It’s exciting to reach what they consider “full term”, but I also feel like I am behind in getting things prepared for baby J’s arrival. With A I was more than ready for him to get here, but this time I am not minding him taking his time. So for an update:

On my list for things to prepare:

- Getting our hospital bag packed (working on it)

- Swing put together (check)

- Pack and play put together for our room (check)

- Getting A’s bag packed (working on it)…probably my biggest hurdle because I have to do it when he is not around, but it is also difficult to “pack” a lot of things in advance for him.

- Finish the nursery (I’d be doing a lot better on this if I stopped taking on new projects). I can’t wait to post pictures of it when it is finished, it is really looking great!

What Baby J is up to:

-Gaining weight, I hope! HA! Hopefully this weight isn’t all me.

- Kicking me in the ribs.

How A is doing:

- A has become a bit clingy to me in the past week and a half…it’s funny this whole time he hasn’t really seemed affected by the pregnancy, but now it’s like he gets something is up.

- A is also not sleeping well, which I don’t know is if in connection to the clingyness, or another developing ear infection. I am hoping it is not another ear infection.

-A picked out a peep for baby brother J (as he calls him)…a doggy similar to the bunny A loves so much. It was so funny when we were picking out the doggy, they had some of the bunnies there that we got for A. I don’t think A even recognized them as they were very fluffy and white, while A’s very loved bunny has lost most of its fluff and has taken a bit of a “greenish” tinge.

How I am doing:

- Besides it being progressively harder to move and quite a bit of back pain at night, I’m doing pretty good.

- I never had cravings with A but my husband pointed out to me the excessive amount of oranges I have been eating lately and the amount of milk I have been drinking (and I RARELY drink milk).

Just a little trip down memory lane.

Happy 5 Year Anniversary to my husband! This is a picture of us on one of our first dates.

And now… 5 years later…

Just a little bit of a change. HA!

This year we will welcome our 2nd child, A turns four, and we both turn 30! Our resolutions are good health, happiness, and lots of safe travels for our many upcoming road trips!

Baby Name: We are still in limbo on the baby name. We have narrowed it down, but are not sharing until it’s finalized….which could be in February.

A’s Opinion on the Baby Name: Pasta. He wants to name him Pasta.

A’s Opinion on Baby Items: A told me that baby brother needs his own tools, and books, and pacifiers. Which A does not have pacifiers anymore mind you, but I am going to be sure to buy one’s that look nothing like A’s old ones.

Baby Growth: I am measuring a week ahead, but am hoping he holds off until his due date. However, my back is not. HA! And according to baby center he is about the size of a cabbage, about 3 pounds. A 3 pound cabbage??

How the nursery is coming: We have all of our fabulous borrowed baby furniture (thanks to my parents, sister and brother-in-law for help with delivery efforts), my in-laws made my requested trip to IKEA, I am working on the canvases (finally!), and I need to schedule a trip to Lowe’s with my parents to pick up the mirror for over the bed. Once we do pick a name I am also picking up these items:

Both from Anthropologie. So sweet!

I realized as we were taking these, that next year I am going to have to wrangle two children to get decent pictures. I really need to hire a photographer.

The Countdown Continues!

My art project inspired from this blog project:

Once I purchase my four canvases from Hobby Lobby I plan to start working on this in December.

My IKEA items…I cannot express how cool it is to have my in-laws live close to an IKEA so they can shop for me!

Curtains. I am planning to buy black-out fabric from Target and line these like I did for A.

I love how cozy this rug looks!

The racks shown here are from IKEA as well, but they are re-purposed spice racks featured on this blog. I am going to paint them white.

Other items:

This is from Lowe’s. I’m hoping that I can hang it horizontally, and then I am going to do a faux hanger with a hook that my Grandfather and I made, and coordinating ribbon.

Wall Lamp. This is also from IKEA. One of the things in A’s nursery that I regretted not having was a stable small lamp. I am planning to put a low light bulb in it for those late night feedings and changings.

Crib Sheets

These are both from Skip Hop. I am anxiously awaiting for them to actually go on sale, because they are not supposed to debut until the winter. I wish I could pre-order…if my husband can pre-order the new Zelda game, why not this?? HA! I love them because they have the look of a bumper around the edge. I am not planning to do bumpers this time at all, mainly because A truly disliked his and we took them off within the first couple of weeks of him being in his crib.

For above the shelf already in the nursery this wall decal:

And lastly…

This little owl night light is from Land of Nod. I don’t think it’s ever too early for a night light. This is on my wish list because it is a bit more expensive than I would like to spend, but it is so cute!

Make candy corn bark that turns out deliciously…instead of snack mix, as mine did.

And your mini cupcakes enjoy dressing up as something as fun as super A’s costume…

Himself. Because all Super A wanted to be this year was Super A.

The book I just finished…

A well-written, honest tale, and hilarious!

My Bible Study book…

Although I’m not sure I want to delve this deep into my insecurities, I’m hoping to feel super empowered when we’ve finished it!

For my dinner night time Bible Study starting in October…

I’m looking forward to starting it! And I’m looking forward to our yummy dinners!

The book I’m checking out from the library…

I read about this title from the Fly Through Our Window blog. Since A loves the library so much, I have taken to checking out books as well.

I’m always looking for another book to add to my list! Let me know if you’ve read a good one lately!!

]]> http://cupcakesandcommentary.com/books-for-fall/feed/ 1 http://cupcakesandcommentary.com/baby-birds/ http://cupcakesandcommentary.com/baby-birds/#comments Tue, 02 Aug 2011 20:05:16 +0000 Cupcakes http://cupcakesandcommentary.com/?p=2962 After seeing this post on The Southern Housewife’s blog, I’m wondering if this is a new trend!

I looked out the window one day to find a nest on the column of our porch. I have to admit I am not a fan of birds. My husband checked it and sure enough there were eggs in it. I didn’t want to take the nest down after that so we have left it and I monitor the nest daily to see when the birds have flown on. Super A has really enjoyed watching them grow…

And they are pretty sweet to watch.

They are getting so big each day, I am not sure how they are fitting in the nest anymore…

And while we have enjoyed watching them, I’m ready for them to go. They are making a mess of our columns and porch and I am tired of the Momma bird doing swoops toward my head when I walk out front. Did I mention the whole bird family showed up when the eggs hatched (fifteen birds on my front porch all at the same time)? I am hoping it doesn’t take all the relatives to teach them to fly. HA!

By the way, I let Super A have the remote for this song and I think he did better than I could have! HA!

So this is my way of starting back. Our long hiatus. We walked away from one of the worst days in our area’s history with nothing more than a lengthy power outage and the loss of the contents of our fridge.  Despite seeing a wall cloud come across, and Super A having a distinctive story to tell and re-tell (Mommy grabbed me. We ran to the closet. I got a pacifier and a bunny. Aunt K said “what’s going on?”) we watched as surrounding areas were hit and hit again with tornadoes. I ask you to please not forgot these areas that were hit so hard. You can help by donating to the red cross, or checking out my good friend and fellow blogger Tales of a Peanut’s blog post here. She recaptures some of the best ways to help our area and our neighbors better than I could!

In addition please pray for all of the people in areas that were hit hard by the tornadoes. Many people lost their homes, neighbors, friends, and family.

During the power outage, my in-laws graciously flew us up to their home in Virginia. It was a relief considering I was in pretty bad shape from a sinus infection and a terrible reaction to a pneumonia vaccine. So now we are back! And the long hiatus is over.