Helping Haiti

Not alot going on in the baby front these days. Just humming along, swollen numb hands and all:) Next dr's appt is Wed where I'll have my group B strep test and first internal - fun!!:) (sorry TMI!).

I wanted to take a quick second to talk about something non baby related.  I wanted to highlight an organization that has been doing great things for humanitarian relief.

The organization is called  UMCOR.  It is a not-for-profit global humanitarian aid organization of the United Methodist Church that runs a number of relief efforts including collecting money for Haiti as well as providing health kits, layette kits, school supplies and other supplies to ravaged areas in an effort to help ease the suffering.

Check out their blog - lots on there about the efforts in Haiti. 

One of the reasons I've chosen to mention this org in the blog is that I believe in what they stand for an appreciate that the money we give to them is passed on 100% to the relief efforts!  In addition to what they do with monetairy donations, the accept donations of good and assemble various "kits".  The contents of the  "kits" vary depending on the situation and there are currently 8 kits that they assemble and distribute.

Focusing on Haiti and the relief efforts there they're asking for health kits and layette kits that will be used to supply folks down there with clean towels, soap, blankets, and other basic hygiene items.  

This afternoon I assembled 12 of those health kits!  It was alot of fun trying to find all the pieces (and i'm not saying that sarcastically - I went to two Targets with no luck but still had a blast trying out new stores in our area to find everything!) and now just need to run them over to the local UM Church here who will then be added to other kits being assembled by their congregation and shipped off.

Here's a pic of the kits as I was assembling:

The health kits cost about $12 to assemble and are sent to areas in need to allow folks to have a towel, toothbrush, soap, etc...to help them feel a little more human!  It's not a lot but it's something and it's so easy to do!  Consider it!

Baby Boxing...

So little man was on a roll today...he doesn't seem to like when I sit fully up right in my chair at work and started kick boxing in my bellah for over an hour today.  It was a little tricky getting it on tape because he seemed to know I was filming him and would stop.

Excuse the bare belly one - that was my first attempt at videoing him and found that he was much more responsive with the shirt down (guess he can sense the cold?).  It was fun to have him respond to me when I'd rub over my belly...i'd rub and he'd shift/kick in response.

34...24...14 comparison...

14, 24, and 34 weeks respectively...haha...and I thought I was starting to get big around 24 weeks...hehe...silly girl!

34 weeks...

How far along are you? 34 Weeks! (~6 weeks to go!)

Total Weight gain/loss? Holding steady so far....under 30lbs I think....water retention is starting so I'm trying to weigh myself first thing in the AM:)

Stretch marks? Nope:) Although I have this dark line jutting out from the side of my belly button, trying to figure out if it's just part of the Linea Negra or a stretchie starting...regardless I've been coco buttering the heck out of it!

Baby Movement? you can tell it's getting tight in there because when he moves i feel it everywhere - not just at the top of my belly like normal.  He's stretching and what not and for the most part feels like he's trying to bust out

Best moment this week? The most fabu baby shower ever to be had! 50+ friends and family gathered to shower little man with love and gifts.  I couldn't have asked for anything better - we're soooo fortunate.  Momma did a fantastic job planning and had a lot of help from Caty, my aunts and grandmas!

Food Cravings? Hard to say since I'm hungry all the time:)  So I guess the answer is...anything and everything?

Belly button in or out? It's hanging in there.  There's still some innie to it but I can't imagine that will last a whole lot longer.

Milestones?   We have more for the nursery due to the shower - now to organize it and get it into his closets!
 
Weekly Wisdom?  Wow...so many this week....1. hammer + fingernail = pain (see other blog posts)  2.  Baby wipes baby wipes baby wipes (and maybe some witch hazel)  3.  Yes, having to pee every 10 min is a PIA but so is having sausage fingers, toes, and ankles - drink up!  4.  Get maternity pics done - I know some folks say that they never want to see themselves that fat again but I dont know, maybe it's the photo junkie in me but I want to remember this time and having a maternity photo session is the perfect way to do it!


Still feels like I haven't really grown that much, he's sitting high under my ribs and generally off to one side or the other

DIY Binky Holder...

I've been looking in Target and other stores for binky leashes (you know, the ribbons that at one end attach to the binky and the other side attaches to your child's clothing so you don't lose the binky when they decide to spit it out?) and haven't found one I like:(  Anyways, I ran across a tutorial online at The Mama Dramalogues on how to make one of your very own - without sewing!

I thought I'd give it a shot.  I ordered copious amts of ribbon from theribbonspot.com, plastic clips and mam rubber binky holders from a seller on ebay, and snaps from JoAnn.  Everything finally arrived yesterday so I spent most of my day today putting them together (during conference calls of course!).

Lessons Learned:
1. hammer + fingernail = pain (see my other blog post)
2. snaps aren't all the hard to attach if you follow the directions - which I didn't so I wasted lots!
3.  it's infinitely more expensive to do this if you don't already have the parts on hand from other crafts ($40 in ribbon, $20 in ebay items, $10 in snaps etc..).  I managed to get 5 leashes out of it so far (but I have plenty more I can make but really - how many leashes does a child need?)

However, I have lots of ribbon for other projects and really like the ones I put together.  Maybe other mammas will see them and want one and I can open my own etsy store...ha ha..ya, right - wishful thinking:) I'm really not all that crafty!

Craft FAIL..

I have another post with the product of this craft FAIL but thought I should highlight my gafe because you all can have a good laugh at my expense:)

Note to self and others...hammer plus finger nail = pain.  My poor finger...I was hammering the snaps on to the binky clips and missed!

Maternity Photos...

A few days before Christmas my friend Kim at Good Things to Come Photography came over to my parents house for a quick maternity photo session!  I can't say enough great things about her and her photos:)  She's been a great friend for many many years and I was soooo happy to have her doing our shoot!  She has amazing talent and I could not wait to see the pics she took...well, she made me wait to see the photos until my shower because she had something special planned!

At the shower this past weekend she presented me with a  BEAUTIFUL photo album that everyone at the shower signed with words of advice and what not....the album itself made my cry but once I had all the signatures in it I cried even harder:)  I can't get over how much I love it!  It was by far and away my favorite gift that day (sorry folks - I'm a photography junky..this had my heart the moment I saw it:) )

I'll post a few select shots here but you can also go out to Picasa to see the full set.  I'm soooooo happy with how they turned out and even happier with the album that she had printed...

Don't forget to check out Kim's website and Facebook page and if you're in the Pittsburgh area and are in need of a photographer don't hesitate to look her up!!

Wow .....just wow!

Today I was reminded at how incredibly fortunate DH and I are (and little man).  50+ friends and family gathered to shower little man with well wishes and help to outfit him once he arrives!

The shower was themed from his nursery - woodland creatures!  The tables were adorned in green table cloths and centerpieces made of grass and decorated sugar cookies (that my mom made!) The head table had grass, moss and plush stuffies in a variety of creatures that now will decorate little man's room!

(can you believe - mom decorated 50+ cookies with animal pictures in the royal icing!!)

And in lieu of a cake my mom had a co-workers daughter (a high school senior no less!) create the amazingly cute little cupcakes seen below!  They were the highlight of the party (any one in the Pittsburgh area needing a good pastry chef contact me and I'll put you in touch - she was amazing!)

And last but not least, while I have a ton of great pics from the whole shower with all my friend, I had to show off the other pregnant girlie:)  Erin and I grew up together and she's expecting a little girl in May!

Both DH and I had a fantastic time!  We were overwhelmed with the generosity of our friend and family and can't possibly thank everyone enough!  I feel so lucky! 

Cankles:(

So my hands have been swelling for a few weeks now and I'd accepted that I'd been sausage fingers for the remaining 8 odd weeks of this pregnancy.  I'd hoped that the swelling would be limited to my upper extremities...haha..wishful thinking! Today, I looked down and my ankles have decided to join in on the fun!  So far my right is ahead of the game in its disappearance but the left isn't too far behind! 

So, unless I can wear Uggs to my shower this weekend, I think my cute dress is totally out of the question.  On to slacks and a sweater for me!

Feeling Crafty...

I'm guessing this is the start of nesting or maybe just my version of nesting but all I want to do right now is make things for our little man - crafty things!  I saw a mobile the other day that had birds on it and I thought, how wonderful would that be if I could make that with woodland creatures instead!  Then that had me on the hunt for a good felt pattern for owls, foxes, hedgies, and other cute creatures.  Well, I've only found an owl so far but I thought that'd be a good start.  Let's see if I can do this....:)

Here's the inspiration:

These cuties and their pattern came from Juicy Bits Blog and they looked simple enough to make....although, I'm not much of a sewer and this carpal tunnel has me a bit limited.

Here's my rendition:

Because this is going in the baby's room (and the fact that I couldn't find safety eyes at JoAnn or Michaels) their eyes are just sewn in rather than cute little buttons.  The blue guy is my second try and I'm definitely getting better and cleaner as I go!  I used Google to figure out the blanket stitch that you see around the outside (to fuse the two halves together) and sat and made them while DH tried to refinance the house:)

Pretty good for a first pass.  Now off to cut out 4 more or so and maybe a few small ones too. 

Next up, learning to crochet an amiguri doll!!