Dining in Style...

So around the time I started looking for a couch... which was probably a little over a year ago... I also saw a dining room suite that I really liked.  At the time, purchasing a major furniture group was not something I wanted to tackle. 

Dining room furniture, especially formal dining room furniture is not the sort of thing one rushes into buying.  Buying a dining room suite is one of the most adult purchases you are going to make.  It goes like this:  1) house, 2) car, 3) dining room suite.  So maybe not always in that order... but you get what I mean.  This is not a impulse buy... this has to be well thought out and considered for many months... at least when you're me.

For me I was not interested in an overly ornate suite nor did I want an overly traditional suite as my taste tends to lend towards to more contemporary-traditional than traditional.  Most of what I have looked at over the last year has not been formal enough or was the complete opposite-- very heavy in appearance and overly decorated with brass hardware and bold carvings.

A little over a year ago, I saw the above suite from Better Homes and Gardens Fine Furniture by Universal at Whitley Galleries.  I immediately was drawn to the X-back chairs and how that detail was mirrored in the hutch.  Another plus-- the hardware on the suite was not bright brass and very minimal in size and scale.  My walls in my dining room are metallic silver and in my opinion bright brass hardware would not be as nice next to metallic silver walls.

So when I got a letter in the mail advertising a sale at Whitley Galleries, I jumped on the idea of finally getting the above suite.

But then I got to Whitley Galleries and they didn't have any pieces of the suite on the showroom floor except the round version of this table and the captain chairs that I was not interested in purchasing.  The idea of buying something that I haven't seen in well over a year, except in pictures didn't appeal to me.  We've got to buy a crib and baby bedding and all sorts of other things and putting money down, hard earned money, on something sight-unseen... well, that wasn't going to happen.

I was depressed about the situation... I felt like I had missed my chance at a really good deal on the one dining room suite that I actually liked.  So my mother suggested that I call around and see if there were any other furinture companies that carried this brand or particular suite... if nothing else, I'd get to see it again and really decide if it was the one I wanted to get...eventually.

Turns out Bullard Furniture had the hutch and buffet in stock and on the showroom floor... and they were having a very similar sale as Whitley Galleries... so I decided to bite the bullet and purchase the dining room suite, of course after going and seeing it.

I'm excited to say that by the end of the summer I will have my hutch and buffet (coming next week) and I will have my table and six side chairs!  I'm so happy this worked out and I can finally check this off my house list.

On to nursery...

And the Waiting Ends...

So week 20 sort of sneaked up on me.  And for the most part I was so distracted with the idea of purchasing a dining room suite, maternity shorts and an inflatable pool that I barely paid any attention at all to week 19.

Since being pregnant and feeling very sick almost everyone supportively told me that during the 2nd trimester I'd experince the "Honeymoon" phase of being pregnant.  I half-heartedly believed them... being as sick feeling as I was, I didn't think I'd ever start to feel normal again.  I remember my friend, who is about 10 weeks ahead of me, telling me that if she didn't have the ever-present baby bump, she'd not even feel pregnant.

I remember thinking, while she told me this too-good-to-be-true news, "Liar."  It seemed to me at the time, she had had it much better than me, so at best I'd probably start to feel mildly better--if at all.  But sometime around week 13 or so, things started to get better.  And I'm pleased to say that in the last three weeks I've not thrown up or been nausous or anything... and I feel so much better physically.  And sometimes, I even forget that there is a baby growing in my belly.

But yesterday we got confirmation and a rather visual reminder, that there is indeed a baby in there.  Yesterday was the anatomy ultrasound that would among other things, determine our baby's gender.  We are not the variety that wanted to wait to find out if we are having a boy or a girl.  After going through infertility, I don't think we are much on suspense.  I guess for normal couples that get pregnant easily and "I can get pregnant?" is never a question, then waiting just might be their cup of tea.  For us, those of us that spend months and years wondering... we learn to dislike the waiting and therefore when the ultrasound technician waved her wand to just the right spot, we wanted to know.

There would be no silly gender reveal party.  There would be no waiting.  So at 20 weeks and 1 day of being pregnant, yesterday we found out that we are having a... Girl! 

We both thought that we'd be having a boy.  Not that we were sold on a boy... again, after going through infertility, the goal is to have a healthy baby regardless of the gender.  But from the moment we embarked on the IVF journey, everything has been a boy.  The nurse and I would joke about the little guys on the monitoring screen when referring to my eggs.  When the embryos were replaced, again they were boys.... at least in my mind.  And from the moment we found out we were pregnant, the only thing that made sense to me was that we were going to have a boy.

All my stuffed animals were boys... Mr. Pillow, my oldest object and most important object that I'm unnaturally attached to, is a boy... 

So boy, was I wrong.

The girl is about 16 oz. in weight and is 19 weeks and 6 days along according to the technician.  We saw the right amount of toes and fingers and everything seems to be in working order, which is good to know...

In the meantime, besides waiting for my dining room suite to arrive, figuring out my new maternity "look" and trying to tan the baby bump in the blow-up pool I now get to start pulling together my nursery for the baby girl.

Just to Catch You Up...

My summer vacation has officially started now that the wedding is behind me.  Yes, I survived directing my friend's wedding and surprisingly, I'd be happy to do it again!  I had been really dreading the whole process, worried that I'd find a way to mess something up and ruin my friend's happy day. 

I'm not going to say that it went off 100% perfect.  We all know that isn't possible.  The parents' were a little delayed in getting seated because the flower girl pushed the emergency button in the elevator... the elevator that contained the bride and the mother of the groom.  When you push the emergency button it stops the elevator and immediately dials 911. 

Besides the mother's seating being delayed the bell ringer did not chime the hour and about that time, an usher tripped on something causing a loud noise.  Again... nothing is going to go 100% perfect and those were the only things that didn't go off perfectly. 

The bride was beautiful.  The groom was happy, laughing and smiling through most of the ceremony.  The reception was lovely... all in all, I'd call it a success!

And with the wedding officially behind me, I feel 100% much more relaxed. 

This week marks the 18th week of pregnancy.  For the most part I'm feeling really good.  For the last couple of weeks I've felt much more myself and my appetite is finally returning to what it was pre-pregnancy or in other words, I'm no longer considering getting a feeding tube.  Next week we go for another doctor's appointment and at this appointment we will get to see what we are having.

I'm getting excited about the confirmation... I'm convinced that we are having a boy.  Last week I started to online shop for cribs and bedding.  I found a website that will take custom orders and even though I'm convinced I'm having a boy, I'm having a hard time picking out boy fabrics... being a girl I think I'm having trouble taking my femininity out of the equation.

Ideally, I'd like to pick a crib and fabric that could be used for more than one child...  because I'm at the point now that I could fathom having more than one now that the sickness is fading.  But I realize that I may not be able to do just that (as in picking out a gender neutral fabric) and if so, that is fine because if I were a second child, I'd want my parents to pick out fabrics with me in mind and not my older sibling... regardless of how impractical that is.

My husband would point out that I feel this way because I'm a girl.  Boy's could care less and in his words, "are less complicated."

Either way, I don't think either one of us cares either way as long as it is healthy...

In the meantime, I'm starting to show a little more each day and so yesterday I ordered some maternity shorts...  I couldn't bring myself to purchase a pair when I went shopping a few weeks ago-- it was all just too traumatic.

But I think this latest burst of summer heat has made me realize that hot, binding jeans probably aren't the most practical summer attire.  My next concern-- blow up baby pool to lay out in-- I figure big tan belly's are better than big pale belly's any day.

Stay tuned for more!
 

Director of the Wedding

Tomorrow starts a weekend that I've been looking forward to and dreading for a little over a year:  I'm directing a friend's wedding on Saturday!

It's not exactly how I imagined spending my own 5 year anniversary... but I've always wanted to direct a wedding and I'm not about to pass up the opportunity.  To be perfectly honest, I'm a little worried that things won't go perfectly. 

They probably won't.  I realize that nothing ever goes exactly as planned, no matter how well you plan... and plan I have.  I have time lines, VIP reserve seating tickets, and diagrams of how the uneven bridal party should enter and leave the church.  One of my co-workers reassured me a few weeks ago that if things do get messed up, no one will know.  And she is right.  But I'll know. 

I couldn't ask for a better bride to work with.  She is calm, cool and collected... or at least she appears to be that way.  For the last few weeks I've been trying to sit down with her to review the order of program, and she's been almost impossible to nail down... and I think mostly because she just is through caring.

I remember feeling that same way five short years ago.  For a year and half I planned and stressed... and worried.  And then by the time the actual wedding rolled around I was just through worrying and stressing.  It was going to happen, ready or not.  For sanity's sake, I think most brides' have to reach that mindset... or else.

However, I can't say every bride I've worked with has adopted that same disposition...  and let me tell you, it has ended our friendship. Honestly, I don't know how you stay friends with someone that has no sense of humor... or makes you wear bright red lipstick and black liquid liner against your own will.

Regardless, I'm ready for this experience to be behind me.  And soon it will be over.  I hope and pray that things go well, that the mistakes are few and far between and that the Bride, above all else, is happy.

Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Maternity Clothing...

Last Thursday night as I was preparing myself for bed, excited that Friday would be the last day of school for all the little school children, panic struck.

My last pair of jeans that still fit were in the dirty clothes hamper-- the hamper I intended to empty and wash and didn't.  I've been in the middle of moving my office, and wearing jeans on Friday-- the only day of the week that we can legally wear jeans-- seemed practical. 

So Thursday night, I tried on a pair of jeans that I thought might still fit.  They didn't-- unless I used a rubber band to loop through the button hole to keep them from gapping open.  I then tried on a few dresses.  They still fit and looked good-- but moving my office in a dress didn't seem like a good idea and I'd have to shave my legs.

So I dug down into the depths of the dirty clothes hamper and liberated the magical jeans that seem to always fit, no matter how big my belly gets.  I had no choice.  And I reckoned myself to the idea that it was probably time to go face my fear:  Maternity Clothes Shopping.

Because it was the last day of school, my principal let us out a little early.  So at 3:00pm Friday afternoon, my mother and I headed off to the shopping mall to find me some pants that fit my expanding waist... and maybe a dress because next weekend I'm directing a wedding and I'd like, very much, to not look frumpy.

The maternity store is much different than the stores I normally shop.  The stores I used to shop-- Before Baby Bump (BBB)-- were always nice to me and would always ask if I needed help or if I wanted to get a fitting room started.  But because I shopped there often, most of the time I didn't need help because I knew my size and what I liked and most importantly, I knew what looked good on me.

But at the maternity clothing store, the sales associates where interested in much, much more.  "When's your due date?"  "Is this your first time being pregnant?"  "What are you interested in purchasing today?"  "Let me explain to you how our sizing works."  And that was upon entering the store. 

Generally I like to get the layout of the store first... especially a store I've never been in before.  Then I like to make my first pass, making note of things I like-- things that strike me-- and then on my second pass I start to make my selections for either purchasing or trying on.  I like to have time on my own to think things out without much interuption. 

Before I knew what was going on, I was in the dressing room and feeling like a werido because all of the pants have this strange stretchy top and no buttons and no zippers-- none of the markings of real jeans or shorts or pants.

I used to joke about elastic waisted pants-- how silly they were-- and now that is basically all I have as choices... at least for the next little while.

I also have never been so attended while in a dressing room-- not even when I was picking out wedding dresses.  It seemed like every few seconds some sales girl was asking me if they could get me more sizes-- which was a joke, because everything was too big--even the smallest size.  They wanted to know how things were fitting... if it was too big or too small.  They wanted to reassure me that I looked good, even if I didn't.  I don't like being patronized...

So I came away with two rather attractive tops... a pair of Seven Maternity jeans and a pair of black maternity pants.  I'm not excited about wearing the stretchy top pants-- especially this summer-- but at least the tops are nice looking and stylish.

Now that I have my barings, I think I might be able to tackle shopping in the maternity department a little more often or even from the privacy of my home, thanks to the internet.  I'm still not out of my magical jeans, but when the time comes, at least I'm sort of prepared.

EWT

16 Weeks or so Pregnant and I'm Back at IT...

Having very little to say, due to being mentally exhausted from coordinating high stakes testing for about a be-zillion kids my writing fell to the wayside.

But now that all that testing and re-testing nonsense is behind me, I'm hoping to pick up where I left off.  A lot has happened in the last month or so. 

We have now entered the 2nd trimester.  And upon entering the 2nd trimester, my nausea, vomiting and general feelings of having the life sucked out of me seemed to have lifted.  I still have some major food adversions-- mainly onions, pork chops, and pork tenderloin.  As I type, I think I'm having a bad reaction to some McNuggets... so they may be added to the list too.

I've gained somewhere around 4 pounds... but I feel like I've gained a lot more than that.  My front is becoming much rounder and I'm sure people I run into are wondering the age old question that surrounds women in my age group:  "Is she pregnant or just getting fat?"

By the way, I'm really regreting the McNuggets.

I'm hoping that I'm going to be back to blogging a little more regularly.  I've felt a little guilty that I'm not documenting my thougths on this whole pregnancy thing.  So we will see how consistant I can be...