28 Weeks

How far along: 28 1/2 Weeks


How I feel:  I still feel pretty good.  I have lots of frustrating or annoying symptoms, but I know what is to come, so I'm choosing to save most of my complaints for later.

Maternity clothes:  I'm tired of them.  That's all.

Sleep: If it weren't for Cora having strep throat and waking every 1 - 3 hours every night (for a week!) and now Brennan being sick and waking throughout the night, I'd be sleeping pretty well.

Best moment this week:  Seeing the baby on an ultrasound!  (I am starting my rounds of periodic ultrasounds for thrombophilia this week, and I will now get to see him grow little by little until I meet him face-to-face!!)

Movement:  The little stinker knows when someone wants to feel him move.  As soon as Jim or Brennan puts a hand on my belly to feel him, he stops moving.  Every. Single. Time.  Brennan has yet to feel him move.

Food cravings:  Chocolate!!

Labor Signs:  I can't tell if I was experiencing Braxton Hicks or just pressure yesterday.  I am still not positive if I've ever experienced Braxton Hicks.  I think I have, and I think that's what is happening.

Belly button in or out? Out

What I miss: I miss feeling close to Jim.  I can't even hug him without bending at a weird angle to wrap my arms around his neck.  

What I am looking forward to:  I'm looking forward to having the nursery done and choosing a name for this little guy.  And I am very much looking forward to seeing my three kids meet for the first time.

What I am NOT looking forward to:  Getting even bigger than I am now.

Milestones: I started the third trimester last week.  Ten and a half weeks to go!!

Brennan wanted to try taking a picture of me, and this is what we got below.  It's a little blurry and he missed my face, but it's a pretty decent belly shot.  :-)

Cora's First Haircut

I finally took Cora to get her first haircut!  I've been saying I'm going to do it since her second birthday three months ago, but I just never got around to it.  We went to Snip-Its, which does kids' haircuts with all of the bells and whistles, so that we could minimize tears and fears.

Cora hates to have her hair brushed, styled, or even touched sometimes, so I was really concerned about how she would do.  She was scared when she had to sit in the big chair and get strapped in, and she cried and asked me to hold her, but she got over it when she was given a lollipop and some little trinkets to hold.

Here is a before shot of the back of Cora's hair:

And here is how it looked after:

I was worried we'd lose the little wave at the back of her hair, but I think losing a little length helped it to spring up even better.  :-)

House Goals for 2012

On Monday I recapped how I did at achieving last year's house goals.  I said how much I loved having goals to refer to all year, and I really did.  I am excited to prioritize the things I want to do for my house this year so I can start saving and scheming.  It is going to be a "tight" year, considering we need a new vehicle that will fit three children in the back seat, and I have to pay for a c-section with a huge deductible.  Plus, I really want to save my money this year for a great camera, which I have put off for a long, long time.  But I'm praying for a few people to hire me again this year for decorating and party planning so I can accomplish a few things in my own home!

Because of the year we have ahead of us, I am going to name just two "big" projects (I define a project as big in that it will cost triple digits to accomplish), and the rest will be little things I can do throughout the year when the money "appears."

1.  Make the baby a beautiful nursery of all his own.

• Paint the walls
• Make and buy artwork
• Buy / make crib bedding

This room really needs to get finished in the next eight or so weeks, so it is priority number one!

2.  Beautify this bathroom!

• Put up bead board paneling
• Add color with paint
• Frame out or change the mirror
• Add artwork

3.  Finally do something with this empty wall in the dining room.

4.  Get Brennan new curtains.

In our old house, these curtains were the right length.  In this house, they have shrunk in the dryer and been hung higher, so now I'm committing a real decorating faux pas.  It drives me crazy every time I go in there!!

5.  Frame a map on this wall in the play room.

Jim's parents bought Brennan a world map for Christmas, and I thought it would be fun to hang it in the play room.  Unfortunately, frames of that size cost $100 - $200 (it is not a standard poster frame).  So, we need to make our own.

6.  Paint unfinished furniture.

• Cora's nightstand
• Toy bench
• Storage for half bath

7.  Fill in the living room.

There is so much to do to make this room more like a part of our home, but it is going to be expensive.  I need a new chair, drapes, and an area rug.  Still, a larger vehicle and a healthy baby seem more important!  For this year, I will settle for:

• Another side table and matching lamp for the other side of the couch
• Secretary desk brought down from the bedroom.
• A lamp on top of the desk.

8.  Get a bookshelf for the master bedroom.

Now that we've had to move all of our books out of the guest room, they are in boxes where they can't be accessed.  Some of those books are just fun, but some we really need to access for school and church, so we need a good place to store them.

9.  Make artwork for Cora's room.

10.  Paint the guest bathroom.

This room has no color, no personality, no interest, no nothin'.  It is purely functional and needs a little boost!

11.  Hang something above the bed.

The room will look so much less "naked" if there is something hanging up there.  Every single wall in this bedroom is empty!

It's hard to stop!  I look around and see light fixtures I want to change, walls that need to be painted, and empty rooms that need furniture.  But I think this list is doable and very realistic for now.

What are your goals for this year?

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I'm linking up to The Nester's 2012 Home Goals Party.

Reviewing Last Year's House Goals

Last January I set nine house goals that I wanted to accomplish in 2011.  If you want to reread them in detail, go here.  Otherwise, to keep this post from becoming overwhelmingly long, I will simply restate each major goal, show you a before picture, and, if I achieved my goal, I will show an after photo.  Here we go...


1.) Finish the coat closet hallway.  

Before:

After:

2.) Work on the family room

Before:

After:

 3.) (Nearly) Finish the play room.

Before: 

After:

4.) Work on the guest bathroom / kids' bathroom.

Before... and After  :-(

 (That's what you get for setting a goal that depends on your husband without consulting him first!)

 5.) Give some TLC to my craft room.

Before:

After:

(Even though it doesn't look really different, I didn't totally fail on this one.  I have managed to keep the room neat and usable for several months now, and that was part of my goal.  I consider it a huge victory!)

6.) Get curtains for our bedroom.  

Before:

After:

7. Hang something on this wall in the dining room.

Before... and After :-(

8. Trim out the chalkboard wall.

Before: 

After:

(Not only did the wall get trimmed out, but Jim installed an overhead light for me so this little "hallway" is no longer dark!)

9. Add more lighting to the formal living room.

Before... and After :-(

And there you have it.  :-)

Mathematically speaking, I accomplished 6 out of 9 of my goals, which is only 67%.  However, I don't feel like I earned a D.  Honestly, I would give myself more of a B for the use of my time and money.  I mean, that play room alone was a massive undertaking and must count for more than the few lamps and artwork I ran out of money to buy, right?!  :-)

I absolutely loved having this goals list to refer to all year.  Each time I would earn extra money for something, I knew exactly how to allocate the money.  It made my decisions so much easier and more concrete, and I didn't feel guilty about spending money on something I had already decided I wanted to do.  

I am looking forward to solidifying my goals for 2012.  I plan to link up to the Nester's Home Goals Linky Party.  Time to start prioritizing and taking some pictures!!

2011 Goals in Review

Last year, on January 15th, I committed to paper screen the three things I wanted to most accomplish in 2011.  Here were my three personal goals for last year:

1. Read every word of the Bible in a year.
2. Write on my blog at least once a week.
3. Leave the Nashville area at least four times.

So, how did I do?  Well, I accomplished two of the three, and if you read my blog regularly, you know at which one I failed.  :-)

I did read every word of the Bible in a year, and I left Nashville four times.  (We went to Dallas twice, I went to Townsend, TN for a women's retreat in the spring, and we went to Bryson City, NC for our anniversary over the summer.)  I did not manage to blog once every week, but I did become a little more consistent about blogging than I had once been, so it is at least a step in the right direction.

Here are a few specific thoughts on reaching my goals:

Reading the Bible
Reading the whole Bible last year was amazing.  I wasn't always consistent about reading every single day, but I did promise myself I'd get done in a year, and I did.  Reading God's word from Genesis to Revelation was enlightening and powerful and it at least doubled or tripled the size of the box I put God in.  I have been a Christian for almost twenty-six years, and I had never once read the entire Old Testament.  I feared it, and now I have to admit I really enjoyed it!  If it's possible, salvation means even more when you read the whole story.  What an amazing, thorough, perfect, incomprehensible plan God has for us!  Why on earth I hadn't taken the time to read God's whole love story to us is beyond me!

I have two friends already who have told me they have made reading the Bible a goal for 2012.  I am so encouraged that others want to take this magnificent journey, too.  I have been asked now several times what reading plan Jim and I used, so in case you are interested, here are the details:

• We used a chronological reading plan.  Personally, I have never understood how all of the pieces of Bible history fit together.  Before, if you had talked to me about "before or after Babylonian captivity" I would have given you a blank stare.  Reading the Bible in chronological order helped me to connect the dots I already had as well as put some in place that I didn't even know I was missing.
• The website we used is http://www.youversion.com/.  I like youversion because it can sync up with your phone (I finished some readings in car line, at the airport, or at the chiropractor), and it gives you a check box after you've finished a chapter.  This doesn't sound like a big deal, but for someone like me who doesn't always keep up with reading (or who may get interrupted by needy little people), it is very helpful to know where you left off.  I'm not saying that youversion is what everyone should use, but it met my needs better than anything else I found.
• I read a translation that was comfortable for me so I could apply it to my life.  It wasn't King James and it wasn't The Message, but it was somewhere in between.  :-)

If you decide to read the Bible through, please let me know!  I love hearing and seeing the domino effect of one person encouraging another!

Leaving Town
I really am a happier person when I see new things and have adventures to look forward to.  This past year was a difficult year for us financially and emotionally as we had a lot of unexpected things come our way.  I really think that one of the reasons our marriage stayed so strong is because we had three trips out of town together without the kids.  This is a lot (!), and I know it isn't realistic to think we will have a luxury like that every year.  However, I believe that God knew what we needed and when we needed it, and He provided perfectly.

Blogging
Having a "successful" blog isn't as important to me as keeping a record of our daily lives and milestones and having a forum I can use to connect with other women like me.  It does make me a little sad when I pour my heart and soul into a post and no one comments here on the blog, but I've decided that if the blog isn't for me and my family, it isn't worth having.  So for now I'm okay with posting when I am able and letting go of the rest.

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I am still trying to figure out what my personal goals are for 2012.  (I do have some house goals, and I'll share those in the next few days!)  I really liked having goals this past year, and I feel a little lost and directionless without them right now (which is so weird, since I have never set any like this before).  However, I know that this year is going to be very different with a newborn, and I don't want to get in over my head.  So, I'm praying and waiting, and I guess we'll see what God lays on my heart.

How about you?  Did you set goals last year?  How did you do?  Do you have goals for 2012?

25 Weeks

How far along: 25 Weeks

Total weight gain: 26 pounds already!  (And this little section will now officially disappear from future updates because it is too embarrassing!)


How I feel:  I still feel pretty good, but this past week I have felt strong pelvic pressure on the right side.  It's okay when I'm sitting or lying down, but as soon as I stand up, it hurts.  I guess it might be round ligament pain?  I don't think it's Braxton Hicks.

Maternity clothes:  I'm starting to get too big for my current maternity clothes which is not good because I don't have much of anything in larger sizes that are still cute.  (My maternity shirts from six years ago are pretty dated.)  That's okay though, because I'll likely only need stuff for six to eight weeks before I move on to the next size.  (I have worn every size from small to an extra large in every pregnancy.  Crazy!)

Sleep: I'm up once or twice a night to use the bathroom, but my sleep is still decent in between bathroom runs.   A couple of times I've had a hard time falling back asleep after getting up, but it usually doesn't last long.

Best moment this week:  Jim finally felt movement last week.  As much as I have felt it for a while now, it hasn't been perceivable from outside, so it made me extremely happy that he got to feel his son kick!

Movement:  Movement has become much more frequent in the last week or two, particularly after meals and snacks. 

Food cravings:  I cannot eat enough sugar.  I have been this way with every pregnancy, starting in the second trimester.  I want refined sugar and even foods containing high levels of refined or natural sugar, like Chinese food, potatoes, fruit, etc.  I seriously can't stop myself.  I think about it all day long.

Labor Signs:  No, but this pelvic pressure is a real reminder that there is a baby down there!

Belly button in or out? More out than in, at this point.

What I miss: Having any patience or stamina!  I still miss my clothes and my cute boots, and I would really kill for a steaming hot bubble bath right about now.

What I am looking forward to:  Getting the nursery started in the next few weeks.  I have a plan, but first I have to clear the mess in the baby's room.  And I need to convince Jim to paint, which is going to require some tooth pulling.

What I am NOT looking forward to:  Pulling said teeth.  I also have to figure out where to put all of the stuff I have been storing in the guest room for the past year and a half.  I foresee a lot of piles, trips to Goodwill, boxes set aside for consignment, and chaos for a little while.  And messes makes me stressed!

Milestones: I'm not sure I've had any huge milestones this month.  I go for my diabetes screen on Tuesday, but that's not very exciting.

Weekly Wisdom:  

• Local honey isn't just a bad idea for pregnant women.  (Jim got food poisoning on Christmas night.)  
• Christmas with multiple kids takes so much longer, especially when you do one present at a time!  
• Potty training is an incredibly different experience with each child.

If you read all the way to the end of this post, you get the reward of seeing a very amusing photo:

Just two weeks left in this trimester!  Boy, how time flies!!

A New Year and a New Room for Cora

Cora has been through a lot of changes and transitions recently.  On Thanksgiving she gave up her pacifiers (well, we made her give them up, but it went really well).  The week before Christmas she decided she wanted to be potty trained (it was completely her idea), and our most recent change and transition occurred a few nights ago: Cora got a big girl room!!

The inspiration for the room came from her wall.  I didn't want to repaint it, so I tried to choose things that would match it.  I found the bedding at Pottery Barn Kids, and when I went in to buy it, I managed to snag a set of sheets and the quilt that had been on a display bed, so they were steeply discounted and marked final sale.  My mom had sent money to use for Cora's Christmas gift, so between her money and ours, we were able to buy sheets, pillow cases, and a quilt for a great price.

(The nightstand will eventually get painted white, but for the moment it gets the job done.)

In my dream world, I would have built-ins and a bench built around the window in Cora's room, but with everything we have going on (new baby, seminary, etc.), that is not realistic any time soon.  So, I got two Billy bookcases from Ikea to achieve the same effect.  I still plan to get a "bench" to go under the window.

I chose the Hemnes dresser from Ikea in white for Cora's room, and Jim's parents gave it to her for Christmas.  I love that dresser.  It is nice and big, has tons of great storage, and looks beautiful in person.  I couldn't be happier with it.  My sister bought Cora the two new lamps.  (Decorating this room on a budget was a family effort!)

We still need lots of stuff for the bookshelves and art for the walls, but the room still makes me super happy.  I smile every time I go in there!

Cora likes it a little too.

I can't believe how much Cora has matured and changed in just a little over a month.  I don't really feel ready to stop calling her my baby, but I guess a true infant will take over that title in three more months.  I can't wait to start on his room.  It's giving me an anxiety attack that it currently looks like this:

I've got my work cut out for me.  But when I get overwhelmed, I'll just go in Cora's room and relax.  :-)