33 weeks

 How far along? 33 weeks
Total weight gain: still at 20 pounds
Update from the doctor: nothing new, all is looking good!
Maternity clothes? can't go without. still working the t-shirts to work and I come home and throw on linen stretchy pants and a comfy tank top. I'm working on packing our hospital bags so I've set a few outfits aside to not wear anymore.
Best moment this week: nothing in particular (is that sad?), just a normal week of work and getting closer to baby time! but we have been enjoying lots of baseball and hot hot weather :)
Movement: oh yes, she's more active some days more than others (which makes this momma worry) but I can pretty much guess which body parts of hers are poking out where ;)
Food cravings: ice ice and ice... and snow cones ;) 
Miss Anything? of course i miss walking around or rolling over or tying my shoes like normal ;)
Gender: girly girl
Symptoms: heartburn, occasional contractions, and extreme fatigue (could be the 5am alarm clock too). my ankles were swelling big time but turns out, compression socks are my best friends!
Belly Button in or out? Out haha and very noticeable. it popped out around 23/24 weeks and has stayed out since.
Wedding rings on or off? On

Mood? today was a good day for some reason, I didn't feel so big and I felt like this was a fun pregnancy stage. that can change day to day though! But I'm very excited as everything is getting closer.. finishing the nursery, our diaper bag should be arriving anytime, baby showers, etc.

life lately

It's been a fun last few weeks! A few weeks ago we went to my brothers graduation where we graduation with a Masters as a Physicians Assistant, and he even did the benediction at the ceremony! We celebrated with dinner, hanging around, and lots of naps! unfortunately awful weather hit west Texas that weekend and tornado warnings were going on. We were able to snap a few pictures in the sun that afternoon though.

^^he's confused ;) had to incorporate the aggie sign with us tech alumni!

this past weekend  we watched our youth baseball students win area and beat the #3 team in the state! Go Wildcats!

meanwhile, we had a beautiful Lubbock sky to enjoy ;)

and we made some progress on the nursery! still many things to do but some progress has been made!

31 weeks

 How far along? 31 weeks

Total weight gain: 20 lbs

Maternity clothes? I rotate between maternity jeans/black pants/linen pants/and jean shorts and of course maxi dresses on the day to day

Sleep: oh yes. I can sleep all night then take multiple little days throughout the day on my days off, oops! 

Best moment this week: getting to work on the nursery AND getting to move to day shift at work. Praise God for the answered prayer! Nothing like getting to spend every evening with my husband for the first time since we've been married! I also think Evynn has hit a big growth spurt or something, in the last few days I can see body parts protruding out so much more and can almost guess "thats a knee" or "that's a butt" as it moves across my belly. It's the coolest thing ever but has  a sharp/distinct feeling to it!

Miss Anything? not really!

Cravings: cheeseburgers, haha! for some reason they sound so good this week!!

Symptoms: heartburn and constant fatigue.. waiting for nesting to kick in anytime! 

Looking forward to:   finishing her nursery, getting everything ready for Miss Evynn to arrive and of course to see her! 

I think we have most things done, we found a pediatrician, have been attending birth classes, and making a list of what to pack in our hospital bag here in just a few weeks!

pregnancy essentials

at 28 weeks, these are a few things that have helped me so much in these last weeks of major growth spurts!
1) the belly band. I got mine at target. I started wearing this early on with that major bloat and now I wear it anytime I wear pre-pregnancy jeans (leave the jeans unbuttoned and the band keeps it all in place)
2) TUMS. heartburn is no joke. I don't take a ton of TUMS, maybe a few a week but when it hits, I need these by my side
3) palmers stretch mark lotion. I've gained some battle scars in some not so pleasant areas but I'm trying to prevent more from happening so I lather up in this stuff twice a day.
4) I'm all about the gummy prenatal vitamins
5) maxi dresses all the way!!

28 weeks

third trimester? how did we get here so fast!?

^hey bellybutton!

i genuinely look much larger in this dress/picture than normal. eek, but I'll keep up with the same dress theme.

How far along? 28 weeks 

Total weight gain: 16 pounds

Maternity clothes? yes and yes. i mentioned in my last post (i think) that i accidentally threw my favorite maternity jeans in my "give to goodwill" pile and mourned that loss for a few weeks while making pre-pregnancy jeans work. after a few meltdowns of not being able to comfortably wear anything but dresses I gave in and went back to old navy to buy the same pair maternity jeans, shorts, and linen pants. whoo hoo! I do wish pregnancy came with a capsule wardrobe, I feel like I'm always wearing the same exact outfit, but I can't seem to find anything else in stores I either like and/or isn't crazy expensive

Sleep: no problem here! just typical night shift transition issues but once I'm asleep, I'm sound asleep. Rolling over in my sleep is a workout though haha

Best moment this week: nothing in particular, just continue to feel her movements and noticing how bigger and pronounced they are! I love when her little body parts poke out.

Miss Anything? walking and moving like normal. due to crazy painful sciatic pain I've started the wobble at this point subconsciously, I think to take pressure of my hips when I walk?

Cravings: sweets, as always. 

Symptoms: ahh back pain like crazy! I've had nerve sciatic pain for weeks now which is unbearable for the 2-3 min it hits but now my other hip has normal pregnancy? hip pain. between the two I spent last weekend with a heat and ice pack on standy. I also went to a chiropractor, no major relief yet! I'm also extremely impatient and testy, i've noticed. I really need to tone that down, haha!

Worst moment of the week: I had a tiny bout of spotting on Thursday which made me worry since i've absolutely no problem with that this whole time. but i had my normal appt on Friday and all looks good! And no gestational diabetes, yay!

Looking forward to: Third Trimester!  We have arrived! I feel like we are booked up to July at this point between work, graduations coming up, birth classes, and showers. It's going to be a busy, hot, but quick last 3 months! Also I love seeing her nursery come together, ahh so excited to see it finished!

26 weeks pregnant

a sleepy just-woke-up-for-work picture just because I was 3 weeks behind!

How far along? 26 weeks 

Total weight gain: 17 pounds, eek! I know thats a completely normal range at this point in pregnancy.. I'm just trying to comprehend that it's okay and recommended to gain weight ;)

Maternity clothes? oh duh. Except I accidentally threw my favorite maternity jeans into my "take to Goodwill" pile a few weeks ago :( So I've been wearing pre-pregnancy clothes with the belly band. Anytime I'm home though, you know i'm in yoga pants asap.

Sleep: this last week my sleep was not as great.. between waking up 4-5x to go to the bathroom and then for work I couldn't sleep past 3:30pm. After a week of traveling then straight to work for 4 days, I was beat.

Best moment this week: Last Sunday I had a beautiful baby shower (see previous post) then worked 4 nights in a row. I was worried about a few pregnancy symptoms that could turn bad, but I got that checked out and no worries. (thanks blood pressure of 90/60!) Yesterday we enjoyed a crawfish boil at a friends house. All in all, busy but fun!

Miss Anything? sleeping on my stomach, haha! And drinking all the coffee I want! 

Cravings: nothing to particular this week, maybe a milkshake last night?

Symptoms: I've found that I feel like I'm about to explode if I eat a big meal, and lots of congestion/heavy breathing this week. Of course the lovely sciatic pain and heartburn is sticking around too ;)

Looking forward to: working on the nursery, yay! I have so many ideas that I can't wait to put into place!

glitter and gold

After our trip to Austin then back home to baptize some of our youth kids, Cody and I headed out to Ft. Worth for a youth pastors conference at Southwestern Seminary. Since Cody is an online Masters degree students at Southwestern, it was neat to see the actual campus for a change. While in Ft. Worth we were able to meet up with some friends and catch up. Cody and I also checked out a delicious vegan dinner called Spiral then Rodeo Goat for dinner, yum! 

The conference was great! We were able to see a favorite speaker of ours on Friday night and talk to him personally then attend a few breakout sessions on Friday night/all day Saturday. All the sessions were pertaining to how to talk to our students/how to overcome obstacles in ministry or marriage, so it was very encouraging!

Saturday afternoon after the conference we headed north to Sherman to my parents house, ate at my favorite restaurant, and showed my parents my new belly growth ;) On Sunday we went to my hometown church which was fun since we hadn't been there since... Cody and I have been married at least! After the shower my best friend and college roommate Claire and her mom had me a beautiful baby shower! I can't believe I am having baby showers, it is all approaching so.fast.

We got lots of adorable outfits for baby girl and tons of necessities for the nursery. I'm so grateful for everything, now to organize it all! 

 they had set up a few things around the shower 1) had the guests write their name and address on envelopes, that made sending thank you cards out so much easier!! 2) cards that people could fill in the blank of "hopes and wishes for baby" and 3) write a sweet note on a dot that would later become a picture of a balloon bundle we can put in the nursery

 Claire also made these adorable name tags for myself, my mom, and Cody's mom with our new names ;)

 ^^me and claire

 some of my highschool friends and I (and my belly button)

 my grandma, myself, and my mom

 Cody's family and I 

after the shower we went out to eat with my family and Cody's family which is great since our visits with everyone are so few and far between! After that we went back to my parents and had alittle backyard photoshoot. We hadn't "officially" announced her name yet so we decided to take advantage of the E balloon from the shower for our little 

Evynn Claire

26 week update coming soon!