Nursery Sneak Peek

This isn't the official office-to-nursery before and after post - partly because the nursery isn't *quite* done yet and partly because the battery for my actual camera died, so I had to take these pictures on my phone.  I really do need to do something about that first issue though, because today marks 38 weeks!!  Seriously, this baby could show up any day now.  Eek!

Since we're going to be cloth diapering, we needed a spot for wet bags.  I decided the best thing would be to hang them from a hook on the wall rather than using a diaper pail.  The room is small, and Elvis likes to root through garbage, so a solution that takes up less floor space while keeping those tempting dirty diapers out of our dog's reach was called for:

And of course, the hook has birds on it - have to keep with the theme we accidentally stumbled upon!  You can't really tell in the picture above, but the green wet bag has birds on it as well.  And of course we had to work paw prints in somewhere!  We also have a diaper cover in the same paw print material.

Here's a little glimpse of the changing table and dresser:

Yes, I left the picture of the baby that came with the picture frame.  I wanted to put an ultrasound picture in there, but they didn't fit since the ultrasounds are all landscape and the picture frame is portrait and I'm apparently too lazy to come up with a solution.  The baskets below the changing pad are full of cloth diapering supplies: pocket diapers on the left, prefolds in the middle, and prefold covers on the right. 

And of course, this kid already has a bunch of books:

Not pictured above: The piles of maternity clothes and (to Glen's amusement) a prominently displayed copy of Go the F**k to Sleep, both of which will find new homes after baby arrives. ;-)

Right now the crib is serving as storage space, but there's some pretty neat stuff in there, so I thought I'd share:

• No story behind the activity gym, the crib was just a convenient place to put it for now.  Although if you look closely, the dog on the left makes me think of a blue version of Elvis.  
• My mom made the bird pillows from extra curtain/crib skirt fabric.  Initially they'll be used to create a cozy little reading area next to the bookcase, and later as decorative pillows when we convert the crib to a toddler bed.  
• The baby doll is about to get passed down to a third generation.  She belonged to my mom when she was a little girl, then she belonged to me, and now she'll be passed along to our firstborn. 
• The pillow in the middle and the blanket on the right - this is really neat.  The pillow was embroidered by my mom when I was born, the blanket was embroidered by Glen's aunt.  They have the exact same animal characters on them.  I'm telling you, it was fate!!

Today I was out picking up some last-minute clothes to fill in the minimal gaps in Stormageddon's wardrobe, and came across this onesie:

I was so, SO tempted to get it, because it's amazing the amount of unsolicited advice expecting parents receive, and I imagine it only gets worse once the baby arrives.  I resisted the urge to buy the snarky onesie and went with the more practical options of newborn and 0-3 month sized leggings (one of two aforementioned wardrobe gaps) to be worn with onesies. 

And because no post would be complete at this point without a picture of Elvis snuggling with Stormageddon:

With any luck, I'll have a proper before-and-after post because Stormageddon's arrival, but I won't make promises, especially since that arrival could occur tomorrow or 3 weeks from now... There's a real possibility that in the before-and-after post, the baby doll pictured above will be replaced by a real baby.  Madness!

Behind on Belly Pictures

It seems I've switched from doing belly pictures on even weeks to doing them every other odd week. Hopefully I'll do a better job these last 5 (!!) weeks.

Week 31

Pineapple baby!

I think this was the week I officially started looking like I was smuggling a basketball under my shirt.

Elvis wants in on this pineapple action.

Week 35

This is what 24 pounds of belly looks like. ;-)

Yes, the nursery is still a mess.  Hopefully it will be finished this weekend!

And in case you were wondering, Elvis still totally loves snuggling with his little sister:

Stolen from the husband.

The amazing part is that she likes snuggling with him, too!  He'll put his face on my belly, and all the sudden my entire belly will shift toward him.  So excited that both my "babies" are such good friends already!

Stranded! (and a PSA)

Last night was probably going to be one my last late nights out in New York City before baby Stormageddon makes her arrival in February.  Now I can say it was DEFINITELY my last late night in New York City.

It started off SO well.  My husband was already in the city for work, so I took the bus into Port Authority with one of our friends.  We met Glen at Veselka for some delicious Ukranian food.  I got a variety of pierogies, which were delicious despite the fact that they had run out of the pumpkin pierogies I was so looking forward to!  The place was all decked out for Christmas and it was very cozy.

After dinner, we had some time to kill before Glen's show at the Upright Citizense Brigade Theatre, so we found a bar to hang out in for a bit, where I drank the biggest Shirley Temple ever.  (Seriously, I think I've spent more time in bars since I got pregnant than I did before!)  Glen's show went really well, but by the time it let out, it was about 12:30am.

Here's where the PSA comes in.  I hadn't been to New York City since before Hurricane Sandy.  Glen has only been in weekdays during the day.  None of us had a clue that the PATH trains are currently shut down between the hours of 10:00pm and 5:00am.  Our plan had been to take the PATH back to Jersey City where Glen had parked, because we'd done it a million times before. 

After trying the 33rd St., 23rd. St. AND 14th St. stations to no avail (and a lot of walking!), we finally bit the bullet and took a very expensive cab ride to get to the parking garage near Journal Square.  When all was said and done, Glen and I didn't get back to our house until 4:00 this morning.

I had originally planned on taking the morning off from my day job, since I knew it would be a late night, but I think I made the right decision in calling off for the whole day instead.  And since I spent that entire ordeal paranoid about the possibility of going into preterm labor and with no way of getting home, I think it goes without saying that I will be staying a bit closer to home for the next 7 1/2 weeks!

By the way, I DO have 31 week belly pictures, but they haven't made it from the camera to the computer just yet.  I'll post them soon, I promise!

Craft Shows and Birthdays and Baby Showers!

It's been an eventful couple of weeks since I last posted.

I wrapped up the craft show season the weekend before Thanksgiving:

But when that was over, I also made a couple of sales on Etsy.  Hopefully there will be more this month, but the inventory in my shop is a bit thin and I haven't had time to take more pictures.

I also had a fabulous 30th birthday at the end of the month!  I took a half day at work, and then had to go for an ultrasound during the afternoon.  My doctor was a bit concerned that the baby might be measuring small, so he wanted to have a growth scan done, and it turns out everything is perfect, and she's not actually small.  She's measuring in the 48th percentile, and we were able to double check and make sure she's definitely a girl.  I know mistakes are rare, but people apparently just LOVE to tell pregnant ladies about someone they knew who was told the wrong sex. ;-)

After a successful ultrasound, my husband and I met up with my parents, his parents, and his youngest brother (who shares a birthday with me) for some hibachi and sushi.  I like California rolls and all, but after I have this baby I am going to eat soooo many salmon rolls and spicy tuna rolls!

When dinner was over, Glen and I met up with some friends at The Bookstore for dessert and drinks:

They were able to make me some super tasty non-alcoholic drinks, and the creme brulee was delicious.  So much fun. :-)

The day after my birthday was the baby shower.  The date wasn't a surprise, since given the schedule I keep there is a good chance I'd have missed it if I didn't know to keep the date clear, but I wasn't clued in on any of the details.  My mom, mother-in-law, best friend, and sister-in-law all did an amazing job, and I had such a great time!

Of course, now Stormageddon's nursery is a bit of a disaster area:

Oh, and for the record: those pictures were taken AFTER my mom helped me "organize" things.  I definitely have my work cut out for me.  But I won't complain, I am just so grateful that this baby already has so many people who care about her and want to get her off to a good start!

One of my friends helped get us stocked up on cloth diapers - she bought us a bunch of prefolds and covers, and turned them into "diaper babies" complete with googly eyes.  How adorable are they?!

 

And since I've fallen behind on belly pictures (we missed week 30, but week 31 is a pineapple, so it's all good because pineapples are delicious!!), here's the one picture I actually have from the shower so far, of my belly with diaper baby googly eyes on it:

What's the verdict on that picture: cute or creepy?? ;-)

Maternity Monday: 28 Week Belly Photos & Baby Bookcases

I'm not sure how it's possible that baby Stormageddon will likely be here in 2 1/2 months.  Crazy!

We actually didn't get to the 28 week pictures until 28 weeks, 6 days - so really these are technically more like 29 week pictures, but close enough. ;-)

Finally wore an actual maternity shirt!

Is it me, or does this eggplant look smaller than the cabbage??

The view from the front!

...This one's a little blurry, but I was making ridiculous faces in the others. :-P

Now I'm really feeling the pressure to get the office-to-nursery conversion moving.  I did finally manage to get the crib put together (you can catch a glimpse of it in right-hand side of some of the pictures above) and the old bookcase moved to the storage closet, so that's a step in the right direction, at least.

Now I just need to get rid of my old desk so we can pick up a baby-friendly bookcase for the nursery.  We're probably going to use the ClosetMaid Cubeicals 6 Cube Organizer:

We'll put a couple of baskets (probably these purple ones) in there for toy storage, along with her already-growing library of picture books. ;-)

I've been awful about visiting/commenting on blogs lately.  Last week was kind of absurd.  Glen was barely around because he was commuting to New York City every day for his new job.  In addition to working my regular day job, I had extra library hours, played in a concert at a nursing home, went to Glen's comedy competition in Staten Island, sold my jewelry at a craft show, and drove up to Connecticut for a party with some friends from college.  I didn't have much free time to sit in front of computer, and when I *did* have the time, I picked my husband over my laptop.  Hopefully I'll have a bit more time to make the rounds this week!