Bumpdate: 26 weeks

Good morning loves! I hope your mornings are starting off well. As you can see from the title -- it's time for a new bumpdate!!! And believe me, we have a lot to cover, so let's not waste anymore time and get this show on the road:

Quick stats
     

26 weeks 2 days! My hair looks amazing!!!

In my last Bumpdate I said I was going to try and crank these out weekly...well not a lot happened last week so I decided to skip it, but now in my 26th week of pregnancy I am over the moon excited! I mean think about it, I'm 5 days shy of my third trimester! That's 13 short weeks until Monk Monk is here!! (Honestly I think it'll be more like 10 or 11 weeks but we're trying to keep with the schedule here). We don't have a scale but I'm sure I've gained at least a pound since our last chit-chat, and although earlier in my pregnancy I expressed some apprehension about gaining the dreaded pregnancy weight I've more or less come to terms with it because I know it's what's best for my little Prince. I'll admit, it is still a little hard to look down and see a belly but aside from the occasional freak-outs, I'm finally starting to adjust.  


Baby Buys

     A little over a month ago I put myself on a strict no buy until after the baby shower and believe it or not I've been doing pretty darn well if I may say so myself. We did end up buying another crib but I'll talk more about that during "Operation Nursery". We also bought some art supplies, but I don't really count it even though they are for decor purposes. (Again, we'll talk more during ON).
     I am going to order the baby shower invitations this week, so I guess you can count that as a baby buy. They're beyond adorable...gotta love Etsy! Oh, and speaking of the baby shower, we have released our registries!!!!

• Amazon 
• Target 

Please feel free to take a look at them and if you do plan on ordering, especially from Target, do it ASAP. The baby shower is scheduled for August 2nd and Target is slightly notorious for putting even the smallest things (i.e. a really cute jacket) on a boat (6-8 ship time...minimum). It doesn't happen all the time but we don't want to take any chances.

Don't Forget About Mama
     
       I bought my first maternity shirt!!! I got it second hand so it was only $5 and while it is pretty cute, I probably won't be buying a whole new wardrobe. It is super hot in Okinawa and I plan on living in maxi skirts and dresses the entire time. I might get a pair of shorts or two but I don't want to get ahead of myself.
      Not really baby related but I took my Senegalese twists out last week and although it takes me longer to get dressed and ready now I am loving having my hair back! I love my curls!

Operation Nursery

      Now it's time for what you have all been waiting for!!!! Operation Nursery is definitely a go and although I won't show you everything (got to leave a bit for the imagination --- aka a big nursery reveal in August), I will give you little sneak peeks of our progress. Last week was all about the dresser and as you can see from the before and "kind of after" photos, it's undergone a major face lift.

                 

Before

Kind of after

      Eeek, I can't wait until you all get to see the finished product! It was definitely a labor of love but I think it looks great! As mentioned earlier, we bought another crib and while it was a hard pill to swallow, it's better this way. Originally I had purchased a used crib from Okinawa Yard Sales and with every intention of painting it I was super excited about finding such a quality piece of furniture for "cheap". As I researched different ways to paint and refurbish the crib, I met a lot of resistance, especially regarding the safety and toxicity of whatever paint I would ultimately choose. Nonetheless, I pressed on, fully determined to sand, prime and paint my dream crib. Well, insert rainy season, a broken sander and a husband who sleeps during the day because of mids, I quickly realized that this was project I was simply not ready nor equipped for. After licking my wounds and coming to grips with a failed project, I put on some pants and headed out to the BX. Luckily, I found the perfect crib for an even more perfect price and we're putting it together tomorrow morning so I'm a happy camper. 

***DISCLAIMER*** For anyone thinking about refurbishing a crib, please do not let my experience discourage you! It is definitely possible but please do your research, gather an abundance of materials and prepare for a lot of work.

      Is it just me, or does Pintrest bring out your inner arts and crafts guru? While licking my wounds about the crib, I decided to get a jump start on some of the decor I want in the nursery and since I had all the material for my canvas boards I figured why not knock these out of the way. I still have a few left to do but I'm loving the results so far. 

I love it! And it was super easy!!!

Extras

     I do have a few extras to report but I think I'm going to do a separate blog post on them because they're kind of a big deal and really cool! 

<3 ya!!

First Baby Haul! and Possible Gender results?

Hey y'all!!

So as you can tell by the title, it's BABY HAUL TIME!!!!! But before we get to all of that here are some updates:

*  We have finally decided to cloth diaper! Yes, I am beyond excited and have already ordered some for the stash. I'll do a separate post about cloth diapering and why we decided against disposables later, so for now that's all I am going to talk about on the matter. 

* We are still keeping the names a secret but have decided to reveal them very soon, so stay tuned for that! 

* I have officially gained 3lbs (it's a good thing, it's a good thing)...and have a bit of a bump! I'm going to do weekly measurements and will definitely include them, along with photos in my weekly bumpdates. (See what I did there? Its like updates but because I'm pregnant...bumpdates! I know super clever lol)

* We bought the crib! We bought it used for $50 and although we are going to refurbish it, its in really good shape. The seller even threw in the mattress but I don't think we are going to keep it because...yea, that's gross. 

* We had an elective ultrasound today and had our first official guess on the gender! The doctor would only say he was 70% sure "the gender" but for Okinawa/off base that's not that bad this early. I'll put in a picture at the end and let y'all guess some more. (Don't you love this game?) 

I guess that's it for the updates...HAUL TIME!!!!

For the past week or so we've been researching different baby items, recommended gear, etc, etc, but last night we decided to head to the lovely Kadena BX and do some shopping. 

 See, nothing too major. 

We bought some wipes (Jeremiah isn't down for cloth wipes), bottles, spoons (idk), mattress pad, washable breast pads, SUPER CUTE blanket, plain ole onesies, some socks from Carters, hats and my personal favorite - the 4 piece tiger outfit!! I absolutely love tigers so I couldn't not buy this.

Here's a list of items broken down by brand:

Gerber

* 1 pack of newborn onesies ( they're so tiny!)

* 1 pack of 0-6 month hats 

* 1 pack of First Essentials bottles 

* 1 pack of play and sleep onesies (I swear everyone has these but they were cute and lil J is going to need some pjs)

* 1 pack of infant spoons (preparing early I guess)

Carters

* 1 pack of 0-3 months socks (3 pairs per pack) 

*  The most adorable 4-piece outfit set. It comes with a hat, a onesie that says "Daddy's Little Tiger" on the front, a pair of pants with tiger footies and a orange and white striped sleeper with footies.

* 1 fitted crib pad

Exchange Select (BX brand)

* 1 box of wipes. ( I forgot how many are in there but its a nice size box.) 

Medela

* Breast pads (We are planning on exclusively breastfeeding

Misc

* The adorable jungle themed baby blanket. I love it!!!!

Not pictured

* 1 Fisher Price backpack (My husband doesn't like the diaper bag I picked out so he bought his own...what a diva lol) - it'll primarily be used for long, all day trips out in town/when we fly back to CA to visit family. 

Although it wasn't a huge haul I still love that we have started buying for baby and I just have to mention how much I love my husband for being so engaged and hands on. He is going to be an amazing father and that alone makes me even more excited for September to get here. 

That's all for today but more posts are coming your way very soon

See ya!

<3 Tiffe

 Ultrasound from today 

 Gender guesses? Sound off in the comments!

This was the best pic we could get. Lil J is definitely a shy little bugger.