Ella's Room

I have been meaning to post pictures of the nursery since Thanksgiving, but I haven't done it yet. I guess I've been busy or lazy- I'm not sure which one. We still have decorating to do, but here are the most updated pictures. I am happy to show you the furniture that we chose and the finished walls. Thanks for your input about the crib, as you can see I definitely listened to your feedback!

This is the bedding we decided on and you can also see my new stroller!

Our sweet neighbors gave us this bassinet and my aunt gave us that bouncy chair, a car seat, and 2 bases. I didn't anticipate getting any hand-me-downs since all of my sisters are still having babies, but we have been pleasantly surprised by the people who have thought to share their old baby things with us. We are very grateful for all of the kindness people have shown us.

Here is our adorable changing table! We'll fill the empty basket with diapers and put her blankets and other diapering things on the top shelf.

My New Love...BABY CLOTHES

I LOVE baby clothes. I have spent so much money on clothes for our baby. It is hard to imagine that when I was first pregnant I really wanted to have a boy. Don't get me wrong, I would love a boy and I will be thrilled to have a boy one day, but right now I can only think pink. The week of our ultrasound I started thinking that I'd better prepare myself just in case we found out we were having a girl (even though no one thought I'd have a girl so I was pretty convinced we were having a boy). We went to baby GAP and even then I was so drawn to the boys section and didn't really see anything I liked for baby girls. Now I don't know how I could have ever thought that. I still love little boy clothes and enjoy looking at my little nephews' clothes, but nothing makes me as happy as adorable baby girl clothes. I'm addicted!

Gratitude

Don't you just love all of the little things in life that make your day? Here are the top 10 for today:

10. At Costco I got a book with their Thanksgiving weekend sales and the Kitchen Aid mixer I want will be $50 less.
9. I'm getting closer to deciding on my crib. I still haven't bought it, but I think I know what I'll do. Also, the bedding I like is on Ebay so I plan on being part of the inevitable bidding war this Saturday. Maybe I'll get lucky.
8. The weather here has been beautiful- about 60 degrees.
7. I was worried that over the last 2 weeks I'd gained lots of weight because I haven't been to the gym. At my doctors appointment I was happy to see that I've gained 11 lbs. That is what I was hoping for!
6. I only have 2 more days of school this week and only 2 days next week!
5. My kids are starting to write letters to me now so I get little notes like the one today that said "I like you. I wish you cood be my taechaer forevr. Frum ..." There is a labeled picture to go along with it of the student and "Gonzolis". Those are the best!
4. Thanks to my sweet neighbor Briti, I have a new SIMPLE recipe for pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. Here it is:
1 spice cake mix
1 small can (15 oz.) of pumpkin
1 cup of chocolate chips
Mix those 3 ingredients and drop by spoonful on a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 16-18 minutes. How simple is that!
3. I bought a really cute maternity sweater at Old Navy for only $12. What a deal! I almost bought 2 just because it was so great.
2. Today I filled up my tank for $20.69. Who thought gas would come down so much?
1. At our ultrasound yesterday we found out that our little girl (Ella?) has a "beautiful" heart and that everything looks great. Hooray!

Nursery

I have had the main plan for a nursery in my head for years now, far before we started trying to have a baby. That isn't very surprising coming from me though is it! I chose the colors and started painting before I found out I was pregnant (the day before to be exact). My mom is amazing and she helped us tremendously. I must say that Gustavo has been wonderful as well. I usually take control of the home projects, but I've needed more help with this one and he has really stepped in. Here is what we have so far:


I LOVE IT! We bought a bookshelf and baskets from IKEA and ordered our changing table on Saturday. We planned to order the crib on Saturday as well, but when we went to Salt Lake to see the crib we thought we wanted neither of us liked it. We are now trying to decide what to do. Here are my top 3 options along with each choice's pros and cons. I'd LOVE your input so please comment!

Option #1


Pros: This is black and would match the other furniture well. I should be able to get a good price on it. Yolanda bought a black Da Vinci crib and it looks great and seems to be a high quality crib.

Cons: I can't see it in person. I don't know if the back seems awkwardly high?


Option #2- but the color would be espresso, not this light stain


Pros: This crib is beautiful! The picture doesn't do it justice. I've seen it in baby rooms online and in person and I always love it. It is very high quality and Gustavo and I love it.

Cons: It is the most expensive and the color is espresso, so it wouldn't match the black changing table or black/brown IKEA bookshelf perfectly. I don't know if that bothers me though. It doesn't come with the toddler rails and the other 2 do (do I really care though?)

Option #3

Pros: I think it looks really nice. It was one I was initially drawn to when I first started looking at cribs. It is a great price (on sale right now for $50 off regular price). It comes with toddler rails. It would be a great headboard when it converts to a full size bed.

Cons: Again, I can't see it in person. It only has one review. The review is extremely positive, but there is only one. I don't know about the quality of the crib. I don't like the small metal plates on the front of the crib.

I don't know which one to choose, but I think I like #2 and #3 the best. Gustavo is strongly leading towards crib #2 and when we were in the store I said "this would be my dream crib"- that is how much I loved it when I saw it. I plan on using the crib for all of my children and then using it as a full size bed eventually. I don't know if I'll ever use it as a toddler bed or day bed though. I like them all for different reasons and like I said, I would love to hear what you all think!

Las Vegas Get Away

When I found out I was expecting we decided that we wanted to go on a vacation during my fall break. Fall break was October 16th-19th so we didn't have much time and decided that we would take a quick trip to Vegas. We were really excited when our friends Levi and Jessie agreed to come with us. We had lots of fun walking around the strip, window shopping, seeing Phantom of the Opera, and shopping at the outlets. This was the first time Gustavo and I had ever seen Phantom and despite being familiar with the music, we didn't know the story. We were very entertained. The cast was great and the theater was wonderful. Our only complaint was that the pyrotechnics were SO bright. We were all slightly blinded during some scenes! I really enjoyed the whole trip, but one of the most exciting things for me was shopping for the baby. This was the first time we've gone out and bought anything for her. Look at the adorable things we got!

I love this little dress. My 2 year old niece Eva got one just like it for her birthday and I have been thinking about it ever since I saw it. When we walked into Carter's I saw it and bought it right away. I figure this will be her first little Christmas dress. I think this was probably the most excited I've gotten about having a girl. Since I was so hyped I decided to buy these little Converse shoes also. When we didn't know what we were having Gustavo was constantly looking at baby Jordan's and we talked a lot about baby shoes. I told him that if we had a little girl then I wanted her to wear Chuck Taylors. I showed him pictures and he loved them as well so when we saw the Converse store at the outlet mall I couldn't resist! I called my sister Emily and she helped me figure out the size I wanted. We decided to get them so they'll fit when she's about 2. Now I'm getting so excited to have a little girl and can't wait to see her. Actually, I still have so much to do that I can wait, I just love having all of these little things happen that help me feel more and more like I'm really going to have a baby!

IT'S A GIRL!

We had our first ultrasound today and found out that we are having a healthy baby girl. She was facing my back so we couldn't see her face very well. They want to be able to check her lips for a cleft pallet and to see her heart better so we'll have another ultrasound next month. Fortunately for us she was not being modest so they are very sure that she is indeed a girl.

20 Week Belly

Some people requested a belly picture so here it is! This is me at 20 weeks.