Maternity Cothes Shopping

I love clothes shopping...usually. Retail therapy is truly my therapy of choice. However, pregnancy has changed this. I didn't want to invest in a whole lot of maternity clothes for a few different reasons. And I was able to postpone maternity clothes shopping for quite a few months thanks to my sisters in law, July and Erin, loaning me some of there baby bump wear.
Earlier this month my mom came over and took one look at my makeshift outfit, trying to make non-maternity clothes fit over the baby bump and she gave me the 'Just because its zips doesn't mean it fits' look. She said three of my favorite words, "Let's go shopping."
So we took an afternoon to shop the streets of Woodfield and the mall. Talk about discouraging. There is a MAJOR gap in the over 5'8" and preggers department. I was getting noticeably frustrated with the lack of clothing options when the sales lady brought one more dress for to try. "Here just try this, the hanger doesn't do it justice." At this point in the shopping, after hours of looking, trying on and not succeeding, I wanted to say, "Lady, if that was the last dress on earth that fit me, I still wouldn't wear it." But instead smiled and said, "Mom, I'm done." So ended our first attempt of maternity clothes shopping.
Kyle, expecting a happy, just shopped all day wife to return home was instead met with an unhappy preggers lady. So started the research for a maternity clothes store that would better accommodate my vertical and horizontal needs. Alis! Belly Dance. My mom and I went to Belly Dace and it was an instantly better experience. Dresses were appropriate lengths and everything. But beggers still can't be choosers. Options in colors and size are still limited but I learned an important lesson and so I pass it along to fellow blog readers. Just go to Belly Dance!

Happiest baby on the block

As soon as Kyle and I announced the coming of Baby Hartman, there was a flood of book suggestions and baby classes to take from other parents. All very welcome advice - we need all the help we can get! So if you have any additional tips please feel free to share!
One of the suggestions we kept hearing over and over was this Dr. Karp's book/video "Happiest Baby on the Block". My brother James and sister in law, July, along with friends Lindsay and Jake, swear by this method.
Around 8 months into pregnancy I started to panic that I was well read in pregnancy and all the labor and delivery stuff but what about when the baby comes?! So Kyle and I finally got around to watching this "Happiest Baby on the Block". Seems simple enough - the 5 S's to soothing a baby. The video is a little cheesy but certainly this method seems to work. So to all you soon to be parents out there - check it out!
Now if Baby H could just wait a few more weeks, I still need to finish reading, "Baby 411" and "What to Expect the First Year". Then I will officially be ready for his or her arrival!

A Weekend in the Northwoods

The last weekend in Aug was spent in the northwoods - visiting with Kyle's family. Wanna know how to make a 6 hour drive even longer? Do it while in your final trimester of pregnancy! Talk about a SUPER uncomfortable car ride! But once we (FINALLY) arrived, the weekend was full of fun activities!

Among them, was a Hartman family baby shower. Its nice when all the Hartman's can get together. It doesn't happen often enough. Kyle and I had our three nephews help open all Baby H's super generous gifts. And Baby H has already started sharing with his cousins. After empty some of the boxes the kids had a great time playing with Uncle Kyle in them.
Kyle and I were later looking at the pictures from the day. While looking at the one above he said, "You know, it would be nice to have a little Hartman girl in that picture." Kyle has been so sure that Baby H is boy that this was the first time I heard him waiver in his certainty.
A special and sincere thank you to my two fabulous sister in laws, Erin and Bree and my mother in law, Chris, for a beautiful shower.

Taking a Stroll

One of the dog-baby training items I have been dragging my feet on, is the stroller walks. The dog meets baby class/book recommends taking your pup for walks with the stroller before baby arrives, just to get them use to it. I feel silly walking around the neighborhood with an empty stroller. I mean, I'm already the neighbor that walks her dog in her pajamas - do I really want to be the neighbor that is pushing around an empty stroller too?
This morning while Simba and I were walking to dry cleaners, I saw just this circumstance! A preggers lady with her dog and her empty stroller! I thought, alright, if she can do it, I can do it. I fully anticipate getting some pretty strange looks!

Birthing Class Continued

During the pain management portion of the class I noticed several dads-to-be in the room, had very strong opinions about how their baby mommas should manage their pain. There were a few men that strongly believed in natural child-birth or c-sections and they weren't afraid to make their opinions known. THANK GOODNESS Kyle doesn't have a strong opinion on how our baby H comes into the world. I was ready to give some of these dads a piece of my mind. DUDE, its not your body. Let your baby momma decide whats best for her.

One portion of the pain management section focused on having a comfort item. Something that makes you feel calm. I tried to think of what my comfort item would be and only one thing came to mind. Do you think they will let me have Simba in the delivery room?

Birthing Class

This past weekend Kyle and I took our birthing class. It was a whole day of everything from pain relief options to labor and delivery to postpartum and finished up with a tour of the hospital. Kyle, like most men, knew little about the whole labor and delivery process. Needless to say this class was, eye opening for him. About 30 minutes into the class the instructor was showing an anatomy diagrams when Kyle looked at me, a little on the pale side and said, "Maybe you should get a push present for that." A few more minutes into the diagram and Kyle changed his tune once more saying, "You can have whatever push present you want!" It was a good class and I'm glad we took it but now I'm wishing more than ever that the childhood stories were true and that the stork really did bring babies!

Lil Lamb infant seat

I put this together! ME! ALL BY MYSELF! With tools. Ok just one, a screwdriver but still!
As previously mentioned, I am not gifted in product assembly. I believe we all have our talents and this is just not one of mine. However, just because something doesn't come easily to me, doesn't mean that I not going to continue try every once and awhile. Kyle's mom got us this suuuuper cute infant chair (Baby H, says thanks Grandma!) and I really wanted to see it outside the box. So, I laid out all the pieces and volia - its completely put together and properly to, without any left over parts. I was so proud of myself that I thought about writing Fisher Price on an instruction manual well done! Each step was short and simple with a picture and a "hint" section if you were having trouble - totally my kind of directions!