28 weeks down, 12 weeks to go!

As of this past Sunday, I am now 28 weeks pregnant and in my third trimester.

According to The Bump, our baby now weighs 1.5 to 2.5 pounds and is about 13.6 to 14.8 inches long  -- the size of an eggplant.

Overall, I'm still doing okay, but for some reason, this week has been exhausting!  I don't know if it's  due to the fact that I've had so much going on this week or if it's because I'm in my third trimester now, but either way, this week was definitely not as easy as the other ones.   Just stopping by the grocery store for a few things on my way home from work left me feeling like I had just run a half marathon, and I'm pretty sure that I fell asleep in yoga class for a brief moment {a few seconds or a few minutes -- I'm not really sure which one}.  We also had our 28 week appointment on Wednesday, and thankfully, everything went great.  

They didn't do too much at this appointment other than measure my stomach and listen to his heartbeat, but it was reassuring to hear that everything appears to be right on track.  Plus, to top it off, this was the fastest appointment ever -- they called us in right away, and we were in and out in 15 minutes, so Ben of course loved that.  28 weeks down, 12 weeks to go -- let's just hope that it's not all downhill from here!

G's Birthday

Yesterday was G's birthday, so my mom has all of us over to celebrate.  I really wish G would have been able to be there, but we really did have a good time spending the evening together as a family.  My mom made fried chicken and mashed potatoes along with a chocolate cake, and there were even presents -- not for G, but from her.  While cleaning out G's house, my mom found a couple of things that G had bought for both me and Holly, so she wrapped them up for us to open that night.  Holly got a couple of really nice Rada knives, and I got a book for the baby.

"Pat the Bunny" was actually the very first book that G gave me when I was a baby, so it makes it extra special that the baby now has a copy of his very own and that it's from his G.  I can't wait to read it to him.  I just know that he's going to love it, too! :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

I have so much to be thankful for this year...

... the world's greatest husband.

... the baby boy growing in my tummy.

... two wonderful families.

... Annie & Amos.

... the best of friends.

... both mine and Ben's jobs.

... a roof over my head and all of life's "necessities".

... a church that feels like home.

... and so much more.

This year's Thanksgiving was different than the usual.  While we normally bounce around from house to house seeing Ben's family, my mom's family, and my dad's family, we only had to make one stop this year.  My dad and Patty decided to stay in Houston this year and invited Grandma to be with them for few days, and since none of us wanted to think about celebrating Thanksgiving at my mom's house without G, we decided to do something a little different this year and invited my mom and Holly to join us at Ben's family's lunch, which was at Uncle Jack and Aunt Lisa's house.  As always the food was delicious, and we had a great time spending the day just hanging out and catching up with everyone.

Josh, Kyle, Steve, me, & Ben

Matt & Aunt Kim

Jack, Bridget, LizAnn, Eric, Aunt Beth, & Scott 

The newlyweds -- LizAnn & Scott

 

Patrick {and Javelin}, Kaitlyn, Nolan, & Tyler

Kaitlyn & her college roomie Ann Peyton

Holly, Mom, & me

Thank you, Lord, for blessing me with such a wonderful life. :)

27 weeks down, 13 weeks to go!

As of this past Sunday, I am now 27 weeks pregnant and in the last week of my second trimester.

According to The Bump, our baby now weighs 1.5 to 2.5 pounds and is about 13.6 to 14.8 inches long  -- the size of a rutabaga {whatever that is...}.

Overall, things are still going well, but I'm definitely starting to feel a lot more pregnant these days.  No matter what I eat, I usually get heartburn at least once or twice a day, and I am also having trouble sleeping.  I never before realized how many times I flip from side to side in the middle of the night, but now that it requires a lot more effort to turn over, I wake up every time that I do and then have trouble falling back asleep.  It's definitely not enjoyable, but I guess it's just God's way of preparing me for the lack of sleep that is to come. ;)  In terms of getting ready for the baby, I'm slowly starting to cross things off my "baby to-do" list, but we still have a long way to go.  Thankfully we have a long weekend coming up, so hopefully we'll get a chance to knock off a few more things.  There's just so much to be done, and this pregnancy is going so, so fast.  This little baby is going to be here before we know it, which is both SO exciting and SUPER scary!!!

Formula 1 -- Race Day!

This past Sunday, we went out to the Formula 1 track to see the big race.  I'll be the first to admit that car races aren't typically our thing, but since Ben has been working out there for the past few months {Wheeler Companies supplied the asphalt for the track and did all of the infrastructure -- parking lots, roads, etc.}, we were lucky enough to score some free tickets in a VIP suite.

We weren't sure how bad the traffic would be getting out there, so we left the house around 9 o'clock that morning.  It really wasn't bad at all though, and in addition to our tickets, we also got a parking pass that was so close to the track that we ended up parking right next to where all of the helicopters were dropping off their passengers.

We didn't have too far to walk, and when we got to our suite, the girl at the door welcomed us, told us that they had a complimentary full bar both upstairs and downstairs, and then said that breakfast was currently being served downstairs if we were hungry.  Considering I had never been VIP anything, I really wasn't sure what to expect, but needless to say, VIP is definitely something that I could get used to. ;)

The upstairs of our suite was a huge outdoor patio, and the downstairs was completely indoors with a private bathroom {something that came in very handy with as many times as I had to use it}. Our suite was located on Turn 2, but we could also see Turn 1, which was a really tight turn, and we weren't too far from the start/finish either.

Before the F1 race, we got to watch both a Porsche race and a Ferrari race.  I kept commenting on how fast those cars were, but everybody kept warning me that those races were nothing compared to the F1 race.  Clay Walker sang the national anthem, and in addition to a flyover, they also had someone parachute out of a helicopter with the American flag. 

After the national anthem, the U.S. Grand Prix began.

Seeing the F1 cars come around Turn 1 was like nothing else.  They were going SO fast, and they were so loud that we had to wear earplugs.  You could feel the vibrations of their engines in your body, and you could even feel them shifting gears.

After watching them make a couple of laps, we decided to venture out of the suite and walk around a little bit.  Considering the cars had to make 56 laps total, we figured there was no sense in watching them make every single one while standing in the exact same spot. ;)

Walking over the track and feeling/hearing the cars underneath you was pretty cool...

...but we didn't make the trip up the tower.  At $35 per person, Ben said he'd just wait and go sometime at work for free -- haha.

It ended up being a great race.  Luis Hamilton overtook Sebastian Vettel right in front of our suite during lap 43 and came in 1st.  It was such a beautiful day for a race, and I had a great time seeing what F1 was all about and also meeting a couple of Ben's coworkers that I had never met before.

The only problem though is now I have a feeling this baby is going to come out thinking that his mom is way cooler than she actually is.  Never before have I ever been to a car race or been VIP anything, and I have a feeling it might not ever happen again.  The general admission bleacher tickets didn't look nearly as appealing as our suite {can you say spoiled?}, and considering our suite tickets were $3,000 a piece for a 3-day pass {crazy, huh?}, I have a feeling this might be my first and last F1 experience -- haha.  It was definitely fun while it lasted though.  Thanks for the hook-up, B! :)

A Couple More Bridal Showers

This past weekend and the one before that, I went to Holly's last two bridal showers.  The Fredricksons hosted the shower last weekend, and the Kadleceks hosted the most recent one.  Both showers were beautiful, the food was delicious {I had two whole plates at both!}, and it was so good to see so many wonderful friends that we don't get to see nearly enough.  Unfortunately, I didn't get as many pictures as I would have liked, but I did get a few cute ones.

Holly & the hostesses -- Debbie & Abby

Abby, me, Holly, & Audrey

Dabney & Holly

Valerie, Holly, Grandma, me, Audrey, & Mom

Audrey, Holly, Mom, & me

Grandma & her girls

Mom & her girls

Holly & the hostesses -- Kaitlyn & Amy

A beautiful spread...

...and cookies that were both beautiful & delicious

The Armstrong & Kadlecek Women

Kaitlyn, Holly, & me

It's hard to believe that Holly and Nelson's wedding is less than 2 weeks away!  We've had so much fun showering Holly these past few weeks/months with gifts, and I hope she knows just how much we all love her.

26 weeks down, 14 weeks to go!

As of this past Sunday, I am now 26 weeks pregnant.

According to The Bump, our baby now weighs 1.5 to 2.5 pounds and is about 13.6 to 14.8 inches long  -- the size of a head of lettuce.

Overall, this week has been a pretty good one.  The baby still moves constantly, which I love, and it's because of these movements that I've been able to determine exactly how he's situated in my belly.  I'm pretty sure that his head is towards the bottom of my belly {just below and to the left of my bellow button}, his little bottom is to the right of and just above my belly button, and his feet are at the top of my belly and to the right, which is the reason that he is always kicking me in the ribs. ;)  The pressure that he is able to put on my stomach where both his head and bottom are is even stronger and even more uncomfortable this week.  Sometimes I feel like he pushes out so hard that you can almost tell that that particular spot is more "pointed" than the rest, which is so weird.  In other news, I decided this week that I should probably stop running.  I met up with a couple of friends for a run on Thursday morning, and after about a mile into it, I decided that the pressure that he was putting on my bladder and the soreness that I was already starting to feel in my tailbone really wasn't worth it.  Thankfully, both Kathy and Laura were very understanding and neither one minded walking, so they kept me company while we walked the remaining two miles.  I'm pretty happy that I almost made it to the very end of my second trimester, but I am definitely going to miss running.  It helps me so much with both cardio and stress-relief, but thankfully, this break is only temporary.  Goodbye running and hello walking!  If you live in the area and are ever up for a walk, let me know because I would love the company!

Happy Birthday Rory!

Baby Rory {Ben's cousin's son} was born today, and we are so excited that he is finally here!

Rory Reed O'Connell was born at 5:52 this morning.  He weighs 7 pounds 8 ounces, is 19 inches long, and has red hair just like his dad.  Both Molly and Rory are doing great, and Charlie is already such a wonderful big brother.  The video that Kyle took of him going up to the hospital to meet his baby brother is SO cute!

This evening when I got off work, I went up to the hospital to meet the newest member of our family.  Unfortunately, the picture that I got of me holding him is super blurry, but it's the only one that I got, so it will have to do.

Meeting Baby Rory was so much fun and made the fact that I will soon be bringing a baby into this world feel even more real -- especially since our baby was kicking both me and Rory the entire time that I was holding him. ;)  It's so exciting to think that in just 3 short months, we'll be adding another baby to this family, and it's going to be so fun to have them so close in age.  Congrats again, Kevin, Molly, and Charlie, and welcome to the family, Rory! :)

Happy 55th Birthday Mommy!

Today was my mom's birthday, so this evening, we had my mom, Holly, and Nelson over to celebrate.

We had steaks on the grill with baked potatoes and broccoli, and we even had a mint chocolate chip ice cream pie for dessert.

We had a great time hanging out and eating, and my mom got some pretty good gifts, too -- tickets to Michael W. Smith's Christmas concert and both a CamelBak and a Road ID for her to wear while riding her bike.

I wish G had been able to be here to celebrate with us, but I know she was looking down on us the whole time -- so proud of my mom and all that she's accomplished in her 55 years and so glad that all of us were having such a good time together.

It's exciting/scary to think that I'm going to be a mom myself in just 3 short months, but I am so glad that I have such a wonderful role model -- a mom that has always been such a good example and that I know will be there if I ever need anything.  Happy Birthday Mommy!  I hope you know how much you are loved and appreciated, and I hope this year is the best one yet!

25 weeks down, 15 weeks to go!

As of this past Sunday, I am now 25 weeks pregnant.

Our baby now weighs a pound and a half and is about 13 and a half inches long -- the size of a bunch of cauliflower.

As you can see, this baby is definitely growing and is not nearly as laid back as he used to be.  He moves all the time, and I especially feel him anytime I'm laying in bed or sitting still -- whether it be while I'm in the car, at work, or hanging out at home.  I still love feeling him move, and the fact that he stops almost every time I have Ben put his hand on my stomach is pretty funny -- and somewhat frustrating.  Ben is convinced that he just has that good of a calming affect, and I really hope that his super power works as well after that baby is born, too. ;)  As for other happenings this week -- my mom got to feel him move for the first time, and I now get heartburn pretty frequently, too.  It doesn't matter what I eat {sometimes I even get it when I haven't eaten anything at all}, but thankfully, the tums that I picked up at the pharmacy this week seem to help almost immediately.  Other than the heartburn and a little bit of pelvic pain though, things are still going pretty well.  I went running twice this week and to prenatal yoga once.  I also got the results from last week's glucose screening test, and thankfully, I don't have gestational diabetes.

I did find out that I am slightly anemic though, so now I have to take an iron pill in addition to my daily vitamin.  In my opinion though, this is way better than not being able to eat cookies or cake.  Bring on the holidays! ;)