Where did March go?

Oh my gosh... I just realized that I haven't posted since March 8th! My bad.

It has been so long, I can't even remember what we've done in the last few weeks :o) We had yet another ultrasound last week and got to see the little one in in action. Baby R was caught on the ultrasound taking a big gulp! It was pretty cool to see, but of course it was only for a second - I blinked - and it was over. Bummer.

After a few measurements were taken, we had the all clear from the doctor that Baby R is growing just as it needs to be. I'm finally growing as well, not that I'm ready to see the scale creep up. According to the ultrasound images, Baby R is still feet down. Nothing to worry about just yet, but we did have to sit down and talk options of a possible C-section if he/she decides to stay put. Not cool, considering I'm planning on doing this delivery as natural as possible. So the last few months we're going to be coaching the little one and just hoping that it will turn! I've read that babies usually will turn on their own between 37 and 40 weeks, so we'll see what happens.

I had the option of getting my glucola test over with that day as well, so I went for it. Drinking something that resembles a warm Mr. Freeze pop on sugar steroids and one hour later my blood was tested. It resulted in a normal range for sugar levels and I was told I have nothing to worry about. Phew! Turns out, no matter how much sugar I consume, I'll be OK. I kind of wish I had a reason not to eat cookies and Easter goodies, but bring them on :o)

I'm feeling the baby kicking multiples times throughout the day and he/she just happens to love punching my ribs at night. Last Sunday I woke up to what I thought was an earthquake going on inside of me. It must have been the baby punching with both arms from side to side screaming, "Let me out of here!" It was entertaining, but definitely frightening at first. Playing punching bag isn't going to be much fun as the baby gets stronger, but if it means we're developing and staying on track - I can handle it. I think!

In the past few weeks we have been doing a little traveling. We spent St. Patty's day (actually weekend) celebrating with friends and watching the river turn green. This year we stayed at the Sheraton Hotel downtown and actually watched the neon green coloring be dumped and spread out with the boats from our hotel room. It was pretty cool to see, especially not having to be standing outside in the cold weather! We did some shopping, bar hopping and ate at Giordanos. AMAZING pizza place that is famous for their stuffed crust pizza. Yum. It was well worth a long drive and a great weekend out of Ottumwa with friends.

The photos below were taken on March 22nd. I was 27 weeks, 1 day. Not too much has changed since then (at least my weight hasn't in the last week) but I feel MUCH MUCH MUCH larger and round this week! It is definitely starting to get uncomfortable to sit - sleep - breathe. Just a few more months....sigh.

Side shot... 27w 1d

Front shot... 27w 1d

Where did my abs go?

 The abs went away just as fast as the month of March I think! Tomorrow (March 31st) is my big brother's birthday! We'll be celebrating at a wine and chocolate fundraiser for the Jefferson County Hospital. Wine tasting for Brook, chocolate for me! I better get in a few extra minutes on the treadmill before we go :o)

A Work in Progress

Lately I've been working on the back bedroom. A little bit here and there, and we're hopefully half way done...hopefully. After much deliberation and total convincing from a friend, we decided to reorganize the bedrooms in the house. When I say 'we' I mean that I decided and had to then convince the hubby it was for the best. In the long run, changing up the rooms will make perfect sense, but moving furniture up and down the three staircases and making room for baby things has been a bit overwhelming!

We moved the guest bedroom into my old office so it is now at the same level as the guest bathroom. My office has been moved upstairs to be closer to the nursery and is now in the brightest room in the house. Maybe it will be a bit more of an inspiration for me to have a new space. Maybe this means I'll finally get off of the couch and actually into my office again :o) We'll see!

Before shot of the nursery

We started with new paint in the nursery. The green walls were primed and painted a creamy beige. Yes, you read that right, I went with a light color! There is a first time for everything I suppose. My mother in law came over to help paint the walls one day and after 3 creamy beige walls, we decided to tackle the dark red. I went with a super neutral concept and wanted a pop of color in a dark red. I've been waiting to use a red color somewhere in this house - so I went for it! After all of the painting was done - it just wasn't 'finished' in my mind. So after a little research, I found a really cool idea using stripes and polyurethane. It gives the look of a flat color with a high gloss stripe. Turns out, if you tape the walls  in the stripe pattern that you like, VERY lightly roll on the poly.... then you better wipe whatever you can off before it drips! It was a bit difficult, but well worth the work. I removed the tape and did some touch up paint to give a clean line where anything may have run. It might be my new favorite room.

Dark red accent and creamy beige with the polyurethane stripes

Now you can see the flat vs. high gloss of the stripes

I only painted 3 of the walls with stripes because I had yet another inspiration for the last wall. I found an idea from a blog post on Project Nursery that rocked my world. As soon as I saw it, I knew I had to figure out how to do it! I rented a projector from the local library and spent an entire Saturday with my girl Kelli (another designer and my bestie) hand painting a mural of the alphabet and numbers. Monochromatic colors so it isn't crazy, but modern enough that if we decide to move the baby into another room, I have another office without having to repaint!

My Alphabet mural wall!

A-Z & 0-9 all there (even hiding behind the door)!

Here are the photos of the nursery. Just this weekend we set up the crib with my parents and the surprise early birthday present. I got an incline trainer! It's amazing... except my nursery has now become my nursery/workout room. We'll have to see how this goes... but for now - I'm ok with hanging out in the coolest room while kicking my butt at a 40% incline.

The crib all set up & my new incline trainer

I asked Cody if he wanted to learn how to W-A-L-K on the trainer.... he got on, until I turned on the machine and it started moving. I'll train him someday, but for now - I'll just keep getting this reaction whenever I ask if he wants to go for a ______?

Huh?

P.S. I finally got around the getting those belly shots done. I am officially 25 weeks, 1 day today!
Time just flies, but I'm going to try to keep the belly pictures up as I start to grow. The doctor said I'm finally hitting that rapid growth spurt - which explains my expanding cheeks. My face seems to gain more weight than the rest of me - so hopefully it will slow down so the rest of me can keep up. 

Cody and I posing

Pushing the belly out

Messing around with Cody

Where's the baby?

Drum Roll Please!

Intruducing Ms. Peyton Marie Richardson!

As of last Friday, February 25th at 11:05am I became an aunt to a beautiful baby girl named Peyton Marie. I traveled up with my in-laws to the quad cities on Thursday afternoon and we all spent the night in the waiting room at the hospital. Subrina was induced 5 days before her due date of March 2nd, so we weren't sure how long we would be waiting for Ms. Peyton's arrival after the doctors induced her. Unfortunately, things were done a bit different at this hospital and although she was induced at midnight, the doctor did not come in to break her water until after 9:30 or 10am Friday morning.

The good thing is - baby was healthy and Subrina only needed a bit of pain medication for the delivery. No epidural, she even looked great just after! Crossing my fingers here that our delivery is smooth and not too painful. I'd like to go as natural as possible as well, if I can avoid pain medication and epidurals, I will as much as possible!

Here are a few photos that I grabbed of the new edition to our family. Proud grandparents, Bill and Patty have been telling the world about her!

Grandpa Bill holding Peyton Marie

Proud daddy

Grandma Patty and Tim with Peyton

Peyton sleeping

Just leave me alone!

Her big feet!

I'm pretty sure she can grab a basketball with these toes

Finally opening her eyes

Grandma Patty and Peyton

Grandpa Bill rocking Peyton

Peyton Marie Richardson was born February 25, 2011 at 11:05am
She weighed a whopping 10 lbs 1 oz and was 22 inches long!

P.S. If this is the size Richardson babies are supposed to be, I'm in trouble!