28 Weeks

We are sliding into home! Hence, my attempt at a baseball font on the chalkboard. Third trimester is here and our little lady is getting closer and closer to making her debut! Yay!

How far along? 28 weeks 2 days

Total weight gain: Up 22 lbs. We'll get an official weigh-in tomorrow at the docs!

Maternity clothes? My work wardrobe has been mostly maternity clothes. When I get home, I am loving lounging around in Adam's t-shirts and yoga pants.

Stretch marks? Still not on my belly! The weird little linea negra line showed up this past week. I guess we're getting closer to the finish.

Sleep: Sleep is going well! I am finding that I get a little bit more tired nowadays than I was during the second trimester, but I still feel really good. Baby girl is not keeping me up with kicks or punches. She must get tired from all we do during the day.

Best Moment This Week: I think yesterday was an all around special day for us. Adam and I spent the day shopping for baby girl. We got a mirror for her room as well as ordered the monogram and rocker pads for her room. The burgeoning belly and the preparation on her room has made Adam so excited about her arrival. He keeps telling me that he can't wait till she is here. While I can't wait either, I am loving the last few weeks spending time just the two of us. Adam's excitement level makes me so proud of him and so excited for what he is going to be like as a dad!

Adam painting baby girl's room :)

The second best moment from yesterday was when I was getting the mail. I went out to the mailbox and there was a large envelope out there for me. Since I graduated in December, I have been really worried about my licensure. The duty of the state board is to protect the profession and it can be EXTREMELY difficult to get licensed. I submitted my paper work in June and I have been anxiously waiting to hear about whether or not I would get my LPCA credential. The large envelope made me feel hopeful, and I was right!!! My license came:

I am hoping that I can show baby that you can love your family and love what you get to do for a living. I am so proud of myself and how hard I worked for this. Two more years till I am FULLY licensed :)

Miss Anything? If I shared, it might be one of those way too much TMI things for the blog. Let's just say Raisin Bran and Apple Juice are my BFF's! ugh...

Movement: Yes! As we speak she is going crazy!

Food cravings: Milk, cherry pop-tarts, cereal, junior mints :) Nothing healthy....

Anything making you queasy or sick: Strong smells. Our church is doing a renovation project and I gag every time we walk in to one of the buildings. They are sandblasting the gym ceiling and repainting and the fumes are so intense. 
Gender: Girl

Labor Signs: No. I am having some Braxton-Hicks. Nothing too bad. My mom seemed to think that it was a good thing that my body wants to practice and she says it will make labor easier in the long run. I am guessing she is just trying to do the mom thing and make me feel more at ease.

Symptoms: Like I said, I am having a great pregnancy. None of my symptoms are out of the ordinary, just my back pain, leg cramps, and heartburn. I am thankful :) 

Belly Button in or out? Flat!!

 Wedding rings on or off? It's a sad week y'all. I took my rings off to paint the other night...and I can't get them back on :( I feel so naked with out them. I am going to have to see if I can find a cheapie band to wear or something. 

Happy or Moody most of the time:  Happy, thankful, moody at times. It's a mix!

Looking forward to: My doctor's appointment tomorrow! I have the glucose screen. I am hoping it isn't as icky as everyone says, but I am excited to hear her heartbeat and see how she's doing. After this week, I start going every two weeks. Yipee!

My Birthday!

So a fun fact, I turned 27 weeks pregnant on my last day of being 27!! :) I celebrated my 28th birthday on Sunday with my family. This was the first time I had been home for my birthday in 8 years. Last time I was home was when Adam proposed to me and filled our front yard with plastic teddy bears! (Gotta love him!) I had a great day and it was so fun that Mom still hung the Happy Birthday sign for me like she did every year when we were kids. My day also started with Amy Joy donuts! Even though we were all a bit tired from the wedding, we still survived. Right after dinner I hit a wall of exhaustion where hormones and sleepiness got the best of me. It was rough to say the least, but my birthday was still fun!

Opening my presents from Adam!

Buddy got in on the fun!

My best present of all won't be here til' November :) :) :) hehehehe

Adam picked out an outfit special for the baby to come home from the hospital. It was so sweet and thoughtful that it really was a great present! It has yellow ducks on it "to go with the birds in her room" :) I love the thought he put in to it!

He said we could get newborn pictures done of baby girl! YAY!

Following presents we went to the new Aquarium in Cleveland. It was really neat. Gotta love mom tossing up gang signs in her pirate hat! hahah

Following the aquarium, we went to Terminal Tower and the Police Memorial. At the Police Memorial we found my dad's brick!

Family pic (sans Mrs. Butler) on Dad's brick!

This is when the melt down happened. See the pure exhaustion? My mom had to get me to stop crying so we could have strawberry truffle. I wasn't going to include this awful picture but it fits with the whole pregnancy thing!

This photo has the best back story ever. Mom thought I needed a picture with Tim to "cheer up" so she grabbed my camera. After slamming the button down ten times trying to get the picture to take she realized it was turned on. Then, she didn't know that you had to look through the view finder and not the screen. After looking and looking though the eye piece she screamed "THERE THEY ARE!!!!!" With that, we heard three clicks and then she says "IT'S A KEEEPER!" This is what happens when Mom's try to take pictures without their glasses on.

Attempt 2 and Tim and I are still cracking up at mom's inability to to use the camera!  HAHA

Here's to 28!!

Karen's Wedding Weekend!

This week was a great week for our family! My sister, Karen, got married this past weekend. I am so excited for her and proud of her. It was a wonderful weekend and I am so happy for her. Everything went well and PRAISE JESUS my dress fit!!! Karen was the most beautiful bride and I was so blessed to be a part of her special day. 

The "Collins Clan" at the rehearsal dinner :)

The two best siblings ever :)

Rehearsing at the church. Look at that baby belly!! Woooooie!

Hamming it up for Adam as I practiced coming down the aisle :)

They're getting married!!! My sister was the prettiest bride EVER!

Cutting the cake!

Yay! 

Adam and I recreating a picture we took at our reception! This time there was a noticeable difference :)

Working my 7 month pregnant dance moves with my bro! 

Collins cousin's picture :)

27 Weeks

Well, with all that has happened this past week it was nearly impossible to get a chalkboard picture so I am going to share one from the week's festivities:

Mom, Me (and baby girl), and Aunt Holly at the rehearsal dinner

How far along? 27 weeks

Total weight gain: Up 22 lbs.

Maternity clothes? Yep!

Stretch marks? nope, not on my belly!

Sleep: I am still sleeping really well. I have been blessed by how smooth everything has been going with the pregnancy. I am sleeping all night except to get up once during the night to use the bathroom.

Best Moment This Week: There were so many this week I couldn't even know where to begin. I guess if I had to choose something baby related it would be painting baby girl's nursery with Adam. My mom got me paint for my birthday and we got everything finished Thursday night. I am so happy with the color. More than that, Adam and I worked so hard together to get it done. While we were painting we listened to MY music which was mostly worship and John Mayer, laughed together, and had so much fun seeing the finished result. It is getting more and more real that she'll be here soon.

Miss Anything? Eating steak the way I like it cooked (medium). We had steak three days in a row and it was horrible to keep asking to have it cooked medium well to well-ish. Booo!

Movement: Yes! She is moving all the time.

Food cravings: Milk :)

Anything making you queasy or sick: The heat from my hair dryer. I am so sensitive to heat. This became an issue when I went to get my haircut Friday and when I sat with rollers in my head for awhile. 
Gender: Girl

Labor Signs: Nope, thank goodness! She needs to stay in and "cook" for as long as possible!

Symptoms: Just upper back pain and heartburn. I knew it was coming, just didn't know when. 

Belly Button in or out? Flat!!

 Wedding rings on or off? on

Happy or Moody most of the time:  Generally happy, until I get too tired. Then I am a mess! Eeeeek!

Looking forward to: Getting more of the nursery together.

26 Weeks

How far along? 26 weeks 5 days

Total weight gain: Not sure, my scale died. I'll have to wait for the official weigh-in at the doctors office on August 27 :/ 

Maternity clothes? Yep!

Stretch marks? nope, not on my belly!

Sleep: Pretty good. Baby girl woke me up out of a sound sleep with her kicks for the first time the other night. I loved it so much I couldn't get mad.

Best Moment This Week: Baby getting the hiccups for the first time. What a funny sensation! I also loved getting the invitation for my baby shower!

Miss Anything? Not really

Movement: Yes! She is moving all the time.

Food cravings: Still just meat. And I have really wanted Dr. Pepper.

Anything making you queasy or sick: The heat from my hair dryer. I am so sensitive to heat 
Gender: Girl

Labor Signs: Nope, thank goodness! She needs to stay in and "cook" for as long as possible!

Symptoms: Just upper back pain.

Belly Button in or out? Flat!!

 Wedding rings on or off? on

Happy or Moody most of the time:  Happy! 

Looking forward to: Karen's wedding this weekend!! My dress is something of a hot mess, but it will be a fun memory!

Here is a fun picture from work this week! I didn't realize I was looking so preggo until PR came to take our staff picture. Good times!

Sandy, Craig, Jason, and I! Yay team Career and Calling!

25 Weeks

This week has been crazy! I hit 25 weeks last Saturday. The weekend was a blur, and the week was even crazier. I started back to work this week. I am so excited about this upcoming school year. I know it will be a wild ride with a little girl on the way, but I also love what I do for a living. Here is my update for this week:

How far along? 25 weeks

Total weight gain: up 18 lbs. 

Maternity clothes? Yes! I wish they made maternity shoes. My feet are dying in my dress shoes. Going from no shoes/flip-flops to nice dress shoes= bad news.

Stretch marks? nope!

Sleep: I have been sleeping really well. I think waking up early and staying up late to watch the Olympics have helped me to be way tired by bedtime. I am absolutely wiped out!

Best Moment This Week: There were so many this week! 1) A woman from church blessed our little girl with so many nice items. She has a high chair, bouncer, exersaucer, bath tub, car seat, and tons of other things. I can't believe she would give us so much nice stuff. I have included some pictures of all her fun new loot. 2) I was driving to get a new shower curtain rod yesterday and I saw the most gorgeous rainbow. I literally broke down because I feel like baby V is my rainbow. And while I LOVE carrying her in my belly and am so blessed that she will be a part of our family, the rainbow made me thankful for the little baby I will always care in my heart. As hard as our miscarriage was on me, God has always been so faithful and I am incredibly grateful. 

Miss Anything? I can't think of anything I miss but I was reflecting this week when I was cleaning out my linen closet how much I don't miss getting my period. Haha. Got to look for the positives...

Movement: Yes! At our 24/25 week check-up, baby girl was SO active they had a hard time finding her heartbeat. I guess I know she is okay because she is so active, but it made me nervous too. Silly little kiddo. From what we could hear, her heart rate was somewhere between 148-152. 

Food cravings: nothing particular

Anything making you queasy or sick: The heat from my hair dryer. I am so sensitive to heat 
Gender: Girl

Labor Signs: Nope, but I had my first Braxton Hicks this week. Crazy! 

Symptoms: Not to complain, but my back has hurt so bad from sitting all day at work. My administrative assistant, Sandy, saved the day with a lumbar roll pillow for my chair. Other than that, it is just swollen feet.

Belly Button in or out? Flat as a pancake!! This week it finally happened. Eeeek!

 Wedding rings on or off? on

Happy or Moody most of the time:  Happy! 

Looking forward to: Karen's wedding and organizing baby's room.

Some of baby's fun stuff from Noel.

More baby goodies to be organized :)

Baby girl got her first present today! A crib sheet and bumper for her crib! :)