Baby Bump: 32/33 Weeks

Fruit comparison: Baby girl is the size of a jicama. Yup...doesn't everyone know how big that is? Since I will be 33 weeks tomorrow...she is or will be...the size of a pineapple.

Sick or fabulous: Still neither...a better description is tired and slightly "whale-like." Yes, I am getting winded pretty easily. I think the waddle has started. And there have been a few times when I have needed help getting up. Nothing like feeling like a turtle on it's back to make you feel super attractive.

Weight gain: So far 15 pounds. I am supposed to be gaining a pound a week...yippee. 

Yes, that should totally help with the "whale-like" feeling. :)

Cravings: Still haven't craved anything too crazy. The desire for bbq ribs did return...

unfortunately before the new Todd's BBQ opened...but I found a filler until that craving returns.

Looking forward to: Meeting our little girl! As we get closer to the end I am starting to get a bit impatient. I think the ever growing belly, increased Braxton Hicks contractions, fewer wardrobe options, increased trips to pee...or not pee, and the inability to lay on my stomach could be adding to my eagerness to have her here already. Add to it that I have my last day of work in sight...it all adds to the feeling of just wanting to be done already. :)

Due Date: Since I am talking about her arrival...it is exciting to know that we have the date for my c-section set. If she stays put...we will be meeting Baby Girl on March 5th!!!! Eeeek!!! I LOVE having a date set. Now I just hope that she is cooperative and stays put until then. ;)

Name Update: So the "name game" has been pretty interesting this time around. With Landry we had his name picked out before we even knew if we were having a boy or girl. This time choosing a name was a little but harder. Of course, Chad's friends...also my friends...gave us several suggestions...LaTonda, "L," and anything else that you could possibly add "La" to the beginning of. :) She already has the endearing nick-name of Lu-lu from one of our guy friends. One thing that has held things up is the fact that Chad has not wanted to decide on a name, "in case something better comes up." Those are his words. Plus, he has been enjoying the fact that it drives me absolutely insane to not have a name decided yet. So, I have just decided to call her by the name we have decided on for now. ;) Lexie Ann Lofgren will be joining our family before we know it. This is actually the first time I have written out her name...and I LOVE it. Eeeek!!! I have loved the name Lexie since I was in college...my boss had a daughter with the name, different spelling, and I just fell in love with it. Her middle name is from my mom. I really wanted both of our mom's names to be included in our children's names. Landry's middle name, Tigh, is Chad's mom's maiden name...and now our little girl will have the same middle name as my mom. 

Landry's thoughts: He is still so excited to be a big brother. He went with me on Monday to add to our registry and definitely had an opinion on what we should/shouldn't get for his little sister. I've said it before...and I'll say it again...he really is the sweetest about her. Here's to hoping it stays that way. :)

Project Nursery: Inspiration

My number one goal during my Winter Break was to get the nursery going...possibly finished...if not, at least to the point where if Baby Girl decides to make an early arrival...she has a place to sleep. :)

With Landry, I had the nursery done months ahead of time...so I was feeling WAY behind.

First up...bring on the PINK!!!!

Landry was so excited to help paint his sister's room.

Well...until this happened!

Still not quite sure how it happened...but it did. Believe it or not that was the only mess he made. :)

Oh...and no...he doesn't drool mud...that is hot chocolate that he spilled on his shirt before the painting began. :)

I had been pinning some nursery ideas for awhile...even before I was pregnant...and most of them were of girl rooms. Once we found out we were having a girl it was time to narrow down the plethora of ideas I had collected. Here are the two nurseries that I kept being drawn too...yes...they are completely different styles. :)

I loved the bright colors of the first one...and the eclectic accents. Being that Landry's room is orange, periwinkle, lime green, and navy blue...you can probably guess that I am a fan of color. :)

I also loved the elegance of the second one...the canopy over the crib, the monogram, the pretty light fixture.

So...the hunt began for bedding that wasn't a million dollars, offered a lot of colors, and was girly without a theme. After searching all over the internet I found it!

It was on Pottery Barn...of course...and wasn't quite a million dollars...but almost. 

The real kicker...it had been discontinued!!!!

Just my luck!

So I searched e-bay...with no luck...

and decided to post it on a Facebook yardsale page...

hoping that someone might have one that they were willing to part with.

No joke...within about an hour a lady contacted me telling me she had one and would give it to me...for FREE!!!

I went ahead and added satin ribbon for the ties...because I love the big bows.

**Sorry about the lighting in the pictures...

I took these at night...with my phone...so the colors are a bit off.**

We already had a set of bedroom furniture...that was mine when I was little...so I decided to refinish those pieces instead of buying new. Two benefits of this...1. It is cheaper...duh and 2. I can get pieces that are exactly what I am looking for. An added bonus was that I had an excuse to experiment with chalk paint. :) I was so eager to get started that I didn't take any before pictures...but, to give you an idea, the pieces were black with pewter knobs. I painted her dresser a Tiffany blue color...to coordinate with the bumper...and added glass knobs. The knobs were an Amazon score...8 knobs for $12...yes, that is a really good price. :)

You might remember this chair from Landry's nursery...

Our dear friends gave it to us and I ended up upholstering it to look like this...

Well, I have taken off all of the upholstery, painted it the Tiffany Blue color, and am in the middle of recovering the cushions...to give it yet a different look. :)

Every girl has to have a chandelier...right? 

I bought this one years ago, with the intention of putting it in our master bedroom. 

Well, that never happened...so...I went ahead and painted it and now it is in her room...

and I LOVE it!

Along with a chandelier, you should know that this little girl is going to have just a "few" bows and flowers for her hair. I have seen a ton of ideas with ways to display and organize bows...but this one was my favorite!

On a recent trip to Hobby Lobby I found these two adorable bird cages that are perfect for her room. I absolutely love the one that looks like Cinderella's carriage. Now I need t get started and make some bows.

My mom got her this cute picture...

and then I found this one to match. 

Here are some other ideas I have found that I am hoping to make.

I thought this one was so cute...and simple.

And I love this quote...

and how cute is this?

I am most certain that I can recreate something 

similar for WAY less than the $47 price tag on Etsy.

I almost forgot about this cute idea for keeping all of the binkies in one place.

As you can see...a lot of progress has been made...but there is still a lot to still do.

I am feeling so much better just knowing that her crib is ready to go, walls are painted, and all that is left is finishing up the final touches...woohoo!!!

Baby Bump: 30 Weeks

Here's to hoping that now that the holidays are over...I will do a better job of posting regular updates. :)

Here we are...30 weeks down...only 10 to go!

Don't you love Big Brother's belly. :)

Fruit comparison: Baby girl is the size of a cabbage...

I know, it is a veggie...but that is what Baby Center said.

Sick or fabulous: Definitely not sick...but I don't think I will ever answer with fabulous. I have absolutely nothing to complain about...no nausea, no sciatic pain, really nothing...but I am not one of those women who claims to love being pregnant. I kind of feel guilty saying that since I have pretty easy pregnancies...but honestly, not loving it.

Weight gain: Right at 12 pounds. My doctor thought that I might be a little on the small side, but baby is measuring right on track...his words, "I hide my babies well."

Cravings: Anything and everything. I still haven't had any "weird" cravings...or any one thing in particular. Pizza ALWAYS sounds good...as do baked goods...but anything could sound good at any random time.

Looking forward to: Being able to sleep on my stomach again!!!!! Oh how I miss being able to just lay down. I am also looking forward to being able to wear normal clothes again...hopefully my old clothes. ;) I'm really not loving the maternity clothes this time around...mainly the pants. 

Thankfully leggings are in style...but seriously...you can only wear leggings for so many days.

Other updates: Since I have been on vacation for two weeks I have made MAJOR progress on the nursery! Things are starting to come together and I am loving it. There will be a blog coming soon with pictures. :)

I have been painting walls, furniture, a chandelier, and finding lots of cute accessories. 

Not going to lie...I still have to pinch myself a bit when I get to buy something pink, with a bow, and totally girly. I CANNOT wait to meet this little one...only 2 months left.

Landry's thoughts: We have always known that he has the sweetest, kindest, most gentle spirit...and it shines through when we talk about his sister. He beams when he talks about her. He loves helping me pick things out for her room, helps choose clothes from the clearance racks, and has even wanted to by her some gifts. After we painted her room...yes, he helped...he came in to the room and said, "Mommy...the room is going to be be sooooo cute...just like my sister!" Melts my heart! This is currently my favorite view:

He loves to give his sister hugs and will whisper, "Love you, Sister" to my belly.

Letter to Elfie

You might remember from yesterday's post that Elfie 

went back to the North Pole with Santa and left Landry a note on his white board. 

He was so excited about the note and right away decided that he wanted to write a letter to Elfie. 

**Cue the super proud mom/teacher moment!*

So, we grabbed a piece of paper and Landry got a marker. I thought he wanted me to write it for him...nope, he wanted to write it himself.

He started to write...without any prompting from me...

he looked at the white board to figure out how to spell "Dear" and "Elfie."

Not going to lie...I was super impressed that he knew to do that...I have second graders 

who still don't remember to do that. :)

He also showed me that he knew "sticky fingers"...finger spaces in between words.

I helped him sound out the words and he wrote the letters that he thought matched the sounds.

"Dear Elfie, love you very much. I want to see you soon."

If you write a letter, then you have to put it in an envelope to mail it.

Here is his letter...all ready to send to Elfie!

I was so proud of him and it was probably the highlight of my Christmas!

The down side...he is now expecting a letter back from Elfie. So, it looks like instead of 24 days of elf antics...I have now gotten myself into a year round commitment. ;)

Christmas Cheer!

This past week has been filled with more Christmas fun!

We kicked off the week with a day of baking cookies. 

You will notice that Landry is in a stage right now where most of the time we get this cheesy smile. Ha! :)

That's better!

Landry could hardly wait to decorate the cookies.

Here he is...with his signature decor...lots of frosting and even more sprinkles. :)

On Christmas Eve we headed over to Grand Papa's house (Chad's grandfather.)

Landry had guessed that he would get more silver dollars...and he was right!

Grand Papa, Landry, and Fran

Fran was so sweet to give Landry this darling puppy puzzle!

Landry also got to open one gift from G.G. and Poppie.

The Lofgren men love to give...and receive...guns. 

Poppie is getting Landry started with the family tradition...with fun styrofoam dart guns.

Here he is learning the right stance from Daddy.

And of course...it didn't take long for the big boys to get in on the action!

Nothing quite like a good 'ol quick draw contest to celebrate Christmas Eve. ;)

When we got home it was time to get ready for Santa!

Landry got the cookies he had decorated earlier in the week...and carrots for the reindeer of course!

Here was his note...

We woke up in the morning and...

Santa had come! 

He left Landry a new bike, Elsa doll, Frozen book, other story books, and a stocking filled with goodies.

Elfie went back to the North Pole with Santa...but he left Landry a note on his white board.

Can you tell that Landry was so excited to get the Elsa doll he had been asking for?

After a relaxing morning at home, it was time to head to Nawnie and Papa's (my parents) to continue the festivities. As you can see...there were hardly any presents. ;)

Landry...before the opening began...you can see who made the trip with him. ;)

Landry's favorite gift of the day...cowboy boots!

He has had them on since opening them. I had to talk him into taking them off to go to bed...and he already has them back on. ;)

We had a great day...full of delicious food, family, and lots of love!

Landry with G.G. and Poppie (Chad's parents)

Landry with Nawnie and Papa

The Krusers

The Lofgrens

and our sweet little family of 3...and 3/4. :)

As I mentioned in my last post...I tried to slow it down and soak in every minute of our last Christmas as a family of three. Next year we will have another little one to share the joy with...and I can hardly wait!