Ace

Yesterday, I got to babysit Ace...who is nearing 5 months old.

He's stinking cute.

He's at that perfect baby age...where he's smiling and interacting. 

 Spending the afternoon with him made me more than ready for The Cactus to arrive...

Babies!

Hot Mess

Sunday, we had dinner with David's parents, his brother-in-law and our nephew Liam at a BBQ restaurant.

I got a nice shot of the uncle-nephew pair after dinner.

It might be hard to tell in photographs, but both of the boys seemed to struggle with getting the BBQ sauce into their mouths.

Most of it ended up on their pants.

Cute for Liam...less than cute for Uncle David.

Busy Weekend

Saturday, I hosted a bridal shower for my darling friend Martha and only managed to take one picture.

Taking one picture at important events seems to be a theme of mine :)

But check out that baby...it's her sister's 1 month old.

Darling!

That evening, David's parents got tickets to the green seats at the Cardinal's game.

I'm not sure who they played, but the weather was fantastic and the food was yummy, so I was a happy clam.

Sitting was slightly less than comfortable, probably because this is was an aerial shot of me looks like...

Go Cards!

Weekly Appointment

Today, I had an appointment at my OB--and he did a sonogram to make sure The Cactus is pointing the right direction and estimate his size.

The little guy is head down, so that's no worries...but they estimated that he currently weighs 7lbs 14oz.

With 3 more weeks to bake.

That's already a big baby...and, considering the internet says he'll probably gain 1/2 to 1 lb a week, he could be massive.

Of course, I know that the baby's weight today is just an estimate...and can be a pound or two off in either direction...but what really scares me is that the measurement they had for his head 41 weeks.

Excuse me, Cactus?  Your head is measuring 4 weeks ahead?

Oh dear.

Room Progress

The room has reached an almost-done stopping point, at least until Papa Brownback comes to town to hang some things on my wall.... so let's check it out!

Here's the changing area/dresser...

The items on the shelves might get shifted around at some point... but I'm happy with it right now.

Of course, it probably won't be this clean or "put away" ever again either.

Here's the crib corner...

Since I have a lot of things hanging on the wall on the right, I decided to go simple above the crib and have just one thing....

And stepping back a bit, looking at the crib.

The little shelf is full of burp pads and other assorted items.

Finally, here's the "empty" wall.

Dad's going to hang this on the wall (because I'm scared to do it).

And also two bookshelves that he is building...he just needs to get to town!

I'm so happy to put that on my "done" list...I've still got a huge list for the next three weeks, but it's coming together!

Lungs

This morning, I was presenting at a workshop and kept loosing my breath.

Normally, my biggest presenting flaw (in my head) is that I speak too quickly...but now I have that paired with consistent huffing and puffing.

Others might say I have way bigger presentation flaws, but I'm thinking those people probably don't read my blog.

So I'm going to focus on a problem I can blame on pregnancy.

I blame pregnancy a lot these days, but I found a chart that might support my theory.

You see, The Cactus is smashing all my abdominal organs...and creating less space for my lungs to work.

No lung capacity equals embarrassing out-of-breathness while talking to a group.

Pregnant Women are Smug by Garfunkel and Oates

This song made my day....thought you might enjoy it.

It does make me wonder... do people think I'm smug because we're not telling "real" name for The Cactus?

Work...

I'm back in St. Louis!

Grandpa's home from the hospital!

I spent Thursday-Sunday in Kansas...Grandpa was in the ICU from the previous Saturday until Friday and then moved to a regular room until Sunday, when they discharged him.

As far as I know, they're still not sure what the issue was...there were a host of things "wrong," but as far as what brought him into the hospital, who knows.

This week, I'm running a workshop that runs from 8 to 4:30 every day.  After school got out for the summer, I had been popping into school every day or two to do things, but hadn't really been working hard.

Man, standing on my feet and presenting all day wipes a girl out... especially a girl who is nearing 37 weeks preggo.

My feet swelled quickly, which makes sense when you consider that I look like this.

Geesh.

He needs to come out so someone else can hold him for a while :)

KC

I'm off to KC until Sunday.  My grandfather's been in the ICU since Saturday and, while Mom says his condition is improving, it's hard to be 4 hours away.  Since driving is rough for me, my mother-in-law is graciously playing chauffeur and driving me.  Thank God--my doctor was only ok with my traveling this late if I wasn't traveling alone.

Keep Grandpa in your thoughts and prayers.

In other (happier) news... Baby Brady is officially due 1 month from today!

Holy Crap.  I need to do some laundry, install the car seat, and go shopping.

Nursing Bra

I bought a nursing bra today... and it was way more difficult than I had expected.

Stores that I had coupons/discounts to don't carry nursing bras...Kohl's and Penney's were a no-go.  So I decided to suck it up and go to Motherhood Maternity.  The salesclerk was trying REALLY hard to be helpful, but you could totally tell that she had no idea what she was talking about.  She recommended I start out with at least 3-6 bras, even though I told her that I wanted to get just one for now and wait until The Cactus arrived before I bought more in case things change in the knocker area.

She agreed, saying that one of her friends had told her that too.  "Actually, my friend is majoring in that...you know, breast feeding."

What?  It's possible to major in breast feeding???  I should have asked more questions, but I was trying so hard not to laugh at this sweet, uninformed girl.

As I was checking out, she also gave me a pamphlet on donating cord blood, "Because, you know, it benefits science."

Thank God for that girl...it really took my mind off the SIZE of bra I was buying.  Because that was not cute or adorable.

Last Minute Baby Worries

I'm feeling like we're finally getting ready for the baby to be here.  After our five (yes, five) generous showers, I only have a few more things let to get to feel "ready."

And here they are...

Pack N Play and sheet sets

Swing/Rocker

Bottles (I bought 1 each of three different kinds... will probably stock up after I see if he hates any of them)

Mattress Cover (we have one, but think one more might be a good idea)

Tummy Time Play Mat 

2 more day packs of cloth diapers

1 more small wet bag...and maybe another big one

Nursing cover

I'm sure there are more things I need...but the great part about this is that nothing is "vital" to the baby coming home and/or surviving.  

I ordered a breast pump yesterday...which was surprisingly exciting for me.  Luckily, my flexible spending account at work will pay for that, but I still managed to find a super good deal.  

I love good deals.

Speaking of deals, I've been crazily attempting to manage my coupons and gift cards in order to maximize the savings while still getting the "right" stuff for our little guy.

Baby stuff is hard...but I'm lucky that I have some friends I can call/text in a panic at stores.  Thank goodness for people who understand my neuroses.

Lebanon Baby Shower

This past weekend, David and I traveled to his hometown for a baby shower.

It was awesome--David's parents have some really creative friends, so the decor was fantastic.

Of course, I only got one photo...because I was too busy eating and looking at everything.

They even used the quilt that Grandma made as part of the decorations.

The tables all had centerpieces that had various owl themes... names we could use "Owlbert, Owlexander" etc and other things from David's childhood.  

We also received some very generous, personal gifts.  The baby might never wear the same outfit more than once for the next 6-9 months :)  He also received a car seat, so he can come home from the hospital!

Outside of the shower, the weekend was pretty good.  We got to spend time in David's home town--we hadn't been there since LAST Easter.

Shameful, I know.

The only shadow over the weekend was that my grandpa went to the hospital so Mom and Grandma weren't able to come.  He's still in the ICU...keep him in your prayers.

Sausage Hands

To the tune of Smelly Cat...

Sausage Hands,

Sausage Hands,

Why are you so fat?

 Sausage Hands,

Sausage Hands,

It's not your fault.

Turns out, that trying to walk 3 miles at 35 weeks pregnant during a heat advisory makes me all puffy.

Who would have guessed?

I don't think Maggie's dealing with the heat very well either.

She's been sleeping like this...I think her undercarriage gets hot.

In the summer time...

...when the weather is hot, 

I don't just sit around and complain, promise.

I'm trying SUPER hard to be productive.

For instance, I hung the second shelf AND sewed The Cactus his changing pad cover. 

 I love the colors.

I decided to keep the mirror there AND stagger the shelves, mostly because I'm going to put the sweet window Mom had made in the place I was considering sticking the mirror.

I need to get some sort of basket for diaper needs and bolt the changing pad to the dresser and that area is done.

Hello sigh of relief.

I also made some pillow covers to match the quilt and the crib skirt.

Thank goodness Grandma gave me the leftover scraps from the quilt!

The back of each of the pillows is leftover minky from the changing pad... I love the way it feels, but minky is a pain in the butt to sew with.  I was going to use more of the scraps to make a little stuffed owl, but now that's not happening unless I get a rush of energy.

A girl can hope, right?

Also, I know that nothing goes in the crib but the baby.   But since he's still safely inside me, I'm going to store stuff in there for now :)

I'm also trying to figure out what's going above the crib...so I busted out craft paper to get a visual of where things might go without putting holes in the wall...

 So... my idea now is that it's going to be this print (Link) 

from Stinkerpants surrounded by yellow embroidery hoops with leftover quilt fabric inside.  And an orange clock.

Hard to explain....

That, or I'm going to scrap it and make a banner with the fabric.

Or I might move everything around.  Who knows.

Like I said, only one wall is done.

I'll leave you today with a shot of my poison ivy.

 It's hard to tell, but it's getting better.

And I'm going to say that my legs are swollen from the heat.

Not just large.

Oooof

I'm used to being a fairly productive person most of the time, and this whole pregnancy thing is making it harder and harder...plus it's hot, which makes even non-pregnant me lethargic.  And I have poison ivy all over my right leg, which is a bit annoying...

So, to summarize, I'm kind of broken lately.  I hobbled downstairs a couple hours ago to offer to make dinner and David suggested he just pick something up...he returned with a yummy dinner and a sweet card.  The card actually has a cartoon of a dog swallowing a Frisbee on it...the inside says, "This too shall pass."

Awww, how sweet.  The only way he can top the card and dinner is to go get me Dairy Queen later :)

Kansas Shower Weekend

I was blessed to have an awesome shower in Kansas over the weekend.

My aunt Sue and cousins Becky & Lisa threw me a shower in my mom's hometown...

I received some awesome gifts, including a little bit of Royal Purple.

Which we needed to balance out the bombardment of Old Gold in the closet right now.

He received TONS of awesome things--clothes, blankets, bath stuff, carriers...you know, all those things that a baby needs.

I also received THREE homemade quilts--The Cactus is a lucky little guy.

This is the quilt that my grandma Stainbrook made for him.

She let me pick out the pattern and the fabric.  Then she did all the hard work of creating an heirloom.

I love it.

Love.

My mom had this made to match the quilt... isn't it awesome? 

The lady who paints her nails did it after looking at a photograph of the quilt.

The word Cactus can be removed after we announce his "real" name and replaced...

but the REALLY cool part is that the cactus on the right has "David & Darcie Brady" hidden in the script AND the little owl is purple (for K-State) with Gold wings that have "MU" hidden in them.

 I can't wait to get the nursery all decorated with his new stuff!

Extreme Couponing

Lately, I've been quite a bit more lethargic than I typically am...which I realized over the weekend when I watched several episodes of Extreme Couponing in a row.

I hadn't ever seen this show...and couldn't turn it off.  I also couldn't make myself be productive (or even constructive), so I watched.

First of all--I think these women must have a single-minded focus on saving money.  It's impressive to walk out of a store with $2700 worth of merchandise for like $30 or something like that.  However, I have no desire to start doing this--I have a fear of too much junk (I think the baby makes me want to purge like crazy) and these people are accumulating stuff just because it's free.  Seriously, they had these twins on who had HUGE stockpiles of diapers--but neither had kids or was even considering kids in the near future.  They just stored it.

This other lady had over 400 rolls of toilet paper stored in her shower.  I think I would rather have that shower usable.

They also showed this couple who managed to do two months of grocery shopping in one run--but that means that they're eating NOTHING fresh and won't be having dairy very long into that two months.  I have no desire to eat that much processed food--because she didn't buy anything that could be considered "ingredients."  It was all pre-made and pre-packaged.

Yeah, that whole thing is so not for me.  I think I'll keep shopping for generics and at the Farmer's Market.  Of course, the people who are into this problem think I'm nutso for trying to run while pregnant.  It takes all kinds, right?

I can't make decision

 So...back to shelves.  I cannot make a decision to save my life.

I have decided that there needs to be another shelf.  I just can't decide where.

Here's my first choice--above the original shelf, but pretty darn high.
I'm thinking for "breakables" that the Cactus won't be allowed to touch.  Not that he has any yet, but I'm sure that there will be things that I will need to display and protect, right?

Here's another option--it's what David wants. 

He wants to move the (awesome, btw) orange mirror and place the other shelf staggered like this.

What do you guys think?  I'm not going to rush on this since my drill broke and I have to wait for the new one to get here...but I am getting ready for this room to be done!

Less than seven weeks, people!