23 Weeks!!

As of yesterday I am 23 weeks pregnant!  Hard to believe it has gone by so fast!  I feel really good (besides some mood swings) and have really increased the exercise (mostly walking New Girl in the neighborhood).  My back has started hurting, but it feels more like my SI joint and not a disc.

On March 18 we attended our second childbirth class: “Caring for Your Infant.”  It was really good and we both learned a lot.  We also got to play with baby dolls.

We have also been working on the nursery a little bit more.  Here is a bedding trial using items that a friend gave us + a quilt that Brent’s grandmother made (we need a fitted crib sheet):

We went ahead and ordered a separate quilt so we can mix & match & see what looks best. We also want to avoid actually using the quilt from Brent’s grandmother so we can keep it nice. All the “stuff” – bumpers, quilts, toys, etc – will have to come out when baby comes anyway.

Another big thing that has happened the past few weeks is that it has become spring!!!  Daylight savings time is here & everything is in bloom!  I love it.

Here are some other pics from the past two weeks:

Mostly hanging out with the pugs (watching movies), homemade pizza with Publix dough (THE BEST), hummus + pretzels at work and a car pic on the night we went to eat dinner at one of Brent’s coworker’s house.  They are due on the same day we are and they have a 10 month old who is adorable!  We got to hold him a little bit. 

Some one also had a birthday on March 21:

Happy 31st!!!!

And some pics of the bump!  I am getting bigger!  I have felt like I look bad in my clothes, but recently I have started wearing maternity pants & it makes a HUGE difference.  And it feels so much better than trying to squeeze into my regular pants.  The scrub pants are regular (non-maternity), but I can wear them really low with a belly band.  I bought some maternity leggings from Destination Maternity as well as some yoga/exercise pants – oh my goodness they are the MOST COMFORTABLE items of clothing I have ever owned.  I could live in them every day.

Here is week 22 & week 23 (I usually take these first things in the morning; please excuse my morning face & hair).  As of 23 weeks I have gain exactly 15 pounds, which is right on track.

Comparing week 4 to week 23:

Wow. And here are some of the outfits I have been wearing:

Week 24 is our next appointment!!

21 Weeks: Dairy, Disaster, Deals

Well, the baby must love ice cream.  It has NEVER tasted this good to me!  This (above) is what I have been working on this week.  Mayfield is awesome, and it was on sale last week at Target.

This week we had a small disaster.  We found out that our heating unit was leaking carbon monoxide into our house…..yikes!!!  So, that had to be repaired and it was a major expense that we obviously had no time to prepare for.  But at least we got it fixed, and Brent has installed some carbon monoxide throughout the house.

More pug pictures, as usual:

And a new addition to the nursery:

I saw this giraffe at Babypalooza several weeks ago & fell in love with it.  I also saw it all over Pinterest when looking at nurseries.  But I was disappointed about the price….$100! I knew there was no way that I would pay that much.  So, I started searching on ebay and I began to see them for a little bit less – mostly around $75, which was still too expensive.  I decided that I would pay $50 if I could find it for that price.  The last Saturday I got on ebay and saw one for $60 or best offer…..so I put in an offer for $50 and it was accepted within minutes!  Plus free shipping!  It came this week and I love it!  I think it will look great in the nursery and then will also transition to a big boy room, etc, so we will use it for years.  I’m so happy about it.

Little buddy has lots of toys waiting on him! The little Mickey Mouse was Brent’s favorite toy as a baby!

And a friend from elementary school sent him a little onesie for football season!  It is adorable!

21 week pictures (Please excuse the dirty mirror!  My goodness!):

That dress above is a thrift store dress that I *almost* took back last year….but turns out is a PERFECT maternity dress. So comfy!

This is the first week I feel actually pregnant an not just super chunky.  On Saturday I wore maternity jeans for the first time.  I am also feeling the baby kick/move around several times per day. I love it.  There have been two times when I think I have felt him from the outside.

Also, I am very proud to report that I exercised 5 of 7 days this week.  Woo hoo!  I went to the gym twice & walked with Brent on the other days.  Love the warmer weather!  Although I am struggling so bad to walk the hills in the neighborhood.

One other thing I am loving lately is couponing!  I got into it back in January when I saw an extreme couponing show on TV.  I’ve been using the Krazy Coupon Lady website, the newspaper inserts & www.coupons.com. I’ve been shopping at mostly Publix & CVS and also sometimes Walgreens & Winn Dixie & doing great!  In fact, two cashiers today complimented my skills!   Here are the pictures of the things I got today:

Winn-Dixie: 5 boxes of K-cups, 3 bottles of laundry detergent, 2 body washes, 6 bars of soap, 1 toothbrush, 1 deodorant & 2 Cadbury eggs for $38.00.  I saved ~$45.00 with store sales + coupons.

Walgreens: all of these items pictured above for $20.00 out of pocket.  I got back $9 for use on a future purchase, so it’s like getting all of it for $11.00

CVS: This came to $13 after coupons/discounts + I got $4 back to use on future purchases, so it is like getting it all for ~$9.  Yay!

Publix is BY FAR the best grocery store to use coupons.  Today I saved ~$75 with store sales + coupons.  Before coupons the total for groceries was $101 and after coupon it was $85….I was pretty impressed.  I am still learning A LOT and I could do a lot better if I bought multiple copies of the paper or used a coupon clipping service, but honestly, this is as good as I can do with the amount of time I want to spend on it. Our goal is just to save money on stuff we already buy and have a little stockpile of things to use when the baby comes – so we won’t have to worry about buying a lot of groceries & household supplies.  At this point I have got the hang of it enough that I just go on Krazy Coupon Lady, go to my stores, see which items are “stock up” items & only purchase those.  I don’t do the really complicated transactions and I don’t buy things we don’t need/use, of course (i.e., lotions, lots of makeup, Crest whitening strips, etc).  It is pretty fun to be able to get great deals!  All you have to do is be willing to #1 plan your meals for the week based on what is on sale at the grocery store & #2 search out the coupons, which does take some time. 

That’s all for this week!!!  I will leave you with a picture of my view when looking at the floor:

The belly!  I can still see my feet, but not much of them!  I *love* it!!