My favorite purchase over the last 8 months (ie- perfect pregnancy gift!)

I bought this necklace when I was 11 weeks pregnant.  I found it at a small store in Petoskey and just couldn't resist.  I am so glad I bought it as I wear it at least 5 days a week and have throughout my entire pregnancy.  As SYT says, it's my "baby neckneck".  I  get compliments on it all the time.  It's funny because I haven't worn pearls in ages and the only other necklace I'll wear right now is my gold locket when my outfit demands gold accessories. 

I found the same necklace (or at least very similar) on Etsy right here.  At this price, it's a perfect present for a new mom to be!  Mine has tarnished just a bit over the past 8 months (I got mine for around $20, so that's not too surprising), but I actually like the way it looks with the little bit of tarnishing on it.  It makes it look antiquey and goes well with the typescript.

I love my necklace and hope that you, or a friend of yours, will too!!

NESTING!!

I am in a new place in my life, ladies.  It is called nesting and it has hit me HARD!  I do not remember this at all with pregnancy #1.  I remember people talking about it and I'm sure I thought I was by decorating the nursery, but it was nothing like this. 

Thursday I stayed home from work with a sick SYT, and I decided it was very important to scrub all the grout and caulk in our shower with a tiny scrub brush, windex the inside and outside of the glass shower, clean all of the shampoo/conditioner/facewash bottles, plus clean the rest of our master bath within an inch of its life.  Seriously, I even sanitized our toothbrushes.  Spence did get a kick out of "helping" in the shower, and it occupied most of the morning which was great.  Our shower looks absolutely fantastic 4 days later and I'm still impressed by how much cleaner the caulk looks.

This weekend I took down all the blinds upstairs and washed them all in the tub.  That is a disgusting job!  I've never seen so much dirt and dust.  It took forever too!!  Uggg.......  I also realized that a few of our blinds really do need to be replaced in a few rooms.  The strings are just really worn and don't go up or down evenly.  I also cleaned all the window casings and started on the baseboards.  Let me tell you, it's a good thing that we don't have bad allergies in this house.  Dust was definitely building up on top of our window casings (yes, I'm admitting I'm not a great housekeeper right now.  Just keeping it real!). 

While I was doing this, B was taking down all the towel bars in our upstairs bath, filling in the holes, and hanging all new ones.  The old towel bars were brass and wood and practically falling out of the walls thanks to an improper use of wall anchors.  We hung all new brushed nickel bars to match the sink fixtures.  This goes along with the taking down of the hideous brass and mirrored shower doors that we did two weekends ago.  I just bought the fabric to make the shower curtain, and as soon as we pick a name for this chap I have in my tummy, I will be ordering monogrammed towels for the boys as well.  Yea for an updated bathroom!!  (I do still want to paint it, but we're unsure yet if that will happen before or after the baby comes).

We still have a pretty good sized list of things to do before May, but I'm SO glad we were able to check quite a bit off the list this weekend.  It really is nice having snowy winter weekends to accomplish household chores.  If this were June, I'd get nothing done!! 

Any housekeeping stuff you checked off this week???

26 weeks!!

Well, I'm 26 weeks now!  I just looked at old pics from 22.5 weeks and 30 weeks when pregnant with Spencer, and I would say that I am about in the middle of both of those pics.  So, apparently, even though I feel much larger this time around (and have gained ugggg amts of weight), I'm actually looking (in pics anyway) completely appropriate for my pregnancy body.  I did try on a pair of my normal jeans the other day and can pretty much still get them on (without being buttoned obviously).  They're a little tight, but at least I know I'm not too crazy big!  I'll take it!! 

As for the general pregnancy stuff, I'm definitely enjoying the overall second trimester.  I do have my occasional days when I'm exhausted by 8 p.m., but for the most part, I have normal energy and am not any more tired than I would be working full time and chasing after a toddler in my "off" hours.  Otherwise, I have no other symptoms: no heartburn, no nausea, not peeing too often (Thank the Good Lord I still don't have to wake up in the middle of the night and I am sleeping SO well), no significant cravings, etc.  It can be hard to breathe at times, especially when the little chap stretches out fully, but a little readjusting and we're good to go.  Second tri is always the best!!

Thank you all so much for your name suggestions.  We're working on it still, but you all have given us new names to talk about!!

Pregnancy Update

It's been a few weeks since I've talked about this new little one, so I thought an update was in order!

*I'm now 18 weeks and feeling great.  Absolutely no more nausea, no fatigue, eating normally (craving salty more than sweet still), and am definitely showing!! 
*I broke out a bit this week (all around my nose) which I hate (bad skin= feeling ugly), but at least they're not huge craters.  Lots of smaller ones instead. 
*My pregnancy bras from last time are a lot more comfortable than my regular bras are, so I must be getting bigger up top.  I really never experienced soreness or the horrific painful ni*#(#s that I did last time.  That was a true blessing because for a few weeks showering was awful with Spencer.
*I am having some mild pain in the back of my left hip almost daily.  It feels tight and like it needs to be popped or something.  It doesn't stop me from doing anything, it's just slightly annoying at this time.  Hopefully it won't get worse!
*Overall, I would say this pregnancy is even milder than my last.  I wonder if it's because I'm busier and just don't have the time to dwell on all the symptoms?  Or maybe it's just that I am not nearly as emotional, so things are put a little more into perspective.  Whatever it is, I cannot complain one bit (so if I do, refer me back here).
*I have zero idea if it's a boy or girl, no dreams, no feelings, no nothing.  I have occasionally leaned towards boy because my symptoms have been similar to Spencer's pregnancy (besides that complete exhaustion in the first tri), but that's about it.  I never, not once had a dream about Spencer being a boy or girl throughout my entire pregnancy with him.  Apparently I have bad mommy intuition!
*Did I tell you that we are going to find out with this pregnancy?  B wants to know, and since I made the decision last time to not find out, I figure it's his turn this time.  Our apt is December 20th as our office won't let you schedule an ultrasound until you are 21 weeks.  A lot of my friends have known by 18 or 19, and I do wish we had a sooner apt (mostly because I am impatient), but I think it will be interesting to find out with this babe.  We will not be sharing names until the baby is here, but perhaps we can do a fun "name the baby" post in the future!
*The baby is moving and has been for a few weeks.  Around 14ish weeks I was definite about the feeling the movement.  With Spencer, it was around 18-19 weeks.  It's definitely not just flutters, either, this is full on kicks and punches.  Every single one of them makes me giddy.  And slightly (but just slightly) emotional.  I don't think this will be our last pregnancy, but just in case it is, I am treasuring these kicks for sure!!  Plus, the movement helps to connect me to this babe!!
*No nickname for baby#2.  Puddin was great last time, but it hasn't stuck for this peanut.  Maybe because we are going to find out, so we're waiting to know the sex before giving it a name?  Spencer does say baby and point to my stomach which is adorable!!

Tiny SYT update: He was sick all weekend with high fevers (102-103.7), clingy, and miserable.  Monday he went to pediatrician and was diagnosed with tonsillitis.  He's now on an antibiotic for 10 days.  Poor thing!  He has been afebrile since Monday morning and is eating a little better, but he is still pretty crabby and clingy.  I feel so bad for him.  I can't wait until Saturday so I can just spend a whole day loving on him (while he throws fits on the floor when I won't let him watch "Momo" ie Elmo on youtube!).  Seriously, though, even though it was something as minor as tonsillitis, he was just so sick all weekend and I did break down once crying as I thought about how minor this was in comparison to so many sick kids I see all the time.  It, once again, puts into perspective how important our health, and the health of our families, really is. 

Pregnancy Updates

There are a lot of things to love about being pregnant (feeling the baby kick, decorating the nursery, knowing that there is a real live baby coming in May, etc); however there are a few things about being pregnant that are not fun/cool/easy to deal with.  Today I'm going to share a few of these with you (because I just need to have a little teeny vent!)

- Reflux.  With all the pressure on my stomach, if I eat a big meal, I taste it for awhile afterwards.  It's really quite gross.  It's not even really heartburn, just regurg.  I'm sure this is way TMI.  Sorry!

- Maternity tights.  Either they're ridiculously expensive, too thin (ie- nylons instead of tights), run too easily, or just too uncomfortable.  I've been getting away with a size larger in regular tights for a long time now, but it's really time to make the switch for good.  I've tried the motherhood brand, the assets brand, and Spanx.  Not loving any of them.......big bummer b/c I love wearing maternity dresses- they actually are quite cute and comfy.

- Charley horses in the middle of the night.  These are not something I knew about prior to being pregnant, and boy do they hurt!!!  I can go from dead to the world asleep to screaming loud enough to wake up B and Junie in seconds.  For some reason it happens the most during the 4 a.m. hour.  Weird. 

- Work out clothes.  Maternity workout outfits are quite expensive (though I did just find a few great deals at Old Navy).  B looked forever before Christmas for an outfit for me and the boutiques in Chicago had yoga pants that started at $90 and tops that started at $50.  Ummmmm.....that's $140 for ONE outfit.  Yesterday I had to leave the gym early b/c my pants were so tight in the waist that I couldn't take a deep breath without completely squishing puddin.  It was the most uncomfortable feeling.  I was able to order two pair of maternity workout pants from ON last night (on sale even!), so hopefully they will fit well enough to get me through the next 11ish weeks.  Also, you should see me when I try to get away with wearing a non-maternity tee or tank.  They're super tight and b/c of that become super short.  It's seriously comical.  It may be time to start stealing a few shirts from B's drawer to give me a bit more room and length!

- Emotional control.  As previously mentioned, there is none.  This means crying at commercials, crying over stupid small annoyances, or just plain crying.  I'm not an unemotional person, and I did cry prior to being pregnant; however, this is ridiculous.

To be fair, I've had a really easy, healthy pregnancy (besides the low iron which is working it's way back up) and I really shouldn't be complaining.  I do realize how lucky I am and am thankful every day for this.  I have seen so many sick babies/preemies that I realize B and I are truly blessed with puddin.  There are just a few things that I didn't know/realize/hear about prior to being pregnant that have thrown me for a loop!!  Thanks for listening :)