kjpugs

And off she goes…

kjpugs — Tue, 21 May 2013 13:00:16 +0000

As of today my sister is off on a 27 month long journey that will change her life forever.

My littest sister Rosh is heading to Armenia to serve in the Peace Corps.

Rosh has always been different from me and Min. More daring. Less cautious. Braver. More outspoken, but thoughtfully. And less content with “the norm.” She has huge dreams and goals that go beyond a desk and a salary and boring security. She wants to see the world, touch it and change it and help it.

I often wondered how Rosh’s unique, amazing qualities would translate post college. Now that her path is set, the Peace Corps just makes so much sense. When she studied abroad in Fiji it really changed her – in amazing ways – and I can’t wait to see what Armenia does for her. And of course, what she does for them!

I am so proud of you Rosh. So are Mom and Min and Brian and the pugs and even little unborn beebee. It kills me that you’ll miss the baby shower and other fun events, but you are needed somewhere else more than you are here. You have a job to do and it’s not just filing or customer service or other things that didn’t inspire you. Your job is important and life changing and something to be endlessly proud of. You will come back a different, better person. I can’t wait to hear how this new chapter unfolds! I love you!

If you want to follow Rosh’s Armenian adventures, check out her blog, Rosie’s Armenian Adventure!

Bump Update – 19 Weeks

kjpugs — Mon, 20 May 2013 22:50:14 +0000

I really need to start updating besides just my Monday bump posts! Sorry all (well, anyone who wishes I posted more) but things have been busy! Work, sleep, eat, repeat. I still have to recap my trip to NJ from more than a month ago though, so hopefully I’ll get that up in the next week or so. However, this week I’m traveling for work most of the time so it’ll be quiet. It just takes so much out of me to travel! Maybe I’ll make that my June goal- get updated and share more! Anyway, here is my update for 19 weeks! And, rocking my Origami Owl necklace of course!

19 Weeks (5/20/2013)

How far along? 19 weeks
Baby’s Size: Mango
Maternity clothes? The best! I try to avoid non-maternity clothes now. As you can see in the above picture, I’ve switched from my pre-preg skinnies to maternity leggings. The skinnies were just too hot for May in FL, and starting to be too restrictive on my belly. I LOVE the leggings I got from A Pea in the Pod, SO pricey but amazing and not at all see-through. I’m glad I got the weekly pic t-shirt a size big so it’s long enough to wear with leggings, too.
Best moment this week: Going to the chiropractor! (The bad part was finding out they charge as much with my stupid insurance as without – the fault of my stingy insurance, unfortunately. But it did help.) I’m really trying to fight this sciatic nerve / hip pain head on so I’m not miserable by the fall.
Miss anything? Not really this week. Feeling normal, I guess! At least my new normal.
Movement: Maybe? I’ve had a bunch of strong feelings that are like gas bubbles but in my lower abdomen. 90% of the time I’m sure it’s not actual gas, but it definitely isn’t “oh that’s clearly a kick.” I know by now many women have no issue feeling their baby move, and I realize I’m not there yet because of this stupid anterior placenta. Understandable, but frustrating. This week it really started to freak me out. One week and a day til my next appointment, and it can’t come soon enough. I’m sick of not feeling baby because it makes me nervous! What if something is wrong? I have no idea what is going on in there. I’d love that reassurance of kicks and punches.
Food cravings: I really wanted pigs in a blanket this week so I made them a few times with mini turkey lil smokies. Delicious!
Anything making you queasy or sick: Still nothing specific. I did get through Saturday easily without meds for nausea! But Sunday I couldn’t survive. Hoping to kick the nausea soon.
Gender: Still know, still not telling!
Labor signs: Nope.
Symptoms: Still nauseous, still walking like a 96 year old, but at least it may be getting better!
Belly button in or out? So far in it’s got it’s own belly button INSIDE my belly button. Not really, but it might as well.
Happy or moody most of the time: Moody. I had a crazy emotional week. Everything makes me nervous/upset. Sorry Big Daddy! He gets to feel the brunt of it.
Looking forward to: Kicks, still. And seeing baby again a week from tomorrow. Seems like such a long time from now!!! Also- this seems so selfish to say – but I love seeing things disappear off of baby’s registry and get marked as “fulfilled.” It just makes it feel real!!! Plus, I love getting packages, and seeing little beebee’s room get filled up.

Back to the real world! Can’t wait to update in the coming weeks and confirm gender then share with you all… only about a month and a half to go!

Bump Update – 18 Weeks

kjpugs — Mon, 13 May 2013 23:57:24 +0000

Where has the time gone? I feel like the weeks are flying by. And don’t mind my enthused face in this picture… the one with the best light was the one where I looked bored. I need to stop rushing these, but thus is the life of a couple with opposite schedules!

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18 Weeks (5/13/2013)

How far along? 18 weeks
Baby’s Size: Sweet Potato
Maternity clothes? Loving them every chance I can! I still fit into some pre-pregnancy clothes (I was right in my post yesterday- up about 3 1/2 pounds thus far) but I look less than awesome in most of them. Awkward would be the best word.
Best moment this week: Talking and thinking about Mother’s Day, spending Saturday with B and celebrating our first pre-Mother’s Day together. Besides that, this week was very hard due to work travel, so I was just glad to relax a bit. ALSO, we had our first registry item purchases, and 1/2 of them arrived! That was exciting and made everything more “real.” It seems to get “realer” every week!
Miss anything? Family. Not pregnancy related but I’m missing my family this week! Especially since my youngest sister leaves in a week for her Peace Corps assignment.
Movement: None that I can be 100% sure of. I’ve been obsessed with this lately. After seeing baby so active, and seeing ladies on October boards talk about the movement they’re feeling, I’ve been anxious to say the least. Finding out baby’s gender made us even more connected, I know when I can feel his/her kicks it will just be even more amazing. Damn placenta. I’m so pissed about that. Stupid backwards uterus!
Food cravings: Sweets!!!! I’ve been on a sweets kick this week. I won’t admit how much ice cream is in our fridge, or how much of B’s gummy candy I had to “taste.”
Anything making you queasy or sick: Still the same, and still no rhyme or reason!
Gender: Still know, still not telling!
Labor signs: Nope.
Symptoms: The same as always. Nauseous, peeing 24/7, emotional. The hip/sciatic nerve pain has amped up though. I can’t find a comfortable way to sleep for the life of me. Today I wondered about the costs of a hip replacement. That’s how delightful it’s been!
Belly button in or out? Innie. So deep I still look like I’m just a girl who chases her 5 lb burritos with Big Gulps three times a day. I welcome the opportunity for it to pop out!
Happy or moody most of the time: Still riding the crazy emotional roller coaster! Last week’s work travel was a bit insane and I was feeling frustrated and down due to being so hectic, but the weekend rejuvenated me. Also some dear friends of ours in Indiana shared their baby news with us today, which TOTALLY made my week!
Looking forward to: Feeling baby kick me! I’m sure I’ll regret that statement in a few months but boy would I love it right now! I’ve felt a few things that are questionable (was that a kick? Or just my pulse? Or my creaky knuckles? Or gas? Or digesting food?) and I would love to be experiencing it the way other October moms are. One even said her baby kicks more when she’s wearing pre-preg (aka tighter) pants! How adorable is that?! I feel like I’m currently torturing baby the hour I lay in bed, just pressing on my belly!

I feel like I said everything I really needed to (aka verbal diarrhea) in my Mother’s Day post yesterday. So I’m going to go relax my bum hips and watch Dancing With The Stars! Have a great week, everyone!

A new take on Mother’s Day

kjpugs — Sun, 12 May 2013 22:06:18 +0000

Every Mother’s Day, I have been excited to remind my mom how much she means to me. I don’t remember much about when I was YOUNGER-younger (except once saying I couldn’t tell the Mother’s Day gift we got her, but “you wear them on your ears”) and she may have been “sOoOooOo meannnn” when I was in high school, but my appreciation for her was always there on Mother’s Day. My relationship with her really did change throughout those years, though.

You see, my mom was (and still kind of is) scary. She was always friendly with us, but not in the way some moms are “OMG total BFF” with their kids. She would not allow gossip and certainly never bad talked anyone. She had rules for us to follow and we had simple expectations to meet. We had to do school sports, or work. We couldn’t be “lumps” (one of my favorite pastimes!) and we always had to help out around the house. We weren’t allowed to watch MTV or VH1. We had to earn things, they weren’t handed to us. We were expected to earn A’s and B’s. And if we messed up, there were consequences. Period.

I got away with some stuff in high school, sure. But mostly I didn’t. Mostly I got caught doing stupid things and got punished. Harshly Fairly. My friend Hooch reminisced recently with me about my grounding junior or senior year that kept getting extended – for months! – due to my bad attitude. I didn’t like it, but I knew I deserved my punishments. I never snuck out (except one time when I walked home my sister’s friend and then stopped by at a party for 5 minutes and then left, earning myself the nickname “schwing.”) I avoided doing a lot of questionable things I might have otherwise done, because I had a good, healthy fear of my parents – mostly my mom.

There was no feeling in the world like coming home on January 26, 2002 (we still refer to this incident as 1/26, that’s how bad it was) drunk out of my mind and puking everywhere. I knew I was in for it. People were calling my friends to check on me and they said “we’re not worried so much about Kelly having drank too much as we are about her mom killing her.” I remember very little about that night, but I do recall her silhouette in the window, waiting for me. (The next few months I was either at home, school, or church.) I had a few more lapses of judgement throughout the rest of my “drinking years” (ha) but I certainly learned from this. I would often in college make smarter decisions when I’d think about my mom’s reaction.

My mom committed 100% to mothering us properly. No-nonsense. I thought it was “omg so annoying” at the time, but now I appreciate it. Her resolve never wavered She never showed signs of being unsure of her parenting. She committed to it every day. I rarely saw her break. And she has three pretty darn good kids (if I do say so myself) to show for it. She always put us first. Sometimes it meant not having as much “fun” with us, or having us be mad at her, but she had the end game in mind: smart, responsible adults.

Now, my mom is one of my very best friends.

I can talk to her about anything now. She’ll always be honest with me when I ask her opinion. She’ll listen to me when I’m upset and offer suggestions if I ask for them. She’ll out-dance me at ANY wedding. I couldn’t ask for more! She inspires me to be a great mom (just like her) but also to be as active and passionate as she is. I can’t wait for our baby to have her as a grandma, he or she will be just as lucky as we were growing up.

I thought a lot about my mom today, but also about my beebee! This is one of those weird Mother’s Days where I can kind of celebrate but not really? Baby got to spend the day with me (as if he/she has a choice) while I ran errands.

(Sidenote: I got wished a Happy Mother’s Day in Home Depot so that MAY be my first stranger acknowledgement?!)

I feel so excited to introduce baby to our family and all the amazing people in it. Finding out baby’s gender (still a secret!!!) was incredible and it’s really changed my pregnancy. It was the first time I actually cried because it just made it so REAL. I was really nervous about finding out the gender and I am so glad we decided to just rip it off like a Band-Aid and stop my wondering! I feel like I am bonding with baby so much differently than before. (Sidenote: I think this happens differently for everyone regardless of when/if they find out gender pre-birth, there’s no right/wrong way or time, it just made a huge difference for me!) It stinks to not share it publicly yet, but it’s been nice “getting to know” him/her and I can’t wait to see the look on my mom’s face when I get to tell her in person!

Pregnancy has been a funny thing. I didn’t expect my body to revolt so strongly. I didn’t expect to have to stop running due to debilitating nausea, exhaustion, and worst of all, excruciating hip pain. Maybe I expected it after I was carrying a few pounds of baby in the third trimester, but not this early. I didn’t expect to only be up 2-3 pounds. (It was less than two last time I checked pre-breakfast but that was a week or so ago.) When I was attempting to lose weight I’d gain that in a week if I went “off diet,” and now my only weight regret is said with a snap, “darn, I ALMOST made it to 50 lbs lost before getting knocked up!” I also thought I’d care more. Nope. Just happy baby is healthy! I hate and am confused by a lot of the above; I wish I was showing more, I wish my anterior placenta wasn’t keeping me from feeling baby’s super active kicks. But while I have these gripes and share them, deep down I don’t really care. (I just like to complain, my mom and B can vouch for that.) I am just so happy baby keeps passing their tests (all NT testing was negative!!) and growing on schedule. I hate the symptoms and issues but I am happy to sacrifice my body and sleep and waistline and uh boobs and whatever else I need to, just for the sake of him/her.

B was off work yesterday so he spoiled me a little bit with an amazing dinner. Risotto with goat cheese, roasted garlic, chives, and some special basil; and parmesan crusted chicken topped with parsley walnut pesto! I can’t wait to spoil him on Father’s Day in return, of course. B has made me a mother (well, almost! October it’s “official”) and I wouldn’t have wanted to do it with anyone else. (Except my Top Five list maybe – and please note that Vince and Andy have been replaced by Pitbull and John Cena – but they were unavailable and uninterested.) Seriously though, I’m the luckiest there is. Big Daddy was born to be a dad. I remember telling that to a friend after we’d been on a few dates- I could just see him as an adorable dad. Six years later we’re on this journey together!

And in all this, I can’t neglect to thank the pugs for how they’ve prepared me for motherhood as well. I know everyone drills into you to “get your sleep,” “things will change,” “there goes your personal time/space/whatever” and other unsolicited bitter advice… but the pugs have gotten us ready for some of these things already! When they wake us up in the night puking/pooping/peeing. When they’re sick and have to be rushed to the doctor. When we need to find sitters for them when we travel. When we have to leave early due to their schedule. When one pukes on the other and the third tries to eat it. I’m pretty sure they’ve done us a great service. I know that it’s not the same as parenting a child (my pugs won’t grow up to tell me they love me, or hate me, or make me buy them a horse, or pay for college, or whatever) but I think dog ownership certainly makes you more ready. You, pugs, were the first to teach me unconditional love. Even when I come home to one of you eating poop. For that, I thank you. I can’t wait to see them with their new brother or sister.

(I was asked by a friend where the pugs’ announcement of my pregnancy was. This was all Sophie could come up with. Truly, she’s excited. Just doesn’t want to have to share my lap.)

I’ve said it before but should say it again too… I am so thankful for my friends. Very few of my in-real-life friends are moms, so I’m lucky to have great internet mom friends too. All of my mom friends (and just baby-loving friends in general) have provided me with so much support, and SO much love this Mother’s Day. I wondered if being the only mom in my core group of friends would feel lonely, but my mom friends from all areas have welcomed me with open arms, and I feel so supported and loved. And my core group of non-mom friends have shared so much excitement and enthusiasm. Our families have been amazing too. My in-laws are so sweet and excited for us, my sisters have been planning my NJ shower even though they both (probably) can’t be there, B’s aunt even sent us some giraffe baby items she knew we’d think were adorable. Loved and supported are the only words I can think of to describe how I feel. I couldn’t have wished for more.

I feel like this somehow became an award acceptance speech, but I’m emotional and rambly. So I make no apologies. Just sharing so much love for everyone helping me out on this journey! Cannot wait until baby is here and I’m celebrating next Mother’s Day with him/her in my arms. (And a beer. Or five. THAT I miss.)

Bump Update – 17 Weeks

kjpugs — Tue, 07 May 2013 01:28:30 +0000

Happy 17 weeks little fetus!!!! Baby had a busy week this week. (Sorry for the bad picture quality… we had to deal with a hectic day and the little light we had!) Baby is really popping out a bit more and more! I can hide it if I really want to but generally it’s more like you see below. In normal clothes I feel really… lumpy.

17 Weeks (5/6/2013)

How far along? 17 weeks
Baby’s Size: Onion
Maternity clothes? More comfy in them. Definitely can’t wear any pants without at least a button extender.
Best moment this week: Winner was probably Friday- seeing our baby and finding out baby’s gender!! (See last post… not telling!) Finding out the sex of the baby made it more real. I feel like we can bond more now. Then today I had a routine appointment with my OB and got to hear baby’s heartbeat on the doppler. I didn’t know the wooshy noises were kicks! Baby was kicking up a storm, my doctor even mentioned it! It was an amazing week to bond with baby. So many great moments.
Miss anything? Cinco de Mayo really made me miss beer!
Movement: None really this week though I got to see/hear tons of it. I found out I have an anterior placenta (when it’s situated on the front of the uterus by your belly button instead of on the back by your spine.) This means kicks will take longer to notice. My doctor seemed surprised at how active baby was and said I will DEFINITELY be feeling them soon. Anterior placentas do mean it takes longer to feel though- more padding for baby to punch! So we’ll see when that happens.
Food cravings: None really. I’m starting to get a more normal appetite back (even with steady nausea) and want to try to revisit some old (healthier) favorites. I’m only up 2-3 pounds still, but haven’t been eating as healthily as I was pre-pregnancy. Hoping to do more Brussels sprouts, zucchini, and spaghetti squash again! Let’s see if I can get the energy to cook it.
Anything making you queasy or sick: STILL, 100% nauseous and can’t handle a day without meds. Nothing causing it though except for this little active baby!
Gender: We know! But we’re not telling for two months!
Labor signs: Nope.
Symptoms: Still the same. Zero improvement. And peeing 24/7 by the way, not sure if I’ve mentioned it. I haven’t gone a night without getting up to pee since February.
Belly button in or out? Innie.
Happy or moody most of the time: It’s been a happy week! But I’ve been moody worrying about my shower planning and other issues.
Looking forward to: Revealing the gender to our friends and families!

Through all the fun of seeing our baby, I did get some (somewhat) bad news today from the doctor. We had discussed my going to NJ to see my family with the baby this Thanksgiving. I talked to her more about it, and we discussed details more in depth. Unfortunately, my Thanksgiving pipe dream isn’t going to happen. While baby should be about 6 weeks at that time (depending on when baby’s born), the doctor was concerned about 1) if baby was late, they’d be younger 2) the means of travel- airplane aka germ bus 3) flu season and 4) going from FL weather to NJ weather DURING flu season. I knew this was a possibility so while I allowed myself a moment to be really upset, in the back of my mind I knew it might happen. I just have a huge amazing family in NJ that wants to meet baby, and I can’t wait for that to happen! Soon enough I guess.

I also learned that due to recent illnesses and even deaths, our OB practice STRONGLY advises visitors to have had their flu shot and whooping cough vaccine at least 6 weeks prior to seeing the baby. The way she said it was “if anyone is going to visit, they need to have them.” Granted she isn’t going to be at my house saying “you can’t come in,” and I know all doctors have different suggestions, but I am totally on board with it. So heads up if you plan to visit us at all this year post-baby! We will definitely require this of all visitors.

And since I’m a proud mama… a baby pic!

That’s baby’s bum and adorable little FOOT! I cannot wait to kiss those toes. And no other pictures because ultrasound pictures at this age are still exceedingly creepy.

And great idea guys about doing a gender poll for readers! I’ll definitely post a poll with some “clues” as far as our family history, baby’s heart rate, and results from old wives’ tales. Can’t wait to share!

Our Gender Reveal…

kjpugs — Sat, 04 May 2013 02:32:42 +0000

…won’t be happening until July!

I totally gotcha, didn’t I?

Big Daddy and I made a “team” decision this week. We’re not sharing baby’s gender until our showers with our family and friends.

(Pretty much file this blog post under “rambly writing that most people do not give two craps about” startingggg now.)

There are many reasons for this. The first of which (but not necessarily most important) was that I didn’t have a fun gender reveal planned. (If I had a great idea I wouldn’t have wanted to stray from it!) I guess my pregnancy announcement manicure maxed out my creativity!

I had never considered doing any kind of gender reveal party. But then I had a conversation with some “team green” moms (who didn’t know gender prior to birth) and they said how it was nice that guests focused on more practical gifts and not cutesy, gender specific outfits. This sounded pretty awesome to me, because 1) I’m picky about clothes 2) will buy a ton second-hand and 3) they’re going to be puked and pooped on. So that intrigued me. Almost made me want to join team green! (Almost. HA.)

Then I talked to a few people who shared the gender later, or had a gender reveal shower. Pre-pregnancy, I thought gender reveal showers would be inconvenient for the parents. I believed they wanted/needed all the gender specific items/clothes. (Sidenote: not that I always understood showers. The first shower I attended, I spent an hour at Babies-R-Us, panicked, and bought outlet covers, a first aid kit, diaper rash cream, and hangers. All practical things on the registry. But I felt kind of silly when the gifts were opened and I was the only one who didn’t buy a bigger item or a cutesy item. It was an a-ha moment. People like to buy outfits, or at least something cute.)

True life? Yes babies need cute clothes and hats and socks. But new parents also need lots of big, practical things. It’s easier for them to go pick up some hangers and outlet covers when needed, than to have to go pick up a large item. And trust me, I’m never going off-registry now (except for perhaps a few meaningful “extras” for very close friends.) And regarding the gender specifics? Unless you aren’t planning to have more kids, gender neutral is totally acceptable and preferred. For example: no reason to buy a pink and purple butterfly glitter stroller when those puppies cost hundreds and baby #2 could be a boy. So with these new realizations about registering and gender specific items, I thought- this could work! I could do a gender reveal shower! It also helps that because they’re out of state and require flights, my showers are earlier than is typical.

Gift practicality aside, the important reason this was so appealing to me is probably easy to guess. We live in Florida. Our families live in New Jersey and Indiana. We’ve told them all our baby news over the phone. How amazing will it be to share some baby-related news with them in person!?!? That sealed the deal for us, 100%. I can’t wait! It would be fun to have family and friends guess boy or girl, and then reveal to them our good news.

source & source

The logistics still need to be worked out (my NJ shower date hasn’t even been set- just “4th of July weekend… somewhere”) and they’re going to be pretty informal. Our showers (the Indiana one is the next weekend) are going to be co-ed and very casual/family friendly. Gifts will not be opened there. It’s more so a chance to see family and friends, and celebrate together. I think I’d do the reveal with cake or cupcakes filled with a little blue or pink icing. Especially since in Indiana I can have Holy Cow Cupcakes (the place I used to work!)

source, source & source

I think we’ll end up asking my family in NJ to keep the gender quiet for 5 or 6 days til our next shower, then we could share the surprise with Indiana guests in person, and then “go public” when the showers were over.

I just can’t wait to be able to reveal to our families. I can’t wait to see my mom’s face when she finds out if it’s a boy or a girl!!!!

The point of this rambly post?

Baby showers are hard/stressful/confusing. For everyone. Or maybe that’s just me and how I get anxiety about everything. Maybe there’s not quite a point to this entry except to say, you all will find out the gender in July!

Any gender reveal tips or stories?

Bump Update – 16 weeks

kjpugs — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 22:46:32 +0000

Is it just me or is time FLYING now? I guess being “out of the closet” does that to pregnant ladies. Plus, there is so much more going on now every week! Like the Anchorman quote I said on instagram… “that escalated quickly!”

16 Weeks (4/29/2013)

How far along? 16 weeks
Baby’s Size: Avocado
Maternity clothes? Yep, I’m probably more like 60/40 non-maternity/maternity now. Thanks to Jess I can use a belly band now to hold up my unzipped pants- that’s been really helpful! But full panel items are a dream. As are maternity dresses.
Best moment this week: Getting to spend Saturday at the beach with B (can you tell? Sunburn city!) Also, registering at Buy Buy Baby after. Our Buy Buy Baby and Amazon registries are almost finished! I’m going back to Buy Buy Baby to spend some in-depth time with one of their awesome salespeople to learn about bottles. I have a bunch of recommendations from you guys but I want to see/feel them before registering. If you have a Buy Buy Baby near you- REGISTER THERE. They were SO AMAZINGLY HELPFUL and knowledgable!
Miss anything? Beer again. After a day at the beach and then registering I was wanting a cold beer to sip and hold on my skin.
Movement: Some people may say I’m crazy (I feel ya now, Twinner!) but I think I am, just barely! I felt a weird tapping sensation a few times in bed, but didn’t think much of it, until one of my baby apps said that I would start feeling baby movements now if I hadn’t already, and it would feel like “popcorn popping, a goldfish swimming around, butterflies fluttering, a tapping sensation, or bubbles.” I had no idea the tapping could be that! So I think just maybe that’s what’s going on. Either way- it’s inevitable!
Food cravings: Now that we have a fryer I am on a mozzarella stick kick.
Anything making you queasy or sick: Still having the same issues. I think I might try to be brave and wean off my nausea meds- I wonder how many of my issues are really just side effects, honestly. We’ll see how that works because a week or so ago by 10am without the nausea meds I was incapable of doing anything but breathe.
Gender: No idea. I’m so worked up about it that I could not tell you my “intuitions” since it’s so biased by this point.
Labor signs: Nope.
Symptoms: Same as last week, which was the same as the last week… sciatic nerve pain, IBS style pain, and insane nausea. No change, and nothing has gotten better. Second trimester miracles my ass.
Belly button in or out? Innie.
Happy or moody most of the time: Mostly happy but I do ride a roller coaster nowadays!
Looking forward to: Since I talked to my Indy BFF Lydia about it so much this past week, and because we just registered, I am starting to get excited for our showers! I can’t wait to see our family/friends, celebrate the beebee, and start stocking up on his or her gear! I think I will have a happiness FLIP OUT when we get the first item purchased off of our registries! It’s becoming so real!

I want to seriously thank so many of you for your help in two ways. First, thank you to all the moms out there who have been so sweet and generous. I feel like I am just on the edge of this amazing world of motherhood, which makes you wonderful women even more amazing. You’ve all shown me so much kindness and generosity, sharing your CLOTHING – for both me and beebee, as well as advice, excitement, and well-wishes. It’s a million times more than I expected, especially from (in many cases) people I’ve never met. Most of my friends in real life don’t have children and I wondered if it would feel scary or lonely- but it has been the opposite. I’ve been surrounded by pregnant and mom friends and welcomed with open arms. It’s more and better than I imagined.

Onto the 2nd way you guys have helped… aka the specific way… registering! I went a little OCD spreadsheet crazy (is anyone surprised?) and it helped me to be so much more prepared having your suggestions on hand at the store. Those of you who took time to put together your advice, likes, and dislikes, it means so much! You’re ten times busier than me with your kiddos and still went out of your way. Seriously amazing. I am so blessed and lucky!

For other registering moms, besides amazing friends, here are two resources that I found invaluable:

The first: Lucie’s List. It’s basically a baby gear site that helps moms with registry basics. I love how she puts it all in her own voice and breaks it up into manageable parts. I used the registry cheat sheet I got once I subscribed to her emails to base my registry spreadsheet off of. Very helpful!

The second: Baby Bargains. It is a fairly inexpensive (less than $10 on amazon right now!) book that became my registering Bible. It details tips and tricks for shopping, what to look for in must-have items, how to save money, and where not to skimp. I ran all your suggestions through it (and I believe they all passed! Smart and safe mamas!) and it was super helpful to have with me while registering. When B and I would see something cute (say, a high chair) that we might have just registered for on the spot, I would first check the book. And with the high chair example- it was a D- rating! Glad we didn’t just register blindly. It’s nice to see ratings for things so closely related to your baby’s safety every single day- having a higher rating is important. Safety should be first with every item you register for that touches your baby in any way. I loved learning about the pros/cons for popular items as well. I had at least 15 people recommend this book to me so if you are a new mom, just do yourself a favor and get it. You won’t be sorry!

I hope that you all have as much support as I do! If not, you need to be friends with my friends! It’s been a crazy week… can’t wait to see what the next one holds!

Origami Owl!

kjpugs — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 13:00:06 +0000

As I mentioned earlier, I’m hosting an Origami Owl show this week! My gal pal Laura (who never blogs anymore wahhhh) started selling Origami Owl lockets a few months ago and I have been itching to host a show. When I got pregnant, and saw some of the mom options – right in time for Mother’s Day! – I knew it was go time!

For those of you not familiar, Origami Owl are Living Lockets with custom designed charms that tell your story. But a picture is worth a thousand words, right? Laura let me share some of her photos with you guys. Seeing the pictures of them is what got me hooked.

Moms-to-be get to celebrate Mother’s Day too right?

There are ENDLESS options in every budget range for moms. Pick a mini silver locket with a mom charm and her birthstone… or go all out with a large rose gold locket and lots of charms of things she loves! The options are infinite!

You can add so many elements to personalize your locket. Each item is individually priced so you can build within your budget. Plus, you can add on later- the locket is held closed with a strong magnet, so even charms can be added after the fact!

The best place to start (for me at least) is by picking a locket size and then style. There are mini, medium, and large lockets, available in many different finishes. I am DYING over the black and brown finishes!!! Just a few are below:

So you can see the different sizes in action:

And then of course there are tons of chains, charms, and other goodies!

So now the good part… how to order!

SHOP ONLINE HERE: lalaslockets.origamiowl.com

You will shop like normal and at checkout you will select “Kelly H’s Catalog Party” from the drop down menu so I get credit for your order!

For some inspiration and to stay updated on specials, etc. go ‘Like’ Laura’s fb page!

This is an ONLINE party so order at your convenience before next Friday, April 26 (the last day to order to get it in time for Mother’s Day, and the last day of my show!) If you have any questions or want help designing a locket, feel free to contact me or Laura (ilovelalaslockets@gmail.com).

Check out the adorable options and customize your own today! Remember, the show ends Friday, so order today!

Five ways to fix a tired mani!

kjpugs — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 15:00:24 +0000

IT’S TIP TIME, PEOPLE!

As you can see in the above picture, I had a manicure that was past it’s prime. But guess what people? Pregnancy makes you lazy. I’m generally lazy to begin with so growing a human doesn’t help my motivation.

The manicure in question was just over one week old. I had done a great job prepping and painting (see my initial tips post here) so they didn’t totally fall apart. But the cuticles and tips were showing wear and growth. And I was sick of it! How often does it happen that you have a chipped or old manicure, and something to do that evening or the next day, but don’t want to take the time to remove the polish and then re-do it? Well, lazy folks, I have FIVE different answers for you to give that old mani a quick and cute update!

The first step is always to touch up the nail. Fill in the growth and chips. It may take two coats. Make it neat but don’t worry about perfection. (FYI, the base polish I’m using is essie e-nuf is e-nuf.)

(PS- I hear people sometimes say they can’t touch up a manicure because it was done at a salon. Word to the wise- bring your own nail polish!!!!! Then you can touch it up if you have to. Also, some salons thin their polish to get it to last longer (which makes it wear off your nails more quickly) so it can be a waste of money for a manicure that will only last a few days.)

Then, pick your poison. I’ve put them in order of, in my opinion, easiest to hardest. Or more like least effort to most effort.

Shown with flash and without, because I think nails 2 and 4 didn’t show well without flash.

1 – Crackle polish

I know, I know. Many people are like, ugh, crackle? That’s so 17 year old! And yes, it can be. I guess it depends on how bold you want to go. Crackle is, in my opinion, the easiest way to fix a tired mani, and most fool proof. The crackle hides imperfections really well and is SO SIMPLE. If you want it too look less juvenile/daring, try a tone-on-tone crackle. This gold crackle looked almost sophisticated on top of a nude/brown color! Throw a few cheaper crackles in your shopping cart at the drugstore for occasions like these. I like sparkly ones like gold and silver best. The one shown here is Antiqued Gold by Sally Hansen. Cheap and works great.

2 – Sheer overlay

Throwing a sheer, shimmery polish over your tired mani seems really easy. And it is! I just ranked it above crackle because it shows more imperfections. You need to be more careful touching up the base coat if you do this method. This is better for nails that aren’t too messed up, for that reason. Find a nail polish with a sheer finish that has shimmer or iridescence. They’re great to keep in your arsenal, especially since they change how they look COMPLETELY depending on what polish they’re layered over! Seen above is L’Oreal The Temptress’ Power, but I also love essie pure pearlfection, or Julep Melissa (which I don’t own yet but it’s on my list.)

3 – Glitter

You knew this one was coming!!! Glitters offer many options for covering up a crapped-out manicure. First, figure out if your glitter is low, medium, or full coverage. Low coverage (looser) glitter are great for all-over application. Full coverage glitters give you the option to do a glitter gradient. They’re too hard to attempt with low coverage glitter- the glitter to clear polish ratio is more polish less glitter, and it will take too many coats to make a gradient. Full coverage glitter is full of it and easy to create a gradient! It’s a little advanced but has a great effect. The glitter shown, Nicole Rainbow in the S-Kylie, is medium coverage so I was able to create a pretty good gradient, but this would look great as all-over glitter too.

4 – Saran Wrap

I’ve touched on this a bit before, but this is SUCH a fun way to touch up a mani!!! I didn’t love the color combo I chose here, but I think the picture with flash (right) shows it better. I chose Julep Dendrie for the 2nd color. I applied it to the nail and immediately took a wadded up square of Saran wrap and blotted down once with medium pressure. You’d need to do one nail at a time… paint, blot, paint, blot, etc.

This one is easy, because I’m sure you have Saran wrap (or any plastic wrap) in your drawer. But it’s tricky and probably good to practice a few times. You only get one try- it’s nearly impossible to “fix” if you press too hard or not hard enough. It also takes some prep- you need 10 wadded up squares of Saran wrap ready to go, you can’t re-use them. But as far as quick and easy, this method gets an A+! I wish I had done a silver holographic polish to go against the bold base color. I think holos look amazing with this method. I also think neons look great with this type of manicure!

5 – Stamping

This is the most challenging method, but the results can be amazing! Of course, stamping requires a lot of tools. A stamper, stamping plates, a scraper, good stamping polish (some regular polishes work well, others don’t) and um… patience. This has been a LEARNED skill, and as you can see, it’s still not easy for me. I have very curved nails so any kind of stamping is challenging for me. Full coverage stamps, like the one shown, are especially hard.

I chose to stamp using Zoya Purity, a white color. Stamping makes the stamped color more sheer, which is why it looks a little pinkish. To stamp, you fill the plate’s design of your choice with polish, moving QUICKLY. The polish dries fast! Scrape it with the scraper to remove excess, and transfer the design to the stamper with a rolling motion. Then transfer the design from the stamper to your nail, again with a rolling motion.

I won’t sugarcoat it: it’s messy and time consuming and often, you make mistakes. Some patterns are more forgiving than others. Like most things though, practice makes perfect. So it’s a fun way to save a mani after a few days, since you get practice while also extending your manicure for a few more days. Even if I plan to take off my polish, I sometimes just test out a few designs/polishes by stamping them onto my worn out mani. The more I stamp the easier it gets, and I’ll take practice wherever I can get it!

There you have it! Five ways to quickly and easily remedy a tired manicure.

What are your favorite ways to save a manicure that is past it’s prime? What polishes would you recommend for manicures in each of these categories?

Bump Update – 15 weeks

kjpugs — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 23:18:42 +0000

It’s that time again! I really should have planned better (ha, like I could plan when my pregnancy weeks flip over) because Mondays suck and showering/putting on makeup for pictures every Monday is a pain in the ass. BUT, I think you can actually see my bump in this picture!!!!

15 Weeks (4/22/2013)

How far along? 15 weeks
Baby’s Size: Navel Orange
Maternity clothes? Some! I tried on some maternity full-panel denim capri pants and IMMEDIATELY BOUGHT THEM. Holy comfort. All pants should be full panel. I have also found this week that a few items, while they fit earlier in pregnancy, no longer do.
Best moment this week: Having a fun night with B and a couple we are friends with, and attending a baby fair (second-hand clothes and baby items!) to pick up a few things. Gender neutral consignment is hard though, can’t wait to find out!
Miss anything? This week, not much!
Movement: Nope.
Food cravings: I had to get Zaxby’s (a salad, Zaxby’s is a chicken fast food chain in the south) after grocery shopping. HAD TO. I didn’t even have a choice. I could eat them every day, so tasty.
Anything making you queasy or sick: Still nauseous daily. Still IBS style pain daily. I’m one of the lucky ones! Har har.
Gender: Honestly don’t know. I’m just psyching myself out now and second guessing every feeling I have. It’s driving me insane.
Labor signs: Nope.
Symptoms: Same as last week… sciatic nerve pain, IBS style pain, and insane nausea. No change, and nothing has gotten better.
Belly button in or out? Innie.
Happy or moody most of the time: Pretty happy week! B bought a fryer so really how could it not be?
Looking forward to: Finding out gender. It’s at the point where I’M OVER not knowing. It’s getting old.

So remember how last week I bitched and moaned about not showing? I SWEAR to you I popped this week! Not necessarily noticeable to anyone but me or B (no comments from strangers at all yet) but I felt like I was showing and B confirmed. I was feeling awesome while shopping- my skinnies still fit but it’s getting HOT here so I needed capri pants. Seeing how much more comfortable maternity pants felt made me think, “Wow, I must be bigger than I thought!” I was feeling super pregnant and cute and then someone said “You’re pregnant!? You don’t look pregnant. Like, at all.” So that burst my bubble as you can imagine. File under things to not tell a pregnant lady. Guess I’ll just continue to overrun the interwebs with “LOOK IT’S A BUMP” pictures and then when I’m a whale I will be like “WTF WAS I THINKING I WAS TINY IN APRIL.” Oh hindsight.

Hope everyone is having a great week! A few PSA’s for you all…

I am selling off some nail polish dupes I have… check out my Pinterest board for the sale, if it’s not marked “sale pending” or “sold” it can be yours! Buy 3 or more for a fun extra!

Speaking of SALES, Laura is helping me to host an Origami Owl show! I’ll post more this week about what Origami Owl is (adorable customizable lockets, GREAT for Mother’s Day!) but if you’re familiar and want to order, SHOP ONLINE HERE: www.lalaslockets.origamiowl.com. You will shop like normal and at checkout you will select “Kelly’s Catalog Party” from the drop down menu so I get credit for your order! For some inspiration and to stay updated on specials, you can also like Laura’s Origami Owl facebook page! The party is open til Friday, which happens to be the last day to order before Mother’s Day!

Happy Monday!!!