Houston...We Have a CRIB!!!

Yes, you read right...we have a crib!
It actually arrived today! I was very happy to see the FedEx man! It was a huge and heavy box, so I opened it outside and brought it in piece by piece and carried it upstairs! Shane was generous enough to put it together for me, even though he had a long day at work and was not feeling well at all...I told him it could wait if he wanted, but after supper he said he would put it together! I love my hubby!!!

The crib in pieces.

and more pieces.

My wonderful husband putting his baby daughter's crib together!

Making progress.

Bella found a comfy spot to hang out and watch us.

The finished result! We hardly had any room to spare for the crib to fit in the little nook. There is 59 3/4 inches between the baseboards, and the crib is 58 3/4 inches wide!
The whites actually match and I think the two pieces actually go pretty well together, especially for not being made by the same company.
There is a drawer at the bottom for added storage!

Here is a picture with the gate down.
I thought the crib was really going to make the room feel small, but it actually didn't! I am glad we went with white furniture, b/c otherwise I think it would have been too dark in there if we would have went with cherry.

A picture with some of Emma's accessories.
This weekend I hope to hang her letters, some shelves and her mirror!
I put the bumper pad in for now, but once Emma starts to actually sleep in her crib, I will take it out. I wanted one for looks, and to use in there if we use this crib as her toddler bed since it did come with the toddler rail (it will all depend on when the next baby Struckman comes!)

Bella testing out the crib. She is definitely sensing change, I think!

As you can tell, Bella got a haircut today! I think she looks so adorable!

Shane calls her 'the disco queen' after her haircuts, b/c I always have Kelly, my groomer, leave Bella's head and tail fluffy...so she kinda looks like she has an afro!

Well, its getting late, but I wanted to get pics of the crib posted, since I won't have time the next couple of days!

The Weekend...

Our weekend was good. Saturday morning Shane went into work for a little while. I did some cleaning and laundry while he was gone. Then we had lunch and decided to go to Iowa City to see a movie and do a little shopping.

There really wasn't much to choose from for movies to see, so we settled on 'Step Brothers'. It definitely wasn't Will Farrell's best movie nor his 2nd, or 3rd...you get the picture. It had some funny moments, but for the most part was over the top and stupid. I was happy though that I got my nachos (which now cost $6.00!!!) and I treated myself to a yummy fountain drink!

We didn't have much success shopping...I wanted to find a new pair of jeans for Shane. He is down to one decent pair of jeans, which I had found on the clearance rack for $11 last summer at Wal-Mart. He ruined his other good pair (my favorite on him) over 4th of July weekend by getting grass stains all over them and I couldn't get them all out...they are also 5 years old, have a few holes and the button is missing, so he really is in need of a new pair. If you know Shane, you know he won't spend more than $20 to $25 on a pair of jeans, which is okay with me. But all the ones that I thought were cute in that price range, he refused to try on. He finally tried on a few pairs at Gordman's...but he didn't like the way they fit. I also wanted to find Shane a few new t-shirts...b/c he hasn't bought a new one in 4 years since we got married, and lets face it they are getting kinda gross! But we didn't have any luck with finding any t-shirts either...it seemed every store has really weird shirts out now, they are either funky colors, like pink & purple, or have HUGE graphics on the front of them. I didn't see a single t-shirt I could see my husband wearing!

As for me, I didn't do much shopping for myself...I did see lots of cute tops out, that I of course can't wear! I did go into Motherhood and went thru their clearance rack of nursing clothes, and did find one top and a bra on sale for cheap! And thats all we bought! We didn't even get baby Emma anything...I was on the hunt for some cute baby jeans, but didn't find any that I liked!

On Sunday, we finally made it to the basement! We didn't get very far. It took some time to gather all the stuff we needed to mix the 'surface bonding cement' and to do some trial and error. That morning we did get one bag on the wall (its gonna take a total of 23...so we have a ways to go!) I did the troweling and Shane did the mixing! Below is a picture...Dad, does it look like its suppose to?


I will need to make a trip to Home Depot this week to buy more so that we can work on it this weekend. We only picked up 2 bags a while back to see if it was gonna work...we wanted to make sure, b/c its like $15 a bag! To get me thru the work, I keep focusing on all the added storage I will have when the basement is done, dry and I have my shelves up! We also are gonna get a small freezer, only like 7.2 cu.ft. to put down there. We really need it now, so I can freeze some sweet corn and meals, but will have to wait until my parents come out for the baby so we have a way to haul it home from Menards, and so Shane has someone to help him carry it to the basement, since I can't really help him!

Below is a 34 week, 3 day pregnancy pic. I'm still feeling pretty good, I get tired...but naps really help with that! I'm looking forward to my massage on Wednesday! I am so glad my friend, Mora-Leigh comes to my house to give me a massage, it will make it very handy once the baby arrives to continue getting them!
We have a busy week this week, so I will update at the end of the week! Hopefully, I will have a crib to post about...but don't hold your breathe!

34 Week Update...

Today we had our 34 week check-up. I am measuring right on and I gained 1/2 a pound! We go back in 2 weeks and from then on it will be every week until baby Emma decides to come!
I have been feeling pretty tired with spurts of energy here and there! I have lots of stuff I want to get done before the baby comes, but don't really know where to start! After my 36 week appointment, I think I will then focus on getting Emma's new clothes and blankets washed and her diaper bag packed and our bags packed!

The rest of the week consisted of:

A really bad storm early Monday morning b/t 4-5am! It was freaky, and when I noticed the major change in the way the wind was blowing, I told Shane we needed to go downstairs to keep an eye on the storm. The first thing I see when I look out my door are large branches floating down my street that was covered in water. Little did I know until later just how destructive the storm was. Turns out we got like 95 mile straight line winds! There are trees down everywhere! And people were without power the last couple of days. There are still people in the QC area with no power! Thankfully, Shane and I didn't lose power. But when he went to work on Monday, he was home by 9 am because they had no power! So he got the day off from work, but ended up having to spend the day fixing our awning out the back door that the wind about blew off (it was barely hanging on with just 5 screws!)

Monday we attended a "Happiest Baby on the Block" class offered at our hospital by one of the pediatricians. It teaches how to calm babies that have colic. It was interesting and we learned a few things...most importantly, how to swaddle! Its a lot tougher than you think...I think Shane is better at it than me! I feel really blessed to know I have a husband who I can count on to help me with the baby, especially when she won't stop crying!

Thursday, we had our 3rd birthing class. It was a good one, the same pediatrician that taught the class on Monday came to our class and we spent the whole time asking any questions that we had. We learned a lot!

Today, after our appointment I couldn't resist going to Farm & Fleet, where they have the cutest baby clothes. My neighbor works there and had told me they were having their dot sale this month. So I picked up some things and got them all 50% off!

Still no crib! I called twice this week to check on it because I haven't received any tracking info to say it had shipped. With the first phone call on Monday I found out that it was suppose to ship later that afternoon or Tuesday morning and I would be receiving the tracking # via email. Wednesday rolls around and no email saying it shipped, so I called again and the lady said that it had shipped, but the warehouse told her they were having problems loading tracking info into their computer. So she told me to just expect it in 3-4 business days! So lets hope it arrives early next week!

We don't have much planned for the weekend. Shane is going into work tomorrow morning to try and catch up on some things, and I will probably finish up some sewing projects and maybe paint the mirror for the baby's room.

Hope everyone has a good weekend!

The Weekend...

Shane and I had a good weekend! We didn't work in the basement like we had planned to, but oh well, Shane is still confident it will get done before the baby comes!

Saturday we met with our Bible Study group for our annual summer get together at a park for some games and lunch! We played ladder golf and bean bag toss. And had some yummy hamburgers, hot dogs, salads, cookies and even yellow watermelon! I took a taco salad...and when we got home I found the can of kidney beans that are suppose to go in it still on the counter...I forgot to put them in! I have been having a lot of those 'pregnancy moments' lately!
I got a little overheated while we were out, so when we got home we decided to watch the movie "Charlie Wilson's War." And then I spent the rest of the day sewing until about 11pm.

Today, we went to church, then Wal-Mart & HyVee. I tried to stock up, since our street is suppose to be closed this week, weather permitting, so they can redo it, therefore, I will not be able to park in my driveway again!

After lunch, I was able to get a 2 hour nap in! Then Shane offered to help me can pickles and make zucchini bread! Which I ended up needing his help anyway since while I was putting jars in the canner to sterilize them, boiling water came up and burned my entire right hand (I told you I am having a lot 'pregnancy moments' lately!) I am not sure how I managed it! I ended up having to run my hand under cold water for 45 minutes before the swelling began to subside and the throbbing pain went away!

Anyway, we had enough cucumbers to do one batch, which is 4 quart jars of pickles, and we made two batches of bread...which is 4 loaves! Which only used 1 1/2 zucchini, so I still have tons left and more ready to pick almost everyday!

After all that, I decided to try and sew, which I managed to do for about 3 to 4 hours, but had to run my hand under water about every 10 minutes to keep the pain down!

Now, we are just relaxing before bed, I am thinking I am gonna have to go get a pickle to snack on before bed! Hope everyone had a good weekend! Below are a few pics. The first is my 33 week pregnancy pic.

33 weeks pregnant

My very fluffy Bella!
She is in need of a haircut, badly!

Updates..

I thought I would just update you all on a few things:

First off - our 32 week appointment was last week, everything went well. I am now 3 pounds ahead of where I started at in the beginning of my pregnancy. I am getting more of an appetite! Baby Emma is definitely running out of space and my ribs are getting the brunt of it! :) Unfortunately, I have a feeling its just gonna get worse! Thats ok though, I do love being pregnant and feel extremely blessed that God would allow me to experience such an amazing miracle!
Our next appointment will be next week!

NO MORE ANTS!!!
They were almost completely gone within an hour of Bosch Pest Control coming, and all gone by the next morning! One less thing to drive a pregnant woman nuts!

Frogs:
Remember those 3 cute lil' frogs I posted about a little while back, that I rescued from the Subway parking lot? Well, while we were in our garden this weekend, I found one! He is probably only about an 1 1/2 inches long, and when Shane was out in the garden last nite, he saw 2 of them! So now I know at least 2 survived!

Recliner should be on order now -for real! I called to check, and to add swivel to it! I didn't know I could add that to it until we had to try and find another one. So I thought, if I was gonna have to wait a total of 4 months for the chair, I was gonna make it worth it! Shane, of course, didn't find much logic in swivel, but he nicely said that if I thought it was worth it and necessary (or just wanted it!) to just do it! I love my husband!

My swing arrived!
It is put together, and now sitting, awaiting a baby! Thank God for Sam's Club, because buying D batteries for all this stuff is a lot cheaper to get them in bulk! Thanks again to Heather and Vanessa for the swing!
Its FedEx's turn to be recognized!
About 2 weeks ago I was vacuuming, and the roller part stopped. I have a Bissell Bagless Liftoff that I got from Wal-Mart over 3 years ago (it was a Valentine's gift from my husband, don't worry, I actually asked for it!). Anyway, I detached the lift off part because the suction was still working to see what was up, and the connector part between the base and the lift-off was burnt out!
So Shane called Bissell thinking maybe he could order the part from them. But the second he explained what was wrong the lady said ok, and began asking for his name, address, etc. And then said she would be mailing us a FedEx label and to cut the cord off and send it to them, and as soon as they received the cord as proof we owned the vacuum, they would be sending us the latest version of it for free! Shane told her that its been 3 1/2 years since we purchased the vacuum and there was no warranty on the vacuum, she said that was okay.
FedEx delivered the vacuumed on Friday, in time for me to clean for friends we had over Saturday!
I was pretty shocked we got a free vacuum. When it stopped working, I was thrilled I had gotten 3 1/2 years out of an inexpensive vacuum! So I guess when something happens to this one, we will be making another phone call to Bissell, just in case!

Of course, my husband being the kind of guy he is, bought a cord from Menards and attached it to the old vacuum and is going to use it downstairs in his tool area to clean since the lift-off part still works and wants to attach it to his saw somehow so that we he saws the sawdust doesn't go all over!

Well, that about catches you up on what's going on at the Struckman household, at least on what I can remember! Hope everyone is having a good week and staying cool in this hot weather! Which makes me think of another thing I am VERY thankful for...my new Central Air! Thanks again, dad! I don't know how I would have survived this pregnancy without it!

Baby Shower...

My sister, Britni threw me a beautiful baby shower on July 5th!

Everyone was very generous and we received many wonderful gifts for baby Emma! We only have a few things we have to still pick up! We barely fit it all in the car. If we would have gotten everything that was shipped to us in advance as well that day, there was no way we could have fit it all in our car. Our car was completely packed!
It was so much fun to get it all home and put away in Emma's room! I am beginning to feel more prepared! (Now if I could just get my crib and recliner to arrive!)

Below are some pics from the day.

My sister, Britni and I

My sister, Britni - 26, Me - 24 and my brother, Jared - 29
It took several pictures to try and get a picture of us 3 without Jared looking like a dork, or Britni and I keeping our eyes open, or one that was center b/c Missy, who was taking the picture, couldn't stop laughing about it! This one was the best shot!

My pregnant cousin, Tracy and I

Missy and Me
This picture is pretty rare...I have numerous pictures of where Missy was the pregnant one!!!
We thought it was strange to actually be taking one where the roles were reversed!

My niece, Kenna and I

Kenna and Missy

Me and my mom

My friends Tonya holding Jacob and Codi holding Haley.
I had to get a picture of this!!!

Tonya, Codi and my cousin Tracy

Aunt Sara holding Jacob, and Aunt BeckyAunt Becky, and good family friends, Vanessa & Izzie Mays

Dorothy, my mom, Aunt T, and Kris (friend of family)Izzie and Vanessa Mays, Shane's mom - Sharon and sisters - Lindsey & Janice, and Shane

Shane and I
All I wanted was one decent picture of us from that day, but we forgot and it was last minute, so we didn't get a very good one.

Me and Shane

Britni w/ her girls Haley and Zoe

Codi, Me and Tonya

Me with all my baby loot after the shower!

Wipes, dishes, swaddle blanket, boppy, healthcare set, baby manicure set, lotion, soap, bathtub, diapers, drying rack, dishwasher holder, picture frames, food processor, thermometers, pacifiers, and sun shades

Onesie and Sleepers

Long sleeve onesie from my best friend Heather!
Its my fav...I think because it looks like something similar to what I would wear, with the layered long sleeve look! (she thought the same thing, thats why she bought it!)

Sleepers

Booties, burp rag, sleeper and wash cloths

Sleepers

Clothes, blanket, shoes and bibs

Baby shoes, socks, dress, headbands, burp rag/bib set

Blanket, book, and toys

Receiving blankets, lap pads and hooded towel/washcloth set

Baby Clothes

The other weekend I found this brown changing pad cover. And we got the cute little stuffed frog from my Aunt Sara.

Our Pack'n'Play we got from my gramma Joyce, granpa Dave, Aunt Cami, Uncle Mike, Morgan & Chase and my Uncle Wes and Tim.
We feel so blessed to have received all of our large items, which included our Stroller & Carseat, Highchair, and we exchanged our extra stroller for our Swing (plus had a little left over to pick up the bath tub and a blanket I registered for)( there are pics of those items in previous posts). I will post a picture of our swing when it arrives, they didn't have it in the store when we stopped in Lincoln on our way home, so its being shipped to us!
We also received cash, and gift cards to Target and BabyGap!
Thank you so much to the 20+ who attended and for all the wonderful gifts, love and support! Especially those who had to travel! Baby Emma is very blessed to be born having such wonderful family and friends! And thanks, sis, for throwing me the shower and to all that helped out!

4th of July Weekend in Nebraska...

Shane and I made a trip home to Nebraska for the 4th of July weekend! Shane took Thursday afternoon off and Monday. We planned to get a good start on Thursday, but were delayed when I fell carrying some stuff to the car. My street has been getting worked on, and I hadn't been able to park in my driveway for almost 3 weeks, and Thursday morning they finally poured the cement for my driveway, and the crew left a long pole laying in the grass while they moved down to the next driveway, which I managed to trip over. I fell straight forward on to my hands and knees. It became extremely hard to breathe, and I was experiencing back and stomach pain, most likely from my ligaments being pulled. I called Shane, who immediately left work, and then called my doctor who said that I needed to go to the hospital to be monitored. Little did I know until I got there that I had to be monitored for 4 hours!
Baby Emma checked out just fine and I had no bleeding, so we were given the okay to travel. Shane and I finally figured out where labor and delivery was and I also got to experience hospital food (definitely not looking forward to it again!) So I guess all is well that ends well. I know I wouldn't have been able to make the 10 hour drive without knowing baby Emma was okay! We ended up still driving the entire way home and finally arrived at 2am.

All of our siblings also were home, so Shane and I kinda split up and each spent most of the time with our own families, since this was pretty much the last time we could do that, since we will have a kid soon!
We spent the 4th shooting off tons of fireworks (which was nice, since we can't do that in Iowa).
My baby shower was on the 5th, and Shane and I also went to a demolition derby with some of his family. We headed back home on Monday morning. Thankfully, traffic wasn't bad either coming or going and we were blessed with a safe trip! Below are some pics of the weekend! You can tell who gets to take the camera when we go home, because they are all of my family!Jacob sitting in my lap!

Missy and I thought putting Jacob in his diaper bag would make some cute pics!

He looked so 'adorable'!

Jacob

Zoe

Baby Jacob's foot & Baby Haley's foot.
Jacob is 4 months older than Haley, but her feet are just as long as his. His feet were twice as thick and wide though! We have a feeling that Haley will be tall like her dad!

Jacob, Zoe & Haley

Baby Haley & Baby Jacob

Getting the pool set up!

Luke & Kenna

Zoe

Missy & Nathan

Gramma Joyce holding Haley Mae

Granpa Dave & Gramma Joyce

Matthew
He wore Kenna's shoes all weekend long, and clothes and diaper were optional!

Luke

Mom and Dad parked their camper in the back so Britni, Brad & the kids could stay in it, and Jared & Missy brought up their camper to stay in! It was a little redneckish, but you should come to expect nothing less from the Blackman family! I wish I would have taken pictures of the different vans as well! Jared & Missy drive a monster of a family van, and Brad drives a big sized van decked out in flames!

I don't think Britni & Missy were ready for this shot!
Of course, Bella is sitting in the middle begging for food!

Jared w/ baby duty...I think he really enjoys it!

Nathan & Matthew

My Family

Another Family Picture

The Blackman Zoo
Jared, Nathan, Luke, Kenna, Matthew, Missy & Jacob

The O'Keefe Family
Zoe, Britni, Brad & Baby Haley