Week 19

Baby W this week…

- baby is working on his/her five senses
- nerve cells for these senses are developing in his/her brain
- a protective coating over his/her skin is developing

Size of the baby?

Baby is the size of a mango

 

 

Total Weight Gain/Loss?

+5 lbs @ 16 week appt. We will see how much more I have gained @ my doctors appt next week.

 

Maternity Clothes?

I've still only bought one pair of pants from Old Navy.

 

Stretch Marks?

None

 

Best Moments?

1/3/13 - felt the baby move FOR SURE and knew it was the baby!!! I was @ work on hold with a company and felt it...multiple times!! It was AMAZING!! I almost started crying!

 

Movement?

As I sit here and type this...I can feel him or her moving! That is something that will never get old!

 

Food Cravings?

Nothing really weird and I am no longer craving pickles. I really am loving mac and cheese still!

 

Anything making you queasy or sick?

Not at the moment

 

What I miss?

Tate bought a Leinenkugel's winter pack and it had Lemon Berry Shandy and I was jealous I couldn't have one...so glad I give birth @ the beginning of summer, sunshine and Shandy on the deck sounds nice!!!

 

Nausea/Vomiting?

None

 

Symptoms?

Lots of movement and growing belly!

 

Labor Signs?

Too soon

 

Gender?

I'm at 19 weeks and we find out @ 20 weeks, you do the math!!!

 

Belly Button In or Out?

Still a in...but almost not anymore

 

Wedding Rings On or Off?

Still on

 

Sleep?

I feel lucky that I don't wake up in the middle of the night @ all to pee...I get a solid 7-8 hours of uninterrupted sleep and I love it.

 

What I am looking forward to?

We have a home daycare interview next week with someone that has come highly recommended from 2 people (a co worker and my neighbor) and she happens to have an opening! Fingers crossed it works out and I get that good feeling!

 

Oh yeah...and finding out the gender ;)

 

My 1st 1/2 pregnancy essentials...

I can't believe I am almost to the half way point in my pregnancy...it's crazy to think about how fast it has already gone and how fast the next 20 weeks will go. Especially since I start tax season here soon and will be working really long hours.

Some items that I have found to be very beneficial during the first 20 weeks of my pregnancy...

1. Pregnancy Pillow
This thing is AWESOME!!! My Best Friend suggested one to me to get to help sleeping. I am not a 'side' sleeper...I am a back sleeper. So I tried from 13 weeks on to get use to sleeping on my side and hated it. So not comfortable for me. I got this pillow for Christmas from my parents and I love it!!

2. Mayo Clinic Guide to a Healthy Pregnancy
There are a few good pregnancy books out and I got this one because many people recommended it to me. This one gives me all the information I need so I don't feel like getting additional pregnancy book. It talks about what happens weekly and monthly. It has a chapter for 'Dad to be' and even talks about post pregnancy items. I have read most of it already and go back to it all the time!

3. Belly Band
Love this thing! None of my pants fit anymore and I don't want to spend a fortune on maternity clothes. The belly band gives me the option to wear my normal clothes. I have had mixed reviews on this from friends...some hated it, some loved it. I love it and would like to get it in one more color.

FYI: this is not a picture of me!

 

4. Tylenol
Only thing you can take for pain relief and headaches. I got so many headaches during the first 14 weeks. I guess instead of 'morning sickness', I received headaches. Not sure which I would rather have but I no longer get them as long or as often as I did then. Taking Tylenol and having a pop really helped.

5. iPhone pregnancy apps
I downloaded the BabyCenter and BabyBump apps. I use them both. I read the daily tid bit every morning on both and BabyBump has a weekly one also. They both have 'chat boards' and pictures. I find these very informational and love that they are right on my phone.

Is there anything you used or someone you know used during pregnancy that you would recommend?

 

This Weekend I...

Another weekend has come and gone...booo!!! I only have a few weekends left before tax season starts, which means working Saturdays until the tax deadline of April 16, 2013.

We had a weekend full of stuff to do and a list of things I wanted to get done!!

Tate had a wrestling tournament all day Saturday. I went towards the end of the tournament because we were going to go to a lasagna dinner at the coaches house after and then head to his works Christmas party. I had fun going and supporting my husband and then going to hang out with the wrestlers and their families and attend the Christmas Party. We watched the game @ the Christmas party and of course...I was really disappointed...but I had a very happy husband!

Sunday was my day of getting stuff done around the house since Saturday was busy with running around. We met another couple in the morning to sell another Craigslist item...love getting rid of that stuff! Tate had to work so I headed to church and then the gym!

I also hit up Menards for some shoe racks that they had on sale for $10. I bought 2 of them because our closet was in desperate need of organization. I didn't take a before picture...but you can see how pretty it looks now with the shoe rack!

Tate has more shoes than 5 pairs...don't let this photo fool you! He is one of those

guys that loves shoes....mainly Nike's!

 

This weekend was all about 'closet organization'! Since we moved the guest bedroom to the downstairs, organizing the closet in that room, the nursery and our closet are much needed!

 

I only started on the closets...as they have a lot of work. But here is what I started with in the nursery!

 

It's a small walk in closet...but very roomy for a nursery! I'm excited with what we can do with it. It currently holds my scarves, pillows, blankets, sheets, dresses, candles, iron, iron board and whole lot of other stuff that needs to be put elsewhere.

 

I then made my husband a nice batch of chili (I say husband because I don't eat chili, I made eggs, turkey bacon and toast for myself)!

 

We ended the weekend watching the season premiere of The Biggest Loser. I love inspirational shows like this and each episode makes my cry (worse now that I am pregnant and hormones are going crazy). Anybody else watch? Only thing...I just wish each episode wasn't 2 hours long!

 

 

  

Christmas 2012

Finally...the Christmas post! Lots to recap so let's get to it :)

 

Our first Christmas took place on December 15th on my Mom's side of the family. We decided to also celebrate my Grandpa's 91st birthday on the same day since his birthday was a few days later.


The little kids always exchange names for gifts and the adults bring a boy or girl gift and then we draw numbers and do the whole pick a gift or steal someone's gift and you always want a later number. Tate ended up with a wrench set and I ended up with the game, Cards Against Humanity!!! We were excited about our gifts!

 

After spending a wonderful time with my Mom's side of the family, it was back to work for the week before heading out of town for a long Christmas vacation. We left town on the Friday before Christmas to head to Tate's hometown in eastern WI.

 

We loved hanging out with friends and family while in WI.

Mya loving spending time with her Grandpa!!

 

Love my in-laws!!!

 

The dogs are very interested in all the presents...especially when they are for them!!!

 

After spending time with Tate's family, we headed down to my hometown on Christmas Eve morning to spend Christmas with my side of the family! Long drive...but it is very worth it!

 

Mya fell in love with her new football from my parents...and so did I because it keeps her busy for longer than 5 minutes :)

 

Loved wearing this cute Gap dress that I have had for a while...perfect lil' black pregnancy dress! Shows off the 'bump' nicely!!!

 

My parent's with my Grandparents (Dad's side) - Sister very excited about her gift

 

Baby W was spoiled for Christmas! A few hoodie towels, a Vikings & Packers outfit...making it equal :) Tate's lil' brother gave us the onesie with a football on it that says 'born to compete' which is PERFECT if you knew my husband...most competitive person!! Also received a Twins Mauer jersey, books, and toys! Love the variety! Can't wait for lil' to wear and use these things!!!

 

Christmas 2012 was wonderful. It's very exciting knowing that next Christmas we will have a lil' one to celebrate with and to share with our family! I look forward to Baby W's first Christmas!!!

 

2013 Goals

Call them goals, New Year resolutions...what you  may!!! I love GOALS...so this year, I don't have New Year resolutions...I have goals!

Watch less TV

There are so many shows out there that I watch that are junk. I wouldn't mind downgrading our current package to get less channels. It's very difficult when your husband has to have ESPN. Only channel on his request list. I'll look into possible new options when our contract is up in July but for now I have deleted shows on my DVR list and will try not to come home every night and turn on the TV.

Fully fund our emergency fund

Being an accountant, I am very conscious of where we spend our money and we have a budget every month. Some may think it's extreme, but I love the way we do it and I look forward to doing our budget every month. Tate and I decided in May last year that we would get serious about our financial goals and we are reaching them and it feels GREAT! We would have had our emergency funded by December 2012 if we hadn't decided to remodel 3 rooms in our house, but it was needed and we really wanted it done before we had a child. If everything goes to plan, we should have our emergency fund fully funded by April 2013.

Start paying off mortgage early

All our 'extra' money is going to our emergency fund so after that is funded, we have the baby and I am back to work, we will like to put that extra money towards our mortgage and pay it off early. I am not a fan of debt...never have been and never will be. I just imagine what we could do with that money every month if we had our house paid off and we are not paying interest on a huge loan. We put a little tiny bit towards it each month, but not enough to really do anything so adding to it and having it move faster to zero would make this goal achievable in due time!

Make work lunches night before

Yes, I am one of those wives that makes her husband's lunch everyday! We save a lot of money doing it that way and I don't mind doing it. Besides, Tate is such a workaholic hard-worker and barely stops to eat what I pack for him, he wouldn't take the time to go buy something so he would go hungry all day!! Men?!?! It seriously saves so much time doing it the night before so I don't know why I just don't do it! I just get lazy @ night. Well I am going to start and hopefully stick with it!

Meet my pregnancy goal
A fellow blogger, Kristin, did this goal during her pregnancy and I thought it was so great that I wanted to do it during mine. The day I found out I was pregnant, I started. I was about 3 days shy of being 5 weeks pregnant so I made the goal of doing 10 miles a week for a total of 350 miles during my pregnancy. I like to run and did it regularly before my pregnancy so I thought that 350 of walking, jogging and elliptical shouldn't be a problem. So far I have done mostly walking. I have done a total of 125.61 (as of 1/1/13) miles since September 28, 2012. I am still on pace of about 10 miles a week and really hope that this goal is still attainable later in my pregnancy!

Become more organized

This whole 'nesting' thing is so awesome! I have bags ready for Goodwill and feel like how house is becoming so organized. I want to continue to improve. I don't like being at work thinking about what I need to get done @ home. I want to feel less stress and being more organized will help!

Have a healthy baby

We pray lots for a healthy baby! We pray that everything will go great throughout my pregnancy and that I have a healthy delivery. I'm not sure if this is a 'goal' but it is something BIG happening in 2013 for us so I felt it was necessary to mention!

Week 18

*Note to self...don't wear loose sweater for belly shots, make you look bigger than you really are*

 

Baby W this week…

-baby is yawning, hiccuping, sucking, & swallowing

-baby is also twisting, punching, rolling & kicking.

 

Size of the baby?

Baby is the size of a sweet potato

 

Total Weight Gain/Loss?

Still haven't bought a scale...so we sit @ +5lbs from my 16 week appt

 

Maternity Clothes?

Bought a pair of black maternity pants from Old Navy

 

Stretch Marks?

Zero, zip...nada

 

Best Moments?

Feeling the baby move! I wasn't sure if what I was actually feeling was a hungry stomach or gas, but I am pretty sure it was the baby!!! Best thing ever!!

 

Movement?

Just starting to feel it! Can't wait for more and for Tate to feel it!

 

Food Cravings?

Still just want milk, pickles and mac & cheese

 

Anything making you queasy or sick?

Nothing making actually queasy or sick...but I can't eat veggies

 

What I miss?

Fitting into my clothes.

 

Nausea/Vomiting?

Nope

 

Symptoms?

Aches and pains, belly and boobies continue to grow

 

Labor Signs?

Way too soon for this!

 

Gender?

Unknown for 2 more weeks

 

Belly Button In or Out?

Still an in...but getting more and more shallow

 

Wedding Rings On or Off?

Still on!

 

Sleep?

Good. I don't ever wake up in the night. Pregnancy pillow is wonderful!

 

What I am looking forward to?

Continuing setting up the nursery. Tate set up the crib and changing table when he was off on Monday!!!



Top 2012 moments

I can't believe that 2012 has come and gone. Another year for the books. I feel like 2012 was a great blessing and 2013 will be even better!

We started 2012 out right by celebrating big (big for us)!!


In July we attended an annual Canoe Trip down the St. Croix and it was SUPER FUN!!!

 

In May we took a 'mini-vacation' to Chicago.

 

My best friend welcomed twin girls into the world...an AMAZING blessing!!!

 

I met some pretty amazing bloggers at not ONE or TWO get together...but THREE!!

 

My siblings and I threw my Mom a 'surprise' 60th birthday party!!!

 

I attended my first Streetball tournament with Tate!!

 

I competed and finished another sprint triathlon!

 

We celebrated our One Year Wedding Anniversary!!!

 

Of course our #1 moment of 2012 was finding out we were expecting!!!! We are very very VERY excited for this journey and can't wait to meet Baby W in late spring!!!

 

 I hope you all had a safe and happy New Year!!