Week 29

Where: RoozenGaarde tulip field, Skagit Valley, WA



Week Recap ~

• Total weight gain/loss : +22 lbs
• Sleep : I didn't kick the week off great. Had my first bout of insomnia on Sunday night. I know insomnia strikes a lot of pregnant women, but I have been lucky to date to not have any. It did not make for a fun Monday. Luckily Sunday was the only night I was plagued with this.
• Best moments : All of the big nursery furniture is purchased and in her room! It has been a challenge arranging it in a manor I find acceptable though. I think Stephen has moved every piece in every possible position, maybe more than once :). Here is the dresser I picked up on Monday, found on Craigslist:

I also received some AMAZING news at the end of this week, but cannot share it just yet. Stay tuned!

• Movement : Same as the last few weeks, nothing new here.
• Symptoms : Starting to nest some. Like I mentioned, I had Stephen moving everything around in her room like a crazy person. I also took all of our amazing shower gifts and sorted them for easier use of where everything is and knowing what all we have right now. Check out this girls clothes!

I was glad I sorted through all of them. I quickly figured out what sizes she needs and doesn't need more clothes of. The two large piles are 3-9 months. We would be in trouble if she came today and was tiny. I know a lot of people say they aren't in newborn or 0-3 very long but right now she'd be going naked a lot while we washed the 10 clothing items she does have from newborn - 3 months every day. We wont get her too many more clothes in this size but a few onsies and pjs should have her covered.  
• Maternity clothes? : Rocking them still. Still wearing a few non-maternity shirts, but I have also gone to put on some tshirts this week to find that they do not fit at all.
• Food cravings or aversion's? : Nothing stands out this week
• What I am eating : greek yogurt, granola, pasta, salad, fruit, fruit, fruit, made some quinoa stuffed red peppers one night, ben & jerry's frozen greek yogurt so good! I was better about veggies this week, but I still need to work on having more.
• Exercise : Got a good number of after work walks in this week. The weather has been looking up and it stays light out till after 8pm now so we have a lot of chances to take family walks. It makes the dogs very happy too!
• Gender : Girl!
• Labor signs : I think one night I felt a Braxton Hicks contraction, just one so no need to be concerned :)
• What I miss : Taking a walk in 60 degree weather and not sweating! haha. To be fair 60 is warm here, 80 is HOT. So if you live in the Midwest maybe read this as 80 degree weather makes me sweat, to give you an idea of the temp we are having here. Also, walking up inclines and not having to stop or slow down to catch my breath. I am not letting either of these things stop me from getting out and in the sun when I can!
• What I am looking forward to : Having next Friday off! We are headed to Lummi Island for the weekend. Should be relaxing.

Other Happenings:

We went to the Tulip Festival! I was so excited that we were first in line to get into the fields.

Just a few of the hundreds of photos we took:

The dogs were super cute and loving.

 Yuri watching TV on his dad.



Chewie hanging out with his sister (he stood like this for 20 mins)

We enjoyed the sunshine! Not only did we take walks, but we spent time out on the porch. We also put up a gate on the front porch and leave the door open and Chewie eats it up. He loves hanging out there.

Week 28 - Hello 3rd Trimester!

Where: Pike's Market, Seattle, WA

Week Recap ~

• Total weight gain/loss : +21 lbs (no change)
• Sleep : Ugg sleep this week was terrible. I got up one night 6 times to pee, 6! After that I started to make sure I cut myself off from liquids by 8pm, but some nights I was still up 4 times. To date I haven't had any big issues with falling back asleep, but a few nights this week after being woken up I was up for a good hour or more. Looking forward to some sleeping in and naps this weekend. (wrote this on Friday, extra sleep didn't happen this weekend. boo!)
• Best moments : More nursery progress, purchased a glider and ottoman and started on a lampshade diy project (still tbd if it will work out). We also started to get more out of our baby class than we did the first week, so that felt good. Sunday was a really nice day out and we spent the morning downtown, something we hadn't done in a while. Walked around Pike's Market, bought some good looking fruit & fresh flowers and then we had a lovely brunch. It was some nice "us" time.
• Movement : She's a movin! Before this week she really only moved on my right side, I never felt her on the left. A few times this week I have felt her all over, she must be practicing summersaults some days. I'm good with it, as long as her room starts to shrink she finds herself in a proper position for easy execution. hehe She also has been spending some time jamming herself into my right side. It is pretty uncomfortable and happens at night. Sometimes we can get her to move when Stephen talks to her, right where she's giving me pain. It is sweet.
• Symptoms : Pretty crabby this week at the end of the day. I'm not crabby all day, but definitely at night. I am going to attribute this to my lack of sleep and being worn out from work. :)
• Maternity clothes? : Yup, still in them.
• Food cravings or aversion's? : Mostly the same, pizza & Mexican, but this week I also ate quite a few frozen breakfast sandwiches. Not something we keep around our house ever, but when we were at the store one night I just had to get some and have been eating them for meals (dinner even).
• What I am eating : Lots of fruit, some Mexican, some Chinese, pasta, breakfast sandwiches, pork tenderloin. I need to work on veggies next week. I think I get twice the recommended fruit and maybe half the recommended veggies.
• Exercise : Took two walks with Stephen and the dogs around the neighborhood. It was nice to have a break from some of the rain we have been having. They also helped my mood.
• Gender : Girl
• Labor signs : None. We know a lot more about what to be on the look out for now from our weekly class.
• What I miss : Not waking up to have to pee all night! ha
• What I am looking forward to : Non-baby related, but going to the Tulip Festival this weekend! I have missed it the last few years and I am really excited about getting to go this year.

Week 27

Where: The Pantry at Delancey, Seattle, WA



Week Recap ~

• Total weight gain/loss : +21 lbs
• Sleep : I am getting up more and more to use the bathroom, so no matter how good the sleep is it is always interrupted. I have also started waking up cause whatever side I am laying on starts to ache and I need to switch sides. Time to start looking into a new pillow routine I guess.
• Best moments : This week had a lot of fun stuff happening. We had our first child prep class, a doctor's appointment, her crib came and so did the mobile we ordered. I am in love with the crib, it is just what I wanted. Steve is in love with the mobile(I like it a lot too). It is handmade from a man in Portland, OR. Sneak peak picture Steve took below.
  

Can you name the type of whale?

• Movement : She's in there. This week she decided to try out something new in between dancing around. Often she would just be pushing what would feel like her whole tiny body or her head or butt right into my lower side. She often felt like she was just putting everything she's got into resting hard on me. You can feel on my belly how hard one spot is when she's doing this. It is neat to know exactly where she is, but also uncomfortable when she decides to hang out there for a while.
• Symptoms : Not one thing is standing out. Some of these questions are getting harder the farther along I am, as "symptoms" just become how I feel all of the time.
• Maternity clothes? : Yes and a lot of pjs and comfy pants this week.
• Food cravings or aversion's? : Same as always, Mexican sounds great all the time. I also really wanted pizza this week.
• What I am eating : Pizza, Mexican, chicken salad, salad, pasta, Malaysian food - we took a cooking class on Tuesday. It was super fun. We made two different Malaysian noodle dishes. I'm not sure they are anything we would make at home, but it was something different to do and we did learn a few spices that we will probably try out at home on something a little more simple.
• Exercise : None. Bad me
• Gender : Girl! Although you wouldn't be able to tell if you walked into her nursery right now. Everything is very neutral. It is following my plan though, so color will come later.
• Labor signs : None.
• What I miss : Been feeling huge this week. I know I am not huge (yet, ha), but it would be nice to not feel belly uncomfortable.
• What I am looking forward to : Doing some more nursery work and starting up some crafts. Also, we are hitting up another large children's consignment sale and I am hoping we get some good things. And starting the third and last trimester of course!
  
  
  Other Happenings:
  I crocheted this hat for baby girl. Although she will be born in the summer I just thought it was too cute to not make for a few pictures. It went super fast too. 
  
  
  Steve made a lot of progress on the nursery. Putting together the crib.
  
  
   And painting the room!
  
  
  
  The dogs were extra sweet this week. They both sat on my lap looking cute.
  
  
   And Yuri snuggled his dad at bed time. Look at how sweet his little face is.
  
  
  
  

Week 26

Where: Fisher's Restaurant, Belleville, IL

Week Recap ~

• Total weight gain/loss : +19.5 lbs, no change
• Sleep : So, so. I was battling a cold most of the week that made it hard to sleep. 
• Best moments : My mom and sister threw me a wonderful baby shower. It was so great to celebrate baby girl and spend time with friends and family. More to come on the shower, it deserves it's own post.
• Movement : Yes. I can tell she is getting bigger too. She spent all of Friday moving around in all kinds of new places.
• Symptoms : I had a rough week, body wise I was a mess. So it was hard to notice any pregnancy related symptoms. I said I was battling a cold, well on top of that mid week I rolled my right ankle. This caused me to fall to the ground and bang up one of my knees pretty bad. Don't worry I am alright, just sore and scratched up. My ankle was fairly swollen but it is going down each day. It wasn't my worst rolled ankle to date. ha
• Maternity clothes? : Well with my fall I was down a pair of pants. I ripped open the knee on one of my jeans. Thank goodness it wasn't my favorite pair! I had a coupon to Gap, so Friday after work I decided to go and just look. Well I walked out with 2 pairs of jeans to replace my one tore pair. :) They were on super sale too!
• Food cravings or aversion's? : I wanted pizza pretty bad this week. We decided Friday night to try out a place in our new neighborhood that we heard was really good. It was SO disappointing  It for sure didn't satisfy my craving. Will have to try for pizza again next week. 
• What I am eating : Pasta - my mom brought me my favorite pasta all the way from New Jersey over the weekend. Sal's Penne Vodka, no pasta anywhere compares to it. I ate it for a few meals while in St Louis. 
  
  Steve also grilled for us a few times this week, sausage and peppers one night and steak, mushrooms and sweet potatoes another. Breakfasts were the same as always - greek yogurt, oats, fruit. Lunches were mainly pasta, salads or chicken sandwiches. 
• Exercise : Did some light, short neighborhood walking and we went to Ikea (counts as exercise these days, plus that place is huge)
• Gender : Girl!
• Labor signs : None
• What I miss : My family! It was so great to see almost everyone (missed you dad!) over the weekend. We are a long ways from all our family most of the year. We love getting to see everyone. I know it is going to get harder over the next few years when we have a little one. Everyone will need to start making plans to come visit us more often :)
• What I am looking forward to : The sun! When we got back to Seattle the weather was amazing. I was convinced it was here to stay until next winter. Unfortunately the forecast changed to rain all week :( Also, child classes start next week! We are signed up for a variety of classes, but the main one is a 6 week course, once a week. 

< 100 days!

I just realized last night when taking a look at my pregnancy week by week app on my phone that we hit 100 days to go and didn't realize it. As of today we have 96 more days till our due date! Crazy! Better start getting to work on her nursery :)

Week 25

Where: Portland, OR - park near the river and Saturday market 

Week Recap ~

• Total weight gain/loss : +19.5 lbs (felt like a huge jump from the last time I was on the scale, but I haven't been on the scale in 2 weeks)
• Sleep : Been pretty good this week. Falling back to sleep faster than normal when I wake for bathroom breaks. Until Thursday night when I came down with a terrible cold. Lack of sleep then was from not being able to breath. :(
• Best moments : Great weekend in Portland. It was nice to get out of town and away from the unpacking. We just relaxed and enjoyed ourselves. Plus it was nice to spend a lot of time outside and walking around. 
• Movement : Yes. She seems to like to move around in the morning when I first wake up and then a lot at night, mostly around bed time. She is pretty chill during the day. 
• Symptoms : The joint pain I had been having in my lower back has settled down. Only feeling it after long work days this week. 
• Maternity clothes? : Yup! Occasionally I will wear a non-maternity top, but I love some of my maternity tees a lot.
• Food cravings or aversion's? : Nothing new here
• What I am eating : Salads, pasta, chicken sandwiches, heirloom tomatoes with balsamic (yumm!), lots of seafood over the weekend, some bar food, donuts
• Exercise : Lots and lots of walking in Portland!
• Gender : Girl. Although I had a moment this week were my head started spinning thinking what if they were wrong and we don't have a name for a boy or any boy things! It was only a moment, but it could happen right? hehe
• Labor signs : None
• What I miss : This weekend I missed having a beer. Portland, like Seattle, is a great beer town and we spent a good amount of time at some places that would have been nice to sit with Steve and have a drink. Including watching the Sounders match. Watching sports is fun, but not as fun drinking water. :)
• What I am looking forward to : Baby shower on Saturday! It will be fun to celebrate this little girl and to see friends and family. Also, when we are back from St Louis we are going to be getting a start on the nursery. It is all taped and ready for Stephen to start painting.
  
  
  Other Happenings:
  Like I said we were in Portland over the weekend! Here are a few pictures of the weekend.
  
  Voodoo Doughnuts is a must hit in Portland. Generally there is a line wrapping around outside the building and I like doughnuts, but not enough to stand in a long line for them. Luckily for us we were up at 8 am and went by on our walk with the dogs and there was no line(its a 24 hr operation).
  
  
  
   Just love the sign!
  
  
  Our picks. My favorite was chocolate, rice crispies and peanut butter. So good!
  
  
  
  Portland China town entrance.
  
  
  
  All 3 of us got bike clothes. Me the yellow shirt, baby girl the onesie and Stephen got a new bike jacket. 
  
  
  
  Sunday before we headed out we took a drive to the Columbia River Gorge. It was a beautiful day and we got some great views. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  We stopped at some falls. This was the largest fall, Multnomah Falls. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  We stopped for lunch and this is how we found the dogs in the car. They had a great time in Portland, but were wiped out and ready to get home. 

Week 24

Where: Ship Canal/Lake Union, Fremont, Seattle, WA (Happy St Patrick's Day!)



Week Recap ~

• Total weight gain/loss : I have no idea again! I forgot to get on the scale yesterday morning and today I am in Portland, OR and our hotel room didn't come with a scale. :)
• Sleep : The begining of the week was terrible, but the end of the week has been much better. I often think I just wear my body out so much with bad sleep taht eventually it just gives up and lets me sleep really hard for about 2 days before going back to waking up all the time.
• Best moments : Had a fun and semi relaxing weekend, celebrating Stephen's birthday. Pictures way below. Also, video chatted with some of my girlfriends this week. It is always nice to see their faces. Some of the kiddos joined as well. They are all getting so big!
• Movement : Pretty much the same as last week, movement but not a ton. She makes herself known a few times a day but isn't partying it up in there yet.
• Symptoms : Tired from lack of good sleep. Also, had more indigestion this week than I have had in a while.
• Maternity clothes? : Yes! I bought a few more things last weekend too. Just a couple more of the Gap body shirts. They are my favorite and Gap had everything 30% off. I couldn't pass that up :)
• Food cravings or aversion's? : Nothing new here
• What I am eating : We cooked at home one night! haha yes just one, but hey more than the last two weeks. Stephen made burgers on his new grill he got for the house. We also had some chineese food, small plates at a dinner out, greek. Lunches I had chicken sandwiches a few times and some salads. Breakfast was fruit and greek yogurt pretty much everyday.
• Exercise : We walked a lot around our new neighborhood last weekend. So much that I ended up pretty sore from it. I think I am pulling my shoulder's forward or something strange when I walk a lot.
• Gender : Baby Girl still!
• Labor signs : None
• What I miss : This is harder than I thought each week. I haven't been missing much. I've been fairly stressed out, so I guess right now I miss being able to have a drink to just relax and calm my mind. I'm just always thinking of what is next for everything lately.
• What I am looking forward to : This weekend. We are currently in Portland, OR. Stephen had to work here today, so I tagged along and am working from his office as well. We are going to do some small hikes around the Columbia River Gorge area, if the weather cooperates, and we have some things we want to look at here for the nursery. No other plans, we hope for it to be a relaxing, fun weekend and I think it will be!

 

Other Happenings:

 

I was all over deals this weekend for baby girl. Got all of the above clothes at Goodwill for a total of $8! The jeans(Baby Gap), jean jacket and Cardinals (brand new looking!) onsie will be for when she's a little older. The white onesie and leggins(Gymboree) she will be rocking this summer. 



Saturday our new neighborhood was having a kids gear sale at the community center. We got up and walked down for the opening. We did not have a plan and were a little overwhelmed, but we did end up getting some good items and saving well over $100! Pretty good for two first time parents having no clue what they were looking for. haha! I picked out some stuff while Stephen held it or looked up on his phone to see how much items originally were. I forgot to take a picture of all our deals, but here is a book we picked up:

Haha! We loved it and it was just $1. We also got a bounce seat, a bebepod(its a bumbo) with trays, a newborn cloth diaper and a man looking Skip Hop diaper bag for Stephen.

Saturday evening we went to the Sounders vs Timbers soccer match for Stephen's birthday. We had great seats!

 

It was pretty cold, but I kept semi warm in his new Sounders hat from his mom and dad. It's so cute, I might have to claim it as mine!

Fancy dinner at home Sunday, as an early bday dinner. Dungenous crab ($4.99/lb! told you all over the deals this weekend. haha). As part of his birthday gift I cracked half of his crab for him. I am slightly better at it than he is, I have years more experiance in crab cracking. :) I will say he does do a good job, he is just slow at it. So by me doing half of his we are finished eating at the same time. 

Tuesday night we had a night out in the city after work. We went to a National Geographic Live lecture, K2 Danger and Desire on the Mountain. The speaker was the first and only woman to have summitted all 8,000+ meter peaks in the world, unassisted with oxygen. The talk was about her 14th peak, K2, and the journey to do it. It was pretty neat and inspiring. We also had great seats, up in one of the "fancy people" boxes.