Yay!

The amazing grandparents that my children have went in on a rocker for the new baby and I couldn't be more grateful, excited and so giddy! I had the first 3 while I was still young and never really had to go through what I have with this pregnancy.

So after years of trying we are down to the last 6 weeks before delivery and I can't wait to hold the lil man and rock him in his nursery. The rocker will be coming in any day now and I've just about finished up the nursery (I decided to repaint it...crazy I know but it was giving me nightmares!)

Here's a sneak peek at the rocker and hopefully by next week I'll be able to post pictures with the final result of the room put together with a lot of love from everyone!

Braxton Hicks nightmare!

Most pregnant women know what I'm talking about when it comes to Braxton Hicks, the no fun "fake" contractions! They say that they will stop if you lay down or take a warm bath WELL the night before last mine DIDN'T! I still have 8.5 weeks to go and I started to freak out a bit and of course called my mom rather than the dr! Typical me thinking RN Cindi can fix anything even though she is 1100 miles away from me.

In the end they lasted about 2 hours and I found out that they can start around 32 weeks and normally last 15-30 seconds but can last up to 2 minutes and can be painful! Just as long as they don't dilate me I can possibly enjoy them till I deliver...what fun! NOT!

I head back into my drs this week (I thought I finally had a week of no appts, WRONG!) to find out if I have dilated at all. Let's all pray NO because I don't have time for bed rest!

Cowboy drama!

While Brandon was in port (Guam) he looked up the Cowboy's schedule and saw that they will be coming here to San Diego for a preseason game and asked me to do whatever was needed to get us tickets to go as a family! And let me tell you what a pain in the a$$ that has been! First Brandon and I looked at Ticketmaster's; which is great and all cause you get what you buy without doubt of it already being sold but they aren't the cheapest, so I continue to search and found a local guy selling tickets on Craigslist! $60 for great seats, only problem they are on the Charger side but not anything we can't handle. I email the guy and NEVER hear back from him =( I search Craigslist again and his post was taking down.

So I start searching all the different sites that sell tickets and after 4 or 5 days of searching I find another set that are fairly good seats at a great price, so I buy them and go to email Brandon about my great find! Before I was even finished with the email I get a call from the website saying that those tickets have already been sold! WTH?! I next best set of tickets I can find will cost me an additional $125! I say no thank you (remember we will have just had a newborn and I'm not okay spending an arm and a leg for preseason tickets!) So after HOURS of searching I find another set of four at a different website and buy them to AGAIN get the call that they are already sold! I search again for HOURS and can't find anything so I finally say whatever just sell me the set of 3 so the boys can go and I will just stay home with the baby. The 3 tickets are the same price of the 4 that I already tried and failed TWICE at buying! The guy puts me on hold to call the seller to make sure they are still available and guess what....they are closed for the night! He promises to call me back in the morning and help me search for tickets and I say fine and give up on it for the night.

So today I wake up and start searching again and guess what...I find BETTER seats than the set of 3 and they have 4 available and they are cheaper! I call the site to only be told that that seller isn't open yet for the day and he will call as soon as they open and put them on hold for me. So fingers crossed that it works out this time and that we get to go as a family. With Brandon just getting back from deployment and the boys being die hard Cowboy fans I think this will be a nice family summer treat and plus it will be the first time the boys get to go to a Cowboy game! The baby will be able to say he has been going to Cowboy games since he was a month old! =)

A first

I had my six month OB appt today and guess what I was told?...TO GAIN WEIGHT! They are a little worried that I've only gained 4 lbs so far, but as I keep reminding them I wasn't a stick to start out! I think that if I hadn't changed my eating habits and soda intake than I would have put on WAY more than 4 lbs, but since I did I'm losing unhealthy weight and gaining baby weight which equal eachother out.

Other than weight issues baby is great and I'm finally good most of the time. By the end of the day I feel like I can't catch my breath for anything but very minor compared to how some women feel at this point.

I've been counting down days to go home and see the family and to FINALLY have a Miles' baby shower =)

A post not about the baby, being pregnant or nursery...WOW!

But it is a typical topic on here...SCHOOL! Sorry, but I've learned that it is better to just get it out and move on with life =) Soooo here it is,

I have been trying to transfer colleges to the one out here Menifee since our offer was expected (last July-August time frame)! I didn't hear ANYTHING from them till October but with all the closing delays no biggie. I finished up my last semester at San Diego and thought that I would be good to transfer for atleast the fall semester, but nope! For whatever reasons not all my paper work didn't come through on time so I did ANOTHER semester in San Diego while living up north an hour!

So come spring semester (Jan) I have called, gone in, and talked to every last person that could help me I thought okay now I'm good, but again NOPE! This time around I didn't get a registration appt! But with Brandon deploying and me being pregnant I thought whatever I'll take a semester off, so that's what I'm doing now. Here's the kicker, for whatever reason I got a grant for $4000 that I didn't know about and now wont be getting since I'm not in school...bummer...who doesn't love getting paid to go to school?

So I decided that I'm done with the waiting game with this school and I have already started calling everyone up there to make sure that I will have everything in line so come fall semester I will be back in school and (fingers crossed) getting another grant!

I blame the progesterone

Yesterday I had finally had enough with trying to find matching decor with the bumper that I fell in love with and even painted the nursery to match so I packed it all up and RETURNED it! Crazy I know but it was really stressing me out and now I have picked a new set that I don't love as much but it has every piece that I need and I wont stress...that is tell I get it delivered and realize that I have to repaint the nursery!

Anyways here is the new set...


and here it is with all the decor...


I'm not a fan of animal and sport themes being the only option for boys BUT we all know how much Gavin LOVES "long necks" and he is excited for this set. I'll post pics once it is delivered and set up

oh I also FINALLY decided on a crib (won't get into how sad I am that I have to get a new one again) here it is...


once we get back from WA for our spring break trip and my baby shower (yay!) I will be ordering all the "big" items (aka pricey one, lol)

Rocking Nursery Chair

I'm in love...



Perfection for the nursery, chocolate brown...even sounds yummy!

another option

Last night I couldn't sleep because I was trying to picture the nursery complete and I couldn't see it with the ABC's and 123's and their size working out, so I searched some more and this is what I'm thinking about now...the ABC's (which is a 20x20) will still go over the dresser/changing table combo, and than these cute art work will go over the daybed (the 2 outside ones are 6x6 and the yellow stacking one will be 8x10)




and than over his crib will be 8" letters to spell out his name (whatever that might be, I'm not liking Brady at the moment anymore...I warned y'all that I'm fickle!)

which way to go...?

Okay I came across some BOY friendly wall art and now I'm not sure if I should go all nursery with the ABC's and 123's or if I should go boy'ish' with the half pipe and BMX. Here are the two sets to compare

ABC's & 123's



Half pipe & BMX

NURSERY

We finished painting the nursery today and I'm LOVING how it is turning out! Somehow I missed placed my camera so these are photos taken from my phone...atleast it gives you an idea






since I didn't buy a theme bedding set I have been searching the Internet high and low trying to find art work to hang in the nursery and these are the ones that I have fallen in love with and plan to order asap

this is a 20x20 canvas that will hang over the dresser/changing table combo we have


I really like this but not sure about the blue background so it's in the maybe list



this is the piece that started it all...


and this will pair with the giraffe but I haven't decided what color yet



they also offer birth prints which I can't wait to order!

Loves a great deal

Being military and away from family for almost every birthday and holiday we tend to get a lot of gift cards (which we LOVE!) I finally decided to call and find out the balances of the stack of leftovers I have laying around. I ended up with a good amount and figured why not save money and use them to buy my maternity clothes that I'm in desperate need of!

I being the genius I am thought I should check out the clearance first just to see if they have anything good...and they DID! I ended up getting a handful of tops and than at checkout I thought I should see if there are any coupon codes and I found one for 20% off that expired today, than on top of that the store was offering 1/2 off express shipping and if ordered by 2pm CST I would have my order in 2 days!

So I'll have my clothes by Wednesday and I saved...you ready for this...over $80! WHAT A DEAL, great way to start the day!

Babies"R"Us - Baby Registry

Babies"R"Us - Baby Registry

It said I could post this to my blog and I don't believe it, so this is a test and if it works great =)

IT'S A BOY!!!

I meant to post Friday but we have been crazy busy trying to get Brandon ready for deployment so a few days late but all the same meet Brady!

(I have no idea why it turned this way and I can't get it to turn, sorry)


They gave us some 3D photos but since our little man has no fat on him it was a little scary looking, this is the most normal one

Brady's bedding

I had it all planed out for a girl and just like Brandon said I was counting my eggs before they hatched...BUT I'm completely okay with having another boy. Everyone and I mean everyone as soon as I or Brandon told them we were having a boy asked if I'm okay. I'm stoked that we are having a healthy baby and that is all that matters.

So onto the fun stuff, I haven't fallen in love with any bedding or anything for a boy and today finally I found one that I had seen almost a year ago and has been sold out since and guess what...today it was in stock so it was ordered!

For your viewing pleasures


FYI I'm not loving the quilt so I ordered the bumper and sheet only for right now, I'll eventually get the bedding skirt, curtains and changing pad cover which will give us a great starting point for the nursery

detail views
bumper


fitted sheet

What Brandon and I couldn't do

Brandon and I have no painting talent and we are more of rush, rush since we have limited time together and painting isn't how we really like to spend it, so my Dad came to the rescue and painted the downstairs in 2 weeks! Here are some of the before and after pictures of the downstairs

Family room before

after

Formal dining room before

after (sorry about the crappy camera)

better views



Kitchen before

Kitchen after (excuse the mess...that's life while your doing repairs)

before

entry after

and some others...
entry

formal living room


guest bedroom

guest bathroom

stairs (not finished but you get the idea)


Best part of it all was when Brandon said y'all made it a home!