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Friday, February 27, 2015

Bump Update – 30 Weeks

Disclaimer – Little bit of TMI in this post and probably most of my Bump Updates from here on out. We’re nearing the end and things are a changin’ as my body prepares for labor so if you get sicked out by TMI type stuff you may want to skip over these bump updates. I found TMI so very helpful when I was reading bump updates during my 1st pregnancy so I want to keep things open and honest on here just in case someone else is experiencing the same thing and wondering if they’re the only one. I’ll give you a little heads up before I share something that’s TMI so you can skip over it but let’s be honest you know you’re going to read it!

Let’s get started!

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I’d like to take a moment to thank public restrooms for not only giving me a place to empty my ever full bladder but for providing me with mirrors so I can document this sweet bump. If it wasn’t for you I would be in diapers and have no idea what I looked like during this pregnancy. So thank you!

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How Far Along: 30 weeks (and 5 days now)! Hitting the 30 week mark is a big milestone. This sweet bump and I have come a long way! I’m just a couple days away from 31 weeks which means our “Weeks Until We Meet the Little Mr..” countdown will be in the single digits……single digits folks!!!!

Gender: Boy! When Kent and I talk about things to come we love referring to our littles as “The boys”!

“When the boys get older.”  
“Let’s take the boys here someday.”
“The boys will both get some use out of it.”

You get the point. I think it’s kind of precious!

Total Weight Gain: 22 pounds and still not feeling that pretty pregnancy glow that I did with my 1st. I’m not foreseeing that changing anytime soon. Random tidbit and TMI…….. These days I feel a lot better about my body naked than I do with clothes on. I know weird, right? I think all the layers and thick shirts that winter brings has something to do with it. I feel frumpy/thicker when I’m dressed. Without all the layers I feel tons better about the new curves and big belly. Not the double chin though. Nope don’t think there’s anyway to pretty that up. Umm and back to that whole feeling good while naked thing don’t worry I won’t be joining a nudist colony any time soon!

Maternity Clothes: Finally went out and bought a few things. Jessica Simpson still makes my favorite maternity clothes. Her jeans are like butta and I love her tops (the black and cream striped top I’m wearing above is from her line)! Her stuff is flattering on a pregnant body and doesn’t look super matronly ya know what I’m saying?

Miss Anything: Full nights sleep. It’s hard to come by these days. I’m typing this at 3:30am after waking up to go potty and not being able to fall back asleep. Thank goodness for laptops (blogging from bed),  Friends episodes on Netflix annnnnd nap time for my little. That’s when mama naps too!

Cravings: Smoothies, ice cold water, and toast. Smoothies and super cold water were things I craved with Weston’s pregnancy. Toast is a new one. Not something I typically eat so that one is a little weird. No jelly just a little bit of butter……delish! Sadly I’m finding it harder to drink coffee unless it’s iced.

Symptoms:

-Puffy:
I’ve been watching my sodium and water intake but I’m started to see some water retention in my face, hands, and feet. This point on is when I started retaining a lot of water during my 1st pregnancy. I was so bloated when we went to the hospital. I looked like a sacred puffer fish. I’m hoping if I stay active, drink plenty of water and watch my sodium intake I can keep from retaining so much this time around but it may just be something that I can’t help. We shall see.

-Skin:
My skin has been SUPER sensitive and itchy. Sometimes I get little bumps where it’s itchy but mainly my skin just turns red and splotchy. It’s in the weirdest spots too, on my wrist, random fingers, breast, behind my knees. I checked with my doctor and she said it’s most likely due to the weather and pregnancy hormones.

-Tiredness:
Typical for this stage of pregnancy. Again I would like to thank nap time! It’s glorious! When Weston naps I nap and we both wake up refreshed and ready to conquer the rest of the day. Even on days when I’m not dragging I still try to rest when he does. If I don’t I just don’t have enough steam to finish out the day without being exhausted.

-The Girls:
This is another TMI part. Things with the girl’s (you know the ones upstairs) have been so different this pregnancy. I’m up almost 2 cup sizes and now producing colostrum. Something that didn’t happen with my 1st. Both are common but new to me.

-Potty Breaks: Are back in full force as he’s growing and right on top of my balder. I get to see so many public bathrooms during this stage; some gross some surprisingly neat.

None of these symptoms are a huge deal. The itchy skin thing is a little annoying but other than that I’m feeling great and loving being pregnant.

The Baby:

-Movement:
This little guy has been rocking and rolling for some time but his movements are more like pushes now. I can feel his little legs or hands on my belly as he pushes against my tummy while he gets comfy. I can’t seem to keep my hands off my belly while this is going on. Being able to feel him move around is one of the amazing gifts of pregnancy.

-Size:
He’s getting so big. I can feel him kick up in my ribs and down by my lady bits at the same time; that’s long! We have a sono coming up in a month and we’ll be able to estimate how big he is. They were spot on with Weston so we’ll see what they say about little man.

-The Name:
We’re 95% sure we’re changing it and know what his name is going to be. It’s Kent’s favorite and when we put our top names in a hat and let Weston pick he picked the name 4 times in a row. Seems like a sign huh?  I think I’m going to wait and share it with you until after he’s born just in case we change it again!

Worst Moment of the Week: Being sick ack! Y’all I had the worst head cold. Headache, pressure, watery eyes, dripping nose even my jaw bone hurt. It was NOT fun! The 1st day I had to manage the little Mr. on my own while feeling crummy; not easy. The 2nd day Kent took off work to help with Weston. He’s a gem I tell ya! I was too uncomfortable to sleep it off so I stayed in bed all day and binge watching episodes of Shipping Wars on Netflix. I have no idea why I like that show but I do. 

Best Moment of the Week: We’ve had tons of family time this week! With me being sick we’ve really slowed down and hung out at home quite a bit. We’ve also had a couple of “ice days” (we don’t have snow days in Dallas) which meant the hubs was home from work 2 days this week. I’m happiest when the whole crew is together!

Something else special that happened this week……..

A friend surprised me with a Lush bubble bar. HELLO AWESOME, right!?!? No reason just because she thought of me while she was shopping. Made me big cheesy smile. I used it the same day she gave it to me because there is no waiting when it comes to Lush goodies!

Looking Forward To: Working in the nursery. I have faith it’s going to happen friends. Until then I will be looking forward to it every week!

Nursery Update: What a mess this has become. We’re painting or maybe I should I say Kent is painting a chalkboard wall (the wall the crib will go on). The surrounding walls are cream. Some of the chalkboard paint bled through the painters tape onto the cream wall. The problem is that we don’t have more of the cream paint to correct it. It’s the color our house was painted in when we moved in. No joke Kent has made 12 trips maybe more I lost count either to Home Depot or Sherwin-Williams trying to get paint matched to fix the wall in the nursery and so we have some touch up paint for the house as well. We now how a hole in our kitchen wall here he had to cut some of the sheetrock out to have something to match the paint to. We’ve spent a ton of money on paint that doesn’t match and we can not use not to mention all the time that was put into this. He started painting the chalkboard wall 4 weeks ago again not joking.  It’s still not finished and everything else to do with the nursery has been put on hold until he can get that project finished up. Super, super frustrating.

The folks at Home Depot weren’t too excited about  our multiple trips to trying and get it matched but thankfully a sweet lady at Sherwin-Williams helped us out. She was more than willing to try her best to match it. Our 1st trip that day was right when the store opened and we saw her one last time as she was ending her shift at 6. The last match was the best one so far. It’s not perfect but it will work! Hopefully once the wall is finished we can start knocking some projects out. I’m itching to get the room together!

On My Mind:
Baby shower! We had amazing beautiful showers for Weston. We were completely spoiled by family and friends. This time around we’re not having a shower. With the boys being so close in age (Weston’s showers weren’t that long ago) and the same gender we really don’t need much. We have clothes, bottles, baby gear. Besides a few odds and ends and items we need to have a double of we’re set, which is an awesome feeling! I do on the other hand want to do something to celebrate the new little love that’s joining our family. I’m thinking a spring BBQ or something simple like a PJs and Pancakes party. Not a shower but a celebration. Here’s the catch. We have a lot going on right now and I’m not sure if planning a party along with everything else is a smart idea. So I’m trying to decide what to do. Did you have a party or shower with your second? If so what did you do?

Photos! I’ve also been thinking about maternity photos and newborn photos for the little. What I want wear for maternity photos? Where I want to shoot them? For newborn photos I’m starting to think on the style I want and how I want to set up the brother shots. I learned my lesson from Weston’s newborn photos (do y’all remember that story gesh) and will not be going crazy with props and set ups but I do want to get him a couple things to use during our shoot. For a photographer it’s so very exciting to have your own children to photograph! 

That’s it for this update! :)

Bump Update 28 Weeks
Weston’s Newborn Photos

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Wednesday, February 18, 2015

A Sweet Moment – Pick That Camera Up VOL 2

I’ve been doing a decent job keeping my camera charged, ready to go, and out in the open.

Before I set the “Use my camera more to document my family and not just my client's families.”  resolution it was always tucked away in my office with 0 battery life waiting for me to bring it back to life for my next shoot (my big girl job).

Having it close by and ready to go has really helped motivate me to grab it and snap sweet moments like this…….

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Weston watching Kent head off to work.

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Ugh melt…….
that sweet little foot propped up and fuzzy footed PJs he’ll be too big to wear one day.

Yes I still use my phone camera a ton to capture day to day stuff but I’m so happy to have a few random quality shots likes these as well. 
 

Document More 2015

Pick that Camera Up VOL 1

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Wednesday, February 11, 2015

Bump Update – 28 Weeks

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I’ve yet to take some pull yourself together and take some cute shots of the bump but Kent snapped these during our family walk over the weekend. You can kind of see the bump. I have a couple phone photos I’ll share below as well.

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How Far Along:
28 weeks, 3rd trimester baby!

Gender:
BOY!

Total Weight Gain:
18lbs. I’ve gained way less than I did with Weston’s pregnancy at this point but I have reallllllllllly been struggling with my weight gain this time around. I’m actually letting it steal some of my pregnancy joy which is driving me nuts. I LOVE being pregnant! I’ve never felt better about my appearance than while I was pregnant with Weston. Getting pregnant while I was still trying to drop weight from Weston’s pregnancy (I gained 50lbs with him and had 25 left to lose) I knew early on that weight gain this time around was going to be mentally challenging and oh boy is it. I almost break out in tears when I have to weigh in at the doctors office. I hate photos of myself  but still take them because it’s not about me it’s about documenting the bump (still don’t love them though). It’s not good y’all and something I’ve really been struggling with. I’m nervous about the next 3 months as I packed on a lot of weight towards the end of my pregnancy with Weston. I also now know how hard it is for me to lose weight post baby. My body does the complete opposite when breastfeeding and holds onto every ounce of fat not matter what I eat or how often I hit the gym. It wasn't until the 8 month post partum mark that I started losing baby weight the 1st time so I’m fearful of the struggle again but this time being heavier than I was the 1st time around.

I do know that I will get it off eventually and I’ve already planned how I want to go about it this time around I’m just not a fan of the weight at this point and am trying so very hard to keep myself from focusing on it too much but sadly it creeps into my mind more often than I would like.

Maternity Clothes:
I really need to go shopping and buy a few things to get me through these next few months. I’ve mainly been wearing leggings and oversized cardigans none of which are maternity. Throw on a pair of boots and an oversized top or maternity tank and I’m set. Walmart has been my BFF this pregnancy. I can easily pop in there with Weston and grab something a couple sizes larger than what I would typically wear.  It covers the belly and I’ve found some really cute things for great prices. They’ve stepped up their game in the clothing department! The belly is getting bigger and the hips are getting wider so It’s time to buy some actual maternity stuff. I think I would be much more comfortable

Miss Anything:
Being able to drink coffee and tea without thinking about it. I have 1 cup of joe a day sometimes ice tea with dinner but I really watch my caffeine intake. That’s not going to change after sweet pea gets here. I still watch it while I’m nursing.

Cravings: Not really. We’ve been eating a lot of berries. I enjoy a good cold crisp salad. Umm coffee…..always coffee but nothing I can really say is a massive craving.

Symptoms:
The old back is still an issue but it’s tons better after a couple trips to the chiropractor.  Seriously she worked miracles. I haven’t gone for an adjustment in 2 weeks and I’m starting to feel the pain I felt before come back. Need to make an appointment STAT but it’s not really a place you can take kids especially ones that fall under the “Tornado” category so I’ll have to figure what to do with Weston. Other than the back stuff I feel great!

Body Changes:
My belly button is juuuuuuust about to pop. It’s level with my belly at this point. I’m feeling sweet little hiccups and lots and lots of movement! The last couple of days I’ve noticed that my hips have gotten wider another reason why I need to officially move into full time maternity pants. No stretch marks yet. I didn’t get them with Weston so I’m hoping I’ll be in the clear this time as well. We shall see. 

Worst Moment This Week:
We’ve had a really great week. I can’t think of anything that’s super awful. Weston as was really good this week. Sweet as can be and allowed me to get a few things done in the house while he played alone with his toys. That was something new for us. We stayed busy and had fun. My mom came for a visit.  Kent came home from work earlyish (his early is different than most). I’ll take earlyish when I can get it! Weston let me cook dinner most nights so that was nice. We changed his schedule around as well so he’s not up so stinking late every night which meant I had a little down time in the evenings before I crashed. Again nice. The weather was lovely. All around it was a good week. I have an OB appointment on Tuesday which means I’ll be weighing in. So if I would have typed this up a few days later weighing in would most definitely be the “Worst Moment of the Week”.

Not baby related but I am in the middle of a blog redesign. I received my mock up this week which I really didn’t love. That was a little crummy. I want so badly for this new design to be dripping in awesome sauce. I felt awful pointing out all the things I didn’t like about the design…..awful. I know she put a lot of love and time into which made it hard for me to be honest with her. I’m sure she’s not my biggest fan at the moment. Soooo if I had to pick something I didn’t love about the week I guess I would go with that.

Best Moment This Week:
Finding out that Chickfila is giving away free hot or ice for the month of February, (no purchase necessary). Again not baby related but come on FREE coffee! I’ve been twice and you better believe I didn’t buy anything else to go along with my coffee. I’ve spent a pretty penny on their salads and wraps. I do not in the slightest feel bad about rolling up for my free yummy! Kent watch Weston Saturday morning while I picked up a coffee and took a little drive. It was lovely and free coffee just made my mommy time that much sweeter.

Just a little tip: I’ve only tried the iced original which I really liked. Their new coffee has a great flavor. The drink itself is a little on sweet side so you can order it without the sweetener and add your own if that’s not really your thing. I would try it how it comes once before you decide because it’s not crazy sweet like some coffee drinks can be.

Looking Forward To:
Looking forward to getting a few things done in the nursery. We have several pieces of his room just hanging around the house taunting me (his crib is still in the box, his bedding is still packaged, the glider should be here this week, I’ve ordered an amazing lamp that should also arrive this week, as well as a few things off Etsy)  but we haven’t have to time to put things together so I’m really excited to start working on everything.

Not baby related (are all these supposed to be centered around the new baby if so I’m not doing so hot with this). I have a really fun week planned for Weston and I. It’s Valentine’s week and I’ve planned some fun Valentine’s themed crafts, activities, and outgoings. I’m super excited!

On My Mind:
Kent and I have toyed with the idea of changing Carson’s name. I know crazy huh?Kent picked his name, Carson Nathaniel. I love that it sounds sweet and I think it’s pretty special this his daddy picked it out. We got to talking last week and Kent said that he wasn’t crazy about the name any more. Someone at his work recently had a baby that they named Carson. We’ve come across a couple Carson’s while we’ve been out and about and we totally forgot that our neighbors little girl is named Carson, duh. I like the name. I think it’s a good name but I’ve never really loved that it’s sounds a little like Weston……Weston and Carson but I wasn’t going to make a fuss over it because Kent picked it out and all in all it was a cute name. When Kent told me he didn’t really like the name any more I was a little bummed. I had a couple hiccups about it but pushed them aside because he picked out the name, now he didn’t really like. Well should we change it? Kent said YES! He picked a new name. Another one that’s cute but y’all it’s rated 19 on the boy names list. I am not a fan of popular names for my kids. Carson was in the high 300’s so super unusual but not in the top 20. We’ve been testing out the new name but I’m having a hard time with it. Even though there are a couple of things I don’t like about the name Carson it just feels weird to change his name. He feels like a Carson. Does that sound weird? We’ve yet to meet him and I have no idea what he looks like but Carson fits him.  It made me a little sad to think of him as something else. So it’s still up in the air. I really want Kent to pick this time around so I would love to have a name he’s excited about. Weston was all me and he’s not in love with it as much as I am so I think it’s only fair to let him pick a name for sweet boy #2.

I’m not sure if I’ll share if we decided to change it or just keep it a surprise until he’s born. Knowing me if we do change it I probably wont be able to hold it in for too long.

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