Embroid-nerd Creeper, Part 1: A Song of Ice and Fire

In my last post, I mentioned wanting to embroider some onesies (or creepers) with some...less traditional themes. I love pink and I love girly, but I also love lots of nerdy things that are neither pink nor girly. I'd been thinking for a while about embellishing a creeper with the Stark sigil and felt especially moved to do so after getting half way through A Storm of Swords. So I made the direwolf a little less fierce and did the words in pink, since it is going on a little girl and all. (Apparently, mommy can't write in a straight line so "winter is coming" is a little wonky).

I bought a 4 pack of Gerber onesies from Wal*Mart, so we're one down with three to go! Possible themes: Sailor Moon, mermaids, Star Wars, Scott Pilgrim... The possibilities are endless!

What's in a name?

Zooey \
zooe(y)\ as a girl's name is a variant of Zoe (Greek), and the meaning of Zooey is "life".
The baby name Zooey sounds like Zoey, Zoie and Zoee. Other similar baby names are Josey,Joey, Rosey and Sokey.


Other similar baby names are NOT Sokey, Sookie, Sookeh, Sokeh, or anything like that.  But I just made myself giggle a bit.  :)  After seeing this, I think we actually chose an appropriate name for our little miracle.  She already means the world to us and is changing our lives in ways we never thought possible.  When I met/fell in love with Hubby, I didn't think I could love anyone or anything more than I love him.  I didn't believe it was possible for my heart to contain anymore love without bursting!  But then we saw our baby girl for the first time, when she was still just a little gummy bear.  Somehow my heart grew larger to accommodate my love for her; I could literally feel my heart swelling.  And it happened again when we heard her heartbeat for the first time, and again this week during the gender reveal.  Everyday when I feel her move, my heart gets a little bigger and I love her even more.


Speaking of feeling her move...the little rascal.  Hubby and I were laying in bed talking when she started kicking up a storm.  Not just little fluttery movements either; full on head butts and right hooks!  I told him to put his hand on my stomach, not thinking he would really be able to feel anything.  As soon as he touched my stomach, she stopped moving for a few minutes (he looked really disappointed when I told him).  We just kept talking and pretty soon she was back to cutting flips.  Suddenly she kicked super hard and I guess he felt it because his whole face lit up and he got all excited- "Was that her?"  After that he just kept telling everyone how awesome it was to feel his baby move for the very first time.  We haven't had a lot of movement like that, but it was sweet knowing she gave her daddy a special kick/headbutt.

Shopping Spree!

Went on a mini shopping trip for Miss Zooey today.  She's not even here but she's already getting spoiled!  Gymboree was having a huge sale on their out of season clothing (and 25% off seasonal outerwear!) so I went a little wild on the "under 6.99" racks.  The dress in the bottom  pictures was my absolute favorite thing on the rack, so obviously I couldn't leave the store without it!  The fishie bib and the pink velour hat were only 99 cents each, the mermaid t-shirt was $1.99 and the "High Five" star fish tank top was around $2-3.  I even picked up an outfit for Brit's little man, Torin.  All for under $20!  Successful day at the mall!

Next up...  My embroidered onesie project, coming soon!

Quick! Before I change my mind!

Baby bump!

Our sweet little Zooey!

19 weeks, 4 days!

How far along?
19 weeks and 4 days

Maternity clothes?

The stretchy pants have been making more frequent appearances and I had to bust out a maternity top last week, but I'm mostly reaching for clothes that were too large pre-pregnancy.

Stretch marks?

Still none, but slathering myself in cocoa butter.  ...Just in case.

Sleep?

Maybe it's because we just got back from our little vacation, but I feel more exhausted than ever!  I'm sleeping better though, so I'll just put it up to post vacay blues/

Best moment this week?

Finding out that we'll be having a sweet baby girl in about 20 weeks!

Food cravings:

Chicken Stew from The Flounder, McDonald's hot fudge sundae and french fries, and milk!  (Yep, same answer as last time.)

Belly button in or out?

Maybe a little more shallow this week, but still very in.

Movement?

LOTS of movement!  There are times during the day when she just won't hold still!  But I love it, of course!

What I miss?

I miss feeling normal 90% of the time.  I feel like I lose my temper or get my feeling hurt over the smallest things, but I can't control it.

What I’m looking forward to: 

Finally going shopping for girlie things!

Milestones:

Seeing my little girl yawn and move.  Just seeing her in general.

What baby looks like this week:

Honeymoonin'!

Hubby and I got into Charleston last night around 10:30 then left our comfy bed to go see Paranormal Activity 3.  Not normally my kind of movie, but we'd seen the second one on our first date so I was determined to make it through this one.  ....I kept my ears plugged through the whole thing!  The sudden noises scared me more than any of the flying tables.  The end, though, really got me.  It was by far the scariest/most messed up part of all three films.  Also, someone brought their baby and (of course) sat right in front of us.  I'm not trying to say don't bring your child to a movie, but this wasn't a kid.  It was a baby.  And it did what babies do best: cry.  There is no reason I can think of to bring your small baby to a movie at midnight.  Am I being harsh?

Anyway, we're in Charleston, enjoying the married life and dreaming of one day moving here.  I'll be taking lots of pictures I'm sure.  Some of them may even end up on here!  :)  I'll do my weekly update later tonight, then I'll be laying low for the rest of the weekend.  Later, y'all!

18 Weeks, 3 Days

How far along?
18 weeks and 3 days

Maternity clothes?

I think it's time to break down and start wearing them.  I had a girl come up to me at work and tell me I seriously needed to consider purchasing a belly band if I wanted to keep wearing my normal jeans.  :(

Stretch marks?

Still none, even though things are starting to expand at an alarming rate!

Sleep?

I still feel tired all the time, but I don't seem to sleep for very long.  The latest I've slept in the past couple of weeks was probably 7:30.  During the week, I sometimes wake up as early as 4!

Best moment this week?

Getting married to my best friend and feeling our baby move! 

Food cravings:

Chicken Stew from The Flounder, McDonald's hot fudge sundae and french fries, and milk!

Belly button in or out?

Still in, but it looks like it's trying to shallow up on me. 

Movement?

Possible headbutt and other small flutters.

What I miss?

Caffeine!  Wine!  Junk food! 

What I’m looking forward to: 

Finding out if we'll be having a Zooey or an Ollie! 

Milestones:

Marital bliss.  :)

Yeah, its been a pretty hectic week.  As you can see I recently got married to the man formerly known as Fiance, the most wonderful person I know and the best friend I could ever ask for.  His mom was kind enough to pay for a one night stay in the super swank Marriott (Romance package, woop woop!) so we could have a mini honeymoon before leaving for Charleston this Thursday.  Everything was beautiful and perfect, even though we forgot about exchanging rings after we said our vows!  Speaking of vows...  I wrote mine in the tub that morning before I started getting ready.  Hubby confessed that he's come up with his on the way to the ceremony!  (That's not really out of the ordinary for us though.)  We're both glad the ceremony stuff is over with; ready to get on with the real parts of being husband and wife, and soon to be parents.

We'll find out whether we're having a little Zooey or Oliver a week from Monday.  The votes are split down the middle!  Of course, all the ladies think we'll have a girl while all the men folk have their hearts set on a mini Lattimore/Shaw.  (Look at me, talking intelligently about football stuff!)  Whatever it is, he/she gave me a pretty strong headbutt in the stomach a few nights back.  Hubby and I had been playing around, tickle fighting, and had just settled onto the futon to watch some TV.  All of a sudden...BAM.  The rest of the movements have been small, much less scary.  To be honest though, I can't wait to feel the little one move all the time.  I'm sure that'll wear off after a couple of weeks of constant movement.

I've been meaning to do belly pictures week by week, but I still haven't settled into the idea of it.  I always thought it was kind of weird for women to pull their shirts up, poke their bellies out and take a picture of it for all the world to see.  Just trying to take this one day at a time, and do whatever feels comfortable to me.  ...Which hasn't been much lately.  Napping is about the extent of it.

Latest Doctor Visit

Fiance and I met at the doctor's office last Wednesday for my monthly checkup and to hear our baby's heartbeat for the first time!  All of my levels were fine, I'm looking very healthy.  Even gained three pounds!  We didn't have to wait long to get into a room this time (thank goodness) but it took a while for the doctor to actually come to us.  (When I go, I see which ever doctor is on call, so I guess that explains some of the wait.)  Dr. Warren was very friendly and helpful and didn't mind that I messed up his heartbeat count when I started laughing.  :)  Oliver's/Zooey's heartbeat sounded like a little freight train, just chugging away!  (Might have started laughing to hide the fact that I was about to cry.)


Also...I think I felt the baby move for the first time this week.  I was on my first break at work, reading my book when I felt what might have been the start of a hunger pain, but then it just stopped.  Maybe it was less hunger pre-pain, and more the feeling of a tiny mermaid cutting a flip.  If it was the baby, it was amazing.  If I was just hungry...well, I have Nutella for that.  

16 weeks and 5 days

Its been a while since I've updated, but I guess that just means you'll have more to read!  Hoorah!

I've been getting increasingly impatient when it comes to finding out the sex of our baby.  Fiance was gone for drill this past weekend, so I figured it would be a good time to try what's known as the "ring on a string" test (as suggested by a close friend).  I woke up at 6:30 so I figured, "Why not?"  Took off my engagement ring, tied it to some embroidery thread and held it over my belly button...  I tried it several times holding the string with my right hand, several more with my left and thought I'd try it over my wrist for good measure.  Every time, without fail, my ring moved in a nice wide circle.  For those of you who don't know A RING MOVING IN A CIRCULAR PATTERN MEANS I'M CARRYING A GIRL!  YESSSS!  Granted, it might not be a good idea to start buying clothes and painting rooms based on this decision but its still pretty exciting to get some kind of idea of what I'll be holding in five months.

Speaking of what I'll be holding in five months, we've decided on names for each gender (after much debate). Oddly enough, we came up with each name out of the blue after we'd been discussing each for a while.  For a boy: Oliver Patrick.  Fiance came up with that one, and I ended up liking it a lot after I got over the fact that I went to school with a girl who named her boy Oliver.  For a girl: Zooey Sawyer.  For me, the girl's name was the hardest.  I wanted to find something unique, but not embarrassing.  I didn't want her to grow up hating me for giving her a name she would never be able to find on a coffee mug at a gift shop.  Sawyer first came up in a conversation with Daniel about what his ex boss named his daughter.  I dismissed it almost immediately since it only conjured images of a down home boy painting a white fence.  But the more I thought about it, the more it appealed to the literary nerd in me so it stuck and started getting paired with tons of first names.  Then one night we settled in to watch I Love You, Man and it hit me!  Zooey!  The perfect blend of unique and sane!


I think I'll make this a two-part post and fill everyone in on the rest of the exciting news tomorrow.  I promise, it will actually be tomorrow and not in 2 weeks.  Toodles!