27 weeks (+2 days)

I am 27 weeks and 2 days (so in my 28th week) today, but the picture was taken yesterday, so we’ll just round it off and say this is my 27th week post.  Depending on who you talk to, this is the start of the 3rd trimester!  Crazy!

Here’s a little bit about what’s going on with Hadley in there…

Baby's lungs and immune system are maturing this week as baby prepares for her grand entrance. If she were born today she would have an 85 percent chance of surviving as her lungs are capable of breathing air (with medical assistance, of course). Other exciting developments:
Baby's done a lot of growing over the past few months. Her length has more than doubled in the past 15 weeks! And that's not the only thing growing—baby's brain tissue and neurons are all developing at a rapid pace. Her brain waves are now firing away just like those of a newborn baby.  Your baby now weighs in at approximately 14½ inches and just over 2 pounds, or about the size of that roast you made last time your in-laws were in town.

How Far Along: 27 weeks

Total Weight Gain: 18 pounds (I think – I just realized that I didn’t ask the doctor about this at my last appointment like I usually do)

Maternity Clothes: Yes and yes – although that one pair of jeans is still holdin on!

Best Moment this week: Praise God that the ultrasound tech said she didn’t see any CPCs in her brain and saw NOTHING of concern with her kidneys anymore!  Usually the doctor talks about the ultrasound results with us, but I trust the tech at the doctor’s office too, and don’t think she would have said anything if there was still concern.  Such an answer to prayer! 

Gender: Still a girl for all we know! :)

Movement:  I can feel Hadley all the time now – in addition to the jerky little kicks, I can feel her rolling around and squirming in there

Food Craving: Nothing really in particular anymore

What I miss: Just being able to do basic things without being out of breath – I discovered that I can’t grocery shop and talk on the phone anymore.  Tried that this week and was SO out of breath I had to stop and rest for a minute!

Sleep: Still not too much trouble here – I wake up once or twice a night still, sometimes because of Hadley kicking, sometimes to go to the bathroom – but I typically don’t have too much trouble getting back to sleep.

What I am looking forward to: Our 3-D Ultrasound next week!!

Belly Button: Still in, but hanging on by a thread

Symptoms: Still feeling pretty good – no big complaints here :)

Other than, of course, my sprained ankle, which is not DIRECTLY related to pregnancy.  I say *directly* because I think that had I not been pregnant and off balance because of my big belly, I probably would have just tripped instead of falling down and spraining my ankle!  I slipped last week on our hardwood floors and sprained it, but it is slowly getting easier to walk on. 

And here’s the latest belly picture…

Show Us Your Life: Office

I really should be having Matt write this post, since this has been his room to “decorate” and everything in this room (with the exception of some of my teaching stuff in the desk) is his. 

Either way, here is our study/office!  These pictures were all taken not long after we moved in, although not much as changed in this actual room so I decided not to take any new pictures. 

Looking in through the french doors.  Matt’s parents gave us this desk when we moved in – yay!  In case you’re wondering, yes, we do actually have a desk chair, although we didn’t when we first got the desk. 

  Matt decided to make sure he had just about every inch of wall space covered in here so he could get as much use out all of his “bachelor pad” decorations as possible.

Again, ignore the folding chair, that’s not really what Matt has to sit on when he works from home anymore. :)

  

Hopefully these home posts aren’t too boring for you.  I’ve got another bump picture to post next, so if you’re tired of these Show Us Your Life posts, stay tuned! :) 

Show Us Your Life: Kitchens

I’m really glad I’ve had this each week to ensure that I get a blog post up!  I’ve always known this about myself, but it’s abundantly clear on this blog that I need deadlines to get something done! 

So this week’s room on Kelly’s Korner is kitchens.  I really like our kitchen (although if I had my way, I’d paint our cabinets white – I love white kitchens).  I also have really struggled with what to do above our cabinets.  We have really high ceilings in the kitchen, so the space from the top of the cabinets to the ceiling is bigger than most, making it a decorating dilemma.   I’d love to add crown molding (I think it would help with the height issue some) and paint the walls up there eventually… but that’s quite a ways down the to-do list. 

This is what you see when you’re standing in the dining room.  The family room and breakfast nook are to the right.  I didn’t take these pictures recently, and I couldn’t figure out what looked off about this at first.  Then I realized that I have since added a wrought iron scrolly thing (that’s the technical term for it) above the pantry door.  It helps to make that space not look so bare.

This is the view from the family room.  The dining room is to the left across the hall from the kitchen.  We still need to get barstools for the island – I can’t believe we’ve lived here a yea and a half and still don’t have any!   These last two are the view from the breakfast nook (which is open to the family room).  I love our granite – it hides messes so well though that I have to remind myself to wipe it down regularly.  I actually have hardware for the cabinets too, but haven’t found the time to install it yet!    And last but not least – here is the breakfast nook…

Thanks for looking!  :)  Hope everyone has a great weekend!

25 Weeks

I am now in my 26th week of this pregnancy, so I thought I should probably post another bump picture!  I pulled a little information about what’s going on with Hadley in there this week and next…
Taste buds are developing at this point and the baby even is able to distinguish sweet tastes [umm… I think she might come out ONLY wanting chocolate given the amount of chocolate I’ve been craving lately].  Blood vessels are developing in the lungs to prepare for their vital function after birth, but for now they are filled with amniotic fluid and are practicing breathing movements.  Breathing is controlled by the nervous system.
If you were to shine a flashlight on your abdomen, the baby will turn their head toward the light  because the optic nerve is now working.  Fingerprints, toenails and fingernails are fully formed and the spine is straightening out.  Bones are continuing to harden at this time.
Head to heels, your baby now measures about 13 1/2 inches. Her weight — a pound and a half — isn't much more than an average rutabaga [cause everyone knows what the average rutabaga weighs, right?], but she's beginning to exchange her long, lean look for some baby fat. As she does, her wrinkled skin will begin to smooth out and she'll start to look more and more like a newborn. She's also growing more hair — and if you could see it, you'd now be able to discern its color and texture.

Here’s some quick information on me – more for my memories than anything else – and the bump picture.
How Far Along: 25 weeks and 1 day
Total Weight Gain: 15 pounds
Maternity Clothes: Yes and yes – although that one pair of jeans is still holdin on!
Best Moment this week: Pregnancy related – finding out that I do NOT have gestational diabetes.  I have to admit that I was a little worried because I have had a serious sweet tooth through the second trimester
Gender: Still a girl for all we know! :)
Movement:  I can feel Hadley all the time now – in addition to the jerky little kicks, I can feel her rolling around and squirming in there
Food Craving: Nothing really in particular anymore
What I miss: Just being able to do basic things without being out of breath – cleaning the house seriously takes all of my energy out of me!
Sleep: Still not too much trouble here – I wake up once or twice a night still, sometimes because of Hadley kicking, sometimes to go to the bathroom – but I typically don’t have too much trouble getting back to sleep.
What I am looking forward to: Our next appointment/ultrasound and seeing her sweet face – praying and praying that the cyst on her brain and fluid on her kidney have gone away!
Belly Button: Still in, but hanging on by a thread
Symptoms: Still feeling pretty good – no big complaints here :)

 

Show Us Your Life: Dining Rooms

Once again, I’m going to participate in Kelly’s tour, and this week it’s showing dining rooms.  If it wasn’t for this, I wouldn’t have blogged at all in the last two weeks – I guess I need to get on it!  I promise I will have a baby bump pic and maybe a nursery update coming soon.  :) 

Anyways, our dining room is a pretty small room, so I don’t have a ton of pictures to share, but I’m looking forward to seeing other’s for inspiration! 

I’d still like to paint in here eventually – although I don’t know what color yet – and I would like to get cream colored slip covers for the parson’s chairs.  I think this room is too small to have 8 chairs around the table on a regular basis, but I love that with the style of the trestle table I can eventually have that in a bigger room. 

I LOVE our dining room table.  It’s the Verona Trestle Table from World Market and is the perfect combination of being slightly worn/farmhouse style and formal enough for our taste. (We’re not very formal people as you can tell.)   I didn’t like the chairs that went with it, so I ordered these Parson’s chairs from Overstock.com – can’t go wrong with a good deal!

 

This picture is a little bit dark, but I know I always wonder where people got things in their home, so here’s a quick run-down (besides the table and chairs which I just told you about):  Rug: Ballard Designs; bar: Target; curtains: I honestly can’t remember – they are either from Pottery Barn or from Ethan Allen

  

Ok – that’s enough of one room from 5 slightly different angles :)  Thanks for stopping by! 

Show Us Your Life: Master Bedrooms

It’s another SUYL Friday on Kelly’s Blog, and this week it’s Master Bedrooms.  Besides our “catch-all” room, this is the room in the house that has probably had the least attention so far.  I feel like I have SO much decorating to do in here still, I almost don’t even want to show it on the house tour – I want to paint, get new lamps (ideally silver or glass ball lamps) for the nightstands, get a mirror for over the tall dresser and get more pictures up on the wall across from our bed (which isn’t even pictured).  The only wall you can’t see is the wall that is to your right when you walk through the doors – it just has our wide dresser with a TV on it and is nothing much to see. 

This is what you see when you walk in… I really thought the silk duvet from Pottery Barn was perfect when I bought it.  With a baby on the way, I’m realizing that it probably won’t be so “perfect” for much longer.  The candle holders are also from Pottery Barn, as is our bedroom furniture.  The curtains are silk and hand embroidered from Ethan Allen – I found them on clearance b/c they were display curtains!

Notice the lovely parrot sitting on my husband’s nightstand.  I don’t know where he got it – he had it long before I ever met him – but I don’t know that I’ll ever get him to part with it.  That’s his decorating touch in the bedroom. :) Those double doors lead into our master bathroom, and if you could see to the left of the tall dresser, you’d see the doors leading out into the hallway.

I haven’t painted in here yet because it’s such a huge room.  The ceilings are really high, have crown molding all the way around– except for here around the bay window, where the ceiling is vaulted a little bit.  It just looks so daunting to imagine painting it, but one of these days we’ll either just bite the bullet and pay someone or roll up our sleeves and get to work.   That’s all I’ve got for now, thanks for looking!  Next week’s room is the dining room… looking forward to getting some good inspiration from other dining rooms for paint color!  

Happy Fall Y’all!

Although the weather outside doesn’t reflect it, the fact is that fall has officially arrived!  I’m going to ignore the weather outside and celebrate fall anyways.  Yesterday I had beef stew in the crock pot all day and I can’t wait to get to the store to pick up some pumpkin puree to do some baking!  I did this last year too, but in honor of my favorite season, I thought I’d share some of my favorite things about fall again…

:: Pumpkin Spice Lattes – I’ve already had one this season and cannot get enough! (although I ordered a decaf for baby) ::

::Fall foliage and mums::

::Any type of fall scented candle – cinnamon, apple spice, pumpkin, etc.::

  

::Pumpkins – of course!:: 

And, because my fall Pottery Barn catalog arrived yesterday, a little decorating inspiration for your home…

Who wouldn’t want to go trick-or-treating at this house? (Image from BHG)

This would be a cute way to fill an empty flower pot or bird bath – you could paint anything from your address to last name or even “Boo!”