CJ came into this world on April 7th, 2013 – her dad’s 24th birthday! She weighed 7lbs 14oz at birth and was 20.5 inches long.
To come: our birth story. Stay tuned for the crazy week that led up to my little peanut’s birth.
My mom and cousin hosted our baby shower a few weeks ago, on February 16th. My mom took care of the food, and my cousin rocked out the decorations. She’s seriously good, too (the crafty gene runs in the family).
Baby Shower Decor
Up top, my cousin made a simple frame with her baby shower invitation in it to put on the buffet table. I must say, my handmade baby shower invitations did look quite snappy on the food table!
Next, she had a bunch of balloons around my mom’s house, but the best part were the ones in the shape of pacifiers! One full balloon, four less-full balloons, and one of the long skinny balloons looks rather surprisingly like a pacifier.
And last (or, last of what I have pictures of at the moment – still waiting on hubs to pull pictures off of his camera *AHEM*) is this awesome mug I got to keep. I suspect she used sharpie and baked on the text, but I have no idea where she found this awesome mug. She’s not just crafty, she’s great at finding deals. Seriously.
Baby Shower Gifts
Time for the haul! We got a lot of gift cards, which will be promptly funneled into the things we didn’t get but still kind of need. Most of the cards went to Babies R Us, but we have a few Amazon cards that will be just as helpful.
My awesome father-in-law bought us this stroller and car seat set (in glorious gender-neutral chocolate and blue elephants). Husbeast was beside himself to get to put it together later that night, and it turns out it has more features than we knew about. Apparently, these things come with cup holders, now. And it has a single button that you push so you can one-handedly collapse the thing and shove it into the back of your minivan (or Beetle, in my case) with ease. I was pretty impressed when hubs had it all together!
My sister-in-law bought me a mommy hook to go on the stroller. I’m not really sure how convinced I am that these things are awesome, but Mommy’s Craft Obsession did a mommy hook review and loved them, so I’m all for giving them a shot!
SIL also bought us this darling ducky baby bath tub. I can’t wait to use it…brings me back to the days when my whole bathroom was blue and covered in a collection of rubber ducks (those days were like, 10 years ago. I was a character in high school). I didn’t notice this when I put it on my registry, but the ducky has a little temperature sensor bob thing on the bottom of it that changes color if the water is too hot for baby. I think that will be super helpful for this first-time-mom!
My best friend bought me a Mombo! I’ve seen reviews go both ways on the nursing pillows, but I think I’ll find it useful, at least for letting baby nap. We all had a good chuckle over this, too, because it comes with a vibrating pack, and there was a totally inappropriate joke about shaking/vibrating the baby to sleep when I opened it. I laughed so hard that baby kicked back!
This nifty little thing is a motion sensor hand santizer dispenser. I was super excited for this – it’s definitely going on the changing table.
We got a bunch more gifts, like miscellaneous baby washing liquids, baby bath toys, etc, but these items were my favorites for sure. I’m going to have to pick through the three bath toy caddies we received and return a few because we just don’t need that many.
What We Still Need
I made a list of all of the stuff we didn’t get but really kind of need for when baby gets here, too. I was a little disappointed we didn’t see more cloth diapering supplies at the shower, since I’d registered for those everywhere and I kind of need them rather soon.
This one is toward the bottom of the “need soon” list, since we have a real crib, but a portable crib is going to be really important to have when husband gets his duty station and we have to move across the country. We love this one, and it comes with all kinds of features, including a spot to hook up an iPod. You gotta start ‘em early on their country music (or something), right?
I’m not sure just how necessary a diaper bag is, but I do love this one and I do know that my current purse is definitely not going to cut it when I need to bring a change of diapers, a wet bag, a snack baggie of cheerios, and a pacifier along with me whenever I leave the house. I love this one by JJ Cole, and I’ve only found the green one on Amazon.com, and normally I would balk at spending that much, but I love it so and every mama needs some pampering, right? My husband sure thinks so, so I’ll probably be getting this bag.
Other things that we have on our list include:
- A second car seat base, for my car
- Wet bags for the diaper pail and to take along
- Diaper covers, because I’ve made a bunch of fitted diapers that are going to need covers
- A babywearing wrap
- A diaper pail
- Bottles, since I plan on pumping at least some of the time
…And a variety of fabrics so I can finish up sewing stuff I want to have for baby!
Overall, I’d say the baby shower was a success, and it was a ton of fun to get all of my friends together one last time before she arrives!
I hope I covered the basics of what we need for baby, but if you have any suggestions, please share them in the comments, I definitely will take the help!
We got the dog spayed this weekend. It seems kind of ironic – as I breed, I’m taking away my furbaby’s ability to breed. But, in all reality, who wants a litter of husky puppies?! Not me!
In other news, only six more weeks until my estimated due date!
Week: 34 – 85% done!
Due date: April 16, 2013
Symptoms: I’m hot all the time and get heartburn intermittently.
Feeling: Excited! When can inside baby become an outside baby? Soon? Plz?
Cravings: Fruit and anything cold. Cold water, juice, etc feels good when my heartburn starts acting up.
Aversions: Depends on the day, but nothing has been very strong.
Sleep: Not a whole lot of that. Sleeping makes me achey, and I don’t sleep through the night very well anymore.
Health: Still good!
Baby’s size: Around 4 3/4 pounds and almost 18 inches.
Weight gain: 27 pounds. Only a few more weeks to go, and these are big growth weeks, so I’m trying not to be concerned.
Movement: Lots of movement. She keeps flipping from breech to not and back again. Tonight, she’s sideways, headed back to head down.
Stretchmarks: Still no new stretchmarks to report.
Gender: Girl
BabyCenter Update: Her fat layers — which will help regulate her body temperature once she’s born — are filling her out, making her rounder. Her skin is also smoother than ever. Her central nervous system is maturing and her lungs are continuing to mature as well. If you’ve been nervous about preterm labor, you’ll be happy to know that babies born between 34 and 37 weeks who have no other health problems generally do fine. They may need a short stay in the neonatal nursery and may have a few short-term health issues, but in the long run, they usually do as well as full-term babies.
Today marks week four of waiting to hear from the Surgeon General. We haven’t heard back from Staff Sargent yet today, which either means he heard from the SG today or he’s home sick with something. We’re hoping that he heard from the SG, obviously!
I’ve got the next two days off from work to try and get stuff done at home. I have packing, sewing, and inventorying to do! I’m going to try and get as much done as possible since we move in just three weeks, and I’m thisclose to d-day.
We started sanding our nursery furniture so we can stain it, too. Tomorrow night we’re going to get the first coat of stain on so that we can have everything ready in time for baby.
I’ve been hoping to get some solid guidance on crib mattresses. Does anyone have any preferences or suggestions? We love our foam mattress, but apparently babies should have firm mattresses? I’m not sure. Leave me a comment! Hopefully I can settle on a mattress soon.
During my first trimester of pregnancy, everyone would ask me, “What do you think you’re having?” After answering “I don’t know,” for the fifth time, I started telling people that I thought it was a raptor, but was hoping for kittens.
During my second trimester, everyone would ask, “What are you having?” My favorite answer to this became, “a naked white kid.” Seems that no one really knows you don’t find out gender till around 20 weeks (I don’t blame them, though, I didn’t know that until I was pregnant, either).
Now, in my third trimester, everyone knew I knew what I was having, but found it thoroughly exasperating that I simply refused to share until the gender reveal at our baby shower.
C’est la vie, no?
I
t seems the second most exciting announcement having to do with your pregnancy is what flavor baby you’re having (the first most exciting announcement is the pregnancy, of course). And I totally agree – once you know your baby’s sex, you can start to create a little person with wants and likes and looks in your head. The pregnancy becomes real.
Baby’s sex is also one of baby’s best kept secrets. Ours hid “the goods” the first time we tried to see them, so we opted in for an elective ultrasound to find out for sure.
Prior to that magical 20 week mark, or at least the possibly-far-enough-along-to-guess 12 week mark, you’re kind of stuck to counting on the tales of yore to try and guess your baby’s sex.
I’m guilty of succumbing to trying to figure out my baby’s sex with old wive’s tales, and I had pretty mixed results. Maybe you’ll have better luck? Here are some of the tales I tried out on my own little one before we knew, and the results we got!
1. High or Low?
This one is easy enough: are you carrying your bump high or low? If it’s low, you’re having a boy, if it’s high, you’re having a girl. (Similarly, if you’re carrying out front, it’s a boy, but if you’re carrying more horizontally, it’s a girl).
Trish’s Verdict: Wrong, all wrong. I was carrying my bump rather low and out front and there’s definitely no baby boy on board here! My cousin couldn’t believe it at the baby shower because my bump is all out front – you can’t tell I’m pregnant from behind at all.
2. Fetal Heart Rate
When you go to your next appointment, have the doc measure baby’s heart rate (if they don’t already). If the heart rate measures over 140 bpm, you’re having a girl. Below 140, you’re having a boy.
Trish’s Verdict: This one was correct, actually. Baby always had a heart rate in the 150-165 range for the first 2/3 of pregnancy. She’s slowed down quite a bit now, but her little thumper was thumping pretty hard in first weeks.
3. Salty or Sweet?
Craving sweets? Break out the pink! Salty or sour more your taste? It’s definitely a boy.
Trish’s Verdict: Wrong, again – other than fruits, all I wanted was salt! Tortilla chips, especially. However, I don’t have a sweet tooth to begin with, so that might be interfering with this one.
4. Chinese Gender Chart
Said to be incredibly accurate by some people, the Chinese birth chart takes into account mom’s age at conception and the month of conception to predict baby’s sex. Check out the chart at The Bump.
Trish’s Verdict: Ah, still wrong. At age 24 with July as my month of conception, I should be expecting a little boy. There’s a caveat here, however – It may only “work” if you calculate your Chinese lunar age. Baby Center’s Chinese gender predictor does this for you, and it was correct for me.
5. Odds and Evens
Look at the year and your age at conception. Are both even or odd? Then you’re having a girl. If one is even and one is odd, you’re having a boy.
Trish’s Verdict: Correct! I was 24 at the age of conception in 2012. I don’t think this is one you should put much stock in, however.
6. The Way the Ring Swings
Pop off your wedding ring and attach it to a string. Hold it over your bump. If it swings back and forth, you’re having a girl. If it swings in a circle, a little boy is in your future.
Trish’s Verdict: This one was wrong, too. My ring made little circles over my belly button.
7. Makes Me Sick
Were you sick all the time through your first trimester? You’re expecting a girl. If you had little or no morning sickness, your baby is a boy!
Trish’s Verdict: Wrong again. I had very little morning sickness, and have yet to throw up throughout this entire pregnancy. According to this, I’ve got a little boy on the way, which is wrong.
8. The Drano Test / Purple Cabbage Test / Baking Soda Test
These three operate on the same premise, but are slightly different. They’re counting on the ph in your pee to be a certain value, which will change the color of the other liquid or make the baking soda fizz.
For the Drano test, pee in a cup and mix in a tablespoon of Drano. Green means girl, blue means boy.
For the cabbage test, chop up two cups of red cabbage and add it to two cups of water. Simmer until the water turns a deep purple. Strain out the cabbage and allow the water to cool completely. Add equal parts urine and cabbage water to a cup. If the liquid is dark purple, it’s a girl, if it’s pink or red, it’s a boy.
For the baking soda test, pee in a cup and add a tablespoon of baking soda. If it fizzes, it’s a boy, if it stays flat, you’re having a girl.
Trish’s Verdict: I chose the baking soda test, since I had baking soda on hand and these are all about the same. My result was flat, so it was correct in predicting a girl.
9. Mother’s Intuition
Mom always knows, right? Its said that moms just “know” what flavor baby they’re having. So, what are you having? Girl or boy?
Trisha’s Verdict: Really wrong! Hubs and I were sure this one was a boy. We had boys names picked out, boys clothes, etc, so imagine our shock when we found out our baby was a girl! That one took some time to sink in. We’re prepared to welcome a little lady into our lives now, but it was definitely an adjustment from the little man we were both expecting.
Overall Verdict
Well, 6/10 were wrong for me, meaning that 4/10 were right (the tenth being the Chinese lunar age). That’s pretty close to a 50/50 split, don’t you think?
As it turns out, the best way to find out what sex baby you’re having is to have it. No ifs, ands, or buts about it, when it comes out, baby’s gender is pretty undeniable. Ultrasounds, amnios, and other medical procedures tend to be very accurate, as well, so I’d say you can pretty well trust your doc on this one.
Did you ever try any of these or a different gender predictor? How accurate were they? Let me know in the comments!
DJ, you have won the software! I’ll be emailing you shortly with details on how to get it.
If you didn’t win, I have a promo code you can use that will get you $10 off of the software and $10 to the shop!
Use the code STMMMS36697 at checkout to take advantage of this offer.
Congrats, DJ!
Getting pregnant has really brought out the heavy-duty crafter within me (or, at least, Pinner!). My sewing machine, serger, and cutting mat are all basically permanent fixtures on our dining room table lately, especially with D-day being only 7 weeks away.
Baby’s also coaxed my adventurous crafter out of hiding – I’m branching out from yarns, fabrics, needles, and threads and exploring paper crafting! Wasn’t it just last week that I confessed I was more of a digital girl?
Either way, I got pretty excited about making my own baby shower invites after I had seen a few onesie shaped ones on Pinterest. Here are some of my favorites:
These were so easy to make! I was very pleasantly surprised that I just might be able to craft with paper after all.
Since they were so simple, I put together a quick tutorial so you could make some of your own (for your incoming baby, or someone else’s). They make good invites or thank you notes for the upcoming/recent baby shower in your life.
Onesie Baby Shower Invite Tutorial
Supplies
- 12″ x 12″ scrapbooking paper (you can make two cards with each sheet)
- rotary cutter/scissors
- ruler
- pencil
- 1.5″ round hole punch
- glue stick
- round, metal, self-stick “brads”
Optional Supplies (these are nice to have, but aren’t necessary!)
- 2″ scallop hole punch
- paper scoring tool
- embellishments
- stickers
- buttons
- shaped paper punches (animals, etc)
- glitter
Instructions
Cut your scrapbooking paper to 12″ x 4.5″. This is easiest with a rotary cutter and quilting/papercrafting ruler, but you can certainly do it with a regular ruler, a pencil, and some scissors.
Fold your paper in half so you end up with a 6″ x 4.5″ card.
Using your round hole punch, cut a half-circle from the center of your card along the fold to make the “neck opening.” I didn’t measure this, I just eyeballed it and they turned out just fine. No one has yet to complain that their card wasn’t perfectly symmetrical.
Now, use the round hole punch to cut roughly a three-quarters circle from each bottom (open) corner of your card, while it is still folded. This makes the “leg openings.”
Measure 1.5″ down from your fold line on either edge of the card, and mark it lightly. Then make a light line about 1.25″ in from the outer edge. Mark a light line from the edge of this line to the outer edge of the card by the leg openings. You’re making a right triangle here, which will create the sleeves and body of the onesie.
Cut along your pencil lines.
Look! It’s a onesie! Stick on those cute little brads you’ve got to the bottom between the legs to make it look like snaps, and you’re practically finished. Use this card as a guide to cut the rest of your cards out, it’s quite a bit quicker.
The next step is to type up the inside with all of the pertinent information. Make sure you don’t make it too wide, especially at the shoulders, since you don’t want the insides sticking out of your onesie. I recommend print testing your text to see where and what you need to adjust before you print out all of them (learn from my fail, folks). I was able to fit four insides on each sheet of paper.
Cut those out, glue them in, and you’re done! Or you’re ready to move on to the next step…Embellishments!
I mostly used my 2″ scalloped paper punch to cut shapes out of the 3″ strip left over from each piece of scrapbooking paper. I then glued these onto the center of my onesies and added stickers to them.
I also did a few of them with ruffled collars and leg openings.
Cut a circle out of your contrast paper with your 1.5″ circle punch. Then cut around that hole with the 2″ scallop punch, like so:
Make three of those, then glue them onto the neck and leg openings and trim away the excess:
Done. How darn cute are these? I loved them and they came together really quickly.
These fit nicely into 5″ x 6 1/4″ envelopes that I found at Walmart in a plethora of colors – white, ivory, and pastels.
Hope that helps! Let me know if you made some of these, I would love to see what variations you can come up with! I get the feeling I might be making another set of these for a gal due in August of this year, so I’m sure we’ll come up with something unique for hers, too.
Also, don’t forget, I’m giving away a copy of the My Memories Digital Scrapbooking Software suite tomorrow! Enter before it’s too late by visiting my post from last week (click below!).
Baby has managed to finally move, and no longer has a butt stuck under my left ribs and feet kicking into my right ribs. I’m enjoying the temporary reprieve from bizarre and uncomfortable body feels while it lasts! I’m sure she’ll move back up into my ribcage with a vengance over the next few weeks.
Week: 33 – 82.5% done!
Due date: April 16, 2013
Symptoms: I’m hot all the time anymore. I went to take care of some paperwork the other day and had to have my windows rolled down and sleeves rolled up driving through the 38 degree weather. Husbeast says I’m not making a baby, I’m incubating a furnace. I think he may be right! My tail bone, hips, and back are all sore to varying degrees everyday, too.
Feeling: I’m anxious – anxious for baby to come, anxious for my last day of work, anxious to move, just anxious all around.
Cravings: Fruits! I could eat berries and melons and citrus all day.
Aversions: Depends on the day, but nothing has been very strong.
Sleep: Sleeping is hard again, mostly due to the tail bone/hip/back pain.
Health: Still good!
Baby’s size: Around 4 pounds and bigger than 17 inches.
Weight gain: 25 pounds. So much for it slowing down, eh? I’m trying though! I want to add in a longer walk to my evenings with the dog, so hopefully that will help.
Movement: Still chaos in my womb. I want to be invited to the party in there, it’s thumpin’!
Stretchmarks: Still no new stretchmarks to report.
Gender: Girl
BabyCenter Update: He’s rapidly losing that wrinkled, alien look and his skeleton is hardening. The bones in his skull aren’t fused together, which allows them to move and slightly overlap, thus making it easier for him to fit through the birth canal. (The pressure on the head during birth is so intense that many babies are born with aconehead-like appearance.) These bones don’t entirely fuse until early adulthood, so they can grow as his brain and other tissue expands during infancy and childhood.
We’ve just hit week three of the four to six we have to wait to hear from the surgeon general about Husbeast’s enlistment. I am so ready for this bit to be dealt with, and for my working days to cease (temporarily), and to reveal a new special project to you guys! I’ve bought some domains and have got something very interesting up my sleeve. It will be a few weeks before I’m ready to show you, though.
I sewed up about 50 or so cloth wipes for baby, most of them are double-sided flannel. I will take a photo one of these days that I’m home during the day, artificial light does nothing for my photo taking abilities.
I just can’t wait! Raptor baby will be here soon and lots of great things are on the horizon.
My head is stuck in baby-gear land, but the blogosphere has been alive with lots of fabulous projects this week. Check out some of my favorites!
Beckie at Infarrantly Creative made a lovely 2×4 Floral Centerpiece
Urbane Jane posted a tutorial for recovering a plain ottoman
Chris at Just a Girl had a great idea for a seasonal painted spoon gift
Erin from Sunny Side Up had some tips for keeping your photos organized on your computer
Chelsea at Two Twenty One made a gallery wall in her office (LOVE these!)
Also, don’t forget the MyMemories Digital Scrabooking Suite giveaway right here at Making it Home! Enter by visiting yesterday’s post.
Have a lovely weekend!
I’m not much of a scrapbooker or photographer (have you seen the photos on this blog? I need some work!), as it turns out. Oh, sure, I’ve tried to get into it. I have entire boxes of photographs that need journaling and acid-free adhesive and to be added to one of my empty scrapbooks, I just can’t seem to bring myself to do it.
At the end of the day, I’m a digital girl.
I blog, I take all of my photos digitally, I get receipts in my email at every opportunity, I work in website marketing…Paper just isn’t my medium.
Since I have never gotten “into” scrapbooking, I was a little skeptical when MyMemories approached me to review their software recently. I didn’t really see myself as their target market.
Turns out, digital scrapbooking software is good for more than just scrapbooking! I used it the other week to pull together a mood board for my orange and gray nursery:
This only took me a few minutes, and it easily captures everything I want! It keeps me focused and motivated.
What I loved most about using the My Memories software for this was how easy everything was! Point, click, drag, type, insert, and it even lets you crop photos quickly and easily right there. Totally fabulous.
You know what else is fabulous? It can automagically create a series of themed, matching pages to suit your needs. This makes it simple to add some cohesiveness to your layouts, so all of your summer picnic photos are on a cute red gingham background, and all of your holiday photos have snowflakes floating behind them.
You have a lot of options for paper sizes, too. The layout above was put on an 8.5″ x 11″ template, but I’m thinking I’ll be pulling together our photos from the year onto 12″ x 12″ layouts, and later getting the year’s worth of pictures and journaling printed into a hardcover bound book. How’s that for digital scrapbooking!
Whatever you choose to do with it, this software is pretty great and offers a lot of flexibility. With the scrapbooking store, there’s even more flexibility, as you can find the perfect papers and embellishments for your pages, and they’re reusable (take that, one-time-use stickers!).
So, the lovely people at My Memories thought it would be great if I could share a copy with y’all, and I did too! If you’re interested in winning a digital download copy of your own, enter the giveaway through the Rafflecopter widget below. Giveaway closes on March 1, 2013.
My Memories also gave me a promo code for all of you lovely folks to use. This code will get you $10 off of the software suite and $10 towards stuff in their store. The promo code is:
STMMMS36697
If you don’t win, this is a great way to still get your hands on a fantastic piece of software to add to your blogging, scrapbooking, and mommy toolkit.
*Full disclosure: I was given a free copy of the software to review, but the opinions reflected in this blog post are my own.
8 more weeks until D-day and only about a month more of work. I just can’t wrap my head around being a mom in the next two months. I’ve never even changed a diaper and someone’s about to send me home with an infant to care for.
Week: 32 – 80% done!
Due date: April 16, 2013
Symptoms: Shortness of breath has been really bugging me this week. Some days, I feel as if I can’t take any satisfying breaths at all, but most days it seems to come and go. I suspect this has something to do with the feet in my ribs.
Feeling: Tired and I’ve got major senioritis going on at work. I only have a few more weeks, and I am having serious trouble staying motivated!
Cravings: Chocolate and coconut this week, particularly, the Russel Stover coconut nests. Try them, they’re delicious.
Aversions: Depends on the day, but nothing has been very strong.
Sleep: Sleeping is less of a problem than getting up or rolling over. See that big ‘ol baby belly? It is making rolling over difficult, and my hips and back are pretty sore from carrying it around.
Health: Still good!
Baby’s size: Around 3.75 pounds and 16.7 inches.
Weight gain: 25 pounds. It seems to be slowing down, though, which is nice. I guess this was the first trimester growth spurt?
Movement: Baby is really active. Feet in my ribs, womb parties at all hours of night and day – it’s crazy in there, apparently.
Stretchmarks: Still no new stretchmarks to report.
Gender: Girl
BabyCenter Update: You’re gaining about a pound a week and roughly half of that goes right to your baby. In fact, she’ll gain a third to half of her birth weight during the next 7 weeks as she fattens up for survival outside the womb. She now has toenails, fingernails, and real hair (or at least respectable peach fuzz). Her skin is becoming soft and smooth as she plumps up in preparation for birth.
Two weeks since DH’s Air Force paperwork was sent up to the surgeon general. Only two to four weeks to go!
I’ve been keeping busy sewing for the baby, working on my newborn diaper stash mostly but getting some other stuff done for baby, too. I spent Monday of this week cutting out 11 newborn diaper outers, 15 small diaper outers, and 9 QSFW sides. This weekend is going to be a busy one with me and my sewing machines.
Welcome
Welcome to Making it Home! I'm Trisha, and this is my mommy blog where I share our favorite recipes, my latest crafts and tutorials, cleaning tips, homemaking and housekeeping updates, and more. I'm due in April 2013 with our first little baby, the Raptor. I hope you enjoy your stay and learn something new while you're here!Socialize
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