Cribs, Dressers and Furniture Rearranging

(As always, you can click on any of the pictures so view them larger.)

So the crib and dresser (that mom and dad Barnes bought us) came into Babies R Us. Andrew borrowed Robert Hutton's truck today and drove it to Jackson to pick them up! Then the Hutton men came over and helped unload the furniture and move furniture around. We couldn't have done it without them (truly). I took a lot of pictures. A LOT.

Here was the "baby's room" as of last night, before anything was moved out. Note: we are continuing to keep my desk/computer in the baby's room. So it will be a combo. baby's room/my desk space. I only took pictures of the part of the room that would be changing (so not of my computer desk, etc.)


All of the furniture pieces you see there are now in the spare bedroom on the other end of the house.

We had to try to figure out how we were going to fit the new furniture (new crib and new dresser) and different furniture (smaller bed and matching chest from the other end of the house) to all fit into the baby's room. So last night, I measured everything (or found out the measurements for the new furniture) and made to-scale paper cut outs of the part of the room that would be affected by the move. (Let me just clarify, they were approximately to-scale...because 1" on paper equaled 19.625" in real life...so when I made the cut-outs, I obviously had to just get close to exact measurements...there was no way I could measure an exact 2.03 inches, for example.) I did this because, I simply can not visualize things without having something concrete to actually see if it will work. I also did this because, Andrew was convinced we wouldn't have enough room in here for a full-sized bed, and I really wanted to keep a real bed in this room. So I had to prove my point and make it look good on paper. :) Andrew just came in here while I'm blogging and wanted me to tell you that he was very proud of me for making to-scale drawings/cut outs. Ha. So here are my cut outs. The pink paper represents only the part of the room affected by the move, but the room is actually bigger than this, but I didn't worry about that part of the room for the cut-out purposes. You will see the full-sized bed I wanted to end up in here, the baby crib, the new dresser that matches the crib, and an antique tall chest of drawers that was in another bed room. Oh, I will say, the window parts were not at all to scale, I just stuck them on the drawing to keep my bearings straight. And yes, I actually measured where the closet (which has accordion doors) started from the wall, and how far the door sticks out when it is in a half-fold. :) I had to make sure any furniture we put over there wouldn't be in the closet door's way.



Today, before the Huttons came over to help us unload the new furniture and move around existing furniture, Andrew and I somehow managed to get a good part of the moving process done, just the two of us (mainly him). This included swapping two beds (the queen into the spare bedroom and the full into the baby's room) throughout the house, getting them (mostly) put back together, moving the tall antique chest into the baby's room, scooting existing pieces of furniture around, unloading all furniture drawers, cleaning off all lamps and things from the tops of to-be-moved furniture and doing preliminary cleaning of furniture/sweeping of floors where furniture had long been. It definitely helped to have this done before the Huttons came.

So, back to the new furniture. Here are some pictures of it in the back of the Hutton's truck with the Hutton men and Andrew getting ready to unload it. So excited! The dresser came fully assembled (just had to put the legs on it) and the crib was completely disassembled. The boxes weighed 130 and 140 pounds!




Robert Sr. and Seth with the crib (I'm not sure how they got suckered into carrying this instead of Andrew...hehe...I feel kinda bad!)




Andrew & Robert Jr. then Robert Sr. bringing in the dresser. (Robert Jr. just had major surgery on his shoulder about a month or so ago. How/why was he picking this up, I have no clue? Robert Sr. realizes this 3/4 of the way in and takes over. Robert Jr, "But, I wasn't using that arm to lift!")





The guys getting existing furniture out of Oliver's room, carrying it into the spare bedroom on the other end of the house.



Watch the doorway!!!!!



Watch the overhead lights!!!!!!



Watch the doorway, again!!!!! (Andrew's face cracks me up here.)




Amazingly, we had more room than anticipated and fit an extra piece of furniture into Oliver's room! We put the matching antique dressing table where we had originally planned to put the tall antique dresser and ended up putting the tall antique dresser on the other side of the bed (where there is blank space in my to-scale drawing.) :)



Andrew and Robert Sr. moving more furniture out of baby's room & into the spare bedroom. Love Andrew's face!



Bye guys! Thanks for your help! (The baby crib box just stayed in the living room since it wasn't assembled and all the parts had to come out, anyway.)



Andrew starting the assembly of the baby crib. ...Totally not amused that I'm STILL taking pictures. LOL.









All done!



Now for Mama and Oliver (28 wks & 5 days) next to his crib! (You can see the dust ruffle (freshly starched and ironed) in this one!) Only 79 more days (give or take) and he can be in the crib!!!


Beautiful crib! Now all we need is the mattress (which we don't have yet) and then we can put on one of those super cute crib sheets I blogged about before!



Beautiful combo dresser! Thanks again Chris and Debra!



After all of that, I completely forgot to get a final picture of the room. HA! Oh well. I have no doubt there will be plenty more pictures of the room as more stuff comes together!

"DENA......ugggggggh....no more pictures...please!"
"But I have to show how big the crib box was!"



Then we dragged the cardboard/packing stuff outside and had a bonfire.

The end.

Anemia and Hiccups

So yesterday, I passed my glucose screening with flying colors. I'm not even close to the range of being possibly diabetic, so PRAISE THE LORD for His goodness! Its these things that are so easy to take for granted. The drinking of the orange liquid really wasn't that bad. 5 ounces was a very small amount, it was just way too sweet. Andrew even tried it before I did (I was given a bottle with twice the amount of what I was required to take). He said, "Hmmm, SUNKIST!" :) The worst part was not being able to drink any water afterward to get the taste out. But I chewed some gum.

The blood-drawing was fairly normal for me. I just stayed in the chair for about...5-7 mins. afterward and made the nurse go get me some water. Hehe. I told her ahead of time what usually happens to me so she wouldn't be too worried when I started to look a little funny.

I found out I am a little anemic though, which is fairly common in pregnant women because the baby is using up so much iron. Event though I'm taking iron through my prenatal vitamin, they told me to take another iron supplement as well. No big deal.

Oh, this is fun...I have recently been talking with some friends about baby hiccups, saying how I wasn't convinced I had felt them before, and they all said I'd probably feel them soon or maybe starting after 30 weeks. Well yesterday morning in the waiting room of the doctor's, I am 100% certain Oliver had the hiccups! It was so sweet. Last night, he may have had them too. It was extremely rhythmic little shaking movements again, but it felt a little different. It almost felt like tiny kicks in perfect rhythm, but I think that is highly unlikely so I'm sticking with my hiccup theory for the second time. He was probably just in a different position or something, so it felt a little stronger.

I like it when other people get to feel Oliver move. Last night, Susan Weiand got to feel him kick, and last week Lisa Repair got to feel him wiggle. So so fun. I always want Andrew to feel him rolling around, too. :)

I told my doctor that I still usually feel Oliver laying transverse, but sometimes he feels slightly diagonal. She felt my belly and said it felt accurate to what I was saying, and that he still had plenty of room to move around in there without being head down yet. I asked when he should turn head down, and she said usually in the 30's weeks. 34 or 36, she said, is where babies would usually be turned and stay that way until birth. His heartbeat was 156 BPM yesterday. As far as we know, everything seems good and I'm measuring right on track! Again, God is good for His sustaining of our lives!

Well, tomorrow morning I go in for my glucose screening. (28 weeks!) I can say I'm not at all looking forward to it. One, because I've heard the drink is super gross (mine is Orange flavored, but it is 50 grams in 5 ounces of pretty much straight liquid sugar that you have to down in under 5 minutes then you can't eat or drink anything including water afterward)...some people get nauseated or vomit because of it (and I'll be drinking it in the car on the way to the dr's office an hour before my blood is to be drawn), and 2) I don't enjoy having my blood drawn because the blood-letting makes my blood pressure drop and I get reaaaaaaaaaaaaallly woozy and almost pass out. (No, its not a "fear of needles/mental" thing because it NEVER happens when I get a shot, just when I have blood taken OUT of my body.) But, it is mandatory and worth it, I suppose. Nothing else too exciting is supposed to happen at the doc. I'll just have the standard weight/blood pressure/urine check, and they'll measure my fundal height. But it is another trip to Jackson, and we have lots of errands, as always.

Just wanted to give an update on that! I won't know anything about the results until next week sometime, I'm sure. Not expecting anything to be bad, either. Its just a precautionary measure they make everyone do.

1) Baby Clothes and 2) the Bedding is here!

Before I start, let me suggest that you click on the pictures below to make them larger so you can see more of the detail. :)

The UPS man came today and brought the baby bedding I had ordered (on sale) from www.babygap.com . (I blogged about it below.) I was so excited, you have no idea. The linens are even more beautiful in person than online! I am super impressed with the quality. All of them are 250 thread count 100% cotton and have all-around elastic for extra durability. I love it when quality stuff is inexpensive!!! Shown here is what we ordered (plus 3 white sheets that I got just in case Oliver is particularly sick and I want to be able to bleach a sheet if need be. I didn't bother showing the solid white sheets in the pic.) In the pic, the bottom fabric is the dust ruffle and the rest are fitted sheets. After receiving all of these pieces, I decided that I am going to send one of the solid white sheets back and get this in place of it. (Why not, since I think I went a little overboard with THREE white sheets...and the return and exchange shipping is FREE to do so!) I wonder if i went a little overboard with 7 fitted sheets...but....the book I'm reading seems to say that is not too many to have on hand, and we will hopefully be able to use these sheets for all of our future little boy children, and some of the sheets could even be used for our future little girl children...however many that should end up being.





Now, onto the subject of baby clothes. So, when I was in Jackson last week looking at consignment shops for maternity clothes (which ended up being 100% unfruitful), I decided to take a peek at the baby clothes they had there, even though I originally had no intention of doing so. Why was I not going to look at baby clothes, you ask? Mainly because I have heard from everyone that one of the top items I will probably receive at a baby shower are baby clothes, whether I've put them on my registry or not (and I will mainly not be putting them on my registry). So, my tentative plan was to mostly try and wait until after the baby shower to start gathering baby clothes, to determine what I still needed at that point. Also, I have had lots of people tell me not to buy too many baby clothes to begin with anyway, since he will a) grow out of one size into another so quickly and b) because I won't really know what type of clothing he is most comfy in/works best for us until we try a few things out. So buying clothing has been on the back burner at this point. But...back to my story where I decided to take a gander anyway. Let me say, I am so glad I did. Short version of the story - at two consigment shops, I ended up getting 13 pieces of baby clothes for a total of $24 including tax. And all of those clothes look either brand new, nearly new, or very gently used. That is an average of $1.85 per baby clothing item. (Yes, the nerd in me rears its head once again.) Now, for the quality of the clothing, I just could NOT pass these things up. You can not buy baby clothes that inexpensive any other way. And considering the condition the clothes were in, and the fact that all of them are really great/major brands (everything from Polo/Ralph Lauren to Tommy Hillfigger to Baby Gap to Carters, well....I just could not NOT get them! :) How did I find such bargains, you ask??? Most of these items I found either on a $1 rack or had been at the consignment shop long enough that they had been continually marked down and marked down and marked down until they were something like 75% off what they had originally been priced. You will also notice that I spread out the sizes of what I bought. Even a few items being...kind of...not on the radar for a couple years or so (hehe)...but...they were so inexpensive and such high quality that I couldn't make myself put them back!!! He'll need them eventually!!! Also, I made sure that there were no stains/tears/worn spots or any other red flags on any clothing that I bought. They all seem to have good diaper access and good reinforced material where the snap closures are.

Let the nerdiness continue as I detail my bargains below...*ahem*....all descriptions will be for clothing Left to Right, picture by picture.

Here we have a newborn sized onesie by Carter's that I COULD not pass up because I want to get a picture of Oliver wearing it with Andrew and Oliver, Andrew and my dad in the pic, and if Chris (Andrew's dad) comes to visit while Oliver is still small enough (he probably won't), I want to get a pic of the three of them, too. I will say, I totally "splurged" on this item and paid the most out of anything I bought that day...yes...I paid...$4 plus tax for this...hehe. I didn't even LET myself consider/look at anything that wasn't in the $2 and-something-range or below, except for this item because it beckoned me like the Sirens. :D Anyway, this appears to be brand new (without tags). Still a really good deal, seeing as though you couldn't buy this item new with tags for that cheap.

Next is a long sleeved onesie from Baby Gap that appears to be nearly new or gently used. It is size 0-3 months. How CUTE is that little car?!

Next is a long sleeved onesie with stars and footballs from Carter's that is size 3 months. It appears to be brand new without tags or nearly new.



Here is a fishie onesie from Carter's that appears slightly used, size 3-6 months. Here Fishie, Fishie!

I really love the next item because it reminds me of Andrew since he likes to hunt. It is a long-sleeved onesie from Baby Gap, size 3-6 months. It appears to be in Brand new without tags to Nearly new condition.

Next is just a simple blue onesie from Spencer's. I honestly don't know anything about this company...but it was something like 90 cents, so I figured, 'hey, simple onesie, we'll try it out.' It is in the 3-6 month size. I'm also not completely sure about the bottom part...it looks like it may be cut really high/really big for the booty area. We'll check it out. It looks to be in nearly new condition.




Here are some Ralph Lauren navy blue pants in the 3-6 month size. They are SO STINKING cute and look to be in Nearly New condition.

Next, one of my favorite things I got that day. This Carter's onesie (I feel like a beauty pageant "what are they wearing" announcer) is gently used and is sz. 6 months. It is a favorite because it says "Daddy's little Helper". Could your heart just melt?!

Next, a pair of brown 6-9 month Gymboree pants! They appear to be in very gently used condition. I will say, although the color shade makes them look "faded" or something, you can tell, in person, that is just they way they were made. It isn't a "this has been washed too many times" issue.



Next, a Koala Kids striped, long sleeved onesie that looks to be nearly new. It is size 12 months.

Jumping up in size significantly, I could NOT pass these up. They are too cute and I thought my dad would love them, especially. These are the cutest overalls by Koala Kids that say "Vintage Automobiles" on the center patch and then have two vintage cars stitched on the legs. On the back, it has a tag that says "1950's classic" with a little car on it. These are 18 month size.

Next, a red, green, white and yellow plaid button down by Tommy Hillfigger that appears to be Nearly New. It is size 2T.



Lastly, we have a pair of Baby Gap cargo style blue jeans in very gently used condition, size 3T (yes...that is as far as I went.) They were on the dollar rack, people. How could you pass these up?!



That is all for now. I hope you enjoyed my bargains as much as I did (although that is not likely). :)

Regarding Cankles

Oh yes. I am getting cankles. It is true. And so sad. Not pronounced, "Woah, Mom, look at that lady's cankles!" cankles...but....comparing my ankles to what they look like normally...they are...slightly fuller, now...

Andrew noticed them the other night when he was rubbing my feet (say it with me now, "awwwww"). I thought he was kidding. But no. No, he was not. (Side-story time!: back in December, I bought some knee-length shorts that were on clearance so that I could have them for this Spring. - Brought them home, showed them to Andrew, and his response? "Why did you get those? So you can show off your cankles (when you get them by next Spring)?" It was hilarious. Yes, I appreciate this type of humor. It does not at all offend me, in case you're worried. /End story.)

Hehe. It is funny because I don't have that swollen look to me (yet????) that a lot of pregnant women get, at ALL. But this must explain some of the soreness in my feet/back I've written about.

Just though you all might like to know about my cankles. Ta ta.

Oh. Not ta ta.

You can thank Andrew for the lovely new baby gaga ticker at the top of this page. I asked him, "Don't you think we should delete the floating baby widget to the left, now?" (Which is kinda freaky, in my opinion, anyway -- I mean...its a baby floating around in circles in amniotic fluid...for real?) But he likes the idea of multiple baby tickers/widgets on here. In fact, he suggested we put a whole bunch on here. He scares me sometimes.

*Squeal*

I'm working on baby stuff (of course). I just registered for this. How stinking cute is it???? Look at the picture of the baby wrapped up. TOO. CUTE.

Terminal Heartburn and Baby "Stuff"

Ok, still dying of heartburn.

Need to go to bed, but I am working on baby stuff. I am always working on baby stuff. I'm sure people think I should be done by now, but seriously, this is the never ending project. I think it is, in general, but I think that it an even bigger project because I need to research everything to make sure we're getting "the right stuff" (whatever that means).

What exactly does "working on baby stuff" entail, you ask? Here is a short, NOT AT ALL exhaustive, list:
*Reading up in my Baby Bargains book/the messageboard/various reviews online/other messageboards & picking the brains of those who have gone before me (especially recently) about baby gear/baby stuff...and taking that information and either buying or (mostly) registering for products. This can also include calling manufacturers and/or sellers to ask MORE questions about the products (NOT. kidding).
* Studying various medical/informational things on labor/birth, etc etc etc. I want to be an informed woman. I don't want to just show up for the birth and wonder what my body is doing and why I don't know how to help myself cope with the pain.
*A million household projects that simply need to be done before baby gets here, because they either involve Oliver's room and are in the way, or will never get done after he is born, probably.
*Sleeping more...because I need more sleep...and if I don't get my nap in, I may burn holes into someone's skull with my eyeballs...or at least...that's what I feel like I could do when I need a nap and it gets pushed back and back and back, or if I dare get pushed to the point of not getting a nap (WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!). At this point, almost no matter what is going on, barring a true true emergency, Andrew actually COMMANDS me to go take a nap and take any measures I have to (including turning off all phones/barracading myself in my room with a fan) to make sure I get a nap. He knows. He lives with me. He understands the truth. Hee
*Making/keeping up with lists/information on the computer as I remember things like things I need to talk to my doc about, creating my birth plan, making a list of things that need to be packed to take to the hospital with us when B-day arrives, a list of honey-dos or to-dos before baby arrives, things we need to buy before Oliver arrives.

I know we have just over three months until his due date. But I also know that it is not smart to wait until the last minute to make sure these things are done, because lots of babies come early, and complications could even arise toward the end (or at any time.)...While I don't anticipate these things happening, I want to be as prepared as possible as soon as we can be. Realistically, I'd like to be "done" (ha) in 2 months, not three.

I could seriously work on these things every day, continuously, and still find things to do. Plus all the other normal happenings ons (are those words?) of the household that I'm trying to juggle. I'm not complaining, I'm just saying...this is what I'm trying to accomplish.

And that pretty much eats up my day.

We were in Jackson today and nailed down our crib and dresser/changing area of choice. This is a weight lifted off, as this has been one of the big big projects I have been working on. This is what we decided upon: This crib and dresser They are so so pretty in person. The pictures don't do them justice. I'd like to thank Andrew's parents, because they bought them for us! We should be able to go pick them up when they come in the store next week!!!

So, although we're registering for most things, we went ahead and bought several items tonight online because they were on sale and at a place where we can't register, anyway. I mean, even though we're putting most things on our registry, we'll need to end up buying lots of whats now on our registry, ourselves after the baby shower/gifts stop coming in, etc. I am really really excited with our choices, and I hope when they arrive next week I am as happy as I think I'm going to be with them. Everything I've read about the brand/quality, etc is excellent, and the prices were excellent to very great, overall, I think...so, I'm excited. Have I mentioned that? These were some of the pieces we bought online tonight (technically last night, now.) bed skirt, jungle printed sheet, striped sheet, and another animal sheet (the blue, not the pink one) .

What do you think. Do you love them?

Ok. Must sleep. I think Oliver is already asleep, but probably by the time I do my nightly routine, he will be awake again. Sweet little monkey.

Counting to 100...

Wow...we have fewer than 100 days left now until Oliver's due date. Will we make it that long? Will we go longer (more likely)?

26 weeks pregnant today. I have a hard time putting my socks on/doing anything that requires much bending/pushing of my legs toward my belly/putting my belly toward my legs. Its because it sort of requires (or feels like it does) my to uterus bend. And let me tell you...this thing does NOT bend...at least not right now. And attempting to make it bend hurts. really. bad. Hehe. I feel kind of ridiculous.

In other news...i think I'm DYING of heartburn. For real. Nothing I can take OTC touches it. And its not a matter of just avoiding certain foods. I can walk across the floor and have heartburn. I can drink ice water and get heartburn. Seriously. I hope I remember to call my doc. and ask for a prescription on Monday for something I can actually take. One of my friends told me she got a prescription for something for the heartburn she had while she was pregnant.

Andrew told me tonight, "I think you're getting bigger." (Meaning my belly...at least I think/hope that's what he was thinking. ha) Lol. YOU THINK? That's usually what happens as the baby grows. :)

For the sake of posterity...and for friends and family members who insist...

Here you go. Lets just all pretend this is a good picture of me. Thanks. :)

24 Week Sonogram Pictures!

These were all taken Friday before last...1/23/09 Enjoy!


Head shot 1

















Head shot 2















Two Little Feets! With TOES!















His little fist













All I can say is...BOY!

Of milestones and nutrients

Well, we still haven't uploaded the sonogram pictures from over a week ago. Sorry about that. In the meantime, short story of the dr's visit from that day is that mom and baby look perfectly fine and healthy. Praise the LORD! I think its so easy to take for granted that babies are just always going to look healthy, when in reality many babies are even found to be unhealthy in utero.

This week is a fun milestone week for baby Oliver. You can read about how God is knitting him together this week here: http://pregnancy.baby-gaga.com/calendar/week25

Nothing else really exciting to report. Except I thought I'll tell you that I always get really excited when I eat healthy/healthyish things. I start thinking about the particular nutrients baby is getting from particular things I eat. Its kind of odd how much I think about it and how excited I get about it. Like, I'll drink this pomegranate blueberry juice and think (or say to Oliver), "Baby! You're getting some Omega 3, right now! YAY!" Or when I eat fresh strawberries or bannanas I get excited that hes getting fresh fruit. If I have cereal and milk, I think how hes getting some whole grains and good dairy. If I have some beans or eggs, I get excited that hes getting some protein. If I eat a handful of nuts or some PB, i think how hes getting some healthy fats.

I think that's all for now. Ta ta.