Neglect

Dear Blog,

I have neglected you. Please accept this as my sincere apology for not paying any attention to you over the past couple of weeks. I mean, it wasn't like I had a baby or anything.



Even if I did, it is still no excuse for putting you off for so long. This is my vow to you and all of my blog readers (prob about 5 people), that I promise to post more and no longer neglect my blog duties. Soon, I will tell you all about June's birth, how tired I am, her first couple of weeks, how tired I am, how she poops all the time, and did I mention how tired I am?

Here is to mommy blogging instead of pregnancy blogging. Be prepared.

June's Room

I recently submitted some "nursery ideas" to Munchkin for mom bloggers. Here are my thoughts and some pics from June's room :)

Choose a feeling....
We wanted the nursery to have a peaceful/imaginative feel to it. So, we designed it based upon what we wanted people to feel when they walked into the nursery. A peaceful feeling normally comes through atmosphere or colors... so we choose light blue, white, grey, green and chocolate (I know, not a typical girl room). Our daughter's name is June Alice. June is my mom's middle name and Alice was my husband's grammy's name. We love Alice in Wonderland as well, and chose that as our imaginative theme with paintings on the wall. The idea was that there is another world beyond the walls of her room that peaks through and hopefully invokes curiosity. However, we purposefully painted scenes from Alice in Wonderland that went outside the circles in order to let her know it is okay to think beyond what you see. We left some circles blank so she can fill them in too!




Make it personal....
There are a lot of things in the room that make it personal to us, and hopefully to her. The first is a crewel that my belated great aunt stitched.



It symbolizes the importance of family. Another thing that symbolizes family, and also fun, is the table and chairs that are in her room. They were made from the last walnut tree on my grandparents' farm and used to be mine when I was little. I hope she enjoys it as much as I did. The little pink bear in her crib was given to her by her Mawma.



The rocker/glider was used for my two nieces. I love the sense of knowing that love was shared already in the rocker and will continue to be shared with June. The saying on the wall is a quote from Alice in Wonderland that can be applied to life. It says, "begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end. then stop."



Lastly, we love our friend, Sam's artwork. So, we hung our favorite painting of hers in the room and solicited her help with the paintings on the wall. She drew everything and I helped by filling in the pictures. So, there is a sense of a "community effort" to her room, and community is important to us.




Be creative and like it....
The last thing I would say is be creative in what you do and, ultimately, like it yourself. We have a more modern taste, but we were able to incorporate older things into the room to make it personal. Unlike a lot of people I know, we didn't want a lot of pink or purple in her room, so we didn't use it. Just go with things that you like. But, you have to be creative because It is hard to find things. Babies R Us and other baby stores don't have a lot of choices for things. I would just say look around. We went to Ikea for her furniture and she will be able to use it for a while, where some baby furniture only fits with the kid for several years. The crib we got at Target. The bedding is Dwell Studio, but we found it on eBay for 50% off. And, the mobile is handmade from Design Public.





We are excited for June to be in her nursery (she was due on 9/9, but is still enjoying being in my belly). Hope this is helpful for those that are thinking about their little one on the way.

Amusement

I haven't posted for a while, so I felt the need to post today. I had a doctor's apt yesterday and there was no change since last week. I had to admit, I was a little depressed. No change!! I have had contractions for several days and I thought for sure something would take place. So, now I'm just waiting.

In the waiting period, here are some funny things to amuse you about my pregnancy...

- I have a huge pillow that I sleep with that if you would ever see me you would think I look ridiculous
- I have craved fruit
- I get up about 4 times a night to pee
- I eat pretzels in my sleep by my bed
- My dreams are crazy
- I had no stretch marks until my 9 month (damn those stretch marks)
- My friends are fascinated with my boobs
- I have gained 32 pounds so far
- I can no longer see my feet
- I am type A and had everything ready for June at least 4 weeks ago
- I took labor and delivery classes with my husband that were kind of a joke. In fact, we fought on several occasions about whether or not to continue taking the classes
- I am nervous to breastfeed
- I got eczema on my scalp and had to use Head and Shoulders for a couple of months (I always thought that people who used that shampoo were somehow "dirty" people, like they could prevent themselves not having to use it... and here, it was the only thing that worked. I can no longer judge because I do not consider myself a "dirty" person)
- I have rubbed my belly with cocoa lotion since the day I found out I was pregnant and still got those stretch marks, so don't know if it helps or not
- I have loved not having my period for 9 months and am not looking forward to the after birth in regards to that realm
- I am excited and nervous all at the same time to be a mom

One month cooking

Today, my friend Sarah, Scott and myself cooked meals for a month. We started at 10am and ended at 2pm.

First, we prepped everything (mainly chopping all the ingredients).

Then, we assembled the recipes.

























Now, and now we don't have to cook for a whole month! I'm so excited. The recipes look so good and it was such a fun day. Although, Sarah and I (and I think Scott too) were tired by the end. This was evident in the fact that I took a two hour nap afterward :)

The best gelato ever...

So, last night Scott took me to the city for my birthday. We went to this great Thai/Laos restaurant in South Philly called Cafe de Laos. The apps were okay, but the entrees were great! I had a curry dish and Scott had Pad Thai. Of course I could only eat a little because my stomach is so flat at this point. But, I did leave room for dessert!!!

After taking a brief walk in Rittenhouse Square, we went to Capogiro Gelato Artisans. I had the Macadamian nut and Italian chocolate chip. It was so good. I think I could have eaten the whole stainless steal container out of it that they had it stored in. Highly recommend it.

Thanks Scott for such a fun date!

When I feel free

I was driving in the car today. I had my cool shades on, the windows down and was listening to "The Killers." Sometimes, when the weather is nice and I'm in my car listening to music, feeling the breeze, I feel a sense of freedom. Like somehow, in the short time while I'm driving, my troubles are forgotten and I'm in my own little world.

Forgetfulness

Did I ever tell you about the time I forgot my dad's birthday? My birthday is coming up on Friday and of course my dad would never forget something like that. But, me on the other hand, is a different story. This past year, my dad turned 60. You would think that I would remember such a grandiose occasion. However, the day came and went and I completely forgot. I woke up the next morning, turned off my alarm on my cell phone and saw the date. I repeated the date in my head thinking, what did I miss? Then, all of the sudden it dawned on me... I just forgot my dad's 60th birthday... oh shit.

I of course called immediately, apologized and tried to not feel like a complete loser daughter. I still feel awful to this day, but at least I can laugh about it now. Am I the only one that has ever done something this lame?

I am that pregnant woman

Last night on my way to my friend Bekah's house, I felt hungry. Which, at this stage of pregnancy is sort of rare since your stomach is squashed flat. When inquiring as to whether or not Bekah had any "snacks" at her house, the apples and cheese I got in response didn't quite cut the hunger urge (although, they were VERY yummy Bek). So, I stopped at WAWA on my way to her house.

When debating on what to get, I craved a doughnut (keep in mind it is about 9:00 at night). So, I was that pregnant woman. I walked into the WAWA and purchased my doughnut. I got stares from the teeny-boppers giving money to their of age friend to get them cigs and I even got a "you are only getting a doughnut?" from the cashier. I was the quintessential pregnant woman fitting into all the stereotypes. And, you know what... I didn't care. I paid for my prize and enjoyed my glazed doughnut with vanilla cream all the way to Bekah's house.

Who thought this was a good idea?

So, on Saturday, I went with my girlfriends out to eat at this new Mexican restaurant in Montgomeryville. If you are familiar with the area, which there is a good chance that you may not be, Montgomeryville does not have very good restaurants. It is like a tease. We think you may like this one, but oh, not very good. However, Salsas was good! Especially for a Mexican restaurant. I heard the margaritas weren't that great, but at least the food was good. So, Salsas... good idea. What followed... not so good idea.

We decided to go bowling. Now, normally I really like bowling. In fact, I'm a little embarrassed to admit I was in a bowling league when I was little (sadly, I bowled better when I was 7 than when I was 27... I even used the fan thingy on the end of the ball return).

However bowling + 38 weeks pregnant = sore. Don't get me wrong, I had fun with my friends, but think I overdid myself a bit. I should have stopped at the first game, but felt the need to get more strikes. Somehow, it makes you feel good about yourself when you get a strike, like you accomplished something grand in a short amount of time with a fun pink shiny ball. When do you ever get that feeling besides bowling strikes?

So, I continued and paid for it later. How did I think it was a good idea?

For your amusement, here is me bowling at 38 weeks prego...