22 Weeks and Counting

This little baby is rockin' and rollin', so I thought I'd give y'all a little update :) I really wish I had a picture of myself...but not enough to go in the bathroom and take one! I'll see what I can do this weekend. Poor 2nd child, we already don't have as many pictures as we did the 1st go 'round!

How far along? 22 weeks...new due date is early November!

Total weight gain/loss: 5 lbs

Maternity clothes? Yep! And I have to share what happened the other day when trying on a bathing suit at Motherhood Maternity! So, I was dreading purchasing said suit (for obvious reasons!), but when I put it on I thought to myself, "wow, my belly doesn't look half bad....but what the heck happened to my legs?!!" Needless to say, I gained a little insight into why my pants have been a little bit tight lately! My 1st baby was all belly...my 2nd seems to want to "spread the wealth" of weight gain a little lower!

Sleep: Still pretty good, thankfully!

Best moment this week: Rocking Elli one night, and feeling the baby kick at the same time. So fun!

Movement: Some kicking, but mostly a rolling feeling.

Food cravings: Sugar!!!

Gender: BOY!!!!!!!! So excited :)

Labor Signs: None

What I miss: Sleeping on my stomach...and a glass of wine sounds really good at the end of a long day!

What I am looking forward to this week: Celebrating the 4th!!

Weekly Wisdom: Elli is going to be the greatest big sister ever!! I can't wait to see my two babies together :)

Summertime

I forgot how hot it is in NC. Add pregnancy to the heat and humidity, and it's almost more than I can take! Poor Elli, her favorite thing to do is play with bubbles outside and it takes just about all the energy I can muster to sit out there and watch her in the afternoons. Whew!! It sure puts England weather into perspective...maybe it wasn't so bad living over there after all :)

Chris is just trucking along in his training. **That's him on the left!** He's flying now, so he's happy. He's pretty easy to please that way :) We'll find out sometime in September where we're heading next. We only have 3 options (and one is back to England!!), but the hard part is narrowing down where the best place for our family is going to be. Right now, we're really struggling with that decision. There are deployments to think about, and a brand-new baby coming along about 5 weeks before we will be scheduled to move. Not the greatest timing, but I know in my heart that it will all work out in the end. It's just getting to that point that is hard!

Elli is doing great as well. She's at such a fun stage, and it's exciting to watch her learn and grow so quickly these days. She's finally starting to put words together. I think she was a little delayed in that area, but she's definitely making up for it now. She loves her baby dolls, and wants to rock them, feed them & change their clothes constantly. I'm thrilled b/c she's so sweet and gentle with them, and I'm really hoping that it's a little window into how she will be when we bring home the new baby. We're also working on the alphabet, which has really been quite comical. Every word she sees is "ABC". Every letter you show her is "ABC". A toothbrush is "ABC" (b/c we sing the alphabet song when we brush our teeth). Funny!! Needless to say, we're a ways off from knowing our letters! Ha!

She's still a big fan of the water, and we try to go the Spray Park in our area at least once a week. In fact, she loves it so much that we're going to do her birthday party there! I think she'll have a blast! And we're heading to the beach to spend July 4th with my family, so she'll have plenty of fun in the sun over the next few weeks!

As for me, I think I'm really starting to settle in here in North Carolina. Sometimes it takes awhile to really get acclimated to a place, and though we've been here before I think I struggled more than I thought I would. But we finally found a church that we really like, I started volunteering again, and we've been blessed with great friends who have helped along the way. I'm in a good place now, and I'm anxious to meet our new little bundle...a BOY, by the way!!

WooHOO!!!!!!!!

Movie & Book Reviews

Hey bloggy friends! It's been a long time since I've written about anything not pertaining to mommy-hood. Funny how that happens sometimes! So I thought I'd share some of the things that I've been reading & watching lately...and get some suggestions from y'all as well :)

True Grit:

Hmmm, where do I begin? I know a LOT of people really, really liked this movie. It was recommended by quite a few friends and family members. I; however, was not a fan. Something about Maddie...I just found her to be, well, annoying. I actually really like Westerns usually, but I just couldn't get into this one. And to me, Matt Damon just didn't fit somehow...especially as someone from Texas! When the movie ended I couldn't help feeling perplexed. Both Chris and I felt like it was a waste of 2 hours. Sad, I know.

The Company Men:

I didn't love this movie either. In it's defense, it was the 2nd movie of the night and we (I...Chris was asleep!) didn't start it until almost 11. So, maybe it's a little unfair to judge it so harshly since I could barely hold my eyes open for it! But, I'm one of those people who HAS to see the end if I start it. Worst movie ever? I'll stick it out to the credits. I just can't help it.

Anyway, back to the movie. Again, I just didn't get into it. I really liked the actors, and the previews made it look really interesting. But, in the end, I think it just fell flat. Maybe it was an accurate portrayal of how it feels to lose your job, especially as an executive...I don't know. But even so, there was no really "gripping" part. None of the characters really made you "feel" for them. One was a jerk (in the beginning), one was having an affair (sooo, jerk), and the other was just pitiful. Sad, yes. Memorable? No.

Heaven is for Real by Todd Burpo:

Wow. There really are no words. It's a short book that I finished in about 1.5 days because I just couldn't put it down. It was engaging, heart-tugging and remarkable. I thought it was sincere in its message, and I just couldn't help but feel a little bit more joyful when I finished it. Death is daunting to me. I felt like this was a little glimpse of what is in store for us (in heaven), in an easy-to-understand, and vivid version. That's what this book is, I guess. Many books in the Bible explain what heaven will look like, some in great detail, but sometimes the language and wording is difficult to wrap my head around. This book, coming from a 4 year old, isn't difficult at all. It stays true to what I've read in scripture but somehow enhances the images in my mind. I'd highly recommend it to anyone :)

What I'm Currently Reading:

The Ministry of Motherhood by Sally Clarkson

Praying the Scriptures for Your Children by Jodie Berndt

Do you have any good book or movie recommendations?? I'm really not picky about movies (though my reviews might say otherwise!). I usually like anything :) And while I don't have a whole lot of time to read anymore, I LOVE to do it when I get the chance! So any suggestions would be great!

Hope you all had a fantastic weekend!

Life Lately

"Mama, up peeeaaasss"!

Messy hair and sleepy eyes.

Strawberries and waffles...and a little bit of syrup for dipping ;)

Elmo books and singing the ABC's.

Puzzles, blocks and tea parties.

PB&J, blueberries and applesauce, and milk to wash it down.

Naptime...for 2 :)

Silly songs and lots of dancing.

Sippy cups and Goldfish.

Swimming, running and red-cheeked, sweaty-faced happiness.

Wooden spoons, tupperware, pots & pans & lots of laughter.

Dinner for 3, and a hearty "AMEN" from Miss E.

Bath time, bubbles, rubber duckies & lots of splashing.

Footy-PJ's, bed time stories and the best snuggles ever!

Family prayers and sweet dreams.

A thankful and very full heart.

What does your life look like lately??

19 Weeks Down...

Can I just start out by saying that I'm all kinds of screwed up with this pregnancy! I thought I was 20 weeks along (yay 1/2 way!!), and even told a few people that this week. But then I look again (just to be sure), and nope...I'm only 19 weeks preggo as of today. It doesn't help that my due date has been moved back by 8 days (which I'm pretty sure is wrong, but why listen to the mother??!!). It's just thrown me completely off because, well...I'm kind of a planner (oh, hadn't you heard that before?!).

So, here are my pregnancy stats so far!!

How far along? 19 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: Zero. I know, sounds bad! But, I lost 7 lbs in the beginning and have now gained it back...so I'm even. Though if you saw me, you'd swear I'm up at least 15 big ones!

Maternity clothes? Oh yeah. Though I was pretty proud of myself for squeezing into a non-maternity shirt today. Side-view might not be so hot, but I went for it anyway :)

Sleep: GREAT...when Elli sleeps through the night!!

Best moment this week: Hearing the heartbeat again. And starting the countdown to find out the gender! T minus 11 days and counting!

Movement: I don't feel much yet...I'll have to go back and see what Elli was doing around this time.

Food cravings: Crunchy Tacos...is that weird?!

Gender: ????

Labor Signs: None.

What I miss: Sleeping on my stomach. It takes me FOREVER to get comfortable now!

What I am looking forward to this week: Nothing baby-wise, but we are hosting a BBQ on Sat., and I'm pretty pumped about that!

Weekly Wisdom: I so miss having a baby-baby in my arms. I'm sooo looking forward to holding our sweet little one :)