Pink or Blue?

Every year for Thanksgiving we travel to Tennessee to hang with the Ragland clan. It was a particularly long travel this year, 15 hours in the car with a pregnant woman who has to pee every 30 minutes. They say that little side effect goes away in the second trimester, but they lie. It was so nice to be able to relax and not worry about anything, with my only task being to eat.  I love eating. 
My stomach had been flat until the day we left Tennessee, finally deciding to pop out at 17 weeks on the dot. Still not looking pregnant, but happy to know my tummy will only get bigger now. It's like a reminder, Hey I'm in here.
The day after we arrived back in Oklahoma, I had my next appointment. The Doc had told me he wanted to check the organ development of the baby this visit, so when I got there I had high hopes of finding that little organ that would tell me if I was going to be buying blue things or pink things. Once I sat down on the exam table, he let me hear the heartbeat again. Still the most amazing sound I've ever heard. But after that, he said my ultrasound wasn't going to be for another 2 weeks. I asked if he thought it was because I wasn't far enough along and he said not at all, but the 'big' ultrasounds they do at the hospital and not his office, and in a small town booking an ultrasound appointment takes a couple weeks. (lots of preggo ladies, not a lot of appointments) So I left, blatantly disappointed.

Then I remembered a few weeks ago having some nurses come and give a briefing on base. They each talked about locations in the city who would give ultrasounds to determine the sex of the baby, also 4d ultrasounds. They each had went there, even working at the hospital it was hard to get an appointment. So I called the Doc and he recommended a place in the city, called Stork Vision, run by doctors and nurses. He could tell I was bummed out and encouraged me to make the call. He said it wasn't uncommon to be impatient when it comes to bonding with your child. They had ONE appointment left the next day.

With Taylor working from 5-5, and the appointments at the hospital and Stork Vision being M-F, we both knew either way, he wasn't going to make the gender ultrasound. My hubby isn't the emotional type, so he was fine with me finding out without him. Luckily, I am also not the emotional type, and I had no problem making the drive to find out the big news alone. So I drove up to...

..my heart beating out of my chest. I told myself if they told me it was a girl, I was going to wait until my hospital ultrasound to confirm. Because they say it could still be a boy, with the goods tucked underneath him. However, confirming a boy is a lot easier. His  goods would be showing from all directions.

So I walked inside and it was extremely glamorous. Like a baby palace. My sonogram room had velvet couches, a chandelier, thick carpets, a huge flat screen. I was impressed. Then the next minute my little nugget was on the flat screen. This is so much cooler than a hospital ultrasound. The nurse probed my tummy and I got to watch the little one squirm around until finally she paused it, pointed to a little part and said..."You're having...a little boy."  Again, I'm not the emotional type, but hearing those five words took my breath away. She explained to me the image, and also showed where the umbilical cord was, to assure me she was not mistaking the parts. Then she showed me how they were apparent from every angle. Yep, definitely 100% a boy.  

I couldn't stop smiling. When I left, they gave me a DVD of my entire ultrasound, so Taylor could watch the whole thing too. So I zipped over to Target, might as well while I'm in the city, just to buy something real and tangible, that I could hold and know my son would be wearing it one day. I landed on this...

Perfect, since his Daddy is a pilot. As I was driving home, my husband called and I told him yes, I found out. I said but would you rather wait till I come home? Absolutely not, he says. So I told him I was carrying our son. WHAT! Taylor had been convinced we were having a girl since the beginning. I however, felt opposite. Needless to say he was over the moon. For those of you who know Taylor, I am expecting our little boy to be identical in attitude. Scraped knees, giving his mother a heart attack jumping off things twice his height, more scraped things, lots of band aids. I deal with these things from my 24 year old husband, so I am fully prepared.


So now, I am just waiting for these last five months to fly by. Now that I picture my son every moment I am awake (and when I'm fortunate, when I'm dreaming), I cannot wait to meet him. Hold him and snuggle him and smell him.

Now, I get to start the fun part of designing his nursery and buying boy things..

Week 13

This Halloween was pretty low key. So far my favorite costumes I saw were an entire family dressed up as Harry, Ron, Hermione, Dobby, Dumbledore, and Mcgonagall. And another as Dorothy, Scarecrow, Lion, complete with Toto. It's finally starting to really get cold in Oklahoma and I love it.  Expecting snow soon. I love it because I can wear big comfortable sweaters and be comfortable as I expand.
Speaking of, today I am at 13 weeks 3 days of my pregnancy. My morning sickness has died down which I'm grateful for, and believe it or not, I'm finally starting to feel pregnant.  All because of this:

Baby Rags looked nice and healthy to the doc. It probably was the most surreal thing to watch the little one squirm around on the screen, but not be able to feel anything.  Very trippy.  Now I'm not a crier, so I just laid there and kept saying "That's so crazy.. That's so crazy.." He printed out a lot of pictures to help me get a grasp on things.

I haven't started showing yet and Doc didn't expect I would until next month. I'm pretty excited to get that little bump. So right now I'm focusing on being able to see family for Thanksgiving :].  And how much amazing food I will be eating. And the Monday after we get back I have my next ultrasound. And well, that will be a very special visit.. As my friend would say, I get to find out what flavor it is.

I hope everyone had a great Halloween, and check out these adorable babes.

Complete with wasabi and ginger.

My sister-in-law's favorite, probably.

And the best for last. My little neice Elise! I am just in love with her.

-B

Stir Fry all the time.

Baby Rags hasn't been too picky for these past 12 weeks. The smell of garlic which I used to love is now a negative. Taylor discovered this when he sprinkled garlic powder on some ribs he was boiling and it woke me up from a deep sleep. I spent the rest of the day barricaded in my bedroom with a towel under the door, muttering very mean things.
One thing Baby has been craving is stir fry. When I realized I wasn't getting enough Vitamin C during the day (I'm not a fan of orange juice), I needed a recipe with lots of bell peppers (which contains almost triple the amount of Vitamin C as an orange). So I call my go-to lady when it comes to cooking and my mother-in-law recommended a stir fry that was easy to make and healthy. I have now entered into a relationship with this meal, and have had it twice in the past three days.  I'm reheating my left overs as we speak.

I'm 12 weeks now, just over the hurdle into my second trimester. Praise God.  The first two weeks I found out I was preggo was probably the worst for me. I hardly left my bed and was miserable because I always felt nauseas. The thought of making it another 8 weeks feeling that way was really depressing. But eventually, I learned how my body worked, and as long as I was never on empty, I felt better. Certain things triggered me to get sick a handful of times, but after my sister's 23 weeks of vomiting during her pregnancy, I considered myself blessed.

Free Pattern Here

I found this adorable dress and bloomer pair online. If little Rags is a girl I definitely plan on sewing these. 

Admit it I would be the most handy mother ever if I make this.

This doesn't have anything to do with motherhood but I plan on getting my hair cut soon and this is what I landed on. Maybe a tad longer in the back.

I was a little hesitant to share this in case anyone snagged these ideas, but oh well. This is my favorite nursery I have come by.  I have already found the black and white chevron rug which I am in love with. The soft grey, white, and Tiffany blue color scheme with coral punches is genius.  The only change I would make would be the chair. I'm a rocker. Obviously this is, again, if Baby Rags is a girl. Which  not a single person seems to think, by the way. But if I'm having a boy, I plan to keep to the chevron rug and grey and white colors, but make the blue more of a boy blue. Not baby boy blue, but a deep blue.  My heart gets pumping just thinking of a whole new room to decorate. It's like Christmas.

And next week, I'll finally show some pictures of Baby Rags. Who is the size of a peach this week! Slowly making my way through the produce section.

-B

Dinobaby

Also this.

A move, a Positive, and a new home.

Hi everyone! I realize it has been months since I have updated but I promise, I have viable excuses. These past few months have been extremely eventful...to say the least.
My husband Taylor finished up 2/3 of pilot training, and we were required to move to complete the last part. Out to the very small town of Enid, Oklahoma. Now, moving is stressful enough. It was our first big move being married and there is a lot of paperwork etc. involved when you're in the military. So, to make it more interesting, God gave us a little blessing the morning of August 29th. I never thought a pink addition symbol could leave me speechless, but this tiny plus sign was the start of something huge. Whoa. I was pregnant.
Taylor had been wanting to start a family since thirty minutes after we got married, so a little after a year I decided I was ready to start our family. We kept quiet about it however, you never know if you are going to run into problems. Three weeks after I decided I was ready to be a mom, I found out I was going to be a mom.
Keeping it a secret was probably the hardest thing I've ever had to do. Taylor was at work when I tested, so I tried to think of a cute idea to tell him hey, we're having a baby. So I went Target, still shaken, and just threw some things in my cart. A copy of Goodnight Moon, some tiny diapers, onesies. I went home and filled up his sock drawer with the goods, and threw in the positive tests. (Believe it or not, these do come with caps, so it's not that gross.) So Taylor got home and the first thing he usually does is change out of his flightsuit. I sat there on the bed, shaking, and nervously smiling. He opened the drawer. Nothing. He stood there. Looked at me. "Are you trying to tell me something?"
Now, I'm not quite sure what else I would be communicating by filling up his drawer with baby things. Then he picked up the tests and said, "I don't know what these mean!!" And I just started laughing. He finally gave me a belly hug and stayed there for about ten minutes.

Moving was a bit challenging because I felt ill most of the time, but we finally made it out to Oklahoma and into our house on base. Taylor is excited to start his last part of training, and I'm keeping busy unpacking and trying to put our house together. Most likely, we will only be here until the end of May. My due date and Taylor's winging just happen to be two weeks apart, so. That's fun.

Anyway, I will try and update more frequently to keep my family and friends informed about how things are going with my first pregnancy. Next week I will be 12 weeks and finishing up my first trimester. Thank goodness, I'm ready for that energy.
More soon!

-B

Sew Happy

Hi all!
This past week has been very relaxing, one of those where you don't have anything you need to be doing.

Caravan!

 

[ http://sharonadesign.com/dream-caravan/ ]

 

 

 [ http://www.miss-design.com/interior/dark-wooden-interior-in-denmark.html ]

 

 

[courtesy of http://everythingleb.blogspot.com/ ]

[ courtesy of http://atlantic-pacific.blogspot.com/ ]

 

 [ http://www.desiretoinspire.net/blog/2011/8/1/stalking-a-suburban-tardis.html ]

 

-B

Stumbling finds

Hello!
This week has been full of family and doing things. Now that the house is empty again it seems strange just having two people in here.
I've finished up with the term, so I have three great weeks of doing whatever I want.

 

 

http://www.dedon.de/en/collections/detail/collection/nestrest-171/hanging-lounger-1412/chalk-75.html
These apparently are getting super popular. Little pods that you can hang anywhere. Hammocks of the future. How did that guy even get in there dry?
-B

Random things.

 I love the mismatched chairs for the kitchen table.

 

 

-B

The Fourth

Happy Fourth everyone!

This holiday makes me particularly homesick. I have spent the Fourth snuggled in the mountains of North Carolina for as long as I can remember. So I catch myself being mopey wishing I was in my parent's cabin with my little niece, sister, brother-in-law, parents, and Papa. Fireworks are magical anywhere but especially over the Blue Ridge Mountains.

This week went by too fast. I have been on a book binge lately, finishing my second novel of the week just a few minutes ago. It's not good for me to start novels in the middle of the week. I literally become so enveloped in the story that I will sit there for five hours just reading away, not doing a single productive thing all day. I'm the sort of person who needs that feeling every day.

This week I found some good things.

 

 

 

 

-B

Summer Lovin'

The past few days have been nothing but rain. Summer thunderstorms are great. I've wanted to sleep with my windows open, but I was afraid I would wake up to puddles.

Taylor and my one year anniversary was June 12th but unfortunately we weren't able to really celebrate. My body decided to get very sick and we spent it in the ER. We mentioned our special day to my nurse and he said, "Hey, at least he's beside you." He is very right.
So although we have a great camera for playing (it's an Olympic digital that can go underwater, handy!) I mentioned also buying a bit nicer Nikon. Not that I am planning on being a serious photographer and buying an SLR, but I wanted a step up so I could really start documenting our life together. Taylor told me he agreed as long as I promised to give him private shoots of him and his many hobbies (surfing, skateboarding, longboarding, every other kind of boarding). So as our anniversary present we bought ourselves the new Nikon P500, which should arrive in the next few days. Stoked!

This blog Live and Enliven has to be my new favorite blog. However, this particular recipe she snagged from Sunday Suppers. A crisp berry limeade.

Or this guy looks pretty refreshing too. Again, courtesy of Live & Enliven. Find the recipe here. It's called the Plantation. Kind of makes you think it should have an aftertaste of dirt. But instead it's a mix of gin, lime juice, Cointreau, and grapefruit juice topped with fresh basil. I can feel my mother in law getting excited about this through the computer screen.

This room is full of lines. I am loving all of these angles. Plus the vase of fresh stems adds a good color touch.

Sweet Piper.

-B