32 weeks!

So we are getting closer and closer to meeting our new little girl!  This pregnancy seems to have flown by so far!  I'm sure being crazy busy with a 2 year old has something to do with that though! ;)  And I'm sure the next 8 weeks will probably drag on for an eternity...the last weeks always do.  I've wanted to do weekly bumpdates on my blog, but that just didn't happen.  I tried to keep up as best I could though.  I'm looking forward to coming back to this blog and re-reading these updates in the future!  With that, my 32 week ultrasound is below, along with a picture of the growing bump, and some details on pregnancy this week.  Hope everyone is having a wonderful week!

HERE SHE IS!  Baby girl #2 :)

Feeling large lately ;)

How Far Along: 32 weeks

Size of Baby:  Looks like I am measuring 2 weeks ahead - at 34 weeks!  According to the doc, baby girl is already weighing in at 5lbs...in the 78th percentile!  I am really hoping she does not end up being 10 lbs when I go into labor!  Eek!

Gender: Our recent ultrasound once again confirmed it's definitely a little girl ;)

Weight Gain: Around 15 lbs.

Symptoms:  I'm so lucky to not have very much heartburn or anything up to this point.  Overall I am feeling good.  I've had some Braxton Hicks contractions and some leg cramping at night, but otherwise, all is well!

Food Cravings/Aversions: Dunkin Donuts. Mmmm. haha.

Movement:  Oh yes...baby girl loves is super active and is constantly making her presence in my tummy known.  She definitely won't let me forget she is there. :)

Sleep:  I was never a big fan of the big body pillows, but have started incorporating other small pillows to prop myself up in certain places to make sleep a little more comfortable.

Maternity Clothes: Yes.  I bought a few new pieces recently that are super comfortable.  Being pregnant during the summer is great because you can wear plenty of comfy/flowy dresses and skirts.  I'm very lucky this summer has not been too brutally hot either!!

What I Miss: I really miss sleeping through the night without having to get up and pee.  I also miss being able to climb stairs without getting totally exhausted.

Best Moment this week:  My 32 week ultrasound and getting to see my little baby girl in 3D!  It's still hard to tell, but I think we have Evie's little twin brewing inside me! 

Looking Forward To:  Nursery planning and starting to go through all of Evie's baby clothes in prep for baby girl #2!

Scenes from our weekend

Happy Tuesday everyone! Sorry for the week long break from my blog. Seems like life has been in full speed lately and unfortunately that usually means my blog takes a back seat! 

This weekend was another eventful one...filled with good and bad.  Let's start with the good.  On Saturday, the hubby and I had a "date" at the Chicago Air & Water show, held downtown.  The weather was great, we got to dip our toes in the lake, and overall had a nice time being outside!

On Sunday we had a birthday party scheduled for Evie's older cousins.  When she woke up on Sunday morning I noticed Evie seemed a bit warm to me, but I just thought maybe it was a little too warm in her room overnight.  On our drive over to the cousin's house, she fell asleep.  Upon arrival, my poor princess woke up and the minute I took her out of her car seat, she started shivering and proceeded to vomit all over herself and the car.  Not fun.  I felt really bad for her.  At this point, I could feel the heat radiating off her skin and knew we had a fever on our hands.  I took her inside the party to clean her up and give her some medication.  We decided to take it easy and hang out on the couch for a bit to see how Evie started to feel.  Lo and behold, 30 minutes later, my little lady was ready to play.  I was hesitant to let her stay, but she seemed like a brand new girl, so we stuck around for a bit.  She was all smiles to get to play with her cousin Declan (who is photobombing the picture below...haha) and to get to collect candy from the pinata outside.  By late afternoon, her forehead started warming up again and I knew it was time to go. 

Monday morning, Evie was still running a fever so I decided to stay home from work with her.  As the morning rolled on, her fever seemed to subside a bit, so we took a little walk to Starbucks for some fresh air.  My little lady loves Starbucks and was treated to some milk and cookies from mama. :)

Later that afternoon she took a 3 hour nap!  One for the record books for us, as she usually only naps for 1-1.5 hours at a time.  It seemed to help because today she seems to be back to her normal self.  Fingers crossed that the virus is wearing off.  I knew that once we started daycare that she would be getting some illnesses...so here we are!  

 

The big 3-0

I am officially an old woman. This past Wednesday I turned the big 3-0.  While I was somewhat dreading this milestone, one of my co-workers reminded me that every birthday is a gift and we should embrace our age!  What a wonderful reminder!! :) 

I decided to keep my birthday low key this year...mainly because I don't have much energy for a full blown party anyways ;)  We invited some friends and family over to our house this weekend for some yummy food, drinks, and to play Cards Against Humanity. :)  If you haven't played that game yet, what are you waiting for?!?  SO FUN.  It was a perfect celebration of my 30th birthday, surrounded by the people I love most.

In all the fun, I didn't manage to get many pictures, but here are a few from my camera.  Thank you to my amazing husband for helping clean the house and plan a wonderful birthday for me.  I'm a very lucky lady.

Thanks to my cousin Angie for this creative gift...loved going through it :)

My simple Gerber Daisy centerpieces

In addition to celebrating my birthday last week, I was also marking exactly 30 weeks of pregnancy!  How funny that exactly 30 weeks fell on my 30th birthday!  I have been terrible with posting "bumpdates" on my blog but wanted to share a quick one now!

 

How Far Along: 30 weeks

Size of Baby:  Baby weighs almost 3 pounds now and is the size of a cabbage!

Gender: GIRL!

Weight Gain: Around 10 pounds

Symptoms:  I'm feeling good!  Nothing much to report other than lots of jabs, kicks, and flips from baby!

Food Cravings/Aversions: Anything and everything. haha.  Definitely have developed more of a sweet tooth lately.

Movement:  This baby girl has been quite the kicker!  My poor ribs and organs have taken a few hefty jabs!

Sleep:  Sleep has been good other than waking up 2-3 times a night wanting to pee.  I should just install a toilet next to my bed at this point!

Maternity Clothes: Oh yes.  Wearing mostly maternity clothes.  I sneak in a few dresses, skirts, and long shirts that work too!

What I Miss: Being able to get up from the couch easily. ha.

Best Moment this week:  Celebrating my 30th birthday and realizing I have just 2 months to go!!

Looking Forward To:  My 32 week ultrasound next week and FINALLY starting to work on the nursery!  We need to get our butts into gear!!

 

Friendships to Treasure

My best friend, Karen, and I met in the 7th grade.  We first were introduced to eachother on the school bus in junior high and have been inseparable since.  With close to 18 years of friendship under our belt, Karen and I have been through so many of life's ups and downs.  We have gotten to know each other's families, and feel more like sisters than friends.  Her friendship is one that I genuinely treasure and hope lasts a lifetime. 

In addition to having many of the same interests, coincidentally, Karen and I also are just 1 day apart in terms of our birthdays!  We both celebrated our 30th birthday this week!  In addition to embracing a new decade as individuals, this birthday was also another beautiful reminder of our long friendship.  And while our busy lives sometimes keep us from seeing each other as often as we once did, the bond between us is still strong.

Yesterday, Karen hosted a small party to celebrate her birthday.  I wanted to surprise her with a special gift and, more importantly, a heartfelt message about how much I treasure our friendship.  Thanks to my wonderful friends at Treat, a new personalized greeting card service, I was able to create a truly unique card, that surely beats anything I could ever find off the shelf at a greeting card store.

I wanted to capture Karen's reaction to receiving the card on the day of her birthday...and was thrilled to see how touched she was.

 Her reaction warmed my heart.  I was so happy to give her something that hopefully let her know how much she means to me! Here's a closer look at the card I created :)

Here are a few more pictures from Karen's birthday celebration!

 

Preschool/Daycare & Back to School Finds!

Happy Wednesday everyone! What a week this has been... Evie has officially started daycare.  She is going 3 days a week.  Yesterday was her first official full day and let's just say that she did a lot better than mommy.  I was literally a crying mess from the second I had to leave.  Up until this point, my mom was the one who always watched Evie.  With her getting older, we thought that now would be a good time for her to transition to a daycare so that she could be around more kids and have more social interaction.  Making the decision was definitely tough for us - both emotionally and financially, but we know it's the right thing!  Plus, with baby #2 on the way, we wanted to give my mom a bit of a break before we ask her to help watch a newborn for us :)

As I've been prepping her for preschool, I've come across some really cute back to school finds that I wanted to share!  

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I also wanted to share some pictures from Evie's first few days at preschool.  Sorry some are blurry...cell phone pics are not my specialty!