26 weeks!

i see why josh was checking out the bump more yesterday - i look huge! 

what’s new with baby: well according to my pregnancy app, baby girl is now about 1 and 2/3 pounds and about 14 inches long! baby girl is better able to hear mine and josh's voices as we chat with each other and she is inhaling and exhaling small amounts of amniotic fluid in preparation for breathing air! at the doctor's on wednesday baby girl had a nice and strong heartbeat at 148 bpm. 

what’s new with mom: well mom got pricked all over at the doctor's on wednesday - first a finger prick, then the Tdap vaccine, and then the blood draw at the end of the glucose test. i went by myself and fortunately i did not pass out! later in the week i was feeling quite awful and super achy so i was worried i was getting sick, but then my mom pointed out that it was probably from the vaccine since i didn't have any other cold or flu symptoms. what a terrible vaccine! but those whooping cough commercials are quite terrifying so i wouldn't have it any other way. i'm feeling better other than some headaches and i'm still not sleeping great, but that's not new. the doctor said i measured right on track on wednesday! i think i had gained about 3 pounds in 2 weeks - seems about right to me i guess! 

wardrobe: i think my t-shirts are even starting to get tight now! i did a little shopping the other day and i got a couple cute maternity sweaters. i'm still not exactly sure what i'm wearing for the various festivities next week, so i'll probably just end up taking my entire maternity wardrobe home. it's not that big. i also made an exciting purchase of some maternity underwear. why new underwear is needed i have no idea, but it just is! and i finally have some! yay! 

cravings: the milk and cookie craving has been a little less severe this week so that's good. i did want mexican food a lot for some reason - i think i ended up having tacos at home, a chipotle burrito, and a vegetable quesadilla at a mexican restaurant all within a matter of days! i've always loved tacos (as has my precious grandma!) so i think it's just a family trait! 

anything hard? well feeling achy and miserable for several days this week was certainly no fun. and i'm not nearly as good of a traveler as i once was. josh and i went to roanoke overnight on thursday for him to do some work and i felt like crap in the car. and that's also when i was feeling terrible and thought i was getting sick, so our fun time of spending time together turned out to just be so so. :( but it was still good to be together. 

best moment(s) of the week: hmm... holiday baking with valerie on saturday was definitely fun. we ended up making fudge, hello dollies, christmas crack, white chocolate thrills, and chocolate chip cookies for josh's managers, and peanut butter bars for her and michael. quite the productive 4 hours!

i also finally got to eat at one of my favorite restaurants when we were in roanoke, cheddar's! i had been wanting their onion rings since i got pregnant! unfortunately i did not feel good at all by the time we got to the restaurant and i didn't enjoy my meal too much, but the onion rings were still absolutely delightful! we went back for lunch the next day which was a more enjoyable experience!

i can't think of too much else, but an exciting week is definitely ahead! hello third trimester! we have our 3-D ultrasound on thursday, and friday we're celebrating our 6th anniversary, which is actually saturday when we'll be driving home! and of course i have to finish up all the final christmas preparations! i love christmas! 

25 weeks!

what’s new with baby: well olivia is now about 13 1/2 inches long and weighs about a pound and a half. wrinkled skin is gradually smoothing out as olivia puts on more fat! and she's growing more hair - to the point that we could see the color and texture if we peeked in there! 

what’s new with mom: well mom is in a bit of shock that 25 weeks has gone by so quickly! and the second trimester is already wrapping up! so crazy! other than that i've been feeling quite pregnant these days. (ya know... big, emotional, tired.) 

wardrobe: well the shirt i wore to church yesterday (pictured above) was not maternity so clearly some things still fit! actually a good portion of my regular tops still fit, as long as they have some stretch! :) 

cravings: three words: milk and cookies. (i must be channeling santa!) 

anything hard? um, sleeping! this week i've started wondering if i will ever have a good night's sleep again. every time i have to turn over i wake up, and then my back aches and i have to readjust the pillow between my legs. and my back is just so sore when i wake up. and then of course i have to pee more so there's that too. so i've just been really tired in general. and i've been feeling more emotional on and off. i think it's the lack of sleep combined with the pregnancy hormones - some days i just want to cry. and do nothing. poor josh. i also feel like i'm getting into that more clumsy/forgetful stage of pregnancy. fun fun. 

best moment(s) of the week: no matter how crappy i feel, feeling olivia kick always brightens my day!  this week i've started to really see my stomach jump! i grabbed my phone the other day to try to catch it on video, but of course the entire minute i videoed she did nothing and then started back up after i stopped. stubborn little thing. regardless it's so neat to SEE the kicks! 

at the beginning of the week we got the crib, and last night we got around to actually working on the assembly! actually josh was really motivated to start working on it, and he got a pretty descent amount done while i did a little christmas shopping with briana. (i was quite impressed!) we continued to work on it when i got back, and would have finished it up if he hadn't gotten a call about a cashier he had to go fire immediately. boo. the nursery looks like a total disaster at this point - between the half assemebled crib, random baby stuff laying around, unwrapped christmas presents on top of and around the dresser, and open futon with the quilt laid out on it! sigh. i will definitely have to address this before we leave for christmas next weekend, so that when we get back we'll have a place to put all of the shower gifts! 

speaking of the quilt, progress has been made! here it is laid out - i'm in the process of sewing the squares together into diagonal strips! i hope olivia likes it! 

just for fun - here's another pic of milo using olivia as a pillow last night. he must be getting used to her kicks because she was going to town last night! 

milo adjusting to the belly

he starts out annoyed... 

and then generally just gives up and uses it as a pillow. :) 

24 weeks!

what’s new with baby: well olivia is growing away having gained about 4 ounces since last week. she will soon start to plump up and her brain and lungs are developing away! olivia has also been kicking up a storm, which this momma loves! at my 24 week appointment on wednesday her heart beat was 150 bpm and everything seemed to be right on track! 

what’s new with mom: well mom had gained about 7 pounds in 4 weeks at said appointment! the doctor didn't say anything, but having only gained a few pounds up to the 20 week appointment, seeing those numbers pop up on the scale was a little alarming! i'm a few pounds over what i weighed at the beginning of the year (pre-weight watchers) and i think right around what i weighed at the end of college! (and still about 15 pounds shy of where i was a year into our marriage!) craziness! so it is nice to know that i'm 24 weeks pregnant and seeing this weight and not just really overweight! the doctor used the fancy measuring tape for the first time on wednesday and said i was right on track! i can't believe i go back in two weeks for the glucose test and then i just start going every 2 weeks! this pregnancy is flying by! other than that i've just been super tired and my back has been killing me. (sad face.) i've been working on olivia's quilt which i'm hoping will turn out wonderful! 

wardrobe: well i'm still wearing my regular tees, but they are definitely stretching to fit! and when i need to leave the house and look descent i reach for something from my (very small) maternity wardrobe! 

cravings: well, the looming glucose test has me a little freaked out, so i'm trying to channel my cravings for sweets into clementines, which has been decently successful! and the box of zebra cakes i bought at the beginning of last week is still half full! i did want oatmeal chocolate chip cookies for two days before breaking down and making some saturday night, which i don't regret at all. 

i knew i could eat all of them so i did give a descent amount to zach and briana. :) they turned out pretty yummy and i just looked up a recipe on all recipes because i didn't have one. you can check it out here.

anything hard? well sleeping seems to be only moderately successful. i sleep but i'm just exhausted! and my back has been killing me on and off. ugh! and on a totally different note, i was disappointed this week to hear that the name olivia is supposed to be super popular. josh and i have had the name olivia on our "approved baby names" list on my iphone for years, and i've loved the name every since seeing this olivia when i was little! 

from the cosby show of course! 

so olivia it is, we still love it! and that's just the way it's going to be! 

best moment(s) of the week: well several fun things happened this week actually! we have been making some purchases for the babe, and now we're at the cutoff point financially until after showers and our tax refund! but we have ordered the crib and mattress, video monitor (which is really a home surveillance camera that connects to your iphone/ipad so it's much cheaper!), and the baby k'tan carrier i wanted! (we got a deal and you can't really register for it in stores!) i was so excited when i got it in the mail that i just had to try it out! enter frederick my teddy bear.

yay! i can't wait to actually use it with olivia! and the mattress is here but we're still waiting on the crib to come in. saturday josh and i went shopping and - joy of joys - we found the sweetest antique dresser for olivia's room! i'm in love! it needs a little love but i think it's great! especially the white porcelain knobs! 

the pic is pretty bad because it was sitting in the warehouse part of a consignment store, but you get the idea. there's also a mirror but we'll store it for now. i think it will be the perfect balance between the dark cherry crib, vintage quilt squares on the wall, and more modern blue rocking chair! yay! 

my sister also finally got a pic of my niece or nephew this week! here's olivia's little cousin - i can't wait for them to play together! and i can't wait to find out in a couple weeks if it's a boy or girl! all signs point to boy! 

lastly, josh and i decorated for christmas last night, and it was so fun to talk about how we'd have a little girl crawling around by next christmas! 

and last night, just as my 24th week was drawing to a close, olivia cooperated and kicked hard multiple times in a row so josh could feel it. he was pushing on my stomach pretty hard so she was probably annoyed! it was so precious to see his face light up! he seemed so excited and proud! i know he's going to be a great dad! :)