Stroller!! (27 weeks 2 days)

As some of you may know, I was having a really, really hard time deciding on a stroller...there are so many options and I was trying to avoid having 423123578 strollers, all for different purposes. There are umbrella strollers, Snap N Go strollers, travel systems, joggers, lightweight...wheels that are rubber, wheels that are plastic, wheels that are plastic but foam filled, air filled tires. AHH!!! What to do?!

After much deliberation, shopping, mind changing and discussion, James made the ultimate decision and was it ever a great one! He surprised me one day after school with a gift that was supposed to be for when the baby was born. We are not so good at holding onto presents that we have for each other!!

Well, that surprise gift was a stroller! And it was the one that I really, really wanted but didn't ultimately register for! It was the B.O.B. jogger that I loved! I was so excited and shocked that he thought I didn't like it at first! Oh no...I loved it!! It is going to be so great for walking in our neighborhood and doing all the hilly, outdoor things that are around us, especially in the fall.

It is in our dining room right now and I keep going in there to collapse it and then make it upright again. It's so easy to do!! So yay! One more important item checked off the list. We did get the Snap N Go stroller at my school shower (yay!), which will be great for the beginning. We may have to get a smaller stroller when Jack is a little older, but that is definitely in the future. For now, I am so excited!!!!

How far along are you? 27 weeks and 2 days
Maternity clothes? For sure. And they are starting to look better, too.
Weight – Loss or Gain? Gain for sure...
Has your shoe size changed? Nope.
Stretch marks? Nope.
Sleep: Still sleeping well for the most part.
Best moment this week: School baby shower. So much fun!
Any Movement? All the time. He doesn't like it when I sit at a table at school because it's right at my belly level. He always seems to push out at that time!
Food Cravings? Nope.
Food Aversions? Nope.
Belly Button in or out? It's still pretty much in, but stretched to capacity!!!
What do you miss: Getting in and out of bed without having to roll out.
What are you looking forward to: Our furniture coming so that we can put away all of this new stuff!
Weekly Wisdom: No wisdom from others this week, but I am trying to remind myself that everyone has their own opinion and not to let that change how I feel about things or upset me.
Milestones: Entering the 3rd trimester and hopefully passing the gestational diabetes test. I didn't hear anything from the doctor and it's been over a week...I think I am in the clear! Yay!!

25 weeks 3 days & a train!!

While James and I were at Michael's looking for fabric, which they don't have...but we obviously thought they did...James spotted these adorable magnetic train letters. I found him pondering over them in the aisle. I finally convinced him to get them and paint them! So, we picked out some other pieces and were off to find paint. Who knew that would be an ordeal? We picked primary colors and were off...

They began as a pine color, I just didn't get a picture before James primed them. He worked diligently for his little guy all Sunday afternoon a couple of weeks ago. The train name turned out SO CUTE!! He has an artistic streak like his mom and apparently their great minds think alike!

Also, for anyone that doesn't already know, the name will be revealed in this post!

Here are some pictures:

So handsome!!!!

How far along are you? 25 weeks and 3 days - 1 more week until the 3rd trimester!
Maternity clothes? For sure.
Weight – Loss or Gain? Gain for sure...
Has your shoe size changed? Nope.
Stretch marks? Nope.
Sleep: Still sleeping well for the most part.
Best moment this week: Kids at school are starting to notice. One little girl asked if I was "growing a baby in my belly". It was very cute.
Any Movement? Tons and tons. He has found a home under or near my ribs. It's lovely.
Food Cravings? Nope.
Food Aversions? No, but there is a cabbage cook-off at school tomorrow that I am a little concerned about...
Belly Button in or out? Mostly in but on its way out...it's so weird!
What do you miss: Regular pants that don't constantly have to be yanked up!
What are you looking forward to: My belly continuing to grow!
Weekly Wisdom: No real wisdom, except that someone told Elizabeth and I how cute we are pregnant when we were literally griping about how un-cute we feel!! Granted, I had just taken in my reflection in a window...not exactly accurate!
Milestones: I am having my glucose test on Friday to check for gestational diabetes...keep your fingers crossed!

23 Weeks

I just cannot believe that we have known that we are expecting since October. That is crazy to me and so exciting! We still have a long way to go, but we are on our way there!

My What To Expect book says that 23 weeks is in the 6th month...I'll take it! Pretty soon I'll be in the 3rd and final trimester. Hard to believe!

James and I picked out a chair today. It is an upholstered glider with an ottoman. We ordered it in navy blue cotton and it should be here in about 4 weeks. We found it at The Comfortable Chair Store. We think that another furniture store sales person told us to go there and we are so glad that we did. I honestly was skeptical, thinking that everything in a "specialty" store would be totally overpriced but they had really, really reasonable and competitive prices.

The sales woman said, "Now, I know you are not going to love the look of this chair, but just sit in it and see what you think." Well, she was right. I thought it was ugly and belonged in an unstylish Grandma's house. But, I sat down anyway. OH MY GOSH! I am so glad that I sat down! That was BY FAR the most comfortable chair in the entire store. It was made for me! The top hit my neck in the perfect spot, it has lower back support, I don't have to constantly scoot back in because I'm so short...it was perfect!

Now, it wasn't appealing to look at right away. Then she handed us the 237325237987 swatches that the chair comes in. Woah, that was overwhelming! We finally decided on navy blue cotton and are so excited! I looked for a picture online but couldn't find one. When it comes in, we will take a picture or a video and you can decide for yourselves about whether or not you think we like Grandma furniture. :) Regardless, it's the perfect feeling chair for James and I.

We also bought the crib skirt a few weeks ago and Pottery Barn Kids. It is part of the Shooting Star collection but we only bought the skirt. We are going to mix and match everything else.

My wonderful Mother-In-Law brought me a baby bag when they were here a few weeks ago. I love it!!! And I love that I didn't even have to add that to my mental list of things to do! It's super cute and will be great a summer baby boy!

And now, onto the survey:

How far along are you? 23 weeks
Maternity clothes? Pants for sure. I can still wear a lot of my regular shirts but they are becoming too short. I have a lot of spring/summer clothes. I need it to warm up!!!
Weight – Loss or Gain? I think between 8-10 pounds total.
Has your shoe size changed? Nope.
Stretch marks? Nope.
Sleep: I am doing my best to sleep on my left side, but I seem to roll around in my sleep and wake up on my stomach. I am trying to sleep with a pillow tucked under my stomach now. It seems to help.
Best moment this week: Having James feel the baby kick!
Any Movement? All the time now. He is very active around 7:30 in the morning and after dinner each evening. If I've had a busy day, then anytime I stop moving around, I start to feel him.
Food Cravings? Not really. Chocolate cake sounded really good for a really long time. Good think Katie's birthday came and I baked chocolate cupcakes!
Food Aversions? No, thank goodness. Luckily, I am still able to eat whatever I want. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this remains the same!
Belly Button in or out? In.
What do you miss: Being able to sit up quickly, or get off the floor quickly at school.
What are you looking forward to: The furniture arriving! I can't wait.
Weekly Wisdom: Someone that I really like and respect just confirmed that nursing is the way to go. She was so supportive and positive when all I hear are the hard times that people had. I was so thankful to have that good conversation with her!
Milestones: Someone said as I passed by, "Oh look at that cute pregnant lady!" It wasn't the cute part that I liked, it was the pregnant part! I am happy to actually look pregnant!!

22 weeks 6 days

Here is the furniture that we picked out! We ordered all three pieces, but not the hutch piece on the long dresser. We love it and are so excited! It should be here in about 6 more weeks!

Also, here is a picture at 22 weeks exactly. Sorry it's a week late!

20 Weeks

Yay! Officially 20 weeks today! I cannot believe that we are halfway through this pregnancy. Crazy!

We will go to the doctor on Tuesday to find out if it is a boy or a girl. Not much else to post so we made a short video of what will be the nursery. We will hopefully take several videos so that you can all see the progress!

I feel good still. Pretty much fully out of regular clothes except shirts. That's really all...

19 Weeks

19 weeks and counting!!! It's sort of hard to believe that all this time has already gone by. I'm sure that I'll now be saying that for the rest of my life!

I have been feeling good. I have really tired when I come home from school, but what else is new?! Last week was conference week so most of my parents know that we are expecting. Everyone was very happy and congratulatory. They were even happier when they found out the due date and that I will most likely make it through the school year. ;)

Next week is the BIG ultrasound that everyone (including us) has been waiting for. We go to the doctor at 4:00 on Tuesday the 9th of February. We cannot wait to find out if little Baby H is a boy or a girl. The next step will be to make our final decision about baby furniture and get that ordered. We have looked and looked and looked....and looked. There are several collections that we like, so we just have to really narrow it down. Once again I am so grateful to live in a big city that offers tons and tons of shopping options! ;)

James has been working on getting the office cleared out and the other bedrooms rearranged. We ended up selling a couple of things on Craigs List and donating a bunch of other stuff. The office doesn't really look like an office anymore, the only office type things left in there are the printer, the desk and our diplomas. That's the last of it! We plan on taking before and after pictures/videos of the room and we'll post them here. Things are starting to move along.

I don't think I've felt the baby move yet. But sometimes it's hard to know the difference between the baby and....um, gas. So maybe I have, maybe I haven't! Probably I've just felt flutters. Hopefully soon I'll feel a kick or two.

How far along are you? Today 19 weeks 1 day...the picture is exactly 19 weeks.
Maternity clothes? Pants for sure. I can still wear a lot of my regular shirts.
Weight – Loss or Gain? At my last appointment two weeks ago, I'd gained 4 lbs.
Has your shoe size changed? Nope.
Stretch marks? Nope.
Sleep: I am doing my best to sleep on my left side, but I seem to roll around in my sleep! I am grateful that I still sleep well.
Best moment this week: Clearing out the former office and now baby's room!
Any Movement? Sometimes I think so but it might not be...flutters for sure.
Food Cravings? Nope.
Food Aversions? No, thank goodness.
Belly Button in or out? In.
What do you miss: Being able to sit up quickly, or get off the floor quickly at school. I have to sort of roll to the side already! The kids are still looking at me funny. Hopefully they'll get used to it!
What are you looking forward to: Finding out if we are having a girl or a boy!!
Weekly Wisdom: I received some interesting advice about nursing and how to prepare for it. I thought it was good but I don't really want to put it on here. I will tell people individually!!! It's not exactly public Internet appropriate for me.
Milestones: It's almost 20 weeks!!!

16 weeks

I know that it has been awhile since I updated the blog. There just really hasn't been much to blog about! I guess there was a lull.

Today James and I went to Babies R Us and found several travel system strollers that we liked. This was our favorite of the day. The infant seat can be used up to 35 lbs., and the stroller is a little more"off roadish" than others and I like that. We also looked at this Snap and Go component for quick trips and such. We are still looking and researching...there is so much out there!

How far along are you? 16 weeks exactly
Maternity clothes? Some. I can still wear most of my shirts and my pants with a Bella Band.
Weight – Loss or Gain? Up 2 lbs.
Has your shoe size changed? Nope.
Stretch marks? Nope.
Sleep: I am doing my best to sleep on my left side, but I seem to roll around in my sleep!
Best moment this week: Finding a stroller that we really like.
Any Movement? Sometimes I think so but it might not be...
Food Cravings? Nope.
Food Aversions? No, thank goodness.
Belly Button in or out? In.
What do you miss: Wearing my old pants! It's cold and I need jeans!
What are you looking forward to: Feeling the baby and finding out the sex!
Weekly Wisdom: Get what is right for you and your family and don't worry what anyone else says or thinks about it!
Milestones: Narrowing down the car seats/strollers.