Baby H #2 Update: Weeks 23 & 24

   Hey y'all! I hope everyone's week is going well. I went to see my doctor yesterday for our weekly visit and everything looks good! So my week is going very well so far. Happy baby, happy mommy!
   I'm 24 weeks as of this past Monday. Baby should be measuring about 13 inches long and about 1.5 lbs. When he measured my belly yesterday I was 26 cm, which is good because you're suppose to be a cm for each week you are pregnant. So technically I'm ahead of the game haha!
   Speaking of how big our little boy is, I just noticed on my Ovia pregnancy app that they now have the option to change what they equate your baby's size to. Usually it's fruits and vegetables, but they now have the option of fun and games, weird-but-cute animals, and Parisian bakery. So he's now the size of a....

 

This would be the Parisian bakery theme!

  

Fruits and vegetables!

Fun and games! If a G.I. Joe came out of me I'd be slightly frightened to say the least.

Finally, weird-but-cute animals! I wonder how the puffin feels about that distinction? Definitely a backhanded compliment  to me!

    I've been feeling pretty good. I'm tired a lot(big surprise), my indigestion has picked up a little, and I'm noticing a few more stretch marks. But if that's all I'm dealing with, I'm happy! I did have another time when I went to see my doctor before my scheduled appointment last week. Everything turned out fine though. I was super shocked when this week's appointment rolled around and I hadn't been to the doctor before my scheduled appointment. Another win! Don't get me wrong, I love my doctor, he's so nice and never is bothered by my coming in before my appointment even though I see him weekly. But no one wants to go to the doctor twice in a week.

Here's the bump at 22 weeks and 5 days on July 18th!

Here's the bump again at 23 weeks and 4 days on July 24th!

   While I was writing this it hit me. My last appointment with James was at 25 weeks. At first I thought it was at 24 weeks, but it was 25. I had an appointment with the specialists, they released me, I saw my doctor after, everything was fine. I was measuring 2 weeks ahead as well. I have an appointment with the specialists and then my doctor afterwards next week. 25 weeks. It's hard not to be uneasy about different points and dates in this pregnancy. All I think about is getting pass 29 weeks. Every week feels like some sort of countdown to 29. It's still hard to believe that's all the time I had with James. I'm very hopeful about things but it's still a struggle to remember that I'll have more than 29 weeks with this little one. This is my second pregnancy but in many ways it's like I was never pregnant before. Sometimes it just feels like one long pregnancy. This journey hasn't been what I expected from motherhood at all so far, but then again I guess motherhood has a lot of surprises, both bad and good. In spite of all the fear and worry though, I'm incredibly excited to meet our second child. Not a day goes by that I don't take time to remember how blessed we are to be having a second child.
   On a lighter note, I think I felt my first ever baby hiccup last week! I had never felt any with James. Then I was talking to my friend who's like 37 weeks and she was talking about funny it feels and I asked her to explain it to me. Well baby must have heard because about 20 minutes later he had a little hiccup. So funny!
   That's about it right now. Thanks for reading y'all! Don't forget to 'like' my Facebook page and 'follow' me(on the right side of the page) as well!

Grocery Shopping

   Grocery shopping. Everyone's gotta do it! Unless of course you're a celebrity, in which case this post might actually still interest you. Because I'm not giving a how to on grocery shopping.
    You see there's certain things that when you get married or settle into a long term relationship that become kinda, I don't know, not so bad. Not so mundane. Except for washing dishes, that always stinks! Part of me believes that when you find the person for you how you know is by the fact that little things like that are special. It's not grocery shopping but just more cherished time together.
   It's the little things that you look back at and realize made up your life together. The little ordinary days and daily events, like organizing the closet, folding laundry, your morning routine, and yes grocery shopping. It's not that you really love what you're doing but that you love who you're doing those things with.
    Now we don't always do the grocery shopping together. I'll usually go with my mom during the week. But occasionally I'll get back and realize I've forgotten a few things. I find myself pretty lucky that if I ask Dillon to pick up the forgotten things on the way home he's never bothered. Thanks Dillon!
    When we do go together we go to Walmart. By the way, this is just a side-note if you shop at Walmart and you have a smartphone be sure to download the free savings catcher app. All you have to do is scan the barcode on your receipt, and it finds better deals at other stores and gives you back the difference which you can get back on an e-gift card. Anyways it's nice to have Dillon come with me because well he's taller and can reach all the high shelves haha! Plus he likes to complain with me about rude people in the store. We have very unique hobbies. Don't act like you're not bothered by those people that take up the whole aisle while they look for their cereal!
   Don't wish away little ordinary days like maybe the day you have ahead of you. Don't wish away the beautiful routine of your life together. Because it's one more day you get to be with the people you love. Each small not so special day is one day of the rest of your lives together, don't let it be wasted.
     P.S. For those of you who aren't attached if you wanna know if the next person is the one for you, go on a date but do something that usually bores you. If you'd still wanna be there then I'm pretty sure that person's a keeper!

News & Confessions

  Hey y'all! Tuesday I was officially 23 weeks. So I thought I'd give y'all a little update on how Baby H and I are doing!
   First of all I can't believe I haven't mentioned this before, but I've finally felt him kick!!!! I felt him when I was just over 19 weeks(I know I'm talking about it a whole month later, but I guess it's better late than never). I was absolutely ecstatic to finally feel the first twinges of movement from Baby H. Now I'm constantly checking to make sure he's moving frequently. So basically I jump from one crazy to another. Oh well!
  

    Apparently Baby H is the same size as a bunch of grapes(see above picture), which explains my craving for grapes haha! He should weigh about 1 1/4 pounds, and measure over a foot in length.  Another exciting tidbit, he now has taste buds!!!
    As for me, my indigestion has been a lot better since I switched vitamins, but when I do have it I've found popsicles help the issue. Something kinda cute is how Dillon's has had sympathy indigestion. I'm wondering if he'll be having anymore of my symptoms haha!
    According to my pregnancy app swelling is common at this point. Which I think I noticed when my finger turned purple from one of my rings Sunday. Yikes! Thankfully once I took it off and ran warm water over my hand for a few minutes it went right back to normal.
   Also I've heard I could be experiencing Braxton Hicks contractions about this time, but so far I haven't felt anything resembling one. Honestly I'm a little freaked out to know I could be having them now, even though I've been reading up on how to make sure it's just that and not the real thing. Definitely not something I'm looking forward to.
   The other day I ran into a friend of mine who just happens to be pregnant as well. She's about 10 weeks ahead of me and I'm still bigger than her. I'm beginning to think I'm about to have a 15 pound baby, or I'm just fat. I guess I'll find out in March. She's a pretty outspoken friend of mine, so naturally she turned to me and asked "why are your pants so big?!". I couldn't do anything but laugh. To know her is to love her!
    I've found that the bigger my belly gets the less I want to take a shower. Which is weird for me since I'm the kind of person that usually washes her hair everyday. It's like I would go the whole week without a shower if I could. I know, I know, super gross to admit that, but at least I don't actually do that!
    I don't know if I've shared this before, but I've really missed hotdogs more than any other food during my pregnancy. I even had a dream where I had 4 chili dogs at once. I was severely disappointed to wake up from that dream.

    Oh by the way, the pregnancy app I mentioned above is called Ovia Pregnancy. I know I just talked about an app in my last post, but it's a cool app! And this one is free as well. You can track what you eat, check that you took your vitamins(which comes in handy if it's hard for you to remember), read up on what to expect for that week in pregnancy, and so much more! I really like it because it's an easy way to keep a record of your pregnancy, something I'm sure I'll one day share with Baby H.  Ovia also has an awesome fertility app if you're trying or planning to in the near future. FYI, the picture of the grapes is from that app!
     That's all for now, thanks for reading!    

Holidays On The Cheap

   Hey y'all! I'm sure everyone is busy making plans and lists for Thanksgiving next week, I know I am! According to the buzzfeed quiz I'm the tradition enforcer. I was pretty surprised by how accurate that is haha!
   Speaking of traditions we just finished up a tradition at our house of putting up all of our Christmas decorations before Thanksgiving. It really makes it feel cozy to have all our decorations up for Thanksgiving. Plus we have longer to enjoy them before we have to take them all down. If the stores can put up their Christmas decorations now why can't we?!
   Here's what I did with our mantel:

   I felt like doing something a little different this year, more simple. All, I repeat all, of the items on the mantel were purchased from the dollar store. We actually used those glass vases as centerpieces for our wedding. I really like these led candles better than the plain white ones. First of all for looks, second of all for the effect they give off. They're way brighter than the small white ones.
   In other news, the other day when we were picking up our weekly groceries, Food Lion had a bin of pumpkin flavored baking goods on sale. And I may or may not have bought 10 boxes of pumpkin pudding on sale for 30 cents each... I also found a few boxes of Jello brand pumpkin cheesecake mix for 50 cents, so I made 2 of the boxes the other day, and here's a picture of the end results:

   It didn't firm up quite like I expected it to just from chilling in the refrigerate for an hour, so I put it in the freezer for about 30 minutes, which seemed to help. It had great flavor and everyone enjoyed it in our house, but it was nowhere near like what you think a pumpkin cheesecake would be like. I can't wait to see what I can do with the pumpkin pudding.
   By the way!!!

  I'm sure y'all don't care about this but I just had to share my phone background since no one really gets to see it and I think it's adorable haha! I made it on this app called Marley Lilly(it's free by the way). I know the app is suppose to be used to shop on their site but they have a great feature where you can choose from tons of different backgrounds patterns and colors. And as you can see you can add your own monogram to it! And yes I've already made my Christmas background....and one for when Baby H arrives....
   That's all for now, just a post to say hello! What kind of traditions does your family have around this holiday season?