Bumpdate- Week 14

June 29- July 2nd 

So what has been going on this week?

We were on 'vacation' for part of the week, which was nice and relaxing! I have been working at LOFT this summer and I am wrapping up my time there so I can spend the rest of my summer getting my class ready for the new year! I have been out of the classroom (of littles) for 2 years, so I have a lot of work to do to get prepped, but I am SO pumped!

How far along?

14 weeks- baby is the size of a lemon!

Maternity Clothes?

None... but I have been rocking the hair elastic/button trick with some of my pants to give me a bit more room :)

Stretch Marks?

None yet, thankfully!

Movement?

I am anxiously awaiting for my flutters to begin... I know it is early, but I am still laying perfectly still at night in hopes that I can feel the lemon!

Food cravings?

None this week... actually I have noticed that my eating has gotten a bit more on track. I haven't felt like I was starving and I haven't had any strange 'hard to stop thinking about a certain type of food' feelings! If that makes any sense??

Nausea, vomiting, or sickness?

None, although in the past week while brushing my teeth, I almost got sick 2 times. Very strange!

What I miss:

Having energy and motivation to get some things done. I have definitely been feeling tired thus far and it has made it challenging to feel motivated to get all my summer projects/organization done!

Symptoms?

Sleepiness, most definitely! 

Best moment this week?

Spending time with family in the mountains, hiking, fishing, watching movies, cooking, eating yummy dinners and desserts!

Workouts:

Wednesday- 3 mile walk

Thursday- 2 mile walk

Friday- 2 mile walk

Saturday- 1 hour walk/hike/talk 

Sunday- none

Monday- none

Tuesday- none

Gender Prediction?

We have NO idea. Sarah and Patrick are team girl, which is new- most people have thought boy.

Sleep?

Has been amazing and I am loving it! I have been sleeping through the night without even getting up for the bathroom! It seems a bit backwards that the further along I have gotten, the better my sleep has been. I know this is a phase so I am taking full advantage of it now!

What I'm looking forward to?

Feeling baby flutters, moving past the 'chubby/bloated' phase

Wisdom or other thoughts:

Oh geez... I am not sure I have much for anyone this week! Maybe I will feel more enlightened next week :)

Bumpdate- Week 13

June 19-25

This is a lame bump shot- the hubs and I need to step up our game!

So what has been going on this week?

Working, planning, packing... it's been busy! I've worked a lot at my summer/part-time job this week which has been nice AND a bit tiring. I have been spending a lot of time planning... thinking of nursery ideas, researching different products, strollers, bottles, diapers, etc. I have also been planning for my next year of school, which I will be starting up here soon! The kiddos won't start until August 5th, but I like to get in my class and take my sweet time organizing, ordering, setting up and planning. I have been out of the little people classroom for 2 years now, so I have got some work to do! Finally I have been planning and packing for our upcoming family trip!

How far along?
13 weeks! Baby is the size of a peach (yum)

Maternity Clothes?

Still in my regular clothes. There are definitely some things that I cannot wear anymore, but mostly they were the things that were more form fitting and less stretchy!

Stretch Marks?

None... I'm still being proactive with my Bio-oil and Almond oil, so hopefully those will help keep any stretch marks at bay :)

Movement?

None felt yet... hopefully soon!

Food cravings?

Carbs have been on my mind. They say never grocery shop when hungry, but I think its more dangerous to grocery shop pregnant! I totally had to talk myself out of buying cookies (not 1 kind, but 3 different kinds!), that I haven't had in YEARS!

Fish sticks are something that I have eaten 1 time in my life and did NOT enjoy. About 2 months ago I tried a fish stick at my sister in law's house and really enjoyed it. I have been obsessing for these fish sticks this entire week. I literally have eaten fish sticks every day, with ketchup (another thing I have not cared for) and Sriracha mixed together. Seriously, I swear it is delish!

What I miss:

This week has been an emotional one... I really miss being able to let the small things roll off my back and defaulting to my sunshiny, positive personality. I am hopeful this is just a 'phase' and I will be back to my rose colored glasses soon.

Symptoms?

Headaches! Ugggh... they aren't migraines or stress headaches. They are just dull headaches that last all day long. I have been getting them everyday, too. I am thankful they aren't terrible, but they certainly aren't fun.

Best moment this week?

Talking about stuff with my friends... I have really good, supportive friends who listen, understand and do not judge when I share that not every single step of this pregnancy journey is rainbows and butterflies! I am incredibly blessed and thankful for this blessing, but being a newbie and experiencing so many changes in a relatively short amount of time is challenging, too. It is so nice to have people to talk about the pits and peaks of it all!

Workouts:

Wednesday- 45 minute incline walk

Thursday- none

Friday- 45 minute incline walk

Saturday- walk/run

Sunday- none

Monday- none

Tuesday- 1.5 mile walk... I was pressed for time!

*I didn't get my 5 workouts in, but I am determined to next week! Plus I did 4, which is pretty darn close!

Gender Prediction?

My grandma and my older brother still think it's a boy and some friends of mine have said they think it's a girl. Troy and I do not have any real boy/girl inclinations and since we aren't going to find out, we haven't really been gender focused.

Sleep?

Sleep has been better this week than it has in the past few months. I have been able to sleep better throughout the night and not had to get up to go to the bathroom as much.

What I'm looking forward to?

Spending some time with family in the mountains! My sister in law, Sarah and I really enjoy our girl time together! It will be nice to get some girl time in and love on my niece and nephew!

Wisdom or other thoughts:

Talk it out! If you are feeling blue, stressed, worried, emotional, whatever... talk to someone! Guarantee it makes a world of difference... thank you to all my lovelies for being there for me <3

Wedding Details Linkup

Two of my favorite blogs to read are hosting a Wedding Details linkup. I really enjoy reading about and admiring people's weddings. I love seeing the different ways everyone gets hitched. 

Alrighty, Troy and I met in an unconventional way. Well, actually it is not so unconventional anymore, but it is definitely a story I have had to get used to telling. Enough skirting the issue... Troy and I met online, kinda. I had been dating a super loser on and off for about a year. My girlfriends were pulling out ALL the stops to try and nip that relationship in the bud (yes, its 'nip in the bud' NOT 'nip in the butt'... something I just recently discovered myself!) One night while consuming some wine we decided to create an online dating profile for me. I bought the 1 month package. It was fun creating it and checking out all the profiles on there. Then the messages started rolling in. Most were really pushy, some were strange and one was interesting. I corresponded back and forth with the interesting guy, but decided to deactivate my account.

Fast forward about 6 months- summertime and the living is easy! For a teacher, at least! Most of my summer days were spent at the pool with my fellow teacher friends. On such a day, I received a Facebook friend request from a hottie. I knew him somehow, but I couldn't remember how. Of course I accepted. Of course I messaged flirty responses to his messages. Of course I freaked out and didn't respond when he asked if we could grab a drink together! A few days of mulling it over and talking with my friends, I finally agreed to meet up, get a free drink and lock myself in the women's restroom, if he turned out to be a creeper.

It took about a month of dates with butterflies in my tummy and a really awkward conversation for me to connect the dots. Mr. Facebook was in fact Mr. Interesting Online Dating Guy. We had a mutual Facebook friend and I had commented or liked a post that Troy had commented or liked, and the rest is history...

Unconventional? I think so, but it has worked for us :)

Details
We became engaged on June 3, 2010 and were married on March 25, 2011. I have always thought a New Years Eve wedding would be a lot of fun, but we didn't want to rush the process OR wait a year and a half to get married. So spring it was! As far as March 25th goes... it is incredibly hard to organize the schedule of the Catholic Church AND a reception site, soooooo.... we saw an opening and grabbed at it!

So happy to be engaged!

Location
My family's Church and a local resort that is part historical site and part newly renovated. It is a unique space for sure!

The church where we were married

A view from our reception!

Bridal Party
We both had our closest friends and family members.
I had my cousin, my sister in law love, a friend from high school, college and adulthood.
Troy had his brother, my 2 brothers, his closest friend from elementary until today and another elementary friend.

What a good lookin' group!

Colors
The ladies wore a soft gray dress, but our colors were mostly ivory and soft pinks. I had a vision of having a lot of mercury glass around until I saw how expensive my vision was and then changed my mind!

Centerpieces

Cake! I didn't even get a piece, but everyone loved it!

Sweets table... didn't get any of this, either!

Our guest tree... we have this hanging in our bedroom now!

Wine bottle favors

First Dance
Everything by Michael Buble- definitely more of a peppy song, which totally fits us. We are not sappy, sugary lovey- dovey song people!

Our first dance and my terrible hair

Honeymoon
We got married at a busy time of year for a teacher. I did NOT want to short change our honeymoon because of the panic I felt in writing lesson plans or leaving my kiddos for a week and a half! After we got married we did need some time away from everyonething, so we escaped to Sedona for 3 blissful days on our mini-moon. We hiked, explored, relaxed and drank our hearts out AND I only needed to write 3 days worth of sub plans! Score!

In the summer we went to Maui for our honeymoon and I am still upset that we needed to leave to come home :(

What would I change
Most of the technical things I would change are so small and ridiculous now that I look back on it. I hated my hair that day! The trials we did were amaze-balls, but then the big day arrives and he did NOTHING like we had planned. I never did return to him after that and wish I had my current stylist/friend (who I knew and considered having do my hair... gah!)

Mostly I would change some of the process... there was a lot of family tension around the time of our wedding. Not having to do anything with us, but it did impact our time. I wish I didn't care as much and had distanced myself from their issues. I think if Troy and I didn't have all of that weighing on our minds, we wouldn't have been and continue to be concerned and/or hurt by their actions or misbehavior's. 

Other than that drama... our day was everything we hoped. Then Pinterest made an appearance...

Avocado Pesto

I just indulged in the most amazing pesto... so amazing, I needed to share! The recipe is originally from Oh She Glows, but I didn't follow the measurements precisely. If you want to reference the original recipe, check it out here http://ohsheglows.com/2011/01/31/15-minute-creamy-avocado-pasta/

Avocado Pesto
1 medium avocado
A lot of fresh basil (I love the taste of basil, so I kept adding!)
1 lemon, juiced
Crushed garlic (again, I love garlic so I just eyeballed this)
Sea Salt

Blend all the ingredients together in a food processor. Taste, and if you are like me, add some more basil :)

This makes a lot, so I used about 1/3 on a serving of Gluten Free pasta. I prefer Quinoa pasta! After enjoying that I then spread some more pesto on a piece of Udi's whole wheat toast. 

I'm not sure if you are picking up on this, but I really enjoyed the pesto!

1st Trimester Must Haves

I have had a relatively smooth 1st trimester and am so fortunate for that! Even though I skipped over the crummy pregnancy symptoms, I certainly experienced some changes these last 3 months. Here are some things that helped me adjust to all of the lovely pregnancy changes.

Stretch mark prevention...

Bio-Oil; I got this at Target to try out, but I will be picking more up at Costco!

L'Occitane Almond Oil; I got this at Sephora- it's about $4 cheaper there!

Hormone changes= pizza face!

Clarisonic Mia; this has helped my skin clear up and adjust to all of those hormones!

Sleep... 

Snoogle! I use this probably 4-5 nights a week!

Queasiness...

I have had super mild queasiness, but these have helped me when it strikes!

Water...

This has been my BEST friend! I cannot get enough water!

Happy Hours...

Lemonade and soda water has been such a refreshing treat that allows me to still enjoy Happy Hours with my friends while limiting the sugary drinks!