The Bump {8} - Prego & Eggo Project List - AUGUST

I am sooooo glad I made all these to-do lists. I feel so much less anxious and nervous about getting everything done because there's a plan. I know that not everything will fall in to place as easily as I might expect it to, but who cares when you have a plan? I'm pregnant, already feeling huge at only 6.5 months but NOT feeling a ton of mental pressure...THAT'S what makes it worth it.

Gspice had an awesome suggestion for the Prego Project list that sent me in to a serious fit of giggles. He mentioned on a whim that it needs to be titled "Prego & Eggo Project List" so that is what it has become. You know, Gary, that just means you need to help out more - thanks for being so willing! ;-)

As far as the actual to-do lists, I thought July flew by. My oh my, August is going by even more quickly! We finished just about everything for July so that really helped but it seems that a lot of larger tasks were set for August. I've managed to not totally freak out and work on things bit by bit.

I did promise a little update which really isn't much. I added art to the ledges my dad and bro-in-law put up for us last month using the idea of LOVE.

1. Do what you LOVE what you do.
2. My heart lives in Decorah :)
3. Love you [Gspice]

I also managed to put up some of these to-do lists in a cute way :)

August to-do list sampling:

• Still finish Dining Room decor - at least everything but the nails have been purchased!
• Hang up pictures/art in Living Room - the rest of the decor will be purchased in September when we can actually make it to IKEA
• Measure Little Man's room - boy is it going tight!
• Assemble crib and changing table
• Budget - using new avalanche attack method :)
• Photobook 2012 - Finish November
• Blog posts
• Weekly photos
• Deep cleaning
• Extra room - happy to report that I am working on it hardcore!
• Garage 
• Door Decor - Back to School 
• Events!
• Adventureland! - August 3-4
• Friend party - August 10
• Relative B-day party - August 17
• Mary Kay party - August 18
• Farewell party :( - August 20
• Prego Class w/ Gspice - August 24
• Start new job! - August 26

PLUS so much more. Yeah, like I said, August is flying by with tons to do!!

Door Decor Craft Time {5} - Back to School!

Going back to school was ALWAYS something I looked forward to. I loved buying new supplies and having everything be fresh and clean. I loved getting back to a routine and yes, I even loved having homework again.

Go ahead and say it - I was a nerd.

Needless to say, this door decor has been on my radar for awhile. This particular decor, no. I actually had something else in mind but that'll come another time. I decided to go with something a little cuter and so much easier than my original plan and boy that made my day. From start to finish, it probably took only 30 minutes. Craft time in an half hour? Yes, please!

 This may even be my most favorite door decor to date!


Supplies:
* 1 large quilt hoop
* 1 small quilt hoop
* 2 packs of crayons
* ribbon
* glue gun/glue sticks

How-to:
1. Line up the quilt hoops so the small hoop is in the middle of the large hoop.
2. Lay out your crayons in the order you want them placed.
3. For each crayon, place one spot of glue on the small hoop and one on the large hoop. Then place crayon.
4. Have all crayon bottoms touch and leave space near the tips. This will create a little sunburst.
5. Leave room for a ribbon so you can hang it up.

 

Done!

The Bump {7} - Recap: 20-24 weeks

This has been the most exciting part of the pregnancy with Mini Mr. so far. I can't really believe that we're already over half way through! The nesting stage has come in full swing so good thing I have some energy and motivation.

However, my growing belly has sure made it difficult to sleep though the night 80% of the time. I sleep, but not that wonderful and glorious deep sleep that I love so much. One night during week 21, I went to sleep at 9ish and woke up at 11:30 to go to the bathroom. There's about a 40% chance of fully waking up when I need to use the commode so I do everything possible to keep that from happening (ie: keep all lights off, keep eyes shut, leave the tp where I can easily reach it, assume Peach is sitting right next to me so noise won't freak me out, etc) Well, on this particular night, I did all of these things and still fully woke up. Unfortunately, I was then fully awake for the next four hours. Awesome. Welcome to parenthood, Vanessa! Good thing Gspice likes waking up multiple times a night ;-)

I've also started experiencing heartburn (lucky me!) so this isn't helping me sleep very well, especially if I make the wise choice of eating something right before I lay down... During week 22, that's exactly what I did. I made the smart decision to down a little piece of brownie right before bed and not a few hours later, I awoke with terrible heartburn. Though super tired, I went downstairs, sat up on the couch for the next hour and watched one of the many shows I always have saved. I was able to sleep after that hour with no heartburn :) However, you'd think I'd learn after that.....TOTALLY not the case. I'm not sure when it happened, but one night I woke up with the most horrible thing possible to wake up to - acid reflux. Holy cow, I am soooo sorry for anyone who has that problem on a normal basis. I thought I was going to die. I went downstairs to Gary who was still awake and had a complete meltdown. We broke out the tums for the first time and thankfully the most horrible feeling in the world went away soon after.

On to more fun parts of the pregnancy - my growing baby bump! It is equally super fun and super freaky. My poor belly button. I feel like it's already stretched as far as it should probably be stretched. I'm just trying not to look at it too much... We've started taking weekly photos which has been fun. Not much of a change yet between weeks but definitely a bump!

Little Mini Mr. has started to hiccup and kick occasionally which is so darn cool. It still feels a little like butterflies but more and more I can definitely tell he's getting a little fiesty when my stomach will move with each of his kicks. He is such a busy body!  He's also stubborn, just like his daddy and me. Every time I have tried to have Gary feel the kicks, Mini Mr. won't move a teeny muscle. Little turd!

The absolute best part of the past few weeks was our 20 week ultrasound on July 5. Gary and I made a nice trip out of this. We scheduled the ultrasound for this particular date since we both had July 4 off as well. We booked a room in Rochester, shopped for more maternity clothes, looked at nursery furniture and went out for a lovely, but super filling Italian meal. To cap off the night, we took to the park to watch fireworks. Best part was definitely seeing a tree light up after being biffed with a forceful fireball of a firework. Don't worry, it was over as quickly as it began and no one was hurt. Everyone around us, including my silly husband, thought it was hilarious. Later that night, we watched several episodes of Chopped and I inevitably cried multiple times out of nerves. This was the ultrasound we've been waiting for - the one that would confirm many things. I was afraid that all my positivity would come crashing down. Gary was such a sweetheart and helped me calm down but my nerves were present all night and in to the morning as well. Obviously so, because as soon as we walked in to the ultrasound room, I burst in to the tears. Oh to be pregnant and completely freaked out. The sonographer let me compose myself and then we got down to business. That is when she said the best words we've ever heard: "Everything looks good, your baby is healthy, the spine looks good, etc) Seriously, the best moments ever. The next best part was hearing that we were having a little boy. He was squirming around, sucking his thumb and showing off like many men do...

The Bump {6} - Prego Project List - JULY

If you know me even just a little bit, you probably know how much I LOVE making lists. Compound the love of making lists by the overwhelming amount of ideas and things I know need to be finished before Mini Mr. Wiest arrives and you get Prego Project List! I realized very quickly that I couldn't quite grasp everything that needed to get done. Pregnancy makes my mind wander alllll over the place. I needed to get my ideas and tasks down on paper to make it more visual. I desperately needed something to look at to make sure I stayed on track.

The best I came up with was to divide and conquer this massive to-do list by month. Each month through the rest of the year has a bijillion items to accomplish but you know what, I'm not the least bit overwhelmed (yet). I'm motivated.

Here's a sampling of what needs to be accomplished in July:

• Finish Dining Room Decor
• Brainstorm Living Room Decor
• BUDGET
• Nursery (research and buy?)
• Buy Peaches' Birthday Gift :)
• Research Care Providers for Mini Mr. Wiest
• Photobook 2012 - finish October
• Blog (you've seen most that I planned, just one or two left!)
• Take Weekly Bump Photos
• Research Car options/deals
• Buy??? Get excited!

Like I said, this is but a small sampling of everything that needs to be completed in July. Some things will be fluid as you know opportunities pop up and disappear without notice. We're keeping our eyes peeled and staying within a healthy budget. Thanks, Gspice, for keeping me on track :)

Knowing that part of my project list needed the assistance of some other family members, I invited Bridget, Drew, Erin and Dad up to help this past weekend. Really, I needed Drew and Dad to help hang up some fiesty shelves I got from Pottery Barn awhile back. Our walls weren't the most cooperative component but they made it work. I envision putting up some cork strips underneath the shelves to hang up things (such as my monthly Prego Project Lists!)

 

 After everyone left, I had a little bit of remaining motivation so I put up the craft letters I had spray painted the day before. 

More pictures to come as the decor is all completed!

The Bump {5} - Recap: 12-20 weeks

This part of my pregnancy was a bit more interesting. I was getting used to the idea that we were pregnant and getting more and more excited/nervous about finding out if baby was healthy and either a boy or a girl. However, with a more positive outlook, we sailed through this phase pretty easily.  

However, two symptoms became slightly irritating. The first symptom was becoming horribly congested. I woke up (and continue to do so) with a very clearly stuffed nose almost every single day. My sinuses were just full. That part isn't as annoying. What IS annoying is my right eye. The poor thing has been through the ringer already. I may have developed slight allergies (which I doubt is prego related, but still) because one day I woke up with an incredibly pink eye. I thought it could be pink eye, which the doc said was most likely the viral form because you'd obviously know if it were the bacterial form. Apparently, that's when your eye looks absolutely disgusting and super puffy and gross. Well at least I didn't have that. Nonetheless, I stayed home for a couple of days so that I wouldn't infect anyone else. Now after having a ridiculously pink eye three more times, I now believe that perhaps it wasn't ever pink eye. I realized that each of those mornings, I woke up with my eye glued shut or super itchy or super wet, etc. I then probably rubbed it so much to cause my eye to turn pink. I never once contaminated anyone else, including the little one I nanny for, my co-workers or my husband. But man, it's super annoying regardless. I look like I woke up with a SEVERE hangover. Not cool.

Another tidbit about this eye - it tells me when I'm tired. Seriously. I can tell by how my right eyelid behaves when it's time to go to bed. It is the first eye to shut when I lay down to bed and the last to open up in the morning. I had an eye appointment early in my pregnancy and my report came back fine. If anything, I think it was my left eye that was just slightly nearsighted, but not enough to warrant any prescription.

The other annoying symptom I started to notice very much during this stage of the pregnancy is my low blood pressure. At my 16 week appointment, my blood pressure was something super low like 85/55. Crazy low. No wonder I have the hardest time walking up the stairs. I get so darn tired before I'm even half way up. And on walks, I can totally tell when I'm tired. I walk at a speed of a snail. Gary has to slow waaaay down to match my speed.

These weren't really all that bad. What I should be annoyed by is this little dude doesn't like spice very much. He can't handle as much Don Jose salsa that I'd love to eat. DEFINITELY takes after his dad. One thing he does love? Sweets. Oh my word, I cannot get enough. Powdered donuts, chocolate milk, Hershey's chocolate and instant chocolate pudding were staples during this time. I could down a whole packet of pudding if I didn't stop myself. Holy cow that stuff is good. Speaking of which, I haven't had any of that pudding in awhile. I'll add it to my grocery list...

Here's a peek at little Mini Mr. Wiest that we got at our 12w2d ultrasound in Rochester.

Face (you can see the eye sockets) and belly

Gary and I both thought this shot looked like Bane from Batman!

Little legs. I looked and looked for a sign of gender :)

side profile

Words of wisdom:
1. When you need to go up in size for clothing, buy some maternity clothes! When Gary and I went up to Rochester for an ultrasound between 12-13 weeks, I had gained enough weight (thanks to all those sweets!) that my pants weren't fitting well anymore. Sad day, but I found the new maternity store at the mall and was met with such a lovely surprise. They sold petite pants!!!!!!!!!!!  I bought a lot of pairs just because I knew I wouldn't need to hem any of them. That was an awesome day. I've been back since :) My best advice is to not waste time trying to squeeze in to items that no longer fit even if you can still (just barely) get the button to latch.

2. Go to the chiropractor if you need to. The lower right side of my back/hip bone started to hurt really badly one night during week 14. I called to set up an appointment that next morning and was able to get in right away. I've felt great ever since.

3. Buy a prego pillow! I should have done this years ago because I love to sleep on my sides and I know how important it is for your back to have good alignment, even while you sleep. Having a pillow to support your head is obvious, but I never sleep with a pillow between my legs. Well, now I do! Another reason I needed this pillow is because of my growing belly. It's so much more comfortable to lay on my side if I have something to support the baby belly too.


Belly Photos! 
I didn't take too many belly photos during this time. To be honest, I was afraid to just in case something happened to baby. I just couldn't pick up that camera. I did eventually take photos as my confidence grew. Here they are:

                                16w2d                                                           16w7d