22 Weeks: Papaya

Yeah, I definitely look bigger compared to 20 weeks, no?
I think I'm going to need to break down and buy some maternity tops very soon.

How big is baby: Baby is the size of a papaya this week (10.5-11.8 in and 12.7-20.8 oz).        

Weight gain/loss:  Not sure from last week.  

Stretch marks: No.

Sleep:  Still major hip pain at night which means I'm changing sides constantly.  And I read somewhere this week that you should try and sleep mainly on your left side because there is some major blood supply for the baby or something.  Ok, I'm sure this is true.  But how would anyone expect someone to sleep on one side the entire night?  

Diet/Cravings/Aversions:  The usual. Fruit.  Pizza.  

Exercise:  Walking and YMCA.

Gender: We'll find out in October!  

Movement: More and more often throughout the day.  The movement is now much more noticeable too with some pretty big jabs.  I think baby likes the beach.  He/She was very active at Hoffmaster.  I can tell that some of the kicks are hard enough to feel from the outside, but Baby T decides moving is overrated when I even think about having Aaron try to feel it :)  Eventually, we'll get there!

The belly:  I'm guessing bigger.  Annoying comments from people at work:  "Wow, you're big!"  And, "Look at that fat, pregnant belly!"  The latter even came from a woman who has a child so you'd think she'd be more sympathetic.  A girl I work with told me to remember that some people seem to loose their manors when talking to pregnant people.  I know that these people didn't mean their comments in a bad way, I just think they could have chosen their words more carefully and rephrased their comments.  And I know that I look bigger, but I'm not by any means huge.  I guess I just need to get used to being overly sensitive :)

What I'm spazzing about:  Not too much this week.  Yay!

What I'm loving:  Being pretty much done with the registry.  Starting to look more pregnant (even if the general public has unfiltered comments).

Symptoms:  Sore hips at night.  A little light spotting earlier this week.  We had a very busy week/weekend so I'm assuming that was the cause.  I'm not too worried since it's gone and baby is still moving around.

What I'm looking forward to:  Girls' night tomorrow night :)  Ordering our crib and glider in the next few weeks.  And my next doctor's appointment next Thursday.        

Best moment of the week:  Vacation!  Registering :)

Registering Fun

I really wish I would have taken pictures of us during our registering adventure....Some moments were quite memorable :)

The trip started off with HORRIBLE traffice when we were almost there.  We kept our cool though since the end of the drive was in site.  We decided to register at Buy Buy Baby rather than Target or Babies R Us.  I've heard that Target has a not so great return policy on registry items (and they don't carry everything) and Babies R Us...enough said if you've ever stepped foot in that store.  What took us three hours at Buy Buy Baby would have probably taken at least double at Babies R Us.  Sorry to those who love the store.  I just can't handle the confusing layout and I haven't had much luck with the staff at our location.

I really do love Buy Buy Baby.  It came highly recommended and it didn't disappoint.  This was our first trip.  It's a little far from our house, but I knew it would be worth it.  The location in Grand Rapids is right near the Babies R Us, so I knew it wouldn't be too inconvenient for family.  Plus, their return policy is amazing, you can use Bed Bath and Beyond non-expired coupons on most items, and they have designated staff in each area who are specifically trained on their section.  Let me tell you, they knew a lot.  Way more than us :)

We started out strong in the clothing section.  We had tons of energy and were feeling good.  Side note, we realized in this section that people who find out the gender have an advantage over those who are keeping it a surprise.  There are way more clothes/PJs/blankets/you name it items that are gender specific.  We managed though.  Next was on to safety...ummm...what do we really need?  I mean our baby will come out doing nothing but pooping, eating, crying and sleeping for the first how many months?  So I pulled from memory what I knew for sure my friend Kate had at least in her kitchen.  Then there were a few things I knew on my own.  After that, we decided that we could get the other stuff later when Baby T is actual mobile :)

After this, things start to blur.  Thank goodness for Baby Bargains.  I know I've mentioned it before, but it was a lifesaver.  I definitely think it added time having to find my tabbed pages, but that time was worth it.  Knowing that someone had reviewed and recommended the products we were scanning was so helpful and the pros and cons were laid out. 

The stroller/carseat section was last.  And coincidentally, this was the section I was most excited for.  It was probably good this was last, because Aaron was broken down at this point and pretty much scanned whatever I wanted :)  Anyhow, we had an idea of the brands we needed to look at but holy cow.  This was the motherload.  I know, I'm weird.  Strollers really excite me.  We first attempted to tackle the carseat.  But wait, they are all attached to their bases, and how the heck do you unattach them?  We both kept saying how we felt like complete idiots.  All of the staff were busy so we decided to move on to strollers.  We found the one we wanted and started playing with it.  Finally, someone could help us.  He was so knowledgeable.  He showed us how to figure out the carseat (I felt really dumb having an unmarried, college guy, who clearly had no kids show us, but hey, we need to learn somehow!).  He then showed us all the tricks of the stroller we wanted.  And we were DONE.

I was pretty happy it only took us three hours :)  And we are pretty much completely finished.  As I said before, I'm meeting Andrea on Thursday to chat about it all to make sure I didn't miss anything, but hopefully there aren't too many edits :)  I thought for sure we'd have to go back, but it's looking like we're good!

Next on the list...crib, glider, car shopping, nursery decor....I know there is more, but those are the major items.  We're getting there! :)  And we know which crib and glider we want to get.  It's just a matter of ordering them at this point.

Vacation Recap

Well....our vacation didn't go quite as planned.  But it turned out perfect nonetheless.


It rained....A LOT.  


Saturday, we finished packing up the car and dropped Wally off at Camp Bow Wow.  We made the trek up north (several pit stops to go to the bathroom and stretch our legs).  We set up camp, made dinner, and had a short fire before the sprinkles started.  Thankfully, it was after 10pm so we just went to bed.  


Sunday, we got up and made our way to Petoskey.  We stopped in Cross Village to enjoy a Father's Day lunch at Leg's Inn.  The Polish food was amazing.  We spent the afternoon in Petoskey and cooked fajitas when we got back to our site.  We randomly decided to cover everything up again that night.  And thank goodness we did.  It rained all night.


The rain finally stopped late Monday morning.  I was pretty upset at this point after looking at the extended forecast...rain every day.  We got ready and drove up to Tahquamenon Falls.  We ate a quick lunch and got to see the falls very quickly before it started poring.  We experienced thunderstorms, hail, etc. on our drive back.  It stopped raining by the time we made it to Mackinaw City so we walked around a bit, bought some fudge, and ate pizza at Mama Mia's (a tradition in my family).


Aaron checked the weather again and severe storms were on their way.  So, after much debate, we packed up in the rain and decided to head home.  I was crying, Aaron did everything he could to make me feel better.  But the vacation ended up being much better then I would have thought. 


Tuesday, we set all of the gear up to dry out, cleaned up a bit, then headed to Grand Rapids once things were picked up.  We visited the Farmer's market my dad works at, made a trip to Rocky's for ice cream, and watched the Tigers.  Wednesday, Aaron and I headed to Hoffmaster State Park to enjoy the beach since we couldn't up north.  The weather was perfect.  There was a wind all day so we were never hot.  Before heading back to pick up Wally from my parent's, we stopped in Grand Haven for dinner on the channel and walked along the pier.


Thursday, there was a Tiger's day game, so we decided to go.  We were both soaked by the time we got back to our car (it was that hot).  It was our anniversary, so we went out for a nice dinner.  Four years!  It's amazing how fast time has gone.  We rented a movie and just relaxed the rest of the night.


Friday, we woke up and headed to Greenfield Village.  Neither of us had been since a school field trip, so it was fun to see everything.  I was exhausted by the time we left.  Saturday, was the end of our "stay-cation" so we cleaned and did laundry and birthday party in Ferndale.  


And today we registered!  It only took us THREE HOURS.  I thought it went fast, but we both were exhausted.  Aaron took a few rests in the glider/rocker section :)  Baby Bargains was a lifesaver and I'm so thankful my friend recommended that book.  Andrea and I have a girls' night planned this week to go through everything too to make sure I didn't miss anything.  


Now, I'll leave you with a few pictures from the trip :)

Petoskey

Road to the Falls (Mackinaw Bridge)

The Falls (right where I had my pic
taken with my parents when I was little)

Self portrait at the Tigers Game

Hoffmaster State Park (Aaron is in the water)

Before our anniversary dinner (21+ weeks)

Greenfield Village

I can't believe it's already time to go back to work :(  Every vacation must come to an end though.  Only one week and then there is a short week because of the 4th!  I can make it :)

So ready

In just a few short hours, I get to leave work early and vacation begins!  We are both so ready for this week off to recharge, see the sites, be lazy, and just be together.

We finally decided on Wilderness State Park.  We figured this way we are close enough to do Mackinac Island, Tahquamenon Falls, etc.  While come February I'm usually so done with living in Michigan because of the winter, we really do live in an amazing state that has gorgeous sites to see.  I'm so glad we decided to stay here and soak up everything "up north" has to offer :)

Tonight will be hectic.  Wally has one on one training at 4, I need to weed the flowerbeds, see if I can find a dress for the upcoming wedding, paint my toe nails....etc, etc, etc...and oh yeah PACK.  But I don't even care, because I'm in the giddy, blissful state of knowing that we leave tomorrow and don't have to think for an entire week.

Week 20: Banana

How big is baby: Baby is the size of a banana this week (6.5 in and 10.2 oz).        

Weight gain/loss:  Not sure from last week.  

Stretch marks: No.

Sleep:  Hip pain.  Much worse.  I am figuring out a few tricks to keep it from being terrible.  I'm starting to have very random dreams/nightmares.  One night I had a very long nightmare and it involved people from blogs I read.  Last night, Aaron got home from a concert and gave me a kiss before he went to bed which woke me up and I was convinced he was trying to kill me which caused me to come close to tears.  He enjoyed poking fun at me today about it :)  I told him I must have been having a nightmare right when he woke me up.

Diet/Cravings/Aversions:  Fruit.  Pizza.  Last night, I the only thing I wanted to dinner was a pizza bagel.  I was so excited Aaron wouldn't be home for dinner so I could enjoy one.  I went to make it...NO CHEESE.  UGH!  Aaron suggested I used the colby jack or Mexican blend I bought for tacos/nachos.  Ok...that is disgusting!

Exercise:  Walking and and workout DVDs.

Gender: We'll find out in October!  I had another friend tell me last week that one old wives tale states you are having a girl if you crave fruit.  If that is the case, this little kid is going to be one heck of a girly girl :)  I could eat it for every meal.

Movement: Not super often throughout the day, but I've been noticing it almost each day now. Before, it was very random and only every few days.

The belly:  I'd say it's bigger than last week for sure.  People at work even commented on it yesterday.  

What I'm spazzing about:  Daycare.  I know, I'm only about 5 months and I then still have 6 months of maternity leave before we actually need a place.  But pickings are slim in the radius we are looking.  I really would like to use the center where a girl I babysat for went, but they have no idea what their openings will be like in May, and the only way to hold a crib is to actually pay the $200+ a week in daycare fees.  I'd consider it once we get a little closer, but I see no point in doing it now.  There is another place that is Christian based nearby which I haven't called yet.  Being Catholic, I'm not sure how I feel about what our child might be taught about religion if it's non Catholic based.  Our neighbor did say that a guy she works with takes his kids there and it's very generic and mostly just a few songs here and there that they sing.  Our third option at the moment is the place where our neighbor takes her son to daycare.  The price is reasonable and the lady I spoke with was really nice.  She said they would hold our spot for sure with just the $40 registration fee.  I plan to setup walk throughs sometime in July.    

We also have a wedding in 2.5 weeks and I thought I had a dress that had a high enough waste that it would fit.  Thank goodness I tried it on tonight, because it was not as high as I remembered and I definitely can't zip it.  So now, I have to try and find a dress that will work before the end of the month...and we go on vacation next week.  Of course, the wedding is "black tie invited" so I can't just attempt to dress up something I already have.  Ugh!  I guess I at least figured it out now rather than the day of!!

What I'm loving:  Only having 3 days of work left until vacation!  Having the rooms painted.  And having Aaron home at night now since work has FINALLY slowed down a little.

Symptoms:  Gagging.  Sore hips at night.    

What I'm looking forward to:  Did I mention we are going on vacation in 3 days?? :)  Still no idea where we are going yet :)  That's Aaron's job tonight.  Also, registering.  My plan is to finish Baby Bargains while we're gone so that we can start registering in July.  I'd also like to narrow down our crib and glider choices.  I'm not too worried about ordering them just yet, but I'd like to at least know which ones we are picking.        

Best moment of the week:  Getting the rooms painted and cleared out.  It's so strange to see the nursery so empty except a dresser and shelf.  My in-laws stopped over on Sunday and brought us some great goodies for Baby T.  They gave us money toward something for baby...I think we're going to use it toward our glider.  They also bought us some wash clothes, a few outfits, and a cute little blanket.  It was fun to hang our first baby outfits in the closet.  They are so tiny!

Painting

What a crazy weekend!  Friday we went to Lowe's right after work to buy paint for the two rooms.  We woke up bright and early on Saturday to start.  The rooms had already been cleaned the previous weekend so now it was just a matter of moving a few things around to paint.  We flew through the first room, or so it felt.  Then we hit a wall, but powered through the first coat of the nursery.  I was so tired after and took Wally out to the backyard to let him play and me relax.  By then, it was dinner time, so I showered and then we went to get dinner.  We really did NOT want to keep going when we got home after 8pm, but I just wanted to be done and not have to worry the next day.  I made it through what I had to do by 10pm.  Aaron ran out of paint with just a half a wall left to go....so we went to bed with plans to finish in the morning.  After a long Sunday of cleaning, errands, lunch with family, etc., we finally were finished!  Vacation can't come soon enough :)  

Here are a few before and after pictures of both of the rooms.  I really need to figure out how to work Photoshop collage...but Aaron is gone tonight and I can't figure it out :)  Someday!

Guest room before (white)

Guest room after (blue)

Nursery before (light blue)

Nursery after (cool grey)

Week 19: Mango

How big is baby: Baby is the size of a mango this week (6 in and 8.5 oz).        

Weight gain/loss:  +8 or 9 lbs.  The doctor said I'm right on track.  

Stretch marks: No.

Sleep:  The hip pain is starting to get worse.  I bought a body pillow which is equivalent to the size of another person sleeping in bed with us.  I'm hoping that it looses some of it's fluff once I've had it for a little bit.

Diet/Cravings/Aversions:  Fruit.  Pizza.  Still.  I am still insanely hungry all of the time.  I feel like I eat and am starving 30 minutes later.  Thankfully, fruit still is the snack I crave the most.

Exercise:  Walking and some minimal weight lifting at the gym.

Gender: We'll find out in October!  I will say that Aaron is leaning toward girl after the ultra sound.  There is one picture that I'm wondering if there are some visible boy parts.  But we didn't see anything dangling between the little legs, so we really have no idea :)  It's all just speculation.  The Chinese gender predictor says girl.  My mom thinks boy because I had pretty much no morning sickness.  So really, we're all over the board :)

Movement: Still just here and there.

The belly:  It seems like it's getting bigger, but people keep saying I still look really small for how far I am.  A girl at work said she didn't really show until about 25 weeks, so I still could have a little ways to go.

What I'm spazzing about:  Drum roll please....NOTHING this week :)  I should really knock on wood because I know next week something will freak me out and I'll be kicking myself for saying this this week.  

What I'm loving:  Starting to feel Baby T a little more.  Starting to see my belly get a little bigger.  Having reassurance this week that everything is perfect with baby :)

Symptoms:  Gagging.  Sore hips at night.  Some weird pains around my belly button..maybe means things are stretching.  STARVING.  Can that be a symptom?  And major acid reflux after I eat anything.  

What I'm looking forward to:  Hitting 20 weeks on Tuesday!! :)  I can't believe I am almost half way there.  In some ways I feel like this has gone so slow and in others it's gone so fast.  With summer and busy season at work, I can only imagine how quickly the second half will go.  Also, vacation in one week!  We still have no idea where we are going (other than in Michigan).  It's weird how ok and actually excited I am for the unexpected.  Normally, I have to plan for EVERYTHING.        

Best moment of the week:  Our big ultra sound!  It was amazing getting to see Baby T for so long.  The tech said that everything looked great.  The baby is right on track size-wise and still measuring right at 19 weeks.  The heart beat was perfect too.  We asked the tech if she could tell the sex (she had a patient the day before who really wanted to know, but no matter what she did she couldn't get that baby to show the goods).  She did say she could tell if Baby T is a boy or girl, but she wouldn't remember 5 minutes after we left because she doesn't write it down anywhere or put it in our file so it was our last chance to find out.  Now, I really can't stand the suspense.  I guess it will make the delivery that much more exciting :)  I'm sad this was the last time though that we'll see Baby T though for 20 more weeks.  I can't believe I have to wait that long!

And now, I'll leave you with a few pictures from the ultra sound.  

Aaron loves that Baby's arm is above his/her head.  Aaron sleeps like that ALL of the time and is constantly elbowing me in the face so I have to put his arm down multiple times at night.  He thinks that Baby T is taking after him :)  He also thinks that Baby looks like him here.  I said Baby has his forehead :)