27 Weeks

WEEK 27

(09.12.12)

- Far along: 27 weeks
- Size of the bean: head of cauliflower
- Symptoms: the GI issues have returned! UGH!
- Cravings: none
- Aversions: none
- Sleep: a little better this week (perhaps because I was exhausted!)
- Maternity clothes: mostly, yes
- Weight gained: still 13 (yes, I stood on a scale at home)
- Best moment of the week: seeing quite a few Aggie friends (via way of first Aggie game!)
- Gender: boy
- Looking forward to: our mini vacation!

Well, the 12th of this month fell on a Wednesday, just like baby L’s due date so I can officially say I’m 3 months away from meeting this little fella! Excited doesn’t begin to describe how I feel about that. Sorry to cut it short this week but I’ve got a full one ahead of me!

27 Weeks

Baby L = head of cauliflower

26 weeks

26 WEEKS (09.05.12)

- Far along: 26 weeks
- Size of the bean: English hothouse cucumber (length)
- Symptoms: ab muscle pain
- Cravings: Chick-Fil-A diet lemonade
- Aversions: none
- Sleep: about the same
- Maternity clothes: the same -- I ordered several more things from Old Navy and the scrub place...
- Weight gained: 13 pounds at the doc’s office
- Best moment of the week: Marshall!
- Gender: boy
- Looking forward to: the start of Aggie football!

What a great weekend in Marshall! Brad and I were both bummed about the game being cancelled due to the hurricane that never came, but it was still great to relax, spend some downtime in the woods and see family and friends. Marshall might be an extreme, but getting away from Houston where there isn’t much going on makes me want to move to Small Town, USA more and more. I’ve said it a hundred times and I’ll say it again…Houston has been great to us these last [almost] 6 years. We have been through so much...a courtship, an engagement, a wedding, first job (me), new experiences in job (Brad), CARES and now a baby. We’ve met so many awesome people through work, church and CARES and are thankful for God’s provision over us. Both of us long to be somewhere with a few million people less than Houston. While we talk back and forth about where that might be, neither of us truly knows just yet. It should be an exciting year!

I was so excited to get to see some Central Baptist folks!  The last time I was there, I knew I was pregnant, but hadn't spilled the beans to Mom and Dad there.  So it was nice to be able to celebrate this exciting time for us!  I also got to spend some time with the BFF from high school.  Unfortunately, our weekend dining experiences included way too much fried food (Big Pines for catfish/shrimp and Herby K's for Shrimp Busters), so we both paid for it for several days!  It was worth it :)

Aggie football starts this weekend with an SEC opener against Florida. That means tailgating, long days on campus, quick trips back and forth to College Station and a very FAST fall season. Between work for me, games and showers, December will be upon us before we know it! We’re still planning a long weekend getaway to somewhere on the east coast and will also make the trek to Auburn for the Aggie/Auburn game. I’m praying my doctor won’t ban airplane travel before those two weekends come!

26 weeks

Baby L = length of English hothouse cucumber*

*NOTE: This is NOT one of those cucumbers, but a normal, everyday American one.  So add 2-3 inches as Baby L should be 14" in length!

25 weeks (no picture)

25 WEEKS (08.29.12)


- Far along: 25 weeks
- Size of the bean: rutabaga (weight)
- Symptoms: ab muscle pain
- Cravings: none
- Aversions: none
- Sleep: getting a little better
- Maternity clothes: we’ll go with about 75% of shirts and 25% of bottoms
- Weight gained: ??? 12 maybe?
- Best moment of the week: cloth diaper tutorial (see below)
- Gender: boy
- Looking forward to: birthday weekend in Marshall!

Sorry for the picture-less update, but I didn’t have time searching the grocery store for a rutabaga and none of the turnips looked big enough!

So last weekend, we hosted our very last CARES event. Somewhere in year two, we began running out of creative juices and decided to make brunch a monthly affair. We always had great turnouts and continued that trend. The residents loved it, we had the planning, shopping and executing down to a science and it just worked really well. Anyway, it was great and we were able to visit with lots of people, both old and new. We’ll definitely miss interacting with the residents on a regular basis, but I think we’re both looking forward to a little extra “us” time during the week! We’re so blessed to have had the opportunity and are grateful for your thoughts and prayers over the last 25 months.

We also spent some time with friends and with that came a little cloth diapering lesson/tutorial. Our good friends Steven and Tricia and Tricia’s sister both use cloth diapers. I asked them for some tips and advice and they decided a hands-on experience would be best. One word – overwhelming! I went in thinking I knew a bunch and walked away realizing there’s so much more! I’m so glad we had that chance because I feel a little more informed and know I need to do a little more “research” before making decisions. I think their best piece of advice was to try out a couple of different types of diapers and see what works best for us. Who knew there were half a dozen types of cloth diapers (all-in-ones, pockets, hybrid, pre-folds, etc.)? Now I do…and so do you! I still get some crazy looks when I tell people that’s what we’ve decided on but I’m still convinced it’s best!

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.