I forgot about ME growing!

This blog is called "Growing and Sewing Lesa," but I haven't shared any of my growing!  Just a quick post with pictures from the last 5 months!  I am currently 35 weeks along and will not be going past due because of my gestational diabetes.  This means less than 5 weeks and our little guy will be here!  Looking back at these pictures makes me realize how quickly the time as gone.  I have truly loved being pregnant, but can't wait to meet my son.

13 weeks, pretty much just my pudge!

19 weeks

28 weeks

35 weeks, ONLY 5 to go!

32 week ultrasound

34 week ultrasound

First Baby Shower!

It has been forever since I posted, but we have been so busy!  I am hoping to get to the rest of my sewing soon as this baby is almost here!  7 weeks or less to go... On Saturday I had my first baby shower hosted by my good friend Kayla.  It was a pretty small group, but we still had a blast!  The snack table looked great and even had some GD friendly items which I greatly appreciated!

Kayla made a super cute diaper cake too, which I had never heard of before.  I love the monkey theme since it goes with the nursery and can't wait to make one myself!

We even had a couple of little ones that joined in the festivities.  Elise and Kyla became friends quickly, except when they were fighting over the plastic hanger.

We played a get-to-know the mom game, a candy matching game and my favorite - the dirty diaper game!  I have heard so much about this, but never got to play.  I think you have to have the right type of momma to pull this one off and it was right up my ally!  Everyone really enjoyed themselves!

I realize now that I didn't get any pictures of me or my hostess... a little bummed... But I am so thankful for the generosity of great friends and the fun afternoon we had together.

Evolution of a Nursery!

Our baby haven is coming together.  We have it painted, furniture is assembled and sewing projects are well under way!  Just thought I would share a couple photos of how the room has evolved since we bought our home.

Below is how the room looked when we closed.  There was wall to wall paneling!  It was awful!  We even discovered a huge hole in the sheetrock!  Luckily my dad is handy and he patched it up for us.

We painted the room blue and used it as an office and music room for a while.  We had a day bed in there for about a year as well so it was a full fledged guest room!

It is now finally a NURSERY!  Or at the least the start of one.  I still need to decide where to hang my felt monkey art...Suggestions are welcome!  We are still looking to add a small table next to the glider with a lamp as well as a bookcase next to the crib.  I am most excited about the rug!  I just bought it tonight at Menards!  I was there for other reasons and came across this beauty!  I have been looking for a green shaggy rug everywhere that wasn't too big!  Best part, it was on clearance, only $20!

I love it and can't wait until it's finished and our little guy is home!

Rollercoaster Week

This week started out GREAT! I had a day of pampering and shopping with my mom on Saturday. Sunday was the round 1 of birthday festivities with Jimmy's family (Jimmy and I share August 19th as our birthday.) We had a pool party followed by some tasty BBQ ribs, fried chicken and all the extras.

Work finally started to get manageable by Tuesday and last night was round 2 of birthday festivities with my family. We gathered for more BBQ (can't ever get enough!) and good family time. I also had a very special surprise for Jimmy. I ordered the most wonderful cake in the world. It is from the same bakery we got our wedding cake from and was one of the flavors we had too. Jimmy has said this is the only thing he wants for his birthday for the rest of his life! It is a white chocolate raspberry cake from Penny Steele Custom Cakes. He was so excited!

Everything was great until we got home. I heard water running in the basement and sent Jimmy to check it out. Something was not right. There was water on the bathroom floor and our water heater was making some strange noises. I called my dad (he always knows what to do) and he walked me through turning everything off. I got to wake up early this morning to price out a replacement. Luckily we got our gas company to come out right away and at the best price (on short notice.) Needless to say, we have a new family member!

If that big wet mess wasn't already enough to make me cry (it was), I miserably failed my glucose test today. Everything was going great for my 24 week appointment until they took my blood. I didn't realize there was an "automatic fail." I thought if you failed the 1 hour, you took a 3 hour test. Nope! If you fail bad enough they just say you have gestational diabetes... More crying ensued... I feel like an absolutely horrible mom for being in this situation. I am going to try to do everything to get it under control with diet so I don't have to start taking insulin. Still, the selfish side of me is trying to figure out how I am going to live without ICE CREAM? And the piece of cake I had last night is probably my last for a while. I guess I will be adding some gestational diabetes meal ideas to this blog.

The only consolation to today is that I know tomorrow will be better. I am going to see one of my best friends, who just happens to be preggers too! Our children are already betrothed! I hope your weeks have been just ups and no downs like mine. Real crafting will resume again next week. I can't wait to get back to my sewing machine!

How I got here!

I am new to the blogging world and am excited to share my adventures with you all (which is no one yet...)  I guess the best place to start is the beginning of the journey that has brought me to motherhood.

I met my husband, Jimmy, in the fall of 2007 after being set up on a blind date by a close friend.  Who ever thought those things actually worked out?!  16 months and 9 days later we were married.  At 23 and 28 we had plenty of time to think about starting a family and decided to enjoy married life for a while.   

About a year and a half later we decided it might be time to start a family.  One thing that you will learn about me is that I am a bit of a control freak and can be a perfectionist... Those two things don't really go well with trying to start a family.  Of course, there are certain actions that will help you along in the process, but even if you do everything right it doesn't mean you will make that baby.  After 4 months of trying I was getting a bit discouraged (which is silly since it takes the average woman 6 months!) so I stopped "really" trying.  Yes, I stopped trying.  I was really pushing the topic and it wasn't helping things.  My first piece of advice to those looking to start a family is to take it slow and not too seriously for the first few months, it will make the experience much more enjoyable!

Sure enough our month "off" ended in a positive test!  We were so excited and a little nervous all at the same time.  My pregnancy thus far has been very uneventful.  I had no morning sickness and very few other symptoms.  At 7 weeks we got to see our bean for the first time.  I never thought watching a heart beat 144 times per minute on a fuzzy black and white screen would bring me to tears (Jimmy too!)  13 long weeks later (last Thursday) we had our anatomy and gender scan!  Everything measured well and HE looks very healthy.  We are very excited to welcome our little left fielder (Jimmy's words) around December 6th.

That leads us to today (21 weeks down, 19 to go!)  I am a crafty mommy-to-be that is also on a budget!  I hope to share with you my experiences with pregnancy and some of the fun crafty things I am doing along the way.  Nearly all of the decorations and accessories in my nursery are going to be handmade (including the bedding!)  I hope you enjoy this journey with me as my baby (and belly) continue to grow!