Umm, that hurts…

My major complaint of the week is how my stupid belly button hurts. I mean, it’s not this ooh, that hurts a little kind of pain. Nope, it’s like, holy buckets, this piercing pain is radiating through my belly button and it just is really annoying. I had no idea that my belly button could even cause me pain. Stupid belly button!

I’m sure that the reason it hurts is due to the fact that my belly is continually stretching and growing, which is a good thing I suppose given that it means that Ryan is growing. However, I had no idea that things would actually hurt during the growing process and then there are those stupid stretch marks that keep popping up. Oh well, I guess it’s the price you pay when bringing a little bundle of joy into this world. You would think that it would be easier, but no, it’s a long process. I’m happy that my due date is right around the corner for one, to be done with being pregnant and two, to finally meet Ryan! And yes, I’m more excited about meeting Ryan than being done with being pregnant, although, being done with being pregnant is a close second. Can you imagine how an elephant feels? Like, OMG, if I was an elephant right now, and sometimes I do feel like once because I get so bloated, I would still have about a year to go. Poor elephants, I feel bad for you!

In other pregnancy news, we are close to getting the nursery ready and still need to buy a few odds and ends. My Mom and I went shopping for them on Thursday and we were able to get a lot of the stuff without spending a huge amount of money to do it. I got the Diaper Genie and not only did I get the larger one for cheaper at Target than Wal-Mart, but it even had a $5 off coupon on it. Needless to say, I was pretty stoked. Oh, and if you’re looking for a good variety of baby stuff, check out Kmart, I know, it sounds a bit ghetto, yet I was pleasantly surprised when we went there since the store has a pretty good selection and things were reasonably priced.

This week we go in for another check-up and in two weeks, we’ll attend our birthing class. A friend asked why I didn’t go to the class sooner and I was like, well, Ryan is going to come whether I go to a class or not. So, taking a class isn’t going to keep that from happening! It will be nice though to get some education on everything that will happen. I do hear that I’m probably going to watch a gross video, I’m sure that’s going to be fun.

Well, that’s all I got for now, make it a great Saturday everyone!

Baby shower = AWESOME!

My Mom, Nancy, hosted a baby shower for me and little Billy Bubba this past Saturday at her home. I must say, it was a fabulous time and before I go any further about all the fun details, who am I kidding because we actually have a name picked out for him…we’re going to call him Ryan Charles. So, I’m going to actually refer to him as Ryan from now on! However, there is a back story to his nickname, but I'll get to that in another post though. 

Anyway, this past Saturday my Mom threw me this awesome baby shower and words can’t describe how much I appreciate everything that she did. She put so much effort into the whole thing and as I’m writing this, I’m actually getting a little emotional about it and how much she cares. My Mom is super kewl and super supportive and I wouldn’t be where I am today without her.Love you Mom!

The baby shower itself was so well thought out and planned. She totally went all out and did so many wonderful things, starting with making this super cute diaper cake:

The diaper cake my Mom made for me, look how cute all the little bath animals are!

The diaper cake was the first thing I saw when she lead me to the room where the baby shower was being held at her home. I was totally taken aback at how cute and fun it looked. She also decorated the space, with the help of Kim A. who has become a really great friend, and made it all festive and fun. On each table were party favors filled with candy, and good candy too not some icky kind that no one really wants to eat, and streamers on the ceiling and walls. On top of that, my Mom also gave out great door prizes and gifts. All the food was homemade too from the sandwiches to the sides. It was a tasty meal and I'm glad we got leftovers. Oops, I forgot one more person to thank, Mrs. V. Your salad was yumtastic.

The baby shower was everything that I hoped it would be and then some. I mean, really it was and there is not much more I can say. Even the games weren't boring. We played a cross-word game and the diaper poo game. Basically, the whole thing was Awesome, Awesome, Awesome! I mean, check out this cake she picked out as an example, how cute is the cake topper??

Both tasty and beautiful! 

We received a lot of great presents from everyone as well, especially all the cute little outfits with sports themes and there was even one with monkeys and another one that was camouflage, too much fun. All of the presents we received were kind of secondary to everything in reality since it was just cool to see my family and friends. Thank you to everyone who came to the shower and for your generosity! :) You made my day! Hugs and kisses to you all!

Target to the rescue!

When we were not able to purchase the nursery furniture that Dave and I wanted for little Billy Bubba over the weekend, I was a bit upset to say the least. Actually, I’ll go one step further with that and be totally honest, I was completely freaking out because the whole incident made me feel like I wasn’t in control of the situation and our baby boy was going to have to sleep in a suitcase or something. Not good. Could you imagine? I did and it made me feel like an unfit mother before he was even born! LAME!

After getting over my initial freak-out, I realized that the situation could easily be handled by just looking at the other options that were out there again. We didn’t want to spend a huge amount of money and that was really the biggest stumbling block with getting the furniture to begin with. Reasonably priced and good quality was basically what we were looking for, which made things a bit difficult since most places were completely overpriced. For instance, at a few spots we looked we could’ve spent around $1,000 for just a crib. To me, that’s just way too much.

So to look at all the options again, I hit the Internet and the first place I stopped at was Target. I found a well priced convertible crib and dresser to match, which were actually two of the pieces of furniture that we originally looked at, at Target months ago. At that time though, they didn’t have any in stock and I was a bit bummed. However, this time around, the local store in Bellevue, WI did have both in stock. In a flash, I was on the phone and they put it on hold for me. They were out of the changing table, yet I didn’t care because I figure we can get by without one. Or if we really need one, I’ll just buy something later. 

The crib we decided on!

Anyway, after the horrible customer service experience we had at Toys “R” Us, I was a bit leery that the furniture I put on hold was actually going to be on hold, waiting for us to pick it up at Target. When I went into guest services, I told the customer service person that I had two pieces of furniture on hold. She asked what they were and after telling her, she said that yes, they were on hold and that she actually saw them in the back room. First hurdle jumped over. Then, she said to give them a few minutes to have them brought up by us. About two minutes later, the crib and dresser appeared before our eyes and we double checked to make sure they were the right finish. We got confirmation that they were, so, we got over the second hurdle. From there, we paid for everything and then she said to pull up front and that they would help us load it up. When we pulled up, three Target customer service people were outside waiting with our furniture and all three helped load it into our SUV. They wouldn’t even let Dave help them! Third and final hurdle cleared! It was completely amazing. We were in and out of Target in 15 or so minutes and it was one of the best customer service experiences that I have ever had, totally making up for the snafu that we had to deal with at that other crappy store! I must say, Target, thank you for coming to the rescue!

Now, there is one thing that I realized from this whole buying furniture extravaganza. It’s that things happen for a reason. By not getting what we wanted from Toys “R” Us, we were able to get the furniture that I originally wanted from Target. It’s weird sometimes how things just work out and I’m trying now to look at the positive side from everything that happened instead of the negative!

With that said, I bid you farewell and stay tuned, because my next post is going to be all about my baby shower that is on tap for this weekend. It should be fun and I want to thank my Mom and co-worker/friend Kim A. for that work that they put into getting it together! You ladies ROCK!