Passed the First Baby Class

This past weekend, Jennifer and I attended the first of 3 baby classes we've signed up for. This one was an one-day, three-hour Newborn Essentials class. I won't bore you with all that was touched upon in this class, but I will say that I did learn that there are people out there who really should not be having kids. And after I left the class, because of the "not-so on-the-ball" folks, I feel much better about Jennifer and me as parents (not that I ever had any doubt, but I have even more confidence in us now).

One thing we did learn that I was anxious to be taught was swaddling. We are far from mastering it but now know the basics which puts my mind at ease a bit.

      First Swaddle Attempt (too loose)      

Second Swaddle Attempt (tight burrito!)  

Next up is Infant CPR and then Prepared Childbirth. With 8 weeks left, there is no denying the reality of Nugget joining our family very very soon.

Nursery Progress

Folks, our To-Do list is unbelievable and constantly growing, and we are getting down to the wire (9 weeks and counting).

Finally, after lots of talk and some insomnia on my part, Jennifer and I made some serious progress on the nursery. Spackling (thanks to some help from Jennifer's dad) and spot priming are DONE. Closet 95% cleared out. We cleaned out our office and back hall too, with 5-6 bags of stuff donated to Boomerangs and space for lots of baby stuff now made. Room-darkening shades have been orders and will be picked up on Thursday. Once we get this darn bedding in that Jennifer ordered, we can move on actually buying and painting the room, so when the furniture and baby come, all will be right in the world.

 

Jennifer working hard in the nursery.

Single digit weeks to go!!!

Nugget has 9 more weeks to go until s/he meets us!  WOW!  9 more weeks, we cannot believe that we are down to single digits.

As of last week Nugget was a butternut squash, 17" & 3 lbs.

We are in the midst of working on the nursery and organizing the house.  Next weekend is our friends & family baby shower and we need to have space for all the baby gear.

Below is the updated Monthly Comparison picture. I had to change the format a bit to get all the pictures in without making them any smaller. I also enhanced this a tad by adding the week under the month label, since everything around babies, pre- and post-natal,  is about weeks. Though in these pictures, the 6th and 7th month pictures don't look drastically different, believe me when I tell you: the pictures LIE. I have officially reached beach ball status. I can no longer see my toes without quite an effort, often need assistance putting my shoes on or getting off the couch (i appreciate JRo more and more each day for all she does for me), and moan and groan with every movement from picking something up off the ground to switching my left to right side when laying in bed. And I still have 12 more weeks to go. Sweet.

7 months - 12 weeks left until April 25th!!

 

Everyone lies: it's really a 10 month incubation period (40 weeks)

We will be posting the monthly comparison chart this week.

Nursery is coming together!!

A milestone has been reached!  The crib and bureau have been ordered and we just have to wait...10-12 weeks. We are hoping this lead time is just an "under promise, over deliver" situation.  Fingers crossed.  Especially since Leigh is due in 12 weeks - HOLY COW!!!

The style of the furniture fits into the rest of the house decor nicely.  We ordered the vintage cherry finish, which is a bit warmer then the picture (the picture below is mochachino).  The bed converts into a toddler/youth/full size bed.  We really like the feature of the bed growing with the person.  The top of the bureau will be the changing table.  We are all about the versatility.  I saw this environment and just fell in love.  I can not wait to continue the nursery. 

I investigated clean, low/no VOC paints and I hope our Home Depot carries all the colors.  As the bedding has not been finalized, I am 100% sure of the bumper and 80% sure of the skirt and feel confidant that the colors of the wall will be in the hues that dominate the bumper.  We hope to get to Home Depot this weekend to purchase ceiling, trim and wall colors!!!

This picking out custom bedding has been exciting and stressful.  It is also not for the immediate gratification person.  However, the company that I am working with has been great to work with and I look forward to seeing the finished product.

Fruits & Veggies Update