The baby files: Week 36

I wish I'd had enough forethought to take a picture of us during Christmas... Ya know, since it's our last one with just us. Oh well! :) Here's my 36 week bump.

36w

How far along: 36 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: No weight gain this week, so still at an 11.5 pound net gain for the pregnancy.

About the baby: She's a little over 18 inches long and weighs in at over 5 1/2 pounds.

Maternity clothes: Still the same ol' same ol'. The sweater in my picture is pre maternity clothes.

Best moment of the week: Seeing a bunch of our family for Christmas celebrations. 

Movement: Oh yes. She is learning how to kick my ribs now... But she's head down, so I refuse to complain! 

Food cravings: Still chocolate

The Mr.'s cravings: Cookies of all kinds

Food aversions: Chicken again

Milestones: We are less than a month away from my due date! I can now say "I'm due on the 24th" instead of having to specify January 24th!

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Yet another wonderful Christmas

I hope everyone who celebrates had a great Christmas on Sunday. 

We had a lovely morning that started at 7:30am, which is about 30 minutes later than our weekend days usually start. Macintosh's present to us must have been sleeping in a little bit longer :) We always start off with the dog's stockings and this year was no exception. They even posed for me despite their excitement!

 They knew something good was in there

 Nylabones and Jumbones... yum!

 They immediately went to town, chewing up a storm

They would have been happy with just that, but we decided to replace two of their toys as well. Macintosh loved them and couldn't decide which one to play with.

 Aspen wasn't impressed by them and stuck with the nylabone

 Trying to suck someone into playing with him!

 How 'bout now??

 Still sticking with the nylabone

While the dogs enjoyed their new toys, the Mr. and I opened our presents. I'd say we both made out pretty well as usual.

The Mr. got an iPod shuffle for the gym, two Under Armour shirts, a Redskins shirt, a PS3 game, and some Suzy Q's to fill his stocking. I got a couple pairs of shoes/slippers, books, handheld vacuum, necklace, earrings and iPhone case.

Our families also spoiled us with some WVU shirts, books, a board game, a vintage trophy (thanks Mom!!), amazing smelling candle, Elf on the Shelf, a family name sign, original art for the nursery, sweets and even more goodies for the dogs.

But of course the season is also about spending time with family, which we were able to do plenty of! I am appreciating the extra day off work, so I can just relax, finish up some chores and play with my new presents. I can tell you already that I love my new handheld vacuum. Love. :)

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Merry Christmas!

Macintosh and Aspen are wishing everyone a Very Merry Christmas filled with tons of dog bones and Kong stuffing human goodies and family time!!

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DIY canvas art for the nursery

I never really had a firm plan for what to do as far as nursery art goes. There isn't a ton of open wall space since she'll be sharing our room, but I wanted to created at least a couple things just for her. 

I started with some research on what I could attempt and a canvas piece seemed simple enough to create. After some looking around, I came across this art for around $60. Not a bad price, but I wanted to keep it a bit cheaper, so I opted to create my own. Vision? Check! 

The next step was to figure out how to do it. I saw this tutorial online and thought it might be a neat way to go. Who knew potatoes could be used in the arts? How to? Check! 

Arguably the most important step was to gather all the supplies I needed for this project. I brought along fabric I already had on hand to pick out paint colors, but I ultimately ended up mixing paints to get better matches.  I was lucky enough to hit up Michael's during a sale, so my canvas and paints were around $12 total. Materials? Check!

Now to get started :)

Here you can see I've cut out my potatoes and mixed up my paints so I am ready to rock and roll!

After attempting the potato swirl a few times, I gave up and realized using my fingers would be easier and faster... So that's what I did :)

I just kept adding circles until it filled in. Bigger and more squished together on the top, smaller and more sparse on the bottom.

After the first layer of circles dried, I added in some more. I let it sit for a few days to dry completely and this is what we've got!

Close up:

The full monty

It's not exactly the same as my inspiration piece (duh), but I like it enough to keep it and hang it somewhere on the walls. That exact location is still to be decided. You'll get to see the resting place when I do a final reveal of the nursery :) 

Cost breakdown:

Canvas: $4

Paints: $2 each

Potatoes and fingers: Free ;)

Total: $12

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The baby files: Week 35

This past week and weekend were jam packed with cookie decorating, birthday dinners, the ICE! show and multiple appointments and I am definitely paying the price right now. I'm tired just looking back at everything I did. I hope this cold-like head fog I'm fighting decides to leave me alone before Christmas weekend gets here since we've got a bunch of plans to see family!

PS- this picture is horrible but it was all I could manage with my camera propped up on the toaster with a timer set.

35w

How far along: 35 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: Up half a pound for the week so 11.5 pound net gain.

About the baby: She's now about 18 inches long and weighs in at over 5 pounds.

Maternity clothes: No change here.

Best moment of the week: It's a toughie, but I am going to say having some friends throw me a surprise shower. I am completely blown away by their generosity and sneakiness!

Movement: I am pretty sure she is practicing to be a gymnast. 

Food cravings: Chocolate, chocolate and oh, chocolate.

The Mr.'s cravings: Beer

Food aversions: Nope

Milestones: Hitting 35 WEEKS and having only 35 DAYS left! 


ETA: This was the original picture I had up, but I thought I looked like a whale, so I retook the picture (above). Lesson of the day- it was not a good picture day for me!

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The baby files: Week 34

I am really starting to feel like we are in the home stretch. Only six more weeks to go (if she comes on time) and that's such a tangible number to me. 

Today was freezing so I threw on a pre-pregnancy puffy vest and I noticed my bump sort of disappeared. Or at least it became less of a baby bump and more of a general bump. Thought I'd share that along with my normal belly picture! 

34w

 34w

How far along: 34 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: Up two pounds this week, so I'm looking at an 11 pound net gain overall.

About the baby: She's now between 17 and 18 inches long and weighs in at around 4 and a half pounds.

Maternity clothes: As I said above, I can still fit into some pre-pregnancy clothing. I can even wear my Redskins shirt, which isn't always a good thing ;)

Best moment of the week: Starting work on the DIY mobile and canvas art (pictures to come when I finish!)

Movement: Still a bunch. Coworkers can now see my stomach move from a few feet away. Talk about priceless facial expressions!

Food cravings: Sweets of all kinds

The Mr.'s cravings: Nothing that stands out

Food aversions: Nope

Milestones: Feeling Braxton Hicks contractions regularly, though thankfully they don't hurt!

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Extraordinary Merry Christmas!

If you're not in the holiday spirit quite yet, I recommend skipping this post... Or you could pop in your favorite holiday music, get in the spirit and read on. Your choice :)

I wasn't planning to decorate the entire house this season since I wasn't sure if I'd 1) have the energy to put up and take down and 2) have the time! Thankfully my hubby is a huge help, so it didn't take too much to get everything up and in place. I still didn't go all out, but I am happy with the effort we put forth. 

I have a bunch of little knick knacks that I like to sprinkle around our shelves and tables. This snowman on a sleigh is one of my favorites, so he always makes an appearance. (Hello again beautiful trophy!)

I also like to throw some ornaments into bowls and vases since it's so easy to do.

Of course I set up my olive wood nativity set. Still love it :)

And for the star of the show!! Our gorgeous tree all lit up. 

And the stockings hung on the mantle with care

I also bought a new tree skirt this year. I never loved our old one, and the price was right. I love it!

One last look

We did outdoor decorations as well, but they look exactly the same as last year so I won't bother reposting. Check them out here if you're curious.

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DC Big Flea

I'm a little ashamed it's taken me over a month to get this post together, but I have been pretty busy. Truthfully most of it comes down to laziness and never remembering to take the camera downstairs to take pictures.

Excuses aside, back in November a bunch of my family and I went to the DC Big Flea. It's your typical flea market- a mix of junk and treasures, so you really never know what you're going to find. I went in not expecting to buy anything, but I brought about $100 to spend and that was the perfect amount!

Back in February of 2010 I posted about a kitchen I fell in love with. She used trophies to decorate and since then I'd been keeping my eye out for a few to buy. I never fell in love enough to spend my hard earned money, but that all changed and I dropped $65 to get this beauty.

I'd never seen any of these copper trophies before, so I snatched it right up. They were selling a bunch of them for $65 a piece and I was tempted to buy more!

The next purchase was for our baby girl. I'd seen this idea on a few blogs and I knew it was something I wanted to do for her nursery. I found these blocks at $.50 a piece, so I grabbed them all up for a total of about $20. I already had the jar, and it's the perfect punch of color! (Since I don't know if lead is present, she will not be playing with these! They are purely for decoration.)

This last purchase was out of left field, but as soon as I saw it I knew the Mr. would love it. Why? His lucky number is 15 and he thinks guns are fascinating. This sign ($20) was a train speed limit sign and I just love imagining the history it had. As soon as I showed it to my hubby he started guessing what gun made what holes.

And that is my haul from the DC Big Flea. It's no Luckett's Market, but I'll take what I can get!

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The baby files: Week 33

According to my Mom it must be Tuesday since I'm posting :) Sadly she's not wrong... But I do have a few more posts coming this week, so stay tuned.

I think I've officially popped. People around me are still surprised I'm as far as I am, but at least they are realizing that I'm actually pregnant and not just fat. Progress!!

33w

How far along: 33 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: Back to my weekly one pound gain, so I'm at a 9 pound net gain.

About the baby: She's now passed 17 inches long and weighs in at a little over 4 pounds.

Maternity clothes: No changes here.

Best moment of the week: Going out for the Mr.'s holiday party and reliving some sweet memories.

Movement: Tons and tons. She always wiggles a bunch around 4:45am when the Mr. is heading out to the gym. I think it's her way of saying goodbye.

Food cravings: Turkey sandwiches and cupcakes. Seriously, does anyone want to bring me a cupcake?!?!

The Mr.'s cravings: Chocolate

Food aversions: Nothing comes to mind

Milestones: My due date is now less than 50 days away. It seems like just yesterday I found out we were expecting.

Here is a picture we had taken last Thursday while at the Mr.'s work holiday party. Not the best picture (both lighting-wise and self esteem-wise), but I still wanted to share. 

If you can look past the cuteness you'll see the SR-71 behind us which happens to be the Mr.'s favorite plane ever. We went to the Air and Space museum on our first date back in 2005, and the first picture I ever took of my hubby was in front of this plane. And look! I even have that picture available to share!

What a hunk. A skinny hunk, but a hunk nonetheless :)

And that concludes our trip down memory lane!

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