23-25 weeks...

it is now very easy to tell that i am pregnant!  this belly of mine has really exploded in the last couple weeks.  we had my 25 week check up this week and everything is good.  his heartbeat was good and everything else was fine.  it was a short appointment since i didn't even have any questions to ask him, but we did sit and chat for a minute about various things including old wives tales things people say that sound crazy to me... and they are crazy.. haha.  i love my doctor. he's a really good guy and funny and sarcastic.  i fully trust him and know that whatever he says he is looking out for my best interest and interest of the baby.  here are some things i am experiencing lately:

- this little man moves all the time! he is a very active baby.  he makes his presence known a couple times through out the day and then does the cha cha all night long.  usually i can sleep through it... except when i have to go to the bathroom and he makes it worse.

- i am having a harder time bending over because i can't breathe... this hard ball doesn't squish out of the way when i move so it just cuts off air supply.  

- i have experienced my first couple Braxton Hicks contractions.  at first i thought it was the baby moving around but then i realized wow that whole area is tight and it feels like there is pressure... or just uncomfortable-ness and then after 30 seconds or a minute it goes away... totally weird.

- the other day the baby stuck his bum out at me.  he rolled over and all of a sudden my belly was totally lopsided with this hard ball sticking out.  it was way funny.

- chris has now really felt the baby kick.  it was during one of the baby's morning dance sessions... chris felt it on my side... while i was feeling it on both sides.

- it makes me laugh when he moving or kicking and punching in both directions... i can just see my belly dance from side to side.

- i now waddle a little bit.  chris thinks its awesome. i'm just trying to walk.

- my face is finally not breaking out constantly anymore which is really nice!

-i literally feel like an oven with a bun in it.  i am so hot all the time! our house is freezing to chris and i am just dying! often i will walk in a room and think its super hot and my mom or someone else says "um no, its just you". 

we still haven't settled on a name but i think we have a few that we are seriously thinking about... some that stick out more than others.  thats all i have for today... or all i can remember since i have lost my brain.  here are a few extra pics... chris likes taking pics with our camera... and he got a little crazy this last time and kept making me pose while he counted down really fast... here's the result:

getting ready for the boy...

i have been dying to know the sex of the baby because i have all the projects i want to work on but had to wait till we knew for sure what the baby was.  the monday after we found out the baby was for sure a boy i went off to the fabric store to buy material for my first project- recovering the car seat my sister saved for me.  my awesome sister saved all her nice baby stuff so that i could use it in the future.  the future is now here, but i'm having a boy.  the car seat is black and grey and purple.  i decided to take out the purple and put in something a little masculine and cute! i found this really cute black fabric with grey stripes and yellow and white dots.  i bought enough so that i could recover the matching stroller as well.  here is the finished product:

i started by finding a blog online that explained how another girl had taken apart the seat, saved all the pieces used them as a pattern, and then sewed it back together.  i had already decided to save the black fabric and the grey piping as they were both in really good shape.  this made it a little harder to find a fabric i liked that would match until i found the one i used and really liked it. 

 since i was using so much of the original car seat (including all the batting/backing inside) it made the process easy.  some parts were frustrating and definitely a challenge but i had so much fun doing it.  i took pictures during the entire taking apart process so i could remember how things were supposed to go back together and i';m glad i did!! it came in handy many times!!!  here is one part i'm proud of: making this hole for the seat belt button and making the button hole for the strap to come through the button.  i had never done either before but it was really neat to figure it out.

i'm really happy with how the car seat turned out!! i think its so cute and will totally work for this little guy.  i also did the little infant head rest which really adds to the whole thing... 

after i finished the car seat i decided to tackle the stroller.  this one was more difficult as i wasn't sure how to take it apart. it was also tricky as it had this plastic window and these pockets for the support bars etc...

 once i finished the hood i took off the seat and after looking at it for a while decided it was WAY too complicated to take apart and put back together... not worth the trouble at all.  there were only 2 little strips of purple and it didn't seem like it would be worth the mess to take it apart for that. so i left it.  but even just changing the hood i think adds soooo much to it!!

after i was finished with all that i decided i wanted to make one of those blanket covers you see so many people with these days.  they looked easy enough to make so i went back to the fabric store and picked out some fabric to go with the black yellow and grey i already had.  i ended up getting a really bright yellow black and white stripped fabric with a black with grey circles to mellow it out a bit and then a black fabric with grey and white squares on it for another contrast.  i had seen someone use giant rickrack on the border and thought it was so cute so i did the same and only used it on the front edge.  i also put an elastic band across the back to help hold the cover down when its windy (as it is in february in las vegas).  i already had some white snaps and decided to use that instead of velcro for the straps to attach it to the handle. 

for the inside layer i decided to use left over fabric from the car seat so when the front of the blanket was flipped up it would match the inside.  i also used white minky dot for a border on the inside.  partly cause i think its so cute and soft and also to give it a little weight to help hold down if windy.  i was going to attach a little velco to the side to help hold it, but once i finished it was heavy enough to hold itself.  

overall i'm really happy with how everything turned out!!! i am now waiting for some fabric to come that i bought online to make bedding and what not.  we aren't even getting a crib until we move in the navy, but i need to make it now in case i never feel up to it after the baby is born.  i love sewing and am excited to be able to do all these things in preparing for our little guy to come!!!

19-21 weeks...

i think it is evident from the pictures above that red is NOT my color and blue is amazing.

this week we went for my 20 weeks appointment where they do a big ultra sound and measure everything and check that everything looks good and is developing as it should.  i was anxious all morning partly from wanting to know the baby was a boy for sure and also not knowing if chris would make it home from school on time for us to ride together to the appointment.  he had 2 screenings and half the time they dont show up which the first one didn't, but the second one did.  luckily the guy had already been down to the ER and chris was able to get through the appointment faster because of it.  once we got there the ultra sound tech took us back and first thing confirmed ITS A BOY!!! chris got a big smile on his face.  he's very excited to have a boy.  this will be the first spillers grandchild to carry on the spillers name as jeff and chris are the only boys of all the cousins on his dad's side of the family and so far jeff only has girls... so this is the first BOY!!! i am very excited as i have many projects i want to start working on but had to wait till i knew the gender for sure.  i will be very busy now!! 

here's my update from the last month:

-baby is kicking ALL the time!! after i eat lunch he usually starts swimming around and kicking me and when i am first trying to fall asleep he usually perks up and says hello.  chris and i have tried a couple times now to catch it so he can feel it which we have once... but its hard for him to feel it, especially since my heart beat is so strong right where the baby is sitting right now.

- i feel like my belly has exploded this week.  all of a sudden i feel so much more pregnant and my belly is sticking out a foot.  but i'm excited it is finally getting to that point.

- i have lost interest in foods i lived off of for the first couple months.  i can no longer eat cottage cheese and pears (together), macaroni and cheese, and occasionally cereal does not appeal to me. so i am now venturing out to see what i want.

- heartburn has kicked in! holy cow.  some nights are worse than others, but tums is helping a little.  my doctor gave me some stuff to try so we will see how it goes.

- it is getting harder to bend over to pick stuff up. i stand up and am completely out of breath and dizzy. its a nice excuse to ask chris for help more often now.

- my hair is growing way fast.  i just barely got my hair done and it already has grown an inch! that and it grows too fast on my legs which makes me shave more often.  its annoying and becoming increasingly more difficult. 

- i am sleeping fairly well, but every time i roll over i have to get up and go to the bathroom. 

- i get really bad headaches EVERY afternoon so my doctor prescribed me to drink a can or 2 of diet coke everyday... i will admit i was excited to hear thats i SHOULD drink some caffeine... i do miss my diet coke... haven't had any in like 7 months. 

here's the pics and update on the baby BOY:

the baby is looking really good and healthy.  he is definitely a boy! gave us a couple really good views to prove it! we also got to witness him sucking his thumb! it was so sweet!!!  

it was so crazy to see the 3D view! makes the baby look really real... with skin and eyelids and hands and feet... so neat!! we got one really good shot of the face! and the others the baby was being shy and looking away or kept putting his hands in front of his face.

he is measuring BIG.  like my due date should really be FEB 3rd, but they are keeping it the 11th.  so he is a week bigger than expected and at this rate if i make it to my due date he will be AT LEAST 8 pounds!! thats big for my family! we were all little 6 pound babies.  when she measured his femur she said he was going to be a very long baby as well.  that makes me happy! i hope this boy gets chris's height and not mine!!! 

we left the appointment feeling really happy and excited.  my health is good and the baby is looking good.  just have to wait a couple more weeks now (like 18) to see him!!! we are having fun thinking of names.. and my family is especially having a good time. 

 some suggestions we got this week:

lorenzo

bo hunkus

alex

fredrich

henry

mj

jack

and many more!!! some we like and some not so much- haha! but we aren't planning on settling on a name till the baby is born.  i want to see his face first.