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Sunday, June 27, 2010

18 WEEKS PREGGERS! BELLY PIC!

Progress!Head to rump, our baby is about 5 1/2 inches long (about the length of a bell pepper) and she weighs almost 7 ounces! She's busy flexing her arms and legs, movements that I'll start noticing more and more in the weeks ahead. I have already felt the occasional flutter her and there! Her blood vessels are visible through her thin skin, and her ears are now in their final position, although they still stand out a bit from her head. A protective covering of myelin is beginning to form around her nerves, a process that will continue for a year after her birth.

My cardiovascular system is undergoing dramatic changes now, and during this trimester my blood pressure will probably be lower than usual (although I have always have relatively low blood pressure). I have read to be careful not to spring up too fast from a lying or sitting position or I might feel a little dizzy. From now on, when I do lie down, its important that I lie on my side, preferably to the left as when you lie flat on your back, your uterus can compress a major vein, leading to decreased blood return to your heart. Thank goodness for my Boppy Total Body pillow!

 I have already gotten used to sleeping on my left side, with the support of this awesome pillow since early in my pregnancy. Whoa boy! Major indigestion this week! And those pesky pregnancy hormones causing mucous membranes in my body to swell result in bleeding gums when I brush my teeth and constant congestion (and the occasional light nose bleed from dried sinus cavities). But other than those three reoccurring symptoms, I feel pretty good!

Monday, June 21, 2010

Baby Shower Favor Tasting

My parents' neighbor works for Norman Love Confections, the "it" place to get chocolates and truffles. Pure artisans...and only the very finest ingredients- the Rolls Royce of chocolates. I had received them at Shaylee's baby shower and everyone really loved them (plus it was so awesome to say that I served Norman Love chocolates at my shower!) So of course I had to have them for Kaylyn's shower too! And since my theme colors are chocolate brown and sage green, I really hoped to have ones done that would tie into that. So I requested a tasting of the four that I thought not only sounded good, but also would coordinate with my theme colors.

From top left to right: Mint Chocolate, Pistachio Cherry,
Praline, and Tahitian Caramel
 So the contenders were.....

Mint Chocolate Chip: classic ice cream parlor feel in rich dark chocolate and creamy vanilla mint filling complete with tiny chocolate chips. This one of course would be a winner in my book as my favorite ice cream is Mint Chocolate Chip and my favorite candy is Junior Mints!

Pistachio Cherry: fresh tart cherry and vanilla jam layered on top of Sicilian pistachio ganache with a touch of amaretto coated in milk chocolate. This one was almost too beautiful to eat...it definitely fit my theme colors the best! And boy was it yummy!

Praline: Freshly ground roasted hazelnuts laced with creamy milk chocolate makes this an instant favorite. Soooo good, this one tied for 1st!

Tahitian Caramel: It begins with a layer of creamy milk chocolate filled with a buttery caramel center that oozes the essence of vanilla beans. Very rich, almost too sweet, but sooo good though.

I can't decide! I know I ruled our the Tahitian Caramel, but the other three were so good! Nils and my mom got to try them too so I will have to see what their opinions were to help make a decision. If it was based on looks alone, the Pistachio Cherry would be the clear winner, but since all three taste so damn good, based on flavor is just too hard to decide alone!!!

Kaylyn's Crib Bedding

One very nice thing about expecting another girl is that Shaylee can share a room with her new sister for longer than she could have with a brother. I decided to do the room Disney Princess themed, since Shaylee's bed set is already Disney Princess.  Pink and purple everywhere! I was quite disappointed when I finished my baby registry this weekend, as I was not crazy about any of the crib bedding sets I seen in Babies R Us or Target. But today, I was extremely lucky....

On my break I Googled "Disney Princess Baby Nursery" to try to get ideas and inspiration on how to decorate the girls' room. I just so happened to come across an ADORABLE Disney Princess crib bedding set which was everything I was looking for in a crib set on Walmart.com. And the very very very best part? It was on clearance for $40!!!! A four piece crib bedding- the perfect crib bedding design- for $40! I contacted my mom who agreed to get it as an early baby shower gift, since we knew, being on clearance, if we waited any longer, it would be gone. I COULD NOT LET THIS SET SLIP AWAY! So I ordered it right away. So in the next week or so, I should be receiving it. I can't wait to get it all set up! The girls' room will be so beautiful and coordinated!
Here's a sneak peek (and of course I will take pics once it arrives, all set up)...


blanket

fitted sheet

bumper

dust ruffle

Sunday, June 20, 2010

My 2nd Trimester Photo Session- 17 Week Belly Photo

I am a huge fan of The Picture People. They do great work and we have trusted them to do 99% of the professional photos we have of Shaylee. And I get really great coupons from them almost every month, especially around holidays. For Father's Day I got a super great coupon for a Portrait Package which consist of 1 8x10, 2 5x7s, and 8 wallets for $9. Or you could do two poses, which included the Portrait Package for each pose for $18. I opted for this as the deal was too hard to pass up. I decided to do a maternity session with a big bow around my tummy with the baby's gender. And since finding out we were expecting another little princess, I found a great ribbon that said "Oh Baby! Its A Girl!" and made it for the photo session.


The photos came out AWESOME! I loved them! Here are the two poses I chose.... I have quite an impressive baby bump for 17 weeks!

Saturday, June 19, 2010

It's A.......

Between those perfect set of piggies it the telltale "hamburger"-
three white lines that indicate this is a little girl!
It's A Girl!!!

Presenting 'Kaylyn Monroe Laufer'!

Our appointment at Sweet Baby O Mine 4D Ultrasound was AMAZING! Not only did we get to see our newest addition moving around in 4D, but we also got a confirmation on the gender. Baby K is a GIRL! Kaylyn Monroe Laufer is what we have decided to call her. Its offical! At my last doctor's appointment, they thought it was a girl, but the baby's position made it difficult to confirm for sure. This appointment gave us over half an hour to "ooh" and "awww" over our tiny, precious baby and also gave us enough time to confirm that it was indeed a beautiful baby girl we were gazing at! And what a mover she is! She barely sat still the entire time we were viewing her! She was all about the hands about her face- it was hard to tell whether she was just touching her face or was actually sucking her thumb! Anyhow, it was adorable! She also had several shots of her smiling! She was actually smiling!!!

With my appointment package, I got a CD of over 200 photos, plus a DVD of her moving set to gentle classical music, four printed photos, a pink "Mommy's Sippy Cup" tumbler, a bag of coupons and business cards from various vendors, and a certificate that allows me to return and get the same package as my first visit for only $59 (our package we selected was $149)...and more! So now I got a great assortment of still photos of Kaylyn in the womb at 17 weeks! It was an AMAZING experience! I cannot wait to return to see her with more meat on her bones and actually get a sneak peek at what our second daughter really looks like (at this age, being so tiny, there isn't much fat on her so features are not able to be seen as clearly as a baby, say, at 30 weeks). I highly recommend not only this experience of a 4D ultrasound, but this place in particular, to all moms!

4D Ultrasound Pictures- 17 weeks