Project Letters: done!

Here is a look at the completed letters my sis and I did for Christian's room. I think they turned out great!

Now we need to get some of our maternity pictures framed and hung. And once Christian gets here, we will frame some newborn pics of him and place those throughout his room as well. Then his room should be complete! Finally! :)

Christian's "Crib"

I wanted to post some pics of the nursery, although it's not completely done. It's still a little bare, but we will be adding photos (maternity & newborn) and cute, painted letters to the walls fairly soon. We also plan on adding a book shelf, but that will have to wait until we have everything else that we absolutely need. At least you can get an idea of how his "crib" is shaping up!

I love this door hanger!

Here is his crib with the adorable Pottery Barn Kids bedding!

A frame that matches the door hanger! Can't wait to have a picture of Christian in there!

View of the wall opposite to his crib, which includes the dresser/changing table and rocker.

This bulletin board was made by one of my co-workers- too cute!

Giff spray painted these letters a light blue, and now my sis and I are working on decorating them. Eventually, they will hang above his crib. We're hoping to get them done and hung this weekend! I will post pics of the letters as soon as they are complete!

Updated Baby Prep "Bucket List"

Since this lil' man is almost here, I thought I would update the progress of my baby bucket list.

1. Find a new place to live that actually has room for baby. *Done! We move this weekend!
2. Buy baby bedding at Pottery Barn. *Done!
3. Get glider/rocker re-upholstered- My sis was babysitting this past Saturday for a family that was having a garage sale and they were selling a glider/rocker that they no longer use. So, Stef called me to see if I wanted it. For $75, I'll take it! It's in great condition, but the fabric is white and that scares me with a new baby. So, I'm going to get it re-upholstered in brown fabric to match Christian's bedding. *Done!
4. Keep paying on the baby furniture and pay it off in January. *We are still paying on the furniture. Hopefully we can pay it off in another week or two.
5. Pick up baby furniture. *This will be done as soon as we pay it off!
6. Take birthing classes- my classes start at the very beginning of January. Can't wait! *Done! We had our last class this past Monday. I'm sad that it's over :(
7. Buy accessories for baby's room- lamp, wall mounted letters, model cars, wall art, etc... *We have a new lamp and lamp shade and the model cars....still working on the wall letters and other art work.
8. Find a pediatrician. *I have narrowed it down to 2. Now I just need to make the final decision.
9. Take maternity pictures. *Done! We took our pictures at Studio Ainsley this past weekend, and it was so much fun! I can't wait to see how they turned out!
10. Plan a weekend get-away with hubby for some relaxation. *Unfortunately, this is not going to happen. We are just too busy and have so many other expenses to worry about. But, maybe after Christian gets here, we can take a small get-away. (I'm sure my sister or my Mom would love to babysit!)
11. Prepare our dog, Hitch, for the arrival of baby. (I'm still not quite sure how we are going to accomplish this?!) *This is no longer necessary since Hitch is no longer with us :(
12. Move. *We're moving this weekend! Yay! Can't wait to get settled in and set up Christian's room!
13. Prepare nursery ASAP so it's ready when Christian decides to make his entrance! *We will be working on this for the next few weeks.
14. Organize our new place and hopefully feel somewhat settled in before baby. *We will be working on this for the next few weeks also. I am very organized, so I don't think it will take us too long to get settled in!
Other things I am working on...
*Packing my bag for the hospital
*Washing all of the baby clothes, blankets and bedding
*Attending one more baby shower, which is next weekend. Then, I will have a ton of other stuff to get organized. But, I'm not complaining! Anything for my baby is welcomed!
*Practicing my labor positions and breathing techniques
*Doing my squats and lunges to get the baby in the best position for birth
*Trying to rest when I can and sleeping as much as possible (I really need to work on this, but with everything going on, it has been tough!)
*Finally got my maternity leave worked out! I work through the end of February, and then my leave will start. That's if Christian waits that long to come!

Other than that, I am trying to remain patient. I am really starting to get uncomfortable at times and I get pooped out fairly easy, so I am ready to have this baby!

The new and improved rocker!

Before:

After:

This is the rocker that my sis picked up for Giff & I at a garage sale a few months ago for $75! We had it re-upholstered in chocolate brown micro suede. We also had it cut down so that it looks more modern. I think it turned out great! In the stores, this chair would go for over $500, but after the original cost and the re-upholstering, we only spent $275 on it! Yay! One more thing that I can check off the list! :)

First Birth Ministries

The past 2 Monday nights, Giff and I have attended our birthing class. We still have 5 more classes to go, but I feel like I have learned so much already! We are taking our classes through First Birth Ministries. It's a Christian based organization dedicated to the preparation of couples approaching childbirth using biblical principles. It's an alternative to Lamaze or Bradley classes. So far, we have been reading a lot of scripture. God tells women in the Bible that childbirth is supposed to be painful. But, maybe not as painful as the world tells us it is. Through faith, we can prepare, plan and work towards a labor that is manageable, beautiful and spiritual. As Christians, we have to rely on God through time of pain, and he will not leave our side. In fact, we can grow even closer to God as a result of ultimate submission to him during labor. God designed our bodies to give birth. The more we learn, prepare and pray, the less fear we will have during labor, as we know that our bodies are doing what they were meant to do.

The class also emphasizes a natural childbirth approach. They don't expect that every woman will be able to go without pain medication or that c-sections aren't possibilities, but they are teaching us everything we need to know to have as natural a childbirth as we feel is right for us. We have learned several breathing techniques so far that will help us control our breathing when contractions become unbearable. We are in the process of learning how to completely relax our bodies from head to toe, so that we can rest comfortably in between contractions, and so that we can let our bodies work efficiently during contractions. In our upcoming classes, we will be learning different positions we can get into during labor to help bring the baby down and hopefully shorten the amount of time we are in labor.

I am becoming so excited to have this baby, although I know labor will be difficult. I feel that these classes are truly preparing Giff and I to have the best possible birthing experience. Christian, we are ready and waiting for you to join us!

My Baby Prep "Bucket List"

I saw this on the Graco blog this morning and thought "what a great idea!"

1. Find a new place to live that actually has room for baby.

2. Buy baby bedding at Pottery Barn.

3. Get glider/rocker re-upholstered- My sis was babysitting this past Saturday for a family that was having a garage sale and they were selling a glider/rocker that they no longer use. So, Stef called me to see if I wanted it. For $75, I'll take it! It's in great condition, but the fabric is white and that scares me with a new baby. So, I'm going to get it re-upholstered in brown fabric to match Christian's bedding.

4. Keep paying on the baby furniture and pay it off in January.

5. Pick up baby furniture.

6. Take birthing classes- my classes start at the very beginning of January. Can't wait!

7. Buy accessories for baby's room- lamp, wall mounted letters, model cars, wall art, etc...

8. Find a pediatrician.

9. Take maternity pictures.

10. Plan a weekend get-away with hubby for some relaxation.

11. Prepare our dog, Hitch, for the arrival of baby. (I'm still not quite sure how we are going to accomplish this?!)

12. Move.

13. Prepare nursery ASAP so it's ready when Christian decides to make his entrance!

14. Organize our new place and hopefully feel somewhat settled in before baby.

Whew! That's a lot, but it's do-able! I will probably keep adding to this list as things come up that I haven't thought of yet. 3 1/2 months to go! Time is flying!

Since I mentioned the baby bedding in my list above, I thought I would share a picture of what it looks like...

I just love it! Simple, classic, clean and modern. The furniture we picked out is dark like in this picture, so I think Christian's room will turn out so cute!