All Things Loved in December

1. Receiving holiday cards in the mail.


With email, Facebook, cell phones, and texting, holiday cards are pretty much the only time you receive a personal greeting from a friend via mail these days. And oh how I love opening them up! It's so much fun to see who they're from and what they wrote--bonus points if there's a photo!

2. Buying stamps online.


Did you know you could do this? I sure didn't! Although it makes perfect sense considering you can buy anything online these days. I needed a bunch of stamps for thank you cards and Christmas cards, but kept putting off buying them because going to the post office is SUCH A HASSLE. Luckily I had a light bulb moment, went to www.usps.com, and for only $1 in shipping and handling I had over 100 stamps delivered to my door in just a few short days. Best dollar I ever spent.

3. Starbucks' Peppermint Mocha Latte


No surprise there, I'm sure. I started every Starbucks Monday in December off with a delicious tall, nonfat, no whip, Peppermint Mocha Latte. And I even snuck a Starbucks Wednesday in there, too. It's like a little sip of Christmas.

4. My new laptop cushion.


G got me a Belkin CushDesk laptop pad for Christmas and I just love it! It's amazing how something so simple can make such a difference.

5. My new Keurig coffee brewer.



I'm pretty sure this little guy is going to change my life. I hate getting my big 12 cup coffee maker out just to make one cup of coffee, so more often than not I find myself stopping for a cup of joe on my way to work. Well not anymore! The Keurig brews a single cup of coffee in under 1 minute--no muss, no fuss. I like to keep our kitchen countertops bare, but I love this thing so much that it's officially become the first appliance that has permission to sit out!

This post sponsored by FreshDeals.com. FreshDeals.com is a whole new way to experience online shopping! FreshDeals.com is a new type of shopping comparison which integrates Facebook to provide a great Questions & Answers forum. You can ask questions about products--and see other user questions and answers--to help you make an informed decision before buying. Check it out today!

More Ugly Shirt

Remember my ugly shirt? Well I'm certainly getting a lot of wear out of it! On this day I paired it with a black maternity cardigan. This cardigan came with a matching tie belt, but I'm generally not a fan of those long, flimsy things, so I replaced it with this braided yellow one instead.


Cardigan: Old Navy Maternity
Shirt: Liz Lange for Target Maternity
Jeans: Gap Maternity
Belt: Gap
Boots: Nine West
Pregnancy: Week 34

Kate's Nursery: Part 1

After one ultrasound, four months of planning and execution, and a handful of reader death threats later, the time has come to finally reveal our daughter’s nursery!

Now this may come as a surprise to you, but I was absolutely clueless about what to do for our daughter's nursery. I figured it would be so easy to come up with ideas for a girl's room so I had really only given thought to what I would do if we were having a boy. Once we found out we were having a girl I was so ecstatic I cried tears of joy the entire day--and then realized I didn't have one single idea about what to do for her nursery! I hopped online, hoping for a little inspiration, but I really didn't want her room to look like your typical girl nursery which was pretty much all I saw. I was about to give up for the day when I looked down at my belly--with our little girl kicking away inside--and thought: Hmmm, I like these colors...

And then the ideas came.

So as strange as it may sound, the nursery was inspired by this Old Navy tank top that I was wearing on that glorious day I discovered I was going to be a mother to a daughter.




Close up of the tree--our favorite part of the room! I started with a beige-colored Neu Tree vinyl wall decal from Wall Slicks, and then added the colored leaves for a little more depth and interest.


It pretty much took forever to hand-cut each of these colored leaves--but it was worth it!



The curtain behind the glider hides the closet. As you can see, you have to step up to get into it (it's located above the stairway), so it's not the most ideal space. Because of that we're only using the closet for longer-term storage and not things we need to access on a regular basis. I had G remove the door and I added this curtain so I could fit the glider in the corner and not have to worry about it being in the way of opening the door. The curtain hangs from hooks above the door frame, and a tie-back mounted inside the door frame holds it back when needed.


Where the action happens! Since the closet isn't easily accessible I wanted to make this a functional spot where we could easily access all the things we'd need on a daily basis. I refinished this large dresser (a hand-me-down from G's boss Dave and his wife Julie) and it's now filled to the brim with adorable little baby clothes.


A Diaper Genie sits on the floor to the left of the dresser. The 2-drawered cube sitting on the dresser holds onesies, undershirts, and socks. The two baskets to the right of the changing pad hold diapers, wipes, lotion and hand sanitizer. I mounted some hooks on the wall to the left of the lamp which can hold pretty much anything--towels that need to dry, an extra blanket, the next day's outfit, etc. I had my friend Steph (the brilliant talent behind Mada's Place) make me the 3 hanging wall pocket organizers which I hung from a small curtain rod. They store all sorts of miscellaneous baby items and toiletries that will be nice to have close at hand.



The baskets on the shelf hold baby blankets, changing table linens, crib sheets, swaddlers, and towels.


The little bear is sitting in the crib in earlier shots, but his permanent home once our daughter arrives is this wooden highchair at the foot of the crib which was actually my highchair when I was a child. It needed a lot of TLC, but I refinished and repaired it and I'm happy to finally have a spot to display it.


Update: CLICK HERE for Part 2 of this post which features loads of before and after pictures and more details on how I put this room together!

Pregnancy: Week 38

All my bags are packed I'm ready to go
I'm standing here outside your door
I hate to wake you up to say goodbye
Cause I'm leavin' on a jet plane
Don't know when I'll be back again

I packed my hospital bag this week, and week long I've had this song playing in my head. Only instead of hearing Peter, Paul, and Mary singing it, I hear Ben Affleck's character from the movie Armageddon. Every time.

 Leeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeavin' on a jet plane.... 
And then Michael Clarke Duncan's deep voice chimes in right around the time I'm deciding how many maxi pads to bring.

But I digress. All my bags are packed is my point. And speaking of bags, here's my new Coach diaper bag!




Check out this selection of adorable baby changing bags from Pink Lining.  


I received it as a 30th birthday present from G's parents, and I absolutely love it!
Current pregnancy stats:

Total weight gain: 26 pounds
Belly circumference: 44"
Stretch marks: None
Belly button: In
Swelling: Slight
Heartburn: None
Varicose veins/skin tags/other horrors: None
Overall comfort level: Pretty Good

My weight gain has been stable over the past couple of weeks and my belly circumference has also stayed the same, although I think I'm sticking "straight out" less as the baby is dropping lower to get ready for birth. I've noticed a little bit of swelling in my fingers this week, but not enough that I need to take off my wedding band. And I continue to get ridiculously winded doing the simplest things--even getting up from a seated position will sometimes leave me huffing for air!

"You don't even look pregnant from behind" is my favorite pregnancy compliment and I was pretty thrilled to hear it twice this week. On the flip side (literally) I'm also being asked daily if my balance is affected (it isn't) and how I can walk around without tipping over (especially in heels) with this big belly sticking out.

Everything looked great at this week's appointment; nothing new to report. No dilation, which is not surprising. The women in my family have a history of fast labors. My mom gave birth to five children and her labors--from the very first contraction until she was holding the baby in her arms--were as follows:

1st baby: 4 hours
2nd baby: 40 minutes
3rd baby: 2 hours
4th baby: 2 hours
5th baby: 4 hours

(My birth was the 40 minute one. I don't mess around.)

My mom informed me that her water didn't break beforehand with any of her children. She also said, "The women in our family don't walk around dilated 1-2 centimeters for weeks. As soon as we're one centimeter, we're ten. With Amanda (her 4th baby) I walked into the hospital, they checked me and told me I was only dilated one centimeter. I told them to get the doctor, and they refused saying I had hours and hours to go. I argued with them, explained my history, and finally they agreed to get the doctor. By the time he arrived Amanda had already been born."

Good to know.

Granted, everyone is different and I could very easily have a completely different laboring experience from my mom--in fact, I really believe I will--but the information is good to know. Prior to finding this out I had planned to labor at home as long as possible, but after consulting with our doctors and explaining my mom's history, they want us to come in as soon as the contractions start.

So now we wait--and stay close to home!


38 Week Baby Bump
Additional Pregnancy Week 38 Posts:
Happy Holidays
Maternity Improvising

Back: Pregnancy: Week 37

Next: Pregnancy: Week 39

Happy Holidays

Photo: Melissa Oholendt Photography

Gift Wrapping Christmas Tree

Remember how I said I wasn't going to decorate for Christmas this year?

I lied.

I just couldn't resist! My main reason for not decorating was that I didn't want to have to pack everything up and put it away in the midst of trying to take care of a newborn. But I made a deal with myself. I could do just a little something, but only if it didn't require me to dig out any of my Christmas decoration totes from storage.

Enter our mini tree.

I've had this 6 ft. Christmas tree for years. It's the cutest little thing and it's all one piece, so it just sits in a corner of our storage room. Easy to access, easy to put away. All we have to do is unplug it and carry it back downstairs.


For "ornaments" I punched 2 inch circles out of colorful holiday cardstock and punched a mini-hole at the top to string ribbon through. I finished it off with some gold curling ribbon to give it a little more interest.



And the best part is all these items are reusable! When it came time to wrap presents, I just plucked my little paper ornaments from what I've now lovingly dubbed as "my gift wrapping tree" to use as gift tags, and pulled off the gold ribbon for ties and bows. I got some added use out of the circles when I hosted Christmas dinner for my mom's side of the family last weekend and used them as name cards for the place settings. The leftovers will go in my gift wrapping drawer to be put to future use.

Quick, easy, free--and no tedious clean up!

Guest Blogger: Jen Knepper

I have to confess--I'm new to the Jen Knepper world. But after receiving what was without question, jazz hands down (oh yeah, she busted out the jazz hands) the funniest email I’ve ever received from a stranger, asking me to do a guest post on her blog (or offering me her alternative--which was to "suck it") I just had to check her out.

So I clicked my way to her blog Maybe If You Just Relax, and after just a few minutes I was hooked like Lindsay on crack. I have spent way too much time reading through her archives and laughing my ass off--time that should've been spent researching breast pumps and making sure my TiVo was fully programmed so I'd have something other than infommericals to watch during those late night feedings. But bring on the Snuggies and the ShamWows because it was worth it!

This girl is funny.

And not just your average run of the mill, oh that's amusing, funny. Oh no. She's funny in a way I only like to think I am after a bottle or two of wine. So funny, in fact, that I decided I needed to share her with all of you, so I asked her to do a guest post for my blog as well. Check it out below--I'm sure you'll agree!

--------------------------------------------------------
I'm so excited to be here guest posting for Dusty!  I'm a huge fan of All Things G&D, and feel like a little bit of a celebrity right now.  You know, like, the fat celebrity who went to Cabo and then had her thigh and butt cellulite plastered all over Star Magazine the next day.

You know what else I'm excited about?  BABY G&D!  And since I'm sure Dusty is nervous for the big day, I'd like to help get her mentally prepared by sharing my birth story with her.  And all of you. 

(You're welcome/I'm sorry.  Whichever applies.)

The End of the World As We Know It

I have to make a confession: I don't like reading birth stories. Most of the time, they are filled with way too many uninteresting details and since I have the attention span of a monkey on crack, I cannot finish reading loooooooong birth story posts.

So that is why I put off and put off writing a blog post. Because I know that nobody cares what time I got an IV (7 O'Clock) or what I was wearing when I found out I was in labor (clothes. I was wearing clothes). But I had my daughter on Valentine's day this year, and by April I decided that I should write down the dirty details before they disappeared in mommy brain haze.

On Thursday the 12th, I woke up to a...gush. (Or, what felt like a gush until they broke my water at the hospital and I learned what a GUSH really feels like!) I had fluid and mucous all down my leg. One of my favorite ways to wake up? Is to slime on my leg. Delicious.

Now. The responsible thing to do would be to call your OB and see what they think. That would be the responsible thing. The Uber Pregnant Jen, however, decided that she should wait until after her highlight appointment to call the doctor. Because what if they made me go to labor and delivery? What about my hair? ROOTS! GAH!

After my highlights, I called the OB. They sent me to labor and delivery. My hair looked awesome.

It turns out that I didn't leak amniotic fluid, so after 3 hours I was sent on my way. The rest of the night was pretty uneventful.

The next day, FRIDAY THE THIRTEENTH, I had my 38 week appointment. I planned to argue with Sexy Suzie (my hot OB) because I didn't want to be induced. We had our ultrasound first, then we went into the room for my weekly nonstress test.  They wanted to make sure my Gestational Diabetes wasn't causing me to gestate Godzilla. The NST was perfect as always, and the baby was measuring at 6 pounds 12 ounces. Gestational Diabetes my ass!

The nurse came in to take my blood pressure. I was sad in the first place because my favorite nurse wasn't there, and instead we had to talk to Snaggle Tooth Nurse who goes on and on and on about the most ridiculous things before she does what she needs to do. And I'm not sure if you heard? But I'm impatient and slightly bitchy at all times. So she annoyed me.

Anyway. The blood pressure. She took it, said, "Hmmm..." and walked out of the room to get the doctor.

Shit.

You figure it's pretty bad if they don't even tell you what it is, right? It had been creeping up every week, and I was pretty swollen, but they didn't seem concerned until now.

Sexy Suzie came in and said that I had to go to Labor and Delivery AGAIN and have my BP monitored. If it didn't go down, I would be induced that night. If it did, I was to go in on Tuesday the 17th to be induced. Just to dig the dagger in a bit deeper, she said that she was going to let me go until my due date until my blood pressure was so high.

Shit.

I didn't ask what it was. Because the whole thing was scary and I just figured I'd go to L&D again and come home late again. But we did go home and get my bag just in case.

Good thing!

My blood pressure did come down, but my cervix and uterus, those tricky bitches, had different plans. I was having contractions and dilating on my own!

The one thing I always wanted to know and could never get a good answer - What do contractions feel like and how bad do they hurt? And my answer is: Meh. I didn't really realize I was even having contractions, I just thought I was kind of crampy. Like, I was going to get my period in a few days. Of course, I have been known to curl up into a useless ball of painful cramps during my periods. So you and I might have different points of reference.

Also? I got an epidural. Because any time pain is unnecessary? I avoid it. Call me crazy.

Upon hearing the news that I was in labor, my very first thought was: I am so glad I ate that Chicken Tender Melt from Perkins for lunch. I'm sentimental like that.

After calling the parentals to let them know, we were whisked off to a labor room, I was hooked up to an IV, and all we had to do was waaaaaaaait. And TEXT. I think I sent and received eleventy thousand texts that night.

My nurse?? Was...interesting.

She looked exactly like this:


Except she was wearing scrubs.

You know when you go to the bank? And you get stuck with the new teller, who has someone looking over her shoulder and saying things like, "make sure the ones don't stick together!" And you're all Sonofabitch This Always Happens To Me? And you watch all the other lines disappear before you even get started?

That's kind of how it was in Labor and Delivery. I had the new nurse, who had old nurses looking over her shoulder and questioning her constantly.

Except I was at the hospital and instead of dollars we were dealing in vagina.

For fear of overstaying my welcome, I will shut my yapper thank you for your time, and direct you to the next part of my overly-long birth story, which you can find right here.

Pregnancy: Week 37

December 14-20
Bring on this baby! At 37 weeks she is now full term, and I'm pretty sure we're ready for her! G and I raided the baby aisles and got all the rest of the things we need before our daughter arrives--bottles, bibs, Boppy covers, burp cloths--you name it, we came home with it. After 3 hours I am now a master navigator of Babies R Us. And after another hour (and a few choice words) G now holds an engineering degree in Pack N Play assembly. Our house is slowly being taken over by pastel, musical, vibrating baby stuff which is going to be a bit of an adjustment--but we're ready for it!

The beginning of a whole new era.
Additional Week 37 Posts:
You Know You're Pregnant When...
Accessorizing the Bump

Back: Pregnancy: Week 36

Next: Pregnancy: Week 38

10 Holiday Eating Tips

I received this forwarded email from a friend and had to share. These are words to live by. Enjoy!

10 Holiday Eating Tips

1. Avoid carrot sticks. Anyone who puts carrots on a holiday buffet table knows nothing of the Christmas spirit. In fact, if you see carrots, leave immediately. Go next door, where they're serving rum balls.
   
   
2. Drink as much eggnog as you can. And quickly. It's rare. You can't find it any other time of year but now. So drink up! Who cares that it has 10,000 calories in every sip? It's not as if you're going to turn into an eggnog-alcoholic or something. It's a treat. Enjoy it. Have one for me. Have two. It's later than you think. It's Christmas!
   
   
3. If something comes with gravy, use it. That's the whole point of gravy. Gravy does not stand alone. Pour it on. Make a volcano out of your mashed potatoes. Fill it with gravy. Eat the volcano. Repeat step #3.
   
   
4. As for mashed potatoes, always ask if they're made with skim milk or whole milk. If it's skim, pass. Why bother? It's like buying a sports car with an automatic transmission.
   
   
5. Do not have a snack before going to a party in an effort to control your eating. The whole point of going to a Christmas party is to eat other people's food for free. Lots of it. Hello!
   
   
6. Under no circumstances should you exercise between now and New Year's. You can do that in January when you have nothing else to do. This is the time for long naps, which you'll need after circling the buffet table while carrying a 10-pound plate of food and that vat of eggnog.
   
   
7. If you come across something really good at a buffet table--like frosted Christmas cookies in the shape and size of Santa--position yourself near them and don't budge. Have as many as you can before becoming the center of attention. They're like a beautiful pair of shoes. If you leave them behind, you're never going to see them again.
   
   
8. Same for pies. Apple. Pumpkin. Mincemeat. Have a slice of each. Or if you don't like mincemeat, have two apples and one pumpkin. Always have three. When else do you get to have more than one dessert? Labor Day?
   
   
9. Did someone mention fruitcake? Granted, it's loaded with the mandatory celebratory calories, but avoid it at all cost. I mean, have some standards.
   
   
10. One final tip: If you don't feel terrible when you leave the party or get up from the table, you haven't been paying attention. Reread tips; start over. But hurry--January is just around the corner!
    
    

Weekend Errands

It's a pretty safe bet that when you see me in a hat it means I haven't combed my hair and/or I'm not wearing any makeup.

Both were true on this day.

I will also confess that I spilled a bit of oatmeal on the front of my shirt on this morning. I just scraped it off (and ate it) and didn't bother to change before leaving the house to run errands--I figured it's good practice for when the baby comes and I'm covered in spit-up.


Hat: Gap
Cardigan: Gap
Top: Old Navy Maternity
Jeans: Gap Maternity
Shoes: Sketchers
Pregnancy: 34 weeks

Favorite Christmas Decorations

With Baby G&D due just after Christmas I decided not to do any holiday decorating this year. Putting up the tree and decking the halls is something I always look forward to, but I just know if I did it this year it would be June before I found the time to take it all down and pack it back up. So to satisfy my itch I thought I'd share some of my favorite Christmas decorations from years past.

Let's start with last Christmas:

I wrapped some of the picture frames on our dining room photo wall to look like presents and I just love how it turned out! It was my favorite thing from last year's decorations.




Chase was posing so pretty for this picture, that I just had to include it again this year!


I love decorating for Christmas in bronzes and golds, but decided to do the entryway in red for a fun bit of color:


Moving on to Christmas 2007:



On this year I placed gold ornaments around the photo wall in the dining room:


I had a lot of fun with our Christmas dinner tablesetting this year:




On the back of each guest's name card I put a question such as "What is your favorite Christmas memory?" or "What is your favorite thing about the person sitting to your right?" We then took turns going around the table and answering questions while we enjoyed dinner. It was a lot of fun!


Christmas 2006 was our first Chirstmas in our current house and our old full-sized Christmas tree wouldn't fit, so we made do with this little guy:


I used a lot of glass in my holiday decorations this year. I lined the windowsills with garland, ornaments, and candles on glass holders:


I used an unframed floor-length mirror as a table runner and topped it off with more pretty glassware:


And used mirrored chargers for the placesettings:


And there you have it--some of my favorite Christmas decorations from the past three years!