20 Weeks.

(So in the move, we've lost the chalk and eraser. Please pretend this says 20 weeks!)

(August 25-31)
How far along: 20 Weeks

Size of Baby: Small cantelope

Weight Gain: +9. No weight gain this week yet again. The doctor said she's not concerned, because the baby isn't having any problems growing. Then she jinxed me, by saying I'm going to come out of pregnancy losing weight. HAH! 

Symptoms: I am absolutely exhausted all the time. Oh, and I officially have to roll out of bed now...

Clothes: For the most part, I'm still in maternity pants and regular shirts. Though I have noticed a few of my shirts are creeping up on me...

Cravings/Aversions: None really. Most food hasn't really sounded good lately - but at the same time, I get this way every summer when it gets hot. 

Movement: Nope. I did find out that I have an anterior placenta, so it's not surprising that I haven't felt the baby. According to my doc, it's possible I won't feel the baby until close to 30 weeks. At least I know why!!!!

Worries: After the ultrasound, I have zero. Now, my only thoughts are getting the house situated and painting the nursery!

Boy/Girl: We know, but we're not telling anyone until the baby shower (which is November 3rd!!). But needless to say, I won't be answering this question anymore :)

Milestones: Baby is developing the vernix, which protects its skin. It's kinda creepy.

Best moment of the week: So many good things happened this week!! We've moved. We saw the baby. I have a 3 day weekend. Excitement!

19 Weeks.

(August 18-24th)

How far along: 19 weeks (well, I was last week, when I filled this out!)

Size of Baby: Heirloom tomato

Weight Gain: +9. No weight gain this week! With moving and everything, there's been very little time to have regular meals...

Symptoms: Coffee still smells terrible to me. But only hot. I just don't get it! I've also started sleeping with a pillow between the knees - it's amazing how my back doesn't hurt nearly as much! 

Clothes: No changes. Still in maternity pants and regular shirts (for the most part).

Cravings/Aversions: Pop. I've been craving Sprite and Dr.P. Maybe I haven't been eating enough sugar?

Movement: Nope. Still nothing. 

Worries: I'm still worried about the lack of kicks. I have my ultrasound next week though, so I'm praying and hoping that this baby is moving around in there. 

Boy/Girl: Still have no idea. I find out next week though!!!!

Milestones: The senses are forming - taste and all!

Best moment of the week: Thanks to a manager letting us borrow tools, we finished our staircase! Also, all of the painting at the new house is done - ready for move in this weekend. 

Planning for Maternity Leave.

In approximately 4 1/2 months, I'll be on maternity leave.

I consider myself lucky - I'll get 60% of my pay during maternity leave. It's not as much as I'd like, and it's definitely not everything we're used to getting. But it's something. And it's more than federal law requires. But out of that 60% also comes our health insurance and taxes, so it starts whittling down. So we're planning ahead now.

How in the WORLD are we going to combat this?

1. We're getting a roommate.
An awesome friend of ours is moving in with us, and considering we have WAY more room than we really need, it'll work out well. There's no telling how long he'll stay AFTER the baby is born, but we'll take it a little at a time. He'll be paying us a small rent, so that will go toward paying off credit cards and beefing up savings.

2. Beefing up our savings.
Since I'll only be bringing in half our normal monthly income, we need to have that amount saved. Really though, that's only $2000. According to our insurance company/hospital, we'll need to pay about $2500 for the baby to be born, so we're taking that into account too (even though we can obviously have payment plans).

3. Pay down credit cards.
I hate that we even have money on them. But we needed to keep as much cash liquid as possible during the home purchase of the summer, plus Sean wasn't working at all. So we have a huge chunk that we need to pay off (well, for us it's huge). We're hoping to pay it off by December, and I'm pretty sure we can accomplish that.

4. Pay off student loans.
My loans are already paid through April of next year, and we're trying to get at least one of Sean's loans paid up early too. Just one month would give us so much more slack! Let's not forget we have to start paying law school loans in November too :(

Our immediate goal is to move into this new house with a sound budget in mind, and to keep that in effect. We'll be able to start things off with a water heater on a lower temperature, a schedule on the thermostat, and energy effient appliances. We really want to try to live off my salary and our friend's rent - banking everything that Sean makes. But with the utility bills of a bigger house, that probably won't be possible. I think more realistically we're going to try to bank all of our friend's rent. But that's still SO much more than we can save now - it'll make a world of difference if we can stay on top of the budget.

Maybe a weekly money meeting is in order for us?

18 Weeks.

How far along: 18 weeks (well, I was last week, when I filled this out!)

Size of Baby: An sweet potato

Weight Gain: +9. No weight gain this week! I've been so busy at the house, I haven't grocery shopped - and I know I've forgotten to eat at least once this week. Oops.

Symptoms: Nothing really new, which is okay by me. I'm feeling awesome!

Clothes: No changes. Still in maternity pants and regular shirts (for the most part).

Cravings/Aversions: Cheese - still. It's officially my preggo craving I think.

Movement: I don't think so yet. I think I need a good hard kick to tell me for sure!

Worries: My only worry right now is not feeling the baby kick. I'm sure it's fine, and websites say it could be as late as 23 weeks, but it still bothers me. 

Boy/Girl: I'm back to feeling a boy again. I'm not sure why (maybe it's because that's what Sean wants?), but I'm thinking boy. 

Milestones: Baby can officially start to hear, now that the inner ear bones are developed. Better start playing that classical music! (what? Led Zeppelin doesn't fall under that category?)

Best moment of the week: I "officially" got my promotion at work! It's just a title change, but it came with a 50 cent raise so I can't argue that!

The House. The Updates.

I've made no secret of the fact that our new house, as wonderful as it is, is a fixer upper. We knew that going in. We could have bought a house that was finished, but it would have been half the size. But, we're handy, and we love working on projects (please, slap me later), so we went for it. We love it. We love that we can make it ours and do everything we want to see. But we definitely have some projects.

Being the list maker I am, here's a detailed list, room by room, of what we're looking to do. It might take forever, but at least it gives us a jumping off point...right?

The Outside - Front Yard

- Change the mailbox

- New house numbers

- Paint the front steps

- Rearrange some of the flower beds (like the hostas in the full sun that are scorching to death!)

The Outside - Back Yard

- Fix the gate to the fence

- Build planter boxes for herbs along loose part of fence

- Replace the fence 

- Plant veggies in our garden

- Convert standard planter garden to a keyhole garden

- Relay back patio pavers

- Vent brick fireplace outside (it's unusable now, due to the covered porch)

- Weed plants like crazy!

- Replace the fence (maybe with a horizonal slat one?)

The Kitchen

- Paint walls

- Add a glass tile backsplace behind sink

- Add fruit baskets to wall

- Build a rolling cart for awkward stove space

- Create permanent breakfast bar

The Dining Room

- Paint walls

- Paint Trim

- Replace chandelier with something more linear/industrial 

- Replace dining room chairs

- Caulk windows

- Caulk molding

The Living Room 

- Paint Walls

- Paint Trim

- Paint Door

- Enhance built ins (paint or patterns in the back?)

- Paint fireplace

- Spice up the mantle

- Remove fireplace balloon for winter

- Build a drop zone/shoe disposal area

- Fix/Replace bannister for the stairs

- Caulk windows

- Cault Fireplace

Half Bathroom 

- PAINT EVERYTHING

- Add a mirror above sink 

- Maybe a full reno down the line - including moving the toilet, demoing awful tile, and possible even adding a shower

 

Guest Quarters (the office space and spare bedroom on the first floor) 

- Remove wallpaper

- Replace carpet 

- Caulk window frames 

- New curtains

Upstairs Landing 

- Paint stairwell

- Paint landing walls

- Paint landing trim

- New knobs for built ins

Master Bedroom 

- Paint walls

- Add beadboard to bottom of room

- Create vanity for Amanda to get ready

- Create functional closet systems

Nursery

- Paint

- New light fixture

- Curtains

- Furniture (crib, dresser, etc)

- Remove the mint green carpeting from the closet

Guest Bedroom

- Paint
- New curtains
- New light

Main Bath

- Convert bath only to shower/tub combo with a standing showerhead and curtain rod

- Tile (or do something) with bath built ins

- Add shelving above toilet

- Add medicine cabinet

- Move door (whether it be to swing out, or into barn door fashion)

- Replace window in bathroom (maybe with glass blocks that would fit the age of the home?)

Guest Bath

- Paint

- Remove shower insert and tile the shower up (the insert leaks, so the shower is unusable until we do this)

- Add shelving behind toilet

Basement Stairs

- Add railing

Basement (finished area)

- Add bar/entertainment area

- Add canned food overflow area

- Create office space for Sean

- Knock out salon bar area

- Paint wood paneling

Basement (laundry/unfinished area)

- Paint walls

- Paint floor

- Add screen to hide water heater/HVAC system 

- Add cabinet about washer/dryer

- Add a second fridge/deep freeze

- Organize storage

- Create folding area for laundry

Wow. That seems like there's so much!! 

The important part of this? It's almost all cosmetic. We can live with 95% of this list, just the way it is and fix things as needed. We love our house mostly because it's ours, and it gives us the opportunity to be what we want it to be. But keep a look out for changes!!

17 Weeks.

How far along: 17 weeks (well, I was last week, when I filled this out!)

Size of Baby: An onion!

Weight Gain: +9 lbs - which means next week I'll probably hit double digits. Oi!

Symptoms: I've been getting round ligament pain this week, which I'm not too found of. The feeling of my belly tugging is the weirdest thing ever. 

Clothes: No changes. Still in maternity pants and regular shirts.

Cravings/Aversions: Cheese and bread. For serious. 

Movement: I might be feeling flutters? My doctor was really stressing that I could start feeling the baby at any time, and I'm not sure if I'm thinking I feel something, or if I really do. Argh!

Worries: Earlier this week, it was definitely closing. But when we came down to it, everything worked out perfectly. Now it's the whole painting in two days gig. Yikes!

Boy/Girl: No clue!

Milestones: Baby can swallow and blink, and might even have hiccups. 

Best moment of the week: We got our house!! There will definitely be a post on that one shortly! 

Possession!

Yesterday, we took possession of our house. Our house! I'm so excited that we've finally purchased, closed, and taken possession on our very first home. The home where our baby (and probably more) will come home to. The home where we will spend the next few years, building our lives.

Our home.

There's a ton of work to be done. We painted the living room and demo-ed the staircase yesterday. Sean and his dad our rebuilding it today (after an $800 trip to Home Depot), along with rewiring the basement laundry room to support our new dryer.

We really want to move in the next week, so apologies if it gets a little quiet around here. We're spending all of our free time painting! And our new house is internet (ugh and 4G) free, so we're kind of at a loss for anything past text messages while we're there. Hopefully we pick it up quick!

Baby's Heartbeat - 16 Weeks.

We've heard the heartbeat of our little one twice now. Last time, at our 16 week appointment on August 2nd, I recorded it. I wanted to be able to share this awesome experience and having such a cool momento. I've never used iMovie before, so created a video with it was slightly frustrating, but I think it works as a method to transfer the sound to you!

16 Weeks.

How far along: 16 weeks.

Size of Baby: An avocado.

Weight Gain: +7 lbs

Symptoms: Still tired legs. I've been breaking out again too, which BLOWS. 

Exercise: The weekly photos are totally doing a number on my self esteem. So I've started doing some arm workouts. My belly might be huge, but maybe I'll get my arms in tip top shape!

Clothes: No changes. Still in maternity pants and regular shirts.

Cravings/Aversions: None lately. I've been getting myself back on healthy foods, so it's really helping any cravings I was having. Just need to keep it up!

Movement: Nope. 

Worries: House buying. And Sean. Sean's taking the bar this week, which means he's in Jefferson City. As far as the house goes, I feel like every time I turn around they need a new piece of paperwork. It's driving me crazy!

Boy/Girl: Again, no idea. Though, I'm kind of finding myself hoping for a girl lately. I won't be disappointed either way!

Milestones: Baby's got bones!! 

Best moment of the week: Sean being done with the BAR exam. He finished on Wednesday night, and it's so wonderful to know that he's done. Now we just have to wait for the results.