Name for Baby.

Well, I've finally announced "Peanut's" name.  I had planned to wait until she was born, but I decided this would be best for my sanity. This way if anyone steals it, I can call them on it. Hehe. Here it is!!

Her middle name is pronounced "emma-line." 

Had a doctor's appointment today and an ultrasound. Pretty sure it will be the last one. Well, maybe one more but I think only because she is breech. I'm praying she turns her little self around in between now and delivery. I really do NOT want a c-section. She is looking great though. Nurse said she's very healthy. She weighs 2 and half pounds and was too long for them to get a full-body picture. 

Went over the hospital after the appointment to finish up my registration and take a tour of labor and delivery. It's a very nice hospital, however, they don't utilize their nursery. Once you have the baby, the baby just stays in the room with you the entire time. Some mom's might be hesitant to send their baby to the nursery anyway, but not this one. I fully intended on utilizing the service. After all, I'm paying $500+ a night to stay there, I might as well get a decent night's sleep for my money! But, oh well.  Hopefully my delivery isn't too intense to the point of sheer exhaustion. If she doesn't turn, I may not have a delivery at all. Ugh. Really hope that's not the case. 

Things are finally coming together on her side of the room. The shelves that I bought are finished, except now, I think we (we meaning Nonni) are going to repaint them another color. Once that's done I just need a few knick-knacks to put inside them and I should be finished. I've not had too much luck in finding things, but I've not really searched on a mission, but mainly just browsed here and there. I still have the entire month of April in order to reach my goal so that helps. 

Well, I guess that's all for now. I am crazy nauseated after that ultrasound. They always make me sick!  Next time I'll post a belly update. It's getting on out there! 

We're in the Home Stretch!

THIRD TRIMESTER!!!!! Can't believe it's here! Yesterday marked three months exactly until Peanut's due date. Just three short (hopefully) months! I've got stuff going on from now until April so that will fly by. The month of April is pretty tame right now so hopefully that time will be spent finishing up my apartment, namely my room and her area in it. 

I'm getting really nervous but really excited. It's still all very surreal.  Over the past week I have felt all of that second trimester energy drain and I am now totally exhausted. I want to do nothing but sleep all day. I've become accustomed to sleeping on my side and can actually get somewhat comfortable at night unless my back is acting up. Baby still moves a lot, but she's calmed down a little bit. She's about 15 inches long now according to my calculator so she is clearly running out of room in there. Now it's mainly about the weight gain. Last week she weight approx. 2 pounds. I have my final (I believe) ultrasound next week and I hope they do all her measurements and weight her as best as they can. I have no clue how that's done but I've heard several mothers-to-be say the baby was "weighed" at their appointment. We shall see. I'm excited to see her once more before I actually meet her.  I've been contemplating what she will look like recently. My vote is for brown eyes and brown hair. I have blue eyes, her dad has brown eyes, I have brown hair, her dad has blond hair. With that combo I look for the brown gene to dominate. I've been praying she gets his complexion rather than mine. He is half Portuguese and tans very easily. I have somewhat of a pink undertone to my skin and am more on the fair side. I can tan, but it's by the sweat of my brow these days. So ultimately, I could end up with a brown haired, brown-eyed, tan little girl! I would love that! I guess I could also end up with a blue-eyed, blond haired, fair little girl, but with what I've read about gene domination, I think that's a less likely scenario. No matter what the combo is I'm sure she will be gorgeous. :)  Already a proud momma, if you can't tell! 

On another note, the weather has finally become very enjoyable. I am breaking out my tshirts and shorts. YAY! I've got to get a few more casual tops for the remainder of the pregnancy but I am pretty much set in the bottoms and work department. Now that I'm almost done I get my wardrobe situation under control. Ha! Oh well. I will for sure be keeping all of my maternity clothing in case there is a second baby in my future. 

Along with the fabulous weather comes many things I am excited about: sno cones, baseball games, cookouts, etc.  I've already had five sno cones since last weekend. Yes, five. I've been craving them since January so it will be interesting to see how many I have. Hehe. 

That's all for now. Hope everyone has a great week! 

27 Weeks. 

More Favs!

Couldn't resist! I just love them all!!

All photos courtesy of Megan Ella Photography

My Favs!

I'm not going to post the whole shoot (because that would be way too many pictures! ha!) but I'm going to post a few of my favorites.

All photos courtesy of Megan Ella Photography

Maternity Pictures!!!!

My maternity pictures are complete!!! I am madly in love them!! Instead of posting them here, I'm going to link to my the blog post by my fabulous photographer (Megan Ella Photography.) She is awesome!!!

Let's All Do The Bump.....Bump, Bump, Bump.

Chugging along! 21 and a half weeks! I cannot believe it's going by so fast. I only have two more appointments until I start going every other week. Then we're really in the home stretch.

Went to the doctor today. Confirmed it IS a girl. I'm actually really happy now. Since I know her name and have bought a bunch of stuff for her, I've really started to connect with her and already love her to pieces.  She is very, very active. The nurse, while trying to get her heartbeat today, said that she could actually see her move through my stomach. She had a hard time getting her to be still long enough to hear her heartbeat. Those that know me, know that she gets that from her momma! ;) I also feel her kicking all the time at night. I swear she's going to be a soccer player or a kicker for the NFL. It's all the time.

I finally found her bedding! Actually it's going to be custom done by my Nana. I am getting a mini crib and have had a really hard time finding anything that fits. What I have found is no where near my style. As I've said before I'm not a theme person nor a gender specific person. I really prefer neutrals. That left me with zero options so custom was really the only thing I had left. It took looking around a good bit but I finally found something that I LOVE. I ordered it and cannot wait to see the finished product. I will order her bumpers and sheets separately. They will be lavender. Once all is complete, I will post a picture.

My apartment is coming together slowly but surly. I finally got in one end table (two were ordered, one was lost, fun stuff). It looks really good. The other should be in next week. Then mom will come over and finish her magic. She truly is amazing at decorating and doing so within my style preferences. Once she's done we will take some good pictures and I'll post those as well.

My maternity pictures are next weekend! It's a bit early compared to what most women do, but I'm as pregnant as I want to look for them. Any bigger and I don't think I would be too happy with the outcome. I found an adorable dress! It's not maternity but it's super cute and works like a maternity dress. Cannot wait!!!

Well, that's it for now I suppose. All good things happening in this neck of the woods. Hope all is well in yours!

Baby Girl at her photo shoot today! Notice the knee bent and the ribs!! 

21 and a half weeks! 

Halfway There!

Today marks 20 weeks! We are officially halfway through this pregnancy! 

Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is.

Yesterday was a grocery day for me. Mother Hubbard was beyond bare in the cupboard, so it was time.  As much as I usually hate going to the grocery store, it was really good training for once the baby is born.  I'm a massive budget person. I'm seriously budgeted until August of this year. I've gotten together with some new moms and asked for their approximates in diapers and formula so that I can start doing my budget with that amount in mind. I also have added to my food budget so that I can start eating in more. I'm really bad about coming home from work and being too tired to make anything so I just grab fast food. While that's okay every now and then, I end up spending more money than I should be on food.

So, about a week ago I decided the smartest thing for me to do would be to put together menus. I'm picky when it comes to eating home-cooked meals yet....I can't cook! It's an awesome combo really. That was sarcasm at it's max in case you couldn't tell. Anyway, I decided to come up with my top favorite meals that my mom cooks and that I love eating left-overs of. That's another thing about home-cooked meals; I don't like to eat the same thing over and over. Therefore, cooking big meals for just me is a rather silly notion because so much will go to waste. There are, however, several things that my mom makes that I could eat day and night. So I made somewhat of a makeshift menu and have asked her to show me how to cook those few things. I also wrote down foods I like to eat for breakfast, lunch and snacks. Then I decided this week to kinda start abiding by it. I bought the groceries that I could and yet stayed inside my budget. Much to my delight, with the exception of a few things, I was able to complete my menu items. Granted, I have no idea how long this batch will last and that's kinda the test run part of it. I'll see just exactly how much I will spend on food for me and be able to lock a number down (or somewhat) and then just add on her formula and diapers.

No adventures other than that this week.

On the pregnancy front, my back is really hurting now days. It's pretty much chronic. I get a few hours of relief at night with the heating pad, but other than that I almost always feel it.  My mom had massive back issues during her pregnancy and it looks as though I'm going to follow suite. As long as I can walk and function, I'll be fine. Baby girl has become a LOT more active as well. Used to I would feel her a couple of times a night, but over the past two days it's been a pretty steady flow. I still can't differentiate the types of movements I'm feeling (i.e. a kick, jab, punch, etc.) but there is lots of "flopping" as I call it going on. I'm also getting bigger and bigger. I've noticed it's a bit harder to get up and down out of the bed and in and out of the bathtub. I know I've still got a ways to go so things are going to get really interesting where that is concerned. Ha.

Well, that's all for this week, peeps. I hope you all have a fabulous Friday and a great weekend! See you on the other side.

Almost Halfway.

One more week to go and I'll be halfway there!  I can't believe it. It's gone by so fast and yet so slow. I have my confirmation appointment in a couple of weeks.  Funny thing; I hope and pray it's a girl now! Ha! I never thought I would say that but I actually hope it is a girl. I guess because I've had time to bond with her, so to speak. I spent much of the weekend arranging things in the apartment, making sure I have room for all of her stuff. Also did some shopping. Couldn't help myself. Here are a few of my favorite finds.

The last outfit, has to be my favorite. It will be her 4th of July outfit. So stinking cute!

She's had several additions from family members as well. Already her side of the closet is starting to fill up. I suspect the years to come will hold many a shopping spree for the two of us. Like mother, like daughter.

This and That.

It took me awhile but I finally realized that I haven't posted a picture of baby girl. Here she is in all of her glory.

Nonni thinks she is just beautiful and loved the fact that the nurse thought she was photogenic. Hehe. I had to bring her back down to earth: "Mom, they say that to everyone. And all babies look like that at this stage." I will say, she does look pretty darn cute in this picture though. Proud momma talking, of course.

Well last week was somewhat of a whirlwind but it's back to reality this week. I've got to start getting serious about my apartment. I need to get my table and chairs set up. They've arrived at the store, but I need to get them home and set up. That's one of the few bad things about not having a man. I can't just say, "Honey, go pick that up and bring it up here, please." Instead I have to call the concierge service and pray they'll get someone to pick it up and bring it to me without charging me an arm and leg.

Once that's done, it's mainly going to be about organization. I need to make sure everything has a place before we start adding on baby things. I've started doing some shopping, but I'll admit I've held back a bit. While the nurse said she was pretty certain it was a girl, she did say to leave the tags on things that I buy. Peanut's umbilical cord was in between her legs and she was not moving for anything. So, when I go back in 4 weeks, we're going to do another scan just to confirm. At that point, I'll feel better and start up with the cute clothes buying. I did however, purchase her something over the weekend. Every girl needs a party dress, right?

It looks a bit big in the picture, but it's itty-bitty. So precious I couldn't leave it there. It does still have the tags on it though, just in case she proves to be a he. 

On the actual pregnancy front, my back has become a complete and total wreck. I've been in quite a few car wrecks in the past and my back has taken a real beating; I have no curve in my spine nor my neck.  I've been pain free for awhile now, but I had a feeling the pregnancy would trigger the pain again. And has it ever. I've been on the heating pad for the past few days almost as soon as I get home. And I've actually brought to work with me a couple of days. It's my sciatic nerve and it seems to be getting worse. I plan to make an appointment with a chiropractor next week and see if I can get some relief. I would also love a pregnancy massage, but I haven't decided if I want to plunk down the funds. I'm reaching the stage where it's not safe to lay on my back for an extended period of time and that sucks. That's actually the only way I can get relief; flat on my back on a hard surface with my heating pad. I know this is part of pregnancy, but I have a feeling my case is worse than the "norm" given my back injury history. Say a quick prayer for me if you think about it. 

I'll sign off with the weekly baby bump shot: 

18 Weeks 

It's a.......

It's a GIRL!!!!!!!!

Thanks to Nonni, (my mom) for putting together a fabulous reveal dinner for the family. It was a wonderful evening!

Tomorrow, Tomorrow, I Love You, Tomorrow.

TOMORROW!!!!!!!!

Tomorrow I find out what type of Peanut I'm carrying!! I am so excited. I know I won't be able to sleep tonight. I have a preference that I won't reveal, but I'm keeping my fingers and toes crossed. Obviously, a healthy baby will make me thrilled no matter the gender, but I can't help but lean one way on the matter.

Oh, okay....I'll share. I really, really, REALLY, want a boy. There are several reasons why.  Number one, all we have in my family is girls. My mom is one of three girls that each had one girl and now we have one of those girls with a girl. Are you confused yet? Ha! Number two, I seriously cannot stand teenage girls. I couldn't stand them when I was a teenager and I abhor them now. I cannot imagine living with one and raising one. While I would hope my daughter would be more on the "tomboy" side or at least just not on the typical teen girl side (i.e. "OMG!!! Like, he's so totally cute! Do you think he likes me?") there is no guarantee that she'll take after me. I was NOT a typical teenage girl. While I think girls are more fun in the beginning with the frilly clothes and such, as they get older, I think boys are a lot more fun and a lot less drama. That being said, of course I will be head over heels for my little girl, should fate decide to give me one.

I have names for both a boy and a girl; which I will NOT reveal for quite some time.

I'm just super excited to find out! I'll be hitting up the stores as soon as I get off work. Hehe!

So what do you think? Cast your vote! Team Pink of Team Blue!

I will reveal Friday morning after my family reveal dinner Thursday night. Fingers crossed!!!