24 Weeks

24 WEEKS (08.22.12)


- Far along: 24 weeks
- Size of the bean: ear of corn (length)
- Symptoms: ab muscle pain
- Cravings: I had Chick-fil-a three times last week…does that count as a craving?
- Aversions: none
- Sleep: still up and down a lot
- Maternity clothes: about half and half
- Weight gained: I’ll guess 11 pounds.
- Best moment of the week: I can’t believe this, but I can’t remember 
- Gender: boy
- Looking forward to: the fall!

I’m writing this a few weeks late so it won’t be much of an update…mainly just a picture. I can barely remember what all happened two days ago, much less two weeks. I do know that the abdominal pain continues to get worse. I’m assuming at this point that it’s a pulled muscle and for that, there’s not much I can do. I guess I’ll just work on getting used to it.

We had our last group CARES meeting this week and that was bittersweet. We LOVED CARES, but did not necessarily care for the meetings. It was good to have others who were going through similar things that we could bounce ideas off of and share prayer requests with, but they were long. It was a great time to reflect back over the last two years (time flies!) and think about all the seeds that were sown. Please be in prayer for the residents and for us as they find a new team and we transition into “normal” life.

24 weeks

Baby L = length of ear of corn

(I forgot to tell Brad to cook the carrots instead of the corn for dinner...so it was eaten before our picture was taken.  Hence, the bag of frozen corn) HA!

Nursery Inspiration

I don't know about inspiration, but here's a look at what the nursery is shaping up to be.  I'm going for a modern take on vintage look.  Leah and I are making our annual trip to Round Top in about a month so I know I'll find some neat things to accent the walls and such.  Here's what we have so far...(I'm going to attempt to source everything...bear with me!)

1a. Crib by Babyletto in white.  Perhaps my favorite part is the drawer for storage.  That's important in an apartment!

1b. Crib bedding fabric choices.  I'm still trying to decide on the configuration of these, but I like the colors.  Gray and yellow have always been my choice, but not that we know The Bean is a boy, a little blue will make it's way in the scheme.

2. I love the Ikat-like design of these curtain panels from West Elm.  Just need to pull the trigger and buy!  The only thing we're considering is making them black-out since the guest room/nursery tends to boil while the rest of the apartment feels comfortable.

3. This dresser will double at the changing table.  If I may brag on myself a bit, I put it together all by myself one day a few weeks ago when I was home sick.  But if I'm being honest while bragging, Brad did have to fix one small slip up ;)

4. This rug in gray is a fave from Urban Outfitters.  I like how the scallops link together with the circular pattern on the bedding fabric.

5. This daybed will also be squeezed into the space to give guests a place to stay when they come visit.  It conveniently pulls out into a double bed, and I love the drawers for extra storage (see #1a)!

6. This is the splurge in the room - the rocking recliner.  I wanted something with modern lines to match the crib and a recliner as opposed to just a rocker.  The fabric is links grey but I can't link to it (irony?).  It has a great texture to it to add some dimension.

I realize there are a lot of muted color but I'll find a way to add some color when I hang things on the walls and add some throw blankets and pillows in.  I think I'll do a separate post on the things I've found.  I haven't yet found anything as far as bedding for the daybed, but will get around to that at some point.  Perhaps a simple pale blue or yellow quilt?  We shall see!

23 Weeks

23 WEEKS (08.15.12)

- Far along: 23 weeks

- Size of the bean: mango (weight)
- Symptoms: ab muscle pain
- Cravings: none
- Aversions: none
- Sleep: last week was brutal
- Maternity clothes: about half and half
- Weight gained: 9 pounds according to the OB (last week)
- Best moment of the week: my first massage since March!
- Gender: it's a boy!!!
- Looking forward to: cooler weather!

Well, I started the process of registering this week. I met a good friend of mine that recently had a baby at Babies ‘R’ Us to get things started. It was so much more difficult than registering for our wedding 4 years ago. I’m not sure why but I couldn’t make decisions so what’s on there now may not be on there in a few weeks. We have decided to give a go with cloth diapering. I’m still getting advice from friends who have ventured down that path on specific brands, care, etc., but we’re going to do it!

As mentioned above, I got a two-hour prenatal massage this week! It’s the first one I’ve had since before getting pregnant because I wasn’t sure how it would go. However, I found out my usual therapist is now certified as a prenatal specialist, so I made an appointment. It was great :)

Lastly, our crib came! We’ve been cleaning out the guest bedroom to convert it into the nursery, so we made a space and we (and by we, I mean Brad) put it together. I helped…by handing him things. We still have quite a ways to go, but I’m slowly finding things to fill it up with! I’m working on a mood board of sorts, so hopefully I can figure out how to post that on the blog in the next few weeks.

Here we are at 23 weeks with the mango!

22 weeks

22 WEEKS
(08.08.12)


- Far along: 22 weeks
- Size of the bean: spaghetti squash (length)
- Symptoms: ab and back pain
- Cravings: none
- Aversions: none
- Sleep: waking up a lot, tossing/turning
- Maternity clothes: Mostly pre-pregnancy still but bought a few more shirts this week
- Weight gained: 9 pounds according to the OB
- Best moment of the week: knowing that Baby L is a BOY!!!
- Gender: XY
- Looking forward to: Finishing up this summer term (not baby-related, I know)


It was SO. MUCH. FUN so many of our family and friends here this weekend. I won’t recap the party since I’ve done that in two different posts, but I will say this. I haven’t had that much fun with so many people I love since my wedding. There are definitely highlights here and there but there’s nothing like a room full of people you care so much about. Brad and I are so very fortunate to have friends and family that will take time out of their weekend, travel long distances and hang out for hours to find out if we’re having a boy or a girl. I mean, nuptials, yes. But a gender reveal?!? WOW!

Our parents are awesome. So much love and support.  Love y'all!!!

22 Weeks

Please excuse the hat.  It was a late hair-washing day.

21 weeks (sans pic)

21 WEEKS
(08.01.12)

- Far along: 21 weeks
- Size of the bean: carrot (length)
- Symptoms: some ligament pain in the right upper quadrant area of my abdomen (how’s that for detail?)
- Cravings: milk and Baked Cheetos but not together
- Aversions: none
- Sleep: same
- Maternity clothes: I am officially wearing the Be-band as my pants no longer button. Some shirts.
- Weight gained: I feel bigger than last week but haven’t weighed myself
- Best moment of the week: Taking that envelope to the baker!
- Gender: COME ON, SATURDAY!!!
- Looking forward to: see above!

Not a lot of changes this week. I worked a lot, which helped the time pass but didn’t leave much room for anything extra. Right now, I’m just focused on wrapping up the details for the weekend’s festivities, clean the house and finish up some school work.

More Gender Reveal

Pictures of the Evening...

Will Baby L be a "beau" or wear a "bow"?  Guests made their choices...

"Is Baby L a beau or bow?

Jot down your guess, soon we will know!

Please wear a tiara or a tie.

It's only for pictures, so swallow your pride!"

(There were neck ties and moustaches for boy guessers.)

Ultimately, I was team boy because that's been my suspicion all along.

Kasey thought boy, but wanted girl.

Love this pic!

One lucky cupcakes holds the secret!

I'll have you know, I never ate mine.  Just sliced right through it and started searching the crowd.

Team Blue -- the popular choice.



Team Pink.

Boy it is!



Poor Evi wanted a girl cousin, but will be happy with another boy in the family!

Gender Reveal

I'd never heard of a gender reveal before I became familiar with the blogging world and Pinterest.  As soon as I understood the premise behind it, I knew that's how I wanted to tell our family and friends if Baby L would wear pink or blue.  As soon as we found out we were pregnant (and before my mom even knew), I began digging around for ideas.  I saw some really cute ideas and as the date was set, the details fell into place and the invitations were mailed, there was still one small detail I hadn't yet ironed out.

How would we actually reveal the gender?

The most common thing I saw was the cake idea.  The baker makes the inside of the cake either pink or blue and the parents-to-be stand up in front of the crowd as everyone waits in anticipation as it's cut.  Cute, wonderful.  Except I've done that before...at my wedding.  I wanted cupcakes because I wanted everybody to feel a part of the surprise.  So as I was talking it up at work, someone suggested a 'King's Cake' concept where maybe you hide a blue or pink baby in the cake and see who gets it.  Except I wanted cupcakes, remember?  So yes!  Of course, put the baby inside ONE cupcake and as we all toast our sugary goodness in the air, somebody gets to feel extra special for those 4.5 seconds before the attention comes back to Brad and me.  All because they chose the cupcake!  We changed the baby idea to filling because there's just something about the nurse in me that thinks baby-in-cake = choking hazard.

So there we were...ten days before the party, sitting in the Dr.'s office.  One small, itty bitty part of me really wanted to say "screw it, (sorry, Mom) let's just find out".  But then again, I've been thinking about and planning this party for months.  So we held out, gazing into each other's eyes instead of at the big screen everytime the sonographer told us to turn our heads.  We walked out of there with a black and white picture AND a CD all sealed up and didn't peak.  Those two things sat in our apartment for seven straight days and neither one of us cared.  I mean, we cared, but not enough to ruin the surprise.  The picture went to the baker a few days ago and the anticipation built up...

Here's the scene:  25 of our friends and family members gathered around.  Fajitas, beer, sangria for dinner.  Neckties and tiaras for those who wanted to be on "team blue" or "team pink".  Lots of laughter, good conversation and cute kids running (or crawling) around.  Then the time comes.  I give a few instructions -- don't shove the whole thing in your mouth, everybody start together, etc. and then it begins.  "Oh, I think I have it!" Not funny.  And then another one.  Nope.  And then very quietly and coyly, we hear, "No you don't, because it's right here."  Daddy Brad had the cupcake and had very happily smeared the blue filling all over his mouth.  The smile on his face was PRICELESS.   I'm still not sure if he was more proud that Baby L is a boy or that he picked the coveted cupcake.  I started jumping up and down, getting all sentimental and teary-eyed, screaming with excitement and ran over to him.  He's said all along it would be a boy, so it was perfect!  See for yourself...

More pictures to come...plus, the oops-I-forgot-to-post 21 week update (and probably the 22 week one as well)...