16 Weeks!

How far along: 15 weeks 6 days - 16 weeks tomorrow

Total weight gain: Down and still losing. It's almost getting a bit ridiculous. Whoever thought I'd see the day when I got angry seeing the numbers on the scale go down? Not I.

How big is baby?: The size of an avocado - about 4.5" long

Maternity clothes?: I still fit into all of my regular clothes. I did have my first shirt not fit right the other day though. I bought some pants and a few shirts - those pants are comfy! People should just wear elastic band pants all the time!

Stretch marks?: None.

Symptoms? I've been getting a lot of nasty headaches.

Sleep?:  Like a rock. My poor husband can't even wake me up with power tools.

Best moment this week?: Getting my Adobe upgrade!

Worst moment this week?: My long weeks are too short. What? That doesn't make any sense? I have a lot of stuff crammed into 5 days and not enough time to get it all done. It's exhausting.
 
Movement?: Nothing for sure yet. Waiting impatiently!

Food cravings?: Still digging the watermelon. And I'm pretty sure I'd do some pretty extreme crap to have a Flash from Erbert & Gerbert....

Labor signs?: Nope.

Belly button in or out?: Still way in.

What I miss:  I'm not missing much of anything to be honest.

What I'm nervous about: Finding a daycare.

What I am looking forward to: Painting the kitchen - we're getting closer!

Milestone: Purchased my first maternity outfit.

Book Review: "Island of Lost Girls"

"Island of Lost Girls" by Jennifer McMahon

SUMMARY from GoodReads

While parked at a gas station, Rhonda sees something so incongruously surreal that at first she hardly recognizes it as a crime in progress. She watches, unmoving, as someone dressed in a rabbit costume kidnaps a young girl. Devastated over having done nothing, Rhonda joins the investigation. But the closer she comes to identifying the abductor, the nearer she gets to the troubling truth about another missing child: her best friend, Lizzy, who vanished years before.

MY RATING:

MY THOUGHTS:

This book had a slow start to it and was pretty predictable. I had everything figured out by about the halfway point.

It was a well written story that flip-flopped back and forth between present day and events that led up to a disappearance in the early 90's. The author did a really nice job with the cliffhangers and made you want to keep reading.

Like I said, good story, but predictable. Overall it's a worthwhile quick read.

Upgrade

I decided to make use of my newly acquired student discount and hook myself up with some new goodies...

So I ordered Adobe CS 5.5 Design Premium.

I've been running on CS2 at home since... 2006 I think? So I figured "what the hell" and dug out my credit card to get with the times. I work in CS5 at work, so it won't all be new to me, but I've never had Dreamweaver before.

I'm excited to spend some time getting to know Dreamweaver better. Going back to school for Web Design has gotten me all pumped up to learn, so learn I will!

This wouldn't have happened without my student discount --

$1,499.01 in savings. 

Yes, you read that right. Thank God I didn't have to pay full price. At 82% off list, I got one hell of a deal!

I'm hoping to install this weekend, so playtime will have to wait a few days.

Belated Belly Pic

I was a little slow this week, so here is the photo I didn't post with my 15 week update:

Apparently I'm imagining things and it is, in fact, larger than last week. Or maybe it's just today. Who knows. When I wear my normal clothes you can't even tell - this "outfit" just accentuates I guess.

I'm going to try to wear the same clothes every week - we'll see how long that lasts and if I can make these pants and tank fit when I'm ginormous!

Here's how far I've come since week 4...

Every few weeks or so I plan to add to this collage. I think I must have shrunk at week 14 or something - week 13 looks larger. I'm sure it will all balance out and I'll be all belly in no time.

15 Weeks!

 

 

How far along: 14 weeks 6 days - 15 weeks tomorrow

 

Total weight gain: I'm still down - I think about 11 lbs. overall? My jeans fit better now than they did before I was pregnant.

How big is baby?: The size of a navel orange - about 4'' long and 2.5oz.

Maternity clothes?: Nope. Some of my shirts ride up a little when I'm standing though.

Stretch marks?: None.

Symptoms? My back has been bothering me, but nothing other than that.

Sleep?:  Sleep has been good. I just wake up so damn early, it's hard to sleep in.

Best moment this week?: Seeing the drywall go up in the kitchen was pretty exciting.

Worst moment this week?: Another rough work week and I foresee another one on its way.
 
Movement?: I thought I felt something late last week, but I'm not sure. Nothing definite yet.

Food cravings?: The fruit cravings have stuck around.

Labor signs?: Nope.

Belly button in or out?: Still way in.

What I miss:  Cookie Dough.

What I'm nervous about: Nothing at the moment.

What I am looking forward to: Friday.. it's going to be another long week.

Milestone: Nothing huge to report. Our anatomy scan will be coming up in early August though!

I haven't taken a picture yet for this week. Mainly because I'm being lazy.. haha. Not much has changed since week 14 though. I'll try to add a photo later.

Bits and Pieces

A random hodgepodge of info and updates for you....

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Classes are underway. Well, class. I went from 3 classes down to only one. A cancellation and a scheduling error.

In a way, this was a blessing in disguise. Work has been insane due to a coworker being out due to an injury, so my workload has been pretty intense. I honestly don't think I could have handled all 3 classes PLUS keep up at work and still function in daily life.

I'm really enjoying the one class I'm left with. I've learned a lot in only 4 sessions. HTML Web Coding - sounds fun right? It actually is!! After only 4 sessions I have a live site of my own, granted it's as plain as they come and I would never share it, but still. I have the knowledge and that feels pretty damn good.

*

The kitchen project is moving along nicely. Drywall is going up, I'm hoping for paint sometime in the near future. I think I've decided on the Dusty Leaf color.

Progress!

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On the baby front, I'm waiting for "flutters".

I thought I felt something yesterday, but I honestly don't know what it's supposed to feel like. I'm sort of new to this!

Everyone has a different descriptor for it - "twitches", "pops", "goldfish swimming", "butterflies" --- how does one know what "goldfish swimming" feels like? I'd seriously like to know.

People are constantly asking me if we've bought anything yet. Why they ask, I'm not really sure. I guess it's just one of those "things", like baby names and sharing pregnancy experiences. It just comes up.

To answer that: we haven't purchased anything major. Just a few onsies and I think that's it.

I did pick up these jammies at Target the other day on clearance. They were too cute not to:

I also bought these Brewers onsies in a 3-pack:

Other than the those and the Saints onsie you've already seen, we haven't bought anything. I have been looking, but I don't really want to make any major purchases until the kitchen is put back together. Otherwise the baby stuff might get lost in the mix.

Book Review: "The Book Thief"

"The Book Thief" by Markus Zusak

SUMMARY from GoodReads

It’s just a small story really, about among other things: a girl, some words, an accordionist, some fanatical Germans, a Jewish fist-fighter, and quite a lot of thievery. . . .

Narrated by Death, Markus Zusak's groundbreaking new novel is the story of Liesel Meminger, a young foster girl living outside of Munich in Nazi Germany. Liesel scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she discovers something she can't resist- books. Soon she is stealing books from Nazi book-burnings, the mayor's wife's library, wherever they are to be found.

With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, Liesel learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids, as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement.

MY RATING:

MY THOUGHTS:

When I began reading this book, I honestly didn't think I would like it. However, I loved it. Like, really loved it.

The story is told by Death, he tells his point of view on Liesel's story of living and surviving in 1940's Nazi Germany. While that sounds sort of morbid, it's really interesting. Not only do you get the girls story, you also get glimpses of what German & Russian citizens were put through when Hitler reigned. I won't even get started on my opinion of Hitler.

I will warn you though, don't look for a happy ending. Maybe it's the hormones, but I'll admit that I teared up at the ending.

14 Weeks!

How far along: 13 weeks 6 days - 14 weeks tomorrow!

 

Total weight gain: At my OB appointment on Wednesday I was down another 3 pounds. Baby must be stealing all my food or something, because I swear I eat like a horse.

How big is baby?: The size of a lemon - which in my eyes is smaller than last week (a peach), but whatever.

Maternity clothes?: Nope. My regular clothes are almost falling off.

Stretch marks?: None.

Symptoms? Still really tired. Other than that I'm good.

Sleep?:  Sleeping is definitely not a problem for me. It has been getting more uncomfortable to sleep on my stomach though, which sucks because I always seem to wake up laying that way.

Best moment this week?: Hearing baby's heartbeat again at my doctors appointment. 160BPM this time!


Worst moment this week?: Last week was rough for me. The whole week was pretty awful. Aside from starting school and having that not work out exactly as planned, work has become more difficult as well. My full time coworker is out with a broken leg, so that has substantially increased my workload. It was just a really stressful week!
 
Movement?: Not that I can feel. I'm hoping to feel flutters soon.

Food cravings?: Anything fruity, OJ. My mind tells me I want ice cream, but I can never finish it because it's too sweet.

Labor signs?: Nope.

Belly button in or out?: Still way in.

What I miss:  Nothing right now.

What I'm nervous about: Keeping up with work and school.

What I am looking forward to: Next weekend.. I have a feeling this coming week isn't going to get any easier than last week.

Milestone: Making it 14 weeks is a big enough milestone for now!

I think my "bump" may have gotten smaller? Or maybe it's just because I took this picture in the morning and my 13 week one was taken later in the afternoon. I do tend to look bigger later in the day and smaller in the morning. Wearing regular clothes you can't even tell there's anything there, but I'm sure that will happen soon enough.

Kitchen Progress

Things are moving along! Drywall is going to start going up today, which is super exciting - mainly because that means cabinet installation is getting closer!

There hasn't been much to show in terms of pictures because it's all been little stuff. The electrical was roughed in, door frames taken out, new cable and phone lines were run and insulation and vapor barrier have gone up.

Here's a few pics:

The flooring we ordered finally came in. After nearly a month, or it could have been more than that, I'm honestly not sure. We ordered it, then it was "shipped to the wrong store".... and how does that even happen?? THEN they called a couple weeks later and claimed it was on back-order. Right.

Anyway, it's here now and waiting patiently in the garage for it's turn.

After drywall, mud and tape and all that, comes paint! I thought I had my mind made up on Valspars 'Beach House':

But while at Lowes yesterday, I think I may have changed my mind. I LOVE the Valspar 'Dusty Leaf':

We already have green in the living room/dining room area, but this is a darker, dustier gray-green color. I think it would compliment the cabinets and flooring well.

Counter tops are still up for discussion. I think we know what we want, it's just a matter of actually ordering it!

13 Weeks!

I'm going to try and post these on Sundays for now, at least while I'm in school. During the week I'll be lucky to have time for anything but work and class - and hopefully sleep!

How far along: 12 weeks 6 days - 13 weeks tomorrow!

Total weight gain: None yet, I still weigh less than before.

How big is baby?: The size of a peach - almost 3" long

Maternity clothes?: Nope.

Stretch marks?: None.

Symptoms? I'm just really tired lately. I've been trying to sneak in naps where I can, but I have to remember that those are not going to happen during the week!

Sleep?:  I fall asleep without issues, but I've been waking up early and have a hard time falling back asleep.

Best moment this week?: Starting to get something that might possibly be a baby bump. Nothing definite though.

Movement?: Not that I can feel.

Food cravings?: Fruit, orange juice.

Labor signs?: Nope.

Belly button in or out?: Still way in.

What I miss:  Nothing right now. But in a few weeks I'm sure I'll miss sleeping on my stomach.

What I'm nervous about: Starting school this week.

What I am looking forward to: Doctors appointment on Wednesday morning!

Milestone: I'm officially in my 2nd trimester!! I think my constant nausea has gone away too (knock on wood), I've been doing good without meds for a few days now.

Bump or no bump? I'm going to call this a bump, small though it may be:

Back to school

While the school year is coming to an end for everyone else, it's just getting started for me!

I was supposed to have 3 classes, 4 days a week this summer, but one of the classes canceled. Now I'm down to 2 classes only on Tuesdays and Thursdays. This along with working 40 hours a week should make things interesting for me. Oh yeah, throw in doctors appointments and real life into that equation as well.

I think I'm going to be a very busy girl for the next 8 weeks!

Here's to hoping that soaking up new knowledge comes easily for me this summer.