Craving some pickles

All pregnancy long people have been asking me if I have craved pickles.  Well today I finally did.  Like most of my cravings it was started by seeing something yummy on TV.  I seriously think food commercials are targeting pregnant women.  I think almost all of the food cravings I have had are based on something I saw on TV.  Chocolate cake, hamburgers, veggies, and today pickles.  Unfortunately the pickle was very unsatisfying.  Oh well...the cookie that Phil brought home filled my ever present sweet craving so I am happy.

Overall the baby and I are doing great!  She is moving around a lot more which I love.  I still get excited every time I feel her moving.  Only bad symptom I've had this week is heartburn.  Not fun but has been manageable with Tums.

In the past 2 weeks I have FINALLY made some decisions about the baby's room.  Phil and I are painting the room a soft yellow this weekend.  Well Phil mainly with my limited help.  I'm working on letting go of my perfectionist personality when it comes to cutting in paint.  I picked out bedding last week too.  It is a Pottery Barn Kids print that I had been eyeing that went on sale.  See pictures below.

This past weekend two of my best friends from college came to visit.  They helped me register at Pottery Barn Kids and Target.  They had the registry gun so if you see some crazy things on there...I'm blaming them ;)   I think there still may be a creamer in the shape of a cow on my target registry. Needless to say we had a blast designing the bedroom and bathroom.  They had soooo many good suggestions.  Their enthusiasm was infectious which made it a fabulous weekend.  I think everyone in Target could probably hear our squeals when we saw all the adorable baby clothing.

I'm bursting with excitement for June to get here!  I know once she comes our lives are going to completely change which is super scary but I'm choosing to focus on the excitement.  Only 17 more weeks to go!

The paint color for the room.

This is the bedding (sophie bedding) I bought minus the quilt.  I love the simplicity of the bedding.  The quilt I registered for is below.  

 

This is the quilt and additional sheets that I registered for.  (lindsey bedding)

I'm obsessed with this lamp.  I think it is soooo cute and girly.  I think the purple one is what I'm going to register for.

I registered for the blue and green shower curtain that is on the right.  Love it!

How cute are these two whales!  The whale below goes over the tub faucet  so the water comes out of its mouth!

Clothing and bottles and pacifiers oh my!

So my parents came down to Richmond this weekend to visit.  My mom and I spent most of the day Saturday shopping.  We had a great time looking at baby girl clothes.  There was NO way we were going to look and not buy.  Below are some of our favorites! There is also a picture of me holding one of the dresses.  They are soooo tiny and sooooo cute :)

Next came the tears.  Well there were no actual tears, but I was close to it.  We attempted to tackle the baby registry.  Who knew there were sooooooooooooooooo many choices for bottles, pacifiers, bibs, jumpers, etc.  I spent most of the time at Babys R Us standing there trying not to hyperventilate.  Needless to say, we didn't accomplish very much.  We left feeling completely overwhelmed.  Next, we went to Pottery Barn Kids to try and get inspired for the baby's room decor.  We left the mall with a least a color scheme in mind (see below).  Below are some color inspirations for her room.  I think I'm going to go with a color theme instead of a character/animal theme.

On Sunday we went to church where baby Noakes tap danced the entire service on my bladder.  It is a crazy feeling but cool.  Then we tried Babys R Us again and we were successful!  The registry is still a major work in progress but at least we got it started.  For example I think I registered for 4 different pack and plays so I could go home and research customer opinions on the ones I liked.  Instead of worrying about which bottle or pacificer was the best...I just chose.  Who knows whether she will like it or not but I figure we will know pretty quickly once she is here.

If anyone has any advice on bottles, pacifiers, diapers, etc. I would love some experienced opinions.  Honestly they all started to look the same and I just want whatever works.

We had a great time with my parents.  I am somehow even more excited now then I was last week!  I think this has all just become so real.  Holding her clothes and knowing it is a girl has heightened my anticipation.  I can't believe I have another 18 weeks to go!

21 weeks!

 Color inspiration for the room.  I'm thinking the light green for the walls and some type of basic pink and white bumper.  Then I can have all sorts of different sheets 

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One of my favorite dresses.  It is so tiny!

Some of my favorite purchases.  We had A LOT of fun looking at clothing.

Ooooooooo we're half way there...

We are half way done with the pregnancy!  In about 20 more weeks we will be meeting our little girl :)  If you can't tell we've had a pretty exciting week.

Last Friday we were officially half way done with the pregnancy.  Then yesterday we had our 20 week ultrasound and found out that Baby Noakes is a girl!!! It was a long appointment because our stubborn daughter was having fun doing a headstand on my bladder and did not want to turn and face us to get measured.  She was very active which was really cool to see.  She kept moving her arms, legs, and neck around.  It was amazing to be able to see what exactly was causing the movements I felt.

After the appointment Phil and I went out for brunch.  It was nice to be able to relax and celebrate together.  We also started talking about names.  We made a list back around Thanksgiving but we haven't really looked at it since.  We have about six names we are considering.  However, we are going to wait until we meet her in June to make the final decision.  Plus, we want her name to be a surprise to everyone!

Overall we have been doing great!  Just chugging along waiting for June. Phil was finally about to feel her moving around last week.  My parent's are going to visit this weekend so my mom and I can work on designing the baby bedroom.

We can't wait to meet our daughter in a few short months!

Megan

Here are two of the pictures from the ultrasound...

She finally cooperated and let us get a profile shot!  We were also able to see her spine, ribs, heart, kidneys, and lungs.  The doctor said everything looked great!

Not the best picture in the work but you can see her hand.

Hot chocolate, cheese, & 80's Music

It moves! Last weekend Phil and I started the search for strollers and car seats. As I sat in the car afterward feeling completely overwhelmed all of a sudden I felt the tiniest little push in my stomach. I gasped not believing that I was actually able to feel the baby. Then, it moved again! My eyes teared up in joy and promptly called Phil who had run into the grocery store. Now he keeps trying to feel the baby and we think he has felt a few flutters. We can't wait for him to really be able to feel it move.

Since then I have felt the baby daily. It moved around after I had hot chocolate one morning this week. It moved a TON after I had some cheese and crackers as a snack today. It even moved around while we were at a Legwarmers (AMAZING 80's cover band) concert! Clearly it already has fantastic musical taste since it decided to dance around to Journey.

Only 2 more weeks until we find out the sex of the baby! I think everything will become a lot more real after we can start calling it a he or she instead of an it. 

Overall I am feeling great!  I've had some lower back pain and abdominal pain which is completely normal.  I'm just trying to stay active and healthy!


Below are some links to info about the baby's development at 18 weeks from three of the pregnancy websites I frequent.

thebump.com

Babycenter.com

Whattoexpect.com

Phil and I all dressed up for
the Legwarmers concert.

Kathleen rocked out at the concert with us!

Exciting News!

Philip and I are excited to let everyone know that we are expecting our first child in late June!

The first trimester was a bit rough. I had a lot of morning sickness...actually all day sickness. Since I started the second trimester I've felt fantastic. I honestly don't even feel pregnant right now. I can't believe I am 4 months pregnant!

We had a great time telling extended family over Thanksgiving and being able to share our joy with them.

We have had three ultrasounds and everything looks great so far. We go in next week to hear the heartbeat again. In early February we will find out the sex of the baby.

9 weeks

12 weeks 3 days

15 weeks 3 days

15 weeks 5 days

Spring Break!

Today is a gorgeous spring day :) After a few weeks of being VERY stressed out and working 10-12 hour days...I'm ready for this break! Today and tomorrow I have little errands to do, but right now I am enjoying sitting on the couch reading and listening to music.

We had a wonderful Easter weekend. Philip's parents came on Saturday and we all went to a UVA vs. Richmond Kickers men's soccer game. On Easter Sunday we went to church and then my parents came down and the 6 of us had dinner together. It was really nice to be able to host both our parents at our home. The one sad part was that my parents took Zach home with them to watch him while we are out of town visiting Amy in Nashville. Speaking of Nashville, we are really excited to go there later this week! We are staying at the Gaylord Hotel for a couple of nights, which is supposed to be amazing!

I will try to post again soon!

Love,
Megan

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

The third winter blizzard is upon us this weekend. I can't believe how much it has snowed this winter!

We woke up early Saturday morning and took Zach on a walk before heavier snow began to fall. At first Zach tried to stay on the parts of the street that had no snow. Then he decided that he loved the snow. When we got home we played in the front yard for awhile. It is really good packing snow so we got in a small snowball fight and chased Zach around. The packing snow made it so Zach didn't sink too far into the snow so he was able to run around more. It also meant he didn't have to get a bath to melt the snow, which he was excited about.

This afternoon we went back out into the snow and built an igloo! Yes, Zach is wearing a life jacket--it keeps him warmer in the snow and makes it easier on us to get all the snow out of his fur.

We are really looking forward to going to North Carolina next weekend. It is going to be an exciting weekend :)

That's it for now!

Love,
Megan