Separating Wants From Needs

    The days are quickly passing away and we're getting closer to the due date! Jared and I are taking inventory of everything we've gotten so far and it's time to figure out what we NEED and what we WANT. 

    Unfortunately, we don't really know much about what we NEED. We know the basics like bottles and blankets and diapers and wipes and a crib and car seat. But we don't know how much of each we need, what good brands are, what our baby will like...

    It's a good thing people have been SO GREAT at helping us make sure we have most of the basics! We had the crib, car seat and stroller given to us pretty early in the pregnancy and it's all set up. We now have the dresser that has yet be finished. We have multiple outfits, a few boxes of diapers and wipes, and stacks of blankets. 

    Our collection of bottles is slowly growing (I have no idea how many bottles we'll need...). This is where the Wants and Needs get confusing. Do I just want to have a lot of bottles, or will I need to have several?

    We still Need a few things, like bathroom stuff. We have one towel, some bath soap and little bottles of things like shampoo. I suppose we will NEED a few more towels...can't have my baby shivering when she gets out of a warm bath like I do! But I WANT cute ones with little hoods and everything. I also WANT cute little bath toys, even though I know I'll be the one playing with them for the first while.

    The baby room is mostly decorated and looks so cute! My mom is going to bring out a chair I can put in the room so when it's the middle of the night, I'll have somewhere comfy to sit and hopefully fall asleep in! The chair counts as a Want and a Need.

    As far as decorations go, we're still working on separating the Wants from Needs. I suppose we don't NEED toys right away, but we WANT them! And I really want a cute mobile thing for the crib. 

    Is a car seat cover a Need or a Want? I see so many moms with them and realized I just mostly have blankets. Will blankets work just as well?

    She's also coming in the Spring, which means we'll be playing outside during the summer and fall. I WANT lots of cute summer hats and light jackets, but I guess I only NEED a couple of both...maybe just one of each...

    We still have a little time figuring out what we Need and Want...but not too much time...we would appreciate all the help we could get! We mostly just need ideas about what we really NEED. 

    We're just so excited for this baby and can't wait for her to come! Hope we'll be ready...but from what we hear, there is no real way to prepare, so I'm prepared to just go with the flow!

   

My First Baby Shower!

    My mom came out this past weekend and we had a really fun baby shower! It was an online shower. Family out in Utah got together at my aunt Adria's house, my aunt Katie was in Arizona and my mom and I were out here in Marietta. We all got on Skype and figured out how to get all three computers hooked up together!

    Oh my goodness it was so fun. I had to work that morning, but my mom came out early to get decorations and fun stuff. Jared was able to help her unload the dresser from the car (the same dresser we are trying to re-do) and she found a store that had balloons and cute stuff. 

    We had delicious treats and the decorations were great! Little ducks and balloons and mints that say Baby Girl. The balloons were pink and two of them said Princess, because let's face it, that's exactly what she'll be!

 Chocolate cake balls with little ducks on them!

    I got so many adorable gifts for the baby! Lots of blankets, more diapers and wipes (can't have enough of those!) and tons more clothes! There's a couple more things we'll need, but we still have a little time...at least I hope we have enough time!

 Showing off my belly, the decorations and the presents waiting to be opened!

 This only shows a few of the gifts I got

    Mom took us out later and got some more things we needed for the crib. We're still pretty lacking in bathroom stuff, but that's OK! I'm sure we'll be taken care of :)

    A few days later, I got a late present in the mail from my Grandpa Voegele and Marilee! They got me a boppy pillow and a cover. Boppy pillows I hear are amazing, so I am excited to have it!  


    If anyone has any suggestions for products I need or specific brands, please let me know! We need all the help we can get :)

So Nice To Be Working Again

    Well, I'm back to working again! Been there for almost a month now and it's been pretty great! Everyone has been SO nice and they don't seem to mind that I'm pregnant :)

    The walk is super nice too. It's a little less than a mile and if I keep a steady pace, I can make it in 20 minutes! Gotta get some better shoes though! The old ones I have are getting a little old and not so comfortable. 

    It's great being productive again. I only work part-time so I still get full days off and can rest. But I like having a good reason to get up and get ready in the morning. On days like today when I don't work, I might just sit in my pajamas for a few more hours!

    Now that I am working, this also means less blog posts. When I'm home I sleep A LOT and just veg out. Sometimes, if I'm not sleeping, the computer is on the floor. Depending on where this baby is hanging out, I can't bend over and get the computer. I can always sit down (fall down), but there is never any guarantee I can get back up again. Pretty sure Jared would just laugh at me for a few hours if he came home and I hadn't been able to get up off the floor for a few hours. 

    The current project for Jared and I is fixing up an old dresser. It's not broken or anything, it's just been painted on over the years. My Mom used this dresser, I used the dresser for years and years and when I moved my brother used the dresser. 

    So we are stripping the paint off the wood completely and sanding it down. The crib we have is a nice dark brown wood. We're going to attempt to stain the wood to the same color so it can all match. 

    And the dark brown will work for a boy or girl, which is great because we are probably NEVER going to try this again! 

    I'm not good at the stripping paint part, but I'm pretty good at sanding :) I borrowed a hand sander from a friend here in the ward who also happens to be right down the road from me in this apartment complex!


    When it is all finished I'll have before and after pictures to show! And everyone better be impressed by our hard work and our successful first try :)

Laundry Day

    Hooray it's Laundry Day! This isn't something I'd ever imagine me saying seriously, but I'm starting to enjoy it!

    Especially since we totally lucked out and have been totally blessed!

    We used to have to walk down a "slight" hill/mountain to get to the laundry center, pay a few quarters and have our clothes come out mostly clean and still kinda wet (even after the dryer). 

    One day, a nice person was taking boxes to the dumpster and saw us walking up the hill after switching clothes from the washer to the dryer. She noticed my baby bump and kept on going with her day. 

    A few days later, she saw Jared outside and stopped him. Turns out, she was moving between apartment buildings and the unit she was moving in to came with a washer and dryer already. In her old unit, she had to buy a washer and dryer. Because she now had two washer and dryers, she was planning on giving her old ones to Goodwill or something. 

    Then she remembered us and asked if we would like her washer and dryer! We said Heck Yes! Who can pass up a washer and dryer!? Jared went and checked them out, saw they were in good shape, checked the brand and everything online to make sure they got good ratings. He's very diligent.

    Now here we are with a washer and dryer in our apartment! She practically gave them to us! The movers she hired to move her big furniture between apartments just unloaded them into our apartment and hooked them up for me (the men took pity on me).

 Friday is now laundry day. Jared, before heading to work, will start the first load for me!

    It's silly, but we are so excited for laundry day now! I can do it while he is at work so we have more time together on the weekends. I don't need to wait til Saturday when I have the car to drive up and down the hill to do laundry (the hill is pretty steep and the extra 25 pounds in my middle makes it a harder walk). Jared doesn't care for folding, so I can do it while watching a movie and he's at work!

    Hooray it's Laundry Day!

Another Month!

    Oh my goodness, I'm 30 weeks pregnant!

    I just can't believe how much time has gone by, and neither does Jared! It seems like just a few weeks ago I didn't even look pregnant. 

    Now here I am, 30 weeks, with a basketball under my shirt and some little shark swimming around.

 Don't mind my pajamas, I didn't feel like dressing up for the picture :)

    We can visibly see a lump in my stomach every now and then that will go from one side to another. I swear it looks like a shark with its fin sticking out circling a boat (my bellybutton)! Just imagine it and you'll get a pretty good picture of what we see each night.

    Jared thinks it's funny that I don't look pregnant at all from the back. I just stick straight out front! Every couple days I go for walks outside and I get little honks every now and then from males. Then, as soon as they drive up parallel to me, they see my belly and quickly drive off...

    I do appreciate people being nicer to me though! I guess some people take pity on pregnant ladies and try to help out! :) I'm moving a bit slower and can't unload my grocery cart very quickly anymore, so sometimes a small line forms behind me. But I don't get eye rolls or mean looks! They must feel bad for me when I somehow get stuck between the cart and the conveyer belt!

    Well, I'm getting closer and closer to my due date! I start work next week, which will be really nice. I get bored here at home and it'll be great to get exercise! The bank is a little less than a mile, so it's only a 25 minute walk, including waiting for walk signals! My legs will be in great shape by the time this baby comes! :)