Baby #3: 21 weeks

I'm kind of over the forms for my weekly posts now that I broke out of them last week. I like rambling a lot better;)

2.24.14: I'm twenty one weeks today!



Belly button is barely hanging on. Feeling huge at times and tiny at other times. Still in some regular pants and was shocked to find I've 'only' gained 11 pounds total so far. At my 20 week OB appointment last week, I braced myself to see a 2 pound per week gain after my huge growth spurt from weeks 16-20. But nope--just a pound per week during that time, bringing me to 11 total. Nice. I'm sure I will still top the scales at at *least* 30 total but I'm fine with that. Just prefer to stay less than 40 if possible. Not really worried since perspective is key this third time around---weight should come off eventually and it's more important for me to enjoy this final pregnancy and eat when hungry that let myself worry about the scale. We will see if this zen attitude changes when I'm huge.

My appetite is still out of control every few days, especially in the evenings. For example, Friday night is always pizza night here. I had a few slices, was starving, so we had ice cream. Still starving, so ate some cookies. Forced myself to chill out but I seriously could have had even more! And that is not our usual 'healthy' food either, obviously, but it all tasted great. Luckily we do usually eat healthy, acceptable portion sizes and I can contain the hunger most of the time. Just trying to follow my gut (literally!) and if I'm hungry I eat. Hopefully I don't eat an entire sleeve of Girl Scout Cookies but a few usually does it for me. Cereal is still my fave and clementines are disappearing by the dozen around here. Mmmmm.

Pointy bump last Saturday night, as we were getting ready for our much-needed date night (!).



WOAH. Bump is out of control at this angle!


We both accidentally wore blue to our dinner out. Erin watched our kids for us, since it was our turn for the date-night swap. Truman fell asleep in the van on the way over to Erin's house and was NOT the happiest to be left there when half asleep. He pulled through and they all had a blast….and Nate and I gorged ourselves on fantastic food. Nothing like a dinner with my husband to reconnect, make eye contact, and actually TALK to each other without breaking up sibling fights and spilling milk on the floor. I love date nights so much!


Just because food pictures are extremely appetizing to me, and eating is one of my life's greatest pleasures when pregnant, please note how amazing this meal looks. Then we will get back to the topic at hand;)

Our appetizer platter:


My amazing burger and fries. Had to take half of it home and it was still awesome the next day.


Nate's pork schnitzel and beer. Lucky guy with the brews.


Dessert #1: molten chocolate cake with raspberry sorbet.


And oops, dessert #2. Sticky Toffee Pudding. LOVE. We were only going to split one dessert but they hooked us up at Rumpus Room since we know one of the head honchos at corporate (ahem, Erin!). Don't mind it a bit!


Moving on from the food porn…

Last week was an incredible week overall. We found out baby #3 is healthy, first and foremost. We also found out that he is a BOY. Then three days after our ultrasound, we settled on a name. (!!) Let's discuss. It was the fastest decision ever for us, and it was not difficult to nail down our favorite. It's a name that literally hit me out of the blue one day in Target a few weeks ago---one I've never really heard in real life before, and one that has never been on our lists before. I had a light bulb moment like, 'I love that name. If this is a boy that has to be it.' I mentioned the name to Nate that night and was dreading his response, but he immediately said, 'I like it. A lot.' So I knew that could be it if baby was a boy, but at that time I still really thought it was a girl. However, from that moment of seeing this name I started to get really excited about a baby boy. So I guess it was meant to be;)

I had Nate look through my gigantic phone list again Friday night after the US and simply said, 'Which ones do you like?' He said the one we picked and Grant---which was our number two for Truman. Still LOVE that name but it doesn't feel quite as special or exciting for us anymore, since we've thought about it for over four years. Therefore, baby boy has a different name and we love it. Won't share it on the internets, I'm afraid, but rest assured it goes well with the other names we've picked. Truman loves it and will probably blab it to anyone who will listen, too.

Middle name will either be Nelson (my dad's middle name, but he uses it as his first) or Nathan. I love having family names for our kids' middles---Truman has Nate's middle name and CC has mine. Other top boy contenders (for first names) on my list that Nate did not like: Sullivan (Sully), Gilbert (don't laugh---it's my dad's real first name and he is a junior, I think 'Gil' is the cutest!), Wade, and Walter (Wally). Again, none of these are The Name since Nate shot them all down. Top girl choices of mine: Alice (totally could have pushed for it this time), Phoebe, Rosalie (Rosie), Francine (Frankie), and Gwendolyn (Gwen). I like nick-names and older names apparently. Nate only remotely liked Phoebe of this list, I believe. Baby names are so much fun!

The day after deciding his name, I got totally inspired via Pinterest for baby boy's nursery. At first I was just going to keep Cecelia's light blue walls, repaint the crib, and find a new rug. But after falling in love with my first ever theme for a nursery, I can't help myself but get this room started! Cecelia and I went to Home Depot and bought a gallon of dark 'Seal Gray' paint by Glidden and I did all of the rolling that afternoon when she napped for two hours (and Nate hung with T). Then on Sunday I did all of the trim and the dreaded radiator while both kids napped, plus one 'take Henry for a walk' break. I believe this second part took at least three hours start to finish. It looks so fresh and so different!





Ta Da!



Obviously, the pink roman shades will go along with the rug. Pretty sure I won't use the dollhouse bookshelf either, so those things plus the pink pom pons and I will have a huge hunk of 'girlie' storage in our attic, I suppose. I cannot part with any of it just yet---maybe someday CC will have her own room again and I can re-use the pink?

I cannot wait to pull this idea together and usually I'm not a big fan of cookie cutter 'themes'---this time I love the woodsy, outdoorsy, forest friends theme enough to make it work for my specific tastes. I can't steer away from bright colors, I'm afraid, and want to incorporate an outdoorsy Wisconsin and mountain-y Colorado feel into the room a bit, too. Here is my inspiration board on Pinterest if you care to peek. It will be such a fun nursery for our baby boy…and mostly for me. I have officially remembered that decorating a nursery is truly one of my favorite things ever. No joke. I wish I could just shop and craft and paint furniture all day long to make it happen ASAP but taking my time will be fine, too;) I guess we have plenty of time.

Another big milestone from this week? Nate felt his son hiccuping. Baby boy hiccups already a LOT and is so freaking active, I figured it was time to make Nate feel this kids' shenanigans. Sure enough, hiccups and kicks for his daddy one night. God, I love this stage of pregnancy so much.

A fantastic ultrasound, fun pictures, a great OB appointment, a name, a nursery idea, painted walls, Nate feeling him kick….could I be any more annoying as a 'high on life' pregnant lady? Probably not.

One 'thank god your life isn't perfect' thing you will appreciate is that mornings have SUCKED around here lately. Again. Cecelia and or Truman have both been waking up at 2, 3, 4, and 5 am…taking turns, it seems. Truman will sometimes frantically call us in there to ask, 'Where is CC? Is she still in her crib?' And she always is. Sometimes he will need a tuck in. Sometimes he will wander into our room to inform us he is headed to the bathroom. Sigh. Just do it, child!! And then his sister? Fussing for her pacifier, mostly, but also she seems to just want to start her days around 5am despite our pleads to last until 6:00. If she DOES win the battle and we let her get up that early she is a mess by 9:00. So yeah, lots of night time wake ups over here---blah blah blah, preparing me for baby, whatever. I'm not into it though and something must be done! Room sharing is going really well overall and I really think they'd be going through this weird early-morning stuff in different rooms, too. Heck, they both HAVE pulled this stunt before anyway. Still need to do that 'room sharing update' post but we are still loving the shared space. May officially move CC from her crib into a big girl bed and BUNK the kids in the next few weeks. Holy changes.

Comparing pregnancies: here is the 21 week post from Truman's pregnancy. First reaction is that I've gained 11 pounds this time and was at 13 pounds that first time, so that's good? Plus my belly was still microscopic at that point. We were pretty much settled on his name already but didn't solidify it yet because I wanted to wait---do not remember this in the slightest. Woah. And then Cecelia's 21 week post was sweet because we had just bought our house! Similar belly size to right now, same weight gain, but last time we were nowhere near deciding on her name. Ha! Oh yes, agreeing to Cecelia's name was painful for all involved. Happy that this boy was easier in that sense. Maybe he will be our easiest baby yet? (shouldn't be too hard when it comes to sleep).

So that was last week---a pretty eventual one! Not to mention that Cecelia turns 21 months on Friday, and Truman's fourth birthday is Saturday. Better start working on their posts and preparing for my mom and Memaw to arrive this week! Excited for Truman's party on Saturday and I think we are buying him his first bike for our big gift. Hopefully he can ride it before June if this snow ever melts.

And with that, I guess I have proved that not following a pregnancy form for my weekly posts = mega post with a ton of random stuff in it. Nursery and baby names and a date night HAVE to get mentioned, though!