New Car!

John and I got a new car! Yay! We have been talking about trading my car in and getting something different for over a year now, but we didn't really commit to the idea until I got pregnant. We wanted to get something that would be a good starter family car that wasn't a 2-door coupe, like my Pontiac was. We decided on the 2015 Buick Encore! It's a beautiful blue color, and has tons of cool features, like a rear view camera, blind spot detector, Wi-Fi, OnStar, XM Radio, navigation, Bluetooth calling, etc. I honestly still haven't figured out how to use it...but I can at least drive it! I am definitely going to miss my little G5--we had some good times together--but it's nice to have an upgrade and a car that is big enough for a car seat (or two!), a stroller and all that other baby stuff.

Isn't she a beaut?!

 

And here's a pic of me and the hubs just for fun!

24 Weeks

 

How far along: 24 weeks
Total weight gain: Eight pounds! I am so lucky that I haven't swollen up a ton (yet). I do officially feel like a bowling ball though.
Maternity clothes: Again, I have everything I need, but I do have a couple of gift cards leftover from Christmas, so maybe I need to go shopping again? ;)
Stretch marks: Just the same few on my sides. But I can definitely feel my belly stretching.
Sleep: It's getting a little less comfortable every night and I have a lot of aches and pains. When I'm able to sleep though, I sleep hard!
Best moment of this week: Buying a new car! More on that in another post...but we are so excited to have our first "family" vehicle.
Miss anything: Being able to bend over with ease. It's getting tough, and I still have a long ways to go!
Movement: Every day! John has yet to feel anything. That's going to be the next exciting milestone!
Food cravings: Root beer. I don't really care for soda that much (fun fact about me....I can't burp...which explains one reason why I don't like soda), but I have been drinking it a lot lately. I know its not the healthiest thing, but man does it taste good!
Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope, thank goodness!
Have you started to show yet: Yes. My belly has doubled in size the last 2 weeks I think.
Gender: BOY!!!
Labor signs: Nope. Way too early.
Belly button in or out: In. Let's hope it stays that way for a while, haha.
Wedding rings on or off: On.
Happy or moody most of the time: Pretty happy, though I've had a lot of anxiety lately due to a super busy work/life schedule and trying to fit in time to do baby stuff.
Looking forward to: Having a break...hopefully sometime in the next week...where I can just come home from work and sit on the couch in my PJs. We'll see if that happens!!

Babymoon

I don't really like the term "babymoon," but for a lack of a better term, John and I went on our babymoon last weekend to the Park City/Heber area. We had a great time, although I did come down with a cold which kind of put a damper on things. Anyway, we still had fun.

On Friday, we went to dinner at one of our favorite restaurants in Park City, Buona Vita, and then window shopped on Main Street where we purchased some homemade, all natural face masks and hair masks so we could have a spa night at our hotel. Even John got in on the mask action and put the hair mask in his beard! ;)

On Saturday, we got pedicures together (John's first and I know he loved it!) and then went for a short drive. After that we  just lounged around in our hotel room and enjoyed the cable and fireplace. That night we went to dinner in Heber and then watched movies.

On Sunday, we had breakfast from a bakery in our room and lounged around, watched TV and read until it was time to check out. Then we went back to Park City for more window shopping and a trip to the outlets, where John spoiled me by getting me a new purse and some ankle boots.

We were terrible at taking pictures during the weekend...we just enjoyed having a low key time together and not worrying about even pulling out our phones most of the time. However, here are a few we snapped:

We thought this was so funny. After we packed to leave for the weekend,
Fate sat on top of our luggage as if she were going to come with us. Cutest thing!

Next to the moose on Park City's Main Street

We stopped in a Main Street café to warm up.

This outdoor bar was totally made out of ice! Cool, huh?

Here's John's feet in the paraffin wax bags.
He had no idea this was part of a pedicure.

I had to end with another pic of Fate. Here she is hugging John
after we got home from the weekend away. She really missed him!

22 Weeks

Can you spy a photo bomber? ;)

How far along: 22 weeks
Total weight gain: Five pounds. I find that it's easier and easier to gain weight...and for some reason my shirts are starting to get really tight. Hmm...
Maternity clothes: I have everything I need! John did buy me a cute maxi dress though. It's super comfy and I think I've already worn it like 5 times even though I've only had it for a couple of weeks.
Stretch marks: Just the same few on my sides. I recently read an article that said there's nothing you can really do prevent stretch marks, but I'm still trying. Cocoa butter for the win!
Sleep: Still doing OK with sleeping, though I do wake up more frequently during the night. I also wake up sore sometimes.
Best moment of this week: The holidays! We had such a great Christmas and New Year's with family and friends. We also both got a few days off work and that was really nice to just spend time together.
Miss anything: Nothing really this week.
Movement: Every day! John has yet to feel anything. That's going to be the next exciting milestone!
Food cravings: Nothing really. I'll eat pretty much anything.
Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope, not for many weeks now. Hallelujah!
Have you started to show yet: Oh yeah. Sometimes I forget that I am and when I look in the mirror I'm surprised.
Gender: BOY!!!
Labor signs: Nope. Way too early.
Belly button in or out: In. Let's hope it stays that way for a while, haha.
Wedding rings on or off: On.
Happy or moody most of the time: I feel like my emotions have leveled out over the last couple of weeks. Hmm...I'll have to ask John, but I'd say I'm mostly happy.
Looking forward to: Going on our "babymoon" to the Park City area! Yay! (Another post to follow on that)

Oh boy! It's a BOY!

On Dec. 23, we found out we are having a BOY! John wanted a boy all along, and I didn't really have a preference, so it's safe to say we are both ecstatic! Of course, we would have been ecstatic if it was a girl too! Anyway, we waited until Christmas Eve/Day to announce the gender to our family and friends, and did so with a cute pic of my belly in front of the tree (below). We also took a present to both of our parents for them to open on Christmas that revealed it was a boy with some blue mints and blue baby rattles. It was a lot of fun! We are going to be naming him John Edward Jr., "Johnie" for short. We can't wait to meet him in May! 

 

Couldn't resist getting him his own stocking for Christmas next year!

A cute little profile shot from our 20 week ultrasound.

20 Weeks (Halfway there!)

How far along: 20 weeks
Total weight gain: Three pounds. I am starting to feel quite round. But I'm only halfway there!
Maternity clothes: I have everything I need as far as maternity clothes go. I have a few pairs of pants for weekend/work, two dresses and a few shirts that work for the office or weekends.
Stretch marks: I've started to notice some slight ones on my sides. Yay for stretch marks...
Sleep: Still doing OK with sleeping, especially because John gave me one of my Christmas presents early. He got me a pregnancy pillow and it's so nice. It really does help me to sleep because it supports my back and belly.
Best moment of this week: I finally felt the baby move for sure! I have been feeling little flutters/bubbles for a week or two now, but I wasn't sure if it was the baby. On Friday, I know I felt baby for sure!
Miss anything: Nothing in particular. We did go out to a sushi restaurant and I couldn't get my favorite roll. I guess I missed being able to eat it.
Movement: See above. Finally! It's so weird, but cool at the same time.
Food cravings: Nothing much this week. I have eaten a variety of stuff and have been feeling pretty good with all foods/smells.
Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope. It's so nice to finally be over that feeling!
Have you started to show yet: Yes, for sure. I feel like my belly is huge, but I know I have a LONG way to go before I'm done.
Gender: We find out Dec. 23. That's only 2 days away! Eeek!
Labor signs: Nope. Way too early.
Belly button in or out: In. Let's hope it stays that way for a while, haha.
Wedding rings on or off: On.
Happy or moody most of the time: I am emotional. I can't help it. I'm mostly happy, but we've had a rough week this last week. Someone went on a spending spree with our debit card and we have had to do several repairs to my car, which are two things that really suck right before Christmas.
Looking forward to: Finding out if we're having a boy/girl on Dec. 23!

18 Weeks

How far along: 18 weeks
Total weight gain: Two pounds. It is amazing how fast the weight starts to come on all of a sudden. I went from gaining nothing to a pound a week in the last two weeks. Is that normal?
Maternity clothes: John bought me the dress in the picture above. I love it! I needed it for work events and our friends' wedding and any other nice things that come up between now and baby.
Stretch marks: None yet, but my belly is getting pretty round.
Sleep: I am finally back to being able to sleep normally after having a cold that lasted 2 weeks. I'm enjoying every minute of it, because I hear eventually it's going to get harder and harder to sleep comfortably.
Best moment of this week: Well, it's still early in the week, so I'm hoping my best moment will be feeling baby move for the first time.
Miss anything: Not really this week. I find that I really enjoy being pregnant, even though there are some aches and pains!
Movement: See above. Still nothing. Hoping for something this week!
Food cravings: Nothing weird. I still drink a lot of juice.
Anything making you queasy or sick: I have felt queasy a couple of nights in the last week or so, but when I go to bed it goes away by morning.
Have you started to show yet: Yep. I even had an acquaintance, who didn't have any idea that I was pregnant, ask me today if I was expecting. I guess it's finally obvious to the world now.
Gender: We find out Dec. 23. I started a fun online poll for close friends/family instead of doing a gender reveal party. Right now it's split about 50-50 between people who think it's a boy and people who think it's a girl.
Labor signs: Nope. Way too early.
Belly button in or out: In. Let's hope it stays that way for a while, haha.
Wedding rings on or off: On.
Happy or moody most of the time: I think I'm still pretty happy, but again, I do find myself crying at weird stuff...even NFL commercials. What's up with that?
Looking forward to: Finding out if we're having a boy/girl on Dec. 23!