2011 Goals.

Be prepared for a bunch of posts in the next couple days. I'm going to do a combined week 18 and 19 letter to baby. I have information about the ultrasound which might go in it's own post. I also have a 2011 recap to include, and I'm thinking about how I want to do my 2012 goals. I'll try to do one a day so you don't get too overloaded, but I hope to be back to normal blogging as of last week. Hope everyone had a great New Years!

A ton happened in 2011. I honestly think that if you told me last year at this time where we'd be right now, I would have never believed you. Ever. Crazy to think that even though you try to do some goals and plan everything for a year, a year is a really long time, no matter how fast it goes, and things happen that you just can't plan. 

Here are the goals for 2011 that I set out in January 2011.

1. Pay off as much debt as possible. That doesn't mean the minimum payment. If I want to have a baby, we need to have $0 credit card debt. Ha! Um, yeah so we're pregnant, and have probably the same amount of credit card debt that we had last year. We might have paid off a little bit, but we haven't made huge leaps and bounds in that category.
2. Keep putting money away in a savings account, save as much money as possible. We definitely accomplished this one. We have a decent savings account and we're doing really good with putting money away with each paycheck in case Mr. Skinny is laid off (very unlikely this year). 
3. Continue working on being healthy; losing weight, working out, running, eating healthy. Hopefully this means getting to goal, looking hot and feeling awesome about myself, but I'm not going to beat myself up if I can't get to that. I know how much of a slow battle this loosing weight thing was for me. I lost about another 10-15 pounds before I got pregnant which was pretty good for me. I came to a couple more standstills, but pushed through. I'm still 10 pounds less than I was this time last year so I consider that a win. I'm back to eating healthy, and although I haven't run and won't be through my pregnancy, I know that I really did pretty well before my back started giving me problems and I got pregnant.
4. Try new foods, new cuisines. Cook new recipes that I would never have tried before. I actually think I did really well with this before we moved. And even once we moved up and before I got pregnant. Now, it's whatever sounds good to the pregnant lady. I want to keep this on the list for post-baby 2012, since I really love cooking and trying new things. 
5. Get closer with God. Go to church weekly, get involved in a church. God has blessed my life and marriage and I owe Him a lot, and have been neglecting that relationship. Oh yeah, done. Since moving back up and going to church weekly, it's been a lot easier to focus on God. This goal will never be complete, and I can just keep striving for that relationship with God. 
6. Get closer to my husband. We've only been married a year, but it definitely is different when you're married. We see each other pretty much daily, but it's easy to fall into a habit and not take the time to spend a day together. I know we'll be on a strict budget, but I'd like to go on a few weekend trips throughout the year and just spend time together. So the weekend trips never happened. Other than going to Ocean City which was super fun and very appreciated, we didn't have the money or time to go away for a weekend, but we've enjoyed date nights monthly and spending more time together. I'd consider this a success. 
7. Move toward vegetarianism. I'm pretty sure I could never become a full vegetarian, the combination of my hate of the texture of beans and my husband's love of meat will prevent that, but I can make a few meatless meals a week, and incorporate vegetarian meals and foods into my diet. Over the summer, I actually did a lot with this. I did two meatless dinners a week, but it definitely went out the window once I got pregnant. I'd like to keep working on this one, too.

Bullet Updates.

I'm so far behind in blogging. I actually had a bunch of posts planned for this week, but instead I think I'll just do some updates instead. Eventually I'll have to write my week 18 letter, and an update on Christmas, and I wanted to do an end of the year post, but for now, bullets will have to do.

- Christmas was awesome. Lots of family, fun and food! Got some good presents, including a magic bullet and pearl earrings, necklace and bracelet from Mr. Skinny. New camcorder from my parents and a Dumbo Blu-Ray from my in-laws.

- Mr. Skinny's mom's side of the family does Christmas Eve every year when everyone comes in and there's gotta be more than 50 people there. Each year I get nervous someone isn't going to know who I am because I still think of myself as a newbie, but this was my 8th Christmas Eve with them. There was no problem and everyone was talking to me and congratulating me, asking how I felt. I felt accepted.

- I am so thankful that I have such wonderful in-laws who have fully accepted me as a daughter, niece, sister, granddaughter and cousin.

- The baby has finally moved! I felt him/her move last Thursday night. I didn't pay attention to it at first, then s/he did it again and I realized that I should be paying attention to this! It was super exciting! Mr. Skinny was SO excited! So were our families when we told them! I've felt the baby move every day since there. It's just a little flick and kind of feels like a muscle spasm, but I prayed I'd feel him/her move before Christmas and s/he just made the cutoff on December 22!

- Our doctor's appointment last week went well. The doctor was a little more pushy than the nurser practitioner we saw last time about the flu shot, but I know that I have the final say and I saw no. So there.  It was a very short appointment. The nurse was a lot nicer than the doctor, so I'm praying that I don't have this doctor when I have the baby. There are 17 doctors in this group at my hospital, so I'm hoping to find at least half that I like.

- Our ultrasound is tomorrow night! I finally convinced Mr. Skinny we didn't need to find out the sex. Although when I tell people that he says that he still wants to find out, but it's not worth the fight any more to find out. So ha! I won :)

- I'm sick. I'm sure I picked something up from someone over Christmas. Oh well, tis the season, right? It started with a sore throat on Monday, but now it's kind of in my sinuses/back of my throat mess. I'm just praying I don't have to go to the doctor because I switched my primary doctor so I could go to the hospital I wanted to for my pre-natal care/labor & delivery and my new doctor is about an hour away, in a different county. I keep telling myself it's just a cold.

- We're going to see my cousin in Southern PA for New Years. When we were younger, we would always go down there for New Years and my uncle would make a bunch of appetizers and we'd watch the ball drop, but up until last year, my cousin and I were in different stages of our lives, and we just didn't get together. Now we're finally in the same stage, just about, she has two boys and I have one on the way (in case you forgot - ha!) so we'll get together with them.

- Mr. Skinny and I - mostly Mr. Skinny - are redoing our closet. It's a walk in closet, turned mini kitchen and back into a closet now. So there's lot of sanding, spackling, and there will be some painting next week. Our room is a disaster because the clothes that were in our closet are everywhere in our room now, but there's not much we can do except work as much as we can on it so that it gets done. I need to take some pictures and I'll show you. And don't worry, my only job so far has been holding the spackling dish thing for Mr. Skinny. No sanding and no painting for this pregnant lady!


And that's where I am about now. Hopefully I'll get back to regular blogging next week sometime, maybe Wednesday if Mr. Skinny is off on Monday.

Tell me: How was your holiday?

Christmas Time!

Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree?

Honest to goodness, I didn't know Santa didn't wrap presents! I guess in a bunch of movies, Santa just leaves the presents, but Santa always wrapped our presents. 

Colored lights on tree/house or white?

I love colored lights outside, but on the tree, I'm all for white. I like the color that comes from the ornaments. However, Mr. Skinny disagrees. He likes colored lights on the tree, which is kind of funny because he can't see all the colors anyways (he's partially color-blind).

Do you hang mistletoe?

Nope. Never have.

What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)?

We do seafood for Christmas, but we switch it up every year, so we don't really have the same thing. I will have to say that shrimp cocktail and veggies with dip at 10am always made for an awesome breakfast.

Favorite Holiday memory as a child?

My brother and I got up one year at like 3am to look at our presents and we couldn't fall back to sleep so we tried to sleep on the couch, but couldn't of course. What 5 and 9 year old can? My dad came out to go to the bathroom and saw us in the living room and we opened our presents that year at 3am. Dad and Mom took a nap on the couch that afternoon! 

Snow? Love it or dread it?

Love it! Especially for Christmas! It's been a couple years since we had a White Christmas and I miss it! 

Real tree or fake tree?

Fake is so much easier, but I think once our child(ren) are older we'll go cut down a tree. Mr. Skinny would really like to plant our own tree once, too, which I think is a really cool idea. 

What’s the most important thing about Christmas for you?

Celebrating Jesus's birth! 

What is your favorite Holiday dessert?

I can't pick one Christmas cookie, are you kidding me? 

What is your favorite tradition?

I would initially have to say putting the cow on the loft thing in our manger scene. I've been doing it since I was super little. I finally realized after mom telling me for years that cows can't climb a ladder, but it's the perfect spot for him, so he goes there every year. 

Secondly, I have to say having shrimp and veggies for breakfast Christmas morning. And thirdly, going to Mr. Skinny's Christmas Eve party. There has to be at least 50+ people there and this party has been going on for probably 50 years. I love seeing everyone and seeing how the family grows each year with new marriages and new babies. Santa comes and the kids always love that. It's such a great time! 

What tops your tree?

Our family tree, a Minnie Mouse angel, but Mr. Skinny and my tree has a simple silver star on the top. 

What is your favorite Christmas Song?

I can't pick just one. I love the old hymns - "O Holy Night", "O Little Town of Bethlehem" and the like. 

What do you leave for Santa?

Milk and cookies, duh! We even left carrots for the reindeer! 

Well actually, a few years ago Mr. Skinny informed me that he used to leave kielbasa and beer for Santa. How redneck is that?? I laughed for an hour at that. I couldn't believe that someone didn't leave Santa milk and cookies. He thought he just left Santa's dinner while everyone else left Santa's dessert. 

Do you have a Christmas morning tradition?

We were never allowed to get Mom and Dad up before 7am, and I still get up early on Christmas morning. But other than opening presents we don't have any special traditions. 

Do you prefer to shop on-line or at the mall?

This year it's been mostly on-line, but I feel like next year it'll be Toys R Us :)

What did you leave for Santa? Do you think kielbasa and beer is super redneck? 

Pick a question and answer it yourself! And Merry Christmas!

Seventeen Weeks.

I wanted to change the format of my weekly updates now that we're nearly halfway there! Instead of doing sections, I'd like to blend it all together in a letter to my son/daughter. Honestly, my reasoning here is completely selfish because I want to do a weekly scrapbook to the baby and instead of changing my wording from "the baby" to "you", "me" to "mommy",  and "Mr. Skinny" to "daddy", it would just be easier to do that here and just copy and paste it! Granted, I might hand write them, I think that would be more personalized than a typed letter, but I'll figure that out. 


I originally wrote this yesterday, December 19th. 


Dear Baby,

You certainly are making mommy's tummy grow! As soon as I took my jacket off at your Grandpa's house, he got all excited because he can finally see my belly! We had a party with your daddy's family this week and got lots of comments on your "appearance" and even some tummy touching. I didn't mind, I like knowing that you're growing in there. Speaking of growing, I still don't think I've felt you moving around. All my sources say that I should be feeling your moving in the next couple of weeks. I try really hard to feel you, but I don't think I have yet. Your Grandma asked me if I felt you and I had to tell her no. I was hoping I would feel you by Christmas, so you have a couple of days left, but I know your Grammy didn't feel me move until really late, so I'm not worried. I'm just looking forward to it!

You weigh about 5 ounces and are about 5 inches long, the size of an onion, or a turnip! I remember when your daddy and I found out about you, you were just the size of an apple seed! Your skeleton is changing from cartilage to bone, which is why I should be feeling you kicking shortly. You can move all around and bend your joints and you're even developing sweat glands! You're also starting to put on some fat, too. All your organs are well developed, your kidneys are creating urine and the live is starting to produce bile. I think most exciting of all is that you are starting to hear sounds! Sounds of my heart beating, and you're starting to hear my voice when I'm talking! I'm trying to listen to music all the time so that I can sing (your mommy always sings when there is music on!) and I want to make sure that you love Christmas as much as I do, as well as your Grandpa!

Your mommy isn't doing very good with watching how much weight she's gaining, especially over the holidays. I gained another whopping 1.6 this week, bringing my total gain up to 7.4 pounds. A month ago I was holding out at a 2.6 gain, so I really need to watch that. I don't want to gain too much, considering I didn't loose all the weight I should have before getting pregnant. I'm going to focus on more fruits and veggies and whole foods as opposed to processed foods. It's hard to find a balance! It also doesn't help that I'm not exercising like I should be. I have every intention of getting on my treadmill today for at least a half hour. I have an episode of "Kourtney and Kim take NY" to catch up on! Update: I did get on the treadmill, but only for about 23 minutes. Super tired today!

10 weeks.

My eyelids are still dry, but I'm just getting used to them. I think being pregnant in the winter isn't making them any better. I made your daddy get a flu shot, since I'm not getting one and he's the one person I'm closest with. He just got it yesterday and today he was nauseous and had the chills. I hope he doesn't sick since I can't really take care of him. He knows that it was the best thing for you, but your daddy is not an easy sick man, he complains. A lot.

14 weeks.

17 weeks.

Oh, I also fell on Saturday while I was putting my socks on. My balance is off, and I know it, but I had just gotten out of the shower and was standing on one foot, which had the sock on, and I lost my balance and fell right on my butt. Your daddy asked right away if I was okay, and I was, it wasn't a hard fall, I just started laughing and laughing. Guess I have to sit down when I put my socks on now!

And I think I got heartburn last week after eating salsa and chips. I couldn't really tell since I've never had heartburn before, but I think that's what it was. Honestly, your daddy's family were all born with a full head of hair and the old wive's tale might be right in saying that heartburn means you'll have a full head of hair!

Lastly, everyone LOVED the Christmas card we sent out! Everyone thought it was adorable! Can't wait until next year when you can be the star of our Christmas card!

Love you lots and keep growing baby!

Love,

Mommy

Fill In The Blank Friday.

Welcome to Vol. 2 of Fill in the Blank Friday! I'm hoping to do these more regularly, but that probably won't happen until after the holidays, which is only a few weeks away! Eek! I need to finish up my Christmas shopping!

1.   My most favorite "little thing" is  cuddling with Mr. Skinny after a long day and watching a movie together or just cracking jokes and laughing together.

2.  I can't believe  I'm going to be a mom in about 5 months, give or take a few weeks!

3. The one thing I'd like to achieve today is  to get through work so I can come home and enjoy the weekend!

4.  The last thing I want to do today is  go to work, but I know I have to. Boo.

5.  If I were writing my own blank today, it would say: I can't wait for Christmas!

6.  My favorite candle scent is  definitely either lavender or lilac. Or beach walk from Yankee Candle. 

Fill in a blank for yourself! 

Happy weekend!

Sixteen Weeks.

Four months. That's how long I've been pregnant. Craziness! I can't believe that I'm closer to halfway than not. Half of me wants time to fly, and the other half just wants to enjoy the time that Mr. Skinny and I have as a family of two before we become a family of three.

How Baby's Growing:


Honestly, different sources say the baby is anywhere from 3 inches to nearly 5 inches, with the fruit of the week ranging from a lemon to an avocado. So take your pick. Baby is growing, with his/her bones turning from cartilage to bone, so kicking should be felt in the next few weeks. I haven't felt anything yet, but I'm hoping I'll feel it soon. My mom said that it took her forever to feel my brother and I moving. She actually started lying to people when they'd ask her because she couldn't believe she didn't feel it yet. I'm not worried yet. Fine details are developing as well, lines where the fingers and palm bend, and s/he has enough muscles to form a tightly clenched fist.

I've also read that the baby's eyelashes are growing and most of the development this week is inside the baby. His/her heart is pumping blood and the umbilical cord is completely developed. I don't know about you, but I didn't know it took so long for the umbilical cord to be developed. I kind of thought it developed almost immediately.

Source

Momma's Thoughts:

I wish we could have an ultrasound now! I want to see what my baby is doing, how s/he's moving! Some news though, the ultrasound I thought we'd be having next Wednesday? Yeah, most likely not happening. I called our insurance yesterday to find out if they help cover the cost of a breast pump and/or childbirth classes (coupon for $30 off the pump and no help for the classes where we want to take them), but I was transferred to a maternity counselor and let me tell you, she was the nicest person I've talked to in the health field since finding out I was pregnant! She totally understood why I didn't want the flu shot and just suggested I keep some anti-bacterial gel in my car/in my purse and wash my hands frequently. No judgement. Asked how I was feeling and how I was handling my pre-natal vitamin. When I told her that the vitamin's fine, I just cut in in half since it's a little big, she suggested I asked for a smaller vitamin. I didn't even think of that! Simply genius.

But she said that since we don't have a time for our ultrasound, then it probably isn't scheduled for next Wednesday. As disappointed as I am, I'm glad that I talked to her and she told us so that we have time to prepare before going to the appointment. I'm hoping I can make an ultrasound appointment as soon as I turn 20 weeks. I don't want to wait too long! I want to see what this little guy/girl looks like! I'm still trying to figure out how to convince Mr. Skinny that we don't need to find out. But now I have more time to figure that scheme out!

How I'm Changing:

Finally my weight leveled out a bit and I only gained 0.4 last week, bringing my gain up to 5.8 pounds. I'm hoping to have another small gain this week since my eating has been a bit healthier. I'm getting more comfortable in my "new" body, and I'm embracing the pregnant curves. I actually feel pregnant and feel like I look pregnant. I've even gotten a couple up and down glances from strangers, trying to figure out if I'm pregnant I'm sure. I definitely feel I've crossed over into the looking pregnant part of my pregnancy, and I don't just look fat all the time.

I got a couple good nights of sleep, and a couple nights of not so good sleep. It all balances out since I have 2 days each week where I don't work and can sleep late if I need to make up some sleep.

Like that bra in the background? It's new, it's a 36DD.
Awesome.

My acne is getting better, I suppose, but my dry eyelids have good and bad days. I think the dry, cold weather doesn't help either, but I have a loooong winter ahead of me. Oh well, I'll deal. What else can I do?

Oh, I had one last (hopefully) vomit session. Saturday morning Mr. Skinny tickled me, I coughed and my body took that as a sign that I need up dispose of the nothing that was in my stomach. I tried to control myself, and Mr. Skinny tried to help, but it didn't work. Oh well, at least it wasn't popcorn. Or ground beef. Blarg!

I also haven't felt baby move, I don't think, but I'm not worried about that yet. My mom said she actually started lying to people because it took her forever to feel my brother and I move. When I talked to the lady from our health insurance, she told me some tips and assured me that there's nothing to worry about, I still have time.


What I'm Eating:


Not too much has changed since last week. Healthy appetite is back, with a good balance of unhealthiness, like the fettuccine alfredo I made last night. But it was oh, so good. Mmm. Doesn't help that my parents brought a ton of stuff back from Disney and we're slowly eating through that.

I'm also getting a little frustrated with the things I can't eat. And the things that I don't know if I can eat or not. Like shrimp. It's Christmas and for Christmas Eve, we're at Mr. Skinny's parent's house, which is fine, but dinner consists of sandwiches (no lunch meat for me) and shrimp (questionable). Awesome. And once I make the mistake of telling Mr. Skinny what I "shouldn't" eat, he remembers it and tries to be helpful with reminding me what I shouldn't eat. I always said I was going to eat perfectly when I was pregnant, but once you're actually there, it's super hard.

How I'm Moving:


I actually moved! Once. For 30 minutes. On the treadmill. While watching Kourtney and Kim Take New York. It's my trash TV. Don't hate. Remember how I miss running? Well, I ran for probably a total of 5 minutes, split into 2 sessions. I didn't push myself and stopped when my shins started bothering me. I didn't look at the clock so I'm not sure how long I went, but the fact is I RAN! And I felt great! I was a little more tired than normal (duh, I am pregnant and haven't run is MONTHS), but I hope I can really keep this up. NO excuses. I'm home Monday and Wednesday, have a DVR full of junk to watch and I have a treadmill. Please keep hounding me on this!

Other Random Tidbits:


We took our Christmas pictures last weekend. I had a vision in my head of just taking a picture from our shins down with a pair of baby shoes in the middle, but when I went to look for shoes, I couldn't find ANY unisex shoes. So I found a onsie instead and took these shots.

The bottom one was closest to my original vision, but I thought it looked weird without our faces, so just the other two got on our Christmas card. And I sent them all out today! Go me! Granted, this is the first year that we just did a picture card and not personalized cards and I do feel a little bad about that. This might be the first of many years of that though. Thoughts?

Tell me:


What do you think about picture cards vs. personalized hand written cards?
What have you heard about shrimp during pregnancy? Do you think you followed/would follow all the "rules" during pregnancy?

To Find Out Or Not.

In less than two weeks, as long as baby cooperates, Mr. Skinny and I could find out the sex of the baby. Our ultrasound, I think, and hope, is scheduled for December 21st. When we had our first appointment, and they made the consecutive two appointments, we were informed that the next appointment (November 21st) would be the heartbeat, and that it was. We were also informed that the following appointment (December 21st) would be the ultrasound where we could find out the baby's sex, if we chose to. 

Let me say that up to this point, and before we were even trying to get pregnant, Mr. Skinny and I agreed that we didn't want to find out the baby's sex. We thought it would be fun to guess and have our family members be guessing right up to the delivery. After this appointment, Mr. Skinny told me he wanted to find out. Ugh, really? With the appointment less than 2 weeks away now, I'm still not positive I want to find out, but I know I'm going to be easily swayed to find out. 

One reason why I'm not totally on board with finding out is because I don't want a ton of pink or blue stuff for my shower. I want things that I could use for all my children, regardless of their sex. And the other huge reason I don't really want to find out. They could be wrong. My cousin, who was born in 2003 was supposed to be a boy. It wasn't just a mistake on one ultrasound either, it was multiple ultrasounds. She got blue stuff for her shower, they had a name picked out, and Gwennie came out Gwennie and not Dominic. Yeah. I don't want that to happen. I don't want to expect one sex and get the other, bring home a girl to blue everything, or vice versa. 

So what are our options? Obviously we could not find out. But Mr. Skinny is really adamant on finding out. He's even gone so far to say that he'll tell the ultrasound tech to tell him and not me. Yeah, not a fan of that. 

Another option, find out but don't tell. I'm actually okay with this. Granted I couldn't tell everyone we knew and wouldn't be telling, I'd just tell them the baby didn't cooperate, so that way when we slip and say he or she, they wouldn't catch on. 

Which brings us to the third option. Pray the baby won't show us his or her goods. This is what I have my goals set on right now. Mr. Skinny doesn't think that we'd be able to keep it a secret, and honestly, I don't think I'd be able to keep it a secret either, but I don't think I'll be able to convince Mr. Skinny to find find out, so this is our option.

Predictions

As for predictions, I mentioned this before, but Mr. Skinny's grandma and father both think it's a boy for the simple reason that if it is, then it will be Pop Pop's "replacement." I can understand this, but it's still a little weird, no?

My cousin and her husband both think it's a girl. Don't know why, but they do. I think it's a girl, too. Mr. Skinny doesn't have a feeling, but he wants a boy. 

Let's go through some old wives tales, shall we?

1. Chinese Gender Test. If we go by the month I believe we conceived, it's a girl, if we go by the date of my last period, which is how they do the due date, it's a boy. To be honest, I think conception is more important than LMP so I'm going with Girl for this one.

2. Carrying high or low. Well, I'm gonna go with high so far. I have no lower bump at all, it's been high the whole time, so Girl.

3. Baby's Heartbeat. It was 156/minute, so definitely points to a Girl.

4. Sweet or salty cravings. I haven't had a ton of cravings, but I've never craved anything sweet, so that means it's a Boy.

5. Mayan prediction. Mom's age at conception - 22 - even, and year of conception - 2011 - odd means it's a Boy.

6. Acne. I've talked about this before. Definitely points to a Girl.

7. Ring on a string. Put a string (I used a necklace Mr. Skinny got me) through your wedding band and drop it over your belly. Points to a Girl. 

8. Morning sickness in the first trimester. Well, I was almost constantly nauseous, but only threw up a handful of times, I'm not sure if that counts as "sick as a dog" or not. Since I was constantly nauseous, I'll say sure. Means it's a Girl.

I was hoping for an even 10, but I can't find anymore! Well there was a website I found that has this crazy stuff, but I can't find it again, and sorry, I'm not peeing in a cup and putting drain-o in it, I don't have any drain-o! So we have 6 saying girl, plus my inkling, and 2 saying boy. Interesting. Guess we have a shot at seeing in less than two weeks!

What other baby sex predictions have you heard? 

Home Alone.

I had this post planned out for yesterday, but Mr. Skinny got a surprise rain day, so he was home by 10:30am and we enjoyed our surprise day together by going over to his parents house where he had a fight with his brother and changed the truck oil. So. Much. Fun. Of course, this pregnant lady got involved and had to yell to, which lead to tears. BUT I got to use the "you're stressing me out which stresses the baby out" line, and that shut Mr. Skinny right up. I wasn't really stressed, but I'm pregnant, I can use whatever excuse I want, right? Unfortunately, my brother-in-law didn't shut right up and continued to curse up a storm. If he curses like that in front of my baby, he is going to get an earful from me, that's a promise right there.

Anyway, fighting aside it was a good day. I love these days with Mr. Skinny. After the six days he got off for Thanksgiving, I got a little spoiled and realized how much I miss him around when he's working six day a week and gone for about 13 hours a day. I am lucky though that I have his family and mine around so that I'm never home alone. Except for this week.

My parents will be married for 25 years on December 27th (our anniversary too!) so they are in Disney World this week, leaving me, my brother, and Mr. Skinny home alone all week. It's actually kind of nice because we don't have to follow Mom's "rules" of only putting certain dishes in the dishwasher and cleaning up the dining room table each night. I'm not gonna lie, I feel like I'm playing house. I put ALL the dishes in the dishwasher and run it every night, our dining room table looks like a bomb went off there, and I haven't washed the table off since Sunday. Half of me feels like a little kid who is free, and the other half is most definitely turning into my mother and cleaning up after everyone else and being responsible for my brother and making sure he's home before the snow started last night, even though he didn't come home until an hour after I asked him to and said the roads were bad. Ugh. But that's an 18 year old male high school student, right? In other news, he got into college this week! He didn't even care, but it totally made my pregnant hormones kick in and I cried when he told me I could open the envelope and saw that he was accepted!

After the fight, we went over to visit Mr. Skinny's grandma who is the grandma I never had. She always knows what's wrong, she knows what to ask, and she has an answer for everything. Oh, and she always has food :) She informed us that we need to start looking for a crib because she wants to buy us one! AND a mattress. Super exciting news for us! I didn't expect her to do that for us. Granted, she did buy us a couch and recliner when Mr. Skinny mentioned (jokingly) that we still needed one before we got married, so I shouldn't be too surprised. She's awesome. I'm so blessed to be in such a loving family and have such generous and loving in-laws, too.

Sorry for the random, picture-less, all over the place post, but that's what's going on!

Don't forget I have a post planned out for tomorrow about the baby's sex and if we want to find out. If you have any questions for me to make those predictions let me know and I'll include them!

Fifteen Weeks.

Random bit of business. The jewelry box so many of you commented on came from a local cabinet store. However, I know that department stores are starting to sell them, like this one from Sears. 


Here we are 15 weeks. Getting closer and closer to that halfway point. 


How Baby's Growing:


"Your growing baby now measures about 4 inches long, crown to rump, and weighs in at about 2 1/2 ounces (about the size of an apple). She's busy moving amniotic fluid through her nose and upper respiratory tract, which helps the primitive air sacs in her lungs begin to develop. Her legs are growing longer than her arms now, and she can move all of her joints and limbs. Although her eyelids are still fused shut, she can sense light. If you shine a flashlight at your tummy, for instance, she's likely to move away from the beam. There's not much for your baby to taste at this point, but she is forming taste buds. Finally, if you have an ultrasound this week, you may be able to find out whether your baby's a boy or a girl! (Don't be too disappointed if it remains a mystery, though. Nailing down your baby's sex depends on the clarity of the picture and on your baby's position. He or she may be modestly curled up or turned in such a way as to 'hide the goods.')"
Source

I think it's kind of interesting how Baby Center switches back and forth from he to she each week. I guess it's only fair! Speaking of he or she, I need to write my post about if we want to find out or not. Expect that on Friday maybe? 


How I'm Changing:


I just might have to go back to counting calories for a couple of days or so because I gained a whopping 1.8 last week. Granted, I'm going to blame the dinner I had the night before as I know it was processed and very salty. I also hadn't been drinking enough water either. I'm hoping that gain was the last big gain for me for quite a while. I want to trust my body and I am super glad that my healthy appetite is coming back. I'm just hoping to focus on eating healthy and hopefully the scale will level out a bit.

15 weeks! The toilet is added decor, right? 

Poor Mr. Skinny. I'm a cover stealer and between that and me getting up a few times each night to pee, I don't know how he gets any sleep at all! This morning he told me he was freezing and I immediately thought he was getting sick, but he just said he was cold because I stole all the covers! Oops. 


I still haven't gotten sick. I am so lucky (knock on wood) because I feel like someone I'm around is always sick. I've been better with washing my hands and trying to not touch my face, but with my dry eyelids, my eyes are almost always itchy so I itch them. 


The acne that I thought was toning down gives me good days and bad days. Sometimes I feel self conscious and sometimes I just don't care. I'm also loosing my balance more. I was supposed to be helping Mr. Skinny with cutting wood this weekend since he really needs help doing that for our lot, and I really tried to help, but I was watching the ground constantly because I didn't want to trip, and then I couldn't pick up half the logs and I was out of breath. It was so frustrating. I eventually just gave up and went to sit in the truck. I didn't even bother to help yesterday. Luckily, my brother offered to help so he was such a huge help while I slept in the back of the truck. And my father in law told Mr. Skinny to not make me help anymore, and he told me that he'll yell at Mr. Skinny if he has to, I just have to take care of myself. He's the best. 


I also swear my hair is getting curlier! A few years ago I had to put a ton of stuff in my hair to make it this curly and now? I don't put anything in it. I was secretly hoping my hair wouldn't get any straighter while I'm pregnant, but it definitely seems I will not have to worry about that! 

What I'm Eating:


Salads, hummus and oatmeal - oh my! Seriously, my healthy appetite is officially back. I haven't been craving sweets really at all during pregnancy, so that's not an issue. Processed foods are still there sometimes. My lunches have been salads, veggies & hummus, apples & pb, that kind of stuff. I am so proud of myself and hope that I can eat like this for the rest of my pregnancy! 


The only frustrating thing is that my mind is bigger than my stomach and food tastes so good, but I can't eat too much of it without completely stuffing myself. Then just a few hours, or less, later, I'm starving again. It's most annoying at night when I'm trying to go far enough between eating to take my pre-natal vitamins (3 hours!), but I get hungry before I go to sleep. And if I don't eat, I wake up starving in the middle of the night. I've only had to get up once to actually eat, but I wish I could just sleep through the night. 


How I'm Moving:


Same feelings as last week. I miss running, don't like walking, have motivation to do something, but don't know what. Awesome. I might try to walk on my treadmill and maybe run for some increments to see how it feels, but I'm not sure.


Momma's Thoughts & Feelings:


I think the baby is a girl. At first, I had no instinct either way, but now, I really think it's a girl. More to come in my finding out the sex post this week, hopefully! 


The only thing I want to complain about is my eyes. I could deal with the acne if I could just get rid of these dry eyelids. So annoying. It's red and flaky and nasty. I've been wearing my glasses just to try to hid my dryness a little bit, but I don't think it really works. Sucks. 


I find myself rubbing my belly more and more now, and just looking down at it. Especially at night when it gets HUGE! I'm in amazement at how much bigger my belly is really going to get. I will say though, I've been looking through all the blogs I follow who have had babies, and some of them have bellies as big as mine and that makes me feel So. Much. Better. I was worried about me eating too much or something, but I feel a lot better now. I'm more comfortable this week with where I'm at, showing-wise.


And I am loving all my maternity clothes. Seriously, they are all so comfortable and I am so blessed that I was able to borrow them all from my cousin!


Randomness:


Foods I miss: dippy eggs! eggs benedict. egg nog. It's more because I know I can't have them that I find myself missing them. I already told Mr. Skinny that whenever this baby comes out, I want my next meal to be hash browns and eggs benedict. 
Days Until Ultrasound: 2 weeks from this Wednesday! I actually like having our monthly appointments during the holidays because the holidays go by so fast it makes the time fly between appointments.
Predictions of the baby: Mr. Skinny's grandma and dad both think it's a boy. My cousin and her husband think it's a girl. My brother thinks it's twins. <- Why I'm MORE antsy about getting an ultrasound. We have no twins in either family, but you never know.


Tell Me:


What foods do you think you would/did you miss in pregnancy?
Any baby predictions from readers? Or any questions for me to answer for those predictions? I'll include in the finding out the sex? post! 

Fourteen Weeks.

Nearly 15 weeks, but ya know, that whole Thanksgiving holiday thrown into the mix was more on the forefront of my mind than updating my blog. Sorry. You'll have 2 back-to-back pregnancy updates now!
Yay!


I got a lot of "aww cute belly" and "I can't believe your belly is that big" remarks over Thanksgiving with family that hasn't seen me since we got pregnant. I still think my belly is mostly bloat, but it's definitely growing! Over the weekend, when I got to see my cousin, I stole, okay well borrowed, just about all of her maternity clothes. When I brought them home and washed them, my entire rack of my clothes was put away and replaced with all maternity clothes! I should be set for the rest of my pregnancy, that's for sure! I even got some skirts and shorts. So thankful for all these clothes!

How Baby's Growing:

"This week's big developments: Your baby can now squint, frown, grimace, pee, and possibly suck his thumb! Thanks to brain impulses, his facial muscles are getting a workout as his tiny features form one expression after another. His kidneys are producing urine, which he releases into the amniotic fluid around him — a process he'll keep up until birth. He can grasp, too, and if you're having an ultrasound now, you may even catch him sucking his thumb.

In other news: Your baby's stretching out. From head to bottom, he measures 3 1/2 inches — about the size of a lemon — and he weighs 1 1/2 ounces. His body's growing faster than his head, which now sits upon a more distinct neck. By the end of this week, his arms will have grown to a length that's in proportion to the rest of his body. (His legs still have some lengthening to do.) He's starting to develop an ultra-fine, downy covering of hair, called lanugo, all over his body. Your baby's liver starts making bile this week — a sign that it's doing its job right — and his spleen starts helping in the production of red blood cells. Though you can't feel his tiny punches and kicks yet, your little pugilist's hands and feet (which now measure about 1/2 inch long) are more flexible and active."

Source

Momma's Thoughts:

Half of me is super excited that this baby is already the size of a lemon, and then the other half of me is thinking that this pregnancy, especially the last couple of weeks is taking forever! The year is flying by, but pregnancy is taking sooooo long! I know it'll speed up, and I just have to think how far we've come. There are so many milestones I can't wait for; ultrasound, feeling baby move and kick, having Mr. Skinny and our families feel baby kick. But I know it'll be here before we know it. Granted, we did hear the heartbeat and that should tide us over until we get our ultrasound in (hopefully) 19 days!

How I'm Changing:

I gained 1.2 on Saturday week, for my biggest gain yet. I've still only gained 3.6 total, which is fine. Honestly, I'm going to blame Thanksgiving for this one, since I ate like a pig all weekend. I'm hoping that this week will show a smaller gain, I know I'll be gaining more in the end and I don't want to be worried about gaining too much. 

Bump first thing in the morning.

And bump before bed - HUGE difference!

Sleeping sucks. Mr. Skinny and I need a bigger bed, any donations? We only have a double and it's really hard when we both move almost constantly all night, and I get up to pee 928748493 times a night. Then, almost every night, I fall into a good sleep about 6am - when I wake up at 7:45am. Yeah, so much fun.

My acne finally toned down, but my dry eyelids are super annoying. I look like I have raccoon eyes, but with red rings instead of black. Mr. Skinny told me that I have red ring, like an Xbox does, but I didn't find that very funny.

My nose is stuffy/runny a lot, but I know that's normal. Nausea is just about gone, but it is there first thing in the morning. Hunger is full fledged! I'm not as hungry in the morning, but from about lunchtime on, I'm starving, constantly. I guess baby is going through a growth spirt?

What I'm Eating:


I'm actually getting back on the healthy eating bandwagon! Yesterday for lunch I took a turkey sandwich - last of the leftover turkey wahh! yogurt, veggies & hummus and an apple and pb. I also ate a pack of crackers on my way to work. I'm pretty excited that I have an appetite back and veggies don't sound as unappetizing as they did just a few weeks ago. I actually want some salad. It's kind of strange. I wish it was still summer and I could find some fresh summer fruits like watermelon and cantaloupe, but I can't. Boo.

How I'm Moving:


Still not. I have the motivation, but not the willpower to just do it. The treadmill is user friendly in our room, but I don't like the treadmill. And I don't want to walk. I want to run. I miss it. I miss sweating, and running was the only thing I actually tolerated. I was thinking of just going out and seeing what I can do. Even if it's run for 30 seconds and walk for a bit, it's better than nothing. And weirdly enough, I actually miss the cold. So weird. I need to find something to do. I'm not even doing yoga and that's something I really should be doing.

Momma's Feelings:


Now that I actually feel like I look pregnant, I'm self conscious that when people find out I'm only 14-almost 15 weeks along, that they'll look at my belly and think I've just been eating too much and blaming the baby. I am a little surprised how fast my belly got big, and I know it's mostly still bloat, but it's hard, and I've only gained under 4 pounds. I feel like I need to tell people that when they see me. I'm hoping it evens out in a little, like before Christmas when I see Mr. Skinny entire family.

Other than that, I think I'm going okay. I'm a little moody, and forgetful, but that's normal. I'm just looking forward to the day when I don't have to go to work and I can love my job and take care of my baby.

Tell me:


Any exciting plans this weekend? 
How do you deal with no fresh fruit/veggies in the fall/winter?