My Mail Order Boyfriend

I'm in love. I'm desperately in love with my new boyfriend.

I am starting to have a really hard time sleeping and/or getting comfortable in bed. Either I turn onto my back (a no-no in pregnancy) or I try to turn onto my stomach (obvious problem) so, I've found my solution. Mr. Boppy, my total body pillow. He's my new mail order boyfriend.

He is the best snuggler in bed, he holds me tight, and he doesn't let me turn in way that's dangerous during pregnancy (or uncomfortable.) He shares the blankets, doesn't snore or breathe on me, and I can throw my leg over him and he doesn't complain. His only flaw? He kind of hogs the bed.

Aaron better watch out; this guy is amazing! (Bing is a fan too!)

The New Birdroom/Home office

Last month I went to North Carolina for a few days to visit one of my best friends, Hilary. While I was there Aaron took the opportunity, as a surprise for me, to begin renovations on our birdroom (the new home office). FYI: It's called the "birdroom" because, well, those of you who know me know that one of my favorite pastimes is birding. This room extends from the back of our house and overlooks our yard where I have several feeders so I can spy on our feathered friends.

Originally this room was more of a mudroom and had only a bench and a bookshelf in it as we had a larger room upstairs that served as our office/craft area. Then, last spring, we found a BEAUTIFUL antique desk at the library and moved it into this room. The desk was SO large that it was the only thing that fit in the room. Later, once we found out there was a little one on the way, we knew the room upstairs, our office/craft room, was destined to be sacrificed and become the baby's room. Thus, this presented a dilemma for us.

I, personally, enjoy small spaces. I don't know why. I just always have. When we were looking for houses we looked at a house that had large, spacious rooms; to me it wasn't comfortable. So, needless to say, I fell absolutely in love with our 1100 sq. ft. antique cape and bought it immediately. Yes, it's small. Yes, I know we will probably have to move in a few years to a bigger (sigh) place, especially if we have additional children (we have a two bedroom/1 & 1/2 bath). But, for now, we're staying put in our tiny hidey hole.

So we had to make a few decisions. The birdroom was going to have to become an official office/craft room. We moved out the giant desk (we have it stored in our basement, however, it will be a nice piece of furniture to pass down to our children and use when we have a bigger home). We also decided to cover up one of the windows to create a full wall of space. Aaron put up new sheet rock and made all new window trim and molding. We also made a trip to Ikea and purchased new furniture. I, of course, picked paint, carpets and curtains.

Now we have a perfect small extension from our kitchen that serves as our new and improved birdroom/craft room/home office/side entry. As I said, it's a small room (8X5) so we made the very best (functional and cute) use of the space.

I am in love with this room.

The original room (pay no attention to Homer, the scary lion growling)

With just the antique librarian desk and side window (and Homer, the ham)

Covered the side window

New sheet rock

First coat of primer (without window/floor molding. Aaron was convinced he needed to make new molding because he thought the old molding probably contained lead paint. Oh, Aaron "Worry" Molloy. That added a few days on to the project but he still insisted even after I promised not to let Alien use the window sills as a teether)

First coat of paint (and a little graffiti courtesy of Aaron)

Voila! View from the kitchen.

This cabinet is amazing. It was advertised as a "shoe" cupboard but I thought, "No, NO, NO! This will be perfect for my scrapbook papers, fabric and yarns!"

A quick note about my ribbon holder: Aaron made this out of one dowel cut in half and two wood blocks- super simple. I think I spent $1.50 on the dowel and wood blocks at Michaels (plus paint).

*Also, please note our license plate art work- This piece means a lot to both of us. The license plates belonged to Aaron's grandfather and the wood was a piece of drift wood that washed up on the shore one day while Aaron and I were taking a stroll on the beach in Portland with Pepe. Pepe liked the piece of wood so Aaron and I took it. One night for a date night we had a great idea... and the "art" is the product of that idea!

This room still has to serve as my birdroom therefore we keep my seeds and corn here so I have easy access to feed my birds (*Note: Aaron is in the process of making a threshold between this room and the kitchen; our next project is to rip up the linoleum in the kitchen and replace it with hardwood, so we might leave the threshold off for a bit- but that's the last thing to do before this room is finally DONE!)

My craft space/supplies

Workspace & Craft space (*Note the shelf in the corner that holds my punches: Aaron's grandfather made that shelf years and years ago. With a coat of paint, it fits my punches perfectly!)

All my equipment!

In total (sheet rock, curtains, rug, chair pad, furniture, paint, shelving/storage) we pulled this off for under $500. Y'all know I'm cheap but if you're crafty you can also find ways to recycle old things to make them functional and new)

Wednesday, Oui? Half Baked!

Today marks my 20th week of pregnancy. What that basically means is that I'm exactly (hopefully) half way there! I don't know why it's advertised that you're only pregnant for 9 months. It doesn't really make sense if you do the math. Now, we all know math is not my strongest subject but... pregnancy is measured in weeks. There are supposed to be 40 of them. The difference is that by the time you find out you're usually about 4 weeks along and the clock starts ticking at the day of your last period. They should say 10 months.

Anyway... I can't believe I'm at 20 weeks already. I am so in love with Alien. It's crazy to love someone so much! Oui?

How far along? 20 Weeks! Alien is half baked! (Would that be "medium rare", or "medium"?)

Total weight gain/loss: As of my 20-week check-up only 10 perfect pounds! At this point it's pretty common to start gaining about 1 pound per week (Eek!)

Baby's size? According to the websites I follow he's about 10+ ounces and the length of the banana I put in my cocoa puffs this morning.

Maternity clothes? I'm wearing them exclusively now. That was a really hard transition for me. I'm pretty vain about my appearance and I have A LOT of clothes. Luckily, my in-laws (Aaron's parents and brothers) bought me a ton for Christmas and my bestie (shout out to Alyssa) gave me all of hers. So I've only spent about $100 on my own. Sadly, the extent of my clothes is about an eighth of what my pre-pregnancy options were. But hey, it's only for about 20+ more weeks, right?

(See that little section grouped together? Yeah, that's it. It's a sad thing.)

Stretch Marks? None yet but I'm on the lookout. I'm really starting to bloom so I'm guessing they are in the near future. I recently stockpiled ordered this product and, as soon as it arrives, I'm going to lube up and hopefully avoid them (fingers crossed!)

Sleep: Yes, please. I'm starting to get to the "uncomfortable at night" stage so sleep is not going too well.

Best moment this week: Not pregnancy related but, we finished the home office!! (pictures coming soon!)

Movement: Little taps, flutters and rolls here and there. I found out yesterday that my placenta is anterior (in the front) so until he gets a bit bigger I won't feel him as much as I'd like to.

Food cravings: Gumballs, Rice Krispie Treats (Thanks McPepe & Nana) Fudgesicles, and peanut butter Oreos (translation: sweets)

Gender: Boy! Boy! Boy! (there's only one in there, though!)

Labor Signs: None yet. As much as I want to meet my little Alien I want him to stay put for another 20 weeks!

Belly Button in or out? Still a bit of a cave... but I did have to order a pregnancy naval ring online. I hope it gets here soon...

What I miss: Caffeine, Advil, being able to see my feet.

What I am looking forward to: I'm *really* just trying to savor every moment of this and not wish anything away. I've made a conscious effort to keep my stress, anxiety, and worry to a minimum. Things will get done. I'm having a baby. That's just such an amazing thing that I want to indulge in every aspect. My beautiful son is the end result and he is worth waiting for. (Although, ask me again in about 12 weeks and it might be a different answer.)

Milestones: I'm half-way there! I thought it would go much more slowly. This has flown!

Other baby updates? We bought him his first outfits last week. This one is my favorite.

( I bought it especially for his Auntie Hilary .. .... ... How cute is he going to be in this?)

(Sorry it's wrinkled! I took it out of his laundry basket- I'm washing and ironing everything before it gets hung in his closet. Crazy? Eh, maybe.)

Photographic Friday: Postcards from the bump

For my friends and family who don't use facebook, here's the update you've been waiting for!

So, we have pictures of Alien! And we know the gender! But first, for those who are interested, an update on the bump.

Now, here are the very first pictures of our little boy (at least since we found out he's a boy)

Realistically, with the amount of heartburn I have, this could likely be his first mugshot.

But really... here's our little boy's picture!

He's quite handsome if you ask me.

Hoping for an Alien encounter

It's so weird. Later today we'll (hopefully) find out whether we're going to have a daughter or a son.

For a good majority of my life I couldn't imagine having children; it wasn't something that appealed to me. I'm career oriented (not that Moms can't be) but I guess that part of me was also pretty selfish. I could not imagine, nor did I want to think about, working a child into my daily schedule.  Now, I can't imagine NOT working a child into my schedule. As each week of my pregnancy has progressed, not only have I fallen more and more in love with my husband and my "little alien," I've also fallen out of love with the idea of working 24/7.

Last weekend when Aaron and I painted the new den (which we refer to as "the birdroom") I said, as part of general conversation, "We're going to be parents." Parents. While it came out so logically it still stopped both of us in our tracks. Parents. That is such a weird thing to actually think about or say out loud. I'm going to be known as "Mama." It's like... you conceive this child, you wait 40 weeks and then it's just handed to you like "here, keep this alive for the next 18 years."

I'm hoping that Alien cooperates today. I desperately want to be able to call him/her by their name. Right now we're calling it Alien, Baby Molloy, Kid, Plummy (don't ask) and then also a combination of our boy/girl name combined (you know, like movies stars do; Bennifer, Brangelina etc.). Come 3:00 it should have a name. Although we AREN'T sharing the names publicly until Alien is born, we will definitely keep you posted as to what gender y'all can expect.

As for pregnancy updates: Overall I feel pretty good. My biggest issue has just been heartburn (like you wouldn't believe- so I fully expect to birth a baby covered head to toe with black hair). My other symptom has been an incredible laziness. I am so lazy that I can't even stand myself.

On Monday, 1/2/12, I felt Alien kicking at me for the first time. I was sitting with a client and I felt this little "bomp, bomp, blurrrp." I had the hardest time keeping it together so I convinced myself it was just a hunger pain or gas. The very next day, it was unmistakable- Alien was kicking (or punching... or doing Morse code). Last night Aaron was able to feel a little tap on the outside. It's so weird.

Alien's current favorite foods are rice crispy treats, gumballs (weird, huh?), ice cream, bagels, red meat and anything with avocado/guacamole (still!). My only food "aversion" has been anything to do with eggs, which is really weird because I normally eat them everyday!

That's really all for the updates right now. Seriously though, tick-tock. 3PM can't come soon enough. Please cross your fingers that Alien cooperates to keep this Mother-ship happy. We all know that patience is NOT my personal virtue; I have 21 weeks to get my lazy ass in gear and my house organized. Boy or girl I personally have no preference (well, maybe a teensy bit) but really, so long as it's healthy and doesn't look like an alien, we're good. So, Alien, don't be bashful today. We want to see your goods. Mama and Daddy will buy you something nice if you show us your privates.

Ugh, I'm already bribing my child. Lord help me.