(( !!!!!!! ))
18 Weeks
Oh there you are, Peter! Aaaand it’s back ;)
How far along? 18 weeks
Weight Gained: 9 lbs
Symptoms: So very tired… like very first pregnant tired. Oh and good ol pregnancy brain has kicked in. I may be feeding my dog 4x a day… I don’t know. Same with my prenatal vitamins. Did I take one today? I don’t know.
Movement: Oooo! I love it! We know Little has at least one limb. Hooray!
Food cravings: Still been craving sweets more than usual but also some savory things… We got gyros the other night and that pretty much hit the spot. I waited in hopeful anticipation for them all day! The satisfaction, the satisfaction. I probably could have eaten like five more but instead just mentioned the phrase, “I’m still hungry” to be received by lovingly raised eyebrows. Greg let me take out my hunger problems on this poor cup of goodness. He says if I get diabetes, we have proof as to why.
Food aversions: Do dirty dishes count? They kinda make me gag these days. Oh and the arugula that’s sitting in my fridge. I’ve been avoiding that like the plague.
Sleep: Not so good.. I wake up at 4 or 5 every morning and can’t fall back asleep till right before Greg leaves for work… and then I’m sleepy all day long :'(
Stretch marks? No but I have noticed the linea nigra making her appearance ever so faintly
Belly button in or out? In
Miss anything? Not really
Mood? Happy
Maternity Clothes? Yussss! There was a sale and I bought things. And they are comfy. And I love them.
New baby items: There was also a sale.. I couldn’t resist. 65% off one of my favorite expensive baby shops?! Puhleeze. I got this little bin for toys and books and this soft lil safari blanket probably because the baby was so darn cute with its little wooden toy and diapered booty. Blasted baby.
Exercise: I don’t know why I keep this question on here… probably to motivate myself to actually do it ;) I’ve been trying to conquer my least favorite part to work out…….. legs. ugh. They bore me. But I’ve actually been enjoying my routine each day! So, hooray!
Best moment of the week: Can’t really beat a good ol date night these days. I miss that husband of mine.
Looking forward to: Ummmm finding out the gender quite possibly this weekend! Guesses? Guesses? Put in your votes! I have a strange hunch they are going to cancel at the last minute so we shall see but either way, it shouldn’t be too long now! Praying for a healthy baby : )
17 Weeks + umm where did my belly go?
Aaand we have ourselves a case of the disappearing belly..
How far along? 17 weeks
Weight Gained: Still 8 lbs.. Clearly those haven’t suddenly disappeared
Symptoms: Practically none
Movement: Most definitely! I kept trying to get Greg to feel it (because I could feel it on my hand when I would rest it there) but no such luck :]
Food cravings: Donuts, cake, brownies. Pretty much anything loaded with sugar. I couldn’t wait to go to church, sadly because I knew there would be donuts waiting for me when I got there. I then expressed to Greg how hard it was for me to just take one when the pile was calling my name.
Food aversions: Probably the pasta I’ve been having the last 6 days
Sleep: This morning I woke up and asked Greg, “was I staring at you in the dark last night?” He turned over rapidly and said, “YES! It was SO CREEPY!” Apparently I now sleep with my eyes open in a half conscious, half asleep sort of manner. He already likes to tell everyone in his office about how often I laugh in my sleep, so if that wasn’t creepy enough, I now have this new special quality. Can I blame pregnancy? At least it explains why I’ve been so tired lately… ; )
Stretch marks? Nope
Belly button in or out? In
Miss anything? Greg’s margarita last night looked pretty good
Mood? I’m a fountain of joy and tears
Maternity Clothes? I finally got some belly bands to extend the life of my pants… Every night when Greg comes home I sqeeeeeeze into my jeans and as soon as we sit down for dinner, gone is the class and out comes the belly followed by the question, How did that all fit in there!? So now he doesn’t have to look at that anymore ; ) And the appetites returned.
New baby items: Nope
Exercise: Yes! I feel so good about myself ; )
Best moment of the week: Greg’s been working a sad amount lately because of this new client but yesterdayyyyy he took off and we got to have the most lovely breakfast date followed by pretend furniture shopping (if you don’t know my obsession with furniture shopping, I really can’t get enough so this was like dream date status) followed by (later) a dinner date! So much dating in one day. Happy was I.
Looking forward to: More days off!
Oh Santa Cruz, how I miss you
I’m not sure why but I’ve been especially homesick lately. Luckily it was my best friends birthday this last weekend so I had an excuse to hit the road and rush upwards and onwards! Poor Greg had to stay home and work and work and work but he was ever so sweet and took me on a date to the magical land of Glendale before I left…. to get sushi. American pregnancy books say no no NO to all fun things it seems – including raw fishies. So I ate my chicken while pretending it was something slightly more exotic and smiled but cried inside when the waiter brought me a little cup of sake to enjoy with my date. I gave my husband my best pleading “one little cup wouldn’t really hurt the baby” eyes, and enjoyed every bit of it. Until the middle of the night hit and I woke up in a panic convinced my tiny cup of sake will produce a mutant child. FYI, if this happens to you, try not to turn to google. Every article I read (in the middle of the night) said that even researching the affects of alcohol on babies makes you an alcoholic. So there it is. You might as well send child services now. Hence why I have turned to my trusty French pregnancy book that says be wise, reasonable, and use your common sense because a stressed out, fear laden pregnant lady isn’t exactly ideal either.
^^magical lands …really they just have a mesmerizing fountain that I could stare at for probly forever ^^
^^ he’s just the cutest ^^
^^ we tried so hard to take a decent picture but most of them ended up like this ^^
So off I went with my little yellow dog to surprise my sister for the weekend. She was very surprised. Greg and I make it our life goal to get Taylor to cry. She did. Success!! And then there was food. Oh how I miss the food. Since Greg’s been working so late, our meals have gotten simpler and simpler and the chicken… oh the chicken… it seems to always be there… So this. This was a vacation for my little tastebuds. 
Look at that^ I finally got part of my passover meal craving satisfied ; ) Anyways, I had the most wonderful time. It was SO SO good to see my family (and much needed). I got to spend the whole day with my momma in Carmel! We even saw some whales and experienced every possible type of weather in a day. 
We got to do some shopping for our diddle baby! She even got to practice holding her future grandchild ; ) She’s the dearest.
We celebrated Taywhad’s birthday in the dreamy gardens of Filoli. We thought we were sooooo funny showing off my mossy baby bump. 
This was of course followed by more feasting (I am starting to see why the 10 lbs piled on so quickly..) 
She’s so pretty. There were pool days and garden days and shopping days and fun days. The only thing missing was my Greg. Hopefully we will both be back before you know it! Thanks fambily for the wonderful time. It was such a treat and I felt so very spoiled. I love you!! Happy birthday my beautiful Taywhad!! You are such a treasure!! 
16 Weeks & Happy Birthday Bentley!
Greg keeps saying, “I can’t wait till your belly is that big” to which I reply, “it is that big” and he goes into a mild state of shock or horror.. I’m not sure which.
How far along? 16 weeks
Weight Gained: 8 lbs.. Well, actually it was 10 lbs at the doctor yesterday but today it’s 8 so we are going with 8 ;) The doctor said “that’s a lot for most people but you should be fine..” Whoops. Go away constant hunger. Go away.
Symptoms: Better this week! Just sleepy and out of breath easily ;) And lots of streeeetching insides.
Movement: Oh who knows. I was certain I felt something when I was with my mom the other day but then, as usual, I started doubting myself as soon as I couldn’t feel it anymore. Maybe next week I’ll be sure!
Food cravings: A passover meal. Everything about that sounds good.
Food aversions: Greg has been requesting chicken. I have not been a fan lately.
Sleep: Pretty good this week
Stretch marks? I don’t think so
Belly button in or out? In
Miss anything? Vino :[
Mood? Anxious
Maternity Clothes? Still holdin out but these buttons are at their limit ;)
New baby items: Well, why yes! I DO have some new things for my Little! Lemme show you. :):)
^^ The softest bunny in the world and his friend, the adorable polka dot giraffe rattle. A book with a tail and soft things to touch. Oh! and the softest little outfit you ever did feel. I die over that tiny hat. I apparently will buy anything if it is soft.^^
Oh and how could I forget! A friend gave us a crib! God is good to provide such things for us : )
Exercise: I don’t like this question *she says as she shovels chocolate cake into her mouth* I did go swimming and walking with my momma last week! She’s more disciplined than me.
Best moment of the week: Getting to see my family alllllllll weekend : ) More on that soon! WordPress doesn’t seem to want to cooperate at all today.
Looking forward to: Our next doctors appointment in two weeks… I hope it’s a better experience than this last one which was horribly disappointing. Our baby has a very very round tummy though. That’s all I got out of it. I came home and burst into tears convinced something was wrong and that’s why she rushed through it so she wouldn’t have to tell us.. but my sweet husband made me sit on his lap and watch the video he recorded very carefully, to see that it was in fact moving its little hands and feet around and not dead and floating like I had assumed. He’s good that one of mine. And man do I cry easily these days!
In other news, it’s my boy’s first birthday today :) :) I had visions of party hats and a dog friendly cake but maybe I’ll just save those celebrations for our actual children. Plus Greg had a work party tonight and the idea of donning a pointed hat and blowing out my dog’s candle by myself seemed to hit a new level of pathetic. So we went to the beach instead. He. Was. The. Cutest! He’s become fearless in the water and will swim wayyyyy out there to retrieve his ball. He was so good today. Gush gush gush. I love him. I think he (and I) will be sleeping from now until morning. We be sleepy. I wish I could show you how handsome he has become but again, uploading certain pictures hasn’t been working today so we’ll settle for this one instead. The picture that had me at hello. I picked him cause he was the weirdest looking and boy am I glad I did. He’s the best. Thank you, random website that brought us our discount puppy. You were swell.
^^ Whoville feet. So dea. ^^
He used to have the cutest hop and slide that we never did fully capture but here’s the closest we’ve got to the cuteness that was his puppy self. And yes, we did get him the day after we moved in, so never mind the stacks of boxes that were our decor. I have a feeling when baby comes, we’ll be in this same situation all over again. Oh the joys. This boy is a terror but we love him so : ) Happy birthday my little Bentley Bear! We love you!!!
Now I must go join my pup and shut my eyes and yes I know it’s not even 9pm yet. Sweetest dreams to you all!
A little late…
I keep forgetting! For those of you who aren’t on social media… here was our little baby announcement we had posted : ) Bentley looks absolutely miserable and I love it. He doesn’t even know he’ll be getting a best friend! We love you guys!
15 Weeks
15 weeks really doesn’t sound like that long but 105 days of being pregnant sounds like forever! But then again 25 weeks left, give or take, seems like it’ll be here before we know it! Eeee! Little baby <3 <3 Have I mentioned we are excited?
How far along? 15 weeks
Weight Gained: 7 (!!) lbs
Symptoms: Whoever said the second trimester is sooooo easy, I’d like to track down and give them a good glare down. I’ve had the worst pounding headaches I’ve ever had in my life – like stay in bed all day and try to sleep through it sort of headache. Also, my body likes to go into spontaneous spasms! Those are fun. I found myself on my back, whimpering like a little girl for somebody to come help me. I couldn’t find anything on the interwebs to explain those but if I did, they’d probably say OHHHH ya, that’s because of the hormones and your ever expanding body. Also, whenever I sneeze, Greg usually hears “AHHH CHEW! Ow ow ow owww owww” …kinda feels like someone has grabbed my uterus with a death grip every time. Despite all that, I really love being pregnant so far! I love seeing my belly get bigger and bigger ..and harder! I love pretending like I can feel baby move ; ) I love waking up and seeing a lopsided uterus in the mornings.. for some reason it’s very prominent then.. And I love talking to baby like a crazy person ..oh and possibly, every once in a while, taking out the one baby outfit we have and rocking it. I need a doll, people. I’ve gone nuts.
Movement: I still don’t know what I’m feeling. Next week the books say mayyybe you’ll feel it for real!
Food cravings: Greek yogurt. Much to Greg’s horror.
Food aversions: None
Sleep: Starting to get a bit more uncomfortable.
Stretch marks? No but I did think I spotted some one day and rushed out to get some belly balm which has a 0% chance of being proven to help in the situation but still gives me something to do, so I’m happy :)
Belly button in or out? In
Miss anything? Home
Mood? Mostly bad. Sorry, husband.
Maternity Clothes? Still squeezing into these old things.
New baby items: Knitting away! I’m slow.
Exercise: I do think about it every day….
Best moment of the week: Last night was really nice. I had some good laughs with Greg which made my heart happy : ) He’s had to work a lot lately so it’s always nice to have just a little time to connect again :]
Looking forward to: Our next doctors appointment next week :) :)
PS That dog says hello!
^^ fast asleep, dreaming doggy… WILLY good ^^
He’s WEIRD! He’s been a really good dog lately. Bored as ever, but so so good. Except he learned he can jump up directly onto the picnic table. Bad dog.
Congratulations Mr. & Mrs. Klein!
They got married!! Here are some snippets from their beautiful wedding… I meant to 1) bring my nice camera and 2) take more but forgot the camera at home in my flurry to get out the door and well, Greg’s phone died and he insisted on holding onto mine to practice his speech : ) so there you have it. (His speech went great by the way : ) so glad that’s over with!)
^^ comin down the aisle ^^
^^ first (married) kiss – notice the dashing (and very tall!) man to the right of the pictcha // he’s mine ; ) ^^
^^ husband and wife ^^
^^ first dance ^^
14 Weeks
We made it to the second trimester, people! And with a real bump to boot! Considering how many miscarrying dreams I’ve had, this is quite exciting : )
How far along? 14 weeks
Weight Gained: 5.5 lbs
Symptoms: I still have the skin of a teenage boy… and the fatigue has come back a bit. Naps are so, so good. I’ve had some truly horrible headaches this past week and who knew having a constantly plugged nose is a pregnancy symptom!? I found I can blame most things on pregnancy : )
Movement: No : ( Come back baby! Come back. Definitely feel the stretching insides though..
Food cravings: Not much this week. Healthy food is sounding better and better!
Food aversions: None
Sleep: Pretty good… waking up a bit more
Stretch marks? No
Belly button in or out? In
Miss anything? Not particularly.
Mood? All over the place : )
New baby items: Still looking – although Greg and I did go to Toys R Us this weekend, to see if they had the stroller I liked, and felt instantly overwhelmed.. I think I’ll stick to my online shopping : )
Exercise: Chya. My dvd came.. I did it this morning. I felt so healthy.
Best moment of the week: My wonderful wonderful husband let me sign up for the Portrait Conference in April : ) : ) I’m so excited… and this time I’ll get to bring my little bundle! : ) : )
Looking forward to: Finding out what this little one is! I’m not convinced anymore… I keep comparing all the wives tales.. I’m about 50/50 on all of them! Carrying low – boy. High baby heart rate – girl. Awful skin – girl. Not much nausea – boy. Mood – well that depends who you talk to ; ) etc etc… I’m excited either way! Eeee!
Our First Lonely Holiday
Wasn’t so bad : ) We had a lovely time barbecuing in our yard of weeds and hay, eating as many red white and blue dishes as we could think of, and taking lots of naps to try to forget we were not in fact plunging into the waters of a glorious lake : ) 
^^ there was more to eat than chips and cake, OK?
^^ THIS is tradition
Did you know, the fourth is an excellent day to go out to eat? Greg said everywhere would be packed but I was confident most other people were huddled around a BBQ and sure enough! We walked right into our normally packed out favorite restaurant : ) And then, on the way home, there were lots of fireworks that no one could see but everyone could hear going off here and there aaaandd live music in the park! Hooray!
This is our baby on this day. And that is Greg’s baby.
When we got home, everyone and their mother was shooting off fireworks so we got a lovely little street side show. I wanted to be home with that dog since this was his first experience with war sounding holidays and sure enough the poor boy was shaking and shaking. Poor little dog. He got to sleep on our bed that night ; )
And thennn the next day :):):):):):) my love took me back to the water :):):):):) but first we ate at this Mexican place where Greg ordered an unbelievably good margarita that was “shaken at the table” *faaaancy* which really just meant all the goodness couldn’t fit in one large glass so they had to leave you the shaker – like an adult milkshake! Clearly it made him very happy. And that guacamole made me very happy. And Greg finished his meal and actually uttered words I had never heard come out of his mouth before – “wow, please give my compliments to the chef!” It made me giggle. 
^^ WATER!!!!!
I spent all day in the water and it was so very lovely. Especially since it took us two, yes two, hours to find parking…. do you SEE how many people are in the water? And then that wonderful man took me over to Balboa Island (which I’d say is probably the best name for an island that I’ve ever heard of). It was pretty adorable. I forgot to mention that on the 4th, I took Bentley for a walk and counted only three flags on our street. Sad was I. But this place made up for it. Each house probably had like 15 flags on it ; )
^^ see
We wandered around it’s precious little patriotic streets, pretended what it would be like to live in each adorable house, possibly stopped into one baby shop, and got sundaes and root beer floats : ) It was lovely.
^^ i mean… <3 <3
I hope you all had a great holiday weekend! I think every weekend should be a three day weekend : ) We sure missed you guys this year!
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