Memorial Day and then some

Tuesday, May 26, 2015

I was going to start off by saying we've had a great first couple weeks of Summer, but yesterday (Memorial Day) was the official start of Summer - so I'm not sure what we'll call the beginning of May. Regardless, it's been fun!

My friend, Allison, had her sweet baby girl - Genevieve - on May 6, and Adam and I got to meet her when she was a week old. Such a little doll! With so much hair!



We celebrated Alysa and Chris' engagement party on May 16! The countdown has officially begun for their May 21, 2016 wedding.


I finally tracked down my swirl froyo at TCBY!


Hank is the first pup to embrace my belly! (And he's only done this once.)


I had to take my Glucose Tolerance Test at my 27 week appointment on May 19. I haven't heard from the doctor's office, which means I guess I passed! (By the way, I heard all these horror stories about how gross the drink is. People are so dramatic. It literally tasted like sugary fruit punch.)


I was in Charlotte for work most of last week, and Hank took it upon himself to protect/take over my Snoogle.


Mitchell headed off to Rome for 7 weeks on Saturday! We sent him off with lunch at Taco Mac, of course.



We had the joy of babysitting our favorite little man on Saturday afternoon! He is SO much fun - crawling, pulling himself up and chatting away all day. He didn't fuss once.



Such a little ham!


Jude and Rico had their first official introduction - they were both confused.


That evening we headed to Zoo Atlanta for Brew at the Zoo! Basically you get to walk around the zoo and drink booze (or water, in my case). I can't even remember the last time I went to the zoo, but it was so fun!


Baby Panda! Still not even 2 years old.


Handsome! 



We were all pretty hungry after the zoo, so we decided to try out Tasty China by our house. It's constantly written up as one of the best restaurants, but we still hadn't been. I'm glad we finally did - so yummy! By the way, Jeff and Katie came in town - in case you missed that. :)


I think Jeff needs seconds.


How perfect is this fortune I got?? I would say so!


Baby girl's mattress came in, so on Sunday we finally got a little work done on the nursery. I'm so in love!


Adam drew this picture of ballerinas when he was 10 years old, and now it's hanging up in her room. I could cry!


We enjoyed some drinks and burgers as a pre-birthday celebration for dad on Sunday evening.


And last night we celebrated with dinner at Stoney River! (Mom is in dreary San Diego for work - bummer.)


No birthday is complete without me getting a dessert, right? :)


Celebrating Moms and Grads!

Monday, May 11, 2015

We have really lucked out with (at least) three weeks of gorgeous weather! After a gross, rainy winter - I'll take it.

We joined my parents and Papabear at the Braves game on Tuesday night, and the weather just made the win even more enjoyable!

Thanks for the awesome picture, Dad! Don't mind us not looking...


My adorable hubs found me some soft serve ice cream - something that always sounds good now that I'm pregnant. (Also, if anyone knows where I can get this without buying my own machine - trust me, I've looked into it - I would greatly appreciate it.)


Fun times!


On Thursday, it was back to Taste of the Nation! (Didn't I quit this job?) My friend/old boss, Allison, is still on board consulting for the event and her C-Section was planned for the day before the event. I was happy to help her out and run day-of logistics in her absence. In exchange for working the day-of, I was able to grab a few tickets for family. I was most excited that Meagan and Nathan got to join in on the fun this year!


How cute are these centerpieces??


This year's Honorary Chef was Wylie Dufresne and Honorary Chair was Dr. Sanjay Gupta. Not too shabby. (And both very nice!)


Allison's new intern, Jessie, did a great job!


With my handsome! 


After a long day (and night), my feet and my belly were so ready for bed! Then it was up and at 'em Friday morning to get ready to head to Milledgeville for Kelsey's graduation!

Debbie, Meagan, Gram, Jude and I headed down in the early afternoon and then we were joined by the boys later in the evening. We all enjoyed a fun little concert on campus before heading back to the hotel for our beauty rest. 


Kelsey's graduation started at 8:45am (goooood morning!), so that was a fun alarm to set. But who cares, we are so proud of her! Her heart has always been called to Africa, and she turned down a pretty awesome job opportunity to do just that in January 2016. We will all miss her, but know God has better plans for her than we could ever dream of! Yay for Kelsey! We love you! 


I sadly don't have any pics of us with the grad, because that girl growing in my belly decided to cause a little scare. Saturday morning I was getting ready and had a gush of (what felt and looked like) water. I thought it was really odd, but tried not to stress out about it. During graduation it happened again and I figured it was just another weird thing my body was doing during pregnancy. (In case you didn't know, pregnancy does some crazy things to your body.) Regardless, I felt like I should call the doctor just to make sure. Because there was a chance it was my amniotic fluid (aka - my water breaking), they recommended I head to the hospital to get checked out. (Who knew they couldn't diagnose fluid over the phone??) After some prayers (and a car ride full of prayers), Adam and I jumped in the car and made the two hour trek back to Atlanta. She kicked a couple times on the ride home, which was comforting! (She had also been pretty chill the last couple days, but I figured it was because I had been nonstop and didn't really notice her. Still, it was a bit unnerving.) 

When we got to the hospital, I checked into triage and they hooked me up to the heart rate monitor. We immediately heard her strong heartbeat, which was a relief. The amniotic fluid test came back negative (yayyy!!!), but we hung out for a few more minutes to meet with the midwife on duty, Leah. While we were waiting, baby girl decided she was sick of the heart rate monitor and kept kicking it. It would make a funny bump noise on the machine every time she did it, and I thought it was the cutest thing ever. Leah finally came in and she was awesome! Apparently sometimes things like this just happen. However, since there's no way of telling unless they do a test, I'll need to go back if it happens again. All in all, I was really pleased with our experience! We were in and out in about an hour (including the time it took to run the tests, etc.), and everyone was very pleasant. Now hopefully we won't be back for another 14 weeks!

After that crazy afternoon, it was time to relax. We spent the rest of the evening laying on the couch watching movies, and baby girl decided to take it upon herself to practice gymnastics. She had a lot of pent up energy after those busy couple days! And even more exciting, Adam finally felt her move... twice!! 

Sunday was Mother's Day (how fitting), and I was so excited to spend the day with my awesome moms! Adam was also the sweetest and made me pancakes and bacon for breakfast! He also got me a pool float (life saver!!), a puzzle and a Baby on Board sign for the car. I complain about how stupid those signs are every time I see them (sorry I'm not sorry), and he thought it would be hilarious to buy me one. It was! 

I also have to brag about Adam, because I don't think I've done it enough. He has been so amazing throughout this entire pregnancy, and I love him more and more each day! It was the best Mother's Day, but to be honest - he's that awesome to me on a daily basis! He was also the perfect combination of calm, comforting and funny during the drama on Saturday, which was so necessary. My heart could explode just thinking about how much love he has for me and our little girl already!

We spent brunch with my family, and Mamabear read her Mother's Day card three separate times. We couldn't help but laugh! This was after she told me my stomach was "HUGE", without knowing I was pregnant. Good to know she's ok just going around saying that to people! Regardless, we love that she's still around to celebrate! (And we would not laugh at her if she was in a bad place. She's happy as a clam!)

After a lazy afternoon, we all headed over to the Bakers for a Baker/Reaves/Causey celebration (plus Gram, too!). I love family time, especially when it's spent celebrating some of my all-time favorite women! I feel so blessed to have my mom and Debbie in my life - they are both such amazing women and I pray I become a fraction of the mom they are!

At church on Sunday, all moms got a rose. Guess what? I'm a mom!! (Adam recommended I pose smelling it - ha!)


In true mom fashion, she wanted to pose with a prop.  Only three more months until she's officially Nonna!


We had a great, fun-filled week and we're looking forward to a busy three months before the babe makes her debut!


23-25 Weeks

23 Weeks: April 21



Baby's the size of a: Grapefruit and her face is fully formed! We can't wait to see who she looks like!

Weight gain since last appointment: 6 pounds (Total: 12 pounds)

Baby's heart rate: 140s

Sleep: I've been sleeping pretty great, but thanks to my stuffy nose - getting up and ready for the day is miserable.

Best moment of this week: Adam got baptized!! I also had my 23 week checkup and met with one of the midwives for the first time - Beth. She was also Meagan's midwife, and Meagan really liked her. So far she's my favorite! Very comforting and took time to ask me questions and thoroughly answer any I had. 

Miss anything: We visited Mitchell for A Day this past weekend, and the mimosas looked pretty good on Saturday morning...

Food cravings: Donuts and waffles.

Anything making you queasy or sick: My dad's driving. :)

Symptoms: Lightheaded, sore abdomen, blurry vision, stuffy nose. But I'm not complaining! 

Happy or moody most of the time: Happy!! I'm getting rid of this question. 

Looking forward to: Adam finally (if ever) getting to feel baby girl kick. I've felt her a handful of times, but she decides to get shy every time Adam tries. It's actually kind of funny (to me).


24 Weeks: April 28



Baby's the size of a: Cantaloupe (they're really reaching when it comes to the fruits here, aren't they?). She's now gaining about six ounces a week… growing girl!

Sleep: Let the tossing and turning begin! And by begin, I mean - continue.

Best moment of this week: We started our Bradley Method classes last week and we're so excited! Our teacher is awesome and we've already learned so much. We also got so much done around the house, which is a huge weight off my shoulders. 

Miss anything: A fun cocktail in this beautiful weather. 

Food cravings: Overall, everything's been pretty tame. Still love Frosty's… and Reese's Eggs.

Anything making you queasy or sick: I've really been paying attention to my protein intake, which has cut back any remaining queasiness.

Symptoms: It's crazy how much my posture has changed. Still have some round ligament pain, but I've been trying to drink at least 100 ounces of water a day, which has definitely helped! Don't get as light headed or tired these days, thanks to the protein I've been eating. (Only two classes in and look at how much the Bradley Method has helped!)

Looking forward to: Getting her nursery together! 


25 Weeks: May 5



Baby's the size of a: Cauliflower and she knows which way is up and which is down!

Sleep: Wahhh, I can't get comfortable. Even with my trusty Snoogle I'm tossing and turning all night.

Best moment of this week: Adam and I had a really great weekend and the weather was beautiful. So I'll go with that.

Miss anything: A fancy cocktail for the Kentucky Derby! I made myself a Pellegrino mocktail instead.

Food cravings: Nothing too crazy, but I did really want my mom's chicken and broccoli casserole - so I made it for the first time, ever. It was delicious and we ate it all weekend. The first leftovers that haven't creeped me out. Hooray!

Anything making you queasy or sick: Not really.

Symptoms: Same as last week, but seeing lots of improvements.

Looking forward to: My first baby shower this month, hosted by my amazing sisters!


Fun in the Sun

Monday, May 4, 2015

It has been a beautiful past two weekends, and Adam and I have had so much fun doing things outside! But, of course, let's start with indoor activities.

We helped my parents celebrate their 28th Wedding Anniversary on April 23 at Pricci. They had a gift certificate, so let us tag along (apparently just to take pictures!).


I hung out with my favorite little boy while Meagan ran some errands. Jude is so fun these days - scooting all over the place and just a joy to be around.



My fabulous Aunt Kathy and Granny bought us our stroller! Although she ordered it online, we decided to go look at baby stuff anyway. It was hilarious watching her and my mom pick up everything and say "Now why didn't we think of this?!"


Our church hosted a picnic at Laurel Park, so Adam and I joined in on the festivities. We've never been to that park before and it was only about 5 minutes from our house. In addition to the playground, there's a pond with ducks! I see ourselves coming here quite a bit in the future!


After the picnic, we headed up to the Marietta Square to check out Taste of Marietta. Of course I had to partake in a fried brownie! (It was obviously delicious.)


In addition to all that fun stuff, Adam and his dad successfully wired our girl's room for a light switch (it's the little things, y'all) and a ceiling fan! Now we just have to get the fan installed, and we can check off a huge to-do!

Speaking of the babe's nursery, I actually did an ARTS AND CRAFTS project this weekend! Really, I just spray painted these frames. But that meant I had to have an idea, buy the frames and spray paint, and actually do it. They turned out great, and I can't wait to start piecing her room together.


Saturday was apparently one of the biggest days for sports - Mayweather vs Pacquiao fight, the Kentucky Derby, NHL and NBA playoffs, NFL draft and MLB games. Oh, and Adam and I played tennis with my parents! So much fun! I was jealous of all the fun Derby cocktails I saw on Facebook, so I made myself a little mocktail to celebrate. It was basically the same thing (kind of, not really).


Sunday started with church (quickly becoming one of my favorite parts of the week) and then Adam headed off to play golf with Doug while I headed to PDK Airport to bring Jeff and his copilot some beloved Taco Mac. His plane was in Atlanta for a few hours, so we got to go see him for a bit and hang out in the fancy jet.

Apparently the planes are not built for pregos. (Plus, Jeff squished the seats together on purpose.)



And because I'm so nice, I'll end this post with my mom's amazing chicken and broccoli casserole recipe! I made this Friday night and it fed us all weekend. It's always been a family favorite, and I was so proud of myself for (finally) making it!


Ta da! (I accidentally put the cheese on top, instead of between the layers. But it still tasted the same, so there!


 
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