Carson Wesley Simons

Born 3:50 am Wednesday December 14.

6 lbs 15.5 ounces. 20 inches long.

Hypnobabies birth story is a work in progress...

In the mean time, here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure.

1 week old.

Yes, I'm Still Pregnant

Yes, I'm 5 days late today. But I'm a first time mom so this is normal, right? I've come to terms that I'm going to be pregnant forever. I wanted to put some more pictures up so here they are...

This was 37 or 38 weeks.. I can't remember.

 These were taken Thursday. 2 days past due date.

40 Weeks and 2 days.

Let's hope that is the last picture...

In all honesty, I'm not that uncomfortable. Yes, I'll feel a foot jabbing on my ribs now and then, or a little bum sticking out as far as it can... I really don't have that much to complain about. I do have days that I'll be really sore. But not everyday. There are times Cory has had to help me get in and out of bed. But I really don't have that much to complain about. I sleep fine usually and if I remember to take my heartburn medicine, I'm completely fine. I may not be able to bend down to put my shoes and socks on... Cory and Cathy help me do that. I feel normal other than those few little things. I even forget I'm pregnant sometimes.

Now my patience is another story. We are so anxious to meet our baby boy! I've been going crazy playing this waiting game! But he's just not quite ready to come yet. So, I'm going to do my best to forget that we are going to have a little one any second now.

Our Carseat Cover Project

Welp, we did it. We made a carseat cover. This has been a goal of mine for a long time and I'm happy we accomplished it. Cory helped me a ton. He loved doing this one with me. It was a lot of fun to work on this together. We didn't follow a tutorial. I read a bunch and got the general idea. It took us a few trys to get the right measurements for our particular carseat. Once we finally got that figured out, it went pretty smooth. We did fleece on the inside and a thick fabric on the outside. We added rick-rack and buttons as embellishments and we love how it turned out!

Cory's Amazing Accomplishment

So Cory has been looking for a new pair of jeans. He found some he liked but they didn't have the size he needed. He decided to get a longer pair and somehow make them shorter. We YouTubed how to hem jeans and found a great video! Cory spent the next hour or so hemming his jeans "the professional way." I didn't help him one bit. He did it all on his own! Not that I would be much help anyway. I have never hemmed anything in my life. I am so proud of him. This is why we bought a sewing machine. Cory was happy with his purchase and we didn't have to find a tailor. Props to Cory! I'm super impressed! I took a bunch of pictures of one leg hemmed and one not. I'm really proud obviously. 

November Craft

I'm such a copy-cat. But I couldn't help it. I mean, this turkey was too cute to pass up. Why aren't there more tutorials for cute turkeys out there?!? Turkeys could be one of the cutest decorations. And why do we go from all these fabulous Halloween ideas straight to Christmas? I for one enjoy Thanksgiving. I remember at home in Utah we would have this ginormous poster of a turkey running--more like sprinting if you can imagine. My mom would put it up every year. She thought it was the funniest thing.  Now I wish I had something similar to put up because it is pretty hilarious. Until then, this cute turkey will have to do. Here is the link to the tutorial.

I was worried I wouldn't be able to get a 2x4 in the right size. And I felt dumb going to home Home Depot and asking for a huge 2x4 to be cut down so small. We did end up going however and while I was snooping around in their scrap wood, I found a small enough piece to work with. And I thought I would just grab a paint stick on my way out as well. They didn't make me pay for those either. So this little project cost me next to nothing!

34 weeks & 35 weeks

I wrote this last week and failed to post... So this is a little late...

I'm 34 weeks! I still have heartburn. Of course. But the medicine I'm taking does make it bearable. Although I think it decreases my appetite. I'm probably not eating as much as I should be. But I definitely think it's better to forget to eat than being too sick to eat. ...uh right? ha.

I have not had problems sleeping at night--yet. Hopefully I never do? Boy, is that a dream or what? I fall right to sleep every single night. I usually only wake up once to go to the bathroom. Most of the time I go right back to sleep. Not always though. Now this was not the story when I was in the first trimester. Back in April and May I would be up ALL stinkin' night long! I'm grateful I'm getting more sleep! It may have something to do with Hypnobabies. I listen to it right before I go to bed. Which is probably not the best... But I go right to sleep. :)

We got our maternity pictures done this week! My friend Erica took them and she does a GREAT job! Check out her blog here We had a lot of fun doing it. I just wish I smiled more! In all of our wedding pictures I have the same exact smile. In some of the pictures I think I was too worried about having that same smile. Cory told me I look upset in some of them. ha...oops. No wonder he kept trying to get me to smile more during the shoot. I still love how they turned out! Don't mind the photo bomb here...

34 Weeks!

And now I'm 35 weeks! Time is flying by! We just have a few little last minute things to get done. Our little boy will be here before we know it! We are so ready for him to join us. Here is my 35 week pic...

Don't mind the dirty hair.

October Craft

I love making Halloween decorations! There were quite a few things I wanted to do. Here is what I ended up doing.

I got the "BOO" idea from here.

I had a little trouble with the candy corn. They were a lot more difficult than I anticipated. I struggled through. They did not look professional by any means but they are still cute! I got the tutorial here.  Oh! And the vase I got at Hobby Lobby. It was clear glass. Cory told me to paint it black and I'm so glad I did! I had a lot of fun with these!

Baby Shower

Some nice ladies in my ward threw me a baby shower a few weeks ago. It turned out great! They had lots of Fall decorations and Fall time foods. I remember briefly mentioning to one of them ( who happens to be my V.T. comp) how much I love Autumn and pumpkins. From there it was all downhill. They went all out! They had pumpkin and Fall everything! I loved it. It was a lot of fun. And I loved getting the cute teeny tiny baby boy outfits and do-dads. It definitely made things seem a little more real. Here are some pictures from the day.

All of the wonderful food

My friend Nicole made me THE cutest diaper motorcycle! I didn't want to take it apart. It was amazing! I loved it. 

The wonderful women who threw me the shower. Love them.

30 Weeks!

I'm 30 weeks today! Whoa! Only 10ish to go. This is definitely getting more real. And we are getting REALLY excited! 

Here is a little rundown of how I have been feeling lately...

-I still have really bad heartburn. The peppermint tea didn't seem to help much. I ended up getting Prevacid or something that I take once a day. It only takes the edge off. I may need to find something else. 

-My pelvis hurts. A lot. Some days it feels like my tailbone is broken. I can't walk on the treadmill anymore. I can't really walk hardly at all anymore. Even going to the grocery store is killer! My midwife told me to do yoga instead of walking. Haven't started that yet. I need to find a good prenatal yoga dvd. 

-I started noticing this weird headache I've been getting. It's only on the top left of my head. It comes and goes. Once I change positions or eat or drink something, it goes right away. It's the strangest thing. 

-This is going to sound silly. I have had so many ingrown toe nails! My toes hurt all the time! I never used to get them. Like ever. I'm not sure why this is happening so I'm blaming it on pregnancy.

-About a week ago, I noticed I got my first stretch marks on my belly. Well, 3 actually. No more young belly. I'm probably going to get a billion more before this baby is born.

-A week ago I felt the baby have hiccups for the first time! That was cool. Cory got to feel it the other day too. 

I will try to keep updated on my pregger pictures. I'm sorry it's been like 8 weeks since I have posted one!

September Craft

This is the big moment we have all been waiting for... 

I mentioned we were doing something HUGE for the baby's room...

We are finally done!

Check this out...

Before...

After...

We took apart, sanded, stained, glossed and managed to put this back together. When I say we, I really mean Cory. We switched out the dowels for straight ones because we think it looks better. We also ripped apart the cushion and put on brand new soft fabric. You may notice there are only 2 stitching lines on the top cushion instead of 4 like before. Again, we thought it looked less old-looking with 2. I will be the first to admit a lot of blood, sweat, tears, cussing, frustration, stress, time...etc, went into this chair. We (more like I...) had a lot of  mistakes during the sewing part of this project. There were quite a few things we had to re-do.

We got help from this tutorial. I like to stick to instructions. Especially since I'm not the world's greatest sewer. But when things went horribly, terribly wrong, Cory would say, "Why don't you do it this way instead." Then I would hear my stubborn self say,"Well that would never work!"We ended up scraping the instructions for the top cushion because let's face it, sewing is not my thing. Who would have thought fabric glue and tracing things with a disappearing ink marker would make things go a whole lot smoother. I like to call some of Cory's sewing ideas "The Man Way" even though they always go better than "The Right Way." Now the foot rest is another story... I don't think we'll do that. We haven't even touched it.

We are so glad this project is done and over with! I don't think we will ever do anything like this again. Even though we originally only paid $20 for the chair, I don't think it was worth it! Ha. But it is an amazing feeling to step back and think, "Wow, we actually did all of this."

August Craft

I know I said I probably wouldn't be doing something for August but this just happened to work out. Um, so everyone keeps telling us how bare our walls are. We didn't think they were really that bare. Apparently, we were wrong. Consequently I decided awhile ago how I wanted to do some kind of wall art for our poor walls. One day, I went to the dollar store and found a few things that looked like this...

I almost forgot to take a before picture. Which is why there is Mod Podge smeared all over this little piece of work.

I thought how perfect they would be for my wall project. I slapped some scrapbook paper on these beauties and voila! Now, I had originally done just 4. (the blue and orange) But Cory said it would look much better if we added 2 more. Of course he was right. We are pretty satisfied with the results. 

Now hopefully our friends won't think our walls are too bare.

My Birthday!

It was my birthday about a week ago! And I must say, I had a great day. I got to do whatever I wanted! If I wanted to go to Target, we went. If I didn't want to do the dishes, I wouldn't. If I wanted to stroll Hobby Lobby, we would. I never had to compromise! ha ha. 

Cory surprised me with a couples massage that afternoon. I mentioned a couple months ago how I would love to get a prenatal massage. I didn't realize he was actually listening! What a great husband. I was surprised Cory got one with me. He hates people touching him. And he's really specific about how you massage him. He always said he would never get a professional massage. But he knew I wanted him there. And his palpation class may have made him a little more comfortable with the idea. Even though we didn't talk during our massages, it was still nice knowing he was right next to me. I'm so glad he got one with me!

Afterwards, we tried out a Mexican restaurant we heard was good. (Thanks Tamara!) It was better than we expected! The menu was even in Spanish. Good thing Cory speaks it. I had to ask him what a couple of things said.  He ordered tacos. I ordered tacos, enchiladas, a side of rice, and a side of beans. When our food came out, the server asked individually, "rice...beans...enchiladas... tacos?" To each, I answered, "right here!" She laughed at me as she walked away. I was hungry okay?!? It sure was yummy! 

We also got me a birthday cake and cuddled up to watch the football game. We lost. Really bad. So I'm going to forget that part. I had a really good day. Thanks Cory for making it great!

Labor Day Trip

Over the weekend we drove to Ohio to visit Jimett and her husband Tom and their kids. For those who don't know, Jimett is my Aunt but more like my older sister since she lived with us for the majority of my childhood. I have missed them very much. It was so good to see them again. We played games, watched home movies, and had lots of treats! Jimett and I were even able to sneak away for some smoothies. It was fun to have Cory FINALLY meet Tom and the kids. He met Jimett at our wedding but it was more like a quick hello. I wish we could have stayed longer! We had a lot of fun.

Here they all are in their cute Labor Day Attire.

A little something I learned today...

I need to lay off the Tums.

This picture describes almost perfectly how I felt about Tums a few days ago. Yes, I found it from Google images.

I happened to learn this little piece of information from my Hypnobabies home study course. This week I'm learning about nutrition during pregnancy. I need lots of protein. I need lots of calcium... Yeah, yeah I know. Taking Tums is bad... wait what?? ( it was not phrased that way of course). I was taking Tums for my heartburn. What I learned is this--Tums neutralizes stomach acid (duh). But protein and calcium can't be absorbed properly without acid. Antacids such as Tums "deplete the body of proteins and calcium." When A LOT are taken, it can affect the liver, " thereby causing toxemia" (a.k.a. pre-eclampsia). Of course if you're getting what you need, you won't have this problem. But in my case, since I have been taking many many Tums, it made me take a step back. I should probably hold off on those as much as I can.

Another interesting fact: Taking Tums as a calcium supplement is practically useless. You need magnesium and vitamin D in order for calcium to be absorbed and used properly. I have never taken Tums for that reason but if I hated milk or were lactose intolerant, I probably would. Let's face it. Tums tastes amazing. It's like candy. Luckily I absolutely love milk. Whole milk especially. I've struggled with adjusting to 1% since W.I.C. doesn't pay for whole milk until the baby is born. Trust me, this has been cruel. I'm getting off track... The reason I mention this is because I have always wondered how great of a calcium supplement Tums actually is. They claim to be an excellent source of calcium. Now I know. 

Because Hypnobabies is so great (I'm sorry. I love Hypnobabies right now), they have compiled a few things you can do to ease heartburn.

-Eat several small snack-meals rather than 3 big meals.

-Drink liquids separately from solid food.

-Avoid greasy or heavily spiced foods. (This one is hard for me because I love spicy food)

-Sit up after you eat anything.

What they say can ease heartburn:

-Papaya enzymes (whatever that is), or drink papaya juice (that is probably disgusting so I won't attempt that one).

-Ginger

-Peppermint tea

-Almond milk

-Apple cider vinegar

-Hansen's Natural Soda

How to neutralize pH level:

-Add lime juice to your water

-Add 1/8 tsp of baking soda to 2 oz of water

I must say that I have already tried eating small meals, standing or sitting after I eat, and tried not to drink anything with my food. The only thing that slightly helped was drinking throughout the day and not with my food. But that is extremely hard to do! And it does not matter what I eat, I always get heartburn. Most of the time it's not right after I eat. It's several hours after I eat. Usually at night. So, I'm going to try some of these things to see if they help. Next time I'm at the store, I'm getting me some peppermint tea!

My Current Craze

I would like to apologize right now to those who follow me on Pinterest for all of my maternity pic pins. I am obsessed. I really should not have spent all morning searching the internet for photos I like. Let me explain myself before you all stop following me. Honestly, I'm not a big fan of maternity pictures. Most of the time I think they are weird and cheesy. But for some reason I still want to have them done! Over the past few weeks I have been going back and forth on whether this would actually be fun. I must say that after an entire morning of hunting Pinterest and blogs, I now REALLY want to do it. I feel a lot more confident.

I mean, how beautiful is this....

And how cute is this...

Now I need to find something to wear...

Babymoon

Cory and I spent the weekend in Chicago for a little vacay. We went to BuyBuyBaby (since there's not one in QC...boo!) They were having a clearance sale so we got a little outfit for our baby boy. It's adorable. I should have taken a picture. Anyway, after we had lunch we stopped in downtown to visit the XXI there. They have a maternity section there... but I was hoping for something a little bigger than just 2 small racks. Although, it was fun to walk around downtown. That night we went to a White Sox vs Texas Ranger game. The Rangers are Cory's favorite team. And I claim them as my favorite as well... since we want to move to TX. Unfortunately they lost by one point. It was still fun though! They had a firework show after the game which was nice. Sunday morning we strolled the outlets. We were passing them on the way home and couldn't resist! The weather was beautiful that morning. They were having some great sales too. I was surprised. They had a Van Heusen outlet and a Carter's outlet. We want to go back up eventually to actually buy something. We had to hurry home because Cory had a review to go to and 2 big tests the next day... yuck. (He did really well on both though!) We had a good trip. It was good to spend time together before our little one comes. 

Here's our lovely phone pic at the game.

July Craft

So.... Here's what I did for July.

A grocery bag holder!

I had been wanting to make one for quite some time now. It probably would have been cheaper to just buy one somewhere. But I needed more sewing practice. And I really love the fabric.

I am not sure where I want to hang it. So for the past month it has been hanging above our trash can. And as you can see, it is already bulging with bags!  HERE is where I got the tutorial.

I'm not going to put a craft up for August. We have been busy doing lots of baby things. Right now, we are in the midst of a major craft. I'll post about it when it's finished. Hopefully it will be done by October. But don't worry. I'll make up for my lost August craft. I am definitely planning on doing lots of Halloween stuff. There is so much I want to do! I told myself I'm not allowed to start any Halloween decorations or crafts until September. One more week until Spooktakular September!

What I Didn't Expect With Pregnancy

-Not being able to stand for very long without feeling dizzy or lightheaded.

-Having Braxton Hicks as early as 18 weeks AND getting like 10 a day despite being hydrated.

-Rolling over in the middle of the night to find my shirt wet... This early! ( I know, I know. TMI) But I'm still in shock with this one.

-Carrying Tums around with me everywhere because my indigestion is so bad. 

-Not being able to sleep. Not because I'm uncomfortable. Because this baby won't stop kicking! :) 

-Speaking of sleeping, I did not know I would have trouble breathing this early. Isn't this all supposed to come very late in the 3rd trimester?? My midwife told me some women have to sleep in a recliner. BLEH.

-I have not had a headache in 6 weeks! I did not think this was even possible for me. Of course now I'm going to get one. I am thrilled nonetheless! 

-The sudden appearance of stretchmarks. They honestly came overnight...

-Waves of breakouts. I thought I would be over with this in the first trimester and my skin would be GLOWING during the second trimester...?

-Cory says he loves this baby more than me. Cute huh?

And... I'm 22 weeks today.

Ultrasound Video

Watch to find out the sex!

20 week pics + May & June Crafts

I'm 20 weeks!!! Yay! Here are my 20 week pictures for those who don't live near me. We find out the sex this week!

I have finally gotten around to posting about the past couple of crafts I have done. Honestly, I didn't do anything in May except lay on the couch. I did these two in June to make up for May. And I even broke out my sewing machine for the first time ever! The first one I did was a maternity band found here.

 This didn't turn out how I expected. It doesn't seem to fit me right and it seems big. Maybe I'm not big enough to wear it. It may have something to do with the type of fabric I used. I think the fabric is too stretchy and too thick. I may end up making another one and if that is the case, I will definitely use a different fabric. 

I also made some adorable bookmarks. I found the tutorial here. I made a practice one and sent another one to my sister Eden for her birthday. Thank you Rachel for the scrap fabric! 

I was not too happy with either one of these. Those corners were hard. If I sew in a straight line, I do alright. It's when I need to curve or turn when I sew that things go askew. I wish I was perfect at sewing without really having to try. But I'm not.

To end on a good note, my next post will be on our ultrasound! We can't wait! :)

i never thought i would say this...

I'm ready for Fall! I'm not looking forward to the cold weather. But it seems like after the 4th, things seem to go by really slow. I have been catching myself looking at Halloween and Christmas decorations. I am really tempted to start a Christmas craft. Christmas in July right??? I just can't wait to make pumpkin treats and make Halloween decorations. Maybe a Fall Scentsy will make Autumn come faster? And of course the fact that our baby is coming in December has nothing to do with my excitement.......... I honestly cannot wait for fall to come!

Our Summer Break

Here's an update on our baby...

We find out what we're having in 2 weeks! We cannot wait. I feel the baby move all the time now. I love it! Cory hasn't felt it yet. Every time I get him to put his hand on my tummy, the baby stops wiggling. Here are some pictures of my tummy for your viewing pleasure. 

Here I am at 11 weeks.

This is 12 weeks. Notice how bloated I am!

15 Weeks. Finally getting a little something other than bloat.

And 18.5 weeks. This was taken today. I finally have a bump and look preggers!

I would say I got a bump about 16-17 weeks-ish. It is kinda pointy... hmmm.

As for Cory and me, we have been enjoying our summer break. Cory goes back to school on Tuesday. It was so nice to spend the past few weeks together. Besides playing lots of video games, we did a few other fun things...

We visited Carthage Jail and Nauvoo

We went to a baseball game.

And we had lots of playing with this little guy.

Now that I am not feeling so sick, I can start my life here in Davenport. I need to figure out what else I can do besides crafting. Any ideas? Maybe get a job within walking distance?? UGH. More crafting and more reading??? I need something to do! I have done a couple of little craft projects. I'll post about those later. In the meantime maybe I'll try out some new recipes.