Sibling Tour

This past Saturday we took Aidan to the hospital to participate in the sibling tour.  There was a group of about 10 kids and Aidan was middle of the road for age.  There are kids out there getting a sibling older than Aidan for the first time. Can you believe it? Ha.

We got checked in, all the kids got name tags. Then they got hats to wear and so did the bear he brought with him.  We have already been practicing changing diapers so when that came up, Aidan was a pro!

He got to see the room he was born in, and the room where we went after I gave birth for the remainder of our stay. It was pretty cool for him and I think it will be fun for him to know the deal when he comes to visit us in the hospital.  He asked lots of good questions and the other parents kept complimenting us on how cute he was and how nice it must be that he is so interested.  I'm afraid if I give him any more information he may try to deliver this baby on his own.  JK.

Pumpkin Patch 2012

Every year we make a trip to the Pumpkin Patch at Carrigan Farms in Mooresville, NC.  It's a tradition we started Aidan's first fall and we've gone every year since!  We all look forward to it.  It makes Fall feel real for the Harvey's.  Who doesn't love a hay ride, apple cider and a field full of orange on a cool North Carolina afternoon? We DO!

 

 

 Any excuse to spend time with this cutie...

 

 

 I am not ashamed to post bad self portraits on this blog because I just want Aidan to know I went to things.

 

 I have an obsession with pigs.  First thing I would do if we ever moved to the country. Get piglets.

And baby goats. 

The kid is off...



Hayride back from the patch.  Adam has established a new family rule.  Only pick the pumpkin you can carry.  Left to right. Adam's pumpkin, mine and Aidan's.  The baby bump gets in the way of carrying anything much bigger! Plus Aidan said he picked it for the baby so I couldn't leave it!



 

Bad family self portrait.

 

Right side of our front stoop.  The left side looks very similar but it has white pumpkins from Fresh Market. 

 

This is totally unrelated to the pumpkin patch but I had it on my camera sooo...

my fall window boxes.  Love how they turned out.  

Next year we'll be a family of four at the pumpkin patch! Crazy to think about since we've just been the three of us for so long! But I'm excited!

Happy Fall Y'all! 

Skin Care during Pregnancy

I think one of the most common symptoms of pregnancy is your skin reverting back to those horrific days in middle school where you were broken out all over the place or you got random massive zits in your T-Zone. 

When I was pregnant with Aidan my skin was AWFUL.   So bad that even my Dad made comments about it.  Concerned comments.   I have rosacea and being pregnant does a good job flaring that condition up.  This time taking care of my skin was on the top of my list. 

My skin is typically pretty normal in the warmer months and it gets dry in the winter months.  Which is common.  I knew I at least had that going for me. I'm less likely to break out when my skin is dry.  But anyways, I wanted to be proactive and I didn't want to spend a ton of money. 

This is my skin care regimen...

I've been using Mary Kay Velocity Facial Cleanser since I was in high school and it works great so I've stuck with it.  With my rosacea my skin is kind of sensitive so I try not to change it up too much!





Every other night I wash my face with St. Ives Apricot Scrub.  You have to use it at least a couple nights a week to see any difference.  I leave it in the shower and use it then.  My skin immediately feels softer and it glows.  I've used a ton of expensive scrubs and randomly picked this up for Adam to see how it would work for him and I stole it and love it!

 

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Two nights a week I'm using another Mary Kay product.  Their Time Wise Microdermabrasion Set.
It's like a mini microderm treatment in a tube.  It leaves the same feel as the Apricot Scrub but having that serum for afterwards makes my skin feel amazing.
 

And every night I use their Eye Cream.

I didn't start using eye cream until I was in my mid 20's but I've used this all along and I really like it. When I apply it, the skin around my eyes feels tight and for the most part I haven't noticed any crazy wrinkles yet.

 

Two other great products I use every morning and night are Image Skincare Vital C Hydrating Anti Aging Serum,

 

 

and Image Skincare Clear Cell Medicated Acne Lotion.

This has Benzoyl Peroxide and Salicylic Acid to fight the bacteria and oil that causes breakouts.

I buy mine from an esthetician here in Charlotte but you can use the link on the website to find somewhere near you that sells it.

 

I moisturize with the Mary Kay Velocity Lightweight Moisturizer.  I love it because it truly is LIGHT and it feels like silk on my skin.  I  hate using any moisturizer that makes your skin feel greasy.

 

 

 

It seems like a lot to do but truthfully it only takes me about 10 minutes from start to finish at night and half of that time before I put make up on (If I put make up on) in the morning and I'm really happy with the way my skin in looking these days.

 

Questions? Email me!



Baby Classes

Adam and I are big advocates of taking classes to get ready for the baby.  To be honest, having a baby in a hospital is pretty easy these days.  Our nurses with Aidan were wonderful and I can't ever say enough good things about my Dr's office. I just don't think you can ever know enough.  More than anything, I think it keeps Adam in the loop. As the Mom I'm always reading and researching and I do the majority of the work and try to catch him up but a class gives him another chance to participate in something.  It also makes he and I comfortable that he can have educated and informed conversations with our Dr's and nurses if and when need be.  There really is nothing to loose.  We treat it like a date night.  Dinner and a breastfeeding class?  If that doesn't sound like fun...

So tonight is our breastfeeding class.  Husband's at breastfeeding?  Interesting right.  I think a huge misconception is that breastfeeding is easy.  I've done it once and it's not.  There's so much more that goes in to than just putting a baby on your boob a couple times a day.  When I had Aidan I lasted 3 months but everyday was a challenge.  I know better than to expect that this round will be any different just because I took a class but hopefully I will at least have some knowledge on how to make it less of a disaster.  Which I didn't have last time.  I know breastfeeding isn't for everyone and I'm not even sure it will be for me long term this time around but I'm certainly going to try.  6 months is my goal but we're going to take it a day at a time when the baby comes.

Back to the class.  So husbands are "encouraged" to come.  I spoke with a woman in the waiting room while I was having my glucose test done the other day and she said there were about half of the husbands/partners in attendance. Her husband didn't go with her. I gave Adam the option to go and we agreed that while he obviously can't help with the actual feeding he may be a good voice of reason if he knows the schedule I should be on and all the fun tips and tricks we hopefully will be equipped with.  We all know how crazy those first few days can be and I think he's doing a great job trying to be as supportive as possible.  I really do appreciate it.  I have fully prepared him to see lots of boobies.

We also thought about taking a Refresher Childbirth class but after speaking to the nurse at the hospital we agreed that we were all set.  Taking it the first time when I was pregnant with Aidan was great.  I always recommend it to women when they ask me what I think they should take.

I set up a sibling tour for Aidan at the hospital.  He gets to see the labor and delivery room, the baby nursery and our post partum room. Since he is of age that he definitely knows what's going on, I think it will be awesome for him to visualize where I'm going to be.  Hospitals make him a little bit uncomfortable and I'm hoping this will warm him up to the fact that we're going to be there for a happy reason. 

I'll let you know how that all goes.

Good Ole Gatlinburg

Last Friday Adam and celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary.  We didn't make any grand plans because we knew I was going to be pregnant and truthfully I wasn't too keen on being somewhere tropical for a long weekend in a bathing suit and without an adult beverage.  So we are taking an anniversary rain check. 

We did however decide to take Aidan on his "baby moon".  We had this idea in our heads that we would take him somewhere there would be something for us to do all day every day so he would constantly be entertained and get to do whatever his little heart desired.

So we chose the tackiest place on Earth.  Adam's suggestion.  Gatlinburg, TN.  The Myrtle Beach of the mountains but 1/8 of the space and the same amount of people.  Can you imagine??  So. many. people.  I had been once as a child (passing through) but didn't remember it at all and Adam vacationed there as a child but didn't remember it being so packed (not sure if he ever made it out of his campground).  We were reminded all weekend that the things that entertain you as a child are far from the same things that entertain you as an adult.  And that we must be getting old.

Anyways some pictures...

We stayed at the Park Vista.  It's a Double Tree by Hilton.  

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We left on Friday and got there just after dark.  We were pulling in to the resort and a huge black bear walked in front of the car and across the guard rail on the other side of the road! It was nuts! We checked in, unpacked the car and ordered some room service before hitting the pool for the night.  Which is all Aidan wanted to do.

We woke up to another visitor outside...

 We did a lot of things that Aidan wanted to do...
(Nascar Speed Park)
First time driving a Go Cart

Rock climbing...
(So nervous)

Asking to have his picture taken in front of race cars...

 

We also played indoor mini golf, rode the Gatlinburg Trolley, spent 3 hours in an arcade and my personal favorite...spent time lounging around in the room.

 

 

 

 I know he had a great time but the traffic was horrendous, we could not find a decent bite of food to save our lives and we made the decision we will probably never set foot in Gatlinburg, TN again as long as we live. 

But Aidan didn't know the difference and it was his weekend after all.  I won't ever complain about a 3 hour car ride where I got to hold hands with my best friend, laugh with him about the goofy things our sweet son does from the back seat, daydream out loud about the future with "our boys".  And I won't ever want to take back the times I felt like a child myself seeing things through Aidan's eyes.  There is nothing like being able to know your child wants for nothing and is content right where he is as long as it's with you. 
 

Adam's 31st

Adam turned 31 on the 3rd of this month.  We did the typical thing and celebrated for the week!  I try to make birthday's a big deal around here.  It's kind of hard when it comes to Adam because he is so good about spoiling everyone else on their big day. But we tried anyways.


Aidan and I picked up balloons and a birthday sign and we hid behind the dining room table and shouted "Puprise" (Aidan's idea) when Adam came home. 

 

 

He is always so good about indulging Aidan.  He put the hat on that said "Birthday Boy".

 

Polka Dot Bake Shop cupcakes.

 

Friday night we went to my parents for dinner and cake.  My brother's birthday was the following Monday so we combined them. I made a cake from scratch and everyone at it and LIVED!

  

 

 

 

 

32 Weeks

 32 Weeks

I skipped week 31 because we were busy, busy, busy last week. 

Blog posts to come on that.  But on the pregnancy front, not much was different.

 

Pics are from tonight.  I went to the open house at the school we are hoping (cross your fingers for us) Aidan will get accepted to next year for Kindergarten.   Adam and Aidan were here working on Scout's new dog house so my Dad went with me. It means so much to us that my parents are as invested in Aidan getting the best education as we are.  And I love time alone with my Dad!

 

 Adam gave me the "you look like a Mom" comment/compliment again.  Haha!

 

 

 

Weight Gain: Clueless really.  Last week it was 13 lbs but I haven't weighed myself this week. 

Baby's size: Head of Lettuce; 19 inches; 3.9 lbs.  

Sleep: Sleep is good.  I used to always fall asleep before Adam but that has changed.  It takes me a while to fall asleep but once I do, I'm out!  

Maternity Clothes: I'm pretty pleased with all of my maternity clothes. I definitely get dressed in real clothes more this pregnancy and it makes all the difference in the world.  I'm laughing as I type that because I was in pj's until 5 PM today.

Food cravings: Bring me anything and I'll eat it.

Food aversions: Nothing in particular but when I'm done eating, the food must go. 

Symptoms: I'm not going to lie, last week was a hard week for me.  Adam has dubbed it as the week "Ape got over being pregnant".  It's not that bad but I'm at the point now where bending over is getting difficult, I cry because I want to hold Aidan and I can't (silly preggo hormones) getting off the sofa and out of bed is a struggle.  I've still got 2 months to go so by no means am I throwing in the towel but I'm certainly slowing down and that drives me crazy!

Doctor’s Appointment: Last week I had my 3 hour glucose test.  I passed. Woop woop! No diabetes for me.

Gender: BOY. Sweet Kellan Adam.

Movement:  Constant.  And we love it.  After Aidan is in bed at night, Adam and I sit on the sofa and the baby goes nuts while Adam rubs my belly. 

Belly Button: Still an innie. But it's so sore at the top!

Favorite Moment This Week: I found out a girlfriend of mine is pregnant. We have been friends since middle school and she's one of those great friends I don't have to talk to every day or even every 6 months but we can always pick right back up.  I'm thrilled to get to share this time in her life! She sent out the cutest pregnancy announcement and I couldn't be more excited for her and her husband! 

What I’m looking forward to: Custom baby bedding is supposed to be done this week and my baby shower is coming up!!!!! You won't be able to Google this definition but Custom means slow.

What I miss:  Being able to move with any speed.  Sleeping on my stomach and sushi.  I have been daydreaming about my labor and seriously debating letting Adam leave to go get sushi when I start to push so as soon as the baby is here, it will be there. 

I know I know...

 

I said I wasn't going to buy any more maternity clothes BUT if you say I need this...I'll buy it!

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I mean Adam just bought this...



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Whistle Baby

A video of Aidan singing...and you can now maybe grasp how small our house is...I was in my bed recording Aidan singing in his bed and Adam was in the living room watching TV. 

Kitchen Make Over

Adam and I have put sooooo much work in to this little house of ours.  I am so lucky to have a handy husband to work on all these things with me.  For whatever reason, I decided I wanted to paint all of our cabinets WHITE. I really and truly would have done it myself but they were the cabinets that were in my parents house and they are made of SOLID cherry wood and I knew if I did it, they were going to be ruined. 

We hired a guy that my Dad has used on some of his kitchen rehab projects to come in, take the doors and drawers spray them and then come back and spray the boxes.  We also have the old rippled glass taken out and clear glass installed.  Easy peezy. 

We had a natural bead board ceiling that we installed a few years ago that we never did anything with and I was positive it needed to be white! Good decision.  We changed out all of our light fixtures and I made new roman shades for both of the windows.

The only thing we haven't done is the floor and replaced the door that leads in to our laundry room.  I'm not sure if we will do the floors because we are still planning on re listing our house after the baby is born and I bought a jute rug for now.  I would like to buy a door with a solid pane of glass, have the glass frosted and buy a vinyl decal that says "Mudroom". That way light still comes in but you can't see my piles of laundry on top of the washer.  Haha!

So on to the before and afters.  I have been waiting on some sunshine in Charlotte to take these pictures but the weather report says I may be waiting awhile so I took them while it was overcast.

Just so you remember what the kitchen did look like:

 

and this is what it looks like now:

 

 

 Much better...right?

The island does take up a lot of real estate in this room but Aidan eats there and the storage is a huge help.

 

 It's funny we were all decorated for fall when I took the old pictures too!

 

 

This mirror needs to come down some but I hung it myself and didn't account for it being oval and the hooks were not at the top. Whoops!

I had bought this table for the new house we thought we were building and when that didn't happen it was too late to return it so it has found a home here for now.  It probably won't stay.

 

It was a super inexpensive fix and I love the results.



 

Hospital Bag

New moms ask me all the time what I packed in my hospital bag when Aidan was born.  So to answer those questions and to create a virtual list for myself....

Last time I packed when I went in to labor.  I'm not typically one of those people that can pack a bag and leave it sitting around for weeks just waiting on me.  This round, I have started a drawer in my room with things as I start to collect them.  It may be that I know a little bit more this round than the last but I will pack my bag ahead of time.

Here's what I'm packing:

For Delivery:
~Extra Hair Ties and Bobby Pins
~Snack for Adam (when Aidan was born I did this and it worked out great bc he was starving and I was ready to push. We opened the box of Goldfish and he had a few and was ready to roll)
~Camera and extra batteries (make sure someone there for the birth knows how to use it).

That's it for the delivery room for me.  I'm not a person that relaxes listening to music but if you are, you could pack an iPod or something similar to listen to. 

For Post Delivery:
~My own pillow
~Boppy for nursing
~Breast Pump (Probably will leave this in the car on an as/if needed basis)
~Three Camisoles.  I buy the Soma Intimates ones.  They aren't "nursing" cami's but they work just as well and they are so super soft.
~Three pairs of sweat pants/pj pants
~Several pairs of BLACK granny panties
~Robe
~Slippers or Warm Socks
~A few outfits for baby.  Included will be an outfit for his first pic.
~An outfit to ride home in.  Something comfortable. We live literally 4 minutes from the hospital so I will probably throw a cardigan over a cami and some maternity jeans.
~Toiletries. I buy the ones in the $ section at Target.  That way I can toss them at the hospital.
~I didn't do this last time but I may throw my laptop in my bag last minute to have something to do while the baby sleeps and I'm wide awake!

Make sure your hubby packs a bag as well!!

This round I am also having monogrammed cookies made to hand out to our nurses/family. 

And I'm packing it all in one of these:

 Vera Bradley Large Duffel.  I love this bag! When I was in high school they were super popular so I have 5 in different styles/sizes. 

If you click HERE you can get 16 colors for only $51 right now!



Picky Eater??

I accidentally bought whole wheat bread this week at the grocery store instead of our usual honey wheat.  Big mistake. HUGE.

I just went ahead and made Aidan's sandwich with it in hopes he wouldn't notice.

When I picked him up from school yesterday he was all fun and games until he laid eyes on me. 


Me: Hey Bud.

Aidan: {serious as a heart attack} My Sandwich was bisgusting today.

Me: What do you mean?

Aidan: You know what I mean.  The bread was brown.




The other night we went out to dinner for Adam's birthday...

Aidan: Daddy will you help me read my menu?

Adam: Sure!  Let's see, pepperoni pizza, pasta with alfredo sauce, chicken tenders, grilled chees.....

Aidan: Grilled Cheese! Grilled cheese!  Grilled cheese sounds good.

[So our server comes over. I order and Adam looks at Aidan to place his order.]

Aidan to server: What does your grilled cheese look like?

Server (puzzled):  Well it's two pieces of bread with cheese in the middle and we put it in a panini press so it has grill marks on it.

Aidan: Grill marks....I'll have the pepperoni pizza, Please.

30 Weeks

30 WEEKS!

 

 

 

Weight Gain: 13 lbs.

Baby's size: The size of a butternut squash? 3lbs. 17in. (Approx.) 

Sleep: I have a new motto: I'll sleep when I die.

 

Maternity Clothes: Love my maternity jeans.

Food cravings: None.

Food aversions: None.

Symptoms: I'm feeling great! Knock on wood.

I do have these weird red spots on my torso.  I saw the dermatologist today.  It's just dry skin but I thought I had ringworm all over.  Thank God that is not the case!

Doctor’s Appointment: I had one today.  Baby's heartbeat was 140. He is currently head down, and measuring 31 weeks.  I failed my one hour glucose test and now I have to do the 3 hr.  Not excited but oh well!

Gender: Boy! Kellan Adam

Movement:  YES! and his favorite times of day are early morning and late night. 

Belly Button: Still an innie. But it's so sore at the top!

Favorite Moment This Week: I got my hair cut and colored.  Adam says I look like a Mom.  It felt like a compliment?  

 

What I’m looking forward to: The crib is on it's way! Getting the nursery finished.  I want to get it done before November so we can enjoy the holidays.  My baby shower is less than a month away! Exciting!

What I miss: Sleeping on my stomach and sushi. Gosh I miss sushi.