25 Weeks

How far along? 25 weeks. Or 7 months - whoa. Does that sound really far along? Baby is the size of a cauliflower, and weighs around 1.5 lbs. He knows up from down and is growing more hair!

Total weight gain: 12 pounds. Baby is growing!

Maternity Clothes:  All maternity pants and most tops. Some maternity tops are still a little big, and some of my regular tops still fit. I have quite the selection now. 

Stretch Marks: None yet.

Sleep: Saturday was a record low at 2 hours - and we were at a hotel with no Hallmark Channel. It was tough finding something to watch. I suffered through an entire episode of Love It or List it where they didn't decide to Love It or List it. It only added to my exasperation. 

Best Moment this Week: MS getting to feel Sunburst kick. I think he was really excited! 

Miss anything? Nope. Loving getting ready for our boy! 

Movement: I feel him a lot! I try not to be a little bitter I don't think I feel him quite as much because of the anterior placenta, just happy he's healthy and moving around! 

Food Cravings: Salt salt salt. Me and the Morton girl are BFF. I'm thinking of inviting her to my baby shower. 

Anything making you queasy or sick: Back to the first trimester nausea after eating. 

Exercise: Still going pretty strong. Enjoyed my last evening run downtown while daylight allows.

Gender: All blue! 

Labor signs: Negative. 

Symptoms: The sciatic pain all but disappeared. I don't know if it is luck or the PT or a combination- but what a relief! 

Most looking forward to: Putting his nursery together. Now that all the big decisions are made and ordered, it's going to be fun seeing it all put together and putting on the finishing touches. 

Three Years

Three Years of marriage, or 156 weeks, if you are getting used to counting in weeks...

Such a happy day!  God blessed me beyond what I deserve when he brought you along.

 I think this next year will be one of our most challenging but best yet.

Praying for many more years with you by my side.

Sugar and Shopping and a Wedding

 Since we last spoke, we've done a lot of eating (for MS' birthday), and some traveling east (for a wedding).

First stop - cookie slop pie. Well, the official name is No Bake Cookie Pie. Cookie slop is Matt's mom's recipe and it's basically the same thing in a 9x13 - chocolate chip cookies dipped in milk layered with cool whip. It is absolutely fabulous and ridiculously easy.

We did eat an actual meal beforehand. Pioneer Woman's Penne alla Vodka. You haven't lived until you've been to the liquor store 6 months pregnant.

On Friday's grocery store run I saw this monstrosity. We all know how that game ended. RTR.

Confession: I've never made chili. So of course I decided that's what I had to cook for my family dinner for Matt's birthday. My friend's recipe did not disappoint and it was the perfect meal for a cold Fall night.

Mom made the red velvet cake - Matt's favorite.

Before heading to Atlanta on Saturday we dropped Namath at Doggy Day Camp - aka the vet by Matt's parents house. Boarding him at a different vet has proved way less traumatic for his tender ego. Despite the stink eye in this pic.

I got 3 of 6 magazines read on the trip, and we arrived at the hotel to this cute welcome bag.

The wedding and reception were gorgeous. Loved these centerpieces - I'm a sucker for a hydrangea. They had food stations from all the countries they've traveled together as a couple. Thailand, Italy, France and Australia as well as a Southern food station for Georgia. Delicious! When else can you eat pad thai and mashed potatoes in one sitting?!

You know MS wasted no time getting out on the dance floor.

Erin was a beautiful bride! That dress...maybe one of the prettiest I've seen. If I knew the names of fabrics, I would tell you, but it was really different and oh so pretty.

We made our first trip to Ikea Sunday on our way out of town. We picked up quite a few things, and besides an odd and end, all of our main items for the nursery are purchased.

A sneak peak at one of our finds:

We fit it all in, thank goodness.

Being a mile from The Varsity, there was only one thing left to do.

24 Weeks

Remind me to stop taking pictures at 9 p.m. Yikes. 

How far along? 24 weeks. Baby is the size of an eggplant. WHOA. That seems really big! Baby boy gained 4 ounces this week. His body is filling out with fat (I've been helping with that), and his brain is growing quickly. Taste buds are becoming more developed and lungs are are developing 'branches' of the respiratory 'tree'.

Total weight gain: 11 pounds so far. 

Maternity Clothes: Yes. I can still wear some longer and looser regular tops, but I do like the fitted maternity tops for comfort and to show off the sweet bump, and I think we can all agree more fitted clothes make you look smaller than big drapey tents. 

Stretch Marks: No, I think last week was a false alarm.

Sleep: This changes constantly - I'm aware of the irony. It's back to the stage where if I wake up to use the bathroom, it's hard to go back to sleep. I've watched a lot of I Love Lucy and Frasier reruns this week. Thank goodness for the Hallmark Channel and their full night of regular programming. 

Best Moment this Week: Clothes shopping with my mom. We found so many cute things, and had lunch outside in the beautiful weather. It was such a treat to be off work and just enjoy time preparing for baby.

Miss anything? Besides the obvious, not really.

Movement: Yes! Feel him moving all day. He's especially active early in the mornings, and late at night. If this trend continues, we are in for an adjustment. He was super quiet all day Saturday after my longer run, and it made me nervous all day. But Sunday, he was back at it.

Food Cravings: Still love the salty more than the sweet. I downed some fried pepperoni (don't judge), wings and french fries for Matt's birthday dinner Friday without a thought. 

Anything making you queasy or sick: Back to the whole 'taste of food in my mouth makes me feel sick' phase. The Dentyne Fire gum has been my go to. 

Exercise: Yes. It's getting darker for longer in the mornings, so I've found a YouTube cardio workout I like. I wasn't sure about it at first, but I've been sore every day after doing it, so I've stuck with it. I'll usually run after work one day, do a day of upper body weights and a longer run on Saturday. 

Gender: Boy!

Labor signs: Nope.

Symptoms: Really feeling pretty good! I don't think I've fallen prey to a lot of the symptoms I get in my weekly updates, so I count that as a win. 

Most looking forward to: Putting the nursery together! We are also debating a 4D ultrasound. Did anyone do this? Recommend it? 

On Your 32nd Birthday

The love of my life turns 32 today. I'm so glad he was born!

I just love what you bring to our family - a sense of calm, and a lot of fun.

There's not a doubt in my mind you will make the best Daddy for Sunburst. People already comment on what a great dad and a help you will be. It makes me so proud to call you mine. I know Sunburst will feel the same!

I know I've said this a million times before, but I'm always blown away by what a servant you are. Without one complaint, you are always doing for me and Namath, and most of the time without even being asked.

This year I've seen you use that gift even more as you take on roles outside the home - leadership roles that require a lot of serving. It's such a joy to see you use your gifts.

Love you so much and so thankful you are mine!

Cause and Effect

MS left yesterday on a short work trip. Which meant a lazy Sunday for me and the Grizz, and way too many photos and videos of his behavior. Crazy dog lady...is that a thing. Turn the volume up and enjoy...

Happy Monday.

Five on Friday

Fall is for real in the air now - even though I tried to force it weeks ago. We can sleep with a window open and let in some cool air and it's now feasible to run after work without dying of heat exhaustion. Cue the boots and scarves.

1. Wax On, Wax Off
In celebration, my house needs to smell like pumpkin or cinnamon or crisp fall leaves. Fortunately, I stumbled across this wax warmer at a friends baby shower and couldn't believe how great it was at filling your house with whatever fragrance your heart desires. We are currently enjoying the Better Homes & Garden refill you can pick up at Wal-Mart - spiced pumpkin pie. The warmer was about $15 and refills are $2-$3 for 8 wax cubes.

2. The Great Pumpkin
About the time it cooled off, I got a bee in my bonnet about actually decorating for Fall this year, since we were still getting settled this time last year. A quick trip to Garden Ridge and the farmers market, and here we are. I'm just thrilled Namath hasn't peed on the pumpkins yet. Although he does like to pretend to smell the pumpkins, and grab a fireplace rock and run off to eat it. You can see quite a chunk missing. Snakes in the head...

3. Soups On
I don't think I'm alone in the soup boat. It's easy, delicious and makes enough for leftovers. I believe we are going to start implementing Soup Sundays to take full advantage of soup season. We pushed to Monday this week and started with one of my favorites - white chicken chili. 

4. Mark Your Calendar
In an attempt to get organized before bebe rocks our worlds, I decided we needed a calendar app. Cozi came highly rated, so we are giving it a whirl. Anyone else have a shared calendar app you love?

5. Sparkle
Speaking of boats, I'm the last person on this one. LOVE this nice break from plain water without having to venture to diet drinks all the time.

23 Weeks

After a day of work and a PT appointment

How far along? 23 weeks. Baby is the size of a mango - or a baseball glove on the 'man chart'. Doesn't a baseball glove seem much larger than a mango? What do I know.

Total weight gain: Still at 10 lbs, and really think my bathroom scale is wrong. In a good way. I'm considering selling it after this pregnancy to a lucky buyer.

Maternity Clothes: Yes! Gap had a huge Columbus Day sale, and I racked up. Thanks, Christopher, for sailing the ocean blue in 1492 so I could get dresses and sweaters for 40% off.

Stretch Marks: I thought maybe I saw one and had a panic attack, but I don't think I did. So, I'm going to say no.

Sleep: Can't complain.

Best Moment this Week: Seeing all the movement kick into high gear. Close second is making a labored decision over crib bedding.

Miss anything? Well, it is Thursday, so I'll be missing that glass of wine, or three, with all the good shows.

Movement: Oh yes! It's crazy how fast it's picked up from here and there to very consistent coupled with seeing it from the outside. It's surreal!

Food Cravings: I wish I had some crazy craving to share. I just like to eat. Matt's birthday dinner is this weekend and I'm looking forward to some hot wings.

Anything making you queasy or sick: Eating too much. Note to self for said birthday dinner.

Exercise: Completed a 5 miler Saturday with no walk breaks! (Unless you count the stop lights, which is just safety, in my opinion). The cool weather has helped keep the pace and heartrate as easy as they need to be.

Gender: Boy.

Labor signs: The only sign I have it's coming is there is a baby in there.

Symptoms: The PT was so helpful to teach me some stretches and strengthening exercises to help with sciatic pain. She is a runner, and was so encouraging about me being able to run as long as possible. I also got a short little massage out of the appointment - not a bad way to spend a Tuesday afternoon.

Most looking forward to: Heading to IKEA next weekend to pick out a dresser/changing table. Starting to put his nursery together is so fun!

Catching Up

I've gotten a little behind. But with good excuse, I think.

I spent last week in the ATL for a work conference. I had a pretty, albeit scary, view of this random carousel that sits in the middle of downtown. Any locals no the purpose of this fair ride in the middle of the city? Although the view was nice, I found myself waking in the middle of the night wondering just how much I trusted the engineers that designed this round, nearly all glass hotel. What kind of grades did they make in college? And did they have a masters?

To distract myself, I conquered one of the milestones that every adult should - a quiet dinner alone. Not so quiet, because it was a blues joint, and I had this guy serenading me. The picture is a little blurry. I tried to be quick so as to not have him think I was a big fan and try to pull me up on the stage or some other sort of nonsense. It should also be noted the whole reason I picked this place was that I was dying for a spinach salad - and it was divine.

After dinner alone, I got the treat of eating with a friend I don't see nearly often enough. She was kind enough to give me door to door service and we hit up - where else - Mexican. The tacos, I still dream about them.

I arrived home for a glorious weekend in Birmingham. We did a whole lot of spending time together with nothing on the agenda. It was wonderful and I soaked in every moment - as did Namath, who got to take a field trip for a Puppy Sunday.

No time for pictures when milk-bones and ice cream are involved.

Needless to say he was a happy camper.

We also did some outdoor dining - bonus points it was Mexican outdoor dining - some clothes shopping for me, shoe shopping for MS, and pulled the trigger on some nursery bedding. I also moved offices and made my first pot of soup of the season.

I think that about brings us up to speed.

22 Weeks

PSA: I usually don't make it regular practice to take selfies in a hotel room (or ever), but I'm out of town this week so I'm leaving my pride behind for sake of documenting week 22. It was this or have housekeeping take my pic. I think I chose correctly. 

How far along? 22 weeks. Baby is the size of a papaya. Or in terms we can all embrace- he weighs as much as a bag of tortilla chips and is as long as a pack of Oreos. Where have these measurements been weeks 6-21?

Total weight gain: Right at 10 lbs. would love to keep this slow pace but I have no delusions the third trimester and the food centered holidays to come won't take their toll. 

Maternity Clothes: I dare not try to wear regular pants. What's the point? But dresses and my regular loose tops still work great. 

Stretch Marks: Nope. But I did "invest" in some Palmers Cocoa Butter. I feel misled. I thought it would smell like the beach. It does not. 

Sleep: Can't complain. 

Best Moment this Week: Baby boy is moving so much more this week! So reassuring- but still a little weird! Heart rate was 160 at this months appointment - if we didn't know he was a he that old wives tale would have me fooled. 

Miss anything? A big glass of wine with Thursday night TV. 

Movement: Yep!

Food Cravings: Nothing in particular. The sweets aren't making me so sick anymore, and I could kill for some chocolate fro yo as I type...

Anything making you queasy or sick: Nah. Feeling pretty good!

Exercise: Still running 3x a week and trying to do weights as well. I feel super tight lately and have heard good things about prenatal yoga. Any DVD suggestions? Would like something I could do at home. 

Gender: Boy!

Labor signs: Nope. 

Symptoms: I mentioned the sciatic pain to my doctor and she referred me to a PT "because it's only going to get worse". Hoping a couple sessions will help me learn to relieve some of the pain, because What to Expect was zero help. Pelvic tilts in my cube? NO THANKS. 

Most looking forward to: Getting the nursery started. I'm giving myself an Oct. 31 deadline to pick bedding, crib and glider are on the way! 

Mental Health Weekend

Work has been crazy for me and MS lately - so a few weeks ago we decided to take a long weekend and take a breather.

We started Friday morning with some play time for the boys.

And a coffee treat for the lone girl. I detoured away from the Pumpkin Spice to the land of Salted Caramel Mocha. SCM.

Namath won the battle of the bone.

Spoiler Namath: No one wants that nasty thing but you. 

We headed to the promised land of bouncy seats and bottles armed with my excel spreadsheet and some chocolate covered pretzels. I needed a snack for this process.

I really think the bottle/paci situation was the most confusing of all the gear. I debated the gumdrop vs. regular.

While someone did a close inspection of the video monitors. Isn't he festive in his blue?

After all that time in a baby store, he deserved a cold one at lunch. Note the glazed over eyes. I also had a cold one. A cold Fresca.

To aid the healing process, we went somewhere a little less babyish - Home Depot.

Into our cart went the beginnings of a closet system. MS is excited to put it together.

Saturday we pulled the trigger on a crib. I really, really wanted the gray to work, but the nursery walls are gray, as is the glider and someone needed to stop the madness, lest the nursery look like an elephant's nest. So, we got this crib in white.

We also ventured to test out the new Fresh Market, where they had any baked good you could imagine in pumpkin flavor. #PumpkinTrend.

THEY ALSO HAD AN OLIVE BAR. I felt this was picture worthy.

Lest you think our mental health weekend was anything but, we also did a lot of DVR cleaning, movie watching and junk food eating - and a little exercise.

So, there.

Running in the First Trimester

Now that I'm well out of the first trimester, I feel like I can speak with the tiniest of authority on running in the first trimester - and thus far. I'm not a doctor, I don't even play one on TV, so of course listen to the advice of your doctor about what's best for you and your pregnancy.

One of the first things I did when I found out I was pregnant was call the doctor to a)schedule an appointment b) ask if running was still ok. They recommended more of a walk/jog until the first visit to ensure everything was going well. Thus, the wog was born. It was a big slow down from what I was used to, but honestly, it was a welcome break and good reason to take it easy - especially factoring in the June Alabama heat. I was doing .25 walk/.25 run.

 I wogged my way to my first appointment, where they found a bleed (nothing to do with running, happened when the baby implanted), so I was put on rest until they could check again at 8 weeks.

I was cleared at 8 weeks to start back running. My doctor is conservative and is very hesitant to tell me to sign up for a half, but told me to listen to my body, and since I was running before, it should be totally fine. I had to work my way back up to running, with a lot of walk breaks. I've slowly worked back up to where I run more than walk, but the speed is much slower, yet the effort feels the same. After a lot of research, and asking around, I really think keeping up my running, when done smart, has great benefits for me and Sunburst.

First run with Baby S.

A few things I've learned along the wog:

1. Listen to your body
Ugh. That phrase is so cliche I almost hate to put it on there, but it's true. If you are used to pushing the pace, racing up hills and battling the heat, it's a huge change of mindset that ALL those things are not ok. I've never followed the heart rate rule of thumb, as I understand it's outdated, but I do follow the talk test. You may feel like a crazy person talking to yourself out on your run, but it was a good indicator that if I struggled to speak, I was pushing too hard, (ignore that 11 minute pace on the Garmin, baby steals a lot of blood and energy) and it's time for a walk break. Hills usually always make me fail the test, and there are some steep ones in my hood, so I walk all of them and still feel I'm getting a great workout. The goal is to be active - not to set any records.You're lapping everyone on the couch, and hopefully preparing yourself for an easier delivery. Cheers to that.

2. Water is Your Friend....
I've never taken water on a run except when training for the full, but in the heat of summer, the danger of overheating and/or dehydrating scared me enough to make me bring along a bottle. Also be sure to drink another bottle when you get home. Baby is taking a lot out of you, if I haven't mentioned that.

3. Sort of
Make sure you have some bathroom breaks along the way. Even if it's just 3 miles. Even if you went before you left the house. The pounding makes the slightest fullness in the bladder will make it scream. Also scream worthy: when you just have to go, swear a car isn't coming, and one zooms by mid-stream. I pretended I was tying my shoe. With my tail out. I'm sure it was all very graceful. Don't let this happen to you. 

4. Enjoy
After years of training for races and changing distance up and down, it's been nice to run just for the sheer health benefits (for me and baby). Growing a life places a large demand on your body, so there is no shame in a slower pace, walk breaks, and just doing the best you can that day. I sound like Andy Griffith.

Happy running!