Mission Accomplished

This Saturday, Daniel and I went on a mission!
We traveled to Huntsville, and this is what we found!



Now, this little area at Babies R Us
could be a little overwhelming for first-time parents . . . . . . .
so we enlisted a little help!
We figured a mom of three knows it all!



This is how refreshed we looked at 10:45.

After three hours, 30 isles, and 200 scans,
we had everything picked out from spoons to a stroller.


Yes, most of it was pink . . . . . .

But, a few other colors made the list!

When we got home, I double checked the list online and made a few changes.

If you would like to see what we picked out, you can visit Babies R Us.
And if you still need more pink, we are also registered at Wal-Mart.

Week 27 Update

Week 6 and Week 27 Belly Pic
(I think we are growing quite nicely, don't you?)

How far along: 27 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: 29 Pounds! Yikes!

Maternity clothes: Loving them!

Stretch marks: Just starting, I think!

Sleep: Still having weird dreams! Crazy, weird dreams!

Best moment this week: Getting through a whole kickboxing class . . . .

Movement: All the time . . . She really gets going when I play music for her!

Food cravings: Nothing too much

Gender: Girl

Labor signs: None

Belly button in or out: Still in

What I miss: Caffeine . . . . .

What I am looking forward to: Getting registered! We are hoping to get that done this weekend!

Speaking of Baby Scout , what is she up to this week?

*Baby Scout starts the third trimester today

*Baby Scout is 189 days, and we are 67.5% through

*Baby Scout has about 91 days left in my belly

*Baby Scout is approximately 14.4 inches and about 2 pound 3 oz

*Baby Scout's hearing is fully developed and the nerves in her ears are completely formed

*Baby Scout is completely aware of sound and sometimes moves to the rhythm of the music

*Baby Scout's heart rate will will increase in response to sound

*Baby Scout's brain stem is becoming more refined

*Baby Scout can practice breathing in and out and can even cry

*Baby Scout's brain waves are similar to a newborn

*If Baby Scout was born today, her survival rate would be 85% and her rate of serious medical complications would be 40% (I hope Baby Scout makes it to the end of school)

*Baby Scout is about the same size as a head of cauliflower

Hope you have a wonderful Thursday!

Week 26 Update

Week 26 Belly Pic

How far along: 26 weeks

*Daniel and I saw Dr. Rivero today! It was such a quick appointment. I weighed in, and the nurse took my blood pressure. Dr. Rivero came in and listened to Baby Scout's heartbeat, and it was 145 - 150. He also measured my belly at 27 weeks. We are scheduled to see him again in three weeks; We will also do our Glucose test this day as well. As of right now, everything looks fantastic. He said I could keep up the exercise doing modifications as necessary. Yea!

Total weight gain/loss: About 29 pounds . . . . . !

Maternity clothes: Yes . . . . of course!

Stretch marks: I think I am seeing the beginnings of stretch marks on either side of my belly

Sleep: Not much . . . .I am having weird dreams!

Best moment this week: Getting the nursery painted . . . . it looks fantastic!

Movement: All the time

Food cravings: Nothing too much

Gender: Girl

Labor signs: None

Belly button in or out: Still in

What I miss: Sleep!

What I am looking forward to: Getting the room put together!

Speaking of Baby Scout , what is she up to this week?

*Baby Scout is 182 days, and we are 64.3% through

*Baby Scout has about 98 days left in my belly

*Baby Scout is approximately 14 inches and about 1 pound 14 oz

*Baby Scout's senses are becoming increasingly keen.

*Baby Scout's eyes are formed and she is aware of light and darkness

*Baby Scout has more defined sleep and wake cycles

*Baby Scout's brain waves are similar to a newborn

*If Baby Scout was born today, her survival rate would be 80% and her rate of serious medical complications would be 45% (I hope Baby Scout makes it to the end of school)

*Baby Scout is about the same size a cucumber

And now . . . . for a sneak peek of the nursery. The walls are painted, and the furniture is ready to be moved back in. Yea! Just a warning, the pictures don't do the paint color any justice. The walls are just a beautiful shade of bright pink with a white ceiling. The neat thing is that the pink reflects off the white and makes the ceiling look like a beautiful shade of light pink! I can't wait to get the black furniture and black and white bedding into place to see how it all looks! Hooray!

Our Wonderful Painter, Jeanne, Getting Started

The Finished Product

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thursday!

The Great Date Experiment - Date One

A few days ago, I blogged about a girl named Jennifer Francis who was doing a give-a-way on her blog for a pair of cute, baby shoes. Recently, she also blogged about something interesting her church was doing with their young, couples ministry called the The Great Date Experiment. After reading a little bit about it and watching the short video, I decided that maybe Daniel and I could give it a try as well. So . . . . if you are interested in participating too, don't read ahead because you will want the parts of the date to be a surprise! Although the first date was scheduled for Valentine's Day, it is not too late to get started. Just click on the link above, print off the first date, and go for it! After you are done with the date, come back and read about our date if you like! Leave me a comment if you decide to participate as I would love to hear about your date!

Some of you will cringe when you find out where we went for dinner. . . . yes, we went to McDonald's. We choose McDonald's because that is where Daniel says he is going to take me if I won't pick a place to eat when we are trying to decide. Needless to say, it has a been a long time since we had a meal at McDonald's together but it was kind of fun.

Part of the directions for the date were to let the cashier choose what you were going to eat. Yes, she looked at us like we were crazy and then picked our food. During the meal, we had several things to discuss. For example, we had to say rather we would like to be able to fly or to move objects. Some of these were sort of interesting. The last one was would you rather be too hot or too cold. Little did we know this would lead to something in the next point of our date.

Yes, we had to turn the temperature in the car to way too hot or way too cold while we drove to a special place. Since it is cold enough to snow, guess what we chose.

Unfortunately, the weather outside was a little frightful tonight, and we had to be creative in choosing our special place. So, we chose the hospital. Strange choice, I know! But, we chose it because it will be the place where Baby Scout will be born in May. You can't get any more special than that! While at our special place, we had to discuss different things that will help us make our POINTS about issues we are struggling with in life and marriage.

The next part of the date was to go to a grocery store and pick out a dessert for your spouse that he or she has never tried. The rules were that you had ten minutes and two dollars. Of course, we went to Wal-Mart. You also had to tell why you chose that particular dessert. I got Daniel a Choco Taco because he loves Mexican food, and he got me a Dove Bar with almonds because I have been craving almonds like crazy during pregnancy. Both were very yummy!

After dessert, it was time to head home. The last task was to do something to permanently punctuate your date. We decided to carve our initials into the one tree at our house.

Overall, this was a pretty fun date. It was sort of interesting to break out of the mold and try something different than our usual sporting events or out to eat. It will also be interesting to read about the dates of others who are doing this as well, and I will post links to any blogs of others that I find are participating and blogging about it.

Now, we are back home. I am blogging and Daniel is watching the NBA All-Star game. He has decided that the NFL needs to take notes from the NBA about half-time entertainment. The NFL, of course, had "The Who" which was a little disappointing, but the NBA had Shakira and Alicia Keys. Very entertaining! And now . . . . .back to the game!

Attention Moms . . . .Don't throw away those Valentines!

Hello to all the moms out there! This post is for you! Instead of pitching all those adorable Valentines your little ones received at school, try this cute idea I found online.

1. Get one large sheet of construction paper in a Valentine color.

2. Using a glue stick, glue all of the Valentines down on the construction paper. If you glue the name side down, you might want to write who they were from on the cute picture side.

3. Add your child's name and the school year.

4. Laminate or use contact paper to cover.

Now, you have an adorable, keepsake place mat of your child's classmates from the school year.

Week 25 and Nursery

Week 25 Belly Pic

How far along: 25 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: About 25 pounds . . . . According to my scale at home!

Maternity clothes: Yes . . . . I have finally quit looking like I have just gained weight, but actually look pregnant

Stretch marks: Not yet!

Sleep: From my side to my back, From my side to my back . . . .

Best moment this week: Finding a rocker . . . . my mom bought it for us! It is just a plain, simple, old-fashioned rocker in black. I am going to have cushions made for it!

Movement: She starts in strong about 5 o'clock and keeps going until I go to bed

Food cravings: Nothing too much

Gender: Girl

Labor signs: None

Belly button in or out: Still in

What I miss: Caffeine and Carbonation . . . there have been several times this week when someone's drink has looked good

What I am looking forward to: Getting the room painted (process started) and seeing Dr. Rivero next Wednesday


I love this picture . . . Do you see Scout's big brother? Yes, there is Chipper! He has been involved in this pregnancy also. He barks for Scout and climbs in my lap when Daniel is reading to her. I wonder where he will be when she is born. No, I already know . . . . .if you want to hold Baby Scout, you will probably have to hold Chipper too! Ha!


Speaking of Baby Scout , what is she up to this week?

*Baby Scout is 175 days, and we are 62.5% through

*Baby Scout has about 105 days left in my belly

*Baby Scout is approximately 13.6 inches and about 1 pound 10 oz

*Baby Scout's arms and legs are growing this week and are almost to their birth length

*Baby Scout's circulatory system is undergoing tremendous development

*Baby Scout's skin is turning pinker as her capillaries are forming under her skin and filling with blood

*Baby Scout's nostrils are now starting to open this week; They have been plugged until now

*Baby Scout now takes up my whole uterus

*If Baby Scout was born today, her survival rate would be 75% and her rate of serious medical complications would be 55% (I hope Baby Scout makes it to the end of school)

*Baby Scout should now be blessing me with the linea nigra (a dark line down my belly), but I don't see it yet!

*Baby Scout is as tall as two juice boxes stacked on top of each other and as heavy as four juice boxes

I really wanted to give you a sneak peek of the nursery color, but my weightlifting classes must not be working because I could not open the container. So . . . . here a few pictures of the process so far!

Daniel working on removing the border!

My mom working on removing the border!

Two hours later . . . . last bit of border gone! Yeah!

Hmmmm. . . . . I wonder if tomorrow will be a snow day?

Week 24 Update and Rileyroos

Week 24 Belly Pic

How far along: 24 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: About 25 pounds . . . . According to my scale at home!

Maternity clothes: Yes . . . . they are now starting to fit my belly correctly

Stretch marks: Not yet!

Sleep: On and Off

Best moment this week: The bedding has arrived!

Movement: At night!

Food cravings: Back to oranges

Gender: Girl

Labor signs: None

Belly button in or out: Still in

What I miss: Full-out Combat Class . . . Kickboxing is not as fun when you have to modify!

What I am looking forward to: Getting the room painted

What about Baby Scout?
*Baby Scout is approximately 11.8 inches and about 1 pound 7 oz
*Baby Scout is still surrounded by a large amount of amniotic fluid
*Baby Scout's Alveoli (air sacs) are forming in the lungs
*If Baby Scout was born today, her survival rate would be 60% and she would most likely have serious medical complications (I hope Baby Scout makes it to the end of school)
*Baby Scout may now have hair growing longer on her head
*Baby Scout should now be blessing me with the linea nigra (a dark line down my belly), but I don't see it yet!
*Baby Scout is the size of a eggplant


For a few months now, I have been following the blog of Jennifer Francis. A couple of days ago she announced she would be doing a give-a-way. The give-a-way is from CSN Stores and will be one pair of Jakester Shoes by Rileyroos to one of her lucky readers! I think Baby Scout would be adorable in these!

Here is a little information about Rileyroos (in case you are interested in ordering or entering the give-a-way).

Rileyroos design inspiration comes from a combination of European fashion trends and American spirit and casualness. Rileyroos are designed to imitate barefoot walking and to protect little feet. The sole of a Rileyroos shoe is flexible and its rubber-padded sole curls above the toes to provide leverage as a child begins crawling. Unlike many heavy or bulky first walking shoes, Rileyroos’ lightweight construction and protective bottoms support a child’s foot as he or she starts walking and provides traction to prevent falls on slippery surfaces. Rileyroos was dreamt up after being frustrated with the lack of stylish and developmentally friendly shoe choices when owners, Kim and Brian had their first child. They created Rileyroos with a focus on style, comfort and ease, which is most important for little growing feet.

I hope you have a happy Thursday!