A Unique Wedding Gift

So for those who know me, you know a lot of changes have been going on right now around this household. We got married in October, had a phenomenal honeymoon, found out we were expecting right before Christmas, had our house hit by a tornado, went on a fabulous babymoon and had a dear cousin murdered. Crazy ups and down right?!? Well in the midst of preparing for the baby we enlisted the help of some talented girls and friends of Henry to re-vamp our office to double as an office/guest bedroom before baby Coraline arrives. While going through all the stuff to determine what needs to be kept and what has been held onto for so long and REALLY needs to be trash I found a unique wedding gift that brought tears to my eyes.

My sister gave me this heartfelt gift the day of our wedding. Whether it was her idea or someone else's I have no idea, but all I can say is this was the best idea ever. She sent out a message/email/text to everyone close to us and asked them to write a letter to me. She then compiled all the letters and put them into a hard bound book with an engagement photo on the front of the book.

Reading these letters only reminded me why I love not only Henry, but my friends and family so very much. Their kind, heartfelt words mean the world to me, especially in such a hard time right now with the murder of my cousin being only a week old, our house still in disarray from the tornado, and Henry working out of town. I attached just a few of the letters below.

To those who wrote the letters listed below, I hope you do not mind me sharing such personal letters. If it bothers you or you wish to keep them private, please do not hesitate to let me know and I will gladly take them down. 

I love you all more than words will ever express!

The first page of the book

Mother-in-law

Henry's Aunt

Sister-in-law Part 1

Sister-in-law Part 2

Bridesmaid Lauryn

Bridesmaid Danni Part 1

Bridesmaid Danni Part 2

Bridesmaid Riki

Maid of Honor, Seester Stefanie

Guess who folded this nifty letter?

The best of them all! The sweetest letter from my husband that literally made me cry.
I am truly blessed to be married to such a wonderful, loving guy. 

My sister included this in the back once she was finished at the rehearsal dinner. It was an amazing speech that had almost everyone in tears, including each other. Especially the part about Henry including us as a package deal and not trying to keep us apart. I don't think anyone can comprehend the meaning of this to myself and my sister, and Henry just did it naturally.

Maid of Honor Speech Part 1

Maid of Honor Speech Part 2

26 Weeks

How far along? 26 Weeks

Total weight gain? As of the last doctor's appointment I have officially gained 17 lbs. HOLY GUACAMOLE!!! The doctor however says it's fine, that I look great and have a big baby so it's no big deal. Given my boobs have grown drastically, but the baby being 2 lbs now and given the boobs probably 2 lbs MAX - that's TOO much weight by my standards. I don't care what my doctor says. Cue depression. LOL I shouldn't gain more than 30 lbs over the course of the pregnancy and Coraline still has her biggest growth spurts ahead of us. Next appointment is June 3rd so hopefully the weight gain will have slowed down. 

Maternity Clothes? ASOS in the UK is the only reliable pregnancy store I have found so far. I love all their stylish clothes for women in their 20s, plus free shipping on returns. Everything is GREATLY priced and not cheaply made. I have also recently bought a few items from Old Navy after a fellow blogger buddy stated how great their items were too. The items in the photo though are from Motherhood Maternity.

Stretch Marks?  The red mark has officially popped up on my butt! First my boob, now my butt!! Come on! I mean luckily it is perfectly placed where any bikini will cover it, but I was horrified to see it. UGH!!! The positive side, at least it isn't my belly....yet. EEK!

Sleep:  Sleep has been a bit restless this week. I have been having to stay at the in-laws house and their bed is no where near as soft as our plush pillow top california king. My left shoulder has been starting to ache. Ready to be in my own bed again. Although I do love all the wonderful home cooked dinners. hehe

Best moment this week: The "reach for the sky movement"!!!

Miss Anything? Sushi and Rum. Going to the Caribbean on our babymoon is going to be slight torture.

Movement: Henry and I went camping this weekend for Memorial Day weekend and were laying down at night reading our baby books when Coraline decided to she wanted to have a spaz attack! The movements were on either side of my belly button taking turns raising my stomach in super quick movements. Henry saw it out of the corner of his eye, so we both sat there watching it. I had to keep from giggling because it was so bizarre! Then, all of a sudden, the left side of my stomach just slowly raised a good two inches up!! It was definitely a knee or elbow because it was bony. I started to laugh from the pure craziness and Henry was quick to tell me to stop laughing so he could keep watching her move. She continued on for a few minutes. It was crazy fun to watch! 

Food cravings: It may just be me, but I think this week is strawberries and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. I think I have had about 12 PB&J's this week, plus homemade strawberry shortcakes, strawberry jam, strawberries in my cheerios, etc. 

Anything making you queasy or sick: Textures are still making me sick, like couscous, as well as red meat. 

Gender RESULTS: BABY GIRL!!! My gut feeling was right all along! I absolutely can't wait to meet her!

Labor Signs: Too soon

Symptoms: 
One day my ankles and fingers were swollen since it was SUPER HOT one day.
Nosebleeds are back, bad! I wake up and blood almost immediately starts running. Sad.
If I don't take my prenatal vitamin at night, my legs get extremely antsy! It feels like I need to go running they get so antsy. However, if I take my pre-natal within 30 minutes they chill out. I read that it has to do with the iron. Either way, it works.
Movements have changed from individual movements to feeling simultaneous movements in two different spots. Like I will feel something toward my right side up by my ribs, and at the same time another movement on the left side of my belly button. It's the weirdest, yet most wonderful feeling in the world.
The "nesting" has begun with crazy cleaning and organizing.
Disappearing belly button, baby bump, nails and hair growing like weeds, baby movements (the best!) and my boobs have drastically increased, which has lead to the dreaded red-mark, and frequent bathroom visits.
Then my back has begun to break out like a highschool boy going through puberty on steroids. Luckily, I discovered this Naturals Spot Treatment from Neutrogena and it has DRASTICALLY reduced the breakouts and their redness. You just apply it 2-3 times a day and it just pretty much dries everything up and prevents anything new from popping up. YEA BUDDY!
Heartburn has been nipped in the butt thanks to my prescription of Reglan for my paralyzed stomach, that just so happens to be a medication used with gastric reflux. Jackpot twice in a row! This pregnancy thing is a cinch. (so far)

Belly Button in or out? Innie - barely.

Wedding rings on or off? On - However, there was one really hot day (Texas big surprise) where my wedding ring began to get really tight so I moved it to my pinkie for the day. 

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy, Happy!

Looking forward to: Finishing out the nursery and getting back into our house!

Baby Name? Coraline! I love the name!! See WEEK 21 for name details. <3

Thoughts: Just ready to meet Coraline. I love this sweet little lady so much! I wanted a boy so badly when I first got pregnant and now, I wouldn't change having a girl for anything in this world. God definitely has everything happen for a reason. 

**NEW** About the Board:
Board inspiration came from Memorial Day! However, I could not find red chalk, so hot pink it is! Hot Pink, white and blue.
The board was done using fonts from WORD.
Chalkboard Fonts: Harrington and then the rest were free-handed.
Size was a "hot house cucumber" although it looks like a zucchini
This week Henry was out of town all week so his lovely aunt Terri volunteered to take the photo with me, so of course I had to have her jump in the photo with me. <3

**NEW** Pregnancy/Maternity Fashion: 
My lovely fashion for this photo entailed a prenatal tank and prenatal jeans from Motherhood Maternity. Not my favorite store to shop at, but it's the closest one around when you can't wait for shipping.

Week 25

How far along? 25 Weeks

Total weight gain? As of the last doctor's appointment I have officially gained 17 lbs. HOLY GUACAMOLE!!! The doctor however says it's fine, that I look great and have a big baby so it's no big deal. Given my boobs have grown drastically, but the baby being 2 lbs now and given the boobs probably 2 lbs MAX - that's TOO much weight by my standards. I don't care what my doctor says. Cue depression. LOL I shouldn't gain more than 30 lbs over the course of the pregnancy and Coraline still has her biggest growth spurts ahead of us. Next appointment is June 3rd so hopefully the weight gain will have slowed down. 

Maternity Clothes? ASOS in the UK is my go-to maternity store! Free shipping, plus free return shipping if it doesn't fit or I don't like it. Sign me up. Not to mention, GREAT prices. All outfits can be worn post maternity too. I am obsessed. I will forever rave about them. I also recently found some cute ones at Old Navy online as well.

Stretch Marks?  Still have the red mark I freaked about on Week 21 & 22. Other than that, looks like I am clear for now. Been applying lotion with Vitamin E and Cocoa Butter religiously every day.

Sleep:  Sleep has been much better since the amazing body pillow as arrived. Coraline seems to be on a regular sleep pattern. She squirms like crazy before bed, then settles down for the night, then around 7 am is up and squirming and rolling around. 

Best moment this week: Poking my belly and Coraline kicking back. Exciting right? lol It was so much fun for me! Except Henry was freaking out thinking I was hurting her and I had to reassure him she has plenty of room and cushion in there - it's not like I was going to poke her eye or anything. I finally convinced him to give it a shot, but his prods were so tender. He did slightly poke around and got to feel where her body was as it went from slightly soft to extremely hard. Seeing his excitement made my heart smile.

Miss Anything? Sushi and Rum. Going to the Caribbean on our babymoon is going to be slight torture.

Movement: Lots of movement! It is a lot of rolling now instead of sudden kicks/punches. 

Food cravings: Fruit (watermelon) mostly.

Anything making you queasy or sick: Textures are still making me sick, like couscous, as well as red meat. 

Gender RESULTS: BABY GIRL!!! My gut feeling was right all along! I absolutely can't wait to meet her!

Labor Signs: Too soon

Symptoms: The "nesting" has begun with crazy cleaning and organizing. Disappearing belly button, baby bump, nails and hair growing like weeds, baby movements (the best!) and my boobs have drastically increased, which has lead to the dreaded red-mark, and frequent bathroom visits. Then my back has begun to break out like a highschool boy going through puberty on steroids. That bad. Luckily, it is on my upper back and my long hair covers it, but I am praying it goes away before our beach maternity shoot in St. John. Then there is the AWESOME gastric reflux/heartburn. Whoa buddy talk about miserable at night! Feels like I have a mini bonfire going on in my throat. 

Belly Button in or out? Innie - barely.

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy, Happy!

Looking forward to: Finishing out the nursery! 

Baby Name? Coraline! I love the name!! See WEEK 21 for name details. <3

Thoughts: Really getting anxious to meet Coraline. The nesting has begun and I have been cleaning like a mad-woman. But being displaced because of the tornado has made this really hard to handle and giving me anxiety. I need to be home so I can clean!!! Gah!
I have begun talking to her more and she definitely loves dancing to certain songs on the radio with lots of bass. It sounds completely odd but she already has a fun personality even though she isn't here yet - just the way she reacts to things and moves around. I literally can spend a whole evening poking my stomach and watching her kick back, or just feel her roll side-to-side, back-and-forth. Then of course the whole dancing around to music kind of thing. If I already love her this much, I don't know how I am going to handle the amplified love when she arrives. My heart just might explode from all the love. Cheesy, right?

**NEW** About the Board:
The board was done using fonts from WORD.
Chalkboard Fonts: Harrington and then the rest were free-handed.
Size was an Eggplant and then my pregnancy book said my uterus was the size of a soccer ball! Uuuh, come again???
Love the blooper??

**NEW** Pregnancy/Maternity Fashion: 
My lovely fashion for this photo entailed comfy yoga paints from Victoria's Secret with the fold-over band, then the "long and lean" tank top from Target. Bow in the hair is from Aggieland Outfitters. <3

I ask my Hubby to stand there to so I can set the camera up and not cut his head off - this is how he chose to pose. HAHA Sexy! Teach him to post embarrassing photos of me. Payback.