26 weeks

How I Look - Pregnant!  :D  Check out those photos!
How I Feel -  Overall good.  Everyone once in a while my lower back and abs ache, due to growing belly I guess.  I've found my seat heater in the car does wonders for my back!  I really need to break out my heating pad at home.  Hot showers feel awesome on my back and help me to relax as well.

Weight -   +11 lbs overall

Symptoms -  Occasional lower back aches.  Bring on the heating pad and hot showers!

Cravings -  Nothing really this week.

Exercise -  Made it to the gym on Tuesday, which was also my first day back to work after the holidays, and Friday! 

What I'm Looking Forward To -  Checking our baby registries to see if anything has been purchased.  :D  

What I'm Not Looking Forward To - Need to look at a few more day cares and make a decision soon...ugh!  And the glucose test in 2 weeks.  Bah!

Odds and Ends - Last week I confirmed registration for the childbirth class and baby basics class.  Before the holidays I transferred my membership from my church in Maryland to the one here in Round Rock.  I'll have to double check, but it looks like we don't need to take any classes for baptism, all that is required is that we are members of the church!  Baby Ryland has also now resorted to kicking me ALL DAY LONG, mainly on my right side.  At least he's not keep me up at night....yet.  The BOB jogging stroller I ordered arrived this week, making it all the more real that we are going to have a baby here soon.  I'm super excited with how the nursery is turning out, it's hard to believe how much we've already accomplished!  On another note, I'm also freaking out that we don't have everything finished yet.  Granted we have a little over 3 months to go, but since 2011 hit I feel like I'm now in a rush to have it all done!    

26 weeks - 1/7/2011

Check out that belly!





  

Steiff German Teddy Bear

Check out the wonderful Steiff teddy bear my daddy bought for Ryland!  Steiff is the world's oldest plush manufacturer and is best known as the company that invented the Teddy bear; their trademark is the 'brass in ear' button.  My parents also gave one to my brother and me when we were babies.  They are coveted collectibles.  :)

So long 2010, Hello 2011

So long 2010....

2010 was the last year in which I will simply be known as Christina (or Tina), 2011 brings with it a new name and identity - one which I will keep for the rest of my life, regardless of the path my journey takes...Mother!

I know with a new baby in our lives that my house will not always be clean, things will not always go my way nor will I get to do all the things I want.  There will be times I'll be overwhelmed and experience many sleepless nights.  I will have my failures and successes and many lessons will be learned; but it will all be worth it.  It will be an amazing year with an exciting new chapter for our growing family. 

Hello 2011 and our new son!

Crib, curtains and glider oh my!

Lots of changes/home improvements going on in the Malek household!

Hubby and I painted all the bedrooms upstairs the weekend before my parents arrived for the holidays (yes, I really did paint).  The nursery received a nice kilim beige coat of paint, which will go perfectly with the crib bedding we picked out.

Next my dad and hubby put together the Pali Paula crib, which a good friend of mine from out of town gave to me.  It did arrive a bit damaged, but the men expertly repaired it!  Now we just need the mattress.

I ordered curtains from Restoration Hardware before my parents arrived, the curtains were delivered the day before xmas!  We bought a nice mahogany wood pole and finials from Home Depot and my dad hung them up for us.  The blue curtains match the crib bedding perfectly!

My mom found a new lamp base for the brown shade I had in the guest room.  The color matches the crib and dresser...and it was only $4 from Goodwill!

I also purchased a mirror with dark wood frame to hang above the dresser from HomeGoods.  We are still trying to figure out the best way to arrange the room before we can hang the mirror.  I'm trying to keep the bed in the room so I have a place to crash if I need to stay with the baby all night...but that queen sized bed takes up a lot of space!  We might have to take it out and put our futon in there or a couch from the game room....decisions decisions.

Yesterday I found an awesome glider and ottoman on Craigslist for only $45 - what a steal deal!  :D  It's super comfortable.  Currently it's located in our garage until we move it upstairs. 

Next up is to paint Emma's old dresser espresso and use it in the nursery.  We put all my old furniture from my childhood (which is still in awesome condition) into Emma's room, so she has a nice matching set. 

The baby's room is coming along splendidly!

25 weeks

How I Look - A stranger at buybuy BABY told me that she couldn't even tell I was pregnant.  Of course my parents think my bump has gotten bigger since they've been here.  Go fig. 

How I Feel -  GREAT, except for the one day that my breathing was constricted by my too small undergarments.  This has been remedied.

Weight -   +8.5 lbs overall.  I had a Dr appointment on Thursday and the Dr said "Finally, your weight has jumped up."  The 'jump' word freaked me out a bit.  I was up 11 lbs but it seems I've lost a couple pounds since yesterday...

Symptoms -  Same as last week.  Just the normal crankiness when I start to get hungry or tired.

Cravings -  Still sweets.  Malek picked up Round Rock donuts this week and I ate 3 in one sitting!  :-/

Exercise -  Last time I worked out was Sat 12/25.  However I have been walking the dogs.

What I'm Looking Forward To -  Adding more items to the baby registries!   

What I'm Not Looking Forward To - At my Dr's visit yesterday they gave me the dreaded orange drink, for the glucose-screening test, to take home.  I have to drink it for my next appointment in 3 weeks!  ~gag~

Odds and Ends - This week my mom and I went to buybuy BABY and set up the registry!  I had entirely way too much fun going through all the items and adding them to the list.  I thought this would be tiresome, daunting and annoying, but actually I really enjoyed it.  I also set up registries at Sears and Babies R Us.  I've already received the diaper bag from my Great Aunt Deanie.  I'm also definitely noticing that I tire out fairly quickly and it's getting harder and harder to bend over or get up off low chairs/couches.

I can breathe!

It's been a long time coming, but I finally had to break down and buy some new bras.  Monday I was doing OK, but on Tuesday when I got dressed I was miserable.  I just couldn't take a breath!  So mom and I headed off to Walmart to purchase those 3-pack camisole/sports bras (no way was I gonna spend a lot of money on bras that I'd only wear for a short amount of time). 

Ahhhhh relief!  I felt so much better after putting one of them on.  I went up 2 sizes!!!  :-/  I hope they last for a while.  Now I'm a bit worried my normal bras will be all stretched out...luckily I have some VS gift cards from my bachelorette party to use towards some new lingerie (a few months after baby is born of course). 

Baby has a name!

We have decided on a name!  We've been trying it out for a few weeks at home just to make sure we liked it.  This week we decided to share the name with family and friends.  Good timing and all since it is the Holidays and my entire immediate family is here this Christmas.  The name of Baby Malek is (drum roll...):

Ryland Carter Malek!!!

The moment I heard/saw this name I fell in love.  Surprisingly enough Malek liked it too!  We finally had a name that we both agreed on.  I had a lot of criteria for the perfect name.  We wanted a name that was masculine, strong, could have a nickname (Ry, Rylie), professional, sounds attractive and wasn't popular (I couldn't even find a Christmas ornament with his name).  Ryland was the one!  The middle name, Carter, is a family name on my mom's side and (for me) met the criteria as well.  :D  Win-win situation!