Week 9: “The Enchanted Forest”

Hi Family … I’m back with another report :)



I’m having a hard time gauging how sick I actually feel. On one hand you hear about people who non-stop throw up for the first trimester; on the other hand there are those who don’t get sick at all. I’m somewhere in the middle and depending on the day I am either “making it” or “near death”. Then again, I am quite dramatic when I don’t feel well so take everything I say with a grain of salt. I constantly nibble to keep my tum calm. This week the favorites have been apples and nutella, kiwi, and yogurt. I figure if I eat all day I might as well be making healthy choices.

Dominic has started taking me on walks. I’m the closest thing he believes we will ever have to a pet, so I guess it is fitting! We went out to The Rock (I was craving a calzone) on Saturday night and walked along the Columbia River afterwards. Perfect date night! Dominic is doing Weight Watchers (the online for men version) so he is diligently counting points and activity. He started just 3 weeks ago and has already lost 13 pounds! He is planning to be a “skinny Dad” and I couldn’t be more proud of the healthy choices he is making. Obviously my Rock cravings don’t fit into that, but he is doing his best balancing them out with walks and no ranch dressing (so sad).

Dominic is preparing for his financial counselor training next week so we watched a ton of Dave Ramesy DVDs over the weekend. I napped on and off and made my way to bed around 8-9 pm. Being pregnant is tiring! I never would have thought I could overlook so much laundry and nap the day away!

Name Game …

My top boy name is Lennox. Dominic feels anti-Lennox most days, but I have faith I might win him over :)

Top girl name is Jemma … Dominic agrees on this one so if we had to name this little bean now (and it is a girl) that is what it would be.

The gender shall remain a surprise. Yes, I know this is rough for many, but I do know we will all survive :) September 30th (or round about there) will be here before we know it (at least that is what I keep telling myself between rounds of nausea and apple slices). Plus, I have been assured that there are many MANY baby items that are needed that are not gender specific. This baby is one of ? (however many) so I figure we’ll need all the basics since the next one could very well be the opposite gender. For example, a car seat. That’s the hot topic this week and M’Lissa has so kindly arranged a teleconference with me to pass on all of her wisdom! WOOHOO!

The nursery has been the biggest thing on my mind as of late. How will we decorate without knowing the gender? NEVER FEAR … it will not be yellow and aqua like mine was (love ya Mom)! I understand that was uber popular back in ’86, but aqua will not come close to this little one! We are thinking an enchanted forest theme! The enchanted just makes it sound more fun … it is really just going to be forest themed. I have attached some pictures (from etsy.com) so you can grasp my inspiration … bold colors (thinking kiwi green), patterned crib bedding, sweet stuffed animals, and my favorite … the wall art! I’m going to make animal silhouettes (fox, squirrel, butterfly, etc.) out of patterned paper and frame them. It will be hard to imagine until I get an example done so bare with me … I promise it won’t be corny. I’m also thinking of getting some tree things done (see picture). The room we are planning to use is already painted chocolate brown and I think we are going to stick with that. It is pretty tiny (no closet) so we’ll have to be creative in fitting a crib, changing table, and bureau, hopefully we can squeeze in a rocking chair.

That’s it for this week! One days until week 9 and only 26 days until the yucky part is projected to be over … cross your fingers and say a prayer!