26 weeks!

How big is the baby this week: Baby is the size of a head of lettuce.

Due Date: May 8, 2012

Weight Gain: Up 3.5 lbs this week- total: 11lbs from starting!

Symptoms: Just starting to generally be uncomfortable more often. Sometimes my belly feels so full it's hard to bend over and put on socks, or even breathe really deeply. Still have heartburn occasionally but other than that, just getting fun kicks!

Cravings: Milk and guacamole.

Aversions: Nothing major.

Sleep: I usually wake up once or twice a night, but can usually go back to sleep fairly easily. I gave in and got a Snoogle- it seems to be helping, thought it is a little firmer than I was thinking it would be and it doesn't really give me that ahhhhh feeling I was hoping for. Still, it's better than my old setup.

I am loving: Maternity jeggings. Closest to wearing jammies in public I can get!

I miss: raw sushi (tuna in particular), alcoholic beverages, and sleeping in any position that's comfy.

I am looking forward to: my 27th birthday tomorrow, and hubby coming home for good tonight from his rotation!

I'm spazzing about: The months of May and June- it's going to be crazy in our house!

Best thing about this week: Had an awesome pre- birthday weekend with my hubby, and welcomed a NEW NIECE to the world last night!

Milestones: Bought our crib mattress and got maternity pictures setup!

Movement: On the weekends we just lay in bed when we wake up and hubby puts his hand on my belly and she goes crazy. I think she's started responding to our voices a bit too.

It's a...: Girl!!!

A baby does not NEED a $600 stroller.

But that's what Mama wants. Because Mama is crazy. Dangit. WHY do I have such expensive taste?

Here are our top three picks for strollers.

1. The BOB Revolution- $449
This was the one item we went in to register for that we were SURE we wanted. I'd heard awesome reviews on it, we'd tried it out before in the store, and my brother and SIL have a double BOB that they'd be willing to trade for a single when we have another kiddo (they have a 2.5 year old who will most likely outgrow it in a few years). I pictured myself as the cool, jogging mama.

Then I woke up and realized I don't jog. And the double BOB is a side-by-side, which seems like it would be a little difficult to maneuver doing what I'd actually use a stroller for... shopping at Target. Plus, what if you have the double side by side but you occasionally only take one of the kids out? You're stuck with a two seater with only one kiddo and I think that looks weird (personal preference). So I decided I wanted a stroller that had the option of adding a second seat in a few years, and had a bigger basket down below for any odds and ends I might pick up (Target goodies). This led us to the...

2. Baby Jogger City Select- $499 for the single, to add a second seat is another $160. Gahhh.

This baby is pretty darn sweet as far as double stroller go. It's the inline style, and look at all the fun setups you can do! It has a big basket underneath and is still a fairly smooth ride- though not as smooth as the BOB. And, it's not a jogging stroller, obviously. This is where I lost Hubby. He also sees himself as the cool jogging daddy and yes, he actually DOES run. However, I asked him how often he was going to actually run with the baby, because if it's anything close to how often he runs with our lab (who he was so excited to run with when we got him) it was not worth investing in a jogging stroller and sacrificing the option of adding another seat in a few years. All this talk led us to this stroller...

3. Mountain Buggy Plus One- $649 (but can be found for $625 and includes the second seat AND a coocoon for bebe)

Holy expensive batman. But seems to do an awesome job of combining what hubby wants with what I want. The downside is, it's not carried in any local stores, so we haven't gotten a chance to actually look at it or try it in person, which I feel is pretty paramount when you're talking about this kind of moolah. I like that it's the inline style, and I like that we can add a second seat in a few years, without being married to the second seat. Reviews have said it's comparable to drive as the BOB, which is awesome, we just need to try it in person and decide if we really want to spend this kind of money on a stroller.

25 Weeks!

How big is the baby this week: Baby is the size of an eggplant.
Due Date: May 8, 2012

Weight Gain: Minus 1.5lbs this week, so up a total of 7.5lbs.

Symptoms: The heartburn has gotten a lot better, but it still rears it's ugly head every now and then. The belly is getting bigger and her kicks and rolls are getting stronger.

Cravings: Milk and burgers.

Aversions: Nothing major.

Sleep: Sometimes it's great, sometimes I'm waking up 3-4 times a night.

I am loving: Feeling her move. It's just awesome everytime:)

I miss: raw sushi (tuna in particular), and alcoholic beverages.

I am looking forward to: Working more on the nursery.

I'm spazzing about: The months of May and June- it's going to be crazy in our house!

Best thing about this week: Last night I was tapping on the side of my belly, and I swear she was responding to my taps. I'd tap a few times and get a kick, tap a few more times, get another kick. So fun.

Milestones: My belly button is becoming an outie!

Movement: Definitely the best part of pregnancy!!!

It's a...: GIRL!!!!

Cloth Diaper Post, Holler!

Husband and I are 99% sure we are going to cloth diaper baby girl. We made this decision for a few different reasons. My reasons were- to save money, to help prevent blowouts and diaper rash, and because they're cute and photograph well (no judgement, please). Not going to lie, the environment did not play into my reasoning at all. Hubby, on the other hand, not only likes the idea of saving money, but he also cares about the environment (so we're half green, I guess?). I first considered cloth diapering when I read this post over on Young House Love.

I've since found a lot of bloggers that choose to cloth diaper, or maybe I just gravitate to them a bit since I was interested in the idea, and started planting the seed in Hubby's mind. Now, I say we're 99% sure because I have some reservations about cloth (ok I have one reservation- I hate laundry), and want to give myself an out if we/I change our minds. I've registered for cloth, but plan to do a trial before using anything we get from our registry. This way I'll know if I want to do the additional work, and it also will give me some time to figure out if what we've registered for is the best fit for baby girl. We also plan on using disposables when she's a newborn so we can compare the two, and also not have to invest in the special newborn cloth diapers. Disposables will also be our go to for long trips, and we'll also have some on hand for babysitters or to take to church. So, onto what we chose, and why.

Please remember I am not an expert by any means, this is just what we understand so far about cloth and we have not yet tried them on a live human child. We went with three different types.

First up, the bumGenius Freetime.

These are a fairly new cloth diaper, they are One Size- so it adjusts as child grows, and it's an all in one (AIO)- what would be the inserts/ lining are attached to the diapers, so you just launder the whole thing and there is no stuffing of inserts. These have a microfiber insert/lining. My understanding is that the microfiber inserts are not quite as absorbent as the organic, but they dry faster in the laundry and babies don't feel the wetness as much, so this is most similar to disposable. We registered for 8 of these, in a variety of colors, with one in velcro, the rest snaps.

Next up, the GroVia Hybrid.
These are, as the name implies, a hybrid between the all in ones, and the pocket diapers. Again, we went with the One Size. The shell is waterproof, and you buy liners that you can snap into the shell and then launder them just like that (like an all in one), or you can snap out the liners, and reuse the shell a few times with new liners before needing to launder the shell (like a pocket). We picked these because you had a choice between organic and microfiber inserts, so we can try the organic, which we've heard can help with potty training faster since kiddos don't like feeling wet. Also, our understanding is that these are good for being out and about, because you can just take a couple of shells and multiple liners and not have the bulk of the true AIOs in your diaper bag. We registered for 2 shells (we have one already) and 8 inserts/liners. If we find ourselves just using them as an AIO we will get a few more shells.

Finally, we've got the Fuzzibunz Elite Pocket Diaper.

Again, we did the One Size, and as pocket diapers, these have you remove the inserts to launder, and then you stuff the shells with the inserts to be ready to go. We only registered for two of these shells, and 5 inserts (2 microfiber inserts and 3 organic). With these you can, like the hybrids, use one waterproof shells a few times with different liners (as long as the diaper isn't poopy, in which case you need a new shell). We registered for these because I have heard really great things about them, but we only registered for two shells because I'm not a big fan of the idea of having to stuff the diapers after the laundry. In total we've registered for 8 bumGenius, 3 shells Grovia Hybrid with 8 liners (4 microfiber, 4 organic), and 2 shells Fuzzibunz with 5 liners (2 microfiber, 3 organic). I'd heard that a basic stash is 12 diapers (launder every day to 1.5 days), some parents prefer 18 (launder every other day) and some go up to 24 (launder every 2 and a half days, or every other day while still having diapers on hand that aren't being laundered). I'd say with my mix of choices, and the fact that you can reuse shells as long as the diapers aren't poopy, I'm about at a stash of 18. I also plan on using cloth wipes.

COST
The cost of my stash if I get everything I've registered for is $356.10, for diapers and wipes. There are additional costs in relation to cloth- mostly the cost of additional loads of laundry. You have to use a special detergent, I'm going to go with Rockin' Green, but it's similar in price to Tide, so there's really no additional cost there for us. You also have to have a special diaper pail liner, but this is a one time cost ($16.95) as it's reusable, you just wash it with your cloth diapers. Disposables you'd have to be purchasing trash bags, or if you have something like the Diaper Genie, you have to get special bags, which run you about $20 for a pack of 3. This is our first kiddo so obviously I'm not sure how much disposables for our kid would run, but the peeps over at Young House Love said 9 weeks of disposables ran them in excess of $180. If that's the case for us, cloth will even out with disposable at around 4.5 months. And any future kiddos we have that use cloth would have no additional costs unless we have a boy at some point and want to purchase some more "boy" colors of cloth. I purposefully went with MOSTLY gender neutral colors so this wouldn't be a huge issue, but I did register for a few girly colors too (what can I say, I'm a sucker for pink). We actually went the more expensive route (for cloth) with what we chose. AIOs are the most expensive diapers, followed (I think) by pockets, then the least expensive, prefolds. We registered for zero prefolds and very few pockets because I'm a lazy bum. Yup, I like my diapers like I like everything else, pretty and pricy and conducive to laziness. I figured this was a good compromise between the good Lori, that wants to save money, and the bad Lori, that hates housework. I'll go with cloth, to save money, but I'll go with the most expensive ones out there, to save my sanity.

Registry update

We are registered! It took a long time, was rather overwhelming, but also a bit fun, and Husband and I argued exactly zero times:) Love that guy. We're still unsure on a couple of different things, so we need to do some more research, but overall I'd say we had a pretty successful time. Granted, we registered for a TON of stuff, and I feel rather guilty even suggesting to those I love to buy a fraction of all of it, but I think we're going to watch Craigslist and try to get a lot of it ourselves.

One more thing checked off the list!

Randoms

My mama is going to come stay with me next week so we can get in some mother daughter time- I'm excited! I'm trying to figure out stuff we can do at night after I get off work that will be fun but not too exhausting.

I'm 95% sure we have settled on a new name, but since we have already switched once, I think we're still going to wait until she's born to 100% decide.

My ob appointment went well yesterday- baby girl's heartbeat was 142 and she's measuring in at 1lb 8 oz!

Speaking of baby girl, she really likes to nestle low in my pelvis, and then it feels like she starts to stretch out. Owww.

I need a new pillow, but I can't decide if I want to invest in a Snoogle, or just get a new pillow that will last beyond pregnancy.

We're registering this weekend and I'm excited to check it off our list, but still a little overwhelmed at all the stuff out there for babies. Also a tad bit worried about how Husband will react to the idea of all this stuff taking over our house. Eeek.

24 Weeks!

How big is the baby this week: Baby is the size of a grapefruit.

Due Date: May 8, 2012

Weight Gain: Up about 2 lbs this week- a total of 9 lbs.

Symptoms: Heartburn, belly, needing to use the bathroom a lot more- especially when she camps out on my bladder.

Cravings: Milk is the big one, pickles, salad, guacamole, hamburgers, pasta and fruit.

Aversions: Nothing major.

Sleep: I usually wake up once of twice a night to use the bathroom, and I've been having strange dreams.

I am loving: Feeling her move. It's just awesome everytime:)

I miss: raw sushi (tuna in particular), a good Bloody Mary, and coffee

I am looking forward to: Registering this weekend.

I'm spazzing about: I go back and forth between spazzing about her not having a for sure name, and not worrying about it anymore. In general I think I'm feeling more at peace that she just won't have a name until she's here, but it does feel like just one more big thing we'll be worrying about during that time.

Best thing about this week: At church on Sunday Blake and I were holding hands and his arm was resting across my belly and she kicked him all through the service- it was awesome:) She loves her daddy and misses him when he's on rotation!

Milestones: No big milestones this week, she's just growing away!

Movement: Definitely the best part of pregnancy!!!

It's a...: GIRL!!!!

Registry posts I found helpful

One of my absolute favorite things about blogging is getting the opportunity to connect with other people in the same stage of life I am in, OR be able to read back through their posts when they were in the same stage, and learn from them. When making up our registry, there were a few bloggers that had done a great job of reviewing baby products, and they helped me figure out things that we wanted. For anyone else getting ready to register, I thought I'd link to them:)

If you have done these types of posts, please leave the link in the comments and I'll add them!

Julia from My Life in Transition
http://julia-transition.blogspot.com/2010/04/baby-gear-first-month.html
http://julia-transition.blogspot.com/2011/02/baby-gear-first-year.html

Blue Eyed Bride
http://blueeyedbride.com/2011/10/26/my-favorite-products-and-brands-for-babies/
http://blueeyedbride.com/2009/10/06/baby-gear-product-reviews/

Oh! Apostrophe
http://ohapostrophe.blogspot.com/2011/10/stuff-we-love-six-months-edition.html
http://ohapostrophe.blogspot.com/2011/02/baby-registry-recommendations.html

In this wonderful life...
http://www.inthiswonderfullife.com/2011/05/baby-product-help-from-you.html

After the Alter
http://afterthealter.com/my-favorite-newborn-things/

Becoming Mom
http://www.becoming-mom.net/2009/06/02/10-baby-items-for-new-moms/

Double the Fun
http://my-scenery.blogspot.com/2012/01/fab-find-friday-baby-edition.html

Registry help please!!!

I started an Amazon registry awhile back so I would have a place to add things when I came across reccomendations from other moms, and I've been adding to it a little at a time. Hubby and I are also going to register at Target and Buy Buy Baby next weekend, and I'm needing some help filling in holes.

What are some things you couldn't live without, and what are some things you never used?

Click here to check out our Amazon Registry.

Thank you in advance!

23 weeks!

How big is the baby this week: Baby is the size of a pomegranate.

Due Date: May 8, 2012

Weight Gain: Down a lb this week, so up a total of 7lbs.

Symptoms: Heartburn, belly, and getting bigger up top as well.

Cravings: Milk, pickles, sushi, guacamole, hamburgers, and fruit (somebody get me a peach, please).

Aversions: Nothing major.

Sleep: While hubby has been on rotation, I've been sleeping with four pillows. One for my head, one for my knees, one for up against the belly, and one up against my back. Pretty sure hubby won't be a fan when he gets home, but it's helped me sleep a lot better!

I am loving: Wearing all my new maternity clothes I got for Christmas, feeling more confident about the idea of using cloth diapers.

I miss: raw sushi (tuna in particular), a good Bloody Mary, and coffee

I am looking forward to: Working on the nursery.

I'm spazzing about: Her name- we're not 100% sure on Lydia and hubby and I don't agree on any other names.

Best thing about this week: Sunday night was the first night I felt her in two places at once- she must have been kicking and punching at the same time:)

Milestones: See above.

Movement: Lots of movement- I love seeing my whole belly move, and there are times I can feel her roll over, not just kick or punch.

It's a...: GIRL!!!!