27 Weeks

Not the best picture of me...so let's only pay attention to the baby belly bump. OK? :)
27 weeks along and I've still been feeling great, eating a ton (it seems), and counting down the weeks til we get to meet our little boy or girl. :)

Life has been particularly busy the past few weeks because not only has school started up again, but we also have moved to a new apartment! The main reason for the move was because we were really needing wash machine and dryer hookups in our apartment...you know, all that extra laundry with a baby would make it difficult to get to the laundromat. We love our new place (hardwood floors = amazing!), the location is great (Target!), and I can't wait to get completely settled in and also to start working on the nursery!

Braden's parents came in town to help us with the move and the Feelers and boy Casey came over and were a HUGE help too. All we have left is reorganizing closets to fit things in better and hanging stuff on walls! Oh and the kitchen could use a little more work. Maybe someday I'll get around to posting a few pictures of our new place...

Oh and back on the subject of school, this semester Braden is taking Missiology (Missions) and Ethics and I'm taking (through SWI) Discipleship I and II and Biblical Parenting. I'm actually off to school now to get books for both of us! :)

Nursery Ideas

Lately, I have been searching various blogs, baby websites, and etsy for ideas to decorate our gender neutral nursery. Here's one that I came up with: I downloaded a free font called "Pea Aimee" from Fonts For Peas (thanks Beth, for introducing me to this site). Then typed out the alphabet on a Word document and printed it on some green textured paper that I got from Hobby Lobby. Finally, I put it in a simple (and cheap!) frame which also was from Hobby Lobby. That's it!

Another idea:I bought this cute, wooden star hook from Wal-Mart in the craft section and painted it antique gold. I think next time I make a trip there I'll get a few more.

Then today I came across a great resource website called Feed Your Soul via one of my favorite blogs, How About Orange. They have free, printable downloads that you can save, print, and frame to your liking....just thought I'd pass it along! :) Here's the print I'm snagging for my nursery:So cute!

Anyone else have any good, low-cost ideas to decorate my gender neutral nursery? Please share! :)

Anniversary :)

On Wednesday, we celebrated 3 years of marriage! We went out to dinner, sat in the free seats at The Muny and saw Camelot. Afterward we went to the famous Ted Drewes, which serves the best frozen custard in St. Louis.

We had a great time and now we can't wait to see what happens in our near future as we transition to the role of parents.

Poolside Belly Bump

We're in St. Louis for the week and enjoying every minute of it! Mostly we're relaxing and hanging out with family and friends.

Here's my sister Kendra and I getting ready for a swim:

Me at 23 weeks:

Magic House

Went to the Magic House on Tuesday. Great fun, lots to do. Here's some picture: After we went right down the street to the Laumeier Sculpture Park which was also pretty neat. It started to rain shortly after, so here's the only good picture we got from there:

Cardinals Game

Monday, July 27th I went with my brother's (Ty) girlfriend to the Cardinals game against the LA Dodgers.Barely fitting into my Cards jersey! lol!

We had so much fun and the Cards won! What could be better? :)

Week 22

I've been feeling great, eating more, and doing alot of research lately...mostly pertaining to filling up my baby registries and reading about the oh-so-scary part of pregnancy: labor/delivery.

Here's the bump, which is getting bigger every week:

Weird things about my pregnant self that I've recently discovered:

1) I swear that all of my brain cells are going straight to the baby...I thought today was July 7th, not the 21st. Wow. (Thanks, Alicia, for not making too much fun of me for that!)

2) I still sometimes freak out when I catch a glance of my naked self in the mirror. I have to stop and remind myself that I'm pregnant and haven't just suddenly put on weight specifically in the midsection.

3) Going back to the lack of brain cells...I still think it's weird for people to ask me how I'm feeling everytime I see them...lol! It's a common question I have to answer now, along with..."Are you really not going to find out? Any names picked out? When are you due? Can I touch your belly?..."

4) Though I certainly don't think it's a bad thing, I have found that I'm becoming more and more like my own mother as each week of my pregnancy passes. I am saying things I vividly remember hearing her say when I was growing up, so funny. (I love you mom!)

5) I put lotion on my belly constantly to avoid stretch marks, even though I'm perfectly aware that there is no real cure or preventative for them. Still, it couldn't hurt, right? :)

Summer (Pregnancy) Wardrobe

Summer is in full swing (actually, it has been for a while now) and as my belly expands (20 weeks along now!), my wardrobe decreases in the things that I am still able to fit into.

One thing that has been a lifesaver is my BellaBand. I love it because it allows me to still wear my regular jeans and shorts, which also saves me $$! I own two of them and would definitely recommend them to expectant moms out there! :)

Also, lately I've resorted to living in long t-shirts and stretchy waistband shorts...and to make it not so boring, I've been finding ways to accessorize...like these:

Summer 2009 by cbraden7 featuring Coach accessories

Boy or Girl?

I set up a poll on the left side of this page for you all to vote whether you think we're having a boy or a girl...the bets start NOW! :)

Drumroll please!

We're so thrilled to be turning to the next chapter of our lives as a married couple to...... PARENTHOOD! TA-DA!

Baby Braden is 19 weeks along and doing just fine. I had an ultrasound yesterday afternoon, so we got to see our little 10 ouncer and (wow!) it was AMAZING! :) I can't wait to meet our little one sometime at the end of November (due date is Nov. 23rd.)!I've had a relatively easy pregnancy so far...just the usual tiredness and nausea. But it's been smooth sailing since I've hit the 2nd trimester...and my tummy is just starting to pop out a bit. Here's me at 7 weeks:

11 weeks:

15 weeks:17 weeks:

19 weeks

I know you're dying to know if we're having a boy or a girl, but just for fun...

WE'RE NOT FINDING OUT!!! :)

24

Braden spoiled me SO SO much yesterday on my Birthday. He had everything secretly planned out and when he got home from work at UPS he revealed everything that we were going to do.

*My special day started out with lunch at Huber's.
*Then off to my scheduled appointment for a massage!

*Next we saw UP (which I've been wanting to see since it came out).

*Then it was time for dinner at one of my favorite restaurants.

So, I guess being 24 isn't so bad...but 25, yeah, I'd like to skip that one...haha! :)

Wedding Weekend!

Back to St. Louis this past weekend for Tommy and Julie's wedding. It was at a beautiful winery in Defiance, MO called Chandler Hill Vineyards. Here's a picture of the view (the ceremony was held by the lake where you can see the white chairs set up):Ceremony:Julie and Tommy saying their vows:

Braden, Brad, and Reeder after the ceremony:

B and me:Groomsmen:B and me with the newlyweds:

Button Frame

I got the idea to do this one day as I was shopping at local antique/consignment shops: I had quite a few spare buttons that I will not be using anytime soon...other than gathering dust in my little collection jar. They are mostly the extras that come in those little baggies when you purchase clothes.


The frame is from Ikea (I LOVE IKEA!) and I basically just sewed the buttons to a piece of cute patterned paper that I cut to fit the size of the frame. It was really easy and I think it turned out adorable. What do you think?


Off to find a place to hang it! :)

Wave Blanket

Here is my latest work in progress...it's a blanket I am crocheting out of a rainbow of colors:Someday it will fit on a twin-full size bed, but I have alot of work to do on it first.

I slowly work on it as I feel like it and hope that someday our kids will use it :)

You can find the pattern that I used for this blanket here .

Dishcloths too!

Recently I've been able to finish up some projects I've been working on for a while. One such project that I completed is knitting some dishcloths with cotton yarn. Here's what they look like: If you're a knitter, these are really simple to knit and they're pretty quick too. The pattern for these classic ballband dishcloths can be found here.