I booked a newborn photographer for Carter last night and am seriously giddy about it!!! I searched for a long time and ended up right back to where I started--with someone from Messiah who has turned it from a hobby to her side business.
We will do the photos about a week after he is born so he is still curled up and bendy and tiny (hopefully). :)
YAY!!!!
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Lots of progress
Yesterday, we made a lot of progress in preparing for the baby's arrival. My mom and grandma came down in the morning to spend the day doing a serious cleaning of our house to have it ready to go (with the weekly upkeep of it, of course).
They washed blinds, showers, baseboards, moved all of the furniture, etc...pretty much the whole kit 'n caboodle. I helped when I could, but since my feet were swollen the size of Mt. Everest, they made me take breaks frequently. Which, by the way, is the perfect way to clean in my opinion -- laying on the bed or couch supervising other people clean. ;) I told them I could get used to this!!
I did manage to make a bunch of freezer meals for after Carter's arrival too, which was very nice! We made a ham that we had in the deep freezer since Easter time, which freed up a lot of space in there. So I used the ham for a few things, but also made other things as well.
In all, we got 3 lasagnas, 6 quarts of ham and bean soup, 6 quart-sized bags of frozen baked ham (to use in future recipes or for omelets and things like that), 2-3 quarts of ham broth w/ ham (for a central PA favorite of ham, green beans, and potatoes--I'll just have to toss in a bag of beans and some potatoes when we are ready to eat that!), and a nice sized bag of ground beef/sausage already cooked (for in spaghetti sauces and other recipes).
Today, I am going to make 2 chicken supreme casseroles with a small chicken that we found in the freezer too that needs to be used. At some point, I'll make some meatballs and other things that come to mind. I'm thinking it'll be a huge help after the baby arrives and we're far too tired to think of dinner ideas and/or prepare it....thaw, heat, and eat (or at the very least, have part of the preparation already done)!!! :)
Any other freezer meal ideas?
They washed blinds, showers, baseboards, moved all of the furniture, etc...pretty much the whole kit 'n caboodle. I helped when I could, but since my feet were swollen the size of Mt. Everest, they made me take breaks frequently. Which, by the way, is the perfect way to clean in my opinion -- laying on the bed or couch supervising other people clean. ;) I told them I could get used to this!!
I did manage to make a bunch of freezer meals for after Carter's arrival too, which was very nice! We made a ham that we had in the deep freezer since Easter time, which freed up a lot of space in there. So I used the ham for a few things, but also made other things as well.
In all, we got 3 lasagnas, 6 quarts of ham and bean soup, 6 quart-sized bags of frozen baked ham (to use in future recipes or for omelets and things like that), 2-3 quarts of ham broth w/ ham (for a central PA favorite of ham, green beans, and potatoes--I'll just have to toss in a bag of beans and some potatoes when we are ready to eat that!), and a nice sized bag of ground beef/sausage already cooked (for in spaghetti sauces and other recipes).
Today, I am going to make 2 chicken supreme casseroles with a small chicken that we found in the freezer too that needs to be used. At some point, I'll make some meatballs and other things that come to mind. I'm thinking it'll be a huge help after the baby arrives and we're far too tired to think of dinner ideas and/or prepare it....thaw, heat, and eat (or at the very least, have part of the preparation already done)!!! :)
Any other freezer meal ideas?
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Pregnancy Highlights: 32 Weeks
How Far Along: 32 weeks...he is almost 17 inches long, and weighs about 3.75 pounds.
Total Weight Gain/Loss: A lot, in my opinion. :) I think 23.
Maternity Clothes: Yes, and one of my favorite pairs of pants is getting a little tight. Other than that, still okay with everything though I can totally understand how in the last few weeks, the bottom of your belly would stick out. Might need to get some longer shirts in a few weeks. I'll try to take a 32 week picture tonight and post sometime this weekend!
Best Moment this week: Having the doctor feel my belly and tell me exactly where he is in there and how he is facing.
Gender: A mud-throwing, sports-playing, truck-loving, eat-us-out-of-house-and-home little boy. :)
Movement: A ton. He moves so much. On Wednesday night he rolled from the right side all the way to the left and then I could feel the left side solid as a rock and the right side squishy. So I knew exactly where he was positioned!
Food Craving: Still nothing really. Cereal here and there.
What I miss: Wearing shoes that aren't flats.
Sleep: Alright. Not the best every night, but not the worst. I started dreaming again quite vividly -- sometimes the dreams are happy and sometimes they are dreams of worst-case scenarios which I HATE.
What I am looking forward to: Today, my mom and grandma are coming to help me clean my house from top to bottom really well in preparation for baby. I'm also going to be working on a few freezer meals to start stocking up!
Symptoms: Itchy belly and heartburn, though the heartburn seems to have died down a bit. HOWEVER, my feet and ankles are HUGE. They have been swollen for 3-4 days now and I can't seem to kick it during the day. When I wake up, they aren't too bad but as soon as I spend a whole day on them at work, they are right back to being awful. I really, really need/want to avoid bed rest so I have been propping when I can and drinking lots of water.
Total Weight Gain/Loss: A lot, in my opinion. :) I think 23.
Maternity Clothes: Yes, and one of my favorite pairs of pants is getting a little tight. Other than that, still okay with everything though I can totally understand how in the last few weeks, the bottom of your belly would stick out. Might need to get some longer shirts in a few weeks. I'll try to take a 32 week picture tonight and post sometime this weekend!
Best Moment this week: Having the doctor feel my belly and tell me exactly where he is in there and how he is facing.
Gender: A mud-throwing, sports-playing, truck-loving, eat-us-out-of-house-and-home little boy. :)
Movement: A ton. He moves so much. On Wednesday night he rolled from the right side all the way to the left and then I could feel the left side solid as a rock and the right side squishy. So I knew exactly where he was positioned!
Food Craving: Still nothing really. Cereal here and there.
What I miss: Wearing shoes that aren't flats.
Sleep: Alright. Not the best every night, but not the worst. I started dreaming again quite vividly -- sometimes the dreams are happy and sometimes they are dreams of worst-case scenarios which I HATE.
What I am looking forward to: Today, my mom and grandma are coming to help me clean my house from top to bottom really well in preparation for baby. I'm also going to be working on a few freezer meals to start stocking up!
Symptoms: Itchy belly and heartburn, though the heartburn seems to have died down a bit. HOWEVER, my feet and ankles are HUGE. They have been swollen for 3-4 days now and I can't seem to kick it during the day. When I wake up, they aren't too bad but as soon as I spend a whole day on them at work, they are right back to being awful. I really, really need/want to avoid bed rest so I have been propping when I can and drinking lots of water.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Some of life's greatest mysteries
1. How on the very same day, someone can say "wow, you look fabulous for being almost 32 weeks pregnant" and someone else can say "oh my goodness, you look like you could have him today."
2. How I can have an ob appointment and everything is literally perfect and fine, but then I step out of the office and my feet swell up like balloons.
3. How on a normal night, I would love to lay on the couch with my feet propped up but when I need to, I'm bored with it.
4. How in the very same week Seth and I purge stuff and organize, my mom goes through the storage shed and gives me my stuff from college and growing up. Back to square one.
5. How I can go from zero stretch marks to several OVERNIGHT.
2. How I can have an ob appointment and everything is literally perfect and fine, but then I step out of the office and my feet swell up like balloons.
3. How on a normal night, I would love to lay on the couch with my feet propped up but when I need to, I'm bored with it.
4. How in the very same week Seth and I purge stuff and organize, my mom goes through the storage shed and gives me my stuff from college and growing up. Back to square one.
5. How I can go from zero stretch marks to several OVERNIGHT.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Pregnancy Highlights: 31 Weeks
How Far Along: 31 weeks...he is 16 inches long, and weighs about 3.3 pounds.
Total Weight Gain/Loss: Not sure; I have an appt Wednesday where I'll find out!
Maternity Clothes: Yes, and luckily (knock on wood), everything is still fitting and long enough over the belly for now. I will say that I should have listened to the people at Motherhood Maternity back in my first trimester when they said that the "under the belly" paneled jeans would be nice at first, but eventually, I would hate them and wish I had the full panel. She was so very right. My full panel jeans are my best friend...the full panel holds them up SO much better. I'm going to make it through the last 9 weeks of this pregnancy with only those 2 pairs of jeans, so I'll have to just suck it up and use the under the belly ones. haha
Best Moment this week: Watching my belly move every day at work (his most active time). Though I will say, it can be sort of creepy to others. :)
Gender: Boy. Carter.
Movement: A ton. He moves so much. Yesterday morning before we got out of bed, I told Seth to feel my belly and he kicked him super hard right away. It was nice to have that moment because I swear, that little stinker knows when his daddy's hand is on my belly and he'll pretend he's sleeping. Seth will step away, kick, kick, kick. ;) We need to come up with a secret code word on facial expression so that Seth knows to hurry and feel without Carter hearing. haha.
Food Craving: Still nothing really. Food still gives me heartburn. I will say though that we went to Melting Pot last Saturday for fondue and it was FAB.U.LOUS. A preggo woman's dreeeeeam.
What I miss: nothing really. I stopped being anal-retentive and have a glass of restaurant iced tea every once in a while now.
Sleep: Shockingly, it has been going better lately (knock on wood). Seriously, that body pillow Seth got me is heaven sent. I think that after I have the baby, I will probably still use it every night. Sorry, babe... ;)
What I am looking forward to: My Pennsylvania shower and getting to see people I haven't seen for awhile. Also looking forward to finally being able to set up his room entirely. I can't wait to make his bed and have everything absolutely ready for him to come at any point (after 37 weeks, of course)! I'm so excited to pack the hospital bag, pick out his going home outfit, his "meet people for the first time" outfit, his professional picture at the hospital outfit...you get the idea! haha
Symptoms: Mostly just itchy belly and heartburn. Getting a few light stretch marks now. I also think I could get my rings back on now because the puffiness went away, but I don't think I'm going to risk it. I would just die if they had to cut them off.
Total Weight Gain/Loss: Not sure; I have an appt Wednesday where I'll find out!
Maternity Clothes: Yes, and luckily (knock on wood), everything is still fitting and long enough over the belly for now. I will say that I should have listened to the people at Motherhood Maternity back in my first trimester when they said that the "under the belly" paneled jeans would be nice at first, but eventually, I would hate them and wish I had the full panel. She was so very right. My full panel jeans are my best friend...the full panel holds them up SO much better. I'm going to make it through the last 9 weeks of this pregnancy with only those 2 pairs of jeans, so I'll have to just suck it up and use the under the belly ones. haha
Best Moment this week: Watching my belly move every day at work (his most active time). Though I will say, it can be sort of creepy to others. :)
Gender: Boy. Carter.
Movement: A ton. He moves so much. Yesterday morning before we got out of bed, I told Seth to feel my belly and he kicked him super hard right away. It was nice to have that moment because I swear, that little stinker knows when his daddy's hand is on my belly and he'll pretend he's sleeping. Seth will step away, kick, kick, kick. ;) We need to come up with a secret code word on facial expression so that Seth knows to hurry and feel without Carter hearing. haha.
Food Craving: Still nothing really. Food still gives me heartburn. I will say though that we went to Melting Pot last Saturday for fondue and it was FAB.U.LOUS. A preggo woman's dreeeeeam.
What I miss: nothing really. I stopped being anal-retentive and have a glass of restaurant iced tea every once in a while now.
Sleep: Shockingly, it has been going better lately (knock on wood). Seriously, that body pillow Seth got me is heaven sent. I think that after I have the baby, I will probably still use it every night. Sorry, babe... ;)
What I am looking forward to: My Pennsylvania shower and getting to see people I haven't seen for awhile. Also looking forward to finally being able to set up his room entirely. I can't wait to make his bed and have everything absolutely ready for him to come at any point (after 37 weeks, of course)! I'm so excited to pack the hospital bag, pick out his going home outfit, his "meet people for the first time" outfit, his professional picture at the hospital outfit...you get the idea! haha
Symptoms: Mostly just itchy belly and heartburn. Getting a few light stretch marks now. I also think I could get my rings back on now because the puffiness went away, but I don't think I'm going to risk it. I would just die if they had to cut them off.
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Pregnancy Brain
It's true. I have a case of the pregnancy brain like never before. I seriously can hear something and forget it in the drop of a hat. I'm clumsy and sort of out of it sometimes. :)
Here are just a few of my shining moments lately:
- While at the lawyer's office working on our will, I inadvertently called it the EX-e-cu-tor of the will (as in the one who kills, rather than an ex-EC-u-tor). And no, I did not realize this until we got home and I told my mom it was weird to pick out "EX-e-cu-tors" for our will. She laughed and corrected me, when I immediately remembered that the entire time we were at the lawyer's office, I said it wrong. He didn't laugh at me, though I'm sure he was laughing hysterically inside his head.
- I signed a few emails from work this week "Fanielle" and didn't realize until it was far too late. That darn F is just too close to the D on the keyboard. :)
- We put the baby's swing together last night. I'm a smart girl, I really am. But those simple directions were like straight up Greek to me. I was stressed just looking at them.
- A few people know about this but not too many. About 2 weeks ago, I decided that it would be nice to touch up the walls in our house to cover scuff marks, etc. I diligently went down to the basement, got the antique white (the color of the walls I was touching up), and went to work. I painted for over 2 hours with a mini roller, lovingly preparing our house for baby Carter. And then it hit me. I never even looked at the finish and had just painted eggshell finished walls with flat finish. When it dried, it looked like putty spots over about 40% of the walls in our house. Lovely, huh??? Highly embarassing when we had guests come that night. BUT, I have spent the last two days doing it allllll over again with the correct finish this time. Lesson learned: ALWAYS confirm finish, especially when things in your head are already a little muddy.
- I said I would post a pregnancy pic last night for my 30 week update. I didn't. Why??? I forgot. Shocking....
I am HOPING for it to be posted tonight. :)
Here are just a few of my shining moments lately:
- While at the lawyer's office working on our will, I inadvertently called it the EX-e-cu-tor of the will (as in the one who kills, rather than an ex-EC-u-tor). And no, I did not realize this until we got home and I told my mom it was weird to pick out "EX-e-cu-tors" for our will. She laughed and corrected me, when I immediately remembered that the entire time we were at the lawyer's office, I said it wrong. He didn't laugh at me, though I'm sure he was laughing hysterically inside his head.
- I signed a few emails from work this week "Fanielle" and didn't realize until it was far too late. That darn F is just too close to the D on the keyboard. :)
- We put the baby's swing together last night. I'm a smart girl, I really am. But those simple directions were like straight up Greek to me. I was stressed just looking at them.
- A few people know about this but not too many. About 2 weeks ago, I decided that it would be nice to touch up the walls in our house to cover scuff marks, etc. I diligently went down to the basement, got the antique white (the color of the walls I was touching up), and went to work. I painted for over 2 hours with a mini roller, lovingly preparing our house for baby Carter. And then it hit me. I never even looked at the finish and had just painted eggshell finished walls with flat finish. When it dried, it looked like putty spots over about 40% of the walls in our house. Lovely, huh??? Highly embarassing when we had guests come that night. BUT, I have spent the last two days doing it allllll over again with the correct finish this time. Lesson learned: ALWAYS confirm finish, especially when things in your head are already a little muddy.
- I said I would post a pregnancy pic last night for my 30 week update. I didn't. Why??? I forgot. Shocking....
I am HOPING for it to be posted tonight. :)
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Pregnancy Highlights: 30 Weeks
Warning!!! This edition of pregnancy highlights might be a little more negative Nancy than ever before :)
How Far Along: 30 weeks...he is 16 inches long, and weighs about 3 pounds.
Total Weight Gain/Loss: Gain. And we'll leave it at that. :) Though the doctor said she is very pleased.
Maternity Clothes: Yes, and my khakis are getting too tight now. Ugh. (Bethany suggested that each week for this section, I tell you what clothing I got or show a picture of what I'm wearing. Sounds easy enough!! :) I will take our 30 week picture tonight and update this post with it later!)
Motherhood jeans, FLATS, and a Motherhood top from my sister's friend! :)
Best Moment this week: Putting away the stuff from the baby shower in NJ. So much fun to organize it all!!!!
Gender: Still a Boy...Carter Nicholas
Movement: He still doesn't kick like I expected he would by 30 weeks. Definitely squirmy and he definitely kicks, but I thought by this point it would be unbearable to tolerate. Guess those days are still coming...HOWEVER, he did kick me so hard in the ribs yesterday that it made an echo sound. It was so odd. **Update** funny that about an hour after I wrote this, his kicks have made me experience new things. I just had my first "corner" in my stomach. There was something protruding out the side of my belly (I think his foot) and it moved all over the place still sticking out. It was so weird/funny!! I called Seth at home to tell him about it. :)
Food Craving: Absolutely nothing. Food gives me heartburn, and heartburn makes me grumpy.
What I miss: Not getting heartburn. Iced tea. Sleeping. Wearing flip flops. (Yes, I realize that is un-related to pregnancy, but I thought I'd throw it out there)
Sleep: Not sleeping so fine anymore. Go to the bathroom 3-4 times a night (averaging every 2 hours...insane). Plus, a few nights ago, I started getting leg cramps during the night. Oh, and acid reflux. And then I'm hot. And then cold. Oh, and then hot again. ;)
Symptoms: Heartburn, acid reflux, itcy belly, leg cramps, puffy hands. I can no longer wear my rings (little ditty about that for you: I woke up during the night a few nights ago and my rings were so tight my hands were practically swollen around them. I got up, put my hands in ice water, panicked, and worked for quite some time to get them off. I took Benadryl, used soap, and nothing was working. But desperate times call for desperate measures. I used butter. It was nasty, but I would rather have nasty buttery hands than have my wedding rings cut off my hand. It worked though!!!) I think we'll be done with the rings now though. I told the doctor I was puffy and swollen and she looked at me and said "no, you are not puffy. You are 30 weeks pregnant." haha.
What I am looking forward to: Baby Carter being here so that when I can't sleep and don't have a desire to eat, it is because I have a cutie little baby, and not all of those lovely things listed above. haha.
Happy Friday!
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
It's your life.
It's your life, what you gonna do?
The world is watching you.
Every day, the choices you make
Say what you are and who your heart beats for.
Monday, February 22, 2010
Baby Shower
We had our baby shower in New Jersey this weekend! Everyone told us that this would really start to make everything seem more "real" and they were definitely right! Hard to believe that in just over 10 weeks, we will be parents.
Everyone put so much effort into making this a special day for us and we feel extremely blessed. On the way home, we couldn't even fathom how much people love us and our unborn child to spend their Saturday with us and spoil us (and baby Carter) absolutely rotten.
Plus, my good friend Allie made the trip all the way from Atlanta. Kidding...haha. Well, she did. But she was visiting her parents in NJ for the week, and it happened to fall on the weekend that my shower was....I was so happy she could come and be there for this important part of our life. 
Everyone put so much effort into making this a special day for us and we feel extremely blessed. On the way home, we couldn't even fathom how much people love us and our unborn child to spend their Saturday with us and spoil us (and baby Carter) absolutely rotten.
Plus, my good friend Allie made the trip all the way from Atlanta. Kidding...haha. Well, she did. But she was visiting her parents in NJ for the week, and it happened to fall on the weekend that my shower was....I was so happy she could come and be there for this important part of our life.Thanks to everyone who helped make this day special -- from the food, organizing, invitations, cookies, centerpieces, favors, clean up, transportation of the gifts, etc. We really, really appreciate the generosity! :)
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Pregnancy Highlights: 29 Weeks
How Far Along: 29 weeks...he is 15 inches long, and weighs about 2 1/2 pounds.
Total Weight Gain/Loss: Not sure; I have an appt next Wednesday where I'll find out!
Maternity Clothes: Yep.
Best Moment this week: Feeling his feet kick me on the left side, feel him turn over, and then kick me on the right. Really cool!
Gender: Still a Boy...haha
Movement: Really quite a bit now. Sometimes it takes my breath away. He responds pretty well to ice cold water too.
Food Craving: Eh, nothing really this week. Though I'm back to the being hungry a lot thing. It's just lovely....or not. :)
What I miss: Not getting out of breath so easily. haha
Sleep: Still sleeping fine when I'm not getting up to go to the bathroom.
What I am looking forward to: My NJ baby shower on Saturday!!!! :) It will surely make everything seem so much more real.
Symptoms: Starting to get that weird line up my stomach but not too much yet. Itchy belly and arms. Some general discomfort.
Total Weight Gain/Loss: Not sure; I have an appt next Wednesday where I'll find out!
Maternity Clothes: Yep.
Best Moment this week: Feeling his feet kick me on the left side, feel him turn over, and then kick me on the right. Really cool!
Gender: Still a Boy...haha
Movement: Really quite a bit now. Sometimes it takes my breath away. He responds pretty well to ice cold water too.
Food Craving: Eh, nothing really this week. Though I'm back to the being hungry a lot thing. It's just lovely....or not. :)
What I miss: Not getting out of breath so easily. haha
Sleep: Still sleeping fine when I'm not getting up to go to the bathroom.
What I am looking forward to: My NJ baby shower on Saturday!!!! :) It will surely make everything seem so much more real.
Symptoms: Starting to get that weird line up my stomach but not too much yet. Itchy belly and arms. Some general discomfort.
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