Little Guy is Moving In

Our little boho boy's room got all painted yesterday as did his amazing changing table! The room is bright and happy now! :)

mid-century dresser/changing table painted "Koi" from Behr and the walls "Retro Avocado" :)

We have a big shag rug we are going to try out-it might be too big, but I hope it fits!

In the process of all that though, all the half organized bins and boxes of baby stuff got scooted into our tiny living room and hallway. So, it kinda looks like we just moved in.

Along with all that, I went through, purged and organized my horrifically, disastrous closet. It had become a pile upon pile of scariness. I really have been wanting to get my little cabin de-cluttered before our little adventurer arrives. When friends and family are over and ask if they can get me "such and such..." I really don't want to have to say, "Um, yeah...the baggies are behind my records, that are in the bathroom closet under the towels and bags of jewelry..." eeek. Thankfully that is no longer the case...

I'm feeling rather accomplished as everything starts to come together. Last night Sam, myself and my folks did a final baby run to the store to get supplies. My mom was like, "If he were born on Sunday, what would you need?" So, we went down the list and got some goodies for little guy (and mommy). ;)

I'll be posting pics over the next two days of all the progress. I can't wait to show you his little room! :) Eee!

I've been experiencing more and more low cramping that seems to hint and remind me that I have a little human dreamer inside that's about ready to make his grand entrance. :)

Paint, Fatigue and Milk

Tomorrow our little dude's room and our mid-century changing table will finally be painted! The dresser is a watermelon color, which isn't bad it's just not what I'm going for and the walls are an awesome taupe color but I want to bring a little more life in his dream space. :) I'm SO excited! Eeee! Once the walls are painted, we can put up all the tree decals! It feels so good to get this done!

One of the things I've been using for color inspiration is an old cross stitch my mom found for me! It should be amazing when it's all done. Which, will need to be soon, I only have a couple plus more weeks till he could arrive.

Actually, he could come any time now. My midwife told me 2 days ago that I'm measuring at 40 weeks. (I've been a couple of centimeters over every time for the past 6 months! haha) She told me to keep my cell phone handy to time my contractions when the come. I've had a couple of bigger ones the past week but nothing that's continuous.

Severe fatigue has set in, unlike anything I've had during my whole pregnancy. I'll get a small spurt of what I try to imagine is energy then "poof" it's gone and I feel drugged. Sleepy little song birds start to sing me to sleep and I'm in a daze. It's kinda funny. I'm so not used to not being able to shake drowsiness so I just laugh as much as I can.

Tonight I have a milk boob class-aka breast feeding. I'm super excited about it. Breast feeding is the subject I decided to save for the month of July. (As far as intense study goes.) I haven't really gotten around to it so I'm glad for the class later. :) I've studied it but not delved deep. I'll be the first gal since my great-grandma to breast feed! So, I'm looking forward to restarting the practice. :)

I thought it was interesting the other day I got a packaged "sample" in the mail from a formula company. They sent me 2 HUGE containers of 2 different types of formula. I never registered for it, signed up or anything. It didn't offend me or anything I just was like, "Um, I didn't ask for this...what makes you think I'm going to use this?" I was raised on formula and turned out just fine but the health benefits of mom's own milky way supply FAR surpasses anything formula can or ever can do from what I've studied and heard from other moms. I'm going to write my own summary of why I'm choosing to go with the boob flow over the powder. Just my honest thoughts. :) Should be amusing I'm sure.

Anywhoo, I've got some really funny pics I'm going to be uploading over the next couple of days and a giveaway coming up too! So, check in and enjoy! :)

Surprise Reactions

Heather Armstrong Photography

One of my dear loves, (who was also one of my bridesmaids) Charlotte, skyped me a few weeks ago to tell me something very special. I had not a clue what was up her sleeve! She told me she was pregnant! She posted this video today of the reactions of friends and family she told! :) Charlotte and her husband Martin went to school with me out in California last year and they both were in our wedding-Charlotte as my bridesmaid and Martin (who is a phenomenal musician) played cello! They are from Norway and are one of THE most fun, amazing couples you will ever meet!

Heather Armstrong Photography

She is incredible and is going to be the best mommy ever! Yay Charlotte and Martin!!!

Check out Charlotte's Blog, it's amazing!

This is SUCH a great and creative idea to journal this part of your journey Lotta! I love you!

(at 2:30 is where my elated reaction is revealed! haha! )

Hot, Pregnant and About to Pop

Today was SO hot! I mean, unbelievably hot and that's coming from a girl born and raised in Dallas Texas. Sheesh!

For those of you who follow my twitter you can see that I have been a girl running back and forth all over town the last few days! My parents just moved here from our native Dallas to be close for the arrival of our little dude. They found a sweet little yellow, two story cottage with two AMAZING front porches. They are in the process of furnishing it and I've been helping by showing them around town, taking my mom to furniture stores and searching for cottage decor inspiration! :)

My mom is one of my absolute best-est friends and so is my dad. It's been a blast knowing that they are going to be so close for this most amazing time in our lives!

My mom and I last summer.

My mom and dad are hilarious!

Today, my dad decided to hang out at REI the camping store, (one of my favs) while my mom and I went to practically EVERY furniture store in town. We hit over 6 in an hour and a half! (Um, just so you know, that's impressive for the women in my family.) We had our eyes out for a particular style so it was pretty easy to narrow it down.

I'm starting to feel sorry for my family who is closest around me this past week. I'm realizing my patience isn't as extended and my usual exuberance is dampened by exhaustion. I'm not used to feeling beat tired out and this week it has been nothing but! Especially today! It was freaking hot and I didn't seem to be all there. Ha!

Realizing I only have 2 and 1/2 week-ish to go is encouraging! I don't want to be all down and "Oh geez, when the heck is this baby going to come for crying out loud!?" I have LOVED being pregnant, it's been one of the most amazing, fun and full of adventure experiences ever. But, this week has been tough, I won't lie. I was tired all day even after an AMAZING breakfast with my folks! Ha, I should have cracked an egg and fried it on the pavement for extra protein this afternoon. ;)

Before we all ate dinner together, (and at the pinnacle of my exhaustion) we headed over to my parents new place to put together their new slip cover sectional couch etc... I couldn't take it any longer...The floor was calling my name like a sweet lullaby...down I went in a half coherent daze. Ah, laying down never felt so good. :)

The couches before Sam and Brandon tackled them into a pieced existence.

After a full day of furniture shopping... the floor was heaven.

So, my little man child, momma loves you so much even when I feel tired and zapped by the heat. Every time you move it sends a shot of joy through my heart and an instant blurry eyed smile to my face and makes all this stuff that's hit me at the tail end totally worth it. I know that when I see your little face, feel your skin and lock eyes with you for the first time, this will all by nothing but a memory to make me laugh at myself. You'll have fun with Daddy and I! We'll create worlds of adventure and sail seas of dreams!

Loves babe,

Momma.

Sunny Side Up

I have an appointment at the chiropractor tomorrow morning. I totally forgot about it until about 10 minutes ago.

My midwife says I'm doing great but our little man seems to be rather indecisive as to what position he wants to come out of the shoot. ;) He is sunny side up, the more proper term is "posterior." Basically, instead of his face facing my tail bone, it's facing my belly button and instead of him laying on his side on my left or right side, his laying on his back. No bueno.

If he decides to stay in the position, it would cause extra back pain, or "back labor." Seeing I'm really not a big fan of extra intensity in the back region or anywhere in my body for that matter, I'm doing things to help him scootch along...

Such as:

not reclining

sitting with my knees below my hip bones (that tilts the pelvis in such a way that encourages the best position)

doing pelvic rocks on my hands and knees (in yoga known as 'cat and cow')

crawling

and sitting with my rear in the air (you know, the way you used to sit/sleep as a little kid)

My midwife recommended me to this chiropractor husband/wife team that have helped several of her other moms in the same situation. I'm not a super fan of chiropractors as a whole, I'm picky. I had one in Dallas that is THE bomb but not all of the practices are as thorough as hers is. But, since my midwife, who I love and respect told me to go-this chica is scootching her butt over there. :)

One mom who's baby was in the same position went and got this special adjustment just for this issue, and two days later, pop! The baby came out perfectly.

So, we shall see. I'm just glad I remembered. I've been terrible about forgetting things lately. There was this awesome, pregnant lady dance class that preps you for labor and I missed it two days ago. Thankfully I'm didn't waking up tomorrow and realizing I totally forgot. Ha!

I'll be sure and blog about how it goes.

Grill Out Baby!

What do you do when you have a group of amazing, crazy friends, an awesome summer day, a pool, a grill and a baby on the way to an artsy couple? You have a crazy grill out, pool party baby shower of course!

Well, last weekend we had our "Grill Out Baby", baby shower! It was a blast I must say! :)

We grilled, we had water gun wars, tie-dye DIY's, gifts, laughing and the guys even had a couple of games of suburban fencing! Ha!

There was a ton of watermelon, a million pastries and build your own kabobs!

Our friends are truly amazing!

One of my girl friends got me a very green, eco friendly and very Jess friendly present! A basket full of vintage children's books, an owl nightlight, glass bottles and a ton more! I was excited.

Amber in the upper right hand corner was fascinated with her apple juice lid.

Let the water wars begin!

the guys, waging war with their swords!

Our friends James and Kristina just had their baby girl, Adoration a month ago! (Their birth story is AMAZING!)

Ailsa, the little blond 4 year old in the pics is fascinated with my belly and knows that "Jessica's Baby is inside there." She and her little sister Amber love feeling him move and hiccup. During the baby shower when things got quiet for a short moment, Ailsa looks over at James as he was holding Adoration, and exclaims, "Is THAT Jessica's baby?!" Haha! It was one of those hysterical moments that make you laugh every time you replay the memory in your head. :)

We set up a tie-dye station and created some AMAZING pieces of baby art! :)

It was SO much fun! I figure, my little guy is bound to spit up, throw up and have some diaper leakage eventually, what better way to prolong the stylish life of a stark white onesie or burp cloth than some fabulous tie-dye!? We used browns, greens oranges and blues for our color pallet!

Oh yes...did you notice my stellar locks!? Can life get any better? I have my man, my baby, my family (they are arriving today!) my amazing friends and as a cherry on top...my dreads.

Gummies Please

I read about these gummy prenatal vitamins several months ago in the Fit Pregnancy Magazine and was curious. But, it wasn't until last night when Sam and I made a Target run (we picked up some organic lemonade/natural Cheetos for our movie date.) that I strolled down the vitamin isle to check them out. We got them just to try and see. Oh my goodness, I wish I would have discovered these sooner. Uh, YUM. They actually taste amazing. Of course you would still want to have some extra boosts of supplements, but dang, these are amazing.

Gold Star for the taste buds baby.

Oh, and Karate Kid was fun and amazing. :)

Baa-Baa and Baltic Amber!

I ordered our little man a "lambie" which is a sheepskin rug to plop on the floor or in his crib etc. I have been looking into the benefits of lamb/sheepskin for babies and found some really cool info that I think is worth a shot trying. :)

Some of the gold stars about sheepskin are:

-Sheepskin helps baby to keep a healthy steady temperature. It is temperature self-regulating, so it's great for summer and winter.

-Sheepskin absorbs sweat, and therefore regulates baby's body temperature when he's warm. So it keeps him cool when he needs to be cool and keeps him warm when he needs to be nice and toasty.

-It's gentle on baby's skin because it consists of a similar basic substance as human skin.The texture is soothing and calming.

-Helps heal sensitive or inflamed skin or rashes, because baby's skin can breathe naturally.

-It's always dirt and bacteria resistant. For centuries it has been known that natural sheepskin, because of its lanolin, has self-cleaning power when left to hang in fresh air.

-It is luxuriously soft and comfortable, and great for baby to have tummy time or sleep on.

We ordered ours from a company in NewZealand called Kiwi-Sheepskins. :) I'll let you know how our little dude like it!

Here's another little dilly I'm going to try out! It's called a teething necklace, made from Baltic amber. Not only does it look cool but it actually does something! No, the baby doesn't chew on it or suck on it. (That's the first mental image that came to my mind when I first started hearing about them. Ha!) This is very popular method used in Europe to help ease the yucky feeling of teething.

After about 6 weeks you can start putting one on your little mister or little miss. Come to find out the Baltic Amber, when worn on the skin heats up to the body's temperature and then releases microscopic amounts of oil (*Succinic acid*) that absorbs into the baby's skin as a homeopathic remedy to help ease the discomforts of teething. Some parents say they see dramatic results others more subtle changes but all good! :) I'm excited to try this out as well! (Plus, it just looks plain amazing.)

*Succinic acid occurs naturally in every cell of the human body and has many functions; analgesic (for pain relief), expectorant (to decrease mucous in the nose and chest), anti pyrectic (anti fever), anti spasmodic (reduces the diarrhoea from an over active bowel) and anti inflammatory (reduces the red cheeks and dribbling).*

source
I ordered this one off of the etsy shop called "Amberforsale" from an awesome gal who makes her own!

The Dreaded Pregnant Girl

Yes, my dear friends, I finally did it! This pregnant boho chica now has her some dreads! I'm very excited! They look amazing! Thank you Solah Nightstar, from Blessed Locks! You're the best!

Samuel and I are headed up to the recording studio tomorrow morning! He will be tracking his piano tracks, grand piano, Rhodes and some vintage Wurlitzer ! It's gonna be sweet!

I'll be writing a real, for reals blog tomorrow-kinda an up to date on some of the ways we have decided to do things with our little man. :)

See ya later!

5-ish Weeks Left

Sam and I kicked it at the gym today! I walked a mile and biked 6, plus some upper body weights.

A mystery goody package that was left on my doorstep that I will blog on later today! Hehe!

We are having a baby shower this weekend for our North Carolina friends and family! It's going to be a grill out, pool party, volleyball, tie-dying onsies fantastic sort of a day! My girl friends and Samuel's guy dudes are coming so it should be a day full of laughs, food and happiness!

I'm going to get changed out of my work out clothes and head out to get some stuff for the shower, and will probably run by the Organic Grocery store to pick up some yummy goodies for me and my man.

Not too many weeks left! Ah!

Sleepless and Sweet Dreams

So, the last couple of weeks the typical sleepless nights of the third trimester everybody hears about have snuck up on me. No matter how many pillows I stuff between my knees, put under my back or how many times I flip over, I can't seem to count more than a few sheep every hour. Add on top of that the trips to the powder room my nights seem to be preparing me for those new mommy nights I hear so much about. :)

Last night I conked out on the floor watching the dvd from our sonogram. I woke up a little disoriented. Sam said I had been asleep for a about an hour and didn't want to disturb me because he's well aware of my battle with sleep. That was the best hour of sleep I had had in quite sometime. HA!

Tonight I'm actually going to enjoy my bed and read a book I've been trying to crack open. I have a bowl of cold cut watermelon, my man in the next room practicing on the piano and preparing for his time in the recording studio this weekend and the yummy feeling of bare feet under nice, soft, cold sheets. I feel rather royal at the moment.

So, I'm hoping that in the morning I'll have a different sleeping tale to tell. But, if I don't I'm comforted by the fact that all this means soon I'm going to have my little man in my arms and a little heart to fall in love with.

Good night my little love, sweet dreams.

Midnight at the Cafe

After a movie night with family friends Sam encouraged me to go with some of the girls on a midnight adventure to Amelie's! So at 12am we all loaded in the car and trucked across town! We had so much fun! It had been a long while since I had experienced a late night girl adventure like that! It was fabulous!

Amelie's is a french bakery/cafe is very sweet spot in Noda, the artsy, Boho district of Charlotte. Not only is it amazing, but it's open 24/7. It has an atmosphere that is inspiring and has fantastically amazing food, pastries and coffee.

Trying to decide.

Molly and Ashely tasting and trying to decide whether to order the

"Spinach, Asparagus-Leak Soup" or the "Carrot-Ginger, Barley" Soup.

They have several amazing chandalier peices! I want to do something like this in my boy's room.

One of the several lounge rooms.

I went with a bowl of the spinach soup.

Then, I got a twice baked chocolate croissant!

My heart was so happy as we talked about all things to do with life, love and silliness. I needed a random, midnight run with the girls to a cool french bakery. :)

I thought to myself as I sat there laughing, I might not get to do this for a long while again. Babymoons, midnight runs to random places-do it up.

Babymoon Part 2

Here it is! Part 2!

Sam and I had an amazing day 2 in downtown Wilmington! We had breakfast delivered to our room and enjoyed the morning sun shimmering on the river.

I had spied some awesome shops the day before that I wanted to check out so we spent the afternoon walking the streets, exploring the shops and tasting the yummy foods from various ice cream parlors and restaurants.

Our journey on day 2 first began at a garage-the place I had been looking forward to the most to visit. It was a glass blowing studio where they made and sold their art work! I am utterly fascinated with glass blowing. I saw some program on public television when i was a little kid about it and have had a secret desire to explore that art ever since. One of the ladies who works and creates there told us that they offer classes...BIRTHDAY PRESENT BABY! Um, yes please. So, yes, I told Samuel that's what I wanted for my birthday-a glass blowing class.

"Downtown Wilmington"

&

"The Planet"

That green and orange awesomeness of a storefront is my now FAVORITE shop on the east coast! It's called "Planet," a shop I would define as selling Up-cycled, Eclectic, Boho-Vintage wares and Urban Outfitter-ish accessories. They sell knickknacks and jewelry from local artists and feature everything from affordable and hip clothes, retro army gear-1950's sets of vintage suitcases-bags galore and a ton more. I was in heaven.

So, there I am shopping and thoroughly enjoying myself, Samuel a couple of stores down. All of a sudden I feel a steady trickling stream running down my leg. I froze.

I had been studying all the different ways your water can break depending on where the bulk of the amniotic fluid is located and how the baby is positioned. One of the ways besides the torrential gush is a steady stream running down your leg. Yeah...you can imagine what was going through my mind. "Shoot, not now I'm 4 hours away from my house!" "Oh my gosh, I don't even own a burp cloth or bottle." "Dang it...Yippee...Oh my gosh...YAY!" "Yay?"

Yes, all those thoughts were floating through my head all at once. Going to the dressing room I realized that it was just sweat. I had my tie-dyed boho skirt on and it was causing more sweat than usual, especially since it was a VERY humid day and I was having hot flashes.

Not quite an almost, but it sure was a fun moment. HA!

They had amazing style in the way they arranged and decorated their store set up.

One of my goodies from The Planet! A sweet jersey knit halter dress! Only $15!

You know those plastic woven blue bags at IKEA? Well this is a recycled zipper pouch made from that same material! I'm going to use it for my baby wipes!

$6

This fantastic bag is going to be on my diaper bags! I'm going to sew a lining pouch inside with pockets for burp cloths, bottles etc... It's made from the same plastic woven stuff.

$12

The front mannequin typified the random feel of the shop.

"Flashbox"

This was the true retro-vintage thrift shop find! A good sized, well organized wealth of vintage bliss.

Samuel found a friend in one of the many antique stores we visited.

We had a riverside lunch at the "Riverwalk Cafe." I had a 3 cheese grilled cheese sandwich with tomato, avocado and sprouts, accompanied by some INCREDIBLE shoestring french fries.

I was like, "Yeah, I'm with him..." as Sam played some AMAZING tunes on a good Seagull acoustic guitar at a music store we stopped in at as I finished my amazing homemade ice cream.

In the back alleys I found a treasure full of the coolest textures and colors. A ton of old loading dock doors. Mmmmmmmmm...love it.

My hot stuff.

A fence surrounding a construction site was entitled "The Key Fence." Hundreds of keys were hooked on the fencing! I just thought it was cool. :)

6 o'clock finally rolled around and we headed to our car for the journey back to home sweet home! I read some of my "Vital Touch" book and Sam played random songs from his iPod harmonizing in his, oh so amazing voice. We arrived in town, stopped in to see some friends who were visiting. That turned into a fun evening of spontaneous movie watching and laughter.

It was an amazing trip.

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