Still not done, but trying!

Nothing happens quickly in our house these days, except messes. We're slowly getting Lila's room together, and this weekend I got to add some of the fun "finishing" touches, though the room is far from finished!

On her due date, we did her hand and foot prints for this sweet frame my aunt gave us. Once we got our pics from the photographer, a quick print finished up this little project. It looks SO good on the green walls!

I'm really excited about these frames for her wall. The two on the end I ordered a week or so ago, they are part of her bedding and I love the black and white against the green wall. The middle is a Creative Memories magnetic frame I bought FOREVER ago and totally forgot about. I found it two weeks ago when going through my scrapbook stuff and thought it would be perfect for her room. I didn't realize until the black and white frames came in that it was the exact same size!

We got this sweet little lamp at my baby shower but were lacking the shade that matched her bedding until last week. I love it! Now, to get the dresser to put it on...

Busy weekend!

Last night we went to a movie, and Hayden is getting pretty good at hanging out for two hours while we watch it from the family-friendly soundproof booth at the back of the theater. He woke up for a little while and just wanted to be held, and we're always happy to oblige. I held him until he fell asleep, and since he has a habit of waking up when you put him back in the car seat, he just hung out in my arms for awhile. One of my favorite things is watching him fall asleep when he's relaxed. His little eyelids get so heavy, and he does the long, slow blink and when he's not fighting it, just falls asleep peacefully. He's so sweet. He has found his hands in the past week or so, and spends as much time as possible putting them in his mouth and sucking on them like his life depends on it.

The movies was our reward for working on Hayden's room all weekend. Friday morning we went to OBI, the German version of Home Depot, and picked out the paint. We did pretty well, considering I forgot the border to match paint. We picked out "sky" and headed home for me to tape off the door and window and outlets and whatnot. As soon as that roller hit the wall, I realized how much better walls look with a little color! As a result, we have plans to paint more rooms in the house. Jay did all the roller work and I did the around-the-tape work, and we finished the paint Friday night despite Hayden's protests. We realized how much easier this is BEFORE the baby comes, but wasn't possible since we thought we were moving.

Saturday morning Jay got to work on the border, and it took him forever. He's pretty precise, and border work is tedious to say the least. It involves water and a razor and waiting and towels and a little flat-edged tool and a TON of patience. But it looks great! I washed his crib bedding and window coverings, and ironed them while Jay was working on the border and when Hayden would allow it. Sunday we got to work on the crib, and Jay made pretty quick work of it. It was put together in no time. We put all the pieces together, and it looks awesome!! I love his room already, and he hasn't even slept in it. We have a small piece of furniture that I bought forever ago that just happens to match his crib, so that's moved up there for his lamp and books and a few toys. Jay put the mobile on, and Hayden is pretty intrigued by the moving dinosaurs.

Now all we have to do is finish putting stuff on the walls and vacuum, and his room will be Hayden-ready! The name sign my friend Jennifer made for Hayden is absolutely perfect, and matches everything to a "T". Thanks, Jen Pounders (Frick)! I forgot how much I love his bedding, and now that it's up we're ready to start putting him to sleep in there. We put him in the crib to test the waters, and he looks so small in there!

Hayden's birth announcement also appeared in the Greensboro News & Record on Sunday. It's small but check it out if you get the paper! Hayden has a doctor's appointment this morning and we have lots of errands to run, maybe including more paint for downstairs! We should have done this a long time ago. Hayden also has to get his shots this week, and has his first studio photo session. I hope he's ready for his busy week!

Life update

Well we've been tossing a lot around lately and have finally figured out we'll be staying in Germany a little longer! Jay came down on DA (Dept of the Army) recruiting orders, that he was not excited about. I can't blame him, the only thing harder than recruiting boys to the Army is girls to a women's college! So he luckily got out of those, which is pretty impossible. We then had a choice to make, mainly for Jay. We're a family, we make decisions together; but when it comes down to it, he's the one that has to get up at 5, work in the cold and deploy for 12 months at a time. In the end, staying here is best for his career, and if it means we don't have to move for another two years then I'm okay with that too! We're here until next February, but the unit may be in another deployment then, we'll just have to see.

This means you all have plenty of time to come visit us! It also means I've extended my list of places to see, and most importantly, Hayden's nursery is about to exist in full force! Since we're staying, we're painting and decorating his room this weekend. We got his crib on Sunday, and I cannot wait for the weekend to get to work! I promise to put up pics as soon as Jay stops throwing paint at me for taking pictures instead of painting (which I'm sure will happen).

Hayden and I will still be home in April for my five-year reunion at Salem, so you'll all get to meet him. Get ready, he's a heartbreaker!

Movin' right along

Busy weekend in the Rogers' house as usual, but Jay did have a four-day thanks to the Veterans' Day Holiday, so we spent some time relaxing, sleeping in and being bums. I figure we have to take advantage of those lazy weekends while we still can!

I'm starting to feel a little more pressure, especially when I stand up. This past weekend I started experiencing Braxton-Hicks contractions, according to my book. I was having some intermittent cramping and looked it up in my books and on Babycenter.com, and am pretty sure that's what's going on. They don't last long, they're completely infrequent with no rhyme or reason, so I guess my body is just gearing up for the big event. Lucky me!

We also started doing more getting-ready-for-baby stuff this weekend, which was awesome! Jay put together the swing, the pack n' play and the bouncy seat. I tried to help, but Jay assured me it was his job to put this stuff together, and my job was to have the baby. Glad we got that cleared up! He also wanted nothing to do with having his picture taken, but I told him I didn't want our baby thinking some strange man put his stuff together! So now he'll just think his daddy is silly. We moved around some furniture, and continue to pick up essentials for Hayden (more baby wipes, vaseline, etc.) and I'm working on packing his diaper bag and my hospital bag a little at a time.

I also started a new book, So That's What They're For, about breastfeeding. I really like it so far (I'm about halfway through) and it helps me feel a little more comfortable about nursing. I'm having a little more luck lately with sleeping, depending on when we get up and how much we do in a day. We set up one of his changing stations downstairs, and are waiting for our changing pad to get here to finish up his room. Pictures when it's clean! We ordered a wipes warmer from Amazon a long time ago and never received it. I sent an email to their customer service last night, and they're sending us a new one to replace it! Super excited. Germany is cold and the heating system is a little different than that of the states, so we don't want him to be cold downstairs. I'm sure we'll have no problem keeping his little room warm, and we have some great swaddling sleepers.

Seems like my belly keeps getting bigger! Just a few more weeks and he'll be out, and I think we'll both be grateful for the extra moving room :-)

What a productive weekend!

Well yesterday Jay and I decided to tackle our crazy messy house and get down to business. We're in one of those catch-22 situations where it seems like we can't do one thing before doing another, but something else has to be done before we can do that. So, like any expectant parents, we've just been doing nothing :-) I did tons of laundry for all of us while Jay got to work on his and Hayden's collective room. Our chair we ordered three months ago FINALLY got here on Saturday, so we got that set up and half of Hayden's room is now ready. Pictures forthcoming, once we turn the dresser into his changing table. We also finally got his humidifier, the cutest little frog you've ever seen, and tried it out last night. It's a shame we didn't purchase one for ourselves, with our stuffy noses in this dry German air!

This morning I spent some time shopping online for some of the smaller, essential items we haven't yet procured for him. Time is coming fast (four weeks left!) so I figured we should get it all ordered and here. I was very excited to compare consumer reports and customer reviews for things like thermometers and playpen sheets. It's funny how impending motherhood changes things. I remember the same excitement for a sale at White House Black Market, and how my shoes used to be so cute. Now it's all about soft blankets and little socks!

We still get a kick out of watching him move around in my belly, and are getting more and more excited about meeting this little fellow who has already changed our lives so much. Doctor's appointment later today, and maybe some packing of diaper bags and whatnot. We'll see!

Thanks, Jen!

One of my friends from college is a crafty girl, and made this sign for Hayden's room! It matches his bedding (once it's out of the package and in his crib, which we won't have until we get to the states) perfectly, and we LOVE it!!

Once we get his room cleaned up a bit, I'll be able to show you what it looks like on the wall. For now, Jay's holding it up right after we took it out of the box, in our dining room.

Getting ready for baby!

What a busy few days it's been for us! We got three giant boxes of all kinds of baby stuff from Jay's family in VA, so much that it filled up four washers! I washed crib and bassinet sheets, onesies and booties, blankets and pajamas. I was on a roll, so I went ahead and washed all his other clothes and sheets and towels (a few more washers full!) and as of right now, everything is clean. Well, until Jay checked the mail. But it's not as much this time!

Jay went on a cleaning spree and we moved around the furniture for his sort-of nursery. Our February move and recalled crib mean that his room is a little sparse. We have his dresser and bassinet, and are still waiting for my chair to get here from the PX in Ramstein. And my friend Jen from college made a sign with Hayden's name on it that should be here soon! He's teaching us to be minimalists, that's for sure.

In addition to washing all of Hayden's stuff, Jay finally unloaded his duffel bags from Afghanistan. That plus our regular laundry means I did TWENTY loads of laundry in THREE days. We spent most of the weekend finally getting some things in order, and I spent all day today cleaning. I think it's less "nesting" and more "the house has been a mess since Jay got home". There's always more to be done, but it's coming along.

Congratulations to Mary Hilliard and Pete, who welcomed Edward Grayson Moran on Sunday at 8 lbs, 8oz. Little blessings everywhere!

I'm in the third-trimester no-sleep phase apparently, and have a hard time falling and staying asleep at night. That makes for long days, even when I get a nap in. Oscar naps with me, on his couch, because he's not sleeping well either! After a few weeks of complete freedom, we've had to reign him in a little, and now he sleeps upstairs again until he can control some of his chewing urges. He'll get there soon, I'm sure. And it'll be easier with clean floors and tables.

Less than nine weeks to go and I can't believe it's almost here!

26 weeks

We had another doctor's appointment on Wednesday. This one was an early one, since I had to do the blood glucose test for gestational diabetes. Basically I had to show up at 8 on an empty stomach for them to test my blood. Then I had to drink a GIANT cup of sugar water and have my blood tested again in an hour, and in another hour. The test is to see how my body is processing sugar. After the long two hours, we're good to go with no gestational diabetes!

Our ultrasound did not produce any good pictures, since Hayden was in an "impossible position" which means his back was to us. We got to see his little feet and hands, and also checked the heartbeat since Jay hadn't heard that yet. He is growing well (but not too big!) and hopefully our next appointment he will be in a different position so we can do the 3D ultrasound.

My weight gain is moving along steadily, which the doctor said is fine since I didn't gain much at all in the beginning. At our next appointment I'll also get the Rhogam shot (since I have A- blood and Jay has O+), which will be on the 25th of September. For now, all is well though!

Hayden moves around all the time, most often when I eat. He has taken recently to kicking in rapid succession, which feels funny for both me and Jay. It's like little flutter kicks, so maybe he's trying to rival his daddy's six-pack before he comes out!

We also got Hayden's stroller in the mail this week (thanks Gloria!) and put it together. Now all we need is the baby to put it in! It gets more exciting with each passing week, but we're glad he's still in there growing and getting big. This week I went to the PX in Ramstein (about 2.5 hours away) and they had our crib assembled in the baby furniture section. It was exciting, since we won't actually be able to put our crib together until we move back to the states. Right now most of his stuff is in the basement, waiting patiently to either be put in the nursery or be packed and shipped to GA.

Only three months to go!

24 weeks

It's been a busy week for the Rogers family! Last Wednesday, Hayden had a pretty good mail day! We got his playpen (thanks Gloria!), his nursery stuff and a box from our friends in the north, Megan and Gene. Full of all kinds of great stuff to welcome this little guy to our world. Thanks you guys! Our baby boy is spoiled rotten already.

This weekend we took a trip to Luxembourg to visit Luxembourg City and the Luxembourg-American cemetery, where General Patton is buried. We had a blast with some of our friends, and spent the night at Ramstein AF Base. We picked up some more clothes for Hayden, and the scrapbook I've been looking everywhere for. Oscar got a little break as well, with his visit to the farm, but he's ready to go back!

We got back Sunday evening and are catching up on cleaning and some rest! I'm 24 weeks and feeling Hayden move around all the time. My parents also sent us the rest of the Lil' Dino stuff to complete the nursery, and we can't wait to put it up! We are leaving Germany in February, while he's still in the bassinet, so he won't have his own, fully-decorated, dino-infused room until we move to the states, but we can put some of it up here!

Every day is a little more exciting, and we really appreciate everyone's support! This week we're laying low and hanging out to prepare for our travels towards the end of Jay's leave, and we have our next appointment(s) on the 22nd. We'll keep you posted!

The nursery

This is what we've picked out for the nursery! Some of it wasn't available online, so we ordered what we could and sent my mom on a search for the rest at Babies R Us. We love it!