28 weeks...3rd Trimester!!

Um, hi!  WHERE have the past 28 weeks gone?!  I cannot believe we have less than 3 months before we get to meet Baby B!  I'm so excited/anxious/nervous/ecstatic/terrified/unprepared, and probably a million and one other feelings that I can't even wrap my head around right now.

But, slowly but surely we're getting things done around the house....sort of.  We've talked to my cousin (who owns his own flooring company) about coming over in the next week or so to re-finish our floors.  I can't wait until that's complete, because then we can finally start painting and setting up the nursery.  And, HELLO, decorate for Christmas!!  I'm SO sad that we couldn't put up our Christmas tree this weekend.  :(  We would literally have it up for a few days, maybe even a week, and then have to take it down again to move everything out to re-finish the floors.  Boooo.  So, the sooner that's done, the better!

•  How far along?  28 weeks and 2 days

• Total weight gain:  19 lbs total, as of my appointment last Tuesday.  But, and I can't believe I'm admitting this...8 of those 19 lbs were gained in the past month alone!  Eeeek!  Someone needs to lay off the candy bars, huh??  

• Maternity clothes? Oh yes, unfortunately.  And, some of the clothes I bought just a few months ago are even starting to get a little small.  :(

• Stretch marks?  Just a few purple lines on one boob.  I can deal with that.  ;)

• Sleep:  Ugh, not so hot.  Once I'm asleep, I'm OK, and I usually only have to get up once a night to pee.  It's just getting comfortable and actually falling asleep that are getting rough.  My back/sides start throbbing literally 5 minutes after laying down. 

• Best moment this week?  Finally hitting 3rd trimester...according to ALL sources! (The Bump, BabyCenter, my Dr.)

• Movement?  Yep, she's definitely an acrobat in there!  And, her movements are starting to feel more like rolls and flips, rather than just little jabs and punches here and there.  It's such a strange feeling...but amazing, of course!  :)

• Food cravings?  Ugh, too much junk!  Candy bars and donuts have been my weakness...hence the giant weight jump in one month.  

• Labor signs?  No, thank you!  And, the Braxton Hicks contractions have been less and less frequent, too.  Yay!

• Belly button:  I'm pretty sure it's going to pop any day now.  Not looking forward to that.  Hotness.  :P

• What I miss?  Just being/getting comfortable in general.  I can't even bend over and tie my sneakers without getting winded and needing help from Hubs.  lol

• What I'm looking forward to:  Christmas, of course!  And, just the holiday season in general.  It makes me so happy and puts me in such a good mood.  I'm also loving listening to Christmas music all the time now...my favorite!  Hopefully we'll get to decorate and put up our tree in the next week or so, too!

• Milestones?  3rd trimester!  We're in the home stretch now!  Oh, and I took the always fun glucose test this past week, and I passed!  Woohoo!  :D

Here's my 28 week belly in all its glory...with a rare bare-belly pic thrown in for fun!  Don't judge!  ;)

12 Days of Christmas - Days 4, 5, & 6

 

Day 4 - Tips/Tricks to a Budget Friendly Holiday Season

Unfortunately, I don't think I'm the best person to be giving tips for a budget friendly holiday.  lol  Seeing as how I'm such a last minute shopper, (since I never know what to get anyone!) I always end up buying what's easy and convenient for me, and that usually doesn't equal sale/budget friendly.  I just want to get it D-O-N-E.  Sad, I know.  

So, I'm just going to have to check out all of your tips/tricks, and hopefully this year I WILL have a budget friendly gift-giving season!  Lord knows we need it, with trying to save every last penny we have for baby/daycare, and everything else that comes along with that. 

Day 5 - Favorite Holiday Movie/TV Show Special

 

This category is definitely an easy one for me!  I probably have too many choices/options for my favorite TV show or movie...I love them ALL!  :)  So, here are a few of my top picks:

 

 

 

 See?  I told you I had too many favorites!  And, I'm sure I left out about 3908 others that I love.  ;)

 Day 6 - Gift Ideas...for ME!

This is another easy category for me...I love it.  :)  There really isn't too much that I want for myself this year.  Pretty much everything I want is for Baby B, and I'd much rather everyone spend their money on her, and get things that she'll need throughout the next year or so.  That would be the best gift to me right there!

 

But, if I did have to my choice to pick anything I wanted this year, here are a few things that I would love: 

 

OR

(I'm not picky with brands or anything!  I've heard they're both great.)

 

 

I literally wear these shoes almost every day during the winter (when I'm not at work, of course), and my first pair are now stained and looking not-so-hot lately...so, I would love a brand new fresh pair.  ;)

And, can I point out what the name of this bag is?!  The Madison Sophia satchel!  Hello?  Is this a sign, or what??  Two of our favorite girl names in ONE bag.  I think we may have found a name for Baby B...AND, I totally need this bag now.  :P

Happy Thanksgiving!!

I hope everyone has a great day today!  Make sure you eat lots of food/desserts, watch some football (Go Pats!!), and relax with family and/or friends.  :) 

I have SO much to be thankful for this year.  But, I have to say that I couldn't have gotten through this year without my wonderful husband.  And, now we have our baby girl to be even more thankful for!  February can't come fast enough, that's for sure.  She's our little miracle! 

12 Days of Christmas Blog Challenge - Days 1, 2, & 3!

I've been a slacker this week, so I'm catching up with Aly's fun 12 Days of Christmas challenge!!  You should definitely join in, if you haven't already!  :)

Day 1 - Christmas/Holiday Traditions

My family doesn't do anything too traditional/exciting for the holidays, and since Hubs and I are our own little family now, I'll just tell you what we do each year.  :)

On Christmas Eve, MIL always hosts.  It's usually just us and his 2 brothers, their wives, and their kids; and we ALL pack into his mom's little living room!  There's tons of presents everywhere, wrapping paper/bows scattered all over the room, and lots of talking/shouting/excitement that comes with opening up gifts.  It's a lot of fun!  After we open gifts, we eat and just relax and hang out for a few hours.  It's actually pretty laid back, and James and I usually get a few hours afterwards to either spend just the two of us, or we'll go see my grandparents/aunt/uncle/cousins on my dad's side of the family for a little bit. 

On Christmas day, Hubs and I usually get to spend all morning and early afternoon just the two of us...and Bailey, Roxy, and the Fozz, of course!  ;)  We'll open up our gifts, watch the Christmas parade, and just lounge and relax all morning.  It's really nice!  Around 4/5ish, we'll head over to my grandmother's house on my mom's side, and spend the night there eating and opening gifts.

The only tradition that Hubs and I have each year, is that we always put on Christmas music, turn the lights down, and open up a bottle of wine while we decorate the house/Christmas tree.  I LOVE it!  It's such a fun/romantical thing we get to do together.  Obviously, there won't be any wine for me this year...but, I'll probably pick up some sparkling cider or something like that and put it in my wine glass so it feels 'real' to me.  :P

And, another little thing I do, is have an ornament made each year with our names and the year on it.  There's a little stand in the mall that does customized ornaments, and they have TONS to choose from, so I always pick us out a different one each year and have it personalized.  I love them!  I'll have to take a picture of the ones I have from the past 5 years when we take down the Christmas decorations this weekend.  I'll add it on here later! 

Day 2 - Black Friday/Shopping Tips

Unfortunately, I don't have many tips to share.  I've never gone out on Black Friday, but, I have the feeling I'll be hitting up Toys 'R Us next year!  ;)  And, I'm also the world's worst procratinator when it comes to Christmas shopping.  I NEVER know what to get anyone, so I always wait until the last minute. 

So, as to not bore you too much with this one...here are some of my tips that I tend to go by when it comes to regular shopping.  :)

~  Bring a friend.  Shopping's always more fun when there's someone else who will spend $$ with you! 

~  Go either, really early/late or on a weeknight.  I hate going to the mall on the weekends (Yet somehow, that's when I usually end up there.  Go figure.  lol)  There's so many people, the parking lot is always a madhouse, and I just can't stand trying to make my way through the crazy crowds.

~  Have some kind of plan/shopping list before you get there.  I know for me, if I just walk into the mall not knowing what the heck I'm going there for, I'll walk out with nothing.  Or, I'll just end up buying myself a whole bunch of pretty things, and forget about everone else.  Oops!  ;)

~  Take advantage of sales/coupons!  Over the years, I've become a huge coupon fan.  I really don't buy anything anymore unless it's on sale or I have a coupon.  I mean, why would I spend $40 on a sweater, when I know in a week or so I'll be getting a coupon in the mail for $15 off of my $30 purchase, making that $40 sweater $25.  Sounds like a sweet deal to me! 

Day 3 - Most Meaningful/Best Gift I've Ever Received

I would have to say the two best gifts I've ever received have come from Hubs, of course.  The first one would be my birthstone ring that he bought me for my birthday (which is actually on Christmas Day) a few years ago.  It's my 'right-hand ring' and I wear it every single day.  I love it!

Sorry for the crappy picture.  And, please ignore my wrinkly grandma hands.  ;)

And, my other favorite gift is definitely my laptop that he bought for my birthday/Christmas last year.  I don't think a day has gone by in the last year that I haven't used my laptop!  I love being able to curl up in bed with it each night, or on weekend mornings, and catch up on emails, Facebook, blogs, and everything else!  It's one of my best gifts yet.  :)



I really want to learn how to crochet...

Is it really that hard??  I mean, if my grandma can do it, I can do it...right?!  ;)

My friend, Mrs. D, starting making these ADORABLE little knit hats recently, and taught herself how to do it just from a YouTube video!  How cool is that?!  She's definitely inspired me to try and learn....the key word here being try.  We'll see how quickly I get frustrated and give up.  Ha!

But seriously...how cute would my Little Miss look in these hats?!

Link

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Ahhh, I can't take the cuteness!!  :)

Do any of you ladies know how to crochet?  Is it difficult to learn?  You can be honest with me.  ;) 



Progress!

Slowly but surely, things are starting to come along with the nursery!  :)

We went to Babies R Us this past weekend and finally ordered the crib!  Woohoooo!!  I'm so excited.  And, to my surprise, it should be arriving within 7-14 days!  I heard stories about cribs taking WEEKS to come in, so that's why I was so worried about ordering it in time and making sure we did it soon.  Hopefully we'll have it here by next week!  This is the one we went with...

I LOVE it, and I cannot wait to see it all set up in the room with bedding and everything! 

So, now we have:

~ Crib
~ Glider/ottoman
~ Bedding
~ Bumbo (our very first gift off of our registry!)
~ Tons of cute, little clothes/accessories

We're getting there!! 

We're going to go to Home Depot soon to pick out paint for the room, too.  I wanted the bedding early so we could somewhat match up the pinks in it to the pinks that we paint on the walls.  We'll be doing a light pink on top, with a darker pink on the bottom, and a chair rail in between. 

I'll definitely take a few pictures as it progresses!  But, I won't share the final product until it's complete...I'm mean like that.  ;)

So What Wednesday

I'm linking up for the first time with Mama Dew's 'So What Wednesday' post...I'm pretty excited!  (Yes, it's the little things that excite me, people.)   If you'd like to play along, head on over to her blog....Life After I "Dew".

So What If...

• I sleep in on the weekends.  Like, really sleep in.  You usually will not find me awake much before 10:30/11 on a Saturday or Sunday...unless I have something really important to do.  What can I say, I love my sleep.  And hey, I don't have much more time left to sleep in and enjoy my late mornings...I'm taking advantage of them while I still can!!  ;)
• Baby B has a closet full of cute little pink clothes....yet she has no crib, dresser, daycare, or pediatrician, YET.  She will be one stylish, ADORABLE little girl...and she can just stay home all day with me and sleep in my bed, right??  ;)  (I'm kidding, I'm kidding!  Don't go calling DCF on me already!)
• When I get home from work the very first thing I do is put on comfy sweats and a t-shirt.  It's one of my favorite parts of the day!  
• That I'm still obsessed with teeny-bopper type TV shows...One Tree Hill, 90210, Teen Mom, etc.
• That I still have dreams where I'm backstage hanging out with *NSYNC...and when I wake up and realize it's not real, I get really sad.  :P  
• I don't know how to cook.  It doesn't help that my husband is pretty much a certified chef, and can make anything/everything on the spot, with no recipe in hand.  Brat!  He'll be teaching me someday, though...sooner than later, I'm sure.  I know I need to learn, I just really hate it.  It's NOT my thing....at ALL.  

Hmmm, and that's all I can think of right about now.  I'm sure I'll think of 42901 more 'so what's' as soon as I post this, but, I'll save those for next week.  :)