37 weeks

with love,

kristen, ryan, sydney & brigsby

Hunny, what's the difference between ...

Yes, I am about to "throw myself under the bus" with this post, but Ryan got a kick out of it. Although he did tell me he was glad I did not ask this question any louder than I did. 

Let me start at the beginning. 

We were at Target buying what we needed off our registry to use our registry completion discount. While we were grabbing stuff we also added stuff to the registry to get the additional discount on those items. Some of those items, included batteries.

Being me, I had to look at all the options. I knew we needed size D batteries for the swing. Easy enough right?

So I asked him, after looking at two different packs:

"Hunny, what's the difference between the D8 and the D12?"

Ryan stopped, looked at me with this blank stare and proceeds with

"Kristen, that is how many batteries are in the pack. Thank God you did not ask me that any louder than you did! What did you think it meant?"

Honestly? I thought they were different types.

Whoops.

I know Ryan got a good laugh out of this, and now has become a running inside joke between us. Although now that I have thrown this story out there for you all to judge me by, its not such an inside joke any longer!!

with love,

Kristen, Ryan, Sydney & Brigsby

37 weeks - we are full term baby!

How exciting to be able to say that! Knowing now that if Sydney were to make her arrival, we are in pretty good condition both health-wise and by having everything we need!

Ryan and I made our last big purchases last night from Target with our registry completion coupon (btw: I will admit, I did not want a Target registry because in the past, they have been SUCH a PITA about returns - but it was pretty slick this time!)

Here are a few of our bigger purchases:

our stroller/car seat. we originally received the car seat from my Auntie Kris and Geema at one of our showers, and decided after that we wanted the stroller. So my aunt being as great as she is - returned the carseat and gave us the money from that to put towards the set. Thanks Auntie Kris!! Added Bonus: we were able to get it in red, which was our first choice from the start!

Chicco Cortina Keyfit 30 Travel System

the pack and play:

Chicco Lullaby LX Play Yard

and from our amazon order:

Fisher Price My Little Lamb Cradle Swing

We already have the swing set up, among other baby toys around the house. The nursery actually LOOKS like a nursery, but no photos yet, still a few finishing details to complete hopefully next week - and then we can share!

I also received my maternity photos back. We worked with Sally of Gruman Photography and are very pleased!

here are a few:

i HAD to add my fire gear into some since it is a part of who ryan and i are! we have 64 files to go through (that we are lucky to be able to print and do almost whatever with!), so this was just a peek into what we have on our hands!!

next update: 37week belly photo before 38 weeks comes around!

with love,

Kristen, Ryan, Sydney & Brigsby

36 weeks ... just a little behind

I just took the time to upload and quickly edit my 36 week photo, being tomorrow already I will be 37 weeks! Whoops! But a lot has been going on - which I will update more once I put my 37  week photo up (and it will be closer to on-time than 36 was!)

So here is 36 weeks, almost one week ago:

with love,

Kristen, Ryan, Sydney & Brigsby

showers, nursery progress and the extras

Since my last post, we have had 2 other baby showers! One was a surprise at Ryan's school by his co-workers, and the other was for "Ryan's" side of the family (in quotes since it's my family too :)

i also have my 36 week belly photo to post - but i have not uploaded/edited it yet so that will wait until next time!

so, to start, a few from Ryan's surprise work shower:

 

Ryan "enjoying" baby food during a game :)

And a few from Ryan's side baby shower, hosted by Kate and Elaine:

Ryan also set up the dresser that his dad, Elaine & Kate gave us - so excited! It is the Ikea Hemnes - lots of storage space! I have already started washing Sydney's clothing to organize and put away. Dare I say, her room is actually starting to become organized?? 

We also received the Fisher Price My Little Lamb swing in the mail today (thank you amazon). We used our completion coupon from our pretend registry there - so the final cost was $88! I did not think that was too bad, since the swing we were going to buy was $160!

I do feel like a nesting mode is starting to kick in. Laundry, organizing, making sure stuff is put away - its all on my list of things to accomplish before my spring break ends (luckily I still have another full week off of work!)

Saturday we are making a big trip to target to finish buying the items that we foresee ourselves needing for Sydney's arrival - and ordering her stroller and pack 'n' play online that day, as they are not sold in store!

with love (and more photos coming soon!)

Kristen, Ryan, Sydney & Brigsby

35/35 and my baby shower!

I hit my 35/35 this week! (35 weeks, 35 days left until my due date!

here is my 35 week photo:

and detail photos from "my" side of the family's baby shower. it was an amazing day filled with lots of love and amazing people. my aunt and mom did an amazing job - and paid attention to all the details of the day!!

a few photos to share:

diaper cake my aunt made:

the 'guestbook':

and the goodies from the thank you bags for the guests:

again i can not tell you how blessed we feel to be surrounded by our family and friends. we received so many wonderful things both on and off our registry that will be a huge help to us!

Ryan and my father in law also put the closet rod back up ... but i will leave those photos for another time!

with love, 

kristen, ryan, sydney & brigsby

end of the week thoughts

first: i am VERY thankful it is friday. i am exhausted. and my feet hurt.
second: if I had to guess, i would say that someone, is pushing their butt up against my ribcage. comfy? not for me thanks. hope Sydney is comfortable though!

third: i want a nap

fourth: i am pretty pumped for Carrie to get here tonight from Iowa because...

fifth: tomorrow is my baby shower on "my side" of the family!!! I am SO excited!

we had our first official shower on Monday at my work - it was so much fun and we received a lot of very nice things! i cant wait until we can get Sydney's dresser and get that set up so I can start putting things away!

Let us also talk about swelling. Sadly, it has started. My feet are slightly swollen, as are my fingers. Dare I admit I think my face is slightly started too? All for the love of my little one.
 

I had my 34 week Dr's appointment yesterday - everything looks great :) I could not be more thankful with how easy this pregnancy has been going. Up until the heartburn and the swelling, I really have had no complaints to share. And I will try my best to deal with these complaints without sharing them too much - because I know how lucky I am. Although - someone could mention to my husband that a foot rub would be like a trip to disneyworld or something. 

Speaking of my husband. How lucky am I? Very. He has been fantastic, trying to help me as much as he can with things. Especially this past week - he is on his spring break from work and he has done more cleaning that I have been meaning to do than I have even asked! And embarrassing to admit - but he puts up with me snoring. I think I end up not breathing well at night when I tip over from the side I fall asleep on, to my back. What can I say, my belly is heavy and I just sort of roll unintentionally. But he really is a Saint putting up with it. Although I got a hint when he bought me some of those breathe-right strips!

One more 5 day work week and I am on my spring break - which lasts for 2 weeks! So far, I have one thing planned - a trip to the Mall of America and Ikea with a friend. That and resting. And cleaning. But a lot of resting I think. Because I can.

Exciting mail day yesterday! We got our custom crib sheets and fabrics in from the amazing Etsy seller NurseryDreams, that we have been working with.

Here is our crib sheet and changing pad cover (the same yellow fabric will be made into a crib skirt by my mom while I am on break)

and here is a headband that i felt the need to purchase. because im the mom and i wanted it for Sydney for photos:

and a few photos from my work shower:

and with that, i will end this lengthy post :) 

tomorrow is also a milestone in terms of my pregnancy ... anyone care to guess what that is?

with love,

kristen, ryan, sydney & brigsby

34 weeks!

AND I am on time posting this! (GO ME!)

I had my maternity photos today, and Ryan so nicely joined me for a few (and drove my butt around all day! how sweet of him!!)

Here is my weekly belly photo:

(photography by Ryan of course ;)

and then a sneak peek from today's session already! 

Photo by Gruman Photography:

I love it! And I can't wait to see the rest - they should be ready in about 2-2.5 weeks!

Everything is going well in the pregnancy. Heartburn has introduced itself and it can happily leave again. Two days of it is about as much experience as I need thankyouverymuch! I gave in and bough some heartburn meds and tums - tums are gross but if they are going to help I will happily chew on chalk!

The urge to nest? it has started. but other things need to be done first (and by nesting i mean - i want to finish putting the nursery together - cleaning - eh)

Ryan is on his spring break this week, and of course mine isn't for 2 weeks still. Oh well :) Im going to say as much as he LOVES spending time with me - he will love having a week where he can do things he wants to (and has promised me to get some stuff done around the house - love him!) without me bothering him!

I will say, my pregnancy is flying by. They say 37 weeks is full term? Only 3 weeks until then - that seems so crazy to me! Sydney is moving around like crazy - I don't think she was still the entire time we were taking photos today! It is really fun to feel though - I'm going to guess right now that that will be the biggest thing that I miss about being pregnant.

We ended our day today at Dickeys BBQ with my sister-in-law Kate (which would be Ryan's sister obviously!). It was a great way to end what I found to be a very fun day!

with love,

kristen, ryan, sydney & brigsby

Maternity Photos Tomorrow!

I have my "outfits" all planned - let's hope I love them (meaning - lets hope I dont think I look like a complete jerk - I have complete confidence in the abilities of our photographer!).

Sydney is moving like crazy - and we are gearing up for some baby showers! Our first one is at my work on Monday, followed by my side of the family Saturday, then Ryans family the following Saturday - can I express how truly blessed we are to have so many people who want to celebrate with us, in our lives?

More to come - hopefully I will have a few teaser photos from tomorrow sometime this weekend!

with love,

kristen, ryan, sydney & brigsby