Family

Merfbaby the English Cucumber

Merfbaby is 26 weeks!

Screen Shot 2013-04-18 at 11.16.18 AM Screen Shot 2013-04-18 at 11.16.46 AM

About 14 inches long and 15 weeks to go!

How I’m Feeling: Waddle, waddle. My bionic ankle is a little stiff and swollen, mostly due to the strange weather. I’ve had some aches on the ride side of my tummy. It’s worst in the morning when I’m rolling over or getting out of bed. It feels like a burning right under my skin, lots of stretching happening! I’m more tired in the evenings especially if I’ve been busy around the house after work. Last night I was busy cooking and baking in the kitchen until 10pm! So I slept awesome last night :)

Belly/Weight: My belly button freaks me out. I hate if I touch it, it feels so strange. Clothing rubbing doesn’t bother me just yet, but I might have to stick a band-aid over it when it starts sticking out more. I’ve had a brown line on my tummy for a few weeks and it seems to be getting darker. I’ve also noticed that my tummy bumps into my desk at work more often now. Sorry, Merfbaby!

Life Changes: Getting dressed in the mornings is becoming a fun task. I normally stand when I get dressed, but now I need to sit on the bed to put my pants on. So fun. Putting lotion on my legs is funny too, my tummy hits my leg when I bend over which is a funny feeling.

Movement: Sometimes I feel him roll over! It’s so crazy! It’s like when you ride a roller coaster and your tummy flips, but you don’t expect it at all. I make a funny face when it’s happening because it’s such a crazy feeling. His kicks are mostly soft, just letting me know he’s ok in there. But every now and then I get a big smack! If he’s going really crazy when I’m sitting on the couch at home I’ll pull up my shirt and watch my tummy bounce. I’ll have to take a video when he’s going crazy sometime.

Sleep: I love my ear plugs. Seriously, they save me. If there’s any noise that’s bothering me I pop them in and I’m off to dream land. I’ve taken to “love patting” Merfman on the hand when he starts snoring, poor guy. But I try to hold his hand after so make it less traumatic when I wake him.

Cravings: Nothing major this week, but In N Out always sounds good :) We were talking about ice cream shops at work this week and someone suggested milk shakes…so, obviously we had to make that happen! My craving’s enabler (our PA) made a run for shakes and all was well :) I was only able to drink about 1/3 and I had to put the rest away, too sweet!

Exercise: I got some gym time in! Yay! Less and less of my work out shirts are fitting so I’m having to wear larger cotton shirts, ugh…working out in cotton is awful. I’ve been pretty busy around the house, up and down the stairs so that counts as a work out, right?

Favorite Pregnancy Moment this week:  Momma-son showed me a few things from my baby shower decorations! So cute! And it’s a theme I’ve never seen for a shower, I can’t wait! I’ll have to take lots of photos, I know it’s going to be adorable.

On My Mind:  This was such a sad week for so many families. Between Boston and now Texas there’s so much pain all over the country. I also read about an abortion doctor on trial for doing awful, horrible things in Philadelphia. And hearing about that 8 year old boy that died from the Boston explosions wrecked me. I was in my first trimester when the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary happened, so I’ve had a heavy heart for much of my pregnancy. So many families have lost loved ones, and it makes me realize how blessed I am to be starting my family and that I can’t take one second of it for granted.

Family

Merfbaby the Rutabaga

Merfbaby is 25 weeks!

Screen Shot 2013-04-11 at 1.28.08 PM Screen Shot 2013-04-11 at 1.28.41 PM

Weighing about 1 1/2 pounds about the size of an average rutabaga.

How I’m Feeling: Round. My tummy is sticking out so much more this week, it’s pretty obvious that I’ve moved on from the “is she pregnant, or just packed on the lbs?” I’ve still had some lower back pain so I’m trying to stretch through that. I find that it’s difficult to get into a comfy position on the couch, and I end up switching positions several times. Getting up off the couch is also getting a little harder. To get out of bed I roll on my side, hang my feet off the bed and push myself up with my hands. It’s almost impossible for me to use my abs to pull myself up.

Belly/Weight: Belly is getting bigger! It’s crazy to look at sometimes. I can still see my feet, but probably not for much longer. No stretch marks  but I HATE the way my belly button feels. It’s so icky! It’s still an innie, but the top part is pushing out a little and it feels numb and strange, I hate touching it. I’m not looking forward to it popping out. Yucky.

Life Changes: Maternity pants are no fun. I have one pair of jeans and I’m starting to despise them. I’m so much happier and more comfortable in a dress or work out pants. People raved about maternity pants, and yea – I get that they fit, but that’s about it. They sag and fall down, boo. My work out pants hit me right across the lower part of my tummy so I normally tug them down and wear them low. I really like wearing dresses with cardigans, I’m hoping to get some more skirts that I can wear post-baby too. Old Navy has some cute ones, it’s just dumb how expensive all the maternity clothes are! I have two “maternity” shirts and the rest of my shirts are normal. I don’t want to spend money on a bunch of clothes I’ll only wear for another few months. At least with dresses you can wear them after the baby, and with the weather warming up I think I’ll be happier in them. Kelly got me a great pair of lululemon work out capris that fit me perfectly, he’s said I’m allowed to buy another pair and I may have to take him up on the offer. Yes, they are expensive, but I’ll wear them long after Merfbaby arrives.

Movement: All kinds of movement! I don’t think he likes it when I lay on my back, even for a second, so he starts going nuts kicking. Sometimes I poke my tummy a little at night before bed so feel him move before I go to sleep. He surprises me sometimes when his kicks are hard, it takes my breath away a little.

Sleep: I’ve been sleeping hard the past few days. I still wake up in the middle of the night a few times, but I’m feeling rested when my alarm goes off in the morning. I had a depressing thought the other night…at 3am during my nightly potty break I wondered when the next time I’ll be sleeping through the night will be? Um, never. I’ll be up every night from now until Merfbaby arrives, and THEN the fun starts! Maybe when he’s in Jr High?

Cravings: Waffles! I really want an Eggo waffle with syrup. Funny, huh? I may have to make waffles for dinner tomorrow :)

Exercise: We walked around a lot on our vacation, but I haven’t been very active this week. The wind was blowing really hard so I didn’t get my afternoon walks in. And sleeping has sounded so much more enjoyable than a 7am spin class. I did my share of “vacation eating” over the Babymoon, so I’ve been good about getting back on track with lunches and dinners this week though.

Favorite Pregnancy Moment this week: Noticing how much bigger my belly is! On Sunday before we left the Babymoon Kelly took some bump photos and I was amazed at how I really look preggo now. It’s crazy! Our Babymoon was also really amazing. We talked a lot about Merfbaby and our future and all the things we’re looking forward to.

On My Mind: Nesting. Our kitchen is coming together. Merfman has been working hard all week getting things done. The house is a little upside down, but we’ve managed to cook dinner every night. I’m getting anxious about clearing out some clutter and getting the nursery started so I think I’m going to start to work on that over the weekend. Since Merfman is off work for a few more weeks I can have him help me move furniture :)

Family

Merfbaby the Spaghetti Squash

Merfbaby is 22 weeks today!

Screen Shot 2013-03-20 at 2.40.44 PM

Screen Shot 2013-03-20 at 2.41.00 PM

He’s measuring the length of a Spaghetti Squash! Whoa.

How I’m Feeling: I love that this is the number one thing people ask when they see me :) I just say that I’m feeling more pregnant every day, it’s true! Sometimes when I wake up in the morning I feel like my belly grew overnight! I’ve been really active, even on the weekends, working around the house but sometimes it’s like I hit a wall and I’m exhausted. I haven’t started taking naps regularly, but I think that might become a new thing as the months go on.

Belly/Weight: My belly is really starting to stick out, sometimes I see it out of the corner of my eye when I pass a mirror and I do a double take! I’ve been rubbing it with Coco Butter to keep the stretch marks away, finger’s crossed! I have a Dr appointment next week, so I’ll get my new weight then. I’ve been focusing on having more fruit and veggies in my daily meals which make me feel better and I know it’s better for Merfbaby. We did go out to an amazing Italian restaurant for dinner last Friday and I dominated several slices of Margarita pizza, but it was AMAZING and worth every carb ;)

Life Changes:  I ordered some new Maternity dresses from Old Navy, they should arrive this week. I’m excited to have a few more clothing options. I wanted to have some cute “nice” things to wear for our Babymoon out to dinners, so I’ll have more options now. Pants are my biggest challenge, I may need to get another pair of jeans or bottoms so I have one more to add into my weekly rotation. Does Ross or TJ MAXX sell Maternity? Old Navy and Target are pretty affordable, I’ll look there too.

Movement: Lots of little kicks! Sometimes when I put my hand on my tummy he’ll kick out at it :) There’s a pattern to the movement, and I notice more activity after I have something sweet like fruit or juice. When I lay down for bed he gets pretty active too which is funny.

Sleep: I’ve been tired this week, sleep is my favorite reward at the end of the day. The other night I was so out of it I didn’t hear Merfman come home :( He always gives me a kiss when he crawls into bed, but I just mumbled back at him, poor guy. The show is going on a shooting hiatus for a few weeks so I’ll get to see more of him in the daylight hours :)

Cravings: Starbucks is still sounding really awesome, but I haven’t given in ;) I’ve had a sweet tooth, and I’ve eaten more chocolate than I normally do. At work we have a candy bowl that I normally take a piece or two of “fun size” candy from, and after dinner this week I’ve had a few chunks of a Hershey Bar. I don’t normally eat chocolate like that, but it’s been so good lately!

Exercise: 1,000 yard swim on Sunday, and some walks. I had plans to get to the gym yesterday, but bailed and took the extra sleep. It’s exactly 1/2 mile walk around the block for my office so I’m trying to get 2 walks in a day to make for 1 mile, 30 min total.

Favorite Pregnancy Moment this week:  Ordering our diaper bag! I haven’t bought a single thing for Merfbaby, so I finally did it! I went to a consignment Sale on Sunday but didn’t see anything we “needed.” Lots of clothes and toys, but we have plenty of that coming from friends and family. I did see some really cute Melissa & Doug wooden puzzles, but I passed since they were for ages 1+. I can’t wait for our diaper bag to arrive! I’m really excited about it :) It was a little more expensive than some of the other options, but I LOVE that it looks like a normal bag and it’s going to last for Merfbaby and beyond.

On My Mind:  Nesting. We have plans to upgrade our kitchen in the coming weeks. We spent close to 2 hours at IKEA on Saturday selecting cabinets and fixtures. We came home, measured again and we’re going back this weekend to place the order. We rearranged our living room so it faces a different way, which will be part of the new kitchen plan…we’re putting in an ISLAND!!! AH! There’s going to be storage and counter top space and extra seating, oh my! I spent a good amount of time in our home office on Sunday organizing and getting things ready to be moved to our new office space upstairs. Once that process is done we can start seriously working on the nursery. I also have some serious closet organizing and purging to do.