21 week belly photo & nursery thoughts

Ok, this blog post is a little late, but here's my 21 week belly photo.



My belly is now 37 inches around and I think its getting pretty big. I'm thinking that I may start taking photos of the belly with clothes on, since we dont wanna get too graphic here. So here's the same belly shot, just with my top down.



Dont I look thinner with clothes on? lol Also, today at work was the very first time that an absolute stranger (well, a potential client whom initially met me when I was sitting down and thus, hiding my belly) asked me how far along in my pregnancy I was and when I was due. I love those questions, b/c it makes me feel pregnant and not fat. I love being able to say when I'm due and that we're expecting our first child who is a boy. I feel so proud! The funny thing is before she asked, I had almost forgotten I was pregnant. For those two hours in the meeting, I had been so engrossed in the topic of discussion, I hadn't thought about the pregnancy at all.

I'm also getting just a teeny bit jealous of some of the mommies on my community chat boards whose tummies are still super tiny and cute. I'm feeling somewhat of an oaf and am afraid the weight may just continue to pack on. Oh well, it's the price I'm willing to pay for motherhood. It'll all be worth it.

My newest all consuming baby thought for the week (starting just this morning) is decorating the nursery (the last couple of weeks it was deciding on a carseat and stroller, but I got those figured out and have registered for what I wanted). I'm not much of a "decorator". My walls at home are generally bare (paint free, I do have pictures and paintings and the like), which is what I prefer. So I wasn't planning on painting the nursery, especially since we have plans to move in the next year or so (yeah, we're moving! but that's a whole 'nother post). But now, as I sit and watch those baby shows -- you know...Bringing Home Baby or Birth Day, I realize that I need to at least have a crib (which I expected), some shelves or a book case to put babies toys and dolls on (unexpected), a dresser or something to put the clothes in (unexpected), and I even realized, where the heck am I going to store all of his diapers and other baby stuff (the closet which currently contains our ironing board, vacuum, snow clothes and other crap hopefully)?

Yikes?! Looks like I better get planning. So my goal is to first buy a crib and start planning the nursery around that -- (like ideally, I'd want the wood of the crib matching the shelves and dresser etc). Our goal is to NOT spend too much money, b/c we've got some incredible financial strains up ahead (as part of our move, DH is taking a pay cut for 1 year in order to transfer, and I'll be on UNPAID maternity leave if I want to take any), but of course, I want the nursery to look cute. So my goal is to find the balance between inexpensive, but good looking, and of course, practical and safe. =) Ideally, I'd want the stuff to last too, b/c we'll probably be taking the furniture with us when we move and I'd love for baby #2 to be able to use the stuff too (yup, there's a desire for more after this!). So the hunt begins.........