27 Weeks

Tomorrow I will be 27 weeks pregnant with our Baby Boy.  And considering it's been about a month since I posted an updated belly picture...this post is way past due!  We took this picture on Christmas night in front of our own little tree.  I'm being told more and more now how much I'm growing.  And am starting to get comments from strangers, meaning I guess it's pretty obvious now that it's a preggo belly and not a Holiday food belly :)

And now for the stats:

How far along? 27 weeks.

Baby size? 14.5 inches long and weighs about 2 pounds
What's going on with the baby? Baby boy is super active!  Many people have been able to feel him move, and my stomach definitely shows movement (which is kinda weird but very cool).  He looks like a thinner, more wrinkled version of what he will look like at birth and will begin filling out with baby fat for the next 13 weeks.  His immune system is maturing and his lungs are getting more and more practice for his first gulp of air.

Total weight gain/loss: At my 24 week appointment I had gained a total of 12-ish pounds from the beginning of the pregnancy. (They didn't tell me specifically, but I think it was something like that)

Maternity clothes? I'm mostly wearing all maternity clothes now.  I have very few "normal" shirts that are long enough now.  And even sweatshirts/t-shirts are getting tight.  I don't think any of my coats will button/close anymore :)

Stretch marks? None yet. I'm use Palmer's Cocoa butter massage cream for stretch marks after showers.

Sleep: I wake up a lot during the night (every time I turn over).  I'm having to go to the bathroom more often.  And I wake up with pain in my right hip most nights.

Best moment this week: Having other people be able to see and feel his movements, and celebrating Christmas with the Bean!
Awkward moment this week: Having a random guy ask me if I was going snowboarding with a baby...and then asking if that was even legal (I was just picking up hubby's board from the ski check!)

Miss anything? Sleeping on my stomach, Diet Dr. Pepper, and sushi from Mikuni

Movement: He is super active now.  I feel movement pretty much through out the day.  The movements are getting stronger, and we can see little body parts as he shifts positions.

Food cravings: Nothing out of the ordinary.

Anything making you queasy or sick? Chicken is still a little iffy, but I was able to eat some over the holidays with no problems.

Have you started to show yet? Definitely! 

Gender prediction: Boy!

Labor signs: Nope. 

Belly button in or out? In for now.  Although I can see a change coming sadly.

Wedding rings on or off? On.

Happy or moody most of the time? Happy. At least I think so... Maybe a little emotional at times.

Looking forward to: Making more progress on the nursery and starting the New Year countdown to baby boy!

Holiday Recap

Now that the holidays are nearly over (so sad about that!), I thought I should do a little catch up and post some highlights of the recent holidays so far.

Here are a few pictures of some little activities that have taken place this month:

Our Christmas tree.  I had to play with my new DSLR camera!

This was my Dad's Christmas Concert at Church.  He is the one dressed like Joseph :)

The week before Christmas it is now a tradition for my family to make the short drive up the hill to South Lake Tahoe and stay there for about a week.  My parents have an awesome time share where the lobby literally opens to the gondola entrance for the Heavenly Ski resort.  This year, there wasn't a whole lot of skiing/boarding going on...the hubs is the only one that got to go up, and that was only for one day!  Very unfortunate.  This was my first season being up there and not being able to snowboard...it was very weird.  But other than that, we all had a great time hanging out and just being with family.  My sister and her husband were there, and my Aunt and Uncle from Texas were able to come out for a few days as well!  I love this time of year and being able to be with family.

Outdoor skating rink at the time share

Dark Lord beer that the boys have been waiting months to try!

Toasting via Skype with Hubby's brother in law who they got the beer from

The drive home from Tahoe took much longer than it should have due to conditions like this...

But once we finally got down the mountain and out of the snow (Heavenly got 36 inches that day!!), we were greeted by some more Southern California family that came up to spend Christmas with us!   My Aunt, Uncle and two cousins drove up to spend some time with us.

My Aunt (left) and my mom (right)

My Aunt, my cousin, my mom and my sister

My Uncle

Hubs, cousin, and uncle, all watching sports no doubt!

Peppermint Martini by the fire

We have had so much fun with them, and obviously wish we could see them more often!  Those kids are growing so fast its incredible!

Christmas day was a lot of fun.  Hubby and I woke up and exchanged our presents to each other from The Bean.  I got a prenatal massage (so excited!) and he got Lego's that will be decorations in the Bean's room until he's old enough to play with them.  Then we gathered up the puppies and headed over to my parents house.  We all opened presents and had our traditional breakfasts (Mom's homemade bubble coffee cake for us, and sausage and biscuits with gravy for the hubs :) ).  Then it was time to get cooking!  The rest of the day was spent preparing Christmas dinner (for the  ladies) and watching movies/playing with new toys (for the boys).  All in all, a very good day :)

Wine toppers homemade by my cousin!

Sorry for such a long post!  But I hope your holidays were just as special!!

Holiday Cookies

This post is long over due, but I wanted to do a quick one just to show the fun sugar cookies I made for a Christmas Party the hubby and I attended a few weeks ago (see...I told you it was long overdue!).  I always like to make pretty or cute foods when we attend parties.  This is when I usually turn to Pinterest.  So this time around I found these fun "melted snowman" sugar cookies that looked easy enough.

But, when I looked at the recipe, I didn't have cream of tartar or most of the ingredients for the toppings.  So I went searching for some other recipes that I could use that would give me a similar outcome.  I ended up using this recipe for the cookies  and this recipe for the icing.

For my first attempt, I thought they came out pretty good.  I probably could have made them smaller, and used the packaged gel icing for the decorations, but ....oh well!  Live and learn!

Nursery Progress

Over the weekend, since we had a torrential downpour in our area, we decided to start on the inside project of the nursery.  I've been getting more and more nervous about getting everything done for the little guy...so hubby indulged me this weekend since he couldn't work in our pond of a yard.  We took a trip over to Home Depot and picked out a paint color for the walls.  The room we chose is already a shade of blue, but not the same shade I was looking for, and it also desperately needed a fresh coat.  After little deliberation (I'm usually pretty fast about choosing paint colors), I decided on Sapphire Lace by Behr.

First, some before pictures...

This room was kind of a "catch all" room before.  It housed all of the Cubs/Colts memorabilia, Hubby's old trophies and high school tennis pictures, old electronics,....just a mishmash of things.  Our first order of business was to clear out the room of stuff that will not remain in the nursery.  Then, since its not recommended that I paint right now...I got to taping. 

And finally, we (John) got the the majority of the paint on the walls.  All we have left to paint is the edges around the ceiling and in the corners.  

Now I know we didn't paint all the way down to the floor, but that is because our plan is to put white beadboard around the bottom half of the wall.  So we painted down far enough to be covered up by the beadboard.  I love the color!  I love how bright and rich the blue is.  I think it will go great with the white and the airplane theme :)  

Next step...new carpet and baseboards!

23 Weeks

This past Thursday I hit the 23 week mark.  It's a very strange feeling to be more than halfway done.  And to think that we have just about 4 months left (give or take) until baby boy arrives.  Now March doesn't seem so far away.  So, on to the update...

I'm going to steal a little "survey" type update that my friend Natalie has been using for her updates.  Hopefully she doesn't mind!

How far along? 23 weeks.

Baby size? 11.5 inches long and weighs 1.1 pounds
What's going on with the baby? He is very active and moving around a lot now.  It is even possible to see slight movements on the surface.  He is more proportioned from head size to the rest of his body and is starting to look more like a newborn.

Total weight gain/loss: At my 21 week appointment I had gained a total of 6 pounds from the beginning of the pregnancy.  I will likely be closer to 10 at my next appointment.

Maternity clothes? Definitely wearing maternity pants when I can.  They are much more comfortable.  I still wear the belly band for work pants.  And am wearing mostly maternity tops, but still have a few larger sweaters that work as well.

Stretch marks? None yet. I'm use Palmer's Cocoa butter massage cream for stretch marks after showers.

Sleep: I wake up a lot during the night (every time I turn over).  I also have to go to the bathroom at least once a night (sometimes more if we are sleeping in).  It has been hard adjusting to sleeping on my side, and am now using a pillow for between my knees.  But my hips get sore and that also wakes me up.

Best moment this week: Picking out the paint color for the nursery and actually getting 90% of the painting done!
Awkward moment this week: Haven't really had any awkward moments yet.  No random people trying to touch my belly thank goodness!

Miss anything? Sleeping on my stomach, Diet Dr. Pepper, and sushi from Mikuni

Movement: He has been very active, but it is normally when I'm not active.  When I sit down after dinner, or before bed, or just at my desk at work, he kicks and punches a lot.  I'm feeling more sweeping motions now too instead of just kicks.

Food cravings: I had a craving for sugar cookies....but I think that might just be all of the holiday hype :)

Anything making you queasy or sick? Chicken doesn't sit very well with me.  It doesn't make me feel bad, it just doesn't stay down.

Have you started to show yet? Yep.  I think I popped right around Thanksgiving.  I've finally gotten comments from people now.  Which means I look pregnant enough to where they aren't afraid to ask :)

Gender prediction: Boy!

Labor signs: Nope. 

Belly button in or out? In for now.  Although I can see a change coming sadly.

Wedding rings on or off? On.

Happy or moody most of the time? Happy. At least I think so...

Looking forward to: Seeing my family for the holidays.  And also getting the nursery more ready.