Nakita Grinie

No new fruit this week since the baby is still the size of a papaya. I'm not sure I've grown that much either, but I'm still rocking the maternity shirts because I'm almost 6 months pregnant, darn it.



I'm not going to lie, taking these weekly pictures really plays mind games on me. Every time I upload a new one I think one of two things: I am NOT showing enough for being ____ weeks pregnant, or Why do I just look chubby instead of pregnant? I know, I know, I'm whining again about the changes my body is making for this pregnancy. But let's do a little look back shall we?

This is me on the day I got my positive pregnancy test, 4 weeks pregnant. It's how I'm used to looking every day of my life and when Nate and I just looked at this picture we were both like, 'Woah, I guess was pretty thin back then.' Not to mention that back in July I actually had somewhat of a tan.


And this is me now. Filling out a sports bra which is really cool, but just with a thicker midsection than before. I mean it's a BIG difference compared to the above pic but still...do I REALLY look pregnant to you? It doesn't help to have a pale + thick belly either.


And if you are too lazy to scroll up and down, like me, here you go:

Over analyzing my usual belly pics made me want to do the sports bra shot, although I planned to refrain from that until the end. Nate was helping me decipher why I felt so chunky with my 'shirt pulled up shots' and I think it's because of my hand placement. (Don't worry, Nate reassured me that I am not actually fat and it's all in my head but considering the fact that he has to live with me and has already dealt with my neuroses for 8 years, he had to do something to make me feel better). So I think the bare belly shot with sports bra helps matters a bit so that my hands don't get in the way of my gut, thus giving the illusion of a thicker midsection. Am I annoying you yet? This was seriously bugging me, so I had to fix it. We'll see what I feel like donning next week. And really, I might not look almost 6 months pregnant compared to other girls out there, but compared to my non-pregnant self I look VERY different, right? I need to stop comparing myself to others and just chill out a bit. And I need to stop thinking my gut is fat because apparently my pregnant body just adds weight throughout my long torso and not a little basketball bump like I'd hoped. Anyway...

After the wonderful comments and suggestions from my readers, we've decided to use our REI dividend to get a BOB and we are so excited! Making that decision sparked us to begin our registry, too, and so on Friday night we hit up BRU for some scanning gun action. It wasn't nearly as overwhelming as I feared. In fact, it was pretty much a blast dreaming about all of the goodies our baby boy will use in a few months. We spent over two hours wondering around BRU and if you looked at our registry you'd know who was in charge of the scanner--there are two bibs on there that say things like, 'If you think I'm cute you should see my Daddy' and 'My Dad is cooler than your Dad.' Also, we have about a billion random toys and trinkets on there that Nate could not resist, as a big kid himself. And even though the lady told us NOT to register for all of the adorable clothes that will probably be discontinued soon as the seasons change, we couldn't resist. I mean, seriously....you know how much Nate loves dressing himself let alone his future son:)

While we were shopping I realized that neither one of us had bought ANYTHING for the baby since we found out I was pregnant. Isn't that insane? I know some parents buy stuff for the baby even before pregnancy so I think waiting until 23 weeks is pretty good:) So while we were scanning the most adorable baby boy clothes, I decided we each needed to pick out one little outfit for mister man. And so I found my pick within 30 seconds and Nate took 30 minutes, but baby now has an outfit from each of his parents.

From daddy:


From mommy:


So I spent a better part of my day on Saturday scouring through reviews online, my friends' registries, and our Consumer Report baby gear book to further consolidate our registry. I think the things I'm most excited about so far are the car seat (Graco Snug Ride 35, if you were wondering), the diaper bag (an adorable red and brown JJ Cole style), and all of the fun little entertainers and seats for the baby. Most overwhelming is definitely the bottle and feeding decisions you have to make. My baby will be taking a bottle since he'll be in daycare, but with 10 different brands out there it's hard to know what he'll like before he tries them out. So after even MORE research I added a few different brands and will hope for the best. Any recommendations?

But enough of that boring stuff....the chair cushions are finished! My mom shipped the covers to me last week and I love the finished product. So does Henry:




And even though I hate these crappy panoramic shots, it's the best I can do without a wide-angle lens. And it's rather humorous to see Henry with approximately 8 legs. You can see the full effect of the rug plus fabric plus paint. Just the bedding and some shelves with fun wall decor and this nursery is on it's way to being finished!


Twenty-three weeks: registries, research, and more relentless nursery projects:) I swear I've tried to capture little man kicking my innards on video all week long and he won't budge. But I'm determined! Stay tuned.

Another monthly update for my girl?

I feel like there is nothing new to report this month after reading her last month's post, but that probably means this will be extra long and rambling;)

The biggest change for Cecelia this month is that she is now officially sharing a bedroom with Truman. We kept her in the crib for now but hope to move her into a twin bed in the next few weeks. It's not that she is busting out of her crib just yet, but she is definitely getting pretty tall for it. She seems to hit her head on the top and sides of the cribs all.the.time, just like Truman did at this stage and she now tries to crawl into the crib from the outside. If she wasn't going to have a baby brother who could use this crib in a  few more months, we might push the big bed transition a little bit more but probably not by much. Truman moved to a bed at 22 months and I feel like CC is probably ready, too. It's just that she is our wild child who doesn't always follow the rules so we might have to get creative with double big time railings on her bed or something. We will see.





But so far, CC has loved being in Truman's room. She will say, 'Tru Tru?' in the morning when she wakes up and I'm sure they both appreciate having each other so close in the middle of the night when they are up to no good, calling out for us multiple times. Oh, baby girl. Do I really need to pull the band-aid off and get rid of your nuk all together? Seems like that stupid thing is both the ultimate soother for you at night but if you lose it you will not happily search around for one of the three in your crib with you. Sigh. I don't know---you do like to suck on the nuk when sleeping. I just wish it didn't fall out of your mouth so much, I guess. And getting it down to JUST using the pacifier in the crib has gone better than expected, so maybe it's time to bite the bullet and ditch them forever. I did want to be done with them by age two---just worried the nighttime shenanigans will be detrimental to my health before anything gets better (and then worse again with a newborn).

(will miss her nursery so much!)


Cecelia will go down at the same time as Truman now, usually around 7:30 pm or so. Getting her to sleep in until 6:30 am has become a task and she is waking up a few times from 3 am on crying out. I wish I could just ignore her cries and let her figure it out, but that means another beast will wake and then we have double the trouble. CC naps alone in the crib from about 12-2 or sometimes longer (sometimes less). She loves that nap most days though and had one really perplexing day this month when she refused a nap on me. It was horrible. I pray to God she continues to nap until nearly four years old, like Truman has done. He only dropped his nap because we kind of forced it, in the name of an earlier (dual) bedtime, too. But sister is very very different than her big brother in a lot of ways. This we know by now.



CC is a fantastic eater (ahem, different than Truman). She seems to have a palate for spicy foods that blows me away since mild salsa is usually too hot for me. She's not a fan of raw veggies unless they are dipped in ranch or sour cream or any other condiment. Sister loves to dip random foods in random condiments, actually. Luckily this doesn't make me want to gag quite as much as it did in my first trimester---but come on! Tangerines in ketchup? Gross!

Speaking of gross, she had her first stomach bug this month. Poor baby. Poor mommy. Blech.



Little Miss Independent still likes to take charge of certain activities---like coloring, for instance. She does NOT want my help in opening or closing markers. And yet she will get super frustrated if she cannot remove a cap but prefers to freak out instead of letting me help her. We've definitely had a few more semi-scarring tantrums from baby girl this month, now that I think of it. One night in particular was horrible when I attempted to get her pajamas on for her, and she demanded to wear her filthy clothes instead. She was not pleased with me winning this battle and proceeded to cry a torturous scream for at least 5 minutes. Could NOT calm her down. This happened when she was overtired, too, but there are also mornings that she gets really angry at me for changing her diaper and getting her dressed for the day. Oh, boy. I still brace myself for a different experience with 'the terrible twos' with this child.







And yet, Cecelia is the sweetest, most thoughtful little girl. She gives kisses to people unprompted--me, Truman, Nate, her grandparents, Erin, the list goes on. She loves to talk about the 'bay-bee' in my belly and I'm hoping she presents her loving side to the baby when he comes. My mom brought a little gift for Dizzy's new baby, and upon hearing the word 'baby' Cecelia grabbed the gift bag, walked up the stairs (with us close behind since she DID take a major tumble down our stairs this month), and went right into the nursery. I told mom that 'she thinks this gift is for OUR baby,' and sure enough---she said, 'baby' and put the bag down by the rocker. OMG. That child melts me more often than she frightens me. ;)



CC loves Truman but she also loves to push his buttons. A lot of times I think she gets under his skin meaning well, as she tries to 'help' him with his puzzles by throwing the pieces across the room when he denies her that assistance. She's been on the receiving end of his frustration a few times this month and thankfully she is a TOUGH little girl. But we are definitely working on playing nice with these two because she can hold her own, but only for so long against her much bigger big brother. Lucky for us, they really do play wonderfully together about 75% of the time. Their favorite game is currently 'bridge' when they get all of the couch cushions down from the couch and make bridges with them to the ottoman. This activity results in tears from one or both children about half of the time, but it's been a long winter so we are a bit desperate.



Although CC is very independent and pretty awesome at playing alone for a good stretch of time, she still has clingy moments when she only wants to be carried around by me. I think this relates to being tired but sometimes I feel clueless about WHY she has these phases of neediness. A developmental milestone? Two year molars? General anger towards life? Just needing mommy? I don't mind, really, but it's the times when nothing I do is 'right' for her and she is STILL fussy even when I hold her and console her that are difficult. I'm glad she is in a great phase right now---having GoGo here for a week surely helps Cecelia's attitude. I haven't seen this child smile more than when she is with my mom. They are becoming best buds in no time and we all love it---except for when it comes time to say 'goodbye' again. Won't think about that just yet.



We are really into an 'Ariel' stage with Cecelia now, and she pronounces it 'Eel' which is extra hilarious. She has Ariel socks and an Ariel night light and an Ariel cup in the bathroom for brushing teeth. She doesn't actually care about TV at all yet, but that Little Mermaid is still a friend for CC, I suppose. Sometimes she talks about Elmo, too, but Ariel is her bud. Speaking of talking, CC is still a chatterbox at home but very much the observer with other people. She repeats pretty much any word we say and initiates conversations at home, but not so much to strangers. Truman gets really excited sometimes and will say, 'Mommy, CC knows how to say 'bus' now. And she can say 'truck' and 'car', too.' Pretty sure she has known and said those words for a long time now but it's cute that he picks up on certain vocabulary words as 'important' ones to know.

Something that is notable from this past month: I did not pull out my nice camera ONE TIME. This is a new record and it makes me sad, but at least I've still been snapping away with the iPhone. February has been a quick month it seems, and our CC is edging her way to being two years old! I can believe it though, since she really does act older/more mature than her years most of the time.



We love our girl more than words, and knowing that she will be the only girl sandwiched between two boys makes her extra 'special' or something. And I think the tutus and pink frills will only be amplified from here on out. Can't help it.

(enormous V-day tutu and matching doll outfit)


You're the best, Cecelia. Love you! xo Mommy