36 Weeks

How far along: 36 weeks

Gender: Girl

Maternity clothes: I'm surprised that some of my maternity clothes are just not fitting the same. I just stick with sweats and a tank top in the house, or a dress if I step out. I'm working from home now, so I don't have to worry as much in dressing up :) Just on Saturdays for Church.

Stretch marks: Yes, they're still there. I'm putting lotion on the stretch marks though, so they can go away after I give birth.

Belly button in or out: Still in.

Sleep: Sleep is getting interesting. It hurts to turn around in the middle of the night, and there are nights I just can't sleep after 3am. I'm just wide awake!

Best moment this week: My brother surprised us on Saturday and showed up at lunch. Luckily, Israel was preparing a delicious lunch for my mom and I, but we had enough for my dad and my brother. We always have so much fun when we're together. We laugh so much.

Miss anything: Mmmmm a pastrami sandwich. I went to a Diner and saw a picture of a Pastrami Reuben. I wanted to order one sooooo bad. Maybe next month :)

Movement: Poor Isabella...I guess she doesn't have much room. It feels like she's constantly finding a comfortable position. Sometimes it hurts a lot.

Cravings: Again, random cravings. I craved pound cake last week.

Queasy or sick: Still getting heart burn which I guess causes the nausea.

Looking forward to: Meeting Isabella. I was hoping to hear the doctor say she's coming soon, but he said that's not the case. I haven't even started dilating. I still have a while to go. 

The Nursery is finally done!

Hello! The nursery is finally done...well, for now. I still need to put paintings or photos up, but that can wait. So here are some pictures of the nursery, going from right to left from the door. Enjoy! :)

Wall color - Bella Pink by Behr

Curtains - Simply Shabby Chic Pleated Window Panel - Pink from Target

Crib - Nursery Basics Classic Crib - White from Babies R Us

Bedding (Crib bumper and skirt) Pintucked Bow & Trellis Print Nursery Bedding Collection from Restoration Hardware Baby & Child

Crib Sheet - Babies R Us Knit Crib Sheet - Pink Script from Babies R Us

Mobile - The Willow by Wendy Bellisimo Musical Mobile from BuyBuyBaby

(aaaaalllll the way in the top right corner) Video Monitor - Summer Infant Dual Coverage Digital 2.3" Color Video Monitor Set from Babies R Us

Dresser - Malm Dresser in White from Ikea

Changing Pad Cover - Carter's Super Soft Dot Changing Pad - Pink from Babies R Us 

(the changing pad was given to me so I don't know where it's from)

Chair - Poang in Granan White from Ikea

Rug - Ikea

Night Stand - Malm - White from Ikea

Lamp - Nurture Imagination Garden District Lamp with Pink Shade from BuyBuyBaby

Bookshelf - Ameriwood 3-Shelf Bookcase - White from Walmart

And as you can see...Isabella is ready for her days at Church :)

This beautiful armoire was given to me by a friend. She called me and told me her boss was trying to get rid of it. I said I would take it!!! So she brought it to my house and Israel brought it upstairs with the help of my parents. It originally was an off-white with some paint chipping, so I asked Israel to paint it white to match the rest of the furniture. And Voila! Love it!

Baby Shower!!!

I had my Baby Shower on June 22, 2014 and had a great time. I had my closest friends and family on this special day.

I had two of my best friends participate in this funny game where the man had to drink the bottle as fast as possible:

Unfortunately, they didn't win. But I think the guy who won bit a piece of the bottle nipple off because he drank that thing way too fast hahaha.

Here are some of the decorations that day. 

Israel made the fruit baby carriage and his sister made the other display of fruit. (I unfortunately didn't have the fruit that day, but it must have been delicious since  it disappeared quickly)

A dear friend of mine made me the diaper cakes as a surprise. I think they came out beautiful with all the little things she added.

And here's my handsome husband thanking everyone for coming...

And my favorite people in the world... My Mom, Israel, and Dad. I heard a lot of people say my dad looked so happy that day. :) My mom too. She did an amazing job preparing the shower. 

This is Israel's sister. She made the fruit displays and brought some food. (Too bad I don't have a picture of the empanadas she brought. They were DELICIOUS!!! Spinach and Cheese emapanadas)

 Here's my special friend Jenny (aka Jina Wina :p) with her beautiful mother and handsome boyfriend. They got me many gifts but the special one was the Giraffe (although no one gets it haha). She's my Giraffe and I'm obsessed with giraffes. I put it on the registry but I really didn't expect her to get it.

She knows me all too well. Now Isabella can lay on her Tia Jenny all the time hehe.

Ahhhh...my beautiful cousin! We've bonded so much during my pregnancy. She's given me so much advice and has made me feel prepared for this new part of my life.

I was so happy to have her there, along with her daughter and my Uncle.

Here I am with another of my best friends, Candice. I loved the gift she got me. I loved the fact that she chose that gift using her Occupational Therapy knowledge/experience. I don't get to spend so much time with her, so when we do get together, it's special.

And here's my adopted brother, Justin, with his girlfriend, Janel. (hehe I say he's my adopted brother because he really is like my brother. He's one of my best friends.) 

Justin ALWAYS makes me laugh and he definitely entertained me that day. I was SUPER happy to have him there!

So as you can see, I had a great day! I expected the worst, and even though a lot of people that were not invited just ended up showing up (rude, I know!),  I had a great time with the special people in my life. We were truly blessed with all the gifts for Isabella.

34 Weeks

Look how HUUUUUUUGE I've become hehe.

Here we're celebrating Israel's 29th Birthday. It was unplanned. His sister called that morning and asked if she could come over and say hello. We ordered some pizza first, then she went out to find cake, but all she could find is a pound cake haha. So she put these crazy "firework" candles on there and we sang to him. We had a few laughs and that was it!

How far along: 34 weeks

Gender: Girl

Maternity clothes: No more buying clothes for me. Not worth it. This girl is coming soon and there's no need to be getting new clothes. I just stick to tank tops and sweats if I'm home, and dresses for work and church.

Stretch marks:Yes :( I keep lathering up to prevent them from spreading.

Belly button in or out: In, and I'm guessing it's staying in.

Sleep: Sleeping well at night. Just waking up to go to the bathroom.

Best moment this week: Spending time with Israel on his birthday.

Miss anything: Hot dogs and Pastrami sandwiches. I so want one! I do miss coffee as well. Everyone is drinking ice coffees so it's hard to not want one.

Movement: She is moving like crazy. She likes to stretch across my belly, and she doesn't seem to care that it hurts her mom.

Cravings: Chips one day, fruit another. I have been drinking more Passion Fruit shakes lately.

Queasy or sick: Nausea and heart burn. The doctor said to take Tums for the nausea and it seems to be working.

Looking forward to: HAVING THIS BABY!!! I feel huge! But seriously, I can't wait to meet Isabella.

32 Weeks

How far along: 32 weeks

Gender: Girl

Maternity clothes: I did find a dress I liked online. It's from Seraphine Maternity. I was about to order from their website, but they had horrible reviews for delivering on-time. The clothes, themselves, are wonderful. So I did some searching around and found the same dress at Destination Maternity. So I bought it through their website AND used a coupon! ;)

Stretch marks:Those two little stretch marks on my side are still there :( I'm very disappointed.

Belly button in or out: In!! :)

Sleep: I am feeling tired. I think it's because I'm only sleeping at night. I do sleep well, though. Just probably not enough.

Best moment this week: My 32-week check-up!

Miss anything: Hot dogs! We went over our friends' house to have a bbq and so wanted to make hot dogs.

Movement: Tons! And sometimes it hurts, so I'm afraid she'll turn around into breech position again.

Cravings: Still random cravings. I do like my fries...I can go for some curly fries right now. :p

Queasy or sick: Still getting nauseous, but not enough to make me run to the bathroom.

Looking forward to: THE BABY SHOWER!!! I'm excited, yet nervous. I don't want anything or anyone to ruin it. (You know how people can be)

Maternity Photo Shoot

Hello! I finally got my maternity photos!!!
So I mentioned that I had a great time with Madeline from Mad Hearts Photography but I was a bit nervous about how I would look in the pictures. Not because I had any doubt in Madeline, but because of how I saw myself in pictures. I have obviously gained some weight (and in my mind, I show it in my face). Therefore, Israel and I thought it would be best to pay for the shoot itself and pay for the pictures separately (since I'm so picky with pictures :p).

Well, what little faith I have!!!!
The pictures came out BEAUTIFUL! So beautiful, I ended up buying the digital copies.
(So my lack of faith cost me more money at the end :p)
But it was so worth it. I love my photographer. I think she's amazing!!!
She will definitely be our family photographer from now on!

I leave you with just some of my maternity photos (there are just too many to post here).
ENJOY!

30 Weeks

Our anniversary was on Friday, but since the sun doesn't sets until around 8:30pm, we could still go out to dinner after Israel got home. So he planned to take me to La Strada. The food is good, but what I love the most is the Virgin Strawberry Daiquiri.  Israel ordered his favorite dish, Chicken Parmigiana, and I ordered a special they had that night, Penne with Beef Tips in a Rosemary Sauce. I wasn't crazy about mine...it was good, but not amazing. However, Israel's chicken was AMAZING. It was huge too, so I would take some from him. Oh, I can just savor it right now. Definitely a nice place to go. Very elegant and good food.

We basically relaxed during the weekend. Saw my dad a few times which is always good because he makes me laugh SO much! Then Sunday evening, I finally got to wash all of Isabella's clothes and get them ready to put away. We've been very fortunate to have a close friend that gave us her daughter's clothes. The clothes are BEAUTIFUL! 

As you can see, Isabella has plenty of clothes for the first few months.

And just to give you a sneak peak...

This is how the nursery is coming along. I still need to decorate a bit, and put some shelves on the walls. Hopefully the nursery will be done by the end of the month.

I leave you with my 30-week belly shot:

How far along: 30 weeks

Gender: Girl

Maternity clothes: I haven't bought anything new. I'm loving the shorts and tanks I bought during Memorial Weekend since it's been so hot lately. (Well, it's been in the high 80's, but humid.)

Stretch marks: Yes :(  Since I haven't had a full-body mirror in the house (because of the floor updates) I didn't see my sides. I saw one little mark on my right side and freaked out. I was doing so well! But I'm rubbing cream and oil all over now, twice a day. I hope it goes away. The belly is fine, no marks there. Hopefully it stays that way.

Belly button in or out: It's still in :)

Sleep: I sleep well at night, even though Isabella is moving a lot when I go to sleep. Sometimes it feels like she's doing somersaults in there, but I can still fall asleep since I'm so tired. I am getting tired during the day and getting some naps in (which I thought I'd never do, since I could never sleep during the day).

Best moment this week:Well my anniversary of course!!! :D I love, love, love being with Israel. (I sound so cheesy, don't I?)

Miss anything: I do miss hot dogs, especially now that people are having bbq's.

Movement: She is one active little girl...And the funny part is when she has hiccups. I love to watch my belly move!

Cravings: Nothing in particular. Just random cravings. Like now I'm craving that Chicken Parmigiana after righting this post :p

Queasy or sick: I do get nauseous at times, but it usually when I eat too much.

Looking forward to: Finishing the nursery.

29 Weeks

This week we finally did the Maternity Photo Shoot. We had a great time doing it, even though we were very tired. Israel had been working on the house all day so by the time we had to get ready and head out to meet Madeline (Mad Hearts Photography), he was pretty tired and I was sleepy of course. And we walked A LOT during our photo shoot. That night I TIRED. My feet hurt so much!

Overall, the experience was nice. It was nice spending time with Israel and having fun with the poses.

There was one shot we wanted to take, which I had asked ahead of time. It was basically taking a shot similar to one of our wedding photos:

 

So basically, it would end up something like this:

 

 Ours would be "YEAR FOUR" :)

We tried to go to the place where we held our wedding reception, but they wanted to charge us $60 per person to go out on the green and take the picture....

pfftttt I wasn't going to pay that for a 5-minute shot.

So we found a spot that was similar to our wedding shot at the park we chose.

Israel had a black suite on with a white dress shirt, and I had purchased a white maxi dress.

I was so embarrassed because while we were posing, people would walk by and congratulate us!

They thought we just got married!!! It was nice that they were so happy for us, but I didn't want them to think I was getting married AFTER I got pregnant!

So that was the laugh for that day.

The next day, Madeline posted a sneak peak of our photo shoot:

Can't wait to see the other pictures!

How far along: 29 weeks

Gender: Girl

Maternity clothes: I ended up not getting anything new for the photo shoot. I couldn't find anything beautiful that was less than $150-$200. I was NOT going to spend that much on a dress.

Stretch marks: Nada!

Belly button in or out: Still in... does every pregnant woman's belly button go out??? I'm 29 weeks and it's still in....hmmmm just makes me wonder.

Sleep: Ohhhhh the pain in my pelvic area. I asked my doctor about it and she said there's really nothing I can do. Some nights are better than others.

Best moment this week:The photo shoot was nice. Madeline is super nice and patient. She dedicated a lot of time to get the best shots.

Miss anything: Coca-cola...and to think I still have over a year of not drinking it. I'm hoping after waiting that long, I won't want it anymore.

Movement: She moves so much. She's so cute. And when I rub my hand on my belly, she moves even more. Love it!

Cravings:Nothing crazy.

Queasy or sick: Queasy sometimes. Very little, though.

Looking forward to: Seeing the pictures from the Maternity Photo Shoot. :)

28 Weeks

I've been MIA (missing in action) for a while. Well, with all the house work, Israel has been busy, so he hadn't taken any pictures. I basically stopped him one morning before he left and handed him my phone so he could take a quick photo. So here is my 28-week belly shot :)

I'm getting big, huh? :-D

Oh, and a most recent picture of Isabella at her 28-week check-up:

 

So we finished week 28 with Memorial Weekend and had a very nice, relaxing time. We went down to the NJ shore and stayed at the Double Tree Hotel 10 minutes away from the beach. We were going to go to Belmar beach, since we always go to that beach, but tried going to Asbury Park Beach, as that was closer. We just went to walk on the beach a bit and dip our feet in the ocean, but the water was freezing and it was pretty windy. I did get Israel to take a picture of me with the ocean :)

We did have a chance to go to the outlets, just to walk around....But we know that's never the case. Of course we saw things we liked. Israel got more sneakers and I got my dad a pair too. While I was waiting for Israel to find the right sneakers, I found a beautiful outfit for Isabella!!!

I just fell in love with it. 

Now Isabella has an outfit for when she watches soccer games with her dad!

How far along: 28 weeks

Gender: Girl

Maternity clothes: I got myself a CHEAP bathing suit at Target :p

I was searching the web for a simple tankini to wear for Memorial Weekend but everything was running over $40; a lot close to $100. So I decided to try out Target and found a top on the clearance rack for $12. Then walking back from the fitting room, I saw a bottom in the regular women's section clearance rack for $5. They pretty much matched so that's what I got! 

Stretch marks: Nope, nothing! 

Belly button in or out: Still in.

Sleep: I'm sleeping well at night except for that "round ligament" pain I feel when switching sides. I do get sleepy during the day, though. 

Best moment this week: Memorial Day Weekend!!! It was so nice spending alone time with my husband. It sounds cheesy, but I love him more and more each day.

Miss anything: Cold, deli sandwiches!!! And Coke, And Ice Coffee...especially when I see a McDonald's commercial.

Movement: Oh, she's a soccer player alright! :p I love to see my belly move. I actually record my belly at night so I can save the memory.

Cravings: Chips. Ruffles chips. I'm dying to buy some, but I know if I have them at home, I'll eat them in a day.

Queasy or sick: I am getting nauseous sometimes. Not sure if that normal in the third trimester.

Looking forward to: Decorating the nursery and the photo shoot next weekend.

25 Weeks

How far along: 25 weeks

Gender: Girl

Maternity clothes: I think I'm done with maternity clothes shopping for now. If I see a beautiful dress for the baby shower I'll get it. Oh, and I will need a bathing suit because I plan to tan a lot before the baby comes. I'm too pale right now.

Stretch marks: Nothing, thank God. I am still using Bio Oil and I'm not itchy so that's good.

Belly button in or out: In --- but it's starting to look a little funny.

Sleep: Well, since we were sleeping at our parents while the floors were being done, sleeping was a bit difficult. I missed my bed.

Best moment this week: It's more like this past weekend, but I'll include it as part as week 25... I was invited to one of my best friend's 30th birthday dinners on Saturday night and it was so much fun!!! We arrived late, of course, since we had to wait until sunset to go, but it was nice to hang out with him and his friends. And the food was delicious!!!

Miss anything: Coffee and some days a nice, cold Coca-Cola.

Movement: Lots. I am very entertained in the morning and at night when I feel her. She's already making me laugh a lot hehe.

Cravings: Nope, I can't say I have any cravings.

Queasy or sick: Nothing. I feel great, except for being tired sometimes.

Looking forward to: Decorating the nursery. Israel finished painting the nursery...now we can start building the crib and buying the other furniture for the nursery.

Nursery Ideas

This is what I'm envisioning for the room layout of Isabella's Nursery:

Nursery Inspiration:

I would like the overall theme of Isabella's nursery to be like the photo above; white and light pink. That's it!

I like the idea of having corner shelves, especially if it can be a place to put the baby monitor.

And I love the details in these photos to my right. I plan to decorate the bookcase like this.

I just love white for Isabella's nursery. Yes, I'm scared of getting the glider and the rug dirty, but I'll just be very careful. :)

I love the idea of having a mobile on top of the glider, so that Isabella can look at it while she's eating.

It took me a while to find simple, white and light pink bedding for Isabella's crib. This picture is from Pottery Barn Kids. My mom and I went to check it out the other day, and it's perfect! The color, the material, it's just perfect!