Baby shower planning

I'm planning a baby shower to be held this weekend for my sister. There are only 7 of us so it's going to be very small. No games, just some finger foods. I'm just not sure what to prepare! So far my menu consists of a small veggie tray and dip like tzatziki sauce, baby rattle cupcakes and chocolate covered strawberries. What else should I make? A bread bowl with dip? Buffalo chicken dip? I have no ideas at the moment so suggestions are welcome! It's a mid-afternoon shower if that helps.

I'm hoping she gets a lot of stuff she needs. She has no extra income except to buy cigarettes it appears (ahem) and I want my niece to have what she needs. I bought her a stroller/carseat combo on clearance at Target and a good friend from our playgroup gave me a crib and changing table to give her (Thanks again Melodie!) so baby will have somewhere to sleep. We can't have her sleeping in a dresser drawer now! Relatives have asked me what to buy her and I honestly can't say. I may give her some crib sheets if she wants them but after 5 years, they are no longer in pristine condition. They just look dingy although they are in good shape. I know she plans on formula feeding and I know nothing about bottles. I've just been telling people wipes and diapers or gift cards for those things.

So now I need to get my house in order for Sunday. I plan on closing all doors to my house while company is here! LOL We still have so much to do and it's all so much a mess right now. I'm not even sure where to start. I did have an idea though. I need to run it by everyone involved first though. I was thinking, we need to purge some toys, so what if I buy some Rubbermaid containers and give one to my younger BIL, my mom and my MIL to keep at their house so when the boys are there, they'll have plenty to do. I thought it was a good idea. It gets them out of my house, but I don't feel like I'm just throwing them out or losing money on them. Tell me what you think.

Going to Ikea! or maybe not...

ETA: Crappola!! I just got back from the grocery store and I have a "malfunction light indicator" on in my truck. The 4WD light was on too although when I turned the engine off and on again, it stopped. This means of course a trip to the dealer which means possibly no Ikea. :'( We all know what the dealership ends up costing!

ETA2: I swear my dh is going to drive me crazy. He's more disappointed in not going on this trip than I am. He's walking around moping. It's not like I meant for the stupid light to come on, it just did! He just went to bed early and at this point, I'm over it. LOL


We're going to Ikea! I can't wait! My BIL is coming over to watch the boys Saturday and dh and I are headed out to Orlando. Yea! We're looking for toy storage solutions mainly but we'll see what we find. ;) I'm excited to see this place!

I've created a monster

Ian is a shopoholic. Last night I was telling him good night and usually he likes to stall and stall so I told him we'd go to the store in the morning thinking he'd go to bed quicker. I didn't say what store. I knew I had to get gas but that was it. He piped up right away, "We go to Target!". That's my boy! LOL He actually gets upset in the morning if I head towards home instead of into Brandon after dropping off Logan. At least he'll learn to bargain shop!

Registry

For those who care, I deleted the baby bath from my registry. I saw a much smaller and better fit at Petite Elite here in Brandon. I think it was by Primo(which is what the other was but was huge!)? Wait, I found it. Here's one I saw at PE and here is the other. People have been asking my what I need and I don't need much that I can think of. I have a few things on my registry (Registry #: 70440509) but besides that, all I can think of is gift cards to buy diapers (not sure what will work with this baby as not all brands work with all babies) and wipes (any will do unless she's sensitive). My MIL called this morning to see if we needed a crib. I had to tell her no as ours is still in great condition. I do need a mattress but I'm not sure if I'll buy a regular crib mattress or spend the big bucks and get a natural/organic one. After seeing the cost of the organic ($259 and up!), regular will probably be what we get. ;)

Front is finished- before and after pics!

Well except for landscaping of course. DH is ready to pull all the bushes out and start over again. That big dead looking bush is our bougainvillea I talked about a little bit yesterday. We still need to paint the back and right side of the house.
Before- plain stucco


Primed and painting




After


Oh and I did help him a little. I taped off the door and windows. There is still some touch up work to be done though as it's hard to tape around stucco. I also feel like the front needs something. I'm just not sure what. Dh thought we should buy some wooden blinds to put behind our room darkening blinds as they look good from the outside(we have them in our dining room window). I like shutters but we took the last ones down as they are wasp attractors. Hmmm... oh I should add, we are thinking about adding a front porch. We don't have much overhang though so I'm not sure how that would work. I'd prefer screened in so we can sit outside without having to deal with bugs but I also like the open look.

A Picture Post

I will hopefully be back later with something more worthwhile to talk about but until then, I give you a few shots I took today.

Dh is hard at work priming the front of the house. The primer was supposed to be tinted but the idiot at Lowes apparently didn't do his job. Hopefully it won't effect the paint color too much. The side of the house that is painted was what we had left of the old paint/primer. Oh and you can see my bouganvilla that looks so dead thanks to that last freeze. It needed to be cut back anyway. It's still alive though as I did some pink leaves/flowers underneath it. We also found a shrimp plant that we thought died out a couple of years ago!



My new Scooba is hard at work too! I ordered the cheapest model from HSN at the beginning of December. It didn't worked properly so after talking to CS at iRobot, they had me send it back to be replaced. UPS LOST my package though and from Dec 10 when it was "out for delivery" and earlier this week, it was MIA. I even filled out all the claims forms for it. Lo and behold, I suddenly got an email from iRobot that mine had been shipped and I got it the next day! (I had written to them too so see if they could trace it from their end). Not only did I get a new model, I got a more expensive model. Yippee! This one actually works too. Double bonus! LOL So here is our new Scooba which may/may not be called Donald due to his blue color. We haven't really decided.
ETA:He just finished up and boy was that water nasty! Dh just handmopped the floor a few days ago!



A few nature shots I got it today while outside with dh. This butterfly decided to come over and have a drink.





And because Ian seems to get all the attention on my blog, here are a couple of pics I took of Logan.



And finally, I tried once again to install 3 car seats across my Pilot and was successful! I'm not able to use LATCH on the Marathon to do it though. I had to seatbelt it in which is fine. I'm able to get a tight install either way. Now Bella can use the Snugride for a couple of months and then I'll get her and Ian a new seat. Ian's MA expires next year anyway. I went looking at Petite Elite today to see the Radian but they didn't have them yet. I did see some bedding I fell in love with though. Of course, it's too late since I already ordered the PBK bedding. Oh well!

Adventurous eater?

Could I possibly have one?? Or was it a fluke? We went out to Macaroni Grill tonight and Ian actually ate bread with olive oil on it, some of our parmesan artichoke cake(like a crabcake) appetizers, some seafood (scallops) and some of my pasta with it! Now why can't he eat dinner at home that well?? He also ate pizza and ice cream. He must be a) feeling better or b) going thru a growth spurt or c) both. I'd prefer C because he's been looking really skinny since getting that last cold that seemed to last forever! He's been asking for food ("nack") all the time even right after he's eaten! Let's hope he keeps it up although I know in his preteen to teen years, I'll be regretting that statement. Haha.

You riding the cotton pony?

I LOVE Carol Burnett and Vickie Lawrence. I miss watching that show. I wasn't old enough to see the beginning shows but I've seen a few and watched Mama's Family. I was watching some clips on YouTube and came across this one. So LMAO funny! CB can't even keep a straight face!

And some Blasts from the Past...
NKOTB- you know what that means if you're around my age! You got to have the Right Stuff. And don't forget Step by Step.

New Edition! I had their record! Candy Girl, Mr Telephone Man (loved this song!)

How about some Tv? Silver Spoons with Ricky and Alfonso! Punky Brewster was the best. Who could forget Kids Incorporated?

How many of these do you remember? I didn't see the Snorks or Smurfs in there though! I love that Logan loves to watch a lot of these now too.

Okay, enough for now! I'm sure you'll be busy for a while checking all these videos out!

Baby names and Ian-isms

Dh and I are stuck. We have been calling the baby Bella and now we're not sure whether to stick with Isabella or just Bella. I like them both and they both sound good with her middle name. On the plus side, if we name her Bella, noone can call her Izzy. ;-)

~~~~~~~~~~
And a few Ian-isms to start your day... I'll try to be back with more later.
From Yo Gabba Gabba- Pawy Tummy, so Mummy, so Mummy (There's a party in my tummy, so yummy, so yummy)

Pirate song- no ho no ho, piwate I O Me.

Swords- Yayayas

My newest creation

One of Logan's teachers is due with boy/girl twins just 10days before I'm due. She's now on partial bedrest and we're having a surprise shower for her today in class. I love baby showers and making diaper cakes so I decided to try something new- diaper cupcakes! They are 4 diapers each, a bib or lovey and a pair of mittens I rolled to sort of look like a flower bud. I picked up a cake box from Publix and they fit perfectly. She also has a 2.5yr dd so I found a princess doll on clearance at Target to throw in for her. The bibs and loveys were also clearance. I think I spent less than $30 total not counting diapers. I of course will use the leftovers once Bella is born. I think they came out really cute! Here are some pics:









Oh and I need to give credit for the scrapbooking supplies I used to make the Babykakes by Karlise label. Since I'm not actually selling these, I don't think I'm violating any copyrights. The paper and ribbon are from the Sweet Sprinkles kit by Shabby Princess.

ETA: These were a HUGE hit with all the moms who were at the party today. Everyone loved them. :)

Labor Prediction

I was lurking over on the March '08 board and came across this Labor Predictor Quiz. It's all in fun of course. I was late and induced with Logan and late (nearly 2 weeks!) with Ian. So of course, I'm assuming Bella will be late as well. Here's what my prediction said:

I know you were hoping we weren't going to say this, but don't expect this baby to come early. Your baby is nice and comfy tucked away in your womb and has no interest in joining the rest of the world. We predict your baby will be born after its due date. Your baby will most likely be born in the morning. Justmommies predicts that your baby will weigh approximately 8.3 pounds and that your labor will be about 17 hours long.

I think I'd much rather go a few days early this time. Shake things up a bit. LOL A fast labor would be so nice too for once!

Nesting

I hate my house. It's dusty and cluttered. I hate cleaning even more but I have to get it decluttered before Bella arrives. I just have to!!! Today I started in on my room. I threw away a huge box of magazines that were hidden near the pack and play and filled a bag of trash. I have 2 boxes of books I have nowhere to put yet. I have multiple Disney snowglobes still in boxes bc I have no where to show them off. Ugh!! I also put a bunch of stuff in a bag for charity. That was only a quarter of my room. I had to stop for lunch and to take a break. A little bit each day, right? I think this is what they call nesting. I'm also making dh do a lot of "nesting". LOL He needs to paint the house, the boys' room and when I get around to buying the baby bedding, Bella's room. He's already cleaned out the laundry room for me so I can at least walk into it.

I did pull out the exercise ball/birth ball which the boys are having fun with and got the infant carseat out. I'm going to see if I can fit it in the car between the boys' seats later so I know if I need to go buy another convertible or not. If it fits, she'll be in a neutral colored seat but I'm okay with that. It's a perfectly good carseat (will be nearly 3yrs old) and it's been in the AC the whole time. Dh also put my Hypnobirthing scripts into my iTunes so I was able to sync those last night to my iPod. Now I just need to listen to them and practice. I signed up for a waterbirth class at Labor of Love which is the birth center I plan on going to as well. I don't think a homebirth will be in the cards for me this time (unless I just don't make it!). Am I rambling yet? There's just so much on my mind!

Another Which Bedding post!

This one is for my boys though. Just leave a comment on which one you like more. This is for the QUILT only. FWIW, the walls will be a pale to medium grey and the room will have red/blue accents.

PBK Lucas
Company Kids Railroad
PBK Henry

Sunday in Hyde Park

I really wanted to go check out that quilt from PBK so we went down to Hyde Park Village today. It's such a nice area. It's really too bad there's not much down there anymore. PBK did not have the quilt for me to see so I guess I'll have to buy it and hope I like it if that's what I choose. I did see some nice quilts for the boys' beds though. I'm also looking at these for their beds. We shopped at Williams-Sonoma and got a couple of things and walked over to Nature's Table Cafe for some lunch. That's it. We're boring I know. Later we get to do some really exciting stuff like head to Lowes for paint! Ohhh ahhh.

Tomorrow we're going to the zoo with some friends and Tuesday school starts back again. Wed. we're having a surprise shower for Logan's teacher who is due with twins in March. Hopefully she made it thru winter break. I know her Dr didn't think she'd make it until Feb but we're crossing our fingers for her!

ETA: Duh! The PBK quilt is a catalog/internet exclusive. Should have read further! I think that's what we've decided on though. Yea!

Post holiday breakfast

Every year our playgroup has a holiday or post holiday breakfast. We were going to hold it earlier this week but it was in the 20s-30s and that was just too darn cold. Brrr. So we held it today at the park instead. Sadly, there were only 3 of us. Everyone else was too busy or didn't come (ahem Julie). Oh well, we had bananas and bagels and donuts and oj and my Too Much Chocolate Cake which was yummy. The kids had fun which is what mattered. Logan, much to my delight, played happily (and nicely!) with his brother while we were there. They ran together, slid together and Logan even helped me push him on the swings. Unfortunately, they also fell together and while it didn't seem to phase Ian much, he still has a huge goose egg on his forehead. Not pretty. I didn't remember to take my camera to the park, but I did get a picture of his poor head when we got home.

For your viewing pleasure!

Here is our beautiful little girl, Isabella, in 3D! She was head down today, no feet in the way. She did have one arm over her head for most of the hour but we did manage to get her to move. Then she started sucking on her fist. Awww. Looks like she's following the boys and will have my nose and the pretty Gerber baby lips they had. She was pretty active which made getting non-blurry pics tough. The cord was right over her head tickling her lips so they were constantly moving, like she was talking in there. Haha.

My next appt is Feb 4th at 35weeks. We'll be able to see more details then.

This is the 1st pic I've actually gotten of her girly parts. Picture her sitting on a copy machine. LOL


See her arm over her head?










Little smile...


Isn't she the cutest thing inside the womb you've ever seen??

What about this one?

Anyone like this from PBK? I think it's purty! And will grow with her.
http://www.potterybarnkids.com/products/fd2660/index.cfm?pkey=cbdgnbd%7Cb

Guess I need to take a trip to PBK soon and see it in person!

Shopping for a girl & Pg. Update

I finally bought Bella's first outfits. For 5 years, I've complained about how cute all the girl stuff is and there's nothing for boys. Now that I can actually shop for a girl, I had the HARDEST time! I must have spent over an hour at BRU just browsing. I did get to help a couple of moms looking at car seats though so my time was well spent. I also checked out the baby bedding hoping it would help me decide which one to pick but I still haven't picked one. Gotta get a move on so we can get her room painted! (Keep voting!) I realized I'm going to need a few baby things too so when I got home I created an online registry in case anyone asks what I need. This way I don't have to remember everything since my brain is fried. My registry # is 70440509 for anyone wanting to see. Don't you love all the pink?! I wasn't sure if I'd be a "pink" kind of mom, but I'm drawn more to that than purple it seems. I LOVE those Sleepsacks! Both of my boys lived in them when they were babies. I saw they are making them for toddlers now too. Cool!

Okay, so here are her first 2 outfits. I didn't buy the matching shoes for the dress since I don't know how big she'll be (not that she needs shoes yet) or the hat cute as it was bc as Jen always tells me, Your kids have big heads. She means well when she says it. :) Her kids' heads are just small! The hats were all newborn size anyway I think.





And finally, a pregnancy update. I'll be 29 weeks on Saturday. Can you believe that? We still have so much to do!! I have a MW appt tomorrow morning and right after that I go back to the 3D/4D ultrasound place to try again. Bella seems to have moved head down again so *hopefully* we'll get a decent shot of her. I'll post pics if I get some!

Popcorn and a movie contest

Orville Redenbacher is having a contest to help promote their natural line of popcorns which come in a bunch of flavors. You could win a 6pack of popcorn per month for a year PLUS a 1 yr sub to Netflix! Who wouldn't like free popcorn and movies for a year?! I found all this out over at Roni's Weight Watchen blog. Go check her out!

Which baby bedding?

Go vote for your fave bedding for our new baby girl. Here are the links to the pictures... oh and the poll is over there --->

Sweet

Tiger Lily

Love Bugs

Hippy Flowers