The nursery is getting so close.  Mom finished up the crib skirt and bumper last week and is now working on the crib blanket.  All the furniture is in and I am working on the wall art and such.  Curtains are even hung!  Kind of weird to walk by the room…it looks like a nursery now instead of a guest room.  I will share pics once it gets completed.  I have shown a few “sneak peeks” on instagram, but nothing too much.

Hard to believe that in just over a month a little one will be here!  The pregnancy has really seemed to go fast.  I have been lucky so far in that I haven’t been super sick or anything.  I am starting to notice that my feet hurt more frequently and the belly just seems to keep growing.  I can tell that he is getting bigger as well.  He seems to like my right side.  I think it is feet that keep kicking me there!

Excited about my next baby shower this Saturday, should be fun!

So, I’m a few weeks behind!  Just now posting 27 week photos when I am actually in my 30th week (I’ll be sure and take a pic this Sunday).  Full swing 3rd trimester.  Kind of hard to believe!  According to my app, baby B will be here in 72 more days….yikes!

Things have been going pretty well so far.  Just seem to be getting bigger and bigger.  I have officially reached the stage where people say I look pregnant.  MyMichael and I felt as though I hit that stage a while back, but others didn’t seem to agree (to which he would say, “they should see you naked!”  probably TMI…sorry!).

I did have a funny encounter at the grocery store…a girl working there asked how far along I was.  I told her and then she said, almost in a whisper, “was it planned?” I told her yes and she replied, “well, that’s always good”, to which I would have to agree!

On the nursery front we have made progress.  We have a crib set up, the furniture piece to be used as the changing table, and a chair.  The next step is getting the bedding made.  I have the fabric, just need to get with my mom to get cranking on it.  Still looking for wall decorations and such.

But one area that Baby B is not lacking on is the clothing.  Between myself and my sister and mom we have quite the stash.  They are just so cute!  I have been pleasantly surprised at the selection of baby boy clothes.  Typically they are all super cheesy with characters and sayings plastered all over them.  But between GAP {sale rack, of course} and surprisingly Target, I have found some really cute pieces.

I did make my way to the JBF sell this past weekend with mom.  It was my first time and wow, is there a lot of stuff!  I only bought clothes, but mom picked up some cute — and loud =) — toys along with some cute clothes.  I figure I have some time before I need a ton of toys, so I should direct my funds to the items that we will need right away….like diapers.  Good lord.  You would think they were made of gold or something.

Baby B is moving around a ton these days.  Definitely at night when I lay down, but more and more throughout the day I can feel, and see, him as well.  All doctor’s appointments have been going good, and I have now started going every 2 weeks.  Scary to think how close the due date is!

During all of this myMichael has started studying for the first part of the CPA exam, which he takes the first of October.  The second section he will take the end of November.  His nose is buried in his study material from the time he gets home until he goes to bed.  He is sooooo much better at studying than I EVER was!  Needless to say, it should be interesting with Baby B arriving the first of November!

Over the past 2 weeks we have made lots of progress on the home front.  A couple weekends ago my parents and sister came over to help paint some dressers and it turned into painting the nursery as well!  Didn’t expect that, but it was great to get it done.  So, we now have a pretty much empty nursery that just needs some furniture.

This weekend Michael’s dad was in town and moved the ceiling fan from the nursery to our master bedroom (where it is MUCH needed) and installed a fun new light in the nursery, which you can see a sneak peek of here.

Have some fabric options that I am still deciding between.  I really hate making decisions like this for myself.  Anyone else?  It would have been done already.  For myself, it’s another story.

Next on the list is a trip to IKEA for some furniture purchases.  Look out Frisco!

Still going strong.  Not a whole lot to update on other than myMichael spending the entire weekend in the 150 degree attic laying more floor.  Yea.  No fun at all.  Trying to make space!  His dad was in town and helped wire some lights and a switch for the attic.  And they also ran wire so that we can move the ceiling fan that is in the nursery to our master bedroom.  That will be VERY nice b/c our room is always the warmest in the house.  Plus that will allow me to find a cute new light for the nursery.  A win/win!

I finally had a brave girl that works at Starbucks ask, in a whisper, if I was having a baby.  I go in there multiple times a week and they know me by name,  but no one had mentioned it yet.  I took that to mean that I am looking more pregnant and less “how many donuts does she eat” big!

Now that I know we have a boy I have been starting to work on nursery ideas.  I had some initial ideas but I need to find fabric for the bedding.  Which is proving to be quite hard here in Tulsa.  Someone (ahem….Leslie Hale) please open up a fabric store that carries all the great fabrics that are out there!  We have plenty of the quilt shops that cater to the older generations, but hardly any that cater to us younger ones who love great fabric designs.

Anyways, it’s a work in progress.  And no, there isn’t really a theme.  No froggies, or cars, or other cutesy things.  Thinking more along the lines of great colors and patterns.  However, I did pick up a great antique wooden airplane that I am going to incorporate somehow and I would love to have a beautiful world map on the wall somewhere.  Another item I am searching for!

So, if you have any nursery tidbits of advice, please share!

Ta Da!  So, for all you nay-sayers (sp???)  both the necklace test and the Chinese gender calendar was correct!  We are pretty excited.  The appointment went great and myMichael was able to join.  The little guy was all wound up in a ball, but kept moving his arms around like crazy.  Which was weird b/c I was seeing it and feeling it at the same time!

Now I don’t have to worry about returning, or storing, all the little boy clothes I have already bought!

19 weeks.  Last week I felt some kicks.  Wasn’t sure at first, but after about a week determined that it had to be the little one!  Ireally only feel them when I first lay down at night and sometimes in the morning before I roll out of bed.

I am feeling pretty good (despite how I look in the photo…leasson learned…always wear lipstick and blush!).  The first couple months I was nauseated a lot and then there was a month of extreme allergies.  I am glad that both of those are done with for now.

I am still getting a lot of people that say I don’t look pregnant.  I get it, I’m not big, but I am certainly bigger than I was!  Chalk this up to the awkward “not sure if she has had too many donuts or if she is pregnant” stage.

In two weeks we find out the gender!  So ready to know so that we can start working on things.  Of course at that time it means we NEED to start working on things b/c I will be half way done….yikes!!!

Here is the first ultrasound which was around 9 weeks or so…a tiny little thing.  Both myMichael and I were VERY happy to find out that there was only 1!

Still pretty nauseous and waiting for that to go away!   Also ready to find out what it is.  I feel like right now I can’t really do anything until I know.  But it is crazy that I am already about 3 months along!  It still hasn’t really set in yet….

On the food front, nothing ever really sounds good.  But I did have some great freshly made tortillas at Senior Tequila’s last week.  So when I was in Poteau for work my dad and I stopped by one of their “authentic” mexican restaurants for dinner.  I specifically asked the waiter if they made their tortillas to which he answered “si”.  When I got them they were NOT freshly made, if fact probably picked up from Wal-Mart across the street and warmed up.

To say the least…I was not happy and may or may not have let the waiter know that they were not freshly made.  I’m pretty sure there was a language barrier, but dad seemed to think the hand motions I used got the point across.   It probably didn’t help that I had a headache, had been in two meetings for 6 hours and was beyond hungry with my taste buds set on nice, warm, freshly made tortillas.

But seriously…..if you are an “authentic” mexican restaurant then I expect you to make your own tortillas!

Yep, that’s me….not a client.  Baby B will be arriving this fall!  We are very excited – and let’s be honest – scared to death.  I can’t say that it has completely sunk in yet.  This week I start my 12th week.  We found out early on, so it has been a hard secret for the future grandparents and aunts to keep!

Last weekend we headed down to the farm for Easter.  Friday night mom and dad had a big cook out.  I handed out Easter eggs to everyone that inside said “coming soon….BABY BENEFIELD”.  Grandma I think was the first one to open hers and she started yelling and jumping up and down (I’m thinking that she was excited!).  I was so occupied watching her that I didn’t get to see everyone else’s reactions, but everyone was very excited.  I am the oldest of the cousins and got married first, but a couple of the others already have 2 kiddos.  You know, a lot can happen in almost 8 years of marriage!

You heard me correctly…we will have been married for 8 years, and have been together for over 14 years, by the time baby B arrives.  Again, hard to believe!  Although we have waited quite a while, and a few years ago I may have wanted a baby sooner, I think I am glad that we have waited (easy to say now….maybe not so much when I am 49 years old with a high school senior…holy crap…my mom wasn’t even 40 when I graduated).

So, let’s talk about maternity clothes.  Having some issues.  Luckily I will be able to wear lots of dresses and skirts during the summer.  But I do need a pair or two of pants…which is where the issue has come in.  They are too short!  Yesterday mom and I were out and we stopped by Old Navy which had a very small selection of maternity clothes.  I tried on 3 pairs of jeans and they were all about an inch to two inches too short.  I mean, I would pushing it going bare foot.  Then I tried some on at Target and had the same problem.  There aren’t that many places here in T-Town that have maternity clothes.  Gap is on my list next and probably Motherhood Maternity as well.  But, this could be interesting.

The other thing…I was super excited to see that H&M has a line of maternity clothes.  Awesome, a stylish and affordable option.  Except that you can’t order them online.  Seriously!?!?!?  The closest one is Dallas…looks like I will be making a trip…or having Anna ship me clothes.  So, if you have any suggestions please let me know.

Starting to think a little bit about the nursery.  Or really, where the heck we are going to add another human being in our small house!  Going to have to do some rearranging between the office and guest room.  Should be interesting.

Of course the nursery totally depends on if we are having a boy or girl.  And if you are wondering if I have a “feeling” of the gender, I’m going with boy.  Not really because I have a “feeling”, more based on the idea that the necklace test says a boy and the Chinese gender calendar says a boy.  You know, I am very scientific!  And yes, I have bought items for a boy already…which means that we will probably have a girl.  Who knows for a while longer.

I haven’t been super sick, as in hurling or anything.  But I have been very nauseous.  If I get hungry, you better get out of my way b/c I need some food super fast.  My purse has turned into the snack drawer, which I am honestly getting sick of.  Nothing sounds good at all, which has slowed me down in the cooking department (myMichael pointed this out the other day).  I have completely stopped with my weekly menu planning b/c nothing sounds good.  This makes grocery trips really hard b/c I have no idea what to buy, resulting with me standing in the aisles trying to figure something out.  Hoping that in the next few weeks I will get over the nauseous feelings and food will start to look appealing again.

As I type all of this it is becoming more clear as to why I have probably been in a blogging slump….here’s to hoping that I can get back into the blogging world.

I do have a great residential kitchen project to show you all.  Hopefully here in the next week or so.

Alright, if you have any suggestions, tips, or secrets about this who pregnancy thing, be sure to share!