Thanksgiving! (and 25 week update)

I hope everyone had a blessed Thanksgiving! Alan and I spent ours in Texarkana visiting my parents. We ate a ton of good food and had a blast. I didn't bring my camera, so unfortunately, I don't have any pictures. I went out shopping Friday and Saturday, and only have to buy a couple things for Alan's dad and one more thing for my dad! Now it's on to wrapping (which I'm going to do as soon as I'm done with this).

Pregnancy Highlights

How far along? 25 weeks and 3 days

Baby's size? According to What to Expect When You're Expecting, she should be 2 pounds and about 9 inches. I'll have a more accurate size once I go for my ultrasound next Thursday.

Weight Gain? 8 pounds... Texarkana was a little TOO good to me... haha

Maternity clothes? A mixture of maternity and regular clothes

Stretch marks? Nope

Belly Button in or out? Still in, but definitely getting more shallow

Sleeping? Pretty decent. I still wake up several times, but I can always fall right back asleep

Foods I'm loving? Olive Garden, TLC, ham, anything we had for Thanksgiving!

Foods I'm hating? Nothing at the moment

Movement? Yes! Alan felt her twice over Thanksgiving break, and I actually saw my belly twitching last night... So weird!

Best moment this week? Getting to spend time with family and seeing a good friend over Thanksgiving!

Symptoms? Occasional heartburn and going to the bathroom ALL the time

What I miss? Nothing really. I'm loving being pregnant right now!

What I'm looking forward to? Christmas time! I can't wait to see both sets of family and my favorite nieces and nephew!! And my ultrasound next Thursday. Hopefully Elizabeth is growing at a steady rate!!

Weekly Wisdom: Nothing that I can think of...

Milestones: Viability!

Emotions: Pretty normal, but I cry at random things, especially movies on TV... haha

25 weeks and 3 days

24 weeks (almost)

Sorry for the lack of blog posts lately. I just can't motivate myself to  keep up with the blog. It's not like I'm extremely busy or anything, I've got the relaxing job of staying at home until the next school year (where I'll hopefully get a job). Thanks for all the prayers girls! We are truly trusting in God to direct the life of our baby girl and regardless of the outcome, we can't wait until she is here! If any of you know how to respond/reply to comments let me know, because try as I might, I'm still in the dark with that. Now on to the fun stuff...

Pregnancy Highlights

How far along? 23 weeks and 6 days

Baby's size? Last Thursday the ultrasound said she was about 13 ounces, so maybe around a pound?

Weight Gain? 3 pounds

Maternity clothes? A mixture of maternity and regular clothes

Stretch marks? Nope

Belly Button in or out? In, but I'm pretty sure it's getting more shallow

Sleeping? It's gotten better now that I limit my water after 8 pm. I still wake up several times a night, but I always fall right back asleep!

Foods I'm loving? Chick-fil-a, Olive Garden, can't wait to have a juicy burger from TLC over Thanksgiving break!!

Foods I'm hating? Nothing really at the moment

Movement? Yes, and while sometimes it's still soft, I can tell they're getting stronger. Hopefully Alan will be able to feel Elizabeth soon!

Best moment this week? Sleeping better.

Symptoms? Blue veins all over, going to the bathroom ALL the time. And I'm finally over the sickness! I haven't thrown up in about a month! Woo hoo!

Gender? Still a girl!

What I miss? Nothing really. I'm loving being pregnant right now!

What I'm looking forward to? Thanksgiving food! Can't wait for turkey, gravy, dressing, mashed potatoes... Not to mention all of the desserts... Too bad I have the gestational diabetes test the Tuesday after Thanksgiving... haha.

Weekly Wisdom: Limiting water after a certain hour definitely makes the night better! :)

Milestones: According to my due date (but not ultrasounds), viability is next week, but I definitely want to keep her in for a good 16 or so more weeks!!

Emotions: Well, given the circumstances, my emotions over the past week have been up and down. But I can say, for the most part, that they've gotten better as the week has gone on. I have faith that God will prevail and Elizabeth will be born healthy and happy!

22w5d

not the best pic, but the best of the two from our previous ultrasound

23w6d (excuse the mess of the bathroom...
Alan is in the process of painting it yellow!!)

Prayers Needed

Hey guys! Sorry for the lack of blogging this past week (although we know that this is kinda normal for me...). I was all set to do an update after I had our ultrasound last Thursday, but that ended up not going exactly as planned. We've spent the weekend digesting the information that was presented to us and are highly optimistic, but Alan and I would still covet your prayers for our precious Elizabeth Anne. At this time we are not sure what exactly is going on and the radiologist has now asked me to come in for monthly ultrasounds to measure Elizabeth's growth. They are concerned that her growth is slowing down and they don't know why. I am well aware that babies all develop at different rates, and that my dates could (or are highly likely) to be off due to longer cycles than most people. The doctors don't see any problems with her brain, heart, fluid surrounding her, growth, etc., but she is now measuring 14 days behind as opposed to the 10 days last month. The doctor said that it could A) be nothing or B) be a genetic issue such as Down's Syndrome or something else.

We're going with the first because everything looks good, aside from being a small baby. Elizabeth is doing things that "normal" babies do in the womb and while extremely tiny, she is still on the chart percentile-wise (but in like the 10%). My mom's side of the family has a history of small babies and the women on my mom's side are all very small boned (except for me - I take after my dad's side of the family). Alan and I are trusting God in all this and know that He will not give us anything that we can not handle.

Like I said, any and all prayers would be greatly appreciated and I'll definitely update as we get more information.

21 weeks!

Pregnancy Highlights


How far along? 21 weeks and 4 days (I would've had this up yesterday, but we had NO internet or TV most of the day)


Baby's size? Elizabeth is the size of a spaghetti squash - 8 inches and 1 pound!!


Weight Gain? 1/2 pound this week!


Maternity clothes? A mixture of the maternity and regular clothes


Stretch marks? Nope


Belly Button in or out? In


Sleeping? Not great at all... I've had a hard time going to sleep this week and wake up constantly. Then it stormed on Monday night and our sweet Gracie decided she was terrified of lightening. Needless to say, since I'm not working, I got dumped with dog duty... haha. It's just preparing me for when Elizabeth gets here!


Foods I am loving? I'm still craving TLC burgers and fries... 3 weeks and then I'll be there!! There is really nothing I absolutely have to have lately, although the chick-fil-a that I ate when Alan was with the guys was pretty yummy!!


Foods I'm hating? Nothing really at the moment.


Movement? Yes, I felt some pretty strong kicks/punches yesterday, too, but Alan was on a conference call with work. :(


Best moment this week? Not getting my due date changed at the doctor... haha.


Symptoms? not sleeping, going to the bathroom ALL the time, blue veins popping up everywhere, but no throwing up in the past 9 days! Woo hoo!!


Gender? Still a girl!


What I miss? Nothing really. I'm loving being pregnant right now!


What I'm looking forward to? Going to the doctor next week for our ultrasound!!! And going to the Renaissance Festival this weekend... I've never been!


Weekly wisdom: Nothing new at the moment.


Milestones: Less than 20 weeks to go!!!


Emotions: Nothing crazy here this week.


I'm going to post two pictures today because I feel like there is a pretty big difference in the past two days. Maybe it's the clothes, maybe it's my imagination... who knows...

21 weeks 2 days

21 weeks 4 days

Anyone notice anything different about the bathroom? =) We changed the shower curtain! The room looks sooo much brighter (there are no windows), and I'm sure it'll look even more so when we Alan gets the walls and ceilings painted the same color as Elizabeth's bedroom!! Now all we need are some cute fun accessories (and to hope and pray our next child is a girl, too... haha). I'll post more pictures as we get the bathroom complete!

20 weeks!!

Pregnancy Highlights

How far along? 20 weeks and 4 days (I'm a little late this week... haha)

Baby's size? Elizabeth is the size of a banana - 7 inches and 11 ounces

Weight Gain? None! Halfway through and I'm finally at my prepregnancy weight.

Maternity clothes? Yes in pants and a mixture in everything else

Stretch marks? Nope, but I'm getting blue veins along my belly, which I thought were stretch marks at first... phew... I'm safe for now

Belly Button in or out? In

Sleeping? Sleep last night was great! I only woke up 2 times (3 if you count when Alan woke up... haha)

Foods I am loving? I'd kill for a TLC burger and fries!!! Cherry coke floats with Bluebell ice cream, and eggs and bacon. I'm going to insert a picture here of my favorite eggs of all time. They come from my parents next door neighbor and are so delicious!!

Eggs straight from the chicken coop!! I LOVE all the colors!!!

Foods I'm hating? Nothing really at the moment, although hot dogs still aren't high on my "gotta have" list. 

Best moment this week? Totally not baby related, but it'd have to be getting to see my nephew and figuring out what I'm doing for my two sister-in-laws for Christmas!

Movement? Yes, but still waiting on Alan to feel her. And I can't wait until she kicks one of the dogs... haha

Symptoms? The occasional bout of nausea, blue veins popping up everywhere.

Gender? Precious Elizabeth Anne!

What I miss? Nothing, really. I'm loving being pregnant right now!

What I'm looking forward to? Going to the doctor and hearing Elizabeth's heartbeat tomorrow!

Weekly wisdom: Nothing new at the moment.

Milestones: Halfway through (unless my due date gets changed tomorrow)

Emotions: Nothing crazy here this week!

20 weeks 4 days!

Nursery and SHOPPING!!

This past weekend was great! Alan and I got to go to Texarkana to see my parents and my sweet sister! I'm so glad she got to come down from OSU the same weekend we were down! Alan and I stay in the guest bedroom now and when we went there to put up our stuff, my parents and sister followed us. I thought it was a little odd, but I really didn't think much of it... until I turned on the light. The bed was covered with the most ADORABLE clothes (and a super cute and soft Taggie blanket) for Elizabeth!! I could bore you with pictures of all the clothes, so I'll just post a couple of my favorite.

Sweet smocked sleeper

Smocked Dress (Adorable!!!)

How cute is this!? (Can you tell my mom LOVES smocked outfits??)

Cute dress for next winter!

On Saturday, mom and I went shopping! We didn't buy much, except for some stocking stuffers for me and Alan (all cute clothes for Elizabeth... haha), but I do HAVE to tell you about my new favorite store in Texarkana. For this gals still living there, it is called Peas and Carrots* and is located in Summerhill Square. We didn't look at any of the boy things, but the girl clothes and accessories were just about some of the cutest I have EVER seen! If I was rich, I would've bought out the whole store. I also found what I want for Elizabeth's going home outfit, but we're just waiting on a new shipment so we can get the right size. I highly recommend stopping in this store if you are pregnant or have a young child!! I will be returning over Thanksgiving to stock up on some more clothes. (*They did not ask me to write this, I just really loved the shop!!!)

When we got back home Sunday evening, Alan decided to paint a fourth (and final) coat on the ceiling of Elizabeth's room. The color the previous owners has the ceilings is kind of a grayish color, that we aren't too fond of, so we're (and by "we're", I mean "Alan") is slowly going to paint the rest of the ceilings white. After that was complete, we moved the dresser into the room and called it a night.

Last night, Alan assembled the crib! I spent the day washing and drying all of the crib accessories in order to be ready to make the bed (I know we still have 5 months... I'm just a little excited!!) The assembly didn't take long, so in order to keep from boring you, I'll just show some pictures. :)

Painting the room last week

This is Alan's "are you really photographing this?" look

Almost done!

Putting in the last screw!!!

 Completed (and moved) bed!!

A closer look at the bedding

Closet full of clothes and some diapers!!

Close up of the clothes

I've organized the clothes by size! And each size has a different color coat hanger (OCD, I know...). My only question, which is a stupid question, is about varying clothing sizes. Some clothes have age ranges (i.e. 0-3 months) and some just have a particular month (3 months). I put the 3 months with the 0-3 months, and so on, but am I doing it right? Haha.

Ok... this post is getting really long so I'm going to cut it off now. I can't believe I've posted twice in two days! It must be a record.

19 weeks!

Pregnancy Highlights

How far along? 19 weeks and 2 days

Baby's size? Elizabeth is the size of a mango - 6.5 inches and 10 ounces (although in real life she is definitely smaller than this)

Weight Gain? Only down 1/2 pound from prepregnancy weight.

Maternity clothes? Yes in pants, I wear a mixture of maternity and non-maternity tops.

Stretch marks? Nope

Belly button in or out? In

Sleeping? Sleeping is okay. I definitely still have a difficult time falling asleep and am now finding that sometimes when I wake up in the middle of the night I can't fall back asleep for another hour or so... Thank goodness that I still have the luxury of staying home so I can sleep as long as I can.

Foods I am loving? TLC burgers and fries from Texarkana!!! (Especially doused in their Red River Sand... mmm... Mom, I might be coming down again tomorrow. haha)

Foods I am hating? Well, hot dogs are definitely high on the list right now. And I also haven't really liked fast food french fries and the ones you bake in your oven.

Best moment this week? Getting to see Elizabeth and going to Texarkana to see my family and get the crib and dresser.

Movement? I feel little nudges here and there, especially when I'm not moving.

Symptoms? The occasional bout of nausea, still really sleepy, and in the last day or so, I've had quite a bit of heartburn.

Gender? Elizabeth Anne!

What I miss? Nothing, really. I'm loving being pregnant right now!

What I'm looking forward to? Setting up the crib and organizing the closet and dresser (stay tuned for pictures tomorrow!)

Weekly Wisdom: Eat, eat, eat and don't leave the house without water!!!

Milestones: Less than 5 months to go!

Emotions: Nothing crazy here this week!

I don't know what the spots on the pic are... 

Maybe I need to clean the lens?

Stay tuned for pictures of the crib, dresser, and closet, not to mention a couple pics of some CUTE clothes and where to shop in Texarkana! Alan is assembling the crib TONIGHT!!! =)