Team Teddy Announcement & Royal Design Studio Stencil Giveaway {Winner}

Thank you to everyone to entered the Royal Design Studio Stencil Giveaway!      Congratulations to #135, Lauren, on winning a stencil {up to $50 value with free shipping included}! Check your email, Lauren!    {winner chosen via random.org}

Tomorrow, your Five on Friday hosts are challenging all of our link-up participants to do something a little bit different. This week, we're hoping to spread the word about Mary and Alex Fish's seven- month-old son Teddy, a precious little boy suffering from Menkes Syndrome, also known as "kinky hair syndrome," a rare genetic disease that affects approximately 1 in 450,000 male babies. You may have read his story on other blogs, but if not, you can read more about this terminal syndrome {here} from the couple's good friend Alex, from Pink & Prosperous.
YOU CAN HELP! The most important thing that we can do is spread awareness of Menkes Syndrome by sharing Teddy's story. So tomorrow we are asking you to join us in sharing Teddy's story by including a #TeamTeddy sign as your first photo for the Five on Friday link-up.
Thank you for spreading the word!

Registering for Baby!

Well, we did it. It was overwhelming, stressful and exciting all at once but we've (almost finished) registering for our babe! Even before we ventured to the store, I had pretty much completed our registry online based off of tons and tons of mommy recommendations, consumer reports, Baby Bargains book, lots of online research, etc. and we were simply going in store to see it all in person. Of course, a "quick trip" to test drive strollers turned into two Saturday's worth of shopping, testing out products and further researching items.

So although these are the items we think we are going to use, please note these are only my opinions and every baby is unique, which can completely change your needs!

STROLLERS: Between our parent friends, blog friends, baby bargains book, consumer reports, etc. we knew we were going to be choosing between the Britax B-Ready stroller and the Baby Jogger City Select stroller. Important factors to us when deciding was that the stroller must 1. combine to a double for the future 2. collapse with one hand 3. rubber handle (instead of foam) for easy cleaning and durability 4. under $500 and of course, 5. must be easy to steer/drive with one hand. Both strollers have a lot of the same capabilities and would work, but we chose to go with the Baby Jogger City Select!

And as we painfully learned, pretty much all of the accessories are sold separate for strollers so we also added the Baby Jogger™ City Series Child Tray, Baby Jogger® Universal Parent Console, Baby Jogger™ Single Stroller Mounting Bracket Car Seat Adapter and  Mighty Buggy Stroller Hook by Think King. Are we missing any other important accessories?

In addition to our main stroller, we registered for the Chicco® KeyFit Caddy Lightweight Aluminum Infant Car Seat Carrier Stroller for when we just need to snap in the car seat on the go. Plus this stroller is lightweight and compact so we plan to just keep it in the trunk of the car. 

I'm not a runner, so hopefully we can get by with just 2 strollers (and maybe an inexpensive umbrella stroller if later necessary). 

CAR SEAT: We decided on the Chicco® KeyFit 30 Infant Car Seat in Romantic after most of our friends recommended it, we read the amazing safety reviews, it's lightweight and the super helpful store associate told us this is the #1 seller for various reasons.

Again, all of the accessories are sold separately, so we picked up an additional Chicco® KeyFit and KeyFit 30 Infant Car Seat Base for Matt's truck, a Summer Infant DuoMat™ 2-in-1 Car Seat Mat,
Summer Infant® Deluxe PiddlePad™ Waterproof Seat Liner in Black, Boppy® Infant Seat Handle Cushion, Brica® Day & Nightlight Musical Mirror and Brica® Stay-on™ Window Sun Shade. If I'm missing any must-have accessories, let me know!

SWING: We are still undecided on the swing situation so as of right now we've registered for both the Fisher-Price® My Little Snugapuppy™ Cradle N' Swing and the 4moms® mamaRoo® Plush Baby Swing in Silver until we make up our mind. We really don't have any floor space for a full sized swing in our living room, so we're leaning towards the mamaroo, but I've heard such mixed reviews - babies either love it or hate it and it's such a gamble. Any advice on swings is welcomed!

SLEEPER: We also registered for the Fisher-Price® My Little Snugapuppy Deluxe Rock N' Play Sleeper for Caroline to use while she sleeps in our room at first. The deluxe version vibrates, rocks and is super comfortable so we picked this one. It is also the #1 pediatrician recommended sleeper since the baby is positioned at an incline (good for after feeding).

BOUNCER: We selected the matching My Little Snugabunny Bouncer by Fisher-Price® for another activity when the babe is fussy.

CARRIERS: The most important thing to me when deciding on a carrier was back support. I am a small person so I need a carrier with optimal ergonomic positioning for both me and the baby. The most important factor for Matt was that he could carry the baby facing outwards in public "like the hangover." Sooo, with both of those "important" factors in mind we decided on the Stokke® MyCarrier: 3-in-1 Multi-Use Baby Carrier in Cool Cream. 

 
You can learn more about this carrier {here}.

 I also knew I really wanted a Baby K'Tan® Small Baby Carrier in Black so we registered for one of those too. This is also the number one seller (with the least returns) at BBB.

PACK N' PLAY: Will we really use this? And are they all the same? I've been told that the 4moms® Breeze Playard is great because it's simple and super easy to assemble, but it is $200 more than the average pack n' play that comes with lots of bells and whistles. So option #2 is Graco® Pack 'n Play® Playard with Reversible Napper & Changer™ in Soho Square.

MONITORS: We registered for the Motorola® Digital Video Baby Monitor with 2.8-Inch Color LCD Screen but have also heard lots of great reviews from other mommies about the Summer Infant monitors. The Motorola monitor was the only one offered at BBB, had really great reviews, and offers the two-way communication feature which is important to us {so we can talk to Caroline as she gets older, and I can talk to Matt while he's in her room looking for diapers in the middle of the night}.

So those are the BIG necessities that we registered for. Of course, we also registered for bath time supplies, diapers, nursing & feeding supplies, health & safety items, toys, clothes and nursery decor!

Would love your feedback on the swing, monitors and pack n' plays!

  

Week 28 Bumpdate

 Thank you all so much for your sweet comments last week about my glucose test! We passed! And I have to say, this appointment was by far our favorite yet. While waiting the hour to have my blood drawn, we got the best ultrasound ever {can I just say again how much I love my new doctor and all the staff at our practice?!}. The ultrasound tech spent so much time with us and was so happy and excited to show us every little detail of our little girl. She gave us tons of pictures and was even able to snap a shot of Caroline smiling!!!! It was probably one of the coolest moments to date for us, watching her play with her feet, suck her thumb, open her eyes and SMILE. She has so much personality now and I can't wait to get her on the other side of my belly! We are so grateful for her health, a smooth pregnancy and our doctor!

How far along: 28 weeks! We are officially in our THIRD TRIMESTER! Has the time flown by or what? I have to say, I fall more and more in love with this baby girl each day so I can't wait for these last few months to hurry up and pass!
Baby Size: An eggplant! Baby weighs 2.25 pounds and measures 14.8 inches from head to heel!
Weight gain: 21 pounds.
Maternity clothes: Just ordered two new spring dresses - one for my baby shower and another for my maternity shoot next month! I had to order them in several sizes because who knows what my belly will look like by then and how things will fit.

Stretch marks: Still no sign! I think, anyway.
Sleep: Same. I have good nights and bad. Recently the leg cramps have gotten out of control, so I sleep so lightly in fear of overstretching my leg and bringing on a serious charlie horse. Poor Matt, he wakes up to me screaming and immediately starts trying to massage my leg while I laugh and cry in pain all at once.   And I also have to mention that Charlie has become so concerned with getting his quality time with his baby sister lately. When he isn't camped out in her nursery, patrolling the fabric swatches, he sits next to the bed waiting for me to get in so he can jump up and lay his head on my belly and hug Caroline. I can not make this stuff up. He is the best big brother ever.

Gender: Girl!

Movement: We learned why my ligament along my right side is always hurting when I walk - Caroline is sitting on it so every time I walk she just bounces up and down on it - super ouch.    We also learned she is still breech, which the doctor told us not to worry about yet {we just need her to flip by 35 weeks to avoid c-section} but we are definitely trying out old wives tales to get her moving. I've moved my headphones to the lower part of my belly in hopes her little ears will want to get closer to the music. Any other ideas for getting a baby to move out of the breech position?
Best moment this week: Gosh, so many! Date night with friends, having Matt's parents in town for the day and shopping for nursery furniture!

{some of the goodies from Grandma}   Looking forward to: Valentine's Day!

Food cravings:  My candy intake has slightly increased recently. I feel like I have little stashes of bite sized Reese cups and Twix bars everywhere - my jacket pockets, purse, desk drawer, car, etc.     Anything making you queasy or sick: Nothing.   Labor Signs: Nope!   What I miss: Sleep!   Symptoms: Leg cramps, pregnancy insomnia and round ligament pains.
Nursery: This week we finished up a few small projects. I am hoping to have a post up soon on our progress.  

Belly Button in or out? In, but getting more shallow each day.
Wedding rings on or off? On!

Mood: Unbelievably anxious to meet our girl.
Workouts: Only made it to the gym twice this week. Eek!

  Prayer for Caroline:    Lord Jesus, Thank You for helping me make it this far in my pregnancy, and for the way You will help me through these final months. Continue to teach me to be open to You and to trust in You. Protect me from complications and safeguard my health and Caroline's health during this final trimester. Lead me and guide me as I prepare my birth plan. I praise Your holy name! Amen.   "Don't worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses every thought, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." - Philippians 4:6-7

 Twelve / Thirteen / Fourteen

 Fifteen / Sixteen / Seventeen

 Eighteen / Nineteen / Twenty

 Twenty-One / Twenty-Two / Twenty-Three

 Twenty-Four / Twenty-Five / Twenty-Six