The Princess Palace: Stage 2

End of March 2012

I had every intention of writing this post long before today...but clearly that didn't happen.  We have done a ton of work in the room and the decorating will continue to go on as we find new things.  Her name will go up in the room as soon as she graces us with her presence :)  I had a doctor's appointment this past Monday.  They did my glucose screening and 26 week check up.  All the tests came back perfect.  My blood pressure is perfect and baby's heartbeat is right where it should be.  It is hard to believe that she should be here in 13 weeks.  I have been feeling great, aside from my daily exhaustion.  Teaching all day is really taking a toll on my energy level. 

With the following pictures, you will notice how Remmy just had to be in every one of them.  He is already struggling with the lack of attention he is getting! He is in for a rude awakening come June lol.



The Princess Palace: Stage 1

March 2012

We have officialy started Operation Princess Palace! It has been so nice outside, so we figured it would be the best time to air out the room and get started on the paint.  Now, we are no paining professionals by any means, but I think we did a pretty dang good job! The tough part was our textured walls and the combination of dark brown and the Tiffany's blue.  The paint matches the bedding perfectly.  Gotta love the paint men at Menards.  We assembled the crib a couple of days ago.  Special shoutout to Uncle Bobby for the beautiful crib :) This weekend we got the dresser from Kim and Steve (Jim's Parents).  We have wonderful family members! So, we will be busy with putting the dresser and bookcase together this week.  It has been a wonderful bonding experience for Jim and I! The palace will be perfect for our little princess come June!  P.S. The tree mural on the wall was handpainted by yours truly and will have white picture frames of family members! It will be our own little family tree.

Before Painting

After Painting

More updates to come as we add new things to the room!

Baby Rustman's First Pictures

Sonogram Pictures November 2011

Sonogram Pictures December 2011

The Big Reveal

Sonogram Pictures from February 2011

IT'S A GIRL!

Feeling like a million bucks: The second trimester

December 2011

I woke up one day feeling like my old self again! Hello, second trimester.  I had so much more energy, and I felt like I could get up out of bed and that life was not that bad! It was exciting to know that we could finally start filling family and friends in on what was happening.  Christmas seemed like the perfect time! It was nice to not feel like I was constantly living a lie anymore.  Everyone was very excited to hear our big news!

Christmas 2011-Last one with just the three of us!

Our way of telling friends and family that there was a bun in the oven!

January 2011

Now that the cat was out of the bag, so to speak, we started getting the spare bedroom ready for the new addition of the family.  This included moving my closet to our bedroom and Jim's closet to the office.  We have way too many clothes to share one at the moment.  It seems that the baby is heading down this path too, because the closet is quickly filling up! Would you expect anything less?? I had to switch doctors because my OB no longer sees women after the three month mark.  We met with a new doctor this month and enjoyed how helpful everyone was.  We got to hear little Rustman's heartbeat.  Honestly, I could listen to that sound every day, all day.  Everything was going well for both the baby and myself.  At this appointment we set up our February appointment. At this appointment we would find out the sex of the baby :)

February 2011

February 9th could not come soon enough!! I was filled with excitement and a nervousness I couldn't describe.  I knew that finding out the sex would make it seem 100 times more real! Jim and I both went in thinking it was going to be a boy.  His mom had all boys and my mom had two boys out of her three children.  I did not have a preference, just as long as the little one was healthy.  Our sonographer knew right away what it was, but wanted to explore further.  It is truly amazing what technology can do these days.  We could see everything! All four chambers of the heart were working.  We could see the kidneys, the bladder, and all 10 fingers and toes.  The sonographer said that little Rustman was measuring perfectly for 20 weeks.  The big news came that we were having a GIRL!! Jim was a little shocked and asked if she was sure! I think at this point, he thought he was doomed.  I was hard enough to handle, but putting a mini-me in the mix, I think he thought he was going to have his hands full! I know that he is going to be the most protective daddy and that our little girl is going to have him wrapped around her little finger.  From here the preparation of operation nursery went into full effect.

Halfway there-Week 20

Week 17



The first three months

October 20ish, 2011

In celebration of our upcoming anniversary, Jim and I decided to get away for the weekend.  After much discussion we thought Lake Geneva, Wisconsin was the perfect place to celebrate the survival of the first year of marriage! It is helpful to note that this entire week I was feeling lousy and was quite unsure if I would be able to enjoy the weekend.  But, because I am a trooper I powered through it and we had a great day on the lake.  That night we had a great dinner complete with a complimentary bottle of wine for the anniversary (oops!).  After dinner we headed back to the room to enjoy the Wisconsin Badger Football game.  I was just exhausted and ended up passing out at 8 pm.  (Some wife, I am right?) 

When we returned home we celebrated the anniversary by having a family dinner.  We enjoyed our wedding cake and popped a couple bottles of champagne (oops!).  Now, I was still nauseous all day, but I just thought that I had caught something from one of my students.  That was my go to response for about two weeks!

On Monday, I e-mailed Jim from school and told him that we should probably take a test. Or two.  I took two that night and nothing registered.  Apparently I wasn't alive that night.  After talking to my mom, we decided to take another one the following day.  Much to our surprise...it was a PLUS!!!! We were speechless.  Jim called his parents and said that we thought there was a baby on the way.  I proceeded to take a couple or ten tests between October 25th and November 15th (our first doctor's appointment).  I didn't want to be that girl that walks in the office so happy to be having a baby, only to walk out crushed that it wasn't true.  Hearing that little baby's heartbeat was one of the best things that has ever happened to me.  I was so excited to know that I was for sure going to be a mom! This led to the next two months of me feeling completely worthless.  I was emotional, exhausted, and just felt downright lousy.  I only actually had morning sickness three times, however it was the nausea that followed me around daily.  I didn't want to get up and go to work in the morning, but I knew the little person growing inside of me was so worth it.   We had 2 sonograms that first trimester.  It was amazing to see something so small, yet so alive.  I was in love!

9 weeks

12 weeks