Catching up: nursery progress

I didn't realize how far behind I was on posting until I checked to see that I hadn't posted any nursery photos.  The big stuff is done: paint, furniture, curtains, & crib skirt.  Now I just need to put on the final touches.  Here is what it looks like so far:

Details:
Paint: Walls - Sea Glass by Martha Stewart.  This was our first time using Martha Stewart Paint and we were pretty happy.  We have super textured walls (worst idea ever!), so getting even coverage is quite difficult.  We (and by we, I mean Chris) did 2 coats but probably could have gotten away with one.

Ceiling: I don't remember the color and I am too lazy to go look.  It is one of the metallic colors in the Martha Stewart line.  Chris was super excited by the metallic paint and he wanted to use it somehow.  I think he did a fantastic job.

Paint Cost Total: $100 (includes some supplies such as tape, rollers, etc)

Crib: Graco Lauren: $105 (I got a great deal on this by using multiple coupon codes with Kohl's.)

Fabric: Sugar Baby from Calico Corners: $102

I used the fabric to create no-sew curtains and a custom no-sew crib skirt.  I followed the tutorials on Young House Love and they were pretty simple to do.  The only hiccup was the crib skirt.  The Graco Lauren crib has these weird bars that attach the mattress support to the crib.  It took way too many brain cells to figure out how to attach the crib skirt, but I eventually figured it out.  I don't know if a normal crib skirt would even work correctly.

Dresser & Armoire: my step-dad was gracious enough to purchase these for us.  I will say we got a fantastic deal on them because they were on clearance at Buy Buy Baby and we got to use 20% off coupons.  I really love this furniture.  It is by Ragazzi which is supposedly a fantastic brand, so I am happy we lucked out.  Hopefully it will last her a long time!

Catching up: 23-30 weeks

Yes, I have been quite the slacker as of late.  Work is killing me, almost literally, and I am just exhausted.  I am happy to report that the pregnancy is going well.  I am definitely uncomfortable, but I consider myself lucky to not have had any complications thus far.

We had a follow up ultrasound last Friday to make sure that the placenta had moved up.  I was really nervous about this because if it hadn't moved, there was a good possibility that I would have "risked out" of the birth center and had to find a new provider.  Thankfully the placenta moved out of the way and is no longer low lying!  Yay!  Baby looked great and they verified that she is definitely a she.  : )  She is measuring a bit on the big side and is quite the chunkster which I am okay with.  I would rather her be healthy than underweight!

Here are photos for weeks 23-29 (I forgot to take one this week):

 23 weeks:

24 weeks:

25 weeks:

25 weeks 5 days:

27 weeks:

28 weeks:

29 weeks (sorry I had to switch sides, the lighting was so much better the other way!):

Catching up: 4 yr anniversary weekend

Chris and I decided that it was important for us to celebrate our last anniversary as just the two of us.  We haven't been able to spend a lot of time together recently due to our work schedules and the fact that Chris has been working 7 days a week.

Anyway, we decided just to head over to the beach for a 3 day weekend.  This was going to be my first day of vacation since I started my job in July.  Yeah, that lasted until 9:30 in the morning when the texts and calls started.  Why was I not surprised?!?

We dropped Jasmine off at doggie daycare for the weekend and then we were on our way out.  Chris made a turn and my car died in the middle of the intersection.  Yes, my 2011 car died!  Thankfully we were able to coast into a gas station and then Chris got out to push it the rest of the way to a parking spot.  We immediately called emergency roadside service and they said it would be about an hour for the tow truck to arrive.  Thankfully I still had AC and Chris had already determined it was the transmission that went out.

Since we were only a couple of miles from home, Chris decided to run home (literally) to get his car so we could still have our beach weekend.  The tow truck arrived and we followed it to the dealership and said we would call on Saturday for an update.

We were now on the road for our trip!  Whew!  Chris's 92 4Runner to the rescue!  LOL!

We stayed at a cute little hotel in Flagler which is probably my favorite beach.  The hotel was actually pet friendly and didn't have weight or breed restrictions, so we could have taken Jasmine with us.  Flagler beach is also dog friendly and that is where we normally go for our beach days. 

We had a wonderful weekend enjoying each other and discussing the baby and what our future holds.  We took a lot of walks along the beach and just had a relaxing time.  It was wonderful.

Here are some photos from that weekend:

(Please excuse the crappy point & shoot photos, I have no idea what was going on with the white balance.)

Sunset at St. Augustine Beach:

That's right-I went bare belly!  LOL!  I don't have any stretch marks (fingers crossed it stays this way!), so I figured why not?!?

Chris got to play photographer for a quick sunrise shoot.  He told me just to set the camera on auto and he would be fine.  Ummm, my normal camera doesn't have auto, only my back up does.  I did all of the settings for him and then let him go.  We also did a quick prep session of "this looks good, this doesn't, so if I am doing this-tell me!" 

It was actually quite cold that morning (low 50s) and I was freezing!  We had to take advantage of being at the beach at sunrise though.  I was 25 weeks 5 days in this photo.