Saturday Shopping Adventure

It was quite the productive Saturday! My mom and Katie braved the maternity clothing store world with me and were quite the troopers as we ran all over the city for a lovely afternoon of shopping. I'm a picky shopper normally and usually go by myself and take forever, but we had quite the system down after the first store - I tried things on like crazy and they hung up and returned my massive reject pile, and brought me new options. I really didn't want to spend much since I'll only be wearing them for 5ish months and its hard to get excited about elastic and panelled pants and tops big enough to fit a bowling ball under. As tempting and cute as the designer brands/stores were, we went the bargain route and had a lot of luck. I came home with 2 pairs of dress pants, a dress, 2 cardigans, 3 long sleeve work shirts, and 6 short sleeve shirts that will eek by as work shirts or casual - all for $200!!! Hope this will get me through the end of winter and spring. Will need to pick up a few casual summer options (capris, shorts, tanks, & sundress) to get me through June/July and figure out what in the world to wear for a fun fancy wedding in April, but feeling pretty set for now. A few pictures from the shopping spree:





***Maternity Store Experience Rankings***

Nine Consign - Minneapolis *D*

Not impressed at all. The thought of used clothing creeps me out but figured it was worth taking a look as the website seemed promising. Unfortunately it felt very consignmenty and the selection, quality, and brand names were lacking and the clothes seemed overpriced. I found a cute summer top so it was worth checking out.

Bellies to Babies - Richfield *B-*

This place somewhat improved my uneasiness about consignment - it was nicely decorated and had much better selection, brands and pricing than Nine. Walked away with 3 tops and a pair of dress pants and might even go back in a couple months to find a few cheap summer items.

Uber Baby Outlet - Richfield *B-*

I wouldn't let myself set foot in Uber Baby as I would fall in love with everything and spend a fortune, but we did check out their outlet. It had a fairly small clothing section in the back with lots of fun trendy options. In true designer fashion the sizes ran small so unfortunately most things I tried on didn't work with "the girls" but I did pick up a $150 dress for $30 - not bad!

JCPenney *B-*

Not my favorite store so they had to drag me in, but there was a nice little section in the back of the store with basics. Found a pair of dress pants for work and 2 cardigans that I'll probably wear daily in the office this Spring so it was a successful trip and the price was right.

Motherhood Maternity *A-*

Nothing flashy or sexy about this place, but the clothes seem to fit the best from here, had a wide selection of basics, and the prices were very reasonable. Not glamerous but would recommend mommys-to-be check it out.

Thanks again to my helpers - got some great deals and looking forward to having comfy clothing to wear for the next several months.

Ohh... We're Half Way There!!!

Ohh, we're half way there
Woahh Livin on a prayer
Take My Hand and We'll Make it - I Swear
Livin on a prayer

We hit 20 weeks today which marks the half way point and this Bon Jovi song has been in my head all day! The first half absolutely flew by, but I think the next 20 will take forever - counting down till July.

Feeling pretty good right now and have a decent amount of energy. Had to start wearing a few maternity clothing items this week - baby sure is growing! Might have 1 week left of getting away with my normal pants and a belly band, but I think the time has come to give in. Have a fun shopping trip planned this weekend with Grandma and Aunt Katie so hopefully we can find some cute inexpensive options for Spring.

Well I finally let myself start looking around at fun baby stuff - good thing I waited until now because it's quite addicting! Brian was a trooper and let me drag him to a couple stores last weekend to window shop - so fun! Babys R Us was slightly overwhelming in that we have no idea what half the items in the store are used for - good thing we have 4 months left to research and Aunt Amy as an expert consultant.

Found nursery furniture we really liked at USA Baby in Richfield. Will have to wait a couple months to order until we have a better idea if we'll be out of the condo or not. The company's brochure shows the set nicely - I like the espresso color with the silver knobs.



After a lovely afternoon looking around online I fell in love with bedding at Restoration Hardware Baby & Child. Excited to have a color scheme/theme picked out (cloud blue with brown and white accents and stripes/polka dots) and get a registry started.

It's a BOY!!!

We had our ultrasound this morning and everything seemed to check out normal - such a blessing. We're absolutely thrilled to learn that Baby Woods is a boy! Little man was sleeping comfortably and was not in the mood to cooperate and move in all of the right positions the tech needed, but when he did wake up he was moving around like crazy - she thinks I'll be able to feel him kick in the next couple weeks, but because the placenta is topside it'll take longer than normal. The heartbeat was 139 and baby's head is up by my ribs and facing towards my spine. He finally decided to spread his little legs and the quote of the day is the tech pointing and say "there is the little pokey" which she then translated into "you're having a baby boy!"

While pink is my favorite color I was secretly hoping that our firstborn would be a son and Brian was not so secretly hoping for a boy so now the Woods Family Dynasty will continue :) I just melt thinking about Brian as a daddy - these two are going to be quite the pair and Bella and I are now evened out - 2 boys and 2 girls in the house. My dad is already thinking about how to get a carseat into a golf cart - he is pretty excited to have a complete foursome now to hit the links - Uncle Trent, Brian, Grandpa, and Baby... sounds like trouble! The Woods Clan are already pros with little boys - baby is lucky to have Eric Scott as a cool big cousin to show him the ropes and where to find Grandma Jan's fun toys!

Here are the pictures we got to take home:






The first picture is of the face - it's a top view with baby facing east - you can see the two eye sockets and mouth hanging open. In an alien sort of way I think he is one handsome little guy :) In the second pictures it looks like baby is doing the bicycle exercise for his abs with his legs folded back over his head. The tech kindly labeled the boy parts for us. The third picture is his little foot. So fun!

I think it will take us a while to get the hang of saying him instead of it, but he is a dream come true and it feels so much more real now. Looking forward to shopping for lots of blue things in the future! Will start researching the essentials - stroller/carseat etc and think about registering in the next month.

Thanks for all of your prayers, love, and support! Can't wait for little man to meet his wonderful family and friends. :::hugs:::

Boy or Girl?!?!?

Today kicks off Week 19, and I'm counting down the minutes until my ultrasound Friday morning. So anxious to see the little heartbeat again and praying everything checks out normal. We're also hoping baby cooperates so we can find out gender!!! A healthy baby is our only wish so we're absolutely fine with either - can't wait to meet him or her. The guessing games have begun so I thought it would be fun to post them...

Mom & Dad
Kyle: Girl
Brian: Boy

Davis Fam
Grandma Deb: Girl
Grandpa Brian: Girl
Auntie Katie: Girl
Uncle Trent: Boy

Woods Clan
Grandma Jan: Girl
Grandpa Chuck: Boy
Auntie Amy: Girl
Uncle Matt: Girl

Old Wives Tales
Heartbeat(145): Girl
Salty vs. Sweet: Boy
Chinese Calendar: Boy
Morning Sickness: Girl
Sleep Side: Boy



We will definetly let you know when we find out pink or blue, but the name will be our little secret until we meet him or her! Excited to start researching options. Brian has suggested Xavier and Zelda thus far - good thing I get a veto vote :)

Baby 101

Signed up for our prenatal classes today! We're both pretty clueless at this point so figured we better get these scheduled. Went with the "Ready for Baby" Package of 3 classes at Amma Maternity in Edina. The lady doing the scheduling was very sweet and said to assure my husband that all women bring their husbands with, yes even to the breastfeeding class, so Brian will be there with bells on :)



May 25th 6:30-9:00 Breastfeeding
A little bit of preparation goes a long way when you're planning to breastfeed. Learn how to get started and establish a plentiful milk supply, recognize signs of success, interpret your baby's cues, and handle common concerns.

June 5th 9:00-4:00 Preparation for Child Birth
Everything you need to know to prepare for childbirth. Comprehensive coverage of the labor and birth process, pain management techniques, labor support, supportive interventions, cesarean birth and postpartum recovery.

June 8th 6:30-9:00 Baby Care Basics
All parents want to take the best possible care of their babies. Learn the most current information on newborn care, practice on doll models and leave feeling confident as a parent. Topics include care procedures in the hospital, pediatric visits and immunizations, what to expect for appearance and behavior, bathing & diapering, illness, sleep safety and soothing.

I couldn't help myself...

Watching Entertainment Tonight at 6:30pm has become a glorious evening ritual and is my favorite way to unwind from work. They were interviewing Jennifer Lopez about her new movie coming out in April called "The Backup Plan." She was promoting the movie's website where you can upload pictures of you and your partner and it will spit out a projection of what your baby could look like. I had to check it out - couldn't resist :)

Condo for Sale!

After several weeks of preparation we're really excited that the condo went on the market last night - 2 weeks earlier that we thought it would!

Last weekend we interviewed Realtors and ended up "hiring" Joe Grunnet with the Downtown Resource Group. We signed the contract Monday and they sent professional photographers over on Tuesday morning and had the listing live Thursday evening - love the quick turnaround! We're really hoping to get some traffic in the next couple months and are praying the perfect buyer is out there for us. If you know any candidates please send our way :) The listing is up on the MLS and multiple other online sources - below are a couple links:

DRG Listing

Virtual Tour

16...I mean 17 Week Doctor Appt!

The Doctor Appointment went well this morning and it was such a relief to get to hear the little one's heartbeat again - checked out normal at 145. The doctor reviewed results from the 1st trimester screening and the fluid levels and blood results came back normal! I was pretty excited that I've only gained 4lbs thus far :)

The biggest surprise is that they adjusted my due date from July 20th to July 14 so I'm actually 17 weeks 2 days along instead of 16 weeks 3 days. Craziness!

My 2nd trimester ultrasound got scheduled for February 19th - we're so excited to see the little one again!!! They will most likely be able to determine gender at this point so place your bets on boy or girl and send my way and I'll tally the results :)

Happy Friday!
:::hugs:::

Bedroom Project Done!

One more thing to cross off our project list - the bedroom is done! Repainted neutral, new bedding (thanks Jan!) new lamps, removed a dresser, and took down pictures/art. Looks a ton lighter and is simple and clean - hopefully a blank canvass for a potential buyer :) Now just need to find a new coffee table for the living room and we're hopefully all set.




We have four different Realtors coming over this weekend to look at our place and give us their listing presentation. Will let Brian run the show and Bella and I will just listen and smile. Very curious on where we'll end up with a listing price.

Will post another update after our doctor appointment tomorrow...