Baby To Do List: Week 15

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas! Jerry and I had a great time visiting family. I was hoping to start writing again a little sooner but work has kept me very busy this past week.

This week's to do list is pretty short. 

1. Sign up for a prenatal yoga class

I highly recommend this! Yoga will help ease the pain of your stretching abdominal muscles, decrease the risk of preterm labor, and give you a sense of understanding with your body. I will not be signing up for a class though, just finding routines online and using them at home.

2. Strengthen your abs with pelvic tilts

When you do finally go into labor using all the strength you have can help you in the long run. Pelvic tilts help prepare your abs for the trauma that is pushing a baby out. Here is a tutorial:

3. Ask your doctor about the quad marker screen.

The quad marker screen is a blood test that looks for the most common genetic birth defects. Most doctors will give you a brochure with information about the test at your first appointment. I am having my quad screening next week at my next appointment.

That's all for now! Tomorrow I will post our latest bumpdate and later on this week an update on our house.

Until tomorrow,

Charity

Baby To-Do List: Week 14

These weeks keep going by faster and faster. I'm starting my fourth month of pregnancy and it all just seems a little surreal still. This week's list was has a lot of important items to start thinking about. 

1. Break the news to your boss

I still have not done this, and for one reason; by the time I have the baby I will have not worked at my place of employment for 1 year I do not qualify for maternity leave. Since I don't qualify when the time comes I will be quitting my job and staying home for a while and then putting my focus into school. Therefore I probably won't notify my boss until it becomes obvious.

2. Start thinking about a registry

Jerry and I have already started a registry on Amazon. This helps us get an idea of what things we need, things that will be given to us, and things we want. Here are some questions to ask yourself to help get started with the registry:

-What can we absolutely not afford?

-What stores are convenient for our guests?

-How many people are invited to your shower?

-What kind of budget will your guests have?

-What do you already have?

-What does our lifestyle require?

3. Start thinking about your baby shower

It's time to start figuring out if someone is going to host a shower for you or you throw for yourself. Who should be invited? Where should the shower be? And so on. My mother-in-law and my mother have both decided to throw me baby showers, and Jerry and I are also hosting a party for friends. We already have our guest lists made and our registry almost done.

  

4. Take advantage of your energy boost and check things off your at-home to-do list

This so called "energy boost" hasn't quite hit me yet. I have slowly been gaining my energy back it's just taking a while. Hopefully this will give the push to start getting the house ready for the remodel instead of laying in bed snoozing!

Well tomorrow is a bumpdate and my birthday and we are leaving to see Christmas relatives. Exciting time of year!

Until tomorrow,

Charity

DIY Dining Table and Chairs

I know this is very late (sorry) it has been a slow weekend. It's been tough to drag my butt out of bed this week and get stuff down so I apologize for a very late blog post. This post will probably just turn into one really long post to catch up!

As I have already stated we are re-doing our house since we decided not to move. We decided to get some new furniture and keep some old. The old furniture is getting a bit of a makeover though. This week it has been the dining room table and chairs. We decided to give them a coat of paint and make some cushions. 

We bought the table and four chairs about two months ago for $20 at a Goodwill.

Table and chair before.

This is one of the chairs before. 

We started off sanding the finish off of the chairs. We sanded everything but the wicker seat.

Jerry sanding away.

After sanding we started painting. Since the color theme for our kitchen will be mint, grey, and white, we chose the color Amish grey for paint.

 Paint $2 for 4 bottles. 

After painting which took 2 days, we then added a gloss to seal the paint, which took another day. At this point I dug out an old egg crate mattress we had and decided to use that as the cushions. 

Merlin had different plans.

The seats were 18 inches in diameter, and I got really lucky because our laundry baskets are the same. I used those as a template.

Keeta is covering my small screw-up.

We have four chairs but wanted to double the cushion so two pads for each chair. After cutting out each circle I stapled two circles together for a total of four cushions. 

Nugget and all the other cats at this point were using the cushions as cat beds!

We bought some mint colored cloth and I sewed those to the cushions, using a simple whip stitch that did not go all the way through the cushion, just the top layer. 

The cushions are still not quite done as I haven't cut off the excess fabric and I still have one more cushion to finish sewing. I also plan on adding some ties to the back of the cushions to hold them on the chairs.

But so far this is how the chairs have turned out. (We still have the table legs to sand and paint). Jerry and I are very happy with how they turned out. We look forward to doing some other DIY-er's with our other furniture. All in all this project was also really inexpensive!

As for other news this week, Jerry and I may end up moving after all (we just can't make up our minds). One of Jerry's jobs involves running a civil war muster. At their last board meeting he was offered the exciting possibility of living on the grounds in their historical house for free as its caretaker! We are so excited! Now it is, still, only a possibility, but it is super exciting and one of our dreams come true!

Christmas plans are also coming together and we are looking forward to spending the holidays with family. Also my birthday is this coming week and I'm pretty excited!

That's all for today, I'll post this week's baby to-do list tomorrow and bumpdate the day after that!

Until tomorrow,

Charity

Our DIY House Makeover

I know I had previously mentioned that we were going to be moving into an apartment. We later decided not to move and just stay in our current house and just re-do it. This past week I have started one some plans for the house and I have decided week by week to go through some rooms. This week we start with the Master Bath/Bedroom. 

This is the arrangement of our room/bathroom currently. The walls are a very gross looking yellowish white, not much furniture, I'll post a before picture of the actual room when I've cleaned a little bit. These are the changes we would like to make. 

As you can see a few furniture additions and the old furniture has been moved around. The settee will probably be an ottoman instead. The color scheme Jerry and I have chosen for the room is a nice blue and brown. 

Next Wednesday I'll post a little DIY on how to start the room changing process. 

Sorry this post is a little late today, Jerry and I spent the afternoon in the hospital. I had some severe abdominal pain, thankfully it turned out to be nothing. Still we did get to see our little cutie! 

Until tomorrow,

Charity

Bumpdate: Week 13

How far along? I am 13 weeks 3 days and finally in the second trimester!

Total weight gain: This week I lost a pound unfortunately, weighing in at 134.4 lb. So total weight gain is negative 6 lb.

Stretch marks: Still none on my stomach and a couple on my boobs.

Sleep: I slept with the body pillow for the first time last night and it wasn't that bad. I'm still finding it really hard to sleep on my side though.

Miss anything? Energy! I am slowly getting it back, but this week has been a struggle for sure!

Movement: None yet.

Cravings: Cool Ranch Doritos!

What makes you sick? Meat and kind of tomatoes. The tomatoes give me heartburn more than anything else.

Labor signs: None

Symptoms: I have definitely gained a bump this week. I am hungry all the time and if I don't eat right away I get really nauseous. I got Braxton Hick's for the first time this week. Also I have been a little moodier than normal and no energy!

Looking forward to: Movement!

What's baby up to: Our sweet little one has fingerprints this week! He or she is almost 3 inches long and weighs almost 1 ounce.

Exercise: Not much this week, I am just trying to focus on getting enough energy to do housework!

That's all for today. Tomorrow I'll be posting some updates on the house!

Until tomorrow,

Charity

BabyTo-Do List: Week 13

Yesterday I finally hit the second trimester! My symptoms are starting to change a little, and I definitely have more energy, but more about that tomorrow! This week's to-do list is pretty simple:

-Begin thinking about baby names

Jerry and I have already decided on our names. William Edwin for a boy and Olivia Ellison for a girl.

-Start sleeping on your side

This has been a toughy. I normally sleep on my stomach or side, but lately I have been getting some pretty bad back pain and the only way to relieve it is to sleep on my back. I'm trying to push myself to sleep on my side, it just my take some getting used to again.

-Research pediatricians

Here are a few tips for finding the best pediatrician:

1. Ask around

2. Find one that accepts your insurance

3. Interview pediatricians

4. Follow your instincts

5. It's ok to switch later on

-Eat smaller meals to help with heartburn

I don't even eat meals, barely. I mostly snack throughout the day.

-Consider borrowing previously worn maternity clothes from friends or family

Very lucky for us there is a local resource center that provides maternity clothes for free if you take their weekly 15 minute classes. Definitely worth it!

So far today has been pretty great! Spent the morning running errands with Jerry. We finished painting the chairs for our dining set (more to come on that), and he went to work for a couple of hours and now I am cleaning house. All in all a great day!

Until tomorrow,

Charity

Favorites Friday: Pinterest

Pinterest has got to be on my top ten list of most practical and favorite things in the world. I would not survive without it.

Last night I sat down to kind of go through what I had pinned on Pinterest and see what I actually wanted and can do within the next month. This then prompted me to write a list of things I wanted to change in our house. That lead to me searching for ways to better organize and clean the house. So I'll start there: 

This is my brand new chore schedule to keep the house clean with only about a hour of work per day. The next thing I am going to do is a series called 30 Days to a More Organized House. Starting with day 1: The Refrigerator

This will take about 30 minutes so make sure you don't leave food out.

-First off take everything out of the fridge. If it's expired or moldy throw it away, if not keep it.

-Take the shelves and drawers out of your fridge and wash them. I wash them with soap and hot water, then disinfect with lemon juice, rinse, and put them back in. 

-When putting things back into the refrigerator; specifically, if it is leftovers, put them in a tupperware container, use some masking tape and make a label, and put an expiration date on it. 

-In organizing the refrigerator, I put anything that can be spread, poured, anything like that in the door. Any drinks or liquid items go on the top shelf. Second shelf is for all store bought items. Third shelf is for leftovers. The small drawer is for meats and cheeses. And the two drawers at the bottom, one is for vegetables and the other is for fruits.

-Now repeat with the freezer.

-Once finished on the inside of the fridge it's time to clean the outside. The only thing I have on my fridge is a whiteboard so it's pretty simple. I just wipe down with soapy water and use a disinfecting spray.

-Don't forget to clean the top of your refrigerator. Things can get messy and clogged up there. Take everything off and wipe down. Then organize and see what really has to be up there.

That's it for today. Pinterest is an amazing place, I would live there if I could. Please, take a look, if you haven't already.

Until Monday,

Charity

(All things posted were used from Pinterest)

DIY Day: Chocolate Chip Cookies

For my first DIY day I didn't do anything crazy, just chocolate chip cookies with a small twist. For this recipe I used no brown sugar, this is supposed to make them a little more soft and chewy. Here's the recipe I used:

2 1/4 c. flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

3/4 c. sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 c. butter

1 pack of chocolate chips

I had a little helper (Nugget). 

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Mix the flour, baking soda, and salt in one bowl. In another bowl, mix the sugar and the butter, and then add eggs, then vanilla. Mix thoroughly. Then combine the two bowls and mix, then add the chocolate chips. Don't freak out if the batter is runny, this is normal. Scoop into 2 in. balls on an un-greased baking sheet.

Then bake for 8 minutes. 

When they come out of the oven they look like a pile of dough still. I promise they are done and they are delicious. 

The best part of these cookies is that the chips stay gooey, like when you just take them out of the oven. These cookies have been the highlight of my day, as I have been feeling pretty sick today. 

I hope you enjoy these cookies as much as I did.

Until tomorrow,

Charity 

Bumpdate: Week 12

It's a day late, but oh well, yesterday was hectic. We had our doctor's appointment at 11:30 and finally got to meet our OB. Most importantly we got to hear our sweetie's little heartbeat, coming in at 162 bpm. That was the most relieving and precious part of the appointment. I had stressed myself out so much for the appointment that I had to come home and take a nap that turned into sleeping the day away. I woke up and Jerry was almost home from work, so I hurriedly made some taco soup and then we relaxed for the rest of the night. 

So today here's the bumpdate:

How far along? I am 12 weeks 4 days. So excited to almost be in my second trimester

Total weight gain: Right now I am at 135 lb. When I first found out I was pregnant I was a 140 lb. then the nausea hit me and I went down to 132 lb. but thankfully I am slowly going back up.

Stretch marks: Some small ones on my boobs.

Sleep: So far sleeping hasn't been terrible. It takes me a little longer than normal to get comfortable and every little thing wakes me up now, other than that I usually get a great night's sleep.

Miss anything? Being able to eat anything and everything, whenever I wanted.

Movement: Nothing yet.

Cravings: Fruit Roll-Up's and potato salad.

What makes me sick? The thought of red meat, just any meat in general makes me sick.

Labor signs: No.

General symptoms: I feel tired a lot, but the nausea is slowly fading. I am counting on that energy boost kicking in soon.

Looking forward to: Feeling movement!

What's baby up to? Our little sweetie is starting to move around more (even though I can't feel it yet) and beginning to use his or her reflexes. He or she can now urinate and their kidneys are fully functional. His or her face is starting to look like a face. The eyes have moved from the side of the head to the front and the ears are slowly doing the same. From crown to rump baby is about two inches (the size of a small apple) and weighs about 1/2 an ounce.  

Exercise: Definitely not as much as I should. It's so hard to get out and walk when it's below 35 outside.

Now I am off to start packing some moving boxes, and clean the house.

Until tomorrow,

Charity

Welcome to My Blog!/Monday To-Do Lists

Welcome to my blog and let me introduce myself.

My name is Charity, I am a student, avid crafter, and soon to be first time mom. I live in Grand Rapids, Michigan with my amazing boyfriend, Jerry, and our four cats, Merlin, Muffin, Keeta, and Nugget. I wanted to start a blog to keep a record of my time as a mom and to share my knowledge as a crafter and DIY-er.  

So, starting off every Monday, I will be posting a to-do list for the week and since I am expecting my first child it will be mostly on baby stuff until then. I am 12 weeks pregnant this week and the to-do list is as follows:

-Plan a babymoon

Jerry and I are hoping to go spend a nice weekend in a cabin by a lake when things warm up before the baby is born.

-Buy a body pillow for sleeping

Thankfully I have had a body pillow for many years although I have gotten out of the habit of using it. 

-Make sure to stretch before all exercise and avoid any exercises that involve your abdomen bending

Since I am not really exercising (I really should be) this is not relevant yet, but for someone who exercises a lot this is very helpful. Here is the yoga routine I have started following though.

Well that it's it for today. Tomorrow is our next doctor's appointment and we are pretty excited. Tomorrow I'll post a bumpdate and some info from the appointment!

until tomorrow,

Charity