Is that a baby bump?

That is what the lady at Lowe's asked me today. "Is that a baby bump?" It is the first time a stranger has commented on my being preggo. I guess it is getting fairly obvious! It really depends on what I wear. I have a couple outfits that really accentuate my new "S" shape. sigh.

Anyhoo, here we are at 6 months! We have had a couple of busy weeks getting ready for Christmas and keeping up with life. This weekend was really productive and we started Harper's closet remodel! Check back for a before and after shot of her closet.

Lookin Preggo!

Brad and I had a little party Friday night and a friend snapped this photo. I think I am looking more and more "with child!" Harper kicks like crazy and seems to move around a lot after I drink anything carbonated. If I want to get her to move for me I pop a sprite. She seems to sleep more during the day than she does at night. That will take some getting used to when she arrives! Brad can feel her move and sometimes you can even see the movement on the outside. Brad giggles whenever that happens. It's a little freaky.

Brad's Birthday Dinner

Emily helped baked a pie and Brad learned from his Dad, Chris, how to grill a turkey! It was all delicious.

Happy Birthday Brad!

Brad is turning 32 today! For his birthday Mom and I decided to finally give in and buy him a Wii. He was so excited, so were the brothers-in-law. They stayed up til 3:30am playing it! Mom even got in on the bowling action.

Giving thanks...

I am thankful for:
family and friends and being overwhelmed by their constant love;
Brad, and that we have each other;
Harper and every time she kicks or punches me in the gut, reminding me of the miracle growing inside me;
good health;
my home and the food on my table;
my job and the wonderful people I work with.

I am thankful because no matter what life throws at me, I know I can survive and there is always a silver lining. I am thankful that I have so many things to be thankful about.

Now that I am done being cheesy, here is a too cute photo of Mara and Reaghan helping to tear bread for the stuffing at Thanksgiving. HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Check this out!!

My friend Manden got married this summer at the most awesome wedding ever. She had a bridal portrait session after the wedding and they shot a "trash the dress video" where they went into nature for the most beautiful photos.
Watch! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ygdn-CfL5qU

This looks prettier in person...

Brad and I put on Christmas lights! We've never done this before so I was really excited to try it. We stood back on the sidewalk and admired our handwork. "It's beautiful, Clark." Anyone?

We were not too ambitious and did not venture on to the roof. We just did the shrubbery in front. I am ready for Santa!

Baby Room Furniture!

We now have all the furniture back!!!! We picked it up tonight. A few of the pieces need to be put together and I have a mirror to hang, but here is how the room is taking shape. I registered for lots of pink accents: pink window treatment, pink bedding, white/pink chandelier, pink lamps. It will be cute! Then if we have a boy next, all I have to do is change out the accessories. As you can see from this picture, all the basic/essential elements to the room are very gender neutral. Now I am ready for that splash of pink!!!


We picked up the crib on Saturday and it was in four pieces. Easy, right? Wrong. Two hours, three cups of coffee and many expletives later, we finally assembled the crib. Had Brad been unaware of what we spent on this crib I think he would have chucked it to the curb. The instructions were NOT HELPFUL. Note to future parents: fork over the extra change for "white glove delivery" service where they bring the crib to your house and assemble it for you. It just might save your marriage.

That 70's Show

Saturday night Brad and I were invited to a dinner-theatre murder mystery event. The theme was a 70's disco and everyone was encouraged to dress up. I was SO excited because Mom has the cutest maternity outfit that she wore when she was pregnant with Laura and me....in the 70's. It was perfect.


Brad looked scary! He had the best disco outfit, complete with an afro wig that I begged him to burn at the end of the night. He refused and I anticipate it will not be the last time we see Brad in his wig.


Anyway, we get there and get settled in with the first course. After the first murder, the "detective" comes in. He is the main character and he started to talk...stopped...and stared at me. Then he said "Holly Hobby is that the best 70's outfit you could come up with? Stand up."


He made me stand up and he made fun of my outfit! "It's vintage!" I retorted. He called me Holly Hobby or Lolly Hobby or Hobby Lobby the rest of the night. I couldn't believe it. Judge for yourself. I thought I looked cute.

Registering Weekend

Picture me, my sister Laura, her twin girls who are almost 3, my sister Rachel, my sister Sarah and my brother's girlfriend Lindsay whom we adore....all descending upon the unsuspecting public at Babies R Us and Pottery Barn Kids. It was chaos and it was SO MUCH FUN! All my girls came to Tulsa this weekend to help me register for baby stuff and we had the best time. It took 2 hours at Babies R Us. I think I streamlined the process by telling Laura just to zap whatever she thought I needed. I had only a few opinions on things as she knows better than me what I will and won't use.

Then it was on to Pottery Barn Kids. The twins were starting to dissolve and frankly, so was I. Luckily I did plenty of preliminary research online and I knew exactly what I wanted. Notice I didn't say what I needed. All these things I can live without, but they are cute and fun and I will enjoy all of them. The best thing I registered for is the popcorn popper toy that you roll along the floor and makes noise. Daddy will love that. It was one of my favorite toys growing up! Here are just a few cute photos from the weekend. Sarah is not in the shot with the fire truck, but she was there too! The shot of the cute kids at the piano includes Mara and Reaghan and Liz's little girl Maisy. They had so much fun playing together Saturday night! Emily and our friend's son Evan were running all over the house too! I didn't get a shot of them playing because they literally went all over. We couldn't keep up with them. But here is a shot of all the kids at the dinner table. They all look related!

5 Month Belly Shot

Yikes! Here is the shot of me from 4 months, compared to 5 months. I am getting just a little bigger every day. Last night I went to try and find some clothes at Target and for the first time ever that I can remember, shopping for clothes was NOT FUN! I did find some really cute sweaters and some slacks with adjustable waists that are not too hideous. Brad will pleased with the price. Target has some great stuff at really cheap prices!

I haven't figured out how to arrange pictures on here yet, so for your reference the ponytail shot is 5 months, my hair down is 4 months.

Have I mentioned IT'S A GIRL?!!!!!

I am just so excited!!! I really thought I wanted a boy first, but now that its a girl I am so relieved. Deep down I really wanted all the cute pink dresses and the fun things that come with having a girl. If I could pick and choose our children I would have two girls and at least one boy. I definitely want a boy at some point. Really I want Harper to have at least one sister and a brother. Just like me!

Just for fun.

Two weeks ago I was in town for a friend's baby shower. Mom and Dad were out of town so I stayed at Laura's. Mara, Reaghan and I occupied ourselves with legos Sunday morning. Here is Mara proudly holding our lego home. Just like Daddy makes. Reaghan was being camera shy. P.S. Mara dressed herself that morning.

It's a GIRL!!!!!!!

We had our "big scan" on Monday where they measure all the organs, head, legs, etc. Everything looked great but more importantly we now know IT'S A GIRL!!!!! We are so excited. I cried when they told us because I was so overwhelmed with emotion. Brad is tickled pink. Pardon the pun, but he did wear a pink tie to work today because he is so excited about having a little daddy's girl. I can't wait to add pink accents to the baby room. I am thinking a pink chandelier will look dynamite with a pink window treatment, pink table lamp and pink with green crib bedding.
Her name is Harper. We haven't chosen a middle name yet. To surprise Brad's family we made a cake for dinner Monday night. I hid pink icing in the middle layers so when you cut into it you could see what the icing is. I am not a great cook, but this cake tasted awesome! The execution left something to be desired. It was messy! But it got our point across. Everyone is so excited.

I'm qualified to have children...

I know I will make a great mom. Know why? Because I let kids eat ice cream, and buttered bread, and chips, and french fries, and gosh darn it anything else that will keep the little buggers happy. Mara and Reaghan are my twin nieces and they are in the terrible twos stage. They were a tad high maintenance on Saturday but seemed to be okay as long as I kept feeding them.

I had the best weekend!!!

So the annual clothing swap was this past weekend in Springfield, MO. This is where all my sisters, our best friends and their best friends all get together with piles and piles of our clothing shoes and accessories we no longer want or need. Everyone organizes their things into groups, then its a free for all swap! You can take whatever you like of someone else's stuff. You know what they say: One man's junk... Anyway, the swap was this weekend I was really excited about it because I LOVE these ladies. They are so fun to be with and I have known them all since I was five years old.
Betsy, who I have known and been best friends with since kindergarten, arranged a huge surprise for me. A baby shower!!! She realized that this would probably be the only time all of us were together before the baby arrives so she and Manden put together the cutest shower.
All the women in our group decorated onesies to reflect their personalities. I had to guess who decorated which onesie. I have to say, I was pretty accurate. I know my girls. It was so nice and was really fun. I almost cried every time I opened a onesie. My baby will be well dressed!

I felt the baby kick!!!

For weeks now I have been trying my best to discern gas from baby movement. Everything I read says that early in your pregnancy the baby starts to move, but you can't feel it for weeks until the cartilage in their limbs becomes hardened bone. Fetal movement is described by some women as little flutters, popcorn popping, or like a goldfish swimming around. For a couple of weeks I have felt things I thought could be movement, but it could also just be gas. (A common mistake women make.) Well this morning at around 6:30am I was laying in bed, not wanting to get up, when all of a sudden I feel this weird movement again. I did not know if it was fetal movement, or gas. So I was about to get up when BAM BAM BAM! the baby kicked me three times right in the gut! I had my hand on my belly and I could even feel it on the outside! It did it again and you could feel it with your hand so I grabbed Brad's hand (he was still dead asleep and this may have startled him a bit). The baby didn't do it again though. I lay there 20 more minutes but I think the baby (and Brad) went back to sleep. It was so amazing!!! And I feel so much better. Its hard to be in the second trimester without feeling the baby move. I feel so great right now. I basically feel the total opposite from the first trimester. The first trimester you have constant reminders you are pregnant. You're sick all the time, really tired, pee all the time. I still pee all the time but I feel great. I have tons of energy and no upset stomach. So you wonder what the heck is going on in your belly! Feeling the baby move is so reassuring that everything is really alright in there. I am so happy right now. I just had to share. Off to work.

Why I dont have a dog.

Nuf said.

I hate my camera.

Ugh. This photo of the floor is supposed to be of Betsy. Its a photo of Betsy WEARING A FAKE PREGNANT BELLY under her shirt at one of the maternity stores we went to. This was a once in a lifetime photo op and my stupid camera kept messing up. I thought I had the shot, but apparently I was having a memory card problem. Story of my life, really!

Let me just say, Betsy was a real trooper that day. She drove me around to a few different maternity shops so I could buy some slacks for work. (I am at the point where I can no longer wear my regular slacks, even with a bella band.) We had a lot of fun! Here is a photo of me wearing the prosthetic belly. Will I really get that big? yikes!

I also have to give a shout out to Rob and Ed. Rachel had a full day planned for me in Kansas City last Sunday. It was so much fun. We went to church, had breakfast with family (heard about cousin Katy's Australian wedding from Aunt Candy and Uncle Bob. They served kangaroo for dinner. wow!) we also hit up a lot of baby stores. Rachel had to sing with the Kansas City Symphony Chorus for a matinee, so Rob and Ed took me around to some of the shops. Its a tie between Betsy and these two guys for the most patience that weekend. Ed and Rob would have looked awfully cute wearing that fake belly!

fabric choices

here is a photo showing what fabrics I like. I will use some (probably not all) of these to create the crib bedding. they match better in person than they show in this photo.

the baby room is taking shape...or color I guess.

Well, after replacing our painter, the new guy was ready to go immediately. I was happy to get this part finished early. Plus, he painted on a Friday when I was leaving town. So the room had the whole weekend to dry and I didn't have to breathe in the fumes. However, this meant I had to go the whole weekend without seeing the finished product! Luckily, I have the best in-laws EVER and they went by to check it out. These are their photos. Thanks Chris and Ann!

The room is going to be filled with white/distressed furniture, so I wanted lots of color on the wall. And I got it! Choosing the right shade of green was a challenge because I had already purchased a chair in a white/green damask print. I LOVE THIS CHAIR. Brad even loves it. He described it as "like sitting on pudding." It is so comfortable. I can imagine falling asleep in that chair with a baby in my arms. See photo.

Next step for the project: while I wait for the crib and chair to come in, the furniture is being refinished. It should be done soon. In the meantime, I have now grown to dislike all the door knobs and hinges in my house. So we are replacing all of them with bronze hardware. It really helps to have a builder in the family. You get a much better deal on things. Thanks, Justin!

That’s just not sanitary.

Random story for the day. So I was at the doctor’s office yesterday. You know the drill, go in, write your name on a styrofoam cup, pee in the cup, then leave it inside a built in door in the wall where someone will pick it up and test it for…whatever. I believe some of you already know the story about how I figured out it really is best to write your name BEFORE the cup is filled.

So I get to the restroom and I am about to burst. I drink a TON of water lately and I really needed to go. I walk in and lock the door and turn toward the cups when I see it. Someone has left their filled cup on the table by the other clean cups. GROSS! That cannot be sanitary.

But I have got to go, it cannot wait. I try to ignore the half filled cup sitting there and grab my own cup, write my name (how dirty is that pen anyway) and go through the motions of filling it. While mid-filling I am looking around the room and I can’t help but notice the name on the cup. Another Jennifer. Hmm. Weird.

I finish and set my cup on the table next to, but as far away as possible, Jennifer Arwood’s cup. I can’t help but feel slightly victorious. My cup is way fuller and my urine is much lighter in color. This girl should really be drinking more water. Water is very important. Especially when one is preggars.

To answer your question, no, I did NOT put her cup in the wall for her. That is just not sanitary. I was going to mention it to the nurse, but forgot. Then while waiting to see the doctor I hear them call out her name. She looked like she may give birth any second so I decide to let this one slide.

"They were willing to take it"

I feel like Tom Hanks right now...in that scene from Money Pit where the house is literally coming down around them and a plumber shows up, demands a $2,000 down payment and leaves without even looking at the pipes. Shelly Long wonders why in the hell Tom Hanks would pay that kind of money to a man who didn't even bother to look at the pipes. He just grits his teeth and says "they were willing to take it."
My painter has disappeared, fallen ill, gone on an unannounced vacation or has just stopped returning my phone calls. He totally flaked on me. I am desperate now for a painter. So I called another guy on a good recommendation. He came by tonight and is a lot more expensive than the cheap, unreliable guy I wanted to use. But he is supposed to be great and he is available and he's willing to do the job when I need him. In other words, he's willing to take it.
So look for a photo after the weekend of what the room looks like painted. I can't wait! I'll hold off sending photos of the chair I bought today. It will have a much bigger impact once you see what the walls will look like. Oh, and no photo today but we had another appointment. we listened to the heartbeat but did not do an ultrasound. Our next appointment is Nov. 10 when we find out what we are having. I am not sure I'll make it that long. I really don't like waiting!

The Chair Rail Project

Brad and I installed the chair rail today and we didn't fight once! I thought this was going to be a disaster, but we had so much fun. We borrowed a motorized miter saw from a builder friend of ours, a finishing gun from another friend and got to work. Once we figured out how to make the corners we were on a roll! Doesn't Brad look cute using power tools? He really did all the work. I helped and took pictures.

Remodel Time!!

These two photos are of the room we are transforming into the baby room. Its a mess and totally empty except for the bed. We already removed the other furniture. we are leaving the bed for now because we'll need it for guests in a few weeks when my three sisters, the twins and my brother's girlfriend all come to visit me the same weekend! I can't wait!

If you have talked to me recently and asked the common question, "what's up?" I am sure I answered with something about either work or the baby room. That is all I do. I am obsessed right now with planning the baby room. I have everything laid out in my mind. I know what furniture I am using, where I will place it and I know what colors I want to use. We are doing a gender neutral room with green, white and chocolate brown. The nice thing is that whether its a boy or a girl, we can add accents in either blue or pink and it will all go great!

First element to this project was selecting the crib. I hate baby cribs. They are so tacky sometimes! I knew I wanted to do white furniture with a distressed finish, so this limited my options. I also knew I wanted to do green and brown for my colors. After about two hours of looking I found the perfect crib. I could not believe my luck. I can't post a photo from the website, but if you cut and paste this Url into your web browser, it is the second row, far right photo. Its white with chocolate brown paneling and a distressed finish. http://www.newportcottages.com/photo_gallery.htm

Next, we are recycling furniture we already own - its the "green" thing to do. ;) I wish I had a photo of it, but since I am obsessed, I have already sent it all off to be refinished to match the crib. I have an armoire, a dining buffet that I am using as a very chic changing table, a small book case and an antique mirror. It will all be refinished in white with a distressed finish. Betsy is appalled that I am doing this to really good furniture.

Finally, I am installing (yes me personally) a chair rail into the room. All the trim, including the chair rail, is going to be painted white to match the furniture (I am hiring someone else to do this because I dont want to breathe in the fumes and Brad is NOT allowed to go near paint brushes). On the walls, I am going to paint chocolate brown below the chair rail (the color will be matched to the crib) and a pale sage green on the upper portion of the wall.

I have gorgeous fabrics picked out for the crib bedding (Betsy, Rachel, I changed my mind a little on which ones I am using) and yesterday I found the most FABULOUS chair. I will post about that tomorrow because I am going back to the store to buy it and I'll snap a photo of it for you. When you picture it in the room with the colors on the wall, you might think that I secretly attended an elite design academy. I'm telling you, this chair will make the room. Its stunning.

Belly Pics

I first decided to start doing belly pics when I was 9 weeks. My stomach was still pretty flat at that point and I thought it would be a cute idea. Now I don't know! I am trying to wear the same outfit for the photos, but those capri pants are starting to be a little ill fitting. :) I may have to switch pants next time. My new favorite item of clothing is my Gap Body yoga pants. They are perfect for maternity pants! If I am at the house hanging around, its almost a certainty that I am wearing them.
In order of left to right, the photos are: 9 weeks, 12 weeks, and 16 weeks. For those of you who don't keep track of your time in weeks (as I am now doing), 16 weeks means I am now 4 months! I will probably take another belly pic at 5 months. Not a lot happens in between months right now. Its slow growing til the third trimester. (I'm in my second.)

Testing

Hi there! About five minutes ago someone told me I should start blogging. So I did. Doesn't take much to influence me. Doesn't take much for me to do anything when it involves the spot light! I will post photos on here later tonight and begin my journal of our newest adventure. Baby making! Well, technically the baby is already in the making and this isn't that kind of blog. More to come!