Week 25

Someone wanted to take a picture with her Mommy.  This was a few takes in and she looked at the camera every time.  I was doing a timed photo (hubby wasn’t home).  Gabby said my brother or sister needs to know I love them too!

How far along? 25 Weeks
Total weight gain/loss: 13 lb
Maternity clothes? Yes, even though in this picture I am wearing no maternity clothes.
Stretch marks? No-Thank goodness.
Sleep: Some nights I sleep really good, but our little mover and groover is keeping me up some evenings.
Best moment this week: Michael and I were laying in bed watching TV and we could see our little baby moving on the outside.  First, this was very cool and very Alien.  Watching your belly bounce around is weird.  I keep waiting for him/her to pop through the skin.
Miss Anything? I haven’t really missed anything this week.    
Movement: Lots of movement.
Food cravings: I wanted Pesto Café (Italian place here) and my sweet hubby never commented and provided me my favorite dish with dessert!
Anything making you queasy or sick: This week has been just great.
Feelings: I am sore this week.  My back is sore and my stomach feels achy.  Must be growing.   
Gender: We are not going to find out.
Labor Signs: No.
Belly Button in or out? In.
Wedding rings on or off? On.
Happy or Moody most of the time: It has been a happy week.  Not only did Arkansas FINALLY win a football game, but I got to enjoy it with good friends and great food.
Looking forward to: I am looking forward to my doctor’s appointment next Monday, but I am also worried.  Next week is my glucose test!!

LESS THAN 100 DAYS UNTIL BABY SPERRY MAKES HIS/HER APPEARANCE!!!!!!

Week 24

How far along? 24 Weeks
Total weight gain/loss: 10.5 lb
Maternity clothes? Yes.
Stretch marks? No-Thank goodness.
Sleep: Sleep has been good.  Baby Sperry likes to move around at night.  He/She likes doing flips and kicking me pretty hard, which makes for a little sleeping trouble.
Best moment this week: We went to my parents house this weekend and worked on a project for Gabby.  While we were there, my Dad finally got to feel the baby move.  It was shocking since the movement was occurring prior 10PM.
Miss Anything? I am missing sushi this week.  There are certain kinds I could still eat, but I want the ones I can’t have or shouldn’t have.  
Movement: Lots of movement.
Food cravings: Double stuff Oreos!
Anything making you queasy or sick: I really hate the smell of cigarettes.  It kills my nose every time someone walks by who has been smoking.  Instant headache.
Have you started to show yet: We have some retired neighbors who we see on our nightly walks and they asked if we were expecting.  It is official people can tell!
Gender: We are not going to find out.
Labor Signs: No.
Belly Button in or out? In.
Wedding rings on or off? On.
Happy or Moody most of the time: I have been a little moody this week.  I don’t want to make decisions and then I change my mind 10x.  It has been bad.  Hopefully next week will be happy happy happy again.
Looking forward to: I got my first look at the family baby shower invite my cousin did and I LOVE IT! It is a month away and I just cannot wait!

I have added a survey.  Since we aren’t going to find out what we are having.  I would love to see what people think we are going to have.  It is located in the top right column. 

Baby’s Room Art

Michael and I had this idea for the baby’s room.  Well, we have had lots of ideas for the baby’s room, but this one is for the artwork.  We are going to do two of these pieces over the dresser.  We wanted to involve music.  Music has always been a huge part of both of our lives and it will play a huge part in our baby’s life.  He/She already likes to move around a lot whenever we play music.  He/She really likes Nine Inch Nails and Florence and the Machine and will kick so hard when we are listening to them. 

I have been working on this artwork for about a week and a half now.  It is detailed and colorful.  I think a baby’s room should have bright colors.  The first song we picked (Michael’s pick) was Three Little Birds, by Bob Marley.  First, who doesn’t LOVE Bob Marley.  His words are perfect and calming.  I think it is a great addition for our little one’s room.  I hand did the lettering, so that’s what took the most time.  I now have to figure out what the other song or quote will be.  I just can’t decide.  There are so many of my favorite songs and even quotes that mean a lot to me.  I really want something meaningful to both me and Michael. 

23 Weeks

How far along? 23 Weeks
Total weight gain/loss: 8 lb
Maternity clothes? Yes, now most of my shirts look a little too short when I wear them.  I finally found a good pair of maternity jeans.  Citizens.
Stretch marks? No-Thank goodness.
Sleep: My sleep is good, but it is filled with bathroom breaks, baby acrobatics, and weird dreams.
Best moment this week: This week was a long week of work travel.  I learned no redeye flights until after I deliver and I will try and avoid flights over 4 hours.
Miss Anything? I miss being able to sit on an hour flight and not having to use the restroom.  Sometimes they don’t even turn off the seatbelt sign and get a little annoyed when you get up. 
Movement: Lots of movement.
Food cravings: I really had to have a Starbucks white mocha this week.  First real caffeine drink I have wanted (besides cola).  I got the smallest size and didn’t drink it all but man it tasted good!
Anything making you queasy or sick: I think I have finally moved past this.  There are definite smells that make me go yuck, but they don’t make me run to the bathroom.
Have you started to show yet: It is funny how people still can’t tell, because I feel like it is huge.  I also love how (while traveling) people will notice the bump and look at it, and you can tell they want to say something but they don’t.  Even Michael has noticed people looking at it.
Gender: We are not going to find out.
Labor Signs: No.
Belly Button in or out? In.
Wedding rings on or off? On.
Happy or Moody most of the time: It was a sad week for the Razorback football team.  I have felt a little edgy this week, but that was probably more from exhaustion than baby.
Looking forward to: I am looking forward to being home a few weeks before traveling again.

I have the say that I love my parents, or at least my Mom.  I love my Dad too (a lot), but my Mom kept all kinds of baby books from my childhood.  It is awesome! It was fun looking through the books and remembering certain ones.  I, of course, had my favorites as a child and now I have them for our little one.  It is nice to know our little one will not have a shortage of reading material.  We have already decided to start reading to the belly.  More Michael will read to the belly, since the kiddo hears my voice ALL the time.  Check out my bookshelf with all the New/Old books.  LOVE LOVE LOVE!!!

Week 22

Hotel room photo.  Sorry, this week was a crazy travel week and I was gone all week and had a busy weekend preparing to fly out again on Monday.  Plus a Razorback football game that was disappointing.

How far along? 22 Weeks
Total weight gain/loss: 7 lb (according to the doctor)
Maternity clothes? Yes, for the most part.  I have been throwing it a shirt or pants that’s not maternity.
Stretch marks? No-Thank goodness.
Sleep: Sleep has been so much better lately, as long as the baby doesn’t decide he/she wants to start practicing flips.
Best moment this week: I have been traveling all last week and have been very busy, so that’s why I didn’t get a shot this week with my chalkboard.  The best moment this week was my Mom getting to feel the baby move.  He/She moves a lot at the Razorback football games and I was telling my Mom, who then felt it.  Yay! Plus every time the baby moves Michael can feel it. 
Miss Anything? Being comfortable on a long flight.
Movement: Lots of movement. 
Food cravings: Nothing unusual this week.
Anything making you queasy or sick: I had no problems this week.
Have you started to show yet: The bump isn’t going away.
Gender: We are not going to find out.
Labor Signs: No.
Belly Button in or out? In.
Wedding rings on or off? On.
Happy or Moody most of the time: It was a good travel week.  Besides the airline not letting me change my flight to an earlier one I was happy.
Looking forward to: I have a lot coming up in the next few months from baby showers, to vacations, to fun work trip.  I am definitely looking forward to keeping busy.

Seeing Every State

I love traveling.  I get to travel for work a lot, and right now I am in the middle of my busiest travel season.  I am currently out of town.  I come back for the weekend and then head out again next week.  This is my typical fall.  I am especially excited about my travel this fall.  Why? 
I have a goal in my life that I want to travel to EVERY state.  Prior to 2012 I had been to 32 States.  I really was proud it was over half.  This has been a good year for new places.  Before the year is over I will add 4 new states (2 already with 2 more upcoming).  I keep a map in my office to show all the places I have traveled, all the places Michael has traveled, and all the places we have gone together.  We pin each location with different colors to distinguish the difference.  There are a few cities we don’t include, but we include major cities.  If I included all the cities, I would have several hundred pins in Arkansas alone and around the Chicagoland area. 

I also keep a map on the computer where I color in each state I have visited.  I look at this map and can’t help but want to plan our next vacations.  This year we will be driving to Gulf Shores, and so I will get to pick up Mississippi and Alabama.  I have to go to Virginia again this fall and really want to drive up to West Virginia just to add that very random white state.  I want to ski Deer Valley some day, and I want to go to Yellow Stone.  I could add a few new states that way.  Who knows when that will happen.  Maybe we could drive to Wyoming and hit up several of my blank states.  That would be a long long drive.  By the end of this year I will have been to 36 states.  I can’t wait.  Once I hit 40 states I will definitely start trying to get the last 10.   

One crazy weekend

This last weekend was completely crazy.  It started wild and crazy.  Friday right after work, we got hit by a storm.  I was actually working late in my office and on the phone with a west coast colleague when the wind outside picked up.  The colleague I was speaking with could hear the wind and my plants hitting the window.  I looked outside and I saw things flying by my office window.  I told her, I got to go I will call you back it is like the Wizard of Oz here right now.  We had several LARGE items flying through the neighborhood.  I guess it was straight line winds, caused from the cold front that collided with our warm temperatures.  Here are a few photos from the aftermath:

Our neighbors did have a full fence before the storm…they weren’t the only ones who lost part of their fence.One of many trees that snapped.

We were lucky and had no damage.  Our next door neighbor had damage from that fence blowing into the roof and other parts of their house.  Our house was completely missed.  No trees lost and no fence. 

Saturday, we woke up to a beautiful fall like temperatures.  We took out baby for a walk around the block and then headed to Fort Smith to hang out with my brother, who was in town, and watch the Razorback game.  The game was very disappointing.  Our defense sucks or did not perform to their abilities.  We had lots of injuries, which were scary and sad.  My Mom made us a nice dinner and it was great to spend some quality time with my brother.  I miss having him around all the time.  I know he will be a great uncle come January.  Kids just LOVE him.  I think it is because he speaks to them the same way he would speak to anyone.  He also wears glasses and I think kids like that.  He was being silly with me and we took a picture together.  Next time he comes home will be Thanksgiving and I will be much bigger, so we needed to photograph the difference. 

Being silly.  Yummy Hog Cake.

Sunday, was a relaxing day for me.  It ended up being a relaxing day.  Michael had plans to play golf, so I was planning to be crafty and work on a project for the baby’s room.  I went to Hobby Lobby to get supplies and it was closed.  I then went to another store to look at some baby stuff and it was closed.  I then took that as a sign to just go home and take a nap.  I didn’t nap, but I did watch Lifetime movies.