its a boy!

We had our 20 week ultrasound yesterday and learned that our little one is a boy! It was amazing to see how much he has grown and changed since our initial ultrasound. We were especially excited that we were able to see some remarkably clear pictures of his face. We think he is already very handsome and can’t wait to meet him in person in another 20 weeks.

20 week update

Yesterday marked 20 weeks which means I’m halfway through my pregnancy – which is both exciting and terrifying all at the same time. I’m so happy to have had a great first half without too many uncomfortable symptoms and I’m really enjoying that I finally look pregnant. The terrifying part is that there is still so much preparation left before the baby arrives and my habit of procrastinating needs to end right now. We have rooms to switch around, painting to do, baby items to register for and childbirth classes to take – whew!

However, at the moment, all that anxiety is completely overshadowed with excitement over my upcoming ultrasound. Its the second time we’ll get a look at our sweet little one, and if he or she cooperates, we’ll find out if we have a boy or a girl. Tim and I can’t wait!

For all of you who have been keeping up with the fruit and vegetable comparisons, the length of the baby (head to toe) is now comparable to a banana and overall size is similar to a cantaloupe. However since I despise cantaloupe, so we’ll just focus on the banana. Our little banana can hear and swallow, he or she now has taste buds and is covered in a fine hair and coating to protect the skin underwater.

Please keep our little family in your thoughts and prayers that all goes well with our ultrasound. We’ll be sure to share some new photos of the baby very soon.

petunia nursery

A couple weeks ago I posted about some really attractive diaper bags from Petunia Pickle Bottom. Well today on Design*Sponge there is a sneak peak of designer, Denai Jones nursery for her son. I’m very impressed how she used a neutral color palate and decidedly adult decor to create a sophisticated and beautiful nursery. The bag above is shown hanging on the door and looks like part of the inspiration for the colors. You should go check it out.

cruise photos

As promised, here are the photos from our vacation to Mexico, and a quick touristy evening in LA. We had a very nice trip full of great food, relaxing atmosphere and some fun sightseeing. Other than the ATVs in Mazatlan, there wasn’t much I couldn’t do on the trip. Puerto Vallarta (pictured above) was my favorite by far and once we get the underwater photos from snorkeling developed, I’ll add them as well.

birdies, ellies and squirrels, oh my!

As if I needed more fun and distracting things to keep me stuck to my computer at lunch, I’ve finally delved into polyvore. I had seen a links here and here, but only just took the time to play around a bit.

While I’m no stranger to Photoshop and can whip out flavor boards with the best of them, I’ve found this site will be much more helpful in creating inspiration boards for my nursery. For starters, it keeps links to the location of all your images so you can reference them later (like if you actually decide to purchase them). It also automatically clips out white backgrounds and then lets you embed your image into blogs and message boards.

Here’s my first stab at a little grouping of nursery decor, full of red and turquoise and animals galore. I have a feeling this will be the first of many.

babyproof?

I saw this article on Apartment Therapy’s Ohdeedoh this morning regarding when and how to baby proof your home. Every time my sister-in-law tells her children during their visits, “be careful, Uncle Tim and Aunt Kristen’s house isn’t baby proof” I have to admit that I look around and the only offending objects I spot are a few breakables on low level coffee tables and shelves. I mean, it can’t be much worse than when I puppy proofed the house, right?

Well, I’m sure there are a ton of hazards I don’t even recognize, so I’m making it a mission to get things in order before we have a little one living here full time. However, my goal is to baby proof in such a way that my home still has the style and character that I’ve worked so hard to create. While I’m not striving to have a “high design dream” like some upper crust parents, I would love to keep some design sensibilities that are not entirely kid focused. So is it actualy possible? Well I’m ready to find out.

working moms

I’ve been thinking a lot about what life will be like after maternity leave when I have a beautiful new baby at home and I have to drag myself back to work. It isn’t that I don’t enjoy my profession, I love being a designer, however I had always imagined making the transition to freelance once I was ready to have children. Right now the security of a steady income, annual pay increases and insurance make that dream seem quite a bit further off than I ever hoped. Of course, with all the shake ups poised to happen in the beverage industry, working in advertising in St. Louis may no longer offer the job security it once has. So needless to say, there are a lot of things on my mind.

Anyway, today I came across the book, 42 Rules for Working Moms on Cool Mom Picks. It appears to be a valuable resource that may be beneficial even before the baby arrives, like advice on registry items to purchase or avoid. I’ve also recently read an issue of Working Mother magazine hoping to gain some insight on how to balance this new lifestyle with work, however most of that content seems to be geared toward mother’s with toddlers or older. Do any of you moms or moms-to-be out there know of any additional resources to help prepare to be a working mom?

eames stamps

Sheets of commemorative Charles and Ray Eames stamps go on sale tomorrow, but you can pre-order them today. I ordered a few sheets so that I have plenty to send and one to save.

The stamps would be the perfect finish for any letter sent on this beautiful Eames stationery. I’ve had a box of it for years that I only use for very special correspondence.

vacation!!

Just wanted to let you all know I’ll be taking a mini break from the blog while we head to sunny Mexico for a cruise! I’ll be sure to post a bunch of photos when we return from the trip. Have a great weekend!

18 week update

Our baby is the size of a bell pepper this week at around 5 1/2 inches long. Even though the doctor told me not to expect to feel the baby’s movement for another couple weeks, I think I’ve been feeling something. Whether its actual movement or just my imagination, I’m not sure, but there are some odd fluttering sensations that keep me guessing.

I’ve also officially started to show, depending on what I’m wearing. Friends and people at work have been commenting on it all week. I’m thrilled to hear this because to me I just look like I’ve been hitting the ice cream too hard (which isn’t that untrue). Its also nice not to get funny looks walking into my prenatal yoga class anymore – now I finally look like I fit in. We’re taking this week’s photo late this evening, so you can check Flickr tomorrow for the latest belly bump.