Party On

I've reached my psychological limit here. I know people believe that babies will come when they're ready, but in my mind there's nothing wrong with trying to encourage him. I can't force  him to come when he isn't ready, but I can surely make it easier for him, right? There's very limited evidence in natural induction remedies to begin with, but it makes me feel better- like I'm controlling what I can. Some snarky sanctimommy on a random forum was lecturing about how people are horrible mothers (even before their child is born) for trying any induction method and she couldn't understand why.  Personally, I have been nauseated for the past 28/38 weeks. I can't sleep, I have been vomiting acid 2-3 times weekly in this home stretch, and I am just. plain. uncomfortable. My joints hurt, I have constant headaches, and I am a super grouch to be honest. I am so ready to meet our baby, and I have confidence in his size. As for his health- he's been shak...

I keep swearing that I'm done running around, but my mind won't let me. I am seriously nesting and am super anxious to get everything organized. I made our shopping list to make 14 frozen meals, perfect for post-baby, but Josh is sensible and asked me to wait until at least next month. We also bought a table and 3 chairs for $40 and have been refinishing it at night. It's taking at least 3 coats of paint to cover that atrocious honey-oak, but it beats paying $600 for the new set we liked and I think it will be cute when we're done. Now my family and guests can sit together during meals.  Before-and during renovation My last big to-do was having 4 mini sessions this past weekend. I've been wanting to photograph families at the Batey Farms sunflower field and I finally got to do it. It was an hour and a half in the heat, but that's what water bottles are for. It covered most of the expenses for Anias' baby pictures, which I'm doing myself. I wan...

I keep swearing that I'm done running around, but my mind won't let me. I am seriously nesting and am super anxious to get everything organized. I made our shopping list to make 14 frozen meals, perfect for post-baby, but Josh is sensible and asked me to wait until at least next month. We also bought a table and 3 chairs for $40 and have been refinishing it at night. It's taking at least 3 coats of paint to cover that atrocious honey-oak, but it beats paying $600 for the new set we liked and I think it will be cute when we're done. Now my family and guests can sit together during meals.  Before-and during renovation My last big to-do was having 4 mini sessions this past weekend. I've been wanting to photograph families at the Batey Farms sunflower field and I finally got to do it. It was an hour and a half in the heat, but that's what water bottles are for. It covered most of the expenses for Anias' baby pictures, which I'm doing myself. I wan...

Oh man! So much has happened. Josh and I are expecting a new little baby this September- which is the most newsworthy information. We found out January 2 and I have been having morning (a hem- all day sickness, worse at night) since week 6. We heard the little 155 bpm heartbeat on February 23 and got the A-ok to share with the world. I wish I could tell you the gender because let's face it, I'm dying to shop, but unfortunately I won't know until late April. I have a feeling it's a girl- just because it feels different to me this time. With Eli I was exhausted all the time and had a little morning sickness which could be overcome with enough crackers and Zofran- with this one I feel pretty energetic but of course all the crackers in the world aren't enough and the Zofran is no longer an option. That's all I really have to go on- that and some wives tales- but I'll be happy either way.                  We didn't tell everyone in fun ways. ...

Another week has gone by and baby boy is still very snug. Only 2 more weeks until we’re considered ‘full term’ and I can start working on convincing him it’s nice out here in the world. I feel like I’m about 2 weeks away from feeling this way full throttle… I’ve been so busy preparing for him to come that I’m running out of things to do. Our bags are packed (I’m ready to go…I couldn’t resist), our meals are frozen (we made it to 24 meals after finishing up freezing some breakfasts yesterday), I bought him the cutest scrapbook ever, the house is clean, and I’m even close to having my weird nesting stuff done. The weird stuff? I have to (for no known reason) finish putting all my recipes into OneNote. I also just had to finish our family scrapbook through November last night. Like, late night run to Michael’s stand in line for 20 minutes had to. Very weird, but I feel much better now. We still do need to move Optimus which makes me kind of sad. To the closet with Kito he goes. We a...

Well, I just got finished writing thank-you notes for our second baby shower, which took place today. It was so fun and super cute! Our neighbors were kind enough to open their house to many of our friends and Kristina did a great job setting up a Safari themed shower. Check out some of the pictures… We are so blessed to have so many supportive friends. They loaded us up with so many gifts for Eli including a stash of diapers, wipes, and lotions. We definitely needed the burp cloths (whoops, forgot we needed those), pacifiers, and bottles as well. We’re feeling much more ‘set’ for him now! Oh- I just loved this pillow we got too. So fun! I threw in some pictures of Josh and I just for kicks. Weekly check in? Weight gain: I’m only checking every other week or I freak myself out. It does not help that I have been craving super unhealthy food. According to the books I should gain 10 more pounds before Eli makes his arrival. Eli’s Size: He should be about 2 pounds and about the siz...

Another week has gone by! Time is fly-ing. I missed blogging last week, as Josh and I were in Tybee Island living the life. Seriously, it was so much fun. I haven’t felt that relaxed in a long time. We went to the Georgia Aquarium , ate the best crab of my life at The Crab Shack (highly recommended, even if you don’t like crab. They have live gators! Yeehaw.), took a trolley ghost tour in Savannah with Ghosts and Gravestones , munched with Paula Deen (just kidding) at The Lady and Sons , lounged on the beach, and Josh sampled some local beers at the Savannah Craft Brew Fest . I would call that my “baby-moon”, but we’re trying to have another get-away to Chattanooga in late October. I’m a lucky, spoiled girl. We have our next appointment for Eli in 9 days, so I have no real updates on him, other than he’s alive and building up his quads and biceps with vigorous exercise. We’ve been having it pretty good. Of course there are the not so pleasant effects of being pregnant (mostly pain)...

This baby is growing! I tried to do bi-weekly photos, but week 16 just flew by. Translation: I think I spent the entire weekend either running errands or wearing pajamas. I thought I was showing at week 12, but I can see now that probably was not accurate. Within the past week I’ve had strangers start to comment on the baby, touch my belly (goodness gracious I wish people would at least ask), and have officially graduated to wearing mostly maternity clothes. I still have some loose shirts I can use, and I see no reason to buy maternity cardigans as mine seem to work just fine. I got by from weeks 7-16 using the rubber band trick , BellaBands, and wearing a few items that were a size up. My bank account is hurting from the transition, but the baby is more comfortable. At least, that’s what I assume as I’ve stopped having crazy stomach pain halfway through the day. Please excuse the weird sequence here. Josh keeps getting closer and the lighting keeps getting darker as the weeks go by...