21 Weeks

Today I enter my 6th month of pregnancy. I can't believe I'm 6 months pregnant! How did that happen? While I'm down here in Little Rock at my parents house, my Dad used his fancy camera equipment and took some bump photos of me in their backyard yesterday. Here is this weeks update!

Size of Baby: 3 quarters of a pound and 10 1/2 inches long or about the length of a carrot.

How I'm Feeling: I feel awesome! Other than the little one kicking inside of me and wanting to go to bed around 7:00 every night, I would never know I was pregnant.

Cravings/Appetite: Nothing unusual this week. My appetite has been pretty decent although I still eat less than I did pre-pregnancy. I haven't had any cravings but I did stumble upon a Chick-Fil-A chocolate chunk cookie for the first time last weekend and I've probably had 3 others since. They're Y-U-M.

Clothes: It finally happened. My jeans are officially too tight. I can technically still button them but I think I would be miserably uncomfortable wearing them all day. I attempted the rubber band trick but it wasn't comfortable either. I decided it was time to hang up my favorite jeans and embrace the maternity jeans. It will forever be easy for me to remember when my bump outgrew my clothes because it happened on Thanksgiving day.

Movement: Campbell moves so much! Last week I couldn't feel him when I was standing up but now I can. Having never been pregnant before I didn't know what to expect with the movements but he moves so much more than I realized babies moved. One day I decided to count how many times I could feel him and I counted 10 times in just 10 minutes!

Changes in Me: I weighed on Wednesday before we left for town and 21 weeks later I finally made it back to my pre-pregnancy weight. It's getting hard for me to put socks and boots on. I can totally see how pregnant ladies slowly gravitate towards shoes that they can easily slip their feet into. It's starting to feel like my back and torso are stretching in length and I may or may not have googled to see if it's possible to gain a few inches of height during pregnancy. The answer is no in case you're wondering. I could stand to gain an inch of length in my short torso so I was a tad disappointed to learn that's not what's happening.

Baby Purchases: We ordered our glider from West Elm today! The glider was one of the harder nursery decisions for me to make and I went back and forth between 4 different ones for the longest time. I copied my BF and got the same glider she has so I've already seen it in person which is nice. I chose a different color though so fingers crossed that it looks good.

Favorite Moment This Week: My family getting to feel Campbell moving around! Sometimes he gets shy and the second someone puts their hand on my belly he won't budge but he decided to show out for his family and kick extra hard for them. I love that they can feel him now! It's such a sweet thing to be able to share with them.

Looking Forward To: Jamaican paradise next week!! I'm so looking forward to laying by the pool, walking on the beach and drinking many pina coladas (sans the rum of course). Plus, a tan makes you look thinner and heaven knows I could use the help.

Thanksgiving 2013

We've had a great Thanksgiving day in Little Rock with my family! We woke up early and watched the parade while eating a big breakfast, then lounged around in our pajamas for the rest of the morning. The weather has been chilly but beautiful so we took the girls outside to play for a little bit but not without putting on their sweaters and taking a couple of photos of course!

We usually have our big Thanksgiving meal at lunch but this year we waited until dinner and I really enjoyed doing it that way. As always, our food was delicious and I helped myself to an extra large serving of everything. My eyes were much bigger than my stomach.

The little nuggets got a small plate of Thanksgiving food themselves. Now Ivy is sick and can't stop throwing up (they don't usually get table food) and the other two are, and will probably remain, in a food coma for the remainder of the evening.

I have so much to be thankful for and I don't think I could even begin to count all of my many blessings. He is so good!! Happy Thanksgiving everybody! I hope you have too many blessings to count as well.

Campbell's Closet {Fall/Winter Edition}

One of my favorite things about expecting a baby is shopping for little mini clothes! Right when I found out I was pregnant I started browsing the baby isles in department stores and couldn't wait until I knew the gender so I could actually start buying things. When I found out I was having a boy I was so worried that shopping for blue instead of pink wouldn't bring me as much joy. I had honestly never really paid attention to boy clothes because I was too distracted by the adorable girl clothes to even notice them. Once I started to shop for Campbell I realized that I am going to have just as much fun shopping for a boy as I would a girl. Boy clothes are so cute and I love, love stocking my little guy's closet. Spring and summer clothes haven't hit the stores yet but there is absolutely no way that I could be patient enough to wait around for them to arrive before I started buying things. The fall and winter clothes that are out right now are so cute and I just had to purchase some items even though we have a whole entire year before he'll get to wear them. Today I thought I'd share Campbell's closet with you guys and give you a small glimpse into what his little style will look like!

1.) This was one of the first outfits I bought for Campbell. It's one of my favorites and I bet he'll look so adorable in it come fall 2014!

2.) I'm kind of obsessed with this plaid one piece. It will be so precious for him to wear during the holidays and I think it looks super cute paired with the little jean jacket. Gap labeled this as a "cool mom pick" and I have to admit, that label makes me love it even more.
3.) I like that this is a shirt with a little onesie underneath. This will be perfect for fall weather.
4.) As you can see, I like one piece rompers. This, like #2, is lined with flannel so not only is it cute but it will be really soft and comfortable for him as well.
5.) I love this old grandpa-looking sweater. It will be great for layering.
6.) I bought this sweater jumpsuit at Target the day I found out I was having a boy. It was one of the few boy items that caught my eye before I knew the gender and I told myself if I was having a boy I had to go back and get it.
7.) One baby clothing item that I am obsessed with is Kickee Pants. It's my go-to baby gift because the material is so soft and they look so comfortable. Campbell will definitely be lounging in lots of Kickee Pants!
8.) I found these Ugg knockoff's at TJ Maxx and I love them. I feel like baby shoes can be kind of awkward because they look too big and bulky and impractical. I think these boots will be perfect for keeping his little feet warm in the winter and I feel like they'll stay on really well while he's crawling around on the floor. My husband isn't the biggest fan of them but oh well.
9.) I'm not usually drawn to clothes with phrases on them and we probably won't own many but Meet Me Under The Mistletoe.....I mean, how could I resist that?

My Home At Christmas

I love decorating my house for Christmas. I have so many Christmas decorations stored in my attic and I look forward to the anticipation of pulling them out and setting them up every year. I usually go all out and it takes me days and days to decorate my house but this year it's gone a little differently. I did a few things here and there and maybe I'll add a little bit to it but I didn't put up as much Christmas this year as I have in the past. We're going to be out of a town a lot of December and I honestly just didn't feel like messing with decorating. I'm not being a scrooge, I promise! My house is still festive and fun but on a smaller scale than usual. Want to take a peek inside?

This is only my second Christmas in my house but every year I love my mantel. The white works really well with Christmas decorations! As I was putting up our stockings I thought about next year and how we'll have 5 hanging up instead of 4!

I did my Christmas tree different this year and went with an all white and silver theme. It's very pretty and I'm really enjoying the change!

I always love the way ornaments look in clear containers so I copied what I did last year and stuck some pastel colored ornaments in my lantern and placed a mini poinsettia beside it. I always enjoy the way this turns out. Side note: I love that photo of Ivy and Madison. I took it of them right before they got their first haircut. They look like such little babies in that picture! 

My absolute favorite part of my Christmas decorations is my Department 56 Snow Village. I didn't get to put it up last year because the table that it's sitting on now hadn't come in yet and we didn't have anywhere else to put it. I usually add a new house every year but what we have on this table now is all that will fit so Scott and I aren't real sure how we're going to be able to continue to add to our collection. Hopefully we can figure something out because it's so fun adding to it every year!

So there you go! That's my Christmas decor this year. I still have one more piece to add before it's all complete and I'll probably get to that at some point today. I have a bunch of beautiful glass ornaments with holly painted on them and I always like to do something with them in remembrance of the best Christmas present I've ever received, my sweet Holly. Christmas will always remind me of my sweet girl and I like to do something special to feel like she is somehow still included. 

Won't You Be My Neighbor?

How is it already Monday? My weekend flew by! I spent my Friday helping my best buds unpack/move into their new house. Oh and I should probably mention that these best buds of mine officially live 2 doors down from me. TWO! One. Two. Two doors down the street. Can I get a Woo Hoo?! My two absolute closest and bestest girlfriends both live in the same neighborhood as me now and I could not be more thrilled.

Jaclyn, Jacqueline and I have nearly been inseperable since bid day 10 years ago. We lived together in the Kappa house, we take trips together, we were all in each others weddings, we spend our weekends together and now we live in the same neighborhood! Jax (right) and her husband moved into the neighborhood in August and Jaclyn (center) and her husband are the ones who moved in next door (basically) over the weekend. Doesn't every girl dream of living in the same neighborhood with her best friends!? Having them living so close makes me so, so happy! I keep telling y'all that I live in the best neighborhood in NWA and this is officially the cherry on top!

While Jaclyn was unpacking her new house her pup, Rose, came to our house to play. My girls are obsessed with Rose. Her name is one of their favorite words and they love when she comes over. Hopefully they'll get to see a lot more of her now that she lives next door. Nothing would thrill them more.

I spent the majority of my day yesterday getting my house decorated for Christmas. I usually wait until after Thanksgiving to decorate but since it's only 30 days until Christmas I figured I should get the ball rolling. Everything is pretty much finished except for a few little things here and there. I'll share pics tomorrow! Until then....

20 Weeks

Today I hit the halfway mark in my pregnancy! 140 days in, 140 more to go. I'd have to say that the midway point in my pregnancy has been my favorite time so far. I feel great and Campbell moves all the time which is such an amazing feeling. Everything is getting really fun now because we're in the beginning stages of getting the nursery ready and simply calling him by is his name instead of saying "the baby" makes it all feel even more real.

Size of Baby: 10 1/2 ounces and 10 inches long, about the length of a banana.

How I'm Feeling: I feel pretty good. I've been more tired this week than usual and had a tiny bit of nausea but really, there isn't much to complain about. The last few weeks have been easy breezy compared to the first 16.

Cravings/Appetite: My appetite has definitely changed. When I'm hungry I'm starving and have to eat right away but a few small bites of food later and I am stuffed. Sometimes I get so full from lunch that I don't even want dinner. It's weird. I thought I would be famished all day long being pregnant but I eat less than I did before I was pregnant.

Clothes: Believe it or not my jeans still fit. They're definitely getting tighter and leave marks on my stomach when I sit down for a long time. Haha. They aren't uncomfortable though so until they are I'm hanging onto them. I've been wearing a couple of maternity tops that I got at Motherhood Maternity and I really like them because they're long and work great with leggings. I'm totally going to continue to wear these tops for years to come because it's so hard to find tops long enough to wear with leggings. Who knew you just needed to shop the maternity stores to find them?!

Movement: Oh yes! My little man moves around constantly and I LOVE it. I can't feel him when I'm standing but the second I sit or lay down I feel him moving around. I've always wondered what it feels like to have a baby move around inside of you and I feel so lucky and blessed that I get to experience it. It's seriously one of the most amazing feelings in the world and if I let myself think about the miracle of it for too long it brings tears to my eyes.

Changes in Me: I'm just half a pound shy of my pre-pregnancy weight now. I weigh every Friday morning and I always expect the scale to be up by 5 extra pounds from the week before since I feel like I'm growing so much but I'm gaining a steady pound a week and I'm really pleased with that. I hope I stay on this track for the duration of this pregnancy.

Baby Purchases: I've given the green light for the baby bedding to get made! I went to the fabric store earlier this week to look at swatches and I thought I would be there for hours but I found exactly what I wanted in about 45 minutes. I think it helped that I wanted something very simple. Campbell's room will be really "grown up" with different shades of grey linen and I think it's going to come together really well!

Favorite Moment This Week: Feeling my little one move around so much! I don't have anything to compare it to but I would say that Campbell is a very active little baby. He kicks and punches and I've even felt him roll around in there. Or at least I think that's what's happening. I like to think that he's a happy baby given how much he dances inside of me!

Looking Forward To: Thanksgiving with my family! I saw my Mom just last week but I know she and the rest of my family are going to be surprised to see how much I've grown since I last saw them. Within the last few days Scott occasionally looks at my belly with big eyes and says "you're pregnant!" There is definitely no denying it!!!

Baby Needs

I was bored on Saturday and didn't have a lot to do so I decided to set up a baby registry online at Target. I know it's still really early but I figured I'd slowly add things to it here and there. While I was attempting to add items to my registry I realized I had absolutely no clue what I was doing and the only thing I felt confident about adding was a basket of Aveeno products. About an hour later I logged out with a major headache. I'm aware of the very basics that I need but for the most part, I'm clueless. Everyone has been really helpful so far when I've had baby questions so I thought I'd occasionally blog about items I'm questioning and see if anyone out there wants to give me advice or offer their input. Please help me out! Any and all opinions are appreciated!!

1.) This isn't really anything I need to worry about for a while but since I have plenty of time now I would like to get it figured out. I really want to make my own baby food for Campbell. I know, it's cute that I think I'm actually going to do that, I get it. I really, really want to give it a shot though. I've been doing research online to try to figure out which baby food maker is best and I haven't really come across anything. The one that stands out the most to me is this one from Williams Sonoma.

Has anyone out there ever used it or any other baby food maker? If so what are your reviews? I have a regular food processor but I've heard it doesn't puree the food well enough. If anyone has some insight on this I'd love to hear from you!

2.) I somehow stumbled upon this Bamboo Mod'Swad swaddle from Woombie and I think it's so cool. I love that it zips up and the little tie at the bottom is so cute to me. Has anyone ever used it?

3.) Obviously baby monitors are really important. I found one at Target that I like but I'm basing it solely off of looks which probably isn't the most practical way to go. What baby monitor do you/did you use? Any tips on how to pick one out?

4.) Is it honestly necessary for me to get a pack and play? They're so big and take up so much space and the anti-clutter girl in me does not want one of those in my house. I know people like to have them for traveling but I feel like the only traveling we'll do when he's really little is to my parents house in Little Rock and I'm pretty sure my Mom will have her own crib/baby bed so I won't always have to bring my own. Let's discuss this.

5.) I am head over heels in love with this bassinet from Restoration Hardware. My husband keeps trying to tell me that this is not a practical purchase. Silly Scott---of course it is!! Anyone out there want to help me win this argument?

White & Silver

I've decided that I want to do a new look this year for my Christmas decorations. I've been doing this look for the last couple of years and I still love it but I'm getting a little tired of it. Since everything in my house is grey, cream and silver I think a silver and white Christmas would be really pretty. I have TONS of Christmas decorations that I've accumulated over the years so I won't really have to buy a whole lot to achieve my look but I did go to Hobby Lobby today to get a couple of new items. It made me so excited to decorate but I think I'm going to wait a few more days. While I was at Hobby Lobby I decided to get on Pinterest and search for white and silver Christmas trees for inspiration. When I typed in 'white Christmas tree' I was so surprised to see one of the top photos that popped up was from my blog. I shared a photo of my Mom's gorgeous flocked tree last year and a few days ago I guess someone stumbled upon it and put it on Pinterest. I think it's such a compliment that 1.) someone thought it was pretty enough to pin and 2.) it's been repinned so many times and it's been on there for less than a week. I get excited over little things like that.

This is classic Madison and Ivy so I had to take a picture of it today. They love sitting on the arm of this chair in the office and look out of the front window. And while we're talking about the little nuggets we had a carpet guy come out today to measure upstairs for new carpet. We have to get new carpet because when Ivy and Madison were puppies they went potty all over the place. Isn't that neat. Our house is less than 2 years old and we're getting new carpet. We've had it cleaned twice and I always spot cleaned it myself when I caught the accident but the thought of Campbell crawling over peed on carpet grosses me out so we're getting new. This is where my germaphobe-ness kicks in. 

That's all I've got for ya today. Until tomorrow.....

Red Hot

I have a wonderful recipe to share with you all today! I've been meaning to write about it for years now because it's so good but for some reason I always forget to share. It's a delicious red hot punch and it's perfect to make this time of the year. I've grown up on this beverage and I've been especially fond of it these days because it doesn't have any caffeine.

Ingredients

64 oz of cranberry juice
1 can of frozen orange juice
1 can of frozen lemonade
2 small cans of pineapple juice
12 oz of candy red hots

Simply mix together on the stove until the red hots melt and it's at your desired temperature. It's that simple! When I'm pouring it into my coffee mug I add about 1/4 of water to the cup because it's too strong and needs to be diluted down a little bit with water. You could go on ahead and add the water to the pot you mix the hot punch in if you like. Sometimes I use the empty cranberry juice bottle and fill it about 3/4 full of water then add it into the mix. (Hint: I also save my cranberry juice bottle and refill it with my hot punch leftovers)

I love having this drink for breakfast because I enjoy sipping on something hot in the morning. Today I had it as a snack paired with Fresh Markets Snowball Meltaway Cookies. OMG those cookies are amaze. I've never had them before and when I opened the bag it smelled like wedding cake.

This hot punch would be great to serve at a party and you could make it look really pretty by adding cranberries, orange or lemon slices to it. Like I said I've been enjoying this beverage even more now that I'm pregnant since it doesn't have caffeine. Give it a try, you'll love it!

Babies and Bellies

"We don't want to take a bath. Please don't make us take a bath."

Over the weekend I spent a lot of my time on the internet searching for nursery items. We've already picked out our crib from Restoration Hardware and are getting the matching dresser to go along with it. Now I'm trying to decide on which glider/rocker I want and also figure out baby bedding. Both are daunting tasks. I really don't like buying something online without being able to see it in person first. I've narrowed my glider/rocker down to a couple of options but can't seem to decide on which one I'd like to get. This afternoon I'm headed to a fabric store to attempt to pick out fabric for the bedding. Or at least get some ideas.

Over the weekend my baby bump grew like crazy....or it feels like it did. I've always heard that the 20 week mark is when you really start to pop and that is definitely true for me. My stomach now pokes up and out when I'm laying in bed. Gone are the days when it used to sink in while laying flat. I'm amazed that my jeans still fit. I don't think I have much longer. A week....maybe 2 if I'm lucky. And speaking of babies and bellies, my little one moves around all the time and I absolutely love feeling him!! I just lay around with my hand on my belly and feel him kick on the inside and outside and it's the most amazing thing ever. I will so miss this part about being pregnant.

And on a totally different note....
This weekend I was browsing on BlogLovin for the first time and noticed I have a handful of peeps who are already following Kara's Stories on it so I decided to set up an icon in case anyone else wants to follow suit.
For those of you who don't know what BlogLovin is, it's basically a way to store all of your favorite blogs in one place. You can get a little app for your phone or tablet and viola! All of your blogs are there, nicely organized and ready for you to read. It's actually pretty cool and also a great way to discover new blogs to read as well. If you are already doing the Bloglovin thing go on ahead and follow Kara's Stories!

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

19 Weeks

Size of Baby: The average baby is about 8 1/2 ounces and 6 inches long or about the size of a mango at 19 weeks. However, we got to find out the weight of our little nugget yesterday and he weighed 10 ounces and measured in at 19 weeks and 4 days. In a previous ultrasound he was a little bit ahead then the next ultrasound he went back to measuring exactly right again. I'll be curious whenever we have our next ultrasound to see how he measures.

How I'm Feeling: I feel wonderful! It's been a good week.

Cravings: No cravings. It's probably a bad idea to send me to the grocery store though. Everything looks good and everything gets put in the shopping cart.

Clothes: Clothes still fit! I did wear my maternity jeans on Tuesday night. They were super comfy but they stretched out a lot. I even went down a size when I bought them and have already washed and dried them on high heat. I'm a little bummed out that they stretch so much. My regular jeans don't do that.

Movement: Yes! The little one finally decided to let me feel him. As of Tuesday night I now feel him moving around multiple times a day. It's so exciting!

Changes in Me: I'm starting to get heartburn but it's pretty mild and not too terrible. I still have to go to the bathroom 10,183 times a day. I don't see that changing any time soon.

Baby Purchases: I bought a couple of onsies at the Gap (you know how much I love Baby Gap!!) for fall next year. They were on sale for a really good price. I really want him to be comfortable while we're just hanging out here at the house. I think cute onsies and little sweatpants will be a wardrobe staple for Campbell. So far his little closet is off to a pretty good start! I'm anxious for the spring clothes to start arriving in stores.

Favorite Moment This Week: Getting to see my little Campbell! There is nothing better than an ultrasound when you're pregnant. He was moving all over the place yesterday and we got to watch him for a really long time! He was facing down the whole time so we didn't get to see his little face as good as we have in the past so that was a little bit of a bummer. We didn't get as many good pictures as we have before but we did get this great shot and I can't stop looking at it. I think it's so sweet!!

Looking Forward To: Finally being able to start decorating the nursery! I've held off just to be safe but now we can start ordering the crib and get the ball rolling on all things nursery. It's going to be so fun and I already know exactly how I want to decorate it.

It's A....

Allow me to introduce you, for the first time, to our sweet baby boy!

To say I was shocked that we're having a boy is the biggest understatement of the year. I've never been more certain of anything in my entire life that we were having a little girl. When we were having the ultrasound 6 weeks ago and we learned it was a boy everything went blank. I don't remember anything about that appointment from that point forward.
To be perfectly honest, I wanted a girl.......really, really bad. I prayed for a girl. I held it together (barely) in the doctors office and the second I got in my car I balled my eyes out......for the rest of the day. I cried at the disappointment then I cried even harder for being the worst mom on the planet. I should have been eternally grateful that we learned our baby was perfectly healthy but here I am being selfish because it's not the gender I wanted. I went to bed with a roll of toilet paper on my nightstand so I could wipe my tears and blow my nose as I was falling asleep.
Then I woke up the next morning like a kid on Christmas. I did a complete 180 and was suddenly beyond excited about my sweet baby boy. You would have thought I'd wanted a boy all along and now I love that I'm having a boy! I was honestly worried all week that we were going to go in for the ultrasound and they were going to tell me I was having a girl. I want my little Campbell.

And now for his name! I've had the name Campbell in my back pocket for 3 years now. Scott and I went to a wedding and the grooms, brothers name was Campbell. The second I opened the program and saw it I turned to Scott in the church pew and said "this is what we're naming our son." And that's that. When trying to decide on a middle name Scott just really seemed to fit best. I didn't really want to use Scott's name because it feels like we didn't put a whole lot of effort into it but Campbell Scott flowed better than anything else so we're going with it!

I already love him so, so much and I smile the biggest smile when I imagine our lives with him! When I picture him I see a dark haired little boy who looks like a good mixture of both me and Scott. I can't wait to meet my sweet little Campbell!!

Bones, Bumps and Beds

I'm going to start today's post with a photo of a very typical scene in the Johnson household. 

I like to give Madison and Ivy these tiny little bones as a special treat every once and a while. They love them! One of their favorite words is bones. These beef sticks in particular are their favorites. They must be a lot of dogs favorites because they rarely keep them in stock at Target (the only place you can get them) so I always grab a bag when I'm there. The only problem with bone chewing in our house is that Ivy steals Madison's and keeps it for herself. As you can see, Ivy has 2 bones in her mouth here. Madison, obviously, does not appreciate it and barks and barks at Ivy demanding that she give it back. Ivy is never phased by the barking and carries on chewing her bone while laying on top of Madison's. They're a mess.

I thought I'd share this little bump pic with you all today! Scott snapped it of me last night as I was headed out the door for "happy hour" at Bonefish with my friend, Ashley. About 5 minutes after this photo was taken I felt a big kick inside of me! Not a little pop or flutter but a jab. It was unmistakable and so neat! I'll never forget it.

If you follow me on Instagram (@kara2lou) you've already seen this but I just had to share it on here too because I love this picture so much! Scott put the girls bed in front of the fireplace last night and they parked themselves in it and didn't move all evening! We always try to remember to put their bed in front of the fire because they love it so much. Bless their hearts they just aren't spoiled at all. 

eleven/twelve/thirteen

It is so cold here in NWA and I am loving it. I really enjoy cold weather. I don't necessarily like sitting out in cold weather. I just like knowing it's cold outside while I sit on my sofa with a blanket and a hot beverage gazing at my fireplace. Throw snow into the mix and I am one extra happy girl!

I saw this tree while I was at the mall yesterday and I just had to take a photo of it. Isn't it beautiful? I wish the red, orange, and yellow trees stayed around a little longer than they do. I never get tired of admiring them!
I went to pilates this morning and it's slowly getting more challenging. There are some things that I just can't do anymore. I discovered today that laying completely flat on my stomach on the hard floor is one of them. It was slightly awkward and uncomfortable. I may get to the point where I have to say goodbye to pilates and start attending more yoga classes.
So I finally downloaded the new iphone software last night. There are some things that I really like about it but some things I really, really don't like. When it comes to certain things I'm just not a fan of change.

My little Ivy hurt poor Snoopy. He's still hanging in there. He just has an extremely flat stomach now. The girls love pulling the stuffing out of their toys. Holly never did that. She had the same toys for 15 years. I still miss that little doodlebug and not a day goes by that I don't think about her!

It's a good thing I have these two cuties around to make me happy whenever I miss her! Oh what would I have done without Ivy and Madison coming into my life to rescue my heart? I love these little nuggets.

Fall at Crystal Bridges

Happy Monday everyone!! I hope you had a wonderful weekend. Mine was very busy and didn't allow for much down time. Actually all last week was busy without much down time. I'm really looking forward to this week because I don't have a whole lot to do, mostly just fun stuff, and I'm excited about it.
On Saturday Scott and I woke up bright and early. We worked an event for my parents in Springdale and we were there all day long. This particular event was so, so busy so even though it was technically a long day, it actually went by pretty fast. Scott and I both mentioned that an hour would fly by and it felt like only 5 minutes.
On Sunday Scott and I went to church then spent the rest of the day with his Mom's side of the family. They live in St Louis and were in town visiting. We drove down to Fayetteville to eat at Catfish Hole, they came by our house to meet Ivy and Madison, then we spent the rest of the day at Crystal Bridges.

I love going to Crystal Bridges. It's so lovely and peaceful. I've been many times before but I honestly never get tired of it. We spent quite a bit of time browsing through the different art pieces then we had some coffee (hot chocolate for me) and walked the grounds a little bit. There was a little crisp in the air and it was a perfect fall day to be outdoors!

It was a great way to wrap up what was otherwise a chaotic and busy weekend and the perfect start to what will hopefully be a wonderful week!

18 Weeks

18 weeks today! It's crazy that I'm almost to the halfway mark. I know I say this every week but it's all going by so fast. I have the Sprout pregnancy app on my phone (I also have the Baby Center and What to Expect apps too, all of which I love and suggest you have if you're pregnant). I like the Sprout app because it shows you a picture of what your baby looks like with every changing week. I remember when I first found out I was pregnant I was skimming through the week by week photos and the 18 week photo really stood out to me. At that point 18 weeks seemed so far away. Now here we are!

Size of Baby: 7 ounces and 5 1/2 inches long. About the size of a bell pepper.

How I'm Feeling: I feel great! I did get sick last Saturday, last night and this morning but it always just comes on really fast then it's over with. Other than those few moments I feel really, really good.

Cravings: I still don't have cravings but my appetite for breakfast has changed. I used to wake up in the morning famished. Right when my eyes popped open I went to the kitchen to hunt for some breakfast food but lately I've gone back to my old ways and haven't been hungry in the morning. Before I got pregnant I used to just have a glass of orange juice or a cappuccino and call it good. Now I feel like even if I'm not hungry I should eat something. Pop Tarts are a really nutritious option right?

Clothes: I'm still wearing all of my regular clothes but I did make my first maternity clothing purchase this week and my Mom also took me shopping and was so sweet to get me some maternity clothes as well. I now have 3 pairs of jeans, a couple of sweaters and tops and 2 summer dresses I found on clearance that will be great come April. The dresses and jeans definitely seem maternity but I honestly cannot tell a difference in maternity tops and regular tops except that maternity tops are a little longer. I got a really cute sweater from the Gap that I wore yesterday and I literally don't understand why it's considered maternity. It fits just like all of my other sweaters do and I actually checked the label to see if it was, in fact, maternity. I don't see myself wearing it in....say, February because I think it will be entirely too tight on my stomach but for now (just like all of my other normal clothes) it works!

Movement: No movement (insert sad face). When did you start to feel your baby fluttering around consistently? I feel like I'm late to the party and it's kind of bumming me out.

Changes in Me: I've grown a little more this week. I know that probably seems obvious but since I went so long without any type of growth I feel like I should mention it. I also have to use the restroom more times in one day than you could possibly imagine. There are some things I'll miss about being pregnant but this is not one of them.

Baby Purchases: Mom, Scott and I went to baby gap earlier this week and after commenting on how cute every single article of clothing in there was (for both genders) Scott and I narrowed it down to 3 little pieces. They're all for fall next year. Two of the items were on sale for a great price and one item was so cute that I just had to have it right away for fear they would sell out. It's crazy that I'm buying clothes that won't be used for a whole entire year but I cannot help myself. It's addicting.

Favorite Moment This Week: I've been able to hear the little one's heartbeat several times this week just for fun. A couple of times I could tell the baby was sleeping because the heartbeat stayed in one spot. A couple of other times the baby was wide awake and moving all over the place and we kept having to move the doppler to find it again!

Looking Forward To: My doctors appointment next Thursday! We're doing our big anatomy scan and I'm really looking forward to it. At my last ultrasound we learned our gender but it was only like, 80-90 percent certainty. I say only like that's not a high enough percentage. Ha! We totally could have announced the gender already but I wanted to wait until we were 100% sure. Next week we'll be 100% sure. I'm not only excited to share the big news with everyone but finally start getting the nursery ready too. I'll also be able to throw those clothing receipts away that I've been keeping "just to be on the safe side." I've heard one too many stories of people thinking they knew the gender then finding out a few weeks later (or at birth!!!!) that it ended up being the opposite of what they were originally told.

Home.

I made it home! I ended up bringing my little nuggets back with me. I  couldn't bare being apart from them for 6 whole days. I just love them so much. My house would be entirely too quiet and lonely without them.

The second we walked in the door Madison went straight to her toy box and pulled all of her toys out. Even though she had plenty of toys to play with at Pops and Gamma's house it seems like she missed her own!
I got a late start on the road and it is officially way past my bedtime. Until tomorrow.....

Christmas Toys

I've been enjoying my time here in Little Rock. I've mostly been running all over the place doing a little bit of shopping. It's nice visiting stores that aren't in NWA. Last night Mom and I had dinner at Local Lime. I know you Little Rock peeps must love eating there. It is so yum. After dinner we shopped around a bit then came home and crashed.
Today pretty much consisted of the same thing. I just enjoyed a home cooked meal and although it's only 8:15 I'm fighting to stay awake. I get SO tired SO early these days.

We took the girls to Petco today and I bought them this new Christmas tree toy.....as if they needed another one. I'm headed back home tomorrow (I miss my husband!) but my girls are going to stay at their Pops and Gamma's house for a couple more days. I sure am going to miss them and my house will be so quiet without them! They enjoy coming here though and Grace likes having her best friends spend the night with her.
It's so early but I'm about to get ready for bed. The bed I sleep in at my parents house is so comfortable and the room is nice and dark in the morning. I'm anxious to crawl in it and watch a Christmas movie. I'm extra excited about Christmas this year for some reason. Night all!

Maternity Jeans

Hello from Little Rock! I decided this morning at the very last minute to come down here for a few short days to hang out with my parents and do a little shopping. While I was running around town I decided to pop by the mall to see if the baby gap had anything cute that I couldn't live without and low and behold the Gap here has a maternity section!! You would have thought I'd struck gold I was so excited. I've never noticed that they have a maternity section here. I don't need any maternity clothes yet but last week I mentioned I was going to order some maternity jeans from the Gap when the time came and to my delight they had every single pair of maternity jeans they offer in the store just waiting for me to try them on.

My favorite jeans are the Gap's legging jean. I wear mine all the time….I even had them on today.

Gap makes the legging jeans in maternity jeans so I knew that's what I wanted to get but I was so excited that I was actually able to try them on first. I decided while I was there that I may as well try all of the different styles on but just like I imagined, the legging jeans ended up being my favorite.

I wasn't sure how I was going to like having a big panel come up all the way over my stomach but it didn't bother me at all. At least it doesn't right now. Some of the jeans offer a "demi panel" which is basically just an elastic waist band and I liked the way that looked better but I felt like the full panel would take me farther. I got these and another pair in black and I'm really excited about the way they look and fit. They're literally no different than my regular jeans. I also decided while I was at it to throw that sweater in with my other purchases because well, why not? 

I don't really plan on wearing these jeans until I have to. Mostly because I want to be able to feel like I can wear my regular jeans for as long as possible. (That's understandable right?) However, I must admit I'm not sad about the opportunity to wear jeans with an elastic waistband. I called Scott to tell him all about my purchase and mentioned that these may end up being my yearly Thanksgiving jeans. Who needs sweatpants when you've got these?! He laughed but I mean, I'm kinda serious.