Happy Halloween!

I made these cupcakes yesterday, about the only "halloweeny" thing going on in our house this weekend. Evan's on call all day and night and trying to think of a costume when you're 8 months pregnant is pretty useless.

Next year, I'll enjoy dressing baby C in something like:

this

or this

or THIS. ooooh I want to order this one NOW!!!

I love getting packages!

Especially these kind...thanks to Great Grandma Rose and Great Aunt Heidi for the beautiful baby boy layette from Saks, I can't wait to dress him in these fabulous clothes...I was especially excited about the Trumpette socks!

The knit hat and booties will be great for a trip to NYC to visit or a ski trip to Vail!

The After.

Colin's clothes are all tucked away ready to be worn. Sometimes I'll come in here and open the drawers and pull them out and hold them against my ever expanding tummy...i can't believe there will be a baby in these in 2 short months, can't wait!

On top of this dresser is where I plan on having his changing pad station.


The closet has finally been straightened up and there is now some room for C's clothes.
And Evan did finally clean up his stuff and send it off to Salvation Army so our guest/baby room is now restored. I'm going to get rid of that rug and probably just put a neutral colored round softer rug in it's place...

Oh and in case you forgot, here are the BEFORE PICS...

I still need to figure out what to do with that chair, I think it is heading to the dumpster. Replaced by my glider....

Ta Da!

The crib is all ready for Baby C!!

Lately...

According to UPS, my repaired camera should be here Tuesday.
If it were here now, I'd be taking pictures of our newly put together crib! Evan put it together last night ( it only took about 20 minutes to put together-awesome!).
I hinted last week to dad that our nursery bedding on our registry was on sale and he took the hint and ordered it for me- I love how it turned out and the crib fits so nicely into our room. No crowding at all, thank goodness for our spacious master bedroom! The "plan" is to keep the baby in the crib in our room until he sleeps through the night. I also hope it will be easier to move him bc he won't be changing beds, just rooms!

Yesterday, I hit 30 weeks pregnant, 10 more to go! One big change I felt earlier this week was what I like to call "my curtain opening" ( stolen from a girl in my prenatal yoga class). I woke up in the middle of the night and my entire pelvis was in pain and it was difficult to move from side to side. I never realized how much you use your pelvic muscles when laying down and are trying to change sides. I think I've gotten a big shot of the relaxin hormone which has caused my ligaments in my pelvic area to loosen; it could also be pressure from the babys head down? Regardless, I now understand the attractive waddle that women get later in pregnancy...it's not just from having a big bump, but from the pelvic pain that happens later in pregnancy. This is suppposed to be a good thing, as it helps prepare my body to stretch for birth. In the meantime, it felt like someone has reached their hand up between my legs and stretched out my bones! It's gotten better than the first night, but it def. is still there. Another girl in PN yoga class yesterday, who is 39 weeks pregnant, knew exactly what I was talking about and says it doesn't go away....yay.

My weight gain...

So far I've been pretty happy with my weight gain. I've had several people tell me how great I look and that I'm "all belly"...my boss yesterday elaborated with a several funny facial expressions of how a lot of women seem to blow up when they're pregnant and he's quite impressed how I've handled my pregnancy.
With that said, I am still in my 2nd trimester, I know the 3rd trimester is a whole other ball game. So far I haven't had any cravings and feel like I eat pretty similar to what I was doing prepregnancy, albeit I've added more veggies and make sure I get my daily protein.
Anyways, before my pregnancy my weight was fluctuating somewhere around 125, right now I'm at 145....I'm really hoping I can stay under the 30 lb weight gain...we'll see it how it goes. Especially when I do have a sweet tooth weakness...this is a place I recently discovered, their Butterscotch Cupcakes are to DIE for. Next time,Tampa friends, you are in South Tampa near the Acadamy, you MUST stop in and try one!

AFTER THE BIRTH, WHAT A FAMILY NEEDS..

I wish I could tell you my house is always clean...but it's not, let's face it- with 2 full time on steroids aka way more than 40 hrs per week working adults, it's hard to accomplish.

My Saturday mornings are usually spent picking up the house...from what accumulated throughout the week...dishes are washed, laundry is picked up off the floor and done, grocery shopping occasionally happens followed by some cooking that we can munch on throughout the week, and the kitchen is wiped clean. I do refuse to do any hard core cleaning- aka toilet scrubbing that's what I pay a housekeeper for! When my house IS clean it is beautiful...but if you ever stop by on a day unexpectedly that doesn't immediately follow a Saturday morning clean sweep, don't expect much.

I actually envy people with always seemingly clean houses, like my friend Rachel...I've unexpectedly stopped by her house and it is always tidy!

So what will my house look like when I've got a newborn?! I'm going to try not to think about it...I know there will be many expected and unexpected house guests and my goal will be to

somehow keep this place looking as good as possible. I saw this recently on another blog and thought it was VERY appropriate!

AFTER THE BIRTH, WHAT A FAMILY NEEDS“Let me know if I can help you in any way when the baby is born.” … “Just let me know if you need a hand.” … “Anything I can do, just give me a call.”

Most pregnant women get these statements from friends and family but shy away from making requests when they are up to their ears in dirty laundry, unmade beds, dust bunnies and countertops crowded with dirty dishes. The myth of “I’m fine, I’m doing great, new motherhood is wonderful, I can cope and my husband is the Rock of Gibraltar” is pervasive in postpartum land. If you’re too shy to ask for help and make straight requests of people, I suggest sending the following list out to your friends and family. These are the things I have found to be missing in every house with a new baby. It’s actually easy and fun for outsiders to remedy these problems for the new parents but there seems to be a lot of confusion about what’s wanted and needed…

1. Buy us toilet paper, milk and beautiful whole grain bread.

2. Buy us a new garbage can with a swing top lid and 6 pairs of black cotton underpants (women’s size____).

3. Make us a big supper salad with feta cheese, black Kalamata olives, toasted almonds, organic green crispy things and a nice homemade dressing on the side. Drop it off and leave right away. Or, buy us frozen lasagna, garlic bread, a bag of salad, a big jug of juice, and maybe some cookies to have for dessert. Drop it off and leave right away.

4. Come over about 2 in the afternoon, hold the baby while I have a hot shower, put me to bed with the baby and then fold all the piles of laundry that have been dumped on the couch, beds or in the room corners. If there’s no laundry to fold yet, do some.

5. Come over at l0 a.m., make me eggs, toast and a 1/2 grapefruit. Clean my fridge and throw out everything you are in doubt about. Don’t ask me about anything; just use your best judgment.

6. Put a sign on my door saying “Dear Friends and Family, Mom and baby need extra rest right now. Please come back in 7 days but phone first. All donations of casserole dinners would be most welcome. Thank you for caring about this family.”

7. Come over in your work clothes and vacuum and dust my house and then leave quietly. It’s tiring for me to chat and have tea with visitors but it will renew my soul to get some rest knowing I will wake up to clean, organized space.

8. Take my older kids for a really fun-filled afternoon to a park, zoo or Science World and feed them healthy food.

9. Come over and give my husband a two hour break so he can go to a coffee shop, pub, hockey rink or some other r & r that will delight him. Fold more laundry.

10. Make me a giant pot of vegetable soup and clean the kitchen completely afterwards. Take a big garbage bag and empty every trash basket in the house and reline with fresh bags.'

These are the kindnesses that new families remember and appreciate forever. It’s easy to spend money on gifts but the things that really make a difference are the services for the body and soul described above. Most of your friends and family members don’t know what they can do that won’t be an intrusion. They also can’t devote 40 hours to supporting you but they would be thrilled to devote 4 hours. If you let 10 people help you out for 4 hours, you will have the 40 hours of rested, adult support you really need with a newborn in the house. There’s magic in the little prayer “I need help.”

I'll leave you with a picture of what my kitchen SHOULD look like and since my camera STILL is not working, here is a picture too of my friend Rachel's adorable daughter Charlotte!