30 weeks and a snow day!

I sort of feel like we have hit a milestone. 30 weeks! Wow. I still can't picture myself ever being on labor and actually meeting my sweet baby boy but, God willing, it will be in the next seven to ten weeks. I feel so blessed for the baby growing inside me. The love I feel for him, I didn't know existed or was possible. Its so overwhelming. I love him so much and I can't wait to meet him.
I am never bored when he is awake and active. I can push on my tummy and he will start going crazy with those little feet where I pushed. He is getting so big that he can now deform my tummy as he moves. His position is often quite noticeable.

Anatomically correct baby mold at 30 weeks

Trying to imagine how he would look inside.

Centering Pregnancy instructor helped me visualize his position.

30 Weeks pregnant

Some Highlights-

• Baby's heart rate is 138 bpm
• I have gained 9 lbs so far

This week, we had our first major snow storm. We had a lot of fun introducing Gunyr to snow for the first time. He was going crazy and running around all over. Its now hard to get him to come back inside. He sure has some mountain dog in him. Later in the day, I got a must-have craving for Taco Bell. I talked Steve in to taking Gunyr for a car ride to get him out of the house since we couldn't go to the dog park due to the bad weather, we knew no one would be there.
About a half hour later, I got a call from my husband saying he has not gotten far from home and stuck in traffic because people don't know how to drive in the snow. I talked with him for an hour on the phone (with his ear piece, of course) while he sat in traffic.. and then he had to slow crawl a hill. Somehow the engine died and he got a flat tire. So now he was broke down with a dead battery with our pup in the car. The car wouldn't start and they had no heat. The snow was coming down hard and while still having me on the phone hearing all this, I was losing my mind, looking online for a roadside assistance service, and praying praying praying. I was so worried and trying to come up with some way to get them back home.
Police were out directing traffic since it was so bad and he was finally able to get a squad car out to help him, thank the lord. Even through all that, he still made the trip to Taco Bell. I was just so happy to have them home but baby boy sure enjoyed his taco bell.. if only he knew what his Daddy had to go through to get it for him.

A little collage of Gunyr's first snow day and us playing in the winter wonderland. This is my favorite time of the year.

Thanksgiving/Black Friday

This was Bunkers and Gunyrs first Thanksgiving. Of course, they got a big helping of all you can eat organic turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and whatever else they decided they wanted from the feast. I decided to try a few new recipes and made some amazing pumpkin cheesecake, apple pie, and a new version of crock pot mac and cheese. I have really gotten in to being the best Homemaker I can and making our meals from scratch, and as organic as possible, have definitely become more of a priority. I have a vision of the type of Mom and wife I want to be and slowly working towards that so this first Thanksgiving where not everything came from a package or box was such an experience and made our feast so much more enjoyable.
Can you believe this is our last holiday season where we wont be surrounded by family.. our last of just us, our little family. Six more months until we are back on the west coast.

After dinner, we started our Black Friday shopping. I seriously had way too much fun if that's possible. I have have been looking forward to black Friday for YEARS! Sure, we were back in the States for last years Black Friday but since Steve had to work, we couldn't go. So this year was the first year I have been able to participate since 2008. Crazy! I was 18 back then and I don't think I even cared for it much so this really is my first Black Friday.

I searched the web all week looking for ad leaks and deals. Then got and scoured the Thanksgiving day paper which had all the Black Friday ads. I even made a list and game plan to how we would do it and where we would go, in which order, and who would get what. Yep, had way too much fun. I loved the craziness of it all and how insane people got. Being pregnant, of course, my poor husband was on over protective mode of anyone who got too close. It was sweet but he was a nervous wreck but didn't want to ruin my fun because he knew how excited I was.

We went to Walmart, Joann Fabrics, AC Moore, Petco, Micheals, and Macys.

We pretty much got a steal on canning jars from AC Moore. Then got a new Pressure Canner from Macys for nearly half off. I can't wait to start canning our fruits and veggies. Such a cheaper alternative to buying overpriced organic canned fruits and veggies from Whole Foods.
From Joann's, we got some fabric at 75% off. Um, STEAL! Sure we had to wait an hour or so to get it cut but we literately paid $10 for $40 worth of merchandise. I also got some super cheap patterns and book on making my own cloth diapers with a pattern. I knew I wanted to cloth diaper but Steve got me into wanting to make my own.. oh boy, what have I got myself into?

A few photos from our day!

The Turkey

Helping make the pie

Man of the house carving the bird

"...Can I have it yet?"

Cart full of jars! I am ready to can!

Craziness at Walmart! Had to snap a photo.

As per tradition, after we got home from Black Friday shopping, we set up our Christmas tree and stockings. I also made Gunyr's Christmas stocking. I did a lot better then last year when I made Tubbles' and Bunker's stockings. I think I have definitely improved my skills in the last year. I will post photos of our beautiful tree and stockings soon.

28 Weeks

We are finally in the third trimester! Where has the time gone? In centering, we did a tour of Labor and Delivery to see where we will be having our babies and I just can't imagine that day of delivering would ever come. I am still trying to comprehend that there is actually a baby, a real human, in there. The thought of holding this baby and taking him home seems like a dream.. not a reality that will soon come.

One more trimester. Just crazy! He is getting so big. You can see him poking himself out of my tummy and moving all over. He loves when I rub his back, head, and little feet. I will rub my tummy where I can feel he is and he will just stay right there while I do so. He will get real active after I eat but there is no settling down when he gets something sweet in him. He will just kick and kick. We will just sit and watch my tummy bounce and move all over.

My cravings have been pretty normal all pregnancy. No weird ones that I hear from everyone else like Pizza with mustard. But I do have pretty intense cravings for Chinese food and have even drove across state lines to go to Panda Express at the mall in PA. I have also waited for KFC to open just for a large serving of mac and cheese.

I'm not sure of I ever gave the results to my three hour glucose test but it came back normal. I had my third trimester glucose test a few days ago and that came back normal as well, thank the Lord. But, I have become anemic and now have to take Iron and Vitamin C pills twice a day. Since I have a major fear of swallowing pill (never been able to do it), I have been grinding them up in smoothies with our Vita-mix and that has worked out great.

28 Weeks

26 weeks

I can really feel baby boy moving now. Sometimes I have to stop and say "whoa, that was a big kick". Kick counts have been a breeze. Ill start counting during his most active time and it takes anywhere from a minute to five minutes to get ten kicks.

My cravings have included noodle dishes, mac and cheese, chocolate, and strangely enough, candy canes. Good thing they are starting to put them back on the shelves since the Holidays are coming up. But Chinese food has been a big one. Just today we drove to Pennsylvania (again) so I could get Panda Express. YUM! I can't get enough.

I have been feeling great but the exhaustion has officially crept back in. Very few days am I able to go through a day without a nap. Maybe the insomnia has something to do with that as well. Its very hard to sleep at night and I am always waking up to numb hips. Can't lay on my back, can't lay on my front.. and my hips go numb when I lay on either side. Yeah, sleeping these days has been way too much fun. And of course I should mention (since I don't want to forget anything), he is getting much heavier and when he lays low on my bladder, its very uncomfortable. Not to mention when he starts to kicks it. I have to run to the closest bathroom. Hubby loves to laugh at me and cheers baby boy on. And this whole peeing a little every time I sneeze thing is for the birds.

I am not complaining, just trying to record everything. I wanted this.. all of it! I thank God for it. With all the minor discomforts, this is the best experience I have ever had. I fall more in love with this baby with every kick and flip. If God forbids me to have another, I just want to be able to remember my experience in my own words.

26 weeks

 I posted a photo of this shirt at a concession stand at the Mall when we first moved to Delaware because I thought it was awesome.. well, Hubby bought it for me! Haha, I love it. I love how its customized to where we live. Proud Homemaker, I am.

Babymoon

We decided to have a baby-moon which basically is one last fun vacation type trip before baby comes. Ive known some to leave the country on extravagant trips for their baby-moon but we wanted to stay close since we have our fur-kids and Stephen is right in the middle of the semester at school. We went to a close Hotel that had everything we wanted. We swam in the beautiful indoor pool ..quite a bit. Ordered takeout, watched some interesting shows on cable, and just enjoyed each other. It was so fun and so relaxing. The hot tub was off limits for me but soaking my feet in it was so nice. Plus they had the best breakfast. I didn't want to leave.

Our room

The Pool and Hottub

Daddy and Gunyr relaxing

Showing off the growing belly. 24 weeks here.

23 weeks

I can't believe how fast time is going.. or how much this sweet baby of ours is growing. I can now watch him kick and move under my clothes. He sure is an active one. Steve also got to feel him kick for the first time on October 20th. I could tell he was starting to kick hard and had him put his hand on my belly and He got to feel. He was pretty amazed.
At our recent centering group, they passed around an anatomically correct baby mold at 22 weeks. We got to hold it and see exactly what our baby is looking like and how heavy he would be if we held him now. He was pretty big. I snapped a photo, can you believe how big our boy is getting? By the feel of his kicks, I believe it.

baby mold of a 22 week old baby

My cravings as of lately has been chocolate, Arbys, and Sprite soda. I am completely off of Caffeine beverages. Wooo, go me! I started getting even more sensitive to the caffeine and my heart started skipping beats real bad after drinking a Pepsi and my husband almost had to take me to the emergency room. I just can't drink them anymore. That was a month or so ago and I have not touched them since. Decaf drinks only for me.

I have been feeling pretty good... when I am relaxing. haha. My feet will start to swell easily and my back will start hurting pretty quickly into a shopping trip. I try my best to walk at night and started doing pregnancy stretches and it helps a bit. I try to save my energy for keeping up with house chores, I think I am in full nesting mode. I don't even like dishes being in the sink. Everything must be clean!

Another week and I start my kick counts. (how cute is my pen from my centering group?) Also showing is my Centering notebook. I keep track of all things mommy and baby in there. Info that the doctors have, I have. I love that about Centering.

23 weeks along. Baby boy is growing.

Anatomy screen

I am now 21 weeks. We got to have this very long ultrasound that was an hour long, its called an Anatomy screen. The Sonographer looked over everything. Then the doctor looked over the photos and came and did a screen himself. Everything looked great. Baby boy has ten fingers and toes. He is one pound and one ounce. Its amazing how they can determine that while in the womb.
It was so sweet to just sit there and watch him move, kick, punch, and flip. Every ultrasound so far, they have always mentioned how active he is. There was one point when he had his arm bent the under his head and the other arm scratching his bottom. We all started laughing and said yep, that's Stephen's boy. Like father like son.

Baby boy at 21 weeks and 5 days

Washington DC

Another trip on our 'to-do before we leave' list is done! The husband, the pup, and I drove over to DC and got to see the sights. It was probably the best and worst time to do it. Since the government is shut down, nothing was open. We couldn't tour the museums that we wanted or get a drink anywhere since all the park refreshments stands were closed. I got very dehydrated and my poor husband had to walk a bit down to a hot dog stand out of the way to get Gunyr and I some water. Even with no one working around there, parking was still scarce and we had to park in an all day parking complex and walk the whole tour. I am 20 weeks pregnant and walked about 10 miles or so in 80 degree weather. I was pretty much crawling, crying, and cursing by the time we got back to the car. Poor Gunyr was not too happy either. We were all ready to go home. But I am glad we got to go and next time, we are going to plan better and leave Gunyr at doggie daycare.

The US Capitol

Hubby and I in front of the US Capitol

These signs were everywhere

The Washington Monument behind us

The Washington Monument

WWII Memorial

At the WWII Memorial

Lincoln Memorial. There was a guard there to make sure no one came up it because of the shut down.

Lincoln himself.

By the Vietnam Veterans memorial

Vietnam Veterans Memorial

Vietnam Veterans Memorial

Vietnam Veterans Memorial

Gunyr enjoying his water and I am admiring my snow cone which I have been craving for weeks now but could not find one anywhere.

The White House

Hubby and I in front of the White House.

Awesome bridge

pretty ocean view

Gender Reveal!

Are you ready?! Sorry in advance for the overload of photos. I had way to much fun revealing the gender to family and friends. We could not do any gender reveal party since we live so far away so I came up with something fun, memorable.. and suspenseful! I started a mass text to family and closest friends with one photo every half hour until we eventually revealed the gender. I got a lot of "hurry" and "tell us already". It was definitely suspenseful for a few who was dying to know such as our moms, sisters, and close friends. Our Moms got to know first and then family, and finally friends and social media. It was fun to chat with everyone and know what they thought the gender was. It was so much fun to prepare, decorate, and execute.

Its almost time! He or She.. Open to see!

Three

Two

One

ITS A BOY!

Call it Mommy's intuition but didn't I say I just had a feeling it was a boy? Funny how that works.

When Steve's mom finally got the news that we are having a boy, she started bawling. I could barely hear her words though sobs. We talked on the phone for awhile and it was great to hear her reaction. It was so special.