Thursday, May 27, 2010

May 27th

       Good Morning May 27th. 


Suddenly, I'm very glad that we're getting out of town for Memorial Day Weekend.

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

32 Weeks

       The countdown is finally into single digits. Just 8 weeks left and I'm trying to remind myself to enjoy every minute of it. I'm still sleeping great at night and aside from a little bit of acid reflux the third trimester has been pretty smooth sailing thus far. I can no longer bend over very easily and I'm going to have to break down and buy a few more blouses for work- I'm now busting at the seams in just about everything I own. I'm resigning to take on a lot less from here on out. Aside from getting through my final chores before baby and exercising here and there, I plan to sit back, enjoy some sunshine and keep my feet up as much as possible. It's so nice to have Jon back, he now has time to fix our car lights, hang shelves, store our winter clothes.... and everything else I've been saving for him over the last four months.
Here I am, a bit bigger then the last time I had this thing on display.



       Whoa mama. This weekend I'll be slipping into a swim suit. I'm not sure how thats going to work out, but I'm going to give it a go. And I'll report back on how sleeping in a tent at 8 months is! Camping pics to come!

Sunday, May 23, 2010

The Graduate

       Yesterday was a great day for us. After a long 4 months, Jon graduated from the academy. Now, Cadet Milam is ready to head off into the world and find a job. There are lots more classes, internships, volunteering, station visits, etc., etc. that will be taking up his time now, but we're enjoying a little down time while we have it. 
Accepting his certificate.

       
Jon and his academy class.

Some of the graduates (and Jon in an awkward pose).

Oh, and the graduate and his pregnant wife.
       Graduation was followed by lunch at our favorite restaurant, a walk with the dog at the beach, and some relaxing. We can't wait for more relaxing next weekend, when we head off camping. 

Friday, May 21, 2010

1 Baby, 2 Baby, 3 Baby- More!

       As friends keep popping out babies over the past few weeks, I've mentally been ticking off each of the births in my head, and my name is the next due date on the list. Scary. Just 3 weeks after me, my friend Brooke is expecting a little girl, and this week I got to throw her a shower to celebrate.
       You may remember last week I posted a look at some craft items that I had picked up, that I was putting together for this shower. Here's a look at how it all turned out. 
There was pink and white bunting.

Cupcakes galore.

Pink Petals.

And Baby Beecher (BB) Favors.

Oh, and the beautiful Mommy to be.

Here's the two of us, belly to belly. 
       After our friend took this picture, she said "Meg, you look huge!" This was followed today by someone else who let me know "I haven't seen you for a few days and you've doubled in size." Black. I must start wearing more black. 
       Can't wait to hear about Brooke's baby and swap rugrat stories!

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Busy Bees

       Us Milams have been busy bees this week, and I've hardly had time to check my email, let alone put words together to create a post. The week is winding down now, and  finally, we can sit down and breathe. At least for a minute. As the fire academy wraps up (he's at his final test, as I write this), I wanted to share a snapshot of what Jon's been up to over the past four months. I'm oh-so-proud of all the energy that he has been putting into studying and succeeding in the fire academy and we're oh-so-excited that we have some much needed free time coming up soon. 




       Saturday is our first day off together in about 6 weeks and we have plans. Big plans. An academy graduation and then a lunch date at our favorite restaurant! All of this will probably be followed by a nap with the pooch. Jon has about 4 months of sleep he needs to catch up on before little Milam comes along.

Saturday, May 15, 2010

Show and Tell

       This is Jon's last weekend of academy! The weather here is gorgeous now and the two of us are dying to get outside together and enjoy it. He still has a big test later this week and then graduation next Saturday, but then we'll be done with this portion of his schooling! In honor of Jon's last weekend I had to whip something up for his class. I had been craving yellow cupcakes with chocolate frosting this week so I decided I'd kill two birds with one stone: I create a treat for Jon's class and I get my craving fix. 
Yellow Cupcakes Plus

Homemade Chocolate Buttercream Fosting Equals

These little beauties.

I was so happy with the buttercream recipe that I used. 
They are delicious. 
And luckily, we ended up with 6 extra that I get to enjoy! 

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Pregnancy: My Top Six List

      If you asked Jon, he would probably say that I hate being pregnant. He thinks that I look at myself in the mirror too often, that I complain about things not fitting, and did I mention that I look in the mirror too often. The truth is, is that I'm pretty content being pregnant. Thus far I've avoided back pain, swollen ankles, crazy cravings, sleep problems, and heart burn. I've experienced my symptoms here and there, but its been nothing that a little gingerale or a foot rub can't handle. 
        In the spirit of Lettermen, here are the top six things about pregnancy that I'll miss after baby's arrival (I couldn't narrow it down to five). 


1) The Sneeze and Pee- Yep, you guessed it. There's something going on in bladder land when you're pregnant and a sneeze is just enough to unleash the bladder bag. Even if you're at work or shopping for fabric, this is one big joke that your nose and your bladder have come up with to put a damper on your day. Literally. 
2) The "I'm pregnant, I can eat whatever I want" Card- I try to eat healthy about 90% of the time. Lots of fruit, yogurt, whole grains, peanut butter, eggs, etc. but the other 10% of the time, I like to whip out this ole' excuse. Chocolate is a new dear friend of mine. Baked goods? Yes, please! And sweet sugary candy, why not? And the best part... its all guilt free. Because, I'm pregnant, I can eat whatever I want.
3) Huffing and Puffing- Last summer I peaked at running for 2+ hours on my long weekend runs. My lungs are in a different arena this year. For the past 4 months, I lose my breath walking up stairs and during other random acts. Last night, the act of getting into bed left me winded for a second. At work, I have to stop in the hallway to catch myself before I can go on. And don't even try to get me to carry on a conversation while I walk upstairs. Thats asking A LOT. 
4) The Beer Belly Effect- Last night is a prime example. I put on a tank top before getting into bed. A tank top that I hadn't slipped on in a couple of months. And low and behold, half of my stomach was hanging out the bottom. There was a very evident strip of white flesh where my pants couldn't quite reach, and the tank couldn't quite handle.  Your left to feel slightly oversized. Big people, Little clothes? This effect has also made getting dressed every day quite easy. With only a handful of options that actually fit, there is very little debating over the perfect combination every morning. 
5) Courtesy- People do not want to see a pregnant woman lift a thing. Gallon of milk? Let me help you with that. Dropped your pen? Oh, I'll get it. Handling events, this is a wonderful little perk. No one wants to see me budge a table, lift a chair, or carry a tray. Apparently, no one wants to be the person standing there while I go into premature labor. Oddly enough this doesn't include my husband.  
6) Foot Rubs- Now perhaps this is common place in other households, but in our household this little beauty has mainly been reserved for pregnancy. I'm not saying that Jon wouldn't extend a rub or two before baby, but clearly he feels it's his new fatherly obligation when my feet are feeling battered and bruised. Something about "its the least he can do"- considering I'll be facing agonizing pain in the beautiful little process that is called "childbirth."
       This list may grow and evolve as I'm just now on the home stretch, but these have been the highlights thus far. In the near future I may be adding "Sleeping in a Tent While 8 Months Pregnant" and "Realizing that You Outweigh Your Husband" to the list. Both of which may be just around the corner for me. 

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Project Nursery: The ole' runner around

       Joanne's Fabric in Reno, Nevada is quite the sight midweek. I was there on Monday, to hunt down some fabric for one of my final (crossing my fingers that I'm almost done) nursery project. There's quite the collection of people looking for fabric on a Monday in Reno NV. 90% of them are over the age of 70,  some smell pretty terribly of cigarette smoke, and yes, one even had her oxygen with her. I'm certain I could learn enough about sewing to fill a book from this collection of shoppers, and I would be much better off if I did. Lets just say that I feel pretty great about my glamourous life when I'm walking the aisles of Joanne's on a Monday. I fit right in. 
       This week, I was there to find some fabric for a runner to sit atop our dresser-turned-changing-table. The dresser formerly resided in my bedroom growing up, but my generous parents parted with it so that I could put it to use for Baby Milam. 
She's a fine piece of furniture but she needed a little something. 

It took me some waddling up and down the aisles to settle on a fabric choice, but I finally decided that this was the best fit.
After taking some measurements of the dresser, I got to work. 
The dresser is 19" wide, so I measured out 23" of fabric. Giving myself 2" on each side to work with. 
After folding the fabric, I ironed the hems in place to help me when feeding it through the sewing machine. Then it was pedal to the metal
And presto, chango! I just need to add my changing pad a top the dresser and the changing station is complete. 
The runner only took me about 30 minutes to put together, and the 2 yards of fabric cost me $14.00. I'm working on making 2 pillows with the extra fabric that I have. 

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Baby Shower Preview

       Have I mentioned that everyone we know is pregnant. In the past 2 weeks we know 2 couples that have welcomed babies, and my cousin should be popping anytime now. There are 12 women at my resort that are pregnant, 3 of which are in my department. And the list goes on. Next Thursday, I get to throw a baby shower for a good friend from work. This weekend, I picked up supplies for the shower and I'll be crafting some decor and favors over the next week. Here's a peek at the things that I picked up.  Can't reveal too much now though, don't want to ruin the surprise.

Any idea what she could possibly be having? I'm hoping it all comes together!

Monday, May 10, 2010

Week 30

       This week we've reached 30 weeks, that means just 10 more to go,  give or take. We had our bi-weekly check up today and all is well. I've gained another pound so I'm up 20 now. The belly went from 26.5 cm to 29 cm over the past two weeks, and the baby should be weighing in somewhere around 2.9 lbs.



And here she is in all her glory.
Considering this guy still needs to gain about 3-5 lbs. its going to be interesting to see how big this thing gets. 

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Project Nursery: A Chair-lift

       This past weekend I gave a gifted hand-me-down rocker a little facelift. There was absolutely nothing wrong with the rocker to start with, but because of the various woods already in the room, I wanted to try slapping some paint on it. 
Here's the before:
So, I unscrewed, sanded and painted. 
And painted. 
And painted.
And 2 days later I ended up with this:
 I utilized some yellow paint that I already had on hand, so it was a free project!
 The best kind. 
It now has a happy little home in the nursery.
      

Monday, May 3, 2010

Project Nursery: It ain't no Automobile

       Last week was a long week here at the Milam house.  As part of his coursework Jon had a late-night shift at the Reno trauma hospital and I was dealing with a conference for 200 lawyers. The two of us are more then happy to go to bed at 8:00pm these days so that we can be up at bright and early at 5:30.  Saturday and Sunday passed us by with no days off in sight. I was working and he had school. Finally a little respite has come, and for me it comes in the form of dog walks, naps, and crafts.
      I finally got to finish my mobile for the nursery. It had been staring at me all week, begging for me to work on it, but I just couldn't muster the energy. I knew I wouldn't be happy if I didn't at least make an attempt at a homemade mobile. I had seen so many inspiring mobiles out there on blogs galore. So I just had to pick my poison, which turned out to be felt, and my design, which turned out to be modern and simple.      
      I was able to hand pick the felt colors, and I chose an array of yellows, greens, and blues to compliment the other colors of the nursery. And I ordered myself this very simple photo mobile from Amazon.com for a mere six dollars and change.
       Then it was craft time. I needed to cut circles, lots of circles, that I would put together to create my mobile adornments. I chose 3 different sizes for my circles and used things around the house to outline them. In walked our wine glass, a spool of thread, and a lid to a one of our spices. 

I traced the items on different colors of felt, so that I could then cut them out and start piecing them together.

And this is what I ended up with, lots of circles of various colors:


Next, I hot glued the circles together and then stitched two sets together. Leaving me with 10 sets of 2. 
And here's the finished product, fashioned over the little one's crib. 

       I'm happy with the outcome and hope that the little guy is entertained by his felt-mobile! The nursery is almost finished. I'm oh-so-close and I'm antsy to have it all done. Just a couple of more things to take care of before the full nursery reveal!