Weekend Update 10-06-12

So I haven't done one of these in awhile!

But this weekend we did a lot (on Saturday anyway!).

Friday morning we went to a few yard sales. I got some Bare Escentuals makeup, 2 foundations, a powder, a bronzer and a blush. I also got a Mary Kay compact for my eyeshadows, and a "holiday gift set" of Mary Kay featuring three shadows I really like, a blush, a lipstick and a lip gloss. All that at one place for $5. I also got two Amber Romance lotions from VS for $2.

Saturday there was a TON of yard sales. There were over 3 community yard sales, but that's all the ones we could make it to. We skipped all the individual ones. It was pretty good, but not nearly as good as I thought it would be. But I also managed not to spend a ton of money :)

Pillow- $1.50, 4 OPI polishes, $1.25, gladiator sandals, $1, Roxy wedges, $0.50, yoga mat, $1 and Dymo labeler, $1

Skip Hop "man" diaper bag for dad, $2, 2 receiving blankets, $0.60, Toddler backpack for a friend, $1, 9 DVDs and 2 CDs, $9.

Dog dress, $0.50

Then later that day we went to Barktoberfest. Had a good time. I didn't want to lug the camera along. So when I came home I tried to get pics of the dogs. And they ignored me.

And then we spent the evening watching some of the DVD's we bought and eating pizza!

Sunday we did more of the same. Church, eating, movie, napping, church, bed. I did get a cute pic of Eby snuggling with dad during movie time.

To me our weekend kind of extended into Monday. I had an appointment with my midwife, and we also interviewed a pediatrician.

Everything went great at the midwife's. No weight gain in two weeks! Yay. But, she thought she might be breech and wanted me to start on homeopathic stuff in a week if she was. So she used the ultrasound to check the position. She was head down! The midwife says she just has a big rump :) (I'm totally ok with that as my side of the family is kinda rump-less). We got to see her hands, feet, spine, ribs, heart, top of her head and her face. Her nose was squished up against the uterine wall. It was kinda surreal, having her "look" straight at us. As the midwife said "they kinda all look like skeletors at this point". It was just a tad freaky. But also cool. She said my amniotic fluid levels were good and everything looks great.

We had a pediatrician interview about an hour and a half after that appointment, so we killed some time eating lunch at Chick-fil-a. With our "cowlendar" coupouns, we both had a full meal for $3.34 total. Score! Then, we went a returned some duplicate items to Target from the showers, and got enough money back to get a crib mattress! I was thinking I'd get one used off Craigslist, but while doing some research I found a review on an inexpensively priced foam mattress that's BPA and phalate free. I'd read that it's best if you cover your mattress due to the chemicals used to make it flame retardant, and when you think about how close it is to your baby, it makes sense. But this one shouldn't need anything but something to protect the sheets. I didn't think we could afford a foam one, but looks like we can! I've got a bid in on eBay for one, but if that doesn't work then Amazon has it for about $50-60. A lot more than the $15-$25 for a used one on Craigslist, but I think it's worth for this item, for me.

 

Found on Amazon here

Thankfully we liked the pediatrician very much. He was recommended by our midwife. We thought we'd have a hard time finding someone in our area who would agree to see us even if we decide not to vaccinate. This pedi was very relaxed, and told us he does believe in vaccinations, and his children have all theirs, but we are the parents and it's our decision. He states he always gives education and then lets the parents decide. He does have plenty of patients who don't vaccinate. He has had a family who got measles because of it. But he states he doesn't brow beat and if your child catches a disease that's vaccine preventable, he sees no need to tell parents that. It's not like they don't already know.

He did give us a few handouts on vaccines "only as educational material, not meant to convince or sway you, only to inform you." He let us know that even if you give every recommended vaccine (there's like 60 now) the whole series contains less antigens than used to be in one polio vaccine back in the 50's-60's. That was interesting to note. He also did let us know that if we decide to vaccinate (we will probably get some) that single dose vaccines are no longer available from the manufacturers (not financially profitable for them due to low demand). So you can't separate measles, mumps and rubella, for instance. But he has no problem with parents making informed decisions about what they want to do. None, some, one at a time, etc. 

The office has 4 hours for appointments on Saturdays, they take their own call (not an answering service), same day appointments are almost always available and they work with families financially if they fall on hard times. In general we were very pleased, and glad we aren't going to have to go to the next town over for care.

We also got a convertible carseat, brand new, for half the retail price. Our Targets donate to the local Goodwills, and they had the exact carseat we have on our registry. In the sealed box. It was marked "salvage" so we opened the package. No defects noted. Seems it was just a return or something. Anyway, my mom graciously offered to gift it to us. We have an infant carrier that attaches to the stroller, so we will use that at first I think. But this one can be used rear facing 5-40 pounds and forward facing up to 65 pounds. So we should get a lot of use out of it.

 

Graco MyRide 65

We also had an interesting wait getting our oil changed, but I'll put that in another post.

It was a fun weekend!

Baby White Week 28

I got to this post on a Friday, yay!

Update on weight gain- I forgot to mention that at my last visit with the ARNP- I had gained a total of 10 pounds. So I gained quite a bit in 5 weeks! I guess even if I gained a pound a week from now on that would still be only 22 altogether, which I guess isn't too bad. The baby is around 3 pounds now.

Thursday I had my three hour glucose test. I felt fine during the test, despite fasting for like 12 plus hours. Thankfully I also have a great vein for lab draws. I let them do all four sticks in the same vein. I figured one bruise is better than four.

But let me tell you something- I felt all of the 100 grams of sugar finally leave my body about an hour after the test was done. We were sitting in a restaurant waiting on lunch. I've never dealt with true hypoglycemia before, and it was NO bueno. I broke out in a sweat and felt really bad. We had to ask the waiter to bring some crackers. Since we were eating Greek- he brought pita slices. That and three sugar packets had me feeling better in about 15 minutes. But I never want to feel like that again.

I sure hope I passed the test. But even if I didn't- it will be a good experience for me in self discipline. John has said he'll be diabetic with me if that's the diet I end up following. So sweet.

On a side note- that Greek lunch was faaantastic. There's only one place we go here for Greek, and they do not disappoint. They are very much a pain in the rear when it comes to coupons and deals, but their food is great. I had a gyro platter, pita, hummus, taziki and spanikopita. It was enough for two meals so I had it again today for breakfast. John and I have both decided that their traditional gyro meat (lamb and beef mixed) is our favorite meat. So flavorful and tender.

Today I went to a swap meet of sorts- there's a local group that you can buy and sell on the website and then twice a week they meet in town to exchange purchases and money. There were like 50 women there. I can see how it would be really beneficial if you have kids.
But anyway, I got a maternity swim suit for $4. It will come in very handy when we go tubing next weekend.

Liz Lange Maternity

I forgot to include a photo from last week- I got these out thrift storing. I'm a sucker for "daddy" stuff:

75 cents for both

Yesterday and today's big project was painting and decorating the letters for above the crib. I had to end up doing like 7 coats of paint because even though the can says "dries in 10 minutes or less" that apparently doesn't apply in the South. So even though they felt dry to the touch, when I turned them over to paint the back, the fronts stuck to the newspaper. It was soooo irritated. It took lots of coats to cover that, and they still don't have the nice smooth finish I was looking for.

Then it was a big ordeal to hang them too. So about 4-5 hours of work and $20 later, this is what resulted:

Even though it was tedious, I am happy with the results.

Once we get the nursery really complete (after showers) I'll do a detailed post of the whole room.

And of course, a belly shot for the week:

Being silly

I can still see my toes, if I look hard. Love you Sophia.

Shorts scored for $5, thrift store

Next week my post might be a little late due to the holiday and plans, but I'll be back!

Baby White Week 25

Oh baby! Miss Sophia has been making some big moves this week! Sometimes it feels like she's practicing the speed bag in there!

I've had a bit of return of heart burn. Took Prevacid a few times this week. I'm still able to sleep til my alarm goes off most mornings. But some days I need to use the bathroom so often, I'm sure it will start to affect my sleep sometime in the near future.

I also wake up with my feet a little sore most days. Even if I don't remember them hurting before I went to bed.

This past week I got quite a few things for the nursery. I'll be excited to put it all together!

I picked up this nest/co-sleeper last week for $2! I figure even if we don't use it as a co-sleeper, for $2 if we use it once it'll be worth it.

And it folds up so small! I also got a sweater, bib and 6 more headband bows. $2.50 for the clothes.

This frame was actually given to me a couple months ago, but I just put a photo in it. Under the photo you write in the name, and then birth stats on the clothes. So cute!

I LOVE this lamp Nana bought Sophie

Nana also got this cute hook rack. I'm not doing an owl theme, but a touch is nice. And perfect color scheme.

And Nana got this. Can't decide if it will go over the crib or somewhere else, but it ties in very nicely.

These placemats will be monogrammed in bright pink and then sewn together to become a pillow. To sit in the glider.

And I finally found a fabric for the crib skirt that ties in the wall color and the bedding. Now to get help sewing it!

So for now things are accumulating in the crib, bassinet and closet. But we are set to have 3 baby showers in September and after that maybe I'll have a dresser and can put the room together. :)

Oh, and of course the bump this week. Ya'll bout to see the fo-real Sarah. In my house clothes. In all my glory. Lol.

See ya next week!

Baby White Week 24- 6 months!

Wow. I can't believe I start my 6th month this week! Of course it does make me feel better to be able to justify the size of my belly :)

Sophie got a lot of things this week! And mostly for cheap or free :)

My good friend Marisa had literally 3 rubbermaid tubs of baby girl clothes. Seems her sister-in-law thought that since she's preggo with her last, and it's a boy, that she'd pass them along for "someday". Well, that's a lot to store when you're not even trying to get pregnant! So I was happy to take some off her hands. And if she keeps them, I can go shopping again once Sophie gets into 12mo clothing. But for now, she got some really cute winter stuff. I hope she will get to wear some of it. With the seasons here and not knowing how big she'll be or how fast she'll grow, you just never know!

1/2 off Christmas at the thrift store! The sleeper on the left says "My First Christmas" on the pocket and bottoms of the feet. So cute! $1.50. Pajama set, $2.

Fur coat and fur trimmed outfit- so cute! Free!

Snowman onesie- $1.50, 4 headbands, $1, Mrs. Clause dress, free! Black onesie, 0.50

I also got 2 other tops and another Dr. Brown's bottle, all for $1.50!

Umbrella stroller, $5 and walker- free! Thanks Freecycle!

For mom, $2

And then I scored some other great maternity clothes while out thrifting with the hubs Wednesday. I got everything for $23!

In my exhaustive hunt for cheap maternity clothes- I've discovered I could possibly make quite a business out of re-selling maternity wear. I've had little luck finding much at thrift stores or yard sales, and not much on craigslist in my size. I don't know if it's because the fad is to just wear normal clothes with empire waists or just get your t-shirts a size larger or what. Or maybe everyone keeps theirs "in case" or gives them to friends. But I can tell you that a lot of the thrift stores here do not have a maternity section. I'm told there aren't many donations of maternity items and that's the reason. It's a real bummer.

Perhaps I need to visit the baby/toddler/kids consignment shops since I know sometimes they carry maternity too. But I'm such a bargain hunter I really want them at yard sale prices. If I'm gonna spend 10 or 15 bucks I might as well get something new at Ross or TJ Maxx.

I do think, that for me at least, maternity clothes make a huge difference in how I feel. I've bought a few regular clothes, just in larger sizes, and I certainly don't feel very attractive in those. To get any tops long enough to cover the belly, they end up being so big around that I feel like I'm wearing a tent. And I just don't want people thinking I'm just overweight. I want it to be obvious that I'm round in the middle for a reason, and it aint just cheeseburgers :) Maybe if I'd been a svelte lady to begin with, I could get away with just buying a size larger and sticking with regular clothes, but when you're already straddling the line of "plus size" pre-pregnancy, going bigger just seems to mean going tent.

My belly is getting so firm- I wonder how I'll be able to fit Sophie in when she gains another 7 pounds or more! The bump is already getting a tad cumbersome. I hope I'll be able to breathe by month 9! But overall I'm still feeling pretty well. I can see how the second trimester is usually the favorite. I'm big enough that it's apparent to most people that I'm pregnant, I can feel the baby move and so can others if they're patient. Yet I'm not so big I'm miserable. And I'm not still sick. In fact, I toughed it out through Zumba twice this week. Sophie's first Zumba class (I've been a real slackie at the gym). I had to make it lower impact than normal (jumping and hopping just doesn't feel good), but I was able to complete the class. I felt pretty proud of myself- pressing on when some non-pregos dropped out :) But let me tell you, I was tired afterward. It's all worth it though, because I know staying active will certainly help me achieve my natural birth goals.

So here's the 6 month bump:

 And then we decided to have a photo shoot...

So kind of him to let me post it. Pokin' out the belly. Lol

Time for new FB profile pic :) Excuse my huge arms

My sweet yet miserable Eby girl

The many faces of Ernie

There's bound to be a good one in there somewhere!

There it is!

Post-mortem Ernie

Oh my, I promise Ernie isn't dead. But he sure looks cold and stiff in these pics! I laughed so hard.

Crazy Dog!

Baby White Week 18

Hi all!

So sorry this is so late. This weekend was so very busy. We are in the final push to get some things finished on the house before flooring goes in starting Friday. To say the least- I am very tired of painting. And John is very tired of scraping paint. I am tired of wearing a respirator to paint. I am tired of having dusty concrete floors.

But, this too shall pass. In hopefully a week or so!

This week I scored some pretty good yard sale deals. I got 13 complete Dr. Brown's bottles for $5. It even had a few extra bottles, but just not enough of all the parts for the extras. There were 7 4oz and 6 8oz ones. I thought it was quite the steal! I also got the bottle drying rack for $1. We got a car bottle warmer for $2. I'm not really sure we'll use this, but John thinks it will be good when he is out and about with the bambino alone. I also got a yellow hooded towel and two towels for a little later down the road- hooded towels decorated like a frog and a lady bug. I know I would have loved that as a kid! The towels were like 50 cents each.

I also went a little crazy on Amazon. I needed to get something on there that the shipping was as much as the item, so I opted for the 30-day trial of Prime to get free shipping. Then I decided to see what baby deals I could find. I ended up with 264 Luvs Size 1 diapers, a sage green Summer infant Swaddleme blanket and 6 storage caps for the Dr. Browns bottles. All for $46!

Think I'll have enough diapers to get me through a little? Lol

$36 with free Prime shipping

I originally had a lot more stuff in my cart, but then I found out a lot the items were not eligible for Prime free shipping. I had $30 worth of stuff and $60 worth of shipping charges! Lol

I also started the baby registry this week. I know it will change a lot before we actually share it, but I just could not help looking at some stuff. I found that I'm all about used, pre-owned, substitutions etc. But I also found that I think I may be a diaper bag snob. The cheapest one I found that I like is $50. The most expensive one I like is $80. I have like 6 on there right now :) I figure after we find out the gender I can narrow my choices down some. But, I want something kind of gender neutral. Since both John and I will carry it. But I don't want the solid color ones. So yeah, a little picky. Afraid of it being too big or too small, too heavy, falling over when you set it down. So much to consider.

I think my weight gain is pretty stable this week. Per the scale anyway. I still have a stuffy nose some days. Occasional heartburn. And I sneeze all the time. It's so random.
I still have not felt any movement. At night before bed I try and pay special attention, but still nothing.

It's hard to believe I'm only 10 days away from the halfway mark! I'm really excited to find out the gender Friday! But you all will have to wait until July to hear:) We are going to have a reveal party on the 30th.

So here I am in all my glory this week, lol.

Maybe when we get to week 20 I'll put all the pics so far together to see if the difference is that noticeable.
Have a great rest of your week!

Weekend Update 05-19-12

Hi everyone!

This past weekend was so busy- I am sure I'm going to leave something out.

My dad and stepmom came for a visit. It was really nice to have them here to help with the house. Dad installed 4 ceiling fans and six light fixtures for us. All ugly fixtures have been banished! And my stepmom made us a fried fish dinner two nights. Of course this was fish my dad caught and vegetables they grew. Yum.

Remember these hideous things?

Well now there's this instead

And the ceiling fans were soooo eighties. White with brass trim and fluted ruffled bulb shades and oak-colored with brass trim and the same lovely shades. Now we have this!

I know the details look brass but it's just the lighting. They are nickel and the fans blades are espresso. With translucent-ish white marbled shades.

And I never took photos of the two bedroom fixtues and the hall/foyer/laundry fixtures, but let me tell you they were hideous. They looked very similar to these:

The square fixtures were converted to ceiling fans and the globe fixtures were changed to these:

Again, the glass is semi-transparent white marbled. Not sure why it's glowing yellow in the pics.

In between all the frustration of getting these mounted, we snuck in some trips to the beach.

Hermit crab racing

The kayak's first trip out this year. Beautiful Destin Pass.

We had a great time at the beach and I got a nice even coat of color :) Now I just need to keep layering it!

Dad and Gena also brought their new puppy, Miles. He's a 6mo old yellow lab and can be quite precocious. Poor boy just wanted to play, but our dogs were having none of it. They barked, growled and nipped at him all weekend. Thankfully he did not care one bit and just kept trying to play- by swatting them with his giant paws.

"I'm ready for dinner"

Unfortunately the plate was his dinner. Lol.

Me, John and my stepmom also went out yardsaling Saturday. We went to a great neighborhood sale and then about 2 others. I got a lot of baby stuff as listed in this post. I also got 2 nice wiooden folding chairs for $10, a curved shower rod for $7, a causal purse for $2, a beach chair for $1 and several other things I just can't seem to remember! We had to stop because there was no room left in the car!

Overall it was a great and productive weekend!