Happy St. Patrick's Day! and 24 wks!

 Charming Like Dad!  

 

How far along?

24 wks - 6 months... so crazy! Time is flying! One more month and I'll be in my 3rd trimester. What?!

How big is the baby?
He's a little over a pound now! and almost a foot long!
 

Weight Gain?
9 lbs - I was told by my dr this past month and upcoming month I'll see the most 'growth' and probably weight gain. Belly has definitely grown!!!
 

Sleep?
Still doing ok - starting to get really hot at night. I remember this happening with Landon. Luckily I still have my snoogle pillow to keep me comfortable even if I am burning up. :)

Best Moment of the Week?
Ryan felt the baby move!!!!! This was around 22 wks. He knows that I feel more connected to baby early on because my body is changing and I feel so much more than he can, so it becomes more 'real' to him when he feels movement. It's my favorite part of pregnancy - hands down!!! Feeling that little life! Baby boy is definitely getting stronger and pretty busy in there.

Food cravings?
Umm.. sandwiches and sweets

Movement?
I already kinda commented on this, but I'm feeling movement daily now. Kinda getting used to certain times of the day - after I eat breakfast in the morning and especially when I'm going to bed. Just wants to stay up and party. ;)

What I miss?
Being able to bend over to tie my shoes/shave my legs (lol!) - or pick up anything! Hugging without belly in the way. Running/Jogging - too uncomfortable. Having a normal appetite and not wanting/needing to eat so much!
 

Looking forward to?
My glucose test at my next appt.... (sugary orange drink...)
HA totally kidding.

I just love spring and summertime. Excited for memories to be made!!! Hopefully lots of swimming to keep us cool and help me stay comfortable (however I probably will not want to get into a swim suit when the time comes...we'll see.)
 

Milestone?

Cleaned out the 'guest room' closet finally - starting to get organized. We gotta go pick out paint and other decorations! I think we're going to go do grey walls with teal and green accents. Just something calming but boyishly cute. :)

It's a wonderful life!!!

 

Year of Dates - 2013!

So this is something I've been wanting to post about for a while...
my Christmas gift to Ryan this year!

 

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A few weeks after Landon's birthday is our wedding anniversary. Landon turned One this past year and at our 2nd anniversary dinner we were reflecting back on the year we'd had together. We came to the conclusion that we've become a great parenting team and becoming parents has been one of the best things that's ever happened to us... however we realized we needed to continue to focus on our marriage and continue to nurture and take care of it. I remember reading... "the best gift you can give your children is a healthy and happy (most of the time ;) ) marriage." Totally agree.

 

We had just decided that I should stay home and knew that finances would be tight. No extras. Live below our means etc. Going out involved paying the sitter (usually 4 or 5 hours which would be $40 or $50) and then paying for whatever you're doing... dinner, movie, fun outing etc. It would be around $100 or so to go out for a few hours and enjoy time together!

 

I came across this 'year of dates' gift idea from pinterest and this blog.

My date basket!

 I thought it was genius. She planned and paid for every date night for that entire year. 12 dates... one a month for the whole year. Some dates were 'out' and some were 'in'. At the time I was getting this together we already knew about baby boy #2 so I was able to plan around his birthday and the few months after that we'd want to stay in at home - but plan something fun like a game night. Since the dates are paid for we only have to pay for the sitter - which really helps out a lot!!! 

 

I had SO MUCH FUN creating each envelope and what we would be doing. I was able to plan our birthday dates... anniversary.... first date anny (we like to celebrate that too :) ) and more fun times in between.

 

Here are our first 3 dates so far... I'll continue to share them as the months come along.

 

January Date - out to a dance hall in the area!

Each month had an envelope like this and a decorated page explaining what we would be doing.

I also included a polka dot note to Ryan. This included $10 in cash to pay for the cover.
Other dates will have giftcards to pay for the date.

 

This was a dance hall we had never been before and I was so excited to check it out! We had some friends come with us, and we had a lot of fun just people watching and dancing. :) I love dancing and Ryan is up for it when I ask him to join me! hehe

Blurry Instagram photo...

February Date - Ice Cream Sundae Party at home :)
I also found a funny card game off The Dating Divas website.
(www.thedatingdivas.com)
The Dating Divas are a group of adorable married women who come up with cute ways to continue to date your husband. Love their website. Lots of fun free printables and ideas.
"Strengthening Marriage One Date at a Time" is their tagline. :) Check them out!

 

 March Date - Flix Brehouse!

This place is fairly new in Round Rock and it's a lot like an Alamo Drafthouse.

Dinner AND a movie in the theater.

This is my birthday month/date. :) Can't wait to pick out the movie we wanna see! It's been ages!

 

So far it's been a lot of fun. Ryan opens the month's envelope on the first of the month and finds out what we're doing! Then we put the date on the calendar and get a sitter lined up.

 

Not the gift he was expecting at all...but I think he really appreciated the time it took to put it together and all the Etsy orders I did to get the money to pay for giftcards etc.

 

It's a wonderful life!