Weekly Bump Update

Not too much has changed since last week, but since I only have a couple more weeks to be doing this I figured I might as well ;)

Belly pic from our maternity shoot with katie! :)

How far along: 38 weeks... how is that even possible?!

Total weight gain/loss: At this weeks appointment I was at a total of 21lbs... not fabulous, but is what it is. (but on a good note.. Kaylee was measuring more on track this week.. at my past 2 appts she was measuring really small but now she is measuring only a couple weeks behind so that made the dr feel better about it) 

Maternity clothes: Same as always.. I wear maternity pants, but try to make my other clothes work without having to buy a bunch of maternity stuff

Stretch marks: none as of now... that could easily change at the rate at which I feel I am growing haha

Sleep: This week has actually been a little better. I fall asleep pretty fast and don't wake up for about 4-5 hours before having to get up to pee (at one point I swear I was up every 2-3 hours all night long).

Best moment this week: Not baby related, but talking to one of my best friends from college for over an hour the other night. We are both so busy it's hard to really catch up, but when we do it always puts a smile on my face.

Movement: All of the time.

Food cravings: Same as usual, nothing crazy.. still eating apples all of the time.

What I miss: being able to paint my own toes without them looking like a child did them... but plus side to that is I now have an excuse to get pedicures more often ;)

Anything making you queasy or sick: no

Gender: girl

Labor Signs: A couple, but nothing that has me racing to the hospital yet.

Belly Button in or out? In.

Wedding rings on or off? On.

Weekly Wisdom: There's no point stressing about things that you can't control. Not really baby related, but lately the drama with the builder for our house is just really getting to me and I have to keep reminding myself to step back and let our lawyer deal with it (which is definitely easier said than done).

Milestones: Right now I kind of feel like every day is a milestone... just one day less until I finally get to my little girl <3

Maternity Portraits (part 2)

As I mentioned the other day, my friend Katie was so sweet and came to our place to take some maternity pictures for us. Well, she just sent me some more of the awesome pictures and I am obsessed with them so I had to share :)

Make sure to stop by her photography blog and let her know what you think of her work! 

(www.katenealphotography.blogspot.com)

Maternity Portraits (Part 1)

Yesterday afternoon a friend of mine from high school who is starting her own photography business came over to our place and took some BEAUTIFUL maternity pictures for us. We had SO much fun working with her and are so happy with the way the pictures turned out!

Here are just a few of them for now.. I will post more later on :) 

(and please make sure to check out Kate's photography blog HERE!)

A HUGE thank you to Katie for these pictures.. I absolutely LOVE them! <3

Waiting Patiently...

Since getting pregnant (and even before then) I have heard so many people tell horror stories about how miserable they were at the end of their pregnancies. They were tired, swollen, uncomfortable, and just completely ready to be done with the whole process. Basically just sick of being pregnant.

So I had prepared myself that I would be that way too and have been waiting for that feeling of being so "done" to come.. but it hasn't.

Of course I am tired and my back hurts, but to be honest.. it's not that bad.

 I'm sure if I was 9 months pregnant in August in 100 degree weather I would be singing a different tune... but for now I am actually still enjoying being pregnant and feeling the hiccups and kicks (which do hurt a little lately haha) and taking the time to finalize little things here and there while I wait for her arrival.

 I absolutely 100% cannot wait to hold my little girl in my arms, but for today at least I am ok waiting these last few weeks until she decides to come. (if she is much later than her due date I may not be so patient about it lol) 

So to all of the co-workers, family, friends (and complete strangers too) who are constantly asking "OMG aren't you SO over being pregnant??" or commenting that I "look so tired, I hope she comes really soon so you aren't so uncomfortable".. I appreciate the concern, really I do.. and YES I am READY for her to be here, but right now I am ok just waiting patiently.

******

Side note: even though I am not sick of being pregnant yet, I am officially SO OVER working right now. I would gladly stop working tomorrow if I could rather than waiting until she is here to be off. Next time around I am definitely planning on starting maternity leave at least a little early.. haha

Bump Update

I haven't done a bump update the past couple of weeks because I felt like I didn't have any new answers.. so I thought spacing them out a bit would help a little.

(vince took this on his phone after work yesterday.. I didn't realize he was ready to take it otherwise I would have at least smiled haha) 
 

How far along: I will be 37 weeks this week

Total weight gain/loss: do I have to answer this still? ughh... 19lbs as of last week, so that means I'm probably around 20lbs this week...

Maternity clothes: I wear maternity pants.. but now that it's starting to get warmer I can start wearing my normal summer flowy dresses instead (which is SO much cuter and more comfortable!)

Stretch marks: none so far.. fingers crossed it stays that way..

Sleep: what sleep? haha.. not sure the last time that I woke up feeling like I got a good nights sleep.. oh well, not complaining I know it's just part of the process.

Best moment this week: hasn't actually happened yet.. but this weekend Katie, a friend of mine from high school, is coming to take maternity pictures for me! I am really excited.. I haven't been good at taking bump pics and Vince and I don't have a single picture of him and I that shows my belly. The last one we took was at Christmas and I wasn't really showing then.. so I am really looking forward to having some of us together too.

Movement: all day long :)

Food cravings: nothing crazy

What I miss: being able to clean the house without getting out of breath. I was scrubbing the tub the other day and thought I was going to pass out hahaha

Anything making you queasy or sick: not really

Gender: girl <3

Labor Signs: a couple contractions, but nothing that has made me call the doctor or anything like that yet.

Belly Button in or out? Still in as of now..

Wedding rings on or off? On.

Weekly Wisdom: Really making sure to just enjoy the time I get to spend with just Vince. It won't be long until we won't be able to just sit around the two of us doing nothing that often anymore ;)

Milestones: officially making it to full term this week! There was a time the Dr's didn't think I would get this far, so it's such a nice relief to finally be at this point.

I appreciate the advice..

.. but OMG please make it stop!



I don't know what it is about pregnant women that makes complete strangers think it's ok to give out unsolicited advice, but seriously everywhere I go I hear something from someone about how to raise my baby.

- Don't hold a baby too much, they will be spoiled

- Don't let a baby have a pacifier, it teaches them to put something in their mouths when they are upset and when they are older that can turn into them being emotional eaters. (seriously I have heard that from someone..)

- Sleep now, you won't be able to later. OK, yes I get that babies keep you up a lot, but it's not like sleeping today is going to make me less tired next month. When I am tired I sleep, but I am not going to sleep every second of every day for no reason.

- Don't do this, don't do that..  blah blah blah..

UGH. Sorry, I know I shouldn't complain. Everyone is just trying to help, but it does get slightly annoying at times.

And while I am complaining.. let me also add that it is really annoying when people ask me all the time when I think she will actually be here. Umm.. do I look like a psychic? I have no idea.. all I know is it will be sometime between today and her due date (or maybe even after that).

Again, I know I shouldn't complain because people are just excited to come meet her and I totally get that (I mean HELLO obviously I am excited to meet her too).. but I promise I will make sure I call/text/post a facebook status or something so everyone knows once she is here, but until then please RELAX a little. Everyone constantly asking and hoping she is here soon just stresses me out.. obviously I would love to have her now, but I also want her to come whenever she is ready to come and not a moment sooner.

ughhh... OK, rant OVER. Sorry! It's just been one of those days!

Is it Friday yet?? haha ;)

d a y d r e a m i n g . . .

.. about all things baby.

Today is March 29th. My due date is April 29th. So that means that sometime in the next month I will finally get to meet my little girl and I CAN'T WAIT <3

I had the option of either planning to stop working before the my due date or working up until whenever the little one decides to grace us with her presence. I chose to work as long as possible so that I can actually spend all of my time off with her when she is here rather than just waiting at home for her to come.

Well, I made that decision months ago.. and now even though I still think that's the best way for me to do it.. there are days when it is so hard for me to focus and get any work done.

I spend hours thinking about her and making lists constantly of things I still want to pick up or add to my hospital bag (or just random things I don't really even need haha).

I imagine holding her for the first time and I tear up just thinking about it. (I don't however get quite as excited when I think about the actual delivery..)

I literally cry just thinking about seeing Vince holding her for the first time.

And I still have 30 days to go.

Sounds like such a short time, but there are days when it seems like f.o.r.e.v.e.r.

So for now, I guess I will just continue to daydream about my little girl (and try to do some work too) and hopefully before I know it she will be here in my arms. (probably screaming.. but I won't think about that part just yet.. haha)

Kaylee's Nursery

This weekend Vince and I worked a little bit more on the nursery and I thought I would share with you what we have done so far.

**Please note.. it is not painted because we are living in an apartment right now... BUT things with our house have finally started moving along and looks like they will be done building in July (thank goodness!), so then we will be able to really finish her room. However for now we are working with what we have and I think it's looking pretty cute ;)

I loved the saying on the diaper cake from my shower so I took it apart and framed it ;)

 

I thought this box was so pretty and it ended up being perfect for holding diapers and lotion/creams/etc on the changing table

Girl has more clothes than me ;) haha (and this probably isn't even half of them lol)

So that's it on the nursery for now. I found a wall decal with a cute saying that I want to put over the crib and I need to hang curtains, but other than that I doubt we will be doing much more to her room.

Once our house is finally done being built we plan to have most of the rooms painted before we move in, so the nursery will look more finished then. Plus her room will be quite a bit bigger in the house and I want to get a book shelf to put in there too.. but anyways for now I am happy with how it turned out (there's no sense going crazy with it just to use it for a few months before we move haha)

Baby Shower

A few weeks ago my family and friends threw me a beautiful baby shower and I wanted to share some of the pictures from it. (I meant to post this awhile ago, but kept getting too lazy to upload all of the pictures) It was such a special day and I really appreciated everyone being there to celebrate this time with me. 

We are extremely blessed and clearly Miss Kaylee is very loved already <3

Baby Shower 2.26.11

Some of my favorite Hokies came to town for the weekend

Such a cute diaper cake from my sister-in-law Lauren :)

SO many presents!

Loved the cute favors my mom got

With some of my bests from high school

with my mom<3

With both of the Kaylee's grandmothers! A huge thank you to both of them for putting together such an amazing shower :)

Make sure to check back tomorrow for even more pictures... I finally decided to get out my actual camera (the iphone just wasn't cutting it anymore haha) and take a couple pics of what we have done so far in the nursery :)

Weekly BUMP Update

I took these pictures this morning and the sun was really bright so it was messing up the coloring, but at least I have some pics this week ;)



How far along: at about 34 - 35 weeks (ahh just typing that out makes me realize how close I am to 40 weeks!)

Total weight gain/loss: according to my scale no change since last week... so at a total of 16lbs (but I will find out at next weeks appointment if that is accurate or not)

Maternity clothes: Same as before.. some pants, but other than that just trying to make my normal clothes work. (and actually in the pictures above I am wearing my regular jeans with a hair band looped through the button so that they still fit haha)

Stretch marks: not as of now.

Sleep: This week has actually been somewhat better. I think that is because I have been so exhausted that I just kind of pass out at night haha.

Best moment this week: This has nothing to do with the baby.. but my dad called me Tuesday afternoon and said he just found out he had to fly to Philly that night so we got to meet up for dinner before he headed off to an appointment in Jersey. I miss my family so much and it really did make my entire week :)

Movement: constantly... and at times it hurts a little, but I can't complain I am just happy to feel her moving <3

Food cravings: same as normal, nothing crazy.

What I miss: well since yesterday was St. Patty's day I kind of missed being able to have a green beer ;)

Anything making you queasy or sick: Thankfully no.  

Gender: girl :)

Labor Signs: a couple contractions here and there like usual, but nothing out of the norm. Not sure why, but I kind of feel like she plans on staying in there until right around 40 weeks.

Belly Button in or out? In, but looking like it might pop out any day now...

Wedding rings on or off? On.

Weekly Wisdom: All first time mom's get nervous about being a new mom. I am SO excited to hold my little girl in my arms for the first time... but I am also getting a little nervous about whether or not I am going to know what I am doing. There are days when all I do is worry about if I will know how to do this or that the right way, and I read books about babies and search things online constantly. But after talking to a good friend this week, who is also a mom, she just laughed and said she felt that way too and told me to relax because everything just kind of falls into place and I (like all new moms) will figure it out as I go. So I am going to try to just not stress about it and instead just looked forward to meeting my little girl soon <3

Milestones: hmm... well I can't really think of any milestones that I have reached this week, but in general I am just so happy to finally be past all of the craziness that was going on in the beginning/middle of my pregnancy. It's nice to actually be able to just enjoy being pregnant and not have to worry about every little thing.

 

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Bloggers Block

So I have had a little case of writers blogger's block lately.

One reason being that I have been really busy the past couple of weeks with work and when I get home (I usually type up my posts the night before) I would rather just relax (or nap.. what can I say, pregnancy has turned me into an 80 yr old grandma) than think about something interesting to write about.

The second and main reason is that I feel like everything I want to post about revolves around either pregnancy or babies. I mean I could put up a post every single day (probably twice a day, seriously) about something related to that, but I'm sure you guys don't want to read about it ALL of the time and to be honest I didn't want this to become a baby blog 100% of the time. BUT since this blog is about me and my life, and right now my life is centered around being pregnant it makes it a little hard to avoid talking about it a lot.

So ANYWAYS... that is the reason for my current lack of writing... and since I like blogging and I can't think of much else other than babies these days, guess you are just going to have to read some more about it ;)

BUT I will promise to try to put in some posts about other topics too.. and to prove that I thought I would start with a post about my current obsessions (only non baby related ones of course! haha)

My Current Obessessions:

1. Starbucks Passion Iced Tea. Mmmm it is SO good. I'm not big on sweet tea so I always ask for mine unsweet (they just don't put the syrup in), but I'm sure it's just as good either way.

2. LIGHTS OUT. If you haven't seen this new show on FX and are looking for something that both you and your guy will like, then I totally recommend this! Vince and I both watch it every single week and talk about how good of a show it is. Basically it's just about a boxer who lost everything and is trying to make a comeback so he can provide for his family. It may not sound that great, but trust me it really is! (if you can find it on demand then I would try to go back and watch from the beginning)

3. Cover Girl Lash Blast Mascara. I ran out of the Bare Minerals Mascara that I usually use and while I was at Target last week I saw this on clearance and just grabbed it to use until I got a chance to go get the other one. Well, after using this the past week I LOVE it. It's cheaper (like seriously it was only about $5!), it works better, and I can get it anywhere instead of having to go to certain stores.

4. SPRING. I (probably like everyone else) am obsessing over the weather. I just CANNOT wait until it feels like Sring everyday! Tomorrow it's supposed to be sunny and around 70 degrees, and just thinking about it puts me in such a good mood. If I could I would choose to live somewhere that you get that kind of weather all year long ;)

5. and last but most importantly My Little Man <3. Ty is by far my #1 obsession of all time. With Vince working nights I would get so lonely if he wasn't there, plus I get lots of quality time snuggling with him ;)

(Please excuse his messy hair.. he has an appointment at the groomers this weekend and he needs it done bad!)

I'll be back tomorrow with a bump update post (yep, back to talking about the baby already lol!)

OH and Hope you all are having a great St. Patty's Day!! Make sure to drink some green beer for me :)