27 weeks

How far along? 27 weeks, baby is the size of a cucumber

Total weight gain: 15lbs (gotta say, I'm impressed I've made it this far only gaining that much since I haven't been sick).

Maternity clothes? Nothing new, just comfy as possible.

Sleep: Terrible this week. I can't get comfortable, If I lay down I feel like she and everything else push up to my neck so I try to stay propped a little bit but I can't stay on one side for too long or my hip hurts. I basically toss and turn. Oh well.

Best moment this week: Getting ready for christmas and for Eleanor to come. Christmas baking day and meeting my sister's boyfriend at the little dinner shin dig I threw.

Miss Anything? wine still. Oh well.

Movement: She has days where she is lazy and I feel gentle little taps and movements and others where she is nuts and she does full body rolls and big twist and turns. She just better stay head down.

Food cravings: Cookies and sweets.

Anything making you queasy or sick: Nothing :)

Gender: GIRL

Symptoms: sleeping crummy, running out of breath, charlie horses. No complaints though, small price to pay.

Belly Button in or out? Getting pretty shallow these days, I actually wonder if it will pop this time, kinda doubt it though.
Wedding rings on or off? on. :)
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy
Looking forward to:
CHRISTMAS! DUH! and getting our family pictures back.

What we did this week:
We had our family pictures on saturday which was fun. Henry did well for the first 20 minutes all smiley and cooperative and then he realized there was open fields and decided to take off running. I'm sure I look all sweaty and red faced in them. Awesome.

They turned out amazing!!

Tuesday my mom and sister came over and we did our annual christmas baking day. My sister played with Henry alot which was so fun for both of them. He was literally ecstatic when they walked in the house. He screetched and laughed, it was so sweet. We made sugar cookies with icing, oreo truffle balls and 7 layer bars. All yummy stuff. Henry took a great 3 hour nap and my mom and sister tackled my house and did some organizing, deep cleaning and decorating for me. It was so much needed and so much appreciated. I move alot slower these days and it's hard to get a solid chunk of time to do that stuff without Henry needing me so for them to tackle it together was just the best. 

 My sister made a sugar cookie family of us complete with my bump. Hehe

 

Her annual Christmas baking day nap. She deserved it though. 

Wednesday I painted Eleanor's bathroom to match her room and decorated it and made some baby gifts for friends during nap. My sister brought her new boyfriend Jack over to our house for dinner. We decided to do it there so Henry could play and hang out and go to bed when needed and we wouldn't feel rushed at a restaurant. It worked out perfectly. My house was spotless from the day before. I made my yummy meatballs and spaghetti and delicious garlic bread. Taylor cracked a bottle of wine. We lit candles and turned on the Christmas lights and played my "dirty martini" playlist filled with Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald and many more like them. It was great to have family time and get to meet Jack.

Thursday Henry went to kid's day out again. This time he recognized where we were and started running to his classroom from the church lobby which made this momma happy. He immediately started playing with toys while I made up his nap cot and while I kissed him goodbye, he waved and smiled and kept on playing. I had a great mommy day and had time to run a bunch of errands, get a prenatal massage and make two blankets and two matching burp rags for Eleanor. That's the last of my projects for her before I tackle covering Henry's chair. I bought the fabric, I'm just scared to start because I have NO idea what I am doing. I'm praying to the gods of pinterest to lead the way and I will just figure it out as I go. When I picked Henry up that afternoon he came running to me all smiles, said hi and gave me a big hug and kiss and rested his head on my shoulder. Someone missed the momma. But he wasn't super eager to leave either and that made me feel good too. He had his Christmas party and came home with all sorts of goodies (we were in charge of bringing stickers) and they even made an ornament with his picture in it for us and wrapped it for mom and dad, love Henry. I almost cried when I opened it. I love sentimental things like that. I remember doing them when I was little at daycare and being so excited to give them to my parents. Henry obviously had no clue what it was but it means alot to me and I'm thankful to his teacher for the gesture. 

26 weeks

How far along? 26 weeks, baby is the size of a head of cauliflower

Total weight gain: 13lbs

Maternity clothes? Got another pair of my favorite maternity jeans and my favorite maternity t-shirt, comfort is key here folks.

Sleep: Holy Night terrors. What on earth?! I wake up sweating or crying or freaking out every single time I fall asleep. Scary things like robbery, car jacking, rape, murder, kidnapping my babies, house fires, natural disasters etc etc. My brain needs to give my emotions a rest for pete's sake.

Best moment this week: Henry's first day of school, read below. And passing my glucose test!!

Miss Anything? wine still. Oh well.

Movement: All the time. She finally flipped head down this week, thank god. Now she just needs to stay that way.

Food cravings: Chocolate milk, chocolate in general really.

Anything making you queasy or sick: Nothing :)

Gender: GIRL

Symptoms: This whole night terror thing can stop any time.

Belly Button in or out? Getting pretty shallow these days, I actually wonder if it will pop this time, kinda doubt it though.
Wedding rings on or off? on. :)
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy
Looking forward to:
Our family pictures are saturday. I can't wait to do them and see them! Spending time with my mom (and sister) this next week. She took a few days off work to get some projects done and help me get some done too. She was sick today and we had planned for her to come over to help paint Eleanor's bathroom, dresser and hang up some stuff in her room. We will just move it to a different day when she feels better. She caught what the rest of us have had and my fam is finally feeling better so no way are we risking them getting sick again. Decorating can wait.
What we did this week:
Got our tree! Our tree farm we normally go is closed this year and I wasn't about to pay $112 for a shipped in from vermont tree at the runner up farm we chose so we took our pics and got the dang tree for $46 at home depot. FOR. THE. WIN. It's a beaut Clark. It really is one of our prettiest (and cheapest) yet. Taylor shaved off the bottom of the trunk for me to make a medallion of our family members with the year on it like we have always done. We have 5 now, hard to believe. And we decorated it tonight before I went to work. Henry looks at it and says "oooh dat!" and "smells" it (he really blows on it because he doesn't quite understand that you breathe in instead of out yet).

I had my doctor appt yesterday and that went well. Eleanor's heart sounds great, she is active and my blood work I had drawn proved I passed my glucose test! No diabetes for me! Bring on the Christmas baking!

Today was really the fun day though. Henry started school! It was his first day and I was a little nervous about how he would do with lunch and nap but he ate well. I packed a PB&J because I know he will eat that without fail, a cheese stick, some berries and grapes and some strawberry puff squares he likes and a water in his sippy cup. He took a nap after some convincing and his teacher rubbing his back and actually slept for an hour. His teacher said that's pretty good for his first day. He ran in when I put him down this morning and while I made up his cot with his sheet and blanket he started playing with toys with the other kids. I kissed him goodbye and told him to be good and he didn't even look up or blink. No acknowledgment whatsoever. I guess that's a good thing, better than me leaving him screaming and crying. Like I said, we had planned for my mom to come over but instead I went and ran errands. By. My. Self! It's the first time I have done that since maybe before henry was even born. It was glorious, no kid's time table, no fussing, no grabbing things off the shelf or becoming impatient and best of all, no doing and undoing a kiddo into a carseat every where we go. It was so nice and freeing to be able to walk in and out quickly or just take my time. I went to Joann and got some fabric for Eleanor, two more blankies and matching burp rags are in the works and a few other little trinkets. I ran to target and got Taylor a few sweater options for him to try on for our family pictures saturday and even went to Old Navy to find him a shirt to wear if he didn't like the sweaters. I got to take a good long nap too before work and then went to pick up Henry. I was so excited to go get him and see how he did. He was playing with his back turned toward me when I walked in and I turned him around and said hello to him and sort of was hoping for squeals of delight and big smiles and I got a little grin and him pointing to the door. He wanted to go home and was happy I was there but he was content where he was too. That made me feel really good that he had a good day. It was great for both of us. I love our time together but I also love that he has the oppertunity to go learn and play and share and grow while I have time to recoup from mommyhood fatigue. Win. Win. 

Baby's first packed lunch.  sniffle sniffle.

 

I tried to take a picture of him with his backpack on but it was too heavy and he fell over.  I was dying laughing. He was not. 

 

He was a happy boy to be home. 

25 weeks

How far along? 25 weeks, baby is the size of an rutabega.

Total weight gain: 12lbs

Maternity clothes? A few new things here or there. Not much though.

Sleep: I've slept so good this week. Alot of night terrors but less charlie horses and I can breathe again so that helps.

Best moment this week: Going to Taylor's company christmas party and going to the christmas tree farm. 

Miss Anything? WINE. It was horrible to watch everyone drink it at the christmas party and I couldn't. Sad!

Movement: Tons, I have felt big movements like rolling around and stretching and not just kicks

Food cravings: Chinese....again. Life cereal, chocolate and milk.

Anything making you queasy or sick: Nothing :)

Gender: GIRL

Symptoms: No complaints, occasional tingling hands and arms when I fall asleep, I get out of breath walking around, reading a book to Henry, talking on the phone etc etc etc. The things that happen when a baby takes up space in your belly.

Belly Button in or out? Getting pretty shallow these days, I actually wonder if it will pop this time, kinda doubt it though.
Wedding rings on or off? on. :)
Happy or Moody most of the time: Ask Taylor. I really don't know. Being sick, Henry sick, Taylor sick. It's been kind of a "get through the days" week. Not the most enjoyable.
Looking forward to:
Getting our Christmas tree tomorrow, everyone feeling better and spending time with my mom this week. She took a few days off work to get some projects done and help me get some done too. She is coming over on thurs to help paint Eleanor's bathroom, dresser and hang up some stuff in her room.
What we did this week:
Everyone was sick so we didn't do much. Taylor had his company christmas party on friday night so we left Henry for an overnight with grandma and grandpa Smith. It was a gret party with incredible food and fun people. They had a casino theme and after the sit down steak and salmon dinner we got to play with fake money for raffle tickets for prizes. Such a good night to get away and have fun together. Of course I ended up having to work saturday night so I couldn't go to my friend's baby shower that was a few hours away like I had planned and I cried all the way to work. Holy Hormones batman. We tried to go get a tree too but the farm we used to go to was closed this year. SO SAD! and so we went to one near by and the prices were insane so we took a few pics, called it good and went home to rest and recoup some more. We plan to get one this coming week from the hardware store. Yeah I know. Boring. Oh well.

 I painted the big wooden letter E I got from my sister, the new mirror and the wooden cross my mom gave me the same shade of white to go in Eleanor's gallery wall.

 

I got her curtain rods with crystal finials on the end in the mail and I already had her white silk curtains so we can hang those. We ordered a chandelier for her room too. I got an amazing deal from sales and coupon codes from Pottery Barn Kids and I can not wait for it to come in, this pic is off the website. So basically just bits and peices here and there to make progress. I realized I only have 7 newborn outfits for her and Henry wore newborn for 6 whole weeks so I need to pick up a few more things for her and things like diapers and baskets for her accessories, etc etc etc.

 This medallion goes around the chandelier to make it even girlier