Maternity Must-Haves

I can't believe that in less than two months, this baby girl will be out of my belly and in my arms!  I have been so blessed in this pregnancy that I can't thank God enough.  It has been smooth, sweet, and (for the most part), comfortable.  As I near the end, I thought I'd share a few key things that have made my pregnancy easier and more enjoyable.  I'm one of the last of my friends to have a baby and most of my readers are expert mamas, so thanks to the moms who have gone before me and given me advice on all of these "must haves"!

::Target Body Pillow::

Everyone says a pregnancy pillow is a must, but I was horrified to discover that pregnancy pillows cost between $55 and $75.  Wha??  I went to Target and found this extra long body pillow for $9.99.  It is AWESOME.  It's from the college and dorm room line, but I'm not picky. Around here we lovingly call it "The Great Wall".  It does the trick - I sleep like a baby on my side.

::Target BeMaternity Seamless Maternity Tanks::

These camisoles are worth their weight in gold, yet they cost only $16.99.  I have a white one and a black one, and I wear them EVERY.SINGLE.DAY, no exceptions.  If one is dirty, I will literally do the laundry right then so I can wear it.  It's that important.  These tanks are super lightweight, completely seamless, very long, and tight enough to hold everything in but soft enough to be luxuriously comfy.

::GAP Supersoft Maternity Leggings::

My daily uniform includes these GAP leggings + the seamless camisole + a long sweater or tunic of some sort + flats.  It's a winner every time.  I love these leggings from GAP because they sit below the belly (very comfortable) and are longer instead of cropped.   They are nice and opaque and have survived many, many washings.   Love them!!

::Club Soda::

I have not missed alcohol, but sometimes, I am a bit jealous of Brent's wine or margarita.  Club soda has been my mocktail of choice.  A few times a week, I have a "drink" with some sort of fruit juice (my faves are cranberry, cherry, grapefruit, and pomegranate), a splash of lime juice, and club soda.  I'm not gonna lie - it doesn't taste like a margarita, but at least it gives me something fun to sip while others are enjoying a drink at home or out in a restaurant.  Plus, this club soda is calorie and sodium free, so it's better than a regular soda!

::Online Shopping::

I have always loved online shopping, but as a pregnant lady, it's beyond awesome.  I designed my entire nursery and registry online, and I can order things in my pjs at my kitchen table without driving around all day.  We ordered just about everything for the nursery online.  It's pretty fun when giant gliders, ginormous rugs, and everything in between just show up on our front doorstep each day.  All we have to do is bring them inside!  (Don't mind if I do!!)  I'm also doing most of my Christmas shopping online.  You can call me lazy, but I'm calling me pregnant.

::Babywise::

I decided early in my pregnancy that I didn't really want to or need to read about pregnancy.  I mean - there's a baby in there.  It's going to grow.  There's not a whole lot I can control about it.  It's going to come out.  And then... I'm going to have a real, live baby.  And what will I do at that point, pray tell?  Explain to her everything I learned about being pregnant?  I think not.  I decided instead to read some actual baby books.  Babywise has been great and has helped me feel a lot more prepared.  I like to have a plan.  Even if it doesn't work out perfectly (it won't), I feel good about the plan.

::Old Navy Maternity Skinny Jeans::  

I am in love with these jeans.  They are so stretchy and comfortable, yet form-fitting.  They are skinny enough to fit into boots for fall but not too tight.  They have a full panel, but I like to fold it down to make them more low-rise.  I wear these pretty much every day, so I've gotten my $34 worth.

::Burts Bees Mama Bee Belly Butter::  

Maggie gave me this lotion for my birthday, and I use it religiously every night.  It smells great and is not greasy.  Who knows if it prevents stretch marks or not, but I don't have any yet!  Plus, there is really no downside to lotion, right, so why not?

::Happiest Baby on the Block::

This was my other pick for a pre-baby read, recommended by many moms and my obgyn.  I have heard great things about these techniques, and I think they sound awesome!  I'm ready to try them!

::Tums::  

My friend suggested I stock up on Tums, so I purchased a value pack, and good thing I did!  These things work wonders, and I'm thankful that just one or two will fix my issues!

What were (or are) your pregnancy must-haves?

Dallas Shower

Last week, Brent and I did the full "Texas Tour" seeing all of our immediate and extended family members in Houston and Dallas.  It was quite a whirlwind, but it was good to see everyone since this is our last trip before Baby N arrives!  While we were in Dallas, my mom and sister threw me the most adorable shower for family and a few close friends.  They worked so hard on the details, and it was PERFECT!  Here I am in all my glory at 32 weeks.

The invitation was adorable.  My mom made it to match my nursery colors.

My mom put up the cutest decorations!  Pink overload, of course!

It was wonderful to spend some time with my family.  Here's my sweet mom and Grammy.  I also got to hang out with my cousin, Melissa, who is expecting a boy in February!!  As kids, she and I dreamed of doing everything together as adults. Two years ago in Houston, we lived on the same street, and now we are expecting our first children within one month of each other!  Crazy, right?  

Grammy, Mom, Aunt Robyn, and Aunt Susan

Our good family friend, Marianne, came to the shower.  She has lived two doors down from us for almost 28 years!   Julia and I used to play with her kids when we were little.  I also got to see my sweet friend Marisa from junior high and high school!  She came with her precious daughter, Lucy.

The food was delicious.  I was so impressed with my mom for making this three layer lemon coconut cake with homemade icing!!  Isn't it beautiful?  The table set-up was so pretty, too.

Me with my mama and sweet Grammy serving fruit salad

Aunt Robyn was the punch master.

All of the presents were sweet and thoughtful.  One of my faves was this one.  My mom found the dress that both my sister and I came home from the hospital in!  It's a hand embroidered rosebud dress, and it's so precious!  It will be pretty cool for my daughter to come home from the hospital in the same dress that I did!

Baby N has so many loving aunts, grandmothers, great grandmothers, and great aunts.  She will be one spoiled little girl!  Thanks, mom and Julia for the shower!  Love you!

Nursery 2.0

Although I was pretty excited about nursery 1.0, the design has been revamped into nursery 2.0!  (Y'all didn't really think I would be satisfied with my first design, did you?)  :-)  Hours more on the internet, and we've got our final game plan.  The impetus for the change was finding The.Perfect.Crib.  I was all about my white Target crib for a while... until I saw this one.  We were registering at Buy Buy Baby, and we both fell in love with the Bassett Baby "Ava" crib they had on display.  It has an elegant, unique back piece, and it's the most beautiful dove gray - perfect for our nursery colors!  As my mother-in-law pointed out, it's "fit for a princess".  So, yeah, we had to get it.  We also got the matching dresser.  Since we essentially swapped white furniture for gray, I had to nix my gray rug and gray glider.  That's a lot of gray.  I went back the drawing board and decided on a lighter shade of pink for the rug, a lighter shade of yellow for pillows and accessories, a gray damask ottoman, and a cream-colored glider.  We are so excited about how it's coming along!  Everything looks fabulous against the pale yellow walls we already have - "whisper yellow" from Behr.  The pieces are coming in slowly one at a time, so there's not much to see quite yet.  I'll be sure to post actual pics soon, but here are the new inspiration boards!

1::  Ava crib from Bassett at Buy Buy Baby

2::  Mia chandelier from Pottery Barn Kids (probably won't get this until we move in May, though)
3::  Trellis Moroccan rug in Bubblegum from RugStudio

4::  Rockabye glider in Buckwheat from Target

5::  Gray modern damask pouf ottoman from Zeldabelle on Etsy

6::  Ava dresser from Bassett at Buy Buy Baby

8::  Gray and yellow zig zag bedding from Carousel Designs

Smaller touches:

1::  White picture ledges for displaying books from Amazon
2::  Custom wooden monogram from Charming Little Nest on Etsy (We need to name her first!)
3::  Handmade flag banner in our colors and patterns made by my mama!  (Pic is just an example - mine will be pink dots, yellow chevron, and gray chevron.)
4::  Handmade yellow chevron pillow for the glider made by my mama!  (Pic is just an example - mine will be rectangle and a lighter yellow chevron pattern.)
5::  Mirrored lamp base with yellow shade from Target for side table
6::  Mercury glass lamp base with natural shade from Homegoods for changing table
7::  Toddler chair / rocker from Homegoods (You can't tell in the picture, but it's mini and so cute!)

Random Extras:

1::  In terms of other touches, I'm not doing a theme, but I have fallen in love with the cute owls that I've seen everywhere.  I bought this super soft stuffed owl at Pier 1.
2::  I also picked up this white owl figurine from Marshall's for the side table.
3:: I found these cute soft-sided Paris bins at Marshall's - perfect solution for chic organization in the closet!

I'm planning on the following DIY projects:
1::  Pink felt flowers for natural lamp shade
2::  Hand painted canvas with owl and Baby N's name
3::  Canvas with wooden letters spelling out a verse

Fall in Durham

Durham in the fall is magical.  When I go for walks, I don't even want to listen to my iPod.  I just walk, look, listen, pray, and enjoy.  Something about fall makes me want to Praise God!!!  Every evening the neighborhood is chilly and smells like smoke as people come home and light their fireplaces.  Now through December is truly the "most wonderful time of the year"!!  Here are some pics I snapped with my iPhone on my daily neighborhood walk.  That's our church in the first picture.  I love that it's at the end of our street!  In the last picture you'll see the sign for our neighborhood... Watts-Hospital Hillandale, est. 1908.  We just LOVE our neighborhood.  It verges on idyllic!

Baby's First Shower!

Last Saturday, Baby Norwood was showered with love and gifts even though she is not even born yet!  She is one lucky girl, huh?  My wonderful mother-in-law, Vicky, and my sister-in-law, Wendy, have a group of precious friends who were kind and generous beyond words to host this beautiful shower for me while I was in Houston.  Words can't express how grateful I am!  Baby N and I felt very loved.

Here are the beautiful details of the shower decor.  It was over-the-top pink!  Some of the ladies who hosted the shower are interior decorators, so it was pretty much amazing.

More precious details including the blessing tree

The food table - lots of delicious desserts and finger foods!  With plenty of pink, of course.

Terry serving champagne punch (not for me, sadly) and the amazing desserts!

Sweet Cookie: Vicky's good friend, one of the nicest people I've ever met, and one of my biggest fans.

(L) My beautiful sister-in-law, Wendy (R) Wendy, Vicky, and my mom

The lovely ladies who hosted my shower:  Shirley, Cookie, Terry, Rose Marie, and Wendy

YES Prep North Central friends "Pears", Lora, Erica, Stephanie, Michelle, and Rachael.  So grateful they made the drive to Sugar Land!  Best  people to work with ever!!

Guests chatting and eating

North Central friends during gift opening

My fabulous course leaders Crystal, Allyson, and Dillon.  So blessed to have them on my team!

One of the gifts that brought everyone to tears:  A hand-stitched lace christening gown made by Brent's grandmother who passed away over a year ago.  She had been working on it and saving it for our future children!  It is INCREDIBLE.  What an heirloom to have forever!

There were PLENTY of adorable little girl outfits.  At the end, Lora said, "Does your daughter have even one pair of pants?!"  I got more wonderful gifts than I can picture or list here, but needless to say, the nursery is getting stocked quite well!

I'm so glad that my sweet mom could come for the shower.  I have been missing her, and we hadn't been together since our New York trip in July!  Love you mom!

It was a fantastic weekend, and a great memory of my first shower for my first baby!!

Eating Our Way Through Durham

To start, a sad story:  My friend Jamie couldn't come this weekend.  I know.  It sucks.  Hurricane Sandy is my arch enemy.  Jamie lives in New Jersey and was worried that the hurricane headed straight for NYC would prevent her from getting home.  I was pretty bummed out on Friday when she had to cancel.  I was even more bummed out that I had planned a weekend 'o fun fall extravaganza activities that would now not come to fruition. I had already purchased two tickets to a downtown Durham walking food tour from Taste Carolina - something I've always wanted to do in Durham.  The tickets were nonrefundable, so I Brent and I decided to go on the tour as a little Saturday afternoon date.  It was really fun!

Across a three hour period, we walked about three miles with a tour guide and eight other participants.  We visited six Durham restaurants.  At each stop, we got a little presentation from the chef or owner about their food, ingredients, and philosophy.  Then, we got a tasting!  Along the way, our tour guide told us about the architecture in downtown and the history of the tobacco business in Durham.  It was pretty interesting!  Many of the food stops included fabulous drinks, which the pregnant lady didn't get to partake in.  Oh well.

Here's a pictorial record of our food trek through Durham.  I LOVE DURHAM SO MUCH I CAN HARDLY STAND IT!!  How can there be so many amazing restaurants here?  So many things to eat; so little time, but I will give it a valiant effort while I'm here!  I'd highly recommend the tour for locals & visitors alike.  I believe the rotation of restaurants changes weekly!

Clockwise from top left:  Pasture raised beef burgers at Bull City Burger, mushroom crostini at Toast, mini lemon meringue pie and truffle brownie at Daisy Cakes, smoked chicken & spinach crostini at Daisy Cakes, Decor at Daisy Cakes, and our tour guide outside Toast.

Clockwise from top left:  Sign outside Piedmont where we had sweet potato bisque, white bean crostini and butternut squash risotto at L'Uva Enoteca, large pregnant lady by the Durham bull, the bar with 60 local beers on tap at Tyler's Taproom, fried pickles at Tyler's Taproom, and Brent at L'Uva with homemade sangria!

Welcoming Guests

I am so excited because today my friend Jamie from New Jersey is coming to visit!!  Jamie is my dear friend from my Columbia Teachers College cohort.  We've been through a lot together over the last 3 years - dorm rooms, fun classes, not-so-fun classes, living in New York, and writing 100 page thesis papers.  She and I bonded from the very beginning, and she is now one of my good friends. 

 

 

This summer, we talked about her coming to visit North Carolina in the fall when everything is beautiful.  It was one of those things you talk about but never do.  Except... we're actually doing it!  She's flying in today after school, and I'm so excited!  I've planned a "Fall Extravaganza" for us including lots of fun things to do, see, and of course... EAT.  I'll be sure to take pictures and update you early next week, but for now I wanted to post on something I did to get ready for her visit that I've always wanted to do.

 

I love having guests, and I've always wanted to make a little guest welcome basket.  My mother-in-law did that for me once when I stayed at her house, and it was so sweet!  I've just never gotten around to making a welcome basket for anyone else, so this time I decided to do it!  Jamie will have this fun treat waiting for her when she gets in late tonight.  I tried to think about things I would like if I was staying at someone else's house.

 

Here's what I included.  Want to come stay at my house?  Better hurry or you will probably get a task list for baby instead of a welcome basket!!

 

28 Weeks

Well, hello third trimester!  It seems like this pregnancy is going WAY too fast, but then when I think about the fact that I've been pregnant since early May, that kind of seems like a long time!  I am doing great, and we are really anticipating the baby now.  We talk about her a lot - many times each day.

Cravings:  

• Water!  I am so thirsty!  Before I was pregnant, I would barely touch my water at a restaurant (maybe that's because I was drinking wine!)  Now, I get at least 2-3 refills on my water when we go out.  
• Another big craving I'm having is bread.  I have never been a bread person, but now it sounds so good.  Healthy, huh?  My main bread cravings are raisin English muffins, pumpkin bread, banana bread (made both this week), and cornbread.  Mmmmm have to have bread a few times a day.
• Still on the sweets kick.  Cupcakes, Halloween candy, and any sort of baked goods really sound good.  And I started eating frosted mini-wheats a few times a week like I'm eight or something.

Symptoms:  

• I'm definitely feeling baby girl now.  She moves in spurts at various points of the day.  She is getting kind of heavy, and I know she still has to triple in size.  Yikes.  I'm having some definite pelvic pain.  It feels like all my bones are bruised.  Fun!  I have been trying to walk 2 - 3 miles most days, and sometimes I can barely hobble home at the end of the walk.  
• I'm getting up at least 3 times a night for bathroom visits, and it's definitely harder to get comfortable.  I'm using a ginormous body pillow we lovingly call "The Great Wall", and when I flip over in bed, it's comical.  It looks (and feels) like I'm wrestling an alligator.
• I've been strangely full the last week or so.  I'm just not very hungry.  I think baby girl is taking up a lot of room in there.  Meal time comes around, and I know I should eat something, but I just don't have a huge appetite.  However, at very random times sometimes I am ravenous.  The other day I woke up at 7 am and could not toast an English muffin fast enough.  I thought I might die if I didn't eat something within five minutes.  Go figure.
• I can see her move from the outside, although Brent has yet to see it.  I've tried to yell for him to come quickly, take videos, and predict when she will move, but nothing works.  She's a tricky little one.  I read somewhere that in the third trimester, your belly takes on a life of its own, and I have to agree.  Sometimes it looks so lopsided, and I think it's because she's all squished up on one side.  When I see my belly move, it's pretty crazy.

Nursery:

• It's getting real, y'all.  Today Brent is packing up our study in boxes and moving the furniture to the garage.  Bye bye study.  The study will become the guest bedroom, and the guest bedroom will become the nursery.  The switch will be final in the next week or so.
• I've completely changed the nursery plan since I last posted about it.  You don't even want to know how many hours I've spent online looking for baby stuff.  Wowza.  We found the most adorable crib that totally changed our plan.  Well, not totally... the colors are still gray, yellow, and pink, but the pieces are all different.  We've already ordered the big stuff, and the crib & dresser are in our house as we speak!  Exciting!  I will do a nursery 2.0 post soon.

Fun Stuff:

• We are finishing registering, which was really a fun experience.  We have a few showers coming up, so I can't wait for those!
• We are still throwing around names.  We have a short list, but we haven't decided QUITE yet.
• We're starting our classes at the hospital.  Last night we toured the maternity section of the hospital.  Next we are taking a "baby care" class.
• I have possibly become obsessed with baby deal websites like Zulily and Very Jane.  I've found a few cute things that I just can't WAIT for baby girl to wear!
• I have to brag on my husband.  He is the sweetest, best husband ever.  He is so excited about the baby and so sweet to me.  He has been overly considerate and kind.  He doesn't even protest much when I purchase ruffly pink things online that she doesn't really NEED but will look dang cute in.  He almost always tells me how good I look... except for that one incident where I got new pajamas, and he asked if they were "big girl pajamas".  haha.  In his defense, I don't think he meant it in a mean way, but I made sure to use that as a teaching point of "what not to say" :-)  I praise God every day for giving me such an amazing husband who will also be an amazing dad!

Baby Girl Gifts

Our baby girl is very loved already, and she isn't even born yet!  Although we are still finishing registering, we have been so blessed to receive a stream of gifts from our precious family and friends.  This little girl is accumulating SUCH cute stuff, and I wanted to document her first gifts.  She is going to be a stylish diva from day one.  Here are the precious things we've received so far.  Thank you wonderful friends!!

bookworm onesie:  How perfect is this?!

{from my wonderful work partner, Emily}

pink Toms shoes

{from Pears, my super sweet YES friend}

pink newborn tutu

{from me, the mama.  I couldn't resist.  Baby girl wanted to be in this photo with her tutu, so I obliged.}

"daddy's girl" footed leopard onesie

{from my sweet mama}

Texas A&M dress and bloomers

{from Brent - duh, he had to give the baby some A&M apparel before anything else!}

sock monkey hat

{from our precious neighbors' mom, Jan}

John Deere stuffed tractor & pink blanket: um... perfect!!

{from my wonderful course leader, Dillon}

modern, ridiculously cute receiving blankets

{from baby's Aunt Wendy}

puppy slippers

{from baby's Aunt Julia}

New York Baby book

{from my fabulous Columbia cohort friends}

ducky footed onesie set

{from my mama}

hilarious customized onesie

{from Brent's Duke study group - they call themselves "Team Nailer"}

pink fuzzy baby slippers

{from sweet Maggie}

baby's first photo album

{from my mama}

Let's end with a good laugh about the fact that ALL of our baby's belongings currently fit into this one tiny basket.  I'm guessing that this will NEVER, EVER happen again as long as we all shall live!