Cake #2

I had my last lesson of my first level of cake decorating class today. Here is the end result:

I have really enjoyed these classes, so I am going to sign up for the next level of classes for the month of October. More sugar is coming!!!

Our Baby Boys Name Will Be....

We have had a first name picked out for our baby boy basically from the start. Actually, I have had his name picked out since I was about 10 years old. I think it was just this year I actually told Barrett my favorite names for a boy and a girl. All these years I had a fear that he wouldn't like them and my dream would be over for the names I had always loved. Finally I got up the nerve to tell him not too long before we found out we were expecting. Turns out I kept my names a secret for no reason at all. He loved them! We did still explore baby name books just to be sure on the perfect name, but in the end, we are naming our son the name I have always wanted for my little boy. His first name will be......

Jack is the name I have always loved! Those many years ago when I first started loving the name Jack it was more of an old fashion name that you didn't hear many little babies being named. Turns out it has become more and more popular in the recent years. That is okay with us though. We still love it!

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The middle name took some time to explore and decide on but right now we are pretty positive his middle name will be Ryan - after his daddy's middle name. So, Jack Ryan it is!!!!!

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Jack means "God is Gracious"

Ryan means "Little King"

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In the picture is the name that will hang over his crib in his bedroom. I made them by cutting out each letter in fabric, placing them on background fabric and sticking them into picture frames. I will be adding blue ribbon to the back of the frames and will hang them on the wall by the ribbon.

Cake Decorating

Since I am now home all day long, I decided that I now have time to get creative and crafty. So what did I do? I signed up for a cake decorating class. This is just a basic level coarse that lasts 4 weeks. Today I had my second class and I am proud to show off my handy work after just 2 days... ...My Fish Cake
Side view

The happy cake decorator showing off my new creation!!! I figure now is the time to get practice since there will be many years of birthday cakes to come with the little guy.

Car seat, Crib, and Nursery

We have made some fun purchases and decisions in the past week or so in regards to baby stuff. Last weekend we did our first baby registry list at my favorite baby store - BuyBuy Baby! That was exciting and wore me out but we had LOTS of FUN! We also purchased an infant car seat! The stroller we got several months ago is not a travel system so doesn't have an automatic car seat that comes with it so we had to find the right fit for the stroller we have. We went back and forth on brands and color choices. We ended up with this grey and white Peg Perego infant car seat. We are told they are built really well and are very safe. I love it! Yesterday we registered at my other favorite store - Target! We had lots of fun with this store too. For the past few weeks I had been eyeing one of their cribs and it just so happened that it went on sale last week. Yay! So we made our next big purchase - the crib! This is a picture of it off the target website so no, this is not the bedding we will be using. The crib is still in the box here at home and probably will stay in that box for a few more weeks until we have the room painted...which brings me to my next topic....
The Nursery! When I first found out we were having a boy I thought I wanted to do something a little different for decorating the little guys room. My first thought was to do a room that looked like a log cabin with walls that looked like logs, an antler chandelier, etc. A couple weeks later I started thinking about it more and decided, no, instead I want it to look like a baby room for a baby boy. So with this thought I was picturing baby blue walls, white furniture, and just light colors. After being set on this idea for several more weeks and going out looking at furniture for the nursery, Barrett let me know that most likely a boy isn't going to really want white furniture while growing up (which I guess you do need to think about since many of the cribs these days are the kind that convert to full size beds down the road.) Now I had to change my mind set again and picture what kind of a nursery I really wanted for my little boy that could include a darker wood color of furniture. Anyone that knows me well, knows that I love green and brown. I love wearing green and brown. Our house is decorated in a lot of green and brown. I just love that color combination. So naturally, what colors do you think I came up with to do the baby's room in? That's right, green and brown (with a touch of blue, too.) I found some fabric that I really love! Most likely I will be making curtains, and bedding of some kind out of this fabric. I also picked out these green and blue paint color cards. For now I am imagining doing the main part of the walls green. In that room we have a dormer window so I want to do blue and green strips in that small little window cove to add something fun to the room. The furniture will be a very dark brown color along with blue accents around the room such as a throw pillow or a lamp shade.

For now, this is my idea. I still have a couple more weeks before we actually buy the paint for the walls and all the fabric for the bedding and curtains. I really think I will stick to this idea this time. I love it! Now we just need to get started! Less than 4 months to go!

Catch and Keep

Last night while I was out I got a call from Barrett. He was as happy as could be because he had just caught 4 big catfish in just a matter of about 30 minutes of fishing. For the month of September all of the fish are catch and keep here at our neighborhood pond. The proud fisherman.

This Labor day morning he got busy with filleting the fish.
All 4 fish ready to go.

Java was even interested in the big catch.

The end result - fillets of fish. Right now it is sitting in our freezer waiting to be fried someday soon. Will I be eating it? That is a mystery. I am still not the biggest fan of seafood but maybe I'll get brave for this special occasion.

Week 22

Pregnancy Highlights How Far Along: 22 Weeks. Is my tummy growing or what???

Size of Baby: My books say he should be about 12-13 ounces. Each time the doctor has told me how much the baby weights after a sonogram, the weight is always several ounces more than all the books say. So I am thinking he may be closer to a pound right now...which makes me think he may be the size of our dinner last night. I cooked Cornish hens, each weighing 16 ounces. Later in the evening I though, wow, that is the like the size of our baby boy. I just had to get a picture of the little hen.

Maternity Clothes: Yes!

Gender: Still a boy!

Movement: I tend to feel him move more in the early mornings and in the evenings. Barrett was able to feel him move a little bit last week. The movement is still so gentle to feel from the outside of the tummy, but it was exciting for him to feel even as small as it was.

Sleep: My sleep hasn't been too bad this week. I am constantly turning from side to side and taking my full body pillow with me on each side. I can for sure tell that my belly is getting bigger, especially as I am laying in bed trying to maneuver it back and forth. I will appreciate the controllable size of it now, as I know it will only be getting bigger!

Symptoms: Not much to report here. Really this has been an extremely smooth pregnancy! I do have the munchies throughout the day, I take more trips to the restroom, and my back tends to hurt more than normal, but in all not bad at all!

Cravings: I woke up the other morning really wanting some pancakes with strawberry sauce, whipped cream, and syrup. When Barrett asked what I wanted for breakfast I told him just that. Unfortunately we didn't have anything to make those pancakes. His comment to me was - why don't you get these ingredients ahead of time? Funny boy. I had to re-explain that I have no warning with cravings. I just suddenly want it. I did end up getting the ingredients and had them the next day. Oh so yummy!

The yummy pancakes

What I'm Looking Forward To: Just this week I have gotten to really thinking about and imagining having this baby here with us. I wish he was here right now to hold and cuddle with and to take on walks with this beautiful weather right now. Until that time though I will just enjoy feeling him move inside of me and prepare to the best of my ability for his arrival.