27 Weeks!

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How far along: 27 Weeks, 2 Days

Maternity clothes: Target has some awesome long shirts for only $9.99, so I stocked up on those and some workout clothes from Ross.  I am trying to not buy anything too expensive but the comfy shirts and workout pants are a necessity right now.

Stretch marks: Not yet, but this week my stomach is feeling EXTRA tight (like she doesn’t have any more room to grow!).  She is a growing girl!

Fitness: Well, bad news is I didn’t pass my glucose test.  Good news is, they are telling me to work out more.  That has triggered me to work out every day for more than a half an hour.  I took it pretty easy the first trimester and would definitely go back and up the treadmill and elliptical time, if I wasn’t so paranoid about losing the baby. First time mom here…hehe.

Sleep: One word: Insomnia.  My friend Jenn says that it’s natures way of preparing us to be up all night with the baby. What a cruel, cruel thing.

Best moment this week: I am not going to lie, there was really nothing too exciting about this week, and if it was, it wasn’t the “best”.  My mom sent us a rug and bumper with cute little bugs on it that I put up in the nursery.  Way cute.  Also, I am loving how excited Mike is getting about things.  He keeps going into the nursery and sitting and looking at everything. 

Miss anything: Due to the fact that I do have gestational diabetes, I REALLY REALLY miss sweets, and bread, and anything virtuous or lovely in the food department.  She is worth it though!

Morning sickness: No, but I have been pretty nauseous not having the usual meals that I eat.  Also, it feels like my stomach has shrunk.  I am guessing little girl is taking up so much room, I don’t really have room to eat anymore.

Movement:I think she is moving to position right now because her normal “stomping grounds” have become different.  She is definitely doing something down there.  I can’t tell her hands from her feet though.

Symptoms: Sore back, stomach ache, major leg cramps at night, indigestion, stuffy sinuses, you name it…it all started this week.  Welcome to the third trimester!

Food cravings: ICE CREAM!

Anything making you queasy or sick: I made some sugar-free mini cupcakes with my Babycakes maker and they made me so sick!

Have you started to show yet: Very dumb question.

Gender prediction: Girl. With a twinge of thinking it COULD be a boy.

Labor signs: I feel a little tight on the belly when I am working out.  I know Braxton-Hicks is common from here on out.

Belly button in or out: Still going strong and staying in! Woohoo!

Wedding rings on or off: On.

Happy or Moody most of the time: Moody. 😦  I am going to work on happy this week.  I have a cold and have been uncomfortable, but Mike has been very patient and helpful!

Looking forward to: Getting this baby out of me!! And the duathlon that Mike will be doing on Saturday. 🙂

26 Weeks!

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How far along: 26 Weeks, 2 days

Maternity clothes: Yes.  I have been wearing a lot of skirts and dresses.  They are so much more comfortable than pants.  My favorite pants are these black “work pants” that feel like pajamas.  I consider them my “lucky” pants because I am so comfortable at work.  If only we could wear pajamas to work every day.

Stretch marks: Not yet, but I was reading on my Pregnancy App that week 30 starts a big growth spurt again. I am not sure if I have any room for her!

Fitness:  I slacked big time this week, but I have been trying to make it to the gym for 30 minute ellliptical and weights.  My favorite weight machine is the GLUTES.  It makes me feel awesome afterwards.  This week: swimming and working on arms.

Sleep: I felt kind of “off” this week.  It started on the weekend where I wasn’t able to catch up on sleep. So Monday night, I came home and fell asleep sitting up on the couch. (I have found that I actually breathe better sitting up, so it wasn’t that pitiful.  This getting up at five every day is a killer so I spend the weekends taking naps all the time.  This weekend is a three day weekend so it feels AWESOME.

Best moment this week: Mike laid his head on my stomach because we were reading that you can hear the heartbeat at this week if you put your head up to your stomach.  Right when he did that, she kicked him in the ear really hard.  It was cool because I can feel her kick, but I have never seen it.

Miss anything: This has nothing to do with pregnancy, but good SHOPPING.  Sorry Cruces, you don’t have a lot to choose from. I am looking forward to meeting my mom in Phoenix so I can get some good stuff.

Morning sickness: None.

Movement:She definitely kicked it up a notch this week.  She is moving around more than kicking.  I was all worried she wasn’t kicking enough but found out they have to kick at least four times in an hour. She does that in fifteen minutes.  She does have her lazy days though.

Symptoms: Foot cramps, sleepiness, stomach aches (because she is smashing it), also having a hard time breathing when I walk up the stairs. Ha ha!

Food cravings: Frozen yogurt and lasagna.

Anything making you queasy or sick: The smell of the Mountain View Market.  Has anyone been in there and noticed its distinct smell? I went in the other day and almost threw up. I had never even noticed the smell before.

Have you started to show yet: Dumb question.

Gender prediction: Girl. Not gonna lie…I still think that it could be a boy, just because I know people that happened to.  The nursery is neutral anyway. 🙂
Labor signs: No, next week is the beginning of the third trimester. Crazy!

Belly button in or out: Still going strong and staying in!

Wedding rings on or off: On. I just forget to put it on!

Happy or Moody most of the time: This week.  Moody. 🙂  I think once my student teacher gets the hang of things, it will be more happy.  It’s hard stuff!

Looking forward to: My glucose test this week. Not.

Mike and Liz Picture A Day

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A year ago Mike and I decided to do a “picture a day” blog and we were pretty successful from January to April.  Then Blogger had to make things difficult on my life and change so I had no idea how to post pictures (I still don’t, but thank goodness for an IPAD with an app that I can semi-figure out).

Anyway, we both have been a little sad about not doing that blog or the old blog from before we got married up until last year (AGAIN…thanks to Blogger. Can you tell I am bitter?).  So I am working on it!  I was able to get the Mike and Liz Picture A Day blog up again, so here we go again!  It’s not centered, but it does the job! 

If you are interested….here is the link:

http://mikelizpictureaday.blogspot.com/

I’m excited to do this pre-“baby girl” so we can take pictures leading up to the day.  I know that it will be harder once she is around, but it’s worth a try!

In Your Own Words

I found this journal entry in my 2012 planner.  I usually go through each past years calendar to see if I am missing any upcoming races or events from the previous year that I want to do.  I remember writing this down as a New Year’s resolution and wanted to share it.  Fill it out and post it to my comments if you get a chance:

Best beauty trick:  staying active and exercising

Celebrity I admire: Jessica Biel (she is athletic looking!)

Instantly feel better: When I get a hug!

The one food I will never give up:  Pizza.

My biggest accomplishment:  11 years of teaching.

I always wanted to learn:  to speak fluent French.

My favorite body part:  Smile.

My pet peeve: When people smack their gum.

Hidden talent: I can organize anything like a mad man!

Best mistake: Not getting married until I was 29.

First thing I do when I wake up:  Pick out my outfit for the day.

25 Weeks!

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How far along: 25 weeks, 2 days

Maternity clothes: Yes, I am measuring two weeks larger.  This girl is a chunker!  (They think it’s actually not the baby, but fluid, etc.. ).  I do love my maternity clothes I got for Christmas.  I have to be very creative!

Stretch marks: Not yet, but I know my belly is going to be BIG!

Sleep: I love to sleep, it’s just too bad my mind won’t turn off.  I keep having crazy dreams or ideas on what I need to do.  I usually have to wake up, write down in my IPAD the things I am worrying about, and then go back to sleep.

Best moment this week: Seeing little girl at the ultrasound, getting the crib and changing table (it’s becoming REAL!), and feeling her move around! 

Miss anything: Having a fully functioning brain!  I forget everything!  I definitely don’t feel like I am on my A game at school, but thankfully I have a student teacher taking over that is pretty awesome. 

Morning sickness: None. Very lucky.
Movement:Yes- she moves a lot more than kicks.  My favorite thing is when my stomach goes totally lopsided! It is so weird!  Like right now my right side of my stomach is protruding out more than my left.  She also has been sitting on my bladder nonstop! Mike REALLY wants her to kick so he can see it.  We haven’t been able to accomplish that yet!

Symptoms: Foot cramps, a little fatigue (I blame it more on going back to school), and stomach aches. 

Food cravings: Wickles….my sister introduced me to them.  Spicy pickles! So awesome.

Anything making you queasy or sick: Boiled and bland chicken.

Have you started to show yet: Oh yes.
Gender prediction: Girl
Labor signs: No, but I am so curious how contractions are going to be.  I think about it a lot!  I keep wondering how I am going to react to the whole labor process!

Belly button in or out: I’m going to say in between… it looks flat and weird.

Wedding rings on or off: On..I just don’t wear it because I am afraid my hands will swell at school and I don’t want to have to take my rings off where there are “sticky fingers” that could take it!
Happy or Moody most of the time: 1/2 and 1/2.  I really enjoy the mornings doing my chores and hanging out at home.  At school, I get really moody by seventh period and have no patience with my kids.

Looking forward to: Finishing decorating the nursery and getting supplies around.  I am definitely in the nesting phase!!

Ultrasound # 3

When I went in for my 23 week check up, they noticed the anatomy scan had not been fully completed, so they assigned me to go to get another ultrasound. I must admit I am so glad I switched over to my new doctor’s office. They have been very supportive and very personal about everything. The midwife said I would really like this place I was going to and I was not disappointed.

Mike came along to see our little girl in action. It was nice because they had a huge screen on the wall so he could watch everything going on. The girl did the usual 2D ultrasound where you see the basic makeup of the baby and then she turned on the 3D scan. Here are some of the shots we got:

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Mike and I were laughing because her hand looks like a foot.  I even made a comment about it and she said the baby moved right when they took the picture.  You can kind of tell on the right hand side where her hand was.

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I was so excited to see her little butt cheeks.  Little baby butts and feet are my favorite things!  Also, this was to confirm that she is definitely a girl! 🙂

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It’s weird to see her facial features.  I definitely think we have a “chunker” on our hands.  If you look at her cheeks, she is starting to get some fat on them.  I think she is going to take after her mom with her newborn pictures.  I was HUGE!

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She is also has some big feet too, which we can say came from dad! There was also one picture that I can’t find where she was opening her mouth to yawn and Mike started to make raptor sounds from Jurassic Park.  It was kind of creepy! I like the 3D ultrasounds, but they are a little creepy looking with the gold.  But I loved, loved, loved being able to see Baby Girl doing her thing!

2013 Goals

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I know I have shown this before but for the ALMOST four years we have been married I have found something we actually stay pretty consistent on.  It’s kind of a rip off of Oprah’s Vision board, but instead of pictures we just put exactly what goals we want to do.

Watching Mike train for triathlons has been awesome.  I would be lying if I said I wasn’t jealous at all, but I would say that being pregnant is just as awesome.  (Let me just admit that it has taken the last two weeks for me to realize how AWESOME it is to grow a baby.  I seriously was thinking nothing of it until you actually start feeling the baby.  Anyway!)

I LOVE how I can look ahead and mentally prepare myself for things to come and it gets me so excited! Most of our goals are physical this year, but we mingled the goals with spiritual, educational, family, financial, and other types of goals too.  At the end of the year, we check off the ones we did and put it on our “newsletter” and include all of the things we did that year with it.  It’s pretty sweet to reminisce.

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Happy New Year!

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Well another year has passed, and I must say that 2012 was definitely a lot better than 2011.  Mike and I went back and looked at our 2012 goals and made some new ones for our “goal board” for 2013.  It gets me so excited about things!  This year is going to have a lot of changes, but it will be way cool to see how our family grows.

The picture above was taken on New Years Eve right when Mike came back from his last bike ride of 2012.  I was taking random pictures that day because I was being sentimental about everything being the “last thing of 2012”.  If you look closely, you will see he is not wearing any shoes because he had already come in from his ride.

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This was the last picture of Barney in 2012.  I’m sure there are plenty more to come.

We ended up going over to Mike’s parents house and hung out for a few hours and played games and ATE A LOT!  I blame the 20 pounds of pregnancy weight on the holidays.  I am SO GLAD they are over, even though we were very blessed this year with a great Christmas and New Years.  Everyone has been so generous and supportive of us. 

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Mike had to have his last egg nog of 2012 and here is the spread….

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So much food!  We played a little Catch Phrase and hung out until it turned midnight and then we had to take a family photo.  P.S. We do not ask Barney to pose every time.  He seriously does it himself!

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Here’s to an awesome year! Happy 2013!