2 Months To Go!

Baby G's due date is less than 2 months away now, & we are making some major progress in preparing for her arrival! We have been working hard on the nursery. Matt got all of the painting done. Our friends, Tara and Jay, and my mom came over last week. Tara & my mom helped me paint a tree on the nursery wall that the crib will go on. We added silk peonies flowers to make it 3D, & it looks so cute! While we were doing that, Matt & Jay installed recessed lighting in the 4 corners of the room. The lights are on dimmers, which will be very nice for middle of the night diaper changes. The nursery chair arrived as well. We're hoping to hang the chair rail & the curtains this week. I'm so excited to see it all start to come together! Here are some sneak peeks. The pics didn't turn out very well since I took the pictures at the worst time of day possible, but you get the idea. It's hard to see, but there are white flowers painted in the center of the leaves:





Our other big accomplishment this week was buying a new vehicle. It was time to say goodbye to my 2-door Civic days. It just wasn't going to be ideal to struggle with getting a car seat in & out of the back seat. We got a Hyundai Santa Fe. It definitely feels weird to be driving a bigger vehicle after having Civics for the last 9 years, but it will be nice to have the extra space (and nice to have a vehicle that can fit the baby and Bailey), & the fuel efficiency is great for a SUV.





The weather was great today, so we decided to head into the city to enjoy the day. We walked along the lake for awhile, and then headed over to Wrigleyville to grab lunch and watch the Blackhawks game. We had a great time. It was so nice to be out & about (and away from the house & any pressure to do something productive). We both have huge blisters on our feet from all the walking, but it was definitely worth it. Here is this week's bump picture: 31 weeks, 3 days.



And, since I was a slacker last week, this was the 30 week belly picture:

Mother's Day

It's so weird to be acknowledged as a mother this year. Today has been a great day. I woke up to the smell of french toast cooking. After a wonderful breakfast, Matt gave me a Mother's Day card, chocolates, and a gift certificate for a pedicure (which will come in very handy since I can no longer comfortably reach my feet). All day long, friends have been sending "Happy Mother's Day" text messages. It just kind of feels surreal, and it's very sweet. :)

Matt has been working away painting the nursery all day today, & it looks great. I am so excited to get this project started! He has had so many people offer to come over & help him paint, but he insisted that he wanted to tackle this project alone for his baby girl. He did accept a little help from Moxie though. :)





While Matt was busy slaving away, I went shopping. :) I ran over to JCPenny because I had 2 $10 off coupons & I wanted to look for curtains for the nursery. I didn't have any luck finding curtains, but I got these adorable dresses for $6 total!!! I love a deal. Even if I did have to go through the line twice to use both of my coupons. I'm not ashamed. :)



Here is my belly picture from today: 29 weeks, 3 days. 74 days to go!

Belly Pics

I have been severely harassed by my sister for not staying up to date on my belly pictures, so here are the pictures from the last few weeks.

26 weeks, 3 days:



27 weeks, 3 days:



28 weeks, 3 days:

99 Days

Today is officially 99 days until Baby G's due date. We are in double digits. Eeeeek! It's crazy how fast the time is flying. We have so much left to do before she arrives, but we're getting more & more excited to meet her everyday. I just hope she gives us that full 99 days to prepare, because we're going to need each one of them (I'm sure I'll be eating those words mid-July!). The crib skirt arrived today, & it is just as adorable in person as it was online. Here is a picture of the skirt & the sheets:

Whirlwind Weekend

This weekend has been crazy busy, but we have accomplished so much! We finally went & started our baby registry at Buy Buy Baby. I spent 5 hours researching baby products on Friday night, & another 2 hours Saturday morning before we went. Yeah, some might say that's overkill, but that's the only way I know how to do things. :) In my defense, we were in & out of BBB in less than 2 hours since I had done so much research ahead of time, & it really wasn't too overwhelming. Matt was appreciative. We still have a few things we need to complete/decide on, but at least we got the majority completed. It is OVERWHELMING when you realize how much stuff you need for a baby (okay, granted, you don't really NEED a lot of stuff, a lot of people do without, but seriously: swings, carseats, bathtubs, strollers, onesies, bibs, monitors, blankets...it makes my head spin!).

Sunday, we took a little ride up to Pottery Barn Kids, & picked up a set of sheets for the nursery so we can start picking paint colors. While we were there, I got completely distracted by this adorable mobile, & bought it as the first piece of decor for Baby G's room.



For those of you following the bedskirt saga, I found the coveted bedskirt brand-new on Ebay, & ordered it for $35 less than it would have been through PBK. It should arrive this week, & I am so excited to see this beauty in person. For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about, I fell in love with a bedskirt from Pottery Barn Kids that is only available online. I went to order it, & found that PBK was going to charge me $17 for S&H, & I just couldn't do it. So, I've been trying to figure out how I could avoid paying PBK this ridiculous amount of money, & still get the bedskirt of my dreams. Okay, that's a little dramatic, but I really, really wanted it. So, let's hope that I like it when it arrives, because there are no returns on Ebay! I will post a picture when it arrives. But, for now, I will leave you with today's belly picture at 25 weeks, 3 days:

Easter & Austin's Visit

Okay, I started the blog less than a month ago, & I'm already behind. Surprise, surprise. Easter was busy, busy, busy, but we had a great weekend visiting lots of family. Brian, Jacqi, & Austin (my sister, her husband, & 5 month old) were home for the weekend, & we had a great time visiting with them. I can't believe how much Austin has grown since we saw him in December, & it makes me sad that we're missing out on so much with him. But, we got to see a milestone when they were home--he rolled over for the first time on Easter! It was so exciting to see him working on it all weekend, & then finally making the roll. He is too cute!



Baby G & Austin got Easter baskets from my mom & dad, & they were so cute!!! Baby G got her 1st White Sox outfits. I can't wait to dress her in them!!!! This little girl is spoiled already. :)





Here is my baby bump at 24 weeks taken on Easter:

We're Getting a Kick Out of This Baby

Baby G is starting to kick harder & harder. Matt can feel her all the time now. This afternoon, I was laying on the couch reading, & I noticed that I could see a couple of the kicks on the outside of my belly. Very cool.

Matt & I have made our 1st baby purchases. We have been so good about not buying anything so far, but we couldn't resist when we went to Buy Buy Baby last week. We found this adorable onesie to dress her in for her 1st St. Patrick's Day next year:



We also bought her 1st book: "The Cat In The Hat" by Dr. Seuss. Matt has started reading it to my belly so the baby can learn the sound of his voice (I think she hears mine plenty!). It feels silly, but I think it's so sweet. :)



Here is my belly picture from today: 23 weeks, 3 days: