A Circus of a Baby Shower

Last weekend Baby Funk had another baby shower! The theme, "A Baby Shower Under The Big Top", was so clever! The "ring masters" were (L to R) Jacki, a long time family friend whose family I grew up with and Wendy, a special next-door neighbor who is like another mom to me.

I don't think these ladies (along with their husbands, my parents and my brother) missed one detail! We had a couple big tents, circus colors, balloons, circus animals on the table...not to mention REAL cotton candy, popcorn and hot dogs fresh off the grill! It was a fun circus.

You could say we had a clown too if you want to count my brothers assistance!

I even had a top hat...which probably makes me a ring master too, right??? Wow it's been a long time since I have been to a circus!

Anyways, we had the perfect afternoon weather, with yummy food and the best company! So many wonderful family and friends were able to make it...I can't wait for baby Funk to meet everyone...he/she will be so loved!

Of course baby Funk was completely spoiled at the shower! The baby's room still looks like a bomb went off as I try and organize all of their fun toys, clothes, blanks, diapers and butt paste! I hope this baby doesn't have diaper rash all that often, but seriously we got enough butt paste to last a really long time. I guess at one point I asked "just how often do I use this stuff"? Not sure that I still understand when to use it, but I'm sure we will figure it out.

Here is one creative gift that my friend Wendy made for the baby...a diaper cake full of newborn and size one diapers...any guesses how long that will last?

Baby Funk got so many other special gifts, I'll continue to post pictures of those gifts in action once we finish the nursery or when the babe can actually model some of the cute outfits! Here is an incredible blanket that "ring master" Wendy knitted for baby Funk...

Here is a good picture of Dad-to-be with his Grandma's.

Again, a big thank you to everyone for making the day so special!

My Baby Raccoon

I'm ashamed that I'm already getting behind at blogging. I'm going to blame it all on work. I'm officially in the midst of my busy season and it's definitely taking a toll on me. I'm so excited to meet baby Funk, but having a nice 12 week "spa retreat" from work is right up there with our new addition! (Btw, I know it won't be a spa retreat, but that is seriously what everyone at work considers it to be...)

Here is my 34 week belly shot...I usually try and look presentable for these pictures, but I look so worn out in this picture. I guess this is as good as I will look for the next couple months, right?!

At my 34 week appointment I had another ultrasound. Everything is looking good and the baby appeared to weigh 5lbs 15oz at this point...which is just a little bit above the norm. I'm still measuring a couple days ahead of my due date, but nothing significant enough to move my due date up! Here is a cute picture of the baby's nose and lips. If you are having a hard time...the picture is sideways and the eyes are in a shadow which looks like a raccoon!

Baby Shower Quiz-time

I think it has started...Baby Funk is already starting to get spoiled! Last week my friends, Brittany and Rachel, thew us "A Funky Baby Shower"! They covered all the details and everything was perfect...from the invites, to the decorations, to the cake, to the company...we had a great time.

(L to R) Brittany, Staci (due 8/22), Me, Kimberly and Rachel

I won't bore you with pictures of all the baby gear that our funky baby received, but here are some of the gifts I just have to mention...

My friend Kimberly's mom, Ellen, made this needlepoint for us. Each letter is a different type of stitch with all kinds of cool thread. She spend over two months on this project and it shows...it's amazing! What do you think, shouldn't she start a business?!

Brittany and Rachel decided not to make it easy on me...they made a game out of the gift. For each Trivia question I answered correctly, I got a related gift. Here are some of the gift/questions...see how good you do:

Goodnight Moon - In the great green room there was a telephone and a red balloon and...(finish the line)

Bottle nipple - What level Dr. Brown nipple does a newborn start with? (a) Level Y (b) Level N or (c) Level 1

Breastmilk Storage Bags - Once you pump, how long is breastmilk good for... (1) on the counter? (2) in the fridge? (3) in the freezer?

Digital Thermometer - In order to get a true temperature reading from a rectal thermometer you should: (a) subtract a point (b) add a point or (c) nothing it's a true reading

Lanolin - Is it necessary to remove nipple cream before breastfeeding?

Newborn Onesies - When does a babies umbilical cord typically fall off?

Baby Food - When does a baby start to eat baby food?

Washcloths - How often should a baby receive a bath the first few months of life?

Carseat toys - When do you transfer your baby from the bucket carseat to the big carseat?

Swaddle blanket - Show us how to swaddle a baby doll...

Formula Dispenser - How many scoops of formula go with 4oz of water?

Pack'n'Play - Put this pack'n'play together...

I probably got two-thirds of the questions right...here I am trying to swaddle a baby...I definitely failed this one!

Here is my attempt at putting together a pack'n'play. This was a hard job...especially when you are 8 months pregnant, but as Rachel pointed out, I will appreciate the knowledge when I have a tired, crying baby on my hip while I'm trying to put this together next time. Note: don't put the bottom down flat until you get the sides locked!!

Taadaa! I was dripping sweat at this point...

Thanks again for a wonderful baby shower!

Four-Legged Children

I recently went to a "Girls Night Out" event at V Gallery in Morton at the encouragement of my brothers friend Stacy. Stacy was participating in the event showing off her jewelry (State Street Design) along with a bunch of other cute little boutiques and then of course, featuring all the work of this incredible photographer. While at the gallery, I checked out pricing for baby Funk photos, but quickly decided I couldn't afford the luxury of hiring this photographer... However, I was added to the mailing list and soon learned about an event V Gallery sponsored called Doggy Days. The deal was bring a 30 lb bag of dog food for a animal charity and pay $25 and your doggie gets 10-15 minutes of fame behind the camera lens along with a 5x7 portrait! So I thought, wouldn't it be cool to get professional pictures of my mom's four-legged golden children?! So Michael signed up to help me transport the pups and the 100 lbs of food I bought at Sams to Morton, yet his plans changed at the last minute and I was stuck with the appointment. So instead of pretending I could handle this one on my own, I had to fess up to my mom and tell her I had a surprise for her, but she had to help me. She was psyched to help out...she had the dogs brushed and pretty, brought all the necessary toys/treats to get the dogs to cooperate and even had Sydney dressed with her Vera Bradley accessories.

So we headed over to Morton with the doggies and had about 15 minutes of pure chaos. The dogs were confused by us standing behind the camera calling their names, telling them to sit-up, sit-down, jump up on the furniture (they looked at us like "seriously, we can jump up there") and of course Sydney was a big wimp and ran from the camera, the flash and all of the distractions we brought to get her to pose. Needless to say we were skeptic of the quality of the pictures.

I finally had the chance to pick up the pictures this week and I cannot be more thrilled. Totally worth the effort!

Aren't they adorable?! I framed this picture of the two pups together for my Mom as a little surprise for when she gets home from her vacation!

Scout...clearly he loves posing for the camera!


Sydney...not the most amazing picture, but amazing considering she was scared of everything.

Feeling the Pressure

This week marks the 32 week point for baby Funk. I'm definitely starting to feel the pressure...both on my bladder and in terms of getting ready at home! I went to the doctor this week and everything looks good, once again we have an active babe with a heart rate of 165! I was starting to think the baby had calmed down a little...not so much. So far, I'm measuring 1 week ahead, but not enough where they think I'm going to have an abnormally large child or anything crazy like that.

I am going to be frequenting the doctors office more from this point forward. I now start going every two weeks...which is good because I had a long list of questions last time and I couldn't bring myself to ask every single one when the doctor came in the room. The exciting news is that he said he would induce me up to a week early and he wouldn't let me go more than a week past my due date. SOOO...I told him, "Sign me up for inducing me at 39 weeks!" I know there are pros and cons to getting induced, but overall I need to escape my job. September 15th is a huge deadline for a lot of corporations, so as you can guess I'm swamped with work now through 9/15. No offense to any of my clients (well maybe some), but I can't handle the stress that they put on me (if you are a client reading this...of course I'm not talking about you!). Everyone is crabby, swamped and overwhelmed and if you add a pregnant lady to the mix...you get even more crabby clients. Personally, I'd rather deal with the crabby overwhelmed feelings while looking at my cute little baby!

As for preparing for the baby...I have confirmed the pediatrician (Dr. Emm), got a diaper bag (adorable Vera Bradley bag...ON SALE), finished touching up the paint in the babies room (5 coats later) and started looking into newborn pictures (nothing final here, but it's much more fun than filling out insurance forms)!

Hopefully by the next blog I will have accomplished some of my more important to do's...such as: accept the fact that I will need daycare and start looking into options, figure out the insurance crap, fill out the short-term disability papers, finalize my maternity leave plan and hopefully start arranging the nursery (if the Nursery Nook decides to get their act together and deliver the crib and glider...seriously I was planning to start sleeping in the glider a couple weeks ago...COME ON)! There, now I'm accountable...sort of...

Here are the photos...what do you think...girl or boy???

Literally, the BIG 30!

Well, the countdown is on...we are down to 10 weeks to put together the nursery, pick out a baby name and take baby classes to learn how to do the parenting thing! Yea, I'm ordinarily such a planner, but somehow I'm falling behind here. When I first found out I was pregnant I had this initiative to start crossing things off my list...but instead of preparing for the baby I do things like order replacement screens for the window, furniture shop...for the living room, take photography classes or obsess over making our lawn green. Nothing child related! Is that still considered nesting? I need the baby nesting phase to kick in...argh! Any suggestions?

In the mean time, my belly is a growing...FAST. I can't believe that I'm still going to grow for 10 more weeks. The most frequent comment I get these days is "Are you sure there is just one?!" Let me tell you something...not the most flattering thing you can say to a pg woman. I know I've said it before too so no offense if you were one of the ones that said it! Yes, there is only one...and in my case if there ever should be more than one, I've already promised the other one to my mother-in-law since twins would be her fault since they come from Ben's side of the family.

Here is my profile pic for 30 weeks

For those that are still guessing girl/boy here is a front view...I feel like my belly looks a little lopsided! I was dressed like a normal person today because I had to go to a client. I'm excited to say that I only have to go to a client one more time before the baby arrives...woohoo!

Slumber Party

This past weekend Ben and I went up to Lake Zurich to spend the 4th of July holiday with the Wiegmans! It was our first multi-family slumber party with my two best friends and their families...which was really interesting with all the babies in tow! Rachel and Matt threw a fabulous party and they even sacrificed their own bed and spare bedrooms for their guests. Since the weather was cold and rainy we couldn't go in the pool...so instead we hung out on their huge screened in patio and ate/drank all night long! BTW on a different note, I passed my 2nd Glucose tolerance test after dieting, fasting and four viles of my blood for testing. It was not a pretty test! The doctor said "it looks like your diet is working, so try to stick to it as much as possible". I say "as if"!

Since I couldn't have an ice cold beverage in hand, I brought my camera instead. I was super excited to test out one of my new camera lenses on all the babe's at the party. Check out these cutie pies!

Little Miss M (Rachel & Matt's 9.5 month old daughter) and her serious pose...she is usually smiley and loves to ham it up for cameras so I can't believe I caught this look. Such a doll!

This angel (Brittany & BJ's 6 month old daughter) is clearly going through the teething stage. All of Miss A's poses included fingers in the month! You can almost see her smile, but the eyes really give away her happiness!

These two babes alternated hands in the mouth...so this is as good as it gets :)

Now this is one model of a child. Little E (Brittany and BJ's 3 year old daughter) was adorable on the 4th. She loved all the decorations and crafts, but had to ask her daddy to tell the people setting off the fireworks to stop it!

This is one of the only pictures I captured with an "adult" in it...I'm not counting the series of pictures my husband took of Matt on the continuous shooting mode to pretend like they were models! Don't these butterfly kisses just make you melt??