yay for recalled cribs!

So not too much has happened in the past week. We bought some baby furniture off Craigslist. It has been a big debacle...this whole buying baby furniture...We looked around a few places, I researched some online and we finally found a crib and dresser/changer combo we liked at Baby Depot and even BETTER it was on clearance and the style was being discontinued so we were going to get a discounted price! It was really nice too!

After spending an hour talking w/ the sales lady and finding out all the discounts that were available (including an extra 30% off since we were buying the floor model) we were going to get both pieces for $400! It was really solid, nice furniture and if we had bought it at its original price it would have been $800 so we were stoked! I was just excited to check it off my mental check-list! I love checking off the check-list even if its just a check-list in my head! haha what can I say I get joy from the simple things

Okay back to the cribs so we go to the registers to check out and they ring up the crib, I remind them of the extra 30% discount and they were like oh yeah I remember you guys looking at that set then they go to ring up the dresser and it rings up full price so they bring a manager over who corrects the price of the dresser but says that the crib is under priced...uhm excuse me ma'am...no the crib is CORRECTLY priced...she basically says that we (my mom, little sister, myself and donnie) are all "mistaken" and she doesnt know where we got that price from...hmmm maybe the sales clerk we talked to for an hour about it?!? Long story not so short, the friendly manager REFUSED to honor the price they quoted us! So of course pregnant me leaves the store huffy and crying because I am convinced our baby will never have good furniture and my back hurts from standing for an hour talking about baby furniture! and the WORST part was I had to mentally uncheck the list :-( I was very, very, very sad!

So after a week of researching and finding that there really isnt any crib and dresser we like but we find a few that we are "okay" with we find another set at a different Baby Depot for about $400, while in the meantime I have been looking at Craigslist for random baby stuff and lo and behold I find a crib and dresser/changer combo for $150 that looked like what we were going to buy from Baby Depot! So I email back and forth with the seller to find out that it is a Jardine set bought from Babies-R-Us in 2005.

So we set up a time to look at it and in the meantime I print off all the info about Jardine cribs with the suspicion that the crib was actually recalled without the seller realizing it. But in preparation for this, I find that if you have a recalled Jardine crib you are eligible for a crib voucher for a new crib (any brand) from Babies-R-Us for the highest retail value of the crib you have. So I call the company assuming you need a reciept or something, nope just all the screws from the crib so they know you arent still using it and a signed waiver saying you recognize the crib is recalled and you are not going to use it anymore so we get to the sellers house and sure enough the crib is recalled but Donnie and I buy it anyway...so now we have the dresser/changer combo and a crib voucher for a BRAND NEW crib on the way!! So we will just pick a crib to match the dresser and we can save the other $250 we would have spent on the furniture from Baby Depot ORRR I can buy a nice glider without feeling guilty :-)

As for baby stuff, I am pretty quickly racking up baby stuff without really meaning to...so far we have a crib, dresser/changer combo, exersaucer, kangaroo sling, bumbo w/ tray, baby bath, baby moniters, play-mat, 2 car seat bases, baby bedding (comforter, 1 sheet, crib skirt, crib bumper which I am using to make window valences & mobile), nursery decorations (2 pictures, 2 wall hangings, light switch cover, curtains) and a boppy on the way and probably more that I am forgetting and in total we have only spent around $200! I feel more at ease having this stuff and not having to worry as much about baby gear in general...another check...and you know how I feel about checking off that check list! I would love some input from other moms though about what are the top 3 must-haves for a new mom...leave me a comment with your fav's

How far along: 18w6d

Total weight gain: I havent weighed myself this week but I have a sneaking suspicion that I have gained alot...I regularly feel like a horse :-)

Maternity clothes: I have realized I dont like the below the belly panels...

Sleep: My fatigue is back and I regularly am ready for bed around 6:30pm...clearly that isnt happening since it is 10pm and I am blogging

Best moment this week: getting to spend some time with Meg doing baby stuff

Food Cravings:Nothing really...my nausea and vomitting have returned :-( but I have come to a few realizations that this is an opportunity for me!! My goal is to 100% rely on the Lord this time around since I was kind of pathetic at doing that the 1st time. In doing this, I am managing it much better plus I was BLESSED to have about a month with no vomitting!! I am able to handle the vomitting this time much better because I had a month to renew myself, praise God!

Labor signs: none

Belly Button: innie

What I miss the most: going out for drinks w/ friends and smoking a cigarette...curse you cigarettes and your seductive charm!---> this hasnt changed

What am I looking forward to the most: our ultrasound!! It will be so nice to know that everything is healthy with the baby and getting to find out the gender will be really fun! I think it will make this pregnancy seem that much more real to know that I will be having either a son or a daughter.

Milestones: Smalls has become amazingly mobile (at least compared to me), passing the hours yawning, hiccuping, rolling, twisting, kicking, punching, sucking and swallowing. And, the little peanuts finally big enough that I should be able to feel those movements consistently in the next couple weeks! I am getting more and more anxious to meet the baby...I cant believe I am only about half way through!

late...again

So I am once again late in posting but as Ive said before the little surveys each week are more for my records...not too many exciting things have happened in the past week...at least nothing worth blogging about really

How far along: This is about my 17th week of pregnancy

Total weight gain: I actually know this now...I have gained 4lbs in the past month! I am now at -13lbs from my pre-pregnancy weight... I dunno how much longer I will be updating this part haha I am predicting that I will gain alot in the next month since I feel like I am eating like a horse (which Donnie says I'm not really especially considering I am pregnant)

Maternity clothes: I am wearing almost all maternity b/c it just looks better than non-maternity and shirts and what not arent as short since they are maternity I am hoping that I will be able to still wear some of my non-maternity sweaters for the winter

Sleep: I am starting to sleep better again which is great!

Best moment this week: scheduling our 20 week ultrasound!

Food Cravings:Everything sounds really good, like I cant watch tv commercials without wanting whatever the ad is for, but when I eat it...I never can eat more than 2 bites of whatever the food craving was and generally it doesnt taste that great...its such a disappointment!

Labor signs: none

Belly Button: innie--I hate that you can tell where my bellybutton is though in the shirts that I wear since my bump is getting a little bigger...it definitely makes me feel like a fat girl in a shirt that doesnt fit but when I wear an empire waist shirt I feel like a circus tent

What I miss the most: going out for drinks w/ friends and smoking a cigarette...curse you cigarettes and your seductive charm!---> this hasnt changed

What am I looking forward to the most: our ultrasound!! It will be so nice to know that everything is healthy with the baby and getting to find out the gender will be really fun! I think it will make this pregnancy seem that much more real to know that I will be having either a son or a daughter.

Milestones: I think I felt the baby move this week but it hasnt been consistent enough to tell whether it is baby or just random stomach movement. The two times I have felt it have been in the evening when I am reading in bed or watching tv and it kinda feels like a pulled muscle/mini-muscle spasm. If it isnt the baby I am sure you all enjoyed me describing my stomach movement :-) During the 17th week my baby is about the size of an onion--I like to think the babes the size of a vidalia onion since they are my favorite haha During the 17th week Baby's skeleton is hardening, changing from rubbery cartilage to bone, and fat is finally accumulating around it. The umbilical cord is getting thicker and stronger, and those little fingers and toes are now topped by one-of-a-kind prints.

15 and 16 weeks

So I have clearly been slacking in my blogging but since I am feeling better I dont have too much to write about. I have been finding more things to do which is helping the time pass by a little faster. I have been volunteering at church on Friday's and I am going to start volunteering again at the New Hope Center on Wednesdays. I have been planning little trips for myself to help the time pass faster as well.

The first little trip I did was up to Columbus then on to Cleveland. I went to Columbus for my friend Shannon's baby shower on Oct 4th which was fun and there was a really precious 2 week old little baby there...I swear if I wasnt already pregnant I would have had some serious baby fever...can you still have baby fever when youre pregnant? I seriously cant wait to meet the babe. So after her shower I kept driving north up to Cleveland to visit my Gramma Rosie for a few days. It was really nice to just have a little change of scenery and someone to hang out with. Ive also come to realize that while I am feeling better, I still have little to no energy, it worked out quite well though for me and gram because despite being a "healthy" 23 year old I have the same energy level as her :-) We did some fun stuff, went shopping (which is generally a staple in my Cleveland visits) and saw a movie by ourselves...literally nobody else in the theater which I suppose is normal for noon on a Wednesday. I made my 1st trip to Motherhood Maternity in an attempt to find jeans that would be long enough and not saggy in my butt (since when is saggy jeans a problem for me!??! ITS CRAZINESS I TELL YOU!) I was somewhat dreading going there since Ive always heard such negative stuff about the store but this specific location had a really helpful sales associate (my gram says its because people in Cleveland arent snarky lol)

So I made the mistake of trying on their pregnancy belly to ensure that the shirts I was getting would be long enough to wear throughout my pregnancy (for as much as I was spending...they better fit the entire time!) Uhm...scariest moment of my life...lol apparently "the belly" adds 4 month or so to where you are currently at...which put me pretty close to what I would be at the end of my pregnancy...uhh not cool... I have been feeling just fat lately (not preggo yet, just fat) but after taking that belly off I felt like frickin Kate Moss...no longer will I complain about feeling fat now because I know in a few short months I am going to be feeling like Mt.Everest and wishing I had my cute lil belly back haha

Needless to say, Cleveland was fun! I stopped at the Jefferson Outlets on my way back and remembered how fun it is to do stuff by myself...shopping, going to movies, etc. I should do it more often while I am still in a place where I actually HAVE alone time...so if you see me all by myself at Danberry Dollar you will know that I am enjoying my last times of solitude..

My next little trip will probably be to Indianapolis to visit my bestie Dani...considering she is only in class 2 days a week I should probably go be a bum on HER couch and at least have company while I am watching reruns of Greys Anatomy on Lifetime :-) If anyone else has any fun ideas of little trips to take I am totally up for suggestions...I would love to actually take a little trip w/ Donnie but it would have to be somewhere we could go for just a weekend with preferably a 3 hour or less drive (Donnie is not a fan of driving 4+ hours for just a weekend)

So since I slacked so much I will post 2 surveys in this post...one for week 15 and one for week 16 since I missed those weeks and I suppose I will enjoy looking back at my 1st pregnancy week by week...orrrr not :-)

How far along: This will be about my 15th week of pregnancy

Total weight gain: I think I have maybe gained a lb or two but I havent weighed myself in a while

Maternity clothes: wearing maternity stuff mostly since my old stuff just looks ridiculous and is uncomfortable

Sleep: I am still having a horrible time sleeping...I toss and turn all night and basically wake up feeling as though I didnt sleep at all

Best moment this week: listening to the heartbeat at home with Donnie...I usually cant find it when he is around usually because I find it easier in the morning but we were able to find it together for once

Food Cravings:I apparently got over my red meat freak out...at least I can eat some ground beef now and not want to vomit and Ive been craving whoppers which is strange since I really dont like Burger King...Donnie is enjoying my late night cravings though...

Labor signs: none

Belly Button: innie

What I miss the most: going out for drinks w/ friends and smoking a cigarette...curse you cigarettes and your seductive charm!

What am I looking forward to the most: I ordered our nursery bedding and I cant wait to get it in the mail!

Milestones: Continuing the march towards normal proportions, our baby's legs now outmeasure the arms. And, finally, all four limbs have functional joints. Our babe is squirming and wriggling like crazy down in the womb, though I still cant feel the movements. Our baby at 15 weeks is the size of a naval orange at about 4 inches and 2.5 oz. Now keep in mind with the fruit and veggie comparisons that it is comparing it to the length of that fruit or veggie not the thickness.

How far along: this will be about my 16th week of pregnancy



Total weight gain: still havent weighed myself but I will find out soon enough at my next appointment on the 19th



Maternity clothes: I have finally found a pair of maternity jeans that fit well, dont get saggy and are actually long enough!!



Sleep: I have gotten about 1 or 2 nights where I wake up feeling like I didnt toss and turn all night, maybe I am turning over a new leaf :-)



Best moment this week: I thought I may have felt the first movements but I dunno...it was a weird feeling and it kept happening everytime I tried to use the doppler...kinda bubbly, swishy... it was weird sooo it was maybe baby, maybe indigestion haha



Food cravings: I dont think I had any specific cravings...deli sandwiches like always and soup



Labor signs: none



Belly Button: innie



What I miss the most: still cigarettes and a beer...sigh...(sidenote: I realized how much of a redneck I sound like listing those as the things I miss most...)



What am I looking forward to the most: our 20 week ultrasound to find out the sex of the baby!!



Milestones: My adorable little fetus is busy with thumb sucking, toe wiggling, and (not so cute but equally amazing) making urine and breathing amniotic fluid as the liver, kidneys and spleen continue to develop. Lanugo (thin, downy hair) is growing all over the body for warmth.