new milestone

yes, i have hit another milestone in my pregnancy. today was my last 'monthly' visit to the doctors. i am now on the 'every 2 weeks' schedule!!! yikes!! hopefully the nurses won't get sick of me before we're done. they're really awesome. there's one in particular that i love and wish i could take her with me to the hospital when i deliver. guess i'll have to settle for the doctor being there....who is equally as awesome!

everything checked out fine though. blood pressure was a litle higher than the last time, but i think that was due to the fact that i knew i was having blood taken for my glucose test. and they weren't concerned about anything because it was within the range of bp readings i've had in past visits. weight gain was MUCH better than the last time!! :) i only gained 3 pounds this month, for a grand total of 14 pounds so far. the doctor is very pleased about that. no swelling in the legs, ankles, etc. so that's good.

i'm not even going to say anything as to not jinx myself...but since i'm thinking about what i want to write, i'm going to *knock on wood!*

crafty momma

so instead of going to the sunny (yet oiley) gulf coast for a hertel family vacation, grady and i had a stay-cation and were off the past two days together. i used these two days to my advantage to get a few projects completed in the nursery. may i present to you my fabric wall and handmade name banner for chickadude!



i have to give myself a pat on the back for not using a pattern for the banner, figuring out the measurements on my own and the best part....not having to tear any stitches out and re-do anything!!! go me!! and i have to say...i think it's uber cute!

it's coming together! just a few more final touches.

holy cookies and cupcakes batman!

just ran across this site (mingmakescupcakes.yolasite.com) and really am at a loss for words.

ming ming cupcakes....you're my favorite!!!

coming home

while visiting the grands and great grands at the timeshare in the shenandoah mountains, grana and i had to stop into a very cute looking boutique....sugarbritches. they had TONS of cute girl things and a smaller collection of cute boy things....one being chickadude's coming home outfit!! how cute is the trap door back! i absolutely love it. it's the perfect little outfit for a perfect little chickadude. this is also his first monogramed outfit. very exciting!!

blue bird

our little chickadude is growing!! according to thebump.com, he's about the size of an eggplant now! momma bird is starting to feel the effects of the weight gain too (and i'm proud to announce that i'm on track so far with my gain). bending down or bending over is becoming much more difficult. i think today was the last time i'll try to give myself a pedicure. :)

98 bottles of (root) beer on the wall

so thank you to andrea for pointing out to me today that i'm under the 100 day countdown now! wha wha WHAT!!! i can't believe i didn't realize it. i'm 26 weeks along today and have 98 more days to go. woah!!

i know i'm wishing for this insane heat to end with a quickness, but then i think about it and when it does end i won't be pregnant for too much longer. i really want to see my little chickadude, hug and kiss him all over and take him on mini adventures....but i also know already that i'm going to miss being pregnant (well, maybe not the waking up 4 times in the night too pee part...but everything else!). hopefully having an enjoyable pregnancy doesn't mean something will be waiting for us after we have chickadude!

on a side note, i just got back from pilates and man o man...it keeps getting harder every week. i remember when i first started at 10 weeks i didn't know why all the other women in the class were groaning and moaning. i now know! :) even a simple and enjoyable child's pose is not simple or enjoyable most times. the tummy is definitely getting in the way. i seem to be much more a fan of the quadraped moves. my favorite being the meow and moo, otherwise known as the cat and cow. for all you preggers out there...check this move out if you have not done so already. it's amazing!

our little drummer

it seems that after lunch is when little chickadude decides he wants to play the drums on my belly with his hands and feet! it's actually very distracting sometimes when i'm trying to concentrate on something. of course i welcome the distraction most days!

i caught this one on video today. i thought he might move again after the initial movement, hence why the video is 24 seconds long. so feel free to stop looking at my belly once the gray box disappears! :)

weeds-b-gone

for probably the last month or so i have been lacking in weeding my vegetable and flower gardens. we've either been traveling on the weekend, it rains or it's just too darn hot. and maybe it's me just starting my nesting actions, but i couldn't stand looking at my poor gardens being overtaken by weeds anymore. so this morning i was up at 7:30 to take mojo on a walk, ate breakfast and then by about 9am i was out in the garden. an hour and a half later in the 90 degree heat my gardens were perfect!! not a weed in site! of course, now my back is paying the price. ouch! no pain no gain though right!

and how my "little" pumpkin vine is starting to creep throughout the garden. there are some flowers on it, so i'm hoping to see a sign of fruit soon!!

and breath 1, 2, 3

call me a complete dork, but i'm so excited because today i signed grady and i up for our childbirth classes!! woo hoo!!

i initially was going to sign up for a class through the birthing inn in either august or september. i checked the website not too long ago and there were about 5 spots left in each class. of course when i logged on last week to register both classes were full! argh!!

i started looking for other classes and got very worried and frustrated when i found that most of the ones i wanted to take were either full or too expensive. until i found ours!!!

i'm actually glad we signed up for the one i found because it's a four week class instead of just two long days over one weekend. i'm looking forward to learning some good pain management solutions and i'm also looking forward to grady learning some good coaching techniques. i have a feeling i'm going to need it! :)

fruit loops

wow, week 24!! enter the third trimester!! so does this mean my happy pregnancy days are over?! :) i sure hope not.

so i was shocked to read that at week 24, chickadude is the size of a papaya !! those suckers are pretty large and in charge. no wonder i can feel him kicking and punching up a storm lately. i'm even more obsessed with my belly now too since i can see his movements when i look at my belly. i'm going to try and record it somehow. my friend julia had a good idea and said to attach nerf darts to your belly and you can watch them move. anyone have some laying around?!

i think the only negative side effect of pregnancy i've been experiencing lately is hip pain when sleeping. i end up rolling over to my other side several times a night now to ease the pain on the one side. i'm wondering if the pillow i have between my legs isn't thick enough. if anyone has any other suggestions on how to curb the pain i'm all ears!

ta daaaaaaaaaaaaa!

i present to you...our new nursey!!!
now comes more fun stuff....decorating!!!

under construction

we were so lucky to have grana, grampa, great grandma, great grandpa and aunt sue at our house over the holiday weekend to help us put our nursery together. we had a full docket:

before everyone got here we had to empty the room, get the carpet installed and then patch some holes from where the headboard in the bedroom used to be.

then, on friday we had to pick up the glider/rocker/recliner.

saturday grady and grampa sanded, primed and painted the spots that needed it in the nursery. while they were doing that, grana, sue and i worked on getting the fabric covered cornice board made. of course we had to go out and get a curtain that matched the cornice board and then got everything up and on the wall. first on the construction docket was the glider/rocker/recliner. piece of cake! we all went to dinner and when we got home it was crib construction time for grady and grampa while us ladies surpervised.

not much left for sunday but put the dresser together! as you can see rudy made sure to supervise and make sure everything was put together correctly.

thank you all for every ounce of love you put into our nursery. who knows when all of this would have gotten done if we didn't have all the help. graham is one lucky chickadude and now has a one of a kind nursey!

so long second trimester

23 weeks!! the last week of my second trimester.



i quite liked the "honeymoon" trimester. for the most part i was in a good mood. i was only getting up once in the night. could sleep for long periods of time on one side. no leg pains or cramps. have had no problems doing most pilates moves. was able to go shopping for longer than 1-hour spurts. still fit in some pre-pregnancy t-shirts. developed an even bigger sweet tooth. appetite has slightly increased where i have to eat small snacks throughout the day now. have only gained 11 pounds total so far. blood pressure continues to hover right around a normal 120/80 (most of the times its lower than that now!!). felt chickadude moving around a lot more, even on the outside! found out we were having a chickaDUDE! decided on the best name - Graham Alexander (i might be a little biased though).

looking forward to what my third trimester will bring!