I am 33 weeks pregnant, which means this will presumably be the last month I’m writing goals before our girl joins the family.

Holy moly.

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed, especially coming off the busy busy month we just finished up. Feeling overwhelmed is a choice, though, and this month my biggest goal is to keep breaking the seemingly insurmountable to dos down into little steps, to keep taking those steps, and to otherwise enjoy the season of Christmas.

This weekend definitely helped. I’d been hoarding planned purchases like a fevered squirrel and finally acted on them all in a torrent of Black Friday/Cyber Monday deals. To make so many purchases in such a short amount of time was a bit of a shock to the system for this infrequent spender, but they were all carefully considered and make me excited. And let this be a reminder to you: if you’re not using EBates for your online shopping, you’re missing out!! I bought a pair of boots I’ve been eyeing for a year for 20% off, then got an additional $10 back by shopping through EBates! We also were able to purchase several things for our girl, including a monitor, bedding, and a cover.

But the reason it was a good weekend was not only because of the money saved, but because of the amazing weather, the hikes we took, the early evening spent decorating our porch for Christmas, the projects finished and started in the nursery — and, of course, our actual Thanksgiving dinner, which was spent with dear friends and their parents. I think December will look similar, which makes me very excited.

Revisiting my goals for November:
Take rings in to be cleaned
Take knives in to be sharpened
Frame and hang our NC BBQ print (explored options but couldn’t find the supplies I needed… yet)
Make a pelmet for little lady’s room (this was basically THE WORST project ever, but we finished!)
Choose and order twin bed bedding
Choose and order Minted Christmas cards
Design and print Christmas card newsletter
Vote!
Host the first Articles Club
Purchase half of our Christmas gifts for friends and family (I think I checked off a third or so)
Start filling out our girl’s baby book

December goals:
— Make and freeze four soups for after our girl arrives
— Deliver homemade toffee to my favorite post office peeps
— Send out our Christmas cards with a personal note on each
— Plan well for Christmas at our home with John’s family
— Give away as much as we spend on Christmas gifts in our church’s Christmas Eve offering (this year going to Imagine No Malaria and local missions)
— Start Life Handbooks for the cousins and our girl when John’s family is here
— Finish shower thank you notes
— Go out to dinner with John for our 2015 review + celebration!

I could add so many more things to this list, mostly related to our newest family member, but I’ll leave it there for now. If you’ve posted your goals somewhere, I’d love to see – or just drop them in the comments!

Hey, friends! It’s been a busy week around these parts, what with a trip to Asheville, volunteering at our church’s biscuit booth, and visiting with family! Today marks 28 weeks of pregnancy (7 months!), which means I’m officially in the third trimester. I figured it was time for a little big update. In no particular order…

27 weeks! And yay for my fall scarf – I ended up buying it!

Things I have been loving:
— Neighborhood walks. John and I try to go on a brisk walk for at least half an hour every day after work, usually 1.5-2 miles. I think this is one of the main reasons that I have experienced almost no pregnancy-related aches and pains — our walks help keep me loose, and they probably help with sleep, too!
— On that note… sleep! I am still enjoying full nights of sleep sans elaborate pillow constructions or pee breaks, which, as a lover of sleep, I am super grateful for. In addition to exercise, I also credit our mattress — we traded in the bare bones model we bought when we first moved in together for a luxuriously soft one last year, and it. is. the. best.
— Belly bands. Thanks to these handy accessories, I am still wearing my regular jeans and pants. I bought a white one from Target and have a black one on loan from a friend.
— Movement. So much movement! Our girl bops and bounces most of the day. It’s not uncomfortable, just fun.
— Kids consignment sales. I’ve had great luck at local consignment sales and have loved collecting some practical and adorable pieces for next to nothing. I think I’m going to write a whole post about sales like this, because they are amazing!
— Clothing on loan. John’s mom brought down a huge bag of newborn clothing from his two sisters this weekend, and I’m pretty sure we are now set for everything we could ever need in the newborn size. It’s great to have stylish and generous sisters and sisters-in-law :)

Challenges:
— Prenatal vitamins. I have never been good at swallowing pills, and my prenatal vitamins are a beast. But I’ve figured out a system! I cut them into four pieces and swallow them with food, which helps mask the taste. Works like a charm. I did consider gummies, but they seemed a little lighter on the nutrients.
— Drinking water. This has always been a challenge for me, since I almost never FEEL thirsty, but I know it’s even more important for pregnant people, so I’m soldiering on with my mini challenges.
— Meal timing and size. It’s becoming more necessary to eat smaller, more frequent meals (I often split dinner or lunch up into two sessions), as I get full much more easily. I also have been waking up with a growling stomach, making a speedy breakfast important!

Updates:
— My glucose test is this morning! Hoping it’s not as terrible as everyone says it is and that I pass.
— I think we finally figured out a layout for the nursery, but it’s not any of the options I outlined here. Putting one bed on each wall seems to be the best fit.
— Our registry is pretty much complete! Thank you all again for your input. As you can see, our first gift has arrived and has been thoroughly cat tested and approved.
— I made a first draft of my labor and delivery preferences. In addition to our OB, we are seriously considering hiring a doula, which is not something I ever expected to say!
— I have been doing lots of reading and learning. I was planning to write a book review post in the next few weeks, but I think it might make more sense to wait on that until after we’ve had a chance to put some of the advice into action! However, if you’re curious, here is what I’ve read over the last year: All Joy and No Fun, Simplicity Parenting, Taking Charge of Your Fertility, Expecting Better, What to Expect When You’re Expecting, Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth, Jo Frost’s Confident Baby Care, On Becoming Babywise, and The Nursing Mother’s Companion. So far, my favorites are Expecting Better, All Joy and No Fun, and Confident Baby Care.

Upcoming:
— Our birth class begins in November! It runs for five weeks and is taught by our hospital. I’m so interested to see what they’re going to present and how it will dovetail with the books I’ve read. We will also be taking a breastfeeding class, which, though I’m looking forward to it, I’m sure will also make me feel super awkward :)
— Most of all, I’m excited about my two baby showers! My sisters and Nancy are throwing one here in NC, and my sisters-in-law are hosting one in Connecticut. Since we live far away from family and lots of friends, it will be so good to celebrate in person before the lady arrives. Very thankful for my generous hostesses!!

I think that’s it for now! I don’t want to inundate y’all with baby posts, but I’m also happy to share things that might be of interest. If there’s something here that sparked a question, feel free to leave it below and I’ll try to answer it in the comments, or perhaps in its own post!

Nursery plans! Out of the blue, my buddy Lisa asked me several months ago if I had ever thought about what I would want a future nursery to look like (we take lots of long car rides together and have time to talk about everything). I was a bit taken aback, as, unbeknownst to her, I was already pregnant! The answer I gave her was “not really,” and I wasn’t just trying to avoid the topic – it was true! Though I had collected some inspiration over the years, a nursery wasn’t something I ever had a set vision for.

Things stayed that way into the first several months of my pregnancy — I saw things I liked, and even designed the following board which used some of my favorite colors, but nothing ever felt quite right.

Then I stumbled across this nursery, and instantly fell in love. We didn’t know yet whether we were having a girl or boy, but I knew I could make it work either way.

Jessie gets the lion’s share of credit for my inspiration above — we will be using the same buffalo check fabric, the same light fixture, and similar crib bedding as she did. However, since our room is for a little lady, we’ll be adding a few horse accents — I was completely horse crazy when I was younger, and my Dad grew up on what is now a horse farm. (Actually the oldest continuously working farm in Connecticut! I love having that heritage as a part of her space.) I also think the toile and floral patterns make the overall look a bit more feminine in our rendition.

I seriously considered wallpapering one wall once I stumbled across the adorable Collette pattern from Sandberg Wallpaper, but alas they have discontinued the blue colorway:

from this blog

They still carry a lovely black colorway, but it’s not right for this room:

After total inaction for the first six months of pregnancy, the last week or so has been a whirl of progress! My Dad painted the walls (Benjamin Moore Simply White), we’ve assembled the crib (the same Jenny Lind beauty my sisters and I used as babies, unearthed from my parents’ attic!), and we’ve purchased a light fixture, a blue toile crib skirt, and a lamp. Next on the list? Switching out the light fixture, choosing a glider, deciding on window treatments (should we do drapes or a pelmet box like this?), ordering bedding for the twin bed that will also be in the room, and deciding on artwork. I am hoping to scrounge up some vintage photos of my family’s farm and horses; I also love the print from Minted in my inspiration above.

I’d also like to settle on a room layout. Here are the three options we’re considering:

Option 1: Not sure if having the crib and bed that close together is ideal, even though no one will be sleeping in the twin most of the time.

Option 2: Same issue with the bed and crib, though there might be a little more wiggle room.

Option 3: This layout allows more room between the beds, but I don’t know if having the crib so close to the door is a good idea?

Just as a note, the door on the right-hand side is a little mini door to our attic storage. And as a reminder, here is the room “before:”

I think that’s about all I have to report for now! I’d love your thoughts and feedback, including on my current decisions, if you’d like:

— Drapes or a pelmet box in blue buffalo check for the window?
— Room layout 1, 2, or 3?

Thanks, friends!!

I think many of you may already know, either from conversation or Instagram, but I wanted to share the news officially here: we are welcoming a little lady to our family in January!

To back up a little, we knew pretty much from the beginning that we would find out our baby’s sex before birth. I know several folks that have been so happy with their decision not to (my sister and Nancy, for two), and the frugal side of me really liked the idea of loved ones gifting us practical, gender-neutral gifts over tons of pink or blue outfits. However, I didn’t really buy the argument that the surprise of the gender would provide any additional motivation to get me through labor (it seems unlikely anything could top the idea of simply meeting our baby!). I also felt that the waiting and wondering over many months would make me more anxious than excited. Finally, we thought that knowing whether we were expecting a boy or girl would help these two non-baby-lovers wrap their heads around everything that’s going on.

So, when we went in for our twenty week ultrasound, we asked the doctor to hide anything pertinent on the screen, and write the sex on a note sealed in an envelope. I like that he signed the outside — very official, like the Oscars :)

That was a Thursday, and we kept the envelope in our hot little hands until Friday evening, when we opened it at dinner on our first night in Greenville.

From the beginning, I thought we were having a girl. Actually, it was less of a thought and more of an assumption — I have two sisters, 90% girl cousins, and almost all of our close family friends have all girls. We just don’t do boys in my world, as evidenced by my Dad’s response when I asked for final guesses:

Our families were pretty much 50/50 on whether it would be a boy or a girl. The vast majority of online friends thought it would be a girl. As I said, I thought girl from the beginning until the last week or so, when I started to think it might be a boy. John didn’t have a strong feeling until the last week or so, when he also started to think it might be a boy! We even consulted Joanna’s old wives tales round-up, and my answers leaned towards boy.

Still, I wasn’t surprised when we opened the envelope and saw girl! The beautiful thing is that even though for years I’ve always thought I’d prefer to have a girl, and especially a girl as the oldest child, by the time it actually came down to our actual child, I can honestly say I would have been equally as happy either way. All of the things you hear about just wanting the baby to be healthy are 100% true, but more than that, I think my happy ambivalence was due to the fact that I’ve gotten the chance to know some lovely little boys (my nephew and Perry!) over the last few years, and have been reminded that they are equally as wonderful and fun as little girls!

That being said, I think John will be an amazing Dad to a little girl. Also, let’s be clear — I’m pretty excited about the two sets of pink cat pajamas I’ve already bought her. For the most part, though, our registry is pretty neutral, and you might be surprised to see the nursery design I’m working on. (More on that soon!)

Finally, since many folks have been asking, I would say at this point we’re about 95% set on a first name, and 60% set on a middle name. We will be keeping both under wraps until she joins us!

I would love to hear: If you’ve had a baby, did you have a strong feeling about the sex, and were you right? Did you find out beforehand? For everyone, if you want to have children, would you rather have boys, girls, both, or no preference?