Rocking chairs and gliders

Who knew a glider could be so expensive?! I figured they weren't cheap, since it's basically a really nice armchair that rocks. But still. I always thought I wanted a regular ol' rocking chair for a baby's room, but after seeing these gorgeous gliders out there, I've changed my mind. But hello, I don't think we can afford to spend a ton of money on one. Look at these:

Carter by Room & Board ($799)

Attractive American Rocker from Land of Nod ($649)

Luca Glider by Monte Design ($945!)

The Luca is my favorite. I sat in one many months ago while shopping at a baby boutique in the Pearl District and couldn't believe how amazingly comfortable it was! But... $945? Yikes. These are really popular, but just doesn't fit my style (and are still expensive!):

Preston Glider ($279)

After searching several different places, I found this gem at Target.com:

Monterey Deep-Seat Rocking Chair ($399)

Now, who knows what the actual product is like. Target is totally hit or miss. Some of the furniture we have purchased from there is total crap. Other items are great. But this bad boy is actually really pretty and something I would TOTALLY buy (especially since it's currently %15 off). The bonus for buying a chair like this is that down the line, it can join the living room furniture. If it holds up over the years, of course! So we'll see what we end up with, but for now, the Monterey is the front runner!

John has a permanent schedule!!

Today, John finally received the phone call he's been waiting for since August. He has FINALLY been assigned a permanent shift at AMR! He's been on a float schedule since he started there last summer, and has been SO flexible. They moved him around over and over again, from county to county, and extremely early morning shifts to later ones that got him home way past his bedtime. He has worked with a ton of different partners, too. This whole time, there was one car that he really wanted– 6:30am to 6:30pm with a guy named Mike, who he really enjoyed working with. He ALMOST got it a few months ago, but it was assigned to someone else who had been hired just a few days before John. Well... This morning after having a horrible night (poor Blazers!), John received good news. Mike's partner was no longer assigned to that shift, and it was all his! So as of this Friday, he'll be back to the 4 on, 4 off schedule with a partner he loves, and who loves him (of course, who doesn't love John?!) I went through my calendars and on this schedule, he'll automatically have Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Years Eve and New Years Day off! Perfect for our first holidays with a new baby :) YAY!!!

Nursery ideas

Back in February, John and I painted our second bedroom which is currently my office. We knew this would become the nursery some day, and wanted to pick a color that would work for a boy or girl. I fell in love with a color called Foam, a really nice blue-green that is also the color on my business cards. I figured if we had a boy, it'd be perfect! If it's a girl, I think we could totally make it work. I never really wanted to have a pink and purple girl room anyway. So here are a couple of pics from my other blog of my office:

The color looks more gray here, but it's actually nice & bright.

So what are some gender-neutral accent colors? I've always been drawn to grays and yellows, so when I saw this scrapbook paper at Paper Zone, I almost had a heart attack:

Nice, huh?! It's great inspiration for the color palette I have in mind. Then I found this fabric online by designer Daisy Janie and thought it could possibly work as curtains, crib bedding or perhaps just accent pillows... Not really sure yet.

I ordered a sample and will have to hold it up to the wall and see. It might look great, or totally clash. Another thought is to add some red or orange... If it's a girl, maybe greens or lighter shades of purple. Or stick with aqua, white and chocolate and go with something like this:


We'll see! Our next ultrasound is July 9th and they should be able to tell the sex, so I'll be able to make decisions at that point. For now, I'm just having a great time looking at furniture, bedding, wall decals and other fun things for our little one. There are so many options out there so I'm sure it will be hard to decide!

Week 9: Grape baby

Here's the latest on our baby from BabyCenter.com:

Your new resident is nearly an inch long (about the size of a grape) and weighs just a fraction of an ounce. She's starting to look more and more human. Her essential body parts are accounted for, though they'll go through plenty of fine-tuning in the coming months. Other changes abound: Your baby's heart finishes dividing into four chambers, and the valves start to form — as do her tiny teeth. The embryonic "tail" is completely gone. Your baby's organs, muscles, and nerves are kicking into gear. The external sex organs are there but won't be distinguishable as male or female for another few weeks. Her eyes are fully formed, but her eyelids are fused shut and won't open until 27 weeks. She has tiny earlobes, and her mouth, nose, and nostrils are more distinct. The placenta is developed enough now to take over most of the critical job of producing hormones. Now that your baby's basic physiology is in place, she's poised for rapid weight gain.

Home sick today

I stayed home from work today since I'm not feeling my best. I feel like I have the flu, am hungover and just ran a marathon. But there are periods of time where I feel great, so I'm taking advantage of those moments by squeezing some work in. I hope this rough part ends soon! At least I'm not throwing up... *knock on wood*

Week 8: Kidney bean baby

I'm officially 8 weeks along today! Our baby is the size of a kidney bean:Here's what BabyCenter.com says is happening right about now:
Webbed fingers and toes are poking out from your baby's hands and feet, his eyelids practically cover his eyes, breathing tubes extend from his throat to the branches of his developing lungs, and his "tail" is just about gone. His arms have lengthened, too, and his hands are now flexed at the wrist and meet over his heart. His knee joints have formed, and his feet may be long enough to meet in front of his body. In his brain, nerve cells are branching out to connect with one another, forming primitive neural pathways.

First ultrasound!

Here's our baby, the gummy bear!Today was surreal. John and I got to the hospital for our ultrasound around 9am. Paula the sonographer called us back and I laid down on the exam table while John sat right next to me. I looked up and noticed a screen hung from the ceiling so I could see everything that was going on (so cool!) She went to work and breezed past the baby quickly and said "There's the baby, we'll save that for the end and I'll show some other things first." My heart skipped a beat as I said, "Oh good, so there is a baby?!" She laughed and said, "Yes, it's there with a heartbeat and eveything." Yay! She showed me my uterus, ovaries and bladder then took some measurements and made sure everything was where it was suppose to be. Then came the best part. She zoomed in and showed us our little one! We laughed because it looks so weird. We thought its' head was actually its feet, but we were wrong. The dark spot there (which looks like an empty space between legs) is actually the developing brain. She measured the baby (1.5 cm) and said I looked to be about 7 weeks, 6 days along, due November 27th!! After that, she zoomed in a bit and we could see this itty bitty pulsating part on the baby, and she turned the volume up on the machine... Then came the heartbeat. A tiny and quick heartbeat at a healthy 167 bpm. As expected, I burst into tears. I knew it would be an amazing sound, but I had no clue how awesome it would be. I looked over at John and he had the biggest smile on his face! It was such a special moment that I will never forget.

After the ultrasound, we met with Dr. Grant. I want to be her best friend! This woman is amazing. She is so comforting and smart, and said to us a few times, "This is great. We are going to have a fun time together!" She even hugged us goodbye. And if you know us, you know we love hugs! John and I left feeling super happy and confident, and we can't wait for the next ultrasound on July 9th. I'll have two other appointments (May 12th and June 11th) between now and then with Dr. Grant to make sure everything is going well. After my next appointment, I'll be safely into the 2nd trimester and will then start sharing the news publicly. Just a few more weeks everyone :) Thanks again for being great secret keepers!

Peanut Shell sling

So yeah, it's a bit early to be purchasing baby items... But I couldn't pass this up! I have had my eye on this Peanut Shell sling ever since I bought one for a friend 2 years ago. I love the pattern and how funky it is! They aren't the cheapest slings out there, but this one was on sale. Hello, meant to be?! Yes. I bought it and I love it and I can't wait to get it and try it on and pretend to have a baby in it. Here's hoping our kid actually likes to be in a sling! I've read about lots of babies who don't. Maybe I'll just wear it around anyway if baby doesn't care for it :)

Week 7: Blueberry baby

At 7 weeks along, the little one has now grown to the size of a blueberry! Isn't it amazing how fast they grow?? Don't forget, Thursday is our first ultrasound! We are too excited. I'm looking forward to finding out our due date and exactly how far along we are. John and I both have lots of questions for the doctor so it should be a great meeting!

The Bella Band!

John and I stopped into a cute little maternity store today and I picked myself up a Bella Band! I read about these awhile ago and definitely knew I wanted to get one when it was time. I still fit into my regular jeans but have been feeling so bloated lately and could use a little extra room! My mom taught me a neat trick by looping a rubber band through the button hole of my jeans and I can leave them unbuttoned, so that's been great. Now with the Bella Band I can wear it with all my regular skirts and some nicer work pants. Whoohoo!

Crazy cravings...

All day, I've been craving a McDonalds cheeseburger with onions, and pancakes. How random?! I won't be giving in to the McD's craving but made myself some whole grain vegan pancakes for dinner. They were pretty good! Would've been better if I used white flour, real butter and sugary syrup of course :) I'm trying my best to make healthy choices though, so healthy pancakes will just have to do!

Week 6: Lentil bean baby

The little one is lentil bean size today at 6 weeks! This week's major developments: The nose, mouth, and ears are beginning to take shape. If I could see into my uterus, I'd find an oversize head and dark spots where the baby's eyes and nostrils are starting to form. Her/his little ears are marked by small depressions on the sides of the head, and the baby's arms and legs by protruding buds. The heart is beating about 100 to 160 times a minute — almost twice as fast as mine— and blood is beginning to course through the body. The intestines are developing, and the bud of tissue that will give rise to her/his lungs has appeared. The pituitary gland is forming, as are the rest of his brain, muscles, and bones. How fun!!

That would be a POSITIVE!

Today I had my appointment with my primary doctor, Dr. Avison, to confirm our pregnancy. I took 3 tests at home last week, so I knew what the results would be today. But I have to admit, I was a little scared! After I gave my "sample" for the nurst to test, I waited patiently in the waiting room to be called back to talk to the doctor. I watched the nurses behind the counter whispering to each other and I became paranoid... Uh oh, were they discussing some negative results and were deciding who'd have to break the news to me?!? The nurse called me on back, and the first thing she asked was if I wanted to keep my test. Confused, I asked what she meant, and she responded, "Oh I just didn't know if you were sentimental and weird like me, I kept all my positive pregnancy tests from my kids." I started laughing and said, "Oh yeah, right, so it is positive?" She smiled big and told me, "Oh yeah, I didn't even have to wait the full minute for the test to develop– that positive line was bright pink from the start." HUGE sigh of relief! Dr. A came in and we chatted for a bit, and she said she estimated my due date to be around November 13th. She gave me some good advice (make sure I'm getting enough calcium since I'm not much of a dairy eater, get lots of exercise, etc.) and to take good care of myself and the little one :)

Next step, the OB! I just called to schedule an appointment with Dr. Nancy Grant at Providence (read about her here: www.whtmd.com/grant.html). My mom and Dr. A both highly recommend her, so I'm really excited to meet her. We go in April 16th at 9:00am for an ultrasound. Yay!!!!

Hospital-approved test– yay for double lines!