Maternity Pictures

James and I took these pictures a few weeks ago with my lovely photographer friend Sarah of Butterfly Chaser Photography in College Station. Sarah and I went to college together and I always admired her photographs, but hadn't had an excuse for her to take any of me until now. Here are a few teasers that she posted on her blog.

And finally, I guess I should address this picture. As you know, E's name has been top secret this whole pregnancy. No one knows her full name and only 1-2 people know her first name (by accident). But for our pictures, we wanted to write her name on the chalkboard we had purchased for the shoot so that we could display it after she gets here. Apparently though, we didn't thoroughly explain the sensitivity of the information to Sarah, because she put the picture up on her blog (thanks a lot). But what can you do? I guess we'll have to embrace it. After all, E is late now. If she had been here on time, this would be a non-issue. So without further adeu, the beanette's name is...

We love the old fashioned feel of it and we know she won't have the same name as 12 of her classmates. We plan on calling her Euy for short though.

Sarah's blog has some more pictures from our shoot, so head over there and check them out.

Full Term.

Well ladies and gentlemen, the time has come. This baby is officially cooked. Its seems, however, that she did not get the memo though. I even typed it out in case she can't read my handwriting.

To: Baby E
From: Your Mommy
Subject: Departure Date

Please be advised that your last date of departure from the womb without penalty is July 24. After this time, you will find that I will become increasingly cranky and possibly yell at you. Our contract states a 40 week occupancy. Failure to leave the premises within 2 weeks of this date will result in your forceful eviction. It will not be pleasant for either one of us, so I encourage you to make your final departure arrangements and be on your way.

But as I said, she must not have read it because Monday has come and gone and she is still crammed in there. I swear she has doubled in size and grown 4 additional legs in the last week too. There is no way a small, normal baby could cause this much discomfort.

I took what I hope to be the last of the weekly/more like monthly belly pictures. I decided to wear the same thing I wore for my 20 week picture to get a good comparison of how much the beanette has grown.

Ready.

I am so ready for this baby to come. I have planned, cleaned, sewed, organized, washed, and prepared all that I can. I am seriously running out of projects to do at 4 am when I can't sleep because someone has the hiccups for the 27th time today. I am tired, waddling, and completely unable to be comfortable in any position for longer than 10 minutes. And I am whiny. Very whiny. I want this darling sweet child of mine to exit the premises immediately.

My average day has been looking something like this:
3 am: Get up because I can't sleep anymore
6 am: Go back to bed because I'm exhausted
11 am: Get up for real this time and inhale a bowl of peanut butter dots cereal

12 pm: Be completely lazy
1 pm: Make myself presentable to the outside world (maybe)
2 pm: Eat lunch
2:15 pm: Eat post-lunch snack
3 pm: Watch old episodes of the various versions of Law & Order
4 pm: Eat mid-afternoon snack
5 pm: Complain to James that I am bored and he needs to entertain me
5:05 pm: After no sympathy on the boredom, try complaining that I will be pregnant forever to see if that works (it usually does)
6 pm: Make dinner
7 pm: Eat dinner that too entirely too long to prepare, thus causing me to become ravenous
8 pm: Depending on the day of the week, watch the selected primetime entertainment. Choices include: True Blood, So You Think You Can Dance, Love in the Wild, and Dance Moms. If you haven't seen Love in the Wild, it is quite possibly the most entertaining piece of crap reality/game show that has ever been televised. Wednesday nights at 9 pm. Your welcome.

10 pm: Go to bed
12 am: Go to sleep

We had our 39 week midwife appointment yesterday, and all looks well. The beanette is sitting pretty low and I've made some progress, not that it really means much. The midwife did let me know that she doesn't think I have a really big baby, just average, which is a relief since I was over 10 lbs myself. A little 7.5-8 lbs kiddo sounds just about perfect to me. It sure beats the 15.5 lbs boy I dreamt I gave birth to the other night.

It's past 6 am now, so I guess its time for me to go back to bed. Of course, hiccup attack #28 just started....

I'm Being Featured!

Nicole from Chic & Cheap Nursery is featuring E's nursery on her blog today. Head on over and check it out!

To anyone who is visiting my blog from there, I am planning on posting some tutorials in the next couple of weeks for my bird mobile, cornice box, and hanging bookshelf. You can become a follower to my blog so you don't miss it!

If there is something else you want to see how I DIYed, leave a comment and I'll do my best to show you how to make your own too. (I need something to keep me busy while I hurry up and wait for this baby!)

Baby Clothes

Most women go through a phenomenon known as nesting as they near the end of their pregnancy. It is a insatiable urge to get ready for the baby in whatever way possible. Most women find that it is expressed through feverishly cleaning every surface of their home multiple times. Others start organizing the nursery within an inch of its life. Some may cook nonstop to stock up on meals to eat once the baby is here. I, however, have experienced none of these reactions (much to my dismay, because I really do need to clean the house).

Instead, my nesting instinct is being translated into sewing baby clothes. Lots of baby clothes. Some that she won't be able to wear for a year. But gosh darn it, if they aren't cute! It doesn't matter how frustrated I become, banging my head against my sewing machine and cursing whatever idiot wrote the pattern's instructions, I must. make. more. baby. clothes.

For you that means that you get to look as pictures of said clothes. And like I said, they are quite adorable.

Look at the sleeve's detail! Cuteness!

This dress is reversible to the pattern on the inside.

Business in the front....

Party in the back! The diaper cover matches the reversible open backed dress above.

Newborn sized romper

More ruffles!

Is it possible to have too many ruffles? I think not.

And lastly, my project from today...

Kimono pajamas!

I still have a few more clothes to work on and lots of extra fabric to find something to do with. Once all that's done though, I guess I'll have to start on the cleaning phase of nesting....

or not....

The Nursery is Finished!

I know I promised this weekend, but since today is a holiday, I figured the Monday of a 3-day weekend was close enough.

We spent a lot of time making a room for our little girl. We handmade a lot of the stuff that we put in, which I love. It makes it feel unique and special and hopefully, she will see how much we anticipated her arrival when she is older.

Here it is! I feel like it is such a bright and happy room for a bright and happy girl.

I made all the bedding myself using fabric I bought online.

The mobile I made using one I found on Etsy as inspiration. Hopefully E will love staring up at the birds as they twist and turn.

We took an old beat up dresser and made it new again. James stripped off the old hardware, replaced the bottom piece of wood and sanded it down. I took it from there and covered it in a coat of white paint and added ceramic knobs we found at Anthropologie. I made the changing pad out of some fabric scraps left over from the bedding. The art work above the dresser is framed fabric, also bought online. The frames were ugly cheap frames I found at Goodwill and yard sales spray painted white.

Shelves to show off some artwork. Some came from Etsy and some was made myself.

James made this hanging bookshelf for E's ever growing collection. Also stashed in there are the fabric books I made for her.

We decided to use a galvanized tub to corral all of E's toys and animals. I like that it ties in with some of the other metal elements in the room.

You can see the detail in the baby quilt that Aunt Penny made. I know that E will love her blanket as much as I do.


Anyone who is visiting my blog from Chic & Cheap Nursery, I am planning on posting some tutorials in the next couple of weeks for my bird mobile, cornice box, and hanging bookshelf. You can become a follower to my blog so you don't miss it!

If there is something else you want to see how I DIYed, leave a comment and I'll do my best to show you how to make your own too. (I need something to keep me busy while I hurry up and wait for this baby!)