Month: March 2012

Categories
Everything Else Pregnancy

Babies Room Update

My parents came into town this past weekend for the consignment sale & to help get the babies’ room more set up. Friday night, we stayed up too late cheering on NCSU’s loss to Kansas. Dad put together the changing table that will be in the den. We also cleaned out everything left in the nursery except for Jason’s desk which he moved to the center of the room & covered in plastic.

Saturday morning came early, even with sleeping in. Mom & I went to Lowes, bought rods for the babies’ closet & picked out paint. After much looking & getting confused by all things green, with the help of two nice strangers, we chose Valspar’s Mountain Green {I think?}. Dad trimmed off the room in the blue tape. My aunt was recruited to help paint, so she joined my parents rolling away. Jason took apart his old, broken dresser then put together his new IKEA one. A college friend stopped by {hi M!} & we caught up while everyone else worked. I felt bad about that, but my Dad insisted I not paint.

nursery {take 1}

I love the color of the room! It’s brighter than we thought it would be, but I think it’s very cheery for a nursery. And will off-set the dark furniture we will fill the room with {polka dot baskets will go in dresser, Costco rug on the floor, trash can already lined with a wet bag}.

We did our first load of baby laundry Saturday! I folded blankets, bibs & hung up the new clothes we’d received as gifts. I then used the rest of the hangers we had as well as ran to Target for more hangers {I think 110 total!}, so I could hang up the newborn & 0-3 month hand-me-down clothes {thanks to J & A!} in their closet. The top shelf will be emptied off when the other changer/dresser is put together. I hung up the clothes stacked in the bottom Sunday & the rest will be cleaned out once the cribs are built.I also loaded the den changer with cloth diapers, covers & AIOs {that I have yet to wash} & the few newborn disposables & wipes we’ve received as gifts as well as elastic-bottomed sleepers & swaddlers. Can you tell the babies are pretty set for clothes?!

Sunday, we took another trip to Lowes for a cloth diaper trash can & white outlet covers after Mom & I went to church & a grocery store run. They left that afternoon & husband & I were both pretty tired. I got a second wind though & did another baby stuff laundry load. This time, I tackled the linen closet & washed & folded blankets, crib sheets & baby washcloths. I love that all of that is stacked & ready for the babies! I’d say my “nesting” urges have set in. 🙂

Categories
Everything Else Pregnancy

My First Consignment Sale

Over the years, I’ve heard great things about local consignment sales. Big over-whelming ones at the state fairgrounds, filled to the brim with fabulous deals. Y’all know I love a great deal.

One of the reasons I chose to join the local moms of multiples group was the fabulous things I’d heard about their sale. So when I heard the Spring sale date of last weekend, I called the fam to see if they’d come to town. The TMOTT sale opens Friday evening for members only & they allow pregnant members a helper as well as a five minute head start. I knew Jason had to work, so it was perfect that my mom & aunt joined me. I thought I could bring a helper as well as a guest {for $5}. I was mistaken about the guest though; the sale opens to members’ guests at 8p while we were able to shop at 6. It worked out okay though. Mom & Sue switched off as one would take things to the car & the other would shop or stand by our loot.

Friday night at TMOTT sale

So what’d we get & for how much?!

Here was our wish list. For my Nana at the beach, an inexpensive pack-n-play & sheets for it. For my mom {she has a crib already & had picked up a pack-n-play at a church sale}, cribs sheets, crib mattress pads, pack-n-play sheets. For my friend Beth, shoes for her daughter. For us, a second infant rock-n-play sleeper {recommended by multiple twin moms}, an Ergo carrier, a jogger stroller, pack-n-play sheets, bibs, matching or twin themed outfits. Also thought I’d look at breast pumps & bottles.

We found a Graco pack-n-play for Nana {$25} & the rock-n-play {in white for $20} in the large items area during the 5:45p preview/walk through & Mom ran right back to them when the shopping doors opened. I *think* there might have been one jogger stroller but someone quicker than us found & swiped it up. There weren’t any Ergo carriers & I got a little unsure when it came to used {by who knows who} breast pumps.

We also found the sheets, mattress pads, waterproof pads, bibs {boy, girl & neutral ones grab bags} & bottles {1 bag of small & 5 big Medela ones for $9} we were looking for. Four precious pairs of shoes for little R {$10 total}. I grabbed two twin/matching outfits; both 6-9 month sizes. One is blue/pink onesies that say Peace, Love, Twins & the other is matching long sleeve/pants outfits covered in red crabs. I love them both {although I forgot to photo them before I washed & gave our 6 month+ stash to mom to store}!

R's shoes, floor mats & sleeper

Not on my list, but I also purchased a soft boa blue/green Boppy cover {$4}, 20 ABC  foam floor letters {$10} as well as an itzbeen timer {$6} that ended up being broken~our only sale fail {luckily I’d bought my two on sale & with Walmart gift card}. I don’t know how much Mom spent, but I spent a total of $77 dollars which was a total I’m really happy with.

The sale was really organized & much less chaotic than I expected. I’m looking forward to the fall sale & next spring’s sale for big baby clothes & shoes & walking toys!

All links are unaffiliated.

Categories
Pregnancy

Twenty Six Weeks

Saturday, I spent the day in ready-to-paint chill clothes & didn’t take a photo. But I did snap these photos Sunday afternoon.

{hand-me-down Gap maternity top & Motherhood jeans}

How far along? 26w

Maternity clothes? Yes. I love that I’m wearing a mix of maternity hand-me-downs from friends & maternity or old clothes of my own. Makes me smile thinking of my friend as I put on a top or jeans each morning.

Weight Gain? Was up 25 lbs as of a couple weeks ago & I haven’t weighed myself since.

Stretch Marks? Ok. So I’m admitting that the small red dot that appeared a week or so ago on my right side & hasn’t gone away & has maybe even grown a little, is probably the beginning of a stretch mark. Another welcome to the multiple mommy club?!

Sleep? I’m getting used to never sleeping for more than 2-3 hours at any one time. We try to go to bed by 11 but it’s sometimes midnight before I’m asleep. I usually get up around 230 & 530 to pee & then the alarm goes off at 7a. Guess just another ‘getting ready for infants’ sign.

Movement? Yep. Lots down low from baby A & I can rub the head or bootie of baby C who’s hanging out up top.

Genders? Baby A is a still a boy & C is a girl.

What I Miss? Baby B always. Endless energy.

Food cravings? Enjoyed the heck out of Sweet Tomatoes salad bar with a friend Thursday night. And fruit & cereal & Greek Yogurt are always the stand-bys if nothing else sounds good.

Food aversion? No aversions as much as by the time dinner time rolls around I’m not hungry for a huge meal. We did lots of cereal & then sandwiches later on in the evenings this week.

Labor signs? None, thankfully.

Belly button in or out? Still in but getting smaller.

What I’m Looking Forward to? More things crossed off our done-before-the-babes-arrive list. Like putting together nursery furniture, setting up the nursery & the closet. Seeing the babes at our Monday morning doctor appt & me *hopefully* passing the GD test.

Symptoms? Thank God the feet swelling that plagued me last week wasn’t an issued this one. I’m still spent at the end of a long day. Sadly for my parents, almost nothing got done before their arrival in the form of cleaning & cooking & shopping. Luckily, they’re cool with that, & mom brought food & helped clean.

Weekly Wisdom? When you’re feeling low, share it! I felt better getting it out there & the support was/is amazing. Also focus on the positive ~ not everyone is thoughtless. I was happy to hear many nice comments in regards to this pregnancy this week from people I work with & strangers alike too. And a super nice man at Chick-Fila even carried over my tray of food when I had my hands full Thursday.

Milestones? Almost in the last trimester. According to Baby Center, they’re almost 14 inches long {the size of a English cucumber} & about 1 & 2/3 pounds & getting fatter by the day. They’re also able to hear better & inhaling & exhaling small amounts of fluid to practice breathing.

Categories
Everything Else Reading

The Violets of March

Sarah Jio’s book has March in the title, so we thought it’d be fitting to make it my book club’s March pick. I finished The Violets of March quickly in at the beginning of February {I’m trying to read ahead before the babies’ arrival}, but I had held off on posting my review until after our meeting {& then I forgot & this post got misplaced in the shuffle}.

I was late to my book club on the night of the discussion {& missed all the book talk}, but the overall thought of the book was blah. There wasn’t a long passionate discussion. No one loved it that much. I’m sure a few ladies spoke out about really disliking it.

As usual, I didn’t *hate* it {it takes a lot for me to hate a book}. But I did think it was kinda predictable & yet unlikely. I wasn’t obsessed with any one of the characters. I wished we’d heard more on some & less on others.

I did love the scenery of Banbridge Island: the beaches, little restaurants, & plants. That made me wish for a beach getaway spot & grateful that I have one with my grandparents on OIB.

Would I recommend The Violets of March? I guess so. If you wanted a fluff book that wasn’t exactly ‘chick lit’ but still one you didn’t have to think too deeply about.

Categories
Pregnancy

Moody McWeepy

I thought about saving this whine until my 26 week update, but I think some things deserve their own post.

I really try to just talk about the good things of this pregnancy here {& there are so many} because at the bottom of it all, I’m really just grateful to be pregnant. No matter how rough & crazy it is.

But I want to remember & put it out there that it’s not all sunshine & rainbows & roses. Sometimes it’s just tough.

Tough when after a day of work & a trip around our local Target, I’m too tired to sit up to write baby shower thank you notes much less stand up to make dinner or search for my remote control. Too tired to find the remote y’all. I was that spent Tuesday night. Thank goodness, Jason made me a sandwich, moved my new {from Target} maternity sleep bras/tanks/underoos from the washer to the dryer & used his remote to cue up our DVR.

Tough when I look in the mirror at night in a tank top & cry about missing my {not super but much more} toned/thinner arms. Then I remember that I was too stressed to work out when we were in the throws of 20+ cycles of TTC last summer {cue grateful tears}, & then I was too busy concentrating on growing triplets to work out this fall & winter {cue I-miss-baby-B tears}. Now, I’m rocking short sleeve tops anyways. My flabby, pale arms are part of my current trophies proving I’m been doing the best I can to build & grow big, healthy babIES.

Or tough is when a coworker who doesn’t know me well finds out I’m pregnant with twins & is amazed that I’m out & about because “she’d be rocking in a corner going crazy at that thought”. And I wanted to scream back, it should be triplets! Instead I just said we’re thrilled.

Tough is hearing at work {while feeling peppy & cute in a new ON top & khakis} that I “looked really tired the other day”. WTF. I said “Thanks! ::smirk:: I probably was” & walked on. WTF. Don’t people know by now, if you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all?! Especially to a pregnant lady.

Tough when I see cute, tiny baby bumps & know mine was never that cute & compact. And that I’ll never know what it feels like to be pregnant with “just” one baby. I’ll never know what’s it’s like to prepare with one-on-the-way excitement versus our three turned two-on-the-way mix of sadness & overwhelming joy. And yet I feel okay with that.

Friends, this is not a cry for help or a pity Suz party. I’m fine. Just documenting life at 25.5 weeks pregnant with multiples.