A Week of Thanksgiving (34 weeks)

How far along? 34 weeks

Baby size: A butternut squash/cantaloupe, but I am pretty sure she has been the size of both of these things in the past, that is what happens when you use two different sources! About 18 inches long and weighing 4.75 lbs.

Total weight gain/loss: my weight gain has been crazy lately, at my appointment I had gained a whopping 34 lbs,  granted I lost 1/2 a pound after I peed. I sometimes weight up to 5 lbs more by the night than I did in the morning...I am not going to worry until my midwives start to worry.
Maternity clothes? I keep catching my belly hanging out the bottom of all my shirts...even the maternity ones haha
Stretch marks? No new or growing stretchmarks this week
Sleep: I have been sleeping well with my 5 pillows :-) and getting up by 8:30 every day.

Highlights/Best moments this week: This week was Thanksgiving and there was so much to be thankful for. On Sunday our Church had a baby shower in honor of Anna Sophia (See pictures below). The ladies pitched in a bought us a Britax travel system...my dream stroller and car seat.
We are so blessed by so many people that love and care about our baby girl. So many people put in time and effort to make food and decorations and gifts (homemade quilt, and cloth diapers!)

We also spent the week house-sitting for some friends of ours, but it was more like a vacation for us than a favor for them. We had a week filled with board games, ping pong matches, and baking in a nice big kitchen. Plus we were able to finish painting the bedroom without having to sleep in the paint fumes!

We celebrated Thanksgiving this year apart from our families, but we realized that God has blessed us beyond measure with a Church family that love us and love the Lord (and they can cook too!). We spent the night singing praises and thanking the Lord for all that he has given us. 

On Saturday, the last day of week 34 we took advantage of the Black Friday Deals. We went on a nice date to Cheesecake factory, and then used a gift card that came just in time to Pottery Barn Kids (Thanks Kathi and Larry Provonsha!) I was able to get the most perfect diaper bag that I had had my eye on for a long time. The combination of sales and gift cards made it ppossible to buy. We also bought a crib mattress and a camcorder all on sale and combined with gift cards!
 
Miss Anything? I miss... nothing really
Movement: She is able to respond and recognize songs now and she definitely does! She loves it when I sing and she dances along, either that or she is nudging me to keep it down. haha But she is in the right position and I think she has more room to move now that she found her sweet spot ;-)
Food cravings: trying to eliminate my need for a cookie a day since I gained 7lbs between visits haha
Anything making you queasy or sick: nope!

Have you started to show yet: Yup
Gender : It's a GIRL!!

Symptoms:New this week is joint pain in my hands and slight swelling in my feet, but only on Thanksgiving. It must be all the baking I was doing on my feet.
Belly Button in or out? pretty much non-existent or out.
Wedding rings on or off? off and around my neck.

Happy or Moody most of the time: SOOO excited I know that my nesting is about to start.
Looking forward to:  Organizing baby girl's nook and getting things ready for her to come!

The following photos are by Sara Jean Peck!

The Past Two Weeks! (33 weeks)

How far along? 33 weeks

Baby size: A Durian (I don't even know what that is)! About 17 inches long and weighing 4 lbs.

Total weight gain/loss: 28 lbs.
Maternity clothes? rockin out in my maternity clothes or just big clothes
Stretch marks? Only stretch marks so far are on my side and they are barely noticeable. I keep waiting for them to pop up out of no where.
Sleep: I sleep pretty well even though it is hard to get comfy.

Highlights/Best moments this week: The past two weeks, I voted for the first time as a Virginian, we attended several parenting seminars which were such a blessing, I started going to a Chiropractor and I am totally in love with it,  I have spent time learning how to take care of babies from my experienced mommy friends Shelby and Sara Jean, and we worked on our nursery room a little more. 
Miss Anything? Still missing my rings, but I think that is about it.
Movement: Oh she is moving all right. But thankfully she isnt a violent baby and she is very kind to my ribs :-)
Food cravings: Cookie craving is here to stay
Anything making you queasy or sick: nope!

Have you started to show yet: So basically I am huge
Gender : It's a GIRL!!

Symptoms: still having back pain, but the Chiro has been helping, also having a hard time not losing my breath as I talk.
Belly Button in or out? Still half in half out...it makes me happy 
Wedding rings on or off? off and around my neck.

Happy or Moody most of the time: I cry so easily and I am so sentimental when I think about baby girl's life and future.
Looking forward to:  Getting everything done, the Holiday Season, and baby girl's grand entrace into this world....eeeep I can hardly wait.   


Check Back Soon for Baby Shower News and Pictures!!

Project Nursery (Part 1)

Well I finally started on the Nursery, or what I look to refer to as "AnnaSophia's Nook." We only have one wall painted, but it's her wall so that makes it exciting. There is still lots of work to do and she will be here in 10 weeks at the latest or as early as 5 weeks! It's hard to believe how soon we will be holding her in our arms.

Notice all of Baby Girl's clothes and toys and blankets just taking up her side of the room and our make shift curtain? Also that huge paint blob that has been on our wall for a few months now. It's the color we decided to go with.

One of my light bulbs went out, which is why this picture looks darker, but the color turned out really great. The picture doesn't do it justice.

There should be many more updates to come!!

Easy Garlic Red Potatoes

Easy Garlic Red Potatoes 

I saw Ina Garten make dill fingerling potatoes on TV one time and I decided that I would try a similar recipe with our favorite... garlic! I also usually have red potatoes on hand so I chopped them into smaller pieces and tossed them in the pot (after all I am new at this cooking business and I have no idea what a fingerling is)! This has now become one of our favorite family side dishes and it's super easy!

Ingredients:

• 4-6 red potatoes 

• 2 Tbs butter

• 1 1/2 Garlic cloves (could also use garlic powder)

• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Cut potatoes into wedges.
2.  In a large heavy bottom pot melt butter. 
3. Add potatoes, garlic, salt, and pepper. 
4. Cover and let cook on low heat for 20 minutes. 

 * * Be sure to shake the pot from time to time to prevent the potatoes on the bottom from burning.

Baby Girl Has a Name! (31 Weeks)

How far along? 31 weeks (Proverbs 31 is on my heart this 31st week)

Baby size: A Pineapple! About 16 inches long and weighing 3.3 lbs.

Total weight gain/loss: 26 lbs.
Maternity clothes? Loving my maternity clothes and I bought some skinny jeans (See picture) and a winter coat at a thrift store yesterday woohoo!!
Stretch marks? still only have the little redmarks on my side
Sleep: sleepy varies, its hard to go back to sleep once I get up in the morning with hubby.

Highlights/Best moments this week: Well Hurricane Sandy came to visit and she was a blessing to us. Lucas was off work for two days and we just hid in our apartment and spent time together. It was much needed after our very busy week. We got back our maternity pictures too! Oh and there was Halloween, which we like to call Reformation Day :-) We also attended our first parenting seminar which just made me so grateful that God is allowing us to steward this baby and teach her about Him.
Miss Anything? I miss wearing my wedding rings. I will be happy when my fingers are back to 4 &1/4
Movement: She is moving a lot I think she is back head down and sometimes she is even in my ribs a bit. So exciting how big I can feel her getting.
Food cravings: I can't seem to get over wanting cookies all the time!
Anything making you queasy or sick: nope!

Have you started to show yet: every time I see a picture of myself it catches me by surprise
Gender : It's a GIRL!!

Symptoms: lower back pain :-( Must do more pelvic rocks!
Belly Button in or out? halfy! When I laugh it pops in and out which only makes me laugh more.
Wedding rings on or off? off and around my neck.

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy and blessed! I do find myself crying a lot at sentimental things.
Looking forward to:  I have a baby Shower coming up in a few weeks, another baby is going to be born in our Church this weekend, starting rehearsals for the Christmas program. All sorts of good things to come :-)

And Baby Girl's Name is...


 Photos by Artdrea Photography, check out her blog HERE!
 Thanks Andrea!
 

10 Weeks to Go! (30 weeks)

How far along? 30 weeks 

Baby size: A head of cabbage! About 15.7 inches long and weighing 3 lbs. She is getting so big!

Total weight gain/loss: 25 lbs.
Maternity clothes? Loving my maternity clothes!
Stretch marks? just the oh so subtle start on my sides
Sleep: depends on the night... sometimes I sleep well, sometimes I can't sleep so I watch lifetime.

Highlights/Best moments this week: This week has been super busy for us. I am not sure exactly what we did this week (haha) I just know we barely had time to see each other. I had an appointment on Tuesday and baby girl was breech, I am learning her different positions now and she flips around a lot. I will be adding more pelvic rocks into my day to encourage her to get into the right position by 34 weeks!
Miss Anything? skinny jeans :P
Movement: I love learning what each body part feels like. It is still hard but I am starting to know when she kicks or punches and if her head is up or down. I love all her little movements
Food cravings: I have been eating a lot of beef lately... I love me some mexican
Anything making you queasy or sick: nope!

Have you started to show yet: yes, definitely.... I feel like a spider sometimes, is that weird?
Gender : It's a GIRL!!

Symptoms: I don't think there were any new ones this week
Belly Button in or out? Slowly starting to poke out, but it really depends on how baby girl is laying.
Wedding rings on or off? off and around my neck.

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy and blessed!
Looking forward to:  Still don't have paint on the walls and with the hurricane coming it might be a while. We are going to a parenting seminar next week which will be fun (I can't believe we are actually parents) We should be getting our maternity pics back soon so I will be able to share a few (they turned out really cute).

Project Nursery (29 Weeks)

How far along? 29 weeks 

Baby size: A Butternut Squash! About 15 inches long and weighing 2.5 lbs.

Total weight gain/loss: 24 lbs.
Maternity clothes? Loving my maternity clothes!
Stretch marks? just the oh so subtle start on my sides
Sleep: I have actually been sleeping pretty well lately, even getting up to send hubby off to work

Highlights/Best moments this week: We celebrated our 2 year anniversary with dinner and a surprise massage, which was much needed since my back and shoulders have been so tense! I love my hubby! I also found out that my glucose screening was perfect! As were my iron levels so hooray for healthy dieting paying off (When I first found out I was pregnant the OB on base told me I would be very high risk for gestational diabetes... then again they also had told me I would have trouble conceiving without help. Healthy diet changes everything...END RANT)
Miss Anything? I miss being able to be lazy when I have to pee and holding it a really long time, now I have to go when I have to go :P
Movement: Baby Girl doesn't really "kick" she mostly rolls and squirms and stretches and turns and sometimes does a crazy shimmy thing. For the most part she is a pretty gentle baby :-) and my ribs are thankful.
Food cravings: uhhh... just the usual
Anything making you queasy or sick: nope!

Have you started to show yet: yes, definitely 
Gender : It's a GIRL!!

Symptoms: I experienced a rather embarrassing symptom this week and it has to do with "what I miss" and that is all I am going to say haha
Belly Button in or out? It depends on where baby girl is. Sometimes she pushes against it and half of it pops out, it also pops out when I breathe deeply or sing.
Wedding rings on or off? off and around my neck.

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy and blessed!
Looking forward to:  Maternity shoot with Artdrea Photography (tomorrow), finally painting the nursery, and getting things set up for when Baby Girl gets here. 

Project Nursery 

This week we finally bought paint for the Nursery, which will be in our bedroom. So that gives us double the challenge to make everything flow together. I will be updating you on Project Nursery in the coming weeks with some before and after photos...and some a long the way. I am so excited to be in the nesting stage finally!

Step 1 Buy Supplies: We received a Home Depot gift card from my Granny for our anniversary and it was just enough to buy the paint. We have had a big color splotch on our wall for about a month or so and decided that we like it. We chose Behr Sterling as our wall color and as of now we are thinking we will do purple and yellow accents.  I had never bought paint before...at least that I could remember and who knew that once you finally pick a color, you still have so many choices flat, eggshell, gloss all sorts of things. Here are the supplies we got and we also have a drop cloth ;-)