Bump Date | 25 Weeks | Baby Has a Name!

So there it is! Our sweet boy will be named Grayson Brooks. We are so in love with his name :)

How Far Along? 25! {15 weeks to go! That is just nuts.}

Size of Baby: a whole foot long and weighing in at over a pound and a half!

Gender: Boy, boy boy!

Weight Gain: 6 pounds total. Finally getting somewhere!


Stretch Marks: No, thank goodness. But my belly is starting to get a little itchy if I forget to lotion up when I get out of the shower. I'm trying to make sure I never let that happen.

Maternity Clothes: Yep! Slowly but surely I'm getting a pretty good collection going. Still in search of the perfect work pants and jeans.

Nursery: Getting better every day! We completely finished painting, Nick installed the new light fixture {which promptly blew up. Not a user error, just a crappy fixture so we will have to try again with that one}, child safe outlets, and dimmer switch. Next up,  new carpets and baseboards, the project is scheduled and I'm totally dreading it but I can't wait for it to be done.


Purchases: Yeaaa... I may have gone a little crazy with the monogrammed layettes on Etsy this week.

Movement: Yes, and absolutely loving every minute of it. I felt him get the hiccups the other night for the first time which was such a funny feeling. I could see every little hiccup move my whole belly. So precious. Lots of direct kicks to my ever shrinking bladder.

Symptoms: Acid reflux and heart burn. There's no way to avoid it. It's not even caused by certain foods. Basically if I eat anything or drink water, I'm paying for it.  I've been drinking so much milk with every meal. Like 3 glasses with dinner. It's the worst when I get in bed. Tums are pretty much the only thing that keeps the reflux under control. I'm thankful for the delicious berry flavors.

Sleep: So all over the place. Some nights are great. Others are terrible. Mostly terrible.

Cravings: All things dessert. Smoothies, vanilla yogurt, cheese cake.


Food Aversions & Morning Sickness: Still avoiding most meats but trying to make up for the loss of proteins with lots of nuts and trail mix and things like that.

What I Miss: Nothing, I love this so much.

Best Moment of This Week: A few family members were able to feel him move at a family birthday party last week. That was pretty special. Starting to feel him moving more consistently throughout the day, and definitely those awesome hiccups. Listening to his heart beat at our last doctors appointment and scheduling all of my doctors appointments from here on out. That definitely made this all feel so real. Our little anniversary weekend was so special. It's crazy to think this is the last one we will have without a little one!

Looking Forward To: More nursery progress! Even with the room completely empty I love going in there a few times a day. I've been imagining how it's going to look when everything is done and I am just so excited.


Workout: I was able to get in a few yoga videos and walks with the dog.

Interview with the Husband

Major throw back to our engagement photos. I just love how happy he looks.

In honor of our second year anniversary this week I did a fun little interview with Nick. Because, who doesn't want to hear from the husband who puts up with all 'o this? I had him trapped in the car on the way to Tahoe over the weekend and he couldn't escape. Ha!


So, here we go.


What was your favorite part of our wedding?
Hubs: It hard to choose just one. I think walking back down the aisle after the ceremony was over. The relief... Like yes.. We're married!


What is a Fall clothing trend?
Hubs: Ummm.... Boots and scarves?


What does PSL stand for?
Hubs: Laughs. I have no idea. Is that the ice bucket challenge thing?


What are two things I do really well?
Hubs: You are very good at organizing things. And... You are very good at calming me down. At least attempting to.


What is your first memory of me?
Hubs: I remember thinking.. She's a cute little blonde and wondering if you would think I was too short for you.


Where do you see us 5 years from now?
Hubs: 2 kids... Maybe another on the way? Loving our family life but pretty much doing the same thing we're doing now.


What is one chore you absolutely despise?
Hubs: Picking up your shoes off the floor. {For the record I'm fairly certain this almost NEVER happens) Also, putting away dishes. Folding clothes... That's pretty much it.


When is the last time you were nervous?
Hubs: Everyday. We have a newborn on the way. Touché husband.


What memory are you excited to create with our kids?
Hubs: Christmas traditions.


If we could drop everything we were doing right now and go do something, what would it be?
Hubs: Mmm... Go back to our honeymoon. Or really just go anywhere for two weeks.


If money wasn't an object what would change about our house?
Hubs: A new one?


If you could hang out with any actor for a day, who would it be?
Hubs: Paul Rudd. He's a pretty funny guy. We'll drink some beers.


What is your favorite part about Fall?
Hubs: It's cozy, not having to be so busy all the time and eating good fall food.


If you could have named yourself, what name would you have chosen?
Hubs: I like my middle name. {Gavin}


If you went on America's Got Talent what would your act be?
Hubs: I'm pretty good at cooking... Do they even do cooking on that show? I don't know I've never watched it....How long is this interview going to be?


If fat, cholesterol and calories were nothing to worry about, what two foods would you live off of?
Hubs: For sure pizza... and I can eat a lot of potato salad.. With barbecue chips.


What is your love language?
Hubs: You always say its the one where you do chores.  But I like all of them. 


What is my love language?
 Hubs: The nice words one.


What is your ideal way to relax?
Hubs: Some nice music, a bottle of wine, and a good view, with you.

So there he is. Such a cutie. I just love this guy to pieces and I'm so thankful that he puts up with these ridiculous things that I make him do.

Cotton Anniversary - 2 Years!

We are celebrating 2 wonderful years of marriage today! How are we celebrating? We'll... I'm home sick, we were both up all night with a sick Cubby dog, and it's Monday. So, there's that.
We have an appointment today to hear the baby's heartbeat with a quick dinner date afterwards and that absolutely makes this a happy day.

We really spoiled ourselves last year with our trip to Napa and we decided to keep this year's anniversary trip low key in the interest of saving money, especially with all of the nursery furniture we have to buy in the next few weeks. We made use of our A's season tickets on Friday night and went out to a fireworks game. It was Star Wars night and Nick was stoked.

 

Pretty much we just spent the entire weekend eating.

Saturday morning we woke up early, stopped for coffee and bagels and headed to Tahoe for the  night. There is a really bad forest fire burning in the Tahoe area right now and it was incredibly smoky the entire drive, and worse once we actually got there.

SO much smoke.

We arrived right around lunch time and found a cute little pub downtown to eat at for lunch. We checked into the hotel and rested for a few hours and then went out for dinner. Such a delicious dinner. It was so smoky that night that smoke was actually coming through the vents into the restaurant and you could see the haze hanging around the lighting.

Sunday morning was glorious. We slept in, had bagels and coffee in bed, dozed, and watched the first football game of the day. After we checked out of the hotel we went to eat, eat, eat some more. This time, brunch at a place that was featured on the Food Network, and then drove out to the lake to take our 2 year photo.

We were pretty ready to get out of the terrible smoke and headed back home. I'm pretty sure my terrible sore throat could be a result of breathing in all of that yucky air. So, I'm on the couch today with a big cup of tea and honey.

Bump Date | 22 Weeks

How Far Along? 22!

Size of Baby: A spaghetti squash. That's getting to be a big 'ol bebe in there!

Gender: Boy!

Weight Gain: 2 pounds as of my last appointment.


Stretch Marks:  No sir! Belly oiling it up allll the time.

Maternity Clothes: I'm having a real hard time here. Maternity clothes do not fit me. Regular clothes do not fit me. Someone help me.

Nursery: Nursery is painted! We took the light fixture down and got a new one that needs to be installed. New carpets and baseboards are going in soon. I still need to paint the closet, but we're moving at least!


Purchases: We bought G's crib last week. I love it. We found it on Craigslist because, why spend $700 when you can buy the exact same crib {not mattress, thank you very much} that has been slept in twice for $100? I can't wait for Nick to put it all together.

Movement: So much! This little boy is moving. He's always super active right after dinner when we're sitting on the couch. Nick has been able to feel him every night and my mom got to feel him kicking and punching too. He was extra wiggly this week and we were even able to see him.

Symptoms: Overall I am feeling so good. I love being pregnant so much. However, I could do without the insane heart burn and acid reflux that appeared all of a sudden. I've never experienced either of these things before and had no idea what was happening. There's a bottle of Tums living in my purse now.

Sleep: Eh, so so. Munching Tums at 4:30 in the morning is not really my idea of getting a good night's sleep.

Cravings: All things sweet. Still drinking so much chocolate milk, and lots of Haagen Dazs Rocky Road. I ate two cheese danishes at brunch on Sunday morning.


Food Aversions & Morning Sickness: Certain random foods still aren't sitting well but I usually won't know it until I try a bite. Chicken for sure is still a big no.  

What I Miss: Being able to bend over without making a big ooph! sound.

Best Moment of This Week: We had lots this week! Feeling all of G's movements. I felt like I was going to have to wait forever to feel him and I am loving each and every little poke. Nick being able to finally feel him has been pretty awesome too. I'm always grabbing his hand and putting it on my belly as soon as I feel him start to move around. Sharing G's name with our friends and celebrating our friend's wedding at the beach.

Looking Forward To: So many exciting things! Now that we've made it to September I feel like the time is going to disappear so quickly. I can't wait to meet our sweet boy.


Workout: Ha.

Lists, Lists, Lists

I love a good list. My desk at work is scattered with lists of all kinds. Something about making a list makes me feel better about having a lot of things I have to get done. Even if that's as far as I get.

With this bebe on the way it seems like I've got even more lists to make with way more things on them. I've got a baby prep list that is ever growing and a to do list at work that makes my head spin. Getting ready to go out on leave has been a little stressful. Although, I am SO looking forward to that time away.

Baby prepping so far has been a little weird for us. We are usually quick to make plans {like, we had our wedding venue booked only weeks after getting engaged kind of quick} but this time around has been a little more difficult. I think I can blame it on having to wait  until 20 weeks to find out the sex of the baby. Now that we've got that taken care of we can finally start turning my Pinterest boards into actual nursery plans.

Here's a little peek at what I've got goin' on in my planner this month.

1. Finish baby registry - this is pretty much handled and checked off the list. I've been making a few adjustments but I'm pretty happy with it.
2. Paint nursery - done! We sweated all weekend getting the room done. We went through 4 different colors before settling on the perfect one. Nick, bless his heart, is the best husband and daddy to be ever and humored my pregnant/insane self and painted the ceiling "whiter" for me.
3. Get nursery furniture - no solid movement on this one yet. Although I know exactly which dressers I want. The nursery is the smallest room in the house so I'm striving for efficiency and maximum cuteness for everything we need.
4. Find G's Pediatrician - this, believe it or not, is a daunting task. I want to find a really good doctor that we can get to know and love. Someone who I trust with my baby and someone he can grow with until it's embarrassing to go to a pediatrician anymore. Suggestions from any fellow Bay Area mamas are very welcome!
5. Start daycare tours - I hate this.
6. Replace all outlets in nursery and install new light - Our house was built in the 80's and all of our light switches and outlets are a yucky, yellowy, used to be white color. I don't like how they look on all of our freshly painted walls and would like to have all brand new, stark white outlets and switches asap please :)
7. Clean, paint and organize nursery closet - The closet interior is currently painted the same, not white enough white that the ceiling was painted and that needs to be fixed right away. Also, it's currently stuffed full with camping gear, left over wedding stuff, and bins of crafts, ribbon and other crap. All of this stuff needs to find a permanent home so I can fill the closet with adorable baby boy clothes.
8. Read vaccine book - Knowing that there is likely to be lots of pokes to be had in the hospital I want to know exactly what they plan on putting in our baby so I can be prepared. We do plan to vaccinate but not necessarily on the standard schedule.
9. Schedule bedroom carpet & baseboards replacement - Our house was a rental when we bought it and we had roommates living with us for the first two years. Our carpets have taken quite a beating, especially after bringing Teddy home. I'm ready for some brand new fluffy carpets. Also, the baseboards the builder installed are just silly small.
10. Find/schedule birthing classes - We are currently scheduled for a birthing class through the hospital that I don't really have any intention of taking. I need to find a class that is focused more on a natural birth.
11. Schedule prenatal appointment with the Doula - We met and hired our Doula last weekend and we love her. I'm so glad we decided to go this route. We will see her at least one more time before the baby comes.
12. Schedule maternity photos - We found a local photographer but haven't scheduled anything yet.
13. Get my FREE Breast Pump - I can't even tell you how excited I was to hear that my insurance company will send me the exact breast pump that I have on my registry fo' free! Thank you insurance!

September Goals

I started off the year with every intention of setting a few goals for myself at the beginning of each month. I've failed miserably so far but it's never too late to start. Right?

 

September Goals

- Schedule all work meetings through the end of November
It's budget season and that means crazy time. I have so much to do by the end of November and all that on top of my clean up to do before going on leave is making me crazy. Getting everything scheduled and on my calendar will help me sleep just a little bit better. Hopefully.
- Find G's crib
We pretty much know what we want, we just need to buy it. I can't wait to see a crib sitting in that sweet little nursery.
- Get to Ikea for nursery furniture
I love Ikea Saturdays. We have the Hemnes line in black in our master bedroom and I just love it all so much. I want it all in white for the nursery too.
- Make a weekly meal plan for 3 weeks of the month
Before I got pregnant I was a meal planning fool. I barely ever missed a week. It's been months since I've done a real plan and a good grocery trip to match. This has got to get happening again.
- Replace bedroom carpets
We picked out the carpet and have everything pretty much ready to go, we just need to get it on the calendar.
- Schedule fence replacement
This one is annoying. Our fence sucks and Cubby escaped on a windy day the other day and got into our neighbor's yard to bark at another neighbor's dog. The entire thing needs to be replaced really soon so we don't end up loosing him completely.
- Do prenatal yoga 3 times each week
I've been so bad about working out. I really haven't wanted to with all of the weight loss I had at the beginning of my pregnancy {and extremely slow weight gain I've had since} but I really need to be moving and strengthening.

Bump Date | 21 Weeks

Phew! This has been one crazy time for our family. My sweet mama has been dealing with some health issues that finally came to a head and I spent a week in Mt. Shasta helping her at her house at the beginning of August. I finally packed her up and brought her back to the Bay Area with me to see a competent doctor and she was in the hospital for a week. She's home with us now and getting better every day. Thank God! A little side note... she was in the hospital where I will be delivering little baby M and it is nice to have some first hand experience with the hospital staff. We already know we will be in great hands :)

We're not quite ready to share our name yet. That's why the box is blacked out at the bottom of the chalkboard. Soon hopefully!

How Far Along? Twenty One! Holy jeez. Officially more than half way!

Size of Baby: A cantaloupe. Baby boy weighed 12 ounces at our last appointment and is measuring six and a half inches long.

Gender: BOY! Our sweet son. I am so thrilled I can't even talk about it.
 

Weight Gain: 2 pounds. Slowly but surely...

Stretch Marks:  Nope! My belly button has stretched waaay out though and starting to get really flat. It's starting to look a little funny.
 

Maternity Clothes: With fall right around the corner my maxi dress wearing days are limited. I bought a couple cute maternity shirts at Target the other day and still need to find a good dress to wear to a wedding this weekend. I also  need some good jeans asap.

Nursery: Major nursery movement this weekend! Recarpeting in all of the bedrooms is scheduled and we painted the nursery this weekend! I am in. love.

Purchases: I bought a baby book last week that I'm in love with. I'm pretty excited to start filling it out with all of our fun moments so far.

Movement: Definitely starting to feel some soft bumps and jabs. I've been feeling him move especially on my left side and the sonographer confirmed that he's pretty comfortably planted right in that same spot!

Symptoms: Lightning crotch? Yep, that's a real thing. A few pretty strong Braxton Hicks contractions especially right after my midnight bathroom shuffles. Also, low back pain and cramping in the night that makes it difficult to take a full deep breath. This wears off once I get out of bed but it's pretty annoying.

Sleep: Pretty good actually! I've been sleeping so soundly the last few nights.

Cravings: Still loving chocolate milk... and not the premade kind. I will only drink organic milk with Hersey's syrup. Also all kinds of sweets. I actually pulled over at a gas station to get a Twix on the way home from work the other day. Who does that?!

Food Aversions & Morning Sickness:  Eh... certain meats are still not so good and salad still hasn't sounded good.

What I Miss: Nothing!

Best Moment of This Week: Finding out that we will be having a SON! I am so unbelievably excited. I cannot wait to meet this boy and learn him and grow with him. I hope he is just like his daddy. Also finally deciding on a paint color for the nursery and getting it all painted and done!

Looking Forward To: Finally getting started on the nursery. It's going to be the best room in the house.

Workout: I've been walking with the dogs almost every day.