Not Cut Out!

All I have to say this morning is I am NOT cut out for getting up at 6am every morning. Ick Ick Ick! I feel like a very pregnant zombie.

Black Friday - The Best Holiday Ever!

So, I set out for my Black Friday shopping at 3:45am this morning. First stop: Target (where else???)! By 6am we were at Mall of America, ready to do some more damage. We made it all the way until 10:00am and we were spent. Was it worth it, you ask? Of course!! It was a little busier this year, it seemed. But not bad at all! Some of the best spots today:
Gap (including Body, Maternity, Baby): 50% off everything!!!
Old Navy
Best Buy

I kept my promise and didn't buy anything for baby. It was really difficult with GapBaby 50% OFF!!! SO I didn't even tempt myself by looking. I got some great new maternity clothes AND...Drum roll please.... A Petunia Pickle Bottom Diaper Bag!!!! Half-off, of course! Here it is, in all its beauty! :)




Happy Holidays Everyone! Baby shower tomorrow!!!

Holidays Have Finally Arrived!

I am so excited for the Holidays this year! My memory doesn't always serve me and I can't discern whether or not I'm actually MORE excited than usual, but I do know that I got excited earlier this year :) Tomorrow officially kicks off the Holiday cheer - Thanksgiving!!

DH and I are going to his Gma and Gpa's house about an hour north to do Thanksgiving lunch with his Mom's side of the family. We are bringing a pumpkin and french silk pie (from Perkins, cause we all know how much I do NOT cook!). DH is currently in the process of making 2 loaves of bread and rolls. YUUUMMMM! Plus, it makes the house smell so good! I am making a pasta salad. I'm secretly hoping for leftovers to bring home :) Then we are headed back south to my parent's house to have Thanksgiving dinner with my family (immediate, not extended). I asked my mom if she wanted us to bring anything but I guess her and my dad have it all covered this year. They make the best Thanksgiving food!

The next day is one of the best Holidays of the year... Black Friday!!! I have been looking forward to it for WEEKS!!! A friend and I are starting at Target at 4am to pick up a few things (I have a list on my phone so I don't forget anything) and then we are headed to the MOA, which opens at 6am. Now, I know what you are thinking..."The Mall of America!?!?! On Black Friday?!?! You must be crazy!!!" But I assure you, I am only slightly crazy, but for unrelated reasons ;) Hehe Last year the MOA didn't get busy until around 10am or so, which gives us 4 hours of solid shopping before the crowds really hit! I have to be sure to hit Old Navy (especially maternity) and Gap Maternity. And of course, Macy's! I don't get Christmas lists from everyone until tomorrow, so I'm not sure what other stores I'm going to need to hit. My dad is the only one that sent me his list early...so his Christmas gift is already bought :)

I'm thinking I want to get all my Christmas shopping done on Friday for two reasons. 1) There will be great deals 2) I'm not exactly sure how many weeks I have left until shopping just does not sound like fun (if you can even imagine!?!). Oooooo! I can't wait!

We even got a beautiful layer of snow covering everything today to add to the Holiday spirit. Not everyone, especially those who had to travel, were all that thrilled with the winter weather, but it is just so beautiful!

After doing so well with my weight gain last month, my NP told me to go ahead and "enjoy" Thanksgiving...which I translate into, "eat what you want." Which sounds great, in theory. However, I would not be particularly thrilled about gaining even more weight than necessary this month. So, I'm undecided. I'm thinking my game plan will be to eat a little bit of everything and if I absolutely love it and have to have more, I'll get more. Either way, two Thanksgiving meals is gonna leave me with a full tummy!

THEN, last but NOT least, Saturday is my FIRST BABY SHOWER!!!!! I am beyond excited for it! Eeeeeeeeeeek! It is going to be so much fun! Then, icing on the cake, I have another shower the next weekend! AND we are getting our Christmas tree that weekend. Two weeks go by where I am finishing up my semester and then it's Christmas. And then New Years. And before we know it, it will be time for baby to be here!!! Can you see why I'm so excited for the Holidays this year?!?! :)

It seems like baby is getting so BIG now! I can actually feel her when I push on my belly. Not just feel her move, but actually feel where she is. DH and I think she is in the head down position, putting her feet up toward my ribs. She can be quite the squirmy little thing sometimes, but overall I feel like she is pretty calm. Maybe it is just wishful thinking? It is amazing how different her movements feel from when I first started feeling her. It is amazing how much my belly has grown since then! I found my first belly stretch marks last week. It seems like new ones pop up every day. I have a bad feeling there will be many more to come in the next 10ish weeks. Wow, that is crazy to think about! Only 10 weeks to go! I'm (secretly) hoping for less. Like somewhere between 36-38 weeks would be nice :) Not only because I am so excited for her to be here, but, as much fun as pregnancy is, I will be glad when it is over!

29 Weeks - Baby Belly :)

Saturday Morning Shopping :)

www.hautelook.com:



Petunia Pickle Bottom:
$43.00

$87.00


Bright Bots: $12.00



Rockabye Toys: $69.00

Passed the Test...Almost

After a long day at school and work (for DH), we managed to make it to our prenatal appointment early (for once). While I wasn't thrilled about doing my glucose test, I wanted to be sure everything was okay, and even more so wanted to be done with my appointment and get home to my cozy bed :) The glucose test was less than pleasant. I chose the Lemon-Lime sugar drink. Ick Ick Ick! Then I went in for my monthly check up with my NP. She told me I did a great job last month with my weight gain (thank goodness)! Then they had to take my blood. Argh! Have I ever mentioned I hate needles? Cause I do. I thought I took it like a champ though, besides the little yelp I let out as she stuck my arm ;)

I got the test results yesterday. I passed the glucose test! Yay!!! But...I failed the hemoglobin test. Boo! Apparently I am anemic (need more Iron). This is not all that surprising considering I don't take my pre-natal vitamin after it made me throw up. I guess I will be starting again. My count was 10.3 and it is supposed to be at least 11. I don't know how much Iron I have to take each day to get it up to a good level (the nurse didn't know either), but they are hoping the pre-natal vitamins will be sufficient to bring it up.

I feel like I have begun the rapid growth again, only this time it is concentrated in my belly. That is a good thing, and quite exciting except for the fact that I'm not all that tall and there isn't much room left in there. Hopefully she starts growing out and not up. My left rib is now in extreme pain. It isn't constant, but I would say it is persistent. If I sit up right my rib goes numb (bottom right corner) and then it hurts. It is quite unpleasant. I'm hoping it goes away soon. I don't know that I can take another 11 1/2 weeks of it. Somehow I have a feeling I'm not gonna have much choice.

I'm (not so) patiently awaiting the arrival of the diapers I ordered! Eeeeek! It will be a nice pick me up during my hectic week. I'm trying to keep the stress to a minimum, but school doesn't seem to want that to happen.

I can't wait for Thanksgiving to be here!!! Then it is Black Friday shopping!!! And then it is my first baby shower! Yippee!!! :)

First Step to Recovery...

is admitting you have a problem. So, My name is Brie and I'm addicted to shopping for cloth diapers. There, I said it. I have 31 cloth diapers right now and two more coming in the mail. I am going to make a promise right now that I will NOT go over 35 cloth diapers. Pinkie swear. I must say though, the new ones I have coming are beyond adorable!




My glucose testing is tomorrow - I've heard less than positive reviews. I am hoping two things (picky, I know): 1. That it comes back negative 2. They do a urine test instead of a blood test. No needles, por favor :) I am also hoping I haven't gained much weight. I've been pretty good about what I've been eating and I've been really busy with clinic the past week (a lot of walking) AND I've been working out every day before class. Pretty good, in my opinion. I guess we'll find out tomorrow.

The third trimester is here and the little bean is still kicking away! This pregnancy has gone so fast so far, I hope the next 12 weeks is no exception. Although, I have a feeling things are going to get much more uncomfortable. Bending down and getting into the car have become strenuous tasks. Haha

I am so excited the Holidays are almost here! We've even had a good dumping of snow to add to the excitement! I was so excited, in fact, that I got all my outdoor and indoor Holiday decorations done. Here is a little peek :)

Diaper Love!

I might possibly have an addiction to shopping for cloth diapers on the BabyCenter cloth diaper swap. :) I decided to count the number of cloth diapers we already have so I can better judge how many more we need. Well, we have 31 so far plus a ton of inserts and a dozen prefolds. I think we probably have a good stash, but some are just SO CUTE! And I decided there are a couple brands/systems out there that I would like to try, mainly the Flip system.



I have learned so much about cloth diapering since deciding we would be giving it a try, but I still have so much to learn. I think I have figured out at least how to put them all on :-D There are so many different types, it is hard to know! Then I have to figure out what laundry detergent is ok to use on cloth diapers. I just stumbled upon a website that gives a good review of detergents (www.pinstripesandpolkadots.com). I have a feeling though, that when I go to buy detergent I will be thoroughly confused! I still have yet to really figure out how to properly wash them - Do I use hot water? Cold? Cold and then hot? How about drying? Are there some cloth diapers I can't wash or dry in the machine? It seems so complicated - but I have a couple months to figure it out still.

My newest item search is a wet bag to bring with when I run errands or travel that will store dirty diapers until I get them home to wash them. I registered for one at Baby's R Us, but I LOVE the ones on Etsy, plus I like supporting the small businesses. Here is the Etsy shop I have my eye on for a wet bag...

www.Etsy.com - MonkeyFootDesigns


I'd like to get one in each size so that I have one for every occasion. For a reference, here is what a large fits: "This size (~ 14" x 16") is great for dirty children's clothes/bibs/burp cloths and for longer trips out of the house when you'll need to bring 4-5 cloth diapers."

We had our All About Babies class today at the hospital. It was 3 hours! I'm used to sitting in class for that long but I think DH was getting ready to dose off ;) They did a general overview of anything we might want to know about caring for a baby. The most useful things we learned were the bathing procedure and how to swaddle. It was fun to go with DH. True to form, everyone else there was due before us. What can I say? I like to be prepared :)

The Last of the Second Trimester :)

I'm going into the last week of the second trimester...27 weeks already! I can't hardly believe it! It seems like time is just flying now and it will be February before we know it! I knew once the Holidays hit, it would seem to go so quickly - it is such a busy (fun) time. Now Halloween has come and gone. The next stop: Thanksgiving, then Black Friday, then MY FIRST BABY SHOWER!!! Oh my goodness, I cant wait! Then my SIL is throwing a joint shower with her cousin for me and DH's cousin, due two days before me. I am so looking forward to it :) Then comes Christmas, then New Years, then another baby shower thrown by the girls in my program and the dental hygiene girls...Then, it's February!!!! EEEEEEEEEEK!!!!

I feel like my expanding has slowed a bit - thank goodness :) Since my last appointment, I have started eating much better. It should not have taken me this long, but shouldn't one of the perks of pregnancy be being able to indulge whenever I want!?!? I guess not ;) I still have a treat here and there, but most certainly not whenever I want.

I have been so busy with school lately - It makes me so grateful I have my energy back! I am hoping my energy level will stay up through the third trimester. With the Holidays coming up, I want to be able to fully enjoy them (especially all the shopping!!!).

DH starts his new job on Monday! I am so exciting for him!!! I hope he loves it and really excels. He is such a hard worker, I'm not worried. We've started a tentative budget and are hoping to get a second car for when the baby comes! :) I have a few different options in mind. Hehehe We are also going to start saving for a house and getting rid of all our debt (Yippee!!).

I thought I would post a belly bump update, for all those that don't get to see me on a regular basis:

Baby, 27 weeks:



Finally, after searching long and hard for a changing table...I found one! For free!! :)



The start of Little Bean's college fund!:


Diaper drawer: