24 weeks and a busy weekend!

Whew, I think we just finally sat down about 30 minutes ago. We have been go, go, go!! We are trying our best to get this house in shape to put on the market!!

So Saturday morning the repair guy flaked. We were supposed to meet him Friday night for a quote, he cancelled only after Matt called him to confirm the time. Then he was supposed to come Saturday morning. Matt went to go meet him, he never showed, so he called and the guy cancelled again. ARGH. Sooo...Matthew and I decided to give things a go on our own.

I know it may not be a big deal to most of you, but we replaced a faucet. Now, as you all know, Matt and I are NOT handy. We hire painters, plumbers, etc. But, with the dude flaking on us, we decided to try! Well, the main thing we learned is, we can do it! Takes awhile but it can be done. The other thing we learned is, this house is old! Replacing a faucet in a newer house would be easier because the parts are all the same. But with this house, all the parts are old and its like a puzzle making old and new meet! But I am proud of Matt, he did it! He had issues along the way but figured it out and we now have one new bathroom faucet! One down, two to go! Now that he has done one though, we think the next two will be easier!

Here is a pic of the old one (this is Matt's bathroom but looked the same)


And here is the NEW one! How shiny and pretty!


While all this was going, I went on a cleaning RAMPAGE! Zach's room is now cleared out and ready for nursery furniture! We will leave the regular furniture in there until his stuff comes in but closet and dresser are now all cleared out! WOOHOO! I have also gotten rid of mounds of clothes. It is ridiculous. I had so much stuff, some of which hasn't been worn in years, all in varying sizes of course. Insane. Needs to be bagged up. Also got rid of shoes. And you know how I love my shoes. But it was time. My feet probably won't fit into some of them anyway so it was time to let go of those I wasn't totally in love with.

I also shredded about 3 bags worth of old bills, pay stubs, etc. It was liberating!

But one question for you faithful readers out there. CD jewel cases! In the world of MP3 players, what do you do with the dang jewel cases? Do you keep them? Throw them away? Put them in storage? We seriously probably have like 1000 empty CD cases. I say throw, Matt says store. Any input from you readers out there??

Oh, and we ordered faux blinds. Any tips for hanging? We didn't quite get to that yet....Is this something that we can do on our own??

And last but not least, what does a 24 week pregnant lady look like you ask? Well, took a couple shots before church this morning and here is the answer!

Scrapbooking

So I decided I needed to scrapbook this pregnancy. Jenny's was so cute that I decided I wanted one too! I bought a book, bought some stickers and such, and printed some pictures. But did I start anything tonight? NO! I need to order more pics and scan all our ultrasound pictures so they don't ruin. I have gotten some good ideas online though. I just want all my materials first! The goal is to have it up to date for my shower, so I have about 6 weeks to get it done! Ill keep you posted on my progress. Any pages ideas? Send them this way!

I found this poem online today.......had to share.

Breath of My Breath

Breath of my breath and heart of my heart

Here, inside me you grow;

For each little movement and every one kick

I love you much more than you know.

How could a mother explain it

Or even herself understand,

That God has given a treasure of life

To hold in her very own hand.

More lovely than the sunset,

This is the thought of you;

More peaceful than the lonely brook

Beneath a sky so blue.

The mountains haven't your greatness

And the stars hold not your shine,

The greatest miracle God ever created

Will soon enough be mine....

Mommy and Daddy love you Zach and we can't wait to meet you! Only 16 more weeks till we see your sweet face!

Tap Dancin Fool!

I have been meaning to post this for about 2-3 weeks now but kept forgetting! We officially have left the "butterflies" stage to the "quick kick to the gut" stage! Our little man is a mover and a shaker! Usually in the mornings and evenings, but throughout the day too...he is in there kicking around! Haven't gotten the timing down yet for Matt to get a good feel, but we are working on it. He thinks he felt one the other night but I giggled too so we aren't sure which he felt. I have to say, it is the most amazing feeling ever.

After a long year + to get here (which I still feel insensitive saying since most people try for a year before they even go to the RE, but since we started right off the bat doing fertility treatments, to me it seems much longer!!) , I still feel blessed and thank God every morning for this baby growing in me. I am one of "those women" that LOVES being pregnant! I feel GREAT. I feel like I look great! Hair, nails, and skin are great...and people at work say I am "glowing". Ill take it! Not to mention the belly. I could stare at it all day long. It fascinates me. The shape, the way it grows, the way it feels, it's just wonderful. I rub my belly and talk to my little boy, sing to him, pray for him, and dream about him... I wonder what he will look like, more like mommy or daddy? Will he have my boisterous laugh (which I get from my dad) or Matt's silly girlie laugh (which I think he gets from his mom!) Will he get Matt's round eyes and my round nose? Who knows or cares, I just cant wait to meet him and hold him and love him!! What will he grow up to be like? Will he play sports? Will his future wife like me? All things I think about every day...Have I said I love being pregnant? ;-)

Anyway, I just got another kick in the belly, must be time to make dinner! Little man is hungry, and big man will be too when he gets home!

nursery pics!

UPDATE: THE CHAIR COMES IN TWO PIECES! So, we can assemble upstairs in the nursery and then unassemble when we move! WOOHOO! Nursery is done, AGAIN!

Here are pics of the pieces we have bought for the nursery and also of the bedding. The furniture will be all white and the chair (whatever chair it ends up being) will be this green fabric. That's my sham in it to see what it looks like. Doesn't it look COMFY??? It reclines, swivels, glides, and rocks. We are curious as its over sized if perhaps it comes in two pieces?? Otherwise, how would it even fit through the door? But I digress...here are the pics!!

The bedding...a close up view


Nursery view- So far I have the quilt, bumpers, sham, valance, mobile (thanks Kari!), and rug (thanks mom!)


Crib- It is the Pali "Mia"


Dresser/Hutch- We ended up with this as Matt and I loved the shelves to decorate and store things on. Mom has my old chest of drawers so if we need more storage, we will get that!


Chair..........doesn't it look comfy? Matt was practicing laying in it while holding the imaginary baby. We also got the gliding ottoman. Fabulous.


So that's it for now. Once we have the chair sorted out, just need to register and that will be it for a bit. Oh and the childbirth classes. And getting the house on the market. And all the other activities we have like every weekend through the end of the year. Not being sarcastic either. We have something every weekend through the end of the year. Oh my!

Hope you all like the pics! I can't wait to have everything here and in person and put together!

Stupid Stairway Strikes Again!!!!!!!!!!

So, we come home all excited about purchasing our new furniture for the nursery and pull out the measurements to confirm everything would fit. Crib-check! (its comes unassembled) Dresser-check! Hutch-check! Big comfy swivel rocker glider chair mommy was in love with---NOT CHECK! All 3 dimensions are bigger than the width of the staircase. So I cried. Stupid house. This is not the first time this has happened (aka- The master bedroom headboard fiasco which one day we will get to put to use once we move). I called Linda, our wonderful sale person and friend of the family, to put a halt on the cool big comfy swivel rocker glider chair mommy was in love with. Looking on the Best Chair website at other upholstered recliners, I don't think any would fit? Matt measured the door frames upstairs and now we aren't sure even if we got it up, that it would fit through anyway?!?!? So, back to the drawing board. I guess I shall return to Baby's 1st and find another chair. Just out of curiosity, if any of you are bored, measure your door frame. Ours is 31" and the smallest dimension of the chair is 36". Would it even fit if in another house????

And the Aggies lost. No surprise, but that makes for a grumpy daddy. And a grumpy daddy with a sad pregnant mommy isn't always fun ;-) But on a happy note, I love our crib (Thanks Mom and Dad!!) and our hutch combo and am excited for when those come in. I took pics so I will post when I get them off the camera. I thought the nursery was in part done, but looks like we aren't quite done yet!

Goin to the Chapel!

Congrats to Katie and Aaron who tied the knot this Saturday. We were excited to share in the wedding and we had a great time! Unfortunately I managed to get no pics of them together, I will have to steal some from the official photographer when they are in!

The Race on Saturday was also great! The highlight for me, BY FAR, was seeing Sherrie cross the Survivor's Finish line!! I am so proud of her and it was a great moment! Looking forward to seeing her pics since I forgot my camera! We had fun walking...only bad thing was AFTER the race. We had parked in a parking garage downtown and it took us an HOUR to get out!!! RIDICULOUS! And the worst part was that cut into our brunch time since Allison and I both were on a time crunch already. But we enjoyed brunch while we could and it was great to see everyone and all the babies! Thanks for hosting again, Jen!

And today, had breakfast with the in-laws and then mom and I went SHOPPING! She bought Zach some cute outfits and then some cute maternity outfits for me! :) Thanks Mom!!!

All in all a great weekend, although very busy. Looking forward to some down time in October until the madness begins in November!!

Here are a few pics from the wedding!

Race for the Cure!

Tomorrow morning is the Houston Komen Race for the Cure! I am excited to report that my team, The Spring Chickens has raised $3540 so far! The donation deadline is October 31st, so just in case you are reading this and are interested in contributing, please visit my site to donate! Last year was our first year to walk together and it was such a great experience we are doing it again. It is amazing to see so many women walking together for one cause and brings so much hope for the future. We will find a cure for breast cancer! I willupdate you tomorrow on how we all do!!

Zachary.........

Zachary= "Remembered by God". I think that's pretty cool. I have had such a hard time making a name final but I think I am getting close. I was reviewing my choices tonight, and I just love that meaning. Especially because I felt so "forgotten" there for a bit! Lots of heartache was going on at one time. I remember after the second cycle of shots was cancelled, thinking, "UGH, WHAT NOW? WHY?" And then I pulled out the good book......and read 3 of my fav passages that I turned to during this time: Hannah's Prayer, Psalm 139:13-16, and Jeremiah 1:5. And that's when I realized with my whole heart, there is timing in this craziness. And now, here I sit, 21 weeks and 6 days into this pregnancy, and feeling my little man tap dancing away in my belly! Truly amazing!!

So anyway....got a little off track there. I seem to do that these days! So....what do you think, Zachary Matthew Wittliff?!?! Should that be the winner?

Psalm 139: 13-16 You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it. You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.

Jer 1:5 I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb.

Pictures!!

I had my OB appointment and was sad to learn....no more ultrasounds. WAH! I am now "normal" so no medical need for them at this point. So yay, I am normal and boo, no more pics of our little man until we meet him face to face!!!!! My belly is measuring a week ahead (23 weeks) which I guess makes sense since Zach is measuring in the 75-80th percentile. Dr. said if he continued at this rate, he would be about an 8-9lb baby. Our big boy! I gained another 4lbs but still only 8lbs total now. Need to chill out and aim for a 1/2lb a week instead of 1lb!!

Next appointment is October 30th where I will have my glucose test. Gotta watch my sugars for the next month so I pass the test! I am at a slightly higher risk since I have PCOS, making me somewhat insulin resistant to begin with. Plus dad has diabetes too. Unfortunately, I love sweets right now. Going to try to find some sugar free alternatives!

So to share...here are some pics from our appointment last Friday, the 28th! Isn't he cute??



Long Legs!!


And profile with his hand by nose!