Baby E. 26 Weeks

{27 weeks today}

Baby E’s Stats

Baby: Little miss is the size of an eggplant or about 14 inches long & over 1.5 pounds! She’s soaking up all of my antibodies to help build her immune system (which could be why this head cold I’ve been fighting just won’t go away!). She also started practicing her blinking this week!

Sleep: I actually felt like I got a little more at the beginning of 26 weeks, but then I developed a head cold & that completely ruined it. I’m trying to sleep with my head propped up a little but then I wake up with a cramp in my neck. I can’t win!

Clothing: Still thinking I can squeeze myself into normal pants & that’s just silly of me.

Food Cravings/Aversions: I wanted peanut butter ice cream so bad this week! Even in the midst of endless snow, I thought eating a frozen treat was a good idea!! It was definitely yummy!

Symptoms: My legs are restless at night, my tailbone & sciatica are still painful at times, and I’ve been feeling incredibly short of breath lately. I don’t know if that last one has to do with the tightness/cramping I’m getting below my belly? Perhaps Braxton hicks are starting? I don’t really know what to expect with those so I’m not sure.

Movement: She’s still moving, although I’ve noticed she’s slowed down a little! Maybe she’s going through a growth spurt & is sleeping a lot more?

Doctor’s Appointment: Tomorrow! I don’t think I have an ultrasound, but hopefully we’ll be scheduling a 3d one! I’ll also be setting up an appointment for the obnoxious glucose test that somebody made a requirement. Wish I could opt out of drinking a drink that’s the equivalent of a bag of jelly beans…how can that be good for E?

Gender: GIRL!! We are overcome with joy! If you missed our announcement, you can see it here. She will be our little Emma.

Best Moment of the Week: Our leadership team at church has started sharing a Proverb with the team each day & it’s been pretty cool to see how God is using that to grow my faith. Especially in the realm of parenting. So many verses that I will be able to cling to and use as guidance to our little E someday!

Thoughts: This whole having a baby thing is beginning to get a whole lot more real. I think M is feeling the pressure about finding a different job and getting us out of his parents. I’m trying my best not to stress about it because I know God has a plan. It’s just so hard to wait. I feel like we are constantly in that state of waiting and guys, it’s a hard place to be. Especially when the weeks keep counting down & E’s delivery day just keeps getting closer. Would you pray for me? For us?

Friday’s Letters

Dear Husband, My heart is overflowing with joy when I see how much you love our E already! When you talk to her & smooch her (my belly) & pray for her…seriously my heart feels like it could burst. I always teased you and said you had a heart of ice, but becoming a daddy is definitely making that joke untrue. Dear Emma, I can’t believe we are only 13 weeks away from meeting you! The kicks and pokes you give me are so reassuring, even if they have been coming in the middle of the night. We’ll have to work on those sleep habits! Dear Spring, you are looking much different than I remember you. Last year we were enjoying 70 degree weather & this year I’m looking at snow out my window. What gives? Have we done something to offend you? You must come soon because all of my winter clothes are just getting way to short! Dear Head, I’d love for you to reattach yourself to my body now. The runny nose, achy eyes, scratchy throat, and overall feeling of disconnect is just about more than I can handle. I think you are rebelling against snow in spring. Dear Class, you were all too sweet when you found out baby girl was going to be Emma. Playtime just got a lot more confusing since you all have baby dolls mysteriously named Emma now! Dear Husband, Thank you for being such a hard worker! I know we are in a weird place right now, but seeing you seek after God and His plan for us, puts my weary heart to rest just a little bit.

 

Faith. Family. Ducks.

Ok, so that’s not the order of my priorities, but unless you’ve been living under a rock than I’m sure you have heard of the phenomenon that is “Duck Dynasty.” The show on A& E that follows a family of duck call makers who are millionares & have beards that flow well past their chins. They are also born-again Christians. Although most times anything they say that relates to Jesus gets cut form the show, you are guaranteed to see them praying at the end of each episode. Recently, this show has taken off! Literally blown up! People are going crazy for some Uncle Si.

Yes the show is absolutely hysterical & always entertaining, but the best part has been the interviews with some of the family members lately.

If nothing else, this show is presenting a little more “normal” family dynamic for us all to rely on other than a large number of other reality shows, that are far from real.

Baby E. 25 Weeks

{26 weeks today}

Baby E’s Stats

Baby: Little miss is the size of a cauliflower or about 13 1/2 inches and over a pound & a half! She’s getting big! She’s also developing finger/toe nails! Her hair is growing too!! If only we could see it, I’m a little paranoid I’m going to get a baby girl with bright red hair like her daddy had as a baby!

Sleep: Still not getting much. I just toss & turn so much. I feel bad because M is noticing & I think I’m keeping him up too. I did get a glorious 5 hour stretch the other night. Is this my bodies way of preparing me for middle of the night feedings?!?

Clothing: I’ve added a skinny belt to the mix. I needed to add some type of shape to this body of mine.

Food Cravings/Aversions: There really wasn’t anything I’ve been dying to have this week. M is happy about this, I’m sure!

Symptoms: Tailbone pain is still going strong. And it’s Monday, so it will be increased now that I’m back to work & sitting in my dreaded desk chair again. I’ve also started getting such a tight feeling by the end of the day, like my belly is just about to explode!

Movement: She is on the go a lot! She has been camped out on the right side of my belly! It’s so hard on that side & much squishier on the other side. It gets so tight sometimes, so I’m giving her little “pushes” to move her little tooshy.

Doctor’s Appointment: Not until 27 weeks & then I believe I’m down to an appointment every 2 weeks. Doesn’t seem possible!

Gender: GIRL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We are overcome with joy! If you missed our announcement, you can see it here. And the suspense of her name is gone too! She will be our little Emma.

Best Moment of the Week: Lexi got to see her kick & I think the grin on her face was priceless! E doesn’t like to have hands on my belly, unless they’re daddy’s, so I’ve had to resort to silently tapping people when she’s moving so that they can watch her.

Thoughts: I just can’t wait to meet her! That is all!

This is me saying “OUCH! Why did I think I could squeeze this body into non-prego jeans?!? Who do I think I am?”

Let’s put all of them together & laugh.

Is it bad that I’m giggling right now?  I mean who would have thought that I’d be making these type of collages and posting them to my blog  just 7 months after writing about my desire (& acceptance that it wasn’t happening) to be a mama?

And I might be laughing because of how crazy I look!! Seriously, the human body that God designed is just so out of my realm of understanding!

It looks to me like between 20 & 21 weeks is when this belly really decided to “pop” as they call it. it could just be the difference in clothes though. Since I think I look smaller in my 24 week photo than I do in week 23. I was wearing black, which is oh so slimming….ack not so much when you’re 6 months prego! I’m wearing the same dress in weeks 12 & 22!!! 10 week difference & that dress is definitely fitting different!

You could also say this has been a great way to track my hair growth…and color change. I haven’t had my hair cut since before that 15 week picture & you can totally tell! Those straggly ends are just some of the most attractive things ya ever did see!

Ok that is all.

No real point in this post other than just for me to track baby’s bigness for when I’m old & ragged & want to reflect on the good ‘ol days.

And to give you all a laugh for your Thursday!

 

These girls…

I beg of you to speak life over young girls! They are being bombarded with CRAZYness coming from every direction. Nothing they are hearing is encouraging or uplifting or faith-like!

Don’t sit by & let it happen.

Make a difference.

Encourage them.

Cheer them on.

Make them feel valued & loved.

You might be the only person doing it…

{Video from our most recent GLOW Jr event!}

Baby E. 24 weeks

{25 weeks today}

Baby E’s Stats

Baby: Some sights are saying little girl is the size of a cantaloupe! Ummm…that’s big!! Others are comparing baby to an ear of corn. Ummm…that’s long!! Either way you look at it, baby is doing some serious growing in there! Her skin is beginning to be less transparent & more like ours! Her lungs are also developing branches that will help it inflate when she is born!

Sleep: None at all. Yes. I’m being serious. I can’t blame it on little miss either because her kicks are not keeping me up at all. I just can’t sleep!! If you know me at all, you know that I have absolutely no problem sleeping, anytime or anywhere; so this is becoming an issue! I am like a walking zombie.

Clothing: Leggings & dresses/shirts. (all of which are getting shorter & shorter each time I wear them)

Food Cravings/Aversions: Still love my chicken wings! I wouldn’t declare this a must have craving, but if given the chance I would eat them every single day.

Symptoms: So much snot. This has been a symptom my entire pregnancy but with the weather changing, it’s now mixing with allergies & increasing. Oh and yea my back/butt still hurt, if you’re wondering.

Movement: All the time! She used to be pretty mellow until 9 or 10 each morning, but lately when I’m up staring at the walls at 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7….she’s moving like an Olympic swimmer! Everyone is trying to catch her in action, but she’s still showing her stubborn streak! She’s gotten better for daddy though, she usually keeps right up with her flips when he’s touching or watching!

Doctor’s Appointment: Not until 27 weeks & then I believe I’m down to an appointment every 2 weeks.

Gender: GIRL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We are overcome with joy! If you missed our announcement, you can see it here. And the suspense of her name is gone too! She will be our little Emma.

Best Moment of the Week: I love when M talks to my belly! It’s the sweetest thing! I tease him that E won’t know his voice because he never talks to her in his normal tone. Always has to be silly & a goof-ball. Just preparing bug for what to expect from her daddy when she’s in his arms!

Thoughts: I am already so in love with this little girl!! I don’t even care that I haven’t been able to wear my wedding rings since October & people look at me like I’m some young, teen mom. It’s all for Emma, right? And for another real thought…who’s idea was it to put a kindergarten classroom on the top floor of an old church with a million stairs? I mean, let’s be honest here by June I’ll be crawling up them & it won’t be pretty.

 

Feeling a bit more free.

I’m not sure if it’s considered “nesting” or just because I don’t have a home to do this to yet, but lately I have felt the urge to organize everything electronic. I wanted to follow this motto of collecting moments, not things. And lately life has felt so much better when I stop worrying about “things” and start enjoying the moments.

I completely overhauled my pinterest boards last week. I went through and completely deleted some boards, like the food one that had almost 700 pins!?!? Seriously! Did I ever think I’d actually accomplish all of those meals? No, especially since they were all just jumbled together. I usually ended up feeling overwhelmed when I even went to that board, because I couldn’t find what I was looking for. Now everything is organized into nice little categories & I feel much more at ease about finding AND trying something from my boards.

I also, sadly to some, did a cleanse of my reading list. I know, the horror!! I have been blogging for 3 years & in those 3 years, I have followed A LOT of blogs. Most of which I don’t even remember. My blog list was getting out of control. I was missing posts by ladies I actually want to read because my list was full of blogs I don’t care to read.

I’ll admit, I’m guilty of doing the whole “follow this blog” to enter a giveaway & that was most of my problem. Or I’d come across a blog that didn’t have very many followers & my weak little heart would feel like I needed to support them, even if what they were blogging wasn’t something I’d normally read. Yep. I’m that person. Which made it most difficult when I went to those same blogs, saw they hadn’t gain many more followers, & still unfollowed them. In my defense, MOST of them hadn’t actually written anything in over a year so it’s not like I was ruining their page views.

Besides blogger not actually working correctly & causing me to have to literally click on each blog & unfollow directly from their site, the process felt good. I re-discovered some blogs that I had forgotten about & simply had been scrolling over for months. Now those are the ones that I can’t miss a post!

I've decided I’m no longer going to be “that blogger” who follows a blog just because. Either for a giveaway or because I like their design or they are pretty. Nope. I’m going to follow bloggers who have something I actually want to read. Something I feel fine taking time out of my day to read. Something that is worth reading.

Now when I log-in, I’m not scrolling for pages to find a blog I want to check in on. It’s right there, among a list of other women who are making differences in their little part of internet real estate! It’s been really nice, to put it simply! I feel guilty for lowering someone's “numbers” but I also feel like I am truly loving blogging again because I’m not feeling overwhelmed with all of these blogs I felt like I had to keep up with. I can just enjoy it now.

Which is really what blogging is all about, right?

Enjoying it…those moments that others share…the moments that we share…

What’s a first time mom to get….

Mike & I started our baby registry. And let’s just say, it was interesting. There are just so many “things” to get!

If you follow me on pinterest, you’ll see I’ve been busy pinning my favorite baby things. Hah-none of them are in my price range, but a girl can dream!

 

via / via / via

Everybody has an opinion of what to get and what not to get {from cribs to carriers to slings to diapers}.

I thought what the heck, why not ask all of you what you recommend!

Obviously I know I need certain things! What brand I need , is another story. I’m thinking the experience & opinions of my friends are better judgments than some of the reviews written on a companies website.

I want to hear from you!!

What were your must haves as a mama? What were your could have done with outs?

Baby E. 23 Weeks

{actually 24 weeks today}

Baby E’s Stats

Baby: About the size of a grapefruit or a mango! Little miss is continuing to develop her hearing & can sense when I’m dancing or when there are loud noises! Her face is fully formed, except for some baby fat!!

Sleep: Up every few hours, sometimes to pee..sometimes just because.

Clothing: Loving my maternity leggings! Since I tried on about a million pair of maternity skinny jeans this week & not one pair fit me, I think it’s safe to say I won’t be enjoying that luxury.

Food Cravings/Aversions: Nope! Although some might say I’m really loving bacon!

Symptoms: Still having back/butt pain & it’s getting harder to get out of bed or stand up. I’ve never grunted so much in my life.

Movement: She’s a mover, for sure!! I love feeling her move! I snuggled up to Mike’s back & E was kicking like crazy. It was pretty entertaining to watch him squirm a little at the weirdness of having his child kick him from inside my belly!

Doctor’s Appointment: Just had one. Everything looks great & my midwife said she is happy with my weight gain. I’m glad someone is, because I’m not feeling very happy about it!! When the midwife was listening for her heartbeat, E was kicking the Doppler away. Needless to say, heartbeat was fast!!

Gender: GIRL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We are overcome with joy! If you missed our announcement, you can see it here. And the suspense of her name is gone too! She will be our little Emma.

Best Moment of the Week: Aren’t they all best moments?!

Thoughts: This pregnancy is flying by!! Sometimes I can’t even wrap my head around what I still need to do to prepare! Sunday, I got to snuggle a little princess that’s only a few weeks old & it made me long for June to get here! I can’t wait to hold E and smooch her itty bitty face!

Christmas…in March?

I never shared pictures from Christmas & since it’s now March I should probably just scrap this whole post. But I don’t print my pictures very much, which means they stay in random folders on my computer, so this blog is a good way for me to document this life of mine. I limited it to just a small portion of pictures, but feel free to skip.

They take after me, with my hat obsession.

Grandma got us all hand-made scarfs.

I can’t believe this girl is going to be 6 soon. Blows my mind.

Can’t leave out Bandit & his new toys.

My parents got us tickets to see a Christian comedian. He was hysterical. I think I almost peed my pants more than once.

These two….something else, I tell ya.

We got Lexi tickets to Winter Jam & it took her a minute to realize what it was. She read through the entire thing & was kind of like oh cool. It wasn’t until I forced her to read it again, did she catch on to what it meant.

G-bug got a tablet & Lexi got a laptop. In true parent fashion, they made them wait until the end & think that there were no more presents before pulling these out.

Oh hey, our big sisters having a baby!

Love these girls. They are going to be such good aunts!

Friday’s Letters

Dear Gianna & Lyra, you two are the cutest. Especially when you put on a concert. That dora microphone & pink guitar suit you both well. Look out America, the next best thing is heading your way…in 20 years. Dear Winter, I love you, I really do, but I’m ok with you going away now. I am so ready for warmer weather and retiring my winter jacket. The groundhog said you were done, but the snow/ice storm we just got is proving him wrong. I want to prove him right! Dear Husband, this week of just you & me has been AH-mazing! It makes me so excited for us to be on our own again. We’ll get to be silly & sing loudly! And I can finally get my purses out of storage! Dear Ring Finger, please stop swelling. I want to wear my wedding rings again & with a bump on top of this pregnancy swelling, that’s just not happening. I’m too cheap to pay to get it resized, so instead I feel like I always have to drop the word “husband” when someone says anything about being pregnant. Dear Friends, thanks for all the love over little Emma (& her name)!!