Tuesday, December 27, 2011

26/27 weeks

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! Ours was a typical one for us. Driving everywhere to see everyone in a short amount of time. At least we got to be with all of our loved ones, even if it wasn't for much time with all.

I'm realizing I didn't get many pictures, but I believe others did, so we'll all have to share.

Danielle and I did get some belly pictures together, comparing so those are cute.

I also got a picture with one of my favorite gifts from Mom - Nutcracker duos. A Red Raider Nutcracker to represent me and a duck hunter Nutcracker to represent Trey. They are perfect!!

I've also included a sneak peak of the work-n-progress changing table/dresser that Trey's dad is building for the nursery.

please disregard the wonky eye my camera likes to give me from time to time.

I am 26/27 weeks here and Danielle is 17/18 weeks.

Friday, December 16, 2011

25 weeks

Baby has been some kinda busy building muscles and doing gymnastics in my belly. I feel movement constantly, all day. It's not visible on the outside unless it's a powerful one; but it's definitely frequent and can be felt by others on the outside.

I'm still waiting on my belly button to pop out and linea negra to show up. Now, I know that everyone's belly button doesn't pop out. But I really want it to because I just think that's the cutest thing!!

I've been reading the Jenny McCarthy "Belly Laughs" book and... wow. I'm so lucky. I've known all along that I've been lucky, but this just confirms it. I've seriously not got anything to write about because NOTHING IS HAPPENING during my pregnancy. It's no different than my pre-pregnancy days except I'm getting a belly (and of course the cycle thing is missing). I don't want to jinx anything, and I'm not complaining, so please don't think I am. :) Just observing.

my view:


Christmas Party

Last Saturday evening Trey and I ventured out to my company Christmas party at the Hilton Americas downtown. It was very nice, except for the fact that they did not have enough seating. We had to sit out at the cocktail tables outside of the grand ballroom. The food was great and the dessert was even better. They had an open bar, which Trey got to enjoy. They also had a photo booth, where we got to take a cheesy, prom-type photo at. We later went back and took a "fun" photo.

As people liquored up, they decided to dance. We didn't witness anything too outrageous considering all the free-flowing alcohol. The craziest thing I saw was a guy with his tie tied Rambo-style around his forehead.

Thursday, December 1, 2011

23 weeks

We had a doctor's appointment today. Everything was great! Baby kicked the wand from the doppler machine right off my stomach almost as soon as the nurse put it there! He was not happy with getting his heart rate checked. It rang in at a strong 156 BPM once we got it back on there. It has increased from the first measure (138). My glucose tolerance test is in 4 weeks. I'm looking forward to that one. *insert sarcasm.* I've heard that's torturous. Our 3D/4D ultrasound is scheduled for 1/21.

He is moving more and more each day and I just love to feel him. Trey has been able to feel him lately as well. At first he was indifferent to it, but has begun to take more interest in it. It's more frequent and more solid and now that I'm showing more - it's just all around sinking in more.

The nursery is painted! That's it. Nothing else has been done in there. But hey, that's some progress, right?

I'm heading back to brave Canton again this weekend with Mom and Danielle. This time there's an 80% chance of rain. It just gets better and better. HA. Maybe the crowd will be less? One can hope anyway. I'm taking my rain gear. Will post again afterwards and let ya know how that goes.

I will leave you with this:

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

crafting with Sister

Today I got to spend the day with my sister while she was in town. After running errands as a group (Toys R Us for Aubrey's Christmas present, Phillips' family Christmas pictures, lunch...) then wee crafted! - all crafting was done in the time that Aubrey napped. I had some projects picked out on Pinterest for us to do together and they came out pretty cute. The corks that I tinted last weekend were put to use as well as a couple of other things:

an ornament:

Sunday, November 20, 2011

Thank you Pinterest

This weekend Trey went hunting with a friend. I was extremely productive. I guess you could say my energy is back with a vengeance.

Friday I went to Hobby Lobby to get some crafting supplies to fulfill some ideas I found on Pinterest, both for the nursery and for Christmas crafts. When I got home I decided I needed to clean out my crafting cabinets as they were quite messy. So I re-organized them. Then I set out the crafts that I would complete this weekend. I called my dad to help me get all of my Christmas decorations out of the attic (as I had forgotten to have Trey help me with that before he left.) While Dad was over here, I mentioned that Sudden Link was going to have to come out in order to install a jack for us to move the desk/internet into the guest room. Dad said "well didn't you have a TV in there?" I said yes, that we had. So he proceeded to say that the internet could just be plugged into that outlet if he wasn't mistaken. He looked at it and sure enough, that turned into us moving the desk/internet right then. So now that chore is complete. The guest room is now converted to a guest room/office and the nursey is one step closer! I cleaned the guest room out as it had been home to all the nursery stuff while we cleaned it out to get rid of the second desk and futon (sold in a garage sale a couple of weeks ago) - so it was all moved back into the nursery and now the guest room is liveable again.

Saturday I went to a baby shower and then came home and cleaned house, did laundry, and got all my Christmas decorating done (minus the outside lights, which Trey must do sometime this week), got our Christmas letter written and labels edited, and then did some crafting. It might be safe to say that my nesting has begun??

my mess of new crafts to begin for the weekend:

the tree I made out of rolled scrap paper and glued to a canvas:

I tinted these wine corks to use in a later project:

I made these letters to go in the nursery:

And I had one of the full name up, but I just took it down. I'm not ready to have it on full display just yet. I have no problem telling people when they ask about it, but for some reason, I'm just not ready to display it yet! So you may have been lucky enough to see it... :)

Now I'm exhuasted and ready to go to bed. It's 7:00pm Sunday. :D

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Ren Fest

Today we went to the Renaissance Festival. I have photos that will not disappoint. And memories that will give me nightmares that I could not get to the camera in time for. These people, I swear, are something else. I just don't understand what could possess them to; 1) WANT to dress like this and 2) THINK they SHOULD dress like this. Unbelieveable.

The food though, is a pregnant woman's paradise. I had chocolate covered strawberries, a chocolate covered banana, fresh squeezed lemonade, {yes, I disregarded the fruit/sugar comment from the doctor for today} fried alligator, cajun chips, roasted corn, and a couple bites of Trey's apple dumplings.

These guys were head-to-toe black in back AND front:

uhm, nice flower.

Pretty sure I know what that kid is looking at (good thing he has on sunglasses):

"black swan" mid transition??: (Kaila was a bit scared to get TOO close)

because ALL meat is better on a stick:

she hit him in the throat!!:

Tom Hanks in "The Money Pit"??:

me and Kaila:

Saturday, November 12, 2011

21 weeks

I didn't get a 20 week photo; my apologies. Hubby was uncooperative that week and I just wasn't feeling the self-portraits.

We had our Christmas photo session today so I was already gussied up and thought that there just wasn't going to be a better day to capture my 21 week shot this week. So Trey was more than willing to take today's picture. {Can you sense the sarcasm?} He griped and complained all week about how I was ruining his weekend and that he couldn't golf or watch TV or do this or do that; yadda, yadda, yadda. In addition to the photo session, I drug him to Pottery Barn Kids to complete our last baby registry. He loved that. {More sarcasm}. My punishment was standing around Gander Mountain as he just browsed at camo raingear (which he already has) for nearly 2 hours. He's hardcore.

So, here we are at 21 weeks:



Hopefully I'll have more to post tomorrow as we are going to the Renessaisance Festival. Good times and lots to see!

The Snoogle

Last weekend I went to Tyler to visit my sister and hang out with some friends...and while we were there we went shopping in Canton. Ok, ok. We made the trip up there that particular weekend first for Canton and the hanging out was just a bonus. We did our shopping on Saturday and then on Sunday, Danielle and her friend Lindsey took me to Babies R Us to help me get my first registry going, as they are the resident "baby stuff" experts. Lindsey also gave me this way cool "snoogle" pillow to allow for comfortable sleeping for pregnant women. I must say - WOW. I love it. Trey tries to steal it from me on a regular basis.

The Snoogle:



Canton was a bit disappointing; it was WAY too crowded, with too many dogs and I just didn't get near the shopping done that I was hoping, but we had fun anyway. The registering was only partially successful because Target was being ridiculous and uncooperative, so we only got to finish at Babies R Us. The good news is that I was able to get Trey to actually participate in the 2 remaining registries at home: Target and Pottery Barn Kids. Shocking. I know. That being said, ALL 3 registries are complete! YAY. I'm so relieved.

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Gender Reveal

After dealing with ALL the fits today...

everyone came over for elk steaks, baked potatoes, salad, rolls, AND colorfully centered chocolate chip cookies (that I slaved all day making) for the gender reveal! It was quite exciting. I've never seen everyone eat so quickly.

The most important news we received today was that everything they could tell from an ultrasound looks GREAT! We were so relieved.


(There was a pink and a blue balloon tied up on the picture here, they just aren't visible) Trey is scooping ice cream to go with the special cookies.



BLUE!!

All boy:

sweet profile:

Trey does this; crossing the legs at the feet, ALL THE TIME:

Monday, October 31, 2011

Montana Hunt

On October 18th Trey left on a 26 hour car ride with his dad to head up to Billings, MT for a father/son hunt that they've had planned for a year and a half. They were set out on a quest to fill the elk and mule deer tags that they each had as well as the bear tag that Trey had. (Trey was under strict orders {from me} to return with a bear so that we could have newborn photos taken on a bear skin rug.)

*roadside Wyoming during the drive*

The first day they rode in (which was on horseback through the mountains, in 25* and snowing) they situated into camp. Next morning, they woke up to "teen temps" and Trey left out on foot while Bill left out on horseback. Bill shot a mule deer about an hour after first light. Success! Trey walked up the West Fork and over Dry Burris and shot an elk at 650 yards. Yes folks, that's 650!! Needless to say, the work started. It was a 12 mile hike round trip to and from camp to where it crashed. And it took 3 trips of 2 people carrying uhhh, "parts". This was about the equivalent of 2 days.
*base camp*

*West Fork*

*Dry Burris*

By day 3 (of the hunt), it HAD warmed up a bit, BUT it was raining now. So Trey decided he was going to camp out at the cook tent with rifle leaned up against the tree and binoculars in hand, "glassing" the area. If his mule deer or bear walked by, it was done for, but that was the extent of his hunting for the day.

Day 4 and 5 were cold, snowy and windy and were unsuccessful for all. Yeah, that's right. I didn't get my bearskin rug. Instead, I got a GIANT 6x6 elk. One that's classified by most standards a trophy for the mountain variety.

Thursday, October 27, 2011

18 weeks

Why doesn't anyone ever warn you of the cramping? The only time I was told you could experience cramping was if it was accompanied by blood and that most likely meant you were miscarrying. No one warned me that it's COMPLETELY NORMAL to experience cramping all throughout, and that it's just stretching of the stomach muscles and ligaments as your tummy is growing to accomodate baby. I experience this about once every 2-3 weeks, for the better part of a day. (I'm not gonna lie, it's pretty miserable.) Although I felt it pretty much ALL day this past Thursday, Friday AND Monday. I guess baby had a growth spurt. Not to worry, there was no blood.

Next week, Wednesday to be exact, we find out if Baby C is a boy or a girl!! FINALLY! I just can't handle not doing anything about it anymore. Just sitting back and doing nothing is driving me nuts. I can't wait to find out.

It's strange how my belly looks so much smaller from the side than it does from the front. Not so flattering...at least not in pictures. But I don't care :)))

Saturday, October 22, 2011

17 weeks

I had another OB check up this week. Everything is still good; with momma and baby. We heard the heartbeat, but couldn't get an acutal count of it because baby was so active, it wouldn't be still long enough to get one to read! Is this a sign of things to come? eeee.

My doctor is apparently going to be picky about my weight. I've gained a total of 8 pounds in 17 weeks. He says this is where I should be. BUT, I took a significant jump in the last 4 weeks so I need to watch what I eat going forward so as not to gain too much. "I don't want to see you go into a downward spiral," he says. "You should be sure to eat lots of salad and veggies, while staying away from too many fruits, juices and sugar." I wanted to knock his fool head off. Are you kidding?! That's ALL I want to eat! Granted, I do HAPPEN to eat salads quite often. And drink a lot of water. But still, I don't want to hear that. Esp. since the nurse just got done telling my urine came back good (again) and my BP was good (again). I know he has my best interest at heart, but sheesh, cut me SOME slack!

Some tidbits:
The appointment we've all been waiting for is just around the corner; November 2!!

Trey's dad has agreed to build all of our nursery furniture! This makes me soooo excited! :))

and now for my 17 week pic:

Thursday, October 13, 2011

16 weeks

I'm at 16 weeks now. So far everything is still pretty uneventful. I've not had any nausea still. {still a good thing} I'm thinking I'm probably in the clear for this. My energy is starting to come back; however, I tend to use it up as soon as I get it, putting me right back to exhausted :/ I HAVE had a few bloody noses, which is apparently pretty common in pregnancy, especially early on.

My craving so far has been milk. I don't like white milk, so I don't drink it plain; but I'll have it with cereal, or lately...chocolate milk -- and lots of it. What? It's good for me and baby, you say? Well, yes it is. But, I'm a stone former. So, it's not THAT good for me. I have to be careful with this. It can be very bad in my case. I REALLY don't want kidney stones again. So, of course, this would be my craving. UGH. I guess it could be worse. I'm trying to also drink plenty of water. I just tend to get the desire to drink LOTS of water right before bed. Oh bother.

OH, I almost forgot!! -- I've been starting to feel movement this past week. Come to realize it's the same stuff I've been feeling since I was about 10 weeks along. It's just becoming a lot more frequent. I knew when I first starting to {very} randomly feel it that it was stuff I had never felt before, but I wasn't ready to say it was Baby. Now I know that's what it was (and is). I guess I knew my body better than I thought. But Tuesday night I was lying on the couch watching TV with my hand resting on my belly and I felt a movement that was so strong that I felt (and saw out of my peripheal vision) my hand move. It was just the one time, but it was incredible!

Here are some pictures of 16 weeks. I finally got some good ones!!
Trey took this one last night; I guess "the bump" actually looks smaller in it because of the angle?:


I took these earlier in the week:


Thursday, September 29, 2011

14 weeks

I'm already sucking at updating.

Last week we went in for a check up. Baby had a heart rate of 148. All was great. My doctor said I'm an A student and my weight is perfect and that he has nothing to complain about. {Let's just hope my weight stays perfect.}

I'm still not having any sickness or nausea, which is great, but I'm still exhausted. Just when I think my energy might be coming back, I feel tired again. I guess that's just baby trying to grow. I don't try to fight it. :)

We go back for our next checkup on 10/20 (Dad's birthday) and then {hopefully} very soon after that we find out gender!

As you can see, a slight bump is beginning to show:


**If only I could fire Trey from taking the photos. He never gives me a heads up. No 1-2-3, no "say cheese"; nothing. Boo.

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Family of Three!

Well, we just announced to the family that we're becoming a family of three! Baby Crawford is due 3/23.

We had a BBQ on Saturday, 9/12 to let everyone know. Trey and I were counting on the disguise of a post-Labor day celebration. The family came over expecting an anniversary celebration. We didn't even THINK to use that excuse! HA. Either way, Everyone was clueless. I had our ultrasound photos "scrapped" into picture frames and set up with the food, so that as the family arrived, they could see them. The reactions were great! Dad just couldn't comprehend that that baby was in my tummy. He was convinced it was ME as a baby. Mom was in shock. Mimi and PawPaw couldn't make it as PawPaw wasn't feeling well, so I had to make a phone call to them. Mimi screamed into the receiver. They both just asked a million questions. And Leslie made the comment that she was ready to be an "Oma" again. All in all, it was a success!!

scrapped, framed ultrasound photos used at the BBQ:

7 weeks; for comparison to the below 12 weeks...(I really am excited, but Trey doesn't tell me when he's taking the picture, so I just have no warning :/ )

12 weeks:

and more will come as we grow!