28 Weeks

How far along: 28 weeks

Size of baby: Chinese Cabbage (2 1/4 pounds)

Movement: He is definitely a night mover. Owen likes to sleep most of the morning off and then wakes up very active in the evenings.

Sleep: It's getting a lot harder to get comfortable.

Cravings: Nothing out of the ordinary. Since the holidays are over, I'm determined to eat even healthier and reduce the amount of sweets I eat. (Besides my baby shower days :)

Queasy or sick:  Nope.

Symptoms:  I have a lot of pressure in my lower abdomen when I exercise, but other than that I'm good. 

Maternity Clothes:  Yes, the dress I'm wearing above is from Rosie Pope Maternity in NYC. I loved getting to visit her store during our NYC trip last month.  She has her own show on Bravo called "Pregnant in Heels."

Belly Button In or Out? Half innie/half outie. :)

Wedding Ring On or Off? On

Miss Anything? My motivation.
High of the week: Eric and I had a great weekend at home. We had friends over Friday night and Saturday night was New Year's Eve. We had a great time with friends at Larry's party.  I was surprised that I stayed up til almost 2 am!

Low of the week: Taking down Christmas decorations is pretty depressing. My house looks so bare now.

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy.

Gender: BOY!

Looking Forward to: My baby showers this month! And I finally ordered Owen's crib, and it should be here any day now.  I can't wait to put it together and see it in the nursery. 

Wednesday is my gestational diabetes test, and I'm a little nervous! I've heard that the orange drink doesn't taste as bad as everyone says, so that's good. Praying I don't have GD!  

Eric and I had a great Christmas in Illinois-our last one as a family of 2!  I'm so excited that we'll have a 9 month old crawling around next Christmas. It's so hard to believe!  Here are a few pics from the Christmas weekend:

Eric & I w/ our twin niece & nephew, Caden & Chloe

Owen got a BOB jogging stroller for Christmas. Mommy is already looking forward to losing the baby weight w/ this gift.

Christmas Day 2011

27 Weeks

Eric & I went to Opryland Hotel last night for Dinner & to see Christmas Lights

How far along: 27 weeks

Size of baby: Head of cauliflower

Movement: He is getting stronger & starting to kick harder and harder. I absolutely love looking down at my stomach and seeing it pop out here and there.  My stomach will also roll around really slowly at times. I'm reminded of the miracle of life that is growing inside of me.  What an awesome creator we serve! He designed everything just perfectly!

Sleep:  I sleep better on nights that I do body pump, but the other nights are pretty rough with tossing and turning.  The past few nights I have woken up short of breath b/c I was flat on my back.  Oops again!! I have pillows all around me but still end up on my back.

Cravings: I crave oatmeal when I wake up in the morning. Today, I am craving all of the delicious food that my mom will be making on Christmas day! She is making every single item gluten free for me! (Thanks to Jules GFree AP flour...it's the best!) There's nothing like a mother's home cooking!

Queasy or sick:  Not since 1st trimester! yay!

Symptoms:  Very thankful that I haven't had any heartburn or acid reflux (at least not yet).  If I eat too much mexican or chili or something like that, I have a little indigestion, but nothing bad at all.  

Maternity Clothes:  Maternity leggings, jeans, few shirts.

Belly Button In or Out? Half innie/half outie. :)

Wedding Ring On or Off? On

Miss Anything? I miss being able to work out hard core.  These days, I'll go to the gym to walk on the treadmill, and I start hurting pretty badly that I have to stop and get on the stationary bike.  Most days of the week, I'm lucky to get enough energy to get to the gym. All my energy I had 2nd trimester is slowly decreasing. :(
High of the week: It's Christmas time!! We celebrated Christmas w/ Eric's family last weekend.  Abby, Eric's sister is 36 weeks pregnant with baby girl, Gracyn, and it was fun being pregnant with her. Here we are relaxing on the couch:

I can't wait to meet my newest niece in January! 

Tonight, we head out with my brother and his wife and their twin toddlers to Illinois for Christmas.  I'm so excited to relax, eat some good food, and hang out with my family!

Low of the week: Stress.  I guess with the holidays, finishing up shopping, working, and also getting ready for baby boy, I feel like I can't keep up this year.  But now that Christmas weekend is here, I can relax and not worry about a thing. So thankful!

Happy or Moody most of the time: A little of both this week to be honest.  Jesus and I have had some quality time discussing my emotions...so glad He can give us peace in the midst of chaos. 

Gender: BOY!

Looking Forward to: Christmas (aka Jesus' Birthday). I'm excited to celebrate Christmas with Owen next year and to start our own family traditions with him.

26 Weeks & Nursery Update

I'm 26w4d pregnant and definitely starting to feel it.  Owen is growing faster now and I feel like my stomach keeps getting bigger and bigger.  My body is also starting to hurt more. Car rides are the worst b/c I get so uncomfortable and my back starts hurting.  Can't wait to see my favorite chiropractors (Ryan & Allyson Kathalynas) this weekend for an adjustment.  :)  On a brighter note, I will officially be in my 3rd trimester next week!  I can't believe how fast it has gone by!  Being pregnant in the winter is great but the one negative thing about it is that I feel SO pale.  You're not allowed to tan or get a spray tan during pregnancy, so I guess I'll just have to be okay with being very white this pregnancy.  He's worth it. ;)

Nursery Update:
Owen's nursery is finally BLUE!  I absolutely love going into his room now because the blue color just makes it feel more "real."  My dad and Eric painted Tuesday morning while I was at work, but before they were able to paint, they spent hours taping off the accent wall where the crib will be.  See the pictures below:

Eric getting the lines just right

My dad working on this tedious task

The wall with the chalk lines

Eric (aka Daddy to be) hard at work

The wall all taped off, ready to be painted blue

The next step was to paint the wall blue over the tape (it turned darker after it dried)

My dad painting the rest of the walls blue

 

Here it is! I absolutely LOVE it!

My glider came in!

The fabric has the alphabet on it

A huge thanks to my wonderful husband & father for all their hard work on that accent wall & making sure the lines were straight, etc.  I am very happy that the nursery is starting to come together.  I still need to order a crib, curtains, & a rug, and figure out exactly what I'm going to do on the other walls in the nursery, but I know I still have plenty of time.  January will be a fun filled month of baby showers & nursery planning. Can't wait!

25 Weeks

I'm behind on blogging b/c we've been so busy with the holidays, NYC trip, & being out of town every weekend.  So, I'm catching up with my last 4 weeks of pregnancy pictures:

24 weeks (6 months preggers!)

How far along: 25 weeks

Size of baby: Eggplant

Movement: Owen is very active at certain times of the day; usually mid morning and at night when I lay down for bed. It takes me awhile to go to sleep b/c he kicks so much, but I definitely do not mind one bit! I'm thankful for every single kick.  Last night, Eric felt my stomach slowly moving up & down-it felt like Owen was doing rolls in my stomach. I love seeing the look on Eric's face when he feels Owen kick really hard or when Eric can feel my stomach move up and down.  Priceless!

Sleep:  Starting to toss & turn a lot more. Even though you're not supposed to lay flat on your back, I constantly wake up and find myself in this position. Oops! I can't help it, though!

Cravings: Gummy bears & chocolate.  Don't worry, I eat lots of healthy stuff too ;)

Queasy or sick:  Not since 1st trimester! yay!

Showing Yet:  Oh Yes!

Maternity Clothes:  Yes, for some things, but still able to wear some of my regular shirts.  And after what seemed like forever of finding the perfect maternity jeans, I FINALLY found some jeans that fit me perfectly, and I absolutely love them! 

Belly Button In or Out? As I'm writing this, I just asked Eric what he thought (whether my belly button was in or out), and he said that it's a half innie, half outie. lol

Wedding Ring On or Off? On

Miss Anything? Sushi.
High of the week: NYC Trip! Another high was Eric talking to my belly on Saturday morning.  He said, "It's hard to imagine I can love someone so much who I haven't even met yet."  He's so right...I can't get over how much I already love this baby boy. 

Low of the week: Sciatic nerve pain started a few days ago, and it seems to continue off & on. Baby Owen is so worth it, but I'm praying it doesn't last the rest of the pregnancy.  If anyone has any relief tips, I'd love to hear them! (I'm thinking I will start prenatal yoga after the new year (for more reasons than one), and maybe that will help too). 

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy most of the time, but with the busyness of being gone every weekend & trying to get things ready for baby, I definitely have my emotional times. 

Gender: BOY!

Looking Forward to: Painting Owen's nursery blue! (Which will hopefully happen this week)  We haven't really done anything to his nursery besides paint the walls white, but I'm hoping to get a lot done in January, after the holidays.  
**Also, if anyone has any recommendations for a nice, inexpensive white crib (does not have to convert to toddler bed), I would love your help!  I found this crib (see below) that I've been thinking about buying, but just not sure about it.  I know it's a 4 in 1 crib, but I can't find one that's not.  Let me know your thoughts!

I'll end this post with another fun highlight of the week.  My sweet friend, Charlotte, let me borrow her Belly Buds.  I put them on my stomach for the 1st time last night and turned on some classical music on Pandora.  Owen started kicking immediately.  He kept kicking over and over again exactly where the headphones were stuck on my belly.  I kept wondering if by him kicking meant he liked or disliked the music, but everything I read online seemed to think that by kicking, the baby likes the music. I sure hope so! It sure was funny to feel him go to town the whole time the music was playing to my womb. 

1st Time Trying Out Belly Buds

21 Weeks

 

How far along: 21 weeks

Size of baby: Large Banana

Movement: Owen is very active now. In fact, he absolutely loves to kick my bladder over and over again.  haha

Sleep:  Not too bad-love my pregnancy pillow.

Cravings: Sweets. I've been loving some organic dark chocolate to satisfy my sweet tooth in the afternoons.  I'll also drink some strawberry paraiso white tea in the afternoon to kick the sweets craving.  

Queasy or sick:  Not since 1st trimester! yay!

Showing Yet:  Definitely! Although, I had a nurse on the post partum unit where I work ask me the other day if I was eating enough because I didn't look 5 months pregnant.  I was thinking, "Are you serious? I look very pregnant, and I definitely LOVE to eat. :)"

Maternity Clothes:  Some, but still wearing mostly my regular clothes (with the belly band of course.)  Love wearing my leggings with tunics because they are so comfortable.

Belly Button In or Out? Still in and still getting more and more shallow.

Wedding Ring On or Off? On

Miss Anything? Sushi.
High of the week:  Mom and I went fabric shopping last weekend and found several options to choose from.  Unfortunately, if you know me, you know that I'm very indecisive, so I'm having a hard time deciding on the exact 2 fabrics I want to use.  The nursery will be light blue and white, with elephants as an accent. Eric went to Alabama and an elephant is their mascot.  And I think baby elephants are so cute! Here is a picture of one of the fabrics we are probably going to use. This one will be for the crib bumper that my mom will be making:

Another high is that Eric got to feel Owen kick for the first time Thursday night! He has tried feeling him kick many times, but every time Eric puts his hand on my stomach, Owen stops. Hoping Eric can catch Owen kicking again soon! 
We also started Round 1 of painting the nursery this weekend.  The nursery used to be the guest room, so Eric and I have had to go through all of our clothes, storage, office stuff, etc to decide what to keep, give to Goodwill, and organize. Who knew 2 people could accumulate so much "stuff."

Low of the week:  This morning was definitely a rough one.  It seemed like everything that could go wrong went wrong.  And it's not that there was one big thing that went wrong; it was one of those times where every little thing kept going wrong, and then I just broke.  This was all before church, and I truly felt like satan was attacking me, and just trying to get me overwhelmed, full of worry and stress.  I continued to pray and ask the Lord for peace and protection over my mind from worry and fear.  I then went into the nursery where Eric was painting, and he told me there was only a tiny space left to paint in the nursery, but he ran out of paint.  All of a sudden, I just started crying. No, I wasn't crying b/c we ran out of the expensive zero-VOC paint that we bought. I was crying b/c it was that one last thing that I needed to push me over this morning.  Why is it that satan always seems to get to us on Sundays? I think he'll do anything to try and rob us of our joy and to distract us from worshiping our Savior.  Well, Eric had stayed up til 2 am painting the trim and woke up early to try to finish round 1, so he was pretty frustrated as well, but he just took me in his arms and let me cry.  He reassured me that everything was going to be okay, and reminded me of how blessed we are.  With all that happened this morning, we almost didn't make it to church (wouldn't satan have liked that), but we finally made it to the 12:00pm service, and guess what our pastor Pete's sermon was on: Fear. Coincidence? I think not. Today's sermon was EXACTLY what Eric and I needed to hear and apply to our lives. 

"Your fears establish the limits of your life. You don't have a fear problem. You have a faith problem." - Pete Wilson Very convicting statement.

"One of the most exciting things that could happen in your life today is to trust God in some area of your life that scares you to death." - Pete Wilson
"Are you letting your fears be the fuel that propels you forward or the limits that confine you?" - Pete Wilson

It's amazing how much better I felt when I left church today-the peace of the Lord truly filled my soul.  Looking back, I'm embarrassed at how overwhelmed/fearful/stressed I became this morning, but thankful that I could surrender it all to the Lord and leave it at His feet.  God is so good.

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy.

Gender: BOY!

Looking Forward to: Round 2 of painting (Blue) and choosing the exact fabrics we're going to use for the nursery.

20 Weeks

 

How far along: 20 weeks

Size of baby: Cantaloupe

Movement: He is kicking away! I absolutely LOVE feeling him move around...best feeling ever!  The other night I felt him kick from the outside of my stomach, so I had Eric put his hand on my stomach in hopes that he would keep kicking, but of course he stopped.  I can't wait for Eric to feel him. 

Sleep:  As good as it can be for being 5 months pregnant.  Since I have to sleep on my side, I usually wake up stiff with my side a little sore, but as long as I keep turning over during the night, I'm good.

Cravings:  Well, we had a TON of pink/blue jelly bellies left over from the gender reveal party, so unfortunately, I've been enjoying these a little too much.  I finally took the rest to work to give away because if they're in my house, I'll eat them. 

Queasy or sick:  No.

Showing Yet:  Oh yes! Over the past week, I feel like he has definitely made his debut-my bump has gotten MUCH bigger. 

Maternity Clothes:  Some, but still wearing mostly my regular clothes (with the belly band of course.)  I'm also loving my leggings right now. 

Belly Button In or Out? In, but I keep noticing that it's getting more and more shallow. Yikes!

Wedding Ring On or Off? On

Miss Anything? Lots and lots of sushi.

High of the week:  Our gender reveal party! We found out it's a BOY! :)  We named him Owen Daniel Pardue.  Owen means "Young Warrior," and Daniel is also Eric's middle name. 

Low of the week:  None that I can think of.

Happy or Moody most of the time: Always happy unless I've gone too long without food. 

Gender: BOY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Looking Forward to: Cleaning out the guest room & getting started on the nursery.  With all the holidays coming up and being out of town a lot, it may be hard to get the nursery done as quickly as I would like, but I'm sure with the help of all the grandparents, we'll have it done in plenty of time.

Gender Reveal Party

IT'S A BOY!!!!

We had our gender reveal party last week (Oct. 27, 2011), where we cut the cake and found out that baby Pardue is a boy!  The day started off with our ultrasound at 8:30 am.  Eric and my mom came with me, and we were all supposed to turn our head when the ultrasound tech told us to (she knew it was a surprise).  Well, as soon as that wand touched my stomach, she immediately said, "Don't look!"  The entire ultrasound, she was adamant about us not looking, so afterwards, all 3 of us had a feeling it was a boy just by the way she acted-Because boys are a bit more obvious on ultrasounds than little girls are. :)  The ultrasound was amazing-Eric and I loved seeing the baby move around and suck his thumb.  He was definitely stubborn though; the tech tried to get a good shot of his profile but he was all curled up facing away from the "camera."  She had me roll around on both sides to try to get him to roll over, but he still wouldn't.  Then she started jabbing my belly with the wand to try to get him to move, and he definitely did not like that.  It was pretty funny watching his reactions to her jabbing him.  Then, he started to suck his thumb-poor thing needed comfort from all that disruption. lol

Back to the party, when we found out it was a boy, I'm pretty sure we were all shocked!  Everyone had been telling us for so long that they just knew I was having a girl, and ALL the old wives tales pointed to girl as well.  (I don't believe in ANY of them anymore haha)  Since it was in our heads that it was a girl, it took awhile to get over the initial shock, but seeing how happy my husband was when it had sunk in that he was having a boy made everything absolutely perfect.  Eric's been excited about the baby this whole time, but something about having a boy made him just light up all weekend anytime we would talk about baby.  I'm so so happy that Eric is going to have a little buddy to watch football with.  And from what everyone has told me, it sounds like little boys like to snuggle with their momma, so I'm thrilled about having a little snuggler.  Here are some pics from the party & ultrasound.

The Cake with the Answer Inside-It was SO hard to wait all day!

We skyped with my brother & his wife & their twins, Eric's parents, brothers, sister & her husband & their 3 boys. It was so great to include everyone on the big reveal.

The voting at the beginning of the night-more were added later.

Eric & I with my Mom & Dad

Waving at us :)

Sucking his thumb

Eric and I are so thankful for a healthy baby boy! We love him so much already!