Preppiest Baby on the Block

Over the course of the past 4 months, since finding out that Baby Thompson is a boy, my baby style has become super evident. I always knew that I loved 'Little Man' clothing on little boys, button up shirts with Gap jeans and sweater vests, and the like. Looking at how Hunter's closet has slowly filled up, the evidence is all the more clear, see for yourself:


He won't be able to wear these until next summer, 2013, but who could pass up these adorable baby Sperry Top-Sider boat shoes? I can totally see a family picture of us all wearing close-to-matching shoes on the beach in Florida. The best part? These were purchased for a mere $3 at a local children's consignment shop. Link to brand new Sperry's here

Next summer will also bring days by the pool and in the sand at the beach. Check out the swim trunks and rash guard/swim shirt I found at Gymboree. 

I know these are NOT swordfish, because who can forget daddy's big catch of 2010? These marlin are the closest fish we are going to find!

You must be asking yourself, what is the little guy going to wear before next summer? That, my friend, is the best part of all! Fall is my favorite season, and you can bet that Hunter is going to be dressed to the nine's. Look at these amazing Ralph Lauren button up shirts! Don't fret, these were all purchased at a children's consignment shop, Once Upon a Child, for $8 on average. Can you see the brand new one hanging down? It still has the Dillard's tag on it for $35. Hunter and I are both saying a HUGE, "Thank you!!!", to Grandma/Nana/Mimi/which-ever-name-she-wants-to-be-called McLees!

Don't worry, daddy hasn't forgotten to let mommy spoil herself a little but in the shopping process. Here is the amazing diaper bag hubby let me get:

Again, don't get too upset thinking I will be walking around with a $398 diaper bag.... this was purchased at the Coach outlet near my house for just under $200! I really think I can use this bag for more than a diaper bag as well. It looks like the perfect 'airport' bag. If you know me, then you know that I am obsessed with finding a new, more perfect carry on bag for each airport trip that I take. I don't know what it is, but I am always searching for something more suitable than the last one I bought!

These are just a few of the purchases made for baby Hunter. I am so flipping excited!!!
Please don't forget to vote!

Top Baby Blogs

So, in an attempt make myself feel that writing this blog is not all for my own personal enjoyment, I have signed up and been approved for Top Baby Blogs..... and now I am shamelessly asking for your vote :) Maybe if I know that people are for sure reading my blog, then I will be more likely to update more often than for 'Bump' updates!


You can actually vote once a day (or just whenever you happen to find yourself on my page), which would be awesome of you, so that I can move up in the rankings :) The link is the little picture to the right of the screen, and then you can click by the little owl on the left hand side of that page. 


You. Are. Awesome!

29 weeks

Today is a great day! I turn over in weeks (only one more week in the 20's!!) and it is the first official day of Spring Break! 

A couple of things have started this week which are pretty cool, like feeling his hiccups! To me, they feel like a very slow, hard pulse. Not hard kicks, just something of his being thumped against my belly, whether it be his feet, butt, or head. At first, I thought it was my pulse, but they are much slower than that, and so much slower than his, considering it is still in the 120's to 140's. 


I also think I have a pretty good idea as to where he is at during the day. I have that silly heart shaped uterus (uterus of love...?), and so he is kind of limited as to what he can do in there. Most of the time he is head down, but not the good kind, he is facing the wrong way. So, his head is down and his body is up the right half of my uterus. When he decides to look for a change of scenery, he moves his head over to the left side and his butt follows and pokes out of the right side so he is transverse. I get the impression that this is happening because I feel tons of pressure on both sides of my belly, usually I am even able to feel hard lumps on each end, and during the movement process I feel all sorts of kicks and slides. 


As for me? Getting out of bed has become a major process. I have to determine whether or not I really want to get out and pee or just try to hold it. Getting out of bed always wins. Its not like I am a huge whale of a pregnant lady or anything. Its just that my stomach muscles have gone from so-so, all the way down to obsolete. It is really hard to lift straight up from a laying position, and even just switching sides is an ordeal. I also decided to super clean my kitchen this weekend, and found out that mopping takes a great deal of ab strength, way more than I thought it did, and way more than I have right now, haha! 


My rib pain is at an all time high, and I think it is because of how he lays. Any kick goes right to those organs. When I mentioned it to my doctor, she got a super concerned look on her face, which completely freaked me out! She said that it could be gallbladder disease, which is pretty prevalent in pregnant women because of the hormones, and if that is what it was then they usually try to REMOVE them in the first trimester! She didn't think that is what is was because of my history and body type, but you never know, so she ordered another ultrasound. They looked at my gallbladder, liver, and kidneys; but found nothing out of the ordinary, so it must just be his positioning. I am glad that I said something rather than just thinking it was all normal, because it could have been something very serious! 


At the appointment, I also had my 1 hour glucose test and an ultrasound. I finished my drink in 5 minutes as instructed, and had my finger pricked an hour later. I was so nervous that I would fail, have gestational diabetes, and have to prick my finger every time I eat. Nervous me had nothing to worry about, I passed with a 107! I think you are allowed to go up to either 130 or 140, so I was totally in the clear! Also, I didn't think the drink was all that bad. I was able to take it home after my last appointment and refrigerate it, and I drank it on the way. I can see how it may be gross if it was luck warm, though!

Here is a picture of our perfect baby boy :) I will say that I am growing more and more certain that he will have a 'large' nose..... about half of his pictures show a rather large nose and the other half show the typical cutesy baby nose. Either way, he is perfect! Have a look for yourself:

This was a growth ultrasound, and the tech was in no mood to just let us look in awe and wonder at our baby boy. I think we only missed a commercial break (they always play Food Network in the waiting room) and we were done in just a few minutes. Luckily, we will get another 3D ultrasound in about 2 weeks, and then another growth/position ultrasound in 6 weeks. Then 4 weeks from then (or sooner!) we will get to meet our little man!


My weight is up 15 pounds and the belly measured exactly 38 inches this week. Still growing pretty consistently in the measurement department, not so consistent in the weight gain department. How can I go from 18 weeks of gaining zero pounds, to gaining one pound every week, and now I am up to gaining 3 a week?! This cannot be!! To look at all of the bump pictures and get a list of my weight gain and belly measurements throughout the pregnancy, check out the tab up on top that says: The Bump! I will update that once a week, because I like to compare them side by side :)

Texas

Earlier in my pregnancy, I expressed some concern about how Texas will do with a baby in the house. I know that not many people believe me, but he is usually pretty laid back and loves to lay around wherever you are. He does get in those moods, though, where he runs around the house, and whips the house and whoever happens to be in it with his baseball bat tail.

Here is one of those days where he gave me complete confidence:

Lost Valentine's Pictures

Somehow, I completely forgot to post about Valentine's Day! I was emptying my camera card, and found just a couple of pictures from the day. Keep in mind that Tim and I never really celebrate Valentine's Day. It comes at a bad time, first comes Christmas where we spend a lot of money (who wants to skimp on Christmas?), then comes January when our HOA fee ($1000!!!) is due, as well as my birthday. By the time we get to February, we are tired of writing checks! We are both totally fine not doing much for Valentine's, and just enjoy each other's company!


This year, I managed to find a holiday color appropriate shirt to fit my ever expanding belly, and Tim surprised me with flowers :) My students had a blast at our Valentine's 'party', and I left for home that day not too completely drained of all energy. It was a good day. We exchanged cards, and I surprised Tim with a homemade meal. I have to say surprised because those homemade meals are hard to come by when your wife is getting more and more pregnant, can't stand the sight of raw meat, and works all day on her feet with 24 kindergarteners.

25 weeks pregnant

Delicious Diapers

Ok, so maybe diapers aren't so delicious. But, I made them look pretty darn appetizing in a diaper cake that I made for a good friend. 

Super easy to make with a little help from tiny little rubber bands, a boat load of diapers, cutesy ribbon, paper mache boxes, and a little patience.


While I didn't have the forethought to take a picture of the process while making this diaper cake, I do have some pictures of the inside of another co-worker's cake that we made together. I like using the boxes on the inside, so that you can fill it with goodies and gifts, but keep the clean look on the outside.

Here is the cake made for little Kennedy 

Here is the inside of the bottom layer. We used a smaller
box for the middle layer, and an even smaller box for
the top layer, which was filled with flowers and the letter
'K'. 

The very first time I made a diaper cake, I used the boxes, but not the circular cake trays on the bottom. I naively thought that the ribbon, if tied tightly enough, would hold all of the diapers in place. I made it out  to the car, all the way to Waco, TX, almost to the door when the whole thing fell apart. I was holding it like a tray by the bottom center box, and all of the diapers fell down around me... into the flowerbed, down the walkway, and I was left looking like a little girl who just spilled kool-aid all over her Sunday dress. Sad and ashamed. I will not make that mistake again! 

Each time I make one, I think of some little way to tweak it so that it looks even better than the last, and I can't wait for more friends to get pregnant so that I can make more!

Baby Hiccups and Movements

Lately, I have been feeling more and more baby hiccups! The first time I wasn't sure that is what they were, but the more I feel them, and their rhythmic thumps, I am sure that is what they are. Tonight was extra special, though, because Tim got to feel them as well!

Also, my mom has been dying to feel some good kicks from little Hunter. She got to feel a decent kick a couple of weeks ago and then a few nights ago, she felt a really good one, I could even see her fingers pop up! Last night, Tim and I went over to my parents house for a yummy home-cooked fried chicken dinner, and while she was putting Isabella to sleep, I started saying that he was just doing cartwheels or something in there. They happened to look at my stomach at the same time as he did a huge wave of movement across one half of my belly, and they were both surprised to hear that he does that all day long! Too bad my mom missed that one! She is by far the most patient belly-feeler... besides myself, of course!

28 weeks.... 7 months

Seven months! Seven has always been a good number for me. My first horse was named Seven, and he was so good to me, even as a 10 year old. Ever since then, I have had a slight OCD 'thing' with the number seven. It started when I got him. I would count everything, but in terms of seven. For example, if I was running up stairs, which there were 16 of in our house, I would count it as two sets of seven with the last being said as se-ven so that it stretched out over two steps. Weird, I totally know. 

I digress. Tomorrow, I will be 7 months pregnant, and I think that it will be a great month! I have a ton of things to look forward to, lets take a look:

• March 6th: Guinea Pigs day at our school, these days are always fun, and seem to fly by
• March 6th: Good friend's baby shower thrown by her team, pictures of the diaper cake I made her to come soon!
• March 7th: Field Day at our school, these days are a BLAST, they go by fast, and I usually have lots of parents take their kids home afterwards. Not that I want all my kids to go home all the time, but I do love me some impromptu time with a smaller class so that I can get some organizing and work done!
• March 8th: Doctor's Appointment- Tim is coming with me so that is always a plus, I am finally getting my glucose test, although starting yesterday I am paranoid that I have it, AND we get a growth ultrasound!
• March 10-18: SPRING BREAK... need I say more?
• March 21: Meeting with the woman from the school district who can better explain maternity leave options
• March 22: Hunter's and my first baby shower, thrown by my co-workers
• April 3: 3D ultrasound!!

You see? I have something almost every week! Hopefully the last week in March can be spent organizing and putting away gifts from the baby shower so I can be occupied, or maybe I will need some rest after a busy month!

So, I finally took a bare belly picture to compare my before belly to my current belly. I won't take another one of these until 40 weeks, but I thought it would be fun to do it now!

 Yowza. Every time I think my belly has not grown that much, I can just go ahead and pull up this picture!

Here are some plain 28 week pictures:

Here are the current pregnancy symptoms:

• Braxton Hicks- have gone down significantly this week, I think I had less than 10 good ones all week.
• Movement- I went through a few days where I really didn't feel him move all that much. Since week 19, I have felt kicks and punches to where it feels like my belly is twitching. This week, I only felt some pushing. I almost thought that they were Braxton Hicks, but the tightness and pressure was only on one side so I am assuming that he was just pushing. Either way, it was all very different from the previous seven weeks. I came home from work on Friday, with my fret level at an all-time high, and easily found his heartbeat. It is am amazing how much stronger it sounds than at 9 weeks, haha! Go figure! Friday night, I woke up for my nightly pee, and when I laid back down, he started kicking and rolling and has pretty much been going ever since. Little man knows just when his momma needs some reassurance! I am wondering if my being sick had anything to do with him being a little more restful?
• Rib pain- Ohhhhhh man. I didn't know what women were talking about when they talked about rib pain during pregnancy. He isn't kicking me there (very often), but they must be stretching to accommodate everything and I can surely feel it. I am also feeling hip pain, and pelvic bone pain, and I am thinking that the relaxin hormone is just pouring out full force! It's letting everything shift and move all over the place!
• Fatigue...... is back. I will be the first to admit that I have always loved me some naps, and am never really just bouncing off the walls with energy, but I can usually make it through the school day. Lately, I have been barely able to drive home with out feeling like I am going to pass out!
• Weight Gain/Belly Measurement: So far, I have gained a total of 12 pounds, and the belly measured 37 inches this morning. I am definitely gaining at a faster rate....
• Sickness- no more sickness, but I did manage to find, send, AND upload the picture of Tim's meal that almost made me lose it last week. Remember those baby octopi? Here they are in all their disgusting, jiggly, tentical-icious, full bodied glory:

There my be an extra  trip to the OB this week. I have been having cloudy urine for a few weeks, but no other signs of a UTI so I didn't really think anything of it. I actually just thought it was a pregnancy thing, but didn't want to hit up the internet too quickly. You always find the scariest stuff there once you start looking up symptoms! Friday, I had a few hours off and on of some lower back kidney pain, and my first thought was that they were real contractions rather than just Braxton Hicks, but the pain stopped and I forgot all about it. Saturday it started again, and I woke up Sunday with pain all day. I am going to call the doctor first thing tomorrow (Monday), and see what they suggest. Of course, it was hard to resist internet research, and apparently kidney infections during pregnancy are a big no-no, and need to get taken care of immediately! Hopefully, I am being paranoid and all is well.

We have also done some more work in the nursery, and  I am excited to share the progress!

Hello Third Trimester! 27 weeks

While I was looking through all of the student photos I have taken this year, and I stumbled upon this:

Of course, this was edited to add the label, but I actually was just so surprised to see how thin I was before I was pregnant! I mean, I remember being thin, but I have been looking at a belly slowly growing for the past 27 weeks. I guess it just snuck up on me! I took the picture because for the whole week before this that I knew I was pregnant, I had been feeling pretty bloated. When I woke up that morning, I felt like I looked pretty much like my normal self, and I am just glad that I thought ahead to take a picture! What I really should do is take a picture of my bare belly in the same yoga pants and do a comparison.... you know? Just for kicks, haha!


In other news, I am finally in the third trimester! Only 13 weeks to go, 90 days to be exact, 3 months, and I just cannot believe it!

Updates on Mommy:

• Braxton Hicks- I have to start with this one, because this week, they were out of control. I actually had to call the doctor to see what was normal and what was not normal. I had been fighting a serious cold with bad congestion and a bad ear infection that burst my eardrum, but felt that I was on the upswing. Around mid-day, I started getting tightness in my belly, and a few hours after that, I would get really short of breath along with them. By the time I got home from work, I was getting three to four per hour, and short of breath with every one.  I wasn't sure if the shortness of breath was from being sick and congested, but since it was getting close to the end of the doctor's office hours, I figured it wouldn't hurt to call. She told me to time them, and to write down how I felt with each one, and if any other symptoms accompany them. I did, and luckily there was no cramping, bleeding, or pain. In the days since then, I have had them quite consistently, but nothing to worry about.
• Weight Gain/Belly Measurement- I have gained a total of 10 and a half pounds, still (almost) keeping up with one pound a week. Hopefully the half pound is just a fluke, and next week will be a solid 11, haha! My belly measurement was just below 37 inches, which is also keeping up with the almost inch per week. 
• Sickness/Nausea- I only had two sick spells, once when I was cooking ground beef... I think I am getting back to the 'I can't cook raw meat' phase... and the other was when Tim ordered baby octopus at a restaurant. I am pretty sure that the second one would have made me sick as well. I would post a picture, but I am pretty sure that just the picture would make me sick!

Updates on Baby:

• Movement- Hunter is still an active little baby boy! There have been a few times where I am pretty sure I have felt him flip or roll over. I say this because of the different types of movements I am feeling. The first time was a full minute of slides across my belly with little kicks and punches mixed in. I am also feeling body parts poking out more and more often. It always feels like something pretty big, like either a head or a butt. Either way, it is really cool to actually feel him in there and try to visualize how he is laying.
• He should weigh close to 2 pounds, and is getting fatter by the day. He is over a foot long, from head to toe, should be close to 15 inches. If he were to be born, he could survive with quite a bit of medical intervention to help with breathing and regulating his temperature. The longer he stays in there, the more those abilities will develop. Also, he is opening and closing his eyes! I think that is so cool to think about him floating around in the darkness, but blinking to work out those eyelids.

I still am so curious to see if he will have blue eyes or green. Brown hair or red. Daddy's big lips or mommy's petite mouth. A small nose, or mommy's bump. An innie or an outie. The list goes on and on, and while I know that all of these things won't be immediately known at birth, I can get an idea :) For now, I can just dream.