Pregnancy Lately

**Last prenatal appointment. What I wore: maternity tank/motherhood; maternity dress-shorts/motherhood; watch/gifted-hubby

UGGGHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sorry, its true. Hate to say it, but its true. I really want to stay positive, and for a few weeks there after the yucky stuff with 1st trimester passed, I was. There was a time in the first few weeks of pregnancy, after the initial high of discovering conception success, that I couldn't even get excited about being pregnant because I felt way too sick!! Then I felt elation when I was showing and not feeling so sick. Now, my hip has gone out, my back hurt, its hard to be motivated to exercise because I'm so tired (again) and dizzy, trying to sleep is an endless battle, I've NEVER gotten a break peeing even though I read I was supposed to, pregnancy is just not comfortable.

David says I'm the most like the blond in the movie (What to Expect...), not the perky perfect one, the one who ran the breast feeding shop. Thanks honey. (i know he didn't mean anything bad... and i know i totally related to her... but c'mon, that is not pregnancy at its prettiest.)

To make myself feel better, I decided to google maternity pictures of realistic looking moms... not that I'm hating so much the way I look... But celebrities make pregnancy look too easy, and they're too tiny. These look more real to me... Though I would rather see some tribal images or even more cave-painting-like images.

Ahhh the beautifully blossomed pregnant belly.

Best,

M~

Weekend Fun!

To kick off the weekend, I went to a ladies' retreat with a friend. We had a blast! The topic was on "Loving Well" and before we got into the nitty gritty, they had a silly ice breaker for us!

Each group had 5 minutes to put a fashion show-worthy paper towel dress on their designated model. We had fun with the colorful duct tape and little sticker stars. We totally should have won, but alas...

After the game we had worship, then started the Beth Moore dvd devo on "Loving Well." It was quite the eye opener for myself. I love how she said "The mark of maturity for a Christian is how well you love." She gave a list of 4 types of people we are called to love:
1. Those who are a joy to love (they making loving easy)
2. Those who are testy (You love them but they sure try your patients and make it hard)
3. Foes (people we might almost hate)
4. People who are far (strangers, people we haven't even met)

Loving can be tough, but she also gave a list of 4 keys to help love better:
1. God is perfect love - 1 John 4:18
2. Nothing can separate me from God's perfect love - Romans 8:38-39
3. God pours His perfect love into my imperfect heart - Romans 5:5
4. Accessed (or when we remember and apply steps 1-3), I can love anyone through anything - Philippians 4:13

Hope this will encourage you as much as it did me! Sometimes to grow we need to be brought low, and I tell you, this class really humbled me.

Next day:
Hubby worked an extra 8 hr shift, which is better than the 12 I thought he would have to work. I had just gotten out of the shower when he came home, and he had this sweet look on his face and said "get dressed, we're going a couple places and we're going to have fun!"

First stop:

Hubby has found a love for mocha frappe's, and now he has branched out to also enjoy the new cookie crumble! I don't do caffeine much at all, for obvious reasons ;-) But I do indulge in the occasional chai tea latte! Saturday I tried a shot of mocha in the chai. It was yummy, but I think I'll have to stick to the original!!

After Starbucks, hubby surprised me by checking movie times for "What to Expect When You're Expecting"! I was so excited :-) This movie had a some pretty awesome material. I could relate to some of what happened, especially to "Squeaker". I think the Dad's were the funniest!

We had enough time before the movie for hubby's next stop - Shopping trip for baby's room!

We love Target for baby decor and clothes! It was all hubby's idea for the big tree and then we saw the other wall decor and thought it would go great also! Then hubby went yet another step and was so sweet... See I had this silly whim of an idea to have one last "tiny", trendy purse before I have to carry a big diaper bag. He loved the idea because apparently he loves to spoil me. I think its cute, so the new purse made the picture.

After all the fun around town we got to come home and get to work decorating!

For the record, Hubby helped with decorating too, but he preferred working the camera versus being the photo subject ;-) I could not have gotten as much done without him! This was a great team building exercise!

TA-DA!

I couldn't resist a close up of the adorable monkey hamper I gushed about in the last post!

After decorating and photographing the result, it was about 7:30pm! Hubby was such a trooper! He had been up since 2:30am that morning. We were soooo hungry! I had set out ravioli to bake, but we caved and got take out burger for me and buffalo chicken strips for hubby, and chips and queso from Cheddars! It was yummy!

Another fantastic weekend with my best friend and lover!

21 week update:

**What I wore: dress/shadeclothing.com; skinny belt/shadeclothing.com; earrings/acholibeads; bracelet/dots; watch/hubby-gifted



I honestly have no idea how TheBump comes up with these comparisons, to me a pomegranate seems smaller than a banana... but I suppose a pomegranate is heavier than a banana.
Here is what baby boy was up to at 21 weeks: 10.5 inches, 12.7 ounces - Digestive system getting ready to be in the real world. He is developing meconium... the tarry black substance which will make his first diaper (oh. yay.)  Movements continue to pick up! This dress doesn't show as much, but he is definitely showing up more. I'm just waiting form my belly button to make like the built-in chicken timer and pop out!

This has been the update!

Best,

M~

20 week update and more!

We have stayed pretty busy the last week or so. David has worked tons of overtime, I've tried to keep up with the house, cook healthy meals, and get in some physical activity around my new part time schedule. We've enjoyed another prenatal appointment and ultrasound since the last post, celebrated Memorial Day, and went back to the Macaroni Grill where we first met 4 years ago!!! The waitress who served us actually could tell us approximately the table we would have met at, and believes she was working that day. It was a cool time!

On to the bump update and nursery update!!!

 At 20 weeks baby is the size of a banana. He swallows several ounces of amniotic fluid a day, and he's working on stretching me out! He weighs 10.2 ounces and measures 6.5 inches. I cannot believe we're halfway through already! His movements still feel like flutters to me, but they're sometimes more frequent. Taste buds are ready to go! So now he can taste what I'm eating; its a good time to up the veggies and other healthy foods so he has good eating habits when he's older!

 **What I wore: t-shirt/dots; tank/charlotte ruse; skirt/old navy; bracelet/dots; necklace/grandma's jewelry box; watch/gift from hubby via kohls



How we spent Memorial Day weekend: First, we had two fun BBQ's to attend on Saturday. The first was way outside of town and we enjoyed driving through the country and dreaming of owning land and a home of our own... maybe a place with a pond, though I think a pool would rock!

Both places had some pretty cute kiddo's which made me all the more excited to meet my son!

Sunday church, and Monday we decided to just take the day for ourselves. We were so happy David had off work and we don't get that much time together usually, uninterrupted by work! In the morning I made crepes, yum yum! I stuffed some with my own honey butter, cinnamon sugar, and some with greek yogurt and strawberries. David used the crepes as tortillas and stuffed his with eggs and cheese.

Then we got ready and took a nice walk at a local park, and then just chilled at the house for the afternoon. Hubby deserved some real down time! After lunch I decided to work in the nursery. Here is what I've come up with so far:

When you first walk in from the hallway, this is what you see. On the far wall between the windows is the poster we made for our rehearsal dinner. Baby will have a picture of Mom and Dad when they were young and beautiful ;-)



This is a close up of my sleeping arrangement. I figure it will be easier to sleep in the nursery with baby. This is my compromise on co-sleeping.

This is my little work area. I'm thinking positively right now about still keeping up with my crafting and art projects. We'll see how well that goes when son cries through the night, needs changes and feedings... One can hope, right?

The baby bed will go under the super-cute alphabet wall, next to our AWESOME rocking recliner! You can almost see our son's own hamper peeking around the chair arm. Its a cute little monkey hamper! You open its mouth to put in the clothes! It even has a carrying strap. Ok, I'm really excited about the hamper... David came up when it was time to put up the letters. He was so cute! He got all excited about decorating and was ready to leave right then and go back to Target for more wall decor. He's adorable. A way bigger nester than me!

The letters are super-cute though, they make me smile!

YAY!!!!! The closet is organized!!! You can choose to spend around $1,000 or more on a matching baby furniture set that does all the thinking and organizing for you, or you can go to Target and buy cost-effective, still cool, flexible and adaptable pieces to organize any room or closet for a mere fraction of the cost. We have drawer space, hanging space, stackable space for all baby's accessories; and when he doesn't need these drawers anymore, we can definitely use them for other purposes in the future! I cannot wait until that little blue tote is full of his little shoes!

 After all the work and play, we settled into a yummy dinner of Fajitas!!!

And I FINALLY got to see Happy Feet Two!!!!
I loved this movie, the company, and the food :-)

A great weekend with hubs!

Yesterday at our ultrasound we got to see just how big our little boy has grown!!! His features are much more defined, his eyes are actually opened and we can see the lenses! His nose is little and pointed, David says it looks like mine! He weighs 15 ounces now! The tech said I'm all baby! The placenta is actually on top and in front, so I'm not feeling very strong movements. The baby is kicking the placenta ;-) At least though, it is now out of the way of baby's exit. Its looking like a vaginal birth is back on the plan!

Best,

M~