baby's first thing

With the other two "baby's first..." posts, I realized there was one I forgot.

This is the first anything Baby Boy Bell ever received as a gift. He got it from Dave, this Christmas, before we even knew he was a "he." Since it was also the first baby thing I'd ever received, it took us a while to figure out what it was! Turns out it's just a super-soft blankie/lovey thing made by Angel Dear. Very sweet.

more baby crafts

It's winter in Wisconsin, so that means you (and by "you" I mean "I") have to keep busy so you don't go insane! At the time I made these in early February, we didn't know if Baby Boy Bell was a boy or a girl yet. So I indulged my crafty desires by decorating some onesies!

In my last post I said a "made" the onesies and "make" is a strong verb. I did not sew these together! Just did the design.

And by "did" I mean freezer-paper-stenciled designs (that I found online and traced) onto the clothes with fabric paint. So, don't be too impressed. If you can trace, iron, and dab a paint brush, you can do this! Here are a couple tutorials:

http://meganmonday.blogspot.com/2009/05/freezer-paper-stenciling-tutorial.html

http://howaboutorange.blogspot.com/2009/11/how-to-stencil-with-freezer-paper.html

I know I could be doing better things with my free time, but since we don't have the crib yet, this has been keeping my crafty needs met until I can get cracking on the baby's room!

baby's first UNC gear

I made Baby Boy Bell a classic UNC Fetzer Gym t-shirt in onesie form. Maybe someday he'll wear a real one!

baby's first outfit!

Enough with Governor Walker. Let's talk about something more fun. Baby clothes!!!!!

Half pint got his first outfits today! It was a gift from our friends Katie and Steve here in Madison. Look at how cute!

The bear is on the butt of the little pants!

Thanks, Katie and Steve!

(To all readers: I will *try* to keep the gratuitous baby stuff posts to a minimum, but I can't make any promises. Also, they will hopefully get cuter when there is an actual baby in the clothes!)

baby blue

It's a boy!!!

Think someone's excited?

We had the ultrasound technician write down the sex on a piece of paper and seal it up in an envelope. We waited until dinner to open it and it made for a fun belated Valentine's celebration at Sardine! (Thanks for the gift certificate Susan and Adam!)



And here's the latest half-pint pictures from today's 20 week ultrasound.

happy valentine's day!

We got a valentine in the mail! Guess who it's from?

Half pint!!

That Half-pint, she/he's one smart baby in the making!

half pint's progress

I am very impatiently waiting for our next ultrasound on February 16th when they'll be able to tell us the sex of the baby. To help keep me occupied until then, here's some pictures from the past two ultrasounds.

Here's the first ultrasound, November 15, 2010. This picture earned the baby the nickname "Smudgy."

Here are photos from the second ultrasound - this was for the First Trimester Screen on December 22nd. The change in just over a month is remarkable, isn't it? After these shots, Dave changed Smudgy's name to Half Pint.
Here's the profile:

To help you get your bearings, this is in profile and the baby is laying down, looking up/out.

In this one, Half Pint's got his/her fist up next to his/her forehead.

And this is the shot where I think I'm at the beginnings of understanding what it's like to be a parent.

Doesn't look like much, I know. This is a shot looking down on the baby. You can see torso/tummy and then one leg crossed over the other at the knee. I'm sure all babies sit cross-legged in the womb, but for some reason, I think Half Pint doing this is the cutest, most brilliant thing I've ever seen. He/She is crossing her legs and hanging out! He/She knows how to cross her legs! He/She's so smart!!

baby carrier testing...

Testing, testing! Does this baby carrier work?

Sure does!

so...how many kids are you having?

Dave and I are now the proud owners of three strollers!

Yes, three. I know. Ridiculous. All for one baby! But here's the situation. We really only needed the ones on the ends. And if we had bought these for full price, we would not have gotten the one in the middle. But we didn't pay full price, or even close. We got these used from one of Dave's colleagues who is selling off all her gently used baby stuff at rock bottom prices. And we had a blast going through her stuff - kind of like our own version of American Pickers, but the baby version - Baby Pickers! Think the History Channel would be interested?

Well anyway, back to the three strollers. The one on the left (for those of you who haven't been reading up on strollers for the past two weeks) is a Snap and Go for when the baby is very small and can't hold her head up. So, you just snap in the car seat and away you go! The one on the right is for when the baby is older. It's a lightweight, umbrella stroller that every mom I've polled says is the stroller they use all the time. So those are the two I was planning on buying.

The one in the middle is more of a Cadillac model of stroller. It does what the umbrella one does but has more bells and whistles and reclines all the way back (so maybe you can put a tiny baby in there, too...not sure). And the handles are adjustable, which for a short person, is a big deal! This is the one I would have made do without, but like I said, for these prices, we couldn't say no!

So after our "baby picking" expedition, we came home with:

-three strollers
-crib mattress
-crib mattress cover
-baby monitor
-cozy car seat cover (important in Wisconsin)
-Boppy
-Baby Bjorn carrier
-vibrating infant seat

All that for less than half the cost of that Cadillac stroller! What is it about finding great used stuff that's so exhilarating? I really think I've been watching too much of that American Pickers show.

I can't believe I just wrote three full paragraphs about strollers. But I do want to add that this was Dave's idea that I blog about this.

Oh and look at how cute Sam is!