Attack of the pregnancy brain

Through a process of trial and error (lots of error), I've learned that pregnancy brain and birthdays don't mix. As much as I try to be ahead of the game and on top of things, I have inevitably failed in the birthday greetings department. My mom's birthday is in December. I had her card bought in November and had it mailed a good three or four days before her actual birthday. I was so proud — until it was 9:30 p.m. on the night of her birthday and I had yet to call her. I had spent the whole day thinking it was a Wednesday, knowing that Mom's birthday was on a Tuesday. Needless to say, I felt like a heel.

Then January rolls around along with my sister's birthday. I had bought her card at the same time I had Mom's, so it was ready and waiting on the desk to be signed, sealed and delivered. It wasn't until I called Courtney to wish her a happy birthday on that day that I realized the card was still patiently awaiting further orders and not on its merry way to Nashville.

I tell these (no doubt incredibly enthralling) stories to say that I've yet to come up with the perfect system to remember anything. Aside from the birthdays, pregnancy brain has made keeping up with my class assignments next to impossible. I have them written down all over the place, only to come back to my scrawlings with little recognition as to what it all means. And forget forming on a coherent sentence. I've decided to just start tossing out sandwich meats as filler.

These little Rememberings seem like they would be helpful. They're the "Live Strong"-style option to the traditional string around your finger. The only problem is that I would have to remember to put one on or figure out which one of them I need to remember. I could always go the Harry Potter route and carry a Remembrall like Neville.

To top it all off, I had a cute little one-liner for an ending, but I forgot it. Oh well.

Salami.

Rememberings images via Design Milk.

Week 27: Making room

In my Thursday night class, we had to explain how something we had brought to class reflects something about us as a "getting-to-know-you" type exercise on the first night. I found myself at a loss. I wasn't my planner because I'm far from organized, and I wasn't my shoes for all of the places I've traveled. So I decided to go with my maternity pants. Like my pants, I have to be able to stretch and make room for life's changes. I'm accommodating more responsibilities (family, work, school), and therefore have to find ways to make it all fit. Give maternity pants another gold star for their awesomeness!

With this being the last week of my second trimester, that stretching theme is that much more relevant. Since the last post, my little guy and I have passed a few milestones. Right before Christmas he started distinctively kicking, and a few days after Christmas he could be felt from the outside. My sister Courtney got to be the first one to feel his little pops (that's what Scott gets for taking a nap), but Scott got to feel him a day later. Now Preston has a lot more strength behind him and makes his presence known as often as he can. If I watch my stomach, I can see his kicks and his arms and legs pushing along the way.

All of the end of the pregnancy events are coming up, between baby showers and maternity pictures, plus I'm trying to get my graduate school assignments finished up before April. It's crazy how quickly it's gone by and how far away April still feels. I'm ready for him to be here, but I'm focusing on enjoying these last three months as a family of two.

Four favorite pins: Snacktime

For the first few months of my pregnancy, I found myself nauseated at the thought of sweets — uncharted territory for a rampant sweet tooth like myself. But within the last month, the sweets cravings have struck, leaving empty chocolate chip bags and Nutella jars in its wake. So it's no surprise that my favorite Pinterest pins this week all center around satisfying my hunger for chocolate.

1. Chocolate heart peanut butter cookies: The traditional Hershey's kiss in the middle of this cookie gets the boot for a Dove chocolate heart, making these perfect for a Valentine's Day treat — or a Tuesday night cookie binge.

2. Nutella Rice Krispie treats: To use the logic of Joey Tribbiani, Nutella? Good! Rice Krispies? Good! Marshmallows? Good! With that deductive reasoning, there is no way that these could be bad. Plus, Feb. 5 is Nutella day, so I've got to start stocking up on my Nutella-based recipes now.

3. Elvis muffins: My friend Tasha posted these on her blog the other day and left my mouth watering. Three of my biggest cravings have been peanut butter, bananas and chocolate chips, and these muffins have all three! I'm already planning on making a batch this weekend. They probably won't last very long.

4. Brown sugar blondies: I really just think I want to make these because the Valentine M&Ms are so pretty. I also think a blondie is a nice alternative to a brownie.

Have a lovely weekend!

A whole new world

We took full advantage of this little perk.

Although Aladdin and his magic carpet were not involved, Saturday Scott and I ventured into a whole new world — for us anyway. We went registering for baby gear. I felt pretty prepared. My friend Heather had provided me with an extremely detailed Excel document charting all of the things she and her husband had registered for when expecting their daughter. (Obviously this document was the product of a self-proclaimed Type-A and her accountant husband.)

Armed with several printed pages of baby needs, Scott and I walked through Babies R Us's automatic doors into a sprawling almost warehouse of baby goods. Suddenly the 226-item list in my purse seemed like a mere drop in the baby bucket. We stood with mouths wide at an entire wall of baby bottles. Who knew there could be that many? What could the differences possibly be?

Slowly but surely we walked through aisles of carseats, strollers, bath accessories, bedding, toys, books and everything else you would ever need (or think you need) for your baby. We finished before Scott could request a paper bag to breathe into.

Next, we ventured to Target to repeat the process. We were both incredibly thankful that Target only has six aisles of baby goods, which we had already familiarized ourselves with at Babies R Us. We felt like old pros at this point.

Throughout the day, when either of us would become frustrated and equate our lack of knowledge about baby swings with our future parenting skills, I would remember that Preston will have two parents who love him, a house to stay in, and food to eat. That's all a baby really needs ... plus swing that moves front to back, left to right, bounces, and has six different sound functions.

11

Taylor over at Tea with Mrs. Kee tagged me to participate in this little "11" tag.

The Rules
1. You must post the rules.
2. Post 11 fun facts about yourself on the blog post.
3. Answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post. and then create 11 new questions for the people you tagged.
4. Tag 12 people and link them on your post.
5. Let them know you've tagged them!

11 Fun (or not so fun) facts: 
1. In the first grade, I played the titular role in our Christmas program, "The Littlest Christmas Tree" — a heartwarming tale about how even the tiniest tree can have the most Christmas spirit. My mom made my costume and, for the grand finale, the elves could turn on my battery-powered Christmas lights and hang ornaments on it.
2. One of the earliest disagreements Scott and I ever had while dating was that he never posted on my Facebook wall. I'm embarrassed by that.
3. I used to be somewhat obsessed with the Powerpuff Girls. For Halloween, I wore a Buttercup costume to school during my freshman year of high school — the perfect way to cement your weird new girl status. I'm also embarrassed by that.
4. My dad, sister and I used to fight over who got to drink the pickle juice out of the jar once all the pickles had been eaten.
5. My first major in college was pre-pharmacy. I was terrible at it.
6. After I've been reading a book for a while, I find myself narrating what I'm doing as if I'm the author of my life as a book.
7. I cry every time I see the commercial for "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" (the Tom Hanks, 9/11 movie). I don't know how I could make it through the actual movie.
8. While I hate being cold, I love coats, jackets and scarves.
9. My favorite grammatical error to fix is a dangling preposition. It's like putting together a puzzle!
10. I'm nerdy enough to have a favorite grammatical error.
11. I keep Burt's Bees lip balm hidden all over the place — in purses, drawers, various nooks and crannies. They're like my Easter eggs for chapped lips.

Taylor's questions for me:
1. Why did you start your blog? Initially, I started my blog to let family know what we were up to. Even though I have a job as a writer, there was something so great about being able to write about whatever I wanted to, whenever I wanted to, so it became just as much about entertaining myself as well as those who happen to read it.
2. What movie are you most looking forward to of 2012? Probably "The Dark Knight Rises."
3. Do you prefer to bake or cook? Or neither? I prefer to bake just because I'm better at it and have a one track mind. I need to focus on one task at hand.
4. Do you have any secret talents? I do a pretty sweet Napoleon Dynamite impression (actually, all of my impressions sound like Napoleon Dynamite).
5. What is one of your pet peeves? The incredible amount of typos Channel 4 lets by on their ticker during the Today Show every morning. I've actually looked on their website for some way to contact them and offer them my freelance copy editor skills.
6. What would your dream birthday involve? I would say my birthday weekend this past year was as close as it could get: spending time with my family and finding out I was pregnant. That part couldn't be an every year thing, though.
7. What is one place you have to travel to before you die? After watching "Midnight in Paris" this weekend, I'm going to say Paris. The first three minutes of that movie are gorgeous all on their own.
8. What is your favorite holiday other than Christmas? Probably Thanksgiving. It's just so peaceful and relaxing.
9. What season do you enjoy most? Why? Summer because that's when our family beach vacation is. After the Christmas countdown comes the beach countdown.
10. What is your earliest childhood memory? That's hard because I have a terrible memory, but I do remember catching my sister as she was falling down the stairs when I was about five and she was two. I had two black eyes for my first day of kindergarten.
11. What is your favorite book? That's a toughie, but the one that inspires me to be a better writer the most is Truman Capote's In Cold Blood. He had an incredible way of working words into the perfect picture and made what was once thought as dry nonfiction as thrilling to read as fiction.

My questions for you:
1. What is your favorite blog?
2. If you had a completely free day to do whatever you wanted, how would you spend it?
3. What is your biggest food weakness and why?
4. What is one skill/talent you would love to learn?
5. What is one thing your dream house would have to have?
6. What is your favorite TV show of all time?
7. What was your favorite childhood toy and why?
8. If you were to have a patronus (a shield against dark forces that takes on the shape of an animal) like in Harry Potter, what animal would yours be?
9. Where did you grow up and would you change that location if you could?
10. Are you a dog or cat person? Or neither? Why?
11. What is something you always dread? (Ex. going to the dentist, laundry, filing your taxes, etc.)

Tag! You're it!
Alex of Thoughts From a Working Housewife
Cassie of Cassie Jones Photography
Hannah of Sundry Mumsy
Tasha of Keeping It "Girl"
Kim of Kimberly Carol
Jennifer of This Is Who I Am
Heather of World Wide Williams Family
Anna of Barefoot Mamma
Katie of A Pink Carnation
Amanda of Adventures of Entering Adulthood

Nursery canvas DIY

"When I grow up" canvas with Preston's Winnie the Pooh, Sleep Sheep and little bison. 

Slowly but surely, Preston's nursery is coming together. All the furniture is in place, and we're in the process of gathering those little knick-knacks that add a personal touch. To go with our dapper gentleman theme, we have gathered prints of hats, little dogs, and have a pennant on the way with his name on it, but last night I decided to do a little art project that, while it didn't directly go with the theme, is still a cute addition to his room.

Upon completion last night

I had seen a similar canvas on Pinterest a few months back and loved the sweet sentiment. Obviously I'm quite keen on Preston's dad, so why wouldn't I want two of them? (Ask me that when Scott is in super intense Type-A mode, and my answer might be different.) So, I bought a 9x12 canvas at Hancock along with the blue paint (I already had white paint) and some thin paint brushes and went to work.

I printed the sentence off the computer and cut out the letter with an Exact-o knife to make a stencil for the canvas. After I had painted the canvas blue, and it was dry, I traced the letters onto the canvas and painted them in. The whole project cost me $9 and took me about three hours. The best part was that I was also doing my homework, listening to the book I need to have read by Thursday night on my iPod. (Even better than that, I got the book for free from the library instead of $10 from iTunes!) I felt incredibly productive when it was all said and done.

I love that, with the canvas, it can sit on his bookshelf or be hung on the wall. I don't know where it will finally end up, but I'm loving how it came out.

Diaper bag dilemma

Last week on Facebook, I asked what made a good diaper bag and what bags my friends would recommend. It's opened up a whole world to me, and I've spent more time thinking about bags that ultimately carry poop receptacles than I ever thought I would.

Diaper bags are the one baby-related thing I have no clue about and no idea where to begin. My retinas have the imprint of psychedelic and super girly prints burned into them after looking through the typical diaper bag offerings. There are also the choices between an obvious diaper bag, a big purse that could function as a diaper bag, and the diaper bag in disguise as a big purse.

While I probably lean more toward the diaper bag as big purse option (cute but still has all the little pockets and provisions of a typical diaper bag), I don't mind a diaper bag that looks like one. I just want the pattern turned down from the 11 on the amplifier all the others seem to be on. Plus Scott has to give it his "I'd carry that" stamp of approval.

So, what options are out there? Here are a few of my top contenders at the moment.

Clockwise from left: Timi & Leslie diaper bag/backpack, Ty Lucas Baby tote (completely out of my price range, but cute just the same), Skip Hop Versa bag, Skip Hop Duo bag, JJ Cole Mode tote bag, Timi & Leslie bag

Feel free to weigh in on the debate in the comments and let me know what you think makes for a good diaper bag. 

Christmas according to Instagram

I got an email from my mom today requesting a blog post. I guess I'm having relaxation withdrawals after my 11-day Christmas break and haven't been able to motivate myself to blog. My body became accustomed to waking up late, napping whenever the mood struck, and seldom moving from the couch. I think my little guy got used to the routine, too, because when I woke up last Tuesday morning for work, Preston gave me a swift kick as if to say, "Hey! You're not supposed to be up yet!" I'm sure he'll pay me back for that later on.

Here are a few Instagrams from my time off. I promise I'll get back into the blogging swing of things soon.

 1. A mini coffee mug I crocheted for Courtney

2. Last minute Christmas crafting

 3. An intense game of Jenga between Scott and my 11-year-old cousin Lauren

4. Tackling a 1,000-piece Tinkerbell puzzle

 5 & 6. Playing Headbandz (Everyone has a card on their head and has to ask the others questions to figure out what their card is.)

 7. Hot chocolate and leisurely reading before grad school starts back for the semester

8. Commemorating my Trival Pursuit win over Scott

 9. I've lost my feet.

10. Preston's tiny little shoes

11. Preston's quilt for the nursery

12. A hat print and little dogs for the nursery

If you'd like to follow me on Instagram, my username is jmhannigan.