Surprise Baby Shower!

Well, as you can imagine, having a shower thrown for me by close friends at only 21 weeks along came as a complete shock! I was in Arkansas visiting college friends over Easter weekend and part of their plans included throwing me and another friend, Christy, a shower!

I was completely caught off guard and they even laughed at how obvious it should have been that something was up! Like, for example, some of the girls stayed back at the house where the shower was thrown while me and two of the other girls headed out to visit with some people who were also in town for Easter weekend. When we arrived back at the shower location an hour or two later, there were extra cars parked on the street. I suspected nothing but my friends were worried that I did! I was oblivious!

Here are the cute invitations from tinyprints.com. I knew exactly where they were from the second I saw them because I have always liked the design and thought it made for a good gender nuetral invite.

From top-left, going clockwise: Jen, Charlotte, Ashlee, Amy, Christy, and me! There were two other girls (Melissa & Amy) there that had to leave before we got around to taking a group picture.

Decorations including the cute cake that matches the balloon and the diaper cakes! The colors in mine will even match the nursery so I plan on leaving it together and using it as a decoration.

Close up of my diaper cake!

And the yummy cake - which we ate all weekend and Ashlee even sent us home with cake "doggie bags"!

The ladies of the afternoon - me and Christy. We're modeling cute tank tops that Ashlee made for us! They read "Preggo Princess" and I plan on wearing mine a lot (especially around Roger when I need his help with something!).

All the wonderful gifts! Included are a boppy pillow, booster seat, bouncer, burp clothes, stuffed frog, bath accessories like hooded towels, wash clothes, and a bath mat, books, a Little Einstein cd, and several very cute onsies and a sleepsack (whew! Did I get it all?!).
A very heartfelt thank you goes out to everyone who attended and had a hand in planning this surprise! I can honestly say I never saw it coming, but knowing what I know about each of you, I guess I shouldn't be so shocked that thought enough of Christy and I to do something special for us!

Add me to team...

healthy baby! I went in for the "big" ultrasound today and everything is measuring on track. I got to see neat things like the chambers of the heart and kidneys and the doctor took measurements of the head and stomach. Everything looks good! The baby weighs 14 oz (a little big when compared to the week 21 facts to the side that say 12 oz) but it comes as no surprise!

Here is one shot from the ultrasound. For those of you who struggle to interpret ultrasound photos, this is of the baby's head and chest and the baby is looking towards you.

So, who does the baby favor - me or Roger?!

JCPenney versus Pottery Barn

Not really baby related, but has anyone else caught on to the fact that some of JCPenney's product line is a flat out knock off of a comparable Pottery Barn product?! Not that I'm complaining! I was just browsing PB Kids and noticed that I could have ordered my crib from there and spent an extra $400!

JCPenney Renew Crib in "coffee" $199

Pottery Barn Kendall Crib in "espresso" $599

Just another example....

JCPenney Manning Dining Group $900 for table and six chairs

Pottery Barn Montego Dining Group $1600 for the table, $1780 for six chairs

And this

versus this...

Another example

And another...

There's even a dedicated blog to Pottery Barn Knock Offs for your viewing pleasure! http://copycatchic.wordpress.com/

20 week belly shots

Actually, it's more like 19w4d, but I just had to share the belly progress! Out of nowhere, about a week ago, it appeared! I guess I am going through a "growing" phase. Regular pants are a thing of the past and maternity pants are now my new best friend!

Weight: 155 (+5 pounds from last weigh in(!!!), +7 total)

Baby's heart rate: 150 bpm

Made some decisions

I purchased our crib today.  Shown below, in the coffee finish, is the Renew Standard Crib by Rockland.  I saved $50 off the original price and got free shipping.  Grand total (including tax):  $212

I started feeling really guilty about spending a lot of money on bedding!  I seem to have very expensive taste and most of the sets that I was looking at were in the $350 to $450 range!  I wound up buying the bedding below...well, almost!

It's called Bali by Cocalo Couture.  Instead of buying the ensemble and accessories, I purchased the panel drapes for $85 and with that fabric, I am going to make a box pleat bed skirt.  I will accent with a solid (maybe turquoise) crib sheet and I will be making my own "breathable" crib bumper with a celery green fabric similar to the color used in the current bumper pad shown.

With the leftover stripe fabric, I'll also cover two drum lamp shades (lamps were handed down from my grandma - originally purchased by my Aunt Cindy) and line the inside of a basket used for organizing diapers, wipes, and creams on the dresser.  I may go back at a later time and purchase a few decorative accessories from the collection - they have everything from mobiles to rugs, to pillows available.

I'll also be making drapes for the room.  There are three windows which will require 120" panels.  I'll make these out of solid turquoise fabric, incorporating the stripe fabric along the bottom 12 to 15" of the panel to "weight" the drapes and tie them back into the theme.  

I think I'll be painting the nursery Behr Asparagus (thanks Sherry for the recommendation) but I'll make the final decision once I have the fabric in hand.  I have a few other ideas for wall decor but I'll save those for another post!

Other fun things I've been lusting over...

This diaper bag from Skip Hop.  I like it because of it's versatility.  In addition to wearing it like a traditional bag, you can also clip it to your stroller!

The Chicco Polly Adventure high chair.  We probably won't register for once since baby won't need it until 6 months of age or so.  We're really trying to focus on getting the baby's immediate needs met first!

The Chicco Key Fit 30 Infant Car Seat.  Love the color, love the fact that it's lightweight, but most importantly, love the fact that it passed every one of Consumer Reports crash tests with flying colors!

Dream Stroller - the Valco Runabout Trimode.  It looks like a jogging stroller, but it's actually intended for urban lifestyle baby raising.  It's great for walks that involve a lot of curbs, uneven sidewalks, and bumps in the road.  Since our baby will spend more time walking around the neighborhood than walking around the mall, this type of stroller is a better fit for us.  But at $425, it may just stay a dream.

More realistic option:  The Chicco C5 Stroller.  At under $150, this is a more appropriate option that still gets good reviews.  It's not designed for all terrains, but it's also about a third of the price!  There is also a recline feature on this stroller, but some real life moms complain that it doesn't recline far back enough for their baby to sleep in.  This stroller, in combination with the fact that I hope to "babywear" for the first few months, should be a good combination.

I'm still in Seattle and I am hearing that St. Louis is getting snow today and tomorrow so I am in no rush to head back!  Meanwhile, I've spent some time on the internet collecting ideas for the nursery.  Yesterday, Roger and I went to a mall up here in Seattle that had a Land of Nod store.  I was able to see some bedding and a crib that I love.  I had envisioned having a white crib and dresser, but Roger prefers the espresso finish and now I'm reconsidering the bedding.  

This is the Land of Nod Straight Up Crib in Espresso.  The only downfall is that it's $599.

This is the bedding that I had originally picked out to go with the white crib, but now that we are going with expresso furniture, I'm reconsidering it.  It's also from Land of Nod.

As an alternative to the circle bedding, I'm considering this bedding from Caden Lane.  I think the brown stripe in the bedding would work better with the espresso furniture.

This is (still) the desk that we are going to incorporate into the room since the baby's room will also double as an office.  It's from Crate and Barrel and it's also in an espresso finish.  We had originally thought this was a black finish because the website calls the finish ebony.  In the store, the tags say espresso and it definitely has a bit of a brown undertone to it.

And instead of the Ikea Hemnes dresser in white, we're looking at the same dresser in their black/brown finish.

Finally, after having remorse about the thought of spending $600 on a crib, here are several alternatives.

For $350, this is the Sweet Pea Modern Crib from JCPenney.  The shelves on the end would work well for us since we will be placing the short end of the crib along a wall (the crib will create a peninsula effect in the room) and the shelves would be the first thing you'll see upon walking into the room.  I think if you kept the shelves organized (with colored baskets), it could create a cute focal point in the room.

For $200, this is the Renew Standard Crib by Rockland from JCPenney.  This is the most reasonably priced option and I think it makes for a nice basic crib.

This option, for $400, incorporates both the white and espresso finish and goes along with the clean lines of the dresser.

Finally, the Annabelle Crib by DaVinci for about $330 (depending on the website) is another alternative.  I'm not sure that it's worth the extra $130 over the Renew crib (I don't prefer one style over the other) so it comes in last.

Any thoughts or opinions?

18 weeks in Seattle

I'm visiting Roger for a few days in Seattle and celebrated 18 weeks yesterday!  In the past week, I've really started noticing some physical changes in my body.  I've had round ligament pain as things start to stretch.  I feel like I could pop at any moment!  Maternity pants are becoming a more regular part of my wardrobe!  My low rise jeans will still technically fit, but why bother when the stretchy bands on the top of maternity pants are so comfortable!  I'll update the belly progress with pictures at 20 weeks and just maybe there will be noticeable progression!