Friday, August 30, 2013

Go Dawgs!

Ahh, football season has finally begun!  We are going big for the UGA vs. Clemson game this weekend. 



A couple friends came over last night to help me whip up some of our tailgating munchies.  So far on the list:

  • Buffalo Chicken dip [tripled the recipe!] going to be in the crock pot
  • Macaroni Salad
  • Vanilla Chip Rice Crispy Treats
  • Chocolate Chip cookies [homemade, the only way to go...]
  • Peanut Butter Brownie Bites
  • Red Pepper Jelly & Cream Cheese dip
  • Chips & Pretzels [ok, so we didn't make these]
Others are also bringing a fruit tray and some 7 Layer Taco Dip, yum!  I am so looking forward to the food this weekend.  I am so NOT looking forward to the fact that it's going to be 87 degrees all day.  At least we will have an industrial fan and several tents to hopefully cool off under (I told you, we're doing it big!).  I'm halfway considering getting water balloons. Too much?



Friday, August 23, 2013

Baby Clothes Cuteness...

I know that I should be patient, but I would really like to fast-forward about 5 weeks so that I know if Little Bit is a he or a she.  I know at as soon as they are here I will be praying for time to stand still, but I can't help but want to be able to get a better idea of what our near future will be like.  I can't stop looking at cute baby clothes and baby items online, and [being the bargain shopper that I am] I would be scooping up so many clearance deals! Like these...



Also, can we please take a minute to talk about the overload of amazing that is Carter's Halloween costumes?!  Here are my favs:

For a little Mister...

or a little Miss :)


Only NINE more days until it is September, which means officially time to break out the Fall decorations, scarves, boots, cider, pumpkins, and spice candles....Makes my heart happy :)






Thursday, August 22, 2013

Hello 2nd Trimester!

It's exciting, but a little scary to think that we are already over 1/3 of the way there! 
 
I have this pregnancy journal, but I've been thinking of what type of pregnancy photo book I want to make with all of my belly pictures and weekly updates.  While I think all of the chalkboard stuff can be really cute, I tend to shy away from things that get too trendy.  So, I've also seen this style, which I really like:
 


And I took my first belly picture, but I haven't uploaded it yet, so it will be coming soon! [Jake may have also been playing around and took his own "food" belly picture, however he made me promise not to share it haha...]

I have also been thinking about how I need to get into some sort of work-out regime, because up until now I have not had the energy or motivation.  However, I know it's healthy for me and the baby to do so.  I found a great deal on these on Amazon:

The Pregnancy Project

What I like about this particular set is that there is a different DVD for each month, so it keeps things interesting and it doesn't get stagnant.  It's half stretches, arm and leg workouts, and the other half yoga. 
Tracy Anderson Method

I've heard good things about this, so we will see!
I'm aiming for 3 times a week to do these pregnancy workouts.  We'll see how well I can hold up to that, or if I get ambitious and fit more in!




Thursday, August 15, 2013

12 Weeks :)

Well, things are moving right along!  I haven't taken belly pictures yet because for a while I just felt bloated, but now my bloat is actually turning into a hard itty bitty beginning of a bump, so I guess it's time.


How far along? 12 weeks, 3 days!
Total weight gain/loss: +1.3lbs (at last doctor visit) but maybe another pound since then.
Maternity clothes? belly bands are awesome, I have them in black and white so they have saved me from needing to wear maternity pants.  Also, since it's summer I'm getting away with a lot of stretchy waistband skirts, like this one.  I do have one pair of maternity work pants that I've worn once.  I just like the comfortable waistband so I don't feel like I'm squishing little peanut when I sit down!
Sleep: Seems to be a little touch & go...every now and then I will wake up in the middle of the night and have trouble falling back to sleep.  Other than that, tired all the time!
Best baby moment this week: I finally found maternity jeans that fit me, and at Ross of all places! But hey, I won't complain about only having to fork out $15 instead of $90.  Also since we went public on facebook, several people came up to me at a networking lunch to tell me congratulations
Have you told family and friends: Yes!
Miss Anything? sushi, sweet tea (although I sometimes cheat that one), and a good sub sandwich (deli meat)
Movement: not yet, but I loved seeing it at our last ultrasound! baby was kicking and wailing arms around
Food cravings: pork BBQ, pasta, Sonic slushies (ice), anything peanut butter, milk
Anything making you queasy or sickFor some reason I've realized anything with ground meat (meatballs, meat sauce, tacos, McD's cheeseburger) have left my stomach a little uneasy.  I haven't gotten sick, but I'm thinking I'm going to stay away from it from now on.  Also, I've noticed that my motion sickness kicks in sooner if I'm riding in a car (if I'm driving its ok).
Have you started to show yetTo me, a very little bit
Gender prediction: I don't know, I have a feeling boy, but we don't care either way!
Labor Signs: No, and better not for a while!
Belly Button in or out?  In
Wedding rings on or off? On
Happy or Moody most of the time:  Happy/tired
Looking forward to: Hearing the heartbeat again at my next appointment, and the anatomy ultrasound/finding out the sex at the appointment after that!
 



Friday, August 9, 2013

Telling our Parents :)

We wanted to think of a good way to share the baby news with our parents.  Just like with how I told Jake, I wanted it to be in a way that they had some tangible memento to hang onto.  So, although it was earlier than we had thought we wanted to tell them, we decided to share on Father's Day. 

As most newly-weds can probably attest to, once you hit that 1st anniversary, you start getting the baby questions.  And then as the 2nd anniversary starts approaching, you start getting the baby pressuring and accusations.  I felt the eager eyes at every holiday or occasion...like people wondering "Are they going to tell us they're pregnant?"...All the while, none of these people actually knew that Jake and I have talked about children and when we planned to start trying all along.  Our original plans got pushed back a few months because of my car accident, healing, and chiropractic visits that followed it.  If you would ask, Jake's standard response would be "Nah, we're going to wait about 5 years" or something along those lines.  We just didn't want the pressure.  You never know how long getting pregnant might take, so we felt like admitting or announcing that we were trying was like setting a timer and people would constantly ask about it.

So, with that said, a random "Let's get together" would cause too much suspicion.  We decided that Father's Day was the best time because we could get cards that said "grandpa" to reveal the big surprise.  We gave them to each of our dad's at their Father's Day dinners, and it worked like a charm!  Mark played it cool, grinned at us and passed the card to Jake's mom.  She didn't understand at first since Mark has other grand children so she thought we were just trying to be thoughtful.  Then, once she got to the inside of the card she saw our note at the bottom about Baby Walden and on came the water works!  We got a similar reaction out of my parents.  My dad read the front of the card, and when he opened it to read the inside my mom got  a glance at the front where it said "To the best FATHER and GRANDPA...".  Her jaw dropped, tears started falling and lots of smiles.  It was perfect, and I love that they all have those cards to look back at and cherish.
 





Sunday, August 4, 2013

Adding another branch to the Family Tree....BABY WALDEN!

Yes, it's true and we are so excited!  Jake and I are going to be welcoming a little one into the world sometime at the end of February [Due Date Feb 25th]! 



I'm 11 weeks right now, and we have been pretty much bursting at the seams so we decided it's time to share with the world.  It's still pretty surreal. 


How I found out...
The good Lord above gave us the best anniversary present we could have asked for this year, with a positive test very, very early in the morning back on June 11th :)  We had just gotten back the night before from our anniversary vacation to Nashville, super tired, and the dogs woke me up in the middle of the night to go outside.  I thought--heck, why not, I'm going to take a test [I was a few days late at this point but took a test before our trip that was negative so not feeling very optimistic]...Well, maybe it was early or maybe I was impatient, but I looked at the test right away and saw one bold line.  Yes, I know it says "May take up to 3 minutes to appear" but I was looking for the instant gratification.  Well, thinking it was another negative test I just set it down on the counter and let the dogs back inside.  On my way back upstairs I picked it up to throw it away and looked again.......I FROZE.  I kept blinking and rubbing my eyes to make sure that I saw that second, beautiful, faint pink line.  I couldn't believe it. 

Can you see the 2nd line? So faint, but you don't get false positives!
I also ended up taking 3 more in the following days that were much bolder...
I had my own little dance party in the kitchen.  My heart was beating so fast and I couldn't stop smiling.  But, it was 4am, and I didn't want to wake Jake up because I had always thought that, just like the guy gets to do the marriage proposal, this was my special thing.  I wanted it to be really memorable.  Of course, I couldn't fall back to sleep because my mind was going a mile a minute, so I just tossed and turned and daydreamed for the next 3 hours before my alarm went off to get ready for work.  I didn't know exactly how I would tell him, but I knew that by the time I got home from work I better have a plan!


How I told Jake...
So, on my drive home from work I came up with this--call him and tell him I'm running late because of traffic.  Totally believable..thanks I-77.  I quick went to Books-a-Million searching for the perfect children's book.  Something that we would be able to hold onto for years, make memories with, and something that would represent the bond of father & child.  That's when I found the absolutely most fitting bedtime story possible.  I quickly paid and drove home, hoping that I would get there before him.  Nope.  I pulled into the driveway and tried to figure out how to cram the book into my purse and get upstairs to hide it from him.  I needed to wrap it and write a note to him.  Our plans that night were to meet some friends at a pizzeria for a 21st birthday party [yes, on our anniversary. But we had just gotten back into town from 4 days of "date time" and we missed our friends! Just call us social butterflies...] so I hid in our closet while I was changing and did a laughable wrapping job and scribbled a note out.  I was so worried he would find me mid-scheming, but thankfully he didn't!  I brought the gift out to him and said "I know we weren't supposed to get each other any more presents, but this is just something little..." to which I was fussed at because he said "You always do this! and I didn't get you anything!" I kept telling him to just open it, it was something small and it was okay.  He didn't realize what the book was a first because he saw the back cover, but then he saw the note fall out and read..."Daddy, I thought you might want to practice reading this to me...I can't wait to meet you in February!"



So, it's overwhelming and crazy and we are so blessed.  Thank you all so much for your love, support, and kind words!  Follow along on here if you want to read more updates on Baby Walden :)


Friday, August 2, 2013

Girls' Night :)

It's Fridayyyyyyy!

Jake is going with some of the boys to some sort of outdoorsman's fundraising banquet thing-a-ma-jig [clearly this is a last minute plan that I don't know much about] so the girls have decided to do our own thing tonight.  And by our own thing, I mean:


 
Dinner & a Movie!

The first Grown Ups was so hilarious and I am really looking forward to seeing this one.  I'm hoping it doesn't fall in the terrible sequel category!