25 Weeks!

By the way, I did a post at 22 weeks, and somehow it got deleted! :(

iPhone pic. And yes - I'm aware that's not a maternity shirt. :)

Blurry pic - we really need a new camera before baby gets here!

25 weeks?! Holy cow how did we get this far along? Although it still feels like forever until September...

How far along? 25 weeks!

Maternity clothes? Yep! I can still wear a few of my regular dresses and shirts. I'm loving maternity jeans.

Stretch marks? No new ones.

Sleep: Pretty good. I'm having to wake up to flip to my other side and get re-situated with my body pillow, which kind of sucks. But otherwise I'm sleeping well!

Best moment this week: Last week I went to a belly mapping class with a friend from church who's pregnant. (She's have a boy too - due in July!) The class included an ultrasound, so I got to see my little buddy! He's so cute!

Miss Anything? Red wine and sleeping on my stomach.

Movement: LOTS!! Josh thought he was feeling the baby while we were in the Bahamas and last week our little guy gave his daddy's hand a BIG kick! The day after the big kick, Josh texted me at work and told me he couldn't wait to get home so he could feel the little guy again. :)

Food cravings: Fruit and cheeseburgers...mmmm

Anything making you queasy or sick: A few times the past week I've woken up on my back and felt a little nauseous. Not sure what that's from... I feel fine once I turn on my side.

Gender: Sweet little boy!

Labor Signs: Nope.

Symptoms: Just this huge baby bump!

Belly Button in or out? In, but it def looks different than it used to!

Wedding rings on or off? On.

Mood: Mostly really happy! Every now and then I can tell my hormones are working because I'll feel sad for no reason. But then I just think of my little boy and I'm happy again!

Looking forward to: My 3D/4D ultrasound!!! I'm just trying to coordinate a date with my parents and Josh's patents and then we'll get it scheduled. :)

Babymoon in Pictures

Our babymoon was wonderful! 

 

I kissed a dolphin!



It's always been on my bucket list to play with dolphins - I finally got to do it!
And as you can tell from my face in this picture -  It. Was. Awesome!!!!



Baby D. and I spent lots of time soaking up the sun.



We said hi to all of the fish in the aquariums.



The hotel was beautiful! We did lots of walking and exploring around the resort.

Baby D. kissed a dolphin too!

This pirate wanted to feel Baby D. kicking. :)

We ate dinner at some crazy overpriced fancy restaurants.

Josh tried all the water rides.

Shark!

My goofy hubby. :)

Watch out for Jaws!



So pretty!

 We really had an AWESOME time. (However, I will say that the food prices at Atlantis are ridiculous...) The resort was beautiful and we spent lots of time relaxing and soaking up the sun. I didn't think I'd be able to do the dolphin experience pregnant (I googled before I left and people online said that it wasn't safe - the dolphins can sense the second heartbeat and it freaks them out..) but I decided to ask anyway when we got there. We got a BOGO deal on the dolphin experience with our hotel room, so I figured, why not just ask? I understand if the resort doesn't let you because of liability reasons, but it can't hurt to ask. Turns out - you can totally do it pregnant!! I was crazy excited and it was the highlight of the trip!

I'm so glad we were able to do a babymoon before the baby arrives. Every day I'm amazed at how blessed I am. I have a wonderful husband, a loving family, great friends, a sweet baby boy on the way, a house over my head, money in the bank...God is so great!!

Babymoon!

I haven't had too much time to blog lately, which is sad since I wanted to document my pregnancy way better than I have been.

And I won't be blogging for the next 5 days because.......

I'll be here:

We're off to the Bahama's on our Babymoon!!!!! Lots of sun, sleep, and s...time with my husband. ;) Our last vacation as a family of 2. :)

Can't wait!

-Holly

Dear God,

I know how blessed I am - thank you for providing the way you do. Thank you for this little guy growing inside of me. And thank you for my wonderful husband!

Amen.



Baby D.'s Gender Reveal Party!

Homemade gender reveal cupcakes. They're actually much easier to make than you'd think!

Last Sunday, we had one of those popular "gender reveal" parties. And if you know me, I'm all about announcing things in a fun and creative way! If you couldn't tell from this post and this post. :)

Lots of blue and pink decorations!



More decorations!




The cupcakes. Everyone was dying to know what color filling was on the inside!



Voting!

The old wives tales make it seem like it'd be a girl.

Team Boy! And I'm still not sure how everyone knew!

Team Girl!

And here are the reactions. First up, Josh's mom and dad:

"Are we ready?"

"Bite!"

"What color is it?"

"Blue!! I knew it!"

 And my parent's reactions: 

My dad is totally trying to sneak a peek here. :)



"Ready?"




My mom sees blue and is looking at me totally surprised. I think my dad is either in shock, or still trying to figure out what color is inside. :)



Then my dad starts smiling! "It's a boy!"

And a few more candids from the party:

Josh with my good friend Kara's sweet baby girl.

My cute niece!

Lauren and my niece. :)

Josh and my older niece dancing!



Happy parents-to-be!



Baby D. is a....

Sweet little BOY!!!

Photo credit

On Friday April 20th, we had our gender ultrasound. (That work week was the longest week ever!) I was pretty nervous since we hadn't seen the baby since week 8 when he just looked like a little speck. All I wanted was to hear the ultra sound tech tell us the baby looked healthy. (And we do have a healthy, active baby!) I was also nervous that the baby wasn't going to cooperate and we weren't going to get to find out the gender that day. Turns out, I didn't have to worry about that either!

I couldn't really tell what we were looking at when the tech first put the ultra sound wand on my belly. But she asked, "So you do want to know the gender of the baby? Because I can tell you right now." Apparently, Baby D. was mooning all of us!!! "It's a boy!" Then I figured out what we were looking at. :) I looked at Josh (who was tearing up just like I was) and I said "I told you!" He said smiling, "You were right!" The tech did a few more measurements and then pulled up this picture.

I gasped and then really did start crying. There's our baby! He was so cute already! He was also moving around like CRAZY. The tech had to keep moving the wand over my belly to catch a picture of him where she could take the measurements. He was doing flips and barrel rolls. I think we're going to have our hands full with him! :) Then at one point, he finally stopped moving, and I guess the tech couldn't see what she was trying to see, so she wiggled the wand - making my belly jiggle. The baby was like, "Whoa!" and started moving around again. We all laughed.

After the tech got her measurements, she told us the baby looked like he was about 16 weeks, not 18 weeks like we thought we were. So my due date is now September 30th instead of September 16th. We might even have an October baby!

The entire thing was amazing. I had no idea how emotional it was going to be for me to see that little guy. I feel like I know him now - before he was just some stranger living in me...and making me sick. But now I've seen his sweet face, his tiny hands, his cute little feet. I know he's going to be an active little guy - constantly on the move. And I even think he's going to have a sense of humor, since he decided to moon us! I can't believe how much I love him already.

Baby BOY, I can't wait for you to finally be here in my arms!!

God,
You are so amazing - thank you so much for our baby BOY! Thank you for allowing us to see him and get to know him before he's even born.
Amen.

So Blessed

Yesterday, I was standing at the sink in the kitchen, rinsing out a dish, and staring out the window into the backyard. The magnolia trees were swaying in the wind, the sun was shinning, and the grass looked soft and green. I started imagining a little boy or girl running around out there, playing with the pups, smiling and laughing. It reminded me of how blessed I truly am. I've always wanted to be a mom, and I'm so excited and amazed that in a few short months, my baby - MY baby - will be here. A baby I can hold and snuggle and care for and love as much as I want. I'm just so blessed.

God is so amazing and I'm so thankful for this little one growing inside of me!

16 Weeks!

How far along? 16 loooong weeks. I'm so impatient and this pregnancy is taking forever!

Maternity clothes? Bought a belly band for my jeans. I really need some pants but I haven't had time to do much shopping. I did order some maternity clothes from Old Navy. Just waiting on them to arrive.

Stretch marks? No more than I already had. :)

Sleep: Still up once a night to pee. I've been needing so much sleep this whole pregnancy. I don't feel like I get anything done after work. I eat and then sleep. But on the weekends I have lots of energy! :)

Best moment this week: I've got an appointment tomorrow. Hopefully I'll get to hear the heartbeat but I'm really not sure what will happen. My OBGYN's office isn't the best on communicating what's going on. I've been wrestling on switching doctors...

Miss Anything? We had some friends in town this weekend for Josh's birthday and everyone was drinking. I was chugging some pink lemonade. But I'm not gonna lie-it just wasn't as fun. :)

Movement: Too early.

Food cravings: Jelly beans! Josh went out yesterday evening to get me some. Mmmmmm!

Anything making you queasy or sick: Charred/BBQed meats.

Gender: Who knows. Gotta wait until my 20 week appointment. Sigh. It's driving me crazy not knowing!!
Labor Signs: Too early.

Symptoms: Sooooo sleepy allll the time!

Belly Button in or out? In.

Wedding rings on or off? On.

Mood: Impatient!

Looking forward to: 4 weeks from now when I finally find out if this little one is a he or she!!