Fun With My Belly

I suppose the bigger my belly gets, the fun it is to stick things to it.

Here I was at Today's Christian Girl when Amanda thought this sticker was appropriate:

And then at Sunday School Amanda thought he needed a nametag too!

Letter To My Little Bun

Dear Baby Cohen,

Hey little Mister!!

Well, haven’t you been all squirmy and active this week? I love it!!

According to my phone app you are 10.5 inches and 12.7 oz, the size of a banana!! It’s crazy that you are that long already! No wonder I feel you all of the time. You’re always running into my and it feels like little thuds. It’s also funny because I was sitting on the ground trying to wrap presents last night, but whenever I leaned over too far you’d kick. So wrapping presents was a little weird and I’ve decided I’ll wrap the rest on the table.

You’re definitely silly already, that’s for sure. You were playing tag with Nana the other day. You’d kick over and over and then she’d come over to feel and you’d immediately stop! Finally, you gave a little thud for her but nothing like you’ve been doing. Silly boy. You have to kick for everyone. They like it!

My phone app says you practice swallowing and digesting everyday and your little taste buds work! Too cute.

Old Navy and Gap were having phenomenal sales this week so we bought you a few more clothes. I cannot wait to put you in them and hold you! You’ll be a one good looking dressed boy that’s for sure.

While we’re on that subject, can you be sure that you stay a boy? Haha, sounds funny, but I’ve heard of TWO people this week who were told they were having boys and found out they were having girls. See, I really, really, really want you to be a little boy. I call you by name every time I talk about you and started clothes shopping (of course I’ve kept the tags on everything). So yeah, make sure if they check again you’re still a boy.

You’ve already received two Christmas presents from your Auntie Rachel and Uncle Kyle! We can’t open them yet, but it’s very exciting!

Also, Nana found you the cutest antique wooden blocks that spell out your name. Of course, you can’t play with them because we don’t know what they were painted with. But they’ll sit on your shelf and look very cute!

We’re taking a trip to your Papa and Gigi’s this week for Thanksgiving! It’ll be a fun trip because I can feel you squirming and moving now. Next year you’ll be able to celebrate these holidays with us. But for now, you get to travel in my belly and feel me eat wayyyy too much over the next couple of months.

Alright, you’re thumping near my bladder and I have to go. I love you little one!

I love you My Little Banana Bun.

Love,
Mommy

Week 21 Updates

This is not a maternity dress but thought I could at least one more wear out of it before it starts looking too awkward. The bump is definitely there but in this dress, without my hand there the bump looked really small. Still got lots of comments on Sunday about starting to show more!

Weekly Questions

How far along? 21 weeks!

How Big Is The Baby? The baby is 10.5 inches. The size of a banana!!

Total weight gain: Today I’m at 141.4. I’ve finally past my pre-pregnancy weight (starting weight 141.0). That’s okay. I’m not flipping out. I made it halfway through and knew it had to happen eventually. So I’m now .4 lb past my pre-pregnancy weight with an overall weight gain of 8.4 lbs. I write it like this because it encourages me haha.

Maternity Clothes: I’m embracing them beautifully. I did wear a non maternity sweater to church Sunday morning and I looked like I was stuffed into it. Seriously, it was bad. So I’m no longer wearing that. I did wear a non-maternity dress Sunday night that totally worked so I am still able to wear some non-maternity, I just have to be careful when choosing what will actually fit.

Sleep: Okay. This week I’ve slept through the night, I just still get that tailbone pain.

Food cravings: Again, no real food cravings. Just drinking lots of apple juice and actually eating real food again. I ate chicken twice this week!! Huge accomplishment considering how repulsed I was by it.

What I miss: Just the not having back pain. But everything else is so much fun.

What I am looking forward to: It’s Thanksgiving this week and we’re going to see Tyler’s family! I get to wear an elastic panel skirt so I should be the most comfortable person there after eating so much that I can’t stand it! No unzipping/unbuttoning for me, these skirts were made for big bellies.

Milestones: Amanda and my mom felt him move! He doesn’t kick as much as he thumps. It feels like he’s running into things. His movement has really increased and I feel him a lot more than I used to.

Week 20 Updates

My bump size hasn't changed much since last week, but it's shape is looking more and more like a pregnant belly.

Weekly Questions

How far along? Am I seriously already at 20 weeks? Unbelievable….halfway done!

How Big Is The Baby? The baby is 6.5 inches. According to my phone app, the baby is supposed to be 10.6 oz. The size of a canteloupe!!

Total weight gain: Today I’m at 140.2. So my overall weight loss is now .8 lbs (starting weight 141.0). I’m almost back to my pre-pregnancy weight and I’m not going to lie…the numbers after that scare me a little bit. I’m just not great at the accepting the weight gain even though I know it’s because I’m pregnant. I’m definitely only going to weigh myself once a week to avoid the scale some.

Maternity Clothes: I just found out Sunday that apparently, my maternity skirts are a good idea to wear and control top pantyhose are something I should avoid. I thought I’d be fine, but sitting was next to impossible and I was probably crushing Cohen most of the service. The skirt and pantyhose dug into my stomach the entire time. I either need to wear non-control top or go invest in a pair of maternity pantyhose. And right now I’m in a nice elastic paneled skirt and I couldn’t be happier.

Sleep: Eh. Not great. But that’s only somewhat baby related. I really, really, really need to use my body pillow every night or else my back and neck kill me the next day and I really, really, really need my neighbors to move. They are so noisy and are making me feel like an old crank. I want to wobble out there and shake a cane at them for their loud teenager music.

Food cravings: No real cravings this week. Just loving food again so that’s nice.

What I miss: The no back pain thing. Not going to lie, it hurts.

What I am looking forward to: I made it to halfway point and my next appointment isn’t until December 2nd so the next big thing is Thanksgiving!! Going to Odessa and going to eat. Maternity panels are very helpful during the holiday season. Not going to have to worry about buttons or zippers digging in.

Milestones: This week our glider came in the mail! Now his room is looking more and more like a room. Feeling Cohen ball up under my skin. It was also very, very weird.

Letter To My Little Bun

Dear Baby Cohen-

How are you my sweet, sweet little boy?

We’re halfway done with this whole thing kid. Can you believe that? It’s going to go so fast for the rest of the time and then before we know it, you’ll be here!

Supposedly, you’re the size of a cantaloupe now. I know it’s either the length or the weight, but either way, I can’t get this round melon picture out of my head. You’re mom is weird, just get ready little mister.

My goodness, you have been crazy hyper the past couple of days. You move around so much now! Last night you kicked Daddy three times. Then you kicked Mommy!! It was fun to feel you squirming around in there. Even Daddy got to feel you ball up. Now I know you’ve heard me say that I don’t like that feeling, but I need to explain. I don’t mind feeling you inside, but it was weird the first time I actually felt you in a ball on the outside. I love that you’re moving around but seriously, feeling it was different, and I'm just not used to it yet. But I still love you and I don’t want you to think that your Mommy doesn’t like feeling you. Haha, you’re squirming so much as I just type this. You’re cute. Nana felt you kick this week too, but it was a very tiny kick right on the edge of her fingertip. Next time I’m there could you kick for her? Make it very hard so she can feel you just like we do!

I went with your Nana this week to the mall and we ended up in a kid’s store. I got you some very, very cute clothes! I got you some corduroy pants for next fall, some little loafer shoes, and the cutest little tiny necktie!! You’re going to be one stylish little boy.

Daddy and I need to get you some more books. A few nights ago we sat in your room, in the new glider and read all of your books to you! Even your sister Roxy laid on the floor and listened. We’re going to be a nice little family.

I can’t wait little boy.

Halfway there!

I love you my Little Canteloupe Bun.

Love, Mommy

Week 19 Updates

Weekly Questions

How far along? Nineteen Weeks!!

How Big Is The Baby? The baby is 6.0 inches. According to my phone app, the baby is supposed to be 8.5 oz, but since the baby was weighing 9 oz at his 18 week appointment, I’m going to assume he weighs a bit more. The size of a mango!!

Total weight gain: Today I’m at 139. So my overall weight loss is now 2 lbs (starting weight 141.0).

Maternity Clothes: My bump is really obvious now and looks cute in maternity clothes so I’m LOVING those.

Sleep: The past couple of nights have been a little rough. I feel Cohen moving WAY more now and at night time this little boy loves to dance around. It’s cute, but it keeps me awake or wakes me up!

Food cravings: Nothing this week. I like a lot of cold food still but nothing I have to have right away.

What I miss: Nothing major right now.

What I am looking forward to: There’s nothing super eventful happening this week. I’m almost to the 20 week mark so that’s pretty exciting.

Milestones: Finding out we’re having a BOY! Cleaning out Cohen’s room. Ordering the baby glider. And we're crazy first-time parents so we already started registries at Target and Babies R Us....haha.

Cohen's Nursery Plans--Part 2

Linens/Cloth/Bedding

I don't have pictures of these, but for sheets I plan on buying different colors (to match the room) with different patterns and prints. This way, as we need to change them, they will still match the room. I plan on getting striped, solid, and polka dotted sheets.

This is the curtain I really want for his room. I have to measure our window though to see if it'll fit. I don't want a full curtain for the window because the blinds are pretty good about keeping the room dark. If it doesn't fit, then I'm going to just get a solid valence that's long enough.

I found this crib ruffle at target and think it'll look perfect with his crib. I love that it's striped and not solid!

I found these custom teething bumpers on Etsy that will look great on the crib, add extra color, but also protect his crib from tons of bite marks when he starts teething. I posted the picture of what they look like an actual crib, but I'm also posting a picture of the different fabrics we can choose from. We're going to go with the green polka dot one since there are already plenty of reds and blues in the room and since his crib skirt is already striped.

We're also going to register for a white breathable bumper to go in the crib so it'll match whatever we put in there.

I found a blanket on Etsy that used fabric with Brown Bear, Brown Bear printed on it to hang over his crib, but it's currently sold out. I do plan on emailing her and asking if she can make another one.

Decorations/Misc

We are going to frame various art from Eric Carle to hang above the changing table. We aren't buying any frames until we know what size the art will be, but we know we want matted frames, most likely in dark brown or black. I plan on actually looking for Eric Carle prints instead of buying different books and destroying them for 4 prints.

I'm also going to buy medium sized wooden letters from Hobby Lobby and with Amanda's help, we're going to paint them (keeping it pretty simple) in red, blue, green, and yellow to hang his name over the bed.

I want to get this lamp from Walmart and then buy thick yellow squiggle ribbon to glue around the top and bottom of the shade. This will be the primary light in the room to keep the lighting soft and not harsh for little Cohen.

These are the books I want to order from Amazon.

So there's my running list of plans! We have a lot to do, so we're getting started now.

The only other little things we have to worry about are getting his Eric Carle book collection started (I'm going to be shopping at all the used book stores I can) and finding a plush Very Hungry Caterpillar. I've seen a lot of this on Ebay so I will start there in January if I haven't found what I'm looking for offline.

Cohen's Nursery Plans--Part 1

Well, I'm sure this will be a long post. But since we know we're having a boy, I've been VERY excited to start planning this little boy's nursery. Tyler and I have had many, many talks about how it was going to look, where everything will go, and what the primary theme will be. Super excited that we actually decided on a theme prior to finding out so we can get started early with all of the decorating!

This list really is for me to keep my thoughts straight. I'm a planner so this is really helpful to have so I don't lose my mind! And as crazy early as it is, we've also started a registry at Target and Babies R Us. They are nowhere near complete, but this way, as I hear about products I like, or see something I know we'll need I have a place to add it so I don't forget later. I know I'll have to watch it from time to time to make sure things are still in stock and to actually build on to it what we need.

Basically, the room is going to be red, blue, green, and yellow and we're going to frame Eric Carle art in the room for the extra pop. We aren't going to paint his room, so any color we can have will be really helpful. We're also hoping that by keeping it bright it will easily move into a toddler room and even a kid friendly room to save the cost of redecorating when we gets older.

Furniture/Shelving/Storage

We are using the Graco Lauren Collection from Target for our crib and changing table. They are both Espresso stained and will go great against the pale walls.

We have ordered our glider. It's a Ragazzi Pompei Premium Glider and Ottoman with Beige Cushions and Black Rubbed Wood. It was the closest color to match the crib and table. 

We also have this foyer table from World Market (ours has an Espresso finish) that we changed the drawer pull to a blue and white one. This will go in the corner of his room with a lamp and some pictures of him on it.

Since Cohen won't have a dresser in the room, I plan on buying a rubbermaid shelf to put in his closet that has a few drawers for some of his basics like sleepwear, plain onesies, etc. I also plan on getting some canvas bins to put on the shelves of the changing table (the ones pictured are from Target, but they are just for an idea, I need to see if they will fit). There we can keep his lotions, creams, wipes, diapers, blankets, etc. Finding where those things go will all be trial and error and we can figure out once we have the table and tupperware drawers.

The last two pieces of furniture/shelving I don't have pictures to show. One of them is a large wooden hanging shelf that Tyler's parents gave to us. We plan on painting the backing of the shelf blue and then the actual shelfs will be red, yellow, green. Since this hangs on the wall it will really brighten up the room. Each shelf is going to have either a little stuffed animal, small books, or small toys.

The other piece of furniture Tyler's grandfather built. It's an end table with magazine rack at the bottom. This will go near the glider. In the bottom we will put Cohen's books and on top we are going to put bookends with the Eric Carle books we plan on collecting.

Letter To My Little Bun

Dear Baby COHEN-

Oh my word sweet baby, my heart jumped a little writing that. What a HUGE milestone for us. After about 15 or so letters of just writing to my baby, I'm now writing to my son. Daddy and Mommy spent many hours talking about you being a boy or a girl and what we would do depending on your gender. Now that we know, our conversation is still going about you, but now instead we talk about our little boy. We've planned your nursery, we bought a few clothes, we dream about you little Cohen Paul. I can't wait to meet you!!

Well you really aren't doing anything too exciting this week (that's not from me, it's what my phone app says). But that's because you've done SO much in the past 19 weeks that you really deserve some rest! You are already in the 80th percentile in your weight category. You're going to be chubby, aren't you little boy? But that's okay, you'll be adorable!!

You're moving around A LOT. Last night was the first night you actually kept me awake! I would fall asleep you would start to squirm and nudge and I'd have to wake up to find a more comfortable position. Could you move like that when Daddy has his hand on my belly? I went him and everyone else to start feeling you move because it's just so cute!! **Edit: Baby, I wrote this a day early and just last night you did the tiniest little kick for your Daddy! It was very small but he felt you and he was smiling so big!! Thank you sweet baby!**

I already wrote about your big appointment, so I won't be repetitive here.

But I love you so much little boy!! I hope you know that!!

I love you my Little Boy Mango Bun!

Love,

Mommy

Hello Little Cohen Paul!

Yep, that's right little Mister...You're a BOY!!

You did so awesome at your ultrasound (so what if you wanted to be a little stubborn!!)

Here you are sleeping in a ball with your arms folded across your chest! You have such a cute little ear already:

And here's your gorgeous little foot:

And look...you're a boy!!

I love you little Mister!!

Week 18 Updates

Weekly Questions

How far along? EIGHTEEN Weeks!!

How Big Is The Baby? The baby is 5.6 inches and 6.7 oz. The size of an sweet potato!

Total weight gain: Today I’m at 138. So my overall weight loss is now 3 lbs (starting weight 141.0).

Maternity Clothes: Well I can still fit a lot of my non-maternity clothes. But my bump is super obvious now. I am still more comfortable in maternity skirts than my regular skirts.

Sleep: I’ve been sleeping great! I do wake up at least once a night, but that’s probably not baby related, that’s probably just me!

Food cravings: Nothing this week. I like a lot of cold food still but nothing I have to have right away.

What I miss: Nothing major right now.

What I am looking forward to: Our BIG ultrasound is TOMORROW. And we’re going to buy the crib with my parents tonight!! Big changes are happening this week.

Milestones: Feeling the baby doing more thumps rather than just flutters. Crib shopping! Other than that, making it to 18 weeks is huge to me!!

Letter To My Little Bun

Dear Little Bun-

Guess what? This is my last letter referring to you as “Little Bun”. Starting next week they’ll say Dear Little Cohen OR Dear Little Ava. Why is that you ask? Well, because tomorrow is our BIG appointment where I know you’ll cooperate, just like you’ve done at every other appointment. You kind of need to cooperate tomorrow so we can see if we’re going to have a little boy or a little girl joining our family. That’s very bizarre to me. Tomorrow I’ll know if I’ll be raising a son or a daughter.

Today, you’re the size of a sweet potato. That’s pretty big little one! You’re moving around a lot now, and my book says that you do a lot of yawning, hiccupping, rolling, twisting, kicking, punching, sucking, and swallowing! You sure do have busy days don’t you? You’re just so ridiculously cute right now that it’s insane.

I do feel you moving a lot more lately. I think you’re most active at night time when everything is settling down. I feel you occasionally thump in the morning, but man, at night, you are just thumping away in there. Last night at Ladies Bible Study, Mommy felt you thumping and moving around so much it made me get all teary-eyed. It’s unbelievable that I have a little baby in there who is happy and content. No one else can feel you just yet, but that’s just a matter of time. Whenever Roxy (your big sister) gets on my belly and purrs, you start to thump away (I’m not sure if it’s kicking or if you’re body slamming yourself against my belly). I think it’s because she’s heavy and bugging you, but maybe you really like purring! You’re growing so much and changing so much everyday that I’m in awe! Even though I can’t see you, I know you’re growing because of how much stronger your movements are getting.

Tonight Nana and Poppy are buying you a crib! Well I don’t think Poppy is actually going with us, but still, they’re technically buying it for you. Nana and I crib shopped a couple of nights ago and I found one that I love. I came home and showed Daddy and he loves it too! So tonight, Nana is picking us up, and we’re getting you your crib. It works out perfectly because there are some teething bumpers I want to order for you (from Etsy) and once I know if you’re a little boy or girl, I can order them! But I needed to know the crib measurements first.

Can you tell that this is a long letter? You know why? Because so much is about to change after tomorrow and I’m overwhelmed and cannot stop rambling. But I will stop now my little love.

 I love you my Sweet Potato Bun.

Love, Mommy