We got everything put away in Kerrigan's room!

You can actually walk in Kerrigan's room now! We took a few hours tonight to organize all of our gifts and put things away. We have laundry going with little girl clothes, blankets, sheets, etc. The nursery is so close to being finished; all we need now is things for the wall! I took some pictures--you can click on them to make them bigger:

This is a picture of her room when you are standing in the doorway. It's hard to get a good angle.


Here is the picture of the new rug we got:


Here are some pictures of the new chair we got. You can see we have caught the cats in it!


Here's Hershey in the chair:


These are the letters Aaron and I painted to go on the wall above Kerrigan's crib. We haven't hung them up yet. I just finished painting them on Friday.


Here is a picture of a bouncy chair we got at my Baby Tea last Sunday:


Here is a picture of the high chair we got at my Baby Tea:


So we are getting there. There's still some minor things we have to do, but I think we are better off than we were a month ago. I have realized that I am going to need to reorganize some cabinets in the kitchen (or build some more) so that we can store baby items. That may be something I do when I am out of school.

I also wanted to post a few pictures of the lilies Aaron got me for our anniversary.






I must say that he did a great job picking those out.

Well, this marks the 3 week countdown until summer break. I sure hope that my kids understand that their teacher is super tired and super pregnant and that they will take it easy on me. Wishful thinking! :) I go to a Breastfeeding Class on Tuesday night. That should be interesting. I think Aaron may try to go with me. I hope so so that I can remember some stuff! Other than that, no other plans that I am aware of except for Aaron playing soccer tomorrow night. And I think Do Dah Day is on Saturday--so we may take Marley up to that.

Happy Mother's Day to all the mom's out there! I hope everyone has a great week!

lj

More Things for the Room, Baby Tea, Anniversary, Doctor's Appointment

Okay, it's a good thing that there are only a few more weeks of school left because I am so tired. I mean, I get home and know that there is stuff that needs to be done like laundry, picking up, emptying/loading the dishwasher, etc., so I go ahead and do some of it. But it's a pain and just makes me more exhausted. We have got to clean this weekend. Kerrigan's room looks like a tornado has come through and she's not even born yet, we have random stuff all over the place and our floors could use a cleaning. Sorry, complaining... we need a maid. Wish we could afford one!!

Alright, so thinking back to when I last posted...

Last Friday, Jenni and I went to Staples to print my Thank You cards that Jenni designed. The guy who worked there was not very pleasant and talked to us like we were idiots. We finally got them printed, though. They are designed to look like the pattern on Kerrigan's bedding. They are so cute! Then I went to get tanned that evening...whoop, whoop!

On Saturday, Aaron and I went to Tuscaloosa with my parents to visit a baby store that my mom had been to--Lily Pads and Baby Bundles in Northport. We wanted to try and get some accessories/decorations for Kerrigan's room, but they really didn't have that many. However, we DID end up getting a rocking chair that was marked down about 50% and we got a rug for her room. The rocking chair looks more like a recliner that doesn't recline. It's brown with pink polka dots... cute and super comfy! We also got a pink "ruffle" rug. I don't really know how else to describe it. Once we get some things cleaned up, I'll have to take some pictures to post on here.

Sunday was my Baby Tea. Once again, it was raining on the day of a shower for Kerrigan. I bet she'll be born on a rainy day, too... hmmmmmm. Anyway, a lot of family, family friends and friends showed up and it was great to see everyone. I haven't seen a lot of the people who came in a long time!! Kerrigan got hooked up once more! She got a TON of cute clothes, a high chair, a bouncer, some blankets, a bouncy seat/activity center, some practical items from friends who are mom's and a ton of other great stuff. This is why her room is such a mess. We brought all the gifts inside and haven't done anything with them since Sunday night!! Weekend project!! I've started thank you notes... gotta finish those!!

The beginning of the week was pretty uneventful. Yesterday (Wednesday) was our THIRD anniversary!! I can't believe it has already been three years. It's also hard to believe that that was our last anniversary where it's just the two of us. After my doctor's appointment (I'll talk about later), I met up with Aaron. That morning, I had left Aaron's gift at home for him to see when he woke up...since he's still sleeping when I leave for work (gag!). (It was a gift card to Home Depot to put towards a grill, in case you were wondering. Hahahaha!) After I met him, he put on this big front that he didn't think I was going to get him anything so he didn't get me anything. We had to kill some time so we went to the store and Aaron asked if I wanted to pick my own card out--no thanks. LOL! So, we went to Ruth's Chris for dinner. I had never been there before, so I was excited! We came up to the table and there were BEAUTIFUL flowers on the table...colorful lilies...and lilies are my favorite. There were also some books to read while I'm laid up and some little UAB gear for Kerrigan (booties, cap and bib) that my dad had brought Aaron earlier. So Aaron was trying to act like he hadn't gotten me anything when he had really gone to the restaurant beforehand and left the stuff to surprise me. What a sweet and wonderful husband I have! We got steaks and shared some scalloped potatoes and a Caesar salad. That was THE BEST steak I have ever eaten in my life. To top it off, our waiter brought us a piece of chocolate mousse cheesecake on the house for our anniversary. Needless to say, I did not check my sugars last night!!!

My 32 week checkup was yesterday afternoon. The heartbeat sounded good and she showed me where she thought she was laying in my belly based on where I feel her moving and where the heartbeat is coming from. Then I was surprised when she told me I was going to get an ultrasound. It was very brief, but I did find out that Kerrigan was 4.1 pounds, which I think she said was in the 34th percentile. I wish that I would have made sure that's what she said because I can't find anything on the internet showing the percentile your child is in based on fetal weight. She did say that was normal though, so maybe 34th percentile is right. According to her length she measured 31 weeks and 5 days and I was 32 weeks so that's good. Seems that the gestational diabetes isn't causing her to be large. At least, I hope that's the case. I got a picture showing Kerrigan playing with her feet. How cute is that? We didn't really get a good picture of her face... it was kind of smashed up against the wall or whatever. I don't know proper terms, obviously. I was told to drink more water so the fluid won't get dangerously low.

My next appointment will be on the 19th. I have to get a Fetal Non-Stress Test. My doctor told me this was precautionary since I have high blood pressure. They are going to hook me up to check Kerrigan's heart rate for about 15 or 20 minutes just to monitor and make sure everything is okay. Apparently, I am "high risk" since I do have high blood pressure, gestational diabetes AND am a teacher--around germs, germs, germs. I have to do this test once a week until the baby comes. Wow.

I'm so thankful tomorrow is Friday. I have training all day, so I'm sure I'll be ready to snooze when that's over. I'll have to get in a Friday nap for sure.

I think it's time for me to put my feet up... they are very swollen.

lj

Couples Shower & Furniture Update

On Saturday, we had our Couples Shower at Brad and Megan's house. It was a lot of fun! Despite the stormy weather, we had a great group show up. Megan made 2 Diaper Cakes.

Here's a picture of one:


We also had a lot of great food and we played some really fun games. Below are some pictures of our "Diaper Changing Relay Race." The girls won, of course!

Aaron needed a mask.


I am ready to win!


Aaron and I face off:


Ashley vs. Matt:


Megan vs. Chase:


Andrea vs. Jason:


Megan vs. Dustin (she was taking her sweet time--she's a pro after having twin boys):


We also got a lot of great stuff for Kerrigan! Thanks for all of our friends and family who were able to celebrate with us.



Tuesday night, Aaron's parents, twin brother Dave and our nephew Gavan came into town for a short visit. I had to work, but it was good for Aaron to get to spend some time with them since his parents live in Cincinnati and Dave & Gavan live in Tucson. The whole Douglas/Jordan clan went to eat last night at Jim 'N' Nick's. So if you were at the Hoover location and it took your food a while, I apologize. We had a party of 12! His family left this afternoon, but they were here when our furniture got delivered. Here's a picture (Paula's guide dog Babe and Marley included):



We went ahead and put the bedding on tonight and it looks great. It is really starting to become more real now that the furniture is in her room. We spent a little time taking some things from the closet and putting them in drawers in the dresser. We're going to adjust some of the shelves on the hutch so that we can use the dresser for a changing table. So we haven't really "organized" the shelves yet. We just put some things out that will go on them. It's hard to believe that in a little less than 9 weeks (if I make it to 40 weeks, that is), we'll have a little baby girl sleeping in there. Aaron said tonight that we'll be spending a lot of time (especially nights!) in that room coming up soon. Ain't that the truth?!









Hopefully I will have some time to relax this weekend because I am EXHAUSTED! This week just seems like it has been so long. Thankfully, tomorrow is Friday and counting tomorrow, there are only 20 more school days left. Yes, the countdown is indeed ON!

I will be getting my spray tan on tomorrow evening so that I can get some color on this pregnant bod. For most of the day Saturday I hope to lie on the couch with my feet propped because they have been swelling pretty badly these past couple of days. I would like to pack my hospital bag (just in case) sometime this weekend. It's just one of those things that will make me feel better if it gets done.

I do have my Baby Tea on Sunday, which I am really excited about.

I hope everyone has a great weekend! Hopefully the weather won't be too crummy. Can't believe it will be May already...

lj

30 Weeks Today!

Today, I am exactly 30 weeks pregnant, which means roughly 10 weeks to go. And oh boy, that is a scary thought! It's funny (in an ironic sort of way) because my sister-in-law Megan and good friend Jenni had their babies at this point of pregnancy, so I could be in their shoes. That would be crazy!! But I guess that's part of carrying twins, so maybe I will last closer to full term with my little singleton. Although, I almost went into labor earlier today when Jenni scared the crap of me!! I was in Julie's classroom, about to walk out the door. In fact, I think my hand was on the door. Then all of a sudden, Julie gasps and I turn and all I see is Jenni's face in the window. This was then followed by a scream and my heart rate was probably in the 200s. Thanks, ladies...

I just got home from the doctor. Anyway, she said everything looked fine. She listened to KJ's heartbeat, and it was a-kickin'. Unfortunately, she had to go do a C-section, so it was extremely rushed. Of course, the day I bring in a list of questions to ask, she has to be in a hurry. Oh well--that's how it always works out, I suppose. But I did have some slight concerns that I tried to squeeze in there before she ran out of the room.

1. The Occupational Therapist at our school was diagnosed with Fifth's Disease. Although I don't have any contact with her, I thought I'd still inform my doctor. She was not worried about it. Okay, so I guess that's good? I mean, I don't have to do a precautionary test? I guess I'm just paranoid and a hypochondriac.

2. My second concern is that Kerrigan is going to be a "big baby." I know it's not always the case with gestational diabetes moms, but I still want to be sure. So I asked her A) what she wanted my levels to be after I ate and B) will she do another ultrasound to "check her out." She said she didn't care much about my levels after I eat since I am not a true diabetic. But she said she would think as long as they are under 140 that would be fine. Mostly, she really is just concerned about my fasting levels, which have all been normal, so I guess I'm good to go? She said that she wouldn't do another ultrasound unless I wasn't measuring normal. But apparently I am measuring normal, so I guess that means Kerrigan is a "normal" size fetus. I really hope so because Jenni told me today that she saw a lady who had a 3 week old FOURTEEN pound baby. This baby was also ELEVEN POINT NINE pounds at delivery! Holy #*&%#*)(*%&@)!! Can you imagine giving birth to that big baby?!?! I mean, ow. Again, this is my paranoia taking over, but I can't help but be concerned!

Last weekend, we went to look for Kerrigan's furniture and we bought some! So exciting! It will be delivered next Thursday. We got a good deal on it because the set was being discontinued and they wanted to get rid of it. We ended up getting a crib, a dresser and a hutch. We also went ahead and purchased a conversion kit so when she gets older, we can turn the crib into a bed. It's an espresso finish. So that will be set up very soon and her room will be closer to being complete! I will post pictures as soon as we get the furniture set up. It will also be nice to get her bedding out of the closet and onto the crib. I can also work more on organizing her closet because we just stuffed everything in there since we didn't have any drawers for storage.

My mom's good friend Debby is in the process of working on a valance for Kerrigan's lone window in her bedroom. This is another bullet on my checklist, so I'm glad that it is in the works. :) I can't wait to see what Debby comes up with--it should look awesome!

We also got out some paint from the garage and touched up our walls in the bathrooms, living room, kitchen and our bedroom that had marks and dirt on Sunday. We still need to do some minor touchups in Kerrigan's room from where we got paint on the ceiling and trim. Guess we will work on that sometime soon. Hopefully we can get it done before the furniture is delivered. Oh yeah, any takers on coming over and vacuuming and possibly shampooing her carpet before it gets delivered?? :)

Nesting is definitely in full effect at the Jordan household in case you haven't noticed. I got home the other day from school and I cleaned out the pantry. Random. But it was driving me crazy. I wonder what other acts of randomness I will indulge myself in in the upcoming weeks???

I am getting excited because we have our 2 baby showers coming up very soon! We have a Couples Shower thrown by Megan and my good friends Laurie, Ashley and Charity. It will be at Megan and Brad's house this Saturday. There is no telling WHAT is in store for this party. I envision Aaron or myself testing out baby food. Hmmm... :) Then, the next Sunday (May 2) is my baby tea. So I am excited to get some more things for Kerrigan and to get to see some friends and family.

My next doctor's appointment is 2 weeks from today, which is coincidentally mine and Aaron's third anniversary. I got a 3:30 appointment, so hopefully I can be out in time to go to a fancy dinner. :) I can't believe we have been married for almost three years. It seems like we were just planning our wedding. Now we're planning for parenthood! Oh my!

That's all for now.

lj

As things get checked off, we add a few more to the To-Do List.

I went to the doctor this past Monday. Everything checked out okay. My blood pressure was normal... don't care much about my weight gain (it's depressing), even though she told me that it is not a concern... I measured okay... and my doctor was glad my fasting sugars had all been under 105. I have had some bad tests after meals, but that just tells me what I can't eat. Sometimes I wonder why my sugars test so high after certain things, but that's another story. I asked her about her philosophy on inducing (not that I want to be induced, I was just curious). She said she's not completely for it, but she's not totally against it. She said she doesn't do anything until 39 weeks. If by that time there's an issue and she needs to induce, then that's what we will have to do. But she also said if I'm a week after my due date, then she won't allow me to suffer. She's a big believer in letting nature take its course. This is fine with me. I don't want Kerrigan coming out before she needs to! Dr. Tamucci also doesn't really like to make a plan just in case something happens and it doesn't work out. Even though I am all about being prepared and like to plan ahead, this surprisingly is fine with me too. I don't want to be disappointed. Hopefully my blood pressure will hold on and I can make it as long as I need to. Although in the upcoming weeks, I may be ready to get her out!

I am currently 28 weeks and 4 days pregnant. My body feels like it's falling apart. It's hard for me to bend over and get up from the couch or out of the bed. My feet swell when I am on them for 30 seconds. And I think Kerrigan chills out on my tailbone because it seems to always be hurting! With a little less than 12 weeks to go, I'm wondering how I will be able to function! I guess this is what I have to deal with since I wasn't very sick in the beginning. Anyway, it's hard to believe I'm already in my third trimester. Kerrigan will be here before we know it! So I'm glad we have made a lot of progress in the house.

Aaron took a picture of me at 28 weeks. I got a lot of hand me down maternity clothes and some I have not worn yet. I like to know what I'm going to wear the night before so I'm not standing in the closet for 10 minutes pondering. So I tried on an outfit right before bed... Aaron then grabbed the camera to get a belly shot. I look like I'm going to fall asleep and of course, I look like a basketball was shoved in my shirt. However, I'm posting it... I don't know why. Please feel free to scroll down immediately!


Well, we were able to check off "Paint" from our to do list. But it seems as if any time we complete something, we add a few more small "projects" to the list. We worked most of the day yesterday painting. Aaron had to work for a couple of hours Saturday morning, then I brought Marley down to meet him so we could go to the Dog Park. We wanted Marley to be worn out so painting would be a little easier (It worked at times). Anyway, we started painting yesterday afternoon, took a break, and finished the second coat last night. There's still blue tape everywhere and we are going to have to touch up some areas where we got paint on the ceiling (oops!!). I think Aaron may want to redo the trim, as well. (See? Adding things to the to do list right after we finish something!!) The color we chose is Key Lime...here are some pictures after we finished the first coat:




I just took pictures this morning of what it looks like after the second coat:




It seems a bit bright and lime but I know that after we get the furniture in and everything set up, it will look good. The second coat made it a lot less lime, too. Kerrigan's bedding has green, brown and pink and we want to get dark wood furniture. I am not a girly-girl, so a pink wall was not an option. There's pink in her bedding, so that's enough for me! :)

Luckily I have a three day weekend, so I'm out of school tomorrow. I hope to get a little bit of cleaning done. We'll see how my legs, ankles and feet hold up!

Please keep my sister-in-law Megan in your prayers. Her Grandpa JR was put in the hospital. He is in heart failure. Yesterday they only gave him 24-48 hours to live.

lj

1st Baby Shower & Update on House Reorganization

On March 25, my 1st grade friends at HES threw Christin Brown and I our first baby showers. There are so many pregnant people at school, we all thought it would be easier to have a joint shower. I liked it because I knew the spotlight wouldn't be completely on me! I hate when I am the center of attention! Christin is having a baby boy and she's not due until August 1, but we are close enough! :) Of course, she does not look pregnant at all. I look like a cow... oh well.

Here are our cakes...mine is pink, green & yellow and Christin's is blue, green & yellow.





I got a lot of great stuff! Thanks to Julie for taking pictures for me... even though I am huuuuuuuuge!!

Kerrigan will surely be stylin’!


Gift cards!


About to open a picture frame from Phyllis & Cheryl... can’t wait to put a picture of Kerrigan inside!


Christin & I before we started to open gifts



Mom & I... had to have a cupcake even though I should watch my sweets due to gestational diabetes. I got one with not much icing, so I tried.


Christin & I after the shower was over


The top of the cupcakes by the umbrella



Mom & Libby (one of my friend Jenni’s twin girls)... guess she’s getting her practice in since the boys are now 3!


A boppy, bib, bear lovey, & socks



Polka dot bib & burp pad... looks similar to Kerrigan’s bedding


We have two more showers coming up in the next few weeks. I am really excited to get more stuff for my sweet girl!

Aaron & I worked more in the house this weekend. On Thursday night, his friend Matt came over to help move a love seat out of the previously-called "Trophy Room", now "New guest bedroom" into the garage in order to make room for the bed from the other spare bedroom. Thanks Matt for helping! Aaron put up some more shelves in the closet of the new guest bedroom so we could better organize all the stuff I had left out on the floor when I cleaned it out last weekend. The picture doesn't really show it justice. I really should have done before and after shots... oh well. We have a lot of stuff so the extra shelves really helped.

Don't mind the stuff that just looks flung in there... we have a pile of things to get framed at the bottom of the closet.


After getting everything stored nicely in the new guest bedroom, we (well Aaron really... I just helped guide the box spring in) moved the bed from the previous guest bedroom/now Kerrigan's room into the new guest bedroom. We also moved some things around in the new guest bedroom and put some stuff that would no longer fit into the attic. Aaron, who works in college athletics & is a HUGE sports fan in general, has accumulated so much sports memorabilia, that we went ahead and kept the sports theme going in the new spare bedroom since it could no longer be the "Trophy Room." Below are some pictures of the room now. Again, I wish I would have done before and after photos.







After the bed was removed from Kerrigan's room, we still had a bookshelf and two end tables in there. So those things got moved out into the garage. Now, Kerrigan's room is completely empty with the exception of a TV and an iPod player. It's ready to be painted and turned into a nursery... this is getting more and more real everyday! We bought some paint today at Home Depot... so I plan to get that project started up next weekend since I have a 3-day weekend. Plus, I would like to get the room painted before we get furniture just because it will be so much easier to maneuver.

Here are some pictures of the empty bedroom. Pretty soon it will be filled with baby furniture!









Here is a picture of the shelving system Aaron put up in her closet last weekend. Trust me, it will be much better organized once we get her furniture. Her car seat is shoved in there, along with her bedding. Trying not to get it too, too wrinkled!


But, as you can probably see, we are already beginning to stock up on diapers & wipes... and she's already got a little wardrobe going! There are some new things that have not been hung up yet; I'm waiting to wash it. Hopefully furniture will be ordered and set up soon. As soon as that gets done, I'll post photos!

I hope everyone has had a good weekend & a Happy Easter!

lj