Rag Quilt

I found a tutorial for a rag quilt.
http://jenyu.net/make/ragquilt.php
It is VERY easy. It is made out of flannel and goes together really quickly. I just don't have the time now to make something very difficult so I decided to make this quilt. I also liked it because it will be warm for the Chicago winter. Here are my pictures of the finished product as well as a picture of what my belly looked like after. I had just finished "ragging" the quilt and I had quilt pieces all over me. We still have to wash the quilt to make it "rag" more but we have time to do that.

24 weeks 4 days

Quilt after I finished it
Materials after I finished cutting everything

24 Weeks

Baby's now the size of a papaya!
Baby's skin is becoming more opaque as the fat starts to pack on. And, thanks to the formation of small capillaries, her newly thick skin is taking on a fresh pink glow.

Thrift Stores

I had a little bit of a breakdown Saturday morning because we haven't done much in the babies room to get it ready. If you came to our house you would not even know we were expecting a baby because it looks like two adults live here, which is true but we need to start doing things to make a baby room. I was SO tired during my first trimester and I feel SO good during my second trimester that I'm really anxious to get most things done because I don't know what the third trimester will bring.
Anyway, John and I decided to go to Thrift/Consignment stores in the city. We went to 4 on Saturday. We ended up finding a dresser and a huge Armour for the babies room. I really wanted to find two things that were of similar wood, but we just weren't able to. I'm sure Austin will never know, but still I wanted everything to match perfectly. Oh well, we are on a budget so we went with what we could find.
The problem is we only have one car (Honda Civic) and thrift stores don't deliver. We asked our friends Ashley and Anthony if we could borrow Anthony (and his truck) after church on Sunday and he was able to help John. We live on the 4th floor, with no elevator and our stairwell is steep and narrow. John and Anthony were able to move both pieces of furniture, but before we could do that we spent Saturday night and Sunday before church moving the HUGE wardrobe we had in the babies room out. It is from IKEA and did not make the move from our downtown apartment very well. We knew it would not make another move, even into another room in our house, but we were able to salvage half of it, which we put in our room. We don't have a door for it so I'm going to sew a curtain or something similar that we can use. The other half John took apart and took to the trash.
We had to go through our stuff again and get rid of things and find new places for some of our things. The only thing left in the babies room will be blankets, all our clothes, towels, pictures, etc that were in his room have now been moved to another part of the house. I'm so surprised by how little you can actually live with. In the last 2 years John and I have downsized so much that you would think we wouldn't even be able to live, but for the most part we don't even miss the things we have gotten rid of.
The last thing I HAVE to do is the Armour has a musty smell and it is making my allergies crazy. I am going to the store today to see if I can find something so it won't stink our entire house up. I do not want to put our blankets in it until it stops stinking or else all our blankets will stink. I found something online that said to use Murphy's Oil Soap to clean it and then put lemon or orange oil on it and it won't stink anymore. John doesn't think it stinks, but it is bad and I just can't see keeping it in the babies room if it is going to smell like that. Wish me luck!

Knitting Projects for Austin

I have finished my first three knitting projects for the baby. I did a blanket and 2 hats. I will be starting a sweater soon. I'm pretty impressed with myself. I think everything looks really good, this is because I had a great teacher! My friend Molly has been the best teacher and if she isn't able to help me I have found a couple tips on you-tube. Here are pictures of what I have completed.

We finished Registering

I decided that we could register for 3 places in one day (BuyBuy Baby, Babies R Us, and Target). Since we live in the city we had to drive to one of the suburbs that had all 3 stores near each other. We left a little later than I wanted to on Saturday morning, but I NEVER guessed it would take so long to make a decision. I haven't made that many important decisions at one time before. I am so glad that a lot of my friends have been through this and they gave me great tips. I don't think I would have survived if they hadn't.
We got to BuyBuy Baby at 10:30 am and we didn't leave until 2 pm. I was shaking I was SO hungry. Our friend's had asked us a month ago if we would go to a play with them in the city, so we knew we had to leave Schaumburg (the suburb we were in) by 5 pm. I started to panick a little because we still wanted to go to Babies R Us and Target (Schaumburg has a Super Target). I made the decision that we would eat Wendy's for lunch and then go to Babies R Us because although there isn't a super Target in the city we do have a Target.
We got to Babies R Us about 2:15 pm and by 3 we were still in the front of the store. We are standing in the safety isle and I started to have a panic attack. I couldn't breathe and started to cry a little. John was like What is going on??? I told him I'm so concerned that we won't make it to Target and we have to be finished registering because the invitations are going out. We decided to finish at Babies R Us by 5 and go back to the city so we could make the play and then we would do Target on Sunday. I felt better, but was still a little flustered.
Yesterday we went to a Target in the South Loop. It was pretty small, but it made things easier since they didn't have a huge selection. I was so tired of making decisions I think I scanned every blue and neutral thing in the store!!
Anyone who is going to be having a baby, I recommend registering at Buy Buy Baby. I had never heard of this store and didn't know anything about them. I looked them up online and there is one in Addison, Plano, and Austin. They were SO helpful. Some of the store we went to I felt like the people in the stroller isle didn't know anymore than I did about the stroller. Well at Buy Buy Baby they have a "personal" shopper in each department who doesn't work on commission. Their job is to answer any questions you have. The poor guy in the stroller department had to put up with John and I for about 2 hours but we came away with a decision on a stroller that I LOVE!! It is a little pricey but we should be able to use it for at least the next 3 years and when we have another kid we can use it too. It holds two kids and each kid can weigh up to 45 lbs. We got it in black with a red bassinet attachment because then it is VERY neutral.
The other thing I love about Buy Buy Baby is when one of your friend's or family goes to the store and prints off your registry, about 98% of the items have a picture next to them. That is SO helpful. Target and Babies R Us only do that if the item is online. I'm hoping that the Chicago stores sell the same things as the Dallas stores, but they may not.
Anyway, our whirlwind weekend of registering is completed and I feel much more prepared for Austin, even though we didn't buy anything. At least I have made all the decisions so when we do it will be very easy!!

Pregnancy Eating

I'm starting to wonder if my eating habits will ever go back to "normal". During my first trimester there were lots of things I wouldn't eat because they made me nauseous or they smelled bad. Some examples are beef, bananas, salad, chocolate,... I have now incorporated most of these back into my diet, but every once in a while I will have a day like today.
I woke up this morning and put a turkey breast in the oven. It cooked for 2 hours and smelled AMAZING. I was looking forward to eating it. Then it comes out of the oven and I started cutting it off the bone. I don't know what happened but all the sudden I was like there is no way I will be able to eat this. The same thing happened last week when I made this casserole with corn tortillas.
Its frustrating because there is NO warning. Just all the sudden I will have the entire meal done and John will have to eat the entire thing or we will freeze it because I can't eat it. I don't even know how to explain it except that if I do put a bite in my mouth I'm like a little kid trying to eat her vegetables, I can't force my self to swallow the food! Its so frustrating because then I have to find something else to eat and John gets frustrated because we are wasting food. Hes been pretty good about eating the entire casserole without complaining, or whatever it happens to be that day :).

22 Weeks

Weeks 22-24 (Month 5): Papaya

Average size: 10.5-11.8 inches, 12.7-20.8 oz.

Watch what you say -- baby is now able to hear outside noise from down in the womb. Studies show that baby finds gentle music and your own voice most soothing. Nipples are starting to sprout, and that little face is fully formed. And, baby's starting to settle into sleep cycles, snoozing about 12 to 14 hours a day. It shouldn't be hard to figure out when -- just pay attention to those kicks as they start and stop.

More pictures from the wedding

Landon
Kevin and Melissa
Diana and I
Melissa and I

Weekend in TX

We went to TX last weekend for my cousin, Diana's wedding. John and I were SUPPOSED to fly to Austin Friday night. We get to the airport and the flight says 10:30 instead of 7:30 pm. We thought at first that it would be 15 minutes late landing, but we soon found out that the flight was delayed to leave Chicago at 10:30 pm. When we went to the gate to get more information on why the flight was delayed they couldn't tell us for sure that the flight would even take off. They were suggesting to fly to San Antonio or Houston instead. We decided to get on a plane to Houston instead. It took off at 8:35 pm and we landed in Houston about 11 pm. We had Brandy, who lives in Bryan/College Station, pick us up. By the time we got to her apartment it was 2 am!! (We took the long way home by accident :) ) We stayed at Brandy's house but she wasn't going to the wedding, which is in Belton near Killeen.
My Uncle Terry lives about 30 minutes from Brandy. I had asked him if we could ride with him to the Wedding when we found out we would have to go to Houston. He said sure. He picked us up on Saturday at about 3 pm by himself. I was wondering why he was by himself and then he told us he wasn't going to the wedding but gave us a ride to Austin anyway. We were so thankful. He dropped us off in Austin (it was about a 2 hour drive) and my aunt Tootoo drove us to and from the wedding. We stayed at Tootoo's house Saturday night.
On Sunday we went to see Iron Man 2 and then her and Torrey took us to the airport.
It was a VERY busy weekend, but I'm so glad we were able to go. It made me wonder if we would be able to do things like this after Austin comes. I think we will be able to go but we will not take airplanes that leave so late. Chicago is the WORST place to fly out of. Airplanes come in from all over that you can be delayed and there isn't even bad weather in Chicago. It can be very frustrating some time.

Here are some pictures from the reception:

John and I
Sara, Cameron and Torrey
Diana and Kyle
Mom and I
Jeanne, TooToo, Carol and Mom

Kristal's Graduation

Kristal, Sean, Sheana, and Peter
All the fiends. AS you can see I wasn't really ready for the picture. Oh well...
Kristal and Sheana
Sheana and Peter
Kristal and Sean

My friend Kristal graduated from UIC last week with her Master's. I'm so proud of her! I went to the graduation. Here are some pictures of her and her family.

21 Weeks

Week 21: Banana

Average size: 10.5 inches ***, 12.7 oz.

Baby gulps down several ounces of amniotic fluid every day, both for hydration and nutrition and to practice swallowing and digesting. And, these days, those taste buds actually work! Studies show that after birth, babies are most interested in tastes they've already experienced through amniotic fluid. Meaning, think about what you want your future child to eat as you prepare your own lunch.

Baby's now the size of a banana!
Baby's digestive system is busy creating meconium (a tarry black substance made of swallowed amniotic fluid, digestive secretion, and dead cells), which will fill the first diaper after birth. And, if baby is a girl, her womb is now stocked up with her lifetime supply of six million eggs (the number will drop to around one million by birth).

First Cubs Game

John and I...this was Austin's first game as well :)
John and I with Sheana and Peter
Sheana and I
John and I

Kristal and Sheana, friend's of mine that are twins, are turning 26 tomorrow. Sheana's boyfriend Peter bought Sheana 4 tickets to the Cubs game for her birthday. Sheana asked if John and I wanted to go with them. We had a great time. It was a PERFECT day for a baseball game and I had a ball park hot dog! MMMM! Overcast and low 70s. The cubs won and we had good seats. Happy Birthday Kristal and Sheana!

20 Week Appt - It's a boy!

20 weeks and 2 days

John and I went to the doctor Friday morning. I had a 9:30 appointment where they did a very detailed sonogram to make sure the baby is progressing like it should. The baby did not want its picture taken, which made me wonder how it could possible be my kid :). Anyway, the more we pushed on the belly to get him to un-fold from the ball he was the tighter the ball got. I tried jumping up and down in the sonogram room and everything, but we basically scared him. So since he didn't cooperate I will be going back on May 11th to see if we can do round 2. The sonogram tech wasn't able to get all the pictures of his spine and other areas that she needed. He was bent over with his legs crossed, but we were finally able to see something. The sonogram tech was 95% sure we are having a boy. On May 11th I will have them confirm this if they are able to. We have picked a name... Austin Daniel Tarver. I think 95% odds are pretty certain, but I guess there's always a possibility a girl could come out.