Moving In

Here is the "before" picture of our front door and living room wall:

Here is the after photo:

We're moved into the new townhome! There's still about half a dozen boxes to unpack, but it's definitely starting to feel like home.

Andrew and I went to work right away! We moved in on the evening of Wednesday, July 15 with the help of our parents and family friend, Taylor. The following day, my mom was off work and stayed at our place for the afternoon. She waited for the cable guy and cleaned the carpeting in our bedroom.

That weekend, Andrew taped and primered over the hot pink wall in the bedroom. Let me just say, that's no exaggeration. The wall was hot pink. Then, he helped me tape the rest of the walls (he taped high, and I taped low), and my mom and I painted all the walls a bright yellow. I thought it would contrast nicely with our dark furniture and navy headboard. We traded the fabric drapes for some white mini-blinds, and my dad replaced all the outlets and switch covers in the room. That Sunday, we moved the furniture in. Rather, the three of them moved all the bedroom furniture in while I worked on unpacking boxes.

Next, we moved on to the living room! Andrew removed all the old window coverings that I didn't like. They were straw and over-sized and very dirty. He then primed and painted the purple wall. I had so much fun picking the color for the living room and finally settled on a color called "witch's hazel," which is a very earthy green. It looks nice against the stone fireplace and the new white outlets. I then painted the door with a fresh coat of paint, which did wonders because the door was so dirty and had purple squares painted on it. My mom took me out and bought me some new drapery that's a little darker than cream and looks pleasant against the walls.

Our next project is the main bathroom. I've stripped the wallpaper border from the room (thanks to my coworker Tonette who told me I could just use hot water to remove it!). Andrew pulled up the floor. Well, the first layer, anyway. There's still another layer to go! I think we're going to wait on that until it's time to replace the floor. Our parents are both wonderful... my mom and dad are treating us to a new floor throughout the first floor of our townhome, and Andrew's parents just bought us a new washer and dryer (to be delivered August 15).

We're definitely working hard. I have a constant "to do" list in my mind that Andrew thinks has a lot to do with my nesting instincts. They might be strong, but I'm waiting to do the nursery until I can't stand it anymore! I think that's going to be the most fun room to do (after the bathroom maybe ;-) ).

I might add, we're very grateful for the first-time homebuyer's grant. It's allowing us to do a lot of work in our new place :)

Andrew Feels a Kick

Andrew made me a snack of apple slices and peanut butter. Soon after I started eating, our little boy started going nuts in my tummy. I started to feel all sorts of kicks. Andrew put his hand on me to try to feel them, and at first missed out. After a little lull, I started to feel the kicks again, only this time hard enough to make me jump. Andrew came over and put both hands on my stomach just in time to feel a whole series of sharp kicks! It was so exciting. He looked up at me, giggling, and said, "What have we done?" (sarcastically, of course). I love that he felt it, too... that someone else gets to feel the little thumps our baby boy makes.

Packing Up the Apartment

We're expecting our new home to be ready July 8, and our lease is up here July 14. Today, I decided to start some packing. It's weird to think we might be moving all this stuff out in less than two weeks.

I'm really excited about our new home and having a permanent place with Andrew. Still, it's bittersweet. This is the first place I've had as an adult, and the first place Andrew and I have had as a couple. Two years went by really fast, and I'm going to miss it.

I hope I like the next place at least as much. There won't be a big pond in the backyard and no ducks, but we will have forest and (hopefully!) deer. Our second bedroom is going to be a nursey instead of a computer room, and I wonder know where our bookshelf and books will go. In the attic? Weird.

It's amazing to me how much life has continued to change for us over the last few years. We went from planning a wedding and getting married to moving into our first apartment to losing a lot of people who were dear to us. We moved on to new jobs, started looking for a home to own, and now we're expecting a baby boy. This, all in the matter of a couple of years. While it's a little sad to move on, I'm looking forward to some consistancy... to being able to enjoy our current stage of life and hopefully not have to deal with too much at once.

It's going to feel so satisfying to move this stuff over to our new place and know that some of the big changes are coming to an end. We can focus then on one, big change... having a family.

Swelling in my fingers and toes (Oh my!).

On Wednesday, my feet started to swell a bit. I came home, elevated them, and Andrew rubbed them a bit. They stayed swollen, but it wasn't an issue.

Today, I was trying to fix dinner. I couldn't get a grip on any of the pans because my fingers were swollen. Zero dexterity.

Fast-forward a few hours later, and my ring finger is starting to ache. Only I can't get my wedding band off. It took a few minutes of holding my hand up over my head and a lot of saliva, but my ring finally slipped free. Now, I feel exposed and a little sad with no wedding band.

I had to relinquish the engagement ring months ago. The wedding band, once too large for my hand, fit well until today. I'm currently wishing I'd thought to buy a backup before this happened.

I went on Kohls.com and bought a nice sterling silver ring in a size 6 for $9.99. Not a bad deal, and I'll have it to wear for four more months. Still, I don't even feel like going a week without a wedding band. I'm hoping tomorrow my swelling will be down enough to put the ring back on. For now, it's residing on my pinky.

First Kicks

On Monday, Andrew picked me up to go look at some townhomes. As we were driving, I felt a little thump in my lower abdomen. I thought it was unusual, and then about five minutes later, it happened again. I couldn't be sure, but I thought it was probably our baby kicking!

That night, I was laying down and reading, and I started to feel it again. And then yesterday (Tuesday), I felt some thumps at lunch. It's so exciting! And weird, to know there's a person inside of you, kicking you. I'm getting excited to meet our little guy, but I'm also excited for the rest of the pregnancy, when Andrew can start feeling those little thumps, too!

It's a Boy!

It's a boy! Boy, oh boy! Andrew and I went to the OB, where we met our parents (Andrew's dad had to go out of town for work unfortunately). Dr. Oster was called away to deliver a baby, so we waited (and waited). I didn't mind so much, but I wasn't supposed to pee before the ultrasound. Wooie.

We got into the ultrasound room, and she started looking for the baby. She first thing she found was his butt. Its butt was definitely more like Andrew's. Then she went down the legs and commented, "Those are really long legs." Haha, that's not exactly from my gene pool.

I was pretty sure I saw some boy parts when she went down the legs. She asked me if I had any idea what I was having. I said, "I was pretty sure it was a girl until you started the ultrasound. Now I think I saw a ball sack." She told me I was right and took some photos of the baby's boy parts for proof.

She then scanned over the baby and showed us his heart (all 4 chambers, sweet), and looked at his brain and spine. She checked out the umbilical cord and said everything looks perfect. Also, she said our baby has a stomach and has learned to swallow. Hurray! I'm glad all my tiredness has paid off so far into creating a beautiful baby boy.
From the waist down, the baby certainly takes after Andrew. It has his legs and butt, and I told him, "He sure didn't get a penis from me." It'll be fun to see our little boy in person after he's born to check out all of his other traits.

I'm so happy. So's Andrew, and so are our families. We started calling people almost right away. Andrew called his dad, and Colleen called Grandma Jackie. After Andrew and I got to talk a bit in the car, I called my brother and sister, and he called his brother.

Most people were just as sure as I was that we were having a girl. The only two who seemed confident that it was a boy? Julie and Colleen's good buddy, Jean.

Now it's time to work on names :)

Today is Here!

We've been counting down the weeks and finally the days, but today is here! My ultrasound is scheduled for 4:15pm, and we're going to find out if we're expecting a little boy or a little girl. I'm so excited!

These last few weeks have been weeks of change. My body is getting quite large. I've gained 13 pounds so far, but it's all tummy. It's getting harder to sleep, and my hips are frequently sore. I still have no nausea or constipation, thankfully. But also, I don't feel the baby move. I'm pretty disappointed at that. All my books inform me that people typically feel their babies move at 16-20 weeks. Saturday, I'll hit 21 weeks and still nothing.

Andrew's been reading my What to Expect. I saw him reading the delivery chapters yesterday, and I wonder if he's as nervous as me. I find myself singing a lot to Baby, hoping it'll get to know my voice. Andrew introduced himself to Baby the other day, and when he referred to himself as "Daddy," I almost teared up.

But, yes, today's the day. My parents and Andrew's mom are coming with us to the doctor. Paul, unfortunately, was called out of town for work, so he won't be able to make it.

Me, I still think our baby's a girl, but if they tell me it's a boy, I'll be happy and surprised. They'll also look at all its organs again. I get nervous whenever they look for abnormalities. So, yeah, I'm nervous for the appointment, but also insanely excited.

Andrew's making me a breakfast burrito this morning. I do my best to eat eggs and cheese and such. Frankly, fruits sound better and better every day, and everything else pales in comparison. I even dreamed about fruit yesterday... yum.

Houses and Town Homes

Andrew and I have been on a mission with our house-hunting these last few months. We started looking before we were expecting and even put a bid in on a home. After re-crunching our numbers figuring in the cost of our upcoming baby, we made the tough decision to pull our bid on the house.

Now, we're looking for more affordable places to live in town homes and such. The problem is, all the nice ones always seem to have offers on them already!

Finding a home seems impossible, and now we have 60 days to move out of our apartment! Actually, the apartment people did say we can do month-to-month after our lease is up, but that'll cost an extra $100 a month. Bogus!

So Much Emotion!

Well, those pregnancy hormones seem to be kicking in full force! I'm used to feeling happy and content and, well, frankly, used to even laughing at those who get all riled up over nothing. Now, it seems, I am those people!

I'll tell you what, I've been getting very angry these last few weeks. Either I get mad at nothing, or I get really mad over something quite small. And the anger seems to last, too. I've never really been an angry person. Well, maybe during my years of teenage angst ;-) But I have no idea where these emotions are coming from!

Also, I've started to feel very sad over small things, too. I can't shake off the feeling that everyone's unhappy with me. I know it's stupid, and I know people aren't unhappy with me. Still, that feeling lingers...

I read in my book that week 16 is supposed to be the peak of all this pregnancy emotion overload. I'm now at week 15, and I'm definitely feeling it. While normal, it doesn't make it any less disturbing to me. I'm also freaking out... what if this means I'll have post pardum depression? I wonder if that's a rational fear, if it could be linked to being overly emotional during pregnancy, or if it's something completely separate. I hope so.

Andrew's being uber supportive. He's so sweet to me, but even with him, I keep thinking I'm disappointing him or something. I just don't feel like I measure up. Blech, I need to work on shaking these feelings.

On the up side to my emotional swings, when I feel happy, I definitely feel very happy. I feel like all my emotions are amplified. Even the being tired part ;-).

I'll work on getting a bit more control over all these new extreme emotions. At the very least, I'll have to make sure to work on controlling my actions with them! The last thing I need is to have another angry outburst (This weekend, I completely embarrassed my brother by scolding a waitress who was being inexcusably rude to my dad. The worst part is now, even though he accepted my apology, I still feel overwhelmed with guilt and feel horrible. How sad is that? Logically, I know it wasn't that big of a deal, but emotionally, I can't shake it).

I feel like it's possible to get a grip on my emotions in normal circumstances. Now, I just need to master the art of controlling my pregnancy-amplified ones. I wonder if I'll be able to? Hopefully my future blogs won't be littered with desciptions of embarrassing emotional outbursts!

What'd You Say?

Nothing I can write could emphasize how exhausted I am all the time. Even on weekends, when I get to sleep in, I find myself crawling back into bed a couple of hours later. Taking Bailey outside to pee drains me, and at work, it's all I can do to stay awake.

The worst part is how it effects my memory. I don't have the energy to remember anything, and it's hopeless to even try. Never in my life have I ever felt so stupid, but I find myself completely clueless when people are talking to me. What are they referring to? Am I supposed to know what they're talking about? People will crack jokes, and I don't even realize it. It's pathetic.

Everyone assures me it's normal. Indeed, I've read about exhaustion and memory loss in my pregnancy books, but I didn't realize the extent to which they'd occur.

I've been told it gets better at the 2nd trimester. Well, here I am, week 13, and still not feeling a bit better.

It's simply frustrating being so exhausted. My personal relationships are suffering as I never feel like leaving the house to see people, and I don't have the energy to keep up the house to have people over. I want to do my share, but how can I when all I want to do, even now, is crawl back into bed for more shut eye?