Oh me back!

One summer, my dad worked as a maintenance man at an apartment complex. This was a great job for him since he loves to be outside and ever since we moved back to Kansas, he has missed having a pool to take care of. At that job, he worked with a man who was a bit lazy. He would call my dad and to let him know that my dad would be doing all the work that day pretty frequently and blame it on back pain. He was foreign so he would come out as, "Oh, me back!

Since about November, most days that is all I can think...oh me back!! It started out at mostly just sciatica which was much easier to deal with. While it will send terrible shocks down my leg and has caused me to almost fall down the stairs too many times to count, it usually passes fairly quickly. I can deal with the sciatica with little trouble. It is this somewhat new back pain that has quickly made a name for itself...unbearable!

It is an almost indescribable pain in the center of my back. It is much worse during the week at work. I can usually get to about 11, maybe noon before it rears its ugly head and stays with me the rest of the day. I have been to the chiropractor, tried different stretches, Tylenol...I even have a new chair with one of those mesh back supports hooked to the back. Outside of spending the majority of the day laying down, nothing helps. My doctor has restricted some of my work activity and limited the amount of weight I should be lifting but it has really made no difference. I am trying my best to be a trooper. I know being pregnant is not a cake walk and I do not want to come off as a whiner but it makes most of my days pretty miserable. I keep hoping it will get better but I know the reality is I am only going to get bigger and this is only going to get worse. I welcome any new suggestions on how to manage this pain.

Shopping spree!

Tim and I went to KC today for a little shopping spree. We went to Once Upon a Child and then the Legends. We ended up with quite a haul, most of which was on sale. I also had gifts cards from Christmas to spend at Motherhood Maternity. Between the Motherhood store and Old Navy sale items, I ended up with 4 shirts, a pajama top and pajama bottoms so I am quite pumped. We also found some awesome deals for baby Jake:

This onesie is obviously my favorite! There was a whole stack of them at Old Navy and they were on sale so I was ecstatic! He will be ready to root on the Huskers come fall.
We also got this super cute polo onesie and jeans on sale at Old Navy.
I did not even know they made button up onesies but I was pleased to find this little number on sale at the Gap.
We got this airplane shirt at Carters. Since Tim has an aerospace engineering degree, Jake just had to have an airplane tshirt!
I got this skeleton shirt for $4! Not only is it great for Halloween but it can be his Nebraska Blackshirts shirt too!
We are finding a lot of cute onesies on sale but poor Jake may have no pants to wear so we got these great khakis at Carters on sale.
Here is the start of our haul from Once Upon A Child. I was so excited to go after the great things we found at the store in Memphis. Unfortunately, the Overland Park store was a bit of a let down. About 3/4s of the store was all girls clothes and other items. The baby boy sections were nearly bare and full of onesies and no shorts or pants. We did find a few cute things like these two onesies and these tiny swim trunks from Grandpa and Mimi's pool!
Here are two more onesies we got. The onesies were all $1.50 each!
This sleep sack is so soft, I would not mind sleeping in it!
Cute little onesie.
Tiny baby shoes. $1.50 each!

My terrible blunder.

I want to take a moment to issue a very sincere apology to my step-parents, especially my stepmom, Laura. In my last post, I failed to thank them for their role in the nursery and I feel terrible about it. My parents divored when I was 10 and 11 and while that effects everyone differently, I have grown up to see it as a true blessing in my life. My mother and father both married such wonderful people that have only added to the amount of love and support in mine and my sister's lives. We truly could not have been luckier.


Many children of divorce are left jaded and skeptical about love and the establishment of marriage. Seeing the relationships my parents have with their current spouses has left me able to believe in true love and allowed me to be open to accepting that love into my life when I met Tim.


Once again, I am very sorry for the omission in the last post. I love Laura and Anthony very much and I never want them to feel that I am not thankful for everything they do and have done for me.

Nursery Transformation: Part One

Thanks to my mom, the front bedroom has begun the transformation from junk room into baby nursery. As you can see by the before pictures, the room was painted a "bright-as-the-sun" yellow. What you can't see is how poorly it was painted. Whoever painted this house before did a terrible job.

First step is paint and thanks to my mom, the nursery is painted! We went with a very light blue called "First Frost." It looks great with our tan and brown bedding. My mom is a meticulous painter so the pictures cannot even do justice to how amazing the room looks with just the new paint.
I saw a picture of a nursery closet online with and shelves multiple clothing bars so Tim and I have been working for a couple weeks to come up with a plan to give this closet a makeover. It was truly a challenge. The doors of the closet did not fit properly so we took them off. The more we got into the planning, the more we realized there is nothing conventional about this closet. With the 2 by 4s nailed to the wall, the uneven floor and shelf and strange dimensions, we definitely had our work cut out for us. I think the finished project looks really good and it will look even cuter when it is full of tiny baby clothes, books and fun baskets.

Our next step is the carpet (again, thanks to my mom...and Anthony too). We have picked it out and we have someone coming to measure the room tomorrow for the install. It will be a few weeks before it is all installed. I am really looking forward to that because that carpet is so gross. Also, thanks to my dad, all our nursery furniture is already here. Our dining room is full of boxes for the crib, dresser, changing table, glider and ottoman. I am excited to put those together and see how they will all fit in the room.

I do want to take this opportunity to say thank you to my mom, dad, stepmom, Laura and stepdad, Anythony for making this nursery happen for us and for Jake. Without them, the room would not be as wonderful as it is going to be in the end. I will keep you all posted!

The 5th month.

Today I am 5 months pregnant, not that it really means much since everything is measured in weeks. (I will be 22 weeks tomorrow.) I feel like I should look a lot more pregnant than I do and it bums me out a little. I know I must sound crazy for wanting to be more pregnant and I am sure I will be eating these words later when I am huge and miserable but it would be nice to feel like everyone knows I am pregnant. I am in that "is she pregnant or just fat" phase and it feels pretty crummy. I also feel like my belly has not changed at all in like a month when it first got round. I just think I would feel more comfortable with all these changes to my body if I had an obviously pregnant belly to go with it.

On the brighter side, we (and by we, I mean my mom) have started painting the nursery. Our bedding is tan and cream so we picked out a very light blue for the walls. I think it looks awesome but I am dying to see what it looks like on the walls. I took some before pics which I will post later so you can watch the tranformation. Our nursery furniture has started coming in so as soon as the room is painted, we are replacing the carpet and then we will be able to put furniture together and actually starting seeing the room come together. I can't wait to get all the big stuff done so I can start adding little details and hanging up clothes. I think having an actual nursery in the house will make it seem so much closer than it feels right now.

21 weeks

How far along?: 21 weeks and 3 days
How big is your baby?: 10 and 1/2 inches or about the size of a carrot and 3/4 of a pound. Total weight gain?: about 10-12 pounds
Sex: It's a boy!
Maternity clothes: I am in love with my maternity jeans but I am not so in love with the options in the shirt department. I still prefer my adidas hoodies but when didn't I? I did get some shirts from the Gap so I am branchin out a bit.
Movement: I officially felt Jake move on New Year's Eve! I may have felt it before but I was never sure but I am sure now. Ever since then I feel him all the time. It is a very weird feeling like being poked from the inside or little bubbles popping.
Sleep: Eh...it's not bad. I got a great leg pillow for Christmas which definitely helps. I have to most trouble trying to roll from side to side and I have never been one that can stay in one position all night. I would say Tim's snoring keeps me up the most. :)
Best moment this week: So much has happened in the last week or so. We found out we are having a boy, gave him a name and I felt him for the first time. Other than the back pain, this has been the best week so far!
Food cravings: nothing too crazy. Probably just a little more of the things I have always loved like Chick-fli-a and pickles!
Labor signs: no but my stomach does cramp up a lot which is not fun.
Belly button in or out: still in.
What I miss: not being so tired in the afternoons and my back not killing me while I am at work.
What I'm looking forward to: We just picked paint colors for the nursey and my mom is being so kind and painting it for us! I can't wait to see that room tranform.

21 weeks

Happy New Year!

Well, it's officially 2012! That means we are that much closer to meeting our son! Let me start off by revealing the name that we have chosen. Tim and I have always wanted a family name and have really had one favorite for a boy since we found our we were expecting.

Our son's name is: JAKE ROBERT PHILLIPS. (Yes, it is just Jake, not Jacob.)

Jake not only comes from my maiden name (Jacobsen), but it is also the nickname for both my dad and grandfather. I was named after my grandfather so it feels so wonderful to also name my son after the wonderful man I did not get to meet. Robert was Tim's grandfather's name and is also his father's middle name so we are tying both families together.

Today, Tim and I braved Babies R Us and Target to create our baby registries. I knew it would be a bit of a challenge but this was so much harder than the wedding registry. Numerous times I just stood there a bit dumbfounded about all the things we need for this little guy. It is so much easier to decide what type of kitchen items we wanted. Picking what kind of bottles, baby monitor, swing, etc was definitely overwhelming but I think we managed to do a pretty good job. I did have to come home to clean it up a bit online. Some of the items we picked at Babies R Us were cheaper at Target so I tried to make sure to register for the better deals. It helped that we had already picked out our car seat, stroller, pack n play and bedding so we were a bit ahead of the game. It took us about 3 and a half hours to get through the registry process at both stores. I will say, both Target and Babies R Us give you very nice gifts and samples when you register. We got some awesome coupons too! If you want to take a peek at our registries, here are the links:

Babies R Us

Target

Both registries can be found under both my name and Tim's.

Finally, I have to share the awesome gift we got for Jake from my dad and stepmom (Ish and LoLo) for Chirstmas. Baby Vans so he can be just like them. They are just too cute!!