The Photos were Hung by the Crib with Care....

I was super excited when I got home and my photos had arrived in the mail.  I bought the photos from myself though my online portfolio site.  http://kristinsavko.smugmug.com/  I have got to start by saying that my photo lab is AMAZING.  After working in photofinishing for 6 years, it takes excellent print quailty to impress me...and I was impressed.  So impressed in fact that I had to get them in frames and hung right away!   In keeping with our theme, all the prints are of animals.  I'm really happy to see things coming together!

Finally...Curtains!

I thought that my request was an easy one...I wanted curtains that were heavy enough to turn the nursery into a bat cave.  As for style, I was looking for something with a subtle leaf like pattern.  I mean, how can you have a jungle without foliage?  Oh yeah, and they can't look girly.  Seems easy, right?  Wrong!  I found a few "leafy" sheers...but I was not sacrificing the cave.  I looked at making them from fabric.  Found some leaves, but they were far from subtle.  I finally found these at Kmart...and as curtains go, they were rather inexpensive.  In the end, I'm really happy with them, and they look great on the curtain rod I found at the Christmas Tree Shops for less than $5!

3/4 down, 1/4 to go!

The best part of week 30?  The 3lb kiddo has a new habit...NAPPING!  That's right...definite times where there is no movement for over an hour!  I've got to say, I welcome the break!  Now, if only I could sneak in one of those for myself....

'Cause Every Girl's Crazy 'Bout a Sharp Dressed Man...

I promised myself that I wouldn't go crazy buying baby cloths, although I couldn't completely deny myself the joy of baby shopping (especially when the shopping came at a good price!)  Friday I went to the Carter's outlet, and bought a mix of outfits in different baby sizes.  Stacey also helped add to the collection (Thanks Stacey!!)

This weekend was also Charlie's yearly birthday trip to BrewFest.  We never miss BrewFest---or Robots vs. Wrestlers!  (you should be watching How I Met Your Mother...)  Anyhow, we were introduced to Old Forge last year at BrewFest.  This year, we left with a little piece of my hometown!

My Baby is a Steelers Fan

Of course he's a football fan...arriving just in time for football season to begin! (Truly 'Born to be a Steelers fan!') We're very excited to share this year's season with our little one, well outfitted for the occasion!  Thanks Dana!!

As for other sporting events...he'll have to rely on his Uncle Keith for that....

Like Father like Son...

When we went in for our 20 week ultrasound, we had no idea that our office did both the 2D and the 3D ultrasound scans as standard practice.  It ended up being a nice surprise.  When the flashed his 3D profile up on the screen, the resemblance was uncanny!

Baby Registry

I've been getting some inquiries dribbling in for baby registry info.  The registry took me hours of research and comparison, but I finally have it in place.  We're registered in 3 locations (based on best prices and selection). 

Our nursery has a subtle "jungle" theme.  Our color pallet is blues, greens, and browns based off of the Carter's mix and match bedding sets.  (Photos to come as nursery progress moves forward)

We're not registered for a lot of clothing (although we do have a few pieces listed).  We of course do need clothing (3-6 month and larger is great), and other staples (like diapers!).

JCPenney    Babies R Us     Target

The Beginnings of a Nursery

Back in January, we got new carpet for our future nursery.  Last month, our next big landmark was achieved: We got our furniture!  It took us quite awhile to settle on a set.  We were hoping to find pieces that would last.  Of course, the more we looked, the higher we raised the bar on the quality of the set.  When we found a set that actually met all our criteria, we knew we had found the one. 

Instead of using a crib bedding set, we decided on the mix and match bedding from Carters.  I'm hoping our theme comes from the rest of the room, instead of relying on the bedding to bring the room together.  Also, the Carters bedding is just so incredibly soft!

Stay tuned to watch the nursery evolve...

Milestones

Tomorrow the third trimester officially begins. I'd like to be able to say "Wow! Where did the time go?!?" I'm pretty sure, however, that it feels like exactly 6 months has transpired.

I thought now might be an appropriate time to make note of a few of babies' "milestones" thus far.

At 11wks, 5 days we had an "urgent" ultrasound. At our appointment that day, the midwife couldn't find a heartbeat with the Doppler. Although it wasn't cause for panic, they wanted to do the ultrasound right away to check things out. Charlie would tell you that the baby was stubborn "like it's mother." Can you feel the love? The ultrasound looked great, and we were able to leave our appointment with a surprise look at things to come.

Baby kicking was apparent at exactly 18wks. I never felt that "fluttering" feeling. Instead, we went straight to kicks with the same intensity as a bagged goldfish swimming into the side of the bag.

Somewhere between 19 and 20weeks, a hand on the stomach could feel the kicks (with a little patience).

Our big ultrasound was at 20 weeks and 4 days. Everything looked great, and we found out "it" was a healthy baby boy.  We were pretty happy to know the proper pronoun to use!  He was squirming like crazy during the ultrasound and at one point kicked hard enough to make the whole ultrasound scan move.

By 22 weeks, it was clear just from belly watching that this baby boy was on the move.  At our 24 week appointment, the midwife was using the Doppler and asked if he had been moving.  Right on cue, he kicked her.  It was at that moment that we determined that he just might be a genius ;)

At this stage in the game, he is constantly active. Two nights ago he started moving with quite some strength at 3am, and I never really felt him rest until after 10pm that evening. Our little monkey is on the move!

And so it begins....

Being as how August is just around the corner (ETA August 2nd), I figured I had better come up with a more effective way to get out updates to our family and friends. Typically, I'm a great abandoner of blogs, but I'm going to give them one more go-round.

Just for fun with my first post is a clip from Bringing Up Baby (1938) with Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn. Such a classic comedy, the title is the inspiration for the blog.