Five on Friday

First things first!  I added a poll on the top right of my blog for y'all to vote whether you think it's a boy or a girl!!!  I know we aren't finding out until July 3 (or hopefully a lil bit earlier, not later) but I still want to know what you all think!  Dad, you cannot choose girl 10 times so don't try.  Kevin and Mom, likewise with a boy.  ;)  Thank you all for voting!

ONE:  Mills is ready for Valentine's Day!  This collar was Charlie's.  He was our golden when I was young.

TWO:  Mills loves this ugly gray blanket I laid out on the floor on my side of the bed.  I took the pillows that are on our bed when it's made and put them down there.  He loves his new little space.  He's been sleeping on my side of the bed a lot lately.  He does have a real dog bed on the other side of the room.  ;)

THREE - wow this post is all about Mills.  We love our evening trots down the street.  

FOUR - I won this on Fickle this week and I'm so excited!  It's a Lenora Dame necklace.  Have you girls heard about Fickle?  It's currently in Greenville, SC and just started in Charlotte.  Basically you pay a $30 annual fee and you get access to buy and sell as much as you want.  So no more taking your stuff to the consignment store and only getting 40% of what you should be pocketing.  You get 100% on Fickle.  I've sold two pairs of Tory Burch shoes and a couple other things.  And I got a $12 Magnolia Baby onesie from my friend April too!  Crazy deals from girls you trust - it's invite only!

FIVE - I think decorating for Valentines Day is fun.  I went to Michael's one day this week at lunch and picked up a few things for 40% off.  Then St. Patty's day.  Then Easter.  Then Memorial Day.  Then July 4th - or in my case July 3rd.  Ha!  I love holidays!

Week 18 Pregnancy Journal

How far along? 18 weeks

Size of Baby: Bell pepper - 5.5" long and 7 ounces

Gender: Not finding out - but we could tomorrow at the 18 week appointment!

Weight Gain:  None.  Crazy.  But I do feel like things have redistributed and I still have my usual pudge.  I took April's advice and got some oils to attempt to prevent stretch marks!

Maternity Clothes: Not yet thankfully.  Trying to be as normal as possible for as long as possible!

Nursery:  Got the curtains and we'll build off of those for the rest of the room.  Possibly getting the glider recovered that my SIL/Brother passed down to us. Now we're thinking a light neutral gray for the walls so we can add coral or green after we know boy/girl and not have too many colors in the room.  Mom and I are working on this room this weekend so I'll know more after that!  

Movement: Not yet.

Symptoms:  I've been pretty tired this week.  Don't they say you're supposed to have more energy in your 2nd trimester?  I'm still waiting.  I'm used to running like a crazy lady 24/7 and it's possible I may be forced to slow down.  Blah.

Sleep: Good!

Cravings:  Nothing.  Is this a real thing that you get cravings?

What I Miss: Generally just not feeling like myself...is that okay to say?  We're excited but I'll be a whole lot more excited come July 3.  But I will not complain because I'm thankful to be in this position.

Best Moment This Week:  Kevin and I talked about how we were going to discipline so that was exciting.  Kevin is positive it's a boy and I asked him what he was going to do if it was a girl.  He said he doesn't know!  It's just so fun talking about everything with him.  What a big learning experience this will be.  I know it will be rocking both of our worlds because all we've known is to work our tails off and come July, that will be different.

Looking Forward To:  Tomorrow!  18 week appointment and both Kevin's and my mom are coming with me!

Meal Prep

This is what went on a few weeks ago on a Sunday afternoon/early evening.  It was a football night so we had meal planned for that day and two more days during the week.  Here it goes:

1.  Meal Plan.

2.  Go to Teeter before 10am because after that, it's too busy.

3.  Start chopping all veggies on Sunday for your week.  You don't have time for that biz on a weeknight. Store them in tupperware or baggies.  

On this Sunday night we wanted football food so we did wings (which we ended up not liking) and pizza.  The celery and carrots are for sides.  The sliced green peppers and onions are for the pizza to saute before they go on there.  There are also chopped onions, those are for the stuffed peppers that we'll have Monday night.  The two green peppers are about to get boiled on Sunday so my life is easy when I get home on Monday.  Okay there's that...

Hollow out the green peppers and boil them (again this is a step I did on Sunday to avoid spending 15 minutes doing it on Monday night).

Meanwhile, Kevin did the wings in our mini oven.

I was also browning sausage.  We used half of this for the pizza and half of this for the stuffed pepper mixture.

Then I let that gross grease drain.

Sauted the onion for the stuffed pepper mixutre.  Then added it to a tupperware container along with half of the drained sausage.  

Then I sauted the green pepper and onion for the pizza.

And dumped a few other things in the stuffed pepper mixture in a tupperware.  Diced tomatoes, a little breadcrumbs, the onions and sausage, garlic powder and whatever else struck my fancy.

Made the pizza and slipped that in the mini oven once the wings were done.  We always use thin crust and 2% cheese and not a ton of it.

Boiled peppers and the stuffed pepper mixture go in the fridge for Monday night.  All I'll have to do is put the mixture in the peppers then bake.  Easy.

Wings...

Pizza and wings.  Good football food.

The next night...apple sauce and stuffed peppers.

Tuesday night - leftovers!

And I have no clue what we had the rest of that week.  I pulled some tomato basil soup out of the freezer last week and we had that with grilled cheeses.  We make taco salads alllll the time.  I really like simplistic during the week.  Do you prep Sunday so your life is easy during the week?

Would Likes for the House

All of y'all that own or have owned a house understand when I say this - it never ends.  There's ALWAYS something to do!  Our house was built in 1999 so it's not old but it's 15 years old so it's time to update some things.  

We have a spreadsheet with everything we'd like to do for each room and an approximate cost.  It's unreal haha.  But here are some things that are top on our list these days...

1.  Redo our bathroom - I will show you all pictures of what we are doing next week.  This is hopefully going down in March.  It's mucho mulah so we're trying to be conscious of that as we plan.  But we kinda have to do this now or not for a long time because I don't want the fumes when we have a newborn in the house.  Nor am I interested in bathroom chaos when we're learning how to be parents.

2.  New stove - this is the only appliance we didn't replace when we moved in and every time I turn it on, I just hope that it works.  I'm sure it'll fail us during a dinner party we host one day haha!  I do want a double oven.

3.  Mattress - we need a mattress in our upstairs bedroom so we can have two guest bedrooms.  I have a feeling come July, we'll be having more visitors so this is essential.  We already have all the bedding soooo now we need the mattress.  I'm saving all of the money I make from reselling things for this purchase.  We'll see how that works out!

4.  Chair - we really need an additional chair or two in our den.  Currently we only have a couch and one chair so when we have another couple over, we sit like sardines on the couch and one person in the chair.  So I'd like a swivel chair and a recliner.  But of course I don't want el cheapo either soooo....yeah.

5.  Laundry and Craft/Mills' Room - we want to rip up the vinyl (no clue why they did vinyl in these rooms) and put 16x16 tiles in there.  Nothing fancy but an upgrade from how it is now.  We also want to move the cabinets that are in the laundry room and build cubbies and make the Craft/Mills' Room a little more usable with desks and a table for gift wrapping.  Thinking IKEA cabinets?

6.  Pantry #2 - we are lucky to have two large pantry's but the second one is not the most efficient with usable area.  Once again, I'm thinking some good IKEA stuff might work in here.  We don't need anything fancy, just practical.  

7.  Our yard - oh our yard.  We spent A LOT on irrigation so I'm really hoping we see the change this Spring.  We need to replant some bushes up at the front of our house.  This probably isn't top priority and really could wait.  

8.  Back Patio - the concrete that is there now would be a wonderful pool deck but since the pool is no longer there, it looks silly.  We want to rip it out and put stone down and make it bigger.  

Sadly, all of this equals close to $75,000...#1 and #8 are the big whoppers.  One day friends...one day.  In the meantime, we'll keep chomping away as we can.  

Weekend - Ave Dinner and Miles Visit

This is pretty much what our Friday night looked like.  Kevin actually went to dinner with his parents but the last thing I felt like doing was getting back in the car for another 30 minute drive when I got home from the office in the rain.  He was already down that way so he just went with them.  I didn't mind my single girl dinner consisting of a can of sauerkraut and something else I can't remember right now.  Ha!  I used to HATE sauerkraut (I called it sauerCRAP and mom got so mad at me for using the word crap) and now I like it.  

On Saturday Lauren asked Tara and I to go to brunch at Cafe Monte.  It was super fun catching up but of course I forgot a picture.  Next time!

When I got home, Mills was about to have a play date with his new friend Miles, a 4 month old golden.  He is our friend Benjy's dog.  I kept telling him to cheer up that he had a friend coming over but he just kept getting bummed the longer it took them to get there haha.  Umm note, power wash back patio...add it to the list..

These boys played and played just like goldens do.  They were precious.

Then they eventually got sorta tired and I washed the mud off of them and we played inside for a bit. Mills looks so old here, it makes me sad!

Saturday night we went to our Avenue (old condo building) friend's house to catch up with everyone!  Wendy had made lasagna - yum!  Lots of toasts went around but a favorite was that we can all go a couple months and not talk but when we get back together, it's like nothing has changed and we pick right back up where we left off.  I know I've said it before, but those are the best of friends!  Thankful for our Ave crew!

Sunday AM - Mills rested with who Kevin thinks is his brother and who I think will be his sister.  ;) 

We headed to do some errands and had brunch at Cantina 1511.  We love Cantina as you all know.  If you haven't tried their brunch, you must.  This is avocado with a poached (in my case cooked) egg and melted cheese over this good hash.  Needless to say, I didn't have much for dinner.  

Sunday afternoon we cleaned out the closet in the soon-to-be nursery and moved things to the upstairs closet and things from the upstairs closet to the attic.  We found a bunch of stuff to sell at the same time so I used Ballantyne Bargains on Facebook and got rid of a few things last night and two more meet ups tonight.  It's amazing the junk these people like but no complaints here.  I'm saving up for a mattress for our upstairs room.  Kevin on the other hand doesn't believe that's why I'm stashing cash haha.  He probably thinks it's for baby Lilly dresses or jon jons!  ;)

Five on Friday

Five on Friday!

1.  My best buddies!  They laid like that for hours last weekend and it was so cute.

2.  This week we had all of our leaves FINALLY removed, they cut back our crate myrtles, cleaned our gutters and removed 6 dead plants at the front of our house (the low green ones had died and were ugly).  Here is the before (also before we had new lights and painted the shutters):  

And here is the after....we need to come up with a landscaping plan for this spring when it's time to plant!  I do like how clean it looks now but after 15 years, the landscaping is so mature, it needs to be ripped out and put back in.  Just like we did with our bottom beds.  

3.  I don't know if I've mentioned it on here but I'm working from home one day a week now and I LOVE it.  I've been doing it since October.  It makes my sanity level much more maintainable.  Traveling 2-3 days/week then going into the office for 10-11 hour days on the days I was in Charlotte was killing me and did for 7.5 years.  Now I play catch up on my email on my day at home and feel SO much better when I go to my office.  The day I stay home always varies depending on my travel schedule that week.  It's so nice and I'm thankful for the flexibility.  I was one of those in college who had the discipline for online courses and I'm the same with this.  I love knocking work out and I really don't screw around at home.

4.  Okay I can't wait to show you the drapes I ordered last night for the nursery.  

5.  Do you all have a fun weekend planned?  Mills has a play date, I have a lunch with friends and Kevin and I are hanging with a few other couples on Saturday night.

Happy weekend!

Week 17 Pregnancy Journal

How far along? 17 weeks

Size of Baby: Turnip/Pear - 5" long and 5 ounces

Gender: Not finding out!

Weight Gain:  Still the same as I was pre-preg.  I talked to the doctor about this at my appointment this week and so far he isn't concerned.  He said he'd be pleased if I only gained a total of 20-30 pounds.  My mom didn't gain any weight with me and only 8 pounds with my brother.  I do think ole Doc thought I didn't eat and I said to him, "do I look like I have a problem eating?!"  Ha!

Maternity Clothes: No but I will say how much I wear my Lilly Travel Pants.  Umm every day.

Nursery:  I discussed with my neighbor this morning and I think we are going to not do a rug and she also said I don't need a twin bed in there right now either.  I know this sounds crazy but she said the rug is not necessary and Mom said the same thing.  So I think I'm going to splurge on the curtains which I'm pretty sure I'm obsessed with.  When it gets final, I'll let you know.  Mom spotted them at Pottery Barn.

Movement: Not yet.

Symptoms:  Headaches. Gah.  And this is weird but when we go out to dinner and I have to sit in one space for any amount of time or yesterday when I was on a plane, my stomach is so tight up at the top.  Doc said it's normal and it's only going to get worse.  

Sleep: Good!

Cravings:  Nothing!

What I Miss: I missed some red wine last weekend with the steak but I dipped my finger in Kevin's and that was all I needed.  I did ask the doc about this and he said 1/2 glass or a full glass is perfectly fine now or at 30 weeks, he said it didn't matter when.  I thought that was interesting.  And I also had borderline freaked after 1/2 an ODoul's about a month ago (when I found out it has 0.5% alcohol in it!) and he said I can have one or two of those now too a day or two a week.  I'm not saying I'm going to have it or the wine but I like to know the rules.  I don't think I could live with myself if something were wrong so I believe I'll stay away from the wine.  He said O'Douls was basically water haha.

Best Moment This Week:  Obviously I went to the doc this week and asked him 1,000 questions.  Heard the heartbeat - it was 148.  So at my 8 week appointment it was 161.  Then at 12 weeks it was 159.  Now 148.  The technician says heartbeat has nothing to do with gender.  What do you all think?!

Looking Forward To:  Next Friday, January 30th we COULD find out the gender but we aren't!  I'm still looking forward to the last ultrasound assuming everything stays normal.  Don't know if we'll do the 3D thing...we'll see.  We like surprises...sorta.  Haha!

Recipe: Marinara and Meatballs

Last Sunday I made two things for the week:  A.Liz's Tortellini Soup and The Healing Apron's Marinara Sauce.  They were both amazing.  I actually made April's soup in a pot on the stove instead of in the crockpot because I made it Sunday and we had it Monday.  So Monday all I had to do was put it back on the stove and heat it.

So the Marinara sauce...wow I've never had a better sauce.  It was SO good.  I'm glad Shauna told me I should try it.  Two things she mentioned to me: don't put the fresh basil in until 5 minutes before serving.  And two - use fresh pasta.  Worth it.  Make this sauce next Sunday and let it simmer alllll day and then use some that week and freeze some for later.  Trust me!

She also gave me a meatball recipe (see below) that I added to some of the sauce.  The rest of the sauce I saved separately to use for chicken parm later in the week.  PS - I doubled the sauce recipe.

Here is the meatball recipe.  Basically, mix all these ingredients together, form 1" balls and place on greased cookie pan.  Broil each side until brown (about 5 minutes each) then place in sauce for 15 more minutes to finish cooking.

Austin

A huge perk of my job is I get to travel... And it's really a huge perk when I like where I'm going. 

This time it was to Houston and Austin (last week). We only had a quick stop in Houston.  I went with a couple coworkers.  

Then we went to Austin.  We had dinner at Trudys, breakfast the following morning at Mozarts and we had a lil time (an hour!) to walk around a couple shops on Congress.  First, Kendra Scott.  And no, our guy worker didn't come to the shops. 

Flagship Whole Foods.  Amazing. 

Lunch at Rubys.  So good.  I knew of a lot of these places because Kevin and I visited his uncle in September 2010. 

We did some work them had drinks at The Oasis on Lake Travis.  

Laura and I went to Sway (fancy thai) for dinner then listened to live music at the Saxon Pub. Good ole Austin night.  I love that city!

Perfect Lil Weekend

We had a perfect weekend. I told Kevin last night I wish more of our weekends were like this. Lil alone time, lil family time, lil friend time, lil us time!

Friday I spent about 3 min like this before I had to get up. Those 3 min in my bare feet outside in January were glorious.  

Mills played like a wild man that afternoon when I got back from Texas. 

Friday night we did dinner with Kevin's fam at Sun Valley Cafe. Good ole country cooking...I always get the veggie plate. 

Saturday Kevin had continuing ed all day for one of his licenses so I did flywheel with Jenn and David as usual, met Kevin for lunch at terrace cafe, took mills to the car wash, and cleaned up around the house.  Of course they only did exterior so I did interior of my car when we got home. 

Saturday night we went out with Kathryn and Justin. We started with beverages and apps at brazwells then good food on montford. We had 9pm reservations at beef and bottle for dinner. So fun!

Sunday it was super nice out so I gave mills a bath and Kevin and I got ready for the week. 

When I prepped for dinners this week, I took pics to share for a post soon!

Happy busy Monday!

Week 16 Pregnancy Journal

Next week, I hope to get back on track with Five on Friday.  I think I'm going to do these weekly updates on Thursdays even though my week changes on Fridays.  I just can't miss out on FOF every week!

How Far Along? 16 weeks on January 16th (my fav number is 16 so this is fun!)

Size of Baby: Avocado - 4.5" long and 3.5 ounces

Gender: Not finding out!

Weight Gain:  Still about the same as I was pre-pregnancy.  

Maternity Clothes: Not yet!  Trying to ride out normal clothes as long as possible!

Nursery:  I found a navy herringbone crib skirt that I really like on Etsy.  I may not order a bumper until we know boy/girl since we don't need it at the beginning anyway and it may be a fun way to bring in a pop of color. 

Movement: Not yet

Symptoms:  Headaches. All day every day.  I have a med for them but trying to not take it unless I'm desperate. 

Sleep: Good!

Cravings:  I bought ice cream for the first time in years this week.  Moderation is everything so I'm being careful. Knew I shouldn't have gone to the grocery store hungry!

What I Miss: Nothing really. 

Best Moment This Week:  Telling all our friends via Facebook, Instagram and my blog.  The amount of support and excitement we got was unreal. 475+ likes plus over 100 comments on Facebook.  Thankful for our friends and overwhelmed (in a good way!) by all the well wishes.

Looking Forward To:  Mom is coming down in late January to pick out some nursery things and fabrics and possibly attend an ultrasound appointment.  We booked her flight this week!  I also have an appointment later today to just listen to the heartbeat and be sure all is well.  They don't let me go more than four weeks without being seen.  

Weeks 5 through 15 Pregnancy Journal

I promise my blog is not going to change into an all baby all the time blog but as you all know, this is my journal and the way I remember what I did.  So, I have been blogging each week and saving these pregnancy updates as drafts.  I'm already looking back on them and think it's fun to see how far I've come (in only 10 weeks)!  And, my friends April and Christina both did these weekly updates and they were amazing to read when I couldn't get advice from anyone because it was too early.  I hope these help someone else when the time comes for them!  Sorry I'm not doing weekly pictures.  I still pretty much look normal and come May, I will not be out in public looking the way I do.  Maybe I'll gain the confidence to post a picture every now and then.  I did one at 11 weeks below. 

I certainly don't expect yall to read all this but the first one has how we found out and all that.  

______________________________

How Far Along? 5 weeks

Size of Baby: Sesame Seed

Gender: ?

Weight Gain: None

Maternity Clothes: No

Nursery:  An empty room!

Movement: No

Symptoms:  Complete exhaustion.  My parents were here this past weekend and when I took them to the airport on Monday, I went to Kansas City for a day trip for work.  I slept like a rock on that plane which I haven't done in a couple years.  

Sleep:  Been sleeping and sleeping hard!

Cravings:  Tuesday night I went to the grocery store to prepare for a family reunion we hosted.  I bought Ramen noodles.  Random.  I should have known then.  But at this point, I still didn't know!

What I Miss: Nothing!

Best Moment This Week:  This is the story of finding out and those first few days.  Because all of that was the best moment this week!

Wednesday, November 5th - I worked from home and Kevin came home for lunch.  I made a turkey sandwich with the Boars Head Peppered Turkey (my fav!) and I ended up throwing it down the drain after a bite.  Sign number three of the week but I still didn't know.  At 1:30 that afternoon I heated up those ramen noodles and boy were they tasty!  Around 4:30 after playing with Mills outside, I went in and just said hmmm I guess I'll take a test.  That thing showed up "Pregnant" so fast with a 3+ on there saying I was more than three weeks pregnant.  

I could NOT believe it.  I was in complete shock.  Kevin had told me he'd be home around 5 or 5:15 so we could go to a family dinner with the folks that wee here from Texas for the family reunion.  Well at 5:15 he asked if I could just pick him up at his office.  Umm no.  I told him he needed to come home.  He showed up at 5:30pm and honked his horn for me to come out so we wouldn't be late.  Umm no.  I go out there and he was talking to his friend Brad.  Kevin said very annoyingly, "sorry Brad I have to go, Beth needs me to come inside."  I was just thinking ahhhhh.  I showed it to him and he did not have the best reaction.  I think we were both in shock and that hour (from 4:30-5:30) was the longest of my life.  So we get in the car and go to the dinner with 15 family members and obviously we just had to pretend all was normal.  SO HARD.  But we did it.  We just couldn't quit talking about it when it was just us!  It was so exciting yet terrifying at the same time!

This is Mills and I hanging out right after I found out and waiting for Kevin to get home.

Thursday, November 6th - Still exhausted and barely awake I got on a plane to West Virginia and had to do a site visit in the mud of a building that was under construction.  Thankfully I was traveling by myself this day.  I called my bestest at 7am and asked her what to do.  I was standing in front of the United counter at the airport crying my eyes out telling her.  I'm sure everyone thought I was insane.  She told me to make an appointment (which I knew to do, I just needed her to tell me ha!) to get it confirmed.  So I called my gyn and scheduled it for Friday morning (the next day).  And I just tried to stay awake as I drove all over West Virginia then flew back to Charlotte late that night.

Friday, November 7th - I went to my office early and then met Kevin at CMC Main where my doctors office is at 8:30pm.  Pregnancy was confirmed and I just basically freaked out the whole time we were there.  I told the doc (not my usual one) that I was an engineer and I needed to know all about how this was going to go down.  He said well first you need to change, you cannot plan your pregnancy and none of it will matter when you hold that baby in your arms.  Keep in mind, Kevin and I still at this point did not believe any of this was real.  I was like whatttttt!  Friday night, we met the family reunion crowd at Catawba Fish Camp for dinner.  We still hadn't told anyone else other than my bestest and I told Lisa because she can read me like a book and we had gone to Flywheel this morning at 5:30am.  She had already been suspect so she knew instantly when she saw me and tears were going down my face.  Friday night after we got back from dinner we FaceTimed my parents.  This isn't unusual because Mills FaceTimes with them all the time.  I had written a little note out that said, "Dear Nannie and Poppa, I'm going to be a big brother.  Love, Mills"  It took them a little bit to realize what was going on.  Mom thought we were going to get another golden.  Dad just kept saying, "Wow!"  We have this entire thing on video!  It was really cool to tell them almost immediately.  I had debated waiting until Thanksgiving til we saw them in person but the crazy in me couldn't have lived with myself if something happened to them or me and I had never gotten to tell them.  And the crazy thing - I could have taken a test the weekend before when they were in Charlotte.  But I didn't know to do it!  Oh well.  FaceTime is a great thing.

Saturday, November 8th - we hosted 50 people at our home for the family reunion.  And none of them knew until everyone had left and we told Kevin's parents the same way we told my parents.  We have video of this too which we'll always treasure.

Sunday, November 9th - I called my sister in law and rambled, "if we had something to tell you all and we prefer to tell all four of you at the same time but wasn't sure what would happen if it didn't work out and I wouldn't want you to have that difficult conversation with Anna Kate because she's old enough to understand and and and...."  Emily said, "are you telling me what I think you're telling me?"  Yes!  So that was really cool to tell her.  But my brother wasn't with her so then I called Clay and asked him if he was ready to be an Uncle to someone other than Mills.  This is the same way he told me he was going to be a Daddy.  He was excited too...well as excited as my brother will sound ha!  

Looking Forward To:  This week I'm going to Utah for work and I'm very worried about being sick, being able to stay awake and keeping my mouth shut.  Kevin and I discussed and decided to tell my only two cousins because I'm getting to see them both at the end of the week and since one lives in Boise, Idaho and one lives in Richmond, I should take advantage of seeing them in person and tell them.  We also plan to tell Kevin's brother and sister in law when we see them which may not be until Saturday night.

__________________________________

How Far Along? 6 weeks

Size of Baby: Lentil

Gender: ?

Weight Gain: None

Maternity Clothes: No

Nursery:  An empty room!

Movement: No

Symptoms:  So tired.  And starting to feel sick.  I kept snack with me this entire week in Utah and I made sure to eat right a snack when I got up and every couple of hours.  

Sleep:  Very good.  8-10 hours necessary.

Cravings:  Apple Juice tastes amazing.  So were my cousin's Idaho mashed potatoes.  

What I Miss: Nothing!

Best Moment This Week:  Getting to tell my cousins when I saw them in person and Kevin's brother and sister in law.  We told Joe and Brittany at my birthday dinner at Cantina 1511 on Saturday night.  Also, landing in Charlotte.  I had been so worried I wouldn't make it through the week driving clients around but I did and I was thankful for that.  

Looking Forward To:  Getting more comfortable with the whole concept.  Ha!  We are still overwhelmed and don't want to get too excited until a couple more appointments.

________________________

How Far Along? 7 weeks

Size of Baby: Blueberry - Kevin has been calling and asking me how blueberry and I are this week.  He loves referring to it as blueberry!

Gender: ?

Weight Gain: Probably lost a couple of pounds.  My clothes are looser!  Two weeks of no drinking helps things ha!

Maternity Clothes: No

Nursery:  An empty room!

Movement: No

Symptoms:  Kevin surprised me with a trip to The Greenbrier this past Sunday and Monday for my birthday and I did not feel good on the way up.  Ate some almonds, took a nap and felt a bit better.  Also fresh air felt good.  

Sleep:  Lots of sleep required.

Cravings:  Been into bananas, apple juice and cold cereal.

What I Miss: It would have been nice to have a glass of red wine at our fancy birthday dinner on Sunday night with the filet but it wasn't really a big deal.  Bunco was pretty funny on Tuesday night when I hosted at our house.  I did this...

...and washed it out very well and filled it with water.  No one had a clue.  Then it accidentally spilled on the table when we were playing Left Right Center and it didn't fuzz up like a beer and I was sure someone would notice.  I swiped it off the table VERY quickly and no one suspected a thing!

Best Moment This Week:  A little getaway for Kevin and I was good for both of us and we had fun chatting about the future.  

Looking Forward To:  Our next doctors appointment!


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How Far Along? 8 weeks

Size of Baby: Raspberry

Gender: ?

Weight Gain: None

Maternity Clothes: No

Nursery:  An empty room!

Movement: No

Symptoms:  This past week I wasn't as tired as I had been.  I'm still very conscientious about eating every couple hours.  Really helps to not feel nausea.  

Sleep:  Good.  8-10 hours necessary.  Been getting up int he middle of the night to go to the bathroom but that's probably my fault for drinking too much water right before I go to bed.

Cravings:  I went to the grocery store this past week and I actually got some new snacks that I think I'll like.  I was sick of almonds and craisins.  Pretzels, more bananas all things cold.  

What I Miss: Nothing!

Best Moment This Week:  Two of them!  Going to dinner with our friend's Shauna and Brad and it was fun because Kevin had told Brad earlier this week.  It was nice to not have to worry about the secret.  Shauna was super sweet and had gotten me a fun limeade spritzer to enjoy while they had some beverages.  And it was fun being the DD too!  

I also got to tell my friend Kimmy the good news when we met up on Saturday, the 22nd.  It was really funny because she had just been selling some things at a consignment sale before she met me and she had the lamb that makes the white noise left that she gave me.  This was before I even told her.  Then I told her and she about freaked.  She was shocked for some odd reason haha!  Two days later I got these things in the mail from her...so sweet!  Let me tell ya this - her children SLEEP and they have since the very beginning and she credits this book!  I'll be reading it.  

Looking Forward To:  Ultrasound on Wednesday, November 26th.  I think this may calm some nerves.  We'll see!   



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How Far Along? 9 weeks

Size of Baby: Grape

Gender: ?

Weight Gain: None

Maternity Clothes: No

Nursery:  Mom and Dad brought some framed things down from when my brother and I were little that hung in our rooms.  I also bought a little lamb this past Black Friday from Shower Me With Love.  It was our first purchase.   

Movement: No

Symptoms:  When I was at the doctor this past Wednesday I broke down and asked her for some anti-nausea medicine.  I've had a couple bad situations on planes lately where I've been stuck and snacks haven't helped.  I figured if I'm going to be on a 4.5 hour flight, I deserve some Zofran so I'm not completely miserable.  Otherwise, I'll be sure to snack every couple of hours and always have water nearby. 

Sleep:  Still pretty decent.  8-10 hours necessary which is hard with work and early workouts.  Last 5 nights I've been up at least once to go to the bathroom.  I need to not drink after 6pm.

Cravings:  Kosher pickles and cold cereal.  I don't know that these things have really been cravings.  I go in phases of liking certain things more than others anyway so who knows.  

What I Miss: I miss being wide open with friends and co-workers so it'll be really nice to tell them this big secret after the first of the year.  

Best Moment This Week:  Mom and Dad being in town and the ultrasound which confirmed a baby was actually there and all was well (made us feel like it was pretty darn real).  Mom and Dad brought a couple monogrammed burp clothes for us with a pretty green G on them.  When Mom and I were out shopping I got the lamb and they got us a little baby duck.  I had a baby duck that I was attached to when I was little so this was special they got us this.  I also got to tell my Aunt and Uncle the news on Thanksgiving Eve after the ultrasound.  They are my cousins (the ones I saw in person a few weeks ago) parents.

Looking Forward To:  Getting to double digits next Sunday.  Each week that goes by and we get closer to telling people, I get more excited.  I hate holding in a secret! 

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How Far Along? 10 weeks

Size of Baby: Kumquat - I had to look up what this was.  A small orange.

Gender: ?

Weight Gain: None

Maternity Clothes: No

Nursery:  Nothing done but thought about navy to be the color of choice.  I don't want to it have a theme or be all nursery-d out. 

Movement: No

Symptoms:  I've gained the nerve to use the Zofran I got a week ago but it didn't help last Tuesday night during the worst flight of my life.  3.5 hours of being stuck between two guys, one eating chinese and the other deli meat.  Note to self, take the next flight, don't just try to get home with a middle seat.  This was after a sprint through the SLC airport in which I was with a partner in our office, panting like a dog.  I'm sure he was thinkin, "what on earth is wrong with her" because he doesn't know yet.  But in general, I'm fine especially when I'm in Charlotte and on my own schedule.  I have only taken the zofran 4 times and most of that has been when I've been traveling for work.  

Sleep:  Good.  I haven't had to get up in the middle of the night for the bathroom that much this week.  Only a couple times which is improvement.

Cravings:  Pickles but I always like pickles so this isn't very odd.  

What I Miss: This past Friday at the Home Tour was the first time I really wanted a drink so the bartender made me a fancy martini consisting of pineapple and orange juice.  Wow, it was just like a jack and ginger...not.  Ha!

Best Moment This Week:  Just laying low this past weekend and getting in some time outside playing with and walking Mills.  Trying to just enjoy the simple things and not think too much.  I'm easily overwhelmed with this whole concept of having a child and worrying the rest of my life.

Looking Forward To:  This Friday we get the results of the testing we had done.  After this Friday, I think we'll be more comfortable to tell a few more people.  Still keeping it hush hush from work til January.  I'm also looking forward to telling my friends in person.  This may make it longer before we tell a lot of people but I hope to tell as many as possible in person.  We'll see how it goes.  

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How Far Along? 11 weeks

Size of Baby: Lime

Gender: ?

Weight Gain: One pound maybe?  Still wearing my regular jeans as long as possible!

Maternity Clothes: No

Nursery:  Nothing yet.  

Movement: No

Symptoms:  I had a terrible headache a couple times this past week.  When I went to the doctor on Friday he gave me a mild narcotic to help.  Evidently my headaches are tension headaches (which I only get Monday-Friday, imagine that!) and that's why advil and ibuprofen always work for me.  Well now that I can't take that, it's a problem.  I'll only take this new med if I'm really desperate but doc said it's perfectly safe.  The nausea hasn't been as bad this past week but I don't want to jinx myself that it's over yet.  Maybe it's because I've been 

Sleep:  Pretty good!

Cravings:  None really.  I've been into clementines and kosher pickles.  I always like these though.

What I Miss: Nothing really.  I haven't had a desire to have lunch meat or sushi or alcohol.  I'm fine.  

Best Moment This Week:  We had an appointment on Friday to find out the results of the testing and they said they made a mistake and I needed to wait another week.  But they did do an ultrasound and said everything looked good.   So now I have to keep my mouth shut for another week and another 50 holiday parties!  
Also, drinking (alcohol removed) wine at Bunco and pretending to fit in although they got mad I wouldn't try the punch the hostess had made haha!  Thank you April for this recommendation on your blog long ago that I remembered!

Looking Forward To:  Finding out we're good to go to start telling people on Friday.  I'll be 12 weeks that day. 


________________________________

How Far Along? 12 weeks

Size of Baby: a plum

Gender: ?

Weight Gain:  I lost three pounds this week at the doc. 

Maternity Clothes: No

Nursery:  Navy and maybe add pops of pink or green?

Movement: Doc says I'll be on the later end of when most people feel. They told me it's usually between 18-22 weeks and I'll be 22 weeks probably. 

Symptoms:  Morning sickness is not just in the morning. Can I get an amen?  

Sleep:  Good!

Cravings:  None.

What I Miss: Feeling like a normal human. I did fit in three flywheel classes this past week so that was nice.  I always have more energy when I get exercise. 

Best Moment This Week:  We got news that all our testing came back perfectly.  That was the biggest relief! 

Looking Forward To:  Being able to tell people!  Now that we got the testing back and I'm 12 weeks, we got the go ahead from the doc to tell everyone. Because there are certain people I want to tell before others and with the holidays, I'm going to have to tell some on the phone, via email or text.  As much as I'd love to tell everyone in person or with a phone call, it's just not reality.  

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How Far Along? 13 weeks

Size of Baby: A peach

Gender: ?

Weight Gain:  I think a couple pounds since I dropped 3 last week.  Plus it was Christmas week ha!

Maternity Clothes: No, still can wear my regular jeans!

Nursery:  Picked out/my friend Sarah sent me the crib she has which I've always loved. I added it and the changing table to my Amazon wish list. Jenny Lind white spindle crib!

Movement: Not yet!

Symptoms:  Terrible headache on Christmas Day.  It was so bad that I had no choice but to use the mild narcotic migraine med my doc gave me. He said it's perfectly safe. It made a world of a difference in 15 minutes, thankfully!

Sleep:  Has been just like before. 

Cravings:  None.

What I Miss: Feeling like a normal human. I did fit in three flywheel classes this past week so that was nice.  I always have more energy when I get exercise. 

Best Moment This Week:  Telling friends!  What a relief!!!! 

Looking Forward To:  Telling my work fam.  I know it's crazy but my work people are my second family (well other than Kevins but they're real fam).  I've been at my company for almost 8 years and they've seen me through life since I was 24 years old and living the bachelorette life!  I'm hoping to tell some of them this upcoming week when I get back to Charlotte from Christmas in Maryland.  Then I'll tell my Facebook and Blogging friends!


_______________________

How Far Along? 14 weeks

Size of Baby: A lemon

Gender: ?

Weight Gain:  I was about the same as pre preg when I came back from Maryland but I've definitely gained a few pounds now.  My stomach got bigger at the end of this past week. 

Maternity Clothes: No, still can wear my regular jeans!  Some smaller tees I'm not wearing anymore. 

Nursery:  After seeing Sea Salt cut 50% at my SILs house, I think I want to use that in the nursery with navy. 

Movement: Not yet!

Symptoms:  Nausea is definitely better now.  Headaches are out of control terrible.  I smell EVERYTHING and I don't do well with certain smells.  I'll spare most detail but I was possibly seen gagging in the Nordstrom bathroom this week when it didn't smell that bad to a normal person. 

Sleep:  Been up in the middle of the night again this week. Grr. 

Cravings:  Nothing abnormal.

What I Miss: Feeling like a normal human. These headaches and this smell business is less than pleasant. 

Best Moment This Week: I told work this past week and that was super fun. They were all excited!

Looking Forward To:  Telling my Facebook, Instagram and Blogging friends!

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How Far Along? 15 weeks

Size of Baby: An apple

Gender: Not finding out!

Weight Gain:  My stomach got bigger this past week for sure and I think I've gained about 2-3 pounds.  

Maternity Clothes: No, trying to wear all my winter clothes that I know won't fit in in another month. I did have to use the hairband trick yesterday with a pair of ivory jeans but they have always been small in the waist.  I can still button them but more comfortable with the hairband.

Nursery:  Nothing new. I want to find a cute rug soon.  

Movement: Not yet!

Symptoms:  No nausea anymore but I smell everything. Still really terrible headaches almost daily this week.   

Sleep:  I've slept pretty well this week when I was asleep but I was super busy and I traveled so I didn't get much sleep because of that.  

Cravings:  No!

What I Miss: A glass of red wine.  I was with some friends at bunco on Wednesday night and it smelled SO good.  I MAY have stuck the tip of my finger in Kevin's beer last night to taste a drop. 

Best Moment This Week: Meeting my friend Kim at Buy Buy Baby and registering for some things there.  She was seriously so kind to take her entire Sunday morning and spend it telling me everything baby related.  Her advice was much needed and I'm so glad to have gotten to do that with her.  She and I go way back...we were sorority sisters in college.

Looking Forward To:  Telling my Facebook, Instagram and Blogging friends!  Maybe this coming week!