Baby's Room...Part One

I am only going to include partial pictures of the baby's room. Which will mainly only be the bedding/crib. The whole room is not quite completed. Sean and I need to figure out the flooring situation in the room. See some renter before us was obviously raised by wolves (and wolves that smoked at that!). So we (or more accurately Sean) have spent time cleaning the walls/ceiling and then repainting. The floor is also pretty disgusting. I have mopped and mopped the floors and they still seem to be filthy! So needless to say, Sean and I are on the lookout for different flooring. We looked at Lowe's the other day and found a few area rugs that would work, but not necessarily match; and some carpet, but I thought that it would give my baby rug burn!

Anyhoo...here are the pictures of the bedding (and what little bit you can see of the room). I will follow up with pictures of what I have done on my next post. To be honest, I have the pictures of the dressers (all full of tiny clothes!), but I don't have my camera with me. So, without further ado, may I introduce my baby's bedding and crib :)

Oh and I have to mention that when I was putting the mobile together Bruno kept barking at me. See he likes bears (or really any stuffed animal), so he figures it is for him when he sees one. I will have to post a picture of the bassinett in my next post as well, for there is a little pink teddy bear (thanks Kathy!!!) that is soooo soft. Bruno also sat and barked at that bear for a day or two!

A Very Productive Day (for me anyway!)

Oh this heat is killing me! And to be honest, it isn't even really that hot yet. Upper 80's. I just keep reminding myself 8 weeks (well technically less than that now-unless she decides to bake longer; and with this heat I'm willing to bet she will be "done" before that-ha! j/k). I have been living in my bikini lately. Well that isn't entirely true. When I am at HOME, I am living in my bikini. Oh, I bought a new bikini the other day. Very cute! Sean likes it, and said I looked good (or maybe it was sexy?) in it. Anyway, I won't post a picture of that! HA!

So I'm home alone this Father's Day Sunday. Sean went up north to see his dad, stepdad, and Aunt Oly. His Aunt Oly is in the hospital, as she had a heart attack the other day. I'm hoping and praying for her. Feel free to also say a prayer for Aunt Oly. One can never have too many prayers :)

So I'm home alone (well Bruno is here)...and I'm cleaning, doing laundry, and baking apple bread. I LOVE apple bread. It is easy to make, and sooooo good! I will be posting directions at the end of this (a picture will be soon to come-it is still baking). I plan on taking a loaf of it over to my dad; for Father's Day and part of his birthday present. I haven't actually gotten his real present yet. In fact, I can't even seem to find it anywhere. He wants a lavendar bush (or two), and I have checked almost every garden center around here. So in the meantime, I'm bringing him a loaf of bread-APPLE bread! You may be thinking that doesn't even seem to compare to each other, but you haven't tried the apple bread. I would be willing to give up (almost) anything I wanted for a loaf of apple bread.

I also need to really start getting things ready for the baby (who still is without a name-we have it narrowed down but probably won't name her until we see her). I am now 32 weeks and a couple of days. It just seems so surreal that I will have a little baby soon. Her room is not done. Her clothes are not washed. In fact, we are now going to have to buy a new crib (I'm happy about this) because the one Sean bought was missing parts; and those parts are discontinued because the crib is so old. Thanks honey!!! I need to pack my hospital bag, Sean's bag, and her stuff. I need to get my FMLA stuff in order. These last two things I have been purposely procrastinating on, as I'm a firm believer that I will jinx myself. As soon as my bag is packed, and the FMLA forms have been sent in I will go in to labor. I just know it. I also need to get a few spare keys made for the house. One for my father. One for my brother and sister-in-law. These are just in case I go in to labor, and none of my stuff is ready. Plus, my brother and sister-in-law have agreed to puppy-sit their canine nephew. Speaking of my sister-in-law, she is throwing me a baby shower next Sunday! I'm excited! I just hope my mom doesn't annoy me to no end, drive up my blood pressure, embarass me, or send me in to preterm labor. I guess that is probably too many things to hope for (I'm being realistic-you don't know my mom), so let's just hope and pray that I don't go in to preterm labor because of anything she does.

Okay, enough of this jibber-jabber. Here is the recipe for apple bread. I got it from cooksrecipes.com (though I have modified it a bit)

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups diced apples
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)


Preheat oven to 325. Grease two 9 x 5 x 3-inch loaf pans; set aside. Combine flour, cinnamon, baking soda and salt; set aside. Beat the eggs, oil, sugar and vanilla together, mixing well in separate bowl. Stir in flour mixture until just mixed. Fold in apples and walnuts and spoon into prepared loaf pans. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until tooth pick inserted in center of loaf comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in the pans before removing to cool on wire racks.

*Now for my changes. I usually use whole wheat flour, but it tastes just as good with white. I don't peel the apples (call me lazy!) and I don't add the walnuts. I add more cinnamon than the recipe calls for (I love the stuff-and it is good for your blood sugar). And to be really honest, you don't need all of that sugar; you could easily cut some of it out. I have made it both ways and I think it tastes a little better without so much sugar (Sean would probably disagree), but make it how you want :) You can also sprinkle some sugar on top of the mixture after putting in the pan.

If this were high school, I'd be expelled for my excessive absenteeism!

I'm back!!! I have finally procured a means to get online while at our new place. Which reminds me...I need to take pictures soon of our new place and show them to you. I had to end up going with a mobile connect card. It has its advantages and disadvantages. I will just say I am still not thrilled at the thought of a 2 year contract on it. *Sigh* I was desperate though. I can't work on my blog (among other websites I like to visit) at work, and how was I going to show everyone my baby girl once she arrived? Snail mail? Argh! The thought is revolting.

Okay, so as I promised in my last post a long time ago this will be picture overload!!! Yeah-how fun! :) First off...Bruno. He is about 5 1/2 months here. He is really just the sweetest puppy...and really well behaved (well most of the time).









Okay and now for my growing belly! I need to take a new picture for this week. In fact, I have all of my belly pics on my computer, but I need to figure out how far along I was in all of them. Doh! So to satisfy everyone, I will only post my latest belly pic. I was 29 weeks (and please forgive any blurriness of the picture or mess in the background). Without further ado...

There is a lot more I would like to write about, but I need to go interview two more pediatricians in just a bit. I will be posting more regularly (instead of once in a blue moon) now that I have internet with me at all times (assuming I have my computer with me). Things to look forward to: pictures of our garden! It is really taking off and thriving. I don't imagine we will have any actually produce until after baby girl gets here (we started the garden a little late). I can't wait for some watermelon, cucumbers, tomatoes...yum! My mouth is watering just thinking about it.

I've been bad...

but I have a good excuse. Actually, excuses. I have been terribly busy and tired. I have been meaning to update my blog a lot sooner than this, but alas, I am bad!

So what has been keeping me busy.

*Work. The other full-time gal had her baby on April Fool's Day due to an emergency C-section. Mom and baby are both well. I'm happy to report that baby Aster got to go home on Easter Sunday. So we have been short-staffed. And I have been stressed to say the least. Good news now, my other co-worker who was on leave is now back, so I am a lot less stressed!!!

*Bruno. Bruno, you ask? Yes, Sean and I are officially insane. As if we didn't already have a lot of stuff going on this year (marriage, baby, moving, etc.) we decided to throw a puppy into the mix. We adopted Bruno almost 4 weeks ago. He is a very good puppy, as puppies go :) His birthday is the day after Sean's! So he is 4 1/2 months old. I figure this is about as good of training that we will get for the baby (without actually taking someone's baby). He has to go potty in the middle of the night, cries/whines a lot, and requires a lot of attention (and discipline). I will be posting pictures of Bruno later. Speaking of potty breaks in the middle of the night, I should point out that I sleep through those *blush*. Sean is such a great husband (or maybe he is just a much lighter sleeper than I am *laugh*) that he doesn't make his pregnant wife get up to take him out.

*Moving. No, we haven't moved yet. Sean and I decided that the house we were going to rent just wasn't a good idea for various reasons. We have found a different house in Frankfort. It required a bit of work (which may be an understatement), but Sean is doing all of the work himself. I'm optimistic that we may be able to "officially" move into the house this weekend. There will be a future post about this and pics to see the before and after.

*Being pregnant. I have been sick lately. And moody and tired. Now being pregnant doesn't make me stressed. In fact, I have probably been more pleasant than ever. Go figure! Just the stress doesn't help with the pregnancy. I am feeling a lot better today. I found out that Vicks Vapo Rub is okay to use when pregnant, so I slathered some on my feet and went to bed last night. Hopefully, one more night of that and I will be feeling like a million bucks!

So that is why I have been too busy/tired to post lately. My apologies!

Speaking of Little Bit (that is what I have been calling Baby Girl lately-since she still doesn't have a name), she has been a lot more active. I also look pregnant now. I will post some belly progression pics for your enjoyment in my next post. It is a pleasure to feel her move around and kick/punch me. I'm sure I will be complaining about the pain down the road, so I am enjoying it while I can :)

Til next time! Up next, pics of Bruno and my growing belly!