Mother's Day Weekend

This weekend..it was a great one! Not only did I get to actually spend it with my mama...but my husband spoiled me on Mother's Day for being the mama to our lil baby that has yet to come into this world. I wasn't really expecting anything because I wasn't sure if he would think anything of it...but he did and I am sooo lucky!!!

First...on Saturday, my mom came up to spend some time together and lend her sewing skills to make things for our lil' guys room! The best way to detail everything...is to do it in numbers!

2 curtain panels

My mom made 2 full length curtain panels! She did the sewing...I put in the grommets. I LOVE how they turned out and I can't wait to show them off :)

3 pillows

My mom made 3 pillows with fabric that is also used in the quilt that my Grandma is making.

1 crib skirt

We used leftover fabric from the curtain panels to make the crib skirt. Loved that we were able to do this because crib skirts are EXPENSIVE!!!

9+ hours

spent with my mom on Saturday. My mom is so awesome and am so grateful for all the help. She is very talented on the sewing machine and I feel very blessed that I get to call her my mama!!!

After a wonderful Saturday...Sunday Tate decided to have a day filled with things I wanted to do. It started earlier in the week with an email from him.

10 options

He gave me and I got to choose how many I wanted. The first 4 were breakfast options and the rest was fun stuff for the day.

1 sweet note

I woke up to this super sweet note from Tate, Turner & Mya.

30 minute walk

with our princess!! She loves her walks and taking her everyday has been her highlight of each day!

700lbs of ice cream eaten!!!

If you ever have a chance to eat @ Nelson's in Stillwater...you need to go!! I got the 'childs' waffle cone and Tate got the single cup. You seriously get sooo much ice cream and have numerous flavors to choose from. I picked sea salt carmel and chocolate peanut butter swirl!

10 minute massage

Tate has given me many massages during this pregnancy, but the one he gave on Mother's Day was soooo nice!!! He used 'stress relief' lotion on my back and it was wonderful! Probably the best massage I have ever had!

I did also choose a 'mystery' option on the list of items he sent, but we couldn't fit it in due to the weather! He won't tell me what it is becuase he says he needs to keep it for future use.

I had an awesome Mother's Day To Be weekend and I look forward to actually becoming a Mommy and meeting Turner in a few short weeks :)

Week 37

First and foremost...thank you EVERYONE for the super sweet comments yesterday regarding his name! I definitely felt the love and appreciate it!!!!

Turner this week…

Yup...no more Baby W :)

-Turner is gaining about 1/2 ounce a day and getting his first sticky poop ready

-He is brushing up on his skills for the world outside of my womb: blinking, sucking, inhaling, exhaling and gripping (he's getting strong).

Size of the baby?

Turner is the size of a wintermelon! Had to look that one up because I thought FOR SURE they meant to write watermelon. haha. Apparently a wintermelon is a part of the cucumber family. Never heard of it...have you?!?!

Total Weight Gain/Loss?

+27lbs at my 37 week appointment.

Maternity Clothes?
The bigger I get, the clothing choices get smaller. I am in a rotation of clothes every 1.5 weeks. Luckily, I am getting so close to the end & won't have to worry about it much longer.

Stretch Marks?

Still don't have any...thank gosh :)

Best Moments?
Checking things off on our to do list. We are officially ready with the really important stuff. Hospital bag is packed and car seats are installed. Nursery still needs to be finished, but I am not trying to stress over that!

Movement?
Still moving around in that, but not as often as he used to. But when he does move...he is jammin' out and movin' like crazy!

Food Cravings?

Milk and fruit. We are on gallon #5 for this month.

Anything making you queasy or sick?
Raw chicken still.

What I miss?

Being comfortable. I've moved into the 'uncomfortable' category. Still love that he is in there, growing and healthy...but it is taking a toll on my body and making me slow down. I don't like to slow down!

Nausea/Vomiting?

None

Symptoms?

Had more bloody noses in the past week. Still can 'feel' him grow by my belly getting bigger. Started getting lower back pain also.

Labor Signs?

He is for sure head down. I am almost 2cm dilated. I think she was trying to see if '2 fingers' fit in the cervix, she really didn't check how much effaced I was. I clearly can't go backwards (at least I hope you can't) so we know that I am at least 20% effaced.

Gender?

BOY

Belly Button In or Out?

It's out!!!

Wedding Rings On or Off?

On and still not getting tight! wooohooo...

Sleep?
This past week has been good with sleep. Getting a full 7-8 hours and loving it! I seriously wake up not feeling pregnant, and then when I turn to get my phone...I'm reminded I am pregnant because I can't turn over fast enough!

What I am looking forward to?

Finishing up the nursery. The glider should be coming in a week...fingers crossed...so hopefully everything can be finalized. I am also looking forward to when he will actually be arriving. It seriously could be any day and I love that my body is preparing for it.

Baby W's name is...

We revealed our Baby Boy's name at all of our baby showers. We thought that would be a great way to share it with everyone in one place and not have to hold on to that information until he is born.

Picking a name for your child is a BIG thing. I mean...you need to think of nicknames that they could be called, how they could be made fun of for it and know that this is the name that they will have for their whole life. Lots of pressure...

Tate and I had been talking about names FOREVER. Even before we were pregnant. We have one girl name that we both love. Luckily, it's been my girl name since high school and Tate actually really loves it too, so when it comes time to have a girl (if we get blessed with that someday), we already have a girl name picked out.

Boy name was a bit tricky. We had one that we both liked, but then I started to think of the ways that he will get made fun of and decided I didn't like it. By the time we found out we were pregnant and for sure a boy, we were down to 2 names. One is more common then the other, but still not super popular. But we ultimately decided to go with the name that we feel is one you probably have never heard of as a first name (one person we know has said they know someone with that first name). After I looked up the meaning of the name we ultimately picked, Tate was very adamant that his HAD to the name of his first born son. It fits perfect and it was decided. The other boy name that we like will be used for our 2nd son (once again, if we are blessed with him someday).

After we decided on his name...we started calling him it ALL THE TIME! It was so fun to say it and tell Mya about her little brother and what his name is (yes we talk to our dog like she is human)! We only told 2 people about the name, our best friends. These were the only 2 that also knew we were pregnant from day one. They both loved the name.

We knew we didn't want to hold on to this information until he came because we knew so early on and we saw no reason to. If anybody didn't like it...well then they weren't going to like our sons name because there was no way we were going to change it. This was his name and that was it...like it or hate it...whether you find out now or when he was here, one would still feel the same way about it.

Since my Bestie knew his name, she made an awesome banner for my baby shower so then everyone just saw the name when they came in. No need to make an announcement or anything, it was just right there for everyone to see!

TURNER THOMAS

That is our son's name. Turner. I love it, we love it and we have had only positive response on it.

So what does Turner mean? Well there are a few meanings, but of course we pick our fav meaning to say what it means. It's the English meaning that we fell in love with and that my husband knew it was meant to be. The English meaning of Turner is: Champion in a tournament. For anyone that knows my husband, they know he loves to compete and has high hopes for our son to be a star football player and wrestler. See...it's perfect :)

His middle name comes from a few people. It actually is Tate's middle name and is also the name of Tate's dad and Grandpa (Tate's dad is Thomas Jr. and his Grandpa is Thomas Sr.). So his middle name comes from the past 3 generations...and it will go on to the 4th generation of Wheeler boys.

His initials will also be TTW...which is actually the same initials as Tate. Another reason we thought it fit perfect!

 We also used the banner again in our maternity photo shoot. Here is a sneak peak :)

 So what do you think? Do you love it too?!? Don't tell me you hate it...because you will hurt my feelings and make me cry...and you don't want to make a pregnant girl cry (jk...kind of)!

Now we sit and wait for Turner's arrival!!!!

Linking up again for Baby Talk with Kristin!

 

Week 36

Baby W this week…

-Baby W's kidneys and liver are in working order

- The only organ left to fully develop is his lungs

Size of the baby?

Baby W is the size of a honeydew!

Total Weight Gain/Loss?

+25lbs at my 36 week appointment. It's getting so close that I am now @ weekly doctor appointments...eeekkkkkkk :)

Maternity Clothes?
I've learned that you can buy a size bigger @ Target and it fits. I bought a few tanks in size M that are long enough to cover this belly of mine. SCORE!!!! And they are cheaper than maternity!

Stretch Marks?

Still don't have any...but I have the ugliest belly button piercing scar that I hate! One decision I wish I would not have made when I was 19.

Best Moments?
Putting everything together and getting things in order. It's crazy to me that he will be here soon using all this stuff we have and wearing those itty bitty clothes!

Movement?
He has officially slowed down in the movement department. It started on Monday that I didn't notice as much movement as usual. I still feel him here and there, but I definitly think he doesn't have as much room.

Food Cravings?

Still loving my milk. We are going through a few gallons in a week. Still craving fruit also. Love when I make my smoothies!!

Anything making you queasy or sick?
Still raw chicken...and I really can't eat it either!

What I miss?

Now that the weather has warmed up...I've been really excited to have a Summer Shandy! I'm excited to really enjoy one this summer!

Nausea/Vomiting?

None

Symptoms?

Big belly....of course! Sore hips and lots of pressure down there. Many people have told me that I look like I have 'dropped', but I just feel like I have always felt like I have held him low. I haven't felt any 'rib jabs' or feel like my lungs are being squished...which is nice.

Labor Signs?

He is for sure head down. I am 1cm dilated and about 20% effaced.

Gender?

BOY

Belly Button In or Out?

It's out!!!

Wedding Rings On or Off?

On and still not getting tight! wooohooo...

Sleep?
Through this whole pregnancy, I have only woken up a few times to go pee in the middle of the night and 2 of those few times have been in the last 2 weeks. Kind of crazy but feeling very lucky!

What I am looking forward to?

We have NOTHING planned for this weekend so I am beyond excited to get lots of those items crossed off the list that I posted yesterday! I hope my mom will be able to make it so we can get those curtains done. I love just counting down the days until his arrival!!!

What's left to do?!?!!

I get for overwhelmed when I think that he really could be here any day now and I feel like there is so much to do. I hope he cooks in there for the rest of this month so mama can feel calm and ready for his arrival!!!!

This is what we have remaining on our checklist...

Make nursery curtains

My mom owns a sewing machine and plans to come up this Saturday so we can make them. I ordered fabric online. I can't wait to get them made and put up. I feel like it will add so much to his nursery!!

the fabric that I bought for the curtains

Wash cloth diapers

I still need to 'prep' the diapers but this is not HUGE on my priority list since he won't be wearing them until he circumcision is healed and his umbilical cord has fallen off. I would say when he about 10 days old is when cloth diapers will come into play.

I blogged about cloth diapering here & here

Pack hospital bag

I NEED to get this done this week. I don't want something happening and not have that ready. We have the suitcase out and the checklist on what to pack out...now it's just getting everything in order and a list of items that are our 'everday' items so we don't forget that when we head out.

Source: believingboldly.com via Bridget on Pinterest

Clean both cars

Both our cars are need a good detail cleaning. Mine especially since Mya always rides in my car when we do things with her. Tate and I are thinking of tackling this item tonight, we will see. With this nice weather, it's bound to get done soon :)

Keep up with pregnancy mile goal
I need to average 10 miles a week to keep up with my goal. I set the goal of 350 miles for this pregnancy because I found @ 5 weeks that I was pregnant and that would put me @ 10 miles a week to get there. Well, we all know he could come anytime so if I don't reach 350...that's OK, as long as I kept on my 10 miles a week.

As of yesterday, I have gone 309.78 miles. That puts me at a little over 10 miles average/week I need to keep up. I think I can make up that little bit this week since the weather has now been nice, I take Mya for a walk everyday to add to the miles I already clocked @ the gym. I also have added in cycling which you can for sure get lots of miles in a short amount of time.

Install car seat base in both cars

I wanted both cars cleaned before we do this and we need to install the car seat bases properly before bringing him home. We don't know who's car we will take to the hospital so we want both bases in each car so they are ready. We just received our second base yesterday so we have both of them now and just need to install them.

We went with the Britax car seat

Finish shower thank-you cards

I have finished all the thank yous for the showers that I had in mid-April and now just need to do the ones for the WI shower. We were very blessed with gifts which resulted in many thank you cards needing to be sent. 50 going out today...not sure how many we have left but I will get this done soon.

Google image

Nursery decor

We've started putting some stuff up, but it's difficult to put everything up when we don't have everything. The glider could be a bit yet, which is beyond annoying, but there is nothing I can do about it. Some decisions just may need to be made without having the glider there and hope that it looks good once that arrives. I have a few 'craft' things I am in the middle of and need to finish before hanging everything on the wall.

Relax

Yes...I want to have everything done in 2 weeks and then just relax. I keep telling Tate if we just get it done now, we can relax. Well relax but still keep the house clean so that when we have to head off to the hospital, we will come home to a clean house. I am for sure 'nesting' like crazy right now. Hence the lack in blogging. When I get home, I get straight to a walk with Mya, dinner and then checking things off this list.

Some BIG things we crossed off in the last week...

Install diaper sprayer
Tate did this all by himself with any assistance from me and without me asking him to do it. I was VERY impressed. He always tells me I don't give him enough credit for being 'handy'...which is very true!!! I am happy to have it installed, working and no leaks :)

Install shelving in nursery closet
Tate also did this one with minimal help from me. We now have more shelving and it looks great. I just need to do my part in getting the closet organized with his stuff.

Wash clothes
I think what took the longest was cutting off all the tags. I have all his clothes and blankets washed and put away. Love the smell of his clothes...can't wait to see him in them!!!

Install ceiling fan
This was a task for sure...man oh man installing a ceiling fan is for sure quite the job...but it's done, it works and looks great!!!

Finish painting dresser
The dresser is finished. It actually is even full of his clothes right now! Love how it turned out!!!

Take maternity pictures
We kept having to push this back becuase of the weather and we weren't even sure if this past Sunday would work...but the day turned out BEAUTIFUL and I can't wait to see the pictures. We decided to go with a friend who is trying to build her portfolio as our photographer. Her work has been great so far..so I am hoping she got some great shots for us and for her portfolio!!!!

Is there other items I need to worry about that I don't have on here??? Fill me in on some items fellow mamas!!!!

Linking up again with Kristin for Baby Talk

Friday's Letters

Dear Baby Boy W,

Your due date is EXACTLY one month from today. It is crazy to me thinking that I get to meet you really any day now. I can't wait to hold you and kiss your precious little face. I really hope you get your dad's eyes and lashes...because they are the best! I also hope you get his athletic ability and you love football. If you don't, well then you will hate over 1/2 of your clothes! haha. I am so glad you have been good to your mama the last 9 months. You have no idea how much I love you already! That love will only continue to grow and the day you are born...I will love you even more!

Dear Tate,

Thank you for being the best husband EVER. I just know you will be the best dad and can't wait for you to hold your son. You've been so great during this pregnancy and even though you don't understand why I cry so much (damn hormones)...you've been very understanding. I am one lucky lady to get to call you mine and our son is so lucky to have you as his dad!!!

Dear Nursery,

Please come together on your own. I would like to just relax this last month before our lil' guy arrives...but your making that impossible. It could be that I am a perfectionist and what everything to be PERFECT for him before he comes. It also doesn't help that the furniture store said your glider would be here in 2-3 weeks...well it's been over 3 weeks and they still don't know when it will be in.

Dear May,

I hope this is the month that our son will have his birthday! I prefer right around Memorial Day. If only we could actually choose :) I prefer not to be in labor on my 30th birthday in early June. You have started out really rough with this snow...but I hope you end very beautifully with the birth of our son.

Source

Week 35

 

Baby W this week…

-Baby W's hearing has fully developed. It says that he responds best to high pitched noise.

-His testes have probably fully descended (Tate would be so proud...haha)

Size of the baby?

Baby W is the size of a coconut!

 

Total Weight Gain/Loss?

+23lbs at my 34 week appointment. I start my weekly doctors appointments next week!

Maternity Clothes?
I've busted out the maxi skirts and dresses!

Stretch Marks?

I've made it this far without any...I am hoping I keep it up for a few more weeks :)

Best Moments?
We are officially done with classes and showers. I loved heading back to WI this past weekend seeing all our friends and family there. Baby W was once again spoiled!!!

Movement?
He definitely likes music. In the car to and from work when I am jammin' to some good ol' country music...it's a movin' and groovin' machine!!! Hope he likes country like his mama :)

Food Cravings?

I really don't have any food cravings. Nothing sounds good that is dry. I always want something that has 'juice' in it. Fruit always sounds amazing.

Anything making you queasy or sick?
Mya's horrible smell right now...she needs a bath real bad!!!

What I miss?

Being able to bend over without it feeling like a chore. I also miss being able to workout longer than 45 minutes or walk longer than a few miles. My hips have definitely started hurting more.

Nausea/Vomiting?

None

Symptoms?

I woke up to pee for the FIRST TIME in the middle of the night on Monday night. I hope this doesn't become a habit. I am very sore from this extra weight. He feels very heavy and the top part of my stomach always feels like it's growing.

Labor Signs?

None yet...but I am excited that at my 36 week appointment she will start checking me and we will see if anything has happened down there!

Gender?

BOY

Belly Button In or Out?

It's out!!!

Wedding Rings On or Off?

On and still not getting tight! wooohooo...

Sleep?
Besides the one time I woke up on Monday, still only needing 7 hours and then I am up and ready to go for the day.

What I am looking forward to?

We are supposed to have our maternity photos this Sunday but that may be postponed due to the weather. I really was hoping this 70 degrees would stick around but it looks like it's only going to be a high in the 40's and rain. Will probably be pushing them back a week...which is kind of scary because he really could come at any time!!!