3 25 weeks

How Far Along am I: 25 Weeks
 

Size of baby: Baby Girl is the size of a eggplant

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Gained 14+ lbs since conception (next appt is Tuesday I'm a little scared to step on the scale- I feel like I've gained 10 lbs since last month)

Maternity Clothes: All of my pants are maternity pants but I can still wear a handful of my regular shirts

 Gender: It's a GIRL! (Having another ultrasound to confirm March 1)

Movement: She has been moving ALOT this last week. I feel little somersaults and jabs or kicks a few times an hour now. Most of the time they tend to be on the left side of my belly. They have slowly started moving their way up my tummy and are currently just under my belly button. If you look really close you can see my tummy move just a bit when she pops me!

Sleep: I have been so tired! Last night I was ready for bed at 9:30. This was after I had almost fallen asleep on the couch watching tv. Still getting up every 2 hours for bathroom breaks, and have been having trouble falling back asleep after the 5am visit. The snoring has continued.

What I miss: Sleeping on my tummy mostly.And now its getting tougher to bend over, putting my socks on is proving to be interesting lately.

Cravings: almost anything, I've been so hungry lately. But at the same time, I can't each much before I'm full. But lately a favorite has been the Apple Pecan Chicken Salad from Wendy's (without the blue cheese). I could eat one of those every.freakin.day!

Symptoms: I've felt pretty good the last few weeks, the last day or two my tummy has been feeling tighter. Sign that the increasing bump is not just in my head. Still have heartburn every now and then, but overall I've been feeling good. On an iron supplement now and I think that has made me feel more alert during the day, but still am konked out by evening.

Best Moment this week: It would have to be feeling this precious little girl start to move more. After dinner you can find me laid back on the couch with my short lifted up and my hands rubbing my belly waiting for the next round of action. An instant smile pops on my face when I feel the slightest thump in there! Its amazing!

*Even Ellie can't believe how much I've grown in the last few weeks!

3 a wonderful surprise

My husband surprised me last week with one of the most amazing gifts that I have received in a long time. 

A portrait of Emma! He has a friend, his name is Matt Betts, who has been doing Pet Portraits for a while. 

We have seen some of his work and always talked about how awesome it would be to have something like that done with a favorite picture of Emma. Because any of you who have visited my blog, know Emma is like our child and we have hundreds probably thousands of pictures of her on our hard drive.  

She's just too adorable isn't she?

So he went and sent Matt some images of Emma that were his favorite and he decided on using this one 

for her portrait.  She has such beautiful eyes and markings and I love how she stands so strong. 

Very photogenic for a canine, don't you agree? 

Last week he received the portrait in the mail. He gave it to me after work. I cried.
Literally, I had tears in my eyes! It was beautiful! He did an amazing job!
You can see the detail in the picture below, but in real life it is even more amazing.
You can see the strands of her hair and the definition in her chest so much clearer.
Artists never cease to amaze me, but the way that Matt captured her strong features and her
sweet personality at the same time just blew me away.
I mean, he even got the twinkle in her eyes!
We are looking to find the perfect frame for it and just the right spot to display it.
Our little girl is now captured in art for us to enjoy for years to come. What an amazing gift!

You can check out more of Matt's work here. Stop over like his page and check out an amazing artist.
If you have a pet you consider a member of the family, check with him about getting your own pet portrait!
I am so thankful for his talent and for my husband asking him to create one of Emma. What a wonderful surprise!

9 Dear Baby Girl

Dear baby girl,

We passed the 23rd week yesterday! Can you believe there are only 4 months left that you will be in my tummy? That's just 16 weekends until you will be in my arms! Sometimes it seems like its forever away and sometimes it seems like the time will just fly by! It's awesome and I'm loving every minute of it! I hope you are comfortable in there, I've been trying to sit up straighter to give you room to stretch and grow, hopefully that's working out for you.

Daddy took this picture of us last week, I am thinking of putting it in your nursery. I want you to always know that I have daydreamed of this phase of my life for so long, and now I still find myself daydreaming, but it has turned into daydreams about what kind of little person you will be as I rub my belly. Will you have blond curls like your father? Blue eyes like me? Will you giggle alot and be happy with the little things in life? Will your eyes light up when we walk in the room? I think all of these and so much more.

You started to do somersaults in my tummy this week, which has been an amazing feeling! Most of them can be felt either after breakfast or in the evenings when I'm lounging on the couch trying to stay warm in these single digit temps. I have to admit I wasn't sure if you were moving around much since I had just felt little flutters for the last few weeks, but this week I could tell it was really you doing your little dance in there! Keep on dancing little one, I love to feel you are awake in there!

Oh and your crib arrived last week as did the conversion rails so that when you grow up we will have a fill size bed for you. Let me tell you, those rails looked soo long! I was like wow, one day I will have baby that needs a full size bed. Granted it will be YEARS from now, but still it was kinda eye opening to see the length of how big that bed would be.  I love it and I hope you will too...I can't wait to get it put together this week!

Both sets of bedding arrived yesterday as well. Yes that's right I said both. See your mommy is a tad bit indecisive (majorly if you ask your father) and wanted to order her top two favorites and see them in your room before she decided on which one would make you the happiest baby. I must admit, just seeing them in the package, I'm leaning towards the second one more and more. We'll see how it looks when we get them on the crib for the big picture.

I find myself patting my tummy almost all the time, hope you can feel the love when I do that, cause you pop in my mind about every 3 minutes and I can't wait for that next somersault! Keep growing and feel free to push or kick if you need more room, I'll do my best to accommodate you!

Remember we adore you to the moon and back already!
Love,
Mommy

16 What do I really need to put on my baby registry?

The time has come to start our baby registry! So exciting...grabbing the scanner and running thru the store scanning everything that I see that is pink or baby related.
I mean I'm sure I'll use a wipe warmer every.single.day right? (can you see my eyes rolling?)

But then the rational part of me who tends to be frugal or a penny pincher wonders if I REALLY need to put it on there. Will I use it or is it just like the one kitchen accessory that I thought I HAD TO HAVE that is currently gathering dust in my lazy susan?
Even if I'm not paying for it, I hate to have someone else waste their money on something that isn't necessary.

So this is where you come in....recent new moms of cuddly babies. I've got a few questions for you....can you help me with my registry???

1) Bottles. What brand, style and sizes should I start my collection with? I plan on breastfeeding, but will have to pump when I go back to work. There are so many types and styles and nipple sizes....what does everyone use?

2) Diapers. We will be going the disposable route so who wins the diaper war in your house....Pampers or Huggies? Or is the Sams Club brand just as good?

3) Baby Mattress. I know we need a certain size to fit our crib, but if given the option which is better coil or foam? I've read anything over 150 coils is firm enough. What type did your baby love?

4) Any other must haves that you wish you would have had (or wanted more of) when you brought your little one home? Is it true you can not have enough burp cloths?

5) Anything that you had and never used or thought was a waste of money? Like above mentioned wipe warmer perhaps?

Its such a hard thing, even though it is fun! I am trying to find that happy medium between only registering for stuff I've seen at new moms houses when I visit and overloading my registry with all the "suggested" items.  Thank you all for your help, me and baby girl appreciate it!

5 22 weeks

How Far Along am I: 22 Weeks
 

Size of baby: Bean is the size of a papaya

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Gained 14 lbs since conception

Maternity Clothes: All of my pants are maternity pants but I can still wear some of my regular shirts

 Gender: It's a GIRL! (Having another ultrasound to confirm March 1)

Movement: Baby girl has been moving more little by little, the other day my husband even got to feel her subtle movement after dinner.
I constantly have my hand on my stomach waiting to feel her again!

Sleep: I haven't been sleeping very well, last week it was congestion from my cold, this week its been pretty bad heartburn that keeps me awake.
But when I'm out...I'm out!
Oh yeah....and I have begun snoring. Lovely.

What I miss: Sleeping on my tummy mostly.

Cravings: Rainbow Sherbet, breadsticks and salad...and caramel corn, but I haven't caved to that one yet.

Symptoms: The cold has really been the only rough thing for the last few weeks. Except the last few days of severe heartburn. Hopefully this girl with have TONS of hair!
I did notice this week my tummy is starting to feel heavier when I stand up and go up and down the stairs
and it's starting to hurt to bend over too much.
I can almost feel my stomach expanding, which kinda hurts,
but I'm happy to give little girl more room to grow!

Best Moment this week: Finding out that our little one is a girl! The tech said she saw three little dots and no sign of boy parts, so we are hoping to start painting the nursery in March!
And having my husband feel the baby lightly move in my tummy, I can't wait for him to feel an actual kick!
Oh and our crib came yesterday so the room is officially starting to become a nursery!