Still here...

I am still here! Just super busy between work, Emma's birthday party last week, and our gender reveal party coming up TOMORROW!
Today We have our 18 week appointment with our regular doctor and we will have a chance to hear the heartbeat and I can talk about my back pains.

Things have been crazy as I said... in fact right now my life feels like this...

Yes, this is a photo of seventeen 8/9 year old girls PILED on a pinata... There is just so much going on and between my personal and professional life I feel like I am literally being pulled in a million directions. I just really need to learn to SLOW DOWN. The 12 hour work days and two parties in a week are just too much. After Friday I am looking forward to taking a deep breath and just relaxing the rest of the weekend and finally downloading some photos from my camera!

Here is what you will have to look forward to in the next week!
Thursday: 18 Week Update ... Will come late tonight after my Doctor appointment!
Friday: NO POST... Busy getting ready for the big party
Monday: Gender Reveal and 19 week post
Tuesday: Emma's Birthday Party
Wednesday: Few of my favorite things
Thursday: Gender Reveal Party Photos
Friday: No post... in Boston for work

Two wheeled adventures

So I mentioned in my 16 week check in that Emma has finally learned to ride her bike without her training wheels!!!

This is something that we have been trying to get her to do for a few years now but due to a fall (with training wheels) a few years back she has been terrified and cries every time we would bring it up. On the other hand even going on rides with training wheels was beginning to be a struggle because any time she would put pressure on one of the wheels it would start to bend and move causing her bike to become unbalances. Let's just say that our bike rides would end in frustration and tears... usually from me!!! She was too big for training wheels but not willing to try it without... even with the peer pressure of friends riding two wheelers! (YES everyone... I was rooting for peer pressure in this circumstance!) I had even internally come to peace with the fact that Emma might never learn to ride a bike!

WELL... two weekends ago everything changed. It was like she woke up an eight year old and decided that it was just time. Not exactly but that is what it feels like to me! Matt was doing some work outside last Saturday and asked Emma if she wanted to ride her bike in front of the house while he was out. He also brought up taking off her training wheels (as we do all the time)... well Emma declined (as she did all the time). Well that afternoon Matt was back outside and I encouraged Emma to also go out and play in the yard... 30 minutes later a breathless little girl (yes I'm in denial about the fact that she is now 8 and a big girl) came inside with her Barbie helmet (sniffle sniffle... see she is still my little girl) on yelling for me to go outside.

This is what I found!!!!!!

17 Weeks

Shirt: Old Navy

Jeans: Gap

Pregnancy: 17 weeks

Weight Gain:  Forgot to check

Sleep: Still not having much luck in the sleep department. Last night I did manage to stay on my left side until about 4 a.m. (1 hr before getting up) so that was a huge accomplishment. Matt bought a new pillow top mattress and that is helping.

Gender: TBD

Names: Emma is still a bit stuck on wanting twins so her favorite names are Harper & Hunter. Still deciding on the official name though

Feeling: I'm feeling good! Had a small emotional breakdown last Friday. I was just feeling overwhelmed by things but made it through and managed to get a ton done over the weekend.

Health: I have a pinched nerve in my back that has been killing me this last week. Matt has tried to help out but it might be time to invest in a massage.

Movement: feeling regular movements. Emma still has not been able to feel a kick yet. They are just still so light from the outside.

Belly: Finally big enough to fill in one of my favorite dresses from Gap! I wore it yesterday to a work event in Atlanta and got a ton of complements.

Non Baby Highlight of the Week:

• Emma has started outdoor soccer again! We had our first game on Saturday and her team won 4-0! IT is so great seeing all of the girls work together! She has been on the same team since Kindergarten and  they are just an amazing group of girls!
• On a non-child front... Matt took me on a date on Saturday night to see Hunger Games! Book was better but still a great movie! Matt didn't read the books so he asked a million questions!

Next Appointment: OB: Thursday, April 26th at 18w5d & Ultrasound: Friday, April 27th at 18w5d

Pinterest Challenge!

So I finally broke down... I am joining Pinterest. I have been extremely hesitant to join Pinterst and not due to a belief that it is stupid or a waste of time... it is in fact the opposite! I knew that I would be hooked! I knew that within a matter of minutes I would be a crazy person with 100 things pinned and that I would never be able to pull myself away! I also had the fear that I would pin so many items that I would feel overwhelmed and never actually do something with them.

WELLLLLLL... I have a solution. I will keep my boards limited to the following categories:

• Home
• Baby
• Emma
• Yummy Food!
• Parties

Also, to stay motivated to actually DO and not just pin... I am imposing a Pinterest Challenge that I will do with my co-worker Christina. Every Friday we are going to have to show that we have accomplished one thing due to inspiration from an item that we have pinned. This could be as simple as cooking a recipe or even a craft project that takes weeks...

Another goal is to actually blog about my weekly item. We will see how successful that is... as you all know I'm not that great when it comes to posting regularly on here.

For my first week I will be working on a few items for Emma's 8th birthday party. Here is a sneak peak at an image that I will be getting inspiration from!

Hostess with the Mostess

To Do List Before Baby Park

So... as the weeks count down and my belly grows my to-do list that is also rapidly growing!

I know that I should take a step back and prioritize.. but for now I'm just lumping everything in on this one post.

1. Paint interior doors (Matt replaced our upper level doors months ago but they are still not pretty and white to match our trim)

2. Furnish lower level living/play room... currently a huge open space. Matt thinks that this is a completely unnecessary project to tackle before baby but I'm keeping it on here.

3. BABY PARK'S room! Cannot do much with this until after April 27th!

4. Complete Emma's Loft bed. We promised Emma a loft bed when we moved houses OVER a year ago. This is something that Matt will be working on BEFORE we do the baby room... Looks like we have a trip to Home Depot in the near future!

5. Remodel our main bathroom. Close to a year ago we purchased a new vanity and I have all of the finishes picked out... just need to execute!

6. Get architectural drawings and consult a landscape architect for our entry way/ front yard project... More to come on the plans that we have for the front of our house. We will not start this project before baby but I would at least like to get the ball rolling!

7. Get a new washer and dryer. Time to get with the program and get some front loaders! I would also like to have one with a special sanitation cycle which will be helpful when we try out cloth diapering (more on this later).

8. Learn to sew! I got an amazing over the top sewing machine for Christmas and am sad to say that it is still in the box. There are no many projects that I would like to get started once we deterime the gender of Baby Park... but I should probably go ahead and learn how to use the thing... and take it out of the box.  

Again the above are in no specific order... just things that pop into my mind as I sit here typing.

16 Weeks!!!

Shirt: Gap

So I'm changing up my format on here to make my weekly posts a bit more uniform. So here is the first one!

Is it just me or does 16 weeks sounds really pregnant? That's like "OMG, in 4 weeks I'll be halfway through this pregnancy!" It feels like just yesterday I was jumping up and down telling Matt that we were pregnant.

So let's talk about something really exciting!!! On Sunday night we had another couple and my parents over for dinner. When everyone left around 10 I was sleepy and laid over Matt on our sofa to watch a little TV before bed and... Matt felt the baby from the outside!! AHHHHH! I've been feeling little flicks and bumps since about 13 weeks, but I've been waiting to feel him/her from the outside for a few weeks now. I'm so happy that Matt was able to experience the little ripples of movement!

So here is the new format...

Pregnancy: 17 weeks

Weight Gain:  I cannot believe that I am going to post this... 6 Pounds

Sleep: Sleep is horrible! I am still not use to only sleeping on my left side so every time I have the urge to turn over I completely wake up and my mind starts running. It seems to take me 30 minutes to fall back asleep and when you have to wake up at 5 a.m. any way it is NO FUN!

Gender: TBD

Names: TBD... funny name of the week is Timothy Rex Park... nickname T-Rex Park

Feeling: Feeling great!

Health: Seems to be okay. I don't have any swelling or any other indications that my iron is low so it looks like things are moving right along... I ended up being high risk with Emma due to my iron count and some cysts that developed on her brain.

Movement: Matt felt the baby from the outside!!! =)

Belly: The belly seems to be growing again. It slowed down there for a bit, but it seems to have picked back up. At least my belly button is still in and looks like it will stay that way for at least another month.

Non Baby Highlight of the Week: There are SOOO many of them it is hard to choose! Here are my three highlights:

• Emma turned eight this week!!! It is so amazing because it feels like just yesterday I was down in Statesboro, GA feeling her kick inside of me for the first time!
• Emma FINALLY let Matt remove her training wheels on her bike and in 10 minutes learned to ride on only two wheels! This has been a long time coming and I was beginning to think that she would just never learn... but am so proud that she faced her fears and now it is all she wants to do! So cute!
• And one non child related... Spending time with my best friend Holly and trying on dresses to wear for her wedding! Nothing like getting to make fun of yourself in a bridesmaid dress with a big old belly trying to gage what you will look like after baby! So much fun and I love that I get to see her almost every week with all of our planning for her wedding... AND this week we even managed to hang out without me rear ending her car! Success all around!

Next Appointment: OB: Thursday, April 26th at 18w5d & Ultrasound: Friday, April 27th at 18w5d