32 Weeks

I'm a bit late with this one...I'm actually 32 weeks and an extra 3 days but better late than never! We are officially in the single digits for weeks left. What?! That's crazy to me and it just feels more and more like he'll be with us before we know it. 

If you're wondering why it looks like he's blowing bubbles, that is actually his umbilical cord. But gosh do I love this little profile!! 

This week baby boy is the size of  a cantaloupe, which based on my belly feels about right. At our most recents doctor's appointments he has been doing great! Everything looks on track and he's pretty much in the middle-ish percentile wise. We'll check on his growth again next week but he continues to be a healthy boy and we're thrilled. 

Symptoms: I'm not sure what else I can say about acid reflux. It is the absolute worst and every time I think I have it under control, it flares back up. But we trek on, try all the approved OTC options, pop a Tums when needed and watch what I eat. One of the biggest culprits seems to be sugar and I can't tell you how upsetting that is because I love all the sweets. After cutting it out altogether for about a week to test this theory, which turned out sadly to be true, I've really been keeping it limited to give myself some relief. Besides the reflux my main other symptom is tossing and turning all night long. I just don't seem to be able to stay asleep for the long haul at this point. I'm so fortunate to be home during the day right now and be able to nap as needed. 

Bonus Story for the Month: What is the deal with the oversized style of clothes these days? I bought the shirt I'm wearing in this picture from the regular aisles. I repeat it is NOT maternity. AND it is in my regular, pre-pregnancy size. And somehow it fits a 32 week pregnant belly with room to grow! I can't imagine how it would fit someone who wasn't pregnant. 

Favorite Moment of Weeks 29-32: We have a dresser in the nursery now AND a rocker so things are really coming together. I've finally been able to organize some of the piles of baby things we have and there is nothing sweeter than sitting in that chair imagining rocking a little baby boy. We also had some of the best friends in town just this past weekend which while not directly baby related was definitely a highlight of the last few weeks! We took not a single picture of the 4 of us but I swear they were here. 

What I'm Looking Forward to in Week 33-36: We have one more shower, being hosted by my mom, sister and aunt and I'm so looking forward to it! I'll get to see some friends from my South Carolina days plus some family that I haven't seen in a while so it will be a special time I know. My sister is kindly stopping at my house on her way to our parents so she can drive me there (and back) which is just lovely of her. 

Weekending

I hope you all had a lovely Easter weekend! Hubby actually had Friday off so we lucked out with a long weekend! I mean, every weekend is kind of a long weekend for me right now but it's extra special when hubby gets to be home three free days. Our weekend was mostly spent with errands for the house, finishing up the dresser for the nursery and relaxing watching some of our favorite shows. But we also made time for yummy brunch at a new spot near our house and a Friday date night out at one of Chattanooga's most popular spots- The Boathouse. 

The Boathouse sits right on the river and it's always fun to try a new restaurant. We knew it would be good when we got there and there was a huge crowd already at 5:30. They don't take reservations so we went early thinking that would help us skip the wait. But even that early we still waited for a table but it was a gorgeous day to sit out on the porch while we waited. 

Sunday morning we went to church and enjoyed a delicious Easter lunch of ham, deviled eggs, green beans and pineapple stuffing. If you are not familiar with pineapple stuffing I highly recommend it. My family has always had it at Easter and sometimes it appears on other occasions where ham is involved but it always reminds me of Easter. It's basically dessert but we serve it as a side dish and it's always a hit. Pinterest is full of recipes for it that you can check out. 

My mom had also sent me an Easter shirt that I could rock with the baby bump and after a very filling lunch I was happy to have a comfy tshirt to change into our of my church clothes. My parents call me bunny so this shirt was extra fitting. That belly just keeps on growing stay tuned for my monthly bumpdate coming next week! 

             

Now to tackle the week's to-do list before some of our favorite friends come to see us this weekend! 

Back in the Groove

Things have been a bit chaotic around here so blogging just didn't feel like it was in my realm of possibility. But the weekend gave us some time to regroup and get settled and I'm feeling good on this Monday morning! 

Thursday, two of my aunts and my grandma drove over from Knoxville to take me to lunch! What a fun part of living close to family! One of those aunts lives pretty far and was down visiting grandma. Since I don't get a lot of opportunity to see her, she decided a lunch date was in order. It was a lovely start to the weekend!

A few posts back I shared that we had a plumbing situation in our kitchen that we were having repaired. The repair went well but then began the much too long process of dealing with the leftover water damage.  We are so grateful we were able to have it fixed and it wasn't more expansive but nevertheless, we spent a full 7 days with fans and dehumidifiers running in the kitchen and plastic sheets blocking it off. This meant a few things. One- the kitchen wasn't really usable- let's be real, if I can't get to the sink I'm not going to be cooking/using dishes. Two- the noise of those fans was so much louder than I anticipated when they said they'd be placing them in there. But after a week of eating out and spending as much time outside as possible, they were able to take the fans away on Friday.

Here is where I am extra thankful for having a super handy husband that knows how to do all the things. He was able to get started right away putting up new drywall on the area we'd cut, getting it sanded down, repainted and then rehanging the kitchen cabinet. Now that did not all happen Friday, but I'm just so glad we didn't have to wait around till Monday for someone to come in and do it for us, since he's so capable himself. Saturday, while the drywall was busy drying we ventured out on a double date which was so fun! We got to try somewhere new and my friend and I introduced the hubby's and we all had a blast. 

Sunday morning, hubby finished sanding and painting the drywall and while the paint dried we went out for a delicious lunch that was capped off with this ginormous milkshake. This cute little restaurant by our house has the most impressive milkshake menu. While they do have some straightforward milkshakes- just a milkshake with whipped cream on top- they are known for their more impressive creations that have basically a full sugary meal on top. So we shared the chocolate cheesecake and were not disappointed at all. 

Afterwards we headed home with very full bellies and got the cabinet rehung which meant I could finally clean up the kitchen! Everything that had been in that cabinet and under the sink etc had been spread out over the other counters for the last week and it was making me crazy. Plus with all of the work being done, everything was covered with a layer of drywall dust. It felt so good to clean and put away after a week of mess. 

We also did some baby things over the weekend too! And by we I mostly mean hubby. We installed the carseat bases in both cars. While its still several weeks until we'll be needing them, we both agreed having them in was better than scrambling if baby boy surprises us early. He finished sanding down an old dresser we're repurposing for the nursery and got the first coat of paint on it as well. He also set up the pack n' play which is going to be a sort of downstairs baby hub so we're not trekking up and down to the nursery all the time. 

It's so fun to start to see things settle into place and imagine the baby being here in those spaces in what I'm sure will be no time at all. I'm 30 weeks so we're really on the homestretch to meeting baby boy! I've got a running 3rd trimester to-do list that I made this weekend and I'm ready to start getting things marked off the list!

Am I the only one who puts things on a to-do list that I've already done just so I can give myself a head start with checking things off? I hope your weekend was filled with things that make you happy like a clean kitchen and yummy milkshakes. Happy Monday everyone!

Bardstown, Barrels and Bourbon

Two weekends ago, we headed to Kentucky for a Bourbon Trail Weekend. You're probably thinking that sounds like an odd choice for a weekend getaway for a 7 month pregnant woman and if I were the kind of person who liked bourbon when not pregnant that might be true. But honestly it didn't bother me a bit that I had to skip the tasting part of the trip and I think hubby was quite pleased that they still set out tasting glasses for me so he got to try double! 

We went with my parents and my aunt and uncle, my aunt being the travel agent extraordinaire for all of us. She found us a great Airbnb in Bardstown which was the best location! It was right by so many of the places we wanted to go. She also planned which distilleries we'd visit on which days and made the necessary reservations and basically without her we would have been lost.

Despite the fact that I don't love to drink bourbon, nor could I on this trip, I hadn't ever been to any bourbon distilleries and found it really fascinating to see the whole process, the impressive buildings, and the row upon row of barrels. And while obviously the process is much the same at all of the distilleries you visit and the tours have a similar feel, there was always something about each of them that made it just a bit different from all the rest which I loved! And my hubby was there to answer the other 100 questions I had that weren't covered in the tour. For example, why is this distillery so unbelievably hot and the others weren't? A very pressing question for a pregnant person. 

And of course at the end of each tour, or sometimes during, there is a tasting of some of their product and these tastings are obviously set up ahead of time so my spot always had a tray ready to go which meant hubby got a few extra sips along the way. But my favorite part of the tastings is that they almost all came with chocolate! So I settled for just smelling all of the bourbon, to get a feel for it but I definitely ate all the chocolate that was in front of me and also some that was in front of various family members kind enough to share! 

We enjoyed delicious meals, including a birthday dinner out for my uncle at a local steakhouse! And went to Mammy's Kitchen twice. On one of those occasions I ordered multiple slices of their homemade pie and I do not regret it one bit. There are some perks to being pregnant...no one questions you when you order both the chocolate and the butterscotch pie. 

And while I definitely felt like we were on the go most of the trip between the distilleries, meals and browsing the local shops,  there was also some downtime for watching the basketball games and playing cards which made for an overall delightful weekend. 

We came home with local prints from a darling shop in Bardstown, a tray for our bar made from a bourbon barrel top, several bottles of bourbon to add to the collection hubby is building and of course tired feet and happy hearts.  

Hubby is still hoping to get a whole barrel (not a full one- but for decoration) at some point. So I guess that means we'll have to go back right? 

Graduate

 We have a graduate! 

Bo was returned to us yesterday and he is wowing us with his spectacular behavior! He learned several new commands and strengthened the few he already knew. 

He was also worn out! Tired little thing slept from 5:30 last night until morning so we know he’s been working hard. We’re happy he’s home and are promising to do all we can to reinforce his new habits and not bring back the old ones. 

Homeownership At Its Finest

 How is your morning going? Here's mine...

Yes that is our dishwasher pulled out from the wall and all of the dishes from the above cabinets pulled out. Why you ask? Because apparently there is a leak that we (and by we, I mean my hubby and a plumber) have determined goes up behind our cabinets. 

So hubby is about to take down some cabinets so they can get behind it to repair the leak. Which they THINK is there but aren't positive of it's exact location. 

My silver lining is hoping that maybe our water bill will go down once we get this leak stopped- we'll see! 

Happy Tuesday, I hope yours is a little drier than ours! 

This month I'm linking up daily with Two Writing Teachers as part of their Slice of Life Writing Challenge. Thanks for visiting!

Hey Third Trimester

We had a weekend away that began Thursday so my blog got away from me. I am not usually up and going so much for 4 days in a row so it wore me out, but was definitely worth it! In theory that's our last little getaway before we become a family of three, so it was good to make the most of it. I'll be writing about that trip later this week but for now I am due for a pregnancy update. As of Saturday I am officially 28 weeks which also means I am officially in my 3rd trimester. 

The home stretch people! Meeting our baby boy is on the horizon which is so exciting, and only a bit overwhelming when we think of the still to do items on our list. 

According to my pastry calculations this week baby boy is the size of a "Couronne Bread". I will save you the google and tell you it is a bread that has been shaped to look like a crown. If you're more into fruits and vegetables then baby boy is either a head of romaine lettuce or a coconut (assumably a pretty large one based on the other items). No matter which item you measure him with,  both hubby and I have determined that he is growing quickly and so it my belly! Whew, in the last week I've just started to feel extra large in the belly department. And a bit like a turtle that's stuck on its back when I try and get off the couch.  He was in the 61% at our last appointment and as always was moving all around. I can tell he is going to be a busy little guy. 

Symptoms: This months symptoms are a continuation of the acid reflux, although I seem to be getting that somewhat under control which is a huge blessing. And the general aches and pains of growing a human- some backaches and rib pain.  But again, with the chiropractic care I'm getting the pain has been manageable and for that I am grateful. As I move into the 3rd trimester I'm thinking some of my fatigue may show it's face again but I don't mind having an excuse to nap :) I still love being pregnant and am grateful on a daily basis that things have gone so smoothly for me so far. 

Funny Story of the Month: I don't really have any cravings at the moment, so I'm trading that section of my update for a funny story about the moment I realized my belly was bigger than I thought. As I mentioned we were away for the weekend- we spent a few days on the Bourbon Trail with my parents and my aunt and uncle. I realize that seems an odd place for a pregnant lady to vacation but it was great! I'm not a bourbon drinker anyways so I didn't mind having an excuse not to taste. One morning, the ladies were strolling through the downtown shops while the guys were at a tasting. We went in the cutest home boutique and looked at all of their beautiful things. I noticed there was a very large staircase in the middle and asked if they had a lot more upstairs, I wanted to know if it was worth climbing the staircase before heading up. The kind owner told me that they have a few things up there but not too much but that I was welcome to still climb the stairs if I thought it might help get labor going! What?! No thank you, I'm actually due in June not March so I definitely do not want labor to begin as much as my belly may disagree. I got quite the kick out of that. 

Favorite Moment of Week 25-28: We had our first baby shower which was so fun! We got so many lovely things and got to spend time with lots of our loved ones and it was overall just a glorious weekend celebrating our baby boy. And hitting the 3rd trimester! That feels huge and exciting and like a big milestone for sure. Oh an for those that read about my gestational diabetes test, I am thrilled to announce everything came back fine so it was worth the yucky experience of doing the test. 

What I'm Looking Forward to in Week 29-32: Starting to get things organized and ready for the baby! Our nursery is now full of all kinds of fun baby things and it's time to start nesting, sorting, organizing and getting everything ready for our little man. Hubby is helping me get a dresser set up and then we'll be ready to roll in terms of getting things organized. We obviously don't have everything yet but it will be so fun to make a dent in it and start to feel the reality of his arrival