Halloween

I had a great Halloween weekend! I took full advantage of all the goodies Christian got in his treat bag. I was so excited to wear my 'pumpkin smuggler' shirt and I got a lot of laughs from it. I will say all the walking around definitely wore me out this evening. The weather was really nice out. I was worried that it might be a little on the warm side, but it ended up being perfect! I ate way too much and will probably have a bad weigh in tomorrow at my doctor's appointment, but everywhere we went the food was SO good. I of course ended up with heartburn from all of it, but it was worth it and the Zantac always helps. I bought Jaxson's car seat and stroller today. I am glad to have that out of the way now. I went with the Chicco cubes travel system. I was going to wait until closer to time, so we wouldn't just have it sitting around the house. Then I couldn't find it online anywhere, so I got worried that they were going to discontinue the pattern. I decided since That was the only pattern Jason and I really liked we ought to go ahead and get it now just in case it would be gone later. I also picked up some changing pad covers while I was there that were cute. I can't resist the baby stuff. It is so addicting! Hopefully everything goes well tomorrow at my appointment. I am a little nervous after all the sugary things I ate this weekend that it might affect my glucose test. Hopefully it turns out good!. One thing I can say for sure is that Jaxson is one active boy. I swear he kicks more and more everyday and they are getting so strong. Just when I think he can't possibly kick any harder he proves me wrong and he never stops. I am getting worried that the boy is never going to sleep when he gets here. It is comforting feeling him move all the time, but it is getting more and more uncomfortable that's for sure. Christian loves to put his hand on my belly and feel him kick. He gets all excited when he feels it! I will post back tomorrow with a doctor update!

28 Weeks (7 Months)

I am 28 weeks pregnant today! Only 2 more months left! I am also officially in my third trimester now. I can't believe it! I weighed in this week at 151. Hopefully I will not be any more than 152 when I get weighed on Monday. I have felt pretty good this week other than my belly getting huge and in the way and of course the heartburn. As long as I take Zantac it is bearable. If don't take it no matter what I eat I am miserable. On Saturday I got a rug for Jax's room and his shelf. I am excited for Jason to get that hung up and the rug looks good! I think I pretty much have where I want to put pictures in his room planned out also. Now I just need the pictures. Gap was having a big sale on Saturday, so of course I had to stock up on some more outfits for Jax and pick up a few things for Christian! I swear I am addicted to buying baby clothes. I am hoping this weekend to go out and get some of the necessities that I need for Jax. I am getting a little nervous and anxious for the whole delivery. I can't quit thinking about it and trying to plan everything. I know of course nothing will go even close to the way I try and plan it to go. I do wonder how it will all play out especially if I'm induced. I have been having some sharp stabbing type pains down by my bladder. I think it is just Jax kicking it, but I am going to say something to my doctor on Monday just in case. I have a couple of questions to ask her when I go and I also have my glucose test when I am there. Hopefully everything will come back normal. I need to ask her about traveling. I know with Christian she told me that as long as I didn't leave the country or travel far away where it would be hard to make it back in time that I was fine to travel pretty much up to my due date. I am hoping that she says the same thing again. We are planning a couple of trips a few hours away around the holidays, so I want to be sure and be able to take those trips. I also want to ask her when the soonest she will start checking me. I am freaking out about making sure I have all my clients scheduled before I go and for when I come back. I swear I LOVE my job as a hair stylist, but it is stressful when it comes to planning for things like this. This week I have been craving Hacienda! I have been good though and haven't gone and gotten it. I am thinking that if I get a good weigh in on Monday maybe I will treat myself to it. It's weird because I haven't started craving one thing in particular this time. I know I still have plenty of time for this to kick in, but it seems like it is different every week on what I want to eat. I am really ready to not wear maternity clothes anymore. I am getting tired of them! I am looking forward to wearing my Halloween shirt that I got this weekend. I will have to post a picture of it this week. I got one for Thanksgiving and for Christmas also that I am looking forward to wearing. Part of me is ready to not be pregnant any more and then part of me is feels like I will be sad when it is over. I still have plenty of time left so I am sure by the end I will be more than ready to not be pregnant any more. I hate not being able to drink or eat what I want. The weeks are going by fast and there is so much going on from now until Jax gets here that I think I will stay plenty busy and occupied.

More Etsy

The last of my Etsy purchases came in today and I am so excited. I love how this whole set turned out. I am thinking of ordering two more for when Jax is in the hospital. I was going to get matching gowns for me and him to wear like I did with Christian, but I am loving these personalized sets so much and everything that comes with it that I think I am going to have to go that route instead. I am going to have my mom get Jax his going home outfit like she did for Christian and my grandma makes a sweater, hat, booties, and blanket that he will wear home also. I am more into the sentimental things and I love that his going home outfit will be from my mom and grandma. As far as for when we are in the hospital I think I really like this set only with different colors and fabric.

27 Weeks

I am 27 weeks pregnant today! I can't believe that this is the last week of my second trimester. This trimester flew by so fast. I remember it doing that with Christian also. I know the third trimester seemed to take awhile when I was pregnant with Christian. I am hoping that since we have so much going on in the next couple of months that it will go by fast also. I am trying not to rush this time too much, but I must say I am ready to not be pregnant. This one has not been easy and neither was Christian's. I weighed in today at 149 lbs. It seems like I stay the same until right before I go in to see the doctor and then I suddenly gain a bunch of weight. I am hoping to only gain 2 lbs. this time but I have a feeling I will probably gain more like 4. My heartburn has gotten pretty bad again this week and it seems like anytime I eat, no matter what it is I will get it. I started taking Zantac 150 and it has helped a ton. I swear Tums do nothing for me. I think Jax is back in that upright position again also. I have been peeing a ton and it is really hard to breath when I sit down. I am so tired of constantly having to pee all the time. It was not like this with Christian. I remember people talking about peeing constantly and I did go more often, but nothing like I do now. I wonder if Jax is going to be bigger than what Christian was and that's why I feel it so much. I am so curious to see what he looks like and how big he is. He moves around constantly and his kicks just keep getting stronger. I will say he hasn't been keeping me up quite as bad at night which is good. He still is always moving around, but I think I am getting more used to it so I can sleep better through it. Alisann and I's shopping trip was a huge success. I found lots of cute outfits for Jax at Gap and Saks. I also got me two pairs of Joe's Jeans that were non-maternity. I bought a size 29 so that I could wear them now for a while and after I have Jax. They are so comfortable and way more comfortable than my maternity jeans. One of the pairs I am going to wear in my maternity pictures. I am really looking forward to those. I have a cute idea I want to do for one of the poses for our Christmas card. I worked on making lists of all the different poses I want and what pictures I want to order for my maternity shoot. We are doing them in the middle of November, but I probably won't get to see them edited until middle of December. Alisann is super booked and super busy right now. I am just so thankful that she will be able to do them for me. Alisann and I also planned out Jax's newborn shoot. Her newborn pictures are some of the best that I have ever seen. I am so excited for this. She does the most amazing poses with the babies. I am going to do a gallery wrap collage in Jax's room either above his crib or above his dresser. Alisann has this in Patrick's nursery and it looks awesome. I am making good progress on cleaning out the storage room and organizing everything in the house, but I am not making good progress on my photobooks. I just can't get motivated to start another one. It's not the end of the world if I don't get them all finished. I have the rest of my life to work on them. My main thing to get finished is scanning all my pictures and getting them organized into albums. I am going to be working extra hard on that this next week and I am hoping to get it all finished. I am also going to hopefully attempt to make some burp cloths with the ribbon on them this week also. Jamie and I are having a craft day on Sunday, so I am hoping to get some of this finished. I am also so thankful and relieved that Jason got his 'honey do' list all finished this week for. Lately one of my favorite things to do when I need to relax is to go sit in Jax's room and rock in the glider. I used to do this when I was pregnant with Christian in his nursery. It's just so peaceful and I really love how it all turned out. As far as cravings go I still drink a lot of milk, especially in the morning. I will crave a big, juicy cheeseburger with everything on it occasionally. I think this past week I have been craving more homestyle type meals. I am so ready for Thanksgiving to be here. I love that holiday! I can't believe it is only 5 weeks from today. I am really looking forward to Christian's birthday this year also. I can't believe my baby is going to be three soon. I am keeping his party a little smaller than I have before. I am mostly just inviting immediate family and a couple of close friends. I don't have the energy to do a big one and when there is so many people here I don't get to enjoy much of the party because I am running around crazy making sure everything is how it should be. We are keeping the food simple this year also. Normally I make a ton of stuff and so does Jason, but Jason is going to make hot ham and cheese sandwiches and loaded potato soup. I am going to sit out some salsa with tostitoes and maybe some ranch dip and lays chips. The plan is to eat as soon as people get here, so I don't feel like I really need to make a ton of appetizers like I usually do. One thing I am going to do is video tape people leaving Christian a message, so that on his 18th birthday he can watch it. I think this week I will make a list of the rest of the things I need to do for his party. It is 2 weeks from Saturday and I can't wait. I am trying to think of something really special to do with him on his actual birthday. Jason and I both took the day off for it. I couldn't imagine having to work on his birthday. I would hate that. I am hoping this next week goes by fast. I'm sure it will with everything I want to get done! I think staying busy is the key!

Etsy Purchases

I have gotten so obsessed with Etsy since I found out Jaxson was a boy and we decided on the spelling of his name. I love anything personalized and homemade. The only down side is you have to wait forever sometimes to get stuff in. I guess it isn't too long I am just really impatient. It usually doesn't take over a month and It's not like I don't have time still. I am still waiting on one more big order to come in. I am thinking It should be here next week sometime. I am really looking forward to getting that one. It had several matching things all in a set. I can't remember exactly what all I ordered now. I am so obsessed with burp cloths, bibs, hats, shoes..... I guess anything baby right now. I did get Christian two shirts from there in the midst of all my baby shopping. I got him his three year old birthday shirt and a shirt that says big bro on it for him and Jax to wear for Jax's six month pictures. I will say after getting some Etsy stuff in today I might have to get on there and order some more things. I think I need more 0-3 month onesies and I love the tie onesies.

26 Weeks

I am 26 weeks pregnant today! I am using my weight from my doctor's appointment on Monday, so today I weighed in at 15o! That sounds like so much. I think I am going to end up 5 lbs. more than I want to be at the end. It's just that much more that I have to get off. I have felt a little better this week with the heart burn and acid reflux. I haven't puked this week, so that is good! I have been trying to watching what I eat at night before I go to bed and that seems to be helping with it. Greasy and spicy things tend to trigger it the most or eating too much and then laying down right away. So I have been avoiding those things. One new symptom that I have been having is it's either tendonitis or carpal tunnel in my right wrist. The last few days my right wrist has been killing me. I thought I slept on it wrong or that it has been because I have been busy at work. One of my co-workers told me that both times she was pregnant she had this same thing happen to her. I looked it up online and it said that it is true, because when your pregnant all the tendons in your body will stretch and people that type or hairstylist will have problems in there wrists. I thought this seemed odd, but I guess it makes since. Not good for me considering I'm about to hit a really busy season. At least it is only temporary. My co-worker told me that hers went away after she had both of her boys. I think Jax has finally moved positions a little. I can breath a little better now, but my bladder is definitely being used as a punching/kicking bag. He was going to town on it last night. I thought he was going to just kick his way out! The other night I was laying in bed trying to go to sleep and I felt something a little uncomfortable just below my sternum. When I started pressing around on it I could feel what felt like a foot or a hand. I'm not sure what one, but I could definitely make out some sort of body part. It was so cool! I remember being able to see and do this when I was pregnant with Christian and it was so neat. It makes me just that much more anxious to hold my little boy! Jax moves all the time no matter what time of day or night or what I am doing. This at least makes me feel better, because if I don't feel him it freaks me out, so I am glad he is really active! This week I have went back to using my Bella Band and wearing my regular jeans. I am more comfortable in those. I am going to buy some jeans this weekend a size bigger than usual and hopefully be able to wear those for awhile and then I will have them for after when after I have Jax before I lose my 'baby' weight. My maternity stuff fits in the belly but is big in the butt and it's just not as comfortable. I'm sure in another month or so they will fit much better. Our cousin Brittany that is pregnant is going to be having her baby next Wednesday. I can't wait to meet this little guy! She has to be on bed rest for the next week and then they are doing a C-section on Wednesday. I really hate that for her, but at least she is getting him a couple weeks early! Our other cousin Amie is looking to have her little boy on December 19th if she doesn't go before then. She went three weeks early with her first so this one might come a little early also. I am thinking that if I am dilated I will go ahead and have my doctor induce me on the 12th. I think she was wanting to do this day anyways since she is leaving on the 14th. When I first talked to her about all this I was already booked solid on the 12th. I have decided to have a back up plan and if I am dilated then I will move these clients to Monday or the week before or the couple of weeks after and if I'm not then I will keep them on the 12th. I am super anal about trying to plan every little thing so far in advance. I hate not knowing what is going on and what the plans are. I am really hoping to go early, because my Dad is leaving for a business trip on the 18th. I don't know what the deal is, but he is always gone when I am having a baby. He has been here for everyone else's with no problems but now both of mine he has out of town meetings. When I was pregnant with Christian he was driving back from the Atlas convention in Orlando the day I delivered. He made record time and got into town 15 minutes after I delivered him. Mom said that if for some reason they don't induce me early she is staying home. There is no way she will miss me having a baby. Dad on the other hand has no choice in the matter. He has to go to his meeting! I guess I just have bad timing on these things. My swelling has gotten better in the last day or so. I have been trying not add salt to anything which is super hard for me. I think the big thing is that the weather has cooled off again a little bit. I really hope it stays in the 70's and doesn't get any warmer until spring. My mom said that sugar can make you swell or retain water also, so I am trying to watch that also. I have been craving pumpkin pie the last couple of weeks and I bought one on Monday when we were at the grocery. I have been eating a little piece of it each day and it is so good. It makes me so anxious for Thanksgiving. I was also craving steak, so we had that for super the other night and it was so good! I took an inventory this week of the rest of the stuff I need to get for Jax and Christian and myself, so I would be ready for this weekend when I go shopping. I also stripped down Jaxson's bassinet and got everything ready to wash. I am waiting until probably around Christmas time to wash everything that way it will still be fresh for when he arrives. I'm going to have a lot of washing to do around the Holidays. Luckily Jason and I will have quite a bit of time off with the way the Holidays fall this year. I also bought a ton of ribbon and some burp cloths and I am hoping to get my sewing machine out soon and try and make some of those cute burp cloths. Jason and I both have gotten a lot done on things around the house. He should have his list finished by November and I will be close on mine. The thing that is getting me is all the photo books that I need to do still and I am not motivated to do them at all. I made lists this week of how I want to rearrange my pictures in my house when Jax gets here. I can't wait for Alisann to do newborn pictures of him. Her pictures are absolutely out of this world! I'm not just saying that because she is my sister either. I also made a list of the different poses that I am thinking of doing for my maternity pictures. I am looking forward to those. I just hope I don't look like a big fatty in them. I hate that my face always gets so big and fat when I am pregnant. I feel like it looks fat anyway, but when I am pregnant it is even worse. I can't believe we are almost half way through october already. I have a lot planned in the next three months and I want to enjoy every minute of it, but I also hope it goes super fast. I am going to my mom's today for a fun craft day of doing some fall crafts. I didn't start on my wreath yet because I figured I could do that today. I did get almost all of Patrick's stocking beaded this week, which is a huge relief and I got some things organized in the storage room. I go back to the doctor in 2 1/2 weeks. I do my glucose test at this one and hopefully everything will be good. I think after this appointment I will go every two weeks for 3 or 4 times and then it is every week. I really wish I would have known about blogging when I was pregnant with Christian. I would love to be able to go back and read all my thoughts and feelings during that time. I am trying to write as much as I can remember down in this blog, but there are so many things that you forget. Especially the little things. That is why I like to ramble on about stupid insignificant things that I think or do ,because those are the things that I will later forget and that will be neat to go back and read about. I will say I look forward to doing this post every Thursday morning. I am sure I will be super busy after I have Jax that I will be luckily to keep up with my other blogs, but I have tossed around the idea of doing a 'Mommy' blog that I can post to once a week and write down my thoughts and feeling of parenting and raising my kids. I know there has been so many things that I have forgotten about with Christian in the first few months he was born. Especially things on how I felt at the time. Whether it be stressed, scared, happy or whatever you forget those little things after awhile. I would love to be able to write all the good, the bad and the ugly down to have for later. And it isn't something that I would necessarily want in my other blog books. Who knows, I probably will start this because it's not like I don't have enough blogs already. The problem will be finding the time to keep up with all of it! I think this wraps up things for this week. I will probably post some pictures of our shopping adventure after this weekend. I am hoping to find lots of cute outfits for Jax. Christian is pretty much good to go on his clothes, but he might still need a few more outfits!

26 Week Doctor's Appointment

I had my 26 week doctor's appointment this morning. I wasn't thrilled with the results of my weight at all. I weighed in at 150lbs. I was really hoping it wouldn't be any more than a 4 pound gain. My doctor said it was fine, because they want me to gain anywhere between 25 and 35 pounds and the rate that I am going I should end up gaining 30 to 32 pounds. I really didn't want to gain anymore than 28 pounds so that I would weigh the same as when I delivered Christian. Christian went with me to this appointment and he got to hear Jax's heart beat with me. He was pretty excited and Jax's heart rate was 156. I measured to day at 26 weeks, so I am right on schedule with where I should be. This is a little bit of a relief. I am not wanting to try and push out a big baby. Christian was hard enough. I told my doctor about my hands and feet swelling a little and she seemed to think that it is from the recent increase in heat in the weather. She seemed to think it was fine. They gave me a flu shot today also. I normally am really against getting this, but they strongly recommend getting this when you are pregnant. I figured it would be best to do what they say just incase I would end up really sick and didn't listen to them. I go back to my next appointment in three weeks. This is when they will do the glucose test to see if I have gestational diabetes. Hopefully that will go smoothly for me. I think after that appointment I will start going every two weeks. That is when things start to really fly by. Not to mention we will be getting into the holiday season and that always goes by fast. I am just so anxious to meet my sweet little baby. I am trying to enjoy this time right now, but it is so hard with the swelling, heartburn, indigestion, and constant weight gain to really enjoy it all. I think I am going to have to have a spa day soon to pamper myself. I think this pretty much sums up my appointment. It was quick and easy!

Swelling

I don't know if it is because the weather has suddenly gotten hot in the last couple of days or if it is from the amount of salt I put on my food, but I have noticed some swelling in my feet and hands. I am sure it is a combination of both things that is causing this. I swelled really bad at the end of my pregnancy with Christian. I was really hoping to avoid it this time or at least wait a couple more months. I am going to try and watch how much salt I put on my food from here on out. hopefully doing that and when the weather cools off again will all help. I will not make it another three months if I have to deal with this swelling from here on out. It is making it really hard to do the beading on the stockings because my fingers don't work right. I really hope also that it isn't a sign of something more serious like preeclampsia. They checked my protein levels in my urine at every appointment with Christian and with this one and everything was always fine, but every pregnancy is different so you never know. I go to the doctor in the morning and I will know more for sure. I am not worried right now though. I do know that I am retaining a lot of water, because today I was at Kyle's football game and when I got up I was literally dripping with sweat everywhere. I looked ridiculous. Everyone was hot, but not covered in sweat like me.

25 Weeks

I am 25 weeks pregnant today! I weighed in at 147 lbs. this morning. It is so weird how it is like I don't gain anything until right before my next appointment and then all of a sudden I gain a bunch. I weighed myself a couple of days ago and I weighed 144 still. My scale isn't the most accurate anyways. I go back to the doctor on Monday. They never gave me the sugary stuff to drink at my last appointment to take home for this appointment and I thought I was supposed to do it around this time. I guess they will give it to me at this appointment and I will do it in 4 weeks at my next one. I am really hoping I don't have that whole gestational diabetes thing. I didn't have it with Christian and my Mom and my sisters never had it. They say it is different with everyone and every pregnancy. I have had a hard enough time with this pregnancy and I don't want to add anymore to that. I didn't throw up this week which is good. I did puke in my mouth the other night while I was sleeping. The whole heart burn, indigestion and acid reflex thing is getting really bad. It is starting to wake me up and keep me up at night now. I remember this happening the last month I was pregnant with Christian but I still have three months to go. I can not deal with this for that long. One of my clients suggested Malox and said that it worked a lot better than Tums. I am going to have to give that a try because tums is just not touching it. I haven't noticed any swelling yet in my hands or feet which is really good. One thing that is also getting to me is having to bend over and pick things up all the time. I remember my Mom telling me about this when I was pregnant with Christian. She said it would about kill her to have to bend over and pick things up. I never really understood it when I was pregnant with Christian, but I think that was because I didn't have to constantly bend over all the time. I am always having to bend over and pick up after Christian now and it is awful. It totally wears me out and the motion of it makes me feel nauseous. I am still having weird dreams lately also. I did this with Christian, but mostly towards the end. The other night I had a dream that I went into labor at my parents house. I delivered at my parents house also. For some reason nobody believed that my water had broke and that I needed to get to the hospital and I wasn't in a lot of pain. I pushed a couple of times and out came a baby girl! The surprising thing was that I didn't freak out that I had a girl and the whole time I thought I was having a boy. Normally that would be something I would freak out about. I delivered this time at 30 weeks and she was perfectly fine. I remember not going to the hospital right away either. We all just sat around and held her and was so excited to see her. Then she wanted to breast feed and I freaked out thinking she was going to stimulate my milk and I didn't want to go through that again. Finally someone suggested that we get her and me to the hospital just to make sure that we were both okay. The whole dream was so weird! I am getting nervous that I am going to go way early because of all these dreams I keep having. Jaxson is so strong and active all the time. He has been keeping me up at nights some with his kicking. Last night he had the hiccups in the middle of the night. I was so tired but I couldn't get back to sleep because of the constant kicking. I swear he has got to either be one strong long baby or he is positioned straight up and down. I have been having the hardest time breathing when I sit down and I get full so fast when I sit down to eat. He always feels like he is right below my sternum, but then at the same time he will be kicking my bladder which is making me have to pee so bad and all the time. I know with Christian the last couple of weeks I felt like this. I don't know how I am going to survive the next three when Jax really starts to get big. Hopefully it is just how he is laying and not that he is just this big. I am curious to see how I measure on Monday. I am so irritated with my maternity pants right now. I am in between sizes on my pants. My size fours fit good everywhere but the waist and my size sixes are way too big for me. I decided to go ahead and try a pair of my regular jeans. I really didn't expect to be able to get them up over my thighs and I knew there was no way I would be able to button them. They actually fit me pretty good and then I used my Bella Band for the waist. I am hoping I can get away with this until my size six stuff fits me better. Alisann and Becky both did this all the way up until there last month. I am really looking forward to going on our semi-annual shopping trip in about a week. I have been in a nesting stage this week and have been cleaning out drawers and cabinets around the house. It feels so good to get things organized. I am almost finished with my summer photobook and I am getting in a crafty mood also. We are having craft day on Monday at Becky's to paint pumpkins and Jamie and I are planning one for in a couple of weeks. I think I am going to make a christmas wreath for our front door! I might make a fall one also. I am so excited for the holidays this year. I am really looking forward to spending lots of time with Jason's family and with mine. I really hate that we won't be going to my Grandma and Grandpa Shetler's this year. It will be the first year ever that we haven't spent Christmas and Thanksgiving night at there house. I will really miss that. On a more positive note it will be nice to not have to drag Christian to so many places and we will be able to enjoy more time at each place that we go. That will be nice for me being that I will be huge and in the last month of my pregnancy. I am still trying to enjoy everything with fall and not get to carried away with the holidays yet. I am trying to hold off until November 11. Before I officially go holiday crazy. Christian wanted to watch The Polar Express the other day and that kind of jump started me. I really can't believe how fast time is flying by right now. I know the last month will take forever, but I'm sure the next two months will go by really fast! If I get induced on the 13th of January I only have 14 more weeks until I see my sweet little baby boy!

Window Treatments Hung, Decor, & Light Dimmer Up

This weekend Jason hung the window treatments up in Christian's room and Jaxson's room. He also installed the light dimmer. Earlier last week I found some vintage looking airplanes that I bought. One I am leaving on the dresser and the other I will put on the shelf whenever we find one and hang it up. Now all that is left is to pick up the rug and find the right shelf and the nursery will be completed. I am so excited. I love going in there and looking at everything. I will still have to pick up a few more baby items but the room itself will be finished. I am really pleased with Christian's room also. I need to pick him up some more sheets and do a little rearranging on his pictures. He is getting his three year old pictures taken on Sunday and then I can redo those.