26 weeks

This week was one of the most fun ones of my pregnancy thus far. It was Christmas! I always wanted to be pregnant at Christmas and it was really special. We got tons of adorable baby stuff and had fun showing off the progress of the nursery to family and friends.

My third trimester starts next week! Holy cow, where did the second one go? Time is flying and it's starting to freak me out a little bit. I've been watching that show called One Born Every Minute and it's becoming a lot more real that in just a few short months, I'll be delivering a baby. I'll admit, I'm pretty scared, but I'm trying to take things one step at a time and not get ahead of myself. I can't control how everything will go, so there's no sense trying.

We have finally chosen a name, though it's one we've liked for years. We just told family over the holiday and I'll blog it soon.

My outfit in the photos is new (again - I feel like I'm always wearing a new outfit in these photos, but I swear I don't buy myself clothes all the time), but the jeans were free! I responded to a tweet from Old Navy a few weeks ago and they emailed me saying they'd be sending me a prize in the mail. What I got was a card good for a free pair of jeans! I went there yesterday and got my first over the belly, full panel maternity jeans. My other low rise ones still fit fine, but these are much more comfortable. Since I was getting free jeans, I thought I might as well buy a new shirt (and sunglasses and earrings)... that's how they get you!

I also got new bras and underwear with a Victoria's Secret gift card I got for Christmas. I've worn thong underwear since high school (I was a dancer and they always worked best under tights and leotards), but I've just started to notice that they are no longer comfortable. I got five pairs of these underwear (I think I'm going to get five more) and two of these bras in sizes I never imagined I'd fit into. They're pretty granny-ish, but so comfortable, so I don't care. Plus, my husband still thinks I look cute in them, so that's all that matters, right?

I felt some baby hiccups this week too! My husband was even able to hear them!! Pretty cool. So much moving lately, which I love. Every morning when we're laying in bed, my husband asks me if the baby is awake yet and then we snuggle and he tries to feel some kicks before getting up to start his day. I'm going to miss that!

25 weeks

This was my first week of winter break and oh has it been sweet! I've slept in every day - well, I actually wake up when my husband gets up for work, but I stay in bed playing on my phone until he leaves. Then, I fall asleep for a bit longer and get up whenever I feel like it. I know that I have to soak this in and appreciate the leisure time while I've got it because in a few short months, I'll be happy to get any sleep at all.

My friend Jessica had her baby today!!! I saw a new post from her in my reader this morning and knew it was almost time, so I texted her asking to be put on her husband's text list for updates. I got just one, then a few hours later, an adorable picture of her baby boy! It was extra exciting because they decided not to find out the sex of the baby ahead of time. Also, they planned a home birth with a midwife and I can't wait to hear/read her birth story. What an amazing Christmas they'll have this year!

While I don't think I'm technically six months pregnant yet, I keep telling everyone that I am. I don't know why, but six months seems really officially pregnant to me. I also think this might be the last month I feel cute. I'm pretty scared of getting much bigger, but I know it's coming.

My dress in the photos is from Old Navy Maternity - I bought it online, which is something I rarely do for clothes, but it worked out! I plan on wearing this on Christmas Eve for our family lunch and to church. On Christmas, I'm going to wear my red and grey striped shirt from this post because we'll just be lounging at my in-laws all day and I want to wear something comfortable, but festive.

The baby room walls are painted and all the trim is up! The last thing to be done is to paint the crown molding and it's ready for furniture!! I am SO excited and ready to start decorating.

We got our stroller yesterday! I put it together by myself (it was so easy) and we have it set up next to the tree like a present. My husband's grandma is coming over on Saturday (she's the one who bought it for us), so it will be nice for her to see it all put together.

Yesterday morning, I woke up with terrible leg pain. After tweeting about it, Bee said it could be sciatica, which makes a lot of sense. Many times, pregnant women have back pain and think it's sciatica, but really, it's not. Sciatica isn't usually felt in the back, it's felt in the legs. I definitely have some lower back pain every once in a while, but this was totally different. It felt like I had run a marathon in my sleep! It went away after I laid in bed for a while and it didn't happen today, so I hope it was just that one time. I do think I need to get one of those maternity body pillows, though, so I stay in the best position all night.

Have you been reading my posts over on Hellobee? Most of them are repeats, for now, but I'm going to get some new stuff up there very soon.

24 weeks

Sorry I'm late with this post. This week was totally nuts. I'm glad it's over, but I can't believe there only one more week until Christmas. I need another month!

I've been getting a lot more comments from strangers lately, which is cool. It's nice to know that I look pregnant and not just fat. Many people also guess that it's a boy just by looking at me. I'm not sure how they know that (I think they're just lucky guessers), but it's always fun to tell them they're right.

The nursery is really moving along. My husband is putting up the third coat of primer right this minute, then hopefully he and his dad will paint tomorrow. After careful consideration (an so much flip flopping on my part) we decided to go with Benjamin Moore's Polar Ice. It wasn't one of the two choices we had originally thought we liked, but after it dried, it was our favorite. We still like Summer Shower, but it has those cool green tones in it and our artist friend Jackie pointed out that Polar Ice is a warmer color. Also, when I held up both paint chips to the living room walls (Benjamin Moore Vintage Charm), Polar Ice was much more complimentary. After the paint is done, my husband is going to put up crown molding and trim around the closet. Then, we'll paint the frame of the closet white (it's a goldish color now), and then we can start putting furniture in! I'm so happy things are moving along.

My husband's grandma sent us the money for the stroller yesterday, so I went ahead and ordered it right away. It said it would ship on Monday, but I got an email this morning saying it shipped today! She's coming over for Christmas Eve, so she'll be able to see what her money went towards. I'm so excited, I can't wait to get it set up!!

I have been doing the majority of my Christmas shopping online this year because I just can't bear the crowds and lines. I have everything done except for a couple of photo books that I still need to work on. Shutterfly says if you order by 4pm pacific on 12/18, you'll get it by the 24th (standard shipping). I'm really hoping they're right, because it would not be cool if they were late. The reason I've waited so long to do those is that most of our pictures are on our desk top in the office and it's currently inaccessible. Tonight, we should be able to put some of that stuff in the nursery closet and the rest in the garage so we can have that room back. I also need to get it back to normal because my cousin Cameron is coming for a quick visit on Monday. As of now, we can't see the bed that's in there, but hopefully it will be ready for guests in a couple of days.

I'm been feeling pretty good lately, my only complaint is the lower back pain. If I'm standing too long or doing any sort of repeated bending, it hurts pretty badly. I'm going to get back to yoga now that I have some time off and hopefully that will help.

Oh, I almost forgot! The shirt in my photos this week is from Shade Maternity (they have regular clothes, too), a store I heard about from Mandy (the OMG mom). She tweeted a 40% off discount code, so I bought this shirt because I thought it would be cute for the holidays. I love it! I actually took the belt off after the photos, changed into my favorite pair of brown boots, and put a big slouchy cardigan on over it.

Don't forget to check in at Hellobee every once in a while! My baby shower inspiration post went up yesterday and many more are coming. Stop by and say hello!

I'm a BEE!

The first blog I ever read (well, as least the first one I can ever remember reading that I actually knew was a blog) was Weddingbee. It's an amazing site where all different women, and even a couple men, blog about planning their weddings. When I was planning my wedding, I used to keep the site open as a tab on my browser and refresh it any time I had a free minute to look at new posts. It is an incredible resource for any bride, but I especially loved it because so many women had amazing DIY ideas and inspiration that I totally stole... ahem... borrowed for my own wedding.
After our wedding, I started reading the personal blogs of ladies whose weddings I followed and through comments and twitter, became sort of online friends with some of them. It has been amazing to have this new support system over the last couple of years and I'm so grateful for the community that Wedingbee creates between it's bloggers and readers. The only bee I've met in real life is Cathy, aka Mrs. Penquin, who is now WB's editor in chief! She's an absolute doll and we had such a great time at waterbar in San Francisco this summer. She was actually the first person to see us after we became pregnant, though we didn't know it yet.

I had always wondered if the creator of Weddingbee, Bee Kim, or Mrs. Bee, was going to start a parenting site. People were always buzzing about it on the WB boards and twitter and I anxiously awaited the day when she would launch one. Well, that day has come and I am SO incredibly excited to be a part of the first generation of Mama Bees to blog for Hellobee!

I am Mrs. Tic Tac Toe!

Read my very first post on Hellobee here!

Paint! Finally!

After many weekends of work, my husband finally finished flattening the walls in the baby room. He also installed  new insulation in the attic, which is accessed through the baby room closet, so our house will be toasty warm (and nice and cool in the summer) just in time for baby's arrival.

So... colors. About a month ago, we went down to a local paint shop that carries Benjamin Moore paint. I like their selection of colors the best, but their prices are quite high, so we just wanted to get swatches there and then take them to Home Depot to be color matched.

After debating and consulting friends, we settled on Glass Slipper, Polar Ice, Summer Shower, and Lily White (from House Beautiful Magazine) all by Benjamin Moore. Then, I headed to Home Depot to get some little $3 sample jars so we could paint swatches on the wall.

The room isn't primed yet, and it will take several coats of primer and paint because the plaster used to skim the walls sucks up the paint like a sponge, but here's an idea of what the colors would look like on the walls.

I wore a heavy duty mask, so as not to inhale paint fumes. Sexy, huh?

We painted little abbreviations of the colors under each swatch so we'd remember which was which.

Watch out!

Ok, so here they are. From left: Summer Shower, Lily White, Glass Slipper, and Polar Ice.

And the verdict? We ruled out Glass Slipper right away because it was much too gray. Polar Ice was next to go because it was too dark. Now, we're left with Summer Shower and Lily White. We both keep going back and forth between those two. They're very different, but we like something about both of them. We have to decide soon, though, because we're hoping to get it painted before Christmas (oh please oh please).

So, what do you think?

Here a picture of just those two without flash.

Wow, you can barely see Lily White in this one... maybe that's a sign?

Tell me what you think. And we don't have time to go get more samples, so it has to be one of these.

23 weeks

My phone just died, so let's see if I can remember my notes on what to blog about this week...

My friend Jessica is going to have her baby really soon. She's planning a home birth with a midwife and doesn't know the sex of the baby. I'm so excited!! Waiting on pins and needles for more news...

I finally realized that I feel a million times better about myself when I "do" my hair. With dry shampoo, I only have to wash it like twice a week (please don't think I'm gross - I promise it doesn't smell bad or look greasy because I have such thick hair), so keeping it "done" is really easy. With all the changes happening to my body and feeling so huge, I find that putting a little extra effort into my hair and makeup makes a big difference in how I feel about myself.

The heartburn has officially set in. I've been feeling it about once a day, but a tums does the trick. Today, however, I left my baggy of tums and tylenol in a different purse and had a killer episode after chowing down on some dorritos. I texted my husband just to complain and he told me to eat yogurt or drink milk. The yogurt worked! I was so impressed with his tip!

Our heater broke last weekend and we just got it fixed last night. While it doesn't get too cold here, it was definitely quite chilly for a few days (50 degrees inside the house is pretty darn cold, right?). So cold, in fact, that I was early for work three days in a row because I was so eager to get out of the house and into my heated classroom. Today, however, I was late. A warm house is so much nicer to snooze in than a cold one.

I've been loving regular coke or pepsi lately. Every time we go out, I order one. I try to just have one, but if the server refills my drink, I can't help but take a second. I don't go for a third, though. That's pushing it. And I don't keep it in the house. I do keep caffeine free diet dr. pepper in the house, though. I can't live without it.

Baby's movements are getting bigger and bigger lately and I'm just starting to be able to see little bumps from the outside of  my belly. What's cool about feeling him move is that I have built in entertainment at all hours of the day. If I'm bored while my husband is watching sports or something, the baby will start kicking and I'm instantly happy. I'm going to yearn for this feeling when I'm no longer pregnant.

While it's hard to adjust to all the changes my body is going through (hello fat in places I didn't know fat could go), looking down at this everyday is pretty darn cool. I wanted this for so long and I'm so thankful each day that I'm able to experience it.

Only 4 more months! Holy moly!!

Holiday Photoshoot

Last weekend, my good friend Michelle took some pictures of us for our Christmas card. It was really chilly and our dogs were crazy, but she did an awesome job making us look good (if I do say so myself). Here are a few of my favorites, some of which will appear on our cards and I'll share those as soon as I mail them out.

I'm so glad to have a friend who loves photography and is willing to practice on us! I can't wait to have her take pictures of the baby...

I miss my friends

My online friends, that is.

When I started blogging about our struggles TTC, so many women reached out to me who were also facing similar challenges. I bonded with these women over the internet and still follow their stories, as documented online. A few of them are now pregnant, but many are not and my heart aches to think about the pain they must be feeling.

Now that I'm pregnant, I know many of them no longer read my blog. How could I blame them? I remember I didn't unsubscribe from any blogs of pregnant women during my year + of TTC and I hated myself for it. Every time I'd see a post by yet another pregnant woman, so many emotions would flood through me: longing, anger, jealousy, despair. This goes for social media, as well. I even wrote a post about how hard it was to see status updates about the aches and pains or even the joys of pregnancy. I always thought I'd be different when I was pregnant - I wouldn't be like them. Haha... well, I'm sure you see what I've turned into...

I do try to be mindful about things I write in posts and status updates, but this is my life! It's impossible to censor everything while still being honest. Plus, I want to document this time in my life so I can look back years down the line and remember how it felt to be pregnant for the first time. Also, I have every right to experience the joys of pregnancy, just as all women do. I have to remind myself of that everyday: it's ok to enjoy this. It's ok to feel so happy inside I might burst. And it's ok to write about those feelings.

Right?

While I'm sad that I no longer have these connections with other women who are still struggling with infertility, I am happy that I've made new ones with other pregnant women and even moms. And I know one day my old friends will join me on this new journey.

22 weeks

Looking and feeling HUGE. Maybe it's the stripes? Ick. Oh well, can't win them all.

This week has been super fun. Sharing the gender with family, friends, students, coworkers, and you guys has made everything a lot more real. I can now refer to the baby as "he" and that's just crazy. I had mostly finished our registries a while ago, but now that we know it's a boy, I've been making some additions and adjustments. It's so fun!!

While I'm not quite the clean freak I hoped I'd be, nesting has definitely kicked in. I'm having a really hard time with the room not being ready to paint and decorate. I'm so anxious to start moving furniture in and getting everything ready, but I have to wait until my husband finishes the walls (one wall needs one more skim coat, then everything needs to be primed) and gets our new insulation in the attic (the entrance to the attic is in the nursery closet). I think the hardest part for me is that I can't help. I feel bad nagging my husband, but I'm just so ready! Today, while checking a student's homework, visions of baby stuff popped into my head out of nowhere. It's definitely all I can think about lately.

I've started a post on hand-me-downs. We've gotten some great stuff from very kind people!

Why on earth did I wear those shoes today? I haven't worn them in a long time and now I know why. Lots of blisters. My pregnancy books say my feet should start widening and while I haven't noticed a difference in my shoes, they do feel really fat in the mornings. I just know I'm going to have the worst swelling towards the end.

My husband put up lights on the house on Sunday and we got our tree! It only has lights on it for now, but we'll get the ornaments on it very soon. This is the Christmas I wanted last year (pregnant, know the gender, showing), but I'm so happy it all happened this way.

I just found this photo today. I took it early on in my pregnancy, but before I started taking official weekly photos.

Look at that little pouch! It was all bloat, but I remember feeling like it was really sticking out at the time. This was my first official day at my new job for professional development meetings. Now we're nearing the end of the first semester. Wow how time flies!

Gender Reveal

Did you hear? It's a BOY! We are so excited. I've been having a hard time working the past couple of days because all I want to do is look at baby boy clothes and toys. Read all about how we told our families here.

There are some things I learned from our little gender reveal weekend that I'd love to share with you all, in case you'd like to do something similar one day.

1. If baking isn't your specialty, leave it to the pros. I had a great experience with Crumbs, but I'm sure other bakeries would accommodate similar requests.

2. Skip the cupcake flags or any other decoration that might accidentally reveal the filling early. Cute it theory, but not practical.

3.Choose dark colored frosting. I wanted chocolate and vanilla cupcakes and frosting so people had a choice, but the white frosting didn't hide the blue filling that well. I'd do all chocolate if I could go back in time.

4. If possible, get both sides of the family together for the reveal. It was fun to be able to do it twice, but it was hard to keep the secret for the side of the family that had to go second (and friends who were dying to know). It would have been so much fun to have both families find out together - the more, the merrier, right?

5. Enjoy yourself! Any time I plan something like this, I have a hard time relaxing and enjoying the moment once it arrives. If you're anything like me, try to take a deep breath and remember what's important - celebrating with family and friends!

Would you ever do a gender reveal party or gathering?

It's a...

If you remember, my husband's 30th birthday was on Thanksgiving this year. We thought we might open our card the night before, but we were so exhausted from going to a friendsgiving dinner, that we decided to wait until the next morning when we would be fresh. All night both of us had multiple dreams about opening the card and for both of us, every time we opened the card in our dreams it was a boy.

Well...

Our dreams came true!! Right after we opened the card (which also had an ultrasound picture of the genitals that I've decided to keep private), I gave my husband his other birthday present.

He's a huge Raider fan and I ordered this onsie thinking it could work for a boy or a girl, but it REALLY works for a boy.

As for our reactions? I didn't cry right away. I think my husband did, but he'd probably deny it. Later, though, when I went to pick up the cupcakes and to Starbucks, I was crying every five minutes. I would see something that made me think of our little boy and cry. It was quite overwhelming.

After picking up the cupcakes, we decided to try some to make sure the filling was the correct color.

They got it right! Crumbs was just great about this whole thing. I definitely recommend them for your custom cupcake needs.

I just know our little boy will grow up to be as handsome and kind as this guy. I can only hope he will be as silly :)

Then, we headed to my parents' house for some cupcakes and champagne, followed by Thanksgiving dinner.

Here's our plate of cupcakes with my little question mark flags. They were super cute, but not super practical. Nobody wants to bite into a cupcake with a toothpick in it, so you have to take it out first, but with the surprise filling, you run the risk of seeing the color on the toothpick before the big bite. It was a nice idea, but I wouldn't recommend it.

I love this picture! They haven't even seen the color yet, but they're so excited!

Can you see my brother doing the fist pump YES! ? He was super excited, as were my mom and stepdad.

After some more cooking and football watching, it was time for dinner. My parents make the BEST turkey ever. The breast is so moist and flavorful, even the next day out of the microwave.

After dinner we played games and had underdone pumpkin pie (that I made - whoops) while watching Christmas movies.

The next day, we headed to my husband's parents' house for our second reveal and third thanksgiving. However, we wanted to wait until my husband's sister, nieces, and friends arrived the next day, so we had to hold in our news. It was so hard and I think my husband slipped once, but he tried to cover it.

Finally, everyone (well, almost) arrived and we got another plate of cupcakes ready.

This time, only a couple of flags in the middle.

From left, Molly (sister-in-law), Ann (mother-in-law), Gwen (niece), Stella (adorable baby), and Caren (our sweet friend). My husband's dad and our other niece Ava are just out of the frame of the picture.

Yay! It was so funny to see if people would bite into the cupcake or rip it in half to see the color.

This will be their first grandson (they have two granddaughters), so they are so excited.

Our friends Paul and Jackie arrived a little late, but we saved cupcakes for them!

Jackie lost a bet on this one!

Then, it was time for dinner. My husband worked hard carving out 12 mini pumpkins for a delicious butternut squash soup that Ann made from squash from her garden.

Adorable and delicious!

I wasn't quite sick of turkey yet, but this meal might have put me over the turkey dinner edge. Delicious!

More games, toddler play time, and lots of talking about our future baby boy and it was time for bed. What a weekend!

The majority of you guessed that it would be a boy in my poll, so as a reward to all of you, even those who guessed wrong, I'm going to have a little giveaway! One lucky winner will receive 12 delicious mini cupcakes from Crumbs! They are not sponsoring this post, I'm paying for them out of my own money because I love you. Leave a comment on this post to enter and be sure you are signed in with your email address or leave it in the comment! Comment by Friday at 11:59pm.

Get ready for lots of nursery inspiration, baby boy clothes, and more fun baby related posts!!