Nursery Talk--Bennett's Nursery

Ah, nurseries. I think nurseries are such a fun thing to plan when you are pregnant (or when you aren't, I admit I had baby boards on Pinterest long before we ever pregnant with Bennett!). Once I got pregnant with Bennett nurseries were seriously one of the many things I 'stressed' about, but it was a good stress!

For Bennett's nursery, I started planning it way before we knew whether he was a she or he! I wanted to get a lot of the things planned early because Bryan was suppose to deploy that spring (I'm thankful he didn't though), so we wanted to be able to decorate together, so we had most of the nursery set up by 16 weeks! Granted the finishing touches didn't come to much later, but we KNEW what we doing!

Since I started planning his nursery early I kept it gender neutral, and figured once we found out the gender I could either add pink or blue accessories. Well, turns out Bennett was a BOY! However the direction that I took ended up being great for a boy and I seriously couldn't imagine his nursery being for a girl...maybe I 'knew' all along he was a he when I was shopping for all the fabric?!

I think I shared with you all before that my mom and I sewed all the bedding and curtains for his nursery. Also most of the accessories in his room are DIY. I had so much fun doing projects for the nursery and I really felt like it was such a bonding time I had with him, being able to create all those things for him! I had a lot of fun with his nursery, from picking out the little details to picking out the fabrics we used!

Since we are renting our place here in Okinawa, we can't paint and we have paneled walls (think 1960's!). They are not ugly, but they are pretty annoying! I so wish we could have painted his nursery to make it come together even more, but I'm over it! But you can be sure that when we finally get somewhere we can paint I will be painting the kids rooms!!!

Anyways on to pictures!

I made the Air Force blanket on the back of the glider.

The alphabet cards I bought off Zulily! They are hung up on 'lime green bakers twine' and little clothes pins. 

I did make this lamp shade =) I couldn't find something I liked so I decided to improvise! 

I hand painted Bennett's name canvas! It was so much fun and turned out pretty awesome! I loved the name canvas' I seen on Etsy and some other places online, but I couldn't justify spending $100+ on it when I knew I could make one!

The bedding! I love LOVE love the fabrics that I chose for this!!! It was definitely a labor of love when we made his bedding!

So as you can see from the pictures his nursery is done in aquas, lime greens and a little browns/greys. Also we decided to add in some alligators =) I love how it all came together, and I am very happy with the colors, matter of fact whenever I buy things for him or have things made (monogrammed items, Easter Bucket) I usually have it done in Navy, Lime Green and aqua colors =) I just LOVE that color combo for a boy! His nursery looks pretty much the same from when these pics were taken, which was in August. The only thing that really changed is we added three more baskets to the bottom of the changing table. Also we had a puzzle done of cartoon alligators and had that framed and it's hung up above the table with the lamp.

Anyone planning nurseries right now? I seriously have so much fun doing this, I think it's just so awesome being able to plan for your future bundle of joy!

Next up Baby #2's Nursery Inspiration, hopefully tomorrow!

11 Weeks with Baby #2

How far along? 11 weeks

How big is baby? Lime! Seems a lot bigger than last week's prune!

Weight gain/loss?  -1 pounds, so a total -6 pounds

Maternity clothes?  No and yes. I should probably wear them more than I do. I just can't begin to fathom that at 11 weeks I need to. So I stick to my stretchy bottoms a lot of the time. I have a couple pairs of dressier (not sweat pant material) but knit capris that I wear when we go out, and my pair of shorts that were too big or now officially too tight! I have begun washing my maternity clothes and putting them in my dresser and closet...because it's not far off. Tops I am wearing regular, they are getting tighter but nothing that is 'horrid' looking, just showcases the bump more.

Stretchmarks? No new ones, just the ones I got from Bennett

Sleep? Sleep good at night and wish I could take a few naps during the day! Between being pregnant and keeping up with Bennett all day I am TIRED!

Movement? No, I thought I felt something but pretty sure it was gas lol

Food cravings? Coffee ice cream and oreos!

Name? We still can't agree on a first name for a boy, but we still have our girl name =)

Labor signs? No way!

Belly button in or out? In, it never really 'popped' last time either.

Rings on or off? On, I never had to take them off last time so hoping the same thing this time around.

Morning sickness/Other Symptoms? It seems I have felt pretty good the last week (knock on wood), I have only felt icky a couple times at night right before bedtime. I did have a major headache and ran a slight temp last night, so I was afraid it was the flu coming on, but thankfully today I feel much better! Other symptoms would include, being hungry all the time I could eat all day nonstop if I let myself! Also being tired! And it seems round ligament pain as started as well, that is just swell! 

What I miss: Nothing really.

What I am looking forward to? 5 weeks from today we get to find out if we have a little boy or girl on the way!! I am so looking forward to getting started on 'planning' and shopping so I can't wait to find out and I am so happy that we can go off base to the local Japanese clinic at 16 weeks (we did the same with Bennett).

Milestones: Sooooooo close to 2nd tri!!!

Our Weekend

Another weekend has come and gone, I seriously wish the weekends were more than 2 days! We should do like a 4:3 type of thing...4 days of weekends 3 days of week days. Sound good? I think so! All I can say is that I am happy because with this week comes a short work week for Bryan and then he is on VACATION! He has 25 days off! I am so overjoyed, I seriously can't contain my excitement, he hasn't had this much time off since Bennett was born! Although my inlaws will be here for some of that, but still having Bryan home each day will be great!

So what did our weekend look like? It looked awesome! We had some amazing weather the last couple days, it's warming up here but this weekend it was in the 70's and just perfect (mind you 70 degrees here feels a lot hotter with our insane humidity, but still nice weather!) We were busy this weekend, but that's every weekend we are always go-go-go on the weekends and never seem to slow down!

Friday night we had quite the adventure! We had to meet up with one of the guys in Bryan's shop to pic up our Apple TV that had to get RE-jailbroke. Somehow it reset itself and wouldn't work, it was a very LONG month without our Apple TV! Anyways so were suppose to meet him at the McDonalds on 329...sounds easy enough. Except mind you it was two guys making the arrangements, and they both had TWO DIFFERENT McDonalds in mind! So we were sitting in the parking lot for about 30 mins when Bryan decided to find out if the guy was on his way, well the guy said he was in the parking lot...just so happened it was a parking lot about 30 mins away! So after an hour we finally got our Apple TV...turns out after we got home it didn't work =( (so it's back with the guy again as of now Monday getting refixed lol).

After that crazy mixup we headed to Nap's for dinner! Second weekend in a row we ate there! We used to eat there every weekend, I'm not a BBQ fan, but I do love their BBQ! It's also super fast service, the best sweet tea I have ever had and super cheap! All good things!

Somehow this is the only picture I have from dinner at Nap's...Bennett was super excited for his pulled beef and mac n cheese! He also enjoyed rice and cheese off Bryan's plate.

Saturday was spent running errands, just like every Saturday. We started off by going to the post office (everyone has a PO Box no one gets mail delivered to their house) and we had 3 packages! Good mail day! I was super excited because my Project Life supplies came in! I am going to start Bennett's 'baby book' and I think this will be the perfect way to do it! I am NOT a fan of traditional baby books and have been looking for something different and after hearing about these and doing a little googling I decided this would be a neat way to do it! I can't wait to get the pictures printed and get started!

After that we headed to the BX, we had to get somethings from there so we just decided to eat lunch there. I seriously could eat a Burger King Chicken Sandwich (no lettuce, add cheese and pickles) every day! (don't worry I'm not eating it every day and if you are like my mom don't worry I haven't gained 10 pounds either lol I am still down 6 pounds). It just so happened that we were at the BX at the perfect time, because they were doing one of their 'hour sales', and so we got sandals for an extra 25% off!! I love Reef flipflops and so I got two pair and I finally convinced Bryan to get a pair of flipflops that are not meant for the beach!

We headed to the commi after that (don't we live exciting lives!), somehow we were running way late and got there 30 mins before they closed! Although it does close at 6pm on Saturdays, which I think is just absurd! I mean seriously they close at 7pm during the week you think they could stay open to at least that on Saturdays! Anyways, we made record time and actually had 5 mins to spare when we left!

We decided to go to dinner at the Seaside Restaurant since it was super nice out. We were able to get a great table on the deck that overlooks the East China Sea. Seriously it's so pretty there and the food is pretty good too!

The awesome view...the sun wasn't out but it was still pretty =)

Yummy dessert! Chocolate Lovin' Spoon Cake!

After dinner we had our LAST Dave Ramsey Financial Peace University Class! It's crazy that it's over, but it gives us a free night during the week now! We have seriously learned so much and just in the last 10ish weeks we have made HUGE progress and we are so happy with how far we have come and all that we have been able to accomplish! We are so excited for FPU and all that we learned means for us, and can't wait to see what this means for us and our future!

Sunday was low-key for us, we like to try and keep Sunday's free of errands and make it just about being together and enjoying our time, because running errands isn't to 'fun'! We skyped with both our families, and then decided to head to base and go to the Club's brunch buffet. After we got home, I took a much needed THREE hour nap! I seriously could sleep all the time, this pregnancy is wiping me out! After I woke up we went for a walk because it was still super nice out! For dinner I made homemade French dips yummy!!!

So that was our weekend! We have ONE more weekend before Bryan's family gets here so I have a feeling that next weekend is going to be full of cleaning and rearranging things and getting our house ready for their visit!

Mother's Day Ideas...I NEED help

First off Mother's Day is Sunday May 12th, for those of you that don't know!

Since we are already on the 2nd day of May (in Japan), Bryan has been pestering me (in a good way!) about what I want for Mother's Day. Honestly I have no idea! To me I don't really need anything and I already have everything I want! I mean I have a great husband an adorable little boy and another precious baby on the way! But...that apparently doesn't 'count' as a gift in Bryan's eyes.

So he told me to come up with ideas so he and Bennett could go shopping this weekend. So I am trying my best to think of things (little things) that I want! I seriously never had this problem when I was little, I could come up with 101 things in about 5 seconds of things I wanted/needed for gifts...and now? Now it takes me a good hour to think of ONE thing I might want/need. Anyone else have that problem?

I have even googled 'Mother's Day Gifts', that's how much I have NO IDEA of things I want! So far I have come up with one idea, and that would be a gift certificate for a pedicure at my favorite spa. Bryan said that didn't count, because I go every month anyways!

So I have come up with a few things we will see if Bryan counts these?!

Sleep! I want to sleep in ALL DAY...Bryan lets me sleep in on weekends anyways but I want to take lots of naps!

Laundry! I would love Bryan to do the laundry oh and maybe fold and put it all away! 

Foot Massage! 

Massage! I would love a massage gift certificate, technically you are not supposed to get a massage until you are 16 weeks pregnant, so maybe he can just buy one and then I'll wait til' June!

Some other ideas...

-maybe a carwash along with my car getting vacuumed and wiped out. My car is the one we use all the time (Bryan just drives his to work), so it is always getting dirty and of course the dog hair from Bella is pretty insane!

-Pedicure gift certificate, even though he says this doesn't 'count' I still want one! 

-Dinner cooked and dishes done!

Honestly none of these are 'things', I guess growing up means things are no longer that important to me. (or maybe it's that if I really 'want' something I just go and buy it myself?!) I like 'actions' actions speak way louder than things in my book, especially as gifts! Even I don't get any of these just a nice card would be nice! 

What are something you want for Mother's Day? Would you rather have a 'thing' or just a day of pampering?!

 

10 Weeks with Baby #2

It's official my arms are going on a diet lol 

How far along? 10 weeks

How big is baby? Prune, again I don't like prunes, but I'm sure it's a cute prune =)

Weight gain/loss?  no change again this week, so a total -5 pounds

Maternity clothes? Still wearing stretchy bottoms and have not made the 'big' transition into maternity clothes full time. I occasionally wear maternity capris only because my regular ones no longer fit.  

Stretchmarks? No new ones, just the ones I got from Bennett

Sleep? So tired all the time, I am taking a nap in the afternoons and can barely make it to 10pm at night.

Movement? I could have sworn that I felt something (they say you can feel movement earlier with each pregnancy), but who knows it could have been gas lol.

Food cravings? I'm still hungry all the time, and feel like I eat non-stop.

Name? We still can't agree on a first name for a boy, but we still have our girl name =)

Labor signs? No way!

Belly button in or out? In, it never really 'popped' last time either.

Rings on or off? On, I never had to take them off last time so hoping the same thing this time around.

Morning sickness/Other Symptoms? This last week has been much better! I have only had nausea maybe once or twice. Other symptoms would include hungry, headaches, and some minor breast tenderness.

What I miss: Nothing really.

What I am looking forward to? We have our 10 week appointment this afternoon! Also being able to hear the baby's heartbeat on our at home doppler! I think we are going to try it this week, I think we started around this time with Bennett so *crossing my fingers* that we have success!

Milestones: I'm so much closer to 2nd tri! And about 5.5 weeks until we get to find out if we are having a girl or boy!

Bennett is 9 Months OLD!

Bennett you are NINE months old! How did that happen? I seriously can not believe that in 3 months you will be a one year old, I just try not to even think about it because it will send me into tears (although I am sure these pregnancy hormones don't help with that either).

Stats at Birth:
Weight: 7lbs 11oz.
Length: 21"

NINE Month Stats: (all unofficial since you won't see the doctor til 15 May)
Weight: I'm guessing somewhere around 21 pounds (daddy thinks you have lost weight)
Length: 28" again guessing, you wiggle too much for me to get a good measurement!
Diaper Size: 4 (you can still fit in the 3, but I like how the 4's fit you better)
Clothes Size: pretty much all 12 months, some bottoms are 9 months
Shoe Size: 3 or 4 depending on the brand

Bennett this last month has been a BUSY one for you! You are just such a 'busy' little boy! I don't think there is a minute where you don't want to be moving around and seeing what this world has to offer you! Right now that may mean you do a lot of 'whining' because you can't quite crawl yet, but you figure it out and eventually get to what you want by rolling and 'scooting' (army crawl) to get it.

Like I said you don't crawl, but that doesn't mean you are stationary! You roll, scoot, army crawl, and launch yourself forward to get things. You have taken plenty of nose dives and even have your first little booboo on your forehead from doing so! I don't think crawling is too far off, you have mastered the getting on all '4s' and you 'rock' back and forth, and smack your hands so I know it's coming, just is taking you a little longer. Which I honestly don't mind at all!

You have also in the last 2 weeks been pulling up on EVERYTHING in sight! Whether that is chairs, couches, table legs, toys, your bed, anything that will sit still long enough (meaning Bella doesn't work so well for this!). You also 'walk' up and down the length of your bed and our big ottoman. It's fun to see you learn these new things, and the look on your face when you do it is priceless! You are growing up so fast!

This last month you have also gained TWO more teeth! You now have a total of FOUR teeth! The two bottoms and the two middle tops. Your toothy little grin is the most adorable thing ever! These new teeth were once again a smooth ride for you. I'm so thankful you are an easy teether. The teething tablets seem to really help out a lot, I try not to dose you up with actual meds so the all natural remedies are great!

New teeth mean MORE food! You are quite the little eater some days, not all days but most days you LOVE to eat! We have been getting more and more adventurous with your food, and so far you are about 50/50 on whether you love it or hate it. Some of your favorites are toast, fruit loops, mac n cheese, pizza, shredded chicken breast, mandarin oranges, mashed potatoes, and carrots. We have tried many other things, but it's really just hit or miss. We give you bites of what ever we are eating for lunch or dinner and some days you want more and some days you just spit the food out!

This last month has been a very crazy month for us. We haven't been home much at all on the weekends, and you are just such an 'easy going' baby! You make taking your places so easy because you love to people watch and see what all the new places are like! We always get so many compliments on your behavior and how well you do with being in restaurants and stores. I am so very thankful you have such a laid back demeanor, I love that we don't have to worry about finding a sitter or worry about how you will behave in places!

Also this month you have started going to our church's nursery! It's just an hour a week, but the mamasans (Japanese older women who care for the babies in the nursery) say you do so great and are such a happy baby! They even 'fight' over you when we come in the room! You have even made a few little friends! It's so cute to sneak up and watch you interact with other babies!!!

You also had your first 'babysitting' this month! Our church offered a Parent's Night Out on April 19th and we decided to take part in it. We were a little nervous to leave you but we trusted the other parents who were watching you. You again did great! We were only gone about 3 hours (we went to dinner at a dressy sit down restaurant), but again they said you such a happy baby the whole time! That made us feel so much better about maybe finding a regular sitter to keep you maybe once a month so daddy and I can have some date nights!

Another big moment for you this past month was of course daddy and I telling you that you would soon be a BIG BROTHER! I know you have no idea what that means, but we are excited to see you with a little brother/sister! You love to watch babies and other kids when we are out and about so we are hoping that you will love having a baby in the house!

Now onto your 9 month pictures!

Oh Bennett,
Some months are so hard to believe that you are getting closer and closer to that one year mark, and I think this 9 month mark is one of the hardest! It's crazy to think that in 3 short months you will be a year old! Completely insane!
You are growing up and maturing so much, you are really starting to lose your 'baby face' and it makes me kind of sad. However you are becoming quite the cute little boy and still are my little baby! I love the times when you just want to snuggle up in my arms and I can rock with you. I know those days will one day soon end, so I relish in them now.
Daddy and I are so looking forward to seeing the young boy you become! We know you are meant for great things, and each day we see more and more of the personality that you have and we know that God has such amazing plans for your life!
We pray every day that you will grow up to follow in the footsteps that God directs you on, and I pray that you will always know daddy and I love you so much and will always be here for you.
We love you Bennett!
Love
Momma

Our Weekend

Sorry if the pics are all weird, blogger is doing something funky and I can't get it to work right!

This last weekend was quite the adventure, or maybe not, but it was a busy one at that! All our weekends just seem to fly right on by and I have no idea how they can go that fast when the week days crawl by!

On Saturday we lounged around the house in the morning and then left to run our 'errands' we do all our grocery shopping and BX shopping on Saturdays, we also always eat lunch out and then of course we have church Saturday night and then usually follow up church with dinner out as well. (what can I say we like to eat out and our week nights are spent at home with a home cooked meal so on the weekends we treat ourselves!)

So for lunch on Saturday we went to Marino's we love that place! It's an Italian restaurant and let me just say that for being an Italian restaurant in Japan it's pretty good! Plus with the YEN rate right now it's not badly priced! I love their pasta there, it's just so yummy! Plus with all sets (sets are a Japanese thing America has 'combo' meals Japan has 'sets' basically it means it usually comes with more than the main course), each person gets three petite desserts! YUMMO!

 

I totally forgot to take a picture of the pizza until we were done eating!

After church on Saturday night we ended back up at the BX for dinner, wohoo isn't that special! I was craving a BK Chicken Sandwich so Bryan obliged and agree we could eat at the food court!

Sunday was such a fun day! I had a girl's day planned with 5 friends we had pedicures and then went to lunch. One of my friends is getting ready to PCS this coming Saturday so we wanted to go out and give her a good 'send off' and 'see ya later' girl's date! We had such a fun time, and I am really going to miss her! She is such a good friend and it's sad to see her leave, that is one part of military life I don't know if I will ever get 'used' to or if will ever get easier! Either way she and her hubby are headed to Aviano AFB in Italy, and I couldn't be more excited for them! They are very much looking forward to all the traveling they are going to do in the next 3 years! (I am also secretly hoping that we may be headed that way in about 17 months, apparently our hubby's jobs (they work in the same job) is very much needed there)!

Amanda on the left (she is the one PCSing), then me and Brittany

Amanda T, Sara, Yasmine, Amanda S, Brittany and Me

Our toes!!! I love Japanese pedis!!! 

After I got home Sunday I was wiped out, from all the fun and laughs we had! So I *might* have joined in on nap time! Once dinner time rolled around all I wanted, no I take that back all I NEEDED for dinner was ice cream. So back to the BX food court we went, I'm pretty sure Bryan told me no more food court for dinner after this weekend! I got my Baskin Robbins though! So I was a happy pregnant lady!

Well, that was our weekend! We are back to the week day grind over here in Okinawa and I hope this week hurries up! We have some fun plans for this upcoming weekend, as long as it doesn't rain! We are also down to 16 days until Bryan's family arrives so we are in the midst of getting things ready for them, and trying to figure out what we want them to see/do/eat/experience while they are here for the 2.5 weeks.