He's the size of a baseball hat!  Yes, that's right, no fruit sizing here.  A few months ago I came across this sizing chart comparing him to a toy soldier, a game boy and a baseball glove, all things E can relate to.  It's easier than saying he's the size of an heirloom tomato which vary in size and aren't an everyday food item in the DD household.  So this week, 21 weeks to be exact, our little bean is the size of a baseball cap and growing more and more each day.  

The kicks and the punches to my internal organs are at this moment a welcome treat that I get multiple times a day. I'm starting to notice what positions he either hates or loves because he's either ninja jabbing me to move or celebrating in his own little party.  And almost every morning when I wake up I linger just a few minutes longer in bed because like clockwork I receive one or two little stretches that say good morning and start my day off in ways I never imagined.  

Roxy I think is starting to notice the difference.  She's realizing lately that if she wants to cuddle the only way that can be accomplished is if I'm laying on my side on the couch and she lays/sleeps behind me.  There's no longer enough room in front of me for both her and the baby.  

Preparation for the baby's arrival is well under way and I'm starting to understand how much work is really involved. We've started our search for a day care facility since I will have to go back to work when Bean is 4 months.  It's really been an eye opener looking at the cost and comparisons of each.  Don't forget the need for you to be on a waiting list for some and requirement to take a tour for others.  Thankfully Babe is most worried about child care so he's willing to do a little extra work in this area.  

I've also begun researching registry items and asking friends their loves and hates.  It's great when you find a friend who has very similar ideas about what is needed and what isn't.  Remember E's cousin N I wrote about at the beginning of my blog.  Well she's pregnant with her second right now and she's been a great resource.  The bonus is her and her husband research the heck out of things just like we do and she's been sharing a lot of her resources with us at the same time not being too pushy.  It's been so helpful.  

And since we're in the new home we can finally start working on the nursery!  Babe and I finished painting the walls light gray and finally decided on a theme if you will.  We're going to decorate it with the circus in mind.  Pinterest has some of the cutest ideas that will help bring our vision to life and made it easier for us to both be on the same page. Hopefully my expectations aren't too high and I can get all of these done like this elephant mural that's too darn adorable and reminds me of Jumbo and Dumbo, this fun take on barrel of monkeys, this bright painted banner to bring a little extra color to the room and lastly this super cute homemade felt circus mobile.  Now that I write that all out I'm not so sure 4 months is enough to get through them all.

All that going on but the most exciting of all is the classes we've already scheduled.  We're planners and so it was awesome that our hospital not only recommended what time frame we should do them in but also allowed us to schedule them as far out as September.  So on the calendar already is our hospital tour so we can start to visualize exactly where everything is going to happen.  Then we have a 5 week labor class to help me and Babe plan for unmedicated labor.  And lastly is our infant/child CPR class.  We should probably do a refresher for adults too but at least we'll have one in the books for the littlest one in our life.  

Looking at this list I'm so thankful one of my symptoms hasn't been fatigue.  It's all so overwhelming but I know in the end it'll be such a huge payoff.  Now keep cooking little bean while we get everything ready for you.

This weekend was definitely jam packed with all sorts of craziness.  I was able to finish all the burp cloths on Saturday and only have packaging left.  So far I've sent an email to one person only and have already sold two.  Not a bad start. I'm so happy with the way they turned out.  Plus they were a great way for me to practice my sewing.  

The last two are a bet Babe and I made.  He seems to think if I avoided cutesy patterns, not only will I sell them, but men will personally buy them.  I can't remember what exactly it is we bet, but I'm pretty sure I'm winning whatever it is.  

Today we started our 4/40 schedule at work.  I definitely wasn't looking forward to the long days but now that I have some Friday's planned with my sister and nephews, I'm super excited about getting through the week.  Hopefully I'm not exhausted by the time Friday rolls around.  

Last night I got to work cutting up 52 burp cloth layers to prep for sewing.  It turned out to be easy doing the cotton top pieces, but not so much with the flannel pieces.  There was too much fluff when using my stencil and marker, then again with the rotary cutter on the corners.  But by the time I was ready to call it a night, everything had been cut.  

The next step will be to divvy up the tops and bottoms to create some variation and sewing them together.  I'm hoping I can get everything put together in my free time by next Friday so I can get to sewing my sisters nursing scarf without interruption.  It's super exciting to see them all coming together.  

Here's a look at some of the new fabric prior to being cut.

After selling my first batch of burp cloths last week, Babe and I decided to restock my fabric.  So he (reluctantly) and I spent a couple of hours at Joann's Fabrics on Saturday morning looking for the perfect combinations of quilting cotton patterns and flannel.  We decided on four cute pastel tops, two flannel bottoms, two skull and cross bone cotton fabrics (my husbands contribution) and one very pretty blue and white chevron flannel.   I realized that if I kept my cutting to 20" x 11", I should be able to get 6 per yard. With that, I should have enough fabric to make 37 burp cloths not including the fabric I still had left over.  

Once I got home I started working on an official pattern with poster board I purchased from Dollar Tree. The first pattern was a little off center and had a very small cutout.  After some adjustments, I cut enough for 6 burp cloths before I realized the new cutout was much too large.  In fact, I was even hoping to modify the cloths so they doubled as bibs when the baby got older.  With the larger cutout, that wouldn't be possible.  

Last night I finished up the original six and went to work on an improved pattern.  This time, I was meticulous about symmetry and sizing the cutout just right.  I then used the pattern to cut out enough for 2 burp cloths only.  I'm so happy with how the last two came out.  I think I've found the perfect pattern for the rest of them.  Thursday I plan to cut out the rest of the fabric so that all I have to do is sew.  Then I need to decide if I'll be adding velcro or snaps if I want them to be convertible to bibs.

Here's just a taste of the few rejects and successes I've made in the last couple of days.  You can definitely see the difference in the cutouts from the cars in the front to the monkeys in the back.  

Last night I finally got around to packaging my handmade burp cloths.  After asking around, I've decided to start the pricing at $10 each.  Since I don't know exactly how much this batch cost me to make, I feel like this price would give me a good buffer.  Hopefully I'm not overpricing them enough to make people shy away from buying them.  

The final product is about 20" x 11" at the widest parts with variations due to being handmade.  There are six in total with five different styles.  Thankfully I had enough scrap fabric to make all of these.  In fact I have a little left over of the purple, blue and white minky.  Just not enough cotton or flannel to make more at this time.  

The hardest to make was the blue/monster style because of how thick the backing was.  The easiest by far was the double flannel.  At least now I know what to expect on future batches.  

I'm really happy with how they all turned out.  Now I just hope others are as well.