Nursery Furniture and other rantings

So, we finally have exciting news! 


Derek and I ordered our nursery furniture the other day, and I hope it will be here very soon. We decided to go with a dark brown. I think it was described as "coffee." We ordered the crib, changing table, and a chest of drawers for the baby's things. 


The crib is convertible, and it will eventually make a larger bed for Little Kid Ratcliff. That makes us very happy because it saves us money in the long run. 


I'm very excited! After we put everything together, we'll take pictures and post them :) 


Things are going well otherwise. I'm almost 90% sure we're in the midst of a growth spurt right now. I've had a lot of stretching pain, and sometimes, it's so intense I double over for a second. Lots of stretching and lots of pain that shoots down my hips. I guess this is that new fangled "round ligament pain" I heard so much about.  My weight has been pretty stable, and I think I've gained about a pound this week. I've been weighing myself every day to try and stay on top of it. Overall, I've gained about 10 lbs - that includes the pre-weigh in, lack of running weight gain, too. 10 lbs isn't that bad. 


Another indicator that we're in the middle of a growth spurt is that last Saturday I was bragging about how great I felt and I ran for forty minutes. I tried running on Tuesday, and that failed miserably. I thought, "Maybe I'm just tired." Well, I tried again on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, and all of those days ended in about 10 minutes of running and walking for the remainder of the workout. All of this round ligament pain makes it very hard to run. I had read on Runner's World that it's a good idea to get a Bella Band or a support band to wear when you run so the pain doesn't stop you. I think I'm going to try and pick one of those up today. 


I've been hitting the Wii Fit a lot. Makes me feel like a total weenie. I always just did the balance games for fun, but now, I'm actually doing the little lame workouts just to keep myself from blimping up. And I'm sorry, but that yoga is not yoga. Just for the record. 


Other symptoms have included more pregnancy acne. One of my coworkers recommended seeing a dermatologist since there are things you can take. I've seriously been considering it. I'm able to cover it up, but it just makes me feel mega ugly. Derek says it's not that bad and he doesn't even notice it. That's all that really matters :)


I've had a  few more suspect moments when I thought I could feel the baby move. I'm not sure, though. Apparently, you can have twinges in your stomach when your uterus is growing, so I'm not quite calling it movement yet. It could be a number of things: gas; uterus twinges; food digesting. In about 2 more weeks, I'll be 100% sure.


And speaking of being mega ugly, I'm going to a hair appointment today. That may sound like, "What? that's not a big deal." I do not cut my hair. Ever. For any reason. After the fiasco of April 2008 when that skank heifer cut all of my hair off at Fort Stewart, I've been skiddish of salons since. Today, I've decided that I will go and let someone trim my hair and possibly add "shape" to it. Whatever that means. I just want to wear it in a ponytail. I can't stand having a bunch of hair bouncing all over the place when I'm trying to run, or do anything constructive for that matter. I guess how this relates to Baby Ratcliff is that I'm really worried about having hair that will not be easy to wear after he/she gets here. I sound like my hair is low maintenance, but I spend a lot of time straightening it. I'm hoping that maybe the trim/shaping b-s they do will cut some of the nappy out and I won't have to devote so much time to flat ironing it. 


I'm definitely wearing a lot of maternity clothes at this point. It's not entirely maternity, but I'm sticking to either maternity pants or stretchy skirts I had before I got pregnant. I wear a lot of dresses because they're most comfortable. It hasn't been cool enough for tights yet, but I'm looking forward to that. I'd like to find some good boots, but I can't find any that I like for less than 300 dollars. With all this I hear about feet growing (and God forbid that happens to me with my size ten Fred Flintstone feet), I'm not paying a lot of money for boots and then not have them fit. 


Anyway, this is turning into something about me, and I don't want it to be. We'll post pictures of snazzy nursery furniture when we (I mean Derek) get it together. We're going to shop a little in Savannah today after my hair appointment, so we may pick up a few more things for Baby Ratcliff while we're out. I can't believe tomorrow is week 17! :) We're almost half way there!! 

Redo Again and other complaints

After a couple days of thinking, I decided to go for something maybe a little more baby-ish. I was worried that the robot look was too "Mindy" and less "Baby Ratcliff." I figure this is good since it has birds, and I love birds and there will be birds in Baby Ratcliff's room.


Anyway, things are going pretty well. I've had a heck of a time sleeping :(


I know I shouldn't be having problems like this already, but I have to sleep on my left side. Apparently, it's the best way to be sure our baby gets the best blood flow from my heart. I had surgery on my ears twice, and now, if I lay on one side of my head (which is why I typically sleep on my stomach), I end up with terrible pain in my ears. Every night, I wake up with a horrible ache, and I have to lay on my right side until it calms down. 


I talked to my nurse practitioner about it, and she recommended one of those doughnut-shaped pillows that people use when they're traveling. That way, my ear would be where the hole is and I wouldn't have to worry about my ear hurting. I plan to invest in one of these very soon.


Already, we have added a body pillow and 2 more pillows to our bed. Four of them are for my use, and one is for Derek. :( I'm honestly very worried what the third trimester is going to look like for me. 


One big symptom I'm already having that's new is my feet have already started swelling. It's way too soon for this! I mean, I thought people didn't swell until their eighth and ninth months, but apparently, I'm already getting it. It's very mild, but I do notice it. Today, I had to swap out my shoes for flip flops because my shoes had become uncomfortable. I honestly think it has something to do with my water intake. Registration walk-ins make it very hard to find time to drink enough water, and I end up way dehydrated. 


Aside from that, I honestly feel alright. I looked in the mirror today, and I swear I think my belly is getting bigger daily. Still no definitive movement yet, although I've had a couple suspect moments. It all could've been tummy issues, so I'm still waiting.


If we had stuck to the original plan, we would've found out on Monday what we're having. For a few seconds, I really do wish I knew, but I know I'll be happy I did this at the end. We're still working on names, and we have a good list so far. Like I said before, we plan to make short lists for both genders and just pick one of the names when finally see the baby. Once we finalize the lists, we'll share them. :)

Fancy Update

Well, not really that fancy. 

I just got sick of the same background. I picked it pretty quickly when we first decided to do a "baby blog," and about 10 weeks later, I thought it was time to change things up. 

The background is one of those quick and dirty provided ones, but I dig robots and went for it. I welcome the feedback. I think it's a bit more Ratcliff-y.

And, I had originally considered doing the entire nursery in robots, and shoot, may still at this point. It's hard to find something gender neutral with robots on it, though. 

The next big improvement to come to the blog will be an updated picture of Derek and me. That picture was taken during the summer of 2009, so it's pretty old. We never really take pictures together - well, decent ones anyway. Usually, I'm just farting off over lunch and taking pictures with my phone and usually one of our heads is cut off completely. 

Either way, Derek and I dig the new background, and we hope Baby Ratcliff does, too. Oh, and you. :D

Nursery

When we moved in to our house, we went ahead and chose our nursery right away. We selected one of the bedrooms in our house near the guest bath, further in the back. The guest bedroom is in the front, and we've turned the bedroom off the great room into an office. It just seemed more appropriate than a bedroom. I mean, eventually it may be a bedroom, but we're just trying to make it to baby #1, not baby #2, at this point. 


Well, our entire house is this beige-type color, and we  plan to paint every room at some point. We wanted to take it one room at a time, and we figured the nursery is the best place to start since it doesn't have any furniture in it yet. 


We had considered a darker beige and green, but we just weren't sure. On Friday night, we just got some balls and went to Home Depot, and we found the perfect color. It's called Nurture (very baby-ish, right?), and it's a grey-blue with a hint of green. I'd call it a super-soft, super-muted seafoam color. We looked at each other and said, "That's it!" So, we ordered up a gallon of it, and went home victorious. 


On Saturday, Derek started painting, and I helped some with the trim. I pooped out pretty easily since we had already spent the day at the Historic Bluffton Arts and Seafood Festival (which was lots of fun). We really loved this photographer from Edisto Island. Her name is Susan Roberts, and I may purchase some of her bird photographs for our nursery in the future. :) 


Back to painting, Derek painted the entire room Saturday evening, and this morning we got up to finish up the trim and clean up. Sounds pretty standard, right?


Hah - It wouldn't be a Ratcliff Family activity without some sort of disaster. As I was working to clean up the white trim, I had moved the plastic drop cloth so I could get to the trim better. Woops! I dropped an entire quart of white semi-gloss paint all over our brand new carpet :( I immediately started crying and screaming that I ruined the entire nursery. Derek quickly jumped and said, "Get me a towel!" I was like, "Ahhh, I don't know where one is!" He said, "Get it together and act like an adult. Get me a towel." I managed to grab one of our brand new (yes, it pissed me off) towels from our linen closet. We sacrificed t-shirts, old boxers, and some stinky pajama pants to the clean up cause. 


I googled what to do - in typical Ratcliff fashion - and discovered that laundry detergent with club soda works perfectly to get it up. We used a lot of hot water as well. About an hour and a half later, the mess was totally cleaned up. At the end, Derek was sopping the leftover water out of the carpet with our Sham-Wow. We were in fact saying "wow" as we used it.

Yeah, this crazy thing.

The mess was cleaned up, and we finished up the trim duty. Derek actually managed to completely save the carpet, and you can't even tell it ever happened. As for finishing painting, we're going to have to buy some flat white ceiling pant to touch up the ceiling for next weekend, so it's not TOTALLY finished yet. 

We took some pictures of the process: 

Here's the mess

Derek doing some touch up

Me looking hideous and half asleep 

(this was just before the quart of paint incident)

Derek stared being goofy during clean up:

He decided to paint the chair he had been standing on

Now, here's the final product:

As you can see, it's a really light color

Oh, and that corner is where the quart of paint incident took place, so I think it's pretty much back to perfect. 

We're super happy with how it turned out, and we think it's going to go really well with everything we've already picked out. We're still trying to decide on a crib, but we've agreed that it will be really dark wood, maybe even black. We're going to look at some more in person before we make a final decision, so next weekend will include a trip to Just for Baby and Babies-R-Us in Savannah. We've found some that we really like on Overstock and Amazon, and we may just go that route. I guess we want to play it safe and see some stuff before we go ordering anything. We all know what happened with the Ikea nursery furniture last weekend.

Aside from painting, things have been going well. I've had a lot more energy, and yesterday morning, I ran for 40 minutes. I was so happy! I had been making it about 20-30, and this was really good. It made me feel like myself. I've suspected that I've felt the baby a couple times, but I'm not entirely sure. On three separate occasions, I've felt like someone poked me with their finger about 2 inches below my belly button. It could've been me being gassy, so I won't jump to conclusions yet.

Baby Ratcliff's heart rate has been around 155, so that's good. I haven't had too many intense cravings lately. Mostly, I've craved shrimp (that's why we ended up at the Festival yesterday). Tonight, I plan to make some shrimp as well. It's like I can't get enough. I've been trying to eat more protein, and I've been trying to avoid carbs if possible. This morning was the exception, and I had some super delicious pumpkin pancakes :) We were total fat kids at the Festival because we split a funnel cake (we call them flannel cakes in honor of Kurt Vonnegut). Hopefully, I didn't do too much damage. 

Overall, things are going well, and I'm so happy to have more energy. And before I forget, I went ahead and registered for our baby classes. One of my coworkers told me they fill up quickly. We're doing Baby Basics in January, Childbirth and Breastfeeding in February. I'll definitely post about them, and I completely expect something hilarious to happen. Derek's going with me, so I'm sure he'll do SOMETHING ridiculous. 

I can't believe our baby is now the size of an avocado! That's just crazy! I feel like time is going really quickly, and I'm really ready to meet our baby :) Derek thinks that's a funny phrase, so I used it deliberately :) 

I'll post more updates as they come! 

Third Appointment

The Weigh In 

So, today wasn't as BAD as you might expect. 

I weighed in - 5 lbs up since last time - for a total official gain of 6 pounds. Like I've said before, I did add a few before I officially weighed in, but I've read that's really common. Either way, I'm only 5 lbs up since last time, so that makes me happy. 

As I was complaining to my nurse practitioner, she told me that she had to talk to a patient today who had gained 16 lbs in one month - i.e. "You're not doing that bad." 

She did, though, heavily criticize my eating habits. I had been complaining about how careful I am but still not reaping any rewards. She said I need to eat more protein. I said, "I don't like meat." She said, "Well, what do you typically eat?" I said, "Uhm, for breakfast I like to eat oatmeal and then have an apple for a snack around 10:30." She was like, "Oatmeal is carbs and you should have peanut butter with that apple." I was like, "Oh." Then, she said, "Try eating almonds." I was like, "I don't like almonds." She said, "So you don't like food that's good for you?" I was like, "No, that's not it. I don't like almonds." I paused for a second and then continued,  "I like eating vegetarian-type food and I like grains." I think she got frustrated and stopped talking about it. 

Well, for dinner we had quesadillas and guacamole. I had more guacamole than I had anything else, and I laid off the chips. Which I must add: the chips are multi-grain and have no sugar in them and have added protein. So wtf am I doing wrong? 

I mean, I've never been the type to be like, "Hey! Let's eat chicken breast, Derek... boy, I love dry meat!" I'm sorry to all you chicken fans out there but I think the stuff is detestable. Give me tofu any day. 

I went to the gym this morning and did the elliptical since I was feeling pretty pooped. I think if I sleep well, I plan to run tomorrow with Maggie. I think that might help make me feel better, too. 

I mean, I don't want it to sound like I got a "don't let it happen again." All of the nurses said I'm doing a good job, but that whole bit about criticizing my eating habits really pissed me off. 

Oh, another eventful thing that happened at the appointment (and I almost forgot) was that they coerced me into getting a flu shot. I was like, "Eh? I've never had a flu shot in my life." She was like, "Well, we recommend that all of our patients get flu shots." I was like, "Well, okay. I suppose." I'm kinda nervous about it since I don't really dig stuff like that. I mean, I've never had one before - right? I guess I'm just kinda creeped out.

On to positive things!

The baby's heart rate was 155, and they said that's normal. She said my fundal height is perfect - so eat that you haters! - and she did say that I'm much more likely to show sooner than my taller counterparts. I mean, I'm only 5'3" on a good day. I don't have anywhere to put a baby.

Speaking of showing: I ordered some maternity clothes the other day from Motherhood Maternity. They had some super cute dresses that I loved - like this one:

 I also got some tank tops, yoga pants, and some shorts. I got several more dresses, too. I think it will really help my wardrobe. Right now, I can't wear a lot, so that's frustrating. I'm kinda creeped out by the "Bella Bands" or w/e. I dunno... having my pants unzipped all day seems unnatural. 

Unrelated to shopping but still totally awesome: My super awesome co-worker has a FANCY baby heart rate monitor and she loaned it to me. Derek was able to finally hear the baby's heart rate since he hasn't been able to go to the doctor with me lately. He was excited, and he was surprised by how easy it is to hear :) 

ATL

I also suppose I should update after our pilgrimage to Ikea in Atlanta this past weekend. We left with no crib - dah! :( I hated all of the ones they had. I mean, they were okay, but I wasn't like, "Yes, that's it!" We did get a super cute bug light and a leaf to put in the baby's room. I know, I know - it sounds weird -  "leaf" - but they had it on display and it was SUPER cute.  :)

Overall, we had a fantastic weekend in Atlanta, and the pups were totally tired from playing in the dog park all day. It was a lot of fun. Derek and I watched the miserable OSU game from our splendid Midtown hotel, and I had some sparkling cider since I couldn't have any alcohol. (Derek was drinking beer, so I felt left out).

Fake Beer and other adventures

Oh, and that brings me to my next topic! Long post, I know. I found some non-alcoholic beer this past weekend in Publix. I was STOKED. When I gave up alcohol for Lent, I tried O'Doul's (bleck), Sharp's (puke), and Kaliber (okay). Well, this one is made by Heineken, and it's called Buckler. 

And, yes, I realize that non-alcoholic beer has less than 0.5% alcohol. I had ONE and I plan to have ONE like every now and then, so I think it won't hurt anything. I mean, I won't even sip Derek's drinks since I'm that paranoid, so maybe that will give you a context. If there was ever a paranoid mother, I'm it. Derek can vouch for me. That sounds like I'm trying to reassure myself, but I know how reading blogs goes. Someone will read it and be like, "What a terrible f@&^#ing person!" Either way, I was pretty excited about it, and it made me feel less unlike my old self (or, more like myself? I hate to identify myself by the beverages I consume, but w/e. That makes me sound like a pseudo-contemplative hipster. I digress!). It actually tasted like beer! It didn't have that weird malted taste or taste like total asshole like O'Doul's. In short, it was fantastic!

I got the idea from a coworker who is also pregnant who said she decided to try non-alcoholic beer while out one night. I was like, "Ooooh yeah! They make that stuff don't they!" I had sort of left it back on my Lenten journey. 

Well, folks. There's your Ratcliff update. Let's hope I keep it to four pounds or under this time, and I think my resolve will help. I'll keep you posted as things develop, and expect another, much more interesting update on November 15! That's when we get our anatomy scan, so we'll have some pictures! :) 

14 Weeks Belly

I figured that since I hadn't uploaded a picture since my 8 week bloat belly, I thought it might be a good idea to finally take another. Here I am at 14 weeks:

Maybe now you will realize why I've had students say, "There are two in there!" However, one of my coworkers has the exact same due date as me, and we look identical. She and I are the same height and were about the same weight before our pregnancies, so it makes perfect sense. 

Derek took the day off from work today, and I came home to a fabulous new body pillow so I can hopefully get some sleep tonight. My tailbone has been really painful at night, and I'm wondering if it's because I haven't had anything between my legs to support my hips. My back also hurts a lot, and I keep thinking, "I don't even want to know what the third trimester is going to be like." I mean, I realize I was petite before I got pregnant, but this is ridiculous. Maybe the weight gain thus far has been a lot for my body to handle. I'm sure things will even out... right? 


To make things even more bizarre, my belly button is looking rather odd, and the other day Derek said, "I can see it starting to pop out." I panicked and said, "That's not supposed to happen for a while!!" Maybe my outtie belly button snobbery is finally catching up to me - (for years, I've told Derek that I think innie belly buttons are gross and dirty. I can see mine, so I know it's clean! haha). No offense to you innies, but we outties have to justify ourselves somehow!


Anyway, still no movement, but it's a little early for that. I don't really expect it for another 2-3 weeks. I do feel like a lot of pressure where things are growing, and for some danged reason, I'm still going to the restroom a lot. These dang websites keep telling me that eases up! Argh! When?! Please?!


As things have really progressed and I feel legit now, I'm really getting excited. Before, I would think about labor and get really nervous. I've been getting griped at by my nurse practitioner for wanting to do a natural birth, but the more I think about it, the more I really want to do it. I haven't totally decided, and once I do, I'll follow up with everyone. Any advice?


I'll just be happy to see our little bundle and know that he/she is ours. I'm really wondering what the baby will look like now, and I kind of hope that it has a bunch of hair at birth like I did. I had a total fro, and I think it looked awesome - haha. Either way, I know it'll be the most adorable baby in the world :) I mean, with a dad like Derek, it has to be cute :D 


My next appointment is on Monday, and I'll at least update again then with the most recent doctor news. :)


Until then, I'm off to go bake pumpkin bread and get ready for Modern Family! I love Wednesday nights!

Great Article

I thought I'd take a second from my lunch to share an article I just read.


http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-238-275-559-12461-0,00.html


It's on RunnersWorld.com, and it makes me feel a lot better about everything. They have a great pregnancy section in general.  So, thank you, Runner's World, for sharing this. 

Second Trimester

Well, here we find ourselves in the second trimester! 


I can't believe we're this far along already, and I can't believe our baby is now the size of a lemon! I have an appointment in one week from tomorrow, and I'm a little worried about weighing in. I think I'm always worried about weighing in though... 


After my amazing one pound gain at my last appointment, I decided to ease up on myself a tad and enjoy some food. However, I'm worried I've enjoyed a little too much food. Yesterday, I put on some maternity pants that are really intended for first trimester, early second trimester tummies, and oh my gosh, they were so tight I couldn't breathe. The legs were tight, and I think that's my biggest concern. 


I've continued to run, but I certainly can't run like I did before. If I'm feeling tired, I'll go to our fitness center and do the elliptical. I honestly thought I had been doing a pretty good job of keeping up with it. When I weighed myself this morning on the Wii Fit, it went, "Dun Dun Dun... That's OVERWEIGHT." I was like, "wtf?" Thankfully, it spared me the whole, "Now, let's think about the cause of your weight gain," because I know pregnancy isn't an option.


I, of course, freaked out. I've gained right around 5-7 pounds. I'm going to wait and weigh myself again tomorrow, and maybe it will be better. 5-7 pounds is a little too much for 14 weeks of pregnancy, in my opinion. 


I was told by my nurse practitioner to only gain a total of 20 pounds because of my small size, but my supervisor and neighbor Megan gained more than that and we're the same height. I don't know. Now, I'm really upset, and I plan to run a little more this week to try and salvage myself. 


On to other things.. I know everyone gets sick of Mindy bitching about her weight. Honestly, I get sick of it, too. Put yourself in my shoes, though. After 26 years of watching my weight, I am now being told, "Hey, it's okay! Feel fat! Eat whatever." It's a bizarre feeling. 


I don't think I've ever really addressed some of the things I miss. So far, I can say with certainty that I've missed a lot of things. That may sound really negative, but it's not meant to be. I'm just being honest. I've really missed beer and wine, and yes, margaritas with my Mexican food. I may sound like an alcoholic, but I do love beer and wine - especially delicious dark beer and red wine. I've missed runny eggs (which are the only kind to eat). I'm probably the pickiest egg eater ever. Just the smell of scrambled eggs is enough to make me want to vomit. Omelettes make sick just thinking about them. Bleck.


Other than food, I've missed running like I did before. I loved being able to wake up on a weekend morning, go outside, and just run forever. Then, I'd come in, ice my knees, and eat pancakes. It was fabulous. I think especially now that the Savannah Bridge Run is coming up I feel extremely left out. Oh, and I really miss soccer. Derek's playing in a league (best part, his team's name is Team Zissou!), and I get to just sit at home. I love soccer :(  


Overall, I guess you could say that I just generally miss having control over my body. If I felt fat, I ran my ass off one morning. If I wanted to stay up late and watch a movie, I could. Now, I'm tired by 8 pm, and if I'm up later than 9, I typically will get whiny and may start crying. 


My symptoms are pretty typical. I have heartburn multiple times a day. I have frequent headaches, and my face looks horrible. No one else I've known has suffered from pregnancy acne, but man, I've got my share of it. Right now, I'm using baby wash on it since it's mild. You can't use any of the usual over the counter stuff on it, either. I guess all of those things are in the aspirin family - argh! I have an extremely stuffed up nose. I also get pretty burpy, so sometimes when I meet with students at work, I have to apologize a hundred times just because I keep having issues. It's really embarrassing :\ The heartburn is really probably the worst, though.


I've already had to use my first pregnancy-related day off on Friday. Every time I stood up, I felt like I was going to faint. I was going to go to work anyway since I teach a class on Fridays, but Derek pretty much talked me into staying home. I stayed in bed the entire day and ate. I'm sure that really helped my numbers this morning.


My cravings at this point are so stereotypical I'm afraid to even mention them. We went to Sam's Club after Mass today, and I insisted on getting the largest jar of pickles I could find. I came home and was eating them out of the jar. I felt ridiculous. If you know me, you know I HATE pickles. Usually, Derek will eat my complimentary pickle that comes with sandwiches, but not today, I was eating them like they were popcorn.


I've also craved a lot of citrus lately, and that's even more hilarious now that the baby is the size of a lemon. My other big craving is shrimp. I'm guessing my body is turning to the one kind of meat that I do like, and I am very appreciative. In fact, I may request that we eat shrimp for dinner tonight. Yum... :)


Well, there's my trimesterly update :) AKA gripe session. I'm going to try and get to working out a little harder and just focusing on the positives. Pretty soon, I'll get to feel Baby Ratcliff move, and I cannot wait for that. Also, I will get an ultrasound next month, and that will be a much more detailed view of the baby than the gummy bear we saw back in August. Hopefully, I can get my hands on some clothes that fit, and I can watch what I eat a little better. 


Here's to puffing up! 

Nursery Bedding

You would think that a couple would choose their nursery furniture THEN the nursery bedding... right?


Well, we did the exact opposite. We had been planning on buying all natural wood colors for Baby Ratcliff in order to keep the natural/organic thing going. Well, we've finally found some nursery bedding that we like. I'm not as crafty as our friend Lindsay who is trying to decide whether to sew her own bedding. Go, Lindsay! If I tried to sew something for Baby Ratcliff, it would all end in tears. 


This is what we've picked. I have a thing for owls, and if you look at my other stuff, you'll notice most of things we like have owls on them. Derek really loved the colors, and now, he's thinking about painting our nursery to go with this. :) He's so cute! We both really like the dark furniture with it, so we may look for something like that. 


We don't really want it to be all crazy matchy-matchy, but we do love the owl pillow. 

And the little wall hangings, too.

I think it's a good look for a girl or a boy, so I'm really excited. Like I said, though, we don't really want everything to be SUPER matchy or anything. I hate nurseries that look like that. 

I also really like how our neighbors Megan and Justin added things to their sports themed nursery that could grow with their son, Truman. I think we'd like to try and do some things like that. We aren't sure what those things will be yet, but I'm sure we'll find them. 

We both keep talking about making sure Baby Ratcliff has a lot of books, but I'm not sure Baby Ratcliff will be ready for Ulysses just yet...  

And don't forget this one either...

We can't forget about GSU!

 :D

So cute!

I had to take a second to post this because it's too cute!

 All I'm going to say is this: Baby Ratcliff needs it!

If anyone finds some good deals on baby OSU gear, please let me know! 

Boy or girl, Baby Ratcliff will be a Buckeyes fan! :D

Changing up the game plan!

Normally, I don't have enough time to even think about doing more than a post a week, but today, I'm doing two posts in one day. Hah! 

Well, we figured we wanted to get this out there on the heels of discussing baby clothes and gear. Are you ready for a big shocker?

Derek has talked me into not finding out the baby's gender. *Gasp!* I know, I know. Mindy has no patience and never will. How will she survive?! 

He has wanted to have Baby Ratcliff be a surprise from the beginning, but I'm impatient and love to plan out colors, etc. Since we're doing mostly gender neutral gear, we figured that part won't be affected. That pretty much leaves me with the crazy impatience.

Derek and I were having a chat with some of his co-workers and boss. Henry, Derek's co-worker, was surprised to hear that we'd find out the gender. He waited with his little boy, and then Derek's boss, Michele, joined in on the conversation. She said she also waited with her daughter, now a teenager, and she said she wouldn't have done it any other way. 

As Michele aptly put it, "You don't get many surprises as an adult," and Henry added, "It's the most exciting feeling to find out right there as the baby is delivered." After that, I thought about it, and Derek has finally convinced me to wait. 

We figure that humans have waited to find out throughout history, and it seems much more natural to just wait. We also agree with Henry and Michele when they say that you don't get many surprises in life. Either way, we'll be ecstatic, and we'll just have more time to decide on names :) 

I plan to cancel my gender scan appointment, and I plan to look away when they check the baby in the ultrasound in November. Two of my coworkers recently did it, and I think they would agree that it's totally worth it. 

So folks, we'll find out in April what Baby Ratcliff will be :) 

Registries

We've been getting a lot of questions from family about registries. Yes, Derek and I have two registries, and we're going to list them here for your convenience. 


First, we want to announce to everyone that we plan to use cloth diapers. Please do not purchase plastic diapers since we'll have to give them away! If you're looking for something cheap to get, look at the price on this thing! Under 20 bucks! I don't think you can buy a pack of Pampers for that cheap! :D 


When I told my mom that we plan to use cloth diapers, she was a little surprised. However, they've changed a lot since my mother used them on my sister (who is now 36). I mean, look at this:

so cute!

The snaps prevent sticking the baby, and they're waterproof! I think it's awesome. 

Basically, I'll wash them myself, and since we'll be breastfeeding, the "mess" will be easy to clean up - or so I've heard. In short, if you're looking for a gift under 20 bucks, go for a cloth diaper of any variety. They come in all-in-one, pocket, pre-fold. We've sincerely looked at hybrid diapers by gDiapers which basically are cloth but have biodegradable inserts that you can flush in your toilet. Our washer has a sanitize cycle, so that will make it super easy to just wash them with the wet bag and get everything nice and tidy for Baby Ratcliff. 

We're trying to be economical and earth-friendly, so please don't purchase any plastic diapers since Baby Ratcliff won't get to use your gift :( 

I hope that doesn't sound pushy or anything, but my mom immediately said, "Well, you know people will buy diapers for you!" We're just trying to save your money, so please accept my apology if I've offended you.

 On to the registries:

We've registered at Target since Target is near most of our family and it's easy to order online. Just search for my name or Derek's name, and it will appear. You'll notice that we've tried to include big items as well as small. We sincerely appreciate any gift! You can also get a gift card which would also be very special and easy to ship since we know we're far from family. 

https://www.target.com/registry/baby/KRTVQES35BQS

The other registry is on Diapers.com which has free shipping (yay!). Here is the link:

http://www.diapers.com/baby-registry/56536/Mindy-Ratcliff

Diapers.com has several cloth diapers on there!

We haven't really included any clothing on our list since we'll be excited to see what our family and friends choose. Shopping for a baby is supposed to be fun, so we want you to pick things you like :) 

For our nursery, we're planning to do mostly browns and beiges. I've chosen mostly organic and natural items, and we'd like to stick with that. We're also planning to stick with natural wood tones. We want Baby Ratcliff to be very earth-friendly from the start :) We're also thinking that it will be nice when Baby#2 arrives some day since those are mostly gender neutral tones. 

I know my mother is currently planning to have the Porter family legend Aunt Betty make a quilt for Baby Ratcliff (yes!), so I'm super pumped about that. I absolutely adore the quilt she made for me while I was in college. She's very talented! With that said, we LOVE handmade items, so please feel free to knit, crochet, or sew something for Baby Ratcliff. It's all the more affordable and made with love.  

Derek and I have planned a trip later this month to go shopping in Atlanta (and I so love ATL!) for our nursery furniture. I hope we have some success and we'll be able to update everyone with what we've got! 

I hope this helps! We really aren't picky people, and we'll just be thrilled that our family loves us and wants to contribute! We know we're just finishing up our first trimester, but we wanted to give everyone plenty of time to plan. We live far away, and shipping isn't always cheap. That's assuming you don't go with the free Diapers.com option! ;)