Heather's Shower

Yesterday was a good day. Kerri, Leanne, and I joined forces to throw Heather a shower and if I do say so myself (and I do) it was a great success. I was quite nervous as our guest list expanded to about 30 women and I fretted over food and space, but it was all for nothing because with the help of Kerri and Leanne things couldn't have gone smoother.

The Theme:
Pink and Green with spring birdies

The Menu:

• Egg bake (recipe courtesy of Marsha Stevens)
• Mini cinnamon rolls
• Parfaits
• Fruit Salas
• Chocolate cake (delicious, and baked by Kerri)
• Cupcakes with tiny birdies on top (equally delicious and also crafted and baked by Kerri)

Contributions:

I made a really cool diaper cake by following the guidelines from Alpha Mom. :) It was actually really easy and a lot of fun. However, it did create some shock and awe as to the expense and variety in diapers out there.

When it comes to events (particularly those that involve food) I tend to melt down a little under pressure. I had a great deal of difficulty stirring the fruit salad together, but Leanne swooped in and took over kitchen responsibilities so I could calm down and welcome guests. Kerri also provided kitchen support as well as lended her imagination and baking talent by creating wonderful desserts: home made chocolate cake and cupcakes with handmade tiny birdies on top.

All efforts were done for the benefit of our great friend Heather who handed the chaos of the day with charm and grace. It's been so great to have two friends going through the same pregnancy madness I am and also to have Kerri who I can connect with on all levels, baby related or not. With her, I can pretend I'm not even pregnant and you have no idea how wonderful that is.

So ladies, thank you for your friendship and support--I am truly blessed to know you.

I still miss you...

It's been about a year since we got rid of the satellite and I can honestly say, I still miss HGTV. I thought I'd get over it eventually but over the last couple of weeks I really wish I could watch some Divine Design with Candice Olson or Find Your Style with Karen from that other show... We get the Style Network but for the most part I find its shows annoying...it's a poor man's HGTV.

Why can't I have basic cable and then just buy one channel from the next package up?

I have been thinking about putting the baby's room on Rate My Space when it's done. Today I found these really cool recycled metal letters that I want to spell something with over the crib. But I'm not sure exactly what. I sort of want to get them before baby comes so spelling out his or her name would mean I'd have a bunch of letters sitting around after we find out what we're having...so then I was thinking about just spelling "baby" or "abc." If anyone has any bright ideas let me know. :)

Fickle Pickle

Several weeks ago whenever I would tell people how far along I was they kept implying that I wasn't big enough which despite my best efforts concerned and annoyed me. I mentioned it to my doctor at our last appointment and she assured me we were doing fine. So last week I posted a baby bump picture on Facebook (see left) and two people who are farther along than I am by about four weeks proclaimed that I look bigger than they do! So what, now I'm too big? In reality the shirt that I'm wearing (which I purchased with the shopping help of Kerri for $3.60 at Kohls) makes me look "more pregnant" than I really am...I have several shirts that very much accentuate the bump, while several others hide it.

So, whether I'm too big, too small, or just right I think I'm going to start ignoring people from now on. Although, at the grocery store today I did have my first total stranger ask me when I was due...so I obviously look pregnant enough for cheerful grocery clerks to notice.

In other news, the crib arrived and was promptly and efficiently assembled by Eric. After reading several reviews on Babies R' Us that husbands were able to put it together in an hour the standard was set...but then, one lady said her boyfriend was able to put it together in 30 minutes. Not to be outdone, Eric assembled our crib in 26 minutes. I'm so proud.

Yipes! Stripes!

(fruit stripes gum...it's the yummy fruity one...men from outerspace, plunk a pop in your face...)

Sorry. That's a jingle from forever ago. Does anyone else remember fruit stripes gum?

So this weekend was filled with progress and I've very excited to report on it. On the home front, my dad and Eric spend Saturday getting the bathroom in the basement minimally functional. We now have a toilet, vanity and half a wall. My parents recently redid one of their bathrooms and donated their old toilet and sink. We spend so much time in the basement it'll be nice to not have to run upstairs when nature calls.



On the baby front, mom and I worked diligently on the nursery to make the picture in my head a reality. Words cannot express how wonderful it was to have her help on this project. Both her eye for design and strong work ethic was exactly what was needed to make the project a success. A thank you also goes out to Kerri for her help on Friday night. :)

Picture Day!

It was ultrasound day today. Based on my last period I'm 20 weeks and the due date is July 7th but when they measured baby it looks like he/she is between 19 and 20 weeks...but since I'm still "in range" they are keeping my same due date.

Jodi's Highlights:

• The ultrasound tech was a student at CVTC so I was pleased to support one of our graduates.
• The techs were excited (and that made me excited) because they could see baby very clearly.
• The techs and I shared enthusiasm for several tv shows (One Tree Hill and Alias).
• We didn't find out the gender. :)
• Baby is healthy.

Eric's Highlights:

• Seeing all the fingers and toes and seeing a healthy baby.
• There's only one baby.
• We got to hear the heartbeat again.
• Both baby and mom are doing fine.

So, onto some photos:

I think this one is my favorite ~ you can see the full body profile. This was toward the end of the visit and baby had turned face up so we got some good shots.

The techs thought he/she was giving us a salute...you can see the little fingers up by the face.

Baby was facing away from the "camera" so this is the back of the head, ribs, and arm.

Before

A comment before I start. Previously, I had Facebook set to import all my blog posts as notes...but I turned off that feature because I want to separate the blog from Facebook...Facebook is MY personal space and while I may mention baby from time to time I want to feel like I'm me and not just all about baby, even though obviously he/she is a huge part of our life. So yeah, hope that makes sense. If you don't want to check the blog all the time you can subscribe to the RSS feed or email me and I can set it so you receive an email notification when I update this.

So, onto the topic at hand. My mom and dad bought us the bedding I wanted and I got it this weekend. (thanks SOO much guys) I'm excited and was thrilled to see how well it matched the dresser we already painted. Also, I started work on the stripes but I think it needs some color tweaking so this is the before, and you'll see the after in a couple weeks after mom comes and helps me do some color correction. Thanks mom!

Inspire

Not much new to report as of late. I've slowly begun work on the nursery and I think I've picked out the bedding I like best: http://www.amazon.com/NoJo-Jungle-Tales-Piece-Crib/dp/B0019LX628 I've seen it in person and it's super cute and actually a lot brighter and cheerier. Even if I decide against the jungle animals I'm definitely going with the idea for artwork I found. I actually spied these maybe a year ago on an episode of Divine Design with Candice Olson and earmarked them in my mind.
So, to prove how in sync Target and I are they are actually carrying the aforementioned artwork. It's super cute but I've got three frames that I really want to use in baby's room and they hold an 8x10 but the artwork at Target is 12x12...so, enter my creative moment.
I've made two so far, but am pondering my third. I'm leaning towards the cow but if I do end up doing the Jungle theme am wondering if I should pick three "jungle" animals instead of three "domestic" ones....yeah, I'm being neurotic...like baby will even care. :)

My work:



Original artwork from Yuko Lau: