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

23 WEEKS

How far along? 23 Weeks

Total weight gain? 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 1 lb 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. 

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. 

Stretch Marks?  Still have the red mark I freaked about on Week 21 & 22. Other than that, looks like I am clear for now. 

Sleep:  Coraline has settled down at night, especially since my amazing pillow arrived! I can officially sleep on my left side, supported on all sides by a cloud. I highly recommend getting a body pillow. This thing helps prevent me from rolling all the way on my back, which is how I like to sleep, but gives me support to lean back against. 

Best moment this week: Spur of the moment photo session with bestie Taylor from Pink Heels Pink Truck and getting the CRIB!!

Miss Anything? Sushi and Rum

Movement: Oh yes! This week we counted about 37 movements in about 1 minute! Henry had his hand on my belly as she kicked about and finally he said into my belly, "Coraline, why are you so angryyyy?" LOL She was having a fit or something! But I loved every bit of it. <3 Especially because when she starts to move, the moment Henry sets his hand on my belly she freezes lol. Loved how he got to feel her A LOT! 

Food cravings: Fruit (watermelon) and for the life of me I can not find a great watermelon! Any tips for picking the best? I can pick them wonderfully if they are cut open, but a whole watermelon has been 0 for 7 lately. They aren't sweet or hard as heck!

Anything making you queasy or sick: Textures are still making me sick 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: 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. I am starting to wake up at least twice a night, and it's like I wake up and have to RUN to the bathroom! Bending over is beginning to get difficult, especially to tie my shoes or take my boots off. 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. 

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: Henry has been out of town a lot so getting someone to take a picture of the board has been hard. I really don't like calling someone over just to take a photo of me. SOOO I was beyond happy when Taylor showed up at my friends ranch with her camera for me to take photos of her, and I was able to get her to take photos of me too. Especially wearing what I thought was a cute outfit. <3

**NEW** About the Board: No board this week - again. I am sorry!!!

**NEW** Pregnancy/Maternity Fashion: I am wearing an empire waist maxi dress from Victoria's Secret which can be found HERE. I am not completely comfortable with my boobs popping out of this dress so to make it more modest I tied a Chambray top from The Gap and paired it with a necklace from a local boutique. The gorgeous jeweled sandals are from Dillards - one of the few places that carry shoes for my big feet! <3

More photos from the photo session:

22 Weeks

No photo this week - see Symptoms and Thoughts below.

How far along? 22 Weeks

Total weight gain? I have officially gained 10 lbs on the nose as of my last appointment. Our baby is two weeks bigger, but just because she is a big baby, not because they are going to change the due date. Yay! 

Maternity Clothes? Ok I have ordered a few maternity things from ASOS in the UK, however they are so cute and the way they are designed can be worn post maternity too. FINALLY somewhere that has cute maternity clothes for women in their 20s!! I have now bought about 5 dresses and a few shirts.

Stretch Marks?  As of week 21! I think I am getting one tiny one on my boob. TMI? I explained how my mom had red marks, but she said they went away. I freaked out and showed Henry, he says he can't see anything. Even after I kept pointing he said I was making a bigger deal than it really was.

Sleep:  She has started to settle down at night, especially since my amazing pillow has arrived! I can officially sleep on my left side, supported on all sides by a cloud. I highly recommend getting a body pillow. This thing helps prevent me from rolling all the way on my back, which is how I like to sleep, but gives me support to lean back against. I love it. Henry even "cuddles" up against it with me. haha

Best moment this week: This week sucked in all honesty. Miserable. Week.

Miss Anything? Sushi, raw tuna, raw salmon. I would kill for some RAW sushi! I am tired of this cooked crap. And then of course, Rum.

Movement: Lots and Lots and Lots of movements. She moves all the time!

Food cravings: Fruit (watermelon), Sushi and Thai food

Anything making you queasy or sick: Textures are still making me sick. I have not dared try orange juice anymore since I threw up that last time, again. 

Gender RESULTS: BABY GIRL!!! My gut feeling was right all along!

Labor Signs: Too soon

Symptoms: Decreasing 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. Remember when she was transverse last week and led to throwing up and blacking out? Weeellll, this week was worse. I went to get out of my truck and nearly collapsed! The pain on my left side was so severe I could barely walk or even breath. I called my doctor and she was in emergency surgery. The nurses advised I be safe than sorry and get to the nearest ER to make sure she wasn't under any stress or have the umbilical cord wrapped around her neck. Of course Henry was out of town so I called him now crying because I didn't want to be over-dramatic and go to the ER, but then I didn't want to be stubborn and NOT go to the ER and something be really wrong. The post HERE:Stubborn Baby gives the full story. 

Belly Button in or out? Innie - barely.

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or Moody most of the time: I was just sick and miserable all week.

Looking forward to: Finishing out the nursery!

Baby Names? Well boy names are scratched. haha  Henry had been thinking a lot about it and decided Coraline would be best because he wants to call her "Cora-Lou" which I LOVE! I was so overwhelmed with the cuteness of the name I began tearing up at dinner when he told me. Henry looked at me all shocked because here I was grinning ear-to-ear and tearing up. He laughed and said, "OMG your eyes are tearing up!! It's just a name." Then I started laughing, "Its the pregnancy hormones! Don't judge!". We sat there laughing for quite a bit at my ridiculousness. Ugh! I love this little girl and Henry so very much! Week 21 gives more details on the name. :-)

Thoughts: This week has been terrible. She keeps going sideways and causing severe pain. I know - labor will be worse, yea, yea, yea! But that is then, this is now. She literally feels like she is trying to rip through my abdominal walls. I roll on my back in my sleep and immediately wake up from the severe pain. Anything that causes me to use my abdominal muscles or lower left groin muscle makes me lose my breath it's so painful. Lovely. This is why there is no board or photos this week. I was so miserable plus I was sick this week, that there was no way I was getting in front of the camera. 

19 WEEK SONO

Week 19 began on Saturday/Sunday for me. On Monday we had our 2nd doctor sono, 3rd overall, to see the baby, get measurements and determine the gender!! Even though they would be finding the gender, Henry and I would not find out. Our Gender Reveal Party is scheduled for this Saturday, April 13, 2013, so the only person who would know would be the party host, Marina. :-)

Our sonographer did a great job in ensuring we did not find out. She referred to "the baby" the entire time. We got to see the skull, the four chambers of it's heart and the adorable face! When we went to look at the spine and legs she made sure to tell us to look away, even though we weren't looking she talked us through everything she was doing. "I am measuring the legs right now. Looking at the spine, everything looks great. 10 toes are present." She did a few more things where we could watch and at the perfect moment our baby from the profile did a slight karate chop/intense wave on the sono! It was hilarious. She snapped a few photos for us to keep, then told us to look away one last time so she could determine the gender. I really had to practice self control not to peek - I mean REALLY try! If Henry weren't there ensuring I didn't cheat I would've been telling her, "Just tell me, I promise I will act surprised!". HA! I even tried listening for her to type "B-O-Y" or "G-I-R-L" and she was so silent on the keyboard I baaaarely heard her hit one key. Hell, she probably just typed "B" or "G". LOL

Sweet baby yawn! What do you think? Boy or Girl?

When we went to the examining room to see Dr. English, she informed us that she would just talk more about it with us at our next visit. She told the sonographer not to enter it into our chart because she didn't want to slip up and ruin the surprise, so bring photos of the reveal and we would talk about it next time. haha

We left them Marina's phone number and waited until we had confirmation from Marina they had called. Sure enough, they called and Marina did not hesitate to post on FB: "I know something you don't know!" My sister - Stefanie - was cracking me up with her responses! Both her and my sister-in-law were having major jealously issues. At lunch my sister-in-law threw a joking, pity-party, "It's not fair that she gets to know before us! She isn't even family." I had to remind her that we didn't tell family, especially Henry's, because no one on that side knows how to keep a secret. If I would've told her, all of the world would know. Punk. :-P (Love you Audrey)

Love my edit job?

Needless to say, I am posting constant countdown updates and am beyond anxious! Marina has apparently phenomenally decorated a box which will be filled with pink or blue balloons. I haven't seen said box, but my girlfriend Danni has re-assured me that everything Marina has done is perfection. Which I don't doubt one bit. 

I really thought this week would have dragged on, but I can't believe that tomorrow is Friday and we will be on our way to Houston, one day closer to knowing if Baby J will be a boy or girl. I won't be able to sleep a wink Friday night, I just know it!

If you don't already follow me on Instagram, be sure to go check it out! The gender reveal announcement won't be posted on the blog for another week, but will be posted on Instagram this weekend. 

Which team are you? Team Beau or Team Bow?

WEEK 18

I know the photos overlap the sidebar, but oh well!

How far along? 18 Weeks

Total weight gain? 4 lbs as of my last appointment - we have another appointment week 19.

Maternity Clothes? I am not necessarily wearing maternity clothes. If you look at most, they are frumpy and ugly. I mean who designs these things? Even Jessica Simpson and Heidi Klum's maternity lines are slightly awful and seem geared toward mid-30s. Luckily, I love Target! Target has a whole line of really cute ribbed tanks and regular tanks, and fitted shirts that are all SUPER LONG and comfy! Needless to say, I bought about 20 some odd shirts from Target. Their tanks even have cute designs too, long enough to cover my growing bump and unbuttoned pants. hehe

Stretch Marks? None. Thank goodness!

Sleep: Sleep is GREAT! I have been sleeping like a rock.

Best moment this week: Well last week I got to feel the baby and this week Henry got to feel the baby!!! It is wonderful every night us laying together, trying to be as quiet as possible, Henry's hand pressed against my belly and feeling the little movements and flutters. It's my favorite part of the day. <3

Miss Anything? Take a wild guess.....ALCOHOL! And ordering my steaks and prime rib medium-rare. I have actually stopped ordering most red meat, other than burgers, because I can't stand them well-done. Takes all the flavor out and feels like I am eating rubber. 

Movement: YES!! Refer to Week 17 for my first experiences with movements. This week Henry got to feel the baby move, as stated in the "Best moment of this week". I feel subtle little flutters, mostly on the left side, especially at night. 

Food cravings: Fruit. Fruit. Oh, and Fruit. Anything lemon this week is my addiction. I have made two batches now of homemade strawberry infused lemonade. YUM! Henry loves it too.

Anything making you queasy or sick: So I have noticed lately when I eat red meat, it makes me sick later. The sight or thought doesn't make me queasy or sick, but EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. I eat it, I get nauseous later in the day. Pork and Chicken it is. 

Gender Prediction: Baby Boy. However, for the first time I really started accepting the fun ideas of having a baby girl. I don't mean to sound awful, but I am team blue all the way. This week though, I saw two little girls riding around in this Barbie Corvette my sister and I use to have, and then Instagram photos of all these little ballet recitals. Oh how I would love to have a little ballerina princess! haha

Labor Signs: Too soon

Symptoms: Baby bump is the most obvious. The best symptom ever, baby movements! Then there is the hair and nails growing like crazy. 

Belly Button in or out? Innie

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy. This has been an amazing preggo week!

Looking forward to: Reveal Party and more baby movements!!!

Baby Names? Still have to be Henry the 3rd for a boy. Ok Adaleine, the one we thought we were settled on has officially been scratched off the list. No way, Jose. The new names, as seen on the board, are Coraline, Heidi, Claire, Adelaide, and Hayden (couldn't fit this one on there).  Thinking about having friends and family vote at the Reveal Party. 

Thoughts: It is an amazing bonding experience getting to feel the baby move with Henry. I am thankful the time between me feeling it and him feeling it was so short. He is really "involved" with this pregnancy, which sounds odd to say. You read all these things about how the dad doesn't really get to bond or get involved until the baby is born. Henry is rare I guess? He loves talking to the baby, putting his hand on my belly whether it's laying in bed together, driving in the car, sitting watching TV or just walking around town. He gives the baby and my belly a lot of attention that I don't hear a lot of other women admit to or talk about. The best is laying there together and hearing him say, "I felt that!.....And that!". He is going to be such an amazing dad. I can't wait until we get to kiss all those little fingers and toes!

**NEW** About the Board: I have a lot of people asking me how I get my board the way I do, inspiration, chalk, font, etc. So, I decided to add this section each week. I always use Crayolas Sidewalk Chalk for big lettering, then Staples brand writing chalk for finer lettering or outlining. Plus, sidewalk chalk has SO MANY COLORS! However, this week was 100% sidewalk chalk. I wet the board down with a damp rag, and then write away. It makes the colors go on bolder/thicker when it's a bit wet.
Then when editing I increase the "saturation" to make the colors even more bold.
The fonts this week are: Desdemona, Academy Engraved LET, and Harrington.
I pull up word, type what I want in the fonts chosen, then eyeball it onto the chalkboard. :-)

**NEW** Pregnancy/Maternity Fashion: Again, another question I keep getting.
This is post-working out so forgive the outfit. The fold-over yoga pants are Victorias Secret, and then the tank top is a regular tank top from Target. Their tank tops are UH-MAZING! Super long, super cheap too!