Survey says...

I took this survey during my last pregnancy right about the same frame. Thought it would be fun to do again.

Survey says...

Is this your first pregnancy?: Nope, numero dos.

How did you find out you were pregnant?: A lot of tests. :)

 

What kinds of pregnancy test did you take?: What kind didn't I take? Clearblue, EPT, and First Response.

How many?: Around 8 or so.

What were your first symptoms?: Nausea, followed shortly by exhaustion. 

Who did you tell first?: I guess D. Since I kept going back and forth there were different people around each time. Last time was my best friend Amanda via chat. Very formal...haha.

 

Who was with you when you found out?: No one...again, the dogs I guess.

 

Was baby planned?: Sure was.
 

When was baby conceived?: Mid-late June 2012.

 

How far were you when you found out?: About 4.5 weeks.

 

Due date: March 20, 2013

 

Do you know the sex?: Girlfriend

 

Any names?: We're close. Right now known on the blog as "C' if you've noticed the weekly pictures.

 

Who do you think baby will look like?: No clue. I've learned from Grace that all of my expectations probably won't happen and it will be even better than I could have imagined. I'm still holding out for Baby 2 to get D's blue eyes though. They're pretty gorgeous (although G's large brown eyes are one of my favorite of her features)! We also have some red heads in D's family, so we always joke that our baby could have red hair too. Genetics are pretty cool and I think seeing the baby we made together is such a great surprise. For now, I know she has a pretty darn cute profile.

 

 

Have you and dad felt baby move?: I have, as have other family members. D didn't get to feel her move before he left.

 

When did you start to show?: Early. Like 11 weeks.

 

Do you have any mood swings?: I guess, but minimal. It mostly relates to when I get tired and need to relax.

 

Any complications?: So far so good! Marginal previa has resolved and I'm feeling great.

 

What is your favorite thing about being pregnant?: This probably sounds creepy, but I love having someone with me all the time. I love movement and feeling like I have a little buddy that's always around.

 

How many kids do you want?: 2-3. If D were reading this he'd definitely say 2. I'd like to make sure we feel like our family is complete before ruling anything else out. I think we'll know in the next year or so.

Do you talk to your baby?: Not as much as I should. Sometimes I'll get a big kick and say hi and ask her how she's doing in there. ;)

 

How far along are you now?:  24 weeks, 2 days

xo,
H

Car Singing

Earlier this month...



 

xo,
H

Thanksgiving Recap/House Pics

What a fun filled few days! I can't believe we are already cruising along towards Christmas. I'll give you one guess as to how prepared for that I am...

Anyways, back to Thanksgiving- our Turkey day was wonderful, full of great food, family, and friends. I have no food picutres, because I was too busy stuffing things into my pie hole to spare a hand for anything like a camera. Our friends Maddie, Chris, and their sweet girl Emmie came over to feast with us and lucky for me, Maddie does use her camera lot and takes awesome pictures. Here are some that she got of us outside. Mini photo shoot! I keep telling her to start a side business. I'm planning on taking Grace to the park for a photo sesh with her this coming weekend. Gotta get some good pics to send to daddy!

 

 

I was really excited to see how Grace interacted with my brother. She is super friendly with most females, but boys still make her shy (not a bad problem to have ;). We skype with my mom and brother Michael a couple times a week, so she knows them pretty well and goes on and on about "Unka My" and how "toot" (cute) he is. Crush much?! I knew that she would be a little hesistant when she saw him in person, but by the end of the weekend, they were besties.

 

 

As a guest in my home, I can't promise I won't put you to work...although, everyone came very willing to lend a hand. I had curtains put up in the master and office, the hallway between the master and laundry room painted, the laundry room itself painted in preparation for this week's re-do and an accent wall in the family room (not pictured) done in the darker stripe color. The rest of the walls in that room are the lighter stripe. I also got my garage swept out, backyard raked, and was off of doggie duty for a few days. Thrilled doesn't even cover it.

 

The striped hall is a little crazy, but I'm going to live with it until after the holidays are re-evaluate if it will stay striped. The bottom left pic is the laundry room. I had cabinets installed over the washer and dryer yesterday and am going to try my hand at beadboard wallpaper this weekend and will have a couple other small changes made in the next couple weeks. There are some other little things left to do, mostly wall hangings and a family room coffee table, but I'm ready to call it good and move on.

Above is the start of a gallery wall in the family room and a view of the stripes from that room. They just sort of peek out. Still unsure. It's a little visually distracting.

Alright, wrapping up for now. I have so many Grace videos and pictures I need to share sometime. Maybe tomorrow?!

xo,
H

23 Weeks

November 21 - 27

I stayed true to my promise and ate everything in sight with reckless abandon this past week. It was glorious and I'm only a little guilty (but not much)! My mom and brother arrived last Wednesday and left Sunday and Monday, which really made the week go by so quickly. They were also SO helpful while visiting. I am looking forward to moving my house focus from the main floor to the upstairs towards the end of this week. Girl room time!
 
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Survey says...

How far along?: 23 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: +1.5...thank you Thanksgiving. :)

Maternity clothes?: About 80%. Comfort is key and I have some pretty cute things.

Sleep: Can't ask for much better than I've been getting. I had a few late nights with guests in town and I'm making sure to get in bed earlier now that things have died down.

Best moment of the week: Just an all around kick ass week. Seeing family was wonderful, Thanksgiving was great, and yesterday I got to take a peek at my little girl again and find out that my placenta issues have resolved. Can get back on the running train (slowly) and feel great knowing that I no longer have limitations.

Movement: All.the.time. Total belly shaking movement. Still most happening at night.

Food Cravings: Still all about chocolate. Specifically dark chocolate covered caramel with sea salt. It's dreamy.

Gender:  Still my sweet second girl.

Belly Button: Getting flatter by the day.

Stretchmarks?: None yet.

What I miss: Not much.

What I am looking forward to: I have another visitor (Hey Kar!) in town in a couple of weeks and then a holiday trip home coming up. Fun times ahead!

Weekly Wisdom: Being pregnant during the holidays is the best. I don't know why everyone doesn't plan things this way.

Milestones: 24 weeks tomorrow, so I'm going to go ahead and use viability as my milestone today. Always love hitting 24 weeks and feeling a sense of calm about things to come. Obviously still want my little lady to stay put for a longggg while.

Grace's space: Oh, Grace. :) I love this kid more and more every week. She is going to be so much fun to see as a big sister. Right now she gets most of her practice with her buddy Emmie. I still need to do a Thankgiving recap, but Emmie and her parents celebrated T-day with us and the girls just get cuter together every time we hang out. One of my favorite moments was watching them look through a bucket full of toys. Grace would take something out, "explain" what it was, and pass it to Emmie, who is just the happiest little thing and puts up with G when she doesn't want to share, etc. They are becoming such little buddies and I hope that the same thing happens as her little sister starts being able to interact with them as well. :)

Picture time: Thanks to Maddie for the non-mirror self photos this week! ;)

23 weeks with C

with G:


xo,
H

22 Weeks

November 14 - 20

Well, I've officially made it a month into this deployment (a whole post in itself), and routine has definitely set in. Grace and I have our schedule down and I no longer dread weekends like I did the first few weeks. I really look forward to all of the time that we have been spending together and I know that she is enjoying it too. On the pregnancy front, I really don't have much to say this week. Things are comfortable, I feel good, and I'm enjoying it. We are pretty set on a first name, but not set at all on a middle. I refer to the baby by her name in emails to D and should probably confirm that we are 100% sure it's what we've decided on and get Grace on board as well. I'm sure we'll share eventually. :)

__________________________________________________________________________

Survey says...

How far along?: 22  weeks

Total weight gain/loss: Up again. +2, for a total of 10.5. I'm dealing with some potty issues (or lack thereof...TMI?!), so honestly I think that has something to do with it. At this point with Grace I was up 15.5. I really started packing on the pounds the last 20 weeks, and with my decline in exercise and inability to run, I'm feeling it start. I don't mind getting bigger, I just don't enjoy feeling softer. Back fat and chub rub isn't cute, bump or no bump.

Maternity clothes?: About 80%. Comfort is key and I have some pretty cute things.

Sleep: Awesome. Couldn't ask for more...well, other than later mornings, and let's be real, that's not going to happen for another several years.

Best moment of the week: Weekly brunch date with my big girl. We've gone to our favorite breakfast restaurant at some point during the weekend for the past two weeks and it's gotten to be such a fun time for both of us. We love food and people watching, so we're pretty much in our element.

 

Movement: I have a night owl on my hands. I feel movement throughout the day, but like clock work from 9:30 - 10:00 pm my little ninja comes out in full force.

Food Cravings: Give me chocolate. Seriously. Can't get enough. We have a chocolate shop right down the street and I need to be banned. I wish I was saying give me a big, fat salad. Actually, that does sound good right now.

Gender: Mamasita.

Belly Button: Getting more shallow by the day. I can make it flat if I push out my stomach. Great party trick...

Stretchmarks?: No newbies yet. All of my existing are on my hips and thighs and were pre-G. Fun times.

What I miss: Running and not having a giant ass/hips/thighs. It's where I gain my pregnancy weight.

What I am looking forward to: Stuffing my face this week.

Weekly Wisdom: After last weeks nesting craze, my new motto is: rest when you can. I laid down during one of G's naps this weekend, and even though I didn't get any sleep, it was nice just to put my feet up and stop moving for a little bit.

Milestones: Big sister acknowledges that there is a baby coming! See below...

Grace's space: Grace pointed to my stomach and said "baby" over the weekend. She totally knows what's going on. I was trying to read something in What to Expect, and she stole the book and wanted the "baby book" for herself. We have to talk a lot about being gentle with mommy's belly because- shocker- she's not. If we are sitting together on the couch, she'll use it as something to elbow herself into a more comfortable position. If we are getting dressed or changing a diaper, I can't tell you how many swift kicks I've had to dodge. Poor little sis, already getting rough housed.

Picture time:

22 Weeks with C :)

and at 22 Weeks with Grace:


xo,
H

Monday Madness

Hola! Just getting all set for our Thanksgiving guests to arrive on Wednesday morning. Even though I have the dogs scheduled for the groomers tomorrow and a cleaning service coming during the day, I still feel like a crazy person getting things prepped.

P.S. I've never had a house cleaner before and I feel so adult being able to have one come out.

D thinks I'm ridiculous, but mama got a groupon and deserves it. (I use that excuse a lot these days.)

Captain Sassypants (hmm...or no pants?)

Last week I got to deal with replacing a tire due to a stupid construction nail, Grace having a double ear infection, and was just busyyyy in terms of our schedule. This week and next will be equally as busy, but it shouldn't be as stressful. In fact, I'm already looking forward to seeing my baby girl again a week from today.

I'll pop in tomorrow with my 22 Week update and then will probably be MIA for the until next week when things die down again. Hope you all have great Thanksgiving festivities and eat like you're eating for two! That's what I'll be doing... :)

xo,
H

Confessions

Haven't done these in awhile...I confess:

• I have a new shower routine where I wake up, do my make-up, take Grace to daycare and then jump in the shower...careful not to mess with my face. It's so dumb, but already having make-up done allows me to look like less of a hobo when I drop her off and cuts my post shower getting ready time.

• I rented Magic Mike. It was not what I would call a quality film, but Channing Tatum dancing to Pony? Worth the ridiculous rental price.

• The stripes in my bathroom are my new favorite thing. I go in there for no reason (other than to stare) at least once a day. I already have my next striped area in mind and want to paint it in the next couple of weeks. (Gotta have them somewhere more visable!)

• D wants an iPhone...so I upgraded myself to the 5 and he's getting my old 4s. 'Tis the season of giving, but let's be real, I deserve the new phone considering the circumstances.

• We've been doing "breakfast for dinner" at least twice a week since D deployed. It's my favorite meal of the day, easy, and G LOVES her eggies, oatmeal, or whatever other concoction I whip up. Sorry I'm not sorry.

• I confess, I'm not going all out for Grace's Christmas this year. We will be traveling, she'll get a lot from family...and truth? She could care less whether or not shes opening a book versus a giant dollhouse or something. Mama's saving that dinero for her room swap.

These are my confessions. So- what do you need to spill?!

xo,
H

Seeing stripes

I mentioned in my weekly update that I've been a nesting fiend lately. I don't know if nesting is the right word, but the urge to clean, de-clutter, organize, and update is out of control. Mid-day I randomly decided that I was going to paint stripes in the smallest room in my house. That room is the itty bitty bathroom within the master bath. Basically there's a toilet. There's no pretty name for it.

I used leftover paint from the kitchen (Benjamin Moore - Putnam Ivory) and the existing wall color (Sherwin Williams - Antique White). Using Young House Love's tutorial I measured the wall, decided on my number of stripes and got to marking and taping, which p.s. SUCKS. I'm definitely not an "attention to detail" type of person...so there was a lot of eyeballing and things are not perfect.

I ran out of tape towards the top of the wall around the last stripe and definitely need to get some touch up paint for the builder Sherwin Williams color, so that's on the agenda for tomorrow. But the point? It was an easy update that only took a few hours...and now I want stripes everywhere.

xo,
H

21 Weeks

November 7 - 13

Productive to the max this week! House stuff getting taken care of, work and life things in check. Just an all around good 7 days. I seriously have off the charts nesting urges, but I think that the holidays and visitors have something to do with that. I also have a feeling this baby will be early. I hope I'm wrong- I'm honestly down to carry this kid 40+ weeks just to have more time before things get crazy, but I just doubt it will happen. Also felt like this week went by slower than the others. Not sure if it's because of the long weekend or what, but I kept having to second guess myself about what week I was in. Time can feel free to move again, thanks.
__________________________________________________________________________

Survey says...

How far along?: 21 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: Down! Thank the sweet baby J, I must have been really bloated when I weighed myself last week, because things evened out after a couple of days and the scale read 146.5 this morning, which is 1.5 less than last Tuesday. Puts me at +8.5 lbs overall and I am happy to take it. This puts me back on track, gaining closer to 1 pound a week than 4!

Maternity clothes?: In LOVE with maternity clothes. All of my Loft swag came in and I was hoping to return some of it, but everything fit perfectly, looked great, and I'm pretty sure my Winter maternity wardrobe is complete for now.

Sleep: Can't complain.

Best moment of the week: A lot of great moments this weekend. Things are falling into place with our new routine and I am just really enjoying all of my one on one time with Grace. She is so much fun to be around (don't get me wrong- I still need her to take long naps and be in bed by 7:30) and is going to be the best big sister.

 

Didn't put her baby down all weekend.

 

Movement: Every day. Seems less crazy than with Grace...although, I wonder if it's just early still and I'll get some of those big strong jabs and flips in the coming weeks.

Food Cravings: Still hungry most of the day. Not really craving much, but still enjoying my good 'ol faves like French Onion soup, Tuna sandwiches, and 2 mandatory cups of decaf a day.

Gender: GIRL. I have to say, now that things have sunken in, I couldn't imagine it any other way.

Belly Button: Getting more shallow by the day. Pretty much a mutant.

Stretchmarks?: Not yet. Need to take my own advice and lather up. I've been so awful this time around.

What I miss: I miss D being around to partake in all of the excitement. In the last week he's mentioned wanting to get Grace a Christmas outfit and also asked me to start telling him what we need for the new baby so that he can order and have it shipped to us. I can tell he is trying to be as involved as he can from far away. :)

What I am looking forward to: Thanksgiving and my mom and brother visiting next week. I was not pregnant during the holidays last time around and I plan to take full advantage this year. I think this is the first year ever that I'm not worried about gaining holiday weight. Bring on the mashed potatoes!!!

Weekly Wisdom: Embrace the nesting urges. How often do you find yourself wanting to clean, organize, and update things?

Milestones: This is the first week I've had strangers comment about the belly/baby/etc. It threw me for a loop because I don't ask unless I'm confident I could have someone's water break on my shoe. Guess I'm showing more obviously than I thought? I literally had a handful of people say things, whether it be the cashier at Old Navy, random mom at the park, and yes, even my UPS delivery guy. He made a comment about how I'll be getting more packages soon and I was thinking, "Why? Because of Christmas? Does he know I have a shopping problem? Has he seen Grace out playing?" and then it hit me. The belly. Things for a baby. (Slaps hand on forehead.)

Grace's space: As you can see from the picture above, Grace is also in full on baby mode. She asked me to swaddle her baby in an old Aden + Anais blanket and insisted on taking it everywhere with us this weekend. People died of cute everywhere we went. In other news, we have officially purchased a big girl bed and will have it by the end of the week! Big girl room update is going to start getting underway in the next couple of weeks and I have fun plans for a DIY upholstered headboard to kick things off.
Oh hey, belly:

21 Week with #2

21 weeks with G

xo,
H

Bellayyy

Dropped the ball on the belly pic for my 20 week update on Tuesday, so here we are today (aka, I actually dried my hair)...

Hi, baby.

xo,
H

Around the casa

Well, hello there! Happy Friday. I am looking forward to the three day weekend and spending some quality time with the little miss over the next few days. No big plans here, but we'll have fun and I'd like to continue trucking along on some house stuff during naps and after bed time.

Big news of the week? We made some major progress in the Office/Dining room by adding board and batten to the walls!

Before: Builder Blah

After:

 

Now I'm working on 3 fabric covered corkboards for behind my desk, looking for a better light fixture, and I ordered some fun curtains. I have a couple of little accessories I need for around the room and also need to give the walls another couple coats of semi gloss to really finish them off. I'm hoping to have it all together by Thanksgiving.

 

Right now I'm on a serious "get it done" house kick and my goal is to get the first floor finished by the time we head home for Christmas. I'd also like G's big girl room to be pretty close, because when we get back from our holiday trip, operation Big Girl Bed will commence. That gives us a little less than three months to get her all set and then work on the nursery for little sis. :) Since we have most of the big things, this should just be a fun, relaxing way to wrap up the pregnancy.

 

But back to the first floor. Wanna see some of my plans? Ok, great. First up. The Wall of Shame- aka the MASSIVE blank wall behind the couch in the family room. It's just aching to be transformed into a gallery wall, right?!

 

Wall of shame...and messy room. Keepin' it real.

 

Inspiration

 

 Next up on my hit list: The Laundry Room. It is right off of the garage and I'm ashamed to say, the dogs have pretty much taken over and already ruined the builder grade paint job. Solution? Tall beadboard around the entire room in an easy to clean semi-glass with hooks to the right of the door. Cabinets over the washer and dryer, a bright, fun paint color around the top of the room. Throw a couple things on the wall and calling it a day. Planning to get this done the week after Thanksgiving/first week of December. :)

Needing storage...

Already testing colorssss!

 

Inspiration - color and light fixture

 

Inspiration - Bead board

Finally, finishing off the Powder Room and Master. All they need are little things. Something on the wall in the powder room and finishing off the shelves over the toilet. Curtains (which have been ordered) hung in the master, a large full length mirror to replace the crappy college one we have now and take up some wall space. Wall decor and lamps for each for our nightstands to finish things off.

Powder Room

Master
(Yes, that's my snoogle pillow on the bed...)

 Lots of little details, but doable! Definitely keeping myself (and wallet) busy. ;) I love the feeling of getting things accomplished, and I hope I can keep up this momentum. Exactly 6 weeks till we head to Virginia for Christmas, so here's to hoping we stay on track!

xo,
H

20 Weeks

October 31-November 6

Alernate title: "...and then I got fat."

There's nothing to do but laugh at this point. I seriously fell off the wagon this past week and the scale basically made me it's bitch this morning. You'll see more below. Aside from that rude awakening, I had a wonderful week. Celebrated Halloween with my little one, had a great birthday, got to hang out with my bestie for 3 days and am a week closer to having another sweet girl in my arms. Doesn't get much better than that.
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Survey says...

How far along?: 20 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: Umm, ya'll. Unless my scale broke I gained 4, count 'em FOUR pounds since last week. Can we pretend I'm bloated and not that I housed Halloween candy, birthday cupcakes, pumpkin donuts, and didn't work out at all? So yeah. Scale said 148 this morning. Which is plain amazing that I could cause that much damage in 7 short days. Is that even possible? For now I'm refocusing on healthy eating, housing water, and getting my non-running ass back to the gym. Obviously not trying to lose anything at this point, but if I don't gain anything for the next 3 weeks, that'd be cool. Up 10 lbs. FML.

Maternity clothes?: Probably 70% at this point. After feeling sorry for myself and toying with the idea of setting my scale on fire, I hopped over to loft.com and took advantage of their maternity section and the sale today. (Code: ONEDAY...$50 off $100)

Sleep:  Can't complain.

Best moment of the week: Seeing my little girl with her godmother all weekend. They sort of love each other.  

Movement: Every day. :)

Food Cravings: Completely RAVENOUS this week. I was seriously eating around the clock. Didn't care what it was, I wanted it. No huge cravings, persay, just SO hungry. It was intense.

Gender: Girly girl.

Belly Button: Getting more shallow by the day.

Stretchmarks?: Not yet.

What I miss: I really, really, really missed running this weekend. It was great to watch my friends run the half, but I have to admit I was a little jealous. Already looking forward to and planning on running next year's race.

What I am looking forward to: Nesting! Getting some house things done and getting excited about some things I'm working on.

Weekly Wisdom: Just because you are carrying a child doesn't mean you need to eat the equivalent of two adults.

Milestones: First baby purchase made. (Pink Polo Ralph Lauren shoes)

Grace's space: I really think G knows what is going on and is getting in more and more each week. Getting started on her big girl room and then having her help me update the nursery will be a great way for us to continue to talk about things and for her to grasp what is coming our way.

(Fatty McFatty) Pics to come...


xo,
H

Randoms

• Had my 20 week appointment, nothing noteable. I go back at the end of the month for my next ultrasound and 24 week appointment on the same day. It'll be here in no time.

Clearly a bathroom shot. What?

 

• Grace refused to put on a costume for her Halloween parade at school on Tuesday, and I felt like a big, fat parent failure. I was sure trick or treating was a no-go, but by giving her a taste of candy and promising she'd get more, I bribed my kid out of the house and we made it around our entire neighborhood loop. The ears were not going to happen, but I pick my battles at this age. We had a blast! Check out this video...ignore me being out of breath and focus on the cheesy "buh buh" (bye-bye) Grace gives at the end. What a mess.

• So many people are doing ombre hair and I'm really not that into it...but if I don't get mine touched up soon, I'm just going to pretend I went ombre on purpose. Done and done.

• Now that I know we are having a girl and can get started on room transitions and decorating, I feel totally overwhelmed with ideas. Obviously I needed to start smaller scale...or narrow things down...or I dunno, procrastinate. So I bought something else for our new baby instead.

• Tomorrow is race packet pick-up and I'm still going to pick up my things and try to snag Amanda's packet for her too. They say that you aren't allowed to get someone's number for them, but I'm going to bring a disguise, or maybe cry. We'll see if it works. ;)

• Did I mention my girl made it out of the house? So proud. It's sad that I doubted my little introvert would make it through trick or treating, but she's definitely getting better about her shyness.

• I hope all of you had great Halloween's and are ready for the next big holiday...Nov. 2nd is a pretty big deal. ;) Have a great day!

xo,
H