32 weeks {8 Months}

Close up:

How far along? 32 weeks. Holy smokes- we are getting C-L-O-S-E!

Size of baby: Somewhere around 19 inches, 4 lbs. A little bit bigger than a pineapple. 

Total weight gain:  22.5 lbs. I go back to the doctor next Tuesday. I have a strange feeling I am going to gain much more in these last few weeks. 

Maternity clothes? Nothing new. Still hating the way they look on me. I need to purchase some more dresses for work though...which is approaching fast. I better get on that!

Stretch marks? LISTEN UP PEOPLE- I'VE GOT SAD NEWS. I.have.stretch.marks.on.my.belly! Are you sad? I am. I thought I was in the clear. Funny story on how I found out: So, John and I were outside working on a nursery project (pictures coming soon). Let's me be honest, I was more of a supervisor so I was sitting in the garage on the lawn mower. It was hot so I had my shirt lifted up over my belly. John came over to ask me a question and was staring funny at my belly. His reaction went a little something like this "Wow. You have been lying on your blog. You DO have stretch marks". My response went a little something like this "WHAT? OH MY GOSH. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? WHAT DO YOU MEAN STRETCH MARKS? WHERE? GO GET MY PHONE. TAKE A PICTURE. I WANT TO SEE!!!". Total freak out mode. How could I miss them??? John took a picture of my belly so I could see what I was working with. Sure enough....two little patches of stretch marks right below my bikini line. Lucky for me, if I ever decide to wear a bathing suit again in this lifetime, they will be covered. I know it's part of mother nature and pretty much impossible to avoid but I told John he could have saved that little bit of information until AFTER I had given birth. My belly is so big and the marks are so low I would have never seen them! Oh well...it's all a part of 'Motherhood'. Welcome little stretch marks, welcome! 

Sleep: Absolutely horrible. Croix has his days and nights mixed up already. And he loves to pretend he is a Ninja right when I go to bed and reallllly early in the morning! It's safe to say that I am not taking advantage of sleeping in this summer. 

Best moment this week:  Like I mentioned above...John worked on a peg board project for the nursery to hang over the dresser. We have it on the wall and ready to be decorated. One step closer to being finished. I have to wait on a few more items to come in the mail and I will be able to snap pictures to share. AND we took maternity pictures on Tuesday!! 

Anything making you queasy or sick: No

Gender:  BOY. 

Belly Button in or out? Innie. But stretching like crazy. What is going to happen to it once it can't stretch any longer? I'm scared for that outcome. 

Wedding rings on or off?  Bands AND ring are off. I had to give up on wearing the ring on a daily basis. It's too hard to get off and I have heard horror stories about woman having to get their ring surgically removed at the ER. I wear it for the weekly pictures sometimes but never out anymore. 

Miss Anything? Not sweating like a pig when I walk two feet outside. 

Food cravings: Ice cream and MEXICAN!! Chips and salsa- YUM. Guess what friends?? I totally obtained my goal this week! I didn't eat A-N-Y ice cream!! Aren't you proud?? I was so proud of myself. Not even ONE time!! YAY. Go me! 

Labor Signs: No. 

Symptoms: Back aches. I don't think this is going away anytime soon. And I see it getting worse as the weeks go on. I can barley walk around a store for 5 minutes before I am ready to sit down and give my back a break. I am always looking for the nearest place to sit! And as you can see from my chalkboard this week...HEARTBURN! Fun times. 

Happy or moody? HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY! We are getting so close people. The more I think about it, the more excited I get. 

Looking forward to: My family baby shower this Saturday hosted by my cousin Wendi and Aunt Janie and some other friends and family!! I love getting together with people that I love and celebrating this special little boy. 

• Tuesday we had maternity pictures taken by Aimee.  Let me tell you something- IT WAS HOT. Like, super hot. Like, hair soaking wet hot. I was worried about John sweating to death and I ended up being the one who was sweating like a 300 lb. man. I was so worried that the pictures of me were going to turn out bad because the sweat was LITERALLY pouring down my face but Aimee sent me some sneak peeks and I LOVE THEM. As soon as she sends me CD I will be sure to share them on here. 

• Tuesday Aug. 6th I go back to the doctor for my bi-weekly check up and then I START going EVERY SINGLE WEEK. You know what that means? WE ARE COMING TO THE END PEOPLE. THE BIRTH DATE IS APPROACHING.......

• Finally we are able to say: Croix will be here NEXT MONTH! 

31 weeks & a 4D ultrasound.

Close up:

How far along? 31 weeks 

Size of baby: A little over 3 pounds ...gaining weight at a rapid rate now-a-days. 

Total weight gain:  I have gained 3 more pounds. So, now I am at 22.5 pounds and I am not too excited about that. Clearly I will go over my 25 lb. goal! BOO. 

Maternity clothes? I did buy a navy dress for our coed shower this past weekend. It was the first maternity dress I've actually liked and didn't return. However, I don't know what makes it maternity because I am sure I'll be able to wear it as a non maternity dress as well. 

Stretch marks? No.  

Sleep: What is sleep? ;) 

Best moment this week:  Seeing Croix's sweet little face in 4D! He is absolutely precious. 

Anything making you queasy or sick: No

Gender:  BOY. 

Belly Button in or out? Innie. 

Wedding rings on or off?  Bands off, wedding ring on. But soon the wedding ring will be off. The hotter is gets outside, the fatter my fingers get! 

Miss Anything? Being able to squat comfortably when I pee in a public place. Seriously. Imagine this: Squatting over a toilet holding a bowling ball...while trying to pee as quickly as possible. Pretty crazy right? It is such a chore, let me tell you. 

Food cravings: Anything horrible for me. I've got to cut back on my fatty food intake. And that starts  next week ;) Every Sunday I set a personal goal. It usually consist of "not eating ice cream for the week" but let's not fool ourselves ..that goal is never obtained. So I'll go with a  more realistic goal this week--- "only eat ice cream 1-2 times a week and watch my sugar intake". I think I can handle that! 

Labor Signs: No. But I do THINK I had a Braxton Hick (if it's even possible to have one...?) Strangest feeling ever....my whole belly tightened up for a couple of seconds. 

Symptoms: My. POOR. Backkkkkk. And the acid reflex was in rare form this week (definitely could have been the Bloomin' Onion Burger I had at Outback on Sunday)...If you haven't had one yet, do yourself a FAVOR and get one ASAP. You. will. not. be. sorry! 

Happy or moody? So very happy... Especially after seeing what Croix looks like!  

Looking forward to: HAVING THE NEXT 2 WEEKS OFF!! Summer school is over! Woo Hoo. I am so looking forward to being completely lazy for the next 2 weeks (while working on the nursery, of course). AND we have maternity pictures scheduled for Tuesday of next week. YOU KNOW I am just overly excited about that!! Can't wait. 

This week we went back to Prenatal Impressions (the place where we found out Baby Moon was a Boy). Of course Croix didn't make the job of taking his picture easy. He was constantly putting his hands up to his little face. Finally, after about 15 minutes he gave up and allowed us to see his handsome little face. My heart instantly melted. His little nose, eyes, chubby cheeks...UGH I just can't handle all of his cuteness. I just want to take him out and hold him. I promise to put him back right away so he can cook in my belly a little longer! ;) Seeing him on that TV monitor made things SO REAL (as if they aren't already)....but to put a face with all this wiggling was magical. He looks like a little man. Prepare yourself for these pictures: they are the cutest thing you will ever lay your eyes on. 

We can't decide if he looks more like Mommy or Daddy.

We had our coed shower this weekend and it couldn't have been more PREFECT. We had the most amazing time and Croix got spoiled with lots of gifts. 

Here we are with the hosts/hostesses of the party!!

Here is the banner that my very talented Aunt Franny made for Croix. 

We will use this at every special occasion for him. 

.62 more days. Wow!.

30 weeks & Little Baby Moon has a name...

Close up:

How far along? 30 weeks ....only 10 more weeks to go...can you believe it?!

Size of baby: About 3 lbs. 

Total weight gain:  19.5 lbs. I go back the Doctor again next Tuesday. 

Maternity clothes? Negative. 

Stretch marks? No. Keeping my fingers crossed. 

Sleep: Awful. Absolutely awful. However, my 2:00 PM naps are helping a lot ;) 

Best moment this week:  The dresser AND glider arrived this week!! WHOOP. Making progress. 

Anything making you queasy or sick: No

Gender:  Wiggly little boy. 

Belly Button in or out? Innie. 

Wedding rings on or off?  Bands off, wedding ring on. 

Miss Anything? My pre-pregnancy clothes. How sad is that? I am rotating through about 5 dresses right now. I am looking forward to wearing all of my old clothes again.  

Food cravings: Ice cream, cookies, ice cream, ice cream....catch my drift? S-U-G-A-R. I am trying to tone it down though (ya right, I'm eating a cookie right now).

Labor Signs: No. 

Symptoms: Just back aches. When I sit or lay down for a long period of time and then get up- HOLY MOLY- I feel like a 90 year old woman. I have to walk slowly for a minute and allow my lower back and legs to adjust to the mother load of weight that was just put upon them! ...and a tiny bit of heart burn- no big deal though. 

Happy or moody? H.A.P.P.Y  Who wouldn't be? We will have a tiny little baby in our arms in 10 weeks! 

Looking forward to: Our shower is this SATURDAY! We are so excited to celebrate Croix with our friends!

Good news: As you can see we have officially decided on a name for our son: Croix William Moon.... I know, I know...you think it's absolutely perfect, just like he is going to be. We think so too. There is no rhyme or reason behind the name. I  heard it on the TV one evening and I mentioned it to John and he ACTUALLY liked it. I knew from that moment on this would be his name because we NEVER agreed on any names prior.  I heard the name on Real Housewives of Atlanta- it's Kim's husband- 'Kroy'. My aunt actually suggested the 'Croix' spelling like: 'St. Croix'...which we fell in love with. We entertained other names that I won't mention just in case we want to use them in the future but we kept going back to Croix. It's different and no one we know has it- which is a huge reason why we love it so much.  

Like I mentioned before, the dresser and glider came in. They are in the nursery and look absolutely perfect. John has to spray paint a peg board for me and after we hang it above the dresser I will post a picture. That's on his "baby to do list" for this weekend ;) Bless his heart...that's a never ending list. I promise to post pictures as soon as we get pictures and shelves hung on the wall. It will be worth the wait...you will LOVE it ;) 

.10 short weeks until Croix's arrival.

29 weeks

(I am officially in the 'Big Momma's' club)

Close up:

How far along? 29 weeks 

Size of baby: Butternut squash! 

Total weight gain:  Gained 3.5 more lbs. So that's a total of 19.5 lbs. My personal goal is to NOT go over 25 lbs. I'm pushing it! ;)

Maternity clothes? No. And I'm convinced I can go through this entire pregnancy without buying them. I just bought a really cute dress from my friends new Boutique for our maternity pictures. They are scheduled for August 4th with the famous Aimee Junnila! I'm extremely excited, although it's going to be SO HOT. 

Stretch marks? Not on my belly...just on my 'girls'. 

Sleep: Sleep was HORRIBLE this week. My back is aching so much and it's causing so much discomfort. 

Best moment this week:  Hearing that my PLACENTA moved!! Whoop whoop! No C-section for me! (Assuming all goes well- with no emergencies up until birth). 

Anything making you queasy or sick: No

Gender:  A hard kicking boy. He went from sweet little flutters and kicks to SERIOUS jabs. 

Belly Button in or out? In. But almost flat...it's getting stranger and stranger and I don't like it. 

Wedding rings on or off?  Bands off, wedding ring on. 

Miss Anything? Good posture and uninterrupted sleep. 

Food cravings: Ice cream has been at the top of my list everyday. I try realllllllllly hard to pass McDonalds and fight my cravings for late night DQ trips. Seriously- it's horrible. 

Labor Signs: No. 

Symptoms: Back aches and I have been very tired lately (which is common in the last trimester). 

Happy or moody? Extremely happy. I can't wait to hold this baby boy. 40 weeks is too long to wait. 

Looking forward to: Our coed shower next weekend hosted by the McNutts and Junnilas. 

Good news: I went to the Doctor on Wednesday and I DO NOT have Placenta Previa. Can I get an AMEN on that? I will not have to schedule a C-section to have this baby. I was so nervous about that...but thank goodness it moved away from the opening of my cervix. I also took the Glucose test Wednesday. The drink was absolutely disgusting and the 1 hour wait was even worse. I am praying that I passed this test. I will get the results Friday morning. I'm nervous about this as well because the past couple of times I have been to the Doc they have told me that I "have too much sugar in my urine". Let's say a little prayer that things work out in my favor :)

The dresser should be here by the end of this week. Hopefully we will be able to pick it up this weekend. Once we have that bad boy in the nursery we get to HANG everything on the wall and the only thing we will need to complete the room is the Glider...which won't be here until late August! I'm so excited to get his room all together!! I will be sure to post pictures. 

PS: Little Baby Moon's name will be announced next week! YIPPY! 

.78 MORE DAYS UNTIL OUR DUE DATE.

28 weeks {7 Months}

Close up:

How far along? 28 weeks 

Size of baby: Baby should be 2 pounds now!

Total weight gain:  16 lbs. Next Wednesday I will step on that dreaded scale again. 

Maternity clothes? I ordered two REALLY cute maternity dresses online for maternity pictures and well...THEY LOOKED HEINOUS when I tried them on. Big, MooMoo-ish, and just ugly.  I just don't know what it is...but I don't like "maternity" clothes. 

Stretch marks? No 

Sleep: Not so good this week. I just can't get comfortable anymore. 

Best moment this week:  Hitting the 7th MONTH! :) Getting closer and closer. 

Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope.

Gender: A wiggly little boy!  

Belly Button in or out? IN! Whoop.

Wedding rings on or off?  Bands off, wedding ring on. 

Miss Anything? A good nights SLEEEEEP.

Food cravings: FRIED PICKLES! Holy Moly. I had some at our sweet neighbor's house over the weekend and I swear I have thought about them every day since. I get to eat them again tomorrow for July 4th! YAY. 

Labor Signs: No. 

Symptoms: Back aches. Try duck taping a bowling ball to your stomach and walk around all day with it. Imagine what that does to your back.  

Happy or moody? HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY!! 

Looking forward to: We have a sonogram scheduled for Wednesday!! I get to see our sweet little Baby Boy!!  I will also find out if my placenta moved and I take the Glucose test.  We also scheduled a 3D ultrasound at Prenatal Impressions (the place where we found out the Gender) on July 22nd. I seriously CANNOT wait for that. I wonder who he is going to look like???