It's a GIRL!!!

Who gets a puppy in their third trimester?????  WE DO!

Matt has always wanted a Weimaraner puppy and so when he started talking about it over a year ago I said, "fine... just as long as we get the dog before I'm pregnant." Well once we started trying that turned into, "as long as we get the dog in  my first trimester." After I got pregnant... I told Matt that if we were going to get a puppy that it would need to be BEFORE the third trimester or a year after the baby was born... At 20 weeks I was sure that I was in the clear. Matt hadn't even STARTED to research a dog so I figured that we would just be waiting . There was no way that Matt would get motivated in time and even if he did I figured that he would not be able to find a good hunting line with puppies available for pick up in my second trimester...

Well... Matt did end up getting motivated. In fact he found two possible litters. One in Maryland that came from more of a "show" line and one in Canada from a hunting line. We went two weekends ago and looked at the ones in Maryland and decided that while the puppies were SUPER cute and we would get them before the start of my third trimester that we would hold off and go with the puppies from Canada.

So yes... that means that at 31 weeks we will welcome a little girl into our house!

We have put in our deposit for a puppy from NorthLink Weimaraners . The cute puppies were born on May 24th and there were 2 males and 6 females in the litter. We went with NorthLink because they come from a hunting line (which is what Matt wanted), they were HIGHLY recommended, and I really like that they match families with dogs based on your wants and the development that they observe from the puppies to make sure that we will truly get the best pup for our growing family. Thank means that we

Here are the puppies at 1 day old!

Here are the little puppies at 18 Days old.

On our way to Traverse City in a few weeks we will be making a detour up to Canada to meet the puppies! Emma cannot wait. She is already thinking about girl names.

Starting Point for the Nursery

So now that the laundry room is complete I am 100% focused on the nursery.

Late last week I shared with you some photos that I found inspiring and I shared our "mood Board"

I also wanted to show what the room currently looks like. Currently this is a room that I am just throwing in any baby related items with no rhyme or reason... but  all of that is about to change!

View from the door.

View from bathroom door

These closet doors will be coming down ASAP! They do not work at all!


View from back corner looking towards bathroom and the door to the room

So we have two closets in this room.. one for hanging and this one that is all shelving. I would like to remove these doors (Place them on the other closet) and make these shelves into a built-in bookcase.

Things are already changing in the nusery... here are two of my favorite guys putting together the crib! YAY!

Baby boy park will be using the same round crib that we used for Emma. However, he will NOT have girly fabric coming down from the sides... I figured adding finials to the tops of the post would be a much more masculine approach. :)

My to do list for this room is:

-          Vacuum Baby Room

-          Clean windows

o   Inside

o   Outside

-          Deep Clean Carpet

-          New doors on closet

-          Built in bookcase behind door

-          Paint

-          Rustic wood plank wall

-          Crown molding

-          Paint ceiling

-          Reupholster Glider

-          Window treatments

o   Blinds

o   Curtains

To Buy

-          West Elm Elephant

-          Ceiling light fixture

-          Rug

-          Dresser

-      Baskets

-          Artwork

A lot to do but I'm excited and cannot wait to bring out little man home to his room... Even though he will sleep in our room for the first couple of months in a cradle.

Laundry Room

So I did it! I cleaned out our CRAZY messy Laundry/storage room this weekend and started a little remodel.

Matt was out of town for a mancation... and hadn't been too receptive when I had brought up this project a few other times... so of course I decided to tackle on my own while he was gone... Sometimes that is just the only way to get things done!

It started with a massive clean out of the space

Here is the laundry room before... oh the shame... it was so dark and messy. I would just literally throw things in here when I didn't know what to do with them and things had gotten out of control!!

Look at that horrible floor and gross brown peg board along two of the walls! Even my dishes had become disorganized on my bakers racks.

Here are some built in shelves that were completely out of control.. and this is after I had already cleared off most of the stuff... ehhh the shame... I cannot believe that I am sharing this! oh and you cannot tell from these photos but the wall color is this dirty looking off white... not nice and crisp.

Ehhh... and do not even get me started on this. our extra towels on a broken shelf above the washer and dryer (it was broken when we bought the house... why did we never fix it?) The ugly water heaters, Emma's clothes folded but not put away on the dryer, and the pile of laundry on the floor. Oh not to mention a few boxes that we STILL haven't unpacked from our move a year and an half later... hanging my head in shame.

Well after a FULL weekend and a lot of help from my amazing parents this is what Matt will come home to tonight!!!!

Goodbye UGLY floor! Hello pretty painted pegboard. I painted with Benjamin Moore NO VOC paint so baby park is safe! The color in these photos (Taken late last night) comes off as a light blue but the real color is more of a gray/blue.

ORGANIZED bakers racks! With bins that hold baking supplies, random gifts, table cloths, and cloth napkins

Hefty bins purchased from KMart with Martha Stewart chalkboard labels. I still need to write on them but these bins hold our K-Cups, Rags/Microfiber cloths, and light bulbs.

More organized bins and labels. Also, all of my beautiful china from my grandmother is now put in amazing Crate and Barrel containers so that everything stays safe. 

I also purchased this AMAZING wooden divider to hide our hot water heater and other ugly items... It was purchased from Nadeau in Alexandria. This store is easily becoming a favorite! They have such unique pieces and great prices.

In fact, I will be looking at Nadeau for a larger desk to go in this little alcove by the door... for now I just moved a table and chair that we had somewhere else in the house... but this is where I will house my sewing machine. (which rocks by the way! I made some great burp clothes that I will share on a later post)

The room is by no means done (I just couldn't do it all in a weekend)... Here are the few projects left:

· Paint the ceiling... it is still the ugly yellow/white color

· Replace all of the light switches and outlets so that they are pretty and white

· New desk/table for sewing

· Determine what to add back to the other side of shelves and how to make it organized. Thinking baskets...

· Hang cork board and weekly calendar on the wall by my sewing table

· Floor molding in a crisp white

· Paint doors

Oh and get ready for these!!!!

We bought them a few weeks ago and there was NO WAY that these beautiful GE Profile appliances could come home to the old laundry room. I couldn't let them see my shame...

Fingers crossed that Matt is happy!

Baby Room Thoughts...

I've been having a blast brainstorming ideas for our little man's room! I want the space to be comfy, masculine, Rustic, and or course it needs some elephants!

Here are some photos that I have found inspiration from

Source: unknown

Baby and Child: Restoration Hardware

Baby and Child: Restoration Hardware



Bower Power

Project Nursery

Project Nursery

Nursery Notations

Restoration Hardware  - LOVE the side table

So... After much searching here is my inspiration board. 

The fabrics are still TBD... We are waiting for the samples to come in and once those get here we will make a QUICK final decision, order the fabrics, and start making the bedding... That is one thing about having a round crib all bedding really does need to be custom made (by my amazing mom) because the ones sold in stores are WAY to frilly for our taste. My mom made Emma's bedding and it was amazing!

We are going to cover one wall with wood and we will hang our West Elm Elephant head on that wall.. Our elephant came in the mail earlier this week and I am in love with him... I think that we will name him Harold.

Also, I found the picture of the Restoration Hardware Side table after I feel in love with a unique piece from Nadeau in Alexandria. The piece looks just like the one above exceptt the storage goes the floor and the doors have distressed wood and painted numbers. (like the basket but 1-8) I LOVE the piece so much. I also think that my piece has more personality, is not as dark, and HELLO best thing is that it is half as expensive as the one on my mood board!

I'm still holding on purchasing a rug until we determine fabrics and the baskets pictured above are from Restoration hardware... but this home girl will be stalking Homegoods for something similar.

Lighting also up in the air. I like the light above from Shades of Light but I do not think that it will be bright enough... Plus it is outside of my budget for want I wanted to spend on lighting.

Well I hope that this give you all an idea of what we are looking to accomplish in our little ones room!

Now I have to turn my attention back to the laundry room... Photos on Monday!



24 Weeks

Dress: Non Maternity Ralph Lauren

Pregnancy: 24 weeks

Weight Gain: 18 pounds

Sleep: I'm sleeping pretty well, I just have trouble falling back asleep if I happen to wake up in the middle of the night. My mind starts running on tasks for the house and work.

Gender: BOY!

Names: I'm going to give you all a sneak peak at what we are thinking... Keep in mind that Middle Name will be Matthew and of course last name is PARK!

In no specific order we are considering:

- Alexander

- Robert

- Zachary

- Grayson

- Bradley

- Hunter

Opinions welcome! We all currently have different favorites.

Feeling: I have to admit, this week was a bit rough. Still feeling my Braxton Hicks contractions on the regular... sometimes as much as 5 an hour. (We have to call the doc if we hit 6)

Health:  Doing well. I have a mild infection but taking some meds and I'm sure that all will be good. I'm still traveling for work and managing 12 hour days so I guess things are going well.

Movement: Our little boxer moves constantly and has started to enjoy pushing elbows or knees into my belly button. My favorite thing each day is when Matt and I lay down to watch TV before bed... his hand goes straight to my belly and stays there for about an hour. He enjoys feeling his little boy moving around!

Belly: Measuring about 1 weeks ahead right now (Dr. did our first belly measurement last Thursday). I have a faint linea negra and my belly button is still an innie.  

Next Appointment: OB, Glucose Tolerance Test & Ultrasound: Thursday, June 28nd at 27w3d

Cannot wait to see our little guy in three more weeks on the ultrasound... but also still a bit worried to see where my placenta is...

Non baby highlight:

· I've started working on remodeling our laundry room! I cannot wait to see it completed... My parents are going to come over this weekend to help out. It will be a surprise for Matt as he will be on a camping trip this weekend with the guys.

· I cannot believe that the Spring Soccer season is already almost over. This weekend we will have our last two games and our end of season party. Time is really flying.

 

 

Week 23

{Dress: Motherhood... ignore the bad hair. This was after the pool}

Pregnancy: 23 weeks

Weight Gain: Full disclosure... 15 pounds

Sleep: Going Okay!  I am still waking up a lot in the middle of the night but with my wonderful new body pillow I just roll over and fall right back to sleep!

Health:  My back isn't 100% but doing much better. I think that at my doc appointment this Thursday I will have the joy of doing my glucose test. I've heard that the drink has gotten a lot better which is a relief because when I had to do the test with Emma I yacked and had to drink the drink again...

Feeling: Last night we even experienced some lovely Braxton hicks contractions. Nothing painful just tightness around the belly every 15 minutes for a few hours at bed time. They started around 9:30 p.m. while we were watching Game of Thrones (Best show ever) and I was still having them when Matt finished working at 2 a.m. and came to bed...

Matt has a HUGE work deadline today which meant working all through Memorial Day weekend! NO FUN!

Names: We are down to just a few names... A few people even got veto power last week when it came to picking our little boys name. I can say with confidence that his middle name will be Matthew after his father!

Gender: Still a BOY! We are currently trying to decide if the bedding that we used for Emma will also work for our little baby boy... with a round crib all bedding needs to be custom made so if we decide to switch things up we will need to do so quickly! I might put together a post about fabrics later in the week to see what you all think.

Movement: My "What to Expect" app is telling me that this baby is about 1.5 pounds and 8.5 inches and I can totally feel every inch of him.  Soon I think I'll be able to identify each limb as it sticks out and turns my belly lopsided.  But for now, I'll just continue to enjoy all this moving around before it really becomes uncomfortable!

Belly: Getting bigger. Still no linea negra and expecting the belly button to pop in the next three weeks.

Next Appointment: OB: May 31st!

Non baby highlight:

· So excited that the pool is open and that summer has unofficially started!

· Date night on Friday with Matt. We went out to dinner in Alexandria and to a movie. The Movie was the WORST... What to Expect When Expecting... even when expecting NOT funny! But it was so wonderful spending the quality time with Matt!

Week 22!

Week 23 Post will come this afternoon...

Pregnancy: 22 weeks

Sleep: Sleeping SOOOO much better due to my amazing Body Pillow from Matt!

Gender: BOY

Names: ehhh still  no names... I'm going to corner Matt this week becuase I want to get our list down to at least the top five!

Feeling: Another great week.

Health: I'm doing pretty well... Back is not at 100 % but I think that it is as good as can be expected when i work 12 hour days and have to do stuff around the house when I get off.

Got a massage also last week which is always helpful.

Movements: We are having a lot of movement. I think that we must have a little boxer on our hands! For now, I'm just continuing to enjoy all this moving around before it really becomes uncomfortable. =)

Next Appointment: OB: May 31st at 23 weeks!!

Non Baby Highlight of the Week:

• I was able to stay at the Viceroy Resort & Spa in Palm Springs for 4 nights and just relax! More on that later in the week!!!