Twenty-three weeks

No new fruit this week since the baby is still the size of a papaya. I'm not sure I've grown that much either, but I'm still rocking the maternity shirts because I'm almost 6 months pregnant, darn it.
23wks shirt

23wks
I'm not going to lie, taking these weekly pictures really plays mind games on me. Every time I upload a new one I think one of two things: I am NOT showing enough for being ____ weeks pregnant, or Why do I just look chubby instead of pregnant? I know, I know, I'm whining again about the changes my body is making for this pregnancy. But let's do a little look back shall we?

This is me on the day I got my positive pregnancy test, 4 weeks pregnant. It's how I'm used to looking every day of my life and when Nate and I just looked at this picture we were both like, 'Woah, I guess was pretty thin back then.' Not to mention that back in July I actually had somewhat of a tan.
4wks

And this is me now. Filling out a sports bra which is really cool, but just with a thicker midsection than before. I mean it's a BIG difference compared to the above pic but still...do I REALLY look pregnant to you? It doesn't help to have a pale + thick belly either.
23w sports

And if you are too lazy to scroll up and down, like me, here you go:
4 versus 23
Over analyzing my usual belly pics made me want to do the sports bra shot, although I planned to refrain from that until the end. Nate was helping me decipher why I felt so chunky with my 'shirt pulled up shots' and I think it's because of my hand placement. (Don't worry, Nate reassured me that I am not actually fat and it's all in my head but considering the fact that he has to live with me and has already dealt with my neuroses for 8 years, he had to do something to make me feel better). So I think the bare belly shot with sports bra helps matters a bit so that my hands don't get in the way of my gut, thus giving the illusion of a thicker midsection. Am I annoying you yet? This was seriously bugging me, so I had to fix it. We'll see what I feel like donning next week. And really, I might not look almost 6 months pregnant compared to other girls out there, but compared to my non-pregnant self I look VERY different, right? I need to stop comparing myself to others and just chill out a bit. And I need to stop thinking my gut is fat because apparently my pregnant body just adds weight throughout my long torso and not a little basketball bump like I'd hoped. Anyway...

After the wonderful comments and suggestions from my readers, we've decided to use our REI dividend to get a BOB and we are so excited! Making that decision sparked us to begin our registry, too, and so on Friday night we hit up BRU for some scanning gun action. It wasn't nearly as overwhelming as I feared. In fact, it was pretty much a blast dreaming about all of the goodies our baby boy will use in a few months. We spent over two hours wondering around BRU and if you looked at our registry you'd know who was in charge of the scanner--there are two bibs on there that say things like, 'If you think I'm cute you should see my Daddy' and 'My Dad is cooler than your Dad.' Also, we have about a billion random toys and trinkets on there that Nate could not resist, as a big kid himself. And even though the lady told us NOT to register for all of the adorable clothes that will probably be discontinued soon as the seasons change, we couldn't resist. I mean, seriously....you know how much Nate loves dressing himself let alone his future son:)

While we were shopping I realized that neither one of us had bought ANYTHING for the baby since we found out I was pregnant. Isn't that insane? I know some parents buy stuff for the baby even before pregnancy so I think waiting until 23 weeks is pretty good:) So while we were scanning the most adorable baby boy clothes, I decided we each needed to pick out one little outfit for mister man. And so I found my pick within 30 seconds and Nate took 30 minutes, but baby now has an outfit from each of his parents.

From daddy:
first purchase from daddy

From mommy:
first purchase from mommy

So I spent a better part of my day on Saturday scouring through reviews online, my friends' registries, and our Consumer Report baby gear book to further consolidate our registry. I think the things I'm most excited about so far are the car seat (Graco Snug Ride 35, if you were wondering), the diaper bag (an adorable red and brown JJ Cole style), and all of the fun little entertainers and seats for the baby. Most overwhelming is definitely the bottle and feeding decisions you have to make. My baby will be taking a bottle since he'll be in daycare, but with 10 different brands out there it's hard to know what he'll like before he tries them out. So after even MORE research I added a few different brands and will hope for the best. Any recommendations?

But enough of that boring stuff....the chair cushions are finished! My mom shipped the covers to me last week and I love the finished product. So does Henry:
IMG_6486
IMG_6494
IMG_6498

And even though I hate these crappy panoramic shots, it's the best I can do without a wide-angle lens. And it's rather humorous to see Henry with approximately 8 legs. You can see the full effect of the rug plus fabric plus paint. Just the bedding and some shelves with fun wall decor and this nursery is on it's way to being finished!
pano with fabric updates

Twenty-three weeks: registries, research, and more relentless nursery projects:) I swear I've tried to capture little man kicking my innards on video all week long and he won't budge. But I'm determined! Stay tuned.

19 comments:

  1. Wow the side by side really does show you have a def preggo belly. Looks great!! I am so in love with your nursery.

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  2. The side by side helps a lot. You were just so skinny before!

    Bottles, my SIL swears by Dr. Brown's. The way they are made cuts down on ingestion of air, so less burps and less colic!

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  3. Love the nursery (esp the aqua walls). Regarding the bottles- I recommend Dr. Browns. I have heard that you should just buy a few brands and see what the baby likes (same with pacifiers)- we lucked out and our son seemed to like the first one we tried (dr. brown) just fine. Good luck!

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  4. definately looking pregnant! i feel your pain, i'm 15 weeks and rather than the beautiful basketball in front look i was hoping for, it's more of an all around torso thickness. *sigh* us women beat ourselves up over everything no?
    love the nursery!

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  5. This book may have already been mentioned but Baby Bargains does a great job rating every baby product out there (and in a concise manner). Highly recommend it!

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  6. Love the side by side comparison and I know exactly what you mean about hand placement. It's why if I'm not the one taking the picture of myself, I always have my hand on my hip. I feel like seeing that sway in my back makes me not look as big, ya know? So I totally get that. Also, have you looked at any pictures of your mom when she was pregnant? That will probably give you a good idea of when you'll have more of a round bump, cause you both are built so similarly.

    I'm glad you went for the BOB - I really think you guys will get good use out of it. And YAY for registering. I spent hours and hours on the computer tweaking my registries to be perfect, LOL.

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  7. I love how the room is turning out. So cute!!! Also I was wondering, what kind of dog do you have? He's super cute too!!

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  8. Your baby bump is adorable Julia!!! And your nursery is coming together so nicely. Love all the colors!

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  9. Yes, you definitely look nice and prego compared to your 4 week photo :) I'm with you on the whole "white big belly" feeling. As a friend told me last week while we were changing in the same room, "you don't look pregnant..just like you've been eating a bit much lately." so true...so true. [and yes, the lack of tan makes it look a million times worse!]

    Yay for the registery!! That must have been a blast and I love the little outfits for your man. So cute. Daddy's going to spoil him rotten :)

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  10. The only one you should compare yourself to is YOU! Which, in that case - you DEFINITELY look pregnant!

    Plus - your poor boobs. They're looking much bigger than what you started with! ; - P

    B

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  11. I love your sweet little baby bump! There's definitely a difference from 4 weeks to now, don't worry.

    Quick question: Do you think Photoshop was worth the investment? I'm interested in photography but am no where near professional. Do you think it would be wiser to buy a better camera first and THEN photoshop, or the other way around?

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  12. I have that same issue with the arms holding the shirt up shots. I always try to make sure you can see the curve of my back between my arms, otherwise like you said you look bigger then you actually are.

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  13. 10 more weeks and you will be wondering what happened to that cute little belly! :) You def look preggo, so don't worry! :)

    I tried Playtex Advanced, I think a Nuk bottle and a different kind of Playtex that I can't think of.

    So, of course, we use Dr. Brown's and wasted a lot of money on the rest. Go for Dr. Browns. Amazon sometimes has really good deals on Newborn feeding sets (I got mine for $15 or so). I love them.

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  14. Julia, pregnancy looks great on you. You look beautiful!

    Advice on the bottles: be prepared to try many different kinds! I think I tried 4 different ones with Chase until he finally found one he liked. I used Avent with Emma and Chase settled for Playtex Ventaire.

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  15. You look great! Very cute little pregnant lady!

    I love the nursery!

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  16. You have such a long torso! i have like no torso which is why i looked ginormous!

    nursery is looking good! btw, i bought that same outfit for Brady (the blue one)

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  17. Julia,
    I think we tried like 5 different bottles and Avery loved the cheapest ones...Playtex with disposable liners. I couldn't believe it, but he had really bad reflux and these bottles were a god-send. You look great. and remember everyone carries differently. I didn't ever look 36 weeks in my belly (when I delivered) but my butt/legs looked 40 weeks! Boys don't carry as much in the belly...or so i've noticed w/ my friends. You're adorable!

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  18. You look great! Coming from someone with a huge 27wk bump be thankful, you look great!

    Your nursery is going to be so fun and cheerful. It is coming along nicely.

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  19. You're so funny! Love the nursery, it's so cheerful! I sent your BOB post to my friend who's having their 2nd child and wanted to see if a double BOB could work as a regular stroller too. She thanks you.

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