Saturday, July 28, 2012

Elephants!

We have some nursery updates!  My mom and I found a fantastic simply white crib at Pottery Barn Kids when she was in town helping me move last weekend.  We snagged one of the floor samples that was on sale and it was in near perfect condition (until the kid who broke it down and moved it to our car scratched it in a few places) so we felt comfortable buying it.







I also swapped out the gray, white and yellow Courtney bedding I had ordered for the nursery.  We were going for gender neutral, but the paisley pattern was just a bit more feminine looking than I imagined.  I still wanted to stick with gray and white since those are the colors for the wall stripes in the nursery.
I fell in love with this adorable elephant print pattern.  It will allow us to add a gender appropriate accent color once Baby Nashable arrives...I'm thinking Navy blue for boy and a bright pink/coral for girl??  I purchased the main nursery items and then registered for the little extras.  Hopefully they won't sell out in the meantime!


Friday, July 27, 2012

26 Weeks

How far along?  26 Weeks 4 days
Baby Length:  14 inches head to heel
Baby Weight:  about 1 2/3 lbs (baby is putting on fat!)
Baby is as long as:  An English Hothouse Cucumber
Weight gain/loss: I'm up about 18 lbs now. I'm going to stop posting my actual weight and only post the gain ;)
Maternity clothes?  It is time to open the bins full of my friends old maternity clothes donations.  My clothes (even the flowy ones) are becoming more and more uncomfortable.  I can take some comfort in almost making it to the 3rd trimester before having to break out the pregnancy wear.  Even though my hips have grown 3 inches and my jeans haven't fit in 2 months.  I know this because I am in my cousin Katie's wedding in Nashville in the end of September and had to get measured for a standard J. Crew bridesmaid dress.  Yikes!  Here are the two options I decided on - I have them sitting in the closet in 4 sizes bigger than my normal size - I have yet to try them on.  I still need to find silver shoes as well.
Stretch marks? Gave up on the pricey Mustela stretch mark cream and I'm going to stick with the old Palmer's Cocoa Butter formula.  I honestly believe it works better and moisturizes longer.
Sleeping?  Sleeping pretty well these days.  Still sticking with the cheap Bed Bath & Beyond body pillow instead of the Snoogle pregnancy pillow.  I actually am not waking up to pee in the middle of the night very often...usually I make it until 6 or 7 am and get a solid block of sleep.  It's nice :)  I'm starting to feel tired again come mid-afternoon, which I had a break from in most of the 2nd trimester.
Best moment this week: Finishing Move #1!!!  We packed up and said farewell to one of our 3 houses.  The Smyrna house was emptied, and we are storing all of our belongings in the 2nd floor bedrooms of the new house for the next 2+ months.  We have settled into our summer rental nicely, and I am definitely enjoying the simplicity and location of the new digs. Its located in the Virginia Highlands area of Atlanta and convenient and walkable to most everything.
Miss anything? It has been so hot and humid this summer!!  Probably the hottest summer I've spent living in Atlanta.  And I really miss a cold glass of wine or beer at night.
Feel any movement? Nonstop.  I can tell that the baby has gotten bigger, and the kicks and punches are now visible on my stomach from the outside.  Easily.  Last night as I was laying in bed to go to sleep, I had my hands on my stomach and I felt something hard and round move from one side to the next.  I physically felt it with my hands on the outside.  Pretty neat.
Food cravings: Nothing in particular honestly.  I am hungry a lot of the time though and snack quite a bit these days.
Anything making you queasy or sick: The only time I get nauseous is if I wait too long to eat.  I really can't go more than 3 or 4 hours without putting something in my stomach - even if something small.
Gender: Team Green!
Labor Signs: I think I have had some Braxton Hicks contractions from time to time.  It just feels like my uterus tightens up and my stomach gets hard and tight.  It only lasts a few minutes and then passes.
Symptoms: Not really many this week!  Yay!  I have finally started to pop a bit and that may be what is helping my lower back pain.  It has been significantly improved over the last week and a half.  My feet ache all the time and my heels are numb sometimes, but those are much more tolerable symptoms than back pain.
Belly Button? Still in, but becoming much more shallow.  I'm really wishing I hadn't pierced my belly button in college.
Wedding rings? Tight!!!  I can't get them on without running my hand under water.  I need to watch my salt intake.
Happy or Moody? A little of both this week.  Happy to be done with move #1.  Happy that my family came to visit me this weekend and help move.  Moody that the renovation is going on.  Moody that the contractors seem to break something new everyday.  But overall, feeling pretty good, and breathing a sigh of relief that we're one step closer to being done with all this madness.


Picture coming tomorrow morning!  Okay, here are 2 nights in a row!

Thursday, July 26, 2012

Vail Wedding - Weeks 24 and 25

Sorry for the 2 week delay!  Life has been crazy.  I packed and packed and packed over the last month, then headed to Denver for 5 days to spend some time with Jake's friend from UGA who was getting married out in the Vail/Arrowhead area.  We knew we had to hunker down and move upon our return so we were determined to make a vacation out of this little wedding trip.  We stayed at Jake's aunt and uncles condo in Arrowhead and had a wonderful time.  The week was jam-packed with activities and dinners, but we did find some time to recharge and relax.

The Doty's (own the condo) were there with us since they also know the family of Jake's friend getting married, so we had a great week enjoying their company.  Every morning we woke up to fresh baked croissants and espresso from the Nespresso machine (mine was decaf of course), we went for a nice long bike ride with the groom by the river, we went for a hike on the Eagle Vail Trail....and enjoyed the nice weather of 75 degrees and sunny with no humidity.  I was able to take a mental break from the stress of moving and the renovation, which was very much needed.

I hit 24 and 25 weeks while on vacation so I will do a quick summary of the weeks we missed in this post!





How far along?  24 Weeks
Baby Length:  almost a foot long
Baby Weight:  1 lb 4 oz
Baby is the size of:  An Ear of Corn








How far along?  25 Weeks
Baby Length:  13 1/2 inches head to heel
Baby Weight:  about 1 1/2 lbs
Baby weighs as much as:  A Rutabaga





Pic at 25 1/2 weeks:



And here are some pics of us with friends at Julia's Deck on Vail Pass the weekend of 7/14 where Bo and Erica said their "I Do's".  After their vows, Bo and Erica hopped on their bikes and rode the 3 1/2 hours home to their house in Eagle Vail...it made for a very unique wedding send-off!









Sunday, July 8, 2012

23 Weeks

How far along? 23 Weeks 5 days
Baby Length:  more than 11  inches long
Baby Weight:  Just over 1 lb
Baby weighs as much as: A Large Mango
Weight gain/loss:  And I'm still creeping on a come up...(if you listened to the same music as I did in high school you'll know what that line is from)...144 this week!  Whoopee!!  Up a total of 14 lbs from starting pregnancy weight of 130.  I can't fit into any pants or shorts and most of my skirts.  Its dresses or die these days.
Maternity clothes?  I think this is the week I will have Jake pull the maternity clothes donations out of the attic.  First and foremost because we move in 10 days.  Second, because nothing else is really fitting and it's time.
Stretch marks?  No new ones as of yet.  I'm finally starting to expand in the belly.  Up until this point its mostly been butt and thighs.
Sleeping?  I have so much energy!  I feel like I don't need as much sleep as usual and I'm never really tired except for in the morning when I first have to get out of bed.  I am having lots of strange dreams, and I don't know how good the quality of my sleep is, but I'm doing okay in that department these days.
Best moment this week: We had a little cookout by the pool at the new house with some friends for the 4th of July, and we sat outside the entire time...even until it was getting dark.  And I got ZERO....seriously, ZERO mosquito bites!!!  The Arrow Exterminating Spray is finally working!
Miss anything? Whitehaven Savignon Blanc.  My hot weather, cold white wine of choice.
Feel any movement? Nonstop movement.  Nothing terribly intense, but very frequent squirming around.  It is probably part of what keeps me up at night, but I find it very reassuring that the baby is moving all the time. 
Food cravings: Not really.  I did back cookie bars one night this week.  I'm not hungry often and I don't feel like I'm eating that much...but the weight keeps coming on.  
Anything making you queasy or sick: Still doing well.
Gender: We didn't find out.  But I am carrying so low, and so wide.  Another nudge in the pink direction we think. A coworker also did some Cuban culture test on me at a meeting in Orlando.  He placed a fork (or knife, I can't remember) taped to the bottom of a seat of a chair, and then did the same with a pair of scissors on another chair. Then he told me to look at the chairs and sit on the one that appealed to me.  I sat of the chair on my right when looking at the two, and he pulls out a pair of scissors from under the chair.  He claims that means girl.  For those of you who know the "ring test" - I did this out at dinner with friends one night and that claimed it was a boy.  So who knows??  We did order some nice gender neutral colored bedding from Pottery Barn kids this week.  A girlfriend told me the paisley was a little girly, but I'm ignoring her and getting it anyway.  I think it looks great for little baby boy or girl!  I did skip the ruffle bed skirt and go with a basic flat bed skirt with gray trim.  I ordered a few extra crib sheets in different designs, too.







Labor Signs: None.  But I do think I've had some Braxton Hicks kick in.  I've had some mild cramping and I feel my uterus tighten and get really hard from time to time.  It only lasts a little while and passes on its own without too much discomfort.
Symptoms:  Other than stress and a pimple here and there, I'm doing pretty well this week.  My feet will ache at the end of the day sometimes.
Belly Button? In
Wedding rings? On but tighter than ever.  Hope I can keep wearing my rings throughout pregnancy.
Happy or Moody? I am a crazy lady these days.  Literally a walking emotional roller coaster.  Poor Jakey.

Picture taken at 23 weeks 3 days: