(trying) to go Green

Today we finally "committed" and bought 2 BumGenius OneSize cloth diapers. I am really excited about them. (Crazy thing for me to actually be excited about a diaper, but I guess I'm getting into "mom" mode). The diapers have to be purchased online and I got a pretty good deal through amazon.com. They should be here in a week or two and I'm anxious to get them washed and ready for BC (Baby Chilton) that is my dad's way of referring to his grandson now. I was the one who decided on cloth diapering from the beginning and had to convince Daniel. All it took was giving him the basics on price. A set of 12 cloth diapers will run around $300, these diapers are OneSize so they will fit the baby until we potty train. The average family spends about $1200 a year on disposables, times that by 2 1/2 years and you SAVE a ton with cloth. I know it will be a little more effort to wash them, but I am planning on setting up a "diaper/laundry" schedule of sorts so we won't have to worry about running out. Also, cloth are so much better for the environment. I feel better not tossing a diaper into the trash. We DO have a small stash of diaposables to use when the baby is first born. The cloth should fit him but you never know. Also, Nana and MaMaw aren't planning on using the cloth so we have to have some for them. 

Today we had to do the basic grocery shopping as we will both be busy with Christmases tomorrow and on top of that we decided to use our Christmas money and gift cards and go shop! The mall was CRAZY. We did find some great deals at Old Navy, Daniel got a new pair of Khaki's for only $11 and we were able to buy the baby some adorable onesies on sale. Overall, it was a great day and we are now both totally EXHAUSTED and off to bed. 

Christmas is over, whew

I feel like the holiday season ran up behind me, screamed something and now it's over. This year we spent Christmas Eve with my family, and Christmas with Dan's family. Saturday I am heading over to my grandma's for her celebration and Dan is headed to St. Louis for his grandma's celebration. Whew. A lot of Christmases. I can only imagine the stress of having a little one this time next year. :) 

I had my last Dr. Appt on Christmas Eve. I didn't get to see my actual doc because, well, it was Christmas Eve, but I did see Sharon, the Nurse Practitioner. Everything came out fine, the baby's heartbeat sounds good and there really is nothing major to report. She did give me the " time to watch your weight, you had a spike" lecture. :( Yes, I gained like 2 lbs more than they would "like to see" but you know what? I'm pretty much all baby, and I guarantee I will lose it ALL after he's born. I'm only pregnant for the first time once, I want to enjoy all of it. I'm going to post some pics we have taken with our NEW digital camera ( WE LOVE IT!). Here's a pic of the baby's room so far ( still need a few wall hangings to put up) and here is a pic of me and my 2 sisters in law, Shannon and Sarah. Both of them are due June 4th, Crazy. :)  Happy Holidays, I'm off to get some much needed sleep.

Tis the Season

 Today we finally decided to decorate the house. Daniel has been a scrooge this year and was convinced we didn't have enough room to put up the tree. Luckily, being almost 8 months pregnant was my advantage. Give the pregnant lady what she wants! :) Here are some pics of our Christmas setup along with me 31 weeks pregnant and our "kids".  Enjoy!

Here's our Boy!

 The dr appointment went really well today ( besides having 5 nurses out sick therefore making my 3pm appointment become my 345pm appointment). My weight gain is "right on track" according to the doc. I hope he's not just trying to make me feel better. :)  We had our ultrasound as well. We were able to confirm that yes, his is still a boy which made Daniel feel at ease. The baby weighs 2lbs 15 oz as of today, the ultrasound put his due date at February 17th, so just a day behind. Dr. McCorcle said he thinks we'll just keep it the 16th and see what happens. As of now, the doc is pretty sure he'll be born around 7 to 7 1/2 lbs. I am very happy with that, I don't want to have a huge baby! His heartbeat was very strong 167 bpm, which is great. He is also in the head down position now and it turns out that the awful stabbing pain I have been getting for the last week or so is because he's kicking against my ribs. We were also lucky enough to see him have the hiccups and see him making some pretty funny faces. The technician "cheated" for us a little and switched the ultrasound to 3d so we actually got to see his face. It's not totally clear, but I really think that he's got Daniel's nose and I think he does look like his daddy. Here's our beautiful, sweet little man. 

 So, tomorrow should be a fun day for us. We have our 2nd ultrasound scheduled and will be meeting with our doctor afterwards. I just have to say that I am so pleased with my doctor. He came to me highly recommended from a coworker and I am so glad I listened to her advice. Choosing an OB is a big decision for any woman and having someone who really listens to you and makes you feel like you are the only focus for the appointment is great. I am also very glad that since my doctor is part of a private practice that he will have a 90% chance of actually delivering our baby boy. I work at the hospital I will be delivering at and see so many cases of women's babies being delivered by the "on call" doctor and not her own physician. Not saying that the other doctors are "bad" but it's just so much more special to have someone who really knows you and knows all of your OB history, not just based off of your chart, be there for the delivery.

The little man has been very active this evening. I worked out on the treadmill today and yesterday and I've noticed the motion really tends to wake him up afterwards. Dan and I have also been playing music to him since I was about 19 weeks along. Some sounds seem to get better reactions from him. So far it seems like a close race for his favorite between Eric Clapton, the Beatles, Jeff Buckley and he's also really loving the album by Robert Plant and Alison Kraus. We're trying to grow a music lover like his parents. I do need to look into some classical albums as well. He can't listen to rock all of the time ( although I'm sure he would if his Daddy had his way). 

30 weeks today

 Baby boy has been moving around like crazy today. I thought I would post a picture of "us" at 30 weeks. 

Up and Running

 Hello to everyone out there.  I decided to start a blog about our little family. A little about us, we are Daniel and Ali, we've been married since June 2007 and found out in June of 2008 that we were expecting a little bundle. I'm about 7 months pregnant now ( entering week 30 this sunday ) so yes, I'm a little late starting a blog. We found out in October that we are having a little boy and are so excited. We also have 3 fur babies, George, Sadie and Stormie ( the smartest cat alive ). 

So far the pregnancy has been fairly smooth. We discovered I was pregnant on Friday June 13th. dun dun dun. :) I hadn't been feeling well and the girls at work were sure I was pregnant, I was POSITIVE that I wasn't. I told Dan my symptoms and the first thing he said " well, you're probably pregnant." Of course, he was right. We were first shocked and then it was just elation, I called him crying mostly from joy and just said "IT'S POSITIVE, IT'S POSITIVE!"  I did experience "all day" sickness until week 11 but I was mostly dealing with exhaustion. I felt him move the first time while I was at work of all places, that happened in week 19. Week 20 we found out that he was indeed a Boy. Week 21-26 he started moving around like crazy. It's so weird to be sitting reading a book and see my stomach start wobbling around. Awesome, but still weird. :) Week 28, sleeping started getting REALLY hard, I would pay someone $50 if I could just sleep on my stomach again. The baby has been very active the last few weeks. He is probably preparing us for life outside of the womb. I have a 2nd ultrasound scheduled for December 10th and we will "hopefully" re-confirm that yes, he's still a little boy, his weight and if he has turned around from his breech position at 20 weeks. I guess there is not much else to update as of yet. Will be updating soon and hopefully from the hospital when he's born.