Projects & a baby bump

Time for a quick post before I head off to work.  Just to show you all what I've been up to lately.  First off... most recent baby bump pic:

23 weeks... I'm finally looking pregnant!  At least I think so :)

Second thing, I sewed a blanket for baby girl!  I really like how it turned out.  I did most of it in one night while Dan was at church meetings.  It's not all fancy quilted or anything like that, but I think baby will like it.

The front is the aqua & the back is pink minky with a green ruffle all the way around.  I used the tutorial on this blog.  It wasn't too difficult.  Minky is a little bit of a pain to sew, but not too bad.  Also, I found my fabric at Mormon Handicraft.  I was so excited to find fabric in all 3 of the colors I am using for the nursery.  My next sewing project is probably a carseat cover.

Lastly, while I was at my sewing machine this week I decided to finally finish these Old MacDonald puppets I started a year ago!  They really aren't that difficult, I just kept forgetting about them.  But glad I have them done now that I'll have a child to enjoy them.

I love them, even the backs are cute.  The horse is my favorite!  I got free printable patterns for them at this blog here.  The only thing I added was I gave Old MacDonald a hat, which wasn't in the original pattern.

Aside from sewing, working and resting the only other thing we've been working on is designing our basement!  It is coming along.  We most recently chose the carpet, cabinets & tile.  Can't wait for the whole thing to be finished!

Nursery Project #1

Last week I was wandering through the TJ Maxx... which this should be noted, St. George has the best TJ Maxx.  Seriously, I love it.  I never really liked TJ Maxx until I moved here.  You can even ask my mom, whenever she visits we always make a trip to the TJ Maxx.  Anyway back to the story... so I stopped by TJ Maxx to see what baby stuff I might find and I came across a little table I thought would be cute in the nursery.  My plan is to get a glider and I thought this little side table would be perfect next to the glider.  You know, so I can put things down while nursing the baby, etc.  Oh one other side note, I've gotten mixed reviews from mom's about gliders.  But my mind is already made up, I want one.  Now back to the table.  It was exactly what I had in mind and lucky for me, happened to be in the clearance section because it had a few scratches.  The only problem was it was a dark wood (everything else is white).  But I thought "we can paint this!"  So... I bought it.

I then decided to head to Lowes to buy paint.  Once I got there I wasn't exactly sure what I needed.  I called Dan and he didn't sound nearly as excited about the table as I was.  He told me all about the sanding it would take, and then the priming and then the painting.  It didn't sound like it would be too difficult.  After checking out the paint I immediately chose a lovely aqua color (i'm thinking aqua, pink & green as the colors for the nursery).  And did you know at Lowes you can get a little paint sample for $3?  I picked up some paint brushes and then went over to the primer and found the most amazing primer ever!  Ok seriously, if you are going to paint any type of wood with a laminate or varnish on it, you NEED this primer.  It's called Zinsser primer for all surfaces.  I read the back and it said it would stick to any finish, no sanding required!  I was so excited to find this awesome product.  Who knew primer could be so exciting?  I took my findings home, showed Dan, and I'm pretty sure he was impressed with my home improvement skills.

And then guess what happened?  My nice husband took everything to the basement (since it's unfinished and being painted anyway) and did all the work for me!  Love that man!  I think it took 2 coats of primer and 2 coats of paint and NO sanding (yep, worked as advertised).  Ready for the finished product???

I give you... Nursery Project #1:

Turned out perfectly.  And sorry for the really long story, but I find it important for everyone who has ever wanted to paint wood furniture to know how easy it is!

20 weeks!

This baby and I are half way!  I can't believe it!  In some ways the time seems to go by slow, but other times in seems super fast.  Now that I feel good, it's going by a lot quicker.  Check out my 20 week belly:

The ladies at my work keep telling me they can't believe how small I am.  I don't feel that small.  I am still wearing all of my normal clothes though, which has been nice.  Occasionally I put on some maternity clothes, but most of the things I have bought don't even fit yet.

The most exciting thing this week is Dan got to feel the baby move!  We finally timed it perfectly (it has taken a few tries).

Today we started our first project for the nursery.  I will post before and after pics once it is all finished.  I love a good crafty project!

And what am I loving lately?  Kneaders soup!  We went there last night and I really want to go get more today.  Mmmm... love fall and love Kneaders.  

Baby Girl

My friend, Adri, told me I need to post more pregnancy updates so I can remember everything.  I actually have a journal where I have tried to write down pretty much everything.  I figure not everyone wants to read about all my pregnancy details (like the crazy dreams I have nightly).  But here is a little update at 19 weeks (almost half way)!

This morning we went to the doctor and had our big ultrasound.  The ultrasound tech immediately knew our baby was a girl this time.  100% sure!  It was a relief knowing I didn't have to return all the girl stuff I had already bought.  Then they did a really thorough examination of the baby to make sure everything was developing properly.  Luckily baby is healthy and right on track.  We are so happy about that!  My doctor told me I am a pro at being pregnant because everything looks great.  They recorded the ultrasound on a DVD for us and also gave us some pics.  They did the 4-D ultrasound, which some people think looks weird, but when you are the parent you think it is the cutest thing ever!  haha... I loved it.  I am seriously amazed at the technology they have these days.  So far I've had 4 ultrasounds and it is really remarkable to me how much this baby grows and develops in such a short time.  It will most likely be the last ultrasound I have during my pregnancy, I'm going to miss seeing our little girl each month!

Here are a few pictures from the ultrasound:

Baby girl @ 19 weeks.

4-D image.  I think she's so cute!  Right now she weighs about 10 oz. and is about the size of a mango.

Putting her hands by her face.

A few other fun things from this week.  We got our stroller and carseat in the mail!  I went with a Britax.  It had great reviews and I liked how it was a travel system but the stroller only had 3 wheels and seemed lighter.  I've also really started feeling baby move this week.  She seems to be most active in the afternoons and early evenings.  Sometimes I wonder if she is jumping on my bladder.  I can't wait until Dan will be able to feel her moving too.

I keep wanting to start the nursery but we are waiting until our basement is finished (it's about half way).  Once it's done we can move all of our study/craft room stuff downstairs and then we can start on the nursery.  I've got lots of ideas and we bought lots of furniture at Ikea last week for the nursery, but most likely the basement won't be done for another month or two.

I'm feeling really good lately and just can't wait to meet our baby girl!  

Labor Day Weekend

For the long weekend we went up north to my parent's house.  The weather felt so good!  While up there we went nursery furniture shopping at Ikea and spent lots of time with family and friends.  It was fun to see a lot of people.  On Monday we had a BBQ with my family and I made sure to snap a picture with my sister, Noelle.  She is pregnant too.  She is having a boy.  Here we are:

Belly shot!  Noelle: 20 weeks, Me: 18 weeks

I feel like the last couple of weeks my belly has really popped out.  On Friday I am having another ultrasound and will know for sure if we are having a girl.  I hope so, otherwise I will have a lot of returning to do!

Such a great weekend!  Now back to normal life.