32 Weeks

Due Date: August 24, 2012
How far along: 32 weeks
The Bump:

I'm behind a few weeks so here are some recent pics

30 weeks

31 weeks

(I look the same now at 32)

Total weight loss/gain: Not really keeping track of where I'm at vs. pre-preg weight, but I've gained 15 lbs. total now

Workouts: I've gotten in a few walks the past few weeks, but that's about it. I really envisioned my pregnancy to be the time when I'd have super toned arms and glutes from all the (light) lifting I'd be doing in lieu of running and other more streneous workouts, but nope! I'm so tired by the end of the day that I don't have the energy to do anything!

Baby items purchased: Didn't need to purchase a thing - I was so spoiled at my shower last weekend and got a ton of great baby gear! I did get some fabric for the nursery window treatments and window seat cover my mother-in-law is helping me this weekend. We're getting close to being done in there - can't wait to post about it!!!

Sleep: Not the greatest, which is to be expected. Getting up to pee 1-2 times a night, and having really bad heartburn that wakes me up - almost feels like I have to throw up.

Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope

Symptoms: A new one this week - nosebleeds! Totally normal I'm assured, but it'll just start gushing about 2 times a day. Hasn't happened in a client meeting yet thank goodness, as I usually deal with them by shoving Kleenex bits in my nose until it stops. :)  Also heartburn is pretty bad, swelling feet and ankles, usual soreness elsewhere, and fatigue. Again, it's been a pretty easy pregnancy overall so no complaints! I KNOW it could be worse!

Food cravings: Cupcakes, cake, ice cream...it WAS my birthday weekend after all! (What's my excuie for the past 3 weeks then...oops...)

Maternity clothes: Ooooh yes - living in my maternity yoga capris and Old Navy side runched tanks (outside of work, of course)

Stretch marks: Nope!

Gender ideas: Tyge is 52% sure it's a girl, I'm 51% sure it's a boy. One of us is right!

Movement: Constantly - never thought I'd say being jabbed in the stomach and ribs would be so fun!

Labor Signs: Not really labor signs, but have experienced some Braxton Hicks contractions.

Miss anything: Good sleep, hands down.

Best moment this week: My baby shower last Sunday! Also had the 32 week appointment today - things are moving along and Petrie is doing growing just as he/she should!

Looking forward to: Heading up North for the 4th!

My Woodland Baby Shower!

This past Sunday, on my birthday, my girlfriends threw me the most amazing baby shower. This is the only shower I have before Petrie is born (I have family ones after) and I had been looking forward to it for SO long! The fact that it was on my birthday was really neat, and my friends did an awesome job of spoiling me and making me feel so special.

It was held at Betsy's house, and Katrina and Bridget were co-hosts - we were just missing Chelsea and it was the same group as my bridesmaids (she was in Chicago, due with her own baby in a month)! To go with our nursery, they chose a woodland theme that was apparent from the beginning with the invite:

The decor was adorable - lots of woodland accents in "my" colors, including woodland animals from my old Beanie Baby collection that the girls had gotten from my mom! They also had my baby pictues up everywhere, and even had a little "Happy Birthday" corner, complete with my high school graduation posters!

Front door decor

Entry table

Dark pic, but the birthday corner!

Yummy food, including ants on a log and cupcakes made to look like forest mushrooms!

Favors

Everyone mingled and had food and drinks (I didn't get a pic of the drink table but there were homemade blueberry and strawberry puree ice cubes for the lemonade! Yum!) then we played some creative shower games Katrina came up with. She didn't want to do the typical baby shower games (candy bars in diapers? yuk) and knows I love trivia, so came up with three games involving that. First was to match the weird baby name with the celeb couple, then was to name the TV show just by looking at the children on it, and last we stood in a circle and had to guess any name from the top 25 girl and boy names of 2011, sitting down if we were wrong, until there was only one person left standing. Great way to get people involved and we all learned something! :)

I'm really into the game here...

Then it was time to open presents! I was seriously overhwlemed at the generosity of people. I got so many both necessary and fun things, and can't wait until I can use them!

My mom put together a thoughtful woodland themed gift, wrapped with a rainbow from MY baby mobile!

Thanks, Mom!

My first diaper cake made by Annie!

Crib necessities from Betsy

Nursing and changing supplies from Katrina & Erin - you probably can't read it but that's a "My Brest Friend" pillow :)

A bathtime basket from fellow mom-to-be Karla

Katrina also took pics of each guest with their guess on boy (mustache) or girl (lips) - the majority said boy!

Again, I can't say enough what a fabulous shower it was from beginning to end. Thank you to all my lovely girlfriends for coming and for the thoughtful gifts you brought - you made me feel so special and I can't wait for Petrie to meet you all!

The whole group!

And a special thanks to my dear Momma for giving birth to me 29 years ago and celebrating with me 29 years later at MY baby shower...

Yup, we're related...

And last but not least, a HUGE thank you to my best friends (Brest Friends?) and hostess with the mostest:

Katrina

Bridget

Betsy

Petrie is already so blessed to have three Aunties in you ladies who will be in his/her life. I love you and am so grateful for you! Thanks again for making my shower a day to remember!

3TT

Why hello there! It was brought to my attention recently that it's been awhile since I've blogged and I guess I didn't realize it'd be so long! I didn't mean to get so behind, but that's what happens when life gets busy I guess. :)

All is well - VERY well - here. Work has been busy, personal life has been busier, getting in full nesting mode and chipping away at our baby to-do list.

So without further ado, here is today's 3TT.

3 Things I'm Thankful/Excited For:
1. My friends, family, and husband who made my birthday this past weekend so special - namely my amazing girlfriends who threw me the best baby shower on Sunday. I'll do a post dedicated to that soon, but it was quite the event and I felt so special and loved. Also my parents, who came over Saturday night (Tyge was out of town) to bring me dinner and presents and celebrate with me! Lastly, when Tyge got home on Sunday night we got to celebrate and he had an big surprise birthday present (Petunia Pickle Bottom diaper bag!) and a sweet card for me. Overall, it was a great birthday weekend I felt so thankful for those in my life who took the time to celebrate and make me feel special!

Poor Mia...

Beautiful friends and wonderful hosts

My hunny surprised me!

2. God's timing - even when I think timing of things are bad or don't fit MY schedule, God continues to show me that His timing is perfect, every time.

3. Heading up North for the 4th on Friday - a yearly tradition since meeting Tyge. We'll be spending several days with his family, in the sun and having fun, on Swan Lake. It's our last 4th sans kid, so I'm going to take advantage of the days to relax in the sun and nap in the hammock! :)

3 Things I'm Praying For:
1. Two friends who have baby related appointments/issues this week - it pains me to know anyone going through infant loss or struggles and while I know there's really nothing I can do to help, I do know prayer is powerful and effective.

2. A new and exciting and still somewhat scary decision Tyge and I made this weekend - will post more on it later, but I'm still praying for a few things that surround this decision.

3. Petrie, of course! As we're nearing the home stretch here, I find my prayers more specific to what kind of baby he/she will be, for happiness for him/her once they get here, for Tyge and I as newbie parents that we don't mess up too bad, etc. It's incredible to think we'll get to meet them in two short months!!!

Florida Babymoon

Okay, so I really don't like the term "babymoon" but I suppose that's what you can call Tyge and my time last week in lovely Fort Myers Beach, FL! We shockingly had Memorial Day weekend free and a few days of PTO to burn (not like I'll be out for 3 months of anything haha) so we decided a few months ago to take a mini-vacation together - the last one before our lives change!

We left early last Wednesday morning and stayed in FL through Sunday afternoon returning home late Sunday night, so had Memorial Day here. It was just an awesome time together relaxing on the beach, taking walks together, seeing the sights, eating good food, eating a lot of ice cream, and just enjoying each other's company before our world is about to be rocked.

Getting in around 2 PM, Wednesday was spent getting settled into our condo, including stocking up on some groceries so we could eat breakfasts on the balcony and make lunches to save some $$. We walked around the cute town of Fort Myers Beach including the Times Square and Pier area, relaxed on the beach a bit, then napped and ate dinner overlooking the Bay. I started my mission of having seafood at every meal by enjoying some delicious coconut shrimp - so good!

Thursday morning we took the island trolley to Lover's Key State Park, which was beautiful and a LOT of walking. We probably walked 5 miles so I was pretty tired by the time we were done. Lots of pretty sights to see and it was nice and quiet, but really hot so I was ready to eat and chill on the beach when we got back. We had amazing shrimp po'boys back in town then hit the beach again. I had the Hunger Games trilogy to keep me busy so all I wanted to do was read! Naptime again, then dinner on the beach before sunset (which was blocked by buildings) where I had macadamia encrusted grouper. The walk back to the hotel from dinner was over a mile, but we walked on the white sand beach at dark and got to look at the stars and hear the ocean (okay, and stop for ice cream halfway through) so it went fast!

Friday was the day Tyge was most looking forward to - Gator Tour day! We were picked up at 8 AM and joined a group of 7 people for trip to the Everglades. It was an hour drive, where we learned about the history of the Everglades and what we'd be doing that day. We started with a swamp buggy tour (basically an elevated open air school bus that goes through water and on land), took a drive in the wild to see gators, stopped at a roadside attraction and held reptiles, had lunch, then an airboat ride, then headed back. We got lots of great pictures!

We took a looong nap when we got back, then woke up to an awesome storm a'brewin. We sat on the beach watching the clouds for awhile, then had a late sushi (nothing raw for me!) dinner in the Times Square area, followed enjoying ice cream while listening to a band they had playing outside.

After Friday's excitement, Saturday was pure beach day! Tyge walked the beach and took pictures while I laid out and read all day. When we'd get hot, we'd float around in the ocean a bit - the water was so blue and nice - to cool off. We considered renting a sailboat but it was getting pretty windy, so the rental guy advised us against it since we're not expert sailors - we saw one capsize the next day so I'm glad we didn't do it! Saturday night was out "fancy dinner night" at a place called Fresh Catch that I'd heard great things about. We had sunset time reservations on the beach, but literally the MINUTE we got there a storm came rolling in it rained hard for 30 minutes, so everyone had to move inside. We sat at the bar and waited for our table, and ended up sitting inside once the sun had set. I was a little bummed that we didn't get to see one good sunset or get one good picture of the two of us - oh well! Food was really good, I had lobster mac and cheese - as good as it sounds.

Crazy wind = crazy hair!

On our last day we went to a local breakfast shop famous for homemade biscuit sandwiches and cinnamon rolls, and were NOT disappointed - they were so good! I had really wanted to check out Sanibel (the next island over from FMB) before we left as I remembered vacationing there as a kid, so we rented a moped for two hours and headed over the causeway. Picture us on a two person moped, Tyge driving and my big ol' pregnant belly pressing into his back as I rode behind, only able to go about 35 MPH (speed limit 55) due to the weight on the poor bike - we must have been a sight! We made it the 8 miles to Sanibel and had time to hop off the bike for an ice cream stop (what else?!) and to poke around the island a bit, before heading back. After we returned the bike we had a last few hours on the beach, and it was really windy and cloudy which was perfect for reading. We drug the beach chairs right along the ocean and read and napped off an on until we had to shower up and leave for the airport late afternoon.

I am really glad we were able to get away, just us two, before Petrie comes. We kept talking about how this was our last vacation before we have a KID and that reality really struck us! We both got to see him/her move around in my belly for the first time, and it's just hitting us that we only have a few months left before we meet this little person that we already love so much. Sure, now that I'm back I'm thinking about the to-do list and all we have to get done before August, but while we were away, all I could do was focus on how excited I am to become a parent with Tyge and meet this little baby. Sometimes it takes getting away to gain perspective on what's important. I know Petrie won't care if his/her nursery is 100% done, if we have the garage organized, if we have the money we want in savings, or if I've read every book on parenting there is - s/he'll have a mom and dad that love him/her more than anything in the world, and that's all that matters.