Too much.. Just.. Too much

Ok, I'm just going to come out and say it. I'm probably going to get some gasps, some back lash, and some of you will be agreeing with me in your heads. I know we're ALL thinking it I'm just going to come out and say it.

I think the internet is ruining it. Don't get me wrong. I'm an internet junkie(ahem.. I'm writing on my BLOG). I'm addicted to Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram.. you name it. But I think with all this internet involvement we're putting way too much pressure on ourselves. Or maybe it's just me?

I love Pinterest. Love, love, love it! But seriously.. now you can't have friends over without having a theme, decorations, theme-inspired food, outfits. Every room in your house needs to be organized top to bottom and look just like a picture off one of your boards. Your children need to be dressed to the T, only fed natural homemade foods, and disciplined according to the latest blog.

Now I haven't even given birth to my child and I'm already getting anxiety. His room isn't perfect. He needs clothes for all these pictures I want to take. Oh goodness, don't even get me started on the guilt I feel from not taking enough pictures or "documenting" enough. I have been beating myself up because I realized I didn't take a single picture to put on the blog from our 2nd anniversary a couple weeks ago. I can only imagine what it will be like after baby Nolan is born! Trying to remember to document all of this pregnancy has been overwhelming enough!(speaking of.. I'll be working on my next bi-weekly after this).

Like I said, I love the internet. I have found so many great ideas on Pinterest. I do most of my shopping online. I love to read blogs and get ideas. But I think mommy bloggers can be some of the worst. Everyone parents differently. These days there are so many contradicting opinions and that's good because what works for one person, may not work for someone else. But there is so much pressure to do everything "right". You have to breastfeed(probably not.), you have to have a birth plan(Umm.. a what? My plan is to get this baby out the best way possible so that we're both healthy. You can't plan for these things!), you have to make your own baby food, they can only play with these toys, you have to do this just right for their development.

I guess what I'm saying is take what you read with a grain of salt. Search pinterest and plan your child's perfect party, but don't beat yourself up if you ran out of time to make one more decoration. Read blogs for baby raising advice, but don't stress when your baby doesn't fit the mold. Shop pinterest for cute outfits, but hey if you got a shower and made it out of the house you're doing pretty good even if you don't have coordinating accessories! Find the perfect organization for your living room, but don't pull your hair out when you turn around and your toddler has pulled everything back out on the floor. Everyone is different and we have to start doing what's best for us and our family and not worry so much about what it looks like in pictures, on the blog, or to all of our mommy friends.

Just a thought.. take it for what you will :)

Happy Friday, y'all!

Baby Nolan: Week 23

Baby V: Week 23

How far along?: 23 weeks already.. YIKES!

Maternity clothes?: Pants, yes. But I still wear all of my regular tops that are roomy

Weight gain?: I think I've gained about 2 pounds now from my pre-pregnancy weight, but I'll find out for sure at my next appt. I'm feeling huge already though!

Sleep: I'm still comfortable *knock on wood* so I sleep good minus the 3 or 4 trips to the bathroom that wake me up!

Best moment this week: Mother's Day was last Sunday and it was a great day all around. My sweet hubby brought me flowers and made us breakfast(pancakes and bacon, his specialty!), My very sweet sister brought me flowers too! We cooked out at my Mom and Dad's with my grandparents and enjoyed a nice afternoon with them. My Mom totally surprised me with a new Mother/Son Pandora charm for my bracelet even though it was her day first and she shouldn't have done that! :) We enjoyed our day with my family then went to my Sister-in-law's house for a yummy fajita dinner celebrating my Mother-in-law. All in all it was a nice relaxing day celebrating all the wonderful women in our lives. So blessed to have so many wonderful examples of mothers in my life!

Miss Anything?: An after work glass of wine or beer.. but it's worth it!

Movement: Yes, lots of it! My intestines have become a playground and he is getting much stronger now. Stephen was surprised how much he could feel him one night while we were watching TV. Natty had the best experience this week though. I got up to go to the bathroom one night(big surprise) and when I got back Natty hopped up on the bed and curled against me with his head on my belly. He used to sleep like that every night. No sooner had he laid his big head down, Nolan gave him a good swift kick in the head! He popped up, surprised. Then moved to Stephen's side of the bed for the rest of the night. Poor guy, I feel bad for him but also find it hilarious!

Food cravings: Nothing in particular this week.

Anything making you queasy or sick: Going too long without eating and still certain foods... Mac n cheese, grilled meat that's been cooked even a little too long...

Gender: Baby BOY!!!

Labor Signs: hopefully not until our scheduled induction date!

Belly Button in or out?: In

Weddding rings on or off?: On but had to take them off for a little bit today because my hands were swollen in the heat

Mood: good generally but it does change quickly(poor Stephen!) and I cry more than I ever have!

Looking forward to: Our 2nd anniversary on Tuesday! :)

23 week belly in Daddy's ABU top in honor of Armed Forces Day! :)

My new Mother/Son Pandora charm from my very sweet Momma!

Mother's Day roses from Stephen and pretty purple flowers from Lindsay and Carl! :)

Baby Nolan: Week 21

Baby V: Week 21

How far along? 21 weeks!

Maternity clothes? Pants, yes. But I still wear all of my regular tops that are roomy. And I actually wear a pair of regular shorts the other day! :)

Weight gain? Feeling huge. Baby boy has really made my belly pop out more and more, but I'm still holding to -3 on the weight gain. :) I'll probably be on the + side by next week though.

Sleep: I never feel like I can get enough, but I sleep like a baby when I do!

Best moment this week: so much going on... Getting hired and starting training for my post Baby job that I'm beyond thrilled about, giving my notice at my current job that I won't be coming back after the Baby, Stephen being home for the weekend, Lindsay and Carl being in town, Brayden's precious first bday party!... Soooo busy!

Miss Anything? Raw oysters and wine but Baby is totally worth the sacrifice!

Movement: Yes, lots of it! Feels like the Olympics are going on in there. Stephen was finally patient enough to feel him too. The weirdest thing is I can SEE him moving now. I was eating dinner the other night and noticed out of the corner of my eye that my belly was moving. Now I can see it every time he moves. I admit that's a little weird.

Food cravings: carrot cake! But I've been too busy to actually fulfill this craving.

Anything making you queasy or sick: still certain foods... Max n cheese, grilled near that's been cooked even a little too long...

Gender: Baby BOY!!! (had this confirmed at our 20 week anatomy scan where we also found out, to my relief, that he is perfect and healthy!)

Labor Signs: had a little scare on Friday that landed me in L&D triage for a few hours, but thankfully nothing serious and hopefully that will be our last trip there until D Day!

Belly Button in or out? In

Wedding rings on or off? On and comfortable... Hoping they'll make it the while way

Mood: good I just find myself crying more often than I ever have in my life! Movies, TV shows, news stories, songs...

Looking forward to: the family cinco de mayo party today, Stephen being home from training next Friday, our anniversary, and finishing up Nolan's nursery!

Gender Reveal: It's a BOY

It's no secret that we've been DYING to find out if Baby V would be a little prince or princess. (It also wasn't much of a secret that we were both really pulling for a boy this go around.) Stephen and I went back and forth from the beginning with the idea of having a gender reveal when we finally did find out. I always used to think the idea was silly, but it was also an excuse to get our families and friends together to celebrate our little peanut. I was feeling really tired and not sure I wanted the stress, but Stephen had his heart set on it so we decided to go for it.

I'm SO glad now that we did. It was so much fun. We didn't do the "usual" gender reveal party. We wanted it to be small with just our families and closest friends(That in itself was 20+ people!). To my disappointment our doctor didn't plan to do an ultrasound until the 20 week anatomy scan (which isn't for another week from now!). So me being impatient, I called the ultrasound institute here and asked what their policy was for pregnant women to come in as "volunteers." Luckily, the only requirement was that you had been to your doctor in your 2nd trimester.. CHECK! So at 16 weeks I scheduled an appointment with the institute crossing my fingers they would be able to tell us.

**Side note: there was no guarantee they would be able to tell so soon, and I was nervous ALL day because we went ahead and scheduled the "party" for that night just hoping we would know. Talk about nerves!

I had my 16 week check up in the morning on March 26th. Good report from the doctor, so off to work Stephen and I went. Our ultrasound appt wasn't until 3:15. Talk about torture! I thought I was going to jump out of my skin I was so anxious, and I'm pretty sure the clock stopped several times. Stephen was just as anxious based on the texts I got from him through out the day.

When it was FINALLY time I left work and headed to meet Stephen at our appt. The girls that did our scan(it's an ultrasound school so I was basically "practice" for the students. So we had 3 different students plus an instructor look at the baby.) were laughing at Stephen because he looked like he could pass out. He was SO nervous! (I hate to see what he's going to be like on D-day!!) The first tech started scanning and was just showing us stuff and measurements. Then at the same time all three techs said they could tell what we were having. They asked if I could see it. I said,"I assume if I can see "it", it must be a boy, right?"

I don't know about you more experienced Mamas out there, but I can't see anything on those stupid scans! The techs laughed and said you can see either way, but yes they were all in agreement that it was indeed a BOY! Stephen let out the biggest sigh of relief. (He assured me that he would have been happy either way, but did realllyyyyyyy want a boy first.) We all laughed at him. They had the instructor come in just to be sure, but she confirmed I am most definitely carrying a baby boy! 

              Can you see what the techs saw? I personally see nothing! 

     My sister hates this picture because she says "it's creepy" the way you can see all his bones, but I love it!                        You can really see how long he is already.

Once that part was over. We enjoyed about 30 minutes of just watching our little boy flip and kick and wave in there while they took turns practicing their scanning techniques. The thing that sticks out most to me are how LONG his legs are! I was only 16 weeks at the appt, but his legs measured at 18 weeks and everything else measured on track for 16. He definitely gets that from his Daddy! I'm curious to see how much he's grown when I go in a week for the anatomy scan.

I know that usually no one finds out until the gender reveal party, but we could not wait that long. We decided we would find out and use the "party" as a way to tell all of our family at once. After scouring pinterest, I decided I wanted to do the colored balloons in the box idea as a way to do the big reveal. I tried to keep it low key so I had made some snacks, cut up pink and blue ribbons so people could display if they were on team pink or team blue, and set up a guessing area for people to make their predictions. It was super cute and a lot of fun and I'm so glad now we did it this way.

We had his name picked out long before we knew. We actually had the first name picked out long before I was pregnant, truth be told! But we settled on his middle name a few days prior to finding out. We will welcome Nolan Evan shortly after Labor Day and we can't wait! 

    Voting station with pictures from the ultrasound to make your guess

Sweet big cousin Trae!

Getting ready for the reveal...

It's a BOY!

Mandy and I with our matching balloons! So excited to be pregnant "together"! Can't wait for these babies to grow up together. Poor Carmen will never have a boyfriend while Nolan is watching out for her! ;)

Baby V: Week 18!

Baby V: Week 15

How far along? 18 weeks.. holy moly almost half way there!

Maternity clothes? Still pants and regular tops

Weight gain? Belly is really out there now(as you can see in the pictures). I gained 5 pounds since my last appt so I'm at -15 right now.

Sleep: Good, I'm really tired again this week so I sleep like a rock. I've just been waking up with really swollen feet and a sore back every morning. Not so fun.

Best moment this week: Watching Stephen umpire some little league games. Can't wait til he's coaching Nolan's teams! :)

Miss Anything? After a rough day at work, I reallyyyyy wanted a glass of wine for the first time this pregnancy.

Movement: Yes! I can feel him rolling around in there. I'm waiting for Stephen to be able to feel him now.

Food cravings: Not this week

Anything making you queasy or sick: Too long between meals or snacks. Being hungry makes me nauseous, but otherwise it's gotten much better

Gender: Baby BOY!!! Nolan Evan... more on this in our gender reveal party post to come :)

Labor Signs: Nope hopefully have a few more months for that

Belly Button in or out? In

Wedding rings on or off? On and actually still loose.. maybe they'll make it til the end?? :)

Mood: This week was a little more hormonal than it had been. Weepy a few times for nothing and grouchy and overwhelmed over little things too.

Looking forward to: Anatomy scan in 2 weeks! 

Baby V: Week 15

How far along? 15 weeks.. Time is flying!

Maternity clothes? Pants yes but still in regular tops. Dresses and leggings are my current fashions of choice though, so much comfier! (is that a word?)

Weight gain? -20 lbs... Belly is definitely continuing to "pop" but the morning sickness is contributing to weight loss.

Sleep: I'm not as exhausted so I don't sleep as good as I was. My back hurts more when I'm laying down and I'm up every couple hours to go to the bathroom.

Best moment this week: going to Brayden's christening!

Miss Anything? Being comfortable.. But I've conceded that I will just have to get used to that for the next 5 months.

Movement: I think I've started to feel some rolling around at night when I'm laying still but I'm not positive.

Food cravings: apples, bananas, hot dogs, and French onion dip(not all together!)

Anything making you queasy or sick: everything. The morning sickness was actually worse this week. I was actually sick to include in the car on the way to work with no where to pull over. Yeah, really fun day. (NOT!)

Gender: Still impatiently waiting, but ths end is (hopefully!) in sight. After our 16 week appt on Tuesday we have an appt at the ultrasound school that afternoon and they say they should be able to tell! We're having a small gender reveal party with our families that night so fingers crossed all goes as planned!

Labor Signs: Goodness no! Not for a very long while!

Belly Button in or out? In.. hopefully for a while!

Wedding rings on or off? On and loose from having lost weight.

Mood: Eh hit and miss. I had my first hormonal moment this week with a 30 minute cry session for no reason and I've been snappier at my husband for no reason too. Sorry about that, honey!

Looking forward to: our appointments Tuesday, finding out the gender, and having everyone together to share the news Tuesday night! :)

Baby V: Week 14

How far along? 14 weeks! Moving right along.. "just" 25 more til we meet our sweet baby

Maternity clothes? I'm wearing my first pair of maternity pants to work today actually. I can still wear most of my regular clothes but they are getting uncomfortable. Work pants are especially snug around my waist so I picked up a bunch of maternity clothes from my sweet cousin this week and I'm super excited to be comfortable again!

Sleep: It's been a really good week as far as sleeping goes. I'm looking forward to two days of sleeping in this weekend

Best moment this week: Family dinner last night. It's always fun getting everyone together

Miss Anything? Nope, enjoying this whole experience

Movement: I know he/she is squirming around in there but I can't feel anything yet. Hopefully in the next few weeks I should start to feel it a little bit?

Food cravings: 2 nights ago I got out of bed at 11 to make myself a grilled cheese because I just couldn't sleep without one!

Anything making you queasy or sick: It's finally starting to subside some with this lovely second trimester, but I still get nauseous quite a bit.

Gender: Still don't know, but I think we've decided to either go to the local ultrasound institute or one of the ultrasound studios in the area after our 16 week appointment to see if they can tell yet. I'm getting impatient(big surprise!)

Labor Signs: Goodness no! Not for a very long while!

Belly Button in or out? In.. hopefully for a while!

Wedding rings on or off? On and still comfortable. I'm weird and I've actually managed to lose quite a bit of weight so far being pregnant so my rings are actually kind of loose. I won't count on that lasting for too much longer, but I'm going to wear them as long as I can!

Mood: Good! I've felt much better this week and haven't been so tired.

Looking forward to: Finding out the gender and our next peek at our little peanut!