Sweet Lullabies for Baby

I've had so much fun compiling a list of songs from my music library to play for baby Faeh at night time. I did a little research on lullaby albums and found two that are fantastic. We've been playing them every night for a while. My two favorites have been...

Scripture Lullabies 

I love that this album is completely based on scripture. It doesn't get any better than that.

Baby Mine: Classic Songs for Bedtime

My absolute favorite song on this album is "My Darling" by Ryan Tanner. It's the perfect lullaby and I get all weepy every time I listen to it. Doesn't hurt that there's a banjo in it :)

 

You can listen to my personal playlist on Spotify called Lullabies for Baby here.

It has all the classic elements of a lullaby list: Bon Iver, Jose Gonzalez, Sufjan Stevens, etc.

Enjoy and don't hesitate to share if you have favorites!

J.

{18 Weeks}

Truman and I finally made a trip up to Lincoln to plant our garden!

We just did the basics: A few veggies, few herbs, few flowers. Didn't want to overwhelm myself the first year. I'm hoping to develop my green thumb through the years...

My easy and cheap attempt to dress up our patio.

 My lovelies.

 Planted our Bread & Cup gift certificate.

Celebrated my very first Mother's Day this week, as well. Beans and Trums treated me with Captain Crunch in bed...what more could a pregnant gal want!?

 Also celebrated with these lovely ladies. I'm blessed to come from a line of strong and beautiful women.

 That's more like it.

Still no movements that I can feel yet, but I'm hoping to notice something within the next few weeks.

It's ironic because it took the nurse about ten minutes to get a steady heartbeat the other day because the little babe wouldn't stop moving. She told us to prepare ourselves because we have a mover!

This week I have had intense cravings for everything tangy and sour. Strawberry lemonade slushes from Dairy Queen and sour gummy worms have been my favorite. I wish I could go back to craving vegetables like I did in the first trimester. My dad also introduced me to Jalepeno pickles last night (a.k.a. God's gift to man) and I downed half a jar. 

Questions for Moms:

As I'm getting closer to reaching the halfway mark, I've started to put more thought into things we need for the baby. It's overwhelming. I feel like there are so many unnecessary things out there I'm just not sure what they are. I want to keep it simple and get better quality items that I really need rather than loads of things that will sit unused. This is where I need some help :) I have three main questions that I could use some advice on. If you have experience or suggestions I would really appreciate a response!

1. I've been talking to a few moms about rocking chairs. At first I thought it was a definite necessity, but I've found that moms who used the Baby Wise technique didn't need the rocking chair because they put their baby down to sleep right away rather than soothed them to sleep. I'm going to have a chair in the nursery no matter what I'm just contemplating a stationary one. Good idea?

Is a rocking chair necessary or can I get by with a regular one?

2. What items are necessary for a newborn? If you can suggest a specific brand you like for baby carriers, swaddles, bassinets, etc. that would be great.

3. What books did you find were most helpful in preparing for the first year? I plan on reading through Baby Wise before little Faeh comes but I would love other suggestions.

Whew! That was a long one, sorry. If you made it through the entire post I'll give you a high five. 

Thanks in advance for the advice!

J.

{17 Weeks}

Week 17 has been especially fun (with a few, minor hiccups).

We (finally!) had the opportunity to spend time with our littlest nephew, Connor, and we had such a blast. I was really nervous that he wouldn't be very comfortable around us since we haven't spent very much time with him but he was so playful and cuddly it almost brought me to tears! I can't wait until he has a little cousin to run around with.

 We took him for a walk to the local BBQ place in town and it made me so excited to take our little babe places. I'm already dreaming of morning strolls through the farmer's market... :)

 Isn't he the cutest!? Those chubby lips...

As I mentioned here, we've been playing music to our babe all week and I can't get enough of watching my belly button move around. I giggle like a little girl every time and probably weird Truman out, but it never gets old! I've been playing Scripture Lullabies (check it out here!) every night and little Faeh seems to enjoy that.

 Came home to my guy laying in the hammock the other day. These are the things I love about being on the river.

Want to share a fun little tip that I learned on my shopping trip!

I was trying a skirt on at Anthro and this really cute sales associate was helping. Usually when I wear skinny belts around my waist I have no idea what to do with the excess and I let it hang awkwardly. She suggested buckling the belt at my side and wrapping the rest of the belt for texture--brilliant! Maybe I'm the last one to realize how great this is, but I wanted to share just in case anyone else was having the same problem I was :)

 (Mid-17 Weeks)

 Halfway during the week I started having kidney pain and cramping. I was getting worried that I had some sort of infection so I called the nurses to be safe. They decided to bump my appointment up a few days so we headed to Lincoln last night. I knew that at 17 weeks there was a chance we would be able to tell what the sex is so I was really excited we could get in a little sooner. 

We were able to find out :)

I can't share anymore just yet because we are waiting to tell friends and family for another three weeks at a Gender Reveal Shower...it's going to be tough keeping it a secret!

(This is me at a day short of 18 Weeks)

 Ugh. Does anyone else have a really hard time taking a decent picture with a self timer!? We are just about ready to throw in the towel and get a dang tri-pod...

 We decided an occasion like this deserved proper celebrating so we got all guzzied up and went to Bread & Cup.

 We finished the evening at our favorite coffee shop watching the bar-hoppers stumble through town, what fun!

It was a great week overall and I'm so happy to feel like I know my baby just a little bit more. 

Cheers and happy mother's day a day early!

J.

{Baby Faeh Tunes}

I have been looking forward to week 17 since the day I found out I was pregnant. 

As I've mentioned before, music has always been very important to me and I relate it to many great moments in my life. I am so looking forward to sharing my passion with my babe and I finally got to start this week! 

It took a while to create just one playlist because there are so many different artists I want my baby to love, but I figure I have years to fit them all in so I'll start small(er) :) These are songs that I'm relating to right now and songs that I've loved for a long time. Artists like James Taylor are ones that I associate great memories from my childhood with and I'm excited to pass that along to my children.

The other night we started playing "Midnight on the Interstate" by Trampled by Turtles on my tummy. My belly button immediately started doing the wave and I even felt the left side of my belly getting firm and sticking out--such an amazing feeling. Nothing gives me more joy than watching that movement and I'd like to think the babe is enjoying the music. 

If you'd like to have a listen I created my playlist on Spotify (a.k.a. a poor girl's dream).

Listen here.

midnight on the interstate - trampled by turtles

alabama pines - jason isbell & the 400 unit

lorraine - lori mckenna

think about the two of us - tim & nicki bluhm

angel from montgomery - john prine

copperline - james taylor

 a kazahk melody - abigail washburn

lay my burden down - alison krauss & union station

st. joseph's - the avett brothers

corrina, corrina - bob dylan

six white horses - gillian welch

betting on trains - hem

volunteers - megafaun

comes a time - neil young

from the morning - nick drake

ring them bells - sarah jarosz

untitled - seryn

rare bird alert - steve martin & the steep canyon rangers

if i needed you - townes van zandt

ooh la la - the faces

{16 Weeks}

Had a great start to week 16 in Kansas City with my mom and Shanda. I even got lucky and won an extra $100 of shopping money from a gas station scratch card (I NEVER do that sort of thing, by the way). The constant walking was a little rough on my hips and legs, but I enjoyed visiting some of my favorite stores and finally having a legit baby bump!

The Gap store we visited had a maternity section so I was able to try on some basic dresses (I'm wearing one in the pictures above). Those were the only maternity pieces I purchased and they are the most comfortable thing ever. A little on the pricey side but totally worth the quality and comfort of the fabric--I want to live in them.

Most of the week has consisted of working and finding songs for baby Faeh to enjoy. I'm so thankful for this warm weather and it's making the country even more enjoyable. Last night Truman took me on a date to The Chocolate Bar and we sat on the patio for hours. I love downtown GI and I rarely get to enjoy it so it was quite the treat (plus we got a kick out of the older women beside us laughing at how drunk they were).

The other night I was laying on the couch miserably full. I was noticing how shallow my belly button was getting when all of the sudden it moved! Not my belly, but the belly button! It was the strangest thing--moving up and down and doing the wave. I can't image that I would be able to see my baby's movement yet especially when I haven't felt anything, but what else could it be? Google was of no help to me. If anyone has an explanation for my alien-belly I'd love to hear!

Permanently attaching headphones to my belly this week...
J.