It's All About the Fluff. No 'Sposies.

Kevin and I are far from the greenest people on the block. But one of the many discussions we've had since getting pregnant is whether or not to use cloth diapers. We researched a little bit in the beginning, but one or two days of searching for answers and that was that. There was a lot of info out there and it seemed so confusing! A few months later, I started registering and we decided we'd just go with disposables (or sposies for all you cloth diaper mommas out there). We received one package of diapers at our shower, and I just thought about all the diapers we'd have to buy after that, because that one tiny box wouldn't last a week! After that, I decided to do a little more research to compare costs, efficiency, brands, etc. of cloth diapers.

Here are a few great blog posts about the cost analysis. There are so many more out there! Research is your best friend for this.

Squawkfox gives a great pricing analysis from birth to being potty trained. She used 30 months as her timeline (although, who knows how long it'll take to potty train each child).  That was 7,354 diaper changes for 30 months using an average of 8 diaper changes a day (more for a younger child and less for an older). Her price point for disposables was 26 cents per diaper. This costs $2,349! And if you have two children in diapers at once, it's even more!

Her average for buying cloth diapers was $450. It's a nice middle ground. They can cost more or less depending on the system you choose and how addicted you are to the cute prints!

Modbots used a comparison of what it would be like to have 4 children, and that one really is a great eye opener since most of us have more than one child.

So, after much research and talking it out, we decided to go the cloth diapering route. Here's what we have so far.

Newborn set. 12 fitted Kissaluvs, 4 XS Bumgenius, 3 Blissful Booty, 5 S Bumgenius, 2 wool covers, 7 newborn PUL covers

One sized diapers (not complete yet, but will continue stash as she grows.) 13 pocket diapers so far, extra inserts, and one cover

25 prefolds, 12 microfiber & hemp inserts, 3 covers

Our stash was all bought used. We picked up bits and pieces from different moms who had cared for their diapers really well. That's why we have way too many covers, but they were a great deal! I also don't know what will work for her little tush yet, so we're trying all in ones (AIO), prefolds, pocket diapers, all in twos (AI2) , and fitteds.

I'll update with the different diapers when she arrives and how they work for her. So far, this has been such a fun journey. I'm already an addict. Yesterday, I actually bought 4 more newborn diapers, because they were a great deal. One of our local baby stores, Soft and Cozy Baby, is going out of business. They have consignment cloth diapers, and they were all on sale! We bought 4 for just $14!! So, now we actually have 27 newborn diapers. She'll be going through them a lot though :) 

For all of this, we've spent right at $300. That's a great deal. I'd recommend going the used route if this is something you'd like to try, but don't really know where to start or what will work on your baby. You can always resell them, remember, so it's at no loss to you. Plus, less diapers in the landfill and more cash to spare each more are always a plus.

Diaper draw. There are some disposables in there for her first meconium poos!

And for fun, an update on this gal who will be wearing these cute diapers soon!!

Two of my best friends. Can't wait for baby Williams to meet these two

35 weeks. Yes, I know I blend in with the wall. I didn't think that trough before the photo.

36 weeks!

Rule Breaker

My parents would tell that's the story of my life. I would say, I learned it from my dad.  Rules have always been a more of a suggestion than than a demand.  Granted, there are some rules I just won't break. I'm a chicken when it comes close to doing anything interfering with the law (except speed "limits").

Today, I'm not breaking any rules that will land me in jail, though.

All through my pregnancy I've been able to run. I've been blessed to run - even through the first trimester. I never had one second of morning sickness. I didn't feel pregnant until I was more than halfway through this pregnancy. But, sadly, my running is ending at 35 weeks pregnant. My beloved Merrell shoes had a few too many miles on them, but I continued to run. That's just what I do. I push limits. This time, it didn't work out in my favor. My right foot took a beating and I'm pretty sure I have extensor tendonitis. Nothing damaging or serious. I just need a lot of rest and ice. And since baby H dropped around 32 weeks, my pelvis is sore for a day or two after my run. Kevin thinks I walk like a grandma post runs these days. So, with much grievance, I'm laying my shoes to rest until I can continue with exercise after the baby is born.

Back to rule breaking...This whole pregnancy, I've also been able to *gasp* ride my bike...on the streets of Baltimore. And I'm still doing it. Yes, I'm 35 weeks pregnant. Yes, you can judge me. Yes, all the books and blogs tell you not to ride your bike late in your 2nd and 3rd trimester. But you know what...my balance is pretty darn good still. (I can even hold some yoga poses longer than some non preggers.) I actually just came back from a 14 mile bike ride and feel great! I wouldn't do it if I didn't feel comfortable. I'm not trying to harm my body. I just happen to know my body better than anyone else. If I felt uneasy riding on our potholed streets, I wouldn't ride my bike.

I've also taken a "warm yoga" class. It's not quite as hot as Bikram. The room is somewhere around 94 or 95 degrees. Taboo. Yes, I know. Again, I was listening to my body. I asked my teacher ahead of time if it would offend him if I walked out. While I took the class, I chose to rest during some things I knew I couldn't do. I modified all the twists. I drank my entire water bottle. I also did some pretty great balance poses (at least for someone who is 35 weeks ).

While I'm not condoning everyone to go out and do things against the books, I would say listen to your body. You know what feels good. You know what hurts and what makes you feel uncomfortable. I'm sad to have to give up running at this point, but I'm okay knowing I still have other options. I'll continue with my bike riding, warm yoga, Barre, and cross training machines. All of these things feel really good.

Are you a rule breaker or rule follower? I've broken many other unwritten pregnancy rules, but I'm not divulging all of my secrets right now!

And here's the latest picture. It was just taken Monday, so a few days late! I can't believe I'm 35 weeks today :) 5 more to go!

Touch of Pink

The nursery is finally done...I think :) There are always final touches that could be made, but all in all, we're ready for this chick (on the planning side of things).  And I have to say, I absolutely LOVE just going to sit in there. It relaxes my mind and just calms me as funny as that sounds. The "touch of pink" on the walls is enough for my anxious thoughts to scatter and my mind can enter a tranquil place. I can envision the giggles, late night nursing, and rocking to soothe our baby's tears. I know the nights won't always be as calm in that room as they are now, so I'm savoring these last few weeks and meditating on the sweetness to come.

We were very fortunate to get  hand-me-downs for all the furniture in the room except the rocker. My parents gifted us that soft chair for our baby shower. It's probably my favorite part of the whole room and the reason I'm able to relax :)

Still a little cluttered, but this is baby H's nursery.

We received the monogram from one of my best friends at our baby shower. Up close, the monogram just looks like a lot of curly-cues. It was ordered in natural wood, so we could paint if what ever color we wanted. Of course I wanted it gold to go with the color theme. It was super easy and required no thought at all.

I bought a "brilliant gold" spray paint by Design Master from Michael's and went to town. I sprayed three coats just to make sure it all was coated evenly. While I had the spray paint out, I also decided to spray one frame on the wall the same "brilliant gold."

Beautiful monogram from Strickland. They did a beautiful job. Great prices too!

Tassels and "Pray Big" pillow from my sister-in-law Kelly. Beautiful monogram from one of my best friends. And crocheted blanket from our baby shower made my some special hands!

White turned gold frame.

I was so excited with how the gold came out. Spray paints are always so difficult for me to pick out. There are so many shades of each color, and they start to run together after staring at the case for 20 minutes trying to decide between three colors. Luckily, the crafty people at Michael's helped make the decision when I shared my vision of gold! 

This frame went above the changing table along with a few more frames. This oval frame is still empty. Waiting upon the arrival of baby H. My thoughts right now are leaning towards a sweet daddy/baby photo or footprints and handprints. If you have any cute ideas, let me know in the comments. As mentioned above with the gold spray paint, sometimes it's nice to have a third party make my decision! 

Please disregard the glare in these photos. The room doesn't have a a good time of day for taking pictures and not having a glare in the glass. The photos, left to right, clockwise: 

• Cross stitched photo of a child praying that my mom made for me when I was born. She brought it by surprise on her last visit. The colors were perfect for the room, but even if they weren't, it had to go up.
• Gold "Love" photo from Homegoods
• "You are My Sunshine" wooden photo from my sister-in-law, Kelly.
• White and light pink frame from my baby shower with a sample of Anthropologie's wall paper I received for free about a year ago.
• Antique gold frame with a maternity photo my sister-in-law, Kelly, snapped for our baby shower.
• Center frame is the gold spray painted frame that something special will go in after baby H is born. 

I'm really happy with how this turned out. I love photo collages on walls. I'm actually still working on one in our den. It's been incomplete for probably 6 months now. (Don't judge! Baby fever swept over me.)

 This is a panoramic of the complete nursery. Back in the left corner is the carseat, diaper pail, a big cloth toy basket, and my hospital bag (which is only packed with the baby's clothes right now).  In the right corner is a little nightstand with our baby monitor and another little toy box on top. Right now, the nightstand is also our little library. Hopefully, we'll be able to find a little bookshelf for under one of the windows eventually. All this to say, there is still some clutter left in the room, but it'll go away very soon!

There's one thing I may still change about the walls. The starburst mirror on the right may come down and be replaced with something else. Possibly the tassels hanging on the crib (they won't stay there anyways). Again, suggestions would be great! We also are still in the process of looking for a little chandelier for the room. I'm not sold on the two lamps in the corner. For me, it's clutter!

I'll be 34 weeks tomorrow. It feels so close! Six weeks left. Our last Bradley class is this coming Sunday. 12 weeks of the class went by super fast. That means these next six will go by even quicker.

My bump at 33 weeks. Tomorrow 10/23 I'll be 34 weeks!

Playing Catch Up

So these last couple weeks have been pretty busy for our household. We knew we were in for a busy October, but it started a few days prior. To start from the beginning, there were four pregnant gals on my side of the family this year. Three of those were due in the first half of October (the 4th is me...and I'm due in December). Two of them are now born. The first one was born at the end of September. Ten days early! It threw us all for a loop. My mom flew up from South Carolina on the first plane out the next morning. Kevin and I went straight to the hospital after church.

This sweet little gal entered our life!

The proud new parents and the most beautiful baby girl.

They got to take her home two days later and started the wild new ride of parenthood. My mom has been between our home and their home for the past two weeks, between the birth of my niece, my baby shower, and my birthday! It's been a crazy first half of October!

Birthday meal with the Williams at the best hibachi, Ginza

My sister-in-law was a trooper, bringing her one week old baby to my baby shower the very next weekend after she was born. My other sister-in-law and our two moms threw me the most amazing baby shower (no pics yet, but I'll update!). My sister-in-law, Kelly, always throws the best parties. I'd trust her to design any party of mine without having to lift a finger myself! Her eye for design is amazing! She even made the color scheme of the shower the color scheme of our nursery (which you will see VERY soon)!

Along with all of these exciting events, our baby girl is growing, growing, growing! We had our last ultrasound. She is still a girl!! Thank goodness...or else we'd have to come up with a completely different nursery scheme and take A LOT of things back to the store (tutus...headbands...everything pink...). BIG relief! It also showed that she was growing right at the normal pace. She was 3 lbs 13 oz that day! Today, I'm officially 32 weeks + 4 days and counting.

We have 2 weeks left in our Bradley birthing class, which is making it seem all the more real. AND...I've definitely dropped. It seems a little early than the "normal time to drop," but I know it happened. One day I was still walking normally, and then the next, my pelvis and lower back were deathly painful.  As weird as it is to say, it's such relief,! I can eat a full meal without being miserable afterwords and my ribs are definitely hurting less (although still pretty painful). The painful pelvis and back only lasted for a day, so that wasn't too big of a deal!

Here are the updates:

Lighting is a bit weird, but that's what you get with a phone sometimes...

Crushing Idols

I know that every single parent out there will say the exact same thing and I've heard it 1,000 times, but pregnancy really does go by in the blink of an eye! I'll be 30 weeks tomorrow and I'm not sure where the past 30 weeks have gone. I just had my midwife appointment today and I was measuring 31 weeks. Little Peanut still has a strong heartbeat and she must have some long legs too!

I'm learning new things about her and what it means to nurture someone else whose life is dependent on mine daily. I guess the few years that we wanted to get pregnant and couldn't, I envied every pregnant belly that I crossed paths with and wondered when it'd be my time and why it couldn't be this very moment! Now, I know that it was because God wanted me to care for the little gal that's growing inside of me right now. And no matter the pain (ahem...the excruciating rib pain), I'll already do anything for her or say no to things I may have once said "yes" to, because her well-being is my number one priority.

And in the midst of caring for this little Peanut everyday and having her on my mind every second, I realize that it's not the big picture. The big picture is still Jesus. It's not that my journey in the valley is over and I'm free from pain and suffering (hellllo labor pains...just kidding...well, partly). The point is that this miracle should be pointing me more and more towards my Creator and some days, regardless of seeing the miracle, I forget that this child is about Him. It's to show me His love, His mercy, His grace, His unfathomable care for me as His child.

I, as a mother-to-be, should imitate His unconditional love for this child He's knitting together in my womb. Of course I'll make mistakes and embarrass the heck out of her at times, but I need my eyes on the bigger picture and not just the miracle. The miracle is ... well... a miracle and an amazing one at that! But, if I take my eyes off of Him and just focus on this miracle, the miracle will become my idol. An idol is something I definitely do not want to show my daughter. I've made too many in my life! She'll make mistakes and make her own, but I need her to see that Jesus is the only one who is precious and worthy enough to be made our idol. My prayer is that my idols fall like the leaves off the trees. Let them wither and be crushed under my foot. This isn't a time I need to be letting idols of everything baby and parenting into my life. It's a time when I need to surrender and call out to God on a daily basis for His help and wisdom.

In 10 weeks, one of my biggest challenges (dare I say the biggest) will enter my life and I need to be on a solid foundation. For myself. For my husband. For our marriage. For our daughter.

                                                                             

And a few pictures to update you guys on this little gal's progress!

Nursery Beginnings

Since finding out about the precious little girl we had coming this December, I immediately started planning for her. The first stop was a couple of cute outfits. The next was obviously her nursery! Her room that she'd grow into. I didn't want it to be overloaded with little girl type decorations that we all see at the big baby stores...you know...butterflies and flowers that smile back at you....caterpillars and forest creatures with high arched eyebrows and giant smiling teeth. That's just not my style! I like elegant, rustic, and chic. And baby Williams' nursery is no exception.

The first thing we did was paint her nursery a sweet peachy pink. It's a super light neutral, but a nice subtle "girl." I had several of my good friends from church come over in the middle of the day and help paint. We were done in two hours! Our Baltimore community is amazing to be a part of.

Next, we needed furniture. Have you seen the prices for furniture in the baby retail stores, though? It's more than we paid for our own furniture. $800 for a crib?? She won't sleep in it long enough to make it worth it. Luckily, we got a really nice Pottery Barn crib for free from another truly generous family in our church community. The crib is  a creamy white, so that's what we wanted out furniture to be as well. Striking up lucky once again, Kevin's parents still had his baby furniture!! How cool is that? Solid furniture that has been kept in nice condition. We went immediately to Home Depot and bought some white spray paint. I'll tell you the truth - I don't loooove painting furniture, so I thought spray painting would be easier. We bought Rustoleum's Antique White and covered all 3 pieces after lightly sanding them down with sanding blocks. (I actually stayed far from the spray paint and just watched the hubs spray away). We both noticed there were a few splotches that probably wouldn't have been there if we painted instead of sprayed, but he evened it out as best as he could with a second coat. 

The beginning with sanding

Drawers up close.

Already in my mask, realizing this is not a good idea for my lungs and the two lungs growing inside of me.

Starting the paint 

Splotchiness after the first coat...kind of nervous at this point!

After spraying the two coats of paint, we took these back to our house to put the sealer on. We sealed the furniture two days later since we had an extra day thanks to Labor Day! We went through 8 cans of white spray paint and two cans of sealer, so it cost about $40 in all. We also bought another can of hammered gold to use on the handles, but didn't use it all.

Second coat done! The vanilla color we were looking for :)

I couldn't wait to put these in baby William's room. I was ready to see the finished look (although it's still far from finished). I also wanted to organize all the cute little clothes we'd gotten for her. Finally, after spraying the drawer pulls, the room looked a slightly more pulled together. 

Tall dresser

Smaller dresser/changing table. Also, the peachy pink wall color!

Hammered gold knobs

Nightstand/Reading corner.

I will definitely show more pictures and how-tos of all of the DIY things we're doing in her sweet little room. The colors of the room are going to be the peachy pink, gold, and a vintage teal. Very girly, but not over the top with butterflies and smiling sunshines! It's something that I'll love walking into every time I rock her to sleep, read her a book, and play games with her. It's also something she can grow into as the next few years go by.

The Big Gender Reveal

Since we found out that we were pregnant, we knew I knew that I wanted to get to know who ever was growing inside of me before he or she was born. Kevin on the other hand wanted it to be a surprise at first. I finally got him to come around (hey, this little one is growing inside of me, right) and join the good side.

After many people praying for us for over a year to be able to have children, we wanted the village who would raise this peanut to find out who they'd be raising at the same time as us! We had a gender reveal party.

The theme was bow or beau. My sister-in-law helped out tremendously. She made all the food for the girl's side of the table and I made everything for a little boy (since I thought that's what we were going to have for weeks and weeks). I also made little clips for everyone to wear on their clothes.
 I started out with stickers, since I couldn't find anything pre-made that I liked or cost effective for a budget! I found these at Target and knew I could do something with them.

Bow and "Beau" stickers

Next, I cut all those little funny squiggles out and hot glued them on to tiny little clothespins from the baby shower aisle at Party City. Pretty simple. The husband even helped me cut out a few of those hard to cut mustachios.

There's a bit of white on some of them, but I was pretty satisfied.

Modeling how to wear these clips!

So, all the guests that came picked up their little clothespin and then added a name to our baby name board...just incase we needed help from those clowns...

Not everyone added an idea, but we got some input

Unfortunately, I was too engrossed in the party to actually take pictures of the food. My sister-in-law took some, though. The spread was gorgeous. For the boy's side I made items that went along with the theme "slugs, snails, and puppy dog tails." There was dirt pudding, pigs in a blanket disguised as slugs with little antennas made of pretzels, veggie dip dyed blue, meatballs, a blue punch with frozen yogurt in it, and other miscellaneous things. The girl's side was themed "sugar, spice, and everything nice." Kelly did such a great job dipping pretzels, marshmallows and strawberries in white chocolate and then in pink sprinkles. There was also a pink punch, cookies, fruit, donuts, and milk in old fashioned milk bottles. Coordinating balloons on either side of the food were placed at the table as well. We also used leftover stickers for our Natty Boh (still in the bow/beau them...and hey, we live in Baltimore) beer.

One of my favorite decorations! Simple, but super cute

After mingling for a while, it was time to bite those tempting cupcakes sitting on their own table away from everything else. They were the "sacred food" that no one could touch until we said so! Felt a bit empowered by that idea....Actually, they were on a different table so no child would accidentally pick up a delicious looking cupcake and eat it :) 

Our cupcakes from Harris Teeter

We had no idea what we were having, remember. We dropped an envelope off at Harris Teeter entrusting them with this!

We all bit into them at the same time. 3-2-1...

It's a girl!!!!!!

Both Kevin and I were in complete shock! We both cried tears of joy. Tears of a new adventure. Tears of God's grace. Tears of a new story beginning. And again, my mom screamed (just like when she found out we were pregnant). It was such an amazing moment to have our support system around us while we were doing this. Not that it mattered if it were a bow or a beau, but really to tell everyone how much we love and thank them for their fervent prayers. To show them that God answered their prayers and ours. We have such a faithful community and a faithful God. Having children seems like such a given in this world, but it's not! And it should be celebrated, whether you struggled to conceive like us or had no problem at all. I'm still in awe of what God has given us. It's brought so much joy. 

Looong Time No See

So...This post is looong overdue. I'll cut straight to the point, so there's no wondering. Since my last post in March, we became pregnant!! We found out April 2. A day I'll never forget. That night, we went ahead and shared the news with Kevin's parents and sister. We had a nice dinner out with them celebrating their anniversary, so nothing was suspected. We gave them a bottle of wine with an Easter egg tied around the top. Kevin's dad politely said, "thanks." So, we had to nudge the two of them to open the egg. Inside was a pacifier that said "coming December 2014." His mom screamed and his dad was thrilled. Our little nephew at the table was still a bit confused, but he's definitely come around!

Then, that weekend we already had a trip planned to see my parents in South Carolina. Totally unsuspicious. We packed them a little gift bag with two Easter eggs. One saying, "you'll need this soon..." and other saying "this big." The first one had a pacifier just as Kevin's parents' egg. The other was filled with poppy seeds, because at that time baby Williams was only a speck! My mom doubled over in tears and excitement. My dad smiled and congratulated with warm hugs!

It was such a great experience. That first trimester was tough, though. And I'm not talking morning sickness! I actually never had one funny feeling (thank the Lord). I was terrified of losing this little person we had just created. Around 10 weeks, my cousin gave me a used heart rate doppler. I cannot tell you how many times that little piece of technology put my mind at ease. It was definitely three months of fully trusting the Lord with what He had blessed us with.

The first stick! Taken at 5:30am. In shock.

First belly picture!

How "big" our little peanut was on that day.

Just wanted to see it written out...insurance :)

And the first picture of our little peanut. God is good.

Now, at 6 months pregnant, we've found out we're expecting a baby girl on December 4th! She's starting to kick, and play, and has already found my ribs (yes, they are bruised). We're thinking she may be a soccer player! 

From that little peanut to the 2 pound girl she is now....

12 weeks

13 weeks

14 weeks

15 weeks

16 weeks

17 weeks

18 weeks (in Paris)

19 weeks

20 weeks (gender reveal party!)

21 weeks

22 weeks

23 weeks

24 weeks

25 weeks

26 weeks

And we're 27 weeks tomorrow! Throughout these past weeks, we've put the size of the baby (compared to a fruit or veggie), length, weight, weeks, and milestones (which I don't think you can see from the pictures). It's been crazy watching the bump grow. I can't wait to show her one day!

This is the little face I keep in my heart and mind until the cold day she decides to make her entrance...

Love that sweet little peanut