Baby Shower Gift

So I recently attended a dear friend's baby shower. I must say, I am terrible at picking out gifts. You know everything they registered for is something they truly want, but you don't want to show up with just that one tiny gift, even if it did cost $70. I noticed she had registered for various bath items of different brands and decided I would make my own little "Baby Bath Basket".

I figured this way she could get all the brands, try them out, and then could buy more of the one she liked most later. With how messy baby's can get, I am sure she will use this up in no time.

Contents:

1) Two Burp Cloths

2) Hooded Disney Princess Bath Towel

3) Mustela No Rinse Cleansing Fluid (Rave reviews from moms! Diaper Bag must have)

4) BabyGanics Essential Kit - Hiney Helper Diaper Rash Cream, Healin Groovy Protective Ointment, Smooth Moves Fragrance Free Daily Lotion, Foamin Fun Shampoo & Body Wash, Thick N Kleen Newborn Baby Wipes, OXO Perfect Pull Wipes Dispenser

5) Johnson & Johnson On The Go Essentials Kit - Baby Bedtime Bath & Lotion, Desitin Diaper Rash Cream (which per a geriatrics nurse, Desitin BURNS, so I wouldn't recommend using it on your baby),  Baby shampoo, Baby Head-to-Toe Wash, Baby Bubble Bath & Wash, Baby Lotion

6) Baby Magic Rub A Dub Fun Tub - Gentle Baby lotion, Hair & Body wash, Calming baby bath, Rubber Duckie Bath Pouf 

7) $7 Walmart Basket

It turned out really cute and very handy. She has travel size items for the diaper bag, full size for the home and various brands for testing out to her (and baby's) liking. 

Everything was purchased through BabiesRUs and they were having a buy two bath products get the 3rd free, so #6 was free! Overall the total basket cost me around $65, with the burp cloths being the most expensive item. 

Alana

XoXo

24 WEEKS & A Tornado. WHAT?!

Gotta love being displaced, greasy, pregnant and tired
from "experiene"ing a tornado. 

How far along? 24 Weeks

Total weight gain? As of the last doctor's appointment I have officially gained 17 lbs. HOLY GUACAMOLE!!! The doctor however says it's fine, that I look great and have a big baby so it's no big deal. Given my boobs have grown drastically, but the baby being 2 lbs now and given the boobs probably 2 lbs MAX - that's TOO much weight by my standards. I don't care what my doctor says. Cue depression. LOL I shouldn't gain more than 30 lbs over the course of the pregnancy and Coraline still has her biggest growth spurts ahead of us. Next appointment is June 3rd so hopefully the weight gain will have slowed down. 

Maternity Clothes? ASOS in the UK is my go-to maternity store! Free shipping, plus free return shipping if it doesn't fit or I don't like it. Sign me up. Not to mention, GREAT prices. All outfits can be worn post maternity too. I am obsessed. I will forever rave about them. I also recently found some cute ones at Old Navy online as well.

Stretch Marks?  Still have the red mark I freaked about on Week 21 & 22. Other than that, looks like I am clear for now. Been applying lotion with Vitamin E and Cocoa Butter religiously every day.

Sleep:  Sleep has been much better since the amazing body pillow as arrived. Coraline seems to be on a regular sleep pattern. She squirms like crazy before bed, then settles down for the night, then around 7 am is up and squirming and rolling around. 

Best moment this week: First Mother's Day! 

Miss Anything? Sushi and Rum - Although I have finally started eating smoked salmon. I have to admit it felt SO GOOD and I don't regret it one bit. Everyone has their opinions on it, but I went for it. Coraline has been fine so far. 

Movement: Yea buddy. I actually felt a ROLL for the first time! Not just a kick or twitch. I felt like something pointy on my upper left side so I set my hand on it, then felt it roooooll down my side to my lower left side. CRAZY FEELING DUDE!! SO CRAZY! It was definitely a knee or elbow. 

Food cravings: Fruit (watermelon) and finally gave up on whole watermelons and settled for getting halves. Haven't had a bad one yet! Go me!

Anything making you queasy or sick: Textures are still making me sick, like couscous, as well as red meat. 

Gender RESULTS: BABY GIRL!!! My gut feeling was right all along! I absolutely can't wait to meet her!

Labor Signs: Too soon

Symptoms: Disappearing belly button, baby bump, nails and hair growing like weeds, baby movements (the best!) and my boobs have drastically increased, which has lead to the dreaded red-mark, and frequent bathroom visits. I am starting to wake up at least twice a night, and it's like I wake up and have to RUN to the bathroom! Bending over is beginning to get difficult, especially to tie my shoes or take my boots off. Then my back has begun to break out like a highschool boy going through puberty on steroids. That bad. Luckily, it is on my upper back and my long hair covers it, but I am praying it goes away before our beach maternity shoot in St. John. 

Belly Button in or out? Innie - barely.

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy, Happy!

Looking forward to: Finishing out the nursery!

Baby Name? Coraline! I love the name!! See WEEK 21 for name details. <3

Thoughts: Henry has been out of town a lot so getting someone to take a picture of the board has been hard. I really don't like calling someone over just to take a photo of me. This week we experienced our first twister! So that only made it more difficult. I am from Houston originally so I have dealt with a hurricane before, but tornados are a whole foreign subject for me. Needless to say, I don't like them one bit. We are currently staying at our in-laws farm. Our ceiling has water damage, needing a new roof, master bedroom windows busted, and we have a community backyard. For the dogs sake, I am worried about nails and broken glass, not to mention the no fence thing, so being at their farm has been heaven for them. However, this called for the board to be in a bit of disarray. It wasn't even until after we had finished the photos that we realized I had completely mis-spelled "Experience" and NO ONE noticed! Henry's sister had come over a few days later and pointed it out to us. Womp Womp. Oh and don't you love the background decor? Deer head, guns on the wall, cedar staircase with christmas garland still on there - LOL City girl really did meet a country boy - or country family. :-P

About the Board:
*This board was inspired by our twister experience. How ironic that Coraline is the size of an ear of corn this week and tornados are always portrayed as going through corn fields??
*Fonts: Harrington
*Due to dim lighting it was hard to tell how bold the board actually was. Wetting the board with a damp cloth (not soaking wet, just damp) helps the chalk go on smoother and bolder.
*Using word to pre-type what you want in fun fonts is a great way to eye-ball what to write, unless you are just freaking amazing at free-style all around. I need something to look at though. :-P

Pregnancy/Maternity Fashion: 
This weeks outfit is rather blah and simple. The flowing top is from ASOS Maternity Line. Leggings are from Motherhood Maternity, and the belt is from a local boutique. I was originally going to wear a black version of the belt, but as I grabbed it off the hook in my closet both clasps literally fell off!! So the nude was what I had to wear, but black was much better. I guess that's what you get when you pay $5. Boo.

Board close-up. 

BOARD BLOOPER

Henry's mom trying to take a photo of us with Henry's iPhone. lol

23 WEEKS

How far along? 23 Weeks

Total weight gain? I have officially gained 17 lbs. HOLY GUACAMOLE!!! The doctor however says it's fine, that I look great and have a big baby so it's no big deal. Given my boobs have grown drastically, but the baby being 1 lb and given the boobs probably 2 lbs MAX - that's TOO much weight by my standards. I don't care what my doctor says. Cue depression. LOL I shouldn't gain more than 30 lbs over the course of the pregnancy and Coraline still has her biggest growth spurts ahead of us. 

Maternity Clothes? ASOS in the UK is my go-to maternity store! Free shipping, plus free return shipping if it doesn't fit or I don't like it. Sign me up. Not to mention, GREAT prices. All outfits can be worn post maternity too. I am obsessed. I will forever rave about them. 

Stretch Marks?  Still have the red mark I freaked about on Week 21 & 22. Other than that, looks like I am clear for now. 

Sleep:  Coraline has settled down at night, especially since my amazing pillow arrived! I can officially sleep on my left side, supported on all sides by a cloud. I highly recommend getting a body pillow. This thing helps prevent me from rolling all the way on my back, which is how I like to sleep, but gives me support to lean back against. 

Best moment this week: Spur of the moment photo session with bestie Taylor from Pink Heels Pink Truck and getting the CRIB!!

Miss Anything? Sushi and Rum

Movement: Oh yes! This week we counted about 37 movements in about 1 minute! Henry had his hand on my belly as she kicked about and finally he said into my belly, "Coraline, why are you so angryyyy?" LOL She was having a fit or something! But I loved every bit of it. <3 Especially because when she starts to move, the moment Henry sets his hand on my belly she freezes lol. Loved how he got to feel her A LOT! 

Food cravings: Fruit (watermelon) and for the life of me I can not find a great watermelon! Any tips for picking the best? I can pick them wonderfully if they are cut open, but a whole watermelon has been 0 for 7 lately. They aren't sweet or hard as heck!

Anything making you queasy or sick: Textures are still making me sick as well as red meat. 

Gender RESULTS: BABY GIRL!!! My gut feeling was right all along! I absolutely can't wait to meet her!

Labor Signs: Too soon

Symptoms: Disappearing belly button, baby bump, nails and hair growing like weeds, baby movements (the best!) and my boobs have drastically increased, which has lead to the dreaded red-mark, and frequent bathroom visits. I am starting to wake up at least twice a night, and it's like I wake up and have to RUN to the bathroom! Bending over is beginning to get difficult, especially to tie my shoes or take my boots off. Then my back has begun to break out like a highschool boy going through puberty on steroids. That bad. Luckily, it is on my upper back and my long hair covers it, but I am praying it goes away before our beach maternity shoot in St. John. 

Belly Button in or out? Innie - barely.

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy, Happy!

Looking forward to: Finishing out the nursery!

Baby Name? Coraline! I love the name!! See WEEK 21 for name details. <3

Thoughts: Henry has been out of town a lot so getting someone to take a picture of the board has been hard. I really don't like calling someone over just to take a photo of me. SOOO I was beyond happy when Taylor showed up at my friends ranch with her camera for me to take photos of her, and I was able to get her to take photos of me too. Especially wearing what I thought was a cute outfit. <3

**NEW** About the Board: No board this week - again. I am sorry!!!

**NEW** Pregnancy/Maternity Fashion: I am wearing an empire waist maxi dress from Victoria's Secret which can be found HERE. I am not completely comfortable with my boobs popping out of this dress so to make it more modest I tied a Chambray top from The Gap and paired it with a necklace from a local boutique. The gorgeous jeweled sandals are from Dillards - one of the few places that carry shoes for my big feet! <3

More photos from the photo session:

22 Weeks

No photo this week - see Symptoms and Thoughts below.

How far along? 22 Weeks

Total weight gain? I have officially gained 10 lbs on the nose as of my last appointment. Our baby is two weeks bigger, but just because she is a big baby, not because they are going to change the due date. Yay! 

Maternity Clothes? Ok I have ordered a few maternity things from ASOS in the UK, however they are so cute and the way they are designed can be worn post maternity too. FINALLY somewhere that has cute maternity clothes for women in their 20s!! I have now bought about 5 dresses and a few shirts.

Stretch Marks?  As of week 21! I think I am getting one tiny one on my boob. TMI? I explained how my mom had red marks, but she said they went away. I freaked out and showed Henry, he says he can't see anything. Even after I kept pointing he said I was making a bigger deal than it really was.

Sleep:  She has started to settle down at night, especially since my amazing pillow has arrived! I can officially sleep on my left side, supported on all sides by a cloud. I highly recommend getting a body pillow. This thing helps prevent me from rolling all the way on my back, which is how I like to sleep, but gives me support to lean back against. I love it. Henry even "cuddles" up against it with me. haha

Best moment this week: This week sucked in all honesty. Miserable. Week.

Miss Anything? Sushi, raw tuna, raw salmon. I would kill for some RAW sushi! I am tired of this cooked crap. And then of course, Rum.

Movement: Lots and Lots and Lots of movements. She moves all the time!

Food cravings: Fruit (watermelon), Sushi and Thai food

Anything making you queasy or sick: Textures are still making me sick. I have not dared try orange juice anymore since I threw up that last time, again. 

Gender RESULTS: BABY GIRL!!! My gut feeling was right all along!

Labor Signs: Too soon

Symptoms: Decreasing belly button, baby bump, nails and hair growing like weeds, baby movements (the best!) and my boobs have drastically increased, which has lead to the dreaded red-mark, and frequent bathroom visits. Remember when she was transverse last week and led to throwing up and blacking out? Weeellll, this week was worse. I went to get out of my truck and nearly collapsed! The pain on my left side was so severe I could barely walk or even breath. I called my doctor and she was in emergency surgery. The nurses advised I be safe than sorry and get to the nearest ER to make sure she wasn't under any stress or have the umbilical cord wrapped around her neck. Of course Henry was out of town so I called him now crying because I didn't want to be over-dramatic and go to the ER, but then I didn't want to be stubborn and NOT go to the ER and something be really wrong. The post HERE:Stubborn Baby gives the full story. 

Belly Button in or out? Innie - barely.

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or Moody most of the time: I was just sick and miserable all week.

Looking forward to: Finishing out the nursery!

Baby Names? Well boy names are scratched. haha  Henry had been thinking a lot about it and decided Coraline would be best because he wants to call her "Cora-Lou" which I LOVE! I was so overwhelmed with the cuteness of the name I began tearing up at dinner when he told me. Henry looked at me all shocked because here I was grinning ear-to-ear and tearing up. He laughed and said, "OMG your eyes are tearing up!! It's just a name." Then I started laughing, "Its the pregnancy hormones! Don't judge!". We sat there laughing for quite a bit at my ridiculousness. Ugh! I love this little girl and Henry so very much! Week 21 gives more details on the name. :-)

Thoughts: This week has been terrible. She keeps going sideways and causing severe pain. I know - labor will be worse, yea, yea, yea! But that is then, this is now. She literally feels like she is trying to rip through my abdominal walls. I roll on my back in my sleep and immediately wake up from the severe pain. Anything that causes me to use my abdominal muscles or lower left groin muscle makes me lose my breath it's so painful. Lovely. This is why there is no board or photos this week. I was so miserable plus I was sick this week, that there was no way I was getting in front of the camera.