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:

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!

17 Weeks

Wonderful milestone week!

Ok first note to make: I am going to TRY, key word try, to post my weekly posts on Wednesdays every week. My new week actually begins on Saturday/Sunday, however I wasn't able to post the week posts because the week had not fully happened. The pictures are taken on day one of the corresponding week. SO, although I am posting week 17 today, I am actually 18 weeks and 3 days. Get it? This way I can blog about the ENTIRE week experience. 

How far along? 17 Weeks

Total weight gain? 4 lbs total on the nose.

Maternity Clothes? Wearing the maternity leggings and belly belt this week. My bump seems to be sitting low, although the photo makes it look pretty round, in person it looks like a watermelon.

Stretch Marks? None.

Sleep: Sleep is great, until little Buddha wakes us up at 2 am and then 6 am. Preparing us for the baby I suppose?

Best moment this week: FEELING THE BABY MOVE! Also, finally finding a gray paint color for the nursery. If anyone is looking for a light gray that doesn't look purple/pink/blue - Dolphin Fin by Behr is GREAT!

Miss Anything? Take a wild guess.....ALCOHOL!

Movement: YES!! Day 1 of Week 17 I was sitting and talking with Henry's family and then it felt like someone poked/flicked me from the inside. I felt it 3 separate times.
Then later in the week I was laying in bed and it felt like subtle "popcorn" I guess. Like it was trying to turn around. So there would be a "tap tap tap"...a few seconds..."tap tap" in a different spot....a few seconds..."tap tap" in a different spot and so on. Then it was so quiet in the bedroom I could hear the swishing noise of the movements. Sounds cool right? Um no, the non-stop subtle movements and sounds lasting about 5 minutes starting giving me a mini-panic attack. haha. I have no idea why! It's like when someone lightly rubs your arm and it tickles, so you have to scratch it. Does this make any sense? HAHA Let's just say it felt crazy weird. I am ready for more powerful movements. LOL

Food cravings: Fruit. Fruit. Oh, and Fruit. Raspberries seem to be the fruit of the week.

Anything making you queasy or sick: I had a bad day Tuesday. I had felt queasy all day long, went and had an amazing workout with my personal trainer, then as soon as I got home I projectile vomited everything I had eaten all day, all over the bathroom. More than you wanted to know, right?

Gender Prediction: Baby Boy actually. This is the first official week I started thinking it was a boy. Only two more weeks until we know for sure!!!!

Labor Signs: Too soon

Symptoms: Baby bump is the most obvious. Nausea. Hair growing like a weed. My nails have started growing quick too. I hate long nails! I rip, not bite, my nails because I can't stand how it feels when they begin to grow past the fingertip, it's this really annoying pressure feeling. *Crazy again?* More crying fits this week. Then the best of them all, baby movements!!!

Belly Button in or out? Innie

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or Moody most of the time: I cried a few times this week, but EXTREMELY happy! I mean, how could I not be? I felt our little darling moving!

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

Baby Names? Still have to be Henry the 3rd for a boy. The baby girl name seems to be settled on Adaleine, however torn between a middle name still.

Thoughts: Loving feeling this baby move! I wish I felt it more often, but it is usually only when I am laying down. Henry came rushing in the moment he heard I felt the baby and pressed his hand against my belly - of course it didn't move. Tuesday night we laid in bed together, he pressed his hand against my belly as I said, "Did you feel that? That? How about that?" There was one pretty good one that he thought he might have felt, but wasn't sure if he really did or his mind was making him think he did since he wanted to so badly. He laid his head on my belly and is pretty use to the noises my stomach makes because I have a crazy stomach that makes hilarious noises - he said he heard swishing noises, like running your hand through water, that he hadn't ever heard my stomach make before. I wish I could hear it!!!

Week 17 #Selfie from #Instagram. Follow Me!

When we finally found the perfect color, I turned around to see Henry had painted the two potential baby nicknames on the walls. <3

Country Style New Year's Eve

This New Year's Eve we had intended on traveling to Houston for a celebration with our friends, however Henry had a basketball game NYE that put a big damper in our plans. We then made plans to visit his parent's farm before ending the night with friends Lorenzo and Leslie. However, when NYE came around there was a fog so dense you could cut it with a knife. You couldn't see one thing! So, we spent the entire night at his parent's farm. 

My New Year's Eve Outfit, ready for the Ranch!

Brother-in-law, Aaron, with our Boogers! LOL

Talk about a redneck New Year's Eve. Complete with fireworks, moonshine and a pig! Family and friends were all there. My brother-in-law attempted to make a brisket, ribs and sausage, but the brisket was so burnt the Aredale even had trouble chewing it. It was terrible to say the least. I ended up eating Banana Pudding and later the guacamole we found in the fridge that had never been opened. 

Father-In-Law, Herman, and my Hubby, Henry

Herman and myself

My other brother-in-law Wes brings some moonshine with strawberry slices. After some time people start to loosen up and get brave enough to try the strawberries. Henry tries one and immediately yells how awful it tastes, Herman tries one, followed by Henry's Mom. Henry's mom's face was classic! It became puckered like eating a bitter lemon followed by gagging. I decided I would pass.

Then Wes decides it is a good idea to get Herman, another guy and himself to take turns chugging the moonshine. Bad. Idea. Herman holds his weight, but Wes was gone!!! He could barely walk, and had the most hilarious things to say. A kid left a pile of banana pudding on the table and proceeded to grab handfuls, while aiming for his mouth, but more rubbing it all over his face. Some dropped on the remote and he thought it would be a good idea to lick the remote, which in turn made the remote very sticky. I got a wonderful 5 minute video for future blackmail. Enjoy a small clip below. 

WARNING: Foul language can be heard.

His wife finally coaxed him into going home around 10:30, got him in the bed of the truck, yes bed, and drove home with him passed out. HAHA

Next thing I knew there was a giant pig running around. What else do you do when a pig is there? You take pictures! 

Sister-In-Law, Audrey, with the pig eating dog food.

Most of the people passed out by 11 pm. Some people just can't hang. HA! We shot off some fireworks around 11:30 pm for the kids, then finished off with a New Years Kiss. 

Purple Haze Firework

UFO Firework

It wasn't the New Year's Eve I had planned, but it definitely did not lack in entertainment. 

Love my crazy in-laws! 

The Love of my life <3

Merry New Year's Eve! 

Alana XoXo