New Office/Craft Room

Bryce and I live in a little two bedroom basement apartment.  For the year and a half that we've lived here we used the second bedroom as our office/craft room.  We had a desk set up in there for Bryce to study at and for me to use to do my sewing and crafting.  We used the room as a place to store all of Bryce's books and school things as well as my fabric and crafting supplies.  When we found out we were expecting we knew it meant we would have to clean out the second bedroom to use for the nursery.  So we got to work and cleaned everything out of the second bedroom and created a little office/craft corner in our living room.  I wanted to get it all cleaned out so I could get working on the nursery and finish most of the big projects before Bryce got super busy with school.  Bryce built some shelves in what used to be a giant cubby (I'm not really sure what it was intended for), I picked up a new desk and some storage boxes from Ikea, and we created a pretty good little set up. 

Our living room now functions as a dining room/living room/office/craft room.  When you live in a little apartment you seem to find a way to creatively use up every nook and cranny!  Really though, we have both put a lot of work and effort into our little basement and we are so happy with how everything has turned out. 

-Kami

Pregnancy Update: 20 Weeks

How far along? 20 weeks (as of Sunday).  Officially Halfway!

How big is baby? About the size of a banana
Maternity clothes? Still no.  I did buy one pair of maternity pants but I haven't really needed to wear them quite yet.
Stretch markes? Nope, still nothing yet.

Sleep: I'm still waking up to go to the bathroom a few times a night but other than that I've been sleeping really good.  I've had to start sleeping with a pillow between my knees to keep my back from hurting though.

Best moment of the week? Bryce being able to feel our little girl kick.  That was really special. 

Food cravings? Green smoothies still and skittles.

Symptoms? Mild ligament pain but that's all.

Movement: She wiggles around and kicks all the time now and I love it.  Bryce can feel her kick now too.  This has been one of my favorite things. It just makes it seem a little more real.

Gender? girl!

Belly button in or out? in.

Wedding rings on or off? on.

Happy or moody most of the time: I was a little grumpy this past week.  I've been really tired and trying to keep up with everything around the house after work stresses me out sometimes.  I'm feeling pretty happy this week though.

Miss Anything? Some of my wardrobe but that's about it. 

I seriously can't believe I am already halfway.  It has gone by so fast.  I hope the next half goes by just as quickly...but it probably won't ;).  My next doctor's appointment is this Friday and I am really excited to see our little girl on the ultrasound again and see how much she has grown!

-Kami

Labor Day 2013

     

On Labor Day this year we celebrated at a family party with my mom's side of the family (the Richins').

The party was held at my parent's house.  We had a big barbecue and ate hamburgers, hot dogs, corn on the cob, potato salad, etc.  All of the standard barbecue staples were included.  After lunch all of the boys did Target shooting and the girls visited and watched from the porch.  The three oldest girl cousins (Laci, my cousin Kylie, and me) are all pregnant at the same time so we had fun talking pregnancy and babies all day.  Laci and Kylie are both due this month and we are all so excited for the first great-grandbabies on the Richins side of the family.

Later Bryce and some of the other boys did a little fishing.  My parents farm is well equipped to entertain boys with acres of land to roam, shooting targets that are practically permanent in the fields, and even a creek to fish or swim in. 

I spent much of my childhood tubing, swimming, and exploring the creek.  It was fun for me to share it with Bryce and my fur baby :)  Rory and I walked down to the creek to watch Bryce fish, but we only stayed for a few minutes.  Rory kept trying to get in the water and Bryce said she was "disturbing" the fish. 

(Proof of Rory's swimming attempts) 

What a good way to celebrate the end of Summer!  We had so much fun spending time with family and enjoying the last of the warm weather.  I've been ready for fall for a while though, so hopefully it will take it's cue that it can come now!

-Kami

Weekend Recap

   

(Remnants from our date Friday night.)

We finally saw Man of Steel at the dollar theater for our date night this week. Bryce loved it. I thought it was okay, it wasn't my favorite Superman movie, but I liked that it was different than the others. Saturday I made homemade whole wheat pizza for dinner.  I used to make it almost every Saturday night but we've been gone a lot on weekends this the summer so it's been a few months since we've had it. It was really good. Bryce and I both think we need to stick to our Saturday Night Pizza tradition more often. 

I picked up a new entertainment center after work on Thursday and Bryce put it together Saturday night.  (Rory was very helpful the whole time and tried to eat the instructions and spare parts.)

Here's what it looks like currently but it's not quite finished.  Bryce is going to encase it in wood so it will look something like this:

I found the idea here.

After the entertainment center was all set up we started watching season 2 of Once Upon a Time on Netflix. Bryce and Rory even like it as much as I do ;) 

I've been working on Claire's baby quilt for the last couple weeks and I was able to get a lot of hand quilting done during the many episodes of Once Upon a Time.  

We attended a wonderful church meeting this morning, after took Rory for a long walk, came home and took a nap, made fresh salsa and grilled bratwursts for dinner, and now we're watching Once Upon a Time again while I get in some more quilting.  It's been such a good weekend so far and we still have another day off for Labor Day to enjoy.  Wouldn't it be nice if weekends were every three days or something instead of every seven?  I'll keep dreaming.

-Kami

Watch Me Grow: 26 & 27 Weeks

26 Weeks:

I didn't get a chance to post Rory's 26 week update last week.  It's been a busy couple weeks!  Her 26 week pictures are from the trip we took to Beus pond.  She's getting much braver and she actually barks when someone knocks on our door or walks down the street past our yard.  Her tail is still wagging excitedly but she does bark.  We are glad she is such a friendly dog and likes people so much.  We'd rather have a sweet puppy than a mean old guard dog.

27 Weeks:

We took Rory on a walk today to a little park near our house.  There's a little pond that we let her wade in so after we got home we had to give her a bath.  Her hair is so soft and fine it always flops into her eyes after.  I usually use bows to hold it back and she's gotten really good at leaving them in now.

She has grown to love our tradition of Sunday naps and she curls right up on the bed with us. We're still working on teaching her not to jump and we're also teaching her to "stay."  I keep telling Bryce she is going to be Claire's Nana, like Nana on Peter Pan.  He usually laughs and says "We'll see!"  But really I think they are going to be buddies...even if it takes some time and a lot of work.  

-Kami   

Pretty and Simple

  
I've started buying a few things for baby girl here and there.  She is so much fun to shop for, but I'm finding it trickier than I would have thought.  I'm very picky and particular when it comes to clothing (and most things really).  Whenever I browse the baby aisles I cringe at a lot of the outfits lining the racks.  I really can't stand anything with cheesy sayings or animal faces.  I don't understand why there has to be so many monkeys, bunnies, and kitties on baby clothes?  I am definitely finding myself leaning toward simple solids, pretty patterns and prints.  Really, the simpler the better.  After I dig for a bit I usually come away with one or two things I like, which is probably better for my wallet anyway ;).  One of my favorite places I've found baby clothing is the consignment store Kid to Kid.  That's where I found all three of the outfits above.  They were all used but are in mint condition and I only paid around $5 a piece for them.  I love finding cute outfits for that price.  It will be nice knowing I only paid $5 or less when she outgrows them too quickly or stains them with spit up.  

I'm also picky about headbands (surprise, surprise).  I'm not a fan of the huge flowers bigger than the baby's head.  I know a lot of people love them and think they are darling, but they are just not my taste.  I found a few etsy shops that sell smaller flowers and bows just the size I like.  I may be picky but I think this little girl is going to have a cuter wardrobe than me!

-Kami   

2013 Back to School Feast

Yesterday we had our 2nd annual back to school feast.  Bryce started another semester only about two weeks after his Summer semester ended.  He is excited to start new classes and get closer to finishing his undergrad schooling (I'm looking forward that too!).


For dinner we had Herbed Cream Cheese Stuffed Lamb Burgers and homemade Sweet Potato Fries.  The burgers sound weird but they are so yummy and they are a leaner/healthier option than beef.  They are actually one of Bryce's favorite meals.  Link to the recipe here.

  After dinner Bryce and Rory did dishes then we went to Beus Pond.

Bryce picked a whole bunch of wild blackberries while Rory and I walked around looking at the ducks.

Here's to another school year.  This fall semester will be our last without a baby then things will really get interesting trying to juggle school, work, a baby, and a dog.  We've made it this far though so hopefully we'll be able to figure it out!

-Kami