June 30, 2015

41 Weeks: Late Baby

The silly pregnancy websites stopped making fruit and vegetable gestational age size comparisons at forty weeks.  The only thing LB is this week is late!  At least we will get our wish for a July baby!  We have an induction scheduled for tomorrow morning.  I finally started having contractions last night so hopefully they will help make this a favorable induction.
    
This weekend Alex and I mulched the yard, went on long walks, ate a bunch of spicy food as well as an entire pineapple all in the name of getting things rolling.  Our yard looks great!  We also realized that we had gone this entire pregnancy without really any photos of the two of us with the bump.  Our friend Briton was nice enough to take a few pictures in Freedom Park.  I was sunburned from working outside, but I am glad we have the photos!  Hopefully our next post will have pictures of the little girl :)
       
    
    
    
    
   
      

June 23, 2015

40 Weeks: Jackfruit Baby

Today is our due date!  We made it to full term :)  There are no signs that the little girl will be arriving anytime soon, however.  All the contractions I had while working nights and twenty-six hour weekend shifts have gone completely away.  I feel great though, so I don't mind hanging out with the bump a little while longer.  I am supposed to be eating spicy foods, pineapple and eggplant parmesan to help induce labor, but we went to Outback Steakhouse with Sean and Kate tonight for a blooming onion instead.  Tomorrow will be a pineapple day :)
    
Happy due date!  I swear she keeps getting higher!
   
 Come out baby!

June 16, 2015

39 Weeks: Watermelon Baby

LB and I are thirty-nine weeks!  The pregnancy websites say fetuses at this gestational age are similar in size to a watermelon... I don't think so.  I finally feel exhausted, or maybe that is just from switching back to days from nights :)  I have my last twenty-four hour shift before maternity leave this weekend so I am hoping I can make it! 
    
 We spent this past weekend relaxing.  I slept for the large majority of it.  My mom and her sisters had a girls weekend in Charlotte for Debbie's birthday and swung by our house for a visit.  It was great getting to see everybody!
  
Thirty-nine weeks!  I remember when we found out about this little adventure at five weeks when LB was only the size of an apple seed.
  
 
We said goodbye to our friends Matt and Presley this weekend.  They moved back to Ohio and will be missed!

June 9, 2015

38 Weeks: Pumpkin Baby

We are thirty-eight weeks along now!  LB is similar in size to a pumpkin this week.  Alex and I are closer to being ready for the little baby, although I don't think we could ever be completely prepared :)  The nursery is also almost finished, only missing the curtain finial pieces and maybe a picture frame or two.  Our house has been taken over by baby things, but we have tried very hard to keep it organized.  My nesting instinct has taken over full force... not really sure it was necessary to reorganize the kitchen pantry at three AM though!  Here are the pictures of our Harper preparation:
    
Thirty-eight weeks!
 
Our pretty guest bathroom is now stocked full of baby goodies.  We used the drawers for washcloths and bath towels.
  
Washcloths!
  
 Harper's cute animal bath wraps and extra washcloths.
  
 Hooded bath towels
   
 Bathroom essentials: cleaning supplies on the top and baby supplies on the bottom.
  
 Our baby medicine box is full of first aid supplies and infant medicines.
   
 Basket of bath toys!
 
The humidifier, a bin full of baby lotions and shampoos, and a little bathtub for the little baby.
    
Harper's room!  I am so excited we finally got the curtains up.  We are just waiting for the end pieces for the curtain rods to arrive in the mail.  We may eventually add more frames on this side of the room, but we are happy with it for now.
  
 My favorite part of the room is the wall above the crib!  The room seems a little dark because we have not yet put in a ceiling light.
 
Tessa made Harper the beautiful elephant painting to match her elephant themed room.  We put the diaper caddy on the closet door handle near the changing table.
 
 Harper's closet full of diapers, cutie baby clothes and shoes.  I think she has more clothes than I do thanks to all our shower gifts and hand me downs from cousin Catherine!  We used the bookshelf to store toys and baby books. 
   
 I used a jewelry organizer to store all of Harper's adorable hats and mittens.
  
 We used white fabric containers from Ikea to organize the dresser.  This drawer is full of baby socks and leg warmers!  You can never have enough baby socks :)
   
 This drawer holds pacifiers, teethers, Harper's cute wubbanubs, hair supplies, sunglasses, and extra bags for the diaper genie.
   
 We are keeping Harper's burp cloths and plain washcloths in this drawer.  We plan to use the washcloths during diaper changes to minimize the amount of times the changing pad needs to be changed.
   
 Our diaper drawer with supplies for diaper changes.
  
 This drawer is full of onesies and baby pants organized by size.  The extra mattress pad is in this drawer as well.
    
 This drawer is for all the little white Carter's bodysuits: long-sleeve, short-sleeve, tank top and side snap.  We also keep Harper's sleep sacs, swaddle sacs, and pajamas in this drawer.
  
 I love baby blankets!!  We have Harper's receiving blankets and stroller blankets in here, as well as extra sheets for her pack and play.
  
 This drawer is for swaddle blankets, extra changing pad covers and crib sheets.
   
 Our bassinet! 
  
 We have stored the pack and play and baby bouncer in the downstairs closet for use on the first floor.  Luckily the closet is deep!
  
 Harper has her own shelf in the kitchen for her bottles and bottle warmer.  We have plates, bowls and a Beaba maker ready for when she starts to eat solid foods.
  
 She also has her own kitchen drawer for pretty burp cloths and bibs :)

June 2, 2015

37 Weeks: Winter Melon Baby

We are officially considered a term pregnancy!  LB is thirty-seven weeks and similar in size to a winter melon.  Speaking of food, Alex and I spent all of this past Saturday preparing meals for when Harper arrives.  It took one entire day, multiple trips to the grocery store and tons of dish washing, but we now have a good two weeks worth of freezer meals.  We had a great time putting our awesome kitchen to use and will be very thankful when we don't have to worry about cooking or cleaning with a new baby.
     
I started my nights rotation this week.  I love working nights, but labor and delivery always packs a ton of action into each fourteen hour shift.  It is hard not getting to see Alex during the week, but Moo sure does love a day time nap buddy :)
   
Alex starting our cooking extravaganza! 
  
 Alex and I used Pinterest recipes to plan our meals.  We bought foil trays from the grocery store so the clean up will be easy those first few weeks.
     
  
 Chopping onions!
  
 We made a mess!
   
 Happy thirty-seven weeks!
       
All clean!
  
 We made two large trays of lasagna, two mushroom and ham quiches, a chicken pot pie, two dinners worth of tortilla soup, two dinners worth of chili, a tray of chicken and pesto stuffed shells, a bag of spaghetti sauce, and a batch of cilantro lime pesto chicken tacos.
  
 Our freezer full of meals!