Mullet no more

Thanks to all of you for your sweet comments about the nursery! I'm so happy with how it turned out and can't wait to bring our baby girl home and show it to her.

Thanks also for your comments on our names. It seems that most people are on "Team Jenn" and like the name Charlotte so thanks for that. We still have not picked one and probably won't until we see her. I have a feeling we may have to pick one of our alternate names as I feel strongly about Charlotte and Shaun feels strongly about Samantha. Or, maybe Shaun will cave in a moment of weakness after seeing me be cut open and let me name her whatever I want!

In other news, we took Julianne to get her haircut today. The kid had a mullet and while I was a huge fan of the Achy Breaky back in the day, I'm pretty sure it is not a hairstyle that I want my daughter sporting. We got about 2 inches cut from the back as well as had her bangs shortened. The place we took her to was called Snip-it's and is so cute. They have TV's at each station, animal cookies, and lollipops. We were expecting the worst after her first haircut experience which she hated but were pleasantly surprised that she actually seemed to enjoy it. The animal cookies were a big hit with her and a huge distraction. It only took about 5 minutes and she didn't even want to leave afterwards. She looks so cute with her new cut and there are still plenty of curls in the back. Here are some pictures:

not too sure about it
reaching for another cookie

getting a bow

This picture cracks me up. There was a little boy crying in the chair next to her during his entire haircut and apparently he was ruining Julianne's salon experience and it made her a little mad. Doesn't she look like she's growling? She can give some killer looks!

all done!

She so looks like a big girl now instead of our baby... :(

Me and my girl (please excuse my puffy face...I am officially swollen...everywhere)!

When the haircut is done, they let them go up front and put a card in this machine and it spits out a prize. Here is a little video of that:

The Nursery

Well, the baby might not have a name yet but she does have a room. It's pretty much done except for a few finishing touches that I need to do. So here it is for your viewing pleasure......

This is the view as you walk into the room

I fell in love with the fabric on this chair and that is actually what convinced me to get black furniture and then the ideas took off from there
I hope this baby likes to be rocked more than Julianne did. She was over it after about 2 months. I'd like to get some use out of my pretty new chair!

This is the cornice board. Shaun made it, my dad painted it and my mom glued the flowers on it. I love it!

The window (my mom made the curtains)

Her going home outfit...and that is a sheet made out of minky. It is so soft - I want one! My mom also made all of the bedding (skirt, sheets, bumper)

I got this lamp at Homegoods and then got the beads to go on it at Wal Mart of all places.

She is set for clothes

The other side of the closet. Like I said, she's set. These are only 0-6 months clothes. Good thing we are having another girl to get use out of all this stuff!

The view looking out the room.

The dresser and mirror. That mirror used to be gold. I painted it. What a pain. I was wishing I would have just bought a new one half way through my project.

Close-up of the dresser. It has crystal knobs that I just love. The picture doesn't show it very well.

The decal above her crib from Uppercase Living. Those things are a pain to put on but I love how it came out.

There you have it. A big thank you to Shaun for helping me paint the room, installing the shelves/poles in the closet and making the cornice board. And a huge thanks to my mom for helping me hang everything, making the bedding and curtains, and helping me put that decal up.

Now I just need a floor lamp for a corner of the room and I want to hang a few things on the large wall on either side of the decal. It feels good to have it done and ready for her!

The name game

What will this baby's name be? It's a question I get all the time now since finding out we are having another girl. Right now, I honestly don't know. When we had Julianne, we had a list of 3 names that we liked and we named her a few hours after she was born (yes, it took a few hours and all the hospital staff kept calling her "baby girl").

The three names we had then were Ava, Samantha and Julianne. I had let Shaun keep Ava on the list (because he loved it) but with much resistance because of it's popularity (I believe it was the #5 name that year and now is like #2). It's a beautiful name but I do not like really popular names. Can you guess why? My name is Jennifer. The most popular name of the 70's. There were always at least 3-5 Jennifer's in each of my classes. There are 7 Jenn's in a 2 block radius of where we live right now (and those are just ones that I know of). I like my name and I think it suits me but I always wanted a less popular name.

When Julianne was born I immediately told Shaun "she is not an Ava". He agreed. She just did not look like an Ava so we were down to Samantha and Julianne. I loved Julianne all along and I love that it is not on the top 100 list of names. We settled on it and I still love it and think it fits her so well.

Normally I don't share names we are considering with a lot of people because I don't always want a bunch of opinions. I figure if I share them now though, maybe my faithful blog readers will agree with me be completely impartial and tell us what you think.

With this new babe of ours on the way we've been discussing names since we found out we were having a girl. I started creating a list of names that I liked and it was quickly shortened by Shaun. Names that I loved that he rejected immediately included: Laney, Lyla, Libby, Aubrey, Ellie, Natasha, and Natalia among several others. Fast forward a few months to now and we have come up with a list of a few names that we both like but each having ones that we like much more than others.

I LOVE Charlotte. Shaun not so much. I love that name because it is old fashioned and I LOVE old fashioned names. It is not super popular (I think it is somewhere in the 50's on last years Social Security name list). I think that calling her Charlie for short would be incredibly cute. Again, Shaun, not so much. He says he does not like this name very much but I can leave it on the list. He also did not like Julianne when I first mentioned it...hmmm?

Samantha is still on our list. It's a nice classic name. My problem with it is that it was #11 on the popular name list last year. That's actually much higher than I thought it would be but I guess a good classic name will remain popular for a while. This is Shaun's favorite name right now. He would paint it on the wall if I would let him.

Others on our list: Whitney, Jocelyn, Noelle, Molly and Claire. We each like these although Shaun is not sure about another J name.

So there you have it. Our name list. One I love, one he loves, and five others that we both like. So go ahead and comment on what you think if you agree with me. Just kidding. A little. Did everyone else have this much trouble picking names for their kids? It would be much easier if he would just let me pick!

It's about time!

Finally.....the girl is earning her keep around here! :)

Now on to teaching her how to mop the floors!

35 weeks

How far along? 35 weeks

Total Weight Gained? 22 pounds

Maternity clothes? So tired of them. I want to pack them away NOW!

Sleep? Not much sleep these days. Pretty uncomfortable and getting up to go to the bathroom about 5 times a night!

Best moment of the week? Finishing the nursery last night! Pics coming soon!

Food craving? Sweets, spicy food

Food aversions? None.

Morning sickness? None. Just all day heartburn!

Gender? Girl - now we are still debating over the name!

Belly button? In but it is really tiny!

What I'm looking forward to? Delivery/no more back pain

Weekly wisdom? Don't let yourself get dehydrated....I had contractions all day every 6-7 minutes on Tuesday due to dehydration and not eating enough.

Here is this week's belly shot - it's pretty HUGE and I'm starting to lose my balance alot!

22 months

22 months old today. Two months away from being 2. You are turning into a little girl right before our eyes. No longer our baby. You are becoming more and more independent everyday which is probably a good thing because one month from today you will become a big sister. This will probably be the last of your month posts before you turn 2 since next month we will be a little busy. I wanted to take the time to tell you what you are doing right now so we don't forget.

I'm not sure of your exact weight but if I had to guess I'd say around 32 pounds. You are wearing 24 month and some 2T clothes.

You have a new obsession. The movie Happy Feet. We tried it a few months ago and you didn't have much interest but now it is all you want to watch. Every morning when we come downstairs you say "penguin...penguin" and continue to say it ALL DAY LONG. Mommy doesn't let you watch it every time you ask because I want you to do other things like read books and play with your toys and use your imagination. You love to dance along to the movie and now have parts memorized and sing along with the penguins.

You loved Christmas and opening all your presents. A portion of our basement now looks like a day care center with all the toys. Mommy is hoping to get it organized soon and rotate toys. You especially love your new roller coaster that mommy and daddy got you. You have been playing on it non-stop when we are downstairs. Here is some video of you on it:


We took you out in the snow today for the first time. You were not walking last winter so you never got to go out in it. You liked the snow and learned how to say "snow" immediately. Daddy took a bunch of pictures of you:

And here is some video of you in the snow:

You are learning to count. You can say 1, 2, 3, 4, and then after 4 you always skip to 8. We're not sure why but mommy is working on getting you to 5. Here is some video of you counting the other day when we brought home your new fish. Daddy and I got you a fish tank for Christmas because you love fish so much. We went to pick out some fish the other day and ended up bringing home 4 goldfish. You like saying hi to them in the morning and telling them goodnight!

You love to read books. Grammy read to you every night while she was here and you couldn't get enough. I think you would let us read to you for hours. You also have to take a book to bed with you. Not just any book but a particular one, and it's different every night. You tell us no until we pick the right one. You are a girl who knows what she wants.

You love fudge and cookies. Mommy did quite a bit of baking over the holidays and you were all over the sweets (you get that from mommy).

You are a picky eater but you always want to try whatever daddy and I are having. You run up and say "bite....bite". You will try anything if we are eating it.

You do not like soda, except for grammy's Diet Dr. Pepper. You spit out Pepsi, Coke, Diet Coke, and anything else someone has given you to try but anytime grammy has a Diet Dr. Pepper you can't get enough of it.

You now sing along to movies and music and are getting pretty good at it. You are very musical and you've got quite the dancing skills. You will dance to anything and on beat too!

You get really frustrated very easily if there is something you want to do and can't. Your new thing is to hit whatever you are mad at and then say "ow". I am trying to teach you to ask for help instead of immediately getting mad.

You have bit your lip when falling twice in three days. You love to just go and don't really pay attention to where you are walking (sometimes you are walking forward but looking backwards). You are always on the go and full of energy!

Daddy and I love you so much. We are looking forward to the new things you do on what seems like a daily basis. There are big changes coming for you with the addition of a sister. We are a bit concerned about how you will react and I'm sure it will be a big adjustment for you but we know that you are going to make a great big sister!

We love you sweetheart - happy 22 months!

Twenty Ten

A new year. Where does the time go? We are just getting back into our normal routine here at home. My parents were here until this morning and it was wonderful to have them. They'll be back in just 31 days for the arrival of baby #2 (yikes)! Seriously people, one more month....I am truly in panic mode but really too tired to panic (or do anything) so I'm just attempting to get as much as I can done and not stress about baby #2's arrival. I'm not doing a very good job at that but that is a different post all to itself!

I normally make a resolution or two but this year I am finding that I have so much ahead of me in the new year that I don't really even know what my resolutions are. I prefer short-term goals, things on a list I can cross off. I'm staring at a list in front of me of things to get done in the next 30 days and it literally has about 30 things on it. I crossed a few off over the weekend but still have much to do. Those things aren't as easy to get done when you are 8 1/2 months pregnant and barely getting any sleep. I always put alot of pressure on myself to get things done and to get them done just so and in a timely manner. It should probably be a resolution to STOP doing that. Instead of worrying about little things that really don't matter, I should look at the bigger picture. So it is my goal for 2010 to slow down a bit and not put so much pressure on myself. I want to count my blessings everyday and show the people in my life how much they mean to me. I have an amazing husband, a wonderful daughter, and another on the way. I am truly blessed! So for now I am going to focus on not stressing the little things and enjoying the wonderful family God has blessed me with! Well, that and finishing the nursery! :) Ha!

Actually my immediate goal is to soak up every minute of time in the next 31 days that I can with this sweet little girl while she still has me all to herself. She loves to hug my belly and I love how sweet she is!

I think 2010 is going to be a great year for our family and I hope it is for yours as well!