The Beginning of a Nursery

I am so excited that our crib was delivered today! It was pretty easy to put together. It is so fun to see the nursery start to come together. I can't believe that there will be a baby in that crib in a few months! We also got our glider in and put that together yesterday. Let the nursery fun begin!

Baby Bump - 22 and 23 Weeks

I don't have much time, but here is a super quick post!

Here are the latest baby bump pictures. Isn't it weird how clothes can make it look different? I think I look pretty much the same size both weeks but it can appear different shapes depending on what I wear.

At (1 day shy of) 23 weeks I am...

- Feeling baby girl kick like crazy. Sometimes I feel things that make me think WHAT THE HECK IS SHE DOING IN THERE??

- So thankful that she is measuring right on track. Praise the Lord! I am so thankful that she is growing as she should.

- Realizing how hard it is to register! Greg and I started registering last weekend. We were so indecisive. Every little thing took MAJOR consideration. Like, uh, which wipes are best? Does the cost of the crib mattress correlate to how much we love our child? Are we horrible if we go for a cheap one? Should we get gender neutral bibs in case we have a boy next? Which one of these 300 pacifiers will my baby like best? Why is my husband trying on the My Breast Friend and walking around the store?

- Ordering the crib tomorrow - YAY.

- Starting to actually think about the fact that we will have a baby in a few months. Even though it seems real that she is in my tummy, it does not seem real that she will be coming out in a few months. So weird.

- Not making any progress toward picking a name. Sorry.

Strawberry Cheesecake Cuppies

I recently tried out this new dessert recipe that I found on Pioneer Woman's Tasty Kitchen website here. I am now in love with these. They are so moist and delicious. They are great when you need to make a lot of something. As in, 5 dozen of something. They are also so easy to make yet they seem fancy.

Here is the recipe written below with my slight modifications. I made mini cupcakes instead of regular.

1 Box Strawberry Cake Mix

1 Pkg. (3.4 oz) Instant Cheesecake Pudding Mix

2 cups Sour Cream

3 eggs

1/3 cup Vegetable Oil

1/2 cup Water

Cream Cheese Icing

Beat all ingredients together (except icing of course). Fill mini cupcakes 2/3 of the way full. Use mini cupcake liners! I didn't have any and it was a pain to wash the pan in between each batch. Bake at 350 for 11 minutes. Cool completely then squirt a dot of cream cheese icing on top.

This made 5 dozen mini cupcakes for me. I froze about half of them (did not ice those). Then when I am craving one I pop it in the microwave for about 10 seconds.

Baby Bump - 20 & 21 Weeks

Well I have gotten a little behind with the posting. Greg and I were at Rush week this past week. Rush week is the youth group's summer camp / mission trip combined. It was in Pensacola, Florida. We did service projects during the day and then lots of camp fun stuff at night. It was a lot of fun, but very exhausting! I had 7th (going into 8th) grade girls. The accommodations were so nice, and there were so many fun activities. The speakers all did a great job and I felt like God really moved in so many of the kids' lives. I am so glad I went! By the end of the week however, my feet swelled up nice and large :) I sort of had a panic attack - um is this what I am going to look like for the rest of pregnancy?? Thankfully my super fat feet have returned to normal and I now have ankles again. Let's hope it was just due to being on my feet for a week straight in the Florida heat.

At 21 1/2 weeks I am...

- Loving feeling baby girl kick! She kicks all the time. Greg can feel it and you can even see it from the outside. Her little kicks are so sweet. Although sometimes they do get a little crazy and I wonder what the heck she is doing in there.

- Feeling good. No nausea - thank you Lord! I have a bit more energy too.

- Getting comments from strangers now, which is fun.

- Having so much fun getting nursery ideas. There are endless possibilities, and so many cute nursery ideas online. I am having a hard time making decisions though. We did order a glider yesterday and had a piece of carpet made into a rug for the nursery. Now I need to decide on a crib. Isn't this butterfly mobile found here so sweet? I love Etsy.

- Still stumped on a name. Don't expect one anytime soon!

The Results are in...

It's a GIRL!

I am so excited to know what it is! This really makes it real and I am looking forward to getting started on the nursery, buying cute headbands on Etsy, and picking out a name. All the important stuff, of course :)

I am so thankful we were able to find out it was a girl, because baby was not very cooperative at all during my ultrasound. She was moving her arms and legs a lot, but wouldn't move into a new position. The tech could not get a shot between the legs. Greg's mom and sister had driven in from Waco that morning to come to the appointment with me - so sweet! My mom was there with us too, and of course Greg. I was so worried that we wouldn't be able to determine the gender. The tech was very sweet and patient though, and really worked with us.

First I drank a glass of water, ate a granola bar, and did some squats and twists. This helped us get a couple views that looked like a girl, but the tech still didn't feel 100% confident. Then she put this vibrating beeping device up to my tummy, but baby girl was completely un-phased. Finally the tech told me to drink a soda while I saw the doctor and we would take a look afterward. After the Dr. Pepper baby girl had still not moved into a new position, although she was quite wiggly.

However, God answered our prayer and the tech finally got a view that could confirm for sure it is a girl. YAY!

We finally got to tell our small group tonight. Here are the snacks I brought.

Below is my 19 week picture. Today I turned 20 weeks but I didn't have time to take a 20 week picture yet. So just imagine the belly below but bigger. I can't believe I am halfway there!!

Poll: Boy or Girl?

I put up a gender voting poll for fun. Here are some things that may or may not affect your vote.

My first feeling was that this baby is a boy.

At my 12 week ultrasound Greg asked the tech if it she could tell the gender. She looked between the legs and said, “Well, it is too early to tell, but I would guess girl. There is a little something there, but it is not a pee pee.” Ha!

Greg’s mom did the pencil test when I first announced I was pregnant. It said I was having a boy. She says her pencil tests have proved very accurate in the past.

I still eat sweets, but not as much as I did pre-pregnancy.

I have no idea if I am carrying low or high.

I have not peed on Drano.

I had morning sickness that lasted all day and got worse throughout the day. I was miserably nauseous, but only threw up once. This started improving around 15 weeks, although I still feel a bit nauseous at times.

I want a boy and a girl so I will be ecstatic either way. I don't have a strong feeling one way or the other on what it is, but I will make a guess.

My official guess is…Girl

Greg’s official guess is…Boy

We find out this Thursday!

Our bible study group has a tradition that when you find out the gender of the baby, you bring pink/blue snacks to announce the results to the group. Kristen made blue cupcakes and covered the top with icing so we couldn't see until we bit into them. Molly made little pink heart shaped cookies with icing. So fun! Since our bible study is on Wednesday, I have to wait a whole week to tell them! So I won't be posting the gender on my blog until after we have our bible study. I am going to tell people though, just not them -muahaha.

Baby Bump - 18 Weeks

So it seems all my posts recently are just weekly pregnancy updates. But I know if I don’t write it down I will forget what it was like at each stage along the way. I also think it will be fun to read these for future pregnancies to compare and be reminded of what it was like. These details might be boring to everyone else, but I think it is fun to have it documented. And maybe I am just weird but I really like reading other people’s pregnancy updates (even long before I was pregnant). God made pregnancy so fascinating – it is such a miracle!

At 18 weeks I am…

- Having a love/hate relationship with belly bands. It is a great invention, and has saved me from buying any maternity pants so far. However, my belly is tired of being restricted. It wants to be free. As soon as I get home from work I take off the band. Freedom. Also, the band gets bunchy and moves around and scrunches up my pants strangely in the back. Ugh, First World problems (funny youtube video). Life is so rough.

- Wearing mostly maternity shirts now. Regular shirts now look semi-hideous on me. Either too short, or if they are the loose flowy type they just make me look like a blob. Have they ever made a What Not To Wear maternity edition? I am sure everyone violates fashion rules throughout pregnancy, but it would be funny. Some maternity shirts I see I just think – WHOA NO. There is no way that could be a good look. On anyone. Ever.

- So excited that I felt the baby kick this past week! It took a number of days of me second guessing myself (is that just digestion?), but I finally think it is really the baby. I have felt it every day since.

- Snacking a lot. My morning snacks include: granola bar, hard-boiled egg, fruit, chips (which are supposed to be saved for lunch). My afternoon snacks include: string cheese, more fruit, almonds, jello pudding, and anything else I can find at my desk or in the break room. My after dinner snack is either a bowl of cereal, or a homemade smoothie, or ice cream.

- Sleeping great. Obviously sleeping is one of my strengths. Anytime, anywhere. I am very thankful that I am continuing to feel comfortable and sleep well at night.

- So excited to find out the gender!! Still no girl name. I have sort of given up on our deadline since there is a 50% chance we won’t need a girl name.