Thursday, September 26, 2013

WIP: Wednesday in Pictures!

Happy Thursday!

And lo and behold, I can write about non-pregnancy updates!

I love blogs.  And I really REALLY want to be a consistent blogger.  But life is busy.  So I'm trying to ease into writing more regularly and about things NON-pregnancy related.  So I'm going to try and write 2 posts a week with the hopes that I can gradually increase to 3 or 4 posts a week eventually.

So to help with this, I'm going to start documenting my Wednesdays in pictures.

Obviously, I can't take pictures of EVERYTHING I do on a Wednesday, but I think I did a pretty okay job with the amount that I took yesterday.

Enjoy!

Making sure that Mr. and I can watch NCIS Wednesday after church.  Important stuff, ya'll.

The new Gungor album!!! I'm still forming an opinion on it, but right now I feel like it's a cross between the Romeo and Juliet (Baz Luhrmann version) soundtrack and a Western. It's different, but that's what I love about Gungor!!

Preparations for the homeschool Bible class I'm co-teaching on Thursday mornings.  And my afternoon snack.

Plus some pregnancy tea!

Home before church to watch makeup tutorials online while I eat dinner.  Yes, it's a guilty pleasure.  

It was Nerd Night in the Zone this week!  One of my seniors did an awesome job on her devo about endings and AMEN!  And she used a clip from Star Wars.  Which I loved!


Reading this passage while listening to the City Harmonic's "Manifesto"... so powerful.  

Finally to end the night, Mr. rigging up our TV to watch NCIS on the big screen.  It worked!

Sunday, September 22, 2013

Weeks 27 and 28: A Nursery Post!

I've grown!  Hellooooo baby belly!

Before I share some of our nursery progress (it's not finished and there's too much to share in one post, so it will most likely be spread out among several posts), let's begin the last two weeks' updates!


How far along? 27 & 28 weeks!
Baby’s size? A head of cauliflower (27 weeks) and eggplant (28 weeks).
Total weight gain/loss: 13 pounds at my doctor's appointment a week and a half ago!  Woohoo!

Stretch marks? None.
Sleep: Well since I was in Abilene in a hotel room last week, my sleep was just a little wonky.  I had trouble getting to sleep one night and my roommate for the week (HI KIM!) may have had a slight night terror and screamed at point (which made for a hilarious story over breakfast the next morning!).  I have also had some seriously weird dreams lately.  One involving me and the NCIS crew (Mr. and I are total NCIS fans) and another involving Gordo and Lizzy from Lizzy McGuire... um, WHAT!?  Even though the dreams are weird, I can tell I sleep really hard.  So BRING IT ON WEIRD DREAMS!
Best moment this week: The Fort got some fall weather!!!! I  woke up yesterday morning and it was in the 60s!!!!!  Mr. went to some training up at the church and I vacuumed and opened all the windows and put my fall decor out.  Mr. got home and the house looked pretty different. We also went to Grandview to visit some friends at this event called Antique Alley.  My friend Allie (ha!) had redone some furniture and we went to go support her.  The weather was absolute perfection for spending a few hours walking around.  I love fall!  I'm so thankful for temps not in the upper 90s.  I actually got chilly last night and had to put on some more covers.
Miss Anything? Sleeping on my stomach and sushi.  The usual!  :)
Movement: Dear Clara, mommy and daddy love you so much.  Could you do us both a favor and not use mommy's bladder as a squeeze toy?  Mommy gets tired having to use the bathroom every 15 to 30 minutes and daddy gets tired of trying to find her one immediately.  

Seriously, I think she's shifted or something because my bathroom trips have become quite a bit more frequent!  Her movements are getting much bigger now too.  It's less of a small thump and is now more like a big thud!  
Food cravings: Nothing in particular.  Though I bought some hot chocolate that I might get up and make here when I'm finished writing this post.  Oh!  And I made homemade banana bread too... apparently I've moved into just craving FOOD!  ANY FOOD!
Anything making you queasy or sick: Coffee.  Always coffee... *sigh*
Gender: Baby girl!
Labor Signs: Braxton hicks off and on.  
Symptoms:   Back pain, tiredness (more on that in a few...), lots of bathroom breaks.  Nothing out of the ordinary.
Belly Button in or out? What belly button?
Wedding rings on or off? On.
Exercise: LOTS of walking in Abilene.  It was good, but exhausting!
Happy or Moody most of the time: Pretty happy!  In fact yesterday I told Mr. that I was so happy I could cry (this weather will do that to ya!).  My time in Abilene with Summit was such a blessing.  And I got to spend time with lots of friends all week.  AND the girls I do the DFW Girls Gathering conference with all got together and had a time of spiritual renewal on Thursday that was SO. GOOD.  It's been a (very busy) great couple of weeks.
Looking forward to: Continued fall weather!  
Please pray for: In my last update I mentioned that I had my glucose tolerance test at my next doctors appointment.  Well, my blood work came back and I don't have gestational diabetes, but I'm anemic.  And it's really NOT a big deal, I just have to take 2 iron pills a day, but I could use prayers.  I have been wondering where all the "second trimester energy" was and now I've got an answer! Ultimately, I'm just glad Clara is healthy and that I've got iron pills that will hopefully result in some renewed energy.

On with a nursery update!

We started out with a messier version of this: 
Yes, it was messier than that to begin with.  It was our office/stash room.  Basically, it became the place where stuff went to DIE.  Mr. and I spent a good 8 hours one Saturday cleaning everything out.  And then Mr. and my stepdad moved the ridiculously heavy file cabinet upstairs and took apart the desk.  Which now belongs to one of my teensies (HI KAYLA!).  We were left with a blank slate!

 We went and picked out paint colors.  We knew (or I knew) that I wanted to use a coral color, a blue/turquoise color and a pale gray for the walls.  This is what we ended up with.  A great color pallet.  The coral and turquoise are just accent colors we used, we painted the walls a pale gray (more on that in a moment).

I had looked online at bedding sets and knew immediately that I wanted something custom made.  I didn't like ANYTHING I saw.  Even on Etsy.  AND everything was ridiculously expensive.  AND they all came with bumper pads (which I knew I didn't want) and a huge comforter... basically a bunch of stuff I didn't want.  So while Mr. and my stepdad worked on clearing out the office, my mom and i worked on a crib skirt.  I'm seriously in love with the fabrics we picked out.  And my sweet friend Erin came and helped us piece everything together.  And let me just say, Erin is amazing.  She's a scientist and so she's incredibly good at math (which my mother and I are NOT), but she's super creative and crafty too!  Ya'll, we didn't waste ANY fabric.  NONE.  I'm pretty sure if my mom and I had done it on our own we probably would have NOTHING left over.  Thank you Erin, you're brilliant and my mom and I are so thankful for your help!  Clara thanks you too!

The fabric came from my favorite fabric store: Cabbage Rose.  I could sit and stare at it all day.  I've got a couple more projects I want to use it for (a pillow and a couple of changing pad covers), so I'm excited to use it again!

The weekend after my mom and stepdad came into town, my dad and stepmom (anyone confused yet?) came to help out.  The picture above (sorry it's blurry) is my dad painting the room the wrong color...

Yes.  The wrong color.

Not his fault at all, but we didn't realize how DARK the gray we picked out was going to be!  He's an early riser naturally, so he got up early on Saturday morning and started to cut in the edges before we got up.  AND he's color blind so he had NO idea what color he was painting anyway...

So while my stepmom, sister and I got ready to go out and work on my registry, my dad and Mr. went BACK to Lowes and bought a different color:

The color ABOVE the electrical plug is PERFECT.  So much better.  Not near as baby blue.  Lighter, and more gray.  

Aaaand, that was just the beginning of the painting drama for the day.  

But I need a piece of banana bread, so I'll leave the rest of the story for another day!  :)

Blessings!



Sunday, September 8, 2013

Week 26: Why can't we all get along!?


(Please ignore the unmade bed in the background and the snoogle that looks like a person...)
 I am a part of the BabyCenter website (I get weekly emails saying what size baby girl is, what's going on with her development, what lovely new symptom to expect, etc) and when I joined they put me in a forum group called, "December 2013 Birth Club."
Now, I have never posted on this board and after reading through the posts, there is absolutely NO way I ever would.  
Unfortunately instead of a place where kind words of encouragement and respect are spoken, it has turned into a nasty and hurtful place.  Women are hateful and hurtful.  They have no regard for feelings or different opinions.  It makes me uncomfortable to read.  But I continue to go there because sometimes there is a glimmer of goodness amidst the garbage.  And I'm sorry, but saying something like "no offense" doesn't make the hateful thing you just said any less hateful.
I haven't experienced a lot of this, but it saddens me that because someone differs in opinion, you can't be kind and gracious to them.  You can't love them and you can't be friends with them?  Because being a mother will be one of the most personal and intimate experiences you will have I think it stirs up a lot of emotions, but PLEASE can we serve one another in love?  Let's put down our opinions on what's best and support what works best for each and every family!  And most of all, let's turn to our Father in Heaven.
Glad I got that off my chest.  :)
How far along? 26 weeks
Baby’s size? A rutabaga (that's a fun word to say!)
Total weight gain/loss: Maybe I should start weighing myself... nah!  I have a doctor's appointment this week and I'm sure they'll let me know.
Stretch marks? None.
Sleep: Pretty good this week!  I think we've finally got the little monsters (aka the dogs) at a good place.  Brady doesn't jump up on the bed in the middle of the night anymore (PRAISE GOD!) and since we moved Phoebe's kennel into the bedroom she doesn't make near as much ruckus in the wee hours of the morning.  I get up to pee at least once in the middle of the night, but other than that I sleep like a rock. Even with a stopped up nose this week! Praying that continues!
Best moment this week: I absolutely LOVE feeling baby girl moving around.  And she does it a LOT which makes this mama happy happy happy!  Mr. enjoys watching my tummy move around so much too.  I mean it's the best thing about pregnancy as far as I'm concerned (which is saying something because I'm not such a huge fan of actually BEING pregnant).
Miss Anything? I've reached a point now where I can't stinking paint my toenails!  So if you see my lovely, nail polish-less toes, I apologize. At this point it's either let Mr. paint them or get a pedicure.  Or maybe my toenails just need a polish-free break?  That just might be the case...
Movement: She's currently doing a little dance in there.  So good.  I am SO curious to know where she is and what direction she is in.  Because I can feel little lumps of her, but I have NO idea what I'm feeling.  Is it a butt?  Is it her head?  Foot, elbow... not a clue!
Food cravings: Fruit.  Lots of fresh fruit.  Last week I got home late after a meeting and wasn't too hungry and grabbed a Pink Lady apple out of the fridge.  Apparently it was quite large because Mr. looked over and said, "holy cow, is that apple big enough for you!?"  Sadly it wasn't...
Anything making you queasy or sick: Nothing.  But goodness I can't eat a lot at once.  So I eat little things all through the day.  And not always healthy things... but I'm so not worrying about it.
Gender: Baby girl!
Labor Signs: Still having braxton hicks fairly frequently.  My mom apparently had them a lot with my brother and sister and so I'm wondering if it's something inherited?
Symptoms:   I've had a stuffed up nose which I've heard can be a symptom.  But I could also be just as easily fighting a cold or allergies... I am pretty much always tired even if I've had a good night's sleep or a nice nap.  I just work through it though and remember I'm sharing my body with someone!
I've also had some serious lower back pain.  Good thing Mr. is a PT and can help with that. 
Belly Button in or out? A slightly more stretched out sliver.  I'm having a hard time remembering what it once looked like.  :)
Wedding rings on or off? On.
Exercise: I've walked some this week and I bought a pregnancy yoga dvd!  I haven't used the dvd yet, but that's my goal this week.  I love yoga and I'm praying that it will relieve some of my back pain.
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy, but still quite weepy.  I cry at the drop of a hat.  Mr. and I went to talk to our insurance agent on Thursday about life insurance (I know... we're so grown up) and I cried in the insurance agent's office.  I know that we need to get it taken care of, but who's idea was it to talk about LIFE INSURANCE with a 6 months pregnant lady!?
Looking forward to: Okay, so I have a doctors appointment on Thursday and I'm looking forward to hearing the heart beat as always!  However, I'm taking my glucose tolerance test.  I'm not looking forward to that (not that I'm really dreading it).  
This starts my once every-other-week appointments.  I'm excited about that!  Every other week of hearing sweet Clara's heartbeat!?  Yes please!
Also, next week I'm going to Abilene Christian University's SUMMIT with my friend Kim.  Not only am I looking forward to lots of classes and lectures and hanging with Kim, but I get to see my sweet friend Juliette and her husband!  I haven't seen them in years and Jules and I were thick as thieves in college.  PLUS, she's due with her first (a boy!) in November and we just can't even wait to sit down and chat! 
Please pray for: Healthy baby, healthy mommy. 

Monday, September 2, 2013

Week 25: Exercise!?


I would like to state from the beginning that I did NOT exercise before I took this picture.  It was 105 degrees outside and I needed to run some errands and this was the coolest most comfortable outfit I could come up with.  :)

When I first got pregnant I was still going to the gym a few times a week.  In fact, I told one of my best friends I was pregnant while at the gym right before a weight lifting workout.  A few days later we took a Zumba class together.  And then the real symptoms started... and I could hardly make it through a work day.

Ugh.

And since I work full-time, I'm usually completely worn out when I get home.  And I usually am trying to do some chores and get dinner ready right after that... exercise is seriously the last thing I want to do. Most evenings I take a little catnap from 6pm-6:30pm while waiting for Mr. to come home.

My mother-in-law used to be a lamaze instructor and suggested walking when she was here a few weeks ago.  I like to walk and Phoebe could certainly use something to distract her from all her incessant licking and scratching (Brady is WAY too strong for me to try to walk right now), so this morning I got up and took a little walk.  It was nice and I'm going to try to do it several times a week.

What makes this challenging is figuring out WHEN to walk.  In case you hadn't heard, it's been well over 100 degrees in North Texas the past month or so.  I'm not usually someone who gets too hot, but I can hardly stand to walk from the church to my car somedays... so I'll either have to wake up earlier (something I don't particularly want to do especially since I've only got a couple months left of sleeping normally) or go once the sun goes down.  We shall see.  I'll keep ya'll informed.  :)


How far along? 25 weeks (actually I'm 26 weeks today, but this is the update for last week)
Baby’s size? A head of cauliflower
Total weight gain/loss: No idea, I have a doctor's appointment next Thursday and I'm curious to find out.
Stretch marks? None.
Sleep: Love my snoogle!  Mr. refers to it as the Great Wall of China
Best moment this week: IKEA!  JUST BETWEEN FRIENDS!  Apparently, shopping... I went to Ikea with a friend and bought the bookshelves for the wall and 4 white picture frames for the book covers that I scanned.  Those will go above Clara's crib.  
I also went to my first Just Between Friends sale.  My friend Joanie owns the Fort Worth sale (which is the biggest in Texas) and since I am volunteering for her, I was able to get in a little early.  It was awesome.  I was able to get a play yard and a few winter maternity things as well as 2 little outfits for Clara (I just couldn't stand it).  It will definitely be something I will do again!
Miss Anything? Since I talked about exercise at the beginning, I'm missing the hip hop class I used to take.  My favorite instructor left a few months ago and I so don't have the energy to take it, but I miss it.  
Movement: All. The. Time.  It makes me super happy!
Food cravings: Nothing in particular.
Anything making you queasy or sick: Nothing, though I'm not near as ravenous as I've been in past weeks.
Gender: Baby girl!
Labor Signs: Definitely feeling braxton hicks fairly frequently. 
Symptoms: Just tiredness and super belly.  It seems in the past week my belly has just grown and grown and grown!
Belly Button in or out? What belly button?  Seriously, my deep pit of a belly button is now a mere sliver of an opening because it's so stretched out.  It's so funny to look at!
Wedding rings on or off? On.
Happy or Moody most of the time: Very VERY weepy.  
Looking forward to: I can not wait to meet her.  I obviously want her to stay put for a while, but goodness I'm excited for December to get here!!
Please pray for: Healthy baby, healthy mommy.