20 Week Bump Update

Holy crap we have made it to the halfway point in my pregnancy! It seems to have flown by & gone at a snails pace all at once.

How far along: 20 weeks - baby is the size of a mango!

Gender: No clue :) 

Weight Gain: 5+ 

Stretch marks: Nope 

Maternity clothes: One pair of maternity jeans. They are so insanely comfy I may never go back to regular jeans after baby. And I finally broke down & purchased a larger bra... 

Sleep: Horrendous. I would give anything to sleep on my stomach or my back even. My hip bones always hurt no matter what I do. :(

Best moment of the week: Making it to the halfway mark! Surreal. And a haircut for the first time in almost a year!

Worst moment of the week: Fighting off some sort of cold. 

Miss anything: Seriously I dream of deli meat. A hoagie with pounds upon pounds of deli meat sounds insanely delicious.

Movement: Pretty darn sure it's a yes at this point :) It's a really goofy feeling, but so cool! 

Cravings: Fruit & pasta always sound delicious. And I can't forget sweets.
Symptoms: Round ligament pain. I'm fine for the majority of the day, but the moment I lay down everything hurts in my lower abdomen.
Belly Button in or out: In. But it looks freakishly tiny.

Queasiness or sickness: None & I haven't taken Unisom (sleep aid) to help with my nausea in over a week. I'm really out of the morning sickness woods now! I've also have been drinking a little coffee again, but only iced. Hot coffee totally creeps me out. 

Looking forward to: Figuring out some name options. We are having a really difficult time agreeing!

Friday I'm in Love

It's Friday! Another week has come to an end & it gets me all sorts of excited. We are supposed to have a sunny weekend with temperatures reaching the 50's! Can't wait! :)

We are seriously at the max with greenery in our home, but I would love to add an arrangement like the one above... I'm sure I could make room. And we do have a trip to IKEA coming up... :)

Mrs. Meyers has their limited edition soaps out & let me tell you the "Peony" scent is to die for. I probably over wash my hands just so I can sniff them...

I have these latte bowls & I love them. Anthropologie is always changing up the colors & I've been continuously checking our local store to pick up one of the lavender colored bowls. 

I have a mild obsession with Chrissy Teigen. She is witty & honest & so, so funny. AND she just released a cookbook that I'm anxious to get my hands on. It's called "Cravings."  I would shovel every single recipe into my face.

I'm a novice for sure when it comes to the whole world of essential oils, but they fascinate me so much. We have a few that we have been diffusing regularly to purify the air since the flu is going around. Grapefruit & lemon are our current favorites since they freshen up the smell of any room & brighten up your mood while they purify.

We have a pretty muted palette throughout our little home, but I always love finding ways to add pops of color especially when the weather is on the verge of warming up. Throw pillows & candles are one easy way to do that. 

Happy Weekend! xoxo

Baby Registry Must Haves

Who knew babies needed sooooo much!?

It's honestly so overwhelming, you think you have a handle on what you need for a newborn & then you realize there are 10,000 more items you never even thought of! Thankfully there are plenty of beneficial resources out there to help us first time mothers narrow down all these choices.

We decided to register with BabyList for our shower. The main reason we decided to go with BabyList is because they allow you to pick & choose items from any store you want! It gives you the ability to have items from small businesses & handmade shops as well as larger retailers. I also fell in love with this registry because they give you a checklist right off the bat of all the newborn essentials you "should" need. They send you alerts when prices have changed or items become unavailable, they list multiple stores for each of your items so your guests get the best price & they keep a "Thank You" list of all the people who purchased items!

Below I have put together some of the items we have included on our registry & are really looking forward to receiving for our newborn. Some are clearly essentials, with a few "wants" sprinkled in. :)

Bunny // Moccasins // SleepSack // Pacifier // Diaper Bag // Bottles // Humidifier

Happy Hump Day :) xoxo

19 Weeks

How far along: 19 weeks - baby is the size of a tomato.

Gender: We are still standing firm on not finding out the gender. :)

Weight Gain: 5+ I have an appointment in a couple weeks, so I will find out the real number then.

Stretch marks: Nope 

Maternity clothes: None quite yet. Although I did just purchase my first pair of maternity jeans for when the time comes.

Sleep: Good.

Best moment of the week:  A full fledged "snow day." It's the most snow we have seen since moving to Rochester!

Worst moment of the week: Having to shovel out our driveway. It was a great workout, but I was sore for days...

Miss anything: Running outside. It's been a few days because of all the snow. 

Movement: Almost positive I have felt baby kicking now!

Cravings: Doughnuts. I don't even like them... and fruit. Lots & lots of fruit.

Queasiness or sickness: None

Looking forward to: More sunny days :)

Minted Artwork Contest

Last June I entered one of the Minted artwork contests. It was completely on a whim, but I had the extra time & it was something I have been wanting to do for quite a while. I was so nervous to put my artwork up against all these other wonderful artists around the world, but I have always admired all of the artwork available on their website that I couldn't pass this up!

Much to my surprise, a few weeks later, I found out that one of my pieces had been chosen! I never thought in a million years I stood a chance against everyone else. I was in utter shock & almost cried down my leg!

I have since been eagerly awaiting for my print to become available for purchase. There were a few steps to go through after winning, but it was such a neat little process!

Now, my print  'I Dream of You' is available for purchase on Minted in my own 'shop'! I could not be more excited & I have the ability to add more prints down the line, which is such a dream! :)

All prints purchased through Minted are created by independent artists & printed on high quality archival paper. Each print is available in multiple sizes & you have the option to choose from an array of frames! Their items always arrive so quickly & beautifully packaged. :)

There is a link to my print on the right side of this page as well as each of the links throughout this post! Please go take a look see if you so wish! You can always find my other prints available through my Etsy shop. I will soon be adding more too! :)

Happy Thursday! xoxo

17 Week & 18 Week Bump Updates

Finally I am caught up on bump updates :) Hallelujah! 

I wrote this when I really was 17 weeks. I just never got around to posting it.

How far along: 17 weeks - baby is the size of a turnip!!

Gender: It will remain a surprise! 

Weight Gain: 4 pounds, but it feels like so much more since I've basically been surviving on chocolate cupcakes.

Stretch marks: None yet! 

Maternity clothes: Not yet.

Sleep: Pretty good, but I wish I could just sleep on my stomach again...

Best moment of the week: We started looking at names! It's definitely going to be a long haul since we can't seem to agree on anything.

Worst moment of the week: The fact that football season is officially over.

Miss anything: For some reason I would love a good Bloody Mary...

Movement: Pretty sure I haven't felt any, but sometimes I do wonder!

Cravings: Chocolate

Queasiness or sickness: Nope

Looking forward to: the three day weekend ahead.

and I really am 18 weeks THIS week! :)

How far along: 18 weeks - baby is the size of a sweet potato.

Gender: We won't be finding out until the birth :)

Weight Gain: 4+

Stretch marks: None yet! 

Maternity clothes: Not yet.

Sleep: Hit or miss. Some nights I sleep so peacefully & other nights I wriggle in pain.

Best moment of the week: Three glorious days spent with the hubby. Although it was -30 out we still had fun.

Worst moment of the week: An out of the blue moment of morning sickness that no less resulted in me vomiting all over the snow covered grounds of a church & all along the roadside... and in my hair. Lovely.

Miss anything: Sweets. We gave sweets up for Lent... what was I thinking! Not even a week in & I'm already going bonkers!

Movement: Almost positive I have felt some movement, but being a first timer I am constantly questioning whether its baby or gas...

Cravings: Chocolate, chocolate, c h o c o l a t e & fruit.

Queasiness or sickness: One random day as mentioned above...

Looking forward to: Our next ultrasound this week!

16 Week Bump Update!

I'm still about a week behind on these posts. I'm currently 17 weeks, but I am hoping to have extra time to truly get caught up this weekend! :)

How far along: 16 weeks - baby is the size of an avocado!

Gender: It will remain a surprise! 

Weight Gain: 4+

Stretch marks: None yet! Fingers crossed...

Maternity clothes: None quite yet, but it may happen very soon.

Sleep: Pretty good except having to wake up in the middle of the night to pee!

Best moment of the week:  Nate has been off of work for 2 weeks! It's been so nice!

Worst moment of the week: Finding all sorts of dog crap outside our door because of lazy ass neighbors.

Miss anything: Sunshine. We had a little taste of spring with 50-60 degree weather & it was soooo welcomed!

Movement: I don't think I've felt any movement.

Cravings: Still craving lots of fruit, sushi & pretty much anything sweet & salty.

Queasiness or sickness: Nope!

Looking forward to: Our next ultrasound! 

15 Weeks

How far along: 15 weeks - baby is the size of an orange!

Gender: It will remain a surprise! 

Weight Gain: According to the scale at home I'm up about 3 pounds. I've tried not to weigh myself, but I was just sooo tempted 

Stretch marks: None yet & hopefully it stays that way!

Maternity clothes: Not yet, but my pants are beginning to be uncomfortable around my stomach.

Sleep: Still having the weirdest dreams & so many of them.

Best moment of the week: One of Nate's friends has a hand held ultrasound machine so we were able to see the baby long before our scheduled ultrasound. Nate actually did the ultrasound himself which was super neat! :)

Worst moment of the week: Wishing we could have been a part of massive snowstorm Jonas (although it was more than a week ago now)!

Miss anything: Having comfortable sleep.

Movement: Not yet or at least I don't think...

Cravings: Strawberries & any type of fruit really.

Queasiness or sickness: I have thankfully had an uneventful week in this department.

Looking forward to: My appointment this week. It will be the first time Nate is able to hear the heartbeat :) & of course the Super Bowl this weekend!