25 Weeks

How far along? 25 weeks and 3 days

Total weight gain: About 22 pounds…feels scary to see/say that, but the doctor says I’m just right and measuring right on target.

How big is baby? About the size of an eggplant…about a foot and a half long and about 2 pounds.   She can also tell if she’s upside down – craziness!  

The Bump: Huge! But I’m only expanding straight out the front, not sideways too (or worse, out the back!), …thank goodness!  

Maternity clothes? Some maternity and some regular. My old jeans still fit, but the maternity ones are just so much more comfy! Looking for some cute items for the holidays and I just discovered the ASOS site. They have some really cute stuff!

Stretch marks? None so far…I LOVE my Burt’s Bees Mama Bee Belly Butter!  

Sleep? Not great. I’ve never been an awesome sleeper, but lately it has been terrible. It seems that as soon as I get comfortable, I have to get up to visit the potty.  And it’s almost impossible for me to sleep past 7 am. Boo to that!

Best moment this week? An exciting Gator win while we were up in Gainesville for the game was pretty good, but painting the nursery the perfect shade of gray may take the top honor for the week. I also ordered some prints for the nursery and a boppy cover from Etsy (my obsession) and I can’t wait for them to arrive! And the glider arrived today...sort of. The lovely people at Pottery Barn sent us the wrong chair, but the right slip covers. So now we have to wait a little longer for our actual glider to arrive. The Hubs is hoping that Pottery Barn will just let us keep this chair, in addition to sending us the one we really ordered. Something tells me it won't work out that way.

How are you feeling? Well, I officially have a sinus infection, which sucks! The doctor gave me amoxicillin and Tylenol for my fever, but I’m just so ready for it to be over. Trying to take naps (impossible) and lay around as much as possible, but there is so much to do around here! Drinking lots of OJ and eating my Edy’s Strawberry Fruit Bars to get lots of vitamin C.  I already drink enough water to make my eyeballs float, so hopefully I can get over this quickly.

Miss anything? Sleep. And the ability to take the dog on a three mile walk without feeling like I need to knock on doors to use a stranger’s bathroom.

Movement? Baby Tuna feels like she is already on a schedule. I can just about set my watch (if I wore one) to her dancing. A few times during the day, and every evening around 9pm.

Food cravings? Not in the "cravings" sense. Still hooked on apples and Honey Nut Cheerios. My glucose screening is coming up soon, so I'm trying to keep my sweet tooth in check, which has never been easy for me! 

Aversions?  Nothing new this week.

Anything make you queasy or sick? Coming home to find a nice big puddle of doggy barf in the living room. That was nice. Big ups to the Hubs for cleaning it up so quickly!

Gender: IT’S A GIRL!!!

Any names picked out? We have a first name picked out, still working on the middle name.

Labor signs? No

Belly button in or out? Still an inny…but it’s trying to flatten out.

Wedding rings on or off? On

Mood?  Happy!!

Looking forward to: Heading to Ikea this weekend to get the dresser. Now that the nursery is painted, it finally feels like it’s all coming together (And I’m feeling like there is still sooooo much to do!). Also looking forward to Thanksgiving next week…mostly because our 4^th anniversary falls on the same day! Lots to be thankful for this year!

So, now that we are zeroing in on what we need and want for the Baby Tuna, I am still on the hunt for the perfect diaper bag. I am a bit of a bag whore, and would love to find the perfect Lucky Brand tote to serve as my diaper bag, but I thought I’d ask the newer mommies out there if any of you have found a bag that you love. We are looking for one that doesn’t scream “BABY!” Any recommendations? 

Babymoon in Georgia

For the week of Halloween, the Hubs and I headed north for a much needed vacation… a Babymoon, if you will. We spent the week at my parents’ cabin in Ellijay, Georgia, a small town in the Appalachian foothills between Atlanta and the Tennessee line. The county is the apple capital of the south, and the southern terminus of the Appalachian Trail, Springer Mountain, is nearby. Much to my chagrin, we wouldn’t be doing any hiking like usual (I was all for it, but the Hubs thought differently. Boo!) .

We love how the cabin feels like a treehouse.

Actually, the whole point of the trip, besides rest and relaxation (and a little outlet shopping for the babino) was to check out the fall color. But thanks to that bitch of a storm Sandy, most of the color that was on the trees the week before, blew off in gale force winds on our first couple of days. By the end of the trip, the trees that hadn’t changed yet started in the wonderful cool weather (the average high was about 55!). Either way, we got to see a little color in all those trees.

 

We also saw a ton of deer (Ok so they might have been the same deer family over and over each day, but still) in the neighborhood.

Damon barely had to zoom in for this pic. This guy was about 10 feet from our car! 

On the second day of our trip, we headed up to Amicalola Falls. We had been before in the summertime a few years ago and it was beautiful. You can start at the bottom of the falls and “climb” your way up a zillion steps, or you can do it the preggo way and just drive to the top on a beautiful winding mountain road. This year, we opted for the drive. 

 At the top, you get an amazing view from the top of the falls of the valley below. In the summer, everything is green and lush, but in the fall, I've heard the colors are amazing. Too bad we missed the best colors, but you get the idea.

We weren’t able to spend a lot of time at the top of the falls due to a freezing wind blowing around up there. So we started down the mountain and pulled off at a parking area a little ways down. We saw a trailhead (don’t worry, it was the kind of trail that is wheelchair accessible, so even a preggo lady can manage) and headed down. 

The sky cleared and became a brilliant blue!

A little ways down the trail, we noticed that someone found a much better parking spot than we did!

Look carefully... there's an old truck in that tangle of trees.

This trail path lead to a spot about halfway down the falls, so we had to get a couple of pics.

We managed to take one of the two of us, too.

The next day, we met my college roommate, Allison, and her two boys (you can check out her hilarious blog here.) at the Flying Biscuit in Atlanta. Her boys are both under the age of 4 and are two of the cutest guys ever! And although I felt like they were pretty well behaved, I think it was an eye opening experience for the Hubs. Dining out is about to drastically change for us FOREVER!

Lunch was followed by some serious outlet shopping in Dawsonville, just outside the ATL. This outlet mall is huge, in the middle of nowhere, and has some pretty great stores (I'm looking forward to going back next year so I can do some shopping in the Lucky Brand store). We spent more than we should have at the Carters, Baby Gap, and Gymboree stores. The Baby Tuna will be one very well dressed muchacha!

The great thing about Ellijay is how close it is to so many different types of places. If you ever make it up to that area, you must head over to Blue Ridge. This is the kind of cute little mountain town that has a main street (incredibly named Main Street, of all things!) with a ton of tiny shops and restaurants. Since I was starving immediately upon arrival (Blue Ridge is only 20 minutes from our cabin, so obviously the drive took a lot out of me!! Haha!), we ate at this great pizza joint that was the kind of place the locals go. Best pizza I've had in a long time! I just wish I could remember the name. If you go looking for it, it's just past the feed store with all the chickens and ducks on the front porch. Gotta love small town America!

There is one spot in Blue Ridge that you absolutely CAN NOT miss... The Sweet Shoppe.

The women who own this super cute bakery were winners on Cupcake Wars. And as many know, I love cake and cupcakes, so, big DUH, this place pretty much rocked my world! The Hubs and I each ordered our own cupcakes. I went for the Hot Fudge Sundae, and he couldn't pass on the PB & J.

Ohmigosh! I still dream about that cupcake! Mine was filled with the lightest vanilla buttercream I have ever tasted. I thought I made awesome buttercream, but I would kill to know how these ladies got theirs so light and fluffy. The Hubs' PB & J was filled with sweet, gooey strawberry jam. Unfortunately, our cupcakes were too good to share, even one little bite, but the Hubs tells me it tasted just like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Yum-o! 

We also couldn't pass on the truffles. We got two of each so sharing wouldn't be an issue! They were each sooo delish! 

Cookies n Cream, Cookie Dough, Peanut Butter, and Thin Mint

We had such a relaxing week, enjoying the cold weather, warming up by the fire and making s'mores for dessert every night. (I'm choosing to forget the stress of the whole baby registry debacle!) It was the perfect way to say good bye to our family of two before we head back next year as a family of three. Can't wait to take the Baby Tuna on a couple of hikes, too! 

24 Weeks

How far along? 24 weeks

Total weight gain: I’m too afraid to weigh myself!  Feeling huge, but it’s all in the belly.

How big is baby? About the size of a cantaloupe. Apparently she is growing hair and is getting chubbier.   

The Bump: Um…yes.

Maternity clothes? Some maternity and some regular. Looking for some cute items for the holidays.  

Stretch marks? None so far…I LOVE my Burt’s Bees Mama Bee Belly Butter!  

Sleep? Sleeping has sucked the last few days. Too much up and down to the bathroom!   

Best moment this week? Getting the call that our glider will be arriving a month early! It’s coming next Friday!!

How are you feeling? Indigestion (as always), and a little round ligament pain (she must be growing like crazy!) and I don’t feel like I have as much energy as I did before, which makes it difficult to get up and exercise.

Miss anything? Kayaking…the weather has been beautiful. The doctor has given me the ok, but my vest doesn’t fit, so with all the boat traffic around here, I’m a little nervous to go.   

Movement? She’s really movin and groovin in there sometimes! Perhaps a future dancer?

Food cravings? I don’t really have cravings, the kind where I can’t rest until I have it, but I have been eating a lot of apples lately. We got some great red delicious from an orchard near Ellijay on our trip, and don’t get me started on the apple butter…yum-o!

Aversions?  Nothing new this week.

Anything make you queasy or sick? Not really.

Gender: IT’S A GIRL!!!

Any names picked out? We have a first name picked out, still working on the middle name.

Labor signs? No

Belly button in or out? Still and inny…but the shape is more slot-ish than round-ish.

Wedding rings on or off? On

Mood?  Happy!! And wondering if my urge to decorate for Christmas (keep your shirts on...I know it's too early for that!) is the beginning of the nesting phase. 

Looking forward to: Heading up to Gainesville for the Homecoming game this weekend! The weather should be perfect!  

So, while we were on vacation (without cable but with the ability to mooch the neighbor’s wifi), the Hubs and I thought it would be a great time to start on the baby registry. Wow! Did we underestimate how difficult and time consuming that would be! We had no problem creating our wedding registry, in fact, it was pretty fun. But this whole baby registry business…yeesh! Now, part of the problem is the fact that we are new to this whole baby game and just don’t have a damn clue. The other part of the problem is that we don’t want to waste anyone’s money on items that we won’t use or have no room for. And because of that, (and because of our personalities) the Hubs and I have researched and researched almost every item before we add it to the regisrty. I follow a number of pregnancy and mommy blogs that are full of suggestions, lists from friends and family, Listmania on Amazon, the Baby Bargains book, not to mention the reviews of each item on the Babies R Us site. We have issues. It has been a week, and we still don’t feel like we have registered for everything we need, or even if we have picked the right stuff. We live in a tiny rental house, so space is a major issue, and that affects our choices. I keep holding on to something that my cousin Erin said (she is an amazing mom, so this comes from a good source)… “What they don’t know exists, they won’t form an attachment to.”  Well said. And I guess if we hate the item, we can always return it…which is why we chose Babies R Us for our registry in the first place. Of course, I still have some research to do! Haha! 

On a different note, is anyone else ready to start decorating for Christmas? Normally, I mark the beginning of the holiday season by the first sighting of the Hershey Kiss We Wish You a Merry Christmas commercial, which I haven't seen yet. But I have seen the Target Dog commercial, and about a zillion others, not to mention had my first Peppermint Mocha at Starbucks. I'm blaming the pregnancy for my jumping the holiday gun. I'm always excited about Christmas, but don't honestly feel the season begins until Black Friday. Last year kinda threw me for a loop when we celebrated "Thanksmas" since my brother would be overseas for Christmas. But because we host Thanksgiving, I will do my best to restrain myself...at least until after I clear the table on Thanksgiving Day.