I Survived Maternity Shopping and all I got were these clothes...

Maternity clothes shopping is the most horrible thing ever.  Having to strip in front of those florescent lights, stuff your strangely shaped body into and then out of a million different shapeless garments, and having to look at yourself while this is all taking place is not for the faint of heart.  I am so glad I did it finally!  I was running out of options with my regular clothes, and clasping and unclasping the safety pin on my one pair of remotely fitting pants 10 times a day for frequent bathroom trips was getting a little ridiculous.   Now I have some clothes that fit, and I'm going to share them all with you!

This is a lightweight jersey dress that I found at Kohl's.  I plan to wear it for my student recital this coming Sunday. It is very loose and airy feeling. 

Here is the whole en sem - is it teacherly enough?  The word at the office is that current maternity style is skin tight.  Um, I'm not ready for that.  

But apparently I'm ready for it on the internet!  I think this is hilarious because this looks like a body suit or something, but this is really a pair of incredibly comfy yoga style pants that reach all the way to my bra.  Yes I'm in a bra on the internet, but isn't giving birth and motherhood filled with modesty stripping moments?  I'm just preparing myself.  Anyway, these pants are the greatest thing ever.  I put them on immediately when I get home.  

This is the top I put on when I get home.  It was handed down to me from my friend Libby, who got it from a friend.  It is the best. shirt. ever.  I wish I could find it in every color of the rainbow and wear it every single day.  I like that it is lightly warm and comfy, and also that it appears to diminish my hugeness.  Maybe that is my imagination upon seeing this picture.  But I am definitely going to have to share this miracle of cloth with the next lovely lady in my life to be in need of the miracle shirt.  Who's next?  When I'm done with it, of course.  

The essential wardrobe staple:  jeans.  I got away with wearing my other jeans until about 20 weeks along, but it was soon a lost cause and I was craving some denim.  These appear normal enough!  The top was one of the only tops at Target I didn't hate.  It has lots of ruffles and pleats and makes me feel like a box.  Which is better than some shapes out there.  

Here I am like a magician revealing the secrets of maternity fashion:  how do those pants defy gravity?  The answer my friends is stretchy waist bands that go over your belly button!  Luckily, the fashion disaster part happens under your shirt so no one knows your shame except other moms.  (I'm going to be a mom!)  And now you all, looking at this blog.  I love how there are pockets and detailing where they would normally hit on low riding jeans so I can pretend I'm still in fashion.  

I usually push down these ridiculous bands below my belly.  The pants still stay up pretty well.  Free range belly shot!  

 This shirt was a gift from my mom!  She knew I was dreading the shopping experience and did some for me.  If you ask 18 year old me, this would probably be a dress, but I'm thinking it is a shirt.  I already have mom opinions!!  I've worn it out on a couple date nights probably because it is shiny and low cut.  I like that it has lots of fabric because I'll probably need that when I'm a lot bigger!  I'm wearing them with a pair of trouser maternity pants.  I know you can't tell but trust me, they are work appropriate!  

So that's the end of the fashion show, I hope you enjoyed it! 

Organizing the Armory

We have been working on organizing the utility room!  Since Jason's office is going to become Grace's room, Jason will be relegated to the basement.  The utility room was until recently covered with random tools, which didn't really matter until now.  

Jason decided to organize his tools by installing a peg board. 

And as we all know, since every household task requires the purchase of a new tool, here is Jason using his new favorite tool:  a cement nail gun!  It really is a gun because it requires 22 caliber cartridges!  He needed this because he couldn't drill into the cement very easily any other way. 

Aren't you impressed by the arsenal of weaponry my husband has amassed in the last year??  It is very manly and impressive wall decoration, that is for sure.  

Now this room is quite a bit more roomy!  I have been moving some boxes around and getting rid of stuff.  I feel a bit pathetic because I get out of breath lifting even one small box.  Jason has a back injury, and he isn't supposed to lift anything over 25 pounds, so we're both pretty pathetic right now.  The air compressor is STILL sitting on our dining room from when he was working on the crown molding because we're too weak to carry it back down the stairs.  

This side of the room is going to be the office area.  Jason's desk will go along the wall where the vacuum is sitting.  The storage boxes on the left contain Christmas and Halloween paraphernalia, as well as a box of clothing of mine that I will toss out once it is certain I will never fit into it again.  Here's hoping!  Tosca will have to show some serious enthusiasm for this cat tree if she doesn't want it to find a new home! 

Pregnancy Fashion

Yay me, I have thus far avoided maternity clothes!  Today marks the 20th week of baby making, which is hopefully half way.  The only unfortunate thing about avoiding maternity clothes is that it takes me forever to get dressed.  Every morning I have a huge pile of clothes on the bed of discarded items that used to be my favorites but now I loathe.  It is a constant search for things that make my belly look cute and round and contained to my belly area, not a gigantic full body bloating that some outfits seem to suggest.  Let's explore!  

This is my Valentine's Day outfit.  I tried on at least 5 dresses until I resigned that even if Jason could zip it up, my boobs definitely wanted out and appear to be trying to escape.  Then it took probably 5 skirts before I admitted that no, there is no skirt without an elastic waistband in this closet that will zip, even if I try and sling it really low.  This is what we came up with, ONE skirt in the closet that works, along with a cardigan that has NO CHANCE of buttoning.  

Proof that pregnancy is sexy!  Now I'm going to be to blame for all those teen pregnancies because who wouldn't want to look just like this?  Don't hate! as my students say. 

Since it takes so long for me to find a decent outfit, I tend to wear the same ones every week.  The black hopeless cardigan makes another appearance.  This has been one of my staple sweaters, but after seeing this picture I don't think it will be anymore.  

I would wear this outfit every single day if I could.  Cardigan buttons, belly looks round and cute but does not seem to spread to other body parts.  I just try and remember which day of the week I wore it last so that the same students don't see it two weeks in a row.  Here I am wearing one of three pairs of pants I own that I can hike low enough below my belly to wear.  My khakis are getting pretty tight and uncomfortable, so it is pretty much just these and a pair of black pants from The Gap that were a size too big when I bought them.  These jeans are stretchy too, so they have been flexible with my body changes.  I have to do a lot more laundry though!  

If ANTM is looking for America's Next Top Pregnant Model, I think I'm ready! 

P.S. Jason thinks these pictures are cheating, especially the last two which are from before Valentine's day, because as he says my belly grows daily! 

Baby Update!

This is a special blog post today brought to you by Rebecca's guest blogger, Jason.  We went to the doctor on Friday and had an ultrasound, which was pretty awesome, but I'll let you be the judge.  Check out the video below!  BTW - spoiler alert: if you're into surprises, you will find out if we're having a boy or girl in this video.


I was really surprised with how cool this ultrasound was.  The little video doesn't really do justice to the moment of seeing this little kid swimming around in there for the first time.
Thanks Mike for adding the intro, music, and uploading the video to youtube for us today!

Rebecca wanted me to include this picture of her belly. You can see it's hard for her to get all her layers of clothes out of the way because it's ridiculously cold here right now. I think today's high was supposed to be 1 degree.

The ultrasound tech thought that Rebecca's due date was really more like July 18th, but our doctor didn't think one week was enough of a difference to change her actual due date.

That's all for now. Think warm thoughts for us...

Jason's Crowning Weekend Achievement

I guess I DO have time for a quick blog post this week!  Jason has been busy this weekend finishing up the trim for our cabinetry.  

Hurray, all the crown molding is finished!  We've lived with it unfinished for almost 10 months, so it was about time we finished it!  Here is a before, in case you don't remember.

We hired someone who actually knows how to do this to put up the crown molding back in April, but we were one piece short so he couldn't finish.  Jason thought he ordered the extra piece a long time ago, but when we decided to finally tackle this project last weekend it was nowhere to be found, so this week he ordered the extra piece and it arrived on Friday.  To have the guy come back and set up his fancy tools would have cost $150, plus the labor, so Jason decided to try it himself.  Of course, we had to buy a new blade for his saw to make these kind of cuts.  Every project warrants a new tool purchase!   Since Jason could see how the guy did it, he was able to figure out how to do it himself.  He also finished trim pieces along the baseboards.  He was really nervous about doing this project, but he is super proud of himself and so am I!  

Since we lugged the air compressor upstairs, Jason also took the opportunity to repair some facing and door frame trim.  He is so productive! 

Here are the back splash tile choices I've collected.  I originally thought I'd like a glass mosaic tile that is so trendy right now, but it looked pretty busy with the countertop and it is also expensive.  We thought something more classic like a subway tile would look better.  We've decided on the dark brown one in the middle against the wall.  The kitchen is nearing completion!  We have this tile project, and we have this strange situation.  

I really wouldn't mind this pipe coming out of the wall at all if there wasn't a gaping hole behind it.  I'm wondering if we could just fill it in with joint compound a million times, but if that doesn't work we'll have a big gooey mess to paint over and no solution.  Mike suggested building a little shelf or something to hide it, and that might work well.

We're hoping to get these last projects finished up before the baby comes, because who knows when we'll have time to do them then? 

Bliss in the Bedroom at Last

We have been living without night stands in our bedroom ever since we moved upstairs.  We do have perfectly good night stands in our guest room, but I don't like them anymore.  Well, they don't go with my romantic/relaxing vision of our bedroom decor.  I made the decision that I'd rather live without night stands than with night stands I don't like.  Jason has been unhappy about this decision because he doesn't really care what the night stands look like, but he would like to have one because he sleeps on the far side of the room.  Usually, I make it into bed first, and he has has to turn off the light and stumble around the bed in the dark, since without end tables, we are also without bedside lamps.  I acknowledge this is totally unfair to Jason, and I've been looking for suitable replacements.  Of course, I want something specific, something a bit more slight since our bedroom is pretty small as it is.  Everything I find that I like is at least $200 apiece, and I'm way too cheap to spend that much on bedroom furniture.  There are almost no night stands on craigslist either, so this has been a long search.  So it was pretty exciting when I saw two MATCHING (that is another prerequisite of said new night stands) night stands that I did NOT hate!  I called to Jason yesterday from the office about them, and he was really excited before he even saw them.  "How much are they?  $30 for both?  Let's go get them!"  He insisted we drive downtown on Sunday, even though not all the roads had been plowed yet after Saturday's big dump, because he was that excited.  

 Pretty simple I know, but we're both happy now and that is all that matters!  Not bad for $30, don't you think? Now I need to find lamp shades for these lamps, since I no longer like these either!  I suppose I can live with them for a while...

That lump in the bed is my new body pillow, and I LOVE it!  I don't know how to make the bed with it, however.  It looks like someone is sleeping under there, or maybe I'm hiding a pile of dirty clothes.  Jason loves it too, and sometimes steals it from me while we sleep.  I think he should get his own!  I don't think you have to be pregnant to enjoy the wonders of sleep with a full body pillow. 

I have other things I'd like to blog about, but I know it will be a couple of weeks most likely before I blog again.  This week, there is scheduling difficulties at the store, which will mean many hours of overtime for us both, and next week we are both playing in the pit of a college musical.  Free time should be non existent. 

A Ball in Chicago

Jon and Roberta visited us for Thanksgiving and took us on a wonderful trip to Chicago!  First, we had the official Thanksgiving dinner at our house.

We thought it would be fun to tell them our big news in person, so we painfully waited until they arrived.  In my family, the tradition is to give the future Grandfather a bottle of Old Grand-dad Whiskey.  We continued the tradition by giving a bottle to Jon for his birthday, which is conveniently in November.  The surprise on their faces was priceless and I'm glad we had someone to tell in person! 

Tradition is tasty.  So I'm told, I couldn't have any :(

Then we drove to Chicago together!  What a great skyline!  Don't let those peaceful blue skies fool you, it was bitterly cold that weekend.  

Here we are standing in line for the Shedd Aquarium.  Apparently, everyone else thinks that Thanksgiving weekend is a good time to go sightseeing also!  I'm not sure how long we waited in line, but it seemed like quite a long time.  

When we finally made it inside, there were people everywhere, swarming every display.  A few times, I took my gaze upward to admire the beautiful building.  Even the light fixtures reminded me of sea creatures! 

We really enjoyed the Aquarium, but all the walking around really wore me out.  I've had a pretty easy 1st trimester I think, but I was tired quite easily.  Because of it, I didn't enjoy the Symphony concert that night as much as I would have liked.  I thought the music was excellent, but it is hard to concentrate when you are fighting sleep!  In anticipation of another potentially draining day, I only spent an hour at the Chicago Art Museum and spent the rest of the day resting in the hotel room while Jon and Roberta traipsed around town.  I did NOT want to miss a thing at the Lyric Opera, and it was worth it!  

It was a fabulous opera, and I'm so glad we were able to make a great memory together enjoying the finer things in life!