35 Week Baby Bumpdate

35 weeks, guys! This little boy's arrival is getting closer and closer. Matter of fact, in two more days we are exactly 1 month until due date. Oooooh my goodness.

Everyone keeps asking me if I'm "ready." At this point I'm starting to think those people are just wanting the wide-eyed stare and clown grin they know I'm about to give them in response. So I've just settled on saying, "Ready as I'll ever be!" YES, I'm ready to not be carrying around a watermelon anymore. Yes, I'm ready to see what our baby's little face looks like. Yes, I'm ready to count all of his fingers and toes as soon as he's born. Yes, I'm excited to be a mom! But let's be honest, sometimes I feel like Michael Scott from The Office.

It's going to be an adventure, but I'm comforted by these two things: 1) People have literally been having kids since, uh, day one. And they keep having kids so it must not be too bad, right? and 2) This boy already has the best daddy, grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins, and a whole lot of other family and friends who just can't wait to love on him either. So let's get into the bumpdate!


How Far Along: 35 weeks and 2 days.

Size of Baby: He's the size of a honeydew melon. Around 18 inches long and over 5 pounds.

Gender: Boy! Read all about our gender reveal here.

Movement: Yes. Yesterday he moved around so much all day and it made me not even want to eat dinner. He gets especially busy in the afternoon and around 10 pm. It's so funny to look down and see my lopsided belly when he's moving! Also, his elbow (I'm assuming) has found a favorite spot in my left side. That's fun.

Craving: ALL kinds of fruit. And cereal just about every day.

Belly Button In or Out: In. If my pregnancy continues like my mom's was, I think it's going to stay in too.

Wedding Rings On or Off: On. I haven't had any swelling thus far, so thankfully I am able to keep them on.

Sleep: I'd give my sleep about a B- right now. I definitely think I am sleeping above average for someone this far along, but I do notice a difference in how restful/comfortable it is. I sleep with a pillow behind my back (a.k.a. right between Husband and I -- sorry Honey) and one between my knees. The knee pillow just came into the picture about three weeks ago because I would wake up with my lower back killing me at 3 am. I read on the internet that having a pillow between my knees would keep my hips straight and help with low back pain, and it has!

One more notable mention about my sleep is that I can take record-breaking two hour long naps right now. I almost feel narcoleptic - totally fine and doing the day well when all of the sudden I HAVE to take a nap and you'll see me again in about two hours. I'm definitely enjoying it while I can. :)

Symptoms: No contractions yet - whew! Heartburn is definitely getting worse though.

Hospital Bag: Not packed at all. My goal is to have it packed it by 37 weeks though! That's early enough I hope.

Maternity Classes: Completed: Maternity Floor Tour at our hospital.
Scheduled for the coming weeks: Labor & Delivery Class and the Breastfeeding Class.

Baby Shower: Yes! I had such a sweet shower on June 18th with my side of the family and former church members who have known me since they were changing MY diapers. #Ifeelold I am blown away by the generosity of the people in my life who came/have sent cards or something for Baby James. Thank you all!

Baby Gear: Getting there. We've had our stroller for a while now. It's the Baby Jogger City Mini 4 Wheel stroller in a really fun red color. I have heard amazing things about the City Mini so I am stoked to get to use that thing. We are ordering our car seat this week! For a long time I was between the Graco Sungride 35, Chicco KeyFit 30, and the Britax B-Safe 35 which are all compatible with our stroller. Pretty sure we are going to go with the Graco! It's rated #1 Best Seller in Infant Safety Car Seats on Amazon and is really affordably priced and lightweight. Plus, the Pipp design is super cute. We still need to go get the bassinet we like at Target (we are going to wait a few months on a crib) and choose a baby swing/bouncer chair.

Nursery: It has come a long way since my last post! I still need to add the drawer knobs and find a lamp shade, but everything is just about in it's place for our make-shift nursery/home office. You can get a good sneak peak of it in my bump picture at the top, but I will have an entire post about it coming soon.

Happy to have y'all following along with this pregnancy journey. I can't believe we're already this far!
Emily

Baby Dresser Makeover

Who doesn't love a good ole DIY furniture project? This girl definitely does!

I was SO excited about redoing this dresser for our little boy's nursery. It was actually my husband's baby dresser that he used it up until the day we got married! It was originally a piece his parents purchased before they had kids,  and then it became Samuel's baby dresser when he was born. When we started the hunt for baby furniture, they offered this dresser to us.  It was perfect for the space we had to fill, so of course I jumped on it and started planning my big DIY project!

I knew I wanted this piece to be a dresser/changing table combo. I found several examples of what I liked on Pinterest and pinned them to my baby bedroom board, which you can peruse here. The plan is to make it a dresser with a changing pad, diapers and wipes in a cute little basket, and other decorations on top.

It's a super cute dresser even before fixing it up. Some of the drawer bottoms and pulls have seen better days, but it is solid wood, has a cute layout, and (most importantly) has sentimental value. And when you're pregnant and making big decisions, sentiment is a big deal. :)

MATERIALS

• Sander -Black and Decker electric sander
• Primer - Zinsser Cover Stain Primer 
• Wood Filler - Durham's Rock Hard Water Putty
• Brush - Purdy XL Cub 2.0
• Paint - Behr Paint & Primer In One in"Niagara Mist" - Satin sheen

All of the materials I used were purchased from my local Home Depot, aside from the electric sander and wood filler that I borrowed from my dad. I am so in love with the paint color we picked out, you guys. So in love. This beautiful light blue shade is called "Niagara Mist" by Behr. 

I did plenty-o-research before doing this project about DIYing furniture. Do I need to strip it first? Is primer necessary for painting furniture? What the heck is wood filler? The most helpful blog I read was this lady -->  Addicted2Decorating. All of the products I used were because of her recommendation. If you're thinking about redoing any furniture soon, definitely check her blog out for easy steps and tips. She also had a really helpful post about why she doesn't use chalk paint. On top of the price for a small amount of product, chalk paint is mostly for distressing or antiquing furniture. I wasn't going for that look on this dresser so I decided to take the latex paint route.  

Possibly the most important step was using the wood filler. It TRANS. FORMED. the dresser in such a huge way. I am so glad I took the time to do this step. It works like a putty to fill in the dings, scratches, and missing chunks of wood to make a new smooth surface for the paint. (And for a dresser that has seen a lot of life, you're sure to have a surface full of that.)  It was especially helpful on the top and edges, as well as on the drawers where the original drawer pulls had left rings in the wood. Being a newbie to this product I realize I could have done even more filling, but I am still happy with the results. It was so worth the extra work. Left is before any work, and right is after sanding, wood filler, and a coat of primer. 

After taking the redo process super slow over the course of two weeks, it is finally finished! (Minus the new drawer knobs that I still need to go get.) I am so thrilled with how it turned out! It was really tough to capture this picture in true color,  but take my word for it - it is exactly like the paint swatch in real life. And it's really a perfect, beautiful baby blue color.  I've got a few more finishing touches to add before I show you this completed wall of the nursery. There's going to be wall art, storage, stuffed elephants, lamps, drawer knobs, a rocking chair and even more on the next post so be sure to check back! :)

T-minus 40 days until due date, 

Emily