26 weeks- Father's Day

 Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there!  Especially to my dad! 

         I am totally a Daddy's girl and love my dad with all my heart.  I'm not usually a very emotional person, I'll blame it on the raging hormones, but this morning I've been getting emotional thinking about my relationship with my dad and the relationship Kate will have with Erick.  I am blessed beyond belief to have the dad that I do.  He's always there for me no matter what and has instilled in me values that I can only hope to instill in my future children.  My dad is honestly one of my best and closest friends.  I rely on him for advice in all aspects of life and still look to him for guidance.  I know I'm all grown up and an adult now but I will always be a daddy's girl and he will always be my hero.  With all that being said it makes me think of Erick and Kate and what their relationship will be like.  I am so thankful that God chose a Erick as my husband and now as the father of our child.  I can't wait to see Erick as a dad!  He is the most patient and caring person I know.  Kate is so lucky to have him as her daddy.  I can only hope and pray that they have a relationship as close and as strong as my dad and I do.  I have no doubt that they will.  It makes me smile to think of all the fun and silly times they will have as she is growing up.  I'm also grateful that Kate will have a loving, caring and wise dad to look up just like I did.  They say that girls look for a husband that shares the same qualities as their dads and in my case it's totally true.  I hope and pray that the same will be true for Kate.

How far along? 26 weeks

Total weight gain: +10

Maternity clothes? recently I've been using the Bella band with all my regular clothes.  I wish i could live in yoga pants and v-neck t-shirts :-)

Stretch marks? none yet and I hope to never get them! I'm starting to get that brown line, it's very very faint but I see it's starting to show

Sleep: Sleep is pretty good, definitely not as tired as i was the first 4 months
Best moment this week: Having a few strangers comment on the fact that I'm pregnant :-)
Miss Anything? lunch meat! I have been wanting a turkey sand which so bad!
Movement: oh yes! I love it

Food cravings: fruits and yogurt, things that are tart like lemon anything

Anything making you queasy or sick: certain smells
Gender: BABY GIRL!!!!

Labor Signs: No way

Symptoms: heartburn, backaches, crazy dreams 

Belly Button in or out? in
Wedding rings on or off? on

Happy or Moody most of the time: happy, happy, happy

Looking forward to: Getting the rest of her furniture and finally getting started on the nursery

Here are 2 little outfits I got for Kate with Father's Day in mind :-)

24 Weeks

24 weeks, holy cow!  I feel like this pregnancy is flying by!  I'm trying to slow it down and enjoy it but it feels like the weeks are zooming by and before we know it she will be here.  Erick keeps saying "I can't wait to hold our little peanut" as sweet as that is I tell him he has to wait! She isn't ready yet and we totally are not ready yet either!  Only 16 weeks (or so) to go, that's crazy.  We haven't even picked out nursery furniture yet.  Oh well, I have no worries that we will get it all done before her arrival.  Right now I just want to enjoy being pregnant and getting all prepared as possible for her.

I fell a little behind with the picture and chalk board this week so I just had Erick take a quick picture while we were on our walk.  Baker made a guest appearence (i wish Erick would have told me to move so I wasn't right in front of the tree lol).

How far along? 24 weeks

Total weight gain: +7

Maternity clothes? some of my clothes still fit and some don't.  I need to get some shorts for the summer for sure.

Stretch marks? none yet and I hope to never get them!

Sleep: Sleep is pretty good 
Best moment this week: Hearing her heartbeat again at out appointment... That never gets old! 
Miss Anything? not really
Movement: YES!!! she is moving like crazy now! It's the best feeling :-)

Food cravings: fruits and yogurt
Anything making you queasy or sick: certain smells
Gender: BABY GIRL!!!!

Labor Signs: No way

Symptoms: heartburn, backaches, crazy dreams 
Belly Button in or out? in
Wedding rings on or off? on

Happy or Moody most of the time: happy and starting to get anxious

Looking forward to: Getting her room all ready 

22 Weeks

How far along? 22 weeks

Total weight gain: +5

Maternity clothes? some of my clothes still fit and some don't.  Wearing the bella band more lately and favoring my jersey fold over skirts and any pants with a stretchy waistband.
Stretch marks? none yet and I hope to never get them!

Sleep: lately I don't know what's wrong with me, I wake up in the middle of the night and can not fall back asleep for at least an hour more!  The night after we registered I woke up at 3 AM worrying about which stroller and car seat we should get and didn't fall back asleep until after 5!
Best moment this week: getting the registry started (i was really dreading going and doing this but it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be) and feeling her move more and more.  It is seriously the best feeling! Each morning I lay there and wait for her to start moving.  Best part was when Erick felt her moving around! His face lit up like a Christmas tree :-)
Miss Anything? Hot yoga and boot camp!
Movement: YES!!! and I love it!!! She started moving the other day when she heard Erick's voice :-)
Food cravings: nothing crazy, still loving fruits and my green smoothies
Anything making you queasy or sick: nope
Gender: BABY GIRL!!!!

Labor Signs: No way

Symptoms: some heartburn, back aches a little, crazy dreams 
Belly Button in or out? in
Wedding rings on or off? on

Happy or Moody most of the time: happy and emotional (like crying everytime I see that Publix commercial with the little girl and pregnant mom cooking!) and I'm kind of glad Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice are over for this season because I don't think I have enough tissues to make it through any more episodes!
Looking forward to: a lot of things- Our next appointment this week, the curtains for the nursery that I ordered coming in, ripping up the carpet and starting to get the new floors done in her room and going to the condo with the family for Memorial day weekend :-)

20 Weeks

"Oh, we're half way there
Oh oh, livin' on a prayer
Take my hand, we'll make it I swear
Oh oh, livin' on a prayer!"

This is the song that keeps popping in my head.  20 weeks is 1/2 way there!!!  So crazy to think that I'm half way done with my pregnancy.  The first 12 weeks seemed like the longest weeks of my life and now I'm thinking I only have 20 (give or take a few) weeks to go. 

How far along? 20 weeks

Total weight gain: +1

Maternity clothes? wearing some maternity dresses to work... my jeans still fit and some shorts still do.
Stretch marks? none yet and I hope to never get them! 

Sleep: sleep is pretty good.
Best moment this week: finding out our lil peanut is a girl! 
Miss Anything? i'll miss margaritas tonight when we go out for Cinco de Mayo lol
Movement: I'm pretty sure I've been feeling her move a little lately! It's awesome, feels likes flutters.  It doesn't happen a lot, just every now and then. 
Food cravings: nothing crazy, still loving fruits
Anything making you queasy or sick: nope
Gender: BABY GIRL!!!!

Labor Signs: No way 

Symptoms: starting to get some heartburn 
Belly Button in or out? in
Wedding rings on or off? on

Happy or Moody most of the time: super happy and more relaxed after seeing her move all around on the ultrasound and hearing her heartbeat again (seriously it's my favorite sound!)
Looking forward to: Getting things together for nursery!!!

The BIG box reveal!

We had our ultrasound on Tuesday and had the tech write the results in an envelope.  After the baby not cooperating for a while the tech was finally able to see if it was a he or she :-)  I took the sealed envelope and kept it safe and unopened until Thursday.  Nicole and Craig were in charge of the box and they did an awesome job putting it together. 
Here is THE BOX-

We went to the beach with Erick's parents, sister, her kids and my dad and Patti and of course Nicole and Craig.  The weather was perfect and the beach was beautiful like always. Here are a few pictures from the awesome night :-)

Here's our "what is it?" faces

This was right before we opened it... I'm not sure but you may be able to tell by the look on my face how excited I was.
                                                         IT'S A GIRL!!!!!!

We are so excited to be having a precious little girl.  We are naming her Kathryn after my mom and calling her Kate.  I can't wait to start planning and decorating the nursery! Originally we weren't going to find out the sex of the baby but I have to say I'm so glad we did!  I feel like it's a little more real now and I feel like I'm able to bond with the her more now that I know she's a she.  I always said I wanted a boy first. I have 2 older brothers and loved having them look out for me and being the little sister.  But from the moment I found out I was pregnant I had a very strong feeling it was going to be a girl and I was so excited about it.  The fantasy family I had picked out in my dreams, 2 older boys and a little girl, isn't going to be a reality and I'm totally OK with that. I know Kate is going to be an awesome older sister to what ever siblings she gets.

18 Weeks

So God totally has a sense of humor!  Last post I was venting/whining about not having a "baby bump" and only looking chubby.  Well this week I popped!  All of the sudden I looked down and was whoa I totally have a belly! That's what I get for complaining lol.

How far along? 18 weeks

Total weight gain: -4

Maternity clothes? wearing some maternity dresses to work... pretty much all my pants don't button anymore... the hair tie trick has come in handy lately.
Stretch marks? none yet and I hope to never get them!  I've gone through my first bottle of cocoa butter lotion, first of many I'm sure.

Sleep: sleep is good 
Best moment this week: noticing a "bump" :-) 
Miss Anything? sushi, sangria and wine.
Movement: I'm pretty sure I felt the baby move this morning but who knows it could have been gas.  I have no clue how the baby is supposed to feel so it's hard to know what I'm feeling. 
Food cravings: gummy bears and carbs!
Anything making you queasy or sick: not really
Gender: we may find out next week!!! 

Labor Signs: No way 

Symptoms: peeing all the time and emotional 
Belly Button in or out? in
Wedding rings on or off? on

Happy or Moody most of the time: kind of moody lately, my poor students lol

Looking forward to: Appointment with the midwife on Monday!!!

"Baby Bump" Business

I have always loved seeing baby bumps and love to rub them (only people I know very well, duh) but now I am discovering all is not cute with the baby bump business.  I always said "I can't wait to have a bump!".  Well I figured when I got pregnant I would automatically get this super cute little basketball "bump" by like 3 months and then it would continue to get bigger and cuter till I pop.  This my friend is not the truth!  This week I have fallen into the "growing belly but not looking pregnant yet" phase and truthfully I don't love it.  Don't get me wrong I'm over the moon excited to be pregnant and know how blessed I am.  I just didn't expect to look in the mirror and feel so fat and unpregnant!  I know I'm supposed to be getting bigger, duh.  There is a growing baby in there but when it really starts to happen it's a little strange.  I am not complaining just venting a little bit.  I'm excited for the "bump" to come and know that once my belly is big and round and noticeably pregnant I will love it and won't be able to keep my hands from rubbing it.  In the mean time I will convince myself to be patient and enjoy all the wonderful things that I'm experiencing in the joyous time.

Here's a before and after.
            5 Weeks I believe                                  17 Weeks