20 Weeks!

So here we are! 20 Weeks! We're halfway there (livin' on a prayer!) and honestly it feels like this pregnancy is flying by...that's both wonderful and SCARY AS HELL lol

so let's see what our little boy is up to this week...



This week the baby is the size of...



holy hell he's the size of a cantaloupe!! omg that's insane lol

He's about 6 and a half inches from head to bottom and 10 and a half inches from head to toe. And he weighs about ten and a half ounces! He's getting big!



at this point he is developing his own sleep patterns and has a favorite position to sleep in in there! that;s so cute :) If i pay attention to when he's moving I can figure out if he's a morning person (like his daddy) or a night owl (like me). We'll see!

his digestive system is making meconium which is a fancy word for in-utero baby poop. Gross, i know. It is made up of swallowed amniotic fluid and skin cells and stuff like that and hopefully will stay in his body until after he is born.

His boy bits are fully formed now (as we saw) and his sex is able to be determined on an ultrasound (as we know!). We go back on Tuesday for another ultrasound where it will be reconfirmed for us that he is, in fact, a he :)


here's what a baby at 20 weeks looks like - he's big!

he is developing additional layers of skin now and has about 4 layers total. The vernix (the waxy coating on his skin to protect him from the amniotic fluid) is covering his skin still and will stay there until he is born.

From now on the big thing the baby will be working on is gaining weight. His organs are all developed and in place and everything is working. He's just gonna grow and get bigger.

Also from now on his measurements will be from head to toe instead of from head to foot because it's easier to get an accurate idea of his head to foot measurements now that he's more stretched out.

As for me, my uterus is at or just below my bellybutton (it's just below, they checked today at the doctor) and it will continue to move up and that is when my belly button will either flatten or become an outtie.

I will really start to gain weight now (i'm up 7 pounds total) and so will the baby. Things like stretchmarks will become possible as well as maybe breakouts on my skin etc. So far i've been lucky in regard to both.

So that's about it!

And since there's not going to be a ton more developmental information, i thought i would fill out a little survey each week and we'll see how that goes...here it is:

Weekly Survey

this week...
What symptoms are you experiencing? I'm exhausted and also having trouble with sleep. I wake up for at least an hour every night (last night it was three hours) and yet during the day i'm completely tired.

How are you feeling? Overall i feel great! I really don't have much to complain about at all. I had some trouble breathing earlier in the week but it seems to be getting better and I'm just feeling good and happy :)

Anything big happening in your personal life? Not really at the moment, just continuing to get unpacked and get organized. And we got our baby's crib this week because it was being discontinued! it's so awesome:


check out the stars! and it's a lifetime crib so it turns into a toddler bed and then a twin bed for when he's older :) YAY

Any food cravings? I've been craving ice cream, chocolate, pop-tarts and orange juice. I've been resisting the pop-tart craving because honesty, they are just terrible and have no nutritional value at all. I've been very in moderation with the ice cream and chocolate and have been good to go with the OJ :)

Anything else to add?
we completed our registry this week! yay! it was lots of fun :)

picture post!

I thought I'd show off cute pictures of our baby :)

So on Wednesday, as you know, we went and had our anatomy scan done. She couldn't get everything measured cause our little baby wasn't being especially cooperative and he moved away from the ultrasound device a lot. I get to go back next week sometime to complete everything :)

but we DID get a few good photos and I thought it would be cute to post them!

here he is waving at the camera! So pleasant already! and posing! lol :)

here he is again! :)

he's so cute in there :)

I am really excited to have gotten such cute photos!

And i'll post one more of me..yesterday I wore blue to celebrate my baby being a boy:

I definitely am starting to show now!

I would write more but blogger is frustrating me at the moment. I'll be back later. 

19 weeks!

so wow, i'm at 19 weeks pregnant! Only one more week until I'm officially halfway done!

and as you all know, this week we found out that we're having a little boy!!! yay!! So let's find out what he's up to this week



this week the baby is the size of....



...a Mango!! whoa!

He is about 6 inches (the size of half a sandwich from Subway lol) from head to butt and weighs about 9 ounces (i know up there it says 8.5 buuut the ultrasound lady told us that our baby weighs 9 lol). His legs add extra length to his body obv. and he could be as long as 10 inches! that's huge!

A waxy layer made of oil and dead skin cells (ewie!) is now coating his body to protect him from the amniotic fluid (being submerged in fluid for 40 weeks straight would prob be a little much so this coating helps keep him protected).



His arms and legs are in proportion to his body now and he's basically just a tiny little person in there! (well, duh, he has been the whole time but he really LOOKS like one now).

His brain is working on developing his senses at the moment and he can hear and is also developing his other senses (you know them, taste, touch, smell, sight). The brain is making special areas right now for each sense!

His kidneys are producing urine and he is starting to grow hair on his head! hooray!



the baby is gaining weight now and he is specifically putting on "brown fat" which is the kind of fat that keeps him nice and warm once he's born (and it will help to make his skin stop looking translucent in there).

His permanent teeth buds are in place now and he is fully in conscious control of his movement at this point too!

His major focus from now on is to gain weight! and apparently that's going to be my major focus also (i've gained 6 pounds so far (but look like i've gained a million LOL)). Most women have gained about 14 pounds by now buuuut I'm happy with my 6 (and seriously, it was only 3 until 2 weeks ago so i'm doing fine haha)

As for me, my uterus is moving up and is almost at my belly button now (my doctor said it was in the perfect position on Wednesday! yay!) and i could experience some darkening of my skin due to extra estrogen? that's weird. It will go away after baby is born though if that does happen.

I am at the point now where i have to sleep on my side and am not allowed to sleep on my back anymore. This is because there are major veins in your back that can have their blood supply cut off if you lay on your back with all that extra weight. It's only inconvenient when i want to read in bed at night and now i have to sit up to do it lol

so that's it! 19 weeks! one more until we're at the halfway point! I can't believe how fast it's going by!

It's a...

I can't believe I didn't post yesterday! (well, I can because I was sooo busy!)

I just wanted to come here really quick and announce that we found out the sex of our baby yesterday afternoon!

We're having a BOY!!!! YAY!

He is perfect and amazing and we are so excited!

I need to do a real update soon, i'm sorry I'm behind! I just wanted to tell everyone that it's a boy!

best.video.ever.

I saw this on an absolutely fantastic (and HILARIOUS) blog that you should all check out: Stacy Says

this is honestly the best thing i have ever seen. It's only a few minutes long but it will make your entire day, I swear it will. Watch it right now, it's SO worth it:

18 Weeks!

okay here we go!

this is the last week (hopefully) that I will be using "it" and "the baby" instead of he or she to refer to the baby in these posts! I'm excited lol

can you believe i'm 18 Weeks pregnant already??



This week the baby is the size of (and get ready, it's totally a weird one)...




lol a sweet potato! (what the hell? lol and seriously could they not at least photoshop out the weird hairs on it on the lefthand side there??)

So yes, baby is a sweetpotato (i'll give you the sweet part and i DO like potatoes buuut i'm not too sure about this one haha). Baby is about 5 and a half inches long and weighs around 6 ounces! Another site said that the baby is about the size of a bell pepper. That would explain why i've been craving spicy food! lol Oh and somewhere else said that it's about the length of a pickle! lol



The baby is gaining layers of fat which will make it look cuter and less translucent in there lol. You can still see the blood vessels through the skin at this point but as the baby gets more fat, they will become less visible.

The baby's ear bones are developed by now definitely and it can definitely hear in there! So exciting! It's learning the sound of my voice, of Ry's voice, of daily activities and things like that. If we are around dogs a lot the baby will get used to dog barks and when it's born it won't be startled by those sounds. Also, the baby is getting used to the sound of my heartbeat and the blood in it's umbilical cord and all of that cool stuff. So cool!



the baby is getting used to the outside world through it's sense of sound. It can become startled by things and it will often move around in response to new sounds or things like that.

Along with that, the baby is SUPER active in there (while it still has the space to be!) It's busy flexing it's arms and legs and doing flips and swimming all over the place. It can suck it's thumb as well and probably does so often. It can do somersaults or even sit cross-legged! wow



a protective layer called myelin is coating the baby's nerve endings. That process will continue for a year after the baby is born. The nerves are continuing to make connections and form pathways and things like that.

If the baby is a girl, her fallopian tubes and uterus are in place and all set up and if it's a boy all of his stuff is in order too. We will definitely be able to see the sex in an ultrasound now (provided that baby cooperates of course).

As for me, my uterus is now about two finger widths below my belly button (i can't feel anything when i press there? i dont know how to know where it is) and it's the size of a cantaloupe (good lord!)

My cardiovascular system is going through a big overhaul right now trying to pump enough blood for everything that's going on. Dizziness is common so i hafta be extra careful (and seriously, that's so true, if i stand up too fast i like can't see anyhting for at least a minute). I'm at the point now where its important that i don't lay on my back for long periods of time (you can compress a major vein and cut off blood flow) and that I lay on my side (left side is preferable).

lol according to one site i should have gained between 10 and 13 pounds by now. That so hasn't happened. I probably have gained about 3. but whatever.

Other stuff: I FINALLY HAVE AN APPETITE! This is so awesome for me! Today alone i already had a bowl of cereal (cheerios in soy milk) and a bowl of angel hair (wheat) spaghetti with sauce! This is like big news for me lol i haven't had an appetite at all until this week and now I'm like actually hungry a lot! progress! thank god! now i just hope that i don't gain too much weight hahaha

Carbs are important to eat right now so that's kinda awesome...but it's important to make good choices obviously and not eat donuts as my carbs lol I've been sticking to all whole-grain carbs and things like that.

so yay! that's 18 weeks! only 5 days until we get to find out the baby's sex! omg so excited!

Materialism at it's Finest

Last October my husband and I went to a wedding in Cincinnati with his extended family.  Just for kicks, here's a photo of us from that wedding:

The wedding took place on a chilly Saturday and while we (myself and my two sisters in law) were waiting in the lobby for my husband to figure out our transportation to the wedding, one of my SILs showed us the shoes she was wearing.

They didn't look like much, to be honest. Just standard black strappy wedge-like heels. But then she kicked one off while simultaneously saying to me, "These are the most comfortable shoes ever, try it on."

I was a little hesitant. I mean, let's be honest, no one really likes de-shoeing in a hotel lobby to try on someone else's footwear but she was convincing so I obliged.

...And she was right. It was the most comfortable heel i've ever worn. Seriously.

Soon it was me turning to my other SIL and saying, "Oh my god, you have to put this shoe on, it's amazing!" I was eyed skeptically but she obliged as well and within moments we were both asking my first SIL where she got these shoes and how they were so comfortable.

She explained that she borrowed them from a friend for the specific reason that these were literally The Most Comfortable Heels on Earth and that she had to have them for the wedding.

Since then my mind has randomly wandered back to these shoes. Whenever I have a fancy event to go to i wish that I could reach for them and put them on instead of strapping myself into some stiletto-like pain machine and hobbling around on pegs all night at whatever event I have to go to.

Gone are my days of parading down the street at night in stylish heels. I enjoy Carrie Bradshaw but I no longer wish to emulate her fashion stylings or her footwear. I cannot justify stuffing myself into 3 inches of pain even if it does ~*complete my outfit*~. I guess I'm getting old. Or as my mother would say, I'm getting smart.

And so now when I think about dressy shoes, especially now that I'm pregnant and my feet are starting to hurt from just shopping in flip flops, I think about these super comfortable shoes that I got to try on in this cold Cincinnati lobby last October.

So where did these amazing shoes come from and how can you find some of your own? I'm here to share, my friends. I'm here to share.

Shockingly these shoes were made by....Crocs.

Yes, Crocs. The people who invented those terrible-smelling and worse looking rubber-boat-like-shoe monstrosities.  The ones with the holes and the back straps that come in any variety of color? The ones touted to be "Garden Clogs" but that people in fact wear everywhere and anywhere (please note: if you are under the age of 10, wearing crocs is perfectly acceptable, smart and even kind of cute).

Crocs. The ugliest shoes ever. The shoes about which i said, "If i am ever wearing those and thinking it's acceptable, you know i've come to my end. Put me out to pasture."

So you'll imagine my shock and surprise when SIL announced that they were crocs and that THAT was how they were so comfortable. Amazing.  Crocs. I probably had to pick up my jaw from the floor.

Was it possible that the crocs people made a shoe that wasn't hideous? Yes apparently it was because just moments before I had one on my foot.

And while it wasn't going to win Most Stylish Heel of the Year anytime soon, the comfort of it far balanced that. And anyway it was still pretty darn cute!

Look:

(the photo takes you to the site, but here's the link anyway: they're only $49.99!)

And like i said, yes the heel is kinda thick and yes, there IS an annoying little crocodile grinning at you from the side of the shoe but trust me, five minutes with these babies on your feet and you won't even care about those things. 

While I was clicking around this site this morning looking for these specific shoes I learned something else about the Crocs people: they make a TON of shoes now!  And I cringe to say this but, a lot of them are really cute! 

For example, this morning I happened upon these adorable little boots:

for just $39.99!!!

and my reaction was literally to gasp and then to immediately copy and paste the link to my husband in a not-at-all-subtle way of telling him that I want them. He doesn't get those hints ever though so I am sure that I will still be without them on the next rainy day. 

But seriously, that is a CUTE boot. And it comes in pink which for me is just about the best thing ever. And the crocs people continued their "all colors of the rainbow" trend but did it right here and extended all of those colors to these boots as well! They also comes in yellow, red, blue, white, black and brown...and each one is adorable!  

How amazing! 

And as of this point I haven't even really gotten through most of their inventory, I was too busy sending my hubby links and rushing off to write this post, but the more i click, the more impressed I am.

Sure there are still the occasional duds:

ugh I mean REALLY? and these are made for WOMEN. Not to mention they're $49.99 (someone would have to give ME $49.99 in order to wear those)

But overall, I was really impressed with what they've done to the place. Color me surprised! (in either pink, yellow, red, white, blue, black or brown apparently).

So I guess it's safe to say that I've been made into a believer. That i am a convert of sorts. 

Guess I'll meet ya in the pasture. But hey, at least i'll be super comfortable while I'm waiting there. 

(and you'll still never catch me in those damn garden clogs!)

Links that Inspire me this Week:

so this week i've seen some awesome links and I want to share them:

1. This is a DIY link that only the mommies who are breastfeeding will probably be interested in. ORRR maybe the friends of the mommies who are breastfeeding or who are planning to breastfeed:

http://thecoloradoreedclan.blogspot.com/2008/03/hooter-hider-tutorial-for-dummies-like.html

I like to leave the links all long and ugly-like for those of you who may be link-phobic. Feel free to hover over, they go where they say they are!

anyway, this is a link to a blog post on how to make hooter hiders!

What the EFF is a Hooter Hider do i hear you asking yourself? They're basically like smocks that some mommies choose to drape over themselves and their babies for breastfeeding in public...or, you know, around family and friends who they don't want to flash.

Personally, I am a huge breastfeeding advocate and don't think that there's anything wrong with breastfeeding but i AM aware that the large majority of the public is either a.) uncomfortable or b.) skeevy old creepers. I would like to avoid interacting with "b" as much as possible and i don't really feel like being put out by "a" so i might just go ahead and make myself one of these babies. Plus, i think this will inspire me to finally learn how to use my damn sewing machine already! For real! (i get stuck at threading the bobbin and i just give up every time. lame, i know).

2. this is a link for a woman who has Super-Hero-Sized organizational skills. This post outlines how she planned her meals a month in advance!

I share it here because I was so totally inspired by this that i have left the tab open for three days now and have begun planning my own meals in advance too. I used to plan them a week in advance but fell out of the habit with moving and everything else recently so it's really nice to be back on the wagon again. Check it out:

http://flitgurl.blogspot.com/2010/05/meals-for-month-may.html

so awesome and amazing.

3. Last but not least, here's a link for a recipe for Green Smoothies!

Have you heard of these? it's like this trend now to make these drinks and the greener they are, the better they are for you!  Basically you blend up a ton of veggies and then you add fruit so it tastes delicious and you get a ridiculous amount of vitamins and nutrients and it's awesome. I am SO making one of these tomorrow! i'll let you know how it goes!

check out the recipe here, i already bought ingredients to follow this one:

http://www.passionatehomemaking.com/2009/02/the-wonders-of-green-smoothies.html

mmmm green smoothies!

okay so yay! there we have it! Inspirational Blog Links of the week!

Anyone have any links to share with me? I always love links!

long weekends and making a deal with the devil

hi loves! I hope that all my American friends had a wonderful Memorial Day holiday!  I made sure on Monday to take a moment and remember the real reason that we have such a holiday and to pay homage to the men and women in the service who have dedicated their times and sometimes their lives for our safety and to protect us here in the USA.  It is honorable what they do and what they devote and give on our behalves <3

I want to make a Memorial Day post with some pictures I took of my niece but unfortunately I am a bad little photog and haven't yet uploaded my photos or done any editing whatsoever.  It's my goal to do that tomorrow however so keep your eyes out for a photo-post in the next few days.

I also want to make a post about our Big Move!!  As many of you know, my husband Ryan and I moved over the weekend and are now living with my parents!  We have two rooms on the second floor that are our own (three if you include the bathroom) and I am currently typing this from my new "Living Room" here on the second floor.  We're doing awesome and are loving our new space and I have to say, it's been really great to have family dinner with my parents every night. I've totally loved it.

As of now we still don't have our TV hooked up and there have been some central air issues (such as leaking from our ceiling in the middle of the night last night lol we were definitely awake and looking for buckets at 3:00AM!) but those have been resolved and things are great now. The central air guys came and fixed everything this afternoon and tomorrow the TV person will be here too.

So yea there's a bunch of Super Exciting information for ya! lol

here's a (webcam)photo i took our first night here...note that there are still boxes piled up. Unfortunately if i were to take a photo right now it would look very much the same. We've still got boxes piled up and things are generally kinda a mess. I guess you could say we haven't made much progress unpacking our livingroom area just yet but we are going to get there - my husband has promised me that it will look lovely and soon (now if only he would stop playing xbox for more than 20 minutes at a time, i think i might me more inclined to believe him lol).

I will do a more detailed post as there are more details to post but just know that we are doing great and we're happily settling in!

Oh and i have to say this: notice how the window behind me is completely without any window-treatment? Yep.  Well, we have 8 windows total amongst our two rooms and while this is great and we have been basking in the glory of all that natural light, it's NOT so fabulous at 6:00 in the morning when Mr. Golden Sun is rising right in my eyes.  Our old curtains that we used to have are sheers and therefore obviously won't be of much help to us since the livingroom windows are directly opposite from TVs and computers (and since sheers in the bedroom are kinda pointless lol).

The point of all this rambling is that I wasn't excited to get 8 curtain rods and 16 curtains. Those things are EXPENSIVE. I knew that i had to do something though because really, it's not cute with no window treatments and every time i get dressed i hafta kinda do it hunched over so no one can see me through the windows! (especially at night!)

So i decided to see what I could do to resolve the issue. I knew I had to go shopping (lol "had" to go shopping, poor me, right?).  I did however have to be economical about it soooo i had the genius idea of going to Wal*Mart for curtain rods.

Brief rant: i typically avoid walmart at all costs. Not only because it is the singular beacon of what's absolutely, disgustingly WRONG with America today (i will enthusiastically write up a list of reasons why for anyone who is curious lol) but also because they CONTINUE despite multiple lawsuits, general eye-rolling, protesting and disgusted tsking of the tongue, to NOT PAY women equally as they do men. I swear, it's true!

Basically, they're EVIL.

Anyway...despite this truth (and honestly i am saddened to admit that i went there anyway), this morning i realized that I am broke enough that I had to see if i could find a good deal (lack of money drives us to do awful things. i am not proud of my decision!) I promise, i will make up for this by donating to a women's charity or something else that i see fit in about a month when Ryan and I are done bleeding ourselves dry in order to break our lease at our old apartment (they are literally getting our ENTIRE paycheck this month).

So yes, i gave in, and I went to Wal*Mart. Land of the realization of the American Dream.  In a bad way.

I was specifically looking for curtain rods today because I happen to know over at good old Target, they sell curtain rods for no less than $11.99 each.  That's nice buuuuut $11.99 times 8 = more expensive than I could justify for poles that hang fabric on them.

So I checked out walmart's curtain rods and i kid you not, i got non-ugly ones - all 8 of them, for $35. $35!  Thirty-five dollars.

And that's how they get you!

It's awful, I know. It's like making a mini deal with the devil. I am aware and I do feel badly. But I got 8 curtain rods for $35 this morning. I do feel like i deserve a little high-five with myself or something.


So there we have it, my domestic adventures so far since The Big Move.

I swear to come back with more interesting content next time. In the meanwhile, comment here and tell me how YOUR Memorial Day Weekends went! I'd love to hear about them :)