Nursery Updates, Finn Being a Blockhead, etc...

This little chickity's nursery is certainly coming along. It's a little scary, actually.

Mostly because I have 3 more months left...what am I going to do with myself?!?!?!

But really, the dresser has been bought (though not assembled. I couldn't even get it out of my car. This thing is heav-ay).

The drapes have been draped (although they haven't been hemmed...ever heard of standard sizes for curtains, Ikea?! No. Didn't think so),

The pictures have been framed (I will most likely be changing the frames 10 more times, however).

It's like, close, man. But as you can see by the aforementioned qualifiers to every statement...it's not done.

Here's a lil' sneakity-peak preview:

It's actually two curtains, the top layer is sheer...just call me the decorating genius.

I know, I know, those curtains are seriously girly. I'm actually thinking the whole room is turning out a bit prissier than I had intended. It's like I need to put some skulls and crossbones on the wall just to balance it out or something.

In any case today Finn and I went to Ikea to buy the dresser and drapes and other things and when we got home he realized the awesome hat-potential of drawer organizers. Behold!

Did I mention Finn and I went to Ikea? Note to self: don't go to Ikea with a toddler and no one else. While he was a real gem, he wasn't any help in lifting heavy things or loading up my car or pushing the cart while I pushed the stroller. In fact, when all was said and done, we both went and congratulated ourselves on the mission: impossible with a cinnamon roll. So good.

25 Week-a-roos

25 weeks! Bam! Done! Awesome! Other words!

And so far so good. I'm feeling fantastic, eating better, I'm working out tons (probably too much, but whatever), and I'm absolutely ready to meet this little birdy, even though I know I'm going to have to wait about 15 more weeks.

Don't mind the random corner missing...editing error. I'm computer incompetent.

Things I'm doing to pass the time include:

Watching Vampire Diaries and Pretty Little Liars because I'm trying to be a teenage girl like that.

Decorating like crazy...even though the FOUR frames I bought for pictures were vetoed by either my mom or Luke...but whatever on them 'cause it's MY room to decorate! Suckers!

(That was mean. Their opinion matters, I swear. I love them both, etc etc.)

Eating, like, 14 apples a day because it is the healthiest craving I have, so I just keep 'em coming.

Pinning on Pinterest, thanks to Amanda for her help with that. Remember? Me? Computer incompetent? That's right.

Chasing after that lil' hell devil I call Finn. He's getting crazier/faster/funnier/more disobedient/more energetic every. single. day. It's great fun. Great, exhausting fun. I'm sure having two kids with this guy on hand is going to be a BREEZE.

*cough cough* yeah, right *cough*

Can Someone Get Me a Frilly Apron?!

Guys, Pintrest has turned me into a crafting housewife....

Scary business.

Note: I haven't actually figured out how to pin anything or interact socially on the site, I just browse other people's goodies. Is that taboo? Can someone help me out here before they uninvite me?!

Not only have I begun getting supplies to reupholster things and paint things (myself, thank you very much. You may now disregard my previous post), but today I made an asian noodle salad to eat for lunch for the week and I made a marinade for chicken I plan to cook...tonight.

I'm saving recipes left and right, yo. It's what happens when you're home all day and just so damn tired of eating the same five meals over and over again.

The whole prep-and-caboodle took a good 45 minutes, and that was with my brother helping me. I was sweating afterwards and I'd only chopped veggies.

I'll tell Luke it's a belated Valentine's day dinner, just so he doesn't start, you know, expecting it on a regular basis. And don't you guys start expecting it either. This blog isn't turning how-to anytime soon.

Speaking of Luke...here's his shout out: He got me a lovely bouquet of red roses and a beautiful sterling silver necklace with a bird charm on it, in honor of our little 'bird', as we call her, fluttering away in my belly :) Precious.

Speaking of my belly: Today in my morning strength training class, a couple of the ladies there commented on how 'small' I was for 24 weeks (Moment to brag: they also commented on how impressed they were that I was even there, and I didn't even mention that I'd been on the elliptical for an hour at 5:30 this morning. Bragging over. Hey, I'm proud of my hard work!)

Anywho, at first I was like sweet! And then I was like wait! does that mean they think I am a sub-par pregnant person? Shouldn't they just be saying how normal sized I look?! Shoot!

Ah, the delusions of pregnancy paranoia. It never ends but it gets old real fast. Real fast.

Because I know that if they had said, "24 weeks?! You're huge!" they would have all gotten a nice little bitch-slap across the face.

And if someone tells me I look normal, well, I'll probably find a reason to worry about that, too. Just give me time, I can worry about ANYTHING. It's a gift.

And that's all I have to say about that. Because really, this belly here looks perfect to me:

I'm not going to lie, I had to push it out pretty far to get it in the shot, so I'm not that big...

In other news, Finn and I made it home to Utah fine and dandy yesterday. For the first time ever, he didn't sleep at all on the plane which was stressful until I decided chill out about it (imagine that). We had a row to ourselves so he just fiddled with the armrest and played peek-a-boo with some lady across the aisle. Who am I to interfere with the easily entertained?

Once on home soil, I was initially in a bad mood because frankly, I wanted to be in California still. But then Luke picked us up at the airport on his lunch break and there's nothing better than seeing your handsome hubby waiting for you, right? And then he surprised me with flowers and then Nick came over and I snapped this beauty and darnit if that bad mood didn't just disappear like that. Whatever that may be.

Happiness = a flying baby

And now I am off to scrub the ginger and cilantro smell off of my hands because, you know, I've been cooking and stuff...no biggie.

Gettin' Crafty...

I don't want to leave tomorrow (!)...but I desperately miss the hubsters. And Nicholas!

Conundrum.

It's been so great to be out here in SoCal the past week. I've met up with friends, I've gone shopping everyday (sorry, Finn), my mom and I had all the obligatory mommy-daughter lunches (which is what I miss the most now she's out here...), and today I had a glorious hour and a half of time to run errands sans baby. I actually got to peruse through two stores without having to worry about any Finnanigans (Finn + shenanigans = Finnanigans. Enjoy that one).

But since I know that all good/great/fantastic things must come to an end I've got a whole slew of projects lined up for me in Utah. What kind of projects?

Craft-y projects...

...gasp!...

Seeing as I am the LEAST artistically-inclined person in the world, this is kind of a big leap for me. Thankfully, the majority of these crafts involve me buying fabric and materials to give to other people who can, you know, thread a needle and such.

(I've got the vision. Other people have the talent. I'm just keepin' the universe balanced, people)

So, I've bought fabric for a car seat cover...to have Luke's mom sew for me.

And I need to find the perfect frames for the prints...I paid to have someone paint.

And then I bought a bird cage as a decoration for baby girl's room...which I need to find and buy some birds to put in it.

And last but not least, I'm looking for fabric for some chairs that we inherited with our apartment...so that Luke can reupholster them.

For me, this whole 'craft' business is easy!

In any case, this is the fabric I bought for baby girl's car seat cover:

...you just died from cute-overload, didn't you? Don't worry, you'll be fine.

An Ice Cream Truck?

In the middle of February?? Yes, yes there was. Because we are in Southern California right now and that is just how we roll out here, yo.

(By 'we', I mean me and Finn...sorry, Luke. Thanks for doing that whole 'work' thing )

I think my mom convinces me to come out and visit her here because she knows that every time I'm out here I get closer and closer to just packing our stuff up and moving back out. Especially this time of year...yeah, I'd take 75 degrees and sunny over 35 degrees and blah any day.

Any. Day.

Finn is having his usual blast out here, too. We went shopping yesterday and it was so hot that we had to buy him some shorts and t-shirts.

Glorious.

And once he wasn't wearing his Utah winter wear he loved being outside so much that he didn't even mind that we were shopping (the most hated of errands). It helped that they had fountains to play with, dogs to pet and carousels. I felt (almost) guiltless as I shopped for his baby sister.

Confession #1: I wasn't looking forward to shopping for a little girl...I thought everything was just too girlie...I loved shopping for boy clothes (Shoot, I still do)...but I am definitely warming up to it. Thank goodness for polka-dots, stripes and chartreuse being in style. And BabyGap. Anything they make is good by me.

Anywho, today we went to the park where Finn made some friends and showed off his pasty whiteness.

Confession #2: I, too, donned shorts (yikes). I'm sure there was some Orange County-style snickering at my white, pasty, preggo legs. Not pretty, people. Not pretty.

In any case, I finally got my camera out:

Finn and his new friends...twin girls...because he's a stud like that.

Sand is a good thing to put in a diaper, right?

Something to Look Forward To...

As far as nurseries go, once you get the crib put together, you kind of have keep on decorating, right?

Which is why these hand-painted prints are on their way right now:

This one is my favorite ^

With some vintage-looking frames? Be still, my heart!

Conclusion: my first venture into Etsy...total success.

Phil?! Phil Connors?!

Sorry about the week-long break, I was just busy....yeah, busy....

Ok you got me, I wasn't busy, per-se, but I have been tending to this cutie:

Isn't he such a looker?

To be honest, lately my days have been so reminiscent of Groundhog Day that I'm often surprised I don't run into Ned over and over again. I even wake up to the same song every morning.

I, my dear friends, am the instigator and upholder of boring.

Sure, I could blame it on Finn and say things like, "How am I supposed to shake up my routine when I've got a toddler to look after?!" But I'm pretty sure if Finn could talk he'd say something like, "Hey mom, let's shake it up and go to the zoo or something. Let's blow this joint".

Oy vey. We need help, Finn and I.

To break out of our rut I started taking Finn to a morning aerobics/playgroup class. And while the class is surprisingly hard (I don't give the girls in our ward enough credit...that, and the uber-competitive side of me thinks I'm so good I can kick anyone's trash WHILE pregnant...not true), its giving Finn a chance to socialize with other kids which is nice.

So far, the only friends he's made there is with all of their germs, though. He's had a nasty bug for the past two days that has kept us home and pajama bound.

Finn being sick- bad. Finn being sick and falling asleep in our bed- good, because I got to watch him sleep which makes my heart all melty.

I'm shouldn't complain, though...we are leaving for Southern California on Tuesday(!) which will definitely be exciting in every aspect. Except the the flying on a small plane with a toddler on my ever-shrinking lap part. Finn likes to lean right on baby who leans right into bladder, you get the idea.

I'm going to guarantee myself an empty seat for Finn by explaining to the stewardess that if this kid sits on my lap any longer I'm gonna pee my pants.

Works like a charm.

I assume.

And totally unrelated, it's not a great picture but he loves his $1 step stool:

King of the living room!