33 Weeks

Baby Shower #1

How far along? 33 Weeks 

Total weight gain? Up 30 lbs, will have another check up Week 34. Really trying to maintain a total weight gain no more than 30 lbs, but seeing how I am at 30 lbs already and Coraline still has big growth spurts ahead...my dream seems to be squashed. :-[

Maternity Clothes? ASOS is my top #1 choice! The tops/tunics run true to your pre-pregnancy size. (Given you didn't let yourself go and blow up like a balloon - boob growth is accommodated for). I found that the pants are true to your current pregnant size. So if you measure your hips properly, use their size chart to order the proper pregnancy size. Yes this means you may order a 10/12/14. Grieve for a bit, then get over it. My next choices are The Gap/Old Navy. I have really only ordered tank tops from there and again, true to pre-pregnancy size. However, for 3rd trimester I recommend going up one size, the belly region can get tight. :-)

Stretch Marks?  The red marks are still on my butt! Good news, the red marks on my boob have vanished! Gone! Not even a slight sign that they were once even there. WHOOP!

Sleep:  Sleeping is WAY off. By 4 pm I am exhausted! I want to take a nap, but always talk myself out of it. By nighttime I am exhausted and feel like I should be able to pass right out, but don't. Major insomnia. I should probably just start giving in to the 4 pm nap. :-/

Best moment this week: First baby shower!! 

Miss Anything? Alcohol. It is hot and I want to enjoy the fun fruity alcoholic beverages everyone else is getting to enjoy. Jealous. 

Movement: She LOVES to move!! What's new? ha!

Food cravings: Watermelon. Henry picks the best ones too. Each time before he leaves town I make sure he picks a watermelon first so I can snack on it while he is gone. :-)

Anything making you queasy or sick: Textures are still making me sick. 

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

Labor Signs: More contractions this week! Happened at work while sitting at the desk - probably because I was stressed. I am on a roll. 

Symptoms: 
Exhaustion! Absolutely exhausted.
Braxton Hicks! Yay.
Learned I am allergic to cocoa butter.
Hips hurt. Especially my right hip.
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.
Disappearing belly button, baby bump, nails and hair growing like weeds, baby movements (the best!) and my boobs have drastically increased.
Frequent bathroom visits
Occasional swelling of my feet and hands. Especially my right foot. 

Belly Button in or out? My belly button is officially FLAT. No innie, no outtie. 

Wedding rings on or off? Both rings have moved to my pinkie fingers. I had a scare with my Aggie ring and just decided to keep them both there. Juuuust in case. 

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

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

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

Thoughts: We had our first baby shower this week! It was great to have so many family members from each side of my family attend. Usually we get all my moms side or all my dads. We had a good combination from both. They didn't do any crazy games except Baby Bingo, which turned out to be fun for the guests and kept them engaged during the gift opening. Everyone got a Blank Bingo Card and filled in the squares with gifts they thought we may receive. If they got 5 in a row they got a bingo and a prize. The mini-liquor bottle prizes were a hit! There were also two Starbucks gift cards and a mystery prize. We got tons of adorable outfits, wipes, bottles, little baby knick knacks and Coraline's carseat and extra base for Daddy's truck. We are truly blessed with some amazing, generous family members. Not to mention, my sister made the CUTEST Coraline diaper cake!! I was truly shocked at her talent to make it. Although I am sure her boyfriend Brice had a helping hand. hehe Then my Aunt Robin had the genius idea of freezing watermelon slices on sticks to make "fruit pops". Watermelon has been my main crave lately, and to have it frozen, slushy like on a stick was awesome! Genius idea for future kid birthday parties. 

About the Board:

No board this week. :-[ I know, shame on me. With work and traveling to and from Houston I just didn't make time for one. Not to mention the exhaustion, remember?

Pregnancy/Maternity Fashion: 

Dress is from ASOS.
Belt from a local boutique.
Wedges are Gianni Bini - my absolute favorite shoe designer and he by far has the most comfortable heels/wedges, especially for 33 weeks preggo!

Check out this adorable video courtesy of my Uncle John

Photos courtesy of my Uncle Warren

Photos courtesy of my Uncle Warren

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

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.

24 WEEKS & A Tornado. WHAT?!

Gotta love being displaced, greasy, pregnant and tired
from "experiene"ing a tornado. 

How far along? 24 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: First Mother's Day! 

Miss Anything? Sushi and Rum - Although I have finally started eating smoked salmon. I have to admit it felt SO GOOD and I don't regret it one bit. Everyone has their opinions on it, but I went for it. Coraline has been fine so far. 

Movement: Yea buddy. I actually felt a ROLL for the first time! Not just a kick or twitch. I felt like something pointy on my upper left side so I set my hand on it, then felt it roooooll down my side to my lower left side. CRAZY FEELING DUDE!! SO CRAZY! It was definitely a knee or elbow. 

Food cravings: Fruit (watermelon) and finally gave up on whole watermelons and settled for getting halves. Haven't had a bad one yet! Go me!

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: 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. This week we experienced our first twister! So that only made it more difficult. I am from Houston originally so I have dealt with a hurricane before, but tornados are a whole foreign subject for me. Needless to say, I don't like them one bit. We are currently staying at our in-laws farm. Our ceiling has water damage, needing a new roof, master bedroom windows busted, and we have a community backyard. For the dogs sake, I am worried about nails and broken glass, not to mention the no fence thing, so being at their farm has been heaven for them. However, this called for the board to be in a bit of disarray. It wasn't even until after we had finished the photos that we realized I had completely mis-spelled "Experience" and NO ONE noticed! Henry's sister had come over a few days later and pointed it out to us. Womp Womp. Oh and don't you love the background decor? Deer head, guns on the wall, cedar staircase with christmas garland still on there - LOL City girl really did meet a country boy - or country family. :-P

About the Board:
*This board was inspired by our twister experience. How ironic that Coraline is the size of an ear of corn this week and tornados are always portrayed as going through corn fields??
*Fonts: Harrington
*Due to dim lighting it was hard to tell how bold the board actually was. Wetting the board with a damp cloth (not soaking wet, just damp) helps the chalk go on smoother and bolder.
*Using word to pre-type what you want in fun fonts is a great way to eye-ball what to write, unless you are just freaking amazing at free-style all around. I need something to look at though. :-P

Pregnancy/Maternity Fashion: 
This weeks outfit is rather blah and simple. The flowing top is from ASOS Maternity Line. Leggings are from Motherhood Maternity, and the belt is from a local boutique. I was originally going to wear a black version of the belt, but as I grabbed it off the hook in my closet both clasps literally fell off!! So the nude was what I had to wear, but black was much better. I guess that's what you get when you pay $5. Boo.

Board close-up. 

BOARD BLOOPER

Henry's mom trying to take a photo of us with Henry's iPhone. lol

19 WEEKS

How far along? 19 Weeks

Total weight gain? I have officially gained 10 lbs on the nose. 

Maternity Clothes? Still rocking the Target tank tops I bought, with the belly belt or a big blingy belt to hide my unbuttoned/unzipped pants. haha!

Stretch Marks? None. Thank goodness! I asked my Great Grandma and Mom if they had any from pregnancy and both luckily are stretch mark free. Hope I got those genes!

Sleep: Sleep is GREAT! I have been sleeping like a rock. Usually when Henry get's up I at least acknowledge his movement, but not lately.

Best moment this week: These last two weeks have been AMAZING with me being able to feel movements, then Henry, but this week was pretty awesome too. We got to not only see the baby via our 19 Week Sono, but we also got to SEE movement OUTSIDE my belly! I was sitting at my desk at work and felt some pretty strong "kicks" in the middle of my stomach. I raised my tank top up to see if I could see it and sure enough! There were the little kicks! I yelled over to Henry, "Henry! I can see the kicks! Come look at this!" He thought I was joking and said, "Heather, the baby is only 10 oz, I don't think it would be strong enough to see." I told him to, "Look here!" as I pointed to the exact spot I kept seeing movement and within a second there was a movement. Henry laughed and said, "You did that." "No! No I didn't! Keep looking!" Then immediately there were two more! Then another and another. Henry rolled back in his chair with a huge smile on his face and said, "That is so crazy!! I can't believe we can see the movements!" Then he began searching around the office to find something around 10 oz - which was a 12 oz coke. We were in awe and so excited! We sat there watching my belly and the little flutters, being completely un-productive, until it was lunch time. I am sure our employees thought we were crazy. HAHA

Miss Anything? Take a wild guess.....ALCOHOL! I have also begun to miss Sushi! Salmon and Tuna in particular. 

Movement: YES!! Refer to Week 17 for my first experiences with movements. Then week 18 for Henry's. Also, our baby officially has a gender! Although, we don't find out until week 20 at the Gender Reveal Party! Whoop!

Food cravings: Fruit. Fruit. Oh, and Fruit. Anything lemon is still my addiction and Thai food is my go-to for almost every meal. The Thai sisters at the local restaurant joke that my baby will come out speaking Thai. I literally eat there at least 4 times a week. 

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. Also textures have started to get to me. I can not for the life of me remember what it was this week, but it was something I eat all the time and the moment it touched my tongue I had to spit it out. 

Gender Prediction: I am torn. I have had gut feelings of a baby girl the whole pregnancy, but lately been thinking baby boy. I don't know if those are true feelings or wishful thinking. I want so badly to give my Father-in-law his first true grandson, but Henry does want his little girl and it would be fun to always have someone to go shopping with or get pedicures with. Whichever the gender, I just really pray they aren't picky eaters. We will both be devastated!

Labor Signs: Too soon

Symptoms: Baby bump is the most obvious. The best symptom ever, baby movements! My nails and hair continue to grow like weeds, and my belly button has become extremely shallow, almost level with my belly. It freaks me out. I have always had a tiny, small belly button and now it's huge! Not the most attractive feature I can tell you that!

Belly Button in or out? Innie - barely.

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or Moody most of the time: Extremely on edge happy to find out the baby gender!

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. We are torn between Hayden and Coraline. Why do girl names have to be so difficult?

Thoughts: I really can't think of anything other than the reveal party!!! I can barely sleep at night because I am soooo excited! 

**NEW** About the Board: 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! I did go buy Walmarts brand of finer chalk since it had more color options for this weeks board.  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.

I chose to alternate between blue and pink since it is Gender Reveal Week!

Then when editing I increase the "saturation" to make the colors even more bold.

The fonts this week are: 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: I am wearing colored Skinnies from Express with a belly belt (I would highly recommend investing in one of these), then an actual maternity tank from Motherhood Maternity.

Target tank top with the big blingy Ariat belt to hide the unzipped and unbottoned pants. Yea buddy!