31 Weeks ♥

I am 31 Weeks today! It feels like such a milestone. Only 9 weeks left! That's single digits!! Had a great doctor's visit this week. I'm measuring 32-33 weeks, and I've only gained 8 pounds the entire pregnancy!!!!!!! I feel like I've gained 100 pounds. J swears the baby is already 8 pounds, because he can't imagine what else would weigh anything...haha. I would DIE if baby was already 8 pounds. Noooooo thank you. Although it's not like I have a choice. :P

We finished up our baby classes this week! We had one on nursing on Monday night, and our second one on Newborn Care Thursday night. We got very informed, and I feel a little more ready for Elijah to get here. Now we just need the physical stuff for him!

Speaking of--my shower was last Saturday! It was great seeing my sister, mom, a good friend, and J's family and friends :) We got lots of goodies (we're all set on newborn onesies!) and it was fun spending the afternoon/evening with such wonderful people :) Later this week, my brother and his girlfriend brought over a bunch of presents for us...we got 3 huge boxes of newborn diapers!! SO excited about those, because that was the one thing we had nothing of and I knew we'd need a bunch before E's arrival!

Here's a picture from the shower. Me and J next to the cake my mom made :)

And the belly picture for the week!

I have been sooooo uncomfortable all week. My belly is constantly hard when I stand up. It's uncomfortable to move, and uncomfortable just to stand there. Not having the best pregnancy week, and I'm sure it's going to get worse...joy. With the tightness, though, comes LOTS of movement! Elijah has been kicking up a STORM, and in every direction possible. It makes me smile. :) Even though it hurts sometimes...

How big is baby?: The size of a pineapple! Yum! or 16-17 inches and 3-4 lbs. He's getting SO big!!! i'm not sure how he's fitting all up in there..
Stretch marks?: nothing new.
Maternity clothes?: Oh yes. I wear the same outfits on a weekly basis. I tried to pair a wide belt with a tshirt today, and it looked super cute, but I thought I was going to suffocate!
Sleep: Sleep has been strange this week...one day I'll wake up when J does (around 4:30!) and not be able to go back to sleep, and the next day I'll sleep til 10 or 11. Not a fan of the early days. Today was one of them. But luckily, since J has to wake up at that time every day, he was ready to go to bed right after dinner! He's currently sleeping, and I'm sure I'll be joining him soon :)
Best moment this week: Not sure if there's a "best"...I've worked mostly days this week, and this has been the week where J works 5 days (next week he only works 2!), so we've been able to spend most of our nights together :) AND Sonic has 1/2 price milkshakes after 8pm! So that always makes me happy :P
Movement: Frequent and STRONG. I'm glad he's getting muscles in there, just wish it didn't make me double over some times!
Food cravings: Back on my milkshakes kick :)
Gender: still my little man!
Labor Signs: Not yet! Hoping to keep him in at least another 6 weeks..
Belly Button in or out?: still in, but barely! i hope it pops soon..
What I miss: Not having such a hard time moving!! The EASIEST things have become hard for me :(
What I am looking forward to: No doctor appt until my bday because my doctor is out of town the next time I'm due for one. Maybe she'll give me an ultrasound as a bday present??? :D 26 sounds so olllllllllllld.

Can you believe it's practically June??? Just over 2 months til Elijah's due date, and come June I can say "I'm having a baby next month" HOLY. COW.

30 Weeks Tomorrow!! :)

Can't believe I'm about to hit the big 3-0! Baby could literally come at any time...but I'm sure he'll stay in there for another 6-10 weeks (or more!). I wish there was a way of knowing when he is going to decide to "pop" out, but I guess that just adds to the excitement! My biggest worry is that he'll come when it isn't "convenient" for J's new job, and he won't be able to be there with me. Since we moved, the hospital is about 30 minutes away (without traffic, and we all know how I-64 can be!), and I don't even know how I'll get there if I were to need to go when I'm at home alone. I do have lots of people I know I could call, I'm just SO much of a PLANNER that I NEED to know when things are going to happen, and how I'm going to make them happen. haha :) I know it'll all work out!

Life has been good lately. J started his new job; the hours are pretty great (except the whole part where he has to wake up at 430am! But he's off by 6 every day, and every other week only works 2 days!). He loves it so far. He gets to carry around hand cuffs! After he finishes the Academy (we're thinking it'll start some time in July), he gets to carry around lots more cool things :P I'm so excited for him! My job has been good. Finally in a rotation with the other manager, so one week I work mostly days, and the next week mostly nights. I like having a little stability! I am mega nervous about taking leave. Like when to take it, how long to stay out, and how work will survive without me! I am SO connected to my job and have invested a lot into it, so I hate the thought of not being able to do my job for 4ish weeks...as my boss said, I'm a control freak. Guess I've been called worse. :P I am REALLY hoping to work up until my water breaks. But we'll see what happens!

Baby has gotten BIG in the last week. This week I've started to feel him rolling around. It's the coolest thing ever! All day today I've been laying around watching and feeling my belly...there is always something poking out! Definitely makes things more real :)

Speaking of real...For real, we have like hardly anything for this child coming! We did put up the crib last week!

And we have a few outfits, but that is it! I think the next thing we'll be purchasing when we have extra money (IF that ever happens. haha) is the car seat. Just in case something were to happen, I want to be able to at least take him home from the hospital!! J's mom is throwing us a shower this weekend, so I'm super excited and hope we get some things we really need! :)

How big is baby?: The size of a cucumber (really?? hmm), or 15.2-16.7 inches and 2.5-3.8 lbs. He's getting SO big!!!
Stretch marks?: nothing new.
Maternity clothes?: Oh yes. I am getting tired of always wearing the same clothes, but can't seem to convince the husband that I need more clothes just for the next 10 or so weeks...
Sleep: Not too bad. I honestly think Elijah sleeps when I do, though I've heard that's not the norm. But he doesn't wake me up in the middle of the night with his wiggling, he is moving allll day long, and when I first wake up it takes him a little to get moving. How glorious would it be for him to sleep through the night right off the bat??? As dark as our room is, it could be possible... :P But I can't get my hopes up!
Best moment this week: any moment spent with the husband! This is his "short week" where he only works Wed-Thurs, but I still feel like I haven't seen much of him. BUT we go to our first (of two) newborn care class tonight, which will be fun :) And then Saturday after I get off work, he's coming with me to our baby shower, and I get to spend the rest of Saturday and all day Sunday with him!
Movement: LOTS!! I'm so in love with his wiggles :)
Food cravings: Nothing weird yet. I've been super hungry all day today, which sucks when you're home alone and don't have a wonderful husband to make things and get things for you! haha :P
Gender: still my little man!
Labor Signs: Not yet! But he *has* started to drop!
Belly Button in or out?: getting closer to popping out. a little nervous about that, since it's off-centered and it'll be way more noticeable, but it'll still be cute! :)
What I miss: Still being able to do things...I was trying to carry a light box at work the other day, and this belly was all up IN my way! And I'm starting to miss sushi. We found a new sushi place by our house, and there's a roll that J swears is like a "slice of heaven" (he's a weirdo), and every time he talks about it, it makes me want to taste it even MORE!! But it has raw fish on top of it, so I can't :( #pregnantladyproblems
What I am looking forward to: my shower saturday! especially because my favorite sister EVER is coming up for it :D and the Chesapeake Jubilee is this weekend! Hopefully we'll have enough extra money so we can stop by for a funnel cake and/or cotton candy! And super excited about our "newborn care class" tonight and next thursday :) and we're going to a class on nursing on Monday! AND I have another doctor's appointment next Wednesday! I have those every other week now. I feel like a pain/inconvenience to my boss, but what can ya do?

New Collage!

Here is the latest collage :) I'd say baby E is starting to DROP!

From 10 to 30 weeks in the same shirt. I can't believe I thought I had a belly back then! HAHA.

28 Weeks! ♥

Only 12 weeks left now! :) It's all happening so fast, but I feel like I still have forever to go. In 84 days (hopefully) our little man will be here! Sometimes I feel like I'm going to have him a little early, because my belly's so big, but other times I feel like he's going to be LATE because I'm a strong person and he's gonna be stubborn like his mommy and daddy both are. We shall see! It's kind of exciting not knowing...(I say that NOW haha)

Life has been good! We're all moved in (though there's still a lot of unpacking to do!), and (most of) the house looks great! There are still a few improvements we're doing to the house, but the landlord said we can do pretty much anything we want to update the house, and we can just take it out of our rent. It's nice having someone so flexible and easygoing to rent from! I'll put up pictures later (once everything's set up and cleaned!), but our bedroom and living room have a beautiful view of the water! All of our new bedroom furniture is set up, our black out curtains are A-MAZ-ING, and the living room is all set up. We have some worker guys over today fixing the guest bathroom and baby's ceiling (water damage). Hopefully once the ceiling is done in Elijah's room I can start setting stuff up! I can't WAIT to get the crib put together so I can just stare at it. :) The landlord did tear up all of the floor and put down laminate hardwood floors in the entire house. It looks great, but I feel like I have to sweep everyday, and every room needs an area rug. But it's fun being able to do all this home improvement stuff!

Baby is doing fabulous. J finally felt Elijah kick the other night! I've been watching my belly jump all week, and it's the coolest thing ever! I still forget I'm pregnant a lot of times, but my inability to move around easily quickly reminds me. :) We had a doctor appt 2 weeks ago where they made me drink the Glucola and then drew blood to test for gestational diabetes. Luckily I passed! I couldn't imagine having diabetes during pregnancy...I am a sugar-aholic!!! J got to go to that appt, and then we scheduled the rest of our appts so that he'll be able to come, too. :) He hasn't been able to come to most of them because of work (and they're only 10 mins or so), but I'm excited that he'll be able to come from now on! These are the most important appointments...I have my next one next Wednesday, and then every other wednesday after that! AHHHHHHHH.

Since I've missed a buncha weeks, here are a few pictures!

25 Weeks

 26 Weeks

(my shirt was REALLY tight on my belly; I think that's why it looks smaller!)

 28 Weeks

And our new backyard!!

How big is baby?: The size of a Chinese cabbage (no idea what that is...), or 14.8 inches and 2.25 lbs. He's getting so big!!!
Stretch marks?: you shut your mouth
Maternity clothes?: Oh yes.
Sleep: Still pretty decent. These black out curtains are amaaaaazing for sleep. :)
Best moment this week: J getting to feel baby kick :) Although now he keeps trying to "kick" the baby with his hand, in order to get the baby to kick back. Only worked once, out of the 20 or so times he tried, and he moved his hand before he could feel Elijah kick back. My husband is so silly!
Movement: all day, every day :) I'm not feeling the kicks get stronger, but they're staying consistently frequent, so I think he's okay!
Food cravings: Everything. I have started getting heartburn, but Tums makes it go right away, thank goodness.
Gender: still my little man!
Labor Signs: Not yet! Like I said, I'm sure he's gonna be stubborn like his parents.
Belly Button in or out?: Still hasn't popped, but I look for it (with a mirror, of course!) every morning!
What I miss: Being able to do stuff!! Mostly lifting. I hate needing help for everything! Also, coffee. I can have a cup a day when I want to, but some days I want MORE!
What I am looking forward to: Getting the nursery set up! And my shower is scheduled for the 19th! I'm also suuuper stoked about getting maternity pictures done :) We haven't set a date yet, but my brother's long-time friend is a photographer and is giving us an excellent deal. I love pictures!! And my belly :P

25 Weeks!

I am 25 weeks today!! :) 105 DAYS LEFT. Holyyyyyyy crap. I'm getting so anxious and excited and impatient!

Life has been good lately. Just lots of working! I love my job, and the people I work with. We're starting to get busier and busier, and it's definitely exciting! Overwhelming at times, but I love it! J starts his new job on the 8th of May, and he found out what "team" he's on today, and if he calculated his schedule correctly he should be off on my birthday, and for the baby's due date weekend! Here's to hoping...

No pictures in this post...my last blog was of my "progressive bump". Super cool to look at! I remember when I was 10-11 weeks pregnant and I thought my belly looked soooo big :P That was NOTHING compared to now!! Everyone keeps asking me if there's more than one baby in there, and while that would be super exciting (!!!), I would hope the doctors would have noticed by now! I've had 3 ultrasounds, and there's never been a "hiding baby" (or two) :P

We move in a week and a half!!! Cannot WAIT to get my hands on this nursery!! :) :) I wish we had more things to put in his room, but I'm sure once we have the space for it, we'll get more of the things we need. We have zero idea IF we're having showers thrown for us, or when they'll be, so we're planning on getting most things ourselves. I'm too impatient to wait TOO long!!


How big is baby?: The size of a rutabaga (whatever that is)! About 13.5 inches (head to toe), and 1.5 lbs :) It's hard to think that something that large is in my belly!
Stretch marks?: you shut your mouth
Maternity clothes?: Oh yes.
Sleep: Still pretty decent. I haven't had to get up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom lately. I do wake up between 7-8 every day though!
Best moment this week: Still the kicks :) My favorite are the ones early in the morning after I wake up. I feel like Elijah is saying "Good Morning mommy!" I started feeling his kicks on the outside this past week, and the little nudges are SO adorable!! J still hasn't felt them, though. He isn't patient or gentle enough...haha. He often shakes or hits my belly (lovingly, of course) and yells "WAKE UP BABY!!!!!" :P He's gonna be such a good daddy :) OH--and we bought a new car a couple weeks ago. We traded in my old Focus (that I had been making J drive), to get a baby-safe car that's MUCH nicer and man-lier. :P
Movement: all day, every day :) it doesn't wake me up at night, though, which I'm okay with! Maybe he's sleeping through the night already?? haha. Wishful thinking!
Food cravings: Do chocolate milkshakes still count???
Gender: still my little man!
Labor Signs: No thank you. But J did inform me today that at 27 weeks I might start feeling Braxton Hicks. Can't say I want those, but it was adorable that he even read about them!
Belly Button in or out?: Getting shallower and shallower! I giggle every morning when I feel my bellybutton and see how different it is every day :P
What I miss: Roller coasters :(( Every summer my little brothers and I always talk about roller coasters and what we want to ride that year...not me :( I want to see if there's a way I can go to Busch Gardens or something after August...not sure what the recovery time is for getting back on a coaster, though!
What I am looking forward to: Moving! I mean, I won't be doing any of the actual moving (haha), but I'm looking forward to being a Chesapeake resident!! All I can think about is how much gas we're going to be saving by living near everything we usually go to. My job will be the same distance away, and once J starts his new job, it'll be 5 mins closer than his current job is from our current house. His new job is right by my job, too! Buttttt his shifts are like 6am-6pm, so there will be no carpooling. Haha!

Belly Growth!

Created this today and thought I'd share! :) Watching my belly grow has been the coolest thing ever! And I *promise* to try and write a blog update this Friday or Saturday!

23 Weeks! :)

122 Days left! :) I can't believe how fast this is going now...I'm getting SO anxious! in 4 short months, I should have a mini-J in my arms :D It's gonna be very weird not going to work every day while I'm on maternity leave...but I will be taking as short of a leave as possible! My job is demanding, but I love it! And I love the money I make. haha. I won't be getting paid maternity leave because I haven't been full-time for very long, so we're praying that I have an easy delivery and can get back out there ASAP.

Speaking of work: I have been SO BUSY. It's literally kicking my butt. I have like 30 people to get trained in a short amount of time, and working with everyone's schedules is close to impossible. I'm not sure how Candy ever did it! OH YEAH--she had wayyyyyy more experience than me! haha. I'm still keeping my head above water, which is good, I just feel like I am always at work, and even when I'm not at work, I think about work. It comes with the job, though. This week I've had to come in on my days off to do training, and I don't recall getting very many days off last week, either. But it is what it is! And it'll be over soon. :) We've been short one other full-time manager, and I'm hoping my boss hires one sooner, rather than later. He knows we need it! It'd help me out a ton...

This week I have been ridiculously sick :( I started getting a sore throat Monday night, and by Tuesday when I was at work, I was a wreck. I was hot all over, but felt like I was freezing...my whole body hurt, and all I could think to do was drink more water, but my throat hurt too bad for that! I called my OB on Wednesday, and they said do NOT come in, because they didn't want me infecting everyone else. :( So I toughed it out with some tylenol... my fever is gone, and I think my sore throat is slowly getting better. Now I just have a terrible cough and headache! It sucks because I can't cough, or else my head hurts. It's a lose-lose situation. Meh. I'm hoping I feel better by tomorrow night, because I have to work from like 3pm-3am! I'm sleeping just thinking about that...

Since I skipped my 22 week picture, here are both:

 22 Weeks ^

And this one ^ was taken Wednesday! 

Both of my bosses have commented on how big my belly is, and no one believes I'm only having one baby! haha :) Makes me a little nervous about how gigantic I'm going to be come July, but I love it! I LOVE being noticed for my belly, and I love strangers asking about little Elijah :) Makes my day! I think I'm gonna miss my belly once it's gone...this has been the only time in my life where I haven't had to "suck in" for pictures!! :P

How big is baby?: The size of a pomegranate! About 10.5 inches, and 12-20 ounces :) It's hard to think that something that large is in my belly!

Stretch marks?: you shut your mouth

Maternity clothes?: Oh yes.

Sleep: Still pretty decent. I get up maybe once in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom. I do wake up between 7-8 every day though! 

Best moment this week: Still the kicks :) Every time I feel them I get all giddy :) :) He's getting stronger and stronger, so hopefully daddy will be able to feel him soon!

Movement: all day, every day :) this booger doesn't sleep!

Food cravings: Nothing really this week. I love chocolate milkshakes. And Elijah loves them, too! I only got them because my throat hurt. Really, that's the ONLY reason.

Gender: my little man!

Labor Signs: No thank you.

Belly Button in or out?: I've really noticed this past week or two that it's shallowing out! It's funny to me :)

What I miss: Not being sick!!! I am SUCH a baby when I get sick. And I can't BE a baby when I'm trying to GROW one!

What I am looking forward to: moving!! 3 weeks! :) And J gets off work at 6 tonight, so we're going down to NC to see my brothers in the school musical! They both have solos this year, and I can't wait!!! :D I LOVE seeing them on the same stage I used to be on :) I hope little man gets my talent, too...that's about all I'd want him to have from me. haha.