Body Image...dun dun duunnn

A woman's body is one really amazing thing. Weather it be big or small, short or tall, all (or most) of these amazing bodies can make a human being from scratch. Bones, eyes, lungs, brains, skin, finger nails, HAIR?! All from something in our body, how freakin cool is that?

I give my body credit for making one super-cute-adorable-squishy-delicious baby, but a girl can want more right? When I found out I was pregnant I also found out that I was 10lbs heavier than I've ever been in my life... then I gained 40lbs. HA... great right? So that's 50lbs that I would like to loose... good friggin luck kid, goooood luck! Here are some pictures from how my big ol body has changed since having Haidan...

The DAY I had Haidan babe... big, ol, belly!

The day I got home from the hospital. Thats a good 25 weeks pregnant belly haha and it was jelly. Gross jelly

Getting smaller? Or my imagination...

These make me cringe... I can't believe I'm posting them, but I want y'all to know what it's like.

SMALLER yay

All those horizontal striped things I got that were super cute as pregnant clothes... not so much when you want to look thinner haha.

Wrapped up, but smaller!

On the way to the gym, waay smaller but also sucked in by luxtreme luon haha

Me most recently. You can't see the millions of stretch marks that I got AFTER giving birth. Stupid right? It's gross and looks like a big ol tiger attacked me, it sucks but I'm trying to learn to accept it and move on. Easier said than done.


I think the hardest part about body image post pregnancy is that if I had gained weight from eating too many delicious treats, I would say "Ok fatty let's get our big butt to the gym NOW!" but with a newborn baby and seemingly no time on your hands it's hard to actually get to the gym (weather it be in your building or not).(I'm 24 gosh-darnit, I'm not ready to let myself go!!!) It's been pretty hard for me to accept that it's ok that I don't go to the gym every day, and that when I do get to go I need to make the best of it and kick ass (mine). I wish I could say the pounds just melted off with breastfeeding, but I think that because my body is producing hormones to fatten this baby up, that maybe I'm not droppin the lbs as quickly. Does that mean I will stop breastfeeding? No, because then I would feel SUPER selfish. Am I happy with how my body looks? No, but that will take time and the more pressure I put on myself the less gets done. That being said I try my darndest to stay positive but it's hard, I've never felt so incredibly gross in my own skin and I'm funny because I don't care about what other people think, but I care what I think other people think... does that even make sense? NO!
I have accepted that I won't be wearing a bathing suit in public, that I need to workout as much as motherly possible (because being a mother and being a human is DIFFERENT I sware!), and that it will take time. Time damnit, it sucks!
I will say, I have bought my first pair of "goal" jeans. They're size 11 from Bluenotes (the teenie-bopper store that I love) and I would like to fit into them by fall. They're super cute and I'm excited for the day I can get them past my knees! HA I also measured myself July 1st and intend to measure on the first of every month to compare the differences instead of using the ol scale... Wish me luck.

Haidan Hylarides' Birth Story- May 11th 2012 the best day of my life!

It's taken exactly 1 month and 9 days for me to have a chance to sit at the computer and think. Think then type (with one hand while nursing I might add). Better late than never right? Here is the official birth story (with the aid of the notes I took on my phone while in the hospital) of the new man in my life.


Introducing Haidan Berry Hylarides:
Now, where I left off in my previous post. It was 5pm Thursday May 10th, I hadn't been able to sleep/rest at all that day because I knew there was too much that needed to be done. My day started at 7am. By 8pm I knew it was contraction time and that I should record/time them as best possible. Being a new-age kinda gal I downloaded a "contraction counter" app, but the contractions were so close together and so hard to distinguish that I soon gave up. By 10pm I knew I needed to make a decision: 1. wait until the contractions were unbearable, 2. wait for the "gush" of water breaking, or 3. go to the hospital and figure my shit out. We went with option number 3 and in the 15 minute car ride I had 3 contractions, in the parking lot I had 3 more, and walking to the labour ward I had 2 more to make it clear I had made the right decision. We were put into a room to get monitored and measured and then we played the waiting game...

 Patiently waiting through contractions

 Our last "just the two of us" photo. weird

daddy keeping busy


11pm rolled around and the residents suggested I go for a walk around the halls of the hospital. They obviously weren't reading my blog, because they would have known how hard it was for me to move around let alone walk the last couple weeks. Paired with some lovely contractions, my lower back/hip pain was eventually unbearable. I walked for an hour and had two really strong contractions before giving up hope on a "natural" child birth. (side note: people say "natural" child birth and mean no epidural, I think they're just silly... child birth of any sort is natural? It is after all what our bodies were made for!) I believe I mentioned something about "This kid just might be an only child after all" to W as I breath through contractions, all I could think to say or do while trying to exhale is "ok, ok, okkkkk, ooookkkkk, ok ok ok... ok its done" which W found quite funny to listen to.We were put into a birth room which was nice and big at around 1am, OFFICIALLY May 11th 2012! I was still about 4cam dilated at this point and my new best friend with the epidural was on his way to making me the happiest mommy-to-be. As he did his business in my back I had 3 more rough contractions that were more intense than the last, in part because I had to stay super still (or go paralized thanks to mr. man putting needles in my back).
It was 2am and I was finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. I was 7-8cm dilated, had a completely numb right leg and a mostly numb left leg and some serious numb bum tingly action happening. At 5:45am I am fully dilated and ready to push this baby out! Time to wait for the "urge-to-poo/ pressure-down-there" contractions and giver! I push every contraction, three pushes for 10 seconds each (I felt no pain and the pushing was great!) and am told that I have two hours to push this monster out before they need to use a vacuum/forceps. As I push I'm told that little bean has his face side ways instead of down (the easiest way to push out a human head is when it's faced down) so I lay on my left, then my right, then on all fours until he's finally ready.

Shit got real. fast. W watched as a little head and body came into the world exactly at 7am on that Friday morning (May 11th 2012), and he was placed on my chest. I'd love to say that I was in tears and so was W... but I think I was in such shock as to how easy and painless the whole thing was that all I could say was "Hello little man, I'm your momma and here's your daddy". The nurse took him away to get cleaned and measured so W took pictures, it wasn't until I saw W holding him in the rocking chair that I burst into tears. His first moment being a Daddy and I could see the tears in his eyes. What an amazing thing to experience right? Haidan weighed in exactly at 7pounds and 48cm long (about 19 inches) and being the goof that I am I said to the nurse "WOW that was great! I could do that again!" It was appropriately a beautiful sunny day, to welcome the newest member of our family 9 days early.
We had a lovely visit from Grandma Hylarides while I got to have a warm shower, then learned the tricks of breastfeeding for the first time (the start of a long haul down the breastfeeding road). We were moved into a recovery room (which was a shared room with another new mommy) and it was a lot smaller than I expected. The woman we shared a room with had just had her 3rd child via c-section and her baby cried (ie screamed) every 2 hours... all night long. Let me just leave that story at: she was a loud baby while Haidan slept the whole time, she had 100 visitors that were loud and intruding, and I was NOT impressed with her at all.
That Friday W learned how to bathe, change and taco wrap Haidan. I video taped his first bath of course, we saw the on site paediatrician who gave us some information about little Haidans balls that hadn't dropped (we have 6-8 months for them to drop and then we have to worry if they haven't arrived) and changed his diaper again. This time he pooped mid-change and peed in his eye and all over his nice clean little body, that was a fun little accident! 

 His first outfit (as I look at these pictures I can't BELIEVE how much he's changed already!)

That night W went home to deal with our furr child Bossy and Haidan and I set in for our first night together, I didn't know how I could possibly sleep with such a new and exciting little human being in my care. I called for help a few times in the night for some help breastfeeding and was shown different positions each time. I couldn't allow my little wonder child to sleep in the plastic tupperware container they put in the recovery room so I spent the night sleeping with him on a pillow beside me (probably not recommended but tooo darn bad!).

Saturday morning I got a little wake up call (not in the literal sense) by the morning nurse that came to check when Haidan fed and was changed last... I forgot to change his diaper in the night and said "Oh I guess we forgot" (not even noticing that I said "we") and the nurse said "OH honey there is no "we" this is YOUR responsibility now, YOU are in charge and have to make sure you do these things"... OOPS that'll be the last time I ever forget to change a diaper in the middle of the night! 
By lunch time the nurse had given us the A-OK for us to leave, so we had a few discharge papers and Haidan had a hearing test to take and we were out of that hospital and home by 4pm. Saturday May 12th was my mom's birthday so we celebrated with a home made meal from W's mom... a love dinner with new parents and newest grandma's!

 Our first family photo... I'm so in love with this picture!

 First day home, looks like I'm 6 months pregnant, but it goes away girls it goes away :)

 So bundled up :)

 Sleeping baby, sleeping daddy at our first doctors appointment

 SO little and cute omg the yellow socks kill me!

Shhhh baby sleeping (and mommy too!)


This is where I'll stop because it's taken me FAR too long to write and finish this story off, next time I get a chance I will be writing about my experiences with a new born, breastfeeding, the things they don't tell you about labor (from my point of view), and all things parent-hood that I TOTALLY didn't expect out of myself or W either!
Thanks for reading and waiting ever so patiently!
xo

The start of my birth story?!

This might be super early BUT all week I've been saying "oh yeah only two more weeks left! But no no noo I don't feel any different, so I think this little fella will be late". That being said I had my 38 week 4 day doctors appointment today and he checked my cooter out and said "Oh yeah you're about 2cm dilated" and proceeded to poke around (quite harshly I might add.. that took me for surprise that's for sure!) and said he expects me to be earlier than my due date and would be surprised if I made it to my next appointment (next Thursday). SAAYYY WHAAAAAAT? My goodness man, clearly he has no filter because he certainly did jab around down there! With my INSANE lower back pain that has been crippling me this past week, and him jabbing around, I was left extremely sore. Now docs always say after an internal exam that there might be some bleeding, but by the time I got the Ikea boxes (for extra diaper storage) and some super maxi pads and a waterproof sheet from Walmart... I was leaking some blood and since 1:30pm today have been also leaking some fluid. No gushes of anything, but definite cramping and leakage of sorts... TMI right? TOO BAD YOU ALREADY READ IT :D


I figured I should start writing about what I've been feeling since this might be the last actual peaceful time I have in the next few days. I wanted to give a shout out to the ladies at the La Leche League meetings that I attended on Monday and Tuesday this week, because if it weren't for them and their open-ness to sharing amazing advice I would probably be SO much more scared than I am now. I also got the chance to see some UBER adorable babies that were like 4 and 5 weeks old... they were soo precious!


Here goes the start of what might be my labour story:


At about 1:30pm I started feeling some cramping that felt like period cramps, that I've had before but it always ended up being that I had to pee or... well number 2. I went to the bathroom and saw that I had leaked a bit of fluid and blood and got nervous. So what every nervous girl does, I called my mom and explained everything to her, she said keep watching the undies and the clock for when the cramps came. I figured to pass the time I would watch criminal minds, and sew some pants and Wayne's shorts that needed to be repaired. Then I rested, attempted to nap but the cramps weren't letting me fall deep enough asleep to feel good. Ellen was next on tv so I wrote her an email and watched Nicki Minaj with her ta-ta-titties out on tv! My mom requested that I measure my belly and boobs (for a bet that we had at Christmas, and for my "before" and "after" measurements) so I snapped a photo, not good ones but here they are...

And this one is yesterday's try on of the maternity romper that I bought... SO much tighter than I anticipated, good thing this babe will be here any day and soon I will look like a normal lady wearing it! What do we think? Flowered romper? Yes yes? 

It's now 5pm and I have for-sure-there cramps, but not close enough for me to time or watch the clock religiously so I'm just hanging out! It's too bad that the lower back pain is SO intense that I can't hardly walk, because I'd love to be out in the cool wind right about now. Not to mention that the dishwasher needs to be emptied, but that much bending and lifting is out of the question and just not worth it... sorry Wayne it's on you now pal :) I don't think that is even a TAD out of the ordinary for me to be suddenly worried about all the things I need to do/get done before the baby arrives. shit eh... well what can ya do!?


My story shall continue as it gets more exciting, keep posted friends :)

Things I wish I knew then...

Yesterday I went to my 4th La Leche League (aka Breast Club in my dictionary) meeting to find out more about breastfeeding and it's challenges/joys. I figure since I haven't attended any prenatal classes I should probably learn what I can about what I don't already know (this was my decision because of my E.C.E schooling and experience with infants, toddlers, preschoolers and school-aged children... I elected to save the $40+ just because). The main things that I don't know about the labour situation is different breathing techniques (but I know how it goes... in...out... repeat) and breastfeeding. La Leche League has given me a chance to meet other mothers in my area, as well as their stories/questions to learn from, and a chance to ask any questions that I might feel silly asking anyone else. SO YESTERDAY... one of the questions the leader asked us was "What do you know now, that you wish you knew before?" and for most of the mothers it was about things they've learned after having their first child, or for the first time mothers it was about the things they worried about and now feel so confident doing, and for me it was the things no one ever tells you about pregnancy that I wish I had known (and what I've learned). Here are some things that I thought of after the meeting...


1. Watch out body, here comes a HUMAN!
If you've ever been even a tad-bit self-concious about your body, wait to be "in shape" before getting pregnant. I had just stopped working at lululemon and was enjoying the summer of not really putting much effort into working out, and I could feel the difference in my body. I wish I had known that if I had kept up with a regular fitness routine it would make my prenatal body very happy. A bonus is that the less fat you have around the middle, the sooner you can feel your baby kick on the outside and see all those little flip-flop movements he/she makes!! I believe that I most likely wouldn't have had some (key word is SOME) of the pains that I have now (ie: lower back, hip joint, pelvis, ancle/foot etc) because the muscle in that area would be stronger. NOW that being said, some women get those pains regardless, and that is perfectly normal too. I've been able to tough it out for the most part, with a little help from 1. Wayne or someone else massaging me 2. the greatest thing to man, Bio-freeze (it's the cold stuff that chiropractors use on muscles... hard to find but amazing to own). 
In the first trimester (weeks 1-13) when most people don't typically show a bump it's hard not to think "wow I'm just packin on the pounds here eh friend?" but I was fortunate enough to have my mom and close friends (and of course Wayne as well) reminding me "You're not fat, your creating a HUMAN!" For me it was (and still is) hard to eliminate those negitive words from my vocabulary like fat, tubbers, fatty lump-kins, and so on. Also remember, you're not the only pregnant woman out there wishing for a bump to appear so that you can finally justify your pants and tops not fitting. (This can also be really hard when it's winter and you already have to wear 5 layers of clothes just to feel warm, let alone hide the chunky-ness you might be feeling. Winter and pregnancy means two things to me now, work-out-work-out-work out for the endorphins to keep smiling, and sleep when you need it... it's OK!)
This picture (13 weeks) I felt SO huge... now I look at myself and say "damn girl you look gooood" and can't WAIT to be back to that normal body (I hope some day).

Second trimester (weeks 14-27) you slowly start showing and feeling a little bit more comfortable with what's going on, but soon enough you realize what fun it is to try to put socks on, clean the floor, or have sex! The little things in life that you never think about become such a pain-in-the-butt, like getting dressed. PERIOD. This was the moment in my pregnancy when I couldn't help but think "is there really a baby in there? Or am I just gaining weight" because I wasn't getting nice shiny hair, beautiful glowing skin, or anything of the sort. I was breaking out with like 3-4 zits a day (or so it seemed) and I have never been the girl with zits, ever... My hair wasn't bad, but it wasn't anything great, and I learned to accept that things are-a-changin sista! I started working out more and more and when I stopped working I felt 1000% better about myself and comfortable in my ever-stretching-skin.
Check the difference between my 17 week and 27 week photo... CA-RAZY right?!

Third trimester (weeks 28-40+) is great because usually you're full blown bump and people no longer question (in their heads) on the street if you're just fat or pregnant. It's also a great time because you can start dressing your bump, realizing that any shoe that isn't slip on isn't worth wearing, soon enough you give up on jeans (even of the maternity sort), and sometimes... juust sometimes you're skin stops being mad at you and bursting into blemishes. This is also the time that you feel yucky because things REALLY stop fitting (even the stretchy stuff), your feet feel miles away, the pains arrive and sometimes never stop, you get a little waddle on when you walk, the nesting starts, sex is just funny (see: starfish no matter what), some women get stretch marks or varicose veins, and shit start getting real. The count down begins and you've got to learn to accept that your body is growing to create a home for your unborn child, and you can't do a damn thing about that! 
Here is my daring part-nudie photos of 28 weeks and 38 weeks... nuts eh?!

2. Worry-wort-ing doesn't solve anything!
I can worry all I want but what matters is what I am able to action. There are endless things that a first time mother can worry about: is he growing alright in there? is there enough space in our one bedroom condo? will I be a good mother? will he cry so much that I go crazy? will I be able to deal with the lack of sleep? will I get the support I need from Wayne? will I loose all sense of self? will I loose the "baby weight" and have a "normal" body again? will our relationship change for the better or the worse? will I be able to enjoy summer? will I loose all my friends? have I done enough in my life to feel complete ie travel etc? will Bossy be a good boy with a baby around? will the baby die from hair-ball ingestion? do I have everything I need? will I be able to breast feed? 
OK, that's out there, now to what I can action. Learning to accept that there are some things in life that you just can't change is good, hard, but good. I've learned that I will have to make due with the living space that we have and the dog that we have and the support that I have, and most important... that all I have is GREAT! I am so fortunate to have everything I do, and this little baby is going to have all this greatness as well. The worries, they will subside when Wayne and I meet and learn about this little human being and we will succeed as we go. I love that every mother I talk to reminds me "you will make mistakes, you will learn from it, and you won't be perfect but it WILL be ok!" This babe is going to love the crap out of Wayne and me like no other human can... that is enough for me to feel happy.

3. Appreciation for the things in life you forget. 

This is mainly me saying "OMG thank you mom for putting up with all the times I kicked you in the ribs, prevented you from sleeping, made you crave pickles, sucked on your nose etc." When mother's day rolls around, and maybe some days between, you've always got reasons to be thankful for your mother... but when you're pregnant and going through all the same or similar pains she went through (or maybe worse) you have a whole new appreciation for what she (and millions and millions of other mothers around the world) do to bring you into this world and make you a pretty great person. Now, I don't mean to say that fathers have nothing to do with the raising and developing of a child, but the relationship between a mother and her child is SO different and indescribable. No other person, other than your child(ren), will ever hear your heart being from the inside. You will never use your own body to create another human being's brains, heart, lungs, bones, skin, hair, eyes... THINK about all the things that your own mother did with her body, just so that you would exist! Every time I think about the things my body is creating right this second... I am at a loss of words. Pretty.darn.amazing!

My Momma Drea :) 

I also have a new appreciation for Wayne. He has put up with one very moody and emotional me. I'm usually not super emotional or bitchy (I mean we all have our times) but pregnancy is one of those times when you cry for no reason, or get really frustrated about nothing, stressed about silly things, or anxious about (in reality) nothing. Instead of getting angry with me or frustrated as well, all he does is hugs me, rubs my belly, or just sits and cuddles with me and I am constantly reminded of why I love this guy SO freakin' much. He hasn't read a darn thing about pregnancy, labour, child rearing of any sort... but I have learned to accept that he will learn in his own way when the time comes. He has proved to be the rock in our relationship when I am but a kite flying around thinking about moving, baby clothes, diapers, the cleanliness of our house, what to do with the dog...OH the list goes on and on, he reminds me that it will be alright and that as long as we are together we will be one happy family in a small house with a big dog, and it will be great! I couldn't be more thankful to have him in my life... I won the lottery with this one and wouldn't change a thing about him!!


4. Style as a momma. WAY less than you might think it needs to be/is.
I say this because I have learned (with the help of the ladies' blogs I follow online http://lolovelace.blogspot.ca/ and http://www.thedaybookblog.com/ and http://www.natthefatrat.com/ ) that motherhood style doesn't have to be any different than anyone else's normal style. That being said I am one super relaxed, cotton/stretchy loving, laid back stylist that doesn't do the bangles and neck laces and high heels that some mommy's do... BUT I have started to invision what I will look like as a mother. Picture a semi-hippy-semi-stylish, dress-nice-when-I-MUST, don't-give-a-shit-what-you-think momma wearing berks, lululemon leggings, dresses that seem like they're from the kids section, cotton/stretch-all-the-time-to-keep-it-comfy, scarves in summer, curly almost-afro-hair, little-to-no make up, loving life with one UBER cute little fat babe. I think (or at least I hope) that once you're a mom you can also get away with a few things that no other human being would dare to wear together, like weird colours/prints and miss matchy-ness all around. Correct me if I'm wrong but I just CREATED and BIRTHED a human being, I get to wear whatever I want... right?!
Here's a funny one... Halloween 2010 me as mother nature...?

5. I wish I was a journal-er.
I've never been into writing in a journal, and I wish I had thought of starting this blog a LOT earlier in my pregnancy. I think it would have been SO great to look back at what I was thinking when times were not so sunny and bright, and had the comparison to show my little one some day. that being said I'm glad I started none the less! I also wish that I took more pictures of not only my belly but of life as well... I do it now so for that I can be grateful :)

April showers brings May flowers...

Saturday April 28th was my shower, thrown by my beautiful friend Megan, sooo like the title says "April showers brings May flowers" aka babies! I had SO much fun helping plan the shower, getting a million blue candies to give as gifts and then seeing some of my most cherished friends that I hadn't seen in a while! I think it's funny when you don't see a friend for a few months and you live in the same city, it seems silly to not see them more often! Life happens and people get busy and that's how it goes, so my self note for the day was "Make more time for friends!"
Let's get on to the more fun and important things, like cake and candies and cute little onesies and diapers!! We had originally gotten a giant costco cake because I LOVE their cakes and mostly wanted the left overs for myself, but there ended up not being enough people to eat it, and too many delicious treats to bother opening it. So being the money saver I am (and concious of how big my bum would grow if I kept the whole cake for myself) I returned the cake later that day! I'm silly, I know, but I make myself laugh and that's important!

Here's the table of treats, let me tell you about the lemon blueberry cupcakes that were SO scrumptious almost everyone had at least two! I also took some home and wish I took the whole case... home made by Amanda!

 Wayne and I before the shower began with the candy gifts. He promptly ran out after this picture, for fear of all the girls ha.

 BEAUTIFUL and huge diaper cake from Jen... So huge I couldn't believe it! And home made with a 10 month old kickin around her house... talk about super mom!

 THIS cake... also home made by my fellow E.C.E class mate Amanda, in this wonder there was all kinds of treats hidden! What more could you ask for!

 A million diapers, onesies and hats at the bottom, soothers and rattles and teethers and shampoo etc and one big cute giraffe stuffie on top! WOWZA!

Cute little onesie! Behind me you can see the BEAUTIFUL hand painted growth chart that Melissa made... she's so talented and I am SO so grateful for her skill because I would never be able to create something so amazing!

 Showing off some belly tricks haha

Melissa won the belly measuring contest! I don't know how she did it but she was exactly right on!

Sandy and Amanda playing the good ol game of "smell the diaper poo" that's really melted chocolate! Yummm ladies!

 Jess loving the belly! 

Fun toys for all ages right?

I am soo fortunate to have such lovely and creative friends and also to have my mom attend the shower as well! It was great timing for her to be moving things into her new apartment in the city, she also got to embarrass me in front of friends ha!

20 DAYS the countdown begins. Time for a catch up!

Hi friends! Don't you worry, I didn't forget about y'all out there reading (all 10 of you? ha) I have been awaiting pictures from my shower! Here starts the catch up... AND the biggest count down of life! This Sunday marked 37 weeks and today (Wednesday) means that I only have 18 DAYS LEFT! (give or take a few, we'll see how he feels in there)
I really can't believe that it's less than a month away... now that I've talked about how I want to get him out, I'm starting to take it back! I hope that he says in there and gets nice and fat!

Big ol belly right? This is my shower outfit also :) I'm glad I didn't jump gung-ho into the maternity store shopping because most of what I own now isn't maternity at all! This is from a teeny-bopper store Sirens that I got for $20! Here are the shower contenders...

My week: Monday I got some crafety items to make the mobile and did some running around with paper work and blood/urine tests. Time sure does fly, yesterday my friend Alex and I took a trip to good ol Ikea and got some last minute baby things, and I also finished the mobile I've been working on. I got the inspiration from Pinterest and I love the way it turned out! Hopefully he doesn't get any sneaky ideas to pull the balls off but, knowing babies he eventually will! Check it!

I had to work on it at the front door because it was the only spot I could hang the net and reach the top. Below is the picture of it hung in it's spot. Boy oh boy I hope he doesn't rip them off!

After all the hard work hanging those balls I woke up last night with the WORST leg cramp ever! I had one of those crazy pregnant dreams about something to do with my leg and thought that I broke it, I woke up sitting up in bed when Wayne asked if I was ok... It still hurts to this minute, but I feel fortunate to have only just gotten pains like this now! I know lots of women complain of leg cramps all throughout their pregnancy, so 37 weeks I can feel lucky! I did a lot of organizational work yesterday (because it was yucky and rainy and we all know how I feel about those days) after going to Ikea, check out the baby closet!

That is the diaper/wipe area at the top, the large hanger has some winter clothes, bath time items and bed sheets, eating items, little toys and random things, and the small hanger has extra diapers from the two diaper cakes that I got at my shower (stay tuned for those pics) and my scarves! This is the only space we have available for this little babe, as we live in a one bedroom condo. Fortunately I am able to find areas that can store all these little items... I dread the day I run out of space (because that will happen soon and FAST!). For now our babe's clothes are in a plastic bin in our closet (I don't like dressers, they're so big and chunky, not space saving at all!) and maybe once we move and he gets his own room we will have some where a little more appealing to store his things. A girl's gotta make due with what she's got right?!

I am so in love with this picture, I think it looks just like me and is 10000% not me, what could be better?! Isn't she so beautiful! That's how I feel :)