32 Weeks!

Hi! 32 weeks and 8 more  to go! Things are rolling along here as I work to finish up painting some things for the nursery and wait for a few things I ordered off Etsy to come in!. I'm feeling pretty good for the most part except being a little bit tired and very forgetful. I've started to spend some time on the birthing ball to get my hips ready to have a baby.

Meanwhile Luke has been rotating between doing Aqua Zumba in my belly and playing the xylophone on my rib cage. I'm excited to go to my doctors appointment on Friday, but also a little bit nervous because I might have had a pizza incident on Saturday at a friend's daughters birthday party... and by pizza incident, I mean I ate 4 pieces of it. In my defense, I went walking/jogging afterwards.

Anyways, I'm looking forward to going to Florida next week for Thanksgiving with my parents and grandmother (fondly referred to as Nanny), and hoping I can really knock out some baby room stuff this weekend because it is getting a little too close to my due date in my OCD world for comfort.

Brendan took this photo as he was asking why the dogs cant be in the photo.

How far along? 32 Weeks
Total weight gain/loss: 25 ish? pounds... I haven't weighed myself lately
Maternity clothes? yup. trying not to buy any more though
Stretch marks? Not yet!
Sleep: not so much, I roll around a lot
Best moment this week: Spending quality time with Brendan
Miss Anything? sushi and my brain
Movement: yes, yes, yes.
Food cravings: clementines, frozen yogurt, brownies...
Anything making you queasy or sick: nope
Have you started to show yet: I should just take this question off...
Labor Signs: Nothing really
Belly Button in or out? OUT
Wedding rings on or off? On.
Happy or Moody most of the time: I'm pretty good, but I am getting anxious about labor
Looking forward to: my Friday doctor's appointment!

Three Third Trimester Photos!

So, life happened, I got busy and neglected to post... for 4 weeks. I took the photos and everything except for week 30, but just couldn't find the time to sit down and write a post! Here is a recap of the past month: We had a fun trip to Washington DC with Brendan's parents where we went to Arlington and checked out the horse stables which house the caisson horses that pull the caskets during funerals. It seemed like Brendan and I both had a fairly busy week after we got home, but were able to spend some time hanging out together on Saturday. Sunday afternoon, my parents drove up from Florida via Myrtle Beach where they had spent the week celebrating their 36th wedding anniversary and they stayed with us until Wednesday morning. It was so nice having my parents around, especially because my mom made dinner when I was at work and I didn't have to cook! On Wednesday my parents and I hopped in the car and headed North to Connecticut for my baby shower, leaving Brendan to fend for himself with 4 frozen pizzas.

We had a great time in Connecticut catching up with friends and neighbors, enjoying the fall weather and foliage... and I definitely don't think that I followed the diet plan the way I was supposed to. I even got a pre-natal massage on Friday which was awesome since my back has been killing me!

My baby shower was a ton of fun, we had it at our favorite Italian restaurant in Cheshire, and got cupcakes from the same place I got my wedding cupcakes (they're amazing!). I'm so glad I was able to see my family and friends, but I just wish I had more time to socialize with everyone... and that I took more photos! I got tons of great presents and cute outfits, including Brendan's first pair of running shoes that his parents saved for us along with a photo of Brendan wearing them! My parents also got me a really nice camera so that I can take tons of photos of Luke that are better quality than ones I would take on my iPhone.

I flew back to NC on Monday and wish that I had been wearing running shoes because between flight delays and short layovers, I barely made it home. I was glad to be home though and we started our child birth classes last week, which have definitely made me feel more comfortable about my birth plan.

This past Sunday, some sweet friends from church threw me another baby shower. I will make a complete baby shower post later, but all I can say is that I am truly blessed to have such an encouraging group of people to do life with here in North Carolina!

Brendan is also in jump master school for the next few weeks, so I am going to try really hard to be a good quizzer because he will have a ton of studying to do! I'm also hoping to do some baby room projects this weekend, like finish painting the shelves I want to use for the changing table, frame some photos, and organize the closet!

Here are some photos from the past few week's festivities!

Our Trip to DC

Quality time with my favorite man... and dog

the only photos I remembered to take at the shower

Walking through cross country trails in Connecticut

Some photos from my church shower!

Baby Update!

I am almost one month into my third trimester (31 weeks down, 9 to go!) and for the most part, I feel okay. I'm a little more exhausted than the second trimester and sometimes if I'm laying down wrong, I get the sensation of blood rushing to my head. I had my glucose test last week and didn't do so hot, so I had to do another longer one last Friday (which I passed!), I also found out I'm anemic so they gave me a prescription for iron. I'm now into the part of my pregnancy where I have doctors appointments every 2 weeks until the last month, then I go weekly. In some ways, I'm happy about that because I like listening to Luke's heartbeat, but depending on which doctor I see, it's tough when I feel like they are criticizing how I'm taking care of myself since I seem to be gaining more weight than they would like me to (although I didn't gain any more weight between doctors appointments this time!).

Lately, I've been trying to hit the gym around 5:30 or 5:45 in the morning since I can't seem to fall back asleep after Brendan leaves in the morning (although the past 2 days I have failed to get my butt out of bed!), and it's really de-stressed me because I don't have to worry about fitting exercise in after work and can focus on making dinner and spending time with Brendan... an added bonus has been that I'm actually sleepy when he is now so, I don't mind going to bed earlier! Last week, while I was up in Connecticut, I took advantage of the crisp weather and walked old cross country courses I used to run in my area while taking photos of the leaves and trees every morning. I wish there were better trails in Fayetteville!

Ok so here are my past 3 photos from oldest to newest!

28 weeks and 2/3 down

29 Weeks and growing!

31 weeks and ready for a nap.

How far along? 31 Weeks
Total weight gain/loss: 23 pounds
Maternity clothes? oh yes, and how did I just discover maternity leggings?
Stretch marks? Not yet!
Sleep: not so much.
Best moment this week: The baby shower and passing my glucose test!
Miss Anything? not feeling like everything I eat is turning straight to fat
Movement: yes, yes, yes.
Food cravings: I have had a terrible sweet tooth since passing my glucose test since I refrained from sweets for 2 weeks
Anything making you queasy or sick: nope
Have you started to show yet: I feel like due to my short stature I look like I'm ready to birth triplets
Labor Signs: No, but some Braxton Hicks are showing up
Belly Button in or out? OUT
Wedding rings on or off? On.
Happy or Moody most of the time: as long as I'm not tired or hungry I'm good... but I'm usually tired or hungry.
Looking forward to: finishing decorating Luke's room!

BONUS PHOTO: Still hopped up on sugar from my glucose test and trying to convince Brendan I need all of these candies to make up for not having any sugar for 2 weeks

27 Week Update!

So today is exactly three months from my due date! According to half these pregnancy apps, the third trimester starts this week, the other half say it's next week... so I will celebrate Luke's -3 month birthday this week and my third trimester next week!

Our house is really coming together, Brendan did a great job last weekend of hanging all of our curtains and photos and also toiled away in Luke's room putting up our wall decal! (I will post his room later!) We  had a pretty busy weekend with a visit from Brendan's aunt and uncle along with a baby celebration at our church where we were honored with 4 other families who have either just had or are having babies soon.

I started going to the gym at 5:30 in the morning since I am having trouble falling back asleep when Brendan leaves. He seems to especially appreciate this because it means I don't drag him out on walks at 7pm every night anymore!

This week has flown by! We had a little Halloween celebration at Brendan's work yesterday and brought Abigail dressed as a shark (she looked ferocious). Tomorrow we are leaving to spend the weekend in Washington DC with Brendan's parents, so I almost missed posting again, but thought that 3 months to go was pretty significant. I made the sign this week so it is unfortunately not as magical as when Brendan makes it, but it will do!

PREGNANT LUMBERJACK!

How far along? 27 Weeks
Total weight gain/loss: gulp... 20 pounds
Maternity clothes? oh yes, although since I like larger sweaters anyways I can still wear a lot of the ones I have!
Stretch marks? Not yet!
Sleep: not so much.
Best moment this week: the baby celebration at our church!
Miss Anything? not feeling self conscious and running without peeing my pants
Movement: yes, yes, yes.
Food cravings: hot sauce and sour patch kids have made a comeback... I blame Halloween
Anything making you queasy or sick: nope
Have you started to show yet: .. I'm like a blimp
Labor Signs: No
Belly Button in or out? OUT
Wedding rings on or off? On.
Happy or Moody most of the time: eh, I'm ok
Looking forward to: Washington DC!

26 Week Update... From a new house!

I'm 26 weeks pregnant and man, it's been a busy few weeks! I felt way too overwhelmed to make a board and update the blog last week but here is a summary of what happened! We moved into our new house over the weekend 2 weeks ago which was a ton of work, but we were lucky to have a group of friends who spent their Saturday morning helping us move our stuff, and by Saturday evening our old house was cleaned and ready for it's new occupants. There were a few things that I found really helpful for my move, so you can expect a post of moving tips coming soon... which will likely be added onto after future moves!

We were pleasantly surprised by the amount of extra work our landlords did to get the house into shape! They put really pretty new floors into the kitchen and painted over the ugly wallpaper, and they even spruced up the paint on the outside!  The dogs are loving the new place, especially their new back yard! So far, we've unpacked the kitchen, put furniture where it's supposed to be, hung most of our curtains, gotten our room and the guest room together and somewhat organized the garage. Even though we aren't completely unpacked, the house already feels like home!

The back yard!

The kitchen and dining room area

I'm feeling more and more pregnant every day. Someone asked me last week if I could see my feet, and I looked down and was shocked to realize that no, in fact, I cannot see my feet anymore! I'm getting pretty forgetful too, I drove all the way to the grocery store without my wallet last Monday and will sometimes forget to close doors to keep the dogs in the kitchen or turn things off... like the outside lights which are probably on right now (sorry Brendan).

I had my monthly doctor's appointment last Friday morning and it was not fun. I somehow managed to gain another 7 pounds this month and my doctor gave me a pretty stern talking to, put me on a diet of 1800 calories a day, and told me I need to not gain any weight between now and my glucose test in 3 weeks. I'm not an unhealthy eater and I don't overeat even though I am pregnant so I was pretty upset when I found out how much weight I've gained, actually I have been counting my calories and haven't hit the 1800 calorie mark on any of the days yet, so I'm not sure how I keep gaining so much weight. I've basically been in a tailspin ever since Friday second guessing everything I put into my body and crying irrationally... a lot. The good news is, I don't feel fat and haven't noticed that I have gained weight anywhere other than my stomach and ummm above my stomach. Usually when I gain bad weight, my face gets chubby. I called my friend Hunter who is a personal trainer and knows a lot about nutrition and she gave me some good pointers and sent me a meal plan to try out, so hopefully if I just tweak what I've been eating I won't turn into a cookie monster in the next 14 weeks. (WOW LUKE WILL BE HERE IN 14 WEEKS!!)

Yup, Brendan made my board again

How far along? 26 Weeks
Total weight gain/loss: gulp... 20 pounds
Maternity clothes? ordered a few things online from ASOS.com... check that store out pregnant or not, they have a lot of really great staple pieces at reasonable prices!
Stretch marks? Not yet!
Sleep: this week I have been so exhausted that I think I have been sleeping better!
Best moment this week: finishing moving out of our old house!
Miss Anything? wine sometimes, sushi, and fitting into clothes!
Movement: yes, yes, yes.
Food cravings: hot sauce and fresh juice... not together
Anything making you queasy or sick: nope
Have you started to show yet: a lady in Target came up to me to tell me she likes my baby bump...
Labor Signs: No
Belly Button in or out? OUT
Wedding rings on or off? On.
Happy or Moody most of the time: I'm a rollercoaster.
Looking forward to: a long weekend with my husband

24 Week Update

I'm 24 weeks pregnant, which means 6 months down and 4 more to go! Apparently it's fall here, but the only reason I can assume this is because there are pumpkins for sale, and my favorite fall drinks like pumpkin spice lattes and apple cider are available... other than that it's still 80+ degrees and therefore, difficult for me to wear all my boots that I purposely didn't pack yet although not impossible, I just wear them with dresses!

This week we are still just packing away and trying to get everything situated for our upcoming move. I'm a little stressed about it because I know that I can't really do much lifting so I will be kind of worthless on Saturday. Also, I tried to clean the tub in the bathroom last night and found it very difficult because my belly kept getting in the way when I tried to lean over the edge, I think next time I'm going to have to sit in the tub to clean it.

Brendan and I had a pretty nice weekend. He was off Friday and Monday, and although I had to work, I was able to get out pretty early. We saw three movies over the weekend which is more than we usually watch in like a 6 month span! We saw Prisoners which has made me positive I am going to attach a GPS tracker to my children, Bad Parents which is not even worth commenting about, and Oblivion which I liked for the most part but sort of confused me.

I was worried over the weekend because I didn't feel Luke kick as much as I had been feeling the previous few weeks but after researching it, I assumed that he probably just switched positions. Anyways, he's back to his normal amount of kicking so I'm not concerned anymore. 

This week, Brendan decided he would make the baby board sign... and the annoying thing is it's a million times better than mine are. Sometimes it's frustrating because he is just so much better than me at so many things; But I take solace in the fact that he can't cook so at least I keep my genius husband alive so he can continue being good at all of these random things.

Yes, that's right Luke is the length of a foot-long hot dog... also known as a foot..
I wish I could eat a hot dog right now. 

How far along? 24 Weeks
Total weight gain/loss: 13 pounds total
Maternity clothes? nothing new, waiting until it's not 80 degrees
Stretch marks? Not yet!
Sleep: I need to stop sleeping on my back because it's killing me
Best moment this week: staying up with my husband past 8:30pm on more than one evening this weekend!!
Miss Anything? not losing my balance for no reason and not having bags under my eyes
Movement: yes, yes, yes.
Food cravings: apple cider, too much pasta, and hot sauce
Anything making you queasy or sick: nope
Have you started to show yet: I ate a basketball.
Labor Signs: No
Belly Button in or out? OUT
Wedding rings on or off? On.
Happy or Moody most of the time: stressed out
Looking forward to: getting this stupid move over with

23 Week Update

Hello! This week has been a little crazy for me between packing for our move, work at the church, and a project that has been taking up most of for free time at my other job. Hopefully this weekend we will get some good packing done so the move will go smoothly next weekend!

Other than boring work stuff, it was Brendan's birthday this week! We didn't do too much but we did go out to dinner and I will make him cupcakes when I have a spare moment, but he actually beat me home on his birthday! (I thought I would have time to make them before he got home) I also got my hair cut and dyed it back to it's normal brown, I like doing something different every once in a while but it's nice to be my natural color.

I'm hoping to have more time after the move to write a longer post, but right now I am way too exhausted, so here is the update!

How far along? 23 Weeks
Total weight gain/loss: 13 pounds total
Maternity clothes? nothing new. I actually discovered at Old Navy that they charge $12 for a maternity tank top identical to the $10 not maternity one... so I think I am going to try to stick to purchasing larger sizes and not maternity clothes
Stretch marks? Not yet!
Sleep: getting less sleep because of back pain and general insomnia
Best moment this week: Haircut!
Miss Anything? not feeling fat and ugly
Movement: all.the.time.
Food cravings: pumpkin spice everything and muscadine grapes
Anything making you queasy or sick: nope
Have you started to show yet: I'm huge.
Labor Signs: No
Belly Button in or out? mostly out
Wedding rings on or off? On.
Happy or Moody most of the time: stressed out
Looking forward to: getting this stupid move over with

22 Weeks and A Trip to Florida

So, I'm 22 Weeks pregnant, apparently Luke is the size of a spaghetti squash... that seems pretty big to me. His kicks are certainly big, especially when I'm trying to sleep!

This past weekend I flew down to Florida to visit my parents for a long weekend and see their new house. They basically live in a resort now with a huge pool, clubhouse, and tons of activities. The first day we did some shopping and I got a few new shirts for my expanding stomach, then we hit the pool... as soon as we arrived at the pool it started pouring which was a little disappointing, but I got to play a dice game with some of the ladies that live there. That night, we went to dinner at the club house, and I felt like I was the lame one. It's like all the retired people are on permanent spring break, they had a DJ that was playing the electric slide and cupid shuffle and all of the ladies were up dancing... meanwhile I was standing trying to stretch my back which was having spasms... role reversal anyone?

My parent's pool and clubhouse

Saturday, we went to Disney and walked around Epcot! The cool thing about being pregnant is that I went on a ton of rides that I hadn't gone on before because I thought they were boring and watched the movies in all the different countries that I hadn't seen... and it was fun! I even discovered that the Sea exhibit in Epcot has 4 dolphins that put on mini shows! Another great thing about going to Disney while visibly pregnant is that people always let me cut them in line for the bathroom because they're afraid I'm going to pee my pants. I probably ate more bad things than I should have while we were walking around the World Showcase... I had a strawberry tarte in France and then we went to the German Biergarten for dinner which was all you can eat, including a dessert buffet where I ate Bavarian Cheesecake, Blackberry Cheesecake, Apple Strudel and a mixed berry compote (in my defense they were small servings...). All I can say is I'm glad that there is no Cheesecake Factory in Fayetteville and I will be walking a lot this week and eating really healthy! Sunday, I got to sit by the pool without rain showers! They even had half the pool shaded so I wasn't dying of the heat. We went back to Downtown Disney at night and had dinner and walked around the shops where Luke got a Buzz Lightyear onesie, he's going to look so cute!

Dolphins at Epcot

Mom and I in front of Soarin (one of the rides I hadn't been on)

I pretended to be a Dinosaur at Downtown Disney

and a moose at Epcot

... twice

Epcot at night

Dad and I in Canada at the World Showcase

Can't wait to stick Luke in this sucker!

I had the genius idea of booking a 5:15am flight to get back to Fayetteville Monday morning... I will never do that again. I'm not sure if it was the fact that I was tired, or my hormones, but I cried the entire first flight. I just didn't want to come back to an empty house again, it was just so nice to wake up and have other people around the house to talk to. When Brendan isn't around, after I get home from work at 5 if no one calls me it's not uncommon for me to not even hear the sound of my own voice until I answer the phone the next morning at work.  Whenever I leave on trips when Brendan is gone, it's hard to jump back into my routine, I usually spend the first day or two just sort of drifting around trying to figure out what I should be doing with my time. Luckily, Brendan comes home Friday and the rest of my week is pretty busy, so I only threw myself a one day pity party and am over it now.

So, what has Luke been up to?

Before I left for Florida on Thursday, I had my monthly doctor's appointment. It was pretty uneventful, they just listened to the heartbeat which sounded good, and weighed me. I have gained 13 pounds since I've been pregnant which is good. The bad news is that 7 of them were the past month which means I need to stop eating as many caramel apples as I have been!

According to my What to Expect book and my baby apps on my iPhone, the next few weeks, Luke will be doing a lot of growing and gaining weight (up to 1/2 lb per week!), which means these punches he's packing are only going to get bigger. Right now, If I have a book or something on my stomach when he kicks you can see it move, which I think is pretty cool! I'm excited for Brendan to feel the movement because he had only really felt the baby kick one time before he left.

Thanks to Tracey who dealt with my photo needs this week!

How far along? 22 Weeks
Total weight gain/loss: 13 pounds total
Maternity clothes? my parents got me a few things, and my awesome friend Kelly is letting me borrow a bunch of maternity stuff! So happy to be able to put off shopping for another couple weeks!
Stretch marks? Not yet!
Sleep: when I do sleep, its nice.
Best moment this week: Disney!
Miss Anything? not feeling like a sausage in everything I put on.
Movement: my child thinks my organs are soccer balls.
Food cravings: pumpkin spice everything
Anything making you queasy or sick: nope
Have you started to show yet:ughhhhh
Labor Signs: No
Belly Button in or out? mostly out
Wedding rings on or off? On.
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy with a chance of tears at any moment
Looking forward to: Brendan coming home

20 Week Update, Our Halfway Point

I seriously cannot believe that I am halfway through my pregnancy. I feel so overwhelmed! This week I discovered what round ligament pain really feels like. Earlier I had thought that a few quick pangs in my stomach was round ligament pain and thought to myself, "this isn't that bad..." WRONG. I woke up yesterday and thought I had torn an ab muscle rolling over in bed. Apparently that's just what round ligament pain really feels like. I go to the doctor next week so I guess I will mention it, but I doubt there's much they can tell me to do except tell me to stop rolling around at night

It's been nice to have Brendan home at night this week and to have him take the trash out because I still can't stand doing that. I'm hoping we'll have a chance this weekend to catch up since he's been playing catch up at work all week and wants food and pillows by the time I see him. Luckily, since its Labor Day Weekend, we should have some extra time together before he heads back into the field. 

By the way, Brendan being gone again means I have to bully one of my friends into taking my belly photos for the next 2 weeks again. Sorry in advance. I do want to give a big shout out to my husband who managed to get my belly shot with only ONE photo this week. Brendan, your photography skills are improving immensely.

pregnant caution cone anyone?

How far along? 20 Weeks
Total weight gain/loss: still haven't hopped on the scale recently. i'm guessing 10lbs
Maternity clothes? nothing new, but definitely using the stuff I do have. I feel like I'm wearing the same 6 shirts over and over again
Stretch marks? No, but I feel like they're inevitable
Sleep: I know, I know, rest now while you can... pregnant people are too uncomfortable to sleep
Best moment this week: does best meal this week count as best moment? If so, I made pot roast yesterday and it was awesome!
Miss Anything? honestly, now that it's not a million degrees outside, I wouldnt mind going for a bike ride. Unfortunately, my balancing skills were sub-par before the growing bowling ball attached to my midsection, so I don't think taking a joy ride would be so smart right now.
Movement: movements are getting more frequent
Food cravings: pumpkin spice latte... FYI Starbucks here has not gotten the pumpkin syrup yet... I checked... 3 times
Anything making you queasy or sick: nope
Have you started to show yet: sigh....
Labor Signs: No
Belly Button in or out? neither, its completely flat. and to make it worse Brendan thinks I'm faking it and tells me to stop sicking my belly out like that. He is mistaken, there is no faking this. I used to think belly buttons were cute... no longer
Wedding rings on or off? On.
Happy or Moody most of the time: having a cranky week.
Looking forward to: Next week's doctor's appointment, Florida, and seeing Brendan for longer than 7 days... (fingers crossed!)

Really Past Due 19 Week Bumpdate

So, this week it took me a really long time to get a photo because I felt guilty harassing my friends to come over and take a photo of me and Brendan got home Friday (yay!) so I made him take the photo yesterday. So I am really like halfway through week 19 but Brendan has staff duty tonight so I figured I'd type one up.

This week has been okay, I've started to feel a little tired and a lot heavier. I enjoy naps, going to the gym is not as "fun" as it used to be, and my clothes are officially fitting really funny. I'm continuing to try to hold off on buying maternity stuff/stuff that fits since I will get bigger in the fall and don't want to waste my money on summer clothes, but I have gotten a few t-shirts from Old Navy and Target that I really like.

Brendan is home for about 1 week which makes me excited, and when he leaves I'm going to go visit my parent's at their new house in Florida. This pregnant person is excited about floating herself in a pool and possibly eating her way through Epcot!

Belly is looking ROUND

How far along? 19 Weeks
Total weight gain/loss: afraid to go on the scale this week so I'm going to stick with when the doctor told me I gained 6lbs at my last apt but I think I might be up about 10lbs from pre-pregnancy now
Maternity clothes? nothing new, but definitely using the stuff I do have. I'm trying to hold off on buying stuff since I will be most pregnant in the fall (see above paragraph)
Stretch marks? No, but I have been searching
Sleep: I have begun using a body pillow because I am not comfortable.
Best moment this week: Seeing Brendan's dirty laundry because it means he's home!
Miss Anything? still wine.. and I would like some Ahi Tuna.
Movement: feeling some movement but it's not too frequent yet
Food cravings: my caramel apple cravings are infamous, they were brought up in the Sunday sermon today... pregnant people problems.
Anything making you queasy or sick: nope
Have you started to show yet: yeah um, my clothes don't fit, and people are touching my belly (CREEPY)
Labor Signs: No
Belly Button in or out? HALF OF MY BELLY BUTTON IS OUT! EW! It's only half so far though...
Wedding rings on or off? On, although during my walk today my hands got super swollen
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy...? umm... ask Brendan..
Looking forward to: lots and lots of movement and taking a trip to Florida to float in my parents' pool... and hang out with them... but do a lot of floating too.

18 Week Bumpdate and Baby Fox Has a Name!

Hello! 18 weeks, and time is flying by! After getting over the shock of finding out that we're having a baby boy, I promptly planned out his nursery (post coming soon on that), ordered the crib, and really started updating my registry.

***if any moms reading this have suggestions for things that they just can't live without please comment!***

On Monday, after returning from work, I found a bat in my house which was probably the scariest moment of my life. I started calling my friends with husbands I thought might be home who could help me kill it but they weren't around. Luckily, my friend Katelyn whose husband works with Brendan came over and we put it in a box and threw it away (Abigail already injured it so it couldn't fly, thanks dog!). My take away from this experience: bats are gross, I hate them, I would not wish bats on my worst enemy, and I am thankful to have friends that will help me kill them.

One thing that has really been making mornings awesome for me this week is discovering that Coffee Mate makes girl scout cookie flavored creamers. I've been putting Thin-Mint creamer in my coffee which has made going from from having Half-Caf coffee (which I started drinking when I found out I was pregnant) all the way down to Decaf more bearable... for those who know how much I love coffee and caffeine, you know that this is a huge feat for me.

Luke is growing, and so is my stomach. ugh.

How far along? 18 Weeks
Total weight gain/loss: gained 6lbs, doctor says that for my size that's good.
Maternity clothes? nothing new, but definitely using the stuff I do have. I'm trying to hold off on buying stuff since I will be most pregnant in the fall.
Stretch marks? No
Sleep: still having some problems falling asleep but once I am asleep I'm usually ok!
Best moment this week:  Finding out the sex of the baby!
Miss Anything? sushi and wine. I really miss having a glass of red wine.
Movement: just started feeling some kicks
Food cravings: still loving caramel apples, this thin mint creamer is making me pretty happy, and pasta (which I haven't actually been eating)
Anything making you queasy or sick: nope
Have you started to show yet: yeah um, my clothes don't fit.
Labor Signs: No
Belly Button in or out? getting shallower and shallower
Wedding rings on or off? On!
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy, but still self-conscious about my body.
Looking forward to: lots and lots of movement and having Brendan home for a few weeks

So we decided to name the baby Luke Michael! We named him Luke after Luke of the New Testament who was the author of the Gospel of Luke as well as the Book of Acts, and Brendan's middle name is Michael so we decided it would be nice for him to have the same middle name (we didn't want his first name to be Michael because it's too close to Michael J. Fox). We are so excited and I am trying super hard to start calling him Luke instead of baby!

It's A...

So Friday and Saturday were probably the two longest days of my life. At 8:15 Friday morning, I went to my ultrasound appointment with my friend Tracey. The ultrasound was awesome! Baby Fox looked like a baby instead of a spot or jelly bean! Baby was even sucking it's thumb and had the hiccups which made it's entire body almost fold in half. It was really cute!

Baby Fox hanging out sucking it's thumb

After leaving the doctors office, Tracey put a sign that was made by my friend Evelina with the correct gender in a frame and put it in a box that we wrapped and I put in the back of my car to head down to Georgia to see Brendan. The next 24 hours were kind of like torture because we had this box that we couldn't open which had the sex of our baby in it! Brendan actually got really upset at one point because he thought that I peeked because I kept referring to Baby Fox as "she". I just had a really big feeling that it was a girl.

Saturday we tried really hard to stay busy, and then we met up with our friend Catherine who is an awesome photographer in the area and took our gender reveal photos for us. (Check out her website here for more of her amazing photography!!)

We decided that once we opened the box, we would look away while we pulled the frame out and then count to 3 and look together so here is what we saw when we looked!

So I was wrong! It's a boy! (See Brendan? I didn't peek!) We are so excited to have a little baby boy in January, and I'm pretty positive Brendan is dreaming up all of the forts and train tracks that they are going to make as I write this. Meanwhile, I have to re-do my Pinterest board because since I was sort of expecting a girl, I have more pink ideas than blue. Our parents are super excited and we have a name picked out that is to be announced later.

Brendan and I are both so thankful to our friends who took time out of their busy lives to help us do this. Evelina made two great signs, Tracey woke up super early on her day off to come with me to my Dr's appointment and Cat who took time on a Saturday away from her husband and baby to photograph this for us. We are so grateful to all of you .

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go plan this baby's nursery!!