Goodbye Second Trimester, Hello Third!

How Far Along: Last Saturday marked 26 weeks

Size of Baby: 2.2 pounds, 15 inches

Weight Gain: 22 lbs

Stretch Marks: Nope!

Maternity Clothes:  Loving that fall weather is allowing me to break out my boots with some of my maternity dresses.  I also purchased a pair of skinny jeans and a dress from Old Navy, but I have vowed to my husband (not by his request - by my own) that I will not make any more maternity purchases unless I find a good deal at a thrift store or something because it won't be too much longer and I will be able to wear normal clothes again!  I know that I might not fit right back into my pre-baby clothes and I'm totally okay with that, but I want to have some wiggle room in my budget to purchase a pair of jeans or a few tops in a bigger size if need be.

Gender:  Sweet baby boy!

Movement:  One night this week he woke me up with the hiccups!  Hubby still hasn't felt him though. :o(  

Sleep: Earlier this week my husband and I ordered from a restaurant and ate some tartar sauce that had been left out too long.  Needless to say we were a little under the weather for 2 days and that really prevented me from getting a good night's sleep.  By mid-week I was feeling back to normal and slept much better!

Missing:  Still nothing.  Still loving every minute that I'm given during these 9 months.  I couldn't be more happy.

Loving:    The fact that in just 3 months (or less) I will have a baby!  It hit me the other day while at a fall festival with a friend that this time next year I will have a 9 month old to take apple picking, pumpkin patching, and strolling through fair food vendors with.  Yay!  

Craving:   Warm, home-cooked meals.  My crockpot has been on blast the past 2 weeks.  I've made several new recipes (not all with be on the blog because not all are "perfected" yet) and several home cooking staples that are much easier in the crockpot.

Feeling: Much better now that the tartar sauce fiasco is out of my system.  Starting to swell more so I'm a little nervous about my next doctor visit.  I feel like it is very early for me to be swelling already.  However, I am a teacher and I do stand on my feet all day so I can totally understand where that swelling is coming from.  I'm trying to be better about sitting more and propping my feet up especially on my planning periods.  

Looking Forward: This weekend we are painting the nursery.  I'm also going fabric shopping for curtains and such since that didn't happen earlier this week.  

Best Moment(s):   Walking through the fall festival and finding several amazing, handmade toys for our bambino for fantastic prices!  Call me an old soul, but I love the whole concept behind dolls and push toys and Lincoln logs and such.  And handmade is right up my alley.  Also purchase what I think is the last of the nursery decor for a fantastic price from Just Artifacts.  Hoping I am pleased with the product!

2 of the toys I got baby boy at the festival.  I am thinking his Christmas is done - and is it weird to you that I am having gifts for him under the tree just in case he decides to come early?

It's not to me, so if it is just judge in your head. ;o)

Ummmm....I couldn't leave this chair at the festival!  For the price there was no way it wasn't coming home for his nursery.

My husband gets pictures like this while I'm out thrifting.  I had run after school and then hit it up on the way home.  I'm loving blazers and you can't beat a blazer for $3.50.

That apple cider slushie was amazeballs.  I said it.

H54F

For All Women

Last week I started struggling with silly things.  Things I've talked about on here before like body image, exercise, healthy choices, and self-confidence.

You can only have people comment on your "growth" so many times before it starts to get to you.  If I'm being real, I've never felt more beautiful or less inhibited before now.  Pregnancy has truly opened my eyes to the miracles that my body is capable of.  How strong the female body is.  Yet how graceful.

For some reason probably hormones last week, I started stressing about losing baby weight and things that aren't even important right now.  Things like when I'll be able to run more than 3 miles again or when my mile time will be back in the single digits.  S.T.U.P.I.D. things.

So when I came across this video, it really opened my eyes and made me realize that I was focusing on superficial things when, in all reality, I'm not going to care about losing the baby weight because I'm going to be holding my baby.  I will run 3 miles again when my baby is big enough to go in the jogging stroller.  There are so many more important things in this life and all the people that want to comment can just buzz off.

Pregnancy is beautiful.

Perhaps you aren't pregnant.  Perhaps you are at a place in life where you are 100% happy with yourself.  I hope you are.  But, at one point or another we all have our struggles, our insecurities, our downfalls.  I encourage you to remember how special and important you are.  Watch the video above and find inspiration in it.  You are awesome.

Just the 2 of Us

I've really been soaking in these weeks with just baby and me.  When I first announced my pregnancy my MIL shared with me that she thought it was so neat that for those weeks when even you don't know you're pregnant, it's like God's little secret He shares just with you.

Top: Bass Outlet non-maternity (similar, similar), Pants: Mimi Maternity (similar,non-maternity option)

Bracelet: Groopdealz, Shoes: Steve Madden

I've been thinking more and more about that because it won't be long and I'm going to have to share this little boy with others.  Right now, it's just the two of us and I really like it that way.  Don't get me wrong, I want to share him with my husband and my family, but this is special.

In just a few short months other people are going to want to hold him, snuggle him, and kiss him.  I will share him for bath time, play time, feeding time, all the time.  He will still be mine, but others will want their time with him, too.  

So these last few months, I'm going to cherish.  I plan to make less plans.  To be alone with my babe.  To take him for long walks, runs in the cool air, and just sit and appreciate the fact that we can be together these 9 months when no one else can be.

I read this quote the other day by Pink and I think she put it so perfectly:

"What surprises me most about being a mom is that there were ever moms that didn't enjoy it. I know it's a lot of work and it's exhausting and it's a lot of pressure, but what a blessing and a gift."

For real though, how can anyone not enjoy this amazing time?  The time when you share your sweet little one with no one else.  It is so precious and priceless and absolutely miraculous.