Baby Arties 2nd Baby Shower

Yesterday we had our 2nd baby shower that was hosted by my sisters and aunts. As always my sisters' creative side was top notch adorable... I only wish I got that gene! If you can not tell from the pictures the flowers are not really flowers they are onsies, bibs and socks rolled up to look like flowers... so precious! The shower was an all girls shower and was attending by moms, my aunts, cousins, grandma, neices, nephew and a few girlfriends. The Menu: For appetizers we had veggie dip and a delicious onion dip that my Aunt Sally should be famous for. For lunch we had chicken salad sandwiches, STA pasta salad, Plaza III salad and smoked salmon. For dessert my sisters made adorable baby cookies and brownies.

Games played: We played the game where everyone guesses how round my belly is. My sister-n-law Jenny measured my belly and then handed out a roll of measuring plastic tape that eveyone had to guess how big I was. Surprise, surprise my mom and mother-n-law guessed me to be the about 10 inches too big :). My friend Heather played it safe and guessed way to small. And there was a almost a tie between Joy Maxwell and my Aunt Sheila Finn... Sheila ended up winning the gift card to Starbucks. Who knew how fun it would be to have your friends and family guess how big you are!

Gifts: When I was finished opening all my gifts I was amazed at all the great stuff we got for Baby Artie! Instead of the guests bringing a card everyone brought a favorite children's book for me to have and read to Baby Artie. Robby's aunts and nana from Charlotte, NC sent us our lamb swing that should help soothe Baby Artie to sleep. His Aunt Ellen from Shelby, NC got us the amazing jogging stroller called the Bob so we can take the dogs and baby on a walk or jog with no probelm. My mother-n-law knitted baby Artie a sweet little mint green blanket. We also got our bathtime stuff, clothes, toys and for the group gift we go our exer saucer, little gym, pump, teethers, diaper cake, and so much more! My sisters' Brooke and Morgan got me... well I will just let you all take a look...

Ahhhhhhh I am just so obsessed with these shirts!!! Chuck has the "I'm the big brother", Oliver has the "I'm the middle brother" and baby Artie has the onsie that reads "My brothers are goldendoodles"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I mean I wanted to cry when I opened this gift.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for such a wonderful shower! It really means a lot to me that you all went through all the trouble of decorating for the shower, making all the delicious food, going out of your way to buy and send gifts, and of course for coming to the shower. I am just so lucky to have such a wonderful family and friends! Baby Artie is already thw luckiest baby out there!

Love you all!

32 Weeks!

You can see a 32 week picture of me above from the baby shower...

Size of Baby: As you may have guest (if you read my 31 week post) baby is at least 5 lbs by now but according to my book it should be 4lbs and nearly 19 inches long!

Gender: Only time will tell.

Movement: We found out that Artie's head is down and the movement that we have been feeling the most is what I can only guess is Artie pushing up (down for me) with both hands and just dancing around in there. Robby would wrap his arms around my belly and feel a little punch left then right, left then right. I think the baby wants out but it needs to stay for at least 4 more weeks.

Sleep: I am not getting much of this anymore.... If I lay on my left side I can't breath very well, if I lay on my right side my right hip cramps up and if I lay on my back then my body does not get any circulation! So to keep a long story short I can not sleep :).

Symptoms: Sleeplessness, needing to go to the bathroom as often as I did in my 1st trimester and fetal movement.

What I miss: Sleeping! Even for a little bit and waking up comfortable.

Cravings: I am not really having any cravings anymore... if anything nothing really sounds good to me. Don't get me wrong I am still eating plenty I just can never decide to what pick for lunch or dinner.

Best Moment of the week: Watching Robby during our birthing class. He did wonderful when watching a live birth. It was so great for him to see what was going to happen in what according to our instructor could be any day now to two months.
The other best moment was of course my 2nd baby shower that my sisters and aunts threw for me!

What I am looking forward to: This Thursday I am taking my nursing boards so I am focusing on that for now... as always though I look forward to more baby movements!

31 WEEKS!

Size of Baby: According to my week by week book Artie should weigh 3.5 lbs and measuring 18 inches long. Today I had my 31 week doctor's appointment and I was measuring a little big. The doctor wanted to do a sonogram to see if the growth was baby or fluid. Turns out baby Artie wants to be a football player and is measuring 2 weeks ahead of schedule and it's estimated weight is 4lbs 12 oz so almost 5lbs! Now it is up to me to keep the baby's weight down by limiting my sweet intake... good bye ice cream cravings!

Gender: Today was very hard not to look at the sonogram but we stayed strong and looked away. The heart rate is 152 beats per minute which is great and according to the old wives tale this means a girl... only time will tell though!

Movement: This week we have felt the baby moving a lot more than kicking if that makes sense along with little hiccups. Because we had the sonogram we were able to see what all that moving was. Turns out the baby has made the move to be in position for delivery! This means the head is down and what I thought was a knee pushing in my left side was really a foot that is jabbing at my uterus. During the sonogram we were able to even watch the baby pushing on my side...very cool!

Sleep: I find myself lately in bed at night and never really tired. The problem is not that I can not get comfortable it is more that I just can't get sleepy.

Symptoms: Only symptom is the feeling something is kicking from inside.

What I miss: Being able to roll over at night with no problem.

Cravings: This week I feel I didn't really have any cravings that stick out in my mind. Robby probably would say differently though :).

Best moment of the week: Our first baby shower hosted by my friends Emily Fors, Melissa Clarkson and Annie Anderson (see post below).

What I am looking forward to: My next baby shower that my sisters and aunts are throwing us and more movement!

Baby Shower number 1!

Last night Robby and I attended our first couples baby shower! The hostesses were our good friends Annie and Ryan Anderson, Melissa and Chris Clarkson and Emily and Rollie Fors.




The night was better than I could have ever asked for. There was a cool breeze, clear sky, a delicious meal and of course having all of our great friends and family at the shower just made the night! My three best friends from college, Karen Duree, Kayla Zeller and Julie Fitzsimons decided to ditch their husbands and fiance and drive to KC for the big night. So as you would suspect after the shower we had our own little girls night that lasted until about 2:00AM... I may be pregnant but when my girls are in town I will stay up and chat all night long.

Menu: We started the night out with brochette and spinach dip for an appetizer with a delicious punch for the non alcohol drinkers. For dinner was an amazing Italian feast consisting of salad, meatballs, lasagna, tortellini and garlic bread. Now for my favorite meal... for dessert we had mini chocolate, vanilla and strawberry cupcakes that were so delicious everyone was trying to figure out how to make them.

Games played: The hostesses changed the baby shower games up a little bit by having all the guys drink 2 oz of beer out of a baby bottle. Turned out Robby was handed the bottle with the slow release nipple on it and he lost miserably!
Gifts: For the gift the hostesses decided to do a themed group gift of "on the go." We got our snap and go stroller, car seat, back seat baby mirror, baby bjorn, cute little onsie sleepers, socks bibs, lullaby CD's, highchair, bumbo, Uggs and so much more! It was so fun coming home and just looking at all the small little things that baby Artie will be using.

Here is a picture of my siblings and their significant others... my brother Wes is missing from the picture because he had already left. (Jenny, Clint, Brooke, Doug, Robby, me, Danny and Morgan)

This is my friend Heather who is now engaged as of last week!!!!!!! Congrats!

Thank you to everyone that was able to make it to the shower! The night was very special to both Robby and I and we feel so lucky to have such wonderful friends and family!

Let's take a look back...

Since I started my blog a little late in my pregnancy, I decided to post some pictures that Robby has taken over the past few months. This way you can see how fast baby Artie has grown!
Here I am when I first started to pop at 20 weeks/ 5 months.

Two weeks later I was a little bigger at 22 weeks/ 5 1/2 months.

Here we were in Cayman Islands after I graduated from nursing school and I am 28 weeks/7 months.

Here is the picture from my 30 week/ 7 1/2 months blog.

30 weeks!

Just an FYI for this post (and future posts) we call the baby, Artie. This is not in anyway, shape or form one of the names we are thinking about actually naming our child. So don't think we are naming our baby boy... if it is a boy... Arthur Arthur. :) Enjoy...

Size of Baby: Baby Artie is 3 lbs with a total length around 17 inches long. Artie may be practicing breathing movements as he or she rhythmically moves its diaphragm. This is why I feel twitching every once in a while like the baby has the hiccups. Additionally, Baby Artie's brain continues to expand and develop and can now regulate his or her own temperature.

Total weight gain and measuring: Wow I guess after my post yesterday I am going to have to put this info in aren't I? My total weight gain up to this point is 25lbs. As of last week at my 29 week appointment I was measureing 30 cm.

Gender: Only time will tell.

Movement: This week has been a lot of fun for both Robby and I. At least 5 times a day you might see me jump a little because Artie has decided to kick me really hard! It's very difficult to explain the feeling of something moving inside you....all I can say is it is my favorite thing about the whole pregnancy. Lately we have been feeling, what we think, might be a foot, heal or knee moving back and forth just under my rib cage. It really is the most amazing feeling knowing that someone is with me at all time!

Sleep: This has been the first week of my whole pregnancy in which I have had a hard time sleeping. Poor Robby gets woken up 3-6 times a night as I get up to use the restroom.

Cravings: I feel like I don't really have cravings but Robby has pointed out to me, on many occasions, that my ice cream and frozen yogurt intake has increased dramatically! :)

Best moment of the week: My favorite time is early in the morning and late at night when Robby puts his arm around my belly and the baby starts moving like crazy. I just love that we can both feel the baby moving at the same time. Wow am I tearing up right now??? Hormones!

What I am looking forward during week 30: Getting our basement cleaned out and the rest of our house spotless for baby!

Pregnancy Don’ts for the non pregnant person…

Many times throughout my pregnancy I have felt the desire to write a book for people who are not pregnant about how to treat the pregnant lady. Instead I have decided to take today to blog about my frustrations with society. I would first like to state that my comments below are a result of me being amazed at the questions and comments directed at pregnant women. It seems as though our world is obsessed with weight! Whether it is due to being too thin or too fat, people are not allowed to just enjoy their life. Try to think, when was the last time you got on the scale and were completely happy with yourself? I think this dissatisfaction with ourselves is more of a problem than the growing obese population! I will also say that I am not exempt from this obsession or else I wouldn’t have made this my blog for today. Either way, here is my tongue-in-cheek attempt to better the world today:

1. During a healthy pregnancy women should gain 25-35lbs. Somewhere along the way we got another idea, that all pregnant women should look like runway models with a basketball in their stomach. Well not to surprise anyone but if you did not look like a 95lb runway model prior to pregnancy you will not look like one during pregnancy. You are going to gain weight! Society did you hear me? Are there things that pregnant women can do to keep from excess weight gain? Of course there are! I would ask though, do you feel like running a marathon, working out every day and eating a perfectly healthy meal each day as the non pregnant person? I doubt it! And if everyone else doesn't want to it might be even harder for a pregnant woman to be motivated to do this with her feet and back killing her.

2. All women grow babies differently. I know this may come to a surprise to many but some women are short, wide, skinny, tall, long torso, short torso and so on. This means our bodies will all grow differently with a baby inside them. Some women will be all baby, some will get big butts, some will have swollen faces, hands, feet, ankles you name it! If blood , fluid or fat goes to an area a pregnant women is screwed!

3. Never ask a woman how many babies are inside! If you ask this question you might was well grab a box of tissue because you will certainly upset the pregnant hormonal lady who just a few seconds ago was really enjoying her pregnancy. This question is in the same category as asking a woman who is not pregnant when she is due. Both should be avoided!

4. Last, and to sum up all my other points, remember that no one wants comments or advice about their weight! Just as you would not want someone to come up to you and tell you how big you're looking today, pregnant women don't want critiques or advice. Trust me, it will go in one ear and straight to where it hurts. A pregnant women is too nice to try to knock you out after your comment, instead she will hold it in and wait for privacy and probably cry her eyes out! Growing a baby is hard work, don't be the stranger who just made her day harder!

Wow I feel so much better now and I hope you were able to have a laugh with my frustrations about society! I am sure none of you that are reading this would ever do or say any of the things listed above, but I appreciate that you are all loving and supportive friends who help me through frustrating days like these!

Baby Arthur's Room

Baby Arthur's room is more perfect than I ever could have imagined. My mother-in-law Kathy has put many hours in the room over the past few months while I have been busy with nursing school. As I would come home from school she would be finishing up her prep work, then priming, then painting, then touching up the doors, making the closet look beautiful and making sure that every spot on the ceiling was perfect! I was in awe of her work, especially because I would have probably painted in one day; not priming, taping or even thinking to pain the ceiling. It was a good thing for all of us that she handled that one!

Robby and I decided to go with a soft mint green for the gender-neutral room and Robby's Nan made the most beautiful curtains that just scream baby to me!

I find myself going in the room almost daily and just imagining myself sitting in the rocking chair with a sweet little girl or boy in my arms.

I am almost 30 weeks right now so 2 1/2 months to go!!!!!!