29 weeks

29 week update: Just typing "29 week update" is crazy enough...I just can't wrap my mind around the fact that we are almost to the single digit weeks already (plus or minus a few days!). It is both super exciting and super terrifying at the same time. Jordan and I have SO much to do and get done in these next 11 weeks and they are definitely going to fly by! I have still been feeling really good and usually by the end of the week on Friday afternoon, my ankles have quite the swell going on. I guess that's what happens when I'm at the hospital for 40 hours a week and am constantly on my feet running from one treatment room to the next. But I'm also thankful that have semi-swollen ankles is one of my biggest complaints! Every now and then Peanut will be moving around and get positioned realllllly high up by/under my ribs on my right side and it's definitely not the most comfortable thing. I try to stretch my back out and twist to the side to give Peanut some more room! Because I'm carrying Peanut so high, usually the area right below my bra line is numb/tingly throughout the day from all of the pressure but I'd rather have that then Peanut sitting really low and making me feel like I need to constantly be running to the bathroom! Next week we have our 30 week appointment and then that starts our appointments that will be every two weeks.... We are still working on agreeing on a boy name and then coming up with a middle name for either a boy or a girl but I know we will find the perfect name eventually! And I'm pretty sure I felt Peanut have the hiccups a few different times now so that is exciting, just a steady rhythm of little taps! 

and we're out.

After three days of packing, moving, loading and unloading, then cleaning like crazy, we are officially completely out of our first condo. It was kind of bittersweet driving away for the last time... lots of memories, firsts, and good times were had there that's for sure! It is the place where Jordan and I got engaged, where we brought Paisley home to, and where we lived for our first year of marriage! A big chapter of our lives has now closed and I am anxiously awaiting to see where we end up next and how our adventure will continue... We might be living out of suitcases and boxes in the basement of Jordan's parents house for now but I know things will all work out how they're supposed to!

cloth diapering 101

This morning Jordan and I took a break from packing and moving to go to our first of three baby classes.... and it was Cloth Diapering 101!! We are also registered for a childbirth and preparation class along with a breastfeeding class in a couple of weeks. I know at first Jordan was pretty leary about this whole cloth diapering idea and didn't think he needed to come to the class with me because I could just relay all of the information to him while he still packed and loaded stuff up. However, I knew that just wasn't going to work or convince him that we could do this whole cloth diapering thing. Anyway, the class itself was pretty small with only about 8-9 other people. The lady who taught it was a past and current cloth diaper-er herself and the owner of the store we were at. She definitely knew her stuff and I loved hearing about her experiences, tips and tricks, and how it can be done by "newbies like us." We saw all sorts of diapers, inserts, covers, wipes, and the whole shebang. I can already see why it is easy to get sucked into the world of cloth and to be buying new cute diapers with specific designs/patterns/colors because they're all SO CUTE!!! As soon as the class was over, Jordan said, "we need to buy one of those wet/dry bags. Let's go pick out one with a cool design and pattern on it..." and since we got a $5.00 store credit for attending the class, we bought our first PlanetWise wet/dry bag that has bold and bright stripes of colors and it is super fun. I can't wait to use it! When we were driving home, Jordan said, "well, I definitely wasn't expecting to leave that class feeling like this but I am pretty pumped that we are going to be using cloth diapers for Peanut. I didn't think I'd be excited about diapers and getting to change them but this class made it seem a lot easier and realistic to do than I was thinking it would be. And I'm not gonna lie, saving the kind of money we'll save by using cloth is going to be pretty nice. Now we have to get Peanut a couple of Christmas print dipes!!" Yep, my husband is pretty awesome. I am so happy that he is on board with me now about going the cloth route! Can't wait to have a little fluffy butt baby in my arms! Now back to more packing, moving, and cleaning...almost done, wheeee!

Friday Funnies - 7.26.13

It's the last Friday of July...umm when and how did that happen?! Seriously. What is happening to this summer and why is time flying by?! How are we a week away from our 1 year wedding anniversary already and about 11ish weeks away from Peanut's due date???? Time is moving too fast and it's terrifying!!! This weekend will be anything but relaxing or enjoyable for us unfortunately because it is moving weekend. So that means long days, lots of cleaning, and lots of last minute packing and organizing of our stuff. Ughhh woof. And since we don't have a place of our own, we are moving in with two roommates aka Jordan's parents. Yep, that's happening! While I'm definitely thankful that they are this close by and are able to help us out so we aren't homeless, I definitely hate not having a place of our own to get organized and set up with our stuff. We are hoping this isn't a long-term thing (actually, I refuse to let that happen...) and it would be ideal if this was a 2-4 week thing so then we have late August and early September to be organizing our new place and setting up Peanut's room. I just want a place of our own to call home and a place for us to bring Peanut home to! I know everything will work out eventually and we will make the most of our current living situation but I can't stay it's been stress-free leading up to this point. But hey, we could always be homeless so like I said, I'm thankful Jordan's parents have cleared out their basement for us and essentially set-up our own apartment downstairs! Since our weekend will be spent sweating, cleaning, packing, and moving, I hope you all find time to do some relaxing and laughing for us! Enjoy the last weekend of July and make it a good one!

image via Pinterest
and this is how people lose a mattress on the side of the road...

drive, drive, drive!
worry about yourself!

28 weeks

28 weeks update: whoo all great news again from our latest appointment with our midwife! First off, Peanut's heart rate was strong and stead at 136 and I just love listening to that...it's so sweet! My belly also measured about 5-6 days behind but our midwife wasn't too concerned about that since that can change throughout the day depending on what I eat and drink, how active I am, or how bloated I might (or might not!) be! So if she isn't worried, then I'm not worried! The other exciting news is that I passed my gestational diabetes test! I was definitely pretty paranoid about this since I have such a big sweet tooth so I am pretty pumped that I passed it! I know I was low risk and not likely to have it but still, you never know! And Jordan was so sweet to wake up this morning at 6am on his day off to make me a high-protein breakfast of scrambled eggs and turkey bacon. Nom nom, so good and he is just so sweet! I love that he woke up early to make sure I had a healthy breakfast before the appointment and blood draw.... and I'm thankful that at the end of the night, he will rub my back and my belly then talk to Peanut. He's going to be such a great dad and I already can't wait to see the relationship he has with our kids. It's hard to believe that we are almost down to single digit weeks... holy smokes! I've been feeling great and am happy the weather hasn't been tooooo hot or miserable anymore. It definitely makes things more comfortable but I haven't been as miserable as everyone was making it seem like I would be so I'm thankful Peanut has made this easy on me this far!

cloth diaper stash is started!

Ok I admit it...I have a slight addiction to Craigslist. I check it every day multiple times. Like, I"m talking several times whenever I have some downtime to check it, I will look. Since the world of Craigslist has such a high turnover rate as I have learned, if you don't respond to something that you see and want right away, consider it gone when you sit down later to reply! So when I saw these cloth diapers being advertised, I jumped on it before I even finished reading the post! And then I realized, I was THAT person on Craigslist who emails someone 15 MINUTES after they posted whatever they are trying to sell. No shame here because it totally worked out in my favor!!!

Jordan and I have decided to enter the world of cloth diapering for Peanut (and future kiddos). It didn't take that much convincing for me since I will be the primary caretaker and home the most with the baby but I wanted to make sure we had a system that was still easy enough and do-able for Jordan when he is home and/or alone with the baby. We debated the pros and cons back and forth and finally decided that the pros have outweighed the cons for us. We are really looking forward to the benefits it will have not only on our baby but also our wallets and the environment! I know cloth diapering is an investment up front but it will more than pay for itself in 2-3 months and then we will be breaking even!

So here's the details about my latest score from Craigslist! I got 3 FuzziBunz all-in-ones one size diapers and 3 BumGenius all-in-ones one size diapers along with 15 inserts for $40!!!!! The family I bought these from said they tried the cloth route for only a few weeks off and on before deciding it wasn't for them so these diapers and inserts are practically new! A two-pack of the FuzziBunz and BumGenius sell new at Target and Babies R Us for $39.99 and a 3-pack of inserts is $15.99 so I got a huuuuge deal with this find! I have never been more excited about diapers before in my life and I can't wait to have a little Fluffy Butt in the house! 

Friday Funnies - 7.19.13

It's Friday already, say whaaaat?!! I know I say it a lot but this week has flown by.... is that just how it is when you're pregnant that time seems to fly by or is that how it is when you're busy all week working or doing whatever it is that you enjoy doing?! Either way, I'm not complaining if it means the week goes by fast rather than crawling by! And this weekend is shaping up to be another one spent at home doing some packing/moving and then relaxing with Jordan and Paisley! We are still on the hunt for a new place but at least we have a Plan B which consists of moving our stuff to Jordan's parents temporarily and staying there until we find a permanent place. I'm definitely thankful we have this option so we aren't homeless and have to stay in a hotel with our stuff in a U-Haul but I also really like to have my own space! And I want to start getting a room set up for Peanut sooner than later so I'm hopeful that we will find a place to call home in the next couple of weeks or maybe even days! Anyway, hope everyone survived the work week and that you get to enjoy the weekend and summer weather! 

image via Pinterest
and every wife has this look when she is driving and her husband is sitting shotgun!

Sad Cat Diary

"Two rubs exactly. A third one and I will bite the shit out of them..."

cheer up kitties, it's the weekend!

27 Weeks

27 weeks update: welcome to the 3rd trimester!!! Wow!! Is that possible?! I don't even know how we are in the third trimester or where the past 27 weeks have went...they have definitely flown by that's for sure! It helps that this pregnancy (not like I have anything to compare it to!) has been relatively easy on me the whole time....minus a few episodes of nausea and a few aches/pains here and there, I think I was expecting things to be a lot worse! I'm just thankful that I'm healthy and that our baby is healthy as well! Sleeping is even getting comfortable again now that I have figured out how to arrange my numerous pillows and once I situated, I am able to sleep through the night which I am definitely enjoying for now because I'm sure once I get closer to the end, that will change! We are slowly narrowing down our "boy name" list, yay! We don't have middle names yet for either girl or boy but at least we have first names pinned down, for the most part. And we have also signed up for 3 different classes: childbirth preparation and labor class, breastfeeding class, and a cloth diapering class! Whoo whooo... I'm thankful to such an awesome and involved husband who is looking forward to taking these classes with me and learning all he can about how to be a good daddy and parent and how he can help out during labor. I feel pretty lucky to have such a loving and supportive partner and husband to be experiencing this with! Next week is our 28 week appointment which will include the gestational diabetes test and I'd be lying if I said I'm not nervous for it! But I definitely can't wait to hear our little Peanut's heartbeat again and hopefully get nothing but good news from the appointment!

it's just a tetherball!

Nothing to see here folks.... just hiding some tetherballs under our shirts!! This makes me laugh so hard and smile at the same time. Nothing like a little belly-ball bump with each other! It's so funny how my bump actually looks like the size of a tetherball too... Janelle, how's the umbilical cord working out for you?! 

the family fun weekend has come and gone

...And just like that, the whirlwind of the weekend is over already. It always goes by way too fast! We had a good time visiting with my parents on Friday night before the madness set in on Saturday with everyone there but it was a lot of fun having us all together because it's so rare when it does happen! On Saturday, my mom and I went to a huge baby expo where we got signed up for tons of freebies and each brought home a goody bag full of freebies, coupons, samples, and other fun stuff for Peanut! Then Saturday night we all hung out, had some pizza, and enjoyed playing cards with each other! Of course, it wouldn't be a Cross family weekend without lots of jokes and laughing with each other! Sunday we spent some time packing and moving a lot of our stuff out to the garage and organizing our place since we have to move out at the end of the month. I'm definitely thankful for the help that we had because I'm not able to lift much and Jordan would have been stuck with moving a ton of things out to our garage! I just wish the weekends didn't go by so fast because we don't get enough time spent with each other! Thanks fam for an awesome and entertaining weekend as always - can't wait until we are all together again!

Friday Funnies - 7.12.13

So sooo happy it's Friday! That means another week down of the internship....and this weekend my whole family will be here visiting! My niece and nephew have spent the past 3 weeks in Texas with my parents so they're all driving up and will be here tonight! Then tomorrow, my brother, sister-in-law, and sister are coming to stay for the rest of the weekend with us too... it's going to be a full house but I can't wait! It's rare when we're all together so it should be a great weekend full of lots of laughs and good times with each other! This week has flown by but has definitely left me feeling exhausted...mainly because I'm still trying to adjust to getting up so early and going strong the whole day through at work! I just gotta keep telling myself that it will be worth it because I know it will be! Knowing we have a fun family filled weekend coming up definitely helped make the week go by though which is always nice! Hope you enjoy your weekend and don't forget to laugh a little and relax!

image via Pinterest
walking to school can also be exchanged for walking to work....
either way we all feel the same about it on Monday mornings and Friday afternoons!

Sad Dog Diary

"it poops delicious candy into a box of pee flavored sprinkles" 

cheer up pups...it's the weekend!

26 weeks

26 weeks update: Half-way through the week and I am one pooped Mama! This internship is going to be a lot more physically and emotionally draining than I had originally planned but I hope to just power through it and I'm thankful to be working with a staff who gives me plenty of opportunities for breaks and downtime when possible! The 4th of July was a lot of fun and thankfully not too unbearably hot and humid which seems to happen this time of the year. My feet and ankles got pretty puffy/swollen by Saturday night but I think that's because of the combination of the hot weather along with how much walking/standing I did over the past few days! But it didn't last long and when I woke up Monday morning, they were back to normal! With having longer more consistent work days now, it seems that my body can't resist a 45-minute nap when I get home each day and this usually helps gets me through the night to get some paperwork done. I think a daily nap should be part of everyone's day! Other than feeling tired at the end of the work day, I have been feeling pretty good. The pillows I sleep with have increased once again but whatever it takes to stay comfortable and asleep Jordan is fine with...the less tossing and turning I do, the better we both sleep! I can feel Peanut growing significantly bigger because there's always lots of movement and pressure in my entire abdomen area up to under the ribs. I have my gestational diabetes screen in two weeks so I'm trying to not be too paranoid about that but am definitely still pretty nervous for it! 

a day in the life of an intern...

I left work on Friday as a Child Life Assistant and today I walked back into the hospital as a Child Life Intern! I don't think it really hit me until I got started for the day by going to a procedure in the clinic then attending rounds in the NICU. For being 26 weeks pregnant, being in the NICU kind of freaked me out. Ok, not kind of.... it definitely did. There were babies there that were born anywhere from 22-30 weeks gestation and it was very surreal seeing babies that were born and are smaller than the Peanut I am currently growing and hopefully keeping as safe as possible in my belly! I truly admire anyone who becomes a NICU parent and the strength of those babies because they are truly fighters against all odds and are little miracles! The first day was a whirlwind but a great whirlwind and the time really flew by... I'm so thankful for this opportunity and am looking forward to all that I will be seeing and learning in the next 12 weeks!

Happy 4th of July (weekend)!

Happy 4th of July!

These are a few of my favorite things.... a day spent with Jordan, a delicious strawberry smoothie with a funnel cake, an awesome fireworks show, and the beauty of the flag waving on a sunny day! We had a great weekend that consisted of all of these things along with a trip to the farmer's market, a picnic/grill out at Jordan's parents with their friends and neighbors, and some family time on Sunday. It was a quality low key weekend and just what I needed before starting my internship this week!

Friday Funnies - 7.5.13

Happy Friday everyone and Happy 4th of July weekend!!! Looks like there's going to be some gorgeous summer weather (well, here at least!) so hopefully you all can get out and enjoy it! I have always loved the 4th of July and the atmosphere of it - the fireworks, grilling out, sunny days, and time with family and friends! Plus, who doesn't love to celebrate America's freedom?! Have fun celebrating and be safe... USA #1, love it or leave it!!!

image via Google
so many American activities...so little time

AmeriStanzi

USA #! If you don't love it, leave it!

11 months...wait, that's almost a year!

You're My Everything

By: Michael Buble

You're a falling star, you're the get away car.

You're the line in the sand when I go too far.

You're the swimming pool, on an August day.

And you're the perfect thing to say.

And you play it coy, but it's kinda cute.

Ah, when you smile at me you know exactly what you do.

Baby don't pretend, that you don't know it's true.

Cause you can see it when I look at you.

[Chorus:]

And in this crazy life, and through these crazy times

It's you, it's you, You make me sing.

You're every line, you're every word, you're everything.

You're a carousel, you're a wishing well, 

And you light me up, when you ring my bell.

You're a mystery, you're from outer space, 

You're every minute of my everyday.

And I can't believe, uh that I'm your man! 

And I get to kiss you baby just because I can.

Whatever comes our way, ah we'll see it through, 

And you know that's what our love can do.

[Chorus:]

And in this crazy life, and through these crazy times

It's you, it's you, You make me sing

You're every line, you're every word, you're everything.

So, La, La, La, La, La, La, La

So, La, La, La, La, La, La, La

[Chorus:]

And in this crazy life, and through these crazy times

It's you, it's you, You make me sing.

You're every line, you're every word, you're everything.

You're every song, and I sing along.

'Cause you're my everything.

Yeah, yeah

Happy 11 month wedding anniversary, Mr. E!

You are truly my everything and together we have everything.

I know you will always be there to pick me up when I am down.

I'm thankful to have you by my side in this crazy life of ours!

All my love, KE

25 weeks

25 weeks update: well I'm starting to feel bigger each day and I know I still have quite a ways to go...Jordan always reassures me that I am in fact not that big and also adds "the pictures make your bump look bigger than it really is." He's such a great husband and knows just what to say! I am still stretch mark free and am hoping to ride that out for as long as I can so I've been covering my body is lotion every morning and every night! I know they say stretch marks are more of a genetic thing and I know my mom got some when she was pregnant...but I can still hope that maybe my skin has more elasticity! Either way, I will be happy with a healthy full-term baby! I have been feeling really good minus some serious round ligament pain on my right side. Thankfully it has only been on my right side and only flairs up when I am sitting for a long period of time. This helps encourage me to stay active and keep moving to avoid the pains that's for sure! It doesn't last long either so that's a big plus. Sleeping is still comfortable as long as I have my cocoon of pillows surrounding me! Between all of the pillows, myself, and Paisley in the bed, Jordan jokes that his space is getting limited by the night! I also joke that I'm more comfortable when I nap in the recliner than when I sleep at night in our bed and he said he would move the recliner into our room just so we can still "sleep together" so I'm not alone in the living room....I might have to take him up on that offer in a few weeks if sleeping laying down in bed starts getting too uncomfortable! It's starting to warm up like crazy and I'm still avoiding any swelling in my feet and hands plus I can get my wedding ring on and off so between drinking a ton of water and staying active, I hope to avoid as much swelling/puffiness as I can! The other latest thing is Paisley and her obsession with snuggling up right around my bump and laying on my belly. Whenever I get home and as soon as I sit down in the recliner, she jumps up and gets all curled up around my bump and then naps there with me when I nap! It's so cute and it's like she is already bonding with Peanut!

summer wedding...

This past weekend Jordan and I went to our first (and I think only?!) wedding for the summer! It was for a good friend of Jordan's from high school so it was fun seeing her and being there to help celebrate her day! Jordan enjoyed enough beer for the two of us and we got to do some dancing together...always my favorite part! There were at least 5 other pregnant women there as well so that was kind of funny to see and I know I heard a few people say, "there must be something in the water at Coe..." which is where the bride and groom met each other. It was nice receiving so many wonderful compliments about how I look and well wishes for our future baby! It didn't hit me and Jordan until we were driving home that next summer for any weddings, or anything for that matter, that we will have a baby with us! RSVP for 3, coming up!