Sleeping In? What's That???

The title of my post pretty much sums it up.  Sleeping in no longer exists when you have a baby.  Blakely sleeps from 7PM-5AM on the DOT.  Sometimes she can go back down after a bottle in the morning, but that messes with her naps for the day and I usually don't want to have to deal with that.  So, here I am, on a Sunday morning when most normal people are sleeping in until 9, and I'm writing a blog post and running to the aid of my child every time she rolls into something potentially dangerous.

Aside from having a baby, house projects are sort of on hold right now.  We are trying to build up our savings to buy a new car, as Tommy now drives my car in to work since he has a longer commute, and I'm stuck with his gas guzzler of a truck.  Once we get that figured out, we do have some aspirations for the inside like painting all of the main walls, putting up new trim, replacing our roof, new flooring.... and then hopefully we can save again :)  Owning a house can definitely be a money pit at times- this year was one of them for us.

I have done a few "cheap" projects over the last few months, however.  I can't completely go cold turkey, that's just not my style :)

Pinterest spray painted wine bottle project

 Bench that Tommy built

Dining room table refresh

7 Months.. Time is Flying By!

It's been quite some time since my last blog post- life is literally insane but I'm loving it!  Having a baby completely transforms your life.  In many, many, many ways!  You start to see life from a different perspective and life just seems to make sense at that point.  It's weird but I've totally turned into "that mom."  You know, the one that posts a million pictures of their baby on Facebook everyday?  Yeah.. that's me.  I'm sure I'll end up doing most of the things I said I wouldn't when I used to think about having kids.

7 months. She's seven months old now, I can't believe it sometimes.  It seems like it was yesterday yet SOOOOOOO long ago that she was born.  You go through so much that it feels like it should be longer.  But then again I feel like I just had her.  We weighed her the other day and she's 19 pounds.  At her 6 month doctor appointment she was still in the 75th percentile for weight and 95th for height.  She can now sit up, babble (mamama, bababa, dadada), loves to eat baby food, plays in her bouncer, and grabs toys.  She also just recently started learning how to wave so that's a work in progress :)  She no longer depends on her swaddle to sleep and sleeps only on her tummy.  She was in her crib around 6 weeks old so transitioning her to her crib was never an issue.  Weaning her from her swaddle was our only hurdle but it only took about a week to break her from it.  I say the earlier you can wean them from their vices, the better!

Tommy and I are doing really good.  Blakely is such a lucky girl to have such an amazing male role model in her life.  We both have new(ish) jobs, since I last blogged anyway, and both are going really well.  I still stay home one day a week with her (and on occasion work on my day off if I can bring her in).  Tommy has been working 6 days a week so our weekends do feel a bit short lately.  I can't seem to think of Friday night as being a weekend night if he has to work the next day.  So we cram it all into Sunday!

Back to Work and Loving It

I'm not going to say it was easy to go back to work after spending every waking moment for three months straight with Blakely, because it wasn't.

I dreaded that moment since the day I had her. I couldn't even IMAGINE that morning and what it would be like. Getting up and seeing her drive away with Tommy was the hardest thing! I cried my entire drive in to work. And once I got to work. And on my lunch break in the bathroom. Oh and on my way to pick her up.

Blakely, Almost 4 Months Old

It's now been a month that I've been back to work and I can honestly say that it was the best decision I could have made. Not only for our family, but really for me and my sanity. I praise all of the SAHM's (and SAHD's!) out there that devote their lives to their children. It's really a demanding job, and a constant, no break kind of job at that. I love my little girl but I also love the break that I get, especially since I enjoy what I do for work. It makes the drive home that much more enjoyable because I get to look forward to seeing her smiling face (or crying, or cranky...). It also helps that with today's technologies, I am able to receive pictures and updates on her as often as I'd like.

I love my baby girl and will do what it takes to keep her healthy, happy, and in the future a successful and contributing part of society!

Motherhood and a Sleepy Baby

I've been meaning to write a blog post for like three months now.. but I find it difficult to pry myself away from little Blakely! Gosh, where do I start?

Bringing Blakely Home

 

Motherhood.. is.. AMAZING. You really can't comprehend the amount of love you have for your child until the day they are born. You carry them for nine months but until you meet them you just have no clue what's about to happen. So much happens in those first few months of life, too, it's crazy. I feel like it was ages ago that she arrived, but she's only 15 weeks old!

First Doctor Appointment (Don't we look tired?!)

For the first 6 weeks or so we spent every day/night caring for her on our couch. Boy were we exhausted! For a while it seemed like she would only sleep in her Rock and Play- and only for 2 or 3 hours at a time, but this was to be expected. When she fell asleep I would place my hand on her chest just to make sure she was breathing. Sometimes this meant being in the most awkward position but at least I knew she was okay!

Sleeping in the Rock and Play

We then graduated to her room. It took about two weeks to get her used to sleeping flat on her back and in her crib. It was a rough two weeks as I slept on the floor in her room and was still waking up every few hours to feed her. By the end of the two weeks I felt comfortable enough to go back to my own bed to sleep and keep a close eye on her via the monitor. We have a monitor that has both video and sound, which I am SO thankful for! If it were just sound I would have been checking on her every five seconds.

Sleeping in Her Crib

Now at 15 weeks she sleeps 10-11 hours straight at night. We put her down around 7-8PM and like clockwork she wakes up around 5-6AM. I'm so thankful for our healthy sleeper!

Sleepy Baby!

 

~Sunny

Dining Room Table Facelift

I decided our dining room table needed a facelift this weekend (I'm kind of over the whole "paint everything black" phase). BB was sleeping and I was itching to work on something other than folding clothes and the ritual weekend chores.

 

We actually got this table one day as it was sitting at the top of my parents driveway for free. We threw it in the back of Tommy's truck and it's been with us ever since.

 

Inspiration for the facelift came from a photo of a kitchen of a house for sale up the street. I've been DYING to try it out. I mean, the table was free to begin with, so why not?

I took out my orbital sander and loaded it with 220 grit sandpaper and sanded the finish down until I achieved the look I was going for. It turned out EXACTLY the way I wanted it to! I had some troubles with the top coat but I think I finally got it to look right. First I wiped on two coats of poly with a sock... it was too streaky so I decided to use spray on poly instead.. nope... now it looked spotted! Also, spraying poly on usually leaves the surface a bit rough, so before the next coats I used steel wool to rub the grit off. Next, I put two very light coats on using a foam brush, and wa-lah! Perfect. At least I know the table is durable, right? :)

~Sunny

Blakely Grace is Here!

It all started last Sunday- I awoke to what felt like menstrual cramps, they didn't hurt (YET!) but they were definitely out of the ordinary. I told Tommy I thought this was it, so we started timing them. They seemed to be pretty consistent, as opposed to braxton hicks contractions which I had been experiencing for weeks, but they were inconsistent and not in any way painful. 

Tommy decides to take my car to get gas since it is our only vehicle with a car seat base at the moment. He comes back with donuts (isn't he amazing?), which I eat after a quick hot shower. My contractions were getting closer together at this point so we clean up the house a bit, finish packing our hospital bag, and drive to the hospital. At this point they are probably a 5 on a 1-10 pain scale. 

We get to labor and delivery around 11:30am and they check my cervix. The nurse tells me I am still at 3cm (had been since my appointment a week before). She tells me to walk around the hospital or grab a bite to eat, and since my pain is now around a 6 we decide food is a better option. We return after about an hour to get rechecked and I am now dilated 4cm. This is good, but apparently not good enough to emit me, so she asks us to take a walk and come back in 2 more hours. At this point walking is not an option, so we find a bench inside the hospital cafe and I lay down on it. My contractions at this point hurt like hell and put me into tears. I'd say I was at a 9 on the pain scale at this point. 

After laying on this bench for about an hour and a half in the worst pain of my life, we return to L&D to get checked again. This time they tell me I am still at 4cm, and they want me to go home. Inside I was furious, "how can you tell me to go home like this?" I couldn't imagine taking one more step let alone riding in a car to my house. The doctors answer to this is a shot of morphine (umm.. in my buttcheek. It HURT!) 

On the ride home I quickly feel the effects of the morphine. I'm tired like it's no ones business. I can't keep my eyes open, but I STILL feel the awful contractions. I have about 5 on our way home. So we get home, my mom comes over to help, and I try everything possible to ease the pain I am experiencing. I try laying down.. walking around our house... taking a bath... to crawling in shear agony down the hall telling Tommy and my mom over and over that I can't do this while in tears. At this point my pain level is past a 10. 

Around 9:45pm we head back to the hospital after laboring at home for three hours. As soon as we pull up, Tommy rushes in to get a wheelchair for me, I tell him I want to time it so he's not wheeling me in mid-contraction so we wait a minute until I'm sure I'm not going to have one and we book it in to the emergency room. 

As soon as we walk in everyone knows my name and I'm being wheeled as fast as possible to a delivery room. I'm so tired from the morphine I can't keep my eyes open and I'm shaking uncontrollably from adrenaline. Next thing I know I'm being stripped of my clothes and poked with needles. They check my cervix and I am 7-8cm! Holy cow. I'm glad we didn't wait at home any longer...

All I can think about at this point is getting an epidural. Oh man. As soon as I got it I was in HEAVEN. And to whoever said it was painful to get an epidural... I didn't even feel it. I could have kissed my anesthesiologist. From here on out everything was amazing. 

I started pushing at about 1:00am, and Blakely Grace Baines arrived at 2:10am on March 24, 7 lbs and 1.8 oz, 21" long. 

Pushing didn't hurt at all for me until her head was pushing its way out. I got to see her head and pull her out. Most incredible experience of my life. I guess I swore twice and apologized each time which made everyone laugh. I must have been the nicest patient they've ever had! Tommy was great as he helped in any way possible. My mom was in the delivery room too, and was another big help. 

All in all my delivery experience was great! Well.. From the epidural on :) She was worth every ounce of pain and I wouldn't change it for the world! 

Maternity Shoot

~Sunny

Baby Shower #2 and 37 Week Update

Baby Shower #2
Well I had another wonderful baby shower yesterday hosted by a couple of my co-workers! It was nice to sit down and catch my breath for a couple of hours, as lately has been a bit hectic both at work and at home. The saying "when it rains it pours" really has been our reality lately. From an unexpected tax situation, a $600 dollar water bill, to an ant infestation and a broken fridge and sink... Yikes.

Below are some fun photos from the party! I must say, the highlight was my colleagues little boy pointing at my stomach and asking me to "get her out now" with the most serious look on his face. He made my heart melt!

We got some really great gifts, including a rocking "bunny," a snot sucker, a homemade blanket, bottles, toys, books, and some really fancy looking shoes that are more glittery than my wedding ring!

37 Week Update
As far as my 37 week update goes- man... things have changed.  I have been soooo uncomfortable lately, and I'm sure that isn't going to change until she's here.  The only relief I get is laying down at night (or right when I get home from work!).  I've had this burning pain in my upper right abdomen now for about a week, which radiates through to my back.  Last night I experienced "lightning crotch" for the first time.. now that. was. PAINFUL.  Now I seriously don't wish this sort of pain upon anyone, but I wish my husband could be in my body for at least one of these episodes to know that I'm not exaggerating.  I feel like when actual labor hits it's going to be like the little boy who cried wolf situation.  He's not going to believe me, as I've been complaining about every little ache lately thinking labor is on the horizon.  Poor guy :)

Recently I have also discovered what are "Braxton Hicks" contractions.  BH are false labor contractions.  I think everyone experiences them differently, but for me it feels like my abdomen is tightening up.  Normally my belly is sort of squishy, but when I'm having a contraction it is hard as rock.  I also know when I'm having one because my now outie belly button goes back in until the contraction stops.  Pregnancy is so glamorous! 

I have my 37 week appointment today after work.  I am a bit anxious as I am being tested for Strep B, presenting my doctor with our birth plan, and she is going to tell me the baby's position.  Really hoping she is in position and ready to go!

Update: Had my appointment and found out that I am 2 cm dilated, 75% effaced, and at a -1 station, meaning she is engaged and almost here!  My doctor also told me that she is head down, but facing my right side.  It shouldn't be an issue to get her to face the right way, as I've heard of doctor's spinning babies just before delivery.  Hoping for an early baby!

~Sunny

Pom Pom Baby Nursery Mobile

These were so incredibly fun to make!  But if you don't have some time to put into them, you might want to put it off :)  To make 5 pom poms it probably took me between 6-8 hours. Totally worth it, because they are just so darn cute, and I know our little one will just love to look up at them when she finally arrives!

Fabric Pom Pom
To make the fabric pom pom (upper left), here is what you will need:

• Scissors
• 1 yard of cotton fabric
• Ribbon
• Sewing pins
• Styrofoam ball

The first thing you want to do is cut 3" diameter circles out of your fabric.  The amount of circles will depend on how tight you want your pom pom to look, as well as how big of a Styrofoam ball you use.  For mine, I probably cut out and used between 50-75 circles.  There are several shortcuts you can make to not have to cut each one individually.  But I did it the hard way :)

 

The next thing I did was pin a 3 foot long piece of ribbon to the Styrofoam ball.  This will be what you hang your pom pom with. 

 

Now, take one of your circles and fold it in half, and in half again so it looks like a piece of pie.  Take one of the sewing pins and pin it through the tip of the "pie", and into the Styrofoam.  Now do this about a million times and that's it!  Easy.

 

Tulle Pom Pom
To make the Tulle, or as my husband calls it, the Loofa pom pom, here is what you will need:

• Scissors
• 1 yard of tulle
• Ribbon
• Sewing pins
• Styrofoam ball

First, cut the tulle into 4 inch strips then into 4"x4" squares.  Fold the square from one corner to another so it looks like a triangle, then once again.  Stick a pin through two of the folded pieces of tulle at a time, and pin to Styrofoam.  This will make the pom look fuller since it is tulle and tulle is a bit transparent.

Rose Pom Pom
This one was by far the most fun to make. To make the rose pom pom, here is what you will need:

• Scissors
• 1 yard of cotton fabric
• Hot glue gun/glue sticks
• Ribbon
• Sewing pin
• Styrofoam ball

 

First, cut the fabric into one-inch 24" long strips. Tie a loose knot at one end like below.
 

Now, start wrapping and twisting the fabric around the knot using your thumb and pointer finger to hold onto the knot.
 

Use the hot glue gun to finish the flower off, and let sit for a little bit to cool down.
 

Once the flowers have cooled down, put a little bit of hot glue to the back of the flowers and adhere to the Styrofoam.  Press down for 10 seconds to make sure they adhere correctly.
 

Finished product :)
 

 

xoxo,

Sunny 



Baby Shower #1

I had an AMAZING baby shower a couple of weeks ago.  Amazing hardly describes it, but I feel so lucky to have such amazing people in my life!  Almost everyone we invited was able to come, except for the out-of-towners, which ended up being around 26 adults and 4 little ones.  It was great to see family, old and new girl friends come together all in one spot.  I hadn't experienced that since our wedding day!

I couldn't have done any of it without my Mom and Sister-in-Law planning it, and of course my friend Angie for taking tons of great photos!  They really outdid themselves with the tasty food, Pinterest-inspired decor, and fun baby shower games.  It was truly a day that I will never forget! 

**Mommy- and Daddy-To-Be**

**The Shower**

 

**The Aftermath**

xoxo,
Sunny

29 Week Pregnancy Update

Hey everyone!  Today I am 29 weeks pregnant, time is flying by SO incredibly fast.  Eek!  We took a few days off last week to get some loose ends (projects) tied up.. I'm so thankful that we did because we were able to pretty much finish the baby's room, spare bedroom, and family room bookshelves. 

Baby Girl's Room {before}

Baby Girl's Room {after}

Spare Bedroom {before}

Spare Bedroom {after}

Family Room Shelves {before}

Family Room Shelves {after}

Prego Update:
I'm showing quite a bit now (when I wear tighter shirts anyway), but if I wore a sweater I could hide it from a stranger.  I'm curious if I'll ever have a big belly, but as of now I'm okay with my progress.  I'm sure I'll be thankful that I didn't gain 60 pounds in the end :)  I'm now hovering around 158 lbs, up about 20 from pre-pregnancy.  I'd imagine I'll probably gain another 10 by full-term.  I'm no longer fitting into ANY of my jeans, just leggings and my three pairs of Lulu Lemon pants.  New symptoms include heartburn/indigestion, moodiness, and recently found out I am anemic.  One AWESOME symptom is that my leg hair has COMPLETELY stopped growing.  I just hope that means the hair on my head didn't stop :/ 

I still feel really good and was even up until 2:00am three mornings in a row with my hubby during my extended weekend trying to get our projects done.  I fall asleep easily so hopefully that continues until she's here.  I have a feeling I'll need as much rest as possible! 

At 29 weeks, she is 15.25 inches long (from head to rump) and 2.5 pounds. 

Here's a current photo of my bump:

~Sunny