24 weeks

How far along: 24 weeks-6 months!

Sleep: Ha!!

Best Moment of the Week: Painted the nursery, set up the crib, put shelves up, our rocker was delivered. It's so cool to see his nursery all coming together!

Movement: Brayden has been moving/ kicking really low around my bladder-bowel. It actually hurts sometimes. I have tried some yoga and down dog to get him to move but he seems content there!

I headed to the midwife on Wednesday because it was getting uncomfortable and she checked me out and all was well. She thinks I have a UTI so she sent it off for testing. In the mean time I got some cranberry pills at the Health Food store.

Food Craving: Nectarines

What I'm looking forward to: My babymoon end of Aug (details to come) and my showers, yes 2!!! End of Sept/ Early Oct!

Weekly Wisdom: Some days this pregnancy seems to fly by and some days I feel like I've been pregnant FOREVER!!!

Milestones: 6 months down...4 (ish) to go.

Some have asked about the prenatal vitamins I take.

I take New Chapter Fish Oil and Prenatal. I get them at Whole Foods and they are a food based organic all natural supplement. I love them and it's what my midwife recommends to all her moms. (I was actually taking them before she suggested them to me....gold star for me)

I'm never leaving this chair!!

It's here....it's here!!!!

Our La-z-boy rocker arrived this week for the nursery. I am so happy we decided to go with this chair, it's so comfortable!!!


I'm not leaving this spot for 4 months...LOL!

We decided on a la-z-boy after lots of searching and looking at 'traditional' gliders. We didn't find anything we really liked. Well we did find one but the custom order would take 16 weeks, ha, no thanks!

We have a la-z-boy store right by our house so we decided to just stop in and take a look....and there it was!!! It was over our price range but both our faces lit up when we sat in it!! SOLD!! It has everything we wanted and it will look great in the living room when it's not needed in Brayden's room anymore.

Just when you get ahead

Derek and I have been feeling really good financially lately. My credit cards will be paid off in 3 months, his school loan is getting much smaller, our savings account has been steadily building, all seemed good.....then.....the car breaks!

So there goes a big chunk of savings! *sigh*

It's frustrating to take money out when it's purpose in savings was for baby/ me taking time off after baby. All part of being 'an adult' though right?!? But it figures this always happens when you try to save for something important...aka...baby!

Derek did manage to get a 25% discount which helps a ton but still....boo for repairs!

Damn you car!

Nursery Progress

So it's not much....but it's a start...

The sleep sheep noise maker with our sheets.

Crib! Dresser and changing table are on order.

]

Corner wall with shelves.

Our name blocks. We still need some nick-nacks for the shelves and dresser.

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We bought our nursery chair!! It's being delivered today, I'm so excited!! Does that make me super old that I'm excited for a chair, lol! We did lots of looking around and eventually stumbled into a laze boy store and ended up getting one of there rocker recliners in a dark beige color. Love love it!!! It will transition well into the living room when it's not needed in the babies room anymore.

Book Review: Ina Mays Guide to Childbirth

This book was introduced to me by my midwife and she suggests that all her patients read this book while pregnant.

The first half of the book is personal accounts of birth stories. All home births but the stories are so inspiring of what our bodies can really do. The second half of the book goes into birthing techniques and tips. It also talks about breast feeding and post pardom care.

I suggest this book to all pregnant women no matter how/ where you decide to labor, it's a fantastic tool to have!!

My husband is currently reading the book and I have asked my mom to read after since she will be present at Brayden's birth.

My favorite part of the book is how I learned how much the environment you create when in labor effects the whole process. From people, to caregiver, to space, to noise, to attitude, to position, it was all very fascinating!

Derek and I have started to talk about a 'loose' birth plan. I know not to create in too much detail how we want things to go because it will all change in the moment. We are just planning who we want there, when to transition to my parents house (birth place), when to have family/friends visit after birth, a play list, and just talking about the kind of space/ environment we want to labor in.

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Nursery pics to come this week once the shelves are up. Derek and the shelves had a minor disagreement yesterday so they will go up today or tomorrow!! Paint looks great and the crib is together!! We also bought our chair...more to come!

ETSY BLOCK WINNER and a bonus for my readers!!

And the winner is:

Ashley @ I love you more than carrots

She is a fellow (very) soon-to-be mommy!!


You have won any (1) item from Etsy shop Simple Block Sayings.

Congrats!!

Email me and I'll give you ordering info.


BONUS:
As a bonus she has offered a special deal to my readers. She will give you a 10% discount on your next item purchase!!

Simply contact her with your order information, add her shop to your favorites, mention my blog (Live.Love.Laugh.) and she will deduct the 10% at checkout. Enjoy!!

Summer Style

I am in love with this dress!!! If I didn't have a million maxi dresses and my husband wouldn't kill me I would order it...LOL.

23 weeks

How far along: 23 weeks
(I skipped week 22 since I was in AR)

A little variety this week:

Maternity Clothes: Yes, I am in them 90% of the time! I bought a sleep gown that is for nursing too so I can wear it a long time, such a good investment, so comfy!

Sleep: I gave up on sleep about a month ago...LOL...I will be fully ready for NO sleep when B arrives!

Is pregnancy insomnia real??? I keep waking up at 2-3am and I'm wide awake!!! Then Brayden wakes up and decides it's time for gymnastics practice!!

Best Moment of the Week: Derek got to feel some really good strong kicks, it was so cool, his face lit up!

Movement: In the evening, when he's wide awake, my belly will move on the outside when he kicks. So cool but so bizarre!

Food Craving: Moe's tofu salad bowl. At least my cravings have all been pretty healthy!

What I miss: My smaller boobs! I am not a fan of these humongous preggo ones!!

What I'm looking forward to: Painting the nursery this weekend!!!! Let the nesting (decorating) finally begin!

Dear waist, I miss you!

With pregnancy it's inevitable that one of the first things to go is your waist/ figure! Even before you start to show your body 'thickens' to prepare for your load so to speak. Well mine did at least!

I LOVE my belly but man do I miss my waist line!

Pre-pregnancy. Nov 2009.
I miss these smaller boobs too! I know I'm suppose to enjoy this 'fuller' time but I could pass on the big boobs!

18 weeks.

22 weeks and holy boobs (lol).

ETSY BLOCK GIVEAWAY

I recently fell in love with the Esty shop Simple Block Sayings. I ordered my 'Brayden' name blocks there and couldn't be happier with them.

I have teamed up with Shauna from this shop to host a giveaway. She is offering any (1) item from her shop to the winner, including the custom name blocks if you like.

Most of her items are custom made so there is hundreds of things to choose from/ create!!! Anything from weddings-kids-holidays-religious sayings, she has a little of everything in any color scheme!!

Here are a few of my fave items in her shop:

TO ENTER:
Leave me a comment with your favorite item.

ENDS:
Sunday 25th

WINNER ANNOUNCED:
Monday 26th

Etsy Love-Nursery Style

I have been all over Etsy for nursery decorations. I have found some great stuff so far.

Since the bedding has owls/birds/trees on them, it kind of inspired some of the decorations. Since the room will be painted green and the bedding has a lot of green in it I wanted to have lots of blue to add to the room.

Here are some purchases:

I ordered custom name blocks, I am in love with them!!! This is an actual picture of them she uses for listings now.

Found here

Custom owl mobile. I picked 4 in blues and the middle owl in green. It's set to arrive in early August, can't wait to see the finished product.
(sample shown)
Found here

Vintage owl piggy bank in navy.
Found here

I found this wall decal with a cute little owl in the tree. I have yet to order this piece but I am thinking of doing a light brown tree with navy accents. I am really excited about this item, I think it will go great in the room.
Found here

I also ordered this newborn beanie for his newborn pictures.
Found here

I can't wait to see the whole room coming together in the upcoming weeks...more to come!!!

8 Things

I found this cute survey on The Cobia Family and decided to borrow it.

8 Things I'm looking forward to...

1. Painting the nursery this Saturday!!
2. Baby showers (end of Sept/ beginning of Oct)
3. Fall!!! Summer has been a bit too hot for me!
4. Eat.Pray.Love. movie
5. Commissions check
6. Friends wedding Aug 7th
7. SYTYCD on Wednesday
8. Meeting our boy!

8 Things I did yesterday...

1. Bought new maternity jeans and they let me return my 3 mo old ones that are too small, yeah for returns, yikes for too small!!
2. My mom bought Brayden the cutest clothes at Nordstrom, all 3 mo+.
3. Ate dinner at Moe's
4. Watched Bounty Hunter on On Demand, not very good!
5. Gave myself a manicure
6. Ordered the dresser and picked up the crib mattress
7. Took a bath
8. Organized B's closet


8 Things I wish I could do...

1. Get a massage
2. Walk outside but it's been too HOT!
3. Go to the Caribbean
4. Eat sushi with a glass of wine
5. Shrink my boobs, LOL, I know there only going to get bigger!!
6. Have a zero balance on my credit cards, very close!!!
7. Learn sign language
8. Go back to Thailand

8 Things I enjoy...

1. Feeling Brayden squirming
2. Decorating the nursery
3. Hanging with the hubs
4. Blogging
5. Having a clean house
6. Izze!!
7. A sleeping puppy next to me
8. Double Stuffed Oreo's

Arkansas Trip!

We are back to civilization...LOL...no really we were on a Ranch in the middle of nowhere!!

We were in Amity AR on a Ranch for the week for a family reunion. The nearest town was Hot Springs, 45 min away. It was cool to be in the middle of nowhere, literally, but a little strange.

The Ranch was beautiful!! It was a gated ranch with old style wood cabins, a lake, a church on a hill, and zebras. Yes, zebras!! They had a wide array of animals living at there barn and then they had 2 zebras that roamed around the ranch as they pleased. Also a buffalo that we got to see once. The zebras would let you get about 8 feet away and then they'd scurry away. It was so wierd to have wild zebras in the middle of Arkansas but really cool to wake up to them grazing on your yard each morning.

We got to see family we hadn't seen in a while and it was nice to reconnect with them. We had about 40 in our group. We would all go our own way during the day and at night we would meet in the large kitchen hall at the ranch for dinner together.

Now onto the RV!! Overall...interesting. It was way more like camping than I expected. It will definitely be my last RV adventure. I think I will stick with flying from now on.

The one thing I struggled with this week was the heat....it was so HOT!!! Like upper 90's. Not great for a pregnant lady. The RV didn't get really cold during the day and at night it was freezing. I wasn't able to be outside very long before I had to go inside with air conditioning. One day we went sight seeing in Little Rock and I had to go in the car for a while to cool off.

Bella was awesome on the trip, I'm glad we brought her. She honestly slept 80% of the time. She wans't a fan of the heat either. I think it made her sleepier than usual.

Here are a few pics of the week:

D driving the RV through the nothingness of central Illinois!

Bella's typical spot in the RV, sleeping on a lap!

The Old Mill in Little Rock. The whole family headed up here for the day. My great grandparents lived a few blocks from here and all their kids (my grandfather) used to play at this mill.

Our cute little family at the Mill. This was right before I had to go sit in the car with Bella!!! HOT!!!

Our pets for the week at the Ranch.

I was trying to get close to them, he kept walking away.

The group kitchen at the Ranch.

Buckstaff Bath House in Hot Springs. One of the old school bath houses from the 1920's. I couldn't par-take in the bath/sauna/massages but I did get a mani-pedi!!

To cut or not to cut??

No, I am not referring to my hair I am referring to my sons little man-hood!!

I had always assumed if I had a boy that I would of course circumcise him, isn't that what everyone does??

I was given some reading material and a website by my midwife about what a circumcision really entails and my certainly quickly shifted to should we do this after all??

I wont go into detail or lecture about what I learned but it was enough to spark some debate over this decision. My midwife is a believer that the baby/ kid/ adult should be able to choose this later on when it's safer and less painful (I never knew it was less painful as an adult). She will of course support our decision but wanted to offer an option.

I think just like with choosing a home birth that is not the 'normal' thing to do, choosing to not circumcise is similar. It has become so 'normal' and routine for a baby boy to be cut almost immediately after birth that I (society) never give it a second thought.

I learned that this became popular in WW1 when sanitary issues arouse in war time and since then it has become customary, especially in the USA, to get this done. The trend, as with home birth, is shifting now and only about half of baby boys are circumcised. This fact surprised me, I had no idea it was only half!! It's not something that is widely discussed or presented with options.

I am glad my midwife opened our eyes a bit and gave us all she could to make a decision based on fact rather than 'the norm'.

We still have more research to do on this and have not made a decision yet but I wanted to put it out there to see if anyone had had the same debate with their son or any other thoughts.

My biggest fear is my son being picked on or not fitting in but then again I don't want my son to do what everyone else does just to be cool. I want him to know that he is different and that's OK, everyone is different and there is no shame in that. (with or without the circ)

Baby name necklace

I really wanted to get something personalized after we found out what we were having since we had our name picked already. I had a secret savings stash I had been building because I knew I wanted to get something after the ultra sound.

I found these gorgeous white gold pave initial necklaces on Nordstrom.com (of course...my fave store). The designer is Roberto Coin. I got a 'B' for Brayden.


After I saw these I looked up the designer and learned a cool back story, all his pieces have a hidden ruby in the back of them. Rubies have been long believed to symbolize health, happiness, long life and in old times were thought to promote fertility. Warriors would also wear them for protection and strength. I thought this was pretty cool.

I love love it!! I wear it everyday in anticipation of meeting my little guy!!

And we're off...

We are headed to Arkansas for the week for our family reunion!

I will be back to the blog world when we get back (July 16th), I'm sure with lots of fun pics/ stories. I may schedule some random posts just to keep my blog somewhat updated!

PS. We are headed to projected 100* weather. Let's hope the pregnant lady doesn't melt or worse...swell!!!

21 weeks

How far along: 21 weeks

This week I have been having many more round ligament pains aka growing pains. I think my belly/ baby had another growth spurt! My friend and hubby even said 'I think you look bigger today'.

Sleep: Between going to the bathroom 3x, my 12lb dog that sleeps like a Great Dane on our bed, my cat that meows all night like he is dying, and my hubby who has been uncharacteristically snoring (sorry hun)....my sleep has been horrible! I guess I will be well prepared for every 3 hour feedings come November.

Best Moment of the Week: We had our 5 month check up at my midwife this week. We got to hear Brayden's heart beat, 140. Love that sound!

Movement: Lots!! Still trying to get a good strong one for D to feel.

Food Craving: Still black tea and cheese danish. My Starbucks has been out of the cheese danish most of this week, yes I go everyday. Don't they know I'm pregnant and this is what I am craving?? LOL!

Symptoms: The extreme heat and humidity we have been having makes me nauseous if I'm in it for too long, fun stuff!!

What I'm looking forward to: We picked a day to finally paint the nursery! July 24th (our first free weekend), I even sent my family Outlook reminders, ha, can you tell I'm ancy to start 'nesting'!!

Weekly Wisdom:

According to babycenter.com: baby is 10.5 and the size of a banana. I think we have all had enough of the vagina diagrams so I will spare you!!

Diaper Bag

(Are you on baby post overload yet?? LOL)

I never thought I'd be so excited for a diaper bag, though I do love purses so it's right up my alley.

We bought our diaper bag! We actually found one we both loved and can both carry.

We decided on this OiOi messenger diaper bag. Purchased at Nordstroms.

This bag is way better than it looked online, it's huge!! So many little compartments and an insulated bottle cooler.

Obviously I haven't started actually using this but I recommended it if anyone is looking for a good-functional diaper bag!

Fam & Friends Gender/ Name Reveal Surprise!

Every year we have a big 4th of July party at my In Laws lake house. Since we were finding out the gender a few days before we decide to plan a fun reveal surprise for everyone. This would mean keeping it a secret for 6 days....this proved to be quite a challenge but in the end it was all worth it! Since we had our name picked out we decided to do a name reveal as well.

I ordered custom M&M's with both our boy and girl name on them in white about 2 weeks before to ensure we would have them in time. Once we found out the gender we picked up a bag of blue M&M's at the store to add to the white ones. I got little boxes at the craft store and blue and pink ribbon. I did half in pink and half in blue.

We had everyone pick a box with there gender guess and when they opened them they could see if there ribbons matched. A few days before I mailed 2 boxes to my grandparents in SC so they could participate and open along with everyone. They were on the phone with my mom when everyone opened the boxes.

Our pink and blue boxes.

Inside were blue and white M&Ms! Brayden James was custom printed on the white ones.

It was a fun moment!! The guesses were all pretty mixed and our family is thrilled to have a boy on the way! I am so glad we decided to do a special gender/ name reveal. It's something we will always remember.

Our Sons Name

Brayden
We stumbled across this name early into pregnancy and it quickly grew on us. There are many ways to spell it and this one stood out. It is perfect for our little boy.

It means Brave!

James
This is after my grandfather. He is the only grandpa I have had. My dad's dad and step dad's dad past before I was born so I never got to meet them. This makes him all the more special to me. I knew if I had a boy I wanted him to have his name.

My Papa (James) and Mema with us in Hawaii.