Betty in Bumper Cars

I experienced something very frightening this week; I was in my first automobile accident.

We were sitting at a stop light and someone rammed into the back of our car. As soon as I felt my body jolt forward, and my seat belt dig into my pregnant belly, I got so scared. I immediately started crying, which confused and worried Jes. He couldn't tell if I was hurt, or if I was just scared/upset.

My stomach started cramping where the seatbelt was. We immediately went to ER and they kept me in labor and delivery for four hours and monitored me and the baby. We were both so worried. I was scared something was wrong. I have heard stories about mothers being in car accidents while pregnant and the baby being deformed from the force of the crash. I  heard stories of the placenta detaching. Every possible worry was racing through my mind.

They gave me a clean bill of health. I was not going into labor. The babies heartbeat was still strong. She started moving again shortly after. They didn't do an ultrasound, so I'm hoping she still looks the same and there are no deformities. I plan on asking for another ultrasound next time I go to the doctor. Jes kept reassuring me, "Ashley, she will be beautiful. She will be a beautiful little girl."
It was so relieving to hear all this. I had never been so worried in my life (yet). I'm sure as a mother, I will have this feeling a lot. I am so thankful it was not worse than it could have been, and that Jesse, the baby, and me were okay. I am REALLY glad this didn't happen while I had a newborn in the car.

We didn't get seriously injured, but we've both had some back pain since then. My back was already hurting before, but it hurts even more now.
I'm scared to drive too. I had dreams about having car wrecks the nights to follow. It's hard to sleep with the back pain too. I toss and turn all night.

The person at fault did have full coverage, which is good. Our medical expenses should be covered and our car will be fixed.

I also got some bad news this week that our house won't be sold or rented out like we planned. We were counting on that money for baby cushion. :(

This week really sucked actually, EXCEPT for the fact we got off work a few days due to bad weather. It iced on Monday and snowed on Wednesday. Since my back was so hurt, I wasn't feeling up for taking pictures or even going out in the cold. I did grab some better photos from the Texarkana Gazette photographer, Curt Youngblood. His pics look better than mine would anyway. haha

Another thing that will really make this week better is that Jes and I have our family baby shower tomorrow in Marshall. It's going to be an Alice in Wonderland Tea Party. I can't wait to see everyone, have a tea party, and see all the love that will be showered on baby skully. 

I'm sure my next blog post will be all about the wonderland baby shower. :)

Brighter Betty

I had a wonderful day yesterday! We had a free-be weather day from work due to icy conditions. I was so happy when I read that on the website. I immediately said to Jes, "Yes! I'm going to paint and craft all day," and that is just what I did.

I don't have much "taste" when it comes to interior decorating. I'm pretty happy with neutral brown and tan everything. haha However, now that I have a baby coming in to brighten my life, I feel I need to brighten my apartment as well. I'm not necessarily ditching all the brown and earth tones, but just adding some color to the baby spaces. Since I don't have much of an interior decorating bone in my body, I just stormed Pinterest for ideas (as usual).

I had already started a Japanese/ cherry blossom/ zen kinda feel in our office/music room, so I wanted to follow that theme for the baby's space. They baby doesn't really have what Virginia Wolf would call "A Room of One's Own," but we will all be sharing the space of our apartment. Plus, she will be a tiny baby. She won't even know she doesn't have a room of her own. Still, I am making the office/music room as baby-like as I can. It's a good thing she will be surrounded by all those books and the piano. :)

Anyway, I had already made a trip to Hobby Lobby and started some crafts over the weekend, so I just picked up where I left off.

I painted a cherry blossom stem with water color, then made little flowers and petals out of pink tissue paper and hot glued them on. The wooden frame was re-purposed; I only repainted it. I'm so in love with the teal and pink/coral color combo, so I kept following that theme.

I collect the weirdest things sometimes, like seashells, buttons, beer caps...paint swatches. I went through a phase where everytime I went to Wal-Mart, I would take a paint swatch sample. Hey, the larger ones make great frames for scrap booking. I had a collection of a variety of blue paint swatches, so I decided to use them. I used acrylic on canvas for the background. Then, the meticulous part, all the cutting of the petals. This is where I put "Parks and Recreation" on Netflix, so I could multi-task during the boring cutting part. Anyway, after that, just arranged the petals and hot glued them on the canvas. Viola! 

I still had the urge to craft, so I decided to make some flowers that wouldn't die. I just used tissue paper, pipe cleaners, and a re-purposed Starbucks frappuccino bottle for the vase. 

I re-did this picture frame too. I had some coral paint left over, and wanted to strip away the boring, black frame. It took several coats of paint because the frame is a smooth plastic type material. Also, It scuffs really easily, as I found out. ( That is why there is the white LOVE decal on there. haha) 

 After painting, I added Elmer's to the inner edge and covered it in pink glitter. It's so girly; I love it. To make it complete, I added a picture of my sweet baby girl. 

The last step was just to hang everything. I already had the blue cherry blossom painting from a previous crafting spell. The colors still matched, so I hung it with the others. 

The last piece, and probably my favorite, is the monogrammed yarn wrapped letter. I already had the yarn, gifted from my friend Erin. The yarn has coral and blue tones, so it matched perfectly. I added a little ice blue flower. The frame was 50% off too, so the whole monogram project cost me under $20.00  dollars. 

The little hootie owl is so cute. He has glittery, teal blue eyes. I got this last week at work when I was "hooted" by my boss. Getting "hooted' just means someone leaves you a surprise gift at your desk, and then it's my turn to pay it forward and "hoot" someone. 

It definitely looks much brighter in the room. We also hung these curtains, which adds a cool, calming effect to the room. 

Anyway, the full day of crafting was so fun; although, the downside was back was KILLING me from sitting in the floor. Literally, I was in tears by the end of the night. I've been trying to avoid medications during the pregnancy, but I absolutely had to take a tylenol yesterday...and it still didn't help. I'm ready for the back pain part to be over. 

Jesse made the night better by cooking me some RED MEAT...mmm steaks. Then I had a bowl of caramel pecan frozen yogurt as a treat for a "job well done" on the crafts, and to make me forget about my aching back. hahah 

Betty on Big Screen

Yesterday, we went to the 4D Penut Gallery to have my 30 week ultrasound. Jesse's mom, Tammy, bought me a gift card for a 20 minute session. It was such a cool experience! I'm so happy I got to see her perfect little face.

She looks JUST like her daddy, especially in this pic. When I hold these sonogram pictures up next to Jesse's baby pictures, the resemblance is uncanny. I've noticed that about little girls though; they look like their daddies while they are young, but as they grow older, they start to look like their mothers.

She was such a happy, lively baby in the sonogram. She was moving around all over the place! She was a wiggle worm for sure. I wonder if it is because I ate some girl scout cookies before the sonogram, and she was having a sugar rush. haha 

Her hands were in her mouth or near her face almost the whole time. Jes says he thinks she has a curious personality, since she was trying to figure out her hands the whole time. In this picture, it even looks like she is thinking. 

She has such long piano fingers, like me. 

She also flipped off the camera at one point! haha...little rebel spirit. 

She is so darn cute just like her daddy!  I can't stop watching the sonogram video! Having the 4D sonogram makes me that much more excited to meet her in person. Her profile is so perfect. 

She doesn't have any hair either, which she gets from me. I was a bald baby for a long time. 

Anyway, I've been comparing our baby pics to see who she looks like most. Here are pics of me and Jesse as widdle babies. 

Here is a comparison...

The ultrasound was streaming online too, so my parents and whoever else could watch it live. I bought a version to keep and uploaded it to youtube. This one doesn't have sound because we were trying to keep her name a secret, and I accidentally said it in the original version. Since my dad was watching live, he now knows. lol 

I have already watched this three times just today! hehehe 

Betty's Briefing

Baby girl is 30 weeks old today. We get to do our 4D sonogram later today! I'm excited to see her little face, but I'm also nervous too. I hope they don't find anything wrong. I'm sure it's just new mom worries and everything will be great. 

As far as pregnancy goes, I'm starting to get a bit uncomfortable. My back hurts, I can't sleep because of back aches and having to pee every two hours. I also have a hard time breathing at night, which keeps my hubby awake too. I can't complain too much though. I've had an easy going pregnancy. I'm one lucky mom! 

I have been playing music for the baby as much as I can...even at work. I put the headphones in my belly button. I also have been playing piano for her too. I hope she grows to love music as much as I do. 

There is one thing she loves as much as I do, and that is sweets! I've been craving them tremendously lately. Jesse hooked me up with a snack drawer at work. haha 

My doctor did scold me though for eating too many sweets. She said even though I did pass my second glucose test, I only passed by the skin of my teeth. I failed 1 out of 4 blood test. ( I had to fail 2 out of 2 to have gestational diabetes). So, I'm still at risk for having a big baby and a c-section since I have a small frame, which means, no more snack drawer and chilling out on the sweets. 

I'm not exactly doing a nursery because we don't have the room in our tiny apartment, but I am making a space for baby morrow. Having just a baby corner is fulfilling my nesting need to make a nursery. I've also got her own storage space cleared in my closet as well. I want to follow the colors of teal, coral/pink, brown, and cream.  Here is a picture I have that I want to hang in her space ( the hot air balloon one). It's from one of my favorite stores, Romancing the Stone, of course.  

Mostly, I'm using decor I already have, for the time being. I want to follow a zen/ hippie/ earthy vibe. 

This is hanging across from her swing, so she can gaze upon some artwork for stimulation. Again, from Romancing the Stone. 

I already had these curtains as well. (It's the same color in my bedroom.) I thought I would re-purpose the extras I had for her space. 

This is the rug I have in her space. It's so soft and fluffy! 

My dad bought this co-sleeper/bassinet for the baby. I can't wait to see it put together! I like how it can roll room to room, has storage underneath, and functions as a co-sleeper and bassinet. 

I'm also going to hang this cherry blossom painting I did in her space. I have cherry blossom paintings from Jesse's sister that I plan on hanging as well. 

I also found a cherry blossom wall decal at Hobby Lobby that I plan on getting. 

I also plan on doing monogram letters for her initials, I.S.M. ( yes, she is going to be an -ism.) haha 

I saw on pinterest how you can wrap the wood blocks in yarn. 

I already have some yarn thanks to my friend, Erin. It's pink and coral. It's the yarn on the upper right. 

I have also been using the yarn on the upper left to knit a table runner for my table. It's a pretty yarn. It has teal, orange, green, and red. I also used the orange damask fabric pictured to sew some patches on my couch. It looks kinda cool ( I think). And it saves me from having to buy a couch. The rest of the damask yarn, I framed, so the patches would flow with the apartment. 

I'm trying to incorporate more color in my apartment in general. This nesting phase of pregnancy makes me feel like I don't have good enough decorations for the baby. haha

 I hit up a hobby lobby clearance to get picture frames and hooks for the living room and bedroom. 

I talk to the baby, especially when I feel her kicking and moving around a lot. When I do talk to the baby, Winnie crawls in my lap. She thinks I am talking to her. You're not the only baby anymore, little Winnie. She is going to have to share my attention. :)  

The baby has been moving around more. It's so weird to see little kicks move my belly. Sometimes it looks like a big jelly bowl moving around. I tried to get some video, but she is camera shy, she will be moving around, then I pull out the camera and she stops. lol You can see little subtle kicks in this video. 

My family came down for my brothers birthday. We went to eat Mexican food at Amigo Juan's ( love that place.) That's another thing the baby craves mucho...mexicano. It was fun visiting and seeing everybody. My brother was bit embarrassed when they came to do the birthday celebration and made him wear a sombrero. He said he was going to get up and leave if we told them it was his birthday, which someone did. He tried to leave but we had him blocked in. The waitress asked, "How old are you today?" He replied, "I'm fucking...22." haha Apparently, he felt 22 was too old to wear a sombrero and get a free sopapilla. 

I managed to get a few candids, even though he fought us on it. 

Super Bowl Betty

This weekend was Super Bowl weekend. I'm really not a football fan, but I am a finger food fan, and there are usually finger food associated with the Super Bowl. haha We went to Doc's to watch the Super Bowl and it was fun just chilling out with friends. 

I didn't do much this past weekend, because I've been so tired and my back hurts. I also have been addicted to the show "Orange is the New Black." I pretty much just laid on the couch and watched that.
I did find some time to paint though. I can't take credit for the idea of this print as I found it on Pinterest. I just fell in love with the blue background and the cherry blossom buttons, so I wanted a print for myself. I have quite a few cherry blossom paintings, so my plan is to do a whole art gallery wall of the Japanese art  I have collected and painted. 

I'm excited about my upcoming baby shower, especially after seeing these pics from my mom! The baby shower is themed Alice in Wonderland. She is making mad hatter hats for everyone to wear. These are SOOOOO adorable. I bet it's taking forever to make all these too. I think I want to wear the blue one, or maybe the checkered one. AHHH i don't know! Too hard of a choice. Either way, I can't wait for that tea party. :)