Sanity and Smiles: May Recap

So this crazy month started out with no power... We've been trying to remember to be THANKFUL for electricity and hot water - we totally take it for granted! Anyway, this month turned out to be pretty successful! :)

Things That Make Me Sane:
*clean clean clean!! - I feel like I've been cleaning non-stop, but you can't tell from the state of our house... semi-FAIL...
*learn as much as possible from Childbirth Classes - COMPLETE! It was awesome - I totally recommend doing this!!!
*finish the nursery (buy bookshelf, pick up glider, make "curtain project", accessorize!) - COMPLETE! The only thing I have to do is hang the quilt on the wall and then it's DONE! (and therefore can be "revealed')

Things That Make Me Smile:
*enjoy THREE baby showers this month! - COMPLETE! WHOO HOO!! So so fun! We got spoiled! Friends Shower, Work Shower, Signal Crest Shower
(*write thank yous for THREE baby showers this month!) - COMPLETE! I have to buy more stamps, but they are going in the mail tomorrow!
*read 3 books - COMPLETE! I'm still on a Karen Kingsbury kick - Fame, Forgiven, Found, and then I just (started &) finished the newest Denise Hunter book, A Cowboy's Touch, that I WON because I'm a fan of hers on facebook - how cool is that?!?

Baby Lawhorn {Week 35}

Want to know more about Baby Lawhorn?

Check out the Our Baby page!

How far along?: 35w2d - only 5 weeks (or LESS) to go!

How big is baby?: the size of a honeydew, around 19-20in and ~5 lbs.

Weight gain/loss?: +21-22 lbs

Stretch marks?: Not that I've noticed.

Maternity clothes?: Every day, all the time, awww yeah.

Sleep?: Worse and worse... I'm either uncomfortable or I have to pee. Or both.

Food cravings?: Marshmallows and Hershey bars... but not really smores.  

Gender?: Sweet baby BOY!

Movement?: I was kind of under the impression that the movement would "slow down" a little as we near the end of the pregnancy, but alas, my squirmy worm still squirms!! :)

Belly button?: Pretty "out there" but I suppose it could be worse.

What do you miss?: There is NOTHING that I miss that could possibly compare to the excitement of having our little guy.

What are you looking forward to this week?: Well, next Tuesday we have our 36wk ultrasound!! So we get to see our little guy again for the first time since we found out he's a boy! (Here's hoping he's still a boy!)

Diaper Decision

With our little dude expected to make his appearance into the world in the next 6 weeks or so, we thought we would go ahead and start our stash of cloth diapers. Wait - I haven't told you that we're going to try cloth diapering?? :) Probably because I've been a little nervous about it... but we're gonna try it and I will let you know first hand how it works or doesn't work for our family.

Now, a LOT has changed with cloth in the last 10 years or so! It's not your grandma's cloth diapering with pins and plastic pants, and (at least for us) it doesn't look like this:

source

Modern cloth diapering looks very similar to disposables, but WAY cuter! I've done tons of research and we've decided that it will be a great way for our family to save money and reduce the amount of garbage we put on the curb each week... My friend Jananna does a better job of explaining it all. 

We're planning to use disposables at first because the cloth ones may be a little too big in the beginning, and we will have disposables on hand for grandmas' houses and church, etc. (so please don't freak out, grandmas!).

There was a buy 5 get 1 free deal at Kelly's Closet, so I decided to go ahead and make my first purchase. We got 6 of the BumGenius 4.0 all in one diapers; 4 are the snaps kind and 2 are the velcro kind (supposedly preferred by dads). And they come is these super cute colors: Twilight (light blue), Moonbeam (dark blue), Grasshopper (light green), Ribbit (dark green), Clementine (orange), & Butternut (yellow).

aren't they so cute?!

So, do you think I'm crazy? I probably am, but after the initial investment in cloth, we should break even (with what we would be spending on disposables) after 4 months, saving around $70 or so each month after that until baby boy is potty trained!

And who likes saving money? This girl.

The House of My Brother - Kitchen

(I hate to admit that the last SIX posts begin with "Baby"...

sorry guys, baby has been on the brain - now on to some other news!)

I have talked about my brother's house several times before:

Part 1 - Living Room

Part 2 - Bathrooms

Part 3 - Office

Part 4 - Outside Paint

Well, now it's time for the BIGGEST transformation of all - the Kitchen!!!

Sam did most of the work himself (as in, didn't hire someone else to do all of it), but he didn't do it BY himself. He wants to send big THANK YOUs to Mom for painting, Dad for helping install the cabinets, and Vanessa for demo help and flooring (even though she sustained an injury!). Now on to the befores and afters!

Here is the sink area before...

...and after!!

Where the wall to the dining room was before...

...and POOF - now it's gone! Making the right side wall usuable now!

Fridge area before...

...and AFTER! Beautiful fridge, I covet you. You and your beautiful wood pantry next to you.

Another shot of the new wall of cabinets.

And one showing how the space opens up to the dining room now.

Brother - you seriously did a fantastic job with this!! I can't believe how updated and fresh your whole house is after just ONE YEAR of living there. You rock, my friend.

Now come do my house.

Baby Lawhorn {Week 34}

Want to know more about Baby Lawhorn?

Check out the Our Baby page!

How far along?: 34w1d - only 6 weeks (or LESS) to go!
How big is baby?: the size of a honeydew, around 19-20in and ~5 lbs.
Weight gain/loss?: +21 lbs
Stretch marks?: Not that I've noticed.
Maternity clothes?: Every day, baby. 
Sleep?: I wake up at 12am, 3am, and 6am... will this be baby's typical nursing hours? Hmmm...
Food cravings?: Pineapple Surf smoothies, fruit punch gatorade, and Moose Tracks ice cream.  
Gender?: Sweet baby BOY!
Movement?: He's still moving a good bit, and is STILL head down!! The doctor said she saw his entire arm sweep across my belly today at my appointment!
Belly button?: Sticking out, but I'm sure it still has "room to grow."
What do you miss?: There is NOTHING that I miss that could possibly compare to the excitement of having our little guy.
What are you looking forward to this week?: Finishing up the final touches in the nursery so I can post pictures next week!!

Ahhhh belly!!!

Baby Shower - Signal Crest

Last Saturday, Martha Nagle and Kim Opatich hosted a shower in honor of Baby Lawhorn at Signal Crest! So many friends came!

The food was so yummy (and Mallary made the cute banner that says "Baby Boy")!

How many times am I going to say that Baby Lawhorn is spoiled? At least once more, and here's the proof!

Adorable firefighter booties from Mary Kate! (as a tribute to "Uncle Sam")

Beautiful train outfit from Grandmother Cox! I don't have to tell you that he will have thousands of pictures made in this outfit...

Anna, my beautiful flower girl, was my helper!

"Good looks run in the family" outfit from Patricia - so cute!

Little glowing seahorse that makes sweet sounds from my mom!

We got so many fabulous things - his room is OVERFLOWING with toys, clothes, and accessories. Thank you so much to my Signal Crest family for all the wonderful gifts!

Baby Shower - Work

Last Thursday my WONDERFUL coworkers threw us a baby shower!

Look at the adorable diaper cake!!

And all the yummy food... mmmmm...

Adorable onesie from Krystal!

Tiny baby jeans from Lois! (They are super soft and so stinkin' cute!)

Barb, Rachel, Heidi, Krystal, and Linda passing around the gifts.

My aunt Holly works at Chattem as well, and so her and my Uncle Steve came to the shower. They gave us this adorable diaper bag and Holly made the most BEAUTIFUL blanket for Baby Boy!!! I can't wait to cuddle him up in it. :)

Car mirror from Vel - this thing is super high tech! It even comes with its own remote!

A bunch of people from the Sales Department (the dept. I work in) got together and got us our carseat /stroller /travel system!!!! AHHH!!!

Yet again, we got completely spoiled! Thank you so much to my fabulous work family for showering us with gifts for our little one!

Baby Lawhorn {Week 33}

Want to know more about Baby Lawhorn?

Check out the Our Baby page!

How far along?: 33w1d - only 7 weeks to go!
How big is baby?: the size of a honeydew, around 17-18in and 4-5 lbs.
Weight gain/loss?: +19 lbs
Stretch marks?: Nope.
Maternity clothes?: Every day, baby.
Sleep?: I'm still having a hard time getting comfortable and falling asleep, and now I'm waking up several times a night. A glimpse of what's to come, I've heard. :)
Food cravings?: Waffles... and cupcakes.
Gender?: Sweet baby BOY!
Movement?: Always moving! My doctor said that two weeks ago his head was up below my left side ribcage and his little bootie was down, but as of last FRIDAY, his head is down!! CRAZY!! (And what's even crazier, is that I think he moved that way on Thursday night before my appointment - I couldn't sleep a wink!
Belly button?: Sticking out, but what's funny now is that the rest of my belly is getting bigger and I'm starting to have an "innie" again.
What do you miss?: There is NOTHING that I miss that could possibly compare to the excitement of having our little guy.
What are you looking forward to this week?: We are hoping that our glider comes in this week, which could mean that we could be done with the nursery in the next week or so!! Updates to follow!

Baby Shower - Friends

Last Saturday we had our very first baby shower with friends from high school, college, and CVP!! We had a GREAT turnout!

All the yummy food...

The awesome car cake that Cara made that matches the nursery bedding (and invitations)!!

A fun "Memory" game hosted by Emily and Becca; if you got a match you got a yummy "matching" candy prize!

And OH MY at all the amazing gifts!

Adorable onesie and burp cloth from Bailey!

I am OFFICIALLY obsessed with this giraffe.. thank you Samantha!

Tiny tiny shoes from Becca!

(picture stolen from Kristin's blog)

The CUTEST tie onesie from Emily Geyer!! I NEED to know how to do this so I can have one for every day of the week! :) SO CUTE!!

Everyone got to decorate a onesie for Baby Boy - there were some sweet ones and some HILARIOUS ones!

All hung up on a line!

Me with beautiful Alex...

...who is going to have a little girl in September!! Yay for bellies!!

My SILs Elizabeth and Jessica and my MIL Patricia!

(picture stolen from Emily's blog)

Me with Cara, my maid of honor and honorary Aunt of Baby Lawhorn. :)

She's ready for the baby to come too!

Thank you to everyone who was able to be at the shower this weekend. And thank you so much to the hosts (Cara, Emily G., and Emily T.) for putting together such a fun and beautiful party!

Baby Lawhorn is so blessed!