My little trendsetter....

Franklin will be a well-dressed little man come November. I am pleased with the way the onesies turned out, although for some reason the pictures aren't quite appearing how I'd like for them to. Here's my step by step -

I used paper plates to mix the color - the blue that I bought was a little too blue for my taste, I wanted a little lighter color. The yellow was also a bit bright - so I cut both with white to make them softer.

Then I got started! I used a piece of cardboard that I cut to fit into the onesie better:

Then I slipped the onesie on, and put a piece of wax paper underneath to prevent paint from bleeding through.

I found a giraffe, owl, penguin, and chick at Michael's and used them all. I also found a bumble bee that worked out nicely. For some reason, these pictures are turned sideways - and no matter how hard I try, they won't turn the right way. But at least you get the general gist of what the finished product looks like.

I bought some side-snap shirts for right when he comes home from the hospital, and then went all the way through 12 months, with some longsleeved and some short sleeved depending on the month.

Now I'm on the hunt to find matching pants... I think I've located some at old navy and gap. I can't wait to see Franklin in these!

Time Flies...

It's hard to believe Franklin has grown from this:

The size of a poppy seed at 4 weeks... to this at seven weeks:

To the length of a banana at 20 weeks (crown to rump, this doesn't even include his long legs):

With a sweet face like this.

Before we know it, our baby boy will be here. Grandparents, are you excited yet?

Crib Installation

My husband is very handy. Putting together the crib took all of 45 minutes. I was very worried that this experience would be stressful and frustrating, but it definitely was not! Originally, I thought that we would go ahead and put up the new headboard for the bed this weekend as well. However, I didn't realize that the crib would be in so soon- and we are without a frame for the headboard. That will have to wait for another weekend, after we find a frame in the shed, attic, storage, or basement of one of our relatives (hopefully).

The project started like this:

Frank figured out what went where, and arranged them accordingly before the screws were tightened to hold the parts in place:

Next, the sides were put on (I did help hold the back side in place while Frank tightened the screws):

Then the bottom railing went on:

And Frank and I tried to figure out why the bottom rail on one side would need to be able to swing back and forth. I just figured they wanted to make sure if you were storing anything under the crib that you could get to it. Frank disagreed, and asserted that there had to be a mechanical reason for it.

Then Lola decided to come see what was going on.

And Bebe couldn't be left out of the action either.

And Lola kept looking at Frank and me like, "Is this for me?!"

Then Frank tried to figure out which part came next.

And he did, because he read the directions like you're supposed to. Almost done:

And when he put the final side on, I realized that instead of sending me the new model of the crib that no longer has a drop side mechanism, I had received the older model that still has a drop side. I was rather excited that the crib was not a drop side crib, as a large number of the less well-made cribs have had issues with infant injuries due to a failure of the mechanics of the drop side mechanism. Our crib does have a dual drop side hand and foot lever, and we discovered the reason the lower rail on one side swings back and forth. I still am not a fan of the drop side, and we decided that we won't use the mechanism - so the side that drops down faces the wall, and hopefully our baby boy will never know that it even moves at all.

Here's the finished product:

I was also very pleased that my calculations on the size of the room were pretty accurate. We'll have plenty of room once the iron bed becomes merely a frame and headboard, and we should have enough extra space for the glider and additional baby items as well. The glider should be here in a few weeks, and hopefully by then the room will look more like a nursery. Installing the crib in there is a good first step!

Too Hilarious to Pass Up....

Seriously, one of the more disturbingly funny things I've seen in awhile, as a partner-product to the "snuggie"--

I will not be sporting one of these in November.

Getting Crafty....

After reading about all of the incredible things my friend Darby makes for her children, I am inspired to put my hands to work on something for Franklin before he arrives. If Franklin had been a girl, I have no doubt the sewing classes would've begun, but I'll save him (and his Dad) from all of that. Since I noticed these on Darby's blog:

I've been inspired to create some of my own. Darby gives a step by step tutorial here:

http://flythroughmywindow.blogspot.com/2009/02/stamp-it-out.html

I am super-excited to head to Michael's this weekend and pick out stamps and paint colors. The plan is to go and grab three-packs of onesies this weekend (in different sizes through the first year) and to get them all knocked out at once. At that point, all I'll have to do is find matching knit pants for the color paint that I use, and Franklin will have several "outfits" waiting on him when he arrives... outfits that are cute and won't matter if they get ruined. Is it just me, or are the white onesies just a little too plain? Maybe I am just being anal (as usual), but I'm thinking that some of these onesies need monogramming too. Just because Franklin will be a baby doesn't mean he can't have style. I also purchased this today:

How cute is that? I guess if I'm not going to sew, I can at least stamp and stitch. I'll be sure and document my progress in pictures. That's right, just call me Martha.

19 weeks, 5 days-

Just returned from our anatomy scan! We have tons of pictures of the baby, and let's just say - he's not exactly modest. Our baby boy made sure his man parts were in about every picture today. And at the moment he's kicking me quite hard! This little man is very, very active, and the tech said there's a good chance he'll be pretty tall. Although I am 19 weeks 2 days, he's measuring 19 weeks 5 days and is 13 oz, so almost a pound! Dr. Straughn said he was a chunky little monkey. Here are a few pictures:

Franklin looking at the camera!

He's definitely a boy:

And the long legs and big feet I keep hearing about (or foot, at least):

And here I am before we went to the scan this morning. Two things I noticed about the picture: 1) my hair is too long; 2) I am carrying high. No need to point either out.

So there we both are! I can only imagine that we both will grow larger than I ever thought possible in the next 20 weeks. Lets hope the next 1/2 goes as fast as the first!

Big Changes

When we bought our house a little over two years ago, we were pleased that not much work needed to be done to it. Between living in another city, graduating from law school, planning a wedding and taking the bar exam, closely followed by starting a new job/career, we had enough on our plate without trying to fit in home remodeling as well. I must admit though, I was never a huge fan of the front yard. The bushes looked messy to me, the grass was icky, and I just generally thought it look unkept. Here's a picture:

Nothing much about this yard looks appealing to me. It just looks messy. Last summer, I took things into my own hands with those azaleas. Although I literally thought Frank was going to throw me down a well for it, they had become an eyesore for the 11 months and 2 weeks that they weren't blooming throughout the year. And they had not been trimmed in YEARS. What was left was a disastrous array of overgrown stems with a small number of blooms on the ends, that had no shape or style. Luckily, I managed to avoid being bitten by a snake while cleaning out the bushes, and although they didn't look all that great right after they were trimmed they certainly looked much better once they started to grow back. And yes, they did grow back - every single one of them bloomed this Spring.

Two weeks ago, we finally decided to hire a professional to take care of the rest of the front and back yard. Here's the end result of his handiwork on the front yard:

The back yard is quite large for a house of our size, and unfortunately the prior owners had chosen to let the sod die during a drought that occurred right before we moved into the house. We were left with dirt where grass should have been, which has been just lovely with two sweet dogs running in and out of the house every single day, all day long. Since Bebe and Lola haven't been featured on the blog, here's a plug for my first two babies (and the only baby girls in my life):

Aren't they sweet? Back to the story. The back yard was landscaped too. Here's it all set up for a party this past Friday:

Frank also deserves a lot of praise, before the landscaping was completed he cleaned out all of the flower beds back there, put in landscaping cloth and trimmed ivy off the trees. It made a huge difference, and now it looks like we actually take care of our backyard instead of letting plants, shrubs and weeds take over. Frank also pressure washed the entire driveway and all of the brick retaining wall, and in my opinion - it looks like new! We had a ton of people at the party ask if we'd just had all of that installed, so obviously it really provided a huge boost to the look and feel of the house.

I'm thrilled that Franklin will have grass to walk on when he takes his first steps sometime next summer /fall, and that Frank and I will be able to enjoy our backyard a lot more now that there's grass instead of dirt back there. And I'm sure the dogs will be happy about it too -- once the sod grows in and Lola is actually allowed onto the new grass.

And in the best news I've heard in awhile, we got a call yesterday that our crib - which was supposed to take 12-14 weeks and arrive in August - is HERE! We pick it up on Wednesday, and I can't wait to see what it looks like in the baby's room. I expect that next weekend we'll get started on putting the headboard on the bed in the nursery and setting up the crib. After that, we'll just have to put the glider where in belongs when it arrives and add the finishing touches to the room before Franklin gets here. More pics of the baby tomorrow after our 20 week scan!

Baby updates and the Cradle Arrives today!

I keep meaning to have Frank take a picture of my growing baby belly every night when we get home, although by the time we both walk through the door lately it's always after 7 PM and we have yet to eat dinner. So the picture takes a back burner. Not to mention we are having a party at our house Friday, which has monopolized both of our time lately.

In any event, people now feel comfortable commenting on my physical appearance. Fairly regularly, in fact. There probably hasn't been a day in the past two weeks where someone hasn't told me, "wow, you're carrying kind of high," and "oh my gosh, I didn't even know you were pregnant, you're really showing!", or the like. Luckily I've been in a fairly good mood and haven't really responded, other than the occasional, "yeah, I'm bigger than I thought I'd be at this point." Needless to say, there's no hiding the fact that I'm expecting.

Last Thursday I went to another ultrasound at Virginia College, and was absolutely amazed at how active Franklin was. He's getting really big, and was going crazy in there! Even the tech was surprised at how much he was wiggling around, jumping up and down and turning. We thought at one point that he was going to do a full somersault in there, but he didn't quite make it. He also seems to be fairly content with his tushie in my left hip, he's been in a "sitting" position at every ultrasound I've been to. It was really sweet to start to see what his personality may be like... the active part most likely comes from his Dad - Frank's family has regularly commented on how "active" he was at a child. But Franklin also had a few of my characteristics too - he likes to keep his hands near his face, and at one point looked like he was going to suck his thumb! The ultrasound tech was also amazed at how long his legs were, and how big his feet are! There's no denying that he's my child if that's the case. Here's a picture of Franklin's profile:

And here's a picture that proves Franklin is a boy- and yes, that is the cord between his legs:

Our next appointment is Monday morning, the big "anatomy" scan - I suppose most parents are anxious about this scan, considering this is typically where they find out the gender and see all of baby's vital organs, etc. Luckily, I feel great about the appointment since I've pretty much had two "anatomy" scans already. I'm looking forward to another opportunity to see my little man in action.

The crib has been ordered, headboard for the bed in the nursery is in the basement waiting to be installed, and last weekend I ordered the cradle, cradle bedding and glider. This is the cradle:

Frank is going to paint it an antique white, like the crib and other furniture in the room. This is the cradle bedding:

It matches the crib bedding, and I've substituted white minky for the blue minky shown in the pictures. The cradle should arrive today! The glider takes 4-6 weeks, so we should have it sometime in July or the first of August, which is right around the time the crib should come in. I can't wait for everything to arrive! I'm sure once we start putting the nursery together, the reality of Franklin's arrival will hit me.

I was starting to feel a bit panicked about everything, until I ran by the bookstore last weekend and picked up "What to Expect the First Year." My doctor recommended it, and it was a big help - it details everything you need to know, from changing diapers to giving the baby a bath, to what symptoms to look for before you call the pediatrician. Although I've been around LOTS of babies in my life, and feel like I'm fairly comfortable with them, there's just a lot of the "unexpected" when you bring a baby home from the hospital. I have also read Baby Wise (thanks Katherine), and am ordering Happiest Baby on the Block and the Moms-On-Call How to Survive the First 6 Months books also. With many things in my life, I'm a "wing it" kind of a person. In school, work, and apparently baby, I'm of the "must know everything before they get here" lot.

Frank on the otherhand, proves to be the exact opposite - He will research a TV purchase, cigars, cornhole (don't ask), DVD players, receivers, Ipods, computers, fishing, camping, until he knows everything there is to know about the subject. But when studying for the bar, I kept waiting for that to kick in (it didn't) and he did just fine. My husband, who has never held a baby under a year old and never changed a diaper in his life, doesn't seen panicked at all. I asked that he read the parts of the "What to Expect the First Year" that I mark for him, and I have no doubt he'll get around to it. But it's surprised me how laid back he seems to be about bringing home the baby.

I guess that means we're a perfect pair.

Check back soon, posting pics of baby, the completed landscaping and the party decor!

More Tips from Dell!

This is Dell. BellaSugar has even more tips from him on their blog today. Basically, for warm weather, focus on:

Melt-proof: For warmer weather, focus on melt-proof makeup. Ashley recommends Yves Saint Laurent Water-Resistant Eyeshadow ($28.50), particularly if you're spending a day at the beach and want to look great.

Bronzed body: If your face is looking darker than your body, even out your neck and décolleté with YSL's limited-edition Collector Sun Powder ($72). For a bargain, swirl E.L.F. Kabuki Body Brush ($8) into your regular bronzer for a similar effect. NOTE: I regularly use self-tanner on my body, but NEVER on my face and rarely on my neck. Bronzing powder works much better for that, as does using a darker foundation shade - I totally do not follow the "match your skintone" rules for foundation, IMHO it's a silly old-wives tale. YSL's bronzing powder was very highly rated by one of the magazines that I read regularly. Only I can't remember which one now. In the fall of 2005, I also purchased a limited edition "complexion" compact from Dell. It was fairly pricey at the time, around $50 if I recall correctly. I use it fairly regularly - as in STILL USE IT. It hardly looks like I've used it at all, so I consider it well-worth the money spent. Here's the latest edition:

Sometimes I use this instead of bronzing powder too, it gives you a nice summery glow.

Makeup's not a coverup: The best makeup doesn't cover up your flaws as much as it enhances your features. "You want someone to say you look beautiful, not the makeup," said Ashley.
No rules: "Throw all the rules out the window," said Ashley. "Wearing makeup and being beautiful in makeup is about feeling good about how you look."

Warms with cools: "Too much of a warm color or too much of a cool color can look a little bland," he advised. For a look with interest and depth, Ashley recommends wearing a warm eye with a cool lip. My two cents: I also follow this rule - using a warm gold/brown eyeshadow and a cooler pink/peach lip works for my skintone.

Visit http://www.bellasugar.com/3319159#read-more for more info.

Makeup Tips...

Several years ago, I was introduced to a fantastic makeup artist who worked for YSL at their counter here in my hometown. We became fast friends, and he was a HUGE help to me when I competed in Miss America-- as in, sent me to Atlantic City with thousands of dollars worth of free makeup and with "looks" for each competition, and taught me how to expertly apply them. I sent everyone I knew to him, and he made them look beautiful too. A few years ago, however, his expertise was noticed by YSL and he was promoted to a national sales artist. He comes back to my hometown every once in a while, but unfortunately it's been years since I've seen him. Imagine my surprise when this morning I checked a trusted beauty blog, only to find his beauty expertise is trusted by them as well! Congrats Dell, I knew I was trained by the best! Check out the story below:

http://www.bellasugar.com/3253047

And in case you're wondering, for the most part - I still wear YSL. I think their blush, shadow, powder and liners can't be beat - and I'm a fan of their lipstick/gloss too. And touche eclat is about the best thing under the sun. The only thing that I don't use is YSL foundation and mascara (which I posted about earlier), I use Armani Luminous Silk Foundation and Dior Show Mascara. Right now, when it's too hot to load up a face full of foundation, I use YSL's Complexion Enhancer in #7:

It's lightweight enough that I don't feel like I have spackle on my face, but gives even coverage. When I win the lottery, I will happily toss aside my Armani foundation, and switch to:

YSL's Teint Majeur. Yes, Dell gave me the hookup on this too - and I had more than enough samples of this fantastic foundation to use while I was in AC. When I finished my samples and returned home to return the favor and purchase the foundation, the discovery that it was $99 a bottle made me re-think my decision. So when I make my fortune I'll switch back to this, but in the meantime I just can't quite stomach spending that much on makeup.

So, what's the bottom line? In my opinion, everyone needs expert help on how to look their best, particularly in the makeup department! And Dell certainly is the expert! (And no, the "consultants" at Sephora ARE NOT!)(although I love Sephora and they now carry YSL too).