Parenting Penrose: 2nd Baby Checklist

During a pregnancy, I feel like at times it goes by slowly and at times it rushes by.  All of a sudden you get to a certain week and feel so far along.  That definitely hit me at 35 weeks this past Sunday.  Wow. 5(+/-) weeks to go. One month. Or less? Or more?

So, it's crunch time.  My baby shower came at a perfect time because it's helping my severe nesting mode to get all of these little things checked off the list:

Set up nursery furniture

Make nursery wall letters

Hang nursery wall letters & other frames

Wash pass-down & new clothing

Put clothing away in dresser & closet

Hang black-out curtain in nursery

Clear out misc. junk from nursery

Test breastpump

Wash all bottles & pump parts

Stock up on Household goods & toiletries

Clean out closets/drop off clothes at Goodwill

Wrap Ryleigh's Big Sister gifts

Pick up nursery art from printer's

Buy remaining Registry must-haves

 Buy postpartum lounge clothes

Pack Hospital bag for:  me, baby, Jake

Have carpet cleaned upstairs

Buy baby monitor with 2 cameras

Figure out how to work double stroller

Pre-Register at hospital

Pick new Pediatrician

Install Car seat bases

Tour Hospital

Set up Newborn pictures

Purchase organizer for changing table

Purchase new humidifier

Start on purchasing Christmas gifts

So, as you can see we've got most of the important items crossed off the list!  We need to hang some things in the nursery, get breastpump and bottles ready, finish packing the hospital bag (half-done)...We have to buy a new video monitor with two cameras because our model has been discontinued so there is no way to get a second camera! I'm pretty bummed about this because our monitor has been fantastic, but alas, that is how technology goes I guess...Install our carseat bases, and get a few last things for the nursery.  

Also, thanks to my hormones I've decided our carpets should be cleaned before the baby arrives.

Since I'm going to be in my "we have a newborn"/postpartum fog over the holidays, Santa has been trying to stock up on gifts for our girls ;)




   

Baby #2 Bumpdate: 35 Weeks!

How far along? 35 weeks, 4 days!

Total weight gain: +27 lbs

Maternity clothes? always 

Sleep: pretty good, but starting to be uncomfortable.

Best baby moment this week:  We got to peek in on little Aubrey at my appointment yesterday with a quick ultrasound to check if she was head down (my doctor does this at the 35 week appt).  It was so neat seeing her this far along! We did not see Ryleigh after 20 weeks on ultrasound.  It's crazy how neat technology can be.  She was making the cutest little faces and looked snuggled in all comfy in there!  I'm so relieved that she is head down and in the right position, because I've been concerned she was breech from where I've felt her movements.  We are so excited to meet her in a few more weeks!

Also, my baby shower last Saturday! Everything was wonderful from the guests to the food and the decorations! We got lots of great goodies, necessities, and cute outfits :)  I'm making progress with getting the nursery all set up, if only we could get around to hanging everything on the walls!

Miss Anything?  Not having to pee every 5 minutes. 

Movement: mid-morning and bedtime are still her favorite times to party.

Food cravings:  pasta, milk, apple cider 

Anything making you queasy or sick: nope

Gender: girl 

Wedding rings on or off? Still wearing my pearl ring 

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy and definitely in serious nesting mode.

Looking forward to:  Seeing our maternity pictures and getting the nursery finished up!




   

Baby #2 Bumpdate: 33 Weeks!

How far along? 33 weeks, 3 days!

Total weight gain: +24 lbs

Maternity clothes? always 

Sleep: good

Best baby moment this week:  Feeling lots and lots of movement and flips.  I'm finally starting to feel like she's taking up a lot of room and not just floating around in there, haha! Also, on Saturday we got SO. MUCH. accomplished in the nursery and around the house (hanging things, moving furniture, building stuff, organizing clothes, wrapping Big Sister gifts, etc).  Nesting mode is in full swing and I feel a million times better about the state of our house haha.

Miss Anything?  I picked up some Japanese food for dinner last night and saw their sushi menu.  Why is it that sushi always sounds so amazing when you can't have it?!  At least I have crab rangoons :)

Movement: Tons!  I went to the dentist this morning and I felt like my belly must have looked like an alien was trying to escape the whole time the hygienist was cleaning my teeth.

Food cravings:  Milk, milk, milk and more milk. Also, green grapes & Nutella.

Anything making you queasy or sick: nope

Gender: girl 

Wedding rings on or off? Still wearing my pearl ring 

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy and tired. Although I feel like I've been having hot flashes which make me grumpy in the moment.

Looking forward to:  a mani/pedi on Saturday and Maternity pictures on Sunday!! Let's all collectively pray that it doesn't rain during our pictures.

Baby #2 : Recent Purchases

Nesting mode kicked in so much quicker this pregnancy than before.  I feel like I'm checking things off the list a lot sooner this time around, but part of that could also be because we started out with more--re-using the nursery furniture and already having lots of baby items.  

There have been a few things that I've bought lately that we found great deals on!

DOUBLE STROLLER--
I periodically check Amazon and Target to see if anything we need for the baby is on sale, and finally our double stroller hit an all-time low price so I snagged that up today!  I love the style of this tandem stroller for a toddler & baby.  This is the older model, which sells for $100 less than their new "ultralight" version and it has all of the same features but it is 7lbs heavier.  Both are light enough for me to lift with one hand so I figure this stroller was a great way to get all the features but at a lower price.  AND--today it went on sale $40 off the normal retail which is the lowest I have seen it over the last several months.

Joovy Caboose Graphite Stand-On Tandem Stroller

After reading reviews and comparisons on several tandem sit-stand strollers, this one was the winner!  We bought it in red to match our red Britax infant carrier, and because #gobulldawgs.


NEW MATTRESS--
This one was a little switch-a-roo.  Instead of purchasing a new nursery crib mattress (the one we love that Ryleigh uses is the Lullaby Earth Healthy Support 2-in-1 Mattress) we bought a much more affordable toddler bed mattress and we will move the current mattress to the nursery.  I found this Kolcraft foam toddler mattress (fits a crib/toddler bed) with fantastic reviews and it is 40% off right now.  The only negative in the reviews was that the waterproof cover wasn't as soft/comfortable, so I bought these extras which are 50% off right now and will also be good to have on hand for the accidents that are probably in our future because of eventually #pottytraining.


POSTPARTUM WARDROBE--
I've made several purchases for my postpartum/nursing wardrobe.  I did this last pregnancy too, and I think that (1) It gives you something to look forward to in the midst of newborn craziness, and (2) buying new items that you know are going to accommodate a postpartum body help to avoid being sad that none of your pre-prego clothing fits yet.  I've got a lot of cardigans (including three of these thick sweater cardigans that feel like heaven!) so I aimed my focus at good transitional tunics and sleepwear.

Penguins // Polka Dot // Plaid 

All of these pajama sets were on sale under $15! 

Wearing nursing sleep bras like these was a necessity last time, so I bought a couple new ones...

Nursing Sleep Bras

I'm in love with these sleeveless tunics that I found on Zulily. The prints are gorgeous and can easily be dressed up or down. They are a nice shape that isn't low cut or tummy-hugging and will look great under a cardigan. They are the perfect 4-season shirt that I think I will be continuing to wear long after my postpartum months.

That's all for now! I've got some free time the next two weekends so I'm hoping to make lots of headway on the nursery :)

Baby #2 Bumpdate : 31 Weeks!

To summarize...

How far along? 31 weeks, 4 days!

Total weight gain: +22.5 lbs

Maternity clothes? Of course  

Sleep: Pretty good lately.

Best baby moment this week:  Such a sweet 'sister moment' last night.  We were putting Ryleigh to bed and sometimes she likes to give my belly goodnight kisses and will baby-talk to her sister.  She started talking to her and you could see some big kicks and movement in my belly. Ryleigh loved seeing that! She laid down with her head right beside my belly (I was sitting on the corner of her bed) and kept saying "Hey Aubrey, why you kickin like a little baby?!" and kept saying that and laughing over and over, while Aubrey kept kicking over and over! It was so cute and hard not to think that it was all directly related to Aubrey hearing Ryleigh's voice.  The kicking was only on the side of my belly that Ryleigh was talking to.  

Also, we toured the hospital that I will be delivering at this time, and I really like it! Definitely different than last time, but some similarities too.  Overall it seems nicer and I've heard fantastic things :) 

Miss Anything?  Ease of movement. Getting in & out of bed, moving around, standing up, etc. just isn't as easy as it used to be! haha

Movement: Some good, big movements lately. She's becoming a little more active throughout the day, but her most active times are still mid-morning and evening.  

Food cravings:  Fruit & nutella, milk, cereal

Anything making you queasy or sick: nope

Gender: girl 

Wedding rings on or off? Still wearing my pearl ring 

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy with some occasional emotional moments. Songs on the radio have been getting to me lately! haha

Looking forward to:  We are going on a trip this weekend, just a fun little getaway to partly celebrate the start of football season and also as a little bit of a "Last Trip as an Only Child" celebration for Ryleigh.  It should be a lot of fun!  Also, I've been ordering a few more things for getting the nursery together and I started working on the wall letters too :)