Pregnancy Update - 26 Weeks

Here's the next installment of pregnancy updates for those of you keeping up with this belly-growing journey...

How Far Along: I'm 26 weeks along (about 6 months)

Due Date: November 2nd, 2011

Size of Baby: Baby Kizziah is about the length of a Cucumber, or 14 inches. He weights about 1 3/4 pound now, and has fully developed ears. Supposedly he will recognize Adam and my voice when he is born. His boy parts are "developing too!"

Maternity Clothes: Definitely more comfortable in maternity clothes. Living in dresses and skirts these days. I am beginning to worry about the appropriateness of some of my wardrobe for work though :) It's all either too low on the growing chest, or too short due to the baby bump!!

 

Gender: It's a boy!!

Movement: He is kicking hard and seems to be totally spread out from right on top of my bladder to the very top of my rib cage. I actually saw my shirt move for the first time the other day. The "alien in my belly syndrome" has officially begun.

 

Sleep: Sleep is definitely a challenge when you have to use the restroom every 2 hours, on the dot! Still no major complaints, though I do wish he would get his kicks out during the daytime...doesn't he know mama needs her beauty rest?

 

What I miss: the use of ab muscles. Watching me get up from lying position is beyond hysterical. It's like they just disappeared all together.

 

Cravings: Nothing too much these days, just super thirsty. I still don't love eating dinner...sporadic nausea at night time.

 

Symptoms: Definitely feeling achy and moving slower. I am having pretty intense sciatic nerve pain in both hips which is quite debilitating at times. Also a little bit of ankle swelling after long days of standing. Bring on the cankles when I go back to work.

Best moment: Reaching the crucial "25 week mark" where Walters could technically be born at any moment and live!! Sounds crazy to think about, but very relieving at the same time.

Here's a growing belly shot for ya...

Down on the Farm...

 Recently Adam and I had the opportunity to make a 1st birthday cake for our adorable neighbor, Jacob. How can you resist this face...

I promise this is not some form of child abuse...he actually LOVES to get inside of Max's cage and play!!

Jacob's grandparents are potato and corn farmers, not to mention the fact that I have a John Deere-lovin husband, so naturally we decided on a farm theme cake. After a trip to Michael's, Winn-dixie, and an attic dive to find the perfect combine from the hub's tractor stash, here's what we ended up with...

We went with my famous chocolate cake cupcakes for kid-friendly grabbing, and I must confess we used store bought frosting to save some time. Each corn stalk was made from popsicle sticks that we painted green on a piece of Styrofoam. Then we Adam individually tied 2 pieces of green ribbon on each "stalk" and curled the edges to look like the corn leaves.

 Needless to say, this took quite a while. Adam was a dedicated farmer for sure...

Even sporting the Wells family farm shirt!! He so wishes he could be a real-life farmer!!

We then arranged all of the cupcakes in a rectangle shape and added our "dirt" icing. The hubs carefully placed the combine in the corner, then individually lined up each corn stalk to match the blades. Finally I added the Happy Birthday writing (the most imperfect part of the cake) and individually piped "corn" frosting on each stalk. 

Let me just say, this was a VERY precise cake that had to be "just right" to present to the family. I mean, I hate to see what Walt's cakes will look like when this was for a 1 year old that isn't even our own :)  Ha ha!! It was lots of fun though, and kept the hubs occupied for hours.

No more baths!!

Here's a picture account of Max's first bath. No words really needed...

How traumatic!!

**On a sad side-note...My thoughts and prayers go out to my good friend Britt who just lost her precious puppy, Peaches due to a horrible dog attack. They are devastated and my heart breaks for them. Please keep her and her family in your prayers as they cope with the loss of their baby. Sure does make me realize just how much my pups are like my first children and just how devastating it would be to lose them, even when they drive me crazy**

Rome wasn't built in a day...

 But Walt's crib sure was. Well actually in one night, with one screw driver, one admiring wife, one super excited cousin, 2 annoying pups,  and one set of  working hands :) I heard horror stories about the crib building process; how long it takes, how complicated they are, how hard to maneuver, etc. However, we Adam had no trouble at all and it was completed in a matter of hours. 

Putting up the crib for some reason really made this whole pregnancy sink in. Even more than the ever-growing baby bump, strange appetite, and my ability to cry at the sight of a Pamper's commercial. We can't wait for baby Walt to get here and have a built-by-daddy crib to sleep in :) Here is our new crib with the proud hubs. It turned out to be really nice, and I am very happy with the choice even having bought it sight unseen. Diapers.com is such a great sight...they offer free shipping, and it arrived in 2 days!!

 Notice there is a little "practice" nestled snug in the new bed...

 That's Maggie! And she belongs to this adorable little helper who is more excited about baby Walt's arrival than any other family member! Love you Porgie!! Thanks for helping with the nursery!!

A Nursery Design Plan...

 Unlike my typical haphazard, see if this looks alright style, I decided it might be nice to have an actual plan for baby Walt's room. I definitely wanted a room that "fit" with the rest of our house while still being a nursery. I also DID NOT want a theme. No offense to any of you teddy bear, Dora the Explorer, John Deere loving people out there (uh hum...Adam), but I just can't get on board with choosing an entire obsession for my child before I have even met him. The other issue I came across was that everything, and I mean EVERYTHING for boys is baby blue. Don't get me wrong, I love the color, and even think it is adorable for a boy nursery...it just doesn't go with our design style at all. I think secretly because I have a more "gender neutral-I don't want to re-do this room for baby #2 one day" mentality as well. 

So here's what I came up with in the form of  "mood board" to help me stay on track. Please excuse my oh-so-amateur computer skills...I only have Microsoft Word to work with:) All the details are listed below in case you are interested. 

{1} The "Emily Crib" by Davinci in Espresso brown. I ordered it from diapers.com. It is a 4 in 1 convertible bed which will eventually convert from crib, to toddler bed with rail, to bed without rail, to full size head board and foot board.  Plus there is free shipping from this website, so you can't beat that.

{2} The wall color: Sherwin Williams "Comfort Gray." It's sort of a greenish gray that changes colors in different light. It's the color match to Restoration Hardware's "Silver Sage" which matches our bedding. So excited that my dad is coming this weekend to help paint the room for this paint fume avoiding/lazy mamma.

{3- 5} Accent Colors: Sherwin Williams "Over Joy" (yellow), "Quench Blue," and "French Roast." Not your typical color combination, but I just love it together.

{6} Restoration Hardware "Cuddle Plush" crib bedding in Silver Sage. I love the soft velveteen texture of the bumpers and the simple crib skirt. I recently just found nearly the identical bedding from Target as well.

{7} Newco Serenity Classic Non-Swivel Glider from Babies-R-Us in chocolate brown. This is on the registry wish list. It is so comfortable and cute, but I am still looking for a Craig's List alternative in case no loving family member decides to purchase this for us.

{8} White dresser/Changing table. I bought an old antique off of Craig's List and will be re-finishing it with a gloss white paint for wipe-ability. It's not this exact picture, but very similar. Our room isn't big enough for a dresser and changing table, so this will double as both with the addition of a changing pad.

{9} Accent Pillow Fabric: "Bicycles" in Haze by Michael Miller ordered from one of my favorite fabric stores, Hawthorne Threads. I will be attempting to make my first pillows with this adorable fabric.

{10} Curtain Fabric: "Peeps Pearl Bracelet" in brown by Lizzy House, ordered from Hawthorne Threads again. It's really nice and thick and will be great for creating a dark sleeping environment for baby Walt.

{11} DIY artwork: I'll be painting a verse for Walt's from Micah 6:8 on some old Pallet boards for a rustic look. We'll see how it turns out!!

So what do you all think? Am I totally designed challenged? Wait...don't answer that. Some of it's a done deal already!!

The Name Game...

 After finding out that our baby is officially a B.O.Y., Adam and I decided that it was probably a good idea to start referring to him as something other than Nugget! Bringing us to the naming game. The whole process has been more than overwhelming to me and the hubs, and I never quite understood just how difficult it is to pick a name that you and your child will love For-EVER!! I hadn't let myself get attached to a name before finding out the sex of our baby, for fear I would get attached to one name, only to not be able to use it, so we definitely felt like we were starting from square one at 18 weeks. 

We had a few naming requirements going in...

{1} No calling him by his middle name- both Adam and I are called by our middle names, and it has caused lots of paper work problems, not to mention the ever embarrassing first day of class where the teacher calls out "Daniel" or "Frances"

{2} His name had to sound good with Kizziah- not an easy task to say the least. I am slightly relieved that he is not a girl because I have yet to put a girl first name with our last name that doesn't sound slightly inappropriate (as in street walker, etc. Go ahead- try it? Carly Kizziah anyone?)

{3} His initials couldn't spell a word or sound crazy - we ran into a few cases of ELK, WAK, BIK...you get the point. 

{4} It couldn't be the name of any of my past students, our exes, obnoxious people in our pasts - this is quite difficult when you are a teacher having taught approximately 200 + students in the past 3 years.

So after a few weeks of debate, we finally revealed the name for our little boy...

Walters James Kizziah 

We went the traditional southern route, using a family name. We will call him Walt, and I just love the older more traditional name. Walters is my grandparent's last name and James is my grandfather's first name (affectionately known as "Big Jim"). We definitely wanted to honor one of the most important men in my life by naming the first boy in the entire family after him. He will have BIG shoes to fill as my Papa is one of the most generous, intelligent, fair, and steady men I have ever known. We shared the news with him on Father's Day, and we are so thrilled to have chosen the name for our little boy. I love you Papa...thanks for all you have done for me and my sisters, and for instilling in me so many important lessons that have helped shape me into who I am today. I am honored to name our little boy after you!

Me and Papa!

Grandmother and Papa

We can't wait to meet you, Walt! It really is true that once you know the sex of the baby and have decided on a name, you can really start to bond with him. I can picture taking him to t-ball games, being a soccer mom, and having my melt down the first time he brings some creepy crawly into my house.  I can also now address him personally as he kicks the crap out of me :) Gotta start early with the parenting...ha ha!!

We're Growing...

 It seems the baby bump has officially exploded!! It is large and in charge these days. Here are a few belly pics for those curious folks out there. **Warning** This could be scary for some of you (including me)

15 Weeks...

 

19 Weeks...

 

22 Weeks... 

At least I'm not alone in the growing. Look who else has plumped up...

7 Months old

A whopping 12 pounds!! We love him so much and he has been the absolute best puppy!! Can't wait to see our little boy play with his furry brother.