Closet Overhaul.

Once we knew the baby was coming, Mr. Skinny and I wanted to try to utilize all the space we have in our little apartment-room. Project number 1 was the closet. It was just not used smartly. It worked for our clothes, but I knew there would be no way we could fit baby clothes in there. We didn't have anymore room. Finally, last Friday, Mr. Skinny finished it! I wish I took more beginning pictures, but I only have one. I didn't think about taking pictures until we were about halfway through. 

Best and only picture I have of pre-remodel. 

We had to take all our clothes out of the closet
(obviously). Our room was
a mess! We had clothes, and other supplies, everywhere!

Color we picked for the closet. The whole room is going to be green,
the accent wall in our room is going to be darker, and the other walls
will be lighter, almost white. 

Corner cabinets were up! 

Yay! We have clothes racks and get our clothes
out of our room!

Shoe rack! All my shoes fit in here and it's awesome!

Drawers! The rest of the shelves are going to be
for baby.

Section for my dresses and coats.

Other side, I'm going to share the bottom with baby,
too. 

Do you like it?

Anything we're missing?

Do you have a walk-in closet or a not walk-in closet? (what are they actually called??)

Twenty-Two Weeks.

Dearest baby,

My belly is growing each day, I think! I don't know if it was the shirt I wore or what last week, but I felt like my belly grew out of nowhere! I also just walked past my full-length mirror after walking on the treadmill (in my sports bra) and had to do a double take at myself because I couldn't believe my belly was that big! You finally weigh about a pound, and are about a foot in length. My weekly emails say that your skin is changing now from transparent to opaque, although you still need to put on a lot of fat! You're getting more newborn-like each week now, with your eyebrows and eyes, your pancreas is developing further, too. You're developing tooth buds under your gums, but your irises don't have any pigment yet. But unless there's some weird gene thing, you should have blue eyes. Both your daddy and I have blue eyes, in fact, Daddy's entire family has blue eyes! Your grammy (my mom) has green eyes, but your uncle, your grandpa and I all have blue eyes.

We had another doctor's appointment this week, got to hear your heartbeat (150 beats/minute), but it was a very quick visit. Your daddy and I don't ask too many questions. I'm waiting for the childbirth classes to ask most of my questions since I don't have just one doctor that I know will deliver you. I have 13 doctors and whoever is on call when you decide to come will be delivering you. So I'm going to be asking a lot of hospital policy questions during our childbirth classes. Our next appointment is February 13th, and your daddy actually isn't coming to that one! I'm a little nervous because it'll be the first one he hasn't been to, but  he has an appointment on February 14th, so I want to make sure he goes to that one. I think your Grammy will come with me to the appointment. After our appointment this week we went to try to get new ultrasound pictures, since we lost the first ones. To our surprise, they took us back and did a quick ultrasound! You didn't cooperate very well, I think you're stubborn like Mommy and Daddy, but we did get a couple pretty good pictures! Then last night I got a text from Krissy, the cousin whose house we lost the pictures at and they found the pictures! So now we have extra pictures of you! And we got to see you again!

You're definitely moving around a lot more now. I feel you multiple times during the day and I love it. Each time it puts a smile on my face, and I pause whatever I'm doing to just appreciate the blessing that God has given me in you. Each night when we lay down to go to sleep, Daddy puts his hand on my belly and waits for you to kick. I know you love him already, he can always feel you moving. I can finally feel you on the outside, too, and I've even caught a few peeks of my belly moving when you move. I can't really differentiate between kicks and moves, but it's stronger all the time. And more frequent. When we were playing Monopoly on Saturday night at your Grandma's house I felt like you were up in my ribs! I felt like I was squashing you by sitting for so long. I had to stand up once we got home for a while, but once I woke up on Sunday, it was gone. I'm sure that feeling is going to be more frequent and get worse, but that's okay.

Speaking of monopoly, we've been playing monopoly with your uncle a ton and we played for the first time with your daddy's family Saturday night. Anyways, we play Disney Monopoly, because your mommy's a weirdo like that, and I always try to get your daddy to sing a song from whatever movie he lands on just so I can have him trained to watch Disney movies with you! He actually knows most of them!

I had a dream about you last night. I don't remember much, except that you were a girl with chubby cheeks and you had your daddy's dimples! I kept giving you kisses and I was SO in love with you. You weren't a newborn, but just a few weeks/month old and you were happy and lovable and so adorable!

I'm getting a lot better with exercising; I'm making a habit of it usually 3-4 days a week. 2 days I try to jog a little bit and walk a longer distance, then the other day or 2, I just try to walk for 20 minutes, about a mile or so before I get ready for work. My food is okay, weekends are usually bad, and I'm caving to more cravings more frequently now. I still try to drink my smoothie daily, especially during the week so that I make sure I get some fruits and veggies to you! My weight gain is about +13 pounds or so, which is right on track. I haven't had any cravings for much of anything, specific or strange. I know I'm eating too many cookies, and I'm trying to limit that, but they're so tasty!

I still don't have any stretch marks (or should I say new stretch marks - I have them from when I gained weight in HS/college), and all my weight gain has definitely be all belly. No cramps, not a ton of moodiness, sleeping has been pretty good, I can't complain about much. One thing I have noticed is that the hair on my stomach is darker now! I've been blonde my whole life, in fact my leg hair is still blonde! So it's kind of weird to have dark stomach hair. Also, my belly button is like a giant black hole with my stomach stretching. I don't know if it's because I was overweight before, but my belly button doesn't seem to be turning inside out at all. Oh well.

We also finished our registry, I think, and I'm hoping to write a post on that soon. I've been obsessing over making sure that I have everything that I need, even though my shower is probably going to be very small, and I'll probably only get about 1/3 of the stuff I registered for.

Keep growing little one!

Love,

Mommy

Fill In The Blank Friday, Vol. 3.

1.   The last thing I ate was  oatmeal with peanut butter, nuts (pecans, almonds & walnuts) and strawberries mixed in.

2.   The last song I listened to was most likely something on my 90s station on Sirius XM :)

3.  Using the letters in my name I can spell (I hate these) Megan - gem, nag, meg, an, age, gam... and that's all I can see. 

4.  If I had to dress in one color for the rest of my life I would pick  my first pink would be pink, but I don't know how nice I'd look in pink at like 75 years old, so I'd probably go with a neutral color, which is really boring, but makes the most sense. Brown, maybe?

5.  If you were to look in my bag right now you'd find  my wallet, hand sanitizer, lotion, earrings, Harry Potter wand/pen (don't judge), earbuds.

6.  When I finish filling in the blanks I'm going to probably fool around on the computer for a little while longer before I have to get dressed and make lunch.

7.  My all time favorite song to dance to is  I can't pick just one. Something fun and upbeat. 


Tell me: What words can you spell from your name?


Have a wonderful weekend!

2012 Goals.

It took me so long to write this because I wasn't sure how I wanted to handle my 2012 goals. I don't like to call them resolutions only because of the bad connotation of failed resolutions. Also, I wasn't sure if I wanted to do any kind of goals because being pregnant, I'm not sure how this year is going to pan out. I don't know how I'm going to feel after having a baby, and I don't want to set my goals too high. I also feel like this year is going to be split into before/prepare for baby, and being a mom. I thought about doing goals for the first half and then re-evaluating them after I have the baby, but I think I can make them general enough so that they can work throughout the year. So here goes nothing!

1. Be the healthiest woman I can be through my eating habits. This includes eating well, making sure I have enough fruits and veggies every day, along with balanced meals and correct portions. This also includes sweets/treats in moderation. I know that when I have the baby it might be eating whatever someone makes for me, and if that's the healthiest I can be at that time, then that's just fine. I want to do my best.

2. Be the healthiest woman I can be through exercise. After baby, I really want to get back into running, but we'll deal with that hurdle when we get there. Maybe I won't be able to run due to an injury, but I want to find something that I can do and stick with it. Right now, that means walking on the treadmill. If I get to the point where walking isn't as comfortable, then maybe I'll do some yoga, but I really want to take time every day and try to work on my fitness.

3. Deliver a baby to the best of my ability. I have higher hopes for this one than might be encouraged. I'll write a blog post on that in some later months, but for right now, this means to do a ton of research and prepare my body, my mind, and Mr. Skinny to deliver a baby in the next few months. This also means that if something happens and it would be safer to deliver baby via c-section, don't beat myself up and think I did something wrong, God has His reasons, and I need to trust Him. I also want to be the best mom I can be.

My little cousin Colton the morning after he was born!

4. Save money & pay things off. Does this goal ever go away? I don't think so, and I guess I'm okay with that. This one also comes with a sub-goal - stop being so materialistic! I don't need the latest gadget to be the best person I can be! Appreciate what I have, be frugal with money, be smart. Spend more time with family and less time on my iPhone. Don't buy what we don't need.

5. Get closer to God. This is never going to go away either, and I'm definitely okay with that. Mr. Skinny and I know we want to be the best role models we can be for him/her. This means going to church on a regular basis, and taking the baby with us. My mom and I have talked that we'd like to help out in the nursery so that we can keep an eye on the baby. Really, I'm going to try to keep the baby with me in church. But we'll play that by ear. I'm also going to try to read my devotions to the baby, I read them aloud now because I know that the baby can hear me talking and so I pray out loud too, to set a good example.

So pretty much that's it! Honestly, I want to be the best person I can be, best wife, daughter, mother, cousin, and sister. I think they're all general enough that they shouldn't change, but we'll take this year with a grain of salt considering I have no idea what kind of baby I'll have and what new challenges will be coming with that.

Tell me:


Did you set any 2012 goals? 
Do you call them goals or resolutions?

Twenty-One Weeks.

Side Note: Sorry I haven't been blogging as much as I was. I try to blog on Mondays and Wednesdays, my days off. I still haven't gotten back to a regular schedule since the holidays. I'm going to be hightailing it today so that I can get three posts up this week, and have one ready to do for next week. Last Wednesday I had an off day, and didn't get around to blogging, so I know I haven't had an update since last Monday. I've also been off on commenting on blogs, and my comments might be a few days after you originally posted, but I promise I'm still reading!


Dearest baby,

21 weeks! Past the halfway mark. Every day makes it seem more real that you'll actually be joining us in just a few short months. May 26th seems a lot closer this side of Christmas than it did on the other side. I get more and more excited for you every day, too! I was adding more things to my registry this morning and imagining if you were a boy or girl so I could get you pink or blue things, they're a lot more fun to look at than yellow and green stuff. I think we have most of the big stuff picked out, but I'm going to go with your Grammy next weekend to hopefully add anything else we need, or change things that I don't like in person since I did the whole registry online. It's really hard to figure out quite what to add since I don't know what kind of baby you'll be! And there's so many things I don't know if I have to add, and things that I wouldn't even think you'd need! Don't worry, we'll figure it all out.

You're about the size of a banana or a carrot - 10.5 inches and weigh about 12 ounces, so close to a pound! You're hopefully growing more hair, on your head, eyelashes, eyebrows and you have eyelids! Slowly, your digestive system is growing, and you're drinking the amniotic fluid and digesting it. You've been moving a lot, too. I still can't feel you from the outside, but not a day goes by where I don't feel you move. I think you were having a party yesterday, you were moving all day long! Your daddy feels you every night before we go to bed. I think that he can feel you more easily than I can because he doesn't know how strong you kick from inside, so he's very aware of the tiny movements that can be felt from the outside.

You must be going through a growth spurt, either that or I need to cut back on the food! I've been gaining too much weight over the past 2 weeks, but I'm not too worried about it. I know it depends on the day, how much sodium I've had and how much water I drank. I've been doing better about exercising, too! I got on the treadmill 3x last week and walked for at least 20 minutes, and even through some jogging in there! I've been wearing my heart rate monitor to make sure I don't push myself too hard, but I'm really proud of myself! I even do pelvic tilts daily after I walk/jog and I've been trying to hold a squat for longer every day!

 I have good days and bad days with eating healthy, but for the most part, I've been doing good. Weekends are hard, but I'm usually on track during the week. Your daddy and I have been reading "Husband Coached Childbirth" since he wants to be there with me during labor and delivery and he wants to be my coach. We're talking about the procedures and things that we're comfortable with, and what we aren't comfortable with. It's really interesting to learn about all these things! Your Grammy and I always went through my baby box and she found the birth story of me being born! It was really neat to read that and imagine how your birth story is going to pan out.

I don't have anything to complain about, other than my eye going a little crazy last Wednesday. It was like an eye test when you have to find the fuzzy part in your peripheral vision, but it went away after I laid down and closed my eyes for 10 minutes. That's the second time it happened, but it hasn't happened for months, so I'm not too worried about it. No heartburn this week, no leg cramps, I've even been sleeping pretty good. I can't complain about anything, little one, because I'd sacrifice anything for you! Our next appointment is on Wednesday, and it's with the doctor who delivered your uncle! Grammy didn't really like him, so we'll see how it goes!

Keep growing and kicking!

Love,
Momma

Twenty Weeks.

Dear little one,

You're not even here yet and you're growing so fast! Now all my emails are measuring you from head to toe instead of head to rump! You're about 10 inches including those little legs, well, I think they're long legs like your daddy's! And we're halfway through, another good sign! I don't think my belly is growing a whole ton, but you are moving a lot. Your daddy got to feel you, well he said he did, but I couldn't feel you from the inside, so who knows if he thought something else was you moving around in there. 

Daddy procrastinating at taking Mommy's 20
week pictures!

I feel like a bad mommy - I lost the ultrasound pictures we had of you! I think when we took them to your cousin's house, they were accidentally thrown in the garbage. Krissy said she searched through the garbage, but there's only so much garbage you can go through before it starts to get really messy. I called the hospital and it seems like they can print me out more copies. Your daddy and I do have them on our phone, so we can show anyone we like, but I just feel bad for loosing them! Hopefully we can get them printed again without too much fuss.

20 Weeks - Side View

I'm still eating pretty healthy, and I'm weighing myself every day now in the morning so I can see how much weight I've gained each day and how much I'm fluctuating between days. I don't get worried, but it's definitely a hard balance between gaining enough and gaining too much. So this week I think I gained between 0.5 - 0.75, which is definitely on track! I make sure to get my smoothie in every day, the freezer is filed with frozen fruits - pineapple, mango, strawberries, bananas and blueberries. I try really hard to put spinach in every day, too. Especially on the weekends when I know that I don't get enough veggies. I had a little bit more heartburn on Saturday, but nothing too major. It's just kind of weird and awkward, but I had no trouble falling asleep. I've been sleeping pretty good, too! I still get up at least once to go to the bathroom, but no huge problems. I really love being pregnant!

My exercise still hasn't been too good, but today I did a lot of cleaning so I think that counted as a little bit of exercise! Yoga is something I've been meaning to do, too. I know it's just going to help me deliver you and hopefully have the delivery I've been praying for!

Bare belly shot! 

Speaking of delivery, your daddy and I ordered two books so far to help us. Your daddy wants to be my birth coach since he wants to be the only one in the room with us, which is fine, but I told him that he some research to do! I am aiming for/wishing/planning on a natural childbirth (more on that in later months) and since we'll be having you at a hospital, I want to do lots of research so your daddy knows what to say and how to help me the best he can. I know that not all births go as planned, but I want to do as much research as I possibly can, and we're starting now!

I also signed up for my childbirth classes - breastfeeding and prepared childbirth. I'm assuming that we'll be taking a tour of the hospital and I'll ask lots of questions about the hospital's rules. I'm planning for the worst, but really hoping for the best delivery possible. I want to focus on laboring and I want your daddy to be the one to talk to doctors if something isn't going right or they have an opinion about something. When I'm in labor, all I want to worry about is laboring and getting you out safe!

Frontal bare belly.

Speaking of breastfeeding, the women in my family don't have the best track record for long term feeding, and it makes me a littler nervous, so along with preparing for labor/delivery and having you as a newborn, I'm trying to read as much as I can about breastfeeding and helping my supply. Your great-grammy didn't do very well, your grammy or your great aunt didn't have good luck either. Your cousin was so-so at it, she had to supplement formula a little bit, and I am very determined to do the best I possibly can with breastfeeding. I'm praying about it daily and we'll see how it all works out. I will use every ounce of help I can to do the best that I can for you - I know how important and how good it is for you!

We're also planning on taking two vacations in August next year, and I'm hoping you'll be really good in the car because both of them are about 6 hours away! I think you'll have a blast, and you'll be surrounded by love, but I know it might be hard for you to change your schedule - I hope everything works out! I think your Grammy thinks I'm a little crazy to be taking you next summer, but I know I'm not the first mom to take their little one on vacation, and one vacation is for your uncle's graduation and I would hate to not be able to go. So be good, okay little one? Don't worry, we'll love you any way you come out!

Keep growing (and kicking)!

Love,
Mommy

Eighteen & Nineteen Week Update.

Dear little one,

Please don't be mad at your mommy that I didn't get a chance to write you a letter over the holidays, that doesn't mean that you come second, it means that the holidays are my favorite time of the year, and I kept thinking about how amazingly different it's going to be next Christmas with you! I could tear up just thinking about it! I'm so very excited to meet you. I get more excited every day! 

Ultrasound! Check out those long legs!

You weigh about 8 ounces now, a whole half pound! That's what the ultrasound tech said anyways. Your length is about 6.5 inches now! From the ultrasound picture you look like you have your daddy's long legs! You were quite cooperative during the ultrasound, except for the part were you completely flipped around and the tech had to find you again. Everything looks perfect on your, all your fingers and toes, your stomach and bladder, brain size and head size all looks good! You're measuring a few days behind, but that's no big deal. It was amazing to see you on the screen and know that you're really in there and there's only one of you! I told your uncle that since there's only one does he think you're a boy or girl and he said he had to think about it, but once he decides he'd be willing to bet on it. We'll see how that turns out. I'm still calling you a she and looking at girl names. Even though we didn't find the sex out at the ultrasound when she was looking at the "goods" I didn't see any boy parts and the tech said it was pretty obvious if you were a boy or girl, so even though we aren't 100%, your daddy and I are pretty sure you're a she. 

Your daddy was a little upset with the ultrasound tech though, she didn't let him come in the room with me while they were doing measurements. I got to see all your parts, she was measuring your brain, bladder, skin thickness, bone size, everything, and your daddy only got to come in at the end for a few minutes when we got the pictures. He was really upset that he didn't get to see you like I did, and he called the hospital and complained about it and they said they were sorry. 

18 Weeks!

You're moving around like a crazy person, too! We had our last doctor's appointment on December 21st and although I didn't love the doctor we got to hear your heartbeat again! The nurse asked if I had been feeling you move around yet and I said no, but she said there's plenty of time. The next day you started moving around! I've felt you every single day since then, too! It never fails to put a smile on my face! I love just knowing that your in there and moving around and growing, can't wait until I get to hold you in my arms. But when I first felt you moving I didn't pay attention to it at first, I was sitting with your Grammy and Pappy, and your daddy. I didn't want to blurt it out because I knew your daddy would want to be the first one to know so I kept it to myself. I got two little flicks and kind of whispered to your daddy and he got all excited, and even put his iPhone down! He put his hand right on my belly because he wanted to feel you, too. But he still hasn't felt you yet, you're too quick. I haven't been able to feel you when I put my hand on my belly either. I only feel you when I sit down though, I haven't felt you while I've been standing up yet.

Present from Disney World from Grammy and Pappy.

Your mommy hasn't been very good over the holidays, eating wise. Or exercising. I was sick, so exercising was out of the question considering I couldn't breath, and holidays are always bad for eating. I need to get back on track though with the eating and the exercising though. No excuses why I can't walk every day. It's only going to get harder as I get bigger. I've been gaining a little too much weight too. It's really hard to find a balance between gaining weight for you and gaining too much weight. You're all worth it though, I just have to be a good role model for you and show you that being healthy is so important! But looks aren't everything.

Your daddy's Christmas present to me so I can
get my fruits and veggies in every day! 

Other than a growing belly, I feel good. I'm tired, but I'm always tired and I know it's going to get worse once you join us, but that's okay. I'll get used to it. I've been sleeping pretty good with my body pillow. Pregnancy brain is still full fledged, but it makes your daddy laugh. You were making my hair curly, but now it's getting dry and long. I'm thinking that I'll chop it once your born, it'll be easier to take care of then! My dry eyelids aren't too bad either, a lot better than they were, and I still have acne, so I guess you're taking all my good looks! I know I definitely look pregnant, strangers are starting to look at my belly, granted with it being winter, I wear a jacket and you can't tell as much, but I got lots of compliments at Christmas. I love being pregnant, I really do, it's such a blessed experience, and it's worth all the nausea, all the hormonal imbalances (which your daddy is standing quite well I might add), because every little kick or flutter I feel makes me realize that it's all worth it!

19 weeks!

I'm talking to you and singing to you all the time. I try to have music on all the time so that I'll sing along. I can't complain about any other symptoms, no pain anywhere, no cramping, no dizziness. I'm still sleeping pretty good. I'm really starting to read about labor and making my wish list for it. Your daddy is going to be my labor coach and we have a ton to learn! I need to sign up for our childbirth classes pretty soon, and I'm going to order some books to read soon. I'm even going to start on a scrapbook with all the letters to you and my belly pictures each week. I hope you'll really appreciate it. I really truly love pregnancy! Thank you for giving me this experience, little one!

Keep growing and stay in there, it's freezing out here!

Love,

Mommy.