Mama Must Haves
Posted by Brittney | Filed under Baby Ahrens
As I round the corner to the third trimester (the time has been flying!) I’ve decided to jot down a few things that have made the road to motherhood more comfortable this far. So without further ado, my Mama Must Haves (First and Second Trimester Edition)…
1. The first thing “they” tell you when you find out your little bundle is on the way is to drink more water. This little water bottle is fabulous. It has a special valve that keeps it from leaking if you toss it your bag. I try to drink 4-5 of these a day.
2. The Snoogle. Or more affectionately called the Anaconda in our house. My pal, Mel let me borrow this from her and it’s been a lifesaver. Full disclosure, this is seriously like adding another person to your bed. So, prepare your hubby!
3. L’Occitane Shea Butter. Y’all. This is the best. Seriously. It is also expensive. Like more expensive than I would ever dream of spending on a lotion. But holy jeez my skin has been SO itchy and this is the only thing that has helped at all. Bonus points- no stretch marks (yet?)!
4. The Be-Band. This $16 little gem stretched my non-maternity clothes to the max. It did take some time to adjust to relying on a tube top to keep your pants up but it sure beats buying an entire closet of maternity pants!
5. This seamless maternity camisole is amazing. The shop owner essentially made me try it on and I’m so glad she did. I have a few and wear it under almost everything. It’s a little pricy at $15 a pop but again, worth it! I’ve also heard amazing things about the long and lean tanks at Target.
So all of you veteran Moms, tell me what I need for the last weeks of this pregnancy. What must-have items were on your list?
Tags: baby, first trimester, mama must haves, pregnancy
24 weeks
Posted by Brittney | Filed under Baby Ahrens
How far along: 24 weeks (full disclosure: 24w4d)
Musings on Weekly Photo: This is one of the first maternity shirts I bought. Comparing my first picture in it to this one is almost comical.
Weight Gain: 12.5 pounds (appointment on February 15)
Maternity Clothes: Yes. I cannot stress the amazingness of maternity leggings. So glorious.
Fruit of the Week / Size of Baby: He’s as long as a piece of corn
Movement: He’s been moving and shaking all over the place. Matt finally felt him kick too. I was laying down on the couch a few says ago and you could actually see him kicking. Crazy.
Cravings: Nothing new on the radar.
Annoyance: With the off chance of sounding like an alcoholic, I have really been missing being able to have a drink. We’ve been working crazy hours and all I really wanted on Friday was a glass of Pinot Grigio. Boo.
Highlights of the Week: We picked out and ordered curtains for the nursery. This makes me so excited. The nursery may be jam packed with junk and nothing else is decided but by golly, we have curtains!
Tags: baby, chalkboard update, pregnancy, weekly photo
23 weeks
Posted by Brittney | Filed under Random Musings
How far along: 23 weeks
Musings on Weekly Photo: Sweater borrowed from one of my generous co-workers!
Weight Gain: 12.5 pounds
Maternity Clothes: Yes. My co-worker lent me her maternity suit jacket for a work meeting. It worked like a charm!
Fruit of the Week / Size of Baby: Pomegranate
Movement: He’s been moving and shaking all over the place.
Cravings: Still loving on the Cheez-Its but no other cravings.
Annoyance: Baby and I made a work trip to Atlanta this week and oh.em.gee the leg swelling after my flights. Out of control. I leave next week for another trip so this Mama is on the hunt for some compression hose. Sexy.
Highlights of the Week: Matt and I registered at Babies R Us this weekend. We were given ‘rewards cards’ for our wallet/key chain for all of the diapers we will no doubt be purchasing en masse. He insisted on putting his card in his wallet right then and there. It was like he had officially received his Dad Card. Cue the “awws”
22 weeks
Posted by Brittney | Filed under Baby Ahrens
How far along: 22 weeks
Musings on Weekly Photo: Love this sweater from Liz Lange Maternity! I promise you it is more flattering in real life (this pic was snapped after the work day).
Weight Gain: 12.5 pounds
Maternity Clothes: Yes. I’ve been loving the maternity pants I picked up a couple of weeks ago. I can still wear quite a few of my pre-pregnancy tops so that’s been nice.
Fruit of the Week / Size of Baby: Papaya! Our little bambino is clocking in at one pound this week.
Movement: He’s been moving and shaking all over the place.
Cravings: Cheez Its. We almost never have crackers in the house but I picked these up the last time we were grocery shopping and am officially obsessed.
Annoyance: I’ve been hitting the gym as of late in an effort to be healthier and have been getting some snarky side eye looks in the weight room. I’m actually surprised, I thought LA of all places would be all about the pregos working out!
Highlights of the Week: Signing up for our maternity ward tour at the hospital. It isn’t until March but I’m so excited and know the months are going to be flying by.
Tags: 22 weeks, baby, chalkboard update, pregnancy
21 weeks
Posted by Brittney | Filed under Baby Ahrens
How far along: 21 weeks. This picture was actually taken at 21 weeks, 4 days. Since my due date has changed I’ll start posting on Tuesdays.
Musings on Weekly Photo: I feel like I look HUGE in this picture but I’m still feeling good and not too big in general.
Weight Gain: Y’ALL. 10 pounds. Holy crap. I’m not sure how much is baby and how much is Christmas cookies but I’ve gained 12.5 total.
Maternity Clothes: Yes! I picked up a couple of pairs of jeans from Destination Maternity and some tops from Old Navy.
Fruit of the Week / Size of Baby: Our boy is the size of a banana!
Movement: He’s been moving and shaking all over the place.
Cravings: Nothing out of the ordinary. I’ve been working on trying to eat healthy though.
Highlights of the Week: Deciding on the date of my baby showers that my Aunt and bestie are throwing for me. This boy is so spoiled by how many people love him already!
Tags: 21 weeks, baby, chalkboard update, pregnancy, weekly photo
20 Weeks
Posted by Brittney | Filed under Baby Ahrens
How far along: 20 weeks. We’re half way there baby! Also, updated due date: May 22, 2012.
Musings on Weekly Photo: Love our new chalkboard decal via Amazon. Perfect for apartment dwellers like ourselves. Kindly ignore the strategic cropping of all the crap that is STILL unpacked in the nursery.
Weight Gain: All shall be revealed at our January 12th appointment. I have a feeling it’s going to be a doozie as I may or may not have indulged willy nilly during the holidays.
Maternity Clothes: I’ve been using the magical Belly Band for my pants up until now. Over our break I stopped in to Motherhood Maternity and picked out a few pairs of pants and a top. I’ve been making my usual shirts work but based on this photo, it looks like it’s time to size up!
Fruit of the Week / Size of Baby: Large Heirloom Tomato! Our ultrasound technician also told us he was weighing in at 12 ounces.
Movement: Finally feeling some flutters in there!
Cravings: Nothing crazy here. I’ll eat macaroni and cheese any time of day and frozen yogurt is really hitting the spot.
Anti-Highlight of the Week: Almost passing out at our ultrasound. I was apparently laying too flat on my back and pinching my Vena Cava and restricting blood flow to my brain. A little scary!!
Highlights of the Week: Finding out that we are expecting a baby BOY!
Tags: 20 weeks, baby, pregnancy, weekly photo
Oh Baby!
Posted by Brittney | Filed under Happy Homemakers
Hey friends! I hope everyone had a great New Year. We’re kicking 2012 off with a big announcement…we’re adding to our crazy clan! Baby Ahrens is due May 26th. Now that I’ve turned the corner on morning sickness and general exhaustion, I owe you a tour of our new apartment and some projects we’ve been working on. Get fired up people, I have a feeling 2012 is going to be a fun filled adventure!
Psst…chalkboard idea borrowed from another Hawkeye mama!
Tags: announcement, baby, chalkboard, Oh Baby, pregnancy
Moving on Up
Posted by Brittney | Filed under Happy Homemakers
So….we’re moving. Not back to Iowa but to West LA, but I think I’m getting ahead of myself. Turns out, this crazy grad-school adventure has led to a pretty fantastic job for Matt, I’ve landed a promotion at my job and it seems like we’ve sort of turned this temporary move into a “hey we live here and love it” thing. We have been in the market for a new place for a few months. Let me tell you folks, the call of the en suite washer/dryer was too much for me. I could not handle the coin laundry for one more day. Trying to find a 2 bedroom/2 bathroom apartment on the Westside that accepts dogs and has a washer and dryer in the unit and in our price range is like the unicorn of apartment hunting. We started to believe it just didn’t exist.
We contemplated moving away from the Westside. Downtown was looking trendy and fun. We even found a super cool loft with exposed brick and huge windows. We almost pulled the trigger but decided maybe we weren’t downtown people. Eh, back to the drawing board for a couple months. Then, THEN! I found a glorious Craig’s List posting describing our unicorn of an apartment. Matt and I sped over there and were sold in about 2 seconds. We move in this weekend. This has given us approximately 10 days to pack all of our stuff and get ready for the movers to arrive on Sunday.
Things are slow going. I am the person who wants to clear the clutter, trash any un-used items and start off with a lighter amount of stuff in our new place. Matt, well, he does not. He LOVES to get all nostalgic packing the boxes. It doesn’t matter if we’re packing mementos from our wedding or last year’s tax return. Every item needs to be carefully reflected upon and then saved. Lord almighty, he’s a saver. We’ve come up with a basic solution. I’m packing the boxes and hoping he doesn’t miss anything I toss/donate/sell on Craig’s List.
So, we will be back to share photos of the new place (our camera cord is currently packed up) and give you the run down on how hiring movers (fancy!) for the first time went down. In the meantime, tell me your packing mantra: toss it or save it?
psst: Ridiculous/awesome unicorn picture found here. All other fuzzy pictures courtesy of my awesome cell phone camera.
Tags: apartment hunting, moving, packing
Pinterest Challenge
Posted by Brittney | Filed under Before & After
Our readers are a savvy bunch so I’m sure you all are on Pinterest and loving it as much as I do. If not, get your booty over there and get pinning. Pinterest is essentially a virtual pinboard. Instead of keeping all of you recipes, gift ideas, DIY projects as bookmarks on your computer (or printed out in a binder) you pin what you love on Pinterest. It keeps everything tidy in your designated categories (boards) with photos and hyperlinks back to the original source. Genius people, genius! You can follow my boards here. Anyhoo, some of my favorite bloggers issued a Pinterest Challenge.
In everyone’s zeal to pin everything and anything they realized that maybe we all were doing more pinning than projects. Hand raised, guilty as charged. So here I am, taking the Pinterest Challenge. One of my very first pins was a campaign dresser from Emily A. Clark.
Gorgeous, right? Here’s another brightly colored dresser by the Little Green Notebook that had my wheels turning.
As fate would have it, I stopped into the Salvation Army on my walk home from work last week and found my own little campaign dresser for $20. I was beyond thrilled. I think I squealed a little bit on my way home. After Matt graciously helped me load that beast into the back of the Elantra. Y’all, that thing has some serious hauling power.
So, here she is:
Grody, right? I took off all of the brass hardware and started scrubbing it down with Brasso. This method was working fairly well but I was getting kind of light headed from all of the fumes. These handles were really tarnished so I was kind of stuck in the kitchen with the fumes scrubbing away.
Then I had a light bulb moment. Doesn’t vinegar and salt do the same thing without the stank? I remember cleaning pennies in high school to prove this chemical reaction. Well, wouldn’t you know, it worked like a charm and was a lot less abrasive.
While the hardware was removed I wiped the entire dresser down and primed it with my handy Zinsser Stain Blocking Primer. I also filled a few minor cosmetic scratches with wood filler and gave the whole thing a light sanding before priming.
After slapping on the primer I really thought about keeping the dresser white (or black). As we all know, I do love a good neutral. I put my big girl pants on and said go big or go home. Matt and I were looking at the dressers above as well as Centsational Girl’s recent project for color inspiration.
We decided we wanted to stay in the blue/green realm of things this time so we picked up a quart of Sherwin Williams Oceanside and I was ready to slap some paint on this baby.
This picture was taken after the first coat. I almost had a nervous breakdown. Oh em gee. Have I painted my glorious campaign dresser an eye searing shade of turquoise? Luckily, once the second (third and fourth!) coats were added the color became much more muted and what we were going for. A collective sigh of relief from everyone!
I added two coats of wipe on polyurethane and added the hardware back to the dresser. I especially fell in love with the color when I added the newly spruced up drawer pulls. It’s like jewelry for the furniture! What do you think?
We’re still contemplating where this little guy should live. It’s a little short for a bedside table but I’m wondering if it works 100% in the living room.
Either way, we love our first foray in to the wonderful world of color. So tell me, are you Pinterest addicts too? Have you tackled a project that you’ve had on your to-do list forever?
Tags: Campaign Dresser, DIY project, Salvation Army purchase, Sherwin Williams paint, thrifting
View From the Top
Posted by Brittney | Filed under Happy Homemakers
When our friends, Mel and Addison came for a visit we managed to knock off another item off our Sand Bucket List. That’s right, we signed up for the touristy of tours-the StarLine Double Decker Hollywood Tour. Wahoo!
We felt a little sheepish handy over our twenty bucks but without a doubt I can say, it was worth it. I personally could skip the craziness that is Hollywood. There isn’t anywhere to park, there are million people milling around (with strollers!) and I can’t handle getting hustled by some “actor” dressed up as some blue man from Avatar. Exit soapbox. Ahem.
But the tour? It was fabulous! It was an hour long and we had great guide and perfect seats. Honestly, if you want to see Hollywood, this is the way to do it. You hit all of the hotspots and our guide pointed out buildings and scenes from movies that we never would have know/noticed had we driven around solo.
Our guide had plenty of stories to go along with all of our stops. I can’t remember them all and I’m pretty sure there was some heavy improv going on but it was fun.
You definitely have to keep your camera handy throughout the tour. We coasted right by a few landmarks that I wished I could have grabbed a photo of.
The Whiskey a Go Go. Bonus billboard of Betty White!
The Laugh Factory. Where the likes of Tim Allen, Drew Carey and Wanda Sykes (love her!) got their start.
Definitely a must-do if you’re in town and want to see Hollywood. Skip the walking tours and hop on a bus! What’s the most touristy thing you’ve done? We are always ending up at some tourist trap, whatever city we visit. Hard Rock Café, anyone?
Tags: california, Friends, Hollywood, Hollywood Tour, Star Line Tour
