24 Weeks

How far along? 24 weeks 3 days

Total weight gain: up 18 lbs. Yes, rapid weight gain has been happening :/ I blame all the awesome food I ate when I was at home (Pizzazz pizza, Amy Joy donuts, Aunt Holly's macaroni and cheese, Jack's Deli...UGH)

Maternity clothes? Mostly maternity items. This is my last week of comfy before I head back to work next week!

Stretch marks? none on my belly yet!

Sleep: I have been sleeping really well. I am trying to enjoy these last few weeks before I start to get really uncomfortable at night. I am not sure Adam is sleeping the best, I have whacked him twice while trying to roll over with my Snoogle! Poor guy! :)

Best Moment This Week: Seeing family and being able to share a bit of our pregnancy with them! I also got registered for my child birth class and breastfeeding class!

Miss Anything? Lunch meat.

Movement: Yes! Each day she feels stronger to me. Pretty soon I think I'll be able to identify little feet and elbows!

Food cravings: Kit Kats (thanks a lot, Mom! add that to the weight gain column too)

Anything making you queasy or sick: Some smells, mainly strong perfumes and stuff.

Gender: Girl

Labor Signs: Nope. 

Symptoms: Round ligament pain, indigestion, and Charley horses. Wooo!

Belly Button in or out? Pretty close to flat. Every once in awhile it looks like a normal belly button.

 Wedding rings on or off? on

Happy or Moody most of the time:  Happy! I feel really good and I am so excited that she is going to be here before we know it! I am in "all things baby" mode

Looking forward to: My appointment with the mid-wife on Thursday! :)

Cleveland Trip/Karen's Shower & Bachelorette Party

We went up to Cleveland for a few days to celebrate Karen's bridal shower and bachelorette party. It was also a nice opportunity to get to see some family! We got in Wednesday evening. Thursday we went and spent the day with my Aunt Holly and Uncle Mark. Aunt Holly was throwing Karen's shower and we wanted to go over the last minute details. After that mom, Aunt Holly, Uncle Mark and I went to the pool while Adam lounged on the deck. Mom got some cute pictures of us, unfortunately I don't have any fun ones to share. Thursday night we were able to go to Jack's Deli (Remember that craving?)to pick up corn beef sandwiches! I love unique to Cleveland food!

Corn beef on Rye with Cherry Strawberry to drink! Wahoo!

Friday Mom and I went shopping for a dress for Karen's wedding. Hopefully we found one! It's between two right now.

 Saturday all the wedding fun got underway! Here's some pics!

Me and Sissy! :) 

Karen, Mom, and I! I am a shrimp! hahaha

Karen and Bobby! :)

Bridesmaids! 

After the shower, I took an hour nap and then it was time to hit the town for Karen's bachelorette party! We had a great night and I had a blast considering I was the preggo DD. The best part was our transportation for the evening:

Halle teaching me how to start up the van! It had several keys...

YEE-HAW!!!! Watch out!

Can you tell I was so excited to be providing the finest transportation ever! (Thanks Halle's Dad for letting us use your van!)

Bachelorette with the "Bachelorette Mobile"!

Fuzzy, but Sissy and I before her big night out!

Sunday we were able to have lunch with Adam's grandparents before we left to go back to Lexington! It was so fun to spend time with them and to get to share some of our pregnancy journey with Baby girl's great-grandparents! I cannot wait for her to go up to Cleveland and spend time with them!

Adam with Gramma and Grandpa!

Grandpa, Gramma, Me, and baby girl!! :)

Nursery Update

We went and picked up baby girls furniture last Monday! I was so excited that it came in and that we were able to pick it up in the two days between Adam getting home from Guatemala and leaving to go up to Cleveland for a few days. It was quite the adventure! (Isn't everything with us?) So I thought I'd share pictures of how it all came together!

The boxes ready to go. Unfortunately that was the wrong crib in there.

Yes, you read that caption right. So Adam got the whole crib out of the box and I had a sad/sick feeling in my belly that it wasn't the crib we ordered. I didn't want to be a diva, but I sort of loved the crib we picked out. We took it back to Babies R Us the next day and when we talked to the manager she said, "Let me guess, you ordered the White Venetian Curved Crib". Yep, that was us. So we found out that there was nothing they could do to get it for us since it had been discontinued. They let us pick out any crib we wanted to make up for the error. YAY!

Adam opening the boxes!

Penelope helping with the changing table assembly.

The changing table coming together.

Almost done!

A proud daddy with his completed changing table! :) 

Furniture assembly day two. Adam tackling the crib! (Of course he had a side kick again)

Organizing all the pieces

Reading the directions!

A crib coming together!

Making sure all the bolts are nice and tight!

A daddy rite of passage complete! Baby girl has a crib!! Thanks, Adam!

Now that all the furniture is in there, I have an incredible urge to paint. It just looks so sterile. White baby furniture, white walls, white blinds.... Trying to talk Adam into sprucing up the room just a bit with a fresh coat! We'll just have to wait and see.

23 Weeks

Well, Adam made it home from Guatemala and we turned right around and headed up to Cleveland for my sister's bridal shower and bachelorette party. We don't have a picture for 23 weeks (UPDATE: Got a picture), so I'll just fill out the fun details.

Adam and I (and 23 week baby girl) with Aunt Holly and Uncle Mark

How far along? 23 weeks

Total weight gain: up 14 lbs.

Maternity clothes? A mix of some maternity and some regular

Stretch marks? none on my belly yet!

Sleep: Sleeping a lot better. I have started to drift toward being a bit more tired during the day.

Best Moment This Week: Picking up the crib and changing table!! (Stay posted for a fun picture of this)

Miss Anything? Not really

Movement: Yes! I feel lots of little kicks up by my belly button. You can see her moving on the outside now.

Food cravings: Milk, cherry frosted pop tarts!!

Anything making you queasy or sick: Meat

Gender: Girl

Labor Signs: Nope. 

Symptoms: Some round ligament pain and fatigue

Belly Button in or out? Still in for now...

 Wedding rings on or off? on

Happy or Moody most of the time:  Happy! I feel so good!

Looking forward to: Karen's wedding festivities and seeing my family in Cleveland!

22 Weeks

I am writing my post today with a lot of different feelings happening inside me. Three hours ago, I said goodbye as Adam left for his Guatemala mission trip. I have been dreading this week since I found out I was pregnant for so many reasons. It might be a little selfish that I would dread something as wonderful as a mission trip. I just have not been looking forward to him being gone for a week and staying alone while pregnant. Those of you that know me really well know that I found out that I was pregnant with our angel baby the day Adam left for Guatemala last year. I just remember being alone with the pregnancy test in total disbelief. That week, everything in my life changed and I wasn't able to share those experiences with Adam as they were happening. 

Now, praise Jesus that this little girl is healthy and I have nothing to fear about Adam being gone. The biggest concern for me mainly deals with giving myself a week's worth of injections. But I can do it! When I get freaked, I know baby girl is totally worth the burning pain, the bruise, and the few quick tears that fall sometimes. I think another part of me is sad that I won't get to share in the great experiences of the trip with Adam this year. I miss going and being a part of the amazing work that is happening in Guatemala. Most of all, I will simply miss Adam. He is an amazing husband and friend and each day we share together is a precious gift. I'll miss him just being around the house. I know Penelope will miss her play buddy too!

Before you think "Oh my, Kate is not going to make it though the week" I must confess there are lots of great people in my life down here in Kentucky who have offered to spend time with me and check-in with me during the week. I also have lots to prepare for with Karen's bachelorette party/shower being 13 days away! Hooray! Anyway, enough of my hormonal ramblings! I had to take the picture with the tripod today and I couldn't figure out how to get the legs to go all the way up. Hence, the sitting down poses! Haha!

How far along? 22 weeks 2 days

Total weight gain: up 11 lbs.

Maternity clothes? A mix of some maternity and some regular

Stretch marks? none on my belly yet!

Sleep: I have a hard time falling asleep, but once I do...it's lights out until morning. Unless I have go to bathroom a bunch in the night. 

Best Moment This Week: Hitting the jackpot on Old Navy's summer clearance for baby. I got her a dress and a few onsies. I got the clearance price plus a 20% coupon. She'll be styling next summer!

Miss Anything? Sleeping on my belly!

Movement: Yes! I feel lots of little kicks up by my belly button. Adam got to feel some before he left today too!

Food cravings: Milk!

Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope

Gender: GIRL!!!

Have you started to show yet: Yes! Lots of people are fascinated with the belly!

Labor Signs: Nope. 

Symptoms: Some round ligament pain and hip pain.

Belly Button in or out? Still in for now...

 Wedding rings on or off? on

Happy or Moody most of the time:  Emotional. I was so weepy about Adam leaving and I don't even know why!! I could not get a grip. Other than that, I am happy as a clam.

Looking forward to: Baby girl's crib and changing table being delivered, getting my dress fitted for Karen's wedding, and ADAM COMING HOME!!

I love her so much!! :)

Mom and Dad Visit and 20 Week Appointment

This was probably my favorite week of my pregnancy so far!! Minus the hip pain, this is the healthiest and best I have ever felt in my life! I had my anatomy scan and doctor visit this past week at 21 weeks. My mom and dad came in to town since Adam was unable to go with me for this special appointment.

We had the ultrasound first and my mom was convinced the baby was going to turn out to be a boy. Thankfully, she is still a girl. Here are some of her pictures!

Love this cute little profile shot!

Every ultrasound we have had, she has had her hands up by her face. I cannot wait to see if she sleeps like that. I love this picture because it looks like she is already wanting to play Peek-a-boo!

This next picture has a great back story! Carol was looking around at the baby and all of a sudden she starts cracking up and asks me this question "Who has big feet?" I said my husband and his grandfather. So baby girl has inherited the Schmies feet! I guess according to Carol they are huge!!

Big foot! I hope she grows into those feet! :)

I am also proud to report that Carol said we had the most cooperative baby in the past two weeks! Baby V is such a good girl!

After the ultrasound, my mom went back with me to see the doctor. The doctor said everything is developing perfectly. I am so glad she is healthy. Everything else with my pregnancy is chugging right a long. Following our appointment we went to lunch at Smashburger. Then we went to Babies R Us and ordered sweet girl her crib and changing table. I am so happy with what we ended up getting! I'll post pics when it comes in. Here are so more pictures from mom and dad's visit!

The happiest mama waiting to see the doctor!! 

Kate and Grandma-to-be! 

Dad and I comparing our baby bumps! I say, Dad WINS!! hahaha (just kidding)

Kate and Dad! Happy, Happy!

21 Weeks

So you know your pregnant when this happens...

Yes, that is a ridiculous amount of Life cereal. There are just some things that are soooo good! I was literally going through 1 1/2 boxes in a week because I would have cereal for breakfast and another bowl before I went to bed. Hahaha

Well, I hit 21 weeks this week. Here are all the fun stats!

I know, I look ridiculously tired. I have been feeling a little sleepy lately.

How far along? 21 weeks 6 days

Total weight gain: up 11 lbs.

Maternity clothes? In my picture today, I am wearing all pre-pregnancy clothes. T-shirts and yoga pants have been great! I really only dress nice if I know I have somewhere to be :)

Stretch marks? none on my belly yet!

Sleep: It's been a little difficult getting used to sleeping on my side still. My hips have been hurting like crazy. My doctor said that that was totally normal and that I can get expect them to feel sore and numb.

Best Moment This Week: Too many to count. My mom and dad being in town was the best!

Miss Anything? Getting a good night's rest.

Movement: Yes! She is a mover and a shaker!

Food cravings: Life cereal and milk

Anything making you queasy or sick: Eating a large meal. I do much better eating little meals all day.

Gender: GIRL!!!

Have you started to show yet: Yes! The first thing the doctor said when she saw me is "You're getting bigger!"

Labor Signs: Nope. 

Symptoms: Just back/hip/butt pain. I also had my first experience with a charlie horse. Ow! haha

Belly Button in or out? My belly button is still in. I told my mom several times while she was here that I felt like it was going to just rip open. My belly button is being stretched and stretched.

 Wedding rings on or off? on

Happy or Moody most of the time:  Happy and silly! I can't help but find the joy in everything. 

Looking forward to: Baby girl's crib and changing table being delivered!

4th of July Fun!

Adam and I were planning to spend this Forth of July visiting our friends who are helping down at Aldersgate Camp this week, but it was just too gol' dang hot for me to be outside all day. So we decided to take advantage of the fact that Adam had an ENTIRE day off and start to clean out some rooms in our house. Adam was very opposed to this idea for a long time, but I wanted to get the baby's room cleared out while I still had the energy to do it. This week we had a wise friend ask if we were going to start to get her room ready before I got too tired to do it. So needless to say, we had quite the fun Fourth of July getting baby's room cleaned and ready to go. Here are some pictures from our day:

The Baby room before

Another angle. It has been a great office/guest room

Lots of books to move!

Our spare room. This is where my sewing took place and was the remnants of Adam's man cave. (BEFORE)

At one point our house looked like we belonged on Hoarders!

Penelope was totally confused by all the moving today. Poor pup!

Baby room AFTER! Vacuumed, mopped, and ready for a nursery! :)

She has a lamp!

Our new study! It looks great! AFTER

It was a great day! We found all sorts of treasures in our attic, which was 1000 degrees. Adam was up there organizing for about an hour and I was so worried because it was hot up there. We had a good laugh when Adam found a place on the attic floor where a previous owner wrote "You will die up here".

We spent the rest of the day doing the most patriotic things we can think of 1) shopping at Walmart and 2) going to Burger King for dinner. We packed lunches for our youth group boat trip tomorrow and now were home sitting on the couch watching fireworks on T.V. while the DOG sleeps on the couch. Wooo! God Bless America! :)

Happy 4th of July!