generations of sweet dreams..

... waiting for a sweet baby girl.

one.week.left.

ahh! only one week left until our due date! I cannot wait to hold this little girl.
Next appointment is december 30th, so hopefully I'll have an update of what's going on in there, if there is any progress.
I hope she comes sooooon.

Violet's nursery

Just a few more finishing touches, and little Violet's nursery is finished! I love the final look of the room, and it turned out pretty close to my original ideas.
I was hoping for a space for a little girl to feel like a little girl, a place she can grow into and hopefully let her imagination run wild. I wanted a vintage feel but with some fresh pops of colour to keep it lively. I also loved the idea of incorporating a woodland vibe, so there are little forest friends and flowers throughout the room.


click here to see the rest of the photos! :)

now I just need little miss Violet to arrive!



DIY projects:
- branch with cherry blossoms made of felt, and a pearl bead
- "V" made of white cordoruy and pink cotton, stuffed
- refinished the furniture:
- dressers painted first aqua to match the wall then white washed over, then new hardware
- green table spray painted (on top of a paper stencil I cut and glued on) then sanded to look aged
- 'cinderella' paper bunting & mini bunting, cut scrapbook paper and sewn onto ribbon, white paper birds cut out and added after hanging
- paper globes from a tutorial found here by Heather Bailey
- tissue paper pom poms (search martha stewart for an easy tutorial)
- painted picture frames and mirror

Second hand, family collectibles, or vintage finds:
- crib
- all art prints
- V letter block
- yellow bunny
- metal kitty hook, dragonflies and thermometer key
- books
- porcelain figurines

pretty & new:
- restoration hardware:
- curtains & valance, cherry blossom pillow, crib bumper
- all hardware from anthropologie
- from target, shabby chic collection:
- crib sheet, baby quilt & rug
- owl stuffed animal
- Ikea:
- futon, bookcase, white cherry blossom lamp, pink bins, fox stuffed animals
- keepsake box from burlington coat factory
- eyelet lanterns, walmart martha stewart collection
- chandelier from Canadian Tire

oh yah.. updates!

So I clearly have not been updating the blog, but I think about updating it mostly every week... that counts for something right?

anyways, this pregnancy has been a whirlwind of ups and downs! It feels like it has flown by, where as with Colt I felt like I was pregnant for 2 years.. and now he is 2 years old! ahh, time is going too fast these days.

I am now 37 weeks pregnant, officially full term and I can't wait to meet little baby girl Violet Cheryl Jean Carruthers!

so, the downs of this pregnancy:
a low laying placenta, lots of cramping, a choroid plexus cyst on her brain, measuring 3 weeks behind for quite some time, some bleeding, and possibly laying transverse.

after lots of follow ups and ultrasounds, every single one of these problems, turned out to be resolved or not an issue! :) just waiting on an ultrasound next week to check her position, though I'm fairly certain she has moved again to be back in a head down position. so, all is well in the uterus!

other than the typical tiredness, raging heartburn (yay for zantac!), sciatic pain and my-belly-is-huge uncomfortableness, I'm feeling great!

the nursery is basically finished, just a few final decor things to take care of. Her clothes are all washed and sorted by size and filling the closet up nicely! When did I become such a girly girl? never would I have thought I'd want so much pink and ruffles! I love it. Having a daughter is going to be lovely.

Colt is excited I think for "baby sister by-let" to come. I think he understands, but I'm sure he may react differently once she is actually here. Oh and also, he thinks baby sister is a "good boy". This little Colt is hilarious.

also, I have a baby pool going, if you care to make some guesses about Violet's arrival date, weight, height, etc.

we did a 3D ultrasound for little miss Violet as well! It was so nice to see her in there. she had both feet in her face or on her forehead or even her little toes in her mouth! the tech said she has a big head, long fingers and feet. These were all the same things we were told about Colt, so if she's going to follow his footsteps, I'm all for having 2 of the cutest kids ever. (though the big head + labour = not fun)


pictures of the baby belly and nursery will be up soon! (no really, they will!)

xo

sweetness

It's a GIRL!!! sooo excited, and so surprised. :)
Had to go out and buy a few girly girl things. I'm in love already.


She (have to get used to that, I've been saying "he" for 20 weeks) was moving all around during the ultrasound. The tech said she had to chase her all over the place, and I could feel her kicking like crazy. After she was done all her measuring and looking at all of the baby's vital organs, heart, brain, etc. she called Rob into the room. This technician was wonderful, she really showed us so much and just let us watch her stretching her legs and arms and rolling around for quite some time. I really appreciated it! After a few minutes Rob said, "so, it's a boy? I think it's a boy" and she took a look over. I also said I thought it was a boy, and she goes "well, it's a girl!" :) I teared up. haha, so happy!

half way there!!

Today I am 20 weeks pregnant! half way there!!!

See the big picture

How your baby's growing:

Your baby weighs about 10 1/2 ounces now. He's also around 6 1/2 inches long from head to bottom and about 10 inches from head to heel — the length of a banana. (For the first 20 weeks, when a baby's legs are curled up against his torso and hard to measure, measurements are taken from the top of his head to his bottom — the "crown to rump" measurement. After 20 weeks, he's measured from head to toe.)

Our ultrasound is today at 2:30, and baby co-operating, we will know if we are having a little boy or girl. I can't wait!!!

the wait

yay! the ultrasound is booked for the 17th of August! will it be a boy or a girl? let me know what you think! :)


according to the chinese gender prediction test: girl

according to various old wives tales: girl
based on some of these old wives tales
- Sleeping in a bed with your pillow to the south indicates that you will be having a girl.
- Your feet are not colder than they were before pregnancy. You are having a girl.
- The maternal grandmother doesn't have gray hair (dyed or natural), so a girl will be born.
- You had morning sickness early in pregnancy, so you are expecting a girl.
- Your chest development has been quite dramatic during pregnancy. You should expect a girl.
- Since the sum of the mother's age at conception and the number of the month of conception is an odd number, it will be a girl.
- You are craving sweets, which means that it is a girl.
- You have been craving meats or cheeses, so it is a boy.
- Your baby's heart rate is 140 or more beats per minute, so it's a girl

according to this interesting (apparently scientific) study: boy

my lovely friend mita also did a gender prediction test with a crystal pendant, if it's a girl it swings in a circle, a boy if it swings side to side. the result: boy

I have a strong feeling it's a boy, as does Rob, but mostly everyone else is feeling it is a girl. We are so excited either way! I would love for Colt to have a brother but the thought of having a little girl warms my heart. I can't wait to find out!

ultrasound vent

I have been waiting patiently, well mostly impatiently lol, to hear back from the maternity center as to when my next ultrasound will be booked. The tech who did my first ultrasound two weeks ago told me they would have the results at the center within a week. I called a week ago and they said they hadn't come in yet, but they will call to schedule for me when they can. Annnd so I waited another week and finally called in yesterday (being a friday). They said they never received the last ultrasound results from the technician! Now I have to wait for them to track it down before I can book my next one. They book about 4 weeks in advance though... ugh. This is the anatomy scan ultrasound done right around 20 weeks, and the one where they can tell you gender. I cannot wait!!

17 weeks

my baby bump at 16.5 weeks. :) getting big.

I love the 2nd trimester! I definitely feel better with no morning sickness and a bit more energy. It's nice to feel pregnant as well, without being overly uncomfortable! I still have a crazy sense of smell that causes me to be sick at times, but other than that I'm feeling great.

I am still waiting to hear the date of "the big ultrasound". It's usually done at 20 weeks, so it should be in the next 3-4 weeks. I cannot wait to know what we are having!

We've been making name lists and thinking about nursery ideas (okay by we I really mean me lol). Luckily we love the same names and are pretty sure we are settled for either boy or girl.. except, we'd be ending a family tradition of naming all children with the letter 'C'. I'm still not quite sure how I feel about this, but we really really love some other names. Either way, I love thinking about names, so if you have any suggestions that go with Colt and are a little bit more unique, please share! :)

As far as the nursery goes, we have a room that currently has chocolate brown walls. I'd like to try to save us from painting (by us I mean Rob) and use the brown and maybe just do one wall another colour. If it is a little girl, I know exactly the style of room I would love to do. If it's a boy, I can't think of anything other than making it just like Colt's but a bit different colour scheme. Other thoughts for a boys room were a surfing, pirate, robot, or dinosaur theme. So many possibilities!

here is my inspiration board for a nursery for a little girl:


looking to go for a sort of vintage, shabby chic, woodland feel but with some fresh pops of colour.
I love searching the net for decorating ideas!

also, last thursday (july 26th) I thought I felt the first tiny little baby kicks but wasn't quite sure. I've been feeling it randomly over the last few days and am soooo excited to be feeling these first little jabs. I'm going to enjoy it while I can because I remember all too well Colt's karate skills. :)

positive polly

the morning of may 2nd:

yay!! after eleventy billion negatives over the last year, it felt so unreal to finally see that second line appear. I am used to angling and tilting the test in different lights just looking and hoping for that line, that when it was right there in front of me, I couldn't believe it! So I took another test. And then went to the doctors to take another test. Apparently I don't believe I'm pregnant until I take basically the exact same test in an office and have a doctor tell me the results. I did this with Colt too haha. So by my calculations I believe I am 4 weeks pregnant! I guessed my due date to be January 11th (which is still my prediction).

I had always heard you start showing much sooner with your second, and it's definitely been true for me.
first picture: this pregnancy, 8.5 weeks
second picture: pregnant with Colt, 16 weeks.


I've been having lots of extreme tiredness, morning sickness, heightened sense of smell (which then causes me to be sick) and food aversions. I apparently no longer like shrimp, and I am even more in love with chocolate and pickles. I've been craving prime rib, but I'm going to hold true to my vegetarian choice. Or at least try so hard to not give in to pregnancy cravings!

I finally had my first appointment with the maternity center, the same practice that saw me through my pregnancy and birth of little Colt, on July 5th. It was so nice to hear the little baby's heartbeat! It was beating at 142bpm. I love that hummingbird sound. At the appointment the nurse practitioner thought that I was "either closer to 16 weeks than 12...or it's twins" haha how exciting that would be!

July 17th was my first ultrasound! annnd definitely not twins! and only a few days further along than I had thought. My official due date is January 4th 2011!!



Colt will be about 2 years and 3 months older. He has already been giving my belly kisses, so sweet. Now I just cannot wait to find out if it's going to be a little sister or brother!
I have a feeling it's going to be a little boy. xoxo

pause > play

haha, so I'm going to resume writing as if there is not a HUGE gap between the posts. I'll go back and catch up for the missing months because I've been keeping offline records of little baby Colt growing up. :) well actually, he's not really little baby Colt anymore, but more accurately little boy Colt.
updates to follow.