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I had every intention of posting about the beach tonight, but I have felt terrible all day so I'm going to bed early (that's right, 8:30 wahoo!!!) and hoping that whatever is wrong is gone by tomorrow. I don't think it's any kind of illness, and anyway I don't have time to be sick, so there's that. 

Just wanted to post a quick pic of my sweet girl and my sweet hubby at the polls yesterday!  Apparently you aren't supposed to take pictures inside the polls, whoopsie.

Lilly's second time voting was a success, I'd say.  More tomorrow, hopefully. Happy hump day!

S

BB2.0: 22 Weeks

Another week already?!  I'm sure I say it every week, but good gosh I need for time to slow down.  I know life will only get busier with all of the holidays coming up before too long, and I'm trying once again not to get anxious about all of the things I'd like to do before this baby boy makes his debut.  Lilly went to bed not too long ago and the Baums are doing some cooking tonight (homemade tomato soup for tomorrow night [Dan has already started on it and good gosh it smells delicious] and banana bread for Lilly's lunch tomorrow), so I'll get right to it.

Size of Baby Boy:  11 inches and almost 1 pound, aka the size of a spaghetti squash:

Does anyone else feel like a spaghetti squash looks like it would weigh more than 1 lb?

He's starting to look like a real live human baby now: his lips, eyelids and brows are becoming more distinct and his eyes have formed (but there's no color to them yet).  He is apparently also developing tiny tooth buds.  Neat-o.

Weight Gain So Far:  By rough estimate aka my home scale, I think I'm now into the double digits at +10 lbs.  I'm okay with 10 lbs at 22 weeks, and thankful that it wasn't more this week since we just returned from vacation where I stuffed my face.  A lot.

Cravings:  I have still been killing some Golden Grahams, but I think I might be getting over it.  I'm trying my hardest not to think about the fact that candy corn is readily available in all of the stores right now.  Before I know it, it will be time for candy cane kisses.  YUM.

Aversions:  Pork.  I'm not sure why I haven't thought to mention it before, but I have not been able to stomach even the thought of pork.  My poor husband had to sneak out for some BBQ one night last week because he's been wanting some and I couldn't even handle considering it.

Symptoms:  Same old - tired, peeing a lot and clogged pipes.  The ring rash has finally gone away so I tried to wear my rings one day over the weekend but it started to come back so I took them off again.  Rats.

Movement:  For the first time this pregnancy, I've finally felt some really consistent kicking/jabbing/dancing and it is so sweet!  I love it.  I am pretty sure that baby is still breach (breech?), because it's all happening in the lllooowwww area of my stomach if you'er picking up what I'm putting down, but obviously I have no way of knowing that for sure other than all of the movement is occurring in almost exactly the same (lllooowww) spot every time.

What I Miss:  Can't think of a thing!

Signs of a Bump:  Ah yes.  Behold, the 22-week bump:

According to the 22-week post from my last pregnancy, Dan was rushing me and I therefore did not have time for a pic, so no comparison photo this time.  I'm sure I was equally as huge if not even more whale-like, though.  I did notice while skimming that post that I was only up 8.5 lbs at 22 weeks last time around, but I feel like I am carrying very differently this time around and maybe even look a little smaller.  Surely during my last pregnancy I was a total liar.

What I'm Thankful For:  A wonderful long weekend vacay with my family!  I did not want to come home, and when I did I felt like I should have taken another PTO day to recover.  We had a blast!  I'll try to do a post about it this week, but in the meantime you can check out my sister Katy's post to hold you over.  So much fun!

What I'm Looking Forward To:  Fall!  Fall weather, fall food, fall clothes (for Lilly of course), pumpkin patch (hopefully with the besties again!), pumpkin carving, pumpkin beer, Halloween, trick-or-treating.  I bribed L into trying on her costume the other night (with candy of course) and almost died of cuteness overload.  Can't WAIT for her to wear it in her school costume parade and for trick-or-treating!  And also the completion of the mountain house.  SO close!  I just realized some of those may be repeats from last week, but whatever.

Next Doctor Appointment:  October 22!  

That's all for me, folks.  Hope everyone's week is off to a great start!  Mine has been busy that I'm ready for it to be over already, ha.

Sarah

BB2.0: Gender Reveal

We didn't do a "gender reveal" with Lilly.  I am pretty sure I remember my husband saying, "no one else cares about the gender of our baby but us."  Fun sucker.  Honestly, we didn't really plan to do anything for this little guy, either - it just sort of happened.  I wanted to do something special to find out the gender together as a family.  Clearly, Lilly does not give two rips understand any of this right now, but maybe someday she will appreciate having been included.  I never really considered taking her to the appointment with us - maybe because she's never still and is into everything and I wasn't sure it would be intriguing enough for her, ha!  She had school that morning anyway and it was only her second or third week, so we figured it was better to send her to school anyway.  I thought about ways to make it fun for her for a few weeks (and got some great suggestions from some of you as well!).  It was actually the fun sucker himself who came up with the idea of cupcakes.  I was dead set on confetti pushpops and couldn't decide how many to order (we didn't want to know ahead of time) when he suggested cupcakes.  It was a win/win, really - Lilly loves cupcakes, I love cupcakes, baby loves cupcakes...so it was settled.  I called Gigi's to order some minis and they told me they could have them ready for me within 30 minutes of the drop-off of the gender.  Done and done.

I used some of Lilly's thank-you stationery (from before she was born, when we still couldn't agree on a name...sound familiar?) and made a card for the ultrasound tech to mark for us:

We LOVE the u/s tech at my doctor.  She is SO NICE and was so excited for us.  She loved our plan and was very cooperative, warning us when she was getting close and telling us when we shouldn't look (I looked directly at Dan during those times to make sure he wasn't cheating and peeking!).  At the end of our appointment, she asked us what we thought, and of course I said girl and Dan said boy.  I've said it before, but I just KNEW this one was another girl!  She marked our card for us and put it in the envelope along with the photo of baby boy's little man parts, and put an extra sheet of paper in for good measure to make sure we couldn't see through the envelope.  She didn't seal it, because I was taking it straight to Gigi's, and Dan lectured me all the way to the car about not peeking.  In the interest of full disclosure, I should admit that we were very close to peeking when we left the doctor, but we stayed strong...barely.  

I asked Stephanie to come take pictures to document the special occasion, and Meagan, Bo and Kinsley came over to take video for us.  Carney and Corey came as well - she is practically part of the family, after all!  I paid everyone in food.  :-)  It was a lot of fun, and as usual Steph got some beautiful photos which we will cherish forever.  I'll post a million some of my favorites below (so hard to choose!), and just in case anyone is still reading or cares, I'll post a video at the end as well.  We are so excited that BB2.0 is a BOY and can't wait for him to arrive!  Now if only we could agree on a name (round 2)...

Note:  All images below are courtesy of my bestie, Stephanie Aldridge Photography.  Holler at her for any of your photo needs because she's fab!!!

Unfortunately, for some reason I'm having trouble embedding the video (ugh, so technologically challenged!).  You can watch it here:  http://youtu.be/ig4vOt-HSUQ

Happy Monday!

Sarah

BB2.0: 21 Weeks

21 weeks already!  I'm a day late this week, but Dan and I spent all last evening cleaning out my side of the closet, which was a HUGE undertaking (seriously, you have no idea) and I was too exhausted to move to the computer to blog afterwards.  Time is flying and I am feeling more whale-like with each passing day (and more anxious about my to-do list, I know I say it every week!).  I still have a long way to go, but I'm sure it will fly by much like the rest of this pregnancy has thus far!  We are at the beach with my family for a mini vacay, so I'm going to keep it short and sweet for the first time ever tonight.

Size of Baby B 2.0:  Baby Boy weighs 3/4 of a pound and is around 10.5 inches long, about the size of a carrot.

He now has eyebrows and eyelids and will start to move a lot more.

Weight Gain So Far:  I actually have not weighed myself this week because I forgot to do it before we came to the beach.  I think I must look huge because someone asked me this week if I was sure I wasn't having twins.  PUNCH.  Anyway, I'm sticking with 8 lbs for now and hoping that all of the recent doughnuts won't come back to bite me.  

Cravings:  Still digging tomato soup and grilled cheese from Cafe Carolina (or lentil soup from Whole Foods), and of course still inhaling the Golden Grahams.

Aversions:  Thankfully, we're still in the clear here.

Symptoms:  No changes.  Exhausted, 24/7 full bladder, a little cramping, a few headaches.  My weird skin rash under my wedding rings has finally cleared up so I wore my rings today for the first time in weeks.  We'll see how long I can do so.

Movement:  Baby boy has really started moving this week.  His movements are still sporadic but I have noticed longer stretches of movement and I'm loving every minute!  It may sound weird, but I missed that part of my pregnancy after Lilly's birth.

What I Miss:  I can't really think of anything that I miss this week.  I think I've been too busy!

Signs of a Bump:  Behold the whale/elephant:

Oddly enough, I wore the same shirt for my 21 week photo with Lilly as well:

What I'm Thankful For:  PTO and fabulous weather.  Although I have a few things I need to knock out for work tomorrow morning, I am looking so forward to shutting down and relaxing for a few days.  I can't wait for the rest of our family (especially my nephew, Mason!) to get here on Friday!  The weather forecast says it's going to be glorious, and Mom says it's been beyond perfect all week.  Bring on the sunshine!  Also thankful for an easygoing baby girl who was awake for the entire car ride to the beach, but went to bed over two hours late with no problems whatsoever after arriving, getting a doughnut from Aunt Hopey and exploring for a little while.  Love her!

What I'm Looking Forward To:  October has a lot of fun things in store!  To name a few, we are planning a trip to the pumpkin patch, there is a "costume parade" at Lilly's school (seriously can't wait for this), Halloween, and we get to meet baby Dorothy...the list goes on!

Next Doctor Appointment:  October 22 with my homegirl the Nurse Practitioner.

That's it for me!  It's not likely that I'll blog for the rest of the week, but I'll be back Sunday or Monday, surely with millions of photos to share.  

Happy Hump Day!

Sarah