25 weeks and a comparison pic...

How far along? 25.4 wks
Total weight gain: 12-13ish pounds
Maternity clothes? Yep and reg comfy clothes
Stretch marks? We've covered this...
Sleep: touch and go....much better when I don't take a nap.....getting harder to tummy-sleep
Best moment this week: hitting 24 weeks and viability, hearing Brenna talk about her "bruder in my belly"
Miss Anything? feeling normal
Movement: yes, lots, mostly at night
Food cravings? nothing really.....finally found my jellybeans!
Anything making you queasy or sick: nothing in particular really
Gender: boy
Name? I guess buying letters for his nursery at Hobby Lobby 'cause they were on sale means we officially have a first name.
Labor Signs: no
Symptoms: heartburn that I can hardly stand.....ridiculously excruciating
Belly Button in or out? in
Wedding rings on or off? on but wondering how they will fit come June
Happy or Moody most of the time: happy, but tired
Looking forward to: getting the glucose test over with and starting the third trimester

25 weeks with Baby Spud

24.5 weeks with Baby Sprout in the same shirt!

30 Before 30 = FAIL!

Ok, so I failed miserably at my 30 before 30 list. I guess that's what happens when your life seemingly does a 360 AND you get pregnant after writing the list. Here's the update...

#1 - Run a 5K and a 10K - DONE!
#2 - Work on learning Spanish - I never even attempted it. Do a few episodes of Dora count?
#3 - Write a wedding day letter to Brenna - I'm going to do that before her birthday, I promise.
#4 - Pay for a stranger's food - I always forget. I'll do it this week. I think about it when I'm sitting at home in my pjs a lot!
#5 - Camera in manual mode - Nope.
#6 - New kitchen backsplash - No new kitchen. This one isn't my fault.
#7 - Close on houses and move in - No closings. Again, not my fault.
#8 - Cook a Thanksgiving meal - During my first trimester of pregnancy? Yeah, right!
#9 - Read Bible - I started the one-year Bible and made it to about the March chapter. I'll pick it back up in March.
#10 - Flashmob - Never found one, but I did look.
#11 - Overnight camping trip - Again with the whole morning sickness thing...
#12 - Read 4 classics - Nope. But I have read 11 books since New Year's.
#13 - Finish the HP books - DONE!
#14 - Watch the HP movies - We're on #4 so far, so about halfway there.
#15 - Blog 2-3 times per week - I'm working on doing better.
#16 - Decorate for Christmas - Not exactly what I had in mind since we're in a rental. Bummer.
#17 - Plan a garden - No plans for moving yet.
#18 - Handwritten letters - Unfortunately no.
#19 - 4 Homemade Christmas gifts - I did make some, so we'll call that a win.
#20 - Iphone - Obviously it involves spending money I'm successful!
#21 - Guitar - Um, no.
#22 - Harley ride - I had a few planned with our friend Dave, but the weather was uncooperative.
#23 - Jump in leaves - YES!
#24 - Zoo - YES!
#25 - Weekend trips - No, but I did host two of my BFFs here in NC. So 50% win?
#26 - Wine tasting - Knocked up wino....no thank you.
#27 - Letters to teachers - No. I really need to do this.
#28 - Find a church, make a friend - I think we've settled on a church. No church friends yet, but I've met a few moms in a moms' group.
#29 - First get-together at new house - No new house. :(
#30 - Hokies - YAY! And they won!
#31 - Celebrate my 30th - WOOHOO! J and I hung out in Greenville last weekend while my in-laws watched Brenna. It was a short but much-needed trip. I guess it became a babymoon, too!

22.2

Today I'm officially 22 weeks and 2 days pregnant! Here's the lowdown on how the pregnancy is going!

How far along? 22.2 wks
Total weight gain: 9 pounds
Maternity clothes? Yes, ugh!
Stretch marks? just the ones I already had.....so hot
Sleep: much better, thank you
Best moment this week: hearing his little heartbeat, being told by 2 people that I didn't look pregnant haha! (or does that just mean I'm always fat?)
Miss Anything? regular pants, running
Movement: yes, lots, mostly at night
Food cravings: Starburst jelly beans....and NOBODY has them!
Anything making you queasy or sick: the left over chicken gnocchi soup in my fridge that I can't bring myself to clean out....gross
Gender: boy
Name? We're close.
Labor Signs: no
Symptoms: pelvic pain/stretching...but the headaches, rls, exhaustion, heartburn seem to be easing up most of the time
Belly Button in or out? in
Wedding rings on or off? on, but definitely tighter than at this point with B
Happy or Moody most of the time: happier than I was, for sure
Looking forward to: getting started on things for a nursery :), announcing his name

23 Months Old!

Dear Brenna,

It's hard to believe this is the last monthly letter I'll write to you before you turn TWO! It's ridiculously hard for me to believe that your birthday is almost here again, but time just seems to keep speeding up! We are absolutely adoring this stage with you. You are learning and growing by leaps and bounds each day - Daddy and I are always talking about how we wish we could just freeze time with you in this stage. Here's some of the things that are making us laugh and smile lately...

*You love to hold your own cup or bottle of water. You constantly demand that "Brenna do" when you don't want help doing something. You're actually really good at holding cups.

*I took you to gymnastics class a few weeks ago, and now you are always asking to do flips. One day Daddy and I were sitting on the couch and we look down and you are doing a front flip on your own. We almost died! No broken necks, okay kiddo?

*You ADORE singing. We are amazed at how well you can keep a tune. Just in the past couple of days you've picked up "Rock-a-bye Baby". When you can't remember some of the words you just substitute the lyrics from "Twinkle, Twinkle" into the tune. You still love "Jesus Loves Me" and the ABC s song.

*You like to boss Daddy around. One day you were sitting at the picnic table outside with him, and when he got up to leave you said, "Daddy, sit". Last night at dinner he walked away after giving you your yogurt and you said, "Sit in the chair!"

*We visited all of your grandparents a few weekends ago and they loved it! Nanie was leaving to take Grandma Abel home, and you went over to Grandma and said out of the blue, "Love you, be careful." It was adorable and melted my heart because you said it all on your own.

*Not only do you still obsess over pacifiers, but now you specify between your big and little pacis. You always want to have "big" and "little" in your crib with you. I dread breaking you from taking a paci when you sleep.

*You say "scuse me" when someone or something is in your way. It's very common to hear you say, "Scuse me, Magnie" several times a day.

*You still love to go outside and push your lawn mower and swing. Since the weather is unseasonably warm, we've taken lots of walks in your stroller, too. We had Maggie outside with us one time and she started barking. You just asked her, very matter-of-factly, "Magnie, whatcha barkin' for?" I couldn't stop laughing.

*When we pulled in to Nanie's house on our visit, you immediately got excited and said, "Nanie's house! Blocks! Color!" You also say, "Pa Bill has one" whenever you see a tractor.

*Before our visit to Nana and Pa Bill's, I asked you what you were going to say to them. You replied, "No, Pa Bill, no pull pants" because he likes to tease you and pull on your pants.

*You love to play blocks with us. You always ask us to play with you, although you like to play a lot of your other toys on your own. It kills Daddy when he works on a really big, impressive tower and you knock it right down!

*When you want a snack you walk over to the cabinets and say, "Whatcha want, Brenna?" Ha!

*You are really scared of the vacuum cleaner lately. "No bacuum" is a commonly heard phrase at our house. You also don't like to stand to close to a running car, and you hated the "noise" when the smoke detector went off while I was cooking last week.

*You have gotten attached to your babydolls and stuffed animals. You like to rock them, put them in your play carseat and stroller, cuddle with them, sleep with them, pretend feed them, and take them in the car with you. It's super cute. This week your favorite has been a little stuffed monkey. If we ask you what any of their names are, you always say _____ Halsey (Monkey Halsey, Baby Halsey, Bear Halsey, etc.). You also like to "jam" on your Mickey Mouse guitar - and dance along, too!

*You are obsessed with wearing hats. You find them around the house and wear them all the time. Yesterday before church you were wearing a cute pink jumper with tights. You found a purple baseball cap and Mommy's sunglasses to complete your outfit. We just couldn't stop laughing!

As you can see, you are a hoot! There have been a few challenges this month, like you becoming a little big of a picky eater on some days and going through a few spells of really short naps. But, the good definitely outweighs the rough times! We had fun at the zoo one day, and we also visited the local science center here in Hickory. It's so fun that you are old enough to explore with us and really interact with what you see.

I love you like crazy!!

Love, Mommy

30Before30 - #24 - Zoo Time

Yesterday we woke up to a 60 degree forecast and a day with no plans. So I mentioned to Jonathan that we should take Brenna to the NC Zoo. He kinda thought I was crazy at first I think (it's 1 1/2 hours away and I had just got hoe from a 6 hr round trip to Bristol) but he warmed up to the idea. We decided not to worry about nap time (a first for us, seriously) and just do it, I'm so glad we did! We got to the zoo about 11:30 and walked through the North America section - where we saw seals (Brenna's fave I think), turtles, fish, snakes, elk, a bobcat, an otter, and an owl. We ate lunch about halfway through and then headed to the animals we were most excited about in the Africa region. We saw a lion, a red river hog, chimps (including the cutest baby chimp), gorillas, elephants, giraffes, zebras, ostriches, and a rhino from a distance. We were all tired by this point, but the giraffe and zebra field was so awesome. We talked to the chimp trainer for a long time about their child-rearing practices, and Jonathan talked to some arborists about the trees and bamboo there. Everyone was super friendly. Brenna loved being able to run and look since it wasn't crowded at all. On the way back to the car we got to see the grizzly bear wake up a little. We met a couple there who told us the walk is a 10 mile walk if you take all the trails. We didn't take them all, but we took a lot of them! Shesh, no wonder we were all tired! I liked that the zoo had animals more spread out and in more natural-like habitats than most zoos I've seen. All in all, it was a great family day! Enjoy the pictures!

Loved walking! Only time she fussed was when we put her in the stroller.

posing with the gorilla

cutest gorilla ever

"big kitty cat"

Mommy, Brenna, 18 month old chimp, and her surrogate mommy

cuteeeee

:)

"Mommy ride a efunt"

We finallllllly found the elephants!

Brenna wanted her to go swimming.

with Daddy

"jafs"

coolest part of the zoo.....at the VERY end

We had a great time!