Belly Picture

There have been some requests for a belly picture. These requests have come primarily from Slim. So, Slim, this one's for you. This is the belly at 23 weeks.

Glider for the Nursery

The weekend that I started the blog, while the boys were all golfing, the girls headed over to Georgia Baby and Kids to check out cribs and gliders. Although we were able to quickly find a crib we loved, I struggled to find a glider. I think I sat in about 200 different chairs but wasn't sure exactly what I wanted. Well, last weekend we went back and I felt like I had a much better idea of what I wanted. This is the glider we are getting in a light color called pebble gray! I absolutely love it and cannot wait to get it in the nursery!

We also found several other gems like this T-Rex wall decoration. It can be yours for only $3,000. If we all pitch in we can probably save enough to get it for Nina for her birthday next year.

Baby Belknap has a Registry

Several people have asked me about where we are registered so I thought I would share some info about it on the blog. So, anyone who came looking for pictures, I apologize. There will be no pictures in this post.

For anyone who was around for the wedding, you may know that I find the process of registering for gifts incredibly stressful. I walk in, feel overwhelmed, and shut down. The baby registry process started out the same way. I have been stressing about it for months. The baby registry stressed me out even more than the wedding registry. I think this was true for a few reasons. First, similar to the wedding registry, it just feels strange to make a list of things for others to buy me. But then I think about how much I love getting gifts for others and just try to get over it. Second, when I look at baby items it makes the whole thing seems very real. I am sometimes able to block out the fact that in a few short months I am going to be responsible for keeping a tiny baby alive. How do you figure out exactly what you will need to help you do this? Third, although I had many married friends to offer advice about the wedding registry, not many of my close friends have gone through child bearing and rearing yet.

So for the last few months I have sporadically gone in and added random items to the couple of registries I had started. Finally, last week I got serious about it. To help me figure out exactly what I need I turned to my good friend, Nan. Nan and her husband, Kris, had their little girl, Mary Hayes, in January. Nan has been so patient sending me pages (literally, pages!) of information about what they used and other information about the realities of having a baby. I am so grateful to her for her expertise and candor.

So I can finally say that we are registered! For anyone who cares we are registered at BuyBuy Baby and Amazon. In an effort to be real with you I will admit that I spent several hours Saturday morning stalking the baby registries of anyone I know who had a baby in the last year to make sure I covered all my bases. I'm sure there are things I have forgotten but for now I feel good about it.

Interesting fact: there is another Sarah Belknap who lives in NY and is due 5 days before me!

21 Week Sonogram Pictures

This is our 21st week of pregnancy and we had an ultrasound on Thursday. They said everything looks great! The baby was very wiggly but our favorite ultrasound tech, Sandra, managed to get a few shots for us.

Little hand with five fingers.

Two little feet.

And another profile shot. I hope to be back next week with more nursery progress. I got a call yesterday that our crib is in so I am going to try to rope Spuncle into helping me pick it up this weekend in his truck.

Have a great weekend!

Progress

I do not have much progress to share. The end of the year is always a little crazy for me at work but I hope to have more to share and start posting more regularly.

The first update I have is about the dresser for the nursery. It has been wood puttied, sanded, and most of it has been primed.  A couple action shots of the sanding process for you:

I know what you're thinking. My sanding attire is very attractive. You are correct.

Like most things, I take sanding very seriously. Thank you Doug for stealing bringing me a mask from the hospital.

The only other progress we've made on the nursery is in the closet. You'll remember what it looked like before:

Most of the doors still attached, shoe rack in the floor and junk throughout. My mom and dad (Pop and Still Undecided on a Grandma Name) came down to help us rip the unnecessary parts out last weekend.

Ripping out the shoe rack.

Door and hardware removal team/supervisor.

At the end we were left with this:

We've ordered more carpet and they should be coming to install it in the next week. After that our handymen (Undecided Grandpa and Spuncle) will be in to patch, paint, and install new shelving.

Speaking of Spuncle, who hates this nickname, by the way, he is taking his big final in Quantum Physics right now, so think good thoughts for him!

I will be back tomorrow with ultrasound pictures from our 21 week appointment!