Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Nursery Bedding
We made a decision a few weeks back on the nursery theme. This was a little bit of a challenge since we aren't going to find out the sex of the baby. We finally settled on a nursery set that is tan and white. We are working on organizing other areas of the house before we dive into actually decorating the nursery though. This includes cleaning out the extra bedroom that will be the nursery along with various other projects. There is a garage sale next week at Kay's that should help us get rid of some of the extra junk we have. Then we can begin the fun part of decorating! Below is a picture of the nursery set we are planning on getting.
16 Weeks Pregnant
As of yesterday I am 16 weeks pregnant. 4 more weeks and I will be half way through the pregnancy. Time flies! The past few days I have continued to feel the baby moving which just makes things all that much more exciting. It is the highlight of my day when I get to feel the baby move for more than a few seconds. We are going to start taking pictures every month going forward to show my growth, or should I say baby Harper's growth!
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Early Experiences in Motherhood
So this week I have had two of what I would call 'memorable' mommy experiences. Meaning, that these two days will be forever cemented in my memory. One was good and one was well...motherhood.
One of my good friends recently had a baby and is praising the rock and play for sleeping. I heard how wonderful her baby has been sleeping in it and was intrigued. I would like the possibility of having better sleep at night too. So, I decided to research the product for price and reviews. This thing has TONS of good reviews. In fact she referred me to amazonmom.com and while I was on there they had almost 98% positive reviews. They do however have the best review and the worst review so I decided to read both. Everything in the positive review was everything that Lindsay was describing. Then I read the negative review and I went into 'mommy mode.' The review stated that the sleeper was a life saver for the first 3-4 months until parents started to notice flat spots on their baby's heads. This required their children to wear a helmet. The mothers writing these reviews sounded downright guilty. I proceeded to read other negative reviews and they all said the same thing. Flat spots and helmets. The rational side of my head said that everything you review is going to have negative reviews and I have seen this with everything that is reviewed on the internet. The new mommy side of me immediately was wondering what could I do to avoid this if I bought this item and even worse, what if all of the items I review have similar negative reviews that make me not want to buy the product? This was when it hit me smack in the face: "WELCOME TO MOTHERHOOD - PREPARE TO WORRY FOR THE NEXT 18 YEARS AND BEYOND." I ended up emailing my girl friend and telling her about it and asking her what she had done. That night because I was fretting so much I slept awful and had bad baby dreams. Wow am I in for a world of worry! Lindsay emailed me back the next day and said they were just making sure the sleeper had lots of padding. I then talked to another girl at work and she said flat spots and the helmet to help them is more of a vanity thing. I was brought back to my original thought of this is going to be a normal occurrence. I have come to terms on how I will deal with this but I do find it humorous that my emotions are so shaken by a baby product.
Now...onto the good motherhood experience. Today I am about 90% sure that I felt the baby move! I actually thought I felt it the other day but it was just for a short moment so I dismissed the possibility of it being the baby since it was so short. Today though, the feeling lasted much longer and so I am fairly certain that the baby is what I am feeling. The feeling was similar to how people describe it as 'gas' or 'a flutter.' Yet, it was still slightly different. I likened it to gas, because the characteristics were similar but yet it felt slightly different.
I was driving to the hospital (I work off campus) for a meeting and started to feel the movement in my stomach. I briefly thought "is that it?" Then when I continued to feel it while in my meeting I became fairly certain of the baby. It lasted for about 5 minutes and then stopped. Later this evening I felt it again. It made my day today. I wasn't expecting to feel anything for another couple of weeks so it came as an even better surprise. I called Cole and told him first. It's hard to tell sometimes what he is thinking, but he sounded surprised and excited at the same time. Now I think he finds it cute that I am so excited about it. I understand it is a little different since he can't feel the sensation. This feeling has made me even more excited about the baby. With each milestone - the ultrasound, seeing the heartbeat, hearing the heartbeat, and feeling the baby it all becomes more real.
I am excited for all that motherhood has to bring, the worries, the tears, the joy, the love, and everything else in between that I can't even fathom yet.
One of my good friends recently had a baby and is praising the rock and play for sleeping. I heard how wonderful her baby has been sleeping in it and was intrigued. I would like the possibility of having better sleep at night too. So, I decided to research the product for price and reviews. This thing has TONS of good reviews. In fact she referred me to amazonmom.com and while I was on there they had almost 98% positive reviews. They do however have the best review and the worst review so I decided to read both. Everything in the positive review was everything that Lindsay was describing. Then I read the negative review and I went into 'mommy mode.' The review stated that the sleeper was a life saver for the first 3-4 months until parents started to notice flat spots on their baby's heads. This required their children to wear a helmet. The mothers writing these reviews sounded downright guilty. I proceeded to read other negative reviews and they all said the same thing. Flat spots and helmets. The rational side of my head said that everything you review is going to have negative reviews and I have seen this with everything that is reviewed on the internet. The new mommy side of me immediately was wondering what could I do to avoid this if I bought this item and even worse, what if all of the items I review have similar negative reviews that make me not want to buy the product? This was when it hit me smack in the face: "WELCOME TO MOTHERHOOD - PREPARE TO WORRY FOR THE NEXT 18 YEARS AND BEYOND." I ended up emailing my girl friend and telling her about it and asking her what she had done. That night because I was fretting so much I slept awful and had bad baby dreams. Wow am I in for a world of worry! Lindsay emailed me back the next day and said they were just making sure the sleeper had lots of padding. I then talked to another girl at work and she said flat spots and the helmet to help them is more of a vanity thing. I was brought back to my original thought of this is going to be a normal occurrence. I have come to terms on how I will deal with this but I do find it humorous that my emotions are so shaken by a baby product.
Now...onto the good motherhood experience. Today I am about 90% sure that I felt the baby move! I actually thought I felt it the other day but it was just for a short moment so I dismissed the possibility of it being the baby since it was so short. Today though, the feeling lasted much longer and so I am fairly certain that the baby is what I am feeling. The feeling was similar to how people describe it as 'gas' or 'a flutter.' Yet, it was still slightly different. I likened it to gas, because the characteristics were similar but yet it felt slightly different.
I was driving to the hospital (I work off campus) for a meeting and started to feel the movement in my stomach. I briefly thought "is that it?" Then when I continued to feel it while in my meeting I became fairly certain of the baby. It lasted for about 5 minutes and then stopped. Later this evening I felt it again. It made my day today. I wasn't expecting to feel anything for another couple of weeks so it came as an even better surprise. I called Cole and told him first. It's hard to tell sometimes what he is thinking, but he sounded surprised and excited at the same time. Now I think he finds it cute that I am so excited about it. I understand it is a little different since he can't feel the sensation. This feeling has made me even more excited about the baby. With each milestone - the ultrasound, seeing the heartbeat, hearing the heartbeat, and feeling the baby it all becomes more real.
I am excited for all that motherhood has to bring, the worries, the tears, the joy, the love, and everything else in between that I can't even fathom yet.
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Weekend Activities
This past weekend was a busy one.Saturday was the Soul Food Festival and something that Cole and I look forward to every year. It is a big southern food event full of fried chicken, catfish, collard greens, mac and cheese, and of course sweet potato pie. We met up with Cole's family and stuffed ourselves with everything that is wonderful in southern food. Sadly, we missed dear Chef Roland's wonderful bbq and sweet potato pie since he passed away this last year. If only his tasty dessert recipes could have been published after he passed away!
Wednesday last week was our wedding anniversary. Since it happened during the week we waited to celebrate until this weekend. A lady at my work has a daughter that works at the Shakespeare festival so we got free tickets to the Taming of the Shrew. So Cole and I decided Shakespeare would be our anniversary date night. We typically go to the Co-Op and get food to pack a picnic when we go to Shakespeare, but we decided to try the catering company there instead. Cole used to do their computer work when he worked for Northwind and so they have a dear place in his heart since they both share a love of food. We were so pleased with the picnic lunch that Lisa Peterson catering prepared. We got a french picnic basket and it was complete with grilled chicken accompanied with a lemon sauce, pasta salad (this wasn't your everyday pasta salad either - this was gourmet), pickled vegetables, balsamic vinaigrette green salad, french bread, fruit, pickled olives, brie, and brownies. We had so much food. It was totally worth the price and probably less than we would have spent if we went to the Co-Op. As for the play....it was AWESOME. I enjoy Shakespeare and love going to the plays, but this was one of my favorites I have seen.. They set it in the 80s and so the jokes, music, and dancing were all 80s centered. The play was hilarious and even had choreographed dancing in it. We thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. What a wonderful night to spend for our 2 year anniversary.
On Sunday we had Beer Fest. Obviously I couldn't drink, but Beer Fest has become a tradition in our group of friends so we headed out. $25 bought you all you could drink beer for the whole day. And technically, if we had gone Saturday, we could have drank all day Saturday off of the same $25, so it is a pretty good deal! The guys drank plenty of beer and played bags. The girls stayed as cool as possible in the shade. Definitely wasn't the best beer fest since I couldn't drink, but everyone else had a good time. :o)
After Beer Fest we went over to our friend's Matt and Tina's house for a BBQ. They cooked wonderful food that included elk burgers, squash, and baked bean casserole. It was good company and food to end a very busy but enjoyable weekend. Unfortunately, throughout all of our festivities I didn't manage to get a single picture of the whole weekend!
Wednesday last week was our wedding anniversary. Since it happened during the week we waited to celebrate until this weekend. A lady at my work has a daughter that works at the Shakespeare festival so we got free tickets to the Taming of the Shrew. So Cole and I decided Shakespeare would be our anniversary date night. We typically go to the Co-Op and get food to pack a picnic when we go to Shakespeare, but we decided to try the catering company there instead. Cole used to do their computer work when he worked for Northwind and so they have a dear place in his heart since they both share a love of food. We were so pleased with the picnic lunch that Lisa Peterson catering prepared. We got a french picnic basket and it was complete with grilled chicken accompanied with a lemon sauce, pasta salad (this wasn't your everyday pasta salad either - this was gourmet), pickled vegetables, balsamic vinaigrette green salad, french bread, fruit, pickled olives, brie, and brownies. We had so much food. It was totally worth the price and probably less than we would have spent if we went to the Co-Op. As for the play....it was AWESOME. I enjoy Shakespeare and love going to the plays, but this was one of my favorites I have seen.. They set it in the 80s and so the jokes, music, and dancing were all 80s centered. The play was hilarious and even had choreographed dancing in it. We thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. What a wonderful night to spend for our 2 year anniversary.
On Sunday we had Beer Fest. Obviously I couldn't drink, but Beer Fest has become a tradition in our group of friends so we headed out. $25 bought you all you could drink beer for the whole day. And technically, if we had gone Saturday, we could have drank all day Saturday off of the same $25, so it is a pretty good deal! The guys drank plenty of beer and played bags. The girls stayed as cool as possible in the shade. Definitely wasn't the best beer fest since I couldn't drink, but everyone else had a good time. :o)
After Beer Fest we went over to our friend's Matt and Tina's house for a BBQ. They cooked wonderful food that included elk burgers, squash, and baked bean casserole. It was good company and food to end a very busy but enjoyable weekend. Unfortunately, throughout all of our festivities I didn't manage to get a single picture of the whole weekend!
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