baby girl blanket & wall decorations.. and 35 week bump (sort of)

Here's another peek into the nursery - baby blanket and wall decor!

First, Brian and I (with much help from his mom) finished the baby blanket we had been planning on making! We bought the material forever ago, but hadn't gotten a chance to sit down and do it. I love how it turned out and it was really quite easy as far as sewing is concerned (and I am definitely NOT a seamstress - it stresses me out). If you want to know how to make a quilt/blanket like this, just let me know!

I really love how there is texture and the "fraying" around the edges of the squares. Our little munchkin is going to love touching it! The back is soft pink with a cute square design because we sewed around each individual square.

Hard at work! And there's your glimpse of my 35 week bump.

 And here is some of the artwork we will be decorating her walls with. I mod podged the chevron frame by just getting a cheap frame from ikea and some scrapbook paper I liked - I think it turned out pretty good! I got the prints for free from a website online and then mod podged a few of them onto an art canvas with scrapbook paper underneath or just on the sides. I can't wait to put them on the wall!

And lastly, I had been wanting to paint some pictures for her room because I like to paint! This picture does not really do them justice, but I had a really fun time with this! The leaves on the tree, flags, and hearts are actually more scrapbook paper that I mod podged... apparently mod podging was the thing to do this week... Anyway, Brian and I both really like jungle animal themes but couldn't find much as far as "girly" jungle decorations... so I made my own!

my new favorite book - PAJAMA TIME!

Because I am about to have the baby, I have an excuse to read lots of kid books. 

I came across this gem not too long ago...

If you haven't had the pleasure of reading it, please do! Especially if you have kids.

Her other books are quality too.

Anyone have baby/children's books they recommend?

how to survive Arizona's summer weather while pregnant

photo credit

Many people have asked me how I am surviving pregnancy in the absurdly warm weather.

This is how I do it:

1. I use the air conditioner

2. I take cold showers. I think I have only taken 1 hot shower since arriving.

3. I go to the pool almost every day.

4. Wherever I am in the house, I try to bring along our portable fan

5. I eat lots and lots of ice cream. Blue Bell recently had a sale and let's just say there wasn't much room in our freezer for much else. Except otter pops - because that is another secret to successful cooling.

6. Sometimes I just spray water on myself and then go sit under/by a fan

7. I avoid cooking hot meals (mmmmm...cereal)

8. Brian occasionally makes me ice packs - like last night. I snuggled with an ice pack until I fell asleep.

9. I always try to park in the shade even if it means walking further to my destination

10. I spend a lot of time out of the house at places with great air conditioning (ie the grocery store, Sam's Club, the library, etc)

11. Water - drink it up!

12. I wear lots of deodorant... because despite all of these measures, it is still hot.

Today I saw something that made me so excited! The weather is cooling down (for the moment)! Check it out... We're going to be in the 90's by next week! That is another way to survive:

13. I try to remember that the winter is going to be heavenly.

3-D ultrasound of baby girl!

Just a little slice of cuteness to brighten your day!

Too bad my placenta/her hand was in the way.

Ok, confession: I think that 3D ultrasounds are a little weird. I alternate between thinking she's super cute to thinking she looks like a creepy alien gummy bear. Right now? CUTE!

34 weeks! And... welcome to baby girl's room :)

Well hello there internet world! I apologize for being a little (or a lot) neglectful of the blog. I guess I've had some different priorities the last little while. Don't worry though, I am feeling more committed again! Especially now that I am miles and miles away from dear friends and family.

I might get teary about that sometimes. I blame it on pregnancy hormones.

Anyhoo (anywho?)...

We are finally feeling settled in! It was quite the move and I am 100% serious when I say I never want to move again until we are out of dental school. Thanks to the incredible help of my mother-in-law and brother-in-law, we were able to make it out of our old apartment on schedule and head down to the valley of death. Ok, it is not the valley of death. But when I walk outside and I immediately begin to sweat like a pig perspire, I wish I was back in good ol' Utah - or anywhere that gets below 90 degrees at night. 

Minus the heat, I really, really like it here! It is so much greener and landscaped than I was expecting! There are flowers, trees, bushes, and even grass almost everywhere you look! I have no idea how much the city shells out for water, but I imagine it is a pretty penny. 

We upgraded a bit and moved into a 2 bedroom apartment (pictures of that to come). I love that it A. has air conditioning B. has new paint/carpet C. is in the corner of the complex so we have some privacy D. It has a pool/gym/etc and E. It has air conditioning (that deserves double gratitude). It's a great place to live and only 2.5 miles from campus so Brian can bike there in less than 20 minutes. 

Oh yeah, and we have palm trees. I'm a sucker for palm trees!

Now, call me crazy, but I really think that Glendale feels a bit like southern California. Not the weather, but the landscaping, houses, etc. If I pretend that the ocean isn't far, sometimes I can fool myself.

While Brian is away for pretty much the entire day, I am trying to make some new friends before I am chained to the apartment with an infant. Don't get me wrong, I am beyond excited for her to make her debut, but I am realistic enough to know that new moms do not socialize too much. Too busy trying to keep a wee one fed and happy! That said, I've met some really great people already and am excited to meet more!

All right, enough updating. On to the pictures!

34 weeks - taken this morning after swimming. Along with what I see when I look down!

Side note: I was swimming at a new friend's house this morning and I asked one of the little girls if she knew what my name was. She said, "Oh yeah! Your name is 'Belly'!" Haha :)

And... introducing the "project." I won't go into detail about why it has been such a project, let's just say there were some setbacks. But, the room is well on its way to completion!

We painted the walls (gray... or actually "timberwolf" or something like that), put up molding around the ceiling (thanks to our tape job not working as well as hoped), painted the molding, put together the crib and cube shelf, put up curtains, made tissue paper pom poms, found a rug & other decoration, etc.

What's left to do:

Find a reasonably priced rocking chair/recliner

Paint the bookshelves white and hang them

Decide if we need a dresser/buy a dresser if we do

Hang all the artwork we have for the walls

Decide if we want (mesh) crib bumpers or a crib skirt or a mobile

Probably more.

It's been a lot of fun. Now I like to sit in there and just think about a little baby being in there.

It's crazy!

I can't believe I'm going to be a mom! And SOON! 

Time to pack the hospital bag...