Claire's Nursery FINISHED!

Deeeeeeep breath out.....it's finally done! Claire's nursery has been finished for a few days now and I couldn'tbe more pleased :) It was lots of hard work, but I am so happy that her little space is done and just waiting for her arrival- clothes washed, sheets clean, diaper and wipe bin is full- now all I need is her. I forgot to add a before picture, and really don't feel like looking for it, so if you wanna see one just go back a few posts :)

Pre-curtain: I love how the light looks coming in :)
Post-Curtain: I thought it would block out wayyy more light, so I'll probably have to do something about that!

This is a view from our room looking in :)

This is kinda random, but I scored this tablecloth from Target for a mere $4.98 and thought I'd share since it was such a steal!

Love, K

Maternity Photos- Baby Claire :)

Once again, my friend Jennifer totally exceeded my expectations! She took some awesome family photos this past Saturday and I just love how they turned out. She captured such sweet moments, and I'm so thankful that I actually have some GOOD pictures of being pregnant this time around. If you are looking for a photographer, look no further- not to mention she is really fun & one of the sweetest people you'll meet too :)

Whew!

Is it really only Thursday?! It seems like 2 weeks have passed since Monday...where to start??? Well, Ellie and I both got a terrible cold (maybe even a mild case of the flu according to my mom) on Sunday night. By Monday, I was completely out of it and getting dehydrated. I started having TONS of Braxton Hicks contractions and a few normal ones too, so my midwife asked me to come in to her office to get checked and make sure I wasn't in labor. When she checked me, she said that I was 2 almost 3cm and dilated and my cervix is SUPER thin- but not in labor yet. She told me that I needed to get better and basically lay in bed for the next few days to get my body healthy and ready to have this baby not being dehydrated. So, I had to stop watching kids this week and take some time to rest it up. I'm feeling great now, and there was nothing like a little scare like that to kick mine and Adam's butt's into gear to make sure that EVERYTHING is ready for Claire to come! It's a horrible feeling to feel so unprepared, and that's exactly where I was at on Monday. ANYHOO, we (Adam) has been making some great progress this week, and I just wanted to document where we were at!

BEFORE: Our tiny useless back patio- literally good for nothing except that storage closet
ALMOST AFTER: Still lots of finalizing to do in here, but it's coming along! Floors done, door & window installed, a few baseboards & fan. Can't wait to see the final product!

Claire's Crib: Isn't it SO tiny?! It made me laugh after we put it together :) But it's just perfect for our tiny space. By the way, my color scheme is gray & pink, and I think it already looks good together!

A view from our room

Claire's letters that will go above her crib :)

Me: Almost 37 weeks. Feeling huge, but it's so worth it.

Ellie came at 38 weeks and 2 days, so I'm hoping that her little sister will get the memo and come early too! That would be SO awesome. There is something about getting a nursery set up, and imagining a little baby in there that gets me feeling SO anxious, excited, scared, ecstatic, etc....I was so pumped about it last night! I'm so thankful for this amazing blessing that the Lord has given me already. I can't believe that she is already complete inside my belly and is just growing. I wish I could see what she looks like- I know I can get one of those 4D things, but I just wanna wait to see her in person :) Come baby come baby baby come come!

Crossing my fingers that she will be here next time I post...probably not....but I can always dream!

Love, K

Family Fun!

I know that I put "Family Fun" in the title, but I thought I needed to document this photo! These are all the kids I watch during the day (well I watch Ellie everyday of course!). This is such a cute/funny picture of all of them. I have started the countdown...well, I officially started it like a week ago, but only 7 more days of watching kiddos for me! Then it's time to let my body chill out and rest til my little girl gets here :) So exciting!

From Left to Right: Sienna, Ellie, Scarlett, Noah, & Jude
Ellie posing in front of the christmas tree...our tiny tiny tree! It was perfect having all the kids in the house though- no one could pull it down on themselves and ornament touching was at a minimum!

The 3 of us at our church's Christmas Eve service :) Can't really see my belly much, but it's there!

Just being silly- my sweet girl.

Ellie out & about at the park!

Getting SO close!

Thankfully we finished our room in plenty of time thanks to good friends :) I'm almost 36 weeks and getting so anxious & nervous about having everything DONE! I had Ellie a little after 38 weeks, so I feel like it is definitely crunch time around here. Here are some of the things we've been up to lately:

Our new comforter in our new wood floored room :)
A picture of our room bare- Out that window is where the nursery will be :)

So irritated this picture is the wrong way, but here are a couple of the walls painted in the nursery. Were going with a gray & pink them...I figured that gray would be the much more calming color on the walls!

We painted the paneling also...made it look so much cleaner & brighter in there! My next post will have the before shot so you can see the dramatic difference :)

A Closer view :)

I'm gonna try to get all my room postings done this week! Hope everyone is healthy and staying away from sickies! Ellie had a little stomach bug on Monday and that was NO FUN AT ALL!

Love, K

Keeping it Simple

I came to a realization the other day. I realized that I have changed in the last few months. I use to really like being busy- just going going goin- and I called it "being flexible". But come to find out, flexibility doesn't mean leading a life of craziness and chaos. It means being willing to adjust your schedule when need be- not every day for any reason. So, I have decided to tone things down a bit. Not drag my daughter out in the middle of what should be naptime to meet up with someone, to then make her miserable and overtired, and pay for it all when I come home. I have been trying this out lately, and wow does it make life SO much more simple. I have felt so calm.

On another related note, Adam and I have decided to do the same thing with our date nights- or outings depending on the night. Instead of choosing multiple things to do and trying to cram in so much "fun", I thought that we should pick just 1 thing we'd like to do for the night or evening, and let that be it. That way, we're not out and about going to the mall, then trying to decide if anything else sounds fun, and hey while were at it, lets go spend $30 on a dinner that I could've made at home for $6! For example, last night Adam wanted to spend his Sears gift card from Christmas, so that was the plan. Go to the mall, he shops for his stuff at his leisure (all alone! Hallelujah when you don't have your child speeding up the process), while Ellie and I hang out in the play area. We DID contemplate eating out after that, but decided to stick with the plan and just go home...and it was great!

I'm totally on the train of looking for any budget friendly cut-backs too. By avoiding eating out, we probably saved about $25 last night. Call me weird, but I was really excited about that! And now, we can go use that $25 a different time, when what we want to do is go out for a simple dinner together and have a nice time chatting it up since we won't have other plans to go along with it- ya know, keeping it simple!

Wow, I feel like I just rambled & rambled about something that none of you may find the least bit interesting! Hahaha! That's okay. But just to sum up in case you feel lost as to where I was going:

• Trying to make life simpler
• Not going out in the name of "flexibility" and making my day harder than it needs to be
• 1 track mind date nights & outings
• Saving money when I can to make it stretch longer

There you have it! We're having a nice relaxing weekend...hope you are too!

Love, K

Week 32

Can you tell Claire is totally on the left side of my body here?! Crazy.

I am so happy to be in my 32nd week of pregnancy. I'm big & sometimes uncomfortable, don't sleep very well, and at times can be "all touched out" (notice Ellie intrigued with my belly here), but I LOVE being pregnant! I love to feel Claire move and do her thing.

Some things to note:

1) I have not been as good with keeping up with my nutrition this time around- shame on me! But I'm all over it now! Lets get this baby healthy :)

2) I'm carrying WAY lower than with Ellie- which I really like. It feels different- I feel heavier- but it feels right.

3) I haven't gained as much weight this time around! Woo hoooo! I have gained 17 lbs so far, and only have 8 weeks to go- crossing my fingers for 6 weeks though :) If she comes when Ellie did, I'll only have 6 weeks. But we'll see...I still have plenty of time to pack on the pounds :)

4) I can't stop thinking about what she is going to look like. Will she look just like Ellie, or totally different?! I can't wait to meet her and find out!

5) I'm anxious/excited about the birth. I feel like I know what to expect, but I just wonder if I can hack it! Labor pain is pretty intense to say the least, but I think it's time for a major refresher on all the comfort techniques and little sayings I put in my mind before Ellie's birth like- "It's only a day of my life- I can do ANYTHING for a day".

6) All of Claire's clothes 0-12months have been washed, folded, organized, and are just waiting for her little body to crawl into!

7) I am still nervous about being a mom of 2. I told Adam last night that I feel like I have a really good routine down from the time my day starts to the time Ellie goes to bed, but that's about to all change once Claire comes. I have to redo the whole process! Whew! Pretty overwhelming to think about.

8) I have also started to re-explore my breastfeeding/sleeping routine method. Babywise or Demand Feeding? I kinda waivered and had my own style with Ellie. Sometimes I felt she needed a strict schedule and she was happier that way, and sometimes I felt like she just needed me there with her to help her fall asleep and just be cuddled. Hmmmm...we'll see!

9) Ellie still LOVES my belly. First thing she does when she wakes up is get into bed, pulls up my shirt and lays on my belly, rubs it, kisses it, says baby...and she needs a good 15 minutes of doing this in order to feel ready to get out of bed! It's so cute. The only part that's not as cute is when were out in public and she thinks it's fair game to pull up my shirt and rub my belly! Eek!

10) We have yet to start on Claire's room as you can tell. Hoping for this next week! I want to have everything done by Feb 10th so that I can just chill out and let my body relax and be ready for her to come.

- K