Gender Reveal Party Favors

I had been looking for some really cute party favors for the Gender Reveal party that wouldn't break the bank. I found some online, ordered them and they came in this weekend.

They are adorable!

When D and I got married (in the fall, the weekend before Thanksgiving), I wanted something different and cute to give out at the reception. I wound up finding these little tiny bottles of real Vermont maple syrup and we STILL get comments to this day about how much people loved the little syrups, how good it was and what a great and unique idea it was. I was going for the same thing this time and stumbled upon these individual honey jars.

I plan on making a cute little labels for the jars and tying them with a cute little ribbon. I can't wait to see everyone's reaction when they get one to take home - I hope they like them as much as I do!

Wordless Wednesday

16 Weeks - 4 Months Pregnant!

I'm 4 months pregnant today! Woo hoo! Another milestone (in my book). We are so thankful that this pregnancy has been a healthy one, and our baby is still doing well and growing!

What's going on now:

Watch what you say! Tiny bones are forming in your little one's ears and he/she can now pick up your voice. Eyebrows, lashes and hair are starting to fill in and your little one's taste buds are forming. Your baby's nails are well formed and some baby's are even need of a nail trimming at birth. Your baby is emptying his or her bladder ever 40-45 minutes and their limb movements are becoming more coordinated. Although its still a little early, an ultrasound may be able to tell you the gender of your baby!

Weekend Recap

Our weekend was nice - we were able to spend some time with my family, and get some stuff done around the house, which is always nice. Friday evening we met my family in Waller and ate Mexican food before D left for work. It was nice getting to visit with everyone and the food was good, so it was a nice evening. Saturday, I slept in. D was already home when I woke up but he said "if you were still asleep, I figured you were tired and didn't want to wake you". We piddled around the house some and I went and made a bow:

I was pleased with how it turned out. I just wish I would have had the "bow bug" and had it made before the rodeo was over!

We both got ready and he headed off to a photography class that he signed up for and I headed off to the ball park for my nephew, Matthew's first t-ball game. It was fun and those little ones are so cute to watch! They kept score for part of the game but I then quit about halfway through. I'm not sure what that was all about, but Matt's team won. Not that it's a big deal when you're 5 - I don't think any of them paid much attention to that anyway.

I left there to run errands - and realized how hot its getting already! Oh Lord, I am in for something else when I'm 8 months pregnant in August! I'm going to be miserable! I had to go get some make-up and perfume and oh how I hate going to the mall these days. I quickly ran in and out and was on my way in less than half an hour. I made it to the pet store to get dog food and a new toy for Coco (pictures to come soon) and head home and back into the a/c as quickly as I could.

I sat down to chill out and started to doze off and just then - D called to tell me he was on his way home. The man has killer timing! I got up and cooked a big/southern meal for my man. I made grilled pork chops, buttered potatoes, okra & tomatoes and cornbread. He was a happy camper when he walked in the door! We enjoyed a nice, quiet evening together and then Sunday - it was time for chores. We caught up on our Netflix, then worked on laundry, picking up the kitchen and putting dishes away, mowing and weed eating, sweeping the porch, etc.

All in all, it was a nice, productive weekend. How was yours?

Supplies

Ok, so now - I'm slightly addicted to ribbon. Well, probably not slightly! :) I now look at ribbon everywhere I go and I just recently discovered some wonderful places that I can order ribbon online. I found some of the cutest things online this week, so I had to stock up! These are a couple of things that I'm waiting for:

Cute strawberry and flower ribbon for Spring!

And a Strawberry to put in the middle of the bow!

Cute cupcake ribbon!

And a cupcake to put in the middle of the bow. Isn't this adorable?

I can't wait to get this stuff in and see how the bows turn out!

Wordless Wednesday (New Bows)

15 Weeks

This week: Your baby's legs are finally longer than his/her arms. And all four limbs have joints that are fully functioning now. Your baby is squirming and wiggling like crazy in there, although you probably still cannot feel his/her movements. By this time, your baby may have developed the habit of sucking his/her thumb and their scalp hair pattern is developing as we speak. Their skin is very thin and you can clearly see their blood vessels underneath. As of now, your baby's heart is pumping 25 quarts of blood each day (which will increase to 300 at term).

I cannot believe how much changes every week with our little munchkin. It's so exciting to read what's going on and how the baby is developing. I can't wait until next Monday, which is our next appointment. We won't have an ultrasound, but I'm still looking forward to hearing what the Dr. thinks about the baby's development.

Bows!

Recently, I have seen all of these cute little girl hairbows EVERYWHERE. It seems like all the little girls are wearing them and everyone is making them and I just kept wondering "I wonder if I could make them"? So - this weekend - I set out to figure out how to make hairbows. I figured, if we find out that we're having a little girl, then I can keep them and if we find out we're having a little boy - I'll sell them. I'll probably try to sell some anyway, and re-coup the money that I'm spending on the bows that I make and keep (if it comes to that). I went to Hobby Lobby and thankfully - all of the ribbon was 50% off. Which is really good because I still wound up spending $80 on bow stuff! Lord, help me! Here are the ones that I made on Saturday while D was sleeping:

Aqua & Brown pigtail bows

Easter Egg bow

Ladybug Bow

I know it's early, but I just couldn't help it! Halloween Bow

What do you think? Do I have a future in the bow business?

Feeling Yucky!

On top of morning sickness (which I can't seem to shake) - I'm not feeling so hot! I was home sick on Wednesday and made an appointment for the Dr. that morning. I found out that I was dehydrated, had a viral infection and an inner ear infection.

Rest, antibiotics, ear drops and plenty of water and gatorade has me heading in the right direction. I had been throwing up and sick to my stomach every day for a week on top of regular morning sickness. Needless to say, I am ready for all that to be over! It's not completely gone but I feel better than I have here lately.

Gender Reveal Party

A couple of days ago, I found some more stuff for the Gender Reveal party. I just ordered the digital files and will be printing these myself. Cupcake wrappers, cupcake toppers, favor bags and thank you notes! Aren't they adorable?

I found these balloons on eBay and received them a couple of weeks ago.

I plan on using a black tablecloth and then I bought a couple of packages of this confetti to put out everywhere.

I ordered these plates for the food that we serve, and I thought that I'd get some plain yellow plates to mix in with them.

I'm looking for some black and white polka dot plates to use for the cake, but I haven't found any yet. Anyone have ideas of where I can find them?

I ordered these beverage/dessert napkins and am planning to get some plain yellow ones to mix in with them.

I haven't picked out what I want the cake to look like yet - I want something cute that I won't spend a fortune on, so I'm still deciding.

And I can't figure out what I want to serve for food. The party is between lunch and dinner so I don't want to have a lot of food but I need to put something out. I wasn't sure if I should go to traditional route - fruit tray, meat and cheese tray, chips and dips, etc. or if I should try to tie it all in to the bee theme and have like "Honey" Ham sandwiches, honey mustard something or another. I don't have a lot of ideas for that. Do y'all?

I still have a lot of work to do but I can't wait to see everything come together! I think it will be really adorable!

Baby Fountain's Heartbeat at 14 Weeks

Please be patient with me while I learn how to make these little "videos" of Baby Fountain. As you can see (and hear), I'm not very good at it, but I'll get the hang of it before too long (this was the first time I have used Windows Move Maker - I didn't even know that I had it on my computer to be honest with you).

We hadn't listened to the baby's heartbeat since the first time over a week ago, so D and I both wanted to see if we could find the baby tonight. It took less than a minute to find the little munchkin, which was exciting. We're not sure but we think that when the heartbeat gets quiet the baby is moving. D normally holds the monitor and I just hold the wand - I'm really careful about not moving a muscle, other than to breathe, so that's the only explanation we have for why it goes in and out. We already know that our little one is a mover and a shaker so we can only imagine what he/she is doing in there!

This is still the sweetest sound to me! You can't really tell on the recording but in person, it seems so much stronger than what it was just a little over a week ago. It's so exciting hearing that change!

14 Weeks

This week, your baby is busy thumb sucking, toe wiggling and (not as adorable but equally impressive) making urine and breathing amniotic fluid in and out of his/her lungs while the spleen, liver and kidneys continue to develop. Lanugo (thin, downy hair) is growing all over the baby's body for warmth.

On a side note: Amniotic fluid is an amazing substance. It completely regenerates itself every three hours.

Oh how this little one is growing. Just 4 weeks left until we can find out what he/she is! I can't wait!

Gender Reveal Invites

In just a few more weeks (actually about 4) we should be able to find out the sex of the munchkin. D and I are so looking forward to it! We can't wait to start buying things other than yellow and green!

I decided long before we got pregnant that I wanted to do a gender reveal party. Something cute and fun to celebrate this step in the pregnancy, and in the baby's life. We have waited so long to be parents - I want every moment to be special!

So, I've been trying to get some ideas and get a "theme" together so that I can start planning.

I finally decided that the theme would be "What Will Baby Bee?" and I'm going to do everything in yellow, black and white.

I want it to be cute, but I don't want to spend a lot of money so I'm trying to do as much of it myself and with the help of the talented people with shops on Etsy as I can.

I ordered the invitations this weekend. Aren't they adorable? I can't wait to get them all printed out and in the mail! I think that will make this more real!

Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake

Last week, while I was at Ross I found a Nordic Ware Coffee Cake Pan on sale for $5.99. It was normally over $15, so I went ahead and picked it up.

It's cute and yellow and gets me thinking about Spring! So, then I need to make something in it - to test it out. This week, I got on allrecipes.com and found a recipe for a Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake and thought I would make it and take it to work with me. Here is the recipe: 1 cup butter, softened 8 ounces of cream cheese, softened 1½ cups of sugar, divided 2 eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla 2 cups of all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking powder ½ teaspoon baking soda ¼ teaspoon salt ¼ cup of milk 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips ¼ cup chopped pecans (optional) 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter, cream cheese and 1¼ cups of sugar. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking poweer, baking soda and salt; add to creamed mixture alternately with milk. Stir in the chocolate chips. Pour into a springform or coffee cake pan. Combine the pecans (optional), cinnamon and remaining sugar and sprinkle over the batter. Bake at 350 degrees for 50-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 15 minutes and then remove from pan. Cool completely before cutting. Enjoy!

Baby Fountain's Heartbeat!

Just an update from Monday... I didn't get over my technical difficulties, but while talking to a friend this week, she thought that she could help me and SHE DID! Here is the baby's heartbeat from a week ago today. It sounds slow, but what we were told was to take the number of beats that you hear in 20 seconds and multiply that number by 3 and that's what the baby's heart rate is.

Isn't this the sweetest sound you've ever heard?

Wordless Wednesday

13 Weeks

Here is what's happening this week:

Baby is forming vocal cords this week and all 20 teeth are formed, even though he/she won't get to use them for quite some time. Your baby weighs approximately 1 ounce and the placenta weighs about an ounce now as well.

The baby's intestines are moving from the umbilical cord up into the abdomen. Villi are forming inside the intestines, these help in peristaltic movement and digestion. The pancreas of your little one is now secreting insulin and meconium, your baby's first stool is developing.

Your baby's head is becoming more proportional to his/her body and is now one third the size of their body. Your baby is about the size of a peach.

Anxiety & Technical Difficulties

I've been troubled with a lot of anxiety so far during this pregnancy. I normally suffer from anxiety and I used to be on medication for it, but one of the side effects is weight gain. And that is exactly what happened to me - I wound up gaining about 80 pounds in one short year! One year! So, with the help of my Dr. I weaned myself off of it and have been working hard to control my anxiety on my own. Thankfully, I have had a LOT of success with it and very rarely have anxious episodes. When I do, I can normally calm down with a small glass of wine or talking with some girlfriends or going for a walk - which makes me feel a lot better than taking some medicine (and gaining tons of weight).

Anyhow, now that I'm pregnant - the anxiety is back and rearing it's ugly head! I figured that I would have some anxious moments after suffering two miscarriages last year - it's only normal to have some worries after going through that, but this - I wasn't expecting.

I feel overwhelming anxiety - almost dibilitating some days. I wake up some days, and can't stop crying. Other nights, I don't go to sleep at all. I can't turn my mind off and the horrible thoughts and worry that comes with it. I worry about anything and everything. What if we're not ready for a baby? What if we can't afford a child? What if I'm not a good mom? What if something is wrong with the baby and I can't tell? What if I lose this baby too? And on and on and on!

D and I talk A LOT - he is SO supportive. He is reassuring and helps me relax and I am so, so lucky to have married such a wonderful man. He doesn't make me feel crazy - he just helps me get through my rough patches and look forward to better and brighter days.

When I was in the midst of a total panic attack a couple of weeks ago, D suggested that we get one of the doppler monitors so that we can try to hear the baby's heartbeat at home. He thought since our ultrasounds are going to be more spread out now and since I can't yet feel the baby - being able to hear him/her would make me feel better.

Oh - he's such a smart (and sweet) man! I looked online and found a place that will rent them out. I ordered a machine and it arrived on Thursday. Immediately, we took it out of the box and headed to our bedroom so I could lay down and we could try to hear the baby's heartbeat.

It took about 10 minutes, but we were able to find the baby. He/she was on the complete opposite side than he/she was just a few days earlier at our Drs appointment. We got a monitor that allows you to record the heartbeat and couldn't wait to share it with everyone. That's when we started having technical difficulties!

I couldn't load the file to YouTube because it's not a video file. Then I had the same problem with blogger. Then the same problem with Facebook. Then, I started googling what to do. After two nights of looking this up, I finally found a page that suggested that I download a file converter, convert the file to an mp3 and then use a (free) online file hosting site to upload the video. The site would give me a url that I could use on my blog and so you could click on it and then listen to the baby's heartbeat. Only, it wasn't that easy at all.

After an hour, I finally got my file converted. Then onto the file sharing. I went through two google search pages of links to file sharing locations. After joining pretty much every one of them, I FINALLY found one that would upload the file. But I had to sign up for a free week trial and then $5 monthly subscription after that.

Uuh! I got my url but it wouldn't come up on my blog correctly. It just kept taking me to the file hosting website. Which, surprisingly (not) gives them a lot of advertisement but doesn't get me anywhere. After another day of jacking with that - I gave up. Then, I started contacting paypal to try to cancel my subscription (which was surprisingly easy).

Little did I know just sharing one file would prove to be so difficult (and frustrating). Good thing I have no life, or all that time spent trying to figure this out would have really put a damper in it!

So, friends (and family) - you'll just have to take my word for it. We have a file of the baby's heartbeat that has got to be the sweetest sound I have ever heard in my life. I'm sure that sound will be replaced with giggles, squeals, and cries soon enough but for now - we are loving it and still trying to get over our technical difficulties!

Newest Ultrasound Pic

We had a Dr. appointment Monday afternoon with a new Dr. I was released from the specialist a couple of weeks ago (they only monitor you until 10 weeks), so it was time to find a regular OB/Gyn. Dr. Russell was recommended to me, by my specialist and D and I were very, very pleased with him.

He is very friendly, although soft spoken. He was polite and considerate and took time to explain and lot of things and answer all of the questions that we had. He made a point to tell us that every time we come into his office, we'll be meeting with him - not a PA or a Nurse Practitioner. Which, I like very much. I want to actually know my Dr before he shows up to deliver my baby!

He told us that it was not typical to do more than 3 ultrasounds during a pregnancy, and since I just had one two weeks ago, they wouldn't be performing one that day. And then the tears started. I just couldn't help it - I've just had a lot of anxiety and I don't like not getting to see and/or hear the baby every week. With my history, it makes me nervous. So, they squeezed me in for an ultrasound and told me that even though we wouldn't do ultrasounds every appointment, they would always check the baby's heartbeat - so I would get some kind of reassurance to make me feel better.

After I finished with him, I went across the hall to meet the lovely ladies in the Ultrasound department.

Of course, I can never see the heartbeat (and D and the ultrasound people ALWAYS can). I'm not sure if its the way that I'm laying or just my anxiety but they always have to take some extra time to point it out to me, so I can feel better.

We were in the room for quite awhile, because the munchkin wouldn't be still so that we could get his/her heart rate and a picture.

This is the best picture we could get:

This is one busy little baby! We were able to see the baby do a few front flips and kick his/her legs and wave his/her arms. This is one active little person (which makes me really nervous about what I have in store for me when he/she arrives).

We (finally) got the heart rate and it was 171, so still fast and strong.

Isn't it amazing how much this little person has grown in the last couple of months? I love seeing how he/she changes and will surely miss all of those ultrasounds!

We go back at the end of March for our next check up and to listen to the baby's heart beat and then it will just be a couple more weeks after that, that we'll get to find out what we're having!

Outfitted

I just adore baby and children's holiday outfits. I don't care what holiday - I just think they are all so adorable. I cannot wait to dress our child up for each and every holiday. Recently, I discovered Diapers.com and they have all kinds of adorable children's clothing, and now that the main holidays (Thanksgiving and Christmas) are over they are all on sale! I mean, really, really good sale! So, I went ahead and picked up a few things!

If baby Fountain is a girl - I can totally see all of the adorable bows to go with some of these outfits.

I just adore these Sleep and Play outfits. I'll probably use them just for ps, but they are so soft and cute - I might use them for outfits and pjs!

These have the little turkey from the front, on the butt of the pants. Too cute for words!

I can't wait to put a clean, chubby little baby in these pjs!

I don't know for sure - but I bet this is pretty accurate!

A little one waiting for Santa in these pajamas will be so sweet! Aren't these little outfits adorable? I can't wait to put our sweet little munchkin in them!