lessons from grammie & week 24

week 24 is upon us! over the half way point and excited :) i am in the "teens" for the weeks left. it will go fast...and it better. the scale might not hold me anymore :)


anyway, we can get back to week 24 stuff later. today is a SPECIAL day! it is my grandma manske's birthday! she is no longer with us in person, but always with us in our hearts!! her little "sayings" are frequently brought up and everyone around cannot help but smile!


i have been thinking about what my soon to be son (in ~15 weeks) would learn from my grandma. although, between you 'n me, he is going to have WONDERFUL grandmas and role models that he will learn SOOOO much from (we have named my mamma "gg" already...for gma georiga...). i just hope he will like me as much as gg... :)


my son would learn...

• the virtue of patience, hard work and perseverance
• what it means to be strong, yet let others into your life to help
• to can peaches, make homemade cinnamon rolls and 3 bean salad (not that he has to like 3 bean salad... :))
• life is not always easy or fair, but you learn from everything
• how to sit quietly and listen to a story that he has already heard 100 times...but since gma is telling it...it never gets old! oh the good 'ol days (i still think they appreciated life more than we do today)
• to love a brand new pack of colored socks for your birthday, christmas, other people's birthdays (since everyone had to open a gift), valentines day, easter, etc...
• unconditional love.
• humming a tune (even when no one recognizes it) can still soothe the soul and make the worries disappear
• that "ty-nol will cure what's pain-in ya"
• always put others ahead of yourself
• call the people he loves just to make sure they are doing well
• to love COUPONS! (pretty sure that still won't be a problem...i am addicted to coupons...)
• the huskers are the only football team to love
• hard work pays off
• KFC...yes...Kentucy Fried Chicken...
• to love growing tomatoes and all types of flowers...especially pink ones (for his mamma of course)
• to hang the washing outside on a clothes line so they smell like fresh air
• there is no need to drive too fast down the road (he will not speed...oh boy...he won't ever be able to drive or date for that matter...)
• how to successfully make poached eggs
• always watch people drive away and wave until you can't see them anymore
• never let people try to make your decisions or tell you what to do
• to correctly use the phrase "wow-wiee!!!", when excited for others
• to clip out the "family circle" comics (i got so many of these in college from gma that i actually made a border around my dorm room of family circus clippings...no one else could say that :))
• sitting quietly (without the modern day electronics) can really be relaxing
• always carry a spare cough drop
• read before going to bed
• most of all...my son will learn God is the most important person in his life. a close second is family. the rest will fall into place.

the list could go on and on. i love thinking about how much my grandma has influenced my life! she was a truly wonderful person and he will know who she is by the memories we share. :) this blog is pink today because that was my gma's FAVORITE color...and mine!!! :) i am even wearing a coral shade of pink today...hard to find cute maternity clothes that aren't grey, black, white or plum colored.

happy birthday grandma! i loveeeeee you!

Week 24.

my thoughts...large.larger.hungry.tired.ribshurt.sleep.hungry.bodypillow.ketchup.NNEDfeetupeverywhere.water.nurserypaint.orderbabyfurniture.organizeentirehouse... that's just a start, but i won't continue to bore you. :) i frequently think about having our little guy at home! it will be soooo much fun! even the sleepless nights (remind me i said this in the middle of those nights...), fussy baby times and SMELLY diaper changes.

i still have no idea what i will do as a mom. i hope it just all instantly comes to me...BEFORE mr babes arrives! and my mamma will be around. i am convincing her that it really is ok to stay with me for 3+ months. she can have the basement AND my gardens (they only look the way they do because of her). :)

my dr appt yesterday showed everything was on track! this little guy is busy punching me (getting stronger), turning in circles (testing his equilibrium) and expanding my small maternity wardrobe (gaining weight).

this maybe the last time i share the weight gained...i was honestly shocked. don't get me wrong, i feel like a mansion. but the new weight gain of the week (or should i say HOUR) is 17 lbs (that is 7lbs more than last appt). where does all of that go??? how in the WORLD did i gain it sooooo fast!!!??? i don't think the little guy is even 2lbs yet! that means, being generous, i have 15 lbs stored somewhere on me. crazy thought. maybe my hubby is being nice and switched out all the mirrors in the house so i see a not so large version of me. :)

growing!!

me as a snowman...after a nice relaxing bath!

week 23...where has time gone?!?!

hello all! we have been a busy little family getting ready for our little addition. here is a recap of the last few weeks.

• clean out current office - going to be the nursery (oh sooooo perfect for the little guy) :)


• tape off the nursery so john can paint - i need to do this yet - but i have decided on the paint. blue for the walls with 3 different widths of horizontal grey stripes. let's hope it looks as cute in real life as it does in my mamma mind.


• move office stuff to new office.


• clean garage.


• football game...yay...they won! :)


• rest...or at least try to.


• enjoy the labor day off together :)


• lay on couch and drink lots of water so the braxton hicks contractions go away...and stay away...


• buy crib - thank you target.com for your wonderful special this week :)
  

...that about does it. we have been busy, but it has been fun. once the nursery is set up, then i will post pics :)

this is week 23...i cannot believe how fast time has gone by! daddy has decided to start reading to the little guy. in the evenings now, john picks out a children's book (out of our vast selection of 5 books) and reads. it's cute. he makes the voices and everything. i still laugh, so guess that's a good sign. he will be such a good daddy. babes also falls asleep to piano music from my ipod. i think i might actually fall asleep faster than babes now, but i am convinced this will make him a genius...not that i ever had my doubts...


well at week 23, i am starting to realize that bending over is not the same. it's more of a side lean bracing myself on anything around to help steady my way to the ground. quite the site i would imagine. it is fun though...knowing it is not going to last forever :)


weight gained: 10 lbs (next appt is in 1 week...we will see how much the little guy...errr mamma...has gained)

cravings: anything with KETCHUP...love it and realizing is it truly a versatile condiment.

funny comments: this last weekend, a friend kindly said "wow you have popped!". thank you...i think...

the pics below are from our baby gender party! enjoy :)

the best cake baker around...with the finished product! :)

cute watermelon fruit bowl - supposed to look like a baby carriage...awww...

blue and pink all over the place...

beverage of choice....


it's cake time!!!!!!!!!!! ahhh....i couldn't wait!!!!!!

my lil' sis wanted me to use my "large" belly to hold my plate...my thoughts - not THAT big yet...

nervous...getting ready...(yes the rest of these are sideways...)

here we go...

IT'S BLUE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

definitely blue!

yay - we finally know! our little football player :)

happy family of 3. i am officially out numbered. i can handle that.

the cake was goooooood!

little guy stuff. it's cute.

happy friday!!! that is so nice to hear :) i love friday's...they mean freedom for 2 weeks...usually...if client's don't call or email in a panic over the weekend.

this weekend i plan to finish working on baby b's blankie. john and i went to jo-ann fabric and picked out fleece, ribbon, cotton and batting (the stuff between blankets) last week. after discussing with the fabric cutting lady for about 30 minutes, we finally decided on the size to make this thing. that was quite the decision! ...umm...maybe i shouldn't admit that. anyway, i have constructed the entire blanket and L-O-V-E it :) i am really getting into this whole boy thing. it is an experience, but the planes, trains and trucks are really growing on me...i call them "cute" now when i see them on clothes. dianosours and bugs...still getting used to that one.

ok, back to the blanket. so here is my weekend plans...sew this thing so the loopy ribbons don't fall out :) below is a picture of the blanket on each side - the printed side is fleece and the other is a cotton grey. so cuddly. just waiting for a little boy.

also, baby GAP has made me really love shopping for this child. their clearance is the best...check it out. we got some clothes for the little guy. some of my fav's are below. cute little ittby sandals and slip on shoes and a sweatshirt. i think all 4 pairs of shoes would fit in 1 of mine. how cute. can't help but smile :)

here is the printed side - loopy ribbons are still pinned...but it won't look much different when sewn.

here is the other side - warm, cozy grey.

little guy shoes. so cute.

...and my FAVORITE...little guy's sweatshirt. the arms are shorter in real life (this is from the website). they are like little short things that just stick out and can't even be folded too well. it is just adorable.

enjoy your weekend :)

frogs...trucks...sports...

this last weekend was life changing...literally! :) the 20 week ultrasound went perfectly. the cake revealing was wonderful (and delicious cake!!). the cake was......

BLUE!!!!!!!!!!!! baby boy!!!!!!!!! :)

my new due date is dec 31st. very excited...maybe this year yet we can meet the little guy. after we had the wonderful cake with wonderful friends and family, it was time to go shopping! my sisters, mom, john and i were off to Target! we each picked out an outfit and then found another outfit we could not resist. :)

i am still trying to figure out color schemes and themes for the nursery...but i figure i have a little bit of time.

baby stats:

fruit-a-like: banana (lenth of babes)

weight gained: 10 lbs...i might need to end this one at some point...

cravings: anything cherry flavored...i think DQ knows my car when i pull up...i always order a cherry artic rush...yummmm!

mood: getting back to the tired stage...but so excited to plan the nursery and SHOP! :)

baby weight: 11oz (as of last friday....so probably a pop can by now)

ahhhh...it's BLUE!!!! :)

daddy's outfit choice...notice the footballs on the footies also :)

mamma's outfit choice...by the fball it says "property of mommy"...awww...

our stud muffin's outfit we could not resist!!! :) he will take after his daddy :) (this is for 6-9 mo i think...so it will be a while)

present from grammie and gramps...so "JR" (as dad as named him...long ago) doesn't get too hot in the bath tub.

mamma - 21 weeks....and g.r.o.w.in.g...

that's all for now... :)

a day of "firsts" - part 2

part 1 is the post below this post...i couldn't upload 2 images for some strange reason. so here goes with my BIG day of "firsts"....

up to this point, we have not shared any pictures beyond text messages to friends and family of mamma and lil' babes. well that is all about to change!!! here is the first picture of lil' babes. since you can't read my shirt, it says "creating a bright future"....awww....doesn't that make you love baby p even more?!?! :)

here is week 19 at its finest....except the rainy day in the background. babes doesn't mind though.

...dare i admit this...i must...i laughed (just slightly). so much for needing part 1 and part 2. i couldn't get an image to upload on this post either. then, i look at the taskbar on the bottom of my screen, there it is...the "upload image" box. sitting there for me since part 1. seriously. whatever, this is written and not re-doing it now! :)

not sure why my back looks so curved...but my "dunn" is really making its presence known also. for those outside our Dunn family....the "dunn" is the rump.behind.backend.junk-in-the-trunk. now you know our secret...

enjoy!

a day of "firsts" - part 1

today is a BIG day. we made our first purchase for baby p. (actually we made it last night at like 10:30pm, but still). even though the whole stroller/car seat process was a bit overwhelming this weekend, we have done our research ahead of time and knew exactly what brand we wanted. britax or chicco. either of those brands had very similar looking "travel systems" (am i using the right lingo??? :)). they were red and grey...very universal for future children.


anyway, one of them went on closeout last night...AHHHH...PANIC!!! we went from overwhelmed-i-can't-decide to we-wanted-it-and-now-must-buy-it mode. of course we sat down for 2 hours and did more research to be 100% sure it is what we truly wanted (and what baby p wanted). this whole process started online at about 7:30pm and didn't end until 10:30pm...call us crazy...but i just know EVERY purchase for lil' babes can't take us 3 hours!!!!



we got free shipping - which means 2 days i guess - so the "travel system" gets here on Wednesday by 8pm. E X C I T E D. maybe this is just the inspiration we needed to make the rest of the decisions...for starters...which room are we going to use as the nursery...hmm...

well that is all for this post...i will make a part 2 since my blogger won't let me upload another image...

stay tuned.

babies 'r us & week 19

hello all my friends! i feel like i need to re-introduce myself as it has been so long since i wrote.

john and i had a fun adventure this weekend. we decided to head to babies 'r us on saturday. off topic...but this is why we went...this past weekend was my last "real" weekend with my hubs for about 4 months. we are entering football season. it is an entire season of its own. it doesn't share with fall. it is just football. he coaches at Crown College, so it is non stop from here till nov!

anyway, back to babies 'r us... we walk in, all excited to see cribs, strollers, car seats, etc. we start down aisle 1 (after making our way through the adorable clothes). so many cribs, dressers, changing tables and rockers. my oh my those prices! we will look past those for now and enjoy this. off to strollers, which spanned about 4 aisles. do we get one with a car seat or without? we tried for about 10 minutes getting the car seat off one of the strollers to see what it looked like without it, but we gave up after several looonnngg stares from passer-byers. we decided to look at the separate strollers and car seats (another 2 aisles). too many to look at....starting to go crazy.

off to the other 12 bazillion aisles with the "must-haves" that every good parent gets! we were not even half way down the first aisle, which contained bottles and baby video monitors, and john stopped. turned back around and said, "we need to leave. i am overwhelmed. we need something from every aisle!". guess those "good" parents have a lot more patience than we do right now. i promise we will buy so many unnecessary little trinkets, warmers and cushions for our child...but this was not the weekend.

so, back to the ever so cute baby clothes...it eased our minds and were fun to look at. we picked out the "come home from hospital" outfits if baby is a girl or a boy. john picked out some rather adorable girls clothes with pink, frills, rhinestones and sparklies. i was a proud mamma....if this is a girl :)

we decided no more shopping until we know the gender of our baby. more so it is an excuse, but it is really a lot to take in.

11 days...then we will know boy or girl! can't wait!! :)

Weekly Status:

Week: 19

Fruit-a-like: Mango

Baby Size: 6-7 inches (think of a half of Subway sub...)

Cravings: food. food makes me hungry. i like cheetos. a lot.

Weight Gained: 6lbs (as of a week ago...we don't own a scale at home)


:)