Showered with Love

Nathan is already one lucky boy to have so many people celebrating him! Our great friends, the Ayers and the Bridges, threw a dinner party shower for us this past weekend and they did an a-m-a-z-i-n-g job with all the details! I know Lauren and Lindsay spent many evenings together planning the festivities and I was so excited to see what they put together. They did not disappoint!
The Bridges' house was decked out with our nursery colors (gray, yellow and navy) and had Nathan's monogram all over - even in their picture frames. They had adorable clothes hanging over the gift table...They made a candy bar and dessert table with "Nathan" hanging on the wall above it. People got to fill goody bags with blue and yellow candy to take home with them and Lindsay had tiny cakes made with "N"s on them. So cute!

We played a couple games. The first was not being able to say certain words or you would have your rattle taken away. I got one extra, but ended up giving mine away by the end of the night so give someone else a chance to win.

Party goers also had to answer a short survey on questions that Ryan and I had answered. The winner got a bottle of wine - nice prize!
Finally, they set up a baby pool to guess when Nathan would arrive. A lot of folks picked dates after his due date - let's hope they are wrong!

After some folks left, we ended up breaking out the dice and playing a few rounds of LCR. I won one, which was very exciting! When we finally got home and to bed, it was after 1 am. I would say that's a successful party!

Me and the lovely hostesses

The parents-to-be

Some of the girls (by then, a few had left)

And some of the boys

It was such a great night and we had so much fun. Thanks so much to all of our friends who came and helped celebrate our little munchkin's upcoming arrival!

27 weeks

Over the last week, I think my belly "popped." I definitely must be showing more because more and more people at work have started to notice and comment on Baby M. I haven't really gotten any weird, off the wall comments yet but I'm curious to see what people say!

Nesting has kicked into full swing and the house is in such a state of limbo as we await furniture deliveries and carpet cleaning. I think all of our utilities are finally taken care of after two trips from the cable company and two from the alarm company. Phew! Thankfully we still have 13 weeks left to put the house all back together again.

How far along: 27 weeks - the start of my third trimester!

Size of baby: a head of cauliflower or an eggplant, about 14.5 in. and about 2 lb.

Total weight gain/loss: +16 lbs. (no change from last week, thankfully, because I sure am starting to feel it!)

Maternity clothes: a mix of all sorts of things, although some pj and workout pants are even getting a little tight and some shirts are just not long enough to stretch over my growing bump.

Gender: a boy!

Movement: Baby M is pretty active but I still only feel him at certain times of the day and have yet to see any movement from the outside. That's probably still a ways off. He seems to be a bit shy because any time I tell Ryan he's kicking, he stops. It's so sad because poor Ryan has only felt him a few times!

Sleep: yes please! I have started dragging again and take advantage of all the sleep I can get.

What I miss: not getting winded from doing simle tasks and bending over without straining. I also miss our house being in order and can't wait for it to be all put together.

Cravings: still a mix of salty (anything) and chocolate.

Symptoms: the back pain is pretty intense (darn scoliosis) and I'm starting to worry about the circulation in my legs because my lower calves are a little discolored. I may even be swelling a bit. I have a doctor appointment next week so I will definitely be asking about that!

Best moment this week: our dear friends went to a lot of trouble to throw us a couples shower on Saturday night and we had a great time! I'll post about it separately (with pics) but I couldn't have felt more loved and so impressed with all the details they thought of. We are so lucky to have such great friends to share this special time with!

26 weeks

The idea that I am growing a baby inside me is still so unreal and amazing to me. God truly works miracles when He creates a new life and I am so blessed to be able to go through this process. When so many others are struggling, I cannot help but think how lucky I am that He chose me and Ryan to be parents.

We've passed the 100-day countdown mark (I totally missed it) and are now in double digits. Amazing! I am so looking forward to the next few weeks as we continue to get closer to Nathan's arrival.

How far along: 26 weeks

Size of baby: an English hothouse cucumber, about 14 in. and about 1.67 lb. (I can't get over how long and skinny he still is!)

Total weight gain/loss: +16 lbs.

Maternity clothes: a mix of all sorts of things.

Gender: a boy!

Movement: I am loving all the kicking and flutters! They are still not that strong, so I'm sure I'll change my tune when he's jabbing me in the ribs, but I am so thankful to feel Nathan throughout the day.

Sleep: God has really been watching over me and allowing me to get plenty of z's. I am so grateful!

What I miss: the usual - wine, sleeping on my back, etc.

Cravings: we've been eating a lot of Mexican and Italian lately and I can't get enough! I am also really into chocolate.

Symptoms: back pain, round ligament pains, perhaps the start of leg cramps (but I wise up and flex my feet before they can get me). Really, though, in the grand scheme of things, I am feeling great and so incredibly lucky!

Best moment this week: we took a babymoon to Sarasota for the weekend and it was lovely! We stayed at the Ritz and after getting a light lunch at the hotel, we enjoyed a very relaxing couples' massage at the spa. I couldn't really indulge in the "healing waters" they offered in the locker room but the treatment itself was heavenly and just what I needed. We spent the evening walking around St. Armands Circle before grabbing dinner (Italian of course) and then going back to the hotel to relax. We ended up renting "Life as We Know It" and snuggled in bed to watch it. I'll admit, there were several parts of the movie where I couldn't contain my tears - partly for the emotion of the film and partly for the pure fear it instilled in me for having a baby! Probably not the reaction the producers would have expected, but it definitely freaked me out none the less. Ryan is such a comfort when I have these mini-panic attacks and definitely reassures me that we, and me, will be just fine. I am so grateful for his support and love!

Happy V-Day!

A little love from Baby M and me...Since we spent the weekend out of town for our babymoon (more on that tomorrow), our Valentine's celebration has been pretty low key, which is perfectly fine with me. Ryan was a total sweetheart and went food shopping for dinner so we could cook together. The poor dear accidentally got a cucumber instead of zucchini so I had to improvise with our veggies and made a red pepper and cucumber "salad" instead of the intended zucchini pizzas we had planned. Let's just say the meal was very well done - as in, we totally overcooked the steaks. Bummer! The goat cheese on top helped to give back some flavor and the veggies actually turned out quite nice, so it wasn't all bad. The best part was just being in the kitchen together, which I always enjoy.

Here's hoping you got to spend the day with the one(s) you love. Happy Valentine's day! xoxo

Super Bowl XLV

Our friends hosted a Super Bowl party and we spent the evening chatting with our pals, watching commercials (I thought they were so-so...nothing too memorable for this ad geek) and eating a stadium-sized amount of food.

No, seriously...

One of Ryan's friends and his girlfriend took on the extreme undertaking of building a snack stadium for us all to enjoy. When I first heard about it, I knew they would do a great job. But I had no idea it would turn out this amazing!I was very impressed by the creativity!

We had a great time routing on the Green Bay Packers and I even won some money playing Super Bowl Squares when my numbers were the score at the end of the first half. Overall, a fun night!

25 weeks

It's been a busy week and I've been without a computer for a few days (mine bit the dust over the weekend and I have yet to set up the new one we got for me) so I'm a little behind. Things are coming along in the world of baby and I get more and more excited with each passing day that we'll get to meet Nathan before we know it. Only "15 weeks" left sounds so short, but "May" sounds far away and I am happy for the time because there is still much to do.
How far along: 25 weeks

Size of baby: a rutabaga (whatever that looks like), about 13.5 in. and about 1.5 lb.

Total weight gain/loss: +14 lbs. (a Super Bowl party and new cravings for sweets hasn't helped! The scale is getting closer and closer to scary numbers, but I guess I should be thankful that Baby M and I are growing and healthy!)

Maternity clothes: pants for sure but still a mix of tops. I am wearing a dress today and think those may be the way to go soon - it's more comfy not to have any bands around my belly.

Gender: a boy!

Movement: I've started noticing a slight pattern to Nathan's kicks and look forward to 10:30 each morning, when I know for sure he's moving around. I am so curious to see how his habits in the womb translate when he's born!

Sleep: Oh how I love sleep! I toss and turn more each night but I am still getting a pretty good night's rest and am so thankful!

What I miss: sleeping on my back, bending over without straining, being able to sit all day without back pain. On the flip slide, what I love is how strong my nails are (Grammy would be so impressed) and how full my hair seems. I know it will fall out when Baby M comes (I have some major baby bangs going on!) but I'm enjoying it for now.

Cravings: sweets! I'm back to my old self and wanting something sweet to finish my meals.

Symptoms: the usual, nothing new or exciting.

Best moment this week: as silly as it sounds, moving furniture! We had friends over for dinner on Friday and got some help moving the desks out of the office. We're still rearranging the house and organizing the new layout, but it feels so nice to see progress. Pictures to come...

Baby Crafts

My good friend, Lindsay, had a baby shower to celebrate the upcoming arrival of her baby boy, Parker. I am convinced Parker and Nathan are going to be great friends just like their daddies and I can't wait for future playdates with our little ones.
Because I am so excited for Lindsay, I had to make a few things to add to my gift for the shower. Parker's wardrobe wouldn't be complete without a custom onesie... And a few custom burp clothes, a new project for me...

I must say, I was quite pleased with how the whole gift basket turned out!