Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Nursery Woes

I have scoured the internet looking at nursery designs, crib bedding, etc. (mostly Pottery Barn Kids, Restoration Hardware and Babies R Us) and the options seem to be endless! This is not necessarily a good thing for an overly analytical person like myself. I have difficulty making decisions. I do know that I definitely prefer more classic fabrics rather than cartoonish styles. Below are some examples of what I like. It doesn't help matters that I'm considering picking out fabrics and having the crib bedding made by a seamstress. This opens up even more options!





And I love this little boy's room (below)



I am leaning towards registering for a white crib. A dark wood color is runner-up. I'm blogging about my nursery woes because I'm wondering if any of you have nursery designs or crib bedding that you'd be willing to share pictures of. Maybe it's your own child's nursery or a picture you found in a magazine or on the internet. In any case, I'm inviting you to either email me pictures, post them to your own blog, or leave me a comment letting me know the web address where the pic can be found. I like gathering lots of ideas in hopes that one will strike me as the perfect style for me and my baby!

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Ouch!

In the words of Shakira, "My hips don't lie."

I've been waking up frequently between 7 am and 8 am with my hips just aching. I guess it's just a side effect of pregnancy - my body expanding and preparing to nurture a big baby.

Last Monday I went for my 16 week doctor's appointment and officially received the "weight gain" speech. Looks like I'm putting on the pounds a little faster than I should. (Maybe that's another reason for my hips hurting, ha ha.) I've put on 10 pounds in 16 weeks. My doc said I'm perfectly healthy, but he wants me to be happy with my body after I give birth and not have a lot of extra pounds to lose. I like that idea too, and while I'm exercising every day, food just tastes entirely too good right now to hold off on the pastas and breads (like he suggested). Instead, I'll just try not to stuff myself silly and make sure I'm getting a healthy variety.

Here are my first 2 "belly pics." The first one was taken at 12 weeks and the second at 16 weeks. Maternity clothes are definitely in the near future!



Wednesday, September 02, 2009

Things I don't want to forget . . .

Not sure how many of you will find this post particularly interesting, but I wanted to jot down some things about being pregnant that I never want to forget . . .

like the first day I could truly tell how excited Brian was about having a baby. Initially, he was overwhelmed with the responsibility of providing for another person. But as the weeks wore on I could tell his anxiety was beginning to wane. When we went for the second ultrasound (I was exactly 12 weeks pregnant), the baby was moving like crazy - jumping up and down, even waving his/her little hand at us as if to say, "Hey guys! I'm doing great in here!" I didn't even have to look at Brian's face to know that in that moment this little person growing inside of me became incredibly real to him and he was suddenly in love. I guess that's a perk to marrying your best friend, you just sense those things instinctively without either one of you uttering a word.

I also don't want to forget all the nicknames Brian has come up with for our baby. I usually refer to him/her as "Baby Adams" since we don't have name yet. However, during the nausea stage of my pregnancy Brian decided that "fire monster" was a better term. I guess he felt like it was more fitting given the way he/she was making me feel. However, since recovering from the sickness and getting that second ultrasound we now affectionately refer to our baby as "peanut." Even though he/she is much larger than a peanut at this point, it seems fitting for it's precious little life. I am sure that there will be many more names to come. Brian is the master of nicknames! If you recall, a long time ago I wrote a post about all the different names he's called me over the years :) They are all in love though, just like they are with the baby.

So . . . there's one more thing I'd like to write, or maybe I should say admit. This statement will by no stretch flatter me, but I think it's important to be honest. One of my biggest concerns is that I will be jealous of Baby Adams. That I will envy the love Brian gives he/she and will wonder if he loves it more than me. There, I said it. I told you it wasn't pretty. Brought to you courtesy of my sinful heart. I am, however, comforted by the fact that a good friend of mine has a similar concern . . . that her husband will pay more attention to the baby than to her. Ahhhhhhhh. Relief. As twisted as it sounds, I am glad to hear that I'm not completely abnormal and similar thoughts have crossed someone else's mind too.

There's no doubt in my mind that the marriage must come first; that putting the marriage first is truly the best thing for the child. I know that Brian and I both know this full well. But I also know that we have no idea how much we're going to love this little baby, and how difficult it might be to put each other first sometimes. In any case, I'm sure we'll make plenty of mistakes but figure it out with the help of our loving heavenly Father.

Ok, so that wasn't the last thing. There's one more thing that I have to mention . . . something I'm really excited about. I cannot wait to worship God with my children. I seriously cannot wait to teach them about worshipping God in freedom and truth. I want them to know what it feels like to lift your spirit in praise to the Lord! My hope is that it will be constant in our home. That stopping to listen to praise music or making our own worshipful music will be like second nature to my children. That lifting their hands in awe and praise to their heavenly Father would be reactionary. Of course, I simply want them to feel the freedom to do that, if they choose not to that's ok, certainly. I'm just excited about worshipping with them.

Whew. That was long, but I wanted to get it all down. I'm sure there will be much more to come in the next 6 months!