My Life Right Now

This week has been busy and it's not about to slow down any.  We hosted a get together for our Sunday school class Monday.  My house had 20 people packed into it, half of which were young children.  One of newest members to our class, a young woman from Honduras, cooked us authentic Honduran tacos, and they were delicious.  I cleaned before, during, and after our company left so it was a bit of a hectic day for me.

Tuesday and Wednesday were spent trying to get ready for our upcoming D.C. trip.  I washed clothes, packed Cooper's and my suitcase, went shopping for snack food, and Andy cleaned out our car.  It looks like a new vehicle!  Too bad it won't last long because of the pollen.  We also picked up Clark's furniture last night.  It wasn't in as good of shape as I had hoped... it's going to definitely need to be painted.  I was hoping I could get by without doing that.  Hopefully, once a few coats of paint are on the dressers they will look as good as new.

Today will be spent working on last minute trip needs.  I hate having lists for things and not being able to cross them off until we're walking out the door.  Things like pillows, makeup, Cooper's noise machine and blankie, phone chargers, and so on.  I like my lists to be completed quickly!  The Smithsons are also geared up for the big Kentucky game Saturday.  They've made it to the final 4!  They play Louisville and have beat them once this year so we're counting on them to do it again.  If they win that they are going to be in the finals!  Go big blue!

**Since I've been so busy this week I haven't taken any iphone pictures for InstaFriday tomorrow... I'll do better next week!

Clark's Furniture

This past week I've been in a frenzy trying to find Clark some bedroom furniture.  We hit the halfway mark of the pregnancy and I hit panic mode.  I'm not so much worried about decorations and little things at this point, I can get that stuff at any time.  I've been worried about furniture.  As I mentioned before, I wanted to find a dresser that I could use as a changing table as well.  I like Cooper's changing table but the thought of buying a 2nd piece of very specific furniture (that I'm afraid will be hard to use in the future) didn't sit well with me.  Plus, I didn't want to buy a dresser and changing table.  I know this is redundant from a recent post but I promise I'm getting to the point.

Remember, this was the original dresser/changing table idea that I've been looking for.

I've been searching Craigslist relentlessly for the last week trying to find something, anything, to go in his room.  I could find plenty of tall dressers but that's not what I wanted.  I've read just about every furniture post on there.  Yesterday I came back across a post I had read last week and I thought I would give it a try.  It was a post for a dresser like I wanted and for a tall dresser.  They were asking $100 for both which was one of the best prices I had seen.  I couldn't find a dresser like the one above for under $150.  That was way too high for my cheapness.

I text the seller and asked if they'd be willing to just let go of the dresser like I wanted (even though I wanted the tall one, too) and they said they'd give me both for $75.  I knew then and there I wanted it but I had to convince Andy.  He eventually gave in.

This is the picture from the Craigslist post so I'm hoping it'll be worth it when we pick it up.  They said it was in good condition, only a few scratches.  I figured we couldn't pass both of them up for $75.  I'd love to just replace knobs and not have to do anything else to it.  Worst comes to worst I'll paint it, which I don't mind to do.  That just looks like a lot of painting.  He'll definitely have plenty of storage, a whole lot more than Cooper has!  Now all we lack for furniture is a crib.  Hopefully we'll find one soon.  I was more worried about finding a dresser like this so at least I can cross it off my list!  Yay!

5 Year Celebration!

This was the first picture Andy and took together over 5 years ago!  We were at a Kentucky - Tennessee basketball game in February of 2007, about a month after we first met each other.  It is absolutely crazy to think that we've been together that long.  We met on a blind date in January 2007, and "officially" became a couple in late March/early April of 2007.  I wanted to drag my feet and Andy wanted to play hard to get so it took a few months before we both gave in.  We've come a really long way in five years and I can't wait to see what the rest of our lives bring!  Here are some of my favorite pictures of us over the last 5 years.

 The night we got engaged.

Our honeymoon in Jamaica.

Pregnant with Cooper.

One of our first pictures of Clark.

Needs for Baby Clark

Since we've made it to the halfway point of this pregnancy I figured I'd better get busy on this little boy's room.  If his arrival is anything like his brother's he could be here in 14 weeks... yikes!  Having him and Cooper so close together has put me in a bind for furniture!  I had originally thought we may be able to use Cooper's bedroom suit for Clark but I don't think that's going to work.  That would mean we'd have to switch Cooper to a toddler bed when he's around 20 months of age.  I just feel like that is too small.  If he were a little bigger, maybe I'd be more comfortable with it.  He moves around a ton in his sleep and I'd rather just wake up all night with one baby instead of two.  So... we're back to square one with Clark's bedroom furniture.  The main two items we need are a crib and a dresser.  I plan on using his dresser as a changing table as well.  I really, really, really don't want to have to buy another changing table.  We still use Cooper's.  I don't have the energy to fight changing him on the floor.  He's getting too big for it but it's working for now.  He'll still be in diapers when Clark's born so I plan on leaving that in his room awhile longer.  Plus, if I combine the two, it'll keep me from buying two pieces of furniture.  This is what I want to do for Clark's dresser/changing table;

I've been looking on Craigslist for dressers like this that I can refinish.  I have no problem painting one... that way I don't have to worry so much about if it and the crib are different finishes.  People are proud of their dressers, though.  I need to find a cheap one!  I really don't want to pay over $100 for one.  Cooper and I are about to start hitting up thrift stores and yard sales, too.  Hopefully I'll find something soon.

As far as the crib goes... I'm trying to find a used one.  You'd think with all the babies in my family I'd come across one easily.  All the little ones are still using them, though.  I've been looking on Craigslist and can find some pretty reasonably priced on there.  I'd like to buy from someone I know, though.  I'm not worried about it being a convertible crib or about the finish... I just want it to meet the safety standards!

Once we get back from our Washington trip I'm going to get serious about his nursery.  I've got to get decorations, fabric for his bedding/quilt, bumper pads, and several other little things.  His bedroom is currently the playroom so it's got a long way to go.  So... if any of you readers come across anything that can help me, please let me know!  I'm starting to feel a little panicked about getting his room ready!  We had Cooper's room ready the weekend before he was born and that was stressful... especially when I was supposed to be on bed rest!

InstaFriday & 20 Weeks!

We've made it to the "official" halfway point of the pregnancy!  Whoohoo!  I should've titled this post "Growing Pains" because that's all I've been feeling this week.  Since Cooper and Clark are going to be so close in age I would've thought my stomach didn't have that much stretching to do.  Well, I was wrong apparently.  My stomach is super sore and at times feels like it's going to tear into two.  Hopefully the growing pains will settle down soon!  Other than that this pregnancy has progressed smoothly up to the half way point.  Like I said earlier this week, we had a blood pressure scare.  It was too high for this stage of the pregnancy but my doctor didn't seem too concerned.  It did go back down but now I'm worried.  I didn't have any blood pressure issues with Cooper until around 31-32 weeks and he was born at 34 weeks.  I'm sure it was nothing but with my history it's still a little worrisome.  My goal is to make through our Washington D.C. trip (we leave soon!) and get through several more weeks of work before any issues arise.  Hopefully though we won't have any issues.

I'm exhausted today but the movie was well worth it!  It was great and I'm already looking forward to the 2nd one!  Here are my pictures for the week... enjoy!

 Andy and I had a date night last Friday and it was so nice!  I missed this face dearly, though.  When we got home he was passed out, looking like a little angel.

 This was about 10:00 in the morning... good parenting skills letting your child have chocolate cake that early!

 Laundry room organization!  It's so nice!

 Now that Clark has a name he has a countdown!  Halfway there!

 I found a site on Pinterest that had some really cute printables.  We had a nail right by our front door that was hanging a snowman sign.  Since winter is definitely gone in the south I needed something else.  I had this frame and thought it would look cute there.  The words are supposed to be all green but my printer was running out of ink... I kind of like the ombre look!

If he's not outside he wants to be in the tub.  

May the Odds Be Ever in Your Favor

Tonight is the big "The Hunger Games" premiere!  For once, I didn't just get with the program and read them because of all the hype I had heard.  I actually read them last summer when I had more free time.  We were on vacation and a few people had recommended them so I got down to business.  At first I thought they were too far fetched for me.  I know, I know... I'm the biggest Twilight fan ever so how could they be too far out for me?  Well, most of the time I don't like fantasy books.  I had to read the first Harry Potter book for an adolescent literature class and hated it.  I had to read a lot of fantasy books for that class and they just weren't my cup of tea.  After the first few pages of The Hunger Games I couldn't put it down, though.  I read all 3 in a week and was hooked.  I reread them again a few weeks ago to get ready for the movie.  I must admit, even though neither of them are Robert Pattinson, I'm team Peeta.  I think Gale is cuter in the previews but Peeta stole my heart from the minute he was announced as a tribute... I love the boy with the bread.

It starts at midnight, which is extremely late for me.  I've always done the Twilight movies at midnight with no problem but this pregnancy, work, Cooper, and housework are kicking my tail and making me super sleepy.  I'm usually in bed and passed out around 9:00 or 9:30.  I'm going with my brother-in-law.  I think we're going to head out around 10:15 or so.  I'll have to nap before we leave or I'll be a mess. That's the only way I have a chance at staying awake during the movie and getting up for work tomorrow.  It'll be worth it though!

Spring Cleaning

It seems as the temperature has began to rise the last few weeks Cooper has grown out of all of his clothes. He was still fitting into his winter wardrobe somewhat comfortably, even though some things were getting too short and tight.  When it was time to switch to spring/summer clothes he was out of luck!  He was tiny last summer and there was no way he was fitting into anything from last year.  He's still tiny but longer and a little more filled out.  He didn't have a single pair of play shorts that fit or rompers so for several days he rocked the t-shirt and diaper look.

This past Saturday, against my better judgement, I headed out to Chattanooga's largest consignment sale.  It's HUGE.  It was pre-sale day and I had a pass.  I thought it wouldn't be too crowded since you had to have a pass... man, was I wrong.  I found him some clothes (nothing I couldn't live without) and got in line.  After 25 minutes, and only moving about 10 feet, I put all of the stuff back and left.  There wasn't a great selection for 18 month boys and I could feel my feet beginning to swell.  I would've been in line close to 2 hours, no joke, for a basket full of stuff I wasn't that crazy about.  If I had been shopping for Clark I could've gotten a ton of stuff.  I'm waiting until closer to his due date to shop for him, though.  I left that place hot, puffy, and in a really bad mood.

My sister and sister-in-law went through all of their stuff and saved me.  He now has summer shoes, several rompers, play shorts, church clothes, t-shirts, and enough jammies to get us through the next few months.  That's the joy in having all boys in the family!  I've worked all week on switching out his winter and summer clothes (we suffered through a few weeks of heat just to make sure it didn't turn cold again) and am now currently doing that to my wardrobe.

I'm going to hit up the consignment sale either today or tomorrow and hope for better luck.  I know the clothes will be really picked over but at least it won't be so crowded.  Since I'm a much more comfortable with Cooper's summer clothing stock now I may do a little shopping for Clark!  

The Big Reveal

I think it's finally time to announce the name of baby #2!  I went to the doctor today and he's definitely still a boy.  We had an ultrasound done to check all of his precious anatomy.  That's standard around the halfway point of pregnancy.  He looks wonderful and the pregnancy is progressing just fine.  We had a little scare with my blood pressure today but after another check it was good.  I had lost 4 lbs in the beginning and now I've gained all 4 back so essentially I've broke even.  I'm very happy with that at the half way point.

I'm anxious to finally tell his name because it was such a long, hard fought battle to get to it!  We still haven't agreed on a middle name... Andy has one he's set on and I have one I'm set on.  That can wait a few more weeks though.  Okay, drum roll please...

And baby boy #2's name is...

Clark ??? Smithson

Isn't that an awesome name!  I personally LOVE it!  As I mentioned before, we were watching a movie when I came up with it.  We were watching National Lampoon's Vacation and when someone said "Clark" it hit me.  He doesn't have to know that we came up with his name from that movie, though!  We played around with it for a few weeks before we finally agreed on it.  We call him that all the time now so it's set!  I knew Andy had finally settled on it when he called him Clark in our dinnertime prayer. 

We weren't trying to stick with "C" names but everything we came up with started with a C.  Besides Charlie there were a few other names we threw around that started with C.  I think Cooper and Clark sound really cute together.  I'm trying to teach Coop how to say it.  I would really like him to say mama first, though!  I also really like it because it's not a popular name but isn't an odd name either.  I can think of a few people I've come across in my lifetime named Clark.  When we've told people we automatically hear "Clark Kent" but I was prepared for that.  I've also heard Clark Gable, Clark Bar, and Clark Griswold (our original source).  A few people even suggested that we use Kent as his middle name.  Trust me, that isn't one we're debating over.  Although, he may very well end up being Clark Kent for his first Halloween.  That's as far as that theme will go... believe me!  I don't want anyone to think we've named our child after Superman.  

I'm glad I've finally shared his name with you all!  Thanks to everyone who has shown a genuine interest.  It amazes me how much everyone seems to really care about this pregnancy and about Clark.  I'm thankful I can share this journey with you all and that people actually take time out of their day to read about it.  I know Clark is going to be so loved just like his big brother!

Laundry Room Organization

I'm the queen of washing and drying dirty clothes on Monday and not folding them until Sunday.  Out of all my housewife duties laundry is my least favorite.  I hate laundry!  It's not so much the washing/drying, it's the folding and putting away.  I'll vacuum regularly, mop the floor once a week, clean the bathrooms, dust once a week, make the bed every day, clean the kitchen each night, wash dishes every few days, and pickup every day, but I can't find the motivation to keep up with the laundry.  I do better with Cooper's but it's hopeless for Andy and myself.  I found some inspirational laundry room pictures on Pinterest that I thought may help my situation.  My laundry room usually has 3 or 4 full laundry baskets everywhere and then clothes on the floor.  I'm the only one who understands the organization to the mess and I really thought this would help us all out.  Here's my motivation;

This is a great idea but it suggests that you build and paint the shelves.  I thought it might be a lot of trouble to buy the wood, have Andy assemble/build it, and then paint it.  Plus, it's too big for my laundry room.  I got on Walmart.com, looked at some shelving, and ordered some that only cost me $16.  I picked it up this weekend, assembled it in 5 minutes, and put it in my laundry room.  It's already so much more organized and has given me a bit of motivation for cleaning.  At least if all 4 shelves get full (which I'm sure will happen quickly) I'll have to fold some clothes and put them away.  I'm sure Andy will be excited since the mess drove him crazy, too!

I know it really isn't anything like my inspiration picture but it does the job.  You could see how much better it is if I had a "before" picture.  It was too embarrassing though.  It keeps clothes/baskets out of the floor, gives me two shelves for clean clothes, two shelves for dirty clothes, forces me to do smaller loads (because I can't fit baskets with big loads anywhere other than the top shelf), and keeps me from letting the laundry get backed up.  All in all a successful project that helped me catch up on all of our laundry this weekend!

Hope Packs for the Homeless

Andy has been our faithful Sunday school teacher/leader for about 2.5 years now and he's doing a wonderful job!  I'm very proud of him and all the work he puts in.  We've seen our class grow so much in this time and it's really a blessing to our lives.  We've been studying the book "Crazy Love'' by Franics Chan and have had the inspiration to go out and "do something" ever since starting it.  We've had some new members in the last few months and with their help we came up with the idea of filling backpacks for the homeless.  There are a lot of homeless people in the Chattanooga area and there is always a high demand for supplies for the local shelters.  It started out as a rather small venture... I think we originally wanted to put together 10 packs.  We announced it to the church asking for any monetary donations or donations of blankets, hats, gloves, toiletries, medicine, and any other things like that.  We also knew that we wanted to put bibles in the packs as well.

After a few weeks of taking donations we had a ton of physical items as well as $1,500 donated for our cause.  We were thrilled with what our church had given!  We aren't a very big church.  On a good Sunday we may have 70 in Sunday school and 90 in service.  We weren't expecting this out pour and it gave us the supplies we need to make 32 packs!  We're donating 30 to the Chattanooga Community Kitchen and 2 to a local high school that has two homeless students attending.  We had originally thought we'd go out to some of the high population homeless areas downtown and give them out but were afraid that may cause a "riot" between people who did and didn't get packs.

The time consuming and hard part has been shopping for all the extra items we need for the packs and putting them together.  We had a ton of really good donations that we would've never thought of to add (asprin, nail clippers, playing cards, etc.) but didn't get enough for 32 packs.  That left us with a lot of shopping.  We also had to get more expensive items such as the backpacks (even though we had about 15 donated), ponchos, food items, bibles, first aid kits, and so on during shopping trips.  It's hard to organize a large group of people shopping, and even harder to organize what items they need to shop for and how many to buy.  Poor Andy had the task of that last weekend.  He did a great job organizing what needed to be bought, the people shopping for the items, and managed a smooth checkout at Walmart.  We had 4 buggies full of items and we had to get our tax exemptions forms completed.  All in all it was a tiring but successful shopping trip.

Wednesday night at church we finished assembled the backpacks and got them ready for departure.

Today was the big day for the much anticipated delivery.  We had a quick lunch after church and headed to the Chattanooga Community Kitchen.  They had asked us to donate the packs instead handing them out ourselves.  Well, when we got there and opened the van all the people hanging around the shelter pounced on us.  We barely missed some fights breaking out over packs before we got them inside.  Once we had calmed that situation down the group introduced themselves, sang some songs, Andy gave a small message, and then we visited a little.  It wasn't very crowed today since it was such a pretty day but we were pleased with the turnout.  All in all it was a very successful, touching, humbling, and learning experience.  God really blessed our class through this and I can't wait for our next class project!

InstaFriday & 19 Weeks

We've made it to another Friday!  That also means I've reached another week of my pregnancy.  I'm 19 weeks today!  Woohoo!  Almost half way there... if I had to guess though I'd say I'm past my halfway point.  It's been a long, hot, hot week.  It's only the middle of March but the Chattanooga area is already reaching temperatures of around 85 degrees.  We've had the air on all week and I've really started dreading the heat this summer... this pregnant girl is already swelling.  I can't wait to see how it gets when temperatures sore into the 90's.  The way it's going though that may only be a few weeks from now.  I'm glad the cold weather is gone but wasn't ready for summer temperatures over night.

 Due to the heat wave our flowers are blooming and they're so pretty!  Andy worked so hard on our two flower beds and they look great.  He's never had any landscaping experience but you could never tell that.  We had one flower bed already but it was pretty shabby.  He fixed it up and then added another one under Cooper's and the soon to be nursery windows.  Since our flowers are already in full bloom I'm worried we're going to miss the Cherry blossoms in Washington D.C.  We leave in a few weeks and were supposed to hit them at peak blooming time but D.C. is having a heat wave, too.  Hopefully we'll still get a chance to see them in their glory.  Spring break is only a couple of weeks away and I think that's why this week has crawled by.  I'm looking forward to a break and vacation so time is at a standstill.  

A few other exciting things are happening in the Smithson household now.  March Madness is in full swing and I'm enjoying it.  We're huge Kentucky fans (born and raised) and they are the #1 overall seed in the tournament.  Everyone says they should win it, which probably means they won't, but it's exciting anyways.  Andy and I always make out brackets and I'm hoping I'll win.  I usually always beat him so I'm counting on it.  I pick my bracket logically, whoever has the higher seed or better overall record is who I pick.  He always makes fun of me for this but I always beat him... you'd think he'd learn at some point.  If I win I just want some maternity clothes that I won't burn up in!  More exciting news... the baby has a name!  Yay!  I'm very excited about that!  We're still going round and round about his middle name but I don't mind.  Once we have another ultrasound Tuesday and make sure he's still a boy I'll let everyone know his name.  It's super cute and fits him already!  I hope everyone has a good weekend, I plan on relaxing as much as I can.   I was lazy last week and didn't have any pictures so I caught up this week, enjoy!

Cooper playing at a birthday party at The Little Gym.  He loved it!  I'm seriously considering having his 2nd birthday party there.

 It's so funny to go in and check on him every night and see what position he's in.  He's been putting his feet through the rails a lot lately and we always have to be sneaky when we move them.

 He was devastated because I wouldn't let him have my phone.

 He spends a lot of time in this position.  He's trying to figure out if he wants to watch Curious George or play with his house.  George wins most of the time.

 Our flower bed under the boys' windows.  It's super big so I could only fit half of it in the picture.

He looks about 3 in this picture and it makes me want to cry, especially since he'll only be 16 months on Sunday.  He acts like he's 3, too.  I don't know what we're going to do with this wild child when his brother comes.

What's in a Name?

Ahh... the joys of picking out a baby name.  It would be so easy if it were just me naming this little guy!  I guess since Andy's just as much a parent to him as I am (even though I'm doing the hard part : ) I have to include him in the naming process.  Naming Cooper was so easy that I should've known that wouldn't happen again.  We had a name going into our ultrasound and even a few days afterwards... then we hit a wall.  I might as well throw it out there because I'm pretty sure he won't be named this.  We had originally planned on naming him Charlie.  We were telling people that and everything.   I was dead set on it just being Charlie, not Charles.  Then, all of a sudden, Andy felt like he should be named Charles and just be called Charlie.  Well, I can't stand the name Charles.  No offense to anyone named Charles, I just didn't want to name my baby boy Charles.  Andy didn't understand that but I kept thinking of teachers calling him Charles on his first days of school and it broke my heart.  Crazy, I know.  Andy said he needed a "proper" name instead of a nickname when he grows up.  I guess guys see things that way but I sure don't. Well, neither of us were going to budge so we had to come up with new names.

For the first few days of trying to think of a name neither of us would agree on anything.  Anything he threw out I said "no" to right away and he did the same.  He kept telling me that the baby would be named before he was born and that we had plenty of time.  I just want to be able to call him something besides "baby # 2" or "little brother."  I talk to Cooper about him all the time and I also want him to become familiar with the name.

We were watching a movie about a week ago and I jokingly threw out the name of the main character (even though I really liked it) and Andy didn't say no right away, which was a good sign.  For the next few days I would ask him about the name, not pushing, but bringing it up and he never said "no."  I started mentioning it to family members and close friends and he never said "no" then either, which was a really good sign.  Over the weekend he voluntarily told his family the name... that's the best sign I could've asked for.  Everyone we've told has really liked it, too!  It's not a popular name but it's not a really uncommon name either.  I've even been having dreams that we've agreed on this name.  Last night when I was talking to Cooper about the baby I finally said "can we just name this boy already?!?" and he grinned at me and said "not yet."  I wanted to scream but I know he likes this name... I'm just going to have to wait until he's done aggravating me.  Sooner or later I'm just going to have it monogramed on something and call it a done deal.  I'm going to wait until it's "official" to announce it though, I don't want to jinx it!  Also, I'm going to make sure he's still a boy at our ultrasound next week before I say anything.  We still can't agree on a middle name but at least we're getting closer!

*On a side note- I promise I'm not being a pregnancy diva/think I'm a celebrity by not telling the name yet.  It's just that I started telling people he was going to be named Charlie and then felt so silly when I had to say it had changed.  There's no point in going through that 50 times... I'm just going to wait until it's set.  You never know, with Andy that might be the day he's born... I sure hope not though!

Busy Busy

Maybe I'm just tired from this pregnancy, Cooper, and work but I feel like we've been extremely busy here lately and I just can't seem to catch up.  Between doctors appointments, tutoring, school meetings, church, taxes, the time change, and life in general I'm exhausted.  It seems like every day the last couple of weeks I've had something I had to do after work.  I'm strongly against scheduling stuff for the afternoons but sometimes it's unavoidable.  I like that time to be at home with Cooper - just him and me.  That's our "alone" time together and I hate having to fill it with appointments or errands.  We may not do much, mostly just play, rest (naps for him), and watch Curious George but it's still our special time.

This past week and this week I'm running around trying to get our taxes done.  Last year we got back a pretty big refund and we were expecting that again this year.  Well, I got a call today from the accountant we took them to and we're not even getting half of what we were expecting!  I was so upset I started crying and called Andy.  They tried to explain the difference but we're going to take them to someone else and have another look.  Not that we don't trust the person we took them to, Andy's just going to take them to his dad's business accountant (who knows all the ins and outs of FedEx and the special deductions they get) and see if she can get us a little more back.  It won't hurt... I'm hoping something works out.  We're planning on pulling up our nasty carpet and laying hardwood so the more refund the better!  I guess we should just be thankful that we're getting a refund at all... I just like to get ahead of myself and get big, expensive ideas in my head.

We've been working on a big Sunday school class project at church that has taken up a lot of our time.  It's a great project and we've had some wonderful participation from our church.  It's a BIG project though and is time consuming.  Hopefully we'll get it wrapped up in the next week or so and have a little breathing room.  I'll give all the juicy details of the work we've done in a later post.

Other "life" things have been taking up our time as well.  Doctors appointments (for Coop and me both), hair appointments, and trips to the store seem to clutter our afternoons as well.  I was hoping this week would be a little calmer but it doesn't seem to be shaping up that way so far.  This time change has thrown me for a loop, too.  It usually doesn't bother me but I didn't get my normal 10-11 hours of sleep each night over the weekend so that probably contributed.  Hopefully life will slow down some soon so we'll have time to catch up!

Pesky Pregnancy Symptoms

I'm in no way, shape, or form complaining about my pregnancy in this post.  I really enjoy being pregnant and am getting to the fun part now... I can feel my little buddy move!  He seems to be becoming more active every day and I love his sweet little reminders that he's in this with me.  As the pregnancy progresses I am having some issues with a few little things though.  I think it's all contributed to the growing size of my belly.  The belly growth was shocking at first.  I was visibly showing at 9 weeks and looked a lot further along than I actually was.  It's seems to have slowed down some now and isn't as scary.  I can definitely tell a difference in the last week or so.  Here are my main life issues right now;

1.  I always considered myself a side sleeper but am obviously a belly sleeper.  I learned this with Cooper.  The last week I've had to use a pillow (wedged under my belly) to fall asleep.  I desperately want to lay on about 2/3 of my stomach but it feels super squished when I do that and very uncomfortable.  I always throw the pillow off the bed in my sleep and try to reposition myself on my belly... this makes for a restless night.

2.  I have a small, round table in my classroom at school.  I usually always sit with my students when we do their lessons but I can't get in and out of those tiny chairs so easily anymore.  I also have this problem in the cafeteria.

3.  It's getting a lot harder for me to carry Cooper.  He seems to weigh a ton lately, even though he's only 20 pounds.

4.  Walking up any kind of incline about makes me have an asthma attack... and I don't have asthma.  I think they should give pregnant women inhalers.  That goes to show how out of shape I am even though I seem to be constantly running after Cooper.

5.  I'm having shower issues.  I always shave my legs in the shower and it's getting hard to bend over and reach them good.  Also, if I take a bath it takes me about 5 minutes to position myself to get out of the tub.

6.  My wedding rings don't fit anymore.  This is due to swelling... I dread to see how bad the swelling gets when it actually does get hot.  This gives me time to send them off and have them "re-plated" though.  I actually have no idea what's that's called when they cover them again in silver.  My rings have got a ton of scratches and the gold seems to be shining through some on the bottom so it's time for a tuneup.  I also need to have them appraised again and added to our insurance.  At least I've got my fake rings to keep my company!  They may be gaudy but I've had some compliments on them!

Like I said, I love being pregnant and hope I get to enjoy all 40 weeks of this pregnancy.  I may be singing a different song at week 37 when it's over a 100 degrees outside but I want this little boy to a fat, healthy thing come August.  I think we may have a potiental name lined up for him which is exciting!  Last time I said that though Andy changed his mind on me and about caused World War 3 in the Smithson house.  I'm not holding my breath!

Baby # 2 Room Inspiration

Baby boy # 2 may not have a name yet but he's got a theme for his nursery!  As soon as I found out I was pregnant I logged on to my trusty Pinterest account and got busy.  For some reason I can always think of boy nurseries a lot easier than I can girls.  You'd think it'd be the opposite since there seems to be so much more out there for girls.  Anyways, at first I thought about doing the nursery in a vintage toy theme but then I thought that could get expensive.  You can't really buy any fake vintage toys and I thought prices might start adding up quickly.  Next I moved on to a fishing theme but then felt like was that was a good theme for when he's retired... not when he's a newborn.  Next I came to the map/globe theme.  I really liked it and so did Andy.  He practically minored in geography in college and loves maps so he was all for it.  As I began looking around for nursery items I knew that it would be hard to go all out with this theme so I needed something else to tie in so we'd have a complete nursery.  I came across some really cute transportation ideas (planes, trains, cars, boats, heavy machinery) and thought that would go perfect with maps.  Since modes of transportation are a vital part of traveling he's going to have a "travel" themed room.  It may sound odd right now but I think it will be really cute once it's all pulled together.

Here are some of my Pinterest inspiration pictures.

I love these pillows!  I have no idea where I can find any like them but maybe I can find something similar.

Cooper has a really neat globe in his room that Andy had from before we started dating.  I would love to find several for the new nursery.

This little quilt has inspired all of the baby's bedding.  I had a really hard time finding a bedding set that I really liked for Cooper's room that didn't cost us a fortune.  I already knew I wanted a quilt but when I saw this I was set.  I have a friend who can sew just about anything so she's going to make his bedding.

This cute little suitcase would look great in his room... if only I can find one!

I'm thinking of hanging some vintage planes above his crib as a mobile... or maybe above the changing table.  I want to decorate with some trains and cars similar to this as well.

Cooper has 3 beautiful paintings above his crib that a friend did (hung very similar to these).  I love the idea of using maps for the artwork in the new baby's room.  Andy is in charge of finding some cool, inexpensive maps to hang.

This is just another fabric idea.

We painted his room a bright green when we moved in the new house to use as the playroom.  I think we're just going to leave it that color since all these things should blend in.  I know maps and transportation may not seem like they go together now but hopefully after shopping for the right colors and decor it look great!