Audra's Nursery

It feels funny for me to call Audra's room a "nursery" now that she's over a year old.  But I guess technically, it's a space for a "baby" and has all the things a nursery usually has.  My goal here is to show you what it looks like (b/c a lot of you relatives reading haven't seen it & may like to) but also, to explain why some things are the way they are so any of you reading mommies-to-be can get ideas for your future nurseries.  :)  You should know that we live in military housing, and won't be here for very long.  We technically are allowed to paint the walls, but we'd have to repaint them white before we leave.  Not really wanting to go through all of that, I had a tough job of bringing color into her room without paint.  While I still think that paint would have added a LOT, I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out.  So here it is! :)

THE CRIB:
The fleece around the rails is so that she won't chew on the wood.  I made these in an afternoon quite easily.  And I'm not even that crafty!  (I read this tutorial, but actually ended up not following the directions as I made it since it was so easy to figure out on the fly.)

The crib skirt is made up of 3 separate panels (two for the sides, one for the front).  Each panel has ribbon at the top that ties onto the bed.  I can tie it in different places depending on how high or low I have her mattress.  This way we can use it whether her bed is on the highest or lowest setting.

Besides adding a splash of brightness, the yellow blanket (in the picture below) serves a purpose:  it prevents her from feeling the coolness of the sheet when I lay her in bed after rocking her.  It took a while for me to figure out this little tip, but it really works.  However, I feel like it makes her really warm when she sleeps (she would wake up drenched in sweat), so every now and then I start thinking we don't need it anymore and I take it off.  We go weeks of doing fine without it, then at some point I feel like I need to put it back on again.  It's just one of those back and forth things.

Audra tends to sleep near the "head" of her crib and rarely gets close to the foot.  We found this a perfect place to stash a toy or two for her to play with when she wakes up.  It started with just a book or two, then we started adding other toys that she loves.  Right now you see:  1) a book her Lolli & Pop recorded for her, 2) a Buckley Boo monkey [she LOVES trying to do the buckles!], 3) a puppy (she is majorly obsessed with puppies these days), 4) a doll that was my mom's & then mine 5) another teeny little puppy (it's a finger puppet), and 6) in front of the book, a mini Taggie bear blanket.  These things have kept her busy for over an hour on multiple occasions.  And over an hour more of sleep in the mornings = happy mama! :D  She will wake up, fuss for just over a minute, then spot her toys and get to playing. 

Another thing that keeps her busy, that we actually didn't even anticipate: the light switch.

After arranging & re-arranging her room, this was really the only way that fit everything and felt right.  Her crib happens to be right under the light switch.  She likes to flip it on and off.  Which I usually don't mind... unless it's in the middle of the night and I'm trying to get her to stay laying down and go to sleep.  For the most part, though, it's fun for her to play with.

THE CORNER:

• We used to have her swing in this corner, but we no longer use it.  
• That little bouncy chair is part of her swing, and we left it out because she likes to crawl in it & do the buckles.  
• The little piano is part of her tummy time mat.  This will be going out in the living room again before too long for baby brother!  
• We use the lamp a lot at night.  She's only tried to pull it down a few times, but the piano and the crib have both stopped it.  I have plans to attach some fishing line toward the top & anchor it to the wall somehow, but it hasn't happened yet.

THE BOOKSHELF:

• I originally arranged the solid fabric cubes 1 in each corner, with the heart one in the middle.  Then I realized I didn't want her pulling down some of the non-board books, so I put those up higher.  That strategy worked for quite a while.  She's bigger now & can reach all the books, but she's not quite as destructive as she could be.   
• The iPod up top is just an iPod touch, an older one we had laying around.  It has all of her music and also her white noise that we play during naps and at night.  We love the iPod setup; we just put it on continual repeat and the white noise plays all night. 
• The trash can used to live on the floor, until she started playing in it.  Now it lives next to the iPod.  I don't believe getting a taller trash can would help any since she tries to play in her diaper pail that lives downstairs.  I have one of those Febreeze stick and refresh pods in the lid.  The Febreeze scent actually ran out & I stuck one of the Bath & Body scent pods in there.  I love this combo!

 THE ROCKING CHAIR:
I recently read an article that said a rocking chair was one of the least-used items that parents think they need before a baby arrives.  I couldn't DISAGREE more!  This is BY FAR the most used seat in our house.  We use it at night, before naps, to read books, to cuddle, and when I nursed I used it then as well.  We were lucky enough to have parents to buy us a nice, big, comfy chair and if you get that chance I say go for it!  Ours is big enough for me to curl my legs up and still sit comfortably.  (Well, before being pregnant I was comfortable, these days... not so much.)

And of course, these essentials live next to the chair:  a Boppy (not used much anymore) and slippers (for those nights when you rock so long your feet get cold).

THE DRESSER:
This dresser was mine from middle school (yes, you read that right), so it's definitely seen better days.  Honestly, though, when we were trying to decide on what to buy Audra, it just made sense to give her my old dresser and get ourselves something new.  After all, we knew she would give this dresser a run for its money and we would be taking care of our new one.  But it works.  It has just enough room for her changing pad, a basket of changing necessities and also some little containers for her headbands.  

And above the dresser:

The back wall has her closet, which (obviously) houses her clothing, shoes, laundry & some bigger stuffed animals.  The clock is the same one I used in my classroom when I taught.

Here's a pano view of the whole thing:

 And a few more of my cuties:

This is what this area most often looks like:

Just to keep you up to date, we actually moved the crib into baby boy's room and set up a toddler bed for Audra.  I did a lot of research and found one that had both front rails included.  We didn't actually need her to move to a toddler bed, since she was doing just great in her crib.  But we wanted her to get used to her new bed well before baby boy arrived so it wouldn't be so much "new" at one time.  We really like that it feels pretty much the same as her crib to her.  We used her same mattress, her bumper still fit in, and she still has rails all the way around (which are necessary because she likes to sleep with her body right against the edge).  I was really happy to still be able to make her crib skirt work, too!  We really love the way it turned out!  Here's the link, if you're interested in getting something similar.  :)

We started really getting down to business in baby boy's room today, and I can't WAIT to show you how it turns out.  It's going to be perfectly, boyishly colorful.  :D  As always, if you have any questions/comments/concerns, feel free to comment or email or message me.  Hope you all are well! 

Amazed.

Audra has been 100% amazing me lately.  Seriously.  I've just been in awe of the things she does and puts together.  She's so verbal for a baby her age (just shy of 15 months and speaking 22 words & signing 6 words) and is getting better and better about putting 1 word with the next to form a thought.  (Example:  more please [she signs while saying both of those] or signs eat then points to high chair.)  I love that she is starting to communicate with us.  It's making life so much easier! 

I am in constant awe of this personality I'm seeing develop before my very eyes.  She is quite seriously one of the bravest, toughest and most adventurous babies I've met.  Our neighborhood park has a slide that's about 5 1/2 ft high.  It has pretty wide steps that she's able to climb up on her own.  This week, she got brave enough to go down it by herself. Usually Nic would go with her, but this particular time it was just her and me at the park & I wasn't going to attempt it with this big belly.  I held her hands once she got to the top the first few times, then I backed further & further away & she just pushed off like it wasn't an issue!  I caught her at the bottom of course.  She always wants to climb, play, and explore.  And in doing so, she often falls down and gets roughed up (it's what babies do).  But she rarely ever cries!  Even if she gets a scape, even if it BLEEDS, she usually never even makes a peep.  Nic and I usually discover these things when changing her or holding her a bit later, and then feel bad that we aren't exactly sure when the injury happened.  She's much more likely to cry because she's startled by something (like a hard fall on the kitchen floor) but she's over it within a minute.  Amazing.  I know some adults who aren't even this tough.

To contrast that tough, brave, adventurous spirit, she is also the most kind, loving, sweet & cuddly girl you could imagine.  She truly loves to share and spend time with people.  She will often get a book and then hand it to one of us and climb into our lap.  She is known to give many spontaneous [STRONG!] hugs and kisses and to sign more and then point to one of us (as in "more mama" or "more dada"...isn't that the cutest thing ever??).

Earlier today, she woke up from her nap and was still chillin' in her crib, so Nic and I decided to go up and spy on her.  We peeked through her open doorway and just laughed at what we saw.  She was playing at first, then literally laid down and attempted to hug all of her toys that were in her crib at once!  (She has 3 books, a doll (that used to be my mom's then mine), a monkey Buckly Boo and a puppy all that stay at the foot of her bed until she wakes up & plays with them.)  Then she looked at one of the books (a Bedtime Prayers and Promises book that Nic's parents recorded for her) then after doing that for a minute, she stood up, held onto the crib rail and started dancing!  Heehee!  For like 10 seconds, she had a dance party (who needs music anyway?!), then she sat and looked at the book some more.  This is our girl.  Loving, inquisitive, FUN. 

What did we do to deserve to be blessed with a daughter so amazing?

 She got in this cart all on her own... seriously, nobody helped her one single bit. 

Hugs for dad at bedtime.

Bedtime stories.

 

More about the vacation in a bit!  ...and also Audra's room... So many things I want to write about! :D

Baby- Round 2

I've always heard that a woman's pregnancy can be very different from one to the next.  I have friends who have had drastically different pregnancies-- I mean, the first being easy breezy, and the second they're tossing their cookies multiple times a day and are flat out miserable.  I was afraid of that happening to me with #2 since Audra was such a piece of cake.  I never got sick with her (though there were days of feeling very nauseous), I wasn't even all *too* uncomfortable, even in the end.  It probably had something to do with the fact that she was born under 7 lbs, but still, I wasn't aching with misery by any means. 

With #2, it's true that some things have been different.  For starters, I had food aversions instead of cravings.  With Audra, I craved pineapple and tater tots (not at the same time).  With this one, the thought of meat and also the smell of the greek yogurt we feed Audra both made me sick to my stomach.  Luckily, those went away in the 2nd trimester.  The other major thing that's been different this time has been how quickly my belly popped out.  Literally, as soon as I found out I was pregnant, it made sense as to why my clothes were fitting more snug despite CrossFit and *attempting* a healthy diet (we really need to get better at that).  By 3 months, I was showing like I did at 5 months with Audra.  Now I'm almost to my 7th month and I'm showing like I did at 8.5/9 mos before.  It seems like everything is about a month/month and a half ahead of where it was before... both in my belly size, and also fetal movement.  I felt baby boy move about a month and a half earlier than I felt Audra move.  Not sure if it's because I'd felt it before with Audra & therefore knew what I was looking for, or if it really did just happen sooner.  Nic felt him move in my belly about a month earlier than before as well, and likewise with visibly seeing my stomach move when he moves.  His movements feel a lot more powerful at this stage in the game than Audra's did.  I'm not sure if that means he's just a bigger baby, or just stronger.  Maybe both?  People tell me boys are supposedly bigger (in general) than girls.  Audra was even on the small side, despite being born 6 days past due.  We'll just have to wait and see how little man stacks up when it comes to size.

This time around has been more difficult, as far as energy and motivation go.  I said above that my belly is already quite large, and I feel like I feelt at 8.5/9 months before.  It's hard to walk great distances unless I go really slow, bending over is quite difficult, and staying on my feet to chase Audra around and do housework gets exhausting really quickly.  Sleep is poor, despite our TempurPedic (that I LOVE!).  I had almost forgotten until it happened again, that my hips tend to fall asleep when I'm in bed.  Whichever hip is down will fall asleep, then I'll roll to the other side only for the next hip to fall asleep too.  Then I'll roll back over to the 1st side, but sometimes that 1st hip is still asleep & numb despite me being off of it for a while.  ...sigh...  I pretty much toss & turn all night long.  :-( 

But you know, I've got to count my blessings.  I haven't gotten sick.  I've got a healthy baby in there.  And I've got an uber-supportive husband who is great about letting me get off my feet and helping around the house when he's able.

I've been keeping busy getting things ready for this little guy's arrival.  It's been interesting to see how much of getting things ready for him has meant changing things for Audra.  For example, we'll be transitioning her into a toddler bed any day now, to move the crib into his room.  We'll also be getting her in a convertible car seat (this has been a long time coming, we just haven't gotten around to it), so he can use the infant seat.  You'd think that because we already have one baby, we'd have pretty much all that we need for #2, but that really hasn't been the case.  Well, I suppose technically we could re-use a lot of the stuff-- but a lot of it is all GIRL!  So we're replacing many (not all) of those things.  And I also just want him to have his own cute little room; a BOY room with his own things in it.  I'll post pictures when I get the nursery done.  I've got a lot of the things bought, just not in their right places quite yet.  Before I post pictures of his room, I'll have to post pictures of Audra's room before it changes since I don't think I ever did that.  So ya, another blessing this time is that WE'RE STAYING IN ONE PLACE!  With Audra, I delivered her in San Antonio, came home to Lubbock about a week later, and then about a week and a half after that, moved to Virginia.  There was no nursery prep, and that made me really sad at the time.  So this time, we're not going anywhere and things can get decently ready.  :)

Since we're so new to the area, it's been hard to find an OB that I trust and who has the same visions as I do for this birth.  I have a few friends who have given birth since I've been here, but they both had home births... which I'm completely supportive of, but willing to do myself.  I DO, however, want as close to a home birth as I can get while still in the hospital.  There's a great birthing center in Norfolk, but it's across the water, which means having to cross the bridge tunnel.  And God forbid I would go into labor during rush hour and have to sit in that traffic for an hour... no thanks.  So I did some research online and found one doctor who had really great reviews.  I began to see him, only to discover from one of my L&D nurse friends who's seen this OB in action, that he really isn't what I'm looking for.  (He turned out to be one of those who delivers on his timeline instead of the mom/baby's.  Plus I never quite felt at ease with him, anyway.)  My L&D friend (who's new to the area too) was super helpful in talking with her coworkers and figuring out what practice would be a good fit for me.  I took her recommendation and switched at around 20 weeks to the practice I'm currently using.  They have a completely different feel from the first.  There's a midwife and two OB's, all who deliver with the same philosophies.  They've assured me that they will try their hardest for me to have a completely different birth than the one I had with Audra.  (Hers was pretty stressful, as I chronicled here.)  They all seemed rather appalled when I told them Audra's birth story.  It didn't seem that bad to me, at the time, but now thinking about how much smoother it could (and SHOULD!) have gone, I guess it's right for them to think that.  Hopefully this guy's birth can be the peaceful, calm, medication-free birth I so longed for the first time... I know the dr's will help me get there, so a lot of it will be up to me to just remember what I've learned.

I've been constantly amazed at how much a woman's body can change, all as a result of pregnancy.  Last time around, I really didn't notice many changes, except near the end I started to get some chloasma dark patches on my cheek bones.  They were never really enough for anyone to notice, and were easily covered up by makeup, but I could see them and knew they weren't normally there.  Those spots and then the stretch marks, which I didn't get until about 9.5 months (BOOOO!) were really the only ways my body changed.  This time, I've gotten the chloasma spots again (I noticed them right away), I've gotten a lot of little skin tags, and my vision has changed.  A lot of people don't realize that your vision can change during pregnancy, but it's true!  I had to increase the font on my phone and I notice myself holding other reading material insanely close to my face.  Hopefully it'll change back, so I'm not going to see the optometrist quite yet.  So it's been pretty interesting, all these new little things that have come about as a result of our little man. 

It's just been so fun to think about him and wonder what he'll be like.  Will he have blue eyes too?  Or will he get my green?  Will have have curly hair or straight hair?  Will he get the tall gene from Pop?  Will he be outgoing, adventurous and tough, like Audra, or will he be more calm, cautious, and take things in to himself?  So many questions, all to be answered in due time.  I just can't wait to meet this little guy! 

Hopefully next post I can put up some pictures of Audra's cute little room.  Sorry these have been so few and far between... I know that a lot of you family members who are far away enjoy reading these updates, so I'm sorry it takes so long!  We've been pretty busy over here! 

Love you all, hope you've had a great summer!  :)