How We Were Blessed With Our Own Christmas Miracle

I've been meaning to type up this story and get it documented on the blog before little details are lost forever.  So here you go, a little story for you all about how we found out about our special little Christmas miracle...

December 23rd I was off work and Brent had an appointment downtown that I decided to tag along to.  As we were sprinting across a rather large intersection, I got sign numero uno that something was up when my body decided to go into full blown cramps for several minutes.  THAT wasn't due yet for another week.  Regardless, I brushed it aside, didn't say anything to Hubs and we went about kicking off an awesome Christmas holiday.

Christmas Eve and during the day on Christmas we enjoyed spending time with gobs of extended and immediate family.  I had a very strong sneaking suspicion what was going on Christmas but decided to officially wait to confirm until after the holiday was done.  There was no way either of us could have kept our mouth shut around all the family if we were bursting with news.  And if it wasn't the news I was expecting (pun totally intended), then no need to mar the holiday.  We finished out Christmas day together at home, snuggled up in bed watching our favorite Christmas movies: White Christmas and Polar Express, while munching on popcorn and Christmas goodies and sipping hot chocolate loaded with marshmallows.  It was truly the perfect way to enjoy the holiday and end the day.  Magical! :)

The next day, I happened to wake up before Hubs (this NEVER happens) so I slipped out of bed and decided to pee on a stick.  That 3 minute wait they say to give?  Yeah....I hadn't even finished peeing before it flashed pregnant.  I always wondered how I'd react if I got a positive pregnancy test.  Surprisingly, there was no screaming, no fainting, no nothing.  When I looked at it, somehow it was just like I already knew what it was going to say:

I really wanted to tell Brent in a special way and I remembered a little minky baby stocking tucked away in one of the baby boxes that I had just moved from the attic to garage storage just a few days prior that he had never seen.  It has pink and blue ribbons with bells tied on it and it was totally perfect to tuck the pregnancy stick inside along with a little tiny "twas the night before Christmas onesie".  I wrapped it up, brought it back to bed and handed it to Brent and said "here, I have one last present for you."

To say he was shocked would be the understatement of the century.  His exact response?  "Are you serious?"  ...wrong holiday Husband....we are not quite to April yet.

We announced to my immediate family later that day and announced to his immediate family the next day when we flew up to VT for our Winter Holiday with his family.  We even captured the reaction on video!  We surprised them with a super adorable little gap onesie that says "Best Gift Ever" with little red and green presents.  :)  It doesn't get more appropriate than that!

They were all ecstatic.  :)  In fact Brent's father's reaction was to-the-t the exact same response as Brent's.  Bets were immediately placed on both sides on whether it was a girl or boy.  I think family was pretty evenly split down the middle in the beginning. 

The queasiness started to kick in a few days before we headed home.  Thankfully it stayed manageable until about a few days after we got home.  Once the greenish tint became my "glow" for the next many months, it made it a lot easier to "go dark" and not make any announcements until we were ready.  Quite honestly, there wasn't much more planning until we got to Easter (not to say that family wasn't checking in constantly).  Brent and I stayed squirreled away for the winter and he helped me battle out the nausea. 

And there you have it!  If I left out any details that you all are just dying to hear, just let me know!

Bump Update #5

Our Memorial Day weekend was amazing.  Relaxing and laid-back but somehow we still managed to get a ton of things done without it feeling like it.  Friday we made a whole bunch of food to snack on throughout the weekend: homemade guac and bruschetta, grilled pizzas, my most favorite caprese pasta salad, healthy egg salad and a massive container of fruit salad.  It was amazing and I'm kind of surprised I didn't gain a lot more weight!  Monday and Tuesday were HOT and the reality of being pregnant in the summer was a fun slap in the face.  So hot and humid that just being outside made me short of breath.  I am so grateful for the deliciousness of AC!

Husband volunteered to snap this week's photo while I was lounging with him outside while he grilled last night's dinner.  I think this was the most I wore all weekend!

How far along: late 20something weeks

Weight gain: 14 pounds

Maternity Clothes:  Nope, summer dresses for the win.

Gender: Girl!

Name: it's a surprise!

Movement: All the time.  She has definitely dropped in the last week and a half and that has made some of the movement quite uncomfortable.  I am still at the point though where I love it all.

Cravings: Not really a result of the pregnancy but more because of the insane heat.  Ice cream has totally been hitting the spot.  Cookie crusted drumsticks and Toasted Almond bars plus my absolute favorite ice cream ever: Blue Bunny Homemade Vanilla Ice cream scooped on top of 3 fresh peaches.  It's practically a meal! :)

Sleep: Pretty good actually.  I think I've adjusted to the fading in and out plus my current pillow configuration is working out really nicely.

# of Days since m/s has hit: 0, totally got sick after eating the most delicious Wegmans bagel in the morning.

What I'm most looking forward to after the baby (besides the obvious): being able to breath in the heat.

Last baby items purchased:  Hubs and I hit a gold mine of books over the weekend at Goodwill.  Little Golden books, Berenstein Bears, Curious George (an entire hardback set of 10+ for mere pennies) and a mini Children's bible board book were just a few of our finds.  We also picked up her lamp and frames for her room.  All that's left now is a few small craft projects!

Other Craziness: Most people are shocked at my size when they hear I am in my third trimester, I don't think being told how small I look will ever get old.  Certain co-workers have made it a point to let me know how big I am looking (so not true-even I know that I am carrying small right now) so I guess it all balances out.  As long as baby girl is growing healthy, I don't care how "small" I look.  Right now it feels like its a that sweet spot of just big enough but not too big.

Thursday Confessions

• We have a four-nearly-five day weekend coming up this weekend and I am so excited I can hardly stand it.  My focus on important work stuff has taken a beating because of this.  It will most likely be our last break before she gets here. Woah is that just crazy to think about.


• This entire pregnancy has sort of felt unreal.  I have to keep reminding myself that there is a baby coming at the end!


• I have yet to read a pregnancy book.  There I said it.  First trimester, I didn't need the added anxiety.  Second trimester I kind of just blinked and it was gone and now here we are.  I have gone so far as to order a stack of books from Amazon which are sitting on my nightstand (I won't say how many weeks they've been sitting there!) but that's as far as I've gotten.


• I also have not done a thing about birthing classes, per-registering at the hospital, birth plan, contacted our Doctor's office to discuss whether the Pediatricians there have visiting rights at our hospital or even discussed maternity leave with work.  I really really really need to get cracking on all of this.  I think at some point it will probably start keeping me up at night.


• However!  On a positive note, Baby Girl's nursery is done as far as the big stuff goes.  The only large piece of furniture we are waiting on is her glider which should arrive any day now.  All that will be left after that is hanging up the art, filling the shelves, drawers and closet with all of her stuff as it trickles in and maybe a few craft decor projects.


• I finished up the first of a couple of bow boards for her over the weekend and it came out pretty well.  I'll try and post some pictures once we have a little more sun and better light.


• Our shower is coming up and I need to stop messing with the registry and just leave it alone now for the guests.  We opted to go with Amazon for the universal wish list option (and the fact that their prices are much cheaper!) and I'm hoping that the people don't have a problem with online shopping and end up deciding to just getting us a bunch of nonsense (a million picture frames, stuffed animals and 0-3m clothing that she will wear for 2 days if she's lucky!) that I will have to return in order to get the stuff we need.  Are there any experienced moms out there that would like to critique the registry and tell me I have way too much crap on there and don't need half of it or tell me all the good stuff I am missing???


• I have started doing the Shred again just because I could.not.stand. the flabbiness and lack of physical activity any more.  No I did not ask my OB but I modified the cardio (no bouncing for me) and abs per "pregnancy approved" examples of physical activity and for the rest, I just intend to let my body and her tell me what I can handle.  I will admit, push-ups at this point are laughable.  I think I got maybe an inch or two down before my stomach was already hitting the ground?


• I have finally completed a massive freezing spreadsheet that I am hoping to tackle before she comes.  Meats, pastas, soups, sauces, sides, breakfast, breads and desserts.  Details will require a separate post but hopefully she will cooperate and let me tackle this project

Bump Update #4

I am almost done writing up the details of how we find out, etc so hopefully I'll get that posted soon.  At some point I am also hoping to post details on how we told family/close friends what we were having (before the facebook, blog and other social media posts from Disney).  We'll see how far I get, time is whizzing by and the reality of how soon she is going to be here is hitting full force!

How far along: 20something weeks

Weight gain: 13-14 pounds

Maternity Clothes:  Still holding out...

Gender: Girl!

Name: it's a surprise!

Movement: Yep.  She's moving in big ways and seems to find humor in how low she can go and bury and kick her feet.  Fun fun times.  The little stinker.  It's just such a weird feeling.

Cravings: No real cravings, but I was explaining to someone how to make a grilled pizza today and decided Hubs and I will definitely need to take advantage of our long weekend coming up and make grilled pizzas and peaches.

Sleep: not too bad, I generally get up once at night, every now and then I can squeak by without.

# of Days since m/s has hit: haven't had any since I last updated, maybe I'm finally in the clear?  I've been told it often comes back with 3rd trimester though so...who knows, I guess it could pop back at anytime now.

What I'm most looking forward to after the baby (besides the obvious): Not being looked at a piece of meat.  This has got to be the WORST part of pregnancy, it can even come from Family!  I am sick of people blatantly checking me out and gauging my stomach and boobs.  Yes they are bigger.  Get over it.  If I have to accept the comments like "girl you've done popped oooouuutt" it's one thing.  But I will not stand for people looking at me as a piece of meat.  It was never acceptable before I was pregnant and it is certainly not acceptable now.  This one irks me beyond belief!  Even my husband has been astounded at this one.

Last baby items purchased:Well Zulily totally bombed on a recent order of mine and I am seriously *this close* to swearing off them completely.  But in the meantime I had some credits I needed to use up so I picked up baby girl a cute little red and white polka dot suit.

Source: zulily.com via Jen | Life Accounts on Pinterest

Other Craziness: Our maternity shoot is in two weeks.  TWO WEEKS.  See also: I need to go shopping ASAP.  I have no idea what the photographers have up their sleeves and I have no idea what we are going to wear.  The fact that we can have as many outfits as we want isn't helping matters any.  Particularly when my closet is so much limited these days!  I could put together a million outfits from Jcrew but unfortunately, they require a waistline that I do not currently have.  Has anyone seen anything cute lately that they love?  Non-maternity is fine.  I've been thinking maybe a maxi dresses, a knit dress, maxi skirt and tank, white jeans and a cute top, cropped jeans and a flowy top but apparently not much of this is in this season????  I seem to have lost my shopping mojo.  Probably right around the same time I lost my waistline...

Bump Update #3

I'm quite late on the bump update this week.  Work has been cuhrazy and I have not had a second to think.  Also, this weeks bump photo is quite awful, it was super dark and a torrential downpour all day when I took it.  I might try and have Brent snap a quick shot tonight to at least add to the post later.

How far along: 20something weeks

Weight gain: 12ish pounds

Maternity Clothes:  Not yet.  Now that it's gotten warmer it's gotten substantially easier to find things to wear in what I already have.  Pre-pregnancy I lived in dresses and tunics in the summer and a number of them are still quite workable with the baby bump.

Gender: Girl!

Name: it's a surprise!

Movement: All the time.  It is crazy watching her hands and feet poke out from my stomach, she's actually startled a few people before with her craziness.  :)  I think this little girl is going to be a gymnast with the way she will flip and roll for hours!  An email several weeks back said I'd notice sleep patterns but this girl seems to be constantly moving.  I'm hoping she gets that out of her system before her arrival.

Cravings: We had grilled chicken bruschetta and guacamole last night and we made the guac and bruschetta fresh and it was pretty near orgasmic.  I think I could live off of that right now!  Also feeling the same way about ice cream and peaches, I look forward to my nightly bowl of that all day!

Sleep: It's gotten a lot better actually, mornings I still end up dozing on and off  while I fight the siren call of the bathroom.

# of Days since m/s has hit: haven't had actually puked since the last time I updated!  There have been a couple mornings of pretty close calls but I'm grateful stuff is staying down.

What I'm most looking forward to after the baby (besides the obvious): being able to go out for runs again...and in my teeny tiny sports attire. :-D

Last baby items purchased: we purchased a whole bunch of stuff for her nursery over the weekend, including paint, the glider and a bunch of supplies for some projects we are working on for her room.  Tonight we have a hot date planned to pick up the rest of her furniture, can't wait!

Other Craziness: I put two and two together last night and the full realization of why this child is measuring so big kinda hit.  All the pieces of knowledge were there but it finally hit home.

Every single one of my mom's eight babies would have most likely been 10+ pounds had they waited until their due date.  6 of her 8 kids were born either 3 weeks or 9 days early.  The 3 week early ones still weighed in at a hefty 6lb12oz/6lb14oz size and the 9 day early babies all measured in the high 7s-high 8s.  The one she got within 4 days of her due date with?  10lbs1oz.  And she birthed that child naturally, in a birthing center.  My grandmother also had pretty decent-sized babies and she also went early. 

Hubs wasn't exactly a small child baby himself, although I'm pretty sure he has never been classified as small.  So yeah, I'm really curious to see what happens with this baby.  I know she's healthy and is putting on whatever weight she needs to put on, I'm kinda hoping I either go early or don't need to birth a giant though!

A Friday Feature

I received an email yesterday about the upcoming Ruche children's collection this summer and this picture had me swooning:

I love the little romper!  Currently they have a small children's selection online and I must admit, I had no idea they had expanded to include children's items.  I may have added this little tea set to the babies Christmas list. :)

I can't wait to see what they come out with in July!

Coming Soon...

Most of you know of my great love for the brand Joyfolie.  I have been a long-time customer & organizing Baby Girls shoe, clothing & accessories from Joyfolie in the nursery was pretty much the first thing I did once I knew I was having a girl.  And Hubs already knows that I am pretty much just going to have to open up a line of credit with Joyfolie because with designs like these, why shop anywhere else?

But did you know that Joyfolie's long-awaited women's line is coming out next week?

Jessica has begun releasing teaser shots on facebook & her blog and I'm totally swooning:
 

Source: i337.photobucket.com via Jen | Life Accounts on Pinterest

I don't know how successfully I'll be able to pull off the Alma platform wedge while pregnant but rest assured I am going to try!  The flower clip is removable, making them incredibly versatile. And I looooooooooove the mustard yellow wedges.  So perfect for the summer!

Jessica has also upped her youth sizes to size 5 which translates into a women's size 7.  The above yellow flat is technically from her children's line but if you are a women's size 7 or smaller you're in luck!  Also, the youth sizes do not have the strap around the ankle, this only comes on the toddler sizes.

Be sure to sign up for her newsletter to get the insider scoop on the release date plus there is going to be a special promotions offered to email subscribers only.

Some New Baby Discoveries

It's been fun kicking off the shopping for this little one. I waited so long to shop for anything that I think when I finally gave myself permission, I didn't even know where to start! Etsy & Zulily to the rescue.

Some of you were kind of enough to share some of your favorites & I was able to dig up some old favorites that I've used for baby gifts in the past that are still open for business now.

So what packages have been heading into her nursery as of late?

A newly discovered favorite from Zulily, and a local business at that, Ollie and Bess:

Love the seersucker with crabs! Totally appropriate for this MD baby. :) The madras and gingham are adorable as well. And the boys shorts & shortalls are just as irresistible. They were offering a 30% off promo on their entire website, so after I bought a couple items through Zulily, I made my way over to their website & stocked up on some more items & hit up the fantastic outlet section they have. Love that everything can be monogrammed! Babe is gonna be styling next summer!

Next up is another brand I discovered on Zulily...after the event had already ended. I found So La Vita on Amazon after seeing the photos on the Zulily pinterest board and had a bunch of favorites saved in my cart but then Zulily conveniently brought them back and their prices beat the amazon prices. It was tough to narrow down but here are some of my favorites: :)

Another favorite I mentioned the other day is Offspring. I was super tempted to bite during the Saks 5th kids sale but I ended up finding them over on Amazon for less. Since I wanted to pick her up a couple pieces in smaller sizes, I super appreciate their 365 day return policy in case she doesn't get a chance to wear them.  These are some of the girl options they have but all the boys stuff is super super cute, I was very tempted to stock up on some of that for later!

There have been a number of accessory and nursery purchases from etsy but this is lengthy enough so I'll save them for another post.

Bump Watch #2

Well so much for blogging this past week!  I had great intentions I assure you, just couldn't find the time and energy for the final push to sit down and get stuff posted!  We had quite a busy week since I posted last week.  Birthday celebrations, multiple doctors appointments, lots of projects and work.

We worked on sanding and refinishing furniture for the nursery over the weekend and I might have overdone it just a tad.  Woke up in the middle of the night barely able to move my lower half and then spent all of yesterday groaning and hobbling around.  It was a pretty sight.  I felt like I'd done 5 million squats and back bends.  It's crazy how your body changes when you are pregnant.

How far along: 5+ months, still not sure on the exact week.

Weight gain: Between 10-11 pounds

Maternity Clothes:  Still hanging in there with regular clothes but really I feel its going to be any day now.

Gender: Girl!

Name: it's a surprise!

Movement: All the time.  It's already feeling invasive-I love it and and occasionally grimace at the same time. :)  My stomach dances all over the places, particularly when I'm driving or when I drink water.

Cravings: fruit salad filled with watermelon, pineapple, cantaloupe and grapes.  I've also been enjoying all the grilling we've been doing and lots of salad with grilled chicken.  Occasional bite or two of ice cream from the freezer.

Sleep: Not too bad, I had been making up a lot on my back so I switched to a row of pillows on both sides of my body and that's helped quite a bit.

# of Days since m/s has hit: 2. I had to add this in since the nausea still rears its ugly head on occasion and I'd like to remember for next time. 

What I'm most looking forward to after the baby (besides the obvious):  this week its a full lung capacity.

Last baby items purchased: Some adorable Offspring clothes from Amazon.  I was *this close* to biting on the Saks kids sale & happened to check over on amazon & they carried a much bigger selection & were offering a much better promo.  Not to mention, 365 day returns if she doesn't end up wearing them.  I also bit on the Madame Alexander dolls on zulily-these were actually a really great deal!  If you stack on an additional discount code, it comes out to less than half the cost on amazon & a third the cost from other toy stores.

Other Craziness: I finally found a seller that can make 3-initial monogrammed bows for the babe, surprisingly this was a lot harder than I thought it would be.  I also bought a whole bunch of supplies over the weekend to start on a number of projects for her. Slowly but surely her nursery is going to start filling up! :)

First Bump Update

I've had more than one person express surprise at how long Brent and I waited to share the news.  Both in real life as well as through social media (facebook, twitter, blog etc).  And there were a number of reasons.  For starters, I was really sick and it took a lot out of both us to keep getting through everything that needed to be done (we both have full time & part time jobs, plus growing a kid is job numero 3 for me).  Also the rate of miscarriage for us is was quite high and we weren't sure how much we'd want to talk about that with people in person or on facebook if something did go wrong.  It just kind of happened in the beginning and the longer it carried on, the more it became this fun and special time as a couple, keeping the biggest shock of our lives squirreled away as a secret.  :)  Time that we'll never have back again!

Now that I am feeling more human & the secret is out though, it is a very different kind of fun!  We no longer have to check ourselves before opening our mouths for starters.  And holy mackerel do we have a lot to get done in not a lot of time!

So here are the stats as of today.

How far along: 5+ months (I believe somewhere between 23-25 wks).  I need to hammer out my official due date with my OB next appointment, so this will just have to do for now.

Weight gain: 10ish pounds, its still normalizing since getting back from vacation.  Several of those pounds can be directly contributed to items like these from Disney:

Mmmmmmmm, so good!  These pictures don't do the size justice-those are large plates and that cinnamon roll was nearly the size of my head!

Maternity Clothes:  Not yet.  In fact, I invested in a couple of bellabands before we left for vacation in case all the amazing food made things a bit tight but a hair elastic a couple of times totally did the trick.  It's coming though!

Gender: Girl!  A total Princess.  :)

Name: Been picked for years but it's a surprise!

Movement:  She went from 0-60 a number of weeks back and it has only grown more constant.  Three days after I knew I was feeling her for sure, Brent was able to feel her too.  Little girl packs a whallop!

Cravings: After the word salad made me puke for the first 15ish weeks (the smell and sight were even worse), I'm back to enjoying my massive salads, in fact, for a few weeks that was just about the only thing that sounded good.  Fruit salads with yogurt have also been ranking pretty high.  And of course, ice cream.  :)

Sleep: Decent, I actually slept better at Disney then I have been at home.  I have a feeling this had more to do with the exhaustion at the end of every day though.  The dreams interfere more with my sleep than anything else.  That plus a bathroom break nearly every night and those are the only things messing with me for now.

What I'm most looking forward to after the baby (besides the obvious):  Running & working out.  Feeling strong.  Putting on clothes and having them just slid right on.  Being able to get up and move around without groaning.

Last baby item purchased: bookcase & mirror for her room.

Other Craziness:  After buying and testing a ton of different samples, we have finalized the paint (YAY!).  The goal for May is to get the room painted and the majority of the furniture sanded, painted, assembled and in the room.  Last big decision is committing to the glider.  We loved the Little Castle brand but the one we tested and loved doesn't come in the color we want.  Now we need to track down the Monaco II to do a sit test.