Week 28

Now we're officially in the final trimester! I'm not sure if I'm more excited or more nervous about that. The third trimester means we're heading into the home stretch and we FINALLY get to meet our little Baby H (and have a proper name). But on the flip side we have less than three months to get so much done. The house is still in what I like to call "updating mode". We're making progress, but it's just taking much longer than I had hoped. I guess for now I'm just going to be excited! I mean three months from now I'll stop gaining weight and start losing it. That's EXCITING!!! Yay to that!

I found out yesterday that my glucose test was normal! Yay!!! However, my iron is low. No surprise there. My iron has always been generally low, and I've been anemic in the past because of it. So I wasn't shocked when the nurse told me that the doctor wanted me to up my iron intake with an additional iron supplement. That's an easy fix.

This past weekend Randy and I had Panda Express for lunch, and usually the fortunes inside the cookies are anything but fortunes and less than entertaining. But we actually got some really cute ones this time. I wish I had taken a picture of mine, but it read, "Stop searching forever, happiness is right next to you". When I showed Randy, who was sitting next to me on the right, he said "That either means me or the spring rolls on the other side of you." Boy does he know me well! Because as far as I'm concerned those spring rolls bring much happiness to this pregnant girl :0)! His fortune was...

What ever could this be?!?

This week I'm in the middle of Easter overload. I have to dig out the Easter baskets, shop for some goodies and pack them away for our trip to California. I'm so excited to be spending Easter with our families. This is the first year Rory will be hunting for eggs with his cute little cousins, Clyde, Ethan, and Abraham! I can't wait to see all those boys hunched over together in the grass searching for hidden eggs. Rory's already pulled out the plastic eggs, so thanks to him I can check that off my list. And then there's the packing. It takes me forever to pack. But I guess it should be easy to pack my suitcase considering that I don't have that many options when it comes to clothes right now. Who am I kidding, it'll still take me 3 days to pack 3 very small suitcases. I'm also a little nervous about the 3 hour drive with a newly potty-trained toddler and this preggers girl who has to pee what seems to be every 10 minutes. My poor husband.

Well I've started...Let's see how long it takes me to finish

So yesterday during our walk we came across this little fella...

This is Sheldon or Shelly as Rory calls her

She was just sitting in the middle of the street. We knocked on the doors of the surrounding houses, but sadly no one wanted to claim her.  So we decided to take her home so that she didn't end up in the street again, and then I posted some flyers just in case someone was looking for her. But again, no one has called about her. We made a temporary home for her for now. I was set on sending her to the pet store in a few days if no one called, but Rory woke up at 6:00 am asking about the turtle. So I'm on the fence as to whether or not to keep her. She's awfully cute, but turtles are a lot of work...work I didn't plan on. Did you know that turtles can live for decades? I'm not sure I want that kind of commitment. I'll be sending her off to college/Spring Training/PGA Tour with Rory. So we'll just have to see how things go in the next few days.

I've got a new obsession!!! Now the packaging says it's new, but I swear I've had these before. These are so good, I think I might trade all my cereal for these. Ok maybe not ALL my cereal, but definitely some of my cereal.

So good!

Rory

As for Rory, he seems to be bursting with energy every moment of the day. Or is it that I seem to be losing energy every moment of the day?!? But lately he's into helping me with the chalkboard pictures.

Cleaning off last week's picture...

...So he can create his own

Pregnancy

How far along? 28 Weeks & 1 Day
Total weight gain/loss: 22 lbs 
Maternity clothes? Still both maternity and non-maternity
Stretch marks? So far so good. My mango body butter seems to be doing the trick
Sleep: Sleep is still really good. Absolutely no complaining here
Best moment this week: I asked Rory if the baby is going to be as cute as he is and he responded "yeah". 

Have you told family and friends: Yes!
Miss Anything? Sadly still a Subway sandwich. Let's just assume that I miss this every single day.
Movement: Baby is kicking away
Food cravings: CEREAL! Char-broiled cheeseburgers... an In n Out cheeseburger, a whopper from Burger King or a famous star with cheese from Carl's Jr. 

Anything making you queasy or sick: not anymore
Symptoms: Back aches are constant, more leg/feet cramps, a little decrease in energy, some pain in my ribs, and now some pressure in my lower belly. The doctor said that the pressure is completely normal during this time. (Phew)

Have you started to show yet: More than I'd like to admit 

Gender prediction: I'm really not sure.

Labor Signs: Nope! Thank God!
Belly Button in or out? In, and creeping forward
Wedding rings on or off? On and annoyingly loose. 
Happy or Moody most of the time: HAPPY with a few mood swings due to me being tired!
Looking forward to: Our trip to SoCal! I only have one other trip after this before the baby's born and that's it probably until after the summer. I'm a little bummed about that. 

Week 27

Wow! I can't believe that this is the last week of my second trimester. Since this is the last week, I'd thought I'd recap some of the highlights of the last 14 weeks or so.

Week 14

Visiting Santa

Week 15

Ok not the best pic of me, but it's the only belly pic from week 15

One of my favorite memories from Christmas morning

Week 16

Baby can hear music

A self portrait by Rory

 Week 17

The cravings kicked in!

My little smarty pants! One of my all time favorite pics of Rory

Week 18

Baby is 5.5 inches long
And my swollen eye. Definitely not a highlight moment!

Just being silly after his bath. I love that smile!

 Week 19

Baby is the size of a mango

Pinky shared a chalkboard pic

And so did Maggie

Saying night-night to his Daddy

Week 20

Halfway there!!!

So sweet

Week 21

Baby is the size of a banana

Getting ready to help Mama paint

Week 22

Happy Valentine's Day

Making valentines for his cousins

"Working" on his truck

 Week 23

Rory vs. Baby H

Nothing like a sleeping toddler after a long day

Week 24

Baby is the size of an ear of corn

Enjoying some time at the park

Week 25

Gotta love Rory!

I'm not sure Maggie is thrilled that Rory named the baby after her

Maternity Photos

Week 26

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Going green in a green car during St. Patty's week

Now moving right along to week 27:

We had a great weekend with my parents. They decided to drive my dad's truck out here and Rory has been talking non-stop about his Papa's big truck! We didn't do anything too exciting, but I just love spending some low-key, quality time with them. My cousin, Michael and his beautiful wife, Gervaise were also in town. It was so nice to spend some time with them as well. Whenever we're in California, I'm usually running around here and there and I don't always get to spend one-on-one time with them.

Having breakfast with my parents... Rory being so silly because he's sitting next to his Papa!

Rory made an Easter basket in one of his classes this week

Pregnancy

How far along? 27 Weeks & 3 Days
Total weight gain/loss: 21 lbs 
Maternity clothes? Still both maternity and non-maternity
Stretch marks? Fingers are permanently crossed <-----Still
Sleep: Awesome! LOVE our new mattress! I can't believe we waited this long to get a new one.
Best moment this week: Spending time with my parents and my cousins. My doctor's appointment yesterday. I heard the baby's heartbeat. But I was totally not looking forward to the glucose testing I had to endure during this appointment... being at the doctor's office for 3 hours, the fasting that began Wednesday night at 8:00, the sugar drink I had to down on an empty stomach, and all the blood that had to be drawn. It was a little brutal. I hear so many times that the sugary drink is the worst part, but it's not that bad. The sugar high I got after drinking it on a empty stomach was really bad. And then I got incredibly tired after when I started to crash from the sugar high. Sitting in the waiting room for 2 hours while you're that tired is no fun!

Have you told family and friends: Yes!
Miss Anything? ...Subway sandwich...
Movement: Baby is kicking away
Food cravings: CEREAL! Char-broiled cheeseburgers... an In n Out cheeseburger, a whopper from Burger King or a famous star with cheese from Carl's Jr. <---- I would be perfectly happy if I could consume all of these for every single meal! (Thanks Michael and Gervaise for my In n Out cheeseburger!)

Anything making you queasy or sick: not anymore
Symptoms: Back aches, leg/feet cramps, and little decrease in energy

Have you started to show yet: Um, yeah! 

Gender prediction: Now I'm not really sure.

Labor Signs: Nope! Thank God!
Belly Button in or out? In, and creeping forward
Wedding rings on or off? On and still loose. 
Happy or Moody most of the time: HAPPY!
Looking forward to: Getting ready for Easter, and picking out all the goodies for Rory's Easter basket.

Week 26

Hello again.

I know I'll be complaining in a few short months that it's way too hot outside and I'll begin barricading myself from the heat. But as for now, I'm LOVING this abnormally warm weather. I've been sporting the same few pairs of leggings all winter and I'm beyond excited to pack them away. By week's end it should be 90 degrees- hello flip flops, maxi dresses, capris, and shorts. I know, it doesn't take much to excite me. :0)  

Rory

I love that Rory has his own reusable bag that he takes into every store. And the checkers and baggers at our local Smith's market pack it so that he can carry it out all by himself. So cute!

Our 1966 VW Bus is going through a restoration and Randy now has his own helper to help him with the process. Rory got his own set of tools and workbench for Christmas from my parents and his godfather and he proudly puts them to good use.

Here's a before photo of the bus from a family photoshoot we did a couple of years ago. (Look how little Rory was)

Looking for the right tool in his very own toolbox

Helping daddy 

A little blurry, but look how excited he is to help out

He could stay in the garage with his daddy all day long

As for the pregnancy this week:

I'm obsessed with two things right now.

First, cereal. Making my way down the cereal isle yesterday just about killed me. I had to stopped myself from buying four different boxes on top of the box I already had in the cart. I've never wanted so many different types of cereal in my life. I swear I could hear the fruit loops, lucky charms, corn pops and capt'n crunch berries calling my name. By the way, did you know that there's now a capt'n crunch that just has berries?!? Yup I had to run once I saw that.

And second, painting my baseboards. I can't believe what a difference it makes. We decided to paint the baseboards a semi-gloss so that they are easier to clean and let me tell you, they look amazing. If you are ever looking for an inexpensive way to refresh a room, just paint the baseboards in a semi-gloss.

How far along? 26 Weeks & 1 Day
Total weight gain/loss: 19 lbs 
Maternity clothes? Still a mix, but I'm moving more and more into maternity clothes.
Stretch marks? Fingers are permanently crossed
Sleep: Better now that I've moved to the couch in our sitting room that's in our bedroom. We finally ordered a new mattress, so I've got a few more nights on the couch until it comes.
Best moment this week: Ordering the mattress. I know, lame, right?!? But this was long overdue!
Have you told family and friends: Yes!
Miss Anything? Not really. I try to forget about my Subway sandwich.
Movement: OH YEAH! Baby moves all the time!
Food cravings: CEREAL! Ok, some fast food still grosses me out, but I've been craving a char-broiled cheeseburger lately... an In n Out cheeseburger, a whopper from Burger King or a famous star with cheese from Carl's Jr. 

Anything making you queasy or sick: some fast food 
Symptoms: The leg/feet cramps come and go, my back still hurts from time to time, but overall this week I'm feeling really good

Have you started to show yet: Um, yeah! 

Gender prediction: Still think the baby is a girl. But I've been having dreams that the baby is a boy.

Labor Signs: Nope! Thank God!
Belly Button in or out? In, but it's creeping forward
Wedding rings on or off? On and really loose. 
Happy or Moody most of the time: HAPPY!
Looking forward to: Our mattress being delivered on Friday! And my parents are coming in to town for a visit on Friday too! I can't wait to see them. I haven't seen them since Christmas (besides Skyping). Friday is going to be a great day!!!

Week 25

Hi Everyone!!!

I hope you are all enjoying this first week of March. I know I am, with the warmer weather here in Vegas. It's been in the mid-70's and am loving it! This past weekend one of my beautiful friends took our maternity photos. And let me tell you it was not easy with a very opinionated, energetic three-year-old. I'm so glad we were able to get this shot. It completely melts my heart.

This week has also been a week of limitations. My back has decided that it has had enough of this pregnancy and is now hurting ALL THE TIME! I've had to get creative when it comes to eating because sitting at the table hurts and sitting on the couch eating at the coffee table hurts. So I now use my bump as a table as I sit in a reclined position.

Sometimes you have to be resourceful

Rory

Pretending to eat his play-doh

So I decided to get Rory's take on the pregnancy and the baby. I created a little worksheet with a few questions and asked him to answer them. Here is what he came up with...

Oh man, do I need a tan!

How far along? 25 Weeks & 1 Day
Total weight gain/loss: 18 lbs (I've replaced my late night milk and oreo cookies with special K chocolatey delight cereal)
Maternity clothes? Some. I got another pair of maternity pants yesterday. I just couldn't bare to wear leggings again. With the warmer weather here, wearing leggings and a long cardigan is just not going to work anymore.
Stretch marks? Fingers are permanently crossed
Sleep: AWFUL! My back constantly hurts- I find a position that works and the slightest move or a nudge from the dogs and the pain comes back. 
Best moment this week: Taking the maternity photos
Have you told family and friends: Yes!
Miss Anything? Sleep
Movement: OH YEAH! Baby moves all the time!
Food cravings: my Subway sandwich, and margherita pizza 

Anything making you queasy or sick: fast food <----- Still
Symptoms: Well the leg/feet cramps seemed to have disappear, only to be replaced with constant back pain. The pain was so bad the other night that I went into a full meltdown and sobbed. It's also really uncomfortable to lean forward and putting on my socks and shoes is becoming a challenge.

Have you started to show yet: Um, yeah! 

Gender prediction: Still think the baby is a girl. And apparently so does Rory! 

Labor Signs: Nope! Thank God!
Belly Button in or out? In, but it's slowing making its way to the front.
Wedding rings on or off? On and really loose. 
Happy or Moody most of the time: Both happy and frustrated.
Looking forward to: Going through all the maternity photos and picking some out for the house and the nursery.