Maternity and Childrens Consignment Sale - Best Ever

  Last friday, my (also pregnant) friend Amanda brought me to this really nice consignment sale. It was hosted by Jack and Jill and the bump.com was also there!! I am usually not a huge fan of used things unless its from someone I know. But this sale was really clean and everything was nice and organized. We got there early with the "new mom to be" group since Amand is going to be a first time mom. So we definitely got a great pick of things!!! Here are the awesome things I got and great prices!!

Doll Car Seat - $5 ( Original Price $13)

Home Depot Work Bench with accessories - $15 (OP $50)

Doll Stroller - $12 (OP $30)

Leapfrog Reader - $5 (OP $30)

Brand New My Breast Friend - $15 (OP $40-$50)

Brand New(I used it already) Boppy Preagnancy Wedge - $5 (OP $15)

And not pictured, a changing pad for $10. So thats a total of $57!!! 

Most of it, I didn't need, but was SOOO thrilled to get at such a deal! The used items were only slightly used too!!

Elyse LOVED shopping :) She even carried some of her own stuff!! 

We also got this "leash" as a joke. Of course when we put it on her to see if she would respond to it, she did.... Then someone came up to us and asked "Where did you get that? Are there more?" HAHA

out of ALL the things we got, THAT was the thing someone asked about. Don't worry, we won't be using the leash... too often haha :)

California Baby Shower for baby #2

  Two weekends ago I went down to California for my baby shower! I am so lucky to have friends offer to throw me another shower and I loved it so much! I definitely will need all the gifts people gave me so having a shower is SOOO helpful!

The whole thing was really cute. It was "rain showers" themed and the host, my friend Jodi seemed to put a lot of work into it all. The invites were really cute and had an umbrella on it with rain drops.

The decor was clear umbrellas with felt rain drops, white poms as clouds, rain boots as utensil holders and there were cute food picks with umbrellas on them. Then of course there was a cute blue punch bowl with ducks in them!!

oh and the food was sooooooo good!!!

Seeing this picture makes me want those tarts again!!

I am really grateful for all the effort she put into it all. It turned out so cute! 

I was also happy because I went down to Roseville friday afternoon til sunday afternoon and spent the whole time with my friend Courtney. It was really nice since we don't ever get to spend large portions of time together anymore. Plus I didn't have Elyse or Cole with me. They stayed behind for this trip.

So we went shopping(since doing that with Elyse isn't very enjoyable) and ate out. It was nice to getaway for the weekend to. I also got to see my cousins in the Bay Area for some time and we went to see the movie The Host. I can't even stress how rare it is for me to see a movie as well so that was wonderful!!!

My cousin and I are due at the same time so we took a picture of our bumps together. Of course, I look twice the size. I like to tell people "it's because its my second" HAHA. OR it could be that I eat all the time and everything in sight. 

So this is us at 26 weeks. 

Pregnancy Update - 26 weeks

  So the last post about Elyse's hair styling, published today. But I wrote it 2 days ago and just noticed that it didn't go through....or did it?

Anyways, Im 26 weeks and 1 day today! The size of a cucumber :)

I had an ultrasound today and it went well. I have had really terrible pelvic pressure and its gotten a lot worse this week. Unfortunately, this is normal for a second pregnancy and there isn't much that can be done. It feels like someone kicked me down there and feels swollen.  My cousin Sharon let me borrow her maternity belt and it does help a little. Assuming I am using it properly :) 

The pain was really bad on tuesday, so on Wednesday I told my nurse and she recommended I let my Dr know. Since I knew I had a ultrasound today I decided to wait till today. When I went into my ultrasound, the nurse noticed I was walking funny so I let her know about how bad the pressure is. She said that they will need to keep an eye on it. 

Once the ultrasound tech came in and put that warm gel on my belly the first thing she said is "oh... you're having a contraction right now. Can you feel it?" 

I said "ooooooh.... I thought I was having a stomach ache!!" hahaha turns out I have likely been having braxton Hicks contractions this week and have been contributing to my pelvic pressure and likely making it worse! From what I was reading about them, BH contractions can be painless or painful. But they usually don't affect the cervix which is good news for me! Other than that my cervix looks nice and long(aren't you thrilled to know about my cervix?)

So I was cleared to travel to sacramento this weekend :)

If you see my getting up slowly with a pained expression, don't worry. It's totally normal. The beauty of pregnancy :)

Elyse's Hair Styling

Lately Elyse has been enjoying putting stuff in her hair. She may become quite the hair stylist someday!! In one of the pictures she put aquaphor in her hair while we were at the Melting Pot.




Then she can scrub her hair with our dish scrubbers.



So pretty :)

McCarthy Baby Shower

  

A few things to update on, but I'll try to not be all over the place as usual and stick to one topic :)

This last month, I have been enjoying crafting for a shower we threw for our close friends Tim and Amanda! I'm not so great at hosting showers but I love to make stuff and decorate for them! So thankfully I had some help from Lindsay and Anna to make it all happen. I forgot to take pictures before everyone came so the pictures of the food(the biggest part!) don't really exsist. But it was definitely fun! So if you're throwing a shower for someone and want some ideas, here they are! We made a rag garland out of fat quarters on sale at Joann's. Onesies on a clothesline! and of course, poms in the windows :)(those are a PAIN in the butt to make, so I would recommend giving that task to a husband or something haha) On the mantle there is a game there too. The easy to do "how many candies in a jar". There were 1148 in that jar. Should have been 1149, but baby fingers got to one. 

Poms in the window.

It's a girl banner and pom garland. On the table there we had a few things set up. 

And basket and blank mailing labels for guest to write their addresses on. Takes one step out of thank you cards for the soon to be busy parents to be!

Advice cards - something for the guests to write any advice, if any to the parents-to-be and some guesses on the day the baby will be born and how long and how much she will weigh. 

And the favors! I stole this idea from pinterest, but since Amanda likes to garden, it seemed like such a cute idea! The one on pinterest required seed bombs but those are pricey. So we went with plantable sunflower seeds. The picture below.

Then there are of course the staples!!! Diaper wreath!

Dessert bar with wood "baby girl" letters on a clothes line. Lindsay had a great idea. The letters and  icons are wood and are from Joanns. Afterwards you can put velcro on them and use them on a velcro board for you baby when they are older.

This came out a little blurry, but it was the first thing I made for the party! A burlap and lace banner. The McCarthys haven't decided on how to spell their baby's name yet so we we put "baby McCarthy" instead. I have tons of extra burlap still so once they do know, we may make one with her name to add to the nursery :)

And the diaper cake! The letters we got pre made at micheals and attached travel size items and toys :) We used about 45 size one diapers. 

Lastly, a puff quilt! I didn't finish it in time for the shower, but did finish it now! haha. Amanda, Steph and I made one for our friend Erica last year. This year, i tried a different tutorial, but still needed some help making the squares. So Lindsay was able to help me there. But I tried a new way of adding a backing and making a ruffle, which I had never done. It's definitely an amature blanket, but its done! :)

I really enjoy crafting and making things for friends so this was a lot of fun for me to do :)

Boring Update: the new house

  I figured I should update but there really isn't anything new here! Since we've moved in, Cole and I have been really busy unpacking. Although we came from a much smaller place, we(Cole) were really good at storing things away. Then we would completely forget we had that/those things since they were so hard to access! So our new thing here is that if we don't see ourselves needing or using it, toss it. Also, if we think we will use it then it needs to be stored in an accessable place. Or the same thing will happen. So we are unpacking as well as reorganizing. Do that while pregnant and chasing a toddler has really taken it out of me!

But I do really enjoy the new place. So much space for Elyse and the dogs to run around and its not cluttered :) woo hoo!!

The downstairs has a bedroom that we are turning into a playroom. Elyse uses it a lot so I know that it wasn't wasted. I am so happy she is using it!(she is in there right now!) Then we also have a space for her toys to go and we can let her be messy :) 

In the last house, I was always wanting to get out and do something or go somewhere. Here, I don't feel that way at all! Although I have a lot to do here, but I don't feel the need to leave. Mostly because Elyse can run around the house and she isn't confined to one room here. 

Other than that, I have been crafting still for the up coming shower and going to my many many doctor appointments :) My mom is coming this weekend as well so I am pretty excited to see her. (and she will watch Elyse while cole and I go on a date night!!)

Pants on the head in the new guestroom/craft room!

We've Moved and Swim Lessons!

  It's true, we finally moved! 

We weren't sure it was actually going to happen last week, but everyone pulled together and made it work! If you follow me on instagram then this is old news (and old pictures). We got our keys on friday afternoon and decided to have dinner as a family in our new house!

Close got to the house a little bit after me since he was coming to work and he made sure to let me know to NOT go in without him. He wanted to carry his whole family across the threshold. Once he arrived, I carried Elyse(and our unborn baby) and cole picked me up then carried us through the door. I don't think he realized how heavy that acutally would be. A pregnant lady and a toddler! Not exactly a light load. Our new neighbors saw us and cheered us on :)

We got some teryaki from a close by shop, pulled out our (never used) wedding china and had dinner on the floor or where our nook table would go. Naturally, Elyse got rice all over the floor but it's ok. It's her new house too! 

With the help of friends and family, we moved in this weekend. We are SO grateful to have the support system we do up here. It would have taken us forever to move without them. Well, it would have taken Cole forever to move since I can't really lift things. Our kitchen was fully functional by sunday(thank you to Lenny for that help!) and the master bedroom is really close. We are still painting Elyse's room now, but she is temporarily staying in another room.

She has been really loving it here. Lots of space to run and has been using her new playroom! It's not decorated at all. Right now its a room with her toys in it downstairs, but she will go in there and hang out for a long time. I was worried she would want to be in the same room as me all the time. I was clearly wrong. The baby bird is independent! 

Everyday since this weekend, we have been slowly unpacking. Cole still has so many things to do around the house to make it functional in the way we had imagined but we'll get there. We love the house and are so happy about it!

We finally got cable and internet yesterday so I am able to update :)

Yesterday, Elyse had her first swim lesson in Issaquah! Although we live in Renton now, we live very north east so we are apart of what is called "East Renton Highlands". Which means we are directly south of Issaquah and still land in the Issaquah school district. Since I have really grown to love Issaquah, I'm very happy about still being close to it. 

I have been talking to Cole about sending Elyse to swim lessons since she was 4 months old! She couldn't go until she was 6 months, but I was so excited and wanted to set up for her to go when she was 4 months. Things got busy and we just continued to push it off. (traveling for the better half of a year will do that to you!) But finally, I signed her up in January and her class started yesterday.

This is the first time the Van Gundy family has done anything with the Issaquah parks and rec and the Julius Bohem pool! It was exciting and fun to see other families just like us getting excited for a baby swim class. Cole was very skepital about the class, but I think after he saw how much she enjoyed it that he may be happy we did it. The class is 30min long and Elyse was smiles the WHOLE time. I think if anything, it's a fun new activity for her to do with her daddy :)