21 weeks

November 17, 2014

Gender Reveal Party

I am beyond excited to share these images.  I can not thank my amazing and talented friend,  Vanessa, enough for coming to our party and capturing these for us.  If you don't know who she is, Photography by Vanessa, you should check her out!

I have to say that I always loved the idea of a gender reveal party.  I never really said, yes, I'm definitely having one of those when I get pregnant.  However, after telling the 36th Street girls, we decided that this would be such a fun party to throw.  I'm so spoiled by creative, talented people in my life that I love any reason to get loved ones together and celebrate.

I'm not much of a pink girl, so when I picked the colors, I went more untraditional with apricot and mint.  One of the girls lives by townlake and has this amazing roof top deck that we threw the party on. What's not to love about this view?

When that Sunday morning finally was here, I couldn't believe it.  It felt like years since our sonogoram.  I remember waking up thinking I should just look.  I was feeling anxious to know.  So to pass the time, D and I decided to clean out my car.  Why not, right?  The day was passing fairly quickly, and then the next thing I know, we were rushing around to make it there on time.

I hate the feeling of being rushed and being late.  Well, I ended up being both that afternoon.  We headed out the door at 1:45 PM, when I wanted to be there at 1:30 PM.  I had a few items that needed to be placed, so this made it even worse, I wasn't just showing up.  I had stuff I needed to do.  Needless to say, this didn't help my feelings of anxiousness.  I told D in the car that we are totally having a girl, since that was just the way the day was going.  You see, I was a good 98% sure it was a boy, and I've always thought in my head we'd have a boy.  We got there before 2 PM and guests started arriving.  Since I hand made these adorable tissue pieces for behind the cake, I wanted to get them up, even with the wind not on my side!  D took the honors to test out the mint julep, just to be sure it was still right.

Vanessa snagged some pictures of us before a ton of guests got here, which are adorable.

We had some pretty great decor for this party.  I figured not all the boys would know which side to choose, so I looked up some old wives tales to display:

We had to have a 'boy' drink that was mint, The Mint Julep.

Then, of course, the girlie drink was a peach bellini with a gold sugar rimmed glass:

This is the ridiculously yummy cake that the lovely Polkadots created for me.  The gold bottom I just loved, and her macaroons are to die for!

Had to get a few shots of the invitation too = more confetti!

Before we knew it, guests started arriving and it was just a whirl wind.  I always feel like I never get to talk to enough people.  I'd much rather be the designer/planner than be the guest of honor.  However, I loved seeing each an every person that was there.  I think at some point, I said that I was fine just not finding out.

Well quickly 3 PM rolled around, which was our reveal time.  I had one friend on her way, which actually was the perfect distraction from waiting on getting people together.  Once she arrived, I got to just step in the middle and the countdown begun.

Let me just say that the 36th Street girls did an absolutely amazing job with this confetti.  Bethany and I had tested out the push-pops and decided how it would work best, but they got to cut all these pieces and put them together.  Girls, you rock!!   It turned out a hundred times better than I could have imagined!  The wind was absolutely perfect.  These pictures are the best:

It really was one of those moments that I can't put into words.  These images bring happy tears to my eyes, so much emotion.  I just love it all.  I had no idea what D's reaction was and I'm so thankful to see these.  Of course the confetti was so great.  We took endless pictures with it!

I was actually quite surprised by the emotions I had post finding out it was a baby girl.  I think it was just such a build up, I of course started crying.  Happy tears and just overwhelmed, I think.  My mom was just as much of a mess as I was.  Oh momma...

We then had to dive into that amazing cake and see the apricot there too.  My hubby is such a dork.  At our sonogram, we had the technician put the images in an envelope and boy, did she get a good shot of her.

I was actually surprised by all those that chose girl, but they were so right.

We spent the rest of the afternoon with our dear friends and loved every minute of it.  I can not be more thankful for all those that came and added a little love into our lives that day.  To the girls of 36th Street, love you all!

Week 21

Size of Baby Walker  12.7 ounces = size of a bell pepper! 

Symptoms  Nothing different this week.  I still hate the cold, non-baby related.  No stretch marks so far, figures crossed!!!  I am putting on some amazing oil a friend gave me at the GRP.     
Cravings/Aversions  I still don't love chicken, but nothing makes me sick.  Me and the hubs may have eaten WAY too much buttered popcorn at our movie date yesterday, oops!  It's okay to indulge sometimes though right?!?
Exercise  Hmm, this cold weather is not good for me getting outside.  I really want to get better at this.  Hopefully next week I can say I got outside and ran a few miles **note to self.

Sleep  Yep, been good this week.  The cold makes me just want to stay in bed all morning long.  I have been pretty good about not sleeping in quite as long.  I am usually good about waking up around 7:30 AM every morning.  We still have been going to bed around 9:30 or 10 PM every night.  Yep, we are old.              

Best moment of the week...  That the hubs is home for the holiday week.  I enjoy him being around, even if he is busy doing other things.  I love the amount of hugs I get during the day.  I loved that we got to start a fire in the fireplace this week and just relax a little.

Changes We now have started our gift registry, which is SO exciting.  I've decided to do an online registry (myregistry.com), so I can gather items from all different stores in one place.  It's been a little difficult to make some decisions, but I think I have a good view of how I want her nursery to look.  I still need to venture out and look at some items in person before choosing.  We've also been trying to look at names and man this is tough.  We have three right now that are contenders, but nothing is definite yet...    

Looking forward to Thanksgiving this week!  I can't wait to just have some family time.  I love cooking with the family and breaking out some old recipes mixed with new.  It can't get any better than that.  

20 weeks

November 12, 2013

Sixth Doctors Appointment

I thought waiting for this 20 week appointment would take forever, but really it's the five days after that felt like they would never come.  I think it helped that I was in Arizona leading up to this one, but I am just waiting for Sunday (our gender reveal party) to be here!  It was SO hard to not cheat during the appointment, or when we had the card that said if our little biscuit was a boy or a girl.  

At the end of my last appointment, I asked how many people they would allow in the sonogram room.  I knew my parents would love to see this sonogram, especially my dad, since he hasn't seen one before.  They actually don't limit the number of people in the room, but if we had more than four, we needed to request a special room.  Just the four of us went, and it was perfect.  

I must say, having the sonogram first thing is always my favorite.  There was such a difference since the last time we got to see our biscuit and I loved every minute!   The biscuit was facing with his head towards my feet and the bum up by my belly button.  You could definitely see the bum was up when I was laying on the table.   I feel like it literally sticks out in a funny shape.  Immediately we could see the little one moving around.  The biscuit was quite mobile, which I've felt over the past week.  The technician got all the necessary measurements and talked us through all the things we were seeing.  We got some great shots of the hands.  At one point the baby was pointing with it's index finger.   She got a great shot of the four fingers with the thumb bent.  

We then got to see the legs moving and the feet.  The biscuit didn't really want to sit too still for us, but we still got to see both the feet.  I think they look so big in proportion, but I figured as much since both D and I have such large hands and feet for our gender.  

Then she had us look away and was up looking at the bum and figuring out the sex.  It didn't take too long, but was still hard not to sneak a peek!  I didn't realize that we also got a DVD of the sonogram, until she asked if we wanted to include the bum/sex images on there.  Of course I did, which just meant I couldn't look at it until after Sunday.  I had her print me off the pictures and she stuck them in an envelope that I gave her.  We weren't quite done.  The last part was her trying to get a good profile picture for us.  

This was the best image that we got.  The biscuit may be a girl, like her mom (per D), since it's already acting stubborn for us!   The biscuit spent most of the time moving it's hand by it's head and sucking on it's fingers.  It was quite funny to see.  You could actually see the tongue moving and the mouth opening.  We played around with trying to have the biscuit move by having me lay on my sides and then back.  She thought maybe gravity would help us, but not very much.  The baby was perfectly content where it was.  

We got all our images and the DVD before leaving.  I then put the envelope in my purse, and it killed me the whole hour I had it in my possession.

Once we were back in the waiting room, we looked at the images again.  I swear, I can see the Walker nose in a few of the profile shots she gave us!  Then I had the technician ask me to come back because she had missed a measurement around the bum and wanted to get it before I left.   I just went back myself and didn't look when she found the measurement again.  I said, wouldn't it be funny if I held out all that time and then found out a few minutes after they left?!  I didn't, I didn't, but it sure was hard!

Then we had our standard appointment with my doctor.  Not much was new with her, but she did talk through the positions and seeing that all the measurements were normal.  She said with this sonogram and the test results we had, we are 99% sure of having a healthy little one come April.  So exciting to hear that, not that it would change our minds in any way.  Then she went over some of the classes that we should start thinking about over the next few months.  It's crazy to me that we are half way through this experience.  I know April is going to be here before we know it!!

November 17, 2014

Baby Walker's Gender Reveal Party

For anyone that's been reading these posts, you know that I really thought we were having a little boy.  

Boy oh boy, was I wrong.  For some time I was hoping it was a boy, but saying it was a girl, to even the playing field.  These last few weeks though, that kind of went out the window and I was all in for it being a boy. D has said it was a boy the entire time.  I really thought the 5 days from our sonogram was going to kill me.  I think the added anticipation was just building and building.   I want to go on and on about how great the party was, all my emotions (that actually surprised me!) and how much fun confetti is, but I want to wait until I get photos from yesterday.  I had a friend and amazing photographer come and shoot it - Photography by Vanessa - she is the best.  I can't wait to see them.  I'm pretty sure my expression was of sheer surprise.  Until then, here is the shot of the goods, which leaves nothing to hide.  

Week 20

Size of Baby Walker  10.6 ounces = size of a tomato! 

Symptoms  I've started to feel like my belly button is already getting stretched.  It doesn't look all that different, but it sure feels like it's poking out already!   I know I'm getting a belly, but man, I don't want to know what it's like when I get huge!   
Cravings/Aversions  Macaroons!  We were spoiled with the most amazing cake and macaroons for our party.  Polkadots (if you are in Austin, you must try!).  We had (have) some left over and it's very tempting to just eat them all.
Exercise  I attempted to run once this week, but it wasn't the best attempt.  I really need to get better at it.  I say most of my exercise this week was from cleaning the house.  I think having a little free time made me want to go through things and purge what I can.  Maybe it's nesting, but I feel like once wedding season is over, I always go through a cleaning spree!

Sleep  Mostly good, but last night I was up for almost 3 hours.  I was so exhausted after our party.  I was yawning by 8 PM, fell asleep around 9 PM and work up again around 1:30 AM.  I'm not sure why, but it was really annoying...              

Best moment of the week...  So many great things happened this week.  The sonogram was amazing.  I always love seeing our baby girl moving around.  I must say though, everything about our party yesterday was amazing.  Non-baby related, my bestie (Katie) got engaged on Friday.  I was SO darn excited, I could hardly stand it.

Changes I officially wore maternity pants on Monday!  I must say that they are pretty nice, especially when sitting, but so are my stretchy leggings.  

Looking forward to starting to plan the nursery, looking at little girlie clothes and figuring out what we are going to name this little bundle we have!  I feel like so many things can now happen knowing that we are having a baby girl.  I had to buy a few goodies today and this one was my favorite!  

19 Weeks

Week 19

Size of Baby Walker  8.5 ounces = size of an orange! 

Symptoms  I feel like this week I've really felt my belly stretching.  I'm really starting to show enough that, given the right outfit, people know that I'm pregnant.  If I'm wearing something a little looser (like the dress I wore to my cousins wedding), it's still questionable.  Some of her friends (that I hadn't met until later that night and one of which was pregnant) were debating if I just had really bad posture or I was pregnant, LOL.  I think my boobs have been a little more sensitive this week as well.  I'm seeing my belly button keep getting wider and opening way more than what is normal.
Cravings/Aversions  Sadly, still no crazy cravings or aversions on my end.  I can't really complain.  I'd rather be able to eat anything versus not being able to keep anything down.  Oh, I did enjoy the Coffee Bean Winter Dream Tea latte that just came out.  It has nothing to do with me being pregnant, but tastes like Christmas in a cup!
Exercise  Well, this week wasn't any better.  I spent the entire week in Arizona, so I didn't get much exercise in but one turn on a bike.  I must say, doing the Cotton Eyed Joe on the dance floor was quite the workout for my legs!

Sleep  I had some interesting sleeping this week.  I had a really hard time falling asleep the first night there.  Most other nights I slept pretty good, but noticed that I wouldn't sleep well when I was cold.  I still move around a ton at night, switching positions.            

Best moment of the week...  I had the best week.  I got to spend time with family that I love in Arizona and see my cousin, Jackie.  We don't get to just hang out and see each other very often, so having a full week there was SO nice.  I haven't laughed that hard in quite some time.  It was just relaxing, and I loved every moment I was there.  It's also really pretty scenery around Phoenix and Scottsdale.   D joined me out there on Friday and seeing him (even after a few days) is always exciting for me.  We also got to put together our stroller when we got home on Monday, which is always exciting to open new things!
Gender  I love hearing what people's guesses are.  Most everyone I've talked with think that I'm having a boy.  I have one friend that thinks girl, but we'll find out soon!!!

Changes  I've definitely started feeling this little biscuit move around a ton now.  In the morning, the biscuit tends to be pretty high, since I sleep with my legs up.  On the airplane, the little biscuit was really high too.  I felt like it was almost up to my stomach!  D can feel where the biscuit is, and I can sometimes feel the kick on the outside.  Lots of movement going on here!!   

Looking forward to  Our appointment tomorrow AND the party on Sunday!  Holy cow, I can't believe that I am half way through this pregnancy next week.  I still have moments where I think, wow, we are really doing this.  Soon we are going to have a little one in our lives.  

18 weeks

Week 18

Size of Baby Walker  6.7 ounces = size of an avocado! 

Symptoms  I think I've figured out why I get stomach cramps.  I've decided it has to be when I take my prenatal vitamin and don't eat enough afterwards.  That seems to be the only trend that I can think of.  They were not good on Sunday.  I took some medicine for it, but it didn't really help it completely.
Cravings/Aversions  Nothing major or new this week.  I am enjoying a few more pieces of candy and indulging a little more from the holiday.  I also made caramel apples and a pumpkin roll for a holiday party.  I'm not sure why we don't eat those two all year long?!
Exercise  I wasn't good this week either.  I did run with the pups one day, but it wasn't really a normal run, more leisurely.  I'll be traveling this week, so I don't think I'll be doing a ton of running in Phoenix either!

Sleep  I'm back to sleeping pretty well this week.  I had a glorious nap on Sunday, after I was having the digestive issues.  Mostly my sleep has been on my sides or my back.  I can still lay on my stomach, but not for very long.         

Best moment of the week...   D and I made our first big purchase this week!  We bought a stroller!!!  We got the Uppababy Vista.  It was on sale, so we decided to go for it.  D joked, 'Oh god, what have I done.  It has begun.  I need to go buy some electronics now!"  
Gender  I love that the closer I get to finding out, the more I get to hear what others think about the sex. Got a text from my friends Katie and Clare (that are in San Fran), that said they are betting to see who was right.  Clare's vote is boy. Katie's is girl.

Changes   Definitely feeling the biscuit move more!  I absolutely love when D touches my tummy.  The larger it gets, the more he touches the baby.  It's not that he can really feel the baby yet, but when I'm laying on my back, you can definitely feel where the baby is.  It's so sweet and melts my heart. 

Looking forward to  heading out to Arizona for my cousin's wedding this coming weekend.  I get to spend a little extra time there, which will be a nice change of pace from the past month.  I must say, I am also really looking forward to the holidays this year.  The cooler weather here these last few days is getting me even more excited!