Learning New Things

Being our first pregnancy, there is so much to learn...for everyone!  Mom, Dad, Grandparents, and friends.  You can't eat this, don't lay on your back, and then there are all the myths too.  Below are a few things we have learned in the last week.

Lesson 1 - Prenatal Yoga isn't for everyone: My Lesson

I contacted the only prenatal yoga place that I found online in Allen.  The lady wrote me back and informed me that this was done in her house and that she had 6 cats.  Weird, right?  I thought this was strange so I asked if I could do a trial class before I committed.  Thank God!  When I showed up, she was yelling at her child.  "Oh this is a soothing yoga environment" I thought.  The class was held in her sunroom with a total of 5 preggos.  The other 4 women were cranky and seemed very unhappy to be there.  Once the class started, I was counting down the minutes until I could leave.  "Relax" is not in my vocabulary.  I was constantly thinking about what else I could be doing.  I don't think I need to pay someone to tell me to breathe, relax, and "embrace baby"  ...And since I still act like I'm in 3rd grade, all the seriousness made me giggle.  I was just praying no one passed gas.  I would have died.  On a positive note, I did realize that I need to try to take time out of my day to relax.  So I've been taking bubble baths with lighted candles and chocolate milk...Mamaste!

Lesson 2 - Contractions are painful: JP's Lesson

Yes, you read that correctly.  I promise I have a really smart (and hot) husband.

We were at a wedding this weekend chatting with Sara and Jon who have a 16 month old.  They were giving us pointers (eat before you go to the hospital) and sharing stories.  Side note: It is nice to have friends with kids.  We have very few.  Come on friends.  Get on it.  Anyway, Sara mentioned how painful the contractions were before she got her epidural.  When JP and I got in the car to drive home (or to the car wash - long story) JP said, "I can't believe contractions are painful"...ummmmm "What?"  I thought everyone knew this.  So I did a little googling for JP.  "The uterus is a muscular organ that contracts powerfully to squeeze your baby out and those contractions are the primary source of pain."  Ugh, this just makes me cringe.  I really didn't know where contractions happened or that they were the number one source of pain.  (I assumed the fact that a watermelon was passing though a small hole was)  So like I said, we are both learning.  My side lesson learned - don't assume your smart husband knows everything. :)

Lesson 3 - You don't have a period while you're pregnant: Ashley's Lesson

Yes, you also read that correctly.  This week Ashley asked me, "so you don't have a period the whole time your pregnant?"  I just started laughing.  She asked if I was laughing so much because I was already thinking about that comment going on the blog...ummmm, yep.  She did mention that was a nice selling point for getting pregnant so once again, get on it.

Other Updates

We got our master bath painted.  We ended up paying someone to do it so we didn't have to give up an entire weekend.  Here's a pic although it's hard to tell.

Ashley and I also went shopping this weekend.  I found this cute mirror to go above our bed.  Notice the bump in the pic.  

We also had to have some fun while shopping.  Where's Waldo?

And here's a pic of the bump at 16 weeks. 

I know, I know.  Selfies aren't cool...but it could be worse.

This picture gets me everytime.  It seriously makes my day.

Pregnancy/Baby Updates

Henry is now an avocado and measuring 4.5 inches from crown to rump.  So big!  As for me, I'm pretty sure hormones are here to stay (so annoying) and I've started getting lots of headaches - maybe the changing hormones?

The countdown is officially on.  2 weeks until our next appointment when we get to find out the gender.  I CANNOT WAIT!  God is good!

Oh Hello Hormones

We didn't have many plans for the weekend.  We have both been really busy so we just wanted to have a relaxing weekend.  Once again, the plans went out the door.

Friday night started out great.  We ran to Macy's to get new towels for the bathroom, ordered pizza, and sat on the back porch.  We also hit up the PGA Super Store because I clearly needed new shorts and a shirt for our Sunday golf outing.  It was a low key, relaxing night.  But...when we got in bed, out of no where, I started crying.  Like balling, can't breathe crying.  (Oh hello hormones)  I can't even tell you why.  I kept saying, "this is so stupid" and then laughing and then crying some more.  JP of course is so great and just tries to be comforting...but I'm sure he thinks I'm nuts.  I wish for one day every man could just have a hormonal experience.  They are seriously bizarre.

The plan for Saturday was as follows;
- Home Depot for paint supplies for our bathroom painting project next weekend
- Taxes - JP
- Clean house - Danielle
- Hang the fan in the guest room

More like sh*t hit the fan.  Ok, I'm exaggerating, but it got crazy.  JP ended up having to go into work Saturday morning because he couldn't log onto work from home.  No big deal.  I would clean house while he was gone.  When he got back, he informed me that Stacey's called to tell him that the fabric we picked for our sectional was discontinued.  Ugh...one more thing to deal with.  So of course I start questioning the purchase in the first place.  It was way more than I had wanted to spend.  Maybe I could find a cheaper one?  Maybe it happened for a reason?  After two trips to Stacey's and three trips to Haverty's, we decided to cancel the expensive one altogether and went with a cheaper one from Haverty's.  So while this was a pain to deal with, I'm so thankful for the way it turned out.

Next, JP started on the taxes.   While JP was taxin, I decided I would paint a couple more samples on the bathroom wall to figure out which one we wanted.  When I went to get the sample from my back seat, I couldn't find it.  So I leaned in to look under my seat and immediately started to freak.  The sample paint had been squished when the seat moved back for JP to drive.  I wish I had a picture to post, but I literally couldn't even look much less take a picture.  (Oh hello again hormones)  I ran in to tell JP that we had an emergency.  (If you know how I treat my new car, you would know that this was an emergency to me)  I could tell he was thinking, "Real emergency or hormonal emergency like last night"  Poor JP spent an hour and a half trying to get the dried paint out of my car.  It actually looks better than I thought it would and at least it's under my seat so you really can't see it.

We did have a nice Sunday.  We got to play 18 holes of golf.  It was an absolutely gorgeous day.  We were paired with the sweetest older couple that had just moved to the area because their daughter was having a baby this Wednesday.  We definitely had a lot to talk about.

Needless to say, we did not make it to Home Depot or get the fan hung.  It will get done eventually if this whole nesting period doesn't kill me first.

Getting the To Do's Done

2nd Prenatal Appointment

The second trimester has officially started.  We had our second prenatal appointment last week which was very quick.  Weighed in (gained 1.5), blood pressure (good), and got to finally hear the heartbeat. (160)  I know that predicting the gender based on the heart rate is an old wive's tale, but it's still fun to play.  Per babybpm.com, the heart rate from our two appointments predicts a girl!

We also asked about hunting while preg and it's totally fine.  The baby is very protected.  JP's dreams have come true.  I kid.  I rarely go out with him.  Our last trip included two dead deer, lots of tears (mine of course), and frozen snot.

Our next appointment is at week 18 on May 9th and we will get to find out the sex!!!  Hopefully, if he/she cooperates, we will get to have a little gender reveal party the next day which works perfectly because my family will be in town for a concert.

Sharing with friends

It has been so much fun to finally tell people the good news.  I told some of my girlfriends at our book club meeting.  I held up "What to Expect When You're Expecting" as my book suggestion.  I got a a few blank stares and Boo said something along the lines of, "Why would I want to read that?!"  Our smart friend Alli caught on and screamed, "You're pregnant!"  Fun times!

To Do List

I have a lot that I want to get done before we find out the gender that way I can just have fun taking my time on the nursery.  The main To Do's are below.

1.) Clean out/organize all closets/drawers/cabinets - Done

This included 5 trips to Container Store and 9 black garbage bags of stuff for Goodwill and my family.  How did we accumulate so much stuff in the last two years?

2.) Redecorate our master bedroom and bathroom and paint the bathroom - Work in progress

I am so not a fan of the colors in our house.  The trim and shutters are a beige/tan color which makes decorating limited.  I don't want to paint the whole house so I'm working with what I've got.  (Other than painting the bathroom which will hopefully be done in the next two weeks)  Also, I originally added lots of red in the bed/bath which I'm sick of, so that was the goal.  Rid the red.

Here are some before/after pics of the bedroom.  I still need a couple things but you get the idea.  I need to find something for above the bed.  The mirror was borrowed from the guest room as an idea.

After

Before

My mom came in this past weekend to help pick out paint and start with the redecorating project.  If you know me, you know that I hate decorating and shopping.  I want to take my list to one store (Home Goods of course), find everything there, and be done.  Since it doesn't work that way and I hate shopping alone, mom and I do what I call "Marathon Weekends" when she's in town.  This includes getting as much done as possible in 2 days.  We literally worked, shopped, and ran errands for 12 hours on Saturday and Sunday.  I already don't enjoy shopping.  Having to pee in almost every store doesn't add to the joy.  Anyway, this is how it went down;

Saturday: Started with a 2.5 mile run, finished cleaning out closets, Goodwill,  Bassett, Stacey's (Plano and Allen), Home Goods, Academy, DSW, Anthro, Sephora, Hobby Lobby, Ross, Home Depot (twice), Lowes, and Bed Bath and Beyond.

Sunday: Garden Ridge (Plano and Lewisville - thanks Ashley and Emily), Stacey's, Target (twice), Dillard's, Macy's, Nordstrom's, Penney's (twice), Bed Bath and Beyond, Pottery Barn, and moved furniture around.

I don't know how my Mom does it.  I was totally exhausted and probably overdid it.  She's a beast.  I could not do it without her!  I have a feeling "Marathon Weekends" will be coming to an end in 6 months though.  It would be so much easier if my mom lived here. (hint hint)

3.) Get a new sectional - Done

The furniture we originally purchased is cute, but we wanted something more comfortable and accommodating.  JP and I had previously picked out the sectional we wanted to build.  Mom and I just needed to choose a fabric.  We went back on Sunday to buy it and before we went it, Mom told me to let her do the negotiating.  I told her it doesn't work that way.  Especially on a custom order.  She bet me she could get $500 off.  I told her she was crazy.  The second she started her negotiating skills, I walked away.  Why does this make me so uncomfortable?  Long story short, I should never argue with my mom on her negotiating abilities.  I would seriously put that woman up against anyone.

4.) Clear out the room for the nursery - Done (sort of)

We had a second guest room in the soon to be nursery so we needed to combine this with our work out room.  We got rid of our 1980s work out bench and moved the bed and dresser in with the treadmill.  Now the nursery just has a bunch of crap that needs to be sold on craigslist.

5.) Work on the back yard - Not started

We want new landscape, concrete, and a pergola.  This is more of JP's project.  His life has been consumed with taxes so hopefully after 4/15, we can get started.

Pregnancy Updates:

As far as pregnancy updates, there isn't much.  I still feel great.  My work pants don't fit an people have been commenting on my more noticeable belly.

I did have my first hormonal episode yesterday.  Of course it had to happen at work.  JP sent me a sweet text and I just started crying.  Definitely hormonal, right?  That statement doesn't even make sense.  But I just miss JP.  I feel like I haven't seen him in 3 weeks.  The only time we get to talk is when I try to have a conversation with him for the 30 minutes that he snoozes in the morning.  I am in need of some JPQT.  Tax season is a beating, but I'm proud of how JP handles it.  I can't wait for 4/15 and of course 5/9!!

God is good!