Wordless Wednesday

A Few Firsts

First car ride: 2 days old

First meeting Bailey: 2 days old

First Tummy Time: 3 days old

First Bath: 1 week old

First cloth diaper: 10 days old

Welcome to the World Adam Thomas!

Adam Thomas was born at 9:00 AM on Thursday, July 18th, 2013.  He weighed 8 pounds, 9 ounces and was 22 inches long.  We are so in love! More details to follow!

 

Baby B's Due Date and No Baby B!

Welp, today is almost over so I feel pretty confident saying Baby B will not be born on his due date!  I tried my best today, I worked at inpatient all day so I was literally on my feet walking around the whole day and even made a point to climb several flights of stairs throughout the day!  No such luck.

39 weeks, 5 days

I'm ready to meet you sweet boy. Please come join us soon!

Wordless....Thursday?

Recipe

A (much more subdued) Birthday Week Recap: List Style

Due to being 9 months pregnant and having to work most of last week, Birthday Week was a little more low key this year, but I still tried to enjoy as much of it as possible.  Here's a recap!

• Bailey and I spent our mornings off (last weekend, 4th of July, this weekend) enjoying coffee on the back deck.  This weekend was a little more hot than usual but still very tolerable (especially compared to the heat wave we had last year)!  Well, I should say that I spent the mornings relaxing, Bailey spent the mornings stalking our next door neighbors until they let her in to give her treats.  She's lucky they love her as much as she loves them :)

• Tuesday was my actual birthday, and I had to work (booooo).  It was actually (thankfully) a pretty light day. I was able to go for a walk around my favorite area (North Pond Nature Sanctuary) at lunch and lately a day at work isn't complete without a trip to Yogurtland!  

Birthday Flowers

• We were off of work on the 4th so I tried to pretend that was my day off from my birthday.  I slept in, had coffee on the back deck, completed a few sewing projects and took a trip to JoAnn where I found some good deals on some fabric I've had my eye on for a while. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it yet, but I'm sure something will come to me :)  Since everyone in Chicago sets off their own fireworks every year (still getting used to this concept), we sat on the back deck for a little while that night to watch them.  Bailey is definitely NOT a fan of the fireworks. She's so good though, she doesn't whine or cry or bark or beg, she just goes to the door and not so subtly lets us know she is ready to go back inside :)

• Saturday night we decided to have a date night. Not a bad way to end Birthday Week!  We've had this gift card to the movies for a few years, and if you know us, you know that we don't really go to the movies that often. In fact, the last movie we saw was Star Trek in 2009 in Birmingham.  There wasn't really anything playing that we were super excited to see, so we figured we'd stick with tradition and saw Star Trek 2.  After the movie we went to dinner at Bonefish Grill.  Neither of us had ever been there, and we had some gift cards from a while back that just this week I realized we could use there.  It was delicious, and a perfect way to end Birthday Week. 

Happy Birthday Bailey! And Our Block Party

If you go off of the assumption that Bailey was 6 months old when we adopted her in December of 2008 (which we do), she turned 5 sometime in June.  Every year the local pet store sends her a "free toy" coupon so on Saturday we walked over and let her pick out her own birthday present.  She chose a Kong Wubba and couldn't be happier. 

Pant break

Thanks Mom!

Saturday evening we met up with our neighbors to check out our local block party.  Our block isn't the, ahem, nicest, block in Chicago, but aside from one unpleasant house, the whole street seemed to be having a good time. There were a TON of kids, one of which voluntarily informed us that he ate a lot of popsicles that day.  There was a band setting up at the end of the street, so we hung out for a while and listened to them.  Bailey and I took off early, she wasn't too fond of the loud noise and me, well, do I need an excuse? Just in case I do, my feet were KILLING me and I was tired and I had to pee about every 10 minutes.  Which stunk because normally I would have loved to pull out a chair and a cooler of beer and just chill all night.  Ah well, sacrifices ;) 

The band

Our neighbors - Bailey loves them so much!!

Some Baby B Updates

Forgive me for not updating since my last post! We've been busy trying to get things ready for Baby B's impending arrival and honestly after work I'm just kind of exhausted!  I've had two appointments since my last post, the first one everything was the same (BP still high, baby still low) but the OB I saw wasn't as concerned.  At my most recent appointment, my BP came back down again (thankfully) so I'm hoping it will sit pretty where it's at for the rest of this pregnancy.  I had an ultrasound and she actually had a difficult time measuring him because he is so low, but let's just say we're all 100% positive he's not going to be a tiny baby, regardless of when he makes his appearance! 

Yesterday a good friend from work hosted a small shower for us. It was so nice to just sit around and catch up with some close coworkers outside of work.  The weather was fairly cooperative, and everyone was so generous to Baby B.  We felt very loved even though we don't have a lot of friends and family in the Chicago area.

Me and Jen, the lovely hostess

Jen made everything herself - It was so delicious!

Cupcake Cake!

36.5 weeks!

Mmmmm sugary baby cookies

This weekend Tom also hung up the pictures that Aunt Judy got us for Baby B's nursery (or, his side of the nursery/office).  I love how they turned out and they are the perfect compliment to his little room! 

Modified Bedrest = Crafty Little Saturday

So, I had my 34 week appointment yesterday.  I'll spare you all of the details but basically my blood pressure is a little high and Baby B's head is a little low (actually much lower than it should be at this point).  I had strict orders to "be a princess" this weekend and I'm only allowed to go to work next week if they can accommodate me and allow me to work seated.  I think I'll be able to sit for most of my patients but there are definitely some that I won't be able to see, and there will still be a moderate amount of on my feet in between patients and at the beginning/end of treatment sessions.  We're going to try and see how it goes. I have to take my BP again Monday morning at work and call it in and I have another appointment on Friday. I had a talk with Baby B last night about staying put, but at 3am he tried to kick his way out, so already he isn't very good at listening ;)

So I decided that today was a perfect time to work on a few sewing projects I had been wanting to do. Luckily I had all of the supplies and had even prepped a couple of them, otherwise I wouldn't have been able work on them. 

I made two crinkly taggie blankets, one for me and one for a friend. I used (clean) cereal bags as the crinkly material on the inside.  These will be perfect to just throw in the diaper bag for a simple stay-busy toy.  They're machine washable too!  And I love the fabrics, the flannel pattern is leftover from the boppy cover I made and the green minky is leftover from the changing pad cover. I kind of wish I used this combo on the changing pad cover, but oh well.  I followed this tutorial.  I just made mine a little bigger (I think 10 x 10 pre-sewing).

I also made a large wet bag! (This is what used cloth diapers go in until I do laundry - then everything, including the bag, gets dumped into the washer).  I received one wet bag from my Aunt Judy for my shower which I love, but I quickly realized I will need more than one, because baby will inevitably soil his diaper when the wet bag is in the wash :)  I found some remnant PUL at JoAnn a few weeks ago for 50% off and snatched it up. I wasn't sure what I was going to do with it at the time, but I knew it would come in handy.  I have enough fabric leftover to make 2 more small wet bags for the diaper bag (I just need to get 2 more zippers).  I pretty much followed this tutorial, except I used bobby pins to hold the fabric together instead of pins (because the less holes in the wet bag, the better) and had to use common sense a few places (which doesn't come easy for me in regards to sewing) where her instructions weren't clear.  But I did it!  

Relaxing Fridays, Garage Sales, and Friends in Town

Why does the weekend have to go by so fast?!  I feel like it was JUST Thursday night.  I had another 3 day weekend this weekend, thanks to my awesome work schedule.  Friday I spent relaxing and doing a little freezer cooking (I made 3 chicken almond and rice casseroles - 2 for the freezer, 1 for dinner). I prepped a few sewing projects (more on that later) and relaxed some more on the back deck with Bailey.  I made a concentrated effort to NOT do too much because I was mad at myself for not enjoying my downtime the weekend before.  Besides, I won't have too many more Fridays all to myself...which is a good thing :)

Saturday morning I went garage sale-ing and scored a few more awesome baby finds.  No pics, but I got a few outfits (I swore I wouldn't buy anymore baby clothes, but these were too cute/cheap to pass up), a breatheable bumper, a super cute mobile, an infantino baby carrier (it looks like a cross between a bjorn and an ergo), a couple of toys, a sound machine, a carseat/stroller Bundle Me cover, a few bottles/sippy cups new in packages, and a few free stuffed animals for Bailey :)

Which she promptly beheaded

Saturday afternoon I went downtown and spent the afternoon with my friend Audra who was in town from Birmingham. Her husband was here for a conference, so we went to lunch and spent the afternoon shopping on Michigan Ave.  Audra has some dietary restrictions, so I found a gourmet vegan restaurant that was to her liking, Karyn's Cooked.  It was actually really good! I had probably the unhealthiest thing on the menu - whole wheat pancakes with syrup and strawberries, which was delicious!  Audra had a tofu scramble of some sort - I sampled the tofu and it was surprisingly good! 

All in all a good weekend!  Now if I can just get through a 5 day work week.......  ;)

Fun Memorial Day Weekend

We had a busy but fun Memorial Day Weekend. It was packed with the perfect amount of friend time, productivity, and relaxation (okay, maybe not as much relaxation as I had hoped, but I feel less stressed since I was able to be productive!)

Friday night we went to O'Shaughnessy's to meet up with 2 of our old neighbors who are back in town. They moved to California last May and we miss them!!!  Our other neighbors were there too, so we had a good time hanging out and catching up.  Although, are bars always so LOUD?  I'm sure the noise is just amplified when you're not drinking :)

Marybell, Me, Catherine & Brad

Saturday morning I made Wake-up Casserole to last us through the whole weekend. We relaxed for a little bit and then our chair arrived for the nursery!!!  I've been on a search for the perfect glider/rocker/recliner for-ev-er and finally found it at Buy Buy Baby.  We ordered it back in April and could not be more pleased with it so far!  (Even though it's been like, 2 days).  We rearranged and set up the nursery how it will pretty much be when Baby B arrives.  We still need to move the rug over a little, put up a shelf by the changing table, and hang the prints on the wall behind the crib.  I washed a bunch of Baby B's clothes and reorganized his dresser contents.  Oh, I also made the boppy cover that you see in the picture below (the other weekend).  I messed it up a little - it's not as tight as I would like it to be, but it will work. It was a little tricky because I wanted to have the zipper along the seam and not on the top or bottom.  I mostly used this tutorial.  I also made homemade nursing pads the other weekend, but I'll spare you a pic of them ;)

Bailey tried to claim as much space as she could for herself.

Sunday our friends Anne and Brian (and little Ellie) drove down from Milwaukee for brunch and to hang out. Brian got a new job (congrats Brian!) so they will be moving to Boston in a few weeks.  We went to this local restaurant (The Alps) I've been wanting to try for a while and it was perfect! Considering our last few brunch experiences in Chicago, we were shocked to walk in and literally be seated right away!  The food was good and it was a nice atmosphere.   After brunch, we came back to the apartment to just relax and catch up for a bit.  Ellie had a blast running up and down our long hallway and "petting" Bailey and her tail.  Bailey wasn't too sure about all of the "pets," but she was good and put up with it (except when she was trying to run away from her).

Hugs from sweet Ellie

Sunday afternoon I spent cooking 3 Chicken Tortilla Casseroles and 2 Taco Soups in the kitchen. I have a plan to cook a bunch of freezer meals before the baby comes, but due to my feet KILLING me there is no way I can do a marathon cooking weekend/day like I used to.  So I decided I would split up the meals over the weekends and start this weekend.  I hope to make 2 different recipes per weekend (and double most of them) so we'll have a freezer full of favorites come July 16th (ish).

Yes I sat on the barstool while I layered the casseroles. Don't judge.

Monday was Tom's Birthday and he just wanted to have a relaxing, quiet day at home so that's what we did. It was perfect.  I love being able to just sit and relax and enjoy my coffee in the mornings. Although regarding the rest of the day, Tom did a better job relaxing than I did. I reorganized my closet and did a bunch of laundry.  I just feel like I can't relax if there are things that are bugging me that I want to get done.  I feel better because it was bugging me that things weren't organized, but I wish this weekend would last a little longer! I promise I'll relax a little more next weekend (I hope).

And finally, a bump pic.  This was taken last weekend after we went to a dinner at Tom's boss's house.  I look huge in this picture - it's definitely the dress.  I mean, don't get me wrong, as of last Friday, Baby B was measuring 5 pounds, 2 ounces, so he's definitely big, but this dress makes me look bigger than I think I actually am. On another note, 50 days left until Baby B's due date!!!!

DIY Changing Pad Cover and Matching Plushies!!!

I was able to finish my changing pad cover from last weekend. I love it!!!  Lovely pinterest gave me the idea to make a matching "stay busy toy" with the extra fabric that you cut out from the corners. I had enough fabric to make two toys! I decided to add little taggies, because, babies love taggies, and I stuffed them with fabric scraps I had been hanging onto for such an occasion (so completely machine washable! Which is a good thing since they are intended for use while changing diapers!) 

I used mainly this tutorial for the cover, which, btw, was waaaay easier than making the stuffed taggie toys! I used this as a guide for the giraffe, this for a pattern, and I drew my own pattern for the elephant (that's why one of his legs is fatter than the other leg. grrrrr)!  I also messed up on one of the elephant's "spout" ribbons. It was such a tricky area to sew and I only caught part of the ribbon in the machine. I had the idea to try to topstitch it on, but didn't think it would work so I didn't bother to use matching thread (now I wish I would have).  Oh well, they are solely to entertain Baby B while we try to master changing cloth diapers, so I think they will suffice :)

Ahhhhhmazing baby finds

Okay, so I promised myself I wouldn't turn every single blog post into a baby related post, but this was just too great not to post about! 

I had big sewing plans this weekend. I did, in fact, make a crib skirt and start a changing pad cover (and washed fabric for a boppy cover). Pics to come when projects are completed/rooms are put together.

So I didn't get to all of my sewing because a friend from work randomly saw a flyer for a "Children's Garage Sale" at a church down the street.  We decided we would go check it out, there were some random things we each have been searching for.  We waited in a little line, paid $1 to get in, and then spent almost 2 hours walking around the school gymnasium getting some amazing deals!!! 

After our shopping spree we grabbed some lunch at D'Agostino's, home of delicious pizza, by the way.  I spent the rest of the afternoon vigorously disinfecting, cleaning, and washing all of my finds, but it was so worth it!!!  Okay, onto the goods!!

They had sooo much stuff!!! I can't wait to go back next year!

We had to sit down on the floor and go through our bags to figure out what we wanted and didn't want

And on the way out they had several tables full of free stuffed animals. I grabbed a few for B. Here she is with her new guinea pig

The grand haul.  $42 well spent!

My splurge: A $15 bjorn!!

This is quite possibly the greatest toy ever. We have 2 at work and the babies LOVE them!! They are constantly in use, and Leap Frog doesn't make them anymore.  I've been stalking ebay for an affordable one...but you can't beat $1!!!!

2 more baby approved favorite work toys

Bailey was being SO WEIRD when I was washing and cleaning everything.  Even with her new toy, I think she knew something was up.  She was all mopey and then went and balled up under the table. I hope she's not weird like this when the baby comes.

A "Dude" Diaper bag!!!  For $2!!!!!! How "Tom" is this bag?!

There were a few items of clothing I got that were new with tags. This was too cute to pass up!

I sure hope this sale is annual, because I can't wait to go back next year!!! They had a lot of stuff for older kids too, but I didn't even look through it because I figured I should just get stuff that I need for the next year.  Although I did get quite a few books. You can't have too many books :)