Baby Swag

This weekend, I went down to Austin to visit my Aunt Lisa and my cousin, Katie. We had such a fun time hanging out, and they were so excited to get to go baby shopping with me that it filled me with excitement too. I have been a little down lately because I have been so tired from my summer job, and just feeling quite awkward and uncomfortable (it's hard work growing a baby!), but spending time with these two fun loving ladies lifted my spirits and we had so much fun!
Plus, they spoiled me rotten. Here are a few of the wonderful early shower gifts I got from Lisa (with help from KK):
If you live in Austin, you should definitely check out this really cute baby boutique called Picket Fences. It was so cute, and they had some really interesting items. For that matter, check out Inchbug.com for even cuter things. But all advertising aside, these swaddler blankets are ridiculously soft and sweet. They are made by aden + anais and they are the Swaddler set. We originally fell in love with them because of the elephants, then because of the fact that I want to rip the box open right now and sleep with them myself, haha. These blankets alone have made me decide to go with an animal theme in the room... of some sort. Don't quote me on that yet... my mind changes itself a hundred times a day. But the fat little elephants are so flippin cute, and they would be easy for a Mama to paint to put in the room somewhere....

Speaking of animals - check out this adorably sly little Fox. This is made by the company Blabla, and I am convinced that it will be Bebe's favorite lovie - I mean, I want to carry it around with me everywhere I go, so why wouldn't the baby!?

And then, by far, the sweetest and cutest of all the baby splurge purchases... TINY tiny baby bamboo socks. These socks will change your life. They are so incredibly small and so incredibly soft and I can not wait to bring my baby home from the hospital wearing these sweet little things. So, whatever outfit we choose to bring baby home in, must coordinate with the green socks! I hope they still fit at Christmas time - I can't wait to show Grandma's these sweet little socks!

Mom and I also had a lovely afternoon on Sunday. We had lunch at Le Madeline and then went to Babies R Us and spent a year there looking at every single product on the shelves (well, close, haha). I think we might have come to a conclusion on the bedding that we like, though I still want to look around a little and wait to see if it's a boy or a girl to see if that changes my mind at all. (Speaking of which, 10 days til we find out!!!) I can't wait to go and register and pick out all the sweet little things that will help take care of my sweet little Bebe. Makes my heart just melt to think about bathing, clothing and rocking this little one... and makes all these aches and pains and uncomfortableness not quite so horrible.

So, this is the beginning of week 18. Almost halfway there! And only a few more days (10) until we get to find out if it's baby Boy Dodd or Girl Dodd, haha. Don't worry, I'll post photos and let you in on the "secret". You only have 10 more days to go vote on what you think it will be! Look to your right and vote, people!!

Week 17 and the Fantastic Voyage

Here we are, in week 17, with 159 days of pregnancy to go (give or take). I just read an article about "What Summer Activities to Avoid" during pregnancy, and I am happy to report that riding my bike is now a no no (at least for the next several months). I have to say, it was never my favorite thing to do anyway, but it's nice to have an actual excuse, haha.

The past couple of weeks have left me feeling a little blue about the whole "growing a baby" thing. I had visions in my mind of what an amazingly beautiful and lively pregnant woman I would be, and now that it's here, I just feel fat and uncomfortable. And itchy, let's not leave that part out. I'm sleepy nearly all the time, but have such a hard time getting comfortable in bed that it makes the idea of going to sleep quite upsetting. I think I could sleep if I were in a zero G environment... yeah, that would be great. Anyone know where I can find a portable Zero-G that will fit roughly on my side of the bed? I was always quite sure that my hips had enough padding around them to cushion a person nearly twice my size, but as of late, I am thinking differently. Laying down, my hip digs into the bed, sitting in the office chair as I type this blog, my right hip bone is digging into the chair.

The other physical complaints are just a little too graphic for the blogosphere, so I'll just suffice to say that though I am already deeply in love with this baby, and SO very glad that God has blessed me with this little life, I do wish that it were a little more comfortable in the making. The lack of sleep and uncomfortableness are also affecting my temper and my zen like mental state (ha!).

But on the awesome side, I actually think I am starting to look prego.
Have I mentioned lately how amazingly awesome my husband is? I promise that is not an absent Segue... I bring it up in conjunction with what my wonderful hubby did for ME this weekend. We took an impromptu Daycation. Woke up on Saturday morning, hopped in the car with an atlas, and took off. We ended up in Dublin, Texas for our first stop. We went on a tour of the Dublin Dr. Pepper bottling facility, and had a real, honest to goodness fountain Dr. Pepper - put ice in a cup, pour in some syrup, pour in carbonated water, mix and enjoy. So tastey. Don't judge me, I have been limiting my caffine intake.
Here's a photo of me outside the museum. I'm still trying to decide if the stripped shirt is super trendy, or makes me look like an overweight inmate. I'll just keep telling myself that it wouldn't be in the stores if it weren't trendy, right?
Our next stop was on our way back in the general direction of Dallas. We drove through the square in Granbury and decided to make a stop to look in some of the shops and get an ice cream cone. Drew was wonderful, and actually went in a few antique stores with me - where I found one of the insanely cute little fiesta pitchers that I have been "collecting" for a while now. And the ice cream - YUM! It started melting as soon as it was placed in my hand, but with Mama Marcie and Daddy Drew, it didn't last long.

Third stop was to Fort Worth and Sundance Square where we walked around a bit and found pizza for dinner.

We had a great day spending time together in the car on our journey, and talking with each other. Had I been a prepared mom, I would have brought a baby name book so that we could have come up with a few ideas in anticipation of finding out if this sweet little one is a boy or a girl! Our appointment to find out is July 8th, and I have had a countdown going on for a while now. We currently have 16 days left til we find out. I was pretty sure that everyone thought it was a boy, like I do, but after spending some time with family for Father's day, and hearing that several people have changed their position, I am just not sure. My sweet tooth has definitely come back, which is an old wives tale that you are having a girl.

I have felt a few kicks, here and there, but nothing too consistant yet. I am definitely excited to be able to feel him move around more often, though the first few times it happened it made me very nauseated. Imagine something swimming around inside your stomach... make you queasy? Yeah, that's how it feels at the moment.

Well, I am a television star today - channel 5 decided to come interview me and film part of the summer Art camp I am teaching at the Bath House this summer (on the one day that I woke up late and didn't have time for a shower... of course). If I can find it online, and if my hair doesn't look too awful, I'll post it on my blog. Off to watch the news - weird.

Pregnancy - Day 101

Can you believe it has already been over 100 days since this little baby's life was formed? Oh my gosh it has totally flown by. I can't even remember what all has happened in the past several months, but I know I haven't had as many moments to sit and reflect as I might have liked.
This is week 14 of Frijolito. I *think* that I have felt a little movement, but I'm going to give it a little longer before being totally convinced. It feels kind of like the twitch under my eye when I get really stressed out, haha.
Next week is my 4 month doctor's appointment. I have to wait til 19 weeks to find out the gender, so hopefully the first week in July. I can't wait! Only 5 weeks to go!

This weekend, Diane was here. We had a great time eating and shopping - seems to be our two favorite things to do together, haha. We checked out downtown McKinney - way cool! Lots of cute shops and restaurants. I will definitely go back there sometime. I did not find the two things I was looking for - an armoire and a short dresser, but I will keep looking. And if all else fails, there is always Ikea for the storage aspect of the room.

We did go to Babies R' Us and decide on a stroller.
It is a Chicco Cortina Travel System in Discovery (that's the color). Diane and I were in the store practicing taking out the car seat, folding the strollers down, wheeling them around aisles so that we could decide which one pushed easier. It was down to a Baby Trend model and this one, and this one won in my book hands down. It was much lighter, easier to fold and unfold, and seemed to be just a little better thought out. We also asked a few parents at the mall who we saw with this stroller, and it got pretty good reviews.

Another thing I found that I like a lot is this pack n' play:
It has the regular pack n play at the bottom, plus a newborn attachment at the top so that we can use it in our room as a bassinet for the first couple of months, PLUS a changing table attachment. Not to mention that I love the color. Very gender neutral.

I also found this crib that I like a lot:
It's made by Graco and got great reviews on the Babies R Us website. It is also only $169, which for a convertible crib is outstanding. I still plan on looking around for cribs though, to make sure I find one that we really like a lot since they are so expensive!

Well, now on to shower and run a couple of errands. Funeral this afternoon for my great Aunt, Beadie.