DIY Baby Boots

I've been practicing my sewing skills lately and today I made my first baby item (that's not including the baby bib I tried first that was a complete mess.)

Either way, I'm pretty proud of these little baby boots :) I started making them for my cousin who is having a boy in December but since they are one of my first successful sewing projects, I've decided to keep them for baby Kingston.

I found the tutorial on Pinterest. It was relatively easy, just a little time consuming. I got them done in an afternoon during a Law and Order SVU marathon :) Here is the tutorial I went off of from mollychicken.blogs.com.

I've got a few more ideas for baby that I want to try. In one month we'll find out if baby is a he or she - then I can start nursery decorating!! Can't wait.

Week 15

This photo got pushed back a little...
taken at 15 weeks 2 days... but you get the jist.

How far along: 14 weeks 6 days (When I wrote this two days ago. I wanted to get a pic but that might have to be a little later...)

Total weight gain: 4.5 pounds

Maternity clothes: Just pants - leggings and my trusty mat jeans. Otherwise its sweats at home and regular jeans with a hair tie through the button hole.

Sleep: Good besides those darn bathroom breaks... twice a night :(  Scott has been home - I always sleep good when he's here to snuggle with. 

Best moment this week: Driving in the pickup with Scott resting his hand on my belly. (A whole post will be dedicated to that story soon.)

What I miss: Not feeling like a bloated cow. Seriously... I'm excited for the belly, just not all this extra air...

Movement: I don't think so. 

Food cravings: FOOOOOD. I downed a box of Frosted Mini Wheats in three days - a feat that usually takes a few months. 

Making me queazy: Nothing. Oh, and I like coffee again! But I can tell I've been off it for a while - a small cup is about all I can handle. But oh, does it taste wonderful.

Starting to show: Yeah, not too much that many people notice though. In the morning I lay in bed and feel my stomach - its this nice, hard little bump. It's the best part of the whole day :)

• Note: I haven't mentioned this before but some areas started "showing" much earlier than my belly. My boobs have about doubled in size, and let me tell you - for this lady, who is... challenged, we'll say... in the chest area, this has been a welcomed part of pregnancy for both mom and dad! :)

Gender: Will know in about 5 weeks!

Happy or moody: Happy, but I did have a freaky emotional day yesterday. I was crabby then overwhelmed and started crying. But then Scott turned over in bed and pulled me close and I forgot all about my hormone episode. 

Things I've been experiencing this week: I got weirdly dizzy one day. I came home and did dishes... I think it was a combination of two layers of shirts and my warm socks and then my hands in the hot water but I got light headed and craved sweets. So I chowed 3 Hershey with toffee bites. I don't know what that was about. 

• [New Challenge] Learning to wait. I read some delivery stories and watched Up All Night (hilllllarious this week) and now I just cannot wait to hold and cuddle and touch my babies cheek to my own. I hope this pregnancy speeds up <3

What I'm looking forward to: The doctor's appointment on Monday. And to start the nursery and the process of buying everything baby needs/should have/is too cute to pass up.

Size of baby: The size of a naval orange.

Week 14

Photos by Lindsay Anderson

How far along: 13 weeks 5 days.

Total weight gain: Not sure... 4 pounds?

Maternity clothes: I spent a little too much time in Motherhood the other day. I found the best maternity leggings. They are the best thing since sliced bread. 

Sleep: Good but I've been having to get up for the bathroom twice a night again... I thought that was supposed to start getting less frequent. AND I can't seem to make myself sleep on my side, I keep waking up on my back. 

Best moment this week: Finding those amazing mat leggings. 

What I miss: Sleeping whatever way I want and not worrying about it.

Movement: Nope.

Food cravings: Now I'm just craving everything since my appetite is back. Greatttt.

Making me queazy: Nothing really this week. Once the belly started popping out I started feeling normal again. 

Starting to show: Yuppp. 

Gender: Will know in about 6 weeks!

Happy or moody: Happy, minus these new headaches and itchy legs (preg related? who knows)

Things I've been experiencing this week: I'm in that weird stage where people don't know if I'm pregnant or just been in the bag of Doritos a little too much. But my belly is getting nice and hard. My jeans are terribly uncomfortable buttoned - I wear my mat jeans and leggings, sweatpants or else I string the button hold on my old jeans with a hair band and wear them that way - it works swell. 

• [New Challenge] Now that I'm feeling good enough to eat whatever I want, it's eating good that I have to really work on -- for the baby, of course, but to also try to hang onto my girlish figure as much as I can!
• [Fun time this week] My grandparents, mom and sister came to visit for the weekend. I'm leaving today to spend the rest of the week in Gackle - doing some baking at my aunts and some hunting with Scott and his dad. Ohhhh, and I got a package in the mail from Jackie with the cutest darn baby outfits you've ever seen!!

What I'm looking forward to: The next doctor's visit. Even though it'll be a fast one, I'll still get to hear the heartbeat again :) Then the next appointment, we'll get to find out what our little baby is!!! (And by then I'll have a nicely round belly!)

Size of baby: It's the size of a lemon. (I thought a peach [last week' size] was bigger than a lemon, but whatever thebump.com)

Me and my beautiful sister (and photographer) Lindsay. A little blurry but just so darn cute :)

Already mama

I was writing a column the other day about how family = mess. 

And they do. When you're a single gal you do what you want. You come when you decide to and you leave when you want to. Supper can be at 2 p.m. or 11 p.m. and it doesn't matter because it's up to you. 

Now you're married. And the sprinkler system needs to be drained and winterized and it's up to you to do it, even if you don't want to. Loads of laundry pile up and sometimes you have to get in the car and drive three hours one way to give that man his computer cord because he forgot it. The couch cushions are lumpy and the bathroom seems to always be damp.

And then a baby comes and they turn into a toddler, then a teenager and the mess builds up and yourself gets pushed to the wayside and you just grow into humility because those people you love have been put ahead of your own needs. 

At least I hope that's how it happens. 

Our house stays clean when it's just me there. For the most part, anyway. Wet towels on the bed and dirt on the floor and piles of dishes in the sink mean Scott is at home. And the house smells a little different with two people breathing in and out the same air. 

I would take the mess over the cleanliness any day if it meant he was always home. (Scott works in the oil field and has a schedule of a month on, two weeks off. He stays at the staff house during that month.)

So I was writing about how a messy house means family. And I found this sign on Pinterest. And tears filled my eyes at the office while I read and reread it. 

I realized that even though I don't have a baby to rock yet, I'm already a mama. That intuitive character has already instilled itself in me and I already want our baby to stay small and innocent. And I am ready for the mess that comes with our newly formed family, and the humble nature I have been preparing for.

Week 13

Just about 13 weeks along.

How far along: 12 weeks 6 days... almost missed this week, made it with 2.5 hours to spare :)

Total weight gain: Still about 3.5 pounds

Maternity clothes: My jeans are quite tight. My one pair of mat jeans and lots o' lots o' sweatpants. 

Sleep: Good most of the time

Best moment this week: Feeling a nice round belly starting to pop up :) So exciteddd!

What I miss: Coffee still.

Movement: Again, I swear! But I keep telling myself it's probably nothing.

Food cravings: Sweets. I've stocked the  freezer with lime popsicles, raspberry sherbet and Toaster Studels.

Making me queazy: Smells... I cleaned the fridge out so that one is a little better. 

Starting to show: Starting!

Gender: Will know in about 7 weeks!

Happy or moody: Happy :) 

Things I've been experiencing this week: Being conscious abut my belly. Getting in and out of the truck (without running boards yet) is getting tough - I can feel my knee hitting my growing belly.  Oh yeah, and heartburn. What a nasty little thing that is. 

What I'm looking forward to: Feeling normal again. The nausea has gone mostly but it still hits sometimes. Hopefully the second trimester niceness is a true thing. And a growing belly!

Size of baby: It's the size of a peach.

Week 12

Photo by Lindsay Anderson

I've got some catching up to do - right now I'm in my 13th week, but I'll backtrack a bit. 

How far along: 11 weeks and one day  --  Due April 22, 2012

Total weight gain: Around 3-4 pounds I think

Maternity clothes: Yes, but  mainly because they are just so stinkin' comfy. I don't know why I haven't been wearing them my whole life. I found one pair of great mat jeans, but most are totally wonky and weird. I live in sweats at home, loose dress pants for work and my loan mat jeans everywhere else. Regular jeans have to be held together with a hair tie. 

Sleep: Good but it takes a while to fall asleep. And peeing in the middle of the night sucks when I'm trying to get back to bed. 

Best moment this week: Taking the photos with Lindsay. Ohhh, and I had my first person come up and touch my belly :) (My sister's best friend's dad.)

What I miss: My morning coffee. I had some the other day (on the off day that the smell wasn't making me gag) and it was just so delicious. Can't wait to start loving it again.

Movement: I swear.... but I'm sure it's in my head. It's comforting thinking it's the baby though.

Food cravings: Sweets. It makes me not be able to tell if my belly is from my growing babe or from the nice paunch those darn Toaster Strudels are giving me.

Making me queazy: Smells... coffee and the mixture of fridge food. 

Starting to show: Just a little. I can feel a nice round belly starting :)

Gender: Will know in about 8 weeks!

Happy or moody: Happy for the most part, now that I'm feeling better. 

Things I've been experiencing this week: Starting to feel better and my jeans getting pretty uncomfy.

What I'm looking forward to: Getting a nice round baby belly! And feeling movement.

Size of baby: Plum-sized

Photo by Lindsay Anderson

Photo by Lindsay Anderson

Photo by Lindsay Anderson

Photo by Lindsay Anderson

BABY!

I am finally comfortable letting the world know that... WE ARE HAVING A BABY!

In any "about me" section that I have had to fill out the line "I want to be the wife of a good man and mother to our children" has always made the description. Looks a sum of everything I've ever wanted is coming my way and I am so thankful to the Lord for these blessings I don't deserve.

First cliched baby-related photo :)

Finding out
I had been sitting at work that day and just feeling weird... my body just felt different. So at my lunch break I went home and peed on one of these handy little future predictors and was very surprised at my shock at two pink lines. (I was sure I had been pregnant a few months earlier and had tested, what seemed like, a million times with no positives. I guess I just assumed they'd be negative all the time.)

That rush of excited excitement and heart-rushing jolts to my extremities, like I had felt when I opened the box that held my engagement ring, hit me hard and fast. (Exert from the writing I did that day.)

I picked up the phone and called Scott. I would be seeing him that weekend but any notions of telling him in a cutesy way went out the window when my nervous energy hit. He answered.

"Honey, guess what? I think we're having a baby."

"What? Are you sure!? Did you pee on a stick?"

"Yeah."

"Go do it again."

"Ok. Call you back."

After guzzling a few glasses of water, the second test was positive too. I was pregnant! Scott was excited and shocked by the news, but we both new it would happen at some point. Needless to say, work didn't get done that afternoon because those handy pregnancy week-by-week websites are just everywhere.


Letting it sink in
Like I said, I'd always wanted to be pregnant - I've been oohing and awwing over all the cute pregnant ladies I've seen my whole life. What I didn't realize is that with the excitement, comes fear. Nearly paralyzing fear for that new little creature inside of you.

Here is the last part of the writing I did the day I found out. If I tried to sum it up, I'd lose what if really felt like that day.

It's not the fact of raising a baby that scares me. What I am afraid of now is all the complications my eyes have been drawn to. I want this so badly, I already love that little poppy seed of a baby in me at 4.5 weeks with an intense love that I just want to be able to talk to it and demand it to keep growing, keep stretching and making my boobs hurt and taking my nutrients and making me sleepy. I'd sleep 20 hours a day if it meant that little baby would grow in the way it needs to grow. 

There is all the time in the world to worry about being a bad parent and trying to teach baby Kingston good, worthwhile, pure things. Right now I just want someone to tell me it's going to be ok and we will make it to nine months with flying colors. I'm so scared. And being scared probably isn't helping the little one do its duties. 

Yesterday, after going to the walk-in clinic to have a doctor tell me I was actually pregnant, I ran to Target. Prenatal vitamins in the cart, I ventured over to the baby section. A lot of blues and pinks, ahhh, I wish I knew already. I found this 3-pack of long sleeved onsies. One was grey and white striped, another white with a little elephant holding onto his parent's tail and another white with grey polka dots that said, "best of mom and dad." My heart melted. This could be the outfit I bring my baby home in. So I bought them, tearing the wrapping off before exiting the store. I sat in my car in the parking lot just looking at these tiny pieces of clothing for a tiny human that will make itself known in 9 months. That day and time, in the Target parking lot, will go down in history as the first feeling of motherhood I will feel. 

On the way home I put my hand on my belly, like so many expecting mother's do. It was so strange. Now, I walk around with this knowing that no one else around me knows and I'm every conscious about this living, growing, expanding thing inside of me that I am trying to hold onto with everything I have. 

I don't mean to sound so morbid. So many people have healthy, good pregnancies and if I could get these bad thoughts out of my head I'd shoot them down forever. Getting excited means that everything will work out, and if it doesn't my heart is going to be so broken. But, I am so, so, so excited. I can't wait to see my belly start to expand! And hear the first heartbeat and feel a kick and a hiccup! I can't wait for Scott to start talking to my belly. Birth doesn't scare me. I'm so excited to hold our baby and take him or her home with us and watch this thing we made grow and learn and become a teenager and say, "Mom, please. You're embarrassing me." I'll take it all, every part. 

Oh Lord, please protect us  and keep us safe in the way only You can. 

Thank you, God, for everything you have given to us.