28 weeks!!

28 weeks! I'm wearing the dress I'm going to wear for my 2nd Baby Shower

We're so grateful to have made it this far!! It seems like time is speeding up exponentially now and we can't wait :-)

                    ::balloons and confetti and sparklers::

We started off the week putting together W's bookcase/closet. EH was surprised that it wasn't as big of a chore as he thought it would be. I added some baby animal gift wrap paper to the back of the closet part and hung up her clothes. The bookcase is just a little bit taller than me so I don't think I'm going to have much trouble hanging and reaching things I might need. I think I may add one more shelf on the bottom and then add some baskets on the bottom.

On Friday night we went over to see my in-laws for my first baby shower! You'll recall that we originally went from NO baby shower to maybe TWO baby showers and now to THREE baby showers. Anywho, this was the baby shower just for EH's family and we had a great time. My sis-in-law went all out with the decorations. We had a truly delicious cake, yummy food and some very cute clothes for W. The best part was seeing how happy EH's family was to celebrate this new addition. My sis-in-law insisted I take a picture with each family member so that W could have a memory of everyone to look back on.

My throne! That Coors Light is not mine! LOL

We both got to wear these cool rattle necklaces that say "It's A Girl!

The next day I treated EH to a trip to the NY International Auto Show! He was super happy to walk around and check out the cars...all the while regaling me with his superior car knowledge and excitement! I feel like we're trying to get in all the fun stuff we can before we're house bound with W.

He couldn't be happier!

This is me pretending to drive. My feet couldn't reach the gas or brake pedals...

I'm making some progress with my "Getting the Apt Ready" list. So far I've gotten summer curtains for the bedroom(linen with a hint of gold) and added a clock from Target. I also spray painted some frames white. I like the look against the gray wall way better!

Seeing these curtains up was truly satisfying...

Remaining TO DO's

[ ] Get below 40 watt bulb for changing table. The one we have now is way too bright for 3am changings and feedings

[ ] Artificial plants for living room window. I saw some really cute artificial plants at Ikea for like $3. I love plants but my black thumb is no joke. I've avoided artificial plants in the past but I know I'll be paying even less attention to real plants when W comes along and our view of a brick wall needs some serious help. Also, I don't want Josh's curiosity to ,literally, kill him. A lot of house plants are toxic to kitties.

[ ] Aloe Vera plants for windowsills in bedroom. I do want at least some real plants in the house so I'm gonna start with a couple of small aloe vera plants..also at Ikea. The window needs to be prettied up since we face out onto the garbage area in our building. Aahhhhh...nyc living...

[X] Summer curtains for bedroom. Because it's time!! I've already put up my summer curtains in the living room. I'm probably gonna pair these with some mini blinds because EH hates too much light in the morning.

[ ] Carpet runner 3 x  ? for entryway. Our entryway is pretty long so the longer the length the better. I'm only sure that I need the width to be 3'.  I'm really excited about going back to the carpet outlet for this one. We scored so incredibly with our living room rug that we can't not go back and see if lightning strikes twice. 

[X] Clock for bedroom wall. I've been wanting this one for a long time. The only "clocks" in our bedroom right now are our cell phones. It'll be nice to see how insanely late it is without blinding myself with the phone light when I wake up for feedings and changings. Also, I love the soothing sound of a ticking clock.

[X] Gold/white spray paint for frames. This one is overdue. I may do this tomorrow just to get it over with. I've wanted to update my dark frames in the living room and now is the perfect time to do it.

[ ] Make hanging paper garland for W's nook. I've been racking my brain to find a way to add a little more sweetness to W's nook. It's looking pretty bare in there right now. I saw some cute ideas on Pinterest with paint chips but I'm not sure I wanna hoard paint chips at the store. Instead I'll go to Michaels and get some colored scrapbook paper and make my garland with that. 
 
[ ] Blue/gold/cream throw for poang chair. The green throw that's currently on Poang doesn't go with my color scheme at all. This is a pretty easy and inexpensive fix and requires a trip to TJ Maxx/Home Goods, which is always nice.

[ ] Rugs for bedroom. I'd love to get two matching, washable, his/her throw rugs for our bedroom. This also requires a trip to TJ Maxx/Home Goods. Yay!

[ ] New garbage can for kitchen. Our current one doesn't even have a cover and, while it doesn't smell, it's not visually appealing. 

[ ] Clean the refrigerator.This is embarrassing but I've only cleaned my fridge once since we moved in. I know that folks will be bringing food by after W's arrival and I need the fridge to look somewhat presentable.
[ ] Make canvas art for the living room. Also long overdue and requires a trip to Michaels for some paint and canvases.

27 weeks/Ikea!!

Hope EVERYONE had a wonderful EASTER!! Our church put on an Easter play extravaganza that was insanely awesome, with several dance routines, contemporary music and our praise and worship team and band, so it was a great day for us. Afterward we checked out a restaurant in the Bx we hadn't been to before and had a great brunch. Then we took a trip to an outlet for ABC Carpet & Home. It's a seriously expensive home store here in NY that I would never shop in but I knew they had an outlet in the Bx and wanted to see if I could score a good deal on a new carpet for the living room. We hightailed it to the remnant section of the store and got a 4' by 7' rug for $20!! My head is still spinning and we practically ran out of there before they changed their minds. I'll show a pic further down.

EH and I took a little trip to probably one of my favorite places in the world this past weekend.......IKEA!!!  ::throws confetti::

Ikea is just such a dangerous place....for me anyway. Every time I go I have to have a specific list of things I want to get, otherwise it can be a disaster of the gimmie-gimmies. On this trip we resolved to finally get our Poang chair and a bookcase to hold W's clothing and books. My nesting instinct was seriously on high beam in this place. Several times I imagined myself skipping through the store.

We rolled around the store for about an hour and a half...I really wanted to stay longer but EH was getting antsy. Poang came home with us in a dark brown finish. It's resting on our new, darker, $20 rug.

I knew that we would eventually have to get a darker rug. Our previous beige one didn't hide dirt or stains very well. We may go back to the outlet and upgrade to a larger rug at some point in the future but right now it suits us fine. Maybe I'll throw a more colorful throw rug under the ottoman just to add some extra color.

Poang has not disappointed us. We've lived with it in the living room for a few days now and it's extremely comfortable. I've fallen asleep in it at least once. I'm excited to add a different throw to it just to keep the natural padding clean for as long as I can and it needs a thick pillow or two for more back support. I will say it was lower to the ground than I thought it would be but I've gotten used to it. It's nice to have somewhere else to sit in the living room. EH has decided he wants one for himself so we might get another in the future. I also picked up some new pillow covers at Ikea...

I think we have every baby book ever published sitting on that end table...

they're gold and pale blue and I love 'em. I never quite got around to closing up my DIY pillow covers and they were $10 each.

We also came home with this Borgsjo bookcase:

I really thought we would get the popular Billy bookcase but it was super tall in person and wouldn't really fit in in our bedroom. This guy was the right height and the right price. I can't wait to see what it looks like when it's all assembled.

                                                                 **********

I'm in the process of getting our entire apartment ready for the influx of visitors we'll be having when W gets here. I don't need everything to be perfect, especially since we might be moving to a new apartment before she even gets here, but I do need things to be a bit more pulled together for my peace of mind. I know there are going to be dirty dishes in the sink and unwashed laundry for us for a while but I at least want some nice comforting things to look at while I'm sleep deprived. So, here's my getting the apartment ready list!

[ ] Get below 40 watt bulb for changing table. The one we have now is way too bright for 3am changings and feedings

[ ] Artificial plants for living room window. I saw some really cute artificial plants at Ikea for like $3. I love plants but my black thumb is no joke. I've avoided artificial plants in the past but I know I'll be paying even less attention to real plants when W comes along and our view of a brick wall needs some serious help. Also, I don't want Josh's curiosity to ,literally, kill him. A lot of house plants are toxic to kitties.

[ ] Aloe Vera plants for windowsills in bedroom. I do want at least some real plants in the house so I'm gonna start with a couple of small aloe vera plants..also at Ikea. The window needs to be prettied up since we face out onto the garbage area in our building. Aahhhhh...nyc living...

[ ] Summer curtains for bedroom. Because it's time!! I've already put up my summer curtains in the living room. I'm probably gonna pair these with some mini blinds because EH hates too much light in the morning.

[ ] Carpet runner 3 x  ? for entryway. Our entryway is pretty long so the longer the length the better. I'm only sure that I need the width to be 3'.  I'm really excited about going back to the carpet outlet for this one. We scored so incredibly with our living room rug that we can't not go back and see if lightning strikes twice. 

[ ] Clock for bedroom wall. I've been wanting this one for a long time. The only "clocks" in our bedroom right now are our cell phones. It'll be nice to see how insanely late it is without blinding myself with the phone light when I wake up for feedings and changings. Also, I love the soothing sound of a ticking clock.

[ ] Gold/white spray paint for frames. This one is overdue. I may do this tomorrow just to get it over with. I've wanted to update my dark frames in the living room and now is the perfect time to do it.

[ ] Make hanging paper garland for W's nook. I've been racking my brain to find a way to add a little more sweetness to W's nook. It's looking pretty bare in there right now. I saw some cute ideas on Pinterest with paint chips but I'm not sure I wanna hoard paint chips at the store. Instead I'll go to Michaels and get some colored scrapbook paper and make my garland with that. 
 
[ ] Blue/gold/cream throw for poang chair. The green throw that's currently on Poang doesn't go with my color scheme at all. This is a pretty easy and inexpensive fix and requires a trip to TJ Maxx/Home Goods, which is always nice.

[ ] Rugs for bedroom. I'd love to get two matching, washable, his/her throw rugs for our bedroom. This also requires a trip to TJ Maxx/Home Goods. Yay!

[ ] New garbage can for kitchen. Our current one doesn't even have a cover and, while it doesn't smell, it's not visually appealing. 

[ ] Clean the refrigerator.This is embarrassing but I've only cleaned my fridge once since we moved in. I know that folks will be bringing food by after W's arrival and I need the fridge to look somewhat presentable.

[ ] Make canvas art for the living room. Also long overdue and requires a trip to Michaels for some paint and canvases. 

Well, that's the list so far! Really hoping I can get 'er done before this little one comes along...

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek!! We got a 3D ultrasound today at our Peri appointment. Joy is not the word for what I'm feeling. No word exists. I finally know what this little squirming thing inside me looks like....and it's just crazy...

26 Weeks/Feathering the Nest

I think I popped...maybe...hanging out in the nursery nook

26 WEEKS!!! Arggggggghhhhhhh!!!! I'm really grateful to be here :-) I think I'll finally be able to breathe a little easier when we hit the 28 week mark in a few weeks.

EH and I put the deposit down on our YMCA space this past Sunday and I'm so happy to get that out of the way. I'm almost to the point of letting it go. All we have left to do is find a place to cater the food and get the drinks! I had a moment of doubt the other day thinking about the food. Should I still go with the sandwiches and hot food? or just hot food and a salad? EH always tells me that I have Jamaican tendencies when it comes to food...i.e. I'm stingy with food! I never go to an event expecting people to have loads and loads of food but apparently this is the Dominican way and he wants me to get with the program. The invite list has been sent to my best friend and I'm feeling pretty OK about it.

                                                                **********

We're in the process of feathering the nest this week. We finally got the dresser complete and I love the way it looks. I convinced EH to leave the sides alone and just draped an extra curtain that we stopped using over the top so that it would hang over the sides. The pop of white against the dark wood really does it for me. I hung a piece of art over the changing table as a place holder. I'm not exactly sure what I want there. EH wants to put a mirror there but I'm leery of putting something so heavy above the changing table. I've put the few dresser things that I have on the dresser for now but I may have to find a new home for them. I'm keeping my little lamp so we have some light for nighttime changing.

                                                               **********
I'm happy to say that Whelpalina now has a sizeable wardrobe thanks to her previously estranged grandma! It was such a weird day. We drove up to see my mom not really knowing what to expect but she was gracious and acted as though we had been in contact with each other for the past three years. It felt very strange for me because I don't like pretending things didn't happen that hurt me and our relationship but I had to keep reminding myself that this is how she deals with things. I don't have to agree with it but I can respect the way she chooses to cope. The best part of the trip was reuniting with my younger half brother who I haven't seen in years. I really thought he wouldn't want to see me so I was nervous. He reached out to me and we hugged a bunch of times before this picture was taken, then he went away to play his video games! I truly had to hold back happy tears I was so happy to see him. He's going to be 16 this year!

I'm no sure what was happening with this dress. I look about 60!

We hopped in our cars and went to Woodbury Commons outlet mall, which is apparently a huge thing here in the East. I had never been before and to say I was overwhelmed would be an understatement. You can literally get lost in this place. We went there on a Thursday afternoon and it was packed with people from all over the world.  We hit up the Carter's outlet and my mother proceeded to rack up hundreds of dollars buying things for Whelpalina. At certain points I had to tell her that it wasn't necessary to buy ALL THE THINGS!! Poor EH's eyes popped out of his head when he saw the total at the cash register. Speaking of EH...I wish I had taken a picture of this man running all over the store...ooohing and aaahing and putting things in his basket for our daughter. He was too, too excited!! It was nice to see him so happy but I was the voice of reason on this trip, ya'll! Here are a few of our favorites:

The pink frilly onesie on the bottom is her going home onesie. I found it at Marshalls for like 10 bucks! Win! I liked that the frilly stuff was on the outside of the onesie so it won't irritate her skin. I have to admit that I go look in her drawers at least once a week and touch the clothes like a true creepster....

All in all, we were super thankful to be gifted all of these wonderful things. And who knows? Maybe we can cobble together some kind of actual relationship with my mother. One thing's for sure, she'll have a way better experience with her than I did growing up and that counts for something.

Getting all of these clothes has highlighted a need I didn't think we would have for a while....closet space! There's no way Whelpalina's clothes can fit in my closet so we're going to have to get her a temporary one. I was thinking of just getting a simple bookcase from Ikea and using it as a mini closet for her clothes, blankets, toys, etc. until she can have her own room. Similar to this but I would probably add a nice kiddie wallpaper to the back of it to add some color.

Pinterest.com

My best friend graciously gifted us with my Godson's old Chicco car seat this week as well. My little Godchild outgrew that thing in like four months. His momma is super tall so I can't say I was surprised. It's the exact same one we were going to buy, in the exact same color (because she and I are that in sync), and it hasn't been in any accidents so we're confident it's the smart move, especially for something that she may grow out of right away.

EH loves to pet it when he gets home from work everyday and takes great pride in showing me how it works at least once a week.

25 Weeks/Silent Nights

I'm getting bigger and Whelpalina is moving now...well moving so that I can actually see it!!

I'm having ultrasound withdrawal! I feel like I haven't seen Whelpalina in FOREVER!!

Anywho, things have been going pretty well. I haven't been as tired and haven't needed to take an afternoon nap this whole week. This is a big deal. I love having more energy.

EH and I are still dealing with the dresser/changing table. I really thought I would have an after picture to show by now but my really laid-back husband has totally become "Mr. Type A" overnight! He literally had a meltdown because the sides of the dresser don't look exactly like the top of the dresser. The stain looks pretty drippy on the sides but it's nothing you can see unless you're really looking for it. This is unacceptable to him so he's planning to redo it this weekend. Sigh. On the one hand I'm really annoyed that I haven't been able to put any clothes in my brand new dresser and that my bedroom is messy and, on the other hand, I'm really touched that he wants Whelpalina's changing table to be absolutely perfect.

                                                                      **********

Plans for my first baby shower are coming along splendidly! EH and I toured the space we'll be using at the YMCA and it's more than adequate for our purposes I think. We're booking the date for May 24th this Sunday and I am soooo excited to get this part out of the way. I met with my best friend and we talked briefly about the shower so I'm hoping everything goes well. I'm going to try and refrain from bothering her too much about it.

                                                                     **********

EH and I are meeting up with my mother this week so we need prayers! I feel pretty ambivalent about the whole thing. I have to keep reminding myself that this meeting is probably a good thing but being in her presence isn't exactly comforting because there's just so much bad history there. I went to TJ Maxx today to see if I could find an outfit for the occasion. I tried on , like, four things...evaluating each one on whether or not they made me look "happy" or "well-cared for" or "confident." Ugh....the neurosis was just terrible!!  I hope I never make Whelpalina feel the way I do. I settled on a really pretty, flowy maxi dress. If I had my way, I would wear a maxi dress for every occasion. Maxi dresses are my friends. I also bought two scented candles. Winning!

                                                                     **********

I'm kind of obsessed with decorating our apartment right now, though I haven't really bought anything new. This is definitely "nesting syndrome" with a dash of "yay, the weather is finally getting nice." I suddenly must have new curtains for the bedroom and living room and a new living room rug and a clock for the bedroom and that darn Ikea Poang chair. I really want to paint something new for the living room wall so I'll probably pick up some canvases and paint in the next few weeks. I recently picked up one of those white noise sound machines and I cannot tell you how it has changed my life. I have always been a light sleeper, probably a throwback to my childhood again. I can be awakened at night by my cat walking around the living room...it's that bad.

EH snores like a backhoe or some sort of sea monster or Godzilla and we have been trying any and everything to get the snoring under control before the baby comes. We tried breathe right strips....didn't work. We tried elevating him on pillows....didn't work. I got him a mouth guard from the drugstore which worked better than anything else we've tried but didn't stop it. I know that ultimately EH may have to lose about 10 pounds to really take care of the problem but that doesn't seem to be happening anytime soon so compromises must be made.

Needless to say, I was about at my wits end with the snoring and I've gotten too big to sleep on the couch. We got the Marpac Dohm Sound Machine from Amazon.com. I gotta say I was pretty skeptical because I'd read reviews that said it didn't exactly help in snoring situations but ,since I was going to get one for the baby anyway, I figured I would still use it even if it didn't help with the snoring. The first night wasn't the greatest. I had the frequency up too high, I think. After messing with it a bit I finally got the perfect tone that all but eliminates my need for earplugs. In fact, I've gone earplug free for the past two days!! I am so happy!! I mean I still hear the snoring here and there but it's muted enough by the white noise that I'm sleeping better than I have in a while. I am now confident that both I and Whelpalina will be able to sleep well in the near future and EH can sleep undisturbed at night without me kicking him in the back.

24 weeks/DIY disaster??

Getting bigger...er...wider!

The Creator works in mysterious ways; I've actually been talking to my mother a lot lately, albeit by text message, to plan one of my three...yes THREE..baby showers. Sigh. After opening our mouths that I was already having a shower for friends, I felt that I needed to do something for family. But I'm relieving myself of any additional stress by having my mother deal with the family shower. She's eager to prove herself, or something, so I'm letting her. I think the possibility of a grandchild is making her strangely attentive. I'm not sure whether to see this as an answer to prayer or as a power play. I'm going to choose the former.

EH's family likely won't attend the the shower for my family due to some cultural issues. They don't like to travel very far from their homes and the language barrier is still an issue. We want them to feel just as comfortable so EH would like to hold something smaller for them.

I'm refusing to get stressed out about this; I'm focusing primarily on the shower for our friends and it's going pretty well, actually. We've decided to have the shower at the Bronx YMCA. It's cheap and doesn't look too horrible. We actually got the idea from friends of ours who held their baby shower at a YMCA in Queens. They provide tables and chairs, we provide everything else. Sounds good to me. We'll be having a local deli cater the shower. I figure we'll get a couple of 4ft heros, some hot food, a cold salad and drinks. I called a local restaurant that we were considering for the shower and was shocked to find that they were charging $1100!!! $1100 for a baby shower??!! Hell No.

 

Meanwhile, I'm making another registry list with Target, so family members can have something to refer to. I have to admit it's kind of fun making the lists. I've never really been comfortable with asking for anything from anyone, not even family, so this is a very new experience for me. I like feeling sort of like Cinderella but I'm not really that invested in getting everything on the list.

                                                                        **********
We've finally made moves to get our bedroom ready for baby! Our huge elliptical machine has been relocated to the living room to make room for our little nursery nook. I can't wait to show the finished, minimal nook when it's done. It won't be anytime soon. There's still sooo much to get. We purchased a new 10 drawer dresser for the bedroom that will double as a changing table. We like Gothic Cabinet Craft for storage furniture because it's high quality, made with real wood and seems to last forever. We've already purchased a bookcase and a storage closet from them that have held up pretty well. This past weekend we got to work staining it.

This is EH's Breaking Bad pose...

I find that whenever we take on DIY projects it's either hit or miss. We got the dresser unfinished/unstained so that we could save some bucks by doing it ourselves. I think that in the future I would rather get it done in the store and delivered. The process was really time-consuming and smelly. It took some prep work and we didn't get the perfect results I was imagining.

In progress..

This morning , I spent some time sanding down the drawers, which were a little nubby. We skipped the part about sanding the dresser BEFORE staining it so the color came out with a pebble-like texture in some places. I decided to spray paint the knobs a different color to add some contrast. I chose white in satin finish.
We've only stained the top of the dresser and the drawers. The sides will have to wait until this weekend.

My job was to put the knobs on...this is as far as I got before I got tired..whomp whomp

I can't wait for it to be done. I don't know how people do DIY all the time. My biggest DIY so far was painting our old bookcase, which was A LOT easier than this project. Our bedroom is a disaster area but it will be worth it in the end.