gain what it needs to... but I have spent the last 2 years working SO HARD to loose weight, only to reach my goal and then get pregnant. Its hard to turn the "don't gain" mentality off, or to cope with my body changing so much so fast. Anyway, I'm weighing in today at 140.1 which is 25.1 pounds up from my starting weight. That might not sound like a lot, but I am a "light" person and barely over 5 ft tall. At 110 pounds I am still not "skinny." Jerad is so sweet and I know he loves my new body but I am having a haaaaaard time with it.

Alright, pity party over for now. I'm glad that I'm growing a healthy baby and I've lost the weight before I can do it again. Besides, I like goals right?

So, 33 weeks. Wow. Just 3.5 weeks from being cleared to having a home birth. We could have a baby around here that soon? Or up to 10 weeks from now. Kind of a big difference:)

In other news...

We're getting there. Jerad has so many jobs going on right now its hard to say when he'll have time to work in the nursery, but whatever, I'm letting it go. It'll happen.

In case you forgot, the new paneling will all be painted white, and then the blue color above it will likely be lightened. All the furniture is ready to go as soon as the walls are done! We still need to find a rug and some wall art. I'm thinking vintage pics and a frame collage?

In the meantime its looking good in there and he bought me a glider and since it can't go in the baby room yet... its in the living room which is super comfy if you ask me.

Helloooooo lover!

Can't even explain how comfy.


Now I just need Jerad to get home and put on the headboard. Heaven.

Baby Shower

I had my first baby shower last Sunday. My mom and sisters Melinda and Addy threw it for me. I wasn't involved in the planning so everything was kind of a surprise which made it a million times more fun :)

There were about 35 people so... I was too busy to take pictures but Addy took a few for me. She actually took a lot but most of them aren't very usable, so here is what you get:

my friend Liz that drove all the way from Long Beach to be there

Also, looking through the pics made me really love my friends who are so sweet they haven't mentioned to me that I've apparently gained a million pounds in my arms and FACE. So... thanks guys.

The food was delicious, as was the cheesecake with berries in a wine reduction sauce (thanks Melinda!) There were games, and oh were there ever presents! Everyone was so generous and thoughtful. We received a lot of items from our registry, a lot of beautiful hand made gifts, as well as books. I'm so excited our little baby is already starting a library!

It was so fun getting to see everyone. There were so many people that I don't feel like I really spent "enough" time talking to anyone, but it seemed like everyone was having a good time. This shower was family and family friends so there were a lot of people there who were around when I was born and when Jerad was born.

I tried to put each gift back into its own bag with the rightful card so that Jerad could open all the presents again at our house. We sat on the floor and looked at everything again, read every book, organized the clothes by size, folded and re-folded all of the blankets. I can't believe the little guy will be here in a few short weeks!

PS: Melinda, if you are reading this and are wondering if there is anything you can bring over after the birth as an "let me hold da bebe" offering... one of those cheesecakes will buy you a few hours of baby time for sure. I'm salivating just thinking about it!!!

Extended weekend

My weekend started a little early thanks to my lsm Beth having a birthday. I can't believe its already been a year since her last birthday! This year we went out to Sushi. The food was so good, I was justthisclose to going back the next day:)



Beth, thanks so much for being born and giving me an excuse to eat sushi and cake.

Me and Kari. She's due with a little boy 3 weeks after me!
I love Kari because she gives me all of her maternity pants that are too short:)
btw I'm totally wearing heels in this pic. sad.

Friday I attempted to be productive and clean the house. But its pretty impossible with lumber everywhere and everything shoved into the wrong rooms while we are working on the nursery. So, basically I walked around for a few hours moving things from one room to another before deciding to just screw it and shut the blinds so no one could see our filth.

The crib and changing table are in the back bathroom. You have to sit on the toilet sideways to be able to use it. The strollers are in our room piled with laundry I haven't put away. Our new mattress isn't here yet so we still have a love nest on the floor. The guest room has every gift we have received so far, the dresser that will be going in the nursery, the TV that was in our living room that needs to be sold, and basically anything else that I didn't feel like dealing with. You can't shut the door, and you can't even walk in the room. Its even worse than it was when we were redoing the back of the house.

The hallway has lumber and a huge tote of CHRISTMAS LIGHTS that just got taken down and haven't been put away yet. The living room has huge sheets of wood, power tools, other lumber and the desk that will be going into the guest room once there's room for it. Plus all of the baseboards that we ripped out are scattered on the floor with nails poking out. Obviously we need to work on our child-proofing skills. The kitchen hallway/mudroom is full of caulking tubes and paint (10 gallons between all the various colors/finishes).

I was going to post pictures but I am waaaay too embarrassed. Basically a literal nightmare for a neat-freak like me.

However, if I need a clean space to relax in there is the hall bathroom and laundry room which I have been cleaning religiously. Including washing the walls/floors/and ceilings a few times a week. I just need control over SOMETHING in the house :) Lately I take lots of baths and wash a lot of laundry. Except I don't put the laundry away so the cycle of mess continues...

Saturday I woke up with a crazy back ache (um, maybe from cleaning the floors/ceilings/walls?) and my leg was killing me from having muscle spasms during the night. My peach of a husband suggested that I go get a massage while he worked on the nursery so that I wouldn't be crippled at the baby shower on Sunday. After that heavenly treat I ran around for most of the afternoon picking up things for Jerad that he needed to finish the paneling. I used to HATE running errands like that, but lately I love it. If I'm driving in the car it means I'm not standing on my feet or having to bend over to pick up stuff right? He loves it too because I no longer get snarky when I have to go to OSH three times in a row because he can not for the life of him write a complete list. Win-win.

Saturday night we went to the NRA dinner/auction. Jerad had really really wanted to go and my job bought a table there so I decided to sign up to see if I could win tickets. I did! Which was extra awesome because they are usually $50/ea. Mo's catered the dinner and there were a million different contests, games, and raffles. I think they gave away over 100 guns. We didn't win anything at the dinner, but had a great time! Did you know that our little Paso Friends of the NRA club is in the top 10 as far as earnings for the whole country? And is #1 in California which is overall the highest ranking state? That means that we beat out cities like Dallas Ft. Worth, Denver... pretty impressive! There were a million people there, I guess I can see how.

Since we were still in the mood of celebrating our Second Amendment rights, Sunday morning we met up with Beth and Tyson and fam, Joey, Larry and his dad, and my dad and uncle and went target shooting on my parents property.

Beth got to shoot her first gun, and Jerad said he had the most fun he's ever had in his life.







Beth, Anabelle and I left from there to go to my baby shower.

I'll post more about that later, but it was so much fun!!! My mom and sisters threw it for me and everything was amazing. There were over 35 people! It was almost overwhelming:) My friend Liz came all the way from Long Beach (or Laguna Beach? I get confused...)!!!



I also learned that one of our really close family friends had all three of her kids at home, so she gave me a few tips.

Sunday night Jerad and I went back through the [enourmous pile of] gifts and looked at everything, re-read all of the books, and organized the clothes. We are so blessed to have such generous and loving families and friends! Our little boy is going to grow up in a great community. Aight, enough mush for now.

Monday morning when the alarm went off at 6am we both looked at each other and decided 'HELL NO." There was no way were we going to work. I guess my body just can't keep up with all the fun any more and Jerad was beyond tired. So.... we both called out and went back to sleep. And woke up at *11am* wow. I guess we really were beat!

We spent the day finishing the nursery paneling and prepping it with spackle, wood filler, and caulking so that we can paint this week. Because the paneling got finished, I was able to clean up a bunch of the house. The kitchen, living room, laundry room, and front bathroom are all spick and span. You could lick the floors. Plus the nursery is all cleared out and vaccumed. We're getting there people! If I just get the hallway picked up and mopped I could close the doors to our room and guest room and pretend the whole house was clean:)

Tonight our doulie (what we started calling our doula for some reason) came over for a meeting, she is so excited that we're doing a homebirth! Since she is also a photographer, we scheduled a date to take maternity pics (March 28th), and one last appointment before the birth. She is going to read up on hypnobabies and practice the relaxation techniques with us that we've been working on.

After she left we went out to dinner and ice cream, and I worked on our room a little bit. Our new mattress is arriving on Friday and I would be a little embarrased for the delivery guys to have to move strollers full of laundry to be able to set it up:)

32 weeks

32 weeks!

We had another midwife appointment. Now that they're only 2 weeks apart it really feels like time is flying!

Baby's heartbeat was 140, mama's blood pressure was great, no proteins or glucose in urine. So, nothing too exciting to report.

On the way to the appointment I begged Jerad to think of a question because she asks us every time "any questions/concerns?" and I feel like we should be wondering about SOMETHING by this point. The only thing we came up with is "how early can we still deliver at home?" 37 weeks but if its within a few days of that then it'll still be a go. I'm 99.9% sure I'm going to be massively overdue before I go into labor so no worries there.

The midwife made the comment that we do not seem like first time parents because we're so laid back, never call her freaking out about anything, and are already informed about the risks/benefits for the different procedures and tests. Oh well it could be worse I guess! I think one of the main reasons is that we have spent the last 2 years reading everything we could get our hands on about natural birth. We went into this prepared instead of only having a few months to make all of these decisions and feel like we were cramming for a test.

I keep wondering if since this pregnancy has been so easy, any subsequent pregnancies will majorly suck. Or if we'll have an uber demanding baby. Lets hope not! There has to be some punishment for no morning sickness, and being 5 weeks into the third trimester and still sleeping like a baby right?

Jerad just called me on his lunch break to tell me that he met a guy at work that just had a baby on Tuesday. It was his and his wife's 7th child, and the 5th born at home. They spent over an hour talking about everything from naturopathy, home births, homeopathics to cleaners and mattresses. I'm so glad that he is meeting more guys and making friends that he can talk to about this stuff! We are both so blessed to surrounded by so many people that either have the same views as we do, or that have/had/are having babies. We have an awesome community of friends.

I'm in the middle of washing our crib bedding because I *think* we will be able to set up the crib this weekend in our finished nursery!!! Then again, I say that every week. Whatev, its good to have goals right? Sunday is also the first baby shower. I'm super excited. I have an idea about what they are doing, but I haven't been involved in any of the planning so it will be a surprise. Yeay!

While I'm sipping punch with the ladies, the boys are going shooting. We talked about the idea of having a co-ed shower but Jerad was way more into the idea of "man time." So during this shower he's going shooting, and during the next (we are so fortunate!) one of his friends is having another boy bash.

Well, I guess I should turn off the computer and get back to my disaster of a house. Its too bad we don't use chemical based cleaners so I could have an excuse not to clean. Hindsight is 20/20. Oh well, at least the sunshine is out. If it keeps up tomorrow I'm starting my garden.

Why my husband is banned from naming our child

We had our 32 week midwife appointment yesterday night. Everything went great, plus the appointment was at 5:30 PM so that we could both make it and not have to take any time off of work. I love how flex she is!

Anyways, after the appointment I wanted to run to Sephora to pick up a new eyebrow pencil. We ended up spending a ridiculous amount of time in there testing perfumes. Once I showed Jerad how you spray them on the little tester sticks and can smell the coffee beans to "clear your nasal palate" he was obsessed. I think he would have tested every one there:) I found a new perfume to add to my wishlist and he found a great cologne so the smelling was not all in vain.

There was a HUGE line going down the street that ended up being for the grand opening of Chipotle. I'm talking Harry Potter/Star Wars midnight premier long. Maybe longer. I love me some Chipotle, but seriously... We had dinner at Baja Fresh. I had wanted to go to Cabo San Luis, but it happened to burn down the same day so... we improvised.

Before heading home we ran into Bed Bath and Beyond to pick up the wall hangings I had found online. Finally, all the living room walls will be finished! Going to BB&B with Jerad is like taking a kid to a toy store. He is obsessed with that place. I literally had to take his hand and drag him through the store because he wants to stop and look at and touch EVERYTHING. Maybe for the next date I plan we can just go there and I'll hand him money:) Its actually pretty cute, I love having a husband who likes to cook and cares about sheets/towels.

Last weekend when I was redecorating our hall bathroom he made sure to tell me that I needed to buy a fabric shower curtain liner like I did for the other bathroom. He thinks they're fancy. When I was picking out antique windows to hang in the living room I would text him pics and the measurements and he was all into deciding which would be best. The boy cares about interior design:) Which is good since I constantly want to change and update everything and move furniture (and walls). Its nice to have input, and be living with a handyman!

Back to last night... after managing to make it out of BB&B in barely over 30 minutes, we headed home. We got back at about 8:30 and thought about working on the nursery. Then I thought about vacuuming and washing the floors. Then we thought about snuggling and watching TV. Finally we looked at each other and said "do you just want to go to bed?" So we did. At 8:30pm. Because we are wildly exciting like that.

As we were laying in bed (and by bed I mean our ghetto mattress on the floor setup), we were talking about the day, and the weekend coming up, and the baby. I mentioned that I hate that we still haven't decided what to call the baby and I would have a lot easier time bonding with it if "it" had a name. And so launched the discussion of names. Again. We never manage to narrow down our list, just add more. We started thinking of themes. Cities: Austin, Denver, Dallas... Country singers: Cash, Jackson, Brooks, Sawyer, Clint. Presidents: Washinton, Lincoln, Lyndon.

Our criteria has been something like "not too popular, preferably a country name, sounds good with Hutchinson, sounds good with our girl name." So, basically our criteria knocks out most of the names that we do come up with. Two of our favorite names so far have sounded awful with "Hutchinson" since the names both also ended with "son." Which started me back on the *Should Have Changed YOUR Name bandwagon.

Then I made a big mistake. Let me preface by saying I LOVE John Wayne. Love em. Not his name, just him. I've seen every film available numerous times.

"Hey babe, what about names of John Wayne characters?"

Well.... Jerad has not seen every movie. But, he has seen True Grit. I'm sure you have too... remember Marshall Reuben J. 'Rooster' Cogburn? Well Jerad did. He immediately because obsessed with the name Rooster. At first I thought he was kidding. Nope. I asked what kind of middle name would go with ROOSTER. Apparently its "such a strong name, it doesn't even need a middle name."

Oi.

I'm just going to fill out the birth certificate myself.

*Did I ever write what we ended up doing with our names? After a lot of going back and forth and different ideas, for the sake of fairness we both changed our names. I added Hutchinson to mine, and he added Brown to his. So, both of our SS cards and driver's licenses have to wrap our names into 2 lines. Stephanie Renee Brown Hutchinson and Jerad Louis Brown Hutchinson. It worked out, our family will all have one name and I didn't have to give up mine. We merged. Like a marriage should. Plus I can still sign " S. Brown" which is nice and short:)

Strollers and Carseats oh my!

When it comes to stroller and car seat opinions, Jerad and I are pretty high maintenance.

Our stroller requirement list consisted of:

• The seat needs to be both parent- and forward-facing.
• Must have an aluminum frame. None of that plastic stuff! We need it to be durable.
  
• It needs to be able to fully recline for infants, but able to support a lot of weight later on for a toddler.
• Needs a 5 point harness.
  
• The wheels need to be actual rubber tires that you can fill with air.
  
• The wheels need to be able to lock like a jogging stroller.
  
• The handle needs to be adjustable (I'm a shortie!)
  
• It must be stylish.
• It needs to have a big enough basket to actually be useful.
  
• Oh, and we don't actually plan on using it that much so cheap please!

Basically, nothing like this:






Not that there's anything wrong with that... It's just not "us."

We decided it would be way easier to purchase a stroller ourselves than try to register for one. Everyday I started looking on Craigslist for the "perfect" deal. One day, I found this little gem:

The Bertini Bidwell.

It fulfilled all of our requirements. You can flip the seat to face the person pushing the stroller, and lay it completely flat. It totally looks like a pram! You can flip the hood all the way down to completely cover the baby. It even comes with a pump for the tires! All 4 wheels will steer so it turns super sharp, or you can lock the wheels with a flip of the foot bar and go running. It has shocks. It retails for $500 and we paid... wait for it... $50.

You can tell its a used stroller, the fabric is in great shape, but its faded. There are a few scuffs on the frame. It was quickly decided that this would be Jerad's stroller because there was no way I was going to ever be lugging it in and out of the car. Its very heavy (tho it doesn't feel like it when you're pushing it). Also big. WAY better for the Sorento than my Altima.

Basically this is the stroller we would use for long trips at Disneyland, or trips walking to the grocery store when we need to haul back a bunch of stuff.

So, I kept looking on CL. I decided that what we needed for a lighter weight option was either a Britax, or a Maclaren. Maybe a week later I found this beauty:


The Britax Vigor (in plum). Once again, it fulfilled all of our requirements, plus it was light enough for me to throw around and small enough to fit in my car. Retails for $499 and we paid... $75. The best part? It looks *brand new.* There is not a mark on it. The tires still have the rubber nubs that usually wear off after a few trips. The seat has infinite reclining settings instead of only clicking into 3 or 5 positions. Many people use it as a jogging stroller because it feels so feather light to push and again, the wheels lock. The handle is fully adjustable too which is great for us since we are obvi very different heights.

If you have been to our house in the last 2 months no doubt Jerad has lugged out both strollers and shown you all the "special features." I find this adorable. I also love the fact that we have a thousand dollars worth of strollers for basically what we would have spent on a Graco. I think we might have the Bertini reupholstered to freshen it up. I've found a few sellers on Etsy that will do that and it would look like brand new. Except with awesome fabric. Probably something similar to this:

I LOVE the green with the trees inside the hood! Very chic.

The other thing we are apparently all picky about is car seats. At first we planned on getting one infant seat and 2 bases so switching it between cars would be a piece of cake. Then we realized that really wasn't a well thought out plan because the way it will probably work out is one of us drops off the baby at childcare, and the other picks him up. So the seat would always have to stay with the baby. I'm not very big so lugging around an infant seat has never been "easy" for me. I would much prefer to take the baby out and put him in a wrap or sling and have 2 free hands than try to carry a car seat places.


So, we started looking at convertibles. We'd like to get 2, one for each car so we can just leave them both installed instead of having to switch seats every day. One seat from birth to booster! Piece of cake. Except, its kind of not.... some carseats that say they are for infants (like the Britax), have a 10" minimum strap height. So, even though the seat may be rated for babies as small as 5 lbs, most newborns do NOT have a shoulder height of over 10 inches! Some convertibles have really low rear facing weight limits. You've seen the you tube crash videos right?

Watch this video...it contains crash test footage of a rear-facing seat vs. a forward-facing seat, you will see the HUGE difference it makes on a child:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=kRP7ynNI8mI


Here's a good thread too.

So, needless to say we need the car seat to be able to rear face as long as possible, so high weight limit. Yes, we will be the parents with the 3 or 4 year old still rear facing, not the ones the brag about turning around their baby before their one year birthday like its some sort of a milestone to be proud of:)

We've narrowed it down to a few. Car seats are really the only thing we "need" before the baby gets here. We could use more cloth dipes for sure, but I'm holding off on buying them until after the baby showers just in case someone else gets us some.

Um, I probably keep saying this... but if this baby decided to come on my "due date" that's only 8.5 weeks from now. HOLY CRAP. It seems like I was just 6 weeks pregnant like... a month ago.

Frugal Fail

When Jerad and I started living together I had really nice tupperware. The fancy heavy duty stuff with the nice lids that wouldn't leak no matter how much you threw them around. Those slowly managed to all disappear and we switched to the cheaper "gladware" type. Every few months (probably more like every month) I'd have to buy more because the boy can not bring tupperware home to save his life. Have you seen that commercial where the mom handcuffs the tupperware to her kid's arm so that he can't loose it? I totally got where she was coming from.

Eventually I gave up and we just started re-purposing containers. Used up all the yogurt? Wash the container and put it in the tupperware drawer. Empty jar of spaghetti sauce? Add it to the tupperware. It works out well. Our containers might not be cute, and they might not match, but we have all shapes and sizes and its not an issue if they don't always make it home.

The problem is on days like today when I'm running out the door and grab the container of sour cream to go with my lunch, only to open it at lunch time and find it filled with spanish rice. oops. At least I was having chili rellenos! The rice worked out perfectly as a side dish. I need to remind myself to check first:)

Sleeping in, swelling, spending time together

Today when my alarm clock went off I kept snoozing it. I finally got out of bed at 6:15 then managed to take a shower, lay in bed for another 15 minutes, get dressed, comb my hair (its a pony tail day), moisturize, pack a lunch, stop at the bagel shop on the way to work, and be at my desk by 7:03.

Jerad didn't even get out of bed until after I was finished showering and he still got ready, let out and fed the dogs, let them back in, packed a lunch, put out the trash cans on the street, and left before I did. Then again he has a slightly longer drive to work so he was probably a few min late. Sucker.

I'm thinking we might not be able to keep up that routine after the baby gets here? Hmmmm.....

***

At my last midwife appointment she made the comment that it was great I wasn't swelling at all, especially considering I sit at a desk for so long.

Then last weekend at Taylor and Dom's party numerous people told me "you don't even look swollen!" "you're not puffy!" "you haven't started swelling yet?"and stuff like that. Probably at least 4 people. Its true, I can still wear my wedding ring, my heels all fit me, and I've had the same toe ring on for almost 3 years now.

That night I freaked out that maybe I WAS going to swell all up like a balloon and my toe ring was going to cut off my circulation and I wouldn't be able to get it off. I seriously got scared about this (which is really really out of character for me). I tried to loosen it, but it was hard since it was tightened all the way I couldn't really get a good grip. Luckily Jerad saved the day and I managed to hide how freaked I really was.

***

One of the things on our to-do list is to go on a little romantic weekend getaway together before the baby comes. We usually do this a few times a year, but it was extra important to make it a priority this year before our lives change and its not so easy for us to jet off whenever we feel the urge.

Last year about this time we went to San Diego and had all sorts of fun along the way. So, we were thinking about doing the same thing this year. Then we thought about going up north instead. The drive would be shorter, and we could try something new. Maybe stay in a Bed and Breakfast, and take a trip on the train through the redwoods, and just pal around. The more we talked about it the more I was forced to realize that at 36 weeks prego I miiiiight not feel like long car rides, hiking, and long train/boat rides. So we started looking into options closer to home and planning a more relaxing getaway. Our cute little county has a ton of stuff to do!

We are either going to stay at

Sycamore Mineral Springs:


The Inn at Morro Bay:


San Luis Bay Inn:


The Cliffs Resort:


The main requirement is a hot tub on the balcony!

We can sleep in, have breakfast in bed, and be general lazies. We have gift certificates for massages at La Bonne Vie Spa for massages.

We'll visit Happy Acres Goat Farm and pet the goats and get some cheese. Then we can go to Green Acres Lavender Farm and get some fresh lavender and lotion. We'll rent an electric boat in Morro Bay and have a picnic lunch on the water. Sunday we can finish off the vacation love with The Cliff's amazing brunch then spend the day at Avilla Beach (if the weather is nice).

Suddenly "staying home" instead of "traveling" doesn't sound too bad at all!

***

So lots of good news there -- so far no swelling (yeay!), and if I do turn into the blueberry girl from Willy Wonka, my toes can puff up without my toe ring cutting them off. Phew:) Maybe Jerad and I can change careers to be goat farmers or lavender whisperers?

In case you were wondering: Our "to-do" list

Here is the list we have been trying to tick away at before baby comes. A lot of it we don't "need" to have or do, but its the plan.

Things to buy before baby boy H gets here:

(things in BOLD are finished)

• Bassinet
• Make bassinet bedding
  
• Carseats
• Crib bedding
• Crib
• Crib Mattress
• Changing table
• Changing pad and covers
• Baby tub
• Storage baskets for baby stuff
• Cloth diapers (we've collected/bought a few so far)
  
• Disposable diapers (a few packages for the first weeks)
• Diaper bag
• Nursing bras/tanks
• Nursing pillow and cover
• Nipple cream, breast pads
• Medela in Style breast pump
• Bottles
  
• Burp cloths, swaddlers, receiving blankets
• Onesies and sleep suits in 0-3m, and 3-6m sizes
• Babylegs!
• Hats, socks, bibs
• Rocker/glider
• Moby wrap or sling for me
• Ergo for Jerad
• Stroller
• High chair
• Play pen

A lot of stuff I'm sure we'll get at the baby showers. The things I am most excited about and have to daily restrain myself from buying are cloth diapers, babylegs, and a moby wrap. Jerad really wants the Ergo. He tried one on in the store and looked at the different kinds of infant inserts and colors to pick he "perfect one." I love that he is so into a baby carrier:)

Besides those things we are really looking forward for an excuse to buy picture books! We registered for a ton. It took hours because we read them first to remind ourselves how much we loved those books. Honestly, if we could have just registered for books and wooden toys and cloth diapers we would have. So cute!

We had a very extensive list of "must-haves" for both carseats and strollers. That is another post in and of itself.

Things to do before baby boy H gets here:

(things in BOLD are finished)

• Rearrange bedroom to accommodate bassinet
• Find pediatrician
• Hire doula
  
• Figure out what I am doing for maternity leave
• Figure out how much time/when Jerad will take off
• Nail down childcare situation
  
• Complete Hypnobabies courses
• Practice relaxation techniques
• Prenatal Yoga classes
  
• Order birth kit
• Get some second hand towels/sheets for the birth
  
• Figure out where to set up birth tub
• Order birth tub
• Choose baby name
• Stock freezer with meals
• Wash baby clothes, diapers, linens
• Make list of names/numbers of ppl to call after the baby is born
• Build nursery paneling (part way done)
• Paint nursery furniture
• Put together nursery furniture
• Eye exam (Jerad)
• Dental exams/teeth cleanings
• Chiropractor visit (both)
• Rearrange closet to fit baby's stuff
• Make ipod labor/delivery playlist
• Make lullaby playlist
  
• Maternity photoshoot (scheduled for 34 weeks!)
  
• Rearrange new living room furniture
• Paint living room
• Buy new wall hangings
• Repaint kitchen
• Buy bigger kitchen table (we currently have a 2 person bistro table. I feel like a "family" needs seating for at least 4:)
  
• Repaint hallway
• Touch up paint in master bedroom, guest room, hall bath, back bath, mud room, laundry room
  
• Paint nursery
• Redecorate hall bath, buy new toilet seat, and remove shower doors
• Clean back yard and plant garden
• Fix trim board between laundry room and our bedroom floor
• Add trim around new hot water heater handles
  
• Get new mattress/box spring
• Clean out shed
  
• Organize basement and have a yard sale
• Stain back deck
• Write thank-you's
• Plan weekend romantic getaway for one last hurrah before baby comes:)
  

We are doing pretty good on this list! Most of the big projects are finished, and if this el niño weather would calm down on the weekends we could knock out most of the rest of it soon. Jerad has been such a peach about painting. He HATES painting, and has done so much touch up work and painted our room/bathroom/nursery all by him self. He would seriously rather wade through raw sewage than paint...

Jerad has a TON of side work right now, so coordinating personal weekend projects is tricky. He is trying to knock out most of his side jobs before the baby gets here. The biggest things on that list that have to happen is getting the rest of the birth stuff, finishing the nursery (we need a place to put the shower gifts!), and our dental and chiro visits. I have just slacked making those apts. Jerad does so much physical labor he NEEDS an adjustment, and I should be getting them regularly before the birth. It has also been a seriously long time since we've seen a dentist:(

The other stuff on that list that is driving me crazy so needs to get done is:

• Fix trim board between laundry room and our bedroom floor
• Add trim around new hot water heater handles
• Organize basement and have a yard sale
• Stain back deck

The first 2 have been on our list for 2 years now. ITS TIME! The basement is a disaster zone, and I need to stain the deck so we can sit out there and enjoy the summer and have our parties without being ashamed of our faded deck. It only takes me about an hour, I need to just get on it. We could knock out all of those things in one day, then have the yard sale the next week. We just need to get motivated!

So, besides thinking I'm OCD, do you see anything important I'm missing?

Getting closer

One by one things are getting checked off of our seemingly never ending to-do list.

Saturday we spent some more time working on the nursery, took our dogs on a joy ride and let them run around a few hours, then spent the evening celebrating Dom's birthday and her and Tay's new house.



Sunday we woke up early and went out to brunch. The nice weather (finally!) inspired us to be extra productive. Jerad went through our back yard, shed, and basement and got together an entire trailer of stuff to take to the dump. Plus he took off our shower doors in the hall bath which have been driving us crazy since we started taking long bubble baths a few weeks ago.


While he was working on that, I ran all over the county looking for the perfect shower curtain and some new towels to freshen up the bathroom.

We painted it lavender a few months ago:

Since the weather was so nice I opted to drive to the landfill with Jerad. BTW, our little dump is really nice! There are cows, and wild flowers, and a killer view. Once you get past the trash part that is.

(all the stuff we got rid of)

(part of the purdy view)

We took the box springs to the dump, and laid our mattress on the floor until the new one arrives. I told Jerad I feel poor. No bed frame, no box spring, no headboard... just a mattress on the floor. We're like struggling college students :)

(we painted this room a few months ago too)

When we got back we worked on painting the nursery furniture:



Its all going to be orange.

For dinner we (aka Jerad) made adobo seasoned chicken tacos, mmmmmm, and then he presented me with this lil surprise:


Homemade brownies, chocolate tofu "ice cream," whipped cream, and chocolate sauce. I asked him how many calories were in it and he assured me only 50. Usually I have peaches which have 80 calories so I should totally switch to this new delight, its bigger AND less cals! All joking aside tho *slurp.*

Edited to add: Jerad wanted me to mention that he also made homemade spanish rice with "seasoned with adobo, cumin, and sauteed onions." Because he's cute and humble like that. Seriously though, I am super spoiled that he's taken over cooking. AND kitchen cleaning (at least for tonight:)