39 Weeks.

Posted on August 29, 2011 by Ali

To tell you the truth, I never thought I would make it this far. Well, that’s not entirely true… but since about halfway into my pregnancy everyone has been telling me that I’ll go early. But 39 weeks, well, that is not really very early, is it? I’m not trying to complain about it, I am just genuinely surprised to not have a baby in my arms yet.

I’m definitely feeling ‘done’, although my body isn’t really showing any signs of impending labor.

But hey, I guess he’ll come when he’s good and ready. Or when we evict him… whichever comes first. I am hoping it’s the former, but if he isn’t making any moves by the end of the week it’s likely that I’ll get induced… I’m just not entirely sure how much more my back can handle of this pregnancy thing. I know several women before me who have done it, but I’m not entirely sure how they did it and were still able to function. It feels like the rods are trying to separate from my spine, and let me tell you guys, it’s not a good feeling. But, in good news, he is no longer posterior, and that is HUGE, you guys, that should hopefully make for a much easier labor. Speaking of labor… if my baby comes a week from today then I will be in labor on Labor Day… which would be hilarious. I think if I went into labor on Labor Day I should get some kind of a prize, right? (I suppose I’d be getting a baby, which is a prize enough, right?)

I’ve got several crafts finished that I have got to show you later on this week… including a cute little something for my new niece, Iris, who was born last week, so stay tuned.

38 Weeks

Posted on August 23, 2011 by Ali

So, on Sunday I hit the 38 week mark.

I’m glad that I’m working all week instead of sitting at home dwelling on the fact that I am still very much pregnant.

Baby is somewhere around the 7 pound mark, as far as they can estimate. This kid really knows how to send some mixed signals, and over this past week has made it very clear that he’s perfectly comfortable just hanging out in-utero for a while longer. But hey, if he wants to chill out for a few more weeks, I guess that’s ok with me. I’d prefer it if he came next week, next week looks good for me. But I’ll keep ya’ll posted.

Little Purple Penguin

Posted on August 4, 2011 by Ali

I made this little Purple Penguin for a custom order. Isn’t he cute?

He’s on his way to Portland as we speak.

I liked him so much that I cast one on today for Togglebuttons! Although, his will just be a black and white one.

Also, can I show you guys something kind of disturbing? It’s not too gross, don’t worry. This is a picture of my feet today.

Sausage feet! They look sunburned! They’re so swollen that they’re turning pink! Pretty gross, huh? I swear I didn’t adjust the color or anything, that’s how red my feet are! It’s soo hot outside right now, and that sure isn’t helping with the swelling! Plus, the medication they put me on to stop contractions is also a blood pressure lowering medication… well, that’s contributing to the problem. BUT, in good news, I went to the doctor yesterday and everything is looking great. He’s head-down, I’m not having any contractions thanks to the medication I’m on, but he said I should stop taking the medication this weekend, and then if I go into labor then they are just going to let me have this baby! I am trying not to get too excited about the fact that I might be having this baby as soon as next week, otherwise if I don’t end up having him next week I don’t want to be disappointed. But things are looking good, and he’s still measuring big. They approximate him to be around six pounds, but who knows how accurate that is. But everything is looking good!

Nursery Bedding

Posted on August 1, 2011 by Ali

So, for my baby shower present we got the cutest bedding for Togglebuttons Nursery from my mom. I absolutely adore it.

Isn’t it the cutest, EVER?

My sister Erika is actually the one that found it for me. And I instantly fell in love with it. And I think it’s gender neutral enough to use for other future children, girl or boy.

Togglebuttons little buddies are already in the crib waiting for him! Now all we need is a baby!

It even has a cute little dust-ruffle, in my favorite color of green! Ok, now that I am looking at these pictures, I realized I probably should have ironed them before taking pictures and posting them all over the internet… (sorry mom)

Now I just need to get something to hang his cute new elephant mobile on! (If anyone has any great ideas on how to attach it to the crib, I’d love to hear them. You can see a picture of the mobile hanging to the right, just behind me (it’s hanging from the light fixture) in this picture.)

Family Reunion!

Posted on July 29, 2011 by Ali

I just realized I forgot to blog about our family reunion! We had such a good time. I love hanging out with my family, and even though a lot of people weren’t able to come this year, we still had a blast.

Photo from Effie’s Photography

There were fun little woodland walks, family baseball games, a little bit of swimming and a lot of relaxing and knitting. (I kinda forgot to take my camera out very much)

We had a great time, and I am so glad that all of this bed-rest silliness happened AFTER our vacation so I could enjoy that as much as I did. I love my family!

Baby Shower!

Posted on July 26, 2011 by Ali

When I was in Tacoma my lovely cousin Sarah threw me a baby shower. For those of you who don’t know, Sarah is a master party planner. Seriously, she can throw a party like nobody’s business. She did an amazing job and we had such a good time!

She added just the cutest little details!

Notice the cute handsewn elephants hanging all over? She made them as party favors and everyone got to take one home and she made me a mobile with them as well! So adorable!

Me and my highschool besties! (R-L: Hilary, Me, Autumn, Charissa)

CUTE CUTE CUTE!

And yummy, yummy food!

Togglebuttons and I were supremely blessed by gifts. I can’t wait to decorate the nursery with all of my new presents!

Barefoot and Pregnant in the Kitchen

Posted on July 8, 2011 by Ali

Fridays are one of those days where I always want the house to be at least tidied by the end of the day… there’s just something so nice about going into the weekend with a clean house. Anyway, today I’ve been cleaning and baking. Yep, barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen making cookies.

Gotta at least taste the cookie dough. Soo tasty.

Busting out of my apron… Yep. I’ll be 32 weeks on Sunday. 8 more weeks! Eek. It’s getting really, really close. TWO MONTHS AWAY! Well, two months if he decides to come on time. Two hot months. Two really, really hot months. I spent the last two afternoons at the pool, sitting in the shallow end letting the water just splash over me. Whenever I get in the water little Togglebuttons goes nuts and just starts moving around and going crazy. He’s still super active, moving around all the time and trying to kick his way out through the top of my belly. (Yay, this means he is still head down, so that’s awesome!) But I am getting anxious to meet my little boy. I think we’re pretty much prepared, or at least as prepared as I can be at this point, you know? I guess we will find out when he comes!

Ok. Also, on a completely unrelated note, has anyone ever tried the “No Shampoo” deal? I am kind of curious to try it because it seems like pretty much all shampoo dries out my hair really badly, even though I use plenty of conditioner- and it doesn’t seem to depend on the expensiveness of the shampoo, either. So, I might give it a try (maybe after the baby is born and I’m going to be staying at home alot, so if I end up with greasy hair no one will see….) So, if you’ve tried it, let me know how it worked for you.

A Little Too Much Sun.

Posted on July 7, 2011 by Ali

My sister warned me this was going to happen….

Ah, the first burn of the summer! It’s actually not too painful, which is weird, because I always burn, and it always hurts. But this one, so far, doesn’t hurt. I did rub aloe on it right when I got home an had the fan blowing on me all evening so maybe that was the trick. Don’t worry, I drank plenty of water and made sure to stay super-hydrated all day though. I didn’t want a repeat of Tuesday.

Man, being pregnant is so much fun, guys! On Tuesday I was just too dehydrated after a hot 3 day weekend, plus the last time I went to the doctor they said my iron levels were getting really low, anyhow, I was at work on Tuesday morning and all of the sudden I started to feel really nauseated and got some tunnel vision and next thing you know I woke up to my face smacking the desk. I had passed out cold. I called Paul and he came and took me to the doctors and they hooked me up to the monitor and did a non-stress test and everything looked okay, I was just not drinking enough water or getting enough iron. So I’ve been chugging water constantly and trying to remember to eat iron rich foods. And I’ll try to remember to reapply my sunscreen…

Stolen Flowers

Posted on June 28, 2011 by Ali

So, we’ve got a few abandoned apartment buildings in our complex. We call them the Chernobyl apartments because they’re completely desolate, empty and boarded up. It’s kind of creepy, there’s these empty playgrounds that have that yellow “Caution” tape all around them. Anyway, several of them have these wildflower/weeds growing around them, so I figured it couldn’t hurt to grab a few of them since these apartments are so hidden and no one else was enjoying them.

Anyone have any idea what these flowers are? (Thanks, Lyn! They’re Columbines, for those of you who wanna know!)

I am pretty sure these are just weeds, but they looked cool.

They reminded me of snowflakes!

They add a nice little pop of color to my kitchen!

Also, wanna see how big Togglebuttons is getting?

Whew! 30 weeks and a few days. He’s getting really big in there. He’s decided that his favorite place to be is curled up in a ball right up on the right side of my ribcage, and then once he’s up there he likes to dance around and poke me with his tiny little fists and kick my stomach with his itty bitty feet. Yesterday he did such a ridiculous somersault in my belly that he actually made me throw up! It felt like he was launching off of my stomach and it was like being punched in the stomach REALLY hard. But other than that, all is going well! He’s over 3 pounds now (whoa!) and as active as can be. 10 more weeks (give or take a few weeks…) We can’t wait to meet you, little boy!

Does This Make Me A Bad Person?

Posted on June 17, 2011 by Ali

So, there’s this big peony bush outside some empty apartment building in our neighborhood. Every day I walk past it, and admire the beautiful flowers. But some of them were getting so heavy that they were just laying on the ground. So today, I went on a secret mission and snipped off a few of it’s beautiful blossoms and brought them into my kitchen.