26 Weeks

Pregnancy Highlights

How far along? 26 weeks, 1 day  

Size of the baby?  According to my favorite baby app, Avery is around two pounds and 14.2 inches long, give or take.  She can now hear me and other around and her eyes are fully developed.  

Maternity Clothes?   Always but I have to be honest, I'm looking forward to shopping for some new regular clothes once she is born!  I'm kind of itching to get back to J.Crew!  

Gender?  Girl!  Avery Elizabeth

Movement?  She is moving all of the time, at almost all parts of the day.  I love to feel her move and watch her move under my skin.  When I first started feeling little movements I was always so nervous that I hadn't felt her but it was too early to feel constant movement.  If I had only calmed myself down and known that this gymnastics show was coming!   

Sleep?  I found an incredible new sleeping position that has changed my sleep.  I'm getting pretty good rest for the most part except I'm still waking up every time I turn over in bed because it is so painful!  I know that it's not recommended but I've been sleeping on my back a little more too (propped up with many pillows) and it makes me feel so much better.  

Cravings?  Brownies and thick chocolate chip cookies.  Yummy!  

Symptoms?  The pubic symphasis pain has been excruciating this week.  Sometimes it feels as though my pelvis might split open.  I'm looking forward to this part of the pregnancy being over.  

Best Moment of the Week?  Summer school is now over so I don't have to be on my feet or go to the playground and stand, at least for a little while.  My husband is now on board for our "to-do" list too, so I know things are going to start getting done around here!

26 week baby bump

Rain Boots

These metallic Hunter rain boots have just made the birthday list!  

Thank you Chassity at Look, Linger, Love for sharing!

Feeling Behind

Ladies, I am feeling behind in a big kind of way.  I guess this is my way to vent about how things for the baby just aren't getting done around here.  There are a lot of things to do and my baby ticker says that I have 99 days left as of today, give or take.  I try to not hassle my hubby too much about getting things done for the baby but to be honest, I'm starting to have a little bit of panic mode set in.  Here are some of the things that I would like to be finished to be done for our upcoming arrival...

• Tear up the carpet in the nursery (and whole upstairs for that matter) and have new carpet installed.  Also, move out all guest room furniture and organize hubby's clothes so that they will all fit into our bedroom.

• Have walls and trim painted in the nursery.  Must also get new paint swatches and buy paint. 

• Buy coordinating fabric for curtains and have them made and installed.  

• Set up crib and bedding.  Those are the only things we actually have for the baby.

• Make a trip to Ikea and purchase the changing table/dresser.  Assemble.  

• Register.  As in register for everything baby will need.  Babies R Us keeps getting put off every weekend.  Ugh.  At this point baby will have nothing momma she needs!

• Finalize stroller and car seat and order them.  Install car seat.  

• Find a pediatrician and make an appointment for them to come to the hospital.  

• Order artwork for baby's room and have ceiling fan installed.  

• Have carpets in our downstairs steam-cleaned.

• Pick out diaper bag and order/purchase. 

• Arrange newborn photo session with photographer.

• Obtain baby items and organize/clean them.  

Maybe it sounds mellow dramatic to have 14 weeks left and all of these tasks to accomplish, but I thought I had plenty of time.  I didn't want to jump the gun and do anything too early but now I feel the clock is a'ticking.  We go on vacation the week after next and I'm actively pursuing a teaching job.  August is going to fly by and if by some glorious chance I get a teaching job (oh please, say a prayer), I will spend all of my extra time writing up my sub plans for eight weeks of maternity leave.  What I'm getting to is, time is flying!  

Please tell me I have plenty of time because my nesting instincts are kicking in and I want things done now.  Thanks for listening, it feels good to just let it out.  Has anyone else felt like this before?  Did you get it all done?

Amazing Erin Condren Planner Deal

(I'm gonna be one on-the-ball momma!)

I cannot take any credit for the amazing deal I'm about to share, but, today Erin at Blue Eyed Bride blogged about a fab score on an Erin Condren life planner.  A few days ago she introduced them to me and I was sold!  I need to get myself very organized before my sweet girl arrives and I figured this planner would be a good jumping off point, however I didn't want to spend $50 on it.  

Enter Plum District, a fun deal-of-the-day kind of spot (is there any other kind?).  For the next day or so you can get Erin Condren's life planner or any other of her fun paper products for $25 instead of $50.  If you google a promotion code (I found one, so email me if you can't), you can get an additional $5 off for a whopping 60% off these planners.  Find the great deal here and order yours today!  I simply cannot wait to receive mine in a few weeks.  I may be up until midnight trying to decide which design I prefer.  

Happy shopping and a huge thank you to Erin!

25 Weeks

Pregnancy Highlights

How far along? 25 weeks, 2 days  

Size of the baby?  Avery is getting bigger!  I held up an eggplant at the grocery store this week at thought to myself, "that is huge!"  She could weigh over two pounds now.  It's feeling so real!

Maternity Clothes?   I'm wearing maternity clothes for the most part.  I can still wear my regular pajamas since the bottoms are so stretchy.  

Gender?  Girl!  Avery Elizabeth we are looking forward to meeting you!

Movement?  She now moves around all the time.  Her normal busy times are first thing in the morning, after lunch and just before bed.  I can see her kicks all the time!  

Sleep?  Sleep is touch and go.  I did something awful to my neck while sleeping this week and this is the third day of not being to move my neck to the right.  Sleeping on my left side hurts my neck a lot so I'm sleeping on my right side and (gasp) my back with some support pillows.

Cravings?  I'm trying to eat a lot healthier so I've said bye-bye to my cravings for now.  I do love to go to Sonic and get an Ocean Water or a Limeade every now and then.

Symptoms?  Normal pregnancy stuff.  My feet are kind of swollen too but maybe if it weren't so hot they'd go down. 

Best Moment of the Week?  Being able to see her move through my skin.  I've also been seeing Halloween stuff in the stores and I know that means we're getting closer.  Depending on how my October appointments go, I may buy a Halloween bib and hat for "just in case."  Although, I know if I do that she'll come two weeks late.

Sorry for the awful bathroom lighting!  Blech!

Our Baby Name Reveal

Our sweet baby girl has a name and I am so excited to share it with you!  I decided on her name a long time ago, before I ever knew that I was pregnant or expecting a girl (but of course hubby had to agree with the name too).  I think it's so beautiful and definitely the name meant for our little angel.  I truly can't wait to see her, hold her, kiss her and love her!  She is so precious to me and her daddy.  If you guessed Avery Elizabeth from our baby name blog post, you would be right!  

Avery, we cannot wait until you are here!  We love you so much!  

I'll be back tomorrow for a 25 week post.  I am feeling rather sick today (sore throat, cough, headache, nausea) so hopefully I can perk up tomorrow and take a bump picture for you guys! Today was the last day of summer school for the week and I need to get some rest.  It was a long four hours to say the least!  See you tomorrow!  

Things They Just Don't Tell You

I'd heard it was true.  There are things about pregnancy that people just don't tell you about before you get pregnant.  It's not all butterflies and rainbows but it sure is close once you start feeling those tiny baby kicks.  Here are some things I had to find out for myself.  I'm gonna get real here folks, so, you've been warned.

1.  You get stretch marks in places you didn't think you'd get stretch marks.  Places that didn't grow like you thought they would yet, still, the stretch marks are there.  Why haven't I quite gone up a bra size since I have stretch marks under my ta-tas?  Oh Lordy, will I ever be the same?  The mark of true motherhood I suppose.  

2.  You swell all over.  Your ankles, your fingers...even your toes.  My wedding rings won't fit so I'm wearing a "faux" diamond in case nosy people want to get all up in my biz-ness.  Although, a good excuse to pull up the handle of the reclinder with a Sonic limeade in hand.  

3.  You get out of breath going up a flight of steps.  True story.  

4.  Random people will say the most obnoxious things to you.  A stranger at Target asked me if the baby was on my sciatic nerve because I was, "walking so funny."  Like mama always said, if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all. 

5.  You will find that people who look about as far along as you are are actually due tomorrow (and you have three months to go).  Embarassing.  My husband blames it on Chick-Fila.  I plead the fifth.  

6.  The act of rolling over in bed may become excruciatingly painful.  I woke up one night and thought I may be delivering my child in the bed.  Is that normal?  Yep.  It's bone pain and you have to suck it up and get used to it although it feels short of being stabbed every time you roll over.  

7.  Swimming in a pool is the best feeling in the world because you body feels truly weightless.  Getting out of that pool is a different story.  My apologies to the people at the pool today that you had to witness that.  

8.  You become very forgetful.  Like when you leave a size tag on the back of your shorts that reads:  LARGE - LARGE - LARGE - LARGE - LARGE - LARGE.  And then you go to the post office with your tag still on your pants and no one.says.a.word.  They were probably thinking, "poor LARGE pregnant girl."

9.  The hormones will rage like no other.  You will cry at your husband for looking at you wrong, you will cry at dawn dish detergent commercials and even when someone else is telling you about their daughter's sick mother-in-law's cousin's niece.  Everything becomes a big deal for about an hour and then you move on.  

10.  As much as pregnancy can change you body and mind, I wouldn't trade any second with my sweet baby girl for the world.  I would take every pain and jab again when it's all said and done just because I love her so much. She is already my world!  

How We Told Our Families

I realized that I have never talked about how we found out we were pregnant.  Sorry to break it to you but there are no pictures of pregnancy tests or surprised faces in this story.  It all happened back in Februrary...

February 28th to be exact.  I started feeling flu like symptoms the day before so I thought I would make a doctors appointment to try to quickly relieve my misery.  At this point I was several days late but didn't think too terribly much of it, although in the back of my head I believe I knew the whole time.  I told my doctor and she decided to give me a pregnancy test just in case.  

And then I waited.  For 45 minutes.  All by myself.  With the flu.  

My doctor walked in and gave me the news.  "Well, you're pregnant and you have the flu," is what she said.  I was in shock, a happy shock, but shocked nonetheless.  I left the doctors office feeling excited and nervous to tell my husband.  We weren't planning on starting a family quite yet so I was anxious to how he would take the news.  

Justin was on a long weekend ski trip with buddies from college and he was on his way home as I returned home from the doctor.  My mom came over to bring me chicken noodle soup and I couldn't look her in the eye because I was afraid my face would give it away.  I don't know why I thought this but you know when you have a secret you feel like everyone around you "just knows."  Justin called me while she was here to tell me he would be home in about thirty minutes.  I made a point to tell him on the phone that my mom was there but he proceeded to ask if I was pregnant.  And I told him NO!  Oh Lordy, I felt so badly for lying to him but it wasn't the time or place to discuss it.  My mom left and as soon as he walked in the door I broke down and told him and apologized for not telling him over the phone but he completely understood.  I think he was in shock for about five minutes and then afterwards he told me that he was extremely excited!  Hallelujah!  

Now, I needed to get over the flu.  It took me 10 days to recover.  It was miserable. 

I took this pic in the doctors office minutes after I found out.  

Fast forward a week and a half.  I am feeling much better and we are excited to tell our families.  I decided not to tell them while I was sick because my mother would have been worried to death.  We told them on March 9th which I believe was Mardi Gras.  I wrapped up two onesie sets that said "I Love Hugs From Grandma" and pretended that they were "Mardi Gras" gifts.  A far stretch, I know.  I thought someone had to be on to us.  

We went to Justin's parents house first and gave his parents the gift.  They were happily surprised and we cried and talked about how excited we were.  Then we went to my parents house and it so happened that my brother and sister were there too.  Now this never happens that we are all unexpectedly together so I was excited that I could tell them all together.  They bought a king cake for Mardi Gras and I made a huge deal out of the fact that Justin got the piece with the little baby. We gave my mom the gift and when she opened it she was too shocked to speak.  My sister bawled like a baby.  My dad said he couldn't wait to see me humongous at the beach, spoken in true dad fashion.  Everyone was very excited.

And there is our story.  

24 Weeks

Pregnancy Highlights

How far along? 24 weeks, 2 days and last week as a papaya!  I'm actually six months pregnant! 

Size of the baby?  According to my new baby app, she is about 11.8 inches from crown to rump and weighs in at about a pound and a half.  

Maternity Clothes?  Regular tops are really just too small now so it's mostly maternity clothes now.  I am loving my new side-ruched maternity tee shirts and lightweight shorts.  I also love my leggings! 

Gender?  Girl!  We've pretty much decided on our name now, although I need the final okay from hubby to make it set in stone.  If you check back to this baby name blog post, you may find the name there!  I promise I'll share soon!  Can you guess which one?

Movement?  She is definitely moving around a lot.  We had our 24 week check up this morning and it took our sweet nurse a while to get a good count because she wiggled around all over the place.  Her heart rate today was 140 and strong!  

Sleep?  Sleep is overrated, right?  I toss and turn to get comfortable and I wake up at least 4-5 times a night.  I'm teaching summer school right now and I can't seem to sleep past 5 am.    

Cravings?  Still bacon.  The crispier the better!  

Symptoms?  I'm having major pains in my lower pelvic bones.  I researched it (I shouldn't, but I do) and talked to my doctor about it today and it seems to be pubic symphasis pains.  Basically where your pubic bones meet there are ligaments and cartilage that get really stretchy and can cause major pains.  I shriek when I roll over in bed, the pain is that bad.  A lot of walking and standing on my feet will hurt my pelvic bones and even crossing my legs can become a bear!  

Best Moment of the Week?  Just the overall excitement of her arrival getting closer.  The bedding is finally all here too.  Pretty soon we'll start to put the nursery together!  

Twins

My girlfriend Ashley had her twins and I forgot to post pictures!  You may remember her from the baby shower pics or her cute A-Z alphabet nursery wall.  Sam Michael and Isabella Rae were born on June 14th, 2011 and they are just the most precious babies.  See for yourself.  I'm so excited for our babies to play together one day!  

Sam Michael

Isabella Rae

Congratulations Mike and Ashley on your new family of four!  

23 Weeks

Pregnancy Highlights

How far along? 23 weeks...17 to go! 

Size of the baby?  I would say she's over a pound since she was 14 oz almost three weeks ago.  I have this fear that I'm going to have a big baby and it's going.to.hurt.

Maternity Clothes?  Over the past few weeks my belly has really popped itself out.  My first/second trimester dresses are getting too small in the chest and bump area.  Mom and I went to Williamsburg to try the Motherhood outlet and had a two hour shop-a-thon.  The sales person brought me around forty things to try on and a lot of them I would have never picked out for myself.  The funny thing is, a lot of it looked better than I thought!  I scored a lot of great pieces!  

Gender?  We are having a precious baby girl and she already has more fall clothes than I do.  

Movement?  The kicks are getting a lot stronger and I can feel many of them with my hands.  I feel like I constantly walk around with my hands low on my belly to feel her.  I'm hoping Justin can feel her this week since she likes to stop kicking as soon as daddy tries to feel her.  

Sleep?  What sleep?  I wake up no less than five times a night and am completely wide awake.  I suppose it's my body preparing me for a newborn!   

Cravings?  Chocolate pudding.  Or bacon.  Weird, right? 

Symptoms?  The bottom of my belly is getting really heavy as each day passes.  By seven o'clock I don't want to even walk or stand.  It might be a sign to slow down!  My feet are constantly sore too.  Complaining over.   

Best Moment of the Week?  Hearing my hubby get really excited about the baby.  He was a bit in shock when we found out we were having a girl but soon enough he's going to be wrapped around her little finger!  I am looking so forward to seeing them together because I think he's going to be the best dad she could have!  What a lucky little girl.  

Awful pic but the bump is getting big!  The humidity is also wrecking my hair! 

Stella and Dot Blog Sale

Don't forget to check out my Stella and Dot blog sale!  I've added a few new pieces and may continue to add them as I sort through my jewelry.  Hope everyone has a very safe and wonderful Fourth of July!

My Stella & Dot Mega Close Out! Shop now!

Welcome!  I am selling my sample pieces at majorly low prices!  Here is a list of what I've got and I'll change each item once they sell.  Shipping is $6.95 which covers packaging and shipping fees and is the same price you would pay if you ordered from the Stella and Dot website.  I will take PayPal payments only (local orders will take cash or check also) and send you an invoice for the cost!  Local orders must pick up or have items shipped.  Email all questions to {elassiter13@gmail.com} and tell your friends!  Sorry but no returns.

1.  Rio Triple Strand Coin Necklace - SOLD!

Retail $128  / Your price $65

2.  La Coco Turquoise Bead Necklace  - SOLD! 

3.  Bee Brooch - SOLD! 

 

4.  La Coco Gold Chain - SOLD! (brooch still available)

**Ivory enamel brooch $20

5.  La Coco Gold Pearl Strand - SOLD! 

6.  Ever After Necklace - SOLD! 

7.  On The Mark Necklace  - SOLD! 

8.  Pave Clover Necklace - Holiday 2010

Retail $59 / Your price $30

9.  Pave Ellipse Necklace Gold - Holiday 2010

Retail $69 / Your price $35

10.  Clover Double Wrap Black Leather Bracelet - Holiday 2010

Retail $59 / Your price $30

11.  Audrey Cluster Bracelet - Fall 2010

Retail $69 / Your price $35

12.  Turquoise Soiree Bracelet - SOLD!

13.  Coral Soiree Bracelet - SOLD!

14.  Brown Soiree Bracelet - SOLD! 

15.  Vintage Cluster Ring - Fall 2010

Retail $39 / Your price $20

16.  Bardot Hoop Earrings - SOLD!

Retail $39 / Your price $20

17.  Signature Clover Earrings  - SOLD! 

18.  Silk Charm Necklace or Bracelet Wrap

Retail $8 / Your price $5

19.  Jenna Pearl and Ribbon Necklace - Retired

Retail $44 / Your price $22

20.  Boca Chic Necklace - Retired

Retail $69 / Your price $35

21.  Silver Mira Bangles (sorry, no pic)

Retail $49/ Your price $25

22. Large Travel Tote - SOLD!

(shipping will be $12.00 for this piece as it is large!)

23.  Rio Chandelier Earrings - SOLD!